Secret 2

The sky was dimming, nearing dusk.

In front of the safehouse cave.

Knock, knock, knock.

A series of urgent knocks rang out.

Jenny stood at the door, holding a knife in one hand and knocking with the other.

"Yu Hong, got any business to discuss?" she said, watching the sky, knowing that it would soon be night, and she needed to hurry.

"What kind of business?" Yu Hong asked from behind the door, separated from her by the door.

He hadn't expected Jenny to come over so late, but it was not surprising; it was bound to happen sooner or later.

"It's about my daughter, it's my fault, and I apologize to you. But everyone is selfish; everyone wants to survive. I hope you can understand that," Jenny said quickly, her eyes warily watching the other directions outside.

Yu Hong, inside the door, snorted at her words.

Almost infecting him and Doctor Xu, such a big deal, yet the other party made it sound so casual.

He had initially thought Jenny was quite normal, but now it seemed she was just like her daughter.

"What do you want to say? We have nothing to discuss." he said coldly.

"I want to buy all your surplus large pyroxene stones with something you can't possibly refuse," Jenny said quickly.

"The high tide period is approaching, and I don't think there's anything that can make me unable to refuse." Yu Hong remained unmoved.

"You can at least hear me out," Jenny continued, not at all surprised by Yu Hong's response.

She continued on her own, "You probably don't know how Aifu and I initially arrived at this place. Baiqiu Village is just a rather remote village. Why did our family travel thousands of miles to come here?"

Yu Hong didn't respond. In this regard, it was indeed a bit strange.

"My husband used to work as a researcher at the Silver Tower Joint Research Institution, which is not a single place but a collective name for numerous research institution alliances located worldwide."

Jenny went on.

"During his research, he discovered that there are places in the world that are the original sites and sources of the Black Disaster. Baiqiu Village was such a place. So..."

"So he brought us, mother and daughter, here to find the source. He taught Aifu from a young age, and both had a good grasp of the ancient language. They discovered an underground relic near this village."

Jenny paused, exhaled.

"Of course, those are not the most important parts. The most crucial thing is that my husband brought out a kind of liquid metal from within the Silver Tower. It can be applied like spray paint, and its name is Sunlight No. 1."

"This liquid metal, in current research, is the only material that can block and isolate the shadows." Jenny sighed.

"I have a small bottle of this metal, and I can use it to exchange for all your large pyroxene stones!"

Sunlight No. 1?

Such a thing existed?

Yu Hong was half-skeptical and remained silent for a moment. Strangely, Jenny didn't urge him; she stood outside the door and continued.

"You can consider it. Aifu is currently hiding in the Sunlight No. 1 room, temporarily isolated from the Evil Shadow, but she can't stay inside forever. If she steps out, the Evil Shadow could latch onto her immediately. So after the high tide period, I'll come again! By then, I hope you have made your decision..."

With that, Jenny quickly left the doorway, jogging away like an agile leopard through the woods.

Soon, she returned to her habitat in the cave.

She locked the door, turned the lock, and stood in front of the silver metal door where her daughter was.

Jenny squatted down and saw the bag of pyroxene stones placed outside the silver metal door, which had inexplicably turned into white powder.

Her expression changed drastically.

"Aifu, are you still there?" she quickly asked loudly.

"Here, Mom!" Aifu quickly responded from inside.

"According to the attack pattern, the next attack should be in six hours. I used the Red Value Detector to judge; the environmental Red Value will peak at over two hundred before the attack! Pyroxene can neutralize the Red Value as much as possible, reducing the peak, preventing it from appearing for the attack. So what I need to do next is to find as much pyroxene and large pyroxene stones as possible to place near you to neutralize the environmental Red Value!"

Jenny said in a deep voice.

At this moment, she seemed entirely different from when she was in front of Yu Hong and Doctor Xu.

She clearly knew much more, with no concealment or disguise.

"I understand... Everything will be okay... It's just that this Black Mark crazily drives me to want to infect more people. It gives me a feeling that as long as enough people are infected, I can avoid harm!" Aifu replied loudly from inside.

"It's okay, just like before. As long as I have what your father left, I will cure you! It's okay, Aifu." Jenny comforted.

"I believe you, Mom," Aifu responded similarly.

Then, Jenny began to prepare food for the two of them while also getting ready for 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 the silver talisman array were repaired, and now he had to preserve the Black Mark, preparing for the possible next strengthening.

What Jenny had said in the afternoon still echoed in his ears.

"Ancient language? One of the origins of the Black Disaster? Sunlight No. 1?"

These things, these names, cast a mysterious veil on his heart, who had thought Baiqiu Village was just an ordinary mountain village.

Actually, Yu Hong had always been curious about one thing: where did the red rune on the surface of the luminous stone come from? It didn't feel like a product of modern technology.

And in this modern society with obvious technological prowess, there must be a method to deal with the shadows and the Blood Tide. What is this method?

And now, Jenny had given a possible answer.

It was very likely to be Sunlight No. 1.

Thinking of this, he stood up, went to the corner, and took a stack of newspapers he had moved over from Stammering Yiyi, flipping through them page by page.

Soon his hand paused. He took out one of the newspapers.

The newspaper had an article mentioning the Sunlight No. 1 material.

"...Regarding the newly developed special liquid metal, Professor Peng Siwei translated it as Sunlight No. 1. This liquid metal has the property of solidifying upon exposure to light. Its initial discovery was also near several Black Disaster origin sites. The material's production is thought to accompany the generation of the Black Disaster."

"This thing actually exists..." Yu Hong's face showed slight surprise.

He then recalled Doctor Xu's words, how Jenny and her daughter had previously survived several extremely dangerous high tide periods without harm.

Also considering Aifu's distinctive personality, which was at odds with the surroundings.

All these suggested that Jenny and her daughter certainly had secrets, and they weren't ordinary ones.

"From her tone just now, she was very certain that she and her daughter could withstand the high tide period. It might be the effect of Sunlight No. 1."

Thinking of this, Yu Hong felt a slight temptation in his heart.

Boom!!

Suddenly, a loud noise erupted from the doorway.

He turned to look at the wooden door.

The door trembled slightly as if some huge creature was frantically ramming it from the outside.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!!

The continuous heavy blows resounded without end.

Black bugs began rushing in from the ventilation holes like sand.

These bugs had black shells, slender and densely packed short legs, and centipede-like grotesque mouthparts.

But no matter how fierce, they melted and turned into black smoke, dissipating instantly when they entered the safehouse and were exposed to the firelight.

With a calm expression, Yu Hong found that the high tide period posed little threat to him now. He only needed to quickly repair the main door after Big Skin departed.

During this time, Yu Hong monitored the door's structural changes while continuously drawing ordinary talisman arrays, enhancing them with the Black Mark.

These talisman arrays were all drawn on regular wooden boards, eventually layered together and connected with pre-made wooden pegs to form a single piece.

Thus, a large array plate composed of nine wooden board talisman arrays was successfully completed.

The high tide period lasted for six full days, during which Yu Hong created three such array plates. Two were made from ordinary talisman arrays, while the last one, the silver core version, was formed by overlaying ordinary talisman arrays around a core silver talisman array.

This was done to prepare for the Withered Woman and the Evil Shadow that could arrive at any moment.

The high tide period finally passed swiftly.

At dawn the next day,

Yu Hong opened the door to gather some firewood and quickly heard the sound of subtle footsteps approaching.

He returned to the stone steps at the cave entrance, looking far into the distance.

He saw Jenny and Aifu approaching rapidly from the edge of the forest.

After six days, Jenny looked more and more haggard, with dark circles and sunken eyes. She had lost a significant amount of weight.

Aifu, too, was not spared. Her once bright golden hair had lost its luster, and she appeared timid and anxious.

Yet, regardless of what happened, after six days, she was still alive, not taken by the Evil Shadow, which was unusual in itself.

As the two approached, Yu Hong swiftly went back inside, shut the door tightly, and quietly waited for them to arrive.

His initial impression of Jenny and her daughter had become blurred, replaced by a special feeling with a tinge of mystery.

Very soon, the two stood outside the wooden door, separated from Yu Hong by only a door panel.

"It's been six days, have you thought it over? Maybe you should test the results." Jenny croaked outside the door.

"How do I know if what you're saying about Sunlight No. 1 is true? After all, you don't have anything I need, making our exchange unequal," Yu Hong said coldly.

"People always want to live," Jenny said, "Aifu only wants to survive, is she wrong?"

"She is not wrong," Yu Hong replied, "But that has nothing to do with me. I have no reason to help you."

"But we have no other options...." Jenny said. She reached for a wooden stick, the other end of which was held by her daughter Aifu.

The two were connected by this wooden stick.

"I said, this has nothing to do with me." Yu Hong replied calmly. He had no interest in helping someone like Aifu, who wanted to infect others secretly.

"You have the ability! This makes it your concern!" Jenny raised her voice.

"I have no obligation to help you," Yu Hong retorted.

"But we're out of choices!" Jenny replied, her eyes growing increasingly deep and dangerous.

"How am I forcing you? I have no ability to save you, and that counts as forcing you?" Yu Hong almost laughed in anger, having only heard of such people before but never expecting to meet them in real life.

"Faced with the threat of death, many people will do anything to survive." Jenny's eyes grew calm.

Behind her, Aifu stepped forward.

"But if you help us now, we would be very grateful." Jenny continued.

"I don't need your gratitude," Yu Hong said deeply.

"Then let's perish together." Jenny laughed. "Aifu will sit by your door from now on. If she dies here, the Withered Woman's Black Mark will stay at your doorstep. Your safehouse cave will be rendered useless, becoming one of the sources where Evil Shadows breed! The moment you step out, you'll be marked by the Evil Shadow's Black Mark!"