Jenny glanced at Doctor Xu and found that she wore an equally approving expression.
"All right. Let's go back first and talk there. In any case, the food should be enough to get us through this High Tide Period."
Once the three of them reached an agreement, they hurried back. Along the way, they also gathered some dry firewood.
They had been slow on the way out, but their return was much faster. It took the three of them less than twenty minutes to successfully return to the Post Office settlement.
Just as they were about to part ways, Yu Hong suddenly thought of something and spoke up.
"By the way, Jenny, I remember that several days passed between when Lao Yu came back and when something happened to him, right?"
"Yes, it really was several days." Jenny nodded.
"Does that mean that even after being infected, someone can delay for several days before infecting others?" Yu Hong frowned. "Then here's the question: how is the Black Handprint transmitted? Do you know?"
"Contact. It should be through contact," Jenny replied. "As long as you touch the Black Handprint or an individual carrying one, you might become infected."
"I understand." Yu Hong nodded. Carrying the things, he glanced at Doctor Xu. "Since it's transmitted through contact, who did Lao Yu come into contact with when he first returned?"
"..." The other two fell silent.
They thought it over carefully, and both felt a chill in their hearts. As a meat seller, Lao Yu had come into contact with almost everyone. Looking at it that way, any of them could have been infected.
"We should check again. Everyone needs to be careful." Yu Hong paused, then looked toward the Stone House.
"There's one more thing."
"Mom!" Eve's voice suddenly came from nearby. She looked somewhat haggard, having changed into a Gray Thin Sweater and black trousers, and hurried toward them.
After coming closer, she did not even look at the food in her mother's hands. Instead, her gaze swept around, landing on Yu Hong first, and a delighted light appeared in her eyes.
She immediately quickened her pace toward Yu Hong.
"Big Brother Yu." She forced out a sweet smile and thrust out her chest, subtly accentuating her curves. "I heard you can make Large Glowstones. I wonder how many you still have on hand? Could you sell me a few more?"
"Eve!" Jenny scolded her from the side, clearly displeased.
"It's all right. Big Brother Yu is a good person. You don't need to worry, Mom." Without changing her expression, she stepped closer and reached out to take Yu Hong's arm.
"Stop!" Yu Hong suddenly retreated, his gaze turning cold as he widened the distance between them.
"I want to ask you something." He stared intently at Eve.
"What... what question!?" His sudden shout startled Eve, and she stood where she was, not daring to continue.
Jenny, standing to the side, eyed Yu Hong warily. Her hand quietly moved to the hilt of the knife at the outside of her thigh.
She was worried that Yu Hong might hurt her daughter. After all, in these times, there were far too many people living alone who had suffered mental breakdowns.
Without a word, Doctor Xu also gripped the handle of the short knife strapped to her waist and quietly moved closer to Yu Hong, her eyes fixed on Eve and Jenny.
Clearly, compared to Jenny and her daughter, she trusted Yu Hong more.
For a moment, the four of them split into two sides, faintly taking on the air of a confrontation.
"Don't be nervous. I just want to ask one question." Yu Hong stepped back and gestured for Doctor Xu to widen the distance as well.
"The footprints outside the Post Office Stone House. Apart from the ones left after the few of us left that day, there's another trail. Whose is it?!"
His gaze fell on Jenny and Eve.
"Don't lie. I remember the footprints left after we departed that day—I deliberately memorized their shapes. But when I came over today, I found that the footprints had changed. Someone must have entered and left the Stone House more than once since then!"
As soon as he said this, all three of them changed expression.
Jenny and Doctor Xu were confused and terrified, while Eve was simply thrown into a panic.
Jenny swept her gaze around and immediately noticed that something was wrong with her daughter. She knew Eve far too well. Whenever Eve panicked, her body would stiffen, she would lower her head slightly and avoid looking at anyone, and her hands would unconsciously press against the outsides of her thighs. She was wiping away the sweat seeping from her palms.
"Eve!!" she suddenly shouted, her voice echoing again and again through the woods.
"Was it you!?" she demanded through clenched teeth, staring at her daughter in shock. Her eyes were bloodshot as she fixed them on Eve, hoping to hear her daughter say no.
But Eve's reaction sent that last hope plummeting, shattering, and turning into despair! Pfft.
Eve covered her face with both hands and stood there, her complexion deathly pale.
She remained dazed for quite some time before slowly turning around.
Sure enough, the three of them could vaguely see a small Black Handprint on the left side of her buttock.
The reason she had changed into black trousers was obvious: she had wanted to conceal the Black Handprint gradually emerging on her body.
If Yu Hong had not voiced his suspicions, and if Eve had not cracked under questioning, the three of them would never have noticed where the handprint was on the black trousers without looking carefully.
The moment they saw the handprint, Yu Hong and Doctor Xu immediately retreated without a word.
"We found this round's food. Everyone should disperse and calm down for a while before we talk again," Yu Hong said quickly.
"Jenny." Doctor Xu called out when she saw that Jenny seemed to have no intention of moving away from her daughter. She could not help warning her.
"If one person is infected, perhaps a Large Glowstone can still hold it back. But two people are different!" She paused. "Also..."
Doctor Xu's gaze turned sharp as she stared at Eve.
"Keep an eye on your daughter."
Her words were quite blunt.
Jenny froze for a moment, her eyes reddening. As though she had not heard the warning, she merely twisted her head and stared fixedly at her daughter.
She stood there without moving, her chest heaving violently. With her back to Yu Hong and Doctor Xu, she and Eve, who was slowly crouching down, seemed to have gone deaf.
Doctor Xu said nothing more. She quickly left with Yu Hong, carrying the supplies.
The two of them left one after the other, then quickly checked each other as well, turning around to see whether either of them had a Black Handprint. Only after confirming that they did not did they let out a sigh of relief.
"Eve definitely intended to infect us!" Doctor Xu said through clenched teeth.
"Why would she do that!?" Yu Hong took a Large Glowstone that had turned halfway discolored from his chest and exhaled. It was this object that had warned him just now. He had originally been unsure who had entered the Stone House, but after the Large Glowstone showed an abnormality, he had quickly identified the target.
"There must be some benefit. Otherwise, she and Lao Yu wouldn't have hidden it and deliberately come into contact with others," Doctor Xu guessed.
"I've always felt that something was strange." Yu Hong spoke up. "With Eve's personality, how could she have so little vigilance in such a harsh environment? There are Ghost Shadows and insects everywhere. Was she never frightened?"
"Speaking of that..." Doctor Xu revealed a trace of reminiscence. "Eve really is different from ordinary people. At the beginning, when Jenny's family first arrived, I remember her father was still there. He was an old man with a very weak body and not a trace of color in his face. He was very old, at least twenty or thirty years older than Jenny. And..."
"And what?"
"And back then, Eve rarely came out. Usually, only her parents showed themselves." Doctor Xu recalled the past as she walked to a tree and leaned against its trunk.
"Later, Eve's father suddenly said one day that he was going out, and he never returned. After that, Eve began going outside. That girl is impressive. Don't be fooled by how silly she seems—in reality, she's a linguistic genius. She knows four foreign languages and has conducted deep research into ancient linguistics. I have no idea why her family moved here."
"Were there any other abnormalities?" Yu Hong pressed.
"There's one more thing." Doctor Xu suddenly knitted her brows tightly. "No one has ever entered their underground cave. They don't allow anyone else to go in and look around, either. Also, during several High Tide Periods, everyone was barely able to endure them, and several people even died. Yet their family was always fine."
"From the looks of it, there really is something wrong with them." Yu Hong nodded. Judging from what he had learned from Doctor Xu, they were hiding some kind of secret.
"Definitely. Previously, after Eve went to town, she even brought back two men who were pursuing her, but they soon disappeared afterward. I don't know why, but I've always felt that there's something wrong with that girl." Doctor Xu frowned.
"Don't go near them again for now. If anything happens, come find me immediately. If you notice anything unusual, come tell me at once." Yu Hong took another Large Glowstone from his belt pouch.
"I'll lend you a Large Glowstone for now. Remember to be careful. When a Large Glowstone changes color, it gives off a faint warmth. If you carry it close to your body, you can use it to tell whether many places are dangerous."
He handed the Large Glowstone to Doctor Xu. No matter what, she was the only medical worker nearby. She was also someone he knew, and her nature was good. If he could help her, he would.
"Thank you!" Doctor Xu's eyes trembled, and a trace of emotion appeared faintly on her face. She quickly accepted the Large Glowstone. "I'm researching a medicinal herb. It's basically made by blending wild plants and minerals found nearby. It's very helpful for preventing wound infections. It's almost finished. When it is, I'll let you use it for free!"
"Good!" Yu Hong's eyes lit up. He had not expected an additional benefit. "Be careful."
"I know!" Doctor Xu nodded heavily.
The two parted beneath the tree and returned to their respective homes.
By the time he returned to the Safe House Cave, the sky had already grown dim.
Yu Hong put the dry firewood in a corner, lit a fire, and began cooking.
Sitting beside the fireplace, he carefully recalled every detail about Jenny and Eve, his frown growing deeper and deeper.
The Evil Shadow is getting closer and closer. It actually reached the people around us without making a sound. Eve is certainly doomed. If Jenny stays with her and doesn't cruelly separate from her, she'll die too. At this rate, after the food problem between Doctor Xu and me is finally resolved, we'll have lost two more people.
He sighed and poked the bottom of the firewood with a stick, allowing the oxygen to flow in more freely.
The crimson firelight illuminated his face, flickering between brightness and shadow.
After adding more firewood, Yu Hong stood up and inspected the wall-mounted arrays that were still being reinforced. He had already arranged arrays across every part of the cave's inner walls. But they were not being reinforced to the limit—only normally.
At that moment, array after array densely covered every wall and the floor. Their purpose was to prevent the Ghost Shadow and Evil Shadow, which could pass through matter, from entering the cave.
The threat of the Evil Shadow was right at his doorstep. He had to make preparations to the greatest extent possible.
These arrays covering every part of the cave were the first step.
The second step was making Temporary Array Disks that could be carried and used at any time. The purpose of making them was to travel to other places, find Ghost Shadows, and test the arrays' protective range.
How large an area a single array could protect was extremely important data.
Only after determining its area could he reinforce the thing into clothing and weapons or armor—and even into his own body!
Before you continue