Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapters 7 & 8

[trobadora]

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.

The corresponding part in the Chinese version on JJWXC/the fan translation are chapters 85-86.

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!)

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Comments

[trobadora]

I feel like, because in the drama his alignment is most strongly with the Envoy, even if he felt that way he wouldn't express it to the rest of the SID team? But that might just be me.

But you could get a lot across just via his expression! And I totally do think he could reflexively diss ZYL before the reality of it really sunk in.

And that's a good point about that Dixing scene! Agreed that that's about as close as it gets, yeah.

[china_shop]

But you could get a lot across just via his expression! And I totally do think he could reflexively diss ZYL before the reality of it really sunk in.

True, true. It could definitely go that way, especially if the SW/ZYL relationship is overt enough to be first and foremost in his mind.