Chapter 289 I Come From the Litany of the Holy Serpent (5000 Words, First Update)

August 14, 2016, 3:19 PM.

Cloudy day.

Rare good weather.

Not rainy, not sunny; somewhat humid, but not cold; some light, but not dazzling; the future might be clear, or it might rain.

I like this ambiguous weather, the complex possibilities.

This character trait might stem from the weather in my hometown. Hongcheng, when sunny, always feels stifling, but when it rains, it's even more unpleasant, not to mention the winter rain, which was a nightmare for my mother and me.

In that cold, damp weather, I always had difficulty breathing, and my mother's legs would ache so much that she could only lie in bed. At that time, our home was as silent as a tomb.

Looking back now, this was the evil result of the Yin energy hidden in the curse. Even though the Yin energy has now dissipated, those painful memories always linger.

Sitting in a private room in a teahouse, I couldn't help but recall the past, and was rarely lost in thought for a while.

I rarely daydream, because it wastes my limited time. Back then, I didn't know when I would die, so I raced against the clock. But now, knowing that my future lifespan could exceed two hundred years, or even more, I have begun to occasionally indulge in this shortcoming that ordinary people also have. But this is not a bad thing, because compared to the freedom and comfort I have now, the sense of powerlessness I felt in the past is even more pronounced, further reminding me of the importance of strength.

It is now 3:20 PM, and there are still 10 minutes until the appointed time, but the person has not yet arrived. It seems that the guy I am about to meet does not like to be early, or perhaps he doesn't take this meeting seriously?

I looked at my watch and couldn't help but ponder—this behavior is quite inconsistent with that friend's enthusiastic performance online... Could it be that something unexpected happened?

This is my first time meeting an online friend. I wouldn't say I'm nervous, mainly because I'm very curious about the person I'm about to meet.

Ever since my friend Su Zhou was forcefully promoted by the Zheng Nation's officials as a representative figure of the spiritual qi revival era, his existence itself has come with a large amount of traffic and attention. Guiding fan opinion is a top priority, and as his friend, I have quite naturally taken on this task, becoming a manager in his fan club's core group.

Although I don't think Su Zhou thinks about traffic or attention, let alone cares about it, the experience of managing such a large organization is quite rare. Although the fan club's structure is loose, it is still an organization after all. Working in it is like doing an internship, which is not something everyone can experience.

And this time, the person I am going to meet happens to be a senior administrator who joined the 'Su Zhou Fan Support Core Group' very early on.

His ID is 'Su Zhou Fan Support 014'. Just from the number alone, one can tell how early he joined.

014 is knowledgeable, warm, and friendly. He often helps other administrators solve many problems in the group, and it can be seen that he is indeed very capable, even experienced in management. Such people are rare, especially among Su Zhou's fans. It is quite surprising, and my interactions with him are always very pleasant. In other words, he is not only capable, but also good at interpersonal communication.

Several times, I even wanted to hire him full-time as the fan club's manager, because his ability is really strong. Whether it is guiding public opinion or crisis management, he does it perfectly. But this is just wishful thinking. With such ability, this person must have a considerable position in reality.

Recently, this friend, who claims to be a fellow townsman from Hongzhou, claimed that he would be coming to Hongcheng soon, and invited Su Zhou and me to meet in person, mysteriously saying that he would give Su Zhou and me a big surprise.

I don't think there is anything on Earth that could surprise both Su Zhou and me. Moreover, when he started inviting me to meet in reality, I vaguely sensed that he had other intentions.

Meeting online friends in reality is something to be avoided. I would never put myself in a dangerous situation. Although this friend is usually very friendly, who knows what his true thoughts are? Maybe he deliberately infiltrated the fan club, built a good relationship, and showed goodwill, just to deceive me at this moment.

Although he also invited Su Zhou, as a way to dispel doubts, I believe that as someone who often observes Su Zhou's behavior patterns, he should be very confident that if he really extended an invitation, Su Zhou would definitely decline politely, and even I would not allow Su Zhou to meet with fans privately at an inappropriate time.

After all, if something unexpected happens in the middle of such a thing, or if it is exposed by other people with ulterior motives, it would be considered a scandal.

However, after vaguely confirming that the other party did have other intentions, I became even more interested in 014. Although he hides it very well, his tone and speaking habits prove that this friend may not even be from Zheng Nation, and lives a life of luxury.

How could such a person be so enthusiastic about the work in the fan club? What is his purpose in wanting to meet with me privately?

I am quite curious about this.

At 3:25 PM, I heard steady footsteps coming from outside the private room. The owner of the footsteps should be about 180 centimeters tall and weigh about 70 kilograms, on the thin side. His movements are extremely regular, and every action is exceptionally rhythmic, but surprisingly, I did not feel any spiritual energy fluctuations from this body.

An ordinary person who has not cultivated?

No, in this world, where do traditional ordinary people come from? Nowadays, except for children who have not reached the age of cultivation, almost all adults have a certain foundation in cultivation. The so-called national cultivation is not a joke. Even remote mountain villages in the west have dedicated cadres to popularize it.

Ordinary people are the most extraordinary. Although in this way, the other party's threat to me in reality has been reduced to almost nothing, I must be more cautious. Who knows what the other party's purpose and backup plans are? He might be hiding his cultivation through secret methods. In fact, that is the most likely possibility.

Even if people say I am too wary, I am happy to think this way.

After three knocks, and receiving permission to enter, the door was slowly opened, and a young and polite voice sounded: "Hello, it seems I'm late."

"Not at all, we were early," I replied, then looked at the visitor with interest.

The person who walked in was a mixed-race individual. He had slightly curly black hair, a pale and clean face that could be described as delicate and handsome, and a pair of deep brown eyes with restrained light. His lips were curled in a kind and gentle smile, making people feel a sense of closeness at first glance.

If my friend Su Zhou were to describe this hairstyle, he would definitely say it's 'just like instant noodles,' but I vaguely felt that the slightly curly hair had a familiar, almost serpentine feel.

Shifting my thoughts away from this strange idea, as soon as I saw the other person's face, I immediately became wary.

Something's not right.

That's what I thought in my heart. Because this visitor's appearance was simply too outstanding.

It's not jealousy. After all, if I had to say, I don't look bad either. Even after obtaining the Blood of Perfection, Su Zhou's appearance, in terms of fine details, is even better than this mixed-race friend's. Although his own personality and behavior patterns often make it impossible to calm down and think about how handsome he is, I, who see him often, am very clear that if he sits quietly in a chair with his mouth shut, he truly is a perfect appearance template that even the marble statues of ancient Mycenae cannot compare to.

With Su Zhou as the standard, the other person's appearance did not surprise me.

But what I mean is that appearance itself is also a kind of power.

With this level of looks, he is bound to attract popularity. 014's appearance is enough to make him a movie star. Whether he wants to or not, as long as he walks on the street, he is bound to become famous. And I know most of the slightly famous people in the entire Hongzhou or even Zheng Nation, not to mention adding the rare label of being mixed-race.

But I don't recognize him, which proves that he is not from Hongzhou, or even Zheng Nation, as he claimed earlier.

He lied, and just to meet me. Because of this, I am even more curious, and I don't intend to expose him, because I want to know what his purpose is in meeting me, and what kind of lies he will tell on the basis of this lie.

Having recently advanced to the early stage of Transcendent, although my strength cannot compare to that ridiculously strong friend of mine, I am not bad among the younger generation in the entire world. The confidence that strength brings me, as well as some of my hidden trump cards, can guarantee my safety.

Although the other party may also have backup plans, I must take a little risk to get information.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries and mutual compliments, this friend, who still has not revealed his real name but calls himself 014, and I chatted about the fan club for a while, which took about 25 minutes, and I did not obtain any useful information from it.

If it were an ordinary person, they would become anxious because of this, but I will not, because I have vaguely guessed the reason and purpose for this person wasting time. He seems to want to make me feel a little annoyed—not annoyed at his pleasant conversation, but annoyed at the fan club management matters.

His rhetoric is very clever, often inadvertently suggesting that managing the fan club is a very time-consuming thing, and the subtext is 'it will affect cultivation.' If I hadn't been wary of this guy from the beginning, I might have really been led by his guidance and developed different emotions.

He's showing his hand—I continued to push the topic without making a sound, and 014 seemed to know when to stop.

"A gift."

He said with a smile, "For you and Professor Su. If he is someone I have always admired and longed for, then Mr. Shao, you are a friend I sincerely want to make."

As he said this, 014 handed over two small boxes. I could sense waves of restrained spirituality from them, and what 014 said earlier was not false. Even I, who had eaten two Wisdom Fruits, could not hear any hint of lies in it.

—He really admires and longs for Su Zhou, and wants to be friends with me? Interesting, but this does not conflict with his ulterior motives.

"You really went to a lot of trouble, but if it's too valuable, I may not accept it."

Saying this, I politely opened the box after a bit of courteous back-and-forth.

A flash of spiritual light lit up.

In the box were two watches, very delicate, but not luxurious, with an extremely fine spiritual gathering array attached to them. When this spiritual gathering array is in operation, it can even allow the watch to detect the surrounding spiritual energy concentration and some more detailed data.

This is not expensive, but the craftsmanship is extremely fine. It is not qualified as a magical artifact, but as a small daily gift, it is definitely above standard. It is very meaningful just as a souvenir.

But the most important thing is not the watch itself.

"A very clever hypnosis."

I said this in admiration, closed the box, and nodded slightly to 014 beside me: "Invisible and traceless, a subtle psychological suggestion—using the rhetoric before to make me feel disgusted with the fan club, then mixing the concepts of Su Zhou and the fan club, and finally using 'the spiritual light seen when opening the box', an unremarkable but symbolic action of 'opening my inner thoughts', to plant this subtle suggestion deep in my heart."

"But the subtle point is that this subtle suggestion is not to make my relationship with Su Zhou worse. On the contrary, you just want me to focus on cultivation and catch up with Su Zhou, and then gradually transfer the work of the fan club to you—this is a good thing, I don't reject it in my heart, so it is extremely difficult to detect, and even if I do, I will think it is my own idea."

"The ability you have shown is indeed very good, and after this meeting, as a friend who has met in reality, I have no reason not to trust you."

—But Su Zhou and I have been friends for so many years, how could I not know that it is completely impossible to catch up with him just by focusing on cultivation?

You can't become a true powerhouse without cheating, because whether it is talent or hard work, it is just the basics. Without extraordinary encounters, ordinary geniuses cannot catch up with powerhouses.

A hint of surprise appeared on 014's handsome face, but he was not flustered—it seems he didn't underestimate me either, he seemed to know that I would not be affected by this kind of suggestion? But he probably didn't expect that I never trusted him from the beginning, so he was surprised.

But it's too early to be surprised.

To this, I simply pointed out a problem: "If you had come with a more ordinary face, I might have really fallen for it. 014, tell me, what is your purpose? I guess you can't just be a simple Su Zhou fanatic, willing to take risks for the little benefit of being a fan leader."

I think 014 should have backup plans. He doesn't seem like someone who only makes one set of preparations.

"No way."

Regarding my words, 014 shrugged, and showed a genuine wry smile: "This is the standard for the organization to select personnel, especially core personnel—that is, their appearance must be the best among their race. As for the specific reason..."

He shrugged and didn't continue.

Organization. Sure enough, there is an organization behind 014, which is consistent with the management ability he showed before. The other party has been lurking for so long, so they must have other purposes, but the standard for this organization to select core members is really strange... Good-looking?

Recalling my encounter in Shan State, I seem to have guessed which organization is behind this guy.

"The fact that you can detect the suggestion was actually within my expectations. We never underestimated you, but if you really fell for the suggestion, it would be more convenient for me, so it's worth a try."

Although his purpose was discovered, 014 quickly returned to his harmonious smile, without any fear or desire to escape: "Do you know who you are?"

—If this were Su Zhou online, at this time, a reply like 'Of course, I'm your dad' would have popped out.

Although the internet slang that my friend habitually used easily appeared in my mind, my strength lies in being able to multitask, so I still pretended to be puzzled: "The fact that I am Shao Qiming is known to the entire core management group. Why are you asking this meaningless question?"

But 014 shook his head and tutted: "You think your identity is Shao Qiming?"

"No, only you and your parents think so. For most people in this world, your identity is actually 'Su Zhou's friend'."

Yo-ho.

I raised my eyebrows. After 014's identity was revealed, he stopped concealing it. His opening statement was to sow discord between Su Zhou and me, implying that I was subordinate to Su Zhou, stirring up my competitive spirit... What exactly does this mean?

Moreover, from this moment on, I vaguely began to sense that the spiritual power fluctuations on 014's body began to surge out. It seems that he had previously concealed his strength with some secret method... High-stage Transcendent? Although it is only a small part, it is indeed the purity of the high-stage, even the peak. As I guessed, he really hid his strength, but if that's all, it's still within my expectations.

Soon, he cast a shielding spell, isolating the teahouse private room from other rooms.

Breaking this spell would not take even a moment for me, but I could also see that this person had no malice—this is really interesting.

"You've been lurking for a long time."

After taking a sip of tea, which was a little bitter, I said calmly, "Why expose yourself now? If you want to be detrimental to Su Zhou and me, as long as you continue to lurk, you can always find an opportunity."

The meaning of my words is mainly for two purposes. One is to try to obtain the other party's motivation for action, and the other is to ask directly, to see if the other party will answer, so as to judge the other party's character.

"Because if I don't use it now, there will be no chance, and our purpose is very simple."

014 also poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and smiled: "Moreover, it is beneficial to both Su Zhou and you."

"Allow me to introduce myself. I come from the Litany of the Holy Serpent (Sheng She Ling Liantao Hui), a mysterious organization hidden extremely deeply."