"": 200,
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"": "Luo Bin sprang out of bed. Fighting the painful glare of the flame, he brought his mouth close to the oil lamp, his hands almost cupping it.
Could he drink it?
The answer was obviously no...
Drinking the lamp oil at home had aroused the village chief's suspicions. If any oil went missing in this little cabin, he would be giving himself away.
His breathing grew heavier, his throat increasingly dry and burning.
He forced himself to step away from the lamp and walked to the door. Through the crack, he could just make out the Mountain God Temple opposite.
A thought suddenly struck Luo Bin. Weren't there four people over there?
No...
If I drank blood, what would that make me? How would I be any different from an evil spirit?
Then what about drinking the lamp oil in the Mountain God Temple?
As for those four outsiders, couldn't I just let them go? The evil spirits would kill them, and no one would discover my secret!
Torn between the conflicting urges, Luo Bin squeezed his left little finger hard.
The sharper pain made his vision go black. He dropped to his knees with a thud, pressing his head hard against the door.
Pain brought clarity. Both options were merely trading one disaster for another.
He might get through today, but he would not survive forever.
He needed a way to keep his abnormal condition under control in the long term...
The dim candlelight could not illuminate the entire Mountain God Temple. The lower half of the clay statue was clearly visible, while its upper half remained shadowy and indistinct. Thin iron chains hung from the mountain god's arms. The oil lamp had been lit when the village chief left, and it was still burning.
Gu Yiren remained curled up on the floor, unconscious. Her brows were drawn tightly together, and the perfectly placed beauty mark beneath her eye made her look especially vulnerable.
Xu Qi was grinding the rope with his teeth. It had been tied too tightly to undo without his hands, leaving him no other option.
With a snap, the rope finally broke.
Once Zhang Li had freed himself, he immediately helped untie the others.
Then Zhang Li pressed the groove above Gu Yiren's upper lip, but she still did not respond...
"She's in shock. We need to get out of this village and find a hospital." Zhu Qianqian rubbed her aching ankle.
"Qianqian, stay here and look after Yiren. Zhang Li and I will find the car." Xu Qi spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and headed toward the temple doors. Zhang Li hurried after him.
As they approached the doors, they stopped almost simultaneously.
Xu Qi lunged forward, braced his shoulder against the door, grabbed the bolt on the left, and shoved it firmly into place, locking the doors.
Zhang Li recoiled two steps, his face stricken with horror.
Four people were standing shoulder to shoulder outside the gap!
Had the villagers come to check on them just as they freed themselves?
The four people outside met their eyes through the crack.
One leaned forward and pressed his face against the door, speaking cautiously. "We're from another village. After we spotted you yesterday, we kept trying to flag you down on the road. We didn't want you coming into this village, but you came anyway. Everyone here is a bandit who kills without blinking."
"We know where they put your car. You need to leave immediately. If they discover you, you're finished!"
Delighted, Zhang Li reached to slide the bolt open.
Xu Qi seized his wrist. His face tense and serious, he spoke through the door. "How do we know you aren't lying? What if you're from this village? As soon as we open the doors, won't you just tie us up again?"
Another person outside shook his head. "We have no reason to lie. Otherwise, we could just bring a dozen people over and push the doors open. Couldn't we tie you up just as easily that way? You're too suspicious. That's what got you into trouble. If you'd simply stopped your car last night, you wouldn't have had to enter the village today, and we wouldn't have to risk our lives rescuing you."
"Xu Qi, let's open the doors..." Zhang Li pulled his arm free.
Xu Qi's face was full of hesitation.
"Don't open them... I... I'll do it..." A weak, gentle voice sounded.
Zhang Li turned around, surprise giving way to delight. "You're awake, Yiren?"
Gu Yiren walked to the doors, her steps slightly unsteady.
Doubt still lingered in Xu Qi's eyes. He could not decide whether to open them.
With a clatter, Gu Yiren slid the bolt aside.
But she did not pull the doors open. Looking through the crack, she said quietly, "You can come in now."
"You're trying to escape, and we're here to lead the way. You should come out," replied the person pressed against the gap.
"Open the doors yourselves, and we'll go with you." Gu Yiren remained unmoved.
"There's definitely something wrong with you, woman. What a weirdo. If you don't believe us, forget it. We're better off staying out of this." The person by the crack shook his head and turned away. The other three left with him.
"Hey, wait!" All hesitation vanished from Xu Qi's face. Shouting, he pulled the doors open and hurried after them!
The four people had just descended the temple steps when they turned around almost simultaneously.
Broad smiles spread across their faces.
Zhang Li started to follow them.
Bang! Gu Yiren slammed into the door and swiftly slid the bolt into place!
"Yiren, stop talking nonsense! We have to go! We made a mistake. They're here to help, not bandits from this village!"
Zhang Li tried to pull Gu Yiren away and open the doors again!
A scream suddenly erupted outside!
"Ah!" Zhu Qianqian shrieked and collapsed onto her backside in fright.
"What's wrong, Zhu Qianqian?" Zhang Li panicked. He looked through the gap, but the sight made his scalp prickle and his whole world spin.
Gu Yiren did not turn around. Her back pressed firmly against the doors, she stared blankly at the mountain god's statue, tears streaming down like beads from a broken string.
Her lips moved in a murmur, as though repeating three words.
"...Cough, cough."
Luo Bin coughed, his throat hurting as though he had swallowed razor blades.
His left little finger kept bleeding where he had squeezed it. He had even tried sipping his own blood, only to discover that it did nothing to quench his thirst and instead made his throat burn worse.
The scream and shriek came one after another, followed by unceasing screams that briefly distracted Luo Bin.
His head was already pressed against the door, his body hunched as he knelt before the threshold.
He raised his head slightly and looked through the gap. His unfocused gaze sharpened, but the sight made his scalp prickle.
Four people were pinning down the arms and legs of a middle-aged man in his forties.
Luo Bin vaguely remembered him. He was probably the driver who had brought the outsiders here.
Unable to move his limbs, the driver desperately strained to lift his head, his face filled with terror.
With a ripping sound, the four easily tore apart the driver's clothes. Their fingernails were like sharp knives, and his skin was as soft as modeling clay, splitting effortlessly without the slightest resistance. Thick blood instantly covered the wounds and gushed out in spurts.
No matter how he screamed, wailed, or begged, the four wore nothing but smiles as they kept slicing and pulling at his body, as though playing some sort of stress-relief game.
Stress relief?
Yes. That was the only thought filling Luo Bin's mind. What a relief!
Then the four bent down and buried their faces in his flesh, tearing and devouring it.
The driver remained alive throughout. His screams eventually weakened into faint groans before finally falling silent... He was tortured for half the night before he died.
His body was mangled, his blood almost entirely drained, his skull pried open and everything inside scooped clean!
The four slowly stood and walked up to the Mountain God Temple. They
began knocking on the doors.
Luo Bin was terrified. What terrified him most was that he did not actually find the scene terrifying.
He even felt that he ought to have joined them...
A bleak despair rose in his heart.
Had I... become an evil spirit?
Before you continue