Inside the safety cave, the morning sun faintly seeped through the inspection window's shutters.
Yu Hong leaned against the fireplace, slowly waking from a heavy slumber.
His brow furrowed as he tilted his neck, feeling the stiffness in his back and the numbness in his vertebrae—clearly, he had been pressed against something for too long.
Opening his eyes, his gaze immediately landed on Doctor Xu, who was sprawled out on her sleeping bag.
She seemed to be enjoying her sleep, and her complexion was much better than the day before.
"Doctor Xu? Doctor Xu?" He called out a few times.
Doctor Xu slowly stirred, her eyelids fluttering.
She shook her legs and suddenly opened her eyes, revealing a look of alertness.
"I'm still alive?"
"Looks like it," Yu Hong replied.
"I thought you were paralyzed yesterday, but luckily you managed to recover after a night's rest."
Doctor Xu propped herself up, her cracked lips moving slightly.
"I have an old problem where intense physical activity can trigger issues. It was just a little worse than usual yesterday."
"A little worse?" Yu Hong was left speechless.
"Is it morning now? What's the situation outside?" Doctor Xu asked in a low voice.
"Is there any water? Give me some."
"I’m not sure. I haven't been outside yet, but it seems quiet."
Yu Hong got up and poured her some cold water.
As he watched her sip slowly, he couldn't help but continue asking, "Honestly, with the kind of danger out there, with monsters and shadows taking turns attacking, how did you all manage without much bright stone? How did you survive while I was gone? Did you even have solid bright stones to hold out?"
"Before, there weren't any monsters nearby," Doctor Xu sighed.
"Just call me Xu Ruoying. You saved me, so we’ve shared hardship together."
"Alright."
Yu Hong didn't mind her name; he was focused on getting answers to his previous questions.
He had wanted to ask this for a long time but hadn't found the right moment.
"Actually," Xu Ruoying sounded somewhat helpless, "we rarely faced the shadows directly before."
"Then how did you handle it? Could you really avoid them?" Yu Hong asked, surprised.
"Why not?" Xu Ruoying countered.
"Did the little stutterer never tell you about ways to hide?"
"No," Yu Hong shook his head.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, a look of contemplation appearing on his face.
"Wait. I think I might have thought of something. What if we surrounded ourselves with bright stones to create a small space to hide in? Wouldn't that work?"
He remembered the little stutterer had a similar secret room.
However, that space was only big enough for a child to squeeze into; an adult could not fit.
"That's it!" Xu Ruoying nodded.
"As long as you embed bright stones in the surrounding walls to a certain density, you can hide yourself effectively. In critical moments, if you hide inside, the shadows won't be able to find you."
"What about the Blood Tide black bugs?"
"That’s something you just have to face directly," Xu Ruoying shook her head.
Yu Hong nodded, finally understanding how others managed to survive in such a hazardous environment.
He pondered how much bright stone he had spent in his efforts to fight off the shadows and monsters.
Yet here was Xu Ruoying, and also Jenny and the postman, who clearly had far less bright stone and still managed to stay alive for so long.
It puzzled him greatly.
"Wait!" Suddenly, Xu Ruoying stilled, her eyes fixed on Yu Hong with disbelief.
"Could it be that you had never hidden before? Were you just facing the shadows head-on?!"
Yu Hong had no answer.
If he had known there was such a technique, he would have saved so many bright stones!
"My goodness," Xu Ruoying was speechless.
It was her first time meeting someone like this.
If Yu Hong didn’t have the bright stone, who knows how he would have survived?
The two of them looked at each other, unsure of what to say next, merely sitting in silence.
After a moment, Xu Ruoying couldn’t sit still any longer.
She glanced towards the sunlight outside.
"I need to go back. I have to take my medicine out to dry, or it will spoil."
"Let’s go see together," Yu Hong said, getting up and walking to the silver rune array door, which was now fully restored.
With a swift motion, he opened the inspection window to look outside, then pulled aside another shutter to reveal high-strength glass that allowed a clearer view.
With both areas exposed to light, the sunlight poured in, brightening the cave.
The golden rays reflected off the fireplace and bounced off the walls, creating a dazzling effect.
Yu Hong stood at the window, peering outside.
Everything was quiet; the dark green forest was empty, and only the bloodstains left by Jenny on the clearing stood out starkly.
The rustling of leaves sounded like waves, repeating in a rhythm.
"Seems calm. Be careful."
Yu Hong felt a bit more reassured now that the silver rune array in his defensive suit was fully charged.
With a creak, the wooden door opened slowly.
The two of them stepped out cautiously, one after the other.
"It seems safe now," Xu Ruoying whispered.
"I must return immediately. This is the safest moment."
"Safe travels," Yu Hong nodded.
He knew Doctor Xu’s temperament; she was tough not just in words but also in spirit.
Anyone who could survive in this environment alone was no ordinary person.
"This time I owe you one!" Xu Ruoying left a remark as she hurriedly descended the stone steps towards the gathering place of the post office.
Her figure gradually vanished into the woods, soon disappearing from sight.
Yu Hong watched her until she was out of view before closing the door and jumping down the stone steps to the grass where Jenny had been lying.
He crouched down and closely examined the bloodstained grass, quickly finding two misshapen copper bullets.
He picked up the bullets with a sigh and turned back towards the safety cave.
Closing the door, he noticed all the runes were fully charged.
He placed a hand on one of the bullets.
‘Enhance bullet, direction: restore to normal state.’
‘Completeness insufficient.’
The feedback from the black mark made Yu Hong frown slightly.
He changed directions.
‘Enhance bullet, direction: increase sturdiness.’
This time, the black line flickered, and it seemed to work.
A countdown appeared on the bullet's surface, very small.
‘13 minutes.’
He exhaled and set the bullet down, picking up his handgun and placing it with the bullets.
Now, he just had to wait and see if he could restore the bullets to their original state.
Remembering what Xu Ruoying had said about creating a completely enclosed space with bright stones to hide from the shadows, he realized, "I forgot to show Xu Ruoying that research manual."
His gaze flitted past a plastic bag on the ground.
"I'll just have to wait for next time. Besides, if creating a closed space with bright stones can hide from the shadows, then the rune array made from bright stone powder should have a similar effect. I can definitely cover the entire safety cave with rune arrays."
Having made up his mind, he quickly took out the bright stone ink, applying it to the walls, floor, ceiling, and door, filling every blank space.
Before long, the bullet enhancement was complete.
He returned to the handgun and bullets, crouching to pick up a bullet.
The previously deformed bullet had returned to normal, and its surface had changed from copper to silver-black, as if the material had entirely transformed.
Yu Hong tried inserting it back into the magazine.
Click.
The bullet got stuck.
"The size is off, just a bit too big," he pulled it out, inspecting it closely, noticing that the enhanced bullet had become larger by a noticeable margin.
"Looks like it won’t work."
He set down the handgun and bullets, tossing them into a corner.
He ate a protein bar, drank some water, and munched on some dried mushrooms to wrap up his breakfast.
Next was to enhance the open rune areas one by one.
As long as he covered all the spaces, it should provide the hiding effect that Xu Ruoying had mentioned.
The enhancement continued until noon, completing only a small portion, but there were no noticeable signs of shadows outside.
This lent Yu Hong some peace of mind.
He thought for a moment, then fully armed himself and stepped out of the safety cave, heading towards the post office.
This recent encounter with the shadows had deepened his understanding of the value of information.
If he had known from the beginning that bright stones could be used to create a hiding space, he would not have needed to expend so many resources fighting the shadows.
Therefore, to further gather more information, he decided to discuss the upcoming arrangements with the new postman.
With Old Yu dead and Jenny and her daughter gone, someone needed to be responsible for cultivating mushroom meat, or else everyone would starve.
The postman was bold enough to navigate the wilds near Baiqiu Village alone; he must have some ability to survive by himself.
Thus, finding him was undoubtedly the right choice.
Throughout the journey, Yu Hong remained alert, keenly aware of any rustling sounds around him, fearing the shadows or the dried woman might suddenly appear and surround him.
Before long, he arrived at the spot where Ai Fu had fallen.
"Where's her clothing?"
His brow furrowed; he didn’t see Ai Fu’s clothes on the patch of grass.
After all, her clothes bore black marks and had been weighed down with stones.
It would be impossible for the wind to blow them away.
But now…
Yu Hong’s gaze wandered over the grass, but he still didn’t find Ai Fu’s clothing.
With no other choice, he quickened his pace toward the stone house of the post office.
In a few minutes, he stood before the stone house and rapped on the wooden fence outside.
Bang bang bang!
After a brief wait, a faint sound emanated from within.
A tall man in a dark green tank top opened the door and stepped out; it was Li Runshan, the new postman.
"Is it a living person?"
He cautiously called from a distance.
"I’m Yu Hong, I live nearby. We met before."
Yu Hong replied.
"Have you seen the clothes that were on the grass earlier with the black handprints?"
"We burned them together."
Li Runshan pointed to a pile of black ashes to his right.
"Luckily I brought some mist for concealment; if you had come yesterday, the shadows would have seen us during the burning and we’d have been doomed."
Yu Hong didn’t know what the mist was but seeing a metal buckle from Ai Fu’s belt among the ashes confirmed that Li Runshan's words were true; they had indeed burned it.
Returning his gaze to the new postman, he was about to speak when—
"Dad, can I come out now?" A sweet, chirpy voice rang from inside the stone house.
"Not yet; I'm talking to someone. You keep an eye on the lid and don’t let them push it out," Li Runshan turned and shouted.
Returning to Yu Hong, he resumed his focus on him.
"What do you need? To buy something, send a letter, or ship an item? Prices are negotiable."
Yu Hong was at a loss for words.
Over Li Runshan's shoulder, he caught sight of a small furry head peeking out from the window of the stone house.
It was a little girl, at most eleven or twelve, with her hair in braids and a chubby face that looked soft and pudgy.
"What do you think? Want to buy something? I heard you all have bright stone marrow for sale, and everything's quite the bargain here!" Li Runshan continued to chat with a smile, standing firmly in place.
(End of Chapter)