Thinking about it yielded no answers, not unless the two of them became world leaders. Still, if Shao Qiming had to guess, he figured it was probably something like, 'The world's governments knew that the Spiritual Energy Revival was inevitable, but they didn't know exactly when. It was only in the last decade or so that they firmed up their basic approach.'
"It's like a prophecy without a clear date—after all, if the ancients could create something like the Order Array you mentioned, it means they must have been aware of the Spiritual Energy Revival. They must have also known that the Seal couldn't last forever."
Shao Qiming's analysis was quite reasonable and explained a lot.
For now, however, the world's great upheavals had little to do with the two of them, busy as they were plotting to kill an Evil Demon in some city in some state of some country. In short, after quickly finalizing a series of plans and purchasing weapons and related tools like carving knives for inscriptions, Su Zhou began to get serious about his "studying"—that is, copying his homework.
So when Aunt He went upstairs, ready to call Su Zhou for dinner, she found the two of them diligently studying at the desk.
"All the dishes are hot and ready!"
Although she was a little reluctant to interrupt, she still said with a smile, "Spicy dry-pot pig's trotters, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, red-braised pork belly, hand-shredded cabbage, big plate chicken, sweet osmanthus rice wine soup, and spicy cabbage! Oh, right, and a whole pot of rice! Don't worry, there's more than enough. Azhou, you'll definitely eat your fill!" (Total: 3,343 Calories)
"Okay!"
With a simple acknowledgment, Su Zhou, the cold and merciless eating machine, promptly got up to eat. Meanwhile, Shao Qiming was still researching some of the strange incidents that had recently appeared online.
"It's the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month, the Ghost Festival. The gates of hell open after midnight tonight. Legend has it that if you stand in your living room at midnight, spin in place three times, then with all your might, as if burning your very life force, shout 'Come out!' 'Come out!' 'Come out!' three times... a ghost will appear!"
"I tried it, it's real. Two ghosts came out of my parents' bedroom and beat me up. It hurt a lot."
"I tried it too, it's real. An extra ghost showed up in my sister's room, though. It didn't hurt. Hope more show up."
"Me, me, me! I got complaints filed against me by the neighborhood ghosts, and then I was taken away by ghosts in a WEE-WOO-WEE-WOO car! They chewed me out for half the night!"
...
These Ghost Festival jokes from a while back were originally just internet trolls having a laugh, but hidden among the many comments were a few that were strangely serious.
"I actually tried it. I didn't feel anything at first, but ever since that day, my shoulders have felt so heavy... and my head is all fuzzy."
"DON'T TRY IT!!!! THERE REALLY ARE #￥!*%ARG￥..."
"Hee hee..."
'No wonder these kinds of jokes have been strictly banned lately,' he thought. 'Looks like they can actually cause real trouble.'
Shao Qiming nodded, lost in thought. He made the connection to the increasingly strict internet policies of the past few years, and an idea began to form. 'The Extraordinary has already revived to this degree... Does that mean that many ritual books and Alchemy recipes might be effective again?'
Of course, Shao Qiming wasn't foolish enough to try any of this on his own. 'Doesn't my friend have an ancient Great Being on his side?' he thought. Having chanted its sacred hymn before, he had no doubt that its stature was far greater than any so-called Evil God or Demon. If he had questions, he could just ask it.
With that, he also got up and walked over to Su Zhou, who was waiting for him by the door. They prepared to head downstairs together.
Before they went downstairs, however, Su Zhou passed by Shao Shuangyue's room and gave her door a quick knock. "Shuangyue, want some soup? It's that sweet rice wine soup you like!"
"Just open the door and talk! —That stuff'll make me fat!"
A muffled girl's voice came from inside the room; she seemed to be focused on a game. A few seconds later, she added hesitantly, "Fine, I'll just have one bowl! Hang on, I'm about to beat this boss!"
Su Zhou opened the door, and his eyes were met with a room decorated in a hardcore style that had absolutely nothing in common with anything "girly." On the nightstand sat a lamp shaped like a blackened skull. On the desk was a cyberpunk-style metal cosplay helmet. A massive battle axe, likely made of foam board, was propped up next to the wardrobe, with a huge line of English graffiti next to it that roughly translated to 'AXE WILL TAKE YOUR GOLD!'.
And where a normal girl would put her wardrobe stood a massive glass cabinet, preserving all sorts of Warhammer and D&D tabletop miniatures, various styles of twenty-sided dice, and collector's edition lore books. Even the ceiling light was a Cross suspended by metal chains!
Combined with the incomprehensible, talisman-like scrawls and graffiti covering the walls, it made one feel as if they had stumbled into the secret base of a hardcore gamer from the American Federation.
"Heavens," even the Snake Spirit Yara, who had been resting quietly with its eyes closed until now, spoke up in shock. "The Exorcism Power in this room is as high as 135. The average Resentful Spirit would give this place a wide berth!"
Ignoring this new bit of lore about 'Exorcism Power,' Su Zhou and Shao Qiming, who were clearly used to the decor, stood behind the girl as she fought furiously before the screen, watching to see how she would crush the boss.
"Hey, this is pretty cool!"
After watching for a moment, Su Zhou got the gist of it. It was a Fusang-style action game where the protagonist used various melee weapons, Yin Yang Arts, and a prosthetic arm to fight all kinds of massive monsters. Right now, Shao Shuangyue was challenging a giant, white-furred, armored, headless ape. The fight was in full swing, a flurry of Ninjutsu and Martial Arts filling the screen. It clearly wasn't going to be over any time soon.
"What game is this?" The combat looked so satisfying that Su Zhou couldn't help but ask. The girl managed to find a split second to snap back, "Didn't you say high school seniors aren't supposed to play games? Don't ask. If you're asking, it's Monster Hunter!"
Fair enough.
Having been shut down, Su Zhou squinted at the computer screen. 'It really is more like "Monster Abuser" than Monster Hunter!' Just look at that giant ape slap Shao Shuangyue's character into the air, follow up with an aerial cross-slash of blade energy and a burst of miasma, and smoothly send her to her doom. If that wasn't abuse, what was?
"ARGH! This game is trash!" Dying under the intent stare of her actual brother and her 'other' older brother, the long, black-haired girl was clearly incensed. She shot up from her chair, head lowered, and forcefully pushed the two of them toward the door. "Stop watching! Get out! I can't focus with you standing behind me!"
The two guys let themselves be pushed out, laughing all the while. Before closing the door, however, the girl frowned in thought. "Is the game called 'Undying Soul?' Or 'Dark Wolf'? I didn't really pay attention to the name, so I don't remember clearly. But it's really popular right now, and streamers on all the big platforms are playing it. There's even a pretty famous slacker-streamer in Hongcheng who's posted a walkthrough series for it. He's already on episode 21."
With that said, the door shut. After marveling for another moment about how the "Exorcism Power in Shao Shuangyue's room was so intense it could probably grind an Evil Spirit to dust," the two men and one snake headed downstairs for dinner.
Su Zhou's eating habits hardly need describing. Although the sheer force of his consumption was astonishing, his table manners were excellent. He ate with such gusto that even Aunt Wen and Shao Qiming, who had poor appetites and had already eaten, couldn't resist having two bowls of soup. Watching from the side, Aunt He was all smiles.
Of course, this being Hongcheng, every dish was loaded with chili peppers.
A lot of chili peppers.
"Ahhh! Aunt He, your cooking is still the best! It's rich without being greasy, packed with flavor, and just the right amount of spicy!"
After single-handedly polishing off enough food to feed the rest of the Shao Family for a day, Su Zhou took the initiative to stack the empty plates and bowls. It wasn't that he was being rude; he'd been eating here for more than a decade, so everyone knew his appetite well. In any case, after eating his fill, Su Zhou "reviewed" his lessons (i.e., copied his homework) with Shao Qiming for a while longer. Seeing the sky grow dark, he finally said his goodbyes.
"I still need to tidy up at home. Besides, I ordered a potted plant, and the shop owner just sent me a message saying it's arrived. If I wait, the shop will close, and I'll have to get it tomorrow."
In the face of Aunt Wen's attempts to make him stay, Su Zhou, eager to get home and plant his app—er, Wisdom Tree, just laughed heartily. He waved goodbye and rode off on his bike.
As Su Zhou departed, Shao Qiming stood at a second-floor window, watching his friend's retreating figure.
The young man, barely an adult and not quite yet a man, stood blankly in place. The light from the room behind him stretched his shadow long, obscuring his expression in the gloom.
But there was no doubt.
Compared to the high-spirited young man who had been chatting and planning with Su Zhou earlier, the Shao Qiming of this moment seemed exceptionally silent and lost.