With updates of seven or eight thousand words every day, before I knew it, On the Great Dao had already reached one hundred and seventy thousand words.
On the Great Dao is Zhai Zhu's tenth full-length novel, and also his ninth semi-launch.
Before going to university, Zhai Zhu always loved reading classic literature. As my reading volume increased in university, immersed in traditional culture, the more I read, the more I wanted to write. When graduating and looking for employment, I made the very brave choice of this then-novel profession—webnovel writer. The first book was Rebirth Journey to the West, and the protagonist was just a pig, Marshal Tianpeng.
This was the first time I earned royalties using a story I wrote myself. The happiest time back then was when royalties were issued. In 2008, royalties of several thousand yuan a month were still quite attractive to a freshly graduated college student. Could this be the golden house of books?
This quote wasn't said by Master, right? Chen Shi shouldn't misunderstand that, should he?
Why a half-time?
Because Water Margin Immortal Path ended right at the launch author's note.
In the launch author's note for Water Margin, I said it was 195 subscriptions that forced me to give up the book. In order to write a historical xianxia style, I consulted a lot of materials, but many imagined plots and even outlines written on paper were never written out.
From January 2009 to January 2010, after stopping for a year, Zhai Zhu stubbornly started another book, Savage Throne. The protagonist was Debiao Manchu. That name looks very cheesy now, doesn't it? Actually, it was back then too!
However, unlike Tianpeng and Wu Song from the previous two books, this was the first time I gave my protagonist a name.
Past books used the stories of Journey to the West and Water Margin as direct carriers. After finishing Savage Throne, Zhai Zhu became confident in his ability to "create" worlds, so I wrote a protagonist completely different from the previous three books, Ye Xu, courtesy name Shaobao.
It wasn't until Unrivaled Under Heaven, Emperor Venerable, Supreme Human Dao, Record of the Shepherd God, Walking by the Abyss, and Ascend on a Chosen Day that Zhai Zhu's pen name became known to more book friends. Looking back at the seventeen years of creation, ten books, and over thirty million words, what restricted my creation changed from economic conditions to my physical body.
(It has been seventeen years. So I have been writing for this long already. I wonder if there are still book friends who chased Rebirth Journey to the West back then.)
Only after finishing Ascend on a Chosen Day did Zhai Zhu defeat Urticaria Heavenly Venerable, and thus obtained the physical condition to prepare for a new book, though I still cannot eat fish, shrimp, or crab to this day.
Since the epidemic, I have become the Six Yang Heavenly Venerable.
It's very enjoyable not having to update every day, but the A-share market is so green. I could only put my heart back on the road gathering material, visiting several provinces and municipalities like Fujian, Hubei, and Hebei, visiting famous mountains, seeking out ancient temples, and gathering materials.
The magnificent mountains and rivers stir my heart.
Because materials regarding folklore were too difficult to collect, most of the time I had to go see them on-site myself. The thing that left the deepest impression during the whole process was the Fujian god-welcoming parades. (Thanks to Zhai Cai for the hospitality.)
Aside from field research, there was the collection of paper materials.
Book friends have once asked Zhai Zhu what books I read, asking me for my reading list. These are some of the books I read during the field research process: Taoist Magic Spells, Compilation of Chinese Local Gazetteer Folklore Materials, Witches, Ghosts, and Licentious Sacrifices, Witchcraft, Chinese Folk Customs, Chinese Culture of Elves and Monsters, Dao Shu, Grand View of Chinese Talisman Culture, Huangdi Neijing Waijing, Biographies of Immortals, Complete Collection of Zhang Tianshi's Talismans, What I Wear in the Ming Dynasty, Taiping Jing, Guiguzi, Face Reading Art, and so on.
The talismans in the book certainly do not come from thin air.
Zhai Zhu lived in Northern Anhui when I was young, and worshiping godmothers is a custom in our village.
Zhai Zhu had a godmother, which was a stone tablet. There were characters on the stone tablet, but they could not be recognized. During festivals, my mother would take me to worship the stone tablet godmother.
Sometimes we burned incense, and sometimes we brought red eggs for the godmother, praying that she would bless me, a child in poor health, to live a long life.
There were also people in the village who recognized old willow trees as godmothers, believing that old willow trees could bless people.
Grandma would tell some strange stories. In them were old cats that specifically ate children who ran away from home, with red eyes and green hair; dragons rising from the water into the sky; children raised in jars; and all kinds of strange demons and ghosts...
When preparing for the new book, I thought to myself: folklore culture is also an important part of traditional culture. At present, folklore culture is developing vigorously, and there is even more content to be deeply explored.
Why not put the element of "folklore" into the fantasy xianxia genre?
So I had an idea.
Suppose Chinese folk traditions, such as worshiping godmothers, are all real. Stones gain spirits, and god statues worshiped in temples absorb the aura of incense and gradually awaken.
Let's make another assumption.
Suppose Sanbao the Eunuch, Zheng He of the Great Ming Dynasty, made his voyages to the Western Ocean, and the fleet sailed past dark waters, arriving at a completely unfamiliar continent.
There are no people on this continent, only some strange creatures. (Not North America, ha, don't let your imagination run wild.)
There are gods, ghosts, and all kinds of evil spirits from Chinese folklore here.
Beyond the heavens, there is also a great true divine being gazing down upon the mortal world.
Then, how should the story of the New Continent develop?
Before starting the book, I hoped that On the Great Dao could bring readers a story that is slightly thrilling, somewhat mischievous, humorous, and entertaining.
I hope I can write out Chen Shi's childlike innocence and dark-bellied nature, write out the mutual support between Chen Shi—as a left-behind child—and the lonely elderly Chen Yindu, and write out the affection between the grandfather and grandson.
It is also about putting childhood fantasies of these rural folk customs into words.
I hope to use Chen Shi's perspective to slowly uncover this story unfurled by a folklore worldview.
It is an event happening in the Great Ming Dynasty, yet it is not an event happening in the Great Ming Dynasty.
This time, no matter what, Zhai Zhu must make a breakthrough, defeat my former self, and write folklore-style xianxia and fantasy!
Launching at midnight tonight, begging for subscriptions, begging for July's monthly tickets!
Brothers, tonight we search for the new continent and set sail!
Before you continue