Socially anxious people transmigrate to another world; living in seclusion is too difficult.

The carriage continued its journey, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the Shuiding Mountain area that Lena had mentioned earlier. Lena drew back the curtains and looked out, saying to Su Yang with some delight, "Mr. Su Yang, look out the window! This is the Shuiding Mountain I mentioned to you before, the most beautiful place in the southern part of the entire duchy. It's a pity that we've already reached the middle of the Shuiding Mountain area and missed the beautiful scenery of the first half."

Upon hearing the sound, Su Yang opened the curtains on his side and looked out. Sure enough, the mountains and rivers were beautiful and the scenery was extraordinary, just as described in Li Mu's poem "Mountain Journey": "I stop my carriage to admire the maple forest at dusk, the frosted leaves are redder than the flowers of February."

Although winter had arrived, perhaps due to its southern location and proximity to the sea, the leaves on the trees of Shuiding Mountain had not completely withered, turning the entire mountain ablaze with fiery red. Su Yang recognized them as maple leaves, yet they resembled them even more beautifully. A cold wind swept through, and a flurry of fiery red leaves drifted down from the forest floor. Because they were already halfway up the mountain, the difference in elevation allowed them to see, through the carriage window, numerous lakes of varying sizes nestled like pearls within the forest. The closer lakes shimmered even more brightly under the afternoon sun. There were few tourists in the mountains, and this tranquil beauty captivated Su Yang. He thought how wonderful it would be to have a courtyard in these mountains, living a life nestled by the mountains and water, greeting the sunrise in the morning and bidding farewell to the sunset in the evening, enjoying flowers in spring and summer, and watching the snow in autumn and winter.

"If only we could have a courtyard here," Su Yang murmured. Lin Anlan also looked out the window, lost in thought. She had traveled to many places, including many beautiful sights, but she had never been interested in appreciating them, focusing only on improving her strength. After spending a lot of time with Su Yang, perhaps influenced by him, she had come to appreciate this peaceful life. She even hoped to take Su Yang all over the continent, spending a few years seeing every beautiful place. Therefore, when she saw such scenery, her desire and expectation grew stronger.

"How about it? The scenery of Shuiding Mountain is my favorite. I come here every month. This is not the most beautiful place. If you walk further ahead, there is a waterfall. That is the most attractive place in the whole Shuiding Mountain, and it is also my favorite place to stay." Lena introduced with some pride. Her words made Su Yang look forward to it. He had only seen waterfalls on TV all his life and had never experienced one in person.

"It's already afternoon. Where should we stay tonight?" The scenery was beautiful, but Lin Anlan still asked the practical question. The temperature in the mountains was much lower than at the seaside, and besides, it was already winter. Spending the night in the mountains was not a wise choice.

"Don't worry, there's a village not long after we pass the waterfall. There are many inns in the village, mostly for tourists. We can have dinner and stay overnight in the village tonight." Lena knew the area very well and immediately made the arrangements.

The group fell silent, watching the ever-changing scenery outside the window. Before long, they arrived at the waterfall Lena had mentioned. Lena tapped on the wooden wall of the carriage, signaling the driver to stop. The carriage quickly came to a halt, and Lena stepped down first. Leading Su Yang and the other man through a thicket of bushes, they heard the roar of rushing water. Looking towards the sound, they saw a waterfall over a hundred meters high behind a meadow. The waterfall's impact had created a pool, from which water flowed gently downstream across a shallow, rocky beach.

Su Yang strode excitedly onto the grass and came to the pool. He admired the waterfall and the surrounding scenery: distant mountains, nearby water, tall trees, and low bushes. Unfortunately, it was winter, so the birdsong and fragrance of flowers were missing, and the waterfall's flow was not large. Otherwise, this place would truly be a paradise on earth. Most importantly, there was no one else around, only Su Yang and his two companions. Su Yang was also unusually carefree for a while. He found a patch of grass where the sun was shining and lay down to feel the beauty of nature. Lin Anlan also let Xiao Ju and Xiao Shi Hua out to play freely on the grass. Lin Anlan walked over and sat down next to Su Yang, and the two of them appreciated this natural landscape together.

Lena also came over, and after admiring the view for a moment, she said, "How is it? The scenery here is quite nice, isn't it?"

Su Yang didn't speak, but simply gave Lena a thumbs up. This place really suited Su Yang's taste. So far, what Su Yang was most satisfied with about this other world was its natural scenery. There was no human destruction or excessive development; everything was in its purest form.

Lena also found a place to sit down, and the three of them tacitly remained silent, quietly appreciating the beauty of nature.

After a long while, the tranquility was broken by a series of chaotic hoofbeats approaching from afar. Soon, the hoofbeats drew closer to the three of them. Su Yang assumed they were just passing travelers and didn't want to look at the detection radar. However, the hoofbeats were so chaotic and seemed to be numerous that Su Yang carefully sensed the detection radar. What he saw startled him. He saw countless dots of light moving towards his direction. Su Yang immediately stood up and warily looked in the direction they had come from.

Seeing Su Yang suddenly stand up, Lin Anlan quickly guessed that enemies might be approaching, so she also stood up, called Xiao Ju and Xiao Shi Hua back, and hid them in her backpack. Lena, seeing the two's actions, was a little confused and also stood up, asking, "What's wrong? Why are you doing this all of a sudden?"

Lena heard the sound of hooves, but didn't pay much attention. It wasn't until the hooves drew closer and she could vaguely hear people talking that she realized something was wrong. Sure enough, the hooves stopped, and the surrounding bushes rustled as a large group of people emerged, wielding sharp weapons.

Su Yang looked over and saw that these people were all wearing face masks and fur coats, made of the hides of some kind of ferocious beast. They all looked fierce and menacing, and were obviously not good people.

One of the men stepped out from the group. He was tall and imposing. After looking at the group, he drew a large sword from his back and pointed it at Su Yang and his two companions. He shouted, "Don't you kids know that this is our bandit territory? How dare you trespass without permission or paying any money!"

Lin Anlan was much calmer now and did not immediately refute. Instead, Lena became anxious and stepped forward, saying, "How did this become your territory? According to the laws of the Duchy, all land belongs to the Duchy. How dare you violate the laws of the Duchy!"

"Hahahaha, little girl, you're pretty, but why aren't you smart? I said this is my territory, so it is my territory. I'll give you two choices: either each of you pay a toll of fifty gold coins and leave safely, or the men are killed and fed to the dogs, and the women are taken back to the stronghold. You can choose!" The bandit leader gave them two choices and waited for Su Yang and his companions to make their decision.

"Fifty gold coins! You're nothing but robbers!" Lena was furious and threatened, "If you dare touch us today, the Duke of Litt's mansion will come and wipe you out tomorrow!"

"Such arrogance! So you're going to choose the second path? Fine, I'll grant your wish. Charge!" The bandit leader waved his hand, and his henchmen charged forward. Seeing them approach, Su Yang still showed no intention of attacking. He had already spotted another group of lights approaching on the radar. If this was also the enemy, he should first consider how to escape without knowing their exact numbers and strength. Moreover, Su Yang kept thinking about one thing: why hadn't the coachman come to report in time? Had he fled in fear or been killed?

Without waiting for Su Yang's action, Lena raised her hand and activated the power of wood element. The ground trembled, and then many thick tree roots emerged from the ground, forming a barrier in front of the bandits. She said to Lin Anlan and Su Yang, "The counterattack can only rely on the two of you. I am more of a support skill and my attack skills are relatively simple."

Lin Anlan's sword and bow and arrows were left on the carriage and had not been taken down. At this moment, he could only secretly prepare for close combat. Su Yang pondered for a while and decided to focus on defense first. If the group of light spots following behind were also enemies, he would take Lin Anlan and Lena and run away the moment they appeared.

—※—【Skills that can be made public】—※—

Name: Fog Concealment

Elemental attribute: Fog

Skill type: Active skill / Support skill

Skill Description: Activation Condition: Aura of Obscurity; Within the area covered by Aura of Obscurity, invisibility can be achieved.