Gradually, Yu Hong began to feel his body heating up, his entire body breaking into a fine sweat. He swung his arms with effort, moving his whole body in tandem.
He also visualized the diagram of the training method in his mind.
Before he knew it, his body was growing more and more exhausted.
This feeling lasted only a few minutes. Then, all of a sudden, an extremely fine, feeble trace of Cooling Qi appeared in the soles of his feet.
The Cooling Qi seemed to have gathered from countless tiny particles within his body.
Yu Hong could clearly feel countless tiny, prickling points converging from around the soles of his feet, finally forming those wisps of Cooling Qi.
His feet kept running, yet cool currents continuously began to flow upward from the centers of his soles.
The current slowly traveled upward, naturally flowing into his hips with the motion of his running, then to his waist, chest, and finally his head.
The two currents of Cooling Qi gathered into a mass above his head, then flowed down along the back of his skull, soon returning to the soles of his feet and forming two complete rings.
Strangely, when the two currents of Cooling Qi completed their first large circuit, Yu Hong suddenly felt cool all over, and his previous exhaustion was greatly reduced.
Before long, he stopped to add firewood to the fireplace while carefully savoring the feeling of the Advanced Physical Training Method.
That night, Big Hide did not ram the door. Only massive numbers of Black Worms kept pouring in, seemingly without end.
Before he knew it, the sky had brightened.
Yu Hong stopped the movements, glanced at the bed undergoing enhancement, and began sweeping away the firewood ash, eating, drinking water, relieving himself, and so on.
After waiting a little longer, he listened to the Radio, and the enhancement time finally arrived.
Standing beside the cotton quilt, Yu Hong stared silently as the countdown slowly reached zero.
Swish!!
For an instant, everything twisted.
The entire stinking quilt blurred, then became clear in the blink of an eye.
What appeared before Yu Hong was no longer merely a quilt.
It was a large gray-and-white sleeping bag with a zippered hood! Its material had changed from cotton to some unknown lightweight substance. Yu Hong reached out and pinched it.
It was soft and gentle, and it carried a faint fragrance-like smell. It was probably meant to repel insects.
"All that's missing now is a large amount of water for a bath." Yu Hong surveyed the Cave, which was far more comfortable than it had been at the beginning.
"How can I get a large supply of water?" This was a very troublesome question.
The water needed for basic survival was sufficient, but a large quantity of water would probably require a well or stream.
Right. Since anything can be enhanced, what about a well? Can a well be enhanced too?! A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Suppressing the thought in his heart, he drank a cup of water, then got up and took out a small bag of dried meat. With nothing else to do, enhancing the dried meat offered the best value.
One bag contained ten pieces and required only one day and eight hours. The enhanced protein bars could last ten days. Compared to the two or three days they could last before enhancement, this was a huge improvement.
Over the next two days, Yu Hong did not leave again. Instead, he focused on training his body inside the Cave.
Protein bars mixed with mushrooms and wild vegetables became his daily meals.
He added water and boiled a pot of soup, saving him even the time needed to boil water separately.
In the blink of an eye, the six-day High Tide Period finally passed.
On the final day, two more Big Hides charged the main gate, but the repaired and reinforced gate held them back.
It had been a close call, but there had been no real danger.
Only then did the small Safe House truly fulfill its purpose of guaranteeing safety.
After the High Tide Period ended, Yu Hong calculated the food he had left. All the dried meat had been enhanced into protein bars, of which he had twenty-six. There were also dried mushrooms and dried wild vegetables.
Yu Hong had also used the Black Mark to enhance something into similar nutrition bars. According to the instructions, one bar a day would provide all the necessary trace elements, dietary fiber, and more.
Wild vegetables were everywhere in the woods, so there was no shortage of them. The main concerns were dried meat and water.
After the High Tide Period, Yu Hong spent his days wandering through the woods in search of streams. At night, he trained his body and practiced the Advanced Physical Training Method, then rested beside the fireplace.
His life became simple and orderly.
Occasionally, Ghost Shadows came to investigate, but the Large Glowstone drove them back every time.
As for the name of the Enhanced Glowstone, Yu Hong actually preferred the name the United Army in town used—Large Glowstone—so he simply named it that.
And so, the days passed peacefully, one after another.
Before he knew it, twenty days had passed.
The food in the Safe House was running low as well. Only six protein bars remained, and he needed to replenish his supply.
Bang.
Yu Hong shut the door and held a black metal Wolf Tooth Club in his hand, sweeping his gaze across the surroundings.
More than half a month of training had given him a little more flesh on his frame. He was no longer as thin as before.
The vitality in his eyes had also improved noticeably, carrying a faint sharpness.
Most importantly, he had not been idle during these days. First, the Steel Nail Glowstone Rod in his hand had been enhanced into a new weapon made of harder, lighter material, with concealed compartments for loading Glowstones.
The Wolf Tooth Club also had an anti-slip wrist strap that could be tied around his arm to prevent it from slipping free.
The three Large Glowstones were secretly hidden in three compartments in the middle section of the club. They could not be detected unless the switches were opened.
Besides that, the dark green Anti-Stab Suit he wore had been enhanced from the sweatshirt Jenny sold him.
Although it had taken quite a long time, it had been worth every second.
Because two hard wooden boards had been added to the front and back before enhancement, the Anti-Stab Suit also possessed a certain degree of bulletproofing.
As long as he was not shot from close range, it could greatly reduce the damage. Needless to say, it also protected against knife thrusts.
He had used the remaining time to enhance the Large Glowstones. Including the one he already had, he now possessed five.
Phew. Yu Hong exhaled. When he saw his breath turn into a plume of white mist, he immediately knew the temperature had dropped again.
He reached up and pulled the hood of the Anti-Stab Suit over his head. The hood also provided protection from rain and cold.
"I'm still short on stab-resistant gloves and a bulletproof helmet. Once I trade for some dried meat, I can ask about them. Also, the salt is almost gone. I wonder whether the Mailman has returned. If I can get solar equipment, electricity won't be a problem."
Yu Hong lowered his head, jumped down the stone steps, and headed toward the Post Office.
He had to hurry, because he had recently noticed that the days were growing shorter and the nights longer.
"Perhaps autumn and winter are coming soon." Yu Hong consoled himself with that thought.
He wore enhanced boots on his feet and advanced step by step through the forest, remaining alert to his surroundings at all times.
Twenty days of training had improved his physical condition considerably.
The Cooling Qi produced by the Advanced Physical Training Method generally did not help him much.
Only when he was nearly completely exhausted would the Cooling Qi appear and restore his tired body.
It was essentially a supply pack.
Other than that, the training method was not much different from ordinary jogging.
Although this left Yu Hong somewhat disappointed, he was not in a hurry. Once he had mastered it further, he could use his current experience and insights to write a new training method and enhance it again.
If possible, he even wanted to learn from a professional.
Crack, crack.
Amid the sound of his footsteps and the noise of crushed branches and leaves, Yu Hong soon arrived at the entrance to the Stone House at the Post Office.
To his surprise, quite a few people were already gathered in front of the Stone House.
There were about seven or eight of them, and he spotted Jenny at a glance.
The middle-aged woman he had traded with stood out. Of course, in truth, it was not her who stood out, but a beautiful girl beside her who was extremely eye-catching.
She had a shapely, curvaceous figure, long legs clad in white, acid-washed skinny jeans, a full chest, and delicate features with light makeup. Her smooth golden hair fell over her shoulders.
In this woodland, among the filthy people surrounding her, the girl looked especially distinctive.
She was so clean that she did not seem like someone from this environment.
Yu Hong's arrival made everyone tense.
One gaze after another swiftly converged on him.
"Is that Yu Hong?" Jenny was the first to step forward. "What did we trade last time?"
"A Water Filter Cup and steel nails." Yu Hong answered quickly, taking a few steps back and forth to show that his limbs were flexible and that he was not a Ghost Shadow.
"That's the kid Yi Yi rescued!" A familiar voice came from within the crowd.
A middle-aged woman wearing an old white lab coat stepped out. She wore black-rimmed glasses.
It was Doctor Xu, whom he had not seen for a long time.
"Doctor Xu, you came back too?" Yu Hong asked in surprise.
"Why wouldn't I? In that town, I'd get caught and forced to do hard labor every day, and they wouldn't even pay me for treating people. A bunch of military bullies. Speak a little too loudly and they'd beat you!" Doctor Xu said sourly.
She had always been sharp-tongued and unpleasant, but at this moment, hearing her actually improved Yu Hong's mood somewhat.
At least someone familiar was safe. And at least she was someone who had helped him before, even if she had done so using Yi Yi's favor.
"It's good that you made it back safely." Yu Hong nodded, his voice becoming gentler.
Seeing that he was not a Ghost Shadow but someone they knew, the others stopped paying attention to this side and continued staring toward the Stone House at the Post Office.
Yu Hong walked over, nodded to Jenny, then stood beside Doctor Xu.
Compared to Jenny, whom he had only traded with once, Doctor Xu was naturally more familiar.
Although the woman had a foul mouth, she repaid kindness and valued loyalty. When Big Hide attacked them before, if she had not pulled Little Stutterer away at the critical moment, Little Stutterer's corpse would have gone cold by now.
"This is the first time I've seen so many people here." Yu Hong spoke softly.
"You'd see plenty more if you went to town. Having more people around isn't necessarily a good thing." Doctor Xu's face was cold.
Only after moving closer did Yu Hong see that one lens of her glasses was cracked.
There was also a bruise at the corner of her left mouth. She had clearly been beaten.
"What are you all gathered here for? Has the Mailman returned?" Yu Hong asked.
"He has. He came out a little while ago and brought back some news. The town is preparing to evacuate the people to a larger Hope City. They're leaving the day after tomorrow. Anyone who wants to go with them needs to have certain skills and can go to town for an assessment. Those who pass can leave with them." Doctor Xu explained coldly.
"What about ordinary people? What will happen to all those ordinary people?" Yu Hong's brow furrowed.
He was not a saint, but this policy would inevitably lead to turmoil.
After all, ordinary people vastly outnumbered skilled professionals.
"I don't know. But a murder happened in town a few days ago. More than twenty people died. It wasn't a Ghost Shadow or Blood Tide insects, and they couldn't determine the cause. I suspect it was a newly emerged Evil Shadow." Doctor Xu replied.
"What about you? Are you going with them?" Yu Hong asked.
"No. I won't live much longer anyway, so I can't be bothered with the trouble. In this damned world, I might as well stay here and wait to die." Doctor Xu answered coldly.
Her family was all gone. Living alone, she was merely muddling through one day at a time.
When asked whether she was leaving, Doctor Xu suddenly looked at Yu Hong.
"What about you? Are you going?"
"No." Yu Hong answered calmly.
"What a strange man." Only then did Doctor Xu notice the finely crafted equipment covering Yu Hong from head to toe.
"That outfit of yours is impressive. Where did you get it?" Since the previous Big Hide rescue incident, her view of Yu Hong had become far less biased, and her attitude had improved considerably.
Before you continue