But to his disappointment, in this place, it seemed that aside from the three of them, there were no other living people.

‘Or maybe all the living people are hiding and not showing themselves. After all, even during the day, there could be great danger.’

Henry Clark sighed inwardly, always keeping a tight grip on that piece of reinforced white stone.

His previous experiences had made him deeply understand that, in this place, the effect of the white stone was his only guarantee of safety.

According to what Dr. Carter said before leaving, there would be no black bugs during the day when the sun was out, at most he might occasionally encounter a few shadowy figures.

And as long as you carried the white stone, these shadowy figures weren’t very dangerous during the day.

Because, during the day, the shadowy figures seemed to be very weak.

Henry Clark believed this; otherwise, Little Grace and Dr. Carter wouldn’t be so bold as to keep going out.

With this thought settled, he looked back at the marks he had made along the way, made sure they were still there, and then continued moving forward.

Silence.

Deathly stillness.

Rustle.

Rustle.

Other than the crisp sound of him stepping through the weeds, there was no other movement.

Even the wind was barely audible.

Another ten minutes passed.

Henry Clark finally staggered his way around the entire village.

He stood at the original gravel road entrance, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and kept recalling in his mind some of the places he had just discovered—important places.

The most important among them was the well.

Just now, he had seen from a distance that there was a well dug in the courtyard of a household.

There were many footprints coming and going around the stone-built well, clearly indicating that this was one of the rare sources of drinking water for the living here.

But even from a distance, more than ten meters away, he could feel a bone-chilling cold radiating from the well.

Even the sunlight couldn’t suppress it. Sensing something was wrong, he didn’t get close, just remembered its location.

“Very strange... a small village on a hill, yet they dug a well at a high point...” Henry Clark felt puzzled. Normally, wells are dug in low-lying areas, since water flows downhill.

But here, it was different from other places...

Standing on the gravel road, he looked up and gazed around.

Surrounding the village was an endless expanse of dark green forest.

The forest stretched out in all directions, like a sea of trees.

There were no bird calls, no signs of life, and even the dark green trees and grass gave off an unsettling, creepy feeling.

Henry Clark’s face was expressionless as he stared at the only old road leading out to the outside world. After a long while, he turned and headed back into the village.

The way back was uneventful, and he returned to Little Grace’s house.

It wasn’t until he had completely closed the wooden door that he finally let out a sigh of relief.

“This place is too strange.” Just thinking about how he still had to live here for who knows how long, with no hope of returning, filled his heart with a deep sense of despair.

“When I was wandering around just now, I saw there were no cars, but there were tire tracks on the ground. This shows that there used to be cars here, but they were later driven away.”

Henry Clark found a piece of charcoal from the junk corner and began to draw a map of Baiqiu Village on the wall.

The map was very simple, just some rough lines and small squares representing houses.

He marked the well, the old road leading out, and Little Grace’s house where he was staying.

The three places formed a triangle.

‘What should I do now?’ Henry Clark looked at the map, quickly suppressing the feeling of despair in his heart, and began to think about his next steps.

‘I can’t rely on Little Grace forever. I must first learn to handle these dangers myself, and at the same time, learn to find my own food, water, and shelter.’

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he held the charcoal pencil, writing and drawing on the wall.

Then he raised his hand and stared at the black mark on the back of it.

‘And there’s this mark. If I don’t want to be discovered, I have to choose to live alone. Otherwise, in such an extremely dangerous environment, letting others know about my ability would be very dangerous!’

Although he still wasn’t sure if others had similar abilities, Henry Clark was certain that Little Grace and Dr. Carter definitely did not.

This could be seen from some subtle details.

“First, learn how to find food and water, then move out!” Henry Clark quickly made up his mind.

Having decided, he got up, returned to the bedside, and planned to rest a bit more while waiting for Little Grace to come back.

Knock, knock, knock...

Suddenly.

The door sounded again.

One knock after another, very rhythmic.

Henry Clark’s throat bobbed as he looked at the wooden door. He didn’t make a sound.

This kind of knocking was off.

But he ignored the person outside, gripped the reinforced white stone tightly, took a deep breath, and lay down quietly, preparing to rest.

Knock knock knock...

The knocking continued.

Again and again.

But Henry Clark never made a sound, pretending not to hear.

He lay on his side on the bed, eyes fixed on the door, holding the reinforced white stone, his body tense, ready to react at any moment.

Fortunately, after seven knocks, the sound stopped.

But in its place, it seemed like someone was peeking in through the window.

Peering in through the gap in the seal.

Henry Clark felt his scalp tingle, turned his head to stare at the window, and took deep, suppressed breaths.

A strong sense of crisis kept stimulating his adrenaline, his blood rushing through his body, circulation speeding up, his face flushed red.