"Squish, squish—"

Lin Yuan strolled leisurely along the riverside path, the sound of his plastic slippers tapping rhythmically on the cement ground. His mood grew increasingly relaxed. It was mid-August, a time when the heat usually dominated, but as evening approached, cool breezes from the river made the air refreshing. After walking for a while, the sense of suffocation he had felt from staying at home for too long had already vanished.

In fact, his good mood wasn't entirely due to the cool breeze; the upcoming summer vacation was what he truly looked forward to. As an ordinary high school math teacher, besides occasionally teasing the young students in his class, the two long vacations each year were also a major reason why he had chosen this profession.

"Where should I go after the vacation starts? I just bought Xian Jian 4 and haven't even touched it yet. Zhou Wei is also inviting me to go hiking, and there's more..." With nothing better to do, Lin Yuan began to think about his plans for the days off. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that although the summer vacation was long, he had quite a few things to do. In the end, it seemed that time was actually not enough.

"Ah, why isn't the summer vacation four months long? Then... Huh?"

Just as Lin Yuan was about to complain as usual—knowing full well that no one would respond—he was suddenly distracted by something not far ahead.

About a hundred meters away from him, by the river, stood a young girl in a long dress, facing the water. She seemed to be doing something quietly. As Lin Yuan took a few steps closer and saw the expression on her face, he was startled.

The girl looked sorrowful and miserable, with tears glistening in her eyes, as if she had something very sad on her mind. However, that wasn't what startled Lin Yuan. What truly shocked him was the section of the river in front of the girl.

This river was not famous, but this particular section was well-known locally. Due to the geography, the river had a noticeable swirl here, and because of some historical reasons, there was a large pit at the bottom. This made the section of the river deceptively dangerous. Although it looked calm on the surface, it was actually extremely treacherous. Every summer, there were almost always a few drowning incidents here. More importantly, because of this unique feature, the place had become a favorite spot for those contemplating suicide.

"Not good!"

Realizing this, Lin Yuan felt a jolt in his heart and sprinted forward.

"Don't... don't do anything rash."

Lin Yuan shouted as he ran, and the girl turned her head, her sorrow turning into surprise.

"Don't give up. Anything can be talked about... Ah..."

After several days of continuous heavy rain, the ground by the river was still extremely slippery. Lin Yuan, who was running while desperately trying to recall the lines from TV shows about persuading people not to commit suicide, didn't pay attention to his footing. He had only managed to say a few words when he felt his feet slip. His body rolled on the ground a few times before he heard a "Splash!"

The sudden coldness of the water made Lin Yuan instantly realize that he had accidentally fallen into this dangerous section of the river. He frantically waved his arms, trying to swim to the surface. However, due to the recent heavy rains, the river was much more turbulent than usual, and the undercurrents were fierce. After just a few strokes, he was pulled to the bottom of the river.While the upper part of the water was illuminated by the light from the surface, the riverbed was pitch black, like the open mouth of a monster, swallowing him in an instant.

"Help..."

Lin Yuan wanted to shout for help, but all he managed to do was gulp down a mouthful of muddy water. Then everything went black, and he knew no more.