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End-of-volume summary
After thinking about it, I decided I should write a summary at the end of the paper.
Since starting my new book, I've been restless and anxious. On one hand, the book is doing exceptionally well, and I worry that I can't keep up. On the other hand, I feel immense pressure.
I've been writing books for five or six years now. This is the first time I've had an initial subscription of 2,800, the first time my average daily subscription exceeded 3,000, the first time I have a chance to be recognized as a featured author, and the first time I've joined the featured author group. This book is truly a series of firsts for me.
I consulted with the editor from the very beginning. We revised it three times, discarding 110,000 words of draft material. But the results are obvious. Both the data and the feedback exceeded my expectations.
After its release, the subscription numbers were an explosive success for me. For this, I am infinitely grateful to all the legitimate readers. Every subscription and every donation is a source of motivation for my writing. Thank you so much.
These results are a testament to the value of buying the official copy of "The Longest Day in Chang'an" and having the Chang'an map displayed on my desk. I'll try my best to perfect the details.
Despite this, numerous details were still pointed out as problematic. The use of the term "大人" (daren, meaning father/father) was the most frequent issue. I forget which author first popularized this usage, stating that before the Ming and Qing dynasties, "大人" meant father. Later, the online literature community began to fiercely criticize this issue. I am aware of this problem, but many issues are unavoidable.
For example, you know someone is an official, but you don't know them personally, what their rank is, or how high it is. How do you address them? You go up and ask, "Excuse me, what is your rank? What's your name?" "Oh, so you're County Commandant Lu..." How awkward is that?
Furthermore, I personally believe that in ancient times, officials were often referred to as "parent officials." Therefore, addressing them as "sir" is not problematic. I don't know who coined this concept. However, I think this viewpoint is one-sided and not absolute.
Additionally, the term "Shangguan" (上官) can also be used. However, it has limitations. For example, you can refer to yourself as "Xiaguan" (下官), but you generally wouldn't directly address your superior as "Shangguan." Calling someone "County Commandant Lu" (陆县尉) or "Lord Lu" (陆大人) is acceptable. But directly calling someone "Lu Shangguan" (陆上官) would feel a bit awkward. In a conversation, you might say that someone is your "Shangguan." But generally, you wouldn't address someone face-to-face like that.
These are my thoughts on this issue. I am not an expert or professor, and my words do not carry any authority. They are merely my personal opinions.
In the Tang Dynasty, people typically referred to themselves as "So-and-so" when speaking. However, when I actually write, I keep using phrases like "So-and-so knows" and "So-and-so thinks." Will this really improve the reading experience? This is an infinite flow (infinite flow) novel designed for readers' enjoyment. Everything is geared towards making the readers feel good. I will only sacrifice other details to make them feel good, but I will never sacrifice the concept of enjoyment for the sake of details. Of course, if anyone feels that my word choice isn't classical enough and affects the enjoyment, then I really can't help it.
I also want to address one particular issue. In the opening scene, when the protagonist first travels to the new place, he can't understand the townspeople. Later, he can understand them. Let me explain. Initially, my writing wasn't detailed enough. I apologize for that. So I've revised it slightly.
I already added a sentence in the original text. The old man's accent was also very heavy, but it was barely understandable. I thought that was a problem with my character setting. But then someone started arguing with me about the character setting... a crazy barrage of criticism?! Someone even said, "How can the protagonist communicate without a Middle Ages accent?"
To this, I'll give a serious response: The online novel world isn't for you, really. I've read at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, historical time-travel novels. I've never seen a single protagonist with a medieval accent. Not a single one. Everyone time-travels, and everyone's doing just fine. Why don't you criticize them, instead of showing off in my infinite flow novel world?
Finally, regarding the issue of deleting posts, I admit that I deleted a large number of them. I deleted all negative posts. The more reasonable the argument, the more I deleted. I have read all the posts. I can correct some of the things that can be corrected.
Unfortunately, I cannot allow these posts to continue. A long time ago, I noticed that most popular comment sections rarely saw negative feedback. But if you check online forums, you'll see that even on platforms like Tieba, the feedback is only about 50/50. Could it be that everyone's behavior has improved at this point in time?
Finally, let me mention the ending of this volume.
To be frank, even this ending wasn't originally planned. However, I later felt it was better to give the Tang Dynasty volume a more formal conclusion. So I wrote a few more chapters, resulting in this somewhat vague ending. This is my way of giving the Tang Dynasty volume closure, since many readers enjoy it.
Many people say it had a bad ending. I admit it was a bit rushed. But to be honest, I wasn't prepared for the later plot at all. So I didn't plan to force it together to make money. Seriously, the beginning had better reviews. I didn't want to drag it out and ruin its reputation.
The next volume is about the Ming Dynasty, interspersed with the story of Embroidered Spring Blade. There are two movies included; you should check them out—they're great. The new volume will be uploaded tonight, so please look forward to it.
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Chapter 107 A New Beginning
Lu Xuan was awakened by a chaotic sound of horses' hooves.
He had just opened his eyes when he found himself lying on the ground, and not far away, a tall cavalryman was galloping towards him. The knight didn't notice Lu Xuan's presence. But his warhorse happened to trample Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan instinctively rolled over, dodging the cavalryman's trampling. To the cavalryman's astonishment, he grabbed his ankle and, with a powerful pull of his right hand, dragged him off his horse.
His mind was a complete blank. Lu Xuan knew this was one of the aftereffects of time travel. That's right, he'd time-traveled again. And this time, he'd been transported to a battlefield. If his first time travel had been here, probably none of this would have happened.
The knight in his arms was pulled from his horse and fell dazed and confused. However, it wasn't fatal. He was stunned for a moment, then regained his senses. His right hand shot out, and he pulled a short sword from his leg. He lunged at Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan slightly turned his body to avoid his arm. He raised his right hand and grabbed the other man's hand holding the knife.
With a sharp crack, accompanied by the knight's scream, a shard of white bone pierced through his arm, protruding from the gap in his armor.
He casually pinned the other person to the ground. Lu Xuan then examined the extra information that had appeared in his mind.
Surprisingly, this time travel seemed more complete. At least this time, he had an identity: a hunter in the mountains.
On February 26th of the 47th year of the Wanli reign (1618), the Ming army converged in Liaoyang, preparing for a decisive battle against the Later Jin. A group of able-bodied men from the local area were temporarily conscripted. Lu Xuan was among those conscripted at this time.
No family, lived alone, a hunter, with a martial arts background. A perfect persona. However, the time period is a bit far-fetched. Because if Lu Xuan remembered correctly, this battle should be the Battle of Sarhu, the Ming Dynasty's defeat and demise. After this battle, the Ming Dynasty began its collapse, ultimately leading to its destruction.
So, Lu Xuan looked at the knight beneath his feet. This person must be a wild boar. He stepped forward with his right foot, stomping down heavily. With a soft thud, the body beneath his foot fell silent.
He casually picked up the longsword dropped by the knight. Lu Xuan looked around and heard a knight's voice coming from his right. Turning his head, he saw another knight charging at him, his lance pointed directly at Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan planted his longsword in the ground. He casually picked up a broken spear and hurled it. The rider on horseback instinctively tried to duck to avoid the attack. However, the broken spear flew at a speed far beyond what was expected.
A sharp whistling sound rang out. The short spear had pierced through the chest, and the immense kinetic energy had sent the knight flying, leaving only the warhorse. After charging a few steps, it stopped in a daze, as if something was missing.
Lu Xuan realized. This seemed to be a battlefield that had already ended. Only a small squad of cavalry remained, cleaning up the mess.
Taking a deep breath, Lu Xuan held his breath and focused. The dizziness from the transmigration was rapidly subsiding. His superhuman senses were also quickly returning. Accompanied by the surrounding cold wind, Lu Xuan began to gather all kinds of sounds in his ears, quickly locking onto all living people within a radius of several hundred meters.
Lu Xuan's current senses have almost surpassed the limits of human capabilities. If all his senses were used together, he would practically be a miniature biological radar. No sound or smell could escape his perception.
A few breaths later, Lu Xuan opened his eyes. His body suddenly accelerated, rushing in another direction. He crested a small hill. Before him appeared several figures in wild boar hides. At the same time, several Han soldiers knelt on the ground.
They could have easily killed them with a single blow, but these barbarians insisted on binding the Han soldiers, making them kneel on the ground, and then beheading them. It seems that these barbarians who conquered the Central Plains always enjoyed humiliating the Han people they once looked up to.
When Lu Xuan arrived, he saw a wild boar skin man swinging a knife, and a kneeling Han soldier fell to the ground.
Lu Xuan shouted, drawing the attention of the others. The soldier carrying out the execution paused, turning to look. At that moment, a crossbow bolt shot out from the side, embedding itself in the executioner's throat.
Lu Xuan and another unidentified figure suddenly appeared. The two wary guards were caught off guard and were immediately beheaded. The last soldier, wielding a spear, shouted and instead of advancing, retreated, charging towards Lu Xuan.
However, in his rage, Lu Xuan grabbed the spear that was thrust at him with his left hand. To the astonishment of the man, he abruptly dragged him towards him. His right hand, discarding his sword, seized the man's throat.
The burly Manchu man, nearly 1.8 meters tall, was lifted up by Lu Xuan like a rag doll and then slammed heavily to the ground. It's worth noting that Lu Xuan slammed him vertically. Therefore, his legs were the first to break.