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Yu Hua was dead.
She died on a bright, sun-drenched day.
At the foot of a high-rise in the heart of Jiangcheng, a crowd had gathered and was murmuring in hushed voices.
As if by silent agreement, all eyes were fixed on the center of the scene.
A body had fallen from the building.
Crimson blood spread across the ground like a mandrake flower.
Seductive yet tragic.
Yu Hua recognized that this was her body.
She was dead.
Standing on the rooftop, she had jumped with utter despair, not attached to the world below.
She had chosen to end it all.
The security team arrived at the scene over ten minutes later.
Soon after, someone online revealed the true reason behind her jump:
"Suicide out of guilt."
Just days earlier, the girl had allegedly murdered her adoptive family.
After a series of police investigations and evidence collection, the news was confirmed to be true.
Undeniably true.
She was the real culprit who had dismembered the family that raised her with painstaking care after drugging them.
The internet exploded instantly. A storm of furious condemnation and harsh accusations flooded every corner of the web.
Some went even further, suggesting that such a heartless and ungrateful person should be punished by folk rituals to ensure that she would never be reincarnated.
And someone actually did it.
Admirers of her adoptive siblings took away Yu Hua's body.
They locked her corpse inside an ancient well and cursed it with vicious black magic.
Thick, foul-smelling chicken blood was poured over her decaying body. Countless insects and snakes slithered at the bottom of the well, ready to tear into her organs.
Her soul was trapped there forever in that cold, lightless abyss.
...
"She looks so disgusting. Why would the Yu family ever adopt someone like her?"
...
"Remember this: You're nothing but a tool for my sister's heart transplant."
...
"Just do what you're supposed to do."
...
"You want to eat, too? Tsk, tsk. A lowly tool like you only deserves this slop!"
...
"Trying to run? Someone break her legs and throw her outside to freeze for a few hours."
...
Talismans forced her soul to relive the past again and again in an endless loop.
Yu Hua felt a flicker of confusion.
She remembered many experts saying:
"When a person dies, everything should return to nothingness."
This was supposed to be a true release, free of pain.
But why...?
Why hadn't she found the peace she longed for, even in death?
"Kzzzz—"
Suddenly, the silence was shattered by the sound of something being moved.
After what felt like an eternity, blinding sunlight pierced the darkness and scattered the gloom. It lit up the moss-covered, blood-streaked walls of the well.
A young man stood in the radiant beam of light, which was so brilliant that it was almost unbearable to look at. He lifted the heavy stone slab covering the well.
His black hair was slightly tousled and fell over his brow. His eyes were lowered, and from this angle, only the bridge of his nose and the lower half of his finely sculpted face were visible.
Her soul floated upward. When she finally saw the face of the person above her, she let out a soft sound of surprise.
"Huh?"
Ji Mu?
She was certainly no stranger to this former classmate:
He was the academic god who single-handedly elevated the prestige of Yulan High School in Jiangcheng.
He was the winner of countless provincial gold medals and the unattainable dream of countless girls.
A genius in both looks and grades, he was also the sole heir to the wealthiest family in Jiangcheng.
A true child of destiny.
But why him?
Yu Hua was genuinely shocked.
From what she could recall, this guy either slept through class or found new ways to bully her for fun.
He was domineering, unreasonable, and cruel.
She was relieved when he left for further studies abroad last year and didn't come back, finally escaping the torment of this arrogant troublemaker.
But who would have thought that after escaping the wolf's den, she'd fall straight into a tiger's lair?
Human nature… what a deep and twisted word. It defies all limits.
Just as Yu Hua braced herself, thinking that this boy had come, like all the others, to torment her, even in death.
What he did next changed her expression.
Ignoring the servants trying to stop him, Ji Mu climbed down into the well himself to retrieve her bones.
He took out a pack of tissues and began gently wiping away the filth and bloodstains bit by bit with painstaking care.
His movements were tender, a far cry from the lazy, unruly young master she once knew.
His back was hunched, no longer straight and proud.
It was as if he were trying to steady his emotions or calm the storm within his heart. After a long silence, a soft murmur escaped his lips:
"Little Mute, I'm sorry I came too late."
Yu Hua was momentarily dazed.
Little Mute...
It had been so long since she'd heard that name.
After being called "ugly freak," "half-breed," and "heart donor tool" by others, she finally heard the boy call her "Little Mute" again.
Now, when she heard the boy call her "Little Mute" again, she actually felt a strange sense of warmth.
Yu Hua's drifting soul quickly shook her head.
No, no...what am I thinking? Have I developed Stockholm syndrome from being abused?
She stared deeply at the boy, her gaze filled with confusion.
Why would he say something like that?
What was he blaming himself for? What was he regretting? What did he feel guilty about?
Yu Hua didn't know.
Her remains had been taken away, and now all she could do was follow him silently.
She watched as Ji Mu commissioned a custom-made coffin, hired a renowned Feng Shui master at great expense, and reburied her in a place of powerful spiritual energy.
Verdant mountains surrounded the site, and a gentle stream flowed nearby, far from the noise and filth of the world.
The nightmares that had haunted her vanished as if by miracle.
The hateful whispers and curses that had once echoed in her ears fell silent.
The peace she had longed for in life finally came to her in an unexpected way.
How strange...
Yu Hua thought to herself.
Logically, her soul should now dissolve into the land that cradled her remains, content at last.
But after witnessing everything the boy had done for her from start to finish, Yu Hua chose neither to rest nor to reincarnate.
It was ironic, really.
Complete strangers had sealed her in a well and cursed her simply because they admired a few scumbags from the Yu family. They urinated on her remains, hurled insults, and made sure she found no peace, even in death.
Yet the school bully who had once tormented her... was the only one who came to her grave every year after her death.
Each time, he brought a single white rose.
Carrying emotions she couldn't name or explain, Yu Hua's soul chose to remain in this world.
Peach blossoms bloomed and withered across the mountains.
The sun, moon, and stars shifted with every passing moment, but one thing never changed—every spring, without fail, Ji Mu came to see her.
He swept away the fallen leaves and chatted idly about recent events.
She sat on a tree branch, her legs swinging gently as she quietly listened to the boy's monologue.
In the first year, he avenged her.
Those who had taken her body were either imprisoned or went bankrupt. Not a single one escaped retribution.
The following year, he gathered evidence to clear her name online.
As it turned out, the Yu family massacre had hidden secrets.
Beneath their polished exteriors, her adoptive father and three sworn brothers were nothing more than beasts in human skin. The seemingly sweet and innocent eldest daughter of the Yu family was, in truth, a venomous monster.
In the third year...
He continued doing things that seemed thankless and burdensome to others.
Yet he did them anyway.
A look of confusion surfaced on Yu Hua's face.
Why is he being so kind to me?
The two of us weren't practically enemies?
Back when I was alive, he always picked on me and bullied me.