Night of Despair

Chapter 81: Treatment Three

Huh… Huh…

“F*ck!”

Yu Hong’s body swelled with blood, his face flushed, breathing heavily. He looked at the completely whitened talisman array and the one-third ineffective runes in the cave before he finally dropped the thoroughly spent silver talisman array and supported Aisena.

Next, it was time to face the ultimate trouble.

The Language Person’s second form…

He untied Aisena and gave her some water, letting her rest flat. Then he sat down to rest himself.

In the recent confrontation, he too had expended a lot of physical energy and had to unleash his Inner Qi twice in succession to forcefully scatter the transparent human form that had taken shape.

He had this inexplicable feeling that if that human form fully materialized, it would be extremely bad for Aisena.

Moreover, the gel seemed even more formidable than the last time he was affected.

He sat down to rest, and not long after, there was a knocking sound from outside the door.

“Yu Hong, it’s me,” came the voice of Li Rushan, “Aisena, my daughter, is she alright?” His voice conveyed a mixture of caution, worry, anxiety, and fear, emotions so entangled they made it hard to associate with his usual demeanor.

Yu Hong waited for six seconds before exhaling and wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“It’s fine, we survived safely. Did you find the carrier?”

Upon hearing this, a long sigh of relief came from outside.

Six seconds later, Li Rushan replied.

“Found it… and two corpses, I burned them both.”

Yu Hong waited a moment, then his brow furrowed again. “Did you encounter any other changes?”

“None,” Li Rushan answered. “But near the bodies, I discovered the footprint of a third person… I suspect another person has been infected and taken the Evil Shadow to other places.”

His voice was low and solemn.

“Then we can’t worry about that now. You can report it immediately through your channels and get Hope City’s nearby gathering point on alert,” Yu Hong stated gravely.

To be honest, if he really faced the second form, his current state wasn’t good, and the risk was high. The first form had already depleted most of his resources, and the second form would definitely be stronger. When the time came…

Hearing now that the Language Person’s infectee might have left, Yu Hong actually felt a sense of relief wash over him.

He picked up the Wolf Fang Club and made sure the Red Value detector was quiet, then he opened the door and swiftly handed the unconscious Aisena to the other man.

“Remember, you owe me twice!” Yu Hong said earnestly.

Li Rushan carefully held his daughter, the exhausted man confirmed she was fine, then earnestly nodded at Yu Hong.

Turning around, he walked swiftly towards the distance and soon disappeared into the woods.

Huh.

Yu Hong exhaled deeply and turned to look back at the door.

The door, originally more than ten centimeters thick, was now only a few centimeters thick, and in some places, it was nearly gnawed through.

He sighed, entered, closed the door, and began waiting for the door to be repaired before restoring all the talisman arrays once more.

The threat of the Language Person might have possibly departed, but it could still return; the danger was far from over, so he had to make all necessary preparations.

‘Additionally, I must strengthen a kind of Evil Shadow Weapon that can self-recover… and enhance the detector, get an anti-shadow technique… all these need to be scheduled.’

‘There’s so much to do, and it must be done quickly, in case the Language Person returns… In my current state, I would undoubtedly die!’

Thinking this, Yu Hong felt the fatigue from the recent confrontation surge to the forefront of his mind.

He sat down against the wall, stuffed a protein bar into his mouth, and tried to rest with his eyes closed to recover his strength.

This attack by the Language Person had caused a significant loss to both Li Rushan and Yu Hong.

Both men had been frightened by the suddenly enhanced threat of the Evil Shadow. So, for the next several days, they stayed indoors, relying on their supplies to get by.

After safely getting through another peak period.

Yu Hong also completed the restoration of all the talisman arrays, and the door was back to its original state. Outside, the luminous stone grass was lush again, brimming with life.

As if everything had returned to the peaceful state it was in before the Language Person’s attack.

But this time, Yu Hong wasn’t lulled into a false sense of security; he understood it was merely a fragile illusion.

After recovering his state, the first thing he did was to find Old Li to exchange favors.

Inside the post office’s stone house.

Beneath some dim candlelight, Li Rushan took the radio, plunked down across from Yu Hong, and casually turned on the station.

“Are you sure you want to exchange everything?” his face bearded, clearly not having rested well while tending to his daughter.

“Certain. During times like these, if you don’t quickly convert favors into assistance, you may not have the chance later,” Yu Hong said seriously.

Li Rushan looked at him intently for a while.

“You’re right. This time I’ll give it to you at cost. What do you want?”

“Can you get an air dehumidifier?” Yu Hong asked. “Also, there’s the Sunlight series of paint.”

“…Dehumidifiers are not difficult to come by, but the Sunlight series is more problematic. It’s in high demand, and many places are in short supply. It can resist Blood Tide and shadows, so it’s extremely versatile.” Li Rushan responded honestly.

He guessed that Yu Hong wanted to solve the water supply issue, so he pondered for a moment.

“You saved Nana’s life, I have to help you with this. You want to solve the water supply problem, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Yu Hong nodded, not bothering to hide it.

“This problem can only be solved by a large-scale project, but if it’s you, I can help you get a set of broken underground water supply systems, which are made of metal pipes infused with a bit of Sunlight material, reaching deep underground to draw water.”

Li Rushan paused for a moment, then continued.

“Many organizations need this kind of system, it’s top hot commodity, so I can’t get you a functioning one, since I’m just a small postman. But if it’s broken, I can pull some strings to get a set for you.”

“Won’t it be destroyed by the black bugs?” Yu Hong’s eyes lit up.

“No, the Sunlight series materials have a significant repelling effect on black bugs. Unless it’s a Blood Tide variant, there shouldn’t be much of a problem. Many cities like Hope City also rely on this for water supply,” Li Rushan answered.

“Why didn’t you tell me when I asked you before?”

“Before, you weren’t a top-notch premium customer,” Li Rushan stated matter-of-factly. “Honestly, if I arrange it and you can’t fix it, it’s still all for nothing. So if you want it, think it over carefully.”

“Get it for me to take a look, there shouldn’t be a problem,” Yu Hong replied gravely.

He was certain that there was an abundance of groundwater where he lived, as the surrounding area was all mountains and forests with few streams; if not relying on groundwater, then what?

“Alright,” Li Rushan nodded. “Wait for my message, it should arrive in about two weeks.”

“What about the price?” Yu Hong asked.

“It’s on me,” Old Li closed his eyes, generously offering for once. “Now tell me about your second favor.”

“Help me find an absolutely safe channel. I want to send something to someone,” Yu Hong said earnestly.

After encountering the Language Person, he was very concerned about the situation at little Stutter’s. It was solely because the Evil Shadow of the Language Person was too deceptive.

“Sending something… I can give you our internal postal channel, but you’ll have to pay for it yourself, guaranteed safety,” Li Rushan pondered for a moment, then said solemnly.

“It won’t be intercepted along the way, right?” Yu Hong expressed his concern.

“Won’t happen. It’s an unspoken rule among our postal system that a postman’s items can’t be opened and looked through,” Li Rushan replied. @@novelbin@@

He glanced at Yu Hong, then continued, “However, this privilege is only available once every two months, and you’ll still need to pay for transportation. It’s just a little cheaper. You can combine it with regular postal services.”

“Good!” Yu Hong nodded. “Then I’ll be troubling you from now on.”

“It’s nothing; as it looks now, helping you is also helping myself,” Li Rushan said sincerely.

True colors show in times of adversity. From the Language Person attack, he had identified that Yu Hong’s nature was trustworthy.

In these times of despair and terror, encountering such a decent person was indeed a good thing. Moreover, Yu Hong was quite capable.

After all, not just anyone could live alone in the wilderness for so long.

Hiss.

At that moment, the speaker of the radio began broadcasting a news report.

“Today is August 18, 2022, the time is 14:32. What we are about to replay for you is the latest summary of news about the Black Disaster from around the country.”

The female announcer’s voice, beautiful but carrying heaviness and suppression, slowly spread out.

“According to intelligence feedback from the United Army from all over the country, since the beginning of July, a total of five city-level Hope Cities have been breached by the Black Disaster, with over one million civilians relocated. The death toll is incalculable.”

“According to the latest research from Silver Tower, they have identified the most recent Blood Tide variants: Tidal crawlers, elite Biters, and the Insect Queen. All three variants evolved from lower-level blood fleas. The evolved Blood Tide variants have had their danger levels raised to War Level.”

“In addition, the mass death incident that occurred in Rongjing City has been confirmed to be a new War Level Evil Shadow: Withered Woman. Silver Tower has dispatched personnel to investigate and determine methods to combat the Withered Woman.”

“Aurora City has reported new military intelligence, the human United Army encountered a Nightmare Level shadow, with third and fifth armies trapped in the mist, unable to retreat.”

The radio continued to report the latest news from various places, the host reporting the actual progress of the fight against it.

But the vast majority was bad news, deaths and injuries, with only a very few Hope Cities successfully withstanding recent assaults.

The Language Person massacre in Yuhe City also came to light.

“…Based on the investigation feedback from representatives dispatched by Yuhe City, the scope of the Language Person attack is considered medium, with a danger level of four. According to detailed investigation reports, shadow threats around Yuhe City were originally between level one and three, but recently a level four Evil Shadow appeared, likely being transmitted from other external regions…”

Inside the stone house, the two listened quietly to the radio broadcast.

Not until the report ended and started to repeat for a second time did Li Rushan stretch his hand out to turn off the radio.

“Danger levels range from one to nine, and the Language Person is only level four, so you understand why so many people are heading to Hope City to live, right?” Li Rushan sighed.

“If the Language Person’s preventive measures become widespread, actually, it’s somewhat manageable. The key problem is lack of detection. Before it erupts into murder, it can’t be detected, and that’s what’s most fatal,” Yu Hong sighed.

“Yes, that’s where Yuhe City took the hit, dozens of outbreaks in only a short time. The entire United Army’s defensive line was destroyed, and within just a few days, only one of the leaders was left alive,” Li Rushan replied.

“Level four is this strong, let alone War Level above level nine… and Nightmare Level… it’s frightening to even imagine,” Yu Hong whispered.

“The danger levels from one to nine don’t indicate how powerful the Evil Shadows and Blood Tide are, but rather how manageable they are. The lower the danger level, the more obvious the weakness and easier to handle. The higher it gets, the harder it is to manage,” Li Rushan replied. “And besides, they move around, so I suggest it’s best for you to go to a large-scale Hope City. Staying alone in the wilderness, if you encounter higher-level threats, on your own, you’re pretty much doomed.”