A Night of Desperation

Chapter 40: Secret (4)

Walking on the way back, the image of Eve, who had just fainted, kept stirring in Yu Hong’s heart.

He had originally wanted to kill her outright, but when the time came, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He had been an ordinary person, a regular office worker. Even though he had knocked out two soldiers during his counterattack last time, he hadn’t killed anyone!

That’s right.

He had only knocked out two people. If they woke up in time, they would survive.

So, he hadn’t killed anyone. As long as the person didn’t die immediately in his hands, it didn’t count.

And this time, it was the same.

He couldn’t bring himself to kill. He couldn’t bear to see a living, moving, and struggling life—an equal life—gradually fading away in his hands.

That indescribable feeling made his heart grow more and more nauseous, as if he wanted to vomit.

Perhaps he would get used to it in the future, but for now, at least at this very moment…

He still harbored mercy. He was still just an ordinary person.

Returning to the cave’s safehouse, Yu Hong gave the unconscious Jenny a few more blows, breaking her limbs.

Then, he took her keys and dagger, among other items, before feeling at ease and heading back inside, starting a fire. He took off his sweat-drenched clothes, sitting by the stove, bare-chested.

He didn’t move, sitting quietly as three talismans lay beside him, within easy reach.

He remained silent for a long time—perhaps over an hour.

“Sigh.”

Yu Hong sighed, watching the flickering flames in the fireplace, a trace of confusion and sadness in his eyes.

“I don’t want it to be this way.”

He muttered softly.

“But the environment is like this, and the people outside are like this. It’s not my fault.”

He extended his hand and took out the handgun from his waist holster.

The black Aurora-made pistol, now completely out of ammunition, had just fired the last two shots from his limited supply.

Since it was already empty, he might as well use it for an enhancement attempt.

Gripping the gun’s handle, Yu Hong silently whispered in his mind.

“Enhance the firearm, with the direction being… automatic bullet replenishment.”

“Integrity insufficient.” The feedback from the black mark was clear—it wasn’t going to be that easy.

Upgrading an ordinary handgun into one with infinite bullets was clearly impossible.

Yu Hong thought for a moment and changed his approach.

“Enhance the firearm, with the direction being: reduced recoil, refill bullets once.”

“Integrity insufficient.”

The feedback from the black mark still didn’t work.

Yu Hong furrowed his brows and started to try other enhancement directions.

But no matter which direction he chose, it seemed he couldn’t replenish the bullets.

Remembering the items he had enhanced earlier, many had automatically been repaired or even fully restored. For example, the big door was like this.

So, he decided to begin with a basic recoil reduction for the handgun.

The countdown began at last, with 32 minutes on the clock.

Not long.

Yu Hong simply sat there, quietly waiting, organizing his thoughts and future plans.

Soon, the time came. The handgun in front of him shimmered briefly before becoming clear again.

After the enhancement, the handgun looked the same but was obviously much newer, and the Aurora mark was gone.

Yu Hong quickly picked it up and ejected the magazine.

It was empty, causing him to show a disappointed expression.

“Looks like it still can’t replenish the bullets. This means bullets are treated as separate items from the handgun.”

He gave up on the firearm and got up to exercise.

The advanced physical training method had been very helpful to him so far. His stamina had improved, and running had become faster and easier.

After exercising and eating some rich soup, the sky outside had gradually darkened.

Yu Hong thought about the mysteries surrounding Jenny and her daughter.

“If we follow Doctor Xu’s judgment, Jenny and her family are definitely abnormal. Jenny herself has clearly trained in combat and is skilled with a dagger. Her daughter Eve is proficient in ancient languages and multiple foreign languages, which is something that can’t be taught in such a small place. The educational environment is simply insufficient.”

“So, this means they must have lived in a much better environment before. What’s strange, though, is that even if they were investigating the secrets of the Black Disaster, Jenny’s husband shouldn’t have brought his whole family here. His family would obviously be safer in a bigger place.”

“Why bring them here?” Yu Hong couldn’t understand.

But at least tomorrow, he planned to visit Jenny and her daughter’s home to see if he could find something useful, like the Sunshine No. 1.

The sky had completely darkened.

Yu Hong sat alone on a round stool, drinking some freshly cooked sweet soup.

Outside, the sound of black insects crawling could be heard, but as they entered, they were burned by the firelight, turning into black smoke.

By now, he had become quite calm in the face of the Black Disaster’s invasion.

Compared to the Black Disaster, the eerie shadows and evil shadows posed a much greater threat to him.

He casually took out a wooden plate with a drawn array and began enhancing it again.

“If the fireplace could automatically add wood, so I wouldn’t have to manage it, I could sleep peacefully without worrying about anything. Instead of having to manually add wood every half hour like this.”

He sighed softly.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, he fully armed himself with a wolf tooth club and went out.

First, he went to the place where Jenny had been lying.

She had crawled for more than ten meters across the grass, finally resting under a tree, where she had completely disappeared, leaving only a pile of scattered clothes.

Yu Hong checked and confirmed that the clothes were fine, with no black handprints. He rolled them up and placed them in the cave’s safehouse.

These fabrics could be used to make many things. They had a wide range of uses, so after losing the people who made leather and clothing, cloth needed to be saved for later.

Skipping past Jenny, Yu Hong continued toward the post office.

Soon, he arrived at the place where Eve had collapsed.

As expected, only a set of clothes was scattered in the grass, unmoving.

But this time, Yu Hong didn’t dare touch anything because the pants of the clothes had a clear black handprint on them.

He picked up some stones and placed them on the clothes to prevent the wind from blowing them away. Then, he continued on his way to the post office.

Doctor Xu’s underground residence was nearby, and he needed to give him a heads-up to avoid any misunderstandings.

After all, they were the only two living people in the area.

When passing the post office, Yu Hong suddenly stopped, shocked to see someone outside the stone building sweeping the yard.

The person looked like a hiker, dressed in blue and white camouflage, carrying a khaki backpack and wearing a baseball cap. He was about 1.8 meters tall, very strong, and had a dark complexion.

The man saw Yu Hong and put down the broom, slowly walking toward him.

“Hello, I’m the new postman, Li Runshan.”

He didn’t approach too closely, stopping about five meters away.

“I’m Yu Hong, I live nearby.” Yu Hong briefly introduced himself. “Are you really a postman?” He had some doubts.

“This is my ID, medal, and tools.” Li Runshan took out a small dark blue booklet and opened it to show Yu Hong.

Inside the booklet was indeed an official identification with a red seal, stating that he was part of the Republic’s United Army Postal System, with the national emblem, his name, and ID number.

The medals were much simpler. Li Runshan casually flipped his coat open, revealing several medals of various sizes and colors hanging inside.

“I’m a veteran, served over ten years in a field unit. Sigh.” He exhaled. “Who would’ve thought the world could change so quickly.”

“The nearby town has been relocated. Did you know?” Yu Hong asked.

“Hmm, I’m not from the town. The relocated town merged with our Hope City, and now it’s part of the city. The Hope City code is 231, but we all just call it Baihe City now,” Li Runshan explained. “I was sent from the city.”

He paused.

“To be honest, not many people want to come here. There are hardly any living people left. But this Baiqiu Village has a nearby Luminous Stone mine and some ruins. Actually, the ruins aren’t much, but more importantly, the Luminous Stone mine is growing. With the increase in Ghostly Shadows and evil shadows, three towns disappeared just last month. Your nearby town is lucky—it was evacuated and sealed off right away. Otherwise, heh…”

This man was clearly a chatterbox and seemed to have just come from a bigger place, eager to share everything with someone after a long journey.

“Ruins… accompanying Luminous Stone mines? So you’re saying Luminous Stone is connected to the source of the Black Disaster?” Yu Hong frowned.

“Mostly, yes. But there are many mines that have been independently excavated. By the way, my superior told me to contact a researcher named Freen from the Silver Tower. Do you know him?” Li Runshan asked casually.

“I don’t know him,” Yu Hong immediately thought of Jenny and Eve.

“Then he’s probably gone.” Li Runshan lowered his head and popped something dark into his mouth, chewing carelessly.

“To be honest, I was pushed out by the city, and I offended some people. That’s why I was sent here. You know how it is out there. Ghostly Shadows everywhere, the Black Disaster is getting stronger, and no one survives long out here. Most people who are sent out here never make it back.”

Yu Hong didn’t know how to respond.

“However, I volunteered to come here. The people in the city were just too disgusting,” Li Runshan added.

“Tell me more about that Silver Tower researcher. Are you sure he came here? If he’s dead here, will they send more people?” Yu Hong looked at him with a slightly hopeful gaze.

He didn’t ask whether they would come but whether they could come—this suggested he was hoping for more people to arrive.

“I don’t know, but once the higher-ups recover, they’ll likely send more people. This place was one of the original sources of the Black Disaster. The first protection symbols were discovered here,” Li Runshan replied.

“Protection symbols?” Yu Hong asked curiously.

“They’re the symbols on the Luminous Stone. Anyway, I need to clean up the post office now.”

“Wait. Be careful in your basement. Watch out for the black handprints left by the evil shadow. Don’t touch them.” Yu Hong kindly warned him, feeling that Li Runshan had provided useful information.

“Mm, thanks! I’ve already seen them.” Li Runshan smiled and seemed a bit more at ease.

Clearly, as a postman, he had more ways to handle these things. Even traces left by the evil shadow weren’t too difficult for him to deal with.

“By the way, there are two letters here, one for Xu Ruoyin and one for Yu Hong.” Suddenly, he remembered something and quickly took out two letters from his backpack, glancing at the covers before handing one to Yu Hong.

“This one should be for you, Yu Hong.”

“Thanks.” Yu Hong took the letter, curious. He wondered who would send him a letter from afar since he hadn’t been here long.

Suddenly, he thought of one person.

(End of Chapter)