Torsten Hewson

Cai Xiulan By Zomayuan

"Her heart was too soft for this world. She cared too much to be a true cultivator. All She'll ever amount to being is a single Blade of Grass. That is what they once said with derision, when they spoke of the Young Mistress of the Verdant Blade Sect.

No one really expected much of her. A pretty thing to be used to advance an Elder's station. A trophy concubine for a powerful man. That was how a woman like Xiulan's story was supposed to end. Without accomplishing anything.

Human Form Yin

Yin, in both her armor mode and her normal mode.

Billing is now paused

Hey everybody, just letting you know that billing is now paused. If something screws up and you get billed for march, please contact me immediately so I can issue a refund.

See you all in April!

Echoes of the Past: Final

A bit of a sad story, this one.

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Liling was nervous. Hellishly nervous, as they walked towards Hong Yaowu so that she could meet San’s family for the first time. She had never really had a family, save for her mother, and the woman was insane. Always ranting about constellations and the heavens, then getting drunk after another night of lying with some random man for coin.

Then one day she disappeared, and Liling was alone in an uncaring wo...

Echoes of the Past, Part 2

It started off innocently enough, Lin Bao reflected.

“These will be good jobs to get to know your superiors and to have them think favourably of you. I know you’re both competent men, Lin Bao, Hong San, else I would not have made the recommendation.” Their kindly Senior smiled at them, but Bao knew it was strained. The man looked like he hadn’t been getting much sleep and, well, there were rumors that he had been caught up in a cultivator attack, of all things.

Poor fellow...

Interlude Echos from the Past: Country Boy and City Girl

It was on the fourteenth day of the month of the plum when Hong Xiansan, (though most just called him San) Third Son of the 76th Hong Xian of Hong Yaowu, did leave the village of his birth to receive an education in the city. It was his Honourable father’s compensation for not being the one to inherit everything, and he was touched that his family cared for him so, that they would be willing to fund such an expensive endeavour. San took a breath, as she stared up at the sky. The weather was...

Interlude: The Inspector

Okay. For March, I will be pausing payments and taking the month off to rest a bit, plan a bit, and work on my own plans and editing.

The non patreon releases will end on

EDIT: On the Vajra Chapter.

so there is one more post for this week for them, while for the rest of February there will either be little world building interludes like this, or "what could have been" chapters.

Again, I feel kind of like the ending to this book snuck up on me a bit, so it still fe...

Interlude: To Know, but not Understand

It was said by the few who visited the Grand Ravine that to gaze into the depths of that canyon was to gaze upon the majesty of the earth.

Over a thousand Li long, the Grand Ravine’s deepest point descended five Li into the earth; It had a hundred thousand off-shoots and tunnels within it, spreading out into the rock around it. The view of the ground was heavily obscured by trees that grew out from the sides of the ravine, parallel to the ground, before sweeping upwards to gather ligh...

Interlude: The Domineering Tyrant

Okay: the Epilogue seemed to be confusing, and I can se how it wasn't as good as it could have been, and so I reworked it. Its mostly the same, but it now had a lot of clarifications in it. Thank you for bearing with it!

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The ruler meditated in the heart of her sanctum. She was still and motionless, yet all with a spark of sense could see her deep concentration and, moreover, her actions.

They could feel the thrum of her glor...

Volume 3 illustrations poll

Volume Illustrations:

And now, for the second half of Volume 2, also called volume 3. I need to fix my numbering of the volumes. That said vol 3 goes from v2 c58 to the end of Vol2, containing the tournament and the mail delivery.

The two locked in Drawings are Arrival (v3) and [Break the Rocks]

Meaning the top 6 can be chosen. Maybe the top 7 if we have the time to do 7 drawings.

Epilogue: Butterfly's Wings

Huan Chen of the Shrouded Mountain Sect stood at attention with several of his fellow disciples under the intense gaze of Elder Zang Zeng.

They were in a manor in Green Stone Forest. They had obeyed the orders for Elder Zang to come here, on one of the resource gathering missions to the Poison Jadepillar Forest for more reagents that the Inquisitors needed… but something here was strange. Elder Zang should have left them all to it, but instead he had called them all before him.

...

Physical Copy Announcement

It was promised; and now this promise is delivered. I’m quite excited to be able to announce this, and you, dear readers, get to see it first!

That is correct. We have Physical copies available now! The hardcover edition of Beware of Chicken is available to order until February 28th! Books will ship in May!

https://store.podiumaudio.com/pages/bocboc

Thank you everybody for your support thus ...

v3c60: 故鄉 (Home)

The first day after Bi De, Gramps, Rizzo and Yun Ren left was a quiet, contemplative day. Our numbers had been cut in half. Me, Meimei, Little D, Gou Ren, Chunky, Peppa, Washy, Bowu, Noodle and Babe were the only ones left—Biyu having also gone with Xiulan back south, and it felt just a little empty around here.

It had been slowly sinking in after the others were gone.

There were no more shouts of combat and rivalry. The cheers and laughter were muted, the most energetic of us h...

v3c59.3: Scattering Seeds part 3

Hopefully patreon sends out the email this time

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If Bi De had learned anything about the world, it was that goodbyes always came.

Some were minor things that one didn’t take much notice of. Things like seeing Disciple Gou Ren off on his hunts, or bidding farewell to Tigu when she went to explore the forests.

Others were more formal, such as when somebody had to go to Verdant Hill and chores needed to be covered in their absence....

v3c59.2: Scattering Seeds part 2

I had always kind of thought of oaths as cheesy things. They sounded good in writing, or looked nice in a movie with swelling music, and flowery descriptions, but witnessing one in real life would have seemed lacking.

Of course, I was proven completely and utterly wrong. Xiulan’s speech wasn’t cheesy at all. It didn’t feel like she was showboating or doing it just for the sake of doing it.

I felt the sincerity.

I was rooted to the spot. This was serio...

v3c59: Scattering Seeds part 1

“If yer corn ain’t knee high by July, you might as well kiss it goodbye.” I said to myself as I ran my fingers along the fresh green shoots that were sticking out of the mounds I had planted them in. They were strong and I could feel their vital energy, their vigour as they took root, pointing up towards the sky.

There was no real way I would be kissing these little ones goodbye. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were more like chest, or even shoulder height, by what would be July...

v3 c58.4: The Dandelion's Seeds Part 4

Breakfast most days was a calm affair; people chatted in low voices or helped make food, still shaking off sleep.

Even Little D was mostly quiet. My little bean was definitely a morning person, and Big D’s crows always put him in a good mood. It was later in the day when he would get fussy—but he was also easily distracted by one of his family members. Fur and feathers he would grasp at with his chubby fingers, his eyesight improving by the day… along with his desire to put things...

Interlude: Born of the Heavens; Child of the Earth

Yin sat on the top of the house, her body soaking in the rays of the sun.

She took a deep breath, then let it out, calming the restlessness that was inside her as the preparations for departure went on all around her.

She breathed in, then out.

… why did she have to be so damn nervous about this? It was just a bit of lightning! Wa Shi had struck her over a thousand times by her own request! She could handle it.

But the thing that made her hesitate was her own doubts....

v3c58.3: The Dandelion's Seeds part 3

Delun had needed to be alone after the secrets of his ancestors had been revealed to him, and Xiulan couldn’t blame him. It truly was an earth shaking revelation.

In the end, they had all retired.

Tigu had gone to ask for Jin’s blessing. Xianghua had gone to once more practice her newest techniques. The boys had followed Delun’s lead and decided to spend some time thinking.

Xiulan herself was satisfied with the night. She went to sit under a tree, and meditated until ...

v3c58.2: The Dandelion's Seeds part 2

If one asked Delun how he thought he would be spending his time, he could have answered perhaps with Tigu or cultivating. Well, he had done plenty of the former already… but out of everything on this strange farm... He hadn’t expected this.

“Why did I keep the freckles?” Master Jin asked from where he was sitting beside Delun on the bank of the river, fishing poles dipped into the water.

The Hidden Master had asked him to go fishing this morning. At first, Delun had been a...

v3c58: The Dandelion's Seeds

Fa Bi De, First Disciple of Fa Ram, stood upon one of the Great Pillars. He carefully preened a feather back into place, his foot resting upon his one ‘la cross’ stick. It was small and could be held in his beak— his Master never spared any effort to make sure all could participate.

Bi De smiled and looked back down at the field, where the players, the Disciples of Fa Ram, and their Honoured Guests were basking in a light shower of rain, courtesy of Wa Shi. They were swea...

v3c57.3: Friends of the Family part 3

“And remember to only drink water from upstream unless you want to drink dragon spit…” Tigu said cheerily as they walked around her home. They had been reintroduced to a rabbit and a snake as well, who had greeted them politely before returning to whatever tweaks they were doing to a forge.

Tie Delun listened with half an ear as Tigu gesticulated charmingly, clearly proud of her home. And what a home it was! The house was really nothing special compared to Delun’s ancient inheri...

Teaser: From there to here, and Insert Images.

2 years of BOC. Man, it feels simultaneously longer and shorter.

To celebrate Vol 2 getting a release date, have a vision of some growth: from when Jin first arrived at the Farm, all that time ago, then him after 1 year.

Full Res, background size of Arrival 2 will be released to the Rooster Tier, and a week later the Hen tier!

All credit goes to Tsuu for the art!

v3c57.2: Friends of the Family part 2

Biyu hummed to herself as the cart she was in ran smoothly down the road with not a single bump to jostle it. Today had been quite enjoyable so far. She got to give Mr. Chun Ke a nice looking neck-tie, folded into a triangle. It was honestly a bit hard to make it look good with how monstrously thick his neck was, but Biyu had managed it, the entire thing giving the cute piggy an adorably rakish air. He had liked it so much he had given her kisses—and then asked politely what she could recom...

BOC Volume 2, now available for preorder on audible!

The Audio Book is now available for preorder!

v3c57: Friends of the Family

And we're back! I'd like to say I had a good break, but unfortunately for me, I received the gift of Covid for Christmas, and it knocked me on my ass for the better part of two weeks. Fun times!

But I'm back and better than ever (hopefully)

I also have some other good news: The Audio Book for Volume 2 of Beware of Chicken is available for Preorder on Audible. Volume 2's timeline and series of events has been signifgantly reworked, and effectively ends on v2 C 57, because it woul...

Happy Holidays!

Thank you, everybody, for another year! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!

Sorry for not posting anything last night. There have been quite a few storms raging, and yesterday's took out the power for six hours. Luckily, We had our General Of the Great White North—the snowman fell in the line of duty, so harsh was the wind, but stood tall for long enough to blunt nature's wrath.

I will be having my break from the 26th to the 6th of january, due to the chapte...

v3c56: A Small World, Sometimes...

Pale Moon Lake City: New Years Eve.

Guan Chyou of the Azure Jade Trading Company never particularly liked New Years. Especially the yearly New Years meeting that comprised the leadership of the entire company and of their extended family. It was a time to assign merit, direct where the company would go next year. Normally all Chyou had to do was either sit bored out of her skull or she was called up by Grandmother to help distribute merit, never really achieving anything of note herself...

v3c55: Tying up Loose Ends

For some, the ancient history of a province during the Age of Darkness would be a world-shaking revelation.

To Shen Yu, Cultivator of the Imperial Realm, The Unconquered Blade, Master of a hundred thousand styles and holder of the most descending alcohol palate in existence, the tale of Xaioshi was merely interesting. His Grandson and his Cock had been a more shocking revelation.

He’d heard this tale before. Not exactly, of course. But it did rhyme with other memory crystals and...

On Tianlan's insults in Chapter 54

Okay, so apparently there was some confusion about what Tianlan was saying, at least in the discord, so I've decided to clear things up.

First: "why is it in romanized chinese?"

Because I thought it would be funny. And like Hong Yaowu and Zi Difeng Ba is in romanized chinese. They're all speaking chinese.

Now, onto the insults, and some cultural context.

2022-12-17 18:41:16 +0000 UTC View Post