A Night of Desperation

Chapter 33: Trouble (1)

“If we don’t go down, there will be no food, Eve,” Jenny whispered, frowning and trying to persuade.

“I’ll go down, you stay up here to assist me, is that okay?”

“Alright, but be careful, Mom,” Eve whispered. As soon as she heard she wouldn’t have to go down, she immediately agreed.

“Okay, stop talking. Let’s get started,” Dr. Xu snapped, giving Eve an annoyed look.

She extended her hand toward Yu Hong.

“Give me the things, I’ll open the door.”

“I’ll do it,” Yu Hong shook his head, carrying the stone carving set, and walked to the stone house door of the post office.

“Open this door first, then where is the basement entrance?”

“It’s inside the house, so we need to open two doors,” Dr. Xu replied.

Without further words, Yu Hong took out his hammer and chisel and began smashing the door lock.

The dull thudding sounds echoed throughout.

After hammering for several dozen strikes, the lock was finally destroyed. Wooden shavings scattered around, and a fist-sized hole was punched in the lock.

The wooden door became loose.

Yu Hong withdrew the hammer and took a step back, kicking the door.

Bang!

The door stood firm.

“Wait!” Dr. Xu, standing beside him, sighed in exasperation, grabbing the door handle and pulling outward.

With a creak, the door slowly opened, revealing a dimly lit interior.

“Alright,” Yu Hong muttered, putting away his tools.

The first thing the group noticed as they stood at the doorway was a mesh bag lying on the floor.

Inside the red mesh bag were chunks of grayish-white luminous stone.

However, at this moment, all the luminous stones had turned pale, clearly having been completely consumed.

Seeing the consumed luminous stones, the group exchanged glances, and their expressions grew grim.

“The luminous stones are all used up. Clearly, there’s been some Ghostly Shadows inside. Everyone, be careful. In these dark environments, the Ghostly shadows love to hide,” Jenny was the first to speak. In fact, she was the most skilled among them.

“I’ll go in first,” Jenny said after a moment. She pulled a large round luminous stone out from her waist pouch. This stone was identical in material to the one Yu Hong had enhanced, but the patterns on it were entirely different, more like the simplified older version.

“Is this luminous marrow!?” Dr. Xu exclaimed in surprise. “This isn’t just any stone, one piece is worth ten regular luminous stones, and its price is exorbitant. How do you have this?”

“My husband left it to me,” Jenny replied coldly. If it weren’t for the extreme danger she felt, she wouldn’t have used it. This was originally something to preserve her life.

“It’s been many years, right? I heard the patterns on these stones have changed recently, with more complex and effective versions coming out. Your stone is already outdated, why not get it re-engraved?” Dr. Xu asked curiously.

“It can’t be washed away, and even if it could, it wouldn’t matter. The patterns serve a guiding purpose, and the moment they are drawn, the effect is already in place. Scrubbing them off afterward won’t change anything,” Jenny explained.

As she spoke, she hung the large luminous stone around her neck, drawing out her machete from the side of her thigh while holding the red detector in one hand, carefully stepping toward the door.

She led the way, Dr. Xu followed in the middle, and Yu Hong took up the rear. As for Eve, not wanting to go down, she stayed at the stone house entrance to watch over.

The three moved in a line and soon arrived at the central hall of the stone house.

On the floor of the hall was an open basement door, revealing a dark, eerie basement entrance.

A chill gust of wind poured from the entrance, spreading to all sides, making the whole stone house feel unnaturally cold.

The three exchanged a look, and Jenny pulled out an atomic flashlight, aimed it at the entrance, and opened the flashlight cover. Immediately, a greenish glow lit up a section of a rusted silver metal ladder.

“I’ll go down first. You two wait for my signal before coming in,” she warned, taking a deep breath.

“Got it!” Dr. Xu replied, and Yu Hong nodded in agreement.

After ensuring that both were ready, Jenny swiftly scaled the metal ladder, climbing down like a monkey.

In no time, she reached the basement hall, which was over ten meters deep.

While Jenny was descending, Dr. Xu unfolded a hand-drawn map and showed it to Yu Hong.

“The main structure down there consists of several corridors. The point where we are is the junction of all the corridors. From here, three corridors branch out, each with many rooms and storage rooms. This place was originally built as a shelter for wartime, specifically to defend against large-scale weapons of mass destruction,” Dr. Xu sighed. “I never thought we’d be using it for this.”

“Are the corridors narrow?” Yu Hong asked, frowning as he looked down.

“Yeah, I’ve been down there a few times to bandage the postal workers. The corridors are about a meter wide, built to save on materials and space. The height isn’t much either,” Dr. Xu nodded.

Yu Hong fell silent, his hand unconsciously rubbing the handle of the luminous stone wolf tooth club. His expression had become more serious than usual.

Time passed slowly.

Around five minutes later, they heard Jenny’s voice from below.

“All clear, you can come down. There’s nothing inside,” she said, sounding a bit tired. The greenish glow of the atomic flashlight soon appeared.

Dr. Xu and Yu Hong exchanged glances, checking their luminous stones to make sure there were no signs of depletion. Then they carefully climbed down the metal ladder.

Both reached the small central hall of the basement, stepping onto the floor and surveying their surroundings.

In the green light, the entrances to three corridors surrounded the small hall, resembling three dark and eerie caves, each blowing cold wind outward.

“I’ve found Old Yu’s room. Follow me,” Jenny said, holding the flashlight with a somber expression.

“Found him?” Dr. Xu’s face tightened, and she quickly asked. It wasn’t that she was particularly concerned about Old Yu, but without him, obtaining food would become much more difficult for them.

“Not sure,” Jenny shook her head, turning and leading the way down one of the corridors.

The two followed her as they walked through the dark corridor to a room on the side.

“Old Yu had enough supplies, why didn’t he set up some atomic lights to illuminate? Doesn’t he fear this place being so dark?” Dr. Xu asked, unable to stop herself.

“He used to say that atomic lights have too much radiation, and he was worried about getting cancer. Now it seems…” Jenny didn’t finish the sentence. Among the three of them, she had spent the most time with Old Yu.

Dr. Xu and Yu Hong were both outsiders who had been rescued by the little stutterer.

So, when it came to knowing Old Yu, Jenny was the most familiar.

“He’s just a cowardly, miserly guy, afraid of death, and he even once tried to pursue me,” she sighed again as she spoke.

The other two said nothing in response. Jenny may have gotten older, but it was clear her figure was still in great shape, her movements nimble and strong, and her face free of wrinkles. Her skin had been well-maintained. Additionally, as everyone had grown paler due to lack of light, she exuded a certain western vampire beauty that Yu Hong had once noticed.

It was entirely possible that Old Yu had tried to pursue her.

“This is the place, be careful,” Jenny said, gripping the large luminous stone in one hand, her expression becoming more serious as she stared at the half-open iron door.

Without hesitation, she used the tip of her machete to gently prod the door, applying force to push it open.

Creeeak.

The iron door slowly opened, revealing a dark bedroom inside.

The room was empty, with disheveled bedding in the corner, as though someone had recently been lying there. Other furniture, like tables and chairs, looked normal, with no strange marks.

Just as Jenny was about to enter, she suddenly retreated quickly, her breathing becoming hurried.

“Careful!!”

She spread her arms, blocking the two behind her.

“Look at the floor!” she quickly said.

Yu Hong and Dr. Xu immediately followed her gaze.

On the black floor of the bedroom, a set of gray male work clothes had been scattered around.

The clothes consisted of long-sleeved shirts, yellowed white shirts inside, long pants, and a pair of long rubber boots. The shiny white rubber gleamed with a faint greenish light under the atomic flashlight.

“These are Old Yu’s clothes and shoes,” Jenny said softly, her voice filled with complexity.

“The person must be gone,” Dr. Xu said, her mood growing heavy as she looked at the abandoned clothes. With the small number of people in their gathering place, losing another person—especially someone who produced food—would have a huge impact on them.

She crouched down and reached out to pick up Old Yu’s clothes.

Suddenly, her pupils shrank, and she quickly stood and stepped back.

“Wait!! Everyone, stay back! Don’t touch the clothes!!”

Upon hearing her words, Jenny and Yu Hong immediately retreated.

“What’s going on!?” Yu Hong tensed up, tightening his grip on the club and scanning the area.

“Look at the back of the clothes!” Dr. Xu gritted her teeth, her voice trembling.

Yu Hong quickly directed the atomic light toward the clothes.

He saw that Dr. Xu had turned the clothes over, revealing a clear black handprint on the sleeve!

“Black handprint!?” His heart sank. He had just heard about the characteristics of the Evil Shadow and the Withered Maiden, and now, seeing this distinctive black handprint, he felt uneasy.

“Get out of here! We can’t stay here!” Jenny made a decisive call and turned to leave.

The other two felt a chill in their hearts and quickly followed her.

They didn’t dare touch anything, rushing back to the small hall and climbing up the ladder to return to the stone house.

Bang.

Jenny kicked the metal cover back over the basement entrance.

“We can’t go back in there!” she said firmly.

“Old Yu must have been infected long ago, which is why he was sent out and couldn’t be relocated!” Dr. Xu’s face went pale. “I’ve had contact with him before; I hope I wasn’t infected too.”

“Everyone, check yourselves carefully. I heard that if you don’t have direct contact, you usually won’t get infected. The black handprint can seep through clothes,” Jenny said, her scalp tingling with unease as she spoke. She was also furious, realizing that Old Yu’s concealment could lead to a catastrophe for everyone.

“Let’s check each other,” Yu Hong said after a long silence.

At that moment, all three fell silent.

Then, they slowly moved apart and began inspecting each other for black handprints.

A few minutes later, to their relief, none of them had been infected, which allowed them to breathe a little easier.

“We can’t stay here. Let’s get out first,” Jenny said in a low voice.

“What about the food?” Yu Hong asked. “Without Old Yu, we’ll have to find food on our own. Relying on wild vegetables won’t be enough.”

“I know a bit about Old Yu’s Breading process. Let’s give it a try. If it doesn’t work, we can go back down and search,” Jenny replied.

(End of Chapter)