019 Again Attempt One (Xie Lan Die Zhi Yi)

Chapter 19: 019 Another Attempt (1) (Xie Lan Die Zhi Yi)

The eleven minutes passed quickly.

Under Yu Hong's expectant gaze, the thick wooden bar bracing the door blurred with a hiss, and in less than two seconds, it turned into a pitch-black metal rod! The metal rod was like an oversized chocolate bar, with non-slip pads on both ends to increase friction. The material seemed to be iron, but much darker in color.

Picking up the rod, Yu Hong examined it carefully.

"The structure is still very simple, but the material has been reinforced. It's obviously much sturdier than before. Impressive!"

He marveled.

Then, he repeated the process and reinforced the second thick wooden bar as well.

Over ten minutes later, two black metal pillars stood symmetrically on the left and right of the back of the door, bracing it firmly.

"This is way stronger than the three of us using our shoulders to hold it before."

Yu Hong nodded in satisfaction.

"Now, there's one last troublesome problem."

Candles.

He didn't dare go back to White Mound Village, but all the candles were there, along with the water filter, pots, cups, and so on.

"I only have one candle here. Definitely not enough, unless I start a fire. Wait!"

Suddenly, Yu Hong squinted, looking toward the stove by the stone wall.

This stove, which Little Stutterer had helped him retrieve, came with a chimney pipe and hadn't been put to use yet. 'What if I reinforce this?'

The thought arose, and a surge of anticipation filled Yu Hong's heart.

He suddenly remembered the axe he had reinforced earlier, so he went to the corner to dig it out.

The axe was different from before.

Earlier, it was just a simple wooden-handled axe, and the blade had gotten quite a few nicks from chopping.

Now, after reinforcement, the axe had turned into a lumber axe with a metal handle, a full size larger.

The black handle had an anti-slip texture, and the silver axe head was noticeably thicker than before, the blade gleaming coldly.

In short, this ordinary old axe had instantly become a high-quality lumber axe.

Putting the axe down, Yu Hong walked over to the stove.

The stove was square, made of metal, with black paint on the surface, looking like a short black table.

Yu Hong reached out and pressed his hand against the stove's edge.

The cool touch jolted his mind awake.

'Reinforce the stove... no, reinforce the Lighting and Heating System.'

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit him, and he quickly changed the name for the stove.

Hiss.

A thread of black lines flowed from the Black Mark on the back of his hand, drilling into the stove's surface.

Soon, a number appeared on the stove's surface: 12:07.

'Reinforce the Lighting and Heating System?' The Black Mark's inquiry sounded.

'Yes!' Yu Hong responded with force.

Instantly, the number on the stove's surface changed, shifting from a static number to a countdown.

'I hope this works.' A glimmer of hope rose in Yu Hong's heart.

There was still some time before dark, and he had one candle, so he could definitely make it through tonight, no problem until tomorrow morning.

But if the reinforced stove still didn't meet his expectations tomorrow, he would have to take the risk, go into White Mound Village, and bring back the candles and other supplies Little Stutterer had left behind.

Watching the stove's timer steadily decrease, Yu Hong found a dry spot to sit down, utterly exhausted.

The series of changes today had caught him off guard, and on top of that, the effort of fixing up two support bars had drained too much of his energy. Fatigue surged over him, so he simply took out the candle in advance, held it in his hand, leaned against the Steel Nail Glowstone Rod, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Lao Yu?"

"Lao Yu??"

A hushed call woke him from his sleep.

Yu Hong opened his eyes and found a familiar pretty face hovering right in front of him, smiling playfully.

It was his female colleague from work, Chen Hui Ru.

"Lao Yu's awake. Scared me to death, thought something serious had happened. Good, good, just a scare." Chen Hui Ru turned her head and said to someone else.

"I told you Lao Yu wasn't that fragile."

"This joke went too far. We're all from the same workplace, that's over the line."

"Lao Yu always brags about being brave. Seeing him scared shitless like this, I've got enough material for a whole year!" A burst of laughter came.

Soon, Yu Hong rubbed his eyes and found himself sitting on the grass in front of his office building, surrounded by a circle of colleagues in the lush green.

Each of them was smiling at him, chattering away.

"Isn't it lifelike?"

"That bug was a model I rented from a nearby film crew. Including you, it's scared four people already! You're fine—Yuan Zhou nearly pissed himself, and we recorded all of it!"

"You're still talking! It was your stupid idea!"

His colleagues laughed and joked, surrounding Yu Hong in a circle on the sunlit grass.

Their smiling faces were warm and harmonious.

As they talked, they began to hold hands and spin around Yu Hong.

One circle.

One circle.

One circle.

"Look at Lao Yu, still not snapping out of it."

"Too funny!"

"Don't be mad, Brother Gao's treating us to Zao Po Hotpot soon!"

"Say cheese for the photo~~"

Voices kept drilling into Yu Hong's ears.

He sat there dazed, watching his spinning colleagues. Their smiles were so real, so warm.

'So, it was all a prank.' Yu Hong opened his mouth, his taut nerves finally relaxing.

He stood up, reaching out to grab one of his most familiar coworkers.

Shhh.

Everything went silent in an instant.

The sounds vanished completely. Silence. Yu Hong's vision blurred.

He took a sharp, deep breath and slowly opened his eyes.

The cold stone floor was hard and real, digging into his tailbone painfully.

He was still sitting on the ground, still leaning against the stinking quilt, facing the stove that was still counting down, motionless, hugging his knees.

The cave was quiet, dim light spilling in through the door window.

"It was a dream..." He sighed.

It was almost dark.

Yu Hong shifted his gaze to the window.

"!!!"

Outside the Viewing Window, there was a blurry face, silently watching him through the Steel Wire Mesh! Watching him, just waking from sleep!

"Who!?" Yu Hong shot up, gripping the Steel Nail Glowstone Rod, trying to stand.

But his legs had been inactive too long; they went numb as he rose, nearly making him stumble.

By the time he steadied himself against the stove and looked again, the face was gone from the Viewing Window.

"Huff, huff." Yu Hong's face paled. He guessed it was a Ghost Shadow. He hadn't heard any footsteps at all. And its movement was jerky, covering distance in fits and starts with no continuity—that was the Ghost Shadow's biggest trait.

Earlier, to let in air, he'd opened the Viewing Window so outside air could flow through the Steel Wire Mesh.

But he hadn't expected the Ghost Shadow to find it so fast. "It's only dusk, not even dark yet, and the Ghost Shadows are active again."

Standing up, he cautiously stepped forward, reached out, and yanked the Viewing Window's cover shut.

Swish.

The window's light vanished, plunging the cave into gloom.

Yu Hong switched to the other vent for airflow. Slower, but at least less terrifying.

Who knew how long that Ghost Shadow had been watching him while he slept.

After that, using the faint light seeping through the vent, he checked the reinforced glowstone placed behind the door.

Half of the reinforced glowstone had already turned from jade-like to pale, ashen stone.

Seeing that, Yu Hong felt a chill run through him.

'Good thing I had the reinforced glowstone, or I might've died in my sleep without even knowing.'

He sighed, catching a faint smell of moisture in the cave. He knew if he didn't dry things out soon, they'd get moldy. His only hope now was to see what happened after the stove was reinforced.

On the stove, the countdown still had over ten minutes.

Yu Hong simply sat down on the spot, grabbed a Dried Mushroom, and nibbled at it bit by bit.

He stopped looking at the door, his eyes fixed on the stove.

The ten-plus minutes passed quickly.

The stove's countdown was almost finished.

Yu Hong's nerves tightened slightly, because this enhancement could determine his next steps.

Chi.

Just then, the stove's numbers vanished, and the entire stove, along with its pipe, blurred.

The blur lasted a second, then everything snapped back into focus.

At the same time, a brand-new stove appeared before Yu Hong.

"!!? This is—" The moment Yu Hong saw the new stove, his eyes flew wide.

Because the thing in front of him had completely exceeded his expectations.

What appeared before him was a fireplace that had fully merged with the cave's rock wall.

This fireplace looked as if it had grown into the rock itself—both the stove body and the pipe were buried deep in the stone.

But that wasn't the most important part. The key was that the stove's outer shell was entirely transparent!!

It was made of a completely transparent material, like glass or crystal!! Yu Hong stepped forward and tapped the stove's edge with his knuckles.

Thump thump.

Two dull sounds. Very hard.

'Incredible. It really does double as heating and lighting.' Yu Hong was speechless.

A stove was already for warmth, but making it transparent naturally added lighting. This enhancement was pure genius! He circled the new stove, observing it for a long time, until the light outside had completely dimmed and faint rustling sounds could be heard.

Only then did he quickly take out a match and light a candle.

The enhanced candle was windproof and could collect its own soot—pretty good.

Placing the candle on the stool, Yu Hong swiftly began stuffing firewood and tinder into the stove.

The tinder was wood shavings he'd saved earlier—ultra-thin curls of wood from cutting, very easy to ignite.

He paired them with some thoroughly dried grass and leaves.

Crackle. Soon, a dark red flame slowly flickered to life inside the fireplace.

The flame grew larger over time, sending pale gray smoke up the flue and out of the cave, leaving no trace inside.

The flame grew brighter and bigger, little by little.

Gradually, the light from the transparent fireplace surpassed that of the candle.

After another ten-plus minutes, once the fireplace had stabilized, Yu Hong added thicker logs and blew out the candle.

'Finally, it's done!'

He dropped from a crouch onto the log stool, watching the burning fireplace with satisfaction.

Waves of warm heat seeped through the transparent shell of the fireplace.

The material was surprisingly good at conducting heat.

As the warmth increased, the cave's damp chill was driven away, replaced by relaxation and comfort.

For a moment, the entire cave was as warm as spring, bright and safe.