NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30: Choice (2)
Chapter 30: Choice (2)
The smile on Yu Hong’s face slowly faded.
He needed information, sufficient information about the “Evil Shadow.” If he could find the survivor who had narrowly escaped death, the one who survived after being attacked by the Evil Shadow’s Withered Maiden, he might obtain first-hand intelligence.
But unfortunately, the town had relocated earlier, and that person had probably already left by now.
With this thought, Yu Hong chose not to continue with the enhancement. Instead, he stood up and walked back and forth in the cave.
After a while, he paused and walked to the door, peeking through the viewing window to look outside.
The forest at dusk was eerily quiet.
In the distance, the vague outline of Baiqiu Village could be seen, also still and quiet.
As he gazed out, Yu Hong suddenly had a thought. His expression went from slightly furrowed to thoughtful.
He pulled over the divider, and his gaze landed on the upgraded wolf fang stick made of polished Luminous stone.
The stick was originally a rough steel-spike Luminous stone stick, but now it had been significantly improved. Of course, it had been upgraded once already, and further enhancement would be useless.
So, he wasn’t focused on the stick itself, but on the concept of placing Great Luminous stones inside it.
‘If a single Great Luminous stone is insufficient, then could I combine several stones together? Or, what if I ground the Great Luminous stones into powder, mixed them into ink, and used it to draw advanced runes?’
‘Would that strengthen the effect and shorten the time?’
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* *
More than ten kilometers away from Baiqiu Village, Baishi Town.
On the winding and long main street, dry yellow leaves were blown across the ground by the wind, making a rustling sound.
The smooth gray cement road was full of potholes and cracks.
On both sides of the street, the storefronts had long been shut down.
The dim yellow sunlight divided the street into two parts of light and shadow.
Bang!
Suddenly, a shop door was smashed open from the inside.
A burly man with a beard, dressed in a gray tracksuit, stumbled out of the door, running wildly toward the end of the street.
He was sweating profusely, his eyes bloodshot, and in one hand, he was clutching a Great Luminous stone.
But the jade-like luster of the Great Luminous Stone was rapidly turning pale from top to bottom.
This indicated it was being consumed at a fast pace.
“Don’t… don’t kill me!! Stay back!!”
The man was on the verge of collapse, his voice echoing down the street, amplifying the emptiness of the place.
“Please! Don’t come any closer!!”
He cried out, stumbling forward, glancing back in fear, as though something was chasing him.
But behind him, there was nothing—only an empty, silent street.
Thud.
Suddenly, the man lost his footing and fell to the ground.
A clear black handprint slowly appeared on his back.
The handprint was small, as if a child had left it. But now, the print seemed to seep through his clothing, staining it like ink.
Hiss.
In an instant, a thick black liquid began to pour out from the handprint.
The liquid dyed the man’s clothes black, and soon his arms and face were completely coated.
As his body was dyed black, the man’s figure rapidly shriveled, as if losing all moisture.
He struggled, his throat emitting weak cries, but in just a few seconds, his voice disappeared.
The man’s entire body stopped moving, turning into a dried, blackened corpse.
A gust of wind blew by.
The corpse disappeared suddenly, leaving only a pile of clothes behind.
*
*
*
The Next Day.
At the Baiqiu Village post office.
In the forest, in front of the stone building of the post office.
Jenny, Dr. Xu, Yu Hong, and Old Yu were all gathered together.
Jenny looked somewhat haggard, as if she hadn’t rested well last night, and her gaze seemed unfocused, as though she was lost in thought.
Dr. Xu was chewing on some jerky, squinting his eyes.
Old Yu, the one in charge of breeding lizards to make jerky, looked even worse than before.
“Old Yu, didn’t you leave? Why are you back again?” Dr. Xu asked.
“I turned back halfway,” Old Yu shook his head. “Suddenly, they said they wanted to confiscate half of the supplies, everyone had to contribute. Heh, if I hadn’t remembered the way back, they would’ve really scammed me!”
Old Yu gave a cold smile, then glanced at Yu Hong.
“Young man, Jenny said you can get Great Luminous Stones? Are you sure you can get them steadily in the long term?”
“Yes, though sometimes I need to rest,” Yu Hong nodded. He had originally planned to take over Old Yu’s breeding cave with Jenny and Dr. Xu.
After all, they needed a stable food supply, and before leaving, Old Yu had agreed to let them use his breeding cave.
But to his surprise, Old Yu had returned so soon. However, it was actually a good thing. It would be better if Old Yu handled the breeding rather than them trying to figure it out on their own.
“Good to hear that. Now we have candles and Great Luminous Stones. As long as we’re careful, the chances of surviving are high. Since we’re all gathered here, I propose we move into the post office basement. It’s the most solid place, with enough rooms and facilities, and it’s safer together.” Old Yu suggested.
“I have no objections. I’ve got the candle-making tools, and I’ll take care of the candle supply from now on. It’s not difficult to make,” Dr. Xu replied.
“I’ll pass. I’m used to living alone,” Yu Hong declined.
“I’m fine with whatever,” Jenny nodded.
“One less person is fine too. Alright, it’s settled. Jenny will handle the clothing, repairs, and modifications. I’ll take care of the food, Yu Hong will handle the Great Luminous Stones, and Dr. Xu will manage the candle-making and emergency medical care. From now on, this place will be just us. Let’s watch each other’s backs and work hard,” Old Yu said, clearly anticipating that Yu Hong might refuse.
“Any news about the Evil Shadow in town?” Yu Hong couldn’t help but ask.
He always felt uneasy, as if something might go wrong, until he understood the strength of the Evil Shadow.
“Some. It’s said to be connected to the black handprints. If you see a black handprint in the wild, don’t touch it. Keep your distance,” Old Yu said, coughing.
“Anything else?” Jenny asked.
“Well, don’t go to the town and try to grab things. A lot of people who stayed behind there have died,” Old Yu gave a strange smile. “In this world, one day of life is a day to be cherished.”
After agreeing to meet at the scheduled time, the four returned to their respective dwellings.
Yu Hong confirmed that the food supply was relatively stable and the candle supply was decent, which eased his mind.
Returning to the cave, the floor was scattered with the Great Luminous Stone rune designs he had drawn.
These were all practice sketches, but he hadn’t used charcoal; he had just drawn and written with stones.
Looking at the messy room, Yu Hong sighed, knowing that there was still a lot to be done.
He had already begun to officially enhance the Great Luminous Stone yesterday to shorten the strengthening time.
Since he didn’t know how much Great Luminous Stone would be required to dispel the Evil Shadow, he could only try to make as many Great Luminous Stones as possible.
At the same time, he had to explore new and better ways to resist the Evil Shadow.
He took out an energy bar, bit into it, and began his advanced physical training.
After an hour, he found a hammer and squatted in a corner of the cave, looking for a place to grind the stone.
He had already smashed a small piece of raw Great Luminous Stone. Now, his main task was to grind it fine enough.
‘If the effect of dispelling the Evil Shadow is created by both the Great Luminous Stone and the runes, then I should be able to use the Great Luminous Stone powder to draw runes directly, and it should work!’ Yu Hong thought as he ground the stone, brainstorming for other better methods.
About half an hour later, the Great Luminous Stone powder was ready.
He added a little charcoal powder, poured it into a wooden bowl, added water, and stirred to make a standard Great Luminous Stone ink.
Once successful, Yu Hong looked out the window, noticing that the sky was getting darker again.
‘Why does it seem like the night is coming faster?’ he furrowed his brow. He walked up, pulled the peephole partition shut.
Since being frightened by the Evil Shadow once, he no longer opened the partition while sleeping.
Pulling the partition down, he didn’t light the fireplace this time but instead lit a candle and placed it on the wooden stool.
He then used a wooden stick, dipped it in the Great Luminous Stone ink, and carefully began drawing the Great Luminous Stone runes on the stone wall beside the fireplace.
The stone wall wasn’t smooth, so he had previously used a chisel and hammer to carve out a large space for the Great Luminous Stone runes.
Since he had already practiced elsewhere, drawing runes on the wall was no difficulty for Yu Hong.
After all, it didn’t require precision—just roughness was enough, and it needed to be large. Compared to drawing on a small Great Luminous Stone, this was much easier.
Yu Hong carefully wiped away the dust from the wall, then filled the lines of the Great Luminous Stone rune with the ink.
The lines were very fine, so the ink didn’t take up much space.
After about ten minutes, the entire wall carving was complete.
Yu Hong stepped back and admired his work.
Knock, knock, knock.
Suddenly, the door was knocked with a steady rhythm.
“Is anyone there?” A strange woman’s voice came from outside. “It’s getting dark, can you let me in to hide?”
“I hear someone inside, right?” The voice continued.
Yu Hong’s expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn’t heard it. He glanced at the door and saw the Great Luminous Stone behind it, slowly but steadily changing color from top to bottom.
He sighed, grabbed a chair, sat behind the door, and quietly waited, watching.
Knock, knock, knock.
The knocking continued.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Finally, everything went silent again.
The Great Luminous Stone behind the door had already been consumed by one-third.
Yu Hong quickly took it down and replaced it with a fully restored one.
He casually charged the new Great Luminous Stone with the black mark, stood up, and returned to his sleeping bag to lie down.
The amount of Great Luminous Stone consumed determined the recovery time.
This time, the Ghostly Shadow’s knock wasn’t too strong, and it would take only two hours to recover.
Yu Hong placed his hands behind his head and lay back, resting beside the candle.
The best thing about candles compared to the fireplace was that they didn’t require extra wood.
And according to what Jenny told him, atomic lamps couldn’t dispel the Blood Tide Black Insects.
Only open flames could.
‘Luckily, I bought the atomic lamp to see what the enhanced version might look like. If it can directly enhance things like an energy reaction furnace…’ He began to daydream.
As time passed day by day, he had already grown used to living in this dangerous forest.
He had gotten used to sleeping in this state, where danger could strike at any moment.
Knock, knock, knock.
Late at night, the candle flickered.
A knocking sound woke Yu Hong from his sleep.
He looked at the peephole. Outside, it was pitch black again. He knew it was another Ghostly Shadow. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he stood up, grabbed the small kettle, and took big gulps of water.
After drinking, he stood up, ignoring the knocking, and walked to the Great Luminous Stone rune he had drawn earlier that day.
The large rune on the wall had already dried.
On the floor below, the restored Great Luminous Stone had also been fully charged back to its original state by the black mark.
Yu Hong didn’t pay attention to the Great Luminous Stone. Instead, he extended his hand and gently pressed it against the large rune on the wall.
This was an experiment. If it succeeded, it would greatly improve the efficiency of using the Great Luminous Stone.
(End of Chapter)