As I write this review for the second volume of Priest’s series, Guardian, I realize how long it’s actually been since I finished it. Which is a shame, because I would really like to start the third and final novel soon. Anyway, let’s see what I can remember of this book!
Now that Zhao Yunlan knows that Shen Wei is the Soul Executing Emissary, he is downright awkward around him. He feels like he’s made a bit of a fool of himself in his relentless pursuit of Shen Wei’s affections. Little does Yunlan know, but Shen Wei is equally as enraptured by Yunlan. Maybe even moreso. We learn that he’s got quite an extensive art collection featuring plenty different past lives of Yunlan. It might make him seem like a bit of a stalker, but when fates are interwined, as it clearly seems to be the case here, I call it dedication.
In any case, Zhao Yunlan gets over his shyness pretty quickly once he learns that Shen Wei maybe, sort of, kind of likes him, too. In fact, he’s bought them a place to live together. That’s how confident he is about this relationship now. But for all of Shen Wei’s adoration, it never transforms into something physical beyond a kiss. I’m really curious as to why that is, but I guess I will have to wait to learn more about that. It’s also clear that these two have had relationships in many past lives, so I know we’ll get more details on that in the final novel.
We do in fact learn something huge about what Zhao Yunlan really is. His cat surely had his suspicions, but he never knew that his current handler was once his former handler, Kunlun, who is some sort of god-like warrior. Yunlan learns this about himself when he and Shen Wei battle to protect another hallowed artifact, the merit brush, from getting in their enemy’s hands. The merit brush would wipe away people’s good merit’s and leave them to be doomed. But more than that, it would be the third hallowed artifact out of four needed to destroy the world. That’s certainly no good.
I can’t say that I’m following all of this ancient storytelling a hundred percent correctly, but I think I am grasping most of it. A plot point that I thought was really interesting this time around was that in trying to trick Yunlan into making a wrong move, he ends up being temporarily blinded. This shifts the dynamic between him and Shen Wei rather significantly. At least at first. It was interesting to see Yunlan relying on someone for even the most basic of things, but this also made Shen Wei much less rigid in Yunlan’s presence.
As I said, I am really curious to see how things get wrapped up in the final novel. And I am also interested in watching the show, though I fear I will end up being disappointed. Who knows though, so stay tuned!