Deep in the Living

Human Exploration Bureau.

As the deputy director, Yu Ze completed a period of confinement within ancient caves and returned to his personal office, only to unexpectedly find that Miss Song was not there today.

During this period, Song Huiwen, as a specially appointed team member, has executed quite a few external missions with the Extinction Department.

With the incense bag and talisman given by Yu Ze, her state could be effectively controlled.

The Extinction Department gathered a group of combative individuals, who valued strength above all. They did not repel Song Huiwen; on the contrary, they even built some camaraderie with her.

The humanity that Song Huiwen had lost was slowly being replenished during this process.

Yu Ze sat alone at his desk,

a pile of his own materials was pressed down on the upper right corner, seemingly hand-drawn depictions of various types of caves and Abyss structures.

At the center of the desk was a recently delivered set of materials, an archive he had arranged for staff to fetch before his confinement, detailing the Jiang Mansion and information about Master Jiang.

The related materials were relatively comprehensive, with very detailed records of him before he became a monster.

Jiang Huaishan (1935-?)

In the early years of the United Nations' establishment, the local infrastructure workload was massively demanding, requiring an influx of manpower. At that time, immigration policies were extremely lenient, even sending some special groups to this island country affected by the Corner.

Jiang Huaishan, who committed first-degree murder, should have been sentenced to death, yet at that moment, he was considered a special person and sent to this island country.

The accompanying members were also criminals from various major prisons across Huaxia.

They were concentrated in the eastern part of the island, now the location of Jupiter City, conducting construction work while wearing electronic shackles around the clock.

The original building of the United Nations needed to be entirely demolished to ensure that no Physical Corners existed.

Even these fearless criminals experienced fear when witnessing others disappear right before their eyes.

However, promises were made—if they could complete the city's construction, most of their sentences would be waived, allowing them to live a new life on this land.

However, as those who committed serious crimes, their activities would still be restricted to a certain degree, continuously required to undertake the foundational work assigned to them.

The construction of Jupiter City was completed.

Jiang Huaishan survived and was further assigned to the outskirts to engage in the more dangerous task of a ranger, tasked with relocating wires and light fixtures into the untrodden wilderness.

Alongside him were brothers who also committed grave crimes. Despite their contributions to the city's construction, they were denied freedom.

Resentment festered within, yet escape seemed impossible.

If they ran, they had nowhere to go in the wilderness and would starve even if not swallowed by the Corner. They couldn't scale Jupiter City's walls bare-handed, and there was no way to break the electronic shackles they wore.

They could only continue like this,

barely managing to survive.

However, the work of an outsider ranger was far more dangerous than imagined.

Strange terrains, various plants, and seemingly minor areas could all become Physical Corners.

Jiang Huaishan was very smart, with keen insight, always able to avoid them during work trips. But his brothers were not so fortunate; a moment's distraction could lead to disappearance.

As time passed, fewer and fewer rangers remained.

Eventually, Jiang Huaishan was the only one left at the station.

It seemed the city had no intention of sending others to assist, leaving him to work alone. He had to work twelve hours daily, assembling a fixed quantity of light fixtures.

Jiang Huaishan understood very well that the authorities wanted to eradicate individuals like him who committed serious crimes, deeming them unfit to live a normal life.

He would sit outside the rest area every day, gazing upon the city he helped build, longing for a day when he could control everything.

Yet,

every person has flaws. Even Jiang Huaishan had moments of slack and unexpected incidents.

After six years of ranger work, Jiang Huaishan was still alive, but during this work trip, he encountered an unexpected event: a wild tiger while installing a light fixture on a rugged mountain path.

Though nearing fifty, he could still rely on portable equipment to confront the tiger head-on, even making the tiger bleed from the mouth.

But the physical disparity was undeniable; Jiang Huaishan was forced into retreat and accidentally fell down a slope, hitting his head and losing consciousness.

When he awoke, it was already dark.

The lighting device in his hand and the birdcage alarm were all broken.

Under such circumstances, returning was impossible; he would inevitably get pulled into a Corner.

He decided not to leave... or perhaps he simply couldn't go. Besides the equipment, both his legs were broken, and the wounds were infected.

Additionally, he had fallen onto a flat barren graveyard area, with tombstones inscribed in foreign characters. Seeing the Japanese writings, he immediately showed a look of disgust, spat harshly.

Lying on the putrid earth,

Jiang Huaishan felt no fear at all. Though terrified of zombies depicted in strange novels during his lifetime, at that moment, his heart only harbored resentment.

He hated himself for not killing a few people during his last return to the city, to at least get some relief.

He hated the city he helped build, from which he was denied residency.

He loathed the world's so-called order and laws, desiring to establish a domain entirely his, where he set all the rules.

However,

as days went by.

Lying in the barren graveyard, Jiang Huaishan almost starved to a corpse, with no rain or food, waiting hopelessly for death.

Yet after several days passed, he had a visitor, not a rescue team but the very tiger he encountered before in the mountains.

The tiger recognized him too and pounced suddenly.

Its sharp fangs bit into his body, but no blood came out, just a crackling sound as the sharp fangs bled.

Jiang Huaishan clutched the tiger's throat instinctively and bit down.

Minutes passed,

The corpse of a tiger, drained dry, lay on the ground.

Jiang Huaishan's legs completely recovered from the suction, and he stood up, looking at everything in disbelief.

He looked at his skin crawling with black veins like worms,

he looked at the corpse spots covering his body, and the indestructible skin tissue.

He looked at the yin air exhaling from his mouth, and the thickened, sharp, pitch-black frame.

He remembered the descriptions from the books and realized he had become the creature he once feared most—a zombie.

Because of the lifeless appearance, the electronic shackles on him deemed him dead.

With a lift of his hand,

all the yin air from this desolate grave was absorbed by him, and white hair grew from his body. He could jump over a height of two meters and make a claw mark on a tree trunk.

Even so,

he had no rage, no arrogance, nor any desire for revenge.

Jupiter City was established by his own hands, and he knew very well that even if he could kill some people in his current state, the final result would still be death.

He returned to the ranger's rest area, only to find that a newcomer had replaced his job.

For the first time, Jiang Huaishan tasted human blood.

Then, another beam of light shone over, it was a bus traveling from Jupiter City to other cities.

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Huaishan was already lying under the bus. The next day's news spread across major cities, reporting that all 42 passengers had died, suspected to be related to the Pseudo-Person active in the suburbs.

Jiang Huaishan never went to the city. Years of being a ranger had made him very familiar with the suburbs. Hiding outside was the safest and most stable choice.

Occasionally targeting passing vehicles,

when there were no living humans, he would drink the fresh blood of beasts,

and sometimes, after a perfect feast, he would go to the deep wilderness to seek a place of great yin to enhance himself.

When he finally had the ability to return to the city, he was no longer an ordinary Pseudo-Person, easily killing the investigators who came to hunt him, and swiftly completing his advancement between the seams.

Upon coming to the Corner,

Jiang Huaishan could likewise commit great slaughter,

leading Uncle Neck, he established Jiang Mansion, setting rules and only recruiting monsters of Huaxia descent.

Through absolutely powerful personal strength, he gained recognition from the Corner, not only establishing an organization but also obtaining the qualification to guard the Dungeon.

Everything went so smoothly.

Until he reached the bottom layer of the Dungeon,

and encountered a "dangerous object" he had never seen before... With his entire body destroyed, he barely managed to escape with his soul thanks to his extreme control of yin air.

Relying on Jiang Mansion's Corpse Refining Technique and years of accumulated foundation, he managed to stay alive, but time was short, and he had to find a perfect vessel to carry his soul.

Finally,

this young man named "Luo Di" showed up.

Everything was so close, everything was within reach, but...

[Human Body Exhibition, Backyard]

Master Jiang's body was slashed open diagonally.

The yin air he gathered started leaking uncontrollably, and the sky began to rain again.

This was the most severe injury he suffered during this outing, even his soul got a pitch-black crack.

To his former self, this was nothing, a perfect zombie body could heal, and Corpse Refining Technique could smooth out soul-level injuries.

Jiang Huaishan quickly manipulated the yin air, trying to reconnect his severed upper body.

However...

Crack!

He saw his lower body collapse, a body that had been decaying reached its limit at this moment. It turned into a pool of bubbling black water, vanishing into thin air.

Even his upper body wasn't spared.

Only scapula, back of the head, and left face still hung with some flesh, the rest were just exposed bones, blackened and shattered bones.

Even so,

Jiang Huaishan continued to crawl forward,

crawling towards Luo Di's fallen body.

But what he saw in front of him wasn't Luo Di, but a city wall bathed under the starry sky, inside the wall was the city he had built with his own hands yet barred him from entry.

He never had the right to live inside.

He crawled to the front of the gate,

touching the door that felt like the texture of a neck.

He opened his mouth, wanting to bite open the lock.

However...

His teeth also fell off.

The door couldn't be opened,

he was still doomed to stay outside, die outside.

Yet at the moment of his final demise, he laughed, as if something heavy was finally laid down...