Disguise

"": 200,

"": "",

"": ""What's wrong, Xiao Shan? What doesn't add up?" Gu Ya turned her head. She still covered her mouth, but her tone was questioning.

Luo Feng had just splashed out two ladles of water. He, too, looked at Luo Bin in confusion.

"Just now, none of us smelled any urine or feces... and there wasn't any when you rinsed the ground either." Luo Bin's voice was hoarse. "Don't people lose control of their bowels and bladder when they die?"

Luo Bin had spent so long in the hospital that he had seen many patients pass away. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, a foul smell would wake him from his sleep. But with his limbs paralyzed, he couldn't press the call button or summon a nurse. All he could do was strain his neck and shout.

At the moment of death, the body's muscles relaxed, releasing urine and feces. A person's last shred of dignity vanished along with their life. That was why funeral homes had to clean the bodies.

Fear could also make people lose control of their bowels and bladder.

Luo Bin quickly rewound several stretches of memory.

Zhang Jun's Village Tour. Urine and feces all over the ground.

The driver who had died on the Outsiders' first night had been the same.

On the day he had awakened after the soul-summoning, the bodies on the other cremation platforms in the Morgue hadn't just been mangled flesh and blood. Filth had been mixed in among them.

That included Zhu Qianqian. Beneath her body, too, there had been filth everywhere.

But there was one scene that was different!

The afternoon of the Drawing Lots. The body in the Ancestral Hall. Tang Ji, who had lived alone.

His body had been much cleaner by comparison, with no urine or feces leaking out.

All those images were fragmented. Before Luo Bin's eyes, Luo Feng's face grew increasingly ashen, and fine beads of sweat even appeared on his forehead.

"Tang Ji..." Luo Feng practically forced those two words through clenched teeth.

"Someone's murdering people... and disguising it as the work of evil spirits... This person died somewhere else and was brought here at dawn. That's why there wasn't more urine or feces here. The actual place of death must have been cleaned up," Luo Bin continued hoarsely.

"Oh my God..." Gu Ya went deathly pale. She seemed to lose her footing, her body swaying.

"Go find the Village Chief! Xiao Shan, run over there. The Village Chief's still at the Morgue. Hurry and tell him about this. This is terrifying." Gu Ya was so frightened that she could barely think, urging him on in a panic.

"Shh..." Luo Feng gestured for silence. He scanned their surroundings, his expression taut.

"Xiao Shan, take your mother into the courtyard. Don't tell anyone," Luo Feng said gravely.

"Why?" Gu Ya's expression changed again.

"Go back inside first. Stop talking!" Luo Feng said again in a low voice.

"Mom, come on..." Although Luo Bin didn't understand either, he still stepped forward, took Gu Ya by the arm, and led her into the courtyard.

Once inside, Gu Ya seemed dazed. She walked to the well, drew water, washed her hands and face, then crouched on the ground with her mouth covered. Though her face was wet, he could still tell she was crying.

"Mom... it's all right..." Luo Bin wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know where to begin.

Yes, the village was already frightening enough. The evil spirits were hard enough to bear, and now there was someone murdering people too.

How many had been killed by evil spirits, and how many had died at human hands?

The evil spirits were terrifying, but they were a known threat.

What weighed on people most was often the unknown.

And why wouldn't Luo Feng let them find the Village Chief?

Did he... know something?

A creak sounded as the courtyard gate opened. Luo Feng came in carrying the bucket and broom.

He shut the gate and let out a heavy breath.

"There wasn't anyone nearby earlier. Yes, there shouldn't have been anyone," Luo Feng said, then reinforced his own words.

"Don't tell anyone about this. Pretend you don't know," Luo Feng added.

"Why?!" Gu Ya looked up and cried, "Someone's been killing-"

"Shh!" Luo Feng's voice grew sterner.

Gu Ya cut herself off abruptly, biting her lower lip so hard it almost bled.

She said quietly, "That person needs to be sent on a Village Tour. Otherwise, how can any of us be safe?"

Under normal circumstances, Gu Ya was a kind woman. For her to say something like that showed just how much hatred she felt.

"Do we know who it is?" Luo Feng asked hoarsely.

In that instant, realization struck Luo Bin, and a chill spread through his entire body.

Then Luo Feng walked over to Gu Ya. He held her hand and lowered his voice even further.

"Once the Village Chief learns about this, he'll make a huge fuss and search the whole village carefully. But can he find the killer? Won't the killer cover their tracks? It's been so long. If you really tried to remember, could you recall the details of those bodies? Even if you could, what would it change? We still wouldn't know who the killer was."

"Instead, the killer would know who exposed them. Our whole family would become a target."

Gu Ya shuddered, and even more tears welled up.

Luo Feng pulled Gu Ya tightly into his arms and gently patted her back.

"There are evil spirits in this village, and people who murder others. We have to find a way out. We have to leave," Luo Feng whispered.

Gu Ya didn't answer. She kept crying.

The sun had risen. Its early rays should have been gentle and warm, yet Luo Bin felt cold, a chill seeping through every limb and bone.

After a long while, Gu Ya finally stopped crying and said softly, "I'll go make breakfast."

Luo Feng helped her up, gave Luo Bin a long, searching look, and said, "Apart from our own family, you can't trust anyone in this village. You can know someone's face without knowing their heart. Tomorrow we're heading into the mountains to scout a route. Be careful and cautious."

"I understand, Dad." Luo Bin nodded.

"You're up so early, Xiao Shan. Go back to your room and rest a little longer. I'll call you when breakfast's ready." Gu Ya squeezed Luo Bin's hand.

"Okay." Luo Bin answered.

Luo Feng went into the kitchen with Gu Ya. He surely still needed to comfort her.

Luo Bin lowered his head and returned to his room, shutting the door behind him and locking it.

Without thinking, he walked to the window and looked down at the wet ground outside. Bloodstains that wouldn't wash away still lingered in the mud and among the crushed blades of grass.

Luo Feng was right.

They couldn't get involved in this, nor did they dare.

The village was already dangerous enough. How could they needlessly make another enemy for the whole family-an enemy who was such a terrifying psychopath?

Yes, a psychopath.

Copying evil spirits to murder people...

What exactly was going through that killer's head?

For some inexplicable reason, Luo Bin rewound the scene again, back to when he had discovered the body.

At the time, all his attention had been on the corpse.

But during Rewind, he could examine everything that had been within his field of vision, including details he hadn't noticed.

Most importantly, dawn had only just broken when he woke up. The killer must have dumped the body after daybreak...

There had been no one within his field of vision.

Then Luo Bin's heart gave another jolt, and he turned to look at the clock on the wall.

Tick, tick. Its hands spun rapidly backward.

In the rewind, he had instinctively checked the time just after opening his eyes: 5:10.

Then he had gone outside, pushed open the courtyard gate, and started toward the back of the courtyard.

In the corner of his eye, there seemed to have been... a figure, hunched over with shoulders drawn in, hurrying toward the village entrance?

That image had flashed past. Then he had already reached the rear side of the courtyard and seen the body.

Everything before his eyes fragmented.

Luo Bin rewound again.

This time, he rewound to the instant he pushed open the courtyard gate.

There was indeed a blurry figure at the far end of his vision...

And yes, it seemed to be heading toward the village entrance?

That wasn't entirely certain, because the Luo Family's courtyard wasn't on the main road. He could only judge the general direction.

And no matter how many times Luo Bin rewound, the memory wouldn't become any clearer...

He couldn't make out the clothes or judge the person's height, much less determine whether they were a man or a woman...

After so many rewinds, Luo Bin's head felt as though it might split apart...

"Xiao Shan, breakfast's ready." Gu Ya's call reached him through the door.

"Okay, Mom..." Luo Bin answered before going over to open it.

Breakfast on the main room's table turned out to be steamed eggs and shredded potatoes, their tempting aroma filling the air.

The family of three ate together.

There were still three of them, and their relationships hadn't changed. Yet the warmth and ease of earlier days were gone.

"Dad, besides the clock in my room, is there anywhere I could get a watch?" Luo Bin asked.

"What do you need a watch for?" Luo Feng asked in puzzlement.

"I have a use for it," Luo Bin answered seriously.

Luo Feng considered for a moment, then took a pocket watch out of his clothes and handed it to Luo Bin.

Luo Bin accepted it and tucked it into his pocket.

After breakfast, someone knocked on the gate. It was Old Kong, saying the Village Chief wanted everyone to come over.

By "everyone," he naturally meant Luo Feng and the other men on his team.

Luo Feng left.

Gu Ya gathered the bowls and chopsticks and took them into the kitchen.

"Mom, I'm going out to clear my head," Luo Bin said. Ignoring Gu Ya's warning not to wander around, he headed straight out through the courtyard gate.

Luo Bin hurried to the area behind his window, took out the pocket watch, checked the time, and started walking in one direction.

When he stopped and checked the pocket watch again, about two minutes had passed.

Sunlight struck the watch's face, and its reflection made Luo Bin narrow his eyes. He looked around again.

Then he took two steps toward the roadside and stamped hard on a clod of earth, knocking it loose and leaving a notch beside the road.