Chapter 30: Launch Remarks

Missing for a year.

The first half of that year was spent recovering from illness.

A normal person usually recovers from facial paralysis in about half a month, but I got a severe case. Months later, an electromyography showed no signal on half my face. My eye couldn't close completely, so I had to rely on eye drops daily for relief. After consulting doctors, I learned that if there were no signs of recovery after such a long time, it would be difficult in the future. So I quickly mentally prepared myself for a lifetime of facial paralysis, then simply gave up on treatment and let things be. As I was just letting it be, surprisingly, it slowly started to recover little by little on its own. For a while, having gotten used to only half my face working, I still only used half my face when making expressions. Each time, I'd realize the other half could move and then make up for it, resulting in a delayed symmetry. Now, although there are still some minor after-effects, they no longer affect my life and are mostly unnoticeable.

In the first half of the year, besides facial paralysis, I experienced many other health issues. I used to think I was young and invincible, pushing my body to its limits until it finally broke down.

When you start reminiscing about your youth, it's proof that youth has left you. When you truly understand "I wish you good health" and no longer see it as an empty platitude, it proves you've at least experienced its loss.

Around that time, a friend in the same profession fell ill. He came to me, and I comforted and encouraged him to maintain an optimistic and positive attitude. He did exactly that, often adding a smiling emoji to our chats afterward. Then, suddenly, one day I received the news that he had passed away.

Actually, our relationship wasn't that close; we were both homebodies and had only met a few times in real life. I still remember the last time we met: after dinner, when the waiter came to collect the bill, I subtly took half a step back, letting him be the one to pay. Thinking about it now, oh, I really should be ashamed of myself.

Even in the last period of his life, he remained open-minded and optimistic, but his passing greatly impacted me, especially since my own health was also failing at the time. It turned out that the person who encouraged him to be optimistic and positive was actually a coward.

I think I was depressed during that period. At its worst, I'd wake up every night with heart palpitations. My daily state was either complete disinterest in everything or inexplicable anger and a desire to lash out. Back then, every time I thought about "writing," I felt disgust and dread, a chilling sensation. The psychological trauma from that experience was so immense that I genuinely believed my writing career was over.

After half a year of recuperation, my body had recovered somewhat, and I thought, "I never had time before, always cooped up at home for months. Why not go out for a change of scenery and clear my head?" So I drove along Highway 318. After that, I drove G331 around Northeast China. Then I drove to Hainan, and after that, I drove to Urumqi and around Northern Xinjiang... I was like an ant, crawling all over the map of my homeland. Eventually, I ran out of places to go and actually started complaining in my mind why our ancestors didn't conquer more territory back then.

The broken bridge over the Yalu River, the majestic Changbai Mountains, the grandeur of the Qilian Mountains, the tranquility of Lop Nur, the sandstorms of Inner Mongolia... Truly, getting out and seeing more of the world is indeed helpful. I had an epiphany. In a more artistic sense, I felt my own insignificance. To put it plainly, I finally realized I was just a nobody. Then, I got the urge to write again, finding the desire to express myself through a book.

Although I previously said I would use this hiatus to study hard, address my weaknesses, and improve myself, and so on... However, I regret to inform everyone that I haven't made any progress whatsoever. As an author, I haven't read much for several years. Not only that, but I've also found myself becoming increasingly out of touch. In the previous chapter, when Liu Yumei spoke about middle-aged people losing the motivation to learn new things, she was talking about me. I tried to read some books, and while I could tell many authors wrote very well, interestingly, and brilliantly, I just couldn't get through them. Some trendy styles just aren't for me. Furthermore, I'm unwilling to force myself to check best-seller lists, study, or analyze. My rational mind tells me that as a creator, this is a slow death and I'm destined to be eliminated by the times, but my emotional side tells me to just give up. Because my last experience of mental and physical collapse taught me that it's uncertain whether being eliminated by the times or my own demise would come first.

I knew long ago that my style wouldn't produce a blockbuster hit; I'm only suited for a niche audience. So this time, I simply want to write something that interests me. Nantong is my hometown, and I've incorporated the local dialect. I know this might increase your reading difficulty, but it's fine; my immersion is very strong. The homes of the characters in the book are actually my relatives' homes in my hometown. I have them all mapped out in my mind: who lives in my great-uncle's house, who lives in my aunt's house, including which relative runs the paper-craft business of Li Sanjiang's family – I used to go there often to watch Ultraman with kids my age. So when Xiaoyuanhou and the others run around the village, I have a god's-eye view, thinking, "Oh, they're 'cloud-visiting relatives' again."

Having passed thirty, I've finally reached the threshold where I can write something about a specific era. I've actually wanted to write about this for a long time, but it wasn't suitable because I not only had to get older myself but also needed my readers to age a bit. Fortunately, we've all gotten older. Now we can happily indulge in some nostalgia. A big part of my interest in writing this book is that I suddenly recall an old item from the past, then I write it in, and I look forward to seeing comments in the chapter, waiting for old readers like me to comment, "Ah, yes, exactly! We used to have that in our old home too."

However, it's inevitable that there will be some perceptual differences caused by geographical factors or the uneven development of rural areas in that era. For example, when I wrote that Li Weihan's house was behind a small river, I remember a reader blasting me for writing nonsense, asking if I wasn't afraid the house by the river would be washed away! Looking at their IP, they were from Shaanxi. This is normal. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe towns could be built clinging to cliffs. It just goes to show how vast our country is and how incredibly diverse its geographical features are.

In fact, often, the supernatural elements are more like a thread running through this book, while the beads on that thread are individual stories and people. My understanding of traditional supernatural fiction is that it doesn't follow a purely leveling-up path; it shouldn't end with characters breaking through barriers and ascending to another realm.

Therefore, this book's pace will be very slow. Many things will be written in great detail; it will be very verbose, like a flood submerging the Golden Mountain Temple, maddeningly so. When I showed the opening of the manuscript to my editor, they warned me that the pace was too slow and might deter readers. I told them it was fine; I did it on purpose. If you're going to give up, you have to have the attitude of giving up. Anyway, readers who aren't used to this style will be put off early on. Those who remain... who've read all the way to this "on-shelf" message, are the ones who've persevered through hardships.

Once I stopped having high expectations for the book's performance, I felt I could also actively choose my readers. So, this should be called finding those who resonate on the same frequency. Our country has a large population, and I'm not some one-in-ten-thousand anomaly. I've always believed that if I like something I find interesting, there will certainly be a group of people with the same taste as me. After deterring some readers early on, once the word count increases, those who remain in the chapter comments will be good friends with similar tastes. We can then interact more harmoniously and happily, helping to create a more comfortable atmosphere.

Here, I want to thank my chief editor Yisuo and editor Zhusha. I've never been an obedient author, and their tolerance and help have always been immense. I also want to thank Yintian, PP, Yashao, Fanfan, Miaosang, and Sisi. I suddenly announced I was publishing a book and quickly called them to help me set up the operations team. Most importantly, I want to thank the readers who kept sending me private messages asking when I'd return over the past year, and all of you who quickly gathered after the book was released.

I've found that I'm truly getting lazier these days; I can't even say emotional words anymore. See, I'm too lazy to even come up with titles for each chapter. Of course, it's also because each chapter is quite long, making it difficult to choose a suitable title. Throughout the new book period, the only author's note I ever wrote was "One more chapter before midnight." Other than that, I didn't utter another word. I felt it wasn't necessary; communicating through the chapter content itself was enough. I thought adding a string of my own words or thank-yous below would spoil the reading experience.

Alright, that's enough talking; it's time to wrap this up. The next chapter will be the premium chapter, releasing tonight at midnight (it might be delayed by a few minutes). Don't say I'm being lazy and skipped today's update. In fact, when I started publishing, I only had three chapters saved. From the third day of publishing onwards, everything has been written on the spot. If I had more drafts, I wouldn't be so crazy as to post daily updates that get later and later. My old readers are well aware of my writing habits.

Also, for some reasons, the premium release schedule was moved up at the last minute. So, today's update can only be the premium chapter released at midnight. Because if I were to painstakingly write the update tonight, I'd then be unable to write the premium release. My superiors arranged a release event for me, and then everyone would see, "Oh no, this guy doesn't even have VIP chapters!"

Finally, I feel very fortunate to have your companionship on this journey of life. Please leave more chapter comments and brainstorm together. You might not be as good as me at writing long-form, but I'm not as creative as you.

And finally,

Don't panic,

Hug the dragon tight!