As for why Su Zhou was so enthusiastic about strange tales and anecdotes, his mind was focused on those strange things and abilities, which caused his academic performance to hover in the middle to lower ranks. His final grades were barely passing...

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

A gentle voice, accompanied by a light cough, came from behind. A young man in white, looking rather unhealthy, slowly approached and found Su Zhou in the shade of a tree.

He was tall and slender, with outstanding features. Seeing the phone spinning 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 are completely irrelevant, right?"

"Qiming, you don't understand. This is fun."

In response to his childhood friend and best friend, Shao Qiming, the ultimate scholar who was number one in their grade at Hongcheng No. 1 Middle School, Su Zhou stopped spinning his phone, put it in his pocket, and gave him a flamboyant thumbs up. "I love arguing online!"

Shao Qiming, just turned 18, was also an enthusiast of strange tales and anecdotes, from a wealthy merchant family, and his family had been friends with Su Zhou's 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 kid,' 'perfect good student,' and 'modest gentleman.'

The two had been playing together and going to school together since they were little. If it weren't for Shao Qiming's influence, with Su Zhou's personality, he probably wouldn't have been able to calm down and study at all, and he wouldn't have been able to get such good grades on the final exams with his tutoring.

Similarly, if it weren't for Su Zhou's influence, Shao Qiming would have inevitably become a 'bookworm' in Shao's father's eyes, and wouldn't have been interested in any 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 He might have even become withdrawn due to his rather sickly body, let alone taking the initiative to travel and see the world.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 Qiming was also 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 as a child, and in the hospital, he had really seen many dark shadows and heard many annoying noises.

But strangely, on the day 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.

After that, Shao Qiming's condition rapidly improved, and the pneumonia that almost killed him was cured, leaving only the aftereffect of being prone to coughing.

Seeing is believing, firsthand experience, why not believe? It was also for this reason that Su Zhou's funds for collecting various strange tales, buying magazines, and experimental materials all came from this good friend.

This trip was the last chance for the two to relax before the intense college entrance exams, tacitly approved by both sets of parents. Su Zhou was barely allowed to go because his grades were mainly thanks to Shao Qiming, and he was sent to take care of Shao Qiming.

As for this trip, Shao Qiming, who rarely went out, was even more enthusiastic than Su Zhou.

"Seriously, all you do is argue with people online..."

Shao Qiming was used to his friend's personality, which was either lively or, to put it bluntly, aggressive. He smiled slightly and shook his head. "Did you finish your summer homework? Did you do the mock exams?"

"Good brother, that's why I have you."

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

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

"I have you, I have you."

"Classical Chinese reading comprehension, travel essays, travel journals required by your parents..."

"Ah, I'm counting on you for everything. You really are my best friend!"

"Bah, shameless villain!"

Faced with such a shameless Su Zhou and that bright, cheerful smile, Shao Qiming couldn't bear it any longer. He pulled out a water bottle and threw it at Su Zhou's face.

The water bottle was quite heavy. Even though Shao Qiming was unhealthy and not very strong, it still made a slight whistling sound as it fell. If it hit the ground, it would definitely make a small pit in the loose soil.

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

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

"Thanks."

Su Zhou said cheerfully, "What's 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 Qiming didn't answer Su Zhou's question right away. 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 beyond that of ordinary people, mechanical-like precision control, and the explosive power of a leopard.

Once, some petty gangsters from outside the school wanted to make trouble for him, who was rich and sickly. As a result, Su Zhou stepped in and easily wiped out seven or eight gangsters working together. When more gangsters came, Su Zhou calmly told him to go home first, and he faced a few vans of thugs alone.

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

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

Shao Qiming knew very well that his friend, although his academic performance was average, would undoubtedly be a one-man army in ancient times. Even many of the school's mentors had advised Su Zhou to try the path of a sports特长生(te chang sheng, student admitted to college for excelling in sports or arts). With his talent, whether it was fighting or physical sports, he would definitely be able to win national competitions.

Of course, Su Zhou had always refused.

As for the reason, it was just like now.

Su Zhou's gaze passed over Shao Qiming and stared at the corner of the street. He could see a dark shadow flashing through the alleys of the town. Its shape was a bit like a snake, and a bit like a person. What followed was a series of sounds that Su Zhou called 'spirit sounds,' enough to make ordinary people dizzy.

It wasn't strange for strangely 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 used to them. Now, no matter how frightening and dizzying the sounds were, he could ignore them just like the sound of rain.

"A serpentine spirit shadow... It seems that this place really has something special! It's worth coming!"

Seeing this scene, Su Zhou was quite excited... In short, compared to these fascinating strange phenomena and extraordinary supernatural anecdotes, Su Zhou didn't intend to put his entire future on 'training' and 'competitions,' which were uneventful things.

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

Shao Qiming reminded Su Zhou, who seemed a little absent-minded, "The water bottle is filled with a *pangdahai* (a type of herbal tea) drink with some rock sugar added. It tastes okay. You left early, and the tour guide asked me to bring your share to you."

"Seriously, 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 with your health."

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

As he said that, Su Zhou put away the water bottle. He said confidently, "Besides, even if you leave first, I can totally run after you."

"The mountain road is winding, but I'll take a straight line. I won't be slower than the car."

Comparing flesh and blood to a car, such words would definitely be nonsense if it were anyone else, but for both Su Zhou and Shao Qiming, it was a matter of course.

Following the topic, the two chatted about the legend of the 'snake god' in Shan State and imagined the relationship between the 'double-headed snake' and the 'snake god.'

Soon, as most of the tour group finished their meal, the driver and tour guide began to call everyone together and count names. Su Zhou and Shao Qiming got on the bus along with the crowd.

Although it was an inland primeval forest, because it was already a well-known tourist attraction before the 'double-headed snake' incident, the outer edges of the Kachin Mountains already had smooth forest roads.

Starting from here, after an hour and a half of mountain road travel, Su Zhou would arrive at his destination, the 'Kachin Snake Valley' scenic spot, to see with his own eyes whether the so-called 'double-headed snake' was a genetic mutation or 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 outside the window gradually receding. The vibrant and lush scenery of the Southeast Asian jungle couldn't attract his attention. He was never concerned about these 'ordinary' things.

Midway, amidst the tour guide's rather flamboyant introduction and the loud snores of an old man in the front seat, the young man picked up his phone and looked at the lit screen saver, a 'seven-headed snake god' picture that he had changed before the trip. After thinking about it, Su Zhou didn't choose to continue going online to post on the forum. Instead, he closed his eyes slightly, his eyelashes fluttering.

During the boring process before arriving at his destination, he felt a little sleepy. A strange fatigue surged from his bone marrow, making him want to sleep very much... And before falling asleep, Su Zhou didn't know why, but he seemed to hear a series of strange buzzing sounds again. The sound was eerie, hidden in the tour guide's introduction, but secretly carried a trace of holiness.

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

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

They all fell asleep.