Volume 1, Chapter 47: Three Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty-One

"What do you want to sa—" Before Luofeng could finish his question, Lubin strode forward, heading straight toward the corpse!

"Be careful!" Luofeng's expression shifted slightly, and he immediately followed Lubin.

Lubin stopped, however, and hacked at a small tree beside him with his blade, slicing off a branch nearly as tall as a person. He stripped away the twigs in a few quick motions and began using it as a probing staff in front of him.

Traps—Lubin had seen them before.

Combined with Luofeng's warning, every single move demanded the utmost caution and care.

Before long, they reached the base of the desiccated corpse.

The ground around it no longer bore any visible traces related to traps.

The person hanging from the tree had their neck constricted so deeply, so profoundly, that the cord had bitten right down to the bone.

Both of his hands were still clawing at either side of the rope.

"He wasn't killed by this trap. Even after being strung up, his hands were still gripping the rope in a desperate bid to ease his suffocation. It's just that no one ever found him, until deep into the night when the evil entity appeared, clawing at his body while dragging him down, forcibly snapping his neck with the rope and sawing straight through."

"Dad, we've walked out of it."

"Actually, this place is equivalent to the village entrance. It's just that we walked into a corner resembling the area right outside the entrance. Then, authorities by the fog, we kept treating the corner as the core point and kept circling around..." Lubin said in a muffled voice.

"People once lived in this place. It's just like Guishan Village up on the mountain; our path-finding brought us right to their settlement, straight onto the route that trapped them."

"In reality, this place is connected to Guishan Village... But what about the villagers here? Why didn't they find Guishan Village? Did they somehow manage to leave?"

Lubin stared blankly at the hanged villager.

Both up and down the mountain, there were villages, each with its own way of life, and across the ten miles and eight townships, people's paths always intersected.

How was it that only the people of Guishan Village had ever found this place during their path-finding?

Yet no one from this place had ever path-found their way to Guishan Village.

Then there was only one possible conclusion!

The people belonging to this village had found the way out and escaped from this absurd, bizarre realm brimming with malevolent entities!

"It's also possible that they all died," Luofeng said.

Unawares, the setting sun had flooded the sky with a blazing, fiery red.

Three detours had consumed nearly nine or ten hours. Lubin's mental regression and subsequent chain of analysis, fast as they were, still devoured a vast amount of time.

"In about half an hour, we can make it back to our resting spot. Let's head back first." Luofeng let out a heavy breath of foul air, then looked at Lubin. "Xiaoshan, you take the lead in telling directions."

A stifled feeling weighed heavily in Lubin's chest.

His expectations had been so hopeful, yet Luofeng's single sentence poured a massive bucket of freezing water right over him.

And Luofeng wasn't wrong.

Still, didn't matters always require corroboration?

It was like knowing full well that a brick wall stood directly ahead, yet one still had to crash right into it before turning back.

They had made it all the way here, and no one had previously discovered that a village existed in this place!

Wouldn't there at least be traces of other people's lives having been lived here?

What if?

Lubin didn't know whether the emotion swelling in his chest right now was hope, wishful thinking, or a mixture of both.

He discerned the directions, consciously keeping as far away as possible from the tree that triggered the detours, and began walking the return path.

Sure enough, the two of them successfully emerged from the detour point.

...

Thud, thud, thud—a knock sounded on the door.

Gu娅's expression inside the cabin tightened slightly.

"Her mother, open the door," Luofeng's voice filtered through.

Gu娅 pushed herself up from the filthy, cotton-padded bedding, her legs somewhat numb, and shuffled toward the door.

Through the crack in the door, it was indeed Luofeng, with Luoshan standing right beside him.

Both of them looked utterly exhausted and worn out, the hair on their foreheads plastered to their skin by sweat.

A surge of joy welled up in her heart, and Gu娅's hand touched the wooden door latch.

She didn't push it open immediately. Instead, she let out a breath and stared steadily at Luofeng through the crack.

"Her mother? Why aren't you opening the door? Didn't I tell you we'd definitely be back before dark, and told you to remember my words? It's almost dark," Luofeng urged, rapping his knuckles sharply against the door again.

"I remember..." Gu娅 lightly bit her lower lip before saying, "Say the pass."

...

"Say what? It's getting dark, hurry up and open the door!" Luofeng hammered on the door with renewed force.

"Mom, hurry up and open the door! There are abnormal things outside, and it's about to get dark." Luoshan's eyes scanned the surroundings with extreme vigilance, his demeanor laced with a hint of panicky urgency.

Gu娅's face turned pale, all joy instantly vanishing.

She stopped speaking, retreated to the filthy, worn cotton bedding, sat down, and tightly hugged her knees.

"Her mother, what is wrong with you?!"

"The evil entities are about to appear!"

The pounding on the door grew even more violent, sounding like fierce, battering rams!

Gu娅 clutched her pant legs tightly as the wooden cabin shook, sending dust raining down continuously from the roof beams.

Her eye sockets grew slightly red, with a faint film of moisture swirling within them.

She wasn't afraid of the two "things" outside the door.

Once one ventured a certain distance deep into the mountains, such things would lurk in the shadows, eavesdropping on the minute details of people's interactions and then disguising themselves as humans.

There was a secret code between her and Luofeng.

To open the door, one had to give the code; failing to match it meant something was wrong.

What she feared was that night was falling.

Once night fell, the evil entities would roam, and Luofeng and Luoshan hadn't returned yet.

She was terrified of disaster striking.

Two years ago, she had stayed behind alone at the resting spot waiting for seven days—a nightmare she never wanted to experience again.

...

Lubin and Luofeng hurried along the mountain path.

The setting sun grew heavier by the moment. Although their pace was actually quite brisk, compared to the boundless energy they'd had at dawn, they were truly lagging far behind now.

It took a good forty to fifty minutes before the wooden cabin finally came into view.

They were separated from total darkness by a mere thread of light.

The two of them quickened their pace and reached the front of the house.

"Mom! Open the door!" Lubin shouted, though his heart instantly skipped a beat.

The wooden door was covered in countless scars, as if it had been hacked with a chisel—a startling and horrifying sight.

No reply came from inside the house, save for the sound of faint weeping.

Lubin grew even more anxious and moved to shout again.

Luofeng pressed down on his shoulder, faced the door, and spoke in a low voice: "Three thousand seven hundred and thirty-one."

Lubin was taken aback.

Why had Luofeng blurted out a number?

Amidst a dull, heavy thud, the door latch was pushed aside.

Immediately following that, the door swung wide open!

Greeting their eyes was Gu娅's tear-stained face.

"Xiaoshan, come inside quickly! Their father, hurry!"

The two of them swiftly stepped inside, and Gu娅 locked the door securely once more. An oil lamp had long since been lit, its warm glow flooding the entire small cabin.

"You're both safe... Thank goodness." Gu娅 looked on the verge of tears of joy.

"Mom... Has something come to attack you?" Lubin's vigilance didn't wane in the slightest as he kept his eyes glued to the door.

He vaguely recalled what Luofeng had said earlier—that the things trying to trick them had failed out there, and must have come here to target Gu娅 instead.

Sure enough, they really had come after Gu娅!

"Don't worry, Mom is fine, and Mom is smart too."

Gu娅 wiped away her tears and explained.

"Those things eavesdropped on our conversations, but they didn't know the secret code between your father and me. Without hearing that phrase, I wouldn't engage with them at all."

Only then did Lubin let out a breath of relief.

Yet, a subtle knot of tension tightened in his chest once more.

He desperately wanted to know what these entities actually were, but Luofeng stubbornly refused to offer any further explanations.

The word "eavesdropped" echoed with particular resonance in Lubin's mind.

Including some of Luofeng's meticulous actions.

Those things existed all around them, constantly observing them?

How was it that this felt even more terrifying than mere evil entities?

At least malevolent entities only used words to beguile and deceive people after dark.

What was the logic behind these things appearing in broad daylight to trick people?

Guishan Village clearly had no such entities.

Otherwise, the danger coefficient would be raised by more than a single notch.

"Their father, sit down and rest for a bit. Xiaoshan, I'll go get you both something to eat right now." Gu娅 hurriedly began rummaging through their supplies.

"No need, we just ate our dry rations, not hungry," Luofeng said.

For a moment, silence descended upon the cabin once again.

Luofeng's attention, however, remained fixed squarely on him.

Lubin felt extremely ill at ease.

The candlelight was starting to sting his eyes, and an itchy sensation began to flare up in his throat.

He needed to consume lamp oil.

"Xiaoshan is truly extraordinary; he has really grown up. If it weren't for Xiaoshan, we certainly wouldn't have made it back before dark. Unlike last time when I merely built a resting spot outside, even if you gave me seven days, I might never have made it back. In fact..."

Luofeng didn't finish his sentence, his expression tinged with a hint of profound emotion.

Gu娅 froze, the unease in her eyes deepening considerably.

"Xiaoshan has turned out well. I always knew he'd grow up to be quite different. He spotted things in the village that the rest of you missed, so it's only natural that he could lend a hand here."

Gu娅 said this, then bit her lip before adding, "So... what exactly did you encounter out there?"

Luofeng recounted everything that had happened along the way, detail by detail.

Throughout the telling, his gaze remained fixed on Lubin with lingering admiration.

"Oh heavens," Gu娅 pressed both fists tightly against her chest, barely managing to suppress her rising anxiety.

"Then... should we just head back? We'll set off tomorrow and make it back to the village before dark. We can tell the village chief that the path-finding direction was wrong—it's not a problem we can solve, so we'll have to leave it to the chief to decide."

Clearly, these words instantly dashed the optimism Gu娅 had managed to muster.

"No, we can't leave tomorrow yet," Luofeng said in a deep voice. "Xiaoshan and I plan to scout the surrounding area to look for traces of where the villagers used to live. I believe they all died, but Xiaoshan raised the possibility that they might have gotten out."

"This..." Gu娅 hesitated, her words hanging on her lips before she ultimately fell silent.

"What's wrong with you, Xiaoshan? Are you feeling unwell?" Luofeng frowned slightly. His gaze had been on Lubin all along, and he had particularly noticed that Lubin's demeanor was off.

Sweatdrops the size of soybeans beaded on Lubin's forehead, his eyes were bloodshot, and his entire body was trembling faintly.

Gu娅 turned her gaze to Lubin as well, her eyes filled with disquiet.

"Xiaoshan, what's wrong with you?" She started to step forward.

"Don't come over!" Lubin's voice was shockingly loud, his breathing growing even more ragged.

"Xiaoshan... you..." Gu娅 stopped in her tracks, looking somewhat at a loss.

Luofeng's frown deepened further as he demanded in a stern voice, "Where does it hurt?"

Lubin didn't answer. He simply stared fixedly in one direction—straight at the door of the cabin!

His gaze was dead, intensely piercing, and laced with... a hint of ferocity?

Luofeng suddenly whipped his head around to stare at the door, stepping forward to peer through the crack.

Gu娅 hurried over to look as well.

Outside the door, everything was utterly vacant, save for the distant shapes of evil entities slowly approaching.

"Xiaoshan, what did you discover?"

Luofeng glanced back out of the corner of his eye.

Lubin's gaze remained locked onto the door, his expression rigidly tense, his lips pressed into a hard line.

"There's nothing there at all... The evil entities are just closing in on us," Gu娅 said, looking utterly bewildered.