sid_guardian | Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapter 25 & Epilogue

Entry tags:

Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Chapter 25 & Epilogue

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 25: Zhu Hong and Fourth Uncle follow the branch of the Divine Tree down to the Great Seal. The branch plants itself, and it and the Ancient Merit Tree quickly grow upwards, all the way to the Mortal Realm. Aboveground, Zhao Yunlan has become Kunlun-jun, and Shennong's Mortar bows to him and says his work here is done. Zhao Yunlan/Kunlun is calm and says "I know" a lot; he meditates beneath the Soul-Guarding Lamp. On the mountain above the resort, the captured souls spill out and save Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi from falling. Changcheng is engulfed in spiritual flame and starts reciting the Soul-Guarding Order. Shen Wei emerges, ensouled, from the Lamp, and Kunlun catches him and kisses his brow. Kunlun explains Changcheng is the reincarnated wick. The massive, quickly growing tree waters and replenishes the earth.
Epilogue: Zhao Yunlan is working in his office, in an utterly foul mood. The various SID members come in to gawk at him, and he bites all their heads off. The gui have souls now, but have disappeared, but also, they're everywhere? Zhao Yunlan is staying in a hotel. Shen Wei arrives and apologises for the mind-wipe, but Zhao Yunlan passive-aggressively pretends not to know him. Changcheng reveals that Zhao Yunlan never left Shen Wei's hospital bedside. Finally, Shen Wei kneels, Zhao Yunlan sits next to him, and they make up.

The corresponding chapters:
* official translation vol. 3 chapter 25 = fan translation chapter 106
* official translation epilogue = fan translation Extra 1

Excerpts:

1) Zhao Yunlan becomes Kunlun-jun

There was a swirl of light before Wang Zheng’s eyes. The man who had just been wearing a rumpled trench coat was suddenly in a long green robe instead, exactly like the ephemeral figure who had once walked the Great Wild thousands of years ago.

“Back when my master forcefully suppressed the Mountain God’s primordial spirit and sent you into the Reincarnation Cycle, he and the Lord Emissary agreed that the Emissary would live and die with the Great Seal,” said Shennong’s mortar. “Now another calamitous trial has come upon the Mortal Realm, the Great Houtu Seal has been broken, and the Soul-Executing Emissary has sacrificed himself for the Seal. All actions and consequences have fallen into place.”

The blazing flames settled into a gentler orange that reflected warmly in Kunlun-jun’s eyes. After a moment of silence, he quietly said, “I know.”

“The Emissary became a god as a King of the Gui,” continued the mortar. “He got what he wished for, and in the end, erased your…”

“Enough.” Kunlun-jun didn’t so much as look back. “I know all that too.”

2) The souls save Guo Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi

But at that moment, Guo Changcheng realized with a start that he was no longer falling.

He immediately opened his eyes and saw that, because he’d knocked over the little fanny pack that Chu Shuzhi had given him, the soul bottles had tumbled out. When they’d knocked against the railings, their covers had all shattered. The souls he’d collected came pouring out all at once.

They didn’t take human form; instead, they were clusters of brilliant light. Seven or eight souls, including the girl from the bridge, came together and formed a huge net that stretched down from the bridge. It caught them both…just barely.

Shocked, Chu Shuzhi grabbed hold of Guo Changcheng and leaped back up to the bridge, pushing off from the net. His foot brushed the railing as he leaped again and landed at the end of the bridge. He looked back at the net of souls, complex emotions passing over his face. “Thank you,” he said. His voice was very low, and the words felt strange and unfamiliar in his mouth.

3) Zhao Yunlan "explains" the fate of the gui

“There’s something I can’t help wondering about.” Zhu Hong leaned forward, lowering her voice. “Why did the branch that Shen Wei gave me grow a third bud? What made the first two grow in the first place?”

The look on Zhao Yunlan’s face suggested that he didn’t want to answer. But Zhu Hong was a girl, and he was usually a little more polite to girls—especially ones he’d ruthlessly friend-zoned.

“The first bud sprouted when he swore that oath with Shennong. The second one grew when he upheld his oath, and the third was when he decided to…” Zhao Yunlan stopped. A shadow crossed his face. “The Reincarnation Cycle couldn’t be created in the Place of Great Disrespect because the gui didn’t have souls. The three buds on the branch of the Great Divine Tree reflected the fact that the King of the Gui had gained three ethereal souls. Since the King of the Gui is connected to the Reincarnation Cycle, Chaos is no longer just lifeless doom; as a result, the gui, who devoured anything and everything, have also disappeared. Understand?”

4) Guo Changcheng is literally Zhao Yunlan's better half

“Just one question,” Chu Shuzhi said.

Zhao Yunlan’s temper flared. “I’ve never loved you! And yes, xiao-Guo is indeed the reincarnation of the Soul-Guarding Lamp’s wick, okay? You can fuck off now!”

“So he has merits bestowed by the Heavens, just like Nüwa?”

“Always doing the same thing, always being the same person, day after day, for tens of thousands of years, keeping the lamp burning—is that any less worthy than the act of creating humanity? If you don’t know what you’re talking about, keep your mouth shut. Don’t fucking embarrass me.”

Chu Shuzhi gave that some thought. “In other words, xiao-Guo is the goodness missing from your heart?”

“Fuck! Off!”

5) Shen Wei kneels, and Zhao Yunlan caves

Shen Wei’s lips were a little pale. Zhao Yunlan turned to leave, determined not to look back. But before he could even take a step, there was a noise behind him. He spun back around and saw Shen Wei kneeling on the floor.

“What are you doing?” Zhao Yunlan leaned over to pull him up. “What the hell is your problem? Get up!”

Shen Wei said nothing.

“Get up!” Zhao Yunlan demanded.

Shen Wei remained silent.

Finally, unable to get him to move, Zhao Yunlan plopped down on the floor beside him.

After a while, he poked Shen Wei. “Hey, it’s practically sunset. The night shift’s about to come out. Won’t that be embarrassing for you, Lord Emissary?”

Questions:
Did you enjoy the ending? What was your favourite part? Least favourite? Do you think Zhao Yunlan's anger is justified? Do you understand what happened to the gui? On a scale of 1 to 10, how much therapy does Shen Wei need? What imagery did you enjoy the most? What are you still most confused about? And do you have any thoughts about how moments in these chapters affected or were remixed in the drama adaptation?

(As usual, these are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the readalong!)

Our schedule for this round -- there are still two slots open, if you want to sign up to host a post!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Also, ZH is totally fearless, I love her.

No one knew why the Chaos had temporarily retreated, never mind what the Great Seal’s current condition might be. It was possible that the Chaos was just regrouping for another round of attacks.

Wait, is "Chaos" just a collective noun for gui? A Chaos of Gui? Oh no, later on, ZYL says, "The gui are a physical manifestation of Chaos." That's not confusing at all!

as expected, the tall, withered tree soon came into view.

Soon? This distance is so variable depending on plot necessity! ;-p

The Great Houtu Seal had fractured and disintegrated. Flames raged on the ground, shrouded in black mist and the cries of the gui. The Four Pillars had been restored to their original positions, and the new Seal was about to fall into place…

No youchu liberation. *sadface*

“All ten thousand mountains crying together.”

Awwww! ~~(I kind of wish SW has more feelings about the mountains, because the mountains clearly have a lot of feelings about him. ;-p)~~

Her heart gave a sudden twinge. Had Shen Wei really taken away all of his memories?

How does she know? Was the memory removal visible??

Kunlun's casual wave, lol! They totally kept that in the drama. :D

I'M SO GLAD HE STILL HAS HIS MEMORIES AND DIDN'T LOSE THEM FOR EVEN A SECOND!! ;-p

Clearing up who sent Changcheng to the SID, excellent!

Kunlun is so calm and chill -- so different from the madcap scamp from the PP.

They didn’t take human form; instead, they were clusters of brilliant light. Seven or eight souls, including the girl from the bridge, came together and formed a huge net that stretched down from the bridge. It caught them both…just barely.

I love this image so much. I was worried for them when they spilled out, but no, they have agency, and they're rescuing Changcheng this time! :D :D :D And then the whole thing with Changcheng and the holy flame, and all the spirits being drawn to him and seeing themselves in his notebook -- ahhhhh, it's wonderful! *hearts and hearts*

a ball of fire, bright as the morning sun, flew into the lamp. The flame within, which had been only the size of a pea, flared and shot up, now hundreds of meters tall.

LOLOL! It's Changcheng! :D (ZYL had to become a better person in the drama so he could become the wick; not so much in the novel. ;-p)

“Was…was that soul fire…? But how could the Chaos King of the Gui have soul fire?” asked Shennong’s mortar, baffled. “Has a soulless being of great evil truly gained three ethereal and seven corporeal souls somehow? Could a gui have a soul?”

"Is it really possible we don't actually know everything?!" LOL! ;-p

I really love the callback with the calming charm. Shen Wei must have been treasuring it all this time, and maybe it was part of what made him able to sacrifice himself? Idk.

“That kid, Guo Changcheng. He’s the wick reincarnated.” Kunlun-jun’s voice was very low. “What’s burning within the Soul-Guarding Lamp right now is all the merits earned by the wick over hundreds of lifetimes and reincarnations. That’s why the Lamp returned Shen Wei to me.”

LOLOLOL! Changcheng is the reincarnation of an inanimate object, and he doesn't even know it (of course). :DDDDDDDD

The mortals on earth would never even remember that such a dark calamity had ever occurred.

This made me wonder if this is why, in the drama, the bartender gets everyone all stirred up to storm the palace, and next time we see them they're drinking in the bar, apparently oblivious to anything but the sudden lamp light.

Okay, I adore all of the SID team mini-scenes in the epilogue! They're all fantastic in their own ways, and they answer at least some of the remaining questions. I do kind of wish ZYL weren't being quite so snappish and furious all over the place, but I get that it's there for comedy value.

I wonder if SW really didn't understand about the buds being his souls, or if he just didn't want to explain that to Zhu Hong...

I am sooooo confused about the gui.

~~I still wish Kunlun cared more about his mountains. ;-p~~

“I had a crush on Kunlun-jun! I sure know how to pick them!”

Ha, I think that must be a parallel to her line in the drama about being the Envoy's rival. :D

Chu Shuzhi gave that some thought. “In other words, xiao-Guo is the goodness missing from your heart?”

My absolute favourite line from these two chapters. :D :D :D :D :D It's so especially apt given what a crank ZYL is being.

ZYL pretending not to know SW is hilarious, but (as usual) I wish SW was a bit less needy and placatory. Like trobadora was saying last week or the week before, have the courage of your convictions, Shen Wei!! (But it is bratty and hilarious, and I'm glad ZYL isn't letting the non-con mindwipe just slide. ;-p)

I think the collective thumbs-up at Changcheng might have got turned into the collective pointing in ep 16 (?).

Shen Wei took the key to Zhao Yunlan’s apartment from his pocket and hung it on the cat’s collar. Like a rocket shot from a bow, Daqing, despite his bulk, bolted out the hallway window and ran off.

Is he going to shift into human form to use the key? Because otherwise it doesn't seem like a whole lot of use.

Finally, unable to get him to move, Zhao Yunlan plopped down on the floor beside him.

I really do love this as a solution to being bowed to. ZYL is trying to bicker like equals, and SW is refusing to be an equal, so ZYL has to literally get down his level to put them on the same plane of conversation. <3

The way everyone talks to SW, and ZYL saying, "I would’ve forgotten everything once I woke up, just like everyone else, right?" makes me very confused about whether the rest of the SID remember SW is the Emissary... because in chapter 25 it seemed like Wang Zheng remembered, but now I don't know anymore.

It was as though, no matter how much pain Shen Wei was in, he felt no need to say a word about it—and could accept the blame regardless of what the truth was.

SW needs thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much therapy!!

"I have many feels about the fact that the buds apparently represent SW's souls, and yet he was prepared for ZH to use them to save herself, if necessary (and he didn't believe the buds were a renewable resource at the time, or if he did, he wasn't saying)!!"

AW. ♡♡♡ He knew relatively little about it (he didn't even know / was wrong about why it didn't thrive), but I do think that he at least figured out that his sacrifice would change something about the branch. And yet he was indeed completely okay with Zhu Hong using up the buds if she needed to. ♡♡♡

"And then the branch turns into this massive tree which waters and replenishes the earth because Shen Wei becomes a god -- once we found out the significance of it, I was all !!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3"

Ikr. ♡♡♡ And it makes it even sadder how long he has spent thinking of himself as inauspicious.

"Wait, is "Chaos" just a collective noun for gui? A Chaos of Gui? Oh no, later on, ZYL says, "The gui are a physical manifestation of Chaos." That's not confusing at all!"

Lol, this is such a good point! It does sound like Chaos is at least 'all the gui as a whole' (if not a collective noun), but then Chaos is also something that kills the gui when they touch it.

"Soon? This distance is so variable depending on plot necessity! ;-p"

Hahah, it really is. Though in this case I just assumed that Snakes are really fast swimmers. :D

"No youchu liberation. *sadface*"

Not at this point, but I think at the end all gui are liberated - whatever it is that actually happened to them, they don't seem to be behind any Seal anymore (and they have souls now, whatever that entails). :)

"I kind of wish SW has more feelings about the mountains, because the mountains clearly have a lot of feelings about him. ;-p"

LOL AW. ♡

"How does she know? Was the memory removal visible??"

I was wondering that too at first! And then I didn't end up posting my confused comment because I think I figured it out. xD There seems to be some small amount of time between Shen Wei's sacrifice and Wang Zheng asking about the mountains, and I'm assuming Shennong's mortar has figured out what SW was doing and told everyone else. (And when he says later "He got what he wished for, and in the end, erased your…", it kinda confirmed that to me.)

"Kunlun's casual wave, lol! They totally kept that in the drama. :D"

When is that (approximately)? :D

"they have agency, and they're rescuing Changcheng this time! :D :D :D"

Ahhh, wonderfully said!! ♡

"I really love the callback with the calming charm. Shen Wei must have been treasuring it all this time, and maybe it was part of what made him able to sacrifice himself? Idk."

Your comment made me wonder - did he somehow use it to be at peace with his death (both when he planned to die with Zhao Yunlan and when he planned to die alone)? It's a calming charm, could it be actively used to create more calm?

"This made me wonder if this is why, in the drama, the bartender gets everyone all stirred up to storm the palace, and next time we see them they're drinking in the bar, apparently oblivious to anything but the sudden lamp light."

Ooooooh, it must be! Idk what exactly would make them forget in the drama, but it definitely does sound like an equivalent of this.

"Okay, I adore all of the SID team mini-scenes in the epilogue! They're all fantastic in their own ways, and they answer at least some of the remaining questions."

Ikrrrr, and it continues for the next two extras and it's just a absolute DELIGHT. :D :D (And even Zhao Yunlan is not pissed off anymore. :D)

"I wonder if SW really didn't understand about the buds being his souls, or if he just didn't want to explain that to Zhu Hong..."

He didn't have souls before his death, and he definitely didn't expect to come back, which means he couldn't have expected to ever gain souls, I think.

"I am sooooo confused about the gui."

You and me both, and everyone in-world too, other than Zhao Yunlan. ;D

"My absolute favourite line from these two chapters. :D :D :D :D :D It's so especially apt given what a crank ZYL is being."

I love how it's both hilarious and literally true, since he was created from Kunlun's heart's blood. xD

"I think the collective thumbs-up at Changcheng might have got turned into the collective pointing in ep 16 (?)."

Ooooh, maybe, and both scenes are so fun and adorable either way. :D

"Is he going to shift into human form to use the key? Because otherwise it doesn't seem like a whole lot of use."

I guess so, since he can do it now. He is very glad to have the key, so he must know what he's doing. :D

"I really do love this as a solution to being bowed to. ZYL is trying to bicker like equals, and SW is refusing to be an equal, so ZYL has to literally get down his level to put them on the same plane of conversation. <3"

Ohh, I love this way of framing it! ♡

"The way everyone talks to SW, and ZYL saying, "I would’ve forgotten everything once I woke up, just like everyone else, right?" makes me very confused about whether the rest of the SID remember SW is the Emissary... because in chapter 25 it seemed like Wang Zheng remembered, but now I don't know anymore."

I don't really see any indications that they don't, and a lot of indications that they do (definitely Wang Zheng's entire scene, and also Daqing calls him "my lord" for one)? The way I understand it, only mortals forgot the entire thing, and only Zhao Yunlan was supposed to forget Shen Wei.

"SW needs thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much therapy!!"

LOL. ♡ The need for a supernatural-friendly therapist is really dire in this universe, ITA.

but I do think that he at least figured out that his sacrifice would change something about the branch.

Hm, I didn't get that impression. I think I like it better if he saw the branch as something quite separate from himself, which he was caring for and gave Zhu Hong to protect her, and for her to protect it. (Maybe he also knew that Zhu Hong is strongest when she's protecting someone?)

And it makes it even sadder how long he has spent thinking of himself as inauspicious.

That's just his default state about everything, though. I've lost all patience with it. *forcibly sends him to therapy or gives him self-esteem pills or something* ;-p

but then Chaos is also something that kills the gui when they touch it.

Maybe touching formless Chaos returns them to Chaos? /random hazarding of guesses, which still doesn't explain the gui that got stronger from ingesting Chaos, SIGH! LOL!

Though in this case I just assumed that Snakes are really fast swimmers. :D

Even in human form?

whatever it is that actually happened to them, they don't seem to be behind any Seal anymore

Which does raise the question of what the new Seal is even for. Keeping out the Chaos?

There seems to be some small amount of time between Shen Wei's sacrifice and Wang Zheng asking about the mountains, and I'm assuming Shennong's mortar has figured out what SW was doing and told everyone else. (And when he says later "He got what he wished for, and in the end, erased your…", it kinda confirmed that to me.)

I need to go back and read this, but not now because I should've been asleep half an hour ago. Note to self! ;D

> > "Kunlun's casual wave, lol! They totally kept that in the drama. :D"
> When is that (approximately)? :D

I meant more as a character trait than anything else, cf, the Envoy's first visit to the SID, and ZYL and SW arriving at Cong Bo's house (and probably other times, too).

(And even Zhao Yunlan is not pissed off anymore. :D)

OH GOOD! :D

He didn't have souls before his death, and he definitely didn't expect to come back, which means he couldn't have expected to ever gain souls, I think.

I thought the buds implied that he'd grown them, but no one had noticed. Clearly I understand nothing. g

I love how it's both hilarious and literally true, since he was created from Kunlun's heart's blood. xD

Yes, exactly! That's what makes it so great. :D :D :D

and also Daqing calls him "my lord" for one

True, good point! In that case, yeah, I really don't understand how the mindwipe was supposed to achieve much. Except maybe try to erase ZYL's ~feelings~.

"Maybe he also knew that Zhu Hong is strongest when she's protecting someone?"

AW, I love the sound of that! ♡ As much as he's really not used to getting close to people, I do think he's good at observing, so he probably figured it out. :)

"Maybe touching formless Chaos returns them to Chaos? /random hazarding of guesses, which still doesn't explain the gui that got stronger from ingesting Chaos, SIGH! LOL!"

It does! :D That's what it says: "Immortals and gui alike had to avoid the sharp edge of its destruction. Occasionally, someone was unable to evade it and was swallowed silently, leaving behind not even a single hair. After all, wasn’t the whole point of Chaos to return everything to nothing?" But yeah, it explains nothing re: the gui ingesting it. xD

> > Though in this case I just assumed that Snakes are really fast swimmers. :D

Even in human form?

They were in snake form, or at least Zhu Hong was. :) ("Gritting her teeth, she became a snake and dove after the branch, slipping through Fourth Uncle’s grasp. He had no choice but to follow.")

"Which does raise the question of what the new Seal is even for. Keeping out the Chaos?"

They may not BE a new Seal after everything? (Unless some info from the extras contradicts that, of course. :D) It was made because the status quo wasn't going to change - SW was going to stay dead, and there were always going to be gui imprisoned behind the Seal. But since SW came back and the gui have ~ascended~ (or something), there's probably literally no reason for the new Seal to exist anymore? There isn't even any Chaos-as-we-know-it anymore ("Since the King of the Gui is connected to the Reincarnation Cycle, Chaos is no longer just lifeless doom; as a result, the gui, who devoured anything and everything, have also disappeared.")

"I need to go back and read this, but not now because I should've been asleep half an hour ago. Note to self! ;D"

Heeee, sleep well! :D ♡ (Another reason why I think it's Shennong's mortar who figured out what SW was doing is because he was the only one who figured out that ZYL actually turned into Kunlun, before ZYL returned to his true form. I feel like he has some god-like knowledge in general. :D)

"I meant more as a character trait than anything else, cf, the Envoy's first visit to the SID, and ZYL and SW arriving at Cong Bo's house (and probably other times, too)."

Ahh, true, thanks! :D :D

"I thought the buds implied that he'd grown them, but no one had noticed. Clearly I understand nothing. g"

OHH, omg, this is such a cool idea! I always read it as SW growing all three ethereal souls in one go, when he sacrificed himself (because of this line: "In the wake of a soft exhalation, tiny flames blazed at his brow and both shoulders, then disappeared into his body."), but then the other explanations of what happened do sound like he grew the first two souls a long time ago! I still think the buds were probably just 'potential souls' because the third bud grew a while before he died. But (once again) there are a lot more interpretations than I thought. :D (Either way, I think SW had no idea about any of this - he probably would have hated himself less if he did.)

"In that case, yeah, I really don't understand how the mindwipe was supposed to achieve much. Except maybe try to erase ZYL's ~feelings~."

Yeah, I think that was the point - if ZYL literally doesn't remember SW, then all everyone else can tell him about SW is just a bunch of random stories about a stranger. (I wonder if ZYL would eventually become obsessed with this stranger who did so much for him, lol. And after eventually turning into Kunlun he would probably have the power to revive SW. :D Though I guess turning into Kunlun would automatically bring back his memories, so he'd try to revive SW regardless.)

It does! :D That's what it says: "Immortals and gui alike had to avoid the sharp edge of its destruction. Occasionally, someone was unable to evade it and was swallowed silently, leaving behind not even a single hair. After all, wasn’t the whole point of Chaos to return everything to nothing?" But yeah, it explains nothing re: the gui ingesting it. xD

LOL, I think I need a list of all the gui lore, so I can peruse it at once. I keep rediscovering/"reinventing" it. /o\

They were in snake form, or at least Zhu Hong was. :)

Ah, I missed that. Thanks!

They may not BE a new Seal after everything?

Do you mean it disappears? Because we get this before it cuts away to aboveground:

Another reason why I think it's Shennong's mortar who figured out what SW was doing is because he was the only one who figured out that ZYL actually turned into Kunlun, before ZYL returned to his true form. I feel like he has some god-like knowledge in general. :D

Yeah, I think he has a good grasp on what's happening, for sure. I'm not convinced he told the others, though. Wang Zheng asking about the mountains sounds to me like she's speaking into silence. But who knows!?

I still think the buds were probably just 'potential souls' because the third bud grew a while before he died.

Yeah, it grew because he decided to die, right? Which was when he grew the soul? (Maybe I'm being overly literal about the buds, idk.)

he probably would have hated himself less if he did.

Definitely! *sigh*

I wonder if ZYL would eventually become obsessed with this stranger who did so much for him, lol.

Hee! I think that needs to be a fic. :D

(Do we know that Kunlun would've had the power to revive SW? That seems a lot, even for a god, and there was some talk in the Yanluo Court about him maybe not being at full power, iirc.)

"Do you mean it disappears? Because we get this before it cuts away to aboveground"

Yeah, I figured it either disappeared together with the gui (maybe it even had to disappear so that the gui could be free to disappear too?) or it's still technically there but there's nothing under it. But idk if any of this gets contradicted later. :)

"Yeah, I think he has a good grasp on what's happening, for sure. I'm not convinced he told the others, though. Wang Zheng asking about the mountains sounds to me like she's speaking into silence. But who knows!?"

If he didn't tell them then I also have no idea how they could have known. :D It does sound like she's speaking into silence, but now I that re-read it, and it could also sound like Shennong's mortar was talking and Wang Zheng interrupted him/changed the subject: "Aboveground, Wang Zheng suddenly murmured, “What’s that sound…?” / “Must be the mountains.” Shennong’s mortar listened for a moment."

Oh, and now I remembered that she does have a history of interrupting when people are talking about things she doesn't understand. :D (“Nüwa disappeared thousands of years ago,” Shennong’s mortar said. “The old Houtu Seal has limited power. How long can you hold it?” / “No more than half a day,” Shen Wei replied. His voice was very low. / At that point, Wang Zheng quietly spoke up. “What is the Great Seal?”)

"Yeah, it grew because he decided to die, right? Which was when he grew the soul? (Maybe I'm being overly literal about the buds, idk.)"

Yeah, it did, and that's where my confusion lies. I kinda want this theory to be true because it's neat. :D But if it is true, then why did his souls only 'arrive' quite a while later, after the Lamp returned him? It sounds like he never would have actually received them without his sacrifice, and it also sounds like he never had access to the other two until then, no matter how long ago he had originally grown them. So they must be proto-souls and/or conditional in some way, not full souls?

> >I wonder if ZYL would eventually become obsessed with this stranger who did so much for him, lol.

Hee! I think that needs to be a fic. :D"

I was thinking that too. :D :D It could even a slow burn longfic if he doesn't become Kunlun anytime soon. :D

"Do we know that Kunlun would've had the power to revive SW? That seems a lot, even for a god, and there was some talk in the Yanluo Court about him maybe not being at full power, iirc."

If the Lamp and/or what's left of Shennong could do it, I think he could too. :D (I don't think the novel Hallows can be more powerful than gods, and Shennong is not actually alive, so another primordial god who is alive should be at least as powerful as him? :P) I can't tell for sure if Kunlun is at his full power, but it sounds like he is? I think it was only speculation in the first place, and even if it wasn't, this may count as two different methods of bringing Kunlun's back (trying to awaken him vs. Shennong freeing him) - maybe this method is more successful. :D

If he didn't tell them then I also have no idea how they could have known. :D

If he did tell them, I really wish the narrative could have told us so! *shakes tiny fist at priest, lol* ;-p (I wonder if the version comparisons will clear any of this up. *waits patiently*)

But if it is true, then why did his souls only 'arrive' quite a while later, after the Lamp returned him?

Maybe it's just that they're briefly visible when he comes out of the Lamp. He might have had them before then and just not known?

"Maybe it's just that they're briefly visible when he comes out of the Lamp."

Ohhh, I didn't think of this possibility at all, and it would definitely make sense! :D

It was made because the status quo wasn't going to change - SW was going to stay dead, and there were always going to be gui imprisoned behind the Seal. But since SW came back and the gui have ~ascended~ (or something), there's probably literally no reason for the new Seal to exist anymore?

Wait. Does that mean the entire thing with SW sacrificing himself and then GCC's merit being substituted, and SW being revived with souls, was all part of Shennong's original plan to complete the Wheel of Reincarnation? Oof. Poor SW, being a pawn in all of this and having no clue.

Yeah, sort of, but I think with caveats - 1) it's ~~explained~~ later (in the 'very profound' vein, lol) that the gods' plan was just winging it, and it was partially a coincidence that it even worked, 2) Shen Wei technically has always known that the Soul-Guarding Order said "complete the unfinished cycle", though obviously I don't think he had any idea what it meant.

Oh, you're right, it's been part of the mission statement all this time! That makes me think better of Shennong, now that I see what it means - that integrating the gui into the reincarnation cycle was the plan from the start. No one seems to have known, though, definitely not SW or the mortar. Which makes me wonder what everyone thought "completing the unfinished cycle" did mean! Surely there must have been speculation over the millennia...

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject