Yu Jing briefly explained the situation in his area.
Currently, the important information was limited. The zone resembled a meat processing plant. Besides the cold, iron corridors connecting the factory rooms, there were ventilation ducts running along the ceiling that could also be used to traverse the area.
Given that there was a massive dangerous creature in this zone, the ventilation ducts on top were considered relatively safer.
Jiang Tian responded, "The dangerous creature in your area seems less threatening than the one in mine. If we team up, we might stand a chance."
From Jiang Tian's perspective, the creature in this area was at least somewhat human-like, unlike the blood-formed monsters that were everywhere in her zone.
"Don't be so sure," Yu Jing warned. "Maybe the difficulty level in each test area is the same. There's no such thing as easier or harder. Jiang Tian, you've probably encountered the blood monsters in your zone quite a few times, haven't you?"
"Four times in total," Jiang Tian nodded.
"The blood monsters always appear in liquid form first and take time to coagulate. From what I can tell, the dangerous creature in my zone might not be able to track us, but if we were to run into it, the danger would be several times worse than those blood monsters."
Yu Jing recalled the white pig lying on the platform, its body sliced open, and a wave of unease washed over him.
"Do you have any specific ideas?" Jiang Tian asked.
"We first need to conduct a thorough reconnaissance of this area, mapping out every ventilation entrance. If we're discovered by the creature while outside, we can retreat quickly to the nearest vent to hide. If we run around blindly like headless flies, getting caught would mean certain death."
"Also, during the scouting, we might find the medical spray that was used to treat your leg. Once we know the layout, we can return to the starting point and devise a detailed plan to eliminate the threat."
Jiang Tian added cautiously, "What if we get discovered while scouting?"
"Since we don't know much about this place, the scouting phase is the most dangerous. I've already exposed my presence here. The creature will definitely be searching for me in the factory. We just have to wait for the heavy footsteps to pass by outside the door. Once it passes once, it probably won't return for a while."
"What if it never comes back?"
Just as Jiang Tian finished asking, the sound of bare feet striking the steel floor echoed from a distance — 'pat, pat!'
"It's here! Quickly clean up this place a bit. We can't avoid the blood smell, so throw your blood-soaked white sweater in the center of the room to confuse its sense of smell. Then we retreat back into the ventilation duct!"
Yu Jing's quick thinking was impressive. He helped them hide in the vent and barely closed the iron grille at the entrance.
Soon, heavy footsteps stopped outside the door.
Creak!
The door opened, tightening Yu Jing's chest. A massive figure stepped into the room.
Curled up inside the duct, Yu Jing could only see the creature's lower half through the bars. Huge feet embedded with iron nails, wearing a black butcher's apron, and holding a large serrated cleaver in one hand.
"What a heavy stench of blood... and is that... an ominous aura?" Yu Jing, hiding in the ventilation duct without making eye contact, felt his body trembling uncontrollably.
The so-called 'ominous aura' — Yu Jing remembered from his childhood in the countryside, often talking with Liu, the butcher who lived nearby. Liu once explained that every butcher, due to killing so many animals, carried an aura of death, or 'sha qi' (煞气).
But 'sha qi' only affected the animals. For example, when a pig butcher entered a pig farm, all the pigs would scatter, terrified by the aura.
Yet the 'ominous aura' Yu Jing was feeling now made his whole body shake with fear. Behind him, Jiang Tian was just as shaken, covering her mouth and trembling uncontrollably.
Hiss... hiss...
Heavy breathing sounded outside — the butcher was sniffing the air.
Fortunately, Yu Jing had instructed Jiang Tian to pile the bloodied clothing in the center of the room. The intense blood scent from the dangerous creature in Jiang Tian's zone masked their presence, limiting the butcher's sense of smell.
At last, a massive hand embedded with iron nails grabbed the pile of Jiang Tian's clothes from the center of the room and slowly left.
Cling, cling, cling!
As it exited, the butcher deliberately dragged the cleaver across the wall, the sharp metallic scraping sound piercing directly into their ears.
About five minutes passed. After confirming the butcher did not return, Yu Jing carefully moved the iron grille aside and then climbed out of the ventilation duct with Jiang Tian.
"This is impossible. We can't possibly defeat that thing. Just standing here trembling like this—how could we ever fight back against such a colossal monster? Let's just hide here and wait for the test to end," Jiang Tian said, her heart overwhelmed by despair. The image of those thick, iron-studded footprints haunted her mind; to her, this creature was no human—it was a monster.
Yu Jing was no saint either. He could barely hold onto his hatchet in front of the butcher, let alone kill him. Even swinging the slightly serrated axe against a body that large would probably have little effect.
"Wait until the test ends? Staying here, we probably won't be discovered," Yu Jing's resolve wavered. His thoughts broadened. "But even if we survive until the end, there are only two possible outcomes: one, they erase all our memories of coming to this research facility through brainwashing; or two, we get executed…"
"Executed? How cruel would that be?" Jiang Tian asked.
"We seven all come from B and C-level counties. This research facility surely has an enormous background and easy access to our personal files. Even if we die here, erasing the information about us would be effortless for them... Jiang Tian, we keep moving. I just thought of a way that might help us take down the creature, but first, we need to fully explore and understand this area."
Yu Jing's certainty sparked a faint glimmer of hope in Jiang Tian's eyes.
"I believe in you," she nodded firmly.
"The exploration phase is the most dangerous. I'll first sketch out the map of what we currently know."
Without paper or pen, Yu Jing traced the bloodstains on the wall, roughly drawing the ventilation ducts and the escape route from the slaughterhouse that led here, committing every detail to memory.
"You stay here. I'll go out alone to scout the surroundings. If there's any danger, I'll come back immediately."
Since Jiang Tian was a woman, Yu Jing decided to handle the initial scouting by himself. As he stood by the door ready to leave, Jiang Tian ran up and pressed her full lips gently to his cheek, her voice soft and tender.
"Be careful."
ps: read advance chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/Seraphim777