A Night of Desperation-Chapter 93: Change (1)

~~~

Thank Thyme for the bonus chapters

~~

“What? Li Jingyuan and the others went to the cave?”

Inside the stone post office.

Li Runshan abruptly stood up from his seat, visibly shocked.

“I saw them heading there when I came back to collect firewood. There were more than ten of them, and they had guns. I think your friend might be in danger.”

The one speaking was Ge Shenghao, the temporary leader of Team One—the strongest group among the refugees.

Ge Shenghao was a man of great physical strength, with a square face, resolute eyes, and dark skin. His appearance gave off an impression of integrity at first glance.

He led his team with discipline, but his main flaw was that he only cared about Team One. The survival of the other two teams was of no concern to him.

“Yu Hong also has a gun. As long as he doesn’t step outside and get ambushed, he should be fine.” Li Runshan pondered for a moment before sitting back down.

“Then let’s discuss tonight’s arrangements. We used up most of our Rune Arrays and Luminous Stones last night to save people. What’s left isn’t enough.” Ge Shenghao spoke in a serious tone. “I don’t care about the others, but all fourteen members of my team must survive.”

Li Runshan frowned.

Team One was composed of two types of people: high-ranking United Army officials’ family members and their bodyguards.

The former were easier to deal with, but the latter were highly capable fighters. A quick glance told Li Runshan that six of them were family members, making up three households, while the remaining eight were bodyguards.

Among these eight, at least three were his former colleagues—elite operatives who had worked within the postal system.

In this world, post office couriers were second only to the United Army’s top-tier special forces. If Team One had three such experts, it spoke volumes about the troublesome status of the family members they were protecting.

Yes, troublesome.

That was exactly what Li Runshan was thinking at this moment.

Their supplies came from the logistics team, and their equipment was no worse than his—possibly even better. Their firearms and armor were all top-tier.

This meant he couldn’t simply use force to drive them away.

“The remaining Rune Arrays and Luminous Stones can barely secure one basement room into a sealed chamber. We can all squeeze in, but what about Teams Two and Three? They’re not stupid. Everyone saw how we drove those people away before.” Li Runshan said gravely.

“Send them to the mining area. Or see if your friend has a solution. This has nothing to do with us—I’m only responsible for Team One.” Ge Shenghao replied coldly, completely indifferent.

With that, he turned and left the stone house, heading into the basement.

Li Runshan let out a sigh and walked to the window, peeking through the cracks to look outside.

In the courtyard, members of Teams Two and Three were gathered around fires, cooking food. Their faces still carried the terror from the previous night, their expressions dull and numb.

Meanwhile, the bodyguards from the two teams were huddled together, seemingly in discussion.

Seeing this, Li Runshan’s heart sank. If this continued, conflict between the three teams would explode before nightfall.

And he wasn’t sure if Team One alone could withstand the pressure.

Just then, several figures came sprinting toward the courtyard from the distant woods.

They stumbled forward in terror, as if something horrific was chasing them.

“Stop! Stay where you are!”

One of the guards in the courtyard raised his gun and shouted.

With the threat of lurking Ghostly Shadows and the possibility of an attack from Li Jingyuan’s expelled group, their vigilance was at an all-time high. 𝙧ＡΝǑВΕ𝙎

But the fleeing people seemed either too terrified to listen or simply didn’t hear them. They kept running forward, desperate.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunshots rang out.

The fleeing individuals collapsed instantly.

The guards lowered their weapons and resumed their activities as if nothing had happened—continuing to cook, chat, and rest.

No one paid any attention to the dead bodies outside.

Just like no one cared about the eight people who had been dragged away by Ghostly Shadows the previous night.

They had seen too much death.

What they failed to notice, however, was that beyond the courtyard, among the trees and undergrowth, faint white mist was beginning to rise.

The strands of mist wove like silk, rendering the once-clear forest hazy and mysterious.

Shh!

Deep within the woods, a gray-white shadow flickered past in an instant.

*

*

*

Inside the cave.

Yu Hong no longer experimented with the vortex Rune pattern. The Black Seal had already begun reinforcing the entire safehouse—strengthening the door and merging it with the cave walls, significantly enhancing its defenses.

Yu Hong recalled that during his encounter with the Big Skin, the first issue had been at the door’s edges—where it connected to the walls.

The door itself was strong enough, but he needed to prevent outsiders from digging through the weaker stone walls to break in.

Right now, the cave walls weren’t as strong as the reinforced door. To counter this, he needed to seamlessly integrate the door with the weaker sections of the stone wall.

‘After this reinforcement, the cave safehouse should be much safer. Later, I’ll use the synthesis function to further strengthen and refine it.’

He changed into his reinforced White Bear Suit and resumed practicing the second level of Heavy Leg Technique. Dealing with troublemakers was nothing more than a way to refine his combat skills—it wasn’t a challenge.

Bullets couldn’t penetrate his defense, and those people were physically weak—utterly powerless against him.

Meanwhile, outside in the courtyard, Qiu Yanxi and Wei Shanshan stood in silence for a while before silently gathering the corpses and dumping them outside.

After working for some time, they stopped to catch their breath, staring at the blood-stained ground.

“Mom… if the rescue team doesn’t come…”

“They will come.” Qiu Yanxi shook her head. “They have to. There are too many important people here—they won’t be abandoned.”

She seemed to be convincing both her daughter and herself.

Crack!

Suddenly, the door swung open.

Yu Hong stepped out, clad in a gray lizard suit, and tossed out a set of tools.

“Since you’re just sitting around doing nothing, help me chisel this Luminous stone. Just break it up a little—it will naturally split apart on its own,” he instructed.

There were still many days ahead. He had no intention of supporting these two for free; they needed to contribute to daily necessities as well.

“Also, collect more firewood when you have time.” He threw out a Rune board. “Take turns carrying this when you go outside.”

With that, bang, he shut the door again and went back to rest.

Qiu Yanxi and her daughter exchanged looks.

After a brief hesitation, Qiu Yanxi stepped forward, picked up the tools and the Rune board, examined them carefully, and then softly instructed her daughter not to go outside while she herself went out to collect firewood.

Since Yu Hong had no interest in their bodies, they had to prove their value in other ways. Otherwise, if the rescue team never arrived…

She couldn’t help but recall the horrific cases she had seen before—corpses stripped down to bare bones after being devoured.

That night, the Blood Tide appeared once again. As usual, the black insects passed outside the courtyard walls but never set foot inside.

This finally allowed Qiu Yanxi and her daughter, who had been on edge, to breathe a sigh of relief. They now understood that this courtyard truly possessed some special property that kept the creatures at bay.

Meanwhile, Yu Hong enjoyed a more comfortable and convenient life inside the cave.

There was now someone gathering firewood for him, and food was temporarily not an issue. He had originally needed to go out to fetch water, but two days later, light rain began to fall.

He collected four large barrels of rainwater, enough to filter and boil for drinking over the next week.

His daily routine consisted of eating, drinking, and training. Occasionally, he would step out to check on Qiu Yanxi and her daughter, ensuring they were still healthy, before returning to his cave and waiting for the countdown to end.

This was his first large-scale reinforcement of the entire cave safehouse. He speculated that this upgrade might fully integrate the entire structure.

Some hidden structural weaknesses might finally be resolved, following the pattern of the Black Seal’s previous enhancements.

He was looking forward to it.

Time passed day by day.

In the blink of an eye, five days had gone by.

Boom!

On the fifth morning, Yu Hong was jolted awake by a deafening explosion.

He flipped out of bed, rushed to the entrance, pulled open the barricade, and looked outside.

Thick black smoke billowed into the sky from the direction of the post office.

“What the hell is going on!?”

His expression darkened. He wasn’t yet capable of complete self-sufficiency. If something happened to Li Runshan’s group…

But at this distance, if he left and his safehouse was attacked in his absence, the loss would be irreversible.

Qiu Yanxi and her daughter were powerless. If they died, his energy source would be gone.

After a brief moment of thought, Yu Hong quickly turned and activated his reinforced communicator.

Static—

After a burst of harsh electrical noise, a voice finally came through.

*”Finally connected!! Old Yu, be careful over there! Something serious happened here in broad daylight! Some troublesome bastard showed up—people died in an instant, we didn’t even have time to react—”

A bloodcurdling scream cut off Li Runshan’s words, followed by furious cursing, gunfire, and the sound of blades hacking into wood.

A few seconds later, Li Runshan’s breathless voice returned.

“Damn it! This is still daytime! These Blood Tide monsters are appearing in broad daylight now! Listen up! It’s not a Ghostly Shadow! Not a Ghostly Shadow!! It’s something new—fast as hell, and it can fly! You need to—”

Boom!

The signal cut off. All that remained was the sound of chaotic static.

Yu Hong’s expression turned grim. He didn’t turn off the communicator but kept it charging with solar power, hoping for more updates.

“What the hell is happening…? Something attacking in broad daylight already? How has the environment deteriorated this much in such a short time…?”

*

*

*

Outskirts of Baihe City

On the sandy shore near the sea—

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

A dense barrage of machine gun fire tore through the air, forming invisible bullet chains that raked across the sky above the water.

Weaving between the hail of bullets were three multi-eyed monstrous birds, deftly dodging as they dived toward the beach below.

Read 𝓁at𝙚st chapters at ƒrēenovelkiss.com Only.

Even when struck, they barely reacted. Aside from a few bursts of blood, their speed hardly slowed as they continued their assault.

On the beach below, squads of camouflaged soldiers fired upwards at intervals, trying to hold the creatures back.

The squad leader, an expert marksman, managed to land precise shots on the creatures each time he fired.

But soon, two belts of ammunition ran dry, signaling an urgent reload. The monsters seized the opportunity and dived.

Slash!

Two soldiers beside the squad leader were instantly sliced apart as if by razor-sharp blades. Their upper bodies vanished in a flash, while their remaining halves were snatched up and swallowed whole by the creatures, their necks stretching like snakes as they devoured their prey.

“Fall back! Fall back!!” the squad leader roared, ordering his men to retreat.

Just as they tried to resist, fresh ammo belts were finally loaded, and a renewed stream of machine gun fire shredded one of the monstrous birds. Its neck snapped midair, spilling out the half-digested remains of its victims.

“Get out of here! We’re out of ammo!!”

The squad leader turned and ran, his vision blurring with adrenaline as he sprinted toward the military fortress.

His remaining team members followed, charging desperately toward the safety of the stronghold.

Seeing this, the monstrous birds finally gave up, flapping their wings and retreating into the dense white mist above the sea.

(End of Chapter)