(My ~liveblog~ comments when I host a post are something else entirely, lmao, but at least I didn't exceed the dreamwidth comment length this time. xD :D :D)
"It was almost as if the metal of the key burned Shen Wei’s fingers. He curled them slightly. “For me…?”"
"Shen Wei felt as though his heart had been submerged in water. It was tender, soft, and swelling in his chest."
OHGODS. ♡♡♡ Just throw the softest Weilan ever at me right from the beginning, why don't you. ♡♡♡ (Not complaining at all, please always do that. :D :D)
"The underground parking area was divided into separate garages for each unit, and each private garage had its own elevator with direct access to their unit."
This is FANCY, lol, I'm sure these things exist but I've never seen one. :D (Also I'm happy for them that the elevator works when the place is still not finished, lol. My experience - the elevator is finished dead last. xD I mean, I can't tell if he bought it newly-built or second-hand, but having to do "plumbing, wiring and interior walls" kinda points to newly-built?)
"Although the sun was currently setting, enough fading light trickled in, gilding the scraps strewn around the floor."
This is such a lovely description of a completely mundane thing! ♡ I really like the everyday things in this book, not just the fantastical ones.
"I’ll save up slowly until we can upgrade to somewhere better."
??? xD I mean, you do you, I'm happy for you and all, but BETTER THAN THIS is a really funny concept to me. xD
"The intensity was rapidly reaching a breaking point, and with it, an indescribable sadistic urge welled up in Shen Wei’s heart. He ached to gather Zhao Yunlan in his arms and smother him there, to crush every bit of flesh and bone to dust and melt it in his palms, preserving this moment for eternity."
*raises eyebrow* That's one way to go about it I GUESS. xD (I love them both so much, but currently they're saying and thinking things that only make me want to snark at them, sorry Weilan ily. xD)
"possibly to prevent the two of them from simply falling to the debris-littered floor together and rolling around"
Seeeee, THIS you could do. I feel like even in front of Daqing it would still be less weird than the above. :P
"Angry that the furball had ruined the mood, Zhao Yunlan grumbled"
Zhao Yunlan, you don't have the slightest idea what the mood actually was. xD xD (Why am I still snarking at them, lolol.)
"And so, a fierce battle between human and cat began.
Shen Wei let out a slow breath, leaning sideways against the window. The warm, fading glow of the sunset brushed his skin, lending a touch of brightness to even his ever-pale complexion. As he quietly watched pandemonium break out in the living room, he couldn’t help the small smile that made its way over his face."
And a whiplash right back into SOFT, ahhhhh, this is so cute and fun and HAPPY. ♡♡♡
"Shen Wei reached out and stroked Zhao Yunlan’s creased brow with a fingertip."
Their tiny touches are the sweetest damn thing. ♡♡♡
“You should get going, then. Be careful. I’ll keep the door unlocked for you at night. Come back soon.”
So sweet, ahhh, and I guess this is symbolic again because keeping the door unlocked is not necessary, and he just said that, new apartment or old. xD
"He could still remember his master’s robes, green as the distant mountains, their sleeves scented with new snow and bamboo. The unruly laugh, the warm hand that cradled him close…"
Awwww, DQ may not have many memories, but the ones he has are really lovely. :)
"Daqing faced him and solemnly said, “What you say will enter and never leave. Go ahead.”
“Shen Wei is the Soul-Executing Emissary,” said Zhao Yunlan. “I’m a little worried about him right now.”
Daqing slipped, losing his footing as if he were having a stroke, and fell straight off the ledge."
:D From solemn to CAT in about two seconds. ;D
"“He's what?! Zhao Yunlan, have you no fear at all?!”
Zhao Yunlan, not really listening, made a vague affirmative noise."
Lolol, yeah, he's not really listening, but also he does have no fear at all. xD
"“You… How did you get tangled up with him? Can’t you keep it in your pants?”
The real tragedy was that Zhao Yunlan had yet to get it out of his pants."
*SNORT* ♡ His priorities are just truly beautiful sometimes. :D
"The ground was littered with cigarette butts and his pockets were empty before he finally motioned for Daqing to jump onto his arm."
I know there's still debris from the renovation everywhere, but 'get a brand new place, throw cigarette butts on the floor' is so very Zhao Yunlan. xD
"Zhao Yunlan set out dried fish and milk for Daqing and then went right into the library. He grabbed a pair of protective glasses by the entrance and had just put them on when he saw Wang Zheng and Sangzan hastily pulling away from each other in the corner."
I find the concept of ghosts secretly making out in the library really adorable, but mostly - what do you need protective glasses for in the library? Are they for Zhao Yunlan and his still-not-okay eyes specifically? And what do they protect from? (Also, Zhao Yunlan wearing glasses. *HEART EYES* /shallow :D :D I wish the illustration included his face. :D)
"Zhao Yunlan looked like an illiterate punk, but his appearance was deceiving. He had an impressive knowledge of ancient texts, letting him quickly skim through a book, and he was familiar with several ancient languages. Now he sat cross-legged on the tall metal ladder and got to work. When he finished with a book, he tossed it down."
Zhao Yunlan being smart = ♡! Zhao Yunlan casually sitting on random objects = ♡♡♡! (Another thing that the drama went all-out on, and I'm very very happy about that. :D :D)
"“At thet time, there was…no order, right? Averyone wanted more puw…power. Mountain… The road to Heaven you mentioned, if it bru…broke, parhaps someone wanted to end…”
Unable to find the correct words, he gestured, and Zhao Yunlan immediately understood: unending battle."
I'm so impressed that this is something you can gesture/understand the gesture. :D And I just really love how they communicate, and everything about their interactions in this chapter (and in general!), and how smart Sangzan is, and how he brings new ideas to the table, and how his insight helps Zhao Yunlan! (And only now I realized that both Sangzan and ZYL are described as people you wouldn't expect to be smart, but they both are!)
"Chu Shuzhi had arrived, but not alone. He had a tail: Guo Changcheng, dressed like a cotton ball. Guo Changcheng had two scarves wrapped around his neck, covering half his face. He had packaged himself into a ninja turtle."
:D :D :D SO PRECIOUS, I'm smiling so much at this description. :D And he kept following CSZ even when he literally couldn't follow him because he had no idea where he had gone, awwwwww!
"After he’d searched in the biting cold for over half an hour, a kindhearted auntie from the neighborhood committee had noticed him and his bright red nose and had brought him right to Chu Shuzhi’s door."
Lolol, the concept of someone like CSZ living somewhere that has a friendly neighborhood auntie. :D :D I wonder if they get along, or is she just like 'oh, the really weird kid over there, I know that one'. xD
"Guo Changcheng sneezed. Chu Shuzhi side-eyed him and slowly said, “I think you should find someone to take the poor kid home first—”"
Awww, it's such a tense situation he's in, and he's still like 'someone take care of this poor pathetic sneezing bb'. :P
"Looking down, Zhao Yunlan saw a hurried note from Shen Wei: The reaper is already on their way. No matter what they want you to do, under no circumstances should you agree. Wait for me to come home. —Wei
Zhao Yunlan showed no outward reaction, but the ice in his expression thawed ever so slightly."
No srsly, they're having an actual fight and he's still soft about Shen Wei, like CSZ was still soft about GCC. :D
"In a truly pathetic whimper, Guo Changcheng said, “Chu-ge, don’t say things you don’t mean just because you’re angry.” When Chu Shuzhi gave him a piercing look, Guo Changcheng carefully shifted closer and kept sniveling. “I-I d-don’t believe you meant that. I didn’t really understand, but Chu-ge is a good person. You wouldn’t do something bad for no reason…”
Awww yay, Xiao Guo being all brave despite being terrified! ♡ Srsly shifting closer when CSZ looks at you, that's bravery in itself. xD (There's less of it in the novel than in the drama, so I'm always extra excited to see it. :D)
"Shen Wei thinks too much. He’s kind to everyone but himself."
AW. Ouch. AW.
"This reaper had clearly learned from the last one’s mistakes. They stood a short distance from the door and announced loudly, “This uninvited guest from the Netherworld asks to see the Guardian. Will the Guardian honor us with an audience?”"
Lolol, it's not even his bedroom this time, but I guess Zhao Yunlan could easily be hooking up with someone at his workplace, yes. xD :D
"For another thing, the Guardian was audacious, slippery, and sneaky, and had only ever mastered three talents: shamelessness, leading people in circles, and evasion, any of which was more than enough to keep anyone busy for a while."
:D :D :D All the reasons to love him, and I guess also all the reasons to not want to deal with him. xD
"It had been the Magistrate himself who decided to go to extreme measures to wake Kunlun-jun’s spirit, which was sealed within Zhao Yunlan. He had instructed his subordinates to force open Zhao Yunlan’s Heavenly Eye—by any means necessary—and left them to figure it out.
Unfortunately, some useless underling had gone and asked the Crow tribe for help. The carrion-feeding Crow tribe had always answered to the Netherworld. Having a crow carry out the plan was the same as hanging a neon sign announcing who was actually responsible. Who had been foolish enough to come up with that idea?"
This confuses me because the Crow literally said, “Screw the Netherworld! I’d never stoop to taking orders from them!” So I guess he was lying? Or was the 'useless underling' seemingly not connected to the Netherworld and the Crow didn't know?
"A reaper had recently reported that even blindness wasn’t enough to stop the Guardian from welcoming someone to his bed. Surely that must indicate that he had no contact with the Emissary? Otherwise, how could the Emissary possibly tolerate…"
Lolol. I'm amused that 'who is Zhao Yunlan sleeping with' is a serious topic in the Netherworld, and also that they haven't figured it out yet. xD
"All smiles, Zhao Yunlan said, “My lord Magistrate, this is exactly how my mother used to go about tricking me into blind dates. What, are you planning on setting me up with the Soul-Executing Emissary?”"
Heeee. And just, this entire conversation! It's like pages and pages of Zhao Yunlan being witty and the Magistrate squirming and sweating. xD
"Wang Zheng was very competent. In short order, she came floating in with a long list of names. A group of ghosts followed her, all peering through the crack in the door."
I really love that along with Chu Shuzhi's case, Zhao Yunlan also got everyone else's difficult and unfair cases dealt with! And also this is an adorable image. :D :D
"By this point, the Magistrate wanted to never see Zhao Yunlan’s face again."
Lololol. Like yeah, I could feel bad for him, but also serves him right tbh, and damn, I just like how Zhao Yunlan just wrung him out completely with basically just annoyingly playing dumb at him, it's beautiful. :D
"Zhao Yunlan smiled and lit a cigarette with the embers from the burning spirit money."
Zhao Yunlan lighting his cigarettes with the most random fires he can find is my favorite thing. :D
"But Zhao Yunlan didn’t say anything else. He just ruffled the fur on Daqing’s head, then evaded the resulting swipe of paws with the ease of experience. “I want the Merit Brush,” he said. “I’m going to bring it back as a betrothal gift.”
Daqing’s fur bristled. “Don’t speak nonsense!”
Zhao Yunlan shut up, perhaps realizing that wasn’t something he was capable of."
Every single thing about these few lines is absolutely flawless, lol. :D :D And also he just defeated the Magistrate solely by speaking nonsense, why would he stop now. xD
no subject
"It was almost as if the metal of the key burned Shen Wei’s fingers. He curled them slightly. “For me…?”"
"Shen Wei felt as though his heart had been submerged in water. It was tender, soft, and swelling in his chest."
OHGODS. ♡♡♡ Just throw the softest Weilan ever at me right from the beginning, why don't you. ♡♡♡ (Not complaining at all, please always do that. :D :D)
"The underground parking area was divided into separate garages for each unit, and each private garage had its own elevator with direct access to their unit."
This is FANCY, lol, I'm sure these things exist but I've never seen one. :D (Also I'm happy for them that the elevator works when the place is still not finished, lol. My experience - the elevator is finished dead last. xD I mean, I can't tell if he bought it newly-built or second-hand, but having to do "plumbing, wiring and interior walls" kinda points to newly-built?)
"Although the sun was currently setting, enough fading light trickled in, gilding the scraps strewn around the floor."
This is such a lovely description of a completely mundane thing! ♡ I really like the everyday things in this book, not just the fantastical ones.
"I’ll save up slowly until we can upgrade to somewhere better."
??? xD I mean, you do you, I'm happy for you and all, but BETTER THAN THIS is a really funny concept to me. xD
"The intensity was rapidly reaching a breaking point, and with it, an indescribable sadistic urge welled up in Shen Wei’s heart. He ached to gather Zhao Yunlan in his arms and smother him there, to crush every bit of flesh and bone to dust and melt it in his palms, preserving this moment for eternity."
*raises eyebrow* That's one way to go about it I GUESS. xD (I love them both so much, but currently they're saying and thinking things that only make me want to snark at them, sorry Weilan ily. xD)
"possibly to prevent the two of them from simply falling to the debris-littered floor together and rolling around"
Seeeee, THIS you could do. I feel like even in front of Daqing it would still be less weird than the above. :P
"Angry that the furball had ruined the mood, Zhao Yunlan grumbled"
Zhao Yunlan, you don't have the slightest idea what the mood actually was. xD xD (Why am I still snarking at them, lolol.)
"And so, a fierce battle between human and cat began.
Shen Wei let out a slow breath, leaning sideways against the window. The warm, fading glow of the sunset brushed his skin, lending a touch of brightness to even his ever-pale complexion. As he quietly watched pandemonium break out in the living room, he couldn’t help the small smile that made its way over his face."
And a whiplash right back into SOFT, ahhhhh, this is so cute and fun and HAPPY. ♡♡♡
"Shen Wei reached out and stroked Zhao Yunlan’s creased brow with a fingertip."
Their tiny touches are the sweetest damn thing. ♡♡♡
“You should get going, then. Be careful. I’ll keep the door unlocked for you at night. Come back soon.”
So sweet, ahhh, and I guess this is symbolic again because keeping the door unlocked is not necessary, and he just said that, new apartment or old. xD
"He could still remember his master’s robes, green as the distant mountains, their sleeves scented with new snow and bamboo. The unruly laugh, the warm hand that cradled him close…"
Awwww, DQ may not have many memories, but the ones he has are really lovely. :)
"Daqing faced him and solemnly said, “What you say will enter and never leave. Go ahead.”
“Shen Wei is the Soul-Executing Emissary,” said Zhao Yunlan. “I’m a little worried about him right now.”
Daqing slipped, losing his footing as if he were having a stroke, and fell straight off the ledge."
:D From solemn to CAT in about two seconds. ;D
"“He's what?! Zhao Yunlan, have you no fear at all?!”
Zhao Yunlan, not really listening, made a vague affirmative noise."
Lolol, yeah, he's not really listening, but also he does have no fear at all. xD
"“You… How did you get tangled up with him? Can’t you keep it in your pants?”
The real tragedy was that Zhao Yunlan had yet to get it out of his pants."
*SNORT* ♡ His priorities are just truly beautiful sometimes. :D
"The ground was littered with cigarette butts and his pockets were empty before he finally motioned for Daqing to jump onto his arm."
I know there's still debris from the renovation everywhere, but 'get a brand new place, throw cigarette butts on the floor' is so very Zhao Yunlan. xD
"Zhao Yunlan set out dried fish and milk for Daqing and then went right into the library. He grabbed a pair of protective glasses by the entrance and had just put them on when he saw Wang Zheng and Sangzan hastily pulling away from each other in the corner."
I find the concept of ghosts secretly making out in the library really adorable, but mostly - what do you need protective glasses for in the library? Are they for Zhao Yunlan and his still-not-okay eyes specifically? And what do they protect from? (Also, Zhao Yunlan wearing glasses. *HEART EYES* /shallow :D :D I wish the illustration included his face. :D)
"Zhao Yunlan looked like an illiterate punk, but his appearance was deceiving. He had an impressive knowledge of ancient texts, letting him quickly skim through a book, and he was familiar with several ancient languages. Now he sat cross-legged on the tall metal ladder and got to work. When he finished with a book, he tossed it down."
Zhao Yunlan being smart = ♡! Zhao Yunlan casually sitting on random objects = ♡♡♡! (Another thing that the drama went all-out on, and I'm very very happy about that. :D :D)
"“At thet time, there was…no order, right? Averyone wanted more puw…power. Mountain… The road to Heaven you mentioned, if it bru…broke, parhaps someone wanted to end…”
Unable to find the correct words, he gestured, and Zhao Yunlan immediately understood: unending battle."
I'm so impressed that this is something you can gesture/understand the gesture. :D And I just really love how they communicate, and everything about their interactions in this chapter (and in general!), and how smart Sangzan is, and how he brings new ideas to the table, and how his insight helps Zhao Yunlan! (And only now I realized that both Sangzan and ZYL are described as people you wouldn't expect to be smart, but they both are!)
"Chu Shuzhi had arrived, but not alone. He had a tail: Guo Changcheng, dressed like a cotton ball. Guo Changcheng had two scarves wrapped around his neck, covering half his face. He had packaged himself into a ninja turtle."
:D :D :D SO PRECIOUS, I'm smiling so much at this description. :D And he kept following CSZ even when he literally couldn't follow him because he had no idea where he had gone, awwwwww!
"After he’d searched in the biting cold for over half an hour, a kindhearted auntie from the neighborhood committee had noticed him and his bright red nose and had brought him right to Chu Shuzhi’s door."
Lolol, the concept of someone like CSZ living somewhere that has a friendly neighborhood auntie. :D :D I wonder if they get along, or is she just like 'oh, the really weird kid over there, I know that one'. xD
"Guo Changcheng sneezed. Chu Shuzhi side-eyed him and slowly said, “I think you should find someone to take the poor kid home first—”"
Awww, it's such a tense situation he's in, and he's still like 'someone take care of this poor pathetic sneezing bb'. :P
"Looking down, Zhao Yunlan saw a hurried note from Shen Wei: The reaper is already on their way. No matter what they want you to do, under no circumstances should you agree. Wait for me to come home. —Wei
Zhao Yunlan showed no outward reaction, but the ice in his expression thawed ever so slightly."
No srsly, they're having an actual fight and he's still soft about Shen Wei, like CSZ was still soft about GCC. :D
"In a truly pathetic whimper, Guo Changcheng said, “Chu-ge, don’t say things you don’t mean just because you’re angry.” When Chu Shuzhi gave him a piercing look, Guo Changcheng carefully shifted closer and kept sniveling. “I-I d-don’t believe you meant that. I didn’t really understand, but Chu-ge is a good person. You wouldn’t do something bad for no reason…”
Awww yay, Xiao Guo being all brave despite being terrified! ♡
Srsly shifting closer when CSZ looks at you, that's bravery in itself. xD(There's less of it in the novel than in the drama, so I'm always extra excited to see it. :D)"Shen Wei thinks too much. He’s kind to everyone but himself."
AW. Ouch. AW.
"This reaper had clearly learned from the last one’s mistakes. They stood a short distance from the door and announced loudly, “This uninvited guest from the Netherworld asks to see the Guardian. Will the Guardian honor us with an audience?”"
Lolol, it's not even his bedroom this time, but I guess Zhao Yunlan could easily be hooking up with someone at his workplace, yes. xD :D
"For another thing, the Guardian was audacious, slippery, and sneaky, and had only ever mastered three talents: shamelessness, leading people in circles, and evasion, any of which was more than enough to keep anyone busy for a while."
:D :D :D All the reasons to love him, and I guess also all the reasons to not want to deal with him. xD
"It had been the Magistrate himself who decided to go to extreme measures to wake Kunlun-jun’s spirit, which was sealed within Zhao Yunlan. He had instructed his subordinates to force open Zhao Yunlan’s Heavenly Eye—by any means necessary—and left them to figure it out.
Unfortunately, some useless underling had gone and asked the Crow tribe for help. The carrion-feeding Crow tribe had always answered to the Netherworld. Having a crow carry out the plan was the same as hanging a neon sign announcing who was actually responsible. Who had been foolish enough to come up with that idea?"
This confuses me because the Crow literally said, “Screw the Netherworld! I’d never stoop to taking orders from them!” So I guess he was lying? Or was the 'useless underling' seemingly not connected to the Netherworld and the Crow didn't know?
"A reaper had recently reported that even blindness wasn’t enough to stop the Guardian from welcoming someone to his bed. Surely that must indicate that he had no contact with the Emissary? Otherwise, how could the Emissary possibly tolerate…"
Lolol. I'm amused that 'who is Zhao Yunlan sleeping with' is a serious topic in the Netherworld, and also that they haven't figured it out yet. xD
"All smiles, Zhao Yunlan said, “My lord Magistrate, this is exactly how my mother used to go about tricking me into blind dates. What, are you planning on setting me up with the Soul-Executing Emissary?”"
Heeee. And just, this entire conversation! It's like pages and pages of Zhao Yunlan being witty and the Magistrate squirming and sweating. xD
"Wang Zheng was very competent. In short order, she came floating in with a long list of names. A group of ghosts followed her, all peering through the crack in the door."
I really love that along with Chu Shuzhi's case, Zhao Yunlan also got everyone else's difficult and unfair cases dealt with! And also this is an adorable image. :D :D
"By this point, the Magistrate wanted to never see Zhao Yunlan’s face again."
Lololol. Like yeah, I could feel bad for him, but also serves him right tbh, and damn, I just like how Zhao Yunlan just wrung him out completely with basically just annoyingly playing dumb at him, it's beautiful. :D
"Zhao Yunlan smiled and lit a cigarette with the embers from the burning spirit money."
Zhao Yunlan lighting his cigarettes with the most random fires he can find is my favorite thing. :D
"But Zhao Yunlan didn’t say anything else. He just ruffled the fur on Daqing’s head, then evaded the resulting swipe of paws with the ease of experience. “I want the Merit Brush,” he said. “I’m going to bring it back as a betrothal gift.”
Daqing’s fur bristled. “Don’t speak nonsense!”
Zhao Yunlan shut up, perhaps realizing that wasn’t something he was capable of."
Every single thing about these few lines is absolutely flawless, lol. :D :D And also he just defeated the Magistrate solely by speaking nonsense, why would he stop now. xD