CH 18

In the blink of an eye, seven days had passed.

Qiu Wuji stood atop the mountain, looking up at the moon. Everyone’s experience of time was different… Just as Chu Ge wrote “seven days later” in a moment, but Qiu Wuji had actually lived through seven days.

Of course, during those seven days, there were events that hadn’t been written by Chu Ge and characters were doing their own thing.

During these days, Qiu Wuji did not attempt to break through the ‘dimensional barrier’ again. After Chu Ge made some changes, breaking through didn’t seem as difficult or dangerous as before, but now the problem was that her soul was not adequately refined, and she couldn’t stay in that realm for long enough.

Chu Ge could add characteristics to her based on Qiu Wuji’s demands, but he couldn’t forcibly increase her strength. It needed to be a logical process.

So Qiu Wuji focused on refining her soul and also observed Chu Tiange’s performance on the third floor of the Scrolls Tower.

He had reached the third floor, but unfortunately, the Scrolls Tower was divided into various floors for a reason and not just for categorizing people. Since Chu Tiange hadn’t cultivated enough, he couldn’t comprehend anything on the third floor. The techniques on that floor were too deep for him.

However, Chu Tiange wasn’t discouraged. He picked a technique he liked and decided to learn it in the future, then returned to the second floor and focused on learning what he needed to learn now.

A very excellent quality.

Qiu Wuji sighed, not really admiring this quality because Chu Tiange’s qualities were all imagined by Chu Ge himself. Anything excellent was piled onto the protagonist. There was nothing to praise.

It was like her own qualities. There wasn’t much to praise either, including her cold temperament, compassion, pride, and even her beauty, which were all set by Chu Ge.

Forget it, Qiu Wuji was currently too lazy to think about these things.

What was really worth sighing about was the information revealed by sending Chu Tiange to the third floor.

Even though she sent him to the third floor, he couldn’t learn anything or find any opportunity, and ultimately retreated to the second floor. Was this just natural, or was it the will of heaven?

After all, Chu Ge wrote about Chu Tiange going to the second floor, so was that the limit?

What about her battle with the Poison Hand Devil Lord?

Chu Tiange hadn’t ‘seen through reality,’ so he couldn’t break through the will of heaven, which was understandable.

But she had seen through it, she knew what will happen … if she tried to change the events, what will happen then?

Chu Ge’s words flashed through Qiu Wuji’s mind: “This is your life, and no one has the right to control it, not me, not the heavens. This test is just to see… how destiny works.”

Qiu Wuji took a deep breath and transmitted her voice around the mountains: “Let’s go.”

Even for a sect of cultivators who brought their disciples along, traveling thousands of miles was not a trivial matter.

Qiu Wuji flew on her sword in the air, looking back at the disciples crowded on the magic treasures behind her, and wondered how fast the flying vehicles in that world could go and which one was better.

In her heart, she still thought that flying by oneself using their cultivation was the best.

But for a society, it was impressive that ordinary people who didn’t need to cultivate could also fly and travel through the skies. 

Both had their own benefits.

It was precisely because that world had so many fascinating aspects that Qiu Wuji wanted to understand it.

“The next time I go, I will definitely be better prepared. But perhaps…the difficulties will become even clearer.”

…

Chu Ge was currently on WeChat with a friend.

Yang Dingtian: “ID card? If you lose it, just get a new one. It costs 20 yuan.”

This person with the username of the leader of the Ming Cult was Chu Ge’s university classmate, named Lin Wuyang. After graduating, he took the civil service exam and became a proud police officer. Chu Ge didn’t know why people like Lin Wuyang and Zhang Qiren always like to use martial arts novel characters as their usernames. Was it because their actual accomplishments were so small?

Nanjiang City was a provincial capital. Although it was only considered a third-tier city in the country, it had the advantage that after college students graduate, they don’t scatter to different places. Most of them still work and live in the same city. Unfortunately, in recent years, interaction between college classmates has become less and less frequent.  Except for the occasional get-together, even the WeChat groups were inactive.

The longer it had been since graduation, the more silent the group became… Only the classmates who had a good relationship had their own small group.

Lin Wuyang and Chu Ge had a normal relationship. They hadn’t spoken for several years, and Chu Ge didn’t even know which department or section Lin Wuyang was in now. It was awkward for him to suddenly contact him like this, and he felt a bit embarrassed. The other person’s lukewarm attitude was also expected and normal.

“Uh, it’s not that I lost my ID card myself. It’s just that I had an argument with someone on a forum about the population census and wanted to consult an expert.”

“Tsk, you writers are really passionate. You also enjoy arguing with people on forums.” Lin Wuyang replied to someone on a certain forum, “You’re an idiot, go die,” while telling Chu Ge righteously, “Unlike us, the burden of life is pressing down on us, and we are becoming more and more indifferent every day.”

Chu Ge said, “It’s easy to go from indifference to passion in just a few days. Just start writing a book and get some recommendations and comments.”

“Forget it, I don’t have the time for that. By the way, I think your writing is pretty bad. If you can make money from this, maybe I can too…”

“Yes, yes, about the population census…”

“I’m not an expert on that, I don’t work for the household registration system, but I know some basic knowledge. What specific aspect do you want to ask?”

“Why do people say that the population census is just for show nowadays because there are no unregistered households? I think there are some, like abandoned babies picked up by beggars in the early years…”

“Are you writing a story or something? This kind of situation might have existed in the past, but now it’s unlikely. However, there might still be a small number of people who haven’t registered in poverty-stricken areas, although it’s very rare nowadays.”

“Yes, that’s what I mean. So the government conducts a population census for this reason, right?”

“Yes… and when you can reply to the forum you can show some manners.”

“So, for those unregistered people found during the census, can they get registered directly?”

“I’m not sure about the specifics, but I think it’s possible if their identity is confirmed.”

“When will the next census be conducted?”

“Usually once every ten years, the lastest one was conducted last year.”

Chu Ge: “…”

Lin Wuyang felt something was off: “Are you asking this to argue with someone?”

Chu Ge remained calm: “I’m just talking casually. This is called social research.”

As an author, Chu Ge had an advantage in conducting interviews, but Lin Wuyang didn’t think too much about it. “Isn’t it better for an author to focus on capturing the essence of things when conducting research?”

“In that case, I’ll focus on capturing the essence. By the way, if it’s not during a census period, can those who are not registered still register themselves?”

“I’m really not sure about that. I’m not in the household registration department, and these cases are so rare that even they would have to send inquiries to higher-ups. Speaking of writing fiction, there’s no need to be too nitpicky. Nowadays, there are people writing about the god of war defending the country, and nobody says it’s not okay.”

“You’re right… let’s have a meal together when we have time.”

“Speaking of that, we might have a gathering in a while, right? It’s the fifth anniversary soon, and Lao Hong mentioned it to me recently… Check the group chat later.”

“Okay, let’s talk about it later.”

Lin Wuyang logged out of WeChat and checked the forum, only to find that his account had been banned.

He quickly opened the door when he heard a knock, and his expression quickly turned servile.

The woman in front of him was too beautiful, but unfortunately he was already married. Sigh… he wished they had met before he got married.

“Hello, President Gu, is there anything you need?”

Gu Ruoyan politely smiled, “Director Lin, do you have the materials I asked for earlier?”

“To be honest, it’s a bit difficult… we need more time.”

“I’ll be staying in Nanjiang for a while longer, so I hope there will be good news by then.”