As Yu Hong stretched out his hand to warm himself by the fire, he suddenly felt an unbearable thirst.
He stood up and walked over to the wooden barrel, preparing to scoop some water to drink.
The water inside the barrel was quite murky, taking on a faint gray hue, but it was much better than the stinky water he had before.
Yu Hong took a piece of dry charcoal and used his axe to cut off a corner of his clothing.
He wrapped the charcoal in the cloth and placed it over the mouth of a wooden cup, making it perfectly snug so it wouldn't fall.
With that, he managed to create the simplest and rudest charcoal filter cup.
He carefully lifted the bucket and slowly poured the water from above the cloth-wrapped charcoal.
The water seeped in very slowly, dripping beneath the cloth into the cup.
Yu Hong observed the droplets and noticed that at first, they contained some black charcoal particles, but as it continued to filter, the water became much clearer, though still somewhat murky.
“I must drink this water. It's essential. I’ll try to strengthen this cup first, and if it doesn’t work, I can always go to Xiaojie’s place to get another one."
With a plan in mind, Yu Hong held the wooden cup tightly.
As he concentrated on reinforcing it, a new black number appeared on the side of the cup: 2:34. At the same time, he heard a mechanical voice echo in his ears:
“Do you want to strengthen the filter cup?”
“Yes!” Yu Hong replied with eager anticipation.
In an instant, the number turned into a countdown.
He felt relieved and sat down, leaning back against the fireplace to soak in the warmth.
His heart began to settle as he realized that a two-hour wait was not long.
He could afford to rest a bit.
Sitting on the wooden stool, Yu Hong felt the continuous warm air radiating from the fireplace.
It wrapped around him, seeping through his clothes, making him feel increasingly lethargic.
Even with the imminent danger of the dark night outside, where the atmosphere was cold and damp, this warmth made him feel strangely unmotivated.
Before he knew it, his eyelids began to droop. “No! I can’t sleep!” He abruptly stood up, distancing himself from the fireplace.
By now, a faint odor of sweat had begun to fill the cave, a smell from the quilt and himself being dried out by the heat.
Earlier, it was hard to notice amidst the dampness, but now the scent had quickly spread due to the drying up process.
“Ugh,” Yu Hong rubbed his nose; he knew the best thing to do now was to open the door for some fresh air, but unfortunately, it was night, the most dangerous time outside.
He could hear the faint rustling of insects crawling outside, indicating that the blood ticks had started to appear.
He had no idea where these insects showed up from; they were invisible during the day but would crawl out as night fell.
Moreover, they seemed to evaporate upon exposure to light, which was certainly abnormal.
But at that moment, he didn’t have time to ponder further.
He stood up silently by the fireplace, waiting.
The flames danced like red silk, flickering in the light, casting shadows that flickered endlessly.
Soon enough, a swarm of black bugs began to pour in through the ventilation hole by the door.
As they entered, the firelight quickly engulfed them, dispersing them into black smoke.
The flames dimmed slightly but swiftly returned to their normal brightness.
“Thankfully, the blood ticks don’t consume much from the fire. If I can control the number that enters, I should be able to make it through the night without any issues.” Yu Hong assessed the dry firewood in the corner, feeling relieved.
Standing by the fireplace, he waited for the swarm of black bugs to cease its invasion, always ready to add more firewood to the flames.
Time trickled away like sand through fingers; the fire slowly dimmed.
Yu Hong, with swift hands, tossed a handful of dry wood into the flames.
The fire flared up brightly once more.
This cycle continued as he had to add more firewood almost every half-hour to keep the light steady.
This constant requirement left him no room for distraction; he had to keep his eyes glued to the flames.
Boom!
Suddenly, the wooden door was struck with an enormous force, producing a thunderous sound.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The thundering continued as the door shook violently, bits of stone began to fall from around its edges.
Yet, the two reinforced support beams held strong.
As the door shook and wobbled under the impact, it felt as if the entire cave was going to collapse.
However, thanks to the support beams, it held firm, and the screws around it remained intact.
Yu Hong felt a surge of fear and anxiety as he stood rooted in place, forcing himself to ignore the door and keeping his gaze fixed on the fireplace, watching for the fire’s dwindling glow.
Time dragged on, and Yu Hong lost track of it.
His phone had long since run out of batteries and shut off.
All he could do was guard the fire and wait for dawn.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. “Wait! My phone is also an item; can’t it be reinforced too?” He realized that the most technologically advanced item at his disposal was indeed his phone.
If he used it for strengthening, it could transform into an intelligent processing and control center.
He could perhaps even create a fully automated safe haven for himself in the future!
As he thought wildly, the loud banging ceased.
It seemed the creature outside finally realized it couldn’t break through the reinforced door and retreated into the distance, leaving behind nothing but silence.
After about ten minutes of quiet, besides the usual blood ticks and black bugs, no other sounds were heard.
Everything returned to its earlier state of equilibrium, though the reinforced door bore the marks of relentless pounding and had started to bulge inward slightly.
Yu Hong sighed, feeling that the night had passed its halfway point.
If he could just hold on a bit longer, he would surely be fine.
Boom!
Just then, an explosive sound reverberated off the door.
The doorframe cracked with a loud ‘pop’, creating a visible fissure.
Yu Hong's expression changed dramatically; he dashed forward to brace the door with his quilt.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Another wave of ferocious strikes came, significantly louder and more forceful than before. “Either this isn’t the same creature, or it’s in a frenzied state!” Yu Hong thought as he pressed against the door, anxiety flashing through his mind.
The crashing sounds persisted, making his eardrums tingle, and the shoulder he used to brace the door burned painfully, evident he’d scraped his skin.
Ten minutes passed.
Twenty minutes.
A half-hour.
Forty minutes.
Finally, as the hour approached, the banging ceased, leaving an eerie silence in its wake.
Yu Hong breathed a sigh of relief, easing his grip on the quilt as he peeked at the door.
The sturdy door was now riddled with raised bumps and parallel cracks, showing signs of immense stress.
If it were to take any more pounding for half an hour, it would surely break.
Just then, a sliver of light shined through the ventilation hole, and Yu Hong understood at last that it wasn’t the creature giving up; it was dawn breaking outside.
He plopped down onto the ground, drenched in sweat, feeling both thirsty and hungry.
Turning to look at the strengthened filter cup, he noticed the countdown had disappeared, replaced by a well-constructed black metal cup.
The cup featured a large filtration device, connected like a scale to the lid.
The cylindrical bottom resembled a beer mug, with a capacity of at least five hundred milliliters—about the same amount he would normally drink from a bottle of mineral water.
He quickly took the reinforced cup and poured some water from the bucket into it.
The rainwater filtered through, slowly dripping into the bottom of the cup, gradually forming a clearer layer of cold water.
After waiting a bit, he tilted the cup to pour out the water. “It’s mostly drinkable now, but it still needs boiling.”
The pot for boiling water was back at Baiqiu Village.
Yu Hong could only take a symbolic sip to moisten his mouth.
Next, he walked to the door, moved the blocking board, and looked outside.
The sunlight was becoming brighter, rays of sunlight filtering through the trees.
Yu Hong checked around to ensure everything was clear before removing the support beam and unlocking the door.
He stood at the entrance, thoroughly inspecting the door for any damage.
He was horrified to see that the reinforced wooden door was nearly broken through; if dawn hadn’t arrived just in time, things could have turned grim.
Yu Hong silently extended his hand to press against the surface of the door. “Do you wish to repair?”
“Yes,” he answered firmly.
Watching the countdown appear on the door, a shadow of concern crossed his heart. “No, I can’t stop here; I need to reinforce the door further. If another of those creatures pounds against it, this door won’t hold!”
“How do I reinforce it?”
Standing by the door, he closed it again and started to think carefully.
Soon, he grabbed his axe and rushed outside.
With the sound of chopping wood, Yu Hong quickly dragged two thick wooden boards back.
He replaced it with a hammer, and after some loud clinking sounds, the two thick boards were nailed onto the back of the door.
However, instead of attaching them to the door, he fastened them to the side walls, one on the top, the other on the bottom, parallel to each other.
This made it a bit of a hassle to come and go, but it effectively reinforced the door once more.
Afterwards, he fixed some wooden slats tightly against the back of the door, thickening the door itself.
After all this, he was utterly exhausted and slumped down to sit.
Wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, he opened the wooden box of tools that Xiaojie had given him.
To his dismay, only two nails remained inside.
“The steel nails are also running low. I need to replenish them.” The mortise and tenon joints were useful, but they needed to be planned from the beginning; otherwise, any modifications later on could only rely on steel nails and such.
After contemplating for a moment, Yu Hong filtered another cup of water, taking small sips.
Grasping the steel nails and the luminous stone, he took a deep breath, scanning the cave around him. “First, I’ll go to Xiaojie’s house to gather some supplies. Before I head out, I’ll reinforce something to save time.”
He pondered again and decided to reinforce the newly added wooden door supports.
He pressed his hand against the reinforcement board on the back of the door, focusing his mind.
Soon, the mechanical voice echoed again. “Do you wish to strengthen the door support?”
“Yes!” Yu Hong replied easily, as if he were already accustomed to it.
The reinforcement board soon displayed a countdown: 1:32. “That’s fortunate, not too long,” he breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, he picked up the glowing stone and secured it before opening the door.
Without hesitation, he jumped down the rock staircase, heading towards Baiqiu Village through the forest.
(End of Chapter)