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sid_guardian2021-06-11 06:23 am
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Focus On: Zhu Jiu Attempts (and Fails) to Recruit Chu Shuzhi, ep19
This scene is in episode 19. The set-up is from 17:51-18:43, and the scene itself runs from 20:32-22:00.
I’m using the community files/subs.
Set-Up:
After a fight that he came very close to losing, Zhu Jiu has captured Guo Changcheng, Ye Huo, and Chu Shuzhi. He’s got them all tied up in an empty laboratory. (Which: WTF is this lab even used for? The equipment is just a mish-mash of whatever quasi-medical equipment it needed in order to appear threatening, I feel.) Ye Huo is rather burnt, Guo Changcheng is rather concerned, and Chu Shuzhi is sitting in front of them all very quietly.
This scene comes right after Guo Changcheng first tried to free himself enough to get a signal to the rest of the SID and then—once Zhu Jiu crushed the little bug he was trying to activate—began asking Zhu Jiu to let him bandage Ye Huo. Zhu Jiu agrees, but frames his acceptance as a deal: “You can save him, but then you have to die here”
Guo Changcheng (unsurprisingly) takes that deal. Zhu Jiu (equally unsurprisingly) is mad about this, starts choking Guo Changcheng, and calls out Guo Changcheng’s martyr complex.
Then (17:51) Chu Shuzhi gets involved, saying, “What you want is torture. Dying like that is too easy for him.”
This gets Zhu Jiu’s attention, unsurprisingly!
Chu Shuzhi continues: “Make his life more unbearable than death. That is true torture.”
Zhu Jiu laughs, releases Guo Changcheng, and turns to Chu Shuzhi. “You’re right,” he says. “You understand me well.”
(18:10)
Zhu Jiu brings up Chu Shuzhi’s “taboo crimes” (which Chu Shuzhi does not look happy about being reminded of) and unties Guo Changcheng so that he can begin tending to Ye Huo. (end at 18:43)
(We then cut to Zhu Hong and Shen Wei having a lovely chat about Zhao Yunlan for a bit.)
It’s 20:19 into the episode, and we’re back to Guo Changcheng tending Ye Huo’s wounds. He doesn’t seem great at it, for all that he said he’s had first-aid training, but that’s not the point here.
The Scene:
At 20:32, Zhu Jiu sits down next to Chu Shuzhi and says, “You’re too much of a threat. I don’t dare untie you. But…” —as Zhu Jiu places his hand on Chu Shuzhi’s far shoulder— “if you can forsake the darkness and work for the boss with me…” He trails off, clearly hoping that the implication would be enticing even without a specific promise he might need to go back on later.
(20:44)
Chu Shuzhi turns to look at him. If one doesn’t know how deep his loyalty to the Envoy is, this might seem like he was interested by this deal, so Zhu Jiu is naturally delighted by how well this is going. But really, Chu Shuzhi just wants to know, “Who’s your boss?”
(20:47)
Zhu Jiu looks away and laughs nervously. Not the question he wanted to be asked. But maybe he can save it, if he starts monologuing like his boss! “I understand you. I can see it in your eyes, you distrust humans.”
Chu Shuzhi might not particularly like most humans, but ‘distrust’? He doesn’t seem to distrust humans any more than dixingren, in that his trust is never given lightly. Why Zhu Jiu thinks this line of speechifying will work on Chu Shuzhi—whom he captured because Chu Shuzhi was trying to protect humans from Zhu Jiu—I’m not sure. I suspect this might just be Zhu Jiu’s stock recruitment speech; he seems like the kind of guy who would have one.
(21:04)
Zhu Jiu moves in front of Chu Shuzhi as he speaks, to be even more dramatically gay about this attempted seduction.
(21:07)
“How about you and me, we fight against the humans? Against the stupid Black-Cloaked Envoy,” Zhu Jiu says, sealing his doom. It’s no good to insult the Envoy in front of Chu Shuzhi. But he doesn’t know that yet, so he keeps going, even letting go of Chu Shuzhi so that he can gesture more dramatically as he reaches the climax of his speech: “We dixingren together can form a brand new era of light!”
(21:19)
(And look at the way this scene is staged with the spotlight effect on Chu Shuzhi. Nice work to help make the whole “out of the darkness and into the light” a visual effect as well as a rhetorical one.)
Chu Shuzhi smiles, and it is not nice at all. He starts to laugh, and Zhu Jiu joins in. He’s very delighted, in this moment, that his comic-book villain speech seems to have worked!
(21:23)
(21:26)
They laugh together for long enough that Guo Changcheng gets concerned, shouting “Chu-ge!” as if he’s afraid Chu Shuzhi has snapped. Which is a fair concern, really, considering that this started with Chu Shuzhi telling Zhu Jiu that torturing Guo Changcheng might be a good idea.
But Chu Shuzhi is perfectly in control of himself, despite how much fun he’s been having pretending otherwise. This evil laugh of his hasn’t been directed at his friends; it’s very much pointed at Zhu Jiu.
Chu Shuzhi stops laughing abruptly and shouts “Pathetic!” at Zhu Jiu, who responds with clear shock; he didn’t see this coming at all.
(21:33)
(21:34)
Chu Shuzhi continues insulting Zhu Jiu: “Who are you calling stupid? Talking about yourself, right?”
Zhu Jiu slaps Chu Shuzhi, and Chu Shuzhi just laughs at him again. “That’s all you got?” he asks, inciting Zhu Jiu to grab him and shout “You want to die?”
Guo Changcheng grabs the first aid kit and steps forward to hit Zhu Jiu with it. Before he can move more than a single step, a phone starts to ring.
Everyone freezes.
(21:49) (Zhu Jiu when the phone rings, extremely Not Okay)
(21:51) (Chu Shuzhi at that same moment, completely unafraid)
(21:53) (the grab itself, for full effect)
do I think this would be a terrible trashy foeyay ship? yes. did that influence what screencaps I picked? also yes.
Slowly, after almost ten seconds, Zhu Jiu releases Chu Shuzhi and picks up the phone. (22:00)
It’s Zhao Yunlan, saying that he’ll take Zhu Jiu’s deal and trade the Holy Tools for his people. At least that seems to be going Zhu Jiu’s way for now.
And then Zhu Jiu leaves, though not before turning on the absolute zero system.
Commentary
Did I pick this scene because of my adoration for loyalty being displayed so clearly? Yes. Did I also pick it because of the sheer intensity of the vibes between Chu Shuzhi and Zhu Jiu here? Yes.
Zhu Jiu isn’t wrong to draw comparisons between himself and Chu Shuzhi, is the thing. Zhu Jiu is a dark mirror for Chu Shuzhi’s circumstances, though at this point in canon we don’t know much about Chu Shuzhi’s backstory yet. They both wanted to serve Dixing like the Envoy, at one point. They both killed someone they shouldn’t have. They’re both completely devoted to their chosen lord.
We’ve seen Chu Shuzhi’s loyalty to the Envoy by this point. It was established quite early: At the end of ep2, when Chu Shuzhi and the Envoy meet (right after the Envoy finishes talking to Zhao Yunlan about the Dial and Holy Tools in general), Chu Shuzhi kneels to reaffirm his loyalty and gratitude. For all that the Envoy prefers not to treat their relationship as lord and servant, it’s clear that Chu Shuzhi is happy to treat it that way.
We’ve also seen Zhu Jiu’s loyalty to Ye Zun! He’s very much obsessed, and devoted, and Ye Zun does treat him like a servant. He’s disposable, in a way that the Envoy does not want Chu Shuzhi to be.
So when Zhu Jiu hears Chu Shuzhi talk about torture, and seem to casually disregard someone who’s supposed to be his teammate— Well, Zhu Jiu’s experience with formal organizations is incredibly shitty, and he knows that Chu Shuzhi is the only dixingren on his team, so it’s not surprising he thinks it’s worth trying toseduce recruit Chu Shuzhi to his side.
It’s clear to a viewer—especially after the first viewing—that Chu Shuzhi is putting on an act to draw Zhu Jiu in. And it works! Chu Shuzhi knows his past, and he knows why that would be attractive to Zhu Jiu and his mysterious boss, and if he’s going to be captured anyway— Well, it’s worth trying to get some information! And this timing means he can protect Guo Changcheng, who was otherwise going to be the focus of Zhu Jiu’s attention.
Zhu Jiu moves from making one spur-of-the-moment deal (asking Guo Changcheng to die in exchange for being allowed to treat Ye Huo) to another (attempting to recruit Chu Shuzhi), and the scene ends with Zhao Yunlan accepting a third deal (though we know that his agreement is partially a trick).
It’s interesting, really, how Chu Shuzhi is the only one to outright reject Zhu Jiu, and how mad Zhu Jiu gets about it. The deals are all very different, of course, and the one offered to Chu Shuzhi is the only one where it’s not explicitly about saving other people; that makes it quite easy to reject, once it’s clear Chu Shuzhi’s gotten all the information out of Zhu Jiu he can right then. (And because once Zhu Jiu insulted the Envoy it’s not like Chu Shuzhi would be able to pretend to listen to him anymore.)
Some Related Scenes:
Related Fanworks, Meta, Etc.
I do not know! I am rather new to the fandom. Please share links in the comments! <3
Questions for the Audience:
I’m using the community files/subs.
Set-Up:
After a fight that he came very close to losing, Zhu Jiu has captured Guo Changcheng, Ye Huo, and Chu Shuzhi. He’s got them all tied up in an empty laboratory. (Which: WTF is this lab even used for? The equipment is just a mish-mash of whatever quasi-medical equipment it needed in order to appear threatening, I feel.) Ye Huo is rather burnt, Guo Changcheng is rather concerned, and Chu Shuzhi is sitting in front of them all very quietly.
This scene comes right after Guo Changcheng first tried to free himself enough to get a signal to the rest of the SID and then—once Zhu Jiu crushed the little bug he was trying to activate—began asking Zhu Jiu to let him bandage Ye Huo. Zhu Jiu agrees, but frames his acceptance as a deal: “You can save him, but then you have to die here”
Guo Changcheng (unsurprisingly) takes that deal. Zhu Jiu (equally unsurprisingly) is mad about this, starts choking Guo Changcheng, and calls out Guo Changcheng’s martyr complex.
Then (17:51) Chu Shuzhi gets involved, saying, “What you want is torture. Dying like that is too easy for him.”
This gets Zhu Jiu’s attention, unsurprisingly!
Chu Shuzhi continues: “Make his life more unbearable than death. That is true torture.”
Zhu Jiu laughs, releases Guo Changcheng, and turns to Chu Shuzhi. “You’re right,” he says. “You understand me well.”

Zhu Jiu brings up Chu Shuzhi’s “taboo crimes” (which Chu Shuzhi does not look happy about being reminded of) and unties Guo Changcheng so that he can begin tending to Ye Huo. (end at 18:43)
(We then cut to Zhu Hong and Shen Wei having a lovely chat about Zhao Yunlan for a bit.)
It’s 20:19 into the episode, and we’re back to Guo Changcheng tending Ye Huo’s wounds. He doesn’t seem great at it, for all that he said he’s had first-aid training, but that’s not the point here.
The Scene:
At 20:32, Zhu Jiu sits down next to Chu Shuzhi and says, “You’re too much of a threat. I don’t dare untie you. But…” —as Zhu Jiu places his hand on Chu Shuzhi’s far shoulder— “if you can forsake the darkness and work for the boss with me…” He trails off, clearly hoping that the implication would be enticing even without a specific promise he might need to go back on later.

Chu Shuzhi turns to look at him. If one doesn’t know how deep his loyalty to the Envoy is, this might seem like he was interested by this deal, so Zhu Jiu is naturally delighted by how well this is going. But really, Chu Shuzhi just wants to know, “Who’s your boss?”

Zhu Jiu looks away and laughs nervously. Not the question he wanted to be asked. But maybe he can save it, if he starts monologuing like his boss! “I understand you. I can see it in your eyes, you distrust humans.”
Chu Shuzhi might not particularly like most humans, but ‘distrust’? He doesn’t seem to distrust humans any more than dixingren, in that his trust is never given lightly. Why Zhu Jiu thinks this line of speechifying will work on Chu Shuzhi—whom he captured because Chu Shuzhi was trying to protect humans from Zhu Jiu—I’m not sure. I suspect this might just be Zhu Jiu’s stock recruitment speech; he seems like the kind of guy who would have one.

Zhu Jiu moves in front of Chu Shuzhi as he speaks, to be even more dramatically gay about this attempted seduction.

“How about you and me, we fight against the humans? Against the stupid Black-Cloaked Envoy,” Zhu Jiu says, sealing his doom. It’s no good to insult the Envoy in front of Chu Shuzhi. But he doesn’t know that yet, so he keeps going, even letting go of Chu Shuzhi so that he can gesture more dramatically as he reaches the climax of his speech: “We dixingren together can form a brand new era of light!”

(And look at the way this scene is staged with the spotlight effect on Chu Shuzhi. Nice work to help make the whole “out of the darkness and into the light” a visual effect as well as a rhetorical one.)
Chu Shuzhi smiles, and it is not nice at all. He starts to laugh, and Zhu Jiu joins in. He’s very delighted, in this moment, that his comic-book villain speech seems to have worked!


They laugh together for long enough that Guo Changcheng gets concerned, shouting “Chu-ge!” as if he’s afraid Chu Shuzhi has snapped. Which is a fair concern, really, considering that this started with Chu Shuzhi telling Zhu Jiu that torturing Guo Changcheng might be a good idea.
But Chu Shuzhi is perfectly in control of himself, despite how much fun he’s been having pretending otherwise. This evil laugh of his hasn’t been directed at his friends; it’s very much pointed at Zhu Jiu.
Chu Shuzhi stops laughing abruptly and shouts “Pathetic!” at Zhu Jiu, who responds with clear shock; he didn’t see this coming at all.


Chu Shuzhi continues insulting Zhu Jiu: “Who are you calling stupid? Talking about yourself, right?”
Zhu Jiu slaps Chu Shuzhi, and Chu Shuzhi just laughs at him again. “That’s all you got?” he asks, inciting Zhu Jiu to grab him and shout “You want to die?”
Guo Changcheng grabs the first aid kit and steps forward to hit Zhu Jiu with it. Before he can move more than a single step, a phone starts to ring.
Everyone freezes.



Slowly, after almost ten seconds, Zhu Jiu releases Chu Shuzhi and picks up the phone. (22:00)
It’s Zhao Yunlan, saying that he’ll take Zhu Jiu’s deal and trade the Holy Tools for his people. At least that seems to be going Zhu Jiu’s way for now.
And then Zhu Jiu leaves, though not before turning on the absolute zero system.
Commentary
Did I pick this scene because of my adoration for loyalty being displayed so clearly? Yes. Did I also pick it because of the sheer intensity of the vibes between Chu Shuzhi and Zhu Jiu here? Yes.
Zhu Jiu isn’t wrong to draw comparisons between himself and Chu Shuzhi, is the thing. Zhu Jiu is a dark mirror for Chu Shuzhi’s circumstances, though at this point in canon we don’t know much about Chu Shuzhi’s backstory yet. They both wanted to serve Dixing like the Envoy, at one point. They both killed someone they shouldn’t have. They’re both completely devoted to their chosen lord.
We’ve seen Chu Shuzhi’s loyalty to the Envoy by this point. It was established quite early: At the end of ep2, when Chu Shuzhi and the Envoy meet (right after the Envoy finishes talking to Zhao Yunlan about the Dial and Holy Tools in general), Chu Shuzhi kneels to reaffirm his loyalty and gratitude. For all that the Envoy prefers not to treat their relationship as lord and servant, it’s clear that Chu Shuzhi is happy to treat it that way.
We’ve also seen Zhu Jiu’s loyalty to Ye Zun! He’s very much obsessed, and devoted, and Ye Zun does treat him like a servant. He’s disposable, in a way that the Envoy does not want Chu Shuzhi to be.
So when Zhu Jiu hears Chu Shuzhi talk about torture, and seem to casually disregard someone who’s supposed to be his teammate— Well, Zhu Jiu’s experience with formal organizations is incredibly shitty, and he knows that Chu Shuzhi is the only dixingren on his team, so it’s not surprising he thinks it’s worth trying to
It’s clear to a viewer—especially after the first viewing—that Chu Shuzhi is putting on an act to draw Zhu Jiu in. And it works! Chu Shuzhi knows his past, and he knows why that would be attractive to Zhu Jiu and his mysterious boss, and if he’s going to be captured anyway— Well, it’s worth trying to get some information! And this timing means he can protect Guo Changcheng, who was otherwise going to be the focus of Zhu Jiu’s attention.
Zhu Jiu moves from making one spur-of-the-moment deal (asking Guo Changcheng to die in exchange for being allowed to treat Ye Huo) to another (attempting to recruit Chu Shuzhi), and the scene ends with Zhao Yunlan accepting a third deal (though we know that his agreement is partially a trick).
It’s interesting, really, how Chu Shuzhi is the only one to outright reject Zhu Jiu, and how mad Zhu Jiu gets about it. The deals are all very different, of course, and the one offered to Chu Shuzhi is the only one where it’s not explicitly about saving other people; that makes it quite easy to reject, once it’s clear Chu Shuzhi’s gotten all the information out of Zhu Jiu he can right then. (And because once Zhu Jiu insulted the Envoy it’s not like Chu Shuzhi would be able to pretend to listen to him anymore.)
Some Related Scenes:
- Hei Pao Shi rescues/recruits Chu Shuzhi from prison (ep36), which
dorinda will be writing about in a few weeks!
- Chu Shuzhi and the Envoy’s Secret Meeting (ep2, 39:12-41:32)
- Zhu Jiu first meets Ye Zun (ep17, 13:40-14:42; full conversation/framing about Zhu Jiu’s Ye Zun-related feelings from 12:04-15:00.)
- Zhu Jiu pledges himself to Ye Zun (ep20, 3:33-4:20; related backstory about why Zhu Jiu hates the Envoy from 2:22-6:22.)
Related Fanworks, Meta, Etc.
I do not know! I am rather new to the fandom. Please share links in the comments! <3
Questions for the Audience:
- What do you think Ye Huo thinks about all this? He’s essentially collateral during this whole scene, but he’s still here!
- Relatedly, how concerned do you think Guo Changcheng might be about Chu Shuzhi’s loyalties during this sequence? (Chu Shuzhi obviously affirms his attachment to the SID/the Envoy by the end, but there's a decent chunk of time when Guo Changcheng could be worried before he does!)
- Do you think Zhu Jiu’s recruitment speech has worked on other people?
- How do you think things would have escalated if Zhao Yunlan hadn’t called right then?
no subject
Yes, I like this reminder--I don't usually think enough about Ye Huo's perspective in this scene, because he's mostly so quiet (except for when he basically tries to turn himself into a torch to save the others ;____;). He's terribly wounded--someone who's used to cage-fighting all the time, now being almost unable to move? He must be badly injured indeed. But he's conscious, and he observes things like Xiao Guo agreeing to trade his life for being allowed to give Ye Huo first aid, or Chu Shuzhi scorning Zhu Jiu and his corrupt master. He's seeing things about these guys that show him how trustworthy they are, people he'd like to fight beside. Which we see him do later, when the chips are down. ♥