Deep in the Living

Chapter 7 Abnormal Objects
After dropping off the young man, the official car continued to drive for more than a thousand meters and stopped in front of an ordinary street lamp.

After getting out of the car, Director Qin reached out and felt around on the surface of the street lamp, then activated the hidden verification device.

Click~
A staircase leading underground opens on the side of the road.

The end of the stairs corresponds to a research institute hidden fifty meters underground, which is mainly responsible for the management and scheduling of this practice.

"Hello, Director Qin!"

"How are the preparations going here? Those young men should have already gone up the mountain."

“All departments have self-checked more than three times, and all equipment is in green status.

In addition, the physical examination parameters of the four young people who participated in the practice were all above average, and one of them had parameters close to excellent.

This practice will surely be successful.

Oh, by the way! Director Qin, do you want to participate in our game of luck? "

The employee was holding a transparent square box in his hand, which contained a lot of folded paper slips.

Director Qin, who seemed serious, did not refuse. He put a piece of paper with information written on it into the bet and bet one thousand rubles.

The content of the bet is exactly the [object] that the four high school students are about to choose, which can be regarded as a side activity after work.

Although Director Qin participated in the bet, he still emphasized seriously, "Entertainment is entertainment, but the premise is to ensure the perfect simulation. If there is any mistake, I will strictly hold the person in charge of the corresponding project accountable."

"kindness."

At this time, the monitoring department reported, "They are going up the mountain!"

All the employees who had nothing to do at the moment gathered together immediately.

The monitoring area is an open ring with a large number of electronic screens arranged horizontally and vertically. Standing in front of the screen, one can easily read the information of the entire practice area.

As many as three hundred surveillance images are controlled by AI algorithms, and important images will be automatically moved to the center.

The monitoring screen of the participants will always be kept in the central area, and there will be a secondary screen to assist in monitoring, making it easier for researchers to observe and record.

Everyone is praying silently in their hearts.

Some people prayed that the practice would go smoothly, while others prayed that their bets would be chosen by these four young men.

【Five minutes ago】

By the road, at the foot of the mountain.

The squad leader was doing standard stretching, his eyes fixed on the 35-degree slope. "If the timer starts when we step onto the slope, then we can prepare in advance on the roadside."

At the suggestion of the squad leader, everyone took out the equipment that might be needed for mountaineering.

After all, it is a hot summer day, the temperature is high and everyone is wearing short-sleeved shirts and shorts, so it is easy to be scratched by the dense trees.

The squad leader was well prepared, including but not limited to knee pads, gaiters, gloves and telescopic trekking poles.

Rody didn't consider these things at all, and naturally didn't have the relevant equipment.

The ‘fully armed’ squad leader continued, “Should we go look for the [object] separately or together?

According to Director Qin, the practice will only officially begin after we find and activate the relevant objects. Only then will we be in danger. It is not impossible to search separately.

After all, we only have half an hour to look for the item, so I personally suggest that everyone split up and look for it separately first, and then reunite in the last ten minutes."

There was nothing wrong with the monitor's suggestion, so everyone gathered together and turned on the "real-time location sharing" function of the bracelet.

【07:10】

The climb begins.

The four of them started climbing the mountain in completely different directions. Due to limited time, everyone went up as fast as they could.

Blonde Anna was the fastest and her movements were quite professional. She was the first to disappear from everyone's sight.

Just as Rody was amazed at the opponent's physical strength and professional skills, the squad leader's voice came from the side.

"Hehe~ Anna in our family is very capable. Not only does she excel in sports, she is also proficient in various wilderness survival skills. Don't lose to her in your subsequent performances."

Luo Di did not respond, but quickly went up the mountain in the direction he had chosen. When he was completely separated from the team members and there was no trace of anyone around, Luo Di became relaxed.

His thoughts went back to a few years ago when he went out hiking with his family, and he smiled rarely.

Such beautiful memories did not last long.
A gust of cold wind suddenly blew from the mountains and swept over my body.
Rody's exposed arms felt as if they were being scratched by cold fingers, and every hair on them was pulled out.

Be alert, stop, and observe.

His finger was already on the start button of the chainsaw.

Looking around, I didn't see any 'living things', but my eyes fell on a special tree.

It is obviously different from other trees in the mountains.

This tree is bigger, thicker, and more sinister, with an almost twisted trunk that is often called the crooked-neck tree.

The cold winds that spread across the mountains seemed to originate from this tree.

Although Luo Di's academic performance was average, he happened to recognize the type of tree: locust tree.

The cold wind continued to blow, as if the tree was calling him.

It was so strange that Rody was almost certain that the tree must be related to the object of this practice.

Approach with caution.

His eyes also locked onto a dark hole on the surface of the tree trunk.
The cold wind is constantly overflowing from the inside of this cave. When you get close to it, you can hear a hissing sound caused by the wind, like the groans of an old man who is about to die.

Take out the flashlight from the side of the backpack,
The strong light penetrated through the tree hole, and captured a square box hidden inside the tree hole, made of mahogany and inlaid with gold.

Considering the possible risks in the tree hole, Roddy did not reach in. Instead, he picked up a suitable branch and tried to move the wooden box. After a lot of effort, he finally took it out.

As soon as the wooden box left the tree hole, the gloomy wind stopped immediately.

It was as if the old man exhaled his last breath and died peacefully at this moment.

……

The other end.

Anna, who was the fastest and had the most experience in the wild, immediately looked down at the shared location on her wrist after she stopped. She had already distanced herself from the others.

"Alas, the guy that Wenwen said was so powerful doesn't seem to be that powerful."

Just as she was about to search the forest area,
Ta~
A crisp snapping sound came from the woods.

"Who?"

It's impossible that someone else caught up, after all, I just checked everyone's position a few seconds ago.

She was not as scared as a high school girl should be, but was on high alert with a tactical axe in hand.

Her thinking was clear and her practice followed the rules of the institute. Since it had not officially started yet, there would be no immediate danger.

The clicking sound most likely corresponds to an object.

Anna immediately looked in the direction of the sound and soon found a clearing in the forest. This was a real clearing, not only were there no trees, there were not even any weeds, the extremely dry land was exposed, and even made her feel a little inexplicably hot.

There is an obvious crack between the slightly raised soil, just enough for an arm to be inserted into it.

Ta~
The sound of tongue snapping came again,
It can be confirmed that the sound comes from the crack in the ground.

Anna also took out a flashlight from the side of her backpack and carefully approached the crack in the ground.

The light from the hand gradually tilts as it approaches.

When the light became vertical, Anna's eyes also looked straight to the deepest part of the crack.

In the blink of an eye, she saw a charred tongue wriggling underneath, which scared her so much that she stepped back suddenly.

He shook his head and looked closer again, but there was no tongue inside. Instead, there was only a metal square box with a hexagram and a goat's head symbol printed on it.

(End of this chapter)