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alias_sqbrGuide and links
Content Notes for the book in general: consent issues, sexualisation of children, gore, mixed treatment of cross-dressing, suicide, child harm, incest subtext, emotional abuse, racist subtext, ANGST
*sighs and adds "racist subtext"*
Still, there was a lot more Shi Qing Xuan in this part than I remembered!
Now to decide if I want to reread Book 2!
Pros: I am likely to gain a lot of understanding, I spent that whole book super confused.
Cons: depressing, NO SHI QING XUAN AT ALL (since they hadn't been born yet)
Thoughts on Chapters 25-57 (the rest of book 1), spoilers for everything.
Wait, Yong'An is a real Chinese city? NOW I AM EVEN MORE CONFUSED. It's in the East of China, which is where YongAn the country is situated.
Hua Cheng: You're not going to ask whether I'm human?
Xie Lian: Relationships should depend on chance and whether we're on the same wavelength, not on identity.
Xie Lian is much more disturbed by how very comfortable he was being carried in Hua Cheng's arms lol.
Oh! This translator is using "Guoshi" where the previous one used "Tutor"! So Ban Yue was also a Guoshi.
She was also mixed race, YongAn and BanYue, and mistreated by both. She went to YongAn to learn black magic, and was always gloomy and unsociable, but eventually gained Kei Mo's friendship and trust.
And then she opened the gates to the YongAn army, and Banyue was destroyed. Now the BanYue soldiers hunger for the blood of YongAn people, but Ban Yue keeps throwing them into the pit, and then the soldiers catch her, beat her up, and hang her over the pit.
Ban Yue: Small, wearing black, voice like a sulky child. Fifteen or sixteen, both eyes blackened, not unbeautiful but unhappy, face covered in bruises.
OH XIE LIAN WAS THE NICE GENERAL somehow I forgot that. He got conscripted into the YongAn army, but mostly just tried to kill bandits rather than do anything warlike. He met and tried to take care of Ban Yue as a young orphan. Also the fake name he used was Hua Xie which Hua Cheng is quietly pleased by.
...and then in a battle he was trying to save Ban Yue and got trampled to death then thrown into the river. His body washed back to YongAn and he recovered for a while then went on his way.
Mu Qing creates a wave of fire by biting his hand to release drops of blood, but it consumes a lot of spiritual power.
A-ZHAO IS PEI SU
Haaaa I guess one good thing about being so UTTERLY confused the first time through this is that I get to enjoy the twists twice!
Pei Su was another little YongAn kid Xie Lian met, and a friend of Ban Yue.
Uuurgh and the reason she let him into the city was so that he could massacre all of Ban Yue (who afaict are based on a real life oppressed muslim ethnic minority) because LITERALLY ALL OF THEM were about to become SUICIDE BOMBERS.
>:(
>:(
MAYBE THIS IS WHY I FORGOT THIS PLOT
Pei Su: The BanYue people were evil I have no regret in killing them.
Shi Qing Xuan: What about all the innocent travellers you killed afterwards?
He Xuan glares at Xie Lian but pauses when he sees Hua Cheng (possibly feeling a bit weird about being in female form haha)
Shi Qing Xuan is very Judging Goddess at Pei Su, who only bows and answers honestly. He had to cover up what he'd done, and it would be noticed if he directly murdered the soldier ghosts, so he just used the snakes (which he had also learned to control) to drive travellers to the soldiers.
Shi Qing Xuan: Your General Pei wouldn't have done something like this.
Peri Su: This young one knows.
Xie Lian assumes Shi Qing Xian is going to help General Pei cover everything up, and they're not at all offended and say "It's normal to worry. There's some unpleasant culture up in the heavens."
"The Wind Master opened her fan. On it was the word for wind, 'Feng', and three inclining lines like wind on the back."
Hua Cheng approves of Shi Qing Xuan wanting to take care of things themselves and not have Xie Lian involved.
Ah! Quan Yi Zhen ascended around the same time as Pei Su, and Pei Ming supposedly wants to oust him from the West so Pei Su can have the job. Feng Xin thinks Pei Ming might try to get back at Xie Lian for messing with Pei Su's chances, but Hua Cheng thinks he's too proud to be that underhanded. Xie Lian worries about Shi Qing Xuan but everyone else agrees they're safe with Shi Wu Du's backing.
Xie Lian, silently: Yes but I used to have powerful backing too and look at me :/
Xie Lian: Phew, that's all done, I'm exhausted. Time to cook dinner.
Feng Xin: EMERGENCY IN HEAVEN GOTTA GO.
Xie Lian: Guess he's not hungry. What about you...Hua Cheng?
Hua Cheng: ...heh. I prefer San Lang.
Xie Lian: Crimson Rain Sought Flower?
Hua Cheng: Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince :)
It's been a long time since Xie Lian heard anyone call him that and sound sincere. (This whole time Hua Cheng was pretending to be an ordinary teen boy and Xie Lian was pretending to be a humble Taoist, so this conversation is both of them going "I figured out who you are already but it doesn't change anything")
Ban Yue: You said you wanted to save the world, and I wanted to be like you. Can you tell me where I went wrong?
Xie Lian: ...I'm sorry. I didn't know how to do that then, and I still don't.
Ahh she let herself keep being captured and beaten by the BanYue soldiers so they could vent their resentment and thus pass on, and Pei Su captured YongAn travellers for them to kill to speed the process up, and thus make her suffer less D:
Xie Lian: Are you close to Black Water Xuan?
Hua Cheng: No. And those lower than Supreme have no right to speak to me.
Xie Lian: Ah, I can't believe I said I wanted to save the world. I said so many arrogant things when I was young. Once I even told someone 'if you don't know how to live on, live for me'! I don't know what happened to them, but how could I dare say that?
Hua Cheng, who was that person, is quiet for a while, then says "To save the world is brave, but foolish. And although foolish, it's brave."
Hua Cheng: We've only know each other a few days, is it alright for you to say so much to me?
Xie Lian: Those who've known each other for decades can become strangers in a day. We've met by chance, and may part by chance. If we like each other we shall continue to meet. If we don't we shall part. There's no banquet in the world that doesn't come to an end, so I'll say what I want to say.
Hua Cheng: If...if my real face was ugly would you still want to see it?
Xie Lian, deciding the stories about him being deformed must be true: I want to se your real face because we're friends and should be honest with each other.
Hua Cheng: Then, next time we meet.
They fall asleep next to each other on the tiny bamboo mat. Xie Lian wakes up alone but with a thin chain around his neck, and on it is a clear crystal ring.
As the number one martial god, Jun Wu spent his days deep in cultivation behind closed doors or out patrolling the realm
MMM
The Heavenly Capital: All manner of palaces each with their own history and style, sculpted pillars and muraled buildings here, little bridges and streams there. Main road is "Martial Deity Avenue", "there were many such roads built in remembrance of Jun Wu in the mortal realm".
Lang Qian Qiu: A young man with thick brows, bright eyes, and a pure genuine smile that gave an air of youthfulness...or as Mu Qing would put it, foolishness. His armour gave an air of nobility rather than battle.
Ah, the kind of exile Pei Ming is given is "temporary banishment" and might only last for 30-50 years if he behaves well, which Xie Lian considers barely any time at all haha.
Ling Wen: Dressed in black, dark circles under her eyes and arms full of scrolls. You know, unlike everyone else, I don't think she's ever described as good looking (or ugly), like she gives off this air of 'my appearance doesn't matter just fill in your damn forms'.
The Great Martial Hall: layers of golden shingles pyramided. Only ascended gods can enter.
Jun Wu: Eyes obsidian black but bright and clear. Deep voice.
Oooh his name translates to "The Lord, I am" that's very...biblical.
Pei Ming: 26-27, lyrical voice, graceful and confident, even more handsome than his statue. Very much the charming type. "From fairies and lady officials to female ghosts and demons, as long as they were beautiful he would pluck them. Nonetheless, his favourite type was still the ladies of the mortal realm. Many indecent love stories has him as the male lead, and if Xie Lian's cultivation didn't require purity he'd have read them out of curiosity"
Pei Ming brings the empty shell of the clone A-Zhao that Pei Su was using, and proves the weapon marks match E-Ming.
Male Shi Qing Xuan: clear bright eyes, a whisk, a long sword on his back, a folding fan in his white jaded belt. Form graceful and elegant, expression spirited. Glowing with spiritual energy.
They defend Xia Lian and Pei Ming looks at them like an annoying child and continues to argue that Hua Cheng was the real mastermind. He wants to interrogate Ban Yue but Pei Su says to let it go, that he'll accept his punishment.
Pei Ming: Qing Xuan, for your brother's sake, can you not stir up trouble?
Shi Qing Xuan, losing their smile for the first time so far: General Pei, there's no need to use my brother against me, I'm not afraid of him.
MXTX note: In this text, to become a god, one must first become a hero. First adept at the martial or civil. Second have to have luck. Spiritual potion on the side of the road works too.
Between the great hall and back chamber is a mural. The front is the golden palace radiant in a sea of clouds. The back is a map with a pearl for every Great Martial Temple, there are even more now than there were 800 years ago.
Ghost city is "at the crossroads of the mortal and ghost realms" in Lang Qian Qiu's domain, does that mean it's near historical XianLe?
Xie Lian: Um Lord Wind Master...why did you disguise yourself as a woman?
Shi Qing Xuan: Was I not beautiful?
Xie Lian: Yes? But-
Shi Qing Xuan: And that's why!
They explain to Xie Lian about the three tumours, saying they wish Shi Wu Du would stop hanging around Pei Ming. "It doesn't matter if you're mortal, or a god, or a demon, you have to take responsibility for your own actions. Bullying a little girl is low."
Xie Lian: The Wind Master is a defender of justice.
Shi Qing Xuan: You're not bad yourself!
And then they turn into their more powerful female form and spend the rest of the trip to Ghost City trying to persuade Xie Lian to join them, saying "Women have stronger auras of yin, making it easier to hide in the Ghost City crowds." They also offer Xie Lian some of a jug of strong spirits.
I can't be bothered describing all the weird ghosts in Ghost City but it's Chapter 35. We also get a description of Jian Lang in her sex worker getup which is kind of depressing :(
There's a pig butcher selling human meat called Butcher Zhu, he ends up cooking at the final banquet haha.
The verses over the red and magnificent Gambler's Den, as written in Hua Cheng's wild hand writing: "Money over life." "Gains over Shame." "HAHAHAHA."
Xie Lian: This man is betting his daughter's future on the chance to kill his business rivals? And everyone thinks it's normal? Well I'm sure Hua Cheng, who owns this casino and has defined it's rules for centuries and is sitting watching and saying nothing, will just...step up and a put a stop to it. Any minute now.
Shi Qing Xuan is scared of Hua Cheng in a way they haven't been of anything else so far.
...ok so on the surface Hua Cheng is beating the crap out of Lang Qian Qiu for messing with his casino, but he probably also hates him for being a Prince of YongAn, especially if he knows Lang Qian Qiu 'killed' Xie Lian. (EDIT: At this point he doesn't)
(Also, his right eye is his bad eye)
"Human" teen Hua Cheng has a crooked ponytail.
Ghost City Hua Cheng looks 18-19. Loose hair over vibrant red clothing with an aura of demonic energy. A thin braid tied with a red coral bead. Silver vambraces, bootstraps, waistband, scimitar. He and the blade are slender and tall/long.
Ghosts: The lord changed his skin again today! So tender and firm!
Hmm. I wonder what he usually looks like.
Shi Qing Xuan scolds Lang Qian Qiu like a dumbass younger brother who needs to mend his ways. They're a little quick to confidently jump to conclusions, and not as clever as Xie Lian, but still a billion times more sensible and competent than Lang Qian Qiu.
Yin Yue: A black clad figure in a mask "with a face smiling woefully" who other ghosts fear and call "The XianXianYue Officer" which means waning crescent moon. (Ah, Yue like in ATLA! Wow a Chinese word I actually know >.>)
Both the heavens and ghost realm have glamorous architecture, heaven emphasising prominence and prestige, Ghost City bewitchment and frivolity.
Paradise Manor has a thick snow white carpet, smells of perfume, and has a beaded curtain. Pretty barefoot women dance and play music and playfully tease Xie Lian with their eyes. (Chapter 39)
Hua Cheng why is your house full of hot women. I'm not judging, just confused.
Hua Cheng says the chain with his ashes "Is nothing important just keep it for fun" but Xie Lian knows better than to believe him.
"This is my residence, not my home. A home has family." ;_;
The name Lang Ying comes from little Ying (his choice) + the national surname of YongAn (Xe Lian's choice). He's unambiguously a ghost, how did I miss that /o\
Ahaha Xie Lian and Hua Cheng aren't looking at the hot serving girls but then one with a "sensual and seductive figure" winks at Xie Lian and he spits out his wine realising it's Shi Qing Xuan.
Shi Qing Xuan in skimpy silk dress: I CAN'T BREATHE. I'm going to be choked to death by this thing! *changes into man and rips at top, flops onto floor*
Xie Lian: D:
Palm torch: simple spell making light.
Shi Qing Xuan gives Xie Lian some spiritual power with a gentle tap lol.
During the ridiculous dungeon adventure they both fall and hurt their legs, Xie Lian is used to pain but Shi Qing Xuan screams then says "I don't know if I'm ok. I've never fallen like this before. Your Highness, there's way too much thrill working with you."
baby :(
Some (sigh) savage southern cannibals throw a rock and lightly graze Shi Qing Xuan's face at which point they knock all of them down with a massive wind blast shouting "YOU IGNORANT HILLBILLY SAVAGES! NOT ONLY DID YOU NOT COWER IN FEAR BEFORE ME, THE LORD WIND MASTER, YOU DARE RUIN MY FACE!! UNBELIEVABLE!!"
Then they turn to Xie Lian and say "You saw it, right? It was self defence!" They stop to fix their clothes and hair but there's only so much they can do with the bedraggled purple silk dress, and Xie Lian thinks mournfully of the scintillating powerful figure he once thought them.
All these misadventures are because Xie Lian got Shi Qing Xuan to activate the dice-roll based teleportation arrays, the moment Xie Lian does it they get to their destination: the dungeon.
It's interesting knowing this is all fake.
He Xuan is sitting calmly crosslegged, I think with his arms chained, but has been made to look unkempt and bloody. I'll call him Ming Yi since that's who he's playing.
Xie Lian and Shi Qing Xuan have been sneaking up in the dark, but then Ming Yi says "I have nothing to say" and Shi Qing Xuan immediately lights a hand torch and says "It's you!"
You know what 3 names is too many let's just go with Qing Xuan.
Xie Lian: You know each other?
Ming Yi looks surprised and like he wants to say "It's you!" as well, but instead says "I don't know him".
Qing Xuan: Is it so shameful to know me? What hurtful words, Ming-Xiong! I'm your best friend!
Ming Yi: I have no friends that would run around in that sort of attire.
Xie Lian: Ming- oh, the Earth master!
Qing Xuan: You've met.
Ming Yi, grimly: No we haven't.
Apparently -Xiong is a more formal version way to say "older brother" than gege, but is used informally between male friends like "bro".
Hua Cheng's convoluted doors end up dropping Xie Lian into Hua Cheng's lap in his armoury, which Hua Cheng looks both pleased and unsurprised by.
Xie Lian: San Lang, I don't know what the misunderstanding was between you and the Lord Earth Master, but let's all calm down and talk this out.
Hua Cheng: Earth Master? That's nothing more than an inept subordinate of mine.
He implies he realised this 'subordinate' was a spy for for Heaven when he saw Ming Yi with Qing Xuan in Ban Yue.
Qing Xuan watches the two of them politely talk back and forth then suddenly shouts "Wind come to me! I don't think either of you are going to make a move first, so I'll be the bad guy this time." and blows a hole through the roof.
Hua Cheng: I have a fan too :) *waves a metal fan and sharp gold foils shoot towards them*
It ends with Hua Cheng's house on fire and Xie Lian bleeding, Xie Lian feels terrible about the first and I can only assume Hua Cheng feels EVEN WORSE about the second.
Qing Xuan: Um...I'm really sorry, your Highness! This is all my fault! If the Crimson Rain Sought Flower comes knocking for paybacks you just tell him to come to me!
The moment they get back to heaven Qing Xuan snaps their fingers to get back into regular robes and releases a thousand merits to encourage people to come to the hall and help with the wounded.
While in action, Shi Qing Xuan and Xie Lian were ridiculous and hilarious, but once in the heavenly court, they changed their composure, calm and poised, mindful of their behaviour.
Qing Xuan is the only person defending Xie Lian against Lang Qian Qiu once the whole Evil Guoshi thing comes out. Pei Ming is quietly pissed that they choose to defend this rubbish god nobody likes but actively testify against Pei Su.
In Chapter 46 Xie Lian has a memory of training Lang Qian Qiu which is interesting but VERY SAD, discussing how to solve unsolvable ethical dilemmas. Lang Qian Qiu asks to learn how Xie Lian stopped a strike, and Xie Lian says he didn't stop it, he just let it hit him, and a Crown Prince like Lang Qian Qiu should not use that kind of technique.
Xie Lian wakes and thinks he's spend the rest of his life paying back Hua Cheng for the palace if he has to.
Mu Qing comes to Xie Lian's palace with medicine for his arm while he's under house arrest, but seems smug that noone else will visit. Except of course Feng Xin does too, and they get into a fight, projecting their own guilt for leaving Xie Lian into resentment of each other.
I was inspired to draw a comic of what happened next.
Awww but Feng Xin and Mu Qing are so worried when Hua Cheng shows up and pulls Xie Lian into a magic door (IN HEAVEN. So badass)
In heaven's chatroom:
Mu Qing, sounding worried: Xie Lian escaped.
Feng Xin, angrily: He was kidnapped!
Gods: We must make chase!
Hua Cheng: Sup everyone, miss me? :)
Gods: ........ *awkward coughing*
Haha oh nooo Qing Xuan explains about the dice and Feng Xin rushes in...to "the place he fears most"- a women's bath. (Mu Qing isn't embarassed at all,skygiants's theory that he has a deeply repressed crush on Xie Lian certainly fits the data)
Hua Cheng avoids touching Xie Lian, which Xie Lian thinks is a sign he's pissed off but is obviously him feeling self conscious. I guess he was originally just going to be Xie Lian's VERY RESPECTFUL secretly pining friend but then realised Xie Lian's as into him as he's into Xie Lian.
Suddenly Lang Qian Qiu makes it through the magic door and throws a sword in their path: Fang Xin. "Long and slender, black like jade, smoother than a mirror, cut in half by a thin silver white line."
Fang Xin moans happily to be held by Xie Lian again. (But it is even happier when it finally returns to Jun Wu in the end) Fang Xin means "affection of a young woman". Jun Wu has a different name for it I have forgotten.
Lang Qian Qiu says he's determined to duel even if Xie Lian kills him (which he would) So Xie Lian agrees...and sneakily ties him up when he's not looking.
Lang Qian Qiu shouts 'Use a sword if you're a man!" But Xie Lian didn't care whether he acted like a man. There's definitely some criticism of toxic masculinity in this book.
Xie Lian: Yes, I was cunning, but so what? If it was anyone else you'd be dead. Think about it on your own. Next time, don't get in other people's way.
Lang Qian Qiu: I don't know if the past you or current you is real.
Xie Lian: They're all me. But you were seventeen then. Of course I'm teaching you a different lesson now.
Lang Qian Qiu: NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO TO ME I WILL NEVER BE LIKE YOU.
Xie Lian: Ha! GOOD.
This is a nice contrast to the later scene with Jun Wu and Xie Lian.
Hua Cheng destroyed Green Goblin's last lair 50 years ago, and has been chasing him down ever since.
Oh god I forgot that for a few decades after the fall of XianLe there was a thing for making new kneeling statues of him to spit and kick D: Green Goblin's using one as a footstool (turns out he started the trend) and Hua Cheng is visibly furious, which doesn't happen often.
Green Goblin, don't slutshame Pei Ming, even if he deserves it. He asks his minions if they've done "that thing" that would cause Quan Yi Zhen and 'that man whore Pei" to start fighting. Ah! He's spreading rumours that Pei Ming is trying oust Quan Yi Zhen so Pei Ming can take his place.
Gu Zi is described as "not even ten". He read as more like 7 to me. Aw his dad is saying "Don't be scared".
There's a trend of Xie Lian telling muggles "Don't run!" and them running and thus getting into danger.
Wow Hua Cheng is viciously violent to Green Goblin. Not surprising given their history, you just don't often see Hua Cheng being quite this shouty.
BaQian Taizi temple, where Xie Lian trained, translates to Temple of Eight Thousand Crowned Princes.
Green Goblin/Qi Rong: Looks like Xie Lian. Their noses and lips are similar, but while Xie Lian's eyes are calm and peaceful, Qi Rong's brows are high and sharp, his eyes thin and slant. A good looking young man, but one not to be messed with.
Xie Lian gently pats Hua Cheng on the back while he's smashing Qi Rong's face into the ground, to try and calm him down. Hua Cheng pats his back in return...freezing Xie Lian's body still, so that he can't stop Qi Rong explaining that the royalty of YongAn weren't killed by a lone crazed Guoshi, but by a conspiracy of citizens of XianLe. "As always, my cousin tried to make everyone happy and satisfied noone."
Ahaha, once he's freed Xie Lian stops Hua Cheng beating Qi Rong up...but uses his knowledge of his cousin's psychology to calmly and politely eviscerate his self esteem. Power couple.
And then Qi Rong insults Hua Cheng and Xie Lian punches him, the first time he's ever been violent towards Qi Rong in all this time (Qi Rong is delighted to see his cousin come down to his level)
Lang Qian Qiu: You said XianLe and YongAn were all the same people and could be friends!
Xie Lian: It's true!
Qi Rong: We XianLe will always hate you and killed your family :D
Lang Qian Qiu: *picks up Qi Rong and throws him into the pot he was going to use to cook Gu Zi*
Qi Rong, dissolving: LOOK AT YOUR GREAT DISCIPLE COUSIN :D
Ah! So Hua Cheng has known for some time that Qi Rong was behind the assassination, and had assumed Fang Xin was just a lackey of Qi Rong's. But when Lang Qian Qiu identified Xie Lian as Fang Xin he knew that wasn't true.
Xie Lian: How do you know I didn't hate the YongAn people?
Hua Cheng: You might have had such thoughts, but you wouldn't have acted on them.
Xie says not to have so much faith in people, that he'll just be disappointed. He says Hua Cheng seems to be someone from his past, and asks who, then apologises and says it doesn't matter.
Qing Xuan: See, I'm more powerful as a woman! But you wouldn't let me! AHHH HUA CHENG D:
Feng Xin: D:
Feng Xin's bow is called FengShen, "God of Wind", and was a gift from Jun Wu.
Qing Xuan: Hua Cheng! Crimson Rain Sought Flower! D-d-don't do anything rash! The burning of your Paradise Manor was an accident! If you're displeased, we can talk! The heavens can pay you back. Let go of His Highness and we can talk.
Awww but then they give Xie Lian a significant look and he realises this is just them giving Xie Lian face: if he didn't run away, but was kidnapped, he won't get into trouble.
Xie Lian: No more acting. San Lang had good intentions so why hide it?
Qing Xuan: You don't understand; no matter how good the intention, after being passed around, words always end up negative, so they might as well be negative from the start.
Hua Cheng: You understand people.
Qing Xuan: Of course! Otherwise how would I have become so popular? Now, General Nan Yang, [Feng Xin] lower your bow. Can't you see they're close? Nothing's gonna happen.
Feng Xin, unmoved: Your Highness, the one next to you is a supreme...
So Qing Xuan RAMS HIM WITH THEIR BREASTS, causing Feng Xin to scream and let go of their bow. Qing Xuan is offended that he's so distressed by their etherial beauty and turns back into a man.
Qing Xuan: Your Highness, look at you! The Martial gods of the Southeast and Southweast are your old buddies, the Martial God of the East is your disciple, Green Goblin is your little cousin, Crimson Rain Sought Flower is your sworn brother, and I, Lord Wind Master, am your friend.
"Xie Lian smiled, thinking the Wind Master certainly had a breezy character befitting of his title: the moment the wind blew, all the gloomy clouds dispersed." Awww. Hua Cheng raises his eyebrows at the idea of being Xie Lian's sworn brother.
There's a monthly roster of generals in charge of security in Heaven.
Jun Wu says a Supreme like Hua Cheng must have experienced unimaginable suffering and thus cannot be trusted: one either ascends from such calamities or is doomed to the depths of hell. HA.
Xie Lian's training temple on the highest peak of Mount TaiCang was to Jun Wu. After his ascension, there was also a Crowned Prince temple on the second highest peak. After XianLe fell, both burned to the ground, taking with them the beautiful red maple trees.
This ends up being the temporary home for the heavens after Jun Wu falls.
Oh gosh chapter 57 has a moment with Xie Lian and the remains of his mothers corpse, turned to dust by Qi Rong, that is EVEN SADDER in context.
Qi Rong: There's your true face. Who knows you better than me in this world? You may look like a pathetic drowned dog, but I know. You're still proud on the inside. You must hate me calling you a failure, have I stabbed you enough to bleed? Or are you gonna tell me this body is innocent? Come! Show me what you'll do!
End of book 1
Content Notes for the book in general: consent issues, sexualisation of children, gore, mixed treatment of cross-dressing, suicide, child harm, incest subtext, emotional abuse, racist subtext, ANGST
*sighs and adds "racist subtext"*
Still, there was a lot more Shi Qing Xuan in this part than I remembered!
Now to decide if I want to reread Book 2!
Pros: I am likely to gain a lot of understanding, I spent that whole book super confused.
Cons: depressing, NO SHI QING XUAN AT ALL (since they hadn't been born yet)
Thoughts on Chapters 25-57 (the rest of book 1), spoilers for everything.
Wait, Yong'An is a real Chinese city? NOW I AM EVEN MORE CONFUSED. It's in the East of China, which is where YongAn the country is situated.
Hua Cheng: You're not going to ask whether I'm human?
Xie Lian: Relationships should depend on chance and whether we're on the same wavelength, not on identity.
Xie Lian is much more disturbed by how very comfortable he was being carried in Hua Cheng's arms lol.
Oh! This translator is using "Guoshi" where the previous one used "Tutor"! So Ban Yue was also a Guoshi.
She was also mixed race, YongAn and BanYue, and mistreated by both. She went to YongAn to learn black magic, and was always gloomy and unsociable, but eventually gained Kei Mo's friendship and trust.
And then she opened the gates to the YongAn army, and Banyue was destroyed. Now the BanYue soldiers hunger for the blood of YongAn people, but Ban Yue keeps throwing them into the pit, and then the soldiers catch her, beat her up, and hang her over the pit.
Ban Yue: Small, wearing black, voice like a sulky child. Fifteen or sixteen, both eyes blackened, not unbeautiful but unhappy, face covered in bruises.
OH XIE LIAN WAS THE NICE GENERAL somehow I forgot that. He got conscripted into the YongAn army, but mostly just tried to kill bandits rather than do anything warlike. He met and tried to take care of Ban Yue as a young orphan. Also the fake name he used was Hua Xie which Hua Cheng is quietly pleased by.
...and then in a battle he was trying to save Ban Yue and got trampled to death then thrown into the river. His body washed back to YongAn and he recovered for a while then went on his way.
Mu Qing creates a wave of fire by biting his hand to release drops of blood, but it consumes a lot of spiritual power.
A-ZHAO IS PEI SU
Haaaa I guess one good thing about being so UTTERLY confused the first time through this is that I get to enjoy the twists twice!
Pei Su was another little YongAn kid Xie Lian met, and a friend of Ban Yue.
Uuurgh and the reason she let him into the city was so that he could massacre all of Ban Yue (who afaict are based on a real life oppressed muslim ethnic minority) because LITERALLY ALL OF THEM were about to become SUICIDE BOMBERS.
>:(
>:(
MAYBE THIS IS WHY I FORGOT THIS PLOT
Pei Su: The BanYue people were evil I have no regret in killing them.
Shi Qing Xuan: What about all the innocent travellers you killed afterwards?
He Xuan glares at Xie Lian but pauses when he sees Hua Cheng (possibly feeling a bit weird about being in female form haha)
Shi Qing Xuan is very Judging Goddess at Pei Su, who only bows and answers honestly. He had to cover up what he'd done, and it would be noticed if he directly murdered the soldier ghosts, so he just used the snakes (which he had also learned to control) to drive travellers to the soldiers.
Shi Qing Xuan: Your General Pei wouldn't have done something like this.
Peri Su: This young one knows.
Xie Lian assumes Shi Qing Xian is going to help General Pei cover everything up, and they're not at all offended and say "It's normal to worry. There's some unpleasant culture up in the heavens."
"The Wind Master opened her fan. On it was the word for wind, 'Feng', and three inclining lines like wind on the back."
Hua Cheng approves of Shi Qing Xuan wanting to take care of things themselves and not have Xie Lian involved.
Ah! Quan Yi Zhen ascended around the same time as Pei Su, and Pei Ming supposedly wants to oust him from the West so Pei Su can have the job. Feng Xin thinks Pei Ming might try to get back at Xie Lian for messing with Pei Su's chances, but Hua Cheng thinks he's too proud to be that underhanded. Xie Lian worries about Shi Qing Xuan but everyone else agrees they're safe with Shi Wu Du's backing.
Xie Lian, silently: Yes but I used to have powerful backing too and look at me :/
Xie Lian: Phew, that's all done, I'm exhausted. Time to cook dinner.
Feng Xin: EMERGENCY IN HEAVEN GOTTA GO.
Xie Lian: Guess he's not hungry. What about you...Hua Cheng?
Hua Cheng: ...heh. I prefer San Lang.
Xie Lian: Crimson Rain Sought Flower?
Hua Cheng: Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince :)
It's been a long time since Xie Lian heard anyone call him that and sound sincere. (This whole time Hua Cheng was pretending to be an ordinary teen boy and Xie Lian was pretending to be a humble Taoist, so this conversation is both of them going "I figured out who you are already but it doesn't change anything")
Ban Yue: You said you wanted to save the world, and I wanted to be like you. Can you tell me where I went wrong?
Xie Lian: ...I'm sorry. I didn't know how to do that then, and I still don't.
Ahh she let herself keep being captured and beaten by the BanYue soldiers so they could vent their resentment and thus pass on, and Pei Su captured YongAn travellers for them to kill to speed the process up, and thus make her suffer less D:
Xie Lian: Are you close to Black Water Xuan?
Hua Cheng: No. And those lower than Supreme have no right to speak to me.
Xie Lian: Ah, I can't believe I said I wanted to save the world. I said so many arrogant things when I was young. Once I even told someone 'if you don't know how to live on, live for me'! I don't know what happened to them, but how could I dare say that?
Hua Cheng, who was that person, is quiet for a while, then says "To save the world is brave, but foolish. And although foolish, it's brave."
Hua Cheng: We've only know each other a few days, is it alright for you to say so much to me?
Xie Lian: Those who've known each other for decades can become strangers in a day. We've met by chance, and may part by chance. If we like each other we shall continue to meet. If we don't we shall part. There's no banquet in the world that doesn't come to an end, so I'll say what I want to say.
Hua Cheng: If...if my real face was ugly would you still want to see it?
Xie Lian, deciding the stories about him being deformed must be true: I want to se your real face because we're friends and should be honest with each other.
Hua Cheng: Then, next time we meet.
They fall asleep next to each other on the tiny bamboo mat. Xie Lian wakes up alone but with a thin chain around his neck, and on it is a clear crystal ring.
As the number one martial god, Jun Wu spent his days deep in cultivation behind closed doors or out patrolling the realm
MMM
The Heavenly Capital: All manner of palaces each with their own history and style, sculpted pillars and muraled buildings here, little bridges and streams there. Main road is "Martial Deity Avenue", "there were many such roads built in remembrance of Jun Wu in the mortal realm".
Lang Qian Qiu: A young man with thick brows, bright eyes, and a pure genuine smile that gave an air of youthfulness...or as Mu Qing would put it, foolishness. His armour gave an air of nobility rather than battle.
Ah, the kind of exile Pei Ming is given is "temporary banishment" and might only last for 30-50 years if he behaves well, which Xie Lian considers barely any time at all haha.
Ling Wen: Dressed in black, dark circles under her eyes and arms full of scrolls. You know, unlike everyone else, I don't think she's ever described as good looking (or ugly), like she gives off this air of 'my appearance doesn't matter just fill in your damn forms'.
The Great Martial Hall: layers of golden shingles pyramided. Only ascended gods can enter.
Jun Wu: Eyes obsidian black but bright and clear. Deep voice.
Oooh his name translates to "The Lord, I am" that's very...biblical.
Pei Ming: 26-27, lyrical voice, graceful and confident, even more handsome than his statue. Very much the charming type. "From fairies and lady officials to female ghosts and demons, as long as they were beautiful he would pluck them. Nonetheless, his favourite type was still the ladies of the mortal realm. Many indecent love stories has him as the male lead, and if Xie Lian's cultivation didn't require purity he'd have read them out of curiosity"
Pei Ming brings the empty shell of the clone A-Zhao that Pei Su was using, and proves the weapon marks match E-Ming.
Male Shi Qing Xuan: clear bright eyes, a whisk, a long sword on his back, a folding fan in his white jaded belt. Form graceful and elegant, expression spirited. Glowing with spiritual energy.
They defend Xia Lian and Pei Ming looks at them like an annoying child and continues to argue that Hua Cheng was the real mastermind. He wants to interrogate Ban Yue but Pei Su says to let it go, that he'll accept his punishment.
Pei Ming: Qing Xuan, for your brother's sake, can you not stir up trouble?
Shi Qing Xuan, losing their smile for the first time so far: General Pei, there's no need to use my brother against me, I'm not afraid of him.
MXTX note: In this text, to become a god, one must first become a hero. First adept at the martial or civil. Second have to have luck. Spiritual potion on the side of the road works too.
Between the great hall and back chamber is a mural. The front is the golden palace radiant in a sea of clouds. The back is a map with a pearl for every Great Martial Temple, there are even more now than there were 800 years ago.
Ghost city is "at the crossroads of the mortal and ghost realms" in Lang Qian Qiu's domain, does that mean it's near historical XianLe?
Xie Lian: Um Lord Wind Master...why did you disguise yourself as a woman?
Shi Qing Xuan: Was I not beautiful?
Xie Lian: Yes? But-
Shi Qing Xuan: And that's why!
They explain to Xie Lian about the three tumours, saying they wish Shi Wu Du would stop hanging around Pei Ming. "It doesn't matter if you're mortal, or a god, or a demon, you have to take responsibility for your own actions. Bullying a little girl is low."
Xie Lian: The Wind Master is a defender of justice.
Shi Qing Xuan: You're not bad yourself!
And then they turn into their more powerful female form and spend the rest of the trip to Ghost City trying to persuade Xie Lian to join them, saying "Women have stronger auras of yin, making it easier to hide in the Ghost City crowds." They also offer Xie Lian some of a jug of strong spirits.
I can't be bothered describing all the weird ghosts in Ghost City but it's Chapter 35. We also get a description of Jian Lang in her sex worker getup which is kind of depressing :(
There's a pig butcher selling human meat called Butcher Zhu, he ends up cooking at the final banquet haha.
The verses over the red and magnificent Gambler's Den, as written in Hua Cheng's wild hand writing: "Money over life." "Gains over Shame." "HAHAHAHA."
Xie Lian: This man is betting his daughter's future on the chance to kill his business rivals? And everyone thinks it's normal? Well I'm sure Hua Cheng, who owns this casino and has defined it's rules for centuries and is sitting watching and saying nothing, will just...step up and a put a stop to it. Any minute now.
Shi Qing Xuan is scared of Hua Cheng in a way they haven't been of anything else so far.
...ok so on the surface Hua Cheng is beating the crap out of Lang Qian Qiu for messing with his casino, but he probably also hates him for being a Prince of YongAn, especially if he knows Lang Qian Qiu 'killed' Xie Lian. (EDIT: At this point he doesn't)
(Also, his right eye is his bad eye)
"Human" teen Hua Cheng has a crooked ponytail.
Ghost City Hua Cheng looks 18-19. Loose hair over vibrant red clothing with an aura of demonic energy. A thin braid tied with a red coral bead. Silver vambraces, bootstraps, waistband, scimitar. He and the blade are slender and tall/long.
Ghosts: The lord changed his skin again today! So tender and firm!
Hmm. I wonder what he usually looks like.
Shi Qing Xuan scolds Lang Qian Qiu like a dumbass younger brother who needs to mend his ways. They're a little quick to confidently jump to conclusions, and not as clever as Xie Lian, but still a billion times more sensible and competent than Lang Qian Qiu.
Yin Yue: A black clad figure in a mask "with a face smiling woefully" who other ghosts fear and call "The XianXianYue Officer" which means waning crescent moon. (Ah, Yue like in ATLA! Wow a Chinese word I actually know >.>)
Both the heavens and ghost realm have glamorous architecture, heaven emphasising prominence and prestige, Ghost City bewitchment and frivolity.
Paradise Manor has a thick snow white carpet, smells of perfume, and has a beaded curtain. Pretty barefoot women dance and play music and playfully tease Xie Lian with their eyes. (Chapter 39)
Hua Cheng why is your house full of hot women. I'm not judging, just confused.
Hua Cheng says the chain with his ashes "Is nothing important just keep it for fun" but Xie Lian knows better than to believe him.
"This is my residence, not my home. A home has family." ;_;
The name Lang Ying comes from little Ying (his choice) + the national surname of YongAn (Xe Lian's choice). He's unambiguously a ghost, how did I miss that /o\
Ahaha Xie Lian and Hua Cheng aren't looking at the hot serving girls but then one with a "sensual and seductive figure" winks at Xie Lian and he spits out his wine realising it's Shi Qing Xuan.
Shi Qing Xuan in skimpy silk dress: I CAN'T BREATHE. I'm going to be choked to death by this thing! *changes into man and rips at top, flops onto floor*
Xie Lian: D:
Palm torch: simple spell making light.
Shi Qing Xuan gives Xie Lian some spiritual power with a gentle tap lol.
During the ridiculous dungeon adventure they both fall and hurt their legs, Xie Lian is used to pain but Shi Qing Xuan screams then says "I don't know if I'm ok. I've never fallen like this before. Your Highness, there's way too much thrill working with you."
baby :(
Some (sigh) savage southern cannibals throw a rock and lightly graze Shi Qing Xuan's face at which point they knock all of them down with a massive wind blast shouting "YOU IGNORANT HILLBILLY SAVAGES! NOT ONLY DID YOU NOT COWER IN FEAR BEFORE ME, THE LORD WIND MASTER, YOU DARE RUIN MY FACE!! UNBELIEVABLE!!"
Then they turn to Xie Lian and say "You saw it, right? It was self defence!" They stop to fix their clothes and hair but there's only so much they can do with the bedraggled purple silk dress, and Xie Lian thinks mournfully of the scintillating powerful figure he once thought them.
All these misadventures are because Xie Lian got Shi Qing Xuan to activate the dice-roll based teleportation arrays, the moment Xie Lian does it they get to their destination: the dungeon.
It's interesting knowing this is all fake.
He Xuan is sitting calmly crosslegged, I think with his arms chained, but has been made to look unkempt and bloody. I'll call him Ming Yi since that's who he's playing.
Xie Lian and Shi Qing Xuan have been sneaking up in the dark, but then Ming Yi says "I have nothing to say" and Shi Qing Xuan immediately lights a hand torch and says "It's you!"
You know what 3 names is too many let's just go with Qing Xuan.
Xie Lian: You know each other?
Ming Yi looks surprised and like he wants to say "It's you!" as well, but instead says "I don't know him".
Qing Xuan: Is it so shameful to know me? What hurtful words, Ming-Xiong! I'm your best friend!
Ming Yi: I have no friends that would run around in that sort of attire.
Xie Lian: Ming- oh, the Earth master!
Qing Xuan: You've met.
Ming Yi, grimly: No we haven't.
Apparently -Xiong is a more formal version way to say "older brother" than gege, but is used informally between male friends like "bro".
Hua Cheng's convoluted doors end up dropping Xie Lian into Hua Cheng's lap in his armoury, which Hua Cheng looks both pleased and unsurprised by.
Xie Lian: San Lang, I don't know what the misunderstanding was between you and the Lord Earth Master, but let's all calm down and talk this out.
Hua Cheng: Earth Master? That's nothing more than an inept subordinate of mine.
He implies he realised this 'subordinate' was a spy for for Heaven when he saw Ming Yi with Qing Xuan in Ban Yue.
Qing Xuan watches the two of them politely talk back and forth then suddenly shouts "Wind come to me! I don't think either of you are going to make a move first, so I'll be the bad guy this time." and blows a hole through the roof.
Hua Cheng: I have a fan too :) *waves a metal fan and sharp gold foils shoot towards them*
It ends with Hua Cheng's house on fire and Xie Lian bleeding, Xie Lian feels terrible about the first and I can only assume Hua Cheng feels EVEN WORSE about the second.
Qing Xuan: Um...I'm really sorry, your Highness! This is all my fault! If the Crimson Rain Sought Flower comes knocking for paybacks you just tell him to come to me!
The moment they get back to heaven Qing Xuan snaps their fingers to get back into regular robes and releases a thousand merits to encourage people to come to the hall and help with the wounded.
While in action, Shi Qing Xuan and Xie Lian were ridiculous and hilarious, but once in the heavenly court, they changed their composure, calm and poised, mindful of their behaviour.
Qing Xuan is the only person defending Xie Lian against Lang Qian Qiu once the whole Evil Guoshi thing comes out. Pei Ming is quietly pissed that they choose to defend this rubbish god nobody likes but actively testify against Pei Su.
In Chapter 46 Xie Lian has a memory of training Lang Qian Qiu which is interesting but VERY SAD, discussing how to solve unsolvable ethical dilemmas. Lang Qian Qiu asks to learn how Xie Lian stopped a strike, and Xie Lian says he didn't stop it, he just let it hit him, and a Crown Prince like Lang Qian Qiu should not use that kind of technique.
Xie Lian wakes and thinks he's spend the rest of his life paying back Hua Cheng for the palace if he has to.
Mu Qing comes to Xie Lian's palace with medicine for his arm while he's under house arrest, but seems smug that noone else will visit. Except of course Feng Xin does too, and they get into a fight, projecting their own guilt for leaving Xie Lian into resentment of each other.
I was inspired to draw a comic of what happened next.
Awww but Feng Xin and Mu Qing are so worried when Hua Cheng shows up and pulls Xie Lian into a magic door (IN HEAVEN. So badass)
In heaven's chatroom:
Mu Qing, sounding worried: Xie Lian escaped.
Feng Xin, angrily: He was kidnapped!
Gods: We must make chase!
Hua Cheng: Sup everyone, miss me? :)
Gods: ........ *awkward coughing*
Haha oh nooo Qing Xuan explains about the dice and Feng Xin rushes in...to "the place he fears most"- a women's bath. (Mu Qing isn't embarassed at all,
skygiants's theory that he has a deeply repressed crush on Xie Lian certainly fits the data)Hua Cheng avoids touching Xie Lian, which Xie Lian thinks is a sign he's pissed off but is obviously him feeling self conscious. I guess he was originally just going to be Xie Lian's VERY RESPECTFUL secretly pining friend but then realised Xie Lian's as into him as he's into Xie Lian.
Suddenly Lang Qian Qiu makes it through the magic door and throws a sword in their path: Fang Xin. "Long and slender, black like jade, smoother than a mirror, cut in half by a thin silver white line."
Fang Xin moans happily to be held by Xie Lian again. (But it is even happier when it finally returns to Jun Wu in the end) Fang Xin means "affection of a young woman". Jun Wu has a different name for it I have forgotten.
Lang Qian Qiu says he's determined to duel even if Xie Lian kills him (which he would) So Xie Lian agrees...and sneakily ties him up when he's not looking.
Lang Qian Qiu shouts 'Use a sword if you're a man!" But Xie Lian didn't care whether he acted like a man. There's definitely some criticism of toxic masculinity in this book.
Xie Lian: Yes, I was cunning, but so what? If it was anyone else you'd be dead. Think about it on your own. Next time, don't get in other people's way.
Lang Qian Qiu: I don't know if the past you or current you is real.
Xie Lian: They're all me. But you were seventeen then. Of course I'm teaching you a different lesson now.
Lang Qian Qiu: NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO TO ME I WILL NEVER BE LIKE YOU.
Xie Lian: Ha! GOOD.
This is a nice contrast to the later scene with Jun Wu and Xie Lian.
Hua Cheng destroyed Green Goblin's last lair 50 years ago, and has been chasing him down ever since.
Oh god I forgot that for a few decades after the fall of XianLe there was a thing for making new kneeling statues of him to spit and kick D: Green Goblin's using one as a footstool (turns out he started the trend) and Hua Cheng is visibly furious, which doesn't happen often.
Green Goblin, don't slutshame Pei Ming, even if he deserves it. He asks his minions if they've done "that thing" that would cause Quan Yi Zhen and 'that man whore Pei" to start fighting. Ah! He's spreading rumours that Pei Ming is trying oust Quan Yi Zhen so Pei Ming can take his place.
Gu Zi is described as "not even ten". He read as more like 7 to me. Aw his dad is saying "Don't be scared".
There's a trend of Xie Lian telling muggles "Don't run!" and them running and thus getting into danger.
Wow Hua Cheng is viciously violent to Green Goblin. Not surprising given their history, you just don't often see Hua Cheng being quite this shouty.
BaQian Taizi temple, where Xie Lian trained, translates to Temple of Eight Thousand Crowned Princes.
Green Goblin/Qi Rong: Looks like Xie Lian. Their noses and lips are similar, but while Xie Lian's eyes are calm and peaceful, Qi Rong's brows are high and sharp, his eyes thin and slant. A good looking young man, but one not to be messed with.
Xie Lian gently pats Hua Cheng on the back while he's smashing Qi Rong's face into the ground, to try and calm him down. Hua Cheng pats his back in return...freezing Xie Lian's body still, so that he can't stop Qi Rong explaining that the royalty of YongAn weren't killed by a lone crazed Guoshi, but by a conspiracy of citizens of XianLe. "As always, my cousin tried to make everyone happy and satisfied noone."
Ahaha, once he's freed Xie Lian stops Hua Cheng beating Qi Rong up...but uses his knowledge of his cousin's psychology to calmly and politely eviscerate his self esteem. Power couple.
And then Qi Rong insults Hua Cheng and Xie Lian punches him, the first time he's ever been violent towards Qi Rong in all this time (Qi Rong is delighted to see his cousin come down to his level)
Lang Qian Qiu: You said XianLe and YongAn were all the same people and could be friends!
Xie Lian: It's true!
Qi Rong: We XianLe will always hate you and killed your family :D
Lang Qian Qiu: *picks up Qi Rong and throws him into the pot he was going to use to cook Gu Zi*
Qi Rong, dissolving: LOOK AT YOUR GREAT DISCIPLE COUSIN :D
Ah! So Hua Cheng has known for some time that Qi Rong was behind the assassination, and had assumed Fang Xin was just a lackey of Qi Rong's. But when Lang Qian Qiu identified Xie Lian as Fang Xin he knew that wasn't true.
Xie Lian: How do you know I didn't hate the YongAn people?
Hua Cheng: You might have had such thoughts, but you wouldn't have acted on them.
Xie says not to have so much faith in people, that he'll just be disappointed. He says Hua Cheng seems to be someone from his past, and asks who, then apologises and says it doesn't matter.
Qing Xuan: See, I'm more powerful as a woman! But you wouldn't let me! AHHH HUA CHENG D:
Feng Xin: D:
Feng Xin's bow is called FengShen, "God of Wind", and was a gift from Jun Wu.
Qing Xuan: Hua Cheng! Crimson Rain Sought Flower! D-d-don't do anything rash! The burning of your Paradise Manor was an accident! If you're displeased, we can talk! The heavens can pay you back. Let go of His Highness and we can talk.
Awww but then they give Xie Lian a significant look and he realises this is just them giving Xie Lian face: if he didn't run away, but was kidnapped, he won't get into trouble.
Xie Lian: No more acting. San Lang had good intentions so why hide it?
Qing Xuan: You don't understand; no matter how good the intention, after being passed around, words always end up negative, so they might as well be negative from the start.
Hua Cheng: You understand people.
Qing Xuan: Of course! Otherwise how would I have become so popular? Now, General Nan Yang, [Feng Xin] lower your bow. Can't you see they're close? Nothing's gonna happen.
Feng Xin, unmoved: Your Highness, the one next to you is a supreme...
So Qing Xuan RAMS HIM WITH THEIR BREASTS, causing Feng Xin to scream and let go of their bow. Qing Xuan is offended that he's so distressed by their etherial beauty and turns back into a man.
Qing Xuan: Your Highness, look at you! The Martial gods of the Southeast and Southweast are your old buddies, the Martial God of the East is your disciple, Green Goblin is your little cousin, Crimson Rain Sought Flower is your sworn brother, and I, Lord Wind Master, am your friend.
"Xie Lian smiled, thinking the Wind Master certainly had a breezy character befitting of his title: the moment the wind blew, all the gloomy clouds dispersed." Awww. Hua Cheng raises his eyebrows at the idea of being Xie Lian's sworn brother.
There's a monthly roster of generals in charge of security in Heaven.
Jun Wu says a Supreme like Hua Cheng must have experienced unimaginable suffering and thus cannot be trusted: one either ascends from such calamities or is doomed to the depths of hell. HA.
Xie Lian's training temple on the highest peak of Mount TaiCang was to Jun Wu. After his ascension, there was also a Crowned Prince temple on the second highest peak. After XianLe fell, both burned to the ground, taking with them the beautiful red maple trees.
This ends up being the temporary home for the heavens after Jun Wu falls.
Oh gosh chapter 57 has a moment with Xie Lian and the remains of his mothers corpse, turned to dust by Qi Rong, that is EVEN SADDER in context.
Qi Rong: There's your true face. Who knows you better than me in this world? You may look like a pathetic drowned dog, but I know. You're still proud on the inside. You must hate me calling you a failure, have I stabbed you enough to bleed? Or are you gonna tell me this body is innocent? Come! Show me what you'll do!
End of book 1
no subject
Date: 2019-11-23 02:39 pm (UTC)I also remember thinking it was sweet that Kei Mo believed so much in young Ban Yue and was emotionally affected by their broken father/daughterish dynamic, I was a little sad that Kei Mo was just kind of generic comic villain later on and this never got actual closure.
It's definitely interesting thinking about Xie Lian and Lan Qian Qiu in context of Ju Wun and Xie Lian -- I love the book's five million plot threads but also it's easy to lose track of them, and this is one I think that could have used highlighting a little more in books 3 and 5 as more of the backstory stuff starts to come out, because it's such an interesting parallel, especially with the question of whether or not Lan Qian Qiu will take vengeance echoing Xie Lan's trajectory in Book 4.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-24 10:50 am (UTC)Yeah me either until I looked everything up on a map :/ I mean I could be wrong! All I can say for sure is that they're from a similar region geographically.
But I do wonder how Kei Mo not getting the same kind of complex ending as the other villains relates to him being the only one who's described as 'dark' and only speaks a foreign language :/
It is an interesting parallel, but in the book's defence Lan Qian Qiu may come from a similar background to Xie Lian but has a pretty different personality, so the interesting contrast to me is between the mentors, not the Princes. I think the character with the most similar personality to Xie Lian is Shi Qing Xian, and we see something of how they cope with mistreatment and adversity. Though we never see how Shi Qing Xian would react to encountering He Xuan again.