"Congrats, congrats!"
"Congratulations, Your Highness!"
The newly-built Puqi Shrine was bustling and lively, people going in and out, and Xie Lian traversed through several long tables that were stacked full, delivering bowl after bowl of hot, steamy noodles flowing out like water, soups with oil glistening like gold, and snow-white, mouthwatering rice.
He was swamped running about and still had to greet the guests, taking time out of the tasks in his hands to say, "Thank you, please have a seat!"
The Puqi Shrine that had unfortunately collapsed in a brawl had been rebuilt.
After rebuilding, the once-dilapidated little shrine was now much more sumptuous, and a few new yards were even added. It wasn't actually Xie Lian or Hua Cheng who had reconstructed, but those villagers of Puqi Village. That day, when Xie Lian fled in disgrace, they rummaged through the wreckage and actually found a box full of gold bars. Naturally, it was the bunch that Quan Yizhen had stuffed into his donation box day after day.
Those villagers had never seen so much gold and were almost scared out of their wits. After they came to their senses, the Village Head took a part of it to rebuild Puqi Shrine, and didn't dare to touch the rest of it, keeping it safe until Xie Lian returned to give it back to him.
Thus, when Xie Lian returned bringing Hua Cheng, besides the enthusiastic greetings of "Daozhang" and "Xiao Hua", what also welcomed them was a brand-new Daoist shrine and a box heavy with gold bars.
Xie Lian had planned to return those gold bars to Quan Yizhen, but Quan Yizhen wouldn't have it, refusing them left and right until Hua Cheng told him: if you don't take those gold bars back, you can forget about learning the correct method of nurturing souls. Only then did that child settle down and fix that bad habit of blindly stuffing gold bars into people's hands.
After making their greetings, the group of heavenly officials, with Mu Qing leading, crossed into the yard cautiously. They looked up, and when they got a full look at this Daoist shrine, all their words were instantly stuck in their throats.
Gaudy.
Too gaudy!
The bright, clashing reds and greens of celebratory colours, and that exceedingly exaggerated, rainbow-coloured divine statue weren't even the worst of it. The worst was that establishment plaque.
And just what was written, or drawn, on that establishment plaque?
With the establishment of a new shrine, naturally there needed to be a celebration. But this new shrine's class and taste were terrible and tacky in every sense, especially with that despairing establishment plaque, and it made it really hard for anyone to have compliments leave their lips. In fact, all the congratulatory phrases they had already thought of beforehand were thoroughly forgotten.
However, Xie Lian didn't mind any of this at all, and thought it was rather good. At least it wasn't a dilapidated building that could collapse at any time.
He greeted again, "Please have a seat?"
That group of heavenly officials didn't look like they wanted to sit, and coming to congratulate was probably just to show their faces, so they hurried and left after delivering their gifts.
Xie Lian turned to Mu Qing. "Why did they leave in such a hurry?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Mu Qing said.
"Yeah?" Xie Lian replied.
Mu Qing spat crankily, "Then why don't you go ask your good San Lang."
Turns out, when Hua Cheng first came back, the first one to know was Xie Lian, and the second was the Upper Court that hadn't even warmed its seat yet. Not just because it wasn't too long ago that the Battle of the Lanterns on the day of the Shangyuan Festival, that they had worked so hard to put together, was suddenly murdered by Hua Cheng's casual wave of three thousand lanterns, just like that time during the Mid-Autumn Banquet. It was also because ever since that night, that bell started tolling like crazy, and the entire Upper Court was echoing with the sound of its announcement, like it was reminding them: the nightmare of the heavens has returned!
The nightmare was right before their eyes, so of course normal heavenly officials didn't dare to approach. However, the rumours about Hua Cheng and Xie Lian in the Upper Court were already fairly hardcore without any need of exaggeration. So, they still kind of wanted to get in Xie Lian's good graces, so in the future they could beg Hua Cheng to show some mercy.
Xie Lian learned of this, and recalled how in the past Hua Cheng had demanded the Upper Court proclaim his heroic achievements for an entire year, and laughed. "Cheeky."
"This is not just a matter of cheekiness?" Mu Qing scolded. "Tell him to lay off a little, it's getting out of control. Right now, that bell is so noisy every day, no one can concentrate, and the entire Upper Court can't function. It even falls off time and time again, crashing on people. The new Heavenly Capital is finally rebuilt, don't let something like this destroy it again."
"Alright," Xie Lian said. "I'll tell him in a bit. While we're here, wanna try?" He pointed at the rice, noodles, and soups on the tables in the yard, and added, "I didn't make those."
When Mu Qing heard the first part his expression was cold, rejection written all over his face, and it only returned to normal after hearing the last part. Right then, Feng Xin had arrived too. He entered the yard just in time to brush by several other junior officials who were about to leave.
They made their greetings, then whispered:
"It's General Nan Yang."
"It's him. So sad, his wife and son ran off with some guy…"
Veins violently popped on Feng Xin's forehead as he roared his curses on the spot. "WHAT THE FUCK!!! AREN'T YOU GUYS TIRED OF THIS?! HOW MANY MONTHS HAVE YOU ALL PUSHED ME ON THIS?? ALSO! IT'S 'RAN AWAY'! NOT 'RAN OFF WITH SOME GUY'! FUCKING STOP SPREADING EMPTY RUMOURS!"
Those gossipy junior officials were terrified and hastily fled. Mu Qing stood on the side with his hands tucked in his sleeves.
"You might as well have not explained yourself, it only sounds even more embarrassing."
Feng Xin was outraged, seizing a broom on the side then throwing it over. Mu Qing caught it instantly, and snorted.
"This is old. You can't use this on me anymore."
Feng Xin was about to yell some more when Xie Lian walked over and stuffed another broom in his hands.
"Oh good, then how about this. Why don't both of you help me sweep this yard? We set off some firecrackers earlier, so the ground is covered in red scraps. Thanks. If you get bored you can train some idioms, okay."
"???"
After an hour, outside the temple there came the rowdy noise of human voices, coming closer and closer. The gathered guests in the yard looked out, and after a short while, a large crowd of people came pouring into the yard of Puqi Shrine, shouting.
"IS IT HERE?"
"IT'S HERE, OHO, LOOKS PRETTY IMPRESSIVE TOO."
"THERE'S REALLY RICE, SO MUCH RICE!"
"AND MEAT TOO!"
The grounds that Feng Xin and Mu Qing had just swept were once again filthy from that giant crowd of muddy feet. Mu Qing gripped his broom, looking like he felt someone had infected him with fleas, and his eyes were wide.
"…What's with those beggars?"
Before the crowd of beggars was a man leading them, his hair mussed, his clothes sweaty. It was Shi Qingxuan. He hobbled and hopped over, putting his hands together in courtesy.
"Your Highness, I've come to disturb you! So how about it, does what we agreed to last time still stand?"
Xie Lian laughed. "Everyone is very welcome, of course it stands! Please have a seat, have a seat."
"Isn't this too many people?" Mu Qing wondered.
"No!" Shi Qingxuan said. "All the old masters who helped in guarding the human array at the royal capital last year are here."
At the time when they were guarding the human array, Shi Qingxuan had promised the others that, after the deed was done, everyone would be treated to chicken legs, everyone was included. But after the deed was done, no one could be found, so that chicken leg treat was naturally never given. Today, they could finally fulfill the promise, and bowl after bowl of chicken leg noodles were delivered.
Shi Qingxuan called out, "EVERYONE, NO NEED TO HOLD YOURSELVES BACK TODAY! LET'S EAT!"
The crowd of beggars squeezed in from the tables to the ground, each of them cheering, then hugged their super big bowls slurping and slurping, chomp and chomp. As they ate, someone suddenly spoke up.
"Wait, something's wrong. There's the essence of evil!"
The crowd turned their heads to look, and that complaint was actually from Heaven's Eye and company.
Xie Lian felt his head ache. "How come you guys came too?"
"We helped out last time too," Heaven's Eye said. "So why can't we come?" Then he raised his bowl high up, his expression serious. "Everyone! Listen to me, I am definitely not wrong on this! There's essence of evil in the food in these bowls, so it's probably nothing good. It's very suspicious! Put your bowls down, quick!"
No one acknowledged him. The crowd of beggars had already finished eating one round, each raising their empty bowls. "ANOTHER ONE!"
Feng Xin and Mu Qing were using their brooms to fight while sweeping away the yard full of red scraps left over from firecrackers, but when they saw all the others look so content and fulfilled while eating, they sat down too, picking up a bowl themselves.
Just then, Heaven's Eye exclaimed furiously, "How come none of you listen to reason?!"
Then he got up, ready to go check the kitchens, but Shi Qingxuan held him back.
"Really, Daozhang, you think too much. This is Crimson Rain Sought Flower's territory, so it's normal to have the essence of monsters and demons. Fine, you're concerned, are you? I'll go take a look. You just sit there and don't get too riled up."
He really did rise to his feet and walked to where the kitchens were, lifting the curtains.
"You see, what's there to be suspicious—"
Xie Lian spoke up, "Wait, I'll go look too…"
However, when he, Shi Qingxuan, Feng Xin, and Mu Qing poked their heads in and looked, they were all stunned.
Inside the kitchen, there was a hunk of a boar butcher who was chopping on the cutting board like mad; if it wasn't for all the pork legs hung behind him, they'd think it was human legs he was chopping. On the side, a fire was lit under a giant pot, and within the pot was a long-necked rooster spirit who was having the time of his life scrubbing himself. When he saw there were people from the outside who'd seen him, he instantly screamed, his hands covering his chest.
Xie Lian was completely baffled, and hurried inside to whisper, "Didn't I say you can't do this?"
The rooster spirit cackled and slapped his chest in promise. "Grand uncle! We've taken baths before coming, very clean! Besides, this soup base has the effect of longevity, eating this won't harm anyone! No loss! Can consume with peace of mind!"
"…"
Shi Qingxuan silently dropped the curtains while Feng Xin and Mu Qing instantly threw away their bowls, spitting.
"I'd rather you cook!"
Xie Lian rubbed his forehead, feeling both amused and woeful. "They were adamant in helping, I couldn't say no. They're doing this out of goodness."
Right then, Heaven's Eye seemed to have finally found the group of them sneaking around rather suspicious, and came over too.
Xie Lian quickly stopped him. "What is it?"
He was afraid that, once Heaven's Eye saw the boar butcher and the others, he was going to start another riot. Yet unexpectedly, Heaven's Eye didn't come for those in the kitchen, but straight for him.
He circled Xie Lian a few times and wondered in confusion. "That's weird…"
"What is?" Xie Lian asked.
Heaven's Eye appeared puzzled and confused. "This isn't right, Xie Daozhang. How come the essence of evil on your body has gotten worse since last time?"
"…" Xie Lian lightly cleared his throat.
Mu Qing hmphed. "Hanging around a Ghost King all day, of course it'll get worse."
However, Heaven's Eye said, "No. Even then, it shouldn't be like this."
"Like what?" Feng Xin questioned.
After much hesitation, Heaven's Eye decided to be blunt. "How come the essence of evil on your body is now internal? It's…it's entirely emitted from the inside out of your body now."
"…"
"You've probably run into a major crime this time. What did you do? How come you're this ill?"
"…"
Xie Lian couldn't even cough anymore. His entire face was going to burst with blood.
Feng Xin and Mu Qing didn't understand at first, but after they thought about it, they both turned to stare at Xie Lian and fell silent.
"…"
Shi Qingxuan was the only one who couldn't wrap his head around it. "What is it? And so?
What's going on? Your Highness, are you really ill? Does Crimson Rain Sought Flower know?
He didn't take good care of you?!"
No no no. It was because of him that it was like this!
Xie Lian mumbled softly, "Um. Actually. No. Don't…I think, why don't you, hmm…"
A mess of images were filling his mind, and he confusedly uttered a pile of meaningless words. Suddenly, his back bumped into someone's chest. An arm wearing a silver vambrace circled his waist, and a familiar voice grinned.
"I think, why don't you all return to your seats, eat your food, and stop worrying about anything else? How's that?"
With this current situation, Xie Lian really didn't know whether he should feel absolved or even more awkward, and he exclaimed, "San Lang!"
The moment they saw Hua Cheng emerge, both Feng Xin and Mu Qing's faces looked complicated. But, before Xie Lian, they couldn't really say anything.
Only Shi Qingxuan still questioned, very seriously, "Crimson Rain Sought Flower, have you checked over His Highness' body?"
Xie Lian slapped his forehead, desperately hoping Shi Qingxuan wouldn't ask any more questions. Just then, the crowd of beggars started complaining:
"ONE MORE BOWL!"
"ADD MORE MEAT!"
"THIS CHICKEN SOUP IS SO BLAND, ADD MORE SALT!"
Mu Qing couldn't watch anymore. "Do you all know this is a temple? It's for worshipping gods, can you all watch yourselves a bit more?"
However, the crowd of beggars refused to take this. Last time, they held hands with many heavenly officials to hold down the human array, and they saw with their own eyes how some heavenly officials were trembling, fleeing last-minute, and couldn't even match them in valour. They were also acquainted with Shi Qingxuan, so they couldn't help but feel: so gods are like this. When life was on the line, they didn't seem that different than them, and so the gods no longer appeared so high and unapproachable, harsh and inviolable.
Suddenly, a surprised scream came from within the kitchen. "WHO'S THERE?"
Hearing this, Xie Lian's heart instantly lurched and he dashed into the kitchen. The boar butcher and the rooster spirit were screaming and shouting inside, and Xie Lian hastily comforted them.
"Calm down! Calm down! What's happened?"
The rooster spirit was so shaken that goosebumps popped all over his body. "GRAND UNCLE! THERE'S A GHOST! A ghost emptied all the food we've prepared! I only just dipped my head under the broth and when I came up there was not a bowl left! IT'S A GHOST!"
The boar butcher spat, "What are you so scared for! Aren't you a ghost yourself!"
Xie Lian was slightly perplexed. "How can that be? I clearly saw you guys make fifty-some bowls just now?"
"YEAH!"
But when he looked again, sure enough, all fifty-some bowls were empty, and even the broth was completely cleaned out!
Xie Lian was still feeling puzzled when he suddenly thought of someone, and when he turned around, he saw Hua Cheng was leaning against the door.
"San Lang, could this be?"
"More than likely," Hua Cheng replied flatly.
"En…" Xie Lian mused. "He probably also came to congratulate. Of course he's welcome, but he ate a bit much…now he's eaten all the food, what should we do?"
Hua Cheng smiled. "Nothing. Add to his interest."
The mob of troubled ghosts from Ghost City resignedly started to cook from scratch. Just then, clamouring noises came from the great hall and the yard, sounding as if someone had started quarreling with another person. Xie Lian was just about to go to mediate when Hua Cheng caught his hand and led him out through a side door.
The two walked out of Puqi Shrine holding hands. Upon the path there were trees blocking the way, and it would've been easier to traverse if they dropped their hands. But, neither of the two wanted to let go of the other's hand, so they twisted and turned, detouring and deviating.
As they meandered, Xie Lian asked, "San Lang, where are we going now?"
"It's too noisy here," Hua Cheng said. "Let them go riot, we'll leave first."
Xie Lian walked as he turned his head back, sounding a little worried, "Are we letting them be? Puqi Shrine was only just rebuilt, what if it caves in from the fight again?"
Hua Cheng didn't seem to care. "If it caves in, it caves in, we'll just build another one. If gege wants, you can have as many as you wish."
"Hahahahahaha…"
.
Night -time, within Qiandeng Temple. After bathing, Xie Lian was wearing a light, snow-white inner robe, leaning over the jaded table next to the divan, drawing stroke after stroke.
He was putting together a calligraphy copybook for Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng was reclined on the divan next to him, also wearing an inner robe, his collar slightly open. His fingers were twiddling that red coral pearl at the tail end of his hair, looking bored to death.
Under the lamplight that was tepid like jade, he had been gazing at Xie Lian all this time, and it was after having stared for a while before he squinted his eyes, appearing satisfied.
He sighed. "Gege, enough with that. Come rest now."
Xie Lian had just suffered his torment and was determined not to be tricked again. This tone of voice, however, made the tips of his ears burn, and he forced himself to stay calm, continuing to write.
He said with a stern voice, "No. San Lang, someone said your writing is ugly again today, you have to practice hard, alright? Otherwise, I don't want anyone to know you've been taught by me."
Hua Cheng sat up slightly, arching his brows. "Gege, I remember in the past you clearly said you liked my writing."
Ever since Hua Cheng had come back, for a long period of time Xie Lian was yielding and docile, answering his every whim. This was probably how he had finally spoiled Hua Cheng rotten, and how Hua Cheng had grown more and more sly. Xie Lian finished writing the characters and placed the brush down, sounding even more strict.
"Knock it off. I'm done, come practice."
Thus, Hua Cheng lazily shuffled to Xie Lian's back. Hugging his waist, he bent slightly, resting his head on his shoulder. He removed that red coral pearl from his hair and placed it on the paper, making it chase after Xie Lian's hand, rolling around, purposely obstructing Xie Lian from writing properly.
Such mischief, but at the same time so forceful in vaunting his sense of presence. Xie Lian remembered how Heaven's Eye had said his entire person was emitting the essence of evil "all over his body, from the inside out". This was all Hua Cheng's scent, and Xie Lian felt his heart go soft in spite of himself.
He struggled lightly and whispered, "…Write properly."
"Fine. I'll listen to gege," Hua Cheng said.
He raised his brush, but after two verses he put it back down. Xie Lian took a look and shook his head, mentally sighing for the umpteenth time, "It's hopeless." After a pause, he also raised a brush and helped Hua Cheng fill in the last two verses.
After he was done, Xie Lian blew lightly and picked up the paper, the two admiring the poem they'd written together.
The ink upon the paper had formed the four elegant phrases that had spread throughout heaven and earth:
"No water is enough when you have crossed the sea; No cloud is beautiful but that which crowns the peak. I pass by flowers that fail to attract poor me Half for your sake and half for Taoism I seek."
Even E-Ming, who was hanging by the tableside, was watching unblinkingly with its eye opened wide, seeming to fully admire the work.
Hua Cheng laughed. "Gege, quick, sign your name. These words will surely stun future generations and pass down through history."
Xie Lian had already authored Hua Cheng's name at the bottom earlier, but when he heard him, he really couldn't pick up the brush to add his own name. Hua Cheng finished laughing and pretended to be serious.
"Gege, are you embarrassed? I'll help you."
Then, he held Xie Lian's hand and wrote a couple words with rough strokes. Naturally, without this current scene, no one would be able to tell those were two words, and no one would be able to tell at all it was Xie Lian's name.
Xie Lian watched this thing written by his own hand, feeling ridiculous, wriggling his head by Hua Cheng's chest. Suddenly, he felt those couple of characters looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere else before.
A moment later, he remembered, and his eyes suddenly lit up. He exclaimed, "San Lang! On your arm!"
He caught hold of Hua Cheng's forearm, and pulled up his sleeve, exclaiming excitedly, "It's this!"
That period of time when the two had lived together in Puqi Shrine, there was one day when Xie Lian had noticed a worded tattoo on Hua Cheng's arm, looking like some characters from a foreign land. At the time he had even chewed on it in his mind, but he had never imagined that it wasn't some "foreign writing" at all. Turns out, it was his own name!
Hua Cheng also glanced at his own arm and laughed. "Does gege finally recognize it?"
"I should've recognized it a long time ago," Xie Lian said. "It's just…"
It's just, Hua Cheng's writing truly was the craft of the devil. He needn't have said anything and Hua Cheng could guess what he was thinking, and he started laughing heartily, a hand hugging Xie Lian's waist, giving his forehead a gentle peck.
"Don't worry, it's fine as long as gege's writing is beautiful. I would be a million times happier than if my writing was beautiful."
Xie Lian's hand caressed where the tattoo was. The ink of the tattoo was deep, and it was easy to imagine just how painful it had been.
He asked softly, "Was this done when you were little?"
Hua Cheng smiled and pulled his sleeve down, nodding.
Then, that was definitely something he had tattooed himself. Picturing the image of a small boy sneakily carving the name of the one he admired; such childishness. Such courage.
Ten fingers clasped tightly together with a red string entwined between. Suddenly, before Xie Lian's vision, there floated that scene of a year ago when Hua Cheng had dissipated into butterflies in Mount Tonglu.
That last moment, Hua Cheng had uttered something.
Although it was soundless, Xie Lian still knew exactly what he had said.
It was the words Hua Cheng had lived by since he was a child, and eternally thereafter beyond his death.
"I am forever your most devoted believer."
.
.
.
——————
[Folklore]
.
Once upon a time, they say that in the common world, there was a Scrap Immortal.
Although he is called the Scrap Immortal, what this immortal blesses aren't scrap collectors, but the peace of the mortal realm. This is because at the same time, he is also the strongest of martial gods.
There exists no evil he cannot vanquish, there are no ghosts he cannot slay. He possesses the power to annihilate the world, but he does not lack the heart to cherish the flower.
However, to worship a god, there come a set of rules and taboos. If one was to come by a temple that worshipped this immortal, one must never prostrate so casually.
Apparently, this Scrap Immortal has a special constitution, and will summon misfortune. Don't believe it? Prepare a dice, rub the hand of the immortal's divine statue, roll the dice, and your luck would for sure be the worst there is.
So, to pray to this Scrap Immortal's dusty-white divine statue might bring more and more bad luck the more one prays, to the point where even water can get stuck between teeth, or to see ghosts when wearing Daoist robes.
.
They also say that in the common world, there is such a Red-Robed Ghost King.
Although this Ghost King is considered to be inhuman, he possesses an immense number of worshippers. There are often those who would secretly set up a shrine of the Ghost King in their own abodes, worshipping day and night, praying for good fortune.
This is because, not only is this Ghost King invincible, it appears he has never tasted a single defeat, and his luck is comparably powerful.
Don't believe it? Before rolling the dice, prostrate before him. If he is willing to assist, then your next roll will definitely be exceptional.
However, ghosts aren't like gods, so naturally there are even more taboos. While this Ghost King is powerful, his personality is peculiar and extreme.
If he's happy, he'll help you even if you don't pray; if he's displeased, you can give a thousand gold and he will still turn away; if he is very displeased, who knows if one day he would just take your life.
So, by the same logic, it's best to show your respects, but stay far away.
.
However, if people worship the divine statues of this one god and one ghost together, then there will be a miracle.
That Red-Robed Ghost King will expel all the misfortune enveloping the Scrap Immortal, and let him reveal his true appearance.
People will shockingly discover that, it turns out, the Scrap Immortal's colours aren't dusty white, but shimmering gold.
.
Legends are usually based on truth. However, this is probably a tale from a long, long time ago. Maybe it would even need to be told starting from eight hundred years ago, and it would be a very, very long tale to tell. People might not have the patience to listen.
But, one thing can be certain: in order to have both of them display their strongest powers, the two must be worshipped together.
In this way, one can receive double the fortune, and twice the invincibility.
By the Heaven Official's Blessing, No Paths are Bound!
——
Story End
——
TGCF Postscript
On gentleness, dreams, something never to be given up on, and someone never to be forgotten.
Every time I write, the postscript always comes before the main text. When these words were written, the outline wasn't even fully fleshed out yet. Rather than a postscript, it's probably more so the conception before writing, and thoughts while writing.
(And, finally! This time the postscript doesn't begin with "finally".)
To have TGCF follow MDZS, the pressure is abnormally huge. I consider expectations to be a double-edged sword, which is why I always give out vaccination shots of warnings. Although I feel none of that worked.
But, at the beginning when I was planning setup and characters, what took hold of more wasn't nervousness, but an excitement for challenging a brand new world. So, let's write about some happy things first.
1. Folklore and Local Myths
In the second half of 2016 and the first half of 2017, in order to change pace and seek inspiration, I traveled to many places. I've always enjoyed folklore and local myths. I've visited many Buddhist temples and Daoist shrines, and the impulse to write TGCF came from this.
In Chinese mythology and legends, sometimes they would deify a real person, and worship them as "Saint", "God", "Grandmaster", etc., then tack on their lore afterwards. However, if I were to take any one of these pre-existing characters and use them for myself, there's going to be inevitable disputes over the corruption of whoever's sage. If the text is arranged in a way that comes from actual basis, then it'd become a whole other interpretation, but what's regretful is this author doesn't enjoy textual research. Furthermore, there's not really any sense of accomplishment in building from a pre-existing character, in the end it's still not as fun as making stuff up, so it's pure nonsense from the very first word of this work. An entire heaven full of Gods and Buddhas with severe mortal desires, each with their own awful habits and personalities, fighting, pulling, yanking, airing each other's dirty laundry all day. The air is thick with gossip and fireworks, none of them a single bit pure and refined, but they still stubbornly put on airs like they're high and mighty.
Someone asked me why every one of these heavenly officials all have skeletons in their closets, or were perplexed over why such crummy people can become heavenly officials too. It's very simple. Because I said so. I've said it at the very beginning too: ascension or not, entering the
heavens or not can all be determined by things such as ability, hard work, and shit luck, and very seldom does it have to do with ethics and morality.
This novel has some shadow of an adventure travelogue. For example, that pit where criminals are thrown down to be bitten and devoured by snakes, scorpions, and beasts, the rocky cave for sheltering from sandstorm, are all places I've seen in an ancient city in the Great Northwest. The windstorms in the northwest were too strong, I accidentally sprained my foot but still used my camera to take pictures furiously, what a brand new experience. But while strolling about in that magnificent and gloomy gigantic rock cave, admiring all those divine statues of various sizes in varying postures, my belief is further cemented:
I will write a love story between a god and his believer.
2. Love Story
In all three of my current novels, HuaLian is the pair with the most flavour of tradition in my opinion.
Let's talk about a small encounter first. While hiking in Yun'nan, I saw a very rundown, old Daoist shrine on a famous Daoist mountain. In the front hall is a damaged donation box and a plaque, very sincerely-written with "This Shrine is in Danger of Collapse, Please Kindly Donate." I laughed to death then donated Y100, and then, I saw the red flowering tree growing in this shrine.
The flowering tree was very, very tall, and centuries old. Apparently it's the world's tallest flowering tree, still blooming beautifully and ardently. At the time, most of the character designs for TGCF were already set, so when I saw this, it felt like an amazing coincidence.
When it comes to character designs, the Shou's were decided on first for the first two novels, but I was torn over the Gong's for a long time, and needed a run-in period. Hua Cheng, however, was an exception. Inspiration struck and there he was; inspiration struck again, and I blinded one of his eyes.
In the design, Hua Cheng's father is a man of Xianle's royal capital, but his mother is an evil beauty of a foreign ethnicity, so when Hua Cheng first appeared, he'd have a small trace of a foreign culture.
In the outline, I referenced many ethnicities to determine this foreign ethnicity. The tattoo is an example; it seems many ethnic tribes have the custom of tattooing, and a tattoo would make Hua Cheng feel somewhat rebellious and a teeny bit juvenile, plus the sexiness of being childish. As for maple leaves, butterflies, silver accessories, beast totems, etc. are elements that are fairly easy to guess which ethnicity they're from, since there's a lot of information on that. Still, I hope absolutely no one will bring in any actual ethnicities into this, since my
understanding is very shallow after all, so let's keep things, foremost, imaginary. If this causes any misunderstandings for anyone in real life it'd be very troublesome. Besides, since I formally decided on Hua Cheng's personality while traveling in Shanghai, technically his birthplace is Shanghai. Other than manipulating some foreign wicked tricks later, Hua Cheng lived in the Kingdom of Xianle for over ten years, so the Han culture has a deeper influence on him (what are you blabbering all seriously about).
In the abandoned draft, Hua Cheng often sang to his beloved a love song in a long-lost language his mother taught him. If Xie Lian asked what he's singing, he'd blink slyly and tell nonsense. But as the novel progressed, I realized Hua Cheng's parents and his background didn't necessarily need to be written, so we can just chat about this setup then let it go, it's not important.
In any case, Hua Hua is a good boi. Whether he's smiling fakely, or if he's got a little silver chain on his boots, all of his designs and related decisions came fast and delightfully. My greatest happiness is to change his clothes and give him new appearances, and felt regret that I couldn't manage to put together ten sets. Hopefully I can work on this during the edit!
It was actually the Shou, Xie Lian, who tortured me for up to half a year's time. When the novel started serializing, I was still torn over him for a long time.
My feelings towards him are more complicated in comparison. It's not that I dislike him; trust me, my likes and dislikes are very easy to guess. I like men who, the moment they emerge, make people say "ah, that's someone with a story!". But, he's one of the biggest reasons why this novel was painful for me.
In the past, when I write, even if I'm not familiar with the character at the beginning, I can usually grasp the feeling within three days. But for Xie Lian, I was still struggling even after five, six days, and my heart lurched.
One of the tags on the novel is "Inspirational" because Xie Lian is a "loser".
He must experience youthful ignorance, overestimation of his own abilities, have been laughable, been foolish, made mistakes, despaired, felt hatred, gone crazy. But he can't run, and he can't hide; everything is what it is. All this was killing me. Not just within the text, but outside the text too. My mediation was useless, and I've no energy anymore either, so in order not to be affected, I stopped looking at comments altogether.
Since I always habitually vaccinate myself before a serialization begins, speculating on all the worst possible scenarios and preparing myself mentally, by the time serialization started I had already expected how all the negative comments would go down. But after much hesitation, I still thought, why not try all different kinds of characters? I haven't tried writing a main character like this before.
But the most important thing is, by my instincts, someone like Hua Cheng will most definitely love someone like this. So, after a good half a year's worth of qualms, in the end I still typesetted him: It's you!
This is a love story. It's about gentleness, dreams, something never to be given up on, and someone never to be forgotten.
During middle school and high school, sometimes I'd write some mind-boggling stories, but I've always had a random fixation, the belief that a person shouldn't see love as their life. They must have their own ambitions, their own ideals, their own goals in life, blah blah blah, otherwise they won't have their own soul, not independent, blah blah blah. But, later this idea slowly began to change. Because I realized, although I'm always saying people shouldn't put so much emphasis on love, truthfully, what attracts my eyes the most is oftentimes the people whose emotions are so powerful they're like moths to flames. Does this count as the body being truthful while the mouth lies? Either way, after realizing this, I can't help but think what I thought when I was young is too arrogant and single-faceted.
How can someone love another so deeply with abandon? Is it laughable? It's too incredible, can it really be done to that degree? They must have obsessive disorders! There's probably not one in a million! But then when I think about it, a shocking dummy like Xie Lian, who works hard but pleases no one, refusing to look back even with his head cracked open, is equally hard to find one in a million. So if looked at in this way, then the two of you really are made for each other.
I've seen you at your worst, but so what.
You are my dream.
3. Weirdass hobby and silly dailies outlook
At first, the foundation I set for TGCF is "warmth". I wanted this story to be a bit soft, a bit sexy, a bit healing, a bit simple. So, at the beginning, the outline was putting all the efforts into going in the direction of fresh, newstyle traditional village life (?). Everyday, they'd grow some vegetables, drink some tea, maybe beat up some little monsters or demons who are causing trouble, assist the elderly Jun Wu cross the street, or something similar (???). To this end, I drank a ton of chicken soup to brainwash myself, hoping to nourish a pair of compassionate eyes to see the world.
But, reality is proof, right now I still prefer the heavier and more colourful worldly desires and emotions, that desperate love and hate. Every time I'm writing a character, I always secretly anticipate when they would suddenly explode in madness. I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU TO DEATH ! ! ! ! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU GO DIE! ! ! LET ME DIE! ! ! ! LET ME DIE AAAAHHHHHH! ! ! SAVE ME! SAVE ME! SAVE ME! SAVE ME! (…)
For example, Black Water ripping 15° (Shi Wudu) apart with bare hands, how did I manage to burst out 8k-10k [words] all of a sudden? It's because that didn't require thinking at all; the dialogue and script were both bang bang bang shooting out like a machine gun. I never thought about why a character would say this or do that, I'm only very certain that they were going to say this and do that from the beginning. For example, why did 15° try to strangle Shi Qingxuan before he died? Before I had the time to ponder the "why", I've already written it out, he's already done it. It's only after that I understood, ah, why he did what he did. And this "understanding", is only my own speculation on his psychology. In any case, he's the one who went to strangle, I didn't make him do it!
But, although the work didn't end up warm, I made it comedic. I actually really enjoy writing comedies, and I like writing dailies too. From the very beginning, I had hoped TGCF would have daily life and adventures go hand in hand, that there are horrific cases and battling to pass a level, but also clowning around and friendly visits too. But I'm not used to it yet, so my manipulation of it is still not proficient enough.
4. Serialization
The keywords for the process of writing this work are: feeling lost and pain.
I've mentioned it at the start, when I first began writing the outline, I was feeling really gung ho about it. But then the closer to the end, the more painful it became.
Maybe no one will believe me, but TGCF was originally only intended to be 36k [words], so the outline was only 5k. The reason I said I was going to archive the whole novel was because this count was what I had predicted. Of course, everyone should know very well that I'm never accurate in predicting word count. Who knew that no matter how I wrote, nothing felt right, and I've changed several different versions for the opening alone. Even now I'm still not satisfied with this opening. Of all the three openings, SVSSS is the one I'm the most pleased with.
Anyway, it was under these distressful and confused circumstances that I saved a bunch of manuscripts. This is the first time I've ever saved manuscripts for such a long time, but I still felt the result wasn't good enough, so a lot of manuscripts were abandoned. At the time, I really couldn't figure it out, I was really anxious, and the thought of "maybe I won't start with this novel, change to a different one", had crossed my mind, but the preview had already gone out, so it wouldn't sound very good if I changed my mind at the last minute. Besides, I've already written so much, if I didn't use it, wouldn't it be a waste? So I could only continue to sink into this investment. The end result is my speed became slower and slower, and the conclusion was nowhere in sight.
In the end I still thought, this won't do. If it kept going like this, it'd be two years and I still wouldn't finish! Should I stimulate myself? So, without thinking much further, let's start! And so I released chapters as I edited (practically rewriting the whole thing), all the while writing new text,
burning out. Until finally, (midway through the serialization) I've finally discovered the reasons for all the difficulties. It's complicated and specific, so I won't lay it out.
I did have plans to write million+ k words of a long serialization, but, it should've been something that'd take place many years later, I hadn't expected it to be so soon. TGCF is a complete accident, I haven't matured yet, this took me by surprise. It already takes me a long time to think things up, a novel of this length should've taken me at least three years' time to figure out the outline, but dragging on for this long is absurd. Had I known the content was going to be this huge, I probably would've approached the outline much differently.
But, these are the things that you'll never know beforehand. You'll only know when you do it, it's the same for doing anything. Unless the pen is on the paper, it's nothing but talk.
In any case, the arrow on the bow must shoot. Since it's shot, then I must grit my teeth and persevere to the end.
Writing a serialization is a high-stress affair. I know there are authors who can update fast and update good, but I know I'm not one of them.
When I think about things, I chew for a long time. Before in the past when I wrote, the average speed was 5k in half a year, so daily updates are a struggle for me. Moreover, my shape is sometimes good, sometimes bad. When I'm not stuck the speed is 1k3, in such cases my reaction is also fairly good; but when I'm stuck it really is suffering. I'm not satisfied with the text I squeeze out when I'm stuck, and somewhat impolite comments would also appear when that happens. That's when I'd get depressed, and the vicious cycle continues.
TGCF is definitely the one novel that's brought me the most pain; I often felt powerless, almost suffocatingly so, and every day I'd wonder if this was training to strengthen my ability against pressure. Plus, the large-scale rumours since MDZS still haven't stopped even now, and mud is slung at me at every given opportunity, so I really am tired. If it wasn't because I'm especially free, I wouldn't even have the energy to say much. Plus the many troubles of real life, after these eight months of carrying this burden, no joke, I'm really going bald.
It's just such a headache. Archive, and I don't think it'd work out, the speed too slow. Serialize, but daily updates really are too exhausting, with a bunch of other issues on top of that. There's cons and pros for each, I'm still trying to figure out how to solve this awkward problem.
I don't want to hide anything either. I know many people have come to read TGCF at first because of MDZS. I'm not gonna lie, I don't think that's a very good thing.
I've also mentioned this at the beginning, that high expectations are a double-edge sword, so I've vaccinated from the very start: you guys will never see a second MDZS again.
Besides, it's been one to two years between the start of TGCF's opening and MDZS's ending, so I had thought, maybe it's faded some?
But it was still useless. Only a few chapters in of the serialization, and the problems I had long thought of poked their heads out, and persisted until midway, towards the end, and they're still there even when the story's concluded, so I suppose the bickering will continue. I keep wondering whether I should've started with a modern-day story instead, that way at least no one would compare a present-day world with the ancient world.
But, what can I do. In truth, most readers and authors only have the bond of one or two books; liking one book doesn't necessarily mean liking the other books. Times like these I don't think people should ask for too much. Authors don't ask too much of readers, and readers don't ask too much of authors. After all, writing and reading are both very personal and subjective affairs.
I never promise "Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed!", just…I'm writing for myself, if you like it then read it, if you don't like it then drop it.
I know better than anyone the good and bad of TGCF.
Just taking myself for example, in the process of writing this work, sometimes I'd get the feeling of being bound, unable to stretch out my limbs, so anxious that I'm rolling all over the ground. But there are some parts where I think are rather interesting. I can't bear to look at the parts that I'm dissatisfied with, but the parts I like, I really love.
However, even though so much blood and sweat are spilt, I still wasn't able to achieve the result I wanted, but there's no reason why I can't take this as training when the level of difficulty suddenly jumped exponentially.
Besides, I still believe there are many readers who like it. Even if there's only thousands who truly love it, that's good too, it's worth it. That means this almost a year's worth of all-nighters, hair loss, mental blood vomit weren't for naught.
5. Editing
Right now the story's current form is still somewhat far from what I had in mind at the beginning, so I still plan on fixing it a little.
Editing is actually not that great of a thing, because most readers won't be looking back, the life of a web novel is too short, so in a few years maybe no one will remember this work anymore. Plus, pirated repost rates are too high, there are many who don't read the original and go to download the TXT instead, so even if I edit, the outside would rumour it to be pirated, so it's pretty helpless. Or, readers get attached to the old work, and think the older version is better, scorning the new version instead.
But to me, the serialization really is too rushed. I want to at least have those who enjoy this story see a better version of it. Of course, the most important thing being I myself want to see it.
Nonetheless, I still hope I can figure out a way to get rid of this habit from now on.
The new version will unlock some brand new plot and maps. Those who are interested can just take this as a Tuesday Special, those who aren't can just leave it.
But because writing this really hurt me too deeply, and the length is too long, it's a huge production, so I won't be able to finish it that fast. Maybe it'll be after the fourth novel, maybe before that, I can't say. We'll see what life has in store.
Or maybe because I'm exhausted. The structure is already set so there can't be any major changes, after all, JJ has really troublesome restrictions when it comes to editing. I can't promise too much right now, we'll see after a few days' rest.
6. Grim Reaper
The preview for the new novel "Grim Reapers Get No Days Off" is already out. You can see it when you enter the Author's Bulletin, or maybe I'll add the link in a bit. Starts 2018, modern-day danmei. The subject is weird so I don't know how to categorize it.
The outline of this work was actually produced at the same time as TGCF. At the time, I struggled a bit in picking who to start with first, very indecisive, but in the end it was because Hua Cheng was born first, and Qiu Chi was born a teeny bit after, so TGCF it was.
If people are interested, then take a look, if not that's fine too, we'll see…still, vaccination first: This is my first time writing modern-day danmei, there's definitely going to be all sorts of random attempts and experimentations. I don't know how many people will really accompany me in going all the way, but whatever, come if you want. I'll be off first.
—MXTX 2018.02.25