On his way back, Yu Hong's mind was filled with the image of the unconscious Ai Fu.
He had initially thought about simply putting an end to her life, but when the moment came, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
He was just an ordinary person, a regular office worker.
Even when he had fought back against two soldiers before, he hadn't killed anyone!
Yes, he just knocked those two out; if they woke up in time, they could still live.
As long as nobody died at his hands immediately, it didn't count as murder.
This time was no different.
He couldn't kill anyone; he couldn't bear to watch a living, moving, breathing life fade away in his hands—a life equal to his own.
That indescribable feeling made him feel increasingly nauseated, as if he wanted to vomit.
Perhaps he would get used to it in the future, but at this moment, he still held onto his compassion.
He was still just an ordinary person.
Arriving at the entrance of the cave shelter, Yu Hong struck Jenni, who was still unconscious, a few more times, breaking her limbs.
Only after taking her key, dagger, and other belongings did he return to the room with peace of mind.
He lit a fire, removed his sweat-soaked clothing, and sat bare-chested next to the hearth.
He sat still, silently contemplating, with three talismans laid out beside him, easily within reach.
He remained in silence for a long time, perhaps more than an hour.
"Sigh," Yu Hong exhaled, gazing into the flickering flames.
A hint of confusion and sorrow filled his eyes.
"I don't want things to be like this."
His voice lowered.
"But the environment is like this, and the people outside are like this. It's not my fault."
He reached for the handgun in his waist holster.
This black gun, crafted by the Aurora Forge, was now completely out of bullets.
The two shots he fired earlier had emptied his limited supply.
Since it was already empty, he might as well try to strengthen it.
Gripping the handle, he silently recited in his mind. “Strengthen the firearm; direction: auto-replenish bullets.”
“Insufficient completeness.” The black seal’s wool was clearly not that easy to untangle.
Attempting to upgrade an ordinary handgun to one that never runs out of bullets was obviously impossible.
After a moment of thought, he changed his approach. “Strengthen the firearm; direction: reduce recoil, refill bullets once.”
“Insufficient completeness.” The response from the black seal remained unfavorable.
Yu Hong's brows furrowed.
He began to explore other enhancement directions, but it seemed that none could replenish the bullets.
Remembering other items he had upgraded before, many automatically replenished, and some even had built-in repair functions—like the main door.
So he decided to start with the most basic recoil reduction enhancement for the handgun.
The countdown finally began, set at 32 minutes.
Not too long.
Yu Hong simply sat and waited, organizing his thoughts and future plans.
Not long after, when the timer ended, the handgun before him shimmered and briefly became blurry before becoming clear once again.
The handgun looked the same, except it was significantly newer, and the Aurora Forge markings were gone.
Yu Hong quickly picked it up and ejected the magazine.
It was empty, disappointment showing on his face.
“It seems like I still can't replenish bullets; this means that bullets are considered separate items from the handgun.”
He gave up on the gun and began exercising.
The advanced physical training method had already provided him with significant help.
His speed was increasing, and he could run faster and more effortlessly now.
After exercising and consuming a hearty soup, the sky outside grew darker.
Yu Hong pondered over the matters regarding Jenni and her daughter, still unable to untangle the ongoing mysteries.
“If I assess this based on Doctor Xu's words, Jenni's family is indeed very abnormal. Jenni herself clearly practiced combat and had a dagger. Her daughter, Ai Fu, mastered ancient languages and several foreign ones—this couldn’t possibly have come about in such a small place; the educational environment is insufficient.”
“This means they must have lived in a much better environment before. Strangely, even if her husband was seeking the secrets of the black disaster, he shouldn’t have brought his whole family here. Family would obviously be safer in a big city.”
“Why did he willingly bring them here?” Yu Hong found it hard to understand.
However, he planned to visit Jenni and her daughter’s home tomorrow to see if he could find anything useful, such as that Sunshine One.
Outside, the night had completely fallen.
Yu Hong sat alone on a round stool, sipping the freshly brewed sweet soup.
The rustling sounds from outside were all from the black worms crawling around; as they entered, they were quickly burned by the fire, turning into black smoke.
By now, he could face the invasion of the black disaster with considerable calm.
Compared to the black disaster, the threats posed by the strange shadows and dark phantoms were much greater.
He casually took out a piece of wooden board with a painted formation and began reinforcing it again.
“I wish that the hearth could automatically add firewood so that I wouldn’t have to worry about it, allowing me to sleep soundly without handling these matters. Instead of having to manually add firewood every half an hour,” he sighed softly.
Thus, the night passed without conversation.
Early the next morning, he armed himself with a wolf fang club and set off.
First, he went to the spot where Jenni had lain.
She had crawled ten meters across the grass and finally leaned against a tree, completely disappearing, with only a pile of scattered clothing left behind.
Yu Hong checked, confirming the clothes were fine, with no black handprints, and rolled them up to take back to the cave shelter.
This fabric could be made into many various things and had a wide range of uses.
With the loss of tanners and tailors, they would need to use the fabric sparingly from now on.
After bypassing Jenni, Yu Hong continued toward the post office, quickly arriving at the place where Ai Fu had fallen.
As expected, only a set of clothing lay abandoned on the ground.
However, this time Yu Hong didn’t dare to touch anything, for there was a clear black handprint on the pants of the clothing.
He picked up some stones to weigh down the fabric, ensuring it wouldn’t blow away in the wind before moving on toward the post office gathering place.
Doctor Xu's dwelling was also nearby; he needed to communicate with him in advance to avoid misunderstandings.
After all, they were the only two living souls in the vicinity now.
As he passed the post office, Yu Hong suddenly halted and unexpectedly stopped.
Outside the stone building of the post office, there was actually a person sweeping the leaves and branches from the yard.
This person looked like a traveler, dressed in blue and white camouflage, carrying a dirt-colored backpack.
He wore a peaked cap and stood around one meter and eighty, very sturdy, with darker skin.
The man saw Yu Hong and put down his broom, slowly walking toward him.
"Hello, I’m the new postman, Li Runshan."
He didn’t approach too closely, stopping about five meters away.
“I’m Yu Hong, I live nearby,” Yu Hong briefly introduced himself. “Are you really a postman?” he questioned with some suspicion.
“This is my identification, medal, tools,” Li Runshan said, taking out a deep blue booklet and flipping it open for Yu Hong to see.
Inside the booklet was indeed a red-stamped identification, marked with the Republic's People's United Army Postal System, beneath it the national emblem, along with a name and identification number.
The medal was simpler—Li Runshan just lifted one side of his coat, revealing several medals of various sizes and colors hanging inside.
“I’m a veteran, having served for over ten years in the field troops. Sigh,” he exhaled. “Who would have thought the world would change like this?”
“Did you know the nearby town was relocated?” Yu Hong asked.
“Yeah, I’m not from the town. The relocated town has merged with Hope City, and now it's part of the city,” Li Runshan explained. “I was sent from the city. Hope City's code is 231. Everyone just calls it Baihe City.”
He paused.
“To be honest, not many people want to come to this place. There are hardly any live people left. But this Baiqiu Village has nearby pyroxene mines and ruins. The ruins are just that; while they are one of the sources of the black disaster, what’s more important is the companion pyroxene mine. Nowadays, with the increasing numbers of strange shadows and dark phantoms, three towns went missing just within the past month. Your nearby small town is considered lucky; it sealed off and relocated immediately. Otherwise, heh heh…”
This person obviously loved to talk and seemed to have just come from a larger area, eager to share what was on his mind.
“Ruins? Companion pyroxene mines? So, the pyroxene grows alongside the source of the black disaster?” Yu Hong asked, frowning.
“Most of the time. However, there are also many independently mined caverns. By the way, my superior asked me to reach out to a researcher named Freyn here. Do you know him?” Li Runshan asked innocently.
“I don't know,” Yu Hong recalled Jenni and Ai Fu in that instant.
“Then he’s probably gone," Li Runshan said, looking down and putting something dark into his mouth to chew casually.
“To be honest, I was also pushed out by people in the city and sent here because I offended some talents. You understand the outside environment. Strange shadows are everywhere, the black disaster is growing stronger, and anyone who comes out can’t survive for long. Most of the people sent away will not return.”
Yu Hong found himself at a loss for words.
“But I volunteered to come; I can’t stand the disgusting things in the city,” Li Runshan added.
“Tell me about that silver tower researcher. Are you certain he came here? If he dies here, will they send someone else?” Yu Hong looked at him with hopeful eyes.
He didn’t say “if they will come” but “if they can come,” indicating he wished for more newcomers.
“I don’t know. But once the higher-ups catch their breath, they should send someone else. After all, this place was one of the sources of the black disaster. The initial protective symbols were discovered in these areas.” Li Runshan replied.
“Protective symbols?” Yu Hong asked curiously.
“It's the symbol on the pyroxene. Anyway, enough of that; I need to tidy up the post office.”
“Wait, be careful with the black handprints from the dark phantoms in your basement. Don't touch them,” Yu Hong kindly reminded him, considering the information the other had provided.
“Alright, thanks! I can see them already,” Li Runshan smiled, his expression growing gentler.
Clearly, as a postman, he had more ways to deal with things than ordinary people.
Even traces left by dark phantoms wouldn’t pose much difficulty for him.
“By the way, here are two letters, one for Xu Ruoying and one for Yu Hong,” he suddenly remembered something, rapidly pulling two letters from his backpack.
He glanced at the surfaces and handed one to Yu Hong.
“This one is for you, Yu Hong.”
“Thanks,” Yu Hong accepted the letter curiously.
He found it strange; he hadn’t been here long, so who would send him a letter from afar?
Suddenly, he thought of someone.
(End of Chapter)