Deep Within the Living-Chapter 12: Threat Neutralized

[Records Department]
Within the research facility, the Records Department required no complex equipment or direct interaction with the experimental site.
Their sole responsibility was to analyze and meticulously document the entire practice process in real time. If they detected any potential dangers early, they would immediately them to ensure the exercise’s overall stability.
The office was equipped with multiple movable blackboards, with the central one displaying the current practice theme: “Seeded Jiangshi.”
Note: The difficulty of this theme is dynamic, determined by the participants’ intentional actions before midnight.
The department’s staff were now visibly more relaxed and excited. Both mentally and physically, they were starting to unwind.
The decisive actions taken by the four young participants had significantly lowered the difficulty of the scenario, greatly improving its stability. The estimated success rate now exceeded 90%, prompting some employees to jokingly suggest opening champagne early.
The department’s supervisor, smiling, placed a red label marked “Ritual Interrupted” on the blackboard.
[Mansion - Master Bedroom]
The two girls, soaked from both sweat and rain, rummaged through their backpacks for dry clothes.
Anna and Wu Wen had attended the same kindergarten, elementary, and middle schools. Unfortunately, they weren’t attending the same high school due to an event that led Wu Wen to transfer schools. Their time together over the past two years had been drastically reduced, limited to occasional weekends when neither had extra tutoring classes.
Girls at their age underwent significant changes, and this was especially evident now.
As they removed their soaked tops in the master bedroom, Wu Wen couldn’t help but be shocked at the sight before her.
Anna’s height and muscle tone were far above average for a girl, but her overall development was also strikingly ahead of the curve.
“It’s been two years, and you’ve grown so much!” Wu Wen exclaimed.
Despite her usual confidence, Anna instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, casting an awkward glance at Wu Wen.
Just as Anna opened her mouth to respond, she froze. Her eyes locked onto something unusual on Wu Wen’s body.
“Wenwen, what’s going on with your body?”
“Huh? Oh, you mean these?” Wu Wen replied casually. “My dad’s tutoring classes have reached the highest difficulty. The instructors are strict, so accidents happen.”
“That doesn’t look like an accident,” Anna said, dabbing herself dry with a tissue as she moved closer to inspect the faint bruises and scars scattered across Wu Wen’s skin.
Some were purple, others greenish, and many had left noticeable marks.
Before Anna could get a better look, Wu Wen quickly pulled on a black short-sleeve shirt.
“The human body is resilient, Anna. You should know that better than anyone. As long as it helps me grow stronger, a little extra intensity doesn’t matter. After all, what we’ll face in the future won’t stop just because we’re scarred.”
“Wenwen… is your dad being too harsh on you?”
“He’s just concerned. I made mistakes, and this is the only way to catch up with the top-tier students. If I’d kept up in the past, I could’ve gone to your school… but it’s fine. At least there, I wouldn’t have met someone as interesting as Luo Di.”
“True,” Anna said, slipping into a clean white short-sleeve shirt. “That guy is definitely something else.”
When the two girls opened the shared map, they saw the glowing dots representing the boys moving toward the mansion.
The class leader had already donned her raincoat and grabbed two extras for the boys.
“Let’s go downstairs to meet them. If they’ve really dealt with the corpse, they’ll probably need to handle the backyard tree next. Luo Di’s chainsaw turned out to be a smart purchase,” she said.
[Mansion Hall]
When the group reconvened in the hall, the class leader immediately noticed a faint discomfort lingering on Gao Yuxuan’s face. Curious, she asked,
“How exactly did you two handle that corpse? You finished so quickly.”
“We threw it,” Luo Di replied succinctly.
The class leader nodded knowingly. “Found a slope and tossed it down the mountain? No wonder you were so fast. So, what’s the plan for the tree in the backyard?”
“Cut it down,” Luo Di said without hesitation.
With everyone in agreement, they headed back to the backyard.
The sudden rain had disrupted the swarm of flies and washed away part of the stench.
The downpour also reduced the risk of explosion by cooling the heat generated during sawing.
The class leader carefully adhered light strips to the tree trunk to prevent any "corners" from forming during the cutting process.
As the chainsaw’s high-speed teeth bit into the trunk—
(Ahhh!)
A faint, weak scream echoed, as though the tree itself was crying out. The entire Chinese scholar tree began to tremble slightly.
Luo Di didn’t pause. He pressed on, continuing the cut.
Occasionally, foul-smelling liquid spurted out, resembling blood gushing from severed veins.
At times, large clusters of leaves would fall from above, each leaf appearing to carry an agonized, human-like face etched into it.
In less than ten minutes, the entire tree came crashing down.
Its cross-section revealed no typical growth rings but instead a completely rotted, mold-covered interior riddled with countless tiny holes. The sight was enough to make anyone’s scalp tingle.
The tree had decayed so thoroughly that it should have withered long ago.
Four raincoats were hung up in the front yard, left for the rain to wash away their grime.
[Outside the Master Bedroom]
This time, it was Luo Di and Gao Yuxuan inside changing clothes, while the girls waited outside.
Gao Yuxuan stuffed his soiled clothes into a trash bag and tied a tight knot, seemingly deciding they were too filthy to bother cleaning.
As he rose to set the bag by the door, something caught his eye—an unexpected "spectacle."
It was Luo Di’s back. The contours of his muscles were like something out of a painting or a fitness program on TV, far beyond what one would expect for someone his age.
At certain angles, the sinewy lines of his back muscles seemed to vaguely form the outline of a ferocious face.
Though Gao Yuxuan ranked third in sports within their class, his performance lagged significantly behind the first and second places—one of whom was Luo Di.
Luo Di’s physique was astonishing, a body forged to excel. Gao Yuxuan now understood why Luo Di consistently ranked first in sports. Knowing Luo Di came from a modest background, Gao Yuxuan realized such physical prowess likely came with hardship, and his respect for him grew.
By 5:00 PM,
From early morning until now, the group had consumed only a few sips of water, with no substantial nutrition.
Even for youth at the peak of their capabilities, the toll was heavy, and fatigue and hunger began to settle in.
Knowing the total duration of the exercise in advance, they had packed a variety of food from the supermarket, including self-heating meals and energy snacks.
“Luo Di, here.”
Luo Di had just finished eating two wafers when the class leader handed him a steaming self-heating meal she had prepared for everyone.
“Thanks,” Luo Di said, accepting it.
The warm, flavorful food provided a much-needed boost. As he ate, Luo Di reflected on the day’s events, trying to deduce the final threat of the simulated exercise. However, as he delved deeper into thought, a sluggish, worm-like fatigue wriggled into his brain, leaving him too exhausted to continue. He decided to rest briefly after finishing his meal.
On the other side, Anna seemed dissatisfied with just eating. She rummaged through her backpack and produced two bottles of high-proof vodka labeled in Russian.
“Anyone want a drink? We got drenched earlier; this’ll warm us up,” she said.
The others shook their heads. Not only were they underage, but drinking would impair their thinking and reflexes—something they couldn’t afford.
For Anna, however—of pure Russian descent and accustomed to drinking at home since childhood—a meal without alcohol felt incomplete. To her, alcohol sharpened her state of mind and allowed her to rest better.
“Ah, no takers? Guess I’ll drink alone,” she shrugged and tipped the bottle straight to her lips.
The fiery liquid burned her throat as it went down, warming her up instantly. Her cheeks turned rosy, and her posture grew less ladylike.
By the time she had eaten a few more bites and prepared for her fourth sip—
Snap!
A sharp, indeterminate clicking sound reached her ears, triggering an icy jolt of fear that spread through her entire body. She almost dropped the bottle in surprise.
Anna glanced at the others, who were still eating and appeared oblivious to the sound.
“Was it because of the alcohol?” she wondered, quickly corking the bottle.
That marked the end of her drinking for the day.