[2HA Recap] Chapter 4: This Venerable One's Cousin

[wistmanswords]

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We are four chapters in and:

• Still haven't met the white cat shizun
• Still don't know why Mo Ran is so upset
• Still no actual huskies!

I guess we better keep going.

Content warnings: For the first time to date, possibly none? Some mild genre-typical misogyny (using "princess" as an insult), but no one even mentions boiling a baby.

What happens: Shi Mei is an orphan who was adopted by the Sisheng Peak. The Sisheng Peak leader originally named him Xue Ya, but this is unfortunately homophonous with some fairly crude terms. Because he's so pretty, all the other disciples started jokingly calling him shimei, and the Sisheng Peak Leader offered to name him Shi Mei as his actual name. This is not a good name, but...

Even if he felt aggrieved, he couldn't embarrass the Peak Leader, so he knelt and accepted the name with grace.

So Shi Mei maybe has some problems with standing up for himself, is what I'm saying.

Shi Mei recognises Mo Ran, and Mo Ran is immediately knocked back into reminiscing. In his past life, he was in love with Shi Mei, but always felt that he was too dirty and Shi Mei was too pure for them to actually have a relationship. They held hands and had one (1) accidental kiss. Then, Shi Mei died. From context clues, I think we can assume Mo Ran went spectacularly off the deep end at that point.

Mo Ran briefly frets over Shi Mei, then turns on the rogue cultivators. Realising they're somewhat outmatched by the very angry man who just knocked five of them over like it wasn't a thing, the rogue cultivators promptly back off. Shi Mei calls Mo Ran off before he can go for them, reassures Mo Ran that he's uninjured, and encourages Mo Ran to forgive and forget. Uh, Shi Mei, I don't see forgiving as a real strength of your shidi's, there.

Still, Mo Ran listens... sort of.... and tells the rogue cultivators to skedaddle. But first Shi Mei makes them promise to live a clean life and heal the children they've hurt. I don't see that promise lasting more than about thirty seconds after you leave, Shi Mei, but sure. Okay.

They head back up towards Sisheng Peak together, with Mo Ran fantasising about he and Shi Mei are fated to be together the whole way, as long as Mo Ran can save Shi Mei from death this time.

Even though Shi Mei and himself weren't technically an item right now, they'd already snogged in their past life. By all indications, it was going to be smooth sailing this lifetime as well. It was all just a matter of time.

This is a great example of an unreliable narrator. See how one accidental brush of lips turns into "yeah we totally smooched"?

At the gates of Sisheng Peak, they're met by Xue Meng, who's pissed off with Mo Ran. He's always pissed off with Mo Ran. Xue Meng is the legitimate son of the sect leader and a cultivation prodigy. It usually takes three years to learn cultivation basics and ten years to form a golden core; Xue Meng did it in five years. He was the youngest, strongest cultivator in the sect until Mo Ran showed up. Mo Ran, despite being an illegitimate child who was way too old to start training when he was taken in, formed his core in one year.

Mo Ran saw Xue Meng as: a bird.
Xue Meng saw Mo Ran as: a dog.

(As a side note, Shi Mei is so stunningly beautiful that whenever he goes out, he wears a hat and veil that completely covers his face. Hmmm.)

Xue Meng tells Shi Mei to stop hanging out with Mo Ran, who's a petty thief - true! - and will only teach Shi Mei bad things. Mo Ran tries to pick a fight, but Shi Mei calms them down, and Xue Meng tells them why he's here:

Mo Ran burst into laughter. "No wonder you're dressed like this, you're waiting for your date! Ay, who's the unlucky one? I pity her. Hahahahaha."

Xue Meng's expression darkened, and he snapped, "You!"

"...Me?"

"I'm waiting for you. What are you going to do about it?"

New characters: None, but it's fun to have Xue Meng back! I think he and I are on the same wavelength when it comes to how goshdarn annoying Mo Ran is.

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