Volume 1, Chapter 39: Thriller Park 3: The Basement Complex

The passage ahead grew increasingly narrow, eventually dropping to less than two meters in height. The two of them rushed into it, sprinting forward for forty or fifty meters. The Chainsaw Butcher gave chase but was blocked at the entrance, unable to maintain its rapid pursuit. It was forced to hunch over and advance slowly. It had finally been restricted.

Chen Fan exhaled a breath of stale air, stripping off his clothes as he continued to run. After tearing the millipedes and red-headed centipedes from his body, he began to clear the maggots from his head. These maggots were only the size of rice grains, wriggling violently against his scalp. Because the space was so cramped and their numbers so vast, many rolled off the edges of his head. Some had even burrowed into his eyes, ears, and nostrils.

The scene was terrifying, not to mention repulsive. Li Qian, beside him, had been frightened into retreat; she no longer dared to hold onto his shirt, staring at him instead with a look of sheer horror. Chen Fan’s brows furrowed deeply. He was loath to unleash the "Quake" technique, for it was an incredibly sharp double-edged sword. Used well, it could turn the tide, but used poorly, it could leave him severely weakened or even burn him alive.

After a moment of hesitation, as the maggots crawled deep into his ear canals and nostrils, the intense itching and pain became unbearable. With a cold snort, he triggered the Quake technique.

Boom!

Thick red lightning erupted from within his body, enveloping him completely. The viscous darkness was torn apart, and the long, narrow passage was instantly illuminated. In that moment, he was like a god of thunder. Li Qian’s expression shifted to one of profound shock—a shock that could not be surpassed. She stared at Chen Fan, completely stunned. She had never witnessed a scene so awe-inspiring.

Five seconds later, the maggots inside and out had been thoroughly eradicated. Chen Fan’s eye sockets had become two pools of red lightning, with brilliant electrical currents surging rapidly within them. He turned to look at the passage behind him, eager to rush back and annihilate the Chainsaw Butcher. But to his frustration, the creature was nowhere to be seen. It had hidden itself. It was exceptionally clever and refused to face the current Chen Fan head-on. It was waiting for the next opportunity to strike. It was as persistent and cunning as that stitched monster.

Chen Fan sighed, deactivated the Quake technique, and picked up his pace, continuing forward.

Rumble!

To Chen Fan’s dismay, no sooner had he ended the technique than the roar of a chainsaw echoed from behind again. The only consolation was that the passage ahead continued to lower, forcing even them to hunch over and move slowly.

ROAR!

The Chainsaw Butcher let out an angry howl, throwing itself onto the ground in an attempt to force its way in, but it became wedged tight, unable to move an inch. Chen Fan let out a long breath, finally able to relax slightly.

"Why is there no system notification?" Chen Fan asked Catherine in his mind. Without the system's guidance, finding the specific location of the Alien Demon Stone would be incredibly difficult.

"It has been artificially blocked. The one responsible... is not simple," Catherine whispered in his ear.

"Is the person responsible... a Visitor?" Chen Fan asked, his brow furrowing. As long as they were Visitors, regardless of their profession or identity, they shared one common trait: they were all difficult to deal with. He didn't want to cross paths with any of them.

Catherine replied, "I don't think so. At the end of this passage lies a vast complex of basement structures. Your questions may be answered there. Go and see for yourself."

Chen Fan grunted in acknowledgment and led Li Qian forward, crawling onward. The further they went, the fainter the Chainsaw Butcher's roars became. After another two hundred meters, the sound had all but vanished. Finally, they reached the end of the narrow passage. A massive, heavy stone door appeared in their field of vision. Beside the iron door sat a large groove containing an electromagnetic jammer the size of a human head.

"The jammer is still functioning," Catherine said. "Destroy it, and the system notifications will return."

With a grave expression, Chen Fan drew his rugged handgun, aimed at the jammer, and pulled the trigger.

Bang! The bullet pierced the device, which immediately spewed flames and thick smoke as it was destroyed.

"Why install an electromagnetic jammer at the entrance? Is the ultimate secret of this amusement park hidden behind this stone door?"

Chen Fan exhaled, calmed his nerves, and stepped forward. He pressed both hands against the stone door and pushed with all his might.

Rumble! As dust billowed toward them, the door swung open. At the same time, golden-red lights flickered deep within the basement complex.

"It's here!" A flash of joy crossed Chen Fan’s eyes. The old saying about searching high and low only to find what one seeks right before one's eyes was perfectly illustrated in that moment.

After composing himself, he tightened his grip on his handgun and began to survey the room. This basement was only about twenty square meters, with walls built of granite. In the right corner stood another stone door. What chilled him was a pattern on the right wall—a large, fat red cat. Whether drawn in human blood or red paint, the image carried an ominous air that triggered an instinctive feeling of disgust and aversion. Below the pattern were a dozen wrinkled red streaks, resembling dried tear tracks, looking eerie and mysterious—like blood-tears.

Chen Fan didn't know who had painted the fat cat or when, but he was certain that the artist's state of mind at the time must have been deeply disturbed. He was also certain that the fat cat pattern on the rocking horse and the one on the stone wall were drawn by the same person.

Chen Fan’s heart tightened; his expression grew even more solemn. Pushing his thoughts aside, he looked at Li Qian. "Be careful. There may still be danger."

Li Qian nodded vigorously, having forced her fear down and entered a state of high alert. After scanning the surroundings, Chen Fan walked toward a white cabinet. On top sat two stainless steel thermal mugs—one blue, one pink. The blue one was laser-etched with the words "Daddy's Cup," and the matching pink one bore the words "Mommy's Cup." The pair sat side by side, radiating the warmth and harmony of a home. Even though Chen Fan didn't know the child, he could tell from the inscriptions that the son loved his parents very much.

Chen Fan looked at the floor, his brow furrowing again. On the stone floor was a large patch of dried blood, and through the stain ran a drag mark that disappeared toward the stone door.

Filled with suspicion, he crossed to the right corner and pushed open the stone door with one hand. The room beyond was also about twenty square meters, with another stone door in the left corner. Chillingly, the stone floor here also featured a large patch of dried blood and a drag mark that continued out through the door in the left corner. Even though a long time had passed, Chen Fan could still smell the stench of blood.

What startled him most was a security camera above the door. Its internal red light was blinking, meaning it was still operational. Was someone sitting in front of the monitors?

Chen Fan swallowed hard, suppressing his tension, and walked slowly toward the door. The space was too cramped, the atmosphere too oppressive. Li Qian was utterly terrified; her body was rigid, and her heartbeat erratic. She had never been this frightened before. This unknown terror had brought her to the brink of a mental breakdown. She stayed close to Chen Fan, not daring to leave his side for a second.

Boom! Chen Fan pushed open the door. Before them lay more bloodstains and another camera in the corner. In the right corner was a glass door. In the center of the room sat a round marble table holding three bowls—two large, one small. What made him frown was that the bowls were not empty; they were filled with a yellowish-red paste covered in an oily sheen. Even from a distance, Chen Fan could smell a foul stench.

His eyes narrowed. After a moment of hesitation, he stepped up to the table to inspect the contents. They were finger bones! Adult finger bones, soaking in the thick, viscous paste. It was less like paste and more like... corpse fluid.

Chen Fan frowned, glanced around, and walked toward the glass door. He pushed it open and took in the room. It was about forty square meters, with a cozy feel; all the tables and chairs were a pale yellow. On a nearby cabinet sat a cute brown teddy bear. The only constant was the blood on the floor.

Over the next ten minutes, Chen Fan passed through twenty basements, each with drag marks in the dried blood. He could imagine the scene: the killer murdered the victims, grabbed them by the ankles, and dragged them deep into the basement. Was it infighting? That was his guess, and it seemed entirely possible. The only difference was that the closer they got to the depths of the basement, the fainter the drag marks became. Clearly, as the dragging continued, the victims had run out of blood.

Ten minutes later, Chen Fan finally reached the deepest part of the complex. Along the way, he had realized that this entire basement structure was an underground paradise built by parents for their child. Most of the rooms were decorated in a childish style, with cute cartoon patterns on the walls and toys piled on the floors. Each room was an independent recreation room, each with different facilities. One could see how much these parents doted on their child; otherwise, why spend such a fortune building such a massive underground complex?

Chen Fan walked toward the final stone door, took a deep breath, and pushed it open. Upon seeing what lay inside, Li Qian gasped.

It was a basement of about sixty square meters, the walls still covered in cute cartoon patterns. But the floor—it was piled high with a massive heap of human bones! They were stacked higher than Chen Fan himself. Centipedes, like blood-red snakes, slithered in and out of eye sockets; millipedes, their segmented bodies coated in pus, knotted together within the cage of a ribcage; and rice-sized maggots squeezed slowly out of holes in the bones, wriggling everywhere once they hit the floor.

A stench assaulted them, so pungent it made one gag and stung the eyes. As Chen Fan pushed the door open, the creatures seemed startled. The centipedes and millipedes scrambled deep into the bone pile to hide. Others, confused, crawled aimlessly—some up the walls, some across the floor. A dozen red-headed centipedes as thick as an arm rushed toward Chen Fan.

He drew his long blade and struck a few times, slicing them into four or five segments. Their broken bodies continued to writhe on the floor, secreting a copious amount of viscous fluid.

After a glance at the bone pile, Chen Fan took a few steps to the right to inspect the front wall. There was a red pattern, but it was mostly obscured by four or five skeletal frames. He stepped forward and used the tip of his blade to nudge the skeletons aside.

It was another fat cat pattern! This one had been carved with a knife and then traced over with... human blood. A long time had passed, and the blood had dried to a dark red.

"It must be the same cat," Chen Fan concluded. But this raised even greater questions. Was the fat cat the blonde woman's pet? If so, where had the person who drew these seen it?

"What is that?" Li Qian asked, pointing to the left side of the bone pile.

Chen Fan stepped back, looked where she pointed, and saw something dark. He reached into the bones and pulled it out. It was a black, square tape recorder. Chen Fan frowned, hesitated for a long moment, and pressed the play button.

With a hiss of static, music began to play. It was a birthday song. The birthday child was a boy named Meng Yu, and the singers were a man and a woman—presumably his parents. Their voices were lively and cheerful. Although they repeated "Happy Birthday to You" a few times and were slightly off-key, when they finished, the parents and the boy all laughed. The family atmosphere was light and harmonious. Even without witnessing it, Chen Fan could almost see their smiles.

He clicked the stop button and tossed the recorder onto the pile of bones.