Chang Geng and Gu Yun’s Relationship in Stars of Chaos (SPOILERS!)

This post is going to delve into one of the spiciest parts of the relationship between Chang Geng and Gu Yun in Stars of Chaos: their evolving relationship from child/godson and paternal figure/godfather to a romantic couple.

Overall Stars of Chaos (Sha Po Lang or 杀破狼 in the original Chinese) by priest is a 4/5 star book for me.  Packed with action and kisses, this story is fun, emotional, and well written in almost all ways.

This is the second of two blog posts reviewing Stars of Chaos.  You can read the first spoiler-free review here.  Read more below if you don’t mind some of the relationship-oriented parts of the book being thoroughly examined. Here there be spoilers.

At the beginning of the story, Chang Geng’s affection for Gu Yun is already transitioning from one of childhood affection for a parental figure to a crush.  Not an innocent crush either, but one involving multiple wet dreams in the first few chapters.  Not long into the story, though, Chang Geng and Gu Yun are separated by circumstances for a number of years.  I assumed that when they came back together as adults, they would essentially be strangers. I imagined they would slowly kindle an affection only distantly related to the infatuation Chang Geng had as a child for his godfather.

This assumption is likely showing my American cultural biases. I have noticed that there is more of a tendency in danmei books (at least compared to American romances) to lean into childhood affection and and youthful attraction as a meaningful form of desire rather than shying away from it. In fact, the entire trope of shizun/disciple relationships is a very common one in the genre, of which this is a variation.

In Stars of Chaos Gu Yun’s level of comfort with the relationship did mirror my own expectations for a while.  He initially rejects Chang Geng’s affections, and they only kiss under the life-or-death pressure of the city siege scene.  In facing imminent death, Chang Geng ignores Gu Yun’s previous rejection in favor of his own desires, and Gu Yun shares this moment of affection and intimacy without restraint.

As Gu Yun heals following the battle, he also faces the realization that kissing Chang Geng in return was not just a momentary impulse in the heat of battle.  He’s not as reticent in his feelings as he has pretended (to either himself, to Chang Geng, or to the world), but has slowly been developing deeper romantic impulses towards Chang Geng against his better nanture.  This growing self-recognition from Gu Yun, culminating in covertly stealing the flute Chang Geng made for a child, was delightfully romantic and moving.

This seems like a story of two adults falling in love despite their unusual child/godparent attachment at the beginning… right up until the first intimate scene.  In that scene, Chang Geng deliberately insists on calling Gu Yun “Yifu” (or godfather).  Gu Yun has worked hard to draw a line between their romantic relationship and their previous godfather/godson connection, but Chang Geng steamrolls right over that boundary.  It’s not just a throw-away diminutive either—Chang Geng insists on characterizing their intimacy through the lens of a godson serving his godfather. He also makes clear that he would be very open to the opposite scenario, in which his godfather takes full advantage of his godson.

My initial shock in reading this scene mirrored Gu Yun’s in the text. But also similarly to Gu Yun, my own discomfort as a reader translated quickly into smutty appreciation of the taboo.  For some this might be a step too far, but I thought that the author did an excellent job setting up Chang Geng and Gu Yun to have a taboo and kinky relationship in bed.

priest is well-known in the genre for her fade-to-black scenes.  The only exception I know of is a very brief but direct description in Lord Seventh (Qi Ye or 七爷 in Chinese).  Despite that, she writes some of the spiciest setups for sex in danmei.  Guardian is another good example of treading up to and then right over the line of taboo, and Stars of Chaos doesn’t disappoint on this front after all. I think these unwritten trysts can go head to head with the outright smut in some of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s work for sexiest scenes.

Before closing out this review, I want to bring up one more note of appreciation for the relationship building in Stars of Chaos.  In several of the extras, we get to see Chang Geng and Gu Yun as older and retired together.  So often, danmei focuses on younger people or immortals who experience the passage of time differently.  Even though this story takes place predominantly while the main characters are in their 20s and 30s, it was lovely to see them decades later drinking tea together, bantering and flirting as their hair turns silver.  priest wrote in the afterward that she thought of this story as something of a fairy tale, and I think she’s right in the best possible way.  I’m glad she shared it with us.