Volume One, Chapter 29: A Sudden Blow

Luo Bin tried his best to avoid everyone on the road. When he reached his front door, the courtyard gate was left slightly ajar.

Pushing the door open, he immediately saw Gu Ya sitting in the main hall. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, while Luo Feng sat in grim silence, his face as dark as coal ash.

"Dad... Mom..." Luo Bin croaked.

Gu Ya and Luo Feng looked up at the same time.

"Xiaoshan!" Gu Ya, overcome with emotion, rushed toward the courtyard gate.

Luo Feng stood up abruptly, his expression even gloomier than before.

Before Luo Bin had taken two steps, Gu Ya reached him. Tears streaming down her face, she was incoherent. "This... what happened? Xiaoshan, you..."

"I went to Sister Xiaoling's place yesterday. My luck was really bad; I got bagged again and knocked unconscious."

"I woke up a few times and kept getting beaten. After they dumped me, I realized it was already dawn."

"But Mom, I'm fine. It's just superficial injuries." While explaining, Luo Bin chuckled and scratched his head, but he hissed in pain as he accidentally touched a wound.

"It is clearly Zhang Jun who has harmed our family, yet you were still on friendly terms with them, and those thugs were still so ruthless! Are there no rules left in this village?" Gu Ya’s voice trembled, her face shifting between pale and flushed.

Luo Feng walked over to Gu Ya's side and said, "The draw is today, starting at three this afternoon. Go wash yourself, let your mother apply some medicine, and then get some sleep."

Gu Ya paused, looking at Luo Feng with even greater astonishment. "Are we just going to let it slide?"

Luo Feng did not answer. He turned around, returned to his spot, and began sharpening his knife with intense focus.

Gu Ya took a shallow breath and whispered, "Mom will go boil some water for you."

Luo Bin felt a slight sense of relief, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that his heart was still hanging by a thread. The excuse had worked for now. The group that beat him yesterday had served as a convenient scapegoat. But Luo Feng's reaction was a bit off. *Is everything really alright?*

Gu Ya went to the kitchen to boil water and brought it into a room that hadn't been opened for days.

Luo Bin returned to his room. After pondering for a moment, he placed the plastic bag containing the lamp oil at the very back and bottom of his wardrobe, shielding it with a few pieces of clothing.

He grabbed clean clothes and headed back into the courtyard, entering the room where Gu Ya had brought the water. Gu Ya was standing on a chair, filling an iron tank hanging on the wall. It was an old-fashioned shower setup; the tank relied on boiled water, and a pipe served as the showerhead.

Guishan Village had no electricity. Everything about the living environment felt as though it belonged to the previous century.

"Xiaoshan, let Mom test the water temperature for you." Gu Ya stepped down from the chair, let out a little water, and looked at Luo Bin with heartache.

"I'm fine, Mom," Luo Bin smiled again.

Gu Ya forced a weak smile, wiped the corners of her eyes, and said, "Go wash up first. Mom will put medicine on you in a bit."

***

Afterward, there was no need to dwell on the process. Once the medicine was applied to his face, Luo Bin went back to his room to sleep. For him, between the trek through the village and the previous night, he had gone nearly two days and two nights without rest. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep.

***

The sunlight was blinding. Although the mountain forest was usually dense and dim, the light in this particular clearing was exceptionally bright.

Zhong Zhicheng stopped in front of a trap outside the clearing. His square face, covered in a thick beard, was filled with shock and suspicion, his brows knitted tightly together. He stared fixedly at the two evil spirits in the trap, his eyes filled with disbelief.

For a very, very long time, the traps hadn't caught any evil spirits. They were incredibly cunning; after a few had fallen for it initially, they would never step into the clearing again. Yet, last night, it had actually captured two?

Zhong Zhicheng hurried across the clearing and entered the wooden cabin. He first went to the room where the lamp oil was kept, replacing the five empty bottles he carried with full ones from the shelf. Then, he grabbed two ropes from the main hall and hauled the evil spirits out of the pit.

After meticulously resetting the traps, he brought the two spirits into the cabin, into the innermost room filled with various axes and blades. Normally, evil spirits could not be killed; after dawn, they would fall into a deep slumber and wouldn't wake up. He had to process them quickly; otherwise, when night fell, he would have no choice but to throw them back into the trap.

With every hack and chop, Zhong Zhicheng put his full strength into it. Soon, he was drenched in sweat.

Stopping to rest for a moment, Zhong Zhicheng suddenly narrowed his eyes and slowly crawled onto the ground, examining it closely. There were no traces on the floor. However, in the cracks between the wooden planks, Zhong Zhicheng picked out a single strand of hair.

His pupils contracted sharply. He stood up and strode back to the room where the lamp oil was kept. One glance confirmed that no oil bottles were missing; the count of empty and full bottles was exactly as he remembered. Nothing was wrong.

Frowning, Zhong Zhicheng looked at the hair again, his expression remaining grim. He didn't rest; he went back to dismembering the evil spirits.

***

The wind blew through the bamboo forest, creating a faint rustling sound.

In the main hall, Zhu Qianqian sat in a chair. Since entering Guishan Village, she felt that her nerves had not relaxed for a single second. Especially yesterday evening, when Gu Yiren went missing, Zhang Li had been furious, constantly scolding her for failing to keep an eye on her.

Could she have watched her? Zhang Li kept saying Gu Yiren was mentally ill. It was true that on the first night, Gu Yiren had correctly predicted that the evil spirit would kill Xu Qi, but that was the only thing. The idea that one could leave the village by following the evil spirits had never been verified, and it was inherently paradoxical—if you followed an evil spirit before dawn, wouldn't you just be killed?

Could Gu Yiren have just blundered into the truth? That wasn't the only issue; Zhang Li had suffered too many shocks and seemed to have become somewhat neurotic, his emotions volatile. At this moment, he was in another room, tying up Gu Yiren.

Suddenly, Zhu Qianqian felt something and looked up.

She could see a person standing in the distance of the courtyard—a petite young woman, waving at her. The distance wasn't too great. The girl had long hair reaching her waist, bright eyes, and white teeth; she was very beautiful.

Regardless of gender, appearance is the first business card. Those who are good-looking are more likely to be trusted and drawn near. Moreover, there is a type of woman who, when under immense pressure, desperately wants someone to vent to. Zhu Qianqian happened to be that type.

Furthermore, she felt that her primary goal now wasn't to leave the village, but to survive here and slowly verify certain things. Making friends was the best choice. It was a pity that Zhang Li had driven Luo Bin away, and Luo Bin hadn't come a second time...

Suppressing the chaotic thoughts in her mind, Zhu Qianqian instinctively stood up and walked toward the long-haired girl. Soon, she reached her.

"Hello, my name is Chen Xianxian." The girl smiled, looking exceptionally beautiful and sweet.

"Don't be afraid of me. Not everyone in the village is scary. I've only been here for a year; I was an outsider before, too," Chen Xianxian said, reaching out to shake Zhu Qianqian's hand.

Zhu Qianqian lowered her guard and shook her hand, a trace of bitterness in her eyes. "My name is Zhu Qianqian. Our archaeological team ran into a landslide, and while looking for rescue, we stumbled in here and couldn't get out."

"Mm-hmm, everyone has their own reasons for coming here and eventually getting trapped," Chen Xianxian said earnestly. "Would you like to come to my place for a sit-down? I have some old artifacts at home. You can take a look and relax your mind. In this village, the most important thing is to keep your psychological composure; otherwise, you'll gradually go insane."

"Okay," Zhu Qianqian said, filled with joy.

Chen Xianxian began walking into the distance, and Zhu Qianqian hurried to follow.

No one saw Zhu Qianqian follow her away, including Zhang Li, who was still in the room.

It was noon, the time when every household was cooking, and there was no one on the road. Soon, Zhu Qianqian entered Chen Xianxian's home. The house had no courtyard; it was just a detached bungalow.

When the door closed, there was a burlap sack lying quietly on the floor, already stepped on several times.

"Your house is kept so clean, and it smells nice—is that Chinese medicine?" Zhu Qianqian felt that because she had made contact with a person, her mood had relaxed significantly.

However, there was no reply.

"Chen Xianxian?" Zhu Qianqian turned around.

Heading toward her was a pitch-black, rusted hammer, which smashed heavily into her forehead.