72: Lord of the River?

“Monsters are eating people!”

On the lake shore, the person, after witnessing this scene, still maintained the posture of reaching out with a rope, but his eyes were filled with endless terror.

He knew that some frogs lived in this lake, but he never imagined that the toads here had evolved into man-eating beasts, and were devouring people right before his eyes.

Upon realizing what was happening, the person immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream, then frantically ran towards the center of the village.

“Fierce beasts have invaded! Everyone, run for your lives!”

As the desperate shouts gradually spread, the entire village sprang into action.

Before long, everyone in the village had gathered together.

The village chief stopped the frantic villager and asked with a solemn voice, “What exactly happened?”

“Where would fierce beasts come from in our area?”

It wasn’t surprising that the village chief and the others thought this way.

They had lived in this desert oasis for a long time and knew every animal in the vicinity like the back of their hand.

Moreover, ever since they learned that wild beasts could evolve into fierce beasts, the people here immediately began a clean-up operation, leaving hardly any slightly larger wild beasts untouched.

Therefore, in the eyes of the other villagers, it was impossible for fierce beasts to appear here.

“It’s a toad!”

The person gesticulated wildly in terror, “Its tongue is over ten meters long! Just by lying in the lake, it can use its tongue to pull people into its mouth.”

“Village chief, we need to leave quickly, or it’ll be too late!”

“Call the police!”

Realizing that this guy wasn’t joking, the village chief immediately pulled out his phone and, with a grave expression, dialed the emergency number.

Thump—

But in the next second, a heavy thud echoed.

Everyone subconsciously looked up, and their eyes widened in disbelief.

The village chief froze on the spot, his finger just a light touch away from dialing the police, but he seemed possessed, unable to move.

On the widest main road in the village, a stone-gray toad covered in poisonous warts landed as if no one else was there.

Its calm eyes reflected the terrified faces of the villagers.

“Croak—”

At this moment, the giant toad let out a croak, which seemed to open a floodgate, immediately causing a huge commotion among the crowd.

The next second, a tongue over ten meters long shot out like lightning, snatching a person and swallowing them in a few gulps.

Such a terrifying scene instantly scared the villagers out of their wits.

“Why are you all just standing there? Run!”

The village chief roared, turning and running first, and the others, belatedly realizing the danger, followed. Some even began pushing those beside them, attempting to use their former neighbors or friends to shield themselves from the giant toad behind them.

All the villagers showed expressions of terror at this moment, fleeing for their lives in a panic.

“Croak! Croak!”

The giant toad, at this moment, stared with its large eyes at the villagers enveloped in fear, and for some reason, a look of amusement appeared in them.

It seemed to enjoy the sight of human fear.

Thump—

Another loud thud resounded.

With a gentle leap, the giant toad covered dozens of meters, and its massive weight directly crushed a house below, gradually raising a cloud of dust.

“Who will save me?”

At this moment, a villager leaning on a crutch, seeing the giant toad getting closer and closer, immediately grabbed a person running past him, pleading, “Please take me with you!”

“Get lost! Who has time for you now?”

His former neighbor shook him off directly and ran off at a fast pace.

The man paused for a moment, but when other villagers passed by, he tried the same trick again, “Please save me, take me out of here!”

“I can give you money, just name your price!”

“...”

But no matter how much he pleaded, no one passing by paid him any attention.

Unknowingly, he slumped to the ground in despair, looked back at the giant toad getting closer, and slowly closed his eyes.

“Son, get up!”

On the other side, a middle-aged man suddenly felt his hand loosen.

He looked back and found his son had fallen by the roadside, so he had to turn and run back, not forgetting to curse loudly, “Which heartless bastard did that? Just run for yourself, why hit my son?”

However, at this moment, no one could answer his angry shouts.

“Dad, I can’t move.”

The boy looked only about ten years old, but at this moment, he was remarkably calm.

He slowly rolled up his pant leg, and his father immediately saw that, at some point, his son’s left leg had been pierced by a rebar, and he froze.

“Don’t be afraid, Dad will carry you.”

When he came to his senses, the middle-aged man immediately squatted down, signaling his son to get on his back.

But the little boy still shook his head firmly and pushed his father, “Dad, if you take me, you won’t be able to get away either.”

“You’re not in good health to begin with; you get out of breath walking for just ten minutes. Carrying me, you won’t get far at all.”

“You go quickly, I can’t run anymore.”

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man froze on the spot.

He was silent for a moment, but still stubbornly pulled his son up, roaring in a low voice, “Let’s go!”

Unknowingly, both father and son were in tears, but neither said anything.

And throughout the village, cries and screams suddenly began to rise.

Some villagers running at the very back felt that in the next second, they would die.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, a whooshing sound came.

A villager looked back in confusion, but his eyes instantly widened.

The thing that made the whooshing sound was none other than the giant toad’s ten-meter tongue.

In an instant, several villagers went directly into the giant toad’s belly… “Tiger Brother, fly higher, fly even higher!”

In the sky, the Magic Cat cheered and shouted continuously, communicating with Xia Fan.

At this very moment, Xia Fan was controlling the strong winds, flying in the sky, while also paying attention to news of the extraterrestrial meteorite iron.

“Croak!”

Suddenly, an astonishing croak echoed.

Xia Fan listened with surprise, and after the croaking, he heard human screams.

“What happened?”

He was immediately drawn to it. After lowering his flight altitude and looking towards the source of the sound, he clearly saw a giant toad wantonly devouring humans.

Those screams were from many humans.

However, to his surprise, in this place, there were also some unexpected delights.

Because he suddenly felt that this giant toad seemed somewhat familiar; in his memories of his previous life, it should have been a very famous existence.

“I remember now!”

Immediately, Xia Fan exclaimed inwardly, becoming even more surprised, “This guy down here is… the River Lord?”