Deep in the Living

Chapter 523 Back Mountain
Generally speaking, the back gate of a house is always simpler than the front gate.

But the back door in front of Roddy was very different; it was larger, more sophisticated, and more oppressive.

Because of the extensive cover and obstruction of trees, it was previously impossible to see clearly from upstairs.

The entire door was cast in brass and was over twenty meters long. Its surface was engraved with some seemingly regular but actually asymmetrical relief stripes, which made Roddy instinctively stay away, as if he would be affected by the same influence if he touched the door.

The walls on both sides were the same height, and the gargoyles standing on them seemed to have been activated, their eyes staring at the back of the mountain with a red glow.

In addition, the butler who greets everyone at the main gate during the day, the one with the pine tree on his neck, is now at the back door, causing the surrounding trees to bend down and form part of the back door.

"Are you going out so late? And with Mr. Roddy along? Do I need to hide this from you?"

The hostess waved her hand, "No need for that. We were in too much of a rush today and need to go to the back mountain to get some more ingredients."

Roddy came with me voluntarily, mainly because he was concerned about my son's diet and health, right?

“Yes,” Roddy replied decisively.

"Then please be careful."

With a wave of his hand, the butler moved all the branches of the trees clustered around the back door.

The woman reached out and touched the surface of the copper door with its irregular patterns, and some internal structure began to change.

Click! The heavy door opened outwards, just wide enough for two people to pass through.

Without any communication, the woman walked ahead, and Roddy followed in step.

The kerosene lamp in my hand dimmed considerably as I passed through the copper gate, its illumination range limited to within ten meters.

Not only that, Roddy could feel that his own senses were also affected, and goosebumps rose on his skin involuntarily, as if there was something very dangerous or a special area deep in the back mountain.

The kerosene lamp he held in his hand was also unusual. The oil it used to burn was a special fuel scraped from a monster in the family, and the lamp itself was made of corner material, so it would not be damaged even if it was hit hard.

After walking a short distance, the woman's voice drifted over softly:
"This is your first time going out at night, your first time hunting in the back mountains. Stay close to me. Don't do anything unless you're told to."

All your actions must take sound into consideration; if you bring disaster upon yourself, I won't be responsible.

"understood."

Without further prompting, let's delve deeper.

Roddy noticed some environmental details: all the trees growing on the back hill were clearly leaning towards the mansion, crooked and swaying as if they were afraid of something.

The deeper one goes, the less control the plants have over the caretaker.

Whenever a kerosene lamp in a tree went out, the woman would approach it and use a special human oil secreted from her fingertips to relight the lamp.

After walking for about five minutes
Even though she hadn't heard a sound, the woman suddenly stopped and made a gesture to lower her voice.

Looking through the space between the two trees, it seemed as if something was approaching from the depths of darkness.

"Up~"

The woman made a gesture as if she were climbing a tree, and then touched the surface of a tree trunk.

Her body merged directly into it, ascending along the irregular bark texture, and the red-clad figure instantly appeared on a thick branch at the top, lying in wait in silence.

Roddy's side also began to take action.
Short, dense tentacles sprouted from his palm, granting him the ability to climb trees silently and quickly reach the highest tree trunk.

Following the hostess's gaze, we looked down.

It seemed as if some animal was approaching. When the creature crawled out of the bushes and its appearance was illuminated by the kerosene lamp hanging on the tree trunk, Roddy in the tree was slightly taken aback.

"Is this... a rabbit?"

A slightly larger white rabbit was lying directly below, where the two had just stood, seemingly sensing the lingering scent of the ground.

at this time,

A sense of being watched was felt.

The woman on the opposite branch was watching him and pointing to the rabbit below, her eyes conveying a command for him to handle it.

And we have to be quick, because the rabbit will be leaving soon.

Due to the limitations imposed by the disaster, Roddy had to deal with it silently.

"Consciousness Slash" is obviously the best choice, as the momentum from jumping down can increase the slash effect.

Without any hesitation, he jumped down quickly.

When they were about five meters apart, Luo Di made his move first, focusing his attention on the white rabbit below and beheading it!

hum!
The outline of the knife could be vaguely seen in the darkness, and then a shallow cut appeared on the ground. Roddy intentionally controlled his strength so as not to exceed the sound limit.

Kneel down,

Landing.

Roddy didn't look at the ground, but instead quickly scanned the surrounding dark forest... Because the previous slash had missed, the rabbit had actually sensed the approach of the consciousness slash and quickly jumped away at the last second. Moreover, the rabbit itself didn't run away; it was currently perched on a nearby tree trunk, staring at Roddy with its bright red eyes.

A sense of danger washed over me!

The rabbit suddenly exerted force with its limbs, launching its body out like a spring, and flipped in the air, revealing its belly.

A human face was suddenly embedded in the abdomen.

Tentacle-like structures made of flesh and blood emerged from between the eye sockets and the mouth, swaying in the air as if trying to embrace Luo Di's head.

Roddy realized that this head was the rabbit's true form, and that there was even a strange, unformed pituitary gland inside.

"cut!"

Another consciousness slash pierced the air.

Strange things happened again.
A rabbit pouncing from the air cannot possibly change its course.
But those fleshy tentacles made a sideways pushing motion.
It could actually move space, causing the rabbit's body to shift several centimeters, thus avoiding the slash.

It should be noted that the Consciousness Slash is invisible and extremely fast, yet both of them were dodged in succession.

Snapped!
The rabbit steadily climbed onto Roddy's face.

Each fleshy root immediately sought out the hole and inserted itself inside.

The rate of proliferation was astonishing; it almost covered Luo Di's entire body in less than a second.

Just as these fleshy roots were about to touch the brain,

*Snap!* A sound came from inside her body.

These blood-red tendrils were entangled by the gray tentacles that had been lying in wait inside Luo Di's body, preventing them from going any deeper.

While ensuring a sufficiently large contact area, strands of hellish iron wire are wrapped around the target.

Hell activated.

The extremely high heat penetrates through the most efficient conduction method, causing complete burning.

The rich aroma of meat spread instantly.

Roddy grabbed the rabbit's ear and pulled it out of its body along with the whiskers that were inserted into it.

Its fur had been burned off, and its flesh was charred red, clearly indicating that it was cooked.

Its appearance was disgusting; the human face on its abdomen showed a painful struggle, and the tentacles protruding from between its eye sockets and mouth hung haphazardly on the ground, each one steaming.

Whoosh!
The woman jumped down, looked at the rabbit, which was in perfect condition, nodded in approval, and put it into the black bag she carried with her.

"That's right, that's how it should be. Try to maintain its integrity as much as possible and avoid damaging the pituitary gland. It's really good that you did such a good job on your first try."

At this moment, Roddy broke his silence, driven by curiosity, and asked in a low voice, "The essence of this rabbit is the head of a monster, with a complete brain structure inside."

However, his pituitary gland was no longer constrained by the brain, and broke through the brain and skull, forming a hair structure similar to that of a rabbit.

The "rabbit-like appearance" presented is all due to pituitary evolution.
The aura it released was different from that of the monster.
More chaotic, more wild, and mixed with a different kind of fear than the middle zone, a deeper fear, though very faint, that I could feel.

This doesn't seem like a mutant affected by a disaster; it's more like something that came from the depths of the shadows.

This rabbit is probably just one of the simplest creatures in the back mountains; there are likely more troublesome wild animals deeper inside. What exactly are these things?

Perhaps it was Roddy's remarkable performance in catching the rabbit that made the mistress become slightly more affectionate and begin to explain:
"You're very smart; no wonder you've been exposed to the essential events beforehand."

You probably already have the answer in your heart, after all, there are related things in your brain, so go ahead and make a guess.

"The dungeon...is the entrance here?"

The hostess's asymmetrical mouth now revealed a symmetrical smile.

"Yes, otherwise our family couldn't have bought such a large piece of land. This place was basically given to our family directly, on the condition that we suppress and manage the dungeon entrance."

of course,

This is just one of the entrances.

"Was that rabbit a dungeon creature that escaped by accident?"

"No... these losers who venture deep into the dungeon become its complete slaves. The dungeon will process these losers according to the environment surrounding the [entrance], shaping them into biological forms that conform to that environment."

It is usually referred to as "inferior goods".

These substandard items must be regularly removed and regulated.
Otherwise, if it becomes rampant, the middle-level area will become completely chaotic, just like when our family first moved to the middle-level area.

Thanks to my husband, as long as he stays at home, these things can't cross the border even if we forget to deal with them for a long time.

"Keep going, this rabbit isn't enough! We need to get at least a bigger one."

(End of this chapter)