Every time I wrote an ending, I felt a little uneasy, as though there would always be something less than satisfactory. But after turning it over and over in my mind, I felt this ending was pretty good too. The novel had ended, but the world within it had not. In fact, many people probably felt it could have ended long ago.
I was also afraid that writing things too meticulously would make it feel padded, so I would leave the filling of some minor plot holes for future side stories. I would remember what everyone had said.
By the later stages of this book, it truly was not as tightly paced. It had been hard on everyone to keep reading all the way to now.
I had considered giving Lifespan Evolution an origin story, but I realized that no matter how I handled it, it would not feel perfect. If I made it too explicit, it would seem as though everything about Gu An had been arranged by someone else. After thinking it over, I decided to end it differently from my previous books. It remained mysterious, remained one of a kind. As for that person who appeared at the end and could seize lifespans, he symbolized a kind of Reincarnation. Perhaps Lifespan Evolution itself was a creation akin to the Great Dao, forever appearing again and again. Or perhaps it was all a trick Gu An had pulled. We would see whether future side stories could fill in a little more information.
When I wrote side stories in the future, they would probably unfold through character interactions and lean more toward emotional development.
This book had reached nearly 2.8 million words. Once again, thank you all for following along. A deep bow!
As I always said, may we