Night of Despair

"Yu Hong, why are you still asleep?"

At that moment, a familiar voice sounded next to Yu Hong's ear.

Under the light, his expression froze. He quickly looked around and found that he was still alone in the cave, with no living soul outside, no shadow.

"Who's there?" He crawled out of the sleeping bag, quickly grabbing a piece of silver talisman array as he looked around warily.

"How come you've slept so long and haven't woken up? Didn't you say we were going to have a team-building event earlier? Everyone found you asleep at home and couldn't wake you, so they took you to the hospital together. You've been lying here for two days now, it's good that you're showing signs of waking. Otherwise, they were going to have an expert consultation at the hospital since you're quite a rare case," the voice continued.

"...." Yu Hong carefully began to inspect everything in the cave, trying to determine the source of the voice.

But to his dismay, there was nothing around him.

And the voice gradually grew weaker and receded, like a radio with a bad signal.

"Chen Huiru? Are you Chen Huiru?" He remembered the voice belonging to his closest female colleague at work.

"Yes, it's me, how come just two days and you act like you don't recognize me? Can you see me? Can you see me?" the voice continued.

A soft wind noise followed, as if someone was waving their hand.

"Do you see my hand?" Chen Huiru said.

"Seems like you've been lying down too long, how come this illness is affecting your vision as well?" Chen Huiru questioned, a hint of concern in her voice.

"Don't worry, the company is covering eighty percent of the costs for Little Yu. This rare condition is taken seriously by the hospital's expert group; they're actively consulting to figure out a treatment plan," a male colleague's voice chimed in.

"You really can't see at all? This could be troubling." A third voice sounded not far away.

"Everyone, just put the gifts on the floor by the bedside. It's time for the patient's check-up, they need peace and quiet," an impatient female voice seemed to be that of a nurse.

"Nurse, can I ask how my friend is doing now?" Chen Huiru inquired.

"Doing okay, but you all need to be careful in the future. The patient often sees doctors and nurses as monsters in his dreams and even sleepwalks and attacks people, so be cautious," the nurse replied impatiently.

Yu Hong stood in the safe house, listening to the voices continually echoing around him, his face devoid of expression.

He poured himself a glass of water, drank it in one gulp, planning to see what trick these voices were playing.

"The patient is immersed in his imagined world and won't return to reality. You all visiting him periodically helps his recovery," the nurse's voice lingered, sometimes distant, sometimes near.

"Yes, we understand."

"We'll visit him whenever we can."

"It's such a pity, Little Yu is so...."

Gradually, the sounds of his colleagues exiting echoed.

Yu Hong walked to the doorway, gazing at the continuing downpour outside, feeling inexplicably confused.

*'Was that just a conversation?'* he guessed in his heart. *"Or am I really just dreaming while in a coma? Is everything before me something I imagined?"*

He stretched out his hand and gently touched the wooden door in front of him.

The rough texture of the door and the chilly, solid feedback made him sense the reality of the world.

Retracting his hand, he began to make a fire and cook.

The bright flames leaped about, releasing waves of warmth that bathed the entire cave.

As he added firewood, suddenly Yu Hong's hand fell short, unable to catch something new.

He turned and saw that the place where the firewood was piled was already empty.

"No more dry wood...." he sighed.

"Yes, no more wood," Chen Huiru's voice sounded next to his ear.

"...." Yu Hong hesitated, quickly looking around, but still saw nothing. He remained alone, alone in the cave.

"He's sleep-talking again," another nurse's voice arose. "The doctor says cases like his can only wake by entirely breaking away from their dreams."

"How does he break away from it? Sometimes it seems fun, but after seeing it a lot, he does seem pretty pitiful," Chen Huiru's voice came.

"In a few days, they'll operate on his brain; the morning test confirmed he's affected by a special tumor in his brain, which is why he's been asleep so long. Removing the tumor should help him recover quickly," the nurse said.

Yu Hong kept a blank expression, leaning against the side of the fireplace, quietly listening to the voices.

A while later, everything quieted down.

The voices of the nurse and Chen Huiru faded away, replaced by an increasingly noticeable scraping sound.

It was like something was being cut, a sibilant, slightly grating noise.

Along with the scraping, there was a faint humming from Chen Huiru.

"I'm visiting you again. This time I'll cut some fruit for you.... You're about to have surgery soon; I don't know if it's dangerous, but you must cooperate with the treatment and strive to get well soon."

"...."

Listening to the voice, Yu Hong moved the cooked food aside and picked up a Red Value Detector again.

He'd seized a few of these among the spoils in the past; they were all here with him.

The Red Value readings remained the same, quite calm and stable.

He put down the detector and rose to the door, pulling the peephole cover open.

Outside, the rain poured down heavily, a misty stretch that blurred everything.

He stood quietly at the door, unmoving, gazing out the window, staring at the rain.

*

*

*

Post office, stone house basement.

Li Rushan held his daughter Aisena, sitting in a bright bedroom reading.

"Daddy, just now, I think I heard Uncle Yu Hong knocking," Aisena suddenly turned and asked.

"It doesn't concern us. You misheard," Li Rushan replied with a smile.

"But I really heard it!" Aisena insisted.

"Even if you did hear it, you can't respond. The Echo People suddenly polluted this place. Any response to a sound results in getting infected," Li Rushan sighed, "This Evil Shadow can't be detected for Red Value changes under normal circumstances. It keeps accumulating, creating a desired vision for you, making you think everything is false—if you leave here, all will return to normal."

"Isn't that scary?" Aisena shrunk back in fear.

"I originally planned to leave a note for Little Yu, but...." Li Rushan shook his head, remembering the scene he saw, his pupils involuntarily constricting.

Ten minutes earlier.

Thud.

Outside the stone house of the post office, Li Rushan heard shouting, hurriedly climbed to the surface, looked out the window, and tossed a crumpled note.

The ball of paper hit Yu Hong outside in the yard.

But much to Li Rushan's astonishment, Yu Hong showed no response, stoically ignoring the white paper ball right in front of him, and continued calling at the stone house.

"Is anyone there? Open the door."

"Is anyone there? Open the door."

Yu Hong stood outside the yard, repeating this phrase over and over, banging on the door.

His posture was upright, strangely missing his usual Wolf Fang Club.

Witnessing this, Li Rushan's heart tensed, his voice ready to respond stuck in his throat.

In an instant, he recalled the detailed intel on the Echo People, feeling a chill.

Seeing Yu Hong mechanically knocking outside the yard, he dared not utter a word, quickly shut the window, and retreated downstairs.

After a while, Yu Hong stopped knocking, unreciprocated calls left unanswered, and vacantly turned back the way he came.

The note intended to remind him lay on the grass before him, yet even the conspicuous white failed to catch his eye as he turned and left.

"Daddy, if infected by the Echo People Evil Shadow, how do you counter it?" Aisena's question drew Li Rushan back from his memory.

He came to, sighed deeply, surveyed the quiet bedroom of the basement around him, and finally settled his gaze on his beloved daughter.

"The Echo People's infection is quite troublesome. You get infected by hearing a sound and responding. Initially, there are no dangers—just different sounds—but over time, it becomes increasingly dangerous and unstable.

Until...12 hours later, when it completely erupts."

He paused.

"And the only way to counter it is to have enough luminous stones ready at the moment it erupts."

"But how many are enough?" Aisena asked urgently.

"I don't know...." Li Rushan shook his head, "But it'll need at least a Red Value of negative two thousand...around twenty to thirty Large Pyroxene Stones."

"Uncle Yu Hong should be fine; after all, he works with Large Pyroxene Stones, so he should have enough," Aisena breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Rushan didn't reply.

Only the scene of seeing Yu Hong replayed in his mind.

*According to estimates, if it was just as he got infected, then by now, it should be about time....*

At this thought, a trace of worry flashed across his brows. He had invested so much in Yu Hong, if that kid died, it would be a huge loss...

*

*

*

Inside the cave's safe house.

Yu Hong watched the rain outside, suddenly exhaling deeply, about to turn and rest.

Bang.

Suddenly, a gunshot echoed through the downpour outside.

"Quick... run!!!" a terribly familiar female voice shouted immediately after the gunshot.

Then came the hurried footsteps, harsh breathing.

Yu Hong shuddered, rushed to the peephole again, and looked outside.

But the rain was too heavy, and he couldn't see a thing.

Bang, bang!

Quickly, two more gunshots followed.

"Yiyi!" The second familiar female voice yelled. "Run! I'll distract him!"

"No... don't!" The voice of Stammering Yiyi followed.

Hearing this, Yu Hong could no longer contain himself; he turned to quickly put on the lightweight reinforced gray lizard suit, grabbed his Wolf Fang Club, opened the door, and rushed out.

Crack.

Lightning slashed across the sky, illuminating everything in a ghastly white.

Yu Hong dashed towards the direction of the voices, crossing the yard, charging into the rain.

Thud, thud, with the sound of his heavy footsteps, distinct footprints were left on the ground.

Just after racing out of the yard, he abruptly stopped and quickly looked ahead.

"Something's wrong."

Ahead, he saw only the rain and the swaying woods.

In the dim early-morning wooded area, there was no one but himself.

*'Stammering Yiyi shouldn't be far off in Hope City, how could she suddenly appear here?'*

Realizing something was amiss, his Inner Qi instantly surged, and he doubled back, swiftly returning to the yard.

The luminous stone grass scattered across the yard gave him a considerable sense of security.

Back in the yard, he decided not to venture out anymore and headed straight back to the cave entrance.

But just as he opened the door to go inside, a dull noise emerged behind him.

Thud!!

"Yiyi!" Doctor Xu's cries sounded again.

"Your leg, what happened to your leg!?" she wailed.

Crack.

Listening to the voice, the stick in Yu Hong's hand was gripped so tight it creaked.

He resisted the urge to rush out and investigate again, leaning back against the wall and taking a deep breath.