Deep in the Living
Chapter 107 - 101 The Elder

Chapter 107: Chapter 101 The Elder

Passing the garden fountain in the front yard, only the last stretch of road remained before the nursing home building, and fortunately, this path was devoid of stray cats and dogs.

Taking the opportunity, Anna asked something she had always been concerned about.

"So, Luo Di, is the world you’re connected to ’Hell’? The opportunity must have been during our initial participation in the Simulation Practice, right?

No wonder you maintained the habit of clicking your tongue even after the practice ended. Just hearing that sound during that period would stress me out."

"I suppose so, but my ’Hell’ has no direct relation to that tongue. It’s just a habit of clicking my tongue.

If I ever have the chance to encounter the true form of that tongue, I wouldn’t mind pulling it out, along with its pituitary gland connected at the end of the tongue."

"Are you still planning to ’consume Alien Food’?"

"As long as it can enhance my strength and assist me in hunting more creatures related to ’Corners,’ I will try any method available."

"Oh."

Luo Di’s words essentially outlined what he was after, and at that moment, Anna realized that she and Luo Di were entirely different people.

Although she was born into a family that worshipped the flesh and was combative, all her life she was taught how to become stronger, how to combat Pseudo-People, and how to survive in such a world.

Everything was predicated on survival.

But Luo Di was entirely different; he was someone utterly pure-hearted, focused solely on hunting those from the ’Corner’, even if it meant he might perish in the process.

...

The nursing home was in a state of power outage.

Anna forcefully pried open the automatic doors in front of her,

The entire lobby was shrouded in pitch darkness, with no light source, and the two people standing at the entrance could only see a region not exceeding ten meters.

Click~ Both quickly took out flashlights from their backpacks.

The true appearance of the lobby was delineated by two beams of light,

Several old-model wheelchairs were left here,

Damaged light fixtures dangled halfway from a few strands of electric wires,

The glass of the service windows was either full of cracks or had shattered altogether,

The elevators opposite had long since ceased operation; the only way to go higher was perhaps to search for the fire escape.

The one consolation was that the nursing home still followed the construction style of ’Corner Law,’ without any structures that could form a ’Physical Corner.’

Luo Di even bent down to pick up a flyer from the ground, printed in Italian, advertising the nursing home.

*Is your elderly family member suffering from a serious illness?*

*Can your elderly family member take care of themselves?*

*Does your elderly family member often forget to return home?*

*Is your elderly family member unable to manage their own emotions?*

If the above situations cause you distress, please contact ██ Nursing Home. We are equipped with professional medical staff and the most patient caregivers in the city, providing round-the-clock service to the elderly.

For a minimum of only one hundred thousand Rubles per month, your elderly family member will enjoy the best services and spend a perfect remaining life here.

Please call: █████-██████ for more information.

...

After quickly reviewing the flyer, a strange sound suddenly caught their ears.

Because the entire lobby was very quiet, it was easy to pinpoint the source of the noise, coming from inside the service counter.

Anna heard it too, and it felt all too familiar.

This sound seemed to drag them back to the Simulation Practice they had a year ago, somewhat similar to the noise the Zombies made while feasting on the offerings in the backyard.

The two exchanged glances, turned off their flashlights, and stealthily approached.

In the meantime,

Luo Di’s left arm began to coil with spike-laden iron wire, activating the power of the ’Punishment Room.’

Hiss~ With a burst of hot air, a standard-sized animal trap was now in his hand.

As he approached the counter window, he naturally bent down to place it without making a sound.

The two first arrived at the service counter, peering into the interior through the glass windows.

Inside was only a desk cluttered with various materials and a desktop computer, nothing abnormal in sight,

But there was still a door inside the counter, corresponding to the ’Shift Room,’ and the faint noise seemed to be coming from there.

The two, using a gap in the damaged window, levered themselves in, moving step by step closer to the ’Shift Room,’ one after the other.

The door lock was broken, and with a gentle push, it slid open.

The door hinge remained silent, preserving the stillness.

Inside the Shift Room, there was neither light nor windows, and it was absolutely dark, making it impossible to see anything.

To get a clear view, they had to use flashlights,

Pointing the turned-off flashlight at the source of the noise, a finger slowly moved over the switch on the barrel of the flashlight.

Click!

A cylindrical beam of light shot out.

An "old crone" was illuminated,

A few strands of white hair hung from her head,

Despite looking scrawny across most of her body, her abdomen was draped with layers of wrinkled skin, showing an evident bulging similar to the stray cats and dogs encountered earlier.

Her body was completely sprawled on the ground, "gnawing" on the corpse of a stray dog,

But a closer observation would reveal that it was not gnawing, but rather sucking.

The woman placed her face about 3 centimeters away from the corpse of the stray dog, and from her eyes, nose, and mouth, several red tubes extended.

Inserting,

Sucking,

The body of the wild dog, over one meter long, had long been emaciated.

Perhaps the feeding had ended,

or perhaps it smelled something completely different,

the old woman’s feeding behavior gradually stopped as one by one the small red tubes retracted into her body.

Click-click-click~ Her rigid head slowly turned, looking towards the two people at the door.

Her droopy eyelids hung,

but there were no eyeballs, no teeth, only the red tubes inside used for feeding,

sensing the scent of fresh food, the old woman’s body began to convulse.

With a weird twist of her body, she suddenly stood upright.

Her feet alternated rapidly as she began to run,

but there was no movement in the old woman’s arms,

such running pattern was very reminiscent of a "Zombie" from movies,

Luo Di and Anna didn’t choose to confront her here, but turned around to retreat, vaulting over the counter with one hand and back into the open and more suitable area for the fight.

The old lady who followed them also leaped over the counter,

continuing to chase after them with fast-paced zombie-like steps,

just when she was about to catch up to her two fresh new targets, she suddenly stepped on a scorching metal trigger... clack!

Like the sharp teeth of a ferocious animal, the animal trap instantly pierced through her right leg, firmly pinning it in place.

Because of her sprinting speed, the old woman’s body fell forward with great force, smashing her nasal bone and covering her face with blood.

The woman’s entire right leg was tightly clamped by the animal trap, with iron wire deeply embedded in the flesh.

Unimaginable pain made her scream,

but before she could make a sound,

a rapidly spinning Zombie Blade flew straight at her,

Whoosh!

The sharp blade cut open the skull and embedded deeply into it, deep enough to reach the hypothalamus—if she were a Pseudo-Person, she would now be dead.

Loud sounds could potentially attract trouble; a decisive kill was the best choice.

Anna on the side, who had also been ready to make a move, felt somewhat disappointed, as Luo Di’s enemy-eliminating efficiency was too high.

Seeing the old woman motionless, and that the animal trap’s restriction still in effect,

Luo Di walked straight forward, intending to remove the Zombie Blade stuck in the opponent’s skull.

When two meters away,

Clang!

The trap holding her right leg suddenly trembled.

The old lady started to move again, almost like a post-mortem activity.

A massive number of red tubes squirmed crazily within the split skull, unfazed by the invasion of Corpse Poison.

Hiss~

The old woman tore her own right leg off with brute force, freeing herself from the confinement of the animal trap.

Her hands burst with immense strength, propping up her body, lunging at the young man ahead... The swaying red blood vessels eagerly wanted to suck him dry.

Luo Di’s spine bulged slightly as bursts of heat radiated from it.

Just then,

a robust voice came from behind,

"Luo Di, dodge!"

Luo Di immediately canceled the switch to Hell Mode and twisted his body.

A larger than normal axe came swinging in from behind, or rather, it was flung.

The flesh-like handle of the axe had lengthened more than twice, softened in structure, and could be whipped out like a lash.

Bang!

The concrete floor was smashed open, leaving a vertical crack over a meter long,

the Zombie Blade lodged in the old woman’s head was flung out by the immense impact,

As for the old lady who was hit head-on by the axe, she was split in two in an instant, the odd red tubes scattered everywhere, completely dead.

Considering the possible presence of aging gas inside the corpse, the two hastily retreated over ten meters away.

Anna’s axe gradually shortened during this process, returning to its normal length, and she assumed a standard bodybuilding pose, seemingly flaunting her strength and the hard-won opportunity to showcase it.

After retrieving his Zombie Blade, Luo Di looked at Anna’s body seriously.

The strength of that chop was beyond imagination, far exceeding his own in normal human state on the "strength level"... It wasn’t at all like that of a normal person.

If Anna had been male, Luo Di might have already reached out to touch.

"Your body..."

Listening to this somewhat complimentary comment, Anna hurried to explain, "Ah? Our family members seem to have special physical gifts. We eat several times more meat every day than ordinary people."

In Luo Di’s view, such a physique and strength might not be as simple as just eating and having a talent.

After the gray gas inside the old person had completely dissipated,

the two approached once more,

too much strength not only completely split the mutated old woman open, but also nearly destroyed her bodily structure. However, considering the driver’s previous revival behavior, Luo Di still planned to further process the body.

"I’ll do it... This is something I brought over from Jupiter City Investigation Bureau, a kind of new scientific product, especially for dealing with potentially reviving flesh and blood creatures."

Anna took out an exquisite matchbox marked with the Investigation Bureau’s symbol from her backpack, with matches inside actually made of some sort of flammable metal.

After striking a match, she gently threw it down.

A blue flame immediately spread across the surface of the corpse, burning the entire body to nothing in a short time, without leaving a trace.