I completely failed at keeping my #ChuLiuxiangReadalong posts in a single thread, but surely if I make a new thread for Book 2, it’ll work this time.

So, Chu Liuxiang Book Two: The Great Desert, by #GuLong! I’m reading Foxs’ translation here: https://foxswuxia.wordpress.com/chu-liuxiang/book-2-the-great-desert/

#ChuLiuxiangReadalong book 2, chapter 1:

Grumpy camel person (Hei Zhenzhu) is taking a hands-on approach to reclaiming his wonder horse that CLX borrowed, taking CLX’s girlfriends as belated collateral, and I can’t actually blame him too much. But has he taken his dad’s body with him back to the desert as well? I’m feeling way more concerned about all the corpses in this story than any of the characters are.

The first thing CLX finds in the desert is a cat! He invites the cat to come and drink with him. His childhood friend Hu Tianhua can come too. Aww.

Couple of content notes about this book, btw:

- the disability rep so far is not great, in that we have the exchange referred to in the last toot, plus Shi Tuo, whose entire role so far is Magical Disabled Person.
- it’s set in the desert northwest of China, so there is a certain amount of prejudice against the peoples who live there—so far mostly the “these people are super tough because of their harsh environment!” kind. (I’ve only just got to a point where speaking non-Han characters appear and so far they seem, um, pretty normal? So to speak?)

Anyway, the above is not unexpected and I’m enjoying the story—just wanted to point it out so no one following this who reads the books is caught off guard if it’s a sticking point for them.

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(I did get cross to the point of scribbling in the margin at one point where the main characters look at Shi Tuo sitting by himself and decide he must be feeling and thinking a whole bunch of things based on how he looked, because that’s a sore spot for me.)

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I love how Hu Tiehua was all, “do you think the desert is as big as your bedroom? How can you expect to just enter it and happen to find whatever you’re looking for?” and yet, since they entered the desert, they have done nothing but stumble over other jianghu types.

Stone Guanyin seems like a fun villain!! I love the disguising-a-real-human-as-a-religious-statue trope! I feel like the book could do something thematically interesting with her (presumed) victim being (now) called Shi Tuo, stone camel, and I think it probably won’t, but it could!

Xiao Pan :((((( he didn’t even get to use his amazing language or trading skills.

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