Mercury's gaze darkened, and with a swift movement, he struck Wan'er's upper body with a sharp "smack" to the right...

Before the little prince could turn his head, he received a solid slap and was almost sent flying.

"Why did you hit me?" He steadied himself, turned around angrily, bared his teeth at Mercury, and pricked up his ears.

"How dare you take advantage of Wan'er!" Mercury was furious and glared at the little prince. To outsiders, his eyes seemed to be wandering and he was making faces.

"Your thoughts are filthy. I was saving her," the little prince retorted.

"She's a saint, she'll wake up on her own, does she need you to save her?" Mercury cursed, then reached out to help Wan'er up...

Sure enough, as soon as Wan'er was helped up, her upper body straightened forward, and her body immediately turned to one side.

"Cough cough cough!" Wan'er opened her mouth, tilted her head towards the grass, and spat out several mouthfuls of river water.

The old woman, who had been observing from a distance, was taken aback at first upon seeing this, but quickly ran over and looked at Wan'er with great surprise, exclaiming, "You're not dead!"

"Am I...am I dead?" Wan'er opened her eyes, fluttering her long eyelashes, and asked the old woman with amusement.

"Yes, I made a mistake." The old woman was somewhat embarrassed, and she covered her abdomen with her hands somewhat uneasily.

Wan'er shifted her body and looked down at her clothes, and saw the little prince in his fluorescent attire nestled in her arm. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After stretching her limbs and putting on her clothes, Wan'er calmly stood up, one arm around the little prince and the other supporting the still-fighting Mercury. "Brother Er Gou, let's go back."

Upon hearing this, Mercury grabbed Wan'er and left.

"Is he your family member?" The kind-hearted old woman followed along, somewhat worried, and ran to Wan'er's side, pointing to her head. "Is there something wrong here?"

“You’re right, but he’s much better now. At least he recognizes me.” Wan’er took a few steps, then suddenly remembered something. She turned back and glanced at Lin Fang, who was lying on the grass with her limbs almost outstretched. She silently said in her heart, “May you rest in peace!”

As noon approached and she returned home, Wan'er's mind kept replaying the scene underwater...

"You mean, just when you were about to be forced to reveal your spiritual power, that woman helped you and knocked you out of the vortex?" Mercury was incredulous upon hearing Wan'er's account.

"Perhaps my words moved her, and she's atoning for her sins." He walked to the window, looked up at the blue sky, frowned slightly, and looked puzzled. "Uncle, how can a dead person still make sounds and move? Did I really see a ghost?"

Mercury stood behind Wan'er, nodded, then shook his head, his expression gradually becoming serious. "Actually, there are many spaces around us that are invisible to the naked eye. These spaces often reside in the thoughts of people or things. They have no specific image or location. Only at a specific time and place, coupled with a strong intention, can they be conveyed to those who are able to receive them."

These spaces, sometimes, can even be sensed by ordinary people, what people call illusions or dreams. Of course, you are not an ordinary person, and your spiritual power has been activated, so the spaces you can sense will be even stronger and more real..."

"Now that you mention it, I think I understand." Wan'er let out a deep breath, turned to look at Mercury, and nodded again. "It seems my intuition was right. If that's the case, then it's even more puzzling..."