“What? Li Jingyuan and the others went to the cave over there?”
Inside the stone house of the post office, Li Ranshan abruptly stood up, surprise written across his face.
“I saw them while I was picking up firewood. There were more than ten of them, and they had guns. I think your friends might be in danger,” said Ge Shenghao, the temporary leader of the strongest group among the refugees.
This man was strong and muscular, with a square face, determined eyes, and dark skin.
He gave off an air of righteousness at first glance.
He was fair in commanding his team, but the only issue was that he only cared about his own group and showed no concern for the other two groups’ well-being.
“Yu Hong has a gun too. As long as they don’t go out and get ambushed, it should be fine,” Li Ranshan thought for a moment but then sat back down.
“Then let’s discuss tonight’s arrangements. Last night, we consumed almost all of our talismans and Great Radiant Stones to save people. What’s left is hardly enough,” Ge Shenghao said solemnly. “I don’t care about the others; we have fourteen members in our group, and not a single one can have an accident.”
Li Ranshan frowned.
There were only two types of people in this group: family members of the high-ranking officers in the United Army and their bodyguards.
The former were less concerning, but the latter were truly formidable.
He glanced around, noticing six family members from three households among them.
The other eight were bodyguards, at least three of whom were his former colleagues, all elite soldiers who had previously worked in the postal system.
In this environment, postal workers were almost second only to the top elite forces of the United Army.
Among this group, there were three such experts, which made it clear how complicated the family members’ identities were.
Yes, complicated.
Li Ranshan’s mind was filled with thoughts of complications.
The other side was well-equipped, coming from the supply team, and their gear wasn’t inferior to his; in fact, it might even be better, well-furnished with firearms and protective gear.
This made it impossible for him to forcefully drive them away.
“The remaining talismans and Great Radiant Stones can only barely cover a basement room to form a safe space. Everyone can squeeze in; it shouldn’t be a big deal, but what about the second and third teams? They aren’t fools. Everyone saw what happened earlier with those people.” Li Ranshan said firmly.
“Let them go to the mine area. Or ask your friend if she has any solutions. This matter is not my concern; I only manage the first group,” Ge Shenghao said coldly, showing no regard.
After throwing down that remark, he turned and left the stone house, heading into the basement.
Li Ranshan sighed, rising to the window, peering through the gap outside.
In the courtyard outside, members of the second and third teams were cooking over a fire, all their faces still etched with the fear and numbness from the previous night.
The bodyguards were gathered in small groups, seemingly discussing something.
Seeing this, Li Ranshan felt a heavy weight in his heart, knowing that if things continued this way, the tensions among the three groups would soon erupt.
As for the first group, he wondered if they could withstand the pressure.
At that moment, in the distance beyond the courtyard, figures dashed out from the woods.
They were running in terror, stumbling as if something horrifying was chasing them from behind.
“Stop! Stand right there!”
The bodyguards raised their guns and shouted.
Their vigilance was heightened to prevent any strange creatures from approaching and to guard against a counterattack from Li Jingyuan and her group, who had been driven away.
But those people seemed dazed with fear, or perhaps they simply didn’t hear and continued sprinting toward them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots echoed.
Several fell to the ground immediately.
The others in the courtyard put down their guns as if nothing had happened, resuming their tasks—cooking, chatting, or resting, indifferent to the deaths happening outside.
It was as if they weren’t aware of the eight people who disappeared last night, dragged away by a strange shadow.
Death was something they had seen too much of.
What they didn’t notice was that in the woods outside, due to the rising red level, wisps of white mist began to emerge between the branches and grass.
This mist, like delicate gauze, blurred the once-clear forest into a mysterious haze.
Suddenly, in the depths of the forest, a gray-white shadow flickered past.
Inside the cave, Yu Hong no longer attempted the vortex talisman pattern because the black imprint had started to reinforce the entire safe house, strengthening the door and merging it with the cave, which greatly increased its defensive capability.
Yu Hong recalled that the last time he encountered the large creature, the initial problem was actually the edge of the door, the area where it connected with the wall.
In essence, the door’s defense was strong enough, but he still needed to be wary of others digging through the wall from outside to enter.
The strength of the stone wall was now no match for the door, so to prevent this, connecting the door with the weaker points of the stone wall was the best solution.
‘After this reinforcement, the space and safety of the entire cave safe house should improve significantly.
Afterward, I can use the synthesis function to repair and strengthen it further.’
He put on the reinforced white bear suit and continued practicing the second layer of his heavy leg technique.
Dealing with those troublemakers was merely a matter of familiarizing himself with the skills; it posed no difficulty for him.
After all, bullets bounced off him harmlessly, and the strength of those people was minimal, easily defeated.
He practiced in the safe house while waiting for the reinforcement timer to count down.
Outside in the courtyard, Qiu Yanxi and Wei Shanshan stood still for a while before silently moving to lift the bodies outside, discarding them.
After toiling for a bit, they stopped to catch their breath, looking at the bloodstains littered across the courtyard.
“Mom, what if the rescue team doesn’t come?”
“They will come,” Qiu Yanxi shook her head. “With so many important figures here, they can’t possibly give up.” She seemed to be reassuring both her daughter and herself.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and Yu Hong stepped out wearing his gray lizard suit, casually tossing a set of tools.
“Anyway, since you both have some free time, help me break apart this piece of Great Radiant Stone. Just smashing it into bits is fine; it will split itself some too,” Yu Hong instructed.
There was still some time left, and he couldn’t just let the two of them idle.
They needed to help gather supplies for daily life as well.
“Also, try to gather more firewood when it’s convenient,” he tossed out another talisman wood board. “Take turns carrying this when you go out.”
With that, he slammed the door shut again and went back to rest.
Qiu Yanxi and her daughter exchanged glances, hesitant.
Finally, Qiu Yanxi stepped forward to pick up the tools and the talisman wood board, examining the items closely, then quietly ordered her daughter to stay inside while she went out to gather firewood.
Since Yu Hong showed little interest in their well-being, they had to demonstrate their worth; otherwise, if the rescue team didn’t arrive…
She couldn’t help but recall the tragic cases she had seen before—the skeletal remains left behind.
That night, the tide of blood rose again, and black bugs routinely passed by outside the courtyard wall, never daring to step inside.
This realization finally put Qiu Yanxi’s mother and daughter at ease, understanding that the courtyard did possess some sort of special quality that deterred the bugs.
Meanwhile, Yu Hong was living an even more comfortable life in the cave than before.
Dry wood was being collected, and food was momentarily sufficient; initially, he still needed to go out for water, but after two days, it started to rain lightly outside.
The rain filled four large buckets, enough for him to filter and boil for a week.
Every day, he consumed food, trained, practiced, and occasionally checked on Qiu Yanxi and her daughter to ensure they were well before returning to the cave to await the countdown.
This was his first large-scale reinforcement of the entire cave safe house; he guessed that this enhancement might completely integrate the cave.
Any hidden structural weaknesses would likely be thoroughly addressed and improved according to the previous style of the black imprint.
So, he was looking forward to it.
Time passed day by day, and soon five days had flown by.
Bang!
On the morning of the fifth day, Yu Hong was jolted awake by a loud bang.
He quickly rolled over, rushing to the door, pulling back the barrier to look outside.
He saw thick black smoke rising from the direction of the post office, billowing into the air.
“What happened!?” His expression stiffened.
If something happened to Li Ranshan’s side while he still wasn’t self-sufficient yet…
Leaving meant risking danger to his safe house, which wasn’t worth the loss.
Qiu Yanxi and the two had no ability to fight back at all; if they died, his hope for energy would vanish.
Rapidly pondering, Yu Hong turned and hastily activated the reinforcement communicator.
Zzz.
A rush of electrical static buzzed, and soon a voice came through.
“Finally connected! Lao Yu, be careful over there; we had something happen here during the day! A real troublesome creature showed up, and several people died in the blink of an eye, no time to react…”
A sharp scream interrupted Li Ranshan's words, followed by angry curses, gunfire, the sound of wood being chopped, chaos ensued.
A few seconds later, Li Ranshan gasped for breath and continued, “Damn it! It’s broad daylight, and blood tide monsters are showing up! Attention! This isn’t a strange shadow! It’s something completely new, incredibly fast, and can fly! You need to—”
Bang!
The signal cut off, followed by a wave of chaotic static noise.
Yu Hong’s face darkened; he didn’t turn off the communicator but continued to charge it with solar energy, hoping for more updates.
“What in the world is it? Daring to attack in broad daylight?” How had the environment deteriorated to this extent in such a short time?
Outskirts of Baihe City.
On the beach near the sea.
Da da da da da!
Intense machine gun fire swept the area, sending countless tiny, nearly invisible bullets raining down from the sky.
Amid the hail of bullets, three three-eyed beast birds skillfully dodged the projectiles and dove toward the sandy beach below.
They were occasionally struck by bullets but didn't seem to care; aside from some blood splattering, they didn’t lose much speed, continuing their assault on the beach.
On the beach below, teams of soldiers in camouflage fired their weapons upward.
The leading captain was the most accurate, hitting the beast birds every time he fired.
However, soon, two chains of the machine gun ran out of ammunition, making it clear that they needed to reload, and at that moment, the beast birds seized their chance to swoop down.
Puff.
Two soldiers beside the captain were instantly cut clean, their upper bodies disappearing; the beast bird swiftly swallowed them whole with a serpent-like motion.
“Retreat! Retreat!” the captain shouted, directing those still fighting to fall back.
The bullets reappeared just in time, striking the beast bird and severing its neck, causing it to spill out the two half-eaten corpses it had just ingested.
“Quick, retreat! We’re out of bullets!” the captain shouted, his vision blurred as he fled toward the military fortifications.
One by one, his teammates followed him into the fort, taking the opportunity to escape.
Seeing this, the beast birds reluctantly took to the air, leaving the beach and vanishing into the white mist over the sea.
(End of this chapter)