The tiger’s roar shook the heavens. Leaves were sent scattering in all directions, the tremendous howl reverberating through the mountains like rolling thunder — like floodwaters surging and crashing — draining the color from every face. It was coming from exactly the spot where they had rested.

Pang Bo and Zhang Ziling exchanged a glance. They knew that Liu Yinzhi and Li Changqing were finished. Cornered in the tiger’s den by the adult tiger returning from its hunt, there was no possible chance of survival — especially since a mother tiger nursing cubs was at her most ferocious and savage.

The faces of the others all went very pale. They had barely emerged from the Ancient Forbidden Land only to nearly encounter a massive predator. If they continued forward, who knew what else might await them. Looking back now, the desolate forbidden land had been terrifying at night, but at least during the day it hadn’t held so many dangers.

“Evading the Ancestral Crocodile, surviving peril after peril, traversing the Desolate universe — we finally arrived in a world teeming with life, only to lose our lives here. What a waste, what a pity.” Zhou Yi gazed toward the forest two or three li away and said these words.

The tiger’s roar was surely a consequence of Liu Yinzhi and Li Changqing’s presence. Thinking on this, everyone felt a chill run through them, and involuntarily a gory scene appeared before their minds — the ferocious tiger tearing apart three bodies, claws and gleaming white saber-like fangs dripping red, devouring flesh and blood. Just imagining such a terrible scene sent shivers down their spines.

“Move! Quickly!”

This was no place to linger — a ferocious tiger was settled here, and this was its territory. Only after rushing another four or five li did the group finally breathe a collective sigh of relief.

“Why is this stretch of forest so quiet? We couldn’t have wandered back into the Ancient Forbidden Land, could we?”

Towering ancient trees blotted out the sky and sun. The primeval mountain forest was silent — no birdsong, no beast howls, no butterflies or bees fluttering about. Every living creature seemed to have vanished without a trace.

The direction was correct, yet everyone felt uneasily that something was off, and they doubled their caution.

After walking roughly two thousand or so meters, the towering ancient trees gradually thinned, and a somewhat open expanse appeared before the group — a level, hard stretch of mountainous land that felt as solid underfoot as stepping on marble. Not a single blade of grass grew here, only great boulders.

“What’s that dark mass up ahead? What is it?”

“It seems to be… an enormous black lake.”

Massive boulders stretched across this land, having blocked the group’s view until now. Only after threading through a stretch of jumbled rocks could they make out what lay ahead — and everyone was stunned.

A vast lake lay before them, still as iron, without so much as a ripple. What was most shocking was its color — pitch-black, like ink, black in a way that made the skin crawl.

“Now I finally understand — there truly is such a thing as foul water in this world. That great black lake is deeply unsettling no matter how you look at it. Never in my life have I seen lake water so completely black.”

The great black lake was utterly dead — not a trace of life. What was more, the open mountain terrain surrounding it had become a barren wasteland; not even a weed could take root. The area seemed to be a zone where life itself was forbidden.

“It seems… it seems like there’s some kind of sound.” A female classmate’s voice trembled, her face going somewhat pale.

At this point, the others also began hearing a faint, elusive strange noise — very low and deep, like something moaning in pain.

Crack!

Suddenly, a shattering sound rang out — as though something hard and solid had split apart.

“There… over there!” Liu Yiyi’s face went pale as she pointed to the shore of the black lake, where a boulder more than ten meters long lay on its side.

Something seemed to be crouching behind the boulder, only part of its body visible. Its thick hide was cold and hard like pitch-black metal, with the quality and sheen of dark gold.

“What on earth is that?!”

“Never mind — let’s get away from here immediately!”

A massive black lake, barren hardened ground where nothing could grow — whatever lived in a place like this could be nothing benign.

Crack!

The shattering sound came again, and that deep moan seemed to grow more agonized. It appeared to be struggling — then suddenly it rolled over and slammed its body against the great boulder with a series of heavy thuds.

The boulder — easily seven or eight meters tall and over ten meters long — was sent toppling in a single blow, rolling into the pitch-black lake and sending up a spray of black waves.

Only then did the group finally get a clear look at the fearsome beast. It was no more than three meters long and less than one and a half meters tall — far smaller than they had imagined. And that was precisely what made it so astonishing: a three-meter body that could send a boulder over ten meters long and seven or eight meters tall crashing into a lake. The force was terrifying beyond words.

“What in the world is this thing?!”

No one in the group had ever seen a creature like it. No fur, no scales — it appeared as if cast from black molten iron, pitch-black all over with the gleam and texture of metal.

Less than three meters long, it looked like a massive black lump of iron — extremely solid, radiating incomparable power. At first glance it resembled a powerful bull, yet a closer look revealed it to be entirely different. Nine sharp horns grew from its head, each piercingly keen, flickering with a dark, ominous sheen. Moreover, it had five eyes, which opened and closed while flashing with a blood-red light. From its wide-open mouth protruded teeth over half a foot long, each like a dagger, gleaming coldly — grotesque and terrifying, exuding a murderous ferocity.

This was a monstrous beast unlike anything ever heard of or seen before. One look was enough to know it was savagely violent — simply gazing upon it from a distance set hearts pounding.

“It looks like it’s shedding its skin…” someone said in shock, their voice low.

Along the black beast’s back, a great split was slowly widening, revealing a portion of the newly grown body beneath — even blacker and more lustrous, as if forged from dark gold.

“Move quickly! While it’s shedding its shell, let’s get away from here!”

Like a cicada molting, this kind of growth occurring in a ferocious beast was truly strange and unsettling. It was fortunate that it was in the midst of transformation — otherwise, the group dared not imagine the terrifying consequences.

If the tiger that had roared like thunder just earlier were brought here, it would likely be as tame as a little kitten before this beast. Capable of effortlessly sending a boulder seven or eight meters tall and over ten meters long crashing into a lake — what this creature was truly capable of was beyond imagining.

The group escaped without incident, skirting around the great black lake. The low, agonized howl behind them gradually faded and finally disappeared.

Climbing over another low mountain and looking toward the distant peak, the structures there were growing ever more distinct — vast in scale, palace halls stretching on in endless succession, as if a celestial palace from the heavens had alighted in the mortal world.

“Why does my body feel hot…” one female classmate said to another beside her, a little embarrassed.

“I have the same feeling.”

In that instant, everyone noticed the abnormality in one another — every person’s skin had turned a terrifying shade of red, as if blood were about to seep through. Each person felt a scorching heat, as though a blazing fire were burning inside their body.

This was clearly not caused by the weather. Something was happening to their bodies. More and more, everyone felt a searing pain in their flesh and skin, as though they had been placed inside an oven and roasted.

“I… can’t bear it… this feels awful!” One female classmate crumpled to the ground in agony, crying out, “It hurts so much — my flesh feels like it’s shriveling up…!” She lost control of herself, tears and snot streaming down her face as she collapsed and thrashed about on the ground.

Then a second classmate, a third — unable to endure, their whole bodies scarlet red, thin threads of blood seeping from their skin, they fell to the ground and began writhing in pain.

“What is happening? What’s going on?!”

Everyone became aware of how serious the situation was. In that moment, no one could remain standing — nearly all collapsed to the ground, letting out cries of agony, as if flesh and blood were being peeled away, the entire body in pain like being cut with a blade.

“Aaaah…!” Finally someone could no longer bear it and began to scream and wail, rolling back and forth, leaving trails of blood behind them on the ground.

“I don’t want to die…!” someone screamed in terror.

This was a sudden catastrophe that no one could explain. No one knew why it was happening; no one understood their own condition. The only sensation was that of being slowly dismembered, as though subjected to death by a thousand cuts.

“Just let me die… I can’t stand it anymore…”

Struggling, sobbing, writhing, screaming — many were nearly in despair, shrieking hoarsely as the excruciating pain caused their minds to gradually grow hazy.

In the end, every person’s body became wreathed in a layer of bloodlike vapor — like crimson flames burning around them. Violent convulsions, agonized howls — this stretch of mountain terrain fell into chaos, startling the birds and beasts of the surrounding area into scattered flight.

It was a torment beyond human endurance — as though stranded in purgatory, subjected to the most wretched punishment the world had to offer. In the end, the agony caused everyone to lose consciousness; not a single person could remain mentally aware.

How much time passed, no one could tell. Eventually, the mountainous terrain gradually grew quiet, and the agonized moans faded.

Two hours later, Ye Fan was the first to awaken where he lay on his back amid the overgrowth, gazing up at a sky of deep, pure blue, while birdsong and the chirping of insects surrounded him. He sat up swiftly. No pain remained in his body — on the contrary, he felt mentally vigorous and thoroughly refreshed, as though filled with boundless energy. He felt as if he could tear a saber-toothed tiger apart with his bare hands.

But he quickly noticed something wrong. His clothes had grown too large — they hung loosely on him, completely ill-fitting. He pulled out his hands from his oversized sleeves, and the moment he saw them, even the usually composed Ye Fan let out a cry of shock. Were these really his palms? They were several sizes smaller, smooth and delicate — nothing like the hands of a grown adult.

Ye Fan jumped quickly to his feet. Everything felt utterly impossible to him — his clothes were wide and baggy, like a performer’s costume. Yet the clothes hadn’t grown larger; his body had grown smaller. At this moment, his body resembled that of a boy of eleven or twelve.

Not far away, Pang Bo roused himself, rubbing his bleary eyes. When he saw Ye Fan standing nearby, he was immediately startled. “Hey kid, who are you? Where did you come from — and damn it, why are you wearing Ye Fan’s clothes?!”

Even as he said this, he seemed to sense that something was wrong himself. He scrambled to his feet, and then — as if he had seen a ghost — let out a great shout.

“How did my clothes get so big — no, how did my body get so small?” He stared at Ye Fan in shock, then stammered, “You… you’re Ye Fan?” Even as he said it, he clapped a hand over his mouth, because his voice was growing more and more boyish — full of childlike immaturity.

Looking at Pang Bo not far away, Ye Fan was completely stunned. He was entirely a young, unripe boy — in appearance perhaps eleven or twelve years old. Faintly, though, the silhouette of the adult Pang Bo could still be made out.

“What happened to us?” Pang Bo came to Ye Fan’s side, excited and shouting. He was truly taken aback.

“I think… we may have undergone reverse aging — returned to youth.” Ye Fan was equally astonished; it was the only conclusion he could reach. The two of them looked thoroughly young and childlike now — worlds apart from how they had looked before.

“What in the hell — how does something this absurd happen to us?!” Pang Bo cried out in a frenzy. He truly could not make sense of why something this unbelievable had happened.

“Go quickly and check on the others.”

Ye Fan called him along and the two started up the mountain. Just moments ago they had tumbled tens of meters down the slope — luckily the terrain here was gentle and there were many trees growing on it, otherwise they would certainly have been in danger. One could imagine how violently they had writhed earlier. Even now, looking back on it, that pain still sent chills through them.

When they reached the top of the mountain, Ye Fan and Pang Bo immediately froze. Pang Bo cried out, “Who are all these tired-looking old men and old women?!”

What met their eyes nearly turned them to stone on the spot, sending wave after wave of shock through them.

More than ten figures lay scattered across the ground. Looking out across them was a sea of white heads — one after another, their skin wrinkled, withered beyond measure. Yet every one of these people was wearing clothing that Ye Fan and Pang Bo recognized. One could easily say these individuals looked seventy or eighty years old — aged beyond all recognition.

“They… they couldn’t be Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, Lin Jia, Li Xiaoman, and the others, could they?!”

In the blink of an eye, beauty had grown old — both Ye Fan and Pang Bo felt their mouths go dry. They stood atop the mountain like carved wood and clay statues.