The deer in the flames resembled the imagery that surged on Professor Cao and Doctor Zhang.
But there was a significant difference, the members of the Antler Witch-Hunting Knight Order emitted black mist that formed the flames, within which was a giant deer head resembling bronze or ink jade.
Within Lin An's dark golden flames, however, was a complete fawn.
Suspended in midair, the image, along with his entire being, grew excited and vanished in a wisp of smoke.
Lin An blinked, trying to immerse himself once again in the "rhythmic breathing pattern of the deer" that Professor Cao had described, but unfortunately, the imagery did not reappear.
"There must be something different!"
He muttered, rolling over to get up and rubbing his sore buttocks, looking around before his gaze settled back on Mr. Qi Laozhai's album "The Spirited Dance of the Fawn".
Taking three steps for every two, he walked over to pick it up and quickly flipped through it.
This was one of the thirty-six illustrations, where a fawn was using its antlers to butt heads with a goat, the text beside it read — "The Playful Fawn" meets a young goat, and they play joyfully...
Unfortunately, no matter how long Lin An looked, he could not recapture that lively, light sensation.
He thought for a moment, then quickly flipped through until he found the illustration of the fawn leaping from the flower-bedecked rocks.
In just an instant, he was immersed in the image again.
He felt as though he had transformed once more into a fawn, leaping happily and freely through the forest.
This time, he consciously felt his breathing rhythm, which unexpectedly became long and light.
With such breathing, he felt his entire body become joyful, itching to leap and bound like the fawn.
He didn't jump, but watched in amazement as dark golden mist wafted from his body.
The mist gathered into flames, and within the flames, the fawn reemerged.
Lin An looked up at the fawn as the fawn lifted its front hooves onto the flames, looking down at Lin An.
"Hello... hello!"
Lin An said cautiously.
It was the third time, the third time he had attempted to communicate with these abnormal images.
The fawn sneezed gently, shook its head, and called out with a mewling sound.
The cry was crisp and young, with an inexplicable cheerfulness.
Incredibly, Lin An understood. Yes, he intuitively understood the fawn's call — Hello there, the real me.
"The real me?" Lin An paused, looking at the other with confusion, "Then who are you?"
The fawn cocked its head playfully, sticking out its tongue and calling out — I am your spirit.
"Spirit, what is a spirit?" Lin An's eyes widened with excitement. He was finally about to understand what these abnormal images he had seen were all about.
Unfortunately, as the fawn mewed, saying a lot yet also saying nothing, it just kept repeating — Spirit is spirit.
The dark golden flames slowly dissipated as if running out of energy, becoming wispy and threadbare. The fawn within the flames gradually became transparent.
It barely managed to turn its head and pointed with its head towards under the bed, calling out — That head is also your spirit.
After these words, it completely vanished.
Lin An intended to call it back, but suddenly felt an unbearable discomfort, as if he were suffocating, with a fine pain in his sternum, a massive sweat breaking out over his body, and even his vision blurring.
He lay down on the ground, breathless and weak.
That cool and restless sensation was rippling within him, flowing and surging slowly, like the sea waves lapping against the shore.
Whirr~
Whirr~
His eyelids slowly closed, and weariness overwhelmed him; he fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, a loud singing voice once again woke him.
"Return my eyes~~ return my~~ eyes~~ return my~~ eyes~~~"
The head, whenever it had, rolled from under the bed to beside his own, calling out.
Lin An rolled from the ground and rose, staring blankly around, and then glanced at the wall clock, he realized with a shock that he had slept the entire night through.
Pushing the head aside, he rose sluggishly.
He showered, changed into loose clothing, picked two books from those he had borrowed from Professor Cao and stuffed them into his backpack, then hurried out of the door.
After gobbling down a bowl of steaming vermicelli soup, two fried dough sticks, and three steamed buns, he caught the subway to the company.
The subway jostled, everyone was looking down at their smartphones.
Lin An was no exception.
Searching with some apprehension about last night's fainting symptoms, the search engine's answer suggested that he might have contracted some terminal illness.
Or a sign of some kind of cancer.
Ultimately, he found his answer in a knowledge-sharing forum.
Oxygen poisoning caused by excessive oxygen!
Too much oxygen ingestion can actually lead to poisoning? Oh, that's not the key point, the important thing is, he actually breathed in an excessive amount of oxygen to his lungs through the "Antler Breathing Rhythm" taught by Professor Cao?
Absolutely preposterous!
After giving it some thought, he searched the forum for content on the Health Cultivation Skill. By default, the top-ranked post displayed was: I like Qi Gong, how should I practice it?
Someone then replied: To practice Qi Gong, one needs the guidance of a master. Practicing on your own can lead to big problems; don't practice blindly. If you ruin it, you're as good as dead. Problems caused by incorrect Qi Gong practice can't even be detected with the best medical equipment in major hospitals.
This reply also received comments—Yo, another Qi Gong master is out here scamming people and selling courses, 666.
Comment 2: Believe in scientific fitness, don't be superstitious!
The person who posted the question replied: I teach yoga, do you think that's superstitious? Smirk face. Yoga is fashionable, but Health Cultivation Skill is superstition? Astrology is trendy, but the I Ching is superstition? Right, that's what you think, isn't it?
"..."
Lin An of course knew this person taught yoga, because he had saved an article written by this person on using breathing to relieve mental stress.
He pondered for a moment, then opened up a private message to this person and began to draft his message.
—Yunshu Yunjuan, I'm a fan of yours, and I have practiced the meditation and breathing adjustments from your previous post to relieve stress, which is exceptionally helpful. Thank you!
—I have a question, is it possible to practice the Health Cultivation Skill to the point where the oxygen concentration in the lungs becomes excessive?
This question was quite ludicrous.
Lin An had his doubts whether he'd be seen as a troublemaker and immediately get blocked.
Perhaps, he should ask Professor Cao, or Doctor Zhang?
Or maybe...
The little boss?
Based on what he overheard from Suxin, the female boss of a software company the night before, the original boss of Antler Software seemed to be the chief of the Antler Witch-Hunting Knight Order. Then the little boss, the former boss's son, didn't want to follow in his footsteps and only loved making money. He was not interested in getting involved with these things?
Lin An recalled the little boss's jocular demeanor and let out a small sigh.
For some reason, he began to worry about his future career path again.
Following such a character and transitioning from a programmer to a planner—was that really a wise move?
A planner? He really knew nothing about it.
It felt like this boss treated business as a game.
Was business supposed to be like this? In Lin An's impression, shouldn't entrepreneurship consist of a team made up of highly educated elites or veterans with rich industry experience?
He always felt that Antler Software could shut down at any moment due to the little boss's whims.
But then again...
Sometimes in life, one has to make various compromises. He was so eager for transcendent power, how could he willingly give up this opportunity?
It seemed he not only had to read those books given by Professor Cao, but he also had to learn about planning. Otherwise, if the boss found him useless and fired him, that would be troublesome.
Being an employee is hard.
Lin An exhaled, noticed that the blogger hadn't replied to him, turned off his phone screen, and looked up at the subway car.
Suddenly, a gaudy, big face appeared before him, nearly scaring him to death.
It was a particularly disgusting, slimy, shiny head that looked very much like that of a goldfish, with two whiskers dangling in the air.
The fish head's mouth, filled with tiny teeth, was slightly open, tilting its head to stare at him intently with a huge, dead fish eye.
"!!!"
Lin An gripped the subway handrail tightly, gritting his teeth to keep from showing any sign of panic.
He tried to breathe deeply to calm himself down.
He told himself that these were all hallucinations, just hallucinations, nothing but the stare of someone cast upon him, yes, that must be it!
Just a gaze!
He was thankful that he was just a programmer, even if he was going to become a planner, rather than some celebrity or public figure.
Under the gaze of countless people, he felt he might go insane!
Back when he was a student, a talent scout had approached him about becoming an idol trainee, but he had refused.
Latter, he often fantasized that he might have lost the chance to become a big star.
Now, he didn't even dare to entertain the thought.
The very idea frightened him.
Without realizing it, Lin An's breathing once again adopted the rhythm taught by Professor Cao, becoming soft and prolonged.
And magically, the fish head before him suddenly vanished!
Yes, it disappeared just like that!
Not dispersing into smoke, but as if he abruptly couldn't see that abnormal scene anymore.
Lin An tried to return his breathing to normal, not allowing himself to sink into that rhythm. Soon after, a colorful fish head once again appeared before him.
"!!!"