The sky was dim, approaching twilight.
In front of the cave’s safe house.
Knock knock knock.
A series of hurried knocks rang out.
Jennie stood at the door, holding a knife in one hand, knocking with the other.
“Yu Hong! Do you have a business deal?” she asked, glancing at the sky, knowing that night was coming soon and she had to act quickly.
“What business?” Yu Hong asked from behind the door.
He hadn’t expected Jennie to co this late. But then again, it was to be expected; she would co sooner or later.
“My daughter’s situation is my fault, and I apologize to you. But everyone has their selfishness. We all want to survive. I hope you understand that,” Jennie quickly explained, keeping a wary eye on the surroundings.
Yu Hong scoffed inside.
She nearly infected both him and Doctor Xu, and she casually ntioned such a major event like it was nothing.
He had thought Jennie was relatively normal, but now, it seed she was just like her daughter.
“What are you trying to say? There’s nothing to discuss,” he said coldly.
“I want to buy all the Great Luminous Stone you have, using sothing you absolutely can’t refuse,” Jennie said swiftly.
“The peak period is coming. I don’t think there’s anything that would make refuse,” Yu Hong responded indifferently.
“You can at least listen,” Jennie continued, unbothered by his response.
She went on, “You probably don’t know how Eve and I ended up here. Baiqiu Village is just a remote village. Why would our family go all the way to this place?”
Yu Hong remained silent. Indeed, this seed strange.
“My husband used to work as a researcher at the Silver Tower Joint Research Institute. Silver Tower isn’t just a single place, it’s a global alliance of many research institutions,” Jennie explained.
“He discovered that certain places in the world were the original sources of the black disaster. Baiqiu Village is one of those places. So—”
“So he brought us here to find the source. He taught Eve from a young age, and both of them beca quite proficient in ancient languages. Near this village, they discovered an underground relic,” she paused, sighing.
“Of course, that’s not the most important part. The most important thing is that my husband brought out a liquid tal from Silver Tower. It can be used like spray paint. Its na is ‘Sunshine No. 1.’”
“This liquid tal is the only substance in current research that can block and isolate the ghostly shadows,” Jennie sighed.
“I have a small vial of this tal. I can trade it to you for all your Great Luminous Stone!”
Sunshine No. 1? Such a thing exists?
Yu Hong was half skeptical and didn’t respond imdiately. Strangely, Jennie didn’t urge him but stood outside and continued speaking.
“You should think carefully. Right now, Eve is hiding in the Sunshine No. 1 room, which can temporarily block the evil shadows, but she can’t stay in there forever. The mont she steps outside, she will likely be tangled by the evil shadows. So, after the peak period, I will co again. By then, I hope you’ll have made your decision.”
After speaking, Jennie quickly left the door and sprinted off into the forest, her movents as swift as a leopard.
Soon, she returned to her cave ho.
She closed the door, locked it, and walked to the silver tal door where her daughter was.
Squatting down, Jennie saw that the bag of Luminous Stone outside the silver tal door had already turned into white powder.
Her face changed imdiately.
“Eve, are you still there?” she called out loudly.
“I’m here, Mom!” Eve quickly responded from inside.
“According to the attack pattern, the next strike should co in six hours. I’ve used the red-value detector, and the environntal red value will peak over 200 just before the attack! Luminous Stone can neutralize the red value to reduce the peak, preventing the attack. So, all I can do now is gather as many Luminous Stone and Great Luminous Stone as possible to place near you to neutralize the environntal red value!” ṞÂΝőＢĘȿ
Jennie spoke in a low voice.
At that mont, she seed like a completely different person from when she had been with Yu Hong and Doctor Xu.
She knew much more and showed no sign of hiding or pretending.
“I understand. It will be fine. It’s just that the black handprint is crazily driving to infect more people. It feels like… if I can infect enough people, I can avoid the danger!” Eve shouted from inside.
“It will be fine, just like before. As long as your father’s things are here, I will cure you! Don’t worry, Eve,” Jennie comforted.
“I believe you, Mom,” Eve responded.
Then, Jennie started preparing food for both of them while getting ready for the peak period.
*
*
*
Night slowly descended.
Yu Hong stirred the fire in the stove, boiling the thick soup he’d just added ingredients to.
The large gate and the silver rune array have been restored. Next, he must keep the black mark to prepare for the next possible enhancent.
The words Jennie said in the afternoon kept echoing in his mind.
Ancient language? Origin of the black disaster? Sunshine No. 1?
These things, these nas, had wrapped Baiqiu Village, which he once thought was just a regular village, in a mysterious veil.
Yu Hong had always wondered about sothing: where did the red symbols on the surface of the glowstones co from? They didn’t seem like modern technology products.
And in this technology-driven modern society, when dealing with ghostly shadows and blood tides, there had to be so thod of defense. What could that thod be? Now, Jennie had given a potential answer.
It was likely Sunshine No. 1.
Thinking about it, he stood up and walked to the corner, pulling out a stack of newspapers he had brought from Jiuba’s place, flipping through them.
Soon, his hand paused. He pulled out one paper.
The headline ntioned Sunshine No. 1 material.
“Regarding the newly developed special liquid tal, Professor Peng Siwei translated it as Sunshine No. 1. This liquid tal has the characteristic of solidifying upon exposure to light. Its initial discovery was near a few of the black disaster source points. The material is believed to have been generated alongside the black disaster.”
It really exists… Yu Hong muttered to himself, stunned.
Then, he recalled what Doctor Xu had said. Jennie and her daughter had encountered extrely dangerous peak periods multiple tis and had managed to survive.
Combined with Eve’s odd and out-of-place nature, Jennie and her daughter clearly had secrets, and they weren’t ordinary ones.
“From the way she spoke earlier, she was very confident that she and her daughter could survive the peak period. It must be the effect of Sunshine No. 1.”
As this thought passed through his mind, Yu Hong felt a flicker of temptation.
Bam!!
Suddenly, a loud sound ca from the front door.
He turned to look at the wooden door.
The door trembled slightly, as if so large creature outside was ramming against it.
Bam! Bam! Bam!!
The continuous heavy bangs kept coming.
Black insects began pouring in from the ventilation holes like sand.
These insects had black shells, long and dense short legs, and nacing mouthparts like centipedes.
But no matter how vicious they looked, the mont they entered the safe house, they were instantly lted by the light and turned into black smoke, disappearing into thin air.
Yu Hong’s face remained calm. The peak period wasn’t a big threat to him now. All he needed to do was wait for the large creature to leave, then quickly repair the door.
While waiting, Yu Hong kept an eye on the door’s stability and began drawing ordinary runes, reinforcing them with black prints.
These runes were all drawn on regular wooden boards, then stacked and connected using pre-made wooden nails to form a whole.
In this way, a large rune array, made from nine wooden boards, was successfully completed.
Over the next six days of the peak period, Yu Hong made three of these rune arrays. Two of them were ordinary rune arrays, and the last one, which was made with a silver rune array at its core, was a silver-core version. It was made specifically to deal with the impending danger of the ghostly shadow and the withered Maiden.
Soon, the peak period passed.
The next early morning.
Yu Hong opened the door to go out and gather more firewood, when he soon heard faint footsteps approaching.
He returned to the stone steps at the cave entrance and looked into the distance.
In the distance, Jennie was walking quickly toward him with Eve.
Six days had passed, and Jennie looked more haggard. Her eyes were sunken and dark, and she had lost a lot of weight.
Her daughter Eve looked the sa. Her once bright golden hair had lost its luster, and she seed timid, anxious, and fearful.
But despite everything, they were still alive after six days, and had not been taken by the evil shadows. This alone was an abnormal sign.
Seeing them approach, Yu Hong didn’t hesitate. He quickly went inside, locked the door, and quietly waited for them to arrive.
His impression of Jennie and her daughter had beco vague, replaced by a sense of mystery.
Soon, they stood outside the wooden door, just a door away from Yu Hong.
“It’s been six days. Have you thought about it? Maybe you should try the effect,” Jennie’s hoarse voice ca from outside.
“How do I know if what you say about Sunshine No. 1 is true? After all, you don’t have what I need. Our trade is not balanced,” Yu Hong replied coldly.
“Everyone just wants to live,” Jennie said. “Eve just wants to survive. Is that wrong?”
“She’s not wrong,” Yu Hong said. “But that has nothing to do with . I have no reason to help you.”
“But we have no other choice,” Jennie said, reaching out to grab a wooden stick. The end of the stick was connected to Eve’s hand.
The two of them were connected by this stick.
“I said, it has nothing to do with ,” Yu Hong said calmly. He didn’t want to deal with soone like Eve, who was trying to secretly infect others.
“You have the ability! That’s what makes it your concern!” Jennie raised her voice.
“I’m not obligated to help you,” Yu Hong replied.
“But we have no other choice!” Jennie retorted. “Don’t force us.”
Her eyes deepened with danger.
“How am I forcing you? I don’t have the ability to save you. How is that forcing you?” Yu Hong was almost laughing in anger. He had heard of people like this before, but never thought he would et one in reality.
“Faced with the pressure of death, to survive, many people will do anything,” Jennie said calmly.
Behind her, Eve stepped forward, standing up.
“But if you help us now, we will be very grateful,” Jennie continued.
“I don’t need your gratitude,” Yu Hong said in a low voice.
“Then we’ll perish together,” Jennie smiled. “Eve will sit at your door from now on. If she dies here, the Withered Maiden’s black handprint will remain on your door. Your safe house will be completely destroyed and beco a source of evil shadows. Once you step outside, the evil shadow’s black handprint will stick to you!”
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