Clarifying Two Issues
1. Regarding Kutou Tuo being able to speak.
I noticed some people were hung up on this, so let me explain. This Kutou Tuo isn't based on the original novel version; he's based on the TV drama version.
Well, there's no need to ask which TV drama version. In every TV adaptation, Kutou Tuo wasn't mute—his voice was simply hoarse and unpleasant.
Only with that kind of setup could many plot points be handled without so much trouble.
The same applied in this book. After all, this wasn't The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. It was impossible to spend too much time on an unimportant character like Fan Yao, so many things had to be handled in whatever way was most convenient. That saved the most space and avoided needing excessive buildup for a single setting.
So in this book, Fan Yao likewise only pretended to have a hoarse voice rather than being truly mute.
2. Yesterday, an interview took up my entire afternoon, and I never found time to write. By the time I got home that night, I was already exhausted.
So today's update will still be delayed. I've only written 1,000 words so far, but I'll try to finish it as soon as possible...