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ghost_valley2021-08-13 02:26 pm
shadaras) wrote in ghost_valley2021-08-13 02:26 pm
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[WoH Rewatch] Episode 10
If you missed it last week, this thread about WKX’s hairpins was a great discussion!
Episode 10! The episode that got me to start writing fic for this show because I had too many feelings.
Also, a bunch of stuff happens that I’d forgotten about! (because my memory of this episode is 90% just the wenzhou bits...) Which is cool!
List of Scenes
WKX sadly digging a grave for the Four Sages
ZZS and WKX have a Break-Up Conversation
ZZS angsting at Yuefan Tower
WKX angsting/drinking in a brothel
ZZS drinking at the inn
Gao Chong worries that the bad things happening to the Five Lakes Alliance might not all be Ghost Valley’s fault
Shen Shen explains how he followed Ao Laizi the night Ao Laizi died
Yu Qiufeng is upset that his disciples were involved in the Four Sages debacle
ZZS wakes up, Han Ying tries to help him/pledge yet more loyalty to him, and ZZS walks away
Tao Hong, Lv Liu, and Huang He grumble about the fake glazed armor
Chengling and Gu Xiang talk about how Chengling doesn’t like it in Yueyang Sect; in the middle of this Xiaolian comes in and Chengling is very cold towards her (because Gao Chong wants them to marry)
Gu Xiang talks to WKX, sharing all the information she knows. WKX asks if he’s crazy.
Gao Chong tells his disciples to continue preparing for the Heroes Conference
Xiaolian tells Gao Chong she doesn’t want to marry Chengling; Gao Chong is upset about this
Gu Xiang and CWN have a nice meal, and Gu Xiang does some spy stuff
Liu Qianqiao sees WKX’s summons for her on a noticeboard
The Ghost Council
- Asking Xisang Gui about Danyang Sect
- Questioning the ghosts about Mirror Lake Sect
- Killing Bai Wuchang
- Declaring intent to ruin the Heroes Conference
Timeline or Something
It’s very hard to tell how much time passes here! Multiple days seems likely (Xiaolian’s gotten fed up with Chengling’s coldness towards her, among other things), but we’re only explicitly shown one night.
However, at the end of the episode (during the ghosts’ meeting), WKX says that the Heroes Conference is in two days.
Recap
This episode opens with a shot of the Four Sages’ bodies neatly laid out on white gravel (which looks like snow) that’s covered in fallen yellow-orange leaves (which look rather like the ghost valley paper). Wen Kexing is using a sword to dig a grave, and he keeps going at it even when the sword breaks.
ZZS approaches, and WKX looks up at him briefly. Neither of them are happy, but WKX almost smiles for a moment at seeing ZZS anyway. WKX tries to joke about ZZS’s “bloodlust” and the bodycount that follows the pair of them around, but when ZZS doesn’t respond, WKX instead shifts to the topic of the jianghu being full of evil and it being hard to live and hoping the Four Sages can rest in peace.
WKX says the Four Sages’ death was unjust, almost like an apology, and goes back to digging the grave. ZZS finally speaks, voice full of restrained anger, and tells WKX that he won’t fight him (but also clearly implies the Four Sages’ death is WKX’s fault). Then he kneels, and grabs WKX’s hand on the hilt of the sword, and asks, “Are you happy now?”
ZZS’s face is so open as he demands these answers from WKX, and WKX’s teetering on the edge of grief and laughter. He tosses the sword (and ZZS’s hand) aside, then looks ZZS in the eyes to ask if “Zhou-shouling” can say he’s “only ever killed bad people”, which definitely hits ZZS where it hurts. They stare into each other’s eyes, equally hurt by everything, before ZZS simply says, “Good. Very good.” and then leaves.
Neither of them are happy about this, really.
The next scene shows ZZS at Yuefan Tower, looking out over the same view they’d shared the previous day and thinking about WKX’s question.
He flashes back to his time in TC; first when he’d killed a young child, and then to the events of ep1 before he left. He sighs, thinks about how he’d thought WKX was his soulmate, and wonders how people like them could bear to be asked about their lives like this. He calls this thought his mistake, as Han Ying looks on sadly from the background.
WKX is in a brothel, surrounded by women and showing them all his copies of the glazed armor. I am made very sad by the musical cue playing that I associate with family. WKX is sad, and probably already somewhat drunk, and definitely out to get more drunk. “Valuable things are rarely sturdy,” he says when asked about the glazed armor, and then he distracts the women by telling them he’ll pay them for drinking with him.
He thinks about how he told ZZS he wanted to eliminate evil in the jianghu, and that demons wear human skins and he wants to expose them.
ZZS is also drunk! He is at the inn, at a table by himself, surrounded by empty wine jars. I do not want to count them. I think there are at least ten. He was also thinking about that scene. He’s being watched by the proprietor, who seems perhaps a bit worried. ZZS says that “ignorant people always create trouble for themselves” (which is indeed what WKX did), then laughs and realises he’s out of wine and needs more.
WKX has out-drunk all the women, but at least there’s evidence that they were eating food too. He’s rather more upright than ZZS, and still looks very sad. He says (technically asking the one semi-conscious woman remaining, but really just talking to himself), “Have you ever experienced this? There was something you really wanted, but it disappeared. You thought you would never find it again. But years later, it appeared again.” The girl thinks this is a good thing (something lost has returned), and WKX continues: “But as time goes by, you can’t afford to have it anymore.”
This is all a very un-subtle description of how he feels about ZZS. It also only makes sense as being so pointedly about ZZS on a rewatch when one knows about Zhen Yan/WKX’s past. Otherwise, it feels more generally about WKX’s relationship with humanity. And that’s still applicable! There’s a lot of overlap there! But it’s interesting how differently the speech hits when it’s clear how every single bit of it is just about ZZS.
The scene ends there, and we move to Yueyang Sect. Shen Shen comes up to Gao Chong, and admits that Feng Xiaofeng got away from him, but he’ll make sure to avenge the Four Sages after the Heroes Conference. Gao Chong asks about funeral arrangements for the Four Sages, and Zhao Jing tells him that everything’s prepared, but someone had dug half a grave. He wonders if it could be the beggars, but Gao Chong thinks that’s unlikely.
Shen Shen starts going off about how Huang He has been coveting the glazed armor “since that nonsense rhyme spread from Ghost Valley”, and Gao Chong cuts him off to say that the rhyme isn’t from Ghost Valley. Shen Shen’s surprised, but it’s Zhao Jing who (with some surprise and distinct concern) asks what he means and tries to push back towards it being Ghost Valley’s fault.
Gao Chong asks if Zhao Jing is certain Ao Laizi was killed by Ghost Valley. Zhao Jing doesn’t have a chance to respond (but does look worried!) before Shen Shen goes “Of course!” and says that he followed Ao Laizi to a place covered in yellow joss paper (the sign of Ghost Valley) and then lost his trail there. We’re given a flashback of Shen Shen wearing night subterfuge clothing (a phrase I cannot get out of my head despite it coming from a different fandom…) and finding not just joss paper but also Ao Laizi’s very bloody sword (recogniseable by the yin-yang symbol on the guard), and then he says that right after that was when the corpses were displayed at Sanbai Manor.
Zhao Jing questions him, because Shen Shen had definitely been acting drunk that night! I am glad Zhao Jing was just as confused as we were about all that, and even happier to have this explanation. Zhao Jing thinks he went after Ao Laizi for the glazed armor, and Shen Shen confirms, because he thinks the glazed armor should be with the Five Lakes Alliance.
Gao Chong cuts off their bickering, and thinks that the problem is really about how Ao Laizi couldn’t protect the glazed armor. Gao Chong wishes he’d given the glazed armor to them for safekeeping. Zhao Jing then says, “In any case, I think we are still at fault for what happened to him,” which is absolutely hilarious because it’s true that Zhao Jing is at fault, but he’s framing it as being a failing of the Five Lakes Alliance. He even brings in Lu Taichong giving the glazed armor to Ao Laizi, and how they had to respect the dead and not force people to do things.
Shen Shen’s like “What? Of course we can use force; it’s the jianghu! The strong prey upon the weak!”, and Zhao Jing turns away a bit, looking kind of aggrieved. Shen Shen’s still upset about how they should’ve been able to take over Lu Taichong’s sect/disciples, and Gao Chong cuts him off and talks about how they can’t cause trouble without harming their reputation among the righteous sects of the jianghu.
Shen Shen protests that he didn’t kill him (presumably Ao Laizi) and they’ll just avenge him. The scene ends with another “harrumph!” from Gao Chong.
The scene changes to Yu Qiufeng. One of his disciples is informing him of what happened at Renyi Hall/the death of the Four Sages and trying to defend his actions (in being one of the people instigating an argument over the glazed armor) as “people look down on Mount Hua Sect!” Yu Qiufeng is not impressed, and scolds his disciples to not do this again.
The disciple brings up “the Five Mountain Sword Sects”, and Yu Qiufeng cuts him down to point out that there isn’t such a group anymore. Ao Laizi (of Mount Tai) is dead, and Yu Qiufeng can’t support five sects on his own. The disciple begs forgiveness. Yu Qiufeng asks about Yu Tianjie, but there’s been no news. Another disciple runs in and tells Yue Qiufeng that Mount Tai Sect disciples are looking for him, because they think the Five Lakes Alliance killed Ao Laizi.
Yu Qiufeng essentially tells his disciple to ghost the Mount Tai Sect, because he doesn’t want to talk to them, and then dismisses his disciples to have Concerns alone.
The scene cuts to ZZS asleep in a room, incense burning on his table. He wakes up, and doesn’t seem particularly worse for the wear after all his drinking, but he does seem uncertain about where he is.
Han Ying enters, and ZZS is a bit surprised (but also likely piecing together that Han Ying put him to bed). Han Ying tells him that Yueyang City is very eventful, and that ZZS would’ve been exposed if the TC’s spy weren’t in their faction. Then he asks about ZZS’s injury. ZZS doesn’t answer, instead focusing on the idea of “If I continue to live in fear, what would be the point of leaving?”.
Han Ying asks if there really is no cure for the Nails, and offers to accompany ZZS in search of one. ZZS says he’s done too many evil deeds and won’t die easily, which really isn’t that reassuring and says things about his mental state.
ZZS turns away, and asks when Han Ying started believing in gods and buddhas. Han Ying says that he started believing when he had something to ask them for, and ZZS responds with “You will not be blessed on this journey I have taken you upon”.
Han Ying points out that the choices for TC are this path or death, and living is better. ZZS doesn’t seem as sure of that as he was two days ago, but he thanks Han Ying for taking care of him last night, and (worried that Han Ying’s closeness puts Han Ying in danger) tells him to lie low in TC.
Then ZZS tries to leave. Han Ying calls after him, saying that ZZS can come to him with any of his troubles, that he’ll lay down his life if ZZS asks.
ZZS sighs, and holds out the piece of glazed armor he has, and Han Ying is very ??? about it. He’d already sent Fang Buzhi’s two pieces to Prince Jin, and wants to know why ZZS has another. ZZS sighs, and explains that there are yet more, but still gives the one he has to Han Ying.
ZZS continues making sad faces about WKX’s choices while Han Ying realises that there should be five differently-shaped pieces, so there being copies explains a lot. Han Ying says that the one who made the imitations must be evil, and ZZS just tells him to stop investigating and not get involved.
Han Ying kneels, and again tells him he’ll do anything ZZS needs, and that he’s loyal to ZZS and not to Prince Jin. ZZS seems a bit overwhelmed, and not into this right now, because he sighs and glances away before telling Han Ying that he’s dying and doesn’t want other people to die too. He raises Han Ying up and tells him to live a good life as a show of his loyalty, and that he doesn’t want to be “zhuangzhu” anymore. (Something he’d said in ep1 as he left the room where lao-Bi had been impaled, but Han Ying wasn’t there to hear for some reason.)
Han Ying says “Even if your brothers are all gone, there’s still—” and ZZS cuts him off. I’ve been wondering if this is Han Ying trying to tell him about the other not-quite-disciples of Siji Manor that his brothers trained. But ZZS is too busy being sad and thinking about death and what the afterlife might hold for him and his blood-stained life.
ZZS leaves, and Han Ying stares after him with a very sad expression.
The scene changes to Tao Hong, Lv Liu, and Huang He having a conversation about how much trouble the fake glazed armor has caused them. One of the beggars comes by and informs Huang He that Gao Chong wants to marry Xiaolian to Chengling, and Huang He grumbles about how Gao Chong is treating everyone like pawns. He seems to think this is a way of Gao Chong controlling Chengling, and is very upset about it.
Chengling himself is still very sad, but Gu Xiang is waiting for him in his rooms and has brought him some Product Placement Nuts! Chengling says he doesn’t want to eat them, though, and hides his face from Gu Xiang when she comes to see what’s wrong. He’s got bruises around his mouth, and doesn’t want to talk about how/why they’re there, and Gu Xiang wants to protect him and help him.
Chengling’s crying a little and wants to know why “they” (the Yueyang disciples) hate him so much; Gu Xiang doesn’t have an answer, but she does think that Gao Chong would help if he told him.
Xiaolian enters, interrupting their conversation; she’s surprised to learn that Gu Xiang and Chengling know each other. She also quickly gets distracted by wondering who bullied Chengling, but Chengling is insistent that he isn’t being bullied and this is normal practice bruises. Gu Xiang, displaying some pretty good social awareness, takes her leave so that Chengling and Xiaolian can talk in private.
Xiaolian sets down the food she brought, and they have a brief discussion about the Wolong nuts before Xiaolian tells Chengling that she’d asked someone to teach her how to make food from Chengling’s hometown to help him settle in. Chengling’s very politely thankful (he’s calling her Gao-shijie throughout all this), but says he doesn’t want it.
Xiaolian’s confused, and concerned about this formality, and when she asks about it Chengling continues to hold himself at a distance. Among other things, he says “I’m not a puppet at the mercy of others” and brings up the marriage arrangements and how he doesn’t want it; “I’d be taking what isn’t mine to take, and people would misunderstand”, he says, and Xiaolian runs off, starting to cry.
Gu Xiang, who had gone exactly far enough to hide and listen in, enters after Xiaolian leaves. She shuts the door, and scolds Chengling for being ungrateful for about one sentence before Chengling’s sadness gets to her again. Chengling asks about ZZS and WKX again, but Gu Xiang says she doesn’t know where they are and mostly just wants to know why Chengling isn’t happy here. Chengling says that he feels like he’s under house arrest, and the scene ends.
Back to WKX drinking! He’s quoting Siji Manor’s motto and being sad. Gu Xiang comes in, and informs WKX about Gao Chong’s plans to marry Xiaolian to Chengling. We now get told that Xiaolian and Deng Kuan are a known Item but have no formal marriage contract yet (though everyone accepted that they were going to marry), and that everyone’s having opinions about Gao Chong’s choice here.
Gu Xiang also explicitly says that Deng Kuan was the person who survived the last “Funeral Game”, which is nice of the writers to do, and says that “he was hurt by someone” before he returned to Yueyang. WKX questions her about this, and Gu Xiang says she was at that Funeral Game and he sure didn’t get his injuries there.
WKX asks if the theater incident (with the heads) was Wuchang Gui’s work, and Gu Xiang nods. WKX asks how much Gu Xiang and Xisang Gui know, and GX says they don’t know much. WKX doesn’t follow up on that, instead switching to wondering what Chengling thinks of the marriage. Gu Xiang praises Chengling’s assessment of where he is, explains Chengling’s situation, and says Chengling wants to get out and misses WKX and ZZS.
WKX doesn’t seem to think he’s worth missing, and GX retreats into saying that she thinks Chengling is a bit pitiful. WKX takes this as criticism of his plan, and reminds her that she’s the Heartless Amethyst Fiend and is simply wearing a human skin right now. “Humans and ghosts travel different roads,” he says, which is definitely related to the topic of Chengling and not him being sad about ZZS, and then he asks, “Who will pity you?”, which is also definitely about Gu Xiang and not about WKX himself.
But still, WKX relents and tells Gu Xiang to keep an eye on Chengling and tell him immediately if something happens. Then he asks Gu Xiang if she thinks he’s crazy, and Gu Xiang nods silently. He continues, asking if she thinks he’ll get crazier and maybe even kill her one day. She says she’d follow him anyway, even in death. This does not appear to make him feel better, even if he says “Good” and that “I shall go crazy to the end”.
Gao Chong tells his disciples to work hard on the preparation for the Heroes Conference. After the disciples leave, Shen Shen tells Gao Chong not to worry; it’s been peaceful lately. Gao Chong says that it might seem peaceful, but danger lurks beneath that quiet surface. He points out that Ghost Valley isn’t the only group who wants to see the Alliance fall.
Xiaolian enters, bringing a box of soup for them. Gao Chong says they won’t eat it, and to take it to Chengling instead. Xiaolian doesn’t want to, and questions why Gao Chong betrothed them without even asking her first.
Gao Chong sighs, and says that the wedding doesn’t need to happen for years (since Chengling is young), which doesn’t really address the issue. Xiaolian’s upset because Chengling doesn’t seem to like her, and Gao Chong tells her that parents decide their children’s marriages. Which is very reasonable! That Xiaolian could’ve had a match that was both a love match and socially appropriate before everything went bad is very lucky!
Xiaolian explains how Chengling keeps turning her down, and how she might understand Gao Chong’s reasons but doesn’t know why Chengling is doing this. Gao Chong relents enough to at least say that she doesn’t need to personally bring food to Chengling anymore, and asks her to leave. She does, and nobody is really happy here either.
The scene changes to Gu Xiang and CWN having a nice meal together. Gu Xiang declares she wants to listen to a song, and CWN’s like “Of course! Anything you want! I’m paying!”, and Gu Xiang calls over the two musician ladies she’d made some spy contact with near the beginning of last episode. She asks them what music house they’re from, presumably as a way of getting a location from them, and then gives them a song to sing. CWN looks at her, mostly hoping that her song choice (Happy Meeting) is a flirtation.
The scene changes to an outdoor market, where Liu Qianqiao and her servant are walking. They see a sheet of paper pinned up to a noticeboard; it’s covered with ink blotches and stamped with some skulls. Apparently this is a summons for her from WKX!
From there, we go to Luo Mansion. Inside, the camera is out of focus and at a strange angle, already setting a viewer on edge even before WKX begins to speak. When the scene comes into focus (though the camera keeps tilting), we see WKX sitting on a chair and his devils (and some of their underlings) kneeling before him.
WKX talks about how he let the ghosts leave to hunt down Hanged Ghost (youtube engsubs say “three ghosts”, hanzi/dialogue says “三千鬼 [sānqiān guǐ]”, which is the three thousand more commonly referred to, which is a vast difference of scale, thanks youtube subs; netflix subs got this right), and that he’s disappointed they haven’t found him but have caused trouble. This is all a massive game, of course, since he knows they can’t find Hanged Ghost and his plans involved them causing trouble.
WKX lists the following things the devils have done: put on three Funerals, annihilated the Danyang Sect, destroyed Mirror Lake Sect, killed Mount Tai Sect’s leader, and publically threw out corpses to provoke the Five Lakes Alliance.
He praises them for this in a way that doesn’t sound quite like praise, and the devils respond (in chorus), “Forgive us for our crimes.” WKX laughs, and says he really means the praise; they’re evil ghosts, and they’ve been doing the work of evil ghosts, and that’s lovely. He tells them to rise, and they don’t. After a beat, he shouts at them to rise and throws his fan at them (which is not an incentive to stand); after the fan returns to WKX’s hand, the ghosts stand. (Except for Xisang Gui.)
WKX himself rises, and asks Xisang Gui if the Funerals were fun. “Weren’t they a great idea of mine?” he asks, and her face says ‘not really’, but her words say “You are wise,” which is a very politic non-answer. About the safest thing to do, when WKX is on a rant about the hidden evils of the jianghu.
WKX moves on to talking about how the Danyang Sect “shelters evil people and countenance[s] evil practices”, and I’m really quite curious what he thinks those people and practices are; I can’t recall getting any more about that. WKX had wanted to leave Lu Taichong alive and torture him slowly, it seems, and he’s disapointed Lu Taichong died quickly. He says this is Xisang Gui’s fault, but on the whole he doesn’t need to reward or punish her.
Now WKX turns his attention to Mirror Lake Sect’s annihilation. He asks who did it, and nobody’s willing to take responsibility. WKX decides that means it’s Long-Tongued Ghost’s fault (as the person not present), and asks Wuchang Gui where his subordinate is. Wuchang Gui says that Long-tongued Ghost has defected and gone his own way, and that the Mirror Lake Sect’s destruction should be Long-tongued Ghost’s fault.
WKX shrugs off the idea that Long-tongued Ghost won’t listen to Wuchang Gui, because in Ghost Valley might makes right, and even says that he’d make Long-tongued Ghost head of the ten devils if he kills Wuchang Gui. (Another empty promise, since WKX killed Long-tongued Ghost himself back in ep6.) He continues, saying that if any of them managed to kill him WKX would admire them even in death.
Bai Wuchang says he wouldn’t dare, and unfortunately draws WKX’s attention. WKX thinks it’s ridiculous that a ghost might not dare kill him were he lying there injured. Bai Wuchang, unfortunately, keeps saying he wouldn’t dare. For a moment, WKX acts tenderly, drawing him up to his feet, but then he grabs Bai Wuchang’s throat and raises him off the ground. Wuchang Gui begs for him to calm down, and WKX breaks Bai Wuchang’s throat.
The ghosts kneel, except for Xisang Gui; she rises to her feet. WKX looks very pleased with himself, and summons a rope from somewhere to hang Bai Wuchang’s body from. He laughs, then calms down and agrees that Ghost Valley needs manpower. He says that the jianghu is full of evil people and he wants to use them too, but his role of Valley Master makes that hard; he can only use ghosts.
He asks Hei Wuchang if he’s resentful of WKX for killing Bai Wuchang, and Hei Wuchang says that it was good. WKX thinks this is boring, and returns to his seat to continue talking about the devils’ merits. (The camera continues to be all tilty.)
WKX asks Wuchang Gui about the heads in Yueyang, and Wuchang Gui hesitantly acknowledges that was his plan. He says that he ordered his subordinates to do it and he doesn’t think there was outside assistance, and says Bai Wuchang was the one who did the majority of the work. WKX laughs, and says that Wuchang Gui planned it all very well. Wuchang Gui says it’s good that Bai Wuchang died.
Then WKX asks who killed Mount Tai Sect’s leader (Ao Laizi). He asks Happy Ghost, whose marks were left behind, and Happy Ghost says it wasn’t him; he was set up. WKX does not like this. He also doesn’t like the way Happy Ghost can’t speak without laughing. But WKX starts laughing, and thinks it’s very funny to see the devils so scared; it’s only funny for so long, though, so they’ll need to find some other fun.
He says that the Heroes Conference is in two days, and that they need to make a plan to shatter the pride of the surviving leaders of the Five Lakes Alliance.
The episode ends on WKX laughing yet more at this idea.
General Commentary
When I was rewatching this episode, I realised that Zhou Zishu isn’t actually in this episode much! The scenes he’s here for are very impactful, but this episode as a whole is much more focused on Wen Kexing (even before you factor in the ghost council scene).
Zhou Zishu shows his drunkenness more than Wen Kexing does. He might actually be far more drunk, too; Wen Kexing is pretty coherent and also had food he was eating at the same time (and other people who were sharing the wine). Still, the way they both retreat into alcohol is very sad.
Han Ying! Watching Zhou Zishu, keeping him safe, and putting him to bed when he got too drunk. Such a good subordinate, even if Zhou Zishu really doesn’t want him to be a subordinate anymore.
I feel so bad for Chengling, but also the narrative needs him to be upset about being in Yueyang Sect for him insisting on staying with ZZS and WKX to be believable even before we learn about the letter.
Chengling’s brittle maturity as he tries to keep his distance from Xiaolian is a lot. He’s got such a good understanding of marriage politics and also how the sects will view this marriage; no matter how much he was the youngest son and a mama’s boy back at Mirror Lake, and no matter how much Zhang Yusen was retreating from the political world, he’s still the son of a sect leader, with all the exposure to politics that entails.
There’s so much about Ghost Valley here, both implied and explicitly stated. I am constantly fascinated by Xisang Gui’s different position from the rest of the devils. I think that their message-sending system is a weird combination of very blatant and very hard to understand. I think it’s neat how Wen Kexing is using this meeting partially to gather information in the most intimidating way he knows. I do not have coherent thoughts about the rest right now.
This is a thought that isn’t really related to anything in particular this episode, just me spending a bunch of time contemplating costuming and color-symbology. Mostly, I got sidetracked by thinking about the blue-and-white colors that Zhou Zishu usually wears (as does Cao Weining!) and who else wears them.
During this episode Wen Kexing spends a bunch of time wearing white under-robes, a red layer on top, and a blue over-robe. So. Things to think about with his color-symbolism things, considering that red is a Ghost Valley color and this episode focuses a lot of attention on the idea of ripping off the human mask (which could be that outermost blue layer of his outfit; at the ghost council he’s changed into symbolically-neutral green).
But the actual thought I had, before getting distracted by Wen Kexing (as one does), is that huh actually by the color symbolism of this show, Shen Shen has always been coded as being a good person. His colors are also blue and white, and are relatively subdued design-wise too. It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise, later, when he turns out to be a good person. Especially since that comes after he grows grief-stubble and starts wearing somewhat more ragged robes, which kind of mirrors Zhou Zishu’s state after he left the organization he devoted his life to.
(This is definitely not a fully-formed thought; I’d need to look at later episodes with Shen Shen to be able to argue it better. I’d love to hear your opinions though!)
Discussion Prompts/Questions
1. It feels to me like Gao Chong is distinctly starting to doubt the narrative that everything befalling the Five Lakes Alliance is Ghost Valley’s fault. (And that Zhao Jing might be getting worried about being seen through, as a result.) There’s this niggling thought about how that might be leading to his death. Do you have any thoughts about this, or more generally about the political situation of the jianghu right now?
2. The contrast between how Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing react to their break-up fascinates me. Zhou Zishu drinks alone, while Wen Kexing gets drunk while paying girls to drink with him. We’re shown Zhou Zishu having someone take care of him, though, while Wen Kexing is shown to be pushing even Gu Xiang away to some degree. Thoughts about all this?
3. The council of ghosts! I am fascinated by Xisang Gui’s place in this, and I am fascinated by the camera choices, and I would love to hear all y’all’s thoughts on what went down and the choices Wen Kexing is making during this extended scene. (It’s like 10min long! It’s a lot!)
Next Time: Chengling gets kidnapped by the Scorpion Assassins! ZZS and WKX rescue him! Chengling tells them about the letter! Some Five Lakes Alliance stuff with Gao Chong, too, but the emotional thrust is on getting ZZS, WKX, and Chengling back together again.
Episode 10! The episode that got me to start writing fic for this show because I had too many feelings.
Also, a bunch of stuff happens that I’d forgotten about! (because my memory of this episode is 90% just the wenzhou bits...) Which is cool!
List of Scenes
WKX sadly digging a grave for the Four Sages
ZZS and WKX have a Break-Up Conversation
ZZS angsting at Yuefan Tower
WKX angsting/drinking in a brothel
ZZS drinking at the inn
Gao Chong worries that the bad things happening to the Five Lakes Alliance might not all be Ghost Valley’s fault
Shen Shen explains how he followed Ao Laizi the night Ao Laizi died
Yu Qiufeng is upset that his disciples were involved in the Four Sages debacle
ZZS wakes up, Han Ying tries to help him/pledge yet more loyalty to him, and ZZS walks away
Tao Hong, Lv Liu, and Huang He grumble about the fake glazed armor
Chengling and Gu Xiang talk about how Chengling doesn’t like it in Yueyang Sect; in the middle of this Xiaolian comes in and Chengling is very cold towards her (because Gao Chong wants them to marry)
Gu Xiang talks to WKX, sharing all the information she knows. WKX asks if he’s crazy.
Gao Chong tells his disciples to continue preparing for the Heroes Conference
Xiaolian tells Gao Chong she doesn’t want to marry Chengling; Gao Chong is upset about this
Gu Xiang and CWN have a nice meal, and Gu Xiang does some spy stuff
Liu Qianqiao sees WKX’s summons for her on a noticeboard
The Ghost Council
- Asking Xisang Gui about Danyang Sect
- Questioning the ghosts about Mirror Lake Sect
- Killing Bai Wuchang
- Declaring intent to ruin the Heroes Conference
Timeline or Something
It’s very hard to tell how much time passes here! Multiple days seems likely (Xiaolian’s gotten fed up with Chengling’s coldness towards her, among other things), but we’re only explicitly shown one night.
However, at the end of the episode (during the ghosts’ meeting), WKX says that the Heroes Conference is in two days.
Recap
This episode opens with a shot of the Four Sages’ bodies neatly laid out on white gravel (which looks like snow) that’s covered in fallen yellow-orange leaves (which look rather like the ghost valley paper). Wen Kexing is using a sword to dig a grave, and he keeps going at it even when the sword breaks.
ZZS approaches, and WKX looks up at him briefly. Neither of them are happy, but WKX almost smiles for a moment at seeing ZZS anyway. WKX tries to joke about ZZS’s “bloodlust” and the bodycount that follows the pair of them around, but when ZZS doesn’t respond, WKX instead shifts to the topic of the jianghu being full of evil and it being hard to live and hoping the Four Sages can rest in peace.
WKX says the Four Sages’ death was unjust, almost like an apology, and goes back to digging the grave. ZZS finally speaks, voice full of restrained anger, and tells WKX that he won’t fight him (but also clearly implies the Four Sages’ death is WKX’s fault). Then he kneels, and grabs WKX’s hand on the hilt of the sword, and asks, “Are you happy now?”
ZZS’s face is so open as he demands these answers from WKX, and WKX’s teetering on the edge of grief and laughter. He tosses the sword (and ZZS’s hand) aside, then looks ZZS in the eyes to ask if “Zhou-shouling” can say he’s “only ever killed bad people”, which definitely hits ZZS where it hurts. They stare into each other’s eyes, equally hurt by everything, before ZZS simply says, “Good. Very good.” and then leaves.
Neither of them are happy about this, really.
The next scene shows ZZS at Yuefan Tower, looking out over the same view they’d shared the previous day and thinking about WKX’s question.
He flashes back to his time in TC; first when he’d killed a young child, and then to the events of ep1 before he left. He sighs, thinks about how he’d thought WKX was his soulmate, and wonders how people like them could bear to be asked about their lives like this. He calls this thought his mistake, as Han Ying looks on sadly from the background.
WKX is in a brothel, surrounded by women and showing them all his copies of the glazed armor. I am made very sad by the musical cue playing that I associate with family. WKX is sad, and probably already somewhat drunk, and definitely out to get more drunk. “Valuable things are rarely sturdy,” he says when asked about the glazed armor, and then he distracts the women by telling them he’ll pay them for drinking with him.
He thinks about how he told ZZS he wanted to eliminate evil in the jianghu, and that demons wear human skins and he wants to expose them.
ZZS is also drunk! He is at the inn, at a table by himself, surrounded by empty wine jars. I do not want to count them. I think there are at least ten. He was also thinking about that scene. He’s being watched by the proprietor, who seems perhaps a bit worried. ZZS says that “ignorant people always create trouble for themselves” (which is indeed what WKX did), then laughs and realises he’s out of wine and needs more.
WKX has out-drunk all the women, but at least there’s evidence that they were eating food too. He’s rather more upright than ZZS, and still looks very sad. He says (technically asking the one semi-conscious woman remaining, but really just talking to himself), “Have you ever experienced this? There was something you really wanted, but it disappeared. You thought you would never find it again. But years later, it appeared again.” The girl thinks this is a good thing (something lost has returned), and WKX continues: “But as time goes by, you can’t afford to have it anymore.”
This is all a very un-subtle description of how he feels about ZZS. It also only makes sense as being so pointedly about ZZS on a rewatch when one knows about Zhen Yan/WKX’s past. Otherwise, it feels more generally about WKX’s relationship with humanity. And that’s still applicable! There’s a lot of overlap there! But it’s interesting how differently the speech hits when it’s clear how every single bit of it is just about ZZS.
The scene ends there, and we move to Yueyang Sect. Shen Shen comes up to Gao Chong, and admits that Feng Xiaofeng got away from him, but he’ll make sure to avenge the Four Sages after the Heroes Conference. Gao Chong asks about funeral arrangements for the Four Sages, and Zhao Jing tells him that everything’s prepared, but someone had dug half a grave. He wonders if it could be the beggars, but Gao Chong thinks that’s unlikely.
Shen Shen starts going off about how Huang He has been coveting the glazed armor “since that nonsense rhyme spread from Ghost Valley”, and Gao Chong cuts him off to say that the rhyme isn’t from Ghost Valley. Shen Shen’s surprised, but it’s Zhao Jing who (with some surprise and distinct concern) asks what he means and tries to push back towards it being Ghost Valley’s fault.
Gao Chong asks if Zhao Jing is certain Ao Laizi was killed by Ghost Valley. Zhao Jing doesn’t have a chance to respond (but does look worried!) before Shen Shen goes “Of course!” and says that he followed Ao Laizi to a place covered in yellow joss paper (the sign of Ghost Valley) and then lost his trail there. We’re given a flashback of Shen Shen wearing night subterfuge clothing (a phrase I cannot get out of my head despite it coming from a different fandom…) and finding not just joss paper but also Ao Laizi’s very bloody sword (recogniseable by the yin-yang symbol on the guard), and then he says that right after that was when the corpses were displayed at Sanbai Manor.
Zhao Jing questions him, because Shen Shen had definitely been acting drunk that night! I am glad Zhao Jing was just as confused as we were about all that, and even happier to have this explanation. Zhao Jing thinks he went after Ao Laizi for the glazed armor, and Shen Shen confirms, because he thinks the glazed armor should be with the Five Lakes Alliance.
Gao Chong cuts off their bickering, and thinks that the problem is really about how Ao Laizi couldn’t protect the glazed armor. Gao Chong wishes he’d given the glazed armor to them for safekeeping. Zhao Jing then says, “In any case, I think we are still at fault for what happened to him,” which is absolutely hilarious because it’s true that Zhao Jing is at fault, but he’s framing it as being a failing of the Five Lakes Alliance. He even brings in Lu Taichong giving the glazed armor to Ao Laizi, and how they had to respect the dead and not force people to do things.
Shen Shen’s like “What? Of course we can use force; it’s the jianghu! The strong prey upon the weak!”, and Zhao Jing turns away a bit, looking kind of aggrieved. Shen Shen’s still upset about how they should’ve been able to take over Lu Taichong’s sect/disciples, and Gao Chong cuts him off and talks about how they can’t cause trouble without harming their reputation among the righteous sects of the jianghu.
Shen Shen protests that he didn’t kill him (presumably Ao Laizi) and they’ll just avenge him. The scene ends with another “harrumph!” from Gao Chong.
The scene changes to Yu Qiufeng. One of his disciples is informing him of what happened at Renyi Hall/the death of the Four Sages and trying to defend his actions (in being one of the people instigating an argument over the glazed armor) as “people look down on Mount Hua Sect!” Yu Qiufeng is not impressed, and scolds his disciples to not do this again.
The disciple brings up “the Five Mountain Sword Sects”, and Yu Qiufeng cuts him down to point out that there isn’t such a group anymore. Ao Laizi (of Mount Tai) is dead, and Yu Qiufeng can’t support five sects on his own. The disciple begs forgiveness. Yu Qiufeng asks about Yu Tianjie, but there’s been no news. Another disciple runs in and tells Yue Qiufeng that Mount Tai Sect disciples are looking for him, because they think the Five Lakes Alliance killed Ao Laizi.
Yu Qiufeng essentially tells his disciple to ghost the Mount Tai Sect, because he doesn’t want to talk to them, and then dismisses his disciples to have Concerns alone.
The scene cuts to ZZS asleep in a room, incense burning on his table. He wakes up, and doesn’t seem particularly worse for the wear after all his drinking, but he does seem uncertain about where he is.
Han Ying enters, and ZZS is a bit surprised (but also likely piecing together that Han Ying put him to bed). Han Ying tells him that Yueyang City is very eventful, and that ZZS would’ve been exposed if the TC’s spy weren’t in their faction. Then he asks about ZZS’s injury. ZZS doesn’t answer, instead focusing on the idea of “If I continue to live in fear, what would be the point of leaving?”.
Han Ying asks if there really is no cure for the Nails, and offers to accompany ZZS in search of one. ZZS says he’s done too many evil deeds and won’t die easily, which really isn’t that reassuring and says things about his mental state.
ZZS turns away, and asks when Han Ying started believing in gods and buddhas. Han Ying says that he started believing when he had something to ask them for, and ZZS responds with “You will not be blessed on this journey I have taken you upon”.
Han Ying points out that the choices for TC are this path or death, and living is better. ZZS doesn’t seem as sure of that as he was two days ago, but he thanks Han Ying for taking care of him last night, and (worried that Han Ying’s closeness puts Han Ying in danger) tells him to lie low in TC.
Then ZZS tries to leave. Han Ying calls after him, saying that ZZS can come to him with any of his troubles, that he’ll lay down his life if ZZS asks.
ZZS sighs, and holds out the piece of glazed armor he has, and Han Ying is very ??? about it. He’d already sent Fang Buzhi’s two pieces to Prince Jin, and wants to know why ZZS has another. ZZS sighs, and explains that there are yet more, but still gives the one he has to Han Ying.
ZZS continues making sad faces about WKX’s choices while Han Ying realises that there should be five differently-shaped pieces, so there being copies explains a lot. Han Ying says that the one who made the imitations must be evil, and ZZS just tells him to stop investigating and not get involved.
Han Ying kneels, and again tells him he’ll do anything ZZS needs, and that he’s loyal to ZZS and not to Prince Jin. ZZS seems a bit overwhelmed, and not into this right now, because he sighs and glances away before telling Han Ying that he’s dying and doesn’t want other people to die too. He raises Han Ying up and tells him to live a good life as a show of his loyalty, and that he doesn’t want to be “zhuangzhu” anymore. (Something he’d said in ep1 as he left the room where lao-Bi had been impaled, but Han Ying wasn’t there to hear for some reason.)
Han Ying says “Even if your brothers are all gone, there’s still—” and ZZS cuts him off. I’ve been wondering if this is Han Ying trying to tell him about the other not-quite-disciples of Siji Manor that his brothers trained. But ZZS is too busy being sad and thinking about death and what the afterlife might hold for him and his blood-stained life.
ZZS leaves, and Han Ying stares after him with a very sad expression.
The scene changes to Tao Hong, Lv Liu, and Huang He having a conversation about how much trouble the fake glazed armor has caused them. One of the beggars comes by and informs Huang He that Gao Chong wants to marry Xiaolian to Chengling, and Huang He grumbles about how Gao Chong is treating everyone like pawns. He seems to think this is a way of Gao Chong controlling Chengling, and is very upset about it.
Chengling himself is still very sad, but Gu Xiang is waiting for him in his rooms and has brought him some Product Placement Nuts! Chengling says he doesn’t want to eat them, though, and hides his face from Gu Xiang when she comes to see what’s wrong. He’s got bruises around his mouth, and doesn’t want to talk about how/why they’re there, and Gu Xiang wants to protect him and help him.
Chengling’s crying a little and wants to know why “they” (the Yueyang disciples) hate him so much; Gu Xiang doesn’t have an answer, but she does think that Gao Chong would help if he told him.
Xiaolian enters, interrupting their conversation; she’s surprised to learn that Gu Xiang and Chengling know each other. She also quickly gets distracted by wondering who bullied Chengling, but Chengling is insistent that he isn’t being bullied and this is normal practice bruises. Gu Xiang, displaying some pretty good social awareness, takes her leave so that Chengling and Xiaolian can talk in private.
Xiaolian sets down the food she brought, and they have a brief discussion about the Wolong nuts before Xiaolian tells Chengling that she’d asked someone to teach her how to make food from Chengling’s hometown to help him settle in. Chengling’s very politely thankful (he’s calling her Gao-shijie throughout all this), but says he doesn’t want it.
Xiaolian’s confused, and concerned about this formality, and when she asks about it Chengling continues to hold himself at a distance. Among other things, he says “I’m not a puppet at the mercy of others” and brings up the marriage arrangements and how he doesn’t want it; “I’d be taking what isn’t mine to take, and people would misunderstand”, he says, and Xiaolian runs off, starting to cry.
Gu Xiang, who had gone exactly far enough to hide and listen in, enters after Xiaolian leaves. She shuts the door, and scolds Chengling for being ungrateful for about one sentence before Chengling’s sadness gets to her again. Chengling asks about ZZS and WKX again, but Gu Xiang says she doesn’t know where they are and mostly just wants to know why Chengling isn’t happy here. Chengling says that he feels like he’s under house arrest, and the scene ends.
Back to WKX drinking! He’s quoting Siji Manor’s motto and being sad. Gu Xiang comes in, and informs WKX about Gao Chong’s plans to marry Xiaolian to Chengling. We now get told that Xiaolian and Deng Kuan are a known Item but have no formal marriage contract yet (though everyone accepted that they were going to marry), and that everyone’s having opinions about Gao Chong’s choice here.
Gu Xiang also explicitly says that Deng Kuan was the person who survived the last “Funeral Game”, which is nice of the writers to do, and says that “he was hurt by someone” before he returned to Yueyang. WKX questions her about this, and Gu Xiang says she was at that Funeral Game and he sure didn’t get his injuries there.
WKX asks if the theater incident (with the heads) was Wuchang Gui’s work, and Gu Xiang nods. WKX asks how much Gu Xiang and Xisang Gui know, and GX says they don’t know much. WKX doesn’t follow up on that, instead switching to wondering what Chengling thinks of the marriage. Gu Xiang praises Chengling’s assessment of where he is, explains Chengling’s situation, and says Chengling wants to get out and misses WKX and ZZS.
WKX doesn’t seem to think he’s worth missing, and GX retreats into saying that she thinks Chengling is a bit pitiful. WKX takes this as criticism of his plan, and reminds her that she’s the Heartless Amethyst Fiend and is simply wearing a human skin right now. “Humans and ghosts travel different roads,” he says, which is definitely related to the topic of Chengling and not him being sad about ZZS, and then he asks, “Who will pity you?”, which is also definitely about Gu Xiang and not about WKX himself.
But still, WKX relents and tells Gu Xiang to keep an eye on Chengling and tell him immediately if something happens. Then he asks Gu Xiang if she thinks he’s crazy, and Gu Xiang nods silently. He continues, asking if she thinks he’ll get crazier and maybe even kill her one day. She says she’d follow him anyway, even in death. This does not appear to make him feel better, even if he says “Good” and that “I shall go crazy to the end”.
Gao Chong tells his disciples to work hard on the preparation for the Heroes Conference. After the disciples leave, Shen Shen tells Gao Chong not to worry; it’s been peaceful lately. Gao Chong says that it might seem peaceful, but danger lurks beneath that quiet surface. He points out that Ghost Valley isn’t the only group who wants to see the Alliance fall.
Xiaolian enters, bringing a box of soup for them. Gao Chong says they won’t eat it, and to take it to Chengling instead. Xiaolian doesn’t want to, and questions why Gao Chong betrothed them without even asking her first.
Gao Chong sighs, and says that the wedding doesn’t need to happen for years (since Chengling is young), which doesn’t really address the issue. Xiaolian’s upset because Chengling doesn’t seem to like her, and Gao Chong tells her that parents decide their children’s marriages. Which is very reasonable! That Xiaolian could’ve had a match that was both a love match and socially appropriate before everything went bad is very lucky!
Xiaolian explains how Chengling keeps turning her down, and how she might understand Gao Chong’s reasons but doesn’t know why Chengling is doing this. Gao Chong relents enough to at least say that she doesn’t need to personally bring food to Chengling anymore, and asks her to leave. She does, and nobody is really happy here either.
The scene changes to Gu Xiang and CWN having a nice meal together. Gu Xiang declares she wants to listen to a song, and CWN’s like “Of course! Anything you want! I’m paying!”, and Gu Xiang calls over the two musician ladies she’d made some spy contact with near the beginning of last episode. She asks them what music house they’re from, presumably as a way of getting a location from them, and then gives them a song to sing. CWN looks at her, mostly hoping that her song choice (Happy Meeting) is a flirtation.
The scene changes to an outdoor market, where Liu Qianqiao and her servant are walking. They see a sheet of paper pinned up to a noticeboard; it’s covered with ink blotches and stamped with some skulls. Apparently this is a summons for her from WKX!
From there, we go to Luo Mansion. Inside, the camera is out of focus and at a strange angle, already setting a viewer on edge even before WKX begins to speak. When the scene comes into focus (though the camera keeps tilting), we see WKX sitting on a chair and his devils (and some of their underlings) kneeling before him.
WKX talks about how he let the ghosts leave to hunt down Hanged Ghost (youtube engsubs say “three ghosts”, hanzi/dialogue says “三千鬼 [sānqiān guǐ]”, which is the three thousand more commonly referred to, which is a vast difference of scale, thanks youtube subs; netflix subs got this right), and that he’s disappointed they haven’t found him but have caused trouble. This is all a massive game, of course, since he knows they can’t find Hanged Ghost and his plans involved them causing trouble.
WKX lists the following things the devils have done: put on three Funerals, annihilated the Danyang Sect, destroyed Mirror Lake Sect, killed Mount Tai Sect’s leader, and publically threw out corpses to provoke the Five Lakes Alliance.
He praises them for this in a way that doesn’t sound quite like praise, and the devils respond (in chorus), “Forgive us for our crimes.” WKX laughs, and says he really means the praise; they’re evil ghosts, and they’ve been doing the work of evil ghosts, and that’s lovely. He tells them to rise, and they don’t. After a beat, he shouts at them to rise and throws his fan at them (which is not an incentive to stand); after the fan returns to WKX’s hand, the ghosts stand. (Except for Xisang Gui.)
WKX himself rises, and asks Xisang Gui if the Funerals were fun. “Weren’t they a great idea of mine?” he asks, and her face says ‘not really’, but her words say “You are wise,” which is a very politic non-answer. About the safest thing to do, when WKX is on a rant about the hidden evils of the jianghu.
WKX moves on to talking about how the Danyang Sect “shelters evil people and countenance[s] evil practices”, and I’m really quite curious what he thinks those people and practices are; I can’t recall getting any more about that. WKX had wanted to leave Lu Taichong alive and torture him slowly, it seems, and he’s disapointed Lu Taichong died quickly. He says this is Xisang Gui’s fault, but on the whole he doesn’t need to reward or punish her.
Now WKX turns his attention to Mirror Lake Sect’s annihilation. He asks who did it, and nobody’s willing to take responsibility. WKX decides that means it’s Long-Tongued Ghost’s fault (as the person not present), and asks Wuchang Gui where his subordinate is. Wuchang Gui says that Long-tongued Ghost has defected and gone his own way, and that the Mirror Lake Sect’s destruction should be Long-tongued Ghost’s fault.
WKX shrugs off the idea that Long-tongued Ghost won’t listen to Wuchang Gui, because in Ghost Valley might makes right, and even says that he’d make Long-tongued Ghost head of the ten devils if he kills Wuchang Gui. (Another empty promise, since WKX killed Long-tongued Ghost himself back in ep6.) He continues, saying that if any of them managed to kill him WKX would admire them even in death.
Bai Wuchang says he wouldn’t dare, and unfortunately draws WKX’s attention. WKX thinks it’s ridiculous that a ghost might not dare kill him were he lying there injured. Bai Wuchang, unfortunately, keeps saying he wouldn’t dare. For a moment, WKX acts tenderly, drawing him up to his feet, but then he grabs Bai Wuchang’s throat and raises him off the ground. Wuchang Gui begs for him to calm down, and WKX breaks Bai Wuchang’s throat.
The ghosts kneel, except for Xisang Gui; she rises to her feet. WKX looks very pleased with himself, and summons a rope from somewhere to hang Bai Wuchang’s body from. He laughs, then calms down and agrees that Ghost Valley needs manpower. He says that the jianghu is full of evil people and he wants to use them too, but his role of Valley Master makes that hard; he can only use ghosts.
He asks Hei Wuchang if he’s resentful of WKX for killing Bai Wuchang, and Hei Wuchang says that it was good. WKX thinks this is boring, and returns to his seat to continue talking about the devils’ merits. (The camera continues to be all tilty.)
WKX asks Wuchang Gui about the heads in Yueyang, and Wuchang Gui hesitantly acknowledges that was his plan. He says that he ordered his subordinates to do it and he doesn’t think there was outside assistance, and says Bai Wuchang was the one who did the majority of the work. WKX laughs, and says that Wuchang Gui planned it all very well. Wuchang Gui says it’s good that Bai Wuchang died.
Then WKX asks who killed Mount Tai Sect’s leader (Ao Laizi). He asks Happy Ghost, whose marks were left behind, and Happy Ghost says it wasn’t him; he was set up. WKX does not like this. He also doesn’t like the way Happy Ghost can’t speak without laughing. But WKX starts laughing, and thinks it’s very funny to see the devils so scared; it’s only funny for so long, though, so they’ll need to find some other fun.
He says that the Heroes Conference is in two days, and that they need to make a plan to shatter the pride of the surviving leaders of the Five Lakes Alliance.
The episode ends on WKX laughing yet more at this idea.
General Commentary
When I was rewatching this episode, I realised that Zhou Zishu isn’t actually in this episode much! The scenes he’s here for are very impactful, but this episode as a whole is much more focused on Wen Kexing (even before you factor in the ghost council scene).
Zhou Zishu shows his drunkenness more than Wen Kexing does. He might actually be far more drunk, too; Wen Kexing is pretty coherent and also had food he was eating at the same time (and other people who were sharing the wine). Still, the way they both retreat into alcohol is very sad.
Han Ying! Watching Zhou Zishu, keeping him safe, and putting him to bed when he got too drunk. Such a good subordinate, even if Zhou Zishu really doesn’t want him to be a subordinate anymore.
I feel so bad for Chengling, but also the narrative needs him to be upset about being in Yueyang Sect for him insisting on staying with ZZS and WKX to be believable even before we learn about the letter.
Chengling’s brittle maturity as he tries to keep his distance from Xiaolian is a lot. He’s got such a good understanding of marriage politics and also how the sects will view this marriage; no matter how much he was the youngest son and a mama’s boy back at Mirror Lake, and no matter how much Zhang Yusen was retreating from the political world, he’s still the son of a sect leader, with all the exposure to politics that entails.
There’s so much about Ghost Valley here, both implied and explicitly stated. I am constantly fascinated by Xisang Gui’s different position from the rest of the devils. I think that their message-sending system is a weird combination of very blatant and very hard to understand. I think it’s neat how Wen Kexing is using this meeting partially to gather information in the most intimidating way he knows. I do not have coherent thoughts about the rest right now.
This is a thought that isn’t really related to anything in particular this episode, just me spending a bunch of time contemplating costuming and color-symbology. Mostly, I got sidetracked by thinking about the blue-and-white colors that Zhou Zishu usually wears (as does Cao Weining!) and who else wears them.
During this episode Wen Kexing spends a bunch of time wearing white under-robes, a red layer on top, and a blue over-robe. So. Things to think about with his color-symbolism things, considering that red is a Ghost Valley color and this episode focuses a lot of attention on the idea of ripping off the human mask (which could be that outermost blue layer of his outfit; at the ghost council he’s changed into symbolically-neutral green).
But the actual thought I had, before getting distracted by Wen Kexing (as one does), is that huh actually by the color symbolism of this show, Shen Shen has always been coded as being a good person. His colors are also blue and white, and are relatively subdued design-wise too. It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise, later, when he turns out to be a good person. Especially since that comes after he grows grief-stubble and starts wearing somewhat more ragged robes, which kind of mirrors Zhou Zishu’s state after he left the organization he devoted his life to.
(This is definitely not a fully-formed thought; I’d need to look at later episodes with Shen Shen to be able to argue it better. I’d love to hear your opinions though!)
Discussion Prompts/Questions
1. It feels to me like Gao Chong is distinctly starting to doubt the narrative that everything befalling the Five Lakes Alliance is Ghost Valley’s fault. (And that Zhao Jing might be getting worried about being seen through, as a result.) There’s this niggling thought about how that might be leading to his death. Do you have any thoughts about this, or more generally about the political situation of the jianghu right now?
2. The contrast between how Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing react to their break-up fascinates me. Zhou Zishu drinks alone, while Wen Kexing gets drunk while paying girls to drink with him. We’re shown Zhou Zishu having someone take care of him, though, while Wen Kexing is shown to be pushing even Gu Xiang away to some degree. Thoughts about all this?
3. The council of ghosts! I am fascinated by Xisang Gui’s place in this, and I am fascinated by the camera choices, and I would love to hear all y’all’s thoughts on what went down and the choices Wen Kexing is making during this extended scene. (It’s like 10min long! It’s a lot!)
Next Time: Chengling gets kidnapped by the Scorpion Assassins! ZZS and WKX rescue him! Chengling tells them about the letter! Some Five Lakes Alliance stuff with Gao Chong, too, but the emotional thrust is on getting ZZS, WKX, and Chengling back together again.
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Right? I side-eye EVERYONE for this!
xD I've written "Qiu Yufeng" or gone "Qiufeng... what's his surname..." and then looked it up multiple times... I don't know why it's so hard to remember Yu Qifeng's name!
Hahaha, I'm delighted that it's not just me! I can remember his surname, but nothing else, so it's "Yu thingy, whatshisname" in my head. *g* Qiufeng, dammit. QIUFENG. Stick already!
That seems possible? Thinking also of her conversation with him at the beginning of ep11/next episode, I think she's wondering what set him off like this. That being complicated by how WKX's mostly been interacting with the jianghu could definitely make her even more concerned about what he might have done in a non-ghost context.
Yeah, that makes sense!
WKX's white hair is gorgeous but wow in ep37 when he's already surrounded by snow and paleness he'd look better wearing more contrasting colors...
THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, so glad we're on the same page on this very important subject! :D
(Contrasting colours both for his clothes and his make-up - I get why they didn't give him heavier make-up when that's so strongly connected with his Valley Master look, but it would look so much better in that environment!)