As for why Su Zhou was so enthusiastic about strange tales and legends, it was all due to his focus on the legends and his abilities, which led to his academic performance consistently hovering in the middle to lower ranks. His final grades were still passable...

"Su Zhou, you're here, cough, cough."

A gentle voice, accompanied by a light cough, came from behind. A young man in white, who seemed to be in poor health, slowly approached and found Su Zhou in the shade of the trees.

He was tall and slender, with outstanding looks. Seeing the phone rotating on Su Zhou's fingertip, the young man, familiar with his friend, couldn't help but smile wryly, "You're arguing with people on the forum again...sigh, with your strength, their words shouldn't matter at all, right?"

"Qi Ming, you don't understand, this is fun."

In response to the question from his childhood friend and best friend, Shao Qi Ming, the top student in Hongcheng No. 1 Middle School, Su Zhou stopped spinning the phone on his fingertip, put it in his pocket, and gave the other a flamboyant thumbs-up, "I love arguing online!"

Shao Qi Ming, just turned 18, was also an enthusiast of strange tales and legends, born into a wealthy merchant family, and his family had been friends with Su Zhou's family for generations.

He was gentle and refined, with the demeanor of a gentleman. Both his appearance and temperament perfectly fit the labels of 'someone else's child', 'perfect student', and 'modest gentleman'.

The two had been playing and going to school together since they were little. If it weren't for Shao Qi Ming's influence, Su Zhou, with his personality, would probably never have been able to calm down and study, and he wouldn't have been able to get such good grades on the final exams with the other's tutoring.

Similarly, if it weren't for Su Zhou's influence, Shao Qi Ming would have inevitably become a 'bookworm' in the eyes of Uncle Shao, and he wouldn't have been interested in strange tales. He might have even become withdrawn due to his rather sickly body, let alone taking the initiative to travel and see the world.

Moreover, Shao Qi Ming was the only one who believed that Su Zhou could see 'ghosts' and believed in the 'supernatural'.

The reason was simple—he had suffered from severe pneumonia once when he was a child, and in the hospital, he really saw many dark shadows and heard many annoying noises.

But strangely, after Su Zhou came to visit with his parents and reprimanded those dark shadows, the shadows retreated one by one, as if they were afraid of something.

Since then, Shao Qi Ming's condition rapidly improved, and the pneumonia that almost killed him was cured, leaving only a cough as a sequela.

Seeing is believing, and experiencing it firsthand, why wouldn't he believe? It was also for this reason that Su Zhou's funds for collecting various strange tales and legends, and for purchasing magazines and experimental materials, all came from this good friend.

This trip was the last chance for the two to relax before the serious college entrance examination, tacitly approved by both sets of parents. Su Zhou's grades were mainly due to the other's help, which allowed him to be barely allowed to go, and he was sent to take care of Shao Qi Ming.

And Shao Qi Ming, who rarely went out, was even more excited about this trip than Su Zhou.

"Really, you just know how to argue with people online..."

Shao Qi Ming was used to his friend's personality, which was active to put it nicely, and aggressive to put it harshly. He smiled slightly and shook his head, "Did you finish your summer homework? Did you do the mock tests?"

"Good brother, isn't that what you're here for?"

Su Zhou didn't panic, he walked forward affectionately, wanting to put his arm around Shao Qi Ming's shoulder, "I'll just copy yours later."

The young man in white naturally didn't budge. He took a step back, avoiding Su Zhou's attempt to get close, "What about reviewing? Did you memorize the key points?"

"I have you, I have you."

"Classical Chinese reading comprehension, travel reflections, the travel journal that your parents asked for..."

"Alas, I'm counting on you for all of that, you really are my best friend!"

"Hey, shameless villain!"

Faced with such a shameless Su Zhou and his sunny and cheerful smile, Shao Qi Ming couldn't bear it any longer. He casually took out a water bottle and threw it hard at the other's face.

This water bottle was not light. Even though Shao Qi Ming was in poor health and didn't have much strength, it still made a slight whistling sound as it fell. If it hit the ground, it would definitely smash a small pit in the loose soil.

But Su Zhou didn't panic. He simply raised his right hand casually, held up his index finger, and then tapped it lightly—just like in a movie special effect, the heavy water bottle, which was originally flying in an arc, stopped in mid-air the moment it touched Su Zhou's finger, as if it had lost all its momentum.

Then, Su Zhou turned his palm over, and the round, black military water bottle fell into his palm, and he directly took it.

"Thanks."

Su Zhou said cheerfully, "What is this? When did you buy a water bottle?"

"...Your physical fitness and reaction speed are getting more and more exaggerated, sigh...I want it too."

Shao Qi Ming didn't answer Su Zhou's question immediately. He just looked at the young man in front of him with envy.

Su Zhou had a well-proportioned figure, and you couldn't see much muscle. But he knew very well that under that seemingly ordinary and well-proportioned appearance was a muscle density far exceeding that of ordinary people, a mechanical-like precision control, and an explosive force as fierce as a leopard.

Once, some small-time gangsters from outside the school wanted to make trouble for him, who was rich and sickly. As a result, Su Zhou took action and easily swept away the combined forces of seven or eight gangsters. When more gangsters came, Su Zhou told him to go home first with a indifferent expression, and he faced the gangsters in several vans alone.

At that time, Shao Qi Ming hid and immediately prepared to call the police to notify his parents—Su Zhou's father was a policeman—but just as he finally found a public telephone and was about to call the police, Su Zhou had already taken care of everyone and took him home with a nonchalant, even 'indifferent' expression.

At that time, Su Zhou didn't even get his clothes dirty!

Shao Qi Ming knew very well that his friend, although his academic performance was average, would undoubtedly be a warrior capable of fighting a hundred men on the battlefield in ancient times. Even many school instructors had advised Su Zhou to try the path of a sports student. With his talent, he would definitely be able to win a championship in a national competition, whether it was fighting or physical sports.

Of course, Su Zhou had always refused.

As for the reason, it was just like now.

Su Zhou's gaze passed over Shao Qi Ming and stared at a corner of the street. He could see a dark shadow flashing past in the town's alleys. Its shape was a bit like a snake, and a bit like a person. Along with it came waves of what Su Zhou called 'spirit sounds', sounds that were enough to make ordinary people dizzy.

It wasn't strange for oddly shaped dark shadows to appear, but it was rare to see them in broad daylight. As for the spirit sounds, they might have been a bit annoying at first, but after listening to them for ten years, he was already used to them. Now, no matter how terrifying or dizzying the sounds were, he could ignore them just like the sound of rain.

"A serpentine spirit shadow...it seems like this place really has something extraordinary! It's worth coming!"

Seeing this scene, Su Zhou was quite excited...In short, compared to these fascinating strange phenomena and extraordinary supernatural legends, Su Zhou had no intention of putting his entire future on 'training' and 'competitions', things that were uneventful.

"Don't be dazed, this water bottle was given out by the tour guide. They said that the mountain road is long and the weather here is hot, so it's good to have more water."

Shao Qi Ming reminded Su Zhou, who seemed to be a little distracted, "The water bottle is filled with *pangdahai* (Malva nut) tea, and it seems to have a little rock sugar added. It tastes okay. You left early, so the tour guide asked me to bring your share to you.

"Really, hiding in such a remote place, what if the bus leaves first?"

"I'm fine, but you're the one who needs to drink more water because of your health."

Coming back to his senses, Su Zhou weighed the water bottle in his hand and smiled, "Alright, I just ate watermelon and drank half a pot of fish soup, so I'm not thirsty for now."

Saying that, Su Zhou put the water bottle away. He said confidently, "Besides, even if you guys leave first, I can totally catch up by running."

"The mountain road is winding, I'll go straight, and I won't be slower than a car."

Comparing flesh and blood to a car, such words would definitely be nonsense if it were anyone else, but both Su Zhou and Shao Qi Ming took it for granted.

Following the topic, the two chatted about the local legends of the 'Snake God' in Shan State, and fantasized about the relationship between the 'Two-Headed Snake' and the 'Snake God'.

Soon, as most of the tour group finished their meals, the driver and tour guide began to gather the group and call out names. Su Zhou and Shao Qi Ming followed the crowd onto the bus.

Although it was an inland primeval forest, the outskirts of the Kachin Mountains already had smooth forest roads because it was a well-known tourist attraction even before the 'Two-Headed Snake'.

From here, after an hour and a half drive on the mountain road, Su Zhou would arrive at his destination, the 'Kachin Snake Valley' scenic spot, to see with his own eyes whether the so-called 'Two-Headed Snake' was a genetic mutation, or if it truly had something supernatural about it.

The bus started.

The roar of the engine sounded, and the tour bus drove on the forest road. Su Zhou watched the scenery by the window gradually receding behind him. The vibrant and lush scenery of the Southeast Asian jungle couldn't attract his attention. What he cared about was never these 'ordinary' things.

Midway through the journey, amidst the tour guide's rather flamboyant introduction and the loud snoring of an old man in the front seat, the young man picked up his phone and looked at the lit screen saver, a picture of the 'Seven-Headed Snake God' that he had changed before the trip. After thinking for a while, Su Zhou didn't choose to continue going online to post on forums, but instead closed his eyes slightly, his eyelashes fluttering.

During the boring process before arriving at the destination, he felt a little sleepy, a strange fatigue涌ed out from his bone marrow, making him want to take a nap... And before falling asleep, Su Zhou seemed to hear strange buzzing sounds again for some reason. These sounds were eerie, hidden in the tour guide's introduction, but secretly carried a hint of sanctity.

Following the sound, that peaceful, kind feeling, Su Zhou slowly lowered his head.

At the same time, all the passengers on the entire tour bus lowered their heads.

They all fell into a deep sleep.