As soon as the call connected, a stream of vicious profanities came flooding through the line.
"You motherf***er, are you looking to die? Who gave you the right to bring me up in the group chat?"
"You think you can mess with me, Chen Zhenghao? You little bastard, looks like you've got a death wish!"
"I've got a hundred ways to make sure you can't stay in this city. You believe that?"
Chen Zhenghao was a well-known local thug in Tianhai City, with a few hundred men under him. Rumor had it he had once been involved in several homicide cases.
Because of this, everyone in the neighborhood avoided him. No one dared provoke him.
To assert dominance, Chen Zhenghao had a brutal style—anyone who even slightly offended him had to pay a heavy price.
This was what he called "a social man's pride."
So even though Zhang Ye had only mentioned him once in the neighborhood group chat, Chen Zhenghao took it as a provocation.
From the other end of the call, he continued to roar, "You really want to die, huh? You've got a big mouth! Using my name to act tough?"
Zhang Ye certainly wasn't the type to take abuse lying down. He sneered coldly and snapped back, "What kind of trash do you think you are?"
"Stop putting on a show, you useless thug. You're nothing but a waste of space. Bark all you want, you dog!"
Letting loose this verbal barrage made Zhang Ye feel extremely satisfied.
This was the man who had led others into his home in his previous life and caused his death—Zhang Ye had been holding in this rage for a long time!
On the other end, Chen Zhenghao hadn't expected Zhang Ye to talk back.
Furious beyond belief, he spewed even more vulgarities.
Zhang Ye cut him off coldly, "You're just a useless scumbag. All you know is how to bark. Who are you trying to scare? Go eat sh*t!"
And with that, Zhang Ye hung up and blocked him.
The feeling of cursing someone out and then immediately blocking them was immensely satisfying. Just imagining Chen Zhenghao raging on the other side made Zhang Ye grin.
He walked over to the TV and turned on the surveillance monitors.
Back when the Zhanlong Security Company had built this safehouse for him, they'd installed cameras across the entire floor.
Now, the whole building was under his watch.
Zhang Ye focused on the sixth floor—Chen Zhenghao's place. Sure enough, the door was flung open with force not long after.
Wearing a down jacket and carrying a baseball bat, Chen Zhenghao stormed out in a fury.
But as soon as he stepped outside, he immediately shivered from the cold.
It was more than minus seventy degrees Celsius out there. To look tough, he was only wearing thermal underwear under his jacket—and even left it unzipped to show off the tattoo on his chest.
That freezing air gave him a brutal lesson instantly.
Seeing that no one was around, Chen Zhenghao quickly rubbed his hands together and rushed into the elevator.
Zhang Ye calmly sat down on the couch and pulled a hand crossbow out from under the coffee table.
This was a hunting crossbow—powerful enough to pierce a 300-kilogram wild boar. A 20cm bolt could easily bury itself deep into flesh.
He hummed a tune as he loaded a bolt onto the crossbow.
After some practice, he had become quite proficient with it. Within 15 meters, he might not hit every shot, but something the size of a watermelon head? He wouldn't miss.
As the elevator rose, Zhang Ye stood at the door, crossbow in hand.
His heavy security door had a specially designed shooting port two meters high.
He stepped onto a chair and opened the small hatch—it could only be opened from inside.
Then he aimed the crossbow at the corridor outside.
For safety's sake, he also had a pistol tucked in his pocket.
Even if Chen Zhenghao were made of iron, he'd be out of luck today.
Soon enough, the elevator dinged, and Chen Zhenghao came stomping over, still cursing loudly.
From the group chat nickname, he had easily figured out where Zhang Ye lived.
Reaching the door, he raised his bat and began banging on it while swearing furiously.
"Zhang Ye! You little bastard, come out here!"
"F***er, weren't you talking big just now? Come out if you've got the guts! Let me show you how I'm gonna kill you!"
He kept pounding on the door, yelling threats.
But that door was 20 centimeters thick and reinforced with bulletproof metal—its defense was better than some military vehicles.
There was no way a baseball bat could break it. In fact, it just made his hand hurt.
While Chen Zhenghao kept swearing, he didn't realize he was already in the crosshairs of a deadly weapon.
Zhang Ye stared at his furious face and smirked.
The bolt was aimed right at Chen Zhenghao's head.
But after a moment's thought, he shifted his aim.
In this apocalyptic world, almost everyone in this building would end up dead eventually.
Scum like Chen Zhenghao wouldn't be an exception.
Killing him now would be too easy.
After all, in his past life, he had been torn apart and eaten alive by these insane neighbors.
Zhang Ye's grin grew darker.
He wasn't about to let this piece of trash die that easily.
So, he changed his target.
With a faint swish, the bolt shot out and struck Chen Zhenghao's leg.
It pierced right through his calf—this hunting-grade crossbow bolt could kill wild boars, after all.
Chen Zhenghao let out a blood-curdling scream and collapsed, clutching his leg in agony.
In minus seventy-degree weather, a through-and-through wound like that meant his leg was as good as gone.
And without medical treatment, infection was inevitable.
From now on, he'd slowly die in pain and cold.
Lying there in anguish, Chen Zhenghao finally realized he'd messed with someone truly dangerous.
Guys like him thrived on not fearing death and being reckless.
They bet on the fact that ordinary people wouldn't dare fight back.
But against someone who dared to shoot crossbows at people?
Even thugs got scared.
Terror-stricken, Chen Zhenghao scrambled back toward the elevator, dragging his ruined leg behind him.
Zhang Ye didn't go for a second shot—for one simple reason: he wanted Chen Zhenghao to live a bit longer.
After all, he wasn't a total demon.
Once back in the elevator, Chen Zhenghao was drenched in cold sweat, which froze almost instantly in the frigid air.
But at that moment, his heart felt even colder than the air.
That ruthless shot—without hesitation—had made him feel a chilling intent to kill.
In a world like this, anyone who would fire a crossbow at a man wasn't someone to mess with.
Looking down at his mangled leg, Chen Zhenghao saw the bolt had pierced straight through his calf.
Blood soaked half his pant leg before freezing into red ice.
The cold dulled the pain a bit.
But that didn't comfort him—instead, it made the fear even worse.
He knew that if this leg didn't get treatment soon, it would be completely useless in under half an hour.