Copper Coins v 2 & 3 by Mu Su Li
Finished July 31, 2026
Great. I’ve been missing Yan Wushi lately but I didn’t want to reread Thousand Autumns (again/yet) so I thought this snarky dragon would scratch that itch. And he was fantastic.
My only regret (?) is that I read volume 1 so long ago; I didn’t remember too well what all was going on when I picked up volume 2, just that there was a sassy dragon, a stoic monk, and a ghost paper guy. But I got back into it quickly enough.
Anyway, after the previous post full of awful quotes, I wanted to share some things I actually like today.
From volume 2:
Even when half paralyzed, he couldn’t resist striking a pose. Xuanmin wondered what was wrong with him.
Absolutely one of my favorite character types.
Xuanmin glanced at Xue Xian’s sleeve and also looked away. Given his aversion to filth, even that one glance was pushing his limits. He was clearly exasperated and refused to cast a Cleansing Spell. Why bother, when it wouldn’t be enough to cleanse the image of rotting flesh from his mind? Instead, he drew a line across Xue Xian’s elbow with his finger and sliced the sleeve. It fell away as if cut by a knife, leaving Xue Xian’s arm bare from the elbow down. Xuanmin gripped the blood-smeared half sleeve and lit it on fire with a talisman without another word. Soon, it was reduced to ashes.
He sliced the sleeve. He’s a cut-sleeve, get it? I love it when they do this in danmei. Makes me go, “Oh you think you’re so clever.” (They are clever.)
Volume 3:
The chief ritualist hadn’t finished his exhalation when the slender, black-clad man beside the state preceptor turned and smirked at them. The smirk was both breathtakingly beautiful and unnervingly sinister, carrying a chilling edge as it curled the corner of his lips. The chief diviner and chief ritualist stiffened in alarm.
I love a good smirker.
It was only upon meeting Xue Xian that Tongdeng understood that his disciple was defenseless against creatures of the ever-troublesome variety. He’d begun to suspect Xuanmin only knew one response to Xue Xian: “All right.”
I know I compared Xue Xian to Yan Wushi earlier but Xuanmin kind of gave me Lan Wangji vibes. It wouldn’t do Copper Coins justice to say “smash Yan Wushi/Shen Qiao with Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian and you get Xuanmin/Xue Xian”…but if phrasing it that way makes you want to read the series, then by all means. But Xuanmin/Xue Xian really are fun on their own, no comparison necessary.
Also nice—as much as I enjoy long series—this was only 3 volumes in total. So pretty compact and everything gets handled sweetly & neatly by the end. Not a huge investment of time or money yet quite satisfying. And that fucking dragon is just great. Who doesn’t love dragons.
Rating: 4.5…though I don’t know what could’ve been better to make it a 5, really. I mean, it has a snarky, arrogant dragon. That should be 10 stars, a million stars at least. If you don’t believe me, just ask him.
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