Chapter 271: War of Words: Traditional Writers’ Counterattack!

“What? That person dared to reply?” Everyone began shouting one after another.

Hong Yan initially did not dare to say a single word after Wan Yun made a comment that reflected Celestial Bane’s true nature. The post comments became one-sided after that, with many supporting Celestial Bane.

Just when everyone thought it was about to end, Hong Yan once again jumped out.

[Hehe, student-teacher relations.h.i.+p I see. That’s very interesting. I’ve always heard that Capital University is fiercely protective of their children. Today proves that its reputation is a justified one. The student writes such tasteless works, yet the teacher was prouder than he was ashamed. Is this our country’s top-ranking university? Ridiculous and sad!]

That sentence was extremely ruthless and unpleasant. Many people frowned after reading it.

In addition, the sentence was extremely inflammatory in what could only be described as utterly malicious!

Ye Lingchen pulled a long face too after looking at Hong Yan’s comments.

“F*ck! What kind of joker is he? Who is he to slander our Capital University?”

“Is this Hong Yan’s ego inflated or what? Is he in over his head with that unofficial t.i.tle of Council Member?”

“Celestial Bane is tasteless? Which one of his eyes saw that?”

All the students in the cla.s.s were extremely irate.

That was just the beginning, however. Not long after Hong Yan posted the comment, another official account stood up.

Huang Lihua.

Vice-Chairman of the Capital’s Writers a.s.sociation, and a writer of cla.s.sics who became a poet!

His Weibo fans exceeded one million in total and he had even published many poems.

No one expected him to come forward and comment:

[I have read and written a lot of poems, but I’m too old to keep up with trends. I’m afraid that many people now regard me as a relic, but I really cannot fathom modern people’s tastes. Is writing a few lines of words considered poetry now? Before even talking about p.r.o.nunciation and rhyming, my opinion is that it’s all a blab of random nonsense! With that ‘dreams of greatness’ and ‘step into society’. What era does he think he is in? That’s not a poem. It’s more like a river of blasphemy from someone who thinks too highly of himself.

“The art of writing poetry requires scenes to be in perfect harmony. Even more important is the intention, which must be established at once. Cautiousness and rigor come first, and it must have literary value! It is a poison to young people’s minds if something like that is labeled poetry! Some professors at Capital University s.h.i.+eld their students without considering the seriousness of the consequences, but we cannot do so! We have a responsibility toward literature!]

Those comments increased in viciousness. The writers stood high atop the commanding heights of literature and fired criticisms at Celestial Bane.

Someone immediately refuted.

[What the h.e.l.l? I think this poem is very good. Rolls of the tongue nicely. How is it bad?]

[Oh, what about ‘dreams of greatness’? Can’t he write about ‘stepping into society’ anymore? Does the poem have to correspond with reality?]

[For me at least, I feel good when I read it. Can you even write such a poem?]

[Literature is all about letting the arts have free expression. You have that att.i.tude, yet you’re the Vice-Chairman of Capital’s Writers a.s.sociation? Hehe?]

However, many people stood at the opposite end. Each one of them cursed at Celestial Bane and refused to accept that Celestial Bane could make so much money.

Immediately afterward, a bunch of verified accounts began emerging on Weibo.

They were all people from each of the major cities’ writers’ a.s.sociations and were poets too.

A publis.h.i.+ng author wrote the following message: [Are all the writer’s a.s.sociations finally calling people out? Truth to be told, I have been extremely dissatisfied these few days. Our traditional writers are shuddering in trepidation, with many facing problems to be adequately provided in their livelihood. For these tasteless works to make a lot of money is a serious injustice!]

A modern poet also remarked, [Such is the decline of traditional literature, paving the way for demons to dance merrily. Sad!]

Another traditional literature editor commented, [I will not comment on how the poems are written, but for a book like Celestial Bane, firstly, there is no depth. Second, it’s devoid of meaning. It’s the kind of fast-food culture that will only waste one’s time when reading since there aren’t any lessons to be learned from it. It truly is a sad thing to hear that this kind of book was written by one of Capital University’s talented students!]

Others were more direct. [What’s wrong with people nowadays? How could they chase after this kind of thing? Human life is regressing and our country’s cultural future is worrying!]

In such a short moment, members of major writers’ a.s.sociations—including traditional writers and poets—all began to target Celestial Bane on the Internet, firing shot after shot.

“F*ck man, all these stupid p*ssies are coming out of the woodwork.” Xiang was stunned silly when he looked at the maddening increase in the posts’ comments.

The same was true of other people. In that brief moment, no one knows how best to refute.

There were just too many verified accounts popping up at the same time. Some were poets and others were writers, but none of them were low on the popularity scale. Each person was influential and remarkable, making it hard for ordinary people to refute.

“F*ck! This Hong Yan is insidious!”

Little Gen scolded, “No wonder he hasn’t replied in the past few days. He probably went to recruit his army and have all the traditional writers join in!”

“Are they having a seizure or something, isn’t it just two poems? It’s ridiculous to rally a troop just to hit out at someone.” Ye Lingchen shook his head and was feeling a little speechless.

He finally knew why Yogurt persuaded him not to fight back. The group of cla.s.sic writers were now in a stage of decline. They were jealous after seeing the way online literature made money, and with that chance seized, it was only natural that they would go mad.

Potato could not help but laugh as he showed the phone to everyone, “Motherf*cker, just look at the work of these people. They still have the guts to criticize Celestial Bane?”

At that point, everyone had a sudden realization.

The group of writers had almost no readers and only achieved their business targets among themselves. There were few real fans and their works were far too draggy. Most people could not bear to continue reading after only reading the first sentence. No one knew how far they were dumped after Celestial Bane became a hit. Their works might be worth less than Celestial Bane even if all their creations were lumped together.

At that point, the group of people was not satisfied with simply posting angry comments on the post. They went directly to the book review area of Celestial Bane to protest that kind of rubbish literature and were strongly demanding a ban!

The wave spurred their fans into joining their crusade. It remained lively for some time and the battle was furious.

[This so-called online literature, has nothing to do with literature. It is cancer and must be removed!]

[F*cking h.e.l.l! What kind of a stupid c*nt are you, upstairs? Do you know how much online literature contributes to our GDP each year? And you, the only thing all of you know how to do is to rely on the welfare of our country! How could you have the decency to point fingers?]

[And you have the decency to think you’re so awesome after writing a line or two of dogsh*t poems? Typical hype! Online literature should be banned!]

[Capital University’s students actually came up with this kind of c.r.a.ppy work? Hehe, do any of you deserve a diploma? How could any of you even face your family?]

[Celestial Bane’s poem has been shunned by the literary world. It amounts to nothing!]

[Where did these trolls come from? Are they blaming their impotence on the modern era? Protesting against new literature?]

…