Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Nan Nuo Village was already nestled in the mountains and forests, and the night was unusually cool, but it couldn't compare to the chill in Zhou Yi's heart at that moment.

Ever since Wu Heng jumped into the well, Zhou Yi had been desperate to follow him down.

He had thrown several stones into the well. Apart from the splashes of water eagerly lapped up by the white snake, he found nothing—certainly not Wu Heng's body.

The little white snake occasionally fixed him with its crimson, unblinking gaze.

Nan Nuo Village didn't have 5G; at best, it had 4G, and in this remote eastern part of the village, even 4G was spotty. He glanced at his phone and saw it was 1:30 AM, but he felt wide awake.

Zhou Yi paced anxiously by the well, debating whether to rush back and tell his grandfather to gather the village's strong men to dig the well and search for Wu Heng. Suddenly, a gurgling sound echoed from the depths of the well.

"Pull me up."

Hearing Wu Heng's familiar voice, Zhou Yi rushed to the well in ecstatic surprise and saw Wu Heng inside, laden with bags, as if he had just returned from a shopping spree in the provincial capital.

Zhou Yi quickly pulled Wu Heng out of the well, noticing he was completely dry—except for his hair, which was damp as if he'd just washed it.

"Hiss! Hiss! Hiss—!"

The little white snake stared in disbelief at the small gray snake cradled in Wu Heng's arms. This shaman had taken over its dry well, its home, and even used it as a transportation tool—and now he'd brought back a third snake!

Snakes are solitary by nature, and this was a blatant invasion of its sacred territory—an unforgivable insult! It hissed and lunged furiously towards them, only to discover... it was a little female snake.

Hmm, this little lady snake is quite the looker.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yi pulled Wu Heng aside, adjusting his round-framed glasses and muttering, "Did you really come back? Or am I still dreaming?"

Wu Heng carelessly tossed several gift boxes onto the ground and pulled out a tightly wrapped roast duck from another pocket. The duck looked freshly roasted, still steaming, and came with special sauce, pancakes, and sides like cucumber and scallions.

Zhou Yi sniffed, swallowing hard, and asked softly, "Capital city roast duck? Did you really just go to the capital city?"

Zhou Yi's expression was a mix of disbelief and amusement. How gluttonous had this now-normal Wu Heng become? Traveling to the capital city in the dead of night just for a roast duck.

Wu Heng shook the water from his hair and sat by the dry well. "Let's dig in," he said.

Along with the roast duck, Mrs. He had thoughtfully packed several boxes of delicious pastries.

Wu Heng copied Zhou Yi, dipping the crispy, tender duck meat in sweet sauce, wrapping it in a pancake with cucumber strips, and taking a bite. Zhou Yi, meanwhile, had learned this technique online.

"This is amazing!"

The little white snake and the gray snake in the pink swaddle both stared intently at them.

Zhou Yi watched as Wu Heng treated the snakes like village dogs, clicking his tongue and tossing them two pieces of fatty roast duck.

Zhou Yi savored every bite, relishing the capital city's famous delicacy. By moonlight, he eyed the expensive gift boxes Wu Heng had tossed aside. Though he didn't know much, he could tell the ginseng in such packaging wasn't cheap.

"Xiao Heng, are you really the same Wu Heng I know?"

Zhou Yi suddenly asked while eating pastries. He just felt that this Wu Heng didn't seem like the one his grandfather described as missing a part of his soul, but rather like someone with a powerful new core.

Wu Heng didn't hold back: "Last year, your mom tried to send you to a cram school in town, but you faked a half-crippled injury by rolling down a slope. You even thought about faking full paralysis, but my grandpa warned you it'd be too hard to pull off."

"Also, a while ago, your mom bought you the 'Five-Three' exercise books, and you threw them into my family's latrine, telling your mom you were so engrossed in doing exercises while squatting that you dropped them."

"When you were a kid, you kissed Eugene's big black dog and were worried it might get pregnant, so you asked me to secretly get some contraceptive pills from my family's clinic. You paid for it with your New Year's money."

"And also..."

Zhou Yi awkwardly interrupted, sincerely reflecting, "Sorry, I was overthinking just now."

It must really be that Wu Heng has returned to normal, and because of his bizarre experiences, he has gained more skills than ordinary people, right? Zhou Yi heard that old lady Lai was like this too; she was an ordinary person before, but after a high fever, she gained the ability to communicate with spirits.

Zhou Yi then asked, "So, are you going to use this well to go to the capital city often?"

Zhou Yi felt that his question was quite redundant. Uncle Wu Su works as a butler for a wealthy family in the capital city, and with this well, it would be much more convenient for the family to meet.

Zhou Yi pondered and said, "Wu Heng, this well connects directly to the capital city, much faster than express delivery services. If you start a purchasing business, you could make a fortune with very low transportation costs."

Wu Heng didn't mention that he had just made a big profit.

The small white snake, chewing on the roast duck and wagging its tail, became furious upon hearing Zhou Yi's idea, hissing in a boy's clear voice, "This is my home, you can't commandeer it."

"On my way to the capital city this time, I found many ownerless wells," Wu Heng said slowly while chewing on a duck leg. "Don't you get the idea of claiming a well as your own and then growing stronger?"

In today's society, things are no longer like before. In the past, people relied on wells for water, and thus the Dragon King of the well was born. But as everyone started using tap water, such local deities lost their significance and gradually became ownerless wells.

The small white snake isn't even a dragon yet; it doesn't have the ability to travel through various wells. And although Wu Heng has the ability, he lacks the Dragon King of the well's decree to occupy or pass through.

The small white snake understood Wu Heng's meaning: "So, step by step, I'll take over all the wells in the country, marking each one as mine? All the Dragon Kings of the wells will bow to me? I can become the biggest Dragon King of the wells in the country?"

Zhou Yi, eating the pastry, felt a bit choked up. He didn't interrupt, just silently thought, is this the life of a corporate drone? Not thinking of becoming the Dragon King of rivers and lakes, but only focusing on this small patch of land around the well.

The small white snake's gaze at Wu Heng changed, now filled with admiration. It saw the half-worn Guan Gong mask on Wu Heng's head; it had overheard old lady Lai say these masks were modeled after the generals of the Three Kingdoms.

The small white snake stared at Wu Heng intently. It originally thought that with old lady Lai, Nan Nuo Village was invincible, but who knew there was someone even more formidable! Who does this general belong to?

So, Wu Heng and the small white snake struck a deal, and Wu Heng also received a scale from the small white snake, which was the decree from the Dragon King of the well. The previous trip to the capital city was just a temporary verbal decree.

The small white snake was extremely moved: "Is this the gift you brought back for me?"

The small gray snake in the swaddle looked over, confused, then giggled foolishly.

Wu Heng immediately picked up the small gray snake: "You wish!"

Xi Xi is He Yunxiao's first snake child, and must return to the He Family during holidays. When it grows up, it will surely become the He Family's most important protective deity.

Wu Heng stroked the sticky, tender body of the small gray snake, pondering for a while, "If I get too busy, you can help me deliver medicine. You saw the way back from the capital city just now."

Online consultations are easy, but offline visits are unavoidable.

Xi Xi looked at Wu Heng in shock. He didn't say that when he was with its father! Didn't he say he would treat it well, that if he had something to eat, it would have something to eat too?

Isn't this just child labor?

When Wu Heng ate the last piece of roast duck, he didn't forget to tear off a third of the meat and throw it over.

Isn't this 'if I eat, you eat'? Wu Heng really keeps his promises!

Xi Xi: "..."

After finishing the treats from the capital city, Wu Heng and Zhou Yi started cleaning up the ground. Wu Heng didn't forget to say, "I didn't expect duck to taste this good. I wonder how the chicken there is."

Zhou Yi immediately said, "I heard that KFC in big cities is very tasty!"

Wu Heng pondered, really? Next time, let's hit up KFC!

Wu Heng removed the Guan Gong Nuo mask that was half on his head and packed up items like the ox horn tassel scarf, planning to return them to old lady Lai the next morning.

As he took off the bell from his ankle, Wu Heng suddenly realized his left wrist was bare, and a string of bells was missing.

Wu Heng pondered for a moment and remembered that it must have fallen off when he brushed against the edge of the well while jumping back. He wondered if he could find it in the well the next time he went.

Zhou Yi helped Wu Heng lift the expensive gift box from the ground, yawning repeatedly, and said, "It's past two, let's go back and rest."

Wu Heng nodded, and the two walked toward Chengde Medical Hall under the moonlight.

Nan Nuo Village was exceptionally quiet at night, and the village had no streetlights, leaving it pitch dark.

In such a situation, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. Wu Heng took it out and saw a message from He Yunxiao.

Zhou Yi, standing nearby, was still marveling at how waterproof high-end phones were, while Wu Heng opened WeChat.

He Yunxiao had finally recovered from his illness that night and even resolved the big trouble of the snake fetus, leaving him too excited to sleep.

"He Yunxiao: Dr. Wu, my family is worried the courier might lose your pills, so I arranged for our family driver to personally deliver the medicine to Huang Qiang's house. It should reach Uncle Huang Qiang's hands by tomorrow night at the latest."

Wu Heng had originally asked to contact a courier to pick up the package, but the He Family personally delivering the medicine subtly hinted at their desire to build a connection. After all, the mud ball was worthless, but the He Family's attention to Wu Heng's items clearly signaled their attitude.

"Baby Heng Heng: Thank you."

"He Yunxiao: Dr. Wu, you replied to me? You're not asleep yet? I'm sorry to disturb you so late at night. I will keep a close eye on Huang Qiang's personal updates for you."

Huang Qiang, the food blogger who's always looking for freebies, was given a useless mud ball by Wu Heng, and something big was sure to happen in the next few days.

Wu Heng replied with another thank you. The WeChat showed that the other party was typing, but the message was delayed.

"Baby Heng Heng: ?"

He Yunxiao hesitated for a long time, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he couldn't help but send the message.

"He Yunxiao: Dr. Wu, may I ask where you are living now? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, just treat it as if I'm still talking nonsense."

Wu Heng sent a real-time location. When He Yunxiao clicked on it: "!!!"

Wu Heng was in a village on the southwestern border, thousands of kilometers away from the capital city where He Yunxiao was located, one in the south and the other in the north.

He Yunxiao stared at his phone, dumbfounded.

If Wu Heng had said he was in Shi Xuan's bed, He Yunxiao wouldn't have been as shocked, but the real-time location was over three thousand kilometers away?

How did he get back? Teleportation?