Trouble 3 by Alliance Hierarch

The sun scorched, leaving a prickly, numbing sensation on the skin. The temperature had already climbed to at least thirty degrees Celsius.

Yu Hong, fully armed, had walked only a short while before he was drenched in sweat, but he dared not remove his gear.

In this kind of environment, he had to be on guard not just against "shadow" and Evil Shadow, but also people.

So no matter how hot, he had to bear it.

After walking for more than ten minutes, he quickly arrived at the post office gathering area.

Waiting in front of the stone house for a while, as he waited for others to come, he also carefully surveyed the surroundings.

The ash-white stone houses stood silently among the dark green woods.

The exterior of the houses was full of mottled, unknown stains, with many worn and collision-scars on the edges and corners.

Some green and grey-brown vines clung to the roofs.

A gentle breeze blew, causing the branches and leaves of these plants to gently sway.

Yu Hong looked down at the ground, his brow furrowing slightly.

The ground outside the stone house seemed to have some footprints...

"Yu Hong, why are you here so early today?" Jenny's voice came from behind him.

"Uh-huh, the peak period is coming, and troubles are approaching, so we have to prepare in advance, but now the problem is how to handle food," Yu Hong turned around and looked toward her.

Jenny had changed into a fitted camouflage suit, looking fatigued, with bloodshot eyes. Obviously, she hadn't rested well.

As she approached, a sour stench emanated from her body, indicating she had not even had time to clean herself.

"I tried to cultivate mushrooms, but the ones that grew were inedible. They were all mixed fungi, toxic ones," she sighed.

"The ones we usually eat are cow leg mushrooms, right?" Yu Hong had flipped through Old Yu's record book these past few days. Although there weren't detailed breeding processes in it, there were various troubles and issues he encountered during cultivation. This was essentially Old Yu's book of mistakes, which was very valuable for reference.

Cow leg mushrooms, similar to chicken leg mushrooms, are a type of non-photosynthetic mushroom, non-toxic, with a mature body quite large, yielding a substantial amount in each cultivation, making them suitable as a supplementary food.

The key point is, these mushrooms do not require light, making them extremely suitable for their enclosed, humid environment.

"Could it be that you didn't take care during cultivation to prevent the spores of other mushrooms? After all, the mixed fungi couldn't just appear out of nowhere," Yu Hong pondered.

"I was very careful, but there's simply no way to completely prevent it," Jenny shook her head. "I heard that Old Yu previously had his own cultivation box specifically for cow leg mushrooms. If we could get that, it should be easy to succeed."

"Where's the cultivation box?"

"In the post office basement."

Both of them fell silent for a moment.

Nobody dared to go into the post office basement anymore; once infected with the handprint and facing the Evil Shadow Withered Woman, much stronger than the shadow, even the united forces of the town couldn't withstand her and had to evacuate and migrate, not to mention the few ordinary people like them.

"I also tried to cultivate. I remember before, Old Yu often secretly dug the soil in some corners of the woods; I suspect that cultivating mushrooms probably requires a specific type of soil, or else it won't be successful," Dr. Xu's tired voice came from beside them.

She had switched to a black long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, her lips chapped and her complexion pale.

"And I must remind you, when trying to cultivate mushrooms, you must be aware of a disease called mushroom lung."

"Mushroom lung?" Yu Hong seemed to recall something, his expression changing slightly. He remembered seeing some information about this disease online.

"Yes, during the cultivation of mushrooms, once it's almost time for the mushrooms to mature, they will silently release spores, and if these fungal spores are inhaled into the lungs, they can very likely cause mushroom lung disease. The symptoms include cough, white phlegm, chest tightness and pain, wheezing, and sometimes fever, heart palpitations, and nausea," Dr. Xu paused, "Of course, this disease requires long-term inhalation of mushroom spores to result, so as long as you are cautious, pay attention to ventilation, and wear masks, it shouldn't be a big problem."

"No wonder... Old Yu always had that relentless cough... maybe he already had a problem," Jenny mused thoughtfully.

"There's a possibility, but talking about it now is of no use. Alright, with the peak period coming, the key question now is how to get food?" Dr. Xu shifted the conversation.

The three exchanged glances, none speaking any further.

For a while, the breeze blew, and the sun's heat poured over them, yet they could not feel any warmth.

Without food, they would not survive more than a week.

Yu Hong was somewhat better off; his protein bars had strong endurance, one could last him a day, and coupled with the recent food exchange with Old Yu, his food supplies could last another two weeks.

But both Jenny and Dr. Xu were not so well off. Judging by their appearance, they would probably run out of food in a few more days.

"We can only find other foods to tide us over first, if we can't figure out a cultivation method," Jenny spoke gravely, clearly having thought hard about this before coming. "As for what other food, I guess I don't need to spell it out for you?"

"You mean... scavenging other people's residences?" Dr. Xu was the first to catch on. "Is that possible? They must have taken everything with them, right?"

"There's definitely more below the post office, and I know about a few burrows of people who died during the peak period... There's definitely something there, it's just that the doors are not easy to open," Jenny replied.

"Shall we go?" Dr. Xu looked towards Yu Hong, her admiration for him tinged with respect after visiting his survivor's safe house. She understood he wasn't all talk, but genuinely capable.

It's just a pity that Yiyi left too soon; otherwise, with Yu Hong, there was a real chance of better days.

"Let's go take a look," Yu Hong nodded. If he could get some valuable miscellaneous items from others, it would be worthwhile even without food.

Especially a Red Value detector, which he was somewhat eager for; if he could get one and strengthen it, it might be of great use. At least environmental warnings would definitely be no problem.

"Okay, I'll lead the way in a bit; make sure you all follow closely," Jenny nodded, as if she had anticipated their agreement.

"By the way, where's Aifu? Isn't she coming out?" Dr. Xu suddenly asked.

"She said she felt unwell and has been hiding in the bedroom doing who knows what. She's not moving much, so she's not using up much energy; I didn't bother her," Jenny replied.

"Speaking of which, wasn't Aifu in town before? Why did she suddenly come back? Why didn't she migrate with everyone else from town?" Dr. Xu asked curiously.

"That... I'm not clear on that," Jenny's face showed a hint of discomfort. "It seems like she offended someone in town. I don't know the details. But as you know, Aifu is so beautiful; she always attracts a lot of attention from the opposite sex."

"That's true, being too beautiful in these times isn't good..." Dr. Xu agreed with a sigh of resignation.

Yu Hong walked at the end of the group, wiping sweat from his forehead while listening to the conversation between the two ahead of him. His expression turned contemplative when he heard about offenses.

In the silent woods, the three equipped with tools left the stone house of the post office and proceeded along a gully eroded by rainwater, soon arriving in front of a rising hill.

At the bottom of the hill was a rough iron door.

The door was black with paint, and yellow rust peeked through where the edges were flaking.

Jenny stopped in front of the iron door, picked up a thick branch, and knocked on the door panel.

Clang, clang, clang.

The door let out a dull booming sound.

"This is Elxi's place, he lived here with his father. One day they went far away to mine pyroxene ore, and then they never came back."

"Elxi, eh... such a shy young lad... He and his father were good people... They even helped me chop wood..." Dr. Xu recalled the person as well, his eyes showing a touch of melancholy. "Good people always seem to die young in this world."

"It has nothing to do with being good or bad; living long is all about being careful enough," Yu Hong added.

"That's true," Dr. Xu nodded.

The three stopped talking, and they let Yu Hong step forward to use the chisel he had brought and started hammering at the door.

Clang, clang, clang!

The iron door was so corroded that the lock broke off after a few hits.

Yu Hong pulled open the door, and a visibly dense cloud of dust poured out from inside.

A mixture of moldy and foul odors assaulted the trio's nostrils.

"What is that stench!?" Jenny quickly backed away, covering her nose, her face contorting.

"It's a body..." Dr. Xu covered his nose and squinted as he looked into the pitch.

In the cramped burrow, a gray-yellow corpse had decomposed to the point of being skin wrapped around bones, lying still on the ground, surrounded by tiny insects.

The body wore threadbare long sleeves and pants of a grayish-white color, its arms were bound with a strip of gauze, and it wore black-framed glasses.

It had its face turned to the side; its eye sockets, now gouged and reduced to just two holes, stared directly at the door as if it still harbored a longing to escape before death.

"It's Elxi... I was the one who bandaged him up with that gauze. I didn't expect him to come back..." Dr. Xu recognized the identity of the corpse, a trace of sadness emerging in his eyes.

"Pity... he was a good young man..."

"Forget pity now, we don't have much time," Yu Hong stepped over the body and entered the burrow, holding his breath.

After a quick search, he soon found two bags of jerked meat, a bag of dried mushrooms, and a half-eaten bag of dried wild vegetables.

"The food's still here; he didn't die of starvation."

He moved over to a corner where a fire had been and picked up an aluminum kettle tilted atop the heap, giving it a shake—it still had half a kettle of water inside.

"There's water too; he didn't die of thirst."

"It was the 'shadow'."

Dr. Xu bent down and picked up a bag of pyroxene that had turned to powder from the ground. Among the powdery remains, faint traces of red-tinged rune fragments could still be seen.

Yu Hong shook his head, carried the food out, and having checked it was fine, shared it with the others.

The trio then moved on to the next house.

They continuously broke into burrows, and as time passed, they visited other abandoned survivor's safe houses.

Some were empty and barren with nothing to offer; in others, they found some food.

After visiting five safe houses in succession, each person ended up with an average of two bags of jerked meat, a bag or so of dried mushrooms, and dried wild vegetables—sufficient to address their immediate needs.

After finishing with the last house, Jenny glanced at the sky.

"There's still time. We can make a trip to the nearby Pyroxene Ore Mine, smash some luminous stones to take back for later use. Should we go?" She looked at the other two.

"How far is it from here?" asked Yu Hong.

"About two kilometers from here, but the path through the mountain woods is much tougher than open ground, so if we're going, we need to hurry," Jenny replied.

"Let's go tomorrow. It's too much of a rush now, and if anything unexpected happens along the way, getting trapped overnight in the wilderness could be dangerous," Yu Hong frowned.