Deep in the Living
Chapter 369 - 357: Pseudo-Person Incident

Chapter 369: Chapter 357: Pseudo-Person Incident

Black clouds gathered at the lowest point of the sky, almost pressing down on the rooftops,

the fierce wind recklessly blew across the city, carrying dead leaves, seemingly trying to sweep away all signs of life.

Luo Di was currently in an old residential community, having just walked out of a buffet restaurant with a "Store for Rent" sign.

Due to the Investigation Bureau’s blockade, the entire residential area was deserted, either already evacuated in advance or completely fallen.

Although there were seven buildings in the community, Luo Di’s gaze had locked onto the building furthest inside.

The reason was simple,

because at the stair entrance of that apartment block hung a person, appearing to be in a hanging position from afar, back facing Luo Di.

Strangely, the neck of the hanging figure was elongated far beyond normal human length.

Luo Di did not hesitate, directly walking over. Prioritizing the exploration of suspicious areas would certainly save time, and exploration efficiency would likely be considered.

The path would pass through the children’s playground in the community,

Hehe~

Luo Di vaguely heard children’s laughter by his ear, but his tongue sensed no danger.

Turning his head,

the swings and large merry-go-round swayed and spun in the wind as if children were truly playing on them.

Luo Di vaguely felt he’d seen such a scene somewhere, but it seemed he’d actively forgotten it.

After a simple inspection showed no anomaly in the playground, he continued toward the furthest apartment block.

Only when getting closer did he finally see clearly,

the long-necked corpse hanging at the entrance was not an ordinary resident, but an investigator, whose uniform Luo Di was very familiar with.

As he continued moving closer,

his tongue in his mouth slightly lifted,

signifying potential danger from this corpse.

But Luo Di did not reach for a knife nor summon Crow Colt, such a danger level could be handled ordinarily.

Stepping slowly in heavy leather shoes, Luo Di’s gaze darkened.

Thud thud thud~

When the size 45 leather shoes were ten meters from the corpse,

the thick hemp rope around its neck began to twist,

slowly turning the corpse from facing away to facing him, neck now extended half a meter, face adorned with bright red blood stains.

The hemp rope completely unraveled at this moment,

the investigator’s corpse stood firmly on the ground,

but the neck elongated from hanging could not erect, dangling like a soft tube before him, head hung on the chest.

In an extremely twisted posture, it rushed toward Luo Di.

[Cut]

No sword handle,

just barehanded,

the conspicuous long neck led originally intended to bisect the figure, was changed to beheading by Luo Di.

Swoosh!

As the neck fractured, it also tore open the investigator’s chest,

the severed head fell to the ground, with a soft elongated neck beneath.

Blood flowed,

shrugging once before losing life.

Not only was it unexpectedly simple, but so much so that Luo Di questioned if this was indeed part of the so-called Exploration Bureau assessment.

Upon reflection, this should just be an appetizer,

the true examination should be within the building.

As Luo Di walked toward the old apartment block plastered with all sorts of ads, he deliberately brushed the beheaded corpse, left hand gliding over its surface.

A certain Hell pattern seeped into the corpse, preventing resurrection and possessing other functions.

At this moment,

many had gathered in the Surveillance Office of the Personnel Department.

Observing the corpse with advanced cameras possessing penetration capabilities, they discovered its interior proliferating with a gray metal, forming a strange structure culminating in a whole.

"This is the first time I’ve seen this Connector’s ability... It doesn’t only contain elements of Hell, but also integrates Craft’s colors, a bit exaggerative.

Conventional assessments are indeed ineffective for him; this setup suits perfectly."

...

The bulb in the stairwell flickered incessantly.

Each time the flickering ceased, the two apartment doors on that floor opened, seemingly inviting Luo Di inside.

Since the invitation was extended, Luo Di couldn’t refuse, maintaining a standard professional smile, stepping into them in his size 45 shoes.

Upon departure, his palm would be stained with slight blood traces,

through the door crack, he could see at least one head with an elongated neck fallen on the floor.

"Is this the gap between seams?

All the residents have been affected, similar to the Vortex effect of the former Fourth Middle School. The ordinary people influenced by the seam here choose to hang themselves and transform into these long-necked monsters.

Could it be that the ultimate purpose of the test is to make me single-handedly stop the seam’s progress?"

Currently, Luo Di hasn’t discovered any Pseudo-Person participating in the seam, so he can only search every room on this floor to deal with the aberrants inside.

Step by step, he reached the top floor of the apartment building.

Different from before,

the door on the left side of the top floor did not open by itself and remained closed. Such a "difference" might correspond to the nest of the Pseudo-Person.

Considering that he had been ascending with heavy shoe steps, Luo Di realized that as long as the others could hear, they would certainly know of his arrival.

Luo Di no longer concealed his sound, nor did he choose to open the door quietly.

Instead, he lifted his size forty-five foot and kicked heavily on the old-fashioned door, smashing the lock into a big hole and swinging the door open inward.

Entering the hallway,

it was indeed different from the hanged people on other floors,

the family of three in this room was actually seated around the dining table, using ropes from the ceiling to tie their hair so that their already elongated necks could remain upright.

They were holding chopsticks in their hands, and between the dishes were fingers, eyeballs, noses, and tongues.

When they heard the door being broken and a stranger intruding,

the family of three swiftly turned their heads, glaring with eyes full of blood-red resentment, their necks rapidly extended, carrying their heads toward Luo Di.

Luo Di still didn’t draw the knife at his waist; instead, he casually picked up a kitchen knife.

Buzz! The blade flashed.

Quickly severed those overly conspicuous and slender necks,

scarlet sprayed from the broken ends,

splattering onto Luo Di, dyeing his head red.

Even though blood covered the surface of his eyeballs, he did not blink.

However,

it was precisely because of these blood-stained eyes that Luo Di realized something; he suddenly turned his head to look at the shoe cabinet behind him.

On top of the shoe cabinet stood a framed photo,

displaying a family of four,

besides the three just dealt with, there was also a junior high school son yet to be handled.

Strangely, in the photo, the son’s face was a mess, making it impossible to discern his features.

Just as Luo Di entered the dining area intending to search for traces of the one who slipped through, he suddenly felt that the dining room’s structure and the entire house’s layout were so familiar.

As Luo Di tried to recall this familiar scene,

there was a burst of hurried footsteps coming from the stairwell,

someone was coming up.

Luo Di quickly turned his head to look at the door,

what appeared there was neither a Pseudo-Person nor a long-necked aberrant, but a junior high school student carrying a drink, his figure identical to the boy in the picture.

However, the real-life boy had a normal face, with well-defined features... giving Luo Di the feeling of looking in a mirror.

Standing at the door was himself, from when he was in junior high school.

When the boy saw the situation inside the house, his eyes were instantly filled with blood threads, wanting to scream but unable to make a sound.

And Luo Di was full of confusion; he quickly blinked to clear the blood from the surface of his eyes, re-assessing the current indoor environment.

There were no long-necked aberrants,

three all-too-familiar heads lay at his feet,

three headless bodies, still spurting their final blood, sat upright at the dining table.

On the table were the most ordinary of home-cooked meals.

The family of three was clearly waiting for the boy’s return to celebrate his successful graduation and admission to Fourth Middle School.

Luo Di slowly turned his head, looking at the dressing mirror embedded in the wall,

there were no size forty-five shoes,

on his feet was a pair of brightly colored clown shoes,

he held a bright red balloon in one hand and a blood-stained kitchen knife in the other.

Although the blood had been wiped from his eyes and face, his lips and surrounding area were covered in red, like an exaggerated red smile.

When Luo Di looked at the boy at the door again,

he projected that smile over.

......

Beep beep beep!

In the monitoring room,

on the screen, Luo Di’s Fear index was rising rapidly, about to reach the limit when it suddenly stopped growing!

Even more strangely, the halted Fear index immediately plummeted to zero at an even faster pace.

Another value replaced it, growing rapidly, reaching the uncontrollable range, triggering the alarm.

≮Warning! Warning! Tester Luo Di’s danger index has reached the highest level I≯