Night of Despair

Hong planned to take the opportunity to test the numerical value.

Immediately, he pressed his hand on the talisman array, and a thought arose in his mind.

"Strengthen the talisman array, direction: Enhance its effect, until the limit."

Instantly, black lines flowed out from the Black Mark and merged into the talisman array, and a clear countdown emerged.

"2 days 13 hours 09 minutes."

That much!??

Shock coursed through Hong's heart. He recalled the countdown of just over an hour he had spent just now.

Then compared it with these additional two days.

He understood at once that the extent of the enhancement could indeed be adjusted. But he needed to actively change it.

"Would you like to begin strengthening?" The cold mechanical voice of the Black Mark rang in his ear at this moment.

Hong took a deep breath, ready to give it a try.

"Yes!"

He confirmed with certainty in his mind.

Hiss!

The instant he responded, a trace of jade-like light flashed across the talisman array on the door.

Immediately afterward, Hong's entire physical strength and spirit rapidly began to flow toward his right hand, toward that mysterious and eerie Black Mark.

His whole body tensed, feeling as though the Black Mark was like a vortex, a bottomless black hole, crazily devouring everything in his body.

Physical strength, spirit, even flesh and blood, seemed about to be completely absorbed by it.

With this terrifying absorption, he struggled to fight back, to stop it, but to no avail.

All his strength was being consumed by the Black Mark.

"Wait! I can still recover!" Suddenly, Hong rapidly came to his senses and hurriedly mobilized the two strands of cool air he had cultivated in his lower abdomen.

This was his special reserve, honed through the Advanced Physical Training Method.

As he manipulated it with his mind,

The first strand of cool air swiftly sprang into action, circulating throughout his body, spinning, restoring the physical strength and spirit that were close to being depleted.

But it was still not enough. Hong only felt the strength and spirit he had just recovered continuously being devoured by the Black Mark.

Soon, the first strand of cool air was exhausted. He quickly mobilized the second strand. Just as the second strand was about to run out, the Black Mark seemed to calculate Hong's limit precisely and stopped just in time.

Everything returned to calm.

Hoo!

Hoo!

Hoo!!

Hong sat down on the ground, gasping for air.

He felt as if he had almost been devoured and absorbed, becoming part of the Black Mark.

"Is this the limit of the Black Mark's strengthening?"

He finally understood that the Black Mark probably consumes a small amount of his physical and spiritual strength on a daily basis, so he hadn't felt much.

But this time, to enhance it to the maximum limit, it started to devour a significant amount of energy.

Hong, still unsettled, looked towards the talisman array behind the door.

The countdown there finally started moving, meaning the strengthening had officially begun.

"Next, just wait honestly and see what it's like after the enhancement."

Despite the recent scare, Hong calmed down and was even more eager to see to what extent the talisman array could be strengthened.

After all, the recent experience had given him a good fright.

For two days, while the Black Mark couldn't be strengthened, Hong diligently practiced the Training Method every day.

That Training Method was essentially a running technique; the more he practiced, the more he felt his legs becoming more flexible and his muscles seemingly getting stronger.

The next day, early in the morning.

As the sky was just beginning to brighten, Hong set up a small pot, threw in dried mushrooms, wild herbs, protein bars, added water, and started simmering a thick soup.

Above the fireplace was a metal lid that could directly heat the pot, without worrying about smoke seeping out.

Standing by the fire, Hong held a spoon in one hand and added firewood with the other, constantly stirring.

The protein bar quickly dissolved and broke apart, tainting the soup a milky white.

A rich sweet fragrance slowly accompanied the mushroom aroma as it wafted out.

Within the milky white soup, the grayish mushrooms and dark green wild herbs occasionally popped up with the stirring spoon.

But Hong's expression remained unchanged, silently stirring.

After waiting for a while, he covered the pot.

The soup smelled good, but tasted... hard to describe. And having the same thing every day, dozens of meals in a row, even the tastiest food could become nauseating.

While the soup was simmering, Hong sat down by the fireplace, and began to examine the newly acquired handgun.

Holding the gun and comparing, he found that this gun seemed different from those he had seen on television before.

The gun's safety wasn't at the back but on the side. It also had a built-in simple sight, just a small circular lens with a red cross drawn on it.

On the side was engraved a line of text: Aurora Manufacture.

"With only one bullet, it means that the production of firearms ammunition was likely subjected to large-scale restrictions, possibly production line issues, but more likely problems at the mines. After all, even iodine could be manufactured, so the difficulty shouldn't be greater than that of such slightly complex chemical products."

Hong clipped the gun, along with its holster, to his lower back. He had already loaded both bullets into it.

"I've never used a gun and am not sure about the kickback, but the best way to use it is to scare people. Don't fire unless it's absolutely necessary, and if you must, use it at close range to ensure a higher hit rate."

After doing this, he began to dismantle the solar generator he had purchased from the postman.

He planned to fortify it before use, as for the direction of fortification...

"It's best to enhance durability. Once this kind of machine breaks down, I won't be able to repair it; it'll be junk. So prolonging its lifespan is key."

Soon, the soup in the small pot began to boil and steam rose.

Yu Hong snapped back to reality, got up to cover the fire, and saved the wood.

Then he took the pot off the fire, took out a pair of twig chopsticks, and prepared to eat.

Suddenly, a rush of hurried footsteps came from outside.

The footsteps crushed twigs and leaves, rapidly approaching until they reached the entrance of the cave.

Thump thump thump!

"Yu Hong! Are you there? There's been an accident! Old Yu is in trouble!!" It was Doctor Xu, her voice urgent.

Yu Hong quickly stood up and checked the Large Pyroxene Stone behind the door, ensuring there was no energy consumption, and immediately knew the visitor was human.

"What did I trade with you last time?" For safety's sake, he still needed to verify information.

"Iodine tincture! It was iodine tincture!"

Click.

Yu Hong opened the door to see Doctor Xu, her face covered in sweat and a look of sheer panic.

She had even run over in just a tight, light gray tracksuit, not bothering to put on a jacket.

"What exactly happened!?" Yu Hong asked in a low voice.

"Old Yu is in trouble! His place is locked, and no matter how much we knock, there's no response. We suspect he's in trouble! I heard you bought a set of stone chiseling tools from the post office..." Doctor Xu quickly replied.

"Got it, I'll bring it right away, let's head over together!" Yu Hong nodded rapidly, "Just a moment."

He pulled her through the door and quickly shut it behind them, to guard against shadows.

He then swiftly found the stone chiseling kit in the cave, grabbed his favorite luminous stone Wolf Fang Club, stuffed a protein bar into his mouth, took a water bag, put on a stab-proof vest, donned a hood, and lined it with thick layers of newspaper.

Lastly, he thought about it and decided to bring along the luminous stone graphite he had just prepared.

He was busy with hurried preparations. Doctor Xu, who had just entered, was somewhat dazedly observing the strange safe house cave.

It was completely different from her safe house.

The floor was covered with those mysterious rune lines on the surface of the luminous stones, which seemed to be ground white marks made with stones—some fragmented, some quite intact.

A huge jade talisman array on the wall caught her attention.

Somehow, that talisman array gave her a soft sense of security, making her feel comfortable.

Besides that, what surprised and shocked her the most was the fireplace.

It was like it was made of crystal glass, merged with the rock wall. The fire burning inside could clearly shine through, illuminating the cave.

Above the fireplace, there was a metal disc for conducting heat for cooking.

This craftsmanship, this design...

Doctor Xu compared it to the crude fire pit in her own underground den...a feeling of hard-to-describe heartache emerged.

Look at what others have; they can even make a fire and cook food, drink hot water on rainy days.

And herself, once the door is closed and ventilation is insufficient, she didn't dare to start a fire and cook inside the safe house. Otherwise, before the food was cooked, she might be suffocated by the smoke.

Looking at this warm and transparent fireplace, Doctor Xu's eyes were filled with longing, just like a wild dog that hadn't eaten for ten days, seeing a piece of smoked meat that could fill its belly.

That greedy desire to pounce on it and take the whole fireplace home was so strong that even Yu Hong at her side felt a shiver.

"Did you make this fireplace yourself?" Doctor Xu couldn't help but ask. Even though Old Yu was in trouble, her own cravings were overwhelming.

"Uh-huh, it took a long to gather the materials and it can't be replicated anymore. The main body isn't something I can make; I just fitted it into the wall," Yu Hong replied quickly.

"That's nice..." Doctor Xu's eyes stayed glued to the fireplace, God knows how long it had been since she had slept peacefully by a stove.

At night, once the door was closed, she must completely extinguish the fire, otherwise, she would most certainly suffocate in the room.

And now, the temperature was starting to drop, and at night her underground den was cold and damp, with a smell of mildew everywhere...

But here, not only was there no hint of dampness, but it was also warm as spring...

"Let's go, didn't you say Old Yu was in trouble? We should head over," Yu Hong urged from the side.

Doctor Xu reluctantly touched the fireplace one more time, then turned and left.

"You don't have to extinguish the fire?" she asked.

"No need; when the wood burns out, it will extinguish by itself. It will also help to dry out the room," Yu Hong replied.

The two of them locked the door and quickly headed toward the gathering place near the post office.

Ten minutes later.

When the two arrived at the post office, Jenny and her daughter were already standing at the stone house entrance, holding a device and testing everywhere.

The screen of the device was red, flashing with a changing number.

Seeing Yu Hong and Doctor Xu arriving, Jenny's face turned grave and she came closer.

"Something indeed has happened, the Red Value inside has reached over a hundred!"

"What does that mean?" Yu Hong asked.

"It means there's something like a shadow in the underground shelter at the post office," Jenny replied. "But what's strange is that I've checked, and both the basement door and the ventilation ducts remain unopened. Old Yu wouldn't have left luminous stone bags behind the door either."

"So we need to smash the door open and see! Regardless of what happened, there are still plenty of dried meats and dried mushrooms at Old Yu's place, enough for us to eat for a long time; we must salvage them," Jenny quickly said.

"We also need to consider where our next meals will come from. Old Yu's place definitely has complete notes and tools for breeding," Doctor Xu added.

"Don't tell me we have to break down the door and go inside?" Aifu, Jenny's daughter, couldn't help but interject. "It's definitely dangerous inside; I'm not going. Whoever wants to go can go, but I'm not going!"

Her complexion changed slightly, she stepped back, and wore an expression that said this had nothing to do with her.