At that moment, Dr. Xu opened the door and turned to look at him.
“It's a man!”
“I take back what I said about you being a burden, and I thank you for saving me. But now, your decision is truly foolish!”
She couldn't understand how someone like Yu Hong existed in this world.
He was like a dreamy idealist, always saying and doing things that ordinary people could not comprehend.
Now, it seemed that Yu Hong was somewhat capable, able to create such a fortified wooden door.
That was indeed a talent.
But he was too conceited.
“You'll regret this. You have no idea how tough the peak period will be,” Dr. Xu said, unable to resist mocking him.
That was just her nature.
“You can still change your mind and come with us!”
She stared at Yu Hong, revealing a hint of deeply concealed persuasion.
“No.” Yu Hong shook his head. “I prefer to live alone.”
“You!” Dr. Xu’s expression changed slightly.
She snorted and pulled the stuttering girl out.
“Let’s go! It just rained, the ground is difficult to traverse; we must hurry! Let's temporarily stay at the place of a patient I once saved!”
She finally stopped paying attention to Yu Hong and dragged the stuttering girl quickly out of the cave, leaping down the rock face, and running off into the distance.
The stuttering girl looked back at Yu Hong while running.
“Yu, Hong!” She waved her hand with effort. “The house, the things, all, for you!”
She felt it might be the last time she would see him, making her heart a bit sad.
“Thanks!” Yu Hong waved back, smiling.
Watching the two figures grow smaller in the damp forest, he suddenly felt a strange emotion wash over him.
Perhaps, Dr. Xu and the stuttering girl wouldn’t come back for a long, long time.
The sudden appearance of a large blood tick seemed to signal that the external environment was deteriorating further.
If large pests became a regular occurrence in the future...
Yu Hong couldn’t continue thinking.
Gazing in the direction they left, he felt a deep sense of loneliness surging in his heart.
Suddenly, he took a deep breath and shouted.
“Yi Yi! I will wait for you here, forever!!”
His voice echoed loudly in the mountains and forests, carrying further and further away.
The two distant figures paused for a moment, then continued moving until they could no longer be seen.
At that moment, more golden rays of light pierced down from the gray clouds, illuminating the land and the forest.
Yu Hong looked toward the direction where the two disappeared and then cast his gaze toward Baiqiu Village.
“Now there’s no one left.” He exhaled.
“Only me remains.”
All the villagers nearby who survived would definitely make the same choice as Dr. Xu if they encountered large pests.
They would go looking for a larger bunker, as it was impossible to fend off stronger monsters with just a handful of people.
“Perhaps within a radius of several dozen miles, I’m the only one living outside.”
Yu Hong stared at the quiet and lifeless Baiqiu Village, where old houses filled with patches emitted a chilling, eerie aura.
From the mouth of the cave, he could barely see a glimpse of the village’s outline through the forest.
He stood at the cave entrance, motionless for a long time.
Suddenly, his pupils shrank, and his muscles tensed slightly.
In the distance, he saw a figure appear at the entrance of Baiqiu Village, dressed in tattered gray clothes, a middle-aged man of slender build.
It was too far to see the man’s face clearly.
He could only make out that the man seemed to be smiling, waving at him from afar.
The figure stood at the village entrance, raising his right hand and mechanically waving toward Yu Hong.
Yu Hong blinked, but in that brief moment, he found the figure had vanished.
“An illusory shadow!” He gritted his teeth, feeling a bit sore in his jaw.
The frequency of illusory shadows appearing in broad daylight was increasing.
Based on what the stuttering girl had previously said, it hadn't always been like this.
This was not normal.
Combined with the newly appeared large blood ticks...
“It’s just as the radio said. The environment is worsening. Things are getting more troublesome.”
Yu Hong slowly retreated, no longer looking in the direction of the village.
Instead, he searched for the wooden barrel he used to collect rainwater earlier.
Soon, he discovered a barrel with a large hole in it, about ten meters from the cave entrance in the grass.
Fortunately, it still had a small amount of rainwater left.
He lifted it with effort and returned to the cave.
Then he checked the wooden door, placing his hand on the door panel.
“Would you like to repair?” The mechanical voice of the black mark echoed again.
“Yes.” Yu Hong responded in his heart.
Immediately, a black line flowed from the mark on the back of his hand, swiftly leaving his hand and merging into the wooden door.
Then, a countdown appeared, a number only Yu Hong could see.
Seeing the repair start, he sighed with relief and opened the door to let in some outside air.
Then he began to count the food and supplies stored in the cave.
1 bag of reinforced protein bars, ten pieces.
This could last him ten days, if the packaging wasn't lying.
2 dried mushrooms and vegetables given to him by the stuttering girl, about a large bag, normally enough for him to eat for quite a long time, ensuring he gets trace elements and dietary fiber.
3 a stinky cotton blanket.
4 a radio.
5 two wooden stools.
6 a stove.
7 a broken water bucket.
8 a piece of reinforced luminous stone.
9 a set of axe and saw for lumber work.
10 a reinforced candle.
That was all the main supplies; the other living essentials were in the houses of Baiqiu Village.
But...
Yu Hong approached the window of the main door, looking in that direction.
In the sunlight, the dilapidated old village seemed to have vague figures standing at every household's door and window.
They stood silently, unmoving.
As Yu Hong gazed at them, they seemed to sense something and began to turn back in his direction.
“So many!” Yu Hong’s scalp tingled, and he quickly shut the barrier, blocking off the view from the peep window.
Baiqiu Village was clearly different now; it had become more dangerous.
Not only the blood ticks had changed, but even the illusory shadows...
“It was impossible for so many illusory shadows to appear in broad daylight like this before. Why is it like this now?”
He couldn't comprehend.
He had only one piece of reinforced luminous stone left; the rest were embedded in the walls and the door.
Right! The stick!
Yu Hong grabbed the reinforced nail stick and looked around at the embedded luminous stones in the cave, feeling slightly safer.
He was starting to understand Dr. Xu.
She was right.
Without the black mark, going to the bunker in town would have been the best and the only way to survive.
“By the way, I wonder if the reinforced luminous stones can be restored or replenished after use.” Yu Hong sat on the wooden stool, picking up a piece of the used luminous stone.
The egg-sized white stone had lost its jade-like texture and now resembled pale lime.
The symbols on its surface were still there, but upon close observation, he noticed many of the lines and patterns were broken.
What was once continuous had become disjointed.
Holding the reinforced luminous stone, Yu Hong quietly sat, staring at the countdown number on the door.
He didn't dare go outside.
Things were clearly abnormal outside.
Tomorrow would be the peak period, but today had already started to show extreme irregularities.
At Baiqiu Village, there were still things the stuttering girl said she would leave for him, but he didn't dare go fetch them now.
Because it was too dangerous.
Earlier, he had seen over twenty illusory shadows from afar, and those were the ones brave enough to appear in broad daylight.
This was an entirely different concept.
If those illusory shadows attacked, his luminous stones wouldn't hold them off.
Yu Hong continued to focus on the countdown while deep in thought.
“Fortunately, before I left, I gave Yi Yi a piece of luminous stone and had her learn more complex runes on them. It should be useful to her.”
At that moment, as he was lost in thought, the wooden door in front of him suddenly became hazy.
In an instant, the previously damaged and cracked reinforced wooden door returned to its unblemished state, as if it had just been made anew.
All the damage, cracks, the loosened fixed screws, and so on, were reinforced and restored to their original appearance.
Yu Hong let out a sigh of relief, stood up, and checked carefully.
Satisfied that it was indeed fine, the door had truly reverted to the state right after he reinforced it.
He felt a heavy weight lift from his heart.
“But that’s not enough.”
Thinking of the terrifying impact from before, a layer of gloom shadowed his eyes.
After a moment of contemplation, he picked up the luminous stone stick, cautiously opened the door, and stepped outside the cave.
Outside was a quiet and dense forest.
The dampness after the rain was rising, turning into mist that seeped through the forest, beginning to obscure his vision.
The unclear mist raised Yu Hong’s alertness.
But he had to go back to the place where he made the wooden door to find a few long planks for reinforcement.
Carrying the luminous stone stick, he kept his movements as quiet as possible, descending the rock face and arriving at a small clearing in the forest.
In the clearing were a few scattered stumps, charred traces from past fires, and wood shavings from sawed timber.
This was the place where he had previously made the wooden door.
Yu Hong looked around, ensuring there were no dangers, and quickly picked up two thick wooden planks, about the thickness of his arm.
These were leftover materials not used before because they weren’t straight enough.
But now, they were just right for making a door latch and supporting posts.
Yu Hong dragged the two wooden planks, each over a meter long, back to the cave.
The two planks were soaked from the rain, damp and heavy.
But he didn't mind at all; he cared only about getting through these days of the peak period first.
He took out the saw, measured them briefly, and began cutting the planks vigorously.
Soon, after some adjustments and processing at both ends, the two thick planks would perfectly brace against the back of the door, tilted, reinforcing the door's defenses.
After completing this, Yu Hong pressed his hand on one of the planks.
He was thinking about reinforcing the door brace.
This was an experiment for him.
On the surface, it only looked like two rough thick planks, but could giving it a functional name also allow it to be reinforced by the black mark?
If not, then it would mean the black mark had particular requirements for reinforcing targets.
If it could, the potential was much greater.
Pressing one hand on the plank, Yu Hong quietly recited in his heart.
Soon.
“Would you like to reinforce the door brace?”
With a quiet sound that only he could hear, the voice rang out.
The look in Yu Hong's eyes shifted from waiting to eager anticipation!
He saw numbers appearing on the plank: 11 points.
“Yes!”
He replied vigorously in his heart.
It worked!!
It actually worked!!!
At the same time, a wave of excitement surged in his heart.
If this was the case, then building a simple water filtration tool for myself should also be possible to reinforce!
And furniture, various tools, as long as I give them a designated functional name, perhaps...
(End of Chapter)