The Chen Family's courtyard house.

It was now approaching the dead of night. Tu Xiao'an and Haitang stood before the gate of the historic residence.

The stunningly beautiful Haitang stood frozen, her gaze complex as she looked upon the old house that had stood for several hundred years. It felt as if a lifetime had passed.

She was, after all, the creature who had lived in this house the longest—longer than any Chen Family Member.

The courtyard was filled with the traces of a cat leaping and bounding about. Haitang had never imagined that she would one day return in human form.

It was like a dream. Standing alone before the gate, she couldn't stop doubting it all; everything felt too incredible to be real.

Tu Xiao'an glanced at the dazed Haitang but said nothing, giving her a moment to prepare herself.

He took out his phone and opened WeChat. It was flooded with messages from that girl, Li Qingzhao. She kept asking where he was and what he was doing, and she was also bragging about how she had saved a lot of her classmates today.

She had practically become the school's heroine.

Tu Xiao'an gave her a perfunctory reply, saying he had already left the school and was finding a hotel to sleep in.

The girl sent another flood of messages, bragging excitedly.

Tonight, with tens of thousands of snakes on campus, everyone had feared for their lives as if in a nightmare. She was probably the only one who was excited, buzzing as if she were high on sugar.

Putting his phone away, Tu Xiao'an looked at Haitang, who was still dazed at the gate, and said, "Go on in. After you disappeared, he wandered the streets aimlessly, shouting your name. It really wasn't easy for him."

Having a blind man search for someone was already an incredibly difficult task, not to mention the "person" he was looking for was a Cat Spirit in disguise.

The way he was going about it, he probably wouldn't have found her in a lifetime.

Whether she had finally steeled her resolve or not, Haitang pushed open the courtyard gate. It hadn't been closed or locked.

Inside the courtyard, a large pagoda tree stood tall. Chen Gao Yang was sitting dazedly beneath it. The only light in the entire area came from the moon, making the surroundings seem a bit dim.

But for a blind man, the dimness was never an issue.

His world had long been one of complete darkness.

Every day, Chen Gao Yang would sit in the courtyard with the gate unlocked, hoping his girlfriend would come back.

He knew this hope was almost impossible to realize. His girlfriend had taken everything with her, not even leaving a single piece of clothing behind (in truth, there was nothing to begin with).

She was determined to leave him, this damn blind man.

'It's for the best,' he thought. 'She's so kind and beautiful. She should find someone who can treat her well, someone who's a good match. I can't give her happiness.'

Almost every night, in the deep of the night, Chen Gao Yang would console himself like this.

Perhaps only by thinking this way could he feel a little better.

Tonight was another sleepless night for him. Shrouded in darkness, he was filled with despair.

Perhaps Chen Gao Yang had finally come to a decision, for he prepared to do something he should have done long ago.

Besides the large pagoda tree, there was also an old well in the courtyard house.

In ancient times, wealthy families would typically dig a well in their courtyards. From a Feng Shui perspective, just as ponds and pools can gather Qi, a well has a similar effect. Besides, having a well at home was also very convenient for drawing water.

The ancients were very particular when building rooms and residences, always adhering to the principles of Feng Shui and metaphysics.

A residence had two types of "wells": a *dijing*, or "earth well," and a *tianjing*, or "sky well." The earth well was, naturally, a water well dug into the ground. The sky well referred to the rectangular, open-air space enclosed between buildings or between a building and a wall, as well as the small openings on the roofs of old-fashioned houses for letting in light.

Sunlight would shine down through the sky well, and the light hitting the ground resembled the water in a well, hence the name.

Regardless of whether it was an earth well or a sky well, Feng Shui held that both had the effect of "gathering Qi and nurturing Qi."

An old saying goes: "Water should not flow straight, and water should not flow out from under the door, as both lead to dissipation."

To put it simply, the sky well renews Feng Shui and connects with the heavens' Qi, while the earth well brings forth water and condenses wealth Qi.

This courtyard house was several hundred years old, with both a sky well and an earth well. At this moment, a disheartened Chen Gao Yang was walking toward the earth well.

That earth well had long been abandoned. Due to severe modern pollution, the groundwater was no longer clean.

Therefore, the mouth of the well had long been sealed with a large slab of marble.

Furthermore, since Chen Gao Yang had been blind from a young age, it was also a precaution against any accidents.

Chen Gao Yang shuffled to the side of the earth well, tossed his cane aside, and fumbled around until he found the marble slab. With great effort, he heaved it open.

Instantly, a wave of cold, sinister Qi surged up from the earth well, making one's whole body tremble.

'This will be the best place for my burial.'

Chen Gao Yang gave a desolate smile. Above his sunglasses, his handsome brows were furrowed with an inconsolable sorrow.

The cold, sinister Qi continued to pour from the well's mouth, as if waving to Chen Gao Yang, beckoning him to jump in quickly.

According to folklore, if a person commits suicide by jumping into a well, their soul will be trapped inside it forever, unable to reincarnate.

But Chen Gao Yang didn't care. He was born a frog in a well—no, he was even worse off than a frog in a well, because a frog at the bottom of a well could at least see a corner of the sky above.

But he had seen nothing since birth.

When his grandmother died, Chen Gao Yang had wanted to die too. If not for Haitang's appearance, he probably would have thrown himself into the well long ago.

He had originally thought the heavens had taken pity on him and granted him an angel to change his fate. But now, it seemed his fate hadn't changed at all.

At that moment, Chen Gao Yang took a sharp, cold breath and stood at the edge of the well. With just a small leap, he would be free.

"Brother Gaoyang..."

He didn't know if it was a pre-death hallucination or if he was just missing his girlfriend so much, but he faintly heard a familiar voice.

Suddenly, he shook his head. 'It's just a hallucination. Haitang can't possibly be back.' No longer attached to this world, he bent his knees slightly and jumped straight in. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Ah, Brother Gaoyang, no—"

Just as he jumped, before he was completely devoured by the mouth of the well, Chen Gao Yang was suddenly shocked.

That voice was sharp and clear. It wasn't a hallucination.

But... it was too late. He had jumped. He was about to sink to the bottom of the well.

"Get back here!"

Tu Xiao'an appeared in the courtyard just in time to see Chen Gao Yang leap into the well. Startled, his eyes narrowed, and a Formless Consciousness Power surged out, causing the space around them to ripple instantly.

When Chen Gao Yang jumped, there should have been the SPLASH of him hitting the water, but the well remained completely silent.

Haitang's face had turned pale with fright. While she had been standing dazed at the gate, she had imagined all sorts of heartwarming reunion scenes with Chen Gao Yang.

But she never expected to see the horrifying sight of him jumping into the well.

In the space of a few breaths, Haitang suddenly rushed to the edge of the well, ready to jump in after him to save him. But then, something strange happened.

She watched as Chen Gao Yang floated gracefully up from the bottom of the well.

Almost instantly, Haitang turned to glance at Tu Xiao'an and saw him give her a slight nod.

Chen Gao Yang landed beside Haitang.

Tears immediately streamed down Haitang's beautiful face. She threw her arms around Chen Gao Yang, holding him tightly as she sobbed, "Brother Gaoyang, why did you try to kill yourself? Don't you want Haitang anymore?"

"Haitang... it's really you. You came back."

Chen Gao Yang trembled, silent tears streaming down his face. They were as cold as if they had sprung from the earth well itself.

"Brother Gaoyang, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Haitang clung to Chen Gao Yang, her whole body trembling slightly as tears poured from her eyes. In the second she had seen him jump into the well, it had felt as if an entire year—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—had passed.

It was long and terrifying.