I decided to finish the second chapter after all, it’s crazy how slowly I’m reading this. The last pages of this chapter were quite difficult to read…
34%
Blog
The Mystery of Cui Xiaojin
I talked to the 烈不尽烈不尽liè bù jìnLie Bujin河山如故A man who knows about the Northern Yan Alliance treasure but doesn’t want to attack the stronghold up front and instead hopes to stir trouble to get his hands on the treasure. and 烈不灭烈不灭liè bù mièLie Bumie河山如故Descendant of the Northern Yan Alliance who has been kidnapped by the Long Hu Zhai and tortured. He didn’t reveal anything about the treasure and keeps repeating the oath. again, so they really were brothers! Their father was a soldier of the 燕北盟Organisation燕北盟yàn běi méngNorthern Yan Alliance河山如故The Northern Yan Alliance once defending Qinghe against the Khitan Southern invasions, holding out against the Khitan cavalry for month in a fortified city (only ruins remain now, the 北盟遗址). Even though the fortress fell, the warriors of the Alliance managed to chase the Khitan army out of the Central Plains. Members of Alliance swore the Oath of Yanyun (燕云誓): 山河寸土，誓死不易, vowing to defend the land with their life.世界山河寸血，誓死不易。驱逐北虏，收复燕云。 · 945年 开运二年势力介绍世界 › and died during the battle. They both lament that the names of the fallen heroes are unknown, and I gave them the blood oath covenant I found in the secret chamber. The name of their father is there, but not the one they call Uncle Cui 崔叔, and that’s where the mystery of the missing name resurfaces.
烈不尽：可惜啊……若是这誓书名册上有崔叔，就能为他洗清多年来的逃兵污名……Scene with 烈不尽, 烈不灭, 赵一山
His name is Cui Xiaojin. He is their father’s sworn brother and they are closer than family. He joined the Alliance together with their father but his whereabouts are unknown and he has been accused of desertion. If his name was on the list, this would have cleared him of these accusations, but his name is missing. Deserter or not, the Lie brothers want to find him and ask me to talk to him if I find him during my travels.
Place: 清河 › 百草野 › 七伐坡
38%
I met 冯继升冯继升féng jì shēngFeng Jisheng第一章·神仙不渡A disciple of the Wenjin Pavilion (文津馆) who came to Qinghe on orders and who trained in archery under his senior martial brother Tian Ying. After Tian Ying departed, he spent over a decade developing the wondrous martial art technique known as Halting the Depths and Calming the Waters (停渊止水). He is loosely based on a real Song official who presented a fire arrow method 火箭法 to the Emperor, using gunpowder on the arrow.中国古代火箭baike.baidu.com again! And I learnt a bit more about his research and he shared his dream with me:
冯继升：少侠，说来不怕你笑……其实，我有一个梦想，便是让天下普通人也能成为神射。所以我一直在研究提升普通人射术的方法……Scene with 赵一山, 冯继升
He also said that he does not plan on returning to 文津馆文津馆wén jīn guǎnWenjin Hall世界世界 ›, but instead plan on visiting 墨山道 because they possess remarkable techniques in mechanisms. Feng Jisheng wants to use mechanism to enhance bows and allow anyone to shoot with accuracy.
冯继升：若是能用机关制成一种弓箭，增强人拉弓的力量和准头，那么即使是普通人，也能像神射一样百步穿杨了……Scene with 赵一山, 冯继升
| Word | Reading | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 百步穿杨 | bǎi bù chuān yáng | to shoot with great precision (idiom) |
墨山道 is apparently shrouded in mystery and it won’t be easy to enter their rank, but Feng Jisheng says he’s willing to study for as long as it takes to enter. He has some other things to settle in Qinghe first and won’t leave immediately, so we’ll have occasions to meet again.
39.49%
There’s a long combat scene I found quite hard to understand in this chapter, I’m going to study it and add expressions to my flashcards!
多情剑客无情剑
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Organisation 洪运镖局 hóng yùn biāo jú Hongyun Escort AgencyAn armed escort agency (镖局) located in the imperial capital (京城).
多情剑客无情剑
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楚相羽 chǔ xiāng yǔ Chu Xiangyu
- 总镖头 zǒng biāo tóu Chief Escort Master
- 活霸王 huó bà wáng the Living Overlord
- Hongyun Escort Agency Organisation 洪运镖局hóng yùn biāo júHongyun Escort AgencyAn armed escort agency (镖局) located in the imperial capital (京城).
A chief escort master skilled in the 'Eighty-One Myriad-Victory Interlocking Ring Broadsword' (九九八十一手万胜连环刀) wielding a nine-ring saber (九环刀).
28%
I made good progress on chapter 2 today. I really love the content of the book, but I’m not a fan of how it’s delivered.
賣需要的東西給人家沒有難度，找出人家真正想
— 梅胜霜
要，卻連自己都說不清楚的願望，才是銷售本事。
Odette’s agenda
I finally continued Odette’s story and unlocked the agenda thing!
奥黛塔：总之，我认为自己能够兼顾好两边的工作。
| Word | Reading | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 兼顾 | jiān gù | to handle two or more responsibilities at the same time; to balance (career and family, or work and studies etc) |
This echoes her story, when she was still a child and said:
我能做到。
and Rosalyne’s reply to it:
那就跟上来吧，让我们看看你多久会放弃。
After reading her story, I understand her determination better. It feels like a big responsibility to take care of her agenda, I hope I won’t mess up anything (but it’s Genshin, so nothing bad can happen I guess).
The value of the handwritten tickets
I continued Vodyanitsa’s story quest, she’s so nice, and her story is also quite sad, though she really has a great attitude about it.
沃雅妮莎：就和我之前说的一样，他们根本不想听我唱歌。他们想要的只是出席的殊荣，作为他们的筹码。
沃雅妮莎：但一张简单的手写票能是什么筹码呢。不代表金钱也不代表利益，只代表我想邀请你听我唱歌。
| Word | Reading | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 殊荣 | shū róng | special glory; distinction; rare honor |
| 筹码 | chóu mǎ | bargaining chip; gaming chip; casino token |
烈言 · 最后一战
这场仗，我们一定会输。我们所有人，都会死在今天。
烈言看到远处马蹄扬起的沙尘，听到地面隆隆的震动时，如此想到。
烈言读的书不多，他曾只是个清河的浪荡儿，后来，在那个王将军的影响下，他才第一次翻开兵法书。
书上说，用兵之法，十则围之，五则攻之，倍则战之。
却没有说，若是敌方十倍、五倍于自己，该如何胜。
这筹谋已久的最后一战，未免来得太过出乎意料。
“将军！”
“将军！”
“将军！”
将士们都看向他，眼里是同样的茫然和动摇。
“诸位，这门一开，我们便都只有死路。”烈言对着将士们说。
“可若门不开，清河的老少，便只有一条死路。”
眼下，只有最后一条路可走。唯有将敌军尽数引入地下长城，点爆炸药，将敌人和我军，一起埋葬在这燕北盟地下。但这条路也凶险万分，成功的可能微乎其微。
此为利害，悉数告知，所以将士们，你们选什么？
“将军！我愿追随将军，开门，应战！”
“山河寸血，誓死不易！开门，应战！”
“战！”“战！”“战！”
呐喊的声音一浪高过一浪，竟让从未落过泪的烈言生平第一次眼眶湿润。他握紧长枪，将每一张呐喊的脸记在心里，这是最后一眼。
他抹了把脸，转身，将枪尖指向敌军的方向。
“开门——！迎敌！”
他烈言，就活到这。
| Word | Reading | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 浪荡儿 | làng dàng ér | vagabond; loafer; profligate youth |
| 十则围之，五则攻之，倍则战之 | shí zé wéi zhī , wǔ zé gōng zhī , bèi zé zhàn zhī | if outnumbering the enemy ten to one, surround them; if five to one, attack them; if twice as numerous, engage them in battle |
| 筹谋 | chóu móu | to plan; to strategize |
| 微乎其微 | wēi hū qí wēi | extremely slight; vanishingly small; negligible |
Wow this passage is so great! Referring to this battle, the 地理·北盟遗址 said it led to 两败俱伤, but I didn’t know it was to this extend. They did not just fight with their lives, they decided to sacrifice themselves as the only way of winning, even if the chances were small. And every one solider followed Lie Yan’s decision.
他握紧长枪，将每一张呐喊的脸记在心里，这是最后一眼。
This passage was surprisingly easy to read. I now expect everything to be written in Classical Chinese, so I was surprised I could read this. I also think this text unlocks after we finish the quest, so I had no idea what really happened when I was exploring the underground ruins.
燕北盟 · 势力介绍
燕北盟是全靠忠义理念结成的组织，在无序的江湖中犹如希望的火炬。认可忠义理念的江湖弟子一同加入燕北盟，奉王清为盟主，立誓收复燕云故土。燕北盟侠士们不仅亲身参与中渡桥之战，阻击契丹；还牺牲自己的面容与人生，蛰伏于幽暗地宫中守护那隐秘而宏伟的大计。
| Word | Reading | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 收复 | shōu fù | to recover (lost territory etc); to recapture |
| 燕云故土 | yān yún gù tǔ | the lost homeland of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun |
| 阻击 | zǔ jī | to intercept; to check an enemy advance |
| 蛰伏 | zhé fú | to lie low; to conceal oneself; to remain dormant |
| 地宫 | dì gōng | underground palace (as part of imperial tomb) |
This organisation is based on loyalty and righteousness, and they serve the patriotic cause of winning back the Sixteen Prefectures. The fallen soldier we find in the stronghold laments 燕云未归，十载空付，何能不悲？
It’s not the first time I’m seeing a reference to the Zhong Du Bridge battle… I just saw that it’s a real event, and Wang Qing is also a real person… I’ll have to dig into it!
As for the part about “sacrifice their faces”, I’m not sure what it means exactly. (I have vague recollection from my first time playing, but I really didn’t understand much, so it’s like I’m playing for the first time.) So much mystery to uncover still!
Exploration
Wednesday · 28 October
Genshin Impact
Version: 7.1 · 往冥府的安魂歌
7.0
Region
白桦雪葬地 (bái huà xuě zàng de)
World Quest
一边是宫殿一边是陵阙 (yī biān shì gōng diàn yī biān shì líng què)
55%
I realised that the WQ was blocking co-op (probably because of the shooting mode), so I could not start the event… So I decided to at least finish all the shooting mode parts of the WQ, which turned out to be the whole WQ.
I didn’t like the last part, mostly because I didn’t understand much of the lore explanations. Of course, there’s the language problem, and the fact that I felt forced to play the quest in a row when I didn’t really want to, but I also think WQ in general are not the best at transmitting lore, I always feel like I’ve missed something. I have a terrible memory when it comes to fantasy lore, so I tend to forget names and facts learnt during the first WQ by the time I reach the last chapter/part.
I also found the boss fight kind of frustrating and annoying too. I also really dislike the end, but that’s a personal feeling, nothing to do with the quality of the quest.
And overall, I dislike the shooting mode in the world quest, it didn’t bring much most of the time, combat was not as good as in the shadow realm, it kind of gives me motion sickness to navigate the puzzles in this mode, and I just prefer doing the quest with my characters. Oh and we don’t have access to the camera gadget which I use all the time, especially during world quests.
Anyway, I’ll have to read the wiki to fill the blanks…
56%
I finished the third story, this one was my favourite so far, I loved that the mystery was in the fiction and the characters were trying to solve it by looking at the text.
The Mystery of the 120th member
The document found in the secret room states that 120 soldiers gathered to fight against the Khitans, but only 119 took the Oath. Isn’t it strange?
The Lie brothers
The man who was held prisoner and tortured is probably the brother of the one who gave me the clues to investigate the stronghold. He was acting as if he wanted me to stir troubles so that he could get the treasure himself, but that was just an act. His real intention was to send someone to free his brother I guess.
Summary (contains spoilers)
I found a suspicious man spying on the ruins of the Northern Alliance stronghold. His name is 烈不尽烈不尽liè bù jìnLie Bujin河山如故A man who knows about the Northern Yan Alliance treasure but doesn’t want to attack the stronghold up front and instead hopes to stir trouble to get his hands on the treasure. who is looking for the treasure of the 燕北盟Organisation燕北盟yàn běi méngNorthern Yan Alliance河山如故The Northern Yan Alliance once defending Qinghe against the Khitan Southern invasions, holding out against the Khitan cavalry for month in a fortified city (only ruins remain now, the 北盟遗址). Even though the fortress fell, the warriors of the Alliance managed to chase the Khitan army out of the Central Plains. Members of Alliance swore the Oath of Yanyun (燕云誓): 山河寸土，誓死不易, vowing to defend the land with their life.世界山河寸血，誓死不易。驱逐北虏，收复燕云。 · 945年 开运二年势力介绍世界 ›. He says that the bandits from the 龙虎寨Organisation龙虎寨lóng hǔ zhàiDragon Tiger Stronghold河山如故A group of bandits settled in the Ruins of the old Northern Alliance stronghold. They chased Jin Chunniang and her son Jin Xiaobao, robbed the Tang family, and kidnapped a descendant of the Northern Yan Alliance to get their hands on a treasure that belonged to the Alliance.世界世界 › have captured a descendant of the Alliance, and that person supposedly knows about the treasure.
| Word | Reading | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 霸道 | bà dao | overbearing; tyrannical; high-handed |
| 独吞 | dú tūn | to swallow whole; to monopolize; to keep entirely to oneself |
| 水浑了才好摸鱼 | shuǐ hún le cái hǎo mō yú | only when the water is muddy can you catch the fish |
I infiltrate the stronghold, kill all the Long Hu Zhai bandits and free the descendant of the Alliance who was being tortured. His name is 烈不灭烈不灭liè bù mièLie Bumie河山如故Descendant of the Northern Yan Alliance who has been kidnapped by the Long Hu Zhai and tortured. He didn’t reveal anything about the treasure and keeps repeating the oath., so it’s now obvious he is related to Lie Bujin, who must have sent me there to save his brother (mental note to try and find this man again). Lie Bumie can hardly speak and only recites the Northern Yan Oath. I lit the beacons and open the secret underground passage filled with the corpses of Khitan invaders and Alliance soldiers and two statues of generals, one beheaded. Selecting the characters of the Oath on the wall opens a new passage that leads to the treasure which is a document with the name of the 119 soldiers who swore the Oath. The document states that 120 soldiers gathered but only 119 swore the Oath…
义士誓书
契丹入寇，犯我神州。
土为裂瓯，民为鱼肉。
任胡纵乱，我岂无人？
四方豪杰，闻义而动。
聚百二十人，同守此关。
今一百一十九人，共下誓书：
山河寸土，誓死不易。
苟渝此盟，神人共殛。
（其下是密密麻麻的姓名与手印）
| Word | Reading | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 入寇 | rù kòu | invade; make an incursion |
| 神州 | shén zhōu | the Divine Land (China) |
| 裂瓯 | liè ōu | cracked bowl / fragmented territory |
| 胡 | hú | northern nomadic peoples; barbarians |
| 纵乱 | zòng luàn | run amok; create turmoil freely |
| 闻义而动 | wén yì ér dòng | to act upon hearing the call of righteousness |
| 不易 | bù yì | unyielding; not to be traded or yielded |
| 苟 | gǒu | if; supposing that |
| 渝 | yú | break; violate (a vow or pledge) |
| 神人共殛 | shén rén gòng jí | slain and punished by both gods and men |
It’s funny, I recently learnt the character 寨 zhài for stronghold in Where Winds Meet, and now came across 砦 とりで in my Japanese novel, which I looked up and realised both characters are variant of the same word: zhài, a fortified camp.
In Chinese, 寨 is more common, whereas Japanese uses 砦.
寨砦
stronghold, stockade, camp
村寨cūn zhài(stockaded) village
山寨shān zhàifortified hill village; mountain stronghold (esp. of bandits)
河山如故
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烈不尽 liè bù jìn Lie BujinA man who knows about the Northern Yan Alliance treasure but doesn’t want to attack the stronghold up front and instead hopes to stir trouble to get his hands on the treasure.
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烈不灭 liè bù miè Lie BumieDescendant of the Northern Yan Alliance who has been kidnapped by the Long Hu Zhai and tortured. He didn’t reveal anything about the treasure and keeps repeating the oath.
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张豹 zhāng bào Zhang BaoOne of the Long Hu Zhai leder who was interrogating Lie Bumie.
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烈言 liè yán Lie YanGeneral leading the Northern Yan Alliance army during the final battle at the Alliance stronghold.
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崔小晋 cuī xiǎo jìn Cui XiaojinSworn brother of the father of Lie Bumie and Lie Bujin. He is the only one of the 120 soldiers who didn’t sign the blood oath. He has been accused of desertion and his whereabouts are unknown.