Night of Despair

Chapter 55: 054 Soothing 3

Following the familiar path, Yu Hong made his way forward, quickly locating the burrow where Doctor Xu lived.

The door of the burrow was half-open, and a burly bald man was arguing loudly with Xu Ruoying, his voice sharp and his expression full of rage.

The words of their argument were thick with an out-of-town accent, and in a dialect unknown to Yu Hong; he couldn’t understand a thing even as he drew closer.

He just stood waiting at a distance for the two to finish talking, but after a short while, the man’s voice grew increasingly loud and roaring.

With a bang, the bald man let out an angry roar, grabbed Doctor Xu by the collar, and bellowed at her.

Yu Hong, without saying a word, darkened his expression and quickly approached.

“What happened?” he asked sternly, looking at Doctor Xu.

“What are you doing!? Why won’t you give us medicine!? We have three wounded who need it, and you hand it out to some trash picker but not to us!” the bald man shouted furiously, his face and ears flushed.

“I’ll give my medicine to whomever I please!” Xu Ruoying retorted angrily, her collar tugging at her neck, making it difficult for her to breathe and respond to Yu Hong’s question.

“Are you looking for death!? Believe it or not, I’ll beat you to death, bitch!” the bald man revealed a threatening demeanor.

“Talk nicely, don’t get physical!” Yu Hong stepped forward and frowned in an attempt to mediate.

“Who the hell are you!? Mind your own fucking business!” It was obvious the bald man had recently fled from the city and hadn’t yet adapted to the outside world.

Bang!

Yu Hong didn’t exchange another word; his right leg thrust forward with a fierce sweep.

Having practiced the Low sweep leg for several days, he had unleashed it instantly without using Inner Qi, relying solely on raw power.

Following a dull thud, the bald man’s face contorted as he bent over, clutching his leg and wailing in pain on the ground.

Before he could angrily retort or fight back, a flurry of heavy kicks crashed down on his shoulders and head in quick succession.

Bang bang bang bang bang!!

The alloy steel patches on his reinforced suit, which were also attached to his shins, were quite hard.

After several kicks, the bald man was beaten to the ground, unable to rise.

“Cooled off yet?” Yu Hong finished kicking and examined the feeling in his shins; protected by the internal padding, his shins were completely unharmed and painless, even comfortably numb, as if they had been massaged.

He couldn’t help but deliver two more kicks.

Bang bang!!

The bald man groaned in pain, collapsing to the ground, his left leg now visibly dented with a clear curve.

“C-calm down!!” he said, sweating bullets and pale faced, cowering on the ground as he looked up at Yu Hong, whose heavily armed appearance was quite intimidating.

Moreover, the strength behind those recent kicks caught him off guard; he hadn’t seen them coming at all. In reality, his opponent’s kicks had been swift; the leg lifts had come without warning, coupled with his own distraction.

“What happened?” Yu Hong asked again.

The bald man clenched his teeth, immediately speaking clearly, and recounted the whole truth.

“We just saw her giving out anti-inflammatory drugs to help someone, and we wanted some too. She wouldn’t give it to us, so we… we thought about taking some by force…”

“Get lost,” Yu Hong said casually.

He knew newcomers would cause trouble; he kicked the man again, his movements practiced and swift, but the clash of the alloy against bone elicited another scream.

Watching the man scurry away with an injured leg, Yu Hong turned back to look at Doctor Xu, who appeared exhausted.

“What happened?”

“People are everywhere, always watching and ready to take advantage. Thanks for your help this time,” Doctor Xu sighed.

She looked at the retreating bald man with a sense of helplessness.

“These folks were just passing through; you need to be careful too. I just gave out some food and medicine, and they were after me. You, just now…”

“It’s nothing,” Yu Hong said, having taken the opportunity to test his Heavy Leg Skill in combination with the alloy, which proved quite powerful.

And now, fully armored with a helmet, visor, and bulletproof vest, he felt much more confident should trouble arise than before.

“But I don’t think that guy will just let this go,” Xu Ruoying expressed her concern again.

“I’ll be careful. In this kind of environment, if they dare to wander around carelessly, aren’t they afraid of being eaten by ‘shadows’?” Yu Hong wondered.

“That group came by car. They ran out of fuel not far from here but still had luminous stones,” Xu Ruoying explained briefly. “I saw them when I went out to gather firewood. There was a baby with a fever in the car… I couldn’t bear it… I didn’t expect…”

She then forced a strained smile.

“In times like these, you have to protect yourself first.” Yu Hong patted her shoulder and started walking toward the post office.

He planned to find Li Rushan to ask about the situation. Couriers had access to far more information than they did, and he probably knew more.

After walking for a while, he didn’t hear the sound of the door closing and turned back to look. He saw Xu Ruoying standing by the door, staring blankly, lost in thought.

Yu Hong guessed the woman was probably thinking about her own family; she had also had a husband and children, and a happy life. Unfortunately, it had all been destroyed by the Black Disaster.

Turning his head, he continued forward.

He hadn’t gone far when two men brandishing sharp knives blocked his path.

And there was a third, clutching a handgun and limping against a tree, glaring menacingly their way – it was none other than the bald man he had just let go.

Three men in total.

They all looked to be in their thirties, their clothes neat, muscular and toned – a sign of having lived well until now, especially in these times. @@novelbin@@

This meant that these three men had enjoyed a comfortable life up until now, and on top of that, they had a gun…

“That’s him! My leg still hurts. Break his legs first!” the bald man angrily ordered.

As his words fell, the other two men, holding knives, advanced quickly, flanking from both sides.

Evidently, they were subordinates of the bald man.

“…” Yu Hong didn’t know what to say.

He was in his bulletproof suit, with four bars of Inner Qi in reserve, ready to burst forth at any moment. Fully armed to the teeth, these few were the perfect test subjects for the effectiveness of his gear.

Although he trusted the enhancements of Black Mark, it was, after all, just a firearm, and they were at such close range.

Watching the two slowly approach, he stood still. Instead, he quietly sensed the location and distance of the three.

Click.

He saw the bald man sneer, raising his gun, aiming at him, flipping the safety off. The black muzzle had a chilling sharpness to it.

The other two, one was slapping his thigh with a short knife. The other was expressionless, juggling a knife.

The distance slowly closed in.

Five meters.

Four meters.

Three meters.

Thump!!

Suddenly, Yu Hong took a quick step forward, rushing in, stomping his foot on the ground, and jerked the Wolf Fang Club from his back, swinging it down toward the head of the person on his right.

His movements were quick, but the opponent was not bad either. The Wolf Fang Club didn’t hit the man but instead struck the short knife that was raised to block.

Clang!

With the sound of impact, Yu Hong’s right leg performed a Low Sweep Leg, its practiced fluidity immediately taking effect.

Crack!!

Alloy plates clashed violently with leg bones, breaking them. The man screamed in agony, dropping to his knees.

Without looking at the man’s reaction, Yu Hong faced the second assailant, who had charged at him.

The opponent’s short knife had viciously chopped down on his arm, but was blocked by the high-density ceramic plates and soft cushioning bulletproof material.

Yu Hong swung the club again, but missed as the figure vanished from view.

By the time he came to his senses, he felt something striking and piercing into his side.

Without turning his head, he kicked backward with his metal-booted left leg.

Thump!

A cry of pain came from behind him.

Seizing the moment to turn around, he grabbed the third man, who was back against a tree, pressing down on his shoulder and executed another Low Sweep Leg.

Crack!

Another crisp sound.

“Ah! My leg!!” The man wailed in pain, falling to the ground.

He couldn’t understand how Yu Hong’s gear was distributed, with alloy plates and high-density ceramic pieces all over his body. This was not a mere stab-vest or bulletproof vest, but something akin to ancient full body armor!

Yu Hong looked at the man’s pained expression, lifting the Wolf Fang Club to move forward.

Suddenly, a bang of a gunshot.

He swayed side to side, the helmet’s side now dented with a bullet mark.

“….” He paused, slightly turning his face to look toward the bald man.

The guy’s hand was trembling with the pistol raised, aimed in this direction, the muzzle still emitting faint blue smoke.

“Run!!” The bald man yelled out loud, pulling the trigger again.

Bang!

Another shot rang out, hitting Yu Hong’s left shoulder, sparking a bit.

This shot was aimed at his face. Although he wore an alloy face mask for protection, with bulletproof glass-made wind goggles covering his eyes, the bulletproof glass would still shatter upon impact, potentially impairing vision.

So, at the crucial moment, Yu Hong ducked and swerved sideways.

After the two shots, he quickly charged at the bald man.

Hard leather boots stamped on the grass, leaving deep footprints.

“Fuck!!” The bald man frantically pulled the trigger, but there were no bullets left. Panicking, he tossed the gun away and stumbled as he ran off.

He didn’t get very far.

Wham! The back of his head was struck hard with the black Wolf Fang Club.

The bald man fell forward onto the ground, dazedly trying to get up, but his blurry vision prevented him from keeping balance. He could only prop himself up and crawl forward a bit.

Wham!

Another blow from the Wolf Fang Club landed.

The bald man lay on the ground, eyes open and motionless, a large dent smashed into the back of his skull. Blood slowly seeped out, trickling down his neck and onto the dark soil of the grass.

Yu Hong picked up the Wolf Fang Club from behind him, turning to walk toward the other two fleeing men.

“No! Don’t!!”

“Help!! Save me!!!”

After two screams, the other two also lost their breath.

Before long, in the forest, Yu Hong dragged the legs of the corpses, piling them together, and then picked up the pistol, collecting the spoils from the three men.

Unfortunately, the three were poor as dirt. Aside from a keychain, a multi-tool knife, and two short knives of some use, the rest was just their clothes.

Yu Hong calmly stood up, holding the bloodied items, and looked back towards the distant woods, where Li Rushan was watching from afar, with a small head behind him, Aisena.

Obviously, they had been drawn by the gunshots, but had come in time to witness this scene.

“Sorry,” Yu Hong spoke, “for the disturbance.”

The expression under his face mask was invisible, but at that moment, in his enhanced gray lizard suit with the Wolf Fang Club in hand, his hands stained with blood, the image he presented completely overturned the honest impression he usually gave to the two.