That question had no answer unless the two of them reached the upper echelons of the world—but if Shao Qiming had to guess, he figured it would be something like, 'The governments of the world knew that the spiritual energy would inevitably revive one day, but they didn't know when. It wasn't until the last ten years or so that they were able to determine a basic timeline.'

"It's like a prophecy without a clear date. After all, the ancients were able to create something like the Grand Order Array you mentioned, which means they must have been aware of the revival of spiritual energy and understood that the seal couldn't remain stable forever."

Shao Qiming's analysis was reasonable and could explain quite a few things.

But for now, the great changes happening in the world were temporarily irrelevant to the two people planning to kill a demon in a certain city in a certain state in a certain country. In short, after quickly finalizing a series of plans and purchasing weapons and related engraving tools, Su Zhou began to seriously (copy) study (homework).

So when Auntie He came upstairs to call Su Zhou to dinner, she saw both of them diligently studying at their desks.

"Dinner's ready!"

Although she didn't want to disturb them, she smiled and said, "Spicy pig trotters, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, braised pork, hand-shredded cabbage, big plate chicken, sweet osmanthus rice wine soup, and spicy kimchi! Don't worry, there's plenty of food, A-Zhou, you'll definitely be full!" (Totaling 3343 calories)

"Alright!"

With a simple reply, Su Zhou, the ruthless eating machine, got up and went to eat—while Shao Qiming was still collecting information on strange events that had occurred on the internet recently.

[It's the Zhongyuan Festival on the fifteenth of July! Ghost Gate opens at midnight tonight! Legend has it that if you stand in the living room at twelve o'clock, spin around three times, and shout 'Come out!' 'Come out!' 'Come out!' with all your might, burning your life, then the ghosts will come out!]

[I tried it, it's true. Two ghosts came out of my parents' bedroom and beat me up. It hurt a lot.]

[I tried it too, it's true. But one more ghost came out of my sister's bedroom. It didn't hurt. I hope more come.]

[Me! Me! Me! I was complained about by the ghosts around me and taken away by a ghost driving a *didu didu didu* car! I was criticized and lectured for half the night!]

[...]

The Zhongyuan Festival jokes from a while ago were originally just a celebration for silly netizens, but hidden among the many comments were some surprisingly serious replies.

[I really tried it. I didn't feel anything at first, but my shoulders have felt so heavy since that day... and my head is always dizzy.]

[Don't try it!!!! There really is #￥！*%Arg￥……]

[Hehe]

"No wonder these jokes have been severely banned recently. It seems they really can cause trouble."

Shao Qiming nodded thoughtfully. He thought about the increasingly strict internet policies in recent years and couldn't help but have some ideas: "The supernatural has revived to this extent... So, perhaps many ritual books and alchemy recipes might regain their power?"

Of course, Shao Qiming wasn't stupid enough to try it himself. Didn't his friend have an ancient and great existence? Having recited the other party's hymns, he had no doubt that their position was far higher than any evil gods or demons. If there was a problem, he could just ask them.

Thinking this, he got up and walked towards Su Zhou, who was waiting for him at the door. The two of them prepared to go downstairs together.

But before going downstairs, Su Zhou knocked on Shao Shuangyue's door as he passed by: "Shuangyue, do you want some soup? It's the sweet rice wine soup you like!"

"Answer the door—that stuff will make you fat!"

A somewhat distorted girl's voice came from inside the room. She seemed to be playing a game seriously. After a few seconds, she replied hesitantly, "Then I'll have a bowl! Wait for me, I'll finish this boss right away!"

Su Zhou opened the door, and what came into view was a super hardcore decorated room that had nothing to do with a girly style. A blackened skull-shaped lamp was placed next to the bedside table; a cyberpunk-style Cos metal helmet was on the desk; a super-large, probably foam board-made, Axe King battle axe was placed next to the wardrobe, with a huge English graffiti next to it that roughly meant, 'Axe King takes your gold!'

And where girls usually place their wardrobes was a huge glass cabinet containing various Warhammer and *Dungeons & Dragons* tabletop game models, as well as various styles of twenty-sided dice and collector's edition setting books. Even the chandelier in this room was a crucifix suspended by metal chains!

In addition, the walls were covered with inexplicable scribbles and graffiti, making people feel like they had entered a secret base for hardcore gaming enthusiasts in the American Federation.

"Oh my god." Even the snake spirit Yala, who had been resting with her eyes closed and hadn't said a word, spoke in shock, "The exorcism power in this room is as high as 135. Even ordinary vengeful spirits would avoid it!"

Ignoring what exorcism power even was, Su Zhou and Shao Qiming were obviously used to this decor. The two stood behind the girl who was fighting hard in front of the screen and began to watch how she defeated the boss.

"This is interesting!"

After watching for a while, Su Zhou roughly knew that this was an action game with a Japanese style. The protagonist used various cold weapons, Onmyodo techniques, and prosthetic arms to fight various huge monsters. Currently, Shao Shuangyue was challenging a huge white-haired, armored, headless giant ape and was fighting fiercely, with various ninjutsu and martial arts flying everywhere. It was obvious that she wouldn't be able to finish it in a short time.

"What game is this?" Because the fighting was very enjoyable, Su Zhou couldn't help but ask. The girl replied while taking a break from her busy schedule, "Didn't you say yourself that you can't play games in senior year? Don't ask. Just assume it's *Monster Hunter*!"

Okay.

Su Zhou, who had been rebuffed, stared at the computer screen with a blank expression—it really was monster abuse! Look at that giant ape slapping the character controlled by Shao Shuangyue into the sky, and then adding an aerial blade-qi cross slash plus miasma burst, sending her to the afterlife in such a smooth manner! Wasn't that abuse!

"Ahhhhh! What kind of garbage game is this!" Being stared at by her own brother and her non-blood-related second brother while falling flat on her face, the black-haired girl was obviously embarrassed and angry. She got up, lowered her head, and pushed the two of them towards the door with all her might, saying as she pushed, "Don't watch! Hurry up and leave! I can't concentrate at all with you standing behind me!"

The two of them naturally went along with it, being pushed out the door by Shao Shuangyue with smiles. However, before closing the door, the girl frowned and thought for a moment: "Should this game be called *Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice* or *Bloodborne*? I didn't pay attention to the name, so I don't remember it very clearly, but it's a pretty popular game recently. Many streamers on various online platforms are playing it—there's a pretty well-known slacking streamer in Hongcheng who has released a walkthrough video. They're already up to episode 21."

After saying that, the door closed. The two people and one snake praised Shao Shuangyue's room for its 'surging exorcism power that even obliterates evil spirits,' and then went downstairs to eat.

There was no need to say much about Su Zhou's eating. Although his aura was amazing, his table manners were still very good. Even Auntie Wen and Shao Qiming, who had poor appetites and had already eaten, couldn't help but drink two bowls of soup, which made Auntie He smile.

Of course, because they were from Hongcheng, all the dishes had chili peppers added.

A lot of chili peppers.

"Ah! Auntie He's cooking is still the best! Rich but not greasy, delicious, and moderately spicy!"

After solving the amount that the rest of the Shao family ate in a day, Su Zhou took the initiative to tidy up the stacks of plates and bowls. It wasn't that he was really impolite, but he had already been eating for more than ten years. Who didn't know his appetite? In short, after eating and drinking his fill, Su Zhou (copied) reviewed (homework) with Shao Qiming at the Shao's house for a while. Seeing that it was getting late, he said goodbye.

"I still need to clean up the house—and I ordered a potted plant. The owner just sent me a WeChat message saying it has arrived. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to pick it up when he closes."

Faced with Auntie Wen's and others' attempts to persuade him to stay, Su Zhou, thinking about going back to plant an apple… a Tree of Wisdom, smiled heartily, then waved goodbye and rode away.

As Su Zhou left, Shao Qiming looked at the departing back of his friend from the window on the second floor.

The young man, who had just come of age and couldn't yet be called a man, stood blankly in place. The light from the room behind him stretched his shadow. In the shadows, his expression couldn't be seen clearly.

But without a doubt.

Compared to the high spirits he had when chatting and planning with Su Zhou earlier, Shao Qiming seemed particularly silent and lost at this time.