Thud.
Yu Hong and the other two fell apart onto the ground, their bodies limp and sore as they gasped for breath.
Their violent breathing rose and fell throughout the Cave, stirring faint eddies of air.
"I told you. You should've trusted me, right?" Yu Hong said intermittently, his face pale.
"This door?" Little Stutterer still couldn't understand. The Wooden Door hadn't been like this before. How had it changed so much after just one day—
"What exactly did you encounter? What was that monster just now—" Yu Hong didn't answer. Instead, he looked at Doctor Xu, trying to get information from her. Communicating with Little Stutterer was simply too slow.
Doctor Xu's face was pale, and blood was still slowly seeping from her calf. Hearing him, she carefully examined the Enhanced Wooden Door, then looked over the other parts of the Cave.
"So this is the safe place you built yourselves—"
Rumble!!!
Just then—
A thunderous boom instantly cut off what she was about to say.
Amid the boom, the Wooden Door shuddered violently once more, and tiny stone chips came pattering down around it.
Hiss!
A deep, strange hiss came from outside.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!!
Then came a rapid string of frenzied impacts.
This time, the force was far greater than before.
The Enhanced Wooden Door trembled under the tremendous strength, continuously giving off faint vibrations.
The three of them froze for a moment before immediately reacting.
"It's that monster!! It didn't leave!!"
Doctor Xu screamed. Her voice was far sharper than usual, its pitch almost completely changed.
Without another word, Yu Hong and Little Stutterer rushed forward and braced their shoulders against the back of the door.
Seeing this, Doctor Xu gritted her teeth, got up, and braced herself against the Wooden Door as well.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
The repeated, colossal impacts made even the Enhanced Wooden Door begin to rock violently. The fixing screws around the doorframe also began to loosen more and more.
"Hold it shut!!" Yu Hong roared.
One blow after another.
The three of them desperately held the Wooden Door in place, counteracting the looseness caused by the impacts.
They all knew that once the gate was smashed apart, everything would be over.
So they brought every ounce of strength they had to bear.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Until thirteen minutes had passed.
The heavy rain outside gradually eased, and some of the dark clouds dispersed from the overcast sky.
At last, sunlight streamed down between the clouds in straight golden pillars.
Boom!!
The final impact.
Their bodies were jolted violently. Obvious cracks had already appeared around the Wooden Door, and it was about to tear free from the stone wall around the Cave entrance.
Hiss!!
The enormous Blood Tick monster let out one last strange hiss. It finally stopped ramming the door and began to retreat.
The hiss rapidly faded into the distance, then vanished completely.
The three of them still held the Wooden Door firmly, not moving an inch, afraid that their opponent might suddenly launch another surprise attack.
They waited for more than ten full minutes.
Golden sunlight gradually seeped through the gaps in the Viewing Window. Only then did Yu Hong know that they should be safe.
Thud.
He collapsed onto the ground and gasped for breath.
He was exhausted. They had nearly—nearly—been overwhelmed, with the gate smashed through.
Given the state the three of them had been in just now, once the monster broke through, the outcome went without saying. They would have died for certain.
Having fought until they were nearly exhausted, the three of them could not have escaped very far.
Fortunately, it was all over.
Huff, huff, huff.
The three of them breathed like bellows. Sweat streamed from their foreheads and cheeks, dropping to the ground and leaving strings of black spots.
"It should be fine now. The sun's out." Yu Hong rose and pulled open the Viewing Window with a swish, looking outside.
Through the wire mesh, sunlight shone in from outside. A damp, chilly breeze blew inside and struck his face, making his whole body tremble faintly.
He looked left and right through the window. Only after completely confirming that the monster had disappeared did he finally relax.
He turned back to look at the other two, who were likewise sitting collapsed on the ground.
"What was that thing just now? How did you provoke it?"
"That was a large Blood Tick from the Blood Tide. We usually call it Big Hide." Doctor Xu wiped away her sweat and casually rubbed it onto her filthy outer garment as she answered.
"But it shouldn't have appeared at this time. It usually only appears occasionally during the High Tide Period, and it isn't normally this frenzied or dangerous!"
At this thought, she forced herself to stand.
"No, something must have gone wrong. We can't stay here. We have to pack up immediately and go to the Town Bunker! We can't hold Big Hide back on our own!"
Faint anxiety surfaced on her face.
"Yu Hong, held, it!" Little Stutterer stood up and wiped away her sweat with her sleeve as well, pointing at the Enhanced Wooden Door.
It would have been fine if she hadn't pointed. Once she did, Yu Hong and Doctor Xu noticed the damaged cracks by the door.
"What about next time? What will we do when the High Tide Period arrives?" Doctor Xu said grimly.
She turned to Yu Hong.
"I don't know how you built such a sturdy door, but the High Tide Period is coming soon. We could barely hold back a single Big Hide. Do you really think you can manage? Can you survive here?" She pointed at the cracks in the Wooden Door and shouted.
"..." Yu Hong fell silent. He placed one hand against the door and looked at the words that had appeared on it—Repair Time: 17 minutes.
The fact that it could be repaired after being damaged was something he hadn't expected.
Moreover, in ordinary people's eyes, going to the town really was the best choice right now. But his gaze flickered.
If he went, many of his secrets could easily be exposed. Besides, hadn't they held it back this time? Although the door had nearly broken, they had been unprepared. If he reinforced it with a few more support panels or chains later, things should be much easier.
"I don't want to go," Yu Hong said.
"Me, too..." Little Stutterer looked at the cracked Wooden Door and spoke as well.
But the moment she began, Doctor Xu interrupted her.
"Are you two crazy? The door's practically broken, and you still won't leave? What if two Big Hides come during the High Tide Period?!" Doctor Xu couldn't understand.
Her breathing quickened again as she stared at Yu Hong.
"I'm very grateful that you opened the door and saved us just now, but this isn't the time to act on impulse. Do you really think this door of yours, which is about to break, can withstand an assault during the High Tide Period?? You're courting death, do you know that?"
"If we go to the town, does that mean there won't be any danger? Won't gathering so many people together make the Ghost Shadow even more troublesome?" Yu Hong countered. His emotions had instead settled down by now.
After being highly fearful and tense, he had become calmer.
"Yes, but the committee is there. They have ways to deal with it. At the very least, it'll be much safer than encountering Big Hide here!" Doctor Xu shouted.
Yu Hong shook his head. "Thank you, but I don't want to go." He now felt that everywhere was dangerous. The outside world was dangerous too, and nowhere was as safe as the Cave house he had built himself.
At least the Black Mark was visible right now, and it could improve his safety.
Once the gate was repaired, as long as he added more reinforcement measures, he would be much safer when facing Big Hide again.
But he couldn't say any of that.
He had no way to explain how he had done it.
In an environment lacking materials and parts, for a fully equipped safe door to suddenly appear was inherently abnormal.
"Crazy!" Doctor Xu stared at Yu Hong in disbelief. "You really are crazy! You'll die!"
She pointed at the gate.
"Although I don't know how you bought this processed safety door, it can't withstand the Blood Tide. The High Tide Period is different from normal times. With several Big Hides like that one appearing, there could very well be several of them roaming around together during the High Tide Period. You won't be able to hold them back!"
She began trying to persuade him incessantly.
But no matter what she said, Yu Hong merely shook his head.
He didn't believe the town could offer better safety measures than his own. Even if the Town Bunker might truly be safer, he didn't want to entrust his safety to something beyond his control, or to complete strangers.
So no matter how Doctor Xu tried to persuade him, he continued shaking his head.
Finally, seeing that she couldn't convince Yu Hong, Doctor Xu turned to Little Stutterer.
"Yi Yi, there's no reasoning with him. We're leaving!"
Little Stutterer fell silent and turned to Yu Hong.
"Stay, to-gether," she stammered.
Clearly, Doctor Xu's speech had failed to convince Yu Hong, but it had convinced her.
After all, the damaged Enhanced Wooden Door truly was already at its limit. If another Big Hide charged it a few times, it would definitely be finished.
Yu Hong had no explanation to give, nor any reason to support his decision.
He simply remained silent.
"Yu, Hong!" Little Stutterer looked at him. "Together, go."
She patted his arm, her eyes clear.
But Yu Hong only shook his head.
"You two go. I don't want to."
He knew that the Town Bunker could certainly deal with monsters like Big Hide. Otherwise, the town would have been overrun by the Blood Tide long ago. It would not have been possible for them to gather information about Big Hide, either.
Little Stutterer and Doctor Xu would indeed be better off going there.
But he didn't want to go.
He had no sense of security regarding anything outside. Only his own Cave was safe enough! Besides, even if he went there, with his frail physique, once his Black Mark's ability was exposed, the danger might be many times greater than staying in the Cave.
After all, human hearts were often even more difficult to guard against.
Monsters were terrifying, but they came straight at you—simple and brutal.
"Yi Yi, don't worry about me. I can repair the door myself. As long as I don't provoke several Big Hides, I'll be fine. My entrance is high, which makes it unfavorable for monsters to charge. I only have to get through a few days. Don't worry." Yu Hong instead comforted Little Stutterer.
Little Stutterer blinked at him. She still wanted to speak and persuade him, but Yu Hong raised a hand to stop her.
"Go. It's fine." Yu Hong softened his voice. "You've helped me for a long time, too. It's time for us to part ways. Of course, if you run into any trouble later, you can come find me here. If there's anything I can do, I'll definitely help."
He reached into his trouser pocket, took out a piece of Enhanced Glowstone, and stuffed it into Little Stutterer's hand.
"Forget it if he won't go! He's asking to die! Leave him!" Doctor Xu had truly talked herself hoarse trying to persuade him. Seeing how unshakable Yu Hong's attitude was, she gave up as well.
"Stubborn to the death! Let's go, Yi Yi. We have to set out immediately. If we hurry over now, we can still make it!" She grabbed Little Stutterer's hand and led her to the entrance. She looked outside through the Viewing Window, checking the environment.
Being pulled along by her, Little Stutterer turned back and reached for Yu Hong.
"Go, together." A trace of urgency appeared on her face.
But Yu Hong pushed her hand away.
"Yu, Hong?" She looked at him in confusion.
"I'll be fine. Go. You and Doctor Xu can look after each other. Having one more person means you can take care of each other," Yu Hong said seriously as he looked at her.
"Doctor Xu, take good care of Yi Yi. If you run into trouble, you can come here. My place may not compare with the town, but you can survive here."
Before you continue