A Night of Desperation

Chapter 56: Hope (2)

In the round courtyard, the closer the black insects got to the Luminous Grass, the fewer there were. Many black insects, halfway toward it, diverged and fled again.

They escaped the white light, changed their crawling direction, and rejoined the swirling black flow outside.

In the end, only about one-tenth of the black insects that initially approached actually made it to the cave’s safe house.

“That Luminous Grass has such a function!? No… wait, perhaps this is one of the core methods used by large cities to expel and isolate the Black Plague.”

—Lowering the environmental red value.

This was the method that had just come to Yu Hong’s mind.

‘The red value can actually influence the blood tide black insects. This means that, essentially, maybe the blood tide black insects and the Ghostly Shadows are the same kind of existence?’

Yu Hong speculated in his mind.

Holding a candle, he turned off the glass window cover and stepped back to a safe area.

Watching the black insects trickling in intermittently, he had more guesses and plans for the Luminous Grass.

With just this little Luminous Grass, it could influence the blood tide, so what if there were more? What if the whole courtyard was filled with it? Could it completely isolate the blood tide black insects’ invasion? Even the big skin…

Yu Hong had high expectations in his heart.

He never expected that something he casually synthesized could have such a large effect.

For a disaster as serious as the blood tide, which severely affects people’s sleep and rest, he had longed for a good night’s sleep. Not just him, but also others like Old Li, Old Zhou, and Doctor Xu—all of them felt the same.

He had asked for countermeasures before. If it was the Ghostly Shadows, one could still use Luminous Grass to isolate them, but for the blood tide, there had been no solution.

The next day, Yu Hong stepped outside early in the morning.

Yesterday, he had injected a thread of inner energy, and today he wanted to see the results of the catalyzed growth.

By the time he stepped outside, a small patch of lush, vibrant grass caught his eye.

“So much!?” Yu Hong stood at the door, his eyes wide in astonishment, staring at the Luminous Grass in the courtyard below.

Yesterday, there had only been a dozen or so small plants, but now, the number had increased by more than half, reaching over twenty plants. Their spread had already covered a third of the stone courtyard.

“Just one day…” Yu Hong was amazed. He was incredibly glad he had the help of the black imprint; without it, he was sure he would have already met his end when he left the little Stutterer, with no trace left.

Descending the stone steps, he confirmed that the newly grown Luminous Grass was real and healthy, so he quickly began testing the red value data in the courtyard.

This time, standing at the boundary of the courtyard, the red value measured was -13, a significant increase from before.

On the third day, Yu Hong used inner energy to accelerate the growth of the Luminous Grass again. This time, he used two threads of energy and added them one after another.

By the fourth day, the entire courtyard was mostly covered in Luminous Grass.

At the boundary of the courtyard, the red value had reached -41.

Late at night.

Yu Hong stood behind the wooden door, peering through the glass window at the courtyard outside.

A soft white light covered the entire courtyard and extended slightly beyond it.

From the area bathed in white light, the black insects began to avoid it, diverting and bypassing this area to head elsewhere.

Thud, thud, thud.

Soon, a heavy footstep sounded, and a large, dark beetle emerged from the darkness, stepping into the white light zone.

But after walking just a few steps, approaching a third of the distance, the beetle shook its little head, turned to the side, and left, quickly disappearing into the thick night.

Seeing this, Yu Hong’s face showed a surprised expression.

“Even the big skins can be repelled!?” His heart was filled with joy.

“One Great Luminous Stone, even close to it, only emits a red value of around -80 or -90. But this Luminous Grass emits a red value range of -30 or -40, and it continuously emits it, increasing from far to near!”

He had tested the data, and the Luminous Grass up close already emitted a red value of over -100, almost like constantly stacking a Great Luminous Stone right at the entrance of the cave.

“Although I don’t know how long the consumption can last, but this stuff recovers on its own, which is far more economical than using Luminous Stones!”

Looking through the glass window at the blood tide black insects bypassing the courtyard, Yu Hong suddenly thought: Since Luminous Grass can be synthesized from wild grass and Luminous Stones, what about large Luminous Stones and other plants? What if it’s combined with trees? Even cockroach mushrooms, living creatures—if synthesized with Luminous Stones, would there be even greater and stronger transformations?

If the synthesized result could be controlled, could synthesizing cockroaches, lizards, create specialized, enhanced creatures that he could control?

At this moment, his mind was a mess, countless ideas flooding in, and countless combinations made him even more excited about the future.

The next day, bright and early, he went out into the courtyard.

He didn’t need to check the Luminous Grass since its effects had already been very clear the night before.

Yu Hong walked to the rough, simple earthen mound in the courtyard. Looking at the mound, which was not even knee-high, he extended his hand.

His palm pressed against the rough surface of the earthen wall.

‘Reinforce the wall!’

Yu Hong silently muttered in his mind.

This was his test, a trial.

Previously, all the reinforcements were small objects, not very large in size. This time, he planned to test strengthening a larger object.

From previous observations of the reinforcement process, he had already realized that the black imprint enhancement was more about himself, about how he viewed the range of things.

Simply put, the target of the reinforcement was mainly controlled by him—the size, the concept, and the boundary.

If he viewed something as a whole, the black imprint would do the same, treating it as a whole and providing a countdown for whether it could be reinforced.

Therefore, right now, he was about to conduct an unprecedented test.

That is…

*

*

*

Crack, crack.

In the deep mountains.

A tall, bear-like figure quickly moved through the fallen leaves of the desolate forest, stopping from time to time to reassess his direction.

“We’re almost there.” The figure suddenly stopped and carved a triangle into a nearby tree trunk.

Looking up, he revealed a slightly troubled expression—it was none other than the Bai Mang (white python), Guo Xudong, who had been traveling non-stop.

He looked around, then suddenly dashed forward a few steps and leaped up, grabbing a thick tree branch with one hand.

With a single motion, he swung himself forward, flipped, and climbed up the tree, stabilizing himself before looking toward the distant hills.

In the distance, a small hill could vaguely be seen with some dilapidated gray-white buildings.

“Baiqiu Village, we’re here. According to the intel, that person should be nearby.”

After dropping down from the tree, the Bai Mang (white python) quickened his pace toward the village.

‘Two previous groups disappeared nearby. Either this place holds a dangerous threat, or… it’s a trap set by someone.’

Guo Xudong moved swiftly through the forest, his silver-gray dagger now appearing in his hand, reversed in his palm.

Half an hour later.

He arrived at the gravel road outside Baiqiu Village and stood at the edge of the road, gazing at the village.

The deep alleyways, the dark, uninviting doors and windows, the lifeless houses and walls.

Guo Xudong took a small pouch of Luminous Stones and slowly entered the village.

But after walking just a few steps, he stopped, lowering his head to carefully inspect the ground.

Soon, it seemed like he noticed something, standing up and slowly stepping back, leaving the village. He then circled around the entire Baiqiu Village.

Round and round.

It took him over an hour to finish inspecting the entire village.

“There are no footprints of any activity.” Guo Xudong decisively turned around and walked down the hill.

“According to the intel, that person is either in the village or living in a nearby cave. The cave should be not far off. Let’s search carefully.”

He muttered to himself, leaving the village and quickly disappearing into the forest.

*

*

* *

Yu Hong pressed one hand against the earthen mound in the courtyard.

He closed his eyes slightly, silently still, holding the position.

After a few minutes.

When he felt his mind had calmed, he silently thought.

‘Reinforce the earthen wall, with a focus on material strengthening—heightening and thickening.’

Whoosh!

In an instant, a black line from the imprint on the back of his hand fused into the earthen wall.

Immediately, a countdown appeared in front of Yu Hong.

‘15 days, 6 hours, 44 minutes.’

“!!!” At the moment he saw the countdown, Yu Hong’s face showed a joy that was hard to describe.

“Wow, it really works!!” Although the time was long—fifteen days—probably because the volume of reinforcement was much larger than the previous smaller objects, the wall, no matter how short or small, was far heavier than the previous reinforcements.

With this thought in mind, a new idea flashed through his head.

‘If I try to enhance the earthen wall even further, could I significantly shorten the reinforcement time?’

‘And, since the earthen wall can be reinforced, what about the puddle? Can I turn the puddle into a well? Or even… could the whole cave safe house be reinforced? Even if it takes longer, if it’s all done at once, reinforcing it into an underground shelter with multiple rooms would save so much hassle.’

Now that he had realized the black imprint enhancement worked based on his concept of the whole and its range.

‘What if I consider the entire underground planet as a whole—could I reinforce the whole planet?’ Yu Hong thought boldly.

With that idea aside, he suddenly felt a strong urge to complete the earthen wall.

Unfortunately, his regular Luminous Stones were used up, and he had to go to the mine to resupply. Otherwise, his supply of silver Rune Arrays would be fine, but the ordinary Rune Array and Great Luminous Stones would run out of materials.

Happy with his progress, he returned to the cave, grabbed his backpack and tools, locked the door, and headed straight for the Luminous Stone mine.

And not long after he left, a strong, bear-like figure silently emerged from the forest and saw the cave’s safe house surrounded by the courtyard.

The figure crouched down behind a tree trunk, set down his backpack, and took out his mask, helmet, and bulletproof gear—putting everything on carefully.

Once prepared, he slowly walked toward the cave, revealing a pair of slightly troubled eyes.

It was none other than Guo Xudong, Bai Mang (White Python), investigating the area!

(End of chapter)