Silent Yearnings Hidden Under The Night

Yang Changtian woke up to the sound of metal clanging. Sitting up , he rubbed his eyes . Looking around , it was still dark. .

He stood up and grabbed his cloak to go see what the noise was about. He exited his tent , the surrounding was cloudy and misty . From the corner of his eyes he spotted 2 shadow figures holding torches lurking around, they were carrying something heavy, and the Yang Changtian couldn't identify them. Rushing back to his tent , he grabbed his sword before sneaking up closer to check the figures, ' Who is crazy enough to lurk around here at this time , they might be intruders. '

As he was sneaked closer to the figures , he suddenly felt a hand tap his shoulder.

Yang Changtian jumped and instinctively striked the person behind him. A loud clunk rang out as his sword was blocked by the person. " Mr. Yang , what a unique greeting." A cold but familiar voice rang out.

" ..... Ms. Liu ? Yang Changtian asked cautiously .

The figures heard the loud clang , dropping something , they ran towards the sound.

Yang Changtian recognised them immediately , it was Jin Wei and Da Xiong. And standing in front of him , blocking his sword with one of her long daggers , was Liu Ying.

Yang Changtian immediately put his sword down. " Ms. Liu , and you two , mind explaining what you three were doing at this ungodly hour ? "

" Senior asked us to find and carry that metal pot over to the river. " Jin Wei explained nonchalantly. Da Xiong nodded along.

Yang Changtian turned to look at Liu Ying questioningly. " At this hour ? Speaking of time , what is the time now?"

" We have an hour left for day break , so for your information , it's not an 'ungodly' hour." Liu Ying replied. " I asked them to take the pot there so I can test something out. "

" Test what out ? " Yang Changtian asked curiously.

" You'll see." Liu Ying simply replied. Then turning to Jin Wei and Da Xiong , " You two let's get back to work. We're running out of time. "

" If you would excuse us Mr. Yang." nodding at Yang Changtian , the three of them left.

Yang Changtian watched them flabbergasted, just a few moments ago he was so sure that they were intruders since no one was crazy enough to lurk around in a place like this when the sun's down , but he had forgotten that they had a crazy person called Liu Ying with them.

Yang Changtian sighed deeply before returning to his tent. He walked out again and walked over to the stream to wash his face , returning to his tent , he got dressed and walked out. By the time he was done , it was a few minutes before daybreak. So he decided to go see what Liu Ying was up to this time.

Walking over to the edge of the village , he spotted Jin Wei and Da Xiong instructing some juniors to fill the metal pot up with water from the river.

" You woke them up ? " Yang Changtian asked, walking up to them.

" Yes , Mr. Yang , Senior said we'll need a lot of manpower ." Da Xiong replied.

" What is she planning to do ? " Yang Changtian asked the two of them .

" Who knows , I doubt even god knows what she's thinking." Jin Wei replied, shrugging his shoulders.

" I studied the fungi yesterday , and I have a theory , and a possible way to get rid of them." A voice sounded from behind.

Yang Changtian, Jin Wei and Da Xiong all froze , they quickly turned around to see Liu Ying looking at them with her eyes squinted.

She was carrying a small clay pot , the bottle she gave to Yang Changtian to get the samples hanging from her belt, along with a small bag. " Didn't you boys' elders tell you not to speak ill about a person when there's a chance that person is around.

Jin Wei let out a nervous chuckle , Da Xiong just shook his head , while Yang Changtian cleared his throat. " Isn't it supposed to be , " Do not talk badly about people " in general. "

Liu Ying just shrugged , " No , it's fine if they don't find out about it . Besides i do it all the time"

Yang Changtian looked at her speechless, ' Huh… ' he thought to himself.

Liu Ying walked over and placed the pot on the ground, pointing at some rocks near the river , " Jin Wei , Da Xiong bring some stones over ,large ones ."

Jin Wei and Da Xiong nodded before rushing over to grab the stones.

Liu Ying used three stones to build a stand for her pot.She then stood up and walked off , reappearing a few minutes later with some dung patties and hay. Stuffing them between the rocks , she lights a fire. She then placed the pot she lit over the fire , and filled it up with some water she got from the stream. While the water was heating up Liu Ying pulled out some brown matter from the bag hanging from her belt. She broke the brown thing into small pieces and let it heat up. Once it started boiling , Liu Ying reduced the fire by removing some of it.

Liu Ying stood up and walked over to a junior , " You stay here for now , make sure the fire doesn't go out or get stronger. I'll ask someone to take over in an hour.

" The junior nodded " Yes Senior ! ."

Liu Ying then turned to the others, " You all will be switching places every hour. We need to boil it for 10 hours. The others go and have breakfast now , then one hour later , one of you switch with him."

" Yes Senior ! "

Yang Changtian walked over to Liu Ying who was staring at the pot. " What is that ? "

Jin Wei and Da Xiong also walked over.

Liu Ying pointed at the pot , " That potentially is our way to get rid of the fungi that's infesting the water sources. "

Yang Changtian also turned to look at the pot, puzzled , " That ?"

Liu Ying nodded , " That is peat , by boiling it with water and reducing it , we will obtain the humic acid in the peat. "

" Humic acid ? for what? " A voice rang out .

Everyone turned to see Li Cheng coming over.

Liu Ying nodded again. " Theoretically, we can kill off the fungi in 3 ways. One , we need to increase the temperature of the water to kill it off , but it is almost impossible to do that .

Two , we have to introduce a natural predator , such as another fungi, to destroy it. While possible , this requires a lot of time and much more effort. So that leaves us with one final method, lowering the Ph of the water. We can do that by introducing an acid into the water. Peat has Humic acid , and it is also very easy for us to find peat here. So by boiling and reducing the peat , we can concentrate the Humic acid , and then treat the water with it. After the acid kills off the Zombie fungi , we can use an alkaline like limestone , which is also very easily found over here , to raise Ph again , making the water neutral again. Therefore I think that this would be the best way to proceed. I'm gonna test it out on a smaller batch first. This small pot would be enough to treat the water in the pot."

Liu Ying finished explaining.

Everyone was staring at Liu Ying .

" Ahh , that's why you had us carry that huge metal pot when it was dark Senior , since it has to boil for hours , you wanted to make sure that you can do the experiment during the day." Jin Wei said shaking his head.

Liu Ying just nodded at them . " Now gentlemen I stayed up all night , therefore I wish to take a short rest. "

Yang Changtian nodded at her , " Get some rest Ms. Liu ."

Liu Ying nodded at everyone before going to her tent to sleep. Only to emerge well after noon.

Yang Changtian and Li Cheng were sitting under a tree near the river reminiscing about their past , when they spotted Liu Ying coming out of her tent. She had changed into a peacock blue robe with white embroidery, hair perfectly pinned up using a jade hairpin.

" Say Brother Li , I wonder how many clothes and accessories she brought along. " Yang Changtian asked. Li Cheng just burst into laughter while shaking his head.

" Honestly , I was wondering the same thing, she always dresses up so extravagantly . And since we met , I've already seen her outfit change 6 times, each one flashier than the last."

Liu Ying spotted them and nodded at them in greeting before strolling towards the pot that was still boiling , only now the liquid inside had reduced , and was emitting a sour yet earthy scent. Crouching down next to the pot , Liu Ying used a wooden stick to stir it around. " We just need to boil it for around another 3 hours , it'll be ready after."

" Yes Senior ! "

Nodding at the junior , Liu Ying turned around and walked towards Li Cheng and Yang Changtian.

They saw Liu Ying approach them and Yang Changtian stood up before giving the rock he was sitting on to Liu Ying , then he carried over another rock for himself.

Liu Ying thanked him and sat down.

" Ms. Liu , that surely want a 'short nap ' " Li Cheng teased.

" I apologise Mr. Li , Mr. Yang. I lost track of time ."

" Brother Li , stop teasing Ms. Liu." Yang Changtian reprimanded Li Cheng helplessly. " Ms. Liu , Brother Li and I were just discussing your plan to lure the survivors out. Can we guarantee that they will come out ? "

Liu Ying nodded , " They are watching us , so they naturally know that we have some valuable resources with us , so they will certainly take the chance to come and take our supplies back for themselves. And today we must make a big scene about finding a way to clean the water. They won't be able to resist when they see that. "

Li Cheng and Yang Changtian both nodded.

" Btw did you two have lunch ? " Liu Ying asked.

Both Yang Changtian and Li Cheng shook their heads.

" Should we go grab something to eat then ? I forgot to have breakfast before sleeping." Liu Ying exclaimed matter-of-factly.

" Sure . " Li Cheng and Yang Changtian both agreed, standing up to leave with Liu Ying.

Liu Ying slowed down to let them catch up , " I just saw another flash of light , they're watching us again." she whispered.

Li Cheng was about to turn around and look , when Yang Changtian grabbed his neck . " Don't turn , you'll make it obvious," he said.

Li Cheng nodded and Yang Changtian moved his hand to Li Cheng's shoulder. And the three of them walked away without turning back.

Liu Ying was right , they were being watched.

" Brother Song , what are they up to ? " a man asked his leader who was next to him , also using a spy glass to observe Liu Ying , Yang Changtian and the others.

" I have no idea , but let's keep watch ." Song Lian replied

3 hours passed by in a blink and Liu Ying went to check on the Humic acid again, she found that most of the liquid had evaporated , and they were left with less than a cup of brown slightly thick liquid. " Take this off the fire , it's ready." Liu Ying instructed the junior.

After letting it cool for a while she turned to the junior. " Ask Mr. Yang and Mr.Li along with Jin Wei and Da Xiong came here."

The junior obliged and went off to get them. Soon enough all of them, along with Zhou Zilong , Zhang Anying and Mo Ling gathered around the big metal pot they filled in the morning.

Liu Ying pointed at the thin black strands floating in the water. " Now that the eater is still , we can clearly see the fungi. Watch this," Liu Ying poured the cup of Humic acid she just finished extracting into the water , she used a wooden stick to distribute it evenly.

Mere seconds later , everyone saw the fungi strands twitching before disintegrating .

" It worked ! " Mo Ling exclaimed, shocked.

Yang Changtian and Li Cheng were shocked to see this , they didn't expect the Humic acid to be this potent

Liu Ying quickly walked over to Yang Changtian and Li CHeng. " Quickly , they must be watching , and act very excited and happy. "

Yang Changtian and Li Cheng nodded.

" Yes !!!! We're saved . " Li Cheng began jumping up and down.

Everyone was looking at him as if he was crazy.

" Uhmmm Senior brother, are you okay ? " Mo Ling asked cautiously.

" Don't ask questions , everyone acts very happy and overwhelmed now." Yang Changtian whisper-yelled at everyone.

As if on cue, Jin Wei began to bawl. He hugged Da Xiong tightly , who pumped his fists in the air.

" It works ! " Yang Changtian yelled. He turned to Liu Ying and patted her on the shoulder. " Now we can clean the water up."

Liu Ying nodded and put on a show of showing what was in her bag to the others.

Since Song Lian and the others were hiding on top of the mountain , it was easy for them to hear Yang Changtina's and Jin Wei's yells

" What do they mean Brother Song ? They found a way to treat the water sources !? "

" How ?! "

" We need that ! "

Everyone began to chatter.

" You all shut it , Brother Song, look at that , what they added to the water is in that lady's bag."

Song Lian immediately redirected his spy glass to Liu Ying. ' Her again.' he thought to himself.

" Let's head back and inform the village elder about this." Song Lian instructing his group to pack up and leave.