Volume 1, Chapter 40: Thrill Land 4: Horror Videotape
This basement, piled high with a vast number of skeletal remains, was the very last one. There were no other stone doors or glass doors to be found.
However, the golden-red dot of light was now glowing on the left stone wall.
This indicated that something was amiss with the left stone wall!
Chen Fan took a few steps forward, stood before the left stone wall, and pressed his right hand against its surface.
The texture of the wall was rough, feeling akin to a block of ice. The bone-chilling cold seemed capable of freezing a person's flesh and blood solid.
Chen Fan let out a cold snort and shoved hard. Amidst a rumbling sound, a hidden stone door appeared within his field of vision.
The edges of the stone door shifted away from the wall. As a cloud of dust billowed into his face, the hidden stone door rotated to the left and slowly opened.
The scene within was instantly captured by Chen Fan's eyes.
This was a basement measuring about one hundred square meters.
The overall interior decoration was warm-toned.
On the left wall hung a huge photo frame, inside which was a family portrait of three.
After giving a general glance at the layout of this basement, Chen Fan took a few steps forward, entered the room, and then looked at the light switch nearby.
Click!
The warm overhead light turned on. Under its illumination, the floor, the wallpaper, and even every piece of furniture reflected a faint glow, giving one a warm and cozy feeling.
It felt almost as if one had returned home.
On the sofa, there was a huge light-blue giant-headed cloth doll.
This caught Chen Fan's attention.
He walked toward the sofa and looked down at the cloth doll.
A yellow tag was pasted on the chest of the doll, with a line of text written on it: Happy Ninth Birthday to our son, Mom and Dad will love you forever!
Clearly, this son did not like the cloth doll, otherwise, this yellow tag would not have been left completely untouched and stuck to the doll.
Chen Fan turned his head and looked at the huge photo frame on the wall.
He gazed at the short-haired little boy dressed in white children's clothing.
He had a cute appearance with an apple-like face, but his skin tone was a sickly pale, appearing even whiter than the white children's clothes he wore.
His eyes looked somewhat lifeless and turbid, and his lips were also white, devoid of any trace of blood!
Chen Fan then looked at the parents in the photo frame.
They were typical healthy individuals with kind smiles on their faces, but in their eyes, there was a faint trace of... fatigue!
On the front wall hung an oversized golden-framed display screen, and on the cabinet beneath the screen, there was a white notebook and a blue remote control.
Meanwhile, the golden-red point of light was blinking inside the cabinet.
Chen Fan stepped forward and opened the cabinet, which was piled with a large heap of strange demon stones. A rough count revealed there were well over a hundred of them.
Among them, there were even more than twenty gray stone fragments.
Chen Fan was overjoyed and stored all of these items into his backpack.
After closing the cabinet, Chen Fan looked at the white notebook.
Flipping open the cover, he saw a white card tucked inside.
A passage was written on the card, which read:
Mr. and Mrs. Meng:
Your esteemed son Meng Yu's condition is extremely critical. In this world, only our Black Rock Organization has the ability to cure him. As a condition of exchange, the two of you are required to voluntarily become the organization's experimental subjects. You are given three days to consider.
Lu Xingyao
Chief Researcher of the Black Rock Organization
"Lu Xingyao..." Chen Fan's eyes narrowed as he took out the half-length portrait of the blonde beauty, lowering his head to examine it closely. "Could the words on this card have been written by this woman?"
His intuition told him that these words were indeed written by the blonde beauty, but whether that was actually the case was unknown to him; after all, this was merely his own guess.
Chen Fan picked up the blue remote control and pressed the switch.
The golden-framed display screen on the wall lit up.
On the display screen, there were a total of two brown folders.
Under normal circumstances, folders were simply folders, nothing more. But at this moment, these two folders were like two gates of hell, and for a moment, Chen Fan didn't dare to open them.
Sweat beaded on Chen Fan's forehead, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he glanced at Li Qian beside him.
Her performance was even more unbearable; she had already torn off a piece of rag to plug her ears, and had even closed her eyes tightly, leaving only a tiny slit, terrified of seeing something unclean.
Dead silence!
Absolute dead silence!
This basement complex was far too vast, giving one an oppressive feeling of never seeing the light of day!
Merely this alone was terrifying enough, but the problem was that they were already at the deepest part of this basement complex, and in the room outside the door, a massive pile of red and white skeletal remains was heaped up!
Moreover, among the bones, a large number of bugs were active, and dozens of millipedes and red-headed centipedes had already crawled in!
Under such circumstances, after opening these two folders, no matter what kind of footage was playing—even if it were merely classic cartoons or anything else—it would surely scare the wits out of anyone, wouldn't it?
At the end of the day, this was simply not a relaxing place. Both Chen Fan and Li Qian had their heartstrings stretched to their absolute limits!
These heartstrings could snap at any moment!!
After a moment of hesitation, Chen Fan opened the first folder.
This was a long video totaling five hundred minutes, taken from the real-time recording of those surveillance cameras!
Chen Fan did not have the patience to watch it slowly; he directly enabled the ten-times speed function.
As the video played at high speed, many doubts were finally answered!
The big fat cat on the stone wall had been drawn by a little boy standing on the cabinet.
Clearly, this little boy was—Meng Yu!
His entire body was festering, with a massive amount of pus overflowing from within his body. The cabinet beneath his feet had already been completely engulfed by the pus!
Logically speaking, with his entire body festering, he should have died long ago, but not only was he alive, he also possessed good athletic ability—after finishing the drawing, he had jumped directly down from the cabinet!
He came to the front of the stone door, constantly shouting for his mom and dad, constantly pushing the door, trying to force open the stone door and walk out of this basement complex!
Yet he simply could not shake the heavy stone door!
He was... imprisoned!
When the progress bar reached 55 percent, Meng Yu could finally no longer move. He sprawled on the ground, his entire body covered in maggots, on the verge of death at any moment!
Just at that moment, the stone door was pushed open, and a blonde beauty walked in from outside, holding a big fat cat in her arms!
Chen Fan felt a shock in his heart, because this blonde beauty was precisely the woman from the half-length portrait. Why would she appear in this basement?
Clearly, she was a member of the Black Rock Organization, and her status and position were not low, because trailing behind her were two experimental personnel wearing white lab coats, one of whom was dragging a white suitcase.
After these two experimental personnel bowed to the blonde woman, they walked toward Meng Yu, stood before him, and opened the white suitcase.
Horrifyingly, the suitcase was filled to the brim with human tissue.
Among them were not only adult male calves below the knee, but also a pair of adult female arms, a pile of human skin, and even the head of an elderly woman!
The two of them squatted on the ground, took out surgical tools such as scalpels and suture needles, and began to perform surgery!
The big fat cat jumped down from the blonde woman's arms, walked in front of Meng Yu, and stared straight at his rotting cheeks!
Meng Yu turned his head sideways, shifting his gaze to look at the blonde woman. "Sister, thank you for always coming to see me during this time..." Then he looked at the big fat cat in front of him. "And thank you too. In our next life, let's be friends again, okay? Can we?"
The big fat cat let out a whimper and lowered its head. Clearly, it simply couldn't speak, but it understood what emotion meant!
The blonde woman nodded without speaking. After staying for a minute, she picked up the big fat cat and walked out!
And Meng Yu turned his head back and closed his eyes!
Moments later, the surgery was completed, and the two experimental personnel dragged the suitcase away, leaving the basement.
As for Meng Yu, he had become—a stitched monster!
It was precisely that stitched monster that had blocked their path on the street and ambushed the two of them!
Li Qian was almost scared into fainting. Standing unsteadily, she reached out both hands and gripped his large hand tightly.
"It was... Meng Yu!" Chen Fan furrowed his brow tightly and looked at the white card on the table. "Is this how the Black Rock Organization cures Meng Yu?"
He had never witnessed such a vicious method of treatment!
Unheard of!
The later videos became homogenized—the stitched monster constantly roared and raged, venting its anger and dissatisfaction, while the experimental personnel would irregularly open the stone door and toss in the corpses of various experimental subjects.
In this sunless basement complex, the stitched monster had nothing to do, so it began tinkering with these corpses.
Thus came the blood drag marks on the ground, as well as that pile of... red and white skeletal hills!
The only difference was that this stitched monster would sit in front of the bone pile, press the switch of the black tape recorder, and quietly listen to the birthday song sung by its parents.
It would also take a few steps forward, push open the hidden stone door, and alternately look at the giant-headed cloth doll on the sofa and the family portrait on the wall.
During this time, it would occasionally let out laughter, and at other times, it would weep!
It would also walk to the basement closer to the exit, staring blankly at the brown plush bear and the thermos cup!
This was undoubtedly a human tragedy!
However, this matter had happened a long time ago, and no one could change it! Chen Fan was also powerless!
Taking a deep breath, Chen Fan opened the second folder, which was a six-hundred-minute long video.
Chen Fan pressed the ten-times speed button and looked at the display screen once more.
In this long video, Chen Fan finally saw Meng Yu's mother and father.
At this moment, the two of them were trapped inside a prison cell, with thick iron bars confining them. The two of them hugged each other in terror!
Meng Yu's father was a full two meters tall, resembling an iron pagoda, while Meng Yu's mother had a slender figure and wore a long white dress.
The experiment began. The experimental personnel stepped forward and tossed two vials of reagent into the prison cell, and a viscous red and green mist instantly engulfed the two of them.
This mist was highly toxic!
They let out miserable screams within the mist!
The mist dissipated!
The two of them had also undergone drastic changes!
Meng Yu's father had transformed into a three-meter-tall... chainsaw butcher!
While Meng Yu's mother had transformed into... a vengeful spirit in white!
When the progress bar reached 89 percent, the vengeful spirit in white arrived outside this basement complex—it opened the stone door!
Thus, it saw the son who had already become a stitched monster!
It roared!
Filled with incomparable agony!
Yet it was already too late!
When the progress bar reached 99 percent, a crackling sound of electricity rang out, the screen distorted, and then... that blonde beauty appeared once again!
Her exquisite and alluring cheeks occupied ninety percent of the huge display screen.
The image quality was so high-definition that even every single one of her pores could be seen!
She smiled, her eyes rolling as she stared directly at Chen Fan before her, and laughed, "This is my masterpiece. Have you finished watching it? Are you satisfied? Welcome to join our Black Rock Organization! Haha!"
"Who on earth are you?" Chen Fan's pupils constricted as he stared fixedly at her.
Yet she was ultimately merely a pre-recorded video and simply could not answer Chen Fan's question!
"If you want to join our Black Rock Organization, then come to the 'Plague City' to find me. Remember, I am the chief researcher of the Black Rock Organization, and my name is... Lu Xingyao!"
A crackling sound rang out, and this six-hundred-minute long video came to a complete end!
Chen Fan placed the blue remote control on the cabinet, looked at Li Qian beside him, and said, "We're leaving this ghost place right now!"
"Okay!" Li Qian nodded vigorously. Originally there were still two places they hadn't visited, but she didn't want to go to them ever again. Right now, she only wanted to stay within the Ninth Base for the rest of her life and never step outside again!
There were many positions within the base, and she could choose any of them. Although it lacked freedom and required working eight hours a day, it was definitely much better than venturing out into the outside world!
The two of them returned along the original path and arrived in the narrow underground passage.
In the left corner, there was a huge metal cover. Chen Fan lifted the cover and looked inside.
The rumbling sound of rushing water surged into his face. This was—an underground river!
The current was swift!
And there was no telling where it led!
The water quality was very clean, and the riverbed was paved with pebbles. Between the cracks of the pebbles, emerald-green aquatic weeds grew, and among the weeds, gray-black cave fish were foraging and moving about!
Chen Fan looked at Li Qian and said, "We will leave this place via this underground river. Don't disturb them!" Mainly because their speed was too fast, and Chen Fan lacked absolute confidence in winning against them!
Li Qian swallowed a crystal-clear mouthful of saliva and once again displayed her fragility and weakness!
She sighed inwardly. She had always thought of herself as an exceptionally strong woman, but ever since meeting Chen Fan, she finally understood just how weak she truly was!
Perhaps in any era, women were inferior to men. Men were born as war machines, while women—no matter how strong they appeared—that strength was ultimately just a facade, shattering at the slightest touch!
"What are you daydreaming for? Jump in!" Chen Fan urged.
She took a few steps forward and stood at the edge. The bone-chilling cold mist surged into her face, causing her body to shrink back, utterly terrified to jump in.
From her perspective, this underground river was at least six or seven meters deep, and jumping in rashly meant certain death!
"Dawdling and dragging your feet, so annoying!" Chen Fan let out a cold snort and shoved her straight down.
A plop echoed out, and her body was engulfed by the cold river water. For a moment, she forgot the fact that she knew how to swim, and flailed about frantically in the water.
Chen Fan stepped forward, the tips of his shoes breaking the water's surface, and plunged directly into the river.
The rumbling sound of the water completely occupied his hearing, and river water drilled into his ear canals. He felt as though his sight and hearing had been completely stripped away!
Yet he remained unaffected. With a few rapid strokes, he instantly grabbed Li Qian's ankle and pulled her to his side.
Li Qian was terrified out of her wits. After exposing her head, she quickly reached out both arms to hug his arm, and then hurriedly wrapped her two smooth, delicate thighs tightly around him, locking him in a clamp.
Like a python, she tightly coiled her body around Chen Fan's, restricting his movement.
A suffocation sensation akin to a python's constriction... He thought of this rather interesting descriptive phrase!
Amidst the raging current, Chen Fan allowed her to wrap around him, his expression solemn as he kept a sharp eye on the surrounding situation.
Two hours later, the two of them reached the end of this underground river, where the roaring sound of a waterfall swept over them!
It was loud enough to make their eardrums ache!
Clearly, the end was a waterfall!
Roar!
The two of them rushed out of the underground river. Just as they entered a twenty-meter-wide river channel, an angry roar erupted from the bank!
It was the roar of the chainsaw butcher!
And two hundred meters ahead of the two of them lay... a waterfall!
In the torrential river channel, Chen Fan fought against the surging river water while eyeing the chainsaw butcher on the bank!
It was standing beside a giant boulder, roaring at Chen Fan, while the vengeful spirit in white and the stitched monster stood on either side of it!
Their family of three was complete!
Whether living as normal people or as terrifying monsters, they had not abandoned each other. Could this be considered remaining inseparable through life and death?
"Turns out the most terrifying thing isn't monsters, but... human hearts!" Chen Fan sighed, having no intention of lowering himself to their level.
Though he let it go, the chainsaw butcher had no intention of letting him off. It hoisted the chainsaw high, wielding it like a javelin, and aimed straight at Chen Fan's head before throwing it with all its might.
If he were hit, Chen Fan's head would be instantly shredded!
"Thanks a lot!!" Chen Fan swept his large hand through the air, storing the chainsaw into his backpack, and then wrapped his arm around Li Qian's soft, slender waist, plunging directly into the river water!
The two of them reached the end of the river channel and plummeted downward along the waterfall!
This waterfall was several thousand meters high, equivalent to a continental fault cliff. Merely glancing at it casually was enough to scare the liver and gall out of a person. Li Qian was filled with an unimaginable degree of terror, using every ounce of her strength to wrap her arms around his neck, pressing her soft, burning body fiercely against his.
It seemed that only by doing this could she feel the slightest bit of safety!
Her behavior was no different from that of a drowning person, ultimately not only endangering herself but potentially dragging her savior down to death with her!
Fortunately, this person was Chen Fan. He was fully equipped to handle the current situation; to him, this was nothing much at all!