My wife is the stand-in.

Amidst the flames, a clear, ethereal female voice, tinged with madness, uttered curses that, combined with the wind pressure, forced the flames to the ground, burning bubbles into the aluminum door frame of the lounge.

"You damn evil heretic, how dare you destroy my base!!"

"I'll fucking kill you bunch of bastards!"

The harsh shouts and curses, delivered in a local dialect, echoed the intense heat emanating from the door, creating a distorted, rolling wave of heat that made one feel as if they were witnessing the deepest hell.

"Goodness, the aluminum melted so quickly, it must have reached a thousand degrees Celsius, right?"

Yubaba blinked and looked at Amanosaki. "Are you going in?"

Amanosaki and Li Junzi quickly waved their hands, saying things like "No thanks, no thanks" and "I'll definitely do it next time," repeatedly refusing.

What a joke! Li Junzi may be able to transform into all things in the world, but that's only limited to living things. Aluminum has a melting point of 660 degrees Celsius. It melts instantly at that high temperature. Wouldn't he be burned to death if he went in?

Amanosaki looked at the hellish, crimson world inside the door and his heart pounded with anxiety, wondering if he could even last three to five minutes after crushing all the gems Yubaba had given him.

In any case, in such a large-scale, high-temperature fire, the two of them tied together would not be as effective as a single hand grenade.

At least the latter can make a sound, right?

"Tom, let's find a cooler spot," Amanosaki said with a fawning smile, rubbing his hands together.

"Change? Sure." Granny Yu raised an eyebrow. "But I think I'll be a little hungry in a week, and one dinner might not be enough."

"Oh, this." Amanosaki was dumbfounded. "You can't use someone's life to blackmail me."

"Fine! I'm trying to blackmail you?"

"No, no, no, you misunderstood... No, no, it wasn't a slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue." Amanosaki apologized at lightning speed.

"Hmph, that's more like it... So what if I'm threatening you? I'm not a knight-errant, their lives and deaths are none of my business. Do you agree or not?"

Amanosaki wore a bitter expression, thinking to himself, "You've already admitted it."

Li Junzi, standing to the side, stared blankly at the interaction between his elder brother and sister-in-law, which had entered a realm he could not comprehend.

"Yes, yes, whatever you want to eat, Tom, just name it." Amanosaki thought about his savings, his heart bleeding, but his face beaming with joy.

"Let's talk about it next week."

As Granny Tang spoke, the door slammed shut and then opened again, revealing a wide road leading inside. In the distance, a raging fire was raging. A little nun, dressed in a bright yellow robe, bald and barefoot, holding a vajra, hung from the top of the fire, cursing all the women in the genealogy of evil spirits and heretics with the most vicious and vulgar language.

"It's the great heroine of the Songshan branch, [Yehuo Bhikkhuni]!" Li Junzi exclaimed. "How did these evil forces manage to infiltrate the Sanjiang Hall if she's here?!"

"Wait, isn't the Songshan branch in the Hun River basin? How come it's in the Yangtze River?" Amanosaki exclaimed in surprise.

"The Songshan mountain range originates from the Hun River, which is a major river, so they would send people to guard this area."

The two exchanged questions and answers as they slipped through the door and arrived near the Sanjiang Hall in the blink of an eye.

As Yubaba disappeared through the door, the door, which had been scorched by temperatures of over a thousand degrees, could no longer hold on and cracked open, leaving behind a blackened wooden cavity.

The cameras at the Sanjiang Reservoir captured this scene in its entirety and presented it in the live broadcast.

There is no doubt that this old woman has the ability to travel through space.

This makes people even more envious.

Chapter 55: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Standing on the road, Amanosaki lifted his foot in disgust, licking the sole of his shoe with the half-melted asphalt, leaving sticky black marks everywhere.

"This fire is too fierce! We are thousands of meters away, and the asphalt is almost melting."

Amanosaki wiped his head, sweat pouring out like raindrops.

Grandma Yu stood leisurely beside him, her feet dangling in the air, thirty centimeters off the ground, far away from the asphalt and the earth's heat. The wind surrounding her body kept out the distorted heat and the unpleasant stench.

She even reached into one of the five large fish-shaped storage bags that followed her and pulled out a blanket to wrap herself in, seemingly because the wind was too strong and she felt a bit cold.

On the other side, Li Junzi crossed his arms, put his hands under his armpits, and looked at the little nun who had set the sky and clouds red with admiration.

His two feet became exoskeletons, with steel blade-like limb structures that pierced through the asphalt and plunged into the concrete below. Several intersecting bony structures grew from his back, where capillaries rich in the epidermis circulated back and forth, cooling his body.

He looked like a human Terminator at that moment, his face full of fat with a strange metallic sheen, exuding an undeniable tough guy aura, and it was clear that he didn't care about the high temperature and asphalt at all.

"Damn it, so I'm the only one suffering?" Amanosaki pursed his dry lips, feeling the saliva in his mouth starting to turn white.

Granny Tang, wrapped in a blanket, said leisurely, "Little Li, the nun seems quite strong; she doesn't seem to need rescue. Those heroes who came from the reservoir probably couldn't withstand the temperature of this fire either, right?"

Li Junzi nodded: "Yehuo Bhikkhuni is a branch-level master who became famous ten years ago, and her skill level is very high."

"How high is he?" Amanosaki asked. "Dongfang Shuye is also a branch-level officer. How come I feel like he can't even lick the sole of this Karmic Fire Bhikkhuni's shoe?"

Li Junzi hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "Eastern Leaf Knight is a newly promoted branch-level hero with very flexible superpowers, excelling in rescue and surveillance. However, he is still somewhat inferior in direct combat."

"Just tell me directly how much worse this 'Yarhu Bhikkhuni' is than your teacher!" Amanosaki was getting impatient. In this high temperature, he couldn't be bothered with playing the high-EQ or low-EQ game.

Li Junzi raised his hand, his index finger lightly resting on his thumb: "About the same as my master, about seven or eight times the number of Oriental Leaf Warriors."

"Is this how cheap the Leaf Knight of the East is?!" Amanosaki exclaimed in surprise. "It's even been reduced to a unit of measurement!"

“After all, he became famous late, and his superpowers are limited.” Li Junzi said, scratching his head. “My teacher’s superpower can absorb heat and store it in amber. When used at full power, he can cover the land within ten miles of the house with scalding hot amber, suffocating the enemy.”

"The Bhikkhuni Karma was born with extraordinary fire abilities. She also devoted herself to Buddhism and practiced asceticism for twenty years, learning the acquired path, which is why she has her current power."

He sighed repeatedly as he said this: "The difference between heroes of different levels is like heaven and earth. Some branch leaders are good at wisdom, some at construction, while top branch leaders can easily destroy a town."

"What about the headquarters level?"

"The Grand Master level?" Li Junzi looked at the burning Sanjiang Hall and hesitated for a long time before finally uttering a sentence, "The Grand Master level hero [Zhu Rong] who is stationed in Shanghai can burn mountains and boil seas. He once ignited heavenly fire at the mouth of the Yangtze River to kill the enemy, and then went into the Yangtze River to suppress the flames, stopping the river from flowing."

"...That's amazing?" Amanosaki clicked his tongue in amazement, thinking to himself that extinguishing a fire requires the mighty Yangtze River flowing into the sea. No wonder they didn't take action to eliminate the Four-Clawed Scaled Fish. Eliminating a wave of them would cut off the water supply to Shanghai, and no one could withstand that.

"I'm telling you," Granny Yu frowned, watching the two men rambling on like they were bragging, "we're here for a rescue mission, are you two going to do anything or not?"

Amano Saki also turned his head and looked at Li Junzi curiously: "Yeah, yeah, are we going to make a move or not?"

Li Junzi replied sternly, "Wait!"

"Since someone was able to overturn the stall in front of Bhikkhuni Yehuo, it means that the situation has reached a point where we, as knights-errant without even a temple affiliation, can't help. We can only wait and wait for the outcome to be decided."

Granny Tang pointed to the indistinct figures in the distance: "What about those people who escaped from the temple? I saw some of them with swollen black bodies all over, and some had half of their bodies corroded, with excrement spilling out of their intestines."

Her voice was very calm, as if she were talking about chickens, ducks, pigs, and fish waiting to be slaughtered in the kitchen.

That makes sense when you think about it. After all, Chihiro's parents in "Spirited Away" were also human, and they too ended up being turned into a whole pig feast at any time.

Considering the food these parents ate, which may have once been human, it's truly chilling to think about.

Holy crap! There are still living people here!?

Li Junzi was shocked.

"Holy crap! You didn't know? I thought you'd seen it a long time ago, and were just planning to find an opportunity to go to the gang and lend a hand!"

Amanosaki was shocked.

Li Junzi was extremely embarrassed. He scratched his head even harder, prying off several chitinous scales that were covering his scalp to lock in moisture: "As soon as I came in, I was only focused on looking at the Bhikkhuni Yehuo and didn't pay attention to anyone else."

Amano Saki laughed angrily, then poked Li Junzi in the chest and cursed, "You son of a bitch, you said you didn't want to be a knight-errant, but look at your behavior! You're acting like a little fan seeing their idol standing in front of them, all lovey-dovey. I think you've really lost your mind!"

After cursing, he turned to leave, but as soon as he lifted his foot, he saw that the sole of his shoe had been melted by the high temperature and was stuck to the asphalt, unable to move.

"Shoes that cost 25 yuan, the worst of the worst in Putian, I can't expect them to be very reliable." Amanosaki sighed, took off his shoes, used magic to strengthen the soles of his feet, frowned at the blackened road, cursed under his breath, "Don't give me a foot scorching hot plate," and then, with a determined heart, sprinted across the scorching asphalt.

"Kunjin Kaotangtangtang!"

Every time Amanosaki's feet touched the ground, he would quickly lift them up, hurdling high like a hurdle, reciting a computer error message from the Earth Network, and hopping and skipping like an arrogant grasshopper towards the distraught wounded.

This comical action made Yubaba chuckle. She bent over, clutched her stomach, covered her mouth, and her shoulders swayed. The lace on her luxurious Baroque-style sun hat trembled slightly as she laughed.

Grandma Yu's aged face flushed with laughter, her wrinkled skin relaxed, and she looked much younger.

Looking at the elderly couple and their young husband, Li Junzi suddenly lost all interest in the nun who was setting fires everywhere.

He looked at Granny Tang expectantly and asked, "Um, sister-in-law, what do you think of my brother? Is it pleasant to be with him?"

Granny Tang wiped away the tears of laughter, glanced at Li Junzi, and snorted, "You're just a sour grapes, aren't you?"

Li Junzi smiled sheepishly and didn't answer, only staring at her with his bull-like eyes.

Unable to resist that pleading gaze, Granny Yu rested her chin on her hand, considering as she spoke, but very slowly:

“I was separated from him, just like God took Adam’s rib and made woman. We are of one mind and have deep feelings for each other. Everything we do makes me happy. But that doesn’t mean Amanosaki is a perfect man. It’s just that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Yubaba's eyes were full of tenderness, much like an old lady sitting in the courtyard at sunset, holding her old cat and reminiscing about her old man.

“There is no natural barrier between us, so in this world, I only think he is good, and I only recognize him as the only man, which is priceless.”

Li Junzi didn't understand what it meant to have a mutual understanding or to have deep feelings, but that didn't stop him from being greatly shocked.

The rough man listened to the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and looked at Amanosaki jumping with her legs spread apart. He thought it was really fitting. Didn't he also think that Jiajia was the best girl in the world?

"Sister-in-law, you and your brother are truly a model couple!" Li Junzi gave a thumbs up, revealing her beautiful, even teeth.

These words made Granny Tang a little shy, but she waved her hand urging him to hurry up and help save the person, repeating the same words once again:

"Not married yet."

They seem to be really looking forward to it.

Amanosaki hopped over to the group of wounded soldiers, baring his teeth. He rattled off a long string of names, had them verified, then quickly jumped up the steps, let out a long sigh, and collapsed to the ground.

Only then did he have time to examine the high platform he was sitting on. It looked like a stone platform used for some kind of ritual, made entirely of an unknown stone that felt cool to the touch, insulating him from the heat.

Amanosaki spread his legs, looked at the soles of his feet that were red and shiny, and blew on them with some heartache. He thought to himself that his magic skills were still lacking. He was good enough at killing and arson, but he was still lacking in self-defense.

Thinking this, he noticed that no one was standing on the entire platform. Regardless of whether they had wounds or not, everyone was lying or sitting in pain. Even the man who had just checked the information with him had struggled to stand up, but now he was lying down like a shrimp, clutching his stomach.

"Um, what should I do? Is there someone in charge to contact me?" Amanosaki, the only swordsman standing, pointed to himself and looked around asking.

The person in charge from before tossed the tablet to him, groaning, "Brother, we've all been poisoned by the Gui Water, and we have no strength left. Please protect us."

"But there are no enemies around here. Should I go check if there are any wounded around?"

Another man, his entire body swollen and his skin a purplish-blue, wailed, "Where are the survivors? There are only a few left! Everyone drank the water from the guild, but that evil spirit burrowed into the water tower through the groundwater and corrupted the entire guild. Once everyone was affected, it jumped out and unleashed a torrential downpour, killing all the warriors who couldn't move or hide!"

"Look at me, I ended up like this because I was hit by that water twice!"

Amanosaki carefully counted the people. The altar looked very large, but it was definitely not big enough to accommodate the population of a small town. There were only about a hundred people here at most.

He couldn't help but gasp: "Thousands of people, and this is all that's left? In front of a branch-level master? What kind of evil sect is this?"

"That demon looks like a lump of slime, all black, and looks like a woman. It calls itself 'Gui Shui Yin'... Hey, what's Gui Shui?" someone asked, looking up.