Special Handling

Collecting and relocating the bodies,

the entire process proceeded as normal.

The four corpses remained obediently inside their sleeping bags, quietly awaiting incineration.

Besides the bodies, everyone was also concerned about the strange pagoda tree in the backyard. Burning it along with the corpses would have been ideal, but doing so in the backyard was far too dangerous.

Even if they found a way to burn it from a distance, an explosion could spread the flames and engulf the entire mountain in fire.

At that point, they would have no choice but to leave, which would count as leaving the practical training zone and failing.

They could only burn the bodies first and consider how to deal with the tree afterward. Cutting it apart with a chainsaw or chopping it down with an axe should have been possible.

Outside the manor,

on a relatively level patch of ground,

digging the pit and cutting wood would proceed simultaneously in pairs.

Gao Yuxuan stared at the four body bags, recalling points from his cultural studies classes.

"I'll gather the firewood. For burning yin corpses like these, it's best to use lychee wood, which has the strongest yang energy. I saw plenty of it on the way up the mountain."

The class monitor patted Luo Di on the shoulder. "Then you two boys can chop wood. Luo Di happens to have a chainsaw, so you'll be fast enough. The digging can be left to us sisters.

"If anything happens with the bodies, we'll call for help. Don't go too far away to cut wood."

Anna also found two rusty shovels inside the manor and lent her Tactical Axe to Gao Yuxuan for chopping wood.

With the tasks assigned,

they quickly found the so-called lychee wood under Gao Yuxuan's guidance. It had to be said that a modern chainsaw was astonishingly efficient at felling trees, easily cutting through a trunk that would have taken roughly two people to wrap their arms around.

All that remained was to drag the tree back and cut it into slender logs suitable for burning.

While the two dragged the tree back,

Luo Di took the initiative to speak. He wanted to learn something related to the practical training from Gao Yuxuan, who ranked first in cultural studies.

"Assistant monitor, have you figured something out already?"

"Most likely. A traditional Chinese manor, a pagoda tree, yin corpses... If we leave these bodies alone, they'll most likely turn into zombies tonight. There are four of them at once. Even if they're only Simulated Anomalies, they'll be hard for us to handle.

"And we might be infected with corpse poison. Our future lives and studies would both be affected.

"Burning them as soon as possible is best. And that pagoda tree in the backyard should also..."

"Be sawed down," Luo Di added.

"Exactly. We'll go after we finish burning them."

The two seemed to have formed a simple understanding.

Yet when they dragged the tree back to the open area in front of the manor, the digging was still underway.

The short-sleeved shirts on the two girls were nearly soaked through with sweat, adding a distinct summer sight to the scene.

But Luo Di's Focus Point was not on them, but on their movements.

Both were quite strong, especially Anna, as if she had nowhere to vent her brute strength. Yet her actual digging efficiency was low. Her usual training clearly did not include digging.

Luo Di stepped forward and asked, "Are there any spare shovels?"

"Just these two."

"Let me do it."

Luo Di took the shovel from Anna. Gao Yuxuan did not join in, since he had no experience digging either.

Half an hour passed.

A pit large enough to fit all four bodies, with plenty of room to spare, had been dug.

The class monitor, who had worked alongside him the entire time, gave him a thumbs-up. Nearly two-thirds of the pit had been dug by Luo Di, and his technique was exceptionally practiced and skilled.

The class monitor had even learned a little from him. It might come in handy someday.

Of course,

Anna had not been idle either. After being replaced, she had split all the dragged-back wood into logs suitable for burning.

They quickly filled the pit with the split wood, then used a lighter, tissues, and other flammable materials to ignite it.

Once the fire was large enough, they placed the four corpses into it one after another. The flames produced by the burning lychee wood swiftly swallowed the yin corpses that should have been cremated long ago.

Crackle, crackle.

An unpleasant odor seeped out of the pit.

Just as everyone thought the cremation was proceeding smoothly,

Smack!

A raindrop landed on Luo Di's face.

A torrential downpour suddenly fell without warning.

"Quick!"

Though everyone reacted swiftly and rushed back inside to retrieve a tent, setting it over the pit as quickly as possible to block the rain, the downpour was too heavy. Water even pooled on the ground and flowed into the pit where the bodies were being burned.

The storm extinguished the flames in a short time.

The only good news was that the bodies had been burning for nearly an hour before the rain began.

Though that was not enough time for a standard cremation, most of the flesh should have been burned away, leaving at most some charred meat and bones.

The four hurriedly took flashlights to inspect the pit. Everywhere the light reached, they could see a large number of charred bones.

But they quickly discovered a problem. The sight revealed by the flashlight beams made everyone feel as though their bodies had frozen, leaving them speechless for a moment.

One of the corpses had remained completely intact, practically unaffected by the fire.

"This is... the old man who was hanging at the top."

After confirming that the other three bodies had been reduced to bones, they worked together to lift the old man's corpse out.

His clothes and skin had burned away, his flesh was blackened by smoke, and a few areas had been scorched, but his body was otherwise largely unchanged.

Some foul-smelling mucus continued to seep from the burned flesh. It seemed to be this mucus that had prevented the fire from consuming him.

There was clearly something wrong with this corpse. How were they supposed to handle it?

A sudden downpour had fallen, and no one knew when it would stop.

Judging by the thick rain clouds that had appeared out of nowhere, it might continue all day. If they wanted to try burning the corpse again, it seemed they could only do so indoors.

And given how resistant it was to burning, even half a day of fire might not be effective.

The entire manor was built of solid wood. If they lost control and set the manor ablaze, things would become even more troublesome.

Gao Yuxuan stared at the bizarre old man's corpse and quietly assessed, "If we leave it alone, it will definitely undergo corpse transformation tonight. We need to find a way to deal with it—keep burning it, or..."

The class monitor's round eyes shifted as she seemed to think of a rather risky method. Just as she was about to offer her suggestion,

she saw Luo Di crouching beside the corpse, tying it up. He used rope to bind the corpse's hands to one of the leftover wooden poles.

"I'll deal with this corpse. Assistant monitor, come with me. You two should head inside and change clothes first. I'll have this handled soon."

The class monitor looked at the strange corpse and said uneasily, "Shouldn't we act together? There's something off about this body."

But Luo Di's attitude was firm. "It's fine. The two of us are enough. We'll be back soon."

The class monitor did not insist. Her clothes and Anna's were already completely soaked, and they really did need to change. "Remember to turn on your wristband tracking. If you aren't back within fifteen minutes, Anna and I will come find you."

"Mm."

Luo Di dragged the old man's corpse by the wooden pole to a relatively steep hillside.

Gao Yuxuan, following beside him, was deeply puzzled. "Are you going to throw the body down from here and hope it rolls to the bottom of the mountain? That's not likely. The forest is too dense. It will stop after rolling down only a short distance.

"And it's already showing signs of corpse transformation. Even if we throw it down, it can still climb back up tonight. At most, that delays it by half an hour."

"No."

"Then you intend to..."

Crack!

Lightning flashed.

Gao Yuxuan's question was forcibly cut short.

The flickering lightning illuminated the silver chainsaw in Luo Di's hand, its chain already spinning at high speed.

"You!"

Gao Yuxuan immediately understood everything. He also understood why Luo Di had refused to let the two girls come along.

Luo Di's expression became resolute at that moment, even somewhat terrifying.

"Later, throw the body parts as far as you can. The farther, the better."

"Okay..."

Gao Yuxuan swallowed, nausea rising in his throat as he stared fixedly at Luo Di beside him.

He had never expected Luo Di, who barely spoke in class yet always ranked first in athletics, to come up with such a terrifying idea.

But it had to be said that there was no better, faster, or safer method at the moment.

Inside the research institute.

Everyone watched what was happening on the screens.

A supervisor in charge of psychological assessments approached Director Qin. "Are we certain there's nothing wrong with this person's psychological report?"

Director Qin unexpectedly carried the reports of all four with her, and she immediately took them out.

Luo Di's psychological report showed everything as normal, with only a label indicating that he was withdrawn.

"This is the best way for them to handle the situation right now. Such Subjective Action should be praised, not questioned."

"Mm. If there really is no issue with his mental state, then this young man is indeed worth looking forward to."