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‘The foundation of Heavy Leg Technique cos from the basic leg techniques taught by Old Li, primarily used to strengthen the body. Only with this complete foundation can I gain the recognition of the Black Seal and enhance myself.’
‘If I want to obtain techniques specifically targeting Ghostly Shadows and Evil Shadows, I must first establish the sa complete foundation—one that allows to train myself and develop fundantal thods to resist Ghostly Shadows.’
‘As long as this thod is complete, even if it is rudintary, it can be strengthened. The problem now is: where do I find such a thod?’
Yu Hong sat in the basent, deep in thought.
‘The main things that counteract Ghostly Shadows are Luminous Stones, Great Luminous Stones, and the rune formations inscribed on them. If I were to draw a rune formation on myself, would that count as training?’ he pondered.
He acted on his thoughts imdiately. After recovering so stamina, he removed his suit, went up to the cave above, fetched so water to wipe down his skin, then retrieved the freshly ground Great Luminous Stone powder. Mixing it with water, he skillfully drew a small rune on his left forearm.
By now, he was extrely proficient in drawing these runes. After all, he had lost count of how many he had inscribed throughout the entire safe house.
Once finished, he pressed his hand onto the rune formation and silently invoked enhancent.
‘Incomplete execution.’
The Black Seal didn’t even emit a single black thread—it simply provided instant feedback.
Yu Hong frowned, wiped off the rune, and paced around the cave before suddenly having another idea.
‘What if I could manipulate my inner energy to draw a rune within my body? Would that work?’
However, he couldn’t conduct this experint just yet. After his breakthrough, all his inner energy had vanished—there wasn’t even a trace left, as if he had completely exhausted his reserves.
‘Looks like I still need to keep fortifying the safe house to ensure absolute safety. At the sa ti, I need to work on making it self-sufficient so I can slowly study the martial techniques.’
Having set his objective, he cooked so food to fill his stomach, then put on his unbearably stinky Enhanced White Bear Suit again and pulled open the door.
Click.
Outside, the sunlight was cold, and the wind howled.
Yu Hong froze in place, stopping at the doorway.
The reason was simple: in the courtyard, Wei Shanshan’s mother, Qiu Yanxi, was squatting beside the small wooden cabin, pants down, straining hard.
Although she was positioned sideways, partially obscured by the cave and the Luminous Stone grass, making it impossible to see anything clearly, the stark white of her skin was still visible.
At that mont, Yu Hong saw her.
Qiu Yanxi also heard the noise and turned to see him.
Their eyes t.
Both of them froze instantly.
Qiu Yanxi’s face flushed red, her skin visibly turning crimson.
She quickly grabbed so leaves, wiped herself, pulled up her pants, and dashed into the cabin.
She didn’t even dare to make a sound, fearing she might wake her sleeping daughter.
Soon, there was a soft thud as the wooden door shut. Everything fell silent again.
Yu Hong, speechless, grabbed his spiked club and strapped on his massive wooden shield, preparing to check out the situation at the post office.
He had always been curious—where did the rune Array on the initial Luminous Stones co from?
Perhaps Old Li, who had seen and experienced much, could answer his doubts.
Just as he stepped into the courtyard with his weapon in hand, he suddenly recalled the short-range communication device he had acquired yesterday.
He turned back, reentered the cave, closed the door, and dug out the device.
Opening the black box, he found a simple handheld radio inside. It was black, with nurous honeycomb-shaped holes at its center, and three dark green buttons below: Connect, Hang Up, and Switch Channels (1, 2, 3). ＲἈℕO͍𐌱ÈṨ
‘1, 2, and 3 represent the ability to connect with three different people at the sa ti,’ Yu Hong noted as he examined the manual.
‘Once fully charged, pressing Connect will allow the device to automatically search for other active devices in range.’
‘So, it only works if the other side has turned theirs on as well,’ he mused, shaking his head slightly. Then, he pressed the Connect button.
Static.
A sound like radio interference ca from the device, but there was no response.
‘They probably haven’t turned it on yet,’ Yu Hong speculated.
After a mont of thought, he reached out and placed his hand on the device.
‘Enhance short-range communicator, direction—’
In his mind, he envisioned a central device capable of connecting more than five target devices, rging all users onto a single channel for communication. Additionally, he added enhancents such as reduced energy consumption, increased search range, and improved signal resistance to interference.
Since the Black Seal’s primary focus was on strengthening Great Luminous Stones and rune formations, he figured he might as well allocate so effort to enhancing the communicator. Strengthening it would bridge the gap between them, serving as a contingency plan in case he couldn’t freely visit the post office in the future.
Zzt.
A black thread flickered briefly.
‘Enhance short-range communicator?’ The Black Seal’s feedback appeared.
Yu Hong watched as a countdown tir surfaced on the communicator’s display: 11 hours, 19 minutes.
‘Yes!’
The enhancent process would take quite so ti.
He confird the enhancent, then put the device aside and grabbed the second Enhanced Red Value Detector he had created earlier. Once again, he opened the door and stepped out into the courtyard.
The small wooden cabin in the right corner of the courtyard remained silent—the mother and daughter seed intent on avoiding him to spare themselves the awkwardness.
Yu Hong had no interest in engaging with them either. As long as they stayed inside the safe house and he provided them with food and water, they just needed to survive until the rescue team arrived.
“I’m heading out to the post office. Stay inside and don’t go out under any circumstances, no matter what happens. Got it?” he instructed.
As long as they remained within the courtyard, their safety was ensured.
Of course, if a Speaker or a Withered Maiden launched a sudden attack, that would be a different story. But given how much ti had passed, the Whisperer had yet to reappear—it was likely gone for good.
With that, he checked the Enhanced Red Value Detector in his hand. The display read -87.621—the red value inside the courtyard.
Without waiting for a response from the wooden cabin, he walked out of the courtyard gate and checked the detector again.
9.711.
Yu Hong stopped in his tracks.
‘What’s going on? How is there a positive red value outside in broad daylight?’
The face beneath his helt twisted into an unpleasant expression.
“Could it be that Ghostly Shadows are nearby? The only ones able to move during the day are the Ghostly Shadows and Evil Shadows.”
Without hesitation, he grabbed the enhanced detector and advanced toward the post office.
After walking more than a hundred ters, he checked the display again: 8.113.
Still positive!
“Sothing’s wrong. This isn’t right! The minimum value for Ghostly Shadows is above twenty. A single-digit red value like this only appears when residual traces are left after a Ghostly Shadow has departed. But now, over such a large area, everywhere outside is showing red values.”
The more Yu Hong thought about it, the more he felt sothing was amiss. This wasn’t a surge period. If red value radiation was appearing everywhere outside, it ant the external environnt had beco even less suitable for humans—and far more suitable for Ghostly Shadows.
Realizing this, he instinctively quickened his pace toward the post office.
A Few Minutes Later
As he approached the stone post office, he saw a crowd pressing against the courtyard gate, knocking desperately. Cries, shouts, and pleas blended into a chaotic uproar, making it impossible to discern what was happening.
Most of these people bore bloodstains on their bodies, their faces pale and filled with terror, as if they had been scared out of their wits.
They were mostly young—under twenty years old. Their youthful features made their age apparent at a glance.
However, not everyone in the group was so young. A few adults stood at the edge of the courtyard.
These individuals wore tight-fitting blue-black stab-resistant suits, with firearms and daggers strapped to their waists. There were both n and won among them, their expressions ranging from indifferent to grim.
Yu Hong swept his gaze across them and quickly spotted Song Mingshi among them—the only adult attempting to calm the younger ones.
As Yu Hong approached, the crowd soon noticed him.
Nurous eyes turned toward him, and the crying and shouting gradually subsided.
They were clearly wary, unsure of his identity or purpose.
Song Mingshi was the first to recognize Yu Hong, as did a few team mbers who had seen him before.
They murmured among themselves, quickly passing along what little they knew from the previous day’s events.
Yu Hong, however, paid them no mind. He simply quickened his pace toward the courtyard.
“Old Li.” He called out while pulling open the gate with one hand and stepping inside.
People in his path instinctively shrank back, making way without daring to obstruct him.
Soon, Yu Hong reached the stone building. The mont he arrived, soone inside imdiately unlocked the door and ushered him in.
Bang.
The door shut and locked behind him.
Inside
“What’s going on?” Yu Hong asked, looking at Li Runshan’s haggard face.
“There’s trouble!” Li Runshan’s expression was grim. He glanced around cautiously before leaning in and speaking in a low voice.
“Last night, during the Blood Tide, a Rank 3 Elephant Tick appeared! If we hadn’t hidden underground, we wouldn’t have stood a chance!”
“Elephant Tick… I saw one. It’s like a giant tick, much larger than a hound, right?” Yu Hong frowned.
“Yes. Those people outside are refugees from Baiqiu Village. The Elephant Tick broke in and devoured several of them last night. If soone hadn’t reacted quickly and set a house on fire to drive it away, none of them would’ve survived!” Li Runshan said gravely.
“They ca here seeking shelter from you?” Yu Hong asked.
“Yeah. They all want to get into my underground bunker, but I can’t take in so many people.” Li Runshan sighed. “These people are from different backgrounds. If I kick them out, it could cause trouble. Brother Yu, I need your help.”
“I’ll help, but first, answer a question.” Yu Hong’s tone was firm.
“Anything I know, I won’t hide from you.” Li Runshan nodded seriously.
“The rune engravings on Luminous Stones—where did they originally co from?” Yu Hong asked in a low voice.
“I already told you, from the ruins. Why? Are you interested in them?” Li Runshan was taken aback.
“There’s a ruin near us, right?” Yu Hong continued.
“Yes. Ruins are usually accompanied by Luminous Stone mines, which is why I ca here in the first place. Those people outside also ca for that reason. Although Luminous Stones emit radiation, they can ward off Ghostly Shadows and Evil Shadows. Between two dangers, they chose the lesser one—getting sick is better than dying imdiately.” Li Runshan nodded.
“Have you been inside the ruins?” Yu Hong asked.
“Yes, but they were already thoroughly looted. There’s nothing left.” Li Runshan confird.
“Do you have a map?”
“I do. I’ll get it for you later. Anything else?” Li Runshan asked.
“One more thing. On my way here, I detected an abnormal red value.” Yu Hong said.
“What kind of abnormality?” Li Runshan was puzzled.
Red values in the wild were usually zero. What could be abnormal about that?
“On my way here, the red value consistently stayed between 8 and 9. I suspect… sothing major has changed outside.” Yu Hong’s expression darkened.
(End of Chapter)
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