Volume One, Chapter 38: Terrifying Wonderland 2: Saw

"You..."

Li Qian suddenly let out a shrill scream. She stumbled backward, staring fixedly at Chen Fan with an expression of sheer terror. In her eyes, Chen Fan had transformed into a highly decomposed corpse! His body was crawling with maggots, his ribs and leg bones were exposed, and she could even see his internal organs.

She raised her pistol, aiming it directly at his head, ready to fire at any moment. Whether faced with vengeful spirits or monsters, Chen Fan never felt fear, but staring down that dark, hollow muzzle, he truly felt a chill; no matter how fast his speed, he could not outrun a bullet!

"You've lost your mind! The vengeful spirit is manipulating your five senses. What you see now is merely an illusion, not reality!"

A wave of regret washed over him. He shouldn't have given her the pistol; he never imagined she would be so easily bewitched.

"My senses... have been manipulated..." She quickly calmed herself, lowering the gun as she realized the gravity of the situation. "Then what should we do now?" She stood her ground, still afraid to approach Chen Fan, unable to overcome the psychological barrier. Under the spirit's influence, she could even smell the foul, putrid stench radiating from him—though it was fake, it felt infinitely real.

"The Demon-Subduing Talisman is waterproof, so why haven't you taken it out yet? Idiot!" Chen Fan said, exasperated, fearing she might accidentally discharge the weapon and hit him.

Only then did she come to her senses and hurriedly pulled out the talisman. The talisman detected the aura of the vengeful spirit and immediately emitted a circle of golden light, enveloping her. The light dissipated the illusion, and she finally saw the real Chen Fan. A flicker of joy appeared in her eyes as she stepped forward and clutched the corner of his jacket.

Chen Fan was beyond annoyed. "What makes you any different from a burden? You're so bothersome!" He snorted coldly, staring into her eyes as he warned, "This is your final warning: do not point that gun at me again, or I will stop being merciful!"

"I was wrong. I promise, this is the first and last time!" She wore a fawning expression, completely forgetting that she already had a boyfriend.

Just then, the vengeful spirit hiding in the shadows unleashed its illusion on Chen Fan. In his eyes, Li Qian transformed into a skeletal figure draped in skin—a red-fleshed skeleton with long hair, covered in rotting meat and maggots. This skeleton reached out a foul, decaying hand and grabbed his jacket.

He felt an instinctive surge of disgust, though it remained within his tolerance. His gaze narrowed; after glancing at her ghastly skull, he shifted his focus to the surroundings, searching every corner carefully.

"Where exactly is this spirit hiding?" Clearly, the spirit could not pose a lethal threat, but its ability to disgust was unmatched by most monsters. He would rather face a hundred monsters than a single vengeful spirit.

The heavy rain enveloped him, droplets clinging to his eyelashes before sliding into his eyes, blurring his vision. Yet, he remained unfazed, not even blinking as he continued to scan every suspicious spot.

"Hmm?" He finally spotted something. A hundred meters to the right, near the entrance of a beige toy house, stood a white figure. The figure vanished instantly, clearly highly alert.

With a stitched monster in front and a white-clad spirit behind, this was thrilling—extremely thrilling. He realized that both the spirit and the stitched monster were using their own methods to prevent them from entering the amusement park. Why were they doing this? What was their objective? Was there some secret hidden within this park?

Whatever the secret, it would not stop him.

He took a deep breath, hesitated no longer, and aimed his heavy boot at the large iron gate, kicking it with full force. With a boom, the sheer power of his kick sent the gate flying three or four meters away.

*Roar!*

More than a dozen children on the carousel jumped off their horses and charged toward them. Chen Fan’s eyes flashed as he retreated a few steps, stepping back outside the iron gate. What happened next matched his hypothesis exactly: as soon as they retreated, the children stopped in their tracks, turned around, and began to slowly back away—like programmed machines.

Chen Fan repeated this maneuver, watching them charge and then retreat. "It seems there really is an unspeakable secret in this park. What could it be?" His eyes glinted. This time, he stepped firmly inside the gate and refused to retreat.

The children, no longer backing away, surged toward him. Chen Fan, feeling no fear, drew his long blade and charged. Amidst a series of wet, tearing sounds, they were reduced to piles of shredded corpses.

Tiny white maggots crawled out from their remains, claiming the ground beneath their feet. They were so dense, layered upon one another, that even the torrential rain could not wash them away; they looked like a white carpet spread across the earth. The carpet writhed violently, enough to make one's scalp crawl.

Chen Fan didn't even bother to walk around it. He stepped forward, trampling the gore and maggots. The sound of squelching echoed repeatedly as he crushed tens of thousands of maggots beneath his boots.

After crossing the carpet, he reached the carousel area, leaned against the railing, and looked inside. After a few minutes of observation, his eyes narrowed. He vaulted over the railing and kicked one of the yellow carousel horses. With a *crack*, the horse detached from its base. Chen Fan grabbed it and placed it on the ground.

On the side of the horse was carved... a big fat cat. To his surprise, the expression of the cat was sixty or seventy percent similar to the one on the back of the blonde woman’s photo! Was it the same one? Chen Fan had no way of knowing. He kicked the horse aside, looked up, and glanced at Li Qian. "Where exactly is the Demon Stone hidden?"

"I don't know the exact location, but I am certain it is somewhere in this park!" Li Qian stepped forward to stand beside him; only then could she find peace of mind.

"Why are you so certain?" Chen Fan asked, puzzled.

She explained patiently, "The owner of this park is a Level 1 mutant named Meng Xin. Furthermore, the admission ticket for this park isn't Star Sea currency, but Demon Stones. A single Demon Stone allows you to play in this park for three months! This place is called Sunflower Amusement Park, and the files regarding it are kept in the archives of the Ninth Base!"

Chen Fan nodded. Without further ado, he scanned the surroundings and walked forward.

*Roar!*

Five hundred meters later, a monster's roar erupted from behind a rockery. Chen Fan took a step back, drew his sniper rifle, and braced himself.

*Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!*

At that moment, a deafening chainsaw roar erupted, so loud it drowned out the thunderous rain. A three-meter-tall giant emerged from behind the rockery, walking toward them step by step. Its body was a mass of rotting, loose flesh, barely clinging to its bones, and it clutched a massive diesel chainsaw.

One could tentatively call it... the Chainsaw Butcher.

The chainsaw was already running, emitting a roar that vibrated through the surroundings. Even through the curtain of rain, he could smell the stench of decay—it was like sulfuric acid, corrosive enough to make his eyes sting. The damp, rotting flesh on the butcher's body bulged, covered in numerous holes from which centipedes, millipedes, maggots, and roundworms swarmed. They treated its body as a playground, diving in and out, completely enveloping the rotting corpse in what looked like a writhing, black-and-white garment.

*Sssss!* With every step the butcher took, the parasites were startled, tumbling from the holes and hitting the ground with soft thuds. Ignoring the rain, they crawled rapidly toward the two of them.

*Bang!*

Chen Fan raised his sniper rifle, aiming at the butcher's head. He fired while retreating, moving with calm, rhythmic steps. Sparks erupted from the barrel, momentarily tearing through the darkness, only for the ocean of gloom to swallow them again. The massive recoil made his arms ache, his muscles rippling like waves.

A cold glint flickered in his eyes as his thick index finger squeezed the rough trigger repeatedly. He didn't care about wasting ammunition; he had plenty to spare.

*Crack, crack, crack!* Bullets streaked through the rain, punching directly through the butcher's head. In the blink of an eye, a dozen holes had been bored through it, turning its skull into a sieve. Viscous, yellowish-brown fluid, like glue, sprayed from the holes. When the muzzle flashes lit the scene, the fluid momentarily refracted a faint, golden shimmer.

The butcher’s vitality was immense; even with its head riddled with holes, it refused to fall. At the same time, due to the heavy rain, the chainsaw’s fuel system began to falter, and the engine died. To protect the saw, the butcher reached out with its left hand, dug its fingers into its own rotting flesh, tore off a massive chunk, and wrapped it around the fuel tank. Now, the rain could no longer interfere with the ignition system. It roared to life again!

It let out a guttural sound, reached into its own abdomen, and with a violent heave, ripped out a rotting skull—a skull with a meter-long red-headed centipede coiled around it! It jammed the skull onto its neck bones, twisted it to check its alignment, and then lowered its head to glare at Chen Fan.

It gripped the chainsaw, pulled the starter cord, and roared forward. A swarm of centipedes and worms acted as the vanguard, racing toward Chen Fan.

"Run!"

Chen Fan’s eyes bulged. He grabbed Li Qian’s hand and sprinted forward!

*Roar!*

The butcher was too fast. It cut them off, appearing twenty meters in front of them in a flash. Chen Fan’s heart skipped a beat. After a quick glance, he sprinted toward a nearby building. A dark, gloomy underground passage appeared in his line of sight, enough to make anyone’s blood run cold.

Chen Fan frowned, instinctively wanting to bypass it, but the butcher was already closing in, less than five meters away. A maggot even splattered onto his neck. He steeled himself and dived into the narrow passage, sprinting toward the depths.

*Roar!*

It was in pursuit; the ground shook! In the narrow tunnel, without the rain to dampen the sound, the chainsaw’s roar was amplified to an unprecedented level—deafening, as if it could shatter one’s heart within their chest.

Li Qian’s face was deathly pale; she was terrified to the point of hysteria. She had even lost control of her bladder. Chen Fan could smell the urine. Under such circumstances, anyone would be terrified—women were no exception.

But Chen Fan would not lose control, for he was the renowned Gun God of the Huaxia Nation. In normal times, he might feel fear, but when a major crisis arrived, he entered a state of absolute fearlessness. This was the most basic combat discipline of an iron-blooded marksman. If he lacked this, or if he trembled at the wrong time, he would have died long ago.

*Boom!*

The chainsaw pressed in from behind, unavoidable! If hit, their flesh would be shredded instantly. In the nick of time, Chen Fan let out a cold snort, threw Li Qian aside, and drew a mace, holding it horizontally before him.

*Clang!*

Like the striking of an anvil, the chainsaw bit into the mace, sending blinding sparks flying that lit up the long, dark tunnel. Chen Fan groaned as if hit by a car, stumbling back a dozen meters. The butcher followed relentlessly, keeping the chainsaw pressed against the mace.

Chen Fan’s eyes bulged, holding his ground. Masses of rotting flesh, maggots, and centipedes fell from the butcher's body onto him. In the blink of an eye, the top of his head was covered in a writhing white mass. Looking closely, it was a pile of maggots. A dozen red-headed centipedes and millipedes crawled through them, eventually slithering down his neck and into his clothes.

"Shoot it!!" Chen Fan roared!

Li Qian, though terrified out of her wits, forced herself to stay calm. She raised her pistol and fired shot after shot into the butcher's head.

*Roar!*

After being hit four or five times, the butcher bellowed, stepped back, and raised its massive chainsaw. Chen Fan scrambled back, grabbed Li Qian’s hand, and sprinted deeper into the darkness, his eyes cold, already calculating his next move.