The next day, morning.
"Mn... ngh... no... don't..."
Fang Qiu lay nestled in her blankets, her delicate brows knitted tightly together. Her eyes were shut tight, and beads of crystal-clear sweat oozed from her fair, pretty face.
Her breathing was rapid, her high-rising chest heaving up and down incessantly with her hurried gasps.
Mumbling in her sleep, Fang Qiu forcefully opened her eyes, breathing in large gulps of air. Her crimson eyes were filled with fear and panic.
She turned her body to the side, propping herself up to scan the room. Everything was as usual; there were no abnormalities. Golden sunlight was beaming into the room through the cracks in the window.
Seeing this, Fang Qiu finally let out a long breath. She collapsed back onto the bed, her face looking drained of strength, while her crimson eyes still held lingering fear.
She had had a terrible dream.
She dreamed she was sleeping, and the moment she woke up and opened her eyes, she saw a woman in red, her face obscured by long black hair, hanging dead in front of her. The woman's feet were swaying incessantly in the air.
From her angle, she could see perfectly that the hanging woman's protruding, bloodshot eyes were staring dead at her.
She wanted to flee, but as soon as she turned sideways, she saw a young girl wearing a kimono covered in bloodstains. Ideally holding a strangely smiling Japanese-style doll in one hand and a dripping bloody knife in the other, the girl was standing at the head of her bed, smiling at her gloomily.
She wanted to resist, but the power of her Vision couldn't be used at all.
She could only curl up in the corner of the bed, screaming "no" with a face full of terror, and then watch in despair as they approached.
She didn't know if it was because the calming effect of Sister Ying'er's balm was just too strong, but despite such a terrifying dream, she simply hadn't woken up.
She had slept straight through until now.
Thinking of this, Fang Qiu suddenly shuddered, fully waking up.
Because she seemed to recall that she had almost been scared into incontinence during the dream.
She hurriedly reached out to touch the sheets and her nightgown. Finding them completely dry, she finally breathed a light sigh of relief.
If nothing else, wetting the bed because of a nightmare at her age would be too humiliating.
It was all the fault of that guy named Thoma, actually sending her horror novels...
She got up, walked to the window, and gently pushed it open.
As soon as the window opened, golden sunlight sprinkled in, and a gentle, warm sea breeze brushed past.
It felt warm and fuzzy.
The terror in her heart was dispelled quite a bit. It really was nice weather.
"Mn."
Fang Qiu stretched her waist, her exquisitely curvy body fully extending under the sunlight.
This kind of weather was most suitable for going back to sleep.
"Forget it, let's wash up, eat something, and continue sleeping," Fang Qiu muttered to herself.
After getting up and washing up, she took the cake and juice out to warm in the sunlight for a while. Once they weren't so ice-cold, Fang Qiu quickly finished eating and lay back down on the bed.
...
Meanwhile, at Wanwen Bookhouse.
Just as the boss, Jifang, was reading with rapt attention, a crisp voice rang out.
"Boss, give me ten sets of Sword and Fairy."
Jifang looked up and saw that the speaker was a pretty girl of about sixteen or seventeen years old.
She knew this person well; it was Hu Tao.
The reason she knew her well wasn't just because Hu Tao came by every couple of days to pitch Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's business to her and the shop assistants.
Things like buy one get one free, buy two get three free, lifetime service, and the like.
It was also because every book release day, as long as there was a book by Fang Qiu in that batch, Hu Tao would come to visit and buy dozens of copies at once.
She could be considered a regular customer.
"Only ten sets this time?" Jifang asked while instructing the shop assistant to organize ten sets of Sword and Fairy for her.
"Wasn't I delayed by something yesterday? As a result, many people have already bought it. Even if I buy them to take back now, I can't give them away," Hu Tao sighed, spreading her hands.
Although she was sighing, her face was full of smiles.
This was a good thing.
After all, before she had even given out the books, the employees of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor had bought the books themselves. This could be counted as their recognition of Fang Qiu's books.
Moreover, she heard from Yixin that even Zhongli had come to Wanwen Bookhouse yesterday evening to buy the book.
How could that not make her happy?
"So that's how it is." Jifang nodded thoughtfully.
"By the way, Boss, do you have a book here called Junior Sister, Go Easy, Senior Sister Hurts?"
Looking at the various books displayed on the shelves, Hu Tao suddenly thought of something and asked.
"That book title sounds so strange," Jifang paused slightly and said.
It didn't look like a book title; it looked more like a short sentence.
"Mn, it should be a book from Inazuma," Hu Tao thought for a moment and said.
"If it's an Inazuma book, Wanwen Bookhouse doesn't sell it. However, according to news from the publishing house, the books from Inazuma have already arrived. The Liyue Publishing House is currently expediting the proofreading, so they should be released by the next book launch day," Jifang thought for a moment and said.
"Is that so? Then I'll come buy it next time," Hu Tao smiled and said.
She was a bit curious about exactly what content Fang Qiu had read yesterday.
Seeing that the shop assistant had loaded the books onto the small cart downstairs, she paid the Mora, went all the way downstairs, and pulled the small cart toward Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
After seeing Hu Tao leave, Jifang scanned the surroundings of Wanwen Bookhouse.
Although the book launch day had already passed and there were very few people coming to buy books, the tea tables in front of Wanwen Bookhouse were full of people sitting there.
Some of them were quietly reading books, while others were discussing the plot within the books.
Her place had long since become a gathering and exchange spot for novel enthusiasts.
Even if it wasn't a book launch day, quite a few readers would come here together to read.
It had to be said, the sales volume of Fang Qiu's Sword and Fairy was truly terrifying. The readers gathered here were almost all holding Sword and Fairy in their hands.
Of course, this terrifying sales volume was also based on the excellent content of Sword and Fairy.
Even though the content she had read was less than half, just this portion alone displayed both the 'Xian' (Immortal) and the 'Xia' (Gallant) vividly and thoroughly.
Even if the ending didn't achieve godhood, just landing smoothly would make it a rare, top-quality masterpiece.
Thinking of this, Jifang couldn't help but smile faintly, sit back on her stool, flip open the book, and continue reading.
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