Chapter 29: Anger

## Chapter 29: Rage

"You really have some nerve," Pang Bo said, "I've never seen anyone so shameless." He pushed Li Changqing's hand away, shot him a sideways glance, and pocketed the three fragrant fruits.

"How can you speak like that?" Li Changqing's face fell, feeling humiliated, and he said darkly, "We're classmates, stranded together in a strange world. We should be helping each other. Everyone is hungry now. When food is found, it should be shared among us all. Are you planning to eat it all by yourself?"

"Bah! How dare you say such things?" Pang Bo sneered. "Who was secretly eating chocolate in the bronze coffin? Why didn't 'everyone' cross your mind then? Now you're acting all righteous. Don't disgust me. You're more repulsive than those God Crocodiles. Go stand aside; I can't be bothered with you!"

Li Changqing's face immediately turned pale with shock and anger. He couldn't possibly admit it and argued a few points, but his protests seemed weak and futile.

Although Pang Bo's words were blunt and fierce, it didn't mean he lacked a keen mind. He naturally understood Li Changqing's intentions: if they got food, all the better; if not, he would try to isolate Pang Bo and Ye Fan. After all, there were many people present, and if the food wasn't shared, they would certainly have opinions.

"My apologies, everyone, but there aren't enough to go around. We only picked five fruits in total. Yiyi is too frail, so I'll give her two. I trust no one has an issue with that?" Pang Bo didn't look at the crowd, simply distributing the fruits as he spoke. "Zhang Ziling, here's one for you." He tossed it over, then added, "These five fruits were just picked by Ye Fan and me, so we should at least reward ourselves."

Pang Bo directly popped the fourth fruit into Ye Fan's mouth. As for the fifth sparkling fruit, he took a large bite out of it himself.

The five fruits were thus distributed. Liu Yiyi felt a bit awkward and said, "I... I can just eat half. Let's share the rest with everyone." She tried to return the ruby-like fruit, but Ye Fan pushed it back, saying, "Don't worry, the vegetation here is dense; we're sure to find many more wild fruits."

Pang Bo also glared, urging her to eat quickly and not to decline. He knew these fruits were extraordinary; eating them would provide immense energy, dispel fatigue, and surely offer other unknown benefits.

"But..." Liu Yiyi hesitated, looking at the people around them.

"Yiyi, you're too kind; that won't do," Pang Bo whispered. "Many of them have chocolate in their pockets, but none of them offered to share it with everyone."

Seeing Ye Fan also nod at her, Liu Yiyi finally stopped refusing.

"I have some chocolate here; everyone can share." At this moment, Liu Yunzhi suddenly stepped forward, offering several packs of chocolate for everyone to share.

"Damn it!" Pang Bo instantly flared up; this was a blatant slap in the face. He was itching to fight but could only endure this invisible slap. Even if he jumped out, there would be nothing he could say.

"Yunzhi is truly righteous!" Li Changqing unwrapped a piece of chocolate, popped it into his mouth, and said this while eating, not forgetting to glance at Pang Bo and Ye Fan.

"It's only in times of shared hardship that one truly sees a person's heart..." The female student who always followed Liu Yunzhi also said this pointedly.

This made Pang Bo's face grow even darker. He cursed under his breath: "He's just playing games. Why didn't he take them out earlier? Now there are plants all over the mountains; we can definitely find wild fruits. Chocolate isn't that useful anymore, and he's only taking it out now to make a show. Damn him to hell!"

"A long road tests a horse's strength; a long time reveals a person's heart. When we get to the outside world, Yunzhi, I'll follow you." Li Changqing deliberately put on such an expression, then sighed, "Ah!" not forgetting to glance at Pang Bo and Ye Fan.

Having been lightly slapped by Liu Yunzhi's gesture, and then mocked by the man and woman beside him, Pang Bo was so furious he wished he could drag Liu Yunzhi over and beat him senseless, but under everyone's gaze, he could only endure.

The group gazed at the distant mountains and terrain, deciding on a direction. They believed that by following this path, they would escape the mountainous area and reach a populated place in the shortest possible time.

Without wasting much time, the group descended the mountain. They then proceeded cautiously through the forest. Each person held a wooden stick to defend against wild animal attacks, as the divine artifacts they possessed were almost useless.

However, after walking for most of the day, they hadn't seen any large beasts, not even a field mouse, let alone any birds.

"This truly is a forbidden area; not even birds dare to defecate here..." Li Changqing murmured to himself.

Pang Bo quipped, "You should be grateful. If you ran into a large beast, you'd be praying to escape to a place where not even a feather can be found."

The mountainside was lush with vegetation, and the group picked many wild fruits, temporarily alleviating their food concerns. However, they still hadn't left the forest by dusk. The endless mountains seemed to have no end; they would climb one peak only to find another beyond it.

"Are we going the wrong way? Are we heading deeper into the mountains?" someone wondered. But in the end, everyone decided to continue forward.

Night had fallen, and the group had no choice but to stop in the forest. They decided to resume their journey the next day.

It was an unsettling night. At midnight, everyone heard a bloodcurdling roar. The sound was shrill and massive, accompanied by the clanking of iron chains. It sent shivers down everyone's spines.

In the eerie forest, it was truly terrifying. It was like a fierce ghost struggling in shackles. The sound made their hearts pound.

"It sounds like... it's coming from the abyss of the Barren Ancient Forbidden Zone." Many trembled with fear, looking towards the distant, enormous abyss formed by the nine surrounding mountain peaks.

Late at night, tree shadows danced and ancient trees in the wild forest swayed in the wind, resembling flickering ghostly figures.

The roaring grew louder, making the entire mountain range tremble slightly. Nearby trees swayed violently, and many leaves rustled down.

An icy chill spread from the abyss of the Barren Ancient Forbidden Zone. This terrified everyone, as they were already quite far from it, yet could still feel such a dreadful aura; it was truly horrifying.

"Clang! Clang!..."

The huge clanging reverberated eerily in the night. It sounded like some colossal creature was hammering metal, causing the forest to tremble.

Everyone's expressions changed simultaneously, and their thoughts involuntarily turned to one possibility.

"The nine enormous dragon corpses and the ancient bronze coffin had fallen into the abyss..."

"Could it be..."

This dull, powerful impact, sounding like something violently striking the giant bronze coffin, sent an icy chill through them, making the hairs on their bodies stand on end.

"What... what is that thing?!"

Many were utterly shocked and terrified. The giant bronze coffin was mysterious and unfathomable; even now, they didn't understand it. What kind of thing could be pounding it? They knew that the giant coffin had easily absorbed all the divine power from the artifacts in their hands.

"Barren Ancient Forbidden Zone... does that mean it's been a forbidden area since ancient times?"

"Ancient times... that's such a distant era. Has no one set foot here since then?"

"Clang! Clang!..."

The tremendous noise was deafening. The forceful pounding and the ringing reverberations from the bronze coffin echoed through heaven and earth. The ground shook, the surrounding trees swayed incessantly, and leaves drifted down.

The roars revealed anger, becoming even more shrill and terrifying. It was hard to imagine what kind of thing was in the abyss.

"We should be grateful. If the nine dragon corpses and the giant bronze coffin hadn't fallen into the abyss, attracting that thing's attention, it might have burst out during the night. If that had happened, none of us would have survived..."

This was very likely true. After all, this place was called the Barren Ancient Forbidden Zone; even birds and beasts dared not linger here, so one could imagine its terror. It was certainly a desolate and perilous place where something terrifying existed.

"Something that has existed since before ancient times... it's truly hair-raising, unimaginable!"

"It seems it can't do anything to that mysterious bronze coffin for now. Fortunately, that's the case."

It was a sleepless night; many people couldn't fall back asleep.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a violent boom resonated. In the distant mountains, the abyss experienced a violent earthquake. Endless black mist gushed forth, completely obscuring the sky above it. All stars and the moon vanished, creating an exceptionally oppressive atmosphere.

"Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!"

Suddenly, all the black mist was instantly sucked back into the abyss. The stars in the sky immediately blazed forth. But what everyone saw was an incredibly shocking scene.

A blurry black figure, indistinguishable as human or beast, was brandishing hundreds of feet of thick iron chains and roaring to the sky, its terrifying might intimidating the world! It was visible from such a distance, so one could imagine how massive those chains were. Its roar was deafening, nearly causing those in the forest to faint from the sheer force, the rolling sound waves making their eardrums ache.

That thing was bound by massive iron chains, wearing shackles, yet it swayed heaven and earth, its chains sweeping across the sky! Its terrifying power was boundless, and it seemed to be gathering strength. After letting out a bloodcurdling roar, it suddenly plunged back into the abyss.

"Clang! Clang!..."

The sound of the giant bronze coffin being struck resumed.

"Do you think it's trying to open the coffin within the coffin?"

"It must be. After all, the large coffin is already open, so there's no reason for it to smash it without cause."

The group was both startled and fearful. It wasn't until the latter half of the night that the abyss grew quiet, with no more sounds emanating from it. Everyone then drowsily fell asleep.

The next day, the sun was already high when everyone gradually woke up. They washed up by a stream, picked some wild fruits to eat, and then continued their journey.

They walked for a full two or three hours without stopping. They were desperate to leave; the Barren Ancient Forbidden Zone was too unsettling. They had to get out of the area before nightfall.

At noon, the scorching sun hung high in the sky, but fortunately, the trees provided shade. As they climbed a tall mountain, someone heard the roars of beasts in the distance.

"Almost there," they thought, "we should be able to get out of this forbidden area before dark."

"Hey, look, are there some buildings on that tall mountain in the distance?" Wang Ziwen suddenly pointed forward. It was a very tall mountain, still far away, separated by several peaks, though those smaller mountains couldn't obscure it.

"They really are buildings, and they seem to stretch for miles!"

The group immediately showed signs of pleasant surprise, certain they could reach there before nightfall.

"Oh, look, there seem to be cranes flying there. Could it be a land of immortals? Are there immortals there...?" Some people's thoughts drifted, instantly connecting it to legendary immortals.

The group couldn't help but quicken their pace forward. Along the way, in groups of threes and twos, many were already whispering about wanting to split up and explore once they reached a populated area.

At this moment, Ye Fan noticed Liu Yiyi looked somewhat aggrieved and unhappy, and asked, "What's wrong, Yiyi?"

"Wang Yan took my prayer beads to look at them and won't give them back..." Liu Yiyi sounded a little wronged and annoyed.

"Her? It must be Liu Yunzhi's doing again!" Pang Bo instantly got angry. Wang Yan was the female classmate who always followed Liu Yunzhi and had consistently targeted Ye Fan and Pang Bo.

Hearing this, Ye Fan said nothing more but strode forward. He stopped Liu Yunzhi, Wang Yan, and Li Changqing, and extended his hand, saying, "Give it!"

"What are you talking about?" Li Changqing asked, not backing down.

"Stop talking nonsense; give me the prayer beads!" Ye Fan wasn't without temper; he simply suppressed it. But when he did get angry, it was terrifying.

"Oh, you mean this." Wang Yan explained, "I was just playing with it, and then I liked it so much that I exchanged my bronze bell for it with Yiyi."

Ye Fan turned to look at Liu Yiyi. At this point, others also stopped and looked back.

"I... I didn't exchange with her. She took the prayer beads and... forced the bronze bell into my hand." Liu Yiyi was very wronged and looked uneasy and pitiful under everyone's gaze.

"Yiyi, you can't say that. You clearly agreed to the exchange," Wang Yan said.

"Give it back! I don't want to waste any more words." At that moment, Ye Fan glanced at Liu Yunzhi, Wang Yan, and Li Changqing, and said, "My patience has run out. We're about to escape this danger; don't make things worse for yourselves!"