Shenhou City is located on the southeastern coast of the empire, backed by the Yunlu Mountain Range, with its topography half hills and half plains.
The great river coming from the west passed through here, winding into numerous bends, shaping an interesting 'bridge culture' and 'boat culture' for this city with a long history.
Here are the world's most skilled bridge and shipbuilders; even in the new millennium, you can still find people from Shenhou among the very top in these two industries.
People adapt to nature, and nature also changes people.
Historically, the people of Shenhou mostly identified with the regions known as 'Bei Shenhou' and 'South Shenhou.' In modern times, more emphasis has been placed on the commercial city of South Shenhou.
But no matter whether it's the southern or the northern part, it seems that 'East Shenhou,' located within the boundaries of the Yunlu Mountain Range, has always been forgotten.
However, it doesn't matter; East Shenhou is no more.
In modern times, this area has been designated as an important natural reserve, with only a part opened up for scenic tourism. The original villages here have been relocated, blending into the urbanization process of South Shenhou.
The conservation of the natural environment within the scenic area is very well-managed, without excessive commercialization. Walking through it, the fragrance of the grass and trees is so refreshing that even breathing feels much lighter.
It's said to be due to the air being rich in 'air vitamins,' known as ions.
This group event attracted several hundred people, and Lin An could hear many who had never been here before exclaiming in awe.
He also found it magical.
Several large tour buses departed from the parking lot at the foot of the mountain, which was filled with various luxury cars, transporting waves of people to the midpoint of the mountain where a lake formed by converging springs was located, right beside the site of the event.
Merely sitting on the bus, traveling along the lush mountain road, Lin An breathed the air brought by the breeze through the window and felt his whole being becoming lighter.
Especially since the dark golden spirituality within had become more active.
Lin An closed his eyes to feel the breeze; in this environment where spirituality was active, he vaguely sensed a strange repulsion between his dark golden spiritual blood and himself.
It seemed filled with spirituality—uh, although this sounds strange; this thing was originally Suxin's spiritual essence.
This spirituality seemed to be slowly eroding him, wanting to make him become like itself 'cold yet restless,' but this had not been successful.
It was as if waiting for him to erode it, to completely change it, thoroughly releasing the restlessness contained within the coldness.
"..."
Lin An looked down in thought, unsure of what this represented.
The young boss beside him seemed somewhat restless, shifting left and right, with a look of wanting but hesitating to speak.
At this time, a considerate subordinate should express concern for the boss—"Do you have hemorrhoids?"
Lin An chuckled inwardly and passed a puzzled expression to the boss.
"I'm a bit nervous." The little boss took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, glanced at the contents, and then gestured for Lin An to look towards the girl sitting with Qin at the front of the tour bus.
He whispered, "That's Chen Shuyun, a shareholder of Suxin Software, and the sister of the chairman, Chen Xinmi, the one with the red hat."
"It is said that Chen Shuyun's mother and Qin's mother were close friends back in the day, both families lived in the same community when they were kids, hence the connection."
"Later, Qin will find an opportunity to call me over, and then I will have a chance to talk to Chen Shuyun."
Lin An looked into the distance and could only see the top of a dark red fisherman's hat above the back of a seat, wondering if this woman might also be a witch.
The tour bus swayed along the mountain road, with the little boss muttering continuously beside him; finally, they arrived at the parking area halfway up the mountain.
Qin and Chen Shuyun were the first to get off the bus.
Lin An leaned against the window, looking out to see Chen Shuyun, who did not seem as terrifying as the boss had described.
She stood timidly next to Qin, speaking softly to her, with a petite figure slightly tilting her head up towards the tall Qin. Under the wide-brimmed fisherman's hat appeared a delicate nose and moist, pink lips.
The girl had a long, slender, fair neck; it was evident she likely had particularly pale skin.
Unlike the other girls present who wore yoga outfits to show off their figures, she was dressed in pink loose-fitting wide-leg pants and an oversized white T-shirt, projecting a quiet, well-behaved young girl's vibe.
Only occasionally did the mountain breeze blow past, rippling the smooth, cascading long hair, the hem of the T-shirt, and the soft wide-leg pants, revealing a subtle allure that was difficult to define.
Lin An did not stare blatantly but cast his gaze around: amidst the lush greenery, the crisp chirping of birds in the early morning echoed, and peaches lush and ripe appeared tantalizingly through the leaves, slightly obscured by the foliage.
The enchanting beauty of Yunlu Mountain was simply breathtaking.
He gently exhaled and looked down at his phone again.
It was quite a pity that Yunjuan Yunshu didn't agree to meet with his fans, claiming to be very busy.
But Lin An clearly saw that the yoga blogger had sneakily used an alternate account to like a video of a girl on the fringe and even left a drooling emoticon.
This yoga blogger seemed like one of his own kind, with a follow list full of various curvaceous girls. His comments showed particular concern for their dress, especially a fondness for cheongsams.
As a programmer, it was not too difficult for Lin An to track down information through the footprints of the internet. Unfortunately, Yunjuan Yunshu hadn't posted any photos or videos online, so there was no way for Lin An to identify him.
"Let's go, An."
The young boss called to him, indicating the information on his phone, "There's going to be a group meditation class later taught by Chen Shuyun. After that, we'll have some free time. Qin will join her for a tea session, and they'll call us over."
Maybe because he didn't need to face Chen Shuyun immediately, the young boss visibly relaxed, and his head morphed back into a giant wolf's head, looking quite pleased with himself.
The wolf head opened its mouth, licked its lips, and its eyes glowed brightly, "You go ahead, I've got something to do."
Lin An nodded in astonishment and followed the crowd to the lake. Looking back, he saw the young boss had already sidled up to a girl.
The young boss pretended to offer to carry the girl's bag, showcasing the expensive watch on his wrist, which made the girl laugh merrily.
The girl who had been eyeing various men looked intently at the young boss's retreating figure and stomped her foot hard, then turned her gaze back to Lin An.
No!
Don't look at me!
Lin An furrowed his brows only to see a huge pink leech illusion wriggling through the crowd, quickly reaching out with two pink tendrils trying to touch him.
The horrible mucus dropped, looking extremely disgusting.
Lin An hesitated a moment, then continued walking straight ahead, passing through the leech's phantom.
Before he mastered the Breathing Skill completely, he still needed to persist with his old methods and try his best to ignore these hallucinations as if they didn't exist.
Just then, Qin's and Chen Shuyun's voices came from the other side of the bus, "Come on, help a sister out. My husband's been promoted and has to go abroad. He wants me to go with him. Help me, please~"
"Sorry, Qin. I…," Chen Shuyun's voice sounded soft and gentle, conveying a sense of fragility.
"Hey, Lin An!" Qin called out loudly, cutting off Chen Shuyun's refusal and beckoning Lin An over, "Haha, it's such a coincidence. I was just telling you, I had a sworn younger brother in university. We've had a great relationship ever since, and he was the one who introduced me to my husband... Huh?"
Qin looked surprised at Lin An, "Where's Lu Dexian? Where did he run off to?"
Lu Dexian was the young boss's name, Qin looked around, and quickly spotted someone attending to a girl, and rolled her eyes.
Lin An pulled a wry smile, appearing both embarrassed and politely amused.
What could he do? He hadn't made any extra movements, which was already quite restrained of him.
Just then, as Chen Shuyun looked his way, a huge white python suddenly materialized before his eyes.
The python, as thick as one and a half meters in diameter, coiled beside Chen Shuyun, resembling a mountain in its vastness. Its huge head coldly fixed on Lin An with menacing slits for eyes, brimming with brutality.
This was an emotion Lin An had never felt before.
It was as though a top predator was looking down on its prey, ready to pounce and tear it apart at any moment. The vicious aura, filled with ferocity, left Lin An unable to sense any humanity.
A person's spirit with no trace of humanity!
The only thing present was a yearning to destroy everything with violence.
It was a terrifying experience. Lin An felt as if he was alone in the African savannah, surrounded by a pride of lions with gaping jaws, just waiting for a feast.
As Chen Shuyun's gaze continued, the hallucinations before Lin An even began to change.
It was just like the first time he made eye contact with Boss Suxin, where the effects of the illusion even spread to the environment around him.
The environmental illusion created by Chen Shuyun's gaze was an expanse of pitch darkness.
It was as if an invisible finger was adjusting the brightness on a smartphone screen, turning the whole world gradually darker until only Lin An and the enormous white python in front of him remained.
At this point, Lin An was utterly certain that the special illusion before him was unmistakably indicating that Chen Shuyun was a wizard!