Chapter 8: Funeral Rites

There were only ten minutes left of the half-hour item search time.

The four of them quickly converged based on their shared locations. Just as Anna was about to show off, she realized that everyone had found an 【Item】 that could potentially trigger the practical exercise.

According to their brief descriptions, finding the items wasn’t difficult. Once near the location of an item, one could clearly feel the environmental changes brought about by the object, and even feel a very intuitive pull.

The four items were:

The “Gold-Inlaid Mahogany Box” found by Luo Di,

The “Goat-Headed Hexagram Metal Box” found by Anna,

The “Ancient Book Sealed with Bones” found by Gao Yuxuan,

The “Red Umbrella Tied with Ink Marker Line” found by Wu Wen,

When the four items were brought out, the surveillance footage at the Institute immediately focused on them.

The employees on-site who had placed bets on the corresponding items all wore excited expressions, but there was only one grand prize, and it would depend on how these young people chose.

Director Qin’s bet was among them as well,

However, she wasn’t concerned with the final outcome of the bet, but rather wore a rare expression of worry, as if one of these four items was quite dangerous.

Wu Wen’s father had a fairly close relationship with their Institute and could be considered a major patron; she had to ensure that this practical exercise went off without a hitch.

“I hope they don’t choose that thing~ Otherwise, I’ll need to notify the downtown medical team to stand by in advance.”

…

The four different items were placed on a flat-surfaced rock.

With eight minutes left, everyone had to choose one to trigger the corresponding event.

“Should we vote?” Class monitor Wu Wen asked for everyone’s opinion.

Vice class monitor Gao Yuxuan took the initiative to offer an opinion: “I suggest that we quickly explain these items based on our own accumulated knowledge.

I am inclined to choose an 【Item】 with moderate difficulty; after all, this is our first practical exercise, and it’s our first time working together.

Personally, I feel the red umbrella might correspond to an anomaly that cannot be killed, or perhaps even a spiritual structure, so it’s not advisable to choose it.

And the ancient book might correspond to a soul-summoning ritual or a curse-related anomaly, which would also be difficult to deal with.

I suggest choosing one of the two boxes.”

“Don’t choose this metal box! I just feel something is wrong…”

The usually bold blonde Anna recounted her experience of finding the metal box, especially the “clicking tongue sound,” which still made her shudder when she thought about it now.

Luo Di was quite interested in Anna’s account and offered his own insight: “A goat head and a hexagram might correspond to some kind of demon; it’s a typical European-American exorcism style. If we choose this item, there might be a case of Possession, so I really don’t recommend choosing it.”

Although he loved B-movies, he had also watched other European and American horror films and knew a thing or two.

The class monitor looked at everyone with a relieved expression, especially happy that the two usually quiet boys were actively participating.

“Based on our discussion, we’ve eliminated three of them all at once, leaving only the wooden box Luo Di found as an option? By the way, Luo Di, did you encounter anything strange when you found the wooden box, or any unease like Anna’s?”

“There was just some cold wind. I estimate the simulated anomaly behind the wooden box is of moderate difficulty.”

The class monitor looked at the little time remaining, “Then it’s decided! Who wants to try activating this wooden box?”

“Wu Wen, I remember you seem to know a bit about these little things.”

“Tsk~ Anna, I was just trying to get the two gentlemen to participate more, wasn’t I? Forget it, I’ll do it then.”

Wu Wen took out a Swiss Army knife, pressed her ear against the surface of the wooden box, and after a series of skilled maneuvers~ Click! The locked wooden box was opened.

Stored inside the wooden box was an old copper key.

At the same time, a broadcast sound came from the forest.

§ Anomalous event has been activated, please proceed to the summit area as soon as possible §

…

Inside the Institute,

A total of three employees had chosen correctly and were excitedly splitting the winnings.

Although Director Qin hadn’t chosen correctly, she breathed a sigh of relief that the four of them hadn’t chosen that troublesome and dangerous item.

Just in a corner of the Institute where no one noticed, an ordinary-looking employee watched all of this silently, muttering continuously:

“They clearly already had it… Why didn’t they choose it? Why didn’t they choose it?”

【In the Mountains】

Anna stared at the items left unselected on the rock surface, “What should we do with these? It doesn’t feel right to just leave them here.”

The class monitor nodded, “It really isn’t right~ How about we return these things to their original places on our way up the mountain? It won’t waste more than a few minutes.”

“Hmm.”

The red umbrella was found under a giant rock, and cinnabar-painted symbols still remained on the surface of the rock.

The ancient book was found among moss-covered abandoned tents, with some scratch marks left by fingers around it.

The only thing left was the metal box in Anna’s hand. After a stretch of uphill climbing, the team arrived at a bare clearing in the forest.

Not only did no plants grow here, but there was also an inexplicable dry heat, and the temperature was clearly several degrees higher than the surroundings.

Anna slowed her pace, moving steadily close to the ground crevice. Just as she was about to put this wicked thing back in its original place…

Click~

The strange clicking tongue sound came again, even feeling as if it resonated within Anna’s skull.

Clear, sudden, and chilling,

The sudden shock caused the iron box Anna was holding to slip from her hand.

The iron box happened to fall into the crevice, falling about half a meter.

With a 【Bang!】, it landed in the depths.

This action frightened Anna, who quickly took out her flashlight to observe the situation below. Fortunately, the iron box wasn’t broken or deformed; the quality of the metal material was excellent.

Come to think of it, this kind of metal box used for storing items must have been specially processed; it couldn’t be broken so easily.

Perhaps considering how wicked this thing was,

Anna bent down, preparing to move the iron box back to its original position.

Just as she was about to reach over the crevice, a figure suddenly lunged over, *slap!* and grabbed her arm.

The person who arrived was Luo Di.

He had noticed Anna’s odd behavior earlier and had intervened out of safety concerns, while also bringing a branch to hand to her.

“Don’t use your hand.”

“Oh.”

Anna took the branch and moved the metal box back to its original position, and the clicking tongue sound in her ear didn’t ring out again.

Just as she was about to thank Luo Di for his help, a pair of hands pushed her from behind, propelling her quickly up the mountain.

The person behind her was the class monitor, “Don’t waste time, let’s hurry up the mountain.”

Just as the four of them left this forest area where even weeds couldn’t grow, the branch used earlier to move the metal box was discarded there; not long after, it completely dried up, and even carbonized entirely and vanished with the wind.

…

【Item Activated】

The two girls walking together were chatting about the new type of simulation.

“Wu Wen, how do you think the Institute simulates such realistic 【Anomalous Events】? Is it some brand-new biotechnology or something?”

“Maybe it’s corpses?”

“Corpses? You mean the Institute takes those killed Pseudo-human corpses and remakes them into controllable practice units?”

“Yeah~ That’s the only way it’s realistic.”

“Ew~ If that’s really the case, it’s pretty disgusting. But, after our Advancement, we’ll need to try facing real anomalous events, as well as Pseudo-humans that might appear by our side at any time. Adapting in advance is actually pretty good.”

“Once this kind of practice is popularized, people’s survival rate in the future could be greatly increased, right.”

Climbing this hundred-meter hill was more time-consuming than expected.

And the closer they got to the summit, the more the temperature gradually dropped.

Occasionally, gusts of eerie wind would blow through the forest, and the clouds gradually thickened, covering the bright sun of the day.

Finally, the four of them crossed the last circle of trees before the summit, and an old Chinese-style Ravenna came into view.

It consisted of a front and back courtyard, a perimeter wall, and a two-story main building.

The main gate facing them still had conspicuous white lanterns hanging on it.

The “Funeral Rites” character written on the surface of the lanterns made the three of them, who had Chinese blood flowing in their veins, very uncomfortable.

Anna had also learned about related culture in textbooks; she only knew it was related to the dead and didn’t have any particular feeling about it.

Solid mahogany doors,

inlaid with gold,

with a large copper lock hanging on them.

Wu Wen took out the copper key retrieved from the box earlier, *click~* it matched perfectly, and the lock opened.

At the same time, it also meant that this field practice had officially begun.