Chapter 243: Internal Divergence!

Unlike Hehe, He Tian Xin realized that this work was not simple when reading the beginning, which was the part of the painter "He Ze Ping Ji"'s diary.

The content of the first part talked about the knowledge of alchemy—using six parts of the human body to compose "A Suo De."

This undoubtedly gave all readers a clue! A clue used to solve the case!

So He Tian Xin believed that the author who wrote this work was either a complete rookie who didn't know what he was doing, or a "madman" who was trying to challenge all readers.

But because of that remark by Hehe, He Tian Xin was more inclined toward the latter.

Just as he was thinking about how this owner of the diary would kill his 6 daughters and niece, He Ze Ping Ji, who wrote the diary, suddenly died. After he died, his daughters died one after another in different locations.

This increasingly piqued He Tian Xin's interest!

Who exactly killed them, and what was the method of killing?

But after finishing the majority of the book, he also encountered the same helplessness as He Tian Xin, which was not knowing who the culprit was.

The interpersonal social relationships of the deceased were too complex, and the locations of death were spread across the entire country, greatly exceeding his imagination as a traditional Honkaku writer.

Out of the quest for the answer, he had to slow down his reading speed and even flip the manuscript pages forward, trying to dig out details he had ignored.

But after looking for a long time, he was still confused and had to give up on this aspect of the plan.

He just regarded himself as an ordinary reader to continue reading the rest of the work.

After reading for a full 3 and a half hours, he finally flipped to the last page and understood all the causes, consequences, and tricks.

By this time, he had been deeply shocked!

Too amazing! How exactly is this writer's brain grown!

Who exactly wrote this?

What relationship does he have with Hehe?!

……

While the traditional Honkaku writer He Tian Xin was shocked, Gao Tianzhijiu, as a representative of the New Honkaku writers, also received a huge impact.

In his past life, *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders* was one of the peak representative works of the New Honkaku school.

Its author, Dao Tian Zhuang Si, besides the title "God of Mystery," was also called the "Mentor of the New Honkaku School" and was revered by many New Honkaku writers.

But the emergence of a new school often faces huge social pressure and is suppressed by the old school.

When *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders* was first published, it caused unprecedented debate in the Japanese mystery circle.

In the mystery circle at that time, the works of Song Ben Qing Zhang and many social school writers were the mainstream of mystery literature.

And *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders*, this unexpected work, therefore also received massive attacks from supporters of the social school, who believed it was "childish, ridiculous, and whimsical."

Some even said bluntly: "A writer like this should be purged from the mystery circle immediately."

Dao Tian Zhuang Si later admitted that he was under unprecedented pressure at that time.

But it cannot be denied that the unexpected methods in *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders* also attracted a large number of readers and fans who revered Honkaku.

For example, the mystery club at Kyoto University held high the banner of "Reviving Honkaku" and followed Dao Tian Zhuang Si to begin imitative creation of such works, and quite a few of them became New Honkaku writers.

So it is not hard to imagine what kind of feelings such a work would bring to Gao Tianzhijiu, a representative of New Honkaku writers, when it appeared before him!

This world is different from the past life; because the Honkaku school has always suppressed the social school, the emergence of the New Honkaku often represents a breakthrough beyond the traditional "locked room" case-solving methods, as well as a supplement to traditional Honkaku works.

This also caused many writers within it to be unable to think of whimsical trick methods like *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders* when conceiving the tricks for their works.

Therefore, after Gao Tianzhijiu finished reading the whole book, he admired the author of this work even more.

At this moment, he felt that compared to the other party, he wasn't even fit to carry their shoes! He even had the impulse to become a disciple!

He thought for a while, put down the sample manuscript in his hand, stood up, and asked urgently: "Chairman Hehe, who exactly is the author of this work?"

Because the voice was loud, some writers who hadn't finished reading the book also raised their heads and looked over.

Hehe looked at someone calmly, then faced Gao Tianzhijiu, revealing a meaningful expression.

"Teacher Gao Tian, no need to be anxious about this point; could you please express your views on this work first?"

Gao Tianzhijiu didn't hesitate and replied directly: "It's written very brilliantly; I believe this work is indeed a trans-era work!"

Hehe smiled and faced He Tian Xin, who was sitting on the side, "Teacher He Tian, what do you think?"

He Tian Xin originally wanted to praise it, but after seeing Hehe's expression, he immediately realized that there might be more to these words.

He hesitated, put away the thoughts in his heart, and only said: "I think it's not bad, but there is still room for improvement in some places."

Hehe stared at him for two glances and asked again: "For example, where?"

He Tian Xin stammered for a long time, finally gritted his teeth, and said: "Regarding the culprit's motive for killing, and the human nature part, it needs to be improved! Some are too far-fetched!"

Hearing these words, everyone in the venue looked at him, and they all revealed surprised expressions.

This seminar is a Honkaku work seminar; the focus of the review of the work should be the trick design method!

You, He Tian Xin, as a Honkaku writer, actually think that this work needs improvement in terms of human nature and motivation?!

You guy aren't one of those social school people, what nonsense are you talking about!

After Gao Tianzhijiu heard these words, he was also speechless at He Tian Xin.

However, his thoughts this time were a bit complex.

He didn't know if He Tian Xin said this because he felt there was a trap in Hehe's words; in his view, these words of He Tian Xin were a suppression of the New Honkaku school!

Honkaku and New Honkaku, although their main stance is the same, which is to support trick design as the core.

But regarding specific tricks, the two schools still have some different places.

Honkaku, in Japanese, means "genuine, authentic."

So "Honkaku Mystery" leans more toward the traditional and is considered "a difficult murder case occurring in a fixed space, with a famous detective serving as the important puzzle-solving story."

But New Honkaku often focuses on the changes based on this "tradition" and proposes many trick methods outside of locked rooms, focusing on the fun of the tricks.

But because it still focuses on tricks as the main thing, many New Honkaku writers often also consider themselves part of the "Honkaku school" writers.

This also makes New Honkaku considered part of the radical Honkaku school, and they stand together with other Honkaku writers when voting in award selections and suppressing works in the social school field.

But no matter what, there are still slight differences between the two after all.

And these differences also make some older "traditional Honkaku writers" dissatisfied.

In Gao Tianzhijiu's view, He Tian Xin, as a representative of traditional Honkaku, has now exposed this thought.

Facing a work like *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders* that is enough to represent the New Honkaku school, he actually still picked faults in every way and pointed out that its human nature had problems.

Thinking of this, his heart was also filled with dissatisfaction, and he even retorted in a cold tone: "Teacher He Tian, I personally do not agree with your view!"

He Tian Xin heard this sentence and turned his head to look at Gao Tianzhijiu.

But at the moment he saw the other party's expression, He Tian Xin immediately realized that he had just said the wrong thing.

No matter what relationship this work has with Hehe, it represents the New Honkaku school after all.

And his fault-picking behavior will inevitably cause Gao Tianzhijiu to misunderstand!

Everyone in the venue also looked over with different eyes at this time.

There were more than 40 Honkaku writers participating in this meeting, most of whom were radicals, but among the radicals, one-third were New Honkaku writers.

So He Tian Xin's words also made these New Honkaku writers, who were very convinced by *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders*, dissatisfied.

While He Tian Xin was trying to remedy the situation, Hehe smiled and interrupted with a sentence.

"Teacher Gao Tian, Teacher He Tian, let me introduce; the author of this work is Teacher Akiwara Yuto!"

After hearing this name, everyone revealed eyes of disbelief.

After all, Akiwara Yuto hadn't written any pure Honkaku works before, and that *The Devotion of Suspect X*, which was shortlisted for the Zhi Cun Award, could even be said to be a representative work of the social school!

But what was never expected was that the person who wrote *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders* was actually him!

Immediately following, Akiwara Yuto, under Hehe's signal, also stood up and bowed to the crowd in the venue, and thanked everyone for spending time reading the work.

Looking at Akiwara Yuto's actions, an expression like he had eaten dog shit appeared on He Tian Xin's face... ===== CHAPTER 244 =====