Deep in the Living
Chapter 326 - 314: Corpse

Chapter 326: Chapter 314: Corpse

"Your play has triggered a grand carnival, and your show has been recognized."

"You have acquired the qualification to participate in the high-level theater."

"Since you have obtained a Hell Item, it is unfair to the other participants, so your Consciousness will be temporarily separated. During the participation, please stay within the newly selected body meticulously prepared for you."

"Please adhere strictly to the relevant regulations. If any violations are made during the participation, your original body will also receive corresponding punishment... Let the bells of homage ring once more."

Dang!

The dull toll of the bell struck like a hammer on the surface of the heart.

Thud! After a long silence, Luo Di’s Consciousness began to awaken, but all he saw was darkness.

Not the darkness of the night,

but because Luo Di’s body was buried under a pile of bodies. In the process of throwing off the bodies, he immediately noticed something was wrong with himself. The whole process lacked the obvious support from the spine, relying solely on pure arm strength, which was very limited.

Only after struggling to discard the bodies could Luo Di finally stick his head out.

Instinctively attempting to breathe fresh air, he realized he couldn’t perform the action of "breathing," reaching out his hand he could feel no mouth, no nose, no eyes, and no hair on his face.

Even the skull was missing.

More strangely, due to the absence of the skull, his head was in an open state.

When Luo Di reached up to touch his cheek and moved up to where his open skull was, there was nothing inside, completely empty.

There was no brain, not even a drop of blood.

However, despite having no brain or eyes, Luo Di could still think and was able to perceive a monochromatic view, roughly with a vision of about 10 meters.

Utilizing this limited vision, he scrutinized the pile of bodies he was in.

The pure white bodies were piled into a small mountain about ten meters high. Although all bodies had human shapes, like Luo Di’s current body, they had no facial features and nothing inside their open skulls, not even the faintest smell of brain that Luo Di was sensitive to.

Luo Di started to ponder the situation in front of him:

"Could it be that, having encountered severe damage to the ancestral merchant’s cruise ship, I was washed by the waves to Hell’s Dark Side?

The Evil Play directly boarded the ship, dragged everyone away, and then conducted a ’test’ on the surviving passengers. The memory test stored in my brain was approved, and now I am thrown here to participate in a process to obtain a ’Hell Item’?

Meanwhile, my original body is sealed off, even imprisoned by the Evil Play.

The Evil Play, adept at manipulating the brain, has peeled my Consciousness out and placed it in this body."

Luo Di quickly analyzed the situation before him, having survived at least during the sea disaster. However, the method of the Evil Play was indeed peculiar and difficult to evaluate.

Those who survived the shipwreck are at least severely injured, and Luo Di was no exception.

It would have been easy for the Evil Play to notice the Black Spine structure on Luo Di, thus confirming his status as a Spine, and could have chosen to kill him but inexplicably did not.

Judging by the current situation of participating in some sort of play, the Evil Play might even have provided treatment services for Luo Di’s original body.

But still,

the Evil Play didn’t wait until the injured woke up, but instead forcefully peered into memories and took the liberty of making Luo Di participate in some sort of assessment to obtain a Hell Item, even picking out a temporary body for him.

"Since my original body is in others’ hands and this place is Hell’s Dark Side, I should cooperate for now... But this body is truly weak; none of my abilities are projected here.

No spine,

No metal.

Since the body lacks a brain, even the pituitary, which is easily projected, cannot radiate here.

The weapons I just bought from the company aren’t usable, and the Monk’s garments are not present.

It’s completely a blank slate; this body is likely comparable to an ordinary human, or even more fragile. If I encounter something slightly dangerous, I could likely be killed."

Luo Di tried throwing a punch, only to find its strength was about the same as during his middle school years; he quite detested this weakness, but he had no choice but to accept and adapt to the situation.

Standing on the high point atop the mound of bodies, Luo Di began observing his current environment.

The pitch-black sky, devoid of moon and stars.

Visibility is limited to ten meters.

The corpse barrier is situated on a stone road, completely blocking it. Behind, there’s a cliff, endless to the eye, as if jumping down equates to voluntary elimination.

On both sides of the road lie twisted forests, a type of vegetation rarely seen on Hell’s surface, yet plentiful here.

These trees are all black, even their leaves, perhaps thriving in this area through a non-solar method of absorption.

From what can be seen at this moment, the road ahead of the corpse pile seems to be the only viable path forward.

Luo Di had just stepped down from the pile of corpses when a voice suddenly sounded inside his skull, a voice he had heard during past unconsciousness, resembling a woman’s, pleasant but somehow unsettling.

≮The bell for the ritual has been tolled, chosen participants~ please seek a brain promptly, to acquire your official identity. Otherwise, your body might collapse and disintegrate after a certain time, forcing your elimination.≯

"Seek a brain?

Acquire an identity?

Some kind of demonic game?

Is this the method for screening members of the Evil Play... Surely there won’t be a fresh brain simply lying there ready for use.

I might need to kill, or engage in assassination more fitting to an Evil Play.

A body like this surely won’t suffice, I need to find something for self-defense."

Luo Di then turned to look at the corpses behind him, noting the varied physique of the dead bodies. He swiftly targeted one that was more decayed and emaciated, focusing on its limbs.

He grabbed the corpse’s right arm and pulled hard.

Crack!

Effortlessly, he tore off the near-rotten arm,

which could be wielded like nunchucks with just a "handshake".

Setting off,

Luo Di’s gaze shifted toward the dark forest lining the road; with his current physical state, he dared not enter, fearing a Hell beast might consume him in one bite. His only option was to proceed along the sole visible path.

One has to admit,

that this road bears some resemblance to the highways in the Human World, similar to a concrete path.

Not long after following the road, Luo Di suddenly lost focus, his body staggering nearly to the point of collapse. Looking at his trembling arms, Luo Di hastened his pace.

Having walked more than a thousand meters along the road, a different structure finally appeared ahead.

A dilapidated, abandoned wooden hut stood isolated on the right side of the road.

What’s special, the planks of the hut seemed to ooze firelight from between their seams, marking the first time Luo Di had seen a light source since arriving here.

Circling to the hut’s main entrance, it was unlocked.

Luo Di didn’t open the door himself, instead, he used the severed hand he’d picked up earlier to slowly push the door open.

Creak~

The hinge moaned like a dying elder, excruciatingly distinct in this silent area, tugging painfully at Luo Di’s heart, always fearing something might emerge from the dark forest in response to the noise.

First, he gently tossed the severed hand into the hut,

and without triggering any traps, Luo Di stepped in silently, Possession picking up the arm...

Inside the hut, no immediate danger or any living presence was detected.

But there was a scent of life...

"It seems this stage of the play was prearranged; the brain I urgently need might be obtainable here."