《A Night of Desperation》


 Chapter 1: The Mysterious Shadow (1)

    ¡°Yi Yi.¡±


    ¡°Yi Yi.¡±


    A faint voice called out, waking the little girl from her slumber.


    In the dark of the night, in a cramped square bedroom, a young girl with long ck hairy in bed, covered by a grey-white quilt that reached her shoulders, revealing the fadedce trim of her nightgown.


    The girl looked to be about seven or eight years old. She had a delicate face with a slightly high nose, and two red pimples on her chin. She seemed to be at that age when she was just beginning to understand the world around her.


    Upon hearing the voice, she slowly opened her eyes, sat up, and looked around.


    The room was shrouded in darkness, with only a faint moonlight filtering in through the window, dimly illuminating the foot of the bed.


    At the foot of the bed, there stood a dark figure.


    The upper body of the figure was engulfed in darkness, its face obscured.But the girl could feel that it was silently watching her.


    ¡°Mom?¡± The girl asked cautiously.


    She clutched the nket tightly, her face tense, sensing that something was wrong.


    The room was eerily silent, with only her voice standing out as it echoed slightly in the stillness.


    ¡°Remember, Yi Yi, no matter what sounds you hear, you must hide in the secret altar. Don¡¯te out until the white stone turns ck.¡±


    The figure spoke softly.


    ¡°Don¡¯te out.¡±


    After the words were spoken, it slowly turned around and silently walked toward the door.


    The wooden door opened with no sound, revealing an expanse of darkness outside, which quickly swallowed the figure whole.


    ¡°Mommy!!¡± The girl seemed to sense something was wrong. She suddenly threw off the nket, jumped out of bed, and tried to chase after her.


    Boom!!!


    A loud crash echoed, followed by a strong tremor, ringing loudly in her ears.


    Hiss!!!


    The girl snapped her eyes open, arching her chest as she took a deep breath.


    It had all been a dream.


    Her eyes were wide with terror, her pupils dting, and her consciousness slowly began to break free from the drowsiness of the dream.


    Boom!!


    Another loud bang.


    The entire room seemed to be shaking and trembling.


    The wooden door rattled violently, with a series of crashes that sounded as if a giant beast was violently battering against it.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!!


    The powerful impacts seemed as though they could shatter the door.


    Faint cracks began to appear on the surface of the door, slowly spreading.


    The girl snapped back to reality, remembering the sounds from her dream.


    ¡°Mom.¡± She didn¡¯t know why, but tears welled up in her eyes, and a deep pain rose in her chest.


    But hearing the crashing sounds and recalling the words from her dream, she quickly threw off the nket, jumped out of bed, and looked at the door.


    Creak!


    The wooden door was suddenly smashed open, and broken splinters flew inward,nding on the brown earthen floor.


    The girl¡¯s body stiffened, her heart racing, and her face turned pale. She quickly crouched down and crawled under the bed.


    She crawled for a few steps, found a hidden ck mudboard, grabbed the ring, and pulled it open with great effort.


    Beneath the mudboard was a small, square space just big enough for her to curl up in.


    The walls of the space were lined with white stones of varying sizes.


    These stones were shaped differently, but they all shared one feature: they were etched withplex red symbols.


    The girl quickly crawled inside, covered her head with the mudboard, and huddled in the darkness, shivering as she listened to the sounds outside.


    Strangely, once she hid in the space, the crashing noises outside ceasedpletely.


    It was as if everything she had heard earlier had been a hallucination.


    Silence.


    Absolute silence.


    The only sound in the space was her own breathing.


    The girl tightly pressed her hands over her mouth, fearing that any noise from her breath might give away her position.


    The immense fear and tension soon wore down her small body, and exhaustion slowly began to creep in.


    As time passed, the girl gradually fell into a deep sleep.


    She didn¡¯t know how long it had been.


    An hour, maybe two.


    ¡°Yi Yi.¡± A familiar voice called out, waking the girl from her sleep.


    She moved her body, as if trying to make herself morefortable.


    ¡°Yi Yi?¡±


    ¡°Yi Yi, where are you? Mommy is back.¡±


    The voice outside sounded again, faint and familiar.


    The girl¡¯s fear seemed to have eased somewhat after her nap.


    Upon hearing the voice, she moved quickly, eager to get out.


    But suddenly, she remembered something. Looking at the white stones embedded in the wall, she noticed that they had not turned ck.


    ording to what her mother had said, only when the white stones turned ck would it bepletely safe.


    The girl¡¯s desire to go outside stopped immediately.


    ¡°Yi Yi, it¡¯s morning. It¡¯s safe now. You cane out.¡±


    The voice echoed again.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, with the light, those things won¡¯t daree in. Mommy is here. You cane out.¡±


    The girl calcted the time. Normally, her mother would return about now.


    Every time she hid in this small space, after taking a nap, she would be able to see her mother when she came out.


    This time, the timing seemed right, so it should be no different.


    As for the white stones on the wall, maybe they hadn¡¯t turned ck because too much time had passed. The stones were white during the day as well.


    The girl thought for a moment. She looked up through the small venttion hole in the mudboard, peeking outside.


    She saw a faint white light.


    It was indeed morning.


    Finally, she rxed.


    ¡°I¡¯ming!¡±


    She called out.


    ¡°Mommy, I¡¯ming.¡±


    She began to move, her little hands reaching up to push the mudboard above her.


    Soon, she managed to push open the mudboard and struggled to lift her head out of the small space, returning to the area under the bed.


    Then, she looked outside.


    ¡°!!??¡±


    Outside.


    It was stillplete darkness.


    Wasn¡¯t it supposed to be daylight?


    The girl¡¯s scalp tingled.


    She sensed something was terribly wrong. With clenched teeth, she quickly crouched down, trying to retreat back into the small space.


    Clop.


    Clop.


    Suddenly, a pair of pale feet wearing her mother¡¯s cloth shoes stopped right in front of the bed.


    ¡°Yi Yi, my dear daughter, where are you?¡± The soft and familiar voice sounded again.


    The girl dared not make a sound. She tightly covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face as they slid down her cheeks.


    But she didn¡¯t dare move. At such a close distance, any slight movement could make a sound in the silent environment, exposing her position.


    Suddenly, she remembered that her mother couldn¡¯t possibly be unaware about the small space under the bed.


    So her mother couldn¡¯t be asking where she was.


    At that moment, she realized¡­ she had been tricked.


    Clop.


    Clop.


    Soon, there was no response. Perhaps the girl¡¯s response from the small space had been too quiet for the other person to hear.


    The feet slowly moved away from the bed and left, heading toward another part of the house.


    The steps were slow, barely making a sound. Soon, with a faint click of a door closing, the figure disappeared.


    Everything returned to silence.


    The girl continued to hold her breath, waiting.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    She didn¡¯t know how long it had been. When she didn¡¯t hear any more sounds, she slowly exhaled, letting go of her tension and shrinking back.


    After enduring so much, her body was weak. She could hear a faint buzzing in her ears, and her vision felt blurry.


    She could no longer hold on. Leaning against the small space, she gasped for air.


    When she realized the danger had passed, the girl waited a bit longer to be sure that there was no movement. Then, with great difficulty, she crawled out of the small space and slowly crept toward the exit under the bed. ?£Á¦­????


    Plop.


    Suddenly¡­


    Her shoulder bumped into something.


    The girl froze, an unsettling feeling sweeping over her.


    She slowly raised her head, looking toward the top right.


    A woman in a tattered white dress with long hair sat silently on her wooden bed, her left leg hanging down, resting on the girl¡¯s right shoulder.


    The woman¡¯s hair obscured her face, but she looked down at the girl. Through the dim moonlight, her pale lips were visible, showing signs of decay.


    Whoosh!


    The woman¡¯s decayed face suddenly leaned in, growingrger.


    *


    *


    * *


    ¡°This time, he didn¡¯t die.¡±


    In the darkness, a blurry voice emerged.


    It seemed to be a woman¡¯s voice.


    ¡°He is still alive, but¡­ just injured and very weak. You know, you always go out into the forest to rescue people, but we barely have enough food here. How can you bear to feed a sick person too?¡± the woman said.


    ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s¡­ fine, mom¡­ tell me,¡± a stuttering young girl¡¯s voice followed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about your mom, just listening to you talk tires me. Okay, I stitched up your wound. Just don¡¯t get it wet and try not to get infected. I¡¯m leaving now.¡±


    The woman¡¯s voice continued as she seemed to be packing up something.


    ¡°Thank you so much,¡± the stuttering girl said,ughing awkwardly.


    ¡°Stop thanking me. If ites to it, just drag him outside and leave him there. He should be gone by morning.¡± The woman sighed.


    ¡°Thank you, only you help,¡± the stuttering girl said gratefully.


    ¡°That¡¯s just how it is. Life is hard for everyone, and no one has the energy to care for others. You¡¯re the only one who hasn¡¯t thrown him back into the wild by now,¡± the woman responded.


    Yu Hong slowly gathered strength, trying to open his eyes in the darkness.


    He saw a small, dirty girl with messy ck hair talking to a middle-aged woman with yellow skin.


    The woman wore sses, and her grayish-white long sleeves were stained with various smudges.


    Yu Hong only remembered that he had been exhausted from work, went home, and fell asleep. But in the middle of the night, he suddenly heard some noise, then felt a pain in his forehead, and everything went ck.


    ¡°This¡­ where is this?¡± He tried to speak, but his throat felt like it was being sliced by a knife, and no words came out, only heavy breathing.


    At the same time, he felt that his forehead was very hot, his body feverish, and his eyes were full of crusted sleep.


    It must have been an infection somewhere, perhaps his throat.


    ¡°Medicine,¡± the girl¡¯s voice came.


    After the sound of a door closing, everything fell silent.


    The dirty girl struggled to move, pulling out a ck metal box from the corner of the room.


    ¡°Take the medicine. It will get better.¡± She walked over and handed Yu Hong the box.


    With a click, she opened the lid, revealing several pieces of ck charcoal, and inside, wrapped in paper, were three pale yellow capsules.


    But these three pills had small mold spots on them, with blue moldy fuzz growing on them.


    ¡°These pills¡­ they can¡¯t be eaten,¡± Yu Hong said stiffly, looking at her. Now fully awake, his throat felt much better, but still painful.


    ¡°And what is this medicine? What¡¯s wrong with me? How can you give me medicine when you don¡¯t even know what¡¯s wrong with me? This won¡¯t work.¡±


    ¡°First, tell me who you are, where I am, and what¡¯s going on?¡±


    The girl seemed confused, opening her mouth but only stammering, unable to produce any sound.


    Yu Hong leaned in and finally saw her clearly.


    Her skin was dark, covered in yellow stains. She wore clothes from different seasons¡ªsummer, fall, winter¡ªallyered together. Her cor was greasy and ck, and she smelled strongly of sweat.


    She looked like a beggar.


    In fact, many beggars were probably cleaner than her.


    From a distance, she looked like a moving ck ragged clothes trolley.


    Up close, he saw her body was deformed. One of her legs wasme, and on her right shoulder was arge tumor that was visible even through her clothes.


    She was barely five feet tall, dirty, and slow-moving.


    But her eyes¡ªthose eyes¡ªwere as clear as gemstones, almost without a trace of impurity.

 Chapter 2: The Mysterious Shadow (2)

    In response to Yu Hong¡¯s questions, the girl waspletely unable to react; she didn¡¯t know which question to answer first.


    She stood there in a daze, trembling with the medicine box in her hands. The shaking was so intense that it seemed like the medicine might fall out at any moment.


    Click.


    The door was pushed open again, from the outside.


    A middle-aged woman in a dirty whiteb coat walked in. With yellow skin and ck hair, wearing ck-framed sses, she was the same woman who had appeared earlier, presumably a doctor.


    ¡°I¡¯ll answer your questions. Don¡¯t make things difficult for Yi Yi. She had an illness before and was frightened. Her speech and thoughts aren¡¯t quite right,¡± the woman said.


    She walked over to the bedside and ced a light gray water jug on the wooden nightstand.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how you got here. Last night, Yi Yi went out to gather firewood and identally found you in a pit, then dragged you back.¡±


    ¡°When we found you, you were unconscious. There didn¡¯t seem to be any visible injuries, but you were unconscious with a fever. Yi Yi fed you some filtered water, and you finally woke up after waiting through the night.¡±The woman exhaled.


    ¡°As for where this is, this is Baiqiu Vige. The area is surrounded by deep mountains, and the only way out is an old road to the west.¡±


    She paused.


    ¡°I¡¯m the vige doctor, myst name is Xu. She¡¯s called Lin Yi Yi, an orphan living here alone. There¡¯s not much else to say. Well, now it¡¯s your turn. Who are you? How did you get here? What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Dr. Xu, can I call you that?¡± Yu Hong, still holding his throat in pain, spoke in a low voice, trying to make sense of the situation.


    He saw her nod and continued.


    ¡°My name is Yu Hong. I was just sleeping at home before, and then¡­¡± He recounted his previous feelings in detail.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how I got here. I¡­¡± He struggled to raise his hand and press it to his forehead.


    ¡°How old are you?¡± Dr. Xu suddenly asked.


    ¡°Twenty¡­ twenty-seven,¡± Yu Hong reflexively responded.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. Anyway, you won¡¯t be going back. With the way things are, it doesn¡¯t matter where you came from or how. There are no vehicles; if you go outside, you¡¯ll die. You¡¯ll probably have to stay here for quite some time,¡± Dr. Xu said indifferently.


    ¡°??? No vehicles? Can you¡­ can someone lend me a car to take me to the nearest bus station? I can pay!¡± Yu Hong was confused.


    ¡°A bus station?¡± This time it was Dr. Xu¡¯s turn to be puzzled. ¡°What are you talking about? Where would you find a bus station? Who¡¯s going to drive you? Outside there are all sorts of strange monsters. If you go out, you¡¯re just asking for death.¡±


    ¡°Monsters?!¡± Yu Hong froze.


    ¡°What kind of monsters?!¡± He doubted that the woman was ying a prank or had some mental issue.


    But as he looked at Dr. Xu, who was staring at him like he was a fool, Yu Hong began to feel that something wasn¡¯t right.


    A sense of unease started to rise in his chest.


    He was just an ordinary office worker. No one would hire such a low-level actor to deceive him, would they?


    ¡°Well, looks like you¡¯re a fool after all,¡± Dr. Xu sighed as she raised her head.


    ¡°A fool with another fool. You two are quite a pair.¡±


    She nced out the window.


    ¡°It¡¯s still early. When night falls, you¡¯ll see. I¡¯ll leave now. Yi Yi, keep an eye on him. Don¡¯t let him open the door tonight.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± the girl, stuttering, quickly nodded.


    When Dr. Xu turned to leave, the girl hurriedly called out.


    ¡°Medicine! Sister!¡± she anxiously called out.


    Dr. Xu turned back, understanding, and took a mercury thermometer from her pocket, shoving it into Yu Hong¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Let¡¯s check your temperature.¡±


    After a while, she took the thermometer out and looked at it.


    ¡°38.5¡ãC, you won¡¯t die.¡±


    ¡°Medicine¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± The stuttering girl quickly handed over the medicine box to Dr. Xu for inspection.


    The mold spots on the medicine made Dr. Xu frown.


    ¡°Yi Yi, I don¡¯t have much medicine left either. The post office only goes to town once a month.¡±


    Upon hearing this, the girl immediately panicked, looking around before quickly finding something resembling a yam from a corner cab and handing it over. ??£ÁN¨®??¨¨??


    ¡°Trade, this, trade¡­ for medicine!¡±


    Dr. Xu shook her head, saying it wasn¡¯t enough.


    The girl then started rummaging through other ces.


    They haggled, and the voices reached Yu Hong¡¯s ears.


    He felt drowsy and weak, his body sluggish. Soon, he fell back into a deep sleep, his throat still aching, his head heavy, and his limbs too weak to lift.


    His body¡¯s natural healing mechanism drove him into sleep to quickly recover his strength.


    Time passed quickly.


    He wasn¡¯t sure how long had passed¡ªmaybe an hour, or maybe three. Time was meaningless for someone in a daze.


    Slowly, Yu Hong woke up from his stupor.


    His whole body ached, feeling weak, and his throat felt blocked as if something was lodged there, making it impossible to speak. Only hoarse breaths escaped.


    He opened his eyes, struggled to prop himself up, and surveyed the surroundings.


    The room was quiet.


    This small, square bedroom had walls and a ceiling made of wood, all a light yellow color.


    The floor was ck mud, smooth and dry, with some corners even sprouting grass.


    Yu Hong slowly shifted his body, lowered his legs over the edge of the bed, and gently let his feet touch the ground.


    The solid feeling of the floor under his feet made his heart feel inexplicably relieved.


    He looked down at himself.


    He was wearing a grayish-white short-sleeve T-shirt, with a cartoon tiger head printed on the front, stained with some yellow marks. His pants were cream-colored casual trousers, now wrinkled.


    His gray socks were torn at the big toe, with two big toes poking out through the holes, covered in ck dirt.


    ¡®What is this?¡¯ He noticed a ck mark on the back of his right hand.


    The mark looked like an ancient seal, a square stamp with what looked like a clump of rotten mud on it, with no patterns or characters. It resembled a birthmark at first nce.


    But Yu Hong clearly remembered that he never had such arge birthmark, especially not on his prominent right hand.


    He rubbed the mark, but it didn¡¯t hurt or itch.


    He tried to wipe it off, but it didn¡¯te off, so he gave up for now.


    After checking his body and confirming there were no external injuries, Yu Hong touched the stubble on his chin and nced toward the window.


    The window was square, located to the right of the bed, and was secured with horizontal wooden nks, both inside and outside. It was tightly sealed, as if protecting from a mental illness patient, messy yet unsettling.


    The light outside was dim, casting a faint yellow glow into the room, leaving pale yellow spots beside the bed.


    Yu Hong took a deep breath, noticing a strange, indescribable burnt odor in the air.


    He walked a few steps to the door and saw a thick stack of old newspapers by the doorframe.


    Pausing, he bent down, struggling to pick up the stack, and looked at the topmost paper.


    ¡°Top Alert: Major ck Disaster Strikes Nationwide¡±


    The huge headline almost took up half the page.


    Below it were the details.


    ¡®¡­The frequent ck disasters and the weak response from authorities have posed a huge threat to the lives of the people. In the face of this grim situation, the National Disaster Prevention Committee has urgently set up an Emergency Management Department to respond swiftly to the worst-hit areas and organize rescue efforts.¡¯


    Yu Hong frowned and flipped to the back of the page.


    A chaotic scene of rescue efforts appeared in front of him. It showed a grey, dpidated building with people in heavy protective suits lifting stretchers, carrying ckened corpses.


    ¡°ck disaster?¡± He had never heard of such a term.


    He continued flipping the paper.


    ¡°Massive Bug Disaster Approaching, How Should We Respond?¡±


    ¡°Food Shortage, Water Crisis, National Rescue Teams Work Relentlessly to Save Thousands¡±


    ¡°Suspected Biochemical Agent Leak, Yi Guan City Sealed Off with Vehicle Barricades¡±


    ¡°Experts Discuss Blood Ticks in Response to ck Disasters¡±


    ¡°First Hope City Completed, 10,000 People Move In¡±


    With the sound of the pages rustling, Yu Hong¡¯s expression grew more serious.


    Not only were the headlines bizarre and abnormal, but more crucially, he suddenly realized that these newspapers were written in anguage he had never learned before. It wasn¡¯t Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian, or anynguage he recognized.


    It was an entirely unfamiliarnguage.


    ¡°Dammit!¡±


    Yu Hong put down the newspaper and looked at the date.


    January 3, 2020.


    He had never seen thisnguage before, yet he could understand it.


    This strange feeling made a sense of difort rise in his chest.


    After putting the newspaper back in its ce, Yu Hong nced at the door in front of him.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The door was gray-ck, with arge and small square pattern, one above the other. The doorknob was white, with some of the paint chipped off, revealing the ck metal underneath.


    He reached out, gripped the handle, and the cold, solid touch sent a shiver through him. He gently turned it.


    Click.


    The door opened.


    Outside was a gray stone staircase, with three steps.


    Beyond that was a broken, rocky path.


    On the opposite side was a small, dark house with its door open.


    The walls were gray and white, the roof ck and ruined.


    The house was only about three meters tall, and there were red slogans painted on the walls, now too faded to read.


    The nted roof tiles still had pebbles and yellow dry leaves on them, which rustled in the wind.


    Yu Hong stepped outside, only to realize he wasn¡¯t wearing shoes, just his tattered gray socks.


    The rough ground felt ufortable, pricking his feet.


    He stood still for a moment.


    He looked around.


    On both sides of the rocky path stood a row of houses with stone walls and tile roofs.


    These houses were very old, their walls covered with mold and stains. Some had red slogans written on them, like ¡°Live a Happy Life, Be Safe Forever,¡± ¡°One Person Serves the Family, Everyone Is Safe,¡± and ¡°Fire, Bug, and Moisture Protection.¡±


    The rocky path was a bit gloomy, with the sun blocked by the houses. Only a sliver of light was seeping through the doors and windows.


    It was because these houses were all rtively low.


    He scanned his surroundings.


    Each house, like a person standing in line, was of simr height, dpidated, with leaking doors and windows. Most of the dark wooden doors were wide open, revealing empty rooms and the sound of the wind howling through them.


    He turned to look back at the house where he had been staying.


    Indeed, his ce, though also a tile-roofed house, was different from the others.


    Both the doors and windows were nailed with thick ck and yellow wooden ts, with the gaps stuffed with heavy cloth, and the threshold was higher than the others.


    ¡°This ce¡­¡± Yu Hong couldn¡¯t shake off a sense of unease rising in his chest.


    Click.


    Suddenly, a faint sound came from the right side, in the distance.


    It sounded like shoes stepping on gravel.


    Yu Hong quickly looked in that direction.


    He saw, inside a house on the right side of the road, a blurry figure in white standing in the shadow of the doorway, looking at him.


    From afar, it seemed like the person was smiling at him.


    ¡°Smiling my ass!¡± Yu Hong frowned and ignored the person.


    Although he was eager to ask someone what was going on, the person¡¯s appearance was a bit unnerving. It felt wrong, making him ufortable.


    So, he decided to look for someone else.


    He turned his head, stopped looking at that person, and began scanning the other houses, hoping to find someone else.


    Unfortunately, after a quick scan, he didn¡¯t see anyone else.


    So, he reluctantly turned back and looked at the figure in white.


    But this time, when he looked back, his heart sank.


    The figure in white was no longer in the house he had just seen.


    Instead, it was now in another house, much closer to him.


    Standing in the shadow of the doorway, smiling at him.


    In just a few seconds, the person had closed the distance by at least several dozen meters.


    What was even stranger was that despite the proximity, Yu Hong still couldn¡¯t make out the person¡¯s face clearly. He could only barely see the person smiling, with very pale skin, and it appeared to be a man.


    There was no sound of running¡ªhow had this person crossed such a great distance so quickly?


    A chill began to creep up Yu Hong¡¯s spine.


    He took a deep breath and turned his head to look in another direction, then quickly looked back at the figure in white.


    Only a second had passed.


    But in that second¡­


    The figure in white was gone again, and now appeared in a house just ten meters away, across from him.


    The person was still standing in the shadow of the doorway, smiling at him.


    ¡°Goddamn!!¡± Yu Hong¡¯s heart raced as he slowly began to back away.


    What was even stranger was that, despite being this close, he still couldn¡¯t make out the details of the person¡¯s face!


    Remembering the earlier situation, he dared not blink, slowly backing away.


    He stepped back into the house, still watching the figure, and began to gently close the door.


    Slowly.


    The door was now only open a crack.


    Yu Hong strained to keep his eyes open, but they were growing sore, and tears began to pool in the corners of his eyes, increasing by the second.


    He could barely hold on.

 Chapter 3: Danger (1)

    Click.


    Finally, the door waspletely closed.


    Yu Hong let out a heavy sigh of relief.


    ¡°What kind of ce is this?!¡±


    He locked the door, stood up straight, but suddenly thought about the little stutterer from earlier.


    This ce looked increasingly strange. The stutterer seemed like a good person, but how did she survive here?


    He took two steps back and sighed deeply.


    Poof.


    Suddenly, his back seemed to bump into something.It was cold and somewhat hard.


    It felt like a person!!


    Yu Hong froze.


    He looked down and saw a pair of white shoes quietly standing behind him on the ground.


    This person¡­ actually came in!? When!?


    Bang!!


    There was a sudden loud noise.


    The wooden door was mmed open, and a short figure rushed in, throwing something grayish-white at him.


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    At the same time, the stutterer¡¯s voice pierced the silence like a suona, instantly snapping Yu Hong out of his daze.


    He felt a grayish-white shadow brush past his cheek, hitting the white figure behind him.


    Poof, poof, poof!


    The sound of something hitting cloth filled the air, but with it, Yu Hong felt his body loosen up. He stumbled forward a few steps, almost falling.


    His body was weak, and he had already been drained by fear and emotions, which caused him to lose more strength.


    After a few steps, his legs gave out, and he copsed to the ground.


    Turning over, he saw the stutterer had rushed in, holding a thick wooden stick and smashing it into the white figure.


    And what was even stranger was that the white figure seemed to dete like a balloon. Poof! It quickly exploded into foam-like particles and shattered into rags that disappeared without a trace. ?¦¡??£Â??


    The rags hadn¡¯t even touched the ground before they shattered, fading away, leaving nothing behind.


    It was as if everything that had just happened had been a hallucination.


    Huff, huff.


    The stutterer was panting heavily, putting down therge wooden stick, her face flushed and veins bulging on her skin. The tiny beads of sweat were clearly visible in the dim light.


    ¡°People¡­ dangerous¡­ don¡¯t¡­ go outside!¡± She turned back to look at Yu Hong, speaking seriously.


    Yu Hong subconsciously nodded.


    At that moment, he felt a sharp pain in his back, as if his skin had been scraped off.


    When he turned over on the ground, he suddenly noticed that there was a small amount of blood where his back had been.


    Seeing this, the stutterer quickly rushed over to help him up.


    Together, they exerted some force, and the stutterer¡¯s strength immediately became apparent.


    She was actually stronger than Yu Hong, a grown man, and by quite a bit!


    She lifted him up with ease, turned him around, propped him against the door frame, and took off his shirt.


    Then she rummaged through her things, pulling out a jar, and began applying something to his back.


    Soon, a rough pain spread across his back.


    Yu Hong gritted his teeth, knowing that she was trying to treat his wound.


    ¡°What¡¯s this medicine?¡± he asked.


    ¡°My grandfather¡¯s¡­ medicine powder,¡± the stutterer replied, her words fragmented. ¡°It works¡­ well.¡±


    A long silence passed.


    Yu Hong reflected on the white figure from earlier. His mind was filled with questions that he wanted to ask.


    After thinking for a while, he finally spoke again.


    ¡°What exactly was that white figure?¡±


    ¡°Ghost shadow,¡± the stutterer answered.


    ¡°Ghost shadow?¡±


    ¡°Is it human?¡± Yu Hong asked again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Yu Hong felt like his long-held belief in materialism was about to copse, especially after the figure had disappeared right before his eyes. The scene had left him with an indescribable sense of falseness and unreality.


    He thought for a long time, until the light outside dimmed.


    ¡°So, was that white figure a ghost?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the stutterer answered. ¡°It¡¯s in¡­ the newspaper.¡±


    She spoke with such effort that she paused, then bent down to pick up a newspaper. Flipping through it, she found a page in the middle and handed it to Yu Hong.


    Yu Hong took it, and saw the headline:


    ¡°Ghost Shadow Experiment Makes Major Breakthrough¡±


    Below it were the details.


    ¡°ording to the Human United Research Institute¡¯s public announcement, the essence of the ghost shadow is closely linked to the blood tide. However, after careful analysis, the institute¡¯s published experimental content shows that the ghost shadow itself has no memories. They may appear as human forms butck any corresponding memories or emotions. They instinctively hunt and kill any living creatures thate close or notice them, mainly targeting their own kind.


    In other words, the ghost shadow is more like a new type of hunter with a high level of camouge. They cannot be killed but can only be driven away. Even ifpletely shattered, they will soon reappear and possess the ability to prate most existing materials. In certain experiments, some institutions even suspect that they may not exist in reality at all but exist within our brains, like a special signal akin to self-delusion.¡±


    After quickly reading the report, Yu Hong felt an icy chill spread throughout his body.


    Danger!


    So dangerous!!!


    What kind of hellish ce is this!? How is it so dangerous!? He just stepped outside! Does he want to die!?


    Clutching the newspaper, Yu Hong took a few deep breaths to calm down. He re-read it several times.


    Bang.


    Yu Hong sat heavily on the bed, his face pale, watching as the stutterer cleaned up the things she used to treat his wounds.


    She then began organizing a bamboo basket filled with various messy, rotten roots and mud.


    The air in the room became thick with the smell of decayed mud due to theck of venttion.


    After sitting for a while, Yu Hong felt dry in his mouth and his body growing warm.


    ¡°Do you have water?¡± he asked weakly.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The stutterer hesitated, then raised her hand, pointing to an inconspicuous ck jar in the corner of the room.


    The jar was about the size of a human head and had faint, blurry bird and branch patterns on its surface.


    Yu Hong stood up, walked over, squatted down, and lifted the lid of the jar.


    Inside was a shallowyer of yellowish water that smelled faintly foul.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    He was speechless. Just looking at it, he knew the water was undrinkable.


    Suddenly, a ck, teapot-like metal object was passed over to him from the side.


    It was the stutterer.


    She shook the teapot.


    ¡°Filter.¡±


    She mimed a motion as if scooping water from the teapot¡¯s spout.


    Yu Hong then noticed that there seemed to be a filter attached to the spout of the teapot.


    He remained silent for a moment, then took the teapot. He found a small scoop by the water jar and carefully scooped out a bit of water.


    After a long time, he managed to filter out a small cup of water.


    He poured the water into a wooden cup.


    Shh.


    A stream of water, slightly foul-smelling but mostly clear, flowed into the cup, filling about a third of it before stopping.


    Yu Hong looked at the water. Despite being filtered, it still smelled.


    He hesitated. He didn¡¯t want to drink it, but his body was desperately thirsty. He knew that if he didn¡¯t drink, especially with his current sickness and injury, he¡¯d be finished.


    Just as he was about to raise the cup to his lips, the stutterer snatched it from his hand and drank it all in one go.


    Smack.


    She put the cup back on the edge of the jar with a clink.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine!¡± she said.


    Yu Hong paused, then went to scoop more water, filter it again, and finally held the cup in the air.


    He paused.


    The cup hovered there.


    He then lowered it.


    Again, he raised it.


    After repeating this several times, he sighed deeply, gripping the cup tightly, his face growing paler.


    Can¡¯t the water be cleaner?


    He was worried. If the water didn¡¯t hydrate him properly, he might copse. The stutterer had drunk it with no problem, but that didn¡¯t mean he would be fine. Sometimes, the difference between people¡¯s constitutions was much greater than expected.


    Enhance the water cup?


    Suddenly, a faint voice whispered in his ear.


    Clink¡ªhe put the cup on the wooden table.


    Yu Hong¡¯s face changed slightly, and he looked around. But the only one there was the stutterer, standing quietly, looking confused.


    Enhance the water cup?


    The voice came again, impossible to tell whether it was male or female, emotionless like a mechanical voice.


    Yu Hong looked around again, but there was no one in sight.


    He focused on the wooden cup on the table.


    Soon, a faint number appeared on its surface: 3rd.


    There was nothing else.


    Yu Hong¡¯s face turned pale, and he blinked several times, unsure if he was seeing things. But after blinking again, he realized the number was still there.


    Suddenly, it clicked in his mind. He looked at the back of his right hand, at the ck mark.


    Sure enough.


    The mark was the size of an egg, with the ck area shimmering like water ripples.


    This thing is behind all of it!


    Yu Hong instantly understood.


    His eyes flickered, his mind racing, standing there with thoughts shing through his head.


    But soon, he remembered the stutterer was still by his side.


    He quickly raised his hand and showed her the mark on his hand.


    ¡°Can you see this?¡±


    The stutterer shook her head, looking confused. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t¡­ see¡­ anything.¡±


    Yu Hong lowered his hand, nced at the cup, and confirmed that the number was still there, feeling some sense of realization.


    He turned and walked toward another part of the room.


    The room wasn¡¯t big, and the furnishings were sparse.


    A wardrobe, a table that doubled as a desk, two bedside cabs, an old-fashioned mirror, and two stools.


    There was a pile of misceneous things in the corner, where the small water jar had been ced.


    He walked around, then finally stopped in front of the wooden door.


    Reaching out, he pressed his hand against the door.


    Recalling the events from earlier, a thought started to form in his mind.


    Can¡¯t this door be better?


    Hiss.


    Suddenly, it felt as if a thin thread was passing through the mark on his hand, drilling into the door.


    Soon, a ck number appeared on the door: 16th.


    Enhance the door?


    The faint voice came again, emotionless, like a mechanical sound.


    Yu Hong stared at the number, and he began to understand.


    The number likely represents the time needed for enhancement. But what will it look like after it¡¯s enhanced?


    He withdrew his hand and turned to look at the water cup, only to find that the number on it had disappeared.


    ¡®Moreover, how is this enhancement done? Will it make a lot of noise? Can it continue to be enhanced indefinitely, or are there any limits?¡¯


    One question after another emerged in his mind.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± the little stutterer couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°I just felt dizzy, my brain¡¯s a bit out of sorts,¡± Yu Hong sighed, not mentioning the numbers or the ck mark.


    He wasn¡¯t nning to reveal anything to anyone until he figured out the situation.


    The priority now was to find something to test the enhancement effect of the ck mark.


    The wooden door would take too long, and it couldn¡¯t guarantee the noise level.


    Yu Hong walked around, quickly fixing his attention on a small, inconspicuous object ¡ª the white stone that the little stutterer had smashed earlier.


    (End of this chapter)

 Chapter 4: Danger Part (2)

    This stone could hurt the white-d ghostly figure, so it was likely some sort of special item. Additionally, its small size made it harder to notice, even if there was some noise.


    Moreover, if it could truly be enhanced, the power of the white stone would increase, making it much safer to deal with the previous ghostly figure.


    With this in mind, Yu Hong picked up a white stone and looked at the little stutterer.


    ¡°Could you give me one? Thanks for saving me earlier! I¡¯ll repay you,¡± he said earnestly.


    The little stutterer shook her head.


    ¡°This one¡­ it¡¯s already useless,¡± she exined. ¡°If you want it, just take it.¡±


    Yu Hong nodded, took the white stone, and examined it.


    The stone was about the size of a thumb¡¯s nail. Its surface was marked with a dark redplex symbol that resembled some kind of religious talisman. A third of the stone had turned ck, though it wasn¡¯t clear why.


    The stone felt icy to the touch, like an ice cube¡ªchilling and somewhat bone-piercing.Ssss.


    Soon, a number appeared on the stone¡¯s surface: 3 days.


    A thought shed through Yu Hong¡¯s mind. It seemed the ck mark sensed it and immediately transmitted a voice.


    ¡®Would you like to enhance the target?¡¯


    Yu Hong stuffed the white stone into his pants pocket.


    He tried responding in his mind: Yes.


    The moment he confirmed, the ck mark on the back of his hand heated up slightly, then quickly returned to normal.


    At the same time, the white stone in his pocket also heated up briefly before returning to its usual state.


    The little stutterer didn¡¯t react at all to the movement of the white stone.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked curiously, looking at him.


    ¡°Almost¡­ the sky is getting dark quickly. We¡­ must prepare,¡± she stammered.


    ¡°Prepare for what?¡± Yu Hong asked. After the recent emotional and physical strain, his already weakened body was now returning to a normal state due to hormones dissipating. ?a¦­§°?¨§?


    He was still sick and inmed. Earlier, he had only been able to fight off danger temporarily with physical and mental strength. Now, with the threat gone, his body was fighting off the virus and bacteria.


    His immune system had started rapidly splitting immune cells again, and his body temperature was beginning to rise.


    ¡°At night¡­ monsters are dangerous,¡± the little stutterer replied.


    She nced out the window. The sunlight outside was rapidly dimming.


    The darkness was¡­ abnormal. It was too fast.


    It got so dark that Yu Hong could feel with his eyes that the light was fading.


    This strange phenomenon made him feel increasingly anxious.


    Clink, clink, clink¡­


    The little stutterer suddenly pulled out a hammer and began hammering nails around the edges of the door and windows, seemingly reinforcing the surroundings.


    The door was locked with thick chains from the inside, and three heavy bolts were ced across it.


    Each bolt was as thick as an arm. The contact points between the bolts and the door panel were already worn smooth, showing that this wasn¡¯t the first time such measures had been taken.


    The light continued to grow dimmer and dimmer.


    Yu Hong stood still in the room, stunned for a moment before he quickly reacted and tried to help check the safety of the cracks.


    But because he was unfamiliar with the environment, the little stutterer soon pushed him back onto the bed, annoyed by his interference.


    ¡°You, don¡¯t make trouble,¡± she said seriously.


    She then crawled under the bed and pulled out arge ck cloth bag.


    Inside the bag were densely packed white stones. She carefully picked up a red pen and began writing red symbols on each of the stones.


    ¡®So, she drew these red symbols herself?¡¯ Yu Hong thought as he watched, realization dawning on him.


    Suddenly, a very faint, sharp, theatrical-sounding female voice echoed from outside the room.


    The voice was high and low, melodious yet eerie, like crying or acting, with a strange sense of being both real and fake.


    Clink.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The little stutterer obviously heard the sound as well. She quickly grabbed a few white stones and handed them to Yu Hong, then took arge yellow candle from a corner, rubbing it with something like a magnesium stick to light it. She held it up, nervously watching the doors and windows.


    Yu Hong stood behind her, noticing that the candle was unusuallyrge¡ªabout the size of an egg.


    ¡°It¡¯s here,¡± the little stutterer suddenly said.


    At this point, Yu Hong noticed that the light outside the window hadpletely disappeared.


    Only an unrelenting ckness remained, seeping through from outside.


    Was it already night? How could it happen so fast?


    He wanted to speak, but suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit him, impacting his consciousness. His body was growing hotter, and his throat became increasingly painful.


    He needed to drink water and take medicine¡­ fever medicine.


    Otherwise, things might not turn out well.


    He knew his own condition¡ªwhenever he had a fever from a cold, it felt like this. Thest time he had a fever of 39¡ãC, he wasn¡¯t this weak; it was likely the shock had taken a toll on him.


    Sitting on the edge of the bed, he tightly gripped the white stone, staring nervously at the doors and windows.


    The room was quiet, with both of them waiting.


    The air was filled only with their breathing and heartbeats.


    This state didn¡¯tst long.


    Clink.


    Finally, a faint noise came from outside the door.


    ¡°It¡¯s here!¡± the little stutterer shouted.


    Her body tensed, her muscles visibly tightening. She held the thick candle high, creating a circle of light that covered as much of the room as possible.


    Yu Hong, also tense, watched nervously.


    He wasn¡¯t sure what would happen, but from the little stutterer¡¯s reaction, something bad was likely about to ur.


    After all, the white ghostly figure from earlier hadn¡¯t made her this nervous.


    Soon, their wait bore fruit.


    Outside in the dark, the sound of bugs crawling on the door and windows grew increasingly louder.


    The sound was sudden, intense, and frantic, like a quiet void suddenly filled with the noise of a desert storm.


    The sand-like noise continued to scrape the doors and windows of the room.


    Yu Hong¡¯s eyes widened as he saw that through the small gaps in the door and window¡ªless than a centimeter wide¡ªsmall ck bugs were crawling in.


    They were swarming in, hundreds, maybe thousands of them, all small like ants, with oval-shaped exoskeletons on their backs and monstrous, centipede-like mandibles. They had no eyes but many pairs of legs.


    They looked like tiny ck centipedes.


    The bugs flooded the room, the scraping sounds growing louder, while the high-pitched female voice from the air grew closer and clearer.


    ¡°Get out!!¡± the little stutterer screamed. But she remained strangely still, holding up the candle and yelling furiously.


    Yu Hong, sitting on the bed, wanted to stand and help, but his weak body didn¡¯t have much strength left.


    His back was sweating, but it quickly evaporated due to his high fever.


    As he watched the ck bugs pouring through the cracks in the room, his body tensed in fear, trembling.


    His mind filled with horrific images of the bugs crawling all over his body, gnawing at his flesh.


    It was a primal fear, impossible to suppress.


    But then, something unexpected happened.


    Ssss.


    The first group of ck bugs that crawled into the circle of light from the candle quickly dissolved, turning into ck smoke and evaporating into the air.


    The bugs seemed to be melting away, as if they were being burned, but they didn¡¯t retreat. They continued to surge towards the little stutterer, relentlessly.


    Soon, a ring of ck bugs surrounded her, constantly dissolving, turning into ck smoke, then dissipating into the air.


    The smoke rose and quickly disappeared, leaving behind a pungent, foul smell.


    Yu Hong stood there, shocked by the sight.


    He racked his brain for an exnation, but couldn¡¯t think of any bugs that would dissolve into ck smoke when exposed to light.


    This strange scene shattered all his previous assumptions and expectations.


    Monsters.


    Suddenly, a term mentioned by Doctor Xu earlier popped into his mind.


    Yes, monsters.


    The ck bugs before him were truly monsters, weren¡¯t they?


    They were endless, like a tide, yet disintegrated and disappeared at the touch of light.


    Yu Hong fell into a state of mental fog, carefully observing the ck bugs and the candle, trying to find any signs of trickery.


    asionally, he pinched his thigh hard, using the pain to keep himself awake, trying to prove that what he saw wasn¡¯t a dream.


    But all his actions confirmed that this was all real. It wasn¡¯t a dream, nor was it an illusion.


    And he noticed one more thing.


    As the ck bugs dissolved, therge candle in the little stutterer¡¯s hand, which should havested for a long time, was quickly melting down as well, burning faster as the bugs attacked.


    It seemed like fighting these ck bugs was rapidly consuming the candle¡¯s energy.


    Time continued to pass in this tense, still silence.


    Ten minutes.


    Half an hour.


    An hour.


    Two hours.


    They remained in this state without moving.


    The candle in the little stutterer¡¯s hand shrank from the size of her forearm to the length of her palm.


    Suddenly, Yu Hong jumped up, turned, and reached back, grabbing a ck bug from behind.


    As soon as the bug was exposed to the light, it dissolved into smoke.


    But Yu Hong quickly touched his backside.


    His left cheek had been bitten by a bug, and blood soaked his pants, clearly indicating a deep wound.


    The ck bugs seemed to be attracted to the blood and began to surge towards him, but the candlelight remained firm, turning them into smoke.


    Yu Hong covered his wound and limped towards the little stutterer, standing by her side, both of them watching the scene unfold.


    The bugs surrounding the light ring continued to melt, turning into ck smoke.


    This strange, dangerous scene was like a meteor shower, shattering his worldview into pieces.


    He didn¡¯t know how much time had passed.


    Finally, the high-pitched female voice faded away, bing distant.


    As the voice disappeared, the ck bugs entering the room started to thin out.


    A faint light began to shine through the cracks in the door and window.


    Finally.


    Thest few bugs were enveloped by the light, struggling to dissolve into smoke.


    Everything returned to calm.


    (End of this Chapter)

 Chapter 5: Danger (3)

    Morning arrived.


    Bright sunlight seemed to fast-forward through the dim dawn, turning dazzlingly bright, almost ring.


    Yu Hong stared nkly at the scene before him, his mind groggy, his body feverishly hot.


    He was already weak, and after staying awake all night, his condition had worsened.


    Now that the immediate danger seemed to have passed, he finally lost control, copsing onto his side and lying on the ground.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Little Stutterer blew out the candle and was carefully putting it back in the cluttered corner. When She turned around, She saw Yu Hong lying on the ground. Startled, She hurriedly rushed over.


    Feeling his burning hot body, she quickly fetched some water, filtered it, and poured it into his mouth in a rush.


    After giving him water, she rummaged for medicine. She had acquired some from Dr. Xu and promptly fed it to Yu Hong.


    Though Yu Hong was aware of her help, his body was too weak to respond.He felt himself being lifted by the waist and ced onto the bed. Then, she found a piece of used white stone and ced it on his forehead to cool him down.


    The white stone, cold and refreshing, absorbed much of the heat, making Yu Hong feel significantly better.


    Asfort began to return, Yu Hong couldn¡¯t resist the pull of sleep and slipped into unconsciousness once again.


    This time, he slept deeply, entirely unaware of the passage of time.


    In a hazy state, he eventually regained a slight sense of awareness, unsure how much time had passed.


    ¡°It¡¯s the fourth day. His fever has gone down, so he doesn¡¯t need more medicine,¡± came Doctor Xu¡¯s voice. She seemed to be standing by the bedside, lightly touching Yu Hong¡¯s forehead.


    The faint sensation tickled him, but his weak body left him unable to raise a hand to scratch the itch, so he let it fade on its own.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ¡°Once¡­ more¡­¡± stammered the little stutterer¡¯s voice.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. You¡¯ve already traded everything you could. There¡¯s not much left to exchange. The post office hasn¡¯t received supplies for ages, and I¡¯m running out of antibiotics,¡± Doctor Xu refused.


    ¡°No, must¡­ more!¡± the stutterer insisted. ¡°Back then¡­ you¡­ same!¡±


    At these words, Doctor Xu fell silent.


    ¡°True. If it hadn¡¯t been for you, I would¡¯ve died on the roadside long ago, my bones probably gnawed clean by monsters. Fine, I¡¯ll trade you onest dose. But this is it¡ªno more!¡±


    ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll give you food!¡±


    A rustling sound followed.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t enough. ording to our previous exchange rate¡­¡± Doctor Xu said helplessly.


    ¡°I have more here!¡±


    ¡°Forget it. Just take it. This is thest time. Really, you should stop trying to save people. We¡¯re struggling to survive as it is.¡± Doctor Xu sighed.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said the stutterer gratefully.


    ¡°All right, I¡¯m off to check on Old Yu. Don¡¯t bother seeing me out,¡± Doctor Xu said. Her voice faded with retreating footsteps, followed by the sound of a door closing. The room fell silent. ?¨¢¦­?B§§?


    Weakly, Yu Hong opened his eyes to see the stutterer¡¯s grimy, dark face by the bedside, holding a wooden bowl filled with some unidentifiable ck mush.


    She scooped some of the mush with a spoon and brought it to Yu Hong¡¯s mouth.


    Without resistance, Yu Hong ate the mush spoon by spoon, lying on an elevated pillow, his face pale and yellow.


    One fed while the other ate. Gradually, they emptied the bowl.


    Yu Hong licked his lips, finding himself oddly savoring the mush¡¯s taste.


    ¡°Is there more?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes! Yes!¡± The stutterer¡¯s eyes lit up with pure joy as she hurried to prepare another bowl of mush and continued feeding him.


    Though it filled him somewhat, the mush seemed too low in energy, and his long period of fasting left him weak. After finishing the second bowl, he still felt hungry and asked for more.


    The stutterer eagerly brought a third bowl. Finally, after eating, Yu Hong felt somewhat full. The cool, refreshing mush brought aforting warmth to his belly and restored some of his strength.


    ¡°How long was I asleep?¡± he asked, looking at her.


    ¡°Four days,¡± she said, holding up four fingers and shing a yellow-toothed smile.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Yu Hong said earnestly.


    He knew that without her care, he would have likely sumbed to his illness during his fevered unconsciousness.


    ncing at the ominous and perilous world outside, he realized that survival in such a ce was impossible without someone¡¯s help. Alone, he doubted he¡¯dst a day.


    He resolved to repay this debt of gratitude in the future. As a capable man, he believed he could one day outdo the stuttering girl in skill and resources.


    ¡°No problem,¡± the stutterer said cheerfully.


    She stood up to fetch more water for Yu Hong but struggled to scrape together even a small cup from the little jar.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go to the well to fetch water,¡± she said, gesturing to Yu Hong.


    ¡°Wait for me. Don¡¯t open the door or window for anyone, no matter who knocks,¡± she warned seriously.


    ¡°Got it,¡± Yu Hong nodded solemnly.


    With that, the stutterer took the jar and dashed out the door.


    The air inside, thick with mildew, made Yu Hong ufortable, but he recalled her advice. Breathing in some mold spores was better than exposing himself to the dangers outside.


    More importantly, he remembered the white stone in his pocket, the one he had tucked away before losing consciousness.


    Curiosity and anticipation filled him as he reached into his pocket, pulled out the stone, and examined it closely.


    The white stone had changed. Its previously darkened parts had returned to a pure white, now resembling jade with a faint sheen. Even the red symbol etched into it had be more intricate and vivid, its strokes more defined.


    ¡®Is this an upgrade?¡¯ Yu Hong wondered.


    To confirm his suspicion, he retrieved an unused white stone from a pile of supplies andpared the two. The differences were striking¡ªthe upgraded stone looked significantly superior, with a far moreplex symbol.


    ¡®This enhancement feels like a level-up,¡¯ he thought, intrigued.


    Carefully tucking the enhanced stone away, Yu Hong returned to his bed. Though the fever was gone, his body remained weak, and even minor movements left him dizzy and fatigued. His back injury felt numb, leaving him uncertain about its condition.


    Knock, knock, knock.


    Suddenly, the door rattled with knocks.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± Yu Hong asked, alert.


    ¡°It¡¯s me, Doctor Xu. Is Yi Yi there?¡± a familiar voice called from outside.


    ¡°She¡¯s not here,¡± Yu Hong replied.


    ¡°I¡¯ve brought her medicine. I¡¯ll leave it by the door. Make sure she gets it when she returns,¡± Doctor Xu instructed.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Yu Hong agreed.


    The faint sound of footsteps receded, and quiet returned.


    Taking a deep breath, Yu Hong slowly stood up, steadying himself on the bed, and made his way to the door. The medicine was too valuable to leave unattended¡ªit needed to be brought inside immediately.


    Gripping the doorknob, he hesitated, recalling the stutterer¡¯s warning not to open the door under any circumstances.


    Peering through the crack below the door, he froze.


    In the sunlight filtering through the gap, a shadow stood still outside the door.


    Someone¡ªor something¡ªwas silently waiting for him to open it.


    ¡®This isn¡¯t right,¡¯ Yu Hong thought, his body tensing.


    Quietly releasing the doorknob, he stepped back to the center of the room, gripping the enhanced white stone in his pocket.


    That voice¡ªidentical to Doctor Xu¡¯s¡ªhad nearly tricked him into opening the door.


    Terror and relief washed over him as he realized how close he hade to danger. His eyes stayed glued to the door crack, unwilling to look away.


    The shadow eventually shifted and moved away quietly, as if it had realized its trick had failed.


    Even as it left, Yu Hong remained on high alert. His chest heaved with heavy breaths as he cautiously approached the window to confirm the threat¡¯s departure.


    Peeking through the wooden nks covering the window, he scanned the outside.


    His heart nearly stopped.


    A face¡ªDoctor Xu¡¯s¡ªstared back at him, expressionless, through the gap.


    (End of this Chapter)

 Chapter 6: Danger (4)

    Their eyes met.


    A wave of dread exploded in Yu Hong¡¯s chest.


    A gut-wrenching, unbearable nausea surged from his stomach.


    His abdomen convulsed in pain as his entire body began to tingle and stiffen uncontrobly.


    An indescribable terror swelled in his heart and coursed through his veins.


    Around his eyes, ck veins began to bulge and spread like tree roots branching outward.


    The veins grew thicker and thicker, as though they were about to burst at any moment.


    Just then, a chilling energy seeped from the strengthening white stone in his pocket, rushing into his thigh.


    This cold energy was like a steel pin, piercing deeply into his rigid body and pulling him back from paralysis.Bang!


    His legs gave out, and he crumpled to the floor, finally breaking eye contact with the entity.


    Huff! Huff! Huff!


    Bent over, Yu Hong gasped for air, feeling the white stone¡¯s icy energy rapidly relieve the stiffness in his body.


    He was ovee with a deep sense of gratitude, as though narrowly escaping death.


    Without daring to look outside again, Yu Hong quickly pulled out the strengthening white stone. He noticed the faint glow of a red symbol on its surface¡ªso faint it was almost imperceptible.


    ¡°A lifesaver!¡± Yu Hong thought with a surge of relief, immensely grateful that he had chosen to strengthen this white stone first.


    Ever since the stuttering girl used it to save him earlier, he had realized its extraordinary importance.


    Thankfully, his judgment had been correct.


    Scooting himself away from the window, Yu Hong decided not to take any more risks. In this eerie ce, even a single nce outside could be dangerous.


    ¡°But why¡­ Why don¡¯t the stuttering girl or Dr. Xu encounter such dangers when they go out?¡±


    ¡°Do they have some other means of protection?¡±


    A flicker of doubt rose in Yu Hong¡¯s mind.


    But soon, the sheer exhaustion of his ordeal began to pull him into sleep again.


    His body was far too weak.


    Clutching the white stone tightly, he crawled back onto the bed. Wrapped in the foul-smelling, grayish nket, he waited for a while, making sure nothing outside could get in. Only then did he rx slightly and drift back into unconsciousness.


    Time passed.


    Maybe hours. Maybe an entire day.


    When Yu Hong woke again, the stuttering girl was bustling about the room.


    ¡°You¡­ awake?¡± She turned quickly at the sound of his movement, her face lighting up as she looked at him.


    ¡°Eat this.¡± Soon, she brought over a bowl of ck gruel and began feeding him.


    Without realizing it, Yu Hong finished thest spoonful of the gruel. His body felt much better.


    ¡°Any more?¡± he asked.


    The girl got up and rummaged around, but this time, she couldn¡¯t find any.


    After a long search, she returned, slightly dejected.


    ¡°Finished,¡± she said softly.


    Yu Hong got out of bed, walked to the corner of the room, and saw the wooden barrel she had been searching in.


    Inside were remnants of a multicolored powder, the apparent raw material for the gruel. The bottom of the barrel held only a few scraps.


    As he leaned on the barrel, he confirmed that it was indeed empty.


    Gurgle.


    A rumbling noise suddenly came from behind him.


    It was the stuttering girl.


    She rubbed her stomach and grinned sheepishly.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t eat?¡±


    ¡°Forgot,¡± she replied with a goofyugh.


    Apparently, she had given him all the remaining food.


    Yu Hong was at a loss for words. He couldn¡¯t fathom how this girl had managed to survive in such a dangerous environment.


    Yet, he felt a pang of guilt.


    ¡°So what now? Where do you get this food? I¡¯m feeling better now and can help look for more,¡± he offered earnestly.


    ¡°No need. Yi Yi strong!¡± The stuttering girl thumped her chest, putting on a confident expression.


    ¡°I helped you. You help me find Dad and Grandpa,¡± she added, her words halting but clear in their intent.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you saved me?¡± Yu Hong understood. Having a request made things easier¡ªit gave him a chance to repay her.


    ¡°I promise,¡± he nodded. ¡°If I¡¯m able, I¡¯ll help.¡±


    Though the environment was perilous, the ck mark on his hand gave him a sliver of hope for the future.


    With the mark¡¯s ability, if everything could be strengthened, then perhaps he could create a safer shelter or stronghold.


    After his firsthand experience, he knew the house¡¯s defenses were inadequate against the strange and deadly threats outside.


    Neither the white-d figure, the ck bugs, nor the terrifying mimic of Dr. Xu had been stopped.


    ¡°By the way, I wanted to ask, when you weren¡¯t here just now¡­¡± Yu Hong quickly told the other person what had happened earlier.


    After listening, the stuttering girl¡¯s expression grew serious.


    ¡°It was a shadow wraith!¡± she answered.


    ¡°That was a shadow wraith?¡± Yu Hong frowned.


    ¡°This question¡­ let me answer it.¡± A voice came from outside the door.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The stuttering girl rushed to open it, happily weing Dr. Xu inside.


    Dr. Xu had changed her outfit. Dressed in hiking gear with a camo bodysuit and arge backpack, she looked ready for a trek into the mountains.


    Her eyes swept over Yu Hong as she stepped into the room.


    ¡°In this ce, shadow wraiths are amon threat during the ck Disaster. There are two main types: the white shadow, which you encountered earlier, and the impostor.¡± ?¦Á??§£¦¥?


    ¡°White shadows aren¡¯t too dangerous. As long as you carefully maintain eye contact and don¡¯t blink, you can escape safely. Reinforced white stones can also temporarily dispel them.¡±


    ¡°But impostors are a different story. You must remain vignt at all times and never trust anything outside of what¡¯s been agreed upon.¡±


    Dr. Xu fixed her gaze on Yu Hong and emphasized, ¡°Agreements are extremely, extremely important here!¡±


    ¡°Agreements?¡± Yu Hong¡¯s thoughts began to churn.


    ¡°Yes. Before separating from yourpanions, you must set clear agreements. For example, what the signal will be when you regroup, what conditions allow for opening doors or windows, and so on. If you don¡¯t¡­ impostors will exploit any gaps, killing you one by one,¡± Dr. Xu exined with a sigh.


    ¡°This is also why the residents of Baiqiu Vige live alone. Even during the day, the imposter might appear and attack.¡±


    Imposter.


    Thispletely new concept made Yu Hong suddenly realize something.


    He might never be able to return to his old life.


    ¡°Can you take me outside? I want to see if I can make it to the city,¡± Yu Hong spoke after a moment of silence.


    ¡°Take the glowstone¡ªthose white stones. As long as you go out during the day, you¡¯ll be fine, but control the time you return,¡± Dr. Xu replied. ¡°Also, while imposters can appear during the day, only those who are physically weak will see them. Healthy people cannot see them.¡±


    Yu Hong immediately understood.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there any way to get rid of these monsters?¡± he asked in a low voice.


    ¡°No. We haven¡¯t found any, and the national authorities haven¡¯te up with anything either,¡± Dr. Xu shook her head. ¡°Well, Yi Yi and I are going out. If you want to join, hurry up. Baiqiu Vige doesn¡¯t keep useless people. You¡¯ve been dragging Yi Yi down for too long.¡±


    She seemed quite dissatisfied with Yu Hong, and her gaze was far from friendly.


    ¡°I remember the favor you did for me,¡± Yu Hong said seriously.


    ¡°First, survive on your own,¡± Dr. Xu sneered, not bothering to look at him again. She turned to talk to the stuttering girl.


    Soon, Little Stutterer began preparing the things and equipment for their departure.


    Yu Hong¡¯s body had recovered significantly, and he also started packing.


    He didn¡¯t mention the strengthening of the white stone. He couldn¡¯t exin where the strengthened white stone came from, but from the abilities of the ck mark, it was clear that it would be his greatest support in the future.


    He wasn¡¯t sure if others had this ability, and the information he had was too limited, so it was more important to gather as much intelligence as possible first.


    This ce was too dangerous; they had to be cautious and careful every step of the way.


    ¡°I will repay you.¡± With this thought, Yu Hong spoke again, repeating himself.


    Dr. Xu didn¡¯t even nce at him, pretending she hadn¡¯t heard. Clearly, she thought that as long as Yu Hong didn¡¯t hold Little Stutterer back, that would be good enough.


    Soon, arge cloth bag was prepared and ced on the ground.


    Dr. Xu lifted it carefully and ced it on Little Stutterer¡¯s back. The bag was filled with white stones marked with symbols.


    ¡°First, go to Old Yu¡¯s ce to exchange for food, then head to the open-pit mine to dig for glowstone, and finally gather pigments. Including the return time, we must reach Old Yu¡¯s ce within an hour. You can rest for the night at the mine, and tomorrow after collecting the pigments, we will head back,¡± Dr. Xu arranged.


    ¡°Is it far?¡± Yu Hong frowned, feeling that his physical strength might still be an issue, as he hadn¡¯t fully recovered.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to go. You won¡¯t keep up. Just wander around here ande back,¡± Dr. Xu said coldly. ¡°At night, light the candle, focus on the glowstone during the day, don¡¯t open the door for anyone, and don¡¯t look outside. If there¡¯s no major issue, everything will be fine. This is also a test for you. If you fail, it means you can¡¯t adapt to this environment, and won¡¯t survive for long. The sooner you die, the better.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Wasn¡¯t that a bit too direct?


    Yu Hong was speechless.


    ¡°Yi Yi has saved many people, and I was saved by her too. But you know the people she saved¡­¡± Dr. Xu was about to say more, but Little Stutterer tugged at her sleeve.


    She realized and immediately stopped talking. This time, she decided not to pay any more attention to Yu Hong. She grabbed the things and opened the door, walking out with Little Stutterer.


    Yu Hong paused for a moment, grabbed the house key, and followed them out.


    He had decided to go outside and take a look.


    No matter what, they had to solve the source of food and water first. He couldn¡¯t keep relying on a disabled little girl to take care of them.


    Moreover, the key issue was that only by learning more could he figure out a more effective way to survive and cope.


    With a click, he closed the door behind him.


    The three of them lined up in a row and walked along the gravel road outside the door to the left.


    The temperature outside was mild, neither too hot nor too cold, and the sunlight was pleasantly warm.


    Of the three, Dr. Xu walked in the lead, followed by Little Stutterer, and then Yu Hong.


    After walking for a few minutes along the winding gravel road, they reached the exit of the vige.


    At the end of the gravel road, it connected to a ck mud road.


    The dry ck mud surface was wide enough for two vehicles to drive side by side.


    The road was dark and winding, passing through abandoned green fields on both sides, stretching into the distance, leading to the dense and deep forest at the foot of the mountains.


    Yu Hong noticed that there was little grass along the edges of the ck mud road, and two rows of ck wooden fences had been built.


    Many ces of the fence had rotted away, covered in moss.


    ¡°This is the only old road leading out of here,¡± Dr. Xu said. ¡°If you walk along it for about thirty miles, you¡¯ll reach the nearest town, but that ce might be even more dangerous than here. The more people there are, the more dangerous it bes, attracting those dangerous characters.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She stepped off the gravel road and onto the ck mud road.


    (End of this chapter)

 Chapter 7: Decision (1)

    Bright golden sunlight poured down.


    Baiqiu Vige, surrounded by dark green mountains and forests, looked like a piece of dark chocte in the middle of a green cake, standing out sharply.


    The entire vige sat atop arge patch of grayish-white hills, at the top of the ridge.


    There were more than thirty scattered tile-roofed houses in the vige.


    At this moment, at the western edge of the vige, a pale-faced man was leisurely strolling, ncing around from time to time, looking nervous.


    The man wore a gray T-shirt and yellow casual pants, both dirty and wrinkled, clearly long overdue for a wash. His hair, oily and sweaty, was styled into a mohawk.


    On his feet were a pair of gray, nearly unrecognizable sneakers, which were not suited for the muddy ground beneath him.


    Around Baiqiu Vige, there were no sounds of insects or birds, only the soft crunch of the man¡¯s steps on the ground.


    ¡°About fifteen minutes now.¡±Yu Hong took out his old phone from his pocket and looked at it. The phone, which he had kept because of sentiment, had unexpectedly be an essential tool in this ce.


    He had been lying in bed for several days. If it were a smartphone, it would have run out of battery long ago. But this old phone had a small screen, arge battery, and a standby time of over a week. It was also durable, resistant to damage and water.


    At such a critical moment, it provided him with much-needed reassurance.


    The phone¡¯s screen clearly showed the time: March 5, 2024, 15:32.


    ¡°Sigh,¡± Yu Hong sighed softly. This was the time from before he came here.


    But now it meant nothing.


    Looking at the empty signal bar in the top-right corner of the screen, he understood that he was probably no longer in his original world.


    From the newspaper reports, to what Little Stutterer and Dr. Xu had mentioned, and the strange and bizarre things he had encountered, it was clear that this ce was not his world.


    He looked up at the bright sunlight.


    Yu Hong lowered his head and marked the ground with a few stones, forming a small triangr structure.


    It was a mark to prevent getting lost.


    It had been fifteen minutes since Dr. Xu and Little Stutterer left. In these fifteen minutes, he had walked around the vige for a while.


    But to his disappointment, it seemed that there were no other living people here besides the three of them.


    ¡®Maybe the living people are hiding, after all, even in daylight, there could be great danger.¡¯


    Yu Hong sighed inwardly, his hand always clutching the reinforced white stone.


    From his previous encounters, he had learned that in this ce, the effect of the white stone was his only guarantee of safety.


    ording to what Dr. Xu said before leaving, there would be no ck insects in the daytime when there was sunlight, and at most, there would be a rare encounter with a ghost shadow. ????????¦¥?


    As long as he had the white stone, the danger during the day was not great.


    Because these ghost shadows seemed to be very weak during the day.


    Yu Hong believed this, otherwise, Little Stutterer and Dr. Xu would never have been so bold as to keep going outside.


    He looked back at the marks he had made along the way, confirming they were still there, and then continued walking forward.


    Quiet.


    Dead silence.


    Shh.


    Shh.


    Aside from the asional crisp sound of grass being stepped on, there was no other noise.


    Even the wind was barely noticeable.


    After more than ten minutes, Yu Hong had finally circled the entire vige.


    He stood at the initial gravel road, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and tried to remember some important locations he had just discovered.


    The most important of these was the well.


    Earlier, he had seen a well in a yard from a distance.


    There were many footprints around the stone-built well, clearly indicating it was a rare water source for the vige¡¯s living people.


    However, from a distance of more than ten meters, he had felt a chilling, bone-piercing cold emanating from the well. Even the sunlight couldn¡¯t suppress it. He felt something was wrong, so he didn¡¯t approach and only remembered the location.


    ¡°Strange. A well on a hilltop in a small vige?¡± Yu Hong thought. Normally, wells are dug in lower ground, since water flows downhill.


    But this ce was different.


    Standing on the gravel road, he looked around again.


    The vige was surrounded by endless dark green forests.


    The forests stretched out like a sea of trees.


    There were no bird calls, no visible animals, and even the dark green trees and grass gave an eerie, ufortable feeling.


    Yu Hong stood motionless, staring at the only old road leading out of the vige for a long while before turning back.


    The journey was uneventful, and he returned to Little Stutterer¡¯s house.


    He didn¡¯t rx until he had firmly closed the wooden door behind him.


    ¡°This ce is too creepy,¡± Yu Hong thought. The idea that he might have to live here without knowing for how long, with no hope of returning, filled him with despair.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already looked around. There are no vehicles, but there are tire marks on the ground. This suggests that there were vehicles here, but they were taken away.¡±


    Yu Hong picked up a piece of charcoal from the corner of the room and began drawing a map of Baiqiu Vige on the wall.


    The map was simple, just some basic lines with small squares representing houses.


    He marked the well, the old road, and Little Stutterer¡¯s house on the map.


    The three locations formed a triangle.


    ¡®What should I do now?¡¯ Yu Hong thought as he stared at the map, pushing down his feelings of despair and considering his next move.


    ¡®I can¡¯t keep relying on Little Stutterer. I need to learn to deal with these dangers myself and figure out how to find food and shelter.¡¯


    Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he drew on the wall with the charcoal.


    Then he raised his hand, looking at the ck mark on the back of his hand.


    ¡®And this mark. If I don¡¯t want to be discovered, I have to choose to live alone. Otherwise, in this extremely dangerous environment, letting others know about my ability could be very risky!¡¯


    Although he wasn¡¯t sure if others had simr abilities, he was certain that Little Stutterer and Dr. Xu didn¡¯t.


    He could tell from some subtle signs.


    ¡°First, I need to learn how to find food and water, then move out!¡± Yu Hong quickly made up his mind.


    Having made the decision, he got up and returned to the bed, nning to rest again and wait for Little Stutterer toe back.


    Knock. Knock. Knock.


    Suddenly.


    There was a rhythmic knock on the door.


    Yu Hong¡¯s throat tightened as he nced at the wooden door. He didn¡¯t make a sound.


    The knocking wasn¡¯t right.


    But he didn¡¯t respond, gripping the reinforced white stone tightly, taking a deep breath, and lying down quietly, preparing to rest.


    Bang, bang, bang. The knocking continued.


    One after another.


    But Yu Hong remained silent, pretending not to hear.


    Hey sideways on the bed, his gaze fixed on the door, his hand clutching the reinforced white stone, his body tense, ready to react at any moment.


    Fortunately, after seven knocks, the sound stopped.


    Instead, there seemed to be someone peeking through the window.


    Peering in through the gap in the seal.


    Yu Hong¡¯s hair stood on end, and he turned to stare at the window, holding his breath and taking deep, controlled breaths.


    A strong sense of danger continued to stimte his adrenaline, making his blood rush and circte rapidly, his face flushed red.


    He didn¡¯t know how long it had been.


    It seemed the figure outside the window lost patience and quietly left.


    The window no longer blocked the light, and everything returned to normal.


    Yu Hong tightly gripped the reinforced white stone, feeling sweat on both the stone and his palm.


    He lowered his head, took a deep breath, and adjusted his body. He got up, picking up another white stone, this time one he hadn¡¯t used before.


    He looked at the stone, and the number disyed on it: 2 days.


    ¡®So unused stones only take two days to strengthen?¡¯ He sighed with relief.


    Listening to the sound of inquiry in his ear, he silently confirmed the strengthening process.


    Soon, the number on the surface of the white stone vanished, and the entire stone seemed to be coated with ayer of oily substance as it began the ck mark strengthening.


    Yu Hong didn¡¯t even look at it, shoving it into the other pocket of his pants.


    He theny back down, squinting his eyes, setting an rm on his phone, and soon drifted into a drowsy sleep.


    This time, he didn¡¯t sleep for long, nor did he sleep soundly. He woke up quickly.


    ¡®Little Stutterer won¡¯t be back tonight, which means I¡¯ll be alone in the house tonight,¡¯ Yu Hong nced at the dim sunlight through the window gap, his heart sinking slightly.


    He got up and went to the storage corner, taking therge candle and match-like items that Little Stutterer had left for him.


    He prepared them and ced them beside the bed, within easy reach.


    Then, hey half-awake on the bed, waiting for nightfall.


    Time slowly passed, and soon, the outside world grew darker, sinking into pitch ck.


    This time, it was very quiet, with no ck insects and no ghostly shadows.


    It seemed as if everything had forgotten about him, and there was an eerie peace.


    In the weary waiting and vignce, the night passed quickly.


    By morning, when Yu Hong saw the bright sunlight streaming in from outside, he sighed with relief.


    Though it was daylight, and nothing had happened overnight, the prolonged vignce and tension had left him mentally and physically exhausted.


    This made him yearn even more for a truly safe resting ce.


    He wasn¡¯t like Little Stutterer¡ªif this continued, he wouldn¡¯t be able to rest properly, and he¡¯d die.


    He got up, filtered some water to drink, and his stomach growled again.


    Although he had eaten all of Little Stutterer¡¯s remaining food yesterday, it had been a while, and his stomach had long digested everything.


    He went out, taking advantage of the perfect sunlight, and wandered around the gravel road for a while.


    This time, he walked down the old road, trying to find edible nts or insects.


    But unfortunately, he didn¡¯t find anything on the road. There were no insects, and he didn¡¯t recognize any of the nts.


    None of the nts here were familiar to him. Even themon wild chrysanthemums and dandelions were nowhere to be seen.


    Fortunately, Little Stutterer and Dr. Xu finally returned.


    Thud.


    Inside the house, Little Stutterer struggled to ce arge bundle off her back onto the floor.


    She then opened the bundle.


    Inside were neatly packed bags of dried meat, dried mushrooms, and dried insects.


    Yu Hong stepped forward to help, noticing that the dried meat mainly consisted of dark, unidentifiable meat chunks from some unknown animal.


    The dried mushrooms were also broken and unidentifiable.


    As for the dried insects¡­


    ¡°Is this¡­ a cockroach??!¡± Yu Hong¡¯s face changed slightly.


    ¡°It¡¯s a ¡®mouthful fragrance,¡± Little Stutterer shook her head and corrected him. Then, she casually grabbed a cockroach-sized dried insect and popped it into her mouth.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    (TL note :- In this context, ¡°Ò»¿ÚÏ㡱 (y¨© k¨¯u xi¨¡ng) is a phrase that could refer to something being very vorful or aromatic, often used to describe food that is particrly tasty or fragrant. In this case, it seems to be a lighthearted or humorous way of describing something, especially given the context of eating a cockroach.)


    ¡°Delicious!¡± She gave a thumbs-up, chewing quickly with a crisp sound. Her eyes widened with delight, full of joy.


    ¡°¡­¡± Yu Hong was speechless.


    (End of Chapter)

 Chapter 8: Decision (2)

    Watching Little Stutterer carefully put away the supplies and then pick up the small jar to head outside, Yu Hong quickly followed. He needed to learn where to fetch water.


    When they stepped out of the house, to his surprise, Little Stutterer didn¡¯t head to the vige well but instead walked down the old asphalt road, past the gravel path.


    After about ten minutes, they reached a broken-down well on a low-lying patch ofnd near the road.


    The well was shallow, and in the dim light, the bottom revealed a pool of dark yellow, foul-smelling water.


    Without a word, Little Stutterer tied the water jar with a rope and lowered it into the well to scoop up the water.


    ¡°Why not draw water from the vige well?¡± Yu Hong couldn¡¯t help but whisper.


    ¡°That¡­water¡­isn¡¯t drinkable!¡± Little Stutterer answered seriously.


    As she filled the jar, she looked up at him.


    ¡°From now on¡­wateres¡­from here!¡± She pointed at the well.Yu Hong nodded. He gazed at the murky water being drawn up, feeling a growing sense of unease.


    He helped Little Stutterer seal the jar tightly to prevent spills.


    Instead of returning to the house, they startedbing through the surrounding grass.


    ¡°We must¡­eat grass!¡± Little Stutterer instructed.


    ¡°Otherwise¡­illness¡­death!¡± She gestured to exin.


    Yu Hong nodded and began observing closely which nts she was digging up.


    This was invaluable knowledge¡ªeating the wrong nt could result in poisoning or diarrhea, and in such harsh conditions, falling ill could easily lead to death.


    After a round of gathering, the two returned to the house, each carrying arge bundle.


    Little Stutterer spread the nts out by the window to dry.


    Yu Hong, meanwhile, meticulously used a piece of charcoal to jot down the key points of what he had learned. He kept the notes simple and concise, just enough for himself to understand.


    The notes were recorded on a piece of old newspaper that Little Stutterer had given him earlier.


    ¡°Do we have to travel far to get dried meat and mushrooms?¡± Yu Hong asked while taking notes.


    ¡°You¡­can¡­grow them,¡± Little Stutterer replied with effort, ¡°but¡­not¡­worth it!¡±


    Yu Hong nodded and added it to his notes.


    As he was about to ask more, a small notebook was suddenly handed to him.


    The notebook had a white cover with a cartoon mouse in the center. Crookedly written on it were the words: Survival Manual¡ªLin Yiyi.


    Yu Hong paused, then looked up to see Little Stutterer holding the notebook, grinning at him with her yellow teeth.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said as he took the notebook and began to flip through it.


    Inside, there were detailed records on how to fetch water, where to buy food, and identifying characteristics and locations of basic wild vegetables.


    The contents weren¡¯t extensive, but they were thorough.


    The notebook also included a list of several vigers from Baiqiu Vige with their corresponding contact details.


    Among them, ¡°Old Yu¡± made dried meat, Dr. Xu provided medical care, someone named ¡°Jenny¡± specialized in leatherworking, and there was a candle-maker. In addition, there were markings for the residences of other vigers, though no names were listed, suggesting unfamiliarity. ???????¦¥s


    Lastly, there was mention of a ce called the post office, located north of Baiqiu Vige in a forest.


    ¡°What¡¯s the post office for?¡± Yu Hong asked.


    ¡°To¡­connect¡­towns¡­get¡­supplies¡­salt¡­sugar¡­send¡­letters,¡± Little Stutterer exined, gesturing animatedly.


    ¡°You¡­must¡­learn¡­a skill¡­to trade¡­for goods.¡±


    ¡°I understand. I understand all of this, but I think the most urgent problem to solve right now is safety,¡± Yu Hong said seriously.


    ¡°There¡¯ve already been two instances of impostors causing trouble when you weren¡¯t around. This is too dangerous.¡±


    His mind raced, trying to figure out how to maximize his unique ck seal for protection.


    ¡°No way.¡± Little Stutterer lowered her head dejectedly. It was clear she had considered this issue before.


    ¡°Specters¡­nothing¡­can¡­stop¡­them. Bugs¡­as long¡­as¡­there¡¯s¡­a gap¡­they¡­get in.¡±


    ¡°They¡­go through¡­walls!¡± She gestured emphatically.


    ¡°Through walls?¡±


    Yu Hong stared at the house walls in silence, falling into deep thought.


    ¡®This ce is too crude, full of gaps and vulnerabilities,¡¯ he thought. He remembered how the ck bugs had entered through door and window cracks, which suggested they might not actually pass through solid walls.


    He confirmed this theory with Little Stutterer.


    After thoroughly inspecting the house, he quickly concluded that it was highly insecure.


    ¡°I¡¯m nning to move out and find another ce to live on my own,¡± he said quietly. Living alone would eliminate the risk of impostors, as long as no one opened the door.


    Little Stutterer froze.


    She had saved many people before, but they usually wanted to stay with her as long as possible to learn more survival skills.


    But this man¡ªthis Yu Hong¡ªwas barely recovered, and already thinking of living alone?


    Strange.


    What a strange man.


    Little Stutterer blinked at him.


    ¡°You¡­not¡­afraid?¡±


    ¡°I am, but your house is too unsafe,¡± Yu Hong replied. From the information in the notebook, he had a rough understanding of the key points about this ce.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ¡°The main threats are the bugs and the specters. While specters can pass through walls and must be driven away with radiant stones, the bugs can be blocked by doors and walls, as long as gaps are sealed. This means, with enough radiant stones and a properly sealed house, basic safety can be ensured, right?¡±


    Yu Hong calmly analyzed.


    His serious demeanor left Little Stutterer dumbfounded.


    ¡°Should we test it out? Seal the gaps with something, reduce the openings, and see if the bugs can still get in? If they can, figure out how small the gaps need to be to make a vent system work,¡± Yu Hong suggested.


    ¡°And also, how are radiant stones made? Can you teach me?¡± he asked earnestly.


    Little Stutterer stared at him, nodding in a daze.


    At this moment, she seemed to see a figure from the depths of her memory on him¡ªone that was extremely familiar and deeply nostalgic.


    After discussing their ns, the two began preparations immediately.


    Little Stutterer rummaged for tools¡ªhammers, saws, scrap wood, nails¡ªrandom odds and ends.


    Yu Hong, still recovering from his illness, was physically weak, so he directed Little Stutterer in the work.


    To his surprise, Little Stutterer was incredibly strong¡ªstronger than he was even in his normal state. Her robust health was evident; despite sleeping on the floor these past days while he upied the bed, she hadn¡¯t fallen ill.


    ording to the notebook, the ck bugs were officially named <em>Blood Tide</em>.


    Although their name didn¡¯t quite match their appearance, Yu Hong didn¡¯t dwell on it. He was more focused on learning everything about the bugs and specters.


    The two worked hard all day, and perhaps due to his improved health, they weren¡¯t disturbed by specters.


    Night fell without a bug attack either.


    ording to Little Stutterer, the Blood Tide typically urred every three to five days, and adequate lighting was the key to repelling them.


    The <em>Blood Tide</em> relied on light, while specters feared radiant stones.


    These were the survival rules the locals depended on.


    The next day, the pair continued Yu Hong¡¯s n. They sawed wooden ts and made movable seals to thoroughly close the remaining gaps in the doors and windows.


    The movable seals could be opened during the day and shut at night.


    Although simple, these were part of Yu Hong¡¯s efforts to create a safe shelter¡ªor rather, a safe house¡ªthat could ensure his basic survival.


    Little Stutterer¡¯s house fell far short of his standards.


    Beyond the specters and bugs, the mold clinging to every corner and the stale, filthy air would shorten anyone¡¯s lifespan.


    And the water source was another issue.


    If he continued drinking that dirty water, he probably wouldn¡¯t survive long either.


    <strong>Nighttime.</strong>


    Inside the house, Little Stutterer and Yu Hong stood together. Little Stutterer raised the candle high, and the flickering candlelight dispelled the surrounding darkness.


    Hiss, hiss


    The faint sound of crawling insects continuously came from outside the doors and windows, but due to the sealing of the gaps, the small venting openings were much smaller than before.


    These ck insects couldn¡¯t get inside.


    ¡°It works!¡± Yu Hong¡¯s face lit up with joy. He hadn¡¯t expected that his casual attempt would actually be effective.


    Little Stutterer was also grinning happily beside him.


    She realized that no ck insects had entered the area. Even if a few small ones had slipped through, they were quickly melted by the candlelight.


    With this, the candle¡¯s consumption slowed down, and she wouldn¡¯t need to keep buying candles from the store, saving her a lot of trouble.


    She would be able to rx much more.


    Just as the two of them felt a sense of sess¡­


    Click, click


    Suddenly, a faint gnawing sound came from outside the sealed wooden boards.


    The sealing boards at the gaps, as well as the wooden doors and windows, all started making the same gnawing noise.


    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong! These insects can¡¯t get in, so it seems they started gnawing on the doors and windows!!¡± Yu Hong realized immediately.


    He grabbed a wooden stick, rushed to the door, and forcefully shoved it, pushing the bottom seal up.


    Crash!


    With a muffled sound, arge number of ck insects poured in like a tide, rushing towards the two of them.


    Hiss


    The ck insects rushed into the candlelight and were quickly melted, evaporating and dissipatingpletely.


    The candle also began to burn faster.


    In the bright yellow candlelight, Yu Hong watched the scene unfold before him, and the joy he had felt earlier slowly faded.


    ¡°If they can¡¯t get in, will they start gnawing on the walls of the house?¡±


    He finally understood why Little Stutter¡¯s house, despite knowing there were ck insects, wasn¡¯t sealed off by her parents before.


    ¡°Has it failed?¡± Little Stutterer asked cautiously from behind.


    ¡°It¡¯s not aplete failure,¡± Yu Hong shook his head.


    The night passed without incident.


    <strong>The next morning.</strong>


    Yu Hong left the vige early and headed to the forest at the base of the hill.


    He circled around the trees in the forest, asionally tapping them with a hammer.


    Little Stutterer, having nothing else to do, started collecting a few medicinal herbs and nts for making ink.


    Her survival materials for trade were the glowstones with symbols drawn on them.


    ording to Little Stutterer, the glowstones with symbols were more effective than regr ones.


    The sun was shining brightly. While Little Stutterer gathered her materials, she asionally looked up at Yu Hong, who was doing something strange.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± After watching for a while, she couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°I¡¯m picking wood, choosing a location, preparing to build my own safe house,¡± Yu Hong replied.


    ¡°Build¡­ a house yourself?¡± Little Stutterer couldn¡¯t understand.


    Could a house built by yourself be stronger than one made of stone bricks?


    (End of Chapter)

 Chapter 9: Operation (1)

    ¡°It¡¯s not entirely built by myself. I n to use wood to assist with the construction, but the primary material will still be stone. Considering that stone bricks can¡¯t be found, the only solution is to find a natural stone cave,¡± exined Yu Hong.


    ¡°Oh,¡± the little stutterer didn¡¯t quite understand but felt that Yu Hong¡¯s expression was confident and calm, so he must be quite capable.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help!¡± she said, patting her chest. ¡°I know¡­ a hunting cave!¡±


    ¡°A cave?¡± Yu Hong¡¯s eyes brightened.


    He had long since wanted to leave the little stutterer¡¯s ce. Not only was safety not guaranteed, but more importantly, he couldn¡¯t experiment freely with his ck seal to determine its effects.


    He touched the third piece of reinforced white stone in his pocket, which was actually enhanced glowstone, and quickly made a decision.


    ¡°Can you take me there?¡±


    He was in urgent need of a secluded ce to test the specific effects of the ck seal.


    He was wondering, if he reinforced the door and walls, what would happen? The glowstone could be enhanced into a material simr to jade, which seemed to make it stronger¡ªwhat about other things?Little stutterer put down what she was holding and returned it to the house. Then she led Yu Hong along a small path, going in the opposite direction of the old road, winding through the forest.


    After several days of rest, Yu Hong¡¯s physical strength had recovered significantly.


    Because of this recovery, he hadn¡¯t encountered the strange shadows during the day, which made him believe somewhat in what the little stutterer and Dr. Xu had said.


    In the eerie and quiet forest, they walked one behind the other, stepping carefully across slopes until they reached the bottom of the hill.


    The little stutterer looked around and seemed to find something near a tree hollow.


    She approached, reaching out to touch some carvings on the edge of the tree hollow.


    ¡°It¡¯s here,¡± she said seriously.


    Just as Yu Hong was about to ask, she raised her hand and pointed towards the distant right.


    Yu Hong was taken aback and looked in the direction of her finger.


    In the distance, he could vaguely see a gray rock wall emerging from the forest.


    In the middle of the rock wall, a dark cave was suspended in mid-air.


    The entrance of the cave was at least two to three meters above the ground, but there were some excavated recesses forming steps.


    Yu Hong nced at the little stutterer, who had already started foraging for vegetables, and then held the reinforced glowstone as he walked towards the cave. ????B¦¥?


    Soon, he reached the bottom of the rock wall.


    He carefully examined the cave entrance.


    The entrance was about two people tall and more than one person wide. It wasn¡¯t very deep, and the sunlight from outside allowed him to see the cave floor.


    The bottom was cluttered with some cloth bags and animal skins.


    ¡°Are there animals here?¡± Yu Hong couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Yes, but not many,¡± the little stutterer replied as she followed him.


    ¡°Before, there were many¡­ ck disasters. Afterward, there were fewer.¡±


    Yu Hong nodded and climbed up the recesses, entering the cave.


    The entire cave was just over five meters deep, and the interior was a littlerger, about three meters wide, enough for one person to rest.


    The ground was dry, with no musty smell, which was clearly due to the rock material.


    The cave was oval-shaped, with some irregrities in the oval cavity.


    Yu Hong thought to himself thatpared to the little stutterer¡¯s house, this ce was clearly much morefortable. At least itcked the mold that could damage the lungs, which would help him live much longer.


    More importantly, the Baiqiu vige itself had a strange atmosphere. He always felt that the many strange shadows he encountered during the day were likely rted to the environment of the vige.


    Otherwise, why wouldn¡¯t so many vigers want to continue living there, even though there were plenty of empty houses?


    ¡°By the way, Yi Yi, do you know how many vigers are still in contact with you?¡± Yu Hong had be somewhat familiar with the situation over the past few days.


    From the booklet and the little stutterer¡¯s words, he learned that many vigers from Baiqiu Vige lived in the nearby forest, either building their own houses or digging underground shelters.


    A few had left for the nearest town.


    Among them were several people whom the little stutterer had saved.


    Little stutterer, now also in the cave, looked around, ¡°There are four others,¡± she counted on her fingers. ¡°Apart from us.¡±


    ¡°Okay, got it,¡± Yu Hong nodded. He took out the measuring tape he had gotten from the little stutterer¡¯s house and measured the dimensions of the cave entrance.


    Then he climbed down and observed the surroundings.


    ¡°Can I live here?¡± he asked the little stutterer.


    ¡°Yes, no one¡¯s here anymore,¡± she nodded eagerly.


    Yu Hong was satisfied. This ce was too dangerous. In truth, he had considered living with the little stutterer, but the risk posed by the strange shadows was too high, and they were too well disguised to defend against.


    Also, the little stutterer¡¯s environment was poor and dirty, making her prone to chronic diseases.


    Moreover, the reinforcement of the ck seal had to be kept secret.


    These three factors made him eager to find a suitable ce to live alone.


    And this cave was the best option.


    However, the living materials and the modification n would likely take a lot of time.


    After all, living alone meant relying on stored food at the start.


    The cave alsocked a proper door, and things like chimneys and fire pits needed to be set up.


    Once his future residence was confirmed, Yu Hong began to wander around the forest with the little stutterer¡¯s tools, collecting materials.


    He wasn¡¯t sure what kind of wood would work for the door, but he knew it had to be hard and sturdy.


    Over the next few days, Yu Hong continuously designed the structure of his cave, the door, and various pieces of furniture, and started choosing materials.


    Soon, he selected a dry tree, which was sufficiently dry to prevent moisture.


    Then he started chopping the tree.


    His weak body and tired arms made it so that after chopping for a day, his arms were sore, and the next day, he could barely move.


    Bang.


    Bang.


    Bang.


    Bang.


    Crack.


    The little stutterer, holding an axe, watched as the thick, tree-trunk-sized dead tree slowly bent and fell.


    ¡°Do you need more?¡± she asked, turning to look at Yu Hong, whose expression wasplicated.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s enough,¡± Yu Hong shook his head.


    Stepping forward, he began to use a knife to remove the branches, selecting the straight parts of the trunk and cutting them to the approximate length for the cave¡¯s door.


    Although he was just an ordinary office worker beforeing here, he had worked as a carpenter in the countryside for a while.


    Though not very skilled, he understood the basic steps.


    Little stutterer watched curiously and asionally helped.


    Before long, it was dark. The two put down their tools and returned to the house to rest for the night.


    After a quiet night, they had breakfast and returned to the cave to continue their work from the previous day.


    Little stutterer, having eaten too quickly, realized the food was almost gone, so she nned to visit Dr. Xu and buy more food from Old Yu.


    She helped with the treework, and soon saw Dr. Xu approaching from the distant forest.


    Excited, she waved to him.


    ¡°Xu! Over here!¡±


    Dr. Xu slowly walked closer and, seeing Yu Hong still there, frowned immediately.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t we just get food? I wondered why it was gone again¡ªturns out there¡¯s an extra person,¡± she said, not sounding pleased.


    ¡°Yu Hong is really capable!¡± little stutterer hurriedly waved her hands. ¡°He¡¯s making a much better house. It¡¯s safer than my house!¡±


    Her admiration for Yu Hong was clear, as she defended him at this moment.


    ¡°Fine, whatever. Let¡¯s just go, the sooner the better,¡± Dr. Xu nced at Yu Hong, seeing him about to greet her, and walked a few steps closer to him.


    ¡°What are your ns?¡± She had asionally chatted with the little stutterer and knew that Yu Hong was always busy with his own work.


    He relied entirely on the little stutterer for food, which made her burden much heavier.


    Originally, their food was only enough for half-full meals, and now there was an extra young man to feed.


    ¡°I n to build a safe house. Right now, I¡¯m temporarily relying on Yi Yi, but trust me, I¡¯ll be able to move out soon. She¡¯s helping me now, and I¡¯ll remember it. Once I¡¯m settled, I¡¯ll repay her!¡± Yu Hong understood her intention.


    After saying this, he saw Dr. Xu¡¯s expression soften a little and continued.


    ¡°When I finish building a safer house, I can help Yi Yi build a better one too! Her house is really unsafe, and if there¡¯s a bigger problem, it won¡¯t hold up. That¡¯s when she¡¯ll see how good a safe house can be.¡±


    ¡°Do as you like, but just moving to a new ce won¡¯t make it safer!¡± Dr. Xu clearly didn¡¯t believe him. ¡°Don¡¯t drag Yi Yi down.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t!¡± Yu Hong replied seriously.


    Dr. Xu stared at him for a moment, said nothing more, and left with Yi Yi.


    Yu Hong stood in the forest, watching them leave until they disappeared from view, then turned his gaze upwards to the sky.


    The bright sunlight gave him a sense of security.


    In this weather, even strange shadows wouldn¡¯t dare to appear recklessly.


    After a short break, he resumed cutting the wood with a saw.


    The segments of tree trunks, quickly scorched by fire, were turned into thick long nks.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The surface burning was to prevent decay, kill off insects and their eggs, and remove excess moisture.


    Once cut into nks, they could be assembled together, using the mortise and tenon joint structure, to create a sturdy wooden door.


    Yu Hong used the simplest form of the mortise and tenon structure, which involved making a hole in one nk and carving a matching protrusion on another nk.


    By inserting the protrusion into the hole, the joint wasplete.


    The greatest benefit of this structure was that it didn¡¯t require nails.


    With this method, Yu Hong slowly and painstakingly made thick, sturdy nks.


    Instead of finishing the door and bringing it all at once, he worked piece by piece, carrying the nks over and assembling them at the cave entrance.


    During this time, he also continued testing the effects of the ck seal.


    He reinforced one piece of glowstone after another.


    Time passed, and just as Yu Hong was getting used to the strange dried meat vor, the wooden door for the cave was finallypleted.


    Early one morning, Yu Hong arrived at the cave entrance alone and attached the final thick nk to the door.


    The door waspletely finished, with a movable central panel, giving it a rough appearance.


    It was made from parts taken from other houses in the vige,bined with wood.


    Additionally, therge nails used to attach the wood to the stone were also from the houses in the vige.


    The entire entrance was nowpletely blocked by the thick gray-ck wooden door.


    Yu Hong entered, cing a piece of reinforced white stone into a groove behind the door.


    This was his idea for blocking the strange shadows from entering.


    Since the glowstone could disperse the shadows, he wondered if cing it strategically along their path could prevent them from entering the cave.

 Chapter 10: Operation (2)

    After cing the enhanced glowstones, Yu Hong walked into the cave again. At the top and on both sides of the ground, he found corresponding indentations.


    These were spots he had prepared for cing the enhanced glowstonester, with the goal of ensuring the absolute safety of the entire safe house.


    Over the past few days, he had relied on Little Stutterer¡¯s help for food, and now he had collected seven enhanced glowstones.


    His stockpile was quite plentiful.


    The ck insect blood tides, which had once been a major concern, no longer worried him. The eerie shadows that asionally appeared also stopped showing up.


    ording to Little Stutterer, they were in a safe period, which generallysted about a month, before suddenly erupting into a high-intensity period.


    At that time, both the blood tides and the eerie shadows would be significantly stronger.


    ¡®No wonder Dr. Xu is so upset with me. I¡¯ve be a burden, dying the progress of Little Stutterer, who should be gathering supplies now. This will cause her to run low on resources and get into danger.¡¯


    Yu Hong thought to himself.But he didn¡¯t mind it.


    Because Dr. Xu didn¡¯t know what he was truly capable of. Not to mention, the effect of the enhanced glowstones was enough to ensure Little Stutterer¡¯s safety when facing the eerie shadows.


    At least, they worked much better than the regr glowstones.


    Regr glowstones could only be used once, but enhanced glowstones could be used multiple times.


    However, it was unclear how many times they could be used. He would have to find a chance to test itter.


    Thinking about this, Yu Hong snapped back to reality, closing the wooden door and standing alone in the cave.


    Once the door was shut, the cave grew dim, with only the striped venttion hole letting in bright golden rays.


    Yu Hong stood with his back against the door, extending his hand.


    His arm, darker than before, still couldn¡¯t hide the clear ck mark on the back of his hand.


    Soon, arge ck number appeared on the door: 12 days.


    ¡°Do you want to reinforce the wooden door?¡±


    A faint sound reached his ears.


    Yu Hong¡¯s expression became serious, and he took a deep breath.


    ¡®Yes!¡¯


    He responded strongly in his mind.


    Immediately, a ck line flowed from the ck mark on his hand, entering the wooden door, disappearing without a trace.


    Then, the number on the door changed, from 12 to 11 days and 23 hours, 59 minutes.


    The numbers flickered, faintly glowing, extremely mysterious.


    ¡°Countdown!?¡± Yu Hong was surprised to notice this for the first time.


    When he had used the enhanced glowstones before, he had always tried to avoid Little Stutterer and hadn¡¯t paid attention to the process.


    Now, it seemed that this ck mark even had a countdown function, which was very convenient.


    ¡®Alright, now we just need to wait.¡¯


    Yu Hong sighed in relief. So far, the strengthening of the ck mark hadn¡¯t caused him any negative side effects. The worst he had felt was a bit of mental fatigue after use, but a short rest was enough to recover. ?¨¤??B¦¥s?


    Twelve days.


    By then, he would be able to assess the effect of the reinforced wooden door.


    He was quite eager.


    After watching the wooden door for a while, Yu Hong picked up a piece of rubble from the cave, trying to activate the ck mark again.


    But nothing happened.


    He wasn¡¯t surprised.


    He had tried before to see if he could strengthen two objects at once.


    But now it seemed that either it never worked, or perhaps he hadn¡¯t yet met some special condition.


    Yu Hong wasn¡¯t in a hurry.


    His main priority was to finish the safe house. After that, he would have plenty of time to study the ck mark.


    Little Stutterer had gone out and wouldn¡¯t be back tonight. So, Yu Hong rested for a while in the cave, then stored the enhanced glowstones in various corners and headed back to Baqiu Vige.


    Soon, he returned to the house, familiar with the path.


    After closing the door and cing the enhanced glowstones in their designated spots, he drank some filtered water to soothe his throat.


    The filthy, foul-smelling filtered water hadn¡¯t upset his stomach. That was truly a miracle.


    Yu Hong finished his preparations, took a piece of dried meat, and sat by the bed, slowly nibbling on it.


    The dried meat was very tough, unlike any meat he had eaten before. It was thin and ck in color.


    ording to Little Stutterer, it was lizard meat.


    Yu Hong didn¡¯t mind; at least he could tolerate it more than the other two types of dried meat: rat and cockroach.


    As nightfall approached, Yu Hong lit a candle and ced it beside him on the nightstand, ensuring the candlelight illuminated the venttion holes in the door and windows.


    Then he closed his eyes and rested quietly.


    A peaceful night.


    The next morning, Yu Hong went to the vige road to wait.


    His phone had long since run out of power, so he had to use the shadow of the sun on the ground to estimate the time with a simple sundial.


    After waiting for about an hour or so, two figures appeared at the end of the road, carryingrge bags.


    As they got closer, Yu Hong recognized them as Little Stutterer and Dr. Xu.


    He hurried over to help Little Stutterer with the heavy bag on her back.


    ¡°Thank you for your hard work,¡± he said quietly.


    ¡°Safe house, how¡­ is it?¡± Little Stutterer asked with an expectant look on her face.


    Before they left yesterday, she had checked the progress and thought it was almost done.


    ¡°It¡¯s done. The door ispletely finished!¡± Yu Hong said seriously, nodding and smiling.


    He was in a good mood.


    ¡°I bought waterproof paint!¡± Little Stutterer signed clumsily. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ paint it for you.¡±


    Waterproof paint?


    Yu Hong froze. Right, he had forgotten to apply the waterproofing. Otherwise, the wooden door he had worked so hard to build would soon rot from the moisture.


    After all, he wasn¡¯t a professional carpenter¡ªhe knew some basic skills but had overlooked key steps.


    Luckily, Little Stutterer had remembered to take care of it.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! I didn¡¯t even think about the waterproofing!¡± Yu Hong pped his hand to his forehead in realization. ¡°Good thing you remembered, or all that effort on the door would have been wasted!¡±


    ¡°The paint¡¯s half used up. I traded it for three-quarters of the dried meat,¡± Dr. Xu said with a cold look in her eyes.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ¡°Since the door¡¯s done, when will you move out?¡± she asked next.


    ¡°Soon, very soon!¡± Yu Hong nodded. ¡°Dr. Xu seems to misunderstand me. Just wait, soon I¡¯ll be able to help Little Stutterer live a better life.¡±


    Little Stutterer had helped him a lot, and he kept that in mind. As for the secret of the ck mark, he was now sure it was something only he possessed.


    At least, neither Little Stutterer nor Dr. Xu had it. He had asked Little Stutterer, and no one she had met had ever heard of such a special ability.


    So, he felt much more confident now.


    ¡®Here we go again, another guy who just talks big.¡¯


    Dr. Xu shot him a disgusted look, turned, and walked away.


    She had seen people saved by Little Stutterer before. They would wake up, learn something briefly, and leave.


    None of them stayed longer than five days.


    But Yu Hong¡­ he had been there for almost a month, twenty days, and still hadn¡¯t left!


    Not only was he not leaving, but he wasn¡¯t helping with the work either! This had caused Little Stutterer to spend even more time digging wild vegetables and painting glowstones, while they were eating less food.


    Food had been scarce, and now with two people eating, they had to ration it more.


    ¡°I trust you!¡± Little Stutterer said earnestly, getting closer to Yu Hong.


    ¡°Mm! Thank you!¡± Yu Hong nodded, watching Dr. Xu leave.


    The two returned to the house, where they sorted through the items they had brought back.


    Arge bag of glowstones, minus the paint, had been exchanged for only half a pound of dried meat and one pound of dried mushrooms.


    Mixed with the wild vegetables, they would need to eat this for at least three to five days.


    In the house, the two of them sorted the dried meat into bags, adding charcoal to absorb moisture and tying them up to avoid opening them frequently.


    ¡°By the way, what¡¯s the strength of the eerie shadows and blood tides during the high period? Can you exin in more detail?¡± Yu Hong asked while sorting the meat.


    ¡°They¡¯re strong,¡± Little Stutterer nodded. ¡°The eerie shadows can appear at any time. The blood tides wille every day, along with the eerie shadows.¡±


    ¡°Ten glowstones are needed to deal with one eerie shadow.¡± Little Stutterer began to exin the dangers of the high period in detail.


    As she exined in her broken sentences, Yu Hong gradually understood more about the high period¡¯s dangers.


    Especially the eerie shadows. For them, even after drawing the symbols, the regr glowstones were only effective if ten were used to drive one away.


    Little Stutterer¡¯s glowstones were naturally better than others, which was why they always sold for a good price.


    But in the high period, even her glowstones needed ten to deal with one eerie shadow. Other people¡¯s glowstones would be much less effective.


    Yu Hong also asked about the candle usage.


    The answer made his heart sink.


    During the high period, onerge candle was used up every night. The consumption was huge. Of course, they could burn firewood, but they always needed a light source to block the blood tides.


    After learning the specific details, Yu Hong calcted the remaining time for the high period, looking at the old calendar on the table. Only fifteen days left.


    The wooden door would be reinforced in twelve days. If the reinforcement didn¡¯t work well, things might getplicated.


    His heart sank slightly.


    ¡°Where do you buy the candles?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Uncle Wang,¡± Little Stutterer pointed to a distant spot on the simple map she had drawn.


    ¡°He¡¯s from the old vige,¡± she added.


    ¡°How long does the high period usuallyst?¡±


    ¡°It used to be one day. Later, it became five days,¡± Little Stutterer replied.


    ¡°Will itst longer?¡± Yu Hong frowned.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Little Stutterer nodded vigorously.


    ¡°I understand,¡± Yu Hong knew he needed to hurry.


    In theing days, he began to speed up the construction of his safe house. Although the door was done, the internal structures were not fully set up.


    The chimney, for example, had to be prepared in advance if he wanted to use fire inside.


    This wasn¡¯t too difficult, as he had seen houses with chimneys before.


    He just needed to take the chimney pipes from those houses.


    However, as Little Stutterer had warned, he should avoid going inside those buildings.


    While he could take the doorboards from outside, entering the dark areas could mean encountering eerie shadows.


    But with the enhanced glowstones, he didn¡¯t worry too much.


    One enhanced glowstone could handle several eerie shadows, which was much better than regr glowstones.


    Even so, the thought of the eerie shadow¡¯s terrifying presence made Yu Hong uneasy. He really didn¡¯t want to get too close to it.


    (End of Chapter)

 Chapter 11: Accumulation (1)

    This world is very dangerous. Extremely dangerous.


    In the more than half a month since Yu Hong arrived here, he has fully realized this.


    As an ordinary person, his survival knowledge is far inferior to that of Little stutterer and the others, and his physical abilities are also significantly weaker.


    Even Little stutterer and Dr. Xu are struggling so much; if he were to rely solely on himself, it would definitely not be enough.


    Therefore, he must utilize his unique advantage¡ªthe ck mark.


    On a bright, sunny morning, outside a strange tiled house in Baiqiu Vige.


    Yu Hong and Little stutterer, both dressed in filthy clothes, their hair greasy and matted into strands resembling dreadlocks, stood in front of the house, gazing inside.


    The interior of the house was dark, constantly emitting a cold and eerie aura. asionally, a slight cold breeze would surge out, apanied by a musty and unknown stench.


    The sunlight stopped at the door, dividing the outside from the inside into two separate worlds.¡°There¡¯s the smoking pipe I need inside,¡± Yu Hong said in a deep voice.


    ¡°How do we get it?¡± Little stutterer asked seriously from the side, as though mimicking Yu Hong.


    ¡°The phantom shadows could appear at any moment, so I must act quickly,¡± Yu Hong replied.


    The cave¡¯s safe house must have a warm stove, but lighting a fire in a sealed cave is extremely dangerous, so the smoking pipe is essential! At that moment, as he looked into the dimly lit house, determination rose in his eyes for the first time.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m just too scared.¡±


    To find safety, one must first face danger.


    He had no other choice.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    With his reinforced white stones in his pocket, Yu Hong strode into the house.


    Little stutterer, behind him, also held a bag of white stones, nervously scanning the area.


    p.


    As soon as their feet entered the darkened space, a chilling sensation started creeping up from their ankles.


    At that moment, both the reinforced white stones and the regr white stones activated, releasing cold air that countered the chill.


    ¡°There¡¯s something wrong, quickly!¡± Yu Hong instantly realized there was a phantom shadow and sped up, rushing deeper into the house.


    He had examined many houses, and this one¡¯s chimney was the most suitable, the longest. This time, he was determined to get it!


    The two quickly crossed an open space and reached the innermost corner of the room.


    There, a square metal stove was ced, with a vertical iron chimney pipe protruding from one corner.


    The chimney pipe extended two meters upward, then curved to the side for over three meters, reaching an opening in the wall.


    ¡°That¡¯s it! Grab it!¡± Yu Hong¡¯s eyes lit up as he rushed forward and grabbed the chimney pipe.


    Thud.


    He yanked it hard.


    It didn¡¯t move.


    He looked down.


    The chimney pipe was welded to the corner of the stove, immovable.


    Just as he was about to pull harder, Yu Hong suddenly caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. A small door to the bedroom in the corner of the room slowly opened. §²¨¤?????§§?


    In the darkness beyond the door, a figure in gray stood, its face obscured.


    The figure stood motionless in the shadows, staring toward them.


    At the same time, a more intense chill surged out from the small bedroom door.


    ¡°Yi Yi!!¡± In a panic, Yu Hong shouted, gripping the reinforced white stone tightly, his muscles tensing as he began to aim.


    His eyes darted toward the back, looking at Little stutterer (Yi Yi).


    But¡­ ¡°!!!?¡±


    There was no one there.


    Not only was Yi Yi missing, but the stove and chimney had also disappeared.


    Yu Hong quickly shifted his gaze again and saw Little stutterer, carrying the stove and dragging the chimney pipe, running toward the door to leave.


    The heavy stove in her hands seemed as light as a cardboard box, having no impact on her.


    ¡°Run! Yu!¡± Little stutterer charged out into the sunlight, only to realize Yu Hong hadn¡¯t followed. She quickly looked back, confused, and saw Yu Hong still standing where he had been, frozen in ce. She immediately shouted.


    ¡°¡­¡± Yu Hong had no words to respond.


    But at that moment, the phantom shadow had locked its sights on him.


    A chilling, rigid sensation surged through him again, attempting to freeze him in ce.


    The power of the reinforced white stone surged continuously to resist the stiffness.


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    ¡°I!!¡±


    Yu Hong trembled, unable to move from his position, clutching the reinforced white stone in his hand as though he were a machine on the verge of falling apart.


    Sweat poured down from his forehead and temples, his pupils dted as intense fear threatened to engulf him.


    ¡®I¡¯m so scared.¡¯


    ¡°It¡¯s terrifying.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ¡°Why, why is there something so terrifying here?!¡±


    ¡®Why.¡¯


    ¡®Why.¡¯


    ¡®Why.¡¯


    ¡®Why.¡¯


    In an instant, countless ¡°whys¡± crawled up his mind, like insects, filling every inch of his being. They overwhelmed his thoughts, his consciousness, consuming everything.


    But at that moment, he was caught in an eerie struggle, the power of the phantom shadow and the strength of the reinforced white stone cancelling each other out. This battle yed out through his body.


    Amidst this paralysis¡­


    Yu Hong suddenly felt movement behind him.


    Crack.


    He heard a faint sound.


    It was as though a shoe had stepped on the muddy floor of the room.


    The soft, rhythmic sound of footsteps came, one after the other, seemingly getting closer from behind.


    Step. Step.


    The footsteps were steady, neither fast nor slow, moving directly toward him.


    Then, the wooden door of the house silently began to close, slowly shutting off the bright sunlight and Little stutterer from the outside world.


    Yu Hong was terrified. His whole body shook as tears and sweat streamed down his face.


    At this moment, he could do nothing but watch the door slowly close.


    Helpless.


    A deep sense of helplessness surged from the bottom of his heart.


    ¡°I¡­¡± He opened his mouth, trying to speak.


    Smack.


    Suddenly, a hand tightly gripped his from behind!


    Ah!!!!


    In an instant, Yu Hong felt like he had been struck by lightning. He let out a piercing scream.


    He violently jumped up, and with a swift motion, he pulled arge wooden club from his pants leg and swung it backward with all his might.


    The wooden club was studded with steel nails, embedded with three pieces of reinforced white stone.


    Fear hadpletely consumed Yu Hong. As he swung the club, it let out a deep, whistling sound in the air.


    Amid the noisy sound of the club slicing through the air, there was a loud crash.


    Boom!!!


    The wooden club mmed into a white figure behind Yu Hong, splitting it in two. The figure deted, scattering into pieces, vanishing into thin air.


    ¡°Ahhhhhh!!!¡±


    Yu Hong raised the steel-nail-studded club and immediately turned, rushing toward another gray figure by the small bedroom door.


    Boom!!!


    Another loud crash.


    The wooden club mmed into the doorframe, creating a deep dent.


    The gray figure shattered with the impact, turning into a pile of gray cloth that scattered to the ground and evaporated.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!!


    By this time, Yu Hong¡¯s eyes were bloodshot. Holding the steel-nail club, he continued wildly swinging at where the gray figure had been.


    Until the doorframe began to shake and splinter, he finally came to his senses.


    Seeing that the phantom shadow had disappeared, Yu Hong quickly rushed out of the house and into the sunlight.


    Huff! Huff! Huff!


    Amidst his heavy breathing, he slowly bent down, crouching on the ground.


    Little stutterer stood nearby, staring nkly at him, unsure how tofort him.


    She had initially nned to rush in to save him, but seeing Yu Hong¡¯s sudden outburst, she was scared and could only stand in ce, helplessly waiting for the oue.


    The result was that Yu Hong emerged himself, violently smashing the two phantom shadows into pieces, his expression reflecting extreme fear as he crouched down outside, panting.


    ¡°Yu¡­¡± After a while, Xiaojieba hesitated and softly called out.


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± Yu Hong¡¯s voice trembled, his body drenched in sweat, as though he had just been pulled out of water.


    ¡°I was just¡­ so scared.¡±


    He paused for a moment, slowly calming down as his emotions settled.


    He stood up, turned, and looked at Little stutterer.


    His face was filled with pain, helplessness, and a sense of vulnerability.


    ¡°They¡­ they scared me.¡±


    He waved the steel-nail club in his hand repeatedly, as though trying to express his intense emotions through bodynguage.


    ¡°I was so scared.¡±


    Yu Hong¡¯s skin trembled.


    ¡°So, I had to smash them to death¡­ I¡­ I know what I¡¯m doing, but if I didn¡¯t smash them, I was afraid¡­ afraid they woulde after me!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Little stutterer blinked, taking a step back as the steel-nail club swung dangerously close, making her feel uneasy.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine now, just let it go. Let it go!!¡± Little stutterer raised both hands, trying to soothe him.


    Yu Hong, realizing that he was not in his right state, also started to take deep breaths.


    Inhale.


    Exhale.


    After thirty breaths, he finally felt his body stabilize.


    ¡°Good, good. I¡¯m d I prepared in advance,¡± he said, lowering the heavy wooden club. He felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.


    He was someone who always prepared thoroughly for anything he did.


    Just like when he went into the house to grab the chimney pipe. He had already nned out how to use his few remaining reinforced white stones.


    The three pieces of reinforced white stone embedded in the wooden club weren¡¯t actually ¡°embedded¡± in the traditional sense. Instead, Yu Hong had carved small recesses in the wood and tightly bound the stones with ropes.


    Looking back, this method had proven to be quite effective.


    ¡°Are you okay now?¡± Little stutterer asked carefully, her gaze focused on him.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Yu Hong said, shaking his body in helplessness. ¡°I got too worked up.¡±


    Little stutterer shook her head, signaling that she wasn¡¯t scared. ¡°Actually¡­ I¡¯ve seen something like this before.¡±


    She lifted the stove and chimney pipe, and with Yu Hong, they began walking back.


    As they walked, she told him about the people she had encountered before.


    From her words, Yu Hong learned that there had been others in simr situations¡ªpeople who had fallen into extreme fear, just like him.


    Some of them, like him, had exploded in a frenzy, fighting back.


    But Yu Hong was different from them.


    After those people fought back, they would exhaust themselves, weakening further and falling into even greater danger.


    But Yu Hong wasn¡¯t like them.


    After smashing the phantom shadows, he didn¡¯t stop. He immediately turned and ran, heading for the safety zone, before finally letting himself rx.


    In extreme emotional states, it¡¯s rare for people to hold back any strength. Yet Yu Hong had managed to do so.


    Not only had he destroyed the phantom shadows, but he also conserved his energy to turn around and flee.


    This made him stand out in a very unique way.


    (End of this chapter)

 Chapter 12: Accumulation (2)

    Bang, bang, bang.


    Inside the safe house cave, Yu Hong let out a long sigh, took two steps back, and looked at the super-simple fixed setup he had created. He had secured the stolen stove along with the chimney to the middle section of the cave wall.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave it like this for now.¡±


    He put down the hammer and turned to nce at the door, which was still undergoing reinforcement. The remaining time on the door read: 9 days, 5 hours, and 42 minutes.


    After finishing this, he exited the cave and looked at the little stutterer who was tying up arge bundle of wild vegetables.


    The incident with the chimney was over, but the emotions from it still left a deep impression on him.


    Even now, when he thought back to what had happened, he felt an intense sense of fear.


    This emotional state made him yearn desperately for apletely safe solitary cabin.


    A ce where he could rest in peace.With such a ce, he would be able to safely explore this incredibly dangerous world.


    Shaking off his thoughts, Yu Hong picked up the steel spike stick he had just used, noticing that some of the nails were bent. But that wasn¡¯t the key issue; the key issue was the three pieces of reinforced white stones.


    The first piece hadpletely turned ck and lost its jade-like texture.


    ¡®Looks like it¡¯s used up.¡¯ Yu Hong reached out to remove this stone and reced it with a new one.


    He still had a piece of reinforced glowstone left, which should be enough for now.


    But since the reinforcement could only be done one item at a time, he couldn¡¯t reinforce anything else until the wooden door was finished.


    Therefore, he needed to conserve the glowstones as much as possible.


    ¡®Based on previous usage, one piece of reinforced glowstone can shatter three ghost images. This means that one piece of reinforced glowstone is equivalent to thirty pieces of ordinary glowstones!¡¯


    With this in mind, if he could advertise thisparison and trade the reinforced glowstone for supplies, the difference in value might allow him to stop worrying about supply shortages.


    While thinking about this, Yu Hong started to consider his future ns.


    Time passed quickly, and soon the sky began to darken.


    Little stutterer also finished packing the cloth bag and refilled the water jar. The two of them returned to the house in Baiqiu Vige.


    It was only after they had returned from the cave that the ce was finally tidied up, clean and fresh, with better air.


    Compared to the old house, which was dirty and filled with a musty smell of mildew, Yu Hong couldn¡¯t bear to stay there even for a moment.


    The night passed without incident.


    In the following days, unable to reinforce anything, Yu Hong and the little stutterer began collecting dry wood to store in the cave.


    Now that there was a door, it could block the wind and rain, and it was possible to store some firewood.


    Next, they prepared to filter water.


    ording to the little stutterer, the water outside was very unclean, and drinking it directly would cause a strange illness, so it had to be filtered. ????¦­?£Â¨§?


    Extra filters could only be bought in the town.


    So, they would have to make a trip to the town.


    ¡°It¡¯s over thirty miles to the town. I don¡¯t think I can make it,¡± Yu Hong said, fully aware of his physical limits.


    He might be able to push through the journey by sheer willpower, but after that, his knees could be injured, he could suffer from exhaustion, or other new illnesses could strike, all of which would greatly slow his response to potential dangers.


    At the slope by the cave entrance, the little stutterer dug while nodding.


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­ a way.¡±


    ¡°A way?¡± Yu Hong sat down and rested on the stone surface at the cave entrance, wiping the sweat from his forehead.


    ¡°Post¡­ office,¡± the little stutterer replied, then began exining in short, interrupted sentences.


    Since speaking was difficult for her, she simply used charcoal to write on the stone.


    But she didn¡¯t know many characters, so she wrote while gesturing.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I ask you to buy it for me at the post office?¡± Yu Hong asked.


    ¡°Filter¡­ can¡¯t buy¡­ must¡­ have qualifications,¡± the little stutterer replied.


    Qualifications? What qualifications? Yu Hong was about to ask again when he saw, from a distance, Dr. Xu carrying a cloth bag and walking towards them.


    ¡°Yi Yi, the peak period ising soon, we need to go to the town!¡± Dr. Xu looked a little pale, and her right arm was wrapped in a white bandage, probably from an injury she had sustained in recent days.


    ¡°Okay!¡± the little stutterer responded loudly.


    Dr. Xu nced at Yu Hong, didn¡¯t acknowledge him, and walked with the little stutterer to Baixiu Vige to pick up items they were going to exchange.


    Soon, the two of them checked all the glowstones.


    ¡°Why is there less than half?!¡± Dr. Xu was shocked.


    Normally, every time they went to exchange goods, the little stutterer could provide twice as much as this, but now¡­


    ¡°This amount won¡¯t get us much food! And Yi Yi, you¡¯re feeding two people!¡± she couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Too¡­ busy,¡± Yi Yi replied sheepishly, rubbing her hands together.


    ¡°What were you busy with? Building some useless ¡®safe house¡¯ for that Yu Hong?¡± Dr. Xu exploded.


    ¡°I told you, no matter how thick the boards, they can¡¯t stop the ghost images and insects! The ¡®safe house¡¯ you¡¯re building is a waste of effort!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I believe in him!¡± little stutterer patted her chest.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be killed by him!¡± Dr. Xu shouted angrily. ¡°If you don¡¯t eat enough, you¡¯llck energy and get sick. I went to the post office yesterday, but the mailman had disappeared, and there was no way to buy medicine. Many important supplies can only be obtained through him. We need to conserve food and seasonings, or we¡¯ll run out of suppliester!¡±


    ¡°No, it will be fine!¡± The little stutterer shook her head. She had received a piece of reinforced glowstone from Yu Hong. Though she had promised not to tell anyone, she knew in her heart that Yu Hong was different from the others.


    ¡°You!!¡± Dr. Xu was so furious that she almost ran to hammer Yu Hong, but seeing the little stutterer¡¯s look, she swallowed her anger.


    The two of them left the vige, slowly making their way down the old road.


    On the other side, Yu Hong had re-arranged the safe house in the cave, checked all the sealing devices, and ensured everything was secure before starting to paint.


    Waterproofing was essential, and the cave walls had to be painted as well; otherwise, living there would cause temperature differences, leading to moisture condensation and mold.


    Once everything was checked, he decided not to return to Baiqiu Vige but instead stayed in the cave, using the candles and nkets he brought, preparing to spend the night there.


    ¡°Whoo¡­¡±


    Slowly, the sky darkened.


    The wind outside the cave howled, the temperature dropped rapidly, bing cool enough to feel.


    Inside the cave, Yu Hong sat cross-legged on arge wooden board, lit a candle, and quietly began to calcte how many supplies would be needed to safely survive the uing peak period.


    ¡°Thest peak periodsted five days, and following the principle of continuous strengthening, it should be six days. One candle per day means at least twelve candles.¡±


    ¡°Then, food and water for six days need to be prepared. I don¡¯t have time to reinforce the White Stones for now; I¡¯ll have to wait until the wooden door is finished.¡±


    ¡°Once the wooden door is finished, there are still three more days until the peak period. Rather than gambling on the safety of the reinforced door, it¡¯s better to prepare myself.¡±


    While calcting, Yu Hong listened quietly to the sound of the wind outside.


    Soon, a rustling sound echoed again.


    The ck insects brought by the blood tide started to invade once more.


    However, therge number of ck insects could only enter through the designated opening. Their speed was not fast, and as soon as they entered, they were illuminated by the candlelight, quickly dissipating into nothing.


    Yu Hong observed carefully for a while, confirmed there was no issue, and then rxed.


    He checked the candle¡¯s consumption rate, thought everything seemed fine, ced a steel nail and wooden stick beside him, andy down on the bed, slowly pretending to sleep.


    Soon, dawn broke.


    Little stutterer and Doctor Xu returned. This time, they brought back half the supplies they hadst time.


    Little stutterer calcted that it would only be enough for them for five days.


    After some thought, Yu Hong decided to have little stutterer try drawing moreplex patterns on the reinforced radiant stones. After testing the patterns, if they worked, they could be sold.


    For now, to handle the immediate needs, he also began helping little stutterer gather wild vegetables.


    Days passed.


    The two began to store water, and Yu Hong asionally checked on the progress of the wooden door.


    Before long, the time on the wooden door was approaching its end.


    To observe the changes to the door closely, Yu Hong specifically asked little stutterer to go to Doctor Xu¡¯s ce to borrow some food, which was a deliberate way to send her away.


    He then went to the safe area in the cave and quietly waited for the countdown to finish.


    In the midst of the rumbling sound, Yu Hong sat on the ground, his eyes fixed on the wooden door, which had not changed at all in the past twelve days.


    He wanted to carefully observe how the ck imprint¡¯s reinforcement would bepleted.


    The key was that he nned to seamlessly continue reinforcing other things to avoid wasting the reinforcement time of the ck imprint.


    The door, now painted in yellow-ck, showed ck numbers that only Yu Hong could see.


    0 days, 0 hours, 1 minute.


    In the final minute, just a little more, and the reinforcement of the wooden door would bepletely finished.


    During thisst minute, Yu Hong didn¡¯t dare to blink, keeping his gaze fixed on the final change.


    One second.


    Ten seconds.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Twenty seconds.


    Thirty seconds.


    Snap.


    Suddenly, Yu Hong¡¯s vision blurred for a moment.


    When his vision cleared again, the wooden door had transformed into a much thicker, more tightly sealed giant door.


    The surface of the new door had delicate, wave-like patterns, and the air vents were covered with thick metal mesh, dense and breathable.


    In the middle, there was also a special observation window, allowing a view of the outside scenery.


    The originally loose connection between the door and the cave had beenpletely reinforced, with a dense ring of screws. It looked far sturdier than before.


    Yu Hong stood up, stepped forward, and touched the door.


    Thud, thud, thud.


    He knocked on it with his fingers. It was thick, hard, and flexible.


    ¡®This isn¡¯t the same material as before.¡¯ He hadn¡¯t expected that the reinforcement would change the material itself.


    ¡®They¡¯ve also added more materials.¡¯ Yu Hong touched the thick air vent at the bottom and opened the observation window at the top.


    He ran his hand along the edge, finding no burrs.


    ¡°Impressive!¡±


    With that thought, he quickly looked at the surrounding walls.


    His original n was to reinforce the wooden door first, then reinforce the surrounding stone walls. But now, due to the food shortage, he decided to try reinforcing other things first.


    ¡°First, this.¡±


    Yu Hong pulled his hand back from the door and went to the stove. He picked up a piece of dried lizard meat from the stove.


    ¡®Can food be reinforced?¡¯


    The thought shed through his mind.


    Immediately, the dried lizard meat in his hand quickly showed a number: 3 hours.


    ¡®Three hours?¡¯ Yu Hong thought it over. He then put the meat back and grabbed the entire bag of dried meat.


    ¡®What about now?¡¯


    On the outside of the cloth bag, a new number slowly appeared: 1 day, 8 hours, and 4 minutes.


    The numbers were precise, with both whole and decimal points.


    ¡®Let¡¯s see the result.¡¯ Yu Hong decided to wait for the reinforcement effect.


    A little over a day was something he could endure.


    (End of Chapter)