In fact, quite a few comics have special issues, which usually contain content that is unrelated to the main storyline of the comic.
This special issue of Yao Ji is somewhat related to the main plot. The opening of this special issue is spoken by a person, and this person is an old man from the sect where the current protagonist Fanning belongs.
After Faning and Tong Xin returned to the sect, they have been practicing and participating in sect competitions. However, the two did not return voluntarily. Faning was drugged by Tong Xin, so he had to follow her back to the sect.
When he just came back, Faning still had a grudge against Tong Xin. It was not until an old man in the sect said, "Okay, don't blame Tong Xin. She has her own difficulties," that Faning started to treat Tong Xin normally.
This is all off topic. The beginning of this special issue is a conversation between the old man and Tong Xin. One day, Tong Xin was drinking tea with the old man. While drinking, he suddenly remembered something, "Uncle Master, why did you insist on letting me drug you and bring Fanning back?"
Their uncle-master looked very righteous, and with that weird-looking mustache, he looked like the Taoist priest in the movie "Zombie Taoist Priest".
After hearing these words, the "Taoist priest" took a sip of tea and looked into a void, as if he was recalling something.
"Blood Jade Demon Army..." He said slowly, "You are too young, you don't know these things, I didn't catch up either, many things I heard from my master's master..."
That’s right, this special issue tells the story of the Blood Jade Demon Army from that year, written as the uncle master of the Faning sect.
The length of the article is extremely short. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a small comic drawn casually by the author. However, every painting in it is very amazing, enough to keep people staring at it for half a day.
What is a special issue? Ji Qiu has proved with his own actions that for him, a special issue is not about the length or the plot, but about the style of painting.
The length of a comic is fixed, after all, it is mainly serialized on the app. If the length is not fixed, it will be troublesome for readers to read.
However, Ji Qiu managed to create the effect of ancient Greek war oil paintings in such a small space... Every article is full of grand scenes and heavy colors. In fact, Ji Qiu's style has always been heavy colors, which is highly praised by many readers.
After all, comics, as we all know, are different from picture books. Many cartoonists rely on the plot to win, and their painting style is getting worse and worse. So it is not easy to meet a painter like Ji Qiu who likes heavy colors...
However, compared with these paintings, everyone realized that the comics drawn by Ji Qiu before were already masterpieces without much effort.
Every painting here can be captured and used as a screensaver in minutes. Every painting makes people's blood boil. Some of them depict war scenes, which make many people dazzled. This is the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", right? There are at least a hundred people in one painting.
Taking each person out for a look alone can make people imagine a story. Each person's clothes, accessories, and hairstyle are all very particular. In one of the photos, humans and monsters are staring at each other on the battlefield. The monsters all look evil and charming, and their looks are quite high. Although the looks of humans are not as awesome as the monsters in general, the leading people are all good, and their temperament looks particularly positive.
So from the narration of the "Taoist priest" and Ji Qiu's illustrations, readers gradually learned about the war that year. This war has not been mentioned much since the beginning of "Demon Chronicles", but now, readers have finally seen the tip of the iceberg.
In fact, it is quite normal to reveal the story at this time. You see, many comics start to tell some previous stories after the plot develops to a certain stage. Ji Qiu's chapter is very short, and most readers are still confused and have just learned the beginning.
Many readers have been hooked, but Ji Qiu only drew a little bit, so they can't continue reading.
Ji Qiu did not draw any details, but only drew how big the war was, how many people participated, and how many deaths there were, which could be called a meat grinder. Among them were many famous generals who became famous in that war, and he emphasized the "Blood Jade Demon Army".
The "Blood Jade Demon Army" was a team that left a deep impression on both demons and humans during that war. The demons in it were all brave, resourceful, and had made a name for themselves with their own abilities. The end of this demon army was extremely tragic. Although they were all powerful, they were doing the work of a suicide squad.
The number of members in the team is unknown, and they are all practicing a kind of magic that can only be practiced by drinking human blood. This magic is very evil and can greatly enhance the strength of the monsters. They can be said to be one of the monsters' ace armies. However, a few years before the end of the war, that monster army was all sacrificed, which was also part of the reason for the monsters' failure.
In it, Ji Qiu also drew illustrations of several people separately, who were the more famous people and monsters in that war. Yuan Yuanyuan recognized several of them, like the "Ruhua" who had been mentioned in the past few days. His name was "Huaxian". In the picture, he was holding a huge brush, dressed in black, and standing under a pear tree, as if he was admiring the pear blossoms.
Yuan Yuanyuan saw many people who had appeared in the group she joined. However, at this moment, she saw someone she knew before, who had appeared in the comics a long time ago.
—Ran Niang.
Huh? ! ! Yuan Yuanyuan looked at the comic and found that she was not mistaken.
Is Ran Niang actually... a spy in this war
The illustration of Ran Niang is very spy-like. Her face is completely covered by big red sleeves, and not a single detail can be seen. Only one ear, as white as jade, is exposed. However, her clothes still make her recognizable at a glance, not to mention the introduction narration next to her.
Ran Niang, a rather tragic girl. Yuan Yuanyuan only knew that she was a spy and died miserably. Ji Qiu seemed to like this girl particularly and painted the scene of her death particularly beautifully.
She didn't appear very often in the comics, and the few times she did appear were in the narration, such as how the battles between monsters were very cruel and that one could die if one was not careful. I only heard her name "Ran Niang" from someone else's exclamation. However, such a girl is still very popular in the comics, and even has a lot of peripheral products.
Even Yuan Yuanyuan has a cosplay costume that was returned.
Um... wait a minute.
Yuan Yuanyuan thought about it and felt that things... seemed... not that simple.
This Ran Niang... Although she is just a background character, she appears at this moment... Before, when she didn't know that she was a participant in this war, let alone so many messed up things related to this war, she didn't think much about it.
But now... why is she the only spy among so many monsters
Yuan Yuanyuan felt that her face was as wrinkled as an old man's. She took out the picture that she had saved for a long time and compared it with Ran Niang's face in the cartoons in previous issues.
... I always feel that there is a little similarity, mainly in temperament. They are really a bit similar. They are both gentle and beautiful with an indescribable charm, but there is still a little difference in facial features.
She felt a little relieved, but then suddenly realized - damn, this guy is a spy, how could a spy face people with his real face
When Yuan Yuanyuan felt that she was a little doubtful about her life, the comment section outside had already exploded, and countless readers left messages. One was to start to frantically praise Ji Qiu's painting skills, and the other was to start to frantically ask Ji Qiu who the big boss Yuan was, and which big boss survived the war that year.
Ahhhhh it must be the painting fairy, right? ! ! Definitely the painting fairy!
What did I say?! In that magazine, what Yuan drank was definitely blood. Whose wine is that color? It’s fucking wine.
No... I don't understand! This person is a monster who uses human blood to cultivate, why would he help humans? This person is a spy! He is ruthless and has experienced war. He is definitely not an ordinary person.
I think instead of thinking about this... we should think about why Yuan survived... and how he survived.
Yuan Yuanyuan read the comments. Readers are always very good at grasping the key points. She looked at Ran Niang and really didn't know whether this person was "Yi Qi"...
She thought about it, turned on her phone, and sent a message to the three-person group, "Boss, is that Ran Niang Yiqi?"
"Who?" asked the group leader.
"She's from the latest issue of Monster Chronicles. She appeared in the previous issues and there was a frontal photo of her."
"Ran Niang? Sounds familiar. I haven't seen it yet. Wait for me." After the group leader said this, he disappeared for a while, leaving Yuan Yuanyuan alone waiting.
After a while, the group leader suddenly popped up again, "It's Yiqi, isn't he like this with makeup on?"
"Hmm... wait a minute?" Yuan Yuanyuan asked, "What? Makeup? Those previous photos of him looked so feminine... He wasn't wearing any makeup?!"
"No, he looked like that originally, but he liked to wear makeup." The group leader said, "On the day he was killed, he was wearing makeup. It was snowing, under a plum tree."
“… Why is he wearing makeup?” Yuan Yuanyuan silently complained, “Doesn’t he know that he looks feminine when he wears makeup?”
"He's... actually quite manly. You'll know if you read more of his biography." The group leader said, "Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention one thing. I'm going to City C in a few days. I just told my family and they agreed. Remember to pick me up then."