Volume One, Chapter 10: No Window Closed

"Are you really going to report Zhang Jun?" Zhang Li's words interrupted Luo Bin's thoughts.

Luo Bin had mentioned telling the village chief, but that was merely to intimidate the others; he knew nothing about them. Unexpectedly, they openly revealed their origins to the outsider.

"Yeah, just something I said in passing," Luo Bin nodded.

"You're a good person," Zhu Qianqian ran out from the mountain god statue, her eyes full of gratitude.

"My name is Zhang Li, and she is Zhu Qianqian," Zhang Li extended his hand.

"Luo Shan," Luo Bin shook hands with Zhang Li, then glanced at the girl with the tear mole and asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"Gu Yiren isn't feeling well," Zhu Qianqian whispered, her eyes pleading. "We're members of the archaeological team. There was a landslide on Guishan Mountain that buried many people. We urgently need a rescue team. Could you help us get the vehicle back so we can leave?"

"I want to leave this place just as much as you do," Luo Bin replied. "The whole village knows we can't escape. Haven't you already tried several times?"

Zhang Li remained silent, sweat beading on his forehead.

Zhu Qianqian pressed her lips together, anxious and uncertain.

"Where exactly does she feel unwell?" Luo Bin kept his gaze on Gu Yiren.

"Yiren was frightened yesterday, but it's nothing serious," Zhang Li subtly stepped aside, positioning himself in front of Luo Bin protectively.

"I see," Luo Bin nodded.

When Gu Yiren had looked at him before, it didn’t seem like she was just scared. Now, she appeared strange, not even daring to look him in the eye. Luo Bin hesitated to probe further, as it involved his own secret.

The one thing he truly needed help with was his dependence on lamp oil to maintain normalcy.

He needed lamp oil.

Or perhaps Gu Yiren had another way?

"Since there's nothing wrong, you should stay at the mountain god temple. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. The village chief isn't a bad man, nor is he deceitful," Luo Bin said, turning to leave the temple. No one stopped him.

He soon returned to his small wooden hut.

Turning his head, he saw Zhang Li and Zhu Qianqian closing the temple door.

Gu Yiren stood quietly behind them, strangely watching him from a distance.

The door shut.

Luo Bin took a deep breath, focusing.

The closed temple doors suddenly opened backward, replaying the exact process of Zhang Li and Zhu Qianqian closing them.

Gu Yiren was indeed watching him.

Not only that—she was moving her lips!

---

Luo Bin replayed the scene again, his pupils contracting sharply.

He repeated this process over a dozen times.

Finally, he shut his eyes tightly, his mind overworked, a splitting headache pounding.

Beads of sweat the size of soybeans trickled down his forehead as he muttered, "The window wasn’t closed."

Slouching at the table, Luo Bin looked toward the nailed-shut window of the wooden hut. It barely counted as a window—the gap was as narrow as a door crack. Why would anyone need to close it?

No...

She was trying to remind him that the window hadn’t been closed that night, and Xu Kaiguo had slipped a note inside, asking him to save her?

...

Half an hour earlier, at the Luo family.

"Xiao Ling, then I truly trouble you. This portion is for my son Xiao Shan; these others are for the outsiders," Gu Ya was busy at the stove, dividing meals, placing one in a lunch steamer and another in a bamboo sieve covered with cloth.

Another person was in the kitchen—a villager familiar with Gu Ya named Zhang Yunling, in her early twenties, graceful and poised.

Gu Ya had planned to deliver lunch herself, but after leaving the mountain god temple, she ran into the village chief on the way back. He instructed her not to let her or Luo Feng leave the house as he intended to visit later.

So Gu Ya had called Zhang Yunling ahead to help.

"Got it, Aunt Gu," Zhang Yunling responded sweetly, standing with her back to the window facing Gu Ya.

She clasped a thin wooden stick between her slender fingers, slipped it into the gap between the wooden slats, and gently lifted the latch. The tightly closed window opened just a narrow crack.

All the windows had been sealed with wooden slats; unless one looked very closely, it was impossible to tell a window had been opened.

Zhang Yunling, with her long legs, walked beside Gu Ya, inhaled deeply at the aroma from the steamer and sieve, and said, "It smells delicious. You're so kind. I remember when I first came to the village, the outsiders hadn’t eaten for three days."

"The village chief never said to feed the outsiders, but since one of their companions has already died, and they know how serious things are, I thought since I’m already delivering food to Xiao Shan, I might as well give them a bite too. They’re all young—someone’s children, after all," Gu Ya sighed softly.

Zhang Yunling hugged Gu Ya’s arm in admiration. "You’re so kind. The village chief is a bit unreasonable. Your family’s been plagued by some evil presence, yet he sends Xiao Shan to check on the outsiders and forbids you and Uncle Luo from going out. He’s staying at your house, but does he think that will scare away the evil? I really don’t know what the village chief is thinking."

Gu Ya sighed again. "Xiao Ling, the village chief has his reasons. It’s all for the sake of the village. You should go now."

"Okay, got it," Zhang Yunling picked up the steamer, hugged the sieve, greeted Luo Feng in the yard with a sweet "Uncle Luo," and then left the courtyard.

She was heading toward the mountain god temple, passing by the kitchen’s outer side.

She glanced at the window, a flicker of hesitation and struggle in her eyes as she whispered, "Can’t really tell them, can we?"

"But they’re so innocent..."

"Yeah, I understand what you mean... You’re right."

"As long as everyone can leave here, and Luo Shan can leave too, they’ll be grateful to me."

---

This wasn’t a soliloquy but seemed like Zhang Yunling was talking to someone.

Yet she was walking alone on the village road—who else was there?

...

Inside the mountain god temple.

Gu Ya stood before the statue, her head slightly raised.

"Why didn’t you tell Luo Shan what happened last night?" Zhu Qianqian whispered. "He’s different from the villagers. If he helps, we have a chance to get the vehicle back."

Zhang Li shook his head. "Qianqian, if we encountered an artifact that could solve some academic mystery, wouldn’t you try to look at it more carefully? Wouldn’t you try all means to study it?"

"Everything in this village, what we’ve seen and heard, is terrifying and bizarre. If we tell them about Yiren, how do you think they’ll treat her?"

Zhu Qianqian was uneasy. "Then... what can we do?"

Zhang Li’s gaze fell on Gu Yiren. He took a deep breath as if making up his mind and asked, "Yiren, you have a way, don’t you?"

Gu Yiren didn’t answer but looked to her left. Her eyes flickered, her cherry lips curled into a smile.

Zhang Li’s face paled slightly. "Yiren, are you okay?"

Gu Yiren didn’t answer Zhang Li but made a shushing gesture toward the left.

There was clearly no one there!

Zhang Li’s expression turned horrified.

Zhu Qianqian was startled too. "Zhang Li... what’s wrong with Yiren?"

He didn’t answer but slowly moved closer to the hemp rope on the ground.

Then, suddenly, he grabbed the rope, looped it around Gu Yiren’s chest, dragged her to a pillar, and tied her tightly to it.

Zhu Qianqian covered her mouth in fright.

Zhang Li looked terrified, goosebumps covering his face, his voice trembling, "She’s having an episode again!"

"Before, when Yiren had episodes, she opened the gas valve at midnight and walked along the rooftop edge... She even went into the river. She never admitted doing these things alone, always claiming someone was there, calling and guiding her. At her worst, she combed the air in front of the mirror at midnight... It terrified my aunt so badly she had a fever and convulsions..."

Zhu Qianqian also trembled and said, "But that’s not right... You said the same yesterday, but she clearly told us what was going to happen. This isn’t epilepsy, is it?"

"Did she see something we can’t? Is that how she knew what would happen?" Zhu Qianqian hurriedly whispered, "Yiren? Am I right?"

"No window closed..." Gu Yiren replied, ignoring the question, turning to stare longingly at the mountain god temple gate.