148: Chapter 148 What's free is often the most expensive.

Wang Lan took half a step closer to Zhang Tao, narrowing the distance between them.

Wang Lan tiptoed, her lips almost touching the auricle of Zhang Tao's ear.

Lowering her voice, she laid out the plan word by word.

At first, Zhang Tao still wore a hint of disdain, but gradually, the flesh on his face stopped trembling, his eyes widened, and even his breathing changed.

Wang Lan spoke for about two minutes.

When she finished, she stepped back half a step and tidied her temples, which had been ruffled by the night wind.

The surroundings were deathly quiet, save for the rustling friction of the leaves.

Zhang Tao was frozen in place as if nailed to the ground, and after a long while, he gasped a breath of cold air.

The sweat on his back, which had just dried, broke out again.

Vicious.

Too vicious.

Zhang Tao did not consider himself any kind of saint, having done plenty of petty thievery and underhanded things, but his mind had always been occupied with how to get an extra bite of meat or an extra sip of water.

Yet the woman before him was plotting human lives.

And she had calculated it seamlessly, factoring in human nature, the environment, Lin Fan's suspicion, and Zhou Kai's temper.

Zhang Tao looked at Wang Lan. The moonlight hit her plain, unremarkable face, yet at this moment, it gave him the creeps.

Not long ago, he still felt like he was getting something for nothing, but now he finally understood that what is free is forever the most expensive.

"You…" Zhang Tao swallowed a dry gulp, his throat tightening, "You are fucking crazy."

Wang Lan did not answer, merely patting the dust off her clothes. "What? Scared?"

"I am not going!" Zhang Tao retreated two steps, shaking his head frantically. "Find whoever you want for this business, I am not doing it!"

Are you kidding me?

Touch Zhou Kai? Zhou Kai was currently Lin Fan's number one enforcer.

If something really went wrong and Lin Fan uncovered even a trace of evidence, skinning and pulling tendons would be getting off lightly.

These past few days had been peaceful, but Zhang Tao had not forgotten.

That night, Lin Fan had killed without blinking an eye; more than a dozen people had been poisoned to death on the beach without even managing to finish screaming in agony.

He, Zhang Tao, just wanted to live. Even if it meant gathering firewood every day and being bossed around by Lin Fan every day, as long as there was a mouthful of meat to eat, he would be content.

Ask him to gamble with his life? No way.

Wang Lan looked at his pale face and sneered.

"Zhang Tao, the opportunity is right in front of us. Once Zhou Kai dies, Lin Fan will have no one left to use. Once we get rid of Lin Fan, you and I can become the overlords of this island."

"Su Qingxue and Liu Feifei will both be yours. One is an A-list celebrity, and the other is a multi-billion-dollar CEO. Are you not tempted?"

"Even if Su Qingxue and Liu Feifei are there, you still need your life to enjoy them!" Zhang Tao gritted his teeth, shouting in a low voice, "Do you take Lin Fan for a fool? If this matter gets exposed, he will flay me alive!"

"That is why in this life you only deserve to follow behind others and eat leftovers." Wang Lan's tone was contemptuous.

"Eating leftovers is still better than sending yourself to your death." Zhang Tao had made up his mind, waving his hands repeatedly. "Alright, I will pretend I never heard a thing tonight, and you never said it to me."

With that, Zhang Tao turned around and wanted to walk back.

He did not want to stay in this place for even another second; this woman was even more eerie than the mutated monsters in the forest.

"Stop."

Wang Lan's cold voice came from behind.

Zhang Tao did not stop his steps; instead, he walked even faster.

"Zhang Tao, do not forget that matter from back then."

Zhang Tao's steps abruptly stopped, freezing in place.

The mountain wind poured into his collar, yet his entire body felt as if it had fallen into an ice cave, freezing from head to toe.

After a long while, he slowly turned around, staring fixedly at Wang Lan with the corners of his eyes twitching slightly. "You… what did you say?"

Wang Lan stood in the tree shadows, her figure slender, her arms crossed over her chest, watching him leisurely.

"Do I need to repeat it again?" She twitched the corner of her mouth. "If I were to casually mention that matter to Lin Fan, I would not even need to bring out much evidence."

"With Lin Fan's temper, do you think you would still have a chance to close your eyes and sleep tonight?"

The color on Zhang Tao's face drained completely.

He understood Lin Fan's principles better than anyone.

On this island, betrayal and concealment were major taboos.

Once Lin Fan grew suspicious, no matter what the truth actually was, the first person to lose their head would definitely be him, Zhang Tao.

He would have to die tonight.

This sentence was not Wang Lan trying to scare him; it was an ironclad fact.

Fury and fear rushed to the top of his head simultaneously.

Zhang Tao could no longer hold it in. His eyes bloodshot, he lunged at Wang Lan.

His hands clamped tightly around her neck, slamming her hard against the tree trunk.

"Stinking bitch! You fucking planned this out long ago, did you not!"

Veins bulged on the back of Zhang Tao's hands as he gritted his teeth, spittle spraying onto Wang Lan's face.

"You have been plotting against me from the very beginning!"

With her neck tightly gripped, Wang Lan's breathing was instantly cut off, and her face rapidly flushed red from lack of oxygen.

But she did not struggle.

She did not even raise her hands to pry open Zhang Tao's fingers.

She merely opened those pitch-black eyes of hers, staring fixedly at Zhang Tao.

There was not a shred of fear of a dying person in that gaze; it was entirely mockery.

Extreme, chilling mockery.

Looking at her unyielding, desperate-be-damned attitude, Zhang Tao panicked even more.

The hands choking her neck were shaking.

Back in Shengtang, he was just a seasoned slacker who coasted by. No matter how vicious his words were, when it came to actually choking a living person to death with his own hands, he did not have the guts.

Besides, even if he killed Wang Lan right now, how was he going to explain it to Lin Fan?

Since this woman dared to lay her trump card on the table, she must have calculated that he would not dare make a move.

They deadlocked for over a dozen seconds.

The force in Zhang Tao's hands relaxed bit by bit.

Wang Lan smoothly slipped down beside the tree roots, clutching her neck and coughing violently.

She coughed until tears came out, but she quickly regulated her breathing, supporting herself against the tree trunk and slowly standing up straight.

"Why are you not choking me anymore?" Wang Lan's voice was hoarse as she looked at him coldly. "Choke me to death, and let this matter rot in your stomach. How straightforward."

Zhang Tao leaned dejectedly against another tree, holding his head in his hands. His entire body looked as if its strength had been drained, breathing heavily.

It was over.

Being bitten to death by a viper like this meant there was not even anywhere to look for an antidote.

"What on earth do you want…" Zhang Tao's voice carried a plea. "I just want to live. Why must you push me into a fire pit?"

"I said, in civilized society I have already played the beast of burden enough," Wang Lan touched the red mark on her neck. "On this Deserted Island, I do not want to be a beast driven by others anymore!"

"That matter is too risky…" Zhang Tao was still making a final struggle. "What if Lin Fan becomes aware of it…?"

"Zhang Tao," Wang Lan interrupted him, "Cannot the two of us launch a sneak attack from behind and kill him?"

She walked up to Zhang Tao, staring into his evasive eyes.

"As long as he dies, you will be Lin Fan, and I will be Su Qingxue."

"And in turn make them the beasts of burden."

Zhang Tao closed his eyes, a fierce internal battle raging in his mind...