Hearing this, Xiaoyu abruptly stood up and exclaimed angrily, "Who killed my father? I will avenge him!"

Seeing how agitated he was, his mother suddenly felt a wave of apprehension. After so many years apart, she couldn't gauge Xiaoyu's temper and feared he might act on impulse and actually go looking for the enemy for revenge. Thus, she skillfully changed the subject, saying, "Xiaoyu, how is your sister doing?"

When his mother brought up his sister, Xiaoyu slowly sat back down, gathered his thoughts, and regained his composure. He began to recount the lives he and his sister had led over the past few years, concluding with, "Xiangcheng is in chaos now; there is smashing, looting, and murder everywhere. The newspapers aren't allowed to report it, so my sister took on other work, becoming a nurse in the shelter to treat the people who sought refuge there."

"Oh," his mother murmured, nodding with relief upon hearing this. "As long as she is safe, that is all that matters."

At this point in the narrative, Xiaoyu suddenly recalled the recent subtle changes in the wooden cabin—such a drastic difference over just two minutes—and he asked, "Mother, where do you live?"

"I live in a small wooden cabin to the east," his mother replied kindly.

"Is it the one with the well in the yard?" Xiaoyu pressed.

"Ah…" Hearing him inquire with such meticulous detail, his mother hesitated. After a long pause, she stammered out, "The truth is, that cabin isn't really suitable for living."

Seeing that his mother wasn't concealing anything from him, Xiaoyu poured out everything that had just happened, speaking without omission as if emptying a bamboo tube of beans. His mother listened carefully, interrupting only when he finished, saying, "It is like this: there is no such thing as a free lunch. Since I accepted a kindness from someone and survived, I naturally must do things for them in return. In reality, I live there to watch over that entrance, preventing anyone else from getting inside. As long as no one blunders in, the villagers will never know the secret of the well, and I will have fulfilled the task my benefactor entrusted me with."

"The benefactor? You mean those two elders living in the well?" Xiaoyu asked with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

His mother shook her head. "Those two arrived here only three or four years ago. I have lived here since the moment I left you; think about how many years that has been?"

"Oh," Xiaoyu counted on his fingers, realizing that it was just as Xiao Shu had described: Nangong Ying's father had disappeared around three years ago, while his own parents had vanished when he was very young. He then concluded, "So this benefactor is someone else entirely?"

His mother smiled without answering, pulled Xiaoyu’s hand toward her, and gently caressed his palm. Suddenly, she produced a needle from her bosom and lightly pricked his fingertip. A single, bright bead of crimson blood immediately welled up, but it was only one drop. Seconds later, the pricked spot was completely restored, showing no trace of a puncture, nor did any more blood emerge.

Witnessing this spectacle, his mother looked disheartened. "My son, you have no fate left."

"I…" His mother’s action was so completely unexpected that Xiaoyu stammered, unsure how to explain to her that he had become immortal. He remained silent for a long time, unable to speak, lowering his head in shame like a child who had done wrong.

"Sigh!" his mother finally exhaled. "What is destined to come will come eventually. This unnatural immortality will bring you endless suffering. Having a beginning and an end is, after all, the very law of life."