sid_guardian | Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapters 23 & 24

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Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapters 23 & 24

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, part 5), or via the !readalong tag.

This week's chapters:

Chapter 23: The branch of the Great Divine Tree protects Zhu Hong who stayed behind at the Yanluo Courts. While she's talking about the branch with Fourth Uncle, it grows a third bud. The "youth" who turned out to be a gui throws Chu Shuzhi off the bridge. Guo Changcheng jumps after him, leaving the soul bottles behind.

Chapter 24: During the ritual, lao-Li remembers and confesses that three hundred years ago he stole Daqing's bell to cure his bone cancer. Shen Wei uses the Hallows to reseal the Four Pillars. During the last step (the Soul-Guarding Lamp) Shen Wei erases all of Zhao Yunlan's memories of their relationship, and sacrifices himself.

The corresponding part in the Chinese version on JJWXC/the fan translation starts a little less than halfway through chapter 105 and goes up to the end of that chapter.

Excerpts:

1) The branch of the Great Divine Tree grows a third bud

Zhu Hong nodded at once, then made a small sound of surprise. She held the branch up in front of his face. “Fourth Uncle, quick, look!”

At the bottom of the branch, which was about two fingers thick, some of the dry bark had been pushed aside to reveal a spot of bright, fresh green. The branch had grown a third bud!

“What’s happening?” Zhu Hong gasped. “Didn’t Shen Wei say that in tens of thousands of years, it only ever grew two buds?”

“The name ‘Shen Wei’ is not yours to speak.” Fourth Uncle glared at her before continuing. “The Divine Tree atop Kunlun Mountain is as old as the Heavens and Earth. It’s the beginning of all living things. Back when Nüwa borrowed a branch from the Great Divine Tree to guard the entrance of the Place of Great Disrespect, there was murder in her heart, so the tree she planted was dead before it could even live. I wonder if this branch sprouting a new bud out of nowhere means that someone’s had a change of heart.”

2) Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng fall off the bridge

With the Seal shattered, all the high-level gui were even more powerful than before. This one blocked Chu Shuzhi’s giant skull with a raised arm; a pinch of his fingers shattered it back into raindrops that splashed everywhere. An immense force struck Chu Shuzhi in the chest, sending his scrawny body flying right off the bridge. He began to fall toward the distant ground below.

Guo Changcheng didn’t stop to think. With no idea where he found the courage to act, he climbed over the railing and launched himself off the bridge toward Chu Shuzhi, as if committing suicide. The fanny pack he’d been clutching to his chest was left behind. The soul bottles it held all rolled out, scattering over the bridge’s surface.

3) Lao-Li's story

“Three hundred years ago, there was someone who fell ill with an incurable sickness in his bones. The pain was excruciating. Death did not come to claim him, but living was unbearable. These days, he’d probably know it was bone cancer. His family decided to burn incense and pray to the gods…”

(...)

“Eventually, he realized his visitor was no ordinary cat but a divine creature, able to communicate between yin and yang, fly into the sky, and dive into the earth. Then one day, the cat accidentally entered the wine cellar and fell into a tub of alcohol. While drunk, the cat revealed the secret of the golden bell he wore around his neck. He said it was a gift from his old owner that held half of his spirit. It could regenerate flesh and bone, and even reverse the Reincarnation Cycle… That man was almost at the end of his life. His terror of death was driving him nearly out of his mind.”

Icily, Daqing said, “So you tricked me for my bell and taught me a valuable lesson. Until then, this stupid cat didn’t know to be wary of people. I heard you lived out your life and were eventually buried outside Shanhai Pass. You lived a few dozen extra years. How was it? How did it feel?”

“Like a lump in the throat,” lao-Li said softly. “Like maggots in the bones.”

4) Shen Wei erases Zhao Yunlan's memories and sacrifices himself

The kiss was exquisitely tender at first, gentle and lingering. It wasn’t until Zhao Yunlan felt something stream out of his heart, quick as lightning, that he realized what was happening.

He began to struggle for all he was worth, but Shen Wei’s hands were like steel on the back of his head, impossible to escape. Zhao Yunlan’s heart turned to ice. Every moment between them—the day he’d met Shen Wei, all that time spent getting to know him, everything, right to this very moment—flared before his eyes like light reflected on water. It was the sensation of his own memories being mercilessly wiped away, one by one.

Shen Wei’s entire body burst into flames. As his long hair and robes ignited, he finally released his hold on Zhao Yunlan, who now lay unconscious. Shen Wei pushed him away through the air, and he landed in the arms of Shennong’s mortar, who stared at Shen Wei in shock from a distance.

Shen Wei took one final, deep look at Zhao Yunlan. Then the fire engulfed him utterly, and he vanished.

In the end, he himself pushed away the one he had struggled so hard to hold; it was he who broke their oath to die together, after all his meticulous scheming to extract that promise.

Questions:

How impressive is Guo Changcheng's courage now? Should Daqing forgive lao-Li? Do you prefer the novel version or the drama version of their backstory? How about the story of Zhu Hong's branch so far? Did Shen Wei's change of heart and self-sacrifice surprise you? How do you feel about what he did?

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, I would love to know what you think about any of this with limited context. :D

And here is the schedule, where you can sign up to host a post!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

These chapters are SO TINY? The shortest chapters in the entire novel, I think? Which means the post and my comment are relatively short too, but only relatively. xD

"Its soft white light formed an invisible shield around her, completely separating her from both the fearsome gui and the Chaos that threatened to swallow everything. The tender buds seemed even greener than before."

This is so lovely, aww. ♡ I just love the entire branch storyline so much.

"What are you doing here? Why didn’t you go with the Guardian when he left?"

This is such a total opposite of what Zhu Hong normally does, lol, but I'm glad that this is what she does now. :D

"Back when Nüwa borrowed a branch from the Great Divine Tree to guard the entrance of the Place of Great Disrespect, there was murder in her heart, so the tree she planted was dead before it could even live. I wonder if this branch sprouting a new bud out of nowhere means that someone’s had a change of heart."

♡♡♡♡♡! Of course Shen Wei was wrong two chapters back: "The branch of the Great Divine Tree failed to thrive when it was planted in the Place of Great Disrespect, most likely because the existence of the gui is anathema to it." (Though I am confused what exactly does he mean by murder? Just sealing away the gui, or still something to do with humans, or something else entirely? It wouldn't be this book without at least some amount of total confusion, I guess. xD)

"Then Chu Shuzhi spun around, whipping up a great curtain of rain with his arm, which was once again a bluish gray. The rainwater formed into a giant skull, about three meters in width, that nosedived to shield him."

Oooh, more zombie powers in his arm? Also, the things he makes out of the rainwater continue to be cool af. :D

"The “youth”—no, the gui—had swelled in size now, having absorbed the Chaos that had leaked from the cracks in the ground."
---
With the Seal shattered, all the high-level gui were even more powerful than before."

This is what confused me in the previous chapter - the Chaos was killing the gui along with everyone else, but at the same time it's clearly good for them. But now I'm thinking it makes them stronger when there's ambient Chaos floating around, but actually touching the Chaos kills them.

"There had only ever been two Kings of the Gui. One had perished by blowing himself up while the other was hindered by Kunlun’s divine tendon and Shennong’s oath, becoming something that was not quite a god. The position was now vacant, and every high-level gui was frantic with the desire to claim it for their own."

Only Ghost Face's position is vacant, right? But I'm amused that apparently Shen Wei has always been a half-assed King of the Gui - Ghost Face wanted to get rid of SW and be the only King so much, and apparently he was the only ~real~ King already, whether SW is alive or not. :P

"Three hundred years later, he had been reincarnated, but he carried with him the poison buried in his bones from that other life. He stood at the door to 4 Bright Avenue as a nondescript guard, hoping for nothing more than to feed a few crispy fried fish to the ever-fatter black cat at the beginning and end of each workday. He’d expected to live out the rest of his life that way, and that his next life would be more of the same. But now, as the Merit Brush hung above his head, every single detail from the past flashed before his eyes, as fresh as if no time had passed at all."

Damn, I understand why their story ended up being so heavy in the drama, if in the novel lao-Li's ~punishment~ was to feed Daqing fish forever and not even know why. Which is honestly really sweet and wholesome as far as punishments go, but yeah. D:

"Metal begets water."

I was confused by this so I looked it up - it's another rl mythology thing, and there are several explanations in this reddit thread. :)

"All the shining lights of every city, village, tall bridge, and street were extinguished. The lights of the Mortal Realm were like a delicate mirage; as the north wind swept past, they all disappeared without a trace."

This is the same imagery as when they're trying to catch Zhu Jiu in the drama. :D

“With the spirits of the mountains and rivers” / “With the source of kindness and evil”

Ahh, I love these lines! They're obviously about the Awl and the Merit Brush respectively, but they're also describing Wang Zheng and Sangzan's, and lao-Li and Daqing's situations! ♡

"Arms slipped around him from behind. He turned to look and found Shen Wei standing there, already drawing him into a deep kiss.
The kiss was exquisitely tender at first, gentle and lingering."

Ahhh, how do they do it that they're so soft and so messed up at the same time. ♡♡♡

"Shen Wei pushed him away through the air, and he landed in the arms of Shennong’s mortar, who stared at Shen Wei in shock from a distance."

I guess he'd be shocked even more than others, considering he just said “So in the end, is the Soul-Executing Emissary only able to uphold his vow because you’ve agreed to accompany him into death?”, and that's so very clearly not the case.

"In the end, he himself pushed away the one he had struggled so hard to hold; it was he who broke their oath to die together, after all his meticulous scheming to extract that promise."

*WIBBLES*

And the ILLUSTRATION! ♡♡♡ Shen Wei's hair and robes on fire! The Primordial Past memory! AW. ♡

Which means the post and my comment are relatively short too, but only relatively. xD

Hee! hearts

This is such a total opposite of what Zhu Hong normally does, lol, but I'm glad that this is what she does now. :D

Yes, so good for her to have priorities other than ZYL. <3

It wouldn't be this book without at least some amount of total confusion, I guess. xD

LOL! So true. (I just poked around vol 3 and couldn't find anything to explain this, fwiw. I did find a lot more questions, though, like the whole "Shennong was wrong" thing. ;-p)

But now I'm thinking it makes them stronger when there's ambient Chaos floating around, but actually touching the Chaos kills them.

That could be it! Or maybe the Chaos in the Netherworld was deliberately weaponised like enriched uranium? Who even knows!

Ghost Face wanted to get rid of SW and be the only King so much

Is that what he actually wanted? Huh. I thought he wanted SW to admit they were equals and admit their similarities. But I may be importing drama-canon vibes where YZ is ALL about SW...

Damn, I understand why their story ended up being so heavy in the drama, if in the novel lao-Li's ~punishment~ was to feed Daqing fish forever and not even know why.

Is it punishment or just an inexplicable need to atone? Because if it's the latter, then it's the same as the drama except that in the drama he remembers why (so it's not inexplicable).

Thanks for the Reddit link. Hee!

This is the same imagery as when they're trying to catch Zhu Jiu in the drama. :D

Ooh, yes, great catch! :D

Ahh, I love these lines! They're obviously about the Awl and the Merit Brush respectively, but they're also describing Wang Zheng and Sangzan's, and lao-Li and Daqing's situations! ♡

I totally get WZ and SZ, but with Lao Li and DQ... is Lao Li supposed to be the evil in this scenario? Because there were extenuating circumstances, and I feel like he's done a lot of atoning...

considering he just said “So in the end, is the Soul-Executing Emissary only able to uphold his vow because you’ve agreed to accompany him into death?”, and that's so very clearly not the case.

Hmm, I'm not sure. ZYL agreeing to do it might have been what gave SW the fortitude to be able to let go, you know? If ZYL had rejected him, would novel!SW still have taken this step? (I have no idea. I don't feel like I have a good grasp on the character at all.)

"I just poked around vol 3 and couldn't find anything to explain this, fwiw. I did find a lot more questions, though, like the whole "Shennong was wrong" thing. ;-p"

Oh, thanks for checking! And, since you read to the end, I think 'Shennong was wrong' may be related to the ending/what is explained in the epilogue. I'm looking forward to figuring it out when we get there. :D

"Or maybe the Chaos in the Netherworld was deliberately weaponised like enriched uranium? Who even knows!"

I also thought that, yes! Since it's described as 'shards of Chaos', maybe there's sharp stabby Chaos and soft Chaos. :D

"Is that what he actually wanted? Huh. I thought he wanted SW to admit they were equals and admit their similarities. But I may be importing drama-canon vibes where YZ is ALL about SW..."

At least that's what he said ("I can simply bleed you out until you can no longer maintain this human form. Then I can pull Kunlun’s tendon out of you and consume you, one mouthful at a time, and ever after, there will be only one King of the Gui in the world. I. Will. Truly. Be. Unmatched."), but honestly he only ever says things to get a rise out of Shen Wei, so who knows what he's actually thinking. And I definitely do think that if SW admitted they were equals, GF would suddenly not have much of a reason to kill him anymore, so yeah, I think you're largely right. :D

"Is it punishment or just an inexplicable need to atone? Because if it's the latter, then it's the same as the drama except that in the drama he remembers why (so it's not inexplicable)."

Yeah, I figured this need was designed by the Heavens, since reincarnation is supposed to punish/reward, and he came back as a human and not an insect or something. But it could totally also be an unconscious memory that only became conscious now - it's not like this is not a theme in this book. :D

"I totally get WZ and SZ, but with Lao Li and DQ... is Lao Li supposed to be the evil in this scenario? Because there were extenuating circumstances, and I feel like he's done a lot of atoning..."

Ah, no, and I don't think Daqing is kindness either. :) But I think it directly relates to their story (not to them as characters) - Daqing's kindness was taken advantage of, and then it all looped back to (lao-Li's) kindness.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. ZYL agreeing to do it might have been what gave SW the fortitude to be able to let go, you know? If ZYL had rejected him, would novel!SW still have taken this step? (I have no idea. I don't feel like I have a good grasp on the character at all.)"

I think he'd do it even faster then, if only because what else is there to do? Not even 'he has nothing left to live for without Zhao Yunlan' (which is also true, it's SW after all), but also isn't the only other option to die with the seal anyway, just without fixing it? I feel like, if anything, ZYL agreeing to stay made it harder because it gave Shen Wei a temptation to want live as long as possible.

Oooh, I just realized! He says, “Will you choose to die with me and return to Chaos for all eternity? Or would you rather I strip away your memories of this life, so that you would never know or remember me, leaving not a single thread of connection between us? (...) You’re not allowed to think it over. You must answer me now.” So now I'm thinking that the reason he made it so urgent is because Zhao Yunlan telling him he wants his memories erased = Shen Wei doing it right at that moment and sacrificing himself right away.

And, since you read to the end, I think 'Shennong was wrong' may be related to the ending/what is explained in the epilogue.

Yeah, I was wondering about that.

maybe there's sharp stabby Chaos and soft Chaos. :D

LOL, that matches up with my experience. ;D

And I definitely do think that if SW admitted they were equals, GF would suddenly not have much of a reason to kill him anymore

Yeah, I think if SW would just admit that the gui are his people (not in a bad way), that would take a lot of the fight out of GF. Whether they could find a solution to the whole problem of What to Do About the Seal is another question.

since reincarnation is supposed to punish/reward

Oh, I hadn't been thinking about it in those terms at all. Huh. *redacts spoilers for ch 25* :-)

and I don't think Daqing is kindness either. :)

LOL! (But yes, I see what you mean. :D)

I feel like, if anything, ZYL agreeing to stay made it harder because it gave Shen Wei a temptation to want live as long as possible.

Mm, but it also made him feel at peace. \o?

So now I'm thinking that the reason he made it so urgent is because Zhao Yunlan telling him he wants his memories erased = Shen Wei doing it right at that moment and sacrificing himself right away.

Ah, that makes sense, I guess. So much pressure. /o\ I wonder if that's how ZYL interpreted it...

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