Ch. 31 - Thrown Into The Tiger's Den

Wang Ziwen was sitting nearby and vaguely heard a few words. He couldn’t help but ask Ye Fan, “What happened?”

Ye Fan turned to look at Pang Bo and said, “Didn’t you record it with your phone? Play it for everyone.”

At this moment, the others also noticed something was going on and all looked in Ye Fan’s direction.

Pang Bo understood perfectly, if they were going to take action, they needed a solid reason, and it was best to reveal everything in front of everyone. His face was grim as he said, “Liu Yunzhi, Li Changqing, and Wang Yan are trying to harm Ye Fan and me.”

As he spoke, he became furious. “These three ungrateful, treacherous bastards, we let them go again and again, gave them chances, but they don’t appreciate it. They actually want us dead!”

These words shocked everyone, and all eyes fell on him. They asked in confusion, “What happened? What’s going on?”

Pang Bo tapped a few buttons on his phone, and a recording started playing.

“Damn it, I can’t swallow this. I’m not letting it go!”, this was Li Changqing’s voice.

Then Liu Yunzhi’s gloomy voice followed: “Let him live a couple more days. I’ll definitely kill him!”

“What? You… you want to kill both of them?” Li Changqing and Wang Yan both sounded shocked.

“That’s right. If they live, I die. If I live, they die!” Even though it was a recording, Liu Yunzhi’s gritted teeth were clear.

“But we can’t beat that quiet-looking brute, and Pang Bo is built like a tank. We can’t do anything against them.” Li Changqing sounded resentful and helpless.

Liu Yunzhi sneered: “Doesn’t matter. My Vajra Pestle is showing some divine power. I think after one more night, it’ll grow stronger. Then we strike suddenly, it’ll be enough to kill them both.”

Li Changqing then said viciously: “Good. If that’s the case, what’s there to be afraid of? We must kill them!”

“Wang Yan, you’ll apologize to Liu Yiyi and lure her aside. I think that string of prayer beads she has is unusual, it might still hold some divine power. Too bad you messed up the exchange.” Liu Yunzhi sounded dissatisfied.

“Fine!” In the end, Wang Yan’s tone turned cold, agreeing to Liu Yunzhi’s plan.

Liu Yunzhi muttered in a hoarse voice: “Can’t act in front of the others. That’s the trouble. We need to plan carefully.”

Click.

Pang Bo closed the phone. “Everyone heard that, right? These three wanted to kill Ye Fan and me. Don’t blame us for not caring about being classmates anymore.”

At that moment, Ye Fan strode forward without saying a word. Pang Bo followed close behind. Zhang Ziling also quickly caught up, and the rest of the group stood and followed them into the woods.

Seeing Ye Fan and Pang Bo approaching, Li Changqing and Wang Yan looked panicked, guilt written all over their faces. Liu Yunzhi’s expression turned extremely dark.

“We let you go over and over, didn’t hold grudges, but you still want us dead? If I let you go again, I’ll write my name backward!” Pang Bo snapped.

“You… you’re spouting nonsense!” Li Changqing broke out in cold sweat on the spot.

Wang Yan’s face went pale. She panicked and tried to explain, “W-what are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

Pang Bo didn’t say much more. He simply played the recording again.

At that moment, Wang Yan and Li Changqing completely panicked. Even Liu Yunzhi’s face turned pale. They had no defense against such ironclad evidence.

“We were just angry, we didn’t mean it…” Li Changqing shouted, fully terrified now.

“Angry? You think we’re all three-year-olds? Everyone knows exactly what this is.” Quiet Zhang Ziling finally spoke coldly.

“Liu Yunzhi, I can’t believe you’d even think like this. Absolutely disgraceful!” Wang Ziwen’s face was stern.

Lin Jia shook her head and sighed. “We’re all classmates. How could you be so cruel?”

“This is way over the line! Even your own classmates who are stranded with you, you’re plotting to kill them? Do you even have a conscience?” Others also voiced their condemnation, all directing harsh criticism at the three.

Finally, Zhou Yi frowned and said, “Do classmates really need to go this far? Just apologize to Ye Fan and Pang Bo…”

Liu Yunzhi and the others looked as pale as death, wishing they could disappear into the ground.

“No need for apologies, words mean nothing. What kind of sincerity would that have?” Ye Fan glanced at Zhou Yi, then turned to the crowd. “They’ve already shown their intent. If I pretend to be calm about it, I’d be lying to myself. They’re just waiting for a chance to kill us, how can I stay on guard all day?”

Saying that, Ye Fan strode forward.

Liu Yunzhi’s face drained of blood. He gripped the Vajra Pestle tightly, eyes flashing with panic.

Wang Yan screamed in fear, “W-what are you doing?!”

Li Changqing also looked terrified, urging Liu Yunzhi, “Use the Vajra Pestle, hurry!”

They all knew Ye Fan wouldn’t ignore them this time. If he acted, it wouldn’t end peacefully.

Pang Bo followed, but Ye Fan stopped him and said, “I’ll be the bad guy this time, and all the way through.” Then he took the bronze plaque from Pang Bo’s hands.

Ye Fan held it in one hand and continued forward.

“Don’t come any closer!” Wang Yan screamed.

Ye Fan ignored her and headed straight for Liu Yunzhi and Li Changqing.

Suddenly, Liu Yunzhi shoved Li Changqing in front of him, using him as a shield, then followed up by swinging the Vajra Pestle and yelling, “Die!”

Bang!

Ye Fan swung the bronze plaque from Grand Thunderclap Temple like he was swatting a scarecrow. Li Changqing was smashed into the air, flying four or five meters, evidence of Ye Fan’s incredible strength.

Everyone behind them was silently shocked. Ye Fan truly lived up to his “Savage” nickname. His strength was terrifying.

Pang Bo looked at the fallen Li Changqing and mocked, “This is the ‘loyal Yunzhi’ you talked about? The guy who shoved you into danger at the crucial moment, how righteous of him!”

Li Changqing was in terrible pain, half his body feeling broken. He tried to stand, but Pang Bo walked up and stomped on him, holding him down completely.

Clang!

At that moment, Ye Fan swung the bronze plaque heavily against the Vajra Pestle. A faint divine glow flickered from it, but it was no match for such brute force!

The plaque itself didn’t emit any light, but Ye Fan’s strength made it feel like an entire mountain of bronze was crashing down.

Clang, clang, clang,

Three loud metallic crashes echoed. Liu Yunzhi was smashed to the ground, kneeling before Ye Fan. His arms looked broken and twitched uncontrollably. The Vajra Pestle rolled away and was picked up by Ye Fan.

At this point, Zhang Ziling dragged Wang Yan forward.

“W-what are you going to do?” Liu Yunzhi’s face was white as a sheet, the heavy plaque pinning him down.

Ye Fan smiled faintly and said, “What do I want? I want peace of mind, no more threats hanging over me.”

“You… what are you doing?!” Liu Yunzhi panicked completely and shouted to the others, “We’re classmates! Don’t let him do this!”

“Have you heard of an ancient punishment? Reserved for truly vicious criminals, getting smashed to death on stone walls or cliffs.”

“No! Don’t, !” Liu Yunzhi cried out in terror, powerless to resist as Ye Fan lifted him like a baby chick and walked to the stone wall engraved with “Forbidden Ancient Realm.”

Pang Bo and Zhang Ziling dragged Li Changqing and Wang Yan over as well.

“No! Help! Somebody!” All three screamed in terror.

“Ye Fan, this isn’t right. No matter what they’ve done, they’re still classmates. You can’t casually decide life or death like this,” Zhou Yi objected, looking displeased.

“Yeah, don’t do this. These are human lives, after all. No matter what they did, they shouldn’t be killed. Give them another chance,” said three or four others trying to persuade him.

Ye Fan turned back to the crowd and said, “I really don’t want to do this. But giving them a way out means digging a grave for myself.”

Suddenly, Ye Fan froze. In the cliff wall, he spotted a cave, with two striped tiger cubs baring their teeth at him. Though only about a foot long, they already showed the ferocity of predators.

Sabertooth Tigers!

Ye Fan was startled. These creatures had long gone extinct on Earth. Yet here they were, small, but with razor-sharp, glinting fangs.

This was a saber-toothed tiger den. The adults were out hunting. If they had been here, the whole group might have been in danger.

At this point, beyond Zhou Yi’s protest, others also spoke up: “Don’t act impulsively, Ye Fan. Killing classmates looks bad…”

After seeing the cave clearly, Ye Fan turned back and faced the crowd. “I’ve been letting them go, but they keep plotting against Pang Bo and me. What I’m doing is self-defense. But since no one wants classmates to hurt each other, I’ll go with your wishes, give them another chance.”

Pang Bo was immediately unhappy. “Give them another chance? You want to wait until they kill us?!”

Ye Fan shook his head and gave Pang Bo a meaningful glance. “Let’s just tie them up and leave them here. They’re too dangerous to bring along.”

Though reluctant, Pang Bo knew Ye Fan well. Seeing that look, he realized Ye Fan had a plan, so he didn’t argue.

Liu Yunzhi, still being held by Ye Fan, hadn’t seen the tiger cubs behind the cliff wall and had no idea why Ye Fan changed his mind. He just felt lucky to be alive.

Soon, Liu Yunzhi, Li Changqing, and Wang Yan were tightly tied up using belts and torn clothes. At Ye Fan’s request, their mouths were also gagged.

Ye Fan picked up Liu Yunzhi and carried him to the cave, then threw him inside. When Pang Bo and Zhang Ziling arrived and saw the tiger cubs baring their teeth, they were dumbfounded. It really was a tiger den!

Pang Bo’s reluctance vanished immediately. He nearly cheered out loud. He finally understood why Ye Fan had changed his mind. Throwing them into the tiger den, what better punishment could there be? The adult tiger would probably return soon.

“Mmmph!” Liu Yunzhi’s face turned green. He tried to scream, but only muffled groans came out, he couldn’t say a word.

Pang Bo and Zhang Ziling followed Ye Fan’s lead and tossed Li Changqing and Wang Yan into the cave as well.

On Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and Zhang Ziling’s suggestion, the group quickly left the area, it was not safe to linger.

Barely two or three miles away, a deafening tiger roar echoed behind them…

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