Night of Despair

Chapter 61: Weakness One

After applying the medicine, Yu Hong quickly left the safety of his abode and once again came to Guo Xudong’s corpse.

Looking at this guy, as strong as a bear, he still felt a lingering fear. This guy was truly a formidable fighter, especially with that rhythm that suppressed his every attempt to strike back, yet never allowed him the opportunity.

Every time he was about to strike, just as he gathered his strength, he would be interrupted. It was an extremely uncomfortable feeling. From this, he could tell that the opponent was definitely skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

If it weren’t for the five consecutive bursts of Inner Qi he had used to disrupt that uncomfortable rhythm and recover, he might not have been sure who would have come out on top.

“There can’t be a next time… Close-quarter combat for me right now is more important than firearms. I must strengthen that aspect further…”

He crouched down and quickly began to scavenge the possessions from the body.

Soon, the first and most conspicuous item was pulled out—a black pistol.

He skilfully ejected the magazine, which contained nine bullets—full!

He had played with the two pistols in the safety house countless times, so his movements with this similar firearm were much more proficient.

“All full!” Yu Hong couldn’t help but laugh.

He had always hoped to get firearms and bullets to strengthen with the Black Mark.

He thought it would take a long time, but he hadn’t expected to get his hands on one so soon.

“This guy had a gun but didn’t use it. He obviously intended to use close-quarters combat to control me… It seems it wasn’t a chance encounter… but a prepared ambush, most likely aimed specifically at me…”

He knew that the Large Pyroxene Stone he carried was likely to attract attention, as it resembled the marrow of Pyroxene found inside mines, and Pyroxene marrow was valuable, playing a crucial role in many finished products.

Thus, it was normal for someone to come after him, trying to seize his technology for the sake of wealth.

The previous two attacks, and now this third one, although he did not know if they were orchestrated by the same force but…

“I can’t go on like this.” Yu Hong frowned tightly, quickly scavenged everything from the body, and then returned to the cave, securely locking the door.

Sitting in a safe place, with the stove lit, he suddenly felt much more at ease.

As the sky gradually darkened outside, he laid out the spoils one by one on the ground.

Apart from the pistol, the attacker had brought some good things.

A black blanket, folded neatly, covered in grey-white stone particles.

A military metal water bottle, complete with a filter nozzle.

A bag of coins, containing more than a dozen of the previously encountered silver dollars.

A box of high-calorie compressed biscuits.

A sharp, silver-black short knife.

A set of damaged bulletproof armor.

Yes, he had stripped the bulletproof armor entirely off the corpse.

Besides this, items like keys, underwear, a cigarette case, a pendant, and such—Yu Hong didn’t bother picking them up; they were useless and covered in blood.

“The biggest gain this time… is this…” Yu Hong picked up the black pistol, aiming it satisfactorily forward.

Nine bullets would last him a long time.

And the more key point wasn’t this, but that the full magazine would allow him to strengthen it alongside the Black Mark.

“Now I should consider how to strengthen the pistol,” Yu Hong sat down, pondering while holding the gun.

“Firearms are useless against the Blood Tide and shadows. Their primary purpose is against people and since my marksmanship is lacking and my vigilance and hand-to-hand combat skills are poor…”

After much deliberation, he felt that the most urgent thing was not practicing shooting or strengthening the gun. Holding the gun as it was now wouldn’t produce maximum damage.

If it were to be stolen after being strengthened, it could pose a great threat to him.

“So… I can’t strengthen the power but should enhance other aspects. Moreover… right now, what I most need isn’t a gun. With the strengthened bulletproof armor at hand, the real threat to me would be close-combat experts, so I need to quickly improve my hand-to-hand combat abilities.”

“And the stealth attack this time was mainly because my scouting ability was too weak. The simple bells are useless against a real expert… I must find an effective and reliable scouting method that ensures vigilance.”

After carefully sorting out his thoughts, Yu Hong suddenly understood why the previous two people had only one bullet in their guns.

This pistol indeed had some use against people, but otherwise…

He sighed and heard the creeping sounds of insects outside the door again.

Turning to look at the doorway, not a single black bug had come through the ventilation holes this time; he could only hear the noises from outside.

“The luminous grass in the yard is effective…” he thought.

Relaxing his body, he bit on a protein bar, leaned against the stove, and quietly watched the door, basking in the warmth of the stove. Slowly his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep.

This time he was truly exhausted.

Knocked down repeatedly and standing up again, his physical strength was drained time and time, and he had to rely on Inner Qi to recover. He had finally won with a burst of Inner Qi and a surprise attack, but from start to finish, his nerves had been on edge.

If it weren’t for the enhanced armor, he might have been taken out in a single encounter. That man’s strength and explosive techniques were too powerful—they weren’t even in the same league.

The next day, other than collecting firewood and water, he didn’t go anywhere and stayed in the cave to heal his wounds—after all, one of his toenails had been ripped off, and it was quite painful.

By the stove, he suddenly realized that the stove’s chimney must also be connected to the outside world.

Thus, he went outside the mountain cave and searched for a while for the exit of the ventilation duct. He found that the exit of the duct was also sealed with several layers of tough steel wire mesh, and he had drawn some talisman arrays on the inner walls of the duct exit with Large Pyroxene Stone graphite to prevent accidents.

Although it was difficult, he had spent several days recovering from his injuries while also drawing talisman arrays, which was fulfilling.

On the third day, the reinforcement of the solar power generator was completed.

Inside the mountain cave.

Yu Hong sat observing the solar power system after completion.

The original solar power generator had separate solar panels and a main control box, connected by wires.

But now, the entire solar power generator had become one piece. It was a foldable solar panel all in black, covered with a layer of transparent, tough glass-like material. The total energy scale, previously at three bars when fully charged, had now increased to six bars.

The rest was not noticeable at a glance; he would only know once it was used.

Yu Hong placed the device at the entrance of the cave, allowing the sunlight outside to shine through onto the panel, then randomly strengthened a luminous stone before continuing to rest and sleep.

Life continued in this cycle until the fifth day.

Yu Hong felt his body had improved and got up to move around. He put on his repaired and reinforced outfit, ready to go out.

His injuries had healed a lot; in fact, rather than saying they were a lot better, it was more appropriate to say they weren’t that severe to start with. It was just the toenail injury that was more troublesome, and the dizziness had disappeared by the evening of the same day.

On this outing, his aim was to trade with Old Li and Old Zhou and see if he could find an electric light. Now that he had a solar-powered large-capacity battery, he could meet the conditions for lighting the electric light for extended periods.

At the same time, he wanted to ask about learning combat and reconnaissance skills.

Stepping out of the mountain cave.

The grass outside was lush and verdant, and the courtyard was already full of luminous grass. The radiation it emitted caused the Red Value reading on Yu Hong’s collar to spike rapidly to over -100.

With such a high level of radiation, Yu Hong did not dare to stay long and quickly left the yard, heading towards the post office.

As for the corpse outside the door, it had been reduced to just clothes and shoes a few days ago, which he had buried in a pit he dug.

After walking through the woods for over ten minutes, Yu Hong arrived at the post office entrance, where he saw Li Rushan playing a game of chess with Aisena.

The father and daughter sat at the entrance of the stone house, their expressions concentrated.

Aisena wore a pure white dress, her chubby face full of collagen, extremely cute.

Li Rushan, noticing Yu Hong approaching, quickly stood up to greet him.

“Haven’t seen you for several days, what brings you here?” he asked with a smile.

“Got any light bulbs?” Yu Hong asked.

“Sure… not, you need to place an order,” Li Rushan replied.

“Also, I want to buy instruction on basic combat skills,” Yu Hong added.

“Oh? Looks like you’ve run into trouble,” Li Rushan noticed something unnatural about the other’s movements.

“Hmm, a little trouble… it’s resolved now,” Yu Hong nodded.

“That’s good. The prices are all marked. Get the stuff ready for trade, and also, there’s a letter for you,” Li Rushan turned around, took an envelope from inside the house, and handed it to Yu Hong.

“Also, you remember the group that came before? They drove here, and I found their car nearby… It was gruesome inside.”

“…Any survivors?” Yu Hong asked.

“All dead. From old to young, and the car was smashed up too. I’d planned to salvage it, see if I could get my hands on something good,” Li Rushan shook his head. “However, according to what I’ve heard, they won’t be the last group. More people will pass through here, and we have several vacant safes. Someone might settle down here. You might have people coming to you to buy stones, so just keep an eye out.”

“Hmm,” Yu Hong nodded, took the letter, and realized that the address was still stutterer’s place and immediately understood that it was a letter from Yiyi. @@novelbin@@

“Aside from that, the talisman array and Large Pyroxene Stones you traded last time were very popular. My superiors hope you can supply Large Pyroxene Stones long-term. How about it from your side?” Li Rushan continued to ask.

Yu Hong was momentarily taken aback, then pondered for a moment and shook his head.

“The crafting process of Large Pyroxene Stones is contingent on chance; I can’t ensure a steady supply,” he said.

“All right…” Li Rushan shrugged, “What type of combat skills are you looking to purchase? Standing techniques? You’ve bought leg techniques before, or maybe knife techniques?”

“Practical sparring…” Yu Hong said gravely. He was tired of being overpowered this time.

The response momentarily surprised Li Rushan. Wow, he was going straight for the highest difficulty. But recalling the fight he had witnessed before, he was able to understand.

“Actually, Old Zhou is an expert in this area, I can only lay the groundwork for you. He’s not much of a teacher, nowhere near as good as me in terms of enlightenment. So you’ve come to the right place!” Li Rushan smiled, revealing a mouthful of black teeth.

“Your teeth?” Yu Hong blinked, asking in confusion.

“Oh, I used carbon powder for tooth cleaning, haven’t rinsed thoroughly yet,” Li Rushan grinned. “Seems like your injuries haven’t fully healed. How about we begin once you’re completely better?”

“Sure,” Yu Hong nodded.

Having placed an order for light bulbs and wires, he then went to see Doctor Xu, who was still engrossed in preparing herbal medicines, seemingly determined to mass produce.

“I’ve met with Li Rushan’s supply team. We’ve agreed on a price. As soon as I accumulate three hundred doses of anti-inflammatory powder, they will take me to the nearest Baihe City.”

Doctor Xu’s face showed more hope than before; she was very enthusiastic, stirring the herbal mush with a stick, drenched in sweat.

“You planning to leave?” Yu Hong was slightly stunned as he stood at the doorway and asked.