Qiu Wuji didn't know whether even her own poetic epithet was part of heaven's hidden will.
If Chu Ge had built it with a craftsman's intent from the start, then the water was her, and the sky might point to Chu Tiange — hence, the water follows the sky away.
But from another angle, wasn't the sky Chu Ge himself?
He was the sky of that world.
So the water follows the sky away?
To the point that when she wanted to pick a new nickname, her mind went blank, and what slipped out without thinking was still that line.
She looked up at Chu Ge. He was grinning like a flower, and there was no telling whether he had thought any deeper about it — probably not. He was simply, purely happy that she was still using what he had given her.
Forget it. I'm Qiu Wuji either way — what does changing it change? She said nothing, put the phone away, and murmured, "Let's go buy groceries."
Seeing her looking a little distracted, Chu Ge asked in puzzlement, "What's wrong?"
"Mm, nothing. I was just wondering whether I should buy a cookbook."
"Oh, no need to buy that. You've got a phone and a computer now — whatever dish you want to make, just look it up. There are all kinds of food livestreams and videos and so on. Learn straight from those."
"And that... what is that?"
Chu Ge laughed. "I'd say those two things are the most important magic treasures in this world. Once you're fluent with them, you'll be a modern person."
After they got home, Qiu Wuji carried the newly bought groceries into the kitchen while Chu Ge went on typing. He felt he had entered a rather wondrous state with his writing lately.
Before, every time he posted a chapter he would rush off to refresh the chapter comments, read the reviews, and chatter in the group chats. Now he finished writing and that was that — none of it concerned him.
Partly because he didn't want the headache of reading the arguments, and partly because his heart didn't really seem to be there anymore.
The most important soul of a book was already here at his side, vivid and fragrant; the smell of stir-fry was drifting out of the kitchen, and the image of Qiu Wuji reading with a book in one hand while she cooked by immortal arts rose in his mind, so real he could touch it.
So does it still matter how well the book is written?
Its greatest value seemed to be building the world out whole, making her existence that much more solid. The work's meaning ended there. What did it matter whether others praised it or cursed it? If it flopped, then worst case he'd go get a job — it wasn't as if he could starve to death.
That Zen frame of mind left him easier and freer than ever, and his writing sped up along with it. Yesterday he had even posted a bonus chapter and still had half a chapter stockpiled.
With all the time this morning's workout and shopping trip had eaten up, it still looked like he could get a chapter out before lunch, and if nothing came along to interrupt, he might even hit ten thousand words today. That would basically be a record.
The upcoming plot for Qiu Wuji would center mainly on gathering materials for the Four Symbols Grand Formation and other items useful for ascension and tribulation — that was the main storyline tied to her. Along the way there would be all manner of scenes, some connected to Chu Tiange and some not; after all, Chu Tiange's level was low, and he couldn't get involved in too many of the high-end battles.
Under the original approach, the Chu Tiange–related plot would get the lavish treatment while Qiu Wuji's own material was sketched in a line or two — the classic "things a character does offscreen." But now Chu Ge instinctively lavished attention on Qiu Wuji's personal scenes, until it had taken on a faint air of two protagonists.
To keep that from standing out too much, Chu Ge was mulling over whether to write more independent scenes for other characters — and after all that fussing, it came close to an ensemble-cast approach.
Hard to control. It was starting to exceed his ability. But who cared — just write it.
The new chapter went up. Chu Ge was just about to dash to the kitchen and shoot the breeze with Qiu Wuji when a beep-beep-beep sounded: QQ.
He looked. His editor...
Chu Ge's heart dropped. Don't tell me I'm about to get what happened to Zhang Qiren?
"Editor boss, what are your instructions?"
"Your word count is about there. I applied for a featured recommendation for you, and the editor-in-chief approved it. Stockpile more chapters these next few days, and write an acceptance note."
"Thank you, boss!" Chu Ge was both thrilled and baffled. Thrilled because he had written several books without ever landing a major featured recommendation — sure, its traffic status had since been overtaken by the splash-screen recommendation, but its historical weight and honor as once the biggest recommendation of all still stood. It was an affirmation of the work, something even the great masters had once written acceptance notes for.
His readership had been slipping lately — and this piece of good fortune still landed on him?
The baffling part was that recommendations were normally announced by in-site message. Nearly every editor's QQ signature read "Don't ask about recommendations," so why would one come volunteer this instead? It made no sense.
The editor's next line was: "You've been writing well lately. The editorial team thinks highly of it. Keep it up."
Chu Ge: "?"
The editorial team following the new chapters of a work that had only recently gone premium was absurd enough. And lately he had clearly been letting himself fly off the leash — and they thought highly of it?
As a veteran loser of an author, Chu Ge didn't dare press an editor famous for being aloof. He thanked the editor again and, with his head full of mush, closed the chat window.
Another private-chat avatar was blinking away. Chu Ge recognized Zhang Qiren's gaudy profile picture at a glance, and his mood eased a little. He clicked it open and asked with a grin, "How's work?"
Bully With Backup: "Busy as all hell, ugh. Feels like typing was more comfortable. Poor, but free, and nobody lording it over you."
Chu Ge said, "It's about the same, really. We've got editors over us too... just a different style of management. In the end it all comes down to someone appreciating you."
"True enough. A flop like me has barely exchanged a few words with my editor — and the one time I did, it was to get my book taken down, ha ha ha." Zhang Qiren laughed it off, then turned it around: "You've been weird lately, Brother Chu. Haven't seen you flooding the author group chats for days, and no replies in the reviews or chapter comments either. You're like some heartless update robot."
Chu Ge said vaguely, "Well, you haven't been surfacing either..."
"I'm busy."
"I'm busy too..."
"Busy dating, more like?" Zhang Qiren sent the goofy-face emoji, and finally got to the point: "I saw you shopping with a pretty woman."
"Hiss... I was out shopping during normal working hours, wasn't I? So are you playing hooky? Speaking of which, what's your job now? Is the company right around there?"
Chu Ge was very obviously changing the subject, but Zhang Qiren didn't press him. He just said, "Bring her out someday and let a brother have a look."
"...I'm asking about your job."
"Call it a security guard. Not far, not close. This morning I was chasing a thief with some guys and ended up near there; too many people in the shopping district, couldn't find him to save my life — but then I ran into you, out of the blue. You should be careful, Brother Chu. Our compound has basically zero security; you don't even need to swipe a card to get in or out. Watch out for burglars."
Chu Ge was astonished: "With that build of yours, you can actually catch thieves?"
Zhang Qiren sent a hands-on-hips emoji: "What a thief's scared of is that uniform of yours — he's not weighing how much meat you've got on you."
Chu Ge pointed out, "Can you even outrun anyone? That's why the guy got away, isn't it."
Bully With Backup quit the chat, cursing as he went.
Chu Ge scratched his head and found it a little strange. Sure, he had twisted and turned and never answered the thing about Qiu Wuji — but Zhang Qiren had talked for ages without saying what company he worked at.
Both men had just listened to a most enlightening speech, and come away with nothing but a speech.
"Time to eat," came Qiu Wuji's voice.
Those three simple words scattered every thought in his head — like a summer afternoon breeze tickling softly, tickling at the heart, swaying and rocking.
"What is it? You're grinning." Something about that expression made Qiu Wuji want to hit him. She said stiffly, "Is the soreness gone?"
"No... I got some good news today. Mm, you could roughly understand it as the sect granting me entry to the Scripture Repository — how much cultivation I can convert from it still depends on me."
Chu Ge's analogies for Qiu Wuji were always the most direct and precise; he understood her side far too well... She knew at once that this really was good news, and couldn't help smiling: "So the protagonist's treatment is coming to you now?"
Chu Ge blinked and looked at her without a word.
Qiu Wuji froze for a moment, her smile turning into killing intent — isn't that exactly what I am? The protagonist's treatment, landing on him?
Chu Ge ducked his head and shoveled rice at top speed: "Maybe it's the heroine's arrival that brought the luck my way."
Such a desperate will to live...
It had been a smooth, sweet-sounding save, and yet Qiu Wuji felt more and more like hitting him. It seemed different from hitting him back when she had first crossed over... she just wanted to hit him.
They finished the meal in silence. When she was done, Qiu Wuji cleared the dishes with a straight face, turned, and went into her room: "I'm going to borrow the noonday yang qi to cultivate for a while. Don't disturb me unless it matters."
Chu Ge badly wanted to say that he had far more yang qi right here — pure yang! But he knew saying it would get him beaten to death, so he obediently went back to his own room, planning to nap a while too.
With such a vivid, fragrant someone right there beside him, when would things ever move a step further?
A summer afternoon: outside the sun blazed, the air was dry and still, and now and then a cicada's rasp cut through, rousing something at the bottom of a person's heart that wanted to surge up and sprout. Half asleep, Chu Ge wondered, is this summer, or spring?
Just as all ten thousand sounds of the world fell still, a figure gradually appeared on his bedroom door.
The figure grew more and more solid, until it actually "walked" straight out of the door.
Wall-piercing technique!