"Those who can influence the mountain will be hunted."

"": 200,

"": "",

"": "In Cabinet Mountain Village, corpses were frightening, but after seeing a few, Luo Bin had at least built up a little mental resistance. Still, a corpse was a corpse, especially when it appeared right beneath his own window. He was chilled to the bone.

Dawn had only just broken. The sun had yet to rise, and a thin veil of mist hung over everything.

The dead man leaned against his window, his arms dangling at his sides. A gaping hole opened in his chest, his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys all scooped out. His mouth hung wide open, his tongue torn out by the roots. His face was relatively intact, untouched by the evil spirit.

Luo Bin felt a crushing weight inside. Apparently, while he had been sleeping soundly yesterday, a villager had been tortured to death right outside his window, and he had noticed nothing...

His first instinct was to wake Luo Feng and Gu Ya.

Then he stiffened slightly, took a deep breath, and crouched beside the corpse. The stench of blood hit him in the face. He shifted the corpse by its shoulders, exposing the blood-spattered wall.

Luo Bin carefully examined the base of the wall, searching for a clue Xu Kaiguo had left behind.

There was too much blood. It made him horribly uncomfortable, and panic crept into his heart. He couldn't help glancing around out of the corners of his eyes. After all, he was so close to the corpse that if any other villagers saw him, they might start talking.

Suddenly, his gaze fixed on something. From a clump of grass matted with blood, Luo Bin pulled out a tiny slip of paper. The writing was stained with blood too.

"Those who can influence the mountain will be hunted."

One hastily scrawled sentence. The handwriting was the same as on the window last night, the same as on the first night.

Luo Bin backed away several steps. His eyelids twitched violently, and his heart beat so fast it threatened to leap out of his throat.

"Xiao Shan?" A voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Luo Bin jolted and clenched his hand. He turned around, his face full of terror, and stammered, "Dad... someone died!"

The corpse's presence alone had left Luo Bin feeling oppressed and sick, but the note and its contents had drowned out his other emotions. Luo Feng's sudden appearance finally snapped him back to reality.

Luo Feng's face was just as grim as he stared fixedly at the mutilated corpse.

After a few seconds of silence, Luo Feng said hoarsely, "Go get the Village Chief. He should be near the Morgue by now. Run, and you can bring the Corpse Cart back from there."

Luo Bin hurried off, passing Luo Feng before breaking into a sprint along the village road.

The village was especially quiet at this hour. Even the air carried the scent of grass, but all Luo Bin could smell was blood.

He could hear the gong, its ringing growing clearer.

Luo Feng's judgment had been spot-on. The Village Chief was striding along briskly, beating his gong, just about to pass the Morgue.

"Village Chief!" Luo Bin shouted.

Zhong Zhicheng stopped and looked back, mild surprise in his eyes.

Luo Bin ran the last stretch, then braced his hands on his thighs, panting so hard he couldn't straighten up.

"Someone died..."

Zhong Zhicheng's expression abruptly froze.

"Another... death?"

Luo Bin could tell the words had slipped out instinctively. That hesitation clearly betrayed how shaken Zhong Zhicheng was.

That allowed Luo Bin to pick up on a detail.

Had too many people died over the past few days?

That did seem to be the case, didn't it?

In a place with rules that were actually enforced, even if evil spirits were dangerous, wouldn't everyone know that?

This village had around a thousand people. If they kept dying at this rate, wouldn't it be empty before long?

"Where?" Zhong Zhicheng's voice regained its cold gravity, his expression growing tighter and more solemn.

"My house. Behind my window," Luo Bin answered awkwardly.

Zhong Zhicheng knitted his brows and gave Luo Bin a searching look.

"I... didn't hear anything... his tongue was pulled out..." Luo Bin said hoarsely.

"And what if you had heard? Could you have opened the window to save him, or gone outside to save him? Not hearing is best." With that, Zhong Zhicheng headed straight for the Morgue's entrance.

Yet the light breeze left Luo Bin's thoughts in turmoil.

Right... what could I have done even if I'd heard?

Save him? That was a joke.

Then just watch someone be tortured to death?

That was too...

Luo Bin had initially thought it would be far too easy for something like that to warp a person's mind.

But in reality... he would probably find it more of a release?

Zhong Zhicheng had already set off with the Corpse Cart. Luo Bin came back to his senses and hurried after him.

A few villagers were out on the road now. At the sight of Zhong Zhicheng and Luo Bin, they turned to look. Some lowered their heads and quickened their pace, while others began following at a distance.

"Village Chief, is Zhang Li doing all right? He hasn't kept pestering you, has he?" Luo Bin asked tentatively.

At a time like this, Zhong Zhicheng was surely preoccupied with the death. No matter how quick his thinking was, there ought to be a moment's hesitation if Luo Bin tried to draw information out of him, right?

"What would he pester me about?" Zhong Zhicheng didn't even glance at Luo Bin, simply continuing straight ahead as he spoke. "If Zhu Qianqian going outside had something to do with Gu Yiren, then the village helped him. His emotions were running too high, though. Still, he's an educated man, at least. Once he settles down and thinks it over, he'll understand. That's how the village is. People always have to pay a price before they can become calm and clearheaded."

"You mean he didn't come to you?" Luo Bin asked reflexively.

Suddenly, Zhong Zhicheng stopped.

Luo Bin's heart tightened.

Because the look Zhong Zhicheng gave him was full of scrutiny and suspicion.

Luo Bin knew he had miscalculated.

Zhong Zhicheng hadn't been distracted or thrown into confusion by what had happened. He was still just as perceptive, and had already realized Luo Bin was fishing for information.

"Do you think my arrangements for Gu Yiren were lacking?"

"But Luo Shan, don't overdo it. I can see that you mean well. You did plenty of bad things before, but you don't have to make up for them this way."

"Too much kindness turns into misguided kindness. Our village needs more people with your dad's temperament, and he hopes you'll become that kind of person too. Do you understand?" There was no sharpness in Zhong Zhicheng's words. If anything, he sounded earnest... almost as though he were lecturing him?

Had everything I'd done made him think I was trying to make up for my mistakes?

Luo Bin lowered his head slightly and answered obediently, "I understand, Village Chief..." His heart was still beating fast.

Zhong Zhicheng said nothing more.

Before long, the two of them reached the side behind the courtyard.

The people who had followed them along the way numbered twenty or thirty.

Luo Feng was still there. At some point, Gu Ya had appeared beside him. When she saw Luo Bin, she waved vigorously.

Luo Bin hurried over. Gu Ya stroked his head, then pulled him into her arms and patted his back gently, as if comforting him.

"Are you all right, Xiao Shan?" Gu Ya's voice held even more concern.

"I'm fine, Mom." Another wave of emotion stirred deep inside Luo Bin.

The process of collecting the corpse differed slightly from before. This body hadn't rotted nearly as badly and was still relatively intact.

Luo Feng went over to help. One man lifted the shoulders, the other the legs, and they tossed the body into the Corpse Cart.

Zhong Zhicheng draped a dirty cloth over the body and turned to look around. "There have been too many deaths in the village lately, too close together. Not counting the two outsiders, there's Gap-Toothed Zhang's family, Tang Ji, and now Wu You. Six people dead in less than ten days! We didn't have this much trouble in the entire past six months. Everyone must stay extremely vigilant. Don't let your guard down!"

More villagers gathered around. They all looked wary and uneasy, whispering among themselves.

From the scattered remarks, Luo Bin gathered that, indeed, far too many villagers had been killed by evil spirits lately. It was deeply abnormal.

Zhong Zhicheng pushed the Corpse Cart away, and the crowd gradually dispersed. Luo Feng went into the courtyard to fetch water and wash down the wall.

Gu Ya fetched a very long broom to sweep the blood from the wall and grass. She kept covering her mouth, unwilling to breathe in the bloody stench.

Luo Bin's mind was in turmoil. Too many things had piled up all at once.

He was just trying to put the death out of his mind and focus on Xu Kaiguo's message. He also needed to go see Zhang Li.

But Luo Bin's heart suddenly tightened. His pupils contracted sharply as he stared at the corner beneath the window, goose bumps erupting across his skin.

"Dad... haven't you noticed... something a little off?" Luo Bin spoke while rubbing his arms. His whole body felt numb, chilled as though he had plunged into an ice cellar.