The din of the world felt as though an invisible hand had slammed down the mute button.
All that remained in Chen Yexun’s ears was the muffled, frenzied thrum of his beating heart and a continuous, sharp ringing sound.
He shook his head, his vision returning before his hearing.
Everything before him looked as if it had been doused in a thick layer of dark red paint.
A pungent stench of rust and grease hung in the air.
Beneath the massive body of the overturned truck, a terrifying pool of crimson silently spread, soaking countless indescribable human remains.
Most chilling of all, two figures were writhing their way out of the twisted, deformed cab.
The outline of their heads was unnaturally distorted, yet their faces bore expressions of ultimate, inhumanly twisted euphoria.
They seemed incapable of feeling pain.
One of them lunged forward, tackling a tourist who was stumbling past, grabbed the man’s arms with both hands, let out a beastly howl of laughter, and ripped with all his might!
*Snap!* A sickening tear drowned out the chaos around them, and the tourist’s screams instantly shrieked into something barely human.
The psychotic driver excitedly brandished the bloody appendage in his hand like a club, wildly swinging it down onto another victim trapped under the truck’s frame, who could only howl in helplessness.
*Thump!
Thump!
Thump!* Dull, wet impacts echoed repeatedly—like watermelons being smashed—accompanied by the horrifying sound of fracturing bones.
After a few blows, the victim’s wails abruptly ceased.
Only then did the two lunatic drivers pause, looking satisfied as if they had just completed a masterpiece of grand art, clutching their stomachs as they erupted into deafening laughter!
“Ugh…” A violent retching sound came from beside him.
Chen Yexun whipped his head around to see his cousin, Li Chengyu, kneeling on the ground.
Pale as a sheet, bile and stomach acid surged uncontrollably from his mouth.
The ringing in his ears gradually faded, and the muted torrent of horror flooded into Chen Yexun’s eardrums like a tidal wave: screams, wails, insane curses erupting from near and far, and, most spine-chilling of all, the ubiquitous, manic laughter echoing from every direction!
“Run!
Get the fuck up and run!
They’ve all gone crazy!” Chen Yexun hauled the limp Li Chengyu off the ground, his voice hoarse with panic.
Li Chengyu’s legs were like jelly.
He barely managed to stay upright, relying almost entirely on Chen Yexun dragging him along.
His eyes were dazed as he asked in desperation, “Where…
where do we go?!” Right—where could they run?!
Chen Yexun’s heart constricted as he looked around frantically.
The highway down the mountain had become hell on earth.
The SUV that yellow-haired Duan Xuan was so proud of had already been smashed into a twisted pile of scrap metal.
Even worse, the laughing lunatics on the road were indiscriminately attacking every living soul.
The people on the outer perimeter were being rapidly “cleared.” Once they were all dead, the maniacs would target those trapped in the middle of the plaza!
“Up the mountain!
Go!” Chen Yexun roared, practically hauling Li Chengyu as he fought his way against the fleeing crowd, lunging toward the stone stairs leading up the mountain.
Just as he forced his way through the throngs of people, a flash of yellow hair caught the corner of his eye!
It was Duan Xuan!
His head was bleeding heavily from an unknown wound, soaking half his face in red.
But there was no trace of his usual pretentious arrogance or smugness—only an intensely euphoric, twisted grin!
His hands were choked tightly around the throat of their college dorm monitor, Zhang Yang!
Zhang Yang’s eyes bulged wide, his face purplish-blue, completely lifeless.
Even more horrifying, a long, blood-red rope—or whatever it was—extended from a gaping tear in Duan Xuan’s stomach, coiling around Zhang Yang’s neck and Duan Xuan’s own arms.
Another stranger, laughing like an excited child, leaped high into the air again and again, coming down heavily onto Zhang Yang’s crushed chest with sickening squelches and the dull crunch of shattering bones!
The hellish scene turned Chen Yexun’s blood to ice!
Hesitating no longer, he summoned every ounce of strength, grabbed the utterly stunned Li Chengyu, and sprinted up the mountain stairs like a man possessed!
“Where are Zhang Yang and the others?!” Li Chengyu gasped as they sprinted, still clinging to a sliver of hope.
“Forget them!
They’re dead!” Chen Yexun yelled without turning his head, his voice swallowed by the wind.
“Dead?!
How could…” Li Chengyu’s cry was cut short by the sudden approach of mad laughter and foul obscenities from behind!
Chen Yexun glanced back, and his heart sank to his boots!
More than a dozen lunatics were laughing wildly as they chased them up the steps!
They were unnaturally fast, as if jacked up on stimulants.
Some had half a severed leg or dripping organs draped around their necks like necklaces; one was even holding a severed head, making obscene gestures while sprinting!
The sight triggered a shudder of “familiarity” in Chen Yexun—it was terrifyingly similar to the bloody “basement” in his house, only scaled up a thousand times!
If they kept running straight, they would definitely be caught!
Chen Yexun’s gaze hardened.
He reached into the side pocket of his backpack and whipped out the life-saving selfie stick once more, gripping it tightly.
The cold metallic touch provided a twisted sense of security.
Up ahead, older people among the fleeing crowd were running out of stamina, slowing down and falling behind.
Chen Yexun pulled Li Chengyu along, tapping into his primal survival instinct to surge past them.
A few brief, bloodcurdling screams echoed behind them before being swallowed by even more excited maniacal laughter.
The unfortunate souls who were caught bought them a momentary reprieve.
Chen Yexun didn’t know whether to feel relieved for the brief breather or grieved for those sacrificed.
He had only one thought left in his mind: run!
After several minutes of exhausting, desperate climbing, they finally burst onto the sightseeing platform of the mountain cable car station.
It was just as chaotic here.
Panicked crowds swarmed around the cable car, everyone desperately trying to squeeze into the vehicle, which was already dangerously overloaded, with people jammed right against the doorway.
Crying, shouting, and cursing filled the air.
“Let me on!
Please, I beg you!” “Get the fuck away!
It’s overloaded!
Do you want us all to die?!” “People are being murdered!
Down below, they’re eating people!
They’re almost here!
Let us in!” someone screamed hysterically, as if that could persuade the people inside to give up their chance at survival.
Chen Yexun and Li Chengyu collapsed onto the ground, their chests heaving violently, every breath burning with a metallic, bloody sting.
Chen Yexun stumbled a few steps before collapsing completely.
Li Chengyu flopped down beside him, staring blankly at the chaos down the mountain, muttering to himself, “Crazy…
they’ve all gone crazy…” But Chen Yexun didn’t dare rest!
The hair-raising laughter and curses were like maggots clinging to bone, rising once again from the stone steps below, getting closer and closer!
“Fuck!” Chen Yexun cursed, forcing down his churning stomach as he scrambled to his feet.
He quickly retracted the selfie stick and fished out a folding pocket knife from his backpack—the kind he usually used for opening cans and peeling fruit.
The blade wasn’t long, but at a time like this, any edge of cold steel offered a faint ray of comfort.
His eyes swept across the platform, immediately locking onto a solid wood altar table next to the station, laden with incense, candles, and offerings!
The table was heavy, crafted from old-style solid wood.
“Help me!” Chen Yexun bellowed at Li Chengyu as he rushed over, sweeping all the fruit and offerings off the table without hesitation!
Li Chengyu caught his intent instantly.
Survival instinct overwhelmed his exhaustion; gritting his teeth, he rushed over, heaving against the heavy wooden table alongside Chen Yexun.
“Help us!
Block the entrance if you want to live!” Chen Yexun screamed at the panicked crowd around them.
A few men who were relatively calm snapped to their senses and joined in.
With their combined strength, the heavy solid-wood table was shoved over the edge, tumbling down the stone steps with a thunderous roar!
A series of loud crashes followed as it slammed straight into the frontmost lunatics, sending them flying!
The front rank fell and tripped the ones behind, turning the stairway into instant chaos.
However, the brief obstruction failed to stop them completely.
Seeing their tumbling companions, the laughing maniacs farther back felt no fear—instead, they erupted into even more ecstatic roars of laughter!
Using both hands and feet, they scrambled right over the stair handrails, charging up the steep rocks and dense bushes of the mountainside as if on flat ground!
Some even stomped directly over the bodies of their fallen comrades, surging upward in a frenzy!
“Fuck!” Chen Yexun felt his scalp go numb.
Not only did these lunatics possess terrifying speed and strength, but they were also completely immune to pain and fear!
“Find things!
Block them!” Chen Yexun turned and sprinted toward the small temple behind them, his eyes frantically searching for anything that could serve as a barricade or weapon.
Li Chengyu’s eyes were bloodshot as he followed him inside.
The next cable car was slowly approaching—they had to buy themselves these final few dozen seconds!
Several of them rushed into the small temple, madly hunting for anything throwable: bamboo trash cans, prayer benches, even a stainless steel donation box…
Everything movable was hoisted up and hurled down toward the stairs and the slope!
Other survivors on the platform joined in, their desperate bursts of strength temporarily suppressing the lunatics’ momentum.
Just as Chen Yexun hoisted up a heavy futon frame— “Ahhh!” A shriek so shrill it sounded deformed burst out from inside the temple hall!
The crowd, who had huddled together seeking a fleeting sense of safety, scattered in panic like an exploding pot!
In the clearing left by the scattering people, a man lay covered in blood, his body twitching unconsciously.
Standing beside him was another man with a massive, satisfied, insanely manic smile plastered across his face.
From the corner of his mouth hung a freshly torn piece of dripping, bloody flesh, which he chewed as he laughed hysterically.
A bone-chilling cold instantly swept through Chen Yexun’s entire body.