Ginseng & Yew [人蔘 x ᚔ ]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A Tale of the Jade Road. (Original work, not MTL)

[Cross-posting to Wattpad and Scribblehub.]

Cover art by Lemntii 2025.

"I hurt, human children.""I can take it from ye, if ye want.""You cannot. He took them, and crushed them into blood. Take my hurt, you say? But it is all I have left of them."

Healer Yuen Sou Yuet has somehow found themselves saddled with a travelling companion, a gender-shifting, trouble-making necromancer. They're stuck with each other - Sou Yuet must undergo a trial to prove their worthiness as successor to the Yuen Mei School of Healing, whilst the necromancer essentially requires a parole officer after committing multiple crimes and continuously escaping imprisonment.And so the unlikely duo travel from country to country, investigating the disappearance of legendary creatures across the world. Turns out there's a lot to know about life and death.

What to expect:* A meeting between Eastern and Western fantasy* Daoist cultivation and Celtic magic* Non-binary MCs* Philosophising about life and death

The Tales of the Jade Road are a collection of stories set in the same universe, a historical East Asian-inspired fantasy world where the East and the West are linked by a long trading route, the Jade Road. Other Tales include:I'm really not the Saviour!,Eitsu's Nine Lives(Wattpad and Scribblehub only) andAt the Water's Edge.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2023
Author: Frankie Cheng

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 29
Views: 21,677

Reviews

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Community Reviews(2)

dar2de2Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've not read a story in many years that made me devour the characters and plot as quickly as this writer has.
I can see myself for the first time portrayed in both the monk and necromancer, their struggles, their desires, traumas and how they react to them.
The story itself being focused basically on ensuring justice for missing legendary mystical creatures and discovering what happened to them - it's rather refreshing to have a sense of home in a story like this where identity isn't made as this sideshow commodity.
I especially love the touches between Eastern and Western mythology (and the accompanying explanatory notes at the bottom of each chapter). As someone with Irish heritage and a fascination with all things mythology, this story is right up my alley and again, in that mythological aspect, was like coming home. It's been a long time since I've been able to properly read like I did when I was younger and not as burnt out, and this story I suspect, has kick-started my foray back into something I love with all my heart. Not an easy thing to do when I've tried multiple times over the years with different author styles, different formats, different stories.... so kudos to the author for making the flow engaging, chapters, succinct enough to devour but long enough to capture attention (and short enough to be enticed to the next chapter....I may have read 20 chapters in 2 hours and now will be waiting for each chapter as they come out, ready to binge again).
The only fault I can mention is a couple of spelling errors sprinkled throughout, but I am certain this will be captured easily in revision as the author intends to do and has mentioned in some of the chapters. Otherwise, this is a 10/10 publication. Well worthy of a read and perhaps one day, a hardcover.
TDLR: If you're looking for an engaging mythological original story with mythology, action, lore, trauma, trust and love between genderfluid/nonbinary MCs, I would recommend this story thoroughly.
Note: Shou
GuylhannRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
[Review Swap]
So, I didn't know what to expect from this story, to be honest. It's not my type of book, and I never read anything like it. Nonetheless, it was really enjoyable to read.
The style is, for lack of better words, peculiar. There are a ton of transliterations, which made me personally a bit confused at times, even with the explanations of the author in the side notes. Alongside that, I've often found myself trying to understand who's talking, due to the frequent gender swap that the necromancer would do or the lack of clarity surrounding the monk. But even with these "issues" which are probably intended by the author, it's really enjoyable to read.
On the part of the grammar, I don't have much to say, besides that some sentences sound a little weird. I'm not exactly sure, perhaps that's because I'm not a native English speaker, but sometimes it feels like words are missing. Nothing that stopped me from enjoying the read, though.
The story is pretty great so far. It's not overly complicated, there are legendary creatures who disappeared and the monk is charged to check on the issue while keeping an eye on the necromancer. It's simple, efficient, and lets us see the development of the characters which is a much more important subject in the author's eyes. Simple yet entertaining story. Careful though, it's not because I'm saying that it's simple that there is nothing to it. The world seems excellently built, even if, I'm not going to lie, it also feels a little confusing at times, but that might be because I'm not familiar with the Eastern culture, or xianxias and wuxia in general
The characters are probably the best part. If you're the kind to get scared by the gender-bending tag, like me, well, don't worry. It's used pretty well, mostly to give interesting interactions between the two main MCs. Their development, even in "only" twenty chapters, is well done. I don't know how else I could explain it, but I simply really enjoyed their relationship.
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