Blood!

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"": ""Morning glory, wormwood, datura, and mountain hyssop. That should be enough." Zhang Yunling gently swirled a teacup, a confident smile on her poised, graceful face.

A crookedly stitched cloth doll also sat on the table. The poor needlework made it look downright sinister.

"Luo Shan is still the same as ever. He just isn't acting like such a hoodlum anymore, but he still sneaks looks at me. That respectable act is all for show."

"Uncle Luo and Aunt Gu really are innocent. Thank goodness nothing happened to them."

"In a bit, I'll have Luo Shan go to the Village Chief's house for lamp oil. By the time he gets there, the drug should be kicking in. He won't have time to get from the Village Chief's house to the spirit medium's, so he'll have to spend the night with the Village Chief."

"That makes it even more perfect, doesn't it?"

"Luo Shan has deliberately been showing off around the village these past two days, proving he's turned over a new leaf. The Village Chief trusts him, too. I wonder what he'll think when Luo Shan opens the door in the middle of the night."

Zhang Yunling smiled sweetly at the cloth doll, then sat down to continue mending the clothes riddled with holes. She hummed a tune, her voice as lovely as an oriole's song.

Time slipped by, moment by moment.

Zhang Yunling finished mending the clothes and spread them out to inspect them, nodding in satisfaction.

She turned to look at the sky. The sun was setting, and a gleam brightened her eyes.

But as the sunset deepened and the sky grew darker, no one knocked on the courtyard gate. A shadow crept into Zhang Yunling's eyes.

Where was Luo Shan? Why hadn't he come?

Hurried footsteps sounded.

Delight rose in Zhang Yunling's eyes again.

An urgent pounding came at the courtyard gate, and she rushed to open it.

But the people outside were Gu Ya and Luo Feng.

"Yunling, hurry and tell Xiao Shan to come out. It's almost dark," Gu Ya said anxiously.

Luo Feng frowned slightly.

"Xiao Shan... hasn't come here... I've been waiting for him." Zhang Yunling's heart sank.

"What?" Gu Ya's expression changed. "He hasn't been home since this afternoon. If he isn't here, where did he go?"

"Go find the Village Chief! It's almost dark!" Gu Ya urged her husband, frantic.

Luo Feng's brow furrowed deeply. "Let's go home first."

"No!" Gu Ya clutched Luo Feng's forearm. "How can you expect me to go home? Xiao Shan isn't there! How am I supposed to stop worrying? Hurry and look for him! Where on earth did he go?"

Gu Ya was nearly in tears, stamping her feet over and over.

"If we go back, Xiao Shan might already be home. If he finds us gone, he'll worry, too. We shouldn't have come out in the first place." Luo Feng's tone grew slightly firmer.

"But..." Gu Ya had completely lost her bearings. Flustered, she said, "Yes... you're right... home... quick, let's go home..."

The dusk deepened, gradually swallowing the daylight.

Luo Bin sat on the threshold of the Mountain God Temple. Most of the time, he watched the deep mountain forests beyond the road at the far end of the village. He spared only a little of his peripheral vision for the village itself, making sure no one approached.

It was almost dark.

He was trembling inside.

Yet a strange, fierce resolve welled up within him, too.

The main problem was that he truly had no way to obtain enough lamp oil to get through tonight.

There was none in the Wooden Cabin opposite. Steal some from another house? That was too risky. He knew nothing about the other villagers' homes. What would happen if he got caught?

Without lamp oil, he would become the greatest danger in the house the moment he lost his reason.

He couldn't hurt his mother in this life.

So staying here had become his best option instead.

Turning his head, Luo Bin silently glanced at Gu Yiren again and swallowed.

Hopefully, she had a way.

Otherwise... she... could be a solution herself?

Luo Bin stood and was about to close the door.

"N-no... don't close it..." A timid voice reached his ears. Gu Yiren had woken up and was pulling herself upright against a pillar.

"Don't close the door?" Sweat broke out on Luo Bin's forehead.

"Come here..." Gu Yiren beckoned.

Luo Bin hesitated for a moment before letting go of the door and walking toward her.

Gu Yiren headed behind the Mountain God's statue instead.

The statue was made of clay. Rather than resting directly on the ground, it sat on a square stone pedestal.

Old, filthy, tattered cloth hung around all four sides of the pedestal. Gu Yiren lifted the cloth at the back, revealing a small iron plate with a ring attached.

She pulled the ring, and the iron plate creaked open. It was actually a little door, roughly half a meter across. Beyond it lay pitch darkness.

Gu Yiren crawled inside.

"Come in?" she called timidly.

"Phew..." Luo Bin exhaled a little stale breath and ducked into the hole.

Then the door closed.

A faint light appeared.

An oil lamp?

Luo Bin was ecstatic, but when his gaze fell on the flame, his heart sank again. It wasn't an oil lamp at all, just half a candle.

The space was extremely cramped. They couldn't stand upright, only hunch over; straightening even slightly would make them hit their heads. It was no more than two meters wide. Some filthy old cotton bedding lay on the floor, along with a grime-covered kettle and a chamber pot eaten away by rust.

There was no ventilation, and the place felt terribly stuffy. No one had been here in a long time, though, so the smell was still bearable.

"We have to wait here. Once it's dark, they'll come out." Gu Yiren made no sound; she mouthed the words.

"Wait for what?" Luo Bin mouthed back.

But Gu Yiren fell silent again and lowered her head.

Luo Bin: "..."

In an environment this quiet, his ears began to ring.

Luo Bin heard the faint chirping of cicadas.

When the cicadas fell silent, he heard footsteps.

Then, as if drawn by some strange impulse, Luo Bin noticed a hole in the wall directly ahead, about the size of a fingertip.

He carefully shuffled over, trying not to make a sound.

This brought a look of terror to Gu Yiren's face, and she kept gesturing for him to be quiet.

Luo Bin crouched in front of the hole and peered through.

The hole went all the way through. He could see inside the Mountain God Temple!

Several people were pacing back and forth inside the temple.

The night was pitch-black, and with no moonlight yet, it was especially dim.

Even so, he could still make out their faces. Their lips were pressed together slightly, and their faces held no expression.

Sweat trickled down Luo Bin's forehead and seeped beneath his eyelids. He kept blinking to ease the discomfort.

Slowly, those people walked out of the Mountain God Temple.

The hole was too small, and his view too blurry. He could just make out more figures seeming to pass in front of the temple.

They were all evil spirits!

They hadn't discovered him or Gu Yiren!

He had no idea how much time passed. Perhaps several dozen minutes?

No more evil spirits entered the Mountain God Temple.

But Luo Bin couldn't relax. Although there was no lamp oil here, he felt no aversion to the light. His throat, however, was itchy and terribly thirsty. Soon, it grew so dry it felt as though sparks might fly from it.

"There aren't any evil spirits here anymore..."

"Didn't you say you could help me?"

"How are you going to help me?"

"What are we waiting for?" Luo Bin turned his head. He wanted to calm himself, but couldn't. He had to fight that thirst for blood, and his-

Eyes were stretched wide, making him look savage and vicious.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Luo Bin shook his head and struck it hard with his hand, using the pain to ease the burning in his throat.

Gu Yiren's face grew even paler. She hugged her knees tightly, looking utterly terrified, with a hint of anguish in her expression.

Then she raised her hands.

She held a dagger in her left hand and opened her right palm.

The blade's tip sliced across her palm, and blood flowed out.

"What are you doing?!"

Luo Bin clenched his teeth, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets in shock and disbelief.

In the next instant, Gu Yiren leaned forward. The space was only two or three meters across, far too cramped, and she pressed her bloodied hand straight over Luo Bin's mouth!