Chapter 338

Chapter 21 of Light and Darkness, Chapter 124

It seems like the city has fallen…

I took a deep breath, my nostrils filled with the scent of blood.

I stood in place for a moment, waiting until my eyes adjusted to the light before I began to walk forward.

“Ah ah! Hahaha!”

A frenzied soldier roared and laughed in the narrow alley beside me, his sword piercing another equally mad soldier’s chest. Blood splattered on the ground as he pulled the sword out, his neck twisting grotesquely as his gaze shifted toward me.

“Hehehe…”

The soldier was laughing, his lips spreading wide, his face twisted in a macabre grin, drenched in blood.

“I’ll kill you… I’ll kill you… Hahaha!” he said.

I continued walking, turning my head to look at him. Seeing him so happy, I couldn’t help but laugh too.

“Giggles.”

It’s amusing…

But in the next moment, the soldier charged at me.

Less than ten meters away, he reached me in just a few steps, his bloody sword raised high above his head, grinning wickedly as he aimed for my head—then suddenly stopped, his ugly expression frozen on his face.

Thick smoke rose from beneath his feet, instantly enveloping and consuming him, his body turning to ashes. A pale greenish-white smoke quickly shot out, entering my chest.

Ashes drifted behind me into the air.

I didn’t turn back, continuing to walk forward.

Sssss—

The smoke coiled around me, “nourishing” the gruesome wounds on my body, healing them at an observable rate. The broken armor also rapidly returned to its original state.

How itchy…

In the broad street filled with blood and corpses, countless pale greenish-white smokes slowly gathered in front of an old, dilapidated house nearby.

The road surface had cracked inch by inch, with scattered debris, while the monstrous body lay at the center of these cracks, limbs struggling weakly, its body trembling slightly.

Ah, she’s there…

I quickened my pace, walking over and standing quietly in front of her.

The monster’s body was already in shambles, covered in large and small, gruesome wounds. Black pus oozed from the wounds, dripping onto the ground below, staining the stones black. Countless pale greenish-white smokes were drifting from all directions, merging into the monster’s body.

But she no longer had the strength to lift her head.

I pursed my lips.

…Even in this state, she could still devour.

Illusion…

Making people see terrifying things and go mad… And it could be used on a large scale in some unknown way. Even when barely alive, lying down, she could still eat… How convenient this ability is.

As I thought this, I suddenly heard a soft sound.

Hmm?

I turned my head slightly.

The sound came from the window of the old house beside me. The curtains inside, still trembling, were now opened a tiny crack, revealing a pair of lively eyes peering out through the gap. Her pupils trembled slightly, and the moment she met my gaze, she quickly pulled the curtain shut with a hand, the sound of hurried footsteps fading away.

“Mommy…”

A moment later, I faintly heard a frightened child’s voice.

It’s a little girl…

She doesn’t seem to be in the illusion.

And the bodies lying crookedly on the street seemed to be the iron-clad guards who broke into the city; I didn’t see any civilians… At least not on this street.

Probably because most of them were hiding in their houses?

When the red light flashed in the sky, they didn’t see it, but the iron-clad guards who attacked the royal city fell victim to it.

“Giggles…”

Thinking about this, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Why is it so amusing…

“Howl…”

The monster groaned weakly underfoot, the sound almost inaudible.

I looked down at her.

“Eriush.”

“You will never wake up again, will you?”

“Huff…”

The only response was heavy breathing.

“…That’s fine.”

A gentle breeze blew past, curling the strands of hair at my temples. I lifted my hand, using my little finger to tuck them behind my ear.

“In this way, you won’t have to endure those pains anymore…”

“It’s better than me.”

“[Abyssal Language] You…”

The monster was about to speak, but I immediately interrupted.

“[Abyssal Language] I’m not talking to you. Please close your mouth, okay?”

I didn’t want to hear such noisy sounds.

“Really, so annoying…”

In the next moment, I extended my finger and lightly touched the air in front of me.

Whizzzz—

A sharp black blade formed instantly from the whistling wind, slashing forward.

Pfft!

I severed the other’s head and then smashed it into the ground.

With a loud crash, flying debris and intense impact sent the headless body of the monster several meters into the air before it fell back down. The head rolled far away, dark liquid splattering on my cheek.

I wiped it off.

The monster’s body started to disintegrate, turning into countless tiny dust particles that scattered.

“Sleep, Eriush…”

May you have a beautiful dream.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed ahead. I looked up and saw a disheveled figure dart into view from around the corner.

“…Huh?”

That figure was very familiar.

He seemed to be running for his life, rushing over here in a hurry. His silver armor was in tatters, and he wasn’t wearing a helmet. His white hair was messy, covering half his face.

So familiar…

So familiar…

The figure froze when he saw me, standing at the entrance of the alley, unable to advance or retreat, staring blankly at me, his expression growing increasingly fearful.

“Hey…”

I waved to him from afar.

“Is it you?”

Despite the stark difference from my previous impression, he was indeed…

The old Duke!

“Haha!”

I spun on my toes, stepping into a moon step.

Bam!

Rushing like a cannonball, I reached him in an instant.

The old Duke hadn’t even reacted yet.

His eyes were still focused on where I had previously stood, his white hair standing on end from the strong wind. His lips parted, showing his teeth, his wrinkled face shaking violently like waves. Unconsciously, he took a step back, and in the next moment, I raised both hands, gently patting his shoulders.

Smiling, I revealed a smile as bright as the moon.

“Long time no see~”

The old Duke stumbled from my slap, and it took about half a second for his eyes to focus on my face, his body trembling as he suddenly realized what was happening.

“Ahh!”

He let out a hoarse scream, eyes widening, pupils trembling violently. Instinctively, he struggled, but I tightened my grip on his shoulder, and he dared not move.

I smiled even more happily. “What are you doing here?”

“I… you… you are…”

His lips trembled severely, his legs quivering. He had clearly gone through something terrible, no longer possessing the calm demeanor he had shown during our first meeting. Instead, he looked like someone who had been scared out of his wits.

…Am I really that scary?

Tilting my head, I considered it. I reined in my smile, moving my mouth, and smiled at him again.

Be kind…

Look a bit friendlier, like seeing an old friend… Yes, that should do…

After believing I had smiled enough, I relaxed.

But the old man still looked terrified… Well, let it be.

“Shall we play a game?

Or perhaps, these are just results caused by the problems.

Where exactly is the problem?

Actually, there is only one: the inability to balance everything.

There are too many events.

There are too many things to tell.

After all the buildup in the previous sections, my initial plan was to explode everything at the end of the volume. Every character that appeared in the third volume—Victoria, Margaret, Illusion, Reckt, the old Duke, his son, Old Reckmont, Old Reckmont’s son, Carlos Angel, even Sophia, Cardinal Nero… and most importantly, our Peppe.

I set up explosive points for everyone, or G points, whatever you want to call them—points that could stir up emotions.

But as I wrote, I realized it simply wouldn’t work.

Why wouldn’t it work?

It wasn’t because of my writing skills, nor was it because the author ** (perhaps it was), but the reason was actually very simple—this book is written in first-person narrative.

Because of this narrative style, I couldn’t write about what others were doing from time to time, as other novels do. Most importantly, I couldn’t frequently describe the true inner thoughts of others. Since the perspective is Peppe’s, she can only guess, think, and see.

Even so, at the end of the three volumes, I still used other perspectives several times—otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to explain things clearly, because Peppe didn’t see and didn’t know.

At the end of this volume, all the events converge, each one full of excitement. Everyone is at the center of the storm—Margaret, Victoria, Old Reckmont, even the old Duke, Sophia, Cardinal Nero—they are all the main characters, each making a significant impact, or causing anger and condemnation—I originally thought this way.

However, with a first-person narrative, the scope is too broad, too out of control.

If I were to tell and explain everything, the Light and Darkness might need to be written to a hundred chapters… I don’t know if it would be enough.

The climax I anticipated, which I thought would come after the buildup, turned out to require an entire volume to properly convey.

The Iron Guard attacking the city, Illusion losing control, the conflict within the church, Peppe’s growth, Victoria’s growth—each event needs its own volume, but I mixed them all together—okay, I’m just **.

So naturally, reading it feels off, much like how Game of Thrones was criticized in its last season. Some felt the Night King died too quickly, others thought Daenerys’ descent into madness was absurd, and some felt Tyrion was consistently portrayed as less intelligent… and so on. Actually, these “I feel” issues aren’t the real problems; they are results of the problems. The real issue lies in compressing a story that needed more content into a much smaller space… and then having to handle it hastily.

Compared to Game of Thrones, the Abyss is even more challenging because I must use a first-person narrative. Everything must be seen and experienced by Peppe. It’s like Snow being busy with his own actions throughout, while Daenerys is only introduced in the final moments—heaven forbid people still like her if told that way.

There’s no chance to develop her properly.

Thus, my idea almost became an impossible task.

When I wrote the early chapters of Light and Darkness, I already realized this problem.

But what else could I do?

I had to plow ahead.

But I can’t really write Light and Darkness to a hundred chapters; people are already complaining about the length. Believe me, I want to finish these three volumes even more than you do.

Because the story is no longer under my control. The current plot has deviated from my original design.

Where did the deviation start?

From the Cardinal.

This impressive character, I originally had better plans for him—but it’s too late now. Perhaps I won’t have many more opportunities to develop him. Unlike Teresa, he was dropped into the protagonist’s path, and also into the reader’s path.

That’s why many people think Peppe couldn’t beat him because he was weakened.

Ultimately, it’s due to insufficient experience, leading to a failure to properly convey the original vision to everyone, not knowing the pitfalls of long novels.

It’s disappointing.

But at the same time, I realize it’s good that I understand these things now.

Without this volume, I wouldn’t have realized these series of problems. If I had discovered them when reaching the climax, the book would have fallen apart.

Discovering problems early is a good thing.

Hmm…

Probably, normal authors wouldn’t foolishly reveal these things, right?

Just consider it casual talk. After this volume ends, such situations won’t happen again.

Now, let me talk about myself.

Writing novels is actually a major change for me.

Before this, almost all my free time was spent in places that weren’t so good. Apart from work, my life was filled with drinking and clubbing. There were social obligations related to work, but I enjoyed it, enjoying meeting new friends, after all, I had a chance to turn their money into mine—yes, I’m a mediocre entrepreneur, much like Chen Yuxuan at the beginning.

The setup at the beginning was a low point in my life—during that time, I fell in love with drinking.

Later, I indulged myself for a period. I knew every nightclub in the city, had a seat wherever I went, and had acquaintances everywhere. Older friends took me to Jin X Niao, young and fun ones to Mai X Mi, we drank Martell Hennessy straight from the bottle—yes, I was the coolest guy in the place that night—if I say this, someone might guess which city I’m talking about.

Later, I developed a stomach problem…

Forget it, I’ll stop here.

I started writing novels because I didn’t want to continue that kind of life. Such a life is wasting away; it’s better to do something meaningful.

I enjoy writing novels. Enjoying thinking of little stories before bed, imagining the characters, then falling asleep… In junior high, I particularly disliked chemistry, writing in my notebook and showing it to classmates—so strictly speaking, this is actually my second novel? Though I gave up halfway through.

In short, I enjoy this.

Enjoy seeing my characters liked by others, discussed, enjoying my stories liked by you—it’s a wonderful thing, and it’s what drives me to write novels.

So sometimes, even when I’m very busy at work, come home very late, and am too tired to rest, seeing your comments, thinking of those waiting for updates, I still force myself to finish a chapter before sleeping—even if it’s only 2000 words.

Sometimes, I write from midnight until dawn, sleep for two hours, then attend a meeting, work all day, and continue writing at night. These things, the administrators in the group probably know, and they often advise me to rest, but I rarely listen, ha.

In short, without joy and without you, I might not have been able to persist.

I’m not someone who can easily calm down.

Writing this Abyss has truly changed my life, turning me from a carefree person into a good boy, into someone who writes after finishing work (there’s no such thing as a short-lived writer!!).

These words are to let you know that sometimes, when I’m delayed, it’s truly unavoidable—like when you suddenly ask me to study during game time, or when a math teacher takes over a PE class… What can I do?

I’m also desperate!

Writing novels is truly rewarding, and I will continue to strive in the future.

Though I still occasionally produce short, weak chapters of 2000 words.

Wish me早日成为那些大神作者的样子，成为日更过万，内容又很棒的终极码字姬！

以上！！

Oh, and one more thing.

Previously, I almost always replied to every book review and private message, no matter what the person said, rational or not, I would respond seriously—sometimes getting sidetracked by these people. I won’t do that anymore, it’s really exhausting.

In the future, I will still take seriously the opinions of those who genuinely offer constructive feedback, wanting to improve this novel. Your opinions will be carefully listened to. But I won’t pay attention to those who act self-important, argue for the sake of it, or seek attention here. This is to avoid affecting my mood for writing.

Sometimes, I see very immature comments… I don’t know how old you are, but chatting online with someone who seems like a child is quite strange.

If you’re really dissatisfied, leave your phone number, I’ll take you dancing, instead of just ranting online.

Goodnight.