Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapters 9 & 10

[facethestrange]

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 in the schedule posts (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4), or via the !readalong tag.

This week's chapters:

• Chapter 9: In Kunlun's memories, the young King of the Gui gives Kunlun a gift, retrieves his soul fire from the Great Seal, and gets kissed twice. Kunlun tells him to keep the soul fire, gives him the power to rule over mountains and rivers, makes him half-divine, and sets him free from the Great Seal. The King of the Gui doesn't want to let Kunlun die, but his death is inevitable. Zhao Yunlan wakes up from the memories and meets Ghost Face, who makes him doubt what he's learned about Kunlun's past. Shen Wei shows up and stops Ghost Face from talking. Zhao Yunlan mysteriously disappears.
  



• Chapter 10: Zhao Yunlan is transported to a white void where he meets Shennong and suspects him of tampering with the memories in the Great Divine Tree. Zhao Yunlan is sent back to the Mortal Realm, but he lands in the past, in 2002. He secretly follows his father/Shennong's Mortar to Antiques Street and to the Netherworld. His "father" meets the Soul-Executing Emissary and accuses him of not honoring his promise to stay away from Zhao Yunlan. They argue about the Great Seal and what Shen Wei plans to do if it collapses. After watching them, Zhao Yunlan is left with even more questions. He finds that his copy of Record of Ancient Secrets is blank, and decides to buy another copy in 2002 to see if it ends up at the SID in eleven years.
  

The corresponding chapters in the Chinese version on JJWXC/the fan translation are 87 and 88.


Excerpts:

1) The young King of the Gui's gives Kunlun a gift

The young king’s infatuation with Kunlun-jun didn’t fade, but he had the innate capacity to feel embarrassment and shame. Listening to Kunlun-jun taught him that it was inappropriate to proclaim those feelings aloud, so he tucked them away in his heart. Instead, he searched every day for ways to make Kunlun-jun happy. But alas, no matter how he tried, there was a limit to his imagination. There simply wasn’t anything fun to be found in the Place of Great Disrespect, with its thousands of li of barren land that boasted not so much as a single blade of grass. The entertainment options were limited to capturing two low-level youchu and watching them fight and tear at each other, until one devoured the other.

This “entertainment” didn’t appeal to the young King of the Gui, however, so how could it have been enjoyable for Kunlun-jun?

The young king went to the great effort of collecting a front tooth from each of thirty-six youchu, which to his mind represented the thirty-six glorious mountains that began at Kunlun. He then braided strands of his own hair into a string and strung the teeth together into an extraordinary necklace, which he gave to Kunlun-jun.

Kunlun-jun’s expression when he accepted these thirty-six teeth was very strange—even stranger than the necklace itself. It was as if he had a toothache and wanted to wince from the pain but was instead forcing his features into a peculiar smile, thanking the little king through gritted teeth. From his reaction, the young king concluded that he probably didn’t like it very much. Either way, Kunlun-jun didn’t wear it a single time, and if the little king mentioned it, he invariably changed the subject.



2) The two kisses

Hooking a gentle finger under the youth’s chin, Kunlun-jun softly kissed his beautiful, clear forehead, then soared up into the tree’s branches.

The young king sat frozen in place for some time. There was no trace left of his aggressive aura. A blush spread from his cheeks to his chin and ears. Eventually, he stood up numbly, as though drunk; even his legs were like jelly. Mind empty, he toppled down from the Great Merit Tree’s massive root.

Having been born a gui—even if he had somehow grown up completely differently from the rest of his kind—all he had ever seen and heard were the bestial, lustful copulations of lower-level youchu. The concept of a kiss was wholly new to him. Now, having experienced it, he felt enveloped by a cage of warmth, drifting lightly in midair.

Not even in the waters of the Wangchuan could he float so freely.

(...)

The smile at the corners of Kunlun-jun’s lips gradually faded. Finally, he looked at the young man and asked, “And what do you want from me?”

“That…” The young king didn’t know what to say. He had no idea how to express what he ached for. Finally, he pointed timidly at his own forehead. “That… Can you do it again?”

Kunlun-jun studied him for a long while. Under his intense gaze, the boy didn’t seem to know what to do with his limbs. Then, suddenly, Kunlun-jun reached out and tilted his chin up. But this time it was the young king’s lips that he kissed, ever so gently; he then took the boy’s hand with a light squeeze, guiding the young king’s long fingers closed around that ever-gleaming ball of soul fire.

“I hold all the world’s famous mountains and rivers in my hand, but what of it? They’re nothing but a bunch of rocks and wild waters. Of all that I am, the only part worth anything may be my heart. If you want it, it’s yours.”



3) Ghost Face airs his grievances and reveals too much

Ghost Face approached slowly. Mimicking Zhao Yunlan, he put a hand on the stone tablet. “Tens of thousands of years ago, he and I were twin Kings of the Gui. There was no difference between us. And yet somehow, he managed to gain Kunlun-jun’s—your—favor. Now, millennia later, one of us is within and one of us is without. One of us rots in jail and one holds the keys.”

The upturned corners of the smile fell. Ghost Face lowered his voice, pausing after each word. “But the Great Seal is about to fall apart. That’s why I can come and go as I please. In the end, everything must die, and you are no exception. Kunlun, if my idiot brother hadn’t ambushed you all those years ago and confined your primordial spirit—if he hadn’t forced you into the Reincarnation Cycle to become a lowly mortal, relegated to living one life after another—you would have dissipated into nothing, just like the rest of the primordial gods. In this world, nothing can last forever. The only constants are death and Chaos.”

As he spoke, he touched Zhao Yunlan’s face with one ice-cold finger. The sigh that escaped him was almost a groan. “But ‘death’ itself was set ablaze by your soul fire, bringing us into existence…things that are neither living nor dead. Isn’t that such a fascinating coincidence?”

Zhao Yunlan’s brow furrowed. He tilted his head slightly, avoiding Ghost Face. By this point he’d heard too many versions of how he’d lost his soul fire to know which account was true. “Didn’t Shennong borrow my soul fire? How did it appear later in the Place of Great Disrespect? And what do you mean, it set death itself ablaze?”

This line of questioning seemed to throw Ghost Face for a loop. His mask went blank for an instant, as though he didn’t understand what Zhao Yunlan was asking. Then realization dawned. He flung his head back in wild laughter. “Ha ha ha ha ha ha! So that’s how it was! And here I thought he was so pure and innocent! What a virtuous facade he put up, when really—”

He was cut off by the Soul-Executing Blade slashing down at him, wielded with enough hostility to split him in half. Ghost Face took flight and dodged, but the blade’s momentum drove even Zhao Yunlan back a few steps.

“Shen Wei?” he exclaimed.



4) Zhao Yunlan ends up in the past

Without warning, the snowy white world shattered, admitting a piercing bright light. Zhao Yunlan quickly shielded his eyes. Then, vision blurred by tears, he realized that he had somehow arrived in the Mortal Realm.

He assessed his surroundings, which immediately felt both familiar and…not. It took him a few minutes to recognize where he was.

It was the ice cream shop on the corner that tipped him off. Zhao Yunlan’s eyes went wide. He was near his childhood home! That old ice cream shop had closed ages ago, and the spot had been a small hot-pot restaurant for five or six years now.

At first, he was completely at a loss. He bought a bowl of shaved ice with the meager change he had on him and ate it, staring at the prominent “2002” on the calendar on the shop wall. He stuck out like a sore thumb among a group of middle school girls, the shaved ice crunching between his teeth. He looked exactly like someone the mafia had sent to collect protection fees in exchange for not smashing the store.

Somehow he had returned to the year 2002!

The whole thing was like being in a dream, or like watching some shoddy movie that abruptly changed scenes: one minute the protagonist was up in the sky, the next they were underground, and then finally they managed to get back to the Mortal Realm, only to be transported eleven years into the past.



5) Shen Wei's ominous plans

“Then what’s happening with the Great Seal?” Zhao Yunlan’s “father” demanded. “Why would the Great Houtu Seal come loose?”

“The original Great Fuxi Seal lasted only a few hundred years before the Pillars of the Sky fell and broke it, after which it was repaired. Ever since Nüwa descended, the Great Houtu Seal has remained for thousands of years. Truthfully, it’s held up longer than expected,” Shen Wei said icily. “Even dripping water can wear through rock eventually. The Great Seal is weakening because its time has come to an end. Preventing that is beyond anyone’s power, including mine.”

“The Great Houtu Seal was created with Nüwa’s life and is filled with Kunlun-jun’s care and hard work. Of course I wasn’t implying you’d do something to it that you shouldn’t, but what if it were to truly collapse? What will you do then?”

“Yes,” Shen Wei replied lightly. “What do I plan on doing? I’m an utter fool, but I finally understand what the ancient sages used to say: ‘If one doesn’t die, doesn’t perish, then one cannot become a god.’ But when I stop and think about it, I was never a god respected and worshipped by all.”

“Don’t you even entertain the notion that on the day the Great Seal collapses, you’ll no longer be bound by Shennong’s contract. If my son—”

The sentence broke off unnaturally, like speakers malfunctioning halfway through a movie. Zhao Yunlan’s “father” opened and closed his mouth, but there was no sound.

Even with Shen Wei’s face hidden by black mist, Zhao Yunlan could feel that he was smiling.



Questions:

What is your favorite soft (or angsty, or soft and angsty) Weilan moment in the primordial past? Do you sympathize with Ghost Face? How do you feel about the time travel storyline, and how does it compare to the drama version? Would you also immediately buy ice cream if you suddenly ended up in the past? Are you as confused as Zhao Yunlan about what is true and what isn't?

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!

Comments

[china_shop]

but first of all I just need to say how much I LOVE that the drama took the idea of Zhao Yunlan being randomly yeeted into the past (and a time loop with no actual beginning) and put it together with the Kunlun and Weilan storyline and made it into the absolute MASTERPIECE of a story!! ♡♡♡ A++++ choices were made! :D ♡♡♡

1000% AGREED!! :D

but this really feels like they're both just kids - this is exactly how kids learn from each other. :D :D

It really does. How old is Kunlun even supposed to be, in this version of events?? /rhetorical

And has a tendency to fall off of things when flustered. :D

Haha, given DQ and ZH, this is starting to seem like a trope. :D

He worked FIFTY YEARS for this, aw!!

I knoooooow!!!

Or did it start beating because of Kunlun making him half-god (which is the only thing that happens in between)?

Ohh, I hadn’t connected it to the gui having no heartbeat, but yeah, I think SW becoming half-god must be the difference.

So he hasn't even learned to contain and suppress his emotions, and yet he didn't end up killing anyone. Because his emotions wanted him to cry and not to kill anyone. Maybe he simply doesn't need to suppress them, then. (Just facts for older Shen Wei to consider. :P)

Yes, this!!!

I honestly, genuinely feel bad for him. They made Ye Zun even more sympathetic than that in the drama, but this is already sympathetic enough for me.

It really is wildly unfair. (And then there’s all the other gui, too, some of whom are presumably not that far from Ghost Face and Shen Wei’s state of complicatedness? Idk.)

The description of Shennong is SO similar to the description of GCC carrying all the stuff at the train station

Yess, I noticed that too. I think it has to be intentional? I really enjoyed it, anyway.

Did he literally confirm it, or was it always just very strong suspicions? (I know he confirmed it in the original version, and it felt like too much too early. And now I don't remember if later he confirmed it in this version too. :P)

Does this count as confirming? It might to him.

There’s no way I’d ever blind a divine dragon for no reason.” His “dad” glanced at Shen Wei and nodded in agreement. “That makes sense.”

(Also I hope this is not the same ice cream shop that his father had his power trip about. D:)

Ohh, that’s a good point. Surely the fact that he’s eating ice cream here suggests the ice-cream-related trauma was a little over-stated? /hopeful

I absolutely love the taxi driver. :D :D

Hee! Me too. It was the perfect taxi for ZYL to choose. :D

How about you at least only take good talismans with you if the possibility of DRY SWALLOWING them exists, what the hell. xD

LOL!!!

And here's the 'Zhao Yunlan watches Shen Wei having a private meeting with his father' scene from the drama! :D

Yes!! I was so happy to see that here. (It makes me think that in the drama, Shen Wei is very restrained and not throwing his weight (and enormous power) around at all! <3

(He just wants them both to touch the same thing, I guess?)

That is so saaaad, and yet, I’m just laughing at it. Sorry, SW!

Hah, Shen Wei doesn't respect gods either. :D

Shared values! :D :D :D

I understand the confusion and all, but like, have you met the Emissary before. :P :P

I’m slightly confused by his description of SW as “easily bullied”, like, what? Even the SW he knows isn’t, except when it comes to very personal/intimate things. ;-p

"Somehow, he still doubted that this was real. He was starting to get used to being lied to; at the rate things were going, he was going to become paranoid and suspect that everything was a lie." So very valid!

Right? I am right there with him!

ETA: How about you at least only take good talismans with you if the possibility of DRY SWALLOWING them exists, what the hell. xD

LOL, now I'm wondering if the business in ep 8 of the drama with ZYL wanting to dry-swallow his medicine and SW not letting him was the drama writers have exactly this reaction to the novel. :D :D :D

[facethestrange]

"It really does. How old is Kunlun even supposed to be, in this version of events?? /rhetorical"

Hah, ikr, he not only doesn't sound more mature than SW ever, he actually sounds less mature than SW a lot of the time. xD

"Haha, given DQ and ZH, this is starting to seem like a trope. :D"

LOL AW, I didn't even put that together! :D True facts - whether it's shock or infatuation, someone's gonna fall off of something. :D

"And then there’s all the other gui, too, some of whom are presumably not that far from Ghost Face and Shen Wei’s state of complicatedness? Idk."

They are not that far indeed - it comes up later, and it was quite jarring to me because it turns out it has always been a bunch of people being imprisoned like this.

"Does this count as confirming? It might to him."

There’s no way I’d ever blind a divine dragon for no reason.” His “dad” glanced at Shen Wei and nodded in agreement. “That makes sense.”

Oh, awesome, thanks for the find! It's a lot less direct than in the original, but in a way it's still there, yes.

"Surely the fact that he’s eating ice cream here suggests the ice-cream-related trauma was a little over-stated? /hopeful"

He's eating shaved ice, so maybe the different texture makes a difference, idk, but honestly I would absolutely love if it was the exact same shop and the exact same ice cream, and Zhao Yunlan just goes 'I still like it, YOU CAN'T STOP ME'. :D (Also he didn't even remember it happening, so there may be no conscious trauma at all.)

"That is so saaaad, and yet, I’m just laughing at it. Sorry, SW!"

Hahah, the terrifying Emissary cuddling a newspaper is sure A CONCEPT. :D Still SAD THO.

"I’m slightly confused by his description of SW as “easily bullied”, like, what? Even the SW he knows isn’t, except when it comes to very personal/intimate things. ;-p"

I think that's exactly the things he's thinking of at this point, yeah, lol. Like making SW blush with his stupid comments. But he sure is forgetting about a whole lot of other things. xD

"LOL, now I'm wondering if the business in ep 8 of the drama with ZYL wanting to dry-swallow his medicine and SW not letting him was the drama writers have exactly this reaction to the novel. :D :D :D"

I immediately thought of this scene tooooo (obviously :D :D one of my favorite scenes/episodes ♡♡♡), but I didn't have any way to actually connect them, but I love this omg LOL! :D SW would have the exact same reaction to dry-swallowing talismans. :D :D :D

[china_shop]

True facts - whether it's shock or infatuation, someone's gonna fall off of something. :D

So... every named supporting character is covered in bruises? LOL!

it comes up later, and it was quite jarring to me because it turns out it has always been a bunch of people being imprisoned like this.

Presumably because their inauspiciousness would affect everyone else? Ugh, that sucks!

but honestly I would absolutely love if it was the exact same shop and the exact same ice cream, and Zhao Yunlan just goes 'I still like it, YOU CAN'T STOP ME'. :D

Haha, he absolutely would. (But yes, good point about him not remembering.)

I think that's exactly the things he's thinking of at this point, yeah, lol. Like making SW blush with his stupid comments. But he sure is forgetting about a whole lot of other things. xD

And overlooking the importance of context!!

SW would have the exact same reaction to dry-swallowing talismans. :D :D :D

:D :D :D :D :D

[trobadora]

LOL, now I'm wondering if the business in ep 8 of the drama with ZYL wanting to dry-swallow his medicine and SW not letting him was the drama writers have exactly this reaction to the novel. :D :D :D

Ha, OMG, I'd totally buy it! The writers have been so great at picking up small things and incorporating them in unexpected places. Great catch! :D

[china_shop]

:D :D :D