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sid_guardian2025-06-01 10:39 pm
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2025-06-01 10:39 pm
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Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapters 7 & 8
Welcome aboard for this week's chapters of our Guardian readalong!
Here are last week's chapters. You can find all previous discussions on the schedule post (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4), or via the !readalong tag.
This week's chapters:
- Chapter 7: Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei argue about their relationship; Zhu Hong defends Zhao Yunlan by blaming Shen Wei, and Zhao Yunlan again tries to let her down gently. He sends Zhu Hong and Daqing back to Dragon City, then heads towards the Great Seal, with the timely help of the extremely convenient water dragon pearl from Zhu Hong's uncle.
- Chapter 8: Chu Shuzhi returns to Dragon City after a break, carries Guo Changcheng's bag, and learns what he does in his free time. The entire SID is shocked about Shen Wei being the Emissary. Meanwhile Zhao Yunlan reaches the Ancient Merit Tree, and sees memories from being Kunlun.
Excerpts:
1) Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei have a romantic moment, no wait, a confrontation
Teeth gritted, Zhao Yunlan snarled, "I want to fucking drag you home and handcuff you so that you'll stay put."
With his back still turned, so Zhao Yunlan couldn't see, Shen Wei suddenly smiled as though he'd just heard the most stirring, heartfelt romantic declaration the world had ever known. Even the trace of gloom in his eyes turned gentle, as if about to melt.
"If I leave with you, will you take the medicine?" he asked.
"Fuck off!"
Now, finally, he turned around and faced Zhao Yunlan. There was a quiet sigh before he said, "I'm one of the gui, Yunlan. No matter what Kunlun-jun did for me, no matter what...you made of me all those years ago, they're all empty titles. My nature is that of a gui. From their first breath, the gui were inauspicious. At the dawn of Chaos, it was even said in the Mortal Realm that the mere sight of a gui foretold a horrible death and an eternity without peace."
Zhao Yunlan gazed back at him, fighting to contain the restless fury in his heart. "I don't believe in that shit. Just come home with me, and we can figure everything else out from there. Even if we can't be together, you have to at least be somewhere I can see you every day, so I can rest easy..."
"Where you can see me," Shen Wei echoed, very low. His narrow lips twitched as if trying to quirk up but managed only a bitter smile. After a while, he said, voice still soft, "Yunlan, I beg you, stop tormenting me so. In all my existence, my greatest regret is my carelessness in becoming entangled with you and lacking the self-control to keep from making mistake after mistake. I... I think perhaps I'm simply not good enough. I'm too weak and lack the necessary willpower."
2) Zhu Hong's accusations
At first, Zhu Hong didn't know what to say. But people's hearts are unavoidably biased, and her heart held only Zhao Yunlan. She seemed to feel his every emotion as if it were her own. Zhao Yunlan still hadn't said a word, but the more Zhu Hong thought about it, the more frustration she felt on his behalf. Finally, under the double weight of his sadness and her own, she yelled, "He's setting you up to be in the wrong!"
Zhao Yunlan's gaze finally shifted and landed on her. "What was that?"
"He's deliberately setting things up so you're the one in the wrong!" she said indignantly. "If he hadn't sent you mixed signals to begin with, would you have chased him for so long for no reason? You're not the son of the emperor; if he hadn't oh-so-reluctantly given in, would you have forced yourself on him? On the Soul-Executing Emissary ? As if someone that powerful could be forced into anything!"
Zhu Hong's bold accusations made the black cat sway and slide off her feet. It seemed to him that her shattered worldview had been reassembled in record time. The cat was in awe of her ability to take a blow and come back swinging. It was as if she didn't even realize that she was talking about the Soul-Executing Emissary-the same man who, once upon a time, she'd feared so much that she'd been scared to even open his letters.
The more Zhu Hong spoke, the angrier she got and the more her heart ached. She just couldn't let it go. "He obviously seduced you on purpose and then strung you along and played hard to get. He's just a fucking cocktease! If he can't be with you, why didn't he say so in the first place? He's obviously forcing...forcing you to..."
Zhao Yunlan took the last cigarette from the pack in his pocket, lighting it with a flick. After slowly exhaling a puff of white smoke, he asked mildly, "Forcing me to do what?"
For a second, Zhu Hong didn't have an answer, but then a light bulb went off in her mind. "Forcing you to be unable to leave him!" she blurted. "Forcing you to feel like you could never bear to give up on him, until he's all you can see and nothing else matters! The way I see it, his intentions have been sketchy right from the start!"
3) Zhao Yunlan's self-assessment
After giving it a moment of thought, two dimples blossomed on Zhao Yunlan's cheeks. "I must be blind. The same goes for you, actually. Look, I'm a chain-smoking drunk. I'm annoying. I talk too much. I have a shitty temper. At best, I can pretend to be tender and considerate for about three days before I blow my cover. I'm great at wasting money, and I'm no help at all on the everyday-life front, but I'm great at causing trouble. My own mother stopped being able to cope with me and kicked me out ages ago. Why is a beautiful woman like you so hung up on me?"
Zhu Hong looked at him, tears brimming in her eyes. "You're friend-zoning me!"
"I guess." Zhao Yunlan's eyes slid half closed as he savored the last puff of his cigarette. It smoldered between his fingertips. "True story: I'm too lazy to even wash my socks. I buy seven or eight pairs and wear them all once, and then I shake them out, sort them by how bad they smell, and wear them again. Then I finally stuff them into the laundry bag and send them off to be washed. Rinse and repeat, ad nauseam. Every so often a sock goes missing, so its partner ends up among the mismatched. I didn't start wearing them in pairs until after Shen Wei moved in."
4) Chu Shuzhi's reaction
The first thing Chu Shuzhi noticed was that every single person's eyes were completely blank, as though his coworkers had been collectively struck by lightning. Before he could ask what had happened, Wang Zheng turned to face them. Voice shaking, she asked, "Chu-ge, did you know that Shen-laoshi...th-that Shen Wei...is the Soul-Executing Emissary?"
Chu Shuzhi froze for just a moment but replied calmly. "What won't that dumbass Zhao Yunlan do? Where is he? Realized he's in way over his head and ran off?"
Off to the side, Daqing meowed and said, "He jumped into the Wangchuan River."
"Broken heart?" Chu Shuzhi asked. "What, did he off himself?"
Daqing and Zhu Hong's initial rush of panic had worn off by this point, leaving them mostly calm. Zhu Hong knew that Zhao Yunlan was wearing the water dragon pearl-she'd put it on him just before the trouble started-and that it would protect him from suffering any harm from water. If she was just a little more inclined to be suspicious, she would almost think that her fourth uncle had known something in advance.
"I'm guessing he went to find the Emissary," she said.
Chu Shuzhi's gaze swept across the room. The only other person absent was Lin Jing, who was currently out of town. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the office door. "Let's start by each sharing exactly what we know. Things have been too chaotic recently. Let's pool our information..."
And then he paused abruptly, expression turning to one of horror. It sent everyone else's nervousness through the roof. "What is it, Chu-ge?"
"Wait- Shen Wei is the Soul-Executing Emissary ?" Chu Shuzhi's face had gone green. After another moment, he mumbled, "I've teased him so much!"
Evidently, sometimes one was crowned the King of Calm only thanks to a delayed reaction time.
5) An impudent god and an impudent gui
He kept watch over the pitch-black opening of the seal, sitting against the large stone tablet as he meditated. When boredom struck, he simply stared at the Ancient Merit Tree and spaced out for the whole day. Later, a lovely but unsettling youth would always be close at hand-an ever-present shadow.
At first, Kunlun-jun ignored him, but finally he broke down and said, "We're in your territory now. Why are you still following at my heels?"
The youth's response was immediate and straightforward. "Because I like you."
Kunlun-jun had spent his existence being told that he was absurd and impudent, day in and day out. Presented with the opportunity to say it to someone else, he seized his chance. "How impudent," he scolded, despite not being angry at all.
The young King of the Gui just looked back at him in confusion, with no idea how he was being impudent.
For years and years, Kunlun-jun had been standing guard over the seal, bored out of his mind. He kept teasing. "What do you like about me, then?"
The young King of the Gui's desire for Kunlun-jun was plain as day, for he was yet unmarred by principles and morality. "You're pretty," he said bluntly. "I want to hide you away and hold you every day."
Questions:
What is your favourite Weilan bit in this? Your favourite moment in general? Which SID character has the best moment? How do you like Zhao Yunlan's handling of Zhu Hong's feelings here? Do you think Guo Changcheng is doing the same kind of volunteering in the drama? Do you think Zhao Yunlan is being reckless?
(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 current schedule (a new one will go up soon; if you'd like to sign up to host a future post, please comment on the current schedule!)
no subject
Ahh, I love your choice of quotes. So many good bits! :D
I'm going to do my notes first and then answer some of the questions.
The Emissary’s hood fell back and revealed the elegant, refined features of Professor Shen—features that seemed wildly out of place in the current circumstances.
This made me go, what should the Emissary's face look like? Why shouldn't he be elegant and refined? *puzzled*
Love the description of the healing, and how it translates into dark energy in the drama. <3
I know that slaying a whole bunch of ghosts was necessary and only in defence of ZYL and the others, but I'm still like, does that mean those souls are just gone now? Because they weren't choosing to attack, right? They were driven by an appetite they couldn't control. So this is just more of the cosmology being bullshit. ;-p
I like the handcuff line so much more now that![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
autodach has pointed out the parallel with primordial Shen Wei's dialogue.
“Yunlan, I beg you, stop tormenting me so. In all my existence, my greatest regret is my carelessness in becoming entangled with you and lacking the self-control to keep from making mistake after mistake. I… I think perhaps I’m simply not good enough. I’m too weak and lack the necessary willpower.”
Ahh, these two are in such an impossible situation. And SW has made a promise and set himself an eternal task that goes against every fibre of his being (to keep away from Kunlun). On the one or two occasionas he inevitably slips up (in the entirety of history), he just beats himself up about it and uses it as proof that he's not ~good enough~ AKA not perfect.
Also, his whole "I'm bad for you" reason is so different from the drama, and I'm So Glad About That. ;-p
He’s mine. If the two of us have a problem, it’s between us, no matter who’s in the wrong.
This is so unhealthy (I feel) and so sweet at the same time. ;-p And aww, Zhu Hong being so upset about being called an outsider. *pets her*
YAY! I love novel!ZYL's catalogue of flaws almost as much as drama!ZYL's one! (Ha, they had to switch mother to father for the drama.) <3 <3 <3
Sometimes I don’t have the first clue how he stands me.
Aww! I love that both ZYL and SW think the other is too good for them, even if it's in such wildly different ways. <333
He folded Shen Wei’s coat neatly and set it down in the boat.
Two responses:
Unafraid, he dove further down.
That "unafraid" made me !!!! Zhao Yunlan!! Don't you know how to spell 'fear'? So much trust in random magic objects! (And did Fourth Uncle foresee this? Maybe he can see the future, and that's how he knew about the SID case when he was talking to Zhu Hong before.)
Aww, I love Chu Shuzhi cutting his holiday short to come to Zhu Hong's going away party. <3 <3 <3
If he’d had a tail, it would’ve been wagging hard enough to resemble an electric fan.
Aww! *loves*
He felt it was best not to bother the bodhisattvas unnecessarily.
LOL! No wonder his family don't know any of his goings on, if even praying feels like an imposition.
Everyone knew merits and sins were bullshit when it came to The Book of Life and Death , but did the Netherworld really need to flout it so blatantly?
Yes! I feel vindicated in my dislike of this stupid system. ;-p (Also, awww, CSZ's indignation! <3)
I'd forgotten Zhu Hong had already given ZYL the pearl, and I kept waiting for him to get it. I thought she was going to have to go after him to give it to him. (I also vaguely remembered him giving it to her or someone else to protect them, but that might come later, or I might have imagined it. Don't tell me. :-)
Chu Shuzhi's delayed Emissary-reveal reaction is such a thing of beauty. I love everything about it! :D :D :D
The young King of the Gui didn’t understand why Kunlun-jun was looking down on him. But he thought Kunlun-jun would not say anything without reason, so he dropped his gaze in shame.
This made me go, "Oh, shit." Like, Shen Wei is so young and impressionable, with no context for anything, and Kunlun-jun has carelessly taught him shame (for no reason), and that lesson sticks. /o\
From your quotes, in particular:
the same man who, once upon a time, she'd feared so much that she'd been scared to even open his letters.
I love this reminder! :D
for he was yet unmarred by principles and morality.
I guess that's one way to look at morality?
What is your favourite Weilan bit in this?
The coat, the coat, the coat. :D :D :D It's such wonderful displacement -- caring for Shen Wei himself is complicated and involves tensions and disagreements and too many conflicting emotions, but ZYL can at least express his tenderest feelings by protecting and caring for this coat. <333
How do you like Zhao Yunlan's handling of Zhu Hong's feelings here?
I think he does pretty well, especially given how messed up he is at the time. He's upfront about his feelings for Shen Wei, while trying to make her feel better.
Do you think Guo Changcheng is doing the same kind of volunteering in the drama?
I honestly never gave it a thought. His goodness in the drama is kind of expressed through being kind to the elderly (Li Qian's granny, and the fake-doddering Regent) and the ill (Dong Nan). I'm agnostic about whether there's more than that going on. :-)
Do you think Zhao Yunlan is being reckless?
Absolutely, 100%. I think he's entirely run out of fucks to give about anything except Shen Wei.
no subject
Stern? Harsh? Dangerous?
Love the description of the healing, and how it translates into dark energy in the drama. <3
Yeah, I was thinking about that, too! The visuals align so well!
but I'm still like, does that mean those souls are just gone now?
I just shrugged it off because yeah, honestly I have no idea what the consequences are, so I can't really form an opinion. But the cosmology being bullshit again would totally fit, alas.
On the one or two occasionas he inevitably slips up (in the entirety of history), he just beats himself up about it and uses it as proof that he's not ~good enough~ AKA not perfect.
Seriously!!!! Cut yourself some slack, SW! (But then he wouldn't be SW, LOL.)
Also, his whole "I'm bad for you" reason is so different from the drama, and I'm So Glad About That. ;-p
YOU AND ME BOTH OMG.
He’s mine. If the two of us have a problem, it’s between us, no matter who’s in the wrong.
This is so unhealthy (I feel) and so sweet at the same time. ;-p
Idk, I feel like it's not unhealthy to say that any trouble between them is for them to solve, not for other people to butt in on unasked. Especially with how very far from normal both of them are about each other - only they can say what's all right between them, and what crosses a line; everyone else would have told them NOPE, THAT'S NOT ON many many chapters ago.
Aww! I love that both ZYL and SW think the other is too good for them, even if it's in such wildly different ways. <333
Yeah, so glad about that!
(And did Fourth Uncle foresee this? Maybe he can see the future, and that's how he knew about the SID case when he was talking to Zhu Hong before.)
Yeah, I definitely want to know about that!
Like, Shen Wei is so young and impressionable, with no context for anything, and Kunlun-jun has carelessly taught him shame (for no reason), and that lesson sticks. /o\
Yeah, not fond of that part at all, honestly. Bad Kunlun! Boo!
It's such wonderful displacement -- caring for Shen Wei himself is complicated and involves tensions and disagreements and too many conflicting emotions, but ZYL can at least express his tenderest feelings by protecting and caring for this coat. <333
Awww, yes, I love how you put that!
no subject
Stern? Harsh? Dangerous?
I don’t feel like any of those preclude elegant and refined?
Idk, I feel like it's not unhealthy to say that any trouble between them is for them to solve, not for other people to butt in on unasked.
I think it depends on the degree of the trouble? Like, if he’s closing the door on anyone pointing out if one of them’s being abusive or hurting the other, then it reads as unhealthy to me. *shrugs* I guess it touched a nerve for me.
Awww, yes, I love how you put that!
\o/
no subject
Idk, I think it's a very different vibe. "Elegant scholar" vs. "dangerous supernatural force".
no subject
My confusion is that the elegant and refined referred to his features, not his expression. Elegant, refined features can still convey stern danger, you know?
no subject
I find this potentially super unhealthy too, but since when has this ship ever been healthy. xD :D
no subject
Glad it's not just me. :D (It reminds me of Ain't Nobody's Business. /o)
but since when has this ship ever been healthy. xD :D
Ha, fair point.
no subject
no subject
This is so morbidly funny and 100% true. xD
no subject
no subject
(Also it's fun to go four chapters back, and I'm curious to see if maybe something got canonically answered in the meantime, or maybe it's the opposite - things just got more confusing, lol. :D)
>> The Emissary’s hood fell back and revealed the elegant, refined features of Professor Shen—features that seemed wildly out of place in the current circumstances.
"This made me go, what should the Emissary's face look like? Why shouldn't he be elegant and refined? *puzzled*"
I always understood this quote as Professor Shen's features being out of place in these circumstances, because Professor Shen belongs in the mundane Mortal Realm. :)
"Love the description of the healing, and how it translates into dark energy in the drama. <3"
I found it really cool that the black threads during healing in the novel are only there in this scene, when the ghoul 'contamination' is being removed. Before, when the cut on Zhao Yunlan's palm gets healed after the Ghost Army summoning, the process of healing only looked like "bright white light".
"I know that slaying a whole bunch of ghosts was necessary and only in defence of ZYL and the others, but I'm still like, does that mean those souls are just gone now? Because they weren't choosing to attack, right? They were driven by an appetite they couldn't control. So this is just more of the cosmology being bullshit. ;-p"
Yeah, there was something earlier in the novel that if a ghost gets killed, the soul is gone and can't reincarnate anymore. (This was mostly self-defense though, and I feel like an attacker doesn't have to be malicious or even sentient for self-defense to be okay. But the cosmology is definitely bullshit regardless. :D)
"1. Awwww!! The coat! The care for the coat! I love this!
2. ZYL can fold. He just (usually) chooses not to."
1. The coat is my faaaaaaavorite thing about these chapters and I love revisiting it so much. :D ♡♡♡
2. LOL! :D And here he chooses to do it for Shen Wei. ♡♡♡
"And did Fourth Uncle foresee this? Maybe he can see the future, and that's how he knew about the SID case when he was talking to Zhu Hong before."
Oooh, I like this! I still want to know how exactly he knew about it, and your theory would make sense! (Well, according to the next chapters, other yao also know that something very bad is about to happen. But still I think there's something up with Fourth Uncle specifically!)
"This made me go, "Oh, shit." Like, Shen Wei is so young and impressionable, with no context for anything, and Kunlun-jun has carelessly taught him shame (for no reason), and that lesson sticks. /o\"
Yeah. Kunlun only says these things because they were said to him, but he very clearly didn't internalize them. And then he passes them on without knowing any better, and suddenly Wei actually does internalize them. OUCH.
"The coat, the coat, the coat. :D :D :D It's such wonderful displacement -- caring for Shen Wei himself is complicated and involves tensions and disagreements and too many conflicting emotions, but ZYL can at least express his tenderest feelings by protecting and caring for this coat. <333"
I will never stop squeeing about the coat, lol, and wow, your interpretation is gorgeous and wonderful and not something I've ever put together before. ♡♡♡
no subject
So what's the verdict? Clearer? More confusing? Both? :D
Yeah, there was something earlier in the novel that if a ghost gets killed, the soul is gone and can't reincarnate anymore. (This was mostly self-defense though, and I feel like an attacker doesn't have to be malicious or even sentient for self-defense to be okay. But the cosmology is definitely bullshit regardless. :D)
Evil Worldbuilding™ strikes again! Yeah, I don't blame SW for this, but the entire set-up sucks.
Well, according to the next chapters, other yao also know that something very bad is about to happen. But still I think there's something up with Fourth Uncle specifically!
I mean, for all we know the other yao know it only because he told them! (I don't think that's the implication, but, you know. For argument's sake. *g*)
no subject
Just about no difference, haha. :D Except maybe Kunlun's inconsistent personality gradually getting more confusing. xD
"I mean, for all we know the other yao know it only because he told them! (I don't think that's the implication, but, you know. For argument's sake. *g*)"
I was thinking that too! Assuming he can see the future (or is otherwise uniquely privy to some special knowledge), he would tell at least his allies, and then it would probably easily spread even to the Crows.
no subject
LOLOLOL, glad it's not just me! :D
no subject
I mean, for all we know the other yao know it only because he told them!
Yeah, I was wondering about that, too.
no subject
after I had spent a week writing a fic a day, lol. :D
Wow, that's amazing! Go you!
I always understood this quote as Professor Shen's features being out of place in these circumstances, because Professor Shen belongs in the mundane Mortal Realm. :)
Ahh, okay. That makes so much sense that I don't know why I was confused. Thanks!
I found it really cool that the black threads during healing in the novel are only there in this scene, when the ghoul 'contamination' is being removed. Before, when the cut on Zhao Yunlan's palm gets healed after the Ghost Army summoning, the process of healing only looked like "bright white light".
Ooh, great point! Yes, that's very cool.
no subject
AW, thanks! ♡ That's one of the reasons why I ended up with 17 fanworks in May -
no subject
\o/ \o/ \o/ \o/