Welcome back to the sixth day our book club read-along for OwlCrate's October book, Jade Fire Gold!
Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for Chapters 35-44 of Jade Fire Gold, so make sure you read are finished this section before continuing.
Discussion questions are listed below, and anyone who participates in the comments will be entered to win a free OwlCrate box!
The story continues...
Chapter 35:
Ahn is watching over Tang Wei, who thanks to the help of the healers is on the mend. Tang Wei tells Ahn that she needs to talk to Altan about what happened, but Ahn is resistant. She is angry about his lies. Tang Wei also insists she is getting on the ship with Ahn, injury or no. On Ahn’s part, after the fight in the forest she can now feel the pull of the sword in her chest.
Chapter 36:
They have been on board the ship for two weeks and will be arriving at the Dragon’s Triangle soon. The pull of the sword has become stronger for Ahn. Captain Yan tells them the story of when he was young and they entered the Dragon’s Triangle at the wrong time - If this happens you are forced to navigate the waters of the undead. The captain reveals that he knows who Altan is and that he accepted this dangerous journey as service to his country. He also mentions that every person that the Life Stealer kills goes to neither heaven nor hell, but instead they are lost souls that exist in limbo, following the Life Stealer and not letting go.
Altan goes to Ahn’s cabin and sits beside her as she sleeps. When she wakes and tells him she’s no longer angry, as she has other things to think about. When he goes to leave she asks him to stay and they fall asleep together.
Chapter 37:
Ahn awakes in the night wondering if she feels the same way Yuan Long felt after he used his magic. She vows to keep everyone safe from whatever is inside her. In the morning she pretends to sleep as Altan leaves the cabin.
Chapter 38:
Ahn awakes to an unnatural storm in the Dragon’s Triangle. Above deck the storm mysteriously abates, revealing a calm sea, but the captain knows something isn’t right and yells at everyone to get below deck. Before they can do so smoke curls up from the water and after someone slams her to the deck Ahn looks around and finds herself completely alone. Faces of smoke arise above her. She is thrown from the ship and in the deeps finds she can still breathe. She wonders if she’s dreaming. But no, the Soul Beast greets her with the White Jade Sword. It warns her that she is welcome to take the sword, but it will not be controlled. She takes it and as she ascends to the surface lost souls try to drag her down. She awakes back on deck with Altan, but as she looks down at the sword it’s not light - it’s black as night.
Chapter 39:
Altan forces Ahn away from the sword, picking it up himself. He can see she wants it, but that cannot happen.
Chapter 40:
It has been two weeks since Ahn found the sword, and they are on the way back to Cuihai Port. The sword is locked away in the captain’s cabin, and Ahn admits to herself that she desperately wants it. She wonders if her father knew it was the dark sword in the sea all along, and if she should have listened to Leiye’s warning. It’s too late.
Chapter 41:
Altan joins Ahn on deck and she tells him she knows her magic can’t kill him, but doesn’t know why. She makes him promise to stop her when the time comes if she falls in the darkness. He promises.
Chapter 42:
They see Nandah warships in the distance. They have come to sink them - the ambassador lied. Ahn refuses to leave and as they are attacked dashes to the captain’s office, bursting in and grabbing the sword. Back on deck she harnesses her magic and with a jolt of energy like lightening cleaves one of the enemy ships in two.
Chapter 43:
Ahn beckson Altan and Tang Wei into her room. She tells them her new plan is to go back to her father with the sword, claiming she’s doing so because they need to protect themselves from invasion after the Nandah attack. She’s going to rescue her grandmother and prevent her father from using the sword, and her, from creating an army of the undead, as the Soul Beast showed her.
Chapter 44:
With the help of the Lotus Sect they are able to contact Leiye back on shore. He helps Ahn sell her story to her father and it is evident her father wants to believe. Linxi has returned as her lady-in-waiting and she spends each evening with her father as he asks about the sword, and souls, and the Soul Beast. He won’t reveal yet where Ama is.
Leiye is set as her guard and they meet with Tai Shun one evening, Leiye warning her to tell him nothing. An attendant serves them tea courtesy of Her Magesty. After, Ahn is sent for by her father because he wants her to show him how she uses the sword. She agrees, and in the garden uses it to destroy a tree, but something feels different this time. Her father doesn’t seem concerned - he seems delighted as if a madman.
Questions:
- Why do you think the magic felt different when she showed the sword to her father?
- What do you think Ahn’s real plan is to stop her father?
- What do you think Tang Wei and Altan are doing while Ahn is in the palace?
- Any other predictions for the last section of the book?
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