From Robinson Crusoe

The lights came on in the basement, which reeked of blood.

The dim lighting created a somber atmosphere in the room, and the deceased Mr. Brian was the freshest corpse in the room.

Chen Zhou forcibly dragged Mrs. Brian into the room, where a long table was set up.

Some human remains were scattered on the long table, with chemicals for preservation and dissection tools lying around them.

With a slight exertion, the terrified Mrs. Brian was thrown onto the long table.

Beside her were a blood-stained short saw and a long hook for removing flesh and bone.

The spirits of those who died tragically in this dimly lit room seemed to be watching him, while the tall, mysterious man beside the long table was like a grim reaper emerging from hell to uphold justice for the dead.

"Speak."

Tell me everything you know and what you suspect about Ambrose.

I'll give you five minutes to recall.

Five minutes later…

Chen Zhou casually picked up the short knife from the long table.

"If I don't hear the answer I want after five minutes, I will try to create a wax figure with a soul myself."

Of course, compared to you skilled artists, my skills are probably not that proficient at all.

You may suffer excessive pain, even to the point of falling into a coma.

Don't worry, I won't let you miss a great artistic performance. Even if you faint, I have a way to wake you up.

The lighting made Chen Zhou's facial features appear particularly dark, and the shadow cast by his tall figure enveloped Mrs. Brian.

The terrified and pained woman was in tears. She was too nervous to speak and could only sob. She trembled and tried to curl up as if that would give her some sense of security.

However, Chen Zhou did not show any leniency just because she was a woman.

He calmly counted the time silently, reminding Mrs. Brian.

"Three minutes left."

As he spoke, he plunged the dagger in his hand into the table.

The knife was pressed down as easily as cutting tofu, disappearing completely into the wooden tabletop, leaving only a small section of the handle visible.

Seeing the tabletop pierced by a knife next to her head, Mrs. Brian seemed to see her own fate. She struggled to control her muscles twitching with fear and pleaded softly.

"Please, please let me go...please..."

"My family has a lot of money, gold, cars, jewelry, you can have it all, please let me go..."

Her still-charming face was brimming with tears, and her pleading expression was comparable to that of the best actress.

But Chen Zhou was like a robot devoid of emotion.

Every passing second left a distinct mark on his mind. He didn't care about the money and wealth Mrs. Brian mentioned; he just kept reminding her.

"One minute left."

……

Sixty seconds, a time that usually passes quietly while drinking a cup of tea, now felt incredibly long.

Mrs. Brian desperately wanted to save her life, but Chen Zhou made no promises to her.

She knew she was doomed, only the way she died would be different.

Mrs. Brian glanced at Chen Zhou through her tear-blurred eyes, still clinging to the hope that he would at least give her a quick death, even if it meant certain death.

The thought of Ambrose, the secrets hidden in that place, and the demons in human skin living there made her heart tremble.

She can die, Brian can die, but they still have their son, their eldest son, and the shame of that family…

Once Ambrose's secret is revealed and those demons find her, even if she doesn't die, she will live the rest of her life in endless torment.

Even her family and friends were not spared.

The countdown ended quickly.

Mrs. Brian managed to stop sobbing, but aside from her fervent pleas for mercy, she didn't reveal a single word about Ambrose.

When Chen Zhou pulled out the knife, pierced her arm, and pinned her firmly to the long table, she remained silent despite turning pale from the excruciating pain.

Realizing this was a tough nut to crack, Chen Zhou was hesitating whether to give her a quick death or look for clues on Brian when he suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps overhead.

The sound circled the living room, then, seemingly sensing something was wrong, immediately turned towards the basement door.

Realizing he might be discovered by this person, Chen Zhou grabbed a handful of metal tools and threw them, shattering a light bulb in the basement.

With a flash of electricity, the basement was plunged back into darkness, leaving only Mrs. Brian's painful groans.

After the lights went out, Chen Zhou immediately controlled his steps, walked around the clutter in the basement towards the wall, and at the same time drew a pistol.

If absolutely necessary, he would rather expose his position than not shoot and kill the other party.

Of course, it's best not to fire if possible, as the sound of gunfire is too loud, and if the case gets out of hand, the police will be called soon.

He bought both guns recently, and there probably aren't many unfamiliar faces going in and out of gun shops lately, so it would be easy to trace them back to Ronald. Once Ronald is traced, it would be equivalent to him being exposed.

……

The footsteps moved quickly toward the basement, accompanied by a man's shouts.

"Dad, mom?"

A beam of light appeared in the distance, but it was very weak and not enough to illuminate the entire basement.

Knowing that it was her son who had come to see her, Mrs. Brian was about to respond, but Chen Zhou quickly stuffed a rag into her mouth.

Unable to speak, Mrs. Brian struggled and whimpered, trying to make noise on the long table to alert her son.

However, this sound did not alert Brian.

The sound turned into the thumping of footsteps on the stairs, and then light shone into the basement.

Brian held a gun in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

A beam of light pierced the darkness, and the familiar stench of blood and decay made him frown. The basement door was open; he touched the light switch, but the light didn't respond, as if it were broken.

"dad?
Mother?"

He spoke again, but there was no response in the deep darkness. If you listened carefully, you could only hear the sound of wooden boxes or planks hitting something, as if Ambrose had run in.

Hey buddy!

Despite a bad feeling in his heart, little Brian still held onto a sliver of hope, thinking it was just a farce caused by his parents forgetting to open the door and Ambrose sneaking in to eat meat.

He called out to Ambrose in a light tone, but the image that had flashed through his mind when he ran into the house suddenly appeared—

Ambrose was barking wildly outside the door when someone closed the door, locking him out.

Since it's outside, how could it be Ambrose making the noise here?
Thinking of this, Brian suddenly turned the flashlight to the side.

The beam of light swept across most of the basement, briefly illuminating the darkness, but there was nothing inside.

As the flashlight beam moved to the other side again, a pair of large hands suddenly reached out from behind Brian.

……

With one hand covering Brian's mouth and the other grabbing his gun-wielding hand, Chen Zhou forcefully broke his wrist, took the gun from him, and threw it aside. He then escorted Brian toward the long table.

"Mrs. Brian, I believe you are a strong woman."

However, whether your son is as resilient as you seems like an interesting question. Let's test it out: are you more patient, or is your son more patient?

As he spoke, Chen Zhou released his hand from Brian's mouth.

A heart-wrenching scream immediately erupted from the pitch-black darkness. If Chen Zhou hadn't been holding him back, Little Brian would have collapsed to the ground from the excruciating pain.

The son's screams broke down Mrs. Brian's last psychological defense.

She realized that this uninvited guest was no less cruel than the demons in human skin in Ambrose, and it seemed that it didn't matter whether the punishment came later or immediately.

Facing the dark, shadowless room, amidst her son's screams, she revealed everything she knew about Ambrose—

Mrs. Bryan was not a native of Ambrose. She met Bryan at university and was influenced by this monster, embarking on a bloody and cruel path of indiscriminate killing. Eventually, she was accepted by Bryan, and the two married.

When they first got married, Mrs. Brian didn't know anything about Brian's background; she only thought that she had just fallen in love with a psychopathic killer.

It wasn't until Brian took her back to his hometown while she was pregnant that she learned there were hundreds of such serial killers, and that Brian's cruelty was considered mild compared to that of all the other members of the family.

There were far more cruel and vicious people than him; it was like a hell on earth.

If she hadn't known Brian, or had just been attracted to him, no matter how much she liked this mysterious and elegant man, Mrs. Brian would never have accepted all of this.

But by then she already had a child and had been affected by too many things; there was no turning back.

She had no choice but to accept it all, understand it all, and gradually be assimilated by this deep-seated evil.

According to Mrs. Bryan, Ambrose is actually located in Arkansas, but it is quite a distance from Prescott.

It was a small town hidden deep in the mountains, which had once prospered due to the mining industry but was later abandoned as mineral resources were depleted.

The roads leading to that town were mostly cut off, with only an abandoned branch of Highway 66 providing direct access.

A small portion of the family members she called "the devil" resided in Ambrose, while the majority were scattered across the United States, engaging in their preferred professions and quietly perpetrating one killing after another.

Some family members are reserved in their behavior, while others are flamboyant and arrogant, but few of them are punished by law, or rather, the government deliberately condones their behavior.

This is certainly not because politicians want a heinous murder scandal to occur in their jurisdiction, but because the Demon Family's influence is deeply entrenched, with many members already dominating their respective areas and becoming politicians of considerable status.

Because they have their own lives and unique "hobbies," the members of the Demon Family rarely interact or communicate unless they share the same interests.

However, they always gather together for a few days each year to return to Ambrose for a grand celebration.

Continuing family traditions, they flaunt their "masterpieces," demonstrate their new understanding to senior family members, or, like Brian, introduce new family members...

They have a lot to do, and these few days of gathering are the busiest days of the year in the abandoned town of Ambrose.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Brian and Brian were not particularly valued core members of the family, and they returned to Ambrose to participate in the celebrations very few times.

Mrs. Brian was, after all, an ordinary person. Even though she killed some people, created some "soulful wax figures," and even developed her "artistic pursuits," she was still a far cry from a truly indifferent pervert.

Arriving in Ambrose felt like stepping into a gladiatorial arena where all sorts of wild beasts were kept; she was so timid that she dared not even speak to others, let alone engage in much conversation.

In Ambrose, incidents of family members killing each other were not uncommon.

No one can control these demons in human skin. Even if Satan himself were here, once they get itchy, they won't care where they are or who their target is. They'll grab whoever they can and use them as their victims.

Out of fear and because of the fundamental difference, Mrs. Brian rarely mentioned Ambrose when she was with Brian, let alone asked him about the circumstances under which Brian had become like this.

Therefore, the information she provided to Chen Zhou was actually very limited, especially regarding the status of family members and the regularity of gatherings, which were of most concern to Chen Zhou. She was basically clueless about these things.

As for Brian's son, Brian Jr., he had only been to Ambrose once since he was born, when he was five years old. He had almost no memory of that unfamiliar hometown.

It could be said that Brian was perhaps the only person in the entire room who knew Ambrose better than anyone else, but he was now a corpse.

Nevertheless, Chen Zhou still obtained a lot of useful intelligence through Mrs. Brian.

Especially Ambrose's background and specific location.

There shouldn't be many abandoned mining towns in Arkansas; if you're willing to search relevant publications, you should be able to find them in a short time.

As for more detailed information, he will naturally have access to it once he arrives in Ambrose.

Mrs. Brian said that Ambrose is not usually a ghost town or a dead city; some members of the serial killer family live there, and those people must know Ambrose better than Brian does.

If he can patiently wait until the party is held, he will have the opportunity to carry out the massacre and wipe out all the "murderers" in one fell swoop.

However, fighting against a hundred men is no easy task, and he must make thorough preparations before heading to Ambrose.

After all, he was going to be facing desperate criminals, and there might be some tough guys among them. His two old pistols and the dozen or so bullets in his pocket would definitely not be enough.

……

The progress of the matter was somewhat bumpy, but the result was still acceptable.

Seeing that he could no longer obtain information from Mrs. Brian, Chen Zhou asked the next question—

"Have you caught a little girl who is about seven or eight years old in the last two days?"

If they caught her, where are they locking her up? Is she alive or dead? (End of Chapter)