Entrusted with an important task?

"": 200,

"": "",

"": "Luo Bin's heart nearly leaped into his throat.

Just one glance.

A man grabbed the woman by her hair and shoved her forward.

The woman grunted in pain and stumbled ahead.

Luo Bin watched until everyone disappeared from sight before coming back to his senses.

Gu Ya let out a soft breath. "They can't hurt us now."

Luo Bin froze, then said awkwardly, "They only asked for directions. Surely it isn't as bad as the village chief thinks? And making them spend the night in the Mountain God Temple is basically sending them to their deaths, isn't it? Wouldn't that break the..."

He never said "law."

Because it suddenly occurred to him: did this village even have laws? In other words, were there police?

If there were, surely the whole village wouldn't have stopped their car and tied them up?

At the same time, Gu Ya raised a finger to hush him, glancing around as though afraid the other villagers might hear him.

"Xiaoshan, you must never let your guard down around outsiders!" She looked at Luo Bin gravely. "Outsiders can circle the village three times without realizing they're trapped. They still think they've simply lost their way."

"Once darkness falls, they'll inevitably be deceived by evil spirits."

"How many villagers have taken outsiders in and died because of them? Those lessons were paid for in blood!"

Those few sentences contained an enormous amount of information!

Luo Bin had thought the village chief had captured the outsiders because they might harm the villagers.

He hadn't expected the village itself to be strange, making people lose their way and trapping them so they couldn't leave.

As for outsiders being easily deceived by evil spirits, hadn't he nearly done something stupid himself last night?

At that thought, Luo Bin's face paled slightly.

Gu Ya explained reassuringly, "But don't be scared. The village chief will explain the situation to them. During the day, someone will stand guard and keep them inside the Mountain God Temple. What happens at night is up to them."

"If they survive three days, they can live in the village. If they run out of the Mountain God Temple at night and come knocking on our doors, we'll be perfectly safe as long as we ignore them."

Feigning composure, Luo Bin nodded. "I know all that. I'm fine, Mom."

Gu Ya suspected nothing and led Luo Bin home.

Back in the courtyard, Gu Ya went into the kitchen to get to work.

Luo Bin sat in the main room, digesting the information.

He secretly took out the note, studying the portrait on it as he thought about the woman from earlier.

The note said to save her in three days.

Could she survive that long?

More importantly, why should he save her?

She was an outsider, and all the villagers were hostile toward her.

Besides, he wasn't even safe in this house.

One wrong move, and the original owner's father would chop him down.

As the old saying went, a clay idol crossing a river couldn't even save itself. Wasn't he that clay idol?

Saving someone else? Forget it...

Having thought it through, Luo Bin felt considerably more at ease and let out a long breath.

The sunlight was dazzlingly bright. It was noon, and the mouthwatering aroma of meat drifted from the kitchen.

The courtyard gate creaked open.

Luo Feng came in first, followed by the village chief. He was murmuring something to the chief.

The village chief's expression was tense, his brows tightly furrowed.

Gu Ya poked her head out of the kitchen to greet him, but he ignored her.

A moment later, the two men entered the main room.

Luo Bin rose to greet the village chief, showing a trace of awe in his eyes as he took two small steps back.

He had learned that posture and expression from the other villagers. Many of them looked at the village chief that way.

The village chief ignored his reaction as well. He walked beneath the roof beam, lifted the oil lamp in his hand, and turned it over to inspect it.

"It definitely isn't leaking oil. I checked," Luo Feng said.

"It isn't leaking, and you haven't misremembered when you collected the oil, either. The evil spirits were unusually active last night. Several households said there were a lot of them gathered outside your door," the village chief said gravely.

"Was it because there were so many evil spirits? Did that make the oil burn faster?" Unease showed in Luo Feng's eyes.

"There's no precedent, but we can't rule it out." After a moment's consideration, the village chief took out a pitch-black oil bottle and filled the lamp.

"Keep a close eye on how fast the oil burns tonight," the village chief added.

"All right. I'll watch it carefully." Luo Feng nodded cautiously.

"Village chief, stay for lunch. We're having braised pork." Gu Ya carried a steaming basin of food into the main room.

"No, thank you. Those outsiders are difficult to reason with. They insist we've kidnapped them. I need to go over and explain the rules for spending the night again." Shaking his head as he declined, the village chief strode out of the main room, about to leave the courtyard.

Luo Bin had just begun to relax.

But the village chief stopped, right beside him, and looked at him.

Luo Bin: "..."

What was wrong with him this time? What had caught the village chief's attention again?

Panic filled Luo Bin's heart, but he dared not show it. He lowered his head slightly, keeping the same look of awe in his eyes.

"Come to the Mountain God Temple after lunch. You'll be responsible for guarding those four outsiders," the village chief said calmly.

That simple sentence left Luo Bin's mind blank.

The village chief hadn't discovered anything wrong with him. He was giving him a task... and such an important one at that?

"Village chief, Xiaoshan is only seventeen! How can he guard outsiders?" Gu Ya immediately stepped in front of Luo Bin and said anxiously, "There are so many people in the village. Surely someone else would be better suited!"

The village chief's expression darkened.

"Understood, village chief. I'll bring Xiaoshan over shortly," Luo Feng said hoarsely.

The village chief gave Gu Ya a sidelong glance and left without expression.

The house remained silent until the chief shut the gate and his footsteps faded into the distance.

Clang!

Gu Ya slammed the basin down, splattering grease across the table.

Her eyes reddened as she turned to glare at Luo Feng. "Have you lost your mind? Is Xiaoshan your son or not? Sending him to guard outsiders-do you want to get him killed?"

"Calm down! What good will questioning the village chief's decision do? If you make him think something's wrong with our family, then we'll really be in trouble!" Luo Feng grasped Gu Ya's arms with both hands, his gaze somber. "Think carefully. Why did the village chief make this decision?"

"How would I know? I don't care. This is too dangerous! I have to go..." Gu Ya refused to listen and tried to wrench free of Luo Feng's hands.

"He's suspicious of us!" Luo Feng said emphatically.

Gu Ya went still, startled and uneasy. "How is that possible?"

Only just recovering his wits, Luo Bin didn't dare make a sound as he listened closely to Luo Feng.

"Although we managed to fob him off at the mortuary last night, Xiaoshan's left little fingernail is still missing."

"So much of our lamp oil disappeared. The village chief isn't a fool. He's bound to read into it," Luo Feng said with certainty. "For now, whatever he tells us to do, we do. That's the only way to clear his suspicions. Otherwise, something is bound to go wrong."

Gu Ya's face tightened with distress, but she had nothing to say in response.

"Serve Xiaoshan his rice. Once he's finished eating, I'll take him over myself. Whatever the village chief is thinking, Xiaoshan has to obey and earn his trust!"

With that, Luo Feng released Gu Ya's arms.

Gu Ya staggered toward the kitchen, dazed.

Luo Feng then looked deeply at Luo Bin. "Xiaoshan, you understand what I'm saying, don't you?"

"I... I understand..."

Luo Bin stammered slightly as he answered.

Luo Feng was far too clever. With just a few words, he had figured out what the village chief was after.

Luo Bin knew very well that this

was no empty alarm.

Lamp oil was a crucial resource for warding off evil spirits. Even when summoning the original owner's soul, Luo Feng and Gu Ya had used oil they had secretly saved, not daring to let anyone know.

With the lamp oil burning faster for no apparent reason, it would have been stranger if the village chief hadn't become suspicious.

Luo Bin regretted not thinking things through last night. He had simply drunk the lamp oil, inadvertently causing all this trouble.

Suddenly, another point struck him.

If he was going to guard the outsiders anyway, wouldn't saving that woman be easy enough?

But that raised another question: could he save her?