A Night of Desperation

Yu Hong flipped through the subsequent pages.

“Humus soil should be dug from under trees. Please try to dig in areas where there are more decayed branches and leaves, as the soil extracted from these areas is richer in nutrients. After digging up the soil, it needs to be exposed to the sun for three days to kill the insect eggs and weed seeds.”

The following pages contained details on how to place the soil in boxes, maintain humidity, how much water to apply, how to introduce mushroom spores, how frequently to observe, and how to deal with various issues.

All the necessary details were covered.

In just a few pages, the content was concise and there was even a reminder on how to prevent mushroom lung.

After reading through the mushroom cultivation section, Yu Hong had a rough plan for how to farm mushrooms.

“The key is I don’t have the spores yet, or the cultivation boxes!” he frowned, “So this was waiting for me.”

He went back to the previous page and saw a line: “If you need to purchase spores and cultivation boxes, you can inquire about the specific prices.”

Shaking his head in speechlessness, Yu Hong continued to strengthen a new array and flipped through the rest of the content.

Then he noticed a problem.

“Wait, mushroom cultivation is actually the foundation for other types of farming?”

“After cultivating mushrooms, they are used to raise cockroaches. Once there are enough cockroaches, they are used to raise lizards. One cycle after another. But the initial seeds for each cycle must be bought from the post office.”

Now Yu Hong understood how the old man had been providing three types of food—mushrooms, cockroaches, and lizards—on his own.

As for wild vegetables, they were everywhere in the forest, and he had already become familiar with many varieties by following Little Stutterer.

After finishing the survival manual, Yu Hong picked up the martial arts leg technique manual.

“Ugh,” he looked at the drawings in the manual with some exasperation.

The book contained only three moves.

Low kick, side grab and kick, and an upward thrusting kick.

The low kick, according to the picture, involved kicking someone’s lower leg to make them lose balance and fall.

The side grab and kick was more brutal. It involved grabbing the opponent’s arm, turning sideways, and kicking their waist or abdomen with the heel. The force created a tearing and pulling effect due to the arm being grabbed, making this move extremely damaging. If it succeeded, a normal person would immediately suffer severe internal injuries and collapse.

The upward thrusting kick was the simplest move: kicking directly to the opponent’s vulnerable area between the legs.

“These three moves. I could probably come up with them myself,” Yu Hong thought in disbelief, continuing to flip through.

The following content caught his interest.

The manual described how to use these three moves most effectively in various situations, different postures, and from different positions.

“Now this is more like it,” he nodded slightly.

After carefully studying both manuals, the sky had turned dark again.

After cooking some food and lighting a fire, he resumed strengthening the array.

For three consecutive days, Yu Hong stayed in the cave, either practicing advanced physical training or studying and transcribing the survival and martial arts manuals.

The reinforced charcoal lines were thin, and he quickly transcribed the content of both manuals.

He wrote on thin wooden planks that he had chopped using an axe. These wooden planks were stacked together to form a book.

After completing the transcription, he returned the manuals to Li Runshan and asked about the three problems he had accumulated.

Li Runshan answered his questions readily, then started selling the mushroom cultivation boxes, clean spores, and a simple training mannequin for leg techniques that he had recently made.

The guy seemed to be targeting Yu Hong for a profit.

But to be self-sufficient, Yu Hong still bought the boxes and spores with the Great Luminous stone.

After bringing them back, he began digging soil to expose it to the sun while preparing clean water for future cultivation.

He also needed to carve out a separate space in the cave to serve as the mushroom cultivation room.

Although there were special cultivation boxes, the spores released by the mature mushrooms could escape through any gaps, so the risk was still significant.

He didn’t want to end up like the old man, coughing, feverish, and weak.

Soon, two more days passed.

All of Yu Hong’s arrays were finally fully strengthened, covering the entire cave and sealing every corner, forming a standard Luminous Stone-tight room.

The dark ink could now be freed up to reinforce other things.

The most urgent thing Yu Hong wanted to strengthen was the martial arts leg technique manual.

Inside the safety room of the cave.

He quietly observed the stack of leg technique wooden planks in front of him. There were thirteen planks in total, representing the leg technique training manual Li Runshan had sold to him.

“Last time I enhanced ordinary physical training into advanced physical training, so what will happen if I enhance these ordinary leg combat techniques?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yu Hong felt a cool sensation inside his body. He had now developed four threads of cool energy, meaning he could restore his physical stamina four times even under extreme exhaustion.

Although he was still like an ordinary person in most respects—just running a bit faster than others—this cool energy had completely turned him into a small superhero compared to regular humans.

“Normally, if someone can run five kilometers, I can run twenty kilometers. If they can run ten kilometers, I can run forty kilometers! This advanced physical training works best when enhanced early on, as it creates a snowball effect, making me stronger and stronger.”

With this thought, Yu Hong exhaled, reaching out to touch the wooden planks.

He silently chanted in his heart.

“Enhance leg technique training manual, with the direction: internal force martial arts leg techniques!”

Last time, when his mind focused on a martial arts style, the high-level physical training was successfully enhanced. After tasting the benefits, this time, he envisioned the martial arts scenes he had seen in movies.

A flash of dark ink appeared.

Soon, the dark ink responded.

“Would you like to begin enhancement?”

Yu Hong looked down and saw a countdown on the wooden planks: 4 days, 17 hours, and 41 minutes.

“Really?!” His heart lifted with a sense of excitement.

The advanced physical training had given him a huge physical advantage. Now, if the enhanced leg technique combat skills also greatly improved his combat ability, it would be a huge survival boost in this harsh environment.

Able to fight and run, coupled with enhanced bulletproof gear, he would truly be armed to the teeth!

“I hope it gets strong enough!” Yu Hong thought eagerly. “Last time, enhancing the high-level physical training only took about nine hours. This time, it’s over four days, so it must be far stronger than the high-level physical training!”

*

*

*

Baihe City

In the eerie underground passage.

The ground was covered in abandoned railway tracks, dark with occasional red rust, and every so often, piles of various junk were scattered around.

Xu Yang, along with two team members, holding hand-crank flashlights, walked along the edges of the railway tracks.

They passed by piles of junk, and the air was filled with a musty smell and the stench of dirty water.

The trio walked, observing the surroundings.

The walls on either side were covered with chaotic graffiti and slogans, with a lighted room every so often, where curses and loud laughter could be heard.

Xu Yang furrowed his brow and continued inward. He soon arrived at a room with the sign “Old Cat Bar.”

Outside the door, the walls were covered in green mold and had a slimy reflection.

Xu Yang looked up and noticed water seemed to be leaking from the ceiling, with a fine stream of water dripping down the walls, splitting at the doorframe and pooling on the ground.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust and entered the room.

It was indeed a bar, with red lighting dyeing the individual sofas red.

Each sofa was separated by wooden boards.

There were only a handful of people inside, with some waitresses dressed scantily, serving food and drinks.

At the center, four people were gathered, loudly playing cards. The noise was coming from them.

“How about a glass of mushroom wine?” As Xu Yang and his team entered, a ponytailed girl in minimal clothing approached them.

“We’re here to find someone.” Xu Yang impatiently pushed her aside and walked toward a corner of the bar.

The trio, in their full joint military uniforms, made the bar’s security frown but not approach.

They quickly reached a corner, where a tall, burly man stood, about two meters tall.

“Mr. Bai Mang?” Xu Yang asked in a deep voice.

The burly man lowered his head, his hands resting on the table like a crouched bear. His black hair was disheveled, and his gray shirt was unbuttoned at the chest, revealing his muscular torso.

He appeared to be in his early forties, with tired features and dull eyes, with traces of vomit around his mouth.

This was a man who seemed to be in a miserable state.

“Something up?” The man raised his head coldly and scanned Xu Yang and his team.

“We’ve got a job for you. The reward is negotiable.” Xu Yang’s voice was low.

“Say it. What’s the job?” Bai Mang asked coldly.

“Go to a place two hundred kilometers away, near the Luminous Stone Mine, find a man, and bring him back within six months,” Xu Yang explained.

“Too far. Not interested,” Bai Mang replied coldly. “And I have no information on this person.”

“Just an ordinary adult male, probably carrying some gear. He shouldn’t be too difficult to handle—any normal new recruit could deal with him. The main challenge is the journey,” Xu Yang quickly added. “We can offer fifty pounds of jerky, twenty pounds of dried mushrooms, and one hundred pounds of synthetic flour.”

“Too little,” Bai Mang didn’t even look up. “Add five silver coins.”

Xu Yang paused for a moment.

“Alright, a third upfront, the rest when we return,” Xu Yang agreed.

“Fine. Three days from now, come back here with the payment, and I’ll head out immediately.”

“Good!”

Xu Yang and his team left.

Outside the bar, one of the team members couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Captain Xu, that’s five silver coins. Are we really agreeing to that? One silver coin can be exchanged for ten to fifteen pounds of jerky!”

“Bai Mang is very capable, with skills in firearms, close combat, and stealth. Aside from his attitude, everything else checks out. And as long as we capture that man, it won’t be a problem. If the person disappears, even if Bai Mang fails, we don’t have to pay the remainder,” Xu Yang smiled and explained.

“Also,” he paused. “You got the exchange rate wrong. Nowadays, the national bank gives twenty-three pounds of jerky for one silver tower coin. After all, it’s a currency used to refine sunlight series materials.”

(End of Chapter)