Night of Despair

Chapter 46  Idea Two

Inside the cave safe house.

The faint morning sunlight seeped in through the inspection window shutters.

Yu Hong leaned against the fireplace wall, slowly waking from a groggy dream.

His brow was tightly furrowed, and he tilted his neck, feeling some numbness in his back and stiffness in his cervical spine, probably from being compressed.

Upon opening his eyes, his first action was to look at Doctor Xu lying on the sleeping bag.

The guy was sleeping soundly, his complexion much better than yesterday.

"Doctor Xu? Doctor Xu?" he called out a few times.

Doctor Xu slowly moved her eyelids, her legs twitched, and suddenly she opened her eyes, showing a look of alertness.

"Am I still alive...?"

"It seems so," Yu Hong replied, "I thought you were paralyzed yesterday, but thankfully you recovered after lying down for the night."

Doctor Xu propped herself up, her dry lips moved.

"It's an old problem... vigorous activity can easily trigger it, it's just that yesterday it was a bit more severe."

"That's just a bit more severe?" Yu Hong was at a loss for words.

"Is it morning now? How are things outside?" Doctor Xu asked gravely. "Is there any water? I need some."

"I don't know, I haven't been out yet, but it seems quiet out there." Yu Hong got up and poured her some cold boiled water.

Watching her sipping the water in small mouthfuls, he couldn't help but continue asking.

"I'm telling you the truth, considering the level of danger outside, with the Evil Shadow and shadow monsters taking turns attacking, how did you guys manage to survive without so many Large Pyroxene Stones? When I wasn't here, you didn't even have any Large Pyroxene stones, right? How could you withstand it?"

"There used to be no Evil Shadows around here..." Doctor Xu exhaled, "Just call me Xu Ruoying. You saved me, and we've shared hardships."

"Alright." Yu Hong didn't care much about that, he just stared at her, waiting for an answer to his previous question. He had wanted to ask this for a long time but never really had the chance.

"Actually..." Xu Ruoying seemed a bit helpless, "Before, we seldom ever directly confronted the shadow monsters."

"How did you manage that? Could you actually avoid them?" Yu Hong was surprised.

"Why not?" Xu Ruoying countered, "Didn't Xiao Jiaba tell you? The method of hiding?"

"No..." Yu Hong shook his head. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Suddenly, an image flashed through his mind, and his expression showed a thoughtful look.

"Wait...I think I remember something...is it about creating a small space surrounded by luminous stone where a person can hide, and that can be used for concealment?"

He remembered that Xiao Jiaba also had such a space, a secret chamber that was only big enough for a child's body to squeeze into, impossible for an adult.

"That's it." Xu Ruoying nodded, "As long as the luminous stones are embedded in the surrounding walls to a certain density, it can effectively conceal oneself. In critical moments, you just hide inside, and neither the shadows nor the Evil Shadow can find you."

"What about the Blood Tide Black Insects?"

"No way to avoid those, you have to withstand them directly." Xu Ruoying shook her head.

Yu Hong nodded, finally understanding how others had survived in such a perilous environment.

He thought to himself, how many luminous stones and Large Pyroxene Stones he had used up just to fight the shadow and Evil Shadow from start to finish?

And then he looked at Xu Ruoying, and previously at Jenny? Also, the postman, they clearly didn't have so many Large Pyroxene Stones yet they've managed to survive unscathed for so long.

He found it strange...

"Wait!" Suddenly, Xu Ruoying froze, staring at Yu Hong with a look of disbelief in her eyes.

"Could it be... you've never hidden before? Have you been directly confronting the shadow and Evil Shadow???"

"....." Yu Hong couldn't answer. If he had known about this technique earlier, he wouldn't have wasted so many Large Pyroxene Stones!

"Oh my god..." Xu Ruoying was speechless. This was the first time she had met someone like this. It's only because he could make Large Pyroxene Stones, otherwise who knows how he would have died.

The two of them just sat there looking at each other, not knowing what to say. They could only sit opposite each other in silence.

After a while, Xu Ruoying couldn't sit still anymore. She looked at the sunlight outside the door.

"I need to go back... I have to get my medicine out to dry, otherwise it will spoil..."

"Let's go outside and check." Yu Hong also stood up, walking to the door, which had its silver talisman array fully restored.

Swish.

He slid open the inspection window shutters and looked outside. Then he opened the other shutter on the side of the inspection window, revealing the high-strength glass that allowed him to see outside.

With that, light could enter through two areas on the door, and the sunlight outside could illuminate the interior to its maximum extent.

Instantly, the whole cave became bright, the golden light reflecting off the fireplace and then hitting the opposite wall, slightly dazzling.

Yu Hong stood by the window, looking outside.

Everything was quiet outside, the dark green woods were empty, only the traces of blood left by Jenny on the ground were particularly conspicuous.

The rustling sound of the leaves was like waves, one wave after another.

"It's quiet now. Be careful." Inside Yu Hong's anti-stab vest, the silver talisman had also been fully replenished, which somewhat boosted his confidence.

Click.

The wooden door was slowly opened.

The two of them walked out one after the other.

"It seems safe..." Xu Ruoying spoke softly. "I really have to go back now. It's the safest time."

"Safe travels." Yu Hong nodded, knowing Doctor Xu's temperament. This person was not only tough in his words but also strong in character, a person who could survive alone in such an environment was not simple.

"This time I owe you one!" Xu Ruoying dropped these words, quickly stepped down the stone steps, and jogged toward the post office gathering area to leave.

Her figure gradually disappeared into the woods, and soon she was out of sight.

Yu Hong watched her until she was completely gone, then closed the door, jumped down the stone steps, and came to the spot where Jenny had been lying on the grass.

He crouched down, carefully observing next to the blood-stained grass, and quickly found two deformed copper bullets.

He picked up the two bullets with his hand, sighed, and turned back to the safe house in the cave.

He closed the door, and at this point, all the talisman arrays had been fully replenished.

He placed his hand on one of the bullets.

"Enhanced Bullet, direction: restore to normal state."

"Incomplete."

Black Mark provided feedback, making Yu Hong's eyebrows furrow slightly.

He switched to another direction.

"Enhanced Bullet, direction: strengthen durability."

This time, a black line flashed, and it seemed successful.

A countdown appeared on the surface of the bullet, very small.

"13 minutes."

He exhaled, set the bullet down, picked up the previous handgun, and placed it together with the bullet.

Now it was just a waiting game to see if the bullet could be restored to its original state.

Recalling what Xu Ruoying had said about using luminous stones to create a completely enclosed space to avoid shadows and evil shadows....

"Right, I also forgot to show Xu Ruoying the research handbook." His gaze flitted past a plastic bag on the ground.

"I'll have to wait until next time. Also, if a luminous stone can create a closed space to hide from shadows, then the talisman array, made of luminous stone powder, should have a similar effect... I can completely cover the entire safe house cave with talisman arrays."

He thought it over and quickly took out large pyroxene ink, drawing Great Luminous Stone Arrays on all blank spaces on the walls, floor, ceiling, and doors.

Before long, the bullet was fully enhanced.

He returned to the handgun and bullet, squatting down to pick up the bullet.

The previously distorted and deformed bullet had returned to normal, and its surface color had changed from copper to silver-black, as if the material had completely changed.

Yu Hong tried to insert it into the magazine.

Click.

The bullet got stuck...

"It's the wrong size, slightly too big..." he observed carefully, noticing that the enhanced bullet had grown a size larger.

"It seems it won't work..." he put down the handgun and bullet, tossing them all into a corner.

He ate a protein bar, drank a glass of water, and popped some dried mushrooms into his mouth, quickly finishing his breakfast.

Next, he began to enhance the talisman arrays in all the gaps. As long as every area was covered, it should achieve the hiding effect Xu Ruoying had mentioned.

He continued enhancing until noon, only finishing a small part, but there were no further signs of the Evil Shadow outside.

This significantly calmed Yu Hong.

He thought about it, armed himself fully, and headed towards the post office.

This encounter with the Evil Shadow underscored the value of information. If he had known from the beginning that luminous stones could be used to construct hiding chambers, he wouldn't have had to use so many large pyroxene stones and talisman arrays to combat the shadows and Evil Shadow.

Therefore, to further gather information, he decided to discuss future plans with the new postman.

Old Yu had died, and Jenny and her daughters had died too. Someone had to take charge of the mushroom and meat production, or they would all starve to death. The postman dared to come alone near Baiqiu Village wasteland, surely having the means to survive on his own.

So, seeking him out was undoubtedly the right choice.

On the way, Yu Hong was fully alert, constantly aware of any movements around him, fearing that the Evil Shadow Woman might suddenly appear.

Soon, he arrived where Aifu had fallen.

"Where are the clothes?"

His eyebrows furrowed as he saw no sign of Aifu's clothes on the previous grassy spot.

Knowing that Aifu's clothes had a Black Mark and had been weighed down with a stone, it was impossible for just the wind to have blown them away.

But now...

Yu Hong's gaze swept over the grass, but he still couldn't find where Aifu's clothes were.

Having no choice, he quickened his pace toward the post office stone cottage.

A few minutes later, standing in front of the cottage door, he knocked on the wooden fence outside.

Bang, bang, bang!

After a while, a slight sound came from inside the stone cottage.

A tall, robust man wearing a dark green vest came out, the new postman, Li Rushan.

"A living person?"

He cautiously asked from a distance.

"I am Yu Hong, I live nearby, we have met before," Yu Hong replied. "Did you see the clothes with the black handprint on the grass earlier?"

"They were all burned." Li Rushan pointed to a pile of black ashes on the right, "Luckily I brought Hidden Mist, and thankfully you didn't come yesterday, otherwise, when burning them, being seen by the Evil Shadow would mean certain death."

Yu Hong didn't know what the other was referring to with Hidden Mist, but seeing the pile of black ashes, including a metal buckle from Aifu's belt, he knew the other's words were true. They were indeed burned.

His gaze returned, landing again on the new postman in front of him. He was about to speak.

"Dad, can I come out now?" A tender, cute girl's voice came from inside the stone cottage.

"Not now, I'm talking to someone. Help me watch the lid, don't let them push it open," Li Rushan turned his head and loudly instructed.

After responding, he refocused his attention on Yu Hong.

"What is it, are you here to buy something, send a letter, or ship an item? The price is negotiable."

"..." Yu Hong was at a loss for words, looking past him, he saw a fuzzy head poking out from a window in the stone cottage.

That was the little girl, perhaps only eleven or twelve, with braids and a round, pale face, her chubby appearance not at all light.

"What do you say, want to buy something? I've heard you have luminous marrow here, anything you buy is a great deal!" Li Rushan still stood there smiling.