Chapter Summaries

Luo Bin tried to get Zhang Li and the women out of the car and into the house before dark, but Zhang Li refused because Gu Yiren had told him the evil spirits could lead them out of the village. As night fell, Luo Bin was forced inside while Gu Yiren silently begged him for help.

• Luo Bin found Gu Yiren unconscious and bound in Zhang Li's locked car, and urged Zhang Li to get everyone inside before dark.
• Zhang Li refused to leave the car, insisting the villagers were insane and that Gu Yiren knew how they could escape.
• Luo Feng dragged Luo Bin into the house as the last daylight faded, and Old Kong bolted the door.
• Luo Bin spotted Gu Yiren awake in the car, silently mouthing a plea for help through the rear window.
• Zhang Li explained to Zhu Qianqian that Gu Yiren had said they could escape by following the evil spirits, and he lit the oil lamp as night fell.

As evil spirits began the Village Tour, Luo Bin suppressed his bloodlust with lamp oil while watching Zhang Jun suffer and Zhang Li’s group flee. Zhang Li and the others returned to the house seeking refuge, but the villagers refused to open the door as the spirits closed in.

• Evil spirits surrounded the Prisoner Cart, tore off Zhang Jun’s ear and fingernails, and dragged him deeper into the village as the Village Tour began.
• Luo Bin secretly swallowed lamp oil to suppress his bloodlust and watched the spirits gather around Zhang Li’s Santana.
• The evil spirits rocked and lifted the Santana, spilling most of Zhang Li’s lamp oil, so Zhang Li drove through them and escaped with Zhu Qianqian and Gu Yiren.
• The spirits pursued the Santana, and Zhang Li returned to the house with Zhu Qianqian and the bound Gu Yiren after the lamp broke.
• Zhang Li begged Luo Shan to open the door, but the villagers watched without helping as the evil spirits approached.

Luo Bin watched Zhang Li and the others flee after the villagers refused to reopen the door, then learned how Zhang Jun had been punished and what rules governed life in Cabinet Mountain Village. Zhong Zhicheng revealed that villagers drew lots twice a month to search the mountains for a way out, giving Luo Bin hope even as the villagers remained fearful.

• Gu Ya persuaded Luo Bin not to open the door, and Zhang Li, Zhu Qianqian, and Gu Yiren escaped from the village as evil spirits gathered outside.
• At dawn, Luo Bin and Luo Feng saw Zhang Jun's emaciated body in the Prisoner Cart, and Zhong Zhicheng warned villagers that those who harmed others would be punished.
• Villagers reported that the three outsiders had returned alive, and Zhong Zhicheng declared that surviving three days made them villagers.
• Zhang Li returned with Zhu Qianqian and Gu Yiren, and Zhong Zhicheng explained the village's rules about nighttime safety, work, harming villagers, and searching for an escape route.
• Luo Bin learned that the village drew lots on the first and fifteenth of each month to choose mountain explorers, and he felt hope as he noticed the villagers' fear.

Luo Bin confronted Zhang Li after trying to explain why he had not saved the newcomers, then was attacked by Zhang Jun’s former friends. After returning home injured, he received tender care from Zhang Yunling.

• Luo Bin went to the courtyard and tried to explain himself to Zhu Qianqian, but Zhang Li kicked him and accused him of abandoning them.
• Luo Bin argued with Zhang Li, kicked him in return, and left after exchanging a meaningful look with Gu Yiren.
• Unknown attackers beat Luo Bin beneath a sack, and he realized they were Zhang Jun’s former friends.
• A girl offered to treat Luo Bin’s injuries, but he declined and hurried home.
• Gu Ya and Zhang Yunling tended to Luo Bin, and Zhang Yunling gently treated the wound on his cheek.

Luo Bin followed Gu Yiren to the mountain god temple after she secretly came to his house, hoping to learn what she knew about the village and his survival. She insisted they wait there until dark, leaving Luo Bin to weigh the danger against his promise to return home before nightfall.

• Zhang Yunling treated Luo Bin’s wounds, took his torn clothes to mend, and left after lunch.
• Luo Feng told Luo Bin that the villagers would draw lots the next day to decide who would explore the dangerous forest, while Gu Ya urged him not to take risks.
• Luo Bin worried about surviving the coming night, finding lamp oil, and learning why the body’s original owner had died.
• Gu Yiren appeared at Luo Bin’s window, and he followed her through the village to the mountain god temple.
• Luo Bin questioned Gu Yiren about Zhang Li, his window, and her offer to help, but she only insisted that they wait until dark.
• Luo Bin noticed the temple had no oil lamp and hesitated to stay, knowing he had promised to return home before dark.

Zhang Yunling’s plan to drug Luo Shan went awry when he failed to arrive, while Luo Bin sought shelter from his bloodlust in a hidden space beneath the Mountain God Temple. As his thirst grew unbearable, Gu Yiren offered him her bleeding palm.

• Zhang Yunling waited for Luo Shan to come by so she could send him to the Village Chief’s house after drugging him, but Gu Ya and Luo Feng arrived looking for their missing son.
• Gu Ya and Luo Feng hurried home, still worried that Luo Shan had not returned.
• Luo Bin stayed at the Mountain God Temple, unable to find lamp oil and unwilling to risk harming his mother if he lost control.
• Gu Yiren revealed a hidden compartment beneath the Mountain God statue and led Luo Bin inside to wait as evil spirits emerged into the temple.
• Luo Bin’s throat grew unbearably dry, and Gu Yiren cut her palm and pressed it over his mouth.

After Gu Yiren fed Luo Bin some of her blood, she led him through the woods to a trap-filled house, where he found a lamp full of oil and a stash of oil bottles. The chapter left Gu Yiren unconscious and Luo Bin wary of taking any oil as he noticed a locked door deeper inside the house.

• Gu Yiren let Luo Bin drink some of her blood, then insisted she did not know Xu Kaiguo and led him out of the Mountain God Temple.
• Gu Yiren guided Luo Bin through the woods and past hidden traps to a wooden house in a clearing.
• Two evil spirits followed them, but traps opened beneath the spirits and let Gu Yiren and Luo Bin reach the house safely.
• Luo Bin found an oil lamp full of oil and a room lined with bottles of lamp oil, which he suspected the Village Chief had discovered.
• Gu Yiren convulsed and collapsed in a room of slaughtering tools, and Luo Bin steadied her breathing before finding a locked inner door.
• Luo Bin briefly considered taking an oil bottle, then put it back because he feared something would go wrong.

Luo Bin brought Gu Yiren back from the woodland cabin and learned that Zhang Li claimed she suffered dangerous episodes, though Luo Bin suspected she perceived the village’s hidden secrets. He secretly gathered lamp oil, destroyed evidence, and made himself look injured before returning home.

• At dawn, Luo Bin carried Gu Yiren out of the woodland cabin and guided her through the trap-filled clearing, where he saw two impaled evil spirits in pits.
• Gu Yiren woke and followed Luo Bin toward the village, unable to find her way, while Luo Bin chose not to question her about her secrets.
• Near the Mountain God Temple, Zhang Li attacked Luo Bin, then accepted Gu Yiren’s explanation that Luo Bin had saved her from wandering into the woods.
• Zhang Li warned Luo Bin to stay away from Gu Yiren, describing her as mentally ill and dangerous, while Luo Bin suspected she had revealed something about the village.
• Luo Bin retrieved a plastic bag, wrung nearly half a bottle’s worth of lamp oil from his shirt, burned the shirt, and injured and dirtied himself to disguise his return.

Luo Bin returned home injured after blaming his beating on the village thugs, while Luo Feng quietly prepared for the afternoon drawing. Elsewhere, Chen Xianxian lured Zhu Qianqian into her house and struck her in the forehead with a hammer.

• Luo Bin told Gu Ya and Luo Feng that thugs had beaten him, and Luo Feng told him to rest before the drawing.
• Luo Bin hid the lamp oil in his wardrobe, washed, and fell asleep from exhaustion.
• Zhong Zhicheng found two evil spirits in his trap, dealt with them, and discovered a strand of hair on the cabin floor.
• Zhu Qianqian left Zhang Li and followed Chen Xianxian to her house, hoping to make a friend.
• Chen Xianxian slammed a rusted hammer into Zhu Qianqian's forehead.

After a corpse was found in the Ancestral Hall, Zhong Zhicheng led the village’s bamboo-lot drawing and Luo Bin drew the black lot. The Luo family was assigned to scout the mountain path in three days, leaving Luo Bin alarmed by the villagers’ reactions.

• Chen Xianxian struck Zhu Qianqian with a hammer, covered her bleeding head, and closed the door after checking that no one was nearby.
• Luo Bin went with Luo Feng and Gu Ya to the Ancestral Hall, where the villagers gathered around a mutilated corpse and waited for Zhong Zhicheng.
• Zhong Zhicheng ordered the body taken to the Morgue, then began the drawing while Old Kong and Chen Xianxian each drew ordinary lots.
• Zhang Li was exempted from drawing because he had only recently arrived in the village, while villagers whispered that he brought bad luck.
• Luo Bin drew a bamboo lot with a black tip, and Zhong Zhicheng announced that the Luo family had to scout the way into the mountains on the first day of the month.
• Luo Bin noticed Gu Ya’s pallor and the villagers’ mocking relief, and realized the assignment was more dangerous than it sounded.

Luo Feng defended Luo Bin against the men who had beaten him, and Luo Bin resolved that their family would one day escape the village. Meanwhile, Chen Xianxian watched Luo Bin’s home before feeding a captive woman to her chained twin sister, who had reacted to Luo Bin during daylight.

• Luo Feng kicked one of Zhang Jun’s friends and threatened him with a billhook, warning him not to harm Luo Shan again.
• Zhong Zhicheng told Luo Feng to prepare for the mountain expedition in three days, and Luo Feng led Gu Ya and Luo Bin home.
• Passing the Morgue, Luo Bin recalled Luo Feng’s belief in exploring the mountains and promised his parents that their family would leave the village together.
• Zhang Yunling caught up with the family and gave Luo Bin clean clothes before they returned to their courtyard for dinner.
• Chen Xianxian watched the Luo family’s courtyard, then descended into her underground room and fed Zhu Qianqian to her chained twin sister.
• Chen Xianxian recalled that her sister had reacted to Luo Bin during daylight and wondered whether he had caused it.

Luo Bin resisted Xu Kaiguo’s repeated attempt to lure him out through the window and struggled to decide whom he could trust. The next morning, he learned that Zhu Qianqian had been killed, and the villagers accused Zhang Li of abusing the Outsider women as Zhong Zhicheng questioned him about Gu Yiren.

• At dinner, Gu Ya urged Luo Feng to avoid danger in the mountains, and Luo Bin went to his room while his parents continued their discussion.
• Xu Kaiguo appeared outside Luo Bin’s window and repeated the warning and escape offer he had made six days earlier, but Luo Bin refused to open the window.
• After a troubled night, Luo Bin learned that Zhu Qianqian had died and rushed to the village entrance, where villagers had gathered around her body.
• Zhang Li accused Zhong Zhicheng of failing to help find Zhu Qianqian, while villagers claimed Zhang Li had mistreated the Outsider women and demanded that he be questioned.
• Zhong Zhicheng asked Zhang Li why Gu Yiren had not come out.

The villagers blamed Zhang Li for Zhu Qianqian’s death and placed Gu Yiren in the shamaness’s custody. Chen Xianxian revealed that she had been hiding her dead twin sister, then lured Zhang Li to her home with a claim that she knew who had been seen with Zhu Qianqian’s companion.

• Zhang Li admitted that Gu Yiren had epilepsy and that he tied her up, prompting the villagers to accuse her of endangering them.
• Zhong Zhicheng ordered Gu Yiren placed in the shamaness’s custody, while Luo Feng and Old Kong restrained Zhang Li.
• Luo Bin followed the group, collected the burlap sack from the alley, and watched as Gu Yiren was taken away.
• Chen Xianxian revealed that she had lived in the village for three years and kept her dead twin sister chained in a cellar, sometimes disguising herself as her sister to find food for her.
• Chen Xianxian visited Zhang Li and invited him to her house, claiming she remembered seeing someone with Zhu Qianqian and her short-haired companion.

Luo Bin found Zhu Qianqian’s missing gold earring in the sack from his beating and realized it had belonged to her before her death. After the Spirit Medium performed a household blessing, he stopped in front of Luo Bin while Zhong Zhicheng watched, leaving Luo Bin worried that something was wrong with him.

• Luo Bin found a floral gold earring in the sack and later recognized it as one Zhu Qianqian had worn before her death.
• Luo Bin hid the earring and sack in a drawer, then rested until Gu Ya called him to meet the Spirit Medium and Zhong Zhicheng.
• The Spirit Medium blessed Luo Bin’s family with willow branches, blood talismans, and lamp oil, then searched Luo Bin’s room for several minutes.
• Zhong Zhicheng told Luo Feng, Gu Ya, and Luo Bin to leave at dawn the day after tomorrow and gave them instructions for their mountain journey.
• The Spirit Medium came out of Luo Feng and Gu Ya’s room and stopped in front of Luo Bin as Zhong Zhicheng watched.

Luo Bin brought Gu Ya’s handmade shoes to Zhang Yunling, but left quickly after realizing she was trying to draw him into her plans. Zhang Yunling watched him go as a blood-red hue appeared in her eyes.

• The Spirit Medium patted Luo Bin’s chest and remarked that he looked more like a person, while Gu Ya defended him.
• Gu Ya gave Luo Bin herbal medicine and asked him to deliver handmade shoes to Zhang Yunling.
• Luo Bin reconsidered his attraction to Zhang Yunling and hurried to her house with the shoes.
• Zhang Yunling greeted Luo Bin after bathing, but he handed her the shoes and abruptly left.
• Zhang Yunling realized her plan to make Luo Bin seek out Zhong Zhicheng had failed, and a blood-red hue seeped into her eyes.

Luo Bin searched for Zhang Li to learn where the Spirit Medium lived, but Chen Xianxian had captured Zhang Li and brought him to her evil-spirit sister. That night, Xu Kaiguo tried to lure Luo Bin out, leaving a warning on the window that vanished after time briefly rewound.

• Luo Bin visited Zhang Li's empty home, hoping Zhang Li could help him find the Spirit Medium and save Gu Yiren.
• Chen Xianxian dragged the unconscious Zhang Li into the Underground Room, where her evil-spirit sister waited, and Zhang Li woke to overhear their plans.
• Luo Bin returned home, split firewood, and later prepared lamp oil before taking a small sip in his room.
• Xu Kaiguo knocked at Luo Bin's window and warned him that Luo Feng and Gu Ya were evil spirits, then urged him to escape.
• Luo Bin saw the message "I'm an evil spirit. Don't believe what I say." appear in the window's condensation before time slipped back and erased it.

Luo Bin suspected Xu Kaiguo was an Evil Spirit who sometimes regained enough clarity to leave warnings, and Gu Ya urged him not to risk exploring a way out of the village. The next morning, Luo Bin went to look for another message from Xu Kaiguo and found something that terrified him.

• Luo Bin reasoned that Xu Kaiguo might be an Evil Spirit who had retained a little human awareness and was trying to guide him.
• Gu Ya warned Luo Bin that families who tried to scout an escape route often disappeared, and asked him to persuade Luo Feng to stay safe.
• Luo Bin agreed outwardly, then decided to visit Gu Yiren before going into the mountains with Luo Feng to scout the route.
• The next morning, Luo Bin hurried to the spot outside his window to search for a message from Xu Kaiguo and was shocked by what he saw.

Luo Bin found a murdered villager beneath his window and recovered Xu Kaiguo’s warning that those who could influence the mountain would be hunted. As the village counted six deaths in less than ten days, Luo Bin noticed something strange near the window and alerted Luo Feng.

• Luo Bin found a mutilated corpse beneath his window and discovered Xu Kaiguo’s bloodstained note warning that those who could influence the mountain would be hunted.
• Luo Bin fetched Zhong Zhicheng, who brought the Corpse Cart to collect the body and told Luo Bin not to blame himself for failing to hear the victim.
• Zhong Zhicheng recognized Luo Bin was probing him about Zhang Li and advised him not to let kindness become misguided.
• Zhong Zhicheng identified the dead villager as Wu You and warned the crowd that six people had died in less than ten days.
• After Luo Feng and Gu Ya cleaned the blood, Luo Bin spotted something odd beneath the window and told his father.

Luo Bin realized Tang Ji’s body may have been moved after a human murder was disguised as an evil spirit’s work, but Luo Feng warned the family to keep quiet and plan an escape. After spotting a blurry figure in his rewind of the morning, Luo Bin borrowed a pocket watch and went out to investigate the route the figure had taken.

• Luo Bin noticed Tang Ji’s body had been unusually clean and concluded someone had killed him elsewhere before bringing him to the village.
• Luo Feng ordered Gu Ya and Luo Bin not to tell anyone, warning that exposing the killer could make their family a target.
• Luo Bin rewound the morning and glimpsed a hunched figure heading generally toward the village entrance shortly after 5:10.
• Luo Feng gave Luo Bin a pocket watch after breakfast, and Old Kong arrived to summon him to the Village Chief.
• Luo Bin went out alone, timed a stretch of the suspected route with the pocket watch, and marked a clod of earth beside the road.

Luo Bin found Zhang Li missing and later learned Chen Xianxian had imprisoned him while seeking a way to rescue Gu Yiren. He told Luo Feng he had seen the killer and used the timing to narrow down where the killer lived.

• Luo Bin found Zhang Li's courtyard empty and feared Zhang Li had gone out and been killed.
• Chen Xianxian kept Zhang Li tied up in her underground chamber and questioned him about Luo Shan, Gu Yiren, and escaping the village.
• Luo Bin returned home and told Luo Feng and Gu Ya that he had glimpsed the killer at dawn.
• Luo Bin explained how the time needed to reach the scene narrowed the killer's possible location and said he had left a marker without drawing suspicion.
• Luo Feng accepted Luo Bin's reasoning, and Gu Ya tearfully praised her son.