“You all witnessed what just happened. Everyone here knows exactly what went on.” Ye Fan held the ancient bronze lamp in his left hand and the broken fish drum in his right. He did not retreat — instead, he walked several steps forward to meet them, saying: “Since I have already taken the fish drum, there is no chance I will return it.”
The divine light streaming from the ancient bronze lamp was as brilliant as sunlight, as pure as moonlight — like a length of sacred rainbow light captured, crystalline and gleaming, beam after lustrous beam. It was perfectly in harmony with Ye Fan, the two as one, as though fated to be together, making him appear otherworldly — like an exiled immortal descended from the heavens in divine robes.
The fish drum in his right hand was broken, and at this moment it was dim and dark — yet everyone had just witnessed its thunderous might: purple lightning crossing in every direction, clap after clap of startling thunder. Now that it too was in Ye Fan’s hands, people could not help but feel wary.
“Li Changqing truly should not have spoken carelessly and caused someone else to develop covetous desires — leading to such an unpleasant incident — but Ye Fan, you taking away his life-protecting object is also genuinely going too far.” Liu Yinzhi drew near, the sacred vajra staff in his hand gleaming brilliantly — giving people a sense of something weighty and refined, carrying great presence.
Flanking him were one male and one female classmate who had, from the very start, tried to stop Pang Bo from acting and had defended Li Changqing. Now both followed Liu Yinzhi forward.
“Ye Fan, I understand your anger. Anyone who experienced something like this would be burning with fury — but we should leave more room for forgiveness.” The female classmate spoke very calmly, as though standing on the side of reason, fair and impartial, completely projecting a righteous posture. She said: “In a situation like this, stripping him of his life-protecting object — we all know what that means. You can’t be so extreme.”
At the tip of her finger was an old, battered bronze bell, seemingly covered in years of dust, dull and lightless. Ordinary in appearance as it looked, one could not help but notice it. As she spoke, her slender fingers moved unconsciously, and occasionally one or two tinkling notes would ring out.
The male classmate at Liu Yinzhi’s side also spoke: “We all should carry a forgiving heart. We all met and came to know each other over four years, and now face this same disaster together — we should be pulling together, supporting one another. Let this unpleasant matter go, and don’t dwell on it further. Ye Fan, please return his life-protecting fish drum to him. Surely you don’t want to watch him lose his life.”
In his lowered right hand was a rust-covered incense burner — no bigger than a palm, somewhat chipped and with parts of its wall broken away — yet it carried an ancient, natural air.
Three people stood together, and each had come away with something from the Great Thunder Sound Temple — each holding an artifact left behind by gods. Naturally, their words carried considerable weight at this moment.
“Clang!”
Pang Bo stepped forward, then planted the Great Thunder Sound Temple bronze plaque heavily on the ground. He glared at them, instantly halting those few people in their tracks. “You really do talk a fine game,” he said. “I’ve noticed you have quite a talent for turning truth on its head. First you need to understand what just happened; second you need to know that a person should have some moral backbone! Li Changqing and someone else tried to harm Ye Fan — how did that become ‘Ye Fan not being magnanimous enough’? What kind of logic is that? How does Ye Fan end up being the wrongdoer? Someone tried to kill him, and Ye Fan took away the thing they were relying on — what exactly is wrong with that? According to what you’re saying, Ye Fan looks like the villain, while Li Changqing seems like he did nothing wrong. Stop standing there putting on that sanctimonious act. It makes me sick to look at!”
At this moment, Pang Bo’s radiance had still not faded. The ancient characters “Great Thunder Sound Temple” on the bronze plaque blazed with light surging to the heavens, the voice of Buddhist teaching resounding like thunder, with faint ethereal chanting drifting in and out. His entire person was like a blazing sun — radiating tremendous presence.
The moment those words were spoken, the faces of the male and female classmates who had just been speaking changed drastically.
“We’re not saying Ye Fan is wrong — we only want him, out of classmate feeling, not to take Li Changqing’s fish drum, so he can protect himself and stay alive.”
Entirely sidestepping the main issue — not a word about how Ye Fan had nearly been pushed off the five-colored altar into the storm — focusing instead on how what Ye Fan was doing amounted to causing a classmate’s death.
After listening to everything they said, Ye Fan smiled mildly and said: “Actually, there is no need for the three of you to worry. I have no desire to make things difficult for him.”
His body was enveloped in divine radiance, giving him an air of quiet, hazy serenity. The dust of the world seemed unable to touch the area around him, making everyone who looked at him feel a sense of peace and calm.
“However, I do need to make a correction: it was Li Changqing and someone else who nearly cost me my life, not — as you keep repeating — that I am trying to take his life. This is something everyone here witnessed with their own eyes.” Ye Fan swept a glance over the three of them — Liu Yinzhi, the female classmate, and the male classmate — and then said: “Many classmates here found nothing in the Great Thunder Sound Temple and are still alive and well. Why? Because just now we all shared the sacred artifacts of the gods among us. By taking Li Changqing’s fish drum, I simply don’t want him to have a crutch to use for harmful purposes — he was able to put someone up to snatching things from me, and he can just as easily develop those intentions toward others. As for his safety — all of you need not worry. We were classmates together; we can share the sacred objects among us, support one another, and get through this without incident. Of course, if the three of you are unwilling to share your bronze bell, incense burner, and vajra staff with him, then let him stay close by my side. I will absolutely not neglect our classmate bond.”
Ye Fan first identified the root cause of the matter — striking straight at the heart of the issue. Then he brought up sharing the divine artifacts, and while he said little more on the matter, those around could naturally recall that it was his proposal not long ago that had allowed many people to escape death. After that, he lightly and effortlessly took a jab at Liu Yinzhi and those two classmates, touching precisely on everything that needed to be touched on, leaving them with nothing to say.
Zhou Yi also stood at the front. Apart from his initial opposition to Ye Fan taking the fish drum, he had been quietly listening throughout the whole process without expressing any opinion — and only now spoke again: “Li Changqing was indeed very much in the wrong. No matter how he were dealt with, it would not be undeserved. But Ye Fan, isn’t it a bit wasteful for you to hold two divine artifacts? Bear in mind that there are still many classmates present without even a single damaged item.”
Zhou Yi came from a family of some standing, yet had never given anyone the impression of being arrogant. He was always refined and easygoing. Now that he had raised this point, it immediately made Pang Bo, beside him, furrow his brow — though he could find no way to refute it.
“I was already willing to share the bronze lamp in my hand with everyone. Now that I’ve taken this fish drum, naturally what I consider must begin from this angle as well.” Ye Fan smiled and beckoned to a male classmate behind him: “Zhang Ziling — it’s yours. If something dangerous happens, be sure to remember to share it with those around you.”
This classmate named Zhang Ziling had been standing behind Ye Fan and Pang Bo all along. The bond between them had been forged on the football field back in their school days — closer than with most classmates. Although Zhang Ziling had not acted as Pang Bo had, he was clearly on Ye Fan’s side.
Ye Fan’s decision came suddenly. Zhou Yi’s lips moved, but he said nothing.
Liu Yinzhi frowned immediately. The female classmate at his side spoke up in instant opposition: “Among the people present, quite a few male classmates found something in the Great Thunder Sound Temple. In contrast, very few female classmates found any Buddhist artifacts. I think it should go to a female classmate.” As she said it, she gave a meaningful look toward a female classmate behind her.
Pang Bo showed a mocking expression and said: “We’re all classmates — why distinguish between this one and that one? Anyone holding a divine artifact should share with others. What difference does it make who receives it — or are you saying you’re not willing to help others?” He selectively ignored the main point, choosing instead to highlight the aggressive aspect of her words and throw her own logic back at her. He wore a sardonic smile, and it instantly left that female classmate sputtering in irritation, her face alternating between green and white. “Don’t twist my words!” she said.
Zhang Ziling stepped forward naturally and took the fish drum Ye Fan offered. Neither of the two said anything — everything was understood without words.
Ye Fan directly ignored Liu Yinzhi, not sparing him so much as a glance, and asked Zhou Yi: “Zhou Yi, what do you think?”
“I have no objections. We are stranded out here together, and we should be helping one another. I hope no further unpleasant things happen.” Zhou Yi said these words in a perfectly calm tone, and after that said nothing more.
The other classmates nearby had taken all of this in. They all felt the subtle undercurrents of the situation just now — on the surface seemingly calm, yet there had been several moments of invisible confrontation. All of it had been dissolved by Ye Fan with effortless ease.
It brought to mind who Ye Fan had been in their school days. He had always been like this — when calmness was called for, he was perfectly relaxed and unhurried; when it was time to be sharp, he never held back. He never started trouble, but was never afraid when trouble found him.
Pang Bo rested his hand on the Great Thunder Sound Temple bronze plaque and looked toward Liu Yinzhi and the others up ahead: “Ye Fan is letting go of what that person did to him — but there are things I cannot leave unsaid. What goes around comes around. By now I think none of us can deny that gods exist. A person should carry themselves with integrity and not do things that can’t bear the light of day!”
This was nakedly slapping the faces of those up ahead — yet left them with nothing to say, because he stood on the side of what was right.
Liu Yinzhi, unruffled as still water, showed no sign of embarrassment. He simply nodded and said: “Well said. We must be sure to prevent this kind of thing from happening again in the future.”
Lin Jia and Wang Ziwen stood at the back, both maintaining a neutral stance. Neither had expressed any opinion during the entire process, and now spoke up one after the other.
“To avoid more unpleasant incidents, I think we should all sit down and have a proper discussion.”
“Right now we should decide how those who found something in the Great Thunder Sound Temple should help others, and how many people each person should look after.”
As for Li Xiaoman — she had said nothing from beginning to end. She watched Ye Fan in the near distance, watching him dissolve all of it with composure and ease. Her eyes were very calm — not a trace of any reaction. She had not supported either side.
Beside her, Kai De had only a passing grasp of Mandarin, and only now, at this late moment, had he fully grasped what had happened. The foreigner was quietly clicking his tongue in disbelief.
“Crack!”
Suddenly, a shattering sound rang out. Everyone was startled. The dome protecting the five-colored altar had been pierced through — something had drilled its way inside. Everyone turned to look in that direction.
A streak of black light, blindingly fast, pierced through a male classmate’s forehead with a dull thud. A spray of blood burst outward. The male classmate’s eyes flew wide open, and he fell backward to the ground without another sound.
If not for the dome, that terrifying thing would have been virtually silent and invisible — completely undetectable. Thinking back to the classmates who had been struck down in the dark just a short while ago, everyone’s hearts and guts turned cold. That streak of black light had been concealed in the darkness — it would have been impossible to detect.
The appearance of the black light was as good as announcing that the god of death had returned!
Screams of panic rang out one after another. The altar fell into chaos. Those without divine artifacts frantically lunged toward Liu Yinzhi, Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, and the others, seizing hold of them and refusing to let go — clinging to the Buddhist artifacts together.
“Roarrr—!” Suddenly, from within the storm came a sound that made one’s very soul shudder — shaking the heavens and earth, crushing even the thunderous sandstorm beneath it.
“That’s coming from the Great Thunder Sound Temple…”
In that moment, many people went pale. They had identified the direction of the sound — it came from precisely where the Great Thunder Sound Temple had stood.
“The Great Thunder Sound Temple is already destroyed. Could there be something sealed beneath it that’s breaking free…”
The moment Pang Bo voiced those words, it made many people’s scalps tingle with horror.