Night of Despair

Chapter 47  Idea Three

"Do you plan on buying some, or is this your...?" Yu Hong asked as he looked at the plump little girl and spoke in a low voice.

"Um, my daughter, Aisena," Li Rushan smiled. "She's very sensible and also knows how to draw. I'll show you her drawings when I get a chance, they're beautiful."

As he spoke, he pulled out a rolled-up piece of white paper from his waist pouch.

The paper listed a variety of items available for trade.

'Edible wild vegetables.'

'Beef Leg Mushrooms.'

'Sanitary Roaches.'

'Red-tailed Lizards.'

'Custom Small Furniture.'

'Postal Service for Letters.'

'Postal Service for Parcels.'

'Candles.'

'Basic Survival Skill Instruction.'

'Basic Combat Skills Instruction.'

'Basic Gun and Knife Skills Instruction.'

"....." Looking at this extremely detailed trade list, Yu Hong fell silent.

"No wonder you dare to bring a child to such a desolate place, you really are amazing!" he said in a low voice, impressed. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"You flatter me..." Li Rushan smiled. "These are actually all skills essential for a postman to have, especially when some places lack everything, and you have to make do on your own."

"What could these items be exchanged for?" Yu Hong inquired. "I see that there are no prices marked."

"It depends on what you have. For example, I am currently cultivating mushrooms and breeding roaches, so food and water are quite scarce. If you could provide some support, that could be used for trade. Of course, if you have luminous stones or Large Pyroxene Stones, that would be even better," Li Rushan said with a smile.

"I have Large Pyroxene Stones, but we'll have to discuss the price... Also, if I exchange for this Basic Survival Manual, are you telling me you would teach me how to cultivate mushrooms?" Yu Hong asked.

"That's possible, depending on what you need and lack; we can fill in the gaps," Li Rushan nodded. "These things aren't really a secret, they're just essential survival skills needed in the wild."

Yu Hong nodded, realizing that Li Rushan seemed much more capable than the previous postmen.

"I'd like you to teach me how to cultivate mushrooms and lizards, as well as basic combat and firearms skills. What would the price be?"

"Do you have any extra food? I'm running a bit short here," Li Rushan inquired.

"Would this work?" Yu Hong pulled out a protein bar and handed it over. "One of these can keep you full for an entire day. It's very satisfying and I made it myself."

Li Rushan raised an eyebrow, took the protein bar, and examined it.

"Can I try it?"

"Of course," Yu Hong nodded.

Li Rushan sniffed it, then broke off a small piece and put it in his mouth, narrowing his eyes and forming faint wrinkles on his face.

"High in calories! There's sesame, peanuts, butter, sugar, cream, rice flour... hmm, and many other things I can't identify... This is not something you could have made, you don't have the resources."

Yu Hong was startled, not expecting the other man to identify so many ingredients with just a taste. The sweetness of the protein bar masked most flavors, and he couldn't discern any. He hadn't expected...

"You're right, these are my leftover supplies, and indeed, I don't have many left. Just tell me if we can make the exchange," he said, keeping a poker face.

"We can do that. For the cultivation techniques, I'll charge you ten of these bars, provided that one truly lasts a day," Li Rushan nodded. "The other skills...combat and firearms... combat is divided into many subcategories and requires a lot of calories; proper dietary support is essential, or it can even be harmful, so I suggest you choose a specific area to learn first, such as boxing, ground techniques, kicks, knife fighting, etc.

As for firearms, at most I can give you a manual I've recorded for you to practice on your own. To be honest, there's a shortage of bullets now, and because firearms are useless against the Black Disaster, many arms factories have been repurposed for other uses. So with guns and ammo, we're running out of them fast, and they're usually only used internally. I suggest you switch to shooting; I happen to be very experienced with slingshots."

"Slingshots??" Yu Hong blinked, wondering if he had heard wrong.

"Yes, that's right. This one." Li Rushan pulled out a thick-handled metal slingshot from behind his back, with more than a dozen rubber bands on it.

"It might be worth considering. Though it's a bit of a hassle, the ammunition can be stones, which are readily available, and it's sufficiently lethal."

"Hmm... I'll think about it," Yu Hong was at a loss for words. "Since you're skilled in breeding techniques, you mentioned you've already started growing mushrooms?"

"Yes, they will be ready in about a week, and then the cycle will go quite fast, I've brought the spores," Li Rushan nodded. "So right now, I would need a week's worth of food. If you can provide fourteen of these protein bars for a week, I can trade you instruction from the survival manual and three sessions of classified combat training."

Yu Hong was somewhat tempted.

Getting the survival manual would allow him to procure his own food without always relying on others.

And combat skills... were also a pressing need for him because, sooner or later, he would be able to enhance his bulletproof armor; in an age when firearms were gradually being phased out, hand-to-hand combat would become a critical ability.

The most important thing was, he had mastered the Advanced Physical Training Method, which greatly enhanced the strength of his legs and his overall endurance.

So... he had to get prepared before the rain.

Last time, if he hadn't had a gun, he would have definitely lost to Jenny. And if Jenny had a bulletproof vest, he would most likely have been taken down.

Thinking about it, if there was a skilled fighter wearing a bulletproof vest, someone nimble and hard to shoot that could close in fast...

He would probably be done for.

'This danger is much more troublesome than the Black Disaster and Evil Shadow... at least they don't try to pick locks with all sorts of methods...' Yu Hong calculated in his mind.

He counted his protein bar inventory. All the jerky had been converted into protein bars. Counting his own and the two bags of jerky he had scavenged and converted, he had a total of thirty-six protein bars.

If he traded fourteen to the other person, he'd still have twenty-two left, which was enough.

"Okay, if the mushrooms are ready in a week and can be replenished, then no problem," Yu Hong agreed after doing the math.

"That's great. I was about to cut my daily rations in half. You've really helped me out," Li Rushan said with a smile, "So, what kind of combat skill do you want to trade for? Boxing, knife techniques, leg techniques, ground tactics—I know them all."

"...Leg techniques," Yu Hong felt that his legs were getting stronger with the training. Continuing to strengthen his advantage and increasing his superiority over others was the best choice.

"Good choice, start with leg techniques and you can run faster too! You don't need to be faster than a shadow, just faster than the people next to you. The same goes for the Black Disaster," Li Rushan said with a chuckle.

The two set a time to meet and exchange their goods, then quickly parted ways.

Yu Hong went back to get the protein bars, counted them, and once again headed to the post office.

They stood opposite each other, separated by the stone house's fence.

"Here's the survival manual you wanted, and the basic steps for the leg technique training I've put together. Take a look and ask me if there's anything you don't understand," Li Rushan handed over two small booklets to Yu Hong, the edges of which were quite worn, indicating they were well-arranged in advance.

"Remember to return them after you're done. You can copy them, just don't damage them."

Yu Hong wordlessly took the booklets, watching as his bag of protein bars was taken away, feeling somewhat swindled.

If he had known, he would've only agreed to trade for two booklets; he wouldn't have been willing to spend so many protein bars.

He picked up the booklets and began to flip through the Basic Survival Manual.

On the first page was clearly written: Detailed Explanation of the Ecological Recycling Breeding System.

"Go back and read it slowly, and if you have any questions, come to ask me. But you're limited to three times. Three times for survival matters, three times for leg techniques," Li Rushan reminded with a smirk.

"Three times? Why didn't you mention this earlier?" Yu Hong asked, nonplussed.

"What I said before is one thing, but I can't be expected to teach you for a long time just for a little bit of food, can I? It's only worth about ten days' worth of food, so you do the math," Li Rushan said with a smile.

He seemed to enjoy smiling, a strong man, tall and burly, but his smile gave off the impression of being sly, full of calculated thoughts.

"...Fine..." Yu Hong understood. "In that case, if I have more questions in the future, beyond the three times, and still want to come to ask you, I'll trade Large Pyroxene Stones with you for it, two hours per question. How about that?"

"Large Pyroxene Stones..." Li Rushan's eyes flickered, "Alright, two hours is worth it."

"Then I'll go back and take a closer look," Yu Hong nodded, slowly backing away, and after retreating about ten meters, he quickly turned and dashed into the woods, soon disappearing from sight.

As he ran, the outline of the gun he had on his lower back became unintentionally conspicuous, catching Li Rushan's eye.

Li Rushan unconsciously smiled, weighing the protein bars in his hand before heading back to the stone house.

"Aisena, look what I brought back! Some delicious sweets!" he entered cheerfully, and soon after, the stone house echoed with the cheers of a little girl.

"Another daughter? Coming to such a place all alone with a daughter..." Yu Hong walked back, speculating silently.

'Jenny was like this, and so is this Li Rushan. Could it be that he too had some accident with his daughter and brought her here hoping to solve the problem with luminous stones?'

According to the experimental records in the manual, luminous stone disease seemed to counteract some of the marks and troubles brought on by the Black Disaster outside.

'Otherwise, if there wasn't a compelling need, who would be willing to leave the well-appointed districts of Hope City and come to such a remote and dangerous place?'

Back at his cave, Yu Hong put down the two booklets.

Picking up the first, the Basic Survival Manual, he flipped it open and, beyond the title on the first page, there was even a table of contents.

'Mushroom cultivation – pages 1 to 4'

'Roach cultivation – pages 5 to 8'

'Lizard cultivation – pages 9 to 13.'

He continued flipping through.

'Mushroom cultivation requires sufficient humus, clean spores, and a suitable environment. Due to the peculiarities of the environment today, we do not have many mushroom species suitable for cultivation. Thus, after thousands of trials, Silver Tower's joint research body has developed a special type of mushroom called Bull Leg Mushroom. This mushroom is rich in protein and has 40% more fats and calories compared to other mushroom species under similar conditions.'

'The crucial point is that Bull Leg Mushroom is a no-light species that does not require light to grow and is exceedingly suitable for underground cultivation. Below are the preparation requirements.'

Yu Hong looked at the illustration beneath.

A mushroom cultivation box, rectangular like a large wooden box.

A bag of clean spores. It resembled a soil cylinder as long as an arm, wrapped in thick white plastic.

A pile of dark humus, with a small note beside it that read: humus.