Exchange 4 (Thanks to Chun JiuLian BaoDeng for the alliance leader)

Chapter 24: Exchange (4) – Thanks to the Chun Jiu Alliance Leader Bao Deng

"If you still have something as good as that water filter cup, he'll definitely sell it." Jenny laughed.

Filtering water had always been a major headache for her. The water filter jugs she'd been using before came from the bunker, and they could barely filter out coarse sediment. The filter core had to be replaced before long.

But this water filter cup in her hand—she'd just quickly inspected it, and the filter core inside had five layers. The effect should be pretty good.

"Mind if I give it a try?" She pulled a leather waterskin from her waist pouch and gestured with it.

"Of course." Yu Hong stepped back a little, letting her pour water into the filter cup.

Soon, clear water flowed out. The quality of it made Jenny's eyes light up. Cleaner water was in huge demand—for things like rinsing wounds during treatment.

After the trade was done, the two backed off and quickly parted ways.

Halfway back, Yu Hong found the dirt Jenny had mentioned, scooped up a clump, and brought it to the cave.

He planned to try strengthening it. If this soil really had antidiarrheal effects, then the Black Mark should be able to strengthen it into an antidiarrheal medicine with fewer side effects.

That was his real trump card! When the time came, if the strengthening timing was right, he'd have another source of income from trading supplies.

On the other side.

Jenny quickly crossed the woods, stopped in front of a patch of grass, bent down to push aside the weeds, and pried a ring pull out of the ground.

She grabbed the ring and pulled upward.

A wooden board disguised as grass flipped upright.

Beneath the board was a simple underground passage.

She ducked inside and crawled along the dark tunnel for over ten meters, soon reaching the end.

At the end was a round door made of metal, painted a dark gray.

Thump thump thump.

She knocked, then, without waiting for a response, pulled out a key, inserted it into the keyhole, and twisted the round door open.

Behind the door was a small, square room. An atomic lamp hung on the wall, its pale green light dyeing everything in a single hue.

This was her personal bunker. Inside were tables, chairs, cabinets, a bed, tools—everything she needed, plus plenty of leatherworking tools and materials.

Jenny crawled out of the passage, closed the door behind her, stretched, walked over to the cabinet, and poured the filtered water from the cup into a small pot, planning to boil it later.

Then she went to the bookshelf, sat down, took out a charcoal pencil and newspaper, and prepared to record her encounter with Yu Hong today.

"Mom, did you just go out?" Suddenly, a crisp female voice came from another room behind her.

This bunker had one small hall and three rooms: a leatherworking workshop, a bedroom, and a storage room.

The voice came from the bedroom.

"Is that Eve? When did you get back?" Jenny's face lit up with joy as she turned toward the sound.

"Just got back not long ago." A girl with a golden ponytail walked out of the bedroom. She wore an emerald green hoodie and tight jeans, her delicate features lightly made up.

She was Jenny's daughter, Eve, and also the prettiest girl in this survivor settlement.

"Is there anything to eat, Mom? I just looked around, and there's nothing." Eve said discontentedly.

"There's still some." Jenny got up and quickly pulled out a small bag of dried meat from a corner. She opened the bag, grabbed half of it, and was about to hand it to her daughter.

But before she could, Eve snatched the whole bag away.

"There's this much left? Thanks, Mom. I knew you were the best." She happily leaned in and kissed Jenny on the cheek, then quickly slipped out through the exit.

Jenny's hand hung in the air, even the dried meat in her palm taken.

She gave a bitter smile but didn't stop her.

She hadn't had time to say that this was most of her food reserves for the High Tide Period. If it was all taken, all she'd have left was enough to boil thin soup each day. Letting out a breath, Jenny suddenly smiled again.

"She must be starving, rushing off for food like that. Anyway, as long as I can help her, that's what matters."

She didn't dwell on why her daughter, who was doing pretty well for herself, had suddenly come back from town. She didn't think about why Eve never considered her situation at all.

She only knew that since her husband died, Eve was the only family she had left in this world.

'She's still young in this regard. She'll understand when she grows up.'

Comforting herself with that thought, she buried herself back in work, processing some old clothes that had just come in.

Taking apart old clothes and remaking them into fitted garments—that was one of the trades she handled.

***Crack.

The cave door was pulled open.

Yu Hong stepped in quickly, hit by a familiar stench, and felt reassured.

He closed the door and opened the window for ventilation.

He picked up a protein bar, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed slowly. At the same time, he placed the freshly dug dirt onto a newspaper.

Finally, he pulled over a round wooden stool, sat down across from the fireplace, and quietly watched the newspaper with the Comprehensive Physical Training Method written on it, its countdown flashing.

The countdown still had a little over five hours left.

Yu Hong decided to stop running around and simply sat quietly on the stool, waiting for the time to run out.

One hour. Two hours. Three hours. Outside, the sky began to darken.

The wind in the mountain forest grew stronger, letting out a louder, mournful howl.

Yu Hong stood up, stretched his waist and legs, reached out, and pulled the cover shut over the Viewing Window.

At the same time, he swapped the half-depleted Enhanced Glowstone for his only remaining intact one.

After doing this, he picked up the cooled pot, poured out the boiled water, and took a shallow sip from the cup to prevent dehydration.

'After the rain outside, a day isn't enough to dry things out. No dry firewood. Tonight, I'll just have to tough it out again.'

He calculated the remaining amount of firewood, then took out the candle and placed it within easy reach.

Then he flopped down onto the bedding, his gaze fixed on the door, waiting for nightfall.

Before long, about twenty-odd minutes later.

The sky was completely dark.

The familiar rustling, crawling sounds came again, wave after wave.

Yu Hong quickly got up, used the remaining embers in the fireplace to light the candle.

The candlelight flared up, illuminating the entire cave.

Taking advantage of this time, he began to light the fireplace.

At night, the temperature outside had already dropped to at most a few degrees.

As the black bugs swarmed in rapidly, Yu Hong slowly managed to ignite a flame in the fireplace, and it began to burn.

Piece by piece, dry firewood was added, and the blazing flames lit up the entire cave.

Time passed in this monotonous grind.

In the middle of it, Yu Hong had to run to relieve himself twice more, both times with symptoms of complete dehydration. This made his complexion paler and paler, his lips losing all color.

Finally.

Under his constant watch, the strengthening of the Comprehensive Physical Training Method came to an end.

After a blur, the newspaper from before instantly transformed into a thin black manual.

The manual was about the size of a palm, its width also similar to an adult's hand. On its cover, neatly printed, were the words: Advanced Physical Training Method.

Seeing this, Yu Hong's eyes lit up. He quickly put down the dry firewood in his hand, walked over, and picked up the small booklet.

In the firelight, he couldn't wait and swiftly flipped open the first page.

Immediately, a standard diagram of a running motion appeared before his eyes.

The diagram showed a bald man wearing no clothes.

But this man had no skin; all the muscles, tendons, and bones beneath the skin were clearly visible.

The areas where force was exerted were colored red, with markings for the direction and intensity of the force.

Yu Hong glanced at the text above the diagram: Basic Qi Training Exercise.

"Isn't this just running?" He carefully checked the details on the diagram, confirming that this thing was nothing more than an extremely detailed running guide.

But he clearly remembered that during the strengthening, he had intentionally guided it toward immortal martial arts, internal energy, and such directions.

At the time, he thought, even though the name was Advanced Physical Training Method, it wouldn't hurt to skew the direction a little.

And this was the result?

Yu Hong frowned, let out a breath, and patiently continued flipping through the pages.

The content of the second page slightly eased his frown.

The second page was a breathing and internal energy diagram to accompany the running.

It was the same skinless bald man, but inside his body, red and blue arrows marked the rhythm, count, time, and route of exhaling and inhaling.

At the side, there was small text explaining that while running, one needed to visualize a special pattern.

The pattern was on the third page.

Yu Hong flipped to the third page.

It was exactly that Visualization Diagram.

It was a bizarre pattern that looked like a pile of black mud mixed with silver sand.

At a single glance, Yu Hong felt a slight dizziness, as if his eyes were being sucked in.

He didn't dare look too long, because below it was written in small text: Do not look before training period.

He flipped again.

At the end were some herbal materials that needed to be taken in conjunction. Yu Hong looked carefully and was surprised to find that these herbs were all common in the surrounding forest.

There were also precautions and warnings.

'This training method is custom-designed based on the individual's physical constitution, mental state, environment, and other fundamentals. Do not use if not the intended person. If you attempt it, you bear the consequences.'

"So intelligent?" Yu Hong found the Black Mark even more mysterious and powerful.

Closing the last page, he suddenly realized—was this so-called Advanced Physical Training Method just a single diagram for jogging?

The rustling black bugs were still pouring in through the doorway.

The noisy commotion snapped Yu Hong back from his thoughts.

He quickly put down the booklet and hurried to the fireplace to add firewood.

As he added wood, he carefully recalled the training method he had just read.

It didn't say I have to run outside. Running in place indoors seems fine too. I'll try it in the house first.

Unfortunately, good intentions aside, he barely managed two minutes of jogging before his legs went weak and gave out.

Having eaten nothing, only drinking water, and dehydrated from diarrhea, his body had long run out of reserves and entered a state of exhaustion.

Realizing this, Yu Hong snapped back to attention, remembering he hadn't taken his medicine yet and his stomach was still upset.

He shoved a log into the fire, walked over to the clump of dirt he had dug up earlier, reached out, and touched it.

Strengthen Antidiarrheal Medicine, direction: reduce side effects, he silently recited.

If this dirt truly had natural antidiarrheal properties, then the Black Mark's enhancement should succeed.

But if it was useless, the Black Mark might show the same incomplete enhancement as before, unable to strengthen it.

This would be the way to verify whether it actually worked.

Yu Hong stared at the soil without blinking, waiting quietly.

Sss.

Soon, a thin black thread flowed from the Black Mark on the back of his hand and burrowed into the soil.

Immediately after, a familiar Countdown appeared on the soil's surface.

This time, on the already black soil, the Countdown was no longer black but a striking red.

'1 hour 51 minutes'.

It worked!! Yu Hong's eyes lit up, relief washing over his face.

Though he felt Jenny had no reason to lie to him, seeing the result for real finally let him breathe easy.

In this dangerous environment lacking medicine, if he could consistently produce enough antidiarrheal medicine, it would be a huge boon for him and everyone else.

'Enhance Antidiarrheal Medicine?' The Black Mark's cold, mechanical voice slowly rang out.

Yu Hong licked his cracked lips.

'Yes!'