Decision 007
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The bright golden sunlight spread.
Surrounded by the dark green mountain forest, Baiqiu Village was like a piece of black chocolate in a green forest cake, abrupt and striking.
The entire village sat atop a large gray-white hill, located at the peak of the hill.
The village was scattered with more than thirty tile-roofed houses.
At this moment, on the western outskirts of the village, there was a pale-faced man wandering slowly, occasionally looking around with a nervous expression.
The man wore a gray T-shirt and yellow casual pants, all dirty and full of wrinkles, evidently not washed for a long time. His hair clumped together into a Mohawk style from sweat and grease.
His feet were clad in a pair of gray dust-covered sneakers, awkwardly treading on the muddy ground, clearly unaccustomed to the paths here.
Around the entire Baiqiu Village, there were no insect chirps, no bird songs, only the faint sound made by the man slowly moving forward over the ground.
*"It's been about fifteen minutes."*
Yu Hong took out his phone from his pocket and glanced at it. The old-fashioned phone that he hesitated to replace out of nostalgia had surprisingly become a crucial tool here.
He had spent several days lying in bed; had it been a smartphone, it would have long run out of battery. But this old phone had a small screen, a large battery, and could last more than a week on standby. It was also shockproof, scratch-resistant, and waterproof.
In this critical moment, it provided him with substantial psychological comfort.
The phone interface clearly showed the time: March 5, 2024, 3:32 p.m.
"Sigh..." Yu Hong sighed softly; this was the time before he arrived here.
But now it was meaningless.
Seeing the blank signal bars at the top right corner of the phone screen, he understood that he was probably not in his original world anymore...
Whether it was the newspaper reports, the common sense narrated by Stammering Yiyi and Doctor Xu, or the bizarre occurrences he encountered, all indicated that this place... was not his world.
He looked up at the brilliant sunshine.
Yu Hong bent down and made a mark on the muddy ground with a few stones arranged into a small triangular structure.
This was a marker to prevent getting lost.
It had been fifteen minutes since Doctor Xu and Stammering Yiyi departed. During these fifteen minutes, he circled the village several times.
But to his disappointment, it seemed as though, apart from the three of them, there were no other living people in this place.
*"Perhaps the living have hidden away, staying out of sight. After all, even during the day, there might be great danger."*
Yu Hong sighed inwardly, his hand always tightly gripping the enhanced white stone.
His previous encounters deeply impressed upon him that in this place, the stone's effect was his only guarantee of safety.
According to Doctor Xu, before leaving, during the day when there was sunlight, there would be no black insects, and at most, he might occasionally encounter a few shadows.
And as long as he carried the white stone, the danger from these shadows during the day was minimal.
Because it seemed that shadows were very weak during the day.
Yu Hong believed this, otherwise, Stammering Yiyi and Doctor Xu wouldn't be so unconcerned about repeatedly going out.
With these thoughts settled in his heart, he looked back at the markers he had made along the way, confirmed they were still there, and continued moving forward.
Silence.
Deathly quiet.
Rustle.
Rustle.
Apart from the crisp noise of his footsteps on the grass, there was no other sound.
Even the wind was barely audible.
After more than ten minutes elapsed,
Yu Hong finally traversed the entire village, his steps varying in depth.
He stood at the initial gravel road junction, wiping the sweat from his forehead, continuously memorizing some locations he had just discovered, important locations.
The most crucial of which was the water well.
Earlier, he saw from afar a courtyard with a well dug in it.
The well, made of stones, had many footprints coming and going around it, clearly indicating this was one of the few sources of drinking water available to the living here.
Even from a distance of more than ten meters, he could feel the piercing chill emanating from the well.
Even the sunlight couldn't suppress it. Sensing something was amiss, he didn't approach but simply memorized its location.
"How strange... A small village on a hill should not have a well dug at the top...." Yu Hong wondered quietly. Typically, wells would be dug at lower elevations since water flows downward.
But this place was different from other locations...
Standing on the gravel road, he once again looked around.
Surrounding the village was an endless stretch of dark green forest.
The forest formed one continuous sea of trees.
No bird calls, no observable living creatures, even the dark green trees and grass gave off an unsettling eerie vibe.
Yu Hong's face was blank as he stared at the only old road leading outside for quite a while before turning back to the village.
The way back was uneventful as he returned to Stammering Yiyi's house.
Only after completely closing the wooden door did he let out a light breath.
"This place... is too spooky...," he thought. The idea of living here indefinitely, with no hope of returning, filled him with deep despair.
"I've already checked during the wandering; there's no vehicle.... But there are traces of tire marks on the ground, which means there used to be cars here, but they were driven away."
Yu Hong picked up a piece of charcoal from a corner cluttered with miscellaneous items and began drawing a map of Baiqiu Village on the wall.
The map was simple, just rough lines representing roads and small squares representing houses.
He marked the water well, the old road out, and Stammering Yiyi's house where he was staying.
The three places formed a triangular structure.
*"What should I do now?"* Yu Hong looked at the map, pushing down the wave of despair and pondering his future course of action.
*"I can't rely on Stammering Yiyi forever; I must first learn to handle these dangers on my own, as well as find my own food and shelter."*
He sat cross-legged on the ground, holding a charcoal pencil, writing and drawing on the wall.
Then he raised his hand, gazing at the Black Mark on the back of it.
*"Also, this mark means if I don't want others to find out, I must choose to live alone. Otherwise, being in such an extremely dangerous environment, having my ability discovered by others... would be perilous!"*
Although he wasn't sure if others had similar abilities, Yu Hong was certain that Stammering Yiyi and Doctor Xu did not.
This was something he could tell from subtle details.
"First, learn how to find food and drink, then move out!" Yu Hong quickly formulated a plan.
Having made up his mind, he got up and returned to the bed, planning to rest a bit until Stammering Yiyi returned.
Thud, thud, thud...
Suddenly.
The door knocked again.
Sound after sound resonated rhythmically.
Yu Hong swallowed hard, looking at the wooden door. He did not make a sound.
The knocking seemed off.
But he ignored whoever it was, gripping the enhanced white stone tightly, taking a deep breath, and lying down quietly, preparing to rest.
Thud, thud, thud...
The door continued to knock.
Knock after knock.
Yet Yu Hong remained silent as if he heard nothing.
He lay on his side on the bed, eyes fixed on the door, holding the enhanced white stone, his body tense and ready to react at any moment.
Fortunately, the knocking persisted for seven times and then ceased.
Instead, there seemed to be someone peeking through the window.
Someone was looking inside through the gap in the seal.
Yu Hong felt his hair stand on end, turning his head to stare at the window, breathing heavily and quietly.
The intense sense of crisis kept stimulating his adrenaline secretion, rapidly circulating his blood, his face flushed.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
The silhouette outside the window seemed to lose patience and quietly left.
The window was no longer blocked by anything, returning to normal as light once again poured in.
Yu Hong clutched the enhanced white stone tightly, feeling it slick with sweat in his hand.
He bowed his head, took deep breaths, fixing his physical state. He picked up another white stone, this time an unused one.
He looked at the numbers displayed on the stone: 2 days.
*"Could it be that the unused ones can be enhanced in just two days?"* He let out a sigh of relief.
Listening to the querying voice echoing in his ear, he silently confirmed his decision to enhance.
Soon, the numbers on the white stone vanished, and it seemed enveloped in a slick greasy layer as the Black Mark enhancement began.
Without another glance, Yu Hong put it into another pocket.
Then lay back down, setting an alarm on his phone before drifting fitfully off to sleep.
He didn't sleep long nor did he sleep peacefully, awakening soon after.
*"Stammering Yiyi won't be back tonight, which means I'll be alone here tonight..."* Yu Hong looked at the dim sunlight streaming through the window gap, his heart sinking slightly.
He got up and went to the corner filled with items, pulling out a large candle and something akin to matches that Stammering Yiyi had given him.
He prepared them, placing them within easy reach beside the bed.
And so, Yu Hong remained half-reclined on the bed, waiting for nightfall.
Time gradually slipped away; not long after, the outside grew darker, sinking into pitch black.
This time was quiet; there were no black insects, no shadows.
It seemed as though everything had forgotten him, leaving a serene peace.
In his fatigued and anxious waiting and vigilance, the night quickly passed.
Until daylight, when he saw the bright sunlight streaming through the window, Yu Hong finally let out a deep breath.
Even though it was daylight and nothing happened throughout the night, the prolonged tension and vigil had left him mentally and physically exhausted.
This fueled his increasing desire to find a truly safe place to rest.
He was not like Stammering Yiyi; if things continued like this, without proper rest, he would not survive.
Getting up, he filtered some water to drink, but his stomach began to growl again.
Even though he had finished all of Stammering Yiyi's stored food yesterday, so much time had passed that his stomach had emptied again.
He stepped outside, taking advantage of the agreeable sunlight, wandering around the gravel road junction once more.
This time, he walked a ways down the old road, attempting to find edible plants and insects.
But unfortunately, he found nothing along the road—no insects, and he could not recognize any plants.
The plants here were none that he had ever seen before. Even the most common wild daisies and dandelions were nowhere in sight.
Fortunately, Stammering Yiyi and the others finally returned.
Poof.
Inside the house, Stammering Yiyi struggled to drop a large bundle off her back onto the ground.
Then she untied the package.
Inside were bags of jerky, dried mushrooms, and dried insects.
Yu Hong leaned in to help, finding that the jerky consisted mainly of small black chunks. He couldn't discern which animal they had come from.
The dried mushrooms were also crushed, not clearly distinguishing their type.
And the dried insects...
"Are these... cockroaches?!" Yu Hong's expression changed slightly.
"No... one... gum," Stammering Yiyi corrected him, shaking her head. She promptly picked up a thumb-sized cockroach dry and popped it into her mouth.
"It's delicious!" She gave a thumbs-up, chewing quickly with a loud crunch. Her eyes were wide and round, full of delight.
"....." Yu Hong was speechless.
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