Chapter 154-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
After Ye Zheng vanished due to Wen Xiaoxing's ability, King of the Demonic Domain updated two chapters, then the creator took a week-long hiatus due to health issues.
During this period, the official team released a trailer for the first season of the King of the Demonic Domain manga's anime adaptation and announced a large batch of new merchandise, which was fiercely criticized by readers as harvesting leeks (exploiting fans for money).
Ye Zheng stans keenly discovered that the image selection for Ye Zheng was much more half-hearted compared to other characters. Despite being the top popularity character, her treatment was inferior even to the new character, Wen Xiaoxing.
Sharp-eyed readers spotted a figure suspected to be Wen Xiaoxing flashing by in the anime trailer. This made Ye Zheng stans feel as if a fishbone were stuck in their throats. Both were characters appearing mid-story; why did a new character get screen time in the first season's anime?
During the nearly one month that Ye Zheng was missing, hot discussion posts about Wen Xiaoxing never ceased on the forums. Even a fleeting shadow in the anime trailer could be analyzed with an eight-hundred-word theory, debating whether this character had been part of the plot from the beginning and where the creator might have planted foreshadowing.
With a good design, powerful abilities, and a mysterious origin—coupled with the official team's obvious high expectations for him—Wen Xiaoxing overshadowed a high-popularity character after appearing for only two chapters. His topicality skyrocketed instantly.
[A smiling and lively white on the outside, black on the inside type, already stanning. Please don't let us down, official team.]
[I love him so much. I'm going to become a momo again.]
[It seems he's filled the niche of the delicate and handsome young boy left vacant after the Zhao Mei Incident.]
[Wen Xiaoxing is definitely destined for the hot-tier. This manga finally remembered to draw male characters to pander to female readers...]
[Support more and more handsome male characters. This is what we women should be watching, okay?]
Tang Mingxi had no energy left to care about the forum. During this time, she was actively defending her character's rights. She utilized her long-time fan circle skills, frequently occupying the top of the official account's comment section with her high-weight account and likes from fellow fans.
[King of the Demonic Domain Official V: Under the spotlight! The release date for #King of the Demonic Domain# Season 1 is revealed!]
[May Happiness Befall My Hand and My Favorite: Please look closely. This girl is named Ye Zheng. Today is the 21st day she hasn't appeared. This Ye Zheng is backstage; can we please invite her out?] [3678 Likes]
[Zheng-Dragon Heavenly Girl Is Here: Big Reaper, you should at least draw how Ye Zheng was sidelined by Wen Xiaoxing! She vanished in the blink of an eye. You human trafficker must have kidnapped my girl!] [2789 Likes]
[-Ye Ye Ye-: Be nicer to Percy! Be nicer to Percy! Be nicer to Percy!] [2563 Likes]
[AAA Destroyer King: Stop making Sykes a tool! This little boy is the true villainous protagonist of this manga!] [2198 Likes]
[How Do You Know I Like Little Boys and Girls: Can we expect Wen Xiaoxing to appear in Season 1? (Starry eyes)] [1346 Likes]
...
Tang Mingxi was furious at the official team's operations. An unknown "royal" (a character receiving forced promotion) was stepping over her girl to rise in status.
Now Wen Xiaoxing's merchandise was selling exceptionally well. A large number of fans who follow the trend joined the fandom, betting that his popularity would soar after the anime and future manga plot. They expected Wen Xiaoxing's first batch of merchandise to be resold at extremely high prices. To this, Tang Mingxi wished them a total failure in merchandise speculation.
Wen Xiaoxing had offended the most difficult Ye Zheng as soon as he appeared. Tang Mingxi suspected he might not even live until his popularity peaked.
The only comfort during this time was the Ye Zheng side story drawn by the assistant sister. This time it wasn't a Chibi four-panel comic, but a supplement to the plot where Ye Zheng seized the divine sword in the labyrinth. It even revealed the ending of Yin Kong, who had been missing—he was actually dealt with by Ye Zheng!
He had paranoidly believed Ye Zheng shouldn't proceed and tried to stop her, only to be killed cleanly by Ye Zheng's counterattack.
As soon as this side story came out, the resurrected Yin Kong stans jumped out to curse Ye Zheng for being cold-blooded and ruthless. They even questioned the ownership of the divine sword, believing Ye Zheng must have used underhanded means to seize it.
After reading the side story, Tang Mingxi was again impressed by the ambition and decisiveness Ye Zheng showed. Seeing the posts questioning Ye Zheng on the forum made her feel pained for her. She had clearly gained the sword's recognition through great strength and righteous kindness, yet she was being questioned because of Yin Kong's paranoid words before death...
But these posts were quickly suppressed by Zheng-pushers. Ye Zheng hadn't appeared for weeks; they had been starving for content and, with long-term battle experience, had plenty of strength and tactics.
If she didn't know that Ye Zheng was usually treated poorly in King of the Demonic Domain, she would have thought this operation was the company intentionally tormenting fans.
Wen Xiaoxing's recent treatment was too good. Tang Mingxi was truly afraid the creator would make Ye Zheng suffer a major loss just to highlight his ability, or even make Ye Zheng unable to return for a long time. She had a bad premonition that if the creator went totally insane, it wasn't impossible for Ye Zheng to be written out...
Tang Mingxi still clicked on the update exactly on time every time, but her heart sank each time as her worries deepened.
Until this week, she opened the update on time again.
In the latest chapter, Percy and Sykes teamed up to deal with a giant eel, but Percy was ambushed by Ye Di. At the critical moment, Wen Xiaoxing intervened to save him and took the unconscious Percy to another small boat.
Since his debut, except for the moment he was almost killed by Ye Zheng, Wen Xiaoxing always maintained a mysterious and calm demeanor as if everything was under control. This time was no different; he seemed to have known Percy would encounter this, and after saving Percy, he sat on the boat waiting idly.
[Ah, hasn't that guy Ye Di arrived yet?]
His internal monologue suggested he knew Ye Di would chase after them, appearing bored yet secretly alert. Tang Mingxi found his poser attitude (acting overly cool) particularly annoying, especially those green eyes that seemed to have copied Ye Zheng's design. The more she looked, the more she disliked him, wishing she could pluck out his colored contacts.
However, as Tang Mingxi swiped to the next page, she was surprised to find Ye Zheng's reflection appearing in Wen Xiaoxing's green pupils. She seemed to be trapped somewhere, her expression grave.
Seeing Ye Zheng reappear after nearly a month, Tang Mingxi swiped down excitedly. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye from Wen Xiaoxing, Ye Zheng's shadow vanished from his eyes.
Tang Mingxi outside the screen was genuinely angry, but Wen Xiaoxing inside the screen revealed a mysterious smile, thinking fearlessly: [O darling of fate, why worry about your own destiny?]
But in the next moment, his expression turned alert, and he spun around abruptly. Seeing this, Tang Mingxi's heart leaped—had Ye Zheng fought her way back?
She quickly swiped down. A scene beyond any reader's expectation appeared: Wu Shu, who suddenly appeared, actually plunged a dagger into Percy's heart!
Wen Xiaoxing and the readers outside the screen shared the same shocked expression.
[Why is it Wu Shu?]
[She killed Percy?]
This was the moment Tang Mingxi felt the most empathy for Wen Xiaoxing. She shared the same confusion. However, what was even more shocking was the next scene—Wen Xiaoxing's left eye suddenly shattered into countless fragments. In every fragment, it was Wu Shu killing the protagonist, Percy!
Facing the shock and confusion of countless readers, Wen Xiaoxing covered his eye. Recalling his own ability and what he had seen through Fate Singularity regarding Ye Zheng's situation, he finally answered the readers' doubts.
It turned out that Fate Singularity had exiled Ye Zheng to other worldlines, but Ye Zheng discovered that time-based abilities could counter Fate Singularity. Using unknown means, she contacted Wu Shu, having the Wu Shus of multiple worldlines kill Percy simultaneously. The resulting thousands of time rewinds stacked together, causing the collapse of Fate Singularity.
Collapse? Tang Mingxi almost laughed out loud with joy. Ye Zheng was coming back soon!
But Wen Xiaoxing's next words shattered the expectations of the Zheng-pushers: the collapse of Fate Singularity would not bring Ye Zheng back; instead, it would only teleport her to an unknown place, never to return.
Tang Mingxi couldn't believe it. Did she have to wait another month or even longer for Ye Zheng's return? She was truly going to sneak into the manga studio and send a funeral wreath to creator Old Uncle's desk!
She didn't want to read the stupid plot anymore. With a collapsing mood, she swiped down quickly until she saw a slender hand and abruptly stopped.
"Can you no longer stand up? Wen Xiaoxing."
On the screen, Ye Zheng leaned over to look down at him, staring at Wen Xiaoxing with a half-smile. At the same time, the readers sharing Wen Xiaoxing's perspective couldn't help but tremble with excitement.
[Zheng-Missing Fist! Missing her like a surging spring! Zheng-Longing Sword! Never forgetting! Zheng-er, Zheng-er is finally back!] [hot!]
[#1 Zheng-Missing Fist! Missing her like a surging spring! Zheng-Longing Sword! Never forgetting! Zheng-er, Zheng-er is finally back!]
[#2 I'm afraid to open my eyes for fear it's a hallucination. Can some sister who is also following the update tell me if it's real?]
[#3 Yes, the Zheng-God has returned! It's hunting time! (Manga screenshot)]
[#4 The last scene of the manga is practically a new god-tier image for Ye Zheng. This is what we call the most oppressive big villain of KDD (tactical lean-back).]
[#5 I'm really going to cry. I was always worried Ye Zheng wouldn't come back. As expected, you can always trust Ye Zheng!]
[#6 This #Ye Zheng Heavy Dependent# is slowly coming back to life...]
[#7 As soon as Our Zheng returned, the poser facade Wen Xiaoxing spent so long building just shattered. I won't say how satisfying this is...]
[#8 Floor above, let's focus on Ye Zheng. It's all for the plot. Let's not start a war with other characters. It's enough that Zheng-zheng is back.]
[#9 Is the 8th floor really a Zheng-pusher? The neighboring threads were bragging about Wen Xiaoxing's ability while repeatedly dragging and stepping on Ye Zheng. Zheng-pushers were being gentle enough by not bothering with those posts.]
[#10 This talk warms my heart. While Zheng-zheng was gone, she was actually quietly contacting friends across worldlines to counterattack. It feels like a version of #Travel Zheng-zheng#.]
[#11 Can the assistant sister draw a #Zheng's Multiverse#? I want to see what Zheng-zheng experienced in the other worldlines?]
[#12 Great, the placement play my master was doing with me is finally over!]
[#13 Floor above, you... this isn't a no-man's land.]
[#14 Little Steam is so scary, but who wouldn't acknowledge Ye Zheng as their master after seeing this chapter?]
[#15 Wen Xiaoxing and the Ye Zheng haters on the forum only had less than a month of good days, and Ye Zheng shattered them with just one appearance!]
...
[#102 Family, there are more hate posts. Why are so many people breaking defense (losing composure) as soon as Ye Zheng returns?]
Tang Mingxi browsed the Zheng-pushers' posts with a smile. When she saw news of hate posts appearing, her face changed. Who would be so malicious as to frame Ye Zheng on such a great day for her fans?
[I can't help but speak up: Ye Zheng's golden finger is so large it will only lead to the collapse of the manga's power scaling! Creator, look at this, is the new plot even logical?] [hot]
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