The blue light from the computer screen made my eyes ache. The last line of the document was deleted and retyped, deleted and retyped.
【Xiāo Jìn held the heroine's corpse and turned into smoke in the rising sun...】
"What kind of bullshit ending is that!"
I slammed the keyboard and took a big gulp of my ice-cold Coke.
Outside, the heavy rain drummed against the glass like countless people urgently knocking on the door.
Before, I quite enjoyed writing on stormy nights by the floor-to-ceiling window. Inspiration would flood in, and my keyboard would clatter away. But times were different now.
This was the 308th day of serializing "Phoenix Ascends the Nine Provinces," and my collection count was stuck at an awkward 99.
My editor had messaged me yesterday: "Xiǎo Dié, if there's no improvement, we might have to cut the story."
I stared blankly at the document, then suddenly smelled a faint scent of sandalwood.
"That's strange. I didn't light any incense..."
The mechanical keyboard under my fingers suddenly felt soft. I looked down, and cold sweat drenched my back. The black keycaps had turned into yellowed Xuan paper, and my fingertips were pressing down on a line of still-wet ink:
【Xiāo Jìn arrived with the moon, his sword tip lifting the nine heavens】
"This is impossible..."
The smell of gunpowder suddenly filled my nostrils, and I coughed violently. When I looked up again, I froze on the spot.
Before me lay a battlefield strewn with corpses, burning banners planted on mounds of skeletal remains.
The night sky was illuminated a bloody red by the fire, and the man I created was standing atop the mountain of bodies.
His black battle robe fluttered in the fierce wind as Xiāo Jìn swung his sword towards the sky.
*Crack—*
The moon shattered.
It truly shattered.
Silver fragments rained down like glass shards. A few grazed my cheeks, leaving a cold, stinging sensation.
"Xiǎo Dié."
He walked towards me step by step through the air, his boots crushing unseen voids that rippled with bloody waves.
"The ending you wrote is too stupid."
I wanted to run, but my body felt nailed to the ground.
His bloodstained finger suddenly poked my forehead, scalding hot like a branding iron.
"In three days, blue snow will fall in Harbin."
He leaned in and chuckled by my ear, his breath carrying the scent of rust.
"Don't consider this a dream this time."
"Ah—!"
I shrieked and sprang up from my chair, my head slamming hard against the bookshelf.
The computer screen was still lit, and the dense text in the document was automatically generating before my eyes:
《Extreme Cold Supplies List》
1. Pet pee pads, 200 packs (for absorption and moisture control)
2. Industrial salt, 50kg (for melting snow and disinfection)
3. Hand warmers, 300 pieces (minimum resistance to -30℃)
……
The cursor jumped to the last line on its own and spat out a string of garbled code, clearly interspersed with the sentence:
【Do not trust anyone with an ID containing 'Meteorology'.】
My hands trembled so much I couldn't hold the mouse.
Outside, the downpour had stopped at some point. A black cat squatted on the windowsill, its green eyes fixed on me.
I stared back at it.
Suddenly, it opened its mouth and spoke human language:
"Meow~ Hurry and buy the pee pads."
The black cat's mouth moved, and I desperately pinched my thigh. The pain assured me I wasn't dreaming, but how could a cat talk?
"You..."
My voice trembled uncontrollably. For some reason, I asked:
"Are you Xiāo Jìn in disguise?"
The black cat tilted its head, jumped off the windowsill, and disappeared.
Outside, only the pale light of the streetlamps remained, illuminating goosebumps all over my arms.
"Damn it."
I grabbed the Coke can and threw it against the wall.
"Jiang Xinxin, have you gone mad? Writing novels all night is making you hallucinate?"
"Scaring myself~" I hummed a tuneless song to encourage myself.
*Crash!*
A metal can clattered to the floor in the kitchen. I froze. The computer screen suddenly began to flash wildly.
The "Extreme Cold Supplies List" continued to scroll down automatically, and the new content made my scalp tingle:
4. Stainless steel basins, 20 (30cm diameter is best)
5. Car emergency kits × 3
6. Gas masks (with N95 filter cartridges)
"What the hell..."
Trembling, I opened Taobao. My search history showed "Extreme cold survival tips," but I distinctly remembered not searching for that.
But as I continued to look, the browser history was blank.
My body shivered uncontrollably. I grabbed my phone, intending to call my best friend, Lín Yán, but the screen lit up on its own.
On the screen, the Ximalaya app was playing the audiobook of "Phoenix Ascends the Nine Provinces," right at a passage about Xiāo Jìn:
"When celestial phenomena change drastically, one must first prepare objects impervious to fire and water."
Xiāo Jìn's deep voice boomed from the speaker, startling me so much I almost dropped my phone.
"Asbestos as a shield, ice jade as a guide, can withstand three days of cold disaster."
I was stunned.
There was an item on the list: "Asbestos gloves × 10."
"This is impossible!"
I shouted, forcing myself to recall the settings of "Phoenix Ascends the Nine Provinces."
Xiāo Jìn was a character I created myself, a national preceptor capable of manipulating celestial phenomena. He was poisoned and blinded by the emperor for foreseeing the future.
I gave him a cheat ability called "Touch the Stars": as long as his fingers touched the stars, he could alter the celestial phenomena in that region.
Readers had commented then: "This cheat is too OP, the author will never be able to wrap it up."
Whether I could wrap it up in my book or not, I was very clear at this moment: this "cheating character" was now interfering with my real life.
I frantically scrolled down the document. Amidst the garbled code, I found a string of numbers:
My heart leaped. It was my brother's birthday. He was a climatologist who disappeared three years ago. His last text message was:
"Xiǎo Dié, remember this date. When the stars begin to fall..."
The computer suddenly popped up a dialog box:
【Do you believe in prophecy?】
【Yes】 【No】
I gritted my teeth and clicked "No." The entire screen instantly turned blood red. Xiāo Jìn's voice boomed from the speakers:
"Then just wait and see blue snow fall in Harbin, Xiǎo Dié."
*Crack!* The power was suddenly cut off, plunging the room into darkness.
I screamed and recoiled, my back hitting a warm chest.
"Shhh."
Someone covered my mouth from behind, and the scent of sandalwood wafted over me.
"Don't be afraid, it's me."
This voice, I had written for thirty thousand words—it was Xiāo Jìn.
Xiāo Jìn's palm had a scar, which I had designed for him in the novel: in chapter seventeen, he took a poisoned arrow for the heroine, and the back of his hand was scorched by the corrosive poison. Now, this scar was pressed against my lips, carrying a chilling, icy aura.
"You... How can you..."
I broke free from his grasp and turned, my back hitting the edge of the desk.
Moonlight streamed in diagonally through the window. Xiāo Jìn, dressed in his black robes, stood on my yoga mat. The jade pendant at his waist emitted a faint blue glow.
He looked down at his own semi-transparent fingers. "It consumes more than I imagined."
"This is illogical!"
I grabbed "Novel Writing Techniques" from the desk and threw it at him. The book passed straight through his body.
"How can a character from a book come alive?"
"Your brother's AI system is called 'Mirage.'"
He interrupted me. "It simulates the future using climate data and projects it into your dreams via brainwaves. Do you believe it now?"
I froze.