A Night of Desperation

Inside the mountain cave safe house.

The faint morning sunlight seeped through the observation window’s cover.

Yu Hong leaned against the fireplace wall, slowly waking from a groggy dream. He frowned, stretched his neck, and felt a numb ache in his back and stiffness in his neck. It seemed he’d been lying in an awkward position.

Opening his eyes, he immediately looked toward Dr. Xu, who was lying in a sleeping bag.

The doctor was still sound asleep, and her complexion looked much better than the day before.

“Dr. Xu? Dr. Xu?” Yu Hong called a few times.

Dr. Xu slowly moved her eyelids and twitched her leg before snapping her eyes open, revealing an alert expression.

“I’m still alive?”

“Looks like it,” Yu Hong replied. “Yesterday, I thought you were paralyzed. Good thing you managed to recover overnight.”

“It’s an old problem—too much exertion triggers it. Yesterday was just worse than usual.”

“Worse than usual?” Yu Hong was speechless.

“Is it morning already? What’s the situation outside?” Dr. Xu asked in a deep voice. “Do you have any water? I could use some.”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t gone out yet, but it seems quiet now.” Yu Hong stood up and poured her some cold water.

Watching her sip slowly, Yu Hong couldn’t help but ask, “To be honest, given how dangerous it was out there—shadow creatures and spectral monsters everywhere—how did you all survive without large quantities of Luminous Stones when I wasn’t around? You didn’t even have those, right? How did you manage?”

“There weren’t shadow creatures nearby before,” Dr. Xu sighed. “Just call me Xu Ruoying. You saved me; we’ve been through enough together.”

“Alright.” Yu Hong didn’t mind formalities but kept his eyes on her, waiting for an answer to his earlier question. He’d wanted to ask for a while but never had the chance.

“Well…” Xu Ruoying looked helpless. “We rarely confronted spectral monsters directly.”

“How’d you manage then? Hide?” Yu Hong asked, surprised.

“Why not?” Xu Ruoying countered. “Didn’t Little Stutterer tell you about hiding techniques?”

“No.” Yu Hong shook his head.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

“Wait… I think I’ve got it. Is it about using Luminous Stones to create a small, enclosed space that people can hide in, making them undetectable?”

He recalled that Little Stutterer had a similar hidden chamber. However, that space was too small for anyone but a child.

“Exactly.” Xu Ruoying nodded. “As long as Luminous Stones are embedded in the walls at a certain density, they can conceal your presence. When danger strikes, just hide inside, and shadow or spectral creatures won’t find you.” ɌаΝɵ𐌱ÊS̩

“What about Blood Tide Worms?”

“No way to avoid those—you have to face them head-on,” Xu Ruoying replied, shaking her head.

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

It made sense. Throughout his struggles against spectral and shadow creatures, he’d consumed a significant amount of Luminous Stones. But people like Xu Ruoying, Jenny, and the postman had far fewer stones yet survived for so long without trouble.

He’d always found it strange.

“Wait!” Xu Ruoying suddenly froze, staring at Yu Hong with disbelief.

“You mean… you’ve never hidden before? You’ve been fighting those things head-on?!”

“….” Yu Hong had no answer. If he’d known about this technique earlier, he wouldn’t have wasted so many Luminous Stones.

“Good heavens.” Xu Ruoying was speechless. She’d never encountered anyone like him. If not for his ability to produce Luminous Stones, he wouldn’t have survived at all.

The two sat in silence, staring at each other, unsure of what to say.

After a moment of silence, Xu Ruoying couldn’t sit still anymore. She glanced at the sunlight streaming in through the door.

“I need to head back. My herbs need to be sun-dried, or they’ll spoil.”

“Let’s head out together and take a look,” Yu Hong suggested, getting up and moving toward the wooden door reinforced with silver sigils, which had been restored and refilled with energy.

Swoosh.

He slid open the inspection window’s cover and peered outside. Then he pulled aside another panel beside it, revealing a high-strength glass section for viewing the exterior.

With both areas uncovered, sunlight poured in, illuminating the cave. The golden light reflected off the fireplace and onto the opposite wall, creating a faintly dazzling glow.

Yu Hong stood at the window, surveying the scene.

Outside was quiet. The dark green forest appeared empty, with only the bloodstains Jenny had left behind standing out starkly on the clearing.

The rustling of leaves sounded like ocean waves, ebbing and flowing in gentle rhythm.

“There’s no movement. Stay alert,” Yu Hong said. The silver talisman embedded in his armor were now fully charged, giving him a bit more confidence.

Click.

The wooden door slowly creaked open.

The two stepped out cautiously, one after the other.

“It seems safe now,” Xu Ruoying said quietly. “I need to head back immediately. This is the safest window of time.”

“Safe travels,” Yu Hong nodded. He knew Xu Ruoying’s temperament. She wasn’t just tough in her words but also in her actions. Anyone who could survive alone in this environment wasn’t ordinary.

“This time, I owe you one!” Xu Ruoying called out, throwing the words over her shoulder as she quickly descended the stone steps and jogged toward the post office gathering spot.

Her figure gradually disappeared into the forest, vanishing from sight.

Yu Hong watched her until she was completely gone. Then he shut the door, descended the steps, and approached the patch of grass where Jenny had previously lain.

Crouching down, he carefully inspected the blood-stained grass and soon found two deformed copper bullets.

Picking them up, he sighed, turned back, and re-entered the safe house.

Once inside, he closed the door, ensuring all the talisman were fully restored.

Pressing his hand against one of the bullets, he muttered:

“Enhance the bullet. Direction: restore to normal state.”

“Insufficient integrity.”

The black seal’s response made Yu Hong frown slightly.

He tried a different direction.

“Enhance the bullet. Direction: increase durability.”

This time, the black markings flickered, and the enhancement succeeded.

A small countdown appeared on the bullet’s surface: 13 minutes.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Yu Hong set the bullet down and placed the pistol beside it.

Next came the waiting game to see if the bullets could be restored to their original state.

Recalling what Xu Ruoying had mentioned earlier, using Luminous Stone to create a fully sealed space could shield them from the eerie shadows and malicious entities.

“Oh, right. I forgot to show Xu Ruoying that research manual.” His gaze flickered to the plastic bag on the ground.

“Well, it’ll have to wait until next time. Besides, if a Luminous Stone-enclosed space can ward off those entities, then the runes—made from Luminous Stone powder—should have a similar effect. I might as well cover the entire safehouse cave with rune patterns.”

Once the thought struck, he acted immediately. He took out the large jar of Luminous Stone ink and began painting rune patterns on every blank spot—the walls, the ground, the ceiling, and even the door.

Before long, the bullet had finished its enhancement process.

Returning to the handgun and the bullet, he crouched down and picked it up.

The previously warped and deformed bullet was now back to normal, with its surface no longer a dull copper but a lustrous silver-black, as if its material had been entirely transformed.

Yu Hong tried loading it into the magazine.

Click.

The bullet got stuck.

“Too big—just slightly oversized,” he muttered, examining it closely. The enhanced bullet had indeed grown a fraction larger.

“Guess it won’t work.” He set the gun and bullet aside, tossing them into a corner.

Afterward, he ate a protein bar, drank some water, and snacked on dried mushrooms—breakfast was simple and quick.

Then, he went back to strengthening the rune patterns in the gaps. Once every area was covered, it should produce the hiding effect Xu Ruoying had described.

By the time noon rolled around, he had only finished about half of the enhancements, but at least there had been no further disturbances from the malicious entities outside.

This brought Yu Hong some relief.

After some consideration, he geared up fully and left the safehouse, heading toward the post office.

The recent encounter with the malevolent shadow had deeply impressed upon him the value of intelligence. If he’d known from the start that Luminous Stone could be used to construct a hiding space, he wouldn’t have wasted so many resources fighting off the entities.

To gather more information, he decided to discuss arrangements with the new mail carrier.

With Old Yu dead and Jenny and her daughter also gone, someone had to take responsibility for cultivating mushroom and Lizard meat. Otherwise, everyone would starve. The fact that the mail carrier had dared to approach the desolate area near Baiqiu Village alone meant he likely had some reliable survival skills.

It was definitely worth meeting him.

On his way, Yu Hong stayed vigilant, paying close attention to his surroundings, wary of being ambushed by the shadow-like entity.

Before long, he arrived at the spot where Eve had fallen.

“The clothes?”

He frowned. On the grassy patch, Eve’s clothes were nowhere to be seen.

Those clothes, bearing black handprints, had been weighed down with stones. The wind alone couldn’t have blown them away.

But now…

Yu Hong scanned the area carefully, his gaze sweeping over the grass, yet he found no trace of the clothing.

Frustrated, he quickened his pace and made his way toward the stone building that served as the post office.

After a few minutes, he reached the building and knocked on the wooden fence outside.

Bang, bang, bang!

After a short wait, a faint sound came from inside the stone house.

A tall, muscular man in a dark green vest opened the door and stepped out—it was Li Runshan, the new mail carrier.

“A living person?”

His voice was cautious as he called out from a distance.

“It’s me, Yu Hong. I live nearby. We’ve met before,” Yu Hong replied. “Have you seen the clothes with black handprints on the grass?”

“I burned them,” Li Runshan said, pointing to a pile of black ash to the right. “Good thing I had Mist Concealment. And good thing you didn’t come yesterday—burning those in plain view of the entities would’ve been a death sentence.”

Yu Hong didn’t know what “Mist Concealment” was, but when he saw the black ash pile—complete with a metallic buckle from Eve’s belt—he realized Li Runshan was telling the truth. The clothes had indeed been burned.

Turning his gaze back to the mail carrier, Yu Hong was about to speak when—

“Daddy, can I come out now?” A sweet, childish voice rang out from the stone house.

“Not yet. I’m talking to someone. Keep an eye on the lid and don’t let them burrow out,” Li Runshan called back firmly.

After addressing the voice, he returned his attention to Yu Hong.

“So, what’s it gonna be? Are you here to buy something, send a letter, or mail a package? I’m open to negotiations.”

Yu Hong was momentarily speechless. Looking past the man, he caught sight of a furry little head peeking out from the window of the stone house.

It was a young girl, no older than eleven or twelve, with twin braids and chubby, rosy cheeks. Her plump face made her seem rather well-fed.

“Well? Do you want to buy anything? I heard your area has Luminous Stone marrow to trade. Anything you buy would be worth the deal!” Li Runshan stood his ground with a grin.

(End of chapter.)

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