A Night of Desperation

Standing up, Yu Hong opened the blanket and wrapped it around himself, completely enveloping his body from head to toe.

“It fits just right. No wonder those attackers could run around outside alone,” he thought, understanding it a little more.

He put the blanket down and wandered around the cave, pondering the most urgent thing to strengthen and synthesize.

‘Now, I should solve the water issue. How long has it been since I last took a bath? The little bit of water I used to clean my wounds is not enough at all. This time, it’s just a small injury, but if it were more serious, it would definitely get infected.’ He thought, realizing he couldn’t even remember when he last had a bath.

Looking down at his body, he rubbed his dirty arm, and immediately a streak of black dirt came off.

‘Water is the foundation of everything, and growing mushrooms later will also require a lot of water. So, I must first solve the problem of water usage.’

He’s currently healing, so he can’t work on digging stones, and his free time is being spent thinking about how to handle the water issue.

‘Water sources mainly include rainwater, groundwater, and surface river and stream water. The river and streams are too far for me to consider right now. Rainwater is unstable and can come and go. So, the most reliable source is groundwater. This place is in a low valley, surrounded by dense trees, so there must be abundant underground water resources. Otherwise, such a large forest wouldn’t be able to survive here. So, the best method is… to dig a well!’

Thinking of this, Yu Hong immediately set out. He looked at the sky—still early—and grabbed a shovel to head outside.

Since the Ghostly shadows were no longer a problem, life had become much easier and happier for him. Especially with the protection of a large amount of Luminous grass in his yard, the shadows wouldn’t even approach.

Thus, the yard had become his safe haven.

Yu Hong found a spot in the yard without any Luminous stone grass and began to dig. With each shovel, piles of soil were moved aside.

He kept digging nonstop and, after lunch, continued until the afternoon. By the time the sky was getting late, he stopped and began constructing a wooden well inside the half-meter deep pit.

Building the well was quick—he simply used rough wooden planks and stuck them in the ground, forming a circular shape like a water well.

Once that was done, Yu Hong reached out his hand, filled with anticipation, and placed it on the well.

‘Reinforce the well, direction: strengthen, deepen, until water comes out.’

A black line flashed.

‘Incomplete.’

The feedback from the black mark made Yu Hong’s hopeful expression freeze.

He lowered his head and took a look.

‘Could it be that the depth isn’t enough?’

He glanced at the sky and decided to try again tomorrow.

The next morning.

After having breakfast, he went outside to start digging again.

Shovelful after shovelful, the soil was piled up to the side, and the depth of the pit kept increasing.

By noon.

Whoosh!

Yu Hong forcefully drove the shovel into the ground and was about to dig out the soil when his face suddenly changed. He saw blackness oozing from the edges of the spot where the shovel had been inserted.

Instinctively, he stepped back.

Gurgling sounds filled the air as black, tiny insects began pouring out from the crevices where the shovel had entered.

These insects surged out like a black spring, pouring out from the cracks.

But because of the bright sunlight, they quickly evaporated into black smoke.

But Yu Hong now understood.

He gripped the shovel and pulled it out, revealing a dark, insect-filled gap at the bottom of the pit.

Countless black insects dissolved, evaporated, and turned into black smoke under the sunlight.

As the smoke rose, the gap gradually shrank, as though something was filling and repairing it.

Yu Hong stood on the side, staring blankly at the scene, unsure of how to react.

No matter how he thought about it, it seemed like the groundwater plan was no longer feasible.

Back in the house, he didn’t fill in the pit he had dug but instead thought about the situation with the black insects.

‘It looks like the black insects at night are probably hiding deeper underground. That makes sense because the deeper parts of the ground are shielded from sunlight. So, the idea of digging a well for water is no longer viable.’

He suddenly recalled the well he had seen in Baiqiu Village. Now that he thought about it, that well probably had big problems too.

With a sigh, his mind was filled with mixed thoughts, unsure of how to solve the water problem.

He decided to eat something and then went back to sleep.

In the following days, he didn’t do any heavy work, instead focusing on recuperating and began reinforcing his White Bear Armor.

After another seven days, he felt that his injuries had nearly healed.

He then went out to find Li Runshan.

Regardless of anything, he needed to improve his combat skills; the recent attack had taught him a great lesson.

So Yu Hong made up his mind to completely address this weak point of his.

Inside the post office stone house yard.

Li Runshan and Yu Hong stood facing each other, ready for combat training.

Though he had wanted to spend time with his daughter during this period, Li Runshan had no choice but to sacrifice his personal time since the offer from Yu Hong was too tempting. So, he began the combat basics lesson.

The gentle breeze blew, and leaves fell.

It was already autumn, and the sunlight no longer felt warm.

Li Runshan was dressed in protective gear and a helmet, fully covered.

“To prevent ambushes, we’ll mainly practice with our protective gear on. No objections, right?” Li Runshan asked.

“I think so too. No objections,” Yu Hong replied in a muffled voice.

“Mm, I thought you wouldn’t object,” Li Runshan said, his eyelids twitching as he looked at the large figure in front of him.

He had seen many types of protective suits, but the one before him was unlike any he had seen. This was the first time.

Where on earth did he get such an exaggerated suit from?

Li Runshan was speechless, carefully observing Yu Hong.

The suit was fine overall, resembling a standard, heavily reinforced bulletproof outfit, but from the waist down—his lower body and legs—it was ridiculously thick and massive, resembling stone pillars.

Li Runshan carefully observed, estimating that the lower half of this suit was at least three times thicker than a normal one, maybe even more.

“This suit of yours, it’s like wrapping your lower body in a huge pile of stones?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“Mm, it’s custom-made,” Yu Hong answered calmly. “The attacker I encountered last time was too strong, and I suffered a big loss, so I strengthened my weaknesses this time.”

“…But with this, you won’t be able to perform many agile dodging moves,” Li Runshan said helplessly.

“It’s fine, I’ll handle it,” Yu Hong didn’t mind.

Heavy leg techniques are more effective with added weight, so he thought that if he really needed agility, he could switch back to reinforcing his Gray Lizard Armor.

“Alright then,” Li Runshan said, resigned. “Let’s start with the basics of combat.”

He quickly explained the main attack points, defense methods, and dodging techniques, which all followed specific routines.

In fact, due to the inherent limitations of the human body structure, humans’ movements are all within a fixed range. As long as you master this range, you can handle most close combat attacks.

After going over the basics, Yu Hong had a general understanding, so the two began practical sparring. That was his purpose for coming here; if it was just theoretical knowledge, a booklet would have sufficed. There was no need for them to engage in combat training.

“Alright, watch closely. I’ll launch a frontal attack now,” Li Runshan smiled.

He observed Yu Hong, who stood ready, and suddenly stepped forward with his right leg, crouched, sprinted, and threw a punch.

Boom!!!

The punch combined the force from his legs, waist, shoulders, and arms, smoothly flowing like mercury, heavy and without hesitation. It struck Yu Hong’s chest.

A dull thud echoed.

It was too fast!

Incomprehensibly fast!

Yu Hong barely saw a blur in front of him, and in the blink of an eye, the three-meter distance was crossed, and he felt the punch land on his chest.

His arms, trying to block, only raised to about a third of the height.

The speed made him think back to the attacker he faced earlier. That person was also fast… No, that person wasn’t as fast as Li Runshan!

He suddenly had a clear comparison in his mind.

If there’s no significant difference in speed, ordinary people wouldn’t notice.

But now, he could tell, which meant that Li Runshan was faster by a lot than the attacker he faced before!

After the heavy impact, Yu Hong took a step back, involuntarily retreating.

But even with that step, it shook him to the core.

His White Bear Armor alone weighed at least 80 pounds (about 40 kg), and combined with his own weight, he guessed he was now at least 220 lbs (100 kg).

But despite this weight, Li Runshan’s punch was enough to push him back?!

“!!??” Yu Hong touched his chest, unsure of what to say.

Li Runshan’s smile faded slightly, and his mouth twitched.

After throwing the punch, he finally realized just how much additional protection Yu Hong had put on his suit.

Even through the gloves, he could feel the pain radiating from his knuckles.

“I feel a bit shortchanged,” he murmured, but seeing his daughter watching through the window, he couldn’t back out. Otherwise, he’d ruin his heroic image in her eyes.

“Again!” He shouted and rushed forward, throwing an uppercut.

His fist cut through the air with a loud whooshing sound, faster than Yu Hong, and hit his helmet.

Boom!

Another loud crash. Li Runshan quickly retreated, his gloves reddened from the impact.

‘Damn, it’s so hard!’ Li Runshan was speechless, staring at his opponent.

Yu Hong’s state was far beyond his expectations… so much so that it seemed his punches didn’t even break through the defense.

“Hit harder, Old Li! I can take it!” Yu Hong said in a muffled voice.

He slightly bent his knees, hands resting on his thighs, his legs and knees now resembling two thick tree trunks rooted in the ground.

Just by looking, he gave off an immovable visual impression.

From the previous two hits, he truly felt that Li Runshan was stronger than the attacker he faced earlier. If he could adapt to Li Runshan’s attacks, then next time he faced someone of that level, he could easily handle it.

(End of Chapter)

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