Ballad of Sword and Wine Quotes

“Xiao Chiye was like the blazing sun. He was also like the wind from the grassland. He stood out from the masses. To Shen Zechuan, hiding that handkerchief on that day with the gloomy and damp rain and snow was like hiding a rousing and passionate dream. In this dream, there was the unrestrained galloping of horses over a thousand li1 of grasslands, and the spreading of wings soaring through ten thousand li of clear sky. These eventually turned into an indescribable glimpse—one he would be hard-pressed to recount in detail.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“Shen Zechuan coyly shifted closer. He leaned in and whispered into Xiao Chiye’s ear: “Even if you spare me, do you think I will spare you?”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“Each would stain the other, letting mutual hatred spin a thread that couldn’t be severed. It was too agonizing to live like this, alone, with only the snow to listen to their howls in the night. They had no one to lean on but each other—so why not tear into each other until they were bloody?

This life was already rotten enough.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“Fortune and misfortune come hand in hand. Confinement may not necessarily be a bad thing.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“I want a falcon, Shifu. I want to fly. I can learn to tame falcons. Once I tame one, his wings will belong to me. Wherever he flies, I will have flown there too.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“in this life one must tell a few lies.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“Beyond their cryptic challenges and dread of each other, they shared the inexplicable empathy of fellow sufferers.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“I hope you never find yourself in such a desperate situation,” he said, eyes unfocused. “When a man faces such a decision, he will die no matter what he chooses.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“Brothers who fight among themselves and families who draw swords on each other are a rotten lot—they’ll destroy themselves before outsiders ever lift a finger.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“It’s human nature to want,” he said.

“Wanting is prelude to both joy and misery.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“There are many things that will become your cage if you desire them.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“Shen Zechuan glanced at him, his gaze far more sinister than it had been five years ago. As if a man had already died under that layer of breathtaking skin, and all that survived was an unnamed beast.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“He wanted to go home.

He wanted to go home, proudly and honestly, as himself.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“Zuo Qianqiu buried his name, Xiao Fangxu has stepped down because of illness, and Lu Pingyan has grown old. Twenty years from now, where will the current Four Generals be? They’re all but waves crashing on the shore, is built upon the sacrifice of tens of thousands,” Ji Gang said sorrowfully. “So what if he’s renowned for his exploits on the field? In the end, he’ll still become no more than a handful of yellow sand. Those who die in battle are loyal to the end; those who survive suffer onward.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“What you want for yourself, and the burdens you must shoulder as commander, are not the same " ... "When a man faces such a decision, he will die no matter what he chooses" (Vol. 1, PG 410).”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1

“The nape of this man’s neck, bathed in the dim light of the nearby lamp, rose from beneath his collar like creamy white jade. It seemed defenseless, just waiting for the touch of another’s hand—as if by caressing it, one could reach ecstasy. The contours of his profile were smooth and beautiful, and the bridge of his nose sloped charmingly. But the corners of his eyes were most devastating: all that could make one’s heart itch lay within them, and the shadow of a smile seemed to rest at the tails of those upward crescents.”
― Tang Jiu Qing, Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1