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hunxi-after-hours · 1 year

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hunxi’s danmei awards 2.0! (aka 2022 edition)

Featuring the return of some categories such as:

Best Worldbuilding

Best Interrogation of Themes (aka the “Rent-Free Award”)

Best Moment That Wrecked Me (aka the Knifiest Award)

Best Beleaguered Side Character Award

Best Unreliable Narrator

As well as never-before-seen categories like:

Best Himbo

Most Brilliant Moment of Backstabbery

Most Ambitious Scope

Most Heartwrenching Line Delivery in an Audiodrama

…and more!

This year’s candidates in the running:

《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

《不小心救了江湖公敌》 Bu Xiao Xin Jiule Jianghu Gong Di by 六木乔 Liu Muqiao (有声漫画 audiomanhua season 1)

《无双》 Wu Shuang by 梦溪石 Meng Xishi

《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio

《师弟还不杀我灭口》 Shidi Hai Bu Sha Wo Mie Kou by 子鹿 Zi Lu

《默读》 Mo Du by priest

《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao

《哏儿》 Gen’er by 南北逐风 Nan Bei Zhu Feng

《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang by priest

《金牌助理之弯弯没想到》 Jin Pai Zhu Li zhi Wan Wan Mei Xiang Dao by (nominally) 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang and (mostly) 传奇火箭队 The Legendary Rocket Team

(unmarked spoilers, including but not limited to these titles, under the cut. for introductions of these titles, click here. for last year’s danmei awards, click here)

Best Worldbuilding

Winner: 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang by priest

This award goes to 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang for the effortless ease with which p大 manages to merge the genres of imperial intrigue, steampunk mecha, alternate history, and wuxia elements. Over the course of the novel, priest explores how the development of 紫流金-based technology leads the fictional Liang Dynasty into industrial revolution, and doesn’t hesitate to include all the negative consequences of early industrialization. So you’ve rolled out mechanical alternatives for farming? Have fun dealing with the uprisings of unemployed farmers while fending off international threats on your borders. So you want to roll out paper currency/government bonds to stimulate your war-torn economy? Good luck even getting people to trust the validity of paper the way they trust the hardness of coin. In a way, 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang carries on the tradition set down in priest’s earlier novel 《七爷》 Qi Ye of protagonists using decidedly underhanded methods to effect the change they wish to see in the world, and the morality thereof remains just as thorny in 《杀破狼》. what would you do in the name of peace? how much of yourself can you give away before you are no longer the same person?

oh and I have to give a shout-out to the trains in this book, I’d give this award to 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang for its (re-)invention of trains alone

Best Interrogation of Themes (aka the “Rent-Free Award”)

Winner: 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

I listened to 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu via audiodrama before I read the novel, and every time I finished an episode I would have to just sit for a few hours, processing. Despite its seemingly lighthearted premise, 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu shows us an apocalypse in all its cruel magnificence. The oppressive atmosphere of unending martial law, the seductive proximity of despair, the omnipresence and unpredictability of death, the utter lack of justice or closure or meaning in a world slowly grinding to a halt, the vast, inhuman lengths civilization will go to in the name of survival... to this day, 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu haunts the solemnity of my early mornings with questions like what would you condone to survive? and wherein lies the locus of meaning when everything it means to be human has been stripped away? and like. I haven’t been the same since my mushroom phase, okay

Best Beleaguered Side Character Award

Winner: Ji Bolan from 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

This poor man had to deal with his childhood friend growing up to be a governmentally-licensed and universally-reviled mass murderer, the complete breakdown of the laws of physics, and witnessing Lu Feng and An Zhe flirt in front of his salad soup, all during the apocalypse that he is frantically trying to solve. Frankly, he’s allowed to roast Lu Feng as much as he wants, and the fact that he’s voiced by the same person who did AD!Jiang Cheng and AD!Xiao Zheng (winner of last year’s Best Beleaguered Side Character Award) is 1) extremely funny, 2) very on-brand, and 3) further proof that being in voice actor fandom 其乐无穷

Best Moment That Wrecked Me (aka the Knifiest Award)

Winner: 《默读》 Mo Du by priest

The character of Fei Du in priest’s 《默读》 is easily the character who had me clawing at the walls the most for the better part of this year (I’m still clawing at the walls, if we’re being honest). I am in love with everything about the way priest wrote him; from his introduction as the flamboyantly aggravating playboy chasing after Tao Ran (brilliant character work there as well as brilliant comedy, 感谢陶然不弯之恩 etc etc) to the slow, methodical reveal of his backstory and how deeply, deeply traumatized he is, Fei Du is one of the most complex and intelligent and nuanced and terribly lovable meow meows characters I’ve had the good fortune to run into

To pick a single Fei Du moment? A single one? Well if I have to choose, unfortunately it’s going to have to be chapter 180 朗诵（五） for the simple reason that it hurts me:

他恨不能撕裂时空，大步闯入七年前，一把抱起那个沉默的孩子，双手捧起他从不流露的伤痕，对他说一句“对不起，我来晚了”。

[Luo Wenzhou] wished he could tear apart time, to barge back into that moment seven years ago and pick up that silent child, to cradle those hidden wounds and say to him, “I’m sorry I was late.”

“我来晚了……”

“I was late...”

直到上了救护车，费渡才好像是有了点意识，难以聚焦的目光在骆闻舟脸上停留了许久，大概是认出了他，竟露出了一个微笑。

Fei Du only seemed to recover a semblance of consciousness when they loaded him into the ambulance. His eyes, unfocused, stopped on Luo Wenzhou’s face for a while before smiling slightly.

骆闻舟艰难地看懂了他无声的唇语。

Luo Wenzhou read his words in the soundless shape of his lips with difficulty.

他说：“没有了……怪物都清理干净了，我是最后一个，你可不可以把我关在你家？”

He said, “They’re all gone... All the monsters are taken care of, I’m the last one. Can you lock me up in your house?”

I’m just. if you need me I’ll be screaming about sunflowers in the abyss

Best Unreliable Narrator

Winner: Yan Zhuoqing and the Deer God of 《��鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio

surprising shortage of unreliable narrators in this year’s contenders, but 《问鹿三千》 makes up for it by having not one, but TWO unreliable narrators involved. can you believe that BOTH of these semi-immortal dumbasses have amnesia? smh Deer God you’re literally the god of time and memory, how you’ve even gotten this far I’ve got no idea

honorable mention: Fei Du from 《默读》 by priest. this man had the audacity to say the words “我没有创伤” / “I’m not traumatized” after asking for Luo Wenzhou’s assistance in recovering some of his repressed memories that he’d blocked out because of the — you guessed it — trauma

Best Himbo

Winner: Situ Jin from 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

I think it’s safe to say that Situ Jin is a Very Good Egg With No Braincells Whatsoever. None. This man had to be bullied into a hurt/comfort scenario by his future wife, and when she came to him for comfort, grieving her father’s death, he responded to her “now I’m all alone” with “don’t cry: you’re one, I’m one, together we’re two.” proud of u for basic math, bro, but is now really the time. his other highlights include: thinking dreamily about his wife while in prison, defending innocent bystanders regardless the personal cost, and continually failing to seek medical attention while bleeding out

Side Character I’m Still Mad About (aka the Gongyi Xiao Award)

Winner: Fu Luo from 《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao

so it turns out that I am Weak for this very specific kind of character, the one who is a Good Kid, the one who tries their best to be responsible and reasonable, the one who could honestly be a protagonist in another novel. double points if you can trust them with a spreadsheet (Bian Yanmei), triple points if they’re delightfully lowkey devoted to the actual protagonist (can I get a wahoo for the Jiangzuo Alliance in here??)

and you know what the author does? murders them with prejudice

tl;dr I’m still not over Fu Luo, because like oh man that scene was well done but also ouch

"most memeworthy/meme-able"

(this one’s for you, @presumenothing)

Winner: 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

I mean I literally—

this book is a Very Serious and Somewhat Grimdark book, but I have to say the sheer amount of misunderstandings that occur are comical in their quantity. have you ever met two people more in love with each other and less capable of uttering a single sentence about it, it is only by the grace of the author that these two didn’t murder each other before their happy ending at the many given opportunities throughout the book

"most deserving of a shenshen OST"

(this one’s also for you, @presumenothing, ty for all the brilliant category recs)

Winner: ........?

this is such an interesting award category to consider, because it’s like asking “which one of these texts would you like to hand a steak knife to gut you with,” but it also begs the question of what a shenshen OST would bring to the text that the existing music/adaptation doesn’t. it also raises the question of what kind of narrative (grand, sweeping, vast in scale or minute, gentle, heartbreaking?) would be most compatible with a shenshen OST?

my first thought was 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu, since it has both the monumental scope and the fragile, breakable heart that shenshen OST’s are so suited for (他只是一个小蘑菇 goodbYE—), but the music of the 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu AD is already so perfect I don’t actually want to add anything to it. my next thought would be 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian — again, for that blend of scale and sorrow, wistfulness at what can never be and gratitude for what we have. but 《问鹿》 also has five songs already, and while a shenshen OST would be nice, it most certainly isn’t necessary

so I think I’m going to cheat and give this award to a title that isn’t even on the list of candidates this year, one that already has a shenshen OST: 《天宝伏妖录》 Tian Bao Fu Yao Lu by 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang, which has the great fortune to have Zhou Shen’s 《天地为念》 for its ongoing donghua title song. what a beautiful, meditative song; what an ethereal, gently sorrowful melody. extra brownie points because I maintain that Zhou Shen and 锦鲤 Jin Li (the voice of Kong Hongjun) are counterparts of each other in their respective industries, and also because I’m ride or die for both of them

"most untranslatable ever"

(category shout-out to — you guessed it — @presumenothing)

Winner: oh ABSOLUTELY 《金牌助理之弯弯没想到》 Jin Pai Zhu Li zhi Wan Wan Mei Xiang Dao by 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang and 传奇火箭队 The Legendary Rocket Team

I consider myself fairly proficient in audiodramas on 猫耳FM as a medium/genre now; I’m familiar with the ways script adaptation dovetails with post-production, the roles the voice directors and producers and casts play, the different twists that can happen with 报幕, what names to keep an eye out for while checking out the production team... so when I say that this audiodrama knocked me flat on the ass when I first listened to it, I really do mean that I was in no way prepared for the chaos that was to come. where do I even begin to describe it? the speed? the unhinged energy? the unending 吐槽 / roasts? the brilliant comedic pacing? the extremely 洗脑片尾曲？whatever the hell this is?

this audiodrama is not only the most untranslatable ever due to the high concentration of internet and culture-specific slang, but also apparently the most impossible to explain ever. idk. listen to this AD and lose your mind

Most Brilliant Moment of Backstabbery

Winner: ch. 116 of 《无双》 Wu Shuang by 梦溪石 Meng Xishi

I described 《无双》 Wu Shuang as “a book about roasting your rival first, saving your dynasty second,” but perhaps didn’t do justice to the sheer lengths these two will go to one-up each other. I’d like to take this moment to recognize a certain flamboyant demonic sect leader (that is somehow not Yan Wushi) for not just habitually backstabbing (gently, for funsies) his love interest but also getting some frontstabbery (once, with great intention) in as well. truly, no one out here is doing it like Feng Xiao

honorable mention: 《不小心救了江湖公敌》 Bu Xiao Xin Jiule Jianghu Gong Di by 六木乔 Liu Muqiao, for the sheer quantity of backstabbing that occurs. maybe this is simply what happens when all of your characters are professional evildoers at fluctuating levels of retirement

Best Comfort Media

Winner: 《哏儿》 Gen’er by 南北逐风 Nan Bei Zhu Feng

earlier this year, I went around asking various people: what makes a book, movie, or other text comfort media for you? listening to the answers, it occurred to me that I don’t really have texts that I turn to on a semi-regular basis to re-read or re-watch. especially because my favorite books tend to be the ones that rip my heart out through my throat, the idea of choosing a “comfort read” from among them seems somewhat, er, misguided

and then I ran into 《哏儿》 Gen’er, which is the only text I’ve chosen to carry over from last year’s danmei awards because the second season of the AD aired this year. this webnovel/AD is also, genre-wise, the outlier in this year’s awards — no magic, no speculative elements, not a single sword in sight, just slice-of-life, daily trials and tribulations, characters balancing budgets and bantering backstage and discussing art over hotpot. the cast and characters of 《哏儿》 feel real and lived-in in a way that is so deeply precious to me; at times throughout the year, I would simply cue up the beginning of S2E2 to listen to the first fifteen minutes or so to quiet down. the ongoing discussions threaded throughout the narrative about the roles of traditional culture and art in modern society, how to adapt traditional forms to contemporary values and preferences, and the ever-relevant question of how to get other people to care about things you love... 《哏儿》 hits different, hits real close to home, asks thought-provoking questions in a gentle, lighthearted manner in a way that is totally unique among the danmei works I’ve read, so here I am, conferring this new, foreign honor upon it. it’s a first for both of us!

Most Ambitious Scope

Winner: 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio

I know, I know — very bold of me to give this award to an audiodrama that’s still airing, that we don’t know if it’ll ever be completed, but I still have to take a moment to yell about this completely original episodic gufeng AD, because like... wow. there is no answer key; there is no original work; there is no blueprint to work off of, no pre-existing fanbase of readers to appeal to. this entire project with its xuanhuan scope will succeed or fail based on its merits alone, and what scope it has, too — from the five voice actor songs (I guess everyone in 光合积木 can sing too??? sure that’s fine I guess) to penning scripts that play specifically to the voice actors’ strengths, to engaging with thorny dynamics of family and relationship and devotion and misalignment, I think it’s real gutsy of the 《问鹿》 creative team to embark on such a vast and ambitious project, and carry it off as well as they did. now it’s just 乖巧坐等更新.jpeg hours, fingers crossed they come back for a season 2

Best Work I Was Songbaited Into

Winner: 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

Definitely the first thing that even put 《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu on my radar was 奇然’s 《风过荒野》 appearing in my YouTube algorithm. The song’s arrangement is haunting, lyrical, and so unlike any other AD song I’ve ever heard. The second season’s 《极光入夜》 is also transcendent in lyrics, composition, and the fact that both of the main voice actors can sing 哎呦还让人活吗—and don’t even get me started on the beautiful piano and string covers they work into the soundtrack! 声罗万象请受我一拜！

let’s put it this way: I actually went out of my way to translate the 《小蘑菇》 songs (here and here) for how hard they go. one day I’ll get over the lines “玫瑰静默凋谢” and “审判是我于你的吻别” but today will not be that day

honorable mention: 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su, for having the opposite energy of the 《默读》 AD asdlfskdfjs no less than FIVE original songs composed for a THREE season AD. I was on the fence about listening to this AD until I heard 远皓ZIL’s 《燃灯》, which immediately joined my playlist before I’d even read the book. Again, the lyricism, the arrangement, the melancholy, deeply thoughtful atmosphere of the song got me interested in exactly what kind of maddeningly angsty plot could result in these lyrics:

我愿抚拂前尘燃着灯做你归途的引 / I would brush away the dust of our past and light a lamp, and be what guides you back

只求你破迷津渡极乐回首看我在等 / I only pray that you break free from the labyrinth and deliver paradise, to look back and see me waiting

我匍匐入尘埃叩长阶奉上所有虔诚 / I crawl through the dirt, pressing my forehead to the stone steps of the long stairway, offering up all of my piety

只为听你亲将相思说那纸情书太薄 / just to hear you say, yearning for me, that this love letter is too thin

不载残生颠簸无你我苦不可脱 / it cannot carry what’s left of our tumultuous lives — without you or me, life would be bitter with no escape

Audiodrama Adaptation with the Strongest First Episode

Winner: 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

Adaptation is a delicate and tricky practice; how do you accommodate for the limits of production, the requirements of medium, when it comes to translating a work across dimensions? And particularly when it comes to AD’s, how can you capture a listener’s attention within the first few episodes, to bait them into the story and make them willing to pay money to unlock what happens next?

this award has to go to 珞玉 Luo Yu and 子穆木 Zi Mumu for their adaptation of 杨溯 Yang Su’s novel 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing. The book itself runs chronologically, from the two main characters first meeting each other as children, the months they spend together, their sudden (and deeply traumatic) parting, and then resumes the narrative the next time they meet each other seven years down the line, attempting to kill each other (in their defense, it was dark, and neither of them were sure if the other survived the massacre that separated them in the first place). Episode 1 “故人来” of the AD begins with that reunion as Shen Jue, disposing of a body, finds an injured assassin just outside the palace walls. They grapple in the dark until they recognize each other, and the way post-production editing fills in their backstory through a quick, tantalizing flashback and brings the listener back out of it by overlapping young!Xiahou Lian and present!Xiahou Lian saying the same lines (“shaoye, remember: don’t look back, don’t say anything—”)... well done, well played, I sure paid money to listen to the rest of this AD

Audiodrama Adaptation with the Strongest First Ten Minutes

Winner: 《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao

haha I think I’m hilarious, but while 《督主》 has the strongest first episode I would also like to shout out how good the first ten minutes of 《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue are. seamless transition from baby Hailian to adult Hailian, from quiet lullaby to sea battle, and establishing Hailian’s sass, competence, kindness, and swashbuckling swagger as well as introducing Fang Tinglan (and his shamelessness asldfksj). credit has to go to the director 齐杰, the scriptwriter 虾仁猪心@一梦还江月, and the post-production editor 时柒@丶为之奈何 for pacing the opening scene so well, and an extra special shout-out to 梅梅 (韬韬你是最棒的) for the funniest little “bye~~~” as he throws someone off a boat

Most Heartwrenching Line Delivery in an Audiodrama (aka the Knifiest Award, audio edition)

Winner: S1E7 of the 《默读》Mo Du audiodrama

I can yell for years about how talented voice actors are, but there are specific moments while listening where I have to pause for a second or ten and silently mouth “damn”

杨天翔 Yang Tianxiang’s performance as Fei Du in season 1, episode 7 of the 《默读》 Mo Du audiodrama knocks it out of the goddamn solar system with the plaza broadcast scene — this was a scene that I was pretty eh on in the novel, but after listening to it in the AD... 当! 场! 封! 神! with Yang Tianxiang’s measured delivery, the slow excavation of the depth of Fei Du’s anguish, the forced steadiness of his voice when he says “你们如果都这么狠心，为什么以前还要表现出好像很在乎我们的样子?” / “If all of you were always this cruel, why did you pretend to care about us so much in the beginning?” underlaid by the devastatingly quiet, melancholy piano backing of 《以沫》 that then kicks into the sequence that culminates in 何忠义 He Zhongyi’s “等我回来!” / “Wait for me to come home!”... (silently screams into a paper bag) I’m not okay and I haven’t been okay for months

Honorable Mentions:

S2E2 “也恨相逢” of 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su: specifically for 梅梅’s line “少爷，这是我的命” / “shaoye, this is my fate.” for a scene that didn’t even exist in the original novel... hot damn wow

E12 “绝不复寡“ of 《师弟还不杀我灭口》 Shidi Hai Bu Sha Wo Mie Kou by 子鹿 Zi Lu: 锦鲤 has the range and this AD proves it! While he spends most of the AD being generally the comedic, satirical commentary, Zhong Yan/Qin Mingxi absolutely begging, tears in his voice, for Gu Xuanyan to leave him to die in this scene? look I’m not immune to this trope either

S1E13·上 of 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio: (cups hands around mouth, yells) 马! 老! 师! it’s hard to explain the heartbreaking context of the line I have in mind without giving away the entire story, but 马正阳’s throat-scraping scream of “我要你爱我” / “I want you to love me!” is wince-inducing from the sheer force of the raw anguish in it

wooooo and that’s a wrap! thanks for tuning into the 2022 danmei awards :)

looking forward at my reading list, I’m not sure I’ll be doing a 2023 round since my reading is taking me in different directions and I simply might not have enough candidates to fill out a whole awards post next year (and I suspect I’ll have gone so far off the map that people won’t even have the faintest idea what I’m talking about anymore asldkfajsd)

it’s been fun!!! catch you all in the new year!!

#came for the mushroom stayed for the mushroom #saving your kingdom while burnt out: the imperial intrigue steampunk wuxia light mecha alternate historical novel #voice(bear) appreciation hours #《督主有病》#《无双》 backlog #guess who walked into and out of the abyss while y'all weren't looking #新年快乐送你们一篇博君一笑

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aworldforastage · 4 months

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A Totally Subjective List of Favorite Danmei Novels I Read in 2023

Joyful Reunion :: 相见欢 by 非天夜翔

Governor's Illness :: 督主有病 by 杨溯

The Return of Cambrian Period :: 寒武再临

The Plays of Lips and Teeth :: 唇齿之戏 by 张佩奇

Blazing Armor :: 火焰戎装 by 水千丞

After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine :: 残疾战神嫁我为妾后 by 刘狗花

Wilderness Vegetation :: 荒野植被 by 麦香鸡呢

In Name Only :: 有名 by 木更木更

Placid Chang’an :: 太平长安 by 盐盐 Yany

Eternities Still Unsaid Till You Love Me :: 欲言难止 by 麦香鸡呢

Joyful Reunion :: 相见欢 by 非天夜翔

“相见欢，原本是我们的曲子。” "'Joyful Reunion' originally belonged to my people."

[action, political intrigue, coming of age] -- At its heart, Joyful Reunion is a young man's coming-of-age, as he grows up in a war-torn world and decides on the type of man and leader he wants to become. This novel isn't easy to read with it pacing and length, but its reputation as an iconic historical political danmei is well-deserved. There are no "good people" and "bad people", just humans trying to survive in a harsh world and live their own truths. The main romantic arc is fairly light, while the most controversial (i.e. beloved) "second male lead" in all of danmei is lurking in the background. But I love that Duan Ling finds someone who supports him through his worst days, and they give each other strength and hope to stay true to their best selves.

Governor's Illness :: 督主有病 by 杨溯

“去吧，”沈玦道，“你生，我去找你。你死，我去陪你。” “Go,” Shen Jue says, “If you live, I’ll come find you. If you die, I’ll go with you.”

[wuxia, secrets and conspiracies, revenge plot] -- The powerful Governor of the Eastern Depot has a massive bounty on the head of an infamous assassin. Who knew it's because they are childhood friends who want to find each other? Despite a tiny bit of palace intrigue, this is mostly a wuxia story, focusing on the complicated bonds between masters and disciples, and far too many blood debts and sect secrets. The first part of the novel is brutal. I love plot-heavy stories but I intentionally ignore parts of this one during re-reads because it is just so heartbreaking (unrelated to the romance arc). But Xiahou Lian never stops seeing the best in Shen Jue and Shen Jue never stops wanting the best for Xiahou Lian. And that strong bond gives them -- and readers like me -- some hope and comfort as secrets and enemies from the ghosts of Xiahou Lian's past continue to launch them into one action-packed challenge after another. (My review here)

The Return of Cambrian Period :: 寒武再临 by 水千丞

这就是末世，个人的悲伤在全世界的悲伤面前，渺小无比。 This is the apocalypse, and the grief of an individual is utterly insignificant compared to all the grief in the world right now.

[apocalypse, action/adventure, superpowers/mutations] -- I don't know how to summarize 1.7 million words briefly so here's a much lengthier review. It's an action-adventure with super-powered humans and mutant "monsters of the week". It's a mystery and heroic epic trying to solve and conquer the cause of the apocalypse. It's a social commentary sketching out what humanity keeps and saves and becomes when modern society crumbles. It's a love story -- many love stories, romantic and familial and platonic and more-- that reminds you what gives humans the courage, purpose, and determination to stand up in face of overwhelming adversity is love for and from the people we keep in our hearts.

The Plays of Lips and Teeth :: 唇齿之戏 by 张佩奇

周辰瑜回到舞台中央，说：“这出《乌龙院》，我和贺辰烽常说，不过这还是我头一回演阎惜娇。” 说着，他转过身，对身旁的晏朝说：“人家第一次都给你了，你要对我负责。” 晏朝：“……” Zhou Chenyu returns to the center stage, and says, "I have performed 'Wu Long Yuan' many times with He Chenfeng, but this is my first time playing Yan Xijiao." He turns to Yan Zhao, who is standing beside him, "I'm giving you my first time, you need to take responsibility." Yan Zhao: "..."

[ celebrities, comedy, traditional arts] -- This is a novel for when you want stories about celebrities, with all the fun of "CP fans" and Weibo drama, but also a break from actors and idols. A TV host and a Xiangsheng actor meet in a reality show that teaches them about each other's careers. While they are expected to provide some fan service to boost ratings, they also develop genuine respect and fondness for each other. With a comedian as a main character, this novel kept me laughing with xiangsheng performances and the main couple's funny antics. There is a bit of angst when the main characters struggle with their careers and their relationships with their respective families, but luckily, they find each other and a path forward together.

Blazing Armor :: 火焰戎装 by 水千丞

可那个"孩子"，他又天真又残忍。 But that "child", he is so innocent and cruel.

[mystery/procedural, romance, firefighters] -- A departure from the norm in the 188 Boys Club, this novel is a plot-heavy slow-burn romance, following the work of fire captain Ren Yi and police officer Gong Yingxian. I got really drawn into the "cases" (fires) that Ren Yi deals with, and learned so much about fire trucks, rescue protocols, and fire risks of various materials. Gong Yingxian is a traumatized genius orphan with a large inheritance, weird hobbies, and no social skills. He repeatedly hurts Ren Yi's feelings and betrays his trust, for reasons ranging from uninformed callousness to intentional manipulation, but technically none of that is about their romantic relationship. I don't want to downplay the seriousness of his actions, but there is something precious about the guy who confesses his feelings with the bones of his dead pet lizard, and gets frustrated because Ren Yi can't decipher the romantic symbolism of the lizard's heart-shaped tail bone.

After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine :: 残疾战神嫁我为妾后 by 刘狗花

“瞧好了，他，靖王，我是他的妾，他是我夫君。” "Look carefully! Him, the Prince Jin, I am his secondary concubine, he is my lord husband."

[transmigration, romance, political intrigue] -- History professor Jiang Suizhou fails a student paper for using unofficial records, and ends up transmigrating into the wild events chronicled in the paper. Like any decent protagonist of a transmigration novel, Suizhou saves himself from a gruesome fate, falls in love with the coolest person in their universe, and change the world for the better. Despite the setting, the political plot is kept light and simple. A great treat for when you want sugar-pie feel-good comfort read with a tiny bit of plot.

Wilderness Vegetation :: 荒野植被 by 麦香鸡呢

如果可以，谁不想体体面面的，体面地爱人，体面地被爱。 If given the option, who wouldn't want dignity? To love with dignity, and be loved with dignity.

[scum gong crematorium, reconciliation, mental illness] -- My favorite HE crematorium novel! Xu Yan dumps emotionally abusive boyfriend Shen Zhi whom he has loved and tolerated for years, and starts a new life and career with supportive friends and family. This is finally a sane universe where no one retcons or minimizes or excuses Shen Zhi's actions, even if there were genuine misunderstandings and he genuinely loved Xu Yan. During the crematorium phase, Shen Zhi respects Xu Yan's boundaries and refusals (though he does repeatedly return to ask again). It takes time, but he works hard to grow as a person, to think and behave differently, and eventually lets Xu Yan go out of love and respect. When Xu Yan initiates the reconciliation, it feels like they have a chance this time because they have both changed and grown in meaningful ways.

In Name Only :: 有名 by 木更木更

“当他落在了我这儿，我这儿就是春天。” "When he lands where I am, where I am becomes spring time. "

[actors/celebrities, fake relationship, mature characters] -- Two award-winning actors fake a relationship to quash a scandalous rumor. They gradually get to know the real person behind the other's accomplished career and polished public persona, and fall in love. The tone of the story veers is mostly sweet and funny, with a splash of angst that they conquer with their own strength and each other's support. It's so comforting and relaxing to read about the love story of "mature men" in their early 30s who know how to communicate productively, take care of the people they like, and really accept and empathize with each other's imperfections. (I wrote about the novel here.)

Placid Chang’an :: 太平长安 by 盐盐 Yany

“你既然选择了大理寺，查找真相、还原真相就是你的事，而我身为摄政亲王，稳定朝局，制衡天下是我的事。你做你该做的，剩下的我来处理。” “Since you have chosen to join the Court of Judicial Review, investigating and uncovering the truth is now your duty; I am the Prince Regent, so stabilizing the court and governing the nation is my duty. Do your duty, and I will handle the rest.”

[mystery/procedural, court politics] -- The newest Zhuangyuan Su Cen has a sharp mind and keen eye for solving mysterious. As a high-profile rookie official, he is soon swept into the factional rivalries at court -- and the Prince Regent's bed at night. The plot is mainly driven by a series of cases Su Cen investigates for his work and at the behest of people around him, and many mysteries point back to a few old cold cases and a secret organization. The grand finale feels a bit underwhelming compared to the set up, and the side characters are somewhat flat, but the individual cases and the main couple are engaging. The relationship arc is a sweet but measured exploration into the charms and woes of a relationship with large gaps in power and age (40-ish vs early 20s). They are both capable but not overpowered, leaving the story with believable suspense throughout.

Eternities Still Unsaid Till You Love Me :: 欲言难止 by 麦香鸡呢

其实他知道不应该用‘等’来形容。许则像只风筝，没有人握着线，风筝在高空被吹得飘摇不定，但还是竭尽全力地留在原地，不是等谁来牵那根线，只是希望能再看某个人一眼。 Actually, he knows it shouldn't be called "waiting." Xu Ze is like a kite with no one holding the string. The kite wobbles as it flies high in the sky, but it still tries so hard to stay in place, not waiting for anyone to pick up that string, but just hoping to see that certain someone on more time.

[ABO, Alpha/Alpha, (temporarily) unrequited pining, amnesia] -- Scholarship kid Xu Ze has harbored a secret crush on Golden Boy and fellow Alpha Lu Heyang for years. They eventually begin a secret relationship in high school, but it ends after Lu Heyang gets amnesia, and they don't meet again until years later. The pining in this story is absolutely suffocating. Xu Ze has always prepared for his feelings to remain unrequited, and Lu Heyang is far from forthcoming and reassuring about his own feelings and commitment during their high school relationship. After adult Lu Heyang risks everything to recover his memory of their relationship, it's devastating to see Xu Ze break down in Lu Heyang's arms, finally coming to terms with how desparately he has wanted and waited for this reunion, and finally getting his Lu Heyang back. (I wrote more about this novel here)

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foxghost · 1 year

Photo

Joyful Reunion by Fei Tian Ye Xiang (Extras)

Translator: foxghost @foxghost tumblr Beta: meet-me-in-oblivion @meet-me-in-oblivion tumblr Original by 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang Characters & Other Reference Index

Links to the extras are under the cut. The masterpost for the novel chapters is here.

Character Extras Lang Junxia · Poppies Borjigin Batu · Rosary Peas Wu Du · A Youthful Jaunt part1 part2

Watchtowers of the Seven Stars1 Prologue: The Distance Between Two Shores 1. Ardent Starlight Shines On the Nineteen Provinces 2. The Black Blade’s Flitting Shadow Is As It Once Was 3. All the Realm’s Rivers End In the South 4. Dawn’s Fiery Halo Startles the Long Night 5. Of Purple Lightning and Falling Golden Glint 6. Dawn Wakes the Son Of Heaven’s Court 7. Autumn Lake Mirrors the Boundless Sky Seventh Month Wildfire

Seventh of Seventh: A Bird's Eye View of the Realm

The Chinese word used for "watchtower" here is 闕, a decorative ceremonial tower. They serve as symbolic boundaries to palaces and temples. ↩︎

#joyful reunion masterpost #joyful reunion extras

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moontls · 1 year

Text

Dinghai Fusheng Records by Feitian Yexiang

Translators: moon, Elestrea, Zryuu Editors: juurensha, namio Original: 定海浮生录 by 非天夜翔 (138 chs + various physical extras) Posted at Chicken Gege, main story complete

Synopsis: Immortal arts, magic weapons, magical powers, and the boundless spiritual qi between heaven and earth vanished into obscurity overnight, and all exorcists turned to mere mortals.

Three hundred years later, the Five Hus traversed the pass, it was a prelude to an era of great turmoil in China. They heralded the end of the world, where thousands of drought fiends stalked the night —— the collapse of the Divine Land is imminent.

Fortunately, within this long, dark night where silence had fallen on all magic, a lone star still glistened brightly on the horizon.

The Heart Lamp appeared, illuminating the vast expanse around it. A sixteen-year-old young man, who will end his life on his twentieth birthday, embarked on a journey to reclaim the spiritual qi of heaven and earth that had been sealed away —— only four years remain.

The road ahead was filled with countless thistles and thorns, and it seemed improbable for him to succeed.

Chen Xing: "The important thing is that I'm the last exorcist in this world, yet the only magic I am capable of is emitting light. What can I do?"

Wait patiently then. When the Dinghai Pearl reappears on earth, the uncertain trajectory of everyone's fates will be completely disrupted before converging once more.

Chen Xing: "Could I be partnered with a more normal Protector Martial God?"

Isn't your Protector really skilled in fighting?

Chen Xing: "He is good at fighting, but when he loses it he'll hit even me......"

There's nothing that can be done about that, you can only blame yourself for losing yourself to lust.

Read it here, and remember to support our favorite chicken author by purchasing the raws!

#dinghai fusheng records #i cant believe we finished the tl

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xiudi1985 · 3 months

Text

Slash：Aragorn/Boromir

作品标题：《窄路》

等级：G

警告和说明：

清晨，我做了一个短梦，它像生活一样，没有答案，但我知道，它孤寂又坚定。

梦的记录，波洛米尔视角，死亡描写。

——————————————————

烛火昏暗的王庭尽头有两个棺材，阿拉贡和波罗米尔头对头地躺在他们自己的棺材里，手交叉着放在各自身体的胸口。如果乍一看，会不知道他们是在试躺，还是已经去世了。

他们老去的身体被那些尊重爱戴他们的人民照顾得非常洁净，连胡须上亦擦上了芬芳的香膏，被擦拭过无数次的老去的身体，换上了最干净的、属于他们的最后一套，刚铎皇室的礼服。

烛光像一串星星点点的锁链，从白色城市的第七层开始串连，一直连串到了顶层的王庭，摆在了华贵棺椁的四周，星烛的光芒随着微风在夜神的手指间轻轻摇曳，但却不会过分的强烈，生者不愿用太强烈的光线去打扰死者的安眠。

法拉米尔来召唤他们，把国王和统领从棺木的卧榻中唤醒，他比他们先去往了自己的路，但却愿在此地逗留，仅为他心底所爱之人做最后的指引。

波罗米尔惊讶地发现自己的灵体轻飘飘的，他没有了沉重的盔甲，也没有了那些过于繁琐的贵族衣饰，他的身体那样轻盈，仿佛吹一口风就能乘风快步去任何地方，他这一辈子都不曾这样轻快过，轻得连自己都在一时之间亦难以适应。

他好奇的在棺木中看一看自己与阿拉贡死去的脸，摸摸他自己的脸颊上，那些眼角处如冬日的冰层上裂缝般的皱纹。他自己的嘴角抿成了一条直线，庄重又严肃，那条直线一如他生时那样，是一个人一生的性格一个具象的概括，就像波洛米尔自己一旦决定好了就一往直前，就很少再走去弯路。

然后他俯身，像最忠诚的骑士和最坚贞的爱人般，单膝跪下，在国王高贵如睡去的脸庞上亲吻他遍布皱纹的额头和雪白的头发，握住国王枯朽骨瘦的手，拇指爱恋地摩挲上面岁月的斑纹，把头贴在他的心口，闭上眼睛倾听他永不再为他跳动的心。

阿拉贡的亡灵从后面搂住他的腰，脸庞垫在他的肩膀上，亲吻他卸去了所有担子的肩头，好像在提醒波洛米尔，不要为他而陷入悲伤，他还在这里。

停灵室里有哭泣的妇女和孩童，门廊处贮立着守灵的沉默的卫兵，低低的哀伤挽歌，用人类和精灵的两种语言在长厅中吟诵，刚铎的挽歌不会抹去他们的国王与统帅生活过的来处与历史，用传颂的歌谣铭记他们对这座城市不可磨灭的责任与爱，今夜的悲伤只因为两颗星辰永恒的陨落。

不远处的大厅里有永远数不清的人影，不同衣着不同种族的人们来来往往，为葬礼准备各种各样的事，死者在生的世界中永不得真正的安静和安宁，一个国王和一个统帅永远不可能只属于他们自己。

过来，过来，我们不能再做久留，无需担心，无需忧惧，白城的未来自有它自己的命运。

法拉米尔对他的兄弟与国王呼唤道，刚铎的三杰这次真的要远行。

他们穿过宫墙上有无数栩栩如生古画的王庭，穿过存储了新旧书卷的古老刚铎档案馆，穿过陈列整齐的兵器馆，与蓄养了无数肥硕健马的马厩，穿过在角落遗落了孩子们木剑和木刻玩具的花园，穿过那些长长的，长长的，有拱形穹顶的连廊。

再往城市的下层走去，街上的人群越来越密了，千家万户手心中点一盏烛灯，把白色散发了贞洁香气的鲜花铺满道路的两旁，人们自发向王庭的方向走去，无言的泪水蘸湿了素白的衣襟，哀悼他们的国王与统帅的逝去。

只有他们与人群擦肩，在活人当中一路逆行，穿过那些纷扰的人群，穿过那些贩售新鲜苹果的水果店、发出香气的面包房，冒着滋滋诱人油脂味的肉铺、飘出醇厚酒香的酒馆、生起风箱冒着火星有金属锻造声响的铁匠的打铁铺……穿过白城他们走过无数次，他们的马蹄踏上过无数回，有新的翻修痕迹的石板路，旧的石头被压在新的石头之上，新的城墙上再没有战争的阴影，老的房子里诞生出一个个新的生命，刚铎的历史在轮回与继续，而新的迭代并没有断层。

他们一前一中一后，穿过佩兰诺平原上那些足足半人高、凄凄的青草，萤火虫萦绕身旁，发出微光守护着前行的灵体，他们走过浪花澎湃的安度因大河，无数的烛灯被人们放在一艘艘纸折的小船上，卷入瀑布的激流，为他们的西去送行。

法拉米尔把他的王和他的兄长带到一条岔开多条小道的岔路口，波罗米尔想跟上去，但法拉米尔的脚步却走进其中一条路远去了。他消失在迷雾中，迷雾在波罗米尔脚下遮盖了法拉米尔的去处，像一个阻止他向前穿不过去的关卡。那脚步声明明离他不远，波罗米尔却怎么也不能像小时候那般，总能追上他，像一个兄长那样去带领他。

我的兄弟，你要去哪里？

他回头，发现他的爱人也没有再跟在他身后，他的身影离散在迷雾轻漫的丛林里。

我要提前去往我自己的路了，我已逗留得太久。

法拉米尔的声音在迷雾中回答。

亲爱的波洛米尔，你也一样，我的兄弟。这是我们每一个人都只能自己走过的一条窄路，没有任何人可相伴和代替。原谅我，即使是我，与你一母同出，一父养育，自小亲密无间，也不知道属于你的那条孤路的样子，这只能由你一个人知道，但我依然为你祝福，愿我们在路的末端仍旧能顺利相逢。说完，他像一支弦上待发的箭矢，像一头磨好了利爪要扑进丛林中的灵��，在拉弓至满的声响中，箭的尖锐划破了树林里冷冷的空气，法拉米尔的步子远去了。

我的爱人，你呢？你在哪儿？

风从树林中吹过，每一片叶子的响动，和踩在积叶层上靴子的脚步声，都无言地代替了人声的回答。那声音像阿拉贡生时风一般的脚步，他的国王变回了游侠，变回了那个在中洲的诸多城池中游历，留下无数传奇功绩、智慧骁勇的梭隆吉尔，变回了曾生活在精灵的幽谷中，年轻英俊的人类男子。他穿梭得那样快，那样急，那样灵巧而随心所欲。在路的另一边，在另一个由树林相隔的通道中，他仿佛化身为一阵疾速的西风，一匹驰骋平原的黑马，一只翱翔天穹的灰鹰，向着夜空中的星辰追去，与万物霜天竞自由，他自由自在，无拘无束，无影无形，神行客在无穷的林间迈着如乘风步速般的长腿，寻找他自己的路去了。

我在这儿，跟上来，跟上来。

风的低语，树林的低语。草木和苔藓湿漉漉的气息，老旧的、他自己白树护臂上皮革的味道，像阿拉贡通过其他形式的声音与气味，对波罗米尔灵魂的引领。

波洛米尔形影单只，茫茫然、赤手空拳地走在这条只有他自己的路上，他没有一匹能疾驰的快马，没有坚固的圆盾，亦没有可保护自己的佩剑，甚至没有一把贴身的匕首。道路在他脚下蜿蜒向前，他这一生不乏勇往直前独行的经历，这一次却难得的惴惴不安，把心沉进喉咙里。

那些雾气在他脚边散开了，把干枯的路途其他部分露了出来，他在脑海中想象过一番走这条他自己的路的风景，却未曾料到是这样的枯乏，没有河床，没有绿树，没有任何惊心动魄的瑰丽景象——这条灰色的土路只是异常的狭窄，两边是无穷尽的单调的岩石，路的中间是层层叠叠，大大小小的，无数破碎的石块，通向未知的漆黑的一片，脚下的浓雾再次漫了上来，催促他前行，路上枯树黑色的枝丫和两边带刺的荆棘，像一只只扭曲的爪子，把他拖进这未知的崎岖。

波罗米尔踏在割脚的碎石上，往前走啊走啊，路上的浓雾渐渐从浓白色变成了深灰色，道路变得越来越窄，冰冷的空气中落下无数的尘灰，他往脸上一摸，放到鼻底嗅闻，手指上沾染到那些火烛与烧纸的灰烬。这死后的世界窄到只能容他一人通过，他高大的身躯折断那些干枯坚硬的树枝，尖利的荆棘勾破他贴身的里衣，在他透明灵体的皮肤上留下划伤的痕迹。他抬头，看不见天空的影像，没有月光，没有星光，没有萤火虫的亮光，也没有人造的烛光，这昏暗的路上没有一丝守护亡者的光线，连声音也穿不透这封闭的石岩森林。这条路越来越冰冷，冻得波罗米尔咬紧了牙关，抵御这卸去他不存在的体温的寒冷。刺骨的寒风从枝丫的缝隙中灌进来，从他灵体上的千疮百孔中筛漏而过，这口狂风吹得他轻飘飘的灵体东倒西歪，冰冷得灵魂仿佛都要凝固了。凄厉的风声听起来像吹进布满了岩石的洞口，在这狭窄的孤路上，发出野兽般怪异的嚎叫。

波罗米尔走了不知有多久，长到超过他一生中所有旅行的时间。在凝滞的黑暗中他失去了时间和空间、方向的概念，因为时间对逝者没有意义，狭路也仿佛没有尽头。或者他根本就没有走出多远，用碎石划在枯树树干上的痕迹记号，总会重复的出现在其他好像没有路过的枯树上，总是同样的匮乏风景让他麻木又疲劳。

波罗米尔，波罗米尔，你要往何处去？你为什么孤身一人走在这里？

窄路中有低哑的声音在询问他，那声音像从道路两旁的岩石与枝丫里传来，又像从地底的低洼里发问。这些窄路上的风景似乎在他记忆里出现过，从陌生开始变得似曾相识。

我要去往我自己的归途，这条道路只能靠我自己前行。

那条路上有什么样的答案，值得让你在这鬼魅般的狭窄黑暗里去前进找寻？你有没有想过，如果根本没有答案呢？如果这真实的答案只会令你再次绝望呢？死亡的阴霾让你太劳累了，一个人的困倦会令你变得更加固执，别再往前面去，那里的路只会变得哪怕只是你的灵体也不能承受的狭窄，寻梦的答案也会变成残酷的梦魇，让你再次迷失与堕落，直到灵魂都属于这条无人的孤路，永远永远的沉寂，孤胆英雄一意孤行的白骨葬身之所，从来是无人问津也无人再记起。

你现在还可以回头，往有光的来路回去，重新走一条轻松的没有痛苦没有炽烈情感也没有负担的道路。法拉米尔和阿拉贡还会在那里等你，你的城市也依然会张开怀抱欢迎你，你的兄弟与你的国王，他们会为你升起温暖的篝火，和你重叙从前的故事，在树林中给你带来可信赖的同伴之间充满欢笑、快乐、安全的宽慰与解乏，与你一同再去寻找是否还有另外许多条——全是鲜花，光明，笑声与掌声的荣耀之路，他们与你一同在路上，而不是你此刻一人走入这片无人充满未知凶险的黑暗中；或者原路返回米那斯提力斯，当做从来不曾故去，栖身于那些好走的宽路，或许那里再没有法拉米尔，也没有阿拉贡，你认识的人们会一个个死去，但你的人民亦欢迎你继续留在那个美丽又难以摧毁的白色城市，回到羊皮纸卷的故事中，作为一个时不时会显灵带来神迹的传说，为你的民传颂，回到城中无数座为你立起的巨大石像中，永远的保护他们。

不，我的兄弟与国王不会再在原处了，他们也有自己要走的路途，不管我们如何陪伴对方，形影不离，在低潮时为对方带去欢笑和安慰，在黑暗中互相支撑，是彼此生命的过客或归人，终究到底，每一个人都有自己要承受的命数，每一个人都有自己要独走的路；也没有一个往生的亡灵会执着的一直留在旧处，曼督斯的殿堂才是我们灵魂最后的归所；白色的城市会有它新的人类守护者，那是人类的爱、希望、勇气与信心组成的刚强血线，不会因为任何人的离去就消散，强大到足以保护它的平静安宁。

希望？

那声音带着轻蔑，染上一丝无情的嘲讽。

难道你就不曾想过，希望仅是你太过绝望中的头脑里苦苦抓住的幻境，是凄风厉雨中冻僵的人关于火苗的幻想，这火苗甚至不曾真的有实体地存在过，未等到飓风来袭，只需轻轻一戳就破灭了。波罗米尔，你就没有想过，你早就在阿蒙汉就陨落了。你的王怯懦，自私，优柔寡断，从来不敢认领他自己的身份，害怕他与先祖一样带来灾难的血统；而你愚蠢，傲慢，自负，武断，一意孤行，不管出于哪种原因，最终也无法抵抗欲望的诱惑——他对自己血脉职责的摇摆与犹豫，和你深陷绝望中的贪婪和动摇，彻底的帮助了我，使你们之间分崩离析，使你走向你最终堕落的命运，纵使别人原谅，但只有你自己最清楚，哪怕连死亡，也无法洗去你自己都无法容忍的耻辱与错误。

还有————还有——————还有………

那声音继续怨毒地嘲笑。

阿拉贡甚至从来没有爱你，一点一丁也不爱你，一天都没有，一刻都不曾。你不属于他，他也不属于你，你们是两条注定不同的平行线，从来不曾兼容与交叉。你们一起度过的岁月仅是你在迷途中的幻想。在生时你在无法告知于人的苦闷中的期盼，无人引领的臣属，无人保护的人民，无人接管的城邦，无人倾诉的你藏在心底的肮脏的欲望；在死后你在无法离开的死亡窄路中徘徊与守望，用固执到惊人的幻觉堆砌出没有发生过的爱情巢穴，为你的爱人用一块又一块的碎石建设那一座从不存在的——有你们共同生活痕迹的池城。这幻梦太真实了，真实到你自己去相信了它，也让我看去了很多因人类欲念丛生、爱而不得、丑态百出的笑话。

你究竟是谁？！

波罗米尔厉声低吼，条件反射去拔他腰间不存在的利剑，但却只能摸到一场空。

你不认识我吗？

那声音令人颤栗地低笑了，它的笑声能使人心底最深的恐惧从每一根毛细血管中渗出。

我是这尘世间被欲念冠予姓名的爱与美；我是深坑的黑暗中唯一闪耀的星辰；我是至高无上，无处不在，无所不能，这庸碌世界芸芸众生皆渴盼的——强大而至尊的欲望。

巨大的火眼出现在波罗米尔的眼前，与他直面，末日火山的熔浆像无数条翻到地面上的火舌触须，在它身后熊熊的喷涌。

不可能，不可能——！！！为什么他会在他的归途尽处见到它？

波罗米尔摇头，他早就知晓，在��年以前，他所踏上的那个��程的最后，霍比特族的持戒者把它丢进了末日火山，魔戒已被摧毁，魔眼就此远离中洲大地，被驱逐至虚空之境。王者归来，人类迎来了由他们来守护的第三纪元的序章。他在阿蒙汉被王者之手所救治，互相坦诚了对彼此无法割舍的爱，从此他一心一意追随他的队长，他的兄弟，他的王，与他共赴每一场战役，直到他们都再次见到了，欢迎他们的刚铎的白塔。他与他在刚铎的王庭中再度生活了一百多年，相爱相亲，直至死去。

怎么不可能？你们人类居然妄想完全的消除我，岂知道这天下最难断绝的，恰是你们源源不绝生生不息的欲望。欲望从第一纪元存在的很久之前便开始有了，有生命的地方就有它，且欲望不会局限于哪一个物种，不管它在哪一个纪元暂时蛰伏断代，只要生机还在，都能见缝插针的复活，欲望之火将借尔等之体，按照它自己的意愿去酷烈燃烧；在爱欲情仇、权欲野心中，在私欲，利益、不信任、不一心、不合作里，得到使它膨胀的黑色养料，用你们本心中的疑虑惊惧、人各为己去顺势挑拨，再起兵戈，带来堕落、纷争、失败与死亡。如此喜闻乐见的悲观反复上演，你们将次次一败涂地，输得爬都爬不起来，直到永恒。

巨大的火眼已凑到波罗米尔眼前了，它黑色的竖瞳如地狱的深渊凝视他的灵魂，将他的躯体吞噬进火焰的残影里，将他的魂灵放到长长的火焰上炙烤。

你看啊……波罗米尔……那才是你与你的城市真实的命运。

狭窄的虚空之境张开了它的巨口，在那个虚空之境中，波罗米尔看到自己河边的兄弟，法拉米尔在幽蓝色的河面上，在噩梦成真的迷梦中，见到那条无人的小船。

而波罗米尔不在船里，他的尸身早被安度因河中的游鱼分食，骸骨在瀑布超自然的巨力拍击下变成无数块捡不起来的碎片，任由命运的洪流推向各处。他的白骨沉入河底淤积的泥沙中，裹挟着和河底卑贱无名的碎石混合在一起，和死在河底的远古的各种种族的战士的骨头、残破的刀剑、战船的支架、河底的无数的无用的垃圾混在一起，永无人能寻找，无人可打捞，随着时间的流逝永无人再提起。

大河的浪花将碎裂成两半的白号冲到岸边。波罗米尔站在法拉米尔面前，他做了很大的肢体动作，喊叫着呼唤他的亲生兄弟，但法拉米尔在这虚空之境的扭曲时空轨道中看不到他。法拉米尔穿过波罗米尔试图拥抱他的的灵体，悲伤地捡起河滩上的白号，将它双手捧着，交给他们的父亲。

我的长子啊……我那残破国度和残破生命中唯一的企盼……我的爱，我的火，我生命的烛芯。让我如何不能不悲伤，让我如何能不为你哭泣！

那向来坚毅如石像的老人捧着他的白号，把碎裂的两半摊在自己掌心，裹在银灰色裘皮下的巨大身躯痛苦地颤抖，控制不了的悲声令他更加苍老。

我父，我父……

波罗米尔跪在他脚下，一只手捧住德内瑟尔的脸庞，一只手放在他僵硬的肩头，本能地想替他记忆中已经逝世多年的亲父分忧。

他矜矜业业做到了一个坚韧的人类爱国者能做的极限的亲父啊，在他原来的世界中等回了中洲的王者，花了一段时间与他的老旧识解开多年前的死结，承认了他的儿子和阿拉贡的关系，也不再一再因自己的旧念陈观苛责他的次子法拉米尔，比之前更爱更珍惜他的两个儿子。他陨落在刚铎的王庭中，前摄政宰相庄重的寝床上。

请你不要为我悲伤和绝望，让我拭去你脸庞上的泪水，抚平你额间与眼角的皱纹。执起我手中雪亮长剑，依然尽责去保卫我们爱的城市。

然而，他却连为他擦拭下巴上的泪水都做不到，透明的眼泪从他透明的指尖一串串掉落到地上，狠狠扎痛波罗米尔的心。

逃命吧——逃命吧——

烟雾中幽蓝色的场景发生了变化。

我们的城市没有希望了，洛汗没能和我们站在一起，北方骠骑之国的兵马尽数折损在圣盔谷。甘道夫与他的捷影葬在被萨茹曼攻占了的树人的森林，那些最后的树木被砍伐了烧完了，留下了黑漆漆的死去的焦枝，巫师灿若星辰却断裂成两半的法杖照不亮这黑暗。霍比特人们被抛进末日火山，骸骨变成了空中飘散的灰烬。莫瑞亚的深坑中埋葬了勇猛抵抗到底的红发矮人金姆雳，他与他破碎的巨斧、同族矮人们的尸体躺在一起。逐日的莱格拉斯，余生将再也无法用他锐利的精灵眼睛再看一眼他心爱的太阳，他��族人九死一生才将他带到灰港西去的乘船上，他不甘，他不甘！精灵王子的悲声在灰色的海面上痛苦的回响。阿拉贡亦没能带回亡灵大军，尽管他东奔西走，疲于奔命，却终究像每一次那样，晚了最后一步，无冕之王回不到他的王座上。

我们不再有任何希望了，刚铎的人民啊——逃命吧！逃命吧！！！

摄政王站在白色城市的顶层拿着刀剑大喊，身后是抵抗的白城的卫兵，脚下有无数死去的战士尸身。弓箭兵们拿起弓箭向天空和地上射去，但他们被火红的天空中骑在纳兹古尔身上的魔兵之箭射倒，弓箭射穿了白城战士们的胸口，脑袋，铁甲在来自空中的战斗力下脆弱得不堪一击。他们一个接一个站起来反抗，又层层叠叠的倒下去。而站在城头上发了疯绝望的老人德内瑟尔，还拿着他的巨剑，在与他失守的城邦一起做最后的无望抵抗。

波罗米尔回首，熊熊火焰从夏尔一路烧过来，烧毁了那些霍比特人精心栽培的农田，烧毁他们那些可爱的洞穴式农庄，烧到了刚铎混乱的城池中。门被玄铁的巨柱撞开了，在火蛇中成群结队穿着黑甲的强奥克冲进来，身后跟着挥舞巨型狼牙棒的洞穴巨魔，一只又一只身披锁链的巨象，远方海盗的船早早地埋伏在每一个能包围刚铎的渡口，海盗们狞笑着从高高的城墙上一堆接一堆的爬上来，完成对这个城市的四面包抄。

强奥克们在波罗米尔眼皮底下尽情地洗劫他的城市，无数的敌人杀死他的战士，蹂躏他的人民，奸杀他城中的妇女，无数被残杀的人类的血在城市白色的街道上汇成了血海，浓郁的血腥味渗进千年的白色石板路，万年的雨水都冲刷不干净。

波罗米尔发出咆哮的怒吼，然而他的灵体握不住一把刀剑，拿不起一支枪戟，握不住一张弓箭。泼天的从活生生的人类身上溅出来的滚烫血液，穿过他的灵体，一个个刚铎逃散的人民，与在无情的屠戮中的强奥克，反复穿透他的灵体。人们挣扎着嘶吼哀嚎着，在他灵体内反复的穿梭，他却无法像一个战士那样勇猛战斗，冲锋杀敌。

他身上恢复了很久的三个箭伤开始了火烧般的痛苦，痛楚越来越揪心，黑黝黝的箭孔中流出了泪一般的血，白城的统领在火烧的剧痛和心焦中跌跌撞撞，用他透明的手指去抓那些永不能握住的武器，眼睁睁看着那些他不能保护的人民被生生劈开，被钉在洞穴巨魔的狼牙棒上像玩具般挥舞在空中，被高高抬起象足的巨象踩踏成肉泥，被海盗的弯刀抹开了脖子——就在他眼前，数不清的生命被残酷地杀死。

我绝不会让我仅剩的儿子被这样羞辱！！

在滚滚的黑色浓烟中，摄政宰相绝望的呐喊，法拉米尔被他抱在手中，他身上的盔甲上扎满了弓箭，高贵勇敢的法拉米尔低垂着头颅，早已没有了气息。德内瑟尔痛苦地擦去他小儿子额头上凝结的黑色血块，理好他贴在额头上肮脏了的金色卷发，给他作为一个刚铎战士与摄政王的孩子最后的尊严与宽慰。

不——不————我父，我的弟兄————不要在我眼前亲身走进这由无望建构的坟墓————

波罗米尔奔上城楼，疯了一样试图再度阻挡这注定的悲剧。但他的脚步如走在吸了水坠了铅的海绵陷阱中一般沉重无力。刚刚走在窄道中的拥挤感再度在他的灵体之躯上裹挟上来，压迫感的紧窒空气像一只命运之手，将他不断试图冲上前的身躯无情的推开。

我的孩子啊……和我一起去吧………

陷入疯狂与绝望的老人生起来柴火，将油倒在自己和法拉米尔的身上，他紧紧地抱住他的儿子，吞噬的火焰是一道绝望中的屏障，让他和他的儿子免受强敌的侮辱。

希望在哪里？

波罗米尔深陷他经历过的绝望阴霾，跪在燃烧的城市中泪流满面，然而还不等他从悲痛中回神，不祥的号声吹响了通红的天际。

刚铎的旧部啊，你们所期盼的伊西铎最后的血脉在这里————

波罗米尔定睛，瞳孔在难以置信中暮地放大。

阿拉贡的头颅被悬挂在七颗星辰的黑色王旗的旗笙上，拥有伊西铎血脉的未冕之王永远紧闭上了他灰蓝色的眼睛。奥克们挑着他们刚铎的王旗，挑着刚铎未来国王的头颅，耀武扬威的去收服这个直面魔多阴霾、代表人类最后抵抗的城市。

阿拉贡————

我的爱人…………

波罗米尔的心脏被捏碎了一般，接二连三巨大的绝望与痛楚令他跪着伏趴在地上，他向前伸出手掌抓握着空气，鼻管呛在他箭孔中流出的血海里，统帅的眼睛死死的看着阿拉贡苍白失去血色的脸庞，他昏沉又痛到麻木的身体在血海中抽搐着，拳头不停畸形地反复握起。波罗米尔的鼻子不能呼吸，他张大了嘴呼喝，吸进了火焰味、人肉烧焦味、城市焚烧的灰烬味、血腥味的黑雾，喉咙中如堵上了尖锐的碎石，痛苦到不能发出悲音。

不知道过了多久，那些黑色的浓郁烟雾又消散了。一面应属于洛林的水镜出现在他面前，从水镜中飘出了一层层白色仙境般的雾气。香甜的焚香混合了安息香、没药、公丁香、乳香、王叶草味道的乳白色轻烟弥漫了上来，那味道像是刚铎王庭里他与阿拉贡的寝宫中常年用的熟悉香料味。那味道催情，每次他与阿拉贡点上这样的香料在他们的寝宫，便注定了这样的夜晚是他们会互相叠靠在对方身上，在对方有力的臂弯中，在对方强壮的怀抱里，在情事中纠缠索要到分不清你我的汗水淋漓。

波罗米尔，不要恐惧……这一切都不是真的………

像宽慰他刚才经历的恐惧无望，阿拉贡的粗糙手指划过他的脸庞，停落在他微张的干燥唇间，爱抚波罗米尔颤抖的舌尖，爱人轻颤的羽睫，在烟雾中低垂的灰蓝色眼眸，让波罗米尔几乎要忍不住用牙齿含咬住他的指尖。

阿拉贡………

为我停留，永永远远与我一起留在这些石头做的窄路里。

波罗米尔翻身后退了几步，瞪着眼前用他挚爱形象行骗的幻影。

留在这里，留在这里！让我在这里爱你。爱人，你不渴望我永久不变的爱情吗？凡尘俗世万般变化，世人皆不可信，唯有我的爱坚如磐石，不会摇摆于任何的试炼，不会像潮汐现象下的潮水反复褪去，它只会如河水褪去后河床上的碎石，万年不变，不会转移。让我们将新的行宫建立在这窄道的碎石之上，从此在这儿彻夜交颈，我会让你幸福到颤栗，忘记所有生前身后的惊慌与忧愁，忘记你的身份、责任和担子，要寻找的答案。我会给你一个，人类能许诺到极限，永不改变的热爱。只要你的欲望和灵魂，从此以后只属于我，脚步不再前行，做我的荒坟中，永不反抗不会褪色的傀儡。

波罗米尔嘴唇颤抖，他爱人的形象用他熟悉的声音低语道。

或者你喜欢更多的，更不一样的阿拉贡。

欺骗者的身形往后退去，露出身后黑色的窄路，阿拉贡苍白赤裸的身躯一个又一个叠在路上，像米袋中倒泄出来的雪白米粒，形成了用躯体做的巨山。

阿拉贡们的手从四面八方拉扯住他，他们的手像焦黑的枯枝，在波罗米尔的胳膊与腿上留下灰烬的印记，试图用无数的身躯，把他的魂灵深深推埋进窄道地底的石路里。

每一个阿拉贡都有他自己的经历和故事，每一个阿拉贡都恳求波罗米尔永远地留在这里。每一个阿拉贡都诱惑他，说好了什么都应承他，只要他的灵魂在这碎石，烈焰、浓烟、屠戮、欲望、情爱组成的陷阱中，在无休无止会重复性上演的悲剧和沉沦中，做这欺骗者永远的囚徒。

来吧……选一个你想要的阿拉贡……选一个你喜欢的国王……我会绝对的成全你……完完全全的满足你……

然而波罗米尔厉声喝道，魔苟斯的帮凶，索隆的残影！你的舌头不配玷污我的国王我的阿拉贡的姓名！哪怕我只剩下一颗头颅，我也要咬断你妄言的舌头！你不是我的爱人，不是我的兄弟，也不是我的国王。你将我的国王与爱人形容如我床榻上免费的娼妓，没有他自己的意愿与意志，可以被随心所欲的玩弄和摆布——但是我不是。我不是这样去爱他，他也不是这样来爱我，你既不了解，也不知道我们之间的爱的样子。你诱惑我再次经历绝望，妄图令我再次沉沦。但我知道，我们白色的城市并没有被战火摧毁，它被它爱的人们重建与守护，我的父兄亦没有在战事中陨落，阿拉贡活着回归了他的城池。

哈！那么，你的阿拉贡究竟在哪里呢？你如何可以笃信那些爱？他甚至不在此路中，不与你同行，不在你的末路，你的国王像你生时那样，永远地无情地抛弃了你！

魔鬼，你以为我会困顿于恐惧，困顿于自己的情欲，困顿于你制造的梦魇与质疑，困顿于你复制出来的粗糙赝品，但是你完完全全的错了。我的阿拉贡就在我心中，不多不少，只有一个，独一无二，有他自己的人格和尊严、彷徨与责任，有我值得用一生去独爱他的地方。在我们一起度过的岁月中，我看得到他，他也看得到我，爱是我们相互馈赠与对方的珍品。而我将会在只属于我自己必走的窄道上，义无反顾的前行，直到能找到我的出路为止，哪怕饱受折磨，我也不会再退却半步——哪怕末路没有光，未来没有伙伴，嘴唇无法交流，穷途没有希望。

那声音不再低语了，窄路像一个拳头一样猛地剧烈收缩了起来，把波罗米尔的灵体紧紧攥住。那路那么的窄，那么的难走，尖利的碎石膈进他的躯体，把他扎成一个漏筛，那条窄路挤压他的器官，挤压他流出脓血的箭孔，对他的摧残变本加厉，让他渺小无力如巨拳中的蚍蜉。

在条条时空交错的幻象之中，他看到了他与阿拉贡各种各样的结局，有时他们不能相守，有时他们共同扶持到生命的最后。

属于他的生命记忆，像碎片一样淹了上来。

他们共同历经圣盔谷的浴血战役，一起率领亡灵大军，赢得人类纪元序章的胜利。

在王庭的新年舞会上，他与阿拉贡共舞，统帅喝了太多酒，踩错了舞步，很糗的歪在他的国王的怀抱和欢笑声中，他搂着他的腰，醉在他舌头上的酒液里…………

也有不属于他的记忆出现在他的脑海中。他的国王娶了林谷中的女精灵暮星公主，他的肩头上有他与她的孩子，但像一个最忠诚永守诺言的兄弟那般——他的王终其一生戴着履行刚铎逝去英雄波罗米尔的白树护臂。在对刚铎的责任上，阿拉贡永不抛弃，波洛米尔祝福他余生的幸福。

无论如何，对那个信守陈诺的人，他都会用所有生命去追随他。

他的领袖，他的兄弟，他的国王。

他用一整颗心去热爱过、让他无怨无悔的爱人。

众多的记忆混合在一起，难辩真假。

他甚至再次分不清，自己究竟是战死于阿蒙汉，还是老死于他与阿拉贡共同生活的王庭之中。

但他又想，真假又有什么关系呢？

无论真假，我都热爱，无论真假，我都坦诚，绝不再放下与回避——只要我真心热爱，所有的所有，都不再是问题。

——那么无论真假，我都会继续在我的孤路上前行，无论它是何等狭窄，何等给与我那些我不能承受的伤害，狭窄到只能容我一人探行。

成团的黄色琥珀将波罗米尔包裹了起来，他变成了琥珀中被凝固的蜜蜂，蜂翅上黏��了沉沉的油脂。然而那只再无所畏惧的蜜蜂勇敢的用他的尾针，像一把劈开混沌天地的利剑般，划开了那片不可战胜的浓稠的黑暗与黏滞。

那么归根结底，一个人的希望到底在哪里呢？

从他心底有一个声音在替他回答。

在那些坚守的内心中，在无法轻易忘怀的回忆里，在不退却的步伐里，在不甘的笔尖上，在世界上五湖四海的人们的爱中，在一个个落笔开花的传说里。

在心灵敞开的互相深度链接，在生命燃尽了的亦不舍弃。

金黄色的琥珀变成了一朵金色的莲花，莲花的花瓣温柔的包起，将波罗米尔破碎如一颗残齿的血污身体包笼在它层层叠叠的花瓣里。

金色的莲花漂流在血海流淌的碎石窄路上，带着波罗米尔的灵魂驶向路的尽头，那针眼般细小的洞口。

但那里依然有丝一样的光线，尽管它如此的微弱，如此的细小，已至到会让人忽略，但波罗米尔真的看到了它。

——他的光，他的希望。

蜜蜂在莲花的花瓣中冲向那个狭小的洞口，义无反顾冲向他灵魂尽头的黎明，。融化了他的翅膀，而和梦魇中的不停下坠感不同，浓雾被甩在了身后，黑血从他的灵体上被抹除，他的灵魂再次变得向上飞升的轻盈。

一个有白花香味的怀抱稳稳的接住了他。把他好好的、安全的、抱在自己怀里，那是他最熟悉的国王的怀抱。

尽管诸多磨难，经历了各自生命的各自挣扎和历炼，他们依旧会找到自己路途的出口，他们依旧会再见。尽管会迟到，但绝不会不到，他们终究会在各自灵魂踏上的路的尽头，在曼督斯的殿堂再次重相聚。

所以这就是真实的最后了吗？

阿拉贡温柔的灰蓝色眼睛看着他的绿眼睛，他在他眼中看得到一样真诚的爱恋与依恋。他像他一样，生前或生后，都最坚定的选择他，作为自己独属的爱人。而眼前的阿拉贡，波罗米尔确定他不是虚空之境中的欺骗者，而是他那个唯一的爱人。

更多熟悉的故去的人们上前，与他一一相拥，他的兄弟法拉米尔，他的母亲芬杜伊拉丝，他的父亲德内瑟尔。

欢迎你的归来，我挚爱的人。

轻轻的吻落在波罗米尔的额头。

Fin

#aragornxbormir #aragorn #boromir #sean bean #viggo mortensen #vigbean

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cyrrenereads · 3 months

Text

Shan You Mu Xi, Chapter 85 - Embers Set Free

“If any of you take another step, I will kill him!” Read the translations for the rest of the chapter here on Chickengege.org

#symx #山有木兮 #feitian #fei tian ye xiang #非天夜翔 #shan you mu xi translations

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poetohno · 2 months

Text

混沌の洪水　９　おまけトーク（現実にではなく、観念にダメージを受けている）

youtube

「断罪」

迸るように激しく溢れるように流れ世界の色彩は閃く

ギロチンが音を立てて待ち構えている　帰りを待っている朝が来て　夜が来て

断罪の音が木霊する　日々音が近づいてくるどこにいようとも　何をしようとも

迫り来る　祭壇への　道　生きること鼓動が　導く　避けようのない　運命

心臓は高鳴る警鐘のように

逃れることはできないからこその　運命受け入れる気はない　別の運命をたぐり寄せようと手を伸ばす

火薬に火を点け　計画を粉々に砕く燃え広がり　海の中に灰を蒔く

未来への標を失った　命の計画書は塵となる何を望める　運命の音は木霊する

細胞が　共食いし　命を　食らう身体が　身体を　貪り　食らう

破壊されてしまえば消えてしまえば

破壊された溝を　埋めることはできない困難な道　茨の導き血を流して軌跡とする運命の音が迫り来る　脳裏に浮かぶ祭壇　恐怖　震える手未来のための標は　失われてしまった　命は彷徨う

どこにいようと安全な場所など無い安らぎなど仮初めの姿

真実から目を背けたいだけなくなることはない遠ざかろうとすればするほどに　音は轟き心臓を掴む

心臓が肺を囓る音がする　恐怖細胞の痛みが奔る　絶望

警鐘が鳴り　断罪は　雷鳴に似て　思考は　混濁　喪失し　生命の　破壊

時は近い運命は変えられないのか遙か昔に決定されていたこと

狂うことができれば　どれ程の　救いだろう不安　恐れ　失望　痛み

全てが降り注ぐ　矢のように　裁きのようにのたうち回り　足掻き　藻掻き　懸命に走る

それしかできない　どんなことがあっても自身が歩む道でしかない

全ては耐えられるからこそ　与えられてしまうもの運命には　望みも　願いも　何ら関係がない　微動さえしない

太古の昔から脈々と流れてきた巨大な奔流都合よく　未来と名づけて　必死に生きることしか　できない

彷徨い歩き倒れた時後ろで音がした　刃物が落ちた音　影の首を切る　崩れ落ちた

逃れれば救いと呼ぶのか　自分勝手―それでも生きろというのか　葛藤も　矛盾も抱えて醜い心さえ携え　夜明けの美しさを焼きつけて

不穏

砂漠から立ち上る蜃気楼　海に浮かぶ砂上の城

既に失われた楽園

人々は泥を財宝と錯覚して身につける

美しさを求めて泥を身体に塗りたくり穢す

愛というものは季節のようにすぐに移ろう幻

秋が訪れれば葉が枯れゆくように万物は逃れられない太陽と月さえも支配されている

熱せば冷める水と同じ酔えば醒める甘美な酒死のような恍惚の眠りと失望した現実への目覚め彼らは皆求めたがゆえに失った

強固な大理石に罅が入る　溶けるように風化していく化石のような残骸が残る

硫酸に溶かされるかのように消えていく

永遠を望むということは時の移ろわない砂時計を望むことと同じこと

籠は骨でできている　やがて塵となり土に還る時の流れに　抱擁されている

海水を啜る者達は飢えに我慢ができなかったのだろう心の欠乏に自らが欠陥を抱えた存在であることを認められないがゆえにより渇くとも知らずに

飢え求めるからこそ貧しくなる覚悟していようとも本能と欲望は抗えない偽りを本物と気づかずに

ほくそ笑むだろう　欲する者達は煌めきに眼は眩んでいる砂粒が宝石に見える

自らが富を得て豊かに幸せを身につけているのは全ては錯覚でしかない

より得るために偽りを求めて自らが代償に支払うものは自らの命の欠片刹那の幸福の感情と引き換えに奪われていく

声が聞こえる単なる砂上の王国だったと知る愕然とする人生は何だったのか　幻に踊らされていた真実は常に痛みと共に襲い来る恍惚は彼方に蜃気楼となる　幻記憶は美化して輝かしくする後悔が押し寄せる人生の意味は失われたどのようにして取り戻せというのか全てを奪われたと同時に　知った真実が青空にすら星となって輝き消えない道を照らす

駒でしかなかったのか運命という盤上の人形でしかなかったのだろうか

星は導いて満足したか風は欺いて楽しんだか

闇さえも光の姿をして注いでいたのかもしれない

風を射抜いた旋律は闇夜から零れ落ちた銀貨のように

命の目指す標

大洪水　無数の理由

無数の理由の柵（悪意　利己　執着）

混沌の渦に己の道を敷き秩序を描く

内なる音楽が消える時　引き寄せられる

記憶のない場所に罪の意識と共に自ら招いた意識の果て無意識という　果ての無い宇宙　無音であり　万物の音よりも　雄弁に語る

契約という宇宙と星との密やかな画策

誰も知らない己が契約書にサインをしたことを

気づきようがない魂に封印されている

知らずとも　道を辿っている未来と過去とが　出会う場所で偶然に　必然を見出し運命と名づけて　全てを背負って

宇宙はただなすがままに実行するだけであり機械的であり無常であり非情ですらあるこの世界は自然的な法則で動いている

天に何を見出す

物事は淡々と生じ　粛々と過ぎるあるがままと言うか自由と呼ぶのか

どこに自由がある　必然だらけの世界であり星の配列により定められ物事の数列により決められ命はただ従い抗い藻掻くに過ぎない

逃れることはできない　シナリオから血管が証血脈が奔り　施されている心臓に託された運命の契約書

生者は　蘇る　第二の生へと

魂は目覚める時を待っている　蘇る瞬間の訪れを心臓に閉ざされ　封じられ

生者は　蘇る　第二の生へと

欲望と混沌に見失う広大な宇宙に彷徨い　見失った光心臓が深淵に出会う時　時計は　針が　刻々と　時を刻む時は動き出す　肉体の鼓動ではない　魂の表出　世界が孵化する瞬間囚われた精神が光を見出し　頂よりも高く飛翔し　観念としての意味と価値を超越する高潔と無垢との刃によって　柵と呪いは断たれる命は鼓動し　星は光り　宇宙は万物を生み出し　破壊さえもする混沌に　産声を　響かせ　奏で　紡ぐ　存在のために　精神は目覚める

幸福　安らぎ存在理由　存在価値の全てが列なる万物の意味　未来と過去の全ての暗号が解かれる

#Youtube

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angieloveshua · 2 years

Text

"Can the Yin Mountains hear our words?” Chen Xing hugged Xiang Shu, finally growing accustomed to it.

When the sun rose, Chen Xing lowered his head to kiss Xiang Shu on the lips.

"They will," Xiang Shu said.

Chen Xing continued, "The great ocean will know too."

"It will," Xiang Shu said. “I will never let you leave."

[...]

"The wind will still, and the snow will melt," Xiang Shu said, kissing Chen Xing's fingers and looking into his eyes. "Where you are is my place of solace."

#ROMANCE #dinghai fusheng lu #fei tian ye xiang #非天夜翔 #定海浮生录

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hunxi-after-hours · 1 year

Text

introducing the candidates for danmei awards 2.0 (2022)

I’m hard at work on (procrastinating on the writing of) this year’s danmei awards, so I figured I’d introduce all of the candidates since I’ve gone pretty far off the map at this point and don’t expect anyone to recognize most of these titles asdlfkads (别问，问就知北极圈的冷)

a table of contents!

《小蘑菇》 Xiao Mo Gu by 一十四洲 Yi Shi Si Zhou

《不小心救了江湖公敌》 Bu Xiao Xin Jiu Le Jianghu Gong Di by 六木乔 Liu Muqiao (有声漫画 audiomanhua season 1)

《无双》 Wu Shuang by 梦溪石 Meng Xishi

《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio

《师弟还不杀我灭口》 Shidi Hai Bu Sha Wo Mie Kou by 子鹿 Zi Lu

《默读》 Mo Du by priest

《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao

《哏儿》 Gen’er by 南北逐风 Nan Bei Zhu Feng

《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang by priest

《金牌助理之弯弯没想到》 Jin Pai Zhu Li zhi Wan Wan Mei Xiang Dao by (nominally) 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang and (mostly) 传奇火箭队 The Legendary Rocket Team

#1: 《小蘑菇》 by 一十四洲 (full length crash course here)

genre(s): apocalyptic science fiction

mediums: original novel on JJWXC, audiodrama by 729声工厂 / 729 Voice Studio on 猫耳FM

in a world where genetic mutations threaten to destroy humankind and a man-made aurora dances across the sky each night, a sentient mushroom goes undercover in a human city to recover a part of himself that was stolen. a book that investigates humanity and personhood, sentience and benevolence, the role of order in a lawless world, how to face despair and the end times with dignity and meaning. also, mushroom-based comedy

#2: 《不小心救了江湖公敌》 Bu Xiao Xin Jiule Jianghu Gong Di by 六木乔 Liu Muqiao (有声漫画 audiomanhua season 1)

genre(s): wuxia

mediums: manhua on bilibili comics, audiomanhua by 回声漫响工作室 Huisheng Manxiang Studio on 猫耳FM. both ongoing

when Liu Jianghe, a feared demonic sect leader, turns up half-dead on Lu Qingyun’s doorstep, the reclusive jianghu doctor reluctantly saves Liu Jianghe’s life. but Liu Jianghe’s enemies are almost as numerous as his secrets, and soon, the two are dragged into the turmoil of jianghu intrigue and conspiracy. Lu Qingyun has his own hidden past, Liu Jianghe his own mysterious motivations, and neither of them are held back by something as silly as moral scruples. an audiomanhua about the vortex of jianghu politics, in which every single character is a villain

#3: 《无双》 Wu Shuang by 梦溪石 Meng Xishi

genre(s): wuxia, political intrigue

mediums: original novel on JJWXC

a few years after the end of 《千秋》 Qian Qiu, unrest returns to the newly-founded Sui Dynasty as domestic intrigue and foreign plots threaten to fracture the hard-won peace. Feng Xiao, an unbelievably handsome government official who moonlights as the sect leader of the demonic Fajing Zong, finds his unexpected match in the frail wandering Daoist Cui Buqu. But beneath Cui Buqu’s waning health are more secrets than Feng Xiao can guess at, and the fate of the Sui Dynasty rests on these two setting aside their rivalry long enough to work together. a book about roasting your rival first, saving your dynasty second, and maybe, just maybe, falling in love in the process

#4: 《问鹿三千》 Wen Lu San Qian by 光合积木 Voicegem, 吼浪文化 Houlang Studio, and 斗木獬编剧工作室 Doumuxie Screenwriting Studio (full length crash course here)

genre(s): wuxia, xuanhuan

mediums: audiodrama on 猫耳FM, ongoing

an intricate, interlocking serial narrative following four intertwining stories: a famous zither master investigating a new, mysterious rival, a cat yao impersonating a prince and the assassin sent to kill him, the obsessive quest of an emperor searching for a lost dao and the person who lived inside it, and two spirits seeking their forgotten pasts. oh, and a former king-turned-talking-rabbit. an audiodrama about fate and loyalty, devotion and trauma, memory and grief, love and loss

#5: 《师弟还不杀我灭口》 Shidi Hai Bu Sha Wo Mie Kou by 子鹿 Zi Lu

genre(s): xianxia, transmigration

mediums: original novel on 长佩 Changpei, audiodrama by 米波文化 Mibo Culture on 猫耳FM. AD trailer 1 translated here, AD trailer 2 translated here.

when college student Zhong Yan is drawn into the world of the xianxia novel he just finished instead of studying for his exams, his sympathy for the book’s antagonist lands him a near-impossible mission: stop the antagonist from killing more people, or risk the consequences of failure. now, if only he hadn’t transmigrated as the antagonist’s useless shixiong, who is also the witness of his first murder...

a book about how kindness can change the path of fate, often when you aren’t paying attention. also, an audiodrama about 锦鲤 letting loose asldkfajsdf

#6: 《默读》 Mo Du by priest

genre(s): crime fiction, detective fiction

mediums: original novel on JJWXC, audiodrama by 729声工厂 on 猫耳FM (currently banned), donghua and live action adaptations in progress that will never see the light of day because this book contains trenchant commentary about social issues and cycles of violence perpetuated by wealth and power (and therefore too transgressive for the censors rip)

ETA 12/23/22: the 《默读》 AD has returned! more of it has likely been censored, but I’ll take what we can get.

when a series of complex cases begins to shake Yan City, police inspector Luo Wenzhou must team up with Fei Du, the cryptic heir of a business empire, to uncover what may be a larger, decades-spanning conspiracy tying the crimes together. at the same time, a mysterious radio station releases reviews of classic novels in Western literature that all feature plots, events, themes, and crimes that bear uncanny resonances to the cases they are investigating. a book about the dark side of modern society, and the slow, grueling path out of the abyss and toward the light

#7: 《督主有病》 Du Zhu You Bing by 杨溯 Yang Su

genre(s): wuxia, political intrigue

mediums: original novel on 长佩 Changpei, audiodrama by 米波文化 Mibo Culture on 猫耳FM

the unlikely childhood friendship of a court official and an assassin must weather the rise and fall of regimes as well as grasping reach of their own backgrounds if they are to reach a distant, elusive happy ending. a book where the question “can things get worse?” is responded to with a hearty “always!”

#8: 《海中爵》 Hai Zhong Jue by 七药 Qi Yao (full crash course here)

genre(s): PIRATES, secondary world fantasy, political intrigue

mediums: original novel on 长佩 Changpei, (free!) audiodrama by 株木琅玛工作室 Zhumulangma Studio on 猫耳FM, audiodrama ongoing

when a smooth-talking, deep-pocketed rival ship’s captain offers him a deal he can’t refuse, Hailian reluctantly agrees to assassinate someone for the mysterious Fang Tinglan. drawn into the complex tangle of Fang Tinglan’s schemes, Hailian must navigate intrigue, betrayal, and his own lost past to find his way to some place he can call home. a book about fighting and falling in love at the same time

#9: 《哏儿》 Gen’er by 南北逐风 Nan Bei Zhu Feng

genre(s): contemporary, entertainment industry

mediums: original novel on 长佩 Changpei, audiodrama by 音熊联萌 VoiceBear Alliance on 猫耳FM

in a few days, Ye Ling will graduate from the illustrious Tsinghua University with a master’s degree in thermal engineering, so in a few days, he’ll no longer have the time to pursue his extracurricular dreams of performing 相声 xiangsheng / crosstalk, a form of traditional Chinese stand-up comedy. but when the brash, bold, and charismatic Xie Shuangchen barges into his life, Ye Ling’s heart is swayed — and what if he decides to pursue his dreams? what if this is what he’s meant to do? a book about making it as working artists in Beijing while falling in love. also book about 相声 xiangsheng and Chinese opera, and adapting classical forms to the modern era

#10: 《杀破狼》 Sha Po Lang by priest

genre(s): political intrigue, alternate history, steampunk wuxia

mediums: original novel on JJWXC, audiodrama by 729声工厂 on 猫耳FM, live action adaptation trapped in censorship hell

from the moment the powerful fuel 紫流金 ziliujin was dug out of the ground, the path of history was destined to change. in an aging and weakening Liang Dynasty, two young men come of age as the kingdom’s foremost general and the court’s most capable minister. but malevolent forces both external and internal, domestic and foreign threaten to destroy them before they can save the dynasty they inherited. a book about saving your kingdom while extremely burnt out by the traumatic events of your youth. also, steampunk mechas and navigating the industrial revolution in the middle of war

#11: 《金牌助理之弯弯没想到》 Jin Pai Zhu Li zhi Wan Wan Mei Xiang Dao by (ostensibly) 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang and (mostly) 传奇火箭队 The Legendary Rocket Team, aka Fuck the Rocket according to their subtitles

genre(s): contemporary, entertainment industry

mediums: original novel on JJWXC, (free!) audiodrama by the 传奇火箭队 The Legendary Rocket Team on 猫耳FM

so full disclosure, I never read the original novel, and the 《弯弯》 audiodrama should be considered a lot of things but a faithful adaptation? lol absolutely not (their own words)

this is actually a 网配 wangpei audiodrama from 2015, and the energy on it is utterly unhinged. it is simultaneously a love letter to and satire of 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang’s novel 《金牌助理》 Jin Pai Zhu Li, a novel that follows the misadventures of hapless aspiring musician Xiao Yi as he finds a day job to pay the bills while struggling to make it in Beijing. said day job? working as a personal assistant to the extremely frosty, extremely handsome superstar actor Lu Zhou. absolute hijinks ensue

this audiodrama is far ahead of its time, and also completely upends traditional adaptation by rewriting the script satirically and cranking up the speed. I screamed; I laughed; I definitely missed a turn while driving. words can’t really describe this production for its sheer insanity, so I’ll just link it above and call it a day

#let's go let's go let's GO #came for the mushroom stayed for the mushroom #saving your kingdom while burnt out: the imperial intrigue steampunk wuxia light mecha alternate historical novel #voice(bear) appreciation hours #《督主有病》#《无双》 backlog #guess who walked into and out of the abyss while y'all weren't looking #not pictured here: the fact that I immediately turned around and re-read liehuo this year #still taking award category recs if anyone else wants to throw their hat in the ring!

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aworldforastage · 1 year

Text

2023 Reading Log

In order of completion...

(Audiodrama art for The Plays of Lips and Teeth, Concealed and Blended: Fendai, Joyful Reunion)

1. 唇齿之戏张佩奇 -- The Plays of Lips and Teeth [#cczx]

2. 粉黛七世有幸 -- Concealed and Blended: Fendai [#fendai]

3. 天潢贵胄漫漫何其多

4. 我成了虐文女主她亲哥刘狗花 -- I Became the Older Brother of the Heroine in an Abusive Novel [#nwnz]

5. 相见欢非天夜翔 -- Joyful Reunion [#xjh]

6. 陛下万安决绝 -- Your Majesty, Be at Ease [#bxwa]

7. 总裁的狮子驯养日记患者阿离

8. 妃嫔媵嫱七月侯 -- Fei Ping Ying Qiang [#fpyq]

9. 铜雀春深北有乔木St

10. 不枉余酲

11. 天官赐福墨香铜臭 -- Heaven Official's Blessing [#tgcf]

12. 魔尊他念念不忘墨西柯 -- The Demon Venerable’s Wistful Desire [#魔尊他念念不忘]

13. 书穿后被暴君标记了池翎

14. 督主有病杨溯 -- Governor’s Illness [#dzyb]

15. 日落大道卡比丘 -- Sunset Boulevard [#sunsetblvd]

16. 火焰戎装水千丞 – Blazing Armor [#hyrz]

17. 内娱第一花瓶三三娘 [#dyhp]

18. 邪门的爱情出现了丧心病狂的瓜皮 -- Evil Love Appears [#邪门的爱情出现了]

19. 花瓶困倚危楼 -- Flower Vase [#花瓶困倚危楼]

20. 太平长安盐盐Yany -- Placid Chang’an [#tpca]

(Mao'er audiodrama cover for I Became the Older Brother of the Heroine in an Abusive Novel, and Governor’s Illness , and Ximalaya audiobook cover for Blazing Armor)

21. 恰如其分菡萏花开

22. 逢狼时刻吕天逸 -- Meeting the Wolf

23. 亡命之徒的退休生涯 FOX -- The Retirement Life of a Runaway Desperado [#wmzt]

24. 望春冰符黎

25. 凛冬岑寂长不出青苔

26. 荒野植被麦香鸡呢 -- Wilderness Vegetation [#hyzb]

27. 作践十步方寒 [#作践]

28. 可一可再反舌鸟 [#可一可再]

29. 隐婚久陆

30. 残疾战神嫁我为妾后刘狗花 -- After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine [#cjzs]

31. 楚囚林萨

32. 贪恋莫以风 (original AD)

33. 富贵长安五朵云 -- The Rich And Honorable Chang'an

34. 交易沦陷在下小神j [#交易沦陷]

35. 臣服墨奈何/墨青城 -- Surrender (Book 1) [#臣服]

36. 臣服II 墨奈何/墨青城 -- Surrender (Book 2) [#臣服2]

37. [重生]昨年素飞柳

38. 每天都想抱崽的Omega 杳杳一言

39. 苏长清倒霉的一生月色霜华

40. 渠清如许清明谷雨

(audiobook cover art for Wilderness Vegetation, AD cover art for 作践, After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine)

41. 泾渭情殇请君莫笑 (GL) -- Clear and Muddy Loss of Love [#jwqs]

42. 然后就爱了 viburnum

43. 九千岁[重生] 绣生 [#九千岁]

44. 游龙随月耳雅 [#ylsy]

45. 小福晋半缘修道 [#小福晋]

46. 三嫁咸鱼比卡比 -- Married Thrice to Salted Fish [#sjxy]

47. 合意楚寒衣青 [#合意]

48. 陛下有一段白月光天北闻秋 [#陛下有一段白月光]

49. 暗河长明冷山就木

50. 欲言难止麦香鸡呢 -- Eternities Still Unsaid Till You Love Me [#欲言难止]

51. 老婆是顶级Alpha，我该怎么办海藻大王 [#老婆是顶级Alpha]

52. 有名木更木更 -- In Name Only [#有名]

53. 心毒初禾 -- Poison of the Heart [#心毒]

54. 危险人格木瓜黄 -- Dangerous Personality

55. 穿成苏培盛了一渡清河 [#ccspsl]

56. 为什么这种A也能有O 图南鲸 -- Why Is It Possible For This Type Of A To Also Have An O? [#为什么这种A也能有O]

57. 寒武再临水千丞 -- The Return of Cambrian Period [#hwzl]

58. 奉君侧之十年心天娜

59. 奉君侧之生死劫天娜

60. 龙血/养父水千丞 -- Dragon Blood

(Mao'er audiodrama cover for Clear and Muddy Loss of Love, In Name Only, and Dragon Blood)

btw ... I feel obligated to disclaim that just because I finished a novel doesn't mean I don't regret it or would recommend it ...

Books which I have read significant amount but stopped (but think I would like to finish someday ... )

剑名不奈何淮上 -- The Sword Named No Way Out

电竞魔王集结营青梅酱 -- The E-Sports Circle’s Toxic Assembly Camp

长安少年游明月倾 --

德萨罗人鱼深海先生 -- Desharow Merman [#德萨罗人鱼]

余污肉包不吃肉 – Remnants of Filth

忧郁先生想过平静生活青色羽翼 -- Mr. Melancholy Wants to Live a Peaceful Life [#yyxs]

魔尊也想知道青色羽翼 -- Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

不要在垃圾桶里捡男朋友骑鲸南去 -- Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends From the Trash Bin

情敌每天都在变美公子于歌 -- Your Rival in Love Gets Prettier Every Day

燎原不问三九 -- Wildfire

沉舟楚寒衣青

楚天以南大风不是木偶 -- Under Clear Skies

乱世为王顾雪柔/非天夜翔 -- To Rule in a Turbulent World

人鱼陷落麟潜 -- The Fallen Merman

谁把谁当真水千丞 -- Winner Takes All

凤于九天风弄 -- Feng Yu Jiu Tian

营养过良芥菜糊糊 -- The Nutrition is Too Good

Tags for works I haven't started reading:

六爻 Priest -- Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect [#liu yao]

台风眼潭石-- The Eye of the Storm [#tfy]

判官木苏里 -- Panguan [#panguan]

#danmei reading log

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foxghost · 1 year

Text

Joyful Reunion

Translator: foxghost @foxghost tumblr/ko-fi1 Beta: meet-me-in-oblivion @meet-me-in-oblivion tumblr Original by 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang Masterpost | Characters, Maps & Other Reference Index

Book 5, Epilogue (Part 1 of 2)

Two years later.

Chen’s main forces, two hundred thousand strong, assemble for battle at the foot of Mount Jiangjun. Meanwhile, across from them is the Yuan forces, as vast and numerous as raindrops in the ocean.

Both sides counted, there are four hundred thousand men here altogether, and not a single horse lets out a neigh. Snow flutters in the air. The melody of that song once more rises in Duan Ling’s memories.

The Mongolian forces part to make way. Borjigin Batu steps out in full armour, while Duan Ling steers his warhorse to the front of his formation. They face off against each other at a distance.

A gale is rising. Chen and Yuan war banners flap loudly in the biting cold.

“It’s time to begin,” Duan Ling says gently.

Clad in black armour from head to toe, Wu Du comes to Duan Ling’s side unhurriedly.

Snow whips violently as it spirals through the storm. On the distant horizon, a million souls of departed war gods seem to fall to earth, trailing white light behind them like meteors, and as they reach the battlefield, each turns into a shadow that has long-guarded the territories of Great Chen, urging on their noble steeds, galloping through thin air.

“It’s time to begin!” Someone’s voice is shouting, “Let’s fight!”

In his black armour, Xie You heads to the vanguard position.

“Sons of Great Chen —!” Duan Ling’s voice and Xie You’s decisive shout blend together.

The voices of the Chen army are as loud as the roaring of a tsunami.

The Silver River above has become a boundless wind of light, and that man, on his White Tiger steed, spreads a war god’s wings as he soars through a vast sea of light.

White Tiger of the western sky, lord of war!

His steed pads through the air from the horizon where the sky meets the earth, the radiant silver light that surrounds him shining onto the battlefield.

“Are you willing to die for His Majesty?”

Again, that call is answered by a furious, unified howl that seems to topple the mountains and overturn seas, loud enough to put a crack in the firmament.

My son.

That gentle voice rings out next to Duan Ling, and in his armour of light, with stars as his cape and the moon as his crown, dragging the Zhenshanhe behind him, Li Jianhong flies towards the battlefield.

“Dad.” In Duan Ling’s eyes is a dazzling night sky and the eternal Silver River.

It has been there all along.

A million years may pass, and it would remain the same.

“Let the battle begin.” Duan Ling raises the Zhenshanhe and points it into the distance.

All at once, two hundred thousand soldiers of Southern Chen, under the blessing and protection of generations of heroic spirits who’d sacrificed themselves for their homeland, charge at the Yuan army.

In Jiangzhou, a thousand miles away, light snow swirls like dust through the sky. Li Yanqiu stands on an upper storey in a rear palace hall and looks up at the drifting snowflakes.

“They ought to have arrived in Mount Jiangjun by today. Jianhong, please watch over Ruo’er.”

On the snow fields beneath Mount Jiangjun, the front line on both sides launch their attacks under the call of a signal horn. The new Northern Command kicks up powder and runs into the battlefield.

Countless moments in time have been frozen during this one battle, and the historians set down many episodes in ink: how Zheng Yan leads his troops to outflank the enemy, charging into their formation before having to retreat for his wounds; how Wu Du is forced off his horse after prolonged fighting, and Duan Ling rushing in to rescue him; how the Mongolian Army Supervisor Timur is killed by Wu Du with a single strike of his sword.

Qinchatai’s subordinate Chaghan Temur is shot dead with an arrow, and his men choose to fight to the death rather than surrender.

Xie You takes his men to attack the Mongolian army from the flank, but due to Borjigin Batu’s deft direction, is unable to gain full victory …

The first battle between four hundred thousand men drenches ten thousand miles of snowfields in blood, turning the entrance to the canyon into a meat grinder. The Chen army had gained the overwhelming upper hand almost as soon as the two armies meet, yet the Mongolians insist on fighting to the death rather than retreating; as they are driven off a precipice by Zheng Yan’s troops, their landing sets off a chain-reaction avalanche.

Hundreds of Mongolian soldiers had fallen off the precipice, and the avalanche buries tens of thousands of Mongolian soldiers, but the Chen army is also split into two forces.

Duan Ling sets up an ambush for Batu with his troops, and as soon as they meet face to face, Duan Ling shoots Batu off his horse. Amga rushes in, putting his life on the line to save Batu, bringing him back to their side.

“Catch him!” Someone is howling in Mongolian. “All we have to do is catch him and we win!”

By now the Mongolian army is at the end of its tether; counting those buried by the avalanche they number less than one hundred and twenty thousand. Yet with their backs up against the wall, they would rather die than surrender — even in this chaos, they’re thinking about catching the Chen crown prince in order to dissolve the other side’s offensive.

Chen runs into even fiercer resistance then, and their main forces are split apart by the assault. The vanguard troops, led by Wu Du, and the main force, led by Duan Ling, are separated by the avalanche.

“Your Highness! They’re catching up to us!” Someone howls.

“How many of them are there?!” Duan Ling only has a mere two thousand men or so left at his side. The rest are with Xie You.

Someone yells, “Twenty-thousand!”

“Go around the canyon!” Duan Ling shouts decisively, “Rendezvous with the vanguard as soon as possible! We’ve already won! This is all they have left!”

Twenty thousand Mongolian soldiers launch their assault downhill, and snow rolls towards the Chen forces like a tsunami. Under his bodyguards’ escort, Duan Ling charges at the end of the canyon.

“I’ll hold them off!” Shulü Rui shouts, “Go ahead, Your Highness!”

Duan Ling looks back behind him. Shulü Rui had already reorganised his men into a force to hold off the pursuing twenty-thousand Mongolian soldiers, and a melee ensues as soon as the two sides meet. Many of the soldiers also get past the defences to rush towards Duan Ling.

The guards escort Duan Ling to the end of the canyon, but another thousand soldiers are charging at them from the valley in front of them.

“Benxiao! I leave it all to you!” Duan Ling shouts.

A stray arrow hits Duan Ling, the arrowhead glancing off his White Tiger armour. Duan Ling charges into the fray, ignoring any danger that may befall his person, and he sees a man with his left arm covered in layers of cloth rushing at him holding a heavy two-handed greatsword. The sword is also coming down on Duan Ling’s head with all the weight of a greatsword!

The sword throws up an arc of light, and Duan Ling recognises Amga’s blood-stained face behind the weapon. However, he has no way to retreat, so all he can do is turn his shoulder to the blade to take Amga’s strike!

But as the force behind that blow is about to shatter his shoulder, a black silhouette flits by, steps hard on the saddle with one foot, and wraps an arm around Duan Ling. His left fist punches the sword, causing a dull metallic thud that rings painfully through Duan Ling’s eardrums.

The man wraps his arms around Duan Ling and leaps away from Benxiao, while Benxiao charges into the enemy’s ranks and draws a thousand of their pursuers away with it.

The momentum takes Duan Ling into the snow, but as he’s about to roll off, a strong hand grabs him, locking their fingers together and dragging him out of the snowfield. Duan Ling’s ring finger slips and feels emptiness where the man’s pinky finger ought to be.

“Kill them!” Amga howls.

“Lang Junxia?!” Duan Ling says, his voice trembling.

Lang Junxia is dressed in a faded warrior’s robe, tattered and worn in places.

“How long have you been following me? What are you doing here?!”

“Shh, don’t ask,” Lang Junxia says, his eyes smiling as he put two fingers of his right hand between his lips to whistle. Benxiao gallops back to them.

“Get on the horse!” Lang Junxia shouts, pushing Duan Ling once again onto his horse. He then gets on the saddle behind him.

“Be ready to shoot!” Lang Junxia asks, “Are you cold?”

Duan Ling is dressed in armour, and his eyebrows and hair are covered in snow. Benxiao comes to an abrupt stop as it faces a thousand soldiers led by Amga.

“I’m not … not cold. I’m very warm.”

“Even your voice is shivering. Where’s your bow?”

Duan Ling takes the bow from its sling and wraps his fingers around the grip. Amga toses his greatsword into the snow and draws the sabre at his side. The Mongolian soldiers step back. They get ready to charge.

“You’re dead, crown prince,” Amga says. “No one can protect you anymore.”

“He still has me,” Lang Junxia murmurs.

Lang Junxia rides with Duan Ling behind him, his clear eyes reflecting the one thousand Mongolian soldiers before him as well as those archers who’d just appeared on the cliff above. They have their bows nocked and drawn, aiming towards the centre.

Duan Ling aims his arrow at a point in the distance, so nervous he doesn’t dare breathe.

“Did you see the letter?” Lang Junxia says.

“What?” Duan Ling asks with a frown.

Lang Junxia is quiet for a beat before continuing, “It’s in the Qingfengjian’s scabbard. This isn’t a very good sword, but I’ll try to block them for a while. It’s your turn to cover me this time, Duan Ling. Keep your eyes on the cliff across the way. I leave it in your hands.”

Duan Ling’s heart seems to stop. He fires off the first arrow. Then Lang Junxia is shouting, “Gup!”

With two people on its back, Benxiao gallops towards the canyon’s exit. At the same time, a thousand Mongolian soldiers launch their attack, and charge at them under Amga’s lead!

As quickly as possible, Duan Ling fires off one arrow after another into the enemy ranks.

In the very instant the two sides meet, Lang Junxia crash sidelong into Amga, his long sword flicking up to meet his sabre!

Naturally there’ll be people there to protect you all through your life. There’s no need for you to stand before me …

If I failed to protect you, then I’d have failed in my duty. If that day ever comes, even if I’m not dead someone will come finish me off. But that’s no matter. Once I die, there’ll naturally be plenty of others who’d line up to stand in front of you to block blades and swallow swords for your sake …

The voice is coming from a long way away, but it also seems like it’s right by his ear.

In the split-second they brush past each other, Lang Junxia and Amga exchange blows.

Amga thrusts his sabre into Lang Junxia’s chest. Lang Junxia quickly grabs the blade with his right hand, then clapping his palms together, he turns the blade and locks it into place between his ribs so that it can’t penetrate his shoulder to harm the Duan Ling seated behind him.

Then with a beautiful flick of his wrist, he pierces Amga’s throat soundlessly with his sword.

And just like that, Benxiao rushes past the enemy formation, kicking up powder as it leaves their pursuers far, far behind them in the snow.

Duan Ling turns back to look. He shouts, “We’re through!”

“Very … good.”

“You’re hurt! Lang Junxia!” Duan Ling touches the back in front of him and draws back a hand covered in blood. The tiniest bit of metal blade is protruding from Lang Junxia’s back.

Benxiao gallops farther and farther; it gallops into a forest, then out of it, leaping off a cliff, landing then charging down a snow-covered hill, kicking up frantic waves of snow in its wake, only stopping once it’s carried the two of them into a ravine.

On a snowy clearing in the deep ravine, Lang Junxia collapses sideways into the snow.

Duan Ling dismounts, and a stumble takes him back a step. Lang Junxia struggles to his feet in the snow, but no matter how hard he tries he can’t seem to stand up straight.

When Duan Ling notices the sabre buried in Lang Junxia’s chest, he lets out a despairing scream — but Lang Junxia firmly pushes him away.

“Don’t … look.” Blood seeps out of Lang Junxia’s mouth. With a stumble, he forces himself to stand up straight. He pulls the sabre out of his own chest and coughs up a mouthful of blood. He falls backwards.

Duan Ling runs towards him, and as Lang Junxia topples over, he falls into Duan Ling’s arms.

A gale begins to blow, and snow curls through the wind, obscuring everything for miles around.

In the midst of a blizzard, Duan Ling kneels on a boundless snowfield. Snowflakes flutter through the air. Lang Junxia lies in Duan Ling’s arms. He reaches up, shivering, struggling to run his fingers over Duan Ling’s cheek.

“Lang Junxia …” Duan Ling says, choking back tears, “Why did you have to come back.”

The corner of Lang Junxia’s mouth curls up almost imperceptibly.

It’s almost like they’ve gone back to that gentle evening many years ago in Shangjing; just like this, he’d lain in the snow, and a little Duan Ling had wrapped his arms around him, using all of his strength to drag him back into the house.

"Because … I …

"Wanted to … see if … you’d grow up … to become … a … very good …

"Little …

“… Emperor.”

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#相見歡 #fei tian ye xiang #joyful reunion #xiang jian huan #fox translates things

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