The sky was dusky yellow, and evening was about to fall.
In front of the Mountain Cave Safe House.
Knock, knock, knock.
A hurried knocking sounded.
Jenny stood before the door, holding a knife in one hand and knocking with the other.
"Yu Hong! Do you have a deal for me?" She glanced at the sky, knowing night was almost here. She had to act quickly.
"What deal?" Yu Hong walked behind the door and asked her through it.
He had not expected Jenny to come to him so late. But then again, it was within his expectations. Sooner or later, she would come.
"What happened to my daughter was my fault. I apologize to you. But everyone has selfish desires. Everyone wants to survive. I hope you can understand that." Jenny spoke rapidly, warily watching the other directions outside.
Inside the door, Yu Hong let out a cold laugh.
She had nearly infected both him and Doctor Xu. Yet in her mouth, such a grave matter had been brushed aside so lightly.
He had originally thought Jenny was fairly normal. Now it seemed she was indeed much the same as her daughter.
"What are you trying to say? We have nothing to discuss," he said coldly.
"I want to buy all your surplus Large Glowstones with something you absolutely can't refuse." Jenny spoke quickly.
"The High Tide Period is about to begin. I don't think there's anything that could make me unable to refuse." Yu Hong remained unmoved.
"You can hear me out first." Jenny continued, not at all surprised by his answer.
She went on of her own accord. "You definitely don't know how Eve and I came to this place. White Mound Village is only a fairly remote village. Why would our family travel thousands of miles here of our own initiative?"
Yu Hong said nothing. From that perspective, it was indeed rather strange.
"My husband used to be a researcher at the Silver Tower United Research Institute. Silver Tower doesn't refer to a single location, but is the collective name for an alliance of numerous research institutions scattered throughout the world."
Jenny continued.
"During his research, he discovered that some places in the world were the source points where the Black Calamity first appeared and spread. White Mound Village was one such place. So—"
"So he brought our mother and daughter here to search for the root of it all. He taught Eve from a young age, and the two of them both had a good command of ancient languages. Near this village, they discovered an underground ruin."
After a pause, Jenny exhaled.
"Of course, none of that is the most important thing. The most important thing is that my husband brought a liquid metal out of the Silver Tower. It can be used like spray paint, and its name is Sunshine One."
"This liquid metal is the only substance discovered so far that can block and isolate Ghost Shadows." Jenny sighed.
"I still have a small bottle of it. I can trade it to you. In exchange for all your Large Glowstones!"
Sunshine One? There was such a thing?
Yu Hong was half skeptical, half convinced, and did not answer for a moment. Strangely, Jenny did not urge him either. She simply continued speaking from outside the door.
"You can think it over carefully. Eve is hiding in the Sunshine One room right now, which can temporarily isolate the Evil Shadow. But she can't stay inside forever. The moment she takes even one step out, the Evil Shadow may latch onto her. So after the High Tide Period, I'll come again! By then, I hope you'll have made your decision."
With that, Jenny quickly left the doorway and soon vanished into the woods at a jog, moving as nimbly as a leopard.
Before long, she returned to the cave where she lived.
She shut and locked the door, then went to stand outside the silver metal door where her daughter was staying.
Crouching down, Jenny saw that the bag of Glowstones placed on the ground outside the silver metal door had somehow turned into white powder.
Her expression changed at once.
"Eve, are you still there?" she hurriedly called out.
"I'm here, Mom!" Eve quickly replied from inside.
"According to the attack pattern, the next attack should come six hours from now. I used the Red Value Detector to make a judgment. The environmental red value will reach a peak of over two hundred before the attack! Glowstones can neutralize the red value as much as possible and offset its peak, preventing it from manifesting and attacking. So the only thing I can do now is search for as many Glowstones and Large Glowstones as possible and place them beside you to neutralize the environmental red value!"
Jenny's voice was deep and solemn.
At this moment, she was completely unlike the woman before Yu Hong and Doctor Xu.
She clearly knew far more than them, without the slightest concealment or pretense.
"I understand. Nothing will happen. It's just that this Black Handprint is crazily driving me to infect more people. It gives me the feeling that as long as I infect enough people, I'll be able to avoid harm!" Eve called back loudly from inside.
"It's all right. Just like before, as long as we have what your father left behind, I'll cure you! It's all right, Eve." Jenny comforted her.
"I believe you, Mom," Eve replied as well.
After that, Jenny began preparing the food the two of them needed, while also making preparations to deal with the High Tide Period.
***Night slowly descended.
Yu Hong stirred the firewood in the fireplace, simmering the thick soup he had just put on.
The main door and Silver Symbol Array had both been restored. From here on, he had to preserve the Black Mark for the next thing that might be reinforced.
The words Jenny had spoken that afternoon continued to echo in his ears.
Ancient languages? One of the source points of the Black Calamity? Sunshine One?
These things and names cast a mysterious veil over his heart. He had originally thought White Mound Village was merely an ordinary mountain village.
There was one thing Yu Hong had always found strange: where had the red symbols on the surface of the Glowstones come from? They did not feel like products of modern technology.
And in this modern society, whose technology was clearly not weak, there had to be its own methods for dealing with Ghost Shadows and the Blood Tide. What were those methods? Now, Jenny had provided one possible answer.
It was very likely Sunshine One.
Thinking of this, he stood up, went to the corner, and took out the stack of newspapers he had carried over from Little Stutterer's place, searching through them page by page.
Soon, his hands stopped. He pulled out one of the newspapers.
One article in the paper mentioned the material Sunshine One.
"...Regarding the newly developed special liquid metal, Professor Peng Siwei translated its name as Sunshine One. This liquid metal has the property of solidifying when exposed to light. Its initial discovery was also made near several Black Calamity source points. The formation of this material is believed to have occurred alongside the Black Calamity."
"So this stuff really exists." Yu Hong's expression froze slightly.
He then thought of what Doctor Xu had said: Jenny and Eve had encountered several extremely dangerous High Tide Periods before, yet had made it through safely.
Combined with Eve's temperament and bearing, which seemed so out of place with her surroundings—
It was clear now that Jenny and Eve definitely had secrets, and they were no ordinary secrets.
"Judging from her tone just now, she was certain that she and her daughter could survive the High Tide Period. Maybe that's the effect of Sunshine One."
Thinking of this, Yu Hong felt a faint stir in his heart.
Bang!!
Suddenly, a deafening boom came from the doorway.
He turned his head toward the Wooden Door.
The main door trembled slightly, as though some enormous animal were violently ramming it from outside.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
One heavy impact after another rang out without end.
Black insects began pouring rapidly through the vents like sand.
The insects had black shells, dense, slender legs, and vicious mouthparts like centipedes.
But no matter how ferocious they were, the moment they entered the Safe House, the firelight melted them into black smoke, which dispersed into nothingness.
Yu Hong's expression remained calm. The High Tide Period did not pose much of a threat to him now. He only needed to wait for Big Hide to leave, then quickly repair the door.
Taking advantage of the time, Yu Hong kept an eye on the changes in the door's strength while constantly drawing ordinary Symbol Arrays and reinforcing them with the Black Mark.
He drew all these Symbol Arrays onto ordinary wooden boards. Then, one by one, he stacked them together and connected them with wooden pegs he had prepared in advance, forming a single whole.
In this way, a large Symbol Array formation plate made by stacking nine wooden-board Symbol Arrays was successfully completed.
The High Tide Period lasted six full days. Yu Hong made three such Symbol Array formation plates in total. Two were formed by stacking ordinary Symbol Arrays, while the last used a silver Symbol Array as its core and was made by stacking ordinary Symbol Arrays on top of it, making it the silver-core version.
This was all to deal with the Withered Woman, who might arrive at any time.
Before long, the High Tide Period passed.
In the early hours of the next morning.
Yu Hong opened the door to go outside and gather more dry firewood. Soon, he heard faint footsteps approaching.
He returned to the stone steps at the cave entrance and gazed into the distance.
He saw Jenny leading Eve through the distant woods, hurrying toward him.
Six days had passed. Jenny looked increasingly haggard, with dark, sunken circles around her eyes. Her entire body had grown much thinner.
Her daughter Eve was the same. Her once-bright golden hair had lost its luster, and she had become timid and fearful, constantly on edge.
But no matter what, six days had passed. She was still alive and had not been claimed by the Evil Shadow. That alone proved something was wrong.
When he saw them approaching, Yu Hong said nothing. He quickly returned inside, shut the door, and quietly waited for them.
His initial impression of Jenny and Eve had already blurred. In its place was a peculiar feeling touched by a trace of mystery.
Soon, the two of them stood outside the Wooden Door, separated from Yu Hong by only a single door panel.
"It's been six days. Have you made your decision? Perhaps you should try it and see the effect." Jenny's voice was hoarse as she asked from outside.
"How do I know that the Sunshine One you mentioned is real? In the end, you don't have anything I need. The exchange between us isn't equal." Yu Hong's voice was cold.
"People always want to live," Jenny said. "Eve only wants to survive. Is that wrong?"
"She's not wrong," Yu Hong said. "But that has nothing to do with me. I have no reason to help you."
"But we're already out of options," Jenny said. She reached out and grabbed a wooden stick. At the other end of the stick was her daughter Eve's hand.
The two of them were connected by that single stick.
"I said it has nothing to do with me." Yu Hong remained calm. He had no intention of dealing with someone like Eve, who wanted to secretly infect others.
"You have the ability to do so! That makes it your business!" Jenny raised her voice.
"I have no obligation to help you," Yu Hong retorted.
"But we have no other choice!" Jenny replied. "Don't force us."
Her gaze grew increasingly deep and dangerous.
"How am I forcing you? I don't have the ability to save you, and that counts as forcing you??" Yu Hong was nearly laughing from anger. He had heard of people like this before, but he had never expected to actually encounter one in real life.
"When death bears down on them, many people will do anything to stay alive." Jenny's gaze grew increasingly calm.
Behind her, her daughter Eve stepped forward.
"But if you help us now, we'll be extremely grateful," Jenny continued.
"I don't need your gratitude," Yu Hong said in a low voice.
"Then we'll perish together." Jenny smiled. "From now on, Eve will sit pressed against your door. If she dies here, the Withered Woman's Black Handprint will remain at your doorway. Your Mountain Cave Safe House will be completely ruined and become one of the sources where Evil Shadows breed! The moment you step outside, the Evil Shadow's Black Handprint will latch onto you!"
Before you continue