Volume One, Chapter 21: I Will Never Stay in a Village Like This!

“It’s about to get dark. If you want to go, hurry up.” Old Kong urged.

Without a word, Luo Bin dashed out the door.

With three quick strides, he reached the cement road and then the front of the vehicle. Moving forward, Luo Bin grabbed the car door handle.

He couldn’t open it—the car was locked from the inside.

In the driver’s seat sat Zhang Li, his face pale.

Beside him, where a hanging ornament would usually be, hung an oil lamp.

Zhang Li locked eyes with Luo Bin, beads of sweat the size of soybeans forming on his forehead.

Luo Bin’s gaze darted quickly over to the back seat. Gu Yiren lay unconscious, her hands tied with rope. Zhu Qianqian sat trembling on the opposite side, her eyes filled with deep unease.

“Get out! It’s going to get dark soon; come inside!” Luo Bin said firmly, tugging hard at the door handle.

“What are you going to do with him?” Zhang Li stared at Luo Bin, his eyes flicking toward Zhang Jun in the prisoner transport vehicle.

Although Zhang Li had been badly beaten by Zhang Jun, who was certainly no good, he had hoped Luo Bin would tell the village chief so that Zhang Jun would be punished.

But Zhang Li never imagined the punishment would be this severe.

Dusk was approaching; keeping someone locked in the prisoner vehicle would invite evil spirits to emerge—it was easy to guess what might happen.

“There’s a reason for all this. Come down quickly; it’s getting dark.” Luo Bin’s eyes urged him. “Tonight is the third night. After this, you’ll be given a place to stay. Hurry and come inside with me!”

“Madmen! All of you are mad! Isn’t there any law left? Even if he went too far, it doesn’t mean he deserves to die!” Zhang Li’s neck veins bulged.

“You don’t know the full story. I told you, there’s a reason!” Luo Bin grew agitated, pounding twice on the window.

“I won’t stay in a place like this. You can’t leave because you’re all crazy!” Zhang Li glared coldly at Luo Bin and shut the window.

Luo Bin was speechless.

He immediately tried the rear door handle but still couldn’t open it.

“Are you poison? Can’t understand human speech?!” Luo Bin was truly anxious, lifting his leg and kicking the door with a thud.

In his past life, he had encountered bookish fools, stubborn people, but never anyone this obstinate.

Beep! Beep!

A piercing horn blared suddenly, hurting Luo Bin’s ears.

“Xiao Shan! It’s almost dark!” Gu Ya’s loud shout came from the house near the archway.

“It’s not safe inside the car—even with the oil lamp, we can’t stay overnight. Get out quickly!” Luo Shan pounded on the car window again.

To be honest, if it weren’t for Gu Yiren’s rescue, he wouldn’t have cared about Zhang Li at all.

Zhang Li remained unmoved; the horn blared nonstop, ringing in Luo Bin’s head with a buzzing tinnitus.

At that moment, someone stepped out from the doorway—it was Luo Feng.

Luo Bin knew time was running out...

A flame of anger and deep unwillingness burned in his chest.

But the sunset sank steadily behind the mountain, and twilight began to swallow the remaining daylight.

“Damn!” Luo Bin cursed, kicked the front of the car hard, then ran toward the house.

Luo Feng grabbed his arm and pulled him inside, slamming the door shut. Old Kong quickly bolted the door.

“Not hanging out with thugs anymore, trying to be the good guy, but just a rotten one,” a villager shrugged, eyes filled with mockery.

“Luo Feng, is your head hurting?” another made a sarcastic remark.

“If it were me, I’d have a headache for sure. A tiger’s son is no dog; first, the son refuses to be human—a rotten pus, and now trying to be a good guy rescuing outsiders. Overdoing it always leads to trouble,” a third villager said with a knowing look.

Anyone who survived in this village had gone through a life-and-death trial.

If you want to call them fools—

There probably wasn’t a single fool in the whole village.

People like Zhang Jun had their own cunning and hidden malice deep in their hearts.

Luo Bin said nothing.

Luo Feng ignored the villagers’ words entirely.

Gu Ya’s ears reddened; she pressed her lips tight and said nothing. Zhang Yunling held her arm tightly; the two stood close together.

“Stubborn outsiders always die—almost without exception. Even if the door’s wide open, they won’t come in. Maybe they don’t want to be with people like us. They still think they’re special. Those who can’t be villagers can only become a handful of ashes in the mountains,” Old Kong said gravely. “You understand now?”

Luo Bin’s heart sank; he forced a smile.

Staring blankly out the window, he suddenly noticed his line of sight aligned perfectly with the Santana’s rear window, where a pale face appeared, with a tear mole at the corner of the eye.

Gu Yiren, who had been unconscious before, had awakened!

She was moving her lips.

His vision was blurry, but Luo Bin could still make out her lip movements repeating: “I can help you.”

...

“There might be many evil spirits coming out later... what do we do...” Zhu Qianqian hugged herself, whispering, “Maybe we should get out of the car and go inside first...”

“No! Listen to Yiren. She said if we follow the evil spirits, we can leave the village!”

If anyone from this village had heard those words, they would be utterly shocked.

Zhang Li had his reasons for insisting!

That morning, he saw Luo Bin run into the village. After hesitating, he left the Mountain God Temple and followed from afar behind.

The village’s silence told him the opportunity had come.

He located where the car’s tire first blew out, found subtle traces showing the direction it was pushed, eventually found the car, retrieved the spare tire from the trunk, and managed to start the engine by manipulating some circuits inside.

Without anyone noticing, he drove the car to the Mountain God Temple.

He took the dry biscuits and water jug Luo Bin had left in the cabin, removed the oil lamp from the Mountain God statue, and, together with Zhu Qianqian, got Gu Yiren into the car.

Zhang Li’s plan was sound: he gave up leaving Guishan and intended to retrace the path back, first returning to the landslide site. After two or three days, maybe someone would have escaped, or perhaps contact had been made with the rescue team.

Of course, the best-case scenario was to meet up with the archaeological team.

Zhang Li also considered the worst outcome—that they couldn’t even return.

In that case, before nightfall, they would return to the village and stay safely in the Mountain God Temple.

Indeed, things were heading toward the worst.

But the variable was Gu Yiren.

On the way, Zhu Qianqian kept trying to talk to Gu Yiren, asking if she knew how to leave the village.

Although Zhang Li feared Gu Yiren’s epileptic episodes and subsequent behavior, he also held onto hope that she was different here—maybe she could really reveal the way out.

And sure enough, Gu Yiren finally spoke.

She said, follow the evil spirits to leave the village.

So Zhang Li abandoned the detour on the mountain and returned to the village!

At night, evil spirits would come out; at dawn, they would leave.

The car had windows, doors, and an oil lamp—everything needed to leave safely!

“These villagers are all mad. This fat guy doesn’t deserve to die. They want to kill him. You can’t judge their actions by normal standards,” Zhang Li turned his head, looking at Gu Yiren, whose face was almost pressed against the window, and spoke hoarsely, “Yiren’s condition is unstable. I’m afraid if she goes inside and tells others how to leave, then we might not get out.”

“Look... Yiren is awake now. She keeps trying to talk through the window...” Zhang Li’s eyelids twitched violently.

“But what is she saying? I can’t hear clearly. She seems to be mumbling?” Zhu Qianqian shivered, whispering, “Should we free that fat guy in the car? I remember his name is Zhang Jun. Although he’s a bit of a hooligan, he...”

“No, no, it’s the village’s problem, not ours. He’s not the one who killed him. It’s getting dark.”

Zhang Li shook his head quickly and cautiously lit the oil lamp.

He was the one blaming Luo Bin, blaming the villagers, and yet, he remained detached and indifferent.

He stared blankly out the car window, watching the last rays of twilight vanish as darkness fully descended.

The cawing of crows mingled with the unique rustling of insects along the rural road.

The noisy silence made the heart restless and chaotic.