"It's a girls' gathering, only then do you need a man to carry your bags!" Lin Yan understood what she meant but didn't want to indulge her.
"Alright then, let him carry the bags and pay. Sister's earnings are hard-earned, so let that scumbag come over and foot the bill."
Although it's always said that foxes love scholars, Hu Shiqi detests such weak men. Perhaps she's an anomaly among fox spirits.
She just finds cultivation and making money more interesting than men.
"Why such resentment towards him?" Lin Yan ruffled Hu Shiqi's head vigorously, messing up her hair.
Her hair felt exceptionally good, with the same texture as her fur – soft and smooth, making one reluctant to let go.
Hu Shiqi allowed Lin Yan to mess up the hair she had meticulously styled for half an hour, showing no signs of displeasure.
"Where is that coming from? I just think he's a man, and he can't really fit in with us."
"Is that really it?"
"That's exactly it. I don't know if Manman has learned that talisman yet. I'm going to check on her." With that, she smiled at Lin Yan and ran off to find Shi Man.
Lin Yan watched her run away, saying nothing more. This little fox admires strength; once she understands what Zeng Xuanming has done, she'll likely change her opinion of him.
Lunch was indeed at KFC. Lin Yan and Zeng Xuanming, like parents taking their two children, ordered kids' meals for Manman and the little fox, along with some chicken.
Seeing their eyes crinkle shut as they ate, Lin Yan found it very cute.
Zeng Xuanming didn't take offense at Hu Shiqi's dissatisfaction with him; he knew she was just a little fox who had recently taken human form.
Thus, he was very tolerant. While the two children ate, Zeng Xuanming chatted with Lin Yan about his company's recent affairs.
Lin Yan had also invested in his company. After discussing the company, they moved on to discussing issues and improvements for the software they were developing for the Special Events Handling Bureau.
Zeng Xuanming was the technical consultant, and Lin Yan was the user. While they chatted, Hu Shiqi listened in. Although she didn't understand everything, she realized that Zeng Xuanming wasn't as useless as she initially thought.
"I think ordinary people should also be able to use this software, especially since some people encounter these situations and have no one to turn to."
Zeng Xuanming, drawing from his own experience, thought about how anxious and helpless ordinary people would feel if they encountered such matters.
Just like his sister; if it hadn't been for Lin Yan back then, his sister might not be alive now.
"That's impossible. While demons and ghosts truly exist, extending this to ordinary people would cause widespread panic.
Moreover, sometimes belief makes it so, and disbelief makes it not. Some people live peacefully and are not harassed by ghosts precisely because they don't believe in these things.
If their worldview is shattered, it will give more ghosts opportunities."
What Lin Yan didn't say was that although the country had established the Special Events Bureau, there was no intention of publicly announcing the existence of ghosts and spirits to the public.
Ordinary people lacked means of self-defense. Even if they knew, it would only increase their fear and provide opportunities for scammers to make money, offering no other benefit.
Zeng Xuanming also felt Lin Yan was right. This direction was misguided; it seemed he needed to think of other solutions.
"Actually, you don't need to worry. Every city's Special Events Bureau has instruments to detect yin and resentment energies. If any area exceeds the standard, people will be dispatched to investigate," Lin Yan comforted Zeng Xuanming.
She understood his intentions. In fact, she also wished she could do more to help more people. However, she still had the obstacle of the Ghost King to overcome. Until she dealt with him, Lin Yan dared not accept Zeng Xuanming.
If she were to accept him, their red thread of fate would be tied, and Zeng Xuanming would become her weakness.
Although Zeng Xuanming was very capable, he was also the only person among those she cared about who had no self-protection abilities in the world of metaphysics. Even Manman was stronger than him.
"Senior Sister, the invitation for the Trial Assembly has arrived. I've placed it on your desk," the junior sister at the reception told Lin Yan when she arrived at the studio that morning.
The Trial Assembly, is it finally about to begin?
In the original novel, the male protagonist's appearance was at their trial grounds, where he encountered the elites of the younger generation in the metaphysical world.
He chose that location for a reason. Originally, he could have killed all the elites of this generation of metaphysics and forged them into a Hundred Ghost Banner, thus gaining a weapon and eliminating the enemy's strength.
However, he hadn't anticipated the existence of an anomaly like the original protagonist, who used her own body and soul to completely seal him away.
Now that the invitation for the Trial Assembly has arrived, it seems the male protagonist's emergence is not far off.
Right, the place where the male protagonist emerges doesn't seem to be his tomb. This means that while the male protagonist was setting up the blood sacrifice array, his tomb was completely undefended.
In that case...
"I understand," Lin Yan nodded.
"Senior Sister, the Second Elder said that you will be leading the Lin family in this Trial Assembly, and you will also be selecting the participants. Please send the list to him as soon as possible so he can be notified," the receptionist quickly added the Lin family's requirements.
"Yes, thank you for your trouble. I'll draft the list as soon as possible." With that, Lin Yan headed towards her office.
Upon receiving the invitation to the Trial Assembly, Lin Yan saw the time and location of its event.
Lin Yan set the invitation aside and began to consider who the Lin family should bring.
She was quite familiar with the younger generation of the Lin family; she knew everyone's capabilities.
After comprehensively assessing their abilities, Lin Yan then inquired about their willingness in the group chat.
Although the family had entrusted this matter to her, and everyone would surely cooperate with her work, Lin Yan still felt it was necessary to ask for their thoughts.
She asked everyone. Except for one junior disciple who had just broken his leg and couldn't participate, all other junior disciples responded enthusiastically. They were very excited about this Trial Assembly, especially knowing that Lin Yan would be leading the team. They all wanted to witness the demeanor of the younger generation from other families alongside Senior Sister.
They were a generation "nurtured with ambition" by Senior Sister, and they were quite confident in their current abilities.
Especially after hearing about Senior Sister's past travels, they were even more eager to see Senior Sister lead them to crush all opposition.
The junior disciple with the broken leg also wished he could join them, but his physical condition was insufficient. He could only lament his bad luck in the group chat.
Everyone then became curious about how he broke his leg.
And why hadn't he told them about his broken leg? If Lin Yan hadn't inquired this time, they might not have known about his leg injury.