A Night of Desperation

~~~

Thank Thyme for the bonus chapters

~~

Bang.

Yu Hong took off his reinforced suit and threw it to the ground. The alloy plate on the arm section was severely deformed.

The deformation had also left a bruise on his forearm.

“Strong enough!” Yu Hong cursed under his breath. This was the first time he had encountered such a ferocious monster—one that wasn’t even afraid of light and attacked during the day.

Compared to the insects of the Blood Tide, which feared sunlight, this strange bird’s lethality and threat level were on an entirely different scale.

He quickly applied some iodine to his wounds, then half-leaned against the wall, exhaling deeply.

“I hope nothing happens tonight… wait, what about the Luminous Stone Grass!?”

He suddenly remembered. If anything had happened to the Luminous Stone Grass in the yard, Wei Shanshan and her mother would be in danger. They were his only hope for an energy source—until the rescue team arrived, he had to ensure their safety.

Yu Hong got up, walked to the doorway, and peeked through the hole.

The door of the wooden hut outside was half open. Qiu Yanxi stood there, staring blankly at the mess in the yard, while her daughter, Wei Shanshan, was gathering dry firewood in a corner of the yard. It was unclear if she was planning to light a fire for warmth.

Although one was still, and the other was moving, their faces were equally pale and lifeless.

Suddenly, Qiu Yanxi turned her head and saw Yu Hong watching them.

A flicker of light appeared in her dull eyes, and she forced a stiff smile in his direction.

“What a hassle.” Yu Hong sighed as he examined the state of the Luminous Stone Grass in the yard.

Much of the central area had been trampled and crushed during his fight with the strange bird. In some spots, even the black soil beneath had been overturned, leaving the place in ruins.

Yu Hong took note of the damage, then went back inside, retrieved a few Rune arrays, and grabbed a Luminous Stone Mat before stepping outside.

The moment he walked out, the mother and daughter instinctively huddled closer together, standing stiffly without daring to move, waiting for him to speak.

Yu Hong dropped the runes and the Luminous Stone Mat onto the ground beside the wooden hut.

“Be careful at night. Keep these as backup.”

“Y-Yes!” Qiu Yanxi quickly responded nervously.

She had initially planned to bargain for the secret method Yu Hong used to repel the Blood Tide insects, but after witnessing the battle just now…

Yu Hong said nothing more and turned back inside. Soon, the wooden door closed, and he hammered a wooden plank over the hole to temporarily cover it.

Silence returned.

Qiu Yanxi remained standing for a moment. Only after confirming that Yu Hong had no further actions did she let out a deep breath.

“Shanshan, come here.” She called her daughter.

The two of them entered the wooden hut, picking up the items Yu Hong had left behind. Having these supplies gave them a stronger sense of security—certainly more than they would have gotten at the post office. ṙÄ𐌽𝐨BЁᶊ

“That man… that Mr. Yu… he must be a Luminous Stone-enhanced human!” Qiu Yanxi lowered her voice and warned her daughter. “When you talk to him, be careful and go along with whatever he says. Enhanced humans have unpredictable tempers, and they’re mentally unstable. You can never guess what they’re thinking. Just do what he says and don’t ask questions!”

“W-What do you mean by ‘just do what he says’?” Wei Shanshan was already terrified. The battle earlier had left her legs weak, and now, her mother’s warning made her even more anxious. Her face turned pale, and cold sweat broke out on her back.

“It means if he tells us to do something, we do it. No questions, no opinions. We just hold out until the rescue team arrives.” Qiu Yanxi spoke in a low voice, her expression heavy.

“The monsters outside are getting stronger. Now they even attack in broad daylight. If something happens to the rescue team, we might have no choice but to rely on Mr. Yu to survive. Pay attention to what he needs. If we can help, we should—like gathering firewood or repairing the walls.”

“Okay!” Wei Shanshan nodded quickly.

Qiu Yanxi exhaled slowly.

“Still, even though things are getting more dangerous, if we stay close to Mr. Yu, we’ll be far safer than most people… That explosion earlier—I wonder what happened at the post office.”

Her heart pounded at the thought of the post office. The people there, especially Song Mingshi, who had once taken advantage of them, might be in trouble. If so, she felt a twisted sense of relief and even a bit of satisfaction.

Thinking back to Yu Hong’s battle with the strange bird, she compared it to previous fights she had seen among enhanced humans. Even among them, she had never seen anyone fight at that level.

“This Mr. Yu… he must be one of the strongest among the enhanced humans. No wonder he dares to live alone in the wilderness.”

“Mom… do you think we’ll make it back alive?” Wei Shanshan asked softly.

“We will. We have to.” Determination flashed in Qiu Yanxi’s eyes.

*

*

*

After the strange bird attack, there was no Blood Tide that night, and the Ghostly shadows that usually lurked around seemed to have lessened.

Yu Hong kept his communicator on all night, but the post office remained silent.

He barely got any sleep, constantly worrying that the hole in the door might let something slip in or that something might happen to the mother and daughter outside. The damage to the Luminous Stone Grass also weighed on his mind.

But nothing happened.

The next morning, Yu Hong kept his eyes on the countdown timer in the basement.

As the numbers ticked down, anticipation filled his heart.

He suddenly remembered—although he had requested for the structure’s appearance to remain unchanged, the large hole in the door still needed to be covered to avoid suspicion.

After a moment’s thought, he grabbed some tools and wooden boards and went outside to work on the door, hammering away.

While working, he noticed Qiu Yanxi and Wei Shanshan in the yard, picking up stones from the damaged wall and stacking them back in place.

They had somehow found sand and water to mix into a grayish cement-like paste, using it to seal the gaps in the wall.

They had also gathered a large pile of firewood, enough to last a long time.

Yu Hong nodded in approval at their efforts.

“Mr. Yu, is there any news from the post office’s support team?” Qiu Yanxi cautiously stepped forward to ask, seeing that he was in a relatively good mood.

“No contact yet.” Yu Hong shook his head. “Something seems to have happened over there. The situation outside the yard is also bad—Red Value is high, meaning danger could appear at any moment. Without knowing what’s going on, I don’t dare to check it out recklessly.”

“When we went out to collect firewood, we didn’t dare go too far. It felt like something was watching us the entire time.” Qiu Yanxi, who had regained some color in her face, spoke more carefully now. She had learned to keep unnecessary thoughts to herself.

“You have enough firewood now. Go out less from now on.” Yu Hong thought for a moment, then turned back inside. After a short while, he came back out and handed them a solar-powered light set, including a connected bulb.

“This charges during the day and provides light at night. It can handle normal Blood Tide insects. Use it carefully.” He instructed.

“Thank you! Thank you, Mr. Yu!” Qiu Yanxi was overjoyed and repeatedly expressed her gratitude. “If there’s anything we can do, just let us know—like cleaning, crafting small tools, sewing—anything! We’ll do our best!”

“Water is limited, so just manage for now.” Yu Hong was satisfied with their attitude. In desperate situations, people who truly wanted to survive would contribute however they could.

He returned to the cave and shut the door.@@novelbin@@

Quickly, he descended into the basement. Only two minutes remained on the countdown.

For the last two minutes, Yu Hong simply sat cross-legged on the ground, waiting silently.

Time ticked away.

Finally—

The countdown hit zero.

Hiss!!

In an instant, the entire cave and stone walls flickered slightly, as if reality had momentarily blurred.

Less than a second later, everything returned to clarity.

Silence.

But Yu Hong immediately noticed the difference.

He reached out and touched the ground.

The rough stone texture was gone, replaced by a smooth, polished surface.

Although no additional materials had been applied, the floor was now far more even. Its density seemed to have increased, making it slightly harder than before—an indication of minor structural reinforcement.

Standing up with a rustle, Yu Hong ran his hand along the walls.

The walls had been uniformly smoothed and hardened.

“This should be a basic reinforcement against impacts.” He felt satisfied, slowly circling the basement. But he didn’t see the additional chamber he had requested during the reinforcement process.

“If it’s not here, then it must be on the other side.”

He followed the steps back up to the cave.

Sure enough, in a symmetrical position across the cave, a new entrance to another underground chamber had appeared.

With the same gray-white stone steps, he quickly descended.

Below was a space identical in size to the first basement. Its inner walls had also been reinforced, but apart from that, the space was completely empty.

Even so, Yu Hong was quite pleased.

With his hands behind his back, he carefully inspected the new chamber, ensuring there were no issues before returning to the cave’s first level. Finally, he turned his attention to the reinforced main entrance.

The door, previously damaged and full of holes, had been completely restored.

Its appearance remained unchanged, but the material’s density had visibly increased.

Yu Hong placed his hand on it.

A cool, metallic sensation met his fingertips.

He pulled back the repaired cover panel. It was no longer wooden—it had been replaced with a silver-black metal plate.

Clang.

Behind the panel was the observation window.

Previously, it had been covered with a wire mesh. But now, what greeted him was a thick, transparent layer of glass.

Yu Hong knocked on it.

Thud, thud.

Solid. Dull.

He nodded in satisfaction.

“The strength is much higher than before. Not bad!”

Then, he closed the window and inspected where the door connected to the stone wall.

Previously, the door had been reinforced with numerous nails and fasteners. Now, all of them had disappeared—replaced by a seamless transition, as if the door and stone had fused together like cement.

Yu Hong lightly struck the door with his elbow.

Not even the slightest tremor. It was incredibly sturdy.

“This is great. The strength has increased by a whole level!”

Looking at the brand-new, high-strength door, an overwhelming sense of security washed over him.

The nightmare of being pierced by that strange bird was now much less likely to repeat itself.

After confirming that the entire safehouse’s reinforcement had exceeded his expectations, Yu Hong sat down, feeling content.

Now, he could start planning the next upgrade.