Immediately, the three left the stone hut.
Jani returned with the anxious Eve by her side.
Dr. Xu and Yu Hong exchanged some candles for a bit of large brightstone and went back to rest.
With the items in hand, Yu Hong didn’t head home right away.
Instead, he made his way to Old Yu’s old residence—a small hill that looked like a grave mound leading to a cellar.
He opened the cellar door, and a musty smell mixed with the stench of rotten meat rushed out to greet him.
Holding his stick, he suppressed his nausea and slipped inside.
About ten minutes later, he crawled out of the cellar, reeking and clutching a black-covered notebook.
He then walked away without looking back.
Back in the safe cave, Yu Hong returned to his previous routine.
He exercised in the morning, gathered firewood and water at midday, and in the afternoon, he studied the black imprint to strengthen his reading.
Soon, two days passed.
Crack!
At noon, inside the stone hut, Yu Hong broke a dry branch into two pieces, shortening it to fit into the fireplace more easily, and tossed it aside to continue with the next one.
Suddenly, his peripheral vision caught sight of the countdown timer behind the door.
The digits displayed only a few minutes remaining.
‘Almost there! Soon, I’ll know the effect of this maximum enhancement,’ he thought, brimming with expectation.
Despite the looming threat of the malevolent shadows spreading to the postal gathering area, he believed that as long as he wasn’t infected and with the symbol array enhancing him, the phantom and shadows wouldn’t be able to harm him quietly.
However, he couldn’t help but worry about how effective the symbol array would be against the shadows.
No one knew for sure how strong it could hold up since it had never been truly tested.
The few minutes soon ran out, and the countdown finally hit zero.
Sizzle!
A haze enveloped the symbol array behind the door, but it quickly cleared.
The symbol array appeared transformed, its original grayish-white lines now shining faintly in silver after enhancement.
The patterns had shifted from the previous large brightstone configuration to a new and intricate design, with many layered details woven throughout.
‘It looks strong.
But I wonder how it will perform in practice,’ Yu Hong thought, feeling a spark of joy as he observed the new symbol array.
He reached out to touch its surface, which felt incredibly smooth, as though it had never been carved at all.
“Not bad at all. Next, if I grind the large brightstone into powder and make brightstone ink, will it be even stronger?” he mused to himself.
He had gotten a handle on the basics of the black imprint.
While each object could only be enhanced once, if a previously enhanced object was reprocessed, incorporating a large amount of one’s own materials could allow for a second enhancement.
The key was that his own materials needed to be the majority.
‘Just as the malevolent shadows may be approaching, along with those soldiers who had come before, I need to stay alert at all times.’
In the past few days, Yu Hong had set up simple warning devices around his vicinity, such as thin ropes tied between trees.
These ropes were cleverly hidden in the grass, making them nearly invisible to those who weren’t careful.
But if someone accidentally brushed against them, they would trigger bells attached at one end.
The bells had been found in Old Yu’s stone hut and were now serving as alarm signals.
Returning his focus, Yu Hong moved to another corner, grabbed a piece of large brightstone, and began to grind it, adding water and carbon.
Soon, he skillfully prepared a fresh batch of brightstone ink.
This time, instead of carving on another platform, he took a prepared wooden board and meticulously painted the brightstone symbol array.
The silver symbol array was too intricate for him to replicate immediately, so he chose instead to draw the simpler jade quality symbols that came from the brightstone itself.
In just over ten minutes, a brand new wooden board with the brightstone ink symbol array appeared in his hands.
He quickly pressed his hand onto it, initiating the enhancement.
And it wasn’t just any enhancement; he aimed for the maximum limit.
Before long, a new countdown appeared on the wooden board: ‘2 days, 1 hour, 04 minutes.’
Yu Hong looked like he had been completely drained, struggling through the start of the enhancement.
He was determined to be as prepared as possible; if Jani and the others failed in raising meat supplies, he would likely have to go to Old Yu’s cellar to transport food.
Yet, he had no clear understanding of the true threat posed by the shadows, so he could only prepare to the best of his ability.
If worst came to worst, he planned to explore using Old Yu’s notebook for reference.
But this was a last resort, as starting from scratch would surely lead to countless failures and troubles.
*
*
*
In the blink of an eye, five more days had passed.
In the postal gathering area, inside Jani's cave.
“The peak season is coming. We don’t have enough jerky, Mom! Is there any food hidden away? I’m so hungry!” Eve lay sprawled on her bed, flipping through a romance novel.
“Haven’t we just eaten?” Jani’s voice came from the workshop. “I’ve already given you all the jerky we had, and there’s nothing left at home. Tomorrow, I’ll go and see Dr. Xu to see if I can borrow some food.”
She had already given most of their food to her daughter, but even after five days, she still had not succeeded in growing any edible mushrooms.
Cultivating mushrooms was the first step to raising lizards, but now she didn't even know where to start.
Seeing how easily and quickly Old Yu grew mushrooms in the past made it seem simple, but now it felt painfully slow.
“But, Mom, I'm starving,” Eve complained, her eyes wide. “I already borrowed from Dr. Xu once, so he’s probably out too.”
“Hang in there. It’ll be ready soon. We’ll have to settle for mushrooms and wild vegetables for now,” Jani replied helplessly.
Old Yu’s disappearance had thrown Jani’s plans into disarray.
She intended to grow food herself, but when Old Yu returned unexpectedly, she thought she could leave it to him and stopped her efforts.
Now, right when they needed to stock up on food, Old Yu was gone!
This left both Jani and Dr. Xu entering a state of hunger with dwindling supplies.
“Old Yu must have something at home, right? Why don’t we just go get it?” Eve suggested in annoyance. “Anyway, he’s gone now; isn’t it just free usage?”
“No way! What if the black handprints get us?” Jani said, startled, quickly raising her voice. “Whenever there’s trouble, I can handle it, but you must listen to me this time! Absolutely, absolutely, do not go near Old Yu’s place. It’s very dangerous!”
Seeing her mother’s fierce determination, Eve nodded reluctantly, agreeing not to go.
But as she lowered her head, she felt the pangs of hunger gnawing at her stomach, as if her whole being was on fire, craving meat, meat, meat.
Thoughts about the many food supplies stacked at Old Yu’s place echoed in her mind.
It had been said that he had brought candies and drinks back from town.
If she could get her hands on them, it would be such a delight!
‘He’s been dead for so long; any black handprint would have faded away.
Besides, I’ll just go in, grab something, and leave.
I won’t touch any black handprints, so it should be fine!’
She was unconvinced.
With the peak season approaching and the jerky supply nearly exhausted, if she didn’t hurry to stock up, it wouldn’t be bugs that caused her demise but her own hunger.
Now, the last of the canned goods her father left were finally gone, and all support had to come from outside.
If she didn’t step out soon, she would be too weak from hunger to even go.
Eve made a fuss in front of her mother, but while waiting for Jani to go look for Dr. Xu, she quietly slipped out of the cave.
Not wandering aimlessly, she soon arrived at the broken entrance of the stone hut.
Turning on her atomic flashlight, she felt a mix of fear and excitement; yet, the unbearable hunger drove her to take a deep breath and rush inside.
After a short while, she crept back out, having crawled up from the cellar.
Fearing her mother would find out and scold her, she only retrieved a small bag of snacks she had hidden for herself.
This was her little secret stash, and she was determined not to let her mother discover it; otherwise, she might get a beating.
Upon returning, Eve carefully hid her stash, and indeed, her mother didn’t notice.
This gave her a sense of achievement.
The next day, she again used the excuse of gathering firewood to sneak back down to Old Yu's cellar, lighting candles inside and searching for food, enjoying a delightful meal.
She did the same on the third day.
Days passed leisurely, and Eve didn’t realize that with each trip to the stone hut’s cellar, she was going deeper inside each time.
Feeling secure, her vigilance waned, and she began lighting candles every day, enjoying lavish feasts in the cellar.
In no time, one room’s supplies of jerky were exhausted, and she moved to the next one.
As time went on, she finally arrived at the place where Old Yu had been attacked.
In the dim corridor, candles flickered at intervals, their warm glow giving Eve a strong sense of safety.
Having stolen food for so many days, she was increasingly confident that there was nothing wrong here, and there was no danger at all.
Her mom and Dr. Xu were merely scaring themselves.
Humming a little tune, she walked to Old Yu’s bedroom door, glancing at the scattered clothes on the floor.
She noted the black handprint on a sleeve.
“As long as I avoid the black handprints, I’ll be fine. They’re just exaggerating how dangerous it is!” Eve thought, stepping over the clothes and entering the bedroom.
Using the light of her candle, she quickly began rummaging through the room, searching for food and treasures.
The dark, cold cellar was thoroughly illuminated by the candles, revealing every corner.
Truly, she took for granted the belongings that were not hers.
Supplies that had belonged to Old Yu were now being enjoyed wastefully by Eve without restraint.
After a thorough search, she suddenly cheered, having discovered a block of white chocolate in a cabinet.
“This is delicious!” She tossed it into her mouth and let out a satisfied hum.
Crack!
At that moment, there was a soft sound at the bedroom door.
Eve froze, turning her head to look carefully.
She noticed one of the candles at the door had gone out.
Crack!
While she turned to gaze back at the door, she heard a faint sound beside her, and the candle in her hand extinguished.
Quickly, Eve turned back, but saw nothing.
The room around her grew darker, and she began to feel frightened.
‘I need to go back,’ she nervously thought, stepping back quickly toward the door.
Just as she was ready to step over the pile of clothes at the entrance, a sudden gust blew out two candles in the corridor.
In an instant, only two candles remained lit in the hallway.
Eve gasped in fear, her body shaking involuntarily as she slipped and fell backward onto the ground.
Thump!
She landed hard on her bottom, the pain shooting through her.
As she hastily tried to get up, her body froze all at once.
Glancing down, she realized her sitting spot was right on top of Old Yu’s pile of clothes!
“No way...!?” she shivered as coldness washed over her, and her scalp prickled while she bolted for the exit.
She didn’t even notice that a clear black handprint was slowly forming below her waist on her backside.
Whoosh!
Once she left, the last two candles in the corridor were blown out.
*
*
*
Soon, it was time for the peak season to arrive.
At this moment, Yu Hong was scheduled to meet with Dr. Xu and Jani to exchange supplies.
In the safe cave, Yu Hong carefully gathered everything he could bring.
After weeks of exercise, his physical fitness had noticeably improved, and he now felt an additional trace of coolness within him.
This meant that he had three cool energies available to use.
“Hopefully, Jani can manage the livestock jerky; otherwise... While I can hold on for a while, they definitely won’t last long.”
Once he was ready, Yu Hong opened the door and stepped out into the bright sunlight, striding toward the postal gathering area.
(End of Chapter)