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sid_guardian2025-08-17 10:47 pm
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2025-08-17 10:47 pm
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Guardian Readalong: Vol. 3, Bonus Stories: The Mountain Spirit
Welcome aboard for this week's extra in our Guardian readalong!
are last week's extras. You can find all previous discussions on the schedule posts (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5), or via the !readalong tag.
Summary: Jianghu wanderer Shen San is injured while saving someone, falls down a cliff, and finds himself in the care of a beautiful
The corresponding part in the Chinese version/the fan translation is the "Shen San" extra.
Excerpts:
I could have quoted everything! But I managed to restrain myself. *g*
1) Shen San, jianghu wanderer
"Careful, now," someone said.
The hoarse voice belonged to a tall man dressed in rags. A small piece of wood hung around his neck like a dog's name tag, and a rusting wine jug was strapped to his waist. He looked tremendously disheveled, his face half-hidden by unbound hair. His eyes were half-shut, and he smelled of alcohol. It was hard to guess how old he was, but no matter his age, this was a disreputable way to look. He had a blade of grass in his mouth, the bamboo stick in his hands, and a rag-wrapped sword on his back. When he walked, his shoulders swayed, which somehow gave him an even more unreliable air, like someone who might start a fight or make trouble at any moment.
All told, he was the sort of man one would steer well clear of if encountering him on the street.
2) Human, immortal, yao?
Finally getting a good look at him, Shen San saw a young man with a pale complexion. His eyes and brows were works of art, and with his lowered lashes, he seemed to carry a quiet serenity, as if sculpted from snow.
Shen San was immediately distracted. "You... Are you human, or..."
The young man looked up. "Mn?"
Those eyes were like nothing Shen San had ever seen. The corners might've been drawn with the stroke of a brush, but perhaps by a painter who wasn't quite a proper artist. This "brushstroke" held a hint of demonic energy-cold and eerie, making the souls of the beholder quiver.
As soon as their eyes met, the words "an immortal" died on Shen San's tongue. "...a yao?" he finished.
3) Shen San has a revelation
Shen San was a wanderer among wanderers. His wanderings had brought him to the bottom of the cliff, and he'd come to this sudden stop at this small hut after being swept away by the torrential waters. Something stirred in his heart. Words burst from his lips. "Yao-xiong, you brought me back here and you've tended my wounds so carefully. If things go the way they usually do in books, I should be offering myself to you right about now."
Yao-xiong's hand quivered. The medicine bowl fell to the floor and smashed.
Shen San froze. "I'm just..."
Before the word "joking" could leave his mouth, Yao-xiong had picked up the broken pieces in a panic and fled.
The breeze from his passing made the little wind chime ring again and again. Much like the chatter of a gaggle of girls just leaving childhood behind, the sound was somehow both pleasant and annoying.
Eventually, Shen San came to a realization. He stared, dazed, eyes and mouth wide, at the half-open door of the thatched hut. Understanding dawned.
It was just like the stories: the scholar and the fox spirit, the lost traveler and the mountain spirit, Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen.
He had met a male fox spirit, a male mountain spirit, a male snake.
4) High literature
Only two people lived in the hut, and some stupid work of erotica could hardly cultivate a pair of legs for itself and run off. That left only one person who could've hidden it.
Yao-xiong's personality was as transparent as water. A single glance was all it took to see through him. He had only a few places to hide things, and Shen San could've found them all with his eyes closed. He sent Wei outside on the pretext of wanting a few pretty branches of plum blossoms. But while he was still rummaging through the chests and drawers, Yao-xiong suddenly returned, intending to ask Shen San where he should put the branches. Instead, he caught Shen San in the act of stealing the book back.
Startled, Shen San dropped the book.
In those few short days, Yao-xiong, who was pure as a blank sheet of paper, had read through it countless times, and the book's thread binding had already come loose. When the book hit the ground, its pages went flying, dusting the floor with elegance.
The two of them stared at each other. Shen San burst into laughter; his mortified Yao-xiong fled.
5) A promise
A smile broke over Shen San's face. "I never used to believe in gods and immortals, but I do now, a little... When I was younger, I had a wooden plaque that said 'Soul-Guarding.' My mom said I was born with it, and she told me to take good care of it. She was afraid I wouldn't live long without it. I never believed that, but a few years ago, I gave it to a tiny baby. Ever since then, my health's crumbled, year after year, and I'm at the end of my life. I brought it on myself by not listening to my elders. It has nothing to do with you."
His Yao-xiong's eyes were so red that they seemed about to bleed. Shen San gripped his hand lightly, giving it a shake. "Xiao-Wei, wait for me. Don't leave. Stay here in this garden. If there is a next life, I'll come find you again, okay?"
His Yao-xiong gave no reply.
"Okay?" Shen San tried again.
"...Mn."
It was enough. Shen San closed his eyes, satisfied. Merely speaking those few words had exhausted him. He couldn't have lifted even a single finger again.
You promised. This time, you'd better keep your promise, Yao-xiong.
Questions:
What do you think about Shen San? How much is he like Kunlun, or like Zhao Yunlan? Do you think Shen San and his yao-xiong ever managed to make proper use of that book of erotica? *g* How do you feel about the tragedy of it all? Should Wei have resisted harder? Can you make sense of how the parts about the Soul-Guarding Order fit with everything else? Which parts of this extra have parallels in 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 - only one more extra to go! Sign up if you'd like to host it!
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One such person was known as "Master San."
Okay, pretty sure this should properly be rendered as "Third Master", but I guess I see why they translated it this way.
Also, awww, Shen San is a proper wuxia hero! How had I forgotten that?!
The hoarse voice belonged to a tall man dressed in rags. A small piece of wood hung around his neck like a dog's name tag, and a rusting wine jug was strapped to his waist. He looked tremendously disheveled, his face half-hidden by unbound hair. His eyes were half-shut, and he smelled of alcohol.
Hee! You can sub in Zhou Zishu for this visual, and it fits perfectly. Of course it's also a wuxia archetype, so I don't think it's just that priest has a type. *g*
Her legs might as well have been only an accessory to give her height for all the use they were. She'd need to install wheels to have a prayer of outrunning the mounted troops and their hounds.
LOL! This is such a priest way of putting things. :D
He hung the plaque around the child's neck. "My mother said I was born with this and that it can turn calamities into blessings. She probably made it up, but I've lived this long with no major illness or injury. I'll give it to your little one for peace of mind."
AWWWWWW. He's so good!
1(For a moment I was wondering if Shen Wei's closeness might have been fine if Shen San had kept the Soul-Guarding Order, but then I remembered that ZYL has it in the present, so no. Would have been too easy, anyway!)
Tch-a male immortal. Disappointed, Shen San sank back into unconsciousness.
LOLOLOL! Shen San doesn't know himself very well, does he. :p
In his daze, Shen San felt as if someone was always staring at him. From time to time, an ice-cold hand would trace his face, from his hairline to his cheek and back again, and a fragrance as cold and clean as fresh snow would fill his nostrils.
♥ ♥ ♥
his qinggong was unparalleled-how else would he have had the guts to leap from such a tall cliff?-but he hadn't detected the other person's approach at all.
This is such a classic wuxia trope, too, recognising a massively overpowered martial artist like this! But I'm pretty sure a gui demigod is far, far beyond any human skill. *g*
Master Shen San asked if his name meant "towering into the clouds, ever steadfast and unmoving," but Wei said it did not; it was just the combined characters for "mountain" and "ghost." It seemed no thought had been put into it at all.
Which, conversely, made me wonder who did give him that name - whether he gave it to himself or someone else did, and what thought did go into it! :p
(It's such a shame that we never find out.)
That smile must've been enchanted, because each time Shen San saw it, he felt as though the flowers on the mountain would burst into bloom, dripping with dew. It was a heart-stirring sight.
♥ ♥ ♥
(Yeah, yeah, mountain god, whatever - Shen San, you've already got it bad! :D)
"Yao-xiong, you brought me back here and you've tended my wounds so carefully. If things go the way they usually do in books, I should be offering myself to you right about now."
You can see ZYL in him right there! :D
And he is just joking initially, and then shocks himself by finding he means it, hee! I really adore this.
As a result, this mountain spirit who was never meant to see the light of day had been left with no choice but to hide himself, hoping Shen San would leave again in disappointment. He never imagined he'd be in hiding for over a thousand days and nights.
Awww. He's trying so hard to keep his distance!
Which makes me wonder - how long had he been staying in this mountain cottage on his own? Did he mind his own business and just had Kunlun's reincarnation dumped in his lap accidentally? Or had he been following Shen San around, and only created the cottage when he needed it?
Either way, it's such a lovely place, and it says so much about who he is.
"Do I care?! Did I ever say I cared whether you were human or ghost or any other manner of monster?! I came back, just as I said I would, but you wouldn't see me for three years?! Three years! You piece of shit!"but-perhaps because now there was someone off to the side watching, distracting his mind and heart-his wooden sword somehow seemed heavier by the day. There were days when he simply lacked the energy to continue, but he didn't think much of it.
Oh no! It's already starting!
(He initially recovered quite well from his injury, so the damage must be cumulative. Which the rest of this bears out - it keeps getting worse faster ...)
But less than ten minutes later, this "decent" individual was back. He pretended to pick through the books, looking very serious, then pulled that book out as quickly as a thief. He threw down a few coins and ran away with the book tucked close to his chest.
LOLOLOL! :D
I love both their initial reactions to the book, and how both of them return to it right away anyway. :D
Only two people lived in the hut, and some stupid work of erotica could hardly cultivate a pair of legs for itself and run off. That left only one person who could've hidden it.
I mean, yes, but I don't see why it shouldn't be able to cultivate like that. :p
(Can you imagine??? :D)
"Yao-xiong, you don't have a past or a last name. Why don't you just take mine?"
♥ ♥ ♥
The whole naming scene!!!!! ♥
Shen San recovered, then fell sick; fell sick, then recovered again. He never fully got better.
:( :( :(
I can't tell whether there's an implication that they're having sex and that's what makes it get so bad so quickly - that's absolutely there in the original/fan translation version (see below), but it's very vague in the official translation ...
The short-lived prosperity of the previous year seemed to have been borrowed time
Very metaphor, ouch!
In his delirium, Shen San heard weeping close to his ear-and between the sobs, words. "Humans and ghosts don't belong together," and, "I should've never broken my oath and approached you."
Poor, poor Shen Wei!
Shen San somehow found the strength to reach out and grab the belt at Wei's waist. "Don't... Don't you dare. You started this. If you dare...dare to leave without warning... I'll...I'll dig out my heart... and boil it..."
AWWWWWWWWWWWW. ♥
Every version of him is like that, just as greedy as Shen Wei when it comes to holding on. He doesn't know the stakes, of course, but still!
"I think...Kunlun Mountain?" Shen San seemed to be staring off into the distance. He didn't see how Yao-xiong trembled violently at the word "Kunlun." He just kept speaking. "There was a tree on the mountain. Was that your original form? Did you transform from that tree?"
He's remembering! And concluding that SW must be the snow from that mountain - because he senses that SW is connected to the mountains (through inheriting Kunlun's mountains)?
When I was younger, I had a wooden plaque that said 'Soul-Guarding.' My mom said I was born with it, and she told me to take good care of it. She was afraid I wouldn't live long without it. I never believed that, but a few years ago, I gave it to a tiny baby. Ever since then, my health's crumbled, year after year, and I'm at the end of my life. I brought it on myself by not listening to my elders. It has nothing to do with you."
Awww! If only! But Shen San has explained things to himself in a way that makes perfect sense considering what he knows, and obviously he doesn't want SW to blame himself!
"Xiao-Wei, wait for me. Don't leave. Stay here in this garden. If there is a next life, I'll come find you again, okay?"
Xiao-Wei!!!! ♥
And finding him again!!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥
(I mean, he doesn't. But his next reincarnation does still feel that promise, which is massive! And he only marries out of family obligation. Might he have eventually found his way to that cottage, if left to his own devices? What would Shen Wei have done then?)
Sealed atop the mountain was a descendant of the mystic White Tiger who had been sleeping there for tens of thousands of years. Shen Wei hung the wooden plaque around the beast's neck, then gently stroked its head. He wiped away its early memories, leaving only those of its master, then undid the seal.
Why was Daqing sealed away? By whom? Was it Shen Wei, and if so, why? I have no clue ...
"You can protect him from now on."
Awww, entrusting Kunlun to Daqing. ♥
And so, the Soul-Guarding Order came to be.
Okay, time to talk about this.
Back in vol. 1 chapter 28, Daqing says that Kunlun gave him the Soul-Guarding Order paper talismans. We don't learn about but we don't learn about the true/original wood version until volume 2, but these are clearly different things. Possibly the original wooden version can only be used by the Guardian, but someone else can use the power of the Soul-Guarding Order via the paper talismans ... At any rate, if Daqing was sealed along with the paper talismans, and then got the wood version from SW to give back to Kunlun's latest incarnation, I don't think these need to be contradictory.
What I don't understand, though, is how the wood version ended up with baby!Shen San. His mum said he was born with it, but clearly that's not something that happens to all Kunlun reincarnations - the next incarnation is born without it, and SW has to hunt it down after Shen San gives it away. So ... did Shen Wei personally give the Soul-Guarding Order to baby!Shen San or his mother? And now he won't do it again because he's keeping even more distance than previously, after having caused Shen San's death?
Every time his family inquired, the shameless thing would reply with, "I feel like I made a vow with someone in a previous life. I have to wait for them."
*sniffles*
In tens of thousands of years, that was the only time he crossed the line.
It was nearly his undoing.
The Great Sage Shennong surely was great, glorious, and correct.
Oof. So much ouch!
Version comparison - not a lot of differences this time, but one of them is pretty big:
Official translation: Fan translation: (FWIW, I feel like the official translation is more correct.)
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Me too! ♥
Or had he been following Shen San around, and only created the cottage when he needed it?
I somehow have in my mind that he's been keeping an eye on him and followed him around. Though I'm not sure that's actually confirmed or just my impression.
I mean, yes, but I don't see why it shouldn't be able to cultivate like that. :p
That would be just like them, to own a sentient book of erotica. But hey, if Shennong's bowl could do it...
*sniffles*
He's keeping the promise, even though he doesn't know whom he made it with 😭
Version comparison
Someday I'm gonna shut up about leaving a finished work alone, but it's not this day. There just shouldn't be entire paragraphs missing in a retranslation.
Agreed that "my" heart seems more correct in context.
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Yeah, I think so too, and I think that's pretty much confirmed by all the pictures of Kunlun's incarnations he has. (And in this story he's canonically following Shen San when he's away, but that's after they met.)
"That would be just like them, to own a sentient book of erotica. But hey, if Shennong's bowl could do it..."
LOL OMG YES, they're exactly the people to do that. :D :D :D Own or adopt or befriend, depending on the level of sentience, lol. Now THAT would be a friend for Daqing. ;D :D
"He's keeping the promise, even though he doesn't know whom he made it with 😭"
AW. ♡♡♡ And considering how diligent the Reincarnation Cycle is about wiping people's memories, it's really impressive to me that he rememberes this much.
"Someday I'm gonna shut up about leaving a finished work alone, but it's not this day. There just shouldn't be entire paragraphs missing in a retranslation."
Right?? This is the first time (okay, maybe the second time, after SW and GCC's friendship got erased) that I really wished the official translation had kept all of this. I even personally like some of the changes that were made, but this one is just so wtf to me? (I'm sure censorship is to blame, as always. BUT STILL. :P) And it's not only that entire paragraphs are missing, it's that one of them is replaced by Wei fleeing, which makes the opposite scene - it didn't fade to black, it ended differently.
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Yeah, I don't think there's any definite proof. We know he knew many of Kunlun's reincarnations from the room of portraits, but yeah, no telling from that how closely he followed them, or whether that was only after the Soul-Guarding Order started operating and the Emissary started interacting with them in an official capacity.
Someday I'm gonna shut up about leaving a finished work alone, but it's not this day.
Haha, right??? Even the extras! *headdesk*
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Quite! You'd think a book would be far more likely to be sentient.
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"And idk if it's just me, but I feel like drama!Zhao Yunlan is more like Shen San than novel!Zhao Yunlan is ..."
Definitely not just you. :D I think the biggest part of this for me is that Shen San is SO SOFT at all times, even when he's being annoying or annoyed or angry. ♡♡♡
> >his qinggong was unparalleled-how else would he have had the guts to leap from such a tall cliff?-but he hadn't detected the other person's approach at all.
This is such a classic wuxia trope, too, recognising a massively overpowered martial artist like this! But I'm pretty sure a gui demigod is far, far beyond any human skill. *g*
I also feel like Wei didn't 'approach' at all, quietly or not, he just appeared out of thin air. :D
> >That smile must've been enchanted, because each time Shen San saw it, he felt as though the flowers on the mountain would burst into bloom, dripping with dew. It was a heart-stirring sight.
♥ ♥ ♥
(Yeah, yeah, mountain god, whatever - Shen San, you've already got it bad! :D)
I totally didn't catch the mountain mention! ♡♡♡ Of course everything that is beautiful feels like mountains to him, hah. :D
"Which makes me wonder - how long had he been staying in this mountain cottage on his own? Did he mind his own business and just had Kunlun's reincarnation dumped in his lap accidentally? Or had he been following Shen San around, and only created the cottage when he needed it?"
Based on all the pictures of Kunlun's reincarnations he has (and also based on touching young Zhao Yunlan's newspaper, lolol), I'm assuming that he followed all of them, Shen San included. Maybe he created the cottage, or maybe he has places like this where he lives between the reincarnations.
"I love both their initial reactions to the book, and how both of them return to it right away anyway. :D"
Right? :D :D It's impossible to resist. xD
"I mean, yes, but I don't see why it shouldn't be able to cultivate like that. :p
(Can you imagine??? :D)"
IT SHOULD, lolol, and now I want a crackfic where they meet the cultivated book in the present. :D :D :D
"I can't tell whether there's an implication that they're having sex and that's what makes it get so bad so quickly - that's absolutely there in the original/fan translation version (see below), but it's very vague in the official translation ..."
I'm just taking the original version here (thank you for sharing it!! :D) and ignoring the official one, lol, but yeah, I'd say that the implication is still there. It didn't definitely start with sex, but it always gets worse from it for Zhao Yunlan too. And now I'm wondering if "Shen San recovered, then fell sick; fell sick, then recovered again" is directly related to whether or not they just had sex.
"But his next reincarnation does still feel that promise, which is massive!"
Ikrrrr, all the memory erasing stuff that they do in the Netherworld, with the bridge and lamps and soup and everything, didn't fully work on him, this is HUGE. ♡♡♡
"And he only marries out of family obligation. Might he have eventually found his way to that cottage, if left to his own devices? What would Shen Wei have done then?"
OMG, this needs a fic!! ♡ This needs a fic SO MUCH that I may just do it if I think about it more. :D :D
"Why was Daqing sealed away? By whom? Was it Shen Wei, and if so, why? I have no clue ..."
*high five* No idea either!
> > "You can protect him from now on."
Awww, entrusting Kunlun to Daqing. ♥
Omg aww, because Kunlun protected Daqing first? ♡♡♡ (I want more story of the three of them in the PP! Daqing wasn't there when they were guarding the Seal, but he had to have been there the whole time before that.)
"Possibly the original wooden version can only be used by the Guardian, but someone else can use the power of the Soul-Guarding Order via the paper talismans ... At any rate, if Daqing was sealed along with the paper talismans, and then got the wood version from SW to give back to Kunlun's latest incarnation, I don't think these need to be contradictory."
Oh, yep, that would work really well with what they do with talismans later, especially CSZ. And I agree that it sounds not contradictory.
"What I don't understand, though, is how the wood version ended up with baby!Shen San. His mum said he was born with it, but clearly that's not something that happens to all Kunlun reincarnations - the next incarnation is born without it, and SW has to hunt it down after Shen San gives it away. So ... did Shen Wei personally give the Soul-Guarding Order to baby!Shen San or his mother? And now he won't do it again because he's keeping even more distance than previously, after having caused Shen San's death?"
No idea either, but this is a really good theory! I didn't even think Wei could have been doing this the entire time. Waaait, Shen Wei meets the new Guardian as a newborn (it's been 10 years since Shen San's death, but I guess reincarnation does take a while) and doesn't leave the plaque with him even though he could have (and then he would also be 'born with it'). He gives it to Daqing instead, who I guess will come in about 10 years and do the Guardian recruiting this way. So I think you're totally right - Wei used to do it this way, and now he wants to fully stay away so it will be done Daqing's way from now on.
"not a lot of differences this time, but one of them is pretty big"
Damn, taking out the entirety of any canon sex they've had is sure A MOVE. I'm sure it's somehow censorship-related, but wow. Also, the second one basically specifically says that they didn't have sex immediately after they porn book scene (even if it could be assumed that they did later) because Wei fled, which is not just an omission but a completely different piece of information. Wow, okay, this is so good to know, and thank you so much for sharing these scenes! ♡♡♡ (This explains why I've only ever heard from fandom that they did canonically have sex. :D And these are exactly the two things I was super confused about!)
Also, these descriptions are GORGEOUS?? ♡♡♡ I think they're literally my favorite canon Weilan sex scenes, and idec if they even count as 'sex scenes'. ♡♡♡ (And the laughing in bed is so precious too, aww, as if they weren't sweet and adorable enough already. :D)
"Wei's throat shifted slightly. As if entranced, he moved forward.
Finally... through the entire night of New Years Eve, 'decency' was completely devoured."
"The cottage and yard were large for the two people living in it, yet it seemed that there was not enough space to hold their deep and sincere affections."
Seriously, ahhh, this is so soft and sensual and hot. ♡♡♡ (Also lol yeah, there's no one around, who is stopping them from doing it in the yard. :D) I wish I had known all of this a long time ago, but I'm so glad to know it now - thank you again! :D ♡♡♡
"I will.... I will dig out your heart.... and boil it in a pot...
(FWIW, I feel like the official translation is more correct.)"
Oh, yep, I have no doubt about it - Shen San digging out Shen Wei's heart makes no sense, not as something he would say (!!), and not as something that Shen Wei would take as a threat (and not just because he's immortal, lol, but mostly because he doesn't care if he gets harmed; he would only not leave because Shen San threatened to harm himself).
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Yes! He's lovely. :D
(I wonder if the drama's characterisation rubbed off on priest? *g*)
I also feel like Wei didn't 'approach' at all, quietly or not, he just appeared out of thin air. :D
Oh yeah, totally true! But I bet he could have if he wanted.
Based on all the pictures of Kunlun's reincarnations he has (and also based on touching young Zhao Yunlan's newspaper, lolol), I'm assuming that he followed all of them, Shen San included.
I could totally see that, yeah. Though he might not have been following them around all the time - surely if that had happened, he'd have been tempted to interfere in a noticeable way before? Shen San can't be the only one who ever ended up in a situation like that.
IT SHOULD, lolol, and now I want a crackfic where they meet the cultivated book in the present. :D :D :D
WANT. :D
And now I'm wondering if "Shen San recovered, then fell sick; fell sick, then recovered again" is directly related to whether or not they just had sex.
Yeah, I was wondering that too. Ouch. (Why do you think SW didn't try to stop things when he realised? That's the only thing I'm not entirely clear about. Not that Shen San would have let him, LOL.)
Ikrrrr, all the memory erasing stuff that they do in the Netherworld, with the bridge and lamps and soup and everything, didn't fully work on him, this is HUGE. ♡♡♡
YES! I love it so. :D
OMG, this needs a fic!! ♡ This needs a fic SO MUCH that I may just do it if I think about it more. :D :D
YES, I would love to read that! Surely someone has written it?
So I think you're totally right - Wei used to do it this way, and now he wants to fully stay away so it will be done Daqing's way from now on.
Yeah, I'm coming round to this interpretation too.
I'm sure it's somehow censorship-related, but wow.
Yeah, same.
Also, the second one basically specifically says that they didn't have sex immediately after they porn book scene (even if it could be assumed that they did later) because Wei fled, which is not just an omission but a completely different piece of information.
RIGHT???? Though I do think he didn't stay away for long, and/or Shen San may have followed him, so it wasn't very long until they did have sex after all. (Surely someone has written that? Does anyone have recs?)
Shen San digging out Shen Wei's heart makes no sense, not as something he would say (!!), and not as something that Shen Wei would take as a threat
100% agreed on that, yeah. I think that was just the fan translation not quite thinking things through.
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I think the biggest part of this for me is that Shen San is SO SOFT at all times, even when he's being annoying or annoyed or angry. ♡♡♡
Ohh, this makes me wonder if the reason ZYL is so hard and cranky all the time is precisely because the memory of the promise is lingering in his subconscious -- something always missing. Maybe all his incarnations post-Shen San are like this, to a greater or lesser extent?
I also feel like Wei didn't 'approach' at all, quietly or not, he just appeared out of thin air. :D
Ha! Great point! And Shen San is all, "Wow, great sneaking skillz!"
Based on all the pictures of Kunlun's reincarnations he has (and also based on touching young Zhao Yunlan's newspaper, lolol), I'm assuming that he followed all of them, Shen San included.
It's entirely possible, of course, but I think it's just as possible that SW spent a loooong time trying to stick to his oath and just do his own thing in the mountains, until one incarnation they met by chance (ie, this one), and after that it became impossible not to
stalkkeep tabs on him and yearn from afar. Idk.Wasn't there something earlier in the novel about SW having a Kunlun-incarnation alert, and Ghost Face having disabled it (which was how they met)? I wonder if SW put that in place so they wouldn't have any more accidental meetings that would mess with his resolve...
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I love this extra so much, it's my favourite part of the whole novel.
Me too! *high fives you*
Also, awww, Shen San is a proper wuxia hero! How had I forgotten that?!
Ha, I wonder if that's why YOHE!ZYL does those martial arts moves when he first tries on his period-appropriate clothes. ;D
AWWWWWW. He's so good!
Right??? I love so much that he does this!!
(Yeah, yeah, mountain god, whatever - Shen San, you've already got it bad! :D)
LOL, he really does!
You can see ZYL in him right there! :D
So much! (Wait, do you mean novel!ZYL or drama!ZYL?)
Which makes me wonder - how long had he been staying in this mountain cottage on his own? Did he mind his own business and just had Kunlun's reincarnation dumped in his lap accidentally? Or had he been following Shen San around, and only created the cottage when he needed it?
If he'd been following Shen San, would he have left him dangling from a mountain for a day and a night?
I love both their initial reactions to the book, and how both of them return to it right away anyway. :D
Yessss! :D :D :D
but I don't see why it shouldn't be able to cultivate like that. :p
I think it depends whether Evil Worldbuilding™ requires purity for cultivation? I thought the implication was that it was too smutty to accumulate merits. ;-p
The whole naming scene!!!!! ♥
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> > "Humans and ghosts don't belong together," and, "I should've never broken my oath and approached you."
> Poor, poor Shen Wei!
That "Humans and ghosts don't belong together" line reminds me of the double-faced ghost in chapter 6 repeating, "Humans and ghosts belong on different paths." Daqing later says that it's an ancient saying; I wonder if it became a saying because of SW?
Every version of him is like that, just as greedy as Shen Wei when it comes to holding on.
*hearts*
Might he have eventually found his way to that cottage, if left to his own devices? What would Shen Wei have done then?
Hidden again? I feel like he'd have hidden again. :-/
What I don't understand, though, is how the wood version ended up with baby!Shen San. His mum said he was born with it, but clearly that's not something that happens to all Kunlun reincarnations - the next incarnation is born without it
I wondered if that was because he gave it away? Like, maybe he was born with it (magic!) until then, but having given it away, he'd kind of severed the automatic tie? Idk.
It's so confusing how "Soul-Guarding Order" means the wooden plaque, the talismans, and also the group of people. I presume "And so, the Soul-Guarding Order came to be." is a reference to the people.
Therefore, when the two were in bed together, they mostly played around and romped like children, giggling and laughing for a while. As the days passed, their relationship became closer and closer, but there were times when there was a feeling of something missing. The sentiments in their hearts seemed to be separated by a thin layer of paper, like blossoms hidden in fog, beautiful yet not clearly visible.
Awwww! This is super cute -- I love how it's described, and also how it changes later asdkf;aksdlfjas;dklf. <3 <3 <3
Finally... through the entire night of New Years Eve, 'decency' was completely devoured.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
(Thank you sooooo much for the comparisons!! I wonder why priest took these bits out??)
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Ahhhh, no matter who was inspired by whom, I LOVE this parallel to pieces. :D :D ♡
"If he'd been following Shen San, would he have left him dangling from a mountain for a day and a night?"
I'm not 100% sure whether or not he was following him, but also he was already really serious about staying away, so he wouldn't help any of Kunlun's incarnations unless it was super dire. And dangling from the mountain was clearly no big deal to Shen San. :D (Oh hey, maybe that's why it's emphasized how much he wasn't affected by it, and the only actual problem was falling into the river? Since that's when Wei helped him.)
"I think it depends whether Evil Worldbuilding™ requires purity for cultivation? I thought the implication was that it was too smutty to accumulate merits. ;-p"
Nah, Kunlun is the smuttiest and he's literally one of the most godly gods ever. :D (I think this type of purity may be mostly a western concept, but I'm not sure? I also think the joke was that literally nothing and no one can cultivate in just a few days. :D :D)
"That "Humans and ghosts don't belong together" line reminds me of the double-faced ghost in chapter 6 repeating, "Humans and ghosts belong on different paths." Daqing later says that it's an ancient saying; I wonder if it became a saying because of SW?"
Oh, I forgot that Daqing said that, thanks for the reminder! It could be, but also maybe it's older than Shen San, and SW is already using it as a saying? Because he knows that the reason he's harming Shen San is not because he's human, it's because he's Kunlun, but he can't say that, so he's saying something Shen San will understand?
Btw this line keeps coming back throughout the book - ZYL says this when SW rejects him:
“You’ve been avoiding me for ages, and yet you’ve never just completely stayed away. Did you do something terrible to me once, or…are you afraid of falling into my trap? What are you so worried about? Humans and ghosts not belonging together?”
The last bit of flushed color drained from his face as Shen Wei recoiled. His hands curled into fists on either side of Zhao Yunlan, then he reached out to push him away.
And then there was the really soft scene where they talked about Zhu Hong:
“Besides, humans and yao don’t belong together. What’s the point in getting involved?”
Zhao Yunlan only meant exactly what he said, but Shen Wei read more into it than he’d intended. There was a brief silence before Shen Wei asked, “Then you and I…as a ghost and a human, shouldn’t we stay apart?”
“What?” Zhao Yunlan reflexively reached out, getting cinnabar all over his hand. After a frozen second, he exclaimed, “We’re not the same at all! I like you so much.”
> > Might he have eventually found his way to that cottage, if left to his own devices? What would Shen Wei have done then?
Hidden again? I feel like he'd have hidden again. :-/"
Yeah, I think you're 100% right! Especially since it's a lot easier to discourage someone who doesn't even know what he's looking for - he is far more likely to leave than Shen San was.
"It's so confusing how "Soul-Guarding Order" means the wooden plaque, the talismans, and also the group of people. I presume "And so, the Soul-Guarding Order came to be." is a reference to the people."
Oh, that's a fantastic point! And also I think it means that from now on there is a Guardian (this incarnation is the first Guardian).
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Both of them - drama!ZYL a little bit more than novel!ZYL, but still novel!ZYL as well, IMO.
If he'd been following Shen San, would he have left him dangling from a mountain for a day and a night?
Shen San doesn't seem to have been in any danger until he decided to climb down and fell, so yeah, I wouldn't think SW would consider that dire enough to be tempted to break his oath.
I think it depends whether Evil Worldbuilding™ requires purity for cultivation? I thought the implication was that it was too smutty to accumulate merits. ;-p
There's a whole tradition (and trope) of cultivating through sex, so I don't think it would be an issue.
That "Humans and ghosts don't belong together" line reminds me of the double-faced ghost in chapter 6 repeating, "Humans and ghosts belong on different paths." Daqing later says that it's an ancient saying; I wonder if it became a saying because of SW?
Oh! Wow, yeah, good point. Either it dates back to the PP and comes from something someone said about Kunlun and little not-yet-Wei, or it comes from this and SW himself. (I could definitely see it dating back to the PP.)
Hidden again? I feel like he'd have hidden again. :-/
Oof, yeah, probably. /o\ But then again, Shen San caught him after three years, so the next reincarnation might too. *g*
I wondered if that was because he gave it away? Like, maybe he was born with it (magic!) until then, but having given it away, he'd kind of severed the automatic tie? Idk.
Oh yeah, that would work too! I've come round to believing it was SW who gave it back to him in every life prior to this, but there's no proof for that headcanon, so ... *g*
It's so confusing how "Soul-Guarding Order" means the wooden plaque, the talismans, and also the group of people. I presume "And so, the Soul-Guarding Order came to be." is a reference to the people.
Yeah, I think it's a reference to the organisation here, not any of the items.
(Thank you sooooo much for the comparisons!! I wonder why priest took these bits out??)
Censorship, I figure. *sighs*
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Idk if you know the Captive Prince trilogy? The books were originally posted as a serial on LiveJournal, and were revised for the print edition, too, so that's a similar case.
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Ahhhh yay, SHEN SAN MY BELOVED, this is one of my favorite stories in every way. ♡♡♡ I love how it's written too, and the descriptions of the setting are so gorgeous. (Which they always are, but these are different places than in the rest of the story, and I think I find them even more beautiful than other mundane-ish locations from earlier. ♡)
I'm sure this is going to end up being two comments before I even started writing it, and idec. :D :D
Btw, I drew them recently (G-rated, same as my icon). :D
And [shhh, redacted for now]. :D I have things I wanna shaaaaaare, lolol."Master San, whose last name was Shen, was unpredictable and had a wild reputation."
And he uses it to save people just because he can, and he's just completely confident that no one can fuck with him, and that's all without even knowing that he's the Guardian, he's just a regular person unhinged enough to do all of that, I LOVE HIM SFM. ♡
"So many torches burned on the mountainside that it looked as if the slope itself was ablaze."
One of the descriptions I really liked!
"And then…a long, deftly placed bamboo stick stopped her forward momentum. The bamboo bowed as the woman was jerked to a halt. When it sprang back, she started to fall backward, but then the stick swung easily around behind her. With one light tap, she was steadied."
This is SO COOL, and so easy to picture. :D
"He looked tremendously disheveled, his face half-hidden by unbound hair. His eyes were half-shut, and he smelled of alcohol. It was hard to guess how old he was, but no matter his age, this was a disreputable way to look. He had a blade of grass in his mouth, the bamboo stick in his hands, and a rag-wrapped sword on his back. When he walked, his shoulders swayed, which somehow gave him an even more unreliable air, like someone who might start a fight or make trouble at any moment."
He's as scrunkly as pre-canon/early canon drama Zhao Yunlan, and I'm 100% here for it. ♡___♡ I attempted not to quote this much and failed because DAMN. :D (And obviously he has something in his mouth, good for him. :D :D)
"The man might’ve looked ready to start begging on the streets at any moment, but he was very perceptive."
I can't not think of Zhao Yunlan sitting in the gutter, lol.
"He could help her at any moment, but he could also use it to keep his distance so she wouldn’t be uncomfortable. She tightened her grip on the bamboo, feeling a sense of safety well up in her heart."
I love the entire stick idea that he comes up the moment he sees her fear, and this is just so soft. ♡
"It might’ve been her nerves, but once she started speaking, she couldn’t seem to stop. To Shen San, it was like having a weak bee buzzing by his ear, so annoying that it made his brain swell. But seeing how she trembled as she spoke, he couldn’t exactly tell her to stop. He just stood and picked at his ears."
Okay, aww?? ♡♡♡ He doesn't need praise, he doesn't WANT praise, he's super annoyed (by praise and in general), he's gonna help anyway. :D
"On the ground before her lay a small corpse that looked both like a bird and a fox—a winged creature covered in gray fur."
Are these creatures Yao or just regular animals? (I'm assuming they're not spirits if they bleed.)
"My mother said I was born with this and that it can turn calamities into blessings. She probably made it up, but I’ve lived this long with no major illness or injury. I’ll give it to your little one for peace of mind."
1) What does it mean that he was born with it? 2) I'm assuming it did actually protect him in some way, but I'm also assuming that his illness was only because of Wei, not because he didn't have the Soul-Guarding Order anymore, since having it couldn't protect Zhao Yunlan from the energy drain. 3) Of course he's giving things to anyone who needs them no matter how valuable they may be. :D
"“Those legless dumbasses can’t catch me.” Shen San gave a careless wave."
I LOVE HIMMM. ♡
"With a light smile, in front of the gathered crowd, he jumped off the cliff."
So wonderfully dramatic. :D ♡ (And I love that it's not in fact the jumping off the cliff that got him injured so badly. :D)
"As he opened his eyes, his dark, blurry vision was brightened by a person: someone wearing black robes, with water-smooth hair so long that it touched the ground. Man or woman, he couldn’t tell; he only saw that their lashes, as dark as crow’s feathers, were lowered.
An immortal, Shen San thought in a daze."
1) I love how long Wei's hair is! 2) EYELASHES. ♡ 3) How did he get to this conclusion? Is it just the unnaturally long hair? Or is his mind just rambling and happens to be right? :P
"Tch—a male immortal. Disappointed, Shen San sank back into unconsciousness."
LOLOLOL. ♡ Carelessly scoffing at the love of his life like that. xD
"As a result, Master Shen San had hung from the cliff for an entire day and night. His right arm had gone completely numb, and the wind had nearly turned him into cured meat. It was unsustainable."
I love how even this dire situation only sounds like a relatively minor annoyance from his POV, lol.
"It appeared someone had managed to fish him out of the river."
I'm assuming it wasn't particularly hard for someone who rules over rivers. :)
"From time to time, an ice-cold hand would trace his face, from his hairline to his cheek and back again, and a fragrance as cold and clean as fresh snow would fill his nostrils."
Is this Wei's natural smell? He's so worried about being filthy that I thought his super clean smell in modern times was him overcompensating. (Not because his natural smell would be bad but because it's not good enough for his standards.) Is he already overcompensating here, or is it just another thing he's worried about for no reason? Also, this scene is SO SOFT. ♡
"Master Shen San asked if his name meant “towering into the clouds, ever steadfast and unmoving,” but Wei said it did not; it was just the combined characters for “mountain” and “ghost.” It seemed no thought had been put into it at all."
It never says who originally named him, but if he named himself, I feel like there was a lot of thought put into it - he is a ghost and he is a mountain god, and I feel like there are a lot of feelings involved re: how he relates to both of these things. ♡ (Of course he would like Shen San's version of the name better just because it came from him, and it's not like it's not fitting. But it was a fitting name already. :D) This is also why I like this version better, where Kunlun never calls him any name, because to me it implies that he picked this name after Kunlun gave him the mountains.
"Yao-xiong spoke little, and when he did, it was always softly. When he didn’t want to speak, he would just smile. That smile must’ve been enchanted, because each time Shen San saw it, he felt as though the flowers on the mountain would burst into bloom, dripping with dew. It was a heart-stirring sight."
This is such a lovely description, and also lol, he's already the opposite of disappointed that the immortal is not a woman. :D
"The meals his yao-xiong prepared never contained rare or precious ingredients, but wild mountain herbs and game had their own unique flavors."
He already taught himself to cook, aw. ♡
"Sometimes Shen San felt like he was no longer in the Mortal Realm, that he had instead fallen into some sort of ethereal, otherworldly place. Every morning, he woke to the sound of the wind brushing against the little bell at the window. When the bell chimed, it attracted flocks of birds that would chirp all at once in response."
Aw, this is gorgeous, and also he's really not used to being calm, is he. ♡ And then all the descriptions of everything they do together, AWW, so perfect. ♡♡♡
"It wasn’t until Master Shen San had named every single plant he could think of, as if reciting a menu, that a thought suddenly struck him.
(...)
Though Yao-xiong took such nonsense to be idle chatter, he still shook his head, exasperated. “Snowflakes melt the moment they land,” he retorted readily. “Where would they get the time to cultivate? Come, it’s time to change your dressings.”"
This is so 100% modern Weilan, lol, and they're just so dorky and wonderful. ♡♡♡
"The snow there never melts. It covers the peaks year-round. I think you might be a snow spirit from the top of one of those mountains."
Oooooof. We don't get Wei's POV on this, but it must have been quite a reaction (completely quiet and hidden, of course).
"When Shen San looked down, all he could see was the top of Yao-xiong’s head and all that ink-black hair. Yao-xiong, half kneeling on the ground, was being so careful—he might not have been holding an unruly man’s leg at all, with its thick skin and rough flesh, but a delicate, fragile heirloom."
SO SOFT, SRSLY. ♡♡♡
"The thatched hut was dry and clean inside, with clothes and bedding that smelled like fresh sunshine."
And the place always smells nice too, aw. (No wonder SW couldn't resist cleaning up Zhao Yunlan's apartment, lol.)
"Something stirred in his heart. Words burst from his lips. “Yao-xiong, you brought me back here and you’ve tended my wounds so carefully. If things go the way they usually do in books, I should be offering myself to you right about now.”"
Awww, he takes it back and pretends he's talking shit when Wei freaks out, but he 100% means it. ♡♡♡
"I was tasked with sending Lord Wang’s widow and son across the river. I don’t know how they’re doing, so I need to check in on them. And after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Assistant Minister Zhang will be leaving for the northern border. We shared drinks once, so I must ensure he arrives safely."
He's the Guardian without knowing that he's the Guardian, aw. ♡
"Yao-xiong stood stone-still before finally opening his mouth. “I…”
You and I shared drinks once too."
*WIBBLES* I'm reading this for the third time and this line still hits me in the feels.
“Once I’ve dealt with those things, I’ll come back and bring a couple jars of good wine with me, and then…then…”
His tongue, usually so nimble, failed him. Cold sweat broke out all over his back. As it evaporated, heat suffused his neck and then his ears, steaming him until he stammered. “Th-then, I-I’ll be yours to command.”
Okay, I'm reading this for the third time too and I'm still making audible squee sounds, he's SO DAMN CUTE. :D They both are. ♡♡♡ AWWWW.
"“A paradise of peach blossoms,” he said. “A cave filled with webs of desires.”
That didn’t sound anything like a proper retirement spot. But when his friends tried to ask what had gotten into him, Shen San had already demonstrated his ability to walk without leaving footprints. With a few leaps, he was gone."
Lololol, I love this little glimpse into his friends' outsider POV, and that they're just as snarky and sensible as he is, but he clearly lost his mind now. xD
(Also he says "peach blossoms", which has the mythological meaning and which is where Kunlun first met Wei, not "plum blossoms" which is the plant that actually grows where he's going. :D)
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So cute, SO SO SO CUTE OMG. And he washes himself in the cold water and suffers like a total dork and then pretends that he didn't do that, he's just naturally all clean and shaven. xD
"Clumsily, he cleared out the mud and snow in the yard and dusted everything inside the hut clean"
He has no idea how to clean but he cleans because it reminds him of Wei, aw, I could totally see modern Zhao Yunlan doing the same thing.
"The once-elegant garden of medicinal herbs was reborn as a vegetable garden."
Aww, and the vegetable garden is a parallel to modern times too. :D And now I'm wondering why Wei didn't have one (he eats, he knows how to cook), and why he had medicinal herbs instead? It's not like he needed them before Shen San arrived, and it doesn't sound like they were newly planted just for him. (Except Wei can make things grow really fast! So maybe they were planted just for Shen San after all. :D)
And now I'm reminded of the thread where we talked about drama SW having the first-aid kit just so that he can sneakily heal people. ;D
(Did this extra even exist before the drama? Because my impression from fandom is that it didn't, but I can't find the original release date anywhere?)
"In the thatched hut, Shen San had played Go against himself for three years."
OUCH. Especially since Wei is watching him the entire time.
"Wei gently sat down next to him, the tip of a finger carefully tracing each of his features.
Stroking further downward, Wei’s finger came to rest on the back of Shen San’s hand, which he then cradled in his own."
SO SOFT. ♡♡♡ Idec that he made him fall asleep deeper just to do that. xD
“I only brought two jars of wine. How dare you drink and spill an entire jar while I was gone?”
This is kinda sweet in a really sad way that he has figured out everything in the meantime, and this is what he chooses to say first because the other things are too heavy.
"Did I ever say I cared whether you were human or ghost or any other manner of monster?!"
AW. ♡♡♡ No version of Zhao Yunlan has ever cared about that. :D
"“I’m…really not a plum blossom spirit. There’s no use hitting the tree.”
Shen San paused."
LOLOL, awww. ♡♡♡ It doesn't say that they laughed, but I am so sure that they did. xD
"But to be fair, Wei had never tried to find out how many times Shen San had wet his pants as a kid or how many birds’ nests he’d destroyed. There was no need to know everything about Wei’s past either. So after their one-sided fight and Shen San’s one-sided forgiveness, the two of them made a home together."
They are so damn sweet, ahhh, how. ♡♡♡ (Also, the last part is exactly what happened at the end of the Weilan arc. :D)
"Whenever Shen San went out to hunt or had to travel long distances to buy things, he always thought of the person waiting for him at home, which made his heart glow with warmth, like there was a little furnace inside. That warmth took the edge off the chill of the cruel world."
♡♡♡♡♡! I gotta stop quoting every line where they're too damn sweet, but also I'm not going to do that. xD
"The two of them took their meals together and bedded down together, and in no time at all, a whole year had passed."
[Added later: I skimmed
Okayyyy, so apparently two re-reads in, I still need an explanation. xD Does it ever explicitly say that they had sex? Because this line could very much say that they did, but then immediately afterwards there's the porn book story, and it sounds like neither of them has ever encountered this kind of content before?? xD Like, the book is probably really extra, but?? (And then there are a few specific lines that I'll get to later that imo actually make it impossible that they had sex before the book.) And then the book story ends with "The two of them stared at each other. Shen San burst into laughter; his mortified Yao-xiong fled.", and then there's a bit of a time-skip, and then Shen San's health fails completely, so I'm assuming in this time-skip is where they actually had sex, but it's never spelled out, right?
"It seemed the Heavens had rewarded the people with a smooth year, and much like grass growing on the cliffside, a tiny gust of spring wind was all it took for them to start to thrive once again."
This is just a really gorgeous line. ♡
"He wanted to empty his money pouch right back out again. It wasn’t long before his horse was carrying all manner of New Year’s goods and snacks. Finally, when he’d bought all they could possibly carry, he decided to head home. He bought a few sweets that his Yao-xiong liked, fresh off the stove and wrapped in thick wax paper. He tucked them inside his clothes, where they might stay warm until he got home if he rushed quickly enough."
Awwww. ♡♡♡ This is like Zhao Yunlan buying Shen Wei a house and immediately ending up completely broke again. :D
"Afraid that he’d take seriously ill, Wei rushed to get him a change of clothes and have him take a hot bath. Shen San, confident in his own health, paid this no mind. Instead, he chased Wei in circles, teasing him and feeding him the sweets."
Lololol, THESE DORKS, I love them SO MUCH.
"Shen San wanted his Yao-xiong to go to bed early so he could carefully study his new book."
In addition to everything else, this also tells me that they didn't have sex yet. Like, he probably wouldn't be super eager to share the book even if they did, if it's really explicit, but he wouldn't hide it either? Also I'm laughing at "before he got the chance to study the essence of life". xD
"He kept reading, cheeks and ears flushing red. His blush deepened as his gaze landed on Shen San, then deepened more as he glanced back at the book, and still more again when he looked back at Master Shen San."
And this too, yeah, at this point it's just not possible that "bedded down together" means that they had sex. :P
"Only two people lived in the hut, and some stupid work of erotica could hardly cultivate a pair of legs for itself and run off."
One of my favorite lines. xD :D :D Maybe it can do that tho, lol, who knows, but probably not this fast. xD
"Yao-xiong’s personality was as transparent as water. A single glance was all it took to see through him."
Except when he's hiding in plain sight for three years, lol - I think any incarnation of Zhao Yunlan has a tendency to underestimate Shen Wei's sneakiness and deception. :P (But also yeah, tbf he is pretty transparent about sex. xD)
"In those few short days, Yao-xiong, who was pure as a blank sheet of paper, had read through it countless times, and the book’s thread binding had already come loose."
This is fantastic and I adore him, and also they clearly haven't had sex at this point, and bedding down just means literal sleeping together. :P
"Shen San had terrible sportsmanship. When he lost, he’d want to take back his moves; when Wei refused, Shen San would throw the pieces at him. For all Shen San’s famed prowess with weapons of assassination, not a single thrown stone ever hit his Yao-xiong, thanks to Wei’s ability to appear and disappear as he pleased. The result, however, was that they’d lost many of the Go pieces. At this point, they no longer even had enough to play a full game."
This is one of my absolute favorite slice-of-life bits of this story. :D :D :D
"The short-lived prosperity of the previous year seemed to have been borrowed time. It had lasted long enough to give people a false sense of security, and then it shattered around them."
Oooof, the parallel with what is happening with them and the home they made.
"“There was a tree on the mountain. Was that your original form? Did you transform from that tree?”
Wei…no, Shen Wei…seemed to choke on something. With difficulty, he said, “…No.”
“I didn’t think so. That tree looked ancient and rather ugly. You’re actually the snow that covers Kunlun Mountain year-round, aren’t you?”"
*WIBBLES* This is SO BEAUTIFUL?? ♡♡♡ Also, he immediately realized that his dreams had something to do with Shen Wei, that they were not just random nonsense, so I'm assuming he's getting pieces of his real Kunlun memories back just from being around Shen Wei.
"My mom said I was born with it, and she told me to take good care of it. She was afraid I wouldn’t live long without it."
I still want to know what it means to be born with a piece of wood, like, how did it actually show up, if it wasn't Wei and it wasn't Daqing? Or was it Wei after all?
“Xiao-Wei, wait for me. Don’t leave. Stay here in this garden. If there is a next life, I’ll come find you again, okay?”
XIAO-WEI. This is the first time Shen San calls him Xiao-Wei, and it's the very last thing he ever says, of course modern Shen Wei had a really strong reaction to it. ♡♡♡
"You promised. This time, you’d better keep your promise, Yao-xiong."
D: D: D: There is very little about it after this, but the knowledge that he promised to stay, and the knowledge that the other promise, the one which actually keeps Kunlun safe, is that he doesn't stay, must have been fucking Shen Wei up for years, along with everything else.
"Over the next ten years, Wei— Shen Wei —looked far and wide for Shen San’s lost wooden plaque.
When he finally held the dusty wooden plaque in his hands, a light shone on it, as though it were divine."
Aw! I want to know how he looked for it, and how he found it.
"Sealed atop the mountain was a descendant of the mystic White Tiger who had been sleeping there for tens of thousands of years. Shen Wei hung the wooden plaque around the beast’s neck, then gently stroked its head. He wiped away its early memories, leaving only those of its master, then undid the seal."
Why was Daqing sealed and who sealed him? The last we hear of him in the primordial past is that Kunlun let him go before his 'first death', when he turned his body into the Lamp. There's nothing about anyone doing anything to Daqing at all.
At least it's clear that the memory problems are because of Shen Wei. Which I guess is understandable because otherwise Daqing would remember Shen Wei? (Then again, idk if it was necessary - Daqing knows that there has only ever been one Guardian, and yet he he didn't reveal it to any of the incarnations, so he probably wouldn't have revealed anything about SW either? Is there another reason to wipe his memories?)
"And so, the Soul-Guarding Order came to be."
So it's been "tens of thousands of years" (as it says above) that the plaque just ended up with every incarnation of Kunlun, without anyone coordinating it. It's cool af, but also how? Were the Heavens doing that?
"But though he waited a long time, there was nothing outside but a branch of plum blossoms on the verge of withering and falling."
Ooof, the symbolism is a gut-punch!
And I love the illustration, from Shen Wei's POV, with the blurry people in the foreground. ♡
"In tens of thousands of years, that was the only time he crossed the line.
It was nearly his undoing.
The Great Sage Shennong surely was great, glorious, and correct."
Why did the situation with Zhao Yunlan end up being so different? I know it was heading for a terrible ending too, but that was just because of the Seal falling apart, not because of who SW was. They figured out the blood thing, Zhao Yunlan wasn't going to die from being around Shen Wei. (How did SW figure that out btw? And how did Daqing know that it's a thing? Was someone studying the gui and how their hearts work in the meantime and it became 'common knowledge'?) And they ended up solving all the other problems too, on top of that, though I guess that was partially a gamble/coincidence.
So is is possible that if SW had kept crossing the line, they would have fixed the entire problem earlier (or at least they would have had good long lives together), or was there anything special about Zhao Yunlan? Or is it actually true that Kunlun's souls shatter from being around SW, and not even the blood can stop that? And it's just a very slow process so it hasn't become a problem yet, but it would have become a problem if Kunlun's incarnations kept staying mortal and SW stayed a gui?
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I love this extra so much ♥♥♥
Aww, and the vegetable garden is a parallel to modern times too
Yes! They get to have a garden again! ♥
Did this extra even exist before the drama?
The earliest mention I could find is from 2019. One post on xitter said it was released after the drama extra, which necessarily puts it after the drama itself. (Take it with a grain of salt, it's xitter after all.)
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Damn, yeah, now I'd love to see that!
Aww, and the vegetable garden is a parallel to modern times too. :D
YES, great catch!
Except Wei can make things grow really fast! So maybe they were planted just for Shen San after all. :D
Yeah, I don't think it existed before that! I'm not sure if the cottage even did. (Though Wei must have lived somewhere all this time, especially when there was no Kunlun reincarnation to follow around ... unless he followed him down to the Netherworld too, until he was reborn?)
And now I'm reminded of the thread where we talked about drama SW having the first-aid kit just so that he can sneakily heal people. ;D
Haha, yeah, excellent parallel! :D
Did this extra even exist before the drama? Because my impression from fandom is that it didn't, but I can't find the original release date anywhere?
I can't find publication dates for any of the extras, but my fan translation labels it as "final extra", which must mean it came out after the one that was a response to the drama.
This is kinda sweet in a really sad way that he has figured out everything in the meantime, and this is what he chooses to say first because the other things are too heavy.
AWWWWW. *sniffles* You put that so well!
Added later: I skimmed
LOL, glad that could clear up your confusion! I totally feel you on that, yeah. I was very ??? too as I read the official translation, until I looked at the fan translation and went AHA!!!
and then there's a bit of a time-skip, and then Shen San's health fails completely, so I'm assuming in this time-skip is where they actually had sex, but it's never spelled out, right?
Yeah, that's how I'm interpreting the official translation - they have sex during the time skip.
Maybe it can do that tho, lol, who knows
LOL, we had the same thought there! :D
I think any incarnation of Zhao Yunlan has a tendency to underestimate Shen Wei's sneakiness and deception. :P
Yeah, you're totally right there! But also, as you say, he's definitely entirely transparent about THIS. *g*
Also, he immediately realized that his dreams had something to do with Shen Wei, that they were not just random nonsense, so I'm assuming he's getting pieces of his real Kunlun memories back just from being around Shen Wei.
Yes, that's how I interpreted it too!
Or was it Wei after all?
Coming to this conclusion, yeah.
XIAO-WEI. This is the first time Shen San calls him Xiao-Wei, and it's the very last thing he ever says, of course modern Shen Wei had a really strong reaction to it. ♡♡♡
RIGHT?????? OMG. *flails* SO GOOD.
(The drama should have done something like this, dammit!)
but the knowledge that he promised to stay, and the knowledge that the other promise, the one which actually keeps Kunlun safe, is that he doesn't stay, must have been fucking Shen Wei up for years
Yeah. It's such a horrible situation to be in. :(
Aw! I want to know how he looked for it, and how he found it.
Oh yeah, that would be fun!
Why was Daqing sealed and who sealed him? The last we hear of him in the primordial past is that Kunlun let him go before his 'first death', when he turned his body into the Lamp. There's nothing about anyone doing anything to Daqing at all.
Yeah, I'm still totally baffled by this too.
And you have a great point about whether messing with Daqing's memories was even necessary. I don't really get why SW did that.
So it's been "tens of thousands of years" (as it says above) that the plaque just ended up with every incarnation of Kunlun, without anyone coordinating it. It's cool af, but also how? Were the Heavens doing that?
My theory is now that SW did it.
(Also, pretty sure it's not literally tens of thousands of years and that's just an expression - isn't it said that the PP was around five thousand years ago? Or am I confusing something here?)
They figured out the blood thing, Zhao Yunlan wasn't going to die from being around Shen Wei.
Was that a permanent solution, or just a temporary stopgap? I mean, with the seal failing and both of them expecting to die, it's not like they needed to be thinking long-term.
(How did SW figure that out btw? And how did Daqing know that it's a thing? Was someone studying the gui and how their hearts work in the meantime and it became 'common knowledge'?)
You ask the important questions! I want to know, too! *g*
Or is it actually true that Kunlun's souls shatter from being around SW, and not even the blood can stop that? And it's just a very slow process so it hasn't become a problem yet, but it would have become a problem if Kunlun's incarnations kept staying mortal and SW stayed a gui?
That's my understanding, yeah. :( :( :(
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Woohoo!
SHEN SAN MY BELOVED, this is one of my favorite stories in every way
*HIGH FIVE*
All of it is just lovely.
(Looking forward to more of your art!)
and that's all without even knowing that he's the Guardian, he's just a regular person unhinged enough to do all of that
Yes, and I really love that! No special destiny or anything (so far as he knows), he's just sure of himself and his ethics, and he does what needs doing. ♥ ♥ ♥
And obviously he has something in his mouth, good for him. :D :D
Hee! :D
I love the entire stick idea that he comes up the moment he sees her fear, and this is just so soft. ♡
Yes! He just takes her fear seriously and comes up with a solution on the spot, no hesitation, no questioning. ♥
Are these creatures Yao or just regular animals? (I'm assuming they're not spirits if they bleed.)
Good question! I figure animals of some sort, but I don't know.
Of course he's giving things to anyone who needs them no matter how valuable they may be. :D
To be fair, he doesn't think it's valuable - I don't think he takes it seriously until his health deteriorates. But he still gives up something he's had from childhood, all for a gesture to make her feel safer. ♥
And I love that it's not in fact the jumping off the cliff that got him injured so badly. :D
Haha, yeah, great point!
How did he get to this conclusion? Is it just the unnaturally long hair? Or is his mind just rambling and happens to be right? :P
Unearthly beauty and unusual long hair is kind of the standard look of an immortal, so you can't blame him for jumping to conclusions. *g*
I'm assuming it wasn't particularly hard for someone who rules over rivers. :)
LOL, I hadn't even thought of that!
Is this Wei's natural smell? He's so worried about being filthy that I thought his super clean smell in modern times was him overcompensating. (Not because his natural smell would be bad but because it's not good enough for his standards.) Is he already overcompensating here, or is it just another thing he's worried about for no reason?
Damn, these are all VERY good questions and I have no real answer. But I like this just being his natural smell.
he is a ghost and he is a mountain god
YES! Damn, you're right, "mountain gui" is basically what he is! And if he did name himself, then awwwww. ♥
This is also why I like this version better, where Kunlun never calls him any name, because to me it implies that he picked this name after Kunlun gave him the mountains.
I 100% love this headcanon and will adopt it immediately. :D
He already taught himself to cook, aw. ♡
He really did! And it surely can't have had anything to do with Kunlun? He was avoiding Kunllun's reincarnations and had no reason to expect he'd ever cook for any of them himself. Damn, I want to know ALLLL the circumstances that led to this!
This is so 100% modern Weilan, lol, and they're just so dorky and wonderful. ♡♡♡
Ahahaha, yeah, it really is the same dynamic! Except SOFTER. So good!
Awww, he takes it back and pretends he's talking shit when Wei freaks out, but he 100% means it. ♡♡♡
I don't think he's pretending - he was talking shit, only then he found he actually did mean it. Oops? :D
Okay, I'm reading this for the third time too and I'm still making audible squee sounds, he's SO DAMN CUTE. :D They both are. ♡♡♡ AWWWW.
They really are!!!!!!
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It's probably my favourite chapter, and I can't believe it wasn't always part of this story! It's vital to Shen Wei's background and motivation.
Aaah, the promise still makes me tear up...
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And you're completely right, it's crucial backstory, this makes a HUGE difference for Shen Wei's motivation! I'm amazed that it seems like it was only written many years later. (I wonder if priest had the idea in her head before and just didn't find a good spot to put this into the novel, or if she only realised later how well that would explain so many things ...)
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*joins the chorus of loving this extra to pieces* On my first read, this was the part of the novel that sent me to AO3 for more. I think I read all the Shen San fics, at the time.
I feel like everything I have to say about it has probably already been said here, so I'll just hit a few points and then go reply to everyone's comments, lol.
When it says he smelled of alcohol, I thought of drama!ZYL's apartment, full of booze (the coffee table and display shelves, as well as the empty bottles in ep 8). And of course he has something in his mouth, even if it's just a blade of grass. *hearts*
He just stood and picked at his ears.
They put the ear-picking into the conversation with Zhang Shi in the drama, lol. *hearts*
Aww, Shen San's eyes are like stars.
his broken left leg was in a wooden splint. Ointment had been applied to all his wounds. He felt refreshed.
Cf. The start of YOHE. :D
Ooh, there's a little bell at the window. Bells are a theme?
“Th-then, I-I’ll be yours to command.”
Ooh, role reversal from YOHE in the drama, when SW says, When everything is finished, whatever wishes Benefactor has, I will fulfill them to my utmost ability.
Then he stuck a wooden plank in the ground and wrote: “A hole full of shitty dogs. Signed, your grandpa Shen.”
LOLOL! I love him.
There was no need to know everything about Wei’s past either.
Letting him have his secrets, like in ep 23. :D
So after their one-sided fight and Shen San’s one-sided forgiveness, the two of them made a home together.
Awwwwwwwwwww! <33333
I looooooove the description of Shen San going back to the bookshop to get the book, lolol! *noogies him forever* And awwww, Wei finding it and being even more squirrelly about it, lol. *smishes them both*
Shen San's terrible sportsmanship made me facepalm. OMG! Shocking!
The naming!!!11!!1 And then Shen San clinging on, even on his deathbed, and the promise that carries on to his next lifetime (and presumably on after that, to some degree, given ZYL's disaffected playboy "never been in love before" attitude). *sniffles* Poor both of them!!
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Aw yay, that's awesome! ♡♡♡ (There are still so few fics, even now!)
"When it says he smelled of alcohol, I thought of drama!ZYL's apartment, full of booze (the coffee table and display shelves, as well as the empty bottles in ep 8)."
Yesss, he is so early-canon drama!ZYL, disheveled and sitting in the gutter too. xD
"And of course he has something in his mouth, even if it's just a blade of grass. *hearts*"
:D :D :D *HIGH FIVE*
"They put the ear-picking into the conversation with Zhang Shi in the drama, lol. *hearts*"
Which episode is that? :D (And I guess the novel took it from the drama here, hah. :D)
"Ooh, there's a little bell at the window. Bells are a theme?"
All, I didn't even put it together with all the other bells. Definitely a theme!
"Ooh, role reversal from YOHE in the drama, when SW says, When everything is finished, whatever wishes Benefactor has, I will fulfill them to my utmost ability."
Asdfghgfjdksldkfjgkfdl;; ♡♡♡ Let me just, like, make a sound, lolol, omg. It's not like my mind doesn't go there every time in YOHE anyway, but DAMN, now I'll never unsee this comparison to this extremely nsfw line and I'm very happy about that. :D :D
"Letting him have his secrets, like in ep 23. :D"
Awww! ♡
"I looooooove the description of Shen San going back to the bookshop to get the book, lolol! *noogies him forever* And awwww, Wei finding it and being even more squirrelly about it, lol. *smishes them both*"
Lolol, now I want Wei to find out how Shen San originally reacted to the book. :D :D
"And then Shen San clinging on, even on his deathbed, and the promise that carries on to his next lifetime (and presumably on after that, to some degree, given ZYL's disaffected playboy "never been in love before" attitude). *sniffles*"
Ahh, I didn't put it together! "frittering his life away, a silver-tongued flirt" is literally Zhao Yunlan pre-canon - it's 100% canon to me now that he also can't settle down because of the promise he doesn't remember. And there's even more than that - Shen San was like that too. (It's apparently even more spelled out in the original version.) So it didn't start with this promise, it's the fact that they're all Kunlun who already misses someone. AW.
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:D :D :D
I feel like everything I have to say about it has probably already been said here, so I'll just hit a few points and then go reply to everyone's comments, lol.
Aw! I'm sure you'd have plenty more to say. ♥
When it says he smelled of alcohol, I thought of drama!ZYL's apartment, full of booze
Yes, that's such a good point!
They put the ear-picking into the conversation with Zhang Shi in the drama, lol. *hearts*
Aw! I didn't even think of that. I wonder if the causality goes the other way round, with priest seeing that in the drama and liking it?
Letting him have his secrets, like in ep 23. :D
YES! It's such a great attitude from him. :D
and presumably on after that, to some degree, given ZYL's disaffected playboy "never been in love before" attitude
Oh! You're so right, it doesn't stop with the next reincarnation. I mean, there's some element of it already there from Kunlun, but I'm sure the unremembered promise (and the time spent with SW) reinforces it. &hearts: &hearts: &hearts:
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