Note: I'll try to catch up a little but will probably be a few days behind the actual chapter updates from now on, especially since she's going to drop about 10k words when the novel goes into VIP.
Diwu Que leaves soon after she, Shen Ni and Zeng Qingluo finish their meal, as she has to carry on with her mission. She arranges with Shen Ni to visit her (and Bian Jin) at home soon.
Shen Ni and Zeng Qingluo ride through the city. Zeng Qingluo looks at the silent Shen Ni, and wonders if she’s upset because Bian Jin broke their date. To cheer her up, Zeng Qingluo suggests that they visit a florist which has just brought in a shipment of rare plants, reminding her that Bian Jin likes flowers.
One part of the florist’s shop has been curtained off in white fabric — the family who runs the shop is holding a wake. A half-open casket sits in the main hall. The deceased is Liu Ji, the family patriarch. His widow (Madam Liu née Xu) and children are receiving mourners. One of the mourners, a man on crutches, turns out to be a former subordinate of Shen Ni’s, for whom she’s crafted a new prosthetic leg.
Shen Ni, entering the shop, sees that on display are several ice-blue tanhua — very rare flowers that bloom only at night. She calls out to the shopkeeper. Madam Liu out her eldest son to deal with her. Shen Ni offers to buy the flowers, and before the young man can respond, they hear Liu Ji’s wife call out ‘no’.
It turns out that Liu Ji’s corpse has sat up in its coffin.
Liu Ji’s corpse climbs out of the coffin, and the assembled mourners scatter in a panic. The corpse lurches towards Madam Liu and is about to pounce on her when Shen Ni appears and stuffs it back bodily into the coffin and slams the lid. Zeng Qingluo, white-faced, mutters, ‘It’s impossible.’
The coffin breaks open, and Liu Ji’s corpse re-emerges. It snatches up one of the pieces of wood from the coffin and swings it at Madam Liu. Shen Ni smashes the plank back into the corpse’s face.
Zeng Qingluo draws her weapon from (presumably a sheath) behind her. It crackles with purple electricity, and in the time it takes her to bring it fully forward, it transforms into a broadsword. She chops mercilessly at the corpse with it, but it only draws sparks and leaves the corpse mostly unharmed.. Madam Liu shouts out that her husband’s body is mostly prosthetics. Her eldest son drags her behind a wall to take cover.
Shen Ni’s old subordinate mutters, ‘Is he mutating? Could it be the Black—’ He’s silenced by a cold glare from Shen Ni.
Shen Ni takes off her cloak, and is about to hang it from a nearby chair, when she remembers that, if she gets blood or mechanical fluid splashed on it, Bian Jin would probably bar her from the bed, and even their bedroom itself. She sighs and hangs it from her left arm instead. Then a staff appears in her hand, seemingly out of nowhere; she moves her hand, and it doubles in length. She tells Madam Liu’s son to get her out of the room, because Madam Liu is not going to want to see what happens next, and he complies.
Shen Ni basically lops off the corpse’s head with her weapon, and easily evades the oil that gushes out from its neck. However, she hadn’t anticipated that the Zeng Qingluo’s earlier blow had also left a wound on the corpse’s back. Under the force of her own blow, the wound splits open and spurts out black blood and oil, covering the hands and the front of her robes.
Shen Ni then fishes out Liu Ji’s jade core from within his ruined corpse. It’s gone from its normal white to pure black. The jade core grows feelers, and creeps up Shen Ni’s gloved hand.
Zeng Qingluo, her voice trembling, proclaims that Liu Ji has definitely been infected by the Black Box virus. She wonders how it could have recovered from the near-fatal blow they struck it so quickly. Shen Ni scans the jade core with the scanner built into her palm, and observes that this iteration of the virus seems somewhat different from the one they encountered before.
Shen Ni puts the infected jade core into the ‘goldfish pouch’ at her waist. It’s a ceremonial accessory, meant to hold her official seal. Shen Ni added a layer of electronic insulation to it some time ago, so that it can conceal the infected jade core from detection.
She instructs Zeng Qingluo to take the jade core beyond the city walls, dig a hole ten chi deep, bury it, and seal the hole up with mercury. Zeng Qingluo assents, and also assents to Shen Ni’s command not to tell anyone what happened.
By the time Madam Liu and her son re-enter, Liu Ji’s corpse has been placed back within its coffin. Shen Ni smiles at them as if nothing had happened, and asks if they can delay Liu Ji’s burial so that investigations can be carried out. Madam Liu says yes. Shen Ni then asks to buy the ice-blue tanhua, and Madam Liu’s son brings them to her.
Shen Ni is about to take the flowers when she notices her blood- and oil-stained hands. She asks for a basin of water, and washes her hands multiple times, and sterilises them as well, before she accepts the flowers. She keeps them in their crystal case, so that no trace of blood will get on them.
When Shen Ni gets home, Bian Jin still hasn’t returned. Auntie Wan is shocked to see her covered in blood. She sends Shen Ni off to take a bath. After the bath, Shen Ni sniffs herself, and worried that she might still smell of blood, lights some incense and sits by the incense burner letting the scent wash over her. She hopes her shijie will find this acceptable.
She wonders where Bian Jin is and what she went off to do. She heads towards the entrance to the house, texting Bian Jin as she goes.
Bian Jin, meanwhile, is literally dragging herself home; she’s at the very edge of what her body can endure, given the state of her mechanical spine. Luckily, one of their neighbours, the Duchess of Chengqing, drives by in her coach and spots Bian Jin. The Duchess has always been grateful to Bian Jin, who saved her from drowning (and social humiliation) when she was much younger.
Seeing Bian Jin in her current state, and recalling the rumours about Shen Ni’s animosity towards her, the Duchess of Chengqing delicately asks how things are going between them. Bian Jin, recalling the scene of Shen Ni with her ‘girlfriend’, replies, ‘It’s quite awkward being married to an old acquaintance you don’t really know.’ Shen Ni, arriving at the front entrance of the house, hears this. That familiar heartlessness, she thinks.
Shen Ni’s eyes sweep over Bian Jin, and over the hand which the Duchess of Chengqing has wrapped around Bian Jin’s. She declares that it’s late and that she and Bian Jin should retire to their room. The Duchess takes the hint and swiftly departs. Bian Jin, not looking at Shen Ni, walks past her, step after slow, laborious step. Finally, she can no longer move, and stands there gripping one of the lamp-posts in the courtyard, allowing the snow to cover her.
Shen Ni’s normally calm eyes light up with flames as she scrutinises Bian Jin’s back. She disappeared again, and got herself hurt again, Shen Ni thinks. She’s so badly wounded that she can’t even walk, yet she still hasn’t asked me for help.
Bian Jin is about to take another step forward when Shen Ni puts an arm around her. She’s about to protest when Shen Ni sweeps her up into a bridal carry. The sudden movement makes her lose consciousness.
Shen Ni races through the snow with Bian Jin in her arms. When Bian Jin wakes up again, she realises she’s pressed against Shen Ni’s chest. Shen Ni doesn’t look down at her or speak to her.
Being completely in another person’s grasp frustrates Bian Jin, and also gives her other Feelings that she can’t quite explain. Her voice unsteady, she tells Shen Ni to put her down.
Shen Ni says darkly that she’s afraid she can’t comply. She adds that she knows she shouldn’t touch Bian Jin, but Bian Jin also shouldn’t have disobeyed her advice and put all that strain on her spine. She’s put so much effort into repairing Bian Jin, she goes on, and that now Bian Jin has damaged her body so seriously, there’s no way she can let Bian Jin have her way.
Bian Jin bears with the pain, clutching so hard at the front of Shen Ni’s robes that they’re twisted into a knot.
Tech watch: Shen Ni and Zeng Qingluo’s weapons Named men: 6.5 Reverse Bechdel passes: 0
That bit in the florist's was some quite effective horror.
Also: recapping Chapter 17 might make me spontaneously combust.
(Also: apologies for the delay in getting this up! I've had work deadlines, and more work deadlines, and a thirteen-hour flight, and extreme jet lag, and just general chaos. Will try to be more organised about posting going forward.)
Robotic zombies! ha ha Love horror so really liked this part.
Don't spontaneously combust before you're able to provide us some further insight into Chapter 17. heeheee Actually, don't ever combust ... what would we do without you? :-)
Oooo, a long flight. Not to sound competitive but I have a 24 hour flight coming up (yeah, with a 3 hour layover in NZ but still ...) and I seriously hope I don't get jet lag.
Oh, I forgot to ask. I'm a bit nervous about flying since the last time I did was just before Covid hit so it's been a few years. Did you feel it necessary to wear a mask on the flight?
I don't know if it was necessary, but wearing a mask for the whole flight (except meals) did make me feel a lot more comfortable about being stuck in a crowded environment, and I remain thankfully Covid-free (and free of other respiratory illnesses) so far!
Shen Ni pulling out Liu Ji's jade core like 'well I'm already dirty, may as well DISEMBOWEL'. I love her.
I also love how the narrative basically pauses at the end of the fight to establish how hot Shen Ni looks while she's covered in blood. Honestly, fair.
And her then turning to Madam Liu and going 'I just came to buy flowers, can I buy these now?' Iconic.
Something something Bian Jin staring at the broken snowglobe, something something Shen Ni washing her hands over and over before touching the flowers, something something
Being completely in another person’s grasp frustrates Bian Jin, and also gives her other Feelings that she can’t quite explain oh I am Looking at that 互攻 tag...
Loose strands of black hair fell across [Shen Ni's] eyes; all traces of tidiness, indolence, and charm were gone, replaced by something dark and sinister (lazy tl is lazy but) ohhhh this is a Look!!!
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baihe_media2024-06-23 09:25 pm
Chapter 16
Shen Ni and Zeng Qingluo ride through the city. Zeng Qingluo looks at the silent Shen Ni, and wonders if she’s upset because Bian Jin broke their date. To cheer her up, Zeng Qingluo suggests that they visit a florist which has just brought in a shipment of rare plants, reminding her that Bian Jin likes flowers.
One part of the florist’s shop has been curtained off in white fabric — the family who runs the shop is holding a wake. A half-open casket sits in the main hall. The deceased is Liu Ji, the family patriarch. His widow (Madam Liu née Xu) and children are receiving mourners. One of the mourners, a man on crutches, turns out to be a former subordinate of Shen Ni’s, for whom she’s crafted a new prosthetic leg.
Shen Ni, entering the shop, sees that on display are several ice-blue tanhua — very rare flowers that bloom only at night. She calls out to the shopkeeper. Madam Liu out her eldest son to deal with her. Shen Ni offers to buy the flowers, and before the young man can respond, they hear Liu Ji’s wife call out ‘no’.
It turns out that Liu Ji’s corpse has sat up in its coffin.
Liu Ji’s corpse climbs out of the coffin, and the assembled mourners scatter in a panic. The corpse lurches towards Madam Liu and is about to pounce on her when Shen Ni appears and stuffs it back bodily into the coffin and slams the lid. Zeng Qingluo, white-faced, mutters, ‘It’s impossible.’
The coffin breaks open, and Liu Ji’s corpse re-emerges. It snatches up one of the pieces of wood from the coffin and swings it at Madam Liu. Shen Ni smashes the plank back into the corpse’s face.
Zeng Qingluo draws her weapon from (presumably a sheath) behind her. It crackles with purple electricity, and in the time it takes her to bring it fully forward, it transforms into a broadsword. She chops mercilessly at the corpse with it, but it only draws sparks and leaves the corpse mostly unharmed.. Madam Liu shouts out that her husband’s body is mostly prosthetics. Her eldest son drags her behind a wall to take cover.
Shen Ni’s old subordinate mutters, ‘Is he mutating? Could it be the Black—’ He’s silenced by a cold glare from Shen Ni.
Shen Ni takes off her cloak, and is about to hang it from a nearby chair, when she remembers that, if she gets blood or mechanical fluid splashed on it, Bian Jin would probably bar her from the bed, and even their bedroom itself. She sighs and hangs it from her left arm instead. Then a staff appears in her hand, seemingly out of nowhere; she moves her hand, and it doubles in length. She tells Madam Liu’s son to get her out of the room, because Madam Liu is not going to want to see what happens next, and he complies.
Shen Ni basically lops off the corpse’s head with her weapon, and easily evades the oil that gushes out from its neck. However, she hadn’t anticipated that the Zeng Qingluo’s earlier blow had also left a wound on the corpse’s back. Under the force of her own blow, the wound splits open and spurts out black blood and oil, covering the hands and the front of her robes.
Shen Ni then fishes out Liu Ji’s jade core from within his ruined corpse. It’s gone from its normal white to pure black. The jade core grows feelers, and creeps up Shen Ni’s gloved hand.
Zeng Qingluo, her voice trembling, proclaims that Liu Ji has definitely been infected by the Black Box virus. She wonders how it could have recovered from the near-fatal blow they struck it so quickly. Shen Ni scans the jade core with the scanner built into her palm, and observes that this iteration of the virus seems somewhat different from the one they encountered before.
Shen Ni puts the infected jade core into the ‘goldfish pouch’ at her waist. It’s a ceremonial accessory, meant to hold her official seal. Shen Ni added a layer of electronic insulation to it some time ago, so that it can conceal the infected jade core from detection.
She instructs Zeng Qingluo to take the jade core beyond the city walls, dig a hole ten chi deep, bury it, and seal the hole up with mercury. Zeng Qingluo assents, and also assents to Shen Ni’s command not to tell anyone what happened.
By the time Madam Liu and her son re-enter, Liu Ji’s corpse has been placed back within its coffin. Shen Ni smiles at them as if nothing had happened, and asks if they can delay Liu Ji’s burial so that investigations can be carried out. Madam Liu says yes. Shen Ni then asks to buy the ice-blue tanhua, and Madam Liu’s son brings them to her.
Shen Ni is about to take the flowers when she notices her blood- and oil-stained hands. She asks for a basin of water, and washes her hands multiple times, and sterilises them as well, before she accepts the flowers. She keeps them in their crystal case, so that no trace of blood will get on them.
When Shen Ni gets home, Bian Jin still hasn’t returned. Auntie Wan is shocked to see her covered in blood. She sends Shen Ni off to take a bath. After the bath, Shen Ni sniffs herself, and worried that she might still smell of blood, lights some incense and sits by the incense burner letting the scent wash over her. She hopes her shijie will find this acceptable.
She wonders where Bian Jin is and what she went off to do. She heads towards the entrance to the house, texting Bian Jin as she goes.
Bian Jin, meanwhile, is literally dragging herself home; she’s at the very edge of what her body can endure, given the state of her mechanical spine. Luckily, one of their neighbours, the Duchess of Chengqing, drives by in her coach and spots Bian Jin. The Duchess has always been grateful to Bian Jin, who saved her from drowning (and social humiliation) when she was much younger.
Seeing Bian Jin in her current state, and recalling the rumours about Shen Ni’s animosity towards her, the Duchess of Chengqing delicately asks how things are going between them. Bian Jin, recalling the scene of Shen Ni with her ‘girlfriend’, replies, ‘It’s quite awkward being married to an old acquaintance you don’t really know.’ Shen Ni, arriving at the front entrance of the house, hears this. That familiar heartlessness, she thinks.
Shen Ni’s eyes sweep over Bian Jin, and over the hand which the Duchess of Chengqing has wrapped around Bian Jin’s. She declares that it’s late and that she and Bian Jin should retire to their room. The Duchess takes the hint and swiftly departs. Bian Jin, not looking at Shen Ni, walks past her, step after slow, laborious step. Finally, she can no longer move, and stands there gripping one of the lamp-posts in the courtyard, allowing the snow to cover her.
Shen Ni’s normally calm eyes light up with flames as she scrutinises Bian Jin’s back. She disappeared again, and got herself hurt again, Shen Ni thinks. She’s so badly wounded that she can’t even walk, yet she still hasn’t asked me for help.
Bian Jin is about to take another step forward when Shen Ni puts an arm around her. She’s about to protest when Shen Ni sweeps her up into a bridal carry. The sudden movement makes her lose consciousness.
Shen Ni races through the snow with Bian Jin in her arms. When Bian Jin wakes up again, she realises she’s pressed against Shen Ni’s chest. Shen Ni doesn’t look down at her or speak to her.
Being completely in another person’s grasp frustrates Bian Jin, and also gives her other Feelings that she can’t quite explain. Her voice unsteady, she tells Shen Ni to put her down.
Shen Ni says darkly that she’s afraid she can’t comply. She adds that she knows she shouldn’t touch Bian Jin, but Bian Jin also shouldn’t have disobeyed her advice and put all that strain on her spine. She’s put so much effort into repairing Bian Jin, she goes on, and that now Bian Jin has damaged her body so seriously, there’s no way she can let Bian Jin have her way.
Bian Jin bears with the pain, clutching so hard at the front of Shen Ni’s robes that they’re twisted into a knot.
Tech watch: Shen Ni and Zeng Qingluo’s weapons
Named men: 6.5
Reverse Bechdel passes: 0
Re: Chapter 16
Also: recapping Chapter 17 might make me spontaneously combust.
(Also: apologies for the delay in getting this up! I've had work deadlines, and more work deadlines, and a thirteen-hour flight, and extreme jet lag, and just general chaos. Will try to be more organised about posting going forward.)
Re: Chapter 16
Don't spontaneously combust before you're able to provide us some further insight into Chapter 17. heeheee Actually, don't ever combust ... what would we do without you? :-)
Oooo, a long flight. Not to sound competitive but I have a 24 hour flight coming up (yeah, with a 3 hour layover in NZ but still ...) and I seriously hope I don't get jet lag.
Re: Chapter 16
Re: Chapter 16
Re: Chapter 16
Re: Chapter 16
Shen Ni pulling out Liu Ji's jade core like 'well I'm already dirty, may as well DISEMBOWEL'. I love her.
I also love how the narrative basically pauses at the end of the fight to establish how hot Shen Ni looks while she's covered in blood. Honestly, fair.
And her then turning to Madam Liu and going 'I just came to buy flowers, can I buy these now?' Iconic.
Something something Bian Jin staring at the broken snowglobe, something something Shen Ni washing her hands over and over before touching the flowers, something something
Being completely in another person’s grasp frustrates Bian Jin, and also gives her other Feelings that she can’t quite explain oh I am Looking at that 互攻 tag...
Loose strands of black hair fell across [Shen Ni's] eyes; all traces of tidiness, indolence, and charm were gone, replaced by something dark and sinister (lazy tl is lazy but) ohhhh this is a Look!!!