Night of Despair-Chapter 410 - 408 Hope 2

Yu Hong’s mood grew heavier by the moment.

He carefully made a round within the urban district.

The entire Taizhou urban district, previously established as a safe zone, was now completely conquered and collapsed.

He didn’t see a single living person. Nor did he see a Spirit Disaster Black Disaster monster.

Perhaps all the monsters had been attracted to other places where there were more people.

Half an hour later.

He stood on high ground at the edge of some ruins, taking one last look at this world once filled with hope...

’Maybe, from the start, the Sky Stabilizing Plate was just a beautiful illusion...’

Now Yu Hong realized, the erosion of the Spirit Disaster on this world was too deep; any random Magician could easily summon the Divine Intent from Heaven, does it mean that any Magician has the power to break through spatial communication?

Clearly, that’s impossible.

"There is still time for hope to return..."

Yu Hong raised his head, looking at the several slowly condensing and emerging Gate of Ten Thousand Spirits in the gray mist.

He recalled the immense hope that shone in everyone’s eyes when Quan He Monarch appeared.

The relaxation and joy at the brink of success.

"It’s all a lie.... This world, is long bereft of hope."

He murmured softly.

Back at Qingchen Temple, he found an area of black ground that had been pressed down firmly, and with his fingers, he pierced deeply, leaving a message.

’I will return, Senior Quan He, if you see this message, please take good care of yourself. If any destined one sees this, please go to the surrounding areas to hide well, and leave a hidden message here, to contact me when I return. Hang in there, hope exists...survival is the only possibility to see hope.’

He didn’t know what else to inscribe, and very likely, these words wouldn’t last long before being destroyed by the Spirit Disaster.

But there wasn’t much else he could do...

After engraving the message, he didn’t go anywhere else, nor did he look for other people.

Yu Hong returned to the grand hall of the Taoist Temple.

He glanced at the unrecognizable monk’s corpse, sighed, and then the sound of the Black River echoed as the black mist surged behind him.

He turned around and walked towards the Black Ship.

Pfft.

Suddenly, a soft sound reached his ears.

Yu Hong hurriedly looked in the direction of the sound, just in time to see a bloodied figure holding a Short Sword entering the side door of the Taoist Temple.

The figure was faintly shimmering with Spirit Light, moving very slowly, step by step, with fresh blood continuously dripping from his feet.

"Ku Chan!" Yu Hong was overjoyed; this guy actually returned!

He quickly went forward, the Spirit Light spreading all over him, pouring into Ku Chan to bolster his recovery.

Just then, a great amount of Spirit Light surged into Yu Hong’s body.

A huge amount of Spirit Light gathered behind him, even forming a silver vortex, slowly rotating as if about to condense something.

The sudden return of the Spirit Light cast a heaviness on Yu Hong’s face.

Such intensity indicated yet another large group of Spirit Light Cultivators had perished.

Countless tiny Spirit Light Threads kept linking up and breaking apart.

This signified that each return of Spirit Light was small in quantity, but the numbers were extremely high.

Yu Hong supported Ku Chan, clamped him under one arm, and together they walked into the black mist.

Walking on the wooden bridge, about to board the ship, suddenly, Yu Hong had an impulse and turned to look in Qingchen Temple’s direction.

But that look caused him to freeze in his tracks.

The entire area of Qingchen Temple, when looked at from within the black mist, was filled with dense black cracks in space.

Crack.

As time passed, these black cracks continued to expand.

Deep within the cracks, one could vaguely see gray mist pouring out, as well as the mental pressure of the Spirit Disaster seeping through.

"What does this mean!?" Ku Chan asked weakly.

Obviously, despite being severely injured, he saw it too.

"I don’t know..." Yu Hong replied softly. He set the man down, and the two of them stood by the Black Ship, looking back at the increasingly cracked space of Qingchen Temple.

The two watched the space of the Taoist Temple fissure further.

Yu Hong eventually turned around, took Ku Chan, and boarded the Black Ship.

"We... where are we going..." Ku Chan collapsed on the deck.

"We are going to a safe place, at least, it is still relatively safe for now," Yu Hong answered softly.

Standing on the ship, he suddenly thought of those isolated island-like places he had once encountered.

And then thought of the black cracks he had just seen...

An inexplicable sense of oppression in his heart intensified.

*

*

*

Days later.

Black Wind Camp.

A cluster of simple ice houses were sporadically arranged around the safe house, forming a small village.

Beneath all the ice houses shimmered a large Array Pattern, casting a faint glow.

Further outside, a new simple fence had been erected.

Beyond the fence, the Ultimate Gate of the Light Disaster released a steady stream of blue mist, keeping the Black Disaster at bay.

Ku Chan stood by the fence of the camp, looking at the blue mist flowing from the Ultimate Gate outside, his expression haggard.

"How’s the recovery?"

Yu Hong’s voice came from behind him.

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"Doing okay... thanks to the Spirit Light." Ku Chan replied, his tone monotone and vacant, as if he had lost all purpose, exuding an extreme emptiness.

"That’s good." Yu Hong walked up to his side, both gazing at the Ultimate Gate. "I thought you might not be used to the nutrient paste and dried cockroach meat."

"Can we... go back?" Ku Chan asked softly.

"I don’t know," Yu Hong replied.

"Then what’s the point of surviving? Can’t do anything, just lingering on in this place?" Ku Chan closed his eyes, his expression pained.

"I don’t know either," Yu Hong answered again.

"You don’t know? Then why did you save me?" Ku Chan turned his head, staring at Du Fu. "I’ve lost everything, wouldn’t it have been better to let me die there? Better dead than living in despair and pain, without having to care about anything!"

"Because I haven’t given up hope," Yu Hong replied, turning his face as well to look at him. "Just as in the end, you returned to Qingchen Temple."

Ku Chan fell silent for a moment, then said, "Where is hope?"

"I have explored in the Black Disaster, remember the boat you took? It’s called the Vitality Ship, made by those who desperately fought against the Black Disaster Spirit Disaster and other Source Disasters. It can take me to the land of vitality," Yu Hong answered.

"So that was also why you initially appeared on Huangsong Island?"

Yu Hen, the elderly Taoist, approached slowly from behind, sighing.

"Yes. The ship brought me to the land of hope, but unfortunately... I still couldn’t grasp it," said Yu Hong softly.

"Since one was found, could there be another?" Yu Hen inquired.

"It’s possible. But... from what I observe, each one is threatened by the Source Disaster," Yu Hong nodded.

"Do you think that by simply searching like this, over and over, we can really defeat the Spirit Disaster? The Black Disaster?" Ku Chan asked.

"I don’t know," Yu Hong shook his head, "All I know is that if we don’t search, hope will never appear."

"Perhaps you’re right," Ku Chan said after a pause.

"Would you like to join me?" Yu Hong asked, "Become a member of my crew, and then search for hope together."

"....." Ku Chan didn’t speak. Instead, he turned around and walked away silently.

Yu Hong sighed and looked towards Yu Hen.

"Are you adapting well to the environment, Master?"

"I have to adapt, since we can’t go back anyway," Yu Hen sighed, "Everyone was very anxious at the beginning, but now that they’ve settled down, they’ve become quieter. This place, everything around is very quiet, the Black Disaster is weak. That light gate does not harm us; as long as we do not strike first, we can coexist peacefully. In fact, when you think about it, it’s not much different from living in the polar regions. Only that the monsters are a bit stronger."

He paused.

"It’s just Ku Chan, his Dao Breath has surged again after coming back. Even Zhao Jingtang and the others feel a clear discomfort when they encounter him; the growth of his Dao Breath is too rapid. This Daoist Skill is not normal, it’s not possible to be so unrestrained without consequences."

"In a few days, I’ll take you to Hope City, a branch of Qingchen Temple that I have established here. The population might be a bit large," Yu Hong changed the subject.

"I remember, you had specifically asked me and Yu Mo, you put your feelings into this place?" Yu Hen said helplessly.

At this moment, recalling everything from the past and comparing it to the present, he felt an unreal sense of dreaminess.

Who could have imagined, in just a few days, his situation had become so dire that he was left with only these few people around him.

Living in the camp every day, with a blue light gate opened close by in the icy and snow-covered nothingness.

Where the only food available were cockroaches, mushrooms, and lizards.

"Hope City, on the other hand, might have a better environment, and there are many people. At least it won’t be as lonely as here. You just need to learn the local language," Yu Hong hoped to turn Hope City into his main base.

The power of Qingchen Temple merged into it, creating a strong complementary effect for both.

"Hope... People who have lost their homes, wherever they are, will have no sense of belonging." Yu Hen sighed.

It was clear that everyone in the camp was in a state of extreme anxiety.

Yu Hong comforted his elder and master, and then immediately went to Hope City.

After arranging transport, he boarded the Black Ship once more to head to Qingchen Temple.

But this time... the Black Ship couldn’t dock in the black fog. It had circled around in the same spot for a long time but hadn’t returned to the place of origin.

Back at the camp, Yu Hong didn’t tell the others about this, but took a rest, and then went out again to look for the entrance to Huangsong Island.

Originally, he had entered from Huangsong Island, but unfortunately, this time he couldn’t even find the island.

The Black Ship drifted, sailing towards an unknown distance.

After drifting for a long time and encountering nothing, Yu Hong had no choice but to sail back.

At Black Wind Camp,

The survivors managed to make successful contact with Hope City, which accepted them. They could go there to live in a separate building within the city and were expected to integrate into the defense system.

Most of the people present chose to go to Hope City.

Only Ku Chan and Qing Huang chose to stay behind and follow Yu Hong.

The three of them, together, took the boat out every day, searching for the world of Huangsong Island.

But there was nothing left there.

As more and more people left the camp, Yu Hong simply took Zhang Kajing on the ship as well, lest there was no one to watch over her and she might cause trouble.

He, along with Qing Huang, Ku Chan, and Zhang Kajing, became the fixed crew members of the Black Ship.

As time passed, and everyone gradually adapted to the extremely cold life here, compared to the horror of the Spirit Disaster, the Black Disaster here seemed like kindergarten, utterly safe.

The long-lost sense of security allowed the fleeing Magicians to feel an unprecedented peace of mind.

But this sense of peace did not last long, as the temperature began to fall again... and the air seemed to become unbreathable...

And Yu Hong had to calm down and start thinking, where was the hope for the future?

The power of the Black Disaster, the Spirit Disaster, far exceeded his estimates. Even Quan He, who was a level above him, was of unknown life or death.

Now, the only method might lie in the Black Mark.

As for how to use the Black Mark, to find a sliver of light in this desperate future, that was what he had to do next.

Little by little, the enhancement of time was no longer enough to combat external pressure.

What they needed was a true transformative change.

The Black Mark, based on a complete foundation for enhancement, might find a way out within the existing foundation.