things haven't been going well these past few as long as i can remember

[keltena]

My notes while reading Heaven Official's Blessing, Book 2: The God-Pleasing Crown Prince. (I will neither confirm nor deny that I stayed up 'til 3 reading the whole thing in one night.)

The sword thrust, penetrating the heart of the ghost, and killed it dead on the ground.

“By heaven’s blessings, ghosts are slayed and evil is subdued!”

Lovely scene transition.

This young man appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen. His skin and lips were both light in colour, fresh and neat, with a pair of eyes black like obsidian, shining bright. His hair was soft and silky, a few loose strands lightly littered on his forehead and cheeks. He looked quiet and obedient, contrasting with the monstrous mask in his hand.

Ooh! Young Mu Qing? :D

The one who came was also a young man of sixteen or seventeen, his form upright and tall, his skin the colour of wheat, his back carried a long black bow and a snow-white quiver. His lips were pressed tight, his brows knit. Even at such a young age his eyes were strong and determined. The moment Guoshi saw him, he grabbed him.

Ah, and there's young Feng Xin! I'm excited to finally see these three in action.

This child was no older than seven or eight, and quite the gaunt and small creature. Falling from such a height, his little body was shaking uncontrollably in his arms like a newborn animal. However, from that mess of bandages wrapped around his head peaked a large eye, black in color, reflecting the silhouette of a snow-white figure within; watching him unblinkingly as if he could no longer see anything else.

—wait. One eye, huh?

Well. That's a hell of a first impression.

The moment the topic shifted to martial arts, Xie Lian became highly enthusiastic, even more possessed than when the Guoshi played cards; he jumped off the bed without even putting on shoes, demonstrating his point on the spot using his hand as the pretend sabre. Mu Qing wore a complicated expression, but after Xie Lian demonstrated a few moves, he started to watch seriously. Feng Xin, on the other hand, swung the now properly wrapped long sabre, and chased Xie Lian back onto the bed, shouting,

“IF YOU’RE GOING TO SHOW OFF AT LEAST PUT ON YOUR SHOES BEFORE YOU DO! You’re the Crown Prince! Hair loose and feet bare, what a disgrace!”

God, I'm so glad to finally see these three interacting, original edition. They're adorable!

“No, no. You promise me right now that this stops here. Otherwise I’ll break up my relationship with you, and you’ll be cursed to never find a wife!” Xie Lian threatened.

Feng Xin “pfft”-ed. “You, break up with me?! The day after our breakup everyone in the Kingdom of Xianle will know one thing: His Highness the Crown Prince fainted from overly tight suspenders while dressing himself—!!—FINE! I won’t say a word! Who gives a shit about gossip anyway.”

I repeat: adorable.


I really love the ever-present, awkward undercurrent of class-difference tension in the XL/MQ/FX dynamic. It's so nicely done.

Qi Rong looked as if he'd just heard a joke, his eyes widening. “A powerless, vulnerable ten-year-old child? Weak? Cousin, you don’t know just how vicious, how savage, how spunky that little fiend was; he only pretends to be pathetic in front of you. I called for five or six guys and they still couldn’t catch the brat. He thrashed and bit them until they were bloodied all over. If he didn’t anger me, why would I have dragged him behind the horse carriage?”

WOULD YOU RATHER FIGHT...
• 6 adult-sized servants?
• 1 child-sized Hua Cheng?

Feng Xin nodded. One of his arms was still in a sling, but he extended the good arm to reach for that young child, intending to pick him up by the collar. Xie Lian laughed.

“You’re wounded. Don’t worry about it.”

However, Feng Xin shrugged it off. “Only one arm is broken, the other’s still fine. If both my arms were broken, I can still use my teeth to carry him by the collar and bring him up the mountain for you.”

Mu Qing rolled his eyes from behind him, then spoke up. “Nevermind. Let me carry him.”

But just as he made one step forward, that young child jumped off the bed himself and said, “I can walk on my own.”

An expression filled with rejection spoke louder than words, and it made Mu Qing’s second step extremely awkward, unsure of whether or not to proceed.

...

Some things really never change, huh.

Guoshi wiped his sweat and suddenly backed a meter away. “Your Highness, you really brought something you shouldn’t have up the mountain! That small child is toxic! His sign is borne of the most ominous star, the Star of Solitude, destined to bring misfortune and destruction, the kind that evil loves the most. Whoever touches him will have misfortune befall them, whoever gets close will lose their lives!”

Well.

I suppose that would explain some things. :P

The Guoshi spoke, “Two walked the desert, about to die from thirst, and there was only one cup of water. The one who drinks lives, the one who doesn’t, dies. If you were a god, who would you give that cup of water to?—Don’t speak yet, I’ll ask the other two and see how they answer.”

The last part of his words were directed to the two standing not too far behind. Mu Qing contemplated and responded cautiously.

“May I ask who those two people are, what their natures are like, and what of their merits? A decision can only be made once all the details are known.”

Feng Xin, on the other hand, answered, “I don’t know! Don’t ask me, tell them to decide amongst themselves!”

Xie Lian “pff”-ed and laughed. Guoshi admonished, “What are you laughing about? Do you remember how you answered?”

Xie Lian schooled his expression and said solemnly, “Give another cup.”

So Xie Lian wants it to not be a choice, Mu Qing wants there to be a right answer, Feng Xin wants it to not be his choice, and none of them even briefly considered accepting the premises of a thought experiment as given.

Sounds about right.

After some thought, he walked towards the entrance of the tiny shrine while carrying the umbrella that was gifted to him earlier by those pedestrians on the street.

Xie Lian slowly opened the umbrella. The falling raindrops beat down on it, creating a pitter-patter sound. On the ground, the young boy heard the noise and thought that someone had entered and shifted slightly. But, after thinking no one would really bother with him, he laid back down again. Xie Lian placed the opened umbrella by the entrance. The young boy waited for the sound to disappear, but when it didn’t, he sat up in suspicion to take a look. When he saw a red umbrella leaning against the ground under the rain, like a lonely crimson flower that had bloomed by itself, he froze in surprise.

—oh my god.

Keltena can't come to the computer right now, they're overcome with emotion at this simple act of kindness, passed on and ultimately returned eight hundred years later.

“I have no answer to the question you asked. However, if you don’t know the meaning of your life, then make me that meaning, and use me as your reason to live.“

Feng Xin and Mu Qing’s faces looked as if they were about to explode, and both reached out their hands to smother Xie Lian’s mouth, sputtering, “No more, Your Highness! You’re violating the rules! The rules!!”

But before they could fully cover up his mouth, Xie Lian managed to shout out, “Thank you for your flower! It’s beautiful; I like it very much!”

!!!!!

holy shit xie lian that's adorable

Feng Xin was still worried. “Can you still hold on?”

Xie Lian patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I have eight thousand temples! There are enough devotees, so of course I’m fine. But...”

His other hand circled around Mu Qing’s shoulders, and Xie Lian sighed. “Thank goodness you two helped today. Thank you for staying by my side.”

Today on the battlefield, his two attendants had suffered much more than he did, their persons covered in blood and grime from all the killing.

“There’s no need to say those things,” Feng Xin said.

Mu Qing vaguely squeezed out an “oh” sound.

Xie Lian squeezed, pulling the other two close, and said earnestly, “Not just for today, but for always, thank you so much. I hope the sight of the three of us standing together fighting will become a tale of the ages.”

“...”

“...”

A moment later, Feng Xin burst out laughing, and Mu Qing said incredulously, “I’ve found that you always manage to say things with such.…with such shameless confidence. You’re really…” He shook his head. “Nevermind.”

I have nothing to say, I'm just 1000% here for this group hug.

Suddenly, a small realization came to him. The Tender Fragrance worked rapidly; usually the moment blood rushed to the brain all control would be lost, so how had he managed to stay afloat until now? Was there no other reason than his exceptional steadiness of the mind?

Hey, your blood can't rush to your brain if it's outside your body, right?

(Please tell me this is the actual solution Xie Lian has hit upon. Please.)

Near the residential area, on the outskirts, there was a large forest called Buyou. The government officials had intended to build a quarantine there to temporarily settle the “sick”. However, when they entered the woods, while others were busy building camp, Xie Lian felt more and more unsettled the more he walked. Feng Xin and Mu Qing noticed too. It was Feng Xin who spoke up first.

“Your Highness, isn’t this where that Lang Ying…”

Xie Lian dropped his hands by his side, frowning deeply. “Yeah. It was here.”

This Buyou Forest was the very place that Lang Ying had bare-handedly dug and buried the dead body of his son!

—oh shit, are the faces the dead from Yong'an?

Xie Lian mumbled to himself, “Just what did those soldiers do in order to stop the spreading of the Human Face Disease? In other words, just what did they do that was more often done than civilians…”

... oh no.

Xie Lian hadn’t the patience to ease up the fight between the two like he usually did, and said, “The two of you can start arguing over a single word, what a disgrace! Stand here for an incense time. No one’s allowed to move within that time. Same old rules.”

“...”

“...”

Hearing the words “same old rules”, both Feng Xin and Mu Qing’s faces changed colours.

Xie Lian waved. “Heaven Official’s Blessings. Start.”

A moment later, Feng Xin said, gritting his teeth: “...Blessings Shine From Up High.”

Mu Qing gritted his teeth, too. “...High Imitation No Thought.”

Feng Xin was in trouble. “Thought…Thought…”

By “same old rules”, Xie Lian meant an idea he’d come up with to distract the other two. Feng Xin and Mu Qing would snipe at each other at every chance, starting disputes from nothing. At first, Xie Lian would make them stand in silence for an incense time without speaking to one another until they calmed down, but it wasn’t very effective. Afterwards, Xie Lian had decided to change it to Idiom Trains; once there was an established winner and loser, they’d have no time to worry about their original conflict and would instead do their best to crush the other in training idioms. After discovering this effective method, Xie Lian felt the world became more peaceful, and was quite satisfied. Forcing them to train idioms now was also something of a way to have everyone ease up a little.

Amazing. Mu Qing and Feng Xin are truly lucky no one's introduced their prince to the concept of a "Get-Along Shirt".

Lang Ying was no more than a boor, yet he radiated that very protective spiritual aura, and it was even one that was exceedingly rare—the aura of a king!

Xie Lian didn’t dare to think what it meant, and suddenly he felt his heart go cold. It was Lang Ying’s sword that thrusted and impaled his chest.

This is such a perfect moment.

Xie Lian continued, “He…told me that the soldiers of Yong’an harboured an intense animosity and hostility towards the royal capital, and their parents, spouses, children, many of them all died in the drought.

“Those souls of the dead would unconsciously be affected by their family’s emotions, and so he used the strong wills of those soldiers to instill enmity within the spirits. He urged them to take on living flesh as a host and fight for nutrients within their host’s body.

“And this worked because those spirits, in their period of confusion, were repeatedly indoctrinated by one thought: that if not for them, you could’ve survived.”

God, this is so good. I rarely have anything to add to serious plot scenes, but this really is fantastic. ♥

I can't say I started this book expecting "what if Envy from FMA were a literal plague", but whatever thought process got MXTX there, I fully support it.

In his life, Xie Lian had jumped from an extreme height countless times. Relying on his strong spiritual power and his martial might, he could land safely every time. Every time he was pleased and full of pride. Every time, it was the very picture of a celestial descent they spoke of in the legends. This time, however, he was no longer a legend.

When he landed, it wasn’t steady, and his foot twisted. A needle-sharp pain instantly shot from his leg through his entire body.

He had broken his leg.

God, this moment lands even better than the one before. I don't have words.

he didn’t want to unsheathe his sword nor enter the battlefield anymore, but because there was no one who could shield and replace him, he could only bold-headedly go forth. Once on the battlefield, he didn’t slack off, either; he really did his utmost, but for some reason, even though he was clearly a young man barely past twenty, the hand holding the sword was already shaking like that of an aged elder.

... Oh.



My bingo card as of the end of Book 2:



Jealousy square marked off mainly in honor of Mu Qing feeling threatened (and more generally personally attacked) by the existence of a 13-year-old. I love you and I'm sorry about your life, Mu Qing.

The other two ("Lovingly-detailed tragedy and suffering"; "80% of all conflict is society's fault") should be self-explanatory. Fun fact: one of the squares I wanted to include but couldn't fit was "Classism... classism never changes." :P


In summary, this volume ran over my childhood dog, told me the tooth fairy wasn't real, and punched me in the face for good measure, and my only reaction was to wish I could thank it for the honor. It's not like I didn't already know I like MXTX's writing, but I'm honestly a bit stunned by how good this arc was.