World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 171 The Rabbit at the Amusement Park
The University of Ann Arbor's Faculty of Science is located next to Panda Delivery. As the automatic doors opened, a group of men and women with Central Asian features walked out. They were in a hurry and rarely interacted with each other.

Ruan Ruyun stretched and rubbed her sore shoulders. As soon as she looked up, she saw the young man standing under the shade of the tree. She was about to hide behind the door when he recognized her at a glance.

"Good evening, junior."

Ruan Ruyun greeted him with a fleeting glance.

"Senior Lin, it's been a long time!"

Lin An inquired about the science college's schedule from Mike's friend and came over specifically to wait for Ruan Ruyun to finish class.

Scanning her glint of light, he shook his head regretfully. Ruan Ruyun had not yet awakened her mystery, so what was the reason for her abnormality?

Lin An's gaze met Ruan Ruyun's eyes in a different light. She immediately became angry, crossed her arms, and gave a half-joking, half-serious snort.

"Oh, so you still remember to come to me. Spend more time with Miss Wood."

"Doris?"

"Senior, you clearly said you didn't have a girlfriend, but you and Miss Wood seem to have a pretty good relationship! Won't your girlfriend be angry if she finds out we chatted for so long at Green Bubble?"

Lin An finally understood why Ruan Ruyun had suddenly quarreled with him; it turned out she had misunderstood Doris's actions last time, leaving him both amused and exasperated.

"Junior Sister Ruan, you've got a huge misunderstanding. Doris and I have absolutely no relationship whatsoever!"

The two of them, speaking in their hometown accents, laughed in unison.

"I just want to see for myself that you're safe. You've heard about what's been happening at the university lately, haven't you?"

"Don't worry, Senior Lin, I know what I'm doing," Ruan Ruyun nodded. "The art academy is quite far from us! You should be careful too, Senior. Is that part-time job still very busy?"

"I took a short vacation." Lin An smiled. "By the way... do I owe you a meal?"

"Well, I've been busy rushing to meet a deadline lately, and I won't have time until tomorrow morning." Ruan Ruyun clasped her hands together, making an apologetic gesture. "I really, really don't have time right now! I haven't eaten anything other than Kangshifu for days!"

"You treated me last time, so it's my turn to treat this time. Any restaurants you'd like to go to?"

"Pine Cone Pastry Shop!" Ruan Ruyun named the dish without hesitation.

"Okay, let's go."

At the appointed time, Lin An set off for the so-called "Pine Cone Pastry Shop".

The shop is located inside a small amusement park, where the air is filled with the enticing aroma of fried food, and the cheers, shouts and laughter of tourists can be heard from the towering Ferris wheel and roller coaster in the distance.

Lin An arrived five minutes early, but Ruan Ruyun arrived even earlier than him.

She wore a bright yellow puff-sleeved long dress, and her long, black hair was styled into two thick braids, making her look as fresh and elegant as clouds in the mountains from afar.

Upon seeing Lin An's arrival, Ruan Ruyun waved to him.

"Senior!"

After the two met, they studied a map for a long time before deciding on a route.

Do you want to buy balloons?

Just as we were about to set off, a voice suddenly rang out. It came from a man dressed in a light pink bunny mascot costume. He held colorful egg balloons in one hand and a cartoon carrot in the other. His round, chubby head and body were very cute.

Speaking of which, Easter is just around the corner, no wonder there are rabbit mascots everywhere in the amusement park.

"Sorry, no need."

Ruan Ruyun politely declined his sales pitch and dragged Lin An straight to the address of Pinecone Cafe. The latter glanced back and, for some reason, he was inexplicably drawn to the rabbit in the mascot costume.

"jingle."

Wind chimes welcomed the two into the Pinecone Cafe, where a rich, sweet aroma of coffee wafted towards them.

The store's interior design features soft colors, with walls covered in various hand-painted pictures and girly decorations, and wallpaper featuring adorable squirrels.

Ruan Ruyun leaned over the glass display case at the counter, her eyes shining. Inside were desserts for sale: cakes, pastries, breads and candies of all shapes and flavors, as well as specialty donuts.

They are cute in appearance, glossy in color, and look like they are filled with plenty of filling.

"May I take five different kinds of desserts?" Ruan Ruyun asked Lin An, turning her head.

“As long as you promise not to waste food.” Lin An took out his credit card. “Waiter, order as she says, plus an extra chestnut cake and an iced eagle.”

The two chose a window seat where the bright sunlight streamed in from the amusement park.

Lin An squinted slightly, feeling a rare sense of relaxation and comfort.

"Senior Lin, I always feel..." While waiting for the waiter to prepare the dishes, Ruan Ruyun nervously fiddled with the tableware on the small table and said quietly, "You're probably not an ordinary person."

“You guessed right, I used to be in Class Two.” “I’m not kidding!” Ruan Ruyun almost snapped the plastic cutlery in her hand. “From the first time we met, I felt that your temperament and behavior were not what an ordinary college student should be like… Would a normal person think of using a spoon as a knife to threaten someone?”

Lin An turned his gaze to her and asked casually, "So what?"

"So every time we go out for a meal, I can't help but wonder... Senior, do you really want to be my girlfriend, or are you just unable to stand my constant pestering and only agreed out of necessity?"

As expected of a science student, Ruan Ruyun's question was very straightforward, breaking through the unspoken understanding between the two. Lin An sorted out his thoughts and spoke.

Do you know Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man"?

Ruan Ruyun's expression immediately showed some disappointment. After a long silence, she replied in a trembling voice, "I don't know much about it."

"The Vitruvian Man is a drawing of a nude male with his arms and legs in an overlapping position so as to touch the perimeter of a square and a circle. It is one of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous works, an iconic masterpiece of 'perfect human proportions'."

"Mmm." Ruan Ruyun's eyes reddened slightly; she could hardly bear to listen anymore.

If you refuse, then refuse!
So what if her first love died suddenly? She can still handle it!
"However, the Vitruvian Man's enduring popularity in the art world is not only because Leonardo da Vinci provided later generations with a method of drawing based on the golden ratio, but also because of the concept he articulated behind his drawings—a golden spirit from the Renaissance."

"During the Dark Ages, the people of the West believed they played a passive role in the universe, that the world belonged to God and they were merely guests whose fate depended on His will. It wasn't until the 15th century that the masters of the Renaissance re-examined classical Greek philosophy, sparking a wave of humanism."

“One of the core ideas of humanists comes from Protagoras, who argued that ‘man is the measure of all things.’”

“In this sketch, Leonardo da Vinci placed the figure within a perfect circle and square, not only to emphasize the importance of proportion and mathematics, but also to imply that ‘man’ is at the center of the universe, and that a person’s body, mind and soul can control destiny.”

Lin An stared into Ruan Ruyun's slightly bewildered eyes.

"Finding the essence of humanity is my wish. So far, I have met two exemplary Vitruvian men: one is a man named Simon Lloyd; the other is you, junior."

Ruan Ruyun was immediately stunned.

"Plop." The waiter brought over a dazzling array of cakes and a cup of coffee. "Enjoy your meal."

After the waiter left, Ruan Ruyun suddenly covered her cheeks tightly to prevent Lin An from noticing the burning redness on her face, and made an ambiguous humming sound.

"Senior, you...you're saying I'm a perfect person?"

"To be honest." Lin An picked up the Ice Eagle brand and calmly took a sip.

The sound that leaked from between Ruan Ruyun's fingers grew louder.

"Sir, would you like to buy a few balloons for the young lady?"

Just as the atmosphere was getting intimate, a voice suddenly broke in. The two looked up and saw the cute rabbit they had seen at the door earlier.

"I'm sorry, we don't need balloons," Ruan Ruyun politely declined.

"Ugh……"

A melancholy sigh came from inside the rabbit headgear. Lin An frowned; he felt he had heard this person's voice somewhere before.

While Ruan Ruyun was eating heartily and pretending to cover up her earlier lapse in composure, Lin An drifted into a state of blankness. In the transparent world, each individual became a point of light that was both intuitive and abstract. He observed the rabbit.

His light contained a violent and powerful aura, but the light that should have been burning as hot as the sun was covered by a gloomy, airtight cloth, which firmly blocked the light, so much so that it almost merged with the darkness.

Lin An tentatively touched the light spot with his consciousness, but no tree diagram popped up next to it.

This guy really is a mystery.

Opening his eyes, Lin An's gaze followed the man in the bunny costume. He saw the man approaching several couples to sell the balloons, and finally someone bought the rest, relieving him of his burden.

After shouting and hawking all morning, Rabbit seemed tired. He sat down not far from Lin An and Ruan Ruyun and asked the waiter to bring him a glass of ice water.

"Smack".

The man removed the rabbit headgear, revealing a face that looked familiar yet slightly different.

He had handsome features, but he dressed very slovenly, with a stubble beard and messy, withered hair. Only his dark eyes were bright and clear, like amber.

Without the hood causing his voice to distort, when the waiter brought him ice water, the man said "thank you" in a low voice, which was like a thunderclap in Lin An's ears.

His fingers trembled slightly as he gripped the coffee cup, clinging to the last shred of unrealistic hope, a thought flashing through his mind.

"Brother Tongzi, this guy looks like...that guy, right?"

"Because this mystery's rating is higher than the [Encyclopedia of Mysteries], it will not be displayed." The system calmly uttered a sentence that completely disheartened Lin An.

I rub!

It's really him!

The guy dressed in an adorable bunny outfit, soliciting customers everywhere, is none other than Joshua, the former head of the inspection team of the St. Anilov Foundation!
Do you all still remember our female lead?
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(End of this chapter)