trobadora (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trobadora) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sid_guardian2025-06-29 08:57 pm
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2025-06-29 08:57 pm
Entry tags:
Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapters 15 & 16
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, part 5), or via the !readalong tag.
This week's chapters:
- Chapter 15: Daqing comes searching for Zhao Yunlan, finds Shen Wei, and is dispatched to buy breakfast. Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei learn that Lin Jing is missing, and receive a delayed message from Lin Jing. Earthquakes from the Netherworld shake the city, and the team heads towards the resort Lin Jing was investigating, which is deserted.
- Chapter 16: Zhu Hong reacts badly to being sent off with Xiao-Guo, and takes off after Zhao Yunlan. Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei et al. investigate the resort and discover everyone's been turned to dust by something escaping from beneath. Zhao Yunlan realises this is a trap - and then gui come climbing out of the ground, and Shen Wei uses his blade ...
Excerpts:
1) Daqing buys breakfast
"Wait a moment." Shen Wei's smile seemed a little embarrassed. Politely, he said, "I have a favor to ask of you..."
Daqing, sensible cat that he was, darted back at once. Head raised high, he said, "Just say the word."
Ten minutes later, the door to the breakfast shop downstairs was pushed open by an outrageously fat cat. The cat's face was much too round, and his eyes were almost completely obscured by the fat, giving him a somewhat vicious look. A waitress nearly tripped over him and started yelling at once. "Hey! How did this cat get in?! Get it out! Hurry and get it out!"
The large black cat raised his head, leveling a contemptuous gaze at her. Then he jumped right onto the service counter and knocked on it with his front paw. Astonished, the cashier behind the counter watched as the cat spat out a piece of paper. The cashier shakily opened the note, which turned out to read, in very tidy handwriting, "Half a liter of soy milk, one basket of steamed buns, three fried dough sticks. Please put them in a sturdy bag. You'll find the money on the cat's neck. Please take what's needed and put any change back in the same spot. Thank you."
The cashier looked up, trying to locate the cat's neck by sight. The cat rolled his eyes and lifted his head, revealing a collar beneath his double chin. The cashier found 30 yuan tucked in there, hidden under the plush fur.
"Everyone, look at this!" The cashier's voice rang out loudly. "This is incredible! Even cats know how to buy things now!"
2) Shen Wei, hologram generator
Fossil that he was, Shen Wei had never used a smartphone before. His eyes swept over what Wang Zheng had written, and then he looked carefully at the photos of the scene. Being unused to touchscreens, he was unfortunately unable to figure it out even after a few attempts.
With a glance at Zhao Yunlan, who was currently gulping down his soy milk, he said, "Look away for a second. Don't peek."
Holding his palm above the phone screen, Shen Wei made a grabbing motion. The photo of the victim floated out of the screen, hovering in midair like a 3D projection. The visual effect was viscerally shocking. For a moment it was like the corpse, with its eggplant-purple face, was lying right there on the dining table.
Curiosity had kept Zhao Yunlan from obediently looking away, and now he was reaping what he had sown. He choked on a mouthful of soymilk, nearly spitting it all out onto the face of the corpse. This was a stellar example of feudal era superstitions triumphing over modern technology.
Shen Wei carefully examined the corpse's face, then reached out to "pinch" the eyes. It was as if he'd turned the very air into a 3D touchscreen, enabling himself to zoom in and out on different parts of the image!
3) Zhao Yunlan vs. Shen Wei vs. modern tech
"You used to keep up a facade, like a god among men who was above mortal desires. I'm tired of watching you pretend. I get tired on your behalf just from watching." Zhao Yunlan casually stuck his sticky note on the back of one of Shen Wei's lesson plan drafts. "Come, Adonis, there's a scanner beside the computer on the desk. Scan this for me and send it to the office. Tell them to find out as much as they can before I get there."
Shen Wei accepted it, only to wind up standing stiffly in front of the computer. After turning it on, he just stared at the contraptions in front of him. This "god among men" essentially only knew how to do two things with computers: turn them on and off and deliver PowerPoint presentations that other people had prepared for him. Everything else was his TA's job. He wasn't even sure which device was the printer and which was the scanner.
Zhao Yunlan suddenly came up behind Shen Wei. Wrapping his arms around Shen Wei, he guided his hands through the steps, starting with putting the sketched outline into the scanner. That done, he deliberately blew into Shen Wei's ear under the noise of the machine. "You should've said something if you didn't know how to use it. Why didn't you ask your husband to teach you?"
4) Turned to dust
Walking over, Shen Wei swiped a finger through the dust on the ledge. He rubbed it between his fingers and then said, "It hasn't been here long."
"The dust?" Zhao Yunlan asked. "You can tell from just that? How?"
Shen Wei dusted his hands off. "With most types I wouldn't be able to tell, but this is human ash that collected here within the last two or three days. It's still very fresh." [...]
Chu Shuzhi chose his next words carefully. "It sounds as though my lord knows how these people died...?"
Shen Wei gave a polite nod. Humbly, he said, "I'm not terribly knowledgeable, but I do happen to know a little in regard to this. In the ancient past, after Gonggong knocked down Buzhou Mountain, the sky burst and the earth split. The gui surfaced in the Mortal Realm for the first time, dripping with the ruthlessness of their birthplace thousands of zhang below the Huangquan. When that happened, every human and beast within a ten-li radius turned to dust in a heartbeat, just like this, and within one hundred li, not a single blade of grass grew."
5) The blade strikes
Zhao Yunlan hurriedly said, "Shen Wei, hold on. This doesn't seem like-"
But it was too late. The Soul-Executing Blade grew several meters, effortlessly cutting down countless gui. Shen Wei's expression was glacial. With a flip of his wrist, the blade pressed down with thousands of tons of pressure, far too sharp for anything to block. He split the thick black mist beneath the resort with one swing, and it dispersed before disappearing entirely. Then the blade struck the ground, opening a long, narrow crack dozens of meters deep. A bloodcurdling scream rang out. Shen Wei glared viciously down into the fissure. "Get the hell out here!"
With the astounding force and lightning speed of his attacks, it wasn't until then that Zhao Yunlan, who was not even five steps away, finally managed to grab his arm and hold him back. "This doesn't look like the Great Seal breaking! I think it's some distorted kind of Ghost Army Summons! Don't do anything rash!"
Laughter echoed from all around them before he was even done speaking. "Yes," a voice said. "Too bad the Guardian's brain and mouth aren't as fast as the Lord Emissary's blade."
Questions:
What's your favourite part in these chapters? Which SID member gets the best moment? What do you think about Shen Wei's carefree fatalism here? And about Zhao Yunlan's treatment of Shen Wei? How well are you following events here? Any thoughts about the parts that made it into the drama?
(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 schedule - please sign up to host a post if you can!
no subject
And most of the questions are accidentally answered, hah.
Hee! <3
I love that getting squashed against the wall is clearly part of the precise plan. xD
LOL, right? :D :D :D (How often does he have to do this?? Could they not just install a catdoor?)
Fwiw, I found The Hottest Ethnic Trend on youtube. LOL!
> > "That shirt was unmistakably Zhao Yunlan’s!"
> Awwww!! ♡
Yess! I love clothes sharing. (I feel like ZYL's folded-up sleeves could have been mentioned earlier, but I love that they got transposed to SW in the drama, as you say. :D :D :D)
Having just recently written two separate fics about how much DQ doesn't want to know anything about Weilan's sex life, I feel very validated in my life choices. ;D :D :D
LOL! Yay! :D :D :D
I caught it on the re-read that it was Zhu Hong who was supposed to go with Lin Jing, and the 'special circumstances' were her staying with Zhao Yunlan.
Yeah, I was aware of it at the time because of ZYL's NYE speech about special safety precautions. He made ZH move into the SID for security, but she just let LJ go off alone. *side-eyes her*
> > "He pulled out a Soul-Guarding Order and wrote Lin Jing’s name on it with a chopstick dipped in soy milk."> I adore his choice of writing utensils. :D
Yes, I loved that too. :D
and also lol, he would not mind being a literal item on a literal to-do list, of course not. :D
I think he actively likes it. ZYL was thinking about him!
But why tho? Not only is Shen Wei actually jealous of Zhu Hong (?), he's also specifically jealous at this point, which is when Zhao Yunlan literally said that Shen Wei did better than she would?
He seems very insecure, and I don't think ZYL has ever given him the slightest cause?
> > “You used to keep up a facade, like a god among men who was above mortal desires. I’m tired of watching you pretend. I get tired on your behalf just from watching.”
> This, on the other hand, is extremely true and valid!
Yeah, I think ZYL makes a great point here, that SW has been ruthlessly hiding his desire (for millennia, but also in their relationship to some extent), and that that self-denial must have taken a toll. I kind of wish they would actually talk about this properly, rather than it getting lost amidst all ZYL's other teasing and bullshit. ;-p
He has a really urgent message but the very first thing he does is thank her and express concern!
That's true. I liked that too. It's a big contrast with vol 1. ch 1:
Zhao Yunlan answered the call, looking ready to unleash a torrent of abuse. “What now?”
On the other end of the line, Wang Zheng got right to the point. “Director Zhao, there’s been a death.”
“When?”
I was going to say that at least he doesn't have the knives in his pants at all times, but he probably wasn't wearing pants until like a minute ago, so maybe he does after all. xD
Hee!! :D
Villages make for even better scenery, if you ask me. :P
Yeah, I was raising my eyebrows at relocating villages for the scenery!! WTF??
This random detail is consistent with the other random detail where vegetables didn't count as 'alive' when Zhao Yunlan was blind and Shen Wei was cooking.
Great point!
I think her bonuses may all go to buying new phones that she keeps squishing to death. xD
LOL, right?
Another person Zhu Hong left to do their two-people mission alone because she'd rather follow Zhao Yunlan. :P
Yeah. *sigh*
This made me think of the Dragon City University monument thingy in the drama. :D
Ooh, good point. I wonder if that was deliberate...
Things are not as they seem in the present scene, but once again I don't remember what the situation actually IS.
AGAIN?!?? Oh no! *makes Munch scream face*
Apparently it's not just his pants that can stab any unsuspecting person. :D :D
LOLOL!
Also BELLS AGAIN.
Oh, yes, I missed that. Always bells!
I love Zhao Yunlan being smart. :D (And Shen Wei was too preoccupied with his hatred for the gui to figure it out too. OUCH.)
SW's self-hatred is such a(n unacknowledged-by-him) weakness, and Ghost Face knows exactly how to weaponise it. I kinda wish SW was more self-aware about that, you know?
no subject
OMG!!! Thank you for tracking that down.
(Why is that song so familiar? I swear I've heard it before, but I have zero idea where ...)
no subject
(It's so familiar, and I can't work out why either! Was it used as the theme music for something?)
no subject
no subject
I thought it might have been riffing off the Monkey theme or something, but that's completely different. Hm. It doesn't appear in Guardian at any point, does it?
no subject
It doesn't seem to be on the background music spreadsheet, but that one isn't complete ...
Wikipedia says the song " was used by cheerleaders during an NBA Houston Rockets game in April 2012 and also become an Internet sensation after being remixed and re-edited by fans", but I have no idea where I might have heard it.
no subject
Wikipedia says the song " was used by cheerleaders during an NBA Houston Rockets game in April 2012 and also become an Internet sensation after being remixed and re-edited by fans", but I have no idea where I might have heard it.
Yeah, I can't imagine it reaching me through those channels... ;D
ETA: Do you think you might have heard it playing in Chinese restaurants?
no subject
no subject
Is there a way to have a catdoor in an apartment building? I've never heard of one and I'd assume not, but who knows. :D (I wonder if this topic is as complicated as locks. xD :D)
"Fwiw, I found The Hottest Ethnic Trend on youtube. LOL!"
Oh yay, thanks! :D :D (I literally went to do it yesterday, clicked the wrong version - a crowd of people singing, I couldn't hear a thing - and promptly got distracted by suggested Guardian videos in my sidebar. xD :D) This is sure a doorbell choice. :D :D It doesn't sound familiar to me btw, fwiw. :)
"I feel like ZYL's folded-up sleeves could have been mentioned earlier"
Yeah, I don't remember them ever being mentioned either, but they're in illustrations, so I wasn't surprised. :)
"I think he actively likes it. ZYL was thinking about him!"
Oh, he absolutely likes it. :D :D It's just hilarious to me that any regular person's problem with this would be 'wtf, I'm not a to-do list item??', while Shen Wei's theoretical problem in this situation could only be bad handwriting. :D
"He seems very insecure, and I don't think ZYL has ever given him the slightest cause?"
He definitely never did, he's so absolutely uninterested in anyone who is not Shen Wei.
"Yeah, I think ZYL makes a great point here, that SW has been ruthlessly hiding his desire (for millennia, but also in their relationship to some extent), and that that self-denial must have taken a toll. I kind of wish they would actually talk about this properly, rather than it getting lost amidst all ZYL's other teasing and bullshit. ;-p"
Hah, ITA. I was going to say that this is how they generally communicate, lol, but that's not true, they do have some sincere moments. They could keep this conversation for one of those. *nods*
"It's a big contrast with vol 1. ch 1:"
Oh, true! I looked up the context for that, and he didn't sleep the entire night (plus he doesn't actually end up unleashing any torrent of abuse, he's just curt and grumpy), but still, there is a difference!
"AGAIN?!?? Oh no! *makes Munch scream face*"
Lolol, just trickery on both sides that is not spelled out yet, but the way I remember it, it does feel a bit similar to the other times when things were not as they seemed. :P
"SW's self-hatred is such a(n unacknowledged-by-him) weakness, and Ghost Face knows exactly how to weaponise it. I kinda wish SW was more self-aware about that, you know?"
Yeah. He has exactly two weaknesses (his self-hatred and Kunlun), and Ghost Face indeed knows exactly how to push all the right buttons. I wonder if SW is more aware of his ZYL weakness than the self-hatred one. Probably? Not that it helps, if it can still be successfully used against him, self-awareness or not.
no subject
Is there a way to have a catdoor in an apartment building? I've never heard of one and I'd assume not, but who knows. :D (I wonder if this topic is as complicated as locks. xD :D)
LOL! :D (I expect it depends on building regulations.)
I literally went to do it yesterday, clicked the wrong version - a crowd of people singing, I couldn't hear a thing - and promptly got distracted by suggested Guardian videos in my sidebar. xD :D
Hee! *hearts you*
This is sure a doorbell choice. :D :D
Right? Oh ZYL! (And presumably DQ has been living with it all this time, too, with his sensitive cat hearing. Luckily, I doubt anyone much uses the doorbell except for DQ.)
Yeah, I don't remember them ever being mentioned either, but they're in illustrations, so I wasn't surprised. :)
Oh, that's cool! Visual foreshadowing, lol. Great spotting!
while Shen Wei's theoretical problem in this situation could only be bad handwriting. :D
Tbh, I can't tell if that's SW's reaction or authorial mocking-of-ZYL, which does seem to be a theme. ;-D It's fun either way, though.
Oh, true! I looked up the context for that, and he didn't sleep the entire night (plus he doesn't actually end up unleashing any torrent of abuse, he's just curt and grumpy), but still, there is a difference!
Oh, true about the lack of sleep. I was sure there was another phone call and that was the only one I could find. There might be others? Anyway, a possible sign of character growth (or at least not feeling shitty (which I guess means he's drinking the blood)). :D
I wonder if SW is more aware of his ZYL weakness than the self-hatred one. Probably?
I think he probably thinks he's being ruthlessly objective about the gui and, by extension, himself. *sighs at him in get-therapy*
no subject
There's also not much of a point if cats can't open the main door - they'd be stuck either inside or outside the building until some human happens to open that door. :P
"And presumably DQ has been living with it all this time, too, with his sensitive cat hearing. Luckily, I doubt anyone much uses the doorbell except for DQ."
Lol yep, and DQ doesn't seem to mind in this scene - I wonder if he's another gremlin who also enjoys this doorbell, or if he just picks his battles. xD
"Tbh, I can't tell if that's SW's reaction or authorial mocking-of-ZYL, which does seem to be a theme. ;-D It's fun either way, though."
It's probably both. :D (In the same chapter Shen Wei's handwriting on the shopping list is described as "very tidy". :D)
"Anyway, a possible sign of character growth (or at least not feeling shitty (which I guess means he's drinking the blood)). :D"
Hah, true, he must be drinking it if they just had sex and he's not even feeling shitty, let alone actively dying. :P
"I think he probably thinks he's being ruthlessly objective about the gui and, by extension, himself. *sighs at him in get-therapy*"
Hah, very good point. OUCH.
no subject
There's also not much of a point if cats can't open the main door - they'd be stuck either inside or outside the building until some human happens to open that door. :P
Are they still in ZYL's old flat? If it's not fancy, it might not have a security door at ground level. (Again, this is going to vary wildly by culture. ;D)
Hah, true, he must be drinking it if they just had sex and he's not even feeling shitty, let alone actively dying. :P
Exactly. (I wonder if that's one of the reasons SW didn't try to welcome DQ into the flat...)
no subject
They must be, surely? We'd have heard about them moving?
no subject
They are, yep. :) (When the earthquake comes, it says "Zhao Yunlan’s apartment was a bit high up".) Even if the door downstairs is not locked/lockable, DQ would at least need to jump on the handle, but that is 50% less of being squished against flat surfaces, so maybe it would be worth it anyway. ;D
"I wonder if that's one of the reasons SW didn't try to welcome DQ into the flat..."
I think the blood drinking was a while ago, at this point Zhao Yunlan is just sleeping. :) Which is a pretty good reason in itself not to let people in (and also DQ would nope out so hard even if SW welcomed him, it was probably written on his face xD).
no subject
(When the earthquake comes, it says "Zhao Yunlan’s apartment was a bit high up".)
Ah, right. And the new place is on the fourth floor, iirc?
Even if the door downstairs is not locked/lockable, DQ would at least need to jump on the handle, but that is 50% less of being squished against flat surfaces, so maybe it would be worth it anyway. ;D
It could have a motion sensor. In fact, ooh, mightn't they have deliberately selected a place that DQ could get in and out of?
at this point Zhao Yunlan is just sleeping. :) Which is a pretty good reason in itself not to let people in
I have a really strong NOPE reaction to this, lol. a) It's DQ's home, and b) ZYL is totally used to sleeping with DQ there. They've lived together since he was a kid. This makes me feel like SW moved in and de facto made DQ homeless AND is coming between ZYL and DQ (in an "I get to decide when you can see him" way). I know that's irrational from just this one scene, but the more we talk about it, the more DNW I get. ;-p (Just ignore me.)
no subject
I was SO SURE it was on the fourth floor too, and now I'm confused because apparently it's not actually specified? ("The building was four stories high, with one unit occupying each floor. The underground parking area was divided into separate garages for each unit, and each private garage had its own elevator with direct access to their unit. When Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan reached theirs, they found construction debris still scattered all over the place, but the natural lighting inside was wonderful.") So it's either the fourth floor or lower. :) Unless it's specified somewhere else, not in this description.
"In fact, ooh, mightn't they have deliberately selected a place that DQ could get in and out of?"
First I thought: I think the new one is. :D Because with the private elevator you probably only need a chip or something like that to get in. And then I thought: I think DQ likes their current apartment just fine because that's what ZYL got for both of them when they moved out of his parents' place. I think if DQ had any complaints, ZYL have chosen something else. :D
(Btw there is more about DQ shifting into his human form later, which I only revisited after we talked about his first-time shifting, so I didn't remember it then. :P)
"(Just ignore me.)"
♡♡♡
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
no subject
He might! It's not a very efficient system if he's in a hurry, but it could work. (I wonder how many other tenants there are...)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
Damn, that's a good point. I completely missed that!
no subject
Like I said above, I wonder if that's one of SW's reasons for wanting them to be alone. Given how strongly ZYL reacted to the blood drinking concept, SW must know everyone else would be Very Weirded Out by it.
no subject
ETA: On second thought, back in chapter 7 when Daqing figured out the blood thing, he seemed pretty unbothered by it ...
no subject
no subject
But Shen Wei doesn't know that, right? He'd already left at that stage.
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
I find it hard to take, that either of them is a fan of trot music!
no subject