I see nothing wrong here.

HC is definitely YOURS 😏 😁

#TGCFReadAlong #chapter16

I love this contrast :)

Other heavenly officials: Hua Cheng is evil, deeply calculating. Avoid him at all cost.

Xie Lina: He's just being playful and a bit mischievous. I see no problem 😁

#TGCFReadAlong #chapter16

I love Xie Lian interactions with Eming.

Also Jun Wu's warnings were completely ignored 😂

#TGCFReadAlong #chapter16

Hi to the #TGCFReadAlong and #SVSSSReadAlong people!

This week's #TGCF is chapter 17 of the official English translation: "Paradise to Ashes, the Second Coming of Fangxin" (volume 2, webnovel chapter 44).

This week's #SVSSS is chapter 13 of the official English translation: "Coercion" (the last chapter of volume 2, webnovel chapters 53-54).

Happy reading!

#TGCFReadalong chapter 16

Lastly:

“Give me your hand.”
Xie Lian didn’t know what it was for, but since Hua Cheng asked for his hand, he gave it to him.

I just like the two of them so much!

#TGCFReadalong chapter 16: second, I can't believe this whole time I vaguely thought Eming's eye was red instead of "a pattern carved onto a scimitar hilt"--I guess I registered only the bit where it was "as if" it were "the real, living eye of a human."

Minor, but why rereading is useful for me!

#TGCFReadalong chapter 16! I haven't been posting because I was behind on my reread but now I'm caught up (actually ahead, which is how I like it).

Just a few things I haven't seen anyone post before.

First, two things about the Shi Qingxuan action sequence.

It's both funny and sneaky-sad (like so much of this book!) that "Xie Lian was practiced in the art of escape, so his demeanor and manner were far more relaxed than Shi Qingxuan’s."

And I sense A Theme:

"Thinking back on when they first met at Banyue Pass, the Lord Wind Master had seemed like such a bright and scintillating figure, and Xie Lian had thought him a powerful being with immeasurable depth—if not a peerless demonic cultivator, then a supreme master. Now that they were better acquainted, he realized all of that was but an illusion…"

#TGCFReadalong, chapter 16:

I’m currently reading the fan translation on my tablet and taking pictures of the official translation, so I noticed that the encounter with the people in the forest has been edited to be less racist.

They were red-skinned cannibal savages; now they’re fierce spirits. It’s still pretty obvious what tropes are involved, though, especially since they’re still in the southern mountains! Not cool.

I don’t remember the Banyue people’s descriptions being changed in the official translations, so I guess this is where the line got drawn.

#TGCFReadalong, chapter 16:

Shi Qingxuan is living up to her reputation as the young lord/lady who poured the wine. 😄

She and Xie Lian are both right, here: Shi Qingxuan is having a great time, but how much better it would be if she had a Ghost King to keep her company!

I’m also laughing my head off at Shi Qingxuan believing that telling Lang Qianqiu not to move a muscle will prevent any future problems. Have you MET Lang Qianqiu? Possibly in the very recent past?

#TGCFReadalong, chapter 15:

Backtracking slightly, White-Clothed Calamity, with his cry-smiling mask, as nemesis to Xie Lian who often wonders whether to laugh or cry, is very satisfying. I also noticed this read-through that the Waning Moon Officer’s mask is “contorted, as if it was smiling woefully.” Another similarity he has with Xie Lian, besides the cursed shackle?

#TGCFReadalong, chapter 15:

Everyone else has posted this quote and so am I!!! I love hualian being sword nerds together, I love the obvious eroticism of it, I love that reference to Daddy-I-mean-Jun-Wu right there.

And then Hua Cheng just falling over himself to offer gege a sword, no, the whole armoury, no, the whole Paradise Manor, no, that plus maintaining the swords himself… and somehow not coming across [to Xie Lian] as desperate. ❤️

And then! Xie Lian remembering Daddy’s warning about E’Ming and immediately asking to see it! Ah, what a good scene!

#TGCFReadalong, chapter 15 and 16:

Xie Lian is having such a hard time balancing his friendship with Hua Cheng and his mission for the heavens! And yet he still believes that Jun Wu would never ask him to do something so awkward if he had another choice! 😭

Also, I can’t remember if Hua Cheng saying that Qi Rong’s subordinates came to the Ghost City is the truth or a lie. I guess we’ll find out in another chapter or two.

#TGCFReadalong chapter 15:

This is a horrible memory for Xie Lian, and he’s so upset by it that he hurts the bandaged boy by gripping his shoulders too tight, but it is also a pretty damn epic image for us.

Just saw this note about gold leaf as currency in The Tang Sect Crisis (Long Chengfeng, tr. Lone Crane, https://wuxiawanderings.com/wuxia/long-chengfeng/tang-sect-crisis/) and was reminded of the conversation we had about Xie Lian’s gold foild palace in #TGCFReadAlong.

The character Water Cat “tipped people at least ten pieces of gold leaf” and “could carelessly squander hundreds of pieces of gold leaf without batting an eye,” but I think this must be a huge exaggeration of actual usage! 😅

#TGCFReadAlong ch 16

sqx thinks that the series of dangerous adventures the dice arrays take the two of them on are a sign of how calculating hua cheng is, and xl thinks it's actually a sign of how mischievous he is, not calculating.

they're both biased, in different ways. he's BOTH. <3

#TGCFReadAlong ch 16

ahhhhh, xl feels so GUILTY feeling about keeping secrets from hc and trying to get things from him!

I do wonder how the dungeon crawl would have gone if xl kept being the one to roll the dice. More successful and brief, I'm thinking!! And given the pause in xl's speech when he suggests sqx take over the dice-rolling, I wondered for a moment if xl knows it would have gone differently and has decided he's not willing to take advantage of what he got from hc to keep on secretly investigating like this. But then later he thinks to himself that if he rolled they would have ended up somewhere even worse. But do I TRUST xie lian's reporting of what he's thinking. (not usually.)

#TGCFReadAlong ch 16

I love that sqx's best idea on how to sneak into paradise manor is to pretend to be one of the numerous sexy female servants. Because of course it is. Xie Lian there to call out how much fun sqx is clearly having with the whole thing too, despite her complaints!

#TGCFReadAlong ch 16

I notice that attention is once again being drawn to the red string tied around hua cheng's finger. Is there significance behind it being brought up in this particular conversation? I was unable to come up with anything beyond the generic obvious thing of it being a signal of love, which is relevant for every conversation the two of them have!

it is LATE but I am HERE with #TGCFReadAlong ch 16!!!

to start: xie lian and hua cheng being sword nerds together is always adorable <3

#TGCFReadAlong I assume that, if xl had done all the dice throwing himself, he would have thrown double sixes all the way and gotten where yin yu went. What was hc‘s plan for that? I can’t remember the details, is ming yi still alive at this point? Is he still at paradise manor? Was it he who sent up the dragon?