The literary era since 1979

"It's time to eat!"

Chen Fei was concentrating on doing his homework in the room. When he heard what Chen's mother said, he immediately dropped the pen in his hand and ran out quickly.

Father Chen, contrary to his usual behavior, did not come to the restaurant immediately. Instead, he stood there motionless, staring at the Comic World.

“It’s time to eat!!”

Mother Chen raised her voice and shouted again.

Father Chen suddenly started to wake up, came to his senses, and subconsciously walked over with the comic magazine in hand.

"Look at you, you still have the nerve to call me a fly boy."

As Chen's mother handed over the chopsticks, she complained, "You're already an adult, but you still like reading comics like a child."

When Chen Fei saw his father being scolded like a grandson, the corners of his mouth curled up wildly, harder to suppress than AK.

"The comic book "Ghost Blows Out the Light" is so good, it's more important than eating!"

Mother Chen kept on chattering.

"It's not Ghost Blows Out the Light, this magazine contains Fang Sheng's new work!"

Father Chen shook his head and laughed.

Before his mother could speak, Fade Chen was surprised: "Dad, did you watch the movie "Xuan-Yuan Sword"? How did you feel about it?"

Father Chen also deliberately changed the subject to avoid his wife's nagging:
"How should I put it? It's really like the 'fantasy' label it has. It's very mysterious. It's clearly a martial arts story with the end of the Sui Dynasty as the historical background, but it's different from any martial arts story I've ever seen. It incorporates elements of mythology and immortal heroes. It's really very strange!"

"Really!"

"Dad, have you read it yet?"

Chen Fei's eyes sparkled. "I've finished my homework, shouldn't you give it back to me?"

"What are you looking at? Eat first!"

Seeing that the father and son were busy talking about comics but not eating, Chen's mother frowned and scolded them.

Chen Fei was startled, closed his mouth, picked up the food and ate the rice, and ate even faster than usual.

After a short while, the bowl was empty. Then he suddenly stood up and walked towards the kitchen, saying anxiously:
"I'm stuffed!"

After putting the dishes in the sink, he couldn't wait to pick up "Comic World" and ran into his bedroom.

"This kid!"

Mother Chen shook her head resentfully, but Father Chen showed a look of regret on his face. He had only watched "Xuan-Yuan Sword" once!

………………

Originally, Chen Fei tried every means to buy "Comic World" simply because he wanted to read the comic version of "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

However, he has now changed his original intention. The first thing he watched was not "Ghost Blows Out the Light", but Fang Yan's new work, "Xuan-Yuan Sword".

It is different from the style of Hong Kong comics, different from the martial arts theme that was popular in Hong Kong, and the opening of the story has never been seen before...

For Chen Fei, a fan of Hong Kong comics, it seemed as if he had opened the door to a new world and was deeply immersed in it, unable to extricate himself.

Even though Chen's mother asked him to turn off the lights and go to bed again and again, he still secretly hid in the quilt and read "Comic World" over and over again with the help of a flashlight. As a result, he went to school the next day with sleepy eyes and yawning.

But he was not the only one in the classroom who felt listless. For example, Liu Haonan also took a copy of Comic World home.

"Brother Fei, where is your copy of 'Comic World'?"

"Hurry up, give it to me, Shan Ji is already reading Hao Nan's book!"

"Hey, hey, hey, please stop cutting in line. I'm in front of you."

"........."

Just as several people were scrambling for the magazine, the students around them suddenly brightened up when they heard the word "Comic World".

Especially the students who wanted to read it but couldn’t buy it, their eyes were greedily staring at the "Comic World" in Shanji's hand.

There were also boys who were on good terms with him who came over and took the opportunity to get close to him: "Brother Fei, how is it? Is the painting of Ghost Blows Out the Light good?" "Not bad."

Chen Fei raised his chin and boasted, "But if you want to count the most exciting things, there are more exciting things in the magazine than "Ghost Blowing Out the Light"!"

"No way?"

"Is this true? What comic book is better than "Ghost Blows Out the Light"?"

"I know! I know! I've seen the promotional poster for Manga World, and it says that the magazine has a new comic book adaptation in dialect!"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in the classroom.

"That's right!" Liu Haonan could no longer hold back, "This comic is called "Xuan-Yuan Sword", it's..."

Before he could finish his words, Fade Chen glared at him with dissatisfaction. How could such a good opportunity to show off be snatched away by his little brother?

"It sounds like a martial arts comic."

Just when everyone who hadn't watched "Xuan-Yuan Sword" was disliking martial arts, Fade Chen curled his lips and said, "What martial arts? It's fantasy, don't you understand?"

"Fantasy?"

"What is fantasy? Have you ever seen this kind of comics?"

"No, I've only seen science fiction, fantasy, and magic. This is the first time I've heard of fantasy!"

"........."

The students were discussing the issue one after another, and many of them asked questions to Liu Haonan.

"Haonan, is a fantasy comic like Xuanyuan Sword really that good? Is it better than Chinese Hero?"

"It's not a question of whether it looks good or not, it's really something special!"

Liu Haonan was at a loss for words and could not describe his feelings when he watched "Xuan-Yuan Sword" for the first time.

The more this happens, the more exclamations of wow it will cause, and the more people who have not seen "Xuan-Yuan Sword" will be eager to try it out and experience the fantasy style!

………………

At the same time, the editorial department of Ming Pao.

Cai Lan learned from Jin Yong's phone call that Fang Yan accepted their invitation to dinner, so he immediately went to Jin Yong's office.

Jin Yong did not hide much and said that as an invitation gift, Fang Yan hoped to comment on a work of "Comic World".

"Which one?"

Cai Lan was quite curious.

"This is it."

Jin Yong handed the comic magazine sent to him by Mingkong Publishing Company to his old friend.

The corner of a page in the magazine was folded up, and Cai Lan flipped it over and effortlessly found the page where "Xuan-Yuan Sword" was located.

"This this……"

“Don’t you think it’s amazing?”

Jin Yong's eyes narrowed into slits behind his glasses.

"Although I can't tell much from this episode, I can at least feel that this "Xuan-Yuan Sword" is like martial arts, but not traditional martial arts; it is like mythology, but not classical mythology." Cai Lan analyzed seriously, "The worldview inside should be quite complex and huge. As the plot deepens, these deeper hidden structures will emerge little by little, especially what is the mystery of this "fantasy"?"

"You think pretty much the same as I do."

Jin Yong smiled and said, "This fantasy is really different from the martial arts we understand."

"How are you going to comment on "Xuan-Yuan Sword" in Ming Pao?"

Cai Lan was very curious.

"I haven't even figured out the concept of fantasy, so how can I write a review?" Jin Yong said, "I plan to ask Fang Sheng in person at the dinner party what exactly is 'Eastern fantasy', and how is it different from martial arts? And how is it different from Western fantasy?" (End of this chapter)