Choice 2 (Thank you Immortal Qitian Alliance Leader)

Yu Hong's smile slowly faded.

He needed information, enough information about the Evil Shadow. If he could find the survivor who had escaped death, the one who survived the attack by the Evil Shadow Withered Woman, he might be able to obtain firsthand information.

But unfortunately, the Town had been relocated before, and now that person was probably long gone.

Thinking of this, he didn't choose to strengthen himself, but stood up and walked back and forth in the Mountain Cave.

After a while, he stopped, walked to the door, and looked outside through the peephole.

The forest at dusk was deathly silent.

The White Mound Village in the distance had only a vague outline, equally quiet.

Looking at the scenery outside.

Yu Hong suddenly thought of something, his expression changing from a slight frown to a thoughtful one.

He pulled over the baffle, his gaze falling on the strengthened Glowstone Wolf Tooth Mace.

This Mace was initially just an extremely crude Steel Nail Glowstone Rod. But now it was much more complete... Of course, this thing had already been strengthened once, and a second time would be useless.

So he wasn't looking at the Mace itself, but the idea of placing large Glowstones inside the Mace.

'Since a single large Glowstone isn't effective enough, what about combining several pieces into one, or even grinding the large Glowstone into powder and then mixing it into ink to draw advanced runes?'

'Could it enhance the effect and shorten the time?'

...More than ten kilometers away from White Mound Village, in White Stone Town.

On the winding and long central street, dry yellow leaves were blown by the wind, rolling on the ground and scraping out rustling noises.

The smooth gray cement street was full of potholes and cracks.

On both sides of the street, the storefronts had been closed for a long time.

The dim yellow sunlight divided the street into bright and dark areas.

Bang! Suddenly, the door of a shop was knocked open from the inside.

A strong, bearded man in gray sportswear stumbled out, running wildly towards the end of the street.

He was covered in sweat, his eyes bloodshot, and he was clutching a large Glowstone in one hand.

However, the Jade Quality luster of the large Glowstone was rapidly turning pale from top to bottom.

This meant it was being consumed quickly.

"Don't... don't kill me!! Don't come over!!"

The man's emotions were already on the verge of collapse.

He cried out, his lone voice sounding even more empty on the street.

"Please! Don't come over!!"

He shouted with a sob, staggering forward. He looked back from time to time, his expression terrified, as if something was chasing him.

But clearly there was nothing behind him, only a quiet and empty street.

Thump.

Suddenly, the man lost his footing and fell to the ground.

And on his back, a clear Black Handprint slowly emerged.

The handprint wasn't large, like a child had imprinted it. But at this moment, the handprint could penetrate his clothes, as if smeared with ink, clearly visible on his jacket.

Hiss.

In an instant, a large amount of black liquid rapidly seeped out from the handprint.

The liquid dyed the man's clothes black, along with his arms and face, all completely blackened.

As his body was dyed black, the man's figure rapidly shriveled, as if losing moisture.

He struggled, a whimper escaping his throat, but quickly, in just a few seconds, the sound disappeared.

The man's entire body stopped moving, completely transforming into a charred, dried corpse.

A gust of wind blew past.

The dried corpse suddenly vanished, leaving only a pile of clothes behind.

The next day.

White Mound Village Post Office.

In the woods, in front of the stone house of the Post Office.

Jenny, Doctor Xu, Yu Hong, and Lao Yu were all gathered together.

Jenny's face was somewhat haggard, as if she hadn't rested well last night, her eyes also a bit unfocused, unsure of what she was thinking.

Doctor Xu held a piece of Dried Meat, taking occasional bites, squinting her eyes.

Lao Yu, who was specifically responsible for raising lizards to make Dried Meat, also looked much worse than before.

"Lao Yu, didn't you leave? Why are you back again?" Doctor Xu asked.

"I ran back halfway," Lao Yu shook his head. "Halfway there, they suddenly said they were confiscating half of the supplies, everyone had to contribute, hahaha, if I didn't remember the way back, I would have really been fleeced by them!" Lao Yu sneered.

He glanced over, his gaze landing on Yu Hong.

"Young man, Jenny said you can get large Glowstone? Are you sure you can get it long-term and stably?"

"I can, but sometimes I need to rest," Yu Hong nodded. Originally, he had planned to take over Lao Yu's breeding Mountain Cave with Jenny and Doctor Xu.

After all, there had to be a stable source of food replenishment. Before leaving, this Lao Yu had already agreed to hand over his breeding Mountain Cave to those who stayed behind.

He didn't expect him to come back so soon. But it was good that he was back, after all, their own exploration of breeding was definitely not as good as Lao Yu doing it himself.

"It's good that you said that. Now that we have candles and large Glowstone, as long as we are careful, the chances of surviving safely are high. Now that everyone is gathered together, I propose that we all live in the basement of the relocated Post Office. It's the most solid there, and the room configuration is large enough and complete enough. Living together is also a good way to take care of each other," Lao Yu proposed.

"I have no objections. I've taken down the candle-making tools. I'll be in charge of candle supply from now on. Anyway, it's not difficult to make," Doctor Xu responded.

"I'll pass, I'm used to living alone," Yu Hong refused.

"I'm fine with anything," Jenny nodded.

"Even one person less is fine, so it's settled then. Jenny will do the sewing, mending, and alterations. I'll take care of the food, Yu Hong is in charge of the Glowstone, and Doctor Xu will handle making candles and temporary medical care. From now on, this place will be just us few, so it's best if we help each other out and work hard." Lao Yu said, clearly anticipating that Yu Hong wouldn't agree.

"Is there any news about that Eerie Shadow in Town?" Yu Hong couldn't help but ask.

Without knowing the strength of that Eerie Shadow, he felt heavy-hearted, always feeling like something bad might happen.

"A little, it's said to be related to the Black Handprint. If you see a Black Handprint in the wild, don't touch it. Stay away." Lao Yu coughed a few times, lowering his head.

"Anything else?" Jenny asked.

"Also, don't think about going to Town to scavenge for things. Some people who stayed behind and went to Town, quite a few died." Lao Yu smiled strangely, "In this world, living one day is a day, cherish it."

After agreeing to meet at the original time, the four of them returned to their residences.

Yu Hong confirmed that the food source was relatively stable, and the candle supply was also good, which made him feel much more at ease.

Back at the Mountain Cave, the ground inside was covered with Glowstone rune patterns he had drawn.

These were all drawn during his practice, but not with a Charcoal Pencil, just simple scribbles with stones.

Looking at the messy room, Yu Hong sighed, knowing that he still had a lot to do.

Shortening the Glowstone enhancement time, he had already officially started enhancing the Glowstone yesterday.

Before he knew how much Glowstone was needed to dispel the Eerie Shadow, he could only make as much Glowstone as possible.

At the same time, he had to find new and better ways to resist the Eerie Shadow.

Taking out a Protein Bar and biting into it, Yu Hong took off his shirt and began to practice the Advanced Physical Training Method again.

After practicing for an hour, he started to find a hammer, squatted down in a corner of the Mountain Cave, and began to grind powder with force.

He had already smashed a small piece of raw Glowstone before, and now the main task was to grind it fine enough.

If the effect of dispelling the Eerie Shadow is jointly formed by the Glowstone and the runes. Then I can definitely make it work by directly using Glowstone powder to draw the runes!

While grinding, Yu Hong kept thinking in his mind whether there were other better methods.

About half an hour later, the Glowstone powder was finished.

He added a little carbon powder to it, poured it into a Wooden Bowl, added water, stirred it, and it became a standard Glowstone Ink.

After succeeding, Yu Hong looked out the window, and the sky was starting to darken again.

Why does it feel like it's getting dark faster and faster...? He frowned slightly. He stepped forward and pulled up the viewing window baffle.

Ever since he was scared by the Eerie Shadow once, he never opened the baffle when sleeping again.

Pulling up the baffle, this time he didn't light the Fireplace, but lit a candle and placed it on a Wooden Stool.

Then he used a wooden stick, dipped in Glowstone Ink, and carefully drew Glowstone runes on the stone wall on the side of the Fireplace.

The stone wall was not flat, so he had carved a washbasin-sized Glowstone rune on the wall in advance with a chisel and hammer.

Because he had practiced it well in other places, carving runes on the wall was not difficult for Yu Hong.

After all, the requirements were not high, just roughly conforming to the shape and being large enough. Compared to drawing on small Glowstones, the difficulty was much lower.

Yu Hong carefully wiped off the fine dust on the wall, and then filled the Glowstone Ink little by little into the Glowstone rune lines on the wall.

The lines were very fine, and wouldn't use much Glowstone Ink.

In about ten minutes, the entire wall of runic stone carvings was completed.

Yu Hong took a step back, admiring his masterpiece.

Knock, knock, knock.

Suddenly, the door was rhythmically knocked.

"Is anyone there?" A strange woman's voice came from outside, "It's getting dark outside, can you let me in to take shelter?"

"I heard a sound! There's someone inside, right?"

The voice outside continued.

Yu Hong's expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn't heard anything. He glanced at the door and saw the large Glowstone behind the door slowly and steadily changing color from top to bottom.

He took a breath, pulled over a Wooden Stool, sat behind the door, leaned against the side wall, and waited quietly, watching.

Knock, knock, knock.

The knocking continued.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Finally, everything quieted down again.

And the large Glowstone behind the door had already been depleted by a third.

Yu Hong quickly took it down and replaced it with a fully charged one.

He casually used the Black Mark to start charging the large Glowstone. He stood up, returned to his sleeping bag, and lay back down to rest.

The amount of the Glowstone consumed determined the length of the recovery time.

This time, the Eerie Shadow that knocked on the door wasn't strong, and it would only take two hours to replenish.

Yu Hong put his hands behind his head, lying on his back next to the candle.

The biggest advantage of candles over Fireplaces is that they don't need firewood.

And the light of the Atomic Lamp, according to what Jenny told him, couldn't dispel the Blood Tide Black Worms.

Only open flames could.

Fortunately, my purpose in buying the Atomic Lamp was just to see what it would look like after being enhanced. If I could directly enhance it into an energy reactor or something... he began to fantasize.

As time passed day by day, he had long been accustomed to living in this dangerous forest.

Accustomed to falling asleep in this state where danger could strike at any time.

Knock, knock, knock.

Late at night, the candlelight flickered.

A knock on the door startled Yu Hong from his sleep.

He glanced at the door's baffle, still pitch black outside. Knowing it was the Eerie Shadow again, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, got up, and picked up the small pot of boiling water, gulping down large mouthfuls to replenish his fluids.

After drinking the water, he got up, ignored the knocking, and went to the Glowstone Ink rune he had drawn during the day.

The basin-sized stone carving of the rune was already dry.

The large Glowstone placed on the ground below for recovery had also been replenished by the Black Mark and restored to its original state.

Yu Hong ignored the large Glowstone and instead reached out, gently pressing his hand on the large rune on the wall.

This was one of his attempts; if successful, the utilization rate of Glowstone would be much higher than before.