108: The harsher the insults, the more firmly they stand.

The train sped across the plains of northern Jiangsu,

the utility poles outside the window retreating as fast as vibrating harp strings.

Inside the carriage, it was originally quiet and peaceful, but with that pop-up notification from the Red Fruit Reading APP,

this tranquility seemed to be instantly destroyed by an invisible bomb.

Shen Qingqiu's fingers tightened involuntarily on her phone, the screen's glow reflecting in her pupils,

those eight bloody characters were particularly eye-piercing.

If one didn't look at the author's name and only saw the title,

they might only think it was probably an ordinary subject involving fantasy or the supernatural.

But the problem lay in the fact that it was written by 'Hell Dream Weaver'.

And just a few days ago, that mysterious writer named 'Jian Shen',

had just swept through the literary world with a book titled 'the ferryman',

defining the word 'ferry' as something sacred, healing, and about love and redemption.

Now, the Dream Weaver who writes horror novels has a new book called 'soul ferry'.

This was like setting up a stall to sell stinky tofu right in front of a three-star Michelin restaurant,

with a sign hanging that said 'Michelin Style'.

Shen Qingqiu clicked into the comment section.

At this point, it was less than ten minutes since the announcement was posted,

the number of comments had already exceeded ten thousand, and the server was visibly lagging.

[Jian Shen's Little Fangirl]: ?!! I'm gonna puke! I've seen people riding on someone else's popularity, but I've never seen such ugly behavior!

Our Jian Shen Teacher's 'the ferryman' just hit the bestseller list, and you come out with 'soul ferry'?

What, are you going to write a horror version of Tristan eating Dylan?

[Righteous Passerby]: Is this the quality of web novel writers?

Even though that editor Surnamed Fang says unpleasant things, he wasn't wrong about one thing,

some web writers really have no shame for the sake of traffic.

[Dream Weaver's Royal Lackey]: Keep your mouth clean, you above!

The book hasn't even been released yet, what's the rush? Was the word 'ferry' invented by your Jian Shen?

Only he can write it, but our Dream Weaver Great Master can't?

[Rational Observer]: To be fair, I'm a fan of both books.

Although I also like Dream Weaver's 'the human world is like a prison', this time it's indeed a bit... that.

The timing is too coincidental, and the title is too similar; it's hard not to suspect it's a copycat work.

[Rational Analysis Emperor]: Let's not rush to bash it.

Although the title clashes with the keywords, the subject matter will definitely be different.

However... this move by Dream Weaver is indeed not very decent.

'the ferryman' is currently popular, and giving it such a name at this time makes it hard not to suspect he's just trying to divert traffic.

[Fifth-Tier Dream Weaver]: Hilarious, does our Great Master need to ride on someone's popularity for traffic?

This is pure coincidence. If we're talking about riding on popularity, who's riding on whom isn't necessarily certain!

[Passerby A]: Fans upstairs, stop trying to whitewash it.

He didn't post it earlier or later, but chose to post it exactly when 'the ferryman' is at its peak popularity.

If this is a coincidence, I'll eat my keyboard on a live stream.

In this round, I'm siding with Jian Shen.

Horror novels should just be written as horror; trying to lean towards literary merit is just a poor imitation... At this moment, Shen Qingqiu's brow was furrowed tightly.

Although she appreciated Lin Que's raw talent and accepted that he might be deeply influenced by 'Dream Weaver',

as for Dream Weaver's own almost provocative commercial behavior,

as a traditional Chinese Language Teacher, she instinctively felt uncomfortable.

"Lin Que."

Shen Qingqiu turned her head and tilted the phone screen toward him.

Lin Que was scrolling through his phone, smiling secretly at the online comments.

Called by Shen Qingqiu, he turned his head, revealing a pair of clear eyes:

"Are we at the station?"

"Don't play dumb."

Shen Qingqiu pointed at the screen.

"Your idol, Hell Dream Weaver, has posted a new book announcement. What do you think about this?"

Lin Que's gaze lingered on Shen Qingqiu's phone screen for two seconds,

then he nodded thoughtfully, his tone carrying a hint of pure appreciation:

"'soul ferry'... Tsk, this name has class."

"Class?"

Zhao Zichen, who was next to them, suddenly exploded.

This top student, who had always maintained a cool and aloof demeanor, was now holding his phone, his face trembling with anger.

"This is simply shameless!"

Zhao Zichen slammed his phone heavily onto his notebook, letting out a dull thud.

"Lin Que, I can't believe you used to admire him. Look at this, is this something a human would do?

Jian Shen Teacher's 'the ferryman' is a classic that explores human nature and redeems souls.

This Dream Weaver, on the other hand, just takes it and changes two characters to use it.

This is like someone changing 'Dream of the Red Chamber' to 'Dream of the Brothel',

it's a desecration of literature!"

Zhao Zichen spoke with increasing agitation; he had clearly become a die-hard fan of Jian Shen:

"This is blatant commercial speculation!

Using the readers' goodwill toward the three words 'the ferryman' to trick people into reading his bloody and horrific stuff.

This kind of behavior is absolutely atrocious!"

Lin Que looked at his flushed face, feeling delighted inside.

Haven't seen him for a few days, and his combat power has grown.

He unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, took a sip to moisten his throat, and then spoke slowly:

"Old Zhao, don't be so angry.

Is it possible that this 'ferry' and Jian Shen's 'ferry' aren't the same thing at all?"

"How could they be different?"

Zhao Zichen snorted coldly.

"Aren't they both about sending off ghosts?"

"That's not necessarily true."

Lin Que shook the water bottle, his eyes playful.

"Jian Shen's 'ferry' is about falling in love in the wasteland and taking a walk along the way.

That's Western-style romance. But this one from Dream Weaver... just the name alone exudes a local underworld vibe."

"Besides."

Lin Que spread his hands.

"In literary creation, clashing on a word is normal.

You can't have all the other ferrymen in the world lose their jobs just because Jian Shen wrote 'the ferryman', right?

Then who would the Yangtze River ferry masters go to for justice?"

"You! This is just sophistry!"

Zhao Zichen was choked with anger, but he couldn't find a point to refute, so he could only turn his head away resentfully.

"Anyway, I don't believe he can write anything special.

Just wait; those Jian Shen fans online will flame him to death."

Shen Qingqiu sighed, and looking at Lin Que's 'dead pig not afraid of boiling water' attitude, she shook her head helplessly:

"You, you can always find a footing for crooked logic.

But this time, public opinion is indeed one-sided.

If that Dream Weaver doesn't produce something real and relies solely on this title, he'll probably ruin what little reputation he has."

Lin Que smiled and turned back to scroll through his phone again:

"Maybe, this was meant to be a good show from the start?"

The light from the phone screen flickered in his eyes.

Riding on popularity?

That's right, he's riding it!

Not only riding it, but doing so with full justification and turning the world upside down.

The most wonderful drama in this world,

is nothing more than when the imposter finally becomes the real deal,

and the audience discovers that these two fellows were actually twins from the same womb.

The storm on the internet was still fermenting.

On the Microblogging platform hot search list,

the hashtag #Dream Weaver Clout-Chasing Jian Shen# shot into the top ten with rocket-like speed.

In various forums, Jian Shen's fans were like cats whose tails had been stepped on,

frenziedly attacking every supporter of Dream Weaver.

And while Dream Weaver's fans wanted to fight back, looking at that extremely similar book title,

they also felt a lack of confidence and could only stubbornly explain to "wait for the actual text".

Even many onlookers began to place bets,

wagering on whether Hong Guo Net would force the author to change the name under pressure.

However, 'Hell Dream Weaver', who was at the center of the storm, made no move.

No Microblogging platform statement, no explanation whatsoever.

Even on Hong Guo Net, there was only that new book announcement.

It was like a bottomless well;

no matter how the storm raged outside, the well water remained calm and unruffled.

Go ahead and scold!

The more you're scolded, the firmer you stand.

All the spit flying now will be the oil that fuels the fire in the future...