239: Chapter 239 Phosphorescent Shadows

That faint, eerie green light, like a cold eye floating in the darkness, moved slowly along the ridge of the distant hills. It flickered on and off, sometimes hiding behind the shadows of rocks, and sometimes appearing in the gaps of the night wind.

It neither approached nor retreated, but simply lingered and wandered in that area, like a lost ghost.

The movement of this green light before his eyes seemed to carry an indescribable, irregular trajectory, as if it were "scrutinizing" or "exploring."

Ling Ye's heartbeat, after the initial shock, was quickly replaced by an ice-cold calm. He did not move, remaining as if fused with the rock beneath him; only his eyes, flashing with a sharp light in the darkness, remained locked onto that speck of green light.

Was it a coincidence? Was it some unknown natural phenomenon? Or perhaps... a new form related to the "abyssal eye" contamination? Or was it simply some mutated creature in the wasteland that he had never encountered before?

Regardless of which it was, it meant danger. Especially since he had just established a new stronghold and was not yet fully familiar with this area.

He forced himself not to think about the "sickness" Hei San mentioned, nor to recall the scenes at the G-7 Node or the "green light" discharge outlet. At this moment, the most important thing was not to investigate its nature, but to assess the threat and respond accordingly.

He continued to observe. The green light wandered in the distance for about ten minutes, never exceeding a range of one hundred meters from the hill ridge. It made no sound and had no other accompanying phenomena (such as strange noises or energy fluctuations—at least not detectable from his current distance and with his Energy Perception).

Then, as if it had exhausted its energy or lost its target, the green light suddenly extinguished without warning.

The hill ridge returned to darkness, with only the wind whimpering.

The green light had vanished. But the unease and questions it brought, like cold vines, coiled around Ling Ye's heart.

He remained in hiding, waiting for nearly another hour. The night deepened, and the cold wind bit into his bones. There was no longer any abnormal light or movement in the distance.

It seemed that thing (whatever it was) had left for the time being, or... had gone into hiding.

Ling Ye did not return to the cave immediately. He slowly and extremely cautiously retreated from his hiding spot, took a wide detour, and approached the cave entrance silently from another direction. He carefully checked the warning devices and the surrounding environment again, confirming there were no other signs of damage or intrusion.

The entrance camouflage was intact. Aside from that shifted pebble, there were no other anomalies with the warning device.

He hesitated for a moment. Entering meant potentially bringing an unknown danger into this safe stronghold he had worked so hard to find. Not entering, and spending the night exposed in the cold wilderness, would be a huge drain on his injuries and physical recovery, and would also increase the risk of being attacked by other dangers (beasts, severe weather).

In the end, he decided to enter. But he had to prepare for the worst.

He slipped into the cave sideways and immediately used the prepared stones and dead branches to seal the entrance more tightly from the inside (while leaving a gap for observation and ventilation). Then, he moved all important items (especially his gun and medicine) to the most hidden corner under his "bed." He placed his steel rebar spear and fruit knife within reach.

He leaned against the cold cave wall, not resting immediately, but instead pushed his Energy Perception to its limit, while listening intently, focusing on every slight change inside and outside the cave.

Time passed slowly. Inside the cave, there was only the sound of his own breathing and the extremely faint "tap" of water occasionally dripping from the rock crevices. Outside the cave, the wind continued to howl.

It was a sleepless night. He remained highly vigilant until the light in the east once again struggled to pierce through the thick, lead-gray clouds, casting a bleak glimmer through the gaps in the cave entrance's camouflage.

It was dawn.

Ling Ye moved his stiff, cold limbs, gently pushed aside the stones sealing the entrance, and leaned toward the observation gap to carefully observe the outside.

The hills in the morning light were desolate and silent. In the direction of the ridge where the green light had appeared last night, there were only craggy rocks and withered yellow grass stalks; there was nothing unusual.

He carefully pushed aside the entrance camouflage and crawled out. The morning air was biting cold, but carried the clean, sharp chill unique to the wilderness. He quickly checked around the cave entrance, especially the ground and vegetation near the warning devices.

There were no footprints, no drag marks, and no strange residual substances. Everything from last night seemed like a nightmare that had been too realistic.

But Ling Ye knew it wasn't a dream. That shifted pebble and the eerie green light that had wandered on the distant ridge had truly happened.

He did not immediately venture far from the cave to check traps or find food. He decided that today, with the cave as the center, he would conduct an extremely careful, defensive reconnaissance of the surrounding area. His goal was not to acquire resources, but to confirm safety and eliminate potential threats, especially by searching for any traces related to last night's green light.

He first searched slowly and carpet-style along the steep slope where the cave was located, in all directions—up, down, left, and right. His gaze swept over every rock crevice, bush, and variation in the soil color. He looked for any "foreign objects" that did not belong in this wilderness—such as strange footprints (not human or from common beasts), broken or trampled plants (not caused by wind or small animals), shed hair or scales, suspicious mucus or excrement, abnormal electromagnetic signal residues (the passive perception of the xuanyuan ring), and... any residual substances that might glow.

The search lasted the entire morning. He found nothing. This area was disturbingly clean, save for his own traces and signs of a few rabbits and lizards.

In the afternoon, he expanded the search range to the vicinity of the hill ridge where the green light appeared last night. He approached extremely cautiously, stopping to observe and use his senses for long periods every time he advanced a certain distance.

Finally, at the edge of a leeward depression piled with scattered rocks near the ridge, he discovered an anomaly.

There, the surface of a few rocks displayed an unnatural, dull gray-green hue, as if lightly scorched or contaminated by some acidic or corrosive substance. The tips of several clumps of withered grass nearby also had similar charred, curled marks, but unlike fire, it looked more like the result of some slow chemical action.

He crouched down and used his fruit knife to carefully scrape off a bit of the discolored substance from the rock surface. The powder was gray-green and fine in texture; when he smelled it, there was an extremely faint, pungent odor similar to a mixture of ozone and rotten eggs.

It was not the cold "incoherence" associated with abyssal eye contamination, nor the rotten, sweet, fishy smell of the "green light" discharge outlet. This was a more... inert, yet chemically corrosive residue.

He expanded the search range and found a few more similar traces nearby, but they were all very slight and limited in scope, as if the green light had only stayed briefly, or its "contamination" ability was limited.

He also noticed that on the sandy ground near these traces, there were extremely slight, almost imperceptible irregular depressions, as if left by some heavy object (but not footprints) pressing down for a long time, though they were partially covered by windblown sand.

Were these the "footprints" of that luminous entity? Or the effect caused by its energy field?

There were no more clues. The entity of the green light seemed to have left long ago, leaving behind only these hard-to-interpret traces.

Ling Ye's heart sank. This was not a natural phenomenon. This was definitely some kind of "anomaly," a type of anomaly he had never encountered before with unknown properties. It seemed to have the characteristics of emitting light, potentially carrying weak corrosiveness or contamination, and possibly leaving special impressions when moving. Most importantly, it had appeared near his new hiding area.

This meant that this seemingly desolate and safe hilly area was not a pure land. It might, like the outskirts of the city, harbor unknown dangers, just in a different form.

He had to re-evaluate the safety premise of his "deep concealment" plan. Could this cave still serve as a long-term stronghold?

The answer was: temporarily yes, but he had to upgrade his defense and warning measures, and be prepared to relocate again at any time.

He quickly returned to the cave, being extra careful along the way and wiping away his footprints.

Back inside the cave, he began to strengthen the stronghold:

External warning upgrade: Building on the existing tripwire warnings, he set up a more complex, multi-layered warning network on key paths further out (such as the slope leading to the ridge and possible high points nearby) using thin ropes, small bells (taken from some discarded item), and more small stones and dead branches. This would ensure that any creature (or anomaly) of a slightly larger size approaching within a hundred meters of the cave could be detected in advance.

Internal defense: On the inside of the cave entrance, he used the collected, relatively sharp stones and hardwood to create several simple, trigger-based "spike" traps, placed on both sides of the entrance passage to prevent anything from suddenly breaking in.

Observation and recording: He began to systematically record changes in the external environment. This included wind direction, wind speed, clouds, temperature (sensory), and any abnormal sounds, lights, or smells. Especially at night, he would increase the frequency and duration of his observations.

Material reserves and emergency plans: He accelerated food reserves (more actively setting and checking traps, and risking attempting to identify and gather small amounts of more edible plants). He packed the most important supplies (gun, medicine, water) into an "emergency kit" that could be carried at any time. He planned multiple emergency evacuation routes and familiarized himself with the terrain along them.

Self-status: Recovery from his injuries was the top priority. While ensuring safety, he attempted to take one white pill from the small glass bottle to observe his body's reaction (being extremely cautious, testing with a very small amount first). At the same time, he more actively utilized "Star Visualization" to accelerate recovery.

After doing all this, it was nearly dusk. He did not go out again. Instead, he hid in the cave, collecting dripping water while gnawing on the small amount of Crassulaceae plant leaves he found today (sour and difficult to swallow), while repeatedly replaying the scene of last night's green light and the traces he found during the day in his mind.

What was that? Why did it appear here? Was it just passing by, or was it attracted by something? Did it have anything to do with him? Did it have anything to do with the distant "Dark Nest"?

There were no answers. Only deeper fog and a stronger vigilance against the unknown.

Night fell once again. Ling Ye did not sleep; he gripped his steel rebar spear, sat on the "bed" near the internal blockade, and stared fixedly through the reserved observation gap at the hills swallowed by darkness outside.

The xuanyuan ring transmitted a constant coldness. The rhythm of the "Ancient Ring" mark, like a stabilizing needle, steadied his strained nerves.