A Night of Desperation

Chapter 18: Troubles (4)

“It’s a man!” Doctor Xu said as she opened the door, turning to look at him.

“I take back what I said about you being a burden, and I thank you for saving me. But right now, your decision is really stupid!”

She couldn’t understand how someone like Yu Hong could exist. He was like one of those idealistic, naive people who always say and do things that normal people can’t understand.

Now, it seemed that Yu Hong might actually have some skills. Being able to craft such reinforced wooden doors was impressive.

But he was too full of himself.

“You’ll regret this. You have no idea how hard the peak period will be.” Doctor Xu couldn’t help but mock.

That was just her personality.

“You can still change your mind and join us! It’s not too late!”

She stared at Yu Hong, her eyes softening with a subtle attempt at persuasion.

“No thanks,” Yu Hong shook his head. “I prefer living alone.”

“You!” Doctor Xu’s expression changed slightly, letting out a huff. She grabbed Little Stutterer and stormed out.

“Let’s go! The ground’s difficult to walk on since it just rained; we must hurry! Let’s stay with one of the patients I helped before!”

She finally stopped paying attention to Yu Hong and dragged Little Stutterer out of the cave, jumping down the rocky cliff and running off into the distance.

Little Stutterer looked back at Yu Hong as she ran.

“Yu, Hong!” She struggled to wave her hand. “House, things, all… for you!”

She felt like it might be the last time she’d see him, and a tinge of sadness filled her heart.

“Thanks!” Yu Hong waved back, a smile on his face.

Watching the two of them getting smaller and smaller as they ran further into the wet forest, he suddenly had a feeling.

Maybe Doctor Xu and Little Stutterer wouldn’t be back for a long time.

The sudden appearance of the large blood tick seemed to signify that the external environment was starting to deteriorate further. If the Big Skins started appearing regularly…

Yu Hong stopped thinking about it.

Looking in the direction they went, he suddenly felt a deep sense of loneliness.

Suddenly, he took a deep breath and shouted loudly.

“Yi Yi! I’ll wait for you here, always waiting!!”

His voice was loud and echoed through the mountains and forests, one shout after another, traveling far.

The two dots in the distance paused slightly before continuing to move, disappearing completely.

At this moment, more golden rays pierced through the gray clouds, lighting up the earth and the forest.

Yu Hong looked in the direction where they had gone, then turned to look toward Baiqiu Village.

“Now, there’s no one left.” He exhaled.

“It’s just me now.”

If all the villagers and survivors around here encountered the Big Skins, they would definitely make the same decision as Doctor Xu.

They would look for a larger scale bunker. It was impossible to fend off the stronger monsters with just a few people.

“Maybe, in a radius of dozens of kilometers, I’ll be the only one living in the wild.”

Yu Hong stared at Baiqiu Village, the old houses filled with patches, giving off a cold and eerie death aura.

From the cave entrance, he could barely see the outline of the village through the forest.

He stood motionless at the cave entrance for a long time.

Suddenly, his pupils contracted, and his muscles tensed slightly.

From far away, he saw a figure suddenly appear at the entrance of Baiqiu Village’s broken stone road.

It was a middle-aged man in gray-white old clothes, with a thin build.

The distance was too far to make out his appearance.

He could only see that the person seemed to be smiling and waving his hand in this direction.

The person stood at the village entrance, raising his right hand, mechanically waving toward Yu Hong.

Yu Hong blinked, but as soon as he blinked, he noticed that the person was gone.

” Ghostly shadows!” He gritted his teeth, feeling his jaw tighten.

The frequency of Ghostly shadows appearing in broad daylight was increasing. According to the little stutterer’s information, it wasn’t like this before.

This was not normal.

And with the appearance of the new large blood ticks… Big Skins.

“Just as the radio said… the environment is deteriorating. It’s getting more troublesome.”

Yu Hong slowly retreated, not looking back at the village direction. Instead, he began searching for the wooden barrel he used to collect rainwater.

Soon, he found a barrel with a big hole in it, about ten meters from the cave entrance.

Luckily, there was still a small amount of rainwater left in the barrel.

He lifted it with difficulty and returned to the cave.

Then, he checked the wooden door and placed his hand on the door panel.

“Would you like to repair it?” The mechanical voice of the black mark sounded again.

“Yes,” Yu Hong replied in his mind.

Immediately, a black line flowed from the black mark on the back of his hand, shot out from his hand, and entered the wooden door.

Then, a countdown appeared, visible only to Yu Hong.

Seeing the repair start, he breathed a sigh of relief, opened the door, and let the wind from outside blow in a little.

Then he started to count the food and supplies stored in the cave.

One bag of enhanced protein bars, ten pieces. This should last him ten days if the packaging isn’t lying.

Dried mushrooms and vegetables that the little stutterer gave him. It was a large package, enough for a long time, providing trace elements and dietary fiber.

One stinky cotton blanket.

A radio.

Two round wooden stools.

One stove.

One broken water bucket.

One enhanced glowstone.

An axe-saw lumbering kit.

One enhanced candle.

These were the main things. Other daily supplies were in the houses in Baiqiu Village.

But…

Yu Hong walked to the window of the cave and looked in that direction.

In the sunlight, he could vaguely see that every door and window in the ruined old village had a vague figure standing there.

They stood quietly, motionless.

As Yu Hong stared at them, it seemed like they noticed something and turned to look back in his direction.

“So many!” Yu Hong’s scalp tingled, and he quickly slammed the board shut to block his view.

Baiqiu Village had clearly changed, and it had become more dangerous.

Not just the blood ticks were changing, but even the Ghostly shadows.

“Before, with such strong sunlight during the day, there shouldn’t have been so many Ghostly shadows. Why is this happening now?”

He couldn’t understand.

The enhanced glowstone in his hand had only one left, with the rest embedded in the walls and the door.

Right, the rods!

Yu Hong grabbed the steel spike rod and looked around at the enhanced glowstones embedded in the cave’s surroundings, feeling slightly safer.

Now, he kind of understood Doctor Xu.

She was right.

If the black mark weren’t here, going to the bunker in town would be the best, and the only way to survive.

“By the way, after using the enhanced glowstone, I wonder if it can be repaired or replenished.” Yu Hong sat on one of the stools, picking up a piece of enhanced glowstone he had used before.

This stone, once removed from the steel spike rod, had lost its jade-like texture and turned a pale white, resembling lime.

The symbols on the surface were still there, but upon closer inspection, Yu Hong noticed that the lines had broken in many places, no longer continuous.

Holding the enhanced glowstone, Yu Hong sat quietly, staring at the countdown on the door.

He didn’t dare go outside.

The outside was clearly not normal.

Tomorrow would be the peak period, but today had already started to feel extremely abnormal.

Baiqiu Village had the things the little stutterer said she would leave for him, but he didn’t dare go to get them now.

Because it was too dangerous.

Just now, from afar, he had seen at least twenty Ghostly shadows. These were Ghostly shadows that dared to appear in broad daylight.

This was a completely different concept from before. Once these Ghostly shadows attacked, his enhanced glowstones wouldn’t be able to stop them.

Yu Hong kept his eyes on the countdown while thinking.

“Luckily, before I left, I gave one of the enhanced glowstones to Yi Yi and had her learn the more complex symbols on it. That should help her.”

Suddenly.

Just as he was thinking, the wooden door in front of him flickered.

In an instant, the damaged wooden door with cracks was completely restored, as if it had just been made.

All the damage, cracks, and loosened screws had been reinforced and restored to their original state.

Yu Hong breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, and carefully inspected it.

After confirming that there was no issue and that the door had indeed returned to its original reinforced state, he felt a deep sense of relief.

“But it’s not enough.”

Thinking of the terrifying impact of the Big Skins before, a shadow appeared in his eyes.

After thinking for a moment, he picked up the steel spike glowstone rod, cautiously opened the door, and stepped outside.

Outside was a quiet, dense forest.

The moisture from the rain was rising, turning into a light mist, spreading through the forest and beginning to obscure his vision.

The blurry mist made Yu Hong feel a sense of vigilance in his heart.

But he had to go to the place where he made the wooden door earlier to find some long wooden planks to reinforce it.

With the steel spike glowstone rod in hand, he moved as quietly as possible, climbing down the rock wall, and coming to a small open area in the forest.

The clearing had a few stumps from trees that had been chopped down, black marks from fires, and wood shavings scattered around.

This was where he had made the wooden door before.

Yu Hong looked around and made sure it was safe, quickly picking up two thick wooden planks the size of his arms.

These were leftover materials that had been discarded because they weren’t straight enough.

But now, they were just right for making door bolts and support beams.

Dragging the two wooden planks, Yu Hong returned to the cave.

The planks were soaked from the rain and very damp.

But he didn’t care about that. He wasn’t concerned about whether they were wet or not; he just needed to survive through the peak period first.

He took out a saw, measured them briefly, and then began cutting the planks.

Soon, after adjusting and processing the ends of the planks, they were just the right size to be placed at the back of the wooden door, slanted to reinforce the door’s defense.

Once done, Yu Hong placed his hand on one of the planks.

Thinking about reinforcing the door’s support device.

This was a test for him.

On the surface, these were just two rough wooden planks. If he gave them a functional name, could the black mark reinforce them too?

If not, that would mean the black mark had very specific requirements for its reinforcement targets.

If it could, there would be much more flexibility.

Pressing his hand on the plank, Yu Hong quietly chanted in his mind.

Soon.

“Would you like to reinforce the door reinforcement device?”

With a faint sound, only he could hear, the numbers on the wooden plank appeared.

11 Minutes.

“Yes!”

He answered in his mind with great force.

It worked!!

It really worked!!!

At the same time, a spark of excitement rose in his heart.

If that’s the case, then I can create a simple water filtration tool, and it should also be reinforced properly!

“Then there are furniture and various tools. As long as I give them a designated functional name, perhaps…”

(End of chapter)