After his rebirth, Huo Yaowen had long made up his mind to make money by writing novels or articles.
Speaking of which, in this era, besides martial arts, the most common novels were science fiction, romance written by Qiong Yao, and traditional realistic novels with strong literary elements.
There weren't many categories of novels, so Huo Yaowen had many thoughts about novel themes that left a large market blank. Besides traditional martial arts, science fiction, and romance, he also considered xianxia and xuanhuan.
But after much deliberation, Huo Yaowen did not choose these relatively novel themes.
There were two main reasons for his consideration:
Firstly, the famous novelists of the time still favored a traditional, realistic writing style. While their writing might not be exceptionally good, at the very least, their vocabulary and fluency far surpassed most martial arts writers of later generations.
Secondly, Huo Yaowen had never written these types of themes. He had read a bit, and he could certainly write them, and the novels he wrote would definitely capture the attention of current readers.
However, whether it was xianxia or xuanhuan, these genres had traces in the history of novels. For example, the xianxia genre had The zu warriors from the magic mountain written by Huanzhulouzhu during the Republic of China era; the xuanhuan genre also had investiture of the gods written by Xu Zhonglin in the Ming Dynasty.
Huo Yaowen felt that to make a name for himself with a novel, writing these would certainly work and quickly establish his reputation, but he didn't want to 'plagiarize others' ideas.'
Well, although the tomb raiding genre could also be considered 'plagiarizing,' in Hong Kong in 1968, no one had proposed or written such tomb raiding novels.
Strictly speaking, if Huo Yaowen wrote it now, he would be the first patriarch of tomb raiding!
Haha, after all this talk, I haven't gotten to the main point of why Huo Yaowen didn't write xianxia or xuanhuan.
The main reason why Huo Yaowen didn't write xianxia or xuanhuan was a fatal flaw in his writing: his descriptions of fight scenes were very weak.
Huo Yaowen's writing leaned towards character portrayal and storytelling. He could meticulously and vividly describe a memorable character and craft a story that left people wanting more, with endless aftertastes, told slowly and deliberately.
Only his descriptions of fight scenes were too weak.
This was also one of the reasons why the several xuanhuan novels Huo Yaowen wrote in his previous life failed; he was simply not good at describing those fantastical, earth-shattering battle scenes.
It is wise to know oneself, and Huo Yaowen possessed this self-awareness.
Rather than relying on creativity to write books, it was better to avoid what he wasn't good at and write what he excelled at, focusing on portraying characters and plot.
Only good character portrayals and plots can leave people wanting more, with endless aftertastes, making them want to read it a second and third time after the first; that is a good novel, a good story.
ghost blows out the light - Tomb Notes.
Besides referencing the recognized genres of tomb raiding and some unique tomb raiding tools from later generations, Huo Yaowen's content was basically all original. He couldn't remember enough to copy, and the era didn't match.
Most tomb raiding novels of later generations wrote about tomb raiding stories from the 1980s, but it was currently Hong Kong in 1968. If he were to write, it would certainly need to fit the characteristics of this era.
Moreover, when Huo Yaowen wrote this tomb raiding novel, he specifically went to the Hong Kong University Library and the public library in the Hong Kong City Hall to borrow some essays and Republic of China biographies to enhance the authenticity of the book.
...
So when Huo Yaowen outlined his tomb raiding story to Ma Rulong, Ma Rulong's eyes lit up. Although he didn't know how to judge the quality of an article, he wasn't illiterate. In his idle time, he had read martial arts novels by Jin Yong and others, and occasionally fantasized about becoming an ancient knight-errant.
Ma Rulong certainly had the basic ability to discern whether an article was good or not. So, upon hearing Huo Yaowen's account of the ancient tomb raiding schools and the captivating tomb raiding plots, and the various strange and unique tomb raiding tools used to excavate the tombs of nobles, which he had never seen or heard of, his heart was itching with curiosity.
At the end, Ma Rulong couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is a 'zongzi'?"
Huo Yaowen replied, "There are many types of zongzi, but they can be collectively referred to as zombies."
"Can you elaborate?" Ma Rulong frowned, still not understanding what a zombie was.
Huo Yaowen knew that Lam Ching-ying's zombie films hadn't appeared yet, so he initially intended to simply explain the meaning of a zombie. But then he thought, and recited the advertising slogan that often popped up in later generations:
"Zombies are born from the resentment and ill-luck of heaven and earth, immortal and indestructible, rejected by the three realms of heaven, earth, and man, outside the six paths of sentient beings."
Just hearing the three words 'immortal and indestructible' made Ma Rulong feel that this zombie must be a formidable character, not to mention being rejected by the three realms of heaven, earth, and man, outside the six paths of sentient beings.
Thus, when Ma Rulong thought about how Huo Yaowen had just mentioned the protagonist, Hero Huo, encountering a large zongzi halfway through a tomb raid, but with no further details, his heart felt like it was being scratched by a cat's paw, itching with curiosity.
He couldn't help but ask again, "Mr. Huo, how does Hero Huo deal with the large zongzi after encountering it?"
"I haven't thought about that yet, I'm truly sorry, Chief Editor Ma, I don't have much free time on weekdays," Huo Yaowen shook his head, feigning regret.
In reality, Huo Yaowen could have told the entire tomb raiding story in one go. Having seen so many tropes, he could casually tell a story that would capture the attention and ears of people in this era who hadn't read such works.
But there was no point in saying so much now. It was better to discuss the manuscript fees first. Plus, seeing Ma Rulong so engrossed, Huo Yaowen deliberately left a cliffhanger to keep him hooked.
Ma Rulong had no doubts, after all, writing takes time. He couldn't help but sigh, "What a pity, I really want to know how Hero Huo deals with that big zongzi, oh, that is, the zombie!"
It wasn't surprising that Ma Rulong acted this way. After all, entertainment in this era was truly too scarce. Although there were cinemas, TV shows, or nightclubs, these were all things Ma Rulong had grown tired of. Suddenly hearing such a captivating tomb raiding story, mixed with various suspense and novelty, naturally aroused an infinite desire to read more.
Huo Yaowen smiled, "Chief Editor Ma, if you want to see it as soon as possible, I will definitely write it as soon as I get back."
"That would be great," Ma Rulong said with a smile, "Such a wonderful story, such a captivating tomb raiding novel, even I am drawn in. I believe that as long as it's published in the newspaper, it will definitely attract the attention of a wide range of readers."
"So, what does Chief Editor Ma mean?"
Ma Rulong's expression became serious, and after a few seconds of thought, he said, "How about this, Mr. Huo, if it's convenient, leave your phone number. Tomorrow, I will personally inform you."
"No problem," Huo Yaowen knew that Oriental Daily News was newly established at this time, and Ma Rulong was not an expert, so he would definitely need to find professionals.
"I have high hopes for Mr. Huo's ghost blows out the light - Tomb Notes. Don't worry, our newspaper will definitely accept this manuscript."
Perhaps fearing that Huo Yaowen would submit it elsewhere, Ma Rulong stated directly.