Volume I: The Spiral Inscription, Chapter 26: The Hillside of Mincemeat

Deep in the desolate wilderness, within a narrow fissure in the rocks, Chen Fan lay inside a safe, closing the door until only a small gap remained.

His injuries this time were severe. Although the visitor in the blue clothes lacked overwhelming strength, they had managed to shatter his physical body by manipulating the flesh-and-blood passages. Had it not been for the "Zhen" character mantra, the longevity serum, and the Wood Source Stone, he would already be dead. Despite the heavy losses, it was not a total failure; at the very least, his mental corruption index had been suppressed once again. He finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you..." Katherine finally woke up. She sat beside Chen Fan, bowing her head, feeling a deep sense of guilt.

"If you hadn't taught me the 'Zhen' mantra, I would have died dozens of times over. It is I who should be thanking you," Chen Fan replied with a shake of his head. Katherine remained silent.

"What exactly was that red-clothed female corpse?" Chen Fan asked.

Katherine looked hesitant. After a long moment, she met his eyes and said, "Let's not talk about her for now. Let's talk about you. Do you know what you represent right now?"

"What do I represent?"

"In your current state, you are essentially a seal! It is because of your existence that it cannot escape from that abyss!" she explained. "The problem is, it will not sit idly by. It will attempt to break the seal again and again! Every time it makes an effort, your mental corruption index will increase accordingly. Do you understand now?"

Chen Fan nodded. "So, as long as I am the seal, it will inevitably loosen. To prevent that, I need to continuously reinforce it."

"There are two main ways to reinforce the seal," Katherine added. "First, by increasing your mutant level, and second, by acquiring various strange stones. Thunder Source Stones are the most effective, but others will suffice in a pinch."

Chen Fan looked into her captivating eyes. "You have the ability to guide me, don't you? Next time, can you lead me directly to where these strange stones are?"

"Of course, no problem," she replied with a sweet smile. Her face glowed, and her eyes appeared so profound they seemed capable of swallowing Chen Fan’s soul.

Chen Fan felt slightly more at ease. He prayed silently that he wouldn't be discovered before he recovered—especially not by those other visitors—or he would surely die. Every visitor was a formidable threat.

The Wood Source Stone, a divine object for healing, worked wonders. Under its influence, Chen Fan’s shattered body was recovering at an astonishing speed. By the next morning, he had essentially healed.

"Why is this Wood Source Stone so heaven-defying?" Chen Fan opened his eyes, filled with shock. He had expected it to take months to recover.

Katherine said, "It contains a trace of the essence of wood; it is only natural for it to have such miraculous effects."

"I see. It seems I must collect more Wood Source Stones in the future!" Chen Fan clenched his fists, his eyes burning with resolve.

Just then, heavy, labored breathing echoed outside the safe. It wasn't just one set of breaths, but a dense, overlapping chorus.

*Roar!*

The safe shook violently as rotten hands clutched at the door, trying to pry it open. Chen Fan was alarmed; veins bulged on his forehead as he pressed his hands against the door to prevent the unknown creatures from breaking in.

"What is it?" Chen Fan’s muscles tensed as he peered through the gap. He was nearly frightened to death—he saw an endless sea of... zombies!

They were indeed zombies. Though their bodies were severely decomposed, they were still "alive" and possessed intense aggression. Foul-smelling mucus secreted from their bodies, with maggots wriggling within it. Under the sunlight, the mucus glinted, and the maggots, sensitive to the light, squirmed even more violently.

"Why are there zombies here?" Chen Fan asked Katherine.

"It seems you don't know what a 'Magic Source Stone' truly is," she said without hesitation. "The Magic Source Stone is actually a source of viruses! 'Magic' here does not refer to demons, but to indescribable horror. Once one comes into contact with a Magic Source Stone, there is no telling what will happen. While it has infinite, miraculous power, the virus within can also contaminate biological bodies, transforming them into various monsters! These zombies are one such result."

Chen Fan’s scalp tingled as he gripped the edges of the safe door, holding it shut. He desperately wanted to use the combine harvester to break through, but after the previous battle with the army of man-eating ants, it was nothing more than a wreck. It might be able to start one last time, but it would be completely destroyed afterward. He couldn't bear to part with such a divine weapon just yet. He wanted to find a master craftsman to repair it properly.

The zombies' roars grew louder, and the tremors shaking the safe intensified. They were about to break in! He had to think of a plan immediately. His brain raced, and a moment later, he found a solution.

He opened a small gap, reached out, grabbed a zombie by the ankle, and yanked it into the safe.

*Roar!*

It was a female zombie. It opened its putrid mouth to bite at Chen Fan’s head. Its skin was relatively intact, revealing a pair of pale breasts, but Chen Fan ignored this, his eyes flashing with coldness as he crushed its skull.

A wet sound echoed as foul-smelling, black pus erupted from its neck like a fountain, drenching Chen Fan instantly. The amount of liquid was so great that it half-submerged the interior of the safe within moments. Floating on the surface of the pus were layers of white, rice-sized maggots, about three centimeters thick, looking like a wriggling white tile.

Chen Fan remained unmoved. He curled his legs, pushing his body down until everything below his head was submerged in the black pus. He rolled his body repeatedly, ensuring the liquid coated his skin thoroughly. Still not satisfied, he tore the zombie apart and smeared its thick, yellow-red rotten flesh onto his clothes.

With a sharp look in his eyes, he pushed the safe door open with all his might.

*Bang!*

The door swung open, and the scorching sunlight flooded in. He maintained his pose, carefully observing the zombie army.

*Roar!*

The zombies were clever; they realized Chen Fan was disguised and swarmed toward him, spraying viscous, charred-yellow liquid mixed with tiny maggots from their mouths!

Chen Fan snorted, pulled out a refrigerator, gripped its edge, and shoved it forward, knocking them back several meters. Stepping out of the safe, he drew a long blade and began to slash wildly!

*Splatter!*

Sounds of tearing flesh echoed repeatedly. Some zombies had their skulls shattered; others were cleaved in two. Yet, knowing no fear, they continued to charge.

He was on a hillside, and from his high vantage point, he could see the entire army—at least five thousand of them! Chen Fan’s skin crawled. He retreated up the barren slope, fighting as he went.

Ten minutes later, he reached the edge of the slope. A glance behind him nearly made him faint. He was looking into a bottomless, pitch-black abyss!

A freezing chill rose from below, wrapping around him and making him shiver uncontrollably. What caught his attention most were the rows of enormous holes in the opposite cliff face, accompanied by a claw mark hundreds of meters long. The mark was four or five meters deep, and within it lived giant insects—giant centipedes and millipedes!

The only consolation was the thick brown vines spanning the abyss. The slope had become a "hill of rotting flesh," crawling with translucent maggots. The grass below was covered in thick black pus, forming a vast, shimmering black pool that was slowly rising as it failed to soak into the soil.

"There are too many!" Chen Fan looked around. The entire hill was packed with zombies; there wasn't a single spot to step. Exhaustion set in. Gritting his teeth, he sheathed his long blade and leaped into the endless, freezing abyss.

He plummeted rapidly. As the intense sensation of weightlessness took hold, he locked his eyes on a thick vine and reached out, clutching it with both hands.

He hung suspended in the vast black abyss, swaying like a dying, large-headed ant. With a *crackle*, the vine groaned under his weight, dropping a dozen meters before he managed to pull himself up and wrap his limbs tightly around it. Veins bulged on his forehead.

The vine finally stopped dropping. Piercing white frost rose from the abyss, engulfing him and causing his body to tremble. Fighting his terror, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up at the edge of the slope.

The zombies were still roaring at him, snapping their jaws into the air with frantic madness. A large group, blinded by their frenzy, stepped into the void and plunged into the abyss.

*Rumble!*

As they fell, the abyss itself began to shake. Chen Fan looked down, his expression shifting. The black mist below churned violently, revealing a black spine—vast as a mountain, covered in rows of thick bone spurs.

The spine rose further, revealing a colossal mouth! It was at least sixty meters in diameter, filled with yellow-white fangs, each over two meters long, with skeletons embedded in the gums. Even from that distance, Chen Fan could smell the stench of its breath.

His pupils shook, and his scalp felt as if it would explode. He swung the vine with all his strength, launching himself onto the opposite cliff. He dug his fingers into a crevice, climbing rapidly with his hands and feet. Sharp stones embedded under his nails, and blood spilled out, staining his hands red. He seemed not to feel the pain, his gaze focused as he avoided the giant holes where he knew mutated creatures lurked.

*Crack!*

After a short rest, Chen Fan looked down. The giant mouth had closed after consuming hundreds of zombies. The terrifying, massive head turned slightly, and a giant black eye came into view.

The eye stared directly at Chen Fan. The look in it was complex—like an elder looking at a descendant, filled with nostalgia and perhaps... encouragement? Chen Fan wondered if he had misread it.

Then, he realized with a shock: the creature was a visitor! It had become a giant of the abyss. What rules of the game did it follow? What was its mission? It clearly didn't intend to devour other visitors, or it wouldn't have looked at him that way.

Chen Fan stopped being afraid and met its gaze, sighing. In that moment, they recognized each other.

The creature said nothing, slowly opening its mouth to reveal two stones that flew toward Chen Fan: an orange Sun Source Stone and a red Fire Source Stone.

"Keep going, and return home as soon as you can!" it spoke in a human voice—a deep, aged voice filled with the weight of time.

"Thank you," Chen Fan nodded, collecting the two strange stones before continuing his climb. Under the creature's aura, the unknown beasts in the cliff holes dared not emerge. He climbed the rest of the way unimpeded.

When he looked down again, it had already vanished into the darkness.

Chen Fan looked up at the zombie army across the abyss. They were still snapping their jaws and roaring at him, but the abyss was five or six hundred meters wide; they could not cross.

Chen Fan smiled, turned around, and walked into the distance, guided by the golden-red light points. Katherine materialized beside him, pouting slightly. "I thought all humans were evil. I didn't expect there to be good ones!"

"That's for sure!" Chen Fan nodded. He took out the Sun Source Stone and the Fire Source Stone. "After absorbing the Thunder Source Stone, I mastered the 'Zhen' mantra. Can I absorb these two as well and master the Sun and Fire elemental techniques?"

Katherine glared at him. "Do you think divine mantras are game skills that you can learn as many as you want?"

Chen Fan looked at her, questioning.

Katherine explained patiently, "Fire, wind, thunder, yin, and yang are collectively known as offensive elements, and they are incompatible! Since you have already mastered the thunder technique, the other offensive elemental techniques are no longer within your reach."

"Understood," Chen Fan sighed helplessly. "Then this is your gain. Take them." He handed the stones to her.

She said nothing, opening her mouth. The Sun Source Stone shattered instantly, turning into a thick orange mist that flowed into her. The Fire Source Stone also shrank by eighty percent, leaving only a piece the size of a man's fist.

"Keep this. The Fire Source Stone is a rare treasure. Though little remains, if you detonate it, it can still release a terrifying high-temperature shockwave, comparable to a super bomb!"

Chen Fan’s eyes lit up with surprise; he quickly tucked it away, treating it as a precious item.

"For the next few months, the abyss seal will remain stable. You don't need to look for strange stones for now. Focus on collecting Magic Source Stones, gray stone fragments, and skull crystals," Katherine advised.

She pointed a pale finger, and the golden-red light points shifted to a different direction.