The Husky and His White Cat Shizun vol. 2 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun vol 2. by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

The second volume of The Husky and His White Cat Shizun continues exactly where the first volume left things; even the chapter numbering continues. Mo Ran, his fellow disciples Shi Mei and Xue Meng, and their Shizun, Chu Wanning, are in a mortal peril at the bottom of a lake while trying to acquire divine weapons.

Their situation isn’t as random an event as they thought. It turns out that a dangerous adversary is targeting Mo Ran; one he had no knowledge of in his previous life. Wherever he and his group go, there the opponent already is. So where did he come from? And is he after Mo Ran’s golden core or is it something more personal?

Mo Ran’s difficult relationship with his Shizun takes an unexpected turn. First, Chu Wanning starts having visions of Mo Ran’s past life that involve him, mainly the parts about sexual abuse. And then a poisoning he’s suffered at the bottom of the lake turns him into a six-year-old.

Chu Wanning doesn’t want anyone to know, so he pretends to be a new disciple and befriends Mo Ran who takes him as his little brother. Together, they explore their childhood traumas of being abandoned and treated badly. There’s some healing, but also new hurts as neither of them understands love or affection. And it doesn’t quite carry into their adult relationship either—Mo Ran is yet to repent the way he treated Chu Wanning in the past—so the romance doesn’t really evolve.

Mo Ran continues to meet people from his past and see them in a new light as the events unfold differently. The biggest shock for him is coming across the woman he ended up marrying in his previous life—and hating. But it may be there’s something odd about Chu Wanning’s past too that is also trying to catch up with him.

I think the second volume is even better than the first. Mo Ran keeps growing, even if he lapses a few times; there are some great adventures, and the character relationships evolve. The ending isn’t quite the nail-biting cliff-hanger than in the first volume, but it leaves Mo Ran in a new and difficult position—which he has no idea about. I can’t wait to read the next volume.