A hammer to the head

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"": "Luo Bin avoided everyone on the road as best he could. When he reached home, the courtyard gate stood ajar.

He pushed it open and immediately saw Gu Ya sitting in the main room. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. Luo Feng said nothing, his face as dark as coal dust.

"Dad... Mom..." Luo Bin said hoarsely.

Gu Ya and Luo Feng both looked up.

"Xiao Shan!" Overwhelmed with excitement, Gu Ya ran toward the courtyard gate.

Luo Feng sprang to his feet, his expression even grimmer than before!

Luo Bin had barely taken two steps before Gu Ya reached him.

Tears spilled from her eyes, and for a moment she could barely form a coherent sentence. "What... what happened? Xiao Shan, you..."

"Didn't I go to Sister Xiaoling's place yesterday? Just my luck-I got a sack thrown over my head again, and they beat me unconscious."

"I woke up a few times, but they kept beating me. Then they dumped me outside, and I realized it was daylight again."

"But I'm fine, Mom. They're just flesh wounds." Luo Bin even smiled and scratched his head as he explained, only to hiss when the movement tugged at his injuries.

"Zhang Jun was the one who hurt our family, and you even had some ties with them. How could those thugs beat you so badly? Does this village have any rules left at all?" Gu Ya's voice shook, her face flushing and paling by turns.

Luo Feng walked over to Gu Ya. "The drawing is today. It starts at three this afternoon. Go wash yourself, have your mother put some medicine on you, then get some sleep."

Gu Ya froze and looked at Luo Feng, even more bewildered. "We're just going to let this go?"

Luo Feng didn't answer. He turned around, returned to his seat, and began sharpening his knife with meticulous care.

Gu Ya drew a quiet breath. "I'll heat some water for you."

Luo Bin relaxed a little, but a new unease still hung over him.

His excuse had worked.

The men who had beaten him yesterday had taken the blame.

But Luo Feng's reaction seemed a little off.

It should be fine, right?

Gu Ya went to the kitchen to heat water, then carried it into a room that hadn't been opened in days.

Luo Bin returned to his room. After thinking for a moment, he put the plastic bag containing the lamp oil at the very bottom of the wardrobe, tucked deep inside, and covered it with a few pieces of clothing.

He took some clean clothes, crossed the courtyard, and entered the room where Gu Ya had carried the water. She was standing on a chair, pouring water into a sheet-metal tank mounted on the wall.

It was an extremely old-fashioned shower setup. The metal tank had to be filled with water heated separately, and a pipe served as the showerhead.

Cabinet Mountain Village had no electricity.

Everything about life here seemed to belong to the last century.

"Xiao Shan, let me check the water temperature." Gu Ya climbed down from the chair and let out a little water. She said it was ready, then looked at Luo Bin with aching concern.

"I'm fine, Mom." Luo Bin smiled again.

Gu Ya forced a smile and wiped the corners of her eyes. "Wash first. I'll put some medicine on you afterward."

There was little else to tell. Once the medicine had been applied to his face, Luo Bin returned to his room to sleep.

Between the Village Tour and the previous night, he had gone almost two days and two nights without rest. The moment his head touched the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep.

The sunlight was dazzling. The mountain forest itself was so dense that almost no light penetrated it, yet one clearing was exceptionally bright.

Zhong Zhicheng stopped in front of the trap at the edge of the clearing. His square, heavily bearded face was filled with suspicion and astonishment, his brows tightly knitted.

He stared straight at the two evil spirits in the trap, his eyes widening in disbelief.

It had been a very, very long time since the trap had caught any evil spirits.

These evil spirits were extraordinarily clever. After the first few had fallen for it, the others had refused to set foot in the clearing again... yet last night, it had caught two?

Zhong Zhicheng hurried across the clearing and entered the cabin. He first went to the room where the lamp oil was stored and exchanged the five empty bottles he carried for full ones from the cabinet. Then he took two ropes from the main room and hauled the evil spirits out of the pit.

Only after carefully resetting the trap did he drag the two evil spirits into the cabin and take them to the innermost room, which held an assortment of axes and knives.

Under normal circumstances, evil spirits couldn't be killed. After daybreak, they fell into a deep sleep and wouldn't wake up. He had to deal with them quickly, or once darkness fell, he would have no choice but to throw them back into the trap.

Zhong Zhicheng hacked with his knife and chopped with his axe, putting all his strength into every blow!

Soon, he was drenched in sweat.

He stopped for a brief rest, then suddenly narrowed his eyes. Slowly, he lowered himself to the floor and examined it closely.

There were no marks on the floor.

But Zhong Zhicheng picked a strand of hair out of a gap between the wooden floorboards.

His pupils abruptly contracted. He got up and strode back to the room where the lamp oil was stored.

A quick glance showed that no oil bottles were missing. He knew exactly how many empty and full bottles there should be, and nothing was wrong.

Zhong Zhicheng frowned deeply and looked at the hair again, the gloom on his face easing slightly.

He didn't rest any further, but went back to dismembering the evil spirits.

The wind blew through the bamboo grove with a faint rustling sound.

Zhu Qianqian sat on a chair in the main room. Ever since entering Cabinet Mountain Village, she felt she hadn't let her guard down for even a moment.

Especially yesterday evening, when Gu Yiren had disappeared. Zhang Li had been frantic and kept berating her, saying she hadn't kept a proper watch on her.

How was I supposed to keep watch on her?

Zhang Li kept saying Gu Yiren was sick. Gu Yiren had indeed been right on the first night about the evil spirits killing Xu Qi, but that was only one incident. The idea that following an evil spirit could get them out of the village had never been tested. There was an inherent contradiction: evil spirits left before daybreak, but if someone followed them, wouldn't they be killed?

Could Gu Yiren have simply stumbled onto the right answer by accident?

And that wasn't the only problem. Zhang Li had suffered too many shocks. He seemed almost neurotic now, his temper volatile.

Right now, he was in another room, tying Gu Yiren up.

Suddenly, Zhu Qianqian sensed something and looked up.

She could see someone standing farther out in the courtyard-a petite young woman, waving to her.

She wasn't very far away. Her long hair reached her waist, and she was beautiful, with bright eyes and gleaming white teeth.

For men and women alike, appearance was the first calling card. Good-looking people inspired trust and a sense of closeness more easily.

And some women, when placed under too much pressure, desperately wanted someone they could vent to and confide in.

Zhu Qianqian happened to be one of them.

She also felt that her first priority now wasn't leaving the village, but surviving here and gradually testing certain things.

Making friends was the best choice.

Unfortunately, Zhang Li had driven Luo Bin away, and Luo Bin hadn't come back a second time...

Suppressing the tangled thoughts in her head, Zhu Qianqian instinctively stood and walked toward the long-haired young woman.

Soon, she reached her.

"Hello, I'm Chen Xianxian." The young woman's smile was especially pretty and sweet.

"Don't be afraid of me. Not everyone in this village is scary. I only came here a year ago, and I used to be an outsider too." As she spoke, Chen Xianxian held out her hand to shake Zhu Qianqian's.

Zhu Qianqian lowered her guard and shook her hand, a trace of misery entering her eyes. "I'm Zhu Qianqian. Our archaeological team encountered

a landslide. We wandered in here while looking for help, and now we can't get out."

"Yes, everyone came here for their own reasons, and in the end, we all got trapped." Chen Xianxian spoke earnestly. "Would you like to come sit at my place? I have some old objects you could look at to take your mind off things. The most important thing in this village is to stay mentally calm. Otherwise, you'll gradually go mad."

"I'd love to." Zhu Qianqian felt a surge of delight.

Chen Xianxian started walking away, and Zhu Qianqian hurried after her.

No one saw Zhu Qianqian leave with her.

That included Zhang Li, who was still in the room.

It was noon, and every household was preparing lunch. There was no one on the road, either.

Soon, Zhu Qianqian entered Chen Xianxian's home.

The house had no courtyard. It was simply a detached, single-story home.

As the door closed, a sack lay quietly on the floor, with several footprints on it.

"Your place is so clean, and it smells lovely. Is that herbal medicine?" Zhu Qianqian felt she had finally found someone she could connect with, and her spirits relaxed considerably.

But there was no answer.

"Chen Xianxian?" Zhu Qianqian turned her head.

A black, rusted hammer came straight at her and slammed into her forehead!