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sid_guardian2025-02-16 11:18 am
china_shop) wrote in sid_guardian2025-02-16 11:18 am
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Guardian readalong: chapters 27 & 28
Hi, all! Sign-ups are open for the coming round of the Guardian readalong (the start of volume 2).
Welcome to this week's installment - the end of volume 1! If you’re just joining us or need to catch up, here are last week’s chapters, and you can find previous discussions on the schedule post or via the !readalong tag.
This week we're looking at:
Chapter 27: Return to the city. Drinking with Lang-ge. A drunken Shen Wei kisses Zhao Yunlan violently and slashes his shirt open. When Zhao Yunlan protests, Shen Wei's body shuts down completely. Zhao Yunlan calls an ambulance. Doctors try to resuscitate Shen Wei, and Zhao Yunlan lights talismans. Shen Wei wakes up the next day in the hospital, and Zhao Yunlan calls him "my lord Emissary".
Chapter 28: Shen Wei confirms his identity. Zhao Yunlan is excruciatingly embarrassed about his behaviour over the last six months. Back in Dragon City, the SID team corners Zhao Yunlan into driving Shen Wei home. Zhao Yunlan invites himself in, and they talk about the Hallows and Ghost Face. Zhao Yunlan goes home and asked Daqing about his past incarnations.
ETA: Official translation chapter 27 corresponds to a little after the start of chapter 42 up to the end of chapter 43 in JJWXC, and chapter 28 corresponds with the start of chapter 44 up to the end of chapter 45.
Excerpts
1) Lang-ge is honoured by Shen Wei's toast
With a smile, Shen Wei continued, “Mr. Lang has taken such incredible care of us all this time, but unfortunately these are all poor students who haven’t earned a cent in academia. We truly have no way to repay you. This drink is out of gratitude.”
He clinked his glass with Lang-ge’s and emptied it in one swallow.
Lang-ge paused. “Aiya,” he exclaimed, a little surprised. It was one thing to call a thug like Zhao Yunlan “bro”; arrogant scholarly types were quite another matter. He fully expected them to look down on him, so he tried not to bother them if he could. He’d certainly never imagined that Shen Wei would pay him such respect.
2) Drunk, Shen Wei pushes Zhao Yunlan against a wall and kisses him
Shen Wei’s reactions were slightly delayed. It took a moment before he slowly raised a hand, and then, instead of taking the towel, he reached right past it and took hold of Zhao Yunlan’s wrist instead. Zhao Yunlan found himself being dragged into Shen Wei’s arms by brute force.
He had noticed earlier that something wasn’t quite right with Shen Wei, and the mood was a bit off, but Zhao Yunlan was still delighted by this development. He offered no resistance when Shen Wei yanked him close, or when Shen Wei pushed him up against the wall roughly and found his mouth, nearly tearing at his lips.
3) Zhao Yunlan puts the brakes on
Suddenly, the lights went out with a pop, plunging the room into darkness. The only sound was a man panting like a wolf that had known only starvation for many, many years.
Something abruptly slashed across Zhao Yunlan’s shirt, which hadn’t had many buttons to begin with.
“Nnh… This is a little too wild… Shen Wei!” Zhao Yunlan’s heart might have been alight and burning, but this kind of drunken craze wasn’t what he had in mind. He deftly rolled to the side, shouldering Shen Wei and pulling his arm free.
As soon as Zhao Yunlan protested, Shen Wei froze. Then, without a word, he toppled into Zhao Yunlan’s arms and went utterly still.
4) Shen Wei confirms his identity
Eventually, Shen Wei sighed. With a wave, he banished the hospital gown and replaced it with his vast black robe. The Soul-Executing Blade was suddenly there in his hand. He secured the unremarkable-seeming blade at his waist. But for the first time, he didn’t conceal his face.
“How did you know?”
Zhao Yunlan just looked at him, seeming thoughtful. When he finally opened his mouth, what came out was, “I didn’t. I was bluffing.”
The expression that spread across Shen Wei’s face defied description.
5) Zhao Yunlan reluctantly offers to drive Shen Wei home
Shen Wei smiled. “No need. I can get a taxi.”
With others present, what could Zhao Yunlan say? He could only take charge of Shen Wei’s luggage again. “Let me drive you,” he said. “It’s already dark. If I drive you, it’ll be…”
He’d meant to say “it’ll be safer,” but before the words escaped, he was revisited by the memory of that day in the alley when he’d beaten up a bunch of thugs for Shen Wei—and worse, had acted so cool about it, exactly like a stupid peacock displaying its feathers when it was already showing its ass.
It was a real struggle to keep smiling. Recalling the past was truly unbearable.
6) Zhao Yunlan leaves Shen Wei's apartment
He made his farewells and went downstairs, but before getting in the car, he couldn’t help looking up. Shen Wei’s light was still on. The apartment wasn’t many floors up, and Zhao Yunlan’s keen vision let him see a silhouette at the window, watching him go silently.
It gave him the sense that Shen Wei was always silently watching him depart.
7) Daqing says he looked for Zhao Yunlan for five hundred years
“I don’t know,” Daqing said. “Back then, my cultivation wasn’t complete. You… Your attitude then was very similar to now—an insolent asshole. Then one day, you were just…gone. For a long time, maybe dozens of years, no one knew where you went. When you finally came back, the True Flame on your left shoulder was gone. You held me and roasted a fish for me. After I ate it, you took out your whip, turned it into three paper talismans, and gave them to me.”
Daqing curled up in Zhao Yunlan’s warm embrace and shut his deep green eyes.
“What did I say?” Zhao Yunlan coaxed gently.
“You said… You said you’d messed up big time. That you probably wouldn’t be able to come back again. I carried the Soul-Guarding Order with me and worked hard on my cultivation. I looked for you for five whole centuries.”
For a moment, Zhao Yunlan thought the heartless black cat was about to cry. His heart melted. He sighed and was just about to say something when Daqing struggled out of his arms, gave his shiny black fur a great shake, and stood on his thigh to issue a decree.
“So you have to treat me better! The microwave has already beeped five or six times. Bring me my milk and little sausages!”
Questions
- If you're familiar with the drama, how do you feel about the differences between the novel's identity reveal and the one in the drama? What about other differences in these chapters?
- Which "Zhao Yunlan & team member" moment is your favourite in these chapters? Zhu Hong's wordless understanding and helping Wang Zheng and Sang Zan out of Clarity? Lin Jing giving Zhao Yunlan a terrible neck rub? The conversation with Daqing at the end? Something else?
- If you're reading the official translation, do you have any thoughts about the Appendices: the character and name guide, the terminology, etc?
(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 starting from next weekend (and please do sign up to host a post if you can!)
Welcome to this week's installment - the end of volume 1! If you’re just joining us or need to catch up, here are last week’s chapters, and you can find previous discussions on the schedule post or via the !readalong tag.
This week we're looking at:
Chapter 27: Return to the city. Drinking with Lang-ge. A drunken Shen Wei kisses Zhao Yunlan violently and slashes his shirt open. When Zhao Yunlan protests, Shen Wei's body shuts down completely. Zhao Yunlan calls an ambulance. Doctors try to resuscitate Shen Wei, and Zhao Yunlan lights talismans. Shen Wei wakes up the next day in the hospital, and Zhao Yunlan calls him "my lord Emissary".
Chapter 28: Shen Wei confirms his identity. Zhao Yunlan is excruciatingly embarrassed about his behaviour over the last six months. Back in Dragon City, the SID team corners Zhao Yunlan into driving Shen Wei home. Zhao Yunlan invites himself in, and they talk about the Hallows and Ghost Face. Zhao Yunlan goes home and asked Daqing about his past incarnations.
ETA: Official translation chapter 27 corresponds to a little after the start of chapter 42 up to the end of chapter 43 in JJWXC, and chapter 28 corresponds with the start of chapter 44 up to the end of chapter 45.
Excerpts
1) Lang-ge is honoured by Shen Wei's toast
With a smile, Shen Wei continued, “Mr. Lang has taken such incredible care of us all this time, but unfortunately these are all poor students who haven’t earned a cent in academia. We truly have no way to repay you. This drink is out of gratitude.”
He clinked his glass with Lang-ge’s and emptied it in one swallow.
Lang-ge paused. “Aiya,” he exclaimed, a little surprised. It was one thing to call a thug like Zhao Yunlan “bro”; arrogant scholarly types were quite another matter. He fully expected them to look down on him, so he tried not to bother them if he could. He’d certainly never imagined that Shen Wei would pay him such respect.
2) Drunk, Shen Wei pushes Zhao Yunlan against a wall and kisses him
Shen Wei’s reactions were slightly delayed. It took a moment before he slowly raised a hand, and then, instead of taking the towel, he reached right past it and took hold of Zhao Yunlan’s wrist instead. Zhao Yunlan found himself being dragged into Shen Wei’s arms by brute force.
He had noticed earlier that something wasn’t quite right with Shen Wei, and the mood was a bit off, but Zhao Yunlan was still delighted by this development. He offered no resistance when Shen Wei yanked him close, or when Shen Wei pushed him up against the wall roughly and found his mouth, nearly tearing at his lips.
3) Zhao Yunlan puts the brakes on
Suddenly, the lights went out with a pop, plunging the room into darkness. The only sound was a man panting like a wolf that had known only starvation for many, many years.
Something abruptly slashed across Zhao Yunlan’s shirt, which hadn’t had many buttons to begin with.
“Nnh… This is a little too wild… Shen Wei!” Zhao Yunlan’s heart might have been alight and burning, but this kind of drunken craze wasn’t what he had in mind. He deftly rolled to the side, shouldering Shen Wei and pulling his arm free.
As soon as Zhao Yunlan protested, Shen Wei froze. Then, without a word, he toppled into Zhao Yunlan’s arms and went utterly still.
4) Shen Wei confirms his identity
Eventually, Shen Wei sighed. With a wave, he banished the hospital gown and replaced it with his vast black robe. The Soul-Executing Blade was suddenly there in his hand. He secured the unremarkable-seeming blade at his waist. But for the first time, he didn’t conceal his face.
“How did you know?”
Zhao Yunlan just looked at him, seeming thoughtful. When he finally opened his mouth, what came out was, “I didn’t. I was bluffing.”
The expression that spread across Shen Wei’s face defied description.
5) Zhao Yunlan reluctantly offers to drive Shen Wei home
Shen Wei smiled. “No need. I can get a taxi.”
With others present, what could Zhao Yunlan say? He could only take charge of Shen Wei’s luggage again. “Let me drive you,” he said. “It’s already dark. If I drive you, it’ll be…”
He’d meant to say “it’ll be safer,” but before the words escaped, he was revisited by the memory of that day in the alley when he’d beaten up a bunch of thugs for Shen Wei—and worse, had acted so cool about it, exactly like a stupid peacock displaying its feathers when it was already showing its ass.
It was a real struggle to keep smiling. Recalling the past was truly unbearable.
6) Zhao Yunlan leaves Shen Wei's apartment
He made his farewells and went downstairs, but before getting in the car, he couldn’t help looking up. Shen Wei’s light was still on. The apartment wasn’t many floors up, and Zhao Yunlan’s keen vision let him see a silhouette at the window, watching him go silently.
It gave him the sense that Shen Wei was always silently watching him depart.
7) Daqing says he looked for Zhao Yunlan for five hundred years
“I don’t know,” Daqing said. “Back then, my cultivation wasn’t complete. You… Your attitude then was very similar to now—an insolent asshole. Then one day, you were just…gone. For a long time, maybe dozens of years, no one knew where you went. When you finally came back, the True Flame on your left shoulder was gone. You held me and roasted a fish for me. After I ate it, you took out your whip, turned it into three paper talismans, and gave them to me.”
Daqing curled up in Zhao Yunlan’s warm embrace and shut his deep green eyes.
“What did I say?” Zhao Yunlan coaxed gently.
“You said… You said you’d messed up big time. That you probably wouldn’t be able to come back again. I carried the Soul-Guarding Order with me and worked hard on my cultivation. I looked for you for five whole centuries.”
For a moment, Zhao Yunlan thought the heartless black cat was about to cry. His heart melted. He sighed and was just about to say something when Daqing struggled out of his arms, gave his shiny black fur a great shake, and stood on his thigh to issue a decree.
“So you have to treat me better! The microwave has already beeped five or six times. Bring me my milk and little sausages!”
Questions
- If you're familiar with the drama, how do you feel about the differences between the novel's identity reveal and the one in the drama? What about other differences in these chapters?
- Which "Zhao Yunlan & team member" moment is your favourite in these chapters? Zhu Hong's wordless understanding and helping Wang Zheng and Sang Zan out of Clarity? Lin Jing giving Zhao Yunlan a terrible neck rub? The conversation with Daqing at the end? Something else?
- If you're reading the official translation, do you have any thoughts about the Appendices: the character and name guide, the terminology, etc?
(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 starting from next weekend (and please do sign up to host a post if you can!)