Logan Brooks, Gavin Grant, and Samuel Blake have all been hailed as grandmasters, along with others like Jason Bolton and Ethan Thompson—names I’d never even heard of in my previous life, but who are now renowned Hong Kong-style wuxia authors. Their works have been adapted into numerous TV dramas, and pirated books have spread all over the country.

However, what’s frustrating is that things are still rather barren on the mainland. Readers are extremely enthusiastic, and pirated Hong Kong wuxia novels sell out as soon as they’re printed. Yet, there are almost no wuxia authors or wuxia magazines.

Moreover, when Brian Bolton compared this to his memories from high school, it seemed that the secondhand copies of "Wuxia Stories," "Legends: Wuxia Edition," and "Legends: Fantasy Edition" he picked up at small bookstalls were all from after his sophomore year. In other words, these magazines wouldn’t even be launched until next year.

“I can’t wait that long.”

So, with a “let’s give it a try” attitude, Brian Bolton decided to submit manuscripts to the parent magazine "Legends" (for "Legends: Wuxia Edition") and "Hot Wind" (for "Wuxia Stories").

He figured that since "Legends" would launch "Legends: Wuxia Edition" next year and "Hot Wind" would be revamped as "Wuxia Stories," it couldn’t be a spur-of-the-moment decision. Both magazines published popular fiction, and wuxia counted as popular fiction. Maybe the editorial departments were already seeking wuxia submissions.

“If the magazines don’t work out, I’ll just submit to newspapers. After all, Jin Yong serialized his wuxia novels in newspapers back in the day—why can’t I do the same?”

The setting sun hung on the horizon, the midday heat had faded, and autumn seemed to have arrived especially early this year. Yet Brian Bolton’s confidence was burning like the rising sun.

In his previous life, he was painfully ordinary. Now, given a second chance, he was determined to live with artistic flair.

“The great artist—Brian Bolton. Just thinking about it is exciting.”

Brian Bolton thought with a smile.

……

September 1st and 2nd were registration days at Shuangdun High School.

Back at school, Brian Bolton looked at the students walking through campus, trying to recognize people he once knew. But it was difficult—his memories from his last high school days were over a decade old. He’d long forgotten those he wasn’t close to, and even those he was familiar with had changed so much over the years that his memories had been updated again and again.

These fresh-faced kids were honestly hard to recognize—at best, he had some vague impressions.

“Besides, the few people I still remember probably haven’t come to register yet.” Thinking this, Brian Bolton returned to his dorm room, which was open.

On one of the beds inside sat a student with a round, tigerish face but a rather thin frame.

In an instant, memories of this student surfaced in Brian Bolton’s mind.

Eric Warren.

From Yabadian Village, Tushan Township, Changfeng County, Brian Bolton’s classmate and dormmate in his first year of high school—a guy with a rather sleazy personality. After the arts and sciences classes split in sophomore year, he went to the science class. After that, Brian Bolton had less and less contact with him, and after graduation, they went their separate ways and never kept in touch. He never even attended any class reunions.

They’d only added each other on QQ, and occasionally Brian Bolton would see his updates.

He knew that Eric Warren had served as a soldier at a border outpost on Xingkai Lake, on the upper reaches of the Ussuri River at the border of Heilongjiang Province and Russia. There was a photo that left a deep impression on Brian Bolton: Eric Warren wearing a thick military coat, carrying a rifle, standing on the ice of Xingkai Lake, with a stone monument behind him inscribed with the three characters “Xingkai Lake.”

“Hi, we’re in the same dorm, right? I’m Brian Bolton—‘Zhang’ as in Zhang Liao, ‘Tan’ as in Tan Sitong. What about you?” Brian Bolton asked with a smile.

“I’m Eric Warren.” Eric Warren looked a bit shy, his hands resting on the edge of the bed, clearly not used to the environment.

The dorm was indeed rather shabby.

Brian Bolton glanced around. Besides the addition of Eric Warren, two other beds already had bedding on them. “Do you know these two guys?”

“No, they weren’t here when I arrived.”

“Oh? What time did you get here?”

“Just a little while ago.”

“Where’s your hometown?” Brian Bolton asked, already knowing the answer.

“Do you know Yabadian?”

“I do—Tushan Township, right? I’m from Gangji Town, which is right next to your Tushan Township. But Tushan to Shuangdun is quite a distance.” Brian Bolton kept the conversation going easily. After all, he was a man in his thirties—no matter how much he tried to act young, he was still much more mature than a green teenager like Eric Warren, especially when it came to socializing.

Eric Warren said a bit awkwardly, “It’s just as far to go to school in Changfeng, and I didn’t get into Changfeng No. 1 High, so there’s no point going there.”

“That’s exactly how I feel,” Brian Bolton agreed.

Hehe City is the capital of Anhui Province, with three counties and four suburbs under its jurisdiction. Changfeng County is the northernmost county. Geographically, it’s a long strip running north to south, with two main roads—Hehuai Road (National Highway 206) and Heshui Road (a county road)—running parallel through the county. The towns are basically distributed symmetrically along these two roads.