Wang Ziwen was sitting not far away and, hearing a few sentences, couldn't help but ask Ye Fan, "What's going on?"
Ye Fan turned to Pang Bo and said, "Didn't you record it on your phone? Play it for everyone to hear."
At this moment, everyone noticed the situation and turned their attention to Ye Fan.
Pang Bo, understanding that if they were going to act, they needed to do so with reason, and ideally in front of everyone, had a grim expression as he said, "Liu Yunzhi, Li Changqing, and Wang Yan want to harm me and Ye Fan."
He became very angry as he continued, "These three ungrateful wolves! I've let them off time and time again, didn't hold it against them, but they don't know their place and still want to kill us!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was stunned. All eyes turned toward him, and they asked in confusion, "What happened? What's going on?"
Pang Bo pressed a few buttons on his phone, and soon a recording played.
"Damn, I can't swallow this! It can't end like this!" This was Li Changqing's voice.
Then, Liu Yunzhi's cold voice followed, saying, "Let him live for a couple more days, but I'll definitely kill him!"
"What? You... want to kill them both?" Li Changqing and Wang Yan sounded shocked.
"That's right! With them around, there's no me; with me around, there's no them!" Liu Yunzhi's voice, though recorded, made it clear that he was gritting his teeth.
"But we can't defeat that seemingly quiet barbarian, and with that big, bulky Pang Bo, we don't stand a chance," Li Changqing said, his voice filled with frustration and helplessness.
Liu Yunzhi sneered. "It's fine. My Vajra Pestle has gained a bit of divine power. I think after another night, it'll grow stronger. When the time comes, we can catch them off guard and kill them both in one go."
Li Changqing's voice became fierce: "Good, if that's the case, we have nothing to fear. We must kill them!"
"Wang Yan, you'll apologize to Liu Yiyi and lead her aside. I feel like her beads are not simple; they may still contain some residual divine power. It's a pity you messed up the exchange with her like this." Liu Yunzhi's voice sounded displeased.
"Alright!" Wang Yan's tone turned cold as she agreed to Liu Yunzhi's request.
Liu Yunzhi muttered to himself, "We can't act in front of everyone; that's the trouble. We need to plan this carefully."
"Smack!"
Pang Bo closed the phone and said, "Everyone heard that, right? These three ungrateful wolves want to kill me and Ye Fan. Don't blame us for not caring about past friendships."
At that moment, Ye Fan stepped forward without saying a word. Pang Bo quickly followed, and Zhang Ziling also hurried after them. The others all stood up and followed them into the woods.
When Li Changqing and Wang Yan saw Ye Fan and Pang Bo coming toward them, they couldn't help but feel nervous and afraid. Liu Yunzhi's face turned as dark as night.
"I've let you off time and time again and didn't hold it against you, but now you want to kill us? If I let you off again, I'll write my name backwards!" Pang Bo said angrily.
"You... you're talking nonsense!" Li Changqing broke out in cold sweat.
Wang Yan's face turned pale, and she panicked, "W-What are you talking about? I don't understand."
Pang Bo didn't say more, simply replaying the recording.
In that instant, Wang Yan and Li Changqing were both panicked, and Liu Yunzhi's face turned white. With the undeniable truth in front of them, they could no longer argue.
"What we said was just in the heat of the moment; it can't be taken seriously…" Li Changqing shouted, now completely terrified.
"In the heat of the moment? Do you think everyone here is three years old? We all understand exactly what's going on," Zhang Ziling, who usually remained silent, spoke coldly.
"Liu Yunzhi, how could you have such thoughts? This is truly foolish!" Wang Ziwen's face became very serious.
Lin Jia also shook her head and sighed, "We're all classmates. How could you be so cruel?"
"This is too much! Even your fellow classmates, stuck in this world with you, and you still want to kill them? Do you have no humanity?" Other people also spoke out, criticizing the three.
Finally, Zhou Yi frowned and said, "Does it really have to come to life and death between classmates? Hurry up and apologize to Ye Fan and Pang Bo…"
Liu Yunzhi and the others' faces turned as pale as ghosts, wishing they could disappear into the ground.
"Apologies aren't necessary. Words are meaningless. They can't be sincere or effective," Ye Fan glanced at Zhou Yi and then turned to face the others. "They've already had these thoughts. If I could still calmly face this, I'd be deceiving myself. There are people constantly trying to find ways to kill us, and I can't be on guard all the time."
With that, Ye Fan strode forward.
Liu Yunzhi's face went completely white, and without hesitation, he gripped his Vajra Pestle tightly. A trace of panic appeared in his eyes.
Wang Yan screamed, "W-What are you going to do?"
Li Changqing also looked scared and hurriedly urged Liu Yunzhi, "Quick, use the Vajra Pestle!"
They all knew that this time, Ye Fan wouldn't ignore them anymore. Once he acted, things would not end well.
Pang Bo followed as well, but Ye Fan stopped him, saying, "This time, I'll be the bad guy and go all the way with it!" He then grabbed the large bronze plaque of the Great Thunder Sound Temple from Pang Bo's hands.
Ye Fan held it with one hand and moved forward toward them.
"Y-You... don't come any closer!" Wang Yan screamed.
Ye Fan didn't even glance at her. He walked straight toward Liu Yunzhi and Li Changqing.
At that moment, Liu Yunzhi suddenly pushed Li Changqing in front of him, blocking him. He then swung the Vajra Pestle with all his might, shouting, "Die!"
"Bang!"
Ye Fan swung the bronze plaque of the Great Thunder Sound Temple, smashing it into Li Changqing, sending him flying a full four to five meters. The force was extraordinary.
Behind them, everyone was stunned. They realized Ye Fan truly lived up to his "barbarian" nickname. His strength was beyond impressive.
Pang Bo looked at Li Changqing, who had crashed to the ground, and teased, "This is your 'righteous Yunzhi'? At the critical moment, he pushed you out to take the hit. Such righteousness!"
Li Changqing felt immense pain on one side of his body, as if several bones had broken. He struggled to get up, but Pang Bo stepped on him, pinning him down, unable to move.
"Clang!"
At that moment, Ye Fan slammed the bronze plaque onto the Vajra Pestle. Though Liu Yunzhi's Vajra Pestle emitted a faint divine light, it could not withstand the tremendous force!
The bronze plaque didn't release any light, but Ye Fan's strength was so immense that it felt like a mountain shaking with every swing.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Three loud metallic sounds echoed, and Liu Yunzhi was knocked to the ground, kneeling in front of Ye Fan. His arms appeared to have broken, twitching uncontrollably. The Vajra Pestle rolled aside, and Ye Fan picked it up.
At that moment, Zhang Ziling approached and brought Wang Yan close.
"Y-You… what do you want?" Liu Yunzhi's face turned ghostly pale, trapped beneath the heavy plaque, kneeling in front of Ye Fan.
Ye Fan smiled faintly and said, "What do I want? I want peace from now on, without constantly being targeted."
"You… don't!" Liu Yunzhi screamed in terror, shouting to the others, "Everyone, we're classmates! Don't let him do this!"
"Have you ever heard of an ancient punishment? It was designed for vicious criminals—being slowly killed by huge stones or cliffs."
"You… don't!" Liu Yunzhi screamed in fear, but he couldn't resist. Ye Fan lifted him effortlessly, as if he were a chicken, and walked out of the woods, dragging him toward the stone wall inscribed with the ancient words "荒古禁地" (Ancient Forbidden Land).
Pang Bo and Zhang Ziling followed, grabbing Li Changqing and Wang Yan, and coming along.
"Don't, help! Save me!" The three of them screamed in terror.
"Ye Fan, this isn't right. They've wronged us, but they're still classmates. You can't just deal with their lives so recklessly," Zhou Yi spoke up, blocking their way.
"Yeah, this is too much. They've made mistakes, but they shouldn't die for it. Give them another chance," three or four others tried to intervene.
Ye Fan turned to face them and said, "I really didn't want to do this. But giving them a chance to live is like opening a path to death for myself."