"If you don't go down, there'll be nothing to eat, Eve." Jenny frowned and urged her softly. "I'll go down. You stay up here and cover me, all right?"
"All right. Then be careful, Mom." Eve lowered her voice. The moment she heard she wouldn't have to go down, she immediately stopped objecting.
"All right, enough nonsense. Let's begin." Doctor Xu glared at Eve impatiently.
She reached out toward Yu Hong.
"Give me the things. I'll open the door."
"Let me do it." Yu Hong shook his head, carried the Chiseling Set over, and walked to the stone house door of the Post Office.
"Open this door first. Then where's the basement entrance?"
"Inside the house, so we'll have to open two doors," Doctor Xu replied.
Without another word, Yu Hong took out a hammer and chisel and smashed them against the door lock.
Dull bangs rang out repeatedly.
After dozens of consecutive blows, the stone house's lock was finally smashed to pieces. Wood chips scattered all over the floor, and a fist-sized hole had been punched through the lock.
The Wood Door immediately loosened.
Yu Hong withdrew the hammer, stepped back, and kicked forward.
Bang.
The Wood Door did not budge.
"Wait!" Doctor Xu said speechlessly. She reached out, gripped the doorknob, and pulled it outward.
With a creak, the door was gently pulled open, revealing the dim interior.
"All right." Yu Hong was speechless and put away his tools.
The group stood at the doorway. The first thing they saw was a mesh bag lying on the floor by the entrance.
Inside the red mesh bag were chunks of grayish-white Glowstone.
But at that moment, all the Glowstone had turned pale. Clearly, it had all been consumed.
Seeing the depleted bag of Glowstone, the group exchanged glances, their expressions turning grave.
"All the Glowstone has been consumed. Clearly, a Ghost Shadow came in here. Everyone, be careful. Ghost Shadows love hiding in dark environments." Jenny was the first to speak. In fact, she was probably the most skilled fighter among them.
"I'll go in first." After thinking for a moment, Jenny pulled a round, plump Large Glowstone from her waist pouch. Its material was exactly the same as the one Yu Hong had enhanced, but the patterns on it were completely different—the simplified old-version patterns.
"Is that Glowstone Marrow?" Doctor Xu asked in surprise from the side. "That's no ordinary stuff. One piece is worth ten ordinary Glowstones, and it's incredibly expensive. You actually have one?"
"My husband left it behind." Jenny answered coldly. If this situation had not felt exceptionally dangerous, she would not have been willing to bring it out. It was originally a life-saving treasure kept for emergencies.
"It's been many years, hasn't it? I heard the incantation patterns on these have recently changed, and more complex versions with better effects have appeared. Yours is outdated. Why didn't you wash it off and redraw it?" Doctor Xu asked curiously.
"It can't be washed off, and even if it could, there'd be no point. These incantation patterns serve as a guide for arranging things. The moment they're finished, their effect has already taken hold. Even if they're wiped away afterward, it won't have any effect." Jenny explained.
As she spoke, she hung the Large Glowstone around her neck, drew the machete from the outside of her thigh with one hand, and held the Red Value Detector in the other as she cautiously entered the room.
She walked at the front, Doctor Xu in the middle, and Yu Hong brought up the rear. As for Eve, unwilling to go down, she stayed at the entrance of the Stone House to keep watch.
The three formed a single line and proceeded inward. Before long, they reached the central hall of the Stone House.
An open basement door lay in the center-hall floor. Beyond it was a pitch-black basement entrance.
Gusts of cold wind surged out of the entrance and spread in all directions, as if they had turned the entire Stone House bitterly cold.
The three exchanged glances. Jenny took out an Atomic Lamp flashlight, aimed it at the entrance, and pulled open its cover. At once, a sickly green glow shone inside, illuminating part of a somewhat rusted silver metal ladder.
"I'll go down first. Don't rush in after me. I'll call you once I'm ready." She took a deep breath and warned the other two.
"Okay!" Doctor Xu replied, and Yu Hong nodded along.
After confirming that the two had no objections, Jenny flipped over and lightly clung to the metal ladder, climbing down like an ape.
Before long, she descended more than ten meters to the basement hall.
While Jenny was going down, Doctor Xu took out a hand-drawn map and unfolded it for Yu Hong.
"The main structure down here consists of corridors. The place we're descending into is the junction where all the corridors connect. With this place as the center, three corridors branch off around it, and each one has quite a few rooms and storerooms. This was built as a shelter, after all. Its original purpose was to guard against the large-scale weapons of mass destruction used in war." Doctor Xu sighed. "I just never expected it to be used at a time like this."
"Are the corridors very narrow?" Yu Hong lowered his head to look down and asked with a frown.
"A little. I've gone down a few times before, usually to bandage the Mailman. The corridors below are at most a meter wide. That was also to save materials and space, and the ceilings aren't very high either." Doctor Xu nodded.
Yu Hong fell silent. Standing to one side of the basement, he unconsciously rubbed the handle of the Glowstone Wolf Tooth Mace. His expression was more solemn than usual.
Time trickled by.
About five minutes later, Jenny's voice came from below.
"It's fine now. Come down. There's nothing inside." A trace of weariness colored her voice, accompanied by the dim green glow of the Atomic Lamp shining up.
Yu Hong and Doctor Xu simultaneously checked the Glowstone on their bodies. After confirming there were no signs of depletion, they slowly climbed down the metal ladder.
The two descended to the small central hall of the basement, planted their feet on the floor, and surveyed the surroundings.
Under the green light, the entrances to three corridors were distributed across the walls around the small hall. They resembled three terrifying, pitch-black caves, constantly blowing out cold, sinister wind.
"I've found Lao Yu's usual room. Follow me." Jenny held the flashlight, her tone somewhat heavy.
"You found him?" Doctor Xu's expression tightened, and she hurriedly asked. It wasn't that she cared about Lao Yu. Without him, getting food in the future would simply become much more troublesome for everyone.
"I don't know." Jenny shook her head and led the way into one of the corridors.
The other two followed her through the pitch-black corridor toward one of the rooms on the side.
"Lao Yu isn't short on supplies. Why didn't he set up a few Atomic Lamps to light this place? Isn't he afraid when it's this dark?" Doctor Xu couldn't help asking.
"He said before that the radiation from Atomic Lamps was too strong and that he was afraid of getting cancer. Now that I think about it..." Jenny didn't continue. Of the three people present, she had spent the longest time with Lao Yu.
Doctor Xu and Yu Hong, meanwhile, were both outsiders who had been rescued later by Little Stutterer.
So Jenny understood Lao Yu best.
"He was a coward who clung to life, stingy and miserly, and a lecher too. He even pursued me once." As she spoke, she sighed again.
The other two were rendered speechless. Although Jenny was getting older, it was obvious that she had an excellent figure—strong and agile—and her face had few wrinkles. She also took excellent care of her skin. On top of that, everyone's complexions had grown pale from the lack of sunlight, making her look even more like the Western vampire beauties Yu Hong had seen before.
So it was entirely possible that Lao Yu had pursued her in the past.
"This is it. Be careful." Jenny gripped the Large Glowstone in one hand and stared at the half-closed iron door, her expression growing increasingly solemn.
She lightly touched the door with the tip of her machete, using the blade to push it open.
Creak.
The iron door slowly opened, revealing a pitch-black bedroom.
The bedroom was completely empty. The bedding on the bed in the corner was in disarray, as if someone had once stayed there. The other tables, chairs, cabinets, and such were all normal, with no strange traces anywhere.
Jenny was just about to walk in.
Suddenly, she retreated sharply, her breathing instantly becoming hurried.
"Be careful!"
She spread both arms and blocked the two people behind her.
"Look at the floor!" she said quickly.
Yu Hong and Doctor Xu both followed her voice and looked over.
A gray men's work uniform lay scattered across the black floor of the bedroom.
The uniform had long sleeves and long pants. Beneath it was a white shirt stained yellow with grime, and under the pant legs lay a pair of knee-high rubber boots. Under the Atomic Lamp's illumination, their glossy white rubber shimmered with a dim green light.
"They're Lao Yu's clothes and shoes." Jenny spoke in a low voice, her tone complicated.
"He's probably gone." Doctor Xu looked at the remaining clothes, her mood also somewhat dejected. Their settlement had never had many people to begin with, and now another had died—more importantly, the person responsible for producing their food. This would have a tremendous impact on them.
She crouched down and reached out to pinch up Lao Yu's clothes.
Suddenly, her pupils contracted. She quickly stood and backed away.
"Wait! Everyone, back up! Don't touch the clothes!"
Hearing her, Jenny and Yu Hong immediately retreated.
"What's going on?" Yu Hong also tensed, tightening his grip on the mace as he swept his gaze around.
"Look at the back of the clothes!" Doctor Xu said through clenched teeth. Her voice trembled slightly.
Yu Hong quickly used the Atomic Lamp's light to look over.
The clothes had just been turned over by Doctor Xu. On the back sleeve, a clear little black handprint was exposed.
"A Black Handprint?" His heart sank. He had only just heard about the characteristics of the Evil Shadow and Withered Woman, and now he was already looking at this distinctive Black Handprint.
"Retreat! We can't stay here!" Jenny made the decision instantly, turned around, and left.
The other two also felt a chill in their hearts and followed closely behind.
Daring not to touch anything, the three quickly returned to the small hall, climbed up the ladder, and returned to the Stone House.
Bang.
Jenny used one foot to press the metal cover over the basement entrance shut.
"We can't enter this place anymore!" she said decisively.
"Lao Yu definitely didn't escape on his own! Thinking back now, he must have contracted the Black Handprint long ago. That's why he was driven out and couldn't be evacuated with everyone else!" Doctor Xu's face was pale. "That old bastard even hid it from us! I think I came into contact with him. What if I've been infected too?"
"Let's carefully check one another. I've heard that as long as there's no direct contact, it usually won't spread. The Black Handprint can show through clothing." Jenny inhaled with a numb scalp. She was furious too. After all, Lao Yu's concealment might well bring catastrophe down upon everyone here.
"Let's check one another." Yu Hong fell silent for a long while before speaking.
In an instant, the three fell quiet.
Then they slowly widened the distance between them and examined one another from all sides, checking for any Black Handprints.
Several minutes later, fortunately, none of them had been infected. The three of them visibly breathed sighs of relief.
"We can't stay here. Let's get out first, then talk." Jenny's voice was heavy.
"What about food?" Yu Hong asked. "Without Lao Yu, we'll have to produce food ourselves. Wild vegetables alone definitely won't be enough."
"I roughly know some of Lao Yu's cultivation process. We can figure it out together. If that doesn't work, we'll go down and search again." Jenny replied.
Before you continue