People are scared in America, my uncle is Dante

Chapter 146 The Clown at the Bottom of the Well

29 Nieberte Street.

In a small courtyard overgrown with weeds, a three-story abandoned house stands in the rain.

The roof tiles were scattered and broken, and the few broken windows looked like empty eyes, watching every passerby outside.

"This is it—"

Mike, the Black man, stopped the car and said.

Bill and the others sat in the car, staring intently at the building, their breathing becoming uncontrollably rapid.

For them, this house is not just a ruin, but also the tangible source of all the terrifying nightmares of their childhood.

Suren got off the bus alone.

Beverly's mouth was slightly open, just about to remind him to bring an umbrella.

But what happened next completely overturned their understanding.

It was pouring rain outside, but Suren didn't get wet at all.

The raindrops fell on him as if they were blocked by an invisible barrier.

Seeing this illogical scene, a flame of hope was rekindled in everyone's eyes.

Perhaps he really can solve this nightmare that has plagued the town for years.

"There is a dry well in the basement of the house."

Mike got out of the car and quickly followed, explaining, "That connects to the sewer entrance of Derry Town, and it's also the only way to the Joker's lair."

"It lives down there."

"Um."

Suren nodded and kicked open the wooden door.

"Bang!"

A stench of decay and mold hit him, causing the people behind him to cough repeatedly.

Despite his discomfort and fear, Mike led Suren through the corridor to the entrance to the basement.

"It's right here."

Mike, the Black man, pointed to the iron door leading to the basement, his voice sounding somewhat tense.

Without saying a word, Suren kicked it away again.

With a loud crash, the iron gate collapsed, and a biting cold wind blew out.

They went down the somewhat rotten stairs.

Inside the basement, a dry well made of stone bricks stands in the center.

As Bill looked at the dry well, long-forgotten memories flooded back to him.

Twenty-seven years ago, they followed this well into the clown's lair and experienced that life-or-death battle.

Suren walked to the well and peered down.

The bottom of the well was pitch black. Even though he could see everything in the dark, he couldn't see how deep the well was.

Without hesitation, he flipped over and jumped directly into the dry well.

"Sulen!"

Beverly, who was behind him, was startled by his action and couldn't help but exclaim. She quickly rushed to the well and looked down.

"Thump!"

A few seconds later, a muffled sound came from the bottom of the well.

Suren stood at the bottom of the well, looked around, and frowned.

Not right.

Apart from the moss-covered well walls, there was no passage that Mike had described.

He reached out and felt around the well wall, but found no hidden door.

"What happened?"

Suren was puzzled.

This shouldn't be a trap set by the Joker.

He didn't sense any problems with Mike from beginning to end.

Suren recalled the plot details of "It" in her mind.

In the original story, the grown-up protagonists return to Derry and do indeed re-enter the Joker's lair through this well.

But why has this well become a dead end now?

Could it be that my intrusion caused the plot to deviate from its intended course?

Or perhaps the evil sorcerer group modified some of the rules in this experimental setting?

and many more.

Suren suddenly remembered something.

In the original storyline, the black man Mike asked them to find an extremely important item.

An old item that best represents their childhood.

It can be a beautiful memory, or it can be the most terrifying nightmare.

Mike called it the "Chud Ritual".

This was the only way he had discovered to fight the Joker after so many years of research in the town.

Only by collecting these items that carry memories and emotions can they truly possess the power to fight the Joker and completely destroy him.

"Could it be because of this?"

Suren looked up at the crowd peeking out of the well.

Only when they confront their past fears and gather all the items will the path to the final battle be fully opened.

Having figured this out, Suren slightly bent his knees and suddenly exerted force.

But just as he leaped into the air, a sudden change occurred!

The original well wall suddenly transformed into the intestines of some kind of creature, constantly wriggling.

Above the wellhead, the stone bricks were being slowly tightened as if gripped by a giant hand.

"FUCK, what the hell is this?!"

Bill and the others were so frightened by what they saw that they cried out and quickly moved away from the well.

Countless tiny, gray hands reached out from the bottom of the well, tightly gripping Suren's ankles and spreading upwards along his calves.

Suren looked down and saw a clown face appear under the foot he had just stepped on.

It opened its blood-red maw and gave Suren a cruel, wicked smile.

Those dark little hands reached out from its mouth, trying to drag Suren into its body.

Suren looked at the smug face at his feet and snorted coldly.

With a thought, a multi-functional rocket launcher suddenly appeared in his hand.

This is a weapon trial card belonging to Lady that he won in a previous system lottery.

He had always thought that these firearms would be of no use to him in his current situation. Unexpectedly, they became the most suitable tools in this narrow well.

Suren reversed the cannon's muzzle, aiming it at the densely packed little hands and the clown's face.

"You're laughing so hard, is there a funny joke you're telling? Would you mind sharing it with me?"

He sneered, "Oh! I forgot, you're just a third-rate circus clown."

"boom!"

An explosion resounded in the well, and the intense flames instantly engulfed everything below.

Using the force of the explosion, Suren stomped heavily on his feet and shot upwards like a cannonball.

"Bang!"

He smashed the closing well opening and returned to the basement.

Bill and his men, filled with apprehension, immediately surrounded them.

"My God, you actually survived?"

"Are you alright? What happened down there?"

Suren shook her head: "I'm fine, let's leave here first."

Inside a coffee shop.

"A dead end? Impossible!"

Bill's eyes widened. "That's where we came down from back then."

Several people sat around a booth, hot coffee steaming in the air.

Suren has already told them what happened down in the well.

"Those were those days, now is now."

He spoke calmly.

"Mike, you've stayed in town all these years investigating that monster."

-

Suren looked at the silent black man in the corner and asked:

Besides knowing its lair, what else did you find out? For example—an ancient ritual to deal with it?

Upon hearing this, Mike's body jolted, and an expression of disbelief flashed in his eyes.

"How—how do you know about the Chude ritual?"

He hadn't even had a chance to tell his closest friends this secret. How did this stranger, whom they'd only recently met, know it?

"That's not important."

Suren didn't explain. He looked at the people present and continued, "Now, I need each of you to go back and find an item from your childhood. This item should hold all your childhood memories."

"Only by gathering all these items and performing a ritual sacrifice can we open the passage to the clown's lair."

Upon hearing Suren's words, Bill, Beverly, and the others' expressions turned grim.

Retrieving those items means they have to reopen the scabbed wounds.

Go to places where horrific events once occurred, and confront alone the childhood traumas that took them twenty-seven years to barely forget.

The coffee gradually cooled down.

Ultimately, trusting in Suren's abilities, Bill took a deep breath and made the decision on behalf of everyone else.

"Okay, let's go get it."