The Legend of Xie Ying and the Demon Queen (Phantom Queen)

I had probably known Shadow for five or six years by then.

Back then, the uncultured Demon Queen, who never read books, went through many setbacks. When she hit rock bottom in life, she suddenly remembered the romance novels and comics she had not read in years. Perhaps they would make decent entertainment. But she found that she was already past that tender age and simply could not keep reading them.

So she searched for books about the Three Kingdoms, because she had been obsessed with Three Kingdoms games at the time. Unexpectedly, Desire of the Three Kingdoms was the first result that came up.

Curious that such a book existed, she assumed it was a historical novel and clicked in to read it.

The game-style Chronicles felt fresh and interesting to someone like me, who knew absolutely nothing about writing, and I was completely drawn in by the plot as well.

Its plot was intricate and unpredictable, always bringing me great surprises. The author's writing also gave me a sense of iron-blooded tenderness, and it completely moved this heart of mine, which had lacked passion for so long.

The life philosophy of "go with fate and stay calm" that Shadow conveyed through his writing, along with his decisive and clean-cut way of handling matters, had a huge impact on my dispirited state of mind back then. That was exactly what I lacked.

And so, as I followed in Shadow's footsteps, there was one more person among them: me.

(Although it was Shadow's second book, I have to say that many parts were a little wordy. He was always passive with the female leads, making them take the initiative to seduce Xie Ying. What a closet pervert...)

After reading pirated copies for several months (I was so stupid that I had no idea what the difference was between Qidian and piracy), I discovered Shadow calling on everyone in his individual chapters to read the official version.

Only then did I realize that my support for Shadow had been too empty, with nothing practical behind it. I then found the group and decisively joined it. With the help of the group members, I quietly cast recommendation votes, monthly tickets, subscriptions, and tips.

The active fans at the time included Ying Xin Hun, You Hun Mei Ying, Qi Shao, Nan Yu, Demon Cat, Long Yutian, and so on. (Tianya, don't say I didn't mention you. You were always absent and only showed up much later. Intelligence reports said you got a wife and abandoned us.)

We often chatted nonsense together in the group, sang nonsense and talked nonsense on YY, building a deep comradeship worthy of a revolutionary organization.

And so, we all cheered, worked hard, and struggled together for Shadow's achievements!

Sadly, the Demon Queen ultimately did not have the social skills of Comrade Tianya, the big boss, and could not hold things up alone. Most readers back then were students too. Although the results were not very ideal later on, Shadow still persevered and finished the book. Though, even so... I still had many expectations for the later parts of Chronicles...

After that came The Witch Soul Lives Forever, and I had always liked Shadow's works. (But the most shameful thing was still that Shadow was always going on hiatus, and whenever he did, it lasted several days.)

Sadly, for various reasons, the Demon Queen resolutely traveled thousands of miles alone to some backward, corrupt, dangerous, poor country. At first, she could still get online a little at the hotel. During events, she would even squat in the restroom at five in the morning to chat on YY. o(∩_∩)o Haha...

Later, she moved and went several months without internet. By the time I resurfaced, The Witch Soul Lives Forever had already ended, and he had started a new book called Saint Confucian. Just seeing the title gave the Demon Queen a headache. (I hate talking about cultured things with uncultured people.) Combined with problems at my new job and at home, all the things beyond my strength made the Demon Queen lose heart again, and she went straight back to lurking at the bottom of the sea...

Just like that, more than two years passed in the blink of an eye. I barely knew anything about Shadow's fourth book before his fifth appeared. Little Dragon was the one who notified me first. By then, the Demon Queen had tragically begun changing jobs and moving house again...

The Demon Queen's life had involved so much drifting.

But I promised Shadow that I would definitely come support him when he launched VIP.

And so, when Tianya notified me, I returned to the embrace of the group and began a new struggle alongside some new and old readers.

To sum it up in one sentence, the process seemed simple, but it contained much helplessness, many sighs, and deep loyalty.

Yet it forged the sibling-like bond we all had for five years. Now we could proudly say that our friendship had gone beyond five years.

From the days when Shadow was single and always drank until he collapsed, got into fights, to getting engaged to and having a child with his beautiful young wife, to now when his handsome little boy could walk and jump. Life could truly be incredibly simple and fleeting, but it could also become tangled and Alexandria because of a single wrong thought. In the end, it depended on everyone's willpower and whether they were strong enough.

There were also some other readers who had not returned yet. I believed everyone had their own reasons and goals keeping them busy, but one day, they would think of and return to our Xie Ying Legion. After all, we were good brothers who spoke from the heart and valued affection and loyalty. (Of course, that was for those who respected each other and treated one another as brothers...) O(∩_∩)o

At the end of an article, one generally had to talk about expectations for the future. The Demon Queen was just a little woman and did not want to think too much. She only hoped that we would remain brothers and sisters for life, that we could often gather and share what was in our hearts in the future. Who knew, maybe some of our children could even become in-laws someday... In short, cherish everything we had now. Whether we succeeded or failed, at least we had gained friendship...

Let us once again struggle, work hard, fight, and cheer together for our loyalty, for a good book worth reading, and for an author worth supporting!!!!!!

(November 28, 2012, Phantom Queen)