Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

Chapter 9 : The dog is a dog, but the old scoundrel is not a human.

If last night's comments section for "Zhu Xian" only showed a localized phenomenon of readers breaking down in their defenses...

And now, that's how it is today.

The entire Xianxia (fantasy martial arts) area was as if someone had thrown a bomb at the mountain gate.

It was still lightning.

The kind with a function to lock the author.

In just two days, the name "Zhu Xian" was like an unreasonable flying sword, forcefully piercing all the way up the list of new Xianxia books.

Yesterday it was only in the top ten.

This was refreshed this morning.

We've moved up to third.

The authors at the top of the list have finally fallen silent.

Their book titles are all incredibly imposing.

What sword that pierces the nine heavens, what immortal venerable of eternity, what invincible immortal cultivator—just looking at their names is enough to make the Heavenly Dao sign a surrender document.

Now, looking at the list...

Good guy.

He painstakingly wrote an entire book titled "My Fate is in My Own Hands, Not in the Heavens," yet it couldn't compete with a quiet and unassuming novel like "Zhu Xian."

Even more outrageous is...

This book clearly has no system.

There is no such thing as being invincible from the start.

There was no old man to save the world.

Even the protagonist Zhang Xiaofan's greatest strengths, as it seems, are his ability to endure hardship, his silence, and his ability to evoke sympathy from readers.

But readers just love this kind of thing.

And it's very addictive.

How high is it?

In various author groups within the Xianxia (fantasy/martial arts) genre, some people have already begun to question their existence.

"Wait, why is this book's price rising so fast?"

"I read it, and the writing is indeed quite good."

"The premise isn't exactly groundbreaking, is it?"

"But I can still get into it."

"The scariest thing is that I originally wanted to study why it became popular, but as I was studying it, I started to criticize the author as well."

"What are you cursing about?"

"Criticize him for not updating."

There was a three-second silence in the group chat.

Then a bunch of authors simultaneously let out a soul-searching sigh.

broken.

Even our competitors have fallen victim to it.

Even worse, readers' grievances are no longer confined to the Red Eggplant Literature Network.

They took to Weibo.

That morning, a term quietly appeared.

#The dog in the missing chapter is a dog, but the old scoundrel is not a human#

At first, passersby who saw this entry thought it meant another pet blogger had fallen from grace.

After all, these days, even dogs get scolded and feel wronged.

I clicked in and took a look.

Good guy.

The dog is fine.

Someone got into an accident.

To be precise, it is an author named "Old Fool of Akina Mountain" who is being judged remotely by all the fellow cultivators.

The comments section had a very consistent style.

"You old bastard from Mount Akina, come out here! I promise I won't kill you. I just want to ask you whether the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament is going to start or not!"

"I stayed up until 1:30 last night, and when I went to work today, my boss asked me if I was indulging in too much sex. I said no, I just messed up my breathing while practicing cultivation."

"I suggest that Red Eggplant Literature Network launch an author location function. I am willing to crowdfund a flying sword."

"Stop crowdfunding, I've already set off on my sword. I'm on my way, don't worry about me."

"Dog: I'm just a dog, I won't take the blame for this."

Some people even made memes out of it.

One photo shows Zhang Xiaofan standing silently by the arena, with the caption:

I thought the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament was about to begin.

The next image is a screenshot of the author's comment, with the caption:

He said he needs to focus on health and sleep.

The third picture shows a person with bloodshot eyes holding a keyboard, with the caption:

[No updates today, please click here]

There's an even worse one.

A dog sits in front of a keyboard, looking serious, with the caption:

[Our Broken Chapter Dog Association announces: Expulsion of Old Man Akina from the Dog Club]

These pictures went viral on Weibo.

Many casual readers who had never read "Zhu Xian" clicked in with a confused look.

After watching the spectacle, they couldn't help but ask:

"So this book is really that good?"

Book lovers immediately transformed into enthusiastic citizens.

"You'll understand once you read a couple of chapters."

"Don't worry, I won't cut you."

"Very gentle."

"The author is exceptionally kind."

"The Seven Sects Martial Arts Tournament is about to begin; it's the perfect time to jump in."

These words, taken individually, sound like human speech.

When put together, it doesn't look like a human being.

Because every book fan who says "no angst," "very gentle," or "perfect for getting into the fandom" has a knowing smile on their face.

That's not goodwill.

That was missionary work.

It's still a cult.

Moreover, it's the kind of cult that only requires two chapters to join, but requires overcoming tribulations to leave.

As a result, wave after wave of new readers were lured into reading "Zhu Xian".

Before going in, they thought they were just going to take a casual look.

Once inside, they found themselves pinned down on Mount Qingyun and granted immortal status overnight.

When he came out again, he had already joined the army to punish the old scoundrel of Mount Akina.

The hashtag trend on Weibo has been climbing steadily.

From being a hot topic at the end, to trending on social media in the middle, and then surprisingly breaking into the top ten of the entertainment charts in the afternoon.

Passersby were even more confused when they saw the name.

Who is that old scoundrel from Mount Akina?

"What did you do?"

"Why was even their dog registration revoked?"

Book fans' unified response:

"He committed a crime that none of the immortals can forgive."

"What crime?"

"Broken chapter."

Passerby: "..."

The charge doesn't sound like a big deal.

But judging from this situation...

Let alone a five-hundred-year sentence, even a dog would want to carry out the execution itself.

Red Eggplant Literature Network.

Editorial department.

Zhou Ming sat at his workstation, staring at the backend data, and had been silent for a full five minutes.

A colleague carrying coffee walked by, saw him looking like this, and casually asked:

"Old Zhou, what's wrong?"

Zhou Ming remained silent.

I just turned the computer screen to the side.

My colleague glanced down at it.

Then I almost sprayed coffee into the machine.

"Holy crap?"

Zhou Ming said quietly, "Be more civilized."

My colleague swallowed hard and reorganized his thoughts.

"Holy crap?"

Zhou Ming: "..."

better.

But not many.

On the screen, the various data for "Zhu Xian" are no longer showing growth.

It's takeoff.

The collection curve is like it's been injected with chicken blood.

The reading curve is like a rocket launch.

The number of comments was like someone was spraying words into the machine gun.

The most outrageous thing is the increase in new subscriptions and donations.

Although "Zhu Xian" is still in its new book phase and has few chapters, readers' willingness to pay is already alarmingly high.

Many people donate money not even because it costs money.

It's not because of frustration, but because of resentment.

The tipping and commenting features are also quite unique.

[I'm giving the author 100 Red Eggplant Coins as a reward; please buy the author a cup of coffee so they don't fall asleep.]

[I've donated 500 Red Eggplant Coins to request the Seven Veins Martial Arts Tournament to begin.]

[I've donated 1000 Red Eggplant Coins. If you, the author, need money to buy liver (for liver transplants), I'll crowdfund it.]

[I'm giving you this tip to the patron saint; I don't mean anything by it, I just want you to know that you've been hijacked by capital. Update soon!]

Zhou Ming looked at these messages, his feelings were very complicated.

In all his years as an editor, he has seen people tip for liking a book.

I've seen people tip authors to support them.

I've also seen people tip because the female characters are so pretty.

However, it's quite rare to see someone get so angry at the abrupt ending that they break down and then simultaneously curse and give a reward.

What's this called?

Paid anger.

There is no such classification in economics.

But now, Red Eggplant Literature Network exists.

Zhou Ming took a deep breath and glanced at the internal data.

The retention rate of "Zhu Xian" is frighteningly high.

Almost everyone who clicked on the first chapter read all the way to the latest chapter.

More importantly, the readers didn't leave after finishing the book.

They stayed in the comments section to criticize the author.

Refresh after you've finished cursing.

Refresh the page before you start complaining.

When they get tired of cursing, they spread the word on Weibo.

They'll spread the word and then come back to continue their tirade.

This is hardly a reader.

This is a perpetual motion machine.

Zhou Ming looked backstage and murmured:

"exaggerate."

The colleague next to him nodded in agreement.

"That's definitely an exaggeration."

Zhou Ming added another sentence:

"This is an exaggeration."

My colleague thought for a moment and said seriously:

"The book hasn't even hit the shelves yet, but readers are already hooked."

Zhou Ming leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples.

He actually watched it last night too.

I originally just wanted to check the quality of the work as an editor.

As a result, I kept watching until dawn.

When he saw that the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament was about to begin, he sat up straight.

And that was it.

Then, he saw the author's comment.

[Staying up late is out of the question; getting enough sleep is the right way to maintain health. Fellow cultivators, I'm going to sleep now. You can continue reading as you please.]

Zhou Ming was staring at the screen when he almost crushed his phone.

As an editor, he should be rational.

As a reader, all he wanted to do was drag that old scoundrel from Mount Akina out of bed.

Are you sleeping?

How do you manage to sleep?

Zhang Xiaofan is still standing by the ring!

Zhou Ming grew angrier and angrier, so he opened the chat software and sent a message to Lin Yuan.

[Editor Zhou Ming: Are you there?]

No one replied.

[Editor Zhou Ming: The data is outrageous.]

No one replied.

[Editor Zhou Ming: This is trending on Weibo.]