Book One: The Spiral Stone Inscription — Chapter Ten: The Demon-Subduing Talisman, Part One

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The dark clouds hung so low that they seemed to press down upon the tops of people’s heads, creating an immense sense of oppression.

Clearly, a torrential downpour was about to begin!

“This place seems rather sinister.” Chen Fan’s eyes narrowed as he stared straight ahead.

A desolate little town lay three hundred meters away.

It contained all kinds of buildings—bungalows, tiled houses, even courtyard residences and lofts.

In five days, this was the only large settlement he had seen. Within it, golden-red points of light flickered slowly.

Without the slightest hesitation, he entered a narrow alley.

His front foot had barely crossed into the alley when the pupils of his eyes contracted sharply.

For the sound of chopping meat suddenly rang out across heaven and earth.

It was immense, as though someone were beating a drum directly before Chen Fan. The noise nearly shattered his eardrums!

At the end of the alley, a pork stall appeared. Behind it stood a burly man wearing a gray straw hat that obscured his features.

His right hand gripped a massive butcher’s cleaver, while his left held an iron hook that gleamed with silver light.

The hook was razor-sharp, and a bloody glow still coiled around its tip, striking terror into the heart.

“Leave this place, or I will show no mercy!” he warned. Every word was shrill and grating.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline!” Chen Fan exhaled a breath of stale air and drew a sniper rifle from his system inventory.

His left hand enclosed the front end, while the fingers of his right hand gripped the stock. He braced the butt firmly against his shoulder, then placed his index finger upon the cold, rough trigger.

Through the scope, Chen Fan finally saw the butcher clearly.

It was none other than the Bone Butcher!

Its head was a blood-red skull. It had no eyeballs, only scraps of rotting flesh clinging to the insides of its empty sockets.

“Go to hell!”

Bang!

A cold gleam flashed through Chen Fan’s eyes as he pulled the trigger.

Brilliant sparks erupted from the barrel, and the acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air. Amid the tremendous recoil and deafening report, the Bone Butcher’s head exploded in midair!

Like a rotten watermelon!

It had no time to react at all!

After confirming through the scope that his opponent had fallen, Chen Fan stowed the sniper rifle and drew a long, slender blade. He strode toward the end of the alley.

The tip of the blade dragged along the ground, carving a conspicuous groove into the earth.

The sword was roughly one meter and seventy centimeters long. Its metal hilt felt coarse to the touch, and its entire form was long and slender. Chen Fan had obtained it while searching Zhou Qiyuan’s large bungalow.

When he drew near, he glanced at the Bone Butcher’s corpse, then turned toward the meat on the chopping block. His pupils trembled, and he instinctively took a step back.

The fresh red flesh on the chopping block was actually…

Human flesh!

Beside it lay two human heads.

Both had black hair and bulging eyes. Their faces were a bloody blur, making their identities impossible to discern.

Chen Fan withdrew his gaze, turned left, and entered a street five or six meters wide.

The street was paved with slabs of brown stone, and dense weeds had already sprung up between the cracks.

A vivid trail of blood ran straight down the center of the street.

It was human blood!

Clearly, the blood had come from the human flesh on the chopping block.

Following the trail, Chen Fan strode ahead. Five minutes later, a black backpack and a piece of clothing came into view.

He surveyed his surroundings, remaining perfectly still as he used the tip of his blade to lift the garment.

It was light brown, with the character “Nine” embroidered over the chest.

He then sliced open the backpack. Inside were a sesame flatbread, two Demon Stones, and a note.

“He must have been an explorer. He came here to obtain Demon Stones and gray stone fragments, but ended up dying here.”

“Was he killed by that Bone Butcher?”

Chen Fan unfolded the note. Two lines were written upon it:

My name is Wang Lu, and I am a member of the Ninth Base. I came here to explore the Black Rock Organization’s biological laboratory. To whoever finds this after my death: everything in my backpack belongs to you. Good luck!

Chen Fan tossed away the note and put the two Demon Stones away before continuing forward. His expression remained calm, but his heartbeat had clearly quickened.

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Hahahahahaha!

At that moment, laughter rang out!

It was a woman’s laughter—shrill, piercing, and profoundly eerie. It seemed to rise from the depths of the earth, yet at the same time it sounded as though it came from the sky, making it impossible to determine its exact source.

“There’s more than one?” Chen Fan frowned slightly, finding the situation somewhat troublesome.

But they were only ordinary monsters. They had not reached the level of First-Rank Mutated Creatures. Otherwise, he would have been in danger.

After walking fifty meters, a white figure appeared ahead of him.

Chen Fan’s pupils contracted, and he immediately focused his attention on it.

His entire body tensed in an instant, because it was a woman—and a woman with exquisitely delicate features at that.

“Leave this place. Leave immediately!” it warned. Its voice drifted and wavered, carrying an almost dreamlike quality.

“Leave?” Chen Fan laughed. He had yet to obtain what he wanted, so why should he leave? At the same time, he could not help wondering, “Why isn’t it attacking me?”

Chen Fan understood.

He reached into his backpack and withdrew a yellow talisman.

He had already realized that the monsters created by the Black Rock Organization came in many varieties, and each type possessed its own weakness.

This female-looking vengeful ghost and the red-clad vengeful ghost in Radiant Glory Hospital were likely of the same type.

Since they belonged to the same type, their weaknesses should naturally be identical.

Sure enough, it was preparing to attack, but the moment it saw the talisman in his hand, its body shuddered violently. After hesitating for a moment, it quickly retreated into the distance.

“Consider yourself lucky to have escaped so quickly!”

Clutching the talisman, Chen Fan strode toward the place where the golden-red light had appeared.

Five minutes later, he reached the vicinity. What first entered his sight was a pile of white bones. He used his long blade to pry them aside, revealing a bundle beneath.

After slicing it open, he found a single Demon Stone inside.

Once he had stored the Demon Stone, Chen Fan continued forward, intending to find and kill the white-clad vengeful ghost.

This ghost would be somewhat easier to deal with. It could not transform into a streak of light and pierce through the void in an instant, nor could it enter a human body or the world within a mirror.

A burly man suddenly appeared in Chen Fan’s field of vision. He held a mace studded with spikes, and his entire body radiated indescribable authority.

Just as he was about to raise a hand and greet Chen Fan, another burly man carrying a mountain-splitting axe hurried toward him.

“Brother, where did you go just now? Why were you gone so long? And why are you keeping so far away from me?”

After sighing, the man with the spiked mace waved at Chen Fan in greeting, then looked toward the other burly man.

“Let’s get going!”

He turned and charged rapidly into the distance.

After the two men had gone, Chen Fan also left the area and began searching in all directions, attempting to obtain more Demon Stones.

Rumble!

Just then, the dark clouds above began to churn violently. Moments later, raindrops as large as a baby’s fist came pouring down.

The rain was so dense that it seemed to leave no space between the drops, nearly filling every inch of heaven and earth!

The icy rain drenched Chen Fan from head to toe. His hair had fallen over his forehead, blocking half his vision. Every raindrop carried tremendous force as it pounded relentlessly against his head.

The storm was simply too violent. The roaring rain completely overwhelmed his hearing, while visibility shrank to barely ten meters.

A trace of anxiety appeared in his eyes. He feared that the white-clad vengeful ghost might suddenly attack him. Raising a rough hand, he quickly combed his thick hair back.

At that moment, a golden-red point of light appeared in a nearby courtyard residence. It flickered continuously, shining more brightly than any of the previous ones.

Joy stirred in Chen Fan’s heart. He immediately charged toward the courtyard.

Before he had even reached it, he heard the clash of metal.

He looked toward the open gate of the courtyard. Deep within, in the ancestral hall, stood a row of candles, their flames flickering like dozens of dancing soybeans.

In the courtyard outside the hall, two burly men were locked in a fierce battle with a monster.

It was a black creature resembling an iron tower, standing a full three meters tall. Its muscles bulged grotesquely, and six eyes grew from its head.

Under the faint candlelight, its six eyes seemed to reflect their own radiance.

They were filled with madness and distortion, enough to make one’s blood run cold.

“It’s those two!”

Chen Fan’s gaze quickly settled on the pair.

“Brother, the two of us are survivors from the Ninth Base! Come and lend us a hand. We’ll repay you once this is over!” one of the men shouted from within the courtyard, his voice anxious and faintly pleading.

“The Ninth Base?”

Chen Fan laughed. By now, he could no longer distinguish truth from lies. Everyone he had encountered before had claimed to be human, yet in the end, every one of them had been a monster that devoured people whole.

He remained unmoved, allowing the torrential rain to wash over him as he leaned against the wooden door.

“What are your names? How can you prove that you aren’t monsters?”

“Brother, why would we lie to you? My name is Long Wu, and his name is Sun Meng. We’re both registered survivors of the Ninth Base. What reason would we have to deceive you?”

The man wielding the spiked mace was nearly one meter and ninety centimeters tall. He spoke rapidly in the midst of battle, his frame exceptionally massive, as powerful as a raging bull.

Chen Fan said nothing. He simply stared at them, treating the scene as entertainment. He would not be a fool who remembered only the meal and forgot the pain.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed something strange.

Why did the man called Sun Meng always maintain a certain distance from Long Wu? Whenever Long Wu moved left, Sun Meng moved right; whenever Long Wu moved right, Sun Meng moved left.

Could there be some kind of grudge between them?

Chen Fan shook his head and dismissed the thought with a smile, deciding that he was meddling in matters that did not concern him.

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The rain grew heavier and heavier. As the gale swept in, the candles inside the ancestral hall swayed wildly.

The rain merged into a solid curtain, like a waterfall crashing heavily against their bodies.

The sound of metal shattering rang out without pause. The black monster was simply too powerful, as though it had been cast from metal. Every part of its body was as hard as iron, and there was no way to break through its defenses.

If nothing unexpected happened, the two men could hold out for no more than another dozen minutes.

They had already reached their limits.

What Chen Fan knew, they naturally knew as well. Seeing that he still had no intention of intervening, Long Wu shouted again:

“Brother, there was another person traveling with us. His name was Wang Lu, but he’s dead now. His body and backpack are out on the street. If you don’t believe me, go look for yourself! Please, hurry and help us! We’ll never forget this favor!”

“Wang Lu…”

Chen Fan’s heart stirred. At this point, he was almost certain that Long Wu was telling the truth.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “You two won’t turn on me afterward, will you?”

After all, he had stood by and watched them face death without lifting a finger. Anyone would naturally feel resentment over such a thing.

Not to resent him would have been abnormal.

“Brother, what are you talking about? I can’t thank you enough. Why would I ever seek revenge?” Long Wu replied quickly, his voice growing increasingly frantic.

Chen Fan looked toward Sun Meng again.

The man had a scar across his face, poisonous eyes, and an aura of murderous hostility that seemed to soar into the heavens. He looked as though he were brimming with killing intent.

But Chen Fan could not tell whether that hostility was directed at the black monster, at him, or at both.

“This man may be an unpredictable factor. He clearly has a poor temperament. He has probably already begun to resent me…”

Chen Fan’s gaze moved up and down Sun Meng’s body. For a moment, he could not make up his mind.

After a while, he sighed. He felt that he could not simply stand by and watch them die. Drawing his long blade, he joined the battle.

Half an hour later, the battle ended.

Sun Meng stood in the distance. He first glanced at Long Wu, then turned to Chen Fan.

“Thank you.”

He gave a perfunctory nod, turned around, and entered the ancestral hall.

Chen Fan said nothing. With an amused, helpless smile, he also walked into the hall.

Long Wu’s eyes were filled with gratitude. Although he was tall, powerfully built, and fierce-looking, he was remarkably polite. He bowed deeply to Chen Fan.

Chen Fan immediately felt much better.

“It’s nothing. Just a small favor.”

Long Wu laughed heartily.

“I haven’t asked your name yet, brother. Would you mind telling me? From now on, we’re friends.”

“Just call me Chen Fan.”

Long Wu nodded vigorously. Pointing toward the row of candles before them, he looked at Chen Fan.

“Brother, do you know who lit these candles?”

Chen Fan looked at him.

Long Wu pointed toward the monster’s corpse in the courtyard.

“That beast did it!”

Chen Fan froze. It was difficult to associate the act of lighting candles with a three-meter-tall giant creature.

“You may not know this, brother, but this courtyard is probably the Black Rock Organization’s laboratory base. Although the Black Rock Organization has already been destroyed, the monster they stationed here to guard the entrance was still alive.”

Long Wu glanced at the monster’s corpse in the courtyard.

“But now it’s dead too!”

He reached into his backpack and took out a note, handing it to Chen Fan with an awkward smile.

“Before entering the town, the three of us each wrote a note. Now it seems that the two of us probably won’t die after all. It’s just a shame about Brother Wang Lu…”

As he spoke, his eyes reddened. The grief in his heart was clearly overwhelming.

Chen Fan said nothing more. He returned the note and patted Long Wu on the shoulder.

“My condolences.”

He had already seen that Long Wu was a straightforward, carefree man. Such people were the easiest to deal with. They did not harbor many thoughts, and whatever thoughts they did have were written plainly across their faces.

The truly troublesome ones were people like Sun Meng, who rarely smiled or spoke casually.

Those people were the most difficult to handle.

“We’ve been fighting for so long that we’ve exhausted too much energy. Let’s rest here for now and talk again after we’ve recovered.”

Long Wu laughed heartily. He was overjoyed to have met Chen Fan. After patting him on the shoulder, he handed him a sesame flatbread.

“Here, Brother Chen Fan. Eat!”

He also passed him a canteen.

Chen Fan smiled sincerely, reached out, and accepted the flatbread and canteen. After eating and drinking his fill, he sat on the threshold with his back to the other two men. While observing the situation outside, he wiped the long blade in his hand.

Long Wu let out a long sigh and suddenly looked toward Sun Meng in the distance.

“What’s wrong with you? Before entering the town, we were the best of brothers—sworn brothers, even. Why did your temperament change so drastically after we entered the town? You’ve become so distant, as though you’re shutting me out from a thousand miles away. Are you planning to abandon your elder brother? Don’t do that!”

“What nonsense are you talking about, Big Brother? That’s not the case at all,” Sun Meng replied with a forced smile.

“You still say it isn’t? We used to walk shoulder to shoulder most of the time. But ever since our brief separation just now, you’ve deliberately kept your distance from me. Are you afraid I’ll kill you and take your possessions? Am I that kind of person? Besides, you don’t even have any treasures on you, do you?”

He lowered his head, looking deeply dejected.

“Don’t be angry, Big Brother.” Sun Meng smiled gently. After glancing at the ancestral hall behind him, he said, “Big Brother, why don’t we leave the town? If we keep going, we really will die. Aren’t you afraid?”

Long Wu snorted.

“There are three of us now. What’s there to fear? And what were you doing just now? Why were you gone so long without telling me?”

Sun Meng did not answer. He rose to his feet and bowed to Long Wu.

“Big Brother, I’ve never asked you for anything. This time, please agree to my request. Let’s not go any farther inside. Let’s leave this town immediately, all right?”

A look of hesitation appeared in Long Wu’s eyes. After a moment, he said, “How about this? You stay outside and keep watch. The two of us will go in and investigate, then bring something out for you. Wouldn’t that be all right?”

A cold gleam flashed in Sun Meng’s eyes, but he said nothing more. He sat back down in his original place and lowered his head deeply, preventing anyone from seeing his expression.

Chen Fan pretended not to hear their conversation. It was, after all, someone else’s family matter. Once he had eaten and drunk his fill, he took out a cloth and began carefully wiping the long blade in his hand.

Suddenly, his brow furrowed and a murderous glint flashed in his eyes.

Through the reflection on the blade, he saw Sun Meng staring fixedly at him, his expression faintly savage.

Clearly, Chen Fan’s earlier decision to stand by and watch had enraged him completely.

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