Outsiders

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"": "Vaguely, he could make out figures approaching the window.

Luo Bin repeated silently to himself, There's no one outside the window. They're all evil spirits.

He drew the curtains and went back to sit on the bed.

The simple sketch was strikingly lifelike: an oval face, straight brows, a delicate nose, and that tear mole. Her features could hardly have been more distinctive.

Who was she?

Why did he have to save her?

Luo Bin couldn't make sense of it.

Suddenly, a heavy, uneasy feeling settled in his chest. He was thirsty, his throat so dry it felt ready to spark.

He glanced around. There was no kettle in the room. Luo Bin hurried to his feet, pushed open the door, and went outside.

The night was cold and quiet, the courtyard gate tightly shut.

On the square table in the main room sat upside-down enamel cups and a long-spouted teapot.

Luo Bin gulped down a cup of water, but it did nothing to quench his thirst. A mouthful of blood would feel good, he thought.

The thought gave him a fright. What am I thinking?

He glanced sideways at the oil lamp hanging beneath a ceiling beam. It was only a small orange flame, yet now it seemed as blinding as a car's high beams.

Driven by instinct, Luo Bin leaned toward the lamp and puffed out his cheeks.

Then his eyes flew wide. He clapped both hands over his mouth, letting out a hissing breath.

The flame shook violently!

Then steadied again...

Goose bumps erupted all over Luo Bin.

Wanting to drink blood was absurd enough. If he blew out this lamp, the evil spirits would come inside!

What's wrong with me?

Was the soul-summoning making me incompatible with this body?

Or had the original owner's body become an evil spirit?

The lamp was too bright, his throat burned too fiercely, and the sensation was unbearable.

Just as Luo Bin felt he couldn't take it anymore, he raised his hands as if compelled by some unseen force. Cradling the oil lamp and enduring its searing light, he brought his lips to its edge and took a sip of lamp oil.

As the warm oil slid down his throat, the craving for blood vanished. The flame no longer hurt his eyes, returning to a gentle glow.

Luo Bin let out a long breath of relief. It really was the soul-summoning!

I hadn't drunk enough lamp oil... Am I finally all right now?

He returned the enamel cup and teapot to their places, then crept back to his room.

Drowsiness washed over him. He collapsed onto the bed and drifted off.

When he woke the next day, sunlight slipped around the edges of the curtains, forming shafts of light inside the room.

Luo Bin stepped outside and saw Luo Feng weaving a winnowing basket from bamboo strips in a corner of the courtyard.

Gu Ya emerged from the kitchen carrying an aluminum pot with a tray balanced on top.

"Xiao Shan's awake," she called. "Dear, put your work aside. Breakfast is ready."

Luo Bin hurried forward to take the pot and tray. "Mom, be careful."

"I'm fine," Gu Ya answered with a warm smile.

"The food in there is so hot. It'd be awful if you spilled it," Luo Bin said carefully, setting the pot on the table.

The original owner had been useless, a failure.

His attitude toward Gu Ya in particular, and her reaction now, made it clear that he hadn't usually treated his family kindly.

This was his chance to fit into the family!

Sure enough, Gu Ya looked much more heartened. "Xiao Shan's grown up," she murmured.

Then she began serving breakfast.

Luo Feng entered the room and was about to sit down.

Suddenly, his pupils contracted. He strode over to the oil lamp in a few quick steps and said suspiciously, "A full lamp usually burns for three days. How did it burn dry in one night?"

Gu Ya looked up. "Is the lamp leaking?" she asked, sounding slightly unnatural.

Luo Bin also glanced at the lamp, feigning confusion.

"No leak. Strange." Luo Feng frowned. "Good thing I noticed, or we'd have been in serious trouble tonight. I'll have to ask the Village Chief for more oil. He'll probably want to come take a look."

"That's all right, isn't it? Let him look. The oil we poured into Xiao Shan's mouth was what we'd secretly saved. I've cleaned everything up." Gu Ya relaxed a little, then looked at Luo Bin and warned him carefully, "Xiao Shan, you mustn't tell anyone what happened to you. Remember that."

"Yes, I know." Luo Bin nodded repeatedly.

"As long as it's all cleaned up. I'll tell him the truth. If he wants to look, let him." Luo Feng exhaled heavily and sat down.

The family ate breakfast.

Luo Bin felt much calmer. He hadn't given himself away.

They had barely eaten a few mouthfuls when loud knocking suddenly sounded at the gate, accompanied by a shout.

"Luo! Outsiders have entered the village! Come quickly!"

Luo Feng sprang to his feet, hurried to the courtyard gate, and pushed it open. He ran off with another man.

"Xiao Shan, come on!" Gu Ya immediately put down her chopsticks and chased after them.

Before Luo Bin could even process what was happening, he instinctively followed.

A few minutes later, they reached the concrete road running through the village.

A Santana with a blown tire stood in the middle of the road.

Four people were bound tightly beside it.

Twenty or thirty sturdy men surrounded them with cold expressions. Luo Feng was among them!

More and more villagers approached from farther away.

Their eyes all seemed to hold a measure of hostility.

The sight made Luo Bin's heart race. He had assumed outsiders entering the village must be something important, given how excited Luo Feng and Gu Ya had been, abandoning even their breakfast to rush out.

Who would've thought they were robbing cars and taking hostages?

Evil spirits roamed this village at night, and by day it was a village of bandits?

The four captives were two men and two women. A middle-aged man feigned composure and explained in a low voice, "We really are lost. We were only trying to ask a villager for directions. We mean absolutely no harm, and we're not bad people. Untie us, and we'll leave the village right away..."

The men remained silent.

More villagers gathered along the roadside, putting their heads together and whispering.

Just then, the square-faced Village Chief walked up to the four captives and demanded coldly, "Lost? Then how many times did you circle the village? Do you remember?"

"Three times... We really did circle around because we were lost... We had no choice but to ask someone for directions. We really aren't bad people..." The middle-aged man tried desperately to explain.

Luo Bin was beginning to feel confused.

Their car had circled the village three times, and then they'd approached a villager, only to be stopped and tied up?

Then, by the sound of it, the villagers weren't the problem?

This wasn't a kidnapping at all. Instead, these outsiders were up to no good?

It was simple. There was only one narrow road through the whole village. They could have driven straight out. How could they possibly have gone in circles here? Did they think they were fooling a three-year-old?

Sure enough, the Village Chief kept shaking his head, refusing to believe a word of the middle-aged man's explanation.

He turned toward the men surrounding the captives and called, "Take them to the Mountain God Temple for the night."

At those words, Luo Bin's heart rose into his throat.

Honestly, fine, these people were suspicious. Teach them a lesson, then drive them away. Wouldn't that do?

There were evil spirits after dark!

If they made them stay overnight, wouldn't they be doomed?

Wasn't this a little too cruel?

The twenty or thirty men, Luo Feng among them, moved into action. They hauled the four captives to their feet and marched them toward the other end of the concrete road.

Of course, Luo Bin could only think these things. He could barely protect himself right now. How could he possibly spare the effort to help anyone else?

But a second later, his heart clenched.

Among the four was a woman with an oval face, a high nose, straight brows, and alluring eyes. A tear mole at the corner of one eye lent her face an extra touch of intensity.

She was beautiful.

She was terrified, struggling from side to side like a startled fawn.

And she looked familiar!

She was the woman drawn on Xu Kaiguo's slip of paper!

The next moment, the struggling woman turned her head.

By sheer

coincidence, her eyes met Luo Bin's!