Night of Despair

"Don't try to fool me... don't try to fool me..." Yu Hong murmured softly, closing his eyes and shutting out his inner thoughts, listening only to his own voice.

The current cave safehouse had truly achieved the effect of the Pyroxene Secret Room. And because it used the Talisman Array, it was safer than the original version, with less radiation.

"As long as I don't go out, you can't harm me... as long as I don't go out..." he repeated the words.

Thinking back now, he became increasingly certain that everything had started to behave oddly when Zhou Xiaoling and her sister appeared.

Before the two of them came over, the sounds around him were all normal—never had there been any suddenly occurring noises. But after they appeared, everything changed.

Yu Hong remained motionless, his back against the wall like a statue.

The sounds outside continued for over ten minutes, gradually dimming and finally disappearing, returning to the previous sound of rain.

Yu Hong didn't move, still leaning against the wall, waiting for time to pass.

After more than half an hour, he was sure no sounds were coming from outside and finally allowed himself to relax, standing up straight.

He poured himself a glass of water, drank it all in one gulp, and checked the Talisman Array inside the safehouse to ensure everything was intact, feeling much more at ease.

He had now accumulated three silver Talisman Arrays, a pile of more than twenty ordinary Talisman Arrays, and more than ten Large Pyroxene Stones.

The Red Value of the Large Pyroxene Stone hovered around eighty, the ordinary Talisman Array about a hundred, and one silver Talisman Array was five hundred.

With such strong protection, not to mention the numerous Talisman Arrays carved into every surface of the cave safehouse, Yu Hong had no fear of shadowy invasions.

It was just that sound....

*"If it's not an Evil Shadow or shadow, then... could it really be me..."*

Yu Hong repeatedly examined the Red Value Detector, confirming all data displayed was normal. He also verified that he had no positive values of Evil Shadow or shadow on himself.

With a sigh of relief, he removed his bulletproof vest and sat down by the fireplace to rest for a while.

"Take him to the operating room, it's ready over there."

Suddenly, a steady male voice startled him, catching him off guard.

Yu Hong shivered all over, his alertness suddenly heightened as he looked around.

But as before, nothing was there.

He stood up.

Soon, he heard the sound of wheels turning.

Then doors opening and closing, the elevator's ascent and descent indicator sounds.

Becoming a little restless, in a short while, Yu Hong heard a faint humming noise approaching.

"The anesthesia injection is done, but the dosage is slightly low. He might feel something now, but it shouldn't be a big problem," the male voice said again.

"Increase the rotation speed, be careful with the angle when we perform the craniotomy later, I'll try to make the incision as small as possible."

"Okay, doctor."

The piercing hum, like that of a cutting saw, became clearer and rang louder in his ears.

Yu Hong felt a tingling on his scalp, he could clearly hear the sound of the saw right in the middle of the cave.

He walked a few steps, pinpointed the exact location of the saw, instinctively pulling away from it.

"Watch out," the doctor's voice appeared once more, "I'm about to start."

"Okay," replied the nurse's voice.

Buzz.

The sharp hum slowly approached Yu Hong.

It got closer and closer.

It was as if an invisible saw was hovering in the air, continually moving rapidly towards him.

Moving towards his head.

"Still trying to fool me?!" Yu Hong's grip tightened on the Wolf Fang Club and he swung it fiercely.

But the club sliced through the air, hitting nothing, not even producing the usual whistling sound a swing would make.

As if in a silent film with the sound turned off, Yu Hong heard nothing other than the continuously approaching sound of the saw rotating.

Sweat started to dampen his forehead, his heart began to race.

In his ears, the entire safehouse transformed completely into an operating room.

"Pay attention to the patient's reaction, hold him down, don't let him struggle and escape," the doctor's steady voice came back.

"Alright," two nurses' voices sounded simultaneously.

Buzz...

The saw drew ever closer.

Closer and closer.

Sweat increased on Yu Hong's forehead.

His eyes locked on the Red Value Detector, he let the Wolf Fang Club fall from one hand and swiftly grabbed a piece of the silver Talisman Array.

But to no avail.

The detector recorded all normal values, and the silver Talisman Array sustained no damage.

The buzzing sound of the saw was now within arm's reach, seemingly about to touch his forehead, almost at his hair.

Soon.

Soon it would be sawing down.

"Make sure to hold the patient, the reduced anesthetic is making him struggle a bit," the doctor's voice repeatedly urged.

"I'll count to three-two-one, you all exert force together."

"Okay!" "Ready."

Two nurses responded quickly.

Sweat was pouring profusely from Yu Hong, and his muscles were growing increasingly tense.

He didn't know which side to believe—if he trusted the sounds, then he should immediately escape now.

If he trusted his eyes on everything in front of him, then he must remain in the safehouse, staying unmovable.

Thunk!

In a sudden roll, he moved from his position.

But it was futile, the surroundings seemed to have only the voices of the doctor and nurse, and the saw.

No other sounds of objects colliding existed, everything faded to silence, only the muted sound of the saw remained.

"Three."

The doctor began counting down. The saw was still hovering in front of his forehead.

"Two."

Yu Hong widened his eyes, swinging the silver Talisman Array wildly in an attempt to dispel the sounds, but it was futile.

His body grew increasingly tense, to the point of pain.

A creepy, tingling sensation spread progressively from his forehead, as if a sharp object was creeping ever closer.

"One!" the doctor shouted. Repeating, seemingly.

"Ahhhhh!!!" Yu Hong roared loudly, letting out a frenzied scream!

With one hand grasping a silver Talisman Array, and the other reclaiming the Wolf Fang Club, he unleashed his Inner Qi in a burst across his body, with a layer of translucent cuticle faintly swelling under his skin.

"Go to hell!!!"

He swung both the Talisman Array and the Wolf Fang Club wildly, and then angrily hurled himself into the corner packed with Talisman boards.

"Two!"

Lying low in the corner, Yu Hong pressed Talisman Arrays and Large Pyroxene Stones to himself desperately, deciding to trust what he saw!

"Three!!!"

Buzz!!!

At that moment, an immense booming hum exploded next to his ear.

The cave's lights started flickering wildly, fluctuating in brightness.

Lying prone on the ground, Yu Hong suddenly started to seep out a transparent, water-like gel from his body.

The gel exuded rapidly from every pore of his body, pouring out of his clothes. The very moment it met the air, it was immediately counteracted and vaporized by some powerful force the surrounding Talisman Array emitted.

Buzz!!!

A faint humming resonated around the cave.

Inside the cave, all Talisman Arrays began to emit a faint glow as if resisting something.

On the ground, the abundant piles of luminous stones began to glow too, the brightest among them being the three silver Talisman Arrays.

These emitted silver radiance as they madly unleashed an unseen exotic radiation.

This radiation forcefully merged with that of other arrays, forming a field that ruthlessly pressed down the vast amounts of transparent gel exuding from Yu Hong's body.

The values on the Red Value Detector fluctuated madly, dropping rapidly from an initial 3500 when the gel appeared—plummeting alongside the glowing arrays—plummeting quickly down to 2000, and then continued downward.

Ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Thirty seconds.

The detector's readings fell to zero in an instant, then emitted a beeping alarm.

Whew!

The gel on Yu Hong's body finally completely stopped seeping, and with the evaporation and disappearance of the last bit of gel, the pile of Talisman boards next to him turned completely ashen, indicating they've been fully consumed.

Likewise, the three silver Talisman Arrays also turned gray, depleted entirely.

Not only that, at least half the array patterns on the walls also dimmed at that moment, and only a third or so, farther away, managed to barely hold their original state.

A minute later, everything fell silent.

"Ngh..." Yu Hong slowly rose from the ground, shaking his head.

Looking around, the first thing he saw was the completely depleted pile of Talisman boards...

His expression changed as he quickly picked one up for a closer look.

"All consumed..."

He set down the board, moving to inspect the silver Talisman Arrays, which showed the same post-use condition.

"Just as I thought... I gambled correctly... that voice was trying to force me out of the cave, away from here!"

In that instant, Yu Hong understood everything in his heart.

Connecting all the dots, he realized those earlier sounds—colleagues, surgeries, the voice of Stammering Yiyi, and Doctor Xu—were all meant to lure him away from the safehouse, beyond the protective charm of those many arrays.

But he held firm! Even when it came down to it, he didn't buy into the voices' temptations.

"What on earth... Could it be, that's a Language Spirit?" Yu Hong panted heavily. With a silver Talisman Array in hand, he used a Black Mark to restore it to its original state swiftly.

Seeing the countdown appear and start ticking, he finally set down the silver array board, standing up straight.

Only now did he notice that he was completely drenched in sweat.

Recalling the earlier events, they were truly perilous.

Especially the beginning with the voice of Stammering Yiyi, which nearly lured him out of the safehouse. Thank goodness he realized the anomaly in time and burst back with Inner Qi.

"Seems like it's safe now." Yu Hong checked the cave again, confirming there were no more sounds around his ears. After busting around busily for more than half an hour, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Seizing the opportunity while the silver Talisman Array was restoring, he walked cautiously to the door, pulling open the surveillance window to look outside.

"!!"

In the outside courtyard, the once vibrant Pyroxene grass had now completely withered and turned black, devoid of any lively aura.

It looked like a frost-stricken lawn, utterly devoid of life.

Yu Hong's face darkened. He shut the surveillance window, not wanting to look further, sweeping through the cave before heading to the pile of consumed Large Pyroxene Stones, sitting down cross-legged, forcibly suppressing his massive mental exhaustion, and pulling over the luminous stone blanket to cover himself fully, closing his eyes for rest.

This time, no other sounds permeated his ears.

He slept soundly until dawn.

No telling how long had passed. Drowsily, Yu Hong awoke from his slumber.

The cave was now brightly lit, the crack in the surveillance window on the door casting bright sunlight into the cave.

Yu Hong pulled off the luminous stone blanket that had somehow fallen off during his sleep, standing up, finding the silver array board had restored. He quickly replaced it to the door's back, pulling in another spent silver array to continue restoring.

After dressing in the reinforced White Bear suit, and wielding the Wolf Fang Club, he wasted no time and began the routine Heavy Leg Skill training.

The previously spent Inner Qi had been fully replenished. Next, he needed to push for reaching the eighth Inner Qi. Once it condensed, only breaking through the ninth would remain, allowing him a full-body enhancement and entry into the Heavy Leg Skill's Second Layer, introducing the second move.

He truly wanted to go immediately to the post office to inquire about Li Rushan, but the changes from yesterday left him with lingering trepidation, his mood not fully recovered.