Night of Despair

Chapter 63: Method 1: Thank You to the Lifeless Alliance Hierarch

He stood up and spread out the blanket, pulling it over himself in one smooth motion. It wrapped around his entire body perfectly, covering him from head to toe.

“It really fits perfectly… No wonder those attackers could run around outside alone.” He felt some understanding in his heart.

Setting the blanket aside, he wandered around the cave, thinking about what he should synthesize next as a priority.

‘I should deal with the water issue now. How long has it been since I last bathed? The little water I use to clean my wounds is not enough. And those are just minor wounds—if they were severe, they would definitely get infected.’ He tried to remember when he last bathed but couldn’t recall.

Looking down at himself, he rubbed his grimy arm and a strip of black dirt came off instantly.

‘Water is the foundation of everything. I’ll need a lot of it for growing mushrooms later, so securing a water source is a must.’

Since he was currently recuperating and unable to do heavy work like chiseling stone, it was a good time to figure out how to tackle the water issue.

‘The main sources of water are rainwater, groundwater, and surface river water. The rivers and streams are too far from me, so they’re out of consideration. Rainwater is unreliable—it comes and goes—so groundwater is the most stable option. The terrain here is a low valley surrounded by dense trees, which suggests there must be ample underground water resources; otherwise, these trees wouldn’t survive. So the best approach would be… to dig a well!’

With that thought, Yu Hong glanced outside. It was still early, so he took a shovel and left the cave.

Since the end of shadow disturbances, his life had become much more leisurely and joyful. Particularly since the yard was protected by numerous luminous stones, not even a shadow of the “shadow” dared to approach.

Thus, that yard became his safe haven.

Yu Hong found a spot in the yard away from the luminous stones and started digging vigorously.

Shovel after shovel, he piled the dirt aside.

Without stopping, he dug until noon, ate, and then continued digging until late afternoon.

Finally, he stopped and began constructing a wooden well in the half-meter-deep pit using planks.

The construction of the well was quick; he just crudely stuck the planks into the earth, forming a circular well shape.

After finishing, Yu Hong stretched out his hand and pressed it against the well, full of hope.

‘Enhance the well, directions: reinforce, deepen, until water emerges.’

A flash of black.

‘Integrity insufficient.’

The feedback from the Black Mark made Yu Hong’s hopeful expression freeze.

He looked down.

‘Could it be that it’s not deep enough?’

Seeing that it was getting dark, he decided to return tomorrow.

The next morning.

After eating, he went out to continue digging.

Shovel by shovel, the dirt was piled up, and the pit deepened.

By noon.

Thud!

Yu Hong fiercely shoved his shovel into the ground, intending to lift some soil out.

Suddenly, his expression changed as he saw blackness appearing around the edges where the shovel had penetrated.

He instinctively jumped back.

Gurgle…

From the spot where the shovel had entered the earth, a mass of tiny black insects began to emerge rapidly from the crevice. @@novelbin@@

These insects, like black springs, crazily spurted out of the crevice.

But due to the bright sunlight outside, they vaporized as soon as they emerged, turning into black smoke and dissipating.

But by this time, Yu Hong had realized something.

He held onto the shovel, yanking it upwards, revealing a crevice at the bottom of the pit, filled with black insects.

Countless black insects dissolved under the light, vaporizing into black smoke.

Meanwhile, the crevice slowly shrank as if being filled and repaired by something.

Yu Hong just stood to the side, staring blankly at the scene, unsure how to react.

However, regardless of what he thought, his plan for accessing groundwater was likely no longer feasible.

Returning to the house, he didn’t fill in the hole he had dug but instead pondered over the situation with the Blood Tide Black Insects.

‘Considering what I see now, the black insects at night are probably hiding deeper underground where the sunlight can’t reach, which makes sense. So… digging a well for water is not workable.’

He suddenly remembered the well he had seen in Baiqiu Village, and it seemed… that well must have significant problems too.

He sighed, his mind in disarray, unsure how to solve the water issue.

He simply ate something and went back to sleep again.

For the next few days, he did no strenuous work, just honestly recuperating and also began enhancing the polar bear suit.

After another week, he felt almost completely healed.

He then went out to find Li Rushan.

Regardless of anything, improving his fighting skills was essential—the recent attackers had taught him a significant lesson.

So with determination, Yu Hong resolved to thoroughly address this weakness.

In the courtyard of the post office stone house.

Li Rushan and Yu Hong stood facing each other, officially beginning the fighting lesson.

He actually wanted to spend time with his daughter at this hour, but the other side offered too much. So, he had no choice but to sacrifice his leisure time and begin enlightening the other side on fighting skills.

A gentle breeze blew, and leaves fluttered about.

It was already autumn, and even though the sunlight shone down, it didn’t feel warm.

Li Rushan, clad in protective gear with a helmet, equipped himself securely.

“Since there’s a risk of ambush, we should wear our gear for sparring. You don’t mind, right?” Li Rushan asked.

“I feel the same, no objections,” Yu Hong replied in a resounding voice.

“Hmm…I thought you wouldn’t object either.” Li Rushan sized up the huge creature in front of him, his eyelids twitching slightly.

He had seen many types of protective suits, but he had never seen one with this shape before. This was the first time.

Where on earth did this guy get such an exaggerated thing??

Li Rushan was at a loss for words as he scrutinized Yu Hong.

The rest of the suit was fine, all standard but much thicker bulletproof suit shapes, except from the waist down, the lower body, including the legs, resembled giant stone pillars, extremely thick.

Li Rushan observed carefully and estimated that the protection below the waist of this suit was at least three times thicker than a normal suit, perhaps even more.

“That suit of yours, it’s like you wrapped a bunch of rocks around your lower half…is it that exaggerated?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes, this was custom made,” Yu Hong replied frankly. “The last attacker I encountered was too strong, and I suffered greatly, so this time I focused on strengthening my weaknesses.”

“…But with this, many flexible evasion moves will be difficult,” Li Rushan said helplessly.

“It’s okay, I’ll handle it,” Yu Hong was unconcerned.

The Heavy Leg Skill was a cultivation technique where the more weight you carried, the more it accelerated the training effect. He thought if he really needed flexibility, he could switch back to the enhanced grey lizard suit.

“Alright then…” Li Rushan was speechless. “Let’s first talk about the basics of fighting.”

He quickly familiarized Yu Hong with the main points of attack, protective methods, and dodging techniques of fighting skills, all of which had fixed routines.

In reality, due to the inherent limitations of human anatomy, when people make various directional movements, they cannot exceed a certain range. By mastering this range, one could cope with most close-range attacks.

After reviewing for a while, Yu Hong had a rough understanding of the content, so the two began their practical sparring. This was also Yu Hong’s purpose for coming; if it were just informational content, a booklet would have sufficed; there was no need for the two to spar in person.

“Now, watch closely. I’m starting with a frontal assault,” Li Rushan said with a smile.

He eyed the fully prepared Yu Hong, suddenly stepping forward with his right leg, lunging with his body, sprinting, and throwing a punch.

Bang!!!

This punch integrated the strength of his legs, waist, shoulders, and arms, blending Li Rushan’s entire body’s power smoothly like mercury, heavy and without any delay, striking Yu Hong’s chest.

A dull, loud sound exploded.

Too fast!

Indescribably fast!

Yu Hong only saw a blur before him, as the three-meter distance was crossed in a blink, followed by a feeling of being hit in the chest.

And his own arms, attempting to block, had only raised a third of the way.

This speed reminded him of the previous attacker. That guy was also fast…but not…not as fast as Li Rushan!

A clear comparison formed in his mind.

If there wasn’t a significant difference in speed, most people wouldn’t notice.

But now that he had noticed, it meant that Li Rushan’s speed was considerably faster than the previous attacker!

Following the heavy impact, Yu Hong involuntarily stepped back.

But this step also shook him deeply.

It should be noted that the suit he was wearing, the reinforced polar bear suit, weighed at least eighty pounds, or forty kilograms!

Adding his own weight, he estimated he weighed at least a hundred kilograms.

Yet with such weight, he was still driven back by a frontal punch from Li Rushan!?

“!!??” Yu Hong touched his chest for a moment, unsure what to say.

“…” The smile on Li Rushan’s face also faded slightly, the corners of his mouth twitching faintly.

With that punch, he truly felt how much thickness of protective alloy the other guy had added to himself…

With that one punch, even through the gloves, he could feel his knuckles aching.

“I feel a bit at a loss…” he muttered softly, but seeing his daughter watching through the window, he was too embarrassed to back out, lest he ruin his glorious image in his daughter’s eyes.

“Again!” He roared and lunged forward with a hook punch.

The punch carried the sound of breaking air, hitting Yu Hong’s helmeted face at a speed far exceeding his own.

Boom!

Another loud sound, Li Rushan quickly retreated, his knuckles under the gloves red.

‘Too damn hard!’ He was at a loss for words as he watched the other side, this was a victory for technology.

The opponent’s condition far exceeded his… to the point where it seemed like… he hadn’t penetrated the defense.

“Put more strength into it, Old Li! I can take it!” Yu Hong said resolutely.

He slightly bent forward, hands on knees, his legs and knees now resembling two thick trunks rooted to the ground.

Just looking at them gave an unshakeable visual impression.

After those two blows, he really felt Li Rushan’s strength was superior, stronger than the previous attackers; if he could adapt to Old Li’s attacks, then facing attackers of that caliber again, he would be able to handle them easily.