A Night of Desperation

Chapter 51: Relaxation (1)

More than eighty kilometers away from Baiqiu Village.

A man dressed in a gray mountaineering suit, carrying a large bag, holding a hiking pole, and wearing a helmet and face mask, was moving quickly along the winding road toward Baiqiu Village.

The road was desolate and silent, stretching endlessly into the forest, looking like a thin gray-white line.

After walking for a while, the man stopped, used a small knife to carve a triangular mark on a tree, and then scanned the surroundings.

Crack.

Crack.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him slowly approaching.

He quickly turned around, but there was nothing in sight.

“Ugh, it’s this damn thing again.”

The man took off his backpack and hung it on a nearby branch, then swiftly climbed up a large tree. He took the bag down and unzipped it.

With a rustling sound, he pulled out a large dark green cover and enveloped himself entirely in it.

The moment he was covered, he blended completely into the surrounding environment, disappearing from sight.

At the same time, the strange footsteps behind him vanished completely.

After waiting for a while, the man removed the cover, folded it back into the bag, and jumped down from the tree to continue his journey.

Suddenly, he made a sharp left turn, leaped to the ground, and lay flat.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

The grass beside him was hit, splattering small bits of black earth.

“You’re dead, Bai Mang!! How dare you mess with my boss’s woman!” A heavily accented voice shouted from the distant woods.

The man remained calm, drew a black dagger with his left hand, and swiftly rolled to the side.

Bang, bang, bang!

Three consecutive gunshots hit the spot he had just occupied, kicking up three pieces of black earth.

Taking advantage of this, the man sprang up, planting his hand on the ground to propel himself forward. He then leapt and began sprinting toward the gunfire like a leopard.

With a series of quick, sudden changes in direction, he avoided several shots and finally closed the distance to the shooter.

“Shit!”

There were three gunmen, all strong and wearing stab-resistant armor.

Seeing this, the three of them dropped their guns and drew out their knives to surround him.

“Kill him!”

One by one, they lunged toward the man with their knives.

But before their strikes could land, the man easily ducked his head and avoided them.

Compared to the agility of the man, they were like heavy, clumsy blocks of metal. All their knife slashes missed.

The man ducked the first attacker, then his right hand struck out with precision, stabbing into the first man’s abdomen.

He rolled forward, his short knife easily cutting through the second man’s calf. Then, rising swiftly, he delivered a powerful punch to the third man’s right ear.

In just a few seconds, the three men were all on the ground. Before they could react, the man spun around and slashed each of their throats with a knife.

Thud, thud, thud.

Three precise slashes, blood gushed out, accompanied by the sound of flowing blood. Everything became quiet.

The man stood up, searched for any valuables, then continued on his journey.

Throughout, he never once removed his backpack from his back.

*

*

*

Heavy rain poured down.

Inside the cave safehouse, a roaring fireplace blazed, completely driving away the dampness and chill.

The bright yellow flames lit up the somewhat dim cave, making it seem like daylight, though it was already daytime.

Yu Hong stood in the open space of the cave, practicing his heavy leg techniques with low sweeping kicks, one after another.

He had discovered that if he didn’t use his inner energy but simply practiced the heavy leg techniques, he could gather new inner energy faster than with his high body techniques.

This particular martial art seemed to train both striking and internal cultivation at the same time, making it highly efficient.

So, he decided to focus solely on practicing heavy leg techniques.

After some time, he took a sip of water, sat down to rest, then continued to strengthen his new talisman formations.

He already had more than twenty regular rune array, as they only took about an hour to strengthen. After another two days, he’d have enough to exchange for the bulletproof Gray Lizard suit.

Yu Hong also bargained with Li Runshan and succeeded in getting the price down to forty-two rune array. The rune array had already been tested and confirmed to be effective.

With this, he made a deal with the new arrival, Old Zhou, to trade thirty talismans for a secondhand Gray Lizard suit.

“Almost there,” Yu Hong murmured as he drank a bowl of protein-rich sweet soup in one go.

He stood up, began adding weight to his body by tying things to his legs.

Training with the added weight, he once again felt a faint warmth spreading through his body. In this dangerous environment, the warm sensation nourishing his body gave him a strong sense of security.

Thunder rumbled outside, and the rain became heavier.

The raindrops hit the wooden door, making a soft, rhythmic sound.

The outside was cold and damp, and visibility was poor, but inside was warm and dry, like spring. This contrast helped Yu Hong relax even more, and he completely immersed himself in his rigorous training.

‘I don’t need to master many techniques, as long as I perfect one to the extreme, to use it freely, and strike decisively, that’s enough.’

With this mindset, he focused on his practice, drawing rune array formations in his rest time and strengthening the wooden array boards.

After three continuous days, the rain outside finally stopped.

The entire forest had been washed clean, and the ground’s bloodstains had long been erased, leaving no trace.

Yu Hong gathered all the talismans, stacked them together, and placed them in his backpack before heading toward the stone house near the post office.

He had accumulated enough talismans and even prepared extra for himself. Now it was time to trade for the secondhand Gray Lizard suit.

The secondhand part didn’t matter much to him; he would just strengthen it once he got it.

Soon, he arrived at the stone house and followed the new sign to Old Zhou’s residence.

Old Zhou’s place was none other than the same place where Old Yu used to live.

Several things had been moved out of the cave, and in the open space, Old Zhou was sitting on a wooden bench, carving something with a chisel.

Seeing Yu Hong approach, he quickly stood up.

“You came at the right time. I’m heading out the day after tomorrow. If you hadn’t come, our trade would’ve been delayed.”

He put down the chisel, clapped his hands, and went inside the cave. A moment later, he came out with a somewhat old camouflage suit.

“This is my backup. Do you have the rune arrays?” Old Zhou asked Yu Hong.

“Of course,” Yu Hong nodded. “Can I ask why you need so many rune arrays? Normally, these would be better off with Old Li to trade with the supply team. Why do you need them all?”

“I might run into trouble outside. Rune arrays are much lighter than the big bricks and have a much wider protective range. They’re very useful,” Old Zhou replied with a smile.

“Alright,” Yu Hong said, taking out the rune arrays boards from his backpack and placing them on the side for inspection. He then took the Gray Lizard suit and began inspecting it.

The suit was indeed as described—no damage, just worn out from use, with several bullet holes on the chest.

However, the bullet holes hadn’t penetrated the alloy plates inside, so it didn’t affect its use.

The helmet and mask were intact with no damage.

Yu Hong was quite satisfied with the condition.

Old Zhou finished inspecting the rune arrays with a red value detector, his expression also satisfied.

“Pleasure doing business,” he said with a smile.

“Pleasure doing business,” Yu Hong replied, nodding. The two successfully avoided the unscrupulous Old Li and completed the deal.

“By the way, how long have you been staying here?” Old Zhou suddenly asked, his tone slightly stiff.

“Not too long, maybe a few months,” Yu Hong casually answered.

“Have you seen a younger man, a little shorter than me, with a dark red 8-shaped birthmark on his face?” Old Zhou asked softly.

“No, I haven’t. We mostly stay in our own dwellings, you know. We don’t often wander around,” Yu Hong shook his head slightly.

“Alright, thanks,” Old Zhou said, his gaze darkened slightly as he turned and walked back toward the cave.

Watching his retreating figure, Yu Hong guessed he might be searching for someone.

The person he described was likely someone very important to Old Zhou.

Unfortunately, at this time of year, being outside alone for too long could lead to trouble.

With the Gray Lizard suit in hand, Yu Hong didn’t dwell on it further and turned to head back to the cave. On the way, he passed the post office stone house and saw Li Runshan playing a game of throwing stones with his daughter, Aisenna.

When Li Runshan saw the Gray Lizard suit in Yu Hong’s hands, his smile instantly disappeared.

However, Aisina still cheerfully waved at Yu Hong from a distance.

Though Yu Hong was fully covered in his stab-resistant suit and helmet, the little one still recognized him at a glance.

“Uncle Yu Hong!”

Yu Hong waved back at her from a distance, and seeing her chubby little face shaking with joy, his mood lifted.

Without further conversation, he walked straight back to the safehouse in the cave. The muddy, damp ground made carrying the 12-kilogram Gray Lizard suit a bit more cumbersome than usual.

When he reached the cave, his pants were covered in grass and black mud stains.

He shut the wooden door, laid the suit down on the floor, and placed his hand on it.

Excitement filled his heart again. A complete set of bulletproof armor would elevate his security level to a whole new tier.

Immediately, he began imagining how he would strengthen it and the direction for the enhancements.

Soon, after finalizing his thoughts, he silently muttered in his mind.

‘Strengthen the heavy-duty bulletproof suit, enhance the bulletproof effectiveness, improve the filtering mask, add internal pockets for new components, and enhance flexibility.’

At that moment, his mind flashed with images of the heavy machine-gun soldiers from the shooting war games he used to play.

This time, his requests were many, and Yu Hong prepared himself for a longer process.

Quickly, a black line flowed into the suit, and a clear countdown appeared.

‘5 hours 15 minutes.’

So short?

He was slightly surprised but then realized that while his requests were numerous, the degree of enhancement wasn’t very high. The Gray Lizard suit was already bulletproof, and the improvements were relatively minor. The difficulty wasn’t much.

‘In that case, I can add a few more features.’

He thought for a moment and then took out the red value detector he had acquired earlier. He placed it on the suit.

He pressed his hand onto both the detector and the suit, silently adding the requirement for a red value detection function.

Soon, a new countdown appeared.

This time, the time was much longer than before.

‘17 hours 21 minutes.’

Yu Hong exhaled deeply, confirming the strengthening process.

(End of Chapter)

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