Night of Despair

Both individuals were wearing protective goggles and black face masks, dressed just like the stutterer earlier.

They soon arrived at the entrance of the mountain cave where the taller figure came forward and knocked on the door.

"Yu Hong from Baiqiu Village?"

"It's me. What's the matter?" Yu Hong replied while hiding beside the door.

He didn't hide behind the door, but rather avoided the door and leaned against the stone wall.

"Have you got better luminous stones for sale?" The man didn't introduce himself but simply asked on his own accord.

"What better luminous stones? I don't know what you're talking about, and... who are you?" Yu Hong asked in a deep voice.

"Stop beating around the bush. We've seen the two pieces Lin Yiyi had; they're impressive. With your skills, you shouldn't stay here. You should come with us to the town where there's a greater need for your craftsmanship to fully realize its potential and save more lives." The taller person pressed on in a serious tone.

"Also, I forgot to introduce ourselves; my name is Zhao Zhenghong, and he is Xu Yang. We're both from the United Forces in town."

"The United Forces..." Yu Hong pondered, "Sorry, I don't want to go to the town. I feel very safe staying here alone. However, I can sell the enhanced luminous stones, but not now; I don't have enough for myself, and I don't have the time to make them."

He indeed considered trading enhanced luminous stones for supplies, but he couldn't mass-produce them yet; one piece took three days, which was a massive waste of the Black Mark to him.

"Now is a peak period, and there's a high demand for luminous stones. If you come with us to town, you'll have plenty of people to protect you, surely you can focus on crafting new Large Pyroxene Stones. It'll be more comfortable than hiding out here on your own, worrying about everything." Zhao Zhenghong continued to persuade him.

"No, thank you. I'm used to living alone, and I wouldn't feel comfortable in town. I appreciate your goodwill, though." Yu Hong refused again. "If you want to buy, you'll have to wait until the peak period is over."

Upon hearing this, the person behind Zhao Zhenghong silently reached out, touching the pistol strapped to his thigh.

But Zhao Zhenghong stopped him with an outstretched hand.

"Mr. Yu Hong, according to the wartime emergency regulations established when the United Forces were formed at the onset of the Black Disaster two years ago, section twenty-eight, paragraph three: If technology or talent capable of significantly improving military power is discovered, compulsory recruitment can be enacted with compensation following as needed."

He paused.

"In fact, we could conscript you against your will, but since we're all locals from Baishi Town, I'll give you a chance. If you don't want to go, that's fine. But the technique for making Large Pyroxene Stones, you should contribute that, right?"

"In these tough times, having one more Large Pyroxene Stone might mean one less death. Besides, sharing the technique doesn't stop you from making them. You can still live in seclusion here with no impact, and by doing so, you'd also contribute to others' wellbeing and avoid a lot of trouble, right?"

Zhao Zhenghong made a logical case; someone else might indeed have been persuaded.

But unfortunately...

Yu Hong didn't make the enhanced luminous stones through his own skills, but through the Black Mark.

And the abilities of the Black Mark mustn't see the light of day.

"Sorry, I only accept exchanges. As for the technique, you won't be able to master it," Yu Hong replied, his tone steady.

With a sturdy wooden door for protection, he didn't think the other party could break in, so he flatly refused.

Outside, Zhao Zhenghong's eyes flashed but he didn't get angry, instead laughing.

"Alright, if that's how it is, then we'll visit another time. And Mr. Yu Hong, you might want to reconsider. Living alone here in hardship can't compare to enjoying life in a bunker where food and drink are plentiful and you can even have a girl to spend your days with."

He patted his companion and the two turned and descended from the cave's stone steps, walking off into the distance.

Before long, the two disappeared into the forest and were out of sight.

But from an angle out of view of the cave's window, a person also dressed in camouflage clothes was silently clinging to the rock wall, hiding on the right side of the door.

Dressed exactly like Zhao Zhenghong and his companion, he was holding a dagger in one hand, standing straight against the rock wall as motionless as a gecko.

From this position, as soon as the cave door opened, he could pounce inside in an instant and gain control over the person inside.

At the cave window, Yu Hong quietly moved his eyes away from the slit in the spy window and exhaled. He watched for a while to make sure no one was there before he started to relax.

'The kind of exchange I want, isn't like this...'

He was well aware that the enhanced luminous stones would attract troublemakers. But for the safety of the stutterer, he did not hide them selfishly.

Furthermore, with the reputation of the enhanced luminous stones spreading, there will certainly be others coming for exchanges.

After all, the previous stones were too cumbersome to carry around very inconveniently, like when the stutterer had to throw the luminous stones handful by handful to drive away the shadows.

Coming to his senses, Yu Hong didn't go outside but waited quietly in the cave.

There was enough food and water to last at least another day, and he wasn't in a hurry to go out.

In case those two had a trick up their sleeve, it would be troublesome.

Leaning on the fireplace and feeling its warmth, Yu Hong felt for the first time that maybe living a steady and safe life in the shelter wasn't such a bad idea...

Gurgle...

Suddenly his stomach made rumbling noises.

Yu Hong's expression changed, and the good mood he'd just felt vanished without a trace.

He rushed to the corner, found a small bucket, and pulled down his pants to aim.

Splash.

As soon as he aimed, a wave of splashing sounds gushed out.

Yu Hong's face turned completely white.

He... had diarrhea!!

Sharp pains in his stomach told him this wasn't a simple case of being cold; it was very likely an intestinal infection!

After cleaning himself with leaves, Yu Hong had just stood up when his stomach churned again.

Once more he lifted the wooden lid of the bucket and unleashed another bout of splashing relief.

'This is trouble!'

Getting back up, Yu Hong quickly rummaged through the miscellaneous items he'd brought, and soon found a small black box.

Opening the box, there were two deep blue capsules inside whose use was unclear.

But Yu Hong remembered that these pills seemed to be the cold medicine given by Doctor Xu. They were not anti-inflammatory drugs.

The previous anti-inflammatory drugs had all been consumed by him. When they were not enough, Xu Yang had exchanged many valuable items with Doctor Xu, but unfortunately, it was still not enough. Out of human decency, Doctor Xu made a loss-making exchange once again.

Having taken the medicine, his health finally started to improve slowly.

'No, I must find a way!' Yu Hong covered the shit bucket, but at this time, the stench in the cave had already begun to spread.

He had no choice but to open the observation window to allow the airflow inside and outside to exchange.

'I need medicine, enteritis or anti-diarrhea drugs will do!' Yu Hong felt anxious in his heart, suspecting it was because he drank unboiled rainwater that had caused diarrhea.

But strangely, the water he had drunk before was all filtered through Xu Yang's dirty filter pot, and yet he had not fallen ill. It was the rainwater...

It seemed odorless, but drinking it caused stomach issues.

Yu Hong clutched his stomach and glanced at the newspaper of the Comprehensive Physical Training Method that was still counting down for enhancement. Only a little more than two hours had passed. There was still a long way to go until completion.

He looked outside at the daylight. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed two planks and stuffed them behind and in front of his chest and abdomen, then picked up the steel nail luminous stone rod and walked to the door.

He had to make a trip to the homes of the other villagers in Baiqiu Village to see if the post office had any medicine.

Otherwise, if he had too much diarrhea by tomorrow, he would certainly become weak and dehydrated, and his condition would be even worse.

Moreover, with regard to medicine, he must also find a way to replenish it. Perhaps when he returned, he could try enhancing it with a Black Mark.

Grasping the doorknob, Yu Hong turned it with force.

Click.

The door lock turned, making a noise.

But Yu Hong just stood in place without moving and quietly waited.

He even held his breath to listen to all the movements outside.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, he pushed the door outward.

Then with a bang, he closed it lightning-fast.

The crisp sound of something hitting the door came just as it closed, and a shadow flashed by from outside, tumbling down the stone steps and crashing onto the grass.

"Fuck!"

The person cursed and got up, then yelled in some dialect from who knows where.

Seeing no movement inside the cave, the person looked at the sky and finally snorted coldly and quickly walked away.

Behind the door.

Yu Hong took a breath, cold sweat slightly seeped out, but his expression relaxed, still standing motionless behind the door.

He waited like this for another ten minutes or so, repeated the probing from before several times, and after confirming that there were no more movements outside, he slowly opened the door.

The outside was brightly lit; it was the middle of the day, the best moment for sunlight.

'There is at least five hours until dusk, the post office is just over a mile away, the round trip is not an issue at all. I can also ask the nearest villagers en route if they have anything for trade. If the post office has no medicine, perhaps I can find something with the others.'

As for what to trade... Yu Hong took with him his own water filtering cup. The filtering cup, obtained through enhancement, was decently made and its filtering effect was much stronger than that of regular devices; it should be very popular.

And this gadget was completely homemade by him, a wooden cup without even a handle to speak of; making one was very simple, just hollowing out a round pit in a piece of wood.

As for the filtering media, a piece of cloth and a piece of charcoal—extremely low cost and not a long enhancement time.

It could completely be his special product, used for bartering with people.

Carrying the filtering cup and wielding the rod, with a few pieces of dried meat and a leather bag full of water in his pocket,

Yu Hong left the house and headed in the direction given by Xu Yang, running all the way towards the post office.

Having been there many times, a path had already been beaten into the ground.

The grass on the path had been cleared and was shorter than elsewhere.

Plus, Xu Yang was afraid of getting lost and had deliberately made notched marks on the trees.

Yu Hong jogged along, managing not to take a wrong turn.

About half an hour later,

he finally arrived at what Baiqiu Village called the post office—a square white stone house.

A fence circled around the house, and on the wooden gate for entering and exiting the fence, there hung a sign that read: "Please ring the bell before visiting."

Yu Hong looked at the stone house and walked over to the sign, but found that the bell had fallen on the ground.

He picked it up; it was a copper bell the size of an egg, which he shook ever so slightly.

Ding-dong!

The bell rang.

He kept shaking it, and the sound kept ringing, echoing continuously through the forest in waves.

But there were no birds, no insects, only the sound of the wind rustling the leaves and branches as if in response.

After shaking it for several minutes,

there was still no response from inside the stone house; it seemed no one was there.

"Stop shaking it, the postman has gone to the town bunker. There's no one here,"

a cautious middle-aged woman's voice floated over from the side and back.

Yu Hong looked in the direction of the voice and saw a short-statured woman with golden hair, dressed in a dark green men's jacket, getting up from a cluster of bushes.