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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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It says: half of the words were already burned off. Only the right half of the characters were still legible. The words on the back—“Guard the souls of the living, bring peace to the hearts of the dead”—were entirely gone.
Might things would have gone differently at the Lamp lighting (or at the Yanluo Court) if those parts had still been extant? Is that why Shen Wei had to be the one to light the Lamp and bring peace to the gui?
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