The tiger's roar shook the sky, leaves flew wildly, and the tremendous roar echoed through the mountains like rumbling thunder, or like a raging flood, changing everyone's expression, it came from the place where they had just rested.
Pang Bo and Zhang Ziling exchanged a glance; they knew Liu Yunzhi and Li Changqing were finished, trapped in the tiger's den by the returning adult tiger, they had no chance of survival, especially since a mother tiger nursing her cubs is the most ferocious of all.
Everyone else's face turned pale. They had just escaped the Forbidden Ancient Realm and now nearly ran into a large predator. Who knew what else they might encounter ahead? Thinking back, though the Forbidden Ancient Realm was terrifying at night, at least during the day it wasn't this dangerous.
"To have escaped the crocodile ancestor, endured countless perils, crossed the desolate cosmos to finally reach a world full of life, only to die here, it's really not worth it and truly a pity," Zhou Yi said, gazing toward the forest two or three miles away.
The tiger's roar was clearly triggered by Liu Yunzhi and Li Changqing. Thinking of this made everyone shiver. A gory scene appeared in their minds, ferocious tigers ripping bodies apart, claws and sabre-like fangs drenched in blood, gnawing on flesh. The mere thought chilled their spines.
"Let's go, quickly!"
They couldn't stay here. This was the tiger's territory. After rushing another four or five miles, everyone finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Why is this forest so quiet? Don't tell me we've wandered back into the Forbidden Ancient Realm?"
Towering ancient trees blocked out the sun. The primeval forest was deathly silent, no birds sang, no animals cried, no bees or butterflies fluttered. All wildlife seemed to have vanished.
Their direction wasn't wrong, but everyone felt something was off and became even more cautious.
After walking more than 2,000 meters, the giant trees gradually thinned out. A relatively open area appeared before them, flat, hard terrain. Walking on it felt like stepping on marble. Not a single blade of grass grew, only massive rocks scattered the land.
"Why is it so dark up ahead, what's that?"
"It looks like… a huge black lake."
The boulders had blocked their line of sight. Only now, after passing through the stone piles, could they clearly see what lay ahead, and everyone was stunned.
A vast lake stretched out in front of them, silent like a slab of iron, without the slightest ripple. The most shocking thing was its color, pure black, like ink, so dark it was disturbing.
"Now I finally understand, there really is such a thing as foul water. This black lake just feels wrong. I've never seen water so pitch black before."
The black lake was deathly still, devoid of any signs of life. Moreover, the surrounding terrain had become barren, no grass, no vegetation. It was as if this place were a dead zone, a forbidden zone for life.
"I think… I think I hear something," a female classmate said, her voice trembling and face pale.
At that moment, the others also heard a faint, strange sound, very low and almost inaudible, like a groan of pain.
Crack!
Suddenly, there was a cracking sound, like something hard shattering.
"There… over there!" Liu Yiyi's face turned white as she pointed toward the edge of the black lake, where a massive boulder, over ten meters long, lay.
Something seemed to be crouched behind it, with only part of its body visible. Its thick skin was dark and metallic, hard and cold like black metal, with the luster of black gold.
"What is that?!" Everyone was stunned.
"Forget it, just run!"
A massive black lake, barren rocky terrain, whatever lived in such a place could not be a friendly creature.
Crack!
Another shattering sound rang out, and the groaning grew more pained. The creature seemed to be struggling and began to slam its body against the boulder.
The enormous rock, at least 7–8 meters tall and over 10 meters long, was flipped over and rolled into the ink-black lake with a splash, sending waves surging.
Only then did everyone see the beast clearly. It was just under three meters long and less than 1.5 meters tall, not as massive as they had imagined, but that only made it more terrifying. A creature so small had flipped a boulder over 10 meters long and 7–8 meters tall, that strength was astonishing.
"What kind of creature is that?!"
None of them had ever seen such a beast. It had no fur, no scales, its body looked like it had been cast from molten black iron, pitch black and gleaming with metallic sheen.
It was under three meters long and looked like a solid block of black iron, robust and immensely powerful. At a glance, it resembled a strong ox, but upon closer inspection it was nothing like one. It had nine sharp horns on its head, all glistening darkly, and five eyes, with blood-red light flashing as they opened and closed. Its wide mouth revealed fangs over half a foot long, like a row of daggers, gleaming coldly, terrifyingly fierce, exuding a murderous aura.
This was a terrifying beast the likes of which no one had ever heard of or seen before. One look and it was clear, utterly savage. Even from a distance, it made everyone's hearts pound with fear.
"It looks like it's shedding…" someone said in shock, speaking in a low voice.
There was a large split down its back, slowly tearing open to reveal a newly grown body inside, blacker and shinier than before, like it was forged from black gold.
"Let's go, while it's shedding its skin, let's get away from here!"
It was like a cicada molting. For a beast, this kind of transformation was strange and eerie. Luckily, it was in the middle of shedding. Otherwise, no one dared imagine the consequences.
Compared to this thing, even that roaring tiger from earlier would probably look like a house cat. A creature that could casually knock a massive rock into the lake, who knew how dangerous it really was?
They escaped safely, skirting around the black lake. Behind them, the low, pained groaning gradually faded until it disappeared completely.
After crossing another low hill, they looked toward the distant peak. The buildings there were now clearly visible, vast in scale, a sprawling palace complex like a celestial palace fallen to earth.
"Why do I feel hot all over…" a female classmate said awkwardly to another nearby girl.
"I feel the same."
At that moment, everyone realized something was wrong, their skin had turned frighteningly red, as if about to bleed. Each person felt unbearably hot, like a fire was burning inside them.
It wasn't due to the weather, their bodies were undergoing a change. The burning pain grew more intense, like they were being roasted in an oven.
"I… can't take it anymore… it hurts!" one girl crouched down in agony, crying out, "It hurts so much… like all my flesh is drying out…" She couldn't control herself, tears and snot ran freely. She collapsed, rolling on the ground in pain.
Then a second, third person collapsed, bodies red, faint traces of blood seeping from their skin, rolling and groaning in agony.
"What's happening? What's going on?!"
Everyone realized how serious it was. No one could remain standing, almost all collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain, feeling like their flesh was being stripped away. It was like being cut to pieces.
"AHHH…" someone finally broke down, rolling and howling, leaving bloody streaks on the ground.
"I don't want to die…" someone shouted in terror.
This was a sudden catastrophe. No one knew why it was happening or what was wrong with their bodies, only that it felt like being slowly dismembered.
"Just let me die already… this is unbearable…"
Struggling, crying, writhing, screaming, many fell into despair, shouting as the pain blurred their minds.
Eventually, a bloody mist surrounded each body, like a red flame burning them alive. The intense suffering scared off all the nearby birds and beasts.
It was inhuman torture, like being in hell, experiencing the cruelest torment. In the end, the pain knocked everyone unconscious. Not a single person stayed awake.
No one knew how much time had passed. Only after a while did the mountain become quiet again. The groans of pain had faded.
Two hours later, Ye Fan, lying face-up in the grass, was the first to wake. The sky was a clear blue, birds and insects chirped around him. He sat up quickly.
There was no pain anymore. In fact, he felt amazing, his spirit was full, his body energized, like he could tear apart a sabre-toothed tiger with his bare hands.
But he soon noticed something strange, his clothes had become too big, hanging loosely on him. He reached out through the oversized sleeves and was shocked: were these really his hands? They were much smaller, smooth and delicate, not like an adult's hands at all.
Ye Fan stood up quickly, stunned by how surreal everything felt. His clothes now looked like a costume worn by a performer. It wasn't the clothes that grew, it was his body that had shrunk. He looked like an 11- or 12-year-old boy.
At that moment, Pang Bo woke up nearby. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he saw Ye Fan and immediately shouted in surprise: "Hey, you little punk! Who are you? Where'd you come from? Damn it, why are you wearing Ye Fan's clothes?!"
Then he realized something was wrong. He rolled over and sat up, then leapt to his feet and screamed like he'd seen a ghost.
"Why are my clothes so big? No, why is my body so small?!" He stared at Ye Fan in shock, stammering, "Y-you're Ye Fan?" Then he covered his mouth, his voice had become young and boyish.
Ye Fan stared at Pang Bo in a daze. What stood before him was a tender, boyish version of Pang Bo, around 11 or 12 years old, though he still somewhat resembled his adult self.
"What's happening to us?" Pang Bo ran over to Ye Fan, shouting in panic. He was totally overwhelmed.
"I think… we've turned young again," Ye Fan said, just as baffled. It was the only explanation he could think of. Both of them now looked like children, completely different from before.
"Damn it! How can something so absurd happen to us?!" Pang Bo shouted in disbelief, unable to wrap his head around what had just occurred.
"Let's go check on the others."
Ye Fan called him to climb the hill. Earlier, they had rolled down dozens of meters. Luckily, the slope was gentle and filled with trees. Otherwise, it could have been fatal. Thinking back on how violently they'd been struggling, the memory of that pain still sent chills through their spines.
When they reached the hilltop, Ye Fan and Pang Bo froze. Pang Bo shouted, "Who are these wrinkled old geezers and hags?!"
What they saw nearly petrified them, they felt their hearts pounding in fear.
Dozens of bodies lay scattered across the ground, all old and wrinkled, their skin sagging, their hair white. But they were all wearing familiar clothes. They looked to be in their seventies or eighties, completely unrecognizable in their aged state.
"Don't tell me… that's Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, Lin Jia, Li Xiaoman…?!"
In a blink, beauty turned to decay. The two of them felt their mouths dry out, standing like statues atop the mountain.