“Hello, your express delivery.” Regular knocking came from outside the door.

The doctor opened the door, skillfully took the package, signed for it, and closed the door.

It was a very long, narrow package. The doctor couldn’t recall ordering anything online recently. Puzzled, he noticed the shipping address on the package was from his hometown.

The doctor remembered his aunt had called a few days ago, saying she’d mail him one of grandfather’s belongings that she’d found while cleaning house. The doctor eagerly tore open the packaging, revealing an old oil-paper umbrella.

This oil-paper umbrella looked quite aged—the oily yellow canopy had turned black, seeming ready to crumble at a touch, and emitted an uncomfortable musty smell. The umbrella ribs were made from some unknown material, white as jade, creating an indescribable discord against the oily yellow canopy.

The doctor remembered this oil-paper umbrella had been hidden by his grandfather in a large camphor wood chest. Grandfather had been very careful, not letting him play with it casually. But the more forbidden it was, the more he wanted to secretly look at it. His aunt probably thought he really liked this umbrella, which was why she’d sent it to him.

Actually, he really didn’t want this umbrella.

The doctor scratched his head in annoyance. His room was already messy enough, and this umbrella would probably fall apart if opened—completely unusable.

Should he throw it away?

The doctor’s impulse was immediately dismissed. This umbrella looked like an antique—he’d take it to Dumb House someday for the owner to examine.

He carefully covered the oil-paper umbrella with a plastic bag and placed it on top of his wardrobe, then forgot about the matter entirely.

Light rain began pattering outside. A long, thin shadow briefly appeared outside the window, instantly vanishing in the wind and rain, so quickly it seemed like an illusion…

“Boss, brought you some Wuxi specialties.” The doctor pushed the bag forward, smiling at the owner behind the counter.

“Thanks.” The owner glanced up indifferently, taking out the specialties and opening them directly.

The doctor wasn’t polite either, picking up a piece of pastry to eat while complaining: “Why does the hospital organize annual trips? So busy, can’t go far, could only squeeze in time for Wuxi. What’s so interesting about Jinshan Temple! Oh, and there was an old monk who stared at me for ages, then handed me a packet of realgar!”

The owner paused upon hearing this. “Where’s that packet of realgar?”

“Of course I threw it away! Damn, did he think I was Xu Xian?” The doctor brushed pastry crumbs from his hands, scoffing.

The owner glanced at the longevity lock faintly visible in the gap of his collar, saying flatly: “If I remember correctly, your birthday is coming up, right? You’re about to turn twenty-five?”

The doctor immediately perked up: “Yes, yes, just a few days left. Hehe, I’m the youngest doctor in our hospital! I skipped several grades in school, graduating three years earlier than my peers. I’m quite the genius! What? Going to give me a birthday present? Well… but I’d have to consider whether to accept anything you give me…”

“Calculating the time, it’s indeed about right…” the owner murmured, then asked: “Have you received anything strange recently?”

“Strange things? Wasn’t receiving realgar out of nowhere strange enough?” The doctor pushed his glasses, somewhat indignant.

“I mean before that,” the owner rubbed the purple clay tea pet in his palm, pondering for a moment, “for example… an umbrella…”

“Umbrella?” The doctor was stunned. “Hey, don’t mention it—there really was an umbrella sent to my house. Someone from home mailed it… you’re saying there’s something wrong with this umbrella? It’s a very old oil-paper umbrella, looks quite aged. I was thinking of bringing it here for you to see when I had time, but I’ve been busy with year-end work and forgot.”

The owner narrowed his eyes, looking at the doctor with slight sympathy: “Do you know ‘The Legend of the White Snake’?”

“Of course, but though the story is beautiful, it’s still fictional. Realgar? Xu Xian? You mean… that umbrella is the legendary White Snake umbrella? You’re joking, right?” The doctor scoffed.

“Do you believe in myths or legends?” the owner said flatly.

Though the doctor wanted to say he believed—he’d seen many strange things at Dumb House—he shook his head: “Of course not. Everything needs scientific evidence. We talk about logic, not imagination. My work can’t rely on imagination to operate on people.” All the bizarre events were limited to Dumb House; his life remained quite normal otherwise.

“Oh? Then do you love your work?” The owner raised an eyebrow.

“Of course I love it.” The doctor answered without hesitation.

“Then show me actual evidence of that love.”

“…”

“You can’t say something is fictional just because there’s no evidence! Love, hope, faith—these all exist.” The owner’s lips curved in an inscrutable smile. “Legends also exist.”

The doctor was speechless.

“Moreover, the Legend of the White Snake has evidence—that White Snake umbrella in your house is the evidence. Back then, it should have been Xu Xian lending this oil-paper umbrella at West Lake’s Broken Bridge that created his fate with Lady White Snake. Now it’s come to you.” The owner spoke slowly, finally looking at the doctor and slowly shaking his head.

The doctor felt chilled by that look: “Why are you looking at me like I’m tragic? Isn’t the White Snake umbrella good? Maybe a beautiful snake woman will actively become my girlfriend!”

The owner looked at him sympathetically: “If it were good, why would that monk give you realgar for no reason? He only gave it to you, not others, right?”

The doctor’s back began to feel cold: “You mean… that beautiful snake woman has already appeared? But… but everyone around me seems normal!”

The owner nodded: “It must be because of that White Snake umbrella attracting the white snake’s obsession. You’re a doctor who sees many patients daily. When the white snake met Xu Xian, she’d already cultivated human form through a thousand years of practice. The Legend of the White Snake supposedly occurred during the Song Dynasty, meaning another thousand years have passed. A snake spirit with two thousand years of cultivation—it would be strange if you could recognize her.”

“Isn’t Lady White Snake suppressed under Leifeng Pagoda…” The doctor suddenly fell silent, remembering that the original Leifeng Pagoda had long since collapsed. The one rebuilt beside West Lake now, though magnificent and distinctive with modern amenities including elevators, certainly lacked the spiritual power to suppress snake spirits.

The doctor stood dazed for a moment, then suddenly jumped up like he’d been electrocuted, frantically checking the empty shop: “Boss, you’re not joking with me, are you?”

The owner scoffed: “Weren’t you just fantasizing about having a beautiful snake woman as a girlfriend?”

“That was just joking! Who knew it would be real!” The doctor paced anxiously. “That white snake came for the White Snake umbrella? I’ll just give her that broken umbrella!”

The owner said flatly: “That white snake is probably here for revenge.”

“Revenge?” The doctor stared. “Isn’t the Legend of the White Snake a love story?”

The owner lowered his eyes, adjusting the celadon incense burner on the table, watching the smoke curl upward: “The white snake’s life tragedy all began with a cup of realgar wine. On the Dragon Boat Festival, the man who claimed to love her poisoned her. Don’t you think she’d hate him? Legends aren’t all true. In the story’s end, she remained suppressed under Leifeng Pagoda while the man she loved married another woman and continued his lineage. That ancestral oil-paper umbrella you received was originally stored in a camphor wood chest, right?”

“Camphor wood repels insects and snakes. Its special scent prevented the white snake from sensing the oil-paper umbrella’s existence, so all was peaceful these years. But now that this oil-paper umbrella has seen daylight again, how could she not notice? Whoever owns this White Snake umbrella must bear her wrath.” The owner spoke flatly, his words carrying unusual gravity, completely different from his usual casual demeanor.

The doctor fell silent, finally realizing the seriousness of the situation: “Boss, do you have any realgar here?”

“You think mere realgar could suppress a snake spirit with two thousand years of cultivation? Xu Xian used realgar wine to force out Lady White Snake’s true form because during the Dragon Boat Festival at the triple yang hour, her magical power was weakest. It’s year-end now—no amount of realgar would help.” The owner took a deep breath, seeming to savor the sandalwood scent in the air, closing his eyes in enjoyment.

“Then what should I do?” The doctor hadn’t believed in supernatural things before, but he’d witnessed many paranormal phenomena at Dumb House. Last time he’d personally seen the Huan Dog and Qiongqi from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and he was still feeding the three-legged bird with fresh bamboo shoots from the supermarket!

The owner suddenly reached out, opening the doctor’s shirt and grabbing the longevity lock on his chest. This lock was carved from a single piece of white jade—fine texture, lustrous shine, like congealed fat. The front bore “Long Life, Hundred Years” in seal script, while the back was carved with a crystal-clear white lotus.

Seeing the owner stare intently at his longevity lock, the doctor laughed awkwardly: “Hehe, you’ll probably laugh at me—this is something children wear, right? Fortune tellers all said I’d have a great calamity in my twenty-fourth year, so my family told me not to remove this longevity lock. But it’s definitely fake—with less than half a month until my birthday, my twenty-fourth year is almost over. Where’s any great calamity?”

The owner gripped the longevity lock forcefully, pulling the doctor’s body toward him. The doctor thought he wanted to examine the lock closely. Though he claimed not to believe in fate, he’d never removed this longevity lock, even during surgery. So he couldn’t actively take it off for the owner to see, only supporting himself on the counter and leaning over.

Leaning close like this, the doctor’s gaze inevitably fell on the owner.

He seemed never to have looked at the owner this closely, the doctor suddenly thought. Perhaps because they usually met in this dim shop with the owner’s face mostly hidden in shadows, even when glancing over, what attracted him most wasn’t the owner’s appearance but the red dragon on his black Zhongshan suit.

The owner should be quite young, the doctor observed professionally, analyzing that the other party was probably two or three years younger than himself, which seemed incredible. Maybe because in past strange events, the doctor always watched the owner calmly solve problem after problem, finding him very reliable. Even now, with a snake spirit seeking revenge, the doctor wasn’t too worried, subconsciously believing the owner would definitely help him handle it.

The doctor’s gaze moved down the owner’s smooth profile, suddenly noticing a hideous scar running horizontally across the neck hidden by the owner’s upright collar. It looked quite old. The doctor wanted to ask about this beheading-like scar but thought it was off-topic—he’d ask later when he had a chance.

Perhaps the owner always wore high-collared Zhongshan suits to hide this scar…

The doctor’s mind wandered as he watched the owner rub the white jade longevity lock in his palm, seeming to ponder some difficult problem. Not daring to disturb him, the doctor maintained this awkward position until his hands supporting the counter began to ache. Finally, the owner released the longevity lock, opened his shirt collar, and properly positioned the lock against his skin.

The cold jade touching his skin immediately made the doctor shiver. Why didn’t the jade have any body temperature after being held by the owner so long?

This thought only flashed through the doctor’s mind before he heard the owner say flatly: “Actually, avoiding the white snake’s revenge is quite easy. A thousand years ago she was suppressed under Leifeng Pagoda, with Fahai placing a curse preventing her from harming living beings arbitrarily. But Xu Xian and Lady White Snake’s karmic bond all originated from that umbrella borrowing at West Lake’s Broken Bridge. So you just need to prevent her from borrowing your umbrella.”

“That simple?” The doctor was stunned. Earlier the owner had seemed like facing a great enemy, yet it could be avoided with such a simple method? “That oil-paper umbrella is at my house. If she steals it herself, does that count as me lending it to her?”

“Umbrellas are for sheltering from rain. Rain is rootless water—though greatly beneficial for nourishing all things, it brings cold dampness into human bodies when it falls on them, so umbrellas protect people from cold invasion during rainy days. Snakes prefer moisture and were anciently called little dragons—rainy days are when their yin energy flourishes most. She doesn’t necessarily need that specific oil-paper umbrella—any umbrella in your hands will do. If you lend her your umbrella, it’s equivalent to lending her your protective item. She can follow the rainwater to invade your body and devour your soul.” The owner’s gloomy voice was very low, sounding like telling ghost stories.

But the doctor felt reassured, patting the table cheerfully: “So I just can’t lend umbrellas? Got it. Well, it’s about time—I need to go back for my shift. We’ll chat when there’s time!”

The owner called after his retreating figure: “White snakes have strong shape-shifting abilities—don’t trust anyone.”

The doctor didn’t turn back, just raised his hand to wave acknowledgment before pushing the door and leaving.

The owner stood there thinking for a long, long time, his expression hidden behind the incense smoke curling from the burner, invisible even to the Republic-era crystal mirror across from him…

Though possibly being watched by a snake spirit with two thousand years of cultivation, the doctor was now quite calm.

Because hadn’t the owner said that as long as he didn’t casually lend umbrellas to strangers, it would be fine? Who carries umbrellas in the dead of winter when it’s not raining?

But this thought was just his internal complaint that day. The next day, as if heaven had heard his grumbling, pattering rain mixed with occasional ice pellets fell from the sky. Soon it was continuously overcast and rainy, with weather forecasts saying this low-pressure system would persist for a week.

The doctor was quite depressed. Though he knew such weather was normal for southern winters, thinking that people passing by might be the transformed white snake made him jumpy. Over time, even he found it unbearable.

He’d considered simply not carrying an umbrella at all.

But then he thought that wouldn’t work either—what if he borrowed someone else’s umbrella and that person was the transformed snake spirit? The owner hadn’t said the reverse didn’t apply!

The familiar world he’d seen for two years now seemed somewhat unreal under the misty rain, as if nothing was quite authentic.

The doctor stood before his office’s floor-to-ceiling window, an umbrella on his desk. Thinking the transformed snake spirit might be nearby made him feel like a frog being watched by a snake, sending chills down his spine.

“What are you dazing about? Why aren’t you leaving yet? You didn’t bring an umbrella either?” Someone slapped him from behind, a loud voice following. The doctor turned to see his university classmate and current colleague Chun Ge. The doctor couldn’t help remembering when he’d used the golden millet pillow, he’d dreamed of Chun Ge cooking for him… He shuddered—so disgusting!

Chun Ge saw the umbrella on the doctor’s desk and grinned: “Hey, lucky today! You’re on night shift, right? Lend me this umbrella!”

The doctor watched Chun Ge naturally reach for his umbrella. Though this conversation and familiar gesture were normal, remembering the white snake could transform into human form, he still shivered, switching the umbrella from his right hand to his left before Chun Ge could touch it: “No, I switched shifts with someone tonight—not on duty.”

“Oh, that’s great then. Come on, walk me to the parking lot!” Chun Ge said cheerfully. He’d bought a car at the beginning of the month, joining the car-owner ranks, so he particularly wanted to show off.

The doctor’s mouth twitched: “The elevator goes directly to the underground parking garage.”

“Well, I was stuck in traffic this morning, so the underground garage was full. I parked in the square…”

Just as Chun Ge was about to complain about urban traffic congestion, his pager began beeping.

Chun Ge looked down and sighed: “Emergency surgery—looks like I can’t leave for a while. See you later!” He patted the doctor’s shoulder and strode back into the building.

The doctor watched Chun Ge’s figure disappear behind the door, thinking he was being overly paranoid. The snake spirit business was probably just the owner’s one-sided claim—maybe he was just scaring him for fun!

Just as he was about to head home, the doctor suddenly felt someone appear beside him. Looking closely, it was a female doctor newly assigned to their hospital for internship. Because she was quite pretty, the doctor remembered her name—Ye Qianqian.

Ye Qianqian lived up to her name, looking fresh and clean like shallow leaves, pleasing to the eye.

The doctor couldn’t help but look at her a few more times, wondering why it was so rare to see women who went out without any makeup these days. Though Ye Qianqian looked to be in her twenties, her skin was as good as a teenage girl’s.

“Little Ye, you didn’t bring an umbrella?” The doctor saw Ye Qianqian also standing before the floor-to-ceiling window looking troubled.

“Yes, the weather forecast clearly said no rain today, so I was lazy and didn’t bring one.”

Ye Qianqian’s delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly. Looking down, she saw the umbrella on the doctor’s desk, her beautiful eyes brightening: “Senior, aren’t you on night shift tonight? Could I borrow this umbrella? I’ll bring it back after I get home—I don’t live far from here.” Being two years junior, Ye Qianqian called the doctor “senior.”

Previously, the doctor would never have made a beautiful junior colleague suffer—at most he’d just go home a bit later. Just as the doctor was about to agree, his words suddenly changed: “You don’t live far? Then I’ll walk you home!”

Sharing one umbrella shouldn’t count as lending it, right? The doctor was pleased with his quick thinking.

Ye Qianqian’s mouth subtly stiffened, but she smiled without a trace: “Then thank you, senior.”

The rain outside grew heavier. The doctor opened his umbrella and walked with Ye Qianqian along the streets and alleys. The sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella was muffled, as if isolating them from the outside world—only he and Ye Qianqian existed between heaven and earth. The doctor suddenly felt the umbrella’s protective function that the owner had mentioned, truly like a barrier guarding those beneath it.

With the heavy rain, the doctor had no mood for conversation, but he still matched Ye Qianqian’s pace, walking unhurriedly.

Watching the crown-shaped splashes as raindrops hit puddles, the doctor suddenly felt that over thousands of years, while everything changed constantly, umbrellas remained the same.

Just like in this world, though all things changed in myriad ways, some things remained forever unchanged. He thought of the antiques in Dumb House—history frozen in eternal form on them, unchanged for thousands of years, as if stubbornly waiting for something…

Sigh, if only that oil-paper umbrella at home weren’t so fragile—even using it now wouldn’t seem outdated.

Ye Qianqian’s place really wasn’t far. When they turned a familiar corner, the doctor realized continuing forward would take them past Dumb House, so he paid attention. But when he reached Dumb House’s entrance, he discovered a heavy copper lock on the carved wooden door.

The doctor couldn’t help stopping. He remembered that even when the owner wasn’t in the shop, Dumb House’s door was never locked, but now it wasn’t even dark yet, nowhere near closing time…

Since the umbrella-carrying doctor had stopped, Ye Qianqian had to stop too. Though she looked puzzled, she obediently didn’t ask questions. The doctor was puzzled but didn’t think much of it, looking away to continue forward. Just then, someone approached and blocked their path.

“Hey! It’s you! Do you know where this shop’s owner went?” The newcomer held an umbrella in one hand and a walking stick in the other—graying hair, scholarly demeanor. It was the museum curator.

“I don’t know. I saw him at Dumb House just yesterday.” The doctor knew this curator frequented Dumb House like himself, so they were familiar faces, though neither knew the other’s name. He only knew the other was a museum curator, while the other only knew he was a doctor.

The curator tapped the ground with his walking stick, sighing: “Dumb House hasn’t opened all day today. Yesterday I traded a Warring States alchemical black gold tripod for three of his antiques. I wanted to come today to ask about any discoveries regarding that tripod, but found he hadn’t opened!” The curator spoke with heartbreak, clearly feeling he’d gotten a terrible deal.

Though the doctor didn’t understand antiques well, he knew everything in Dumb House was priceless. More importantly, because they were strange and mysterious with their own reasons, they weren’t sold arbitrarily.

He’d seen the curator and other wealthy people wheedle and plead, but the owner remained unmoved by their high prices. Yet he might turn around and sell astronomical-value antiques at ridiculously low prices to ignorant people entering the shop, or simply give them away while swindling on the street. So trading three antiques for one small tripod—that tripod must have an extraordinary origin.

But though the doctor wondered about this, he had no intention of entangling with this temperamental curator who insisted on playing gentleman. After chatting briefly with a smile, he excused himself to escort his colleague home.

They walked without incident. After seeing Ye Qianqian disappear into her building entrance, the doctor watched her go, then turned and left with his umbrella.

Nothing had happened—he’d been overthinking.

Seeing no one around, the doctor cheerfully spun his umbrella, watching raindrops spray and fall around him as if shaking off the gloom in his heart. He laughed happily.

The next day brought continued overcast rain.

The doctor stood before the notice board, looking for his surgery schedule when Chun Ge arrived. The doctor smiled and greeted him: “I heard last night’s surgery was very successful—well done!”

“Of course! When I take action, I’m worth two people!” Chun Ge was very proud. Though last night’s surgery wasn’t a difficult case, it was his first time as lead surgeon. Though only because the chief couldn’t return in time, it was significant for him. After laughing twice, Chun Ge felt he should be modest and coughed lightly: “Actually, I owe a lot to Ye Qianqian as second assistant. Don’t let her pretty looks fool you—she actually knows the Halsted suturing technique. I only learned it last year myself. You wouldn’t believe it, would you? Tsk, if you’d been there, you’d have been impressed too.”

The doctor was impressed, but not because Ye Qianqian knew some Halsted suturing technique.

Ye Qianqian was in surgery last night? That was impossible!

The doctor’s gaze remained fixed on the notice board. Yesterday evening’s surgery schedule hadn’t been removed yet. In the emergency surgery at 5:30 PM, Ye Qianqian’s name was clearly listed.

Black text on white paper, written clearly. Surgery schedules couldn’t be wrong since they involved medical responsibility. Chun Ge wouldn’t lie either… So who was that woman he’d walked home?

The doctor felt bone-piercing cold instantly spread from his feet up his spine to the back of his head, leaving his hands and feet ice-cold.

The doctor decided never to carry an umbrella again.

No matter how heavily it rained, he’d rather get completely soaked going home than carry an umbrella.

If the doctor had only half-believed the owner’s words before, after this personal experience, he no longer doubted them. Since he wouldn’t even carry an umbrella, no one could borrow one from him, right? Even demons couldn’t manage that!

After this resolution, the doctor stopped worrying about the matter. After all, it was year-end—various surgeries plus year-end summaries and evaluations kept him busy enough. When he ran home through the rain each day, he’d notice Dumb House’s door remained tightly locked.

Maybe the owner had gone home for the holidays. Though the owner seemed like a solitary person, everyone must have family, right?

But he remembered that in previous years during Christmas and New Year’s, Dumb House never closed. Even last year during Spring Festival, when he’d worked overtime instead of going home, he’d found Dumb House still open as usual. It seemed like Dumb House operated 365 days a year.

This time it had been closed for several days—perhaps some urgent matter, probably related to antiques.

Though the doctor worried, he knew the owner wouldn’t come to harm. Maybe someday when passing Dumb House, the owner would be sitting behind the counter in his red dragon-embroidered Zhongshan suit, leisurely reading while drinking Longjing tea. Compared to that, his frantic busyness made him seem like a workaholic…

On the fifth day of Dumb House’s closure, the doctor had just finished surgery and stood before the floor-to-ceiling window drinking bitter coffee for alertness while spacing out. Rain continued pattering outside. According to weather forecasts, tomorrow would be sunny, but looking at the overcast sky, 2 PM seemed as gloomy as evening.

“Birthday boy, you’re treating us to dinner tonight!” Chun Ge’s loud voice rang out, with everyone in the office joining the commotion.

The doctor nodded agreement repeatedly, knowing these people just wanted an excuse to relax.

“You shouldn’t have anything left today—go home and change clothes first.” Chun Ge patted the doctor’s shoulder, pointing at his wrinkled coat hanging on the chair back. “Did you lose your umbrella? I have one here—take it. As the birthday boy, you can’t dress so shabbily!”

The doctor looked at the umbrella Chun Ge handed him, stunned for a moment. The owner had said he couldn’t lend umbrellas to others, but surely others lending him umbrellas was fine?

The doctor wanted to refuse, but showing up wet for a dinner treat would be rude. So he thanked Chun Ge and slipped home to change clothes, also booking the gathering place at the first restaurant on the commercial street behind the hospital—convenient if any emergency surgeries arose.

Leaving the restaurant, the doctor walked in the rain with his umbrella. Since it was a weekday afternoon plus continuous rain, the commercial street seemed very quiet with many shops simply closed. The doctor wasn’t in a hurry anyway, so he unusually began reflecting on his twenty-four years of life, habitually fingering the longevity lock hanging at his neck.

This was supposedly left by his deceased mother. Though elders told him not to remove it before age twenty-four, he’d grown so accustomed to it that he decided to keep wearing it even after twenty-four, since it was his mother’s legacy.

While lost in thought, the doctor entered a supermarket to shop. Just as he stood at the entrance, having folded his umbrella, he suddenly saw someone walking through the rain on the street. The red dragon on the black Zhongshan suit was unmistakable.

“Boss!” The doctor waved excitedly, discovering he was happier to see the owner safe than he’d imagined. For someone as busy as him, besides colleagues, the owner was his only friend in this concrete jungle city.

“Why are you off work so early?” The owner seemed surprised to see the doctor, wiping rain from his face and unceremoniously extending his hand: “Lend me the umbrella—I have business ahead. I’ll return it when I’m back.”

Without thinking, the doctor naturally handed over his umbrella. But while casually examining the owner, he noticed the owner’s neck was smooth and pale without any hideous wounds.

The doctor’s expression changed immediately. He gripped the umbrella handle tightly and demanded sharply: “Who are you?”

This question was somewhat redundant. The doctor felt the environment instantly change—suddenly thunder and lightning crashed deafeningly between heaven and earth. Behind him was no longer the brightly lit supermarket but clearly desolate wilderness. As he looked around in alarm, he suddenly felt something strange in his hand. Looking closely, he discovered the umbrella had become a blue-white poisonous snake, with the handle being the snake’s head. Two fangs gleamed in the lightning, striking toward his wrist.

The doctor reflexively released his grip. As his hand left, the poisonous snake became an umbrella again, grasped by a jade-white hand.

An extremely beautiful woman appeared before him—dressed in snow-white robes, features as delicate and mysterious as an ink painting. This was indescribable beauty.

Looking at such a beautiful woman, the doctor’s heart plunged into an ice cave, knowing she was that white snake spirit. Though her expression was indifferent and calm, thunder roared behind her and lightning flashed constantly in the clouds like in movies—clearly supernatural phenomena created by this white snake spirit.

When the doctor felt rainwater on his body, he understood why the owner had forbidden him from lending umbrellas.

Without the umbrella’s protection, raindrops from the sky were like ice-cold silver needles, piercing his body one by one with bone-deep pain.

The surroundings were desolate without even shelter from rain. The doctor didn’t know if this was the white snake’s illusion, but wherever he fled, the sky’s rainwater followed like a shadow.

“Where is that umbrella? Where is the White Snake umbrella?”

The white snake’s voice was aggressive, but the doctor didn’t understand what she meant. What umbrella? That White Snake umbrella? It was at his house… The doctor moved his lips to speak but found himself too pained to talk, lacking even the strength to walk. He could only collapse sitting, using his arms to protect his head and minimize his body’s exposure to rain.

“Where is my umbrella? Where did you hide my umbrella?”

Perhaps because the white snake’s voice was too shrill, the doctor couldn’t help raising his head from his arms. In his vision, the woman had vanished, replaced by an enormous white snake over ten meters long, winding around him. If he hadn’t seen it himself, he’d never believe that ethereal woman was this terrifying giant snake. Watching this frightening white snake open its mouth to bite him, the doctor had no doubt it could swallow him whole.

Was he going to die like this?

For some reason, the doctor remembered what his elders had told him—that he’d face a great calamity at twenty-four. Did they mean this?

The doctor’s eyes didn’t close despite the rapidly approaching bloody maw. Closing his eyes couldn’t escape anything—he wanted to see how this white snake spirit devoured people.

In this split second, all motion slowed in the doctor’s eyes, time seemingly frozen. He could almost see the crystal-clear raindrops in the air, distant lightning cutting the sky like cracks. This terrifying snake mouth, set against such a backdrop, was stunningly captivating.

Seeing such a scene before death should be worthwhile.

When the doctor could feel the rank poison gas from the snake’s mouth, suddenly someone blocked his way, meeting that giant snake mouth in his place. The snake seemed startled, trying to stop, but due to its enormous size, even changing direction immediately, one fang still scraped across the person’s chest and abdomen.

The doctor’s glasses were covered with raindrops, but this didn’t prevent him from seeing a lifelike red dragon coiled behind that person, baring fangs and claws.

Was this the real owner? The doctor’s brain was somewhat slow. Hugging his knees, he stared up blankly.

Above his head was a huge oil-paper umbrella, shielding him from all the bone-piercing cold rain.

“Idiot, I already warned you—no matter who it is, you can’t lend umbrellas.” The owner’s flat voice came from overhead.

I thought it was you, so I lent it! The doctor grumbled internally but didn’t dare talk back. Without that highly destructive rain erosion, he quickly recovered, suddenly remembering the owner had nearly been bitten by the white snake. He quickly stood and moved to examine him carefully.

“Fortunately, no injury to the body—just torn clothes.” The doctor looked at the torn hole in the owner’s Zhongshan suit. Though he didn’t know much about clothing, he knew this well-made suit must be valuable. “Such a pity, but don’t you have many more? I’ll compensate you for this one!” The doctor thought even if expensive, his salary should cover it.

The owner looked down. Seeing the torn clothing, a complex expression flashed in his eyes but was quickly concealed. He calmly raised his head: “It’s nothing—no need for compensation. By the way, I took this White Snake umbrella from your house five days ago. Don’t mind.”

The doctor had already recognized what the owner now held as the White Snake umbrella that had caused all this trouble. Though curious how the owner had entered his house, he knew that without the owner safeguarding it for five days, the snake spirit might have already taken the oil-paper umbrella. The doctor wasn’t truly stupid—he now understood the white snake spirit’s ultimate goal was this umbrella, while the umbrella borrowing was probably just a trigger.

“This umbrella—I’ll handle it, alright?” the owner asked flatly.

“It must be handled, and… and please handle that one over there too…” The doctor looked at the white snake flicking its tongue nearby, speaking sincerely. Perhaps it was his imagination, but he felt since the owner arrived, this white snake spirit had become much more restrained. At least the thunder had stopped.

The owner stared steadily at the white snake, suddenly sighing: “Do you know? The Legend of the White Snake actually never explained the final ending.”

“Final ending? Wasn’t the white snake suppressed under Leifeng Pagoda, then the pagoda collapsed, and now she appears before us?” The doctor didn’t know why the owner suddenly brought this up, but with the owner beside him, he felt this matter could definitely be easily resolved, so he calmly chatted along.

“That white snake cultivated for a thousand years, already able to summon wind and rain—it was half-dragon. Once it passed the emotional tribulation, it could transform into a dragon and ascend to heaven, becoming a regional dragon god receiving worship.”

The doctor gasped, realizing this week’s rainy weather was entirely the white snake spirit’s doing. The recent thunder and lightning were naturally also the white snake spirit’s work—where else would winter thunder come from?

“Actually, back then, though it lacked dragon form, it already had dragon bones. But Fahai’s curse insisted it was a snake spirit, so it was suppressed under Leifeng Pagoda. When Fahai asked Xu Xian how to handle the white snake spirit, do you know what Xu Xian decided?”

Though the owner’s voice was flat and monotonous, the doctor listened with horror, not daring to ask.

The speaker wasn’t the owner but the white snake across from them.

“He skinned me to make the umbrella canopy, extracted my dragon bones to make the umbrella ribs…”

As the white snake spoke, it transformed back into human form. That ethereal face was filled with hatred so thick it couldn’t dissolve.

“All those vows and sweet words turned to smoke before fear. He only thought I was a demon who would eat people, but did he ever consider… that I truly loved him to the bone…” the white snake murmured.

“This… could it be…”

The doctor stared dumbfounded at the White Snake umbrella in the owner’s hands, goosebumps sprouting like bamboo shoots after rain.

“Bai Lu, just wait one more day and your vengeful spirit will disperse. You’ll be reborn next life, forgetting the past—much better than wandering in this world.” The owner sighed again.

So this snake had a name—not Bai Suzhen but Bai Lu. The doctor watched the graceful woman approaching, secretly lamenting that appearance was indeed important. Just now he’d found that white snake terrifying and hideous, but this delicate, slender woman—even knowing her true form was that white snake—couldn’t inspire fear.

How could Xu Xian back then be so heartless? If he’d truly loved her even a little, he wouldn’t have spoken of skinning her and extracting her bones…

The doctor couldn’t help thinking that sometimes humans were truly less honorable and flesh-and-blood than mountain spirits and demons.

Bai Lu stopped before them, saying firmly: “I only want that umbrella in your hands. Melt my skin, burn my bones, and my soul can wander this world forever.”

“Just persistently seeking his reincarnations like this, watching him suffer retribution—poverty, family destruction, not even bones remaining… aren’t you tired?” the owner asked with a frown.

Bai Lu’s blood-red lips curved slightly in a light smile: “The pot calling the kettle black—you and I are no different. A thousand years ago you followed heaven’s will and didn’t come save me. Today don’t meddle either.”

The doctor looked at the owner in surprise upon hearing this. A thousand years ago?

Bai Lu glanced at the doctor, laughing with seeming helplessness and mockery: “I knew it—for ‘him,’ you’d do anything. Give me the umbrella. Don’t force me to do something irreversible.”

The doctor found their conversation strange, feeling they weren’t talking about him but someone else. This made him very uncomfortable.

The owner said nothing more, straightforwardly handing the umbrella to Bai Lu, then grabbing the doctor’s sleeve and leaving without looking back.

Raindrops hitting his body were no longer ice-cold and piercing. The doctor sighed in relief.

“Hehe, thank you. Sorry for tearing your red dragon robe. But you’ve lingered in this world too long…”

Bai Lu’s silver bell-like laughter came from behind, like breaking through sky clouds as long-missed sunlight poured down from heavy cloud layers.

The doctor couldn’t help looking back. In the sunlight, the White Snake umbrella’s canopy in Bai Lu’s hands had begun melting, burning in the sunlight with blue-white smoke, disappearing almost instantly.

He knew Bai Lu must be in great pain. Even if she was just a senseless soul, he knew she must be heartbroken.

But now she was laughing—laughing freely and openly.

Rainwater fell through the canopy-less White Snake umbrella onto Bai Lu’s ethereal face like her tears, rolling down.

She stood in the rain holding that umbrella of just bones, standing mournfully yet not like someone facing millennia of loneliness, but like standing at the misty West Lake Broken Bridge of years past, proudly and stubbornly waiting for her beloved.

The doctor averted his gaze reluctantly, discovering he and the owner were walking on the familiar commercial street. The sun had appeared but rain still pattered down. Puddles on the ground reflected sunlight brilliantly like rebirth.

“Reed grass grows thick, white dew becomes frost. That beloved person stands across the water…” Distant, gentle singing voice came, finally fading away.

The doctor knew she had left, but she remained in this world.

She refused release and would never allow herself release.

The doctor suddenly stopped, looking up at the owner who’d been walking with his head down: “You and… Bai Lu know each other?” The doctor had wanted to say “that snake” but found he couldn’t. Because that was clearly a woman who dared to love and hate—her name was Bai Lu.

The owner stopped but didn’t turn back, only saying flatly: “It was a medicine snake my master once raised.”

The doctor’s breathing stopped. Instinct told him the owner wasn’t joking.

But how was this possible? Back then? Over two thousand years!

The doctor quickly caught up, reaching the owner’s front. He wanted to look into the owner’s eyes while speaking. But when he saw the owner’s face, he was startled.

He knew the owner’s skin was very pale, white as jade, but now the owner’s skin was white as snow, as if sunlight would melt him into this warmth.

Then the owner suddenly began coughing violently, as if trying to cough up his internal organs.

The doctor was startled, thinking the owner was internally injured, quickly grabbing his hand toward the hospital: “I’ll take you for examination.”

“No need, cough… I’m fine.” The owner recovered, tasting blood in his mouth, carefully swallowing the blood clot in his throat.

The doctor frowned, not believing the owner was truly fine. Moreover, the hand in his palm was ice-cold, unlike normal human temperature—completely lacking body temperature. Just as he was about to insist on taking the owner for examination, the doctor’s eyes suddenly widened, watching two dragon whiskers appear on the owner’s left shoulder. The red dragon originally coiled behind the owner seemed to come alive, slowly crawling to the owner’s shoulder at a speed visible to the naked eye.

As if knowing the doctor’s speechless shock, the owner gently comforted: “It’s fine, as long as you’re alright. As long as you survive today…”

Just as the doctor was about to ask why “survive today” and what would happen after surviving today, he suddenly felt the weight at his neck lighten, followed by a clear cracking sound.

Both looked down simultaneously to see a jade longevity lock on the rain-washed clean bluestone pavement, broken neatly in half.