Line #34 Literature/ZhenHun


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zhenhun_cover_7.png]]
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3	''[[http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=1673146 Zhen Hun]]'' (镇魂), or more commonly known as ''Guardian'', is a fantasy ''danmei'' WebNovel written by Creator/{{Priest\|Author}}.
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5	The story is as follows: Zhao Yunlan is the chief of the Special Investigation Department (SID), an organisation that doesn't officially exist. Together with his team of special beings, he solves cases of the strange and bizarre. While investigating a spate of homicides that happens at a university, he encounters Shen Wei, a man who is much more than he seems.
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7	''Zhen Hun'' received a LiveActionAdaptation, ''Series/{{Guardian}}'', which aired on Youku from June 13 to July 25, 2018 with a total of 40 episodes. It stars Zhu Yilong as Shen Wei and Bai Yu as Zhao Yunlan. The live-action drama is a ''very'' loose adaptation of the novel's plot.
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9	An audio drama is available on [=MissEvan=], but the episodes (two so far) are released sporadically. A Japanese drama CD adaptation was also greenlit, but so far no other details have been given.
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11	The novels are licensed in English by Creator/SevenSeasEntertainment, with the first volume being released in August 29, 2023.
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14	!! ''Zhen Hun'' provides examples of:
15	%%* AssholeVictim: The fruit cart arc.
16	* AdaptationDeviation: See the live-action drama, which isn't allowed due to censorship to mention anything in the last two arcs of the novel
17	%%* BadLiar: Characters who lie in the novel are typically very bad at it, though that doesn't stop them from lying.
18	%%* CelestialBureaucracy: Complete with burning paper money and the Yamas of the Ten Halls of Difu.
19	* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Zhao Yunlan smokes. A lot. And starts smoking more as various elements of the plot get harder to deal with.
20	%%* CowardlyLion: Guo Changcheng. The SIU even makes him a weapon that works based on him being scared.
21	%%* CrapsackWorld: the world behind Nuwa's Giant Seal is very much this. Also, the world where the Little Ghost King was born wasn't much better.
22	%%* DarkSecret: Everybody's keeping them, most often from Zhao Yunlan; Chu Shuzhi is keeping one as well.
23	%%* DealWithTheDevil: Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei both seem to be rather fond of making these.
24	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Most of SIU is made up of these characters.
25	%%* DueToTheDead: What Guo Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi do in the last arc.
26	%%* EldritchAbomination: The ghost ribe are all pretty eldritch.
27	%%* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt
28	%%* FromBadToWorse: The final arc of the novel is this.
29	%%* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Subverted! Though not for lack of trying.]]
30	%%* HilarityEnsues
31	%%* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Guo Changcheng.
32	* JudgementOfTheDead: Subverted. Zhao Yunlan is not very happy with the Yamas of the Ten Halls of Difu when he sits before them, and he is absolutely not there to be judged: he is there to do some judging.
33	%%* KarmaMeter: The Ink Brush of Virtue.
34	%%* KarmicDeath: Ghosts are allowed to get exact their karmic revenge on people by the rules of the afterlife, unless the person they want to exact their revenge on is under the age of seven.
35	* MeetTheInLaws:
36	** Zhao Yunlan brings Shen Wei to meet his parents at one point. Only his mom is there. She asks why he's brought over a friend as he typically doesn't bring friends home. Zhao Yunlan [[spoiler:comes out to his mom, who actually reacts surprising realistically for someone who is not homophobic but lives in a homophobic country, worrying about his job if his co-workers find out. He reassures her that there is no reason to be concerned and then says that Shen Wei is perfect. She then proceeds to joke with him and is very happy.]]
37	** Shen Wei is revealed to [[spoiler:already have been in contact with Zhao Yunlan's dad]].
38	** Zhao Yunlan's dad is less approving.
39	%%* Muggles: Guo Changcheng [[spoiler:subverted]].
40	%%* MoralityAdjustment: Shen Wei and Chu Shuzhi both get one of these over the course of the novel.
41	%%* MotherNature: Nuwa.
42	%%* Fridged Mom: Subverted.
43	* NervesOfSteel: It is worth noting that though Zhao Yunlan remembers everything by the time he's standing before the Yan Kings, he's still completely human and if he died then, he would still have to be judged by the Yan Kings or just disappear. Still, when they're panicking, he is just sitting there waiting for them to agree to his conditions.
44	%%* ObfuscatingStupidity: Zhao Yunlan is very fond of doing this to multiple characters in the novel.
45	* OneTrueLove: Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei. [[spoiler:You don't get much more soulmates than one person literally giving his tendons and one of his soul-fires to the other once upon a time, the other refusing to accept the first one's death and getting him put on the wheel of reincarnation and in exchange watching his post for five thousand years and agreeing not to see him as long as he's alive. Then when the first one finds out about this, he's totally willing to live in bliss with him for a few years then die permanently with him when the time comes]]
46	%%* OurGhostsAreDifferent
47	%%* SealedEvilInACan: The Ghost Tribe.
48	%%* SmarterThanYouLook: Again, Zhao Yunlan acts like he's not that smart on the surface, but give him one clue and he'll figure out a lot.
49	%%* StableTimeLoop: Sort of - subverted in a fix-it extra written after the drama came out.
50	* SymbioticPossession: A Bowl of Shennong's that somehow cultivated to immortality is symbiotically possessing [[spoiler:Zhao Yunlan's father]].
51	%%* TimeAbyss: Pan Gu, Fuxi, Nuwa, and Shennong all qualify as this.
52	%%* TwoPersonLoveTriangle
53	%%* YaoiGenre: Explicitly so.

Context Literature / ZhenHun