“My lord, it’s not that we intend to lower the price, but you know the current market for our bookstore. Besides, other novels have romantic plots with beautiful women and handsome men, and they are entangled for nine lives and nine generations. Your novel doesn’t even have a plot where the male and female protagonists stab each other. It doesn’t read well enough.”
“Boss, I don’t agree with you on that. If lovers are stabbing each other with knives, how can they stay together? Can that even be considered true love?”
“You’re a writer, so what do you know about true feelings? What we need is a life-and-death struggle, a blood feud, and preferably a death pact. Then we’ll have it all?”
“This won’t do. I can’t write it.” carpreads.pages.dev
“My lord, I can’t raise the price of your book either.”
Jiu Hui and Zhi You crouched behind the bookshelf, listening to their usually taciturn Eldest Senior Brother unexpectedly speaking so much to the bookstore owner. Zhi You was quite surprised, and even more surprised that Eldest Senior Brother secretly loved to write novels.
Jiu Hui whispered to Zhi You, “It seems I guessed correctly. Eldest Senior Brother really does like to write and record things.”
“Miss, sir, what books are you looking for?” The clerk looked at the two with suspicion. If they hadn’t been dressed so well, he would have almost called for help.
When Jiu Hui turned her head and the waiter saw her face clearly, he was shocked and exclaimed, “Miss Jiu?!”
“What are you doing?” The attendant was even more confused.
Zhi You spoke first, “The gentleman speaking with the shopkeeper inside, is he Bo Xia Xiaoyao*?”
TN: roughly “the free and unfettered Bo”
Bo Xia Xiaoyao, the author of the zhuixu series.
“Ah?” The attendant was stunned for a moment, then nodded. “Yes!”
Jiu Hui reacted instantly and exclaimed, “He’s Bo Xia Xiaoyao? That’s great, we all love his books!”
When going out, one must give enough face to the Eldest Senior Brother.
The clerk stared blankly at Jiu Hui and Zhi You. He never expected that Bo Xia Xiaoyao would have a reader like Miss Jiu.
Yan Bo was arguing with the bookstore owner about the plot when he suddenly heard voices behind him. He turned around and saw Jiu Hui and Zhi You. His honest face flushed red.
“Mister, I never thought that you were the one who wrote so many wonderful stories. It’s a rare pleasure to meet you today. Please do us the honor of having a drink with us!”
“Ah?” Yan Bo looked at Jiu Hui in confusion. It had only been ten days since they last saw each other, so why was his little junior sister calling him “Mister” now?
“Mister.” Jiu Hui ran to Yan Bo and grabbed his arm. “Mister, you must be the God of Literature who descended to the mortal world. You’ve written such a good article that it’s left us readers breathless.”
“Please follow me, Mister!”
Flanked by Jiu Hui and Zhi You as they left the bookstore, Yan Bo was too stunned to feel embarrassed that his junior siblings had discovered his book.
Who am I?
Where am I?
The bookstore owner and his assistant watched Yan Bo’s departing figure, their expressions filled with shock and emotion.
They never thought that a writer would have such passionate readers.
“Boss, I think the books written by Bo Xia Xiaoyao are quite original,” the clerk said. “Compared to those books about young masters and young ladies, his zhuixu series is more popular with the girls.”
“The protagonist in his book is not a man, so why are there more women buying the book?”
“Probably… the male protagonists in his book are more self-disciplined.” The waiter wiped the counter and whispered, “They also said that men who are not self-disciplined are like rotten cabbages that even dogs don’t want to eat.”
Boss: …
How about giving Bo Xia Xiaoyao a little more compensation for the next book?
“The handsome young master of a wealthy family, the queen’s favorite…” Jiu Hui flipped through the books in her hand and saw that Eldest Senior Brother Yan Bo’s ears were flushed. She coughed and said, “Eldest Senior Brother, the titles of your books are quite creative.”
When Yan Bo heard Jiu Hui complimenting him on the titles he had chosen for his book, he immediately perked up and gave a modest smile. “Choosing a title like this is more likely to attract readers.”
“Eldest Senior Brother, I have a story here. Can you help me write it?” Jiu Hui returned the book to Yan Bo. “I promise it will have life and death, and no shortage of grudges and love affairs.”
“Little Junior Sister, you don’t understand us writers.” Yan Bo tucked the book into his arms. “We writers least like to write other people’s stories. It’s uninspiring and unemotional.”
Jiu Hui took out a purse filled with spirit stones.
“It’s not a matter of money or not. I write stories because I love it.” Yan Bo glanced at the purse, unmoved. “I can’t do this job.”
“There’s a spatial formation in the pouch, with 100,000 spirit stones inside.”
“How much?!” Yan Bo thought he had misheard.
“One hundred thousand spirit stones.” Jiu Hui lowered her voice, her face full of mystery. “I can also tell you some of the grudges and love affairs related to Bu Ting. When the book is finished, I will pay to help you print it into a book and have your book placed in all the bookstores in the city.”
Yan Bo reached out and stuffed the purse into his sleeve. “It’s not a question of money or not. I mainly want to help you, Little Junior Sister. Tell me, what do you want me to write?”
The author was a man of integrity, but helping his little junior sister was an exception.
What’s more, his little junior sister helped him sell books to various cities. Which writer could resist such a temptation?
“The protagonist’s name will be Bu Ting*.”
TN: different Chinese characters, same sounds
“Junior Sister, isn’t this name a bit too obvious?”
“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, the story written by Bo Xia Xiaoyao is not related to our Wangshu Pavilion,” Jiu Hui comforted her. “Feel free to write it. I guarantee that your book will be sold far and wide throughout the mortal world. Maybe even the demon world and the yao world will read this book.”
“I wouldn’t dare to think about that.” Despite his words, Yan Bo’s hand honestly took out a pen and began to record the story from Jiu Hui’s mouth.
“Let’s call the other female protagonist Mu Qi*.” Jiu Hui took the pen from Yan Bo’s hand, wrote the characters “Mu Qi” on the paper, and continued to make up the story.
TN: also different characters but same sounds
“Are you saying that Bu Ting tricked Mu Qi into losing her life, cuckolded the Demon King, guarded against his own disciple, and even wanted to scheme against his former fiancée?” After listening to Jiu Hui’s story, Yan Bo looked at the name “Bu Ting” on the paper and felt disgusted. “Little Junior Sister, I can’t write this story. I’ve never written about such a disgusting protagonist before.”
“Add another 50,000 spirit stones.” Jiu Hui continued to pull out a purse from her sleeve. “I guarantee that you can sell this book to the bookstore in the Demon Clan.”
“It’s not that I like money, I mainly want to try transforming and challenging something difficult.” Yan Bo put the money in his sleeve. “Just writing like this isn’t exciting enough. Why don’t we add a little more plot? For example, Bu Ting’s fiancée has a very… close relationship with Mu Qi, but Bu Ting is jealous of his fiancée’s talent.”
“And here, Bu Ting colluded with the Demon Consort only to trick her into revealing information about the Demon Realm. He never truly loved her.” Yan Bo swiftly added the plot to the paper. “The ending can’t be about him having a noble status and suffering from endless loneliness. He must lose his reputation and all his wealth and power.”
Under Yan Bo’s series of adaptations, the story’s protagonist was finally changed to Mu Qi. Although the plot Jiu Hui mentioned was still there, describing the story from Mu Qi’s perspective made it easier for people to empathize with the emotions.
“As expected of the Eldest Senior Brother!”
If you’re going to spread rumors, you have to do it professionally.
“I’ll finish writing tonight, print it tomorrow, and within three days, I’ll have this book spread throughout the human, yao, and demon realms!” Jiu Hui grabbed Yan Bo’s arm. “Eldest Senior Brother, you’re truly the reincarnation of the Star of Literature!”
Yan Bo smiled honestly, feeling the two pouches in his sleeves, and said cheerfully, “Don’t worry, Little Junior Sister, I’ll definitely finish writing this story tonight.”
If he hesitated for even a moment, it would be disrespectful to the 150,000 spirit stones.
She said that if she wanted to spread the book to the three realms of humans, demons, and yaos, she would definitely spread it throughout the three realms. As soon as the books were printed, someone came to collect them. Yan Bo stared at these people who were carrying the books and asked Jiu Hui in a low voice, “Little Junior Sister, where did you find so many people?”
“I have a little bit of a connection with the young master of the Yuzhen Sect.” Jiu Hui used her hand to indicate a small distance. “Young Master Jin wouldn’t refuse such a small favor.”
So my little junior sister was serious?
“That demon clan and yao clan…”
“Hmm, didn’t you notice that a yao and a demon came to get the book just now?” Jiu Hui said with an indifferent expression, “How could I not fulfill my promise to Eldest Senior Brother?”
Yan Bo was silent for a long time, watching Jiu Hui command the people in the house to fetch books, and secretly pulled Zhi You aside: “Little Junior Brother, tell me honestly, did Immortal Venerable Bu of the Jiutian Sect offend Junior Sister?”
Zhi You shook his head. “It’s not that he offended Little Senior Sister.”
Yan Bo heaved a sigh of relief.
“He offended both of us.”
That sigh was back again, and Yan Bo asked with concern, “Did he bully you?”
Zhi You recounted the events that had transpired at the Jiutian Sect.
“This is going too far. Even if he is the sect master of a major sect, he shouldn’t be so excessive.” Yan Bo regretted it a little. If he had known, he should have written the ending of that “Bu Ting” more miserably to vent his anger.
“It’s fine.” Zhi You smiled, a rare sight. “We won’t hold it against him.”
Since they had a grudge, they would take revenge on the spot and also write it down in a small notebook to settle old scores at any time.
“No, this matter must be recorded in our sect’s records.” Yan Bo couldn’t swallow this insult. “When we get back, I’ll add this incident to the records.”
The thickest account book in the cultivation world was the sect record of Wangshu Pavilion.
In a certain year and month, if a certain sect scolded its own disciple, it would be recorded in the sect’s records, let alone such a major event!
Seeing Yan Bo so angry, Zhi You, who was not good at speaking, racked his brains to persuade him for a long time before Yan Bo’s mood improved.
“Junior Brother,” Yan Bo teased casually, “You like the zhuixu series so much, are you planning to become a zhuixu in someone’s family?”
He had only been joking, but unexpectedly his little junior brother’s face gradually turned red. He looked at Zhi You in shock: “You’re still so young, and you already don’t want to work hard?!”
Zhi You: “…”
It seemed that the Eldest Senior Brother had misunderstood his meaning.
“Who do you want to be a zhuixu for?” Yan Bo thought carefully. His little junior brother always followed his little junior sister around on a daily basis, and he had never seen him interact with any rich older sisters. Where would he go to be a zhuixu?
Zhi You blushed, but still remained silent.
Recalling the generous elders in Jiu Hui’s village, Yan Bo suddenly realized, “Could it be Jiu Hui’s…”
a certain elder of her family?
Before Yan Bo could finish speaking, he saw his junior brother secretly glance into the room with a flushed face.
His mind roared as he finally understood. He pointed at Zhi You and stammered, “You, you…”
“Senior Brother, Zhi You, what are you talking about?” Jiu Hui clapped her hands and walked out with a smile. “We finally finished sorting all these books.”
“N-nothing.” Yan Bo shook his head in a panic. “I was just talking to my little junior brother about dinner.”
“Eat?” Jiu Hui glanced at the sky. “Are you hungry?”
“Let’s go eat. It’s my treat.” Jiu Hui thought for a moment and called over Yu Li and the others. The six of them gathered around a table, lively and cheerful.
“This is my Eldest Senior Brother.” Jiu Hui said to the three yaos, “Eldest Senior Brother has always taken good care of me and Zhi You.”
Upon hearing this, Bai Yan raised his wine cup and thanked Yan Bo.
Yan Bo was originally a simple-minded person, so after a while, he and Bai Yan became sworn brothers, and their relationship warmed up rapidly.
Kong Cangnan looked at Bai Yan with disdain. He was really shameless. He even wanted to curry favor with Jiu Hui’s human senior brother.
“I heard from Jiu Hui that you’re leaving for your village tomorrow.” Yan Bo set down his wine cup. “I wish you a safe journey.”
“Many thanks, Brother Yan.” Bai Yan raised his wine cup. “It’s rare for us to leave the village, so I ask for your kind attention to Jiu Hui… little sister.”
Kong Cangnan looked up and glanced at Bai Yan, who smiled faintly at him.
“Jiu Hui is the youngest junior sister in the sect. Everyone in the sect likes her, even the cats and dogs in the sect like her the most.” Yan Bo smiled: “Since we are from the same sect, we are a family. Brother Bai, you are too polite.”
“Brother Yan is right, my words were too polite.” Bai Yan apologized to him. After learning that the young master was doing well in the sect, he was relieved.
It seemed that the young master’s undercover career had been very successful.
The meal was enjoyed by all, but as soon as Yan Bo left, Bai Yan and Kong Cangnan returned to the inn and got into a fight.
“Why are you so angry, Young Master Kong? I only called ’little sister’ because of our identities when we’re out and about.” Bai Yan played with the jade flute in his hand. “If we’re not careful, won’t we expose the identity of the Young Master?”
After saying this, he turned around and left, accidentally bumping into the chair that Zhi You had suddenly moved over.
He clutched his lower abdomen and looked up at Zhi You.
“My apologies, I didn’t see you coming.” Zhi You moved his chair and nodded slightly at Bai Yan. “Be careful next time.”
Bai Yan: “…”
“Little Bai, watch where you’re going.” Yu Li walked in with a bowl of brown sugar glutinous rice cakes for Jiu Hui. “Have you packed everything? We’ll be leaving soon.”
“I’ve put it away.” Bai Yan forced a smile. He had no idea what Zhi You had done to this chair, but it hurt like hell when he bumped into it.
The group of five boarded the luxurious carriage and left Taolin City under the cover of night. Jiu Hui lifted the curtain and glanced back, saying to Zhi You, “I wonder if Senior Zhang will come to our Wangshu Pavilion.”
“He will,” Zhi You said. “He used to be the Grand Elder of the Jiutian Sect. Other sects would not dare to keep him in their sects out of respect for the Jiutian Sect.”
However, Wangshu Pavilion was different. As long as they took out their sect’s jade token and said that Zhang He had a connection with their sect, the other sects would not interfere. And the Jiutian Sect, because they felt guilty towards Jiu Hui, would not say much either.
As night fell, the exhausted prisoners of the quarry dragged their weary bodies back to the city, their path crossing with the carriage carrying Jiu Hui.
Zhang San seemed to sense something, and he turned his head to look at the luxurious carriages.
It was Jiu Hui’s carriage.
“Stop looking,” the mortal beside him whispered. “This must be some rich family from the city.”
A small origami bird flew in front of Zhang San. He reached out to catch it, and the bird transformed into a letter.
[The Great Elder of the Jiutian Sect has left the Jiutian Sect. I have invited him to be an Elder of the Wangshu Pavilion. If you, master and disciple are fated, you will reunite.]
Zhang San read these few short lines over and over again, and then he put them away carefully.
In recent days, he had been working tirelessly, but he had gradually come to understand many things.
What were morality, justice, kindness, good, and evil…
But the person he felt most sorry for was his master who had raised him for many years.
Recalling the past, he felt ashamed to meet his master, but he also wanted to know if his master was well.
-—–
“It’s still several days before the New Year, but the cities in the mortal world have already started hanging red lanterns.” As the carriage passed by one city after another, Yu Li noticed that many of the city gates were already adorned with bright red lanterns.
“Mm,” Jiu Hui said. “For ordinary people, New Year’s Eve is the most important festival. Even the most mischievous children can get away with two fewer beatings during the New Year’s Eve period.”
“Why?” Yu Li asked curiously.
“Because it’s a big holiday and we don’t beat children.” Jiu Hui had a vague premonition of something bad. She tried to calculate it, but her calculation skills were too poor, so she couldn’t figure out anything. She asked the other four, “Do you have a bad feeling?”
The three yaos shook their heads.
Zhi You lifted the curtain and glanced at the carriage that had already flown over the city. The Nushen Mountain loomed in the distance. He turned his head to look at the four clueless yaos, wanting to say something but stopped himself.
As soon as the carriage entered Nushen Mountain, the coachman and the maid guards all turned back into puppets and returned to Jiu Hui’s hands. Jiu Hui took out a token, and the carriage successfully passed through Nushen Mountain and landed at the entrance.
The little yaos guarding the entrance saw Jiu Hui and Zhi You appear, and they all took a step back in unison.
“You’re back already?” Uncle Wu, dressed in black, appeared. He folded his arms and looked at the five of them. “I thought you were going to lead the three clans.”
Jiu Hui’s heart trembled. She finally knew what the ominous premonition was.
Author’s Note
Little Garlic Chive: My grandpa, my grandma, my uncle, my aunt, please listen to my excuses!
Zhi You: Jiu Hui is not wrong! The world is wrong!
Wangshu Pavilion: Holds a grudge