Night of Despair

Chapter 97: Countermeasures

Boom.

The reinforced suit was stripped off by Yu Hong and thrown to the ground, with one of the alloy plates on the arm severely deformed.

This deformation also caused his forearm to swell up with a bruise.

“Such incredible strength!” Yu Hong cursed under his breath. This was the first time he had encountered such a ferocious monster, and one that was not afraid of daylight no less.

Compared to the Blood Tide Black Insects that feared light, this strange bird was far deadlier and more dangerous.

Quickly applying iodophor to his injury, Yu Hong half-lay against the wall, exhaling deeply.

...

Looking at the wooden door with a huge hole smashed in it, he felt a deep sense of helplessness.

‘Let’s hope nothing happens tonight… Oh right, the luminous stone grass!’

Remembering this, if anything happened to the luminous stone grass in the yard, Wei Shanshan and her mother would surely be in danger. They were his hope for energy, and he must ensure their safety before the reinforcement team arrived.

Getting up, Yu Hong walked to the doorway and peered outside through the hole.

The door of the wooden house was half-open, and Qiu Yanxi was staring blankly at another part of the yard in disarray. Her daughter, Wei Shanshan, was gathering some dry sticks and piling them in a corner of the yard, possibly planning to start a fire for warmth.

Although one was still and the other was moving, both of their faces were extremely pale and ghastly.

Suddenly, Qiu Yanxi turned her head and caught sight of Yu Hong looking at them.

Her eyes instantly brightened, and she managed a stiff smile towards Yu Hong.

“Troublesome…” Yu Hong sighed and assessed the condition of the luminous stone grass in the yard.

The entire yard was in shambles, with the middle area trampled by his and the strange bird’s fierce fight, destroying many patches of grass and even exposing the black soil beneath in places.

Yu Hong had a rough idea of the situation and turned back to grab some talisman arrays, taking out a luminous stone mat. He opened the door, walked out to the front of the wooden house.

Spotting him coming outside, the mother and daughter quickly drew close together, standing rigidly as one, not daring to move, waiting for him to speak.

Yu Hong dropped the talisman arrays and the luminous stone mat by the side of the wooden house.

“Be careful tonight. Use these for backup.”

“…Yes!” Qiu Yanxi quickly responded with nervous agreement.

She originally had many little schemes in mind, hoping to exchange for Yu Hong’s Secret Technique to dispel the Blood Tide Black Insects, but after witnessing the recent scene…

Once Yu Hong finished speaking, he turned and went back inside. Soon the wooden door closed, and a makeshift repair was done by nailing a wooden board over the large hole.

Then everything quieted down.

Qiu Yanxi stood in place, waiting to ensure there was no further activity from Yu Hong, before breathing a sigh of relief.

“Shanshan, come here…” She beckoned her daughter.

The two entered the wooden house, picking up the items from the ground, feeling a lot safer. At the very least, they wouldn’t have been able to get so many talisman arrays from the post office.

“That guy… Mr. Yu, is definitely a luminous stone reinforced individual!” Qiu Yanxi whispered to her daughter, advising her, “When you talk to him, try to be as compliant as possible. Reinforced individuals are moody and unstable. You can never be sure of what’s on their minds. Just do less talking and more listening, and be obedient!”

“…What… what does being obedient mean??” Wei Shanshan, already scared by the recent battle and her legs weak, sweated even more at her mother’s admonition, at a loss and pale-faced.

“It means that whatever he asks us to do, we just do it. No questions, no objections. Let’s wait until the reinforcement team arrives to discuss anything!” Qiu Yanxi said softly. She recalled the fierce fight she had glimpsed through the door crack, and her mood was very heavy.

“The monsters outside are getting stronger, and they dare to attack under the sunlight during the day… I worry that if there’s an issue with the reinforcement team’s arrival, we might only be able to rely on Mr. Yu to survive… Pay attention and see if he needs our help with anything. Do as much as we can. Like gathering dry wood, repairing the courtyard wall…”

“Yes!” Wei Shanshan nodded quickly.

Qiu Yanxi exhaled deeply.

“Though it’s getting more dangerous outside, if we can stay close to Mr. Yu, we are definitely much safer than others… That explosion just now… I wonder how the post office is holding up…”

With her heart racing, thinking of the post office and people like Song Mingshi who used to despise them and take advantage of them, she felt a surge of relief and satisfaction at the thought that they might be in trouble.

Remembering Yu Hong’s fight with the strange bird, and comparing it to previous fights she had seen with other reinforced individuals, she had never seen such strength among them.

“Mr. Yu must be amongst the top-ranked reinforced individuals, no wonder he dares live alone in the wild…” Qiu Yanxi sighed.

“Mom… Can we really make it back alive…?” Wei Shanshan couldn’t help but ask softly.

“We can… we definitely can!” A flicker of determination crossed Qiu Yanxi’s eyes.

*

* @@novelbin@@

*

After the strange bird’s attack, there were no Blood Tide attacks that night, and the mysterious shadows also seemed much fewer.

Yu Hong kept the communicator open, but there was no longer any sound from the post office.

He had not rested well all night, constantly worried about the wooden door with the hole being invaded by shadows and about the safety of the two outside, especially since a good amount of the luminous stone grass in the yard had been smashed.

But fortunately, none of that happened.

The next day, Yu Hong watched the countdown display in the basement, waiting.

With the timer’s numbers decreasing, his heart filled with anticipation.

Suddenly, he thought that although he had asked for the exterior to remain unchanged, the hole in the door still needed something to mask the change.

After some contemplation, he gathered tools and wooden planks, and went up to the doorway once more. There was more knocking and hammering as he placed two large new boards on the exterior of the door to cover up the hole underneath.

No matter what, it was better to block it for now. Once it was repaired, he could make it look natural in a few days, so there was no worry about it being exposed.

While working on the door, he noticed in the yard Qiu Yanxi and Wei Shanshan were bending down to pick up stones, reapplying them to the damaged courtyard wall.

They didn’t know where they had gotten some sand and soil from, but they mixed it with water to form a grayish-black substance resembling cement, using it to reattach the stones to the wall of the courtyard, repairing the breach from before.

In the area where the dry firewood was placed, they had also gathered a considerable amount of firewood, enough to last a long time.

Yu Hong was satisfied and nodded to the two women, acknowledging their efforts.

“Mr. Yu, is there any news from the rescue team at the post office?” Qiu Yanxi, seeing that he was in a good mood and knowing that she had done the right thing, boldly stepped forward to ask.

“We haven’t made contact yet,” Yu Hong shook his head. “There seems to be some trouble over there. Right now, the situation outside the courtyard is very bad, with high Red Value, and there’s the possibility of danger appearing at any moment. In this unclear situation, I don’t dare to go over recklessly to check.”

“When we went out to gather firewood, we didn’t dare to go far. It always felt like something was watching us nearby.” Qiu Yanxi’s complexion had improved a lot, and at this moment, her attitude was much more proper, and she didn’t dare to have any small schemes.

“The firewood is enough; you should go out less from now on.” Yu Hong thought for a moment, then turned to enter the door, bringing out a solar power generator set for them, along with a connected lightbulb.

“This stores energy during the day and provides light at night, enough to deal with ordinary Blood Tide Black Insects. Be careful with it,” he cautioned.

“Thank you! Thank you, Mr. Yu.” Qiu Yanxi was overjoyed, repeatedly expressing her thanks. “If there’s anything we can do, you can tell us anytime, like washing things, doing some manual work, patching things up—we can still manage that!”

“Hmm… Water isn’t really enough, so let’s just leave it at that for now.” Yu Hong was very satisfied with their attitude. During a critical moment, to do something within one’s power was the normal thought for those who truly wanted to survive.

Returning to the cave, he closed the door.

He quickly descended to the basement; the countdown was now only two minutes away.

In the last two minutes, Yu Hong simply sat down cross-legged on the basement floor, quietly waiting.

Time ticked away, slowly passing.

Finally.

The countdown hit zero directly.

Hiss!

In an instant, the entire cave, all the stone walls, briefly blurred. In less than a second, everything was clear and restored.

Everything returned to calm.

But seated on the ground, Yu Hong distinctly felt a difference from before.

He first reached out to touch the floor; the previously rough stone texture was gone, replaced by a flat and smooth stone surface.

Although no material had been applied, at least it was no longer the rough and uneven state of before, and the density seemed to have increased, with hardness slightly higher as well, suggesting a subtle increase in strength.

Standing up, Yu Hong, filled with anticipation, reached out to touch the wall.

The surrounding walls had been smoothed over too, with increased hardness.

‘This should be a simple fortification against impact forces,’ Yu Hong thought contentedly, slowly circling the basement, realizing he didn’t find the additional chamber that was supposed to have been added.

Previously, during the fortification, he had requested an extra chamber be added.

‘If it’s not here, it should be on the other side.’

He followed the stairs out of the basement, back into the cave.

Sure enough, in another corner of the cave, he saw another basement entrance, symmetrically placed.

The same gray-white stone stairs led him swiftly down through that entrance.

Below was a square space about the same size as the first basement. The inner walls of the space had been hardened as well. Besides that, the interior was empty.

But even so, Yu Hong was quite satisfied.

He inspected it meticulously, ensuring there were no issues before he returned to the first floor of the cave, finally checking the major point of interest—the reinforcement of the main door.

At the door, the previously broken and hole-riddled door panel had been completely repaired.

The style of the original door hadn’t changed, but the density of the material had clearly been greatly increased.

Yu Hong touched it with his hand.

A metallic, cool sensation fed back to his fingers.

He then opened the repaired flap; it was no longer made of wood but had been replaced with a silver-black metal panel.

Swish.

Behind the flap was the lookout window.

The original lookout window had steel wire mesh, but now in front of him was a thick layer of clear glass.

Yu Hong knocked on it.

Thud, thud, thud.

Very hard, very dull.

He nodded in satisfaction.

‘This is much stronger than before, good!’

He then closed the window and checked the connection between the door and the stone wall.

These connections, previously filled with many nails, had now all disappeared, replaced by a transitional layer where the door panel and the mountain stone seemed to melt together.

Not a single nail was visible, as if it had been fused together by cement.

Yu Hong gently smashed it with his elbow. The door didn’t even tremble; it was extremely sturdy.

‘Now it’s good, the strength has advanced to a new level!’ Gazing at the brand-new high-strength door, a strong sense of security welled up inside him.

The danger of being pierced by a strange bird, like before, was now unlikely to happen again.

Having confirmed that the entire safe house’s fortification exceeded his satisfaction, he sat down comfortably to consider the next object for enhancement.