A Night of Desperation

Chapter 19 – Another Attempt (1)

The eleven minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

Under Yu Hong’s expectant gaze, the thick wooden bar supporting the door blurred with a faint “whoosh” and transformed within two seconds into a jet-black metal rod!

The metal rod resembled an oversized chocolate stick, complete with anti-slip pads at both ends to enhance friction. The material seemed like iron, but it was much darker.

Picking up the rod, Yu Hong examined it closely.

“Although the structure is still simple, the material has been strengthened. It’s obviously sturdier than before. Amazing!”

He was in awe.

Next, he repeated the process to reinforce the second wooden bar.

Within minutes, two black metal rods were symmetrically bracing the back of the door.

“This is so much stronger than when three of us tried to hold it with our shoulders,” Yu Hong said, nodding in satisfaction.

“Now, there’s only one final issue.”

Candles.

Baiqiu Village was a dangerous option, but the candles, along with the water filter, pots, and cups, were all back there.

“I only have one candle left. It’s definitely not enough unless I start a fire. Wait!”

Suddenly, Yu Hong’s eyes narrowed as he turned to the furnace by the stone wall.

The furnace, which Little Stutterer had retrieved for him, came with a smoke pipe and hadn’t been put to use yet.

‘What if I strengthen this?’

The thought brought a wave of anticipation.

Recalling the previously reinforced axe, Yu Hong went to the corner to retrieve it.

The axe had undergone a significant transformation.

It was no longer the simple wooden-handled tool it once was, complete with numerous nicks from chopping.

Now, after being reinforced, it had turned into a robust, metal-handled felling axe.

The long, black handle featured anti-slip grooves, and the silver axe blade was visibly thicker, with a razor-sharp edge glinting coldly in the dim light.

What was once an old, worn axe had transformed into a premium-quality tool.

Putting the axe down, Yu Hong approached the furnace.

The furnace was a black, metal, rectangular structure resembling a low table. Its surface was coated in black lacquer.

Yu Hong pressed his hand against its edge.

The cold sensation sent a chill down his spine.

‘Strengthen… no, enhance it as a lighting and heating system.’

A sudden inspiration hit, prompting him to refine the furnace’s purpose.

With a soft hiss, the black mark on the back of his hand released a thin black thread that seeped into the furnace’s surface.

Soon, a glowing number appeared on the furnace: 12 hours and 7 minutes.

‘Do you wish to enhance the lighting and heating system?’ The mark’s query echoed in his mind.

‘Yes!’ Yu Hong responded firmly.

Instantly, the numbers on the furnace changed into a countdown timer.

‘Here’s hoping it works,’ Yu Hong thought, anticipation rising.

With a bit of daylight left and one candle still in hand, he was confident he could make it through the night. If the enhanced furnace failed to meet his expectations by morning, he’d have no choice but to risk venturing into Baiqiu Village to retrieve the candles and other supplies left behind by Little Stutterer.

Watching the timer on the furnace, Yu Hong sat down on a dry spot, exhaustion washing over him.

The day’s string of events had taken a toll, and the effort of reinforcing the wooden bars had drained him.

Drowsiness soon overtook him, and clutching the lone candle in his hand, he leaned against the metal-reinforced rod and drifted off.

Here’s the translation of the provided text:

“Old Yu?”

“Old Yu??”

A gentle call jolted him awake from his sleep.

Yu Hong opened his eyes and saw a familiar, cheerful face hovering in front of him, smiling warmly.

It was his colleague, Chen Huiru, from the office.

“Old Yu’s awake! You scared me! I thought something serious happened! Thank goodness, it’s just a scare.” Chen Huiru turned her head to speak to someone else nearby.

“I told you, Old Yu’s not that fragile.”

“This prank went too far. We’re all from the same office, that’s too much.”

“Old Yu always brags about his courage, but look at him now—scared out of his wits. I’ve got enough material for a whole year!” Laughter erupted around him.

Soon, Yu Hong rubbed his eyes and realized he was sitting on the grass outside the office building, surrounded by a circle of colleagues, the greenery around them vibrant.

Each of them was smiling at him, chattering away.

“Wasn’t it lifelike?”

“The bug was a model I rented from a nearby film crew. You’re the fourth person we scared! You were lucky, Yuan Zhou nearly wet his pants. We even filmed it!”

“You can’t say anything! It was your bad idea!”

His colleagues continued laughing and joking, surrounding him in the warm sunlight on the grassy lawn.

Their smiles were warm and harmonious.

As they chatted, they started holding hands and walking in a circle around Yu Hong.

One circle.

Two circles.

Three circles.

“Look at Old Yu, still not recovered.”

“Too funny!”

“Don’t be upset. Later, Gao Ge will treat us to a meal, let’s go have fermented hotpot!”

“Let’s take some pictures, say cheese~~”

The voices kept coming, drilling into Yu Hong’s ears.

He sat there, dazed, watching the colleagues spinning around him. Their smiles were so real, so warm.

‘So, it was all a prank…’ Yu Hong sighed in relief as his tense nerves finally relaxed.

He stood up and reached out to grab one of his closest colleagues.

Swish.

Everything suddenly went quiet.

The sounds disappeared completely, and a deep silence enveloped the air as Yu Hong’s vision blurred.

He took a sharp breath and slowly opened his eyes.

The cold, hard stone floor greeted him, rough against his spine.

He was still sitting on the ground, still leaning against the foul-smelling blanket, facing the countdown timer on the furnace, motionless, his hands wrapped around his knees.

The cave was silent, with faint light filtering through the door’s window.

“It was a dream…” He sighed.

It was getting dark.

Yu Hong’s gaze shifted to the window.

“!!!”

Through the window, he saw a blurry face peering through the wire mesh, silently staring at him!

Staring at him, the one who had just woken up from his sleep!

“Who’s there?!” Yu Hong jumped up, grabbing the steel nail rod, ready to confront whoever was out there.

But after sitting still for so long, his legs had gone numb. When he tried to stand, his body tingled, nearly losing balance.

He leaned against the furnace to steady himself, but when he looked back, there was no face in the window.

“Ha… ha…” Yu Hong’s face turned pale, realizing it was probably a ghostly shadow. He hadn’t heard any footsteps. The shadow’s movements were jerky, crossing distances in an unnatural way, characteristic of these spectral figures.

Earlier, to let in some fresh air, he had opened the window so the outside air could flow in through the wire mesh.

He hadn’t expected that the ghostly figure would find him so quickly.

“It’s still dusk, and the ghostly figure is already active.”

He stood up carefully, moving forward to close the window.

Swish.

The light from the window disappeared, and the cave plunged into darkness.

Yu Hong moved to another air vent on the opposite side. It was slower, but at least it wouldn’t be so terrifying.

Who knew how long that ghostly figure had been watching him while he slept?

After doing that, with the little light coming from the air vent, he checked the reinforced stone behind the door.

The stone was half its original size, now turned pale gray, almost like lime.

Yu Hong’s heart skipped a beat.

“Good thing I have the reinforced stone, or I might not even know how I died if I fell asleep alone.”

He sighed deeply, smelling a faint moisture in the cave, knowing that if he didn’t dry it out soon, it would start to mold.

At this point, his only hope was to see what would happen with the furnace after it was enhanced.

The countdown on the furnace still had more than ten minutes to go.

Yu Hong decided to sit down and eat some dried mushrooms.

He didn’t look at the door anymore; his eyes were focused on the furnace.

The minutes passed quickly.

The numbers on the furnace were about to reach their end.

Yu Hong’s nerves tightened slightly because this enhancement might be crucial for his next plan.

Swish.

At that moment, the numbers on the furnace disappeared, and the entire furnace, along with the smoke pipe, blurred.

The blurring lasted a second before everything returned to clarity.

A brand new furnace now stood before him.

“!!? What is this?” Yu Hong’s eyes widened as he took in the new furnace.

What stood before him was a completely integrated fireplace, seamlessly connected to the cave wall.

The fireplace seemed to have merged with the rock wall, its pipe buried deep into the stone.

But the most surprising part wasn’t this—what struck him most was that the furnace was made entirely of transparent material!

It was like glass, crystal-clear synthetic material!

Yu Hong stepped forward and lightly knocked on the outer edge of the furnace.

Bang, bang!

The sound was dull but hard.

‘Incredible. It really serves both heating and lighting purposes.’ Yu Hong was speechless.

The furnace naturally had a heating function, but making it transparent also gave it a lighting function.

This enhancement was a stroke of genius!

He walked around the new furnace, observing it for a while, until the outside light had completely dimmed, and faint rustling sounds began to emerge.

He quickly grabbed a match and lit a candle.

The enhanced candle had windproof features and could also absorb smoke, which was quite useful.

He placed the candle on the stool and quickly started loading the furnace with kindling and firewood.

The kindling was the wood shavings he had left from cutting wood—thin, curled, and easy to ignite.

He added some dried grass leaves to the mix.

Crackle, crackle.

Soon, a dark red flame slowly flickered inside the fireplace.

The flame grew larger with time, and white smoke began to rise from above, flowing into the smoke pipe, drifting outside without a trace inside the cave.

The flame gradually brightened and grew.

After more than ten minutes, as the fireplace stabilized, Yu Hong added thicker firewood and blew out the candle.

“Finally, it’s done!”

He dropped onto the wooden stool, watching the burning fireplace with satisfaction.

Warm waves of heat radiated from the transparent surface of the fireplace.

The material even had good thermal conductivity.

As the warmth spread, the chill of the cave was gradually dispelled, replaced by relaxation and warmth.

For a moment, the entire cave was as warm as spring, bright and safe.

(End of Chapter)