#gdc aka the liveblog of TEARS

[mihanada]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

(back to masterpost)

Oooh boy was this a wild chapter. but! this is also the end of this arc! So tiny!

Chapter 62: Evil (Part 2)

“Wei WuXian had clearly been a bright, high-spirited boy...Yet, this person was entirely enveloped in a cold, dark energy. He was handsome, yet pale-faced, his smile eerie.”

D:

Here it is, the transition from Wei Wuxian the first disciple of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect to the Yiling Patriarch.

“All of the flesh on his legs had been sliced off, piece by piece. And, likely… all of the flesh had been eaten by himself!”

Hey. Hey. Just in case you forgot that this novel was low-key gross and gory.

This is some great horror material. And remember when Wei Wuxian mentioned that he of all people would know about torture methods? (I forgot when he said this, but he did.) WELL. This is the source of that statement.

He was really going for both physically and mentally breaking Wen Chao here, and it succeeded big time.

Imagine how Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji watching from above must feel? It’s like Wei Wuxian is a totally different person.

“...half of Wei WuXian’s face was in the light, the other half in the dark.”

is the symbolism smacking you in the face yet

“Holding what he had fed it in its mouth, it turned around and sat down. Hugging his leg, it chewed fiercely as it glowered at Wen ZhuLiu with cold, glistening eyes.”

yikes it’s the scary baby again. why is it always scary undead babies.

uM eating Wen Chao’s fingers.

(so just how did this happen anyways...was Wen Zhuliu too far away to get to Wen Chao and Wei Wuxian tortured him during that time, or was Wen Zhuliu occupied with fighting some corpses or. It’s likely that Wei Wuxian let them run away like I mentioned last chapter. gotta employ that psychological warfare!)

“Wen ZhuLiu, “I can’t fail to repay the debt I owe their generosity.”

i mean, at this point I think it’s been paid in full what the heck did they even do for you.

“Why is it that the debt you owe has to be repaid at the expense of others!”

idk I just like this line. Also, it hits a sore spot, and he loses a bit of his composure and gets angry.

“Burned skin was naturally weak to begin with...The uneven, bald head immediately became a bloody, bald head.”

how is Wen Chao still ALIVE. being a cultivator has its downfalls, probably their bodies are a little sturdier than regular people. which is not a good thing.

Also, with Wen Chao being pitiful and wailing in fear this entire chapter, it creates some weird dissonance.

On one hand, you don’t feel pity for him, he’s a terrible person.

On the other hand, who deserves this level of torture inflicted upon them?

The more you read, the more excessive it becomes.

“The ghoul child, however, had bit out an entire chunk of the flesh on his hand and spat it out. He continued to devour the palm.”

this is a lovely image. your core melting hand can’t help you now.

“Wen ZhuLiu’s large, heavy body had been lifted up by the surging whip and was now dangling in the air.”

Ok, a lot happens in the span of these two paragraphs. I did a little cheer when Jiang Cheng managed to get ahold of this guy. He deserves more than a little catharsis after what he went through.

“At the same time, Wei WuXian’s pupils shrunk. He took out a flute from beside his waist and spun around, standing up.”

To his credit, his first reaction is to recall the ghouls/corpses so they don’t attack the wrong people.

“He looked down at Suibian and only responded after a pause, “… Thank you.”

there’s something seriously wrong here, if the torture and controlling corpses wasn’t enough of a hint. That lackluster, soulless response.

“Although the sentence itself seemed to scold him, his tone was full of joy.”

my heart kinda started breaking here. Jiang Cheng seems so happy to have him back, he is willing to ignore all the things that are wrong about this boy he grew up with. And that is not a healthy thing for anyone involved, but realistically, after what they’ve gone through would you expect any other reaction?

“A few moments later, he struck him as well, “Haha, it’s a long story, it’s a long story!”

And now Wei Wuxian tries to answer in kind, tries to act like his usual self.

“...threw me to some hell of a place to suffer.”

If you would have elaborated here...maybe it would have given them some context for what happened to you. But, Wei Wuxian is the type to conceal his suffering for one reason or another, whether it’s to protect others or just because he doesn’t need to justify himself to people. So, he won’t elaborate. It’s done and gone, what’s the point in playing the pity party when they’ve got other business to attend to?

the ghouls are really creepy though. 

“If I say that I found a mysterious cave somewhere and there was a mysterious book that a mysterious expert had left, and then when I came out I was this powerful, would you believe me?”

you troll. you tragic troll.

“Jiang Cheng murmured the words ‘as long as you’re back’ a couple of times before hitting him again, “You really are…! You live on even after being captured by Wen-dogs!”

D: this is also breaking my heart ok.

“To play around, play with them until they die. Straight up killing all of them at once would be too easy on them. Much better killing them in front of one another one by one, one slice after another.”

deefinitely getting unhinged here.

and it really is sad, when you consider who he was before all this terrible shit happened.

“He wanted to protect him, but I wanted to make him see how in his hands, Wen Chao would become more and more distorted, unlike a man but also unlike a monster.”

So the torture was Wen Chao’s punishment. The releasing them and chasing them down was Wen Zhuliu’s punishment.

it’s fitting isn’t it. after Wen Zhuliu’s hands caused so much grief, ripping people’s cores from them, in the end the person he wanted to protect also disintegrated under his touch. but, also perhaps a reflection of what happened with Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian. Jiang Cheng turned into a shadow of himself due to those hands, although he was alive he was already dead inside, and Wei Wuxian couldn’t do anything to help him (until he did, but before that)

“It is not that I want to denounce him.”

This starts Lan Wangji’s really bad communication skills.

Lan Wangji might be seen as the epitome of a righteous cultivator by everyone in-story, but he’s actually quite the flawed person. This is one of his faults. If he could actually explain himself clearly, would this chapter have ended in such on such an uneasy, awkward note?

“Wei Ying, for cultivating an evil path you would eventually have to pay. Throughout time, there has not been a single exception.” “The path would not only damage your body, but your heart as well.”

This is a good example of a passage where the context of the sentence really matters.

How could Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng take this as anything but Lan Wangji criticizing him for demonic cultivation? If you just read those words, you can’t tell if Lan Wangji has another motive.

That’s what I like about this story’s narrative. Technically, you know just as much as the main character does. Really, if you didn’t know Lan Wangji was the love interest and already had a small crush on him, how would you ever interpret this differently from Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng?

“Wei WuXian, “I can pay.” “Of course I can control it.”

I love his youthful confidence and resolve. it’s so foolish, but so fitting.

“After all, on the topic of how my heart is, what could other people know about it? Why should other people care about it?”

this is sad stop ripping my heart out Wei Wuxian

1) he doesn’t think himself worthy of other people’s affections or love, platonic or not, he doesn’t think anyone would care about him

2) the question of: can we really ever know the content of another’s heart?

“Lan WangJi paused. He had suddenly been angered, “… Wei WuXian!”

I’d be kind of angry too. Even objectively, do you really think no one cares about you? the answer is, well, yes in a way. Wei Wuxian can clearly see that Jiang Cheng at least was happy to see him. Yet, in Wei Wuxian’s eyes, his status is as a servant and Jiang Cheng is the “Sect Leaer”, who doesn’t have to worry about his subordinate’s heart.

“The two knew how to continue each other’s words ever since they were young. Now, one sentence after another, the argument flowed seamlessly...”

knowing this all goes to hell later makes me sad

They used to get along so well.

“Hearing this, Lan WangJi’s expression froze. He looked up at Wei WuXian, the lump at his throat trembling, “I…”

probably a response to: “No matter whom he goes back with, it wouldn’t be you.”

but, again, bad communication skills.

“They had both showed him expressions of either despair, anguish, or deep-set hatred. However, right now, their faces above him had the same cold smile, the same cold eyes.”

the symmetry is really nice

“Wei WuXian, “Of course it’d be with a certain thing gone.”

>.>

they went there

“The eyes he looked at Wen Chao and Wen ZhuLiu with glistened, and his grin was both excited and cruel. Jiang Cheng had on him the same expression. Both of them had been buried within the overwhelming pleasure of revenge. Neither had the concern to deal with an outsider.”

You again get that weird mix of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. It’s disturbing, or disconcerting at least.

“The night had passed. The sun in the sky was about to rise.

And the sun on the ground was falling.”

a very simple, but impactful few sentences of description.

The real sun in the heavens is rising.

But the false sun on earth is falling.

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

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#gdc aka the liveblog of TEARS

[mihanada]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

(back to masterpost)

There is a lot going on in this chapter that is both immensely satisfying and extremely creepy.

And this arc is so tiny! Only two parts, I believe.

Chapter 61: Evil (Part 1)

Alright, this is not quite as gross as the Xuanwu chapter for me, but just in case anyone forgot, this novel is not for the faint of heart. The levity distracts from the heaviness of the rest of the content for you to also forget about the gross bits until they come up again and hit you in the face. This novel strikes a nice balance between all of these elements, which is nice.

“It’s been three months since I threw him into Burial Mound. Why are you still having dreams of him? Just how many times has it been?!”

IT SERVES YOU RIGHT!!!

Up until the icky stuff happens, that ^ is what I was whispering fiercely the entire time.

“How could it be possible? Before this, how many cultivators have our sect sent to clean Burial Mound up? Did any one of them come back alive? Now that he’s been thrown inside, his corpse has probably rotted away already.”

Whose bright idea was it to create a great big mound of CORPSES. It got so bad that everyone you sent to clean it up dropped dead. Seriously, you would think cultivators would not let something like this get that bad. Obviously they had wanted to do something about it a while back, so why didn’t someone clean it up before it became a literal hellhole...

“The people who died in Burial Mound, all of their souls would be shackled there.”

Apparently this is a thing, too.

“What Sunshot Campaign? Some Sunshot it is. Want to shoot down the sun? Dream on!”

YOUNGEST SHIDI YOUR LEGACY IS HERE.

“Wang LingJiao felt wronged, but she felt hatred as well. She put down the teacup. Fixing her hair and her robes, she walked outside with a smile.

Just as she went out the door, the smile on her face faltered.”

I’ll take this opportunity to say that I appreciate the small attempt to humanize Wang Lingjiao here. I appreciate the disintegration of hers and Wen Chao’s relationship even more, but. xD

She was one of those typical bitchy villains, but hey, at least she wasn’t totally dumb and naive enough to believe without a doubt that Wen Chao would continue adoring her. She hoped, but when it was clear that he had enough of her, she also decided it was best to derp off.

ooh the pieces are finally falling into place! Wen Xu being beheaded was mentioned during Nie Mingjue’s flashbacks.

“When they emerged under the banner of the ‘Sunshot Campaign’, nobody took them seriously.”

I wish we could’ve seen this thing form instead of after the three month time skip, but oh well.

“However, three months later, the circumstances didn’t turn out the way they expected them to at all!”

and they managed to turn the tables without demonic cultivation meddling! though that probably helped immensely, later in this chapter.

“There was none of her beloved treasures, only a pale-skinned, curled-up child!”

I’m actually wondering what the hell this was. Was she hallucinating? But it ends up in the room later...

What matter of demonic cultivation is this?? xD

it’s delightfully creepy though a bit cliche. want horror? go straight for the creepy babies.

“A white-colored child lay prone under her bed, staring into her eyes.”

what is happening, seriously

“Wen Chao shouted. He unsheathed his new sword and sliced at her, “Go away! Get lost!”

“new sword”

I appreciate that the author remembered he lost his back in the cave. xD

“Wang LingJiao’s shoulder had been gashed by the sword. Her features were even more twisted as she shrieked, “Ahhhhhh… It hurts, ahhhh… It hurts, ahhhh!!!”

the, uh, creepy and disturbing part is that she’s not actually dead, yet acting almost like a corpse being controlled (we know this isn’t going to happen yet though, since mr. Ghost General was the first).

“On the ground, Wang LingJiao had already picked up one leg of the stool, frantically stuffing it into her mouth, laughing as she did, “Fine, fine, I’ll eat it, I’ll eat it! Haha, I’ll eat it!”

I’m wondering what and how she is compelled to do this by...? It’s definitely something to do with demonic cultivation, and it’s a no-brainer who is responsible.

However, getting her to literally eat a chair leg is pretty impressive. 

“Wen Chao was almost dead from the shock.”

hahaha I was also all ??? at this point. what is going on, how-

“Each carrying their cultivators, they flew on their swords in silence.”

notice that? notice it?

a certain someone who lost their golden core can suddenly fly again...

we should all wander a nameless mountain blindfolded for 7+ days

“Two months ago, the Two Jades of Lan cooperated in a surprise attack with Jiang Cheng.”

That’s pretty impressive with just three of them.

“Jiang Cheng looked at him, as if surprised that he had suddenly asked about Wei Ying. He answered, “No.”

hahaha we all know why he asked about Wei Ying...

To Jiang Cheng though, it probably is a little random.

awww Jiang Cheng is toting his sword around though...

imagine if things didn’t work out and he never got to give it back hahahaha. well, Jiang Cheng, things have pretty much been shit for you, but at least that worked out.

Like, I guess these are objectively gross. xD not enough to squick me, but yeah, pretty nasty.

However, having recently read a novel that truly had a gratuitous amount of violent, bloody, and disgusting deaths, GDC has a good balance. It’s not exactly for the shock factor, nor gratuitous. Gross, yes, but not to a pointless degree.

I’m wondering how they all died in a different manner though. We’ve never gotten to see demonic cultivation used in this way yet.

I like the bit of mystery behind it.

“She had killed herself by forcing herself to swallow the stool leg into her stomach.”

So yeah, it has to do with controlling people. They’re not dead yet when they controlled though.

“Jiang Cheng turned the corpse’s twisted face over. After he had scrutinized it for a while, he gave out a cold laugh. Holding the stool leg, he shoved it into her mouth, somehow managing to stuff the half that had been outside into her body as well.”

We’ve reached the point that Lan Wangji didn’t comment on this. Yeah, he was inspecting the talismans, but you can’t say he didn’t notice Jiang Cheng shoving a stool leg down a corpse’s throat.

this, was kind of a yuck moment.

But can you blame Jiang Cheng after the shit these people put him through. and she’s dead anyways.

“These brushstrokes were the ones that entirely changed the pattern of the talisman. Now, looking at it, the talisman stuck to the door seemed to be the face of a person, smiling eerily.”

someone has been busy~

“Jiang Cheng was shocked, “Talismans… could attract evil? I haven’t heard of anything like it.”

yes you have, once, in speculation, two years ago!

“Jiang Cheng, “Then who could this person possibly be? Amongst all of the renowned cultivators, I haven’t heard of any who can do such a thing.

Immediately after, he continued, “But no matter who they are, it’s fine as long as their objective is the same as ours—to kill all of the Wen-dogs!”

oh, jiang cheng.

“Jiang Cheng snorted, “Dark? In this world, could there be anything darker than the Wen-dogs?!”

Oh, you say that now, Jiang Cheng...

It is quiet funny and such a part of human nature for this to occur though. “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” and once the Wen sect is no longer around as a common enemy...

“This person had to be Wen Chao. But how did Wen Chao’s voice become like this? So thin and so sharp, it didn’t seem to be Wen Chao at all?”

I mean, this is terrible and all, what happened to him but you can’t help but feel a bit of satisfaction as well. that’s what you get for terrorizing everyone and murdering basically an entire clan!

I’m amazed Jiang Cheng managed to find people to recruit at all in those three months, actually.

“Wen ZhuLiu appeared to be indifferent, “Perhaps.”

those are some words of encouragement, Wen Zhuliu.

never go to Wen Zhuliu for comfort, ever.

“Wen ZhuLiu, “You need ointment. Or else you’ll be dead for certain.”

Practical, though. And oddly loyal. What is with this guy? Though, at this point, even if he abandoned Wen Chao, his life would still be on the line. All he would have is some more time to run.

“Wen ZhuLiu peeled off the bandages layer by layer, revealing the skin of the bald man. On the face, scars and burn marks scattered without order, making him look as if he’d been cooked. Ugly, hideous, they couldn’t see at all the shadow of whom he used to be!”

What in the world happened???

We better find out what demonic art thing is responsible eventually. xD

“Don’t cry. Or else the tears would make the wounds fester and worsen the pain.”

Well that sucks. They are burn wounds, though.

“Suddenly, Wen Chao shrieked, “The flute! The flute! Is it the flute?! I heard him play the flute again!”

Wen ZhuLiu, “No! It was the wind.”

I guess his flute can do more than control corpses.

“Seeing this, Jiang Cheng remembered what a plight he and Wei WuXian were in the day when they fled. The didn’t even have any food. Such a situation was karma indeed!

Heart filled with joy, the corners of his curled lifted and he broke into mad but soundless laughter.”

can you see the current Jiang Cheng in him now.

after what happened to his sect, it was just a downward spiral from there....even though he’s got his cultivation back, the experience and trauma altered his personality forever.

Everyone is unhinged in this chapter omg. Lan Wangji and Wen Zhuliu are the only sane ones.

“He threw the bun away and screamed, “I’m not eating meat! I’m not! I’m not! I’m not eating meat!”

Geez, what happened to you??

“No no no, Wen ZhuLiu, Brother Wen! Don’t go, don’t leave me behind. If you can take me back to my dad, I’ll let him promote you to the highest level guest cultivator! No no no, you saved me, so you’re my brother—I’ll let him recognize you into the main clan! From now on you’ll be my elder brother!”

what an asshole. this is the only guy who is willing to stay by your side and strong enough to do so, he could have just ditched you and taken his chances running but instead he is lugging your sorry ass around for some reason.

Come to think of it, Wen Zhuliu has a pretty abhorrent ability that is NOT classified as demonic cultivation. But perhaps that’s the reason he ended up with the Wen Sect. Who else would want to be associated with such a horrible ability? Only those with the power to suppress all opposition and no care for morals.

“Wen ZhuLiu stared in the direction of the stairs, “There’s no need.”

Once again, never go to this guy for pep talks.

“The pair of palms, on the other hand, was bare, without a single finger on it!”

It’s amazing he’s still kicking (...well...) actually.

“The person slowly walked upstairs. He was covered in black. With a slender physique, he had a flute at his waist, hands behind his back.

However, when the person strolled up the stairs and turned around, smile on his face, Lan WangJi’s eyes opened wide, having seen those bright features before.”

GUESS WHO.

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

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#grandmaster of demonic cultivation #founder of diabolism #mo dao zu shi #魔道祖师 #mdzs novel #gdc aka the liveblog of TEARS

[mihanada]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

(back to masterpost)

The name of this arc is “Poisons”. I don’t like the sound of that...Seems like we’re continuing with the flashbacks. I wonder how far we’ll go into the events up to and including the Sunshot Campaign...

There is a lot to talk about in this chapter!

Chapter 56: Poisons (Part 1)

Ooh, I see how it is. This story is going to troll us about that song’s name until it somehow gets played again in the present day storyline, isn’t it. It served its purpose, I suppose, since he slept through help arriving and carting him back to Yunmeng.

“When he woke up again[...]what he saw was neither the black ceiling of the underground cave nor Lan WangJi’s pale yet handsome face[...]”

I don’t like to make a mountain out of a molehill, but do I sense a tiiny crush here? Yet again, he finds Lan Wangji handsome despite spending 7+ days in a grimy underground cave after slaughtering a giant beast and swimming in its blood. He couldn’t have even used the water to clean himself.

“[...]a funny series of kissing heads[...]”

He probably (hopefully) drew this on his bed when he was younger, as kids tend to do. It suits him, somehow.

Jiang Yanli finally gets a spoken line! She deserves more lines though, how many times has she been mentioned and she never gets to talk at length.

Wei Wuxian’s banter with Jiang Cheng is rapid-fire, jumping back and forth naturally and giving the impression they’ve been through conversations in this style many times before. I like it, it shows how close they were (sob enjoy it while you can before everything goes to hell).

“Wei WuXian realized that he really did forget to count the time needed to get there.”

lol poor Jiang Cheng getting accused for being too slow when he couldn’t possibly drag his ass home and back in that amount of time. xD

Alright, Wei Wuxian keeps talking about his bad memory and such, but at least this time it’s justified. Who wouldn’t be delirious enough to not add correctly after what they went through in that cave?

“But why didn’t Lan Zhan remind me?”

This is funny for some reason. Wei Wuxian is so used to him being the level-headed proper guy so he also expected him to correct him. xD

hahaha my mother recently made something like this lotus root and rib soup. even though it’s summer here. o-o Lotus roots are a strange food (how do you even describe their texture? crunchy, fiber-y, but they’re also soft if you cook them long enough) but they’re very good.

“Where’s Lan Zhan? He’s also been saved, hasn’t he? Is he here? Or did he go back to his sect in Gusu?”

“He went back alone? Over in Gusu, his sect…”

Accordingly with his personality, especially when he was younger, Wei Wuxian asks so many questions one after another.

“Wei WuXian didn’t take the handkerchief. Instead, he pouted his mouth with exaggeration, “Yes!” ”

It’s interesting how he acts even more like a kid than usual around Jiang Yanli. It makes sense, considering where he came from and how he doesn’t remember much about his parents aside from a few words they said to him. Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Yanli were probably the first ones to be kind to him in a long while, and instead of scolding him for acting childish they indulge him. So, naturally he’ll just continue this behavior (even at 17 lol but that’s where his shamelessness comes into play).

“Glancing at the porcelain jar, he seemed as if he wanted to taste it as well, but the bowl had already been taken away by Jiang YanLi.”

loool everyone wants to taste this soup but only Wei Wuxian gets to.

ha, the Wen Sect steals the credit for killing the Xuanwu while Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian try to give each other the credit for killing it. aw, I like what that says about them as people. We explicitly learn that Wei Wuxian doesn’t consider his contribution to be that much. Meanwhile, Lan Wangji’s motive was for giving Wei Wuxian the credit...probably was that without him luring its head out, it wouldn’t have been possible to kill it.

However, without the Lan Sect’s assassination skill, anyone would have been hard-pressed to kill that thing with no proper weapons and it still took 6 hours.

“So it seems that both of you killed it together. What’s yours is yours. Why would you give him all the credit?”

This is also interesting, in line with the above. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are like night and day, it’s easy to spot their differences and how they fill in what the other lacks, but it’s rarer to see their similarities and this is one of them.

“You shouldn’t have played the hero and you shouldn’t have cared for such a hell of a thing.”

I think this is the line Jiang Fengmian feels wasn’t appropriate and not in line with the Jiang sect’s motto “To attempt at the impossible”.

“Since when was it your turn to play the hero?”

Before I launch into the whole complicated family situation, I’ll address these lines first.

This is a very interesting part of Wei Wuxian’s character. It’s not that he tries to be the hero or wants that glory, but he isn’t someone who can stand by and let things be other people’s problems (another similarity to Lan Wangji/the Lan Sect, actually). He does these things because he feels they are right (aka saving Mianmian, helping to hold off the Xuanwu so others can escape) and because no one else is willing to.

“[...]he thought to himself, He couldn’t have dared to do anything to them? That’s not for certain.”

His concern for others shows through here, but also some of his ignorance as a youth. 1) he’s more concerned about others than himself; he thinks that it is a real possibility the Wen Sect could have retaliated against the Lan or Jin Sects, never mind his own self; 2) he doesn’t seem to realize that his actions do have consequences for his sect and this is a very real concern of Madam Yu’s.

Perhaps it’s because he is in an odd position himself. He’s the top disciple of the sect, but also part of the inner circle of the Jiang clan, yet at the same time he is an outsider amongst them. When they bring up how Mianmian might be the daughter of a servant, Wei Wuxian even compares her to his own background as the son of a servant. Also, his “I don’t want others assigning me to other households!” was a sentiment probably born of a bit of pride and a bit of this toxic environment. even though he was adopted by the Jiang clan, he didn’t feel exactly part of them...

His self-identity when he was young is an interesting thing to think about...

“Do you still remember, between the one lying there and the one standing here, which one is your son?”

yikes

This is one woman you don’t want to cross.

“Do you think that anything will change just because you raised your voice?!”

kids, remember – talking louder doesn’t mean you’re more right.

On a serious note, this whole argument, which apparently has been hashed out many times before, gives a good look into the Jiang clan’s dynamics. It’s a tough situation (and a toxic environment). At least now we know where Jiang Cheng’s parenting skills come from (his own father was harder on him than Wei Wuxian, in turn Jiang Cheng also gives Jin Ling a hard time)

Speaking of his father being harder on him, it’s probably as Wei Wuxian observed and tries to assure him (and not Madam Yu’s skewed perspective): his father loves him, but he also is hard on him because he has to raise him as the next sect leader while Wei Wuxian has none of that, plus he’s not his own child but a good friend’s and of course he’ll be more lenient.

Which is actually a good point...Madam Yu works from the idea that Jiang Fengmian sees Wei Wuxian as his own child and favors him over Jiang Cheng and that’s why he’s lenient. But, Wei Wuxian sees it as him being lenient because Wei Wuxian isn’t his own child.

it is sort of an awkward situation isn’t it. Looking from the other side, it’s also easy to see how Jiang Cheng developed those feelings of frustration and believing his own father didn’t love him. From Jiang Cheng’s perspective, he doesn’t see Wei Wuxian as a servant or anything, so to him this preferential treatment means his father favors Wei Wuxian over him.

I like Wei Wuxian’s attempts to cheer Jiang Cheng up and talk him through it though. He’s actually trying to be helpful and his arguments are good.

“So what if there’s the motto?! Do you have to follow it just because it’s a motto? Look at the rules of the GusuLan Sect—there are over three thousand. If people followed every single one of them, would they even be alive at this point?”

lol. just. lol. “would they even be alive at this point?”

I love how he just throws the Gusu Lan Sect out as an example on all points though. xD

“In the future, you’ll be the sect leader, and I’ll be your subordinate, like your father and my father.”

Ah, there it is. Yeah, the discrepancy is here. versus...

“Jiang Cheng, “How can you compare to her? Whose servant is like you, having your master peel lotus seeds for you and boil you soup. I didn’t even get to have some!”

hahaha everyone wants that soup. see, you do have some things in common with your father.

 “I had a perfume sachet somewhere around my waist.”

Ok who can keep up with your thought process? he literally jumps from topic to topic with no transition lol

“Right, we were talking about Lan Zhan.”

like, 10 minutes ago...

ahhh but Lan Wangji’s dad has passed away...eep. Guess that means he didn’t make it home in time...

Wonder what the “Poisons” part is going to mean for the events in this arc though...

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

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#grandmaster of demonic cultivation #founder of diabolism #mo dao zu shi #gdc aka the liveblog of TEARS

[mihanada]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

(back to masterpost)

I have a backlog a mile long...

But yes, we are back to this point in the story!

Chapter 31: Dew (Part 4)

I remember being kind of worried when Lan Wangji showed up, too, haha. After all, it’s difficult to get a read on his character in the beginning when you lack a lot of context for all of his actions.

“Wei WuXian had never seen him with such an obviously displeased expression on his face before.”

This is saying something given that Lan Wangji had been genuinely pissed at him for various things throughout the years.

“He touched his chin and, for some reason, felt exceptionally guilty.”

I like this little moments where Wei Wuxian is self-conscious. They are brief and the narrative doesn’t linger on them, but they help build an image of him as not as completely and utterly shameless as he is otherwise made out to be at times.

Also adds something to his character that he can’t identify the reason why, just that he does feel guilt. He has awareness of his own emotions, but the reason is not always clear.

“Oh no. Don’t tell me that Lan Zhan really pretended to be drunk so that he could kill Wen Ning after I summon him. Of course. Nobody actually gets drunk after just a bowl.”

lool Wei Wuxian’s worries. Don’t worry, that is totally not his intention. Very reasonable conclusion to make considering he is walking over with his sword, though.

“With a loud smack, Lan WangJi hit Wen Ning.”

now you can laugh

“As if he didn’t think one smack was enough to express his rage, Lan WangJi pushed Wen Ning to about thirty feet away.

He spoke to Wen Ning in an annoyed voice, “Go away.”

And again.

lol Lan Wangji you are so childish when you’re drunk.

“He was even more serious, proper, flawless than usual...But, as he looked down, he found that Lan WangJi’s boots were put on the wrong feet.”

I don’t know how Wei Wuxian didn’t die laughing. I guess he was more freaked out about why the heck Lan Wangji was like this, but it’s pretty hilarious. The proper and formal Lan Wangji...put his boots on the wrong feet.

He’d be a weird sleepwalker, I guarantee it.

“With one on the left and one on the right, he solemnly wrapped his hands around both of Wei WuXian’s fingers.

With a clang, Bichen fell to the ground due to its master’s negligence.”

I guess I’d be freaked out too. Did someone possess Hanguang-jun!? or something like that.

Poor Bichen, you are abused so much in this novel. I couldn’t believe he just dropped it to grab Wei Wuxian’s fingers. The great part is that he does it solemnly, totally serious despite how random this act seems.

Then he totally denies being drunk...

...See, Lan Wangji can lie! When drunk.

“Lan WangJi attentively maintained his gesture of how he grasped Wei WuXian’s fingers, with both of his hands in loose fists.”

I thought this was funny when I first read it, but now it’s sort of sad and adorable all at once.

“Some wailed loudly, others giggled idiotically, some flounced about, others collapsed immediately, some were determined in taking their own lives, others whimpered, “Why are you leaving me?”

The last one of these is a reference to MXTX’s other work, The Scum Villain’s Self Saving System. xD

“Lan WangJi whirled around and angrily smacked him once more.”

Chill, Lan Wangji, stop smacking the poor guy.

“Lan WangJi repeated angrily, “Do not play for him!”

your ugly side is showing, Lan Wangji. haha this is actually the first time he’s been really overt about this jealous side of him in the story, I think. There are various signs littered throughout, but it only becomes really clear when he’s drunk.

“Seeing that Lan WangJi had never been too fond of demonic techniques, he might have not liked how he used his flute to control Wen Ning.”

A totally reasonable assumption. You can’t blame Wei Wuxian for not connecting the dots.

“Anyway, he had to pet him in the direction of his fur, of course, “Alright. I’m only going to play for you, okay?”

Its adorable how patient and accommodating Wei Wuxian is, though like he said, the best thing to do is just go with the flow.

“Yet, unexpectedly, after Lan WangJi heard this, he reached out, grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him into his arms.”

are you sure you’re not possessed, hanguang-jun.

“Lan WangJi, “The face doesn’t show anything. Listen to the heartbeats.”

This is just hilarious in an odd way.

Wei Wuxian hasn’t noticed yet that this is really, really unusual. Lan Wangji dislikes people touching him, yet grabs your hands and shoves your head against his chest? hmmm...

“...it would’ve been impossible for Wei WuXian to treat him with respect and not play any tricks.”

Just can’t help himself, as usual, when it comes to Lan Wangji.

"Having heard no answer from behind him, he turned around only to see Lan WangJi holding the basin in his hands, his face already buried inside.”

loool whhy Lan Wangji why

Wei Wuxian is surprisingly (or not) good at taking care of people though.

“… Did he drink the water or did he not?”

lool his concern. like, oh god he d r a n k the water meant for your face! please don’t let him remember this

I have to admit, I was quite surprised by some of the answers when I first read his little interrogation.

I was like: then why did he have those jars of Emperor’s Smile?? I thought he took up drinking after Wei Wuxian died, but if so why did he not drink the ones in his room?

“Do you like rabbits?” “Yes.”

HA. he does like the rabbits. who can resist them. Though, the Cloud Recesses probably has a bit of an overpopulation problem...how are they not overrun by bunnies?

“Have you ever liked anyone?” “Yes.”

haha

hahaha...

Since Wei Wuxian next asks if he likes Jiang Cheng, then Wen Ning, he meant this in a general term, not a romantic/physical attraction thing. But Lan Wangji answers “Mine.” when he asks about himself.

don’t you think this is a suspicious answer??

“He took Bichen off his back, thinking to himself, When I pointed at myself, Lan Zhan probably thought that “this one” meant Bichen.”

NO. WHY. You asked him what he thought of YOU. arrgghh. why would it make sense for you to ask if he likes his sword? Granted, he figured that his train of thought derailed since he was drunk, but nooo. He doesn’t mean his sword...you see how he treats that poor thing? XD

ALSO:

Jiang Cheng receives a negative response: a frown

Wen Ning receives an indifferent response

haha poor Jiang Cheng.

“Wei WuXian knew that Lan WangJi was desperately drunk, that it wasn’t directed at him, yet those three words still crashed into him, taking away the strength in his arms and legs.”

just think of what he’ll do when it IS directed at him and he finally realizes it

“Bichen was thrown onto the ground by its master again.”

see

“After pausing for a moment, Lan WangJi’s hand came over and, after fumbling around in the blanket for a while, started to slowly untie the ribbons holding his clothes together. Wei WuXian exclaimed, “Okay! Enough! I didn’t mean for you to remove it in this sense!!! Alright!!! Sure! I’m lying down and I’m sleeping!!!”

lool Lan Wangji is a little shit with selective hearing when he’s drunk.

“It seemed that, ever since he came back, whenever he decided to tease Lan WangJi like how he did in the past, he always suffered from his own actions.”

It’s called karma. xD this is what you get for bullying him all those years ago.

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

← back・onward →

#gdc aka the liveblog of TEARS #queued post

[mihanada]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

(back to masterpost)

I’m not ready for this.

Also, this chapter is so long, but I don’t have that much to say because I was mostly screaming softly the entire time.

Chapter 59: Poisons (Part 4)

“Wei WuXian felt his heart skip a beat...”

My heart skipped several beats during this chapter, you little idiots! Seriously, it was excruciatingly sad reading these two blunder through the aftermath.

lool I love how Wen Chao is, like, trying to placate her but he also is completely unsympathetic to her whining about Wen Zhuliu who is honestly far more valuable to the cause than this girl.

“What could happen if he’s gone?”

like, damn, he’s on your side you know. also, get the hint that Wen Chao doesn’t care what you have to say about him!

aah I see what they’re doing with this guy’s character. Still, he has that scary title that Jiang Cheng never got a chance to explain...

Still, apparently he has limits. No disgracing the dead! One of those loyal warrior types. Granted, he fights for the bad side here, but there should be limits even the villains won’t cross or else they really will turn into nothing but canon fodder who you feel zero sympathy for and exist only to cause trouble then die. We have enough of those already in Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao, thank you very much.

It’s not like they’re not realistic in their horribleness, but they suck.

“He wondered if they could look at each other one last time, if Jiang FengMian had the chance to tell Madam Yu one more sentence.”

stooop my heart can’t take this

I really wonder how the hell the Jiang Sect managed to come back from this.

“Like a blade doused in poison, it cut into their ears and their hearts again and again and again.”

Nice description.

JIANG CHEEEENG.

those are my entire thoughts regarding this chapter.

poor kids.

I really like how the author wrote their grief over what just happened though, it all flows well despite how much you want to scream at these two to get as far away as possible and don’t even think of going back!

Even Jiang Cheng pulling Lan Wangji out as a way to vent his grief and find someone to blame things on, or yelling at Wei Wuxian even though he knows that in the end it’s the Wen Sect’s fault.

“Hugging his right hand, he pressed Zidian onto his chest where his heart was, feeling over and over again the only remnant of his family that was left.”

Wait. Is this.

Is this why he strokes the ring when he gets extremely angry. I mean, the reason behind the action is slightly different in each situation but both times it happens when he is extremely emotional.

“However, Jiang Cheng was gone.”

I kind of screamed at this part.

It’s like, what can you really expect in the state he was in, but also: you idiot why did you go back.

“For the first time, he discovered how little his power was. In front of something as large as the QishanWen Sect, it was the same as a mantis trying to stop a chariot.”

This chapter is interesting, because adversity builds character!! sort of kidding, but not really because this is the first time we get to see Wei Wuxian truly at a loss, nothing has gone right, and there isn’t anything he can do.

The helplessness and rollercoaster of emotions are really well written I’m just crying over here you can feel the grief they feel, when they’re just numb I’m screaming at them to keep going...

“Wei WuXian’s eyes felt so warm that he was about to tear up again.”

I also like this, how the grief comes in waves. It hits them hard the night they left Lotus Pier, turned to numbness, and now it comes back in bursts.

“He rejected the thought at once and his grip tightened, “Don’t play any tricks!”

This part made me oddly happy. Because, for once, the protagonist doesn’t immediately believe the words of someone he should regard as an enemy. He thinks for a second, it could be someone I know...? but then he does the logical thing and rejects that idea.

After a traumatic event, being hypervigilant is not strange but expected.

“Maybe he’s hidden something inside his mouth and he’s prepared to spit it out?”

idk if you’re being serious here, Wei Wuxian, or if it’s the fatigue and delirium talking but even if I was an evil cultivator, I probably wouldn’t be walking around with a weapon ready inside my mouth. just saying.

“The boy seemed a bit disappointed, “I… I’m Wen Ning.”

lol poor Wen Ning, but you know, Wei Wuxian only ever heard your courtesy name...saying your name won’t help him remember you if your face didn’t do it.

“Wen Ning was so scared that flinched within Wei WuXian’s grip, as if wanting to roll into a ball with his hands around his head. He whispered, “Yes… Yeah.”

ok, if you didn’t already know something about Wen Ning’s character you wouldn’t necessarily feel as bad but. Poor timid Wen Ning.

Hey, he doesn’t stutter in the present timeline, does he...?

“He had never been someone with bloodlust. But after his sect had been destroyed, wrath and hatred had pooled within him in the past few days. The extremity of the situation didn’t allow him to take any kindness along with him. If his right hand clenched up, he could snap Wen Ning’s neck in half at once!”

sorry Wen Ning but I do like the flash of killing intent here.

like I said: realistic

He knows who Wen Ning is now, he saw his timid character and how he seems nice now, but right after their sect was slaughtered just last night? His distrust is going to last a bit longer than usual.

“Wei WuXian’s voice was harsh, “Follow your orders? Follow your orders and kill people?”

THERE IT IS AGAIN. god, I love this author.

also, I’m surprised that Wen Ning has people who will listen to him. I guess the Wen Sect really is large.

“The scary thing was that a desperate ecstasy really did sprout from somewhere in the bottom of his heart.

He gave himself a harsh scolding in silence—he was stupid, useless, ridiculous, it was bizarre, unimaginable.

He wasn’t scared of death. He was only scared that after he died, he wouldn’t be able to save Jiang Cheng and betray the trust that Jiang FengMian and Madam Yu left him.”

D: don’t beat yourself up for hoping there’s still a chance, some good in people’s hearts!

I have a lot of feelings about Wei Wuxian and his self-sacrificing, self-deprecating, self-sabotaging traits.

flashback within a flashback lol

“Wei WuXian was speechless. He felt his chin, Am I really so charming? So charming that I scared him away?”

lol, no Wei Wuxian. get a hold of yourself.

poor Wen Ning, his social anxiety is strong.

“These Wen Sect’s… archery skills are the same level of bad.”

lol so they aren’t good at everything

Wen Qionglin! Finally, Wen Ning’s courtesy name appears! It’s rarely used though, like Jiang Cheng’s Jiang Wanyin.

“If anyone in the QishanWen Sect could find some face for you all, he’d be the one.”

haha its nice to have some light humor in such dark chapters

“Wei WuXian pointed at him, “There, this one, for example, he’s not as good as you.”

Jiang Cheng raged, “Do you want to die?!”

lool casually throwing Jiang Cheng under a bus there as usual

“Wei WuXian encouraged him a couple of times and touched on a few areas of growth, correcting some miniscule problems that he had when he was shooting in the garden.”

Heey, teacher Wei Wuxian making an early appearance! He really is good at it, surprisingly.

“He spat as he dragged, “See how you shoot? Do you think that you’re a model or something?!”

Wei WuXian thought for a moment before replying, “Yeah. Am I not?”

“Wei WuXian! I haven’t seen anyone as shameless as you!”

omg Wei Wuxian never change, never change.

he actually thought for a moment though! as if he considered it!

“The second day, they had arrived in Yiling.”

Wait. Yiling? We’re finally going to Yiling? ooh...

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

← back・onward →

#gdc aka the liveblog of TEARS

[mihanada]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

(back to masterpost)

This chapter was almost the end of me, ok. We have established that I need to get Wei Wuxian to turn me into a fierce corpse to survive the rest of the story.

Chapter 57: Poisons (Part 2)

“All of a sudden, Lan WangJi’s tear-streaked face, reflecting the firelight, flashed within his mind.”

;-;

that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

“We’ve got so many sects. Can’t we join together and…”

Just you wait! It’ll happen! Man, all this foreshadowing...A nice move, actually, because this would be foreshadowing if we had a linear narrative. Too much foreshadowing as you go along the story has a tendency to make the plot look too forced and everything contrived, but in this case it it’s not really foreshadowing since we have known the outcome for ages already.

“Shixiong!!! You’re alive now!!!”

“Wei WuXian, “What do you mean I’m alive now? I’ve never died to begin with!”

This reminds me of that one meme. That “Stop talking about me like I’m dead!” one.

ah, kids. it’s like ‘lol don’t go killing me off!’

The shooting kites day in and day out part gives off a ‘trapped in limbo’ feeling really well I have to say.

“If I went out, Madam Yu’s gonna whip a whole layer of skin off me.”

You’re too good at foreshadowing, Wei Wuxian. Too good.

On the other hand, we can totally see yet again that everyone in this world exaggerates corporeal punishment but you can never be too sure of when they’re actually serious!! how nice.

Ah, more martial problems...please get these two some marriage counseling. and family therapy for the whole group.

“What a shame that our swords don’t have that much spiritual energy yet. If they could sheath themselves, then nobody would be able to use them.”

“Jiang Cheng, “If you cultivate for another eighty years, then maybe it’d be possible.”

UH. THIS IS INTERESTING.

Suibian apparently does this after Wei Wuxian dies which is how Jin Guangyao outs him to everyone. According to Jiang Cheng, this shouldn’t be possible unless you cultivate to a very high level, so it must not be very common.

Wei Wuxian’s sword actually manages to do this though!

“Don’t let them hear anything we say that could be used to hold against us.”

Funny to hear these words coming from you, Wei Wuxian. See, he can be serious! When he was younger, he was especially more impulsive and carefree with his words.

“Wang LingJiao, “Of course. I didn’t have the time to come have a seat inside the last time I came to give out orders. Please.”

I kind of want to know what becomes of this woman. But I also want the satisfaction of reading her death for the first time, if the story tells us outright. Hey, at least we know who survives this conflict or not right?

I don’t know if I could survive a straight through narrative not knowing which of the secondary characters would live and which would die horrible deaths (and which villains made it out or not).

“last time I came to give out orders” though. like, damn. ultra level of disrespect.

“Sure, then, why don’t you go inside?”

I love Madam Yu’s responses. We may not have many ladies in this story, but at least we have badass ones like Madam Yu to make up for it!

“JinZhu and YinZhu stood behind her, both wearing light smirks on their faces.

YinZhu replied, “There is no tea. Get it yourself if you want any.”

And her maids! Awesome battle maids who apparently always wear armor.

I guess there really are no servants in the Jiang clan’s immediate household to serve tea lol. Jinzhu and Yinzhu sure as hell aren’t going to do it, and neither is Wei Wuxian xD that’s all they’ve got. (i’m sure they have others we don’t see. I wonder if this is a thing or they’re just saying this to spite Wang Lingjiao)

“As the person saying this, you’re a servant as well, aren’t you?”

I’m glad we get Wei Wuxian’s commentary still even though he isn’t running his mouth.

“Madam Yu, however, seemed to deeply understand the phrase ‘servants should be what servants ought to be’. Glancing at Wei WuXian, she happened to concur, responding loftily, “That’s right.”

She really does not like him. xD

“Shooting down such a kite is actually implying ‘shooting down the sun’! He wants to shoot down the sun!”

Youngest shidi, you will be immortalized and your sacrifice will not be forgotten!

remember! The war against the Wen sect is called the ‘campaign to shoot down the sun’ aka “Sunshot Campaign”. And the game that the kids in normal villages play is the same shooting down the kite game with the symbol of the sun on the kite, imitating the Sunshot Campaign.

on a more serious note, I know people who draw these wild, conspiracy-theory level conclusions from something very innocuous and it’s actually quite scary. They can’t be reasoned with, either. Just gotta roll with it unfortunately.

“Seeing that such a woman dared to make up stories of Jiang FengMian right in front of them, flames bursted from within Wei WuXian, “You…”

I actually don’t have many reactions to this part because I was just screaming silently at this part and it continues throughout to the end lol.

Ahhh, Wei Wuxian was going to defend him, but then he gets hit.

“Zidian had turned into its whip form, sizzling between her hands of cold jade.”

Remember how just using Zidian around Wei Wuxian’s leg caused a burn in the early chapters? Apparently this damn whip is nothing to scoff at and a really powerful weapon, and he gets hit so many times with it, too!

you understand why she’s doing it. At the same time, you can feel that she’s not 100% reluctant to do it either and it’s kinda scary.

then you also really feel the kids’ panic. Jiang Cheng who can’t do anything to stop it, but also of course really really wants his mom to stop whipping Wei Wuxian! and Wei Wuxian who urges him to get away and not get involved so nothing happens to him, too.

it’s just a really messed up scene and ARGH

“In the past, although Madam Yu had always come at him with harsh words, she had never truly been cruel to him. The most that he’d been through were two or three strikes and being grounded.”

This little bit is important!

But it also doesn’t give a clear answer, which really gives these characters some realism.

Madam Yu, for all her yelling at him, never hurt him badly (this is exactly where Jiang Cheng gets his parenting skills from I’m dead bye). But Wei Wuxian doesn’t have negative or resentful feelings towards her even though she has never accepted him for as long as he has been there, so he is an unreliable narrator.

Then we get this scene where it seems like she has no hesitation in whipping the skin off his back with a really powerful weapon ok. What you can’t tell (since this is from Wei Wuxian’s pov) is the degree to which she means it. She could be a good actress, at the same time she could have been lenient before because of Jiang Fengmian (who always came to let Wei Wuxian out of punishment early). Or she could have been like Jiang Cheng to Jin Ling later and scream about beating him without ever actually meaning it (lol though Jiang Cheng has never hit Jin Ling, still, can you not threaten to break his leg).

We do know that she isn’t cruel enough to enjoy it, though, and there is a limit to what she deems acceptable (cutting off hands is obviously not acceptable)

“Young Master Wen is kind. He wouldn’t do something as cruel as chop off both of his legs. If only his right hand is chopped off, then he wouldn’t ever care about this again.”

see, like, this is why I’m glad we already know the outcome of these events broadly. xD

if you think about it from the characters’ perspectives, this is really fucking scary!

What! Cut off his hand? And if you don’t...? they’ll probably try to wipe out the whole sect or burn it to the ground like the Cloud Recesses!

“Jiang Cheng fought out of the arms of JinZhu and YinZhu. He crashed to his knees, hovering over Wei WuXian, “Mom, Mom, please don’t…”

oh, Jiang Cheng...I have feelings about this guy omg. no wonder he gains an inferiority complex and then as sect leader becomes a ball of Extra and anger issues who won’t stop until he catches Wei Wuxian!

He’s always second best, feels like his father doesn’t love him because of Wei Wuxian yet it’s not like he hates Wei Wuxian either. Then, through neither of their faults, Wei Wuxian is the brave one and Jiang Cheng gets to do the leg work. And when things turn serious, there is nothing he can do at all to save Wei Wuxian who he does obviously care about. for all the ‘you’re going to be the next sect leader, act like one!’ stuff, when it comes down to it there wasn’t anything he could do.

“Fabricking? What’s fabricking? And he suddenly realized, It’s abricating!”

this was nice to lighten the mood a little. only a little though.

“JinZhu, YinZhu, quick, go close the doors. Don’t let the others see the blood.”

see what I mean by ‘you can’t tell if she really means it?’ and the glory of a limited third person narrative done right: based off the description of her actions, it’s difficult to tell.

If it means saving the sect, I think she would absolutely cut off his hand, but only with a greater threat hanging over their heads. Well, this is because she sees him as a servant, of course she would never so readily, no hesitation or lack of composure, do the same to her son.

“Wei WuXian felt fear arise, Don’t tell me that she really is gonna chop off one my my hands?”

One of the times he does show fear!

However, this is where his sacrificial side which is really damn worrying comes in.

“Let it be, then! If it’s in exchange for the peace of the sect… a hand is just a hand. Fuck, if worst comes to worst I’ll just practice the left-handed sword from now on!!!”

It’s probably part of his personality somewhat to be self-sacrificing, or at least be willing to put himself in harm’s way to do good or the right thing. But it’s also highly tied to his upbringing/view of himself. As he states in the last chapter, he doesn’t see himself as Jiang Cheng’s equal. On this, he agrees with Madam Yu: he sees himself as their servant. A servant who is very close to them, yes, and super casual borderline rude, but he doesn’t see himself as Jiang Cheng’s brother.

On a subconscious level, this can really mess with you. He values his life and wellbeing, of course, as most people do. But it also allows his sacrificial nature to rear its head and for him to rationalize that it’s okay to allow himself to get hurt but not others.

Of the things that seem to get Madam Yu to stop/snap, mentioning Jiang Fengmian is one (It was all fine until he had mentioned Jiang FengMian.)

The supervision office is another.

And this is the final straw: “But seeing how obediently you followed my orders and how your personality suits my taste, I’ve still decided to give this great honor to…”

Madam Yu is a lady with a lot of pride. She endured it up to this point, kept swallowing her words, but finally she just snaps. It’s an accumulation of all the stuff that happened, not one thing in particular.

“You look at its owner before you hit a dog! You barged into my sect, and you want to punish my person in front of my face?”

Here’s the last part reveals something more about her true feelings here.

So, here we see her pride, which extends to her servants and not just the two that have been with her since she was young. She doesn’t like Wei Wuxian, she always thinks he should be disciplined more (or at least she says she does), but in the end of the day he is her servant and what right do others (especially another servant) have to punish people of her sect?

“Then let me teach you what superiority and inferiority means! I am the superior, you are the inferior!”

but, man, at the end of the day 57 chapters was worth the wait to finally get such a strong female character like Madam Yu.

This damn chapter was such an emotional rollercoaster omg.

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

← back・onward →

#gdc aka the liveblog of TEARS

[mihanada]

My GDC Chapter 55 live blog should also be known as “in which mihanada cries and also roasts WWX and LWJ on how gross they are every other line”

(You cannot tell me that LWJ actually still looks like “warm jade” after diving into a blood soaked pool and spending 4 days trapped in a cave injured)

How horrible must that place smell like omg.

#founder of diabolism #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #魔道祖师 #mo dao zu shi #gdc aka the liveblog of tears #sorry not sorry #i find it hilarious

[mihanada]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

(back to masterpost)

I might have been silently screaming this entire chapter despite knowing our main characters obviously make it out of here alive.

Chapter 53: Courage (Part 3)

No joke, this chapter really was quite awesome. Aside from the brief fight against Xue Yang in the Yi City arc and a few scuffles with the mysterious face-concealed dude, there hasn’t been much fighting or longer action sequences. Also, I finally get to find out what happened with this giant tortoise thing after hearing about it a while back through spoilers.

So, at first I thought the maple leaves were sort of funny in a cognitive dissonance sort of way, but turns out that they’re quite significant for getting the hell out of this place.

“Wei WuXian, “… What a large… tortoise…””

don’t you love his reaction.

I’m actually kind of surprised Wen Chao didn’t scream his head off the moment the tortoise-snake looked at them. He held it together until it blew out steam, I’ll give him that.

lol this line (”beast craved slaughter more than anything”) seems on par for giant beast thing except it’s probably been stuck in this underground cave for years? is the hole at the bottom of the lake even big enough for it to fit through? it’s probably starving and looking for a good meal haha

“one suddenly started twitching like a worm” very accurate description of Wen Chao, yes.

and welp there goes your only weapon. maybe aim for the eyes next time?

you know, narrative, you conveniently left out why this guy is called the “core melting hand” >.> 

“...as though something was about to be sucked out of his arm...” doesn’t sound too good. I was on the edge of my seat at this part though, like damn, we have a giant tortoise snake wanting to munch people and a guy with a mysterious power called “core melting”...

What is Wang Lingjiao’s problem, geez. Literally, her three helpers are shot down and she just merrily continues to try to burn Mianmian’s face like wtf I’d at least be concerned if I was next to get an arrow in the back??

I wonder if we get to find out her fate later on...

And that’s how Wei Wuxian got his brand! Finally found out, 53 chapters into the story! ...will it be over chapter 100 by the time we get to find out how Lan Wangji got his?

Wei Wuxian really has this hero-like disregard for his own safety as a kid, and he never hesitates in helping others. He’s almost always the first to act as long as someone isn’t holding him back. But, it’s kind of ominous and scary that he’s really so flippant about himself. He even tells Jiang Cheng “there’s a piece of cooked meat here. You want to eat it?” talk about gallows humor. at the same time, this bravado really can’t last forever, can it?

“Wen Chao saw that his eyes were bloodshot and had on a terrifying expression.” think he’s talking about Jiang Cheng here. Ah, Jiang Cheng is still but a youngling, I don’t think his scary face is nearly as terrifying as when he becomes an adult haha.

I’m still wondering how anyone knew a beast was in the area but ok. Everyone is now trapped underground. I’d be concerned if I didn’t already know these guys all survive at least this part of the story.

ah, poor Mianmian, literally this happened just because Wang Lingjiao was jealous. and will we ever learn your whole name.

“Okay, enough, Jiang Cheng, stop carrying me. It’s not like my leg is broken.”

OH, you little shit. Ha. Remember when they were in the Cloud Recesses and he got whipped a bit, then was a drama queen about it and Jiang Cheng carried him? Now he’s more terribly wounded and saying ‘let me down’.

well, this also why he feels no qualms about offering to carry Lan Wangji. he gets carried by Jiang Cheng all the time lol. though, I think by ‘carry’ in this scene they mean he’s got an arm wrapped around his shoulders, otherwise there would be no need to say ‘propped him up’ earlier.

“No matter what, it’s better than waiting for our parents here and doing nothing.”

in a sort of meta sense...what irony. Wei Wuxian would be waiting forever, because he doesn’t have parents anymore.

I dunno, I like that the Yunmeng Jiang is the water sect where everyone’s good at swimming xD

ahh and despite being injured so badly (seared to a human crisp), Wei Wuxian takes charge. truly our lovable mc, right? He still does this in the present, just in a more teacher-ly sounding way.

like I keep mentioning: character consistency.

 “Jiang Cheng raged, “What are you doing?!””

every time I read ‘Jiang Cheng raged’, I laugh. Ah, I really love this guy, asshole that he becomes. let me not bore you though.

also: GOD DAMNIT, NAMELESS LAN SECT DISCIPLE. shame on you. wtf you hit the guy trying to save your asses with a stray arrow you saw that arrows did absolutely nothing to this thing. he’s just lucky Wei Wuxian isn’t the vengeful sort of guy.

ahh don’t you know not to pull out things stuck in your body and preventing you from bleeding out?? >.< I guess not lol. um, lucky it wasn’t the main artery in your arm??

I probably did a low screech when Lan Wangji came to save Wei Wuxian. It’s the first time we get to see him really act reckless and out of his usual composed shell (aside from the times Wei Wuxian prodded him enough to get him to snap), and it’s to save his crush. :3 Granted, Lan Wangji does have a good character so it’s understandable how Wei Wuxian never figured out he liked him. Still, there’s something nice about knowing a guy was willing to get munched on by a giant beast for you??

ouch I winced for poor Lan Wangji’s leg though, they were in a really dire situation here. If they weren’t the main characters and we know for a fact they don’t die or get crippled here, it’d be really scary and tense

ahhh and Wei Wuxian also does not disappoint, literally throwing himself at the tortoise thing and stopping its jaws with his whole body. it’s true though, people can achieve herculean strength in desperate times. And suitably, as soon as the one he was trying to save was in the clear, it no longer could hold out

“The two rows of fangs were already deep into Lan WangJi’s blood and bones.”

uh...ew...and poor Lan Zhan. it’s a good thing this is a fantasy world where we have magic cultivation stuff because it’s doubtful he’d realistically ever be able to heal from all the damage unless he got really lucky.

“Hovering on his back, Lan WangJi’s voice possessed the rare emotional fluctuation, “How could this be pleasant?! Let me down!””

indeed, let’s savor this moment.

“Wei WuXian’s mouth refused to rest even as he was running for his life,”

Accurate. This is literally his character. xD

“Wei WuXian, Oh no, Lan Zhan’s injury will worsen again.”

see his total unconcern about his own pretty bad wounds. Instead, he’s worried about Lan Wangji’s injury, which is actually quite dire.

So...let’s see what happens next. I’m really liking this flashback so far.

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

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Jin Ling to the rescue!

Chapter 24: Malice (Part 2)

Jiang Cheng, why must you be so extra. You wasted a perfectly good cup of tea.

Poor Wei Wuxian and his dog phobia though. The years he spent orphaned on the streets are rather interesting to think about when they come up, though, as he is one of the few characters who wasn’t fortunate to grow up in a good clan from the start. Well, that’s a conversation that will probably have to wait until closer to the end of the novel, since it requires a bit more for its analysis.

“Speaking of it, since when have you been so close to Lan WangJi?”

hehehe oh, that boat has long since sailed. Even if they were at odds for a while due to Wei Wuxian’s demonic cultivation.

“Maybe he’s familiar with this body that you stole instead.”

lol I mean, it’s not a wrong assumption. it’s just kind of hilarious to think about.

Ahh, this part about Jin Ling’s parents – it’s going to be really, really emotionally charged when the story reaches that part in flashbacks. I mean, it’s very clear from Wei Wuxian’s point of view that he regrets whatever happened back then. It’s just too bad he can never seem to articulate himself when it really counts aka in explaining himself. 

Oh, but now here comes Jin Ling to save Wei Wuxian’s ass! I mean, Wei Wuxian + Lan Wangji usually do the saving of the kids, but this time Jin Ling actually returns the favor. Sort of around now is when I could see him as more than just a whiny impulsive brat. He does have his pride, but for all he says he hates Wei Wuxian/Mo Xuanyu, he isn’t about to leave him to uncle’s mercy.

which is interesting.

lol he knows how to play Jiang Cheng though, mentioning Wen Ning like that haha. either that, or Jiang Cheng is just easy to manipulate if you push the right buttons.

“If he ran away and you can’t catch him, it’d be because of your bad temper, not me.”

lol you little shit you learned how to speak like that from Jiang Cheng, I know you did. Jin Guangyao is a lot of things, but he is not rude. xD

“Wei WuXian immediately pulled a mixed expression of “I’m so shocked,” “my secret has been disclosed,” and “what do I do now that Wen Ning has been found.””

lol

I mean, how are you convinced by this Jiang Cheng, do you know Wei Wuxian or not. if he pulls an expression like that, chances are he doesn’t mean it?? guess he is really, really blinded by his hatred huh.

“Uncle, why did you shut yourself inside along with that damn cut-sleeve? What did he do this time?”

Jin Ling might be a decent actor, ok. haha he even made up this line which is totally in-character.

“If I return to see that he disappeared, I’ll break your leg for sure!“

ah, Jiang Cheng’s A+ Parenting strikes again.

notably, he doesn’t mean any of it...probably. but he’s so intense and angry and extra that somehow Jin Ling still carries a vague fear of him actually following through, otherwise he wouldn’t have hurried on back earlier.

“When it was younger, it was called Little Fairy. Now that it grew up, I can’t keep on calling it that.” 

“Wei WuXian refused, “No. No. No. The point isn’t whether it’s little or not!””

lol. I love this part.

and also Jiang Cheng’s dogs: ‘Jasmine’, ‘Princess’, ‘Love’

I mean, they’re not terrible, but I guess this is not what you name dogs in Chinese typically. xD

And then, “True men don’t care for such trifles.” at least you realize that, Jin Ling.

lol and his logic then: the infallible Zidian failed so you must not be Wei Wuxian. but also you’re a cut-sleeve so you’re definitely not him.

granted, when you realize that Jin Ling knew Mo Xuanyu from years ago, it makes sense why he doesn’t believe he’s Wei Wuxian. I guess he doesn’t remember exactly how he acted or Wei Wuxian is actually acting decently close to Mo Xuanyu because you’d think he would pick up that this is a totally different person...

Also, Jin Ling’s slow half-acceptance of “Mo Xuanyu’s” homosexuality is rather interesting. at first, it disgusted him to the core, but he finds that this guy isn’t actually too bad, plus he has saved his life, and he’s also pretty smart, so it goes from absolute to disgust to “If you’re gonna go at it again, don’t find anyone from my sect!”

like, all things considering, it’s a good bit of character development. he also does this on his own, no one guides him into it.

“Young man, there are two cringe worthy phrases in one’s life that must be said, no matter what.”

ahh Wei Wuxian the teacher strikes again! I adore the “raising kids” part of this story, ok.

Jin Ling taunted, “What can anybody do to me if I don’t say them?” 

Wei WuXian, “Someday, you’ll say those words in tears.”

alright, first, yay for sounding like an actual kid (aka a 14-15 year old)

second, Someday, you’ll say those words in tears. it’s interesting, this bit. the way Wei Wuxian is talking, it’s like an elder who has gone through this stage of life haughtily thinking the same thing (and he did, when he was young none of the apologies he spoke were really things he meant), and now he is trying to impart that to the next generation. it’s more of a warning, rather than ordering him to say it, which I guess he knows from experience won’t really make an impact.

so, it’s preparing him for the future without condescendingly telling him to “just do this because it’s the right thing to do”

then he follows it up with a (personal) example! what a good teacher

poor kid has never had anyone apologize for insulting him because of his parents though.

I dunno, Jin Ling grew on me a lot by the Yi city arc, but on the second read through I ended up liking him period. he’s a spoiled brat, but he’s tenacious and really (too) earnest.

lol I couldn’t believe that Wei Wuxian just knocked him out like that though.

I was surprised Jin Ling didn’t hold a grudge over that.

will he ever find out that Wei Wuxian took the curse off him though. maybe not. since he never knew about it, no one would reasonable bring it up again...

“No matter what unfortunate thing happened, he wouldn’t cling on to them; no matter what situation he was in, he would be happy.”

this is probably the only reason he got through half the shit that happened in his life and at this point in the story is still sane

ooh and then we reunite with Lan Wangji!

which we shall save for next time

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

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Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

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I almost forgot to do this because I was busy trying to catch up on Legendary Master’s Wife lol.

Chapter 27: Malice (Part 5)

I still find it kind of funny that they keep the body parts in their little pouches under teacups in the room. I guess they do it so it doesn’t look tempting to steal or people don’t see the bags moving around, but it’s still kind of funny.

Also: just remember that these two dorks played a duet together every night to calm these things down.

Then: remember Wei Wuxian’s sad flute and how the sound literally roused Lan Qiren from a coma. xD

At least Lan Wangji finally fixed it for him. Haha, but to think Wei Wuxian didn’t even notice him remove it from his person...you’ve really gotten used to each other, huh.

“Has it gotten too used to the bad playing? I’m playing properly for once, and it doesn’t even like it.”

lol I forgot this part happened. The hand got used to his shitty playing.

Seems our “dear friend” was never a connoisseur of music. It didn’t seem to do him much good in life, either.

Interesting factoid I discovered in my travels on the internet: the guqin creates soft tunes, so it can’t be paired with all instruments or else it’ll get drowned out. classically, the xiao (the vertical flute that Lan Xichen owns) is paired with it since it has a deep, mellow sound, but in modern times the dizi (it has other names, but nowadays refers to a horizontal flute like the one Wei Wuxian is always depicted with) has also been used to duet with it.

the more you know

The curse mark hasn’t been brought up again in the latest chapters, but it was never removed, so I guess it hasn’t spread at all since.

Wei WuXian said in a voice filled with much empathy and a dash of timidity, “My apologies. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, but you might need to build the wall again afterwards.”

Wei Wuxian is such a scoundrel sometimes lol. you’re not sorry at all

I can’t tell whether he’s a good actor, or a really bad one, sometimes...

poor Nie Huaisang though, these two just come barging in wrecking everything.

once again, I am reminded of how this novel is not cheap when it comes to descriptions of gross corpse things. not for the squeamish.

“Then, would it mean that the owner has three arms?!”

lol Wei Wuxian. but, you know, it’s a valid and ridiculously implausible thought. xD he really is a fun narrator to follow on this journey

though.

suddenly shouting to take the pants off the corpses...ahh how does no one else figure out this is Wei Wuxian for 50 chapters??

“With a face full of tears, he thought that, for sure, after he died, he would be slapped once on the face by every ancestor in the QingheNie Sect and end up injured so badly that he’d be handicapped even after he reincarnated.”

the writing is so colorful. also, I’m really not used to the writing style of Chinese web novels which seem to have a lot of really exaggerated expressions

so this is hilarious. poor guy. If you think about it, after reading the flashbacks later on, poor Nie Huaisang was in for a real surprise when his brother died and he suddenly became sect leader. He had no clue about all this stuff before that.

“Just as Nie HuaiSang was about to praise how worthy of his title HanGuang-Jun was, he heard him speak, “I will do it.””

HAHA Lan Wangji how petty are you?? not wanting Wei Wuxian to do it, are you really jealous of dead guys. I mean. technically, Wei Wuxian is also a dead guy but...

“We can only hope that the pieces aren’t too tiny.”

o.o

I think I felt like that when I first read it lol.

and now we are off to the start of the Yi City arc! this one is really damn long, but it’s so good.

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

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Nice, the translation team released a compilation of the first 45 chapters. Makes it so much easier to sort through to find certain parts.

Chapter 21: Contentment (Part 3)

Lol, I love how Wei Wuxian interrogates the charlatan here with cold, hard logic. “Well if it eats everything and leaves nothing behind, how did anyone find out about it in the first place? How could anyone have seen it if it eats all witnesses? How powerful would that person have to be??”

He’s such a smartass I love it.

Oh, poor Nie Huaisang. D: he was such a happy kid. Ok, they all were, generally, but still. It is kind of amusing that he keeps whining to Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao to save him, though, he even drags them off during the discussion conference in later chapters to complain and plead to them.

Also, this section explaining the Nie sect’s situation is easier to follow once you’ve read more of the story. The amount of title-dropping in this section made me skim over it the first time.

This is also one of those odd things where Wei Wuxian shouldn’t know all of this information unless someone updated him off-screen lol. Nie Mingjue died a few years after Wei Wuxian did.

Ahhh one of the things I noticed on the first read-through that made me really :3 about Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji was the fact that Lan Wangji let him take the money, spend it, and even keep the pouch without a word. One, he’s indulging the guy he loves haha, and two, making up for lost time?? For all the things he couldn’t do for him, the least he can do now is whatever is in his power, and if that means letting him spend money on whatever, so be it

“Not only were these types of corpses bullied by their peers” lol. I just. find that really funny.

BUT the true hilarious bit is the fact that they’re actually scared of Wei Wuxian! lol what the hell is with his soul that they run in fear of him?? this has nothing to do with cultivation levels, since he has Mo Xuanyu’s low level of cultivation.

“Wow, HanGuang-Jun, you’re so cool! They were so scared when they saw you that they ran away at once!”

hahaha. oh, Wei Wuxian...how he treats Lan Wangji with this slightly false reverence (though he does respect him, he’s using the title as part of his act as Mo Xuanyu but then just gets used to it), is great. just great.

AND THE DOG AGAIN. That is some major cynophobia.

this scene is honestly adorable, poor Wei Wuxian flipping his shit over hearing a dog barking. it isn’t even in front of him.

“HanGuang-Jun, why don’t you move? Move! If you don’t move, what do I do?!”

After a moment of silence, Lan WangJi replied, “First… let go.” 

The two pushed and staggered.

c’mon, that had to be a sight to see. Some guy hanging off Hanguang-jun’s waist, and since he refuses to move, they have to stumble along through the woods. And Lan Wangji just went with it, too.

“It seemed as if it wanted to bite the corner of Lan WangJi’s robes, but didn’t dare to, so it went around him to bite Wei WuXian’s clothes instead, tugging him in a certain direction.”

hahahaha I really want to see this moment in the manhua. or animation. whichever.

why is that dog so afraid of Lan Wangji though. he’s so intimidating that even a dog is scared of him? or is it his own projecting on him lol, since Jin Ling is scared of Lan Wangji

“Wei WuXian’s soul almost flew out of him.”

uh that’s not good, your soul need to sTAY PUT YOU LITERALLY JUST GOT BACK

Also, the fact that the dog is dragging a terrified Wei Wuxian, who is clinging so hard that he drags Lan Wangji and they go all the way around to the entrance like this xD

I never figured out why Wei Wuxian heard all these loud noises and it seems that Lan Wangji can’t...does it have to do with him having been dead? no clue

anyways, the plot thickens!

this chapter was honestly really hilarious the second time I read it, idk why it wasn’t the first time but this one is a gem. really.

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

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Time to go digging for Jin Ling!

Chapter 22: Contentment (Part 4)

Wei Wuxian takes out a Compass of Evil and - has the Compass of Evil ever managed to point out anything specific in this whole story? Wei Wuxian needs to upgrade that thing, lol.

Aww, I really didn’t notice Wei Wuxian’s concern for Jin Ling the first time around. Or, at least, I didn’t really understand it. Now I do. D:

So, this is a novel which limits how scary scenes like this can get, but. This would be horrifying or at least downright creepy if it happened in real life. Mysterious “castle” buildings in the middle of the forest? Spiritual dog barking at it madly, but can’t get inside? His owner missing? You start hearing voices screaming in your ears but you might be the only one hearing them? And eyes staring at you even though nothing’s there?

Then, in the only rooms in the place, are coffins filled with...swords. Lots and lots of swords, in place of a body.

wth

Anyways, it really seemed like a random place on my first read-through, but the subsequent ones show how far the Nie sect went for these sabers, including the skillfully carved coffins.

Wei Wuxian’s comment of “What a nice coffin” as he pats one of the darn things is lowkey hilarious though.

are you trying to keep your identity secret or did that boat sail chapters ago

because you’re being very obvious. how many people pat coffins and say “what a nice coffin”!!

Also, kudos to Wei Wuxian for not...freaking out or something when Lan Wangji pulls out his guqin to play Inquiry. If I was worried about the kid who disappeared in here, I’d probably freak out even more because if you have to play Inquiry to find him, he’s pretty much dead already.Luckily for poor Jin Ling, they do manage to get him out before he was 100% dead, but still.

Wei WuXian quickly asked, “What did it say?” 

Lan WangJi, “I do not know.” 

Wei WuXian, “What?” 

Lan WangJi replied in an unhurried manner, “It said, ‘I do not know’.” 

AAAH this part is lowkey cute too. I didn’t realize it until someone pointed it out that this is as close as Lan Wangji gets to joking. Him, throwing the “whatever” thing back at Wei Wuxian.

Wei WuXian looked at him, suddenly remembering a conversation about “whatever” a few years ago. Touching his nose, he was at a loss for words, and thought, Lan Zhan is so bright. He even learned how to make me speechless.

can you hear that. that’s the sound of someone falling in love.

I remember reading through this part in anticipation, but also really creeped out by the responses. They get increasingly more disconcerting.

And Wei Wuxian even faintly hears Jin Ling’s voice. o.o

is this a thing he can do only because he died once or something? Wei Wuxian what is up with you.

(also, I’ve been keeping track of Jin Ling’s age the best I can. at the very start, he is “almost fifteen”, now he responds to Lan Wangji that he is 15, and in later chapters is also described as 15. could be a result of the translation, but he might have turned 15 at some point during the story)

they just compared Jin Ling to a carrot being pulled out of the ground, pffft-

also, notice how Lan Wangji just lets Wei Wuxian grab his sword’s sheath and use it to poke at skeletons in the wall. just another of those instances in which he’s...indulgent to him, I guess you can say?

this novel is also very good at describing dead bodies xD

jfc this is really scary place when you think about it, though...

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

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As promised, here’s one to make up for missing the one on Monday.

Chapter 25: Malice (Part 3)

What a classic move, Lan Wangji, saving your boyfriend from falling. Ah, it must have nearly given him a heart attack to return and Wei Wuxian was nowhere to be seen. Then, he finally returns, only to come back with an injured ankle.

This story would be pretty interesting (but also vastly different) if Lan Wangji actually emoted a bit more. xD

After staring at it for a while, Lan WangJi spoke in a bitter voice, “… I only left for a few hours.”

I love this. 

I really do.

if he was the type to make expressions, he’d be giving a -_- face or something.

Then Wei Wuxian is basically: oh, it’s ok we just need to take out the evil thing that’ll inevitably find me and by we I mean you, Hanguang-jun

AH AND THERE WE GO. Lan Wangji doesn’t emote much, but he shows it in other ways. like his calling out “Wei Ying” here.

he really is concerned. but also kind of like “really now”.

HA JIANG WANYIN I literally backtracked the first two read throughs because I didn’t remember a new character named Jiang Wanyin when did this- oh.

jiang cheng.

Interestingly, Jiang Cheng is the only character really who Wei Wuxian constantly refers to by his birth name, having grown up with him and all. Jin Ling doesn’t count since he doesn’t have a courtesy name at the moment, and everyone, not just Wei Wuxian, refers to Wen Ning as Wen Ning.

lol and then Wei Wuxian makes a huge deal out of being carried on Lan Wangji’s back. who would’ve guessed even he has things he sees as too embarrassing to do, and that’s to be carried by the honorable Hanguang-jun. xD

he puts up a fight, but he never really stood a chance.

Ah, and then Lan Wangji referring to the time Wei Wuxian carried him on his back- well, we’re just about coming up to that moment in the current translated chapters (in ch 50, Wei Wuxian finally remembered that it happened).

like, how does he have such a shit memory though. I know why, having read some spoilers, but seriously, some things are memorable enough that they should stick??

HAHA ok you won’t let me carry you on my back then I shall princess carry you

why did he put up such a fight if he ended up having fun right after and teasing Lan Wangji

“Lan Zhan, you’ve known that it was me ever since we were at Dafan Mountain, right?” 

Lan WangJi, “Yes.” 

THEY FINALLY BRING IT UP. it was a relief when they did because damn you know that Lan Wangji knows so can we just air this and move on already. xD

Wei WuXian wondered, “How could you tell?” 

Lan WangJi looked down at him, “You want to know?” 

Wei WuXian declared, “Yes.” 

Lan WangJi, “You told me yourself.”

once again, I could not figure this out for the LIFE of me and resorted to spoilers. xD

It seemed as if something had sent ripples through Lan WangJi’s eyes.

that’s disappointment, wei wuxian

“You don’t have a third hand to open the door…”

lan wangji: WATCH ME

“It was possibly the first time in his whole life that he had ever done such a rude act.”

anything for the love of his life, right?

but really, Lan Wangji can be so petty??

Nie Huaisang, what can I say? he does have a pretty weak presence, so to really appreciate him, you have to read the story more than once.

I found this whole deal with Xinglu Ridge and the Saber Hall pretty interesting, a good mini adventure before launching into the much longer Grasses arc. the saber spirits and the Nie’s style of cultivation was really cool too? I just really like how different clans and sects have different cultivation styles.

“...if you don’t give us a proper explanation here, I’m afraid that, after the secret is exposed, all of the sects and clans come here to interrogate you. When the time comes, even if you want to explain things, there won’t be anyone to listen to or believe in you.”

FORESHADOWING.

except. notably, Wei Wuxian (& Lan Wangji) allow Nie Huaisang to explain himself.

in Wei Wuxian’s case...there are various reasons and circumstances why he can’t give a proper explanation, and thus ends up in the situation where even if he wants to explain things, no one would listen or believe him except for Lan Wangji who needs no explanation to trust him.

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

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Next part! Lots of info dumping again.

Chapter 29: Dew (Part 2)

We start the chapter with a disturbing description of what “lingchi” is, yikes. This is actually thiiiis close to the only thing that has truly disturbed me enough to avoid it forever: skinning alive. Luckily for me, it’s only a quick description and not a chapter-long scene (thanks, Haruki Murakami’s Wind-up Bird Chronicle >> I even made the mistake of reading that part in public).

modern au: Wei Wuxian is the author of “A Thousand Ways to Die Agonizing Deaths”

this is because his imagination is endless isn’t it. But it truly makes him sound like a villain, haha.

Ah, even funnier. The part where the common people attribute the Chang clan’s massacre to Wei Wuxian despite the fact that he was dead for a few years already, poor Wei Wuxian, getting blamed even beyond the grave.

Even better is how his name got butchered by the time it reached the small normal villages into Wei Wuqian (apparently the latter half means ‘[to have] no money’, haha). At some point he keeps bemoaning how he was poor for some time, as well.

“The way he looked over, you’d think that I was putting my arm around his wife…””

oh, but you are. Lan Wangji, unsubtle you are not (anymore). Even the waiter realizes it. Wei Wuxian is just dense. 

“Oh, him. This friend of mine was brought up strictly. He absolutely hates it when other people are being too comfortable with each other in front of him. Isn’t that strange?”

l o l if only you knew.

Then Wei Wuxian has the guy take Lan Wangji’s surname, haha. he, like, could have used the name of the dude whose body he is in, but nah. gotta use Lan Wangji’s name of course, for the shits and giggles.

“Confirm for me that the, uh, wiping out of the Chang Clan wasn’t done by me, was it?” 

Other than how he died ten years ago and his soul had been fairly stable, it was impossible that he killed an entire clan and didn’t remember anything!”

:3 I just really like his slight hesitation here, and that he doubts it enough to ask despite you know. being very much dead at the time without even a body left on earth.

“He played a role in everything; he was to be blamed for everything. Even if one’s neighbor’s grandson didn’t eat properly and lost five pounds, it was because the child was frightened by stories of the YiLing Patriarch commanding the Ghost General to murder people.”

funny how much of a household name he became, even among the common folk.

Ah, now we get a huge info dump on Wei Wuxian’s mother leading into the mysterious Baoshan sanren. It’s really neat how all the characters in the “side adventure” are related to the main cast in some way - Xiao Xingchen with Wei Wuxian via Baoshan sanren and Wei Wuxian’s mother, Xue Yang through the Lanling Jin Sect/Jin Guangyao.

it makes the world feel quite vast, yet also quite small as well, just like the real world.

It’s interesting how Jiang Fengmian didn’t really talk about his parents at all, probably because Wei Wuxian never asked, he didn’t feel a need to tell him if he wasn’t curious or concerned.

The whole situation with how he was treated when he was part of the Jiang clan/sect is also really interesting, but I’m not sure how to unpack that with what we know for now.

“Xiao XingChen left the mountain in hopes of saving the world.”

haha, this suddenly reminded me of Rurouni Kenshin. and we all know how well that ended.

also, I had to look up what a horsetail whisk was. it has such a weird name. when I told my mom about it, she already knew what it was though xD I don’t watch many Chinese movies aside from some old ones so...

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

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[mihanada]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Liveblog

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I am so tired, but let’s do this.

Chapter 19: Contentment (Part 1)

I still can’t believe they spent the whole night in the same bed and in such an awkward position, too. Lan Wangji must have been happy.

It must be extremely bizarre, though, to keep staring at Mo Xuanyu’s face but knowing it’s Wei Wuxian inside this unfamiliar person’s body. It might bother some people, but Lan Wangji is probably just happy to have him back (notably, even if he never realizes that Lan Wangji likes him, or reciprocates it. with the exception of his extreme possessiveness when he’s drunk, he really is lowkey in some ways and unsubtle in others...I’m kind of oblivious though, so I probably wouldn’t have guessed he liked Wei Wuxian if I didn’t already know they were the main couple).

But anyways, after rising, Lan Wangji not only allows Wei Wuxian to sleep in to the time he’s used to, he also tucks him into bed in the proper sleeping position. xD looking back on it, it’s actually really obvious, isn’t it...

lol, Wei Wuxian yelling at the disciples because he thinks they must be on the Gusu Lan’s schedule. not realizing Lan Zhan let you sleep in.

No wonder Wei Wuxian is kind of freaked. The flashback was timed perfectly. Before, the reader only had his word to go on that Lan Wangji was acting abnormal compared to what Wei Wuxian knew of him, but now the reader can be on the same page.

ahhh shameless Wei Wuxian strikes again. Poor Lan kids. The funniest part is when they start realizing these two might actually be a thing. For now, they totally don’t believe his outrageous statements that he and Hanguang-jun slept together lol

also: Jingyi raging. you must be quiet in the Cloud Recesses, Jingyi!

Also, since when did Wei Wuxian name the donkey lol. Did he make that name up on the spot.

The rabbits. :) So many rabbits. All because of those two rabbits from the last chapter....(lan wangji really did like those rabbits...haha, jk, they reminded him of Wei Wuxian.)

Someone had to wonder why the stoic Lan Wangji likes rabbits so much, though.

What I want to know is how Wei Wuxian managed to order the door open. It can’t be related to his body’s level of cultivation, since Mo Xuanyu’s isn’t anything impressive.

They get to duet together. :3 It’s cute whenever they play together, though judging by Lan Qiren rising from being half-dead just to yell at him, it doesn’t sound so nice. (if the “it was heartbreaking to hear” is anything to go by...)

...Does anyone know the Chinese characters for the “Evocation” and “Rest” tunes? I managed to get the ones for “Inquiry” thanks to some music videos, but...

“Although his corpse was chomped into more pieces, at least his soul was complete.”

This is interesting.

So, it means that his soul was intact all these years...I guess the stone lions they stuck on the Burial Mounds worked at keeping his soul from leaving for anything less than the sacrificial ritual Mo Xuanyu did. Though no one was able to summon him at the Burial Mounds...perhaps it was that their rituals were not strong enough, since Wei Wuxian himself says he had no desire to return for revenge or anything.

“After a while, he finally couldn’t bear to continue as if nothing was wrong any longer and raised his head to look at Wei WuXian...”

...I somehow doubt that was really the reason he looked up...

It’s hilarious that the song doesn’t need to be good for it to work on the spirits/corpses/this arm. xD

aww teacher Wei Wuxian is back. He’s so adorable with the kids.

and unlike a lot of other things, he takes their education seriously

lol how helpful Mr. Headless Corpse. pointing the direction out for them. (more like ‘how can I make any easier to find my body??’)

“Yes, yes, yes, we can finally get off this mountain and elope together!”

lol

even better:

“...a few of the boys were already used to it.”

oh no, it’s started. xD

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

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#grandmaster of demonic cultivation #founder of diabolism #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #魔道祖师 #gdc aka the liveblog of TEARS

[mihanada]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

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Quite excited for the chapters to come. I’ve been wanting to read the full version of events from this time period and it has really delivered so far.

also: tumblr is being wonky with displaying the activity feed so if I didn’t respond to a reply or something, I probably didn’t see it rip. I’ll save them all up for later and respond all at once in a few days. 

Chapter 52: Courage (Part 2)

I’ve heard that the next chunk of chapters is going to be all flashback, which makes sense given how little the story has actually revealed about events from the Sunshot Campaign up until Wei Wuxian died. It also adds more life to characters who were only mentioned briefly *coughJinZixuancough*.

And, of course, we get some more quality banter between our main protags’ younger selves. The chapter opens up with Lan Wangji rebuffing all of Wei Wuxian’s attempts to talk to him, but hey, this time Wei Wuxian is genuinely concerned about his leg (though he probably still sounds like his normal playful, infuriating self) and not looking to make fun of him.

Still, Lan Wangji is on a mission here, and that mission is to pretend there is nothing wrong with his leg.

We finally get introduced to a female character other than Jiang Yanli and Madam Yu (another minor flaw of the novel: the awesome ladies are few and far between. enjoy them while they’re here.): Mianmian. Do we ever find out what Mianmian’s real name is or. I’ll put off adding her to the wiki for now.

Poor girl, confronted with Wei Wuxian’s absolutely shameless badgering. It’s cute how he bounces between conversations and groups of people though, as if they aren’t all human sacrifices/hostages of the Wen Sect.

This description of him is absolutely hilarious, and probably what Lan Wangji thought of him 90% of the time: “[He] swept over like a foreboding gust of wind”. Perfect description of Wei Wuxian. Flits about as he pleases, bringing wit him headaches and frustration.

“Seeing that he was at it again, Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes with emphasis.”

is he a drama queen or what. 

rolled his eyes with emphasis

lol at Lan Wangji ratting Wei Wuxian out with his “play on words”

‘its ceaseless bounds yearn for miles and miles on’

I do love play on words. I can only imagine thinking “wei wuxian you little shit” when reading that part in its original language. 

“Do you behave in such a frivolous way towards everyone?”

Wei WuXian thought for a second, “I think so?”

that’s precious.

aww but you do get to see that, for however much of a little shit he is, Wei Wuxian does care. seeing that his behavior is making Lan Wangji annoyed enough to push past his injury, he leaves so he can stop hurting himself more.

But....AHA this is the information I was waiting for: how the heck the Cloud Recesses got burnt down.

damn, Wen Sect. no wonder the rest of the cultivation world wiped you off the face of the earth.

So, interestingly, they only mention Lan Wangji who got beaten and his leg broken for protecting the Library Pavilion. In some past chapter, it mentions that Lan Xichen saved some of those books and escaped with them.

It’s interesting that Lan Wangji was sent here, instead of Lan Xichen who wasn’t injured as far as I know.

ahhh but Wei Wuxian actually took notice of what Lan Wangji was doing. do you do this to everyone or >>. well, he is an observant person, but he does pay some special attention to Lan Zhan here

then he just states “I’m gonna carry him.” I love how he totally doesn’t take into account that the last thing the proud Lan Wangji who “who valued proper conduct beyond anything” probably...would not want you to carry him. just a thought.

“It’s alright if he hates me—I don’t hate him. I’ll get him onto my back the second I get hold of him. Could he possibly choke me to death while on my back?”

this boy’s logic is golden.

“First, this isn’t a triviality. Second, things like this, somebody will have to care about them, sooner or later!”

I think this is significant in some way. >>

Wei Wuxian is the type to do something because it’s right, or what he wants to do, not because someone else wants him to do it. It’s one of the good parts of his shamelessness, but it’s also kind of dangerous.

geez, what dictators. who walks around holding a branding iron all the time to stick people with??

Also, this explains where Wei Wuxian got his.

lol how did anyone even get word that a beast thing was supposed to be in this general location. how did anyone figure this out. it’s hidden way underground in a lake.

Aahh poor Jin Zixuan, I feel a bit bad for him. He’s a bit of a prick, but not a bad guy. This is why the flashbacks are nice, we get to know a bit about guys like him. Also, Jin Ling shares several similarities with him in terms of personality...

“This time, Wei WuXian could relate to his feelings on a profound level. No matter what creatures haunted this cave, facing them would be much more comfortable than facing Wen Chao and the others.”

lool

I was really bored the first time I read this, so it was extra funny for some reason

Anyways, down the rabbit hole we go.

I once again wonder how anyone knew to even look in this general location for a beast. It’s pretty well hidden.

Poor Mianmian. I guess she doesn’t survive this whole arc, since there’s absolutely no mention of her in the present. But for now, at least, Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji refuse to let them use her as human bait.

geez, though, the Wen people don’t even care if the person is a disciple of their own sect: “he was certain that she wasn’t part of the sect’s clan. She was at most a disciple, so she’d surely be the perfect bait”

Not actually sure which sect she’s from but yeah

kudos to Jin Zixuan though! we finally get to know you!

actually, it seems that the two with the most pride end up being the ones who (literally) make a stand. both him and Lan Wangji are quite proud guys, in different ways.

“Although he didn’t say anything, the way he looked at the disciple was more than imposing. What such a look meant was clear to everyone—it truly is a shame that the GusuLan Sect has taught a disciple like you!”

ooh now we know how the scary Hanguang-jun that Jin Ling is afraid of came about lol.

And of course, Wei Wuxian must jump in and add his two cents. he really is a clever guy, haha, reciting their ancestors at them word-for-word.

“All those who oppress others and do evil relying on the power of their clan should be killed. Not only that, they should be beheaded for tens of thousands to revile so that those to come would beware.”

ironically, Nie Mingjue kills Wen Chao’s older brother, Wen Xu, during the Sunshot Campaign by beheading him as a warning to the Wen sect soldiers.

ha! it comes back to bite you guys in the ass

“You dared say that one of your ancestor’s remarks are absurd and outrageous? Well said, very well said!”

oh, Wei Wuxian, brilliant, but you sure know how to dig your own grave

Jiang Cheng is probably having an aneurysm next to him at this very moment

“Yes, very well, you can go die now.”

you’re going to get yourself killed

scratch that, it’s awesome of him to say all this, but it’s also really dangerous. I love how his character strength (shameless, not caring about the consequences) is a double edged sword. and, as a teenager, he has even less of a filter and capacity for thinking of the consequences

then he kidnaps Wen Chao and even if you manage to get out of this place alive, there’s no guarantee of what will happen afterwards. eep

the beast then rises out of the water, apparently offended by the little humans jumping on its back. lol talk about a cliffhanger! 

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

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