Baleful Aura

Yu Jing briefly explained some of the conditions in his area.

There was not much important information known at present. This area resembled some kind of meat-processing factory. Aside from the cold iron corridors connecting the factory rooms, the ventilation ducts overhead could also be used to travel through it.

Given that there was a dangerous entity with an enormous body, the overhead ventilation ducts could be considered relatively safe areas.

Jiang Tian replied, "The dangerous entity in your area shouldn't be as dangerous as the one in mine. The two of us should have a chance if we join forces."

In Jiang Tian's eyes, the dangerous entity in this area was at least a relatively normal human, unlike the omnipresent monster formed from condensed blood in her own area.

"Don't jump to that conclusion. Perhaps every testing area has the same difficulty; there is no higher or lower. Jiang Tian, you must have encountered the Blood Monster quite a few times in your testing area, right?"

"Four times in total." Jiang Tian nodded as she answered.

"Each time the Blood Monster appeared, it began as blood and needed a certain amount of time to gather. In my view, perhaps the dangerous entity in my testing area lacks tracking abilities, but if we encounter him even once, the danger will be several times greater than that of the Blood Monster."

Yu Jing recalled the white pig lying on the platform with its body cut open, and he felt intensely sick.

"Do you have any specific ideas?" Jiang Tian asked.

"First, we need to conduct a thorough survey of this area's terrain and learn the location of every ventilation entrance. If we are discovered by the dangerous entity while moving outside, we head for the closest vent and hide. If we run around here like headless flies, getting caught will mean certain death."

"Besides, while scouting the area, we may find the spray that was used to treat your broken leg. Once we have confirmed the detailed layout of this place, we'll return to the starting point and make a detailed plan for eliminating the dangerous entity."

After hearing this, Jiang Tian added, "What if we get discovered while scouting the terrain outside?"

"Because we know nothing about this place, the scouting phase is the most dangerous. I already exposed my presence here earlier. The other party will definitely search the factory for my trail. What we need to do now is wait for the heavy footsteps to pass by outside the door. Once he passes through once, there should be a long interval before he comes back a second time."

"What if he never comes?"

Slap, slap! Just as Jiang Tian finished asking, the sound of bare feet stepping on the steel floor came from the distance.

"He's here! Tidy this place up a little. The smell of blood can't be avoided, so throw your white sweater covered in blood directly into the center of the room to confuse his sense of smell. We retreat into the ventilation duct!"

Yu Jing's reaction in an emergency was beyond imagination. Following his arrangements, the two hid in the ventilation duct and barely sealed the exit with an iron grate.

Before long, the heavy footsteps stopped outside the room.

Creak! The door opening made Yu Jing's heart tighten. Then, a gigantic creature entered the room.

Curled up inside the duct, Yu Jing could see only the lower half of its body through the iron grate. Large numbers of iron nails were embedded in the flesh of its enormous feet. It wore a butcher's black leather apron, and the hand hanging at its waist held a huge chipped cleaver.

"What a heavy smell of blood, and... is that baleful aura?" Even without facing the other party directly, Yu Jing, hiding in the ventilation duct, could not stop his body from trembling.

Yu Jing had encountered this so-called baleful aura in his childhood in the countryside, when he often spoke with Liu the Butcher, who lived not far from his home. Liu the Butcher had once mentioned the term "baleful aura" to Yu Jing. Butchers who slaughtered too many animals would emit a certain amount of baleful aura from their bodies.

However, baleful aura only affected the corresponding animals. When some pig butchers entered a pig farm, all the pigs would retreat and let out frightened squeals.

Yet the baleful aura Yu Jing felt now made his entire body tremble with fear. Jiang Tian behind him was the same, covering her mouth with both hands as her body shook continuously.

"Sniff... sniff..."

Heavy breathing sounded from outside. Clearly, the butcher was sniffing for something through his nostrils.

Fortunately, Yu Jing had Jiang Tian pile her bloodstained clothes in the center of the room. The bloody smell from the dangerous entity in Jiang Tian's room was extremely intense, restricting the butcher's sense of smell to a certain extent.

In the end, a massive hand studded with iron nails grabbed Jiang Tian's clothes from the center of the room and slowly left.

Clang, clang, clang!

As he left, the butcher deliberately dragged his butcher knife across the room's wall. The sound of the metal blade scraping through it pierced directly into the two of them.

About five minutes passed. Once they confirmed that the butcher would not return, Yu Jing cautiously moved aside the iron grate and led Jiang Tian out of the ventilation duct.

"Impossible. We can't possibly get rid of him. Just being near him makes our whole bodies shake. How can we resist when standing before that massive thing? Let's just hide here until the test ends, right?"

Jiang Tian's heart was completely consumed by despair. The image of those thick feet embedded with iron nails was imprinted in her mind. To Jiang Tian, he was a monster, not a human at all.

Yu Jing was no saint either. Before the butcher, he could not even hold his hand axe steady, much less kill him. Even if he swung that somewhat chipped axe and buried it in the other party's body, it might not have much effect on someone so huge.

"Wait until the test ends? We probably won't be discovered if we stay here."

Yu Jing's heart wavered somewhat at that moment, and his thoughts broadened. "Even if we wait until the test ends, there are only two possible outcomes. First, they erase all our memories of coming to the institute through brainwashing. Second, we are executed..."

"Executed... would they really be that cruel?" Jiang Tian asked.

"The seven of us all came from county towns classified as B or C. This institute must have an extremely powerful background and can access our information at will. Even if we die here, erasing the records should be effortless for them... Jiang Tian, we continue. I just thought of a way that might eliminate him, but first we still need to explore this area thoroughly."

Yu Jing's firm words let Jiang Tian see a flicker of hope.

"I believe you." Jiang Tian nodded at Yu Jing.

"The exploration phase is the most dangerous. I'll first draw a map of what we already know."

There was no paper or pen here, so Yu Jing used some bloodstains on the ground to draw on the room's wall, roughly depicting the crawling passages he remembered and the route he had taken from the slaughter room to escape here.

"You stay here first. I'll go out alone and figure out the surrounding situation. If there's danger, I'll run back immediately."

After all, Jiang Tian was a woman, and Yu Jing planned to complete the initial exploration alone. As Yu Jing stood before the room's door, Jiang Tian ran over, pressed her full lips to his face, and said softly, "Be careful."