Night of Despair

Faced with Yu Hong's questions, the girl was unable to respond, and she did not know which question to answer first.

She stood there dazed, trembling with the medicine box in her hands, the shaking so severe that it seemed the medicine might fall out at any moment.

Snap.

The door was pushed open again, from the outside.

A middle-aged woman in a dirty white lab coat entered, with yellow skin and black hair, plus those black-framed glasses—indeed, it was the woman from before who seemed to be a doctor.

"I'll answer your questions. Don't be hard on Yiyi, she has been ill before and was frightened; her speech and mind are both slow."

The woman walked to the bedside and placed a light gray kettle on the wooden bedside table.

"We don't know how you got here. Last night, when Yiyi went out to gather firewood, she accidentally found you in a pit and dragged you back here."

"When we found you, you were unconscious and did not seem to have any external injuries, just unconscious with a fever. Yiyi fed you plenty of filtered water and waited all night before you woke up."

At this, the woman sighed.

"Then about this place, this is Baiqiu Village, surrounded entirely by deep mountains, the only connection to the outside is an old road to the west."

She paused for a moment.

"I am the village doctor, Dr. Xu. Her name is Lin Yiyi, an orphan living here alone. There's nothing else important to tell. Alright, I've said what needed to be said, now it's your turn. Who are you? How did you get here? What brought you here?"

"Dr. Xu... I may call you that, right?" Yu Hong processed the situation, enduring the pain in his throat, and spoke gravely.

Seeing her nod, he continued.

"I... am Yu Hong. I was just sleeping at home, and then..." He detailed his sensations from earlier.

"I don't know how I got here, I..." he struggled to raise his hand, clutching his forehead.

"How old are you?" Dr. Xu suddenly asked.

"Twenty... twenty-seven," Yu Hong reflexively responded.

"That's enough, anyway, you can't go back now. In these times, no matter where you are from or how you got here, without a car, going out means certain death. You'll probably have to stay here for a long time," Dr. Xu stated flatly.

"??? No car? Can't I... borrow a car to get me to the nearest station... I can pay!" Yu Hong was a bit dazed.

"A station?" Now it was Dr. Xu's turn to be baffled. "What are you talking about? Where is there a station? Who drives these days? The outside is all messed up with monsters, going out alone is suicidal."

"Monsters?!" Yu Hong was stunned.

"What monsters??" He suspected she was either acting or delusional.

But as he watched Dr. Xu look at him with an eye reserved for idiots, Yu Hong began to sense something was off.

He felt a bit panicked.

He was just an ordinary office worker; nobody would spend a lot of money to hire an actor of this caliber to deceive him, right???

"It's over... definitely an idiot." Dr. Xu looked up, her expression resigned.

"Idiots together, you two are perfectly matched."

She glanced sideways out the window.

"It's still early, you'll understand when it gets dark. I'm leaving now. Yiyi, keep an eye on him, don't let him open the door at night."

"Okay..." Yiyi quickly nodded.

Seeing Dr. Xu about to leave, Yiyi hurriedly called out.

"Medicine... Medicine! Sister…" she called out anxiously.

"...." Hearing her, Dr. Xu turned back to look at Yu Hong, understanding the situation.

She pulled a mercury thermometer out of her pocket and put it into Yu Hong's mouth.

"Taking your temperature."

She waited a while, then pulled out the thermometer and checked it.

"38.5, you won't die."

"Medicine... mine... it's not good..." Yiyi quickly handed over the medicine box she was holding for examination.

The mold on the medicine also made Dr.Xu frown.

"Yiyi, my medicine supply is also low, the post office goes to the city only once a month."

Upon hearing this, Yiyi instantly became frantic, looking left and right, quickly retrieving something resembling a yam from the corner cabinet, handing it over.

"Exchange, this, for... medicine!"

Dr. Xu shook her head, saying it wasn't enough.

Then Yiyi started searching other places.

The two haggled back and forth, their voices constantly reaching Yu Hong's ears.

Listening left him feeling drowsy and more and more lethargic, soon slipping back into a deep sleep.

The pain in his throat, the dizziness in his head, the weakness throughout his body made it impossible for him to get up.

His body's natural healing mechanism prompted him to quickly regain strength by sleeping.

Time rapidly passed.

He didn't know how long had passed, maybe it was an hour, or maybe three hours. Time meant nothing to someone in a stupor.

Yu Hong slowly woke from his deep sleep.

His body was sore and weak, his throat felt as if something was stuck in itm a large lump blocking it, rendering him unable to speak.

He opened his eyes and slowly propped his body up from the bed, surveying his surroundings.

The room was quiet.

This small square-shaped bedroom had walls and a ceiling made of light yellow wood.

The floor was black soil, flat and dry, some corners even had grass sprouting.

Yu Hong slowly turned to the side, lowered his legs over the edge of the bed, and carefully stepped onto the floor.

The solid feeling of his feet on the ground inexplicably relieved him.

He looked down at himself.

A greyish-white short-sleeve T-shirt with a cartoon tiger printed on the front and some yellow stains. His pants were cream-colored casual pants, but they looked quite wrinkled at the moment.

Grey socks with big toes poking through holes on both sides, embedding black soil, protruding outward.