Night of Despair-Chapter 129 - : Hope One

Chapter 129: Hope One

Pfft.

In the courtyard of the safe house in the cave, the luminous stone grass shimmering with a lustrous white light continually neutralized the Red Value radiation permeating the surrounding air.

The gate opened, and Yu Hong led three people in at a swift pace.

“Quick, inside the cabin, out here is a new variety of luminous stone grass I’ve researched. It’s used to counteract things similar to Red Value luminous stone, emitting negative-value radiation, which can cause luminous stone disease in people just the same!” Yu Hong quickly advised as he entered.

...

Li Rushan, holding his daughter, nodded and hurried to the front of the wooden house, pushing open the door to enter.

Zhou Xueguang immediately followed behind.

When the three of them entered the courtyard, they genuinely felt their skin prickle with an eerie sensation.

Only when they entered the wooden house did it ease slightly.

“Actually, even inside the house, you’ll be affected by the negative-value radiation. It’s just much less concentrated than outside,” Yu Hong explained from the doorway. “So if you plan to stay here in the future, you’ll need to sort out your own living arrangements.”

“Okay!” Li Rushan agreed.

Neither he nor Zhou Xueguang asked why they couldn’t go further into the cave. Just as Li Rushan had never invited Yu Hong into the human defense underground Pyroxene Secret Room.

In this kind of environment, a safe house is one’s most basic line of defense. Thus, by an unspoken understanding, they didn’t ask.

“We owe you big time for the rescue. We would’ve been goners otherwise,” Zhou Xueguang said with a sigh.

“Hold on.” Yu Hong quickly returned to the cave and brought back iodine swabs, anti-inflammatory drugs, and cool boiled water to treat each person’s wounds, preventing any outbreak of illness.

Then, he sat down in the house and inquired about what happened to them.

“Tell me, how did you get busted out of the Secret Room?” He couldn’t comprehend how people at the front line could use the Pyroxene Secret Room to conceal themselves and avoid most dangers, yet here it suddenly failed.

“…Because there were others,” Li Rushan said, his head lowered as he downed a mouthful of water with vigor. “Aside from the ones behind us, there was another Evil Shadow involved. It was another Evil Shadow that broke the Secret Room, and then we were caught by those chasing us. If you hadn’t arrived in time, Nana and I would have been done for.”

“There are more Evil Shadows…” Yu Hong furrowed his brows. “Isn’t it said that there’s an overlay phenomenon among Evil Shadows?” He directed this question to Zhou Xueguang.

“There is, but overlay doesn’t mean complete extinction. There can also be enslavement and merging…” Zhou Xueguang replied with a grim expression. He turned to look out at the white light of the luminous stone grass. “Are you sure the glowing grass in your yard can keep off the Evil Shadows?”

“I’m not certain, but they can create an environment that Evil Shadows detest, making them unwelcome to come near here unless necessary. Just like you won’t be harmed by a public restroom, but would you willingly go there for a stroll?” Yu Hong’s analogy was remarkably precise, instantly helping the two men understand the role of the luminous stone grass.

“So, what do we do now?” Zhou Xueguang exhaled deeply, looking at Yu Hong. “I hope you can help us, but I know there’s no help without reason in this world, so, is there anything I can help you with?”

“I can’t go back to my side of the post office now, and it looks like I’m sticking with you from now on. Just give me the word if you need something done,” Li Rushan also said straightforwardly.

“Alright then, first help me get the farming going. I’ll cover food and drink for now. Also, Old Li, how many lizards do you still have?” Yu Hong asked.

“Still rearing about a dozen or so. I planned to slaughter them when I got back, but it looks like there’s no way to do it now. I don’t know if the Evil Shadows will kill them all,” Old Li said helplessly.

“I’ll go have a look in the daytime.” After the close encounter just now, Yu Hong was much less worried about those behind, possessing Radiation Hand Grenades and Inner Qi inside him. If he caught an opportunity, with two Radiation Hand Grenades and proper coordination, he could take down one of those behind him.

He still had three Radiation Hand Grenades on him, barely enough for use.

“Also, Old Li, after you come over, help me connect with the post office leadership tomorrow, I want to confirm if we can still send things. I plan to trade all my intelligence about the Evil Shadows for supplies.”

Trading intelligence for supplies was naturally the best outcome. The fear was that the current external environment had become overly hostile…

“I’ll give it a try…” Li Rushan was not hopeful.

After their exchange, Yu Hong treated their wounds and brought over a pile of nutrition paste before leaving them be and returning to the cave safe house.

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Looking at the still-active communicator, he sighed.

There was no one left at the post office stone house, and the communicator being on served no purpose now.

Thinking this, he reached for the switch, preparing to turn it off.

“Sss… Is anyone there? Can anyone hear me?” Suddenly, a deep and robust voice with a hint of weariness floated out from the communicator, probably triggered by his movement.

“…Has the signal gone haywire again? Hmm… I’ll sing a song this time. If anyone can hear it, please make a noise.” The man’s voice continued.

“…” Yu Hong did not respond immediately. In these times, encountering an Evil Shadow like the Language Person could leave one with nowhere to cry.

After waiting six seconds, the other party began to sing with an excruciatingly bad crow’s voice.

Only then did he speak up.

“Who are you? I was about to turn off the device when I heard you talking.”

“Well, I’ve found another one. Haha, lucky this time,” the man laughed cheerfully. “My name’s Guan Cao, um, I live around Lushan Town and I’m using the base’s communicator to search for survivors. You make the third one I’ve found.”

“Lushan Town?!” Yu Hong was startled. “I’m in Baiqiu Village, you must be at least, let me see…” he quickly flipped through an old map.

“At least over two hundred kilometers away! What kind of communicator do you have? It’s amazing!”

Yu Hong was extremely surprised, considering he was using a Black Mark enhanced communicator, and it was unlikely that the other party had the same technology optimization.

But as he was surprised, the person on the other end was equally astonished.

“What?! Over two hundred kilometers? Baiqiu Village? Village??” The man seemed to hear some inconceivable information. “Isn’t that a nuclear shelter?”

“No, it’s just a communicator I’ve modified myself,” Yu Hong said.

“….Self-renovation? The contacts I’ve made are essentially all signals from underground nuclear shelters; the previous two were a self-funded tycoon and a facility manager responsible for an official organization. I thought it was virtually impossible for such a high-level satellite communicator to end up in private hands… even that rich guy has his own research institute…”

The male voice conveyed shock and disbelief over the communicator, trying to explain.

“…..” Yu Hong was at a loss for words; he didn’t know how to explain either.

“Nevertheless, no matter how you achieved this outcome, I’m happy to make contact with another person. That’s the very reason I set up this communications platform.” The man laughed. “Let me reintroduce myself, my name is Guan Cao. An old soldier.”

“Alright, my name is Yu Hong, a regular survivor.” Yu Hong replied. Though somewhat bewildered, having another voice to listen to was nevertheless comforting.

“That’s great, I’ll add you to the channel later. Despite the distance, it’s nice to have someone to talk to, right?” Guan Cao chuckled.

“Indeed, it is nice.” Yu Hong felt genuinely happy. Even though danger lurked everywhere outside, having someone to talk to alleviated the uncomfortable sense of blind solitude.

But luckily, he hadn’t forgotten about the threat of the people lurking behind him.

After a brief chat, he hung up the communicator, stood up, and continued making new Radiation Hand Grenades.

The night passed without incident.

The courtyard outside was quiet; the attackers seemed to have temporarily given up and did not strike again.

This allowed Li Rushan and his two companions to sleep well.

The next morning, just as dawn began to break, Yu Hong stepped outside and saw Li Rushan and his daughter quietly looking towards the post office, seemingly whispering something.

Their faces were sorrowful; perhaps they were missing Lin Haini and Song Wei.

Zhou Xueguang was sitting alone in front of the wooden house, closely examining the luminous stone grass growing on the ground.

It was clear he was very interested in this plant.

His one hand was severed and hung in a sling across his chest, but he couldn’t help fiddling with the leaves on the ground with his other hand.

Noticing Yu Hong come out, he stood up.

“Boss.” After yesterday’s events, he had decided to pledge himself to Yu Hong; with the decision made today, it was time to change how he addressed him.

Yu Hong was startled but then accepted the new title. He indeed needed helping hands to manage various tasks, such as sanitation, animal husbandry, gathering supplies, and contacting the outside world, among others.

If he had to do all these miscellaneous tasks alone, it would waste a lot of time each day.

“Now, the radiation in the yard is too intense, and the wooden house isn’t spacious enough for all of you. So, today, your task is to expand the yard and build another house inside it.”

He could use his Inner Qi to spread the luminous stone grass over a larger area, but the large array under the courtyard wall had a fixed coverage range.

“Besides, I plan to make a trip to the post office to move the breeding boxes Li had set up before. Without food, we can only eat through our reserves, so…” Before Yu Hong could finish, Li Rushan immediately responded.

“I’ll go with you; Nana and Old Zhou can watch over things for me,” Li Rushan said quickly.

“Alright.”

The three of them quickly sorted out their tasks. Yu Hong geared up, armed himself, and took the freshly made Radiation Hand Grenades, six in total, heading out with Li Rushan.

As they left the courtyard wall, they could immediately feel a chilling coldness seeping through the gray fog.

“The weather is getting colder…” Li Rushan sighed. “I had promised Weiwei and Yu to teach them woodworking…”

His eyes reddened, and his expression grew despondent.

“In these times, you can’t protect them,” Yu Hong sighed.

“If I had known, I would’ve let them leave with the evac team.” Li Rushan was helpless.

“…” Yu Hong was at a loss for words.

Hiss…

Suddenly, a cold chill surged from behind his back.

Pat.

“They’re here! Pick up the pace!” Yu Hong’s expression shifted, he handed a Silver Talisman Plate to Li Rushan and sped up towards the post office.

He picked up a small mirror that had been prepared earlier, one that Stutterer had used to wash his face and groom himself.

The mirror reflected their rear view.

Within the gray mist, a blurry smiling human figure emerged, slowly closing in amidst the fog.

“This guy… is the same one from yesterday!” Yu Hong recognized the attacker.

The person still bore the marks where Yu Hong had broken his legs the day before, the footprint on the pants.

“He’s revived so quickly… These Evil Shadows are truly disgusting!” He felt a heavy heart.

“That’s why the frontline is struggling, running out of supplies, with too many casualties,” Li Rushan panted, following close behind.

Both men swiftly arrived at the post office. To their surprise, the second sound of the lurking attackers did not follow.

Li Rushan with the Silver Talisman Plate went down to move the breeding boxes, sixteen in total, which were gradually transferred to the stone house on the first floor.

The boxes were large, each about the size of a large freezer.