*Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality* — Wangyu spent a full five and a half years writing it, with over a month of rest in between. Now it's time to begin work on the new novel, *Mo Tian Ji*.
Before the main text of the new book starts going up, I don't want to write another round of author's notes or anything like that. Instead, I'd like to share some memorable recollections with all of you.
I remember that when I was very young, I came into contact with the martial arts novels of Master Jin Yong and others, influenced by the Hong Kong and Taiwan TV adaptations of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* and similar shows. Later, after I started middle school and discovered novels like *Legend of the Swordsmen of the Shu Mountains*, I was completely hooked — there was no turning back.
Heh heh, looking back now, the thick glasses I've been wearing on my nose all these years probably owe most of their existence to that.
After that, following the entrance exams for high school, I got into a technical secondary school in Wuxi — a mechanical school — where I had to live on campus, away from my family, for entire semesters at a stretch.
Back then I was just a teenage kid. Aside from a few essential living expenses, I naturally didn't have much spare cash. Internet cafés and similar places didn't exist yet either, and there was no way I could afford outings to movie theaters or other high-cost venues.
So most of my leisure time was spent at a book rental shop not far from the school. On weekends, I would even rent entire sets of novels and haul them back to my dormitory.
Because after dark, the rental fee counted as two days' worth.
So on weekends, I would usually go rent books around nine or ten in the morning, then return them around seven or eight in the evening.
During that long stretch of time in between, I could happily lie on my dormitory bed, devouring the novels I'd rented, and before long I'd be completely immersed — unable to pull myself out.
There were times I'd even forget to eat lunch. It would take a roommate reminding me before I realized I hadn't eaten.
Of course, in order to save money, I read faster and faster as time went on. The habit of scanning a novel ten lines at a glance was probably cultivated during that period.
For the current me, this is both an advantage and a drawback.
On the good side, because I read quickly, I can accumulate and absorb story material at an astonishing pace. When I'm outlining the plot of my own novels, I feel like I have plenty of room to maneuver.
On the bad side, also because I skimmed ten lines at a time, I always have a somewhat hazy feeling about the finer details and descriptions in novels. When I sit down to actually craft specific sentences and wordings, I find it quite laborious.
That's probably the main reason I can never write very fast.
Now that I think about it, those years of living away at school were probably the freest years of my life.
First, the school was genuinely pretty relaxed about discipline. Second, there was no real pressure from work or life. Third, I was still young and didn't know anything about getting a girlfriend, so naturally I didn't waste any time or energy on that.
Heh heh, don't laugh at me — we were all innocent back then. I remember the other students at school rarely went looking for girlfriends either.
(After the main text of the new book begins going up, Wangyu will randomly select WeChat followers in batches to receive signed physical copies of the book. There will also be other mysterious grand prizes during the event! To join the WeChat platform, you can scan the QR code on my Tencent Weibo page, or tap "Contacts" at the bottom of the WeChat platform — tap the "+" at the top — go to "Search Official Accounts" — and search for "Wangyu" or the WeChat ID "wangyu." Be sure to check for the gold verification badge after the name.)
(End of chapter)