"A dedicated bookstore?"
Yanfei raised her wine glass and took a small sip. "It really doesn't taste any different from a regular drink."
Seeing Yanfei's curiosity, the tavern owner briefly told her about how Liyue Publishing House had turned down her request to open a dedicated Fang Qiu bookstore.
"I see."
Yanfei nodded slowly, as though turning something over in her mind, then said, "I'll take this case. I'll head over to Liyue Publishing House sometime soon and negotiate the matter."
"That would be wonderful."
The tavern owner smiled, then the two of them discussed the fee for the job.
It was settled quickly.
"Oh, one more thing," the tavern owner added.
"What is it?" Yanfei asked.
"Would you be willing to sell me one of your sets of Sword and Fairy 2 at triple the price?"
Yanfei shook her head. "I didn't realize you were a Fang Qiu fan, Owner Jiang. But there's no need for that — just pay the original price. I bought these two sets from a previous client of mine. He'd bought five copies in total; I took two off his hands. What I paid is what I'll charge. No markup."
At the same time, a peculiar thought flickered through her mind.
Those two scalpers from before must have been absolutely thrilled when they crossed paths with Owner Jiang.
"Well… alright then."
The tavern owner nodded, then smiled. "Thank you very much, Counselor Yanfei."
Once the transaction was settled, Yanfei tucked one set of books under her arm and left.
The other set remained on the tavern owner's table.
"I only came to buy a book from Counselor Yanfei, and somehow I ended up securing a partnership negotiation with Liyue Publishing House," the tavern owner murmured to herself, gaze drifting to the copy of Sword and Fairy 2 sitting on the table. The corner of her lips curved upward almost imperceptibly. "Counselor Yanfei was awfully eager just now. Surely she didn't take on this whole deal just so she could skip the queue to buy Fang Qiu's books… right?"
"Then again, she was here this early to buy books in the first place, so she's at least a fan of that girl's work."
The tavern owner ran her fingers absently over the cover of the book, eyes full of curiosity.
Just what was in Fang Qiu's books, that even someone like Yanfei was hooked on them?
And it wasn't just Yanfei. Among the Liyue Qixing, there was Tianquan and Yuheng — and the Qixing's chief secretary. According to several of the Yuehai Pavilion secretaries who'd come in for drinks recently, even the elusive Tianji Star had apparently read Fang Qiu's books.
Tianquan Ningguang had gone so far as to turn Sword and Fairy into a full film adaptation, which had drawn endless crowds.
Even now, not far from the tavern, a large teahouse had a long queue of people lined up outside buying tickets.
With so many important figures taken with her work, how could she not be curious about what Fang Qiu actually wrote?
And so, she steadied herself, let out a slow breath, picked up Volume One of Sword and Fairy 2, and began to read.
Before long, however, the tavern filled with customers.
The teahouses were all packed with people watching the film screening, so those who wanted to read had spilled over into the taverns and smaller tea shops.
She had no choice but to move behind the bar. As she did, a rather inspired idea came to her.
Once Yanfei had finished negotiating the deal, she would open a special express-purchase channel — exclusively for people connected to Fang Qiu. Anyone with ties to Fang Qiu would get priority access to buy books, no waiting. A clever way to get closer to the girl.
Time drifted on.
"No wonder so many people love Fang Qiu's books. The writing really is something," she murmured as she read, offering quiet commentary to herself.
In the story, Yun Tianhe and his companions had arrived in Chenzhou.
When she reached the part where Qin Ji introduced herself, she paused.
"Qin Ji… what a coincidence that is."
The tavern owner let out a small laugh — but as she read on and reached the part about Qin Ji's past, the laughter died in her throat.
"Poor thing," she murmured, shaking her head, and kept reading.
With the help of Yun Tianhe and the others, Qin Ji made her way to the tower where the memorial tablets were kept — only to be confronted by another woman.
According to Qin Ji, this woman was her husband's second wife — someone his family had brought in to lift the curse of misfortune after Qin Ji left home and her husband fell gravely ill.
"I see."
The tavern owner picked up the glass of Fang Qiu's signature lightly-alcoholic drink sitting beside her and took a sip. She'd only gotten halfway through when she read the name Qin Ji gave for the woman.
Jiang Shi.
"Pfft—"
She couldn't hold it. She spat the drink straight out.
Thank the gods there were no customers nearby, or she'd have owed someone a dry-cleaning bill.
She picked up a cloth and wiped the table with a long-suffering expression.
Now she understood why Fang Qiu and her editor had looked so strangely at her when they'd first heard her name.
Jiang Shi combined with Qin Ji — together they spelled out her full name. Jiang Qin Ji.
"What are the odds…"
She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Judging by Fang Qiu's reaction that day, the girl clearly hadn't known her name beforehand. Pure coincidence, nothing more.
She sat with it for a while before turning back to the book.
Jiang Shi's treatment of Qin Ji was cutting and cruel. She demanded Qin Ji swear an oath never to set foot in Quanzhou again, only then agreeing to let her light incense for her late husband.
Reading this, the tavern owner frowned. Jiang Shi came across as sharply bitter — every word she spoke like a blade, sinking into Qin Ji's chest. Her husband's love, his parents' affection — all things Qin Ji had never been able to hold onto.
Around her, voices rippled through the tavern.
"Jiang Shi is insufferable. First time I've ever hated a character Old Thief Fang Qiu wrote this much. If I were writing this, I'd have kicked her out the door."
"Oh yeah? Zhao Wuyan from Sword and Fairy 1 would like a word."
"…Fine. First time I've hated a female character this much."
"Rose's mother would like a word."
"Are you deliberately looking for a fight?!"
"Qin Ji was wrong to leave her husband, sure — but she didn't have much choice. His family made her life impossible from the start. She was a legendary swordswoman; there's only so much she could swallow."
"Exactly. And Jiang Shi is disgusting. So is the husband — he had Qin Ji right in front of him and didn't cherish her, just let her get pushed around every day. I thought he was just weak. Didn't realize he'd move on that fast. Pathetic. Garbage."
"Poor Qin Ji, pouring her heart into the wrong person. Well, let's keep reading."
The chatter continued.
The tavern owner kept reading too.
Qin Ji and the others left the tower and sailed back to the city by boat. Beneath a willow tree, Qin Ji played a piece on the strings — Sword and Fairy: A Question of Love — for Yun Tianhe and the others.
"Even if you never ended up together in the end, you don't regret having met him," the tavern owner whispered softly to herself.
But on the next page, the story returned inside the tower.
When she read the part where Jiang Shi stood before her husband's memorial tablet and spoke her heartfelt confession aloud — then leapt from the high tower — the tavern owner went utterly still.
The entire tavern fell silent shortly after, as the other readers reached the same passage.
No one spoke.
After a long moment, what broke the quiet was the soft sound of a woman weeping — and the dull, muted clink of a man raising his cup and drinking without a word.
The tavern owner let out a long, slow breath. She drained what remained in her glass, then reached for the bottle of strong spirits at her side, poured a full cup, and downed it in one go.
"No wonder so many people come straight to the tavern after finishing her books," she murmured to herself. "She never dwells too long on how any of them fell in love — and yet all three of them leave such a mark."
She exhaled again.
What is love, that it makes one willing to follow another into death?
Fate truly is a cruel thing.
When she thought about it — Qin Ji, Jiang Shi, and the man they both loved — every one of them was a figure worthy of pity.
And now she understood why Jiang Shi had been so cutting toward Qin Ji.
The childhood sweetheart she had loved since she was small had ended up with another woman. And that woman hadn't even treasured him — she'd run off the moment things got hard, couldn't take being scolded a few times. Left him pining and heartbroken until his health gave out and he died far too young.
How could Jiang Shi not resent her? How could she not hate her?
The tavern owner wiped at the tears threatening to spill from her eyes, and, red-rimmed, kept reading.
The others in the tavern knocked back a few more cups apiece, then returned to their books as well.
Yun Tianhe and his companions encountered Xuanji and Huaishuo.
Seeing Xuanji's guileless, innocent words and Huaishuo's exasperated but deeply doting replies, the tavern owner felt the corners of her mouth lift slightly.
These two — she liked them very much.
"I hope they make it to the end together," she said, softly, to no one.
Then Huaishuo led them to the foot of Kunlun, and left them to climb on their own.
After a great deal of hardship, they arrived at the Qionghua Sect…
Time continued to drift.
Night deepened and flowed on, still and quiet as water.
The wind rose at the edge of the sky. The moon hung like a crescent hook.
Inside the tavern.
The tavern owner's hands trembled slightly around the book. Tears fell without her trying to stop them.
Her cheeks were flushed deep red. Six or seven empty bottles now sat beside her.
In the story —
Mu Rong Ziying mounted his sword and flew away. Liu Mengli's gaze dimmed as she walked toward two graves.
One bore the inscription: Beloved Wife, Han Lingsha.
The other was a nameless stone — no characters carved upon it at all.
Just as Liu Mengli bent down to touch the Wangshu Sword — the blade whose life was bound to Han Lingsha's — the wooden door of the cottage creaked open.
A blind Yun Tianhe stepped out from inside.
End of Book.
She sat unmoving for a long time after she finished, unable to come back to herself. Tears slid down her face of their own accord.
The lovesick woman from Jimo, who had wanted only to accompany the man she loved — six lifetimes of reincarnation, and still it was denied to her.
In the dragon's cave, the younger sister, desperate to become an immortal and break free, had let greed into her heart — and both sisters perished together. Yet if they hadn't perished, they would have been trapped in that cave for all eternity.
Yun Tianqing and Su Yu, in the Ghost Realm.
Mu Rong Ziying, who had spent his entire life within Qionghua Sect — never once seeing his parents again before the end; by the time he returned, everything had already turned to dust.
Han Lingsha's parents, who had known their time was short, and had chosen to keep their distance from her on purpose.
And Jiang Shi — who had taken her own life to follow her husband, not knowing he was no longer in the Ghost Realm at all, but had long since been reincarnated.
During the great war between humans and demons, Huaishuo had died to save Mu Rong Ziying. And Xuanji, clutching the gift Huaishuo had given her, had sat outside his door and waited for him to come home — but because he had always been there to protect her, she had never pushed herself in her cultivation. Her power was too weak. When Qionghua Sect ascended to the heavens, she could not withstand the crushing pressure of that ascension, and died in the snowstorm.
Every single arc was a blade, driven straight into her chest, leaving her unable to breathe.
When she came back to herself, she found her chest was full of knives.
And in the end — Han Lingsha had never had much time to begin with. The Wangshu Sword had drained what little strength she had, and her cultivation was never deep to begin with.
Her lifespan was nothing compared to Su Yu's from that earlier age.
Han Lingsha must have passed away not long after she and Yun Tianhe were wed.
They never even had children.
After a long silence, she reached for the strong spirits, poured a full cup, downed it in a single swallow, then poured another and drank that too — and after that, she said nothing more.
The others in the tavern were drinking themselves into a stupor as well.
"To envy the mandarin ducks, not the immortals… If I had never chased after fame and fortune, if I had treasured the person right in front of me — would the ending have been different?"
"Human in this life, demon in the next — all living beings are equal… I used to think that becoming an immortal meant being like Mu Rong Ziying, slaying demons and protecting the world. But… it turns out all of that was wrong. I want so badly to meet that young immortal again and ask him: what is right, and what is wrong?"
The shaved-headed young man was crying freely, tears and snot running together, his face flushed scarlet from drink.
"This immortality is nothing but the curse Zhulong laid on Yun Tianhe… the longer you live, the more you lose… I've already lost so much… so now what…"
"When Zixuan and Xu Changqing parted in Sword and Fairy 1, I said to myself — if they were always going to be separated, I'd rather they had never been together. But now in Sword and Fairy 2, Fang Qiu has answered me: don't think about what comes after. Just cherish what you have, right now."
A young woman wiped the tears from her face, murmuring softly.
"Cherish what you have right now… I understand. Then — Qinglian, I've liked you for a long time. Would you be my partner? I swear, I'll marry you someday."
The young man sitting across from her took a deep breath and said the words he'd been holding back.
"Oh — I didn't mean it like that… I'm sorry. I already have someone I like. It's Young Master Luo — I met him a few days ago while we were both reading."
The girl looked mortified when she heard him. She hesitated briefly, then turned him down gently, tucked her book under her arm, placed two hundred Mora on the table, and left.
Left behind was the young man, sitting at the table in a daze. His eyes had already been red — but now they were redder still, and the tears he'd been holding back came spilling out.
"Ah… come on, brother. Don't let it get to you. Life rarely goes the way we want — that's just how it is. Here, have a drink."
A man from the next table sighed, came over, and sat down across from him, giving him a pat on the shoulder.
"…Yeah."
The young man nodded, picked up his cup, and started drinking with the man — one cup after another.
It was hard to say whether the drink was just bitter on its own, or whether a tear had fallen into the cup and turned it that way.
In that moment, he finally understood what Jiang Shi had felt.
So this was what it meant to love someone who couldn't love you back.
Bitter. Just bitter.
Before long, the crowds from the nearby teahouses — those who'd just finished watching the Sword and Fairy screening — came flooding into the tavern.
Seven or eight extra tables had already been set up outside the entrance. Those who couldn't find a seat inside bought their drinks and sat right there on the street, staring out at nothing, drinking in silence.
Some had been reminded of old wounds. Some had simply been moved by the story, feeling it in their bones.
And a few had ulterior motives — hoping to use the moment to get closer to someone they'd had their eye on.
Business at the tavern was absolutely booming.
The tavern owner looked out at the packed, overflowing room — and felt, strangely, no joy whatsoever.
Only a quiet, shared sorrow. The kind that comes from knowing exactly how it feels.
____
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