Chapter 503: "I want for the sky to not cover my eyes!"
Online.
By now, people who followed Zhang Ye had discovered the groundbreaking news!
"Let me go take a look!"
"I'm really looking forward to this!"
"Did he really come up with a new piece of work? What kind of novel is it?"
"I think it's an adaptation of Journey to the West? Why isn't there a synopsis available?"
"There's only one chapter? I don't care anymore! A novel by Zhang Ye surely can’t go wrong, I will read it even if there’s only one chapter! Since 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' was released, I've hardly come across any novels that could be considered remotely good! I've been waiting for so long for Zhang Ye's new novel and it's finally here! It seems to me that Teacher Zhang Ye has no intentions of just disappearing like this! He has not given up! Can't get published? Then he will write and post it online. Surely they can't ban him if it's posted online? Giving support to Teacher Zhang!"
"I'm here to support too!"
"'Wang Wu' from Zhang Ye's fan club has arrived!"
"'Big Dumb Pot' from Zhang Ye's fan club reporting in!"
""Big Biscuit' from Zhang Ye's fan club has arrived. 'If you do not leave me, I will always be at your side until the end of life!' -- This was the motto of Zhang Ye's fan club on the Tieba forums.
"My large saber is again again again again again again again again again again again again again again again again again unable to endure the thirst!"
"Haha, Big Saber Bro always has such a domineering entrance! It's just a novel, so surely you don't need to sharpen your saber for that?"
President Wu was right. There was definitely still some disadvantage in publishing it online. There was no way to publish and market it to attract more readers, but those who really liked Zhang Ye were still around. They had not given up on him and came rushing over almost immediately when the blog post was published.
Many people had already started reading!
Some of Zhang Ye's friends had also noticed that his blog had a newly published post and curiously went to check it out.
Like Zhang Ye's eldest younger sister.
Like Peking University's Teacher Su Na.
Like Yao Jiancai and his daughter, Yao Mi.
Everyone knew that Zhang Ye had talent. When his new novel was released, it was only natural that people would be enticed to check it out. Even some media agency staff and publishing agencies subconsciously checked out Zhang Ye's blog to read this novel. The media would not report on this, nor would the publishers publish this novel, but it did not mean that they were not curious about it. They all wanted to find out for themselves what Zhang Ye's new novel was about. Was it about the supernatural? Or was it other genres?
A thousand, five thousand, ten thousand.
The click rate did not rise too quickly, but it wasn't slow either.
Soon, everyone had gone to the the blog to read the novel. Some people were faster at reading, while others took their time to read. But without exception, after reading a little, everyone was a little stunned because this novel felt strangely familiar to them. It was familiar because it used "Journey to the West" as a backdrop with the same characters in it, but it was also unfamiliar to them since the characters had very different back stories and styles to them. Their language styles also left many people wondering how the characters were really like. Almost the entire chapter was presented in a dialogue progression way to the readers!
It was very strange!
No one had ever read such a genre of novel before!
What was Zhang Ye writing about? What was he trying to present? At this point in time, many readers were still unclear of what this would all lead to. There had only been one chapter released so far and it was a little confusing.
Some comments were left on the post.
"Who can understand this?"
"I don't understand it. What is it about?"
"It's feels just so-so. A little obscure and doesn't feel like it will be as good as 'Ghost Blows Out the Light'."
"Yea, it doesn't feel like it's storytelling. It's not even at the standard of 'Journey to the West'."
"I find it OK. I will continue to read it since I feel this is written quite stylishly."
"The words and language are really good, but the story is still a little confusing."
"This is only the first chapter, so I think it will be amazing! Hahaha, I like this 'Legend of Wukong'! The characters in the novel seem really interesting!"
"Yes, it's really interesting!"
There were both good reviews and bad reviews.
Because there were no promotions or media reports, the popularity was just so-so. The number of people commenting were mainly Zhang Ye’s hardcore fans.
Soon after, Zhang Ye posted the second chapter!
......
Chapter 2:
Monk Tang and his 2 other disciples were eating some fruits in front of the fire.
Sun Wukong emerged and walked over slowly from the woods.
Monk Tang raised his head up and said, "Hey, you've come over? Please take a seat."
Sun Wukong did not say a word and just sat down, staring at the fire.
"Hey, what's the matter with you today, Monkey?" Pigsy asked, "You look as though you've been beaten silly by someone. Hahaha--Ha--"
......
"Another chapter’s been posted!"
"There's a new chapter!"
"Why didn't he just post them together?"
"Teacher Zhang really knows how to make people wait! He's just posted another chapter just now!"
"Could it be that Zhang Ye is posting as soon as he completes writing each chapter?"
"Ah? Then that would mean Teacher Zhang is writing all of these so quickly? Using such dialogue and words! Doesn't he need time to think through and conceptualize? F**k, this might be true. Didn't Zhang Ye use to write poems or essays without needing to plan or think first? They were all composed spontaneously. Let's not even mention the other amazing things. Just this alone would mean that Zhang Ye's really crazy good!"
"Let me read it first!"
"I'm already finished reading it."
"Ah, it's beginning to get interesting!"
"Yea, I can feel that it will be getting better and better as well! Looks like it will be a great novel!"
And then, the third chapter was posted, followed by the fourth chapter and then the fifth chapter.
After another two to three hours had passed, more and more people found out about Zhang Ye's new novel. They all began to gather at his blog to take a look. Although his popularity did not increase as much as his previous works, it was still slowly increasing and increasing. It kept increasing! A lot of people starting reading the novel seriously, even though the beginning seemed a little obscure in the story’s development, but when they got to the newer chapters, their hearts would become heavy. They couldn't take their eyes off and had a strong desire to finish reading in one breath!
"Quickly post the next chapter!"
"Supporting Teacher Zhang!"
"This novel is too damn amazing!"
"I might not understand it, but I can feel that this novel can only get better and better!"
Within this short duration, some people even went back to the first chapter to re-read, while some even reread several times. They carefully savored the feeling of re-reading and became more fascinating with each read!
Big Saber Bro shouted: "The sixth chapter is about to be posted!"
Big Saber Bro was the current leader of the fan club. With her lead, everyone kicked themselves into gear and contributed towards generating more buzz.
"The sixth chapter!"
"Come on, post it!"
"It's at the cliffhanger! Why did it end!?"
Finally, at 10:30PM, the sixth chapter was published!
With the new update, many readers couldn't be bothered to post comments and rushed to start reading the sixth chapter. It was getting more and more addictive!
But there were still some people who still couldn’t understand the story.
TheWindIsHere: "Is it really that good?"
TheresAGhostBehindMyBack05: "I can only understand a little, but those deities seem to be quite evil. They just seem to be causing all sorts of trouble. I wonder what Zhang Ye is trying to say through this. I have to read further to find out."
Suddenly, a reader was stunned!
And then followed by the second person, the tenth person, the hundredth person.
......
At the end of the chapter.
"Xuanzang (Monk Tang's name), you're an intelligent person. Stay by my side from now on to practice Buddhism. I will teach you all of my knowledge from my life of learning."
"Actually...I feel that it would be better if I stayed in the deacon like I did in the past. I can do some gardening when I'm free or watch the sky too. I don't think that I can memorize all those Buddhist scriptures."
"If you don't learn with dedication, how can you gain my mantle?"
"But you were not willing to teach to me the things that I wanted to learn."
"What did you wish to learn?"
......
When they read up to the final lines of the sixth chapter, everyone's faces turned to dismay. Some people had goose bumps, while others experienced pupil dilation in their eyes. There were also those that who exclaimed loudly in front of their computers, or those whose hands were trembling from the excitement!
At this moment, they could only relate all of this to Zhang Ye. They remembered Zhang Ye being banned by Decree #43 and the past few days where he had been boycotted and denounced by the organizers of the crosstalk competition, as well as the members of the crosstalk and folk art worlds. They thought of Zhang Ye, who would rather be brought to the detention center for seeking justice for the commoner by beating up Lee Anson. They remembered that even when he was misunderstood by the world, he still had no regrets nor thought that he had done anything wrong!
What was Zhang Ye trying to express?
What message was "Legend of Wukong" trying to send?
At this moment, everyone's hearts were set aflutter by the text of the novel!
What was it that he wanted to learn?
"I want for the sky to not cover my eyes!"
"I want for this land to not bury my heart!"
"I want for all sentient beings to be able to understand my intentions!"
"I want for all those Buddhas to disappear from my life!!”