ANOTHER FISH DANMEI? NAN CHAN!

本站添加: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]What's up, guys? It's Kar. I'm back with my beautiful wife, Stitch, to talk about Nanchchan. Now, this is a book that I feel like lots of people might have heard of, but maybe haven't read cuz it wasn't released by a big publisher like Seven Seas.

[00:00:13]>> Mhm. But it is very popular. We're about to find out why. So, I personally knew nothing about this book before getting started. I thought there was perhaps a fish involved, which was not wrong, but that's about it. The writing is beautiful, though, and it has an almost fairy tale-like charm to it. At the beginning, it has the perfect balance between romantic tension, action, and mystery. And my summary simply cannot capture how much of a pleasure it is to read. After I finished this volume, I belatedly realized that it's by the same author as QJJ, which is another favorite of mine. So, let's get into it.

[00:00:45]Character cheat sheet. Jinglin, Lord Lingong, head of the court of immortality in heaven. Lee Rang, his adopted brother, commander of the celestial warriors. The Supreme Father, his literal father and creator of the court of immortality. Lord Chongqi established Demarcation Bureau to monitor mortal realm and its spirits.

[00:01:07]After Jinglin's crash out, Aayi, a bird spirit brat who can also transform into human. Little brother of Fui. Fui, guardian of the Canllin tree responsible for vegetation in the mortal realm, former subordinate of Jinglin. Okay, so this is dealing with heaven and gods and immortality. And >> it's very interesting. We've got heaven, all the kind of gods and officials there. We've got kind of the natural world and spirits and things that kind of cultivate from that. And then we've got normal human stuff. And all of that is going to be fully mixed together in this series and in this volume particularly. Let's dive into the story.

[00:01:46]Jinglin was once a god, Lord Lingong.

[00:01:50]And I say was because one day he shocked the entirety of heaven by murdering his father and going on a bloody rampage.

[00:01:56]Oh. His adopted brother Lang heartbreakingly begs him to stop, but Jinglin attacks him as well. He even fights Buddha himself, which finally brings him to the point of annihilation.

[00:02:08]>> Annihilated by Buddha is a pretty good like never have I ever.

[00:02:14]>> That should have been his death, but instead we cut to centuries in the future. It's the dead of winter and Jinglin is cultivating in quiet isolation on a mountaintop in the mortal realm with only a sentient stone doll and a pet carp for company. Oh. He awoke in this place one day with no memory of how he got there or where the fish came from. The last thing he remembers the day of his insane crash out. He is severely weakened because his soul is shattered and his original form, a sword by the name of Weeping Spring, is lost.

[00:02:41]He spends most of his time asleep. When he's awake, his personality is aloof and cold, seemingly in complete contrast to how he used to be before the incident.

[00:02:50]Well, once he got annihilated by Buddha, I I would kind of be a little bit more reserved as well.

[00:02:57]>> Fair enough. Fair enough. Meanwhile, heaven has experienced some changes in government. The three realms have been strictly divided, and a man named Lord Chung Tian has established a demarcation bureau to monitor the mortal realm and its spirits. Spirits like Aayi, a five-colored bird who can transform into human form, are not happy about that. Ai occasionally comes up the mountain to bug Jinglin and ask him for favors. His sister is the guardian of the canllin tree and responsible for vegetation in the mortal realm. And although she now falls under Lord Chungten's command, she remains loyal to the former head of the court of immortality, Jinglin, and has a hard time believing the nature of his bloody pursuit of vengeance. So, we're already presented with our first dilemma here. It doesn't really make sense what we know about his past. There's a lot more to uncover there.

[00:03:41]>> Like, was he poisoned and that made him go crazy or something?

[00:03:44]>> Or did he have a good reason to do what he did? We have no idea at this point just how crazy he is.

[00:03:49]>> I love a valid crash out.

[00:03:51]>> Mhm. Yes. But right now, it just seems like that was totally unprompted.

[00:03:54]There's just a huge web of mystery laid out for us. And this is all to set the stage for a character who doesn't understand any of what we just talked about. All he cares about is Jinglin.

[00:04:04]He's obsessed with Jinglin. He wants to be close to Jinglin without fully understanding why his only desire is to possess and consume Jinglin. That's right. I'm referring to the carp. A if I had a nickel for every cultivating carp character, the funny fish with the hairy legs in Legend of Exorcism, and of course, the disabled tyrant's beloved pet fish.

[00:04:24]>> Yeah, does he [ __ ] the fish?

[00:04:26]>> There we go. We'll get into that.

[00:04:28]So, the concept of carps cultivating into higher forms, particularly that of a dragon, is a wellestablished concept in Chinese culture beyond anime. But you may, of course, recognize it from series like Legend of Exorcism and The Disabled Tyrants's Beloved Pet Fish. It's a similar situation here. The carp is cognizant and has a cheeky internal monologue fixated on Jinglin and being jealously possessive of him. Although not necessarily in a fully developed human sense, it instinctively craves spiritual energy. By being close to Jinglin, it can sneakily feed off his powerful spiritual energy, like using a cheat code to speed up its own cultivation. Nice. The carp wants to devour Jinglin completely given the chance. But there's not much it can do as a carp except suck up to Jinglin as his pet. Just like the >> Please love me. Please love me. I want to eat you though. Yeah. So, it's already very humorous off the bat.

[00:05:18]Unstoppable little gremlin meets immovable loneliness. My favorite found family dynamic. Oh, yeah. Yes, absolutely.

[00:05:26]>> This I feel like is is truly the closest approximation of the dynamic we're presented with at the beginning here.

[00:05:32]>> Okay, >> so one day the immature troublemaker AI steals away the carp while Jinglin is sleeping. He's angry that Jinglin wouldn't beat up another spirit for him and has decided to get back at him by carpnapping his pet. Carpnapping.

[00:05:47]Ai waits for some time, but Jinglin is either still asleep or doesn't care that much after all. Impatient and frustrated, he drops the carp into a watery layer of a sea serpent. The carp swims for its life, but can't escape.

[00:05:59]The jaws of the massive sea monster close around it, only for two hands to pry open the mouth and fling him to safety. Jinglin has come to save the carp after all.

[00:06:08]>> Give me back my fish, Kunk.

[00:06:13]>> However, when he turns around, he finds that the carp has transformed out of pure fear. It is now a little boy. Oh, >> a little boy, but still a creature at heart. He knows enough to instinctively play at innocence and cuteness, begging not to be left behind, but he's still acting purely out of the secret desire to eat Jinglin. Like, literally eat him because that's the best way to get all of his spiritual energy for now.

[00:06:36]>> That's funny.

[00:06:37]>> Jinglin, on the other hand, has completely severed himself from connection to others and has been burned in the past by social relationships. So, he is not about to sign up for the caretaking of this young spirit.

[00:06:48]Nevertheless, he does take it home for the time being. The wordless but very animated stone puppet gives it clothes to wear after Jinglin collapses back in bed and the little guy cuddles up to him for the sole purpose of unrepentantly siphoning his spiritual energy as he sleeps.

[00:07:02]>> Little vampire.

[00:07:03]>> I know. Also, it's like he's already sleeping a lot. So, I feel like, you know, getting your essence sucked out of you while you're sleeping is not going to like give you more energy. It's going to make his sleeping worse. It's like, why do I always wake up tired? the carp sucking all of your energy.

[00:07:18]>> The next day, Fooly delivers her little brother, Ai, tied up and fully relinquishes him to justice at Jinglin's hands. Although she loves her brother, she recognizes that he is a little [ __ ] and her highest loyalty is to her former superior of the immortal court. However, when she brings up the past to Jinglin and tries to appeal to him as a friend, he coldly refuses her and wants to be left alone. Okay. I think that presenting cannibalism as a metaphor for intimacy was perhaps one of the greatest things we ever did as a society. Like you're telling me you want to eat me, make me a part of you, consume me?

[00:07:49]That's so romantic. Tell me more. I love you. Oh, brother. This is just this is a big win for cannibalism as a metaphor for love. Enjoy yours. Okay, cuz that is what we're getting here. Oh, brother.

[00:08:01]>> We're getting it Costco sized, okay?

[00:08:04]We're getting a whole bulkized package of it. This interaction with Fooly seems to put Jinglin in such a poor mood that he additionally calls out the carp. It was obvious to Jinglin from the beginning that the carp essentially desired to kill him and take his spiritual energy all at once the moment he had a chance. But if anything, Jinglin seems to be goating it on as if he doesn't value his own life at all. A >> the morning after his emotional outburst, he takes the carp down the mountain. When the carp realizes that Jinglin intends to abandon him, he bursts into genuine tears for the first time. It's not just that he desires Jinglin's spiritual energy. It's equally true that he knows nothing else in this world and doesn't want to be alone.

[00:08:42]>> Wow. Well, I'll tell you, buddy. Once you eat him, you're going to be alone.

[00:08:46]>> He hasn't quite figured that out yet.

[00:08:47]He's very much creature coded. He doesn't care about Jinglin's past or what kind of person he supposedly is. He just wants to stay with him. He may be obsessed with eating him, but he never considered leaving him. In the carp's perspective, eating him is more like a form of internal companionship.

[00:09:03]Honestly, I think he's on to something.

[00:09:06]Jinglin, gently abandoning his pet carp at the foot on the mountain. Move out of the way. I sleep 23 hours a day and cannot deal with this. The carp, his eyes enormous. You kick me. You kick my body like the football. Oh. Oh. Jail.

[00:09:21]Jail for Jingling. Jail for Jingling of 1,000 years. You kick me at.

[00:09:25]>> Yes, this is the same exact picture. So despite the carp bursting into tears, Jinglin seems to be just as cold as his reputation would have. He doesn't turn back. Even when the carp stumbles and falls on the mountain steps, wounding his temple. Now on his own, the carp finds that there are many other spirits on the mountains. Some mean well, while others harbor ill intentions, but all of them warn him against going back to Jinglin. He is a cold and unfeilling immortal through and through. Pretty bad when the other spirits are like, "Yeah, we've tried." Yeah, he does not want to be friends. But the carp is not deterred even for a moment. He persists up the mountain until he encounters an evil snow spirit that tells him that Jinglin has had countless fishes before and that he's utterly replaceable. That's so like funnily mean. It's like he can just get another fish. He doesn't care about you.

[00:10:13]The carp insists that this can't be true, but the snow spirit ultimately prays on his one true desire to eat Jinglin. The snow spirit has been trapped on the mountain to prevent spreading the news of Jinglin being alive to heaven. that is. And thus he harbors a deeper resentment towards him.

[00:10:28]In exchange for leading the carp back to Jinglland's hidden residence, he gives the carp a poisonous herb to kill Jinglin, which will give the carp the opportunity to fully devour him. I guess poison doesn't work if you're eating someone who's been poisoned. I don't know. Lucky for him. Anyways, once they arrive and stealthily enter the home, a barrier is activated. The snow spirit starts burning up and melting away. The carp immediately pounces on him, stuffing the poisonous herbs into his mouth and leaping onto the sleeping jingling in tears, crying for help.

[00:10:55]>> Oh my gosh. Now, it must be stressed that the carp is intentionally using his innocent toddler-like appearance to act innocent and tug on Jinglin's heartstrings. To his credit, Jinglin kicks out the snow spirit, which scampers off frightened but relatively unharmed, and he goes back to bed, ultimately defeated by the carp's persistence. So, he's successfully returned home after being abandoned. As he falls back asleep, he asks why the carp insists on staying with him despite knowing who he is. The carp replies that he doesn't even know who he is himself.

[00:11:25]He doesn't even have a name. Jinglin then gives him the name Sanji. Sanji immediately makes himself right at home, bullying the stone puppet, which he refers to as Stony and threatening him so that he doesn't tattle on Jinglin about his facade of innocent victimhood.

[00:11:39]>> A note on names, though, there is a little part in the book that explains the meanings behind the character's names. So the name Jinglin can be understood as cleansing rain. The character gin represents cleanliness and in the context of Buddhism which is a very central theme in this book means to purify or cleanse oneself of secular desires. The character Lynn refers to a long rainy spell. Okay. Sanji alludes to the sky clearing up after a period of rain or snow. The character s is a color that covers a large spectrum of sorry.

[00:12:11]The character S is a color that covers a large section of the light spectrum from what is considered green to blue and even gray. It is commonly associated with the sky and the Chinese dragon. The character G describes bad weather clearing up or anger dissipating.

[00:12:25]>> So, he's literally like reserved rain and like the rain parting and ending.

[00:12:31]>> Yeah, I think there's probably a lot of meaning that we are even yet to be able to understand packed into those names.

[00:12:37]So, it's good to have a little introduction to that. So at this point, Jinglin is in such a weak state that Sanangji can't even snack on him while he sleeps. So he goes out to forge for some mushrooms and encounters Ai, who has been punished by being trapped in his bird form and is thus reduced to terrorizing the other birds on the mountain. Now having the advantage in his human form, Zang Ji beats him up and threatens to pull out his feathers if he doesn't tell him about Jingland's past.

[00:13:02]Ai tells him that 500 years ago, Jinglin famously committed reside of his own father who established the court of immortality. The reason why he was unable to be entirely killed was due to his high stage of cultivation, which is exceptionally rare. While Jinglin remains dead to the world, trouble arrives in the form of the East Sea Guardian, a flood dragon named Zong Yin.

[00:13:21]He has a fierce sense of justice and is strictly loyal to the Lord Cheng Tien.

[00:13:25]The snow spirit that Zong J encountered fled and snitched to Zong Yan that there was an evil spirit on the mountain, of course, hoping that Jinglin would be discovered. But when Zong Yin arrives to check it out, Fooly rushes in to stop him. She tries everything to dissuade him from suspicion and protests that he's acting beyond his jurisdiction, but Zong Yin literally shakes the mountain apart and flips it on its head to ensure that nothing escapes his notice. Inside the protective barrier that hides Jinglyn's residence from intruders, Sanji fiercely protects Jingal's unconscious body as the house practically shakes apart around them.

[00:13:55]When the mountain itself flips upside down, the bell attached to the protective barrier around the house finally shakes loose. When Ponyo has a little treat, nobody bats an eye. But when Sanji wants the same little treat, suddenly it's a problem.

[00:14:09]Sanji reacts to the immediate danger by biting Jinglin's fingertip and drinking a mouthful of his blood.

[00:14:15]>> Jinglin's blood is so powerful that even such a small amount is like obtaining a hundred years of cultivation all at once.

[00:14:22]>> Wow.

[00:14:22]>> Sanji makes a dramatic transformation.

[00:14:24]The text makes it very clear here that he not only physically grows but mentally grows to match, which is going to be important moving forward.

[00:14:31]>> I see. I see. The way he speaks changes.

[00:14:33]His vocabulary is much higher. And his understanding of abstract concepts like justice and tyranny also advances as well. Oh, great.

[00:14:41]He's also a fish. So, what are you going to do? Although Sanji is now physically powerful, it's nowhere near the strength of Zong Yen, who Fully cannot stop from marching into the newly exposed residence. At first, he demands to take Sanjun into custody, but Fooly insists he's just a carp spirit and falls under her protection. She also claims that the beautiful man lying in Sanji's arms is not a man at all, but a toy that was magically formed from stone and clay. I see. It's like he's just that's just his emotional support beauty. However, as a flood dragon trying to cultivate into a true dragon, Zong Yan notices something strange about Sanji. Although he does seem to be a carp spirit through and through, he has an inverted scale on his neck, a mark only a dragon should have.

[00:15:23]>> We learned about this from something else.

[00:15:25]>> Yeah. Yes. It's definitely a very inverted scale thing. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:15:29]>> A very well established trope that dragons have Oh, I think it must have been um copper coins.

[00:15:34]>> Oh, okay.

[00:15:36]>> Dragon. Yeah. A dragon has not actually been born for ages. It's a whole different thing from trying to cultivate over the dragon gate, which can take centuries of effort and isn't remotely guaranteed. Now Fooly manages to finally convince Zong Yun to back off for the time being, but his suspicions remain and he will likely be keeping a close eye on this supposed carp and his supposed stone doll. After he leaves, Jinglin finally awakens and isn't at all surprised to find Sanji so grown up.

[00:16:01]He's fully aware that Sanji must have drank his blood. But was he prepared for him to be sexy? Maybe not. Sanji's devious attitude has only amplified now that he's physically more powerful than Jingland. His desire to possess and consume him is taking on a more mature element as well.

[00:16:17]>> I'm just picturing it's like when Jinglin's looking away, Sanji's like jaw unhinged.

[00:16:23]>> Literally, I think you you've really got it nailed in the head. But at the same time, Jinglin's just fully aware of this and not at all bothered.

[00:16:29]>> Yeah. So at this point there's an overt tension that comes from both of them knowing what Sanji really wants while he puts on the pseudo facade of an affectionate doting attitude. It's very juicy and the power play between them is so incredibly interesting because while Sanji now possesses physical strength, Jinglin possesses this unshakable superiority in his bearing and seems to read Sanji easily playing him like a fiddle.

[00:16:52]>> I see >> it's the classic, you know, you can never top him intellectually.

[00:16:59]I love that. Jinglin immediately gets the upper hand again by convincing Sanji not to eat him, but to instead find the bell that was lost when the barrier broke, which will supposedly give him even more power. This is all right in front of Fooly's salad, by the way. But as much as she would like to protect Jinglin and separate the two of them, Jan seems to have no desire to be rescued from Sanju's hungry possessiveness. It really makes you question what he's doing here. Did he know from the beginning that his pet carp had the capacity to turn out this way? Does he have some sort of plan or use for Sanji? Or is he legitimately so depressed that he does not care if Sanji eats him?

[00:17:34]>> Maybe a combination of all of them.

[00:17:36]>> All of that and then something we don't even know yet. This is where the fairy tale in the forest ends and the murder, horror, tragedy, mystery, plot begins.

[00:17:44]Oh yeah, >> I was just thinking about how it's like, oh, it's kind of neat with the forest spirits and the kind of funny stuff.

[00:17:51]>> Nope. We're going into the mortal realm where everything is [ __ ] Now, you may be wondering, where is the bell? It was stolen in the chaos by Snowling, the snow spirit, who had the misfortune of running into Ai and having it bullied away from him. Ai was then captured by a hunter and taken from the foot of the mountain to human civilization along with the bell, where he was put on the market as a normal bird. Presumably, the hunter has kept the bell as its powerful spiritual energy is detectable even to humans. We learn that the nameless hunter is a poor widowerower whose daughter was abducted. He desperately wants to find her, but with the onset of winter, travel is difficult and there is hardly any news from other regions. Back with Jinglin and Sanji, we get to see more of their ongoing dynamic established in the mortal realm as they pursue the scent of this hunter. Sanji is not curious or empathetic towards humanity and clearly distinguishes himself from mortals. Although it seems that he is open to snacking on mortals or spirits, a process which is not romantic in the slightest. It would entail decapitation and chomping down on the rest of the victim raw. He soon realizes that Jinglin not only has no fear of him, but also has no intention of submitting to him in the slightest despite his frail condition. Being kept at an emotional distance frustrates Sanji to the point of biting Jinglin's neck, but despite wanting to devour him, he immediately restrains himself when Jinglin falls unconscious.

[00:19:10]>> Oh my gosh. Wow.

[00:19:13]>> Yeah, they're a hot mess together. Lots to unpack. At this point, there's been several instances where Stony, the stone puppet, has shown itself to be somehow connected to Jinglin's condition. For example, it falls apart in moments when he's extremely weak and acts sluggish when he's unconscious. Sanji has a companionable relationship with Stony, often talking to him and bullying him, with Stony wordlessly hitting or kicking him in response. Our protagonists stay at an inn after losing this hunter's scent in the human-filled city. But something creepy appears in the streets after Nightfalls. Bear with me on this one. It's a rack sasha, a two-headed shape-shifting bird spirit born from an accumulation of corpses in an area. Its appearance is a sign that someone has died with deep resentment. At this point, we also learn some interesting trivia about how the netherworld works in this novel. The fairy trip at the Legion crossing was the only way to the underworld. The Nether Guards had to escort the souls across the river of forgetfulness in order to reach the court of the underworld. Countless souls wandered the middle realm. So this was not an easy undertaking. It was common to miss a soul due for reaping just because they were a little late.

[00:20:20]Therefore, once someone's life came to an end, according to the register of fate, the nether guards would lie and wait nearby until that person breathed their last. Then they would fetter the soul with chains before leading them away. However, the register of fate could only identify those who died of natural causes. As for those who died unjustly or abruptly, various boundary keepers were relied on to notify their respective bureaus, which would in return relay the information to the court of the underworld. The guards would then be dispatched. If there was even a moment's delay during the entire process, they would lose the soul slated for capture. Trying to hunt down and recover a soul in the vast middle realm was as difficult as finding a needle in a hay stack. Yet, the custody of souls record was often tied to a guard's chances for promotion. As such, when a human life ended, the guards would wish they had wings to fly there. Okay. So, there's a lot of bureaucracy attached to life and death, which is interesting because it's like, okay, if that's attached to another world, is it also the same in heaven? We you're getting this sense of politics.

[00:21:18]>> Yeah.

[00:21:19]>> You know, beyond the mortal realm that imitates the mortal realm, which is I think again that's kind of a theme in Heaven Officials Blessing and a lot of other stories as well. This kind of you know, >> the gods are just as corrupt as the humans.

[00:21:31]>> Exactly. Our protagonists suspect that the bell might be connected to this unusual death. So they pursue the Rakshasa and find it at the seam of the crime. Gruesomely feasting on the bodies of a family of four were killed in their home. The Rakshasa attacks them, but neither are strong enough to take it down. So Sanji scoops up Jinglin in his arms and escapes across the rooftops only to find themselves trapped and encircled by a group of netherworld guards. It's almost as if someone has set them up. But who could possibly know of Jinglin even being alive? It's all very strange. Sanji jumps into action, evading the chains of the guards and feeding them one by one to the Raasa pursuing them. In order to defeat the Rakshasa and retrieve the bell, which somehow ended up inside its stomach, Jinglin voluntarily gives Sanji his blood to power him up. Oh my goodness.

[00:22:17]Only for them to discover that the bell inside its stomach was a fake, not the one they were searching for. It seems as if the Rakasa and the decoy bell were meant to distract them so that the bell could escaped undetected. But again, who would be capable of such a clever trap, even involving the underworld guards? A couple of things to note at this point.

[00:22:37]First of all, the horror element is really quite striking. The descriptions of the Roxasa and the crime scene are extremely vivid and grotesque. It was so creepy and exciting to read.

[00:22:47]>> Secondly, it also must be stressed that there are gratuitous moments of nakedness and attraction to be had, such as Jinglin getting out of the bath while Sanji aggles him to the point of gay panic and then pretending to play it cool. The interactions between them are quite juicy, even as the plot is beginning to pick up.

[00:23:01]>> Oh, really?

[00:23:02]>> Yeah. Karp wants his [ __ ] Oh god. Character cheat sheet. Hua, the local boundary keeper. Lang's subordinate. Zu Shan, an incredibly powerful old monk who wields a staff called Demon Bane.

[00:23:20]>> Doesn't that go so hard?

[00:23:21]>> Yeah. Um, if you remember, Lang is Jinglin's brother. So, with that said, moving on to the next morning, they learned that the family of four featured in last night's Gorefest was actually a family of five. The little girl of the family was not among the dead. She simply disappeared. Our protagonists decide to keep investigating as the current owner of the bell seems to be somehow connected to all this. But before they even have a chance to continue their investigation, two extremely powerful monks from the Court of Immortality burst into their room.

[00:23:50]They demand to know why our protagonist interrupted the work of the underworld guards the previous night. Jinglin recognizes them from hundreds of years ago, but he is able to use a spiritual technique to disguise his face so that they don't recognize him in return.

[00:24:03]Classic. He takes on these highle monks with surprising success because of his deep knowledge of their martial arts and techniques. Also, his own powers involve controlling snow and wind and even summoning a sword of snow that can he can wield remotely through the air.

[00:24:17]Okay. Right. Isn't that so cool? He's like Elsa but a guy I don't know who kills people. It's described in such a cool way. But eventually his weak spiritual power forces him to retreat once again in Zangji's arms. They flee within a thick snowstorm but are unable to escape the monk's powerful oppressive energy which is especially effective against spirits. It's at this moment that Jinglin shields Sanji from what would have been a killing blow from the monk's staff demon bane. They crash into the ground. Sanji is furious that Jinglin has been harmed and takes the monk by surprise by attacking him despite the stark difference in their spiritual power. Sanji is able to physically overpower him enough to escape with Jinglin as the monk is distracted by the arrival of the local boundary keeper Huin who stops the monk from going overboard and destroying the whole town.

[00:25:05]>> That's hilarious.

[00:25:06]>> Juan is directly under the authority of Lang and takes the form of a blindfolded man. He has omniscent sight. When his eyes are open, he sees only mortals. And when his eyes are closed, he sees only spirits.

[00:25:17]>> Isn't that cool?

[00:25:18]>> Yeah.

[00:25:18]>> Sanji hides Jinglin in a hvel at random, but it happens to be the humble home of Huadi, an aging prostitute. She shares a connection with the unknown hunter who sold Au to the market. Naturally, when she comes home, she's not at all happy to find two random men in her house, but Sanji puts on his deceptive charms to awaken her sense of pity for the injured man on the bed. She later returns with a doctor and a funnyl looking chicken. and she got at the market. That's right. Ai has comically come back into the picture and he just manages to avoid being cooked for dinner by agreeing to call for his sister Fi to help Jinglin.

[00:25:52]Her dublet, a sort of doppelganger, split from her spiritual power, arrives with fruit from the Kly tree, which heals both Jinglin and Sanji. The latter has been suffering from contact with the monk's spiritual energy. But now he is able to absorb it to become even more powerful. With Jinglin taking such a serious blow for Sanji seemingly without reason, the dynamic between them has shifted. Instead of wanting to eat Jinglin at the soonest opportune moment, Sanji is now insistent that Jinglin is not allowed to die without a say so. A >> classic when you catch feelings for your meal.

[00:26:23]Happens in Yi more often than you think.

[00:26:25]Character cheat sheet. Huadi, an impoverished aging prostitute in love with the emotionally unavailable Dong Lin. Guusen, an upright constable who was a victim of human trafficking as a child. Donglin, a bandit with a tragic past, searching for his long- lost daughter. Weii Chen, a kindly scholar and nextoor neighbor to the Chen family.

[00:26:47]Chen Saoyu, an orphan girl being raised by her mother's relatives. Chen Ran, her uncle, a no good gambling addict.

[00:26:55]>> Okay, now we get into the murder investigation drama. Okay, >> our protagonist began to investigate the murder with Jinglin taking on various disguises and Sanji shrunk down to doll size, hanging out in a sleeve with his buddy Stony.

[00:27:09]>> He fusses over how Stony likes Jinglin more than him. But at one point, Stony pacifies him by putting his treasured straw crown upon Sanji's head just like this. Like he's a fully grown man at this point and he's just like so small in his pocket with the little straw crown on his head like thanks buddy. Oh my gosh, that's so funny.

[00:27:28]>> Take it back. You do like me.

[00:27:30]>> Jinglin learns that the murdered Chen family was very poor and consisted of a grandma and grandpa, their gambling addict's son, the son's wife, and their granddaughter of about 7 years old. The little girl was actually born from their daughter who passed away after childbirth. She got pregnant out of wedlock and the father is unknown to the family. However, they all doted on this little girl, even the deadbeat son whose debts attracted trouble to the family.

[00:27:54]Apparently, there was even a bandit named Donglin involved in intimidating the family on behalf of the son's debtors. Okay, so you have the family, little girl. You have this like guy harassing them for money, and Donglin is notably a patron of Huadi. And Jinglin is able to make the connection that Donglin was the man in possession of the bell.

[00:28:11]>> Okay.

[00:28:12]>> Jinglin then interviews the neighbors, including a frazzled but wellrespected teacher named Mui Chen, and an elderly woman whose grandson was a playmate of a missing little girl. These interviews don't seem to reveal any clues, but the grandson chases after Jinglin and tells him a secret in exchange for candy. What he reveals is so severe that Jinglin is angered to his core with sheer revulsion. Please be forewarned that from this point on the case is centered around the abuse of a child. There will be no detailed descriptions from me, but you may wish to skip ahead if this topic is triggering. So, the little boy essentially paints the picture that Wayien is a pedophile who groomed the little girl. The boy's grandma and the waiter at the local restaurant corroborate the story with their own vague suspicions. But it seems nobody did anything about the situation. Only Chen Ren, the no good son, caught on and beat the [ __ ] out of Wayien, telling him to never come around again. The official investigator, a capable and upright local constable named Guushen, pieces together the same information. thanks Jinglin subtly tipping him off and Wishi Chan is arrested immediately and beaten within an inch of his life before even officially being interrogated about the murders. Well, that's good.

[00:29:24]Despite having ample motives, it still seems hard to believe that Wayi Chan is physically capable of murdering four people. He does confess to the crime though, claiming to have drugged everyone beforehand. But then Dong Lin turns himself in, claiming to have committed the murders after Chen failed to repay him. And he took the little girl because she reminded him of his lost daughter. Oh, >> so this is weird. Now we have two people claiming to have done this murder who have no connection to each other that we know of. Again, this story doesn't add up either because why would he turn himself in after someone else already did the same thing? And why would he even wait until the deadline of the investigation to further pressure the authorities to accept his testimony?

[00:30:02]Moreover, both suspects claim not to know the other despite scrambling to take personal responsibility for the crime and cover for the other. Both suspects say that the family deserved it, but don't seem genuine about their supposed motives. So, this is very odd, too. Why would the family deserve it?

[00:30:17]Aren't they the bad people? Ultimately, the little girl is returned unharmed.

[00:30:22]Bonglin did have custody of her, and he is sentenced to prison awaiting execution while Wei Chen is released after a few days. But the constipable Guusian is still not satisfied with either of their testimonies. Not after seeing Chen Xiao Yuyu in person. The little girl is extremely malnourished.

[00:30:40]Perhaps Wayi Chan and Donglin discovered something about this girl's family. We then learned that the waiter owed Wishi Chen money and thus framed him with rumors of indecent behavior. The old woman borrowed rice from the Chen family and turned a blind eye to their doings while poisoning her grandson's lips with foul things about Wishi Chen. Basically, everything we learned so far has been a complete lie.

[00:31:01]>> So, he wasn't a pedophile.

[00:31:02]>> He was not.

[00:31:03]>> Oh, [ __ ] >> In fact, he may have been this girl's ally against her family.

[00:31:10]>> Oh no.

[00:31:11]>> So, what is the truth?

[00:31:13]>> At this point, it just got too sad to even put anything on the slides. I'm sorry. Oh [ __ ] >> It's like the truth is even worse. The truth is just so sad. So, here we go.

[00:31:22]Now, through Jinglin's connection to the bell, which apparently sought out Donglin of its own valition rather than being incidentally stolen, we are able to experience Donglin's connections to Chen Xiaolyu, he was in the ragged and hopeless condition of a beggar when he happened to see Chen Shiau fall off a bridge and drown. Without a second thought, he dove in to save her. He then saw that she had been severely beaten quite often, judging by her flinching response to him. moved to deep pity, thinking of his own missing daughter. He used the last of his money to buy her food before sending her on her way. But after that, she kept coming back to see him on the streets. He noticed that she was often dressed in new clothes with fresh bandages, but the cycle of abuse was clearly continuing out of sight.

[00:32:04]Eventually, Donglin could not leave the matter alone, asking her to lead him to where she lived. He discovered that while the family kept up a good face to outsiders, they all abused Sun Xiao Yu terribly behind closed doors, seemingly out of hatred for her [ __ ] mother. Wayi Chen had discovered the abuse and tried to look out for her as much as possible without alerting the family. Worst of all, the entire family enables Chen Ren as the sexual predator.

[00:32:28]>> Oh my god.

[00:32:29]>> Towards, I mean, I think his own niece.

[00:32:31]>> Yeah. As soon as Donglin finds out about this, he threatens Chen's life and watches him constantly from afar.

[00:32:38]Anytime Chen makes a wrong move, Donglin immediately beats him up.

[00:32:42]>> I could have seen this coming because I thought it was so rare for a family to be okay with the daughter that was like born out of wedlock. It's like surprisingly they all loved her. I'm like, "Oh, really? Oh, no." Yeah. Yeah.

[00:32:56]But reading this, I was so shocked because it's just like the first story we hear is already so shocking and it just seems so realistic. But then when you hear about the truth, it just I feel like what's so sad to me is like it feels like >> like a very genuine story abuse looks like, you know, how it's hidden, how it's covered up, and how >> people can't really just swoop in and remove a child from that situation even if they're trying their hardest to protect that child. Anyways, Dong Lin feels like a useless person with a meaningless life. He can't make promises to Huadi, who he does love, or it's Sun Xiaoyu, who he's trying to protect, but he tries to watch over both of them, aching for this new family, but haunted by the family he lost. One day, he leaves town in an attempt to earn money to buy Huad's freedom, shaking up Chen Ren one last time before he leaves and reassuring Chen Xiaoyu that he will always come if she calls for his help.

[00:33:52]But while Chen is initially cowed into behaving, he soon figures out that Donglin is not actually around to beat him. The family decides to sell off Chen Xiaou while it can. When Chen attempts to harm Chen Shiau, the old woman sees it and pretends not to. In the frail way, Shi Chen physically intervenes to stop him. Chenron beats him severely in response, and the family intends to frame him as a predator to prevent him from being heard by the authorities.

[00:34:18]It's at this point that Donglin returns just in time. Understandably enraged, he attacks Chen Ren and the other family members attempting to use Chen Xiau as a hostage. Also, my bad. I've been saying Wishi Chen, but it's Cheni. Even the frightened Chen Wayi participates in the ensuing violence. The two of them find themselves accompllices. Chenui shields Chen Xiaou<unk>s eyes and takes her away while Donglin finishes off the injured family members and dismembers their bodies to cover up the signs that there were two different people involved in the attack. Oh, so Cheni and Dong Lin were like, "Fuck this family."

[00:34:53]>> Like, "We've had enough. We're not letting them continue abusing her."

[00:34:56]>> Okay.

[00:34:56]>> Yeah. So, >> that's why they both were guilty for the crime.

[00:35:00]>> Yes. They both And they both were genuinely guilty. They both tried to shield the other person, and it makes sense now.

[00:35:06]>> Still too sad.

[00:35:09]>> Yeah. So, what we learn now is that the truth is Donglin's daughter has been long confirmed dead. He seeks her now in his own death. And now he feels that the only way he can cleanse himself of filth is by taking the fall for this situation. Knowing that Chen Xiaoyu should be safe. He doesn't want to leave her. But he does want to die. And so despite our protagonist knowing the truth, they know that saving him from execution is not enough to restore his will to live. Comes to the executioner's block to proclaim her love and defend him despite facing scorn and violence from the crowd of spectators. It's a surprisingly tender scene despite the humble nature of their characters. He tells her where the gold is to buy her freedom and says his final farewells, but Huadi has to be dragged away from him. Dong Lin is beheaded and that's that. Well, almost. Our protagonists still have some questions to ask about that missing bell. So, they try to snatch a soul from the underworld guard standing wait. You couldn't ask him that while he was alive. But Donglin's soul is lost in the ensuing chaos when Zuishan and Huan show up to capture them. Once again, our protagonists are just strong enough to escape intact. But Zuan and Huan are starting to piece together who Jinglin might be. Huian is able to see that Jinglin is not a deity, mortal, or spirit. Surprisingly, they suspect not that he might be Lord Lindong, but his adopted brother, Lurang. Lang has been asleep for a century, unable to get over his brother's betrayal and death. He descended into the mortal world without memories of his past in order to undergo tribulations. Subconsciously, he may be imitating or embodying Lord Linsong. As we ponder this as readers, we finally experience a telling crack in Jinglin's cold facade. He has been unusually emotional since investigating the case.

[00:36:54]Deeply saddened by Chen Xiaoyu<unk>s experience, he is even driven to drinking alcohol. When Sanji questions him in his drunken state, he breaks down, confessing that Sen Xiao reminded him of his little sister. He tells Sanji that he has many siblings and among the names he lists is Lang. One final note about this arc. Donglin's soul turns itself into the underworld guard several days later to cross over the river and be reincarnated without his painful memories of life. Chen Xiau remains in the care of Weii Chan who is not a creep. However, we only hear of these things. We do not encounter them directly. After the sheer amount of time we spent with these characters, it was a little bit surprising that we did not have any direct scenes to give us closure about any of them. It felt unsatisfying, but perhaps this is how we are meant to feel. The most important thing to note is this. The bell chose Donglin, whose story revolved around and ultimately ended with death. It's like Zootopia, but they dress up as humans to trick you and eat you. At least there's no more human suffering, right? So, where's that damn bell gone now? with persistent sentience that surprises even Jinglin and now follows the constable Guen who has quit his job to pursue the seemingly impossible quest of finding his family. Thus begins the story of our next form of suffering, separation. You see, he was abducted as a young child and has only a few memories of his old home and his parents to go by. Sanji and Jinglin follow him to a remote city hidden in the mountains with a peculiar population. Although the city was designed by humans and presumably once occupied by humans, it is now entirely filled with animal spirits disguised as humans. When Guusan arrives in town, they are spurred by ravenous greed, wanting to eat him on the spot. It would be natural to assume that they also ate the previous residents of the city. But these spirits seem as if they've hardly ever seen a human. Stranger yet, spirits eating humans is definitely against the rules of the demarcation bureau, which should have discovered and cracked down on the city long ago, even if its borderkeeper was in hibernation.

[00:38:54]Anyways, as Guanian takes shelter in an inn where he is unwittingly about to be killed and eaten, Zuishan appears to save him, chaos erupts among the spirits, and Guusian is whisked away by the only spirit that doesn't want to harm him, a little mouse spirit who has latched onto Guushian as a kindred spirit because they are both searching for their long-lost mothers. Oh my goodness.

[00:39:14]>> Meanwhile, Sushi wastes no time picking a fight with Zusha now that he's absorbed half of his spiritual power.

[00:39:20]But his clumsy strength is still no match for a skilled martial artist. In the midst of a battle so powerful that the in itself collapses, Sanji is taken by surprise when Jinglin presses up against him from behind and guides his hands, calming his mind and honing his chaotic spiritual techniques.

[00:39:36]A little bit of let me teach you how to >> golf. Golf, but with martial arts.

[00:39:42]With this, they are able to once again escape Zwishan's righteous fury. But Sanji is left with mixed emotions after this moment. First of all, he suddenly suspects that Jinglin might be the one using him for some unknown purpose. But Jinglin remains as snarky and evasive as ever when Sanji confronts him about it.

[00:40:00]And secondly, Sanji feels deeply pained by Jinglin's secrecy and emotional distance in a way that's almost physically overpowering. The two of them fall asleep sitting under a window in an abandoned house beneath a view of stars.

[00:40:12]And this time, the bell calls to Sanji instead of Jinglin, showing him another memory from Guushian's childhood, the day of his abduction.

[00:40:20]>> By Talos, this can't be happening. It's more human suffering.

[00:40:24]Are you sensing a theme?

[00:40:28]This scene is heartbreaking. Guusian's mother has sent him into town for medicine for his paralyzed father. On the way there, he meets a priest who questions him and offers to help. Guusan leads him back home, only for the priest to ransack their home for money. Finding very little, he decides to traffic Guusan instead. Guusians father does everything in his power to stop the priest even without the use of his legs.

[00:40:52]Begging the priest to take the money, but leave his child. The priest injures him horrifically and then flees with Guusen, only to encounter his mother next. She attacks him just as fiercely and chases the priest with everything she has. Even after losing her shoes, she cries out in anguish when she cannot catch up to them. When Sanji wakes up, he finds Guusan himself there watching them wearily. He asks why they have been following him. Jiglin tells him that they can help him find out about his family. Crash cut to the three of them interrogating the pig spirit that tried to butcher Guushan.

[00:41:25]He tells them the story of how the spirit city came to be. Originally, it was a human city, but it had no mountain deity to watch over it because the residing humans worshiped a demon instead of a god.

[00:41:36]>> Ooh.

[00:41:37]>> This was a problem because the demarcation bureau functions on a karmic currency system based on human offerings to gods. No offerings, no jurisdiction, and demons are different from spirits.

[00:41:48]Only Lang and Jinglin had the unique capacity to exercise them. So, the demarcation bureau simply chose to ignore this problem. The women of the city remained closed up inside their homes, but were blessed with an incredible amount of offspring.

[00:42:03]Eventually, the demarcation bureau finally stuck its nose in and assigned a mountain deity to the city. But within 3 days, the entire city was killed and the mountain deity buried the 10,000 bodies.

[00:42:15]So, um yeah, their uh intervention did not go so well.

[00:42:19]However, the mountain deity then grew lonely and invited the spirits in, but in turn did not allow the spirits to leave. The mountain deity has been searching for someone for years to no avail. Our trio of investigators head outside the city to investigate this mountain which indeed is filled with buried corpses. So, just like like as a as a side personal note, like this is kind of an odd thing to wrap one's head around. I think that it's probably very common in like Eastern media, you know, kind of like what what to expect from a mountain deity or a mountain spirit and how can they be a mountain and sentient and move around and be conscious and like what does that look like or like how are they moving around? It's like you don't question that. Yeah. So, you just have to kind of let go of any questions you have about that because it's just an established, >> you know, concept and it's not going to be deeply explained in this book particularly. Our trio of investigators head outside the city to investigate the mountain, which is indeed filled with buried corpses. And then they come across the mountain god itself. It's a massive tree covered in withered vines.

[00:43:21]And it's alive. It shambles up and down the mountain as if constantly in search.

[00:43:26]And as it travels, countless ghost children appear, shouting out, "Mama!"

[00:43:29]and joyfully jumping on its branches.

[00:43:32]The mountain god seems to cradle these ghost children gently as it moves. And Guushen has an involuntary emotional response to this god without understanding why. But Jinglin has the answer.

[00:43:43]>> I tried to put a funny picture of a tree in here, but I'm just too sad.

[00:43:50]Yeah. Sorry for this PowerPoint presentation. It's just not the vibe.

[00:43:54]So basically, this tree is his mother. More accurately, it's his mother and many mothers. The primal energy of the mountains, the natural spirit of the living earth, was stirred into a living, moving thing from the resonance of grief from countless women separated from their children. And it's no coincidence that it roams the mountain around this hidden city. Years ago, this city was designed for one purpose, to house the trafficked and prostituted women stolen from across the mortal realm, where they were forced to produce children for sale. M >> Guushian was one of those countless children trafficked by the organization behind this situation.

[00:44:34]Though he managed to escape and route to the city, he developed a severe fever and lost much of his memories, which he never recovered, even after a kind family nursed him back to health and adopted him. His birthother never stopped searching for him. And the mountains themselves were moved by this immense amalgamation of grief, even when heaven would not lift a finger to help.

[00:44:54]However, the deity is very much pure chaos, just as likely to be good as evil. Hence, instakkilling the entire city. This poses a problem for Zuen because the mountain is too powerful to kill despite his willingness to try, yet too dangerous to leave unchecked.

[00:45:09]Character cheat sheet. Dong Jun, pretty appearance and friendly personality, but his true form is that of a demon, and you're not going to like that. One of Jinglin's many adopted brothers.

[00:45:21]So this time, another powerful deity from heaven accompanies the monk. It's one of Jinglan's adopted brothers, Dong Jun, who is particularly intimidating because despite his pretty and friendly appearance, his true form is that of a demon. He has arrived because he suspects that the disguised Jingling is indeed his dead brother. He traps Jinglin in an illusionary realm to gently sus him out over a drink, but finds himself uncertain when faced with Jinglin's clever nonchalants. He doesn't have a chance to pursue the truth because Zongji tears open the realm itself in absolute fury that Jinglin was taken from him for even a moment.

[00:45:55]Dongjan is far more powerful than anyone Sanji has faced before. But there is an underwater kiss scene in which Jinglin voluntarily transfers his blood into San's mouth. Nice. And that is the catalyst for Sanji to experience a jump in his cultivation. The two of them burst out of the illusionary realm only to be saved by the mountain deity which envelops them into its body where not even Dong Jung and Zuan can reach them.

[00:46:18]Granted, it's a little horrifying to be bored by a sentient tree, but both of them fall into a deep slumber inside the mountain. During this time, Sanji dreams of Jingal's youth and comes to the realization that devouring Jingland will not satisfy his desire to know him and never be parted from him. What he truly craves is something he cannot even comprehend himself. They don't wake up until a whole season has passed.

[00:46:42]>> Wow.

[00:46:42]>> It's fully summer when they emerge to find that a number of things have changed. First of all, Sanji has gotten even bigger because of his jumping cultivation. He was a little Twinkie before, but now there is a gratuitous size difference between them. Thank goodness. They gave the tree a job. I'm still so sad.

[00:47:00]Secondly, the tree has been promoted into an official border keeper under heaven's jurisdiction. I'm not really sure how that works because the tree isn't sentient, but I guess that just means they're allowing it to continue doing what it's doing as long as it's not killing anyone again. Thirdly, Guusan has built a little home to stay close to his mother, even though she cannot recognize the grown man that was once her missing child. They are faded to be separated forever because she will live on indefinitely, while his soul will lose its memories once it enters the reincarnation cycle. So that sucks.

[00:47:31]But the bell has already left town. So our protagonist can only continue on.

[00:47:34]This time via boat ride to the capital.

[00:47:37]So we are just basically through the bell experiencing a variety of human suffering stories. Yeah, that is the gist of what's happening to our protagonists here. And maybe that will reveal more about their personal characters and develop them as individuals. We will see. But we've already experienced so much and we're like halfway through the book.

[00:47:58]>> Wow. Wow, this is a a chunky book.

[00:47:59]Character cheat sheet. Yin Ning, an immortal sage who had one-sided beef with Lord Lin Song. Jin Lling, the Dragon Emperor, a powerful spirit who fought against the demons alongside heaven, but was killed after refusing to submit to the Supreme Father. Chulan, a poor and sickly human scholar who dreams of becoming top scholar of the year. Zo Chinghao would have been top scholar of the year if his fate were not stolen.

[00:48:26]A little beef leaf.

[00:48:28]>> Little beef leaf if you will. Chen Yu, a fox spirit closely connected to Zoqing Joe.

[00:48:35]>> Okay, so entering our new story here.

[00:48:38]The bell's new target is a scholar named Chulan, who is supposed to be immortal, but is being impersonated by a brush spirit. While tracking him down in the vibrant, luxurious capital city, Sanji incidentally learned some interesting gossip about the dragon emperor of the north. Back in the day, this dragon was a powerful spirit who fought on the same side as heaven in a legendary war against the demons in the sea of blood.

[00:49:01]But he refused to give up his sovereignty to the Supreme Father, who wanted an official alliance that would put the dragon under his command. He even sent his son, Lang, to negotiate with the dragon. But somehow Lir ended up fighting and killing the dragon emperor. It's already a bit of a mystery how Lang was strong enough to kill the dragon in the first place. But what's even stranger is that it caused a falling out between him and his brother Linsong. There's no known connection between Linsong and the dragon. No evidence that they even met each other, although both did fight in the sea of blood. But after the dragon's death, Linsong killed any spirit that tried to claim the title of dragon emperor in hisstead.

[00:49:39]>> It's kind of romantic.

[00:49:40]>> It's kind of romantic. Okay, so we'll put a pin in that >> because that's kind of romantic.

[00:49:46]>> So he's been protecting his legacy.

[00:49:48]Okay, this is all before, you know, he had his crazy crash out moment. Some even go so far to say that killing the Supreme Father could be considered revenge for the Dragon Emperor.

[00:50:00]>> Put a pin in that, I guess. But back to the bell, or should I say brush, Chulon is pretty easy to track down because he is this year's top scholar. And when they find him, they find two of him. The mortal original and the spirit doppelganger. The latter who runs away ultimately to no avail. This is when we learn the truth from the brush after he is caught. Chulon was an extremely poor and sickly young man who dreamed of becoming the top scholar, but had to work as a legal council just to get by.

[00:50:28]The brush originally belonged to the immortal sage Yin Ning, who had one-sided beef with Lensong for some reason, but was eventually tossed away into the mortal world. He came across Choulan and essentially fell in love, caring for him in his human form and helping him write essays in his brush form. But the brush knew that Chuan did not have long to live and would never achieve his dream, no matter how good or earnest he was. So he used his former status as Yining<unk>s brush to pass through the underworld and rewrite the registry of fate. Giving Chulan the fate of a man named Zo Chingzo and said, >> "Wow, imagine having a brush that just goes into the underworld and gives you someone else's fate for you."

[00:51:08]>> He's in love, your honor. Chulan would now live on to become this year's top scholar, while Zo Ching Jojo would simply have every other kind of success and a long life. No one was supposed to die. Like, he already had a pretty good deal out of it. But the brush did not realize how Chulan and Zo Ching Jojo were already connected.

[00:51:25]>> And that's why they both sought the position of top scholars.

[00:51:28]>> Uhoh.

[00:51:29]>> The bell puts and Jinglin in a dreamscape, allowing them to investigate Zoing Joe's home. You see, he and Chulon had been in secret communication with each other. both had independently stumbled upon the giant human trafficking ring we've encountered thus far and further pieced together that a hidden mastermind in the capital was suppressing reports of its existence. In order to break this case out into the open and protect themselves from getting silenced, they needed a position of government authority and the top scholar of the year is guaranteed a high ranking government position.

[00:52:02]and Chulon was desperate to take the imperial exams each year as a way to meet with Zuo Ching Jojo and exchange information without raising suspicions.

[00:52:09]Unfortunately, Zo Chingho has died a horrific death as a result of his fate being changed. Silenced by this unknown mastermind, they were going to take down the pedophile ring.

[00:52:22]>> Yeah. Now, the bell has hopped from Chuan to the true object of this case of suffering. A fox spirit named Chanu is overcome with grief.

[00:52:32]But this bellinduced dreamscape is different from the ones our protagonists have encountered in the past. Instead of being ghostly bystanders to someone else's memories, this time they physically act out the memories in place of the originals.

[00:52:44]>> Okay, so we've seen this happen in Arha.

[00:52:46]>> Oh, yeah. And uh it's going to go kind of the same way, but maybe a little bit better.

[00:52:52]>> Sanji and Jinling sloppy make out, fresh suffering. Oh, brother.

[00:52:59]This is how our protagonists come to find out that Zo Ching Jo was in a deeply passionate romantic relationship with the fox spirit Chan Yu Sanji and Jinglin are not in control of their own bodies when they share a passionate makeout sesh that soon turns into disroing each other.

[00:53:14]>> Nice.

[00:53:15]>> The overlap between the originals tender feelings and their own physical experience is written in a very heated sensual way. Thankfully, they are able to reassert their control before things go too far. But as Zo Chingjo is called away in the memory, Fongji turns back to give Jinglin a kiss on the ear, saying, "This one's from me." Yeah, that's crazy. Anyways, this leaves Jinglin in complete shock and grappling with the horrifying possibility of finding Sanji attractive. Nice. But Sanji is also coming to terms with Lot in this moment because nobody ever bothered to tell him what sex is. He still has no idea what it is or what it entails, but now that he's gotten a taste of it, who knows where the relationship will go next. And that is where the first volume ends with the carp discovering what sex is.

[00:54:06]>> Oh, yeah. So, I'm really hoping.

[00:54:07]>> And he's like, I really liked that. We will be doing more of that.

[00:54:12]>> I got to learn more about whatever that was. So, I there's been a lot of setup.

[00:54:17]There's been a lot of interesting developments, but I do think that the next volume should be pretty interesting because of where that landed.

[00:54:26]>> Oh my gosh. I especially enjoyed the first half of this book. And I'll admit, when the plot shifted towards this sort of series of investigations of random people's business, I wasn't really sure what the point was. I wanted to know more about Jinglin and Sanji and see their relationship develop. But as I continued to read, the overarching themes became more apparent and began to grow in me. The story makes you ask yourself questions like what does it mean to be human? And as humans, why do we endure suffering? Both Jinglin and Sanji are each in their own ways removed from humanity, which makes them particularly interesting as guides through this narrative. Jinglin has lost his desire to live from a deep sense of grief. While Sanji is overflowing with desire, a state of which teaches him a kind of pain he at first has no knowledge or empathy for. Some larger context is that the various cases that Jinglin and Sanji encounter are themed around Buddhist philosophy and each one features a different kind of human suffering. I am not that familiar with Buddhism, so a lot of this is new to me, but you may recognize the concept of the eight types of human suffering that we all must inevitably endure. The physical suffering of birth, old age, illness, and death, and the emotional suffering of encountering enemies, being separated from loved ones, unfulfillment of desires, and the inability to let go.

[00:55:41]And yet, Nan Chan also seems to posit that love is also at the center of these eight sufferings. Sanji will learn to understand humans and become more human himself through his encounters with these eight sufferings, whether he wants to or not. Anyways, that's as deep as I can get into it for now, but hopefully that sets us up for success moving forward. Fun detail, the first four sufferings are actually listed on the back cover of The Dust Jacket. This is one of those books that I already want to reread before I'm even finished with it. And although I did catch a few typos in the text, this is otherwise a very high quality book. The hard cover is a pleasure to hold and the pages are silky smooth. Like I cannot stress this enough. This is these are the softest paper pages I've ever touched in my life. It's >> and as a librarian who has fingered many pages.

[00:56:24]>> Also, it came with some cute extras. So, highly recommend buying the physical book if you can. I think it's very interesting to read something with the same author as QJJ, which is set very much in the mortal realm with no magic.

[00:56:39]>> Yeah.

[00:56:39]>> And this is so spiritual, so magic.

[00:56:45]>> Yeah. It's was extremely different. Like again, until I finished the volume and just like, oh yeah, I wonder who this is written by. I had no idea. But then in retrospect I was like, "Oh, that makes sense." Because again, the level of detail and complexity is very much akin to a QJ.

[00:57:01]>> And if we know anything about QJ, it's like everything is in there for a reason.

[00:57:05]>> Everything is connected. The smallest details matter and we'll we will circle back around to them. Most certainly everything will be tied together and they're probably also going to have super hot sex.

[00:57:14]>> Yeah, I'm really really holding out for that part.

[00:57:18]>> Awesome. Well, thank you so much for reading and going to this foray of a new novel with all these new terms and stuff that of course us as, you know, seeped in western mythology. We're encountering more of Eastern mythology. And it's cool that we're picking up on the tropes now.

[00:57:33]There's so many things that I'm sure people that are more familiar with the genre are like, "Oh, of course we know who that is or what this was referencing or the tropes of this." But for us, a lot of it is very new. So, it's fun discovering it together and getting to know all the conventions of the genre is really fun. Ah, thank you guys so much for watching. And if you would like to hang out with Stitch and I, every Friday at 700 PM PST, we do Danme game night.

[00:57:56]We play games like Frantic Fanfic and Gartic Phone with all Danme related prompts. And it's a great way to help support our channel and make a bunch of new friends. As always, thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time. Bye.