dognovel Chapter 1 Xuanfeng Magazine
Chapter 1 Xuanfeng Magazine
The Kyoto subway during rush hour is the third hell on earth.
Li Shancheng gripped the handrail tightly, his body swaying from side to side with the train's jolting. Sweat clung to his white shirt against his back, and the air was thick with the metallic, mingled smells of the subway. He stood on tiptoe and peeked at his phone's map through a gap in the crowd—the place called "Xuanfeng Magazine" was just the next stop.
"Excuse me, let me through!" The train arrived at the station, and Li Shancheng squeezed off the train, taking a deep breath of the slightly cool air on the platform.
He followed his phone's navigation as he walked out of the subway station, and the scene before him stunned him. The map showed that the magazine's office was located deep in this alley called "Qingyun Lane," but in front of him was clearly a modern commercial street, with glass-walled office buildings gleaming in the morning light.
"Strange..." Li Shancheng muttered to himself, checking the address again, "No. 27 Qingyun Lane, that's right."
Just as he was about to ask someone, his phone screen suddenly flickered. Looking closer, the scene before him rippled outwards like waves on water—the skyscrapers faded away like a mirage, and a quaint alley paved with bluestone slabs slowly appeared. At the entrance of the alley stood a weathered wooden sign with three powerful characters: Qingyun Alley.
Li Shancheng rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
The alley was lined with antique buildings, their eaves upturned and their doors painted red. Strangely, the hustle and bustle of traffic outside was almost inaudible here, as if an invisible barrier separated the two worlds. He hesitated for a moment, then stepped into the alley.
A faint scent of sandalwood mixed with the aroma of old book pages wafted towards him. The alley was eerily quiet, with only the echo of his footsteps on the bluestone slabs. After walking for a while, he realized that the area was not deserted—several storefronts were half-open, some selling antiques, others appearing to be teahouses, but the interiors were dimly lit and difficult to discern.
Reaching the middle of the alley, Li Shancheng stopped in front of a black wooden door. The doorplate read "No. 27," and below it hung an inconspicuous bronze plaque: "Xuanfeng Magazine Editorial Department."
It is here.
He took a deep breath, straightened his wrinkled shirt, and knocked on the door.
No one answered.
He knocked three more times, and just as he was about to turn and leave, the door creaked open automatically. Inside was a small courtyard with a skylight. In the courtyard stood a tree that Li Shancheng had never seen before. Its trunk was twisted like a dragon, and its leaves were a pale purple, gleaming strangely in the sunlight.
"Is anyone there?" he asked tentatively.
"Coming, coming!" A clear female voice came from the inner room.
The curtain was lifted, and a young girl with a ponytail walked out. She was probably in her early twenties, wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans, with black-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, and holding a book that was half-read in her hand.
"Applying for an editor position?" The girl pushed up her glasses and looked him up and down.
"Yes, my name is Li Shancheng, a senior majoring in Chinese Literature at Kyoto City University." Li Shancheng hurriedly handed over his resume.
The girl took the resume but placed it on the stone table without even glancing at it: "I'm Xu Qingqing, an intern editor here. Come with me, the editor-in-chief is waiting for you."
She turned and walked into the inner room, and Li Shancheng quickly followed. As they passed through the courtyard, he noticed that there seemed to be some strange symbols carved on the trunk of the purple-leaved tree, like some kind of writing or pattern.
Upon entering the house, the light suddenly dimmed. It was a typical courtyard house layout, but it had been renovated to have a rather modern feel. The door to the east wing was open, revealing several computers and printers inside, with the walls covered in various hand-drawn maps and character designs. The west wing, on the other hand, was piled high with books and documents, stacked from floor to ceiling.
Xu Qingqing led him into the main room. The room was simply furnished, and behind a mahogany desk sat an elderly man with gray hair, wearing reading glasses and looking at a manuscript.
"Editor-in-Chief Qin, the applicants have arrived," Xu Qingqing said.
The old man looked up and sized up Li Shancheng through his glasses: "Sit down. Let me take a look at your resume."
Li Shancheng sat down in the chair at his desk, his palms slightly sweaty. The editor-in-chief, Qin, looked to be in his sixties, with a lean face but unusually sharp eyes, unlike any ordinary magazine editor.
"Kyoto City University, Chinese Literature Department, good grades in major courses." Editor-in-Chief Qin flipped through the resume. "Why do you want to join our magazine?"
"I've always loved fantasy novels, and I've been reading 'Xuanfeng' magazine since junior high school," Li Shancheng said sincerely. "Although online literature is so developed now, I believe that print magazines still have their unique value. And... I was quite surprised by your address."
"Oh? What's so surprising?" Editor-in-Chief Qin put down the resume and asked with interest.
"Qingyun Alley cannot be seen from the outside, or rather..." Li Shancheng carefully chose his words, "it seems to exist in another dimension."
Editor-in-Chief Qin and Xu Qingqing exchanged a glance.
"The fact that you can see the real Qingyun Alley shows that you have a certain level of 'spiritual perception'," Editor-in-Chief Qin said slowly. "That's quite an unexpected bonus. But, young student, do you know what kind of content the 'Xuanfeng' magazine mainly publishes?"
"Fantasy novels, all kinds of cultivation, immortality, and monster themes," Li Shancheng answered without hesitation.
Editor-in-Chief Qin smiled and took out the latest issue of the magazine "Xuanfeng" from the drawer: "Turn to page 37."
Li Shancheng took the magazine and turned to the designated page. It was an article titled "Urban Wolf Tracks: A Report on a Monster Sighting in the Suburbs of Beijing," accompanied by a blurry photograph of a gray shadow. He initially thought it was a novel illustration, but upon closer inspection, the article was marked "Special Investigation Report," and the author was listed as "Qin Yunfeng"—it was none other than Editor-in-Chief Qin himself.
"This isn't...a novel?" Li Shancheng asked hesitantly.
"For forty years since its founding, the Xuanfeng magazine has focused primarily on factual accounts, with fiction as a secondary element." Editor-in-Chief Qin stood up and walked to the window. "You think those cultivation systems, monster encyclopedias, and secret realm maps are all fabricated? No, most of them are artistic embellishments based on real records."
Li Shancheng's mind went a little blank: "You mean..."
"This world is far more complex than ordinary people see," Xu Qingqing continued, having already removed her glasses. Li Shancheng was surprised to find that her eyes seemed to glow with a faint golden light in the dim room. "There are cultivators hiding in the streets, demonic beasts disguising themselves as living things, and secret realms overlapping with the real world. Our magazine's job is to record, research, and appropriately publicize these phenomena."
Li Shancheng opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He instinctively wanted to question everything, but the Qingyun Alley before him, the strange purple-leaved tree, Xu Qingqing's unusual eyes... were all challenging the worldview he had built up over the past twenty years.
"Don't believe me?" Editor-in-Chief Qin took a thick photo album down from the bookshelf. "Take a look at this."
The album contains various yellowed photos: one taken in 1985, showing several people in Taoist robes meditating on a city rooftop, with faint light swirling around them; another taken during the 1998 Kyoto floods, showing a huge serpentine shadow in the murky water; and the most recent one, three months ago, showing mysterious runes discovered on the wall of a subway tunnel...
"Beneath Kyoto City, there is actually an ancient array," Editor-in-Chief Qin said, pointing to a hand-drawn map. "The array's cores are distributed in eight directions, maintaining the balance between the city's reality and the supernatural. But in recent years, one after another, the array's cores have started to malfunction."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Li Shancheng finally found his voice.
"Because you can see Qingyun Alley," Xu Qingqing said. "Ordinary people can't see the real entrance; they'll only see a wall or an ordinary building. You have potential, although it's still very faint right now."
Editor-in-Chief Qin sat back down in his chair, placing his hands crossed on the table. "We need an assistant editor. The requirements aren't high: good writing skills, a certain aptitude for metaphysics, and most importantly, the ability to keep secrets. The salary is five thousand yuan per month, and dormitory accommodation is provided, but the working hours are irregular, and sometimes nighttime outings are required. Would you like to give it a try?"
Li Shancheng's mind raced. A monthly salary of five thousand was quite good for an intern, and the provision of dormitory accommodation solved his biggest financial burden in Kyoto. But the nature of this job... was just too bizarre.
"Can I ask you a question?" he said.
"Excuse me."
"You just mentioned that there was an anomaly at the core of the formation. What could happen?"
Editor-in-Chief Qin's expression turned serious: "The most direct consequence is 'blurred boundaries'—it's easier for demonic beasts to enter urban areas, the probability of ordinary people accidentally entering secret realms increases, and cultivators' abilities may go out of control. Three months ago, a 'Shadow Demon' attack occurred in the western suburbs, and the duty clerk of a convenience store was seriously injured."
"Shadow Demon?"
"It's a low-level monster that can lurk in the shadows and feed on people's negative emotions," Xu Qingqing explained. "Normally, they only dare to appear in remote places at night, but that night they appeared in the city for some reason."
Li Shancheng recalled a local news story he saw online last month: a convenience store employee was attacked by an unidentified animal, which police described as a "large stray dog." Many comments questioned what kind of dog could inflict such wounds.
"I...I need time to think about it," Li Shancheng said.
"Of course, I'll give you three days." Editor-in-Chief Qin took out a business card from his drawer. It was made of a special material and was slightly warm to the touch. "Call this number when you've made up your mind. But remember, don't mention anything you saw or heard today to anyone else."
Li Shancheng took the business card, which only had a name "Qin Yunfeng" and a phone number on it, but no title or address.
"I'll see you out," Xu Qingqing said.
As the two walked into the courtyard, Li Shancheng couldn't help but glance at the purple-leaved tree again. This time, he clearly saw a bird perched on the treetop—no, it wasn't an ordinary bird; it had two heads and metallic blue feathers.
"That's the 'Two-Headed Azure Phoenix,' one of the magazine's guardian spirits." Xu Qingqing noticed his gaze. "It really likes this 'Purple Dragon Tree,' and comes almost every day."
"Guardian Spirit..."
"You'll get used to it." Xu Qingqing smiled. This time, Li Shancheng was certain that her eyes were indeed golden. "By the way, if you decide to come to work, your first task might be to come with me to investigate a 'paranormal video' incident."
"A paranormal video?"
"Recently, a video has been circulating online, showing CCTV footage from the Kyoto City Library after it closes at night," Xu Qingqing said in a low voice. "In the video, books on the shelves seem to fly out on their own and arrange themselves into a certain pattern in the air. Many people think it's a special effect, but our initial assessment is that it might be 'book spirits' or some kind of rune resonance phenomenon."
They had reached the door. Xu Qingqing pushed open the black wooden door, and outside was that same alleyway paved with bluestone slabs.
"Give me an answer within three days," she said. "By the way, after you go out, you will return to ordinary streets; this is the effect of a 'maze.' When you want to come back, take the business card and silently recite 'Qingyun Kailu' at the alley entrance, and you will see the entrance."
Li Shancheng nodded and stepped out the door. The moment he turned around, the door closed, and the scene before him rippled again—the quaint alley disappeared, and he was standing on the sidewalk of a modern commercial street.
The sunlight was blinding, and the traffic was noisy.
Li Shancheng stood by the roadside, clutching the warm business card tightly in his hand. His worldview had been completely overturned in the past hour, but at the same time, an unprecedented sense of excitement was rising within him.
He looked up at the sky over Kyoto, a clear, deep blue with a few white clouds drifting by. But in his imagination, cultivators' flying swords might be soaring overhead, unknown creatures might lurk in the shadows of skyscrapers, and ancient formations might be hidden deep within the subway tunnels...
My phone vibrated; it was a call from my mother.
"Hey Shancheng, how did the interview go?"
"It's...not bad, Mom. It's a very special magazine."
"That's good. Remember to come home early, I've made you some soup."
After hanging up the phone, Li Shancheng took one last look in the direction of Qingyun Alley. Behind that seemingly ordinary wall lay a world he had never imagined.
He needed three days to consider, but deep down, a voice had already given him the answer.
As Li Shancheng turned to walk towards the subway station, he didn't notice a man in a black trench coat watching him from the corner of the coffee shop across the street. On the table in front of the man was an open notebook, filled with intricate array patterns, and in the center of each pattern was a name:
Li Shancheng.
The man closed his notebook, a meaningful smile appearing on his lips, before disappearing through the back door of the coffee shop.