Enhanced: One

In the dense woodland.

Across the dark-green grassland, a tall figure dressed in an Anti-Stab Suit and helmet hurried toward some direction within the woods.

Before long, the figure stopped, bent down, pulled up some weeds from the ground, and stuffed them into a cloth bag.

The figure wore leather gloves and sturdy leather boots. The helmet was wrapped up so tightly that only a pair of eyes and two nostrils showed, making him look like a fully armed medieval knight.

A short knife was tucked at his lower back, while his eyes kept warily sweeping over the surroundings.

Not long after, a grayish-white Stone House slowly appeared ahead of the figure.

A ring of circular wooden fencing surrounded the Stone House.

A short-haired man who was even taller and more powerfully built, dressed in camouflage, was arranging something inside the fence.

Seeing the approaching figure, the man showed a habitual smile.

"Brother Yu, here again?"

The newcomer stopped outside the fence. It was Yu Hong, who had once again come out of the Cave.

"I've been looking around nearby for a long time, but I haven't found any sign of the Evil Shadow." Yu Hong's voice was muffled.

"After losing its infectious carrier, the Evil Shadow's traces disappear under sunlight after more than three days. Also, if you discover an Evil Shadow carrier, such as clothing or an object bearing a residual Black Handprint, you can burn it at high temperatures. But remember, under no circumstances should you watch from nearby while it's burning." Li Runshan explained.

"Why?" Yu Hong asked, puzzled.

"Because during the burning, the Evil Shadow will reappear one last time. As long as there's a living person within twenty meters, it can launch an explosive attack. Once it kills a new living person, it can begin another round of infection all over again. In many places, because there's no way to completely eradicate the Evil Shadow's traces, people can only choose to migrate. The town near you is like that." Li Runshan sighed.

".No wonder." Yu Hong understood. "There are too many dark corners in the town, making it far too easy for the Evil Shadow's traces to hide."

"Exactly. And the Evil Shadow's traces can move on their own, too." Li Runshan walked over to the blackened pile where the clothes had previously been burned and kicked at the remains inside with his boot.

"This pile of things tried to move toward me earlier. I was the closest person to it. Unfortunately, I burned it in time and stopped it outside the door. Of course, you need to be careful, too. The Evil Shadow is a newly emerged dangerous type of Ghost Shadow, so new varieties may appear. Much of what we know has been slowly tested with human lives."

"So Brother Li, you and the people above are still in contact?" Yu Hong guessed. If they weren't, there was no way Li Runshan could have learned such up-to-date information about the Evil Shadow so easily.

"That's right. Actually, I won't hide it from you." Li Runshan smiled. "My main mission in coming here is to guard this place of origin, as well as the Glowstone Mine, and report the details of any changes here at any time. There are benefits, too. Every so often, a supply team passes through and gives me supplies. As for intelligence, I also have a newly developed enhanced communicator that can contact the people in charge of the postal service directly."

Yu Hong nodded. Without such support, someone like Li Runshan probably wouldn't have brought a child to such a dangerous place.

"There aren't many people around here. Brother Li's arrival is good for us, too. Otherwise, we might really have to move." He sighed.

"Even coming here alone requires everyone's support and cooperation. We help one another, after all. But before I came, I thought there would be at least five or six households here. I didn't expect there to be only your two households left." Li Runshan sounded somewhat helpless as he said this.

"Enough about that. I came to ask you, Brother Li, to mail a letter for me." Yu Hong took out a wooden-board letter he had prepared in advance.

Since there was no paper, he could only use a thin wooden board instead.

He had written down the specific circumstances on his side and had tentatively placed an ordinary Symbol Array board behind it.

If the Symbol Array could be mailed over, that would be best. It could help Little Stutterer, and at least it wouldn't go to waste.

But if the Symbol Array was lost along the way, he would try another method next time.

After taking out the wooden board, Yu Hong draped a piece of cloth over it.

There were two wooden boards joined together with wooden nails. They looked like a simple thickened structure, but only Yu Hong knew that the lower thickened board was actually the Symbol Array board.

The side bearing the Symbol Array was clamped between the two boards, hidden from outsiders.

"Mail a letter? It might be a little expensive. After all, I have to wait for the supply team to arrive before I can send it." Li Runshan rubbed his chin as he accepted the wooden boards.

"Then can I ask how long it'll be before the supply team arrives?" Yu Hong asked quickly.

"I was told the schedule is once a month, but there'll definitely be changes. Since I've only just settled here, the supply team promised to arrive within two weeks. By my estimate, it shouldn't be many days now." Li Runshan calculated.

"Can we trade with the supply team?" Yu Hong asked.

"Of course not. The supply team can only trade with Mailmen. No one else is qualified." Li Runshan shook his head.

"All right." Yu Hong was slightly disappointed, but he could understand. The postal system here seemed to have formed a screening mechanism centered around Mailmen. Mailmen had become the most fundamental distributors in every region, controlling enormous profits.

Looking at it that way, it was no wonder Li Runshan's daughter had grown up with such a plump, oily face. There was a reason for it.

"All right, is there anything else? For postage, a simple letter costs one Silver Coin from the Silver Tower. But if you don't have one, you can use dried meat instead. The amount you used last time would be ten pieces per bag, twelve bags in total."

"What!? How much!?" Yu Hong's eyes widened, thinking he had heard wrong.

"Twelve bags." Li Runshan said it lightly. "That's already a discounted price. After all, this is a new place with a new customer, so I have to offer some discount. In other places, the standard is fifteen kilograms of dried meat."

"." Yu Hong was speechless.

After remaining silent for quite a while, he suddenly remembered the Silver Coin he had looted from one of the two soldiers earlier. He searched all over himself and soon pulled it out.

"Silver Coin from the Silver Tower—is this it?" He held the coin up for the other man to see.

"Ah, yes, yes, yes, that's it. You have one, then? That makes things easy." Li Runshan nodded repeatedly, a smile appearing on his face once again.

"Then use this. Also, do you sell long-distance communicators here? I bought a Solar Power Generator before, so I can charge one." Yu Hong asked again.

"I don't have one for now, but I can ask when the supply team arrives. Quite a lot of people want one. At some large gathering points, everyone likes to sell them." Li Runshan agreed with a nod. "By the way, if you find anyone passing through nearby, persuade them to stay and settle here. The more people there are, the easier it'll be for us to become self-sufficient. Don't you think? Otherwise, having to do everything ourselves is simply too exhausting."

"Mm, all right." Yu Hong nodded.

After leaving the Stone House that served as the Post Office, he took one last look at its window.

A chubby little head was secretly watching him from the window, its small, bright black eyes filled with curiosity.

"What's wrong? Why have you been staring at him the whole time?" Li Runshan walked to the window and reached out to rub his daughter's hair.

"That uncle... looks a little strange." Aisena answered softly.

"What's strange about him? He's one of the few truly normal people left. These days, encountering a normal person is already rare. People in many places become a little abnormal after living alone for too long." Li Runshan smiled.

He looked toward Yu Hong as well. He watched that back grow farther and farther away until it completely vanished into the depths of the woods, then turned his gaze back to his daughter.

"I don't know. But I just feel that no matter who that uncle looks at, he has a feeling like a stone." Aisena shook her head, unsure how to describe it.

"A stone?" Li Runshan imagined it carefully, but couldn't picture what kind of feeling that was.

"It's like... he isn't afraid of anything, and he looks very sure of himself." The chubby girl Aisena furrowed her brows and squeezed out another sentence.

"Hmm. The way you put it, there does seem to be something to it. On the surface, he looks very normal, but compared with people in other places, he's a little too normal. He doesn't have that frightened, uneasy feeling." Li Runshan nodded thoughtfully.

"That's right!" Aisena nodded quickly.

"It's all right. No matter what kind of person he is, with Dad here, I'll protect you." Li Runshan smiled once more.

"Daddy's the best." Aisena narrowed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against his hand.

**Yu Hong slowly walked along the road back. He had stopped by to see Doctor Xu, Xu Ruoying, on the way. That woman had recovered considerably and had even given him a packet of herbal powder she had made herself.

Yu Hong gave her a Large Glowstone in return. It counted as an exchange.

There were only a few living people left nearby. As the outside environment grew increasingly harsh, he still hoped that she could hold on and survive.

On the way back, he soon reached the spot where Eve's clothes had been earlier. Holding the wooden board bearing the Silver Symbol Array in one hand and taking out his short knife with the other, he searched through the ground, but found no trace of the clothes.

Only then did he truly believe that Li Runshan had dealt with the Evil Shadow's traces.

Judging from that man's reaction, this probably isn't his first time dealing with the Evil Shadow's traces. He looked completely at ease. And he even dared to bring his daughter here. His daughter's name doesn't sound like it belongs to this country, so it's obvious that her other parent may be a foreigner.

Yu Hong speculated inwardly, and the more he thought about it, the less simple Li Runshan seemed.

But he soon changed his mind. Whether the other man was simple or not, as long as he didn't threaten Yu Hong, whatever he did was none of Yu Hong's business.

In fact, the stronger the other man was, the safer they would be.

He soon returned to the Cave. Along the way, he saw not only no Evil Shadows, but not even a single Ghost Shadow. It was extraordinarily peaceful.

Yu Hong closed the door and carefully checked the countdown. The leg-method enhancement still had more than three days left.

Suppressing the anticipation in his heart, he first drank a cup of water, then ground a Large Glowstone into powder and made Large Glowstone Ink before producing another batch of Symbol Array wooden boards.

While the Black Mark was being enhanced, he couldn't afford to sit idle either.

After making several Symbol Array boards, he got up again and cooked a pot of sweet protein-bar soup. He drank it while studying the method for carving the Silver Symbol Array's markings.

The Silver Symbol Array had clear requirements for the depth and shallowness of its carvings, and its difficulty far exceeded that of the Large Glowstone Symbol Array. That was why he still couldn't replicate it.

After eating, afternoon arrived in the blink of an eye. He got up again and began training the High Body Method inside the house.

Two hours of the High Body Method every day was a mandatory task he had set for himself.

After completing it, he rested for more than half an hour, wiped away his sweat, replenished his food, and even slept for a while. All of that was part of the normal routine.

But today, after finishing his training, he was wiping away his sweat when his body suddenly stiffened.

He felt some tiny numb spots in his abdomen rapidly converging. Before long, they gathered into a new strand of Cooling Qi.

The fourth strand of Cooling Qi! It's getting thicker and thicker. Yu Hong was delighted. The thicker the Cooling Qi, the more confidence he had.