Time passed in this deadlock.

Ten minutes.

Half an hour.

An hour.

Two hours...

The two of them remained in this state, unmoving.

The candle in Little Grace's hand quickly shrank from the length of a forearm to the length of a palm.

Ah!

Suddenly, Henry Clark jumped up, turned around, reached out, and grabbed a black bug from behind him, pulling it out.

The black bug turned into black smoke as soon as it was exposed to the light.

But he reached back and touched his butt.

His left buttock had been bitten by the bug, and blood instantly soaked through his underwear—clearly, the wound was not small.

Seemingly attracted by the blood, the black bugs around them became even more agitated, starting to swarm madly toward Henry Clark.

But the candlelight still resolutely blocked them, turning them all into black smoke.

Henry Clark, clutching his butt, simply struggled to move closer and stood together with Little Grace, just watching this scene.

They watched as, outside the halo of light, circles of black bugs kept dissolving, evaporating, and turning into black smoke.

This fantastical and dangerous scene, like a meteor shower, continuously shattered his once-complete worldview into pieces.

No one knew how much time had passed.

Finally, the faint, sharp female voice in the air gradually faded and drifted away.

As the voice disappeared, the black bugs that had entered the house also began to thin out.

A sliver of light slowly shone in through the cracks in the doors and windows.

At last.

The last of the black bugs were covered by the light, struggling as they dissolved and turned into black smoke.

Everything finally returned to complete calm.

Book recommendation time~

Weird World: From Infant to Immortal Martial Saint

Zhao Rongshan transmigrates to a bizarre martial arts world, carrying a life simulation system and a life achievement system, starting cultivation as an infant and speedrunning the world.

Chapter 5: Danger Three

Daybreak.

The bright sunlight seemed to be on fast-forward, quickly shifting from dim to bright, even a bit dazzling.

Henry Clark stared blankly at the scene before him, his mind groggy, his body growing hotter.

He was already weak, and after staying up all night without sleep, his condition was even worse.

Now that he realized it was safe, he finally lost control and collapsed sideways onto the ground.

"Are you okay?" Little Grace blew out the candle, carefully put it back in the corner with the other odds and ends, then turned around to see Henry Clark lying on the ground. She was startled and hurried over.

Finding Henry Clark's body burning hot, she immediately fetched some water, filtered it, and hastily poured it into his mouth.

After giving him water, she went to find medicine. She had gotten some from Dr. Carter, and quickly fed it all to Henry Clark.

Henry Clark was aware of Little Grace's help, but his body was too weak to respond.

He felt Little Grace lift him up by the waist, place him on the bed, then put a used white stone on his forehead to bring down the fever.

The white stone was cool, absorbing the heat rapidly, making Henry Clark feel much better.

Feeling more comfortable, Henry Clark finally couldn't hold on any longer and drifted off into a deep, unconscious sleep.

This time, he slept so deeply that he lost all sense of time.

In a hazy state, he didn't know how long had passed before he regained a bit of awareness.

"This is the fourth day. His fever has gone down, he doesn't need any more medicine." This was the voice of Dr. Carter. She seemed to be standing by the bed, reaching out to touch Henry Clark's forehead.

The faint touch made him a little itchy, but his weakness kept him from lifting his hand to scratch, so he just let the feeling fade on its own.

"One more... time...!" Little Grace's voice came in broken fragments.

"There's no need. You've already traded everything you could, and there's nothing good left. The post office hasn't had any new supplies in a long time, and I don't have much anti-inflammatory medicine left," Dr. Carter refused.

"No more, medicine!" Little Grace insisted. "Back then... you... same!"

Hearing this, Dr. Carter fell silent for a moment.

"That's true. If it weren't for you, I would've died by the roadside long ago, probably with my bones gnawed clean by monsters. Fine, I'll give you medicine one more time. This is the last time!"

"Okay! I'll give you food!"

Then came the sound of rustling.

"This isn't enough, according to the previous exchange rate..." Dr. Carter said helplessly.

"I still have more!"

"Forget it, forget it, let's just do it. Anyway, this is the last time. Really, stop saving people. We can barely take care of ourselves," Dr. Carter sighed.

"Thanks," Little Grace said gratefully.

"Alright, I'm leaving. I'm going to check on Old Yu. No need to see me out," Dr. Carter said, her footsteps gradually fading away, followed by the sound of the door closing, leaving the house quiet.

Henry Clark slowly opened his eyes in weakness, just in time to see Little Grace's dirty, ugly face right beside the bed, holding a wooden bowl filled with some kind of dark, unidentifiable mush.

She scooped up some mush with a spoon and brought it to Henry Clark's mouth.

Henry Clark didn't resist anymore. With a blank face and sallow complexion, he lay on the propped-up pillow, drinking spoonful after spoonful of the mush she fed him.

One fed, one ate. Unknowingly, the whole bowl of mush was finished.

Henry Clark licked his lips, and, strangely, actually found the mush rather tasty.

"Is there any more?" he couldn't help but ask.