The Phoenix Mask

Name: The Phoenix Mask
ISBN: 9787807552703

蘑菇Huashan Literature and Art Publishing House2007

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Word count: 2.9M words
Chapters: 40
ISBN: 9787807552703

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Summary

The Phoenix Mask is a long urban suspense novel by the web author Mogu, first serialized on 17K.com and published in print by Huashan Literature and Art Publishing House starting in 2007. Set in modern Shanghai, the book imagines a "jianghu" running parallel to mainstream society, governed by rules and craft—with schools, ranks, coded language, and a body of swindling techniques passed down only within the trade. The protagonist, Zhu Tong, is the most "modern" young disciple of the Seventh-Rank Zhu School, treating con artistry as a meticulous business of costs and returns; with practiced skill and measured advance and retreat, he quickly earns the name "Thousand-Faced Lone Wolf" in the trade and is noticed by various jianghu factions as a candidate to be an enforcer for "East Sea Investment." His encounter with the policewoman Ye'er changes the course of his life. He once wants to wash his hands of it and return to normal society, only to find he can neither escape the rules of the jianghu nor let go of its bonds of loyalty; as money and desire erode the old jianghu code, he sinks deeper instead, step by step into the heart of an enormous swindle. With the narrative refrain "I cheat everyone, and everyone cheats me," the book uses interlocking schemes to portray the psychological contests and human warmth behind fraud, and to depict the awkward position of the traditional jianghu in modern society. At over 2.8 million characters, with dense plotting and constant suspense, it has been promoted as "a tale of swindlers in the contemporary jianghu."

Editor's review

如果你对“骗术”这两个字有过好奇，这本书大概是个绕不开的名字。它最早在17K小说网连载，凭一环扣一环的局和极接地气的江湖气迅速积累人气，后来由花山文艺出版社推出纸质本。它的吸引力首先在“专业感”：作者蘑菇并不满足于让主角随便耍点小聪明，而是虚构出祝门、品级、器物、口传秘技这一整套体系，把行骗写成需要学习、需要守规矩、也要认得清人心的手艺。读者跟着祝童走一遭，看的是局如何搭、饵如何下、退路留在哪里，慢慢就明白所谓“骗”往往是拿捏人心的功课。其次是人物。祝童不是单纯的反派或英雄，他讲成本、也讲情义；想抽身，又被规矩绑住。叶儿的出现让这份挣扎有了具体的落点，情感线与骗局线彼此拉扯，把“我骗人人，人人骗我”的题记落到实处。行文节奏快，章节短促，适合一口气读下去。需要说明的是，本书体量大、连载痕迹明显，后期结构与文风起伏较明显；如果只想看点高密度诡计，可以按卷选读，不必强求从头到尾。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢都市悬疑、骗局博弈类网络小说的读者
对“江湖”题材、民间行当与门派规矩感兴趣的读者
偏爱智斗、反转和细节铺陈，愿意耐心读长篇的人
想把《凤凰面具》与同期都市悬疑网文做比较的读者

Not a good fit for

偏好传统纯文学、讲究精致语言与结构的读者
不喜欢超长篇连载、对节奏起伏容忍度较低的人
希望书中给出真实防骗知识、当成实务手册阅读的人

Reading tips

按卷推进：第一卷铺垫人物与规矩，第二卷起局中套局，可卷为单位安排阅读节奏。
读到每一场“生意”时，先记下各方想要什么，再看结局，更容易看清骗局结构。
把主角的情感线与江湖线分开梳理，能更清楚地看到他每次选择背后的两难。
若读纸质本，注意不同版本分册与章节划分略有差异，以手上版本的目录为准。

About the publisher

Huashan Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1982

Huashan Literature and Art Publishing House is a local literature and art publisher whose main publishing focus is literary and artistic works, covering categories such as classic works, philosophical readings, social sciences, foreign literature, Eastern philosophy, and applied psychology. Judging from the books in the database, the house publishes modern literary classics such as Xiao Hong's The Story of Hulan River, as well as Aisin Gioro Yu Yun's "Yu Laoshi Speaks" series and titles from the "People and Classics" series, including The Great Learning and The Commentary on the Xici of the I Ching, with an emphasis on interpreting traditional classics. In foreign literature, it offers Michael Cunningham's The Hours, Hemingway's The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and Dave Pilkey's Dog Man series. Its authors include Xiao Hong, Aisin Gioro Yu Yun, Chen Jiong, Dave Pilkey, Michael Cunningham, and Wang Jiaxiang. Its publishing character lies in balancing literary classics, interpretations of traditional culture, and translations of foreign literature, forming a diverse reading structure for general readers. Public information is limited, and the above focuses on the publishing directions reflected by the books in the database.

Volume One: Winds and Clouds Rise: 1. Meeting a Thief
Volume One: Winds and Clouds Rise: 2. Pure White Egg
Volume One: Winds and Clouds Rise: 3. Gu
Volume One: Winds and Clouds Rise: 4. Green Plum
Volume One: Winds and Clouds Rise: 5. Big and Small Swindlers
Volume One: Winds and Clouds Rise: 6. Woman of the Night
Volume One: Winds and Clouds Rise: 7. Businessman
Volume One: Winds and Clouds Rise: 8. Eighth-Grade Orchid
Volume One: Winds and Clouds Rise: 9. Spring on the Jin River
Volume One: Winds and Clouds Rise: 10. The Art of Business
Volume One: Winds and Clouds Rise: 11. Resolute Parting
Volume One: Winds and Clouds Rise: 12. The Sharp Razor
Volume Two: Snow Butterfly: 1. The Train to Western Hunan
Volume Two: Snow Butterfly: 2. Legends of the Jianghu
Volume Two: Snow Butterfly: 3. The Dog Blocks the Gate of Ghosts
Volume Two: Snow Butterfly: 4. Dog-Skin Plaster
Volume Two: Snow Butterfly: 5. Soul-Stealing
Volume Two: Snow Butterfly: 6. Butterfly Mask
Volume Two: Snow Butterfly: 7. Black Gun
Volume Two: Snow Butterfly: 8. Spirit
Volume Two: Snow Butterfly: 9. Seven Causes Powder
Volume Two: Snow Butterfly: 10. Red Cloud Golden Summit
Volume Two: Snow Butterfly: 11. The Formless Elephant
Volume Two: Snow Butterfly: 12. Butterfly Dance
Volume Three: Bewildered in Love: 1. Divine Transmission
Volume Three: Bewildered in Love: 2. Beauty Sharp as a Blade
Volume Three: Bewildered in Love: 3. Turning
Volume Three: Bewildered in Love: 4. Half Dream, Half Awake
Volume Three: Bewildered in Love: 5. Chan
Volume Three: Bewildered in Love: 6. The Beginning of the Chrysalis
Volume Three: Bewildered in Love: 7. Seeking
Volume Three: Bewildered in Love: 8. A Flock of Beauties' Stratagem
Volume Three: Bewildered in Love: 9. Butterflies in Love with Flowers
Volume Three: Bewildered in Love: 10. Reunion
Volume Three: Bewildered in Love: 11. Seize
Volume Three: Bewildered in Love: 12. Heartless
Volume Four: Half-Submerged: 1. A Suzhou-Hangzhou Household
Volume Four: Half-Submerged: 4. Thirteen Needles of the Ghost Gate
Volume Four: Half-Submerged: 5. Dizzy
Volume Four: Half-Submerged: 6. Save a Life

FAQ

《凤凰面具》的作者是谁？

作者笔名蘑菇，另有作品《莫问天》《酒龙吟》等。作品最初在17K小说网连载，2007年起由花山文艺出版社出版纸质书。

这本书主要在讲什么？

讲职业骗子祝童，作为“七品祝门”的现代弟子游走于上海，把行骗当生意做；与女警官叶儿相遇后他一度想收手，却被江湖规矩和现实利益一再拖回，最终卷入一桩巨大骗局。

“凤凰面具”这个名字有什么含义？

书名与书中“面具”“蝴蝶面具”等意象呼应，指向人在江湖中戴着面孔行事、真假难辨的处境。书中并未以外在物件给出唯一解释，读者读完自有体会。

全书有多长，纸质本分几册？

网络版全书约286万字。花山文艺出版社的纸质本按卷分册出版，各册另有独立书名与ISBN，购买时请认准具体册次。

书里的骗术是真实可用的吗？

作品是虚构小说，书中门派、品级与技法多为文学设定，服务于情节。它提供的是对人心的观察，而非可操作的防骗或行骗指南。

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About the author

蘑菇 Author

Public information about Mushroom (蘑菇) is currently very limited: the author's real name, nationality, and dates of birth and death have not been clearly recorded. What can be confirmed is that the author publishes under the name "Mushroom" and has one work in the library, Girl, Coffee, and a Rainy Day. Judging from its usual classification, the book falls under applied psychology, suggesting that the author's writing leans toward conveying psychological feelings and self-observation through everyday situations rather than presenting academic theory or technical instruction. The title, which brings together a girl, coffee, and a rainy day, hints that the narrative may unfold around fragments of urban life, shifts in mood, and time spent alone, with a style that is likely delicate, plain, and close to daily experience. Because biographical and creative background information is lacking, the author's style and influence can only be inferred in a limited way from this single work, and more public information would be needed for a fuller assessment.