Volume 1, Chapter 51: Human or Sheep?

That sheep is huge! It didn't look like much from afar, but up close, it easily weighed around a hundred pounds!

That sheep was fast! In the blink of an eye, it was about to slam straight into Luobin's chest!

Unflustered by the imminent danger, Luobin thrust his blade fiercely toward the sheep's head!

Being rammed by a sheep was extremely perilous; the slightest flicker of cowardice meant being impaled through the chest and abdomen by its horns.

Going in for the kill, however, was a completely different story!

As the sheep charged upward, the blade would inevitably plunge straight into the top of its head!

With total concentration, Luobin gripped the hilt tightly!

Yet, the horizontal pupils of the sheep revealed an even more lifelike expression.

Mockery!

This caused a sudden jolt in Luobin's heart.

No sooner said than done, the sheep's head rammed upward fiercely.

The tip of the blade met only a fraction of resistance before sinking deep into the sheep's head amidst an ugly, grinding screech.

The originally mocking sheep's eyes held a trace of human-like astonishment before fading into eternal silence.

His hand was thrust backward, the hilt slammed into his chest, and a searing pain erupted in his arm as the right sheep horn pierced right into it!

With a resounding crash, the forward momentum ended, and the heavy sheep tumbled over onto the ground.

Luobin was sent flying seven or eight meters, rolling over several times before slamming into a tree trunk, which finally brought his momentum to a halt.

"Xiaoshan!" Gu Ya's panicked scream echoed through the woods as she sprinted toward Luobin from the wooden cabin that served as their resting point.

Luofeng strode quickly past the massive sheep and stopped right in front of Luobin.

Before Luobin could collect his wits, Luofeng's hands swiftly covered the wound on his right arm. With lightning speed, he tore off a large patch of fabric from the hem of his shirt and quickly bandaged Luobin up.

The pain rushed in.

Luobin kept his lips pressed tightly together, letting out only a muffled grunt without screaming.

Luofeng wrapped the wound even tighter to staunch the flow of blood.

Gu Ya arrived at his side, covering her mouth, not daring to speak too loudly.

"I'm fine... Mom."

Luobin breathed heavily, sweat the size of soybeans pouring down his forehead, his mind still spinning with dizziness.

"His mother, help Xiaoshan and get back inside quickly!" Luofeng grabbed Luobin's left arm and hauled him up from the ground.

"I can walk..."

Luobin thought to himself, *Wasn't it just getting rammed?*

Yet, the moment he tried to force himself to take a step forward, his chest and abdomen churned violently, and he almost collapsed flat on his face.

Gu Ya supported him, moving neither too fast nor too slow as they headed toward the wooden cabin.

Luofeng hauled the sheep up, dragging it along behind Gu Ya and Luobin.

Reaching the wooden stake, he pulled it out of the ground with one hand, leaving nothing behind.

Soon, they entered the resting cabin.

"Lock the door!" Luofeng instructed in a low voice.

Gu Ya hurriedly helped Luobin sit on the edge of the bed and turned back to bolt the door.

With a heavy thud, the wooden stake and the sheep's head dropped to the floor. Luofeng freed both hands to quickly fish out a match and light the lamp.

The pain was dense and agonizingly hard to endure.

Bent at the waist, Luobin pulled out an oil packet, kept his head lowered, covered his mouth with one hand, and shoved the packet inside.

Another loud thud rang out, as if someone were heavily shoving against the door.

Gu Ya let out a startled shriek, frightened out of her wits.

Yet... the door did not open.

The oil lamp flickered and began to burn.

His heart was pounding wildly, as if it were about to leap right out of his throat!

Even Luofeng lacked his usual composure; pressing one hand to his chest, he breathed heavily.

The sky had grown dark a few minutes faster than expected, or perhaps they had simply lost track of time while surrounding the sheep earlier.

That was too close...

The entity outside was an evil spirit.

If the lamp had been lit even a second later, the evil spirit would have broken through the door, and their family of three would have perished right here in this refuge.

The aversion to light hit with exceptional intensity, accompanied by an even more ferocious and overwhelming craving for blood.

Biting open the oil packet in his mouth, the lamp oil slid down his throat, offering only a slight, temporary relief. Unlike before, it failed to completely suppress the urges, and Luobin still felt intensely wretched.

"Hemostatic medicine." Collecting himself, Luofeng spoke in a deep voice.

Gu Ya hurriedly took the bundle off her shoulder, untied it on a nearby table, and began rummaging through its contents.

Luofeng likewise walked over to the table and untied another bundle.

Seizing the opportunity, Luobin pulled four or five more oil packets from his pocket and shoved them all into his mouth. Pressing down hard with his teeth, he crushed every single packet, pouring streams of lamp oil down his throat.

Finally, the bloodlust and light aversion were beaten back once more.

A rigid, unblinking gaze came from directly ahead.

One hand covering his mouth, Luobin spat out the plastic and clutched it tightly in his palm.

At the same time, he raised his head and stared straight ahead: through the gap in the door, an eye was fixed upon him, opened exceptionally wide.

His hand dropped into his pocket, tucking the plastic wrap away.

Luofeng and Gu Ya returned to the bedside moments later.

A faint ripping sound marked Luofeng cutting away the fabric of his sleeve. Following that, he tightly wound a strip of gauze around the upper part of his arm to clamp off the blood vessels.

Gu Ya unfastened the lower layers of clothing, revealing a deep bloody hole that was deeply unsettling to look at.

Luobin tried his best not to look at his own wound.

Gu Ya packed dark, pitch-like medicine into it and evenly smeared a layer around the edges.

The pain... actually subsided significantly, even carrying a faint, minty coolness.

Next, Luofeng meticulously wound another strip of gauze around the area. Working in seamless coordination, the husband and wife properly treated his wound.

"This medicine is miraculous..." Luobin murmured in a daze.

"It was mixed by Sister Xiaoling. Her parents are practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine; they used to save the lives of many villagers, and she learned a trick or two," Gu Ya said, letting out a sigh of relief. Tears still shimmered in the corners of her eyes, full of heartache.

"It was too dangerous! Look at you—not only are you throwing your life away, but you're dragging our son down with you to throw his away too. What if those horns had pierced his chest?" Mid-sentence, Gu Ya turned her head, her tear-reddened eyes glaring reproachfully at Luofeng.

"Indeed, it's far too dangerous. What if those horns had pierced his chest? He doesn't regard your son's life as precious, and this isn't the first or second time. He truly deserves to die."

"You should stab his arm too, so he knows how much bleeding hurts!"

The voice sounded almost immediately afterward, carrying a heavy bewilderment and an even greater sense of empathy!

Gu Ya's face turned pale; she whipped her head around and stared fixedly at the door.

Luobin's breathing grew exceptionally rapid. Directing his gaze toward the door as well, he felt his heart leap into his throat.

That single eye remained visible beyond the crevice, curving slightly as if smiling.

An evil spirit... capable of fanning the flames of discord?

"Why are you looking at me? Think carefully—isn't that how he acts?"

The voice rang out once more: "Lightning rarely strikes twice in the same place, but can your son really keep having such good luck?"

Gu Ya closed her mouth, pressing her lips tightly together without uttering a word.

Luofeng took two steps forward and drove a blade viciously into the crack of the door.

Luobin caught sight of that eye retreating in a flash.

The wooden cabin grew much quieter...

Gu Ya staggered backward two steps, sat tremblingly on the edge of the bed, and forced herself to regain her composure.

"Are you alright, Xiaoshan?" Turning her head, Gu Ya still looked at Luobin with worry.

"Mom, I'm fine. Don't listen to the evil spirit," Luobin said, his heart fluttering with panic.

He had always believed that evil spirits only entered to harm people or whispered bewilderments to trick them into believing falsehoods.

Never before had he experienced an evil spirit instigating discord...

Everyone was already panicked at this hour; if something went wrong now, the consequences would be unimaginably severe.

"Mom is fine. Over the years, what haven't your father and I been through together? Those evil spirits are merely like petty clowns putting on a show; Mom is just heartbroken that you suffered such a severe injury." Gu Ya reached out and stroked Luobin's face.

"Xiaoshan, why did you suddenly look toward the wooden cabin just now and give it an opening?" Luofeng turned back, asking with a frown.

"I..."

The moment the word left his mouth, Luobin choked, unable to continue.

If he spoke the whole truth, Gu Ya would undoubtedly blame herself.

"I zoned out..." Luobin finally lowered his head and muttered.

"Zoned out?" Luofeng furrowed his brow deeply.

"Don't question Xiaoshan anymore. He's already injured; what's the use of dwelling on the past?" Gu Ya whispered.

Luofeng dropped the subject. His brow smoothed out from its frown, only to furrow again a moment later, the look he gave Luobin suggesting he had seen right through the excuse.

"Why bring this thing inside?" Gu Ya changed the subject, her eyes carrying a trace of hatred and lingering disgust.

Naturally, she was referring to the sheep on the floor, not Luofeng.

"The strangeness of this thing is no less than that of an evil spirit. Since we killed it, we should bring it back and let the shaman take a look—perhaps she can discover something. It's always best to prepare for a rainy day," Luofeng replied.

Gu Ya remained silent, finally understanding the reasoning.

"That blade is sharp..." Luobin murmured.

Only now did he understand why that sheep had looked so mocking before charging him, and why its eyes had held such astonishment afterward.

The sheep must have thought: *It's just a blade, can it really pierce my skull?*

Indeed, normally speaking, for any living creature, the skull is the hardest bone of all, and ordinary blades simply cannot pierce it.

A profound sense of lingering fear washed over him. Luobin hadn't thought that much about it at the time, completely missing that detail.

It was fortunate he hadn't; had he stopped to think, he wouldn't have used that defensive posture, and it would have been anyone's guess who lived and who died.

Furthermore, he now understood another subtle detail.

Although Luofeng had seemingly spent all his time sharpening a knife, he had never been sharpening just one!

"A blade has many uses. You chose the most foolish way to kill it. Once we get home, Dad will teach you how to properly wield a blade," Luofeng picked up the thread of conversation.

"Mm-hmm, okay." Luobin nodded heavily, the anticipation in his eyes growing brighter and deeper.

Luofeng set the fallen wooden stake upright again, leaving the sheep's head leaning diagonally against the wall.

"Eat something and get some proper rest," he said.

Only then did Gu Ya take out some flatbread and distribute it between father and son.

After filling their stomachs, they prepared to sleep. The large bed was treated like a heated brick kang, with Luofeng in the middle and Gu Ya and Luobin on either side—not awkward at all.

Before long, both Luofeng and Gu Ya fell into steady, rhythmic breathing as they drifted off to sleep.

They had experienced far too much in Guishan Village. The doors, windows, and oil lamp formed their absolute nighttime protection; no matter how harrowing the events outside, they could still find sleep.

Luobin, however, suffered from insomnia.

Too much had happened today, carrying far too much information.

Guishan was not merely haunted by evil spirits...

Evil spirits merely deceived the human mind, whereas strange entities like the two-legged sheep bewitched the human eye.

And Guishan was not just Guishan Village; there was also Qiang Village, whose people had all perished within its borders...

Was there truly a way out of this place?

Did the people of Qiang Village... truly die simply of a contagious disease with no cure, or was there another reason entirely?

As his thoughts spiraled, his head grew heavier and more dizzy.

A sudden, fierce tightening gripped his heart.

That sheep on the floor... how had it turned into a person?

It was a tall man with bronze skin, though his complexion had turned pale due to excessive blood loss.

He was draped in sheepskins and wore a horned cap on his head—a helmet crafted from a polished animal skull, with the horns still attached.

Weren't they all dead? How had he turned back into human shape?

Luobin bit the tip of his tongue.

Sure enough... there was indeed a person curled up on the ground!

As if possessed, Luobin slowly crawled down from the bed and crouched beside the "person."

Even in death, could it still cast illusions over human eyes?

Frowning deeply, Luobin reached out, intending to pull off the skull-cap and horns.

A bizarre scene unfolded.

The skull-cap and horns came off with astonishing ease under his hands!

Was it really a person?!

Had he been wearing those items to trick him and Luofeng into thinking he was a sheep?

Had they killed a human being?!

Panicked, Luobin reached out to tear away the sheepskin!

"Xiaoshan! What are you doing?!"

A sharp cry rang out. Startled, Luobin whipped his head toward the bed to see Luofeng sitting bolt upright, staring at him with unblinking eyes.

"Dad... Look, he..."

Luobin pointed at the "person" on the ground.

In an instant, his scalp tingled: there was no human on the floor at all, only that massive sheep!

Except now, its scalp had been peeled back and its skull cap removed, leaving him holding it in his hands.

Luobin's face froze in utter bewilderment and blank shock.

"Ah... Xiaoshan..." Gu Ya cried out in astonishment, equally terrified out of her wits.

"Just now... I clearly saw him as a person... wearing a horned cap... and I took it right off... This..." Luobin stammered, feeling even more alarmed and uncertain.

Abruptly, Luobin's gaze grew vacant.

Staring at the whitish brain matter exposed within the fracture of the sheep's skull, he swallowed hard, a sudden emotion welling up from the depths of his heart.

*How incredibly relieving...*