As for how Su Zhou—a guy obsessed with Anomalies and Kaidan, his mind fixated on supernatural phenomena and abilities, which left his grades languishing in the mid-to-lower ranks—still managed to get a passing grade on his finals…
"Su Zhou, there you are. *Cough, cough*."
A gentle voice, punctuated by a light cough, drifted over. A young man dressed in white, looking rather frail, slowly approached and found Su Zhou in the shade of a tree.
He was tall and slender with handsome features. Seeing the phone spinning on Su Zhou's fingertip, the young man, who knew him well, couldn't help but give a wry smile. "Arguing with people on the forums again... Sigh. With your abilities, their words are completely meaningless, aren't they?"
"Qiming, you don't get it. This is the fun part."
In response to the question from Shao Qiming—his childhood companion, best friend, and the ultimate academic superstar of Hongcheng First High School—Su Zhou stopped spinning the phone on his fingertip and pocketed it. He gave his friend an exaggerated thumbs-up. "Arguing online? I absolutely love it!"
Shao Qiming, who had just turned eighteen, was also an enthusiast of Kaidan and Anomalies. He came from a wealthy merchant family, and his family and Su Zhou's had been friends for generations.
He was gentle and refined, with the bearing of a true gentleman. His looks and demeanor perfectly fit labels like "the kid every parent compares theirs to," "the perfect student," and "the humble scholar."
The two had played together and gone to school together since they were little. If not for Shao Qiming's influence, Su Zhou's personality was such that he probably would have never been able to sit still and study. He certainly wouldn't have gotten his unusually good final exam scores without his friend's tutoring.
By the same token, without Su Zhou's influence, Shao Qiming would have undoubtedly become the "bookworm" his Uncle Shao always mentioned. He wouldn't have been interested in Anomalies and might have even become a recluse due to his frail health, let alone taking the initiative to travel and see the world.
Moreover, Shao Qiming was the only person who believed Su Zhou could see 'Ghosts' and who believed in the 'Extraordinary'.
The reason was simple—as a child, he'd had a severe case of pneumonia. While in the hospital, he had truly seen numerous dark shadows and heard a host of unsettling noises.
But strangely, on the day Su Zhou came to visit with his parents and shouted at those dark-colored shadows, the Dark Shadows retreated one by one, as if they were afraid of something.
After that, Shao Qiming's condition improved rapidly. The pneumonia that had nearly killed him vanished, leaving only a lingering, persistent cough as a side effect.
Seeing is believing, and he had experienced it firsthand. Why wouldn't he believe? It was for this very reason that all the funds for Su Zhou's hobby—collecting various Anomalies and Kaidan, buying magazines, and purchasing experimental materials—came from this good friend.
This trip was the last chance for the two of them to relax before the grueling college entrance exams, an opportunity tacitly approved by both sets of parents. Su Zhou was only grudgingly allowed to come thanks to his association with Qiming; he was basically sent along to look after him.
And for this trip, Shao Qiming, who rarely got to go out, was even more excited than Su Zhou.
"Honestly, all you ever do is pick fights with people online..."
Shao Qiming was long accustomed to his friend's personality—active, to put it nicely, or downright aggressive, to put it less so. He smiled faintly and shook his head. "Have you done your summer homework? What about the practice exams?"
"My good man, that's what I have you for."
Unflustered, Su Zhou cordially walked over and tried to sling an arm over Shao Qiming's shoulder. "I'll just copy yours when the time comes."
The white-clad young man was naturally unmoved. He took a step back, dodging Su Zhou's overly familiar gesture. "And reviewing? Have you memorized the key points?"
"You've got it."
"Classical Chinese reading comprehension, the travel reflections essay, the travel journal your parents asked you to write..."
"Sigh, I'm counting on you for all of it. You really are my best friend!"
"Hah, you shameless rogue!"
Faced with such a shameless Su Zhou and his bright, cheerful smile, Shao Qiming finally lost his patience. He casually pulled out a water bottle and chucked it hard at his friend's face.
The bottle was quite heavy. Even with Shao Qiming's poor health and lack of strength, the throw made a faint whistling sound as it flew. If it had hit the ground, it would have surely gouged a small pit in the loose dirt.
But Su Zhou remained unruffled. He simply raised his right hand in a casual gesture, extended his index finger, and tapped it lightly. Just like a special effect in a movie, the heavy water bottle, which had been flying in an arc, froze in mid-air the instant it touched his fingertip, as if it had lost all momentum.
Then, with a flip of his hand, Su Zhou caught the round, black, military-style water bottle in his palm, pocketing it as his own.
"Thanks."
Su Zhou said cheerfully, "What's this? When did you buy a water bottle?"
"...Your physique and reflexes are getting more and more ridiculous. Sigh... I wish I had that."
Shao Qiming didn't answer Su Zhou's question right away. He simply sized up the boy his age with a look of considerable envy.
Su Zhou had a well-proportioned build, with no obvious muscles to speak of. But Qiming knew that beneath that seemingly average exterior lay muscle density far beyond that of an ordinary person, machine-like precision and control, and the ferocious, explosive power of a leopard.
Once, some delinquents from off-campus had tried to cause trouble for him, the rich kid with a frail body. Su Zhou had stepped in and effortlessly flattened seven or eight of them working together. And when even more thugs arrived, Su Zhou had calmly told him to go home first, while he alone faced off against several van-loads of them.
Back then, as soon as Shao Qiming had found a place to hide, he had immediately prepared to call the police and their parents—Su Zhou's father was a Patrol officer, after all. But just as he finally found a pay phone and was about to make the call, Su Zhou had already taken care of everyone. He led Qiming home with an unconcerned, almost 'indifferent' expression.
Su Zhou hadn't even gotten his clothes dirty!
Shao Qiming knew full well that while his friend's academic performance was average, in ancient times he would have undoubtedly been a warrior capable of taking on a hundred men on the battlefield. Even some of their teachers had advised Su Zhou to pursue a path as a scholarship athlete. With his Talent, whether in combat sports or track and field, he was sure to win national championships.
Of course, Su Zhou always refused.
As for the reason why, it was just like what was happening now.
Su Zhou's gaze passed over Shao Qiming to fix on a corner of the street. He could see a dark shadow flit through a small-town alley. Its shape was something between a snake and a person. It was accompanied by waves of what Su Zhou called 'Spirit Sound'—a noise that would make an ordinary person dizzy and nauseous.
The appearance of a bizarre Dark Shadow wasn't strange, but seeing one in broad daylight was rare. As for the Spirit Sound, it might have been irritating at first, but after ten years of hearing it, he was long since accustomed to it. Now, no matter how terrifying or dizzying the noise, he could ignore it as easily as the sound of falling rain.
'A Snake-shaped Spirit Shadow... Looks like this place really is supernatural! Coming here was definitely worth it!'
Seeing this, Su Zhou grew quite excited. In short, compared to these fascinating phenomena and remarkable Extraordinary Anomalies, he had no intention of dedicating his future to mundane things like "training" and "competitions."
"Stop spacing out. The tour guide handed out these water bottles. He said the mountain road is long and the weather here is hot, so it's good to have extra water."
Noticing that Su Zhou seemed a bit distracted, Shao Qiming added, "It's filled with water infused with malva nuts and what seems to be a little rock sugar. It tastes alright. You left early, so the guide asked me to bring your bottle to you.
"Honestly, hiding in such a remote spot. What would you have done if the bus had left without you?"
"I'm fine. If anyone needs to drink more water, it's you, with your constitution."
Snapping out of it, Su Zhou weighed the bottle in his hand and smiled. "It's fine. I just ate some watermelon and drank half a pot of fish soup. I'm not thirsty for now."
With that, Su Zhou put the water bottle away and said confidently, "Besides, even if you guys left without me, I could easily catch up on foot."
"The mountain road winds, but I can run in a straight line. I won't be any slower than the bus."
Comparing a human body to a vehicle would be an outrageous boast from anyone else, but both Su Zhou and Shao Qiming accepted it as a matter of course.
Following that thread, the two chatted for a bit about the local legends of the 'Snake God' in Shan Country, speculating on the relationship between the 'Two-headed Serpent' and the 'Snake God'.
Soon, as most of the tour group finished their meal, the driver and tour guide began gathering everyone and taking a headcount. Su Zhou and Shao Qiming followed the crowd onto the bus.
Although it was an inland primeval forest, the place had been a well-known tourist destination even before the appearance of the 'Two-headed Serpent', so the outer Kachin Mountain Area had long been equipped with clear forest highways.
From here, it was an hour-and-a-half drive along the mountain road to Su Zhou's destination: the Kachin Snake Valley scenic area. There, he would see with his own eyes whether the so-called 'Two-headed Serpent' was a genetic mutation or something truly supernatural.
The bus set off.
The engine roared to life, and the tour bus traveled down the forest highway. Su Zhou watched the scenery slide past his window. The lush, vibrant green of the Southeast Asian jungle couldn't hold his attention; he had never cared for such 'ordinary' things.
Midway through the journey, amid the tour guide's rather bombastic commentary and the loud snores of an old man in the front seat, the young man picked up his phone. He looked at his glowing lock screen, an image of the 'Seven-headed Snake God' that he'd set before the trip. After a moment's thought, Su Zhou decided against going online to browse the forums. Instead, he closed his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering.
During the boring ride to their destination, he started to feel drowsy. A strange fatigue seemed to well up from the marrow of his bones, making him desperately want to sleep... But just before he drifted off, Su Zhou somehow seemed to hear a strange buzzing again. The sound was sinister, hidden beneath the tour guide's voice, yet it also carried a faint, holy quality.
Lulled by the serene and familiar feeling of the sound, Su Zhou slowly lowered his head.
At the same time, throughout the entire tour bus, every single passenger lowered their heads.
They had all fallen into a deep sleep.