"": 200,
"": "",
"": "Gu Yiren let out a soft moan, her eyelashes trembling.
Luo Bin's mind went blank, and he sucked hard.
Sweet.
It was like... rain after a long drought?
He sucked twice more. The burning in his throat subsided, replaced by a faint coolness and pleasure.
He involuntarily cupped Gu Yiren's right hand, instinctively wanting to bite into it.
Only the terror in Gu Yiren's eyes jolted Luo Bin back to his senses.
The two remained frozen like that, neither moving.
"Do you want more?" Gu Yiren asked breathlessly, sounding a little weak.
Yes...
But I can't...
Luo Bin instinctively knew that if he took a few more mouthfuls, Gu Yiren would collapse unconscious.
So he released her hand.
Gu Yiren pulled her hand back. Lowering her head, she took out a long, narrow strip of cloth and carefully wrapped the wound.
She had prepared that cloth in advance...
Had she planned to feed him her blood, too?
Luo Bin was full of questions.
She knew he craved blood. What else did she know?
"What's your relationship with Xu Kaiguo? What do you know?" Luo Bin could no longer contain his questions.
"Shh... they'll hear us. Don't draw them here," Gu Yiren answered quietly, her voice especially timid.
Then she added in a whisper, "I don't know Xu Kaiguo."
"???" Luo Bin was even more bewildered.
The next moment, Gu Yiren did something chilling. She turned to look beside her and broke into a smile.
But there was clearly no one there.
"Shh... don't say anything else. Follow me." Without even turning to look at Luo Bin, she crouched, pushed open the iron door, and slipped out.
Luo Bin's face drained of color.
He wanted to call out to her, but dared not raise his voice.
"What are you doing? Are you insane?" Luo Bin practically squeezed the whisper through his clenched teeth. He caught up with Gu Yiren, and they climbed out of the base of the Mountain God Temple's statue one after the other.
"Shh..." Gu Yiren raised a finger to her lips again.
Then she actually headed out of the Mountain God Temple!
A chill raced through every part of Luo Bin's body. Had Gu Yiren gone mad? She was heading into the village just like that, in the middle of the night!
With the taste of blood lingering in his mouth, however, Luo Bin could not suppress the pleasure welling up inside him. It was as though he normally lived in the blazing summer heat, and only now had this silent village, devoid of oil lamps, become a haven from the heat. Even the chill coursing through his body felt soothing...
Fuck, he cursed shakily to himself, then hurried after Gu Yiren.
They left the Mountain God Temple, but they were not heading into the village. They were heading out of it! Gu Yiren did not follow the concrete road, instead taking a route through the brush and woods at the foot of the mountain.
In the otherwise silent woods, the insects chirped with grating, raucous intensity. There was moonlight at first, but as they ventured deeper, the light grew exceedingly faint, with only an occasional shaft breaking through.
Gu Yiren kept darting through the woods. As Luo Bin followed, he forced down his alarm and confusion while memorizing their route. They never stopped walking. At the most perilous moments, Luo Bin even glimpsed the shifting silhouettes of evil spirits out of the corner of his eye, yet Gu Yiren simply kept going, and the two left the evil spirits behind.
When Gu Yiren finally stopped, a clearing lay before them, strewn with fallen leaves and surrounded by tall trees. At its center stood a wooden house.
The house had a chimney, pitch-black and gleaming with grease.
"Someone lives here?" Luo Bin's eyelid twitched again.
He did not press Gu Yiren with any more questions.
Gu Yiren did not know Xu Kaiguo, yet she had shown just how familiar she was with Cabinet Mountain Village, and even the terrain outside it!
They were practically deep in the mountain forest now. Who lived here?
"Don't step on the traps. Put your feet exactly where I put mine," Gu Yiren finally spoke.
Then she carefully walked forward.
Traps?
Luo Bin's heart tightened.
Without another word, he watched Gu Yiren's steps closely, placing each foot precisely where hers had been. Sometimes, Gu Yiren suddenly took a long stride over something, and Luo Bin dared not hesitate, stepping over it as well.
The clearing in front of the wooden house was about twenty or thirty meters across. Moving so cautiously, it took them five or six minutes to finally reach the threshold.
Gu Yiren patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
Luo Bin, however, felt an icy chill and a prickling sensation down his back.
His sixth sense made him whip his head around.
At the edge of the clearing stood two people.
Both were tall and thin, dressed in particularly old-fashioned, worn cloth clothes, with cloth caps on their heads.
Their sharply cut faces bore something of the simple honesty of mountain folk. Almost simultaneously, they smiled and walked toward Luo Bin and Gu Yiren.
Luo Bin went numb. "Get inside! An oil lamp, find an oil lamp!" he urged in a whisper.
Gu Yiren did not move. Clutching the hem of her clothes, she simply watched the two evil spirits.
She happened to be blocking the door, leaving Luo Bin no way to push it open and get inside.
The two evil spirits stepped forward, but they had barely taken a step when a swish sounded, followed by a dull squelch, as though something had burst.
Two pits, each about a meter across, appeared in the ground.
Were these the traps Gu Yiren had mentioned?!
Was the person living in this house... a hunter?
Mountain dwellers lived off the mountains, just as those by the water lived off the water. Naturally, they would set traps everywhere.
A wave of belated fear washed over him. Thankfully, he had followed closely earlier. Otherwise, he would be in a pit now, too.
With a creak, Gu Yiren pushed open the door and slipped inside. Luo Bin hurried in after her.
The house was large and spacious. Various animal pelts hung on the walls, along with some knives.
An oil lamp hung from a ceiling beam, its copper covered in rust and its reservoir filled to the brim with lamp oil!
Perfect!
That was the first thought that sprang into Luo Bin's mind.
A whole lampful of oil would be enough to last me ten days if I rationed it.
Even if I drank more to improve my condition at night, it should easily last five or six days.
Gu Yiren really could help me!
"Where's the person who lives here? Why isn't the lamp lit? Are they not home?" Luo Bin asked.
Gu Yiren did not answer him.
She looked to her side again and nodded slightly, a faint smile on her face as well. Then she seemed to grow a little flustered.
Luo Bin's eyelid twitched again. He said nothing, watching closely.
First of all, Gu Yiren couldn't be mentally ill.
Then was it possible she could see something he couldn't?
The next moment, Gu Yiren suddenly clutched her chest. Looking even more frightened, she slipped through a curtain on the right side of the room.
Luo Bin hurried after her.
Beyond the curtain was another door farther inside, and Gu Yiren had already run toward it.
But Luo Bin froze, stunned and astonished by the sight of the room before him!
Apart from the curtained side, cupboards lined the other three walls. They were simple, homemade wooden cupboards with numerous compartments, and each compartment held a filthy oil bottle.
More than half the bottles were empty, but those in just under half the compartments were filled to the brim.
A scene flashed through Luo Bin's mind. When the Village Chief filled the lamps with oil, hadn't he used these same blackened bottles?!
Was this the Village Chief's house?
No... the Village Chief definitely lived in the village. Then was this where he stored the lamp oil?!
No... that wasn't right either. Perhaps he hadn't stored it here, but found it here?
Had the Village Chief found the lamp oil that let the entire village spend the night safely here?
Just as Luo Bin was thinking this over.
A piercing scream erupted.
Luo Bin's expression changed abruptly. Only then did he realize that the lamp oil had distracted him from Gu Yiren!
He strode swiftly toward the door ahead.
The instant he entered, he felt a chill in the room. A stand sat in the center, resembling a platform used to slaughter animals. Serrated knives, cleavers, axes, and hammers hung on the walls.
Gu Yiren lay rigid on the floor, her limbs twitching incessantly and foam spilling from her mouth!
Luo Bin hurried forward, supported her shoulders, and pressed hard into the groove above her upper lip!
After a moment, Gu Yiren stopped convulsing, her eyes tightly shut.
Luo Bin checked her breathing beneath her nose. Only when he found it reasonably steady did he breathe a little easier.
Then Luo Bin raised his head and scanned the room, discovering yet another door farther inside. This one, however, had a thick iron lock on it.
He did not venture any farther. Carefully, he dragged Gu Yiren out into the room full of oil bottles. After a moment's hesitation, he went to the most obscure corner, picked up a bottle, and cautiously tucked it against his chest.
Then, his expression shifting uncertainly, Luo Bin put the oil bottle back.
He couldn't just take the lamp oil away like this.
Something would definitely go wrong!
Before you continue