Volume One, Chapter 14: So Despised?

Page 1 of 3

This night seemed especially long.

It was so for Zhong Zhicheng, Luo Feng, and Gu Ya in the Luo family’s main hall. It was the same for Luo Bin in the little cabin.

After all the evil spirits had departed, Luo Bin could not sleep. He tossed and turned, waking more than a dozen times, unable to stop wondering what that group of evil spirits had gone off to do.

Naturally, he did not believe what the evil spirits had said about the village chief.

Yet he could not help wondering why the original owner of this body had been killed by evil spirits.

What had driven him to forget the taboos and encounter the evil spirits directly at night?

After struggling through the latter half of the night, Luo Bin finally sank into a deep sleep.

He vaguely heard the sound of a rooster crowing at daybreak. Turning over, he thought he would sleep for another five minutes.

But when he woke again, dazzling beams of light were streaming through the crack beneath the door and the gaps around the window!

“What time is it?”

Luo Bin sprang out of bed. His mind had not fully awakened yet, but he hurriedly blew out the oil lamp, then glanced at the oil. Less than a tenth remained.

“I…”

Luo Bin wanted to slap himself.

Lamp oil!

The less he burned, the more he could drink.

But because he had overslept, so much oil had been used up that there was not even enough left for half the night.

“Ah…”

Luo Bin sighed. What had happened could not be undone.

He pushed open the door, and the glaring sunlight struck his face. He quickly raised a hand to shield his eyes, but even so, they still stung faintly. After waiting a while, Luo Bin finally adjusted to the brightness.

The Mountain God Temple still stood with its gates tightly shut.

Everything was quiet, as though nothing had happened.

Zhang Li, Zhu Qianqian, and Gu Yiren should have been safe inside the Mountain God Temple.

But what about the village? So many evil spirits had entered it. Had anyone died?

Was the village chief all right?

Judging by the circumstances, the village chief might not be planning to come to the end of the village. Luo Bin would have to find him and ask for lamp oil himself.

With that thought, Luo Bin walked straight toward the village.

He had taken only a few steps when he saw someone approaching from the distance. It was Gu Ya.

She was alone. Luo Feng was nowhere to be seen.

Luo Bin stopped where he was and did not go any farther.

“Xiaoshan! Are you all right? Nothing happened to you last night, did it?” Gu Ya stopped in front of him. Her face was haggard, and she seized him by the arm.

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

“I’m fine, Mom. What happened to you? Did you not sleep well? Did something happen in the village?” Luo Bin’s heart gave a jolt. Gu Ya’s complexion was far too abnormal.

“No… nothing serious happened.” Gu Ya did not dare tell him directly about what had happened the previous night.

She was also filled with vague relief and lingering terror.

Because if not for the village chief’s arrangements, Luo Shan would certainly have been sleeping in his room last night.

Then, when something went wrong in the kitchen, there would have been no way for them to bring Luo Shan into the main hall quickly enough. A tragedy would have been inevitable!

“Nothing serious happened, but something did happen?” Luo Bin pressed her anxiously. “The village chief is all right, isn’t he?”

Then, afraid he had sounded too deliberate, he added, “I overslept, and the oil lamp is almost burned dry. I need to ask the village chief for more lamp oil.”

“How could anything happen to the village chief?” Gu Ya shook her head repeatedly.

At that moment, Luo Bin noticed another problem.

Gu Ya had not brought him any food.

Although he had told her not to bring meals anymore, the fact that she had come without any food meant that she had been so tense that she had come solely to make sure he was safe.

The evil spirits that had entered the village last night must have brought immense dangers with them—perhaps even caused enormous changes throughout the village!

Just as Luo Bin was about to speak again, Gu Ya released his arm and said with a relieved sigh, “Go back and keep watch over the outsiders for now. Seeing that you’re safe, Mom can finally relax. I’m going to the village chief’s place. I’ll tell him about the lamp oil.”

With that, Gu Ya said nothing more and hurried away into the distance.

Even after her figure vanished from sight, Luo Bin still could not shake the unease in his chest.

Gu Ya had not mentioned Luo Feng.

Where was Luo Feng? Could something have happened to him?

As he replayed his brief face-to-face encounter with Gu Ya, Luo Bin remembered that her eyes had been bloodshot, and that beneath them lurked a trace of terror she could barely suppress.

An ordinary person would never display such an expression for no reason.

Although Luo Feng’s attitude toward him had been somewhat cold, and he had even wanted to kill him earlier, Luo Feng was still the father of this body. If something had truly happened to him, how could Luo Bin remain indifferent?

Luo Bin broke into a run and chased after Gu Ya.

The fact that he still could not catch up with her meant that after covering a certain distance, Gu Ya must have started running as well.

Luo Bin increased his speed.

A few minutes later, more people appeared along the concrete road, all hurrying in the same direction.

When the villagers had gone together to capture Zhang Li, Zhu Qianqian, and Gu Yiren, they had moved in much the same way. Clearly, something had happened that had shaken the entire village.

Suppressing the panic pounding in his chest, Luo Bin stopped running and followed the flow of people.

The village was laid out mainly along the concrete road. Though there were many houses on either side, there were just as many farther inside. After turning onto a side road, Luo Bin walked straight for roughly seven or eight minutes.

Then he saw a vast, seething crowd.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

The open ground was enormous. Hundreds of people could stand there without crowding one another.

At the front, on slightly higher ground, stood a hastily built platform directly beneath the foot of the mountain.

Two people were tied to it.

Both were familiar faces. One was the girl who had brought Luo Bin food the previous day. She looked frightened, bewildered, and helpless.

The other was Zhang Jun.

Luo Bin was not surprised in the slightest to see Zhang Jun tied up for public display.

Anyone who could be stirred to lust by a woman’s beauty and go so far as to seize an outsider’s companion was clearly no good person.

But the girl looked harmless enough. Why had she been tied up alongside Zhang Jun?

Could she also be beautiful on the outside but rotten within?

At that moment, Luo Bin suddenly realized that several people were staring at him.

Their murmurs reached his ears.

“Luo Shan… How did he get so lucky and manage to avoid it last night?”

“Exactly. Who knows what the village chief was thinking? He actually trusted Luo Shan enough to have him watch over the outsiders. Otherwise, with so many evil spirits burrowing into the Luo household yesterday, Luo Shan would definitely have died.”

“I don’t think Zhang Yunling has done anything wrong. She’s such a lovely, delicate girl. Just look at Zhang Jun’s fat, bloated face—he’s clearly no good. Luo Shan didn’t merely make friends with the wrong people; he invited a wolf into the house.”

“If I had a son like that, I’d throw him out at night and let the evil spirits do whatever they wanted with him. It would be a relief if they killed him.”

It was not only the things they said. Their gazes were cold, even carrying the faintest trace of disgust.

Was the original owner really this hated by everyone?

It seemed this was not merely a matter of being useless or disappointing.

What made Luo Bin break into a cold sweat was the realization that the Luo family—his own home—had actually been infiltrated by evil spirits.

His heart pounded wildly.

His ears continued to listen, while before his eyes, Luo Bin replayed the events of the previous night.

When someone suddenly draws attention to a particular matter or sound, it is easy to overlook things and mishear what one hears.

But once a person reviews the events afterward, not only does the impression become clearer, it also becomes easier to notice details that would normally escape attention.

Very soon, from the villagers’ murmurs, Luo Bin pieced together the entire sequence of events.

Page 3 of 3