Chapter 820: Blocking the Thunder
The Earth Snake stared at Qi Xia's expression for a long time, and was actually intimidated by his aura.
"It's not impossible," Earth Snake said. "I need to think about it..."
"Then I'll take that as a yes," Qi Xia said. "I don't know what I might have said to you before, but I'm standing here right now to ensure the plan goes smoothly."
"You... you little brat." Earth Snake furrowed his brow. "You don't even know what you're supposed to do, yet you claim you'll guarantee the plan goes smoothly... isn't that a bit too confident?"
"Not confident enough," Qi Xia said. "After all, I have no way out, so I won't dwell on what happens if I fail. That state of mind forces me to be this confident."
Seeing Earth Snake fall silent, Qi Xia asked again, "So, has your stance changed?"
"Stance?"
"Whose side are you on now?" Qi Xia cut straight to the point. "How much can I trust you?"
Earth Snake looked at Qi Xia and said, "You should know me..."
Hearing Earth Snake speak, Chen Junnan couldn't hold back. "I don't know if Old Qi knows you, but this young master sure as hell does. Are you about to say, 'I'm whoever I want to be'?! That's just pure cheating, man."
"None of your business..." Earth Snake turned his head and said, "That's just how it is in life. If you don't do what you want to do, you might never get the chance again."
"Then what a goddamn mess your life must be!" Chen Junnan asked. "Was this how you were back in the real world? Just do whatever illegal shit you felt like, huh?"
"Hah..." Earth Snake let out a bitter laugh. "It's precisely because I had too many hesitations, too much indecision in my life, that I missed out on the school I should have attended, the things I should have learned, the lover I should have cherished, and the life path I should have walked. So I made up my mind to change myself. From the moment I became a 'Snake,' I decided that from then on, I would do whatever I wanted. That's all there is to it."
Chen Junnan frowned after listening. "If there was a cure for regret in this world, you'd damn well sign up for a membership card."
"Precisely because there's no cure, my 'regret' can never be healed. Countless late nights, I've regretted the decisions I made." Earth Snake said. "'Regret' is the most painful thing in this world. I absolutely cannot let myself have the possibility of regret ever again."
"But it's the opposite," Qi Xia said. "Doing whatever you want seems more likely to lead to regret, in my opinion. Because you only see the present, not the 'future.'"
"Doesn't matter... even if I do regret it... it's because I wanted to regret it..." Earth Snake said despondently. "So everything I do is something I want to do."
"If you truly want to never regret, then never look back," Qi Xia said. "Never dwell on decisions you've made, never look back at the path you've walked."
"What...?" Earth Snake found this viewpoint somewhat unreasonable. "Then how do we verify whether we've done right or wrong in our long lives?"
"As long as you never look back, you can never be wrong," Qi Xia replied.
"You..."
"Every choice you make is the right one," Qi Xia said. "Just remember that."
Qiao Jiajin nodded beside him. "Yeah, White-Scaled Snake. The runner in first place never looks back either. The moment they look back, they get overtaken. So you just need to stick to your own views."
"Ha." Earth Snake let out a somewhat relieved smile. "Qi Xia, I never expected you to become this kind of person now... If only it had been sooner. No... if only I had met someone like you in the real world."
"The real world?" Qi Xia raised an eyebrow.
"Why is it that everyone around me only ever sneers at me?" Earth Snake said with a bitter smile. "They'd tell me, 'I knew it wouldn't work out,' 'I wanted to tell you then,' 'You chose it yourself, who do you blame?' Some even said, 'Your ex who broke up with you is now with a rich guy,' 'That job you didn't take before now pays ten thousand a month'... There may be no cure for regret in this world, but there are plenty of people who will help you feel it."
"So you're just a downer." Chen Junnan cut in. "Your downer attitude makes everyone around you feel down too. Don't get me wrong, our Old Qi here usually looks down in the dumps as well, but this young master has learned a lot from hanging out with him."
"Who looks down in the dumps?" Qi Xia asked with a frown.
"Old Qi, I suspect this guy is like that dead Earth Monkey—they both carry something..." Chen Junnan's mouth moved, omitting the word "Resonance."
"I think so too," Qi Xia said. "But I'm curious—using your power so recklessly, won't there be problems?"
"My situation is special..." Earth Snake said. "Hehe... After following your instructions back then, I think we all kept a trick up our sleeves, and that's how I discovered this incredible secret."
"Secret...?"
Earth Snake glanced at the four people in front of him with a calculated look, then said, "You brats—everyone here knows that if you put on a mask, you can become a 'Zodiac.' Then, through a process of elimination, a few human-like dogs are left. Many people know this by now, but back then, it seemed like a fairy tale to us."
"So?" Qi Xia asked.
"So when we followed the plan and got those masks, we each kept a way out for ourselves." Earth Snake gave a cold laugh. "Everyone, have you ever heard the saying, 'Zodiacs never Resonate'?"
The group remained silent. Though they hadn't heard the phrase, they knew that typically, "Zodiacs" couldn't "Resonate" at all. Otherwise, they would simultaneously gain superhuman physical strength and powerful "Resonance" abilities, making them invincible.
"I was curious back then..." Earth Snake said with a smile. "Why could 'they' be both 'Zodiacs' and 'Resonate'... why couldn't I? Why couldn't any of us?"
Chen Junnan nodded. "Spit it out, man. Why?"
"Don't rush... After all, my teacher was in charge of all the 'research' here, and I learned a thing or two from him." Earth Snake grinned slyly. "But what I'm about to say... it's a real bomb. If I say it, it might bring down a 'thunderbolt.'"
Qi Xia looked up at the sky, then said, "Don't worry. I'll block that 'thunder' for you."