Trouble Three (Thanks to Alliance Leader Invincible Man)

The sunlight was scorching, causing a needle-like prickling sensation on the skin. The temperature had already climbed to at least thirty degrees.

Yu Hong was fully armed, and after walking for only a short while, he was covered in sweat, but he didn't dare to remove his equipment.

In this environment, he had to guard against not only Eerie Shadows and Evil Shadows, but also people.

So even if it was hot, he had to endure it.

After walking for more than ten minutes, he quickly arrived at the Post Office gathering place.

He waited for a while in front of the Stone House, carefully observing the surroundings while waiting for others to arrive.

The gray-white Stone House stood quietly among the dark green trees.

The exterior of the house was covered with mottled, unknown marks, and the edges and corners were worn and scarred.

Some emerald green and gray-brown vines climbed up the roof.

A gentle breeze stirred, causing the branches and leaves of these plants to sway slightly.

Yu Hong looked at the ground and suddenly frowned slightly.

The ground outside the Stone House seemed to have some footprints. "Yu Hong, you're here so early today?" Jenny's voice came from behind.

"Yeah, the High Tide Period is coming soon, and the trouble is coming again. We have to make preparations in advance. The problem now is how to solve the food issue." Yu Hong turned around and looked at her.

Jenny had changed into a close-fitting Camouflage Uniform, her expression was tired, and her eyes were bloodshot. Obviously, she hadn't rested well.

As she approached, a foul, sour smell wafted from her body, indicating that she hadn't even had time to wipe herself down.

"I tried to grow mushrooms, but the ones that grew were inedible. All kinds of miscellaneous bacteria, poisonous ones," she sighed.

"The ones we usually eat should be Cattle Leg Mushrooms, right?" Yu Hong had been looking through Lao Yu's record book these past few days. Although it didn't have a detailed cultivation process, it did have various difficulties and troubles encountered during cultivation. This was equivalent to Lao Yu's mistake book, which was very valuable for reference.

Cattle Leg Mushrooms were a type of non-light mushroom similar to Chicken Leg Mushrooms, non-toxic, and the mature mushroom itself was very large. Cultivating it once could yield a large amount, making it very suitable for use as a supplementary food.

Most importantly, this type of mushroom didn't need light, making it very suitable for closed and humid environments like theirs for cultivation.

"Could it be that you didn't pay attention to preventing the spores of other mushrooms during the cultivation process? After all, miscellaneous bacteria can't appear out of thin air," Yu Hong pondered.

"I was very careful, but there's no way to completely eliminate them," Jenny shook her head. "I heard that Lao Yu used to have his own cultivation box, specially for cultivating Cattle Leg Mushrooms. If we could get that, it should be easy to succeed."

"Where's the cultivation box?"

"In the Post Office basement."

The two were speechless for a moment.

No one dared to enter the Post Office basement anymore. Once infected with the Black Handprint, facing that Evil Shadow Withered Woman who was much stronger than the Eerie Shadows, even the Town's United Army couldn't withstand it and could only retreat and relocate, let alone these few ordinary people.

"I also tried cultivating. I remember that Lao Yu secretly dug soil in some forest corners several times before. I suspect that cultivating mushrooms requires specific soil, otherwise it won't succeed." Doctor Xu's voice was also tired as she came from the side of the two.

She had changed into a black long T-shirt and jeans, her lips were chapped, and her face was pale.

"Also, I must remind you that when trying to cultivate mushrooms, you must pay attention to Mushroom Lung disease."

"Mushroom Lung?" Yu Hong seemed to have thought of something, his expression changed slightly. He remembered seeing some information online before that also mentioned this disease.

"Yes, during the mushroom cultivation process, once the mushrooms are close to maturity, they will silently release mushroom spores. Once these fungal spores are inhaled into the lungs, they can easily lead to mushroom lung disease. The specific symptoms include coughing, white phlegm, chest tightness and pain, shortness of breath, and sometimes fever, palpitations, and nausea." Doctor Xu paused, "Of course, this disease requires long-term inhalation of mushroom spores to develop. As long as you are careful, pay attention to ventilation, and wear masks, there shouldn't be any major issues."

"No wonder... Lao Yu always seems to be coughing non-stop; he might already have a problem," Jenny said thoughtfully.

"That's possible, but it's useless to talk about it now. Alright, the High Tide Period is coming soon, the key now is how to get food?" Doctor Xu changed the subject.

The three of them looked at each other, and no one spoke.

For a moment, a gentle breeze blew, and the scorching sun shone on them, but they couldn't feel any warmth.

Without food, they wouldn't survive a week.

Yu Hong was okay; his protein bars had extremely high endurance, one bar could last him a day. Plus, he had exchanged some food with Lao Yu before, so his current food reserves could last for two weeks.

But Jenny and Doctor Xu were in trouble. Judging from their appearance, they would probably run out of food in a few days.

"Without a cultivation method, we can only find other food to tide us over," Jenny said in a deep voice. Clearly, she had thought about it for a long time before coming. "As for what other food, I probably don't need to say more, right?"

"You mean scavenging other people's residences?" Doctor Xu was the first to react. "Will that work? They must have taken everything with them, right?"

"There's definitely more below the Post Office. Also, I know a few dugouts of people who died during the High Tide Period... there must be something inside, but the doors are hard to open," Jenny replied.

"Should we go?" Doctor Xu looked at Yu Hong. Since visiting Yu Hong's Safe House, she had developed a faint sense of admiration for him, realizing that he wasn't just talking big, but truly capable.

It was a pity that Yi Yi had left too early; otherwise, following Yu Hong, they might have really lived a good life.

"Let's go take a look," Yu Hong nodded. If they could get some valuable sundries from others, it would be worth it even if they didn't get any food.

Especially the Red Value Detector, he was also quite envious of that thing. If he could get one and strengthen it, it might be very useful. At least environmental warnings would definitely be no problem.

"Alright, I'll lead the way in a bit, you guys follow closely," Jenny nodded, as if she had expected them to agree.

"By the way, where's Eve? Isn't she coming out?" Doctor Xu suddenly asked.

"She said she wasn't feeling well and was hiding in the bedroom, not sure what she's doing. But she's not moving much, so she's not consuming much, so I didn't bother her," Jenny replied.

"Speaking of which, wasn't Eve in Town before? Why did she suddenly come back? Why didn't she migrate with Town?" Doctor Xu asked curiously.

"This... I'm not sure." A hint of unnaturalness appeared on Jenny's face, "It seems like she offended someone in Town, I don't know the specifics. But you also know, Eve is very beautiful, and always attracts a lot of men who like her."

"That's true, sometimes being too beautiful isn't a good thing in this era..." Doctor Xu agreed with a sigh.

Yu Hong walked at the back, wiping away sweat while listening to the two women talking in front. When he heard about offending someone, a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

In the quiet forest, the three of them took their tools, left the Post Office Stone House, and advanced along a waterway eroded by rainwater, soon arriving at a raised small hill.

At the bottom of the hill was a crude iron door.

The door was black, painted, with yellow rust showing where the paint had peeled off at the edges.

Jenny stopped in front of the iron door, picked up a thick branch, and knocked on the door panel.

Clang clang clang.

The iron door made a dull sound.

"This is Elsie's residence. He and his father lived here. One day, they went to mine Glowstone ore in the distance, and then never came back."

"Elsie... a very shy young man... He and his father were both good people... and helped me chop firewood." Doctor Xu also remembered this person, a look of melancholy in her eyes. "Good people never live long in this world."

"Whether you get along with people is irrelevant; how long you live depends solely on how careful you are," Yu Hong added.

"True," Doctor Xu nodded.

The three stopped talking, and Yu Hong stepped forward, taking the chisel he had brought and began smashing it against the door.

Clang, clang, clang! The iron door was already badly rusted, and the lock was smashed off in a few blows.

Yu Hong pulled the door open, and a cloud of dust billowed out, visible to the naked eye.

A mixture of mildew and stench rushed into their nostrils.

"What's that awful smell?!" Jenny quickly stepped aside, covering her nose, her face contorted.

"It's a corpse," Doctor Xu said, squinting as she covered her nose and looked into the dugout.

In the narrow dugout, a grayish-yellow corpse, already rotten into skin and bones, lay quietly on the ground, surrounded by tiny insects.

The corpse was wearing worn-out long sleeves and trousers, grayish-white in color, with a circle of gauze wrapped around its arm and black-framed glasses on its head.

Its face was turned to the side, the eye sockets, gnawed away until only holes remained, stared straight out of the door, as if still yearning to leave in its dying moments.

"It's Elsie... I was the one who bandaged him with this gauze... I didn't expect him to come back," Doctor Xu recognized the corpse and a trace of sadness appeared in her eyes.

"It's a pity, he was a good young man."

"Don't feel sorry, there's not much time," Yu Hong said, stepping out from the side, stepping over the corpse, holding his breath as he entered the dugout.

After rummaging around, he quickly found two bags of Dried Meat, one bag of Dried Mushroom, and a half-eaten bag of dried wild vegetables.

"The food is still here, he didn't starve to death."

He walked to the fire pit in the corner, picked up the aluminum kettle that was leaning crookedly on the fire, shook it, and there was still half a kettle of water inside.

"There's water too, he didn't die of thirst."

"It's the Eerie Shadow."

Doctor Xu bent down and picked up a bag of Glowstone that had turned into powder. From the powder, she could still vaguely see fragments with traces of red runes.

Yu Hong shook his head, took out the food, checked that there were no problems, and shared it with the two of them.

The three then went to the next house.

One dugout after another was smashed open, and as time passed, the three visited the other abandoned survivor Safe Houses.

Some were empty, with nothing at all. Some found some food.

After visiting five Safe Houses in a row, the three of them had each received an average of two bags of Dried Meat, a little more than one bag of Dried Mushroom and dried wild vegetables. It was enough to relieve their immediate needs.

After searching the last house, Jenny looked at the sky.

"There's still enough time, we can also go to the nearby Glowstone Mine to smash some Glowstone for backup, shall we go?" she asked the other two.

"How far is it from here?" Yu Hong asked.

"It's about two kilometers from here, but the road in the mountains is much harder to walk than on flat ground, so if we want to go, we have to hurry," Jenny replied.

"Let's go tomorrow, it's too rushed, if something unexpected happens in the middle, and we get stuck in the wild overnight, it will be dangerous," Yu Hong frowned.