Volume 1, Chapter 55: The Way Out of the Village is to Follow the Evil Spirit

“Someone is looking for me... someone wants to kill me...” Gu Yiren trembled, her beautiful eyes filled with waves of fear.

“Shh...” She made a gesture to be silent, then slightly lifted her head, her gaze rising upward as she pointed above.

“Don’t let anyone find me. Anyone at all,” Gu Yiren mouthed softly, without making a sound.

A heavy weight settled again in Luo Bin’s heart.

Someone... had entered the room!

He hadn’t locked the door!

In truth, Luo Bin had gotten into the habit of locking the door at all times lately, but earlier, his instincts told him something was wrong. Upon retracing clues, he had directly entered the underground chamber.

Listening carefully, there were indeed footsteps above.

He nodded slightly, signaling Gu Yiren to be at ease, then returned to the rope ladder and began climbing upward.

A faint wheezing sound, the candle went out, and everything plunged into darkness.

Luo Bin emerged from the underground chamber, climbing out from beneath the bed.

Standing beside the bed was a man — it was Luo Feng.

“Dad,” Luo Bin called out as he looked up, but Luo Feng immediately grabbed his arm and helped him up.

“I knew you would come down to check. Many houses in this village have such underground chambers,” Luo Feng said.

Luo Bin, slightly out of breath, nodded without showing any abnormal reaction.

At that moment, Luo Feng glanced at the knife in his hand and added, “The house is safe. The underground chamber has no passage connecting to the outside.”

“Mm-hmm.” Luo Bin walked toward the desk and tucked the knife into his leather belt. Then, naturally, he turned back and asked, “Dad, why didn’t you go to sleep?”

“I just couldn’t fall asleep. Too much happened this time. We still don’t know how the village chief will handle the affairs of Qiang Village, or if there will be another lottery draw,” Luo Feng shook his head.

For a moment, Luo Bin didn’t know how to respond.

Luo Feng was a wise man. At least, during the time Luo Bin had known him, he never spoke nonsense. It was unlikely he was here just to chat.

But Luo Bin didn’t know what Luo Feng’s purpose was.

One thing was certain: Luo Feng did not suspect him.

“There’s a saying: ‘The party involved is confused, the bystander sees clearly.’ We’ve all been in this village too long, so when faced with detours, we can’t see through them. You reacted so quickly and got us out. It must be because you think differently,” Luo Feng said.

“Like how you said, the problem is never the village, but the mountain!”

“If we want to leave the village, how do you think we should do it?”

“Putting aside all current thoughts and just thinking about it plainly, how do you think we can leave the village?”

Luo Feng’s expression was serious as he looked deeply into Luo Bin’s eyes.

Luo Bin hadn’t expected such a question.

He even thought, maybe he could tell Luo Feng that Gu Yiren was here.

Maybe Gu Yiren knew how to leave the village!?

Luo Feng was rational; if the opportunity arose, it would make sense.

But if that window was opened, the truth about having to drink lamp oil and shed blood would surely come out.

He would have to get Gu Yiren to promise to keep it a secret.

“Dad, I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’ve been thinking about it. Let me consider it some more, and once I have a clue, I’ll tell you,” Luo Bin answered.

“Okay,” Luo Feng’s brows relaxed a little.

“By the way, from now on, we won’t get involved in any village affairs, including Qiang Village’s. The pathfinding was wrong; the village chief may not be right. We have to think about our own way out,” Luo Feng said before turning and leaving the room.

After the door closed, Luo Bin listened to the footsteps fade until they were gone, then went forward and locked the door.

He climbed back under the bed and returned to the underground chamber.

A faint hiss, a fragile match flared the candle, and light spread once more.

Gu Yiren was still hugging her arms, her lips dry, swallowing saliva repeatedly, looking utterly pitiful.

Only then did Luo Bin realize and say, “Wait for me.”

He pulled out a small oil pouch, stuffed it into his mouth, then left again. He returned carrying a bowl of rice, a heap of vegetables piled high, and a bowl full of water.

He placed the two bowls on the table. Gu Yiren quickly picked up the bowl and devoured the rice, truly starving, swallowing it in large mouthfuls.

Soon, the bowl was empty, and she drank over half the water.

She had been curled up, but now she leaned back slightly, supported.

“They’re all wrong. No one can leave here.”

“To leave, you have to follow the evil spirit. That’s the only way out.”

Gu Yiren’s eyes held a trace of determination.

Luo Bin’s expression changed subtly.

He hadn’t even asked, yet Gu Yiren had spoken...

And this way of leaving... was terrifying beyond measure.

“Have you told Zhang Li about this method?” Luo Bin asked.

Gu Yiren was startled but nodded.

“So Zhu Qianqian knew too?” Luo Bin pressed on.

At that moment, Gu Yiren’s eyes reddened, tears streaming down.

“You know she’s dead,” Luo Bin said with mixed feelings.

“That shaman told me. He said I was crazy, sick, babbling nonsense, causing two deaths. Zhu Qianqian died horribly; Zhang Li’s body was never found,” Gu Yiren was deeply tormented.

“You told the shaman about this method too?” Luo Bin’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

“No... I didn’t... He never asked, and I never said it. He was always spying on me.”

“He... scared it away!”

Gu Yiren’s eyes widened, bloodshot, seeming almost frantic. She held her head and wept silently.

“It won’t come looking for me anymore. I don’t know anything else…”

Gu Yiren looked pained.

“He?” Luo Bin’s face shifted again.

He recalled some strange behaviors Gu Yiren had exhibited before, the words Zhang Li had spoken, and how outsiders viewed Gu Yiren...

Had Gu Yiren never been ill?

Had she truly seen things beyond normal understanding?

Had she been guided... or told to do certain things?

“It said you can. You are hope. I want to live, but I must rely on you. That thing doesn’t know you exist; you are the greatest hope,” Gu Yiren said, then suddenly stood up, ran to Luo Bin, and clasped his wrist tightly.

Luo Bin was still deep in thought and couldn’t pull away in time.

He groaned from the pain; his right arm trembled.

“S-sorry...” Gu Yiren quickly withdrew her hand, staring blankly at the wound on Luo Bin’s arm.

“It’s okay.”

Though he said so, sweat on Luo Bin’s forehead betrayed his real condition.

“Who is it? How does it know so much?” Luo Bin took a deep breath and asked Gu Yiren again.

“Shh!” Gu Yiren’s expression changed, extremely cautious. “You mustn’t know him. Don’t try to see him... If you know, if you see him, that thing will find you.”

Suddenly, the name Xu Kaiguo flashed through Luo Bin’s mind.

Immediately, he dismissed the thought.

Xu Kaiguo was lucid only briefly; among many misleading words, there were two truths.

That meant what Gu Yiren saw was something like Xu Kaiguo’s presence?

Xu Kaiguo guided Luo Bin; that presence guided Gu Yiren?

This possibility was much more likely.

“I have to tell my dad you’re here,” Luo Bin said again.

“No!”

“Absolutely not!”

“Someone is looking for me... someone wants to kill me... besides you, no one is good... don’t!”

Gu Yiren’s mood suddenly became frantic and fearful, as if about to lose control.

Luo Bin’s heart tightened.

“Alright... I won’t say anything,” he hurriedly replied.

Gu Yiren calmed down a little, trembling as she backed away and sat on a small stool, burying her head and crying silently, murmuring Zhu Qianqian and Zhang Li’s names in great pain.

Luo Bin sighed softly, his brows still furrowed.

He was facing two great challenges.

Following the evil spirit to leave the village — that was one.

The most crucial was the village search scheduled for tomorrow.

Gu Yiren was hidden in the family underground chamber. How could they hide her from prying eyes?

Luo Feng was likely one of those conducting the search. Given his intelligence, he would want to avoid suspicion, meaning others would search his room.

Would they find the underground chamber?

Would Luo Feng reveal it?

Gu Yiren’s hostility toward others was too strong. Perhaps Luo Bin would only tell Luo Feng about Gu Yiren’s existence, explaining clearly, but not allowing Luo Feng to see her?

There was also the question of whether Luo Feng would believe Gu Yiren. Was Luo Bin too confident that he could reason with Luo Feng?

His gaze swept the underground chamber again. There was a bed here.

“You should rest for a while, get some good sleep. I’ll talk to you about some things tomorrow,” Luo Bin said.

Gu Yiren didn’t look up, still in pain, whispering, “I said I wanted to be with you... Why didn’t Qianqian listen? Why didn’t Zhang Li believe... Did I cause their deaths... or did they destroy themselves...”

Luo Bin knew he couldn’t comfort her now.

He picked up the bowl with the leftover rice and left the underground chamber.

He went to the kitchen to put down the bowl, then returned to his room. For a while, his mind was dizzy yet unusually clear.

The fatigue came from his body.

The clarity came from knowing more.

He walked to the window and looked out through the gaps in the wooden slats.

There had been no evil spirit outside before, but now it was slowly approaching.

Men and women, old and young, including a father and son. The man laughed, the child waved his arms proudly.

Some knocked on the window, some spoke to him.

Luo Bin instinctively turned his head and watched those “people.”

How to follow them?

They would kill people.

Could they be following them the moment they left the village at dawn? Could that be how to find the way out?

No... that wasn’t right.

Zhu Qianqian was already dead, and though Zhang Li’s body was never found, that was enough to prove the method didn’t work.