A smile slowly faded from Yu Hong's face.
He needed information, enough to gather intelligence on the dark shadow.
If he could find that survivor who had just escaped death, the person who managed to survive the attack by the dark shadow's withered woman, he might obtain first-hand information.
But unfortunately, the town had been abandoned, and that person was likely long gone by now.
With this thought in mind, he opted not to strengthen his abilities but instead stood up and began pacing in the cave.
After a while, he paused at the entrance, peering through the small window to look outside.
The forest at dusk was eerily silent, with the vague outline of Baiqiu Village barely visible in the distance, equally still.
As he gazed at the scenery, Yu Hong suddenly had a thought.
His furrowed brow relaxed and he appeared thoughtful.
He pulled over a partition and focused on the glowing stone mace he had enhanced.
Initially, it had been a rough steel nail embedded in a stone club, but now it had been improved significantly.
Of course, it could only be enhanced once more; the second time would be ineffective.
Thus, he was not concerned about the mace itself but rather about the idea of placing the large glowing stone inside.
‘If a single large glowing stone isn’t powerful enough, then why not combine several pieces together? Perhaps I could grind the large glowing stone into powder, mix it into ink, and draw advanced talismans?’
‘Would that enhance the effect and reduce the time needed?’
More than ten kilometers away from Baiqiu Village lay Baishi Town.
On the long, winding main street, the dry yellow leaves were blown about by the wind, making a rustling noise.
The smooth gray concrete street was pockmarked with many holes and cracks.
On either side, the storefronts had long been closed.
The dim sunlight split the street into areas of light and shadow.
Suddenly, a store's door was slammed open from the inside.
A burly man with a scruffy beard charging out in gray athletic wear rushed down the street, gasping for breath.
His forehead was drenched in sweat, and his eyes were bloodshot.
In one hand, he clutched a large glowing stone, but the luminous quality of the stone was swiftly dimming, indicating it was being consumed rapidly.
“Don’t kill me! Stay back!” The man's voice was filled with despair.
He cried out, and his lone voice echoed down the empty street. “I beg you! Don’t come any closer!”
In a frantic stumble, he continued to run forward, occasionally glancing back in sheer terror as if something were chasing him.
Yet, there was nothing behind him but the quiet, empty street.
Suddenly, the man tripped and fell.
A clear black handprint gradually appeared on his back, not much larger than a child's.
However, it seeped through his clothing, appearing as if ink had been smeared across his coat.
In an instant, dark liquid surged from the handprint, soaking through his clothes, and staining his arm and face black.
As his body turned black, he rapidly shrank as if losing all moisture.
He struggled, a whimper rising from his throat, but in just a few seconds, his cries fell silent.
His body ceased to move completely, becoming a charred black corpse.
A gust of wind swept by, and the corpse vanished, leaving only a pile of clothing behind.
The next day, at the post office in Baiqiu Village.
In front of the stone building, Jenny, Doctor Xu, Yu Hong, and Old Yu were gathered together.
Jenny looked a bit haggard, clearly having not rested well the night before, with her gaze wandering as if lost in thoughts.
Doctor Xu nibbled on some jerky, squinting slightly.
Old Yu, who was responsible for breeding lizards and making jerky, also looked worse than before.
“Old Yu, didn’t you leave? Why are you back again?” Doctor Xu asked.
“I ran back halfway,” Old Yu shook his head. “They suddenly demanded to collect half the supplies. Everyone had to contribute. Haha, if I hadn’t remembered the way back, I would have been left stranded!” He scoffed.
His gaze then shifted to Yu Hong.
“Young man, Jenny mentioned you might be able to acquire large glowing stones? Is it a steady supply?”
“I can, but sometimes I need to rest,” Yu Hong nodded.
He had intended to discuss managing Old Yu’s breeding cave with Jenny and Doctor Xu.
After all, having a stable source of food was essential.
Old Yu had long agreed to leave his breeding cave for those who remained.
But unexpectedly, he returned shortly after leaving.
Nevertheless, it was a good thing, as they would surely fare better with Old Yu’s expertise than fumbling about on their own.
“Just your word is enough. Now we have candles and large glowing stones. As long as we exercise caution, the chances of surviving are quite high. I propose that since we’re all together, we move into the basement of the abandoned post office. It’s the sturdiest place with enough room and facilities for everyone. Staying together also provides mutual care,” Old Yu suggested.
“I have no objections. I’ve gathered the tools for making candles, so I’ll handle the candle supply from now on. It’s not difficult to make,” Doctor Xu replied.
“I’ll pass; I’m used to living alone,” Yu Hong declined.
“I’m fine with it,” Jenny nodded.
“Well, one less person is fine. Then it's settled. Jenny will handle clothing and repairs, I’ll take care of food, Yu Hong will manage the glowing stones, and Xu will handle candle making and temporary medical care. From now on, this place will belong to us few. Let’s support each other and work hard,” Old Yu declared, clearly anticipating Yu Hong’s reluctance.
“Do you have information about the dark shadow?” Yu Hong couldn’t help but ask.
Without knowing the dark shadow’s strength, he always felt a heavy sense of foreboding, as if trouble were looming.
“A bit. It’s said to be related to black handprints. If you see a black handprint in the wild, don’t touch it. Keep your distance.” Old Yu coughed a few times as he lowered his head.
“Is there anything else?” Jenny asked.
“Also, don’t think about going to town to scavenge. Many of those who stayed and went to town died,” Old Yu said, smiling oddly. “In this day and age, living another day is a blessing. Cherish it.”
After agreeing on a time to meet, the four parted ways to return to their dwellings.
Yu Hong felt reassured knowing that the food supply was relatively stable and that there were candles as well.
Upon returning to the cave, he surveyed the floor, which was covered in the symbols and patterns of the large glowing stone he had drawn.
These were all his practice sketches, but they were not made with charcoal, just simple scratches with a stone.
Watching the messy cave, Yu Hong sighed, aware that he had much left to do.
Having shortened the strengthening time for the large glowing stones, he had already begun the official enhancement yesterday.
Without knowledge of how much glowing stone was required to dispel the dark shadow, he needed to produce as much as possible.
At the same time, he had to explore new and better methods to resist the dark shadow.
He took out a protein bar, bit into it, and removed his shirt to start practicing his advanced physical exercises.
After an hour of intense training, he sought out a hammer, squatting in a corner of the cave, and began to grind.
Previously, he had shattered a piece of raw glowing stone, and his primary task now was to grind it finely.
‘If the effect of dispelling the dark shadow relies on glowing stones and symbols together, then directly using glowing stone powder to draw symbols should be effective too!’
While grinding, Yu Hong repeatedly pondered in his mind if there were any other better methods.
About half an hour later, the glowing stone powder was finished.
He mixed a little carbon powder, poured it into a wooden bowl, added water, and stirred to create standard glowing stone ink.
After this success, Yu Hong glanced outside at the darkening sky.
‘Why does it feel like the nights are getting darker so quickly?’ he frowned.
He approached the window and pulled the partition down.
Ever since the frightening encounter with the dark shadow, he had not dared to leave the partition open at night.
He pulled the partition down and lit a candle instead of igniting the fireplace, placing it on a wooden stool.
Using a wooden stick, he dipped it into the glowing stone ink and carefully began to draw glowing stone symbols on the stone wall beside the fireplace.
The stone wall was not smooth, so he had previously chiseled out a large glowing stone symbol about the size of a basin.
Since he had already practiced drawing in other locations, carving symbols on the wall posed no difficulty for Yu Hong.
After all, the requirements weren’t high; a rough outline would suffice, as long as it was large enough.
It was much easier than drawing on a small glowing stone.
Yu Hong carefully wiped away the fine dust from the wall, then filled in the lines of the large glowing stone symbols with the glowing stone ink bit by bit.
The lines were delicate, requiring little glowing stone ink.
In about ten minutes, the entire wall symbol carving was completed.
Stepping back, Yu Hong admired his masterpiece.
Suddenly, there was a rhythmic knocking at the door.
“Is anyone there?” a strange woman’s voice called from outside. “It’s getting dark outside. Can you let me in to hide for a bit?”
“I heard a voice! Someone is in there, right?” the voice continued.
Yu Hong’s expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn’t heard, quickly glancing at the door where the large glowing stone was slowly shifting in color from top to bottom.
He sighed, pulled a stool over, sat quietly against the sidewall behind the door, and waited.
Knock, knock, knock.
The knocking continued relentlessly.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Finally, all went quiet once more.
The large glowing stone behind the door had already been depleted by a third.
Yu Hong swiftly took it down and replaced it with a full one.
He began to charge the new glowing stone using the black prints, then stood up, returning to his sleeping bag to lie back down and rest.
The amount of glowing stone consumed determined how long it would take to recharge.
This time, the dark shadow knocking was weak, taking only two hours to fully recharge.
Yu Hong rested his hands behind his head, gazing up at the candlelight beside him.
The best advantage of the candle over the fireplace was that it didn’t require wood.
And according to what Jenny had told him, the atomic lamp’s light didn’t dispel the blood tide black bugs.
Only open flames could.
‘Fortunately, I only bought the atomic lamp to see how it looked after enhancement.
If I could directly strengthen something like an energy reactor…’ he began to fantasize.
As the days passed, he had grown accustomed to living in this perilous forest.
Accustomed to sleeping in a state where danger could strike at any moment.
Knock, knock, knock.
In the deep night, the candle flickered.
A sudden knock jolted Yu Hong awake from his slumber.
He glanced at the partition over the door; it was still black outside, confirming it was the dark shadow again.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he got up, filling his small kettle with water to drink.
After drinking, he ignored the knocking, moving to the large glowing stone symbol he had drawn earlier in the day.
The basin-sized symbol was now completely dry.
Below, the large glowing stone that had been replenished was back to its original state, the black prints having fully restored it.
Yu Hong didn’t pay attention to the glowing stone.
Instead, he extended a hand and gently pressed against the large symbol on the wall.
This was an experiment of his; if successful, the efficiency of using glowing stones would be greatly improved compared to before.
(End of Chapter)