Seeing Xie Xiaofeng's body shaking violently, the mermaid Huang Yue said, "The water is cold, you should climb up onto the stone."

Xie Xiaofeng nodded his head with a silly smile.

Witnessing this, Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao exchanged a smile, thinking to themselves that there was something going on between Xie Xiaofeng and this mermaid.

After Xie Xiaofeng had climbed onto the stone, Chen Hao said, "Mermaid, please give us the photograph of Ye Yin Shang. We'll help you ask around in the village."

After exchanging a glance with Xie Xiaofeng, Huang Yue reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Then Yuqiao and I will head to the village first; Xiao Feng, you stay here and keep the mermaid company," Chen Hao said, not daring to look directly at Huang Yue.

"Sure, sure!" Xie Xiaofeng happily agreed, then continued to look at Huang Yue with a silly smile.

Chen Hao gave Xie Xiaofeng a look and muttered, "Look at you acting so foolish, and you had the nerve to make fun of me before."

Afterward, Ye Yuqiao immediately returned to the side of the ancient well with Chen Hao.

"You must have a guilty conscience!" Ye Yuqiao suddenly said with displeasure, "Otherwise, you wouldn't have deliberately restrained from looking at that mermaid."

Chen Hao gave a helpless wry smile and then stretched out his hand to pinch Ye Yuqiao's cheek, saying, "The reason I deliberately avoid looking at that mermaid is all because of you, a little girl who gets jealous."

Ye Yuqiao stuck out her tongue at Chen Hao and retorted stubbornly, "Nonsense, I never get jealous."

"Really? We are going back to see the mermaid later, aren't we? Since that's the case, I'll take an extra look at her now to make up for earlier."

"You dare!" Ye Yuqiao said coldly, her face darkening and her eyes full of murderous intent.

Chen Hao laughed heartily and then twisted Ye Yuqiao's delicate cheek, saying, "I just love to see you get jealous."

"Jerk!"

A few minutes later, Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao arrived at the doorstep of the old man's house they had visited earlier, now crowded with villagers.

Not long before, after Tang Jing had helped the old man back to the village, he had sounded the gong to call the villagers out and told them all about what he had seen and heard at the well.

Spotting Chen Hao in the crowd, the old man immediately left the group and approached Chen Hao, excitedly saying to the villagers, "This young man is the one who subdued that female ghost!"

The villagers all turned to look at Chen Hao, then let out exclamations of surprise, captivated by Ye Yuqiao's stunning beauty.

"You youngsters are back!" the old man said with a slight smile. Then his expression changed dramatically, and frowning, he asked, "Where's the other young man?"

"He's fine," Chen Hao said concisely, handing over the black-and-white photograph to the old man and asking anxiously, "Old fellow, do you recognize the man in this photo?"

The old man took the photo, squinting as he looked at it from a distance. After a while, he walked to the doorway and placed the photo under the light coming from inside the house. Many of the villagers crowded around to get a look at the photo.

Soon, a middle-aged man recognized the person in the photo and exclaimed, "Isn't that my uncle?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Indeed, it is your uncle!" Two elderly villagers beside him nodded in agreement.

"So it's Wang Mufu, that kid. It did look familiar!" laughed the old man. He then returned to Chen Hao with the photo and said, "The person in the photo is Wang Mufu, a villager here. Young man, how do you have his photo?"

At this point, the middle-aged man who had claimed to be Wang Mufu's nephew approached the old man, adding, "Yeah, how do you have a photo of my uncle when he was young? This photo must be at least forty or fifty years old, even our family doesn't have such a precious picture!"

Chen Hao looked at Ye Yuqiao, his face breaking into a joyous smile as everything seemed to fall into place without much effort.

"By the way, uncle, is your uncle still in the village?"

The middle-aged man's expression darkened, and he shook his head, saying, "Not anymore. He's been in poor health these past few years, and since he has no wife or children, he was sent to a care home in town."

Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that as long as the man was still alive, that was all that mattered. After a pause, he asked, "You said he never married or had children, why is that?"

The middle-aged man shook his head bitterly, saying, "I'm not too sure about that! My uncle has always been a bit odd, never really sociable, and he would sit by that ancient well almost every midday, not leaving until after dark."

Upon hearing this, Chen Hao felt a mix of emotions. It was clear that Wang Mufu had been sitting by the well day after day, year after year, waiting for Ya Qin, and it was for her that he never married. Chen Hao was moved by Wang Mufu's devoted waiting and also saddened that he never saw Ya Qin again.

"It's because Mufu often liked to stay at the well that the villagers jokingly called it Mufu's Well," the old man suddenly said sorrowfully. "Young man, you still haven't told us how you have his old photo!"

"Old fellow, that's not important now," Chen Hao said with some impatience. Then, looking at the middle-aged man, he urgently asked, "Can you take us to the care home to see your uncle now? I have something very important to tell him."

The middle-aged man looked stunned for a moment before nodding, saying, "Sure, no problem."

"Asshole, are we going to the nursing home in town now?" Tang Jing asked as she emerged from behind the old man.

Chen Hao nodded repeatedly, then instructed Tang Jing, "Tang Jing, you take this uncle to the car first to wait for us; we'll be back soon!"

After speaking, Chen Hao hurriedly left with Ye Yuqiao. Arriving at a deserted dark spot near the village, Ye Yuqiao instantly took Chen Hao back to the end of that cave.

At this moment, Xie Xiaofeng was lying on the rock, laughing and chatting with the mermaid in the water, Huang Yue. Seeing Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao appear behind him, he quickly turned his head and asked, "How did it go, did you find any news about Ye Yin Shang?"

Huang Yue's eyes suddenly bulged, her eyebrows furrowing as she lifted her head anxiously to look at Chen Hao, waiting for his results.

Chen Hao nodded and said, "We found him; he's one of the villagers here, but now lives in the nursing home in town. He never married and has been waiting by the well for Ya Qin for decades!"

Upon hearing this, two transparent blue tears fell from Huang Yue's face as she wept, "Sister, can you hear me? You haven't loved the wrong person; Ye Yin Shang has waited for you for decades and has fulfilled his promise to wait for you alone in this life!"

"Mermaid, we'll go find Ye Yin Shang now. Hand over your sister's tears to me, will you?"

"Can I come with you?" Huang Yue asked. "I want to see what the man my sister risked her life to meet looks like now."

"Isn't it true that mermaids can't stay out of water for too long?" Xie Xiaofeng asked with a frown. "And wouldn't you scare people like this?"

Huang Yue's face dimmed, and she said despondently with her head lowered, "Then I won't go."

Having said that, she slowly extended her left fist in front of Xie Xiaofeng and opened it, revealing a small blue transparent bead.

"This is my sister's Mermaid's Tear. When you meet that man, rub the Mermaid's Tear on his eyes a few times, and he will be able to see my sister."

As he took the precious Mermaid's Tear in his left hand, Xie Xiaofeng placed his right hand on Huang Yue's damp hair and comforted her, "Huang Yue, don't be sad. We humans have invented something called a camera. Later, I'll capture that man in my phone and show it to you."

"Phone?" A trace of surprise crossed Huang Yue's eyes.

"Yes!" Xie Xiaofeng smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you get to see that man."

..

Half an hour later.

Guided by Wang Mufu's cousin, Chen Hao and the others drove the Exorcism Special Vehicle to the nursing home in town.

On the way there, Ye Yuqiao had whispered the story of Wang Mufu and Ya Qin to Tang Jing. Moved by the story, Tang Jing shed tears of warmth.

Before they had even approached the nursing home, they heard merry singing and laughter from inside; the elderly were sitting in the courtyard, playing games and singing songs.

For some reason, this scene made Chen Hao feel a little upset, sensing that behind the elderlies' joyous singing and laughter lay reluctant loneliness and bitterness.

After registering at the entrance, Chen Hao and his group finally entered Wang Mufu's room. By then, Wang Mufu was paralyzed in bed, relying on intravenous fluids to sustain his last breaths. Recognizing his distant nephew had come, he only managed to blink his eyes with difficulty.

"Go on, Xie Xiaofeng," Chen Hao gently said, patting Xie Xiaofeng's shoulder.

Xie Xiaofeng sat by Wang Mufu's bedside, then leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"Uh!" It wasn't long before a bright light burst into Wang Mufu's eyes and his body began to tremble violently. Soon after, his wrinkled face that was twitching convulsively became drenched with falling tears.

Seeing this, Tang Jing at his side was moved to tears, while Ye Yuqiao frowned and leaned against Chen Hao's shoulder, tightly holding his right hand with hers.

After a short while, when Wang Mufu's emotions had slightly calmed, Xie Xiaofeng stood up, then rubbed Ya Qin's Mermaid's Tear into Wang Mufu's eyes with his left hand.

Everyone in the room held their breath, waiting for Wang Mufu's reaction.

One second, two seconds... six seconds, Wang Mufu's wrinkled face twitched even more violently; his breathing and crying intensified as he raised his trembling hand into the air, as if he were caressing Ya Qin's face.

"Boyfriend, what does Ya Qin actually look like?" Ye Yuqiao asked, her voice very somber.

Chen Hao kept his eyes on the phone in his right hand, which was recording a video, and replied with a hoarse voice, "In this old man's eyes, she must be the most beautiful in the world, I guess?"

"And in your eyes?"

"You're definitely the most beautiful to me!"

Minutes later, Chen Hao and his group, filled with emotion, left Wang Mufu's ward. They left behind Ya Qin's Mermaid's Tear in Wang Mufu's eyes and etched a forever memory in his heart.

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