The Return of Spiritual Energy?

The scene Chu Ge thought worthy of a painting was actually coming to life.

He sat in his room, absorbed in writing, while Qiu Wuji sat quietly reading in the living room.

The rhythmic tapping of keys and the soft rustle of turning pages intertwined into the painting's background music, lending the summer afternoon such peace.

Occasionally, Chu Ge got up and went out for a drink of water-the water dispenser was in the living room. When his eyes met Qiu Wuji's, they both calmly looked away again, as though even one extra word would spoil the mood.

Watching him boil water and brew tea, Qiu Wuji occasionally had a thought: He's working while I sit around doing nothing. Wouldn't it make more sense for me to refill his water and pour his tea so he can concentrate on writing? But she quickly brushed aside that "sensible" thought. What would that make me, a little maid or a lady keeping a scholar company?

How did a thought so completely at odds with my nature pop into my head? Was this guy secretly "patching" me again?

Chu Ge really hadn't patched anything. This was part of her original characterization.

To outsiders, she was a mighty figure who swept across the world unchallenged. But once she took off her battle attire and settled in at home, she was the very picture of a good wife and loving mother. Why else would he call her his fantasy of the perfect woman...? It was just that the story was nowhere near the point where she would show this side of herself, yet reality had unexpectedly immersed her in domestic life ahead of schedule.

Unfortunately, she had no such feelings for Chu Ge, so the thought was snuffed out almost as soon as it appeared.

Qiu Wuji immersed herself once more in the vast ocean of Five Thousand Years of Chinese History, while Chu Ge's ideas flowed more and more smoothly.

Since he had already settled on the direction of the later story, that was how he would write it. Chu Ge simply went a step further, letting Chu Tiange gradually understand that even a beautiful woman was only a skeleton beneath her flesh, setting him on a solitary, single-minded path of cultivation.

A truly romance-free path.

He had given up on playing the romantic stock market. It didn't suit his temperament and felt awkward.

Honestly, he wasn't quite comfortable writing a story without a female lead yet. He was used to scenes involving interactions between men and women, so focusing solely on the protagonist's personal story felt unfamiliar. But it was actually a little easier to write, because there were fewer things to worry about.

For instance, when the protagonist went traveling, first, he didn't need to worry about the female lead disappearing from the story; second, he didn't need to worry about enemies retaliating against her; third, he didn't need to worry about developing her character. He could really let loose, with the sky and sea wide open before him. Of course, if he wasn't good at plotting, it would feel thin and dull. Not everyone could pull it off, so it was a challenge.

Chu Ge had never made a serious attempt at it before. Now that he was trying it and gradually getting used to it, it seemed pretty workable... After all, he often read the sort of story Zhang Qiren wrote, so it wasn't unfamiliar. He had the writing skills; following Zhang Qiren's approach seemed doable too.

Looking at how his writing was taking on more and more of Zhang Qiren's flavor, Chu Ge suddenly wondered whether, if this really became popular, it would count as vindication for Zhang Qiren in some sense.

He finished the new chapter, saved it, and published it.

The review section was quieter than before. The disappointed readers had already dropped the book, and there weren't many newcomers yet, leaving it rather deserted. He refreshed his dashboard. Subscriptions to the new chapter had fallen too, but they were actually much better than he had expected.

He had thought at least half his readers would leave, but he had only lost around a tenth. Perhaps some were still waiting to see how things went, while others didn't care what genre he wrote or whether there was a female lead-as long as the story was good, they would read it.

That made sense, really. Losing a tenth would already have been an unbearable blow under normal circumstances. It only seemed decent because his expectations had been so low. Chu Ge felt quite calm as he left his chair and went out to see Qiu Wuji.

Qiu Wuji was no longer on the sofa. The sounds of stir-frying and the aroma of food drifted from the kitchen. Chu Ge poked his head in and froze for a moment.

Qiu Wuji stood there, still reading, while the wok in front of her stir-fried its contents by itself. Beside it was a chopping board, with a kitchen knife chopping vegetables on its own.

Seeing that the food in the wok was ready, Qiu Wuji snapped her fingers. It flew onto a plate and arranged itself neatly.

Then she lowered her head and kept reading. "What, never seen immortal arts used for cooking?"

"What haven't I seen...? Okay, I really haven't seen this." Chu Ge didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Why not just make it cooked outright?" Qiu Wuji closed her book and thought for a moment. "That would lose something. It's better to take a little care with this sort of work. I'm eating it too."

Chu Ge was speechless.

The dishes that day were simple: just pork ribs, cabbage, and stir-fried eggs. Chu Ge didn't know what dishes Qiu Wuji could make, and Qiu Wuji didn't know much about many modern foods either, so they had simply picked up a few things at the supermarket.

But once the food reached the table, Chu Ge nearly swallowed his tongue along with it.

It was delicious... Is this even the cabbage I thought I knew?

What happened when an immortal's mastery over fire and objects was used to prepare mortal food?

The result was that restaurant food instantly became pig feed by comparison.

Qiu Wuji was smiling over her own meal too. "I could make money as a chef as well, couldn't I?"

"Yes." Chu Ge felt that if Qiu Wuji had a legal identity, she could make a fortune no matter what she did. A cultivator's very existence was a cheat.

He sighed. "I've asked quite a few people. It really does seem pretty difficult to get you an identity under these circumstances."

Qiu Wuji seemed to have expected that. "Of course. If an unfamiliar face suddenly appeared in my sect and claimed to be one of our disciples, nobody would believe them either, because they weren't one to begin with."

"The approaches I've seen other people suggest involve gradually leaving traces of your life, and even creating some vaguely plausible records of your existence in other cities."

"Yes, that's a reasonable idea." Qiu Wuji smiled. "But I really don't want to run around tying myself in knots over an identity. What you said about crossing the border into a war-torn region appeals to me more. Anyway, if this is difficult, let's just leave it. Don't I have something to cover the rent now...? Once I understand this world better, I'll head out."

I knew it.

Chu Ge shoveled rice into his mouth helplessly. "How much have you read? Is there anything hard to understand that you need me to explain?"

"Not so far... This world's ancient times have a lot in common with the book you wrote. You also adapted plenty of myths and legends, like the Four Symbols... To me, it's easier to immerse myself in than the present-day surroundings. It's quite interesting." As Qiu Wuji spoke, her expression grew somewhat distant. "I keep feeling that your world should originally have had spiritual energy..."

Chu Ge said, "Lots of books use that sort of premise. For example, it dissipated after the link between heaven and earth was severed, or after the dragon veins were cut, and so on."

Qiu Wuji shook her head. "I wouldn't say it has completely dissipated. There's still some, though it's rather thin... Also..."

She paused, then said with some hesitation, "I don't know whether I'm imagining it, but the spiritual energy I sensed when I came here this time seemed a tiny bit denser than last time. The amount is too slight for me to be certain."

Chu Ge raised his head, his eyes turning serious as well.

Was this... the return of spiritual energy?

Could that be why she had come out of the book?

If so, perhaps I wasn't the only unusual thing in this world.

(End of chapter)