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January 30 - February 2, 2024
To this day, it is unclear where his spirit rests—or whether it rests at all.
Elantian Age Year 1 ( Cycle 1424 ) – Present Day
Power is always borrowed, never created. — Dào’zǐ, Book of the Way (Classic of Virtues), 1.1
But in rare moments like this, when the sun hung ripe and swollen as a mandarin over the glittering sea, there was still a shattered-glass beauty to be found in the remnants of a conquered land.
Lan knew they had come to the Last Kingdom for one thing: resources.
As it is normally for colonizers.
“When have I ever brought you mischief, Old Wei?” He grunted, casting her an appraising look. “Never brought me fortune either. And I still let you come back each time.”
“There are old gods and new gods, kind gods and fickle gods—and most powerful of them all are the Four Demon Gods.”
Here was the trick to surviving in a colonized land: you couldn’t show that you cared.
“There are no heroes left for us in this world, Old Wei.”
“Because it lets me hope that there’s something else for me out there. Something other than this life.”
In life, qì blazes and moves as yáng; in death, qì cools and stills as yīn. A body with a restless qì is indicative of a restless soul. — Chó Yún, Imperial Spirit Summoner, Classic of Death
Calm the storm of your emotions. A restless ocean is not one to sail upon.
a demonic practitioner.
Wei wuxian, is it you baby?
To know the future, one must first understand the past. —Kontencian Analects (Classic of Society), 3:9
A blur of pale faces with hair ranging from wheat to copper to sand-brown,
White people. Once again being colonizers as usual
Each time Lan sang, it felt as though her mother were alive again, an echo of her spirit stirring inside Lan’s heart, guiding her.
Crimson Phoenix
Silver Dragon
Azure Tiger
Black Tortoise
Peace be upon your soul, and may you find the Path home. —Hin funerary rites
Kind lies can kill kingdoms. —General Yeshin Noro Surgen of the Jorshen Steel clan, Classic of War
because, well, how did you destroy a people? You began by cutting off their roots.
A little girl clinging to the last piece of refuge in a dying world.
Practitioners of the Way engage in equivalent exchange, for there is no give without take. Borrowed power must be returned, and power itself requires payment. —Dào’zǐ, Book of the Way (Classic of Virtues), 1.4
“But what they do not know is that, so long as we live on, we carry inside us all that they have destroyed. And that is our triumph; that is our rebellion.”
“Do not let them win today.”
Meditation is the practice of complete detachment from the physical world, becoming one with the external and internal flow of qì and the constant harmony of yīn and yáng.
masculine scent.
what's a masculine scent???
The dead will neither feel them nor be called by them. Grief is for the survivors, and I think that, rather than living my life in pain, I would live it in laughter and love. To the fullest.
She would no longer be the flower. She would be the blade.
Zen closed his eyes, as though praying for patience.
It was exceedingly difficult to shed one’s awareness of the physical world while fleeing pursuit from a legion of soldiers.
“I suppose not,” Zen said with a sincerity that made it impossible for her to be angry at him.
This is sooo Lan Wangji codes😂
Two spots of pink appeared on Zen’s cheeks; they spread, flushing down his neck and coloring his face a shade of mortification. “I—you—moon’s—” he spluttered, taking a step back. “Yes. You rest—here—I’ll go—food—” He turned and all but fled into the trees.
To sit beside a boy whose status and education were to Lan’s as Heaven was to earth and have him teach her without a flicker of intolerance or judgment was a new feeling.
Exactly what I want
“Our Master of Medicine advises boiled jujubes for…for girls…at certain…certain times.” In the firelight, his cheeks had reddened, and he averted his gaze from hers, suddenly busying himself with gathering the fú and tucking them back into his silk pouch.
He's thé cuttest
There is only one Way of practitioning, and anything that deviates from it is strictly taboo. The masters would not like to see what you just did—and neither would most people.”
OMG it's the cultivation World all over again. One Is goinf tonchoisevthe lone plank bridge AT some point
“You do have the entire book memorized.”
Exactly like Lan Zhan
No matter how luxurious a life the caged bird leads, it remains at the mercy of its master. —Collection of apocryphal and banned texts, unknown origin
Yīn and yáng, evil and good, black and white, demons and humans—such is the Way the world is divided. What does not belong on the Way of practitioning must be annihilated. —Emperor Jīn, “First Imperial Decree on Practitioning,” era of the Middle Kingdom
The blade itself is naught but a piece of cold steel; it is the wielder who draws blood. —General Yeshin Noro Surgen of the Jorshen Steel clan, Classic of War
“You have the look of a lover in mourning.”
Zen sent a prayer to his ancestors that the girl’s next words would not break the taboos of the school and get her expelled before she even started.
“I swear it on all the pork buns in the Last Kingdom.” “Well, now.” His eyes held playfulness like a dusting of stars. “That is a very serious vow.”
“When you are able to pierce my heart with this dagger,” Zen said, “you will be good enough to stand as my equal in practitioning.”
When the time is right, this ocarina will sing for the Ruin of Gods.
“You’re Zen. You saved my life, many times over. You taught me practitioning, you gave me the chance to fight back. I was afraid of your demon but never of you.”
“No.” In a single motion, he wrapped an arm around Lan’s waist. Her familiar scent of lilies enveloped him as she turned to him. “I need you.”
Now, that's the kind of romance I like
And the Old Matchmaker of the Moon said to the lovers, “This red thread I bestow upon you. It may stretch and it may tangle, but it will never break. Across cycles and worlds and lifetimes, your souls are now destined.”
