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sid_guardian2025-04-12 08:58 am
facethestrange) wrote in sid_guardian2025-04-12 08:58 am
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Guardian Readalong: Vol. 2, Chapters 15 & 16
Hi, and welcome to this week's installment of the Guardian novel readalong! ♡
Here are last week's chapters, and you can find all previous discussions on the schedule post (vol. 1 part 1, vol. 1 part 2, vol. 2), or via the !readalong tag.
This week's chapters:
- Chapter 15: Zhao Yunlan takes Shen Wei to their still-unfinished new place, and gives him the key. Shen Wei receives bad news from the Netherworld - black clouds have formed in the thirty-third heaven, which hasn't happened for 800 years. Zhao Yunlan suspects that it was caused by Ghost Face, but Shen Wei doesn't explain and leaves for the Netherworld. Zhao Yunlan asks Daqing about Kunlun-jun, but Daqing doesn't remember much. He tells Daqing that Shen Wei is the Soul-Executing Emissary.
- Chapter 16: Zhao Yunlan asks Daqing about the Emissary's origin, and Daqing thinks he couldn't have been born from the Netherworld because he's older than the Netherworld. Back at the SID, Zhao Yunlan talks to Sangzan and does research. Information about Kunlun seems to be deliberately erased, so he reads other closely related ancient stories. He thinks that Ghost Face wants to collect the Four Hallowed Artifacts to destroy the Four Pillars that hold up the sky. Chu Shuzhi doesn't regret his crimes and has a fight with Zhao Yunlan about it, until Zhao Yunlan magically binds him to a chair. The Magistrate visits, and asks Zhao Yunlan to go to Kunlun Mountain to stop Ghost Face from acquiring the Merit Brush. He's not fully truthful, and Zhao Yunlan sees right through it. He uses this opportunity to get Chu Shuzhi's merit shackles removed, and agrees to go to Kunlun Mountain, despite a letter from Shen Wei telling him not to agree to anything.
The corresponding chapters in the Chinese version on JJWXC and the fan translation are:
Chapter 15: From about 1/5 into chapter 68 up to the end of that chapter.
Chapter 16: From the start of chapter 69 until about 2/3 into chapter 71.
Excerpts:
1) Zhao Yunlan gives Shen Wei the key to their new place
Rather than driving home, Zhao Yunlan decided to drop by the place he’d just bought near Dragon City University before it got dark.
It was only one street away from the university campus. The neighborhood was made up of a group of gardened Western-style buildings with a very distinctive architectural style.
Zhao Yunlan pulled out a ring of keys, removed one, and placed it in Shen Wei’s hand. “I know you don’t actually need a key to get in, so it’s mostly symbolic, but it’s the spirit of the thing.”
It was almost as if the metal of the key burned Shen Wei’s fingers. He curled them slightly. “For me…?”
“Of course! The key to our house.” Zhao Yunlan led the way as he spoke. “The plumbing, wiring, and interior walls are basically done now. They were working on the floors before the New Year, so it’s a little messy inside, but everything should be done in about a month. At that point, you can move your stuff in first, and just keep the stuff you normally use at my place. We can move in properly in the spring, after we air the place out for a while. Come on, the elevator’s this way.”
Shen Wei felt as though his heart had been submerged in water. It was tender, soft, and swelling in his chest.
2) Daqing's reaction to Shen Wei being the Soul-Executing Emissary
Surrounded by the noise of howling wind and cawing crows, Zhao Yunlan abruptly said, “I want to tell you something. Can you keep your mouth shut?”
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.
“He's what?! Zhao Yunlan, have you no fear at all?!”
Zhao Yunlan, not really listening, made a vague affirmative noise.
Daqing had seen everything the world had to offer, all there was to see—or so he’d believed. Now, for the first time, he truly understood what it meant for someone to be “so deep in lust’s grip that they felt brave enough to challenge the sky.”
3) Sangzan's insight helps Zhao Yunlan figure things out
“Buzhou Mountain is a sacred mountain. Legend says it’s the road to the Heavens.” Zhao Yunlan gestured as he explained carefully to Sangzan. “Historical records show that Gonggong and Zhuanxu battled for power. In the end, Gonggong lost, and in a rage, he rode the divine dragon and knocked Buzhou Mountain down.”
Sangzan still had trouble parsing what people said to him. He reacted slowly, then nodded half a beat later.
“But I don’t believe it,” Zhao Yunlan said softly. “The two Emperors, Flame and Yellow, battled Chiyou for more years than anyone could count. They fought until the skies divided and the earth was split, sending sand and rock flying everywhere. But even with that, Buzhou Mountain was fine. Even when Pangu separated the sky and earth with his axe, Buzhou Mountain remained unharmed. How could a ride knock it over?”
Sangzan had learned to ignore all the adjectives and nouns he didn’t understand. After a while, in his unusual accent, he said, “Iv…this is something that’s imbossible…but it still habbened—happened, thin someone mod…mad…made…it happen.”
“Cutting off the road to the Heavens.” Zhao Yunlan tapped a finger against the ancient tome. “Who could have done it? Why?”
Sangzan watched as Zhao Yunlan’s gaze slowly deepened.
“After Buzhou Mountain fell, Nüwa used huge rocks to plug up the sky. She herself turned into Houtu and her spirit scattered in the Netherworld,” Zhao Yunlan continued. “It was like Nüwa held up the sky and earth with her bare hands. Earth… Earth… Mud…” His voice got quieter and quieter until he was nearly talking to himself. Then he suddenly said, “Wait—give me the part about Nüwa creating humans again.”
Sangzan had just passed him the book when Daqing came in and addressed Zhao Yunlan. “Lao-Chu is here.”
Zhao Yunlan immediately tucked the book away and descended the tall ladder. He was about to leave when Sangzan suddenly spoke up behind him. “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.
4) Guo Changcheng continues to follow Chu Shuzhi
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.
After Chu Shuzhi had vanished into thin air, Guo Changcheng had no choice but to head home. But before he even got into a taxi, he changed his mind. He felt bad for letting Daqing down on the first day of the Lunar New Year. So he’d returned to that little alleyway to search for Chu Shuzhi, gritting his teeth and asking for information from everyone he encountered.
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. But once she left him there, Guo Changcheng didn’t dare knock or leave. It wasn’t until Chu Shuzhi received the Soul-Guarding Order’s call and stepped out to go to 4 Bright Avenue that he found this popsicle of a coworker outside his door. What could Chu Shuzhi do but bring him along?
5) Zhao Yunlan gets Chu Shuzhi's merit shackles removed
Zhao Yunlan casually leaned back in his own chair. “It’s the Lunar New Year. I’m just a powerless mortal. What if something happens to me after I get sucked into something so dangerous?”
“We guarantee the Guardian’s safety, of course—”
Zhao Yunlan snorted. “You guys can’t even get into a mountain. What are you guaranteeing my safety with?”
“Well…”
“I want to bring my own people,” Zhao Yunlan said.
Not having expected Zhao Yunlan’s cooperation, the Magistrate froze. But the look that crossed Zhao Yunlan’s face next made his teeth ache.
“The thing is though,” Zhao Yunlan continued, “I don’t have enough people. Honestly, most of my staff are low-level minions. They’re not up for more than running errands. The only really useful personnel are a little snake yao who can’t even transform properly, a tiny cat that’s barely a foot long, a clueless intern, and a terminally online selfie addict.”
The Magistrate had an inkling of where this was headed.
“I finally managed to get a Corpse King with some useful skills, but…” Zhao Yunlan sighed.
It was an olive branch, and the Magistrate immediately took it. “No need to worry on that front. The Corpse King’s merit shackles are due to be removed as soon as our side gets through the necessary paperwork. Since the Guardian brought it up, I’ll authorize it and have his shackles taken off. Our side will deal with the red tape later.”
“So that’s why!” Zhao Yunlan exclaimed, only half-genuine. “Here I thought he’d failed to work off his sins and had gone behind my back to misbehave again. Look, he’s right in the next room—I locked him up there to reflect on things!”
“It’s all a misunderstanding…” the Magistrate began.
“Of course it’s a misunderstanding,” said Zhao Yunlan. “You guys should really streamline your processes. You’re so inefficient sometimes that anyone who didn’t know better would assume you were deliberately delaying things.”
The Magistrate simply had nothing to say.
Questions:
What do you like the most about Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei's new place, and would you like to live there? What do you think Chu Shuzhi's neighbors think about him? Is the primordial past/mythology storyline easy for you to follow? Would you hate or enjoy being in a battle of wits with Zhao Yunlan? What's your favorite Chuguo moment and/or your favorite Weilan moment?
You can answer as many or as few questions as you like, or just comment without answering any of them at all! And if you see this post and you're not actually reading the novel: As always, I would love to know what you think about any of this with limited context. :D
And here is the new schedule, and that's where you can sign up to host a post!
no subject
\o/ \o/ \o/!!
I'm right there with you on the mythology storyline and the ZYL battle of wits ("purely a spectator sport" -- hee! YES!!). *high fives*
And ZYL actually asks outright about Ghost Face! But SW won't tell. (Interesting that ZYL hasn't even confided in DQ about any of what he's seen!)
I wonder if he was concerned it would implicate Shen Wei -- like, if he tells about Ghost Face, then he has to explain how they sent him away, and who else could do that but the Emissary?
I feel for Daqing, but I don't like this much. I like him better when he's being all superior!
ME TOO! That part really bothered me, especially that ZYL didn't challenge it.
This made it into the drama, too!
Yes, though with different implications -- it was more about DQ's memory issues than SW's mysterious origins, right?
I really like Sangzan being smart and working with ZYL to figure things out!
That was so good. :D
> > Again, Zhao Yunlan thought of his dream. Who had been talking to him?
>
> I have entirely forgotten about this already. /o\
I think it's this from the end of chapter 10:
I still don't entirely get its significance, though, except that it's his god!self speaking to him.
Ooh, and this made it into the drama too, when CSZ tells the Regent he's wearing the spring and autumn shackles voluntarily! One of those rare instances where they didn't recontextualise things quite enough, IMO, so it doesn't entirely make sense removed from the novel context.
Yes, agreed. It feels more like a novel artefact than a seamless part of the drama.
(I wonder if he has a proper plan before the Magistrate hands him the opportunity?)
Ha, excellent question. I suspect he's relying on his improv skills.
AAARGH, does SW know ZYL at all? That practically guarantees ZYL will agree to something, LOL.
Do you mean in a Murphy's Law kind of way? Because I don't feel like ZYL deliberately defies the Emissary any more than drama!ZYL touches the Hallows in defiance of the Envoy. It's just that he believes he has a job to do, and this is how to do it, you know? He can't let himself be held back. (And that's correct, too, to some extent, given that ZYL works for the human/Haixing government, and SW is a foreign authority.)
And another bit that doesn't quite come together (for me) in the drama!
*nodnodnod* In the drama, it always felt like something that might have made sense millennia ago, but is completely out of context in present day.
ZYL is right about that, and I'm very curious what he's worried SW will do, but I don't have a clue. *g*
That he'll run away again, maybe? Or hurt himself? That self-yeeting at the end of vol 1 must have given ZYL pause for thought.
ZYL playing dumb, the Magistrate knowing but unable to make him stop, this is delightful. :D
Yessss! I loved all of that! Spectator sport indeed!! :DDD
And also that the Magistrate is clearly aware that the Emissary would be jealous of ZYL's lover, but also seems to be utterly incapable of even considering that that lover could possibly be the Emissary. Hee!
It's inconceivable to everyone except ZYL (and SW sometimes)! LOL!
Very good on ZYL for using this to get more than just CSZ's situation sorted out!
Yes, 100% agree!!
and possibly the origin of the swing in ZYL's drama flat?
Ooh, great point. I wonder if they ever tried filming with someone actually on the swing and decided it just didn't work...
LOLOLOL at Daqing asking ZYL how far he's got with SW. :D :D :D :D :D
But I think he is only working with Hell for a mutual partnership, they are not actually related.
Such an interesting distinction. Whereas in the drama SW is so far out of time that he has no experience of 10k years of Dixing civilisation, but he's still very "of Dixing".
Just think, Nuwa repaired the Heavens, she finished her job, why did she have to turn into Houtu and become one with the earth? Was she trying to cover up the true earth? Whatever is down there, it must be somewhat related to the Soul Slayer.
I mean, this feels like pure speculation...
"No, when I say you're too late," Zhao Yunlan interrupts, "I don't mean this past half a year, I mean you're late by a few thousand years."
Hahaha! I can see why they cut this, because they've smoothed out the "ZYL figures out his past-life identity and epic relationship with SW" arc, but this is gold. :D
LOLOL at ZYL messing with the judge and trying to send SW in his place. :D :D :D :D :D
"That foul creature was born beneath Hell in front of the Primeval Tree of Virtue, and is somewhat related to the Soul Slayer, so it might be inconvenient for him."
"Oh," Zhao Yunlan's smirk wears down a little, and nods, "and here I thought the judge would stick by 'not talking about the great saints behind their backs", turns out beating around the bush gets us nowhere, though, wouldn't you agree? You worry about him, I can understand that... this is my being inconsiderate then."
This is so interesting! ZYL using a bluff to get more information about SW, Ghost Face, and the general political situation. Again, I can see why they cut it, but I'm glad to know about it.
It does make me go, so, wait, the Magistrate's plan (in the official version) is to get ZYL up Kunlun Mountain, knowing that Ghost Face is there? Is that right? And the Emissary will come to battle him? I'm so unclear about what he's hoping will happen... *so vague*
Mount Kunlun is a forbidden and sacred place, not a backyard for their freak show.
Aww, I do like ZYL being protective of his mountain. <333)
no subject
Oh yeah, that's a good point! And he only confides in DQ about Ghost Face when he's ready to tell him SW's secret, too.
ME TOO! That part really bothered me, especially that ZYL didn't challenge it.
Yeah! If ZYL had said something, that would definitely have made it better! ("What? I didn't know the King of Cats could be humble!" - And then DQ would swipe him, and it'd be okay.)
Yes, though with different implications -- it was more about DQ's memory issues than SW's mysterious origins, right?
Yes, agreed - it's built in so well!
I think it's this from the end of chapter 10:
Oh, thank you for digging that out, that definitely helps. I don't entirely get the significance either, but I assume we'll come back to this.
Do you mean in a Murphy's Law kind of way? Because I don't feel like ZYL deliberately defies the Emissary any more than drama!ZYL touches the Hallows in defiance of the Envoy.
Yeah, I didn't mean he'd do it to defy the Emissary - but as soon as there was SOMETHING to potentially agree to, ZYL was bound to find a reason to do it, and SW should have realised by this point that telling ZYL "don't do it" isn't going to stop him from doing anything he thinks he has a reason to do. (And as you say, that's as it should be, to some degree, though he definitely should take SW's warnings more seriously!)
That he'll run away again, maybe? Or hurt himself? That self-yeeting at the end of vol 1 must have given ZYL pause for thought.
It felt to me like he was about to say something different, but that's definitely a good point.
I wonder if they ever tried filming with someone actually on the swing and decided it just didn't work...
Ha, I'd pay good money to see that!
LOLOLOL at Daqing asking ZYL how far he's got with SW. :D :D :D :D :D
Such an interesting distinction. Whereas in the drama SW is so far out of time that he has no experience of 10k years of Dixing civilisation, but he's still very "of Dixing".
Yeah, that's one of the huge differences - the Dixingren under his jurisdiction are very much drama!Shen Wei's people, whereas the ghosts and such aren't novel!Shen Wei's people at all.
Hahaha! I can see why they cut this, because they've smoothed out the "ZYL figures out his past-life identity and epic relationship with SW" arc, but this is gold. :D
By "they", do you mean priest? Because yeah, she definitely smoothed out that arc in the version the official translation is based on.
(And agreed, it's clear why they cut this line, but it's so good!)
This is so interesting! ZYL using a bluff to get more information about SW, Ghost Face, and the general political situation. Again, I can see why they cut it, but I'm glad to know about it.
Yeah! I really wish we had a timeline of all the changes/edits to the novel, that would be so useful, but also it's so fascinating just comparing the versions we have, which is why I keep doing it. *g*
It does make me go, so, wait, the Magistrate's plan (in the official version) is to get ZYL up Kunlun Mountain, knowing that Ghost Face is there? Is that right? And the Emissary will come to battle him? I'm so unclear about what he's hoping will happen... *so vague*
I have even less of a clue than you do, and hope the novel will spell it out for us at some point!
no subject
Awwww! *wants that to be canon*
Yeah, I didn't mean he'd do it to defy the Emissary - but as soon as there was SOMETHING to potentially agree to, ZYL was bound to find a reason to do it, and SW should have realised by this point that telling ZYL "don't do it" isn't going to stop him from doing anything he thinks he has a reason to do.
Yeah. ZYL's course of action was already in progress when SW's letter arrived. I don't think the letter made any difference one way or another.
It felt to me like he was about to say something different, but that's definitely a good point.
I had to go back and look at the context. It's while they're talking about Ghost Face, so maybe ZYL is worried SW will feel like GF's evil deeds will reflect on SW too, because they have the same origin. Or that he'll do something reckless to stop GF?
By "they", do you mean priest? Because yeah, she definitely smoothed out that arc in the version the official translation is based on.
I'm super unclear on the versions, who did the edits, and how the translations were done. I was just vaguely going "whoever decided this".
no subject
♥ ♥ ♥
I'm super unclear on the versions, who did the edits, and how the translations were done. I was just vaguely going "whoever decided this".
I don't think anyone other than priest made any of these edits, but of course we don't know for sure.
no subject
no subject
Awww, I would LOVE that! :D It's so them, and would definitely make the scene better! ♡
"> I wonder if they ever tried filming with someone actually on the swing and decided it just didn't work...
Ha, I'd pay good money to see that!"
Hahah, same! :D