A single divination predicts life and death; the entire internet begs me to start a live stream.

thump.

There was another sound from the bottom of the well.

This time, it was heavier than before.

It's like someone in the depths of darkness, tapping the well wall with their knuckles.

a bit.

a bit.

It's like a death knell.

The wind in the backyard was eerie and frightening, blowing through the broken branches of the trees and the fallen leaves on the ground, making a sound like ghostly wails.

The old well is located in the center of the courtyard, with a black stone slab covering the wellhead.

The stone slab was covered with yellow talismans.

Those talismans had long since turned black, with curled edges, as if they had been soaked in dark water for over twenty years.

But now, they are falling one after another.

Snapped.

Snapped.

Snapped.

With each card dropped, the tapping sound at the bottom of the well became clearer.

Lin Wanqing shone her flashlight over.

The beam of light fell on the wellhead.

On that black stone slab, there was a layer of fine water droplets floating on it.

It's not rainwater.

It's not dew either.

Instead, it seeped out from under the stone slab.

Chen Laojiu's face was deathly pale, and he almost staggered as he caught up.

"Young Master!"

"Don't come near!"

He grabbed Chen Bufan's sleeve, his withered fingers trembling violently.

"This well cannot be opened!"

Chen Bufan stopped in his tracks.

Why?

Chen Laojiu stared intently at the well.

The fear in his eyes was not ordinary.

It's a fear that you can never forget once you've seen it.

"After that fire, the ancestral home was filled with a deathly aura."

"The black fire burns the lamp of life."

"Even when a person dies, their life doesn't completely dissipate."

"Before he died, the master put the last talisman to protect the house into this well."

"Only then was the ominous aura of that night suppressed."

"What's sealed up in this well isn't an ordinary thing."

Chen Bufan looked at the well opening.

"Is it sealing away malevolent energy?"

"Yes."

Chen Laojiu's voice trembled.

"Dozens of lives were lost in the Chen family."

"The black fire left behind by the Gate of Fate."

"And there are still those grievances that haven't had a chance to dissipate."

"It's all in the well."

"This well has been untouched for over twenty years."

"If it's disturbed, the ancestral home really won't be able to hold back the evil spirits."

Lin Wanqing frowned.

"What was that that was striking the well just now?"

Chen Laojiu's lips trembled slightly.

"I have no idea."

"have no idea?"

Chen Bufan looked at him.

Chen Laojiu lowered his head.

"All this old servant knows is that the well made a sound three times after it was sealed."

"The first time was the seventh day after the death of the master and madam."

"The second time was the night you were sent out of Haicheng, young master."

"The third time..."

He looked up at the well opening.

"Tonight."

There was an indescribable emotion in Chen Bufan's eyes.

three times.

All of these are related to the Chen family's fate.

This is not just ordinary malevolent energy surging about.

It's more like someone is waiting for him to come back.

Another sound came from the bottom of the well.

thump.

This time, the black stone slab at the wellhead trembled slightly.

The remaining few yellow talismans on top cracked instantly.

Lin Wanqing subconsciously took a step forward.

Chen Bufan suddenly spoke:

"Don't step on the edge of the well."

Lin Wanqing paused in her steps.

She looked down and noticed faint dark red patterns on the blue bricks around the edge of the well.

The lines are very faint.

But they circled the wellhead completely.

Like a dried-up line of blood.

"Is this a seal?"

Chen Bufan said:

"It is the well charm of Chenjia Town."

Lin Wanqing immediately withdrew her foot.

Old Chen said urgently:

"Young Master, since you recognize it, you absolutely cannot open it."

"If this well-suppressing talisman breaks, the things in the well will rush out."

Chen Bufan did not respond.

He squatted down and looked at the water seeping from the edge of the black stone slab.

The water is not clear.

It has a slightly grayish tint.

It looks like it's mixed with incense ash.

He reached out and dipped his fingertip in the well water.

"Young Master!"

Chen Bufan had already wiped the drop of water onto the old copper coin.

The copper coin jolted.

It's not ominous.

It's not a curse either.

It's an old destiny.

Chen Bufan looked up at the well opening.

"It's not just malevolent energy below."

Chen Lao Jiu was stunned.

"What?"

"There's also information left by the Chen family."

Chen Lao Jiu was puzzled.

"information?"

Chen Bufan stood up.

"Since my father was able to seal the evil energy into the well back then, he couldn't have been unaware that his descendants would return."

"This well is not simply a place to seal off evil spirits."

"Or rather, this was my father's deliberate decision to leave the door open."

Chen Laojiu trembled all over.

"Leave the door open..."

Chen Bufan looked at the black stone slab.

"Someone is knocking on the door at the bottom of the well."

"We're not telling you to run away."

"They want us to drive."

Lin Wanqing looked at Chen Bufan.

Are you sure?

Chen Bufan shrugged

"uncertain."

"But if it was my father's doing, I think I could guess."

Lin Wanqing: "..."

Chen Bufan continued:

"You'll never know what's hidden underneath if you don't open it."

Chen Lao Jiu got anxious.

"Young Master!"

"You've already ruined your life by staying home."

"No more wells can be dug."

"This old servant begs you."

As he spoke, he was about to kneel down.

Chen Bufan caught him.

"Uncle Jiu".

"You're afraid I'll die."

"I know."

Chen Laojiu's eyes turned red.

Chen Bufan looked at him.

"But I came back not to live a peaceful life."

"I came back to ask how the Chen family was wiped out back then."

"What if this well holds the answer?"

"I have to drive it."

Chen Laojiu's lips trembled, and in the end, he couldn't utter a single word.

Lin Wanqing bit the flashlight and took out her phone to start filming.

"I documented the whole process."

Chen Bufan glanced at her.

Lin Wanqing said:

"You depend on your fate."

"I'll keep this as evidence."

Chen Bufan nodded.

He took out the broken coin.

After I returned the money to its proper place and inquired about the house, the crack in the house has become even deeper.

But the copper coin still bears the remnants of the Chen family's fate.

Chen Bufan walked to the well and placed the money meant for his life in the center of the black stone slab.

The money for his life had just been put down.

The entire well suddenly fell silent.

The knocking stopped.

The wind stopped.

The surroundings were so quiet that only the faint static of Lin Wanqing's phone recording could be heard.

Chen Bufan bit his fingertip until it bled.

A drop of blood fell onto the broken life-saving coin.

Blood seeped in along the crack.

The money suddenly jolted.

hum-

The blood-red runes around the wellhead lit up instantly.

Chen Lao Jiu's pupils contracted, and he murmured:

"The well-suppressing talisman has recognized its master..."

Chen Bufan raised his hand and pressed down on the life coin.

His voice was deep.

"Chen Bufan, the 73rd generation fortune teller of the Chen family."

"Returning home and digging a well."

"If the seal below the well is an evil spirit."

"My town."

"What lies hidden in the well is life."

"I'll take it."

"If there are any unfinished words from the Chen family in the well."

"Please speak."

The last three words fell.

The black stone slab suddenly emitted a muffled thud.

Click.

A crack appeared in the center of the stone slab.

Immediately afterwards, all the yellow talismans at the wellhead were lit at the same time.

Fire is not red.

It is a pale white.

The talismans turned to ash one by one in the white flames.

Lin Wanqing's flashlight beam flashed a few times.

Her scalp tingled, as if countless tiny insects were writhing and crawling inside, yet she stubbornly refused to back down.

In the phone's camera lens, there seemed to be many blurry figures standing above the well.

They were wearing old-fashioned clothes.

Head down.

Not moving at all.

Like they're waiting for something.

But to the naked eye, there was nothing at the wellhead.

"Chen Bufan".

Lin Wanqing lowered her voice.

"There's something in the shot."

Chen Bufan did not turn around.

"I know. Don't look at the camera."

Lin Wanqing immediately looked away from her phone screen.

next second.

boom!

The black stone slab was directly lifted up by the well water.

The well water is flowing backwards.

It's not falling.

It's rising upwards.

Dark gray water gushed from the well, washing away the stone slabs and spreading outwards along the blue bricks.

Chen Laojiu took two steps back.

"retreat!"

Lin Wanqing also immediately retreated.

But Chen Bufan did not back down.

He stood in front of the well, the money pressed in his palm.

The well water rushed to his feet, but it seemed to hit some invisible wall and forcefully parted.

The water level is rising.

A gurgling sound came from the bottom of the well.

It looks like someone is breathing underwater.

Immediately afterwards, a black object slowly floated up from the center of the well water.

Lin Wanqing shone her flashlight over.

It was a metal box.

It's square.

The size of a palm.

It was covered with a layer of black rust.

The box is wrapped with fine copper wire.

The copper wire has turned bluish.

But it didn't break.

The iron box floated to the edge of the well and stopped.

Chen Bufan bent down and scooped up the iron box.

The tin box is quite heavy.

It doesn't look like it only contains paper.

It looks more like there are bones pressed inside.

He placed the iron box on the edge of the well.

The well water stopped flowing back instantly.

As if they had completed their mission, they slowly retreated back into the well.

thump.

There was one last sound from the bottom of the well.

This time, it wasn't like knocking on the door.

Like seeing off guests.

Chen Laojiu stared intently at the iron box.

"This is……"

Chen Bufan wiped the rust off the box.

There was a line of text engraved on the tin box.

The handwriting is very dark.

Although severely corroded, it is still clearly visible.

A life may be taken, but not sold; a calamity may be averted, but not married off.

Lin Wanqing read it aloud in a low voice.

"Life may be taken, but not sold."

"Disaster can be averted, but marriage is not advisable."

Chen Laojiu's eyes immediately reddened.

"This is the Chen family motto."

He knelt down shakily, his forehead touching the ground.

"master……"

"The master really did leave something behind."

Chen Bufan looked at the words and felt a lump in his throat.

Was this left by his father?

Was it the last night of the Chen family's life, when someone risked their life to hide in the well?

no matter who.

Even before they wiped out the entire Chen family, they did not forget the Chen family's rules.

A life may be taken, but not sold.

Disaster can be averted, but marriage is not advisable.

This is the boundary between the Chen family and the Gate of Fate.

A judge.

One who risks his life.

A solution to a disaster.

One who marries into disaster.

Lin Wanqing held up her phone and asked in a low voice:

"Can you open it?"

Chen Bufan looked at the iron box.

There is a small snap-fit ​​on the edge of the box lid.

The shape of the snap is not a keyhole.

It is shaped like a copper buckle.

Chen Bufan looked towards the offering table.

"Copper buckle".

Chen Lao Jiu immediately realized what was happening and, trembling, took out another old copper button from his pocket.

It's not the one on the altar.

It was the missing half of his collar.

"This old servant has some here."

Chen Bufan took the copper buckle.

The copper buckle is embedded in the buckle of the iron box.

Click.

The box is open.

Everyone held their breath.

Lin Wanqing lowered the voltage on her hand, and the beam of light fell into the iron box.

She had thought it would contain a secret manual.

Or letters.

Or some kind of evidence left behind by the Chen family.

But when the box was opened, there was only one thing inside.

A section of white bone.

Very fine.

Very white.

Like the bones in a human finger.

At the joints, a circle of red thread, already blackened, was wrapped around them.

Beneath the red line, there was still a faint trace of dried cinnabar.

The moment Chen Laojiu saw that piece of white bone, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

His face was deathly pale, and his lips were trembling violently.

"No……"

"impossible……"

Chen Bufan stared at the severed white bone finger, his gaze gradually darkening.

Lin Wanqing's voice was strained:

"Is this a human finger?"

Chen Bufan did not answer.

Because he has already seen it.

At the tip of that skeletal finger, a tiny character was engraved.

millet.

The "He" in Lin Qinghe's name.

Chen Bufan's mother.

Lin Qinghe.