Chapter 11
Nan Nuo village was situated amidst mountains and forests, making the nights exceptionally cool. But that chill couldn’t compare to the coldness in Zhou Yi’s heart.
Since Wu Heng jumped into the well, he had been itching to follow.
He had thrown several stones down, but besides the splashes that the little white snake excitedly lapped up, there was no sign of Wu Heng.
The little white snake kept staring at him with its scarlet eyes.
Nan Nuo village didn’t have 5G, only 4G at best, and here at the deserted eastern edge of the village, even 4G wasn’t guaranteed. His phone showed that it was 1:30 a.m., but he wasn’t sleepy at all.
As Zhou Yi paced anxiously by the well, contemplating whether to go back and inform his grandfather to bring the village’s strongmen to dig the well and search for Wu Heng, a gurgling sound came from within.
“Give me a hand.”
Hearing Wu Heng’s familiar voice, Zhou Yi rushed to the well opening in ecstasy and saw Wu Heng inside, carrying various bags and packages, as if he had just returned from a shopping trip to the provincial capital.
Zhou Yi quickly pulled Wu Heng out of the well, noticing that he was completely dry, even the bags were dry, only his hair was wet as if he had just washed it.
“Hiss, hiss, hiss—!”
The little white snake stared incredulously at the small gray snake nestled in Wu Heng’s arms. This shaman doctor had occupied its dry well, its home, and even used its well as a convenient means of transportation, and now he had brought back a third snake, a mistress!
Snakes were solitary creatures. This was no different than someone barging into its territory, it was simply outrageous! It hissed furiously and lunged forward, only to discover…it was a female snake.
Hmm, this little sister snake seemed quite pretty.
Zhou Yi pulled Wu Heng closer, scrutinizing him, pushing up his round-framed glasses, and muttering, “You really came back? Or am I still dreaming?”
Wu Heng casually tossed the gift boxes onto the ground, pulled out a tightly wrapped Peking duck from his other pocket, still steaming hot as if freshly roasted, along with special sauce, wrappers, and cucumber and scallion garnishes.
Zhou Yi sniffed the air, swallowed, and asked softly, “Peking duck? Did you really just go to Beijing?”
Zhou Yi looked at him with a complicated expression. Just how gluttonous was this newly normal Wu Heng? Going to Beijing in the middle of the night just for a Peking duck.
Wu Heng shook the water off his hair, sat down on the ground by the well, and said, “Try it first.”
Besides the Peking duck, Mrs. He had also thoughtfully packed many boxes of delicious pastries.
Wu Heng imitated Zhou Yi, dipping the crispy duck meat in sweet bean sauce, wrapping it in a thin pancake with cucumber strips, and taking a bite. Zhou Yi had learned this from the internet.
“So delicious!”
The little white snake and the small gray snake in the pink swaddling clothes stared at them intently.
Zhou Yi watched as Wu Heng made clicking sounds at the two snakes, like calling dogs in the village, and tossed them two pieces of fatty duck skin.
Zhou Yi ate heartily, enjoying the capital city’s specialty. He looked at the expensive gift boxes Wu Heng had tossed on the ground under the moonlight, although he didn’t understand much about them, he knew that ginseng packaged like that wasn’t cheap.
“Xiao Heng, are you really the Wu Heng I know?” Zhou Yi asked suddenly, eating a pastry. He just felt that this Wu Heng wasn’t like the one his grandfather described as missing a soul and a spirit, but rather someone with a completely different, powerful core.
Wu Heng said ruthlessly, “Your mother wanted to enroll you in a cram school in town last year, so you deliberately rolled down a slope and pretended to be half-crippled so you wouldn’t have to go. You even wanted to pretend to be completely crippled, but my grandfather advised you that it would be too difficult to fake.”
“Also, the exam practice book your mother bought you recently, you threw it into our outhouse and told her you were so engrossed in doing exercises on the toilet that you dropped it.”
“When you were little, you kissed You Jin’s black dog and were worried that it would get pregnant, so you asked me to sneak some birth control pills from my clinic, paying with your New Year’s money.”
“And…”
Zhou Yi interrupted awkwardly, reflecting sincerely, “Sorry, I was overthinking it.”
It must be that Xiao Heng had really become normal and, due to his bizarre experiences, had gained some special abilities. Zhou Yi had heard that Grandma Lai was like this too, an ordinary person before, but after a high fever, she gained the ability to communicate with spirits.
Zhou Yi asked again, “So you’ll be using this well frequently to go to Beijing?”
Then he realized his question was redundant. Uncle Wu Su was working as a steward in a wealthy family in Beijing. With this well, it would be much easier for their family to meet.
Zhou Yi mused, “Xiao Heng, this well is a fast track to Beijing, much faster than SF Express. You could make a fortune doing purchasing agent business, the transportation cost would be extremely low.”
Wu Heng didn’t mention that he had just made a fortune.
The little white snake, gnawing on the duck skin and wagging its tail, was enraged upon hearing Zhou Yi’s idea and hissed in a boy’s clear voice, “This is my home, you can’t requisition it.”
“On my way to Beijing, I discovered many ownerless wells,” Wu Heng said slowly, nibbling on a duck leg. “Don’t you understand the principle of ‘occupying a well and becoming king,’ rising to power and dominance?”
Society wasn’t like it used to be. In the past, people relied on wells for water, so Well Dragon Kings were born. But now that everyone had tap water, these local deities lost their purpose and gradually became ownerless wells.
The little white snake wasn’t even a Jiao yet, it couldn’t travel between wells. Wu Heng had the ability, but he didn’t have the Well Dragon King’s decree to occupy and use the wells.
The little white snake understood Wu Heng’s meaning. “So I can conquer all the wells in the country, step by step, leaving my mark on every well? All Well Dragon Kings will bow down to me? I can become the greatest Well Dragon King in the country?”
Zhou Yi choked on his pastry, not interrupting, but thinking silently, was this the world of office workers? Not aiming to be the Dragon King of rivers, lakes, and seas, but only focusing on this one well’s small territory.
The little white snake looked at Wu Heng with newfound admiration. It looked at the Guan Gong Nuo mask half-covering Wu Heng’s face. It had overheard Grandma Lai say that these Nuo masks were based on the generals of the Three Kingdoms.
The little white snake stared intently at Wu Heng. It had thought Grandma Lai was invincible in Nan Nuo village, but unexpectedly, there was someone even more powerful! Whose general was this? [Note]
And so, Wu Heng reached an agreement with the little white snake and even received a scale as a gift, the Well Dragon King’s decree. His previous trip to Beijing was only with temporary consent.
The little white snake was deeply moved. “Is this a gift you brought back for me?”
The little gray snake in the swaddling clothes looked over, confused, then started giggling.
Wu Heng immediately picked up the little gray snake. “Don’t even think about it!”
Xi Xi was He Yunxiao’s firstborn snake child. It had to go back to the He family during holidays and, in the future, would surely become their most important household deity.
Wu Heng touched Xi Xi’s smooth, tender body and thought for a moment. “If I’m too busy in the future, you’ll help me deliver medicine. You saw the way back from Beijing just now.”
Online consultations were easy, but offline visits were inevitable.
Xi Xi stared at Wu Heng in shock. That wasn’t what he had said at its dad’s place! Hadn’t he said he would treat it well, that if he had food, it would have food too?
Wasn’t this child labor?
As Wu Heng ate the last piece of duck meat, he tore off a third and tossed it to Xi Xi.
Wasn’t this “if I have food, you’ll have food too”? Wu Heng was very true to his word!
Xi Xi: “…”
After finishing the food from Beijing, Wu Heng and Zhou Yi began cleaning up. Wu Heng remarked, “I didn’t expect duck could be so delicious, I wonder how the chicken there tastes.”
Zhou Yi immediately said, “I heard that KFC in the big cities is delicious!”
Wu Heng pondered, really? He would try KFC next time!
Wu Heng took off the Guan Gong Nuo mask and packed the ox horns, silk scarf, and other items, planning to return them to Grandma Lai in the morning.
Just as he removed the bells from his ankles, he suddenly noticed his left wrist was empty, a string of bells was missing.
Wu Heng thought for a moment and realized it must have fallen off when he brushed against the edge of the well while climbing out. He wondered if he could find it next time he went down.
Zhou Yi helped Wu Heng pick up the expensive gift boxes, yawning repeatedly. “It’s past two o’clock, let’s go back and rest.”
Wu Heng nodded, and the two walked towards Chengde Medical Clinic under the moonlight.
Nan Nuo village was exceptionally quiet at night, and there were no streetlights, so it was pitch black.
His phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated. Wu Heng took it out and saw a message from He Yunxiao.
Zhou Yi, beside him, was still amazed that such an expensive phone was waterproof. Wu Heng opened WeChat.
He Yunxiao, finally cured and rid of the snake fetus trouble, was too excited to sleep.
[He Yunxiao: Doctor Wu, my family was worried that your medicine might get lost during delivery, so I arranged for our driver to personally deliver the mud pill to Huang Qiang’s house. It should arrive by tomorrow night at the latest.]
Wu Heng had originally planned to contact a courier, but the He family’s personal delivery subtly hinted at their desire to build a relationship. After all, the mud pill wasn’t valuable, but the He family’s emphasis on his things showed their attitude.
[HengHengBaby: Thank you.]
[He Yunxiao: Doctor Wu replied? You’re still awake? Sorry for disturbing you so late. I’ll keep an eye on Huang Qiang’s updates.]
That food blogger Huang Qiang loved to create drama. Since Wu Heng had only given him a useless mud pill, something big was bound to happen in the next couple of days.
Wu Heng replied with another thank you. WeChat showed that the other party was typing, but no message came through.
[HengHengBaby: ?]
He Yunxiao hesitated for a long time, but his curiosity got the better of him.
[He Yunxiao: Doctor Wu, if you don’t mind me asking, where are you staying now? It’s okay if you don’t want to answer, just pretend I haven’t finished farting yet.]
Wu Heng sent his real-time location. When He Yunxiao clicked on it: “!!!”
Wu Heng was in a remote village in the southwest, thousands of kilometers south of Beijing where he was.
He Yunxiao stared at his phone, dumbfounded.
He wouldn’t have been this shocked if Wu Heng had said he was in Shi Xuan’s bed. But his real-time location was over three thousand kilometers away?
How did he get back? Teleportation?
Thanks for the chapter 🌻✨