Chinese Novels

[doomsdaywonderland]

[Novel Recommendation]

Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

No. of Chapters: 80 + 2 extras

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tags: BL, xianxia, historical, cultivation, comedy

Summary: After obtaining a book, the Devil Venerable discovered that the book described the world he lived in. This book said that after he sacrificed himself for the female lead, the fourth male lead, his silent and loyal subordinate Yin Hanjiang, blackened and attempted to kill her as a sacrificial offering for his lord.

Devil Venerable Wen Renhe: Yin Hanjiang, this Venerable wants to know why you wanted to kill the female lead.

Yin Hanjiang was silent.

Wenren E: If you refuse to speak, this Venerable will cut out your tongue and have it with alcohol!

Yin Hanjiang: …

Wen Renhe: What the hell are you blushing for?!

Why you should read:

The summary makes the novel seem very lighthearted, but there is actually a lot of intricacy to the plot and the characters themselves.

The plot unfolds in a natural way, and the MC acts in a very logical manner. However, the logic and common sense of the story doesn’t decrease its readability, because the author was able to balance it out with humour without distracting from the plot or break existing character setting.

In terms of romance, the interaction between the two leads are very cute but it takes them a long time to come to realize their feelings. The romance is very light and only really manifest in the latter half of the book.

Mini Spoilers

MC: Plans to make the female lead fall in love with the 3rd supporting lead instead.

MC: *Reads the OG female lead definition of love*

1. ‘when he appears in the crowd the first thing I see is definitely him’

2. ‘I am happy when he is happy and I can’t bear it when he’s sad.’

3. ‘love doesn’t have the starting points, it’s just deep.’

Actual execution:

Kidnap the 3rd male lead from his home.

Give them poison eye drops so they can only see each other, which ends up blinding them.

Plant gu (poisonous insect) in their bodies so that they can share each other feelings even 200 miles away.

Also MC: *confused* Why didn’t they fall in love? It must be because I can’t comprehend the third requirement.

Reader:

[doomsdaywonderland]

I thought I moved on from this, but this one scene in the mdzs season 3 trailer made me re-read the whole novel.

[doomsdaywonderland]

[Novel Recommendation]

Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage

Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage: Chapter 1

Blanket disclaimer: This novel don’t belong to me. All characters and plots belong to the author. I just translate during my leisure time. E

No.of Chapters: 231 + 4 side stories [eng translation completed by Chubbycheeksthoughts]

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tags: Historical, Romance, Revenge, Rebirth, Politics

Summary: Shen Miao is reborn into her 14 year old self after dying at the hand of her husband who she had sacrificed everything for in order to let him ascend the throne. She vows to not walk on the same broken path, so she can protect her family and take revenge on those who wronged her.

If you enjoy historical Chinese novels or costumed historical c-dramas, this novel in my personal opinion is one of the best book to read.

There is a proliferation of rebirth novels out there, but very few are actually of a high quality and is reasonable in length (there are some novels with 3000+ chapters that are still ongoing). The main reason why this novel is good is because the characters have common sense and is not ridiculously OP. The female lead in her 14 year old body acts within her means, and uses her foreknowledge in a reasonable way rather than just mindlessly face slapping everyone with zero consequence. The relationship between the two leads is slow, but that also works well because it matches their character setting and you still get a lot of sweet interaction between them. The only con I would say about this story is that if you play a drinking game based on how many times the male lead is described as handsome, you probably die of alcohol poisoning.

[doomsdaywonderland]

[Novel Recommendation]

New Times, New Hell

https://chrysanthemumgarden.com/novel-tl/ntnh/

New Times, New Hell - Chrysanthemum Garden

Yu Zhengdu joined a small start-up company that claimed to offer “life management services”……as a programmer. On his first day in office, he

No. of Chapters:134 + 10 extras [english translation completed, done by Chrysanthemum Garden]

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tags: BL, Comedy, Hell, Ghosts, Technology, Romance, Modern Day.

Short Summary: An IT graduate gets scam into become a program developer for the modern age underworld.

This story is a must read.I found this story by accident and binged read it until 4am. The setting for this story is extremely hilarious and refreshing, because it reverses all the typical elements you would find in a novel based on ghosts and the underworld. You really empathise with the MC as he gets his world views on metaphysics completed shattered. It a light and sweet read, with the romance being quite slow and subtle. It is an excellent quality novel, and the translation is also fantastic so I would 100% recommend it to those who are into the above mentioned genres.

Minor spoilers

Typical novel: <exorcising a ghost> Uses talismans, peachwood swords, spells, and etc.

This novel: “Face that wall, put your hands on your head and squat down. Male ghosts on the left, female ghosts on the right——” <proceeds to handcuff the ghost>

MC: Where am I? Who am I?

Typical novel: <Upgrade in strenth after undergoing lightning tribulation>

This novel: <Diverts lightning with lightning rods to prevent the ascension tribulation>

MC: This method is okay too? Is this not too scientific?

[doomsdaywonderland]

[Novel Recommendation] Sansheng, Death Exists Not at the River of Oblivion

Sansheng, Wangchuan Wu Shang Index

Sansheng, Death Exists Not at the River of Oblivion (original version) by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang 九鹭非香 Original Chinese link Update: I have receive

Genre: Light novel / Romance / Tragedy / Comedy / Xianxia

No.of chapters: 15 + 3 extras. [English translation completed by Hamster428]

Short Summary: Sansheng, a stone spirit by the river of oblivion in the underworld, becomes enamoured with the God of war (Moxi) the first time she saw him. She then decided to pursue and seduce him whilst he undergo his trials in the mortal world. The novel follows their story through three lifetimes.

This is a short, sweet novel. Being a light novel it does not try to explore any serious themes, and there is not a whole lot of character development.

However, the quality of the novel and the quality of the english translation is very good. Compared to some novels with similar themes that have 3000+ chapters, it could even be called excellent.

I would recommend it to those who enjoys the xianxia theme (cultivation/immortals) and wants something lighthearted to read. Think ten miles of peach blossom with less angst.

[doomsdaywonderland]

When reading c-novels, especially historical or xianxia novels, I really like listening to OSTs from chinese dramas. I feel as though the music lets you visualise how the scene would play out in your head/imagine an entire sub-plot based on the world setting. So basically directing your own drama adaptation of the novel.

Would also recommend looking up the video of the song with eng subs, because sometimes the lyrics are incredible poetic and sentimental and adds so much depth to the listening experience.

[doomsdaywonderland]

Currently Reading : The Husky and His White Cat Shizun. [Finished 02/21]

Total no.chapters: 311 (english translation ongoing)(MTL of novel can be accessed)

Genre: BL, Tragedy, Romance, Mature, R18

Personal rating: 8/10 *bewarn, this novel contains some very sensitive and mature themes.

Short summary:

After ending his own life, he was reborn and transmigrated to the year he first became a disciple.

After coming back to life, truth after truths that had been hidden below the surface in the previous life floated to the top and broke through the waters one after the other. (Summary from novelupdates)

Snapshot review: Oh, the title is so cute the story must be so fluffy. Hahahahaha, no. Be prepared to cry your heart out.

The characters are their own greatest enemies to achieving happiness, but you cannot blame them because at the end of the day, their decisions were merely products of the environment they were raised in and how the world has treated them.Through his rebirth, the main lead was able to see everything with greater clarity and understand that he was never alone and more than just a abandoned orphan. Seeing the motivation behind each characters’ actions, through the mc eyes, makes your heart break for them. But because of this, the redemption and reunion scenes become much more significant and also heart warming.

How it feels reading some scenes: