"Red Value Detector!" Yu Hong laughed. His impression of this thing was also deep. It could be said that without it, avoiding detection according to Jenny's method would be completely ineffective.
Smack.
Doctor Xu switched on the button and tested it.
Hiss.
At once, red light surfaced on the detector, and the data on the LCD screen rapidly changed.
Sizzle! The data skyrocketed.
50!
80!
120!
230!! The detector's red light grew increasingly glaring and bright.
Yu Hong and Doctor Xu were both stunned for a moment.
Bang!!
Suddenly, Yu Hong reached out and shoved Doctor Xu hard. The two of them instantly fell apart and hit the ground.
The instant they separated, a black shadow appeared behind Doctor Xu and reached out to grab her.
Beep!!!
The Red Value Detector let out a sharp alarm.
Yu Hong rolled across the ground, rose to his feet, picked up the Wolf Tooth Club, and smashed it at the black shadow.
The Wolf Tooth Club stirred up a roaring wind and struck the black shadow directly in the head.
But strangely, the Wolf Tooth Club seemed to smash into a cloud of Black Mist, passing through the black shadow and swinging out beneath it.
The three Large Glowstones inside it instantly turned into flying ash, shattering and vanishing.
The Red Value Detector abruptly paused. Its value plummeted, dropping to 200.
Then came 150, 100, 60, 30. Once it reached 30, it stopped. But after holding for less than a few seconds, the number began to soar again.
"Go!" Yu Hong rushed over, grabbed Doctor Xu, and pulled her up. The two of them sprinted away, fleeing toward the distance.
The alarm of the Red Value Detector on their bodies soon sounded again.
Its shrill alarm rang all the way through the surrounding woodland.
At the place they had left, by the entrance to Jenny's tunnel—
A black shadow was rapidly restoring itself to completion. In barely three seconds, it had fully recovered. Then it flashed and vanished from where it stood.
Hah! Hah! Hah!!
Yu Hong panted violently as he ran, checking the Large Glowstones on his body.
The three inside the Wolf Tooth Club were all gone, reduced to white ash.
The Symbol Array and three Large Glowstones he carried on his body were still there.
"It took out three of my Large Glowstones in one blow. That thing just now was definitely an Evil Shadow!!" He tried to steady his breathing and shouted.
Doctor Xu was running just as fast behind him, and her stamina seemed to be slightly better than his.
But thinking about it, that made sense. Anyone with poor stamina would never have survived until now.
"Where, huff, are we going now!?" she asked.
"To my place! My place is the only one that might be able to stop that thing!!" Yu Hong answered urgently.
"I didn't bring my medicine!?" Doctor Xu's expression changed.
"Staying alive comes first! We'll get it later!" Yu Hong said.
The two of them sprinted through the woodland. Nothing was chasing them from behind, and they could not see anything catching up. Yet an indescribable chill was rapidly closing in on them from within their hearts.
The trees on both sides swiftly retreated, while the grass beneath their feet was constantly stamped with clear footprints.
Hiss! Yu Hong suddenly stopped and looked up at what lay ahead.
His sudden halt nearly made Doctor Xu behind him crash into him.
"What is it—" Doctor Xu had not finished asking when she saw the situation ahead as well.
A black human figure stood silently behind a large tree ahead, revealing only half of its disheveled black hair.
A tattered black dress, messy and withered black hair, a face that could not be seen—and the rapidly rising Red Value data. Everything identified the other party's identity: an Evil Shadow! Yu Hong slowly retreated. But Doctor Xu suddenly tugged at his sleeve.
"There's one behind us too!"
Doctor Xu's voice came from behind them, trembling.
Yu Hong turned slightly, his body taut as he looked behind them.
Sure enough!
Another black-dressed figure stood behind a tree in the rear.
No. It was not only behind them! Yu Hong's entire body suddenly trembled when he saw black-haired figures slowly moving out from behind every densely packed tree surrounding them.
Ten.
Twenty! Thirty! Fifty!!
There might even be more!
They stood densely packed behind the surrounding tree trunks, heads lowered, long hair hanging down to conceal their faces. They stood silently, waiting, encircling the two of them.
"Why are there so many!!?" Doctor Xu's voice had even changed pitch, as though she had lost her original voice and become someone else.
"Did you bring Jenny's things!?" Yu Hong took a deep breath and asked in a low voice.
"I-I did." Doctor Xu answered.
The two stood back to back. Sweat soaked through their clothes, but neither dared move recklessly in the slightest.
"Hold on tight." Yu Hong took another deep breath, suppressing the fear in his heart, and reached into his clothes to grasp the only Symbol Array hidden there.
"Stay close to me!"
His voice softened.
"I'll count to three. We run together."
Doctor Xu's face was deathly pale as she hurriedly nodded.
She no longer knew what to do. She finally understood what level this Evil Shadow, which could drive the United Army of an entire town away, truly belonged to.
"One."
Yu Hong gently clenched the Symbol Array and pulled it out.
"Two."
With his other hand, he touched the place where the three Large Glowstones were, ensuring he could grab and hurl them at any moment.
The woodland surrounding them was utterly silent. Even the wind had vanished. Only a deep oppression remained, constantly drawing closer and trying to drown the two of them.
"Three!!"
The instant he finished speaking, Yu Hong charged forward, sprinting toward the direction of his cave.
He did not look at the black shadow ahead. He simply lowered his head and charged straight into it.
He raised the Symbol Array and hurled the Large Glowstones forward with his other hand.
At the same time, Yu Hong activated a trace of Cooling Qi within his body, restoring his stamina.
"Stay close to me!" he shouted.
The three Large Glowstones he threw flew through the air toward the black shadow ahead, but before they could approach, they turned into three clouds of white powder.
Then he gripped the Symbol Array with one hand and thrust it forward.
The black shadow ahead twisted rapidly, becoming indistinct and blurry. It had been heavily disrupted by the three Large Glowstones.
Immediately afterward, the Symbol Array's wooden board closed in. Accompanied by the Red Value Detector's sharp alarm, the Symbol Array and the black shadow made contact in an instant.
Pfft!!
White light flashed, accompanied by a sound like a light bulb exploding.
The Symbol Array and the black shadow exploded and dissipated at the same time, leaving nothing behind. Shattered wooden fragments scattered across the surrounding grass.
At that moment, Yu Hong and Doctor Xu finally charged out of the encirclement and fled at full speed toward the cave.
The two of them sprinted as though their lives depended on it, not daring to stop for even an instant.
They crossed stretches of woodland, slopes, and fields of rubble. A journey that would originally have taken more than ten minutes or even half an hour was forcibly shortened to ten minutes by their efforts.
Sweat poured from them. Their muscles gradually began to weaken, their lungs burned with searing pain, and white spots began to swim before their eyes.
"Faster!!" Yu Hong once again activated a wisp of Cooling Qi. His stamina instantly recovered, and most of the negative condition in his body also disappeared.
Only now did he understand that this Cooling Qi could not perfectly restore his physical condition. Instead, it supplied a large amount of energy for a short period of time. The injuries his body had suffered still remained.
"I can't go on." Doctor Xu was already almost unable to catch her breath behind him.
For someone with very strong stamina, maintaining this all-out sprint for ten minutes was already impressive. In an environment lacking many trace elements, running wildly remained an enormous burden.
Being able to hold on until now already meant that she had surpassed her limits.
"We're almost there! Almost!" Yu Hong extended a hand behind him and grabbed her arm.
But when he turned his head, he saw another black figure appear less than ten meters behind them.
"It's here again!! Hurry! We're almost there!!" He put on another burst of speed and charged forward.
The stone wall of the Mountain Cave Safe House lay just ahead. The gate was getting closer and closer, clear in sight.
They were almost there!! Hiss! Suddenly, a black shadow flashed and appeared less than a meter behind them.
The black shadow reached out, coming within a hair's breadth of touching Doctor Xu in the rear.
A cold, sinister aura instantly enveloped the two of them, trying to delay their steps.
Fortunately, it had missed by only a little.
Bang! Finally, Yu Hong arrived!!
He threw himself against the gate, took out the key, unlocked it rapidly, then rushed inside and dragged Doctor Xu in with him as they rolled across the floor.
Pfft! The gate was caught by a foot, then locked from within and shut.
The Silver Symbol Array on the back of the gate suddenly lit up with a Silver Halo, blocking the black shadow rapidly approaching from outside.
But by this point, Doctor Xu could no longer see. She knelt on the ground, her vision filled with snow-like static. She could not see anything. Her body convulsed violently, and the muscles in her legs visibly trembled and jumped.
Before long, her body tilted and she fell sideways to the ground, curling into a ball. Her mouth hung open unconsciously, and drool mixed with sweat continuously dripped from the corner of her lips.
She felt herself gradually losing control of her body. Starting from her legs, sensation slowly vanished.
This loss of sensation continued climbing upward. It soon reached her thighs and her entire lower body.
In a daze, she seemed to hear something slam violently into the gate, producing a thunderous boom.
Soon, the loss of sensation rapidly climbed upward, passing through her lower body and reaching her abdomen. It was about to reach her chest.
Bang! Yu Hong helped Doctor Xu up and propped her against the stone wall. Then he picked up the Symbol Array and walked toward the gate.
Of the three Symbol Arrays, he had used one. Two remained, one of which was the strongest version, centered around a Silver Symbol Array.
When he reached the gate, he reached out and pressed the Symbol Array against the back of it.
Bang! Another thunderous impact slammed into the gate panel.
As the Silver Symbol Array blossomed with Silver Light, a black shadow outside suddenly dissipated.
But there were simply too many black shadows. Immediately afterward, another black shadow charged toward this place.
Bang!!
The new black shadow also collapsed and vanished beneath the gleaming Silver Light.
But even more black shadows continued approaching.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
The violent impacts came one after another, shaking even Yu Hong's body.
The Silver Symbol Array in his hand quickly dimmed, losing its effect. He hurriedly replaced it with another Symbol Array and pressed it against the back of the gate.
Again and again.
The Symbol Array's white light and Silver Light intertwined, rapidly growing dimmer.
The light was about to go out completely. At most, it could block two more impacts before the gate was breached entirely.
The sounds suddenly fell silent.
The white light on the Symbol Array gradually vanished and went out. Half of the runes had not yet broken. This meant that the Evil Shadows outside had either left or completely disappeared. Yu Hong did not dare move, continuing to stand where he was, drenched in sweat, and wait.
Another ten minutes passed.
He confirmed that the Symbol Array had made no further movement and that the Evil Shadows outside had truly vanished or left.
Only then did he slowly release the Symbol Array and drop heavily onto the ground.
Lowering his head, he looked at the red marks the Symbol Array had imprinted on his hands. His body trembled involuntarily.
"Fuck!" His face twisted as he clenched his hands tightly, calming the panic in his body.
Yes, he still had stamina. His current physical state was purely the result of his mind.
This direct confrontation had allowed him to truly experience just how dangerous Evil Shadows were.
He had come within a hair's breadth.
Just a hair's breadth.
Before you continue