[Tian Ya Ke (Re-)Readalong] Chapter 33+34

[rekishi]

Welcome back!

Let's go straight to the goods!

Chapter 33 – Master of Ghosts
Chapter 34 – Lady Vixen [Beauty]

[Note: The title of Chapter 34 is 妖姬, which my dictionary tells me is "Beauty". I assume the "Lady Vixen" translation stems from the components, which would translate to "seductive concubine".]

Identities revealed!


Chapter 33

• "“My surname isn’t Rong. I’m only bitter that I’ve never met that one surnamed Rong in my life, otherwise, I’ll slaughter him once for every one time I run into him.”
  
  Zhou Zishu’s face was devoid of any surprise. Upon hearing this, he paused, before his speech slowed as he said, “Oh? Looks like I’ve guessed wrongly, then, I thought that...I thought that the current Master of the Ghost Valley is a Rong family descendant.”"


• "Zhou Zishu laughed lightly. “Escorting that kid to Taihu unharmed, with all his limbs intact out of the snare of a hundred thousand Ghosts--if my abilities were really that great, I’d have ruled over the pugilist world years ago, what would I be here for?”"


• "Zhou Zishu said, “This isn’t difficult to guess, Wen-xiong. If you take a look at the entire jianghu, there are too few people who I can’t guess the background of. Discounting those of the Southern border and the Northern desert, within the pugilist world of the Central Plains, I can count them on one hand. You and I have spent so many days together, if I still couldn’t tell, wouldn’t I be too stupid?”"


• "The two of them said nothing else; in that moment, Wen Kexing was no longer the glib-tongued Casanova who had an exclusive taste for men, and Zhou Zishu was no longer the broke, homeless wanderer who sang little tunes off-pitch--the mysterious master of Fengya Mountain and the unpredictable former leader of Tian Chuang faced each other silently in an abandoned house, but it was more like a soundless sizing-up of the other.
  
  The only witness was, unbelievably, sleeping like the dead off to one side."


• "“Are you crazy, or is this an aftereffect of a qi deviation?”
  
  But Wen Kexing caught his fingers lightly and caressed his palm. He lifted it, bent his head to press a gentle kiss to the back of his hand, and asked, “What do you think?”
  
  Goosebumps instantly rose all over on Zhou Zishu’s body. He snatched his hand back. That warm sensation of his lips and that persistent gaze seemed to entangle into something inseparable; Zhou Zishu was starting to find that Wen Kexing was demented, and not lightly so. “Wen-xiong’s appetite is too good.”"


• "Inexplicably, Zhou Zishu understood that feeling--they might have met in the ocean of strangers out of coincidence, ignorant of each other’s background, but this did not stand in the way of them being kindred souls."

Chapter 34

• "Right after, Pingan lowered his voice. “Many thanks to Lord Zhou, for concealing the news about my master leaving the capital all those years ago, so we can have these few years of peace.”"


• "Yet, he inexplicably recalled the previous day in the abandoned courtyard, and the serious manner in which Wen Kexing had said, “I want to live out the rest of my life with you”. It felt like the chair underneath his ass had grown nails, making him uncomfortable and feel odd all over."


• “I’ve only heard little about the Yin Yang Manual; I’m not certain of whether it truly exists or not, but it is said to be a sacred relic of the Healers’ Valley, able to revive the dead and grow flesh from white bone, claimed to heal any ailment--Fengshan Sword Technique was created by Rong Xuan, the peerless expert who turned to the demonic path thirty years ago. The lower scroll is a sword technique instruction, while the theory inscribed in the upper scroll was what he had inferred and adapted from the Six Harmonies Cultivation Mantra. Passed down since ancient times, the ‘Six Harmonies Cultivation Mantra’ has many parts missing. It’s obscure and complex, difficult to understand, and one can very easily undergo qi deviation when practicing it. Regardless, its power is unparalleled, with not one competitor in this world that can surpass it...does Gao Chong mean that the secret of the Lapis Armour is the two classic manuals that Rong Xuan had left behind?”


• "Wen Kexing happily pulled a chair out, told Zhou Zishu to sit down, and personally poured wine for him, eagerly attentive as he said, “Quick, taste this tavern’s good wine, the taste is traditional, it’s not bad.”
  
  Expressionless, Zhou Zishu attempted to use his gaze to convey his evaluation of him. Wen Kexing looked at him for half a beat, then all of a sudden, said in a coy voice, “We’re still in public…”"

We left off last time with ZZS asking WKX whether his family name is really 'Wen' or whether it shouldn't be 'Rong' instead. WKX has very strong feelings about this (understandably, since we get the backstory here as well).

So is it a lucky guess of ZZS that WKX is the Valley Master? Or has he gathered sufficient evidence? Since YBY is the Ancient Monk and Ghost Valley has played a part in the narrative so far, perhaps it's not so far fetched. (The Poison King of the South Sea, however, is still elusive.)

ZZS gives us his evidence here, or at least some of it, and I do very much enjoy their frank talk here, in the dark, with ZCL sleeping beside them. Sometimes it's easier to talk in the dark, when you don't have to very clearly see the other person's expression. What do you think of their talk here? Are they both honest?

An interesting note is that ZZS still uses 'Wen-xiong' to address WKX.

So WKX says here "You really know too many things....Manor Lord Zhou? Lord Zhou?" which loses a bit in the translation. The original is "你知道的事真是太多了,周......庄主?周大人?" which does mean the same as is translated, but the "Manor Lord" refers to ZZS' identity as the leader of Siji Manor, while "Lord" refers to ZZS' courtley title (which is the one bestowed upon all officials).

I'm not sure what to think about WKX basically deviating(?) into flirting to get out of the situation. On the other hand, I wonder if this is the only way how WKX knows how to express his feelings in that moment? (Especially his whole "I’ve embraced almost all of the beauties in this world, and have never pestered them afterwards. speech, which is so ridiculous even with intentional hyperbole, puts me in a mind WKX just not having the right words to be believably-sincere. He's learning, too.) And it's nice that ZZS….sort of….gets it?

Regarding ZCL, I think this is the only indication we get of ZZS accepting his shifu role: Zhou Zishu inhaled deeply, feeling that since he had accepted Zhang Chengling calling him" Shifu ", logically, he should have some patience with him. And he's objectively terrible at it, really. I can only keep reiterating this, he's terrible. I'd run away crying if I were ZCL!

What's interesting is this sentence: "Why would I not know how to? I single-handedly taught my shidi all he knew.", because it sounds like LJX was the only shidi ZZS had? (The Chinese version speaks of 他, so first person singular rather than plural as well.) He's the only shidi we ever meet so it seems logical, but it's still odd, especially since he speaks about multiple disciples later. So ZZS must have least have had peers of the same generation? Y/N?

(Also ouch: "Your shidi…truly has great fortune in surviving things.” - Zhou Zishu paused in his steps. Out of the blue, he said, “He didn’t have great fortune. He’s dead.”)

GX and WCN are a delight, poor WKX.

JBY setting up Pingan as his...what, intelligence front is amazing. Both the banks and the person, he has so much take pages out of ZZS' book, ZZS should feel uncomfortable about it, really. Or flattered. One of those. After all, it was ZZS who smuggled them out of Da-Qing in the first place.

He definitely did not count of JBY and WX to come to his...aid? Rescue? Both? And he isn't all that pleased by it, I think. Or he doesn't want them to meet WKX, because one of them would probably hit it off with him and then ZZS would never have a minute of peace again.

Poor ZZS though, having at least an inkling that WKX might actually be serious with his "I want to live out the rest of my life with you".

So I talked about this before, but I really really love the fact that the identity reveal is so incredibly unexcited. There's no drama, it's not a Big Thing. And I love that. I know it's not everyone's thing, but I'm so happy that both of them just accept who the other is, exchange the information that yes, they do know and… That's it.

And then ZZS just casually throws the fact that WKX is the Valley Master into his internal narrative which I think is so great. It's like a dam has broken and he gets to curse WKX and his identity all the time. Such fun!

I laughed so much as Eyes wide, Gu Xiang exclaimed, “Master, Cao-dage knows so much, he even drops literary references!”, which, poor WKX, he really is sacrificing himself here for the greater good of peace and GX' happiness maybe. Poor WKX, really.

And then CWN goes and asks if he can call GX A'Xiang, too and the first time I read it I was like 'omg' because...who does that? But it's so sweet and earnest and does make me go 'awwww'.

(ZZS trying to hold onto himself, poor man.)

WKX getting jealous because the 'Beauty' is approaching ZZS, and even going so far as to steal his money, will never not be funny.

Back next week with Chapters 35+36!