Chapter 4

Alright.

Actually, there's no drama.

Because if I didn't use the sensational headline,

the most pathetic me on Qidian,

would know for sure that no one would click into this chapter full of槽点 (槽点 means槽点, which can be translated as "pitfalls" or "flaws" in English, but in this context, it refers to the author's self-deprecating humor about the chapter being full of flaws or jokes) of a certain pathetic author's self-indulgent rambling QAQ.

Well.

After a year.

This single chapter is mainly to talk about how I'm back to the dead-end path of writing, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, I'm back [throwing flowers][throwing flowers][throwing flowers]

Recently, due to well-known reasons, I've been very idle, so idle that during the transition between spring and summer, I actually had a brain fart and wanted to find a girlfriend. I know I must be sick, and it's a serious illness.

Because only someone who is desperate would look for a girlfriend. Women are all big pigs' trotters, and as a steel straight man, isn't being single more fragrant? Whoever gets out of the single life first is a dog duck!

Only writing can make me forget about the desperate idea of finding a girlfriend due to being too idle.

Because writing makes a fat otaku, writing makes one bald, writing makes one oily-faced, writing makes one age faster, writing leaves no time to go out to watch movies, have meals, or travel, and writing has too many drawbacks, which is a dead-end path. So, writing can't find a girlfriend and will be alone [covering face and crying][covering face and crying][covering face and crying]

Although I know very well,

once I start writing again,

I will have to return to a life with no time to go out to watch movies, have meals, or travel, and return to a life of endless days and nights, working day and night without a break.

But!

Single dogs, please join me in shouting loudly: Women are all big pigs' trotters!

Ps: Why did I choose this new book, "The White Bone Sage?"

Well.

On April 24th, I told my editor that I would start a new book in early May. I discussed this issue with my editor.

The editor asked: What genre do you plan to write for the new book?

I answered: I want to write a novel about gods and monsters, although this genre is already saturated in the market. If you open the fantasy or xianxia charts, five out of ten books are of this genre. Qidian readers are already tired of it, and it's hard to achieve good results.

Under such a completely saturated market, my editor and I estimated that "The White Bone Sage" would flop, and the initial subscription numbers would be very poor. It's estimated that the first subscription numbers would struggle to reach 3000.

Actually, I have other better ideas, and urban novels could perform better with less pressure, but I ultimately chose "The White Bone Sage" as the theme. Because I want to make up for the regrets and unfinished plots of "There Are Demons Here," and complete the remaining four-fifths of the settings that were not fully written in "There Are Demons Here."

"The White Bone Sage" can be seen as a half-prequel to "There Are Demons Here."

The unfinished plots and settings in "There Are Demons Here" will all be filled in the new book "The White Bone Sage."

For example, the origins of Pipi Jing, Chuanyang Yang, Guimu... the origins of the City God, the origins of the Mountain God, the tragic and fierce battle between the City God and the Mountain God, and what revived after the Mountain God. These plots will all be filled in.

For example, in addition to the special professions such as the Line Connector, the Corpse Carrier, the Corpse Diver, the Paper Maker, and the Voodoo Master, I have planned and recorded over sixty to seventy other special professions in my documents, such as the Yin Side Sorcerer, the Face Sticker Official, the Mountain Walker, the Questioner, the Grave Mover, the Kui Star Kicker...

And this is just a temporary plan. In the future, there might be more inspiration, and I will continue to add more special professions.

With so many special professions, it's impossible to finish them in a short time, so the world I originally set up in "There Are Demons Here" is very vast. Each time the spiritual energy revives, it gradually leads to more and more special professions and City Gods, involving a total of about 8 million words to complete the story.

Of course, this is just one setting. A book, in addition to professions, definitely has many other extended settings, like a world tree with lush branches and leaves, spreading out in all directions.

Therefore, the planned word count for "The White Bone Sage" will also be around 600-800 million words, involving a very vast setting.

=.= If there are no unexpected events in the middle and it can be completed smoothly.

To be honest, I have never touched ancient background fantasy before. This new book is my first attempt at an ancient background, and everything is like feeling the way across the river, without much confidence~ It's so sad, I can already see the aura of flopping coming towards me.

"The White Bone Sage" will not write about the revival of spiritual energy, or rather, it will not write about purely the revival of spiritual energy. The current trend of the revival of spiritual energy has already passed, and there is no market or subscriptions, so the new book must innovate and incorporate some new ideas to maintain enough freshness and attract new readers to stay. I hope all the readers will like this new book after "There Are Demons Here," which can be considered a half-prequel story.

Well.

After talking about "The White Bone Sage."

Let's talk about "There Are Demons Here" [thinking face with chin in hand]

...divider...

With the 404 of "There Are Demons Here," because there was no place to speak, I have never had a platform to respond to the ban, and this has been a year, feeling sorry for the 400,000 readers who collected the book on Qidian and the 200,000 readers who collected the book on QQ Reading.

Today, I will use this single chapter to dispel a few rumors.

Before dispelling the rumors, let me mention another issue.

I don't know who is leading the trend for "There Are Demons Here," constantly tarnishing its image. I will focus on two points of the trend.

Trend 1: When the comic adaptation of "There Are Demons Here" was just released as a preview and not officially uploaded, the comic review area was already flooded with one-star negative reviews. The comic had just released a preview and not been officially released, yet it was given the lowest score in history.

At that time, I randomly opened thirty to forty comics on Tencent Animation, and "There Are Demons Here" was ranked second to last, which was very tragic, cry humph humph.

Trend 2: Someone has been stirring up conflicts between "There Are Demons Here" and the Platinum Gods, spreading false rumors, leading to the misguidance of fans who love "There Are Demons Here." This made others think we were all cyberbullies, lacking rationality, but in fact, these were the actions of trolls, and a small number of fans were misled.

To be honest, I don't know who has been deliberately leading the trend.

Not only tarnishing the image of the fans, but also tarnishing the image of the comic. There were several times I wanted to dispel the rumors, but because I didn't want to write, writing is too tiring, so I had already left all the fan groups, and could only watch as "There Are Demons Here" was constantly tarnished and the comic was constantly given the lowest score, which was very annoying.

Because of these two premises, I want to use this new book and this single chapter to dispel a few false rumors.

Rumor 1: "There Are Demons Here" was 404, and the author's account was banned by Qidian, and cannot write novels on any platform anymore.

Dispelling the rumor: The author's account has never been banned by Qidian. The main reason is that this account only had one book, and that book was 404. With zero works under the account, the author's account was automatically hidden, which is a system setting, not a human intervention. I have always been able to log in and operate the author's backend.

Rumor 2: "There Are Demons Here" was 404 because it was reported by a certain Platinum God.

Dispelling the rumor: The 404 of "There Are Demons Here" has nothing to do with being reported. Please don't believe or spread rumors. The 404 of "There Are Demons Here" is only related to the author's lack of rigor in writing, and has nothing to do with anyone. This false rumor has been spread the most, on Qidian, Baidu Tieba, forums, and external novel sites... It has been spread everywhere by people with malicious intentions, and fans who were unaware of the truth have also been affected.

To be honest, when I saw this rumor everywhere, I felt very awkward QAQ.

For example, would a giant ever look down at an ant? This rumor is so ridiculous that even I feel embarrassed after reading it =.=

And this is an opportunity for me to apologize. Although I didn't spread the rumor, it was caused by malicious leading of the trend, leading to a cyber war. But as a person, one's values should be correct. Right is right, wrong is wrong, and one should correct mistakes to stand upright. One shouldn't take advantage of being weak to seek attention and profit from it. I'm afraid such a lack of virtue would make me get mouth ulcers and be in pain every day. The whole incident started because of "There Are Demons Here," and since I now have a platform to speak after starting a new book, I specially use this opportunity to dispel the rumors and apologize. We should quietly write and quietly read, and not participate in any disputes or chaos, to avoid ruining the relaxed mood of reading.

Rumor 3: I had a falling out with Qidian, and Qidian not only banned my works but also banned me, and I angrily left Qidian and was sued for owing Qidian money.

Dispelling the rumor: This rumor... I can only say emmmm...

The real situation is that my relationship with Qidian has never been strained. It's just that the novel was 404 for some reason. I have always had a good relationship with my editor and the chief editor, who often ask if I plan to start a new book.

When "There Are Demons Here" was 404, I immediately decided to take a long leave, pre-empting my annual leave and compensating for the two years I couldn't travel due to writing by driving around the country on a self-drive trip.

"There Are Demons Here" was banned on July 22nd.

I started preparing on July 23rd, buying all the supplies needed for a self-drive trip around the country.

I obtained a border pass from the local police station on July 25th.

On July 31st, under the worried gaze of my parents, I officially set out on a self-drive trip around the country.

Route: Zhejiang Wenzhou - Fujian - Guangdong - Guangxi - Yunnan - Chongqing - Sichuan - Tibet - Xinjiang - Qinghai - Inner Mongolia - Heilongjiang - Hebei - Shandong - Jiangsu - Zhejiang Wenzhou. I obtained a three-month border pass, and I set out on July 31st, returning home by car before the heavy snow in Heilongjiang and Hebei. As a Zhejiang person, I have only seen the heavy snow of 2008 in my life =.=

I carefully planned the three months. Summer is the best time for a high-altitude self-drive trip, with good road conditions. August is also the best time to avoid the rainy season in Yunnan and Tibet, avoiding the peak of landslides and mountain collapses. I spent the Qixi Festival (Valentine's Day for singles) at Lugu Lake in August (tongue-in-cheek: rooms that usually cost 500-600 yuan were raised to 3000 yuan, it's really profitable to make money from couples), the Snow Festival in Lhasa in September, the National Day parade in Beijing on October 1st, the Alashan Hero Conference in Inner Mongolia in mid-October, and returned home just before Singles' Day on November 11th... It feels like the timing of the 404 was heaven-sent [hugging dog head tightly]

Well.

Everything was planned well, with a perfect plan and schedule.

If it weren't for the Mid-Autumn Festival... I drove from the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway from Shiquanhe Town to Yecheng, crossing hundreds of kilometers of high-altitude desert without electricity, water, or signal. When I arrived in Yecheng, I learned it was Mid-Autumn Festival, and my parents called to ask if I would return home. I thought about it and decided to give up my stubbornness, stopping in Yecheng and driving home directly. I will continue to complete the trip around the country's borders next time!

To be honest, Xinjiang is really vast. I drove from Yecheng in southern Xinjiang on the highway, driving 13-15 hours a day to save time. It took me more than two full days to drive out of Xinjiang. It takes only 6 hours to drive from Zhejiang Wenzhou to Shanghai, and 8 hours to Anhui Huangshan. Xinjiang is truly vast and rich in resources.

If any of you also want to go on a self-drive trip to Yunnan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and have any questions or need to prepare anything, feel free to @ me in the fan group. I am the dog group leader in the fan group, @ dog group leader, and you will never get lost, my fellow fans, double-click 666.

Before I set out on my self-drive trip, I made a detailed route guide, listing how to drive from one scenic spot to another, the driving time, the distance in kilometers, and whether the fuel tank is sufficient. If any of you want to go on a self-drive trip, you can ask me for the route guide. It's a bit outdated, but it's not a big problem.

All my routes are to famous scenic spots. Don't doubt your guesses, you are right, they are the famous scenic spots in Douyin, Yunnan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia.

Well.

I will take some time to flip through my WeChat Moments and put the videos in the fan group album. As a steel straight man, I rarely take photos, but I took more photos at the famous scenic spots in Tibet. The videos in my WeChat Moments are heavily compressed, so please bear with them, tears streaming down my face ~~

I went on a self-drive trip in a sedan.

Not an SUV.

As long as it's not in remote areas like Motuo County, the road conditions in Tibet are good, and you can drive freely. Occasionally, there are bad roads, but as long as you drive carefully and slowly, you won't scrape the bottom of the car. I recommend driving a naturally aspirated car, as the high altitude can cause the car to suffer from altitude sickness.

Well, uh, how to say it, readers, be confident, you guessed right, the male protagonist Jin An in "The White Bone Sage" is based on me. I went on a self-drive trip to Kunlun Mountain in August and September, then traveled to another world, where a year in the sky is a day on earth. After I completed the world, I found my way back to the stars and home, and then created the epic "The White Bone Sage"!

Pfft.

Rumor 4: After "There Are Demons Here" was 404, did the author write under a pseudonym on Qidian or write novels on external sites?

Dispelling the rumor: I want to emphasize that I have only written "There Are Demons Here" on Qidian and have never written any other books. During the 404 period, I never wrote under any pseudonym. I often see people on Long Kong impersonating me, writing novels on Qidian and writing novels on external sites for a fee. I ask Qidian readers and external site editors to be wary of these people.

Just the people I know, there have been four or five people exposed for impersonating me on Qidian and external sites.

Dudes!

I am just a nobody, and even if you want to impersonate someone, you should impersonate the Platinum Gods and famous authors, who have more prospects for profit!

Impersonating a nobody, can you make money? And you have to take such a big