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Characters Wednesday · 14 October
プロローグ

一次元の挿し木

  • 石見崎明彦 いしみざきあきひこ Ishimizaki Akihiko
    Member of the research expedition team.
  • 七瀬京一 ななせきょういち Nanase Kyoichi
    Member of the research expedition team and Ishimizaki’s senior.
  • 仙波佳代子 せんばかよこ Semba Kayoko
    Leader of the research expedition team.
  • アモール アモール Amol
    An Indian researcher collaborating with the expedition.
Update Wednesday · 14 October
一路上有你
83%

I finished the fourth story! This one was quite nice and moving. I found the awkward position of Cheng Chung-fan very interesting, and I really loved the end, though Hu I-hsiu seems a bit too perfect to be true.

Update Wednesday · 14 October
第一部21. 以友为荣
23.89%

This passage was so well written. The fact that we learn the latest developments through the storyteller instead of living them first-hand with Li Xunhuan’s point of view makes the reader even more eager and impatient to know what will happen next, like the audience listening to the story.

There’s a scene describing how people gather to listen to the storyteller:

听着这些江湖豪杰、武林奇侠的故事,不知不觉就会将自己和故事中的人物融为一体,心头的积郁也就在不知不觉中发泄了。

Isn’t that exactly why we read Gu Long? :heart:

Characters Wednesday · 14 October
第一部21. 以友为荣

多情剑客无情剑

  • 孙 Sūn Sun
    An elder storyteller who is narrating all that happened to Li Xunhuan since he accidentally injured Long Xiǎoyun, what happened at Xingyun Zhuang, on the road to Mont Song as well as the latest developments at Shaolin Temple.
  • 辫子姑娘 Biànzi Gūniang Braided Girl
    A young braided girl who acts as a conversational partner for Master Sun, playing along to keep the story going.
    Also in 33. 惊人之语 第二部 › 33. 惊人之语 孙小红sūn xiǎo hóngSun XiaohongThe grand-daughter of Sun the story teller. She reveals her name to Li Xunhuan, comments on his duel with Guo Songyang, showing she has a good expertise in martial arts.
  • 心树 xīn shù Xinshu
    • 五师叔 wǔ shī shū Fifth Martial Uncle
    Fifth among the senior Shaolin monk who is held hostage by Li Xunhuan inside the meditation room.
    Also in 23. 误入罗网 第一部 › 23. 误入罗网 胡云翼hú yún yìHu YunyiName of Xin Shu in the secular world. We learn that he was an imperial censor when Li Xunhuan was still serving in the government. Hu Yunyi wrote a memorial impeaching Li Xunhuan by accusing him of fraternising with outlaws. This solidified Li Xunhuan’s resolve to leave everything behind.
Post Wednesday · 14 October

Simplified characters are so confusing sometimes. So 闢 pì that originally means to open a door, and is used figuratively to say “open up territory, land, break ground, etc” (I learnt it in 另辟蹊径) has been simplified into 辟. It loses the 門 door part which gave it its meaning, so that just makes the character more difficult to remember, but the worst part is that 辟 bì was already a character in itself with a different pronunciation and a different meaning (monarch, sovereign).

So TC has two different characters for two different things:

  • 闢 pì: open up
  • 辟 bì: monarch, sovereign

But SC has only one character for both:

  • 辟 pì: open up
  • 辟 bì: monarch, sovereign

It’s not the only case, I keep finding this kind of confusing occurrences where simplified characters are actually much harder to remember or easily mixed up. Well, I’m glad I’m learning both!

Update Tuesday · 13 October
해치러 오는 자
40%

Finished chapter 2 and just started chapter 3.

I’m too tired to read more today, I really have caught something… I hope it’s not too bad and I feel better tomorrow.

Post Tuesday · 13 October

I love horror stories that involve the reader/viewer, making you believe that the curse could be passed down to you because you watched or read something. Taiwanese horror film Incantation by Kevin Ko did that pretty well, and I remember that it was quite unsettling. 흉담 has it too, with a warning that the reader can also skip this part if they prefer to.

Vocabulary Tuesday · 13 October
해치는 이야기

흉담

WordHanjaDefinition
명리학자 命理學者 fortune-teller; scholar of the Four Pillars of Destiny (Saju)
철학관 哲學館 fortune-telling parlor; naming office
Characters Tuesday · 13 October
해치는 이야기

흉담

  • 육모돈 Yuk Mo-don Yuk Mo-don
    A saju/myeongri scholar (명리학자) affiliated with 현인철학관 who attended the narrator’s book talk and handed him his business card. The man who entered the restaurant with Cha Moon-soo.
  • 발람 Bal-ram Bal-ram
    Occult and curse expert who works in a PC bang.
  • 대우 Dae-u Dae-woo
    Assistant head cook at the 신주스시
Activity Monday · 12 October
Genshin Impact
Version: 7.1 · 往冥府的安魂歌
7.1
往冥府的安魂歌
Event 判测胜券本征 (pàn cè shèng quàn běn zhēng)

I’m starting the new event, the idea is interesting! Though I would much much prefer playing myself… The auto-battler is one of my favourite events, I don’t know if I like that prediction thing all that much.

People are massively thinking that the red team will win in the first game… they do have an archer, but most of their troops are 小队 and the opposing team is only composed of 范围 (AOE) which is stronger against small formations. They also have freeze which is useful. Red team has more units in total, but blue have more different stuff deployed. As for the stats, blue units have massively more HP and Atk than the red flyers, but the archer is stacked… Maybe if they manage to freeze it, it could work? But then they’re going to attack the flyers first while the archer is firing at them from a distance, though it will have to shoot several times to kill them. Once the fungi have gotten rid of the flyers, they will be at a disadvantage against the archer (AOE against 单体 single target), but still… Eh, I’m voting for the Fungi Family.

Ok, I must admit that this is quite fun, but still I would rather play myself…

WordReadingDefinition
阵容zhèn róngbattle formation; lineup (of a sports team etc)
徽记huī jìcrest; insignia

Tutorial had those two words I didn’t know, which is strange because they must be recurrent in Genshin. I knew 阵型 for battle formation but not 阵容 which means line-up, so a pretty common word!

I also learnt the character 徽 in 警徽 for police badge, but didn’t strictly know the word 徽记, though its meaning is not hard to guess.

Update Monday · 12 October
의문의 죽음
18%

I finished the first chapter, it’s so engrossing! And I love author surrogate too.

Is 多情剑客无情剑 Gu Long’s absolute masterpiece? This book is so incredible… I’m afraid the other books of the series won’t be as good, but I’m set on finishing the 小李飞刀 first, then move on to another series.

Update Monday · 12 October
第一部19. 百口莫辩
21.94%

It’s funny how, in this and the previous chapter, every time Li Xunhuan is in danger the book shows that A Fei is not here to save him.

I looked at some pictures of Mont Song, it’s really impressive!

Characters Monday · 12 October
第一部19. 百口莫辩

多情剑客无情剑

  • 心鉴 xīn jiàn Master Xinjian
    • 七巧书生 qī qiǎo shū shēng Seven-Skill Scholar
    • 七师叔 qī shī shū Seventh Martial Uncle
    The seventh and youngest of the Shaolin senior disciples, who entered monastic life with existing poison-craft skills from the secular world (whereas Shaolin monks do not use poison nor concealed weapons). He is thus able to identify the poison that ingested Xinmei as the Five Poisons Crystal (五毒水晶) from Five-Poisons Child.
    Also in 24. 逆徒授首 第一部 › 24. 逆徒授首 单鹗shàn èShan EXinjian’s secular name.
Glossary Monday · 12 October
第一部19. 百口莫辩

多情剑客无情剑

  • Place 嵩山 sōng shān Mount Song
    Mountain in Dengfeng, Henan Province, known as the Central Mountain of the Five Great Mountains of China (五岳) and historically renowned as the location of the Shaolin Temple.
  • Place 塔林 tǎ lín Pagoda Forest
    Sacred site and main cemetery for Buddhist monks at the Shaolin Temple, contains numerous tomb pagodas erected for prominent monks and abbots through various dynasties.
Activity Sunday · 11 October
Genshin Impact
Version: 7.1 · 往冥府的安魂歌
Story & Voicelines
Odette

I just finished her character story 4, it’s so sad… We knew the outline from the AQ, but reading the story is heartbreaking.

I also really liked this sentence:

毕竟,在至冬凛冽的严寒风雪中,如果遇见了难得的善意,就要快点把它揣进怀里,否则就会冻得硬邦邦的,再也没有人能敲开它了。奥黛塔 — stories
WordReadingDefinition
凛冽lǐn lièbiting cold
揣chuāito put into (one's pockets, clothes)
硬邦邦yìng bāng bāngvery hard