You, a living person, are telling me I've served in the underworld for ten years?

It wasn't pure azure, but rather a crystal-clear sea blue base infused with extremely subtle golden halos, like the Mediterranean Sea under the late autumn sunset, vast yet mysteriously ancient and profound.

Her gaze calmly swept over the man in the suit who was leading the way, finally landing on Chen Yang, her scrutiny carrying a faint sense of detachment and a subtle, almost imperceptible, scrutiny.

"Miss Lina."

The man in the suit bowed slightly, his posture respectful but his tone still rigid.

"This is Chen Yang, the driver and support staff sent by headquarters to pick you up."

He emphasized the term "support personnel," clearly assigning Chen Yang more responsibilities beyond those of a driver.

Lina simply nodded, her voice like a clear spring hitting ice crystals, melodious yet lacking in warmth, carrying a unique, elegant accent.

"Okay. Let's go."

She stood up with a light and graceful movement, the hem of her trench coat tracing a beautiful arc. There were no attendants, no extra suitcases, only a very light-looking black leather briefcase placed at her feet.

Her figure was even more slender and tall than it appeared from a distance, and the invisible aura that mixed nobility and aloofness was even stronger, as if she were surrounded by an invisible layer of ice flames.

The man in the suit immediately picked up the small briefcase and guided Chen Yang and Ms. Lina back to the parking space.

Throughout the process, the security personnel scattered around moved with the precision of gears, ensuring that all directions—front, back, left, and right—were within their vigilance range. Only when the man in the suit respectfully closed the rear door of the limousine did these "shadows" vanish as if melting into thin air.

The atmosphere inside the car was unusually quiet. The luxurious leather interior exuded a faint woody scent, and the top-notch soundproofing completely shut out the city's noise. Lina sat quietly in the back seat, gazing at the rapidly receding city lights outside the window, leaving only a perfect, almost unreal profile and her cascading blonde hair.

Looking through the rearview mirror, Chen Yang could only see her long eyelashes drooping, her face calm and serene, like a statue that had been meticulously sculpted and then frozen in time.

"Yunding Yazhu" is located deep in the city's wetland park, surrounded by a shimmering artificial lake and a meticulously maintained rare forest area. To truly reach the core area, one must pass through several strict checkpoints that verify license plates and biometric information.

The vehicle eventually stopped in front of a courtyard that blends perfectly into the mountainside and forest, with an understated exterior but every brick and stone exuding an extraordinary aura—Courtyard No. 1.

In front of the courtyard gate, there were already full-time housekeepers and waiters dressed in Chinese cheongsams, with gentle and capable demeanors, lined up to wait.

"Miss Lina, welcome to Courtyard No. 1 of Genting Residence."

The head housekeeper had a friendly but not obsequious smile and bowed respectfully.

"Your private suite is ready. Please follow us."

Lina got out of the car and nodded slightly.

The butler immediately gestured for a waiter to come forward and take the small briefcase that the man in the suit had handed over to Chen Yang.

Chen Yang handed over the briefcase, and the mission seemed to be over. He was about to say goodbye and leave.

"Mr. Chen."

The pleasant but flat sound came from behind me.

Chen Yang paused and turned around. Lina's golden eyes looked at him, her voice brooking no refusal.

"Please take that box to my living room."

She offered no explanation, as if it were a matter of course.

“Yes, Miss Lina.”

Chen Yang's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged as he calmly agreed and took the rather light black leather briefcase back from the waiter. Led by the butler and waiter, he followed the elegant Lina through the winding, secluded courtyard, where every step revealed a new vista, until they arrived at a heavy, carved sandalwood gate.

The interior is a hidden gem, where luxury and ancient charm blend perfectly. Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows is a meticulously crafted garden landscape resembling a painting of layered forests and mist, where priceless antiques and modern art treasures are placed in a perfectly placed manner.

The butler stopped at the door of the living room and gestured for them to enter.

Lina walked straight to a vintage velvet sofa facing the large window of the courtyard and sat down with great poise.

Chen Yang then carried the box and placed it next to the low table she specified.

Thank you.

Lina's voice remained calm.

"You're welcome, it's my duty. Miss Lina, please get some rest."

Chen Yang was truly planning to leave this time, and gave a slight bow in acknowledgment.

Just as he was about to turn around—

Boom!
A very faint muffled thud came from behind, accompanied by the soft sound of something falling limply.

Chen Yang suddenly turned around!

Lina, who had been sitting gracefully on the sofa just moments before, was now lying silently on the carpet like a precious piece of silk being casually blown away by the wind!
Without warning, there was no sign of pain on her delicate, pale face. Her eyes were closed, and her long golden hair was draped over the dark pattern of the carpet. Her golden eyelashes cast fine shadows on her bloodless cheeks, like a beautiful piece of porcelain that had suddenly lost its soul.
"Miss?!"

The butler outside the door caught a glimpse of the interior through the slightly ajar door and let out a horrified gasp!

Almost at the same moment the butler exclaimed in surprise, Chen Yang's thoughts raced faster than his nerves could react!

In a single step, he was already close to Lina's side where she had fallen!
He crouched down, and with lightning speed, placed the index and middle fingers of his left hand together on the pulse point on the inside of Lina's slender wrist.

At the same time, an extremely gentle and pure spiritual energy, full of vitality, instantly entered Lina's meridians like a gentle stream!

The instant spiritual energy surged in, Chen Yang was filled with shock, like a tidal wave crashing against the shore!
It wasn't due to illness or weakness! Beneath Lina's seemingly frail body, there were two distinct yet intertwined and powerful energy flows within her meridians!
One force was one he was familiar with, originating from the Western system!

It was an extremely pure and holy power of holy light, imbued with the intent of purification and protection! Its purity far surpassed that of any "angel" Chen Yang had ever seen, even exceeding that of Alice!
But this holy power was now as if it were sealed and frozen by some kind of invisible shackles. Not only was it silent and still, but its core also exuded a strange, sluggish, and cold feeling, as if it had been thrown into an abyss of ice for ten thousand years! What made Chen Yang's hair stand on end was another power hidden beneath this vast holy power!
That was an extremely pure, even astonishingly rich, Eastern Daoist spiritual energy!

It is gentle, enduring, and full of the innate meaning of nourishing all things!
The form in which this spiritual energy existed made Chen Yang instantly feel a slight resonance from the level of the origin of life!

It should have nourished all things like a fountain of life, but within Lina's body, this abundant Dao Yuan spiritual energy was tightly bound by an extremely sinister, dark, and chilling power!

That dark, chilling aura, like a maggot clinging to a bone, carried a strong aura of curse and decay, frantically sucking and squeezing the life force of the Dao Yuan spiritual energy, and continuously transforming it into a deeper, colder poison that backfired on its master!

Two opposing forces clashed violently within her meridians, like two enraged venomous pythons! It was this sudden and intense imbalance of power that caused her to faint instantly! If Chen Yang hadn't intervened, this terrifying conflict, if it had continued to rage out of control for a few more seconds, would have been enough to completely destroy her foundation and even her soul!

"Everyone! Back off! Don't come any closer!"

Chen Yang didn't even turn his head; his voice was deep and resolute, carrying an undeniable pressure!
That gentle spiritual energy instantly transformed into a mighty force, like a surging river of life, carrying the unique transformative and nourishing properties of the "Azure Emperor Wood King Qi," and forcefully poured into Lina's fiercely conflicting meridian battlefield!
"The Azure Emperor created life, and the Wood element remains evergreen!"

Chen Yang silently recited the incantation in his heart. The vast and pure vitality of the wood spirit, like the warmth of the first ray of spring sunshine in the world, carefully enveloped and comforted the innate Dao Yuan True Qi in Lina's body, which was equally pure and heavy and had been forced to the brink of collapse by the cold evil.

Like parched seedlings encountering sweet rain, the pure Daoist spiritual energy seemed to have found its original source, instantly abandoning all resistance and docilely and greedily attaching itself to and merging into it!

Chen Yang's true energy became its strongest support and bridge. On one hand, it used its domineering yet gentle life force to forcefully suppress and wear down the stubborn source of the dark and cold evil, and on the other hand, it cleared and guided the broken meridian nodes and sorted out the chaotic energy flow!
The vast, dormant, sealed holy power, under the fluctuations of this revitalized green life, even emitted faint cracking sounds from the ice on its surface.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye! To outsiders, Chen Yang was simply squatting beside the unconscious Lina, with one hand on her wrist.

His face was solemn and serious, and fine beads of sweat were seeping from his forehead.

A few seconds later—

"Uh……"

A faint whimper, tinged with pain, escaped from Lina's lips.

The eyelids, covered with long, pale gold eyelashes, fluttered gently like butterfly wings before finally opening slowly.

Those beautiful, strange, dark blue and gold eyes were first filled with a blank and unfocused look after exhaustion and pain, then quickly regained their clarity!
She immediately felt the terrifying conflict within her body, which was almost tearing her apart, being forcibly suppressed by a vast, gentle yet undeniably majestic force. The source of that force at this moment was the finger of the man known as "Driver Chen Yang" resting on her wrist!
Her gaze suddenly sharpened, like two icy swords piercing Chen Yang! He struggled to sit up, instinctively trying to pull his hand back!
Her movements were filled with surprise and instinctive wariness!

"Miss! You're finally awake!"

The butler's voice came from the doorway, a mixture of relief and lingering fear. She had just been reprimanded by Chen Yang and pushed back, but now that she saw Lina awake, she dared to cautiously take a few steps forward.

Lina's movements were stopped by Chen Yang's perfectly timed force.

Chen Yang released his grip and withdrew the vast spiritual energy as if nothing had happened.

His expression instantly returned to that slightly tense and "normal" concern.

"Miss Lina, are you alright? That was terrifying! You suddenly fainted! I... I learned some massage and first aid techniques back in my hometown... I saw you weren't doing well, so I tried it, and thank God, you're awake!"

He spoke quickly, trying to appear as a lucky employee who had "accidentally saved a VIP using a makeshift method," and the beads of sweat on his forehead made him appear even more "nervous and uneasy."

As he spoke, he casually and seemingly unintentionally reached into the pocket of his work pants, and when he pulled it out, he was holding a blue test tube with an ordinary chemical label in his palm—the very same basic enhancement drug that he had previously intercepted from the drug slave as a cover!

“Here, here… I’m afraid something might happen… I keep this with me as a backup to keep my courage and energy up…” Chen Yang deliberately held up the vial and waved it awkwardly in front of Lina, his expression simple and harmless like that of a working-class person.

"Those of us who do manual labor... sometimes we really can't take it anymore, so we rely on this to keep going... it's very strong, and it can only last for an hour or two to give us some energy..."

Lina's deep blue and dark gold eyes were fixed on the ordinary blue potion, then suddenly swept over Chen Yang's "simple and unadorned" face, which was covered in "nervous sweat".

Her eyes were like the most sophisticated scanner, full of doubt and scrutiny.

She could clearly feel how terrifying the conflict between the two elements erupting within her was; it was something that could not be suppressed by a simple massage or ordinary stimulants! The abundant life force that had just surged into her body, smoothed the tears, and suppressed the cold energy was of such a high level and so pure and profound that it could not possibly be an ordinary person!

This man is acting!
Who exactly is he?
However, when her icy gaze fell on the cheap test tube in Chen Yang's hand, those painful fragments of memories that she had forcibly suppressed were suddenly awakened.

When she saw this "ordinary driver" in front of her, he seemed to truly overlap with the figures of those ordinary strugglers around her who were forced to swallow these dangerous liquids for survival and for their pitiful strength.

Especially the helplessness of a working-class person in his words... caused the sharpness and scrutiny deep in her eyes to flicker for a very brief moment, replaced by a complex, warning-like solemnity.

"Chen Yang, is that right?"

Lina slowly sat up straight and leaned against the armrest of the sofa. The butler immediately stepped forward to help her.

Her voice had regained some strength, but it was still a little hoarse from weakness. The sharpness in the depths of her sea-blue eyes had not disappeared, but her tone had turned into a peculiar, admonitory seriousness.

"Whether you actually have this emergency skill or something else... take my advice, these things you have—especially the ones you just mentioned that can suddenly have a lot of 'power'—you'd better throw them away! Don't even touch them!"
They...are dangerous!

Chen Yang's face immediately showed just the right amount of disbelief and bewilderment, as if he didn't know what he was talking about.

"Huh? Danger? Miss Lina, this...this has helped me a lot! Many of the guys in the team have relied on this to work through the night...everyone uses it like this, and no one has had any accidents?"

"I don't care about those people!"

Lina's tone suddenly rose a notch, carrying a certain resolute air.

"But...look at me."

She pointed to her still pale, bloodless face, the solemnity in her peculiar eyes almost tangible.

"I'm telling you about its dangers, and I'm not wrong!"

It's like a venomous snake; it looks tempting, but it will eventually bite you to death!

Her gaze swept over the cheap blue solution in Chen Yang's hand, her tone resolute. (End of Chapter)