HCAW 160 Afterword

Chapter 160: Afterword

“To preserve his own life and that of his companions so they might return home,

He endured countless trials in storm and wave.

Though he gave all he had,

He could not bring his companions back alive.”

The Odysseus described in Homer’s epics was the original prototype for Emperor Bai. Emperor Bai journeyed from being a ruler of a nation to having nothing at all, while Fang Jingyu rose from nothing to become the ruler of a nation. The two mirror each other—complete opposites.

If Fang Jingyu is the surface-line protagonist, then Chu Kuang is the undercurrent protagonist—the two are complementary. Chu Kuang is the key to breaking the impasse, the bright morning star before the dawn.

The entire plot structure of Heaven’s Chosen Wild and Arrogant is an attempt to follow the classic path of the mythological hero’s journey. The core mythic elements are “Departure – Enlightenment – Return.”

“Departure” is the stage where the protagonists break free of Penglai’s shackles and overcome one trial after another. “Enlightenment” occurs as they journey across several Xian Mountains, meeting companions and uniting many forces. “Return” is the final triumph, when peace returns to Xian Mountain and the world finds harmony.

The four arcs—“Penglai Night,” “Yingzhou Fire,” “Peach Source Dream,” and “Guixi Snow”—each correspond to one to three of the Xian Mountains and structurally map onto the four stages of introduction, development, twist, and resolution.

Last year, while watching a film society awards show, a thought suddenly struck me: a good story’s plot should be “unexpected yet reasonable,” like water flowing naturally into form. All the loose threads set up at the beginning should ultimately weave into a grand net. So this story was my attempt to realize that idea. Though it still has many rough edges, I feel I’ve gained a lot from it and grown in the process.

The year before writing this story, I spent my spare time reading more than ten historical records. I was struck by the cruelty and indifference of history—how a handful of words could record the rise and fall of empires, how countless people gave their all, only to be forgotten without a name. This little story, written for fun, was also my way of expressing some personal reflections on that.

Writing is a fascinating process. It’s like solving a math problem—it demands deep thought and endless trials to find the optimal solution. But it’s also a conversation with oneself—a cycle of self-doubt and self-renewal, of getting knocked down and getting back up again. Now that I’ve finished the story, I feel even more that it’s like having lived through a vivid journey: filled with laughter and tears, where I met companions, some of whom walked with me for a while, others who went their own way. And only when I looked back did I realize how long a road I’d traveled—that’s perhaps the truest taste of the experience.

Of course, my greatest hope is that all of you will continue to walk with me on the journeys yet to come. I will give it my all to challenge myself and keep improving.

Let’s meet again on our next adventure!

Sweet extras will be updated after a while! If there’s anything you want to see, feel free to tell me, hehe.

#ExtrasComingSoon