Today's test was another major failure.

After finding a rope on the shelf, You Yonghuai dragged the four unconscious men together, tied them up, and made a tight knot.

He didn't know if his punch was strong enough, he only knew it wouldn't kill anyone.

Therefore, when his fingers touched the man's skin, the cold and hard sensation startled You Yonghuai.

Lifting the man's clothes, You Yonghuai glanced at the spot where he had just been hit. There was no bruising. Touching it again, the once soft belly was now as hard as a rock.

"...A doll?" You Yonghuai recalled the situation he had encountered before, and after a brief moment of surprise, he found it reasonable.

If everyone in this store were ordinary people, they would never have had the opportunity to kidnap so many people to use as products.

While reporting the situation to Ling Xiuqi, You Yonghuai walked down the stairs along the same route his assistants had taken.

The dimly lit corridor was completely dark, so You Yonghuai could only turn on the flashlight that came with his phone for illumination.

There was an iron door in the basement. After taking a closer look under the light and confirming that it couldn't be opened directly, You Yonghuai lifted his leg.

These guys are surprisingly polite; they even know to close the door behind them.

After kicking the iron gate several times and knocking it down, a strong, fishy smell wafted out.

"Cough cough! Ugh—"

The stench, which caught him off guard, made You Yonghuai gag. When he stepped inside and looked up to examine the scene closely, he was shocked by what he saw.

The basement lights were dim, barely enough to make out the interior.

Several mangled figures were tied to several load-bearing pillars, and piles of human fragments, all without skin, were scattered in the corner.

In the very center of the room, a "load-bearing pillar" made of flesh and blood pulsated rhythmically, as if it had a life of its own, with flesh and blood constantly spreading outward from the ceiling.

"So, do you like my artwork?"

The voice he had heard just seconds before rang out behind You Yonghuai. He turned around instantly and saw the man who had been like a puppet standing behind him with a smile on his face.

"!" You Yonghuai quickly distanced himself from the other party, clenching his fists and almost throwing them out.

"Did I scare you, officer?" The man's face showed no sign of gloom, as if he were just a warm and hospitable shopkeeper.

"Did you do this?" You Yonghuai glanced at the carnage not far away and asked, "Just how many people did you kill?"

Since Si Xuanyin only glanced at the basement briefly and didn't want to disturb You Yonghuai's thoughts with such trivial matters, she simply mentioned it briefly.

Therefore, when he actually saw the scene in the basement, Yu Yonghuai almost had to undergo a mental examination because it was too frightening.

"I didn't kill a single person." The man shrugged, his gaze filled with fanaticism as he looked at the carnage beside him. "The raw materials were all provided by others. I was just creating a work of art."

"Where is the art?" You Yonghuai's lips twitched; he felt there was no point in talking to this kind of person. "Who gave you these things?"

"The laboratory," the man said matter-of-factly, without any warning. "You've already come all this way, do you need to double-check these things...? Hmm? Don't you know?"

Seeing You Yonghuai raise his eyebrows slightly and put one hand behind his back as if he were passing information to others, the man immediately realized that he had spoken out of turn.

However, he just smiled dismissively, not taking his words to heart: "Whatever, you can't go back anyway."

Then, the man opened his mouth and uttered a few obscure syllables.

You Yonghuai can now recognize these characters.

The words the other party recited were from the notebook that Ling Xiuqi had previously confiscated, and they corresponded to the fixed incantation used to begin the ritual.

Immediately, the flesh pillar in the center of the basement began to throb like a heartbeat. Strips of flesh separated from the tall pillar with this throbbing, like living tentacles, dancing wildly in the air.

As flesh and blood continue to separate from the pillar, the central pillar of flesh and blood becomes thinner and thinner, and the contents inside are gradually exposed.

It was a bright red heart, as translucent as a ripe apple, exuding an unusual beauty.

You Yonghuai considered himself to have normal aesthetic sense, but the moment he saw that heart, he felt his breath catch in his throat and an infinite longing suddenly arose in his heart.

"Get out of the way!" Si Xuanyin floated to the side, unaffected by the heart. Seeing the fleshy tentacles reaching for You Yonghuai, she hurriedly warned him.

However, You Yonghuai's attention was locked on that heart, and even though he realized something was wrong, his body was unable to take any action.

"How's my artwork?" The man looked at You Yonghuai with satisfaction, who was staring at him intently, and laughed. "This body has no spirit and can only utter these few syllables."

"But in exchange, the effects of the rituals constructed by this body will be amplified."

As the man spoke, a tentacle wrapped around the immobile You Yonghuai, pulling him back little by little, as if trying to absorb him.

Si Xuanyin floated to the side, anxious but helpless.

Seemingly convinced that You Yonghuai's fate was sealed, the man opened up, laughing, "This is one of the lab's most important projects recently, so of course we're taking precautions—everyone who comes here will eventually become material for the ritual—"

"Be grateful, you will become a part of art."

Only when his body was completely dragged into that pillar of flesh and blood, and the heart was gone from his sight, did You Yonghuai regain control of his body.

The strong stench of blood surrounded him, and the sticky, slippery sensation made You Yonghuai very uncomfortable. The surrounding flesh and blood were writhing, as if trying to digest him.

"Yonghuai, are you alright?" Si Xuanyin floated into the pillar, but could not find You Yonghuai inside the completely flesh-filled interior. She could only roughly pinpoint his location and asked.

"I'm fine." You Yonghuai tried to move his body and found nothing unusual. "Although it dragged me in, it seems there are no problems for now."

He then recalled the contents of his notebook and tried to find a solution.

The incantation to start the ritual is fixed, and You Yonghuai cannot determine what the ritual is for. Meanwhile, the writhing flesh keeps pushing him in one direction, as if the destination is that crystal-clear heart.

As the distance to that heart continued to shrink, You Yonghuai's body finally began to undergo a strange change.

[Physical fitness test: A score greater than 39 indicates a successful test]

Test result: 25

[Test failed! Your left hand has been assimilated by the 'Source of Life'.]