"Shao Qiming, your friend.
If nothing unexpected had happened, his health throughout his life, while not great, would have been just a little below average. He'd get sick from time to time, but nothing serious.
But now, because he was cursed—even though the Evil Spirit summoned to do the deed was dispelled before it could complete the curse, an overwhelming amount of resentful, negative energy for a child has built up in his body, weakening his Life Force.
If no one dispels this negative energy, his natural lifespan will only be about thirty or forty years. If he contracts a major illness, he'll likely die of premature aging before he even turns thirty."
Yara's voice was calm. It glanced at the international news on TV as it spoke casually to the grim-faced Su Zhou. "You don't need to worry too much. For an ordinary person, this would be a very serious matter, but for you, it's nothing at all."
"Once you succeed in your Spirit Awakening and become a true Awakener, you'll easily be able to see what's wrong with your friend. There are plenty of solutions. I'm just giving you a heads-up."
"…Yeah." Su Zhou fell silent for a moment, as if trying to remember something. He murmured, "I remember now... Back when Qiming was gravely ill, my parents and I rushed to visit him. Right then, I saw a bunch of black Dark Shadows completely surrounding him."
"I didn't think much of it at the time. I just got angry and yelled at them to get lost—and just like the other Dark Shadows I'd seen, they did."
Su Zhou's interpretation of that memory had been that Shao Qiming was on the verge of death, so those black shadows had come to drag his friend away and make him one of them.
But looking at it now, with so many people in the hospital on the verge of death, why did all the Dark Shadows gather around Shao Qiming?
The way those Dark Shadows had gathered so strangely really did look like they were being controlled.
"It's been this way since ancient times." Yara's tone was annoyingly smug, as if it found the whole thing amusing. And yet, for some reason, Su Zhou could also detect a hint of wistfulness in its voice. "You humans really do love hurting one another. Even in the Dharma Decline Era before the Spiritual Energy Revival, you would pay an enormous price to curse each other... If you hadn't subconsciously used your Dragon's Roar instinct as a child, he would have died long ago."
"Speaking of which, your friend's family is quite wealthy. They probably pissed off someone ruthless on their way to the top."
'A ruthless person?'
"I don't care who they are. No one is more ruthless than me."
Ignoring the mention of the Dragon's Roar, Su Zhou narrowed his eyes, and his expression grew placid, like a marble statue in a sketch.
But anyone who knew him would know that Su Zhou had taken this to heart. A hint of Evil Qi tinged his voice as he declared, "This person must die."
"Yara, can I cultivate your Secret Technique now?" Once his mind was made up, Su Zhou was never one for pleasantries. He asked directly, "I want to achieve my Awakening as soon as possible. What do I need to do?"
Yara turned off the television. It had finished watching the latest news from Zhengguo and abroad. The Snake Spirit's consciousness was tinged with delight. "The Spiritual Qi in the world is still thin, so you'll have to wait. But if you truly want to Awaken as soon as possible, it's not entirely impossible. It just might require you to do a few things."
"Su Zhou, it all depends on your choice."
'My choice?'
Hearing this, Su Zhou blinked.
He had been letting his anger simmer, thinking about how to send the bastards who would curse a child to Hell, but an instinctive antagonism snapped him to his senses.
'Yara knows what choice I'll make... It's been waiting for this.'
'It's waiting for me to make the choice it wants, just like... in all the myths and legends where the Immortals and Gods use all sorts of tricks to make me... follow their path.'
'And Yara is a Celestial God.'
With this realization, Su Zhou lowered his head, suppressing the antagonistic desire that had begun to boil within him. He stared at the Snake Spirit—so far, it hadn't lied to him.
'But the truth can be manipulative, too.'
'Yara knew all along what I was thinking, what I would do...'
Su Zhou was well aware of this.
'It had spoken with Shao Qiming, so it obviously knew about his physical condition. Whether I asked sooner or later, or even if it just found an excuse to bring it up on its own, it could use my loyalty to my friends to guide me, to make me want to enter the Extraordinary world as soon as possible.'
Su Zhou knew he wouldn't choose any differently.
Besides, he didn't suspect the Snake Spirit would ask him to do anything that would harm him. Whatever it was, it would surely enable his Spirit Awakening and help Shao Qiming.
But.
This was indeed Su Zhou's own desire. Even without Shao Qiming's situation, his thirst for the unusual and for change would have made him want to Awaken and walk that path as soon as possible anyway.
But Yara had seen all these thoughts and inclinations and had probably already used them to weave a net, laying out a series of carefully planned steps.
Yara was planning out his life. It was as if... it were playing a simulation game, guiding him step by step down its desired path.
'—But that's not what's really important.'
"I know you're guiding me, Yara. You're trying to lead me down the path you want me to walk."
Su Zhou wasn't the type to keep things bottled up. The moment the thought occurred to him, he spoke it aloud. "Anyone else would probably feel awful about this, like they were being controlled by you, that their own thoughts were being manipulated."
"'But I'm different, even with my natural inclination to defy everything. I'm very clear about my goal. Your guidance, or lack thereof, doesn't affect my choice.'"
"'Furthermore, I don't mind your guidance, just as I don't mind being guided by my parents, teachers, and elders.'"
As the Snake Spirit stared, its eyes wide with surprise, Su Zhou lowered his head to meet its gaze. "I'm not bored enough to get into a battle of wits with an ancient, great intelligence that, for now, appears to be benevolent," he said calmly.
"How does that saying go again? 'Man plans, and God laughs.'"
[This laughter isn't necessarily mocking. It's the laughter of seeing humanity deduce the correct laws, of seeing people experience the world and grow. It's like the smile on an adult's face when a child conspiratorially tells them they've discovered a new principle: if you get into a full bathtub, the water level rises, and the weight of the water that spills out is equal to your own weight.]
Is that a mocking laugh? God isn't so petty.
At this, Su Zhou stood up. He walked to the window and gazed out at the residential complex.
Su Zhou stared at the rivers that snaked through Hongcheng and the endless stream of traffic on the roads—the ordinary crowds and streetscapes.
He didn't want to be one of them. That was why he had always chased after Kaidan and Anomalies, seeking mystery and the abnormal.
'—He was once a 'seeker' of 'Anomalies' and 'mystery'.'
'—But now, he was a 'madman' who chased 'revolution' and the 'unknown'!'
"I know."
And so, in a tone that was not a grand declaration but a simple statement of fact, the young man revealed his will. "I know that to you, who has seen countless mortals and gods, my current thoughts and my Determination are probably shallow enough to make you smile."
"Yara. From now on, let's not beat around the bush when we talk."
"'You saved my life—even if it was your follower who beat me to a pulp in the first place. I trust your guidance, but that doesn't mean I won't oppose you. As long as your guidance doesn't go against my heart, I'm willing to do it.'"
"Just remember this. I firmly believe I won't stop at what you expect of me. I will surpass your every prediction."
'—We'll see what the future holds!'
Su Zhou's words were sharp and decisive.
The Snake Spirit gazed at his back. The confidence and spirit of a seventeen-year-old, the pride and firm Determination of a young man—it was all there in his words.
"...No, that isn't shallow at all, Son of Man."
At that moment, Yara looked at him as if sizing up a precious treasure. A rough gemstone it had thought would need polishing had instead shed its own grime to reveal a dazzling brilliance.
This, this unexpected turn of events, made it unable to keep from laughing out loud. "This is what's most important: the 'Will of a Powerhouse'!"
"'It's proud, it's conceited, it's downright arrogant. But without that courage and arrogance, how can one face the endless changes of the future? How can one become a Powerhouse?'"
Its ruby-like snake body began to glow faintly. Yara laughed, no longer mincing words, and spoke its mind freely. "That's right. I need you to succeed in your Spirit Awakening and become an Awakener as soon as possible. You can't just passively wait for the Spiritual Energy Revival to arrive."
"Whether it's to help your friend, to ensure your own future development, or even for my sake, you must take the first step. Get a head start, and you'll always stay ahead."
However, Yara's tone shifted. "But not right now. Su Zhou, you may not feel it in your current exhilarated state, but you desperately need to rest. Get a good night's sleep and recover your strength."
"'You've been through a brutal battle, came back from the dead, received my blood, and made a pact with me—your mind is completely spent. It's only your overwhelmingly powerful physique that's keeping you conscious.'"
—Go to sleep. We must indeed move swiftly, but there's no need to be hasty—
In the world of the mind, Yara's voice was like a church bell, loud and magnificent, compelling him to look into his own heart.
"Ugh... you... might have a point..."
The moment Su Zhou heard the Snake Spirit's words, it was as if something locked away in his mind had been released. A deliberately suppressed exhaustion trickled out from a hidden compartment in his psyche, and an overwhelming wave of drowsiness surged up from the depths of his Soul.
The ambush, the slaughter, the battle, his near-death experience, then reviving from the dead and making a pact with Yara...
It had all happened in a single day, and he hadn't gotten any sleep. His mind had been in a state of extreme hyper-arousal.
He desperately needed to rest.
So Su Zhou, with Yara, dazedly stumbled into his room. He moved the various magazines and books from his bed to the floor, then lay down and pulled a thin summer blanket over himself.
The boy sank into a deep sleep.
"Haha."
Yara coiled on Su Zhou's forehead. It remained silent for a long while, then let out a soft chuckle that was one part wistful, one part gratified.
"Those fools will never guess."
"Just what kind of Seed I've found."