"Are all the myths and legends and extraordinary records fake? So you know everything?"

"Just because you haven't seen a ghost doesn't mean ghosts don't exist? You haven't seen a spider as big as a head or a sperm whale, does that mean they don't exist either?"

"You think magic is unreasonable? You THINK? Who are you? Are you qualified to judge? You're so awesome~"

"I'm done talking, this is a toxic atmosphere, a bunch of trolls."

Slender, powerful fingers with well-defined joints flashed rapidly across the screen, applying gentle force with a commanding presence. After typing the last letter and clicking send, the smooth 5G network transmitted it. At the same time, the mobile phone screen displaying a certain forum app was turned off.

The black screen reflected the face of a black-haired teenager in a cyan shirt. He was handsome and sunny, neat and clean, definitely a clean-cut pretty boy.

You could see a fallen leaf on his neat, short hair.

Every day, he would post online, engaging in fierce debates with everyone on the forum. Afterward, Su Zhou felt refreshed and full of energy. He removed the leaf from his head, and even the soreness in his back from sitting on the bus for so long and being jostled on the mountain road was relieved. He was radiant.

"Ah, as expected, shitposting is important for stress relief." He wiped his phone screen, got up from the tree stump by the roadside, and stretched like a cat: "That's better! That's better!"

The vast primeval forest of the Kachin Mountains separates the Zhen and Shan borders, as if a sharp sword divides the two countries into two: on one side is the land of Dian Prefecture in Zhen country, and on the other is the mountainous forest of Shan country.

On the edge of the mountain's primeval forest, outside the only hotel in the tourist village, the simple parking lot was already filled with cars from all over. Three Chinese tourist buses were so conspicuous, occupying a corner of the parking lot.

Su Zhou was standing in the shade of a tree by the roadside, breathing the fresh air, waiting for the rest of the tour group to finish eating before heading to the observation spots in the mountains.

July 23, 2014, Wednesday, summer vacation, Kachin Mountains, Shan State.

Su Zhou, a 17-year-old high school student, was spending his last period of leisure before his senior year and the gaokao (National College Entrance Examination).

He was going to the recently extremely popular tourist attraction 'Kachin Snake Valley' to see with his own eyes what was going on with the 'two-headed snake colony' that had been circulating wildly on the internet recently.

"In the ancient myths sung in northwestern Shan State, there are seven snake gods. Snake Valley is the place where snake gods were sacrificed in the past."

"The appearance of two-headed snakes here is definitely not accidental—there must be something mysterious behind it."

Su Zhou, muttering to himself, spun the phone in his hand, making it rotate on the tip of his right finger. The weight of the rectangular phone was not balanced, and it was difficult to maintain its dynamic equilibrium with the fingertip when rotating, and it always wanted to fly away from the fingertip.

But the boy just shook his finger and was able to rebuild the balance, allowing it to continue rotating. While rotating the phone, he glanced at the watch on his left wrist: "1:15 p.m., counting the gathering and the journey, I estimate we can arrive by 3 p.m."

"I really can't wait."

Let me introduce myself again: Su Zhou, 17 years old, is a student.

He is a lover of strange tales and anecdotes, a sports enthusiast, an ultimate actionist, and a person who firmly believes that various myths, legends, and extraordinary rumors are not false.

And, a quasi-esper!

Because of his good and improved performance in the provincial unified examination at the end of his sophomore year, he was rewarded by his parents and allowed to indulge one last time before his senior year. What he chose was to go abroad, to the primeval forests of Shan State, to see with his own eyes the two-headed strange snakes that were rumored to have the blood of 'snake gods'.

As for whether it was a gimmick to deceive people, or whether there were really extraordinary elements, Su Zhou had his own way to distinguish the truth from the false.

After all, as an esper, he could really see 'unusual' things.

Ten years ago, when Su Zhou was still in elementary school, he beat six people to tears in a one-on-six fight. The teacher, not knowing what to do, kept Su Zhou at school and asked his parents to come to negotiate.

And just at dusk, while standing in the corridor as punishment, bored, Su Zhou vaguely saw white shadows floating at the end of the school corridor.

At that time, he was ignorant and fearless, so he opened his eyes wide and observed carefully—the white shadow was actually a little girl happily jumping around. Half of the girl's face was blurry, only her eyes had blue light spots. When she realized that Su Zhou seemed to be able to see her, she quickly dissipated, turning into mist and avoiding Su Zhou's surprised gaze.

Although no one believed him, and he was said to be naughty and mischievous, only knowing how to lie... Su Zhou did see it, and he was too lazy to argue with those adults about lying or not. Seeing is believing.

Since then, Su Zhou had always been able to see strange shadows, or hear 'spiritual sounds' that others couldn't hear and made people dizzy.

Because of this, he began to like various anecdotes and enthusiastically searched for myths and legends from various countries, and folk tales.

Naturally, these abnormal phenomena could not be seen every day, but whenever it was midnight, or when the night dissipated and the morning sun was about to rise, Su Zhou could always see black or white shadows wandering in the streets or communities, making the ghostly sounds that only he could hear and feel.

If it was just like this, Su Zhou might still be able to deceive himself, thinking that this was just a hallucination caused by too much academic pressure and only sleeping five hours a day.

But in recent years, Su Zhou had encountered more and more abnormal situations. Even a few years ago, when he passed by the city center square at night, he saw an old man in military uniform, like a phantom, smiling and greeting him.

'Young man, very energetic! Study hard!'

Although what the old man in military uniform said was just the most ordinary words of encouragement, his quick dissipation into the wind was undoubtedly an 'extraordinary phenomenon'! This immediately made Su Zhou even more狂热 (kuangre - zealous) about this aspect and convinced him.

Moreover, he didn't know if it was because of this, but his physical fitness seemed to be getting better and better, and now it had even become so strong that he was a little scared himself.

To put it in a simple and easy-to-understand analogy: The current Su Zhou can crush a femur with his bare hands. He doesn't need pliers to eat crabs and lobsters, he can crush the thick shell with just a pinch of his fingers!

The world's top athletes can run 100 meters in under ten seconds, but Su Zhou, who has not received formal training, can run it in under 11 seconds in private tests, which is the level of a national first-class athlete!

And all his other physical indicators, such as weightlifting, endurance, swimming, lung capacity, etc., are all close to those of athletes, and even surpass them in some special aspects.

Occasionally able to see ghosts, physical fitness beyond the ordinary but not yet beyond the limits of human beings... Su Zhou called his current state a 'quasi-esper'.