This was also a character portrait. In it, a graceful woman leaned against a door panel, her face flushed as if with the bloom of spring. She wore an attire similar to a kimono, revealing just enough skin to captivate most men.
Qin Siyao walked to the portrait, gazing at Feng Siniang within the painting, somewhat lost in thought.
Feng Siniang was a character from her manga, an entity neither human nor ghost. Since Qin Siyao had never explained Feng Siniang’s origins in the manga, readers could only speculate that she might have suffered a romantic betrayal or some family tragedy.
In the manga, Feng Siniang was a woman who defied convention. She ran a brothel; in different series, she would be depicted running her establishment in various cities or eras.
Feng Siniang loved luxury and tormenting people, adhering to her own unconventional code of conduct.
At the time, this manga sold quite well. It featured many sensual scenes—delicate, polished, and brimming with imagination and visual impact—rivaling those by renowned international masters of the genre. Many readers were specifically drawn to such content.
However, it’s worth noting that when Qin Siyao joined the studio, she was merely a freshman in college. She hadn’t even been in a relationship yet, and Deng Ge could confirm she was still a virgin at the time. Despite this, the scenes she drew were as explicit as those from a seasoned artist.
Deng Ge had once believed he failed to win Qin Siyao’s heart not because he was inadequate, but because no living man could ever compete with the 2D characters from her imagination.
"This is my Fanli." Hui Qiang stopped before a painting. He excitedly ran a hand through his greasy hair, dislodging a flurry of dandruff.
The painting before him depicted a woodcutter carrying firewood. The man looked sturdy and honest.
He was a woodcutter—a remorseless one who killed as frequently as he chopped wood. He didn’t kill for pleasure but did so mechanically, out of habit.
This manga’s sales figures, much like Qin Siyu’s Xue Three, were at the bottom of the studio’s rankings—essentially a commercial failure.
The reason was simple: contemporary manga production is a highly specialized industry. True all-rounders proficient in drawing, scriptwriting, plot design, character development, and more were rare.
Qin Siyu and Hui Qiang, for example, had strengths that lay more in practical execution.
Hui Qiang’s manga, featuring the woodcutter as the protagonist, had a plot that, much like Hui Qiang himself, was a bit too plain—so plain, in fact, that readers found it completely unengaging.
"There’s no reason the boss would paint portraits for all of you but not for me! Ah, found it! A Ming!"
Deng Ge pointed to a scroll depicting a rather slender man. Fangs were faintly visible at the corners of his mouth, and his entire being exuded a morbid pallor.
His name was A Ming. He was a vampire, a character created by Deng Ge.
Indeed, Deng Ge’s current success showed early signs back when he was still at the studio. His vampire-themed manga ranked second in sales there, surpassed only by the boss’s "Mo Wan."
An Asian-featured vampire with a cold, reckless personality, combined with fast-paced, bloody, and thrilling storylines, garnered a very positive market response.
Characters that resonated with the audience, paired with stories that could ignite their excitement, were key to capturing the market. It was precisely this conviction that had propelled Deng Ge’s career to great heights in recent years.
In the manga, A Ming’s personality was one of absolute madness. No matter the opponent, he would metaphorically flip the table and go all out.
Moreover, A Ming was lonely. He didn’t consider himself a vampire, yet he was clearly no longer human. He had no friends. After each frenzied episode, all that remained was a heart-wrenching chill.
Consequently, this character attracted many female fans.
Ah Qiu quietly walked past from behind the others. f|re(e)web.n\ovel. (c)o.m
She seemed somewhat apprehensive, yet also expectant.
But the inevitable arrived.
She saw a painting. In it, a man with a slightly ashen complexion squatted on the ground, surrounded by a gruesome scattering of bones and corpses.
His name was Liang Cheng. He was a Zombie.
He was bloodthirsty, cruel, and merciless.
He had lived from ancient times to the modern era. Time had only deepened his profound sense of alienation from the world.
And his name was the same as his creator’s.
Qin Siyao had by now shifted her attention from Feng Siniang. Upon seeing Ah Qiu and the painting before her, she too fell silent.
There had been seven people in the studio back then: the boss, Qin Siyao herself, her younger brother Siyu, Deng Ge, Hui Qiang, Ah Qiu, and Liang Cheng.
Liang Cheng and Ah Qiu had once been a couple; they were already together when they joined the studio. However, Liang Cheng had died in a car accident over three years ago.
The studio’s dissolution could be partly attributed to Liang Cheng’s death, but it wasn’t the primary cause.
Liang Cheng’s death had made Ah Qiu lose heart for many things. Still, a seven-person studio could have continued operating even with two members gone.
The main reason was that the studio had always specialized in horror and gore manga, already a niche market. This, coupled with policy restrictions and crackdowns, made the studio’s survival increasingly difficult.