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sid_guardian2025-06-07 03:15 pm
facethestrange) wrote in sid_guardian2025-06-07 03:15 pm
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Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapters 9 & 10
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!
no subject
Oh, yeah, I only meant the part where his feelings seem to be flip-flopping between fond and patronizing/annoyed. The part where he spouts bullshit as facts is nothing like drama!Kunlun.
Wait, are we comparing Tree vision!Kunlun with Seal guarding!Kunlun, or novel!Kunlun with drama!Kunlun? (I thought it was the former.)
I'm assuming they're allowed to roam around the Seal because no one goes down there anyway?
Oh no, now I'm wondering what they eat, and flashing on the commentary on a wildlife show I once watched: "Big tadpoles look on little tadpoles not as brothers and sisters but as lunch." /o\ ;D
no subject
In this case I think it was both. :D Originally it was 'drama!Kunlun says something he doesn't really mean because he feels bad about having to leave' -> 'maybe novel!Kunlun does it for the same reason'. And Tree vision!Kunlun didn't have this problem yet, so maybe that's why he sounds more emotionally stable?
"Oh no, now I'm wondering what they eat, and flashing on the commentary on a wildlife show I once watched: "Big tadpoles look on little tadpoles not as brothers and sisters but as lunch." /o\ ;D"
Yeah, unfortunately that is the exact situation with the gui/youchu. xD It's mentioned a few times, and one of them even tries to eat bb!Wei, and Wei eats it right back.
no subject
Originally it was 'drama!Kunlun says something he doesn't really mean because he feels bad about having to leave' -> 'maybe novel!Kunlun does it for the same reason'. And Tree vision!Kunlun didn't have this problem yet, so maybe that's why he sounds more emotionally stable?
Right, yes. But that doesn't explain why Seal!Kunlun seems more ignorant. Like, just generally more clueless about the world. (But we're comparing lie with lie, so this is all a bit meaningless anyway. ;D)
It's mentioned a few times, and one of them even tries to eat bb!Wei, and Wei eats it right back.
So is it about size or "advancedness", though? I guess size...
no subject
True, nothing explains this part. (And lol yep, none of this is objective whatsoever.)
"So is it about size or "advancedness", though? I guess size..."
I think just physical strength? Like, any gui will try to eat any gui, and if they succeed, good for them, and if not, they get eaten instead. :P
no subject
Like, any gui will try to eat any gui, and if they succeed, good for them, and if not, they get eaten instead. :P
Which, I can kind of see why everyone else went "ick" and locked them away at that point, and why Shen Wei has shame about the whole thing. If there's a continuum of sentience, but everyone just eats everyone regardless, that hits the cannibalism taboo pretty hard imo.
no subject
no subject
Hmm, I can easily imagine that "messed-up cannibalistic half-sentient beasts" could translate into "inauspicious" and "unnatural". Maybe that's what they meant by inauspicious to start off with ("They'll eat anything, even each other! They have no virtue at all!") and its meaning kind of spread into being generalised bad luck and ickiness. I feel like even the violent urges could tie into this, actually, in a misplaced kind of way: every time Shen Wei has a strong feeling, he links it to the hunger that drove him to kill and eat other (dirty dirty) gui, so his reaction is to repress repress repress and hate himself for it. You know?
(Does Shen Wei eat food in contemporary times? I can't remember.)
no subject
"Does Shen Wei eat food in contemporary times? I can't remember."
Off the top of my head:
He eats Zhao Yunlan's noodles (which was so much fun to revisit and really sweet, lol :D). "But if it was something Zhao Yunlan had made, even if it were a bowl of rat poison, Shen Wei was still willing to eat it all without the tiniest change in expression—though he made sure to choose the most normal cup noodles offered." ♡ And then he chokes on them when Zhao Yunlan is being inappropriate. xD
And they're eating together at the airport (which was even more fun to revisit because, well, Zhao Yunlan is being inappropriate, but directly with food this time :D :D). "Shen Wei had just taken a chicken nugget, and Zhao Yunlan was already holding the dipping sauce in easy reach." / "Holding his drink in one hand and his phone in the other, he leaned down at lightning speed and stole a fry right out of Shen Wei’s hand with his mouth. He ate it in two bites and licked his lips, eyes locked on Shen Wei, whose fingers made a hasty retreat."
And they have a dinner date right at the beginning, where Shen Wei is mostly pissed about the gifted books, but they do end up eating (it's not described in any detail).
no subject
Btw it's weirdly touching/adorable how Shen Wei started with very daintily and elegantly eating the youchu that tried to eat him, before he stops eating them at all.
Yes! *pets him* He's all, wait, am I being uncouth in my manner? And then, later: oh, no, it's the actual eating that's wrong. (Interesting that SW left that in the Tree vision -- maybe showing ZYL how much influence he had over him?)
Off the top of my head:
Oh, thank you! I wonder how he feels about that all. It wouldn't be surprising if his suppressing his innate appetite had made him weird about food. (Oh! This has given me another thought about the next two chapters...)
no subject
Oh, I've never thought of that! Maybe this, or maybe to show how hard he was already trying at that point, and that he had never been exactly like other gui to begin with.
"It wouldn't be surprising if his suppressing his innate appetite had made him weird about food."
Oooh, he's really good at cooking and seems to find it calming ("Looking down, he carefully cut the cabbage into strips. In his hands, this simple task seemed like something to enjoy wholeheartedly, without a spare thought for anything else." - though this seems more like Zhao Yunlan's POV than Shen Wei's), so his brand of being weird about food may be 'eating the right things is good and affirming'?
"(Oh! This has given me another thought about the next two chapters...)"
I haven't read every comment on the new post yet, but if your thought is not there, I'd love to hear it! :D
no subject
and that he had never been exactly like other gui to begin with.
Although, if he wanted to show that, surely he should have shown his birth from the soulfire?
so his brand of being weird about food may be 'eating the right things is good and affirming'?
Ooh, that would make so much sense. (I wonder if he's vegetarian... There's no indication he is, afaicr.)
I haven't read every comment on the new post yet, but if your thought is not there, I'd love to hear it! :D
Ha, I just spent five minutes going, "What was it?? Why didn't I write it down?? Maybe it wasn't that interesting??" But now I've remembered, I'll go and put it on the next post. :-)
no subject
Hmm, that would also include being made of other gui, and even if he redacted this part, it still wouldn't say anything about his more advanced morality, kind of the opposite - it would say that he's ultimately the same as Ghost Face. (I'm also not sure if being sort-of-created by Kunlun is one of the things he's trying so hard to hide.)
"I wonder if he's vegetarian... There's no indication he is, afaicr."
They're eating chicken nuggets at the airport, so probably not (but then again, it came from Zhao Yunlan and he'd eat anything for Zhao Yunlan, so who knows). But definitely 'civilized human food' is very important to him. Same with 'civilized human clothes' and a meticulously clean living space - all things that he didn't have as a gui.
And now I'm thinking of the airport scene and 1) I'm pretty sure this is the equivalent of the SID feeding Professor Shen street food :D, 2) there is in fact no mention of Shen Wei EATING anything in this scene! He's holding the chicken nugget and then the fry, but there's nothing about them actually going into his mouth, so now I have a conspiracy theory that SW didn't eat any of it, and ZYL (who is eating on-page) didn't even notice because he was too busy being infatuated and inappropriate. :P
(SW does eat on-page in the other two scenes I listed before, so it's not like he never eats at all. But it's possible that he doesn't eat 'inelegant' street food and/or meat!)
no subject
(I'm also not sure if being sort-of-created by Kunlun is one of the things he's trying so hard to hide.)
Yeah, I have no idea anymore. And as![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trobadora pointed out, the other gui were made of soulfire too (just less of it), so...
But definitely 'civilized human food' is very important to him. Same with 'civilized human clothes' and a meticulously clean living space - all things that he didn't have as a gui.
Oh, right, that makes sense! Yeah. (But I'd be sad if he didn't eat with the SID, aww. And also, I feel like his students would notice.)
no subject
His students were all charmed and distracted by Zhao Yunlan too, so maybe not in this case. :D But awww, yes, I really hope he at least eats with the SID later, when he becomes part of the family. :) I'm sure he does. ♡