Deep in the Living
Chapter 155 - 149: Descent

Chapter 155: Chapter 149: Descent

[Ritual Room]

There was not a single source of light here, all the sisters had to collect a kerosene lantern from outside the door.

The interior didn’t even have floor tiles laid down; stepping in meant treading on soft, moist earth.

Uncle Corpse was digging a hole in the very center of the area, creating a pit just big enough to fit one person, with a burlap sack placed beside it that appeared to contain the offering inside.

The seven sisters spread out in a circular pattern, sitting on the ground.

They didn’t bring out various props needed for the ritual as Luo Di had imagined they might,

Neither candles, nor bones, nor Arrays,

They just sat quietly like that.

Hua Yuan, the eldest and most dangerous, quieted down as soon as she entered the Ritual Room, obediently taking her place, sitting cross-legged first.

When the hole was finally dug, Uncle Corpse untied the burlap sack beside it.

"Hmm?"

Luo Di had thought it would be an innocent girl who had been kidnapped.

But what appeared before everyone’s eyes was a composite corpse that seemed to be assembled from different body parts, with obvious sewing marks, barely pieced together into the structure of a human body.

No hair,

Asymmetrical limbs,

Even the eyes were mismatched in size,

It seemed as if every part of the body had been taken from different corpses,

The class leader’s voice came through, transmitted by holding hands:

"You thought it was a living person, right? Ordinary humans simply cannot withstand Grandmother’s descent, not even a small part of Her Avatar. The [Vessel] needed for the ritual comes from the lower ranks of the Sisterhood’s selection.

You’ve been told before, haven’t you?

The selection brought in five hundred sisters, and those girls who were screened out by her, needless to say, should not be wasted. The best parts of their bodies were taken, and then the pituitary was stuffed inside.

This way, a container strong enough to house Grandmother can be assembled.

This container is incredibly valuable, containing at least fifteen mature pituitaries.

Even so, it can only allow Grandmother’s Avatar to descend for less than a month."

The face hidden beneath Luo Di’s mask twitched slightly, the terror of Grandmother deepened in his heart, and he grew more concerned about the upcoming Partner Evaluation.

The class leader’s voice continued:

"The so-called ritual does not require us to do much. The sisters gather here just for the sake of welcoming Grandmother.

When the ritual ends and Grandmother rises upon Her arrival, remember to bow down with me.

You must not harbor any resistant emotions, and even less so any thoughts of enmity."

Luo Di knew what to do; although he despised anything related to the Corner, he wasn’t foolish enough to cause trouble here. Since he had decided to disguise himself, he would play his part thoroughly.

He was just very curious as to how Grandmother would descend without any overt rituals.

It was at that moment,

Luo Di suddenly noticed something,

The pit dug by Uncle Corpse did not follow the principles of the "Corner Law".

The four corners of the pit were perpendicular intersections, meeting the conditions to form a Corner. It was just that the kerosene lamps held by Uncle Corpse and everyone else prevented this structure from forming a "Physical Corner".

Once the light source was eliminated, the conditions would be met.

The seven sisters kept a distance of over five meters from the pit, so even if a Corner formed, they would not fall into it.

Indeed,

After Uncle Corpse moved the sewn-together corpse vessel into the pit, he immediately took the kerosene lamp and left the room.

The seven sisters extinguished their kerosene lamps after exchanging looks with each other.

The darkness brought silence.

Everyone maintained their quiet, even halting their most basic breathing.

Quiet waiting was the most devout form of welcoming.

This was Luo Di’s first encounter with a "Physical Corner"; even though he couldn’t see anything, even though the Corner didn’t affect him, every hair on his body stood on end.

He exerted all his strength to control his spine, to suppress the movement caused by his Danger Perception, maintaining a human posture.

Tap~ tap~ tap!

A series of light tapping sounds shattered the silence,

The sound didn’t come from anyone present.

Listening carefully, one could tell that the source of the sound seemed very far away, far exceeding the distance provided by the Ritual Room.

If it weren’t completely silent, such a faint sound would be hard to hear.

As the sound drew closer becoming clearer, one could determine it was the sound of bare feet tapping on tiles, but still, there was a distance of hundreds of meters.

For some unknown reason.

When Luo Di tried to listen carefully to the sound of walking, images related to it involuntarily flashed through his mind.

[Passageway]

A dark, twisted passageway, so narrow that at most one person could fit through, or even less.

[Something is walking inside]

An unknown existence is approaching from the depths, heading toward the exit.

The closer it gets to the exit, the passageway narrows even more, even beginning to compress and distort her body, eventually squeezing it into a curved surface less than ten centimeters thick.

Yet, it still slithers forward.

The being feels no discomfort from the compression of its flesh; instead, it looks forward to this excursion.

Finally, it reaches the exit...

Click!

The kerosene lamps placed between the pits are lit,

All the sisters also light up their kerosene lamps, dispersing the darkness, sealing off the Corners.

The corpse that served as a container is now gone, replaced by a lady taller than two meters.

Wearing a huge white round hat,

A veil falls from the perimeter of the round hat,

This veil completely drapes to the ground, concealing the grandmother’s body within it.

By the light of the flames, one could faintly see the graceful figure hidden by the veil, contrasting starkly with the word "grandmother."

"We pay our respects to Grandmother!"

The sisters all kneel in unison, their foreheads touching the ground.

Luo Di and the other Preparatory Partner also swiftly follow the same gesture.

The grandmother does not respond or observe the sisters before her, but she gently strokes and appraises her own body under the shelter of the hat veil.

The sisters’ kneeling lasts for ten minutes,

A mature female voice finally emanates from beneath the veil, and to Luo Di’s shock, the language Grandmother uses is actually Chinese.

"The quality of this container is very high, allowing me to descend at the age of [thirty], bringing with it a relatively complete ability. The taste of youth is truly delightful.

Rise, my granddaughters, let me take a good look at you."

With Grandmother’s permission, everyone finally dares to lift their heads.

Within the veil of the hat,

Grandmother seems to open a special Eye, her head turning 360° rapidly scanning each person, deeply inspecting the condition of her granddaughters, pausing slightly on the class president, but quickly moving on.

"Very good, you haven’t stagnated since last year. Some of you even made significant progress, and the two new granddaughters are also not bad.

What pleases me is that, finally, besides Hua Yuan, someone brought a partner. Isabella even found a decent match; considering it’s your first time bringing a partner, I will relax the requirements accordingly."

"Thank you, Grandmother."

"As usual, go prepare for the dinner!

The two ’Preparatory Partners’ stay here for my examination. Hua Yuan will go first; the other one waits outside the door."

Luo Di feels somewhat relieved he is not the first one. This way, he has some buffer time, following the class president to leave the Ritual Room.

Perhaps because of Grandmother’s presence, even the class president dares not perform telepathy through physical contact. It is only when the door to the Ritual Room closes that a brief message comes through:

"Stay calm, follow your instincts, and we’ll meet at the dinner later."

The class president does not linger, as Hua Yuan is close by. Lingering too long or whispering might provoke antagonism from Hua Yuan.

However,

The sisters have not yet left the current vestibule,

Luo Di has just stepped outside the door and hasn’t entirely adjusted his state.

A sound of a body exploding emanates from inside the house,

Grandmother’s voice then echoes throughout the entire mansion:

"Hua Yuan, if you don’t have a good partner next time, there’s no need to bring one.

Such modified beings with high impurity content in their bodies belong to technological creations, not the essence of the male, with no benefit to your development, serving at best to fulfill those ineffective desires."

Sweat pours down Hua Yuan’s forehead in terror, as though a palm-like shadow flickers across her pupils, squeezing her legs tight and stiff.

"Understood, Grandmother. Next time, I will choose carefully."

"Hmm, next one please come in." Grandmother does not blame too much; she still appreciates Hua Yuan quite a bit.

Luo Di, who just left the Ritual Room less than a minute ago, has to go back, and the sisters in the passageway can’t help but turn their heads, looking at Luo Di with meaningful gazes.

But most contain a sense of "pity."

It seems to them, Grandmother is not in the best of moods today.

In the past, even if a partner brought by one of the sisters didn’t meet the requirements, they would not be directly killed, but would be put to another use.