Night of Despair-Chapter 230 - : Trouble with the Number Four
Chapter 230: Trouble with the Number Four
In the darkness.
All around, silent and still.
Yu Hong moved quietly and directly forward along the winding road.
Ahead was an extreme blackness, pierced only by the faint white glow of Inner Qi that enshrouded him, emitting a minimal negative radiation to disperse any black insects that might be lurking around.
The training in Thunderbolt Leg Technique allowed him to maintain a speed of fifty percent while minimizing the sound of his footsteps.
Despite the fact that he was now much heavier than before.
On the dark road surface, on either side, a dragon lizard followed alongside Yu Hong.
Occasionally relying on their vision, Yu Hong could discern the direction of the road ahead.
Puff.
Puff.
Puff.
Among the barely audible footsteps.
Yu Hong took out a map and pulled open the cover of the atomic lamp flashlight on his shoulder, revealing a thin slit.
R𝑒ad lat𝒆st chapt𝒆rs at free𝑤ebnovel.com Only.
A faint green light shone on the map.
‘I’ve traveled about one-fifth of the way…’ Yu Hong estimated in his mind.
On the map, from the ground to Aurora City, one needed to pass through three key points.
These three nodes were Meisha Village, Xinpeng City, and Yufei City.
On the map, these three dots flickered with a faint red light, while the dot representing Yu Hong himself was green, only a few kilometers away from the nearest Meisha Village.
The Black Disaster Rift caused the land route to be far from straight but winding and several times longer than the direct distance.
But this path was important for safety.
Whoosh.
Folding up the reinforced map.
Yu Hong tightened the large iron ball chain behind him and continued to step forward.
Gradually.
Ahead, the snow lightly dusting the road surface began to diminish, and numerous untidy marks of various sizes appeared, punching many holes in the powder.
Yu Hong narrowed his eyes and looked forward, the dragon lizards’ vision only allowing them to see about fifteen or sixteen meters ahead in the Black Fog. It was unclear whether there was danger beyond that.
On the abandoned road, as he moved forward, a vertical road sign suddenly appeared on the right side.
Its shape was that of a peeling grey-white metal pole sticking out of the ground, slightly tilted, holding up a rectangular sign.
On it, in black letters against a white background read: Welcome to Meisha Village.
Below that, a smaller inscription: Fruit wholesaling to Meisha, the nation’s largest fruit trading market welcomes you.
And further down, a red arrow pointing forward.
Sigh.
Yu Hong exhaled through his breathing valve and, following the direction indicated by the arrow, continued on his way.
In the dragon lizards’ black and white vision, the road ahead was open and empty, with nothing in sight.
But as time went on.
Gradually, Yu Hong heard, coming from the distant sides, a faint and strange noise.
It sounded somewhat like the wind, yet also like some rough friction.
He looked to the right with the help of the dragon lizards.
On the right side of the highway, ordinary grey-white single-story houses started to appear sparsely.
In front of these common rural homes, there was often a sizable cement courtyard.
Some had clotheslines hung up, others had agricultural goods laid out to dry.
They looked as though people still lived there.
Creak.
Suddenly.
Yu Hong’s footsteps halted.
Through the dragon lizards’ vision, he saw a dark figure step out from one of the two-story houses on the right, slowly crossing the balcony on the second floor and quickly disappearing into another shadow.
Swipe.
Yu Hong glanced at the detector on his collar, which showed the Red Value had soared to over a hundred thousand.
He pursed his lips as he personally experienced what the Shu Cheng caravan had always gone through.
Traveling back and forth on such paths, even the sanest person could lose their mind.
Puff.
He continued to move forward, the dragon lizards also shifting ahead in silence.
The three of them hurried along the road.
Soon, more and more rural houses and cottages began to appear on the roadside.
Several winding dirt paths also began to emerge on both sides of the highway.
These paths were muddy roads leading into pitch-black fields, extending into the deep Black Fog, with no end in sight.
In the courtyards in front of these houses and cottages, silhouettes stood silently, unmoving, facing Yu Hong with blurred faces, indistinguishable whether they were watching him or just naturally in that posture.
The detector values sometimes spiked rapidly and other times abruptly dropped back to normal.
Yu Hong did not provoke them but followed the route on the map calmly.
Gradually, the houses on both sides began to thin out, and after half an hour, he passed through Meisha Village and sped away towards the wild countryside.
Thump.
Suddenly, from the road ahead, came the sound of a heavy object falling.
Thump.
One after another.
Yu Hong narrowed his eyes and stopped in his tracks, staring intently into the fog ahead.
Soon, to the front and right on the road, emerged a huge spider over a meter tall.
But the spider had not eight jointed legs, but rather eight pale human legs.
Between those human legs, where one might expect the back of a spider, was the pale face of a human, eyes closed, smiling faintly.
The skin of the face was porcelain-like, smooth and fine, with not a single pore to be seen.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
This strange spider paid no attention to Yu Hong and slowly passed beside him, soon disappearing into the black fog behind him.
“Level 4 Black Disaster, hibernating human spider…” Yu Hong thought of the information related to this kind of Black Disaster.
He had no intention of disturbing it, knowing that when facing the Black Disaster, he would not invite trouble unless it attacked first.
Because the Black Disaster could revive endlessly, no matter how many times it was killed it could not be eradicated. So instead of wasting energy, it was better to conserve it for potentially more dangerous, high-risk Black Disasters.
He continued forward.
Beep!
Suddenly, a crisp electronic bell sounded from a distance to the left.
Then came waves of children’s noisy laughter and chatter, faintly spreading through the air.
Yu Hong halted his steps and looked in that direction.
The black fog there was rolling, and a dirt road split off from the highway, extending into the mist.
Beep beep beep!
This time, it was the detector embedded in his collar that was sounding an alarm.
On the LCD screen, the values flashed erratically, one moment negative, the next in the millions, tens of millions, or even billions, before suddenly resetting to zero, blank.
Snap snap.
Yu Hong reached out to tap the detector, switching off the alarm.
“It’s broken?”
He never expected the detector to sense every danger, but to start malfunctioning so soon after he’d started out was…
Just then.
A line of small figures with backpacks appeared on the path to the left, marching toward him in a neat line.
These figures were grey and indistinct, barely recognizable as elementary school children with backpacks.
They were smiling, their skin deathly pale, and with varying degrees of wounds and bloodstains on their bodies.
These children seemed not to have noticed Yu Hong, and they filed past the highway, one after another, right in front of him.
One by one.
They jumped off the side of the road one after another and disappeared into the black fog…
Until the last one.
The last figure with short hair and a small backpack suddenly stopped and turned its head to look at Yu Hong.
He stood there immobile, as if instantly transformed from living flesh to statue.
Yu Hong hesitated for a moment but continued to move forward as planned.
“I’m on top of a Black Disaster Rift, they won’t easily make a move and spark conflict. So… as long as the Black Disaster doesn’t attack me, I won’t act.”
Step by step, he and the dragon lizard slowly moved away from the schoolchild’s figure, who kept his face turned toward Yu Hong as he moved.
Only when the distance grew and the figure was thoroughly engulfed by the black fog did the detector’s erratic value phenomenon stop and disappear.
“In this world… apart from Aurora City and the very few large strongholds, I’m afraid there won’t be any more living people…”
Yu Hong felt suddenly weighted down.
He speculated that he might be the only survivor outside of the major strongholds.
In silence, he quickened his pace.
*
*
*
“Escaped??!”
Inside a heavy-armored vehicle headed to a military airport.
Xin Zhilei stared coldly at the subordinate officer reporting to her.
“I sent so many people down there, and we had the surrounding area surrounded by Black Disasters to lure them in, and you’re telling me they escaped??!”
“It’s not my fault. Your men were discovered prematurely, they acted out before boarding the plane, which then incited the committee people to revolt,” replied the subordinate officer, unfazed and still smiling.
He slightly raised his head, his face obscured by a black metal mask that smiled, hiding his true countenance.
“Don’t think this is just my problem!” Xin Zhilei exclaimed angrily, “If the contents of that USB drive were exposed, no one in the Association could avoid the fallout! Do you think you could escape? Aurora City hasn’t collapsed yet.”
“Actually, there’s a lot of conflict within the Association even now. The Meisha family’s list, while devastating to some, is… you understand, less so to others. Therefore, mobilizing the Association’s resources isn’t quite as you imagine, not everyone will cooperate…” said the man in the black mask, still smiling.
“Heh… what’s your price?” Although Xin Zhilei knew she was being exploited, she had to suppress her anger and ask, as she was not yet in full control of the situation in the second Aurora City. Exposure could instantly destroy her good standing.
However, if the destruction of evidence was successful, with the support of the main forces of the allied army, if she achieved more water sources through the Association’s power and the merit of resolving the Meisha family issue, her reputation and power in the second Aurora City would peak.
At that point, not even the chairman of the committee could command her!
“Given the current situation, searching for these people around the city would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. There are too many Black Disasters, many of which are high-risk and not lured by the Association’s bait,” the man in the black mask analyzed.
“So… the only option is to deploy the Black Blood People, the Association’s elite task force that can move freely even near high-risk Black Disasters, ensuring the mission’s success.”
“Black Blood People…” Xin Zhilei’s expression shifted slightly.
“Yes, that’s the only way… of course, deploying Black Blood People comes with risks. You should understand, even though they’re called ‘people,’ in truth…” said the man in the black mask, still smiling.
“If we had been more resolute from the beginning, and killed all of the Meisha family outright… there wouldn’t be so many troubles now!” Xin Zhilei slammed her fist on the metal table in front of her.
“Additionally, a reminder, according to the records of the Yingshan civilization, we’ve reached the limits of the basic Black Disaster situation. The Association has obtained all it can. Coming up in about half a year, the Gate of Despair corresponding to the Cold Disaster will naturally open. I hope you’re prepared in advance.”
“Thank you for the reminder!” Xin Zhilei gritted her teeth; she took a deep breath, “I’ll allocate one-fifth of my resources to hire a Black Blood Person!”
“As you wish.”
The man in the black mask slighty smiled and stepped back, then swiftly vanished into the shadows.
The interior of the armored vehicle transitioned from silent to filled with a multitude of external sounds.
Only Xin Zhilei remained, sitting in her seat with a severe expression, her gaze fierce.
