582: Chapter 582 Wuxia Coffin Mountain, the Last Gate

Lin Que opened the Penguin messaging software.

Beside Hong Hu's avatar hung a string of unread messages.

He scrolled up through the chat history.

The last conversation was four days ago.

[Hong Hu]: "Dream Weaver, I have read your blog post regarding the Kunpeng Award turmoil five times."

[Hong Hu]: "Others in this situation would prioritize self-preservation, clarification, or distancing themselves."

[Hong Hu]: "Yet you used a single Microblogging platform post to elevate the battle from a personal level to the entire creative ecosystem, using market rules to suppress capital's control over rankings. This level of foresight... I have been a web novel editor for twelve years, and this is a first."

[Hong Hu]: "Don't worry, I have issued a strict order at Red Fruit. Anyone spreading rumors, stirring trouble, or maliciously inciting conflict will be permanently banned, or face legal action from our legal department for serious offenses. We have a solid chain of evidence."

Lin Que finished reading these messages without lingering.

His finger slid to the latest unread area.

Today's message had just arrived.

[Hong Hu]: "Teacher, are you there? I have something to discuss with you."

[Hong Hu]: "Next week, the site is migrating the backend publishing module. Engineering says the worst-case scenario is a 40-minute delay in chapter delivery."

[Hong Hu]: "I have already posted an announcement, but I wanted to tell you personally. Your reader base is so active; even a five-minute delay could cause an uproar in the comments section."

Lin Que had only replied with three words earlier.

[Dream Weaver]: "Understood."

Subsequently, he sent the message he truly wanted to convey.

[Dream Weaver]: "Actually, let me tell you something in advance."

[Dream Weaver]: "Since ghost blows out the light started, it has not missed a day. The story to be told has reached its final stretch."

[Dream Weaver]: "The final volume, 'Wuxia Coffin Mountain,' is finished. It starts next week and concludes at the end of the month."

After these lines were sent, Hong Hu was speechless.

For Hong Guo Net, ghost blows out the light was more than just a hit.

Since the night of Jingjue Ancient City, there had been a fixed event at midnight on Red Fruit.

Readers waited for Dream Weaver's update.

Editors watched the peak traffic.

Operations watched the comments section to see if it would explode.

When Longling Maze launched, "Suspense Ladder" flooded the forum, and readers reviewed the foreshadowing of Bottle Mountain and the Western Zhou tomb overnight.

After Yunnan Worm Valley updated three chapters, the map of King Xian's tomb was drawn by readers into a high-definition long image and pinned to the top of the suspense channel for a full week.

Kunlun Shrine pushed the snow region, ancient kingdoms, and curses to the peak, and short video clips outside the site went viral overnight.

Yellow Skin Tomb sparked discussions on Northeast folk customs, with keywords like yellow weasel, paper figures, and old villages hanging on the tail of the trending searches for several days.

South Sea Return Ruins allowed the underwater tomb theme to break into the top ten of the Red Fruit bestseller list for the first time.

Rage-flame Xiangxi was even more intense.

Chen Yulou, Partridge Whistle, Bottle Mountain, Xie Ling, Ban Shan...

These names directly nurtured a batch of fan discussion threads.

Now only the last door remained.

Wuxia Coffin Mountain.

It was the conclusion, and also the end.

Hong Hu finally replied.

[Hong Hu]: "Teacher, I know good stories must end."

[Hong Hu]: "But you know the significance of ghost blows out the light better than anyone."

[Hong Hu]: "During the serialization, the daily active users peaked at 2.7 times higher than before the book started. The Adventure channel used to be a cold sector, but now it has become the second largest traffic entry point for the entire site."

[Hong Hu]: "You have seen the external traffic data from last month; 41% of new users from short video platforms came specifically for 'ghost blows out the light'."

[Hong Hu]: "This book is now Red Fruit's user entry point, its signature, and its strongest brand."

Lin Que looked at this data with a calm expression.

He switched out of the chat window and opened the Red Fruit creator backend.

The ghost blows out the light homepage loaded quickly.

In the latest chapter's comment section, the top comments were already lined up.

[Mo Jin Captain Reserve]: "How does Dream Weaver's brain work? The Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Arts was buried since the first volume. I went back to re-read the third chapter and only then realized that the description of the compass had already hidden the later major system inside."

[Convenience Store No. 444 Night Shift Ghost Messenger]: "Watching soul ferry, I thought Dream Weaver would write about human hearts; watching ghost blows out the light, I realized he could even write tomb feng shui into a system."

[Yang Jian's Third Brother]: "I used to be afraid of opening doors while chasing the human world is like a prison; now I am afraid of the compass spinning while chasing ghost blows out the light. When Dream Weaver writes about fear, he always knows what readers are afraid of."

[Don't Look at Me Today, Cthulhu]: "Cthulhu writes about the indescribable; ghost blows out the light writes about underground unknowns. One in the sky, one underground; Dream Weaver's understanding of the unknown is too steady."

[King Xian Tomb Escape Champion]: "My dad saw real rammed-earth ancient tombs in Sichuan Province when he was young. I read the drainage channel structure from the book to him, and he was stunned for a long time, saying that the person who wrote the book must have seen old tombs."

[Waiting for Updates on the Yellow Springs Road]: "Please don't finish it, Dream Weaver. I can follow the updates for a lifetime, really."

Lin Que scrolled down further.

There were rarely simple requests for updates left in the comment section.

More and more readers began to break down settings, dig up foreshadowing, and draw route maps.

Some organized the locations of all the tombs in the book into a map, marking the corresponding dynasties, geographical environments, and historical legends.

Some organized the Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Arts, making a mind map the size of A3 paper with stars, earth veins, water mouths, and sand shapes.

Others researched the folk taboos that appeared in the book, writing a 20,000-word post, from Xiangxi corpse driving to Northeast fox, yellow, white, willow, and gray.

Lin Que's fingertips paused for a moment.

The web novel readers of this world never lacked enthusiasm.

At first, they chased the thrill, the excitement, and the unknown brought by that chapter at midnight every day.

But when the story had a skeleton, details, and hidden lines that could be repeatedly revisited, they would naturally walk into it.

Even walking deeper than the author expected.

The value of web novels has never been just about being "fast."

Fast is the entry.

Being able to make people look back and read it again is what truly stays.

Lin Que closed the comment section and opened the site-wide rankings.

In the top thirty of the bestseller list, the adventure theme occupied eight seats.

Among the top ten of the suspense channel, four books had descriptions directly hanging with tags like "Feng Shui style" and "Tomb Raiding style."

At the beginning, copycat books would only write according to tomb doors, compasses, and mechanisms.

A few months later, some authors had already begun to dig into local chronicles, folk customs, geography, and family secrets.

Lin Que clicked on one at random.

The writing was still green, and the rhythm was a bit rushed.

But the foundation of the story was solid.

The author had pinned a note in the comment section.

"This book is inspired by Teacher Dream Weaver's ghost blows out the light. I dedicate this work to the senior who pioneered the Feng Shui adventure genre."

Lin Que looked at two more.

Some were rough.

Some were immature.

And there were a few that had slowly grown their own branches.

The adventure channel, which was like stagnant water half a year ago, was now sprouting new books everywhere.

This change was heavier than the data of a single book.

In the chat window, Hong Hu sent another screenshot.

The screenshot title was "Adventure · Suspense Category Q3 Growth Review."

The core data was circled in a red box.

The number of new books grew by 340% month-on-month.

The average daily reading time for the category increased by 217%.

The number of new authors increased by 189% month-on-month.

[Hong Hu]: "Teacher, look at this."

[Hong Hu]: "What you brought to Red Fruit was never just a few novels."

[Hong Hu]: "It is a whole forest. The seeds have been scattered, and now they are sprouting everywhere."

[Hong Hu]: "But these new seedlings are still tender. Without you, this big tree, to shelter them, I am afraid they will fall at the first gust of wind."

Lin Que looked at the words "big tree," and his fingers paused on the keyboard for a few seconds.

Subsequently, he started to reply.

[Dream Weaver]: "The seeds have landed. The next step should not be to let one tree block the wind forever."

[Dream Weaver]: "You must teach them to take root."

Hong Hu fell silent on the other end.

Lin Que continued typing.

[Dream Weaver]: "Red Fruit can create an internal writing training camp, facing new authors with potential on the site."

[Dream Weaver]: "The course will not carry my name, but the content will be designed by me."

[Dream Weaver]: "Systematically break down everything from world-building, rhythm control, foreshadowing, and character desires to reader psychology and long-term update habits."

[Dream Weaver]: "Let them learn the methods, do not let them turn the path into an imitation of a certain author."

[Dream Weaver]: "If a forest wants to survive, it relies on root systems to support each other."

This time, Hong Hu was silent for a full twenty seconds.

Then messages popped up like a string of pearls.

[Hong Hu]: "Really?"

[Hong Hu]: "Teacher, are you really willing to do this?"

[Hong Hu]: "If this step is successful, Red Fruit will not rely on hits to survive in the future, and the channel can truly grow its own team of authors."

[Hong Hu]: "I will handle the venue, technology, operations, and selection mechanism. You just need to set the course framework."

[Hong Hu]: "Three days."

[Hong Hu]: "Within three days, I will give you the first version of the proposal."

Lin Que replied very briefly.

[Dream Weaver]: "Okay."

Hong Hu added another sentence.

[Hong Hu]: "There is one more thing. Several young authors supported by Xinchao Publishing House have also entered the final shortlist for the Kunpeng Award."

[Hong Hu]: "If they can stand firm at the Kunpeng Award, the wall between traditional literature and web novels will loosen."

[Hong Hu]: "By then, readers, authors, and resources on both sides will have the opportunity to flow."

Lin Que looked at this line of text, and his eyes moved slightly.

Traditional literature.

Web novels.

The two circles were always measuring each other.

One thought the other was fast food.

The other thought the other was pretentious.

But readers would not naturally take sides.

They would only remember the stories that truly struck them.

Lin Que typed four words.

[Dream Weaver]: "Then thank you for your hard work."

[Hong Hu]: "Don't worry, Great Master, I will watch over this ecosystem personally, it will not die."

Lin Que minimized the chat window.

The Hong Guo Net backend was still on the ranking page.

Those new book covers were lit up in rows.

Some were rough.

Some were reckless.

Some even had obvious traces of imitation.

But they were all growing forward.

Lin Que looked for two seconds and closed the browser.

The next second, an encrypted email popped up with an unread message.

Sender: Director Guo Changhe.

The title was written very directly.

soul ferry October Production Brief.

Lin Que opened the email.

The body was neatly formatted, with time nodes and signatures from those in charge after each item.

[Costume Group]: The third round of modifications for all character makeup photos has been completed, strictly executed according to the era reference images and fabric schemes provided by Teacher Dream Weaver. The three main scene costumes for the late Qing and early Republic period use old Shaoxing hand-woven cloth, and the texture meets the standard after aging treatment.

[Makeup Group]: Special effects makeup testing has passed five rounds of review. The greenish-grey tone of "Zhao Li"'s face and the color-changing contact lenses for "Xia Dongqing" have been adjusted according to the script settings, and the lens test results are better than expected.

[Prop Group]: The core venue "Convenience Store No. 444" and surrounding physical props have been completed, and the internal mechanisms can cooperate with shooting to achieve three form switches. The construction progress of the "Yellow Springs Road" corridor scene is 87%, and it is expected to be capped this weekend.

[Casting]: All main roles have been signed, and the supporting cast lineup is locked. The three leads have entered the second cycle of closed script readings, conducting character psychological analysis with the director team every day.

[Shooting Cycle]: Officially scheduled to start on the 8th of next month. The total shooting cycle is six months, with four months reserved for post-production.

At the end of the email, Director Guo Changhe wrote a paragraph in bold.

"Teacher Dream Weaver, all links are advancing according to your standards, without any shortcuts."

"The whole crew knows that the soul of this play is the script, and the soul of the script is the worldview you provided."

"What we can do is to move the images in your mind to the screen to the greatest extent possible."

"If you have any adjustment opinions before filming, please send them at any time, and the production team will respond 24/7."

Lin Que finished reading the email from beginning to end.

He did not give a long reply immediately, only typing two words.

[Dream Weaver]: "Received."

Subsequently, he separately marked the "Yellow Springs Road corridor" and "Convenience Store No. 444 three-form mechanism."

These two places were the key to whether soul ferry could establish its tone in the first season.

The crew being able to spend money on set construction counted as an attitude.

Whether the lens could capture the flavor also depended on the execution.

Lin Que leaned back in his chair, picked up the tea cup that had already cooled, and took a sip.

ghost blows out the light was about to conclude.

The seeds of the Hong Guo Net writing guidance class had just been buried.

The machines for soul ferry were about to start turning next month.

And on the other side, the lights in the Kunpeng Award final review room were still on.

One hundred anonymous manuscripts were being scrutinized word by word by a dozen of the most critical eyes.

He had no way of knowing how many votes his qin opera had received at this moment or which area it was stuck in.

He would not go asking either.

Every vote on the review panel could only be earned by the text itself.

The phone suddenly vibrated.

Lin Que glanced at the screen.

In the Program group, Professor Liu Zuoqing sent a new message.

[Professor Liu Zuoqing]: "Everyone, the results of the first round of the final review will be officially announced by the Writers Association tomorrow at 9 AM."

"Check your backends then, there is no need to ask in advance."

The group went silent instantly.

Immediately after, the second message popped up.

[Professor Liu Zuoqing]: "Additionally, according to the competition rules, all authors who have entered the final ten must attend the defense in person."

...