New Book, Released During the Spring Festival

"Who? Who did this to you?"

Lu Xiaofeng tightly gripped Lin Xian'er's hand, channeling true qi into her. At last, a trace of color returned to her paper-white face.

"It was... a man in black... I heard... his name was... Gin..."

A man in black?

Gin!

It was as though a thunderbolt had exploded in Lu Xiaofeng's mind. Could it have been them?

Those two men in black who had turned him into a child!

And... Gin... that name!

"Tell... tell Li Xunhuan... they... they will never let him go..."

The flush faded from Lin Xian'er's face, and her beautiful features turned pale once more. Trembling, she spoke those final words before her life slipped away...

"Good! Excellent!"

Boss Wen closed the freshly bound book in his hands and praised it repeatedly. "Young Master Zhou, your writing has improved tremendously. This final case is filled with mysteries, yet Lu Xiaofeng solves every one of them. More importantly, it even hides so many secrets! Once this book goes on sale, it will surely sweep across the land and become an instant hit!"

Zhou Ming nodded in satisfaction. "Boss Wen, you are experienced, so I trust your judgment. If it fails to do that, I will come looking for answers in the future!"

Boss Wen laughed. "Rest assured, Young Master Zhou. I dare wager Wenzong Bookstore's reputation that this book... will be a hit!"

After seven days, Zhou Ming had heavily revised Famous Detective Lu Xiaofeng, adding a great deal of new content.

The book could roughly be divided into three volumes. The first described Lu Xiaofeng's cleverness and talent for solving cases. Then, during the Lantern Festival, while he was traveling with his childhood sweetheart, he encountered two suspicious men in black and followed them.

Instead, he was knocked unconscious with a blow to the head and, in his dazed state, forced to swallow a poison pill.

When he awoke, he discovered that he had become an eight-year-old child. After solving several cases, he moved into the home of his childhood sweetheart, Mao Xiaolan.

The second volume told of Mao Xiaolan's father, Mao Wulang. Though he was a constable of the Six Doors, he did not know how to solve cases. Yet with Lu Xiaofeng's help, he solved several strange cases in succession and gradually gained fame.

This volume was mainly supported by the twisting, bizarre plots of those strange cases, while also introducing several new characters.

It also let Lu Xiaofeng learn of the Black-Clad Organization, especially the man who had knocked him unconscious back then—Gin!

The most crucial part was the third volume. Mao Wulang was invited to Xingyun Manor to investigate the Plum Blossom Thief case!

Though it was supposedly one case, Lu Xiaofeng unraveled four major mysteries within it.

The first was the mystery of the Plum Blossom Thief. This part was not particularly enticing, since the Jianghu Monthly Report had already covered it in detail.

But the following three mysteries were each more significant than the last.

When Li Xunhuan returned, two people were at his side. One was his loyal servant, Tie Chuanjia, while the other was a friend he had met, the Flying Swordsman A'Fei.

As expected of friends by the protagonist's side, both of them had secrets.

The Flying Swordsman A'Fei's secret was the mystery of his origins.

His father turned out to be Shen Lang, the great hero who had shaken the martial world ten years ago, while his mother was the equally renowned Ghost Palace Master, Bai Feifei.

Tie Chuanjia's secret required telling the story of another eight people.

These eight had once been strangers, but their temperaments suited one another, so they became sworn brothers and were known as the Eight Heroes of the Central Plains. They were all gallant heroes, generous with their money, but where had that money come from?

It came from Weng Tianjie, the leader of the Eight Heroes of the Central Plains, who had turned to banditry and obtained it through robbery.

To uncover the truth, Tie Chuanjia pretended to approach Weng Tianjie and learned what had happened. But Weng Tianjie had done it all for his brothers, and those he robbed possessed only ill-gotten wealth.

But the law had no sympathy. In the end, Tie Chuanjia reported the matter, resulting in Weng Tianjie's death.

However, if this matter were made public, Weng Tianjie's reputation would certainly be ruined. Thus, Tie Chuanjia completely concealed the secret and kept it to himself.

But though he said nothing and outsiders knew nothing, they assumed that he had betrayed and harmed Weng Tianjie. Weng Tianjie's wife and seven sworn brothers had therefore hunted Tie Chuanjia for more than ten years, never giving up.

No one knew the truth behind this great mystery, yet Zhou Ming revealed it and wrote it into the book.

Finally, there was the mystery of the Li family's decline, Old Scholar Li's death, and Li Xunhuan's ten years beyond the frontier!

This was the real bombshell!

Shen Lang and Bai Feifei were both figures from ten years ago.

Tie Chuanjia and the Eight Heroes of the Central Plains had only a little fame in the martial world.

How could their secrets compare to those of Little Li Flying Dagger, Li Xunhuan, whose name was renowned throughout the realm?

This was the real hot topic!

Of course, Zhou Ming would not foolishly say that the mastermind was Zhu Wushi. Instead, he pinned it on the Black-Clad Organization in the book.

At the end of the story, Lin Xian'er's death was also caused by the Black-Clad Organization.

Why had the Black-Clad Organization killed her? What secret had she learned? And what was the Black-Clad Organization's objective?

Everything would be revealed in the next book!

To complete this part of the story, Zhou Ming painfully spent a wisp of Perfect Qi to study for two hours and improve his writing.

He made this part of the story especially gripping.

Combined with the already highly engaging plot, even Boss Wen praised it repeatedly after reading it, firmly declaring it to be a good book!

"Young Master Zhou, was Lin Xian'er really killed by someone from the Black-Clad Organization?" Boss Wen could not help asking curiously.

Zhou Ming smiled. "Boss Wen, the Black-Clad Organization is merely fictional in my book. How could Lin Xian'er have died at their hands?"

"That is true!"

Boss Wen nodded, then asked, "Then Li Xunhuan's father's death... that should be fake too, right?"

"Heh heh, that part is true, though it happened more than ten years ago."

"Oh, I knew it was fake. How could Old Scholar Li possibly... Hm???"

Boss Wen stopped mid-sentence and cautiously asked, "Young Master's meaning is..."

"What do you think?"

"This humble one knows nothing!"

After leaving the residence, Boss Wen touched his back and found it soaked in sweat.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Without mercy, he gave himself several hard slaps, reddening his face as he cursed, "Serves you right for talking too much! Serves you right for talking too much!"

When it came to such matters, even if Young Master Zhou had written everything plainly in his book, a bookstore owner like him could not afford to say another word aloud!

Boss Wen made up his mind that in Young Master Zhou's presence, he would strictly restrain his curiosity in the future and absolutely never ask questions at random again.

Piracy had run rampant in ancient times. Even though Wenzong Bookstore was the most influential bookstore in the Ming State, it still suffered greatly from piracy.

The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng depicted many secrets and resolved numerous mysteries, while its story itself was full of twists and turns. It was almost certain to become hugely popular.

To avoid having pirated booksellers seize their profits, Wenzong Bookstore decided to distribute stock everywhere, ensuring that genuine copies could be bought directly in every major city across the country.

The official release date was the first day of the first lunar month!

From ancient times to the present, the Spring Festival had always been the hottest period for the market. Only after reaching another peak during the Lantern Festival would it gradually decline.

Releasing it at this time would ensure the greatest possible profit.

And before the official release, naturally, the publicity could not stop either.

The promotional strategy was simple: ride the hot topics.

Ride the Plum Blossom Thief's popularity, ride Li Xunhuan's popularity, ride Lu Xiaofeng's popularity.

In short, ride every trend possible!