Chapter Eighty-Seven: Awareness【Third Update】

“This is… isn’t this…!” Fang Yi stammered for a long time, unable to finish his sentence.

Seeing Fang Yi’s expression, the nearby editor was confused and asked, “What’s wrong? What is it? Did you find it too well-written? Too unexpected?”

Liu Ping was also puzzled. If he thought his ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’ was good, this wouldn’t be the reaction he expected. Why was it like this?

The editor beside him leaned over to take a look. At first, he was bewildered, stunned by the completely different content; then, a sense of familiarity dawned on him. His eyes widened and he couldn’t help but exclaim, “How is this possible, isn’t this… isn’t this…”

“What’s going on?” Liu Ping frowned, sensing that something was very wrong.

Fang Yi finally recovered from his shock, looked up at Liu Ping, and asked, “Young Master Liu, how did you get this manuscript?”

“Because I wrote it,” Liu Ping replied, still bewildered. “Is there something wrong with it?”

The editors who had been reviewing Liu Ping’s work finally realized what was happening. They handed the manuscript back and said, “Of course it’s wrong. This manuscript isn’t ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’ at all.”

“It’s not ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’?!” Liu Ping was startled. After all his hard work, how could the manuscript not be his? He hurriedly took it and examined it closely, frowning deeply. “It really isn’t ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’. What is this?”

Fang Yi asked, “You don’t know this book?”

Liu Ping was confused. “Why should I know it? Is this manuscript famous?”

Fang Yi, at a loss for words, nodded. “Of course it’s famous. The manuscript in your hands is the third volume of ‘Green Robe, Bamboo Raft’ by the renowned Master Peach Blossom!”

Liu Ping was stunned, his mind reeling. He asked instinctively, “Is that true?”

Fang Yi replied, “Judging by the style and the writing, this is definitely Master Peach Blossom’s original work, and it’s the unpublished third volume. From the fresh ink, it’s probably the original manuscript. Where did you get it?”

“This is the original third volume of ‘Green Robe, Bamboo Raft’… but how did my ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’ turn into this?” Liu Ping’s mind was in turmoil. He began to analyze the situation: Zhu Yingtai hadn’t mentioned anything, but she’d given him a special bag for manuscripts; in the morning, the manuscript’s position had changed, and Zhu Yingtai was gone. All clues pointed to one person—Zhu Yingtai.

He arrived at a startling conclusion: Master Peach Blossom was Zhu Yingtai, and Zhu Yingtai was Master Peach Blossom!

“Is it possible? She’s actually Master Peach Blossom!” Liu Ping couldn’t help but exclaim. But with this, everything made sense: why Zhu Yingtai didn’t think much of his novel—because she knew how hard it was; why she had no interest in topics about Master Peach Blossom—because she was Master Peach Blossom; why she’d been as busy as he was these past days—because she too was rushing to meet a deadline…

“Do you really know Master Peach Blossom?” the editors cried out in amazement, their eyes filled with disbelief. Listening to Liu Ping, it seemed as if he had no idea who Master Peach Blossom really was! What on earth was going on?

* * * * *

“This is the third volume’s manuscript. Look it over quickly, and if there’s no issue, I’ll be on my way.” Master Peach Blossom—Zhu Yingtai—walked to the carriage, handed over the manuscript, and spoke in a cool, detached manner.

Seeing that she had no intention of inviting them inside, the five editors could only smile wryly.

“This isn’t a good place to read. Let’s take it onto the carriage,” Hu Meng said as he took the manuscript.

“As you wish,” Zhu Yingtai replied indifferently.

The group climbed onto the carriage, which was spacious enough to seat ten, so the six of them fit comfortably.

Hu Meng unwrapped the manuscript and said, “Old rules: two chapters each, review quickly, don’t waste Master Peach Blossom’s time.”

“Understood.”

Hu Meng nodded, passed the manuscript around, and the editors buried themselves in reading. But as soon as they read the first line, their expressions grew strange, and they gasped in disbelief.

“What’s going on?” The five editors stared at the manuscript in their hands, murmuring in utter confusion.

“What do you mean, what’s going on?” Zhu Yingtai frowned slightly. “Explain yourselves!”

The other four editors, faces twisted in bewilderment, dared not speak, and looked to chief editor Hu Meng.

Hu Meng’s face grew serious. “Master Peach Blossom, where did you get this manuscript?”

Zhu Yingtai asked, puzzled, “What do you mean, where did I get it?”

Seeing her confusion, Hu Meng realized she didn’t know this was the ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’ manuscript. This only deepened his own confusion. “Master Peach Blossom, the manuscript you brought isn’t the third volume of ‘Green Robe, Bamboo Raft’—it’s actually the manuscript of ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’!”

“Chronicles… what? The manuscript of ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’?” Zhu Yingtai was startled, pointing at the manuscript. “You’re saying this is the ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’ manuscript? Impossible! I wrote this—how could it become ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’?”

“It really is. And it’s the yet-unpublished second volume,” Hu Meng replied, handing it back to her.

Zhu Yingtai glanced at it casually. “It really isn’t mine. Oh—this novel is excellent. ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’ truly deserves its reputation.”

“How did you get this manuscript?” Hu Meng asked, deeply curious. “Could it be that you’re Long Aotian?”

“Of course I’m not Long Aotian,” Zhu Yingtai said with a frown. “I have no idea… Wait, could it be that he wrote ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’? Did I take the wrong manuscript?”

“He wrote it? He’s Long Aotian?” Hu Meng’s eyes lit up. After searching high and low for Long Aotian, he hadn’t expected Master Peach Blossom to be so close to him that they could even mix up manuscripts!

“But isn’t Long Aotian with Qingshan Publishing?” Zhu Yingtai asked, puzzled.

“No, he’s with Youshu Publishing,” Hu Meng replied, though the question struck him as odd.

“Youshu Publishing? How can that be… Oh, right, no one ever said ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’ was with Qingshan Publishing. I just assumed it was. If it’s Youshu Publishing, then it must be him…”

Looking at the manuscript in her hands, Zhu Yingtai was thoroughly shaken. The situation was stranger than fiction. Her heart surged with emotion. Fengchang, oh Fengchang, is this really your first novel? To write something like ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’ from the start? It’s almost unbelievable!

“Since you know Long Aotian, could you give him a message for me? Would he be willing to meet with us?” Hu Meng, seeing Zhu Yingtai’s nostalgic and emotional look, realized she truly was not Long Aotian, but clearly knew him very well.

Zhu Yingtai looked up at Hu Meng. “You want to poach talent from Youshu Publishing?”

Hu Meng coughed softly, a bit embarrassed, but admitted, “That’s exactly it.”

The other four editors turned to look, their faces full of hope. If they could bring Long Aotian on board, Qingshan Publishing would be unstoppable.

Zhu Yingtai shook her head. “Impossible.”

Hu Meng was taken aback. “Why not?”

“He once came to Qingshan Publishing to submit his work in person. But because I was there to discuss the end of my old series and the start of a new one, an editor brushed him off while he was filling out his information, telling him to come back the next day. He was so offended, after a quarrel, he declared he would never set foot in your company again.”

Hearing this, Hu Meng’s eyes widened in shock. “That actually happened? Which fool of an editor turned him away?!”

Wang Chang, standing nearby, listened, his own eyes growing round as saucers. He cried out in disbelief, “What?!”

The story was eerily familiar. The editor Zhu Yingtai spoke of was probably him. That young man, barely thirteen or fourteen, already a scholar—was he really the one who wrote ‘Chronicles of Deification in the Three Kingdoms’ as Long Aotian?! How crazy had the world become?