This is my first time writing a review here on Novel Updates! I got into Guardian after watching the drama version! I fell in love with it (especially the actors). So I decided to read the novel as well, and dang it is completely different from the drama which I LOVED IT! I love the drama version just for the cast and the main actors Zhu YiLong and Bai Yu~ but the novel is AMAZING!! This is highly recommended, it has good amount of humor in it, the characters are... more>> funny~ the story is written well, and the chemistry between the main characters is just too HOT!! Don’t hesitate! Just start reading if you are iffy about this novel, don’t be! <<less

This novel is one where the past plays such an important role that if you skip the parts with the past you will get so counfused.I love the romance between the leads since the drama didn't really make it obvious but the novel shows such a well placed and mature romance story between the MC and ML that you can't hate it even if you don't like the plot.

Absolutely nothing like the drama, and that's a good thing. It's a delight to read as the MC, Zhao Yunlan, is a shameless flirt that won't let fate/the past/literally anything stop him from getting his man, Shen Wei.

Won't go into too much detail, but know that this has a happy ending, unlike the drama.

100% recommend. Also there have been 70 chapters translated so far, novelupdates is behind.

I came to know about this by the chinese drama with same title. Though there is difference in plotting, drama and novel are interesting it's own way. Drama is detailed and has beautiful actors with extra cases, while novel is more focused on couple's relationship. I find it more and more new to enjoy the story for longer. Lol

I watched the drama untill ep. 35 I think so, I still remember the line when they said about being characters in a novel, didn't expect to actually find it by randomly, a great drama, and surely a good novel.

It started great with a mix or intrigue-supernatural, it’s definitely more plot than romance. It’s super well written, I was so into this book it was impossible to put it down and then by volume 3 especially by the end of the volume I was disappointed, it was kind of rushed but also all over the place, I’m still confused to this day, a lot of things didn’t make sense to me.

still it’s a good read and for once my favorite character was neither MC nor ML

Reading this book felt like watching my favorite crime show, but yeah with ghosts, magic, and just the right amount of slow-burn tension between the leads to keep me hooked. Zhao Yunlan, our laid-back yet brilliant Chief of the Special Investigations Department, meets Shen Wei, a super calm and mysterious professor, and sparks fly. Their dynamic is amazing, full of banter and brooding looks that you’ll definitely get invested in.

The plot? Sure, it's your classic supernatural investigation mixed with mu*der mysteries, but it works because the characters are good. The... more>> side characters also shine, each bringing their own flair, so it feels like you're watching a team you’d totally root for.

Was the storyline groundbreaking for me? Not really. But it’s fun, exciting, and has just the right dash of intrigue and cheeky moments that make it a page-turner. If you like a good mix of supernatural drama and smoldering chemistry, this one’s for you <<less

A lot of reviews state that as it went on it devolved and became messy. And while I can see that point, I actually kept with the plot of the story, the lore, and actions of the MC as it continued. This was the first danmei novel I read to full completion, however, so I guess if you're a veteran, danmei connoisseur, take my review with a grain of salt. I personally loved the world, mystery, and story that Priest developed over the course of this novel and I enjoyed... more>> the MC and ML and their characterizations throughout it all. It's not life changing, but it is highly entertaining and holds a special place in my heart :) <<less

3.2/5 🌟

Not as engaging as priest's other works. Even till the last chapter I couldn't relate much to the characters like I had for her other novels.

The only point of the story that damaged me emotionally was the Shen San Extra. The main story wasn't even that badly emotionally exhausting. It's fairly light with a *happy ending*. But that 4th Extra felt like an abrupt blow & broke my heart into pieces out of nowhere.

... more>> Plot (2.5/5)

The case solving had me intrigued at first. Vol.1 was really good but by the 3rd volume everything felt too messy & all over the place. At certain points it felt like Priest herself was confused about where she wanted to take the story.

Romance (4.5 /5)

I wish there were more moments between the main couple after the main story ended. Some more fluffy extras with just them being with each other. It's also a bit off-putting how the main characters just... so easily come in terms with their situation after all the "reveals"...? I wanted to see more of their reconciliation and maybe them talking/ reliving some of their pasts together. <<less

Giving this one a rating of 8.4/10.

For starters, I want to say I absolutely love this novel and these characters. It was just that at times, I got lost in the lore and the sometimes messy worldbuilding, so I can't say it's the perfect novel.

I watched the show before I read the novel (back in 2021) and I'd been wanting to read the original work ever since but never got around to doing it. It was last month when I was once again watching Guardian content that I realised I... more>> really wanted to re-watch the show, but how about I read the novel instead? And so, I found out, both works are very different.

I can't say exactly which one I like better, if the show or the novel, since there are things I prefer in each of the adaptations. But truth be told, the novel is way more difficult to understand, due to how heavy with lore it is, especially related to buddhism. Lore-heavy stories are great, when the execution is well-done. Unfortunately, no matter how much I love Priest's writing and how good the first half of the novel was, the second half just has way too much world info dumping, as if Priest herself knows it'll be hard to understand so she plainly explains it, while failing to do so in a simple way. I could understand it for the most part but the lacking translation helped to the fact that we had all these deities doing things and I couldn't care less.

As for the characters, some are similar to their tv-adaption counterparts, others aren't. I find myself preferring tv-show Shen Wei over novel Shen Wei, for a few reasons, but mostly because his attitude and personality in the novel is way too inconsistent. I won't spoil any details regarding his character, but while his personality flunctuations seemed on brand with his background, it sometimes felt as if it really wasn't the same character. Still, Shen Wei will always be one of my favorite Guardian characters. Zhao Yunlan is pretty much the same in both versions, except that I feel that in the novel we can see the more caring, honest side of him since we get to see more develpment on his relationship with Shen Wei. A character that is completely different in the novel is Chu Zhuzhi - which is not a bad thing, love both versions of him.

Now, I devoured this novel. It's the end of the semester, exams are nearing and work is pilling up, I have better things to do rather than read. But the way I walked to class while reading this novel, how I went back to reading it the second teachers gave us a break, it was insane. Even my roommate scolded me, "drop the book", because I should be doing homework and instead forgot the time and read for 2 hours straight. So yeah, even if this book isn't perfect, even if I feel like I read the second half with a mudded brain, it's amazing. I have so much I could say about it but it's mostly just a bunch of gibberish.

I just want to appreciate the fact that even though it was difficult to understand the buddhist implications, this novel still managed to wrap me around it's finger. So, kudos to Priest for creating these characters, creating this story, and for giving us Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, this wonderful pairing. I love it dearly. <<less

I came to read the novel after watching the drama... I really love the drama and lost count on how many I rewatched it. The drama is obviously low cost but they made it remarkable..

So, here I am with anticipation that this novel will not dissapoint me.

Its really not bad, I manage to reach chapter 86 with curiosity on how it will end and how it is different from the drama.

... more>>

Spoiler

my ship was suddenly flipped from YunLan×ShenWei to ShenWei×YunLan 😌 its unexpected

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I hate to say this, the novel didn't disappoint me but it didn't reach my expectation 😔 the novel became quite draggy at the later chapter to the point that I am reading but my mind flew somewhere else.. To put it simply its boring.. I will edit this if I manage to finish it..

note: I've been trying to finish this since 2019 I manage to reach chapter 86 this 2022 tho <<less

Well I'm just curious with this story because the drama is booming but I don't watch the drama yet. But I want to read caused the author is PRIEST, and I love all her works. She always made kind of turbulent story. Every characters appears always has a key or lead in the story. It made more interesting. I enjoy about the mythology things, the mystery things also the cultivation things. About the romance, uhm I don't know why but it's not my cup of tea. Even though I always... more>> love PRIEST romance and story formula. But it's still a good story. <<less

Shen Wei's love towards ZY is so profound which makes me love him a lot. He waited so long for him.

Zhao Yunlan is a shameless MC which adds some humor, made this an enjoyable read. Da Qing is funny too.

At the end of the novel where they explained the Chinese mythology, I got confused. Thus my rating of 4 stars.

Hmmmm... I wish this one more chapters and that I could've had to read the extras (it wasn't downloadable apparently ಥ_ಥ). I still loved it either way (人 •͈ᴗ•͈), mostly bcz it started strong; the chemistry between the Main CP and the small variety of the team was enjoyable as well.

I was really loving this novel, the plot was interesting and refreshing, the couple were extremely cute, but then it kinda went down hill and I started feeling real bored reading it. I rounded to 4, but 3.5

Honestly, its a really good story, and it captivated me right away, However, it gets more and more complicated, and the vocabulary and translation can be a real nightmare in understanding things. I feel like a good translator can really do the story justice. The vocabulary changes, so its kind of hard to understand whats going on, and who is what exactly. My favorite translator is the one who translated the extras. Things made sense and there were little translator notes to explain this. The story can definitely be simplified.... more>> I would take simplicity over the complexity and being true to the novel. <<less

Highly recommended to anyone who is searching for a good BL with lots of fantasy, action and romance. Loved all the plot twists and also that the protagonist was soo smart and laid back all the time. There is a lot of scheming and counter scheming and gets confusing at the end but everything is explained in the bonus chapters and there is a lot of fluff too!

I really enjoyed the world-building for this novel. It was a really seamless urban fantasy novel with original lore mixed with actual Chinese mythology. The lore was gradually built across the novel and ultimately answered most, if not all, of the questions asked when you first began.

The plot was extremely interesting and captured your attention well. The two main leads are great characters who definitely stole my interest (Shen Wei is my favorite by far). Side characters were interesting and added to the plot by the end -- each playing... more>> their own role. However, I think maybe due to the shorter length of this novel, some parts felt a bit rushed and the characters could have had more interactions to really flesh out their characters. It was also a bit heavy for someone who isn't very familiar with Chinese mythology, though the translator notes helped, so that sometimes hindered my enjoyment.

Pacing to me was the main issue and why I dropped it to a four. Some parts were a slog to read and translators completely dropped side character moments in certain translation (my desire to read it was also not high). That signals some pacing issues, lack of investment in characters due to maybe rushed development, etc. I blame novel length, but to be that still doesn't take away too much from the novel's strengths.

I would say this novel focuses more on plot and lore (at least, that captured my attention most), though the romance is incredibly intertwined with the plot. The reveal of that was great, but maybe due to length there was less like fluffy, happy moments that stood out to me compared to the other novels I've currently completed (TGCF, 2HA).

In general, really original work, my first dive into Priest and definitely would love to read her other works to see how far she's come as an author. <<less

I hesitated giving 4 or 5 stars but in the end decided to give it the best rating since it was a very unique novel and I really enjoyed it overall.

My only complaint is that the last part was not the one I enjoyed the most, I felt everything was too rushed.

That being said, I love every character and I had a great time reading it. I definitely want to read others novels from this author.

The first part of the novel was somewhat better imo. Later on I got a bit confused and struggeled to connect the story.

I didn't really feel the other characters which was a bit dissappointing.

I think that the best developed character was Shen Wei, he's actually really cute. He had an actual internal struggle throughout the story.

I somehow expected more? But it was a fun read overall.