Volume One, Chapter 27: The Mountain Cottage, The Lantern Oil in the Cabinet!

With a soft whimper, Gu Yiren’s eyelashes fluttered.

Luo Bin’s mind went blank, and he took a forceful suck.

It was sweet.

It was as if... he had found sweet dew after a long drought.

After two more sucks, the burning sensation in his throat subsided, replaced by a lingering touch of coolness and pleasure.

He couldn't help but cup Gu Yiren’s right hand, instinctively wanting to bite down again.

It was only the look of sheer terror in Gu Yiren’s eyes that jolted Luo Bin back to his senses.

The two remained rigid, motionless.

"Do you want more?" Gu Yiren asked, her voice weak and breathless.

He wanted to... but he couldn't.

Luo Bin had an intuition that if he took any more, Gu Yiren would collapse from exhaustion.

He let go of her hand.

Gu Yiren pulled her hand back, lowered her head, and pulled out a long, thin strip of cloth, carefully wrapping it around the wound.

This cloth had been prepared in advance...

Feeding him her blood—had that been prepared in advance, too?

Luo Bin was filled with doubts. If she knew he craved blood, what else did she know?

"What is your relationship with Xu Kaiguo? What do you know?" Luo Bin could no longer suppress the questions burning inside him.

"Shh... they will hear you. Don't lead them here," Gu Yiren replied in a whisper, her tone exceptionally timid.

Then she added softly, "I don't know Xu Kaiguo."

"???" Luo Bin was even more bewildered.

The next moment, Gu Yiren displayed a chilling sight; she turned her head to look at her side and smiled.

But there was clearly no one beside her.

"Shh... don't speak, follow me." Without looking back at Luo Bin, she stooped down, pushed open the iron door, and slipped out.

Luo Bin was struck with terror. He wanted to shout, but didn't dare make a sound.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy?" Luo Bin hissed through clenched teeth as he chased after her. The two of them scrambled out from under the base of the Mountain God statue.

"Shh..." Gu Yiren held a finger to her lips again.

Then, she actually started walking toward the outside of the temple!

A chill ran through Luo Bin’s entire body. Was Gu Yiren insane? To just walk into the village in the middle of the night like this!

Feeling the taste of blood still lingering in his mouth, Luo Bin couldn't suppress the feeling of pleasure that welled up. It was as if he had lived his life in the scorching summer heat, and this silent, lantern-less village was a sanctuary to cool off. The icy shivers running through his limbs now felt comfortable.

Trembling, he cursed silently and caught up to her.

They left the temple, but the direction they took was not toward the village—it was toward the outskirts! Gu Yiren did not follow the concrete road, but instead headed into the dense shrubbery at the foot of the mountain.

In the silent forest, the chirping of insects was deafening. There had been moonlight at first, but as they delved deeper into the woods, the light became incredibly faint, only occasionally filtering through in thin beams.

Gu Yiren kept darting through the forest. As Luo Bin followed her, he fought to suppress his alarm and confusion, focusing on memorizing the path. They didn't stop once. At one point, it was so close that Luo Bin saw the shadow of an evil entity flickering in his peripheral vision, but Gu Yiren kept walking as if nothing were there, and they managed to shake it off.

Finally, when Gu Yiren stopped, they were in a clearing filled with scattered fallen leaves, surrounded by towering trees. In the center stood a wooden cabin.

The house had a chimney, dark and glistening with a greasy sheen.

"Someone lives here?" Luo Bin’s eyelid twitched.

He didn't press Gu Yiren for more information.

She didn't know Xu Kaiguo, yet she displayed a thorough familiarity with Guishan Village and even the terrain outside it!

This was deep in the mountain forest; who lived here?

"Don't step into any traps. Walk where I walk," Gu Yiren finally spoke.

Then, she stepped forward cautiously.

Traps?

Luo Bin’s heart tightened.

He said nothing, carefully watching her footsteps. Every step he took was on the exact spot she had trodden. Sometimes, Gu Yiren would suddenly take a large stride, and Luo Bin, not daring to be careless, would do the same.

The clearing in front of the cabin was about twenty or thirty meters wide. Because of their caution, it took them five or six minutes to reach the threshold.

Gu Yiren patted her chest, letting out a sigh of relief.

Luo Bin, however, felt a bone-chilling cold and a prickling sensation on his back.

His sixth sense made him whip his head around.

Standing on the edge of the clearing were two people.

Both were tall and thin, wearing old-fashioned, worn-out cloth clothes and cloth caps.

With sharp, knife-like features that revealed the simplicity of mountain folk, they wore smiles almost simultaneously as they began walking toward Luo Bin and Gu Yiren.

Luo Bin felt numb. He whispered a frantic urge: "Get inside! Find a lamp, look for a lamp!"

Gu Yiren didn't move. She gripped the hem of her clothes, just staring at those two entities.

She happened to be blocking the door, and Luo Bin couldn't push past her to get in.

The two entities took a step forward, but as soon as they did, there was a whoosh followed by a dull thud, as if something had broken.

A pit about a meter wide appeared on the ground.

So this was the trap Gu Yiren meant?!

Did a hunter live in the house?

Living off the mountain, the mountain folk who inhabited these parts would naturally set traps everywhere.

A wave of lingering fear washed over him. It was a good thing he had followed her so closely, or he would have fallen into the pit himself.

With a creak, Gu Yiren pushed the door open. She slipped inside, and Luo Bin quickly followed.

The cabin was large and spacious. Animal skins of various kinds hung on the walls, along with some knives.

Suspended from the rafters was an oil lamp, covered in copper rust, filled to the brim with oil!

Perfect!

That was the first thought that popped into Luo Bin’s mind.

A full lamp of oil, if he rationed it, was enough to last him ten days.

Drinking a little more would improve his physical condition at night; surely he could manage to stretch it for five or six days?

Gu Yiren could really help him!

"Where are the people who live here? Why is there no light? Are they not home?" Luo Bin asked.

Gu Yiren didn't answer.

She looked to her side again, nodding slightly with a smile on her face, but then, she looked panicked.

Luo Bin’s eyelid twitched again. He didn't speak, watching carefully.

First of all, Gu Yiren couldn't be ill.

That meant it was possible she could see something he couldn't.

The next moment, Gu Yiren suddenly clutched her chest, appearing even more terrified, and darted behind a curtain on the right side of the room.

Luo Bin quickly followed.

Past the curtain was another door, and Gu Yiren had already run through it.

Luo Bin stood frozen, the scene before him leaving him shocked and bewildered.

Aside from the curtain, there were cabinets on three sides of the room—simple, homemade wooden cabinets with many compartments. In every compartment sat a dirty oil bottle.

More than half of the bottles were empty, but a small number were filled to the brim.

A scene flashed back to Luo Bin: the Village Chief filling the lamp with oil. Wasn't he using these exact same black, grimy-looking bottles?!

This was the Village Chief’s house?

No... the Chief definitely lived in the village. This must be where he stored his supply of lamp oil!

No... that wasn't right either. It shouldn't be storage; maybe it was where he found it?

Had the Village Chief found a source of lamp oil here that allowed the entire village to survive the night?

As Luo Bin was thinking, a shrill scream tore through the air.

Luo Bin’s face changed drastically. He realized that in his preoccupation with the oil, he had neglected Gu Yiren!

He lunged toward the door ahead.

The moment he entered, the room felt icy. In the center stood a rack, like a table used for slaughtering animals. On the walls hung serrated knives, machetes, axes, and hammer-like tools.

Gu Yiren lay stiffly on the ground, her limbs twitching uncontrollably, foam bubbling from her mouth!

Luo Bin rushed over, grabbed her shoulders, and pinched her philtrum with all his might!

A moment later, Gu Yiren stopped twitching, her eyes closed tight.

Luo Bin checked her breath; it was still relatively steady, and he finally let out a sigh of relief.

He then lifted his head and scanned the room, discovering another door at the back—but this one had a thick iron lock on it.

He didn't dare proceed any further. He carefully pulled Gu Yiren out of the room, back into the chamber filled with oil bottles. He hesitated for a moment, walked to the most obscure corner, picked up a bottle of oil, and cautiously hid it in his clothes.

Then, his face shifted through a series of expressions, and he put the bottle back.

He couldn't just take the oil.

Something terrible would surely happen!