Chapter 31: Thrown into the Tiger's Den

**Chapter Thirty-One: Thrown into the Tiger's Den**

Wang Ziwen, who was sitting nearby, faintly overheard a few words and couldn't help but ask Ye Fan, "What happened?"

Ye Fan turned to look at Pang Bo and said, "Didn't you record it on your phone? Play it for everyone to hear."

By this point, everyone else had noticed the situation and was looking towards Ye Fan.

Pang Bo knew very well that even if they were going to act, they needed to have a legitimate reason, preferably revealed in front of everyone. His face was grim as he said, "Liu Yunzhi, Li Changqing, and Wang Yan want to harm Ye Fan and me."

He continued, visibly enraged, "These three heartless ingrates! We've let them off time and again, not bothering with them, but they don't know what's good for them and actually want to kill us!"

These words immediately surprised everyone. Their gazes converged on him as they asked, utterly bewildered, "What's wrong? What exactly happened?"

Pang Bo pressed a few keys on his phone, and a recording began to play.

"Damn it, I can't let this go! We absolutely cannot let it slide!" This was Li Changqing's voice.

Then Liu Yunzhi's grim voice emerged, saying, "Let him live for two more days. I will definitely kill him!"

"What? You... you want to kill both of them?" Li Changqing and Wang Yan sounded very surprised.

"Exactly. It's either them or me, me or them!" Even on the recording, Liu Yunzhi's gnashing teeth were evident.

"But we can't beat that seemingly quiet barbarian at all, and that annoying Pang Bo is ridiculously strong. There's no way," Li Changqing's voice conveyed a mix of resentment and helplessness.

Liu Yunzhi sneered, "It doesn't matter. A trace of divine power has appeared in my Vajra Pestle. I think it will grow stronger overnight. Then, if we catch them off guard, we can easily kill both of them."

Li Changqing's ruthless voice came from the phone, saying, "Alright, if that's the case, what is there to fear? We must kill them!"

"Wang Yan, you apologize to Liu Yiyi then and lead her aside. I always feel that her prayer beads are not simple; they might also contain a bit of residual divine power. It's a shame that I asked you to exchange them with her, and it turned out like this," Liu Yunzhi's voice was filled with dissatisfaction.

"Alright!" Finally, Wang Yan's tone also cooled, and she agreed to Liu Yunzhi's request.

Liu Yunzhi muttered to himself in a low, hoarse voice, "We can't act in front of others. That's a problem; we need to plan carefully."

"Click."

Pang Bo closed his phone and said, "Everyone heard that, right? These three ungrateful jackals want to kill Ye Fan and me. This time, don't blame us for disregarding our friendship as classmates."

At that moment, Ye Fan strode forward without saying a word. Pang Bo followed closely, and Zhang Ziling quickly caught up. Everyone else stood up and followed them into the woods.

When Li Changqing and Wang Yan saw Ye Fan and Pang Bo striding towards them, they were immediately terrified, having guilty consciences. Liu Yunzhi's face, meanwhile, was utterly grim.

"We've let you off repeatedly, not bothering with you, yet you want to kill us both. If we let you off this time, you can write my name, Pang Bo, backward!"

"You... you're talking nonsense!" Li Changqing broke out in a cold sweat on the spot.

Wang Yan's face was extremely pale as she frantically protested, "You... what are you talking about? I don't understand."

Pang Bo didn't say much; he simply played the recording again.

At that moment, Wang Yan and Li Changqing panicked instantly, and Liu Yunzhi's face also began to turn pale. Faced with such undeniable evidence, they had no defense.

"We were just speaking out of anger; how can you take that seriously..." Li Changqing cried out, now utterly terrified.

"Speaking out of anger? Do you think the classmates here are three-year-olds? Everyone understands what's going on," Zhang Ziling, usually a quiet person, said coldly.

"Liu Yunzhi, you went too far. How could you harbor such thoughts? This is truly foolish!" Wang Ziwen's expression was very serious.

Lin Jia also shook her head and sighed, "We're all classmates. How could you be so vicious?"

"This is too much! You even want to harm classmates who are stranded in this world with you. Do you have any humanity left?" Others chimed in, all rebuking and criticizing the three individuals before them.

Finally, Zhou Yi frowned and said, "Is it really necessary for classmates to be at each other's throats like this? Hurry up and apologize to Ye Fan and Pang Bo..."

Liu Yunzhi and the other two turned ashen, wishing they could disappear into the ground at that moment.

"No need for apologies. They're insincere; what good would that do?" Ye Fan glanced at Zhou Yi, then turned to the others and said, "They've already harbored such intentions. If I could still face them calmly, I'd be deceiving myself. Someone constantly wants to find an opportunity to kill us. I can't be on guard all day, can I?"

With that, Ye Fan strode forward.

Liu Yunzhi's face immediately went white, devoid of all color. He instantly tightened his grip on the Vajra Pestle in his hand, a flicker of panic in his eyes.

Wang Yan cried out in alarm, "You... what are you going to do?"

Li Changqing also showed fear, his demeanor very flustered as he urged Liu Yunzhi, "Quick, use the Vajra Pestle!"

All three of them knew that Ye Fan would not ignore their presence this time, and once he made a move, it wouldn't end well.

Pang Bo followed, but Ye Fan stopped him, saying, "This time, I'll be the villain, all the way!" With that, he took the Great Thunder Sound Temple bronze plaque from Pang Bo's hand.

Ye Fan advanced, holding the plaque in one hand.

"You... don't come closer!" Wang Yan shrieked.

Ye Fan ignored her and first walked towards Liu Yunzhi and Li Changqing.

At that moment, Liu Yunzhi suddenly shoved Li Changqing, who was beside him, towards Ye Fan, using him as a shield. Then, holding the Vajra Pestle, he followed up, swinging it forcefully and shouting, "Die!"

"Bang!"

Ye Fan swung the Great Thunder Sound Temple bronze plaque with one hand, striking Li Changqing as if hitting a scarecrow. Li Changqing was sent flying several meters through the air, demonstrating the immense power behind the blow.

Behind them, the onlookers were secretly astonished, realizing that Ye Fan truly deserved the nickname "barbarian" due to his astonishing strength.

Pang Bo looked at Li Changqing, who lay on the ground, and taunted, "Is this the 'righteous Yunzhi' you spoke of? Pushing you forward to block a knife at a critical moment – how righteous indeed!"

Li Changqing felt excruciating pain throughout half of his body, as if several bones were broken. He struggled to get up, but Pang Bo stepped forward and pinned him down with a foot, making it impossible for him to move.

"Clang!"

Just then, Ye Fan swung the Great Thunder Sound Temple bronze plaque and slammed it heavily onto the Vajra Pestle. A faint divine glow emanated from Liu Yunzhi's hand, but it was utterly incapable of withstanding such immense force!

The Great Thunder Sound Temple bronze plaque in Ye Fan's hand did not emit any light, but his strength was boundless. When he swung it, it felt as if a copper mountain was vibrating.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

After three successive metallic tremors, Liu Yunzhi was slammed to the ground by Ye Fan, kneeling there. His arms appeared broken, convulsing uncontrollably. The Vajra Pestle rolled away and was picked up by Ye Fan.

At this point, Zhang Ziling walked over and brought Wang Yan closer.

"You... what do you want?" Liu Yunzhi's face was chalk-white. He knelt before Ye Fan, pinned by the heavy bronze plaque.

Hearing this, Ye Fan smiled faintly and said, "What do I want? I want peace of mind in the future, to no longer be targeted."

"You... what are you going to do?" Liu Yunzhi was completely panicked, shouting towards the crowd not far away, "We're all classmates, don't let him do anything rash..."

"Have you heard of an ancient punishment, specially designed for vicious criminals, where they are thrown to their deaths against large rocks or cliff faces?"

"You... no, don't!" Liu Yunzhi shrieked in terror, but he was powerless to resist. Ye Fan lifted him with one hand, like a struggling chick, and carried him out of the woods to the stone cliff etched with the four ancient characters: "Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land."

Pang Bo and Zhang Ziling, each holding onto Li Changqing and Wang Yan, also followed.

"No, help!" All three screamed in terror.

"Ye Fan, isn't this too much? Even if they're wrong, they're still our classmates. You can't just rashly decide their fate," Zhou Yi said, his expression displeased, as he tried to intervene.

"That's right, don't do this. After all, these are three human lives. Even if they're wrong, they shouldn't be killed. Give them another chance to change," three or four others also chimed in, urging him to reconsider.

Ye Fan turned to face the crowd and said, "Honestly, I really don't want to do this. But giving them a way out would be like paving a path to my own death."

Suddenly, Ye Fan paused. He saw a cave in the stone cliff, and inside, two tiger cubs, their bodies covered in stripes, were snarling at him. Although they were only about a foot long, they already had the ferocious aura of beasts.

Sabre-toothed tigers!

Ye Fan was startled. This species had long been extinct on Earth, yet he was seeing them today. Although they appeared very young, their sharp, elongated fangs glinted menacingly.

This was a sabre-toothed tiger's den. The adult tigers were out hunting; otherwise, the group would likely be in danger.

At this moment, besides Zhou Yi's plea, others also spoke up, saying, "Ye Fan, don't be impulsive. Give them another chance. Killing a classmate doesn't sound good..."

After clearly seeing everything inside the cave, Ye Fan turned to face everyone and said, "I have always overlooked their actions, but they continually harbor malicious intentions, trying to kill Pang Bo and me. What I'm doing is purely for self-preservation. However, since you all don't want to see classmates harm each other, I will listen to you and give them another chance."

Hearing this, Pang Bo immediately protested, crying out, "Give them another chance? Are we just going to wait for them to kill us?!"

Ye Fan shook his head, giving Pang Bo a meaningful look, and said, "Tie the three of them up first and leave them here for a while. We can't let these three dangerous individuals travel with us."

Although Pang Bo was reluctant, he understood Ye Fan well. Seeing the meaningful look in his eyes, he knew Ye Fan had a plan and said nothing more.

Liu Yunzhi, held by Ye Fan, hadn't seen the two tiger cubs in the cave behind him, so he naturally didn't know why Ye Fan had changed his mind. He kept feeling fortunate, believing he would finally survive.

Soon, Liu Yunzhi, Li Changqing, and Wang Yan were tied up securely with their own belts and clothes torn into strips. Finally, at Ye Fan's insistence, their mouths were also gagged.

Ye Fan lifted Liu Yunzhi and carried him to the cave entrance, then threw him directly inside. When Pang Bo and Zhang Ziling arrived, they were stunned: the two young tigers inside were snarling, revealing that this was, in fact, a tiger's den!

Pang Bo's reluctance instantly vanished, and he almost cried out loud. He finally understood why Ye Fan had changed his mind. Throwing the three into a tiger's den was the most fitting punishment; adult tigers were surely nearby and would likely return soon.

"Muffled cries..." Liu Yunzhi's face turned green instantly. He desperately tried to scream, but only muffled sounds escaped, unable to form any words.

Pang Bo and Zhang Ziling followed suit, throwing Li Changqing and Wang Yan into the tiger's den as well.

At the suggestion of Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and Zhang Ziling, the group quickly set off, as it was truly unwise to linger there. They had only walked two or three *li* when earth-shattering roars echoed from the direction they had just left...