It was a pair of lovebirds embroidered by Xiu He. He still kept it with him even though more than forty years had passed.

“But you never once went to the well to visit her,” Bai Wu felt strongly for her and blamed him.

“Nonsense! Dad prays beside the well every day. How can you say that he had never been there!” The mayor’s son refuted once he heard what Bai Wu said. He could not find any other way to express his astonishment and complicated emotions.

Suddenly, Xu Lan opened his half-closed eyes and stared at the mayor with eyes like blazing fire. How can it be false when the person had such a sorrowful expression and answered the question without giving it much thought?

“Is there anything else that happened to the well? Regarding Xiu He,” Xu Lan asked.

“I rushed back after the seventh day of her death. At that point in time, several men had passed away. A Maoshan Daoist arrived after following the signs of resentment. He even marked the town with a magic circle and changed the Feng Shui of the town. He also renamed Green Dragon Village to Darkwater Town. Finally, he gave me something and told me to stand beside the well every morning to expiate those departed souls.”

The mayor took down the small peach wood sword that he wore around his neck hurriedly and displayed it in front of everybody. That old daoist adviced repeatedly that he must wear it to prevent him from getting dragged away by the evil spirits.

“… Do you want to visit the well at this moment, since you removed the peach wood sword? She waited for you for forty years.”

Bai Wu remained silent for quite some time and muttered to himself, ‘Not sure if it’s tragic or pitiful.’ It’s a tragedy that Xiu He’s obsession had not relented even when the mayor did transgressions for the departed souls every day. It was also pitiable as he was not aware that the love of his life was merely a few feet away.

‘Will I be like this in the future?’ Bai Wu sighed.

No one knew whether that old daoist came to this town to help or to destroy them, but it was certain that he was an unqualified Maoshan Daoist.

The young lady remained youthful, accompanied by the presence of an old man with greying temples weeping his heart out as he crouched beside the well.

Congratulations to the members who accomplished the mission. The reward would be 500 gold coins. Currently, the gold coins had amounted to 1500, your body would be teleported home in five seconds.

While everyone was still immersed in desolation, a line of words appeared in their mind. It flashed past in a way similar to a television switching off, where the brain crashed abruptly and all consciousness was lost.

This time, there was no impact on their bodies and everybody was teleported back to the empty land beside the water well.

“You guys are back!” Fang Lingzi finally got to see them return safely, where he jumped down from the garret’s stairs and welcomed them happily. The businessman followed behind.

“Uhm, there’s one more?” Bai Wu was checking if they missed out on anyone, where he asked nonchalantly after glancing around the group of people.

“…”

“… Glad to know that everyone’s fine. Let’s wash up and go to bed, I’m sure that everyone’s exhausted,” Bai Wu instantly understood what that moment of silence represented, where he gave out a long sigh and comforted them.

Although they were accustomed to seeing such a thing, they were still unsure of their feelings regarding this matter. The greyish sky smothered them like a cotton duvet, droplets of water in the air crystalized into frost, piercing the lungs of those who breathed in.

Initially, they thought that this mission was relatively simpler and would not cause any casualties!

“Elder, how did we accomplish the mission so suddenly? I don’t really understand what’s happening. This is confusing me and I can feel a knot in my heart.”

The crew-cut guy started to pick on something. He was not the only one who saw Xu Lan’s disheveled appearance, everybody saw it clearly!

“Right! Exactly! Was Xiu He really present in the well? Why Xu Lan…” Those who had malicious intentions started to join in.

“Aren’t you guys tired? Why are you still whining? Go and do what you’re supposed to do! Why don’t you be paparazzi since you guys are so hung up on gossiping?” Bai Wu shot a glare at those who started the commotion and the whole place fell into silence immediately.