Trouble Four (Thanks Invincible Male Alliance Master)

Jenny glanced at Doctor Xu, noticing she wore an expression of agreement.

"Alright, let's head back first. Anyway, the food should be enough to get us through this High Tide Period."

After the three reached an agreement, they quickly started heading back, gathering firewood along the way.

The journey out was slow, but the return was much faster. It took them less than twenty minutes to successfully return to the Post Office gathering place.

Just as they were about to part ways, Yu Hong suddenly thought of something and spoke up.

"By the way, Jenny, I remember Lao Yu was back for several days before the incident, right?"

"Yes, it was indeed several days," Jenny nodded.

"Does that mean that even if someone is infected, they can still delay infecting others for several days?" Yu Hong frowned. "Then the question is, what is the method of transmission for the Black Handprint? Do you know?"

"Contact, it should be contact," Jenny replied. "As long as you touch the Black Handprint, or an individual with the Black Handprint, you might get infected."

"I understand." Yu Hong nodded, glancing at Doctor Xu while holding his things. "Since it's transmitted through contact, who did Lao Yu come into contact with when he first came back?"

"..." The other two fell silent.

They carefully recalled, feeling a little apprehensive. As the meat seller, Lao Yu had contact with almost everyone. Looking at it that way, any of them could be infected.

"Let's check again, everyone be careful..." Yu Hong paused, his gaze shifting towards the Stone House.

"Also, there's another thing..."

"Mom!" Suddenly, Eve's voice came from not far away. She looked a little haggard, having changed into a Gray Thin Sweater and Black Long Pants, and was quickly approaching.

As she ran closer, she didn't even look at the food in her mother's hands. Instead, her eyes scanned the area, landing on Yu Hong at first glance, a hint of joy shining in her eyes.

Immediately, she hurried towards Yu Hong.

"Brother Yu Hong." She squeezed out a sweet smile, puffed out her chest, subtly accentuating her figure. "I heard you can make Large Glowstones. I wonder if you have any left? Could you sell me some more?"

"Eve!" Jenny, standing to the side, found it a bit unbearable and scolded her.

"It's okay, Brother Yu Hong is a good person, Mom doesn't need to worry." She took another step closer without leaving a trace, reaching out to hold Yu Hong's hand.

"Stop!" Suddenly, Yu Hong took a step back, his gaze icy, creating distance.

"I want to ask a question." He stared intently at Eve.

"What... what question!?" Eve was startled by his loud voice and stood rooted to the spot, not daring to continue.

Jenny, on the other hand, was watching Yu Hong warily, her hand quietly resting on the handle of the Short Knife on her thigh.

She was worried that Yu Hong might harm her daughter. After all, there were too many people living alone these days who had mental problems.

Doctor Xu, without a word, also gripped the handle of the Short Knife tied to her waist, quietly moving closer to Yu Hong, her eyes fixed on Eve and Jenny.

Clearly, she trusted Yu Hong more than Jenny and her daughter.

In an instant, the four were divided into two sides, with a faint sense of confrontation.

"Don't be nervous, I just want to ask a question." Yu Hong took a step back, signaling Doctor Xu to also create some distance.

"The footprints at the Stone House's entrance at the Post Office. Besides the prints we left after leaving that day, there's another set. Whose are they?!"

His gaze landed on Jenny and Eve.

"Don't lie. I remember the footprints after we left that day, I specifically memorized the shapes. But when I came over today, I found that the footprints were wrong. Someone must have entered and exited the Stone House more than once afterward!"

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the three of them changed.

Jenny and Doctor Xu were both puzzled and horrified, while Eve was simply panicked.

Jenny's eyes swept over and immediately noticed her daughter's abnormality. She knew her daughter too well. Whenever Eve panicked, her body would stiffen, she would lower her head slightly, not daring to look at people, and her hands would unconsciously stick to the outside of her thighs, wiping away the sweat that had seeped out.

"Eve!!" She shouted suddenly, her voice echoing through the forest.

"Is it you!?" She gritted her teeth, staring at her daughter in shock, her eyes a little bloodshot, staring at her, hoping her daughter would answer no.

But Eve's reaction made her original hope plummet, fall through, until it turned into despair! Pfft.

Eve covered her face with her hands, standing in place, her face pale.

After a long while, she slowly turned around.

Sure enough, the three of them vaguely saw a small Black Handprint on the left side of her buttocks.

The reason why she changed into Black Long Pants was obviously to cover up the Black Handprint that was gradually appearing on her body.

If Yu Hong hadn't raised the question, and Eve hadn't been able to withstand the questioning, the three of them wouldn't have been able to see where the handprint was on the Black Long Pants without careful observation.

Seeing this handprint, Yu Hong and Doctor Xu quickly moved away without saying a word.

"The food has been found this time, let's all disband and calm down for a while." Yu Hong said quickly.

"Jenny." Doctor Xu called out, seeing that Jenny didn't seem to have any intention of moving away from her daughter. So she couldn't help but remind her.

"If one person is infected, they might be able to rely on the Large Glowstone to block it, but two people are different!" She paused, "Also."

Doctor Xu's eyes were stern as she stared at Eve.

"Keep an eye on your daughter."

Her words were quite impolite.

Jenny was stunned for a moment, her eyes red, as if she hadn't heard the reminder, she just stubbornly turned her head, looking at her daughter.

She stood there, motionless, her chest heaving violently, her back to Yu Hong and Doctor Xu, and together with Eve, who was slowly squatting down, she seemed to be deaf.

Doctor Xu didn't say anything more, and quickly left with Yu Hong, carrying the things.

The two left one after the other, and also quickly checked each other, turning around to see if there were any Black Handprints on their bodies. After confirming that there were none, the two breathed a sigh of relief.

"Eve definitely wanted to infect us!" Doctor Xu gritted her teeth.

"Why would she do that!?" Yu Hong took out a Large Glowstone that had changed color halfway from his chest and breathed a sigh of relief. It was this thing that had just reminded him, and he wasn't sure who had entered the Stone House before. But after the Large Glowstone showed an abnormality, he quickly locked onto the target.

"There must be some benefit, otherwise, she and Lao Yu wouldn't hide it and take the initiative to contact others." Doctor Xu guessed.

"I've always felt something was strange." Yu Hong said. "With Eve's personality, in this difficult environment, how come she still doesn't have any sense of vigilance? There are Eerie Shadows and bugs everywhere, hasn't she been scared?"

"Speaking of this." Doctor Xu revealed a trace of memory, "Eve is indeed different from ordinary people. I remember when Jenny and her family first came, her father was still there, he was a very weak old man with no color on his face. He was very old, at least twenty or thirty years older than Jenny. And..."

"And what else?"

"Also, back then, Eve was rarely seen outside. It was usually her parents who showed up," Doctor Xu recalled, walking to a tree and leaning against its trunk.

"Later, Eve's father suddenly said one day that he was going out, and then he never came back. And then Eve started going out. This girl is very capable, don't let her fool you, she's actually a linguistic genius, understands four foreign languages, and has a deep understanding of ancient linguistics. I don't know why their family moved here."

"Anything else unusual?" Yu Hong pressed.

"There's one more thing." Doctor Xu suddenly frowned. "No one has ever been inside their Earth Cave. And they don't allow others to visit. Also, several times during the High Tide Period, everyone was almost unable to survive, and several people died. But their family was always fine."

"So it seems they have some problems." Yu Hong nodded. From what he had learned from Doctor Xu, they had some hidden secrets.

"Definitely. Before, after Eve went to Town, she even brought back two men who were pursuing her, but they quickly disappeared. I don't know why, but I always feel like there's something wrong with this girl," Doctor Xu frowned.

"Don't get close to them for now, come to me in time if there's a problem. And tell me in time if there's anything unusual." Yu Hong took out another Large Glowstone from his waist bag.

"I'll give you a Large Glowstone on credit first, remember to be careful, the Large Glowstone will emit a slight heat when it changes color, carry it close to your body, it can tell you if many places are dangerous."

He handed the Large Glowstone to Doctor Xu. In any case, this guy was the only medical personnel nearby, and he was also considered an acquaintance, with a good nature. He would help if he could.

"Thank you!" Doctor Xu's eyes trembled, and a hint of emotion appeared on her face. She quickly took the Large Glowstone. "I'm researching a kind of herb, basically made by mixing wild grass and minerals found nearby. It's very helpful for external wound infections, and it's almost done, I'll give it to you for free when it's ready!"

"Good!" Yu Hong's eyes lit up, he didn't expect to have an extra gain. "Be careful."

"Got it!" Doctor Xu nodded heavily.

The two separated under the tree and returned to their respective residences.

By the time he returned to the Safe House Mountain Cave, the sky was already dim.

Yu Hong put the firewood in the corner, lit a fire, and started cooking.

Sitting by the Fireplace, he carefully recalled the details of Jenny and Eve, his brows furrowing even more.

The Evil Shadow is getting closer and closer, and it has quietly reached the people around me. Eve seems to be doomed. Jenny is with her, and if I don't separate them ruthlessly, she will also die. In this way, after that, it seems that only me and Doctor Xu will be left. The food problem hasn't been solved yet, and two more people will be reduced.

He sighed. He poked the bottom of the firewood with a wooden stick to allow oxygen to flow in more easily.

The red firelight shone on his face, flickering on and off.

After adding firewood, Yu Hong got up and checked the Symbol Array on the wall that was still being strengthened. He had already arranged Symbol Arrays in all places on the inner wall of the Mountain Cave. But it was not extreme strengthening, but ordinary strengthening.

At this time, Symbol Arrays densely covered all the walls and ground, in order to prevent the Eerie Shadows and Evil Shadows that could pass through matter from entering the Mountain Cave.

The threat of the Evil Shadow was close at hand, and he had to prepare as much as possible.

This Symbol Array covering all parts of the Mountain Cave was the first step.

The second step was to make a Temporary Array Disk that could be carried around and used. The purpose of making this was to go to other places to find Eerie Shadows to test the protection range of the Symbol Array.

How large an area a Symbol Array can protect is a very important data.

Only after determining the area can he strengthen this thing to clothing and weapon armor, and even himself!