Volume One, Chapter One: Who Are You?

Page (1/3)

“The oil lamp’s mouth was filled, the incense ash blocked his airway, and Little Shan still hasn’t awakened. We can only cremate him.” The man’s voice was heavy.

“No, no! My son is still breathing! Save him—quickly, think of something to save him!” the woman sobbed.

“These are the village rules. Little Shan was killed by an evil spirit, and the nail of his left pinky was taken as well. It’s almost dark. If we don’t burn him now, he’ll become an evil spirit too!” The man’s tone was utterly resolute.

Luo Bin slowly opened his eyes.

His mouth was sticky, foul, and bitter. His nose felt as though it had been sealed with cement, making it difficult to breathe.

Orange flames gathered beneath an oil lamp covered in green patina, which hung from the roof beam by a thin iron chain.

Where was this? This wasn’t a hospital.

A stabbing pain shot through his little finger, and Luo Bin instinctively raised his hand.

He actually managed to lift it!

He was clearly a paralyzed patient who could not move from the neck down. Had he regained his senses? A medical miracle?

A wave of heat surged in from his right and slapped him across the face. Luo Bin instinctively turned his head and saw a neat stack of firewood piled more than three feet above him. Every stick was wrapped in yellow talisman paper.

A crematorium? Was he lying on a cremation platform?

Right. Someone nearby had mentioned cremation.

His mouth was too slippery for his tongue to exert any strength, and his nose was hopelessly blocked, so Luo Bin’s voice came out weak and feeble.

“Wait… I think I can still be saved…”

“Oh my God, Little Shan is speaking! Little Shan’s awake! Put out the fire—quickly, put it out!” the woman cried out in delighted tears.

Hiss!

The sound of water splashing rang out, and the flames instantly went out.

At the same time, Luo Bin pushed himself upright. His head throbbed as though pierced by needles, and he could only clutch it tightly.

Broken, chaotic images flashed before his eyes.

A nurse in white injecting him with adrenaline.

A doctor striking his chest violently with a defibrillator.

The dazzling surgical lamp suddenly becoming a huge, round moon.

The doctor with furrowed brows transforming into an unfamiliar man smiling warmly.

The defibrillator was actually the man’s hands, pressing desperately against his heart!

Once!

Twice!

Three times!

His ribs seemed to have broken, and his heart had been pierced…

The nurse became a child making a ghostly face, gleefully pulling out his fingernail and waving it proudly in his hand, as though showing off a trophy.

Agony. Terror…

Luo Bin let out a scream and lunged forward.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

There was no pile of firewood at the end of the cremation platform, and Luo Bin crashed into a woman’s arms.

“Thank heavens, Little Shan, you’re awake! Thank heavens! It’s wonderful—truly wonderful! Your mother was scared half to death!” The woman gently patted Luo Bin’s back, her voice choked with emotion.

His dazed consciousness gradually returned.

Luo Bin discovered that the person holding him was a middle-aged woman with an oval face, reddened almond-shaped eyes, and a beauty that had not yet faded.

Beside her stood a bearded man with bloodshot eyes, staring at him in disbelief.

“Who are you?” the man demanded sharply.

I’d like to ask who you are, too!

The thought had only just surfaced when Luo Bin had a chance to voice it.

The man yanked the woman away and held a rust-covered, razor-sharp axe over Luo Bin’s head.

“Luo Feng, have you gone mad? Why are you trying to split Little Shan’s head open?” the woman shrieked.

Luo Feng remained unmoved. Fixing Luo Bin with a piercing stare, he said coldly, “The time for calling back his soul passed long ago. You are not my son. Who, exactly, are you?”

For a moment, the silence was absolute. Even the air seemed to have solidified.

Calling back a soul?

Son?

What did any of this mean?

Luo Bin was utterly bewildered.

His gaze took in more of the room.

The building was extraordinarily spacious, with a ceiling seven or eight meters high. Directly above the roof beams was a skylight sealed with dense iron mesh. To the right, four cremation platforms were surrounded by firewood wrapped in talismans. The corpses lying upon them had died in grotesque ways.

Some were missing arms or legs. Others had only half a head remaining.

The most horrifying corpse had its chest torn open, its organs gone without a trace, and its ribs gnawed as though by some terrifying creature.

A flood of information surged through his mind.

The scenes from the moment he had awakened flashed back one after another.

Most of all, the conversation between the man and woman echoed in his ears.

The original owner of this body was named Luo Shan?

There was something deeply wrong with this village—evil spirits that filled people with terror at the mere mention of them.

Luo Shan had been killed by an evil spirit the previous night. This couple had summoned his soul in an attempt to save him, but instead of reviving their son, they had summoned Luo Bin. His supposed father had even discovered that something was wrong with him.

Luo Bin knew that if the axe came down, his skull would split open and he would die on the spot.

Trembling, he raised a hand, curled his fingers, and clutched his scalp tightly, crying weakly, “It hurts… My head hurts so badly…”

At a moment like this, the more he said, the more mistakes he would make. Luo Bin could only put on an act and try to muddle through.

“Luo Feng! Move the axe away! He’s Little Shan! Have you been possessed?” The woman was frantic as she tried to seize the axe.

Luo Feng’s gaze grew even colder. With absolute certainty, he said, “No. He isn’t Little Shan. He’s deceiving us.”

…

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

Rapid pounding on the door was accompanied by a rough voice. “Who’s inside the mortuary? Open up! Hurry and open the door!”

The woman’s expression changed slightly. Panic entered her voice. “The village chief is here. Whatever you do, don’t let him discover…”

Luo Feng’s expression shifted uncertainly, and he drew back his arm.

When the axe moved away from above his head, Luo Bin felt as though his heart were about to stop. The pounding at the door had come at exactly the right moment.

But before he could rejoice for even two seconds, the axe came whistling toward his face.

At the instant his soul nearly left his body, the blow veered sharply downward. The back of the axe smashed into the little finger of his left hand, pinning it against the edge of the cremation platform and crushing it into a bloody pulp.

Once the pain reached a certain intensity, it became numbness instead, and all sensation vanished.

Luo Bin stared blankly at Luo Feng, genuinely scared senseless.

Luo Feng then placed the axe in the corner, hurried to another cremation platform, tugged at the corpse lying there, and returned. He flicked something onto the floor before hastening toward the door.

“Don’t say anything foolish.” The woman cautiously raised a finger to her lips, then took Luo Bin’s right hand and led him toward the entrance.

Luo Feng had just opened the door when a man in his fifties squeezed inside. He had a full beard, a square face, thick arched brows, and an imposing appearance.

Was he the village chief the woman had mentioned?

“Luo Feng, Gu Ya, what are you doing in the mortuary with your whole family? And why have you barred the door?” The village chief looked at them in confusion.

“A lot of people died last night. Gap-Toothed Zhang is gone too. I couldn’t settle my heart, so I came to see him one last time.” Grief showed in Luo Feng’s eyes.

Before Luo Bin’s eyes flashed the corpse on the cremation platform that was missing half its head. It had an undershot face, protruding buckteeth, and an overhanging mouth. The man truly looked exactly like his nickname.

The village chief was silent for a moment before saying, “A lot of people did die last night. I heard an evil spirit had entered your home as well. I went over there just now and found none of you were there. I thought your whole family had fallen victim to it.”

Gu Ya forced a smile. “An evil spirit leaves no survivors when it enters a house. We’re all perfectly fine. I don’t know who started spreading such nonsense.”

More information came rushing in.

Luo Bin’s heart began to race.

This couple could lie without even blinking.

An evil spirit must have entered the original owner’s home. Otherwise, how could Luo Shan have died?

After failing to save their son, Luo Feng and Gu Ya had come here to burn his corpse, so that he would not become an evil spirit.

“That’s right. We’re all perfectly fine. We never encountered an evil spirit, Chief. If there’s nothing else, we’ll be leaving now. We won’t disturb you while you burn the bodies.”

As Luo Feng spoke, he signaled to Gu Ya with his eyes.

Gu Ya immediately took Luo Bin’s hand and prepared to lead him outside.

The village chief raised a hand and blocked the entrance to the mortuary.

His gaze fell upon Luo Bin’s left hand, and he asked calmly, “Luo Shan, what happened to your hand? Did you injure it last night?”

Those words nearly made Luo Bin’s heart stop.

Page (3/3)