Night of Despair

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"What's this?" He glanced at the back of his hand, where a black mark had appeared on the back of his right hand at some point.

The mark looked like an ancient seal, a square stamp with a lump of mud-like substance on top, void of any patterns or inscriptions, resembling a birthmark at a casual glance.

But Yu Hong remembered clearly, he had no such large birthmark, let alone on the conspicuous back of his right hand.

He rubbed the mark with his hand, feeling neither pain nor itch.

He tried to wipe it off, found it wouldn't come off, and then temporarily gave up.

After checking his body once more and confirming there were no injuries, Yu Hong stroked his stubbly chin and turned his head toward the window.

The window was square, to the right of the bed, and barred with wooden planks both inside and out, very secure. It resembled the kind of window you'd expect in a psych ward, chaotic with an undercurrent of unease.

Outside the window was a dim yellow light, slanting in, leaving dull yellow patches at the edge of the bed.

Yu Hong took a breath and felt the air was off, carrying an indescribable acrid smell.

He walked a few steps to the door. By the foot of the wooden door lay a stack of thick, old newspapers.

He paused, bent down, and picked up the stack with difficulty, looking at the top one.

"Highest Alert: Major Black Disaster Strikes Nationwide"

The huge title took up nearly half of the front page of the newspaper.

Below were the details.

".....The continuous occurrence of the Black Disaster, the helplessness of the response departments, and the great threat to the safety of people's lives have led to the urgent establishment of the Emergency Management Department by the National Disaster Prevention Committee to initiate rapid response in regions severely affected by the Black Disaster, and to organize rescue operations with all efforts...."

Rustle.

Yu Hong frowned, flipping to the back.

A photo of a busy rescue scene in a disaster area unfolded before him.

It was a grey, dusty ruin of buildings, where people in heavy protective suits were carrying stretchers, lifting charred bodies one after another.

"Black Disaster?" He had never heard of this term before.

Then he flipped to the next newspaper.

"Significant Insect Disaster Approaches: How Should We Respond?"

"Food Shortage, Water Scarcity, National Rescue Teams Go All Out to Save Tens of Thousands from Peril"

"Suspected Biochemical Agent Leak, Yi Guan City Area Urgently Sealed Off with Vehicle Barrier"

"Expert Advice on Dealing with Black Disaster Blood Ticks"

"The First Hope City Officially Completed, Ten Thousand Residents Move In"

As the sound of the flipping papers continued, Yu Hong's expression grew increasingly stern.

Beyond the oddness of these headlines, there was a critical point....

He suddenly realized.... these newspapers were not in any language he had learned before, not in Chinese, not English, not French, Spanish, Russian... and so on.

They were in a completely unfamiliar, different language.

"Damn it!"

Yu Hong put down the newspapers, looking at the date.

'January 3, 2020'.

An unfamiliar language and script, yet he could understand....

This strange sensation brought a feeling of discomfort rising in his heart.

Returning the newspapers to their place, Yu Hong glanced at the door in front of him.

The door was grey-black, with one large and one small decorative square pattern up and down. The doorknob was white, with some of the paint chipped off, revealing the black metal beneath.

He reached out to grasp the handle, the cold, solid feel of it giving him a jolt, and then he gently twisted it.

Click.

The door, opened.

Outside was a grey stone staircase with three steps.

Beyond that, a broken gravel path.

Across the path was a small, dark flat house with its door open.

Grey walls, rotten black tiles.

The flat house was just over three meters high, with incomprehensible red slogans painted on the external walls, blurred beyond recognition.

The slanted tiles retained stones and yellowed leaves, making a faint rustling noise as the wind blew.

Yu Hong stepped out only to realize he was shoeless, clad only in tattered grey socks.```

Walking on the gravelly ground was uncomfortable, poking at his feet.

He simply stood still where he was.

Looking around.

The broken stone path outside the door was flanked by a succession of stone wall tile houses.

These tile houses were very dilapidated, their walls full of mold and stains, and some even had red slogans written on them, like "A happy life, blessed and peaceful," "One person insured, the whole family safe," "Fire prevention, pest control, moisture proof"...

The broken stone path was somewhat gloomy, sunlight obstructed by the houses, with just little bits slanting through doors and windows.

This was also because the houses were relatively low.

He scanned the area.

One by one, the row of tile houses stood like a line of people, similar in height, battered and in disrepair, with wind whistling through their doors and windows; their dark wooden doors were mostly wide open, with no one inside, only the wooshing sound of the wind.

He looked up, turning to face the house he was in.

Indeed, the place he was staying in, though also a tile house, was different from the others.

Outside the doors and windows, thick black and yellow wooden bars were nailed in place, gaps stuffed with heavy cloth, and the threshold of the doorway was higher than those of the other houses.

"This place..." A nameless sense of foreboding rose in Yu Hong's heart.

Click.

Suddenly, from a distance on the right side, a faint clicking sound was heard.

It seemed like shoes pressing on the gravel.

He quickly looked in the direction of the sound.

He saw inside one of the houses on the right side of the road, through an open door, a vague figure in white, standing in the shadows, looking at him.

From afar, he thought he saw the figure smiling, smiling at him.

"Smile my ass!" Yu Hong's eyebrows furrowed, ignoring the other person.

Although he really wanted to find someone to ask about the situation, there was something off about the figure's demeanor; it made him feel uneasy.

So, he planned to look for someone else.

Turning his head, he stopped looking in that direction and instead scanned the other tile houses one by one, trying to find someone else.

Unfortunately, after a full sweep, he found no one else.

So, he could only turn back, looking in the direction of the figure in white.

But this glance made his heart sink.

The figure in white was no longer in the same room as before.

Instead, the figure had appeared in another house much closer to him.

Standing in the shadow of the door, smiling at him.

In just a mere ten seconds or so, the figure had moved at least tens of meters closer.

The strangest thing was that even though it had moved so much closer, he still couldn't see the figure's face, barely making out a smile, very pale skin, a man.

He hadn't heard any sound of running footsteps; how had this person crossed such a distance in an instant?

Yu Hong's heart began to grow hairy.

He took a deep breath, swiftly turned his head to look in another direction, and then quickly looked back at the figure in white.

Just a second passed.

Yet in that one second.

The figure in white was no longer in the last room, but had disappeared again, appearing in a house diagonally opposite to him, less than ten meters away.

The figure was still standing still in the shadow of the door, still smiling at him.

"I... fuck!!" Yu Hong was terrified inside, slowly backing away.

What was even weirder was that at such a close distance, not being nearsighted, he still couldn't clearly see the figure's detailed features!

Recalling what had just happened, he dared not blink at all, only slowly retreating.

Then, moving back inside, he kept his gaze fixed on the figure, while he slowly closed the door.

Gently.

The door was left only a hand's width open.

Yu Hong forced himself not to blink, but his eyes were increasingly sore and uncomfortable, tears starting to accumulate at the corners, more and more.

He was about to give in.