Night of Despair

Chapter 76: Night Rain Four

After persistently practicing the Heavy Leg Skill for over an hour, Yu Hong finally stabilized his mood, ate another protein bar, and drank a full glass of water.

He then put on the Red Value detector, took the restored second piece of the silver talisman array, and opened the door.

Thump.

He jumped down the stone steps and gazed at the withered, blackened patches of luminous stone grass, feeling heavy-hearted.

The attack that happened yesterday was genuinely too powerful; he couldn’t imagine how the others, besides himself, had survived the intense and high-level onslaught.

“Maybe they have other methods that don’t require withstanding it directly, like the luminous stone mats,” he said to himself inwardly.

As he walked out of the courtyard, the readings on the Red Value detector in his hand suddenly changed.

From a single-digit number to a negative single-digit number.

Yu Hong’s face twitched, and he quickly moved the detector to pinpoint the direction from which the radiation was coming.

In no time, he found a small patch of luminous stone grass that had grown over onto the ground outside the courtyard to the right.

It seemed that these grasses were spared from yesterday’s great confrontation because they were farther away from the cave.

Yu Hong’s expression brightened, and his heavy mood seemed to lighten as he swiftly dug up this patch of grass and transplanted them into the courtyard in front of the cave.

After finishing this task, it took him more than ten minutes to calm down and then he quickly made his way to the post office.

*

*

*

Knock knock knock.

Outside the stone house of the post office.

Yu Hong knocked forcefully on the gate.

This time, it didn’t take long for the stone house to be opened, and a tall, burly man, carrying a little girl on his back, came out cautiously.

It was Li Rushan.

Snap.

Li Rushan tossed a crumpled ball of paper with his bare hands.

Yu Hong caught it and unfurled it to read.

“Have you heard any invisible voices around here? If you have, don’t talk, we’ll communicate through writing,” it said.

Thinking rapidly of his experience from the day before and the strange behavior of the Zhou sisters, Yu Hong solemnly nodded.

Soon, the two men were exchanging messages by writing with stones on the ground, separated by the gate.

“Yesterday, when you came over, I also gave you a paper ball, but you didn’t even look at it and just kept knocking and shouting, and your expression was very off,” wrote Li Rushan with a serious look on his face.

“I did come over yesterday,” Yu Hong frowned as he wrote, “but I only knocked on the door, I never shouted?”

“You didn’t shout? Impossible, I came out because I heard you calling out to me and even calling my daughter’s name,” wrote Li Rushan.

Yu Hong paused, thought carefully, and remembered that after practicing his skills, his energy had significantly increased. He could remember many things clearly, not to mention the events that had just happened yesterday.

He wrote with conviction: “I’m certain that I only knocked on the door and didn’t call out your names. I intended to knock and wait for your signal, but you didn’t make any movement.”

“It seems that this must be the influence of the Language Person…” Li Rushan’s expression turned gloomy.

He quickly informed Yu Hong about the information regarding the Language Person, and Yu Hong recounted everything he had encountered the day before to him.

After exchanging information, Li Rushan’s eyes were filled with an unprecedented gravity.

“I’ve received news that the convoy that was coming this way had passed through Yuhe City, where the Language Person had erupted. Looking at this, it’s very likely that this convoy brought the Language Person here,” he wrote swiftly. After letting Yu Hong read it, he erased it and continued.

“The Zhou sisters you encountered yesterday could very likely be a method of transmission for the Language Person. Thankfully, your dwelling has many talisman arrays and luminous stones that withstood the deceptive voices, and you didn’t leave the cave; otherwise, the consequences would’ve been unthinkable!”

“So, what do we do now?” Yu Hong felt equally troubled.

“For now, let’s not speak. We’ll communicate through writing for the time being,” said Li Rushan. “Then, since you experienced a Language Person outbreak last night, you should be safe for the time being. I plan to check out that convoy. If possible, we should completely eliminate them, to avoid them being a continuous threat to us,” he explained.

“How do we get rid of them?” Yu Hong’s gaze sharpened as he quickly wrote.

“Based on the information from radio communications, the existing strategy to eliminate the Language Person is to eradicate all infected bodies. As long as there are no infected bodies within a one-kilometer radius, and after a period of natural dissipation, they will vanish on their own,” Li Rushan replied.

“Good!” Yu Hong nodded rapidly. He had nearly died yesterday, and if he really had rushed out of the cave without the protection of numerous talisman arrays, his death would have been certain.

Such a dangerous Evil Shadow must not be allowed to linger nearby!

“Oh, and check on Old Zhou, ask him to join us,” Yu Hong added.

Li Rushan nodded.

Quickly gathering their things and carrying papers and pens—Yu Hong had none and borrowed some from Li Rushan—they set off after ensuring Aisena was settled and warned not to respond to any voices from outside. Then, they left the post office and headed towards Old Zhou’s residence.

The post office and Old Zhou’s dwelling were only a few hundred meters apart, just over a small hill.

Soon they arrived in front of Old Zhou’s cave.

Knock knock knock.

Li Rushan stepped up and knocked on the door with a wooden stick.

No response.

His expression changed slightly, and he knocked rhythmically on the door with the stick again.

Knock knock, knock, knock knock knock, knock.

After knocking, they waited.

Still no response.

Li Rushan and Yu Hong exchanged glances and moved forward together, one towards the door, the other towards the window.

“Who’s there?” Suddenly Old Zhou’s voice came from behind the door. “Who’s outside!?”

His voice was full of wariness, fear, and dread—he seemed to have been recently frightened.

Li Rushan kept his mouth shut and knocked on the door again with the wooden stick.

Knock knock knock, knock knock, knock.

“Who’s knocking?! Get away!” Old Zhou’s voice rose again, tinged with a trace of panic and anger.

Li Rushan frowned, tore off a piece of paper, wrote a message on it, and stuffed it through the door’s ventilation hole.

With a push.

The paper rolled into a cylinder and was squeezed through.

But within two seconds…

Thump.

A faint sound of a paper scroll hitting the ground came from inside the door.

“Who’s out there! Respond!” Old Zhou’s voice rang out again, “Don’t blame me if you don’t speak!!”

Click.

The sound of a gun safety being released emanated from inside. @@novelbin@@

Yu Hong’s expression remained unchanged as he moved forward to shield Li Rushan. His current enhanced polar bear suit had been tested and was impervious to close-range gunfire.

“Respond!!” Old Zhou continued to shout from within.

Suddenly, a slip of paper was slipped next to Yu Hong’s face: Open the door.

Yu Hong’s gaze firmed, and he drew his gun, aiming at the door lock and firing.

Bang!!

A large hole appeared where the door lock had been.

The power of the enhanced handgun was fully demonstrated, startling Yu Hong himself, let alone Li Rushan behind him.

Both trembled, looking at the destroyed door lock and then the smoking barrel of the gun.

Thud.

Yu Hong was the first to react, kicking heavily against the door panel.

The door swung wide open.

All was quiet.

The two stood outside for a long time, not moving.

They just looked inside, at Old Zhou on the ground who had already lost all signs of life, and they remained silent.

Old Zhou lay on his side with eyes wide open, mouth agape, but his face held a strange, delighted smile.

It was as if he hadn’t been frightened before dying, but rather welcomed death, receiving everything he had wanted.

“This is Language Person.” Li Rushan wrote a line of text to Yu Hong.

Then he moved forward to deal with Old Zhou’s corpse.

Soon, a blazing fire took hold, consuming Old Zhou and everything around him.

Billowing smoke rose as Li Rushan and Yu Hong, unable to adjust their emotions, returned the way they had come to check on Aisena, to make sure everything was alright on her end. Only then did they set off towards the highway together.

According to the information from Li Rushan, the convoy had driven over from the highway, taking the main road.

On their journey, the two of them moved with cautious stops, ever vigilant to anything that might happen around them.

No one dared to speak, fearing something might blend into their conversation, into their voices.

In this eerie silence, they soon found the buses parked by the roadside.

Five buses, all grey-white, with their lower halves wrapped in thick iron sheets, and their windows on the inside fortified with thick wooden planks.

As the two stood in the woods, about to approach the buses, Li Rushan suddenly reached out to stop Yu Hong and gestured for him to hold still.

He picked up a stone the size of an egg and hurled it fiercely in the direction of the buses.

Under the sunlight, the stone flew out of the woods, crossed the sky, and fell downward, drawing a perfect parabola, hitting the roof of the penultimate bus.

Dang.

The stone shattered into fine fragments, rolling down to the right front.

Silence.

There was no movement, no sound from all five buses.

Seeing this, Li Rushan’s expression grew even more solemn. He took out a magnesium rod and gave Yu Hong a look.

Splitting up, they moved towards the convoy from both sides.

Minutes later.

The two, one on the left and one on the right, arrived at the last vehicle in the convoy.

Yu Hong, clad in the thickened enhanced polar bear suit and holding a Wolf Fang Club with its defense fully maximized, extended the club, catching the vehicle door handle with its spiked end.

He pulled outward.

Squeak.

The metal door opened easily.

It wasn’t locked at all!

The grey-white door, not even properly latched, was easily pulled open by Yu Hong.

The interior was pitch black, so dark that even the bright sunlight outside could only illuminate a small area by the door.

Yu Hong looked towards Li Rushan, who had come around, and the latter signaled with a gesture to go in and check.

He nodded, the Wolf Fang Club leading the way, while his other hand clutched the silver talisman array hidden in his pocket.

Stepping onto the vehicle step, using it to leverage himself, he entered the bus.

Plop.

Suddenly, his body swayed and he retreated back out.

Standing in the doorway, he appeared to have twisted his ankle.

Li Rushan made hand signals, and Yu Hong waved back, pointing to his ankle, indicating he was in severe pain and couldn’t go on, relying on him now.

He gave numerous apologetic bows, stumbling backwards.

Li Rushan: “…..”

If he hadn’t seen how nimbly Yu Hong moved as he retreated if he hadn’t known Yu Hong specialized in the Heavy Leg Skill, if his IQ weren’t normal, he might have actually believed him.

Without a response, he shook his head, pointed at himself, signaling he would go up.

With a machete and a stack of talismans bought from Yu Hong, he approached the vehicle door.

Plop.

Suddenly, he arched his body, clutching his stomach in an agonizing display, retreating backward.

While retreating, he pointed at Yu Hong and indicated through gestures that he was suddenly in unbearable abdominal pain, really couldn’t hold up, unable to straighten his back.

The arduous task of exploring the bus was now yours to take on.

Yu Hong was at a loss for words.

Watching this guy match him in acting, neither wanted to be the first to risk going in.