游医 [Itinerant Doctor]

by Priest

2041年，有一种神奇的仪器诞生了，业内人士把它戏称为“投影仪”。
它能连接到人类的思想里，把复杂的思想投影成一到光怪陆离的现实空间里，这个空间可能稳定也可能不稳定，一切物理规律都是浮云，一切怪诞的事情都有可能发生。
于是一种全新的心理医师出现了，通过空间异化，把自己投入到思想投影空间里，在冒险中深入解读患者的病症根源。
于是……这是一个欢脱的冒险故事。

Genres: Fiction, China, Science Fiction, Fantasy, LGBT, Asia, Queer

549 pages, Unknown Binding

About the author

Associated Names:
* Priest
* พีต้า (Thai Profile)

Reviews

[Dilushani Jayalath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This maybe one of the shortest Priest novels I’ve read and one of the easiest to read. If you are one familiar with Priest, you’d know that generally her novels are not ones that are overly sappy romantic ones but ones that are full of character development, rather complex plot and intricate world building. For these to be achieved obviously the stories itself are long. This is what really makes her novels different from others.
With that said, this novel as I mentioned below is shorter and considerably less complex. This maybe due to the fact it’s a sequel and most of the backstory was already established. Then again the novel itself was something easier to perceive. The story dealt more with psychological aspects and rather than the normal military vs bad guys we have a journey of self awareness and pulling oneself out of their own demons.
In all Priest style I loved this as much as I did the others. The story was easier to get to but it does not mean it pales in comparison to her other novels. I basically loved all about it, especially our characters. As with Priest the ending wasn’t smooth sailing in every way. There were natural deaths occurring and few happy moments but at the end you’d feel a certain sense of relief or fulfillment. I wouldn’t mind another book in this franchise either. One that gives the life of our dear Chang Dou who entered my heart unknowingly. I could feel his apprehensive mood and I really wanted him to understand and find peace with himself.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is hard for me to review, but it’s because I have so much appreciation for it that it’s taken me a while to sort out my thoughts.

Most importantly – this is not a book to pick up lightly, and there are heavy trigger/content warnings to be mindful of, including mental health, suicide, self-harm, domestic abuse and trauma. I would recommend this book, but I would advise anyone interested in it to consider if it’s the right time for them to pick up a book with such heavy topics.

With that said, I loved this book. The sci-fi premise in this sequel is much more straightforward and simplified as compared to its predecessor, Ultimate Blue Seal. Whereas Blue Seal was primarily plot-driven with little emphasis on character and romantic development, Itinerant Doctor is much more character-driven with a simplistic plot and much more emphasis on the romantic development between Kou Tong and Huang Jinchen. You don't have to have read the prequel to understand Itinerant Doctor, but some characters reappear from Blue Seal in this storyline.

Essentially, Kou Tong developed a “projector” that pulls a subject’s consciousness into a false reality that he, as a psychologist, can also enter and observe how their subconscious mind processes any ailments, hidden trauma, or other mental health concerns of the patient. Huang Jinchen, a sniper who’s been denied his long-awaited retirement by the government, is paired up with Kou Tong to assist him with his work. Inevitably, the two end up trapped inside the projector world which has malfunctioned and pulled in too many subconscious minds into one space and they must figure out how to fix the projector and leave this alternate world by finding the other five people who were pulled in.

As a character-driven novel, Kou Tong ventures to learn about and understand these five people he’s seeking out, working with them to ease their mental health issues before their subconscious overloads and destroys the fragile world inside the projector. Each character’s mental health or traumatic backstory is explored, and as per the content warnings, some of these stories are extremely heavy and graphic. But alongside these heavier themes are messages of hope, growth, and seeking family and companionship in a reality that feels grim and cold. Huang Jinchen’s character arc, developing from a lone-wolf sniper who only sees others as potential targets in his scope slowly learns what love is and why it matters.

The humor, banter, and relationship between Kou Tong and Huang Jinchen is great. The two are introduced as very similar personalities, both a bit wild with a devil-may-care attitude, but with slight differences in their treatment of others—Kou Tong puts on a bright smile to reassure those around him while Huang Jinchen keeps an aloof distance between himself and anyone he may need to eventually put a bullet through. But as the story progresses, these characters become much more complex, as we learn Kou Tong’s smile is not as genuine as it appears, and Huang Jinchen’s cold exterior isn’t as bulletproof as he believes.

Itinerant Doctor was not perfect, nor is it Priest’s best work—there are some dropped threads and underdeveloped plot points and characters. You’re also left with a few gaps here and there in some characters’ backstories that detract from their overall character arcs. Kou Tong and Huang Jinchen actually share a childhood experience (a mysterious “Seed Project” that they were both a part of) but unfortunately this is one of the plot points left underdeveloped and leaves you with more questions than answers. Qin Qin is one of five characters who consciousness is shaping the false world everyone is pulled into, but she had relatively no character arc nor development, despite being a very powerful “enemy” in the altered reality world.

As far as endings go, this is one of the more complete, wrapped-up endings that Priest has written. But not everyone receives a happy ending, and this was yet another reason I had to take a bit to process my thoughts and feelings on the book as a whole. Ultimately, the emphasis on mental health in this book is very heavy, and I had to take several breaks to decompress while reading it. However, Priest handles the subject matter very well, never treating it too lightly or like a mere plot-device, but with the seriousness and weight it requires. Although heavy, it is discussed realistically and underscored with a message of hope.

As a bonus, the extras are phenomenal. (As another bonus, if you love Fei Du from Silent Reading, you will love Kou Tong.)

Although in a person’s life, suffering was continuous and happiness was scattered, because of a few scattered points on the boundless line, people still felt full of hope.

[Zita Azlina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the night was still approaching, they were together now.
Not before, not later; now.

= FIRST OF ALL, before I wrote down what I thought about this, I would like to warn you that this book HEAVILY discussed suicide, self-harm, ptsd, depression, delusional disorder, abuse, dead family members, and bipolar disorder. This book also graphically described self-harm, suicide, and violence. I WOULD not recommend you to read this when you have these triggers. The ending will especially ruined you so bad. Please don't read this if you're easily triggered by this. =



I keep hesitating between giving this book a complete 5 stars or a solid 4 stars....

Well, you see, this book is actually okay. It's not bad, and it's not the bestest one either. More like, a good enough book to be read, and especially memorable one.

But it was kinda hard to sit still yourself for some hours to finish this book. really.

Here is the thing: if this book were to be compared to the first book, which is Zhongji Lanyin, this book is a underwhelming and a little too low. ZJLY is a masterpiece written by a goddess, on the other hand this book feels like it was written by.. uh.. well, human being. Excluding all the writing style and the main moral value, this book is like the walmart version of ZJLY.

I'm not saying that it was so dissapointing it was unbearable, i'm not saying that it was so much different that people won't paid for, nor was it so ugly it ruined the whole franchise. This book is good, yes! I love the concept and the plot. But once again, if it were to be compared to zjly.... Well.. i'm sorry i guess.

You see, there are actually quite a lot of things that make you hooked up enough to read this in one-go. The concept is 100% unique. It's style Priest's writing style; full of sciences and philosophies, sometimes poets sometimes methaporics. 100% the main concept is original 100% it was extraordinary. If you especially in love with science-fiction, especially in love with science, this book will still giving that all.

All the mental health talks in this book also, is quite sufficient to fulfill your curiosity. Every of their mental problem was described quite okay with the methapors, even though it's also a little bare minimum, but it was good enough to read.

I also loved the ending. Not because I think they deserve it nor because I am cold-hearted or something. But it was realistic. The message is clear and blatant: "Healing depression is not easy, letting go of one desire will also never be easy. Seek professionals for a few times, because one time healing isn't a miracle that would instantly clear you like it's on TV." So it was realistic, it encourages the readers that it was important to actually seek help to cure mental healths. Thus there will be no one holding on to false hope.

After all the concept and the plot are fairly good, the moral values and conclusions are realistic and deep, and all the deep and dark theme discussed within were very seriously taken.

BUT there are also a lot of things that would make you groan in hate when you read this.

1. Huang Jinchen.

It's very hard to actually love him. Yeah, I mean, he's okay, I guess. But to be able to love him... Well, I wouldn't lie that i could emphatize with him only after I am on the 40s something chapters. Yes, and this book has 60 chapters in total. LOL.

It's not like he was annoying to some extent that I can't bear it. It's not like he treated Kou Tong badly either. It's just... How do I say it... Idk I just really can't stand him for some reason... Like.. I really want him to shut up whenever he talks.

But maybe that was just my own opinion being a hindrance. I think there are quite a lot of people who actually like him since the beginning. Plus I love him so much at the 40+ chapters, he become especially funny and likeable, and he treated Kou Tong very well, so actually he's not bad.

Anyway he's still the funniest Priest's characters LOL.

2. Tons of bullshit that could've been rephrased to something more efficient

priest's writing in this book was especially like this:

"She's hungry."

Rephrased with:
"The metabolism system in that girl's body was then triggered by the lack of components to retrieve energy. That particular trigger was then sent to a certain part in the lobus frontal which would process the meaning of the signals then sent some responses signals to her stomach and let out rumbles to declare its urgent needed of some fulfillment after being assessed. If those urgent signal was ignored and dragged out too long, all of her organs would react at the same time which could create some complexity that led her to weakness."

AND I'M LITERALLY NOT JOKING.

Yes, I knew, this was always been priest's writing style all along. This book is a science fiction, she was an expert in this field, this book's heavy concept was on its motherfucking science things. But I don't know why this writing style kinda bother me in this book. There are tons of scenes that could've been deleted because it has nothing to do with the story, the development of the characters or the relationships. There are tons of unnecessary explanation about things that don't even vital. There are tons of dragged explanation that could've been summed up in one practical sentences.

If all those unnecessary scenes was reduced to a half, this book would be much shorter than the initial one. For my holy God's sake. What is the point of having a full of knowledge books and aesthetically methaporics if your readers can't stand it?

3. There are tons of deep things that could've been dived into rather than anything else.

For example, Kou Tong's dark past. For example, Manman's life. For example, He Xiaozhi's life. For example, Qin Qin's development. For example, The fucking explanation about the Seed Project that was exist for God's know what fucking purpose. For example, the mysterious girl talking in code with Kou Tong that also serve no purpose. For example, Kou Tong's dream.

If you are willing to add more spices to the food, don't add it on a bare minimum amount that you would let the eater only taste the surface feeling of it. DIVE DEEPER. We don't eat raw foods.

Well, those three are the main things that bothers me the most; the reason why one star is missing from my rating. Although there are also a lot of things that make me hate this book, like it was unreasonably boring at some point, but it was forgiveable because of the last few chapters are good.

Anyways, even with these three things, this book is still worth a try nevertheless. There is at least one Kou Tong's development that is good to follow, there are a lot of painful life you would witness to make you emphatize with people better, there are tons of psychology x science aspects that would make me fascinated. The plot is unique. The humours are good. Huang Jinchen's and Kou Tong's relationship are also funny to follow. The worldbuilding is good. The painful ending is good. The diverse characters with deep and dark lifes are good.

AND the extra where Su Qing, Kou Tong, Huang Jinchen, and Hu Bugui finally met each other, and the details about Chang Dou's and Fang Xin's relationship, is the funniest scene to ever exist and it was the bestest part of this book.

Anyway it okay to follow, maybe you should put more of efforts but it wasn't that bad.

Initially 3/5 to 4.25/5 thanks to the extras.

Anyway I feel so bad for He Xiaozhi and Qin Qin. I really hope people would paid more attention to people like them. I really hope so.

It was a relief that at least Manman and Yao Shuo could strive.

And a relief that their relationship are extending to some degrees and I would paid some pennies for Priest to make a book about their journey as a wanderer. :D

Anyways.

P.s. Yes you are right. The additional 1.25 stars were thanks to the emotional scene when they are going back to the real world and the scene where Su Qing putting on an act to make HJC jealous. Funniest shit ever.
P.s.s. This is the first time I'm not really interested on researching Priest's science idea. Projector sounds like a bad idea.
P.s.s.s. I really love Chang Dou
P.s.s.s.s. Am i the only one who think that Kou Tong would be friends with Fei Du? LMAOO.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a spin-off of a novel called The Ultimate Blue Seal (终极蓝印) and in terms of enjoyability, I think I enjoyed this a bit more because it wasn't as complicated. Or maybe it was because I was already familiar with the world. This book focuses on Kou Tong (MC) and Huang Jinchen (ML). If you've read The Ultimate Blue Seal already, you might know them. KT is an itinerant doctor and HJC is probably the top sniper in their world. I don't want to spoil too much but just know that they're both good guys.

The beginning of the novel was mostly about KT and HJC getting to know each other while they worked on projects together. I really liked KT and HJC's dynamics, they were similar people in many ways but they were also quite different and them being together was always a fun time because they shared the same type of humour. And they found each other at the right time, I would say, perhaps when they needed each other the most. One grounded the other and made the other feel a little bit more human.

This novel had heavier emphasis on psychology and things started to get interesting when the Projector (KT's proudest invention) malfunctions and pulls him, HJC and five other people into another dimension, a place where their deepest desires are fulfilled. The side characters were interesting because they were so different from each other and they made the story feel more complete, I feel.

The story also made me feel quite sad, it's not something obvious but it's something that priest subtly brings up time to time throughout the novel when she described their situations and the way she described depression was very real and she didn't sugarcoat it, I think. Most of her characters always go through some really terrible sh*t and this is no different, especially when this novel was concerned about psychology and different mental problems. The ending wasn't a happy one for everyone but I do believe that it was a realistic ending, considering everything that happened in the novel.

[Heather Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a simpler story than Blue Seal. Instead of having to save the world, Kou Tong and Huang Jinchen have to save themselves (and a few other people).

I'm not going to say anything about the science in this, but I did like the idea of the Projector and how the interconnected consciousnesses worked in general. Having to keep the balance while finding a way out made for an interesting story, especially with that little miss on the loose.

Of course, above all I loved my doctor princess and his knight. They made every scene they were in enjoyable. Any the FLIRTING. Oh the flirting. <3 <3 <3

My only qualm with this story is that there isn't more of them. Perhaps the Chang Dou extras could have been added to Blue Seal (b/c I totally wanted more of his story after reading Blue Seal), and we could have had more Kou Tong/Huang Jinchen fluff? Also, although I was happy to get more Chang Dou I really would love to see Fang Xiu's POV.

Overall, this is definitely on my fav danmei of all time list.

[Khyie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last sentence of the English summary says this is a cheerful adventure story. This is a blatant fucking lie. On the one hand, the main relationship between Kou Tong and Huang Jinchen is, for the most part, straight forward. They meet, they get on like a house on fire, they flirt, and then they fall in love. This is the lightest part of this novel and the main story is focused on an inception-like psychological tool that malfunctions and drags in 7 unrelated individuals, creating a world where they each get what they desire most but this all depends on a fragile balance as one of them being removed can destroy the whole world and have unknown but likely deadly consequences for the rest of them.
Kou Tong and Huang Jinchen try to gather together as many of the subjects (I really want to say dreamers because a lot of the concept of the Projector reminded me of Inception) as they can to help with balancing their mental happiness but they can't bring over everyone and it turns into a sort of conflict with one of the subjects, a young girl with paranoia and delusions who has found herself in a world that complete validates her delusions and she sees them as intruders trying to destroy her kingdom.
Over the course of roughly 10 days, they build a small, happy little family group while trying to get back out which only makes this all the more devastatingly sad because not everyone wants to leave and this is absolutely not going to end happily for all of them.
While this story does touch a lot on themes that Priest likes to explore in their novels, the main focus on this one seems to be how life is not always fair and that you can't always help everyone. Most of these people have heavy psychological burdens that affect them in a lot of ways (the paranoid/delusional girl, an abused child who can't speak, a teenager with extreme depression and self-harm/suicidal tendencies, a man buckling under societal pressure, an old man literally on the brink of death, and then Kou Tong and Huang Jinchen themselves, the former of whom lost his mother at a very young age and the reason why is heartbreaking, and the latter of whom was raised pretty much since birth and genetically modified to be an almost inhumanly talented assassin) and they each get a perfect resolution to their problems in this fake world. It makes it very hard for some of them to be willing to give it up.
It's a good story but definitely a tragic ending for some of the characters.

Why not 5 stars?
I couldn't believe how quickly this story was flying by in general and some things I felt did suffer a lot so others could shine. Specifically Huang Jinchen. I really enjoyed him as a character and I was kind of looking forward to a deeper dive into his own psychology, especially since it was clear from the beginning of the story that while he could fake a relatively normal personality, his inner monologue showed he had extreme difficulties seeing other people as anything other than targets and especially looked down on people he regarded as "weak" because he didn't understand how they could possibly continue to survive.

[pareidolia · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Life is impermanence. [...] Perpetual things can never be called life.”

The sequel to The Ultimate Blue Seal, and, as I already expected, I liked this one a lot better - not really surprising, considering the novel employs one of my favorite SFF tropes of travelling into the human (sub)consciousness. The human mind is a vast playground with sheer endless possibilities for storytelling (which come with sheer endless possibilities of inflicting pain), and I like to see how different authors approach the subject. Priest chooses a rather scientifically-oriented, pseudo-realistic way with only a bit of surrealism and dream logic thrown in. In context, this approach works well. And so, seven "conscious subjects", mind and body both, get stuck in a volatile space created by the so-called Projector, a space where all their deepest wishes come true.

Among the people stuck are Dr. Kou Tong, the Projector's creator, and retired sniper Huang Jinchen, both already known from TUBS. I greatly enjoyed their "and they were both tops" dynamic. But there's more to them than shameless flirting and amusing banter; both wear masks, hide behind several layers of protective armor. Trapped in the projection space, the armor inevitably cracks, and now they both have to deal with the consequences and wounds of the past.

I was pleasantly surprised by the well researched use of tarot in this story; I graciously ignored the use of group theory, because fuck algebra; the use of psychology is unfortunately often textbook stereotypical, especially the references to delusion and autism - the biggest flaw in an otherwise well developed story. Apart from that, the character writing is excellent, as I've come to expect from Priest.

[ThatReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3

The best thing about this novel is not the romance. In fact, the romance kind of actually sucks, if I'm to be honest, too fast, too unrealistic, no chemistry between the characters other than what the author tells us - instead of showing, though there were some bits and pieces that, if more fleshed out, would have provided the exact amount of heartfelt emotion I fear this novel lacks, in terms of the main CP.
What I loved about this one, though, was how the other characters were so present, so vivid, so real, and provided such a deep exploration of the human soul and heart, of the human mind, its fragilities and its strengths. I liked the worldbuilding a lot, and the manner in which Dr Kou himself is made to face his own issues, those bits about his parents were very good. It's a fast read, and it won't bore you, but is ist Priest's best? No. I don't know which one was first written, if this one or Mo Du, but I could actually feel the ground being laid for Mo Du's MCs in this one, like the author was doing some sort of foundation work, experimental and tentative, that later would lead to what I consider much of a masterpied. It is still a well worth read, it's super fast, super small for a danmei webnovel and super entertaining as well. And yes, the romance may not be spot on, but it's a story that will make you think.

[Rebeca F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the simpler books by Priest I've read, and by that I mean that it's not as complex and convoluted as the rest of their works, it's also a lot shorter, but it's still pretty intense. In fact, it actually made me feel pretty depressed and conflicted nearing the end because I could really understand the character's dilemma, it hit too close to home.
I loved the premise of the novel, the whole plot was absolutely fascinating and the characters felt well developed and flawed, some being really endearing.
It's a spin off of another novel which I haven't read, but I had no idea until I was too deep into the story.
It follows Dr. Kou Tong, a genius psychologist, and his parter, an ex deadly sniper, as they enter the projector, a machine that develops a different dimension to solve the psychological issues of a retired military and there's a malfunction and they're trapped in a dimension with 4 other random people where their consciousness overlap and all their wishes come true.
As usual with Priest's novels, the romance is not the focus and in this one it's a bit weird, rushed and just not too believable, but one doesn't read Priest for the romance. The plot, as always, is so interesting it's hard to put this one down.

[tachyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

was told there would be 'group theoretic worldbuilding' and wasn't disappointed. love the weird math/philosophy and found family. rip to anyone who doesn't know algebra though. the pacing was good but I really enjoyed the solutions to the cards and would have absolutely read through disabling all 22 of them. a really interesting little thought-experiment-novel, my only complaint is wanting more.

spoilery edit: originally complained about the whole 'kou tong is death' thing being referenced once and never brought back but then I realized it wasn't forgotten - he's qin qin's death, the hope-bringing card, to all of them at first, and later becomes literal death as the person who removes them from heaven

[Pao · Rating 4 out of 5]

really liked this one, has angst, sadness, comedy, but u should read the content warnings...

I think I enjoyed more this than the ultimate blue seal, just bc it was easier to understand for me.

It's short but has a great plot. As always priest' books are amazing

[ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[glau · Rating 5 out of 5]

su qing, kou tong e fei du entram num bar

[reni · Rating 5 out of 5]

priest, now you're just straight up asking me to want to marry you, well say no more, because I WILL

i have so many feelings about this book, priest's characterization is just out of this world, i don't know how she does it, oh my god. i need some time to think about this book.

anyway, spoiler alert:

huang jinchen was such a strange character, the way he reacted to his own feelings was almost childlike (it reminded me of a toddler taking their first steps and then trying to immediately run), which makes so much sense given his backstory, but i honestly never expected him to be so straightforward and brave about them, like he just thought about his own emotions a little and then blurted them out honestly at the first opportunity (if i think about it a little bit more, it makes SO MUCH SENSE for him to be like this, he witnessed so much death, and yeah of course, it didn't affect him the way he thought it would or should but it did affect him in a different way apparently).

and kou tong?? oh my god i'm glad huang jinchen demanded hugs from time to time because boy, kou tong needed them. i really, really, really want to write something from his POV, break down his complicated emotions about huang jinchen and hjc's feelings for him and why he was so hesitant to accept them. that scene when he told jinchen what happened to his mom?? that was beautiful.

also, shoutout to my man lao tian, he's my new favourite side character, i loved him from the very first time he showed up but then dude went and died out of spite, i respect that.

also, also: priest i will not forgive you for he xiaozhi, you better sleep with one eye open

[Miryam · Rating 4 out of 5]

😍🥲😍