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sid_guardian2025-02-08 10:39 pm
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2025-02-08 10:39 pm
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Guardian readalong: chapters 25 & 26
Hi, welcome to this week's chapters of our Guardian readalong!
Last week's post (chapters 23 & 24) is here, and you can find all previous chapter discussions on the schedule posts (prologue, 1-16, 17-) or via the !readalong tag.
This week's chapters:
- Chapter 25: in which Zhao Yunlan and the Emissary discuss destroying the Mountain-River Awl, Zhao Yunlan has questions and the Emissary gives no answers, and a surprise Ghost Face appears;
- Chapter 26: in which the Emissary uses Zhao Yunlan's given name, they fight Youchu and Ghost Face, the latter tries to poke at sore spots, Sangzan makes an appearance, and the Mountain-River Awl melts into its true form.
Excerpts
1) Zhao Yunlan asks questions, and the Emissary doesn't lie
Realizing he’d said too much, the Soul-Executing Emissary made no reply. Zhao Yunlan was far too astute. He showed a facade of being brash and unreliable, but that was a cover for his true shrewdness. Whenever he exposed his sharp mind without warning, he could cut right to the heart of an issue.
Zhao Yunlan wasn’t about to let the Emissary off so easily. His gaze slowly lowered, coming to rest on the Soul-Executing Emissary’s wide sleeves. “The blood on my lord’s sleeves is still wet. I’d never even heard of a youchu until recently, when they appeared at almost the exact same time as the Reincarnation Dial, one of the Four Hallowed Artifacts. The Netherworld had never breathed a word to me about them before. What exactly are youchu? Where did they come from? They can’t have just appeared out of nowhere. And as for these so-called ‘Hallowed Artifacts,’ shouldn’t everyone be fighting as hard as they can for them? Why would you guys let them drift around the Mortal Realm for all these years?”
The Emissary was accustomed to questioning others; he had never been on the receiving end like this. He was quiet for a long time. Finally, unable to offer a good excuse, he acted like a gentleman and offered the only truth he could. “Forgive me, but I cannot say.”
Lying to someone like Zhao Yunlan was basically asking to be humiliated. It was much simpler to fall back on “I can’t tell you,” which took much less energy than lying.
Lighting another cigarette, Zhao Yunlan took a deep drag and stopped asking.
2) Our antagonist makes an appearance
From the moment he’d entered the valley, Zhao Yunlan had kept one hand tucked in his pocket, holding his gun at the ready. Reacting instantaneously, he drew the gun, braced his wrist on the Emissary’s shoulder, and fired without even blinking.
Through the silencer, the bullet hit the attacker square in the forehead. At the same time, the the Emissary swung the blade to the side. He turned like a vortex of night incarnate, a fierce gale rising around him. The friction of his blade and its sheath made an earsplitting sound as the end collided with the descending giant axe.
They both took three steps back. That was when Zhao Yunlan realized the axe-wielder’s face was covered by a deathly pale ghost mask. Ink-black fluid was trickling from the bullet hole in his forehead.
The ghost-faced figure slowly raised his hand, wiped the black blood off, and turned to Zhao Yunlan. Following his movements, the mask’s drawn-on features slowly twisted into something resembling a smile.
“Guardian.” The voice was muffled beneath the mask. “It’s been thousands of years, but you haven’t changed a bit.”
3) Zhao Yunlan has opinions about masks
Zhao Yunlan laughed. “Yeah, I just said that to fool him. Did he really think I was going to split the Mountain-River Awl? I’ve noticed that people who go around wearing masks don’t tend to be very smart.”
“…”
“Ah—that doesn’t include you, my lord,” Zhao Yunlan added, making it worse. “Of course not.”
The Soul-Executing Emissary was perfectly aware that Zhao Yunlan was unhappy about his many secrets. The fearless piece of shit was blatantly insulting him while claiming not to. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry, but one thing was clear: Zhao Yunlan had almost certainly overheard the last thing his ghost-faced adversary had said, and he was now making some extremely calculated jabs as a result.
On the one hand, it gave him the sense that their relationship was becoming more casual and familiar; on the other, Zhao Yunlan was subtly conveying that he wouldn’t make wild guesses just because of a few overheard words.
The Emissary’s heart sank. The man really was incredibly astute. It was likely that he wouldn’t be able to hide the truth from him for much longer.
4) Zhao Yunlan shares his philosophy
Wang Zheng was silent for a while. Finally, she said softly, “So right from the start, I was powerless to do anything about all this?”
“Just realizing that now, you dumbass?” Zhao Yunlan suddenly laughed and pulled the ripped-out page about the Luobula Curse from his ratty wallet. He dug a hole and buried it deep under the snow. “There are always things that you can’t control. Either you become strong enough to solve every problem, or you just forget it. It’s not good to obsess over them. That just eats up your mental RAM.”
This time, Wang Zheng was silent for even longer.
Questions
Ghost Face, aka Gui Mian, aka Mianmian! What do you think of his appearance here? And about his interactions with Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei? And just what, and how much, has Zhao Yunlan guessed about what the Emissary is keeping from him? Why do you think Zhao Yunlan decided to rescue Sangzan, give that he knows nothing about the guy's current frame of mind? What about Zhao Yunlan's philosophy? And this is all pretty different from the drama, but any thoughts on the bits and pieces that did make it into the drama?
(As usual, these are just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like!)
Our schedule (and please do sign up to host a post if you can!)
no subject
The immediate, unplanned synchronization between them is to me soooo much like the drama scene where ZYL stops pretending to be mind controlled, and I'm so here for it. :D
"There are always things that you can’t control. Either you become strong enough to solve every problem, or you just forget it. It’s not good to obsess over them. That just eats up your mental RAM."
I mean, it's just facts. Often easier said than done facts, but still just facts. (And hey, that's exactly why he ignored the information about his soul fire being missing, isn't it? I just realized it. :D)
"Wang Zheng was good tempered. Even when her boss said something so blatantly racist, she was able to stay calm; she didn’t even daydream about beating him up."
I love the implication that she did in fact daydream about beating him up. :D :D
"That was exactly what Wang Zheng was afraid of: Zhao Yunlan having ideas."
"Reflect carefully, Comrade Wang Zheng. You’ll be representing our department at the Party seminar at the end of this year. I’ll get Zhu Hong to find you a corpse to wear, so study hard."
I just love the ZYL & Wang Zheng dynamic so much in general, k, it's so fun to read.
"The person touched the bloody hole in his forehead, exploring inside it."
Idek, this is cool.
"No expression showed on the ghost-faced mask. “I have no wish to hurt you. It would be best if the Guardian stayed out of this.”
There was no change in Zhao Yunlan’s relaxed, easy posture, with one hand tucked into a pocket. He didn’t need to try hard for his streetwise attitude to shine through. “Aiyou, I’m so scared.”"
I just love ZYL so much, SO SO MUCH, DAMN. And the Emissary is not having it at all, which somehow makes it even better. :D :D
"Zhao Yunlan dusted the powder off his hands. “Don’t try to act cool. Acting cool gets you struck by lightning.”"
"Plucking it from the ground, he threw it to the Soul-Executing Emissary. “Here! Your Hallowed Artifact.”"
I LOVE HIM TO PIECES.
"Once the trapped souls think it through, they’ll come out on their own. They’re only still stuck in there because they don’t want to come out yet. What can keep them in there now other than themselves?"
I love this line and this concept.
And teleporting while being cuddled under the cape! ♡♡♡ Very professionally and only as long as necessary, of course. :D
And yesss, I was like 'what in the world are you taking Sangzan for, he's terrifying??', but ZYL is just doing everything for Wang Zheng here (in a really prickly way), so he'd totally do this too, apparently.
no subject
Aaah, yes, absolutely! It’s so fun (and romantic)!❤
And hey, that's exactly why he ignored the information about his soul fire being missing, isn't it? I just realized it
I never made that connection but you’re right! He got over the soul fire stuff awfully quickly after all.
And teleporting while being cuddled under the cape! ♡♡♡ Very professionally and only as long as necessary, of course. :D
They’re being very professional and subtle!❤
no subject
Oooh yes, that is such an excellent parallel! :D :D :D
And hey, that's exactly why he ignored the information about his soul fire being missing, isn't it? I just realized it. :D
Thank you for pointing this out! OMG, yes, that makes so much sense!
I love the implication that she did in fact daydream about beating him up. :D :D
Now whenever drama!Wang Zheng is being absent-minded, I'm going to imagine her daydreaming about beating ZYL up, hee! :D
I just love ZYL so much, SO SO MUCH, DAMN. And the Emissary is not having it at all, which somehow makes it even better. :D :D
♥ ♥ ♥
And yesss, I was like 'what in the world are you taking Sangzan for, he's terrifying??', but ZYL is just doing everything for Wang Zheng here (in a really prickly way), so he'd totally do this too, apparently.
Yeah, he can be so abrasive and mean sometimes, but his actions spell out something very different!
no subject
HEE! :D :D :D
no subject
Ooh, what a great point! Love it.
I just love the ZYL & Wang Zheng dynamic so much in general, k, it's so fun to read.
Agreed! Priest (and ZYL) at their finest. :D
Ahh, that "one hand in his pocket" moment is So Very Zhao Yunlan -- drama and novel versions, both! <3333
but ZYL is just doing everything for Wang Zheng here (in a really prickly way), so he'd totally do this too, apparently.
omg, so true! He's just a big softy, which is why he needs to be an asshole on the outside. :D