Chapter 6: The First Meeting of the Male and Female Leads
Bu Yingchong wasn’t really reluctant to spend that little bit of money.
Just this one novel website had already brought their tribe countless wealth.
Besides, at the end of the day, the net-insects cared most about the story itself—that was also why Meng Xingchong dared to suggest raising the offer after only two chapters.
Even so, Bu Yingchong was still quite worried about Song Wenlan’s future updates.
Plenty of authors posted just one or two chapters on the site before disappearing, with no consistency at all.
Working with such authors left the net-insects miserable afterward—mainly because of waiting for updates. The anxiety was unbearable.
“If I’m not mistaken, this author has only released one chapter so far, right? Xiao Meng, young people need to have a bit more patience.”
“Let’s wait and see. If she’s really willing to sign, we can give her a B-level contract. As for an A-level contract, we’ll decide after she finishes this book.”
Meng Xingchong personally felt that Song Wenlan deserved an A-level contract, but he could also understand the editor-in-chief’s point of view.
The older generation of editors preferred stability.
Besides, even with just a B-level contract, he could still achieve his goal.
Among his colleagues who were stuck with C-level contracts, he would be the only one holding a B-level. Great-author Zao Si would definitely choose to sign with him.
“Understood, Chief Editor.”
Feeling satisfied, Meng Xingchong unplugged his web-thread.
Song Wenlan, however, had no idea that an editor had already set his sights on her.
The next morning, Song Wenlan discovered that her novel had gained five bookmarks.
“So quickly? I already have readers?”
Song Wenlan was taken aback.
She didn’t know those were bookmarks from the novel site’s editors—she thought they were from actual readers.
Opening the comments section, she found only a single comment:
Chong’erfei: “Jiayou, Great Author! Write up to 20,000 words quickly so you can sign the contract sooner.”
Indeed, Chong’erfei was none other than Meng Xingchong’s alternate account, created specifically to push her to update faster.
“Looks like the reception’s not too bad.”
Song Wenlan muttered to herself. But since there were no other comments, she couldn’t really tell how well readers were accepting the idea of the demon race.
She closed the comments section and continued writing the next part of her story.
In the very first chapter, Song Wenlan made it clear that Hu Sanli was a demon-hunter.
But calling her a “hunter” was a bit misleading—she didn’t have the right to judge or sentence anyone. All she could do was capture them and hand them over to the Demon-Hunters’ Bureau.
What happened after that was no longer Hu Sanli’s responsibility.
Aside from being a demon-hunter, Hu Sanli had another identity: “the beautiful painter” Hu Sanli, currently married.
Her husband was three years younger than her. As the saying goes, “when a woman chases a man, it’s like a thin veil between them.” Back then, she had been the one who pursued Bai Ye.
Seven summers ago, Hu Sanli had gone to a resort villa for a mission.
The culprit that time was also a fox demon—only this one was a white fox.
She loved seducing handsome young men, then, when they were relaxed at night, draining them of their very life essence.
The moment Hu Sanli entered the resort villa, she spotted Bai Ye.
She was certain that if that fox demon were still around, Bai Ye would have been her target.
To successfully capture the fox, Hu Sanli approached Bai Ye and struck up a conversation.
They got along splendidly. When Bai Ye learned she was a painter, he talked about many works he liked—and among them were paintings signed with Hu Sanli’s name.
Hu Sanli could only laugh awkwardly at that, because she had no real interest in art. Those so-called paintings were props handed to her by the Demon-Hunters’ Bureau to build up her public persona.
But she liked listening to Bai Ye speak. She liked his deep voice, and she liked his eyes—eyes as deep and starry as the night sky.
That night, she smoothly knocked on Bai Ye’s door. Bai Ye was very surprised to see her, but still politely invited her into his room.
Perhaps it was because Bai Ye’s voice was too enchanting—Hu Sanli, who should have been on guard against the fox demon, ended up falling completely under the spell of his voice, pulling him into a night that was both beautiful and reckless.
Fortunately for Hu Sanli, the fox demon never showed up to interfere. Otherwise, she would have been so frustrated that she might have torn the entire resort villa down.
This kind of overused “memory trope” in modern-day stories was still a fresh, novel technique in the interstellar era.
At the very least, when Meng Xingchong read it, he felt a sudden spark of delight.
But what really made him blush was the very last part of the description.
Things like “two hands clasped tightly on the bed, veins standing out”, or “red marks clawed deep into the back”, or “the sound of lingering water”—all of it left the young insect’s mouth dry and his heart restless.
In this era, such primal impulses were considered base desires, despised and rejected. Yet Meng Xingchong didn’t feel any vulgarity from this author’s writing at all. Instead, what the author conveyed was a vibrant surge of life itself.
Meng Xingchong couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
Did this author write such scenes precisely to correct their misguided thinking?
In truth, Song Wenlan hadn’t thought that far at all.
She simply felt that, since in the interstellar age there were no restrictive policies, she could go ahead and write boldly, without holding back.
Of course, her main focus was still the story itself. She didn’t include much of this sort of depiction, and the reason it had such an impact was probably just that interstellar readers had so little exposure to it.
After finishing and posting 10,000 words, most of the day was already gone. Without stopping, she turned to working on her stockpile of drafts.
Next, the male lead was about to make his official appearance.
How to reveal to the audience that his identity was also extraordinary—that was the key point.
The female lead’s identity was stated directly, but the male lead’s would need to be shown indirectly.
While Song Wenlan was mulling over this, a beastman reader happened to be reading her story.
He was a snake-type beastman named Fengxing.
Though only in his twenties, Fengxing was already a seasoned bookworm. Ever since he was just a little snake, he had been looking everywhere for stories to read.
The Insectlit Novel Website had plenty of novels, but most popular ones were all about romance, which he disliked.
What he loved were the kinds of stories about star pirates slaughtering their way through the galaxy, or the autobiographies of powerful figures.
After finishing everything on Insectlit, he had even snuck over to the Starlight to read. Amidst all the heavy theoretical knowledge there, those adventurous tales always managed to set his heart racing.
But today, he was suffering from book famine again.
Bored, Fengxing browsed the New Releases chart. That chart ranked stories by their latest updates.
The newest stories to update would appear there, and even unsigned works had a chance to show up.
And right as he was browsing, Song Wenlan’s novel had just updated.
When he first saw the title, My Demon-Hunter Arch-Nemesis, Fengxing assumed it was a battle story. It sounded like a classic life-or-death rivalry.
But to his great surprise, the moment he opened the book, he was immediately hooked by the opening.
When he read the scene of that damned wolf-type beastman about to eat a child, Fengxing nearly wanted to punch the screen—to kill that scum who was tarnishing the reputation of beastmen everywhere.
**TN
Fengxing – Windrunner
Chong – means Insect/Worm/Bug, that’s why their name has the word Chong.
Meng Xing/chong – Dream Star
Bu Ying/chong – Firefly-Catcher
At first, I used Wormlit and Networms, but they’re insects, so I changed them. Pity. Networms = Bookworms. Haha! I wanted to use Bug, but not all insects are bugs. So, Insect it is.
