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ghost_valley2021-09-17 12:52 pm
shadaras) wrote in ghost_valley2021-09-17 12:52 pm
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[WoH Rewatch] Episode 15
Are you interested in politics? Because this episode sure is!
Also: Why I’m using “Longyuan Pavillion” instead of “Longyuan Cabinet”.
List of Scenes
GXL tends to first Deng Kuan and then GX (who’s faking being sick)
Gao Chong asks Mount Tai Sect what reparations the alliance can offer
Huang He wants to know the story of the Glazed Armor
ZZS sees Qiao Luohan sneaking around
Gao Chong begins talking about the Glazed Armor; Feng Xiaofeng riles up the crowd
ZZS talks to WKX and realises the Scorpions have been pulling a lot of strings
Xie-wang calls Zhao Jing “Yifu” for the first time
ZZS says someone’s manipulating this show; WKX thinks that’s a good thing
Gao Chong says he can’t open the Armory (even if he had all of the Glazed Armor)
LQQ and YQF rescue LFM from the Scorpions who’d been stealing her
Xiaolian, GX, and CWN are ambushed by Tao Hong and Lv Liu (who hurt CWN and kidnap Xiaolian)
Long Xiao makes his entrance
Long Xiao tells a twisted version of the Glazed Armor’s story, further implicating/slandering Gao Chong
ZZS and WKX continue talking about schemers and WKX’s grudge
Gao Chong swears he’s not selfish, and then tells everyone about Chengling and his planned betrothal
ZZS realises that Chengling has no more value to Gao Chong but Gao Chong’s still being nice
Gao Chong rallies everyone to mingle their blood in alliance (and forces Huang He to do so)
Feng Xiaofeng riles the crowd into wondering what’ll happen with the Combined Six Cultivation Method and Yin Yang Manual
ZZS asks again who WKX is, and WKX once again says he’s not Rong Xuan’s son
ZZS says he and WKX are walking different paths, and leaves
The prisoners wake Deng Kuan
Qiao Luohan and Wuchang Gui briefly meet
Wuchang Gui sends joss paper over the conference and says Gao Chong was working with him
Deng Kuan arrives, denounces Gao Chong, and stabs himself
WKX looks forward to seeing where Wuchang Gui’s schemes lead
Timeline or Something
This episode takes place over a very short period of time! Like, if it’s more than an hour or two I’d be amazed! It still manages to reference time in enough ways to make me go “AUGH” despite this.
Xiaolian says that the Heroes Conference is “Tomorrow”, when last episode Shen Shen said it started at noon. Perhaps the opening ceremony is at noon and the proper conference would start tomorrow?
The prisoners have 65 tally marks on their cell wall. Does this represent them having been locked up for 65 days (a little over two months) or 65 meals (~1 month if 2 meals/day, ~3 weeks if 3 meals/day) or 65 something elses? There being 65 is meaningful!
Recap
Gao Xiaolian sits at Deng Kuan’s bedside, telling him that “tomorrow is the Heroes Conference” (last episode, Shen Shen said it started at noon! Timelines! Augh!) and hoping very much that he’ll wake up (and that he won’t blame her for agreeing to marry Chengling for politics).
Gu Xiang walks in, seeming rather not okay, and Xiaolian helps her lie down and tells her to be more careful. As Xiaolian checks GX for a fever, GX thinks about how she could stab Xiaolian. She doesn’t, but she does keep Xiaolian close. Her goal is to gain a hostage to exchange for LFM, but CWN runs in (very concerned) before GX can enact any plans to incapacitate Xiaolian. GX is irritated by CWN caring for her, because he interrupted her plans, but he’s very sweet anyway.
At the Heroes Conference, Gao Chong is addressing the crowd. He invites Mount Tai Sect to state any demands they have, saying that the Five Lakes Alliance will comply with them. Huang He, despite not being a member of Mount Tai Sect, responds and says that Mount Tai Sect’s only demand is for Ao Laizi’s murderer to be punished immediately. But the Mount Tai Sect agrees with him, so that’s fine.
Gao Chong says that of course they’ll all work together to capture and punish the Ghost Valley person who did this. Bai Hua, the young Mount Tai disciple, steps forward and once again accuses Shen Shen of being at fault. Gao Chong asks for proof, which nobody can give it to him, and asserts that it’s all Ghost Valley’s fault really and they’re here to avenge the dead. He warns them not to fall into evil’s trap.
Huang He can’t even argue with him, much as he’d like to. Fan Huaikong agrees with Gao Chong, Gao Chong continues into a rousing speech, and Wen Kexing is impressed by Gao Chong’s eloquence.
Huang He asks Gao Chong to explain the Glazed Armor. He says that “over half” of the people attending the conference are there already, so Gao Chong should tell them the truth now. Gao Chong wonders if he wants backstory, or information about where the Glazed Armor currently is.
Other sects start speaking up in agreement with Huang He, wanting to know about the Glazed Armor because of their prior losses related to the battle at Mount Qingya.
ZZS sees Qiao Luohan sneaking off and follows her away from the shouting crowd. He confronts her (and her definitely-a-disguise moustache), and she throws a knife at him. When he dodges, she runs away. He follows.
Gao Chong agrees to tell them about the Glazed Armor, and starts by saying that it’s in the possession of the Five Lakes Alliance Shen Shen protests him saying this, but quiets immediately. Gao Chong says that the Five Lakes Alliance did all this for peace, including dividing the Glazed Armor between them after the battle of Mount Qingya.
Feng Xiaofeng asks why the Five Lakes Alliance made this choice for everyone else and didn’t tell anyone, and a sect leader agrees with that sentiment. This sets people off demanding that Gao Chong hand over the Glazed Armor.
Gao Chong says that the Glazed Armor has caused catastrophe in the past, and is doing so again now, so it’s a curse. Feng Xiaofeng calls him a hypocrite, since he thinks the Five Lakes Alliance planned all of this—especially since the fake armor looks so similar to the real ones. One of the sect leaders scolds Feng Xiaofeng for slandering Gao Chong, but it doesn’t have any real effect beyond getting people to start ramping up into death threats.
WKX’s observation (and drinking) is interrupted by ZZS throwing a pebble at him. WKX seems surprised (but pleased) to see him, and comes down from his tower (at ZZS’s request) to chat. ZZS tells WKX that he saw Qiao Luohan, and that he’s worried. WKX’s unconcerned; so long as Chengling’s okay, everything’s going just fine.
ZZS’s still caught up in how the Scorpion kidnapped Chengling originally, but WKX doesn’t want to think about any of that. He just wants to watch the show, and even tells ZZS he’s sure there’ll be a shocking twist later.
ZZS doesn’t seem quite certain what to make of WKX’s declarations (and contained glee). He considers the factions currently at play, and how the Scorpion has always been lingering in the background. It feels a bit like the show’s deliberately pointing them out to the viewers who might not have been attending so much to the whole political situation, which is very kind of the writers.
The scene switches to Xie-wang and Zhao Jing. Xie-wang is being very dramatic, Zhao Jing is writing something. Xie-wang calls Zhao Jing “Yifu” for the first time, and says that everything ZJ planned has been arranged. ZJ responds, saying that it’s time to “end it.”
Back with ZZS and WKX, ZZS is considering how Ghost Valley and the Scorpion are working together, while WKX is busy enjoying the show. ZZS breaks their silence to tell WKX that someone is running this show, and “scheming with malicious intent.” WKX, too busy thinking about his own schemes to realise someone else is interfering, asks, “Isn’t that good?” and goes on to say that all the manipulations and tricks are what’s resulting in such a good show. (WKX is firmly in ghost mode here, not worried about the harm to people at all.)
ZZS points out how much innocent blood will be spilt as a result, but WKX doesn’t think anyone here is innocent. He also says that “This exciting blood-filled play of animals fighting over food is exactly what [he wants] to see”, and ZZS just gives him a Look.
Huang He demands that Gao Chong take out the Glazed Armor, unlock the Armory, and allow all the sects to take back their stolen secrets. Then they can fight Ghost Valley. The crowd clamors in agreement.
Gao Chong pounds his (sheathed) sword into the wooden platform he’s on and tells everyone that he can’t open the Armory (true; he doesn’t have all the pieces, let alone the final key). Huang He calls him a liar and continues demanding he hand over the Glazed Armor. Feng Xiaofeng chimes in to insult Gao Chong.
Gao Chong says there’s someone who will “testify for him”, and WKX is very curious to see what tricks he’s got up his sleeve.
Meanwhile, back at Yueyang, LQQ and YQF are rescuing LFM. The Scorpions (identifiable by their curved swords) got to LFM first, so LQQ and YQF need to fight them for her. They fight, and win, and begin taking her away.
Xiaolian, walking with CWN and GX, wonders where everyone is. Tao Hong and Lv Liu appear and demand that Xiaolian come with them. CWN says he’ll fight both of them, which might have even worked to buy Xiaolian and GX enough time to escape if they’d tried to run instead of just standing there watching the fight.
They beat CWN back. GX catches him, is mad that he got hurt, and goes to fight them instead. When they throw darts at GX, CWN jumps in front of them and uses his body as a shield. GX rushes to look at his wounds, and Xiaolian is left undefended. She takes about two steps before Tao Hong and Lv Liu steal her away.
GX feeds CWN medicine and has a lot of emotions about how she cares about him but never wanted to have feelings like this. LQQ and YQF arrive, carrying LFM. LQQ gently scolds GX for using the lifesaving pill on CWN. GX’s surprised to see them. But we don’t have time right now for more of a reaction from her!
At the Heroes Conference, a carriage driven by a mechanical automaton arrives. Long Xiao rolls out the back and down a lift in his powered wheelchair. The gathered sects don’t seem familiar with him, but are familiar with the mechanical devices of Longyuan Pavillion. One sect leader even says “In the old days, even the emperor showed Longyuan Pavillion his respect.”
Zhao Jing and Chengling accompany Long Xiao up to Gao Chong’s platform, where Gao Chong introduces Long Xiao as “the master of mechanics” and says Long Xiao’s here to share the story behind the armory. Long Xiao agrees that’s what he’s there for, and that “nobody knows the story of the Armory better than [his] father”, who he first calls/titles “Ban Zhuge” (半诸葛) before naming Long Que. Dunno what’s up with that, since Youtube didn’t try to translate it at all. Netflix translates it as “the half-genius”? Which doesn’t answer any of my questions.
Long Xiao says that Rong Xuan stole records, knew it was wrong, and tricked Long Que into building the Armory so that Rong Xuan could keep the stolen secrets safe. Huang He asks him what was up with Gao Chong saying he couldn’t open the Armory even with the Glazed Armor, and Long Xiao says Gao Chong is right; it’s impossible to safely open the Armory with only the Glazed Armor. (The emphasis on safely makes it sound possible, and ignores the fact that there’s a whole other item needed.)
Upon being asked if he can open the Armory, Long Xiao says he didn’t inherit “the true teachings” of his dad and makes it sound like this is why he can’t open the Armory. Everyone’s upset about this. Long Xiao says his dad probably could, but that no matter how much Longyuan Pavillion is bribed or threatened, they won’t help open the armory and “satisfy [Gao Chong’s] selfishness”. Long Xiao calls it “the Armory of the people”, which the assembled sects are super into.
Huang He uses this as leverage to make it sound like Gao Chong wants everything for himself. Shen Shen jumps up to the platform to confront Long Xiao face-to-face, asking when Gao Chong has ever bribed or coerced Long Que and threatening to kill Long Xiao for slander. Zhao Jing gets involved too, saying that Long Xiao lied to him. But, all things considered, this could easily be just part of a play they schemed to put on.
Feng Xiaofeng keeps shouting for Gao Chong to hand over the Glazed Armor, and the rest of the crowd joins in. Zhao Jing drops to his knees and apologises to Gao Chong, saying that he didn’t find Longyuan Pavillion; Long Xiao found him.
ZZS calls ZJ “赵玄德 (Zhao Xuande)” for some reason? And then goes on to call him a “weak and stupid fool” while wondering how he’s part of the Five Lakes Alliance, proving that Zhao Jing’s playing everyone very well. WKX responds by saying that Shen Shen isn’t an idiot, and that ZYS and LTC “are not much better”.
ZZS asks why WKX has such a grudge, and points out that someone set Gao Chong up. WKX says he wants to applaud whoever did this scheme, and tells ZZS to wait and watch.
Gao Chong quiets the crowd, says there must be a misunderstanding between him and Long Que, and promises he doesn’t have selfish motivations. This does not stop people from shouting for the Glazed Armor. Gao Chong then swears that after they defeat Ghost Valley, he and Long Xiao will open the Armory and share it with everyone, saying that he’ll be cut into a thousand pieces if he lies. This finally gets people to stop.
Gao Chong tells Long Xiao to go rest (he allows that), then tells Zhao Jing to stand up (he doesn’t do so immediately). Gao Chong then goes to Chengling, tells him to not be afraid, and draws him to the front of the platform. Gao Chong introduces Chengling to everyone, and says that he’s betrothing Chengling to Xiaolian, and they’ll lead Mirror Lake and Yueyang Sects together in the future. Gao Chong says that when that happens, he’ll go be a monk and no longer deal with the mortal world.
Shen Shen doesn’t like this, and one of Gao Chong’s subordinates is mad about people forcing Gao Chong into this choice. WKX thinks that Gao Chong is dragging Chengling down with him. ZZS realises that this doesn’t benefit Gao Chong at all. WKX reads this as contradicting him, since he thinks Gao Chong’s only been pretending to be a paragon of virtue and thus must be using Chengling somehow. ZZS asks WKX what value Chengling has for Gao Chong at this point, and they both turn back to watch.
Gao Chong jumps down to stand in front of that big stone sword next to Huang He. He shows everyone YBY’s token and explains what it means. Gao Chong repeats again that he’s going to return the Armory to everyone, and that his only wish is to destroy Ghost Valley (in revenge, and to bring peace to the jianghu).
Gao Chong calls for one of his men to pour wine into the bowl beneath that sword, and tells people to mix their blood into the wine if they’re willing to work together to destroy Ghost Valley. They’ll drink it, and become sworn brothers, and it’ll all be good.
Huang He starts to argue with him, and Gao Chong grabs his hand and slices it on the blade. Then he cuts his own hand, so that their blood is mixed and they’re sworn to each other (and Huang He can’t argue nearly as well now). Fan Huaikong comes up, declares his sect’s blood feud with Ghost Valley, and drips his blood in. This begins a chain of other sect leaders joining him.
Feng Xiaofeng needs to ruin it, of course. He wants to know what Gao Chong is gonna do with the Combined Six Cultivation Method and the Yin Yang Book. Huang He wonders if they’ll end up with Gao Chong, and thinks that people are being too hasty about swearing allegiance to Gao Chong, calling it Gao Chong’s “usual trick”.
Gao Chong says that Rong Xuan had his own sect, and so he’ll return the Combined Six Cultivation Method to Rong Xuan’s mentor. (so… YBY…?) The Yin Yang Book belongs to Healer Valley, and so Gao Chong will return it to them. WKX’s face gets very rigid as Gao Chong speaks, and the hand he’s holding his fan with begins trembling. ZZS looks at him in concern.
One of the sect leaders says that “those people” are all dead, and doubts Gao Chong’s ability to return the texts as a result. This starts people arguing about who has close ties to Healer Valley, or who had the most dead, or who did the most during the battle at Mount Qingya, or whatever, and thus who should get the texts. (Feng Xiaofeng encourages this debate.)
WKX is saying “Fight, fight, fight,” in a way more desperate than anything else, and ZZS finally asks him who exactly he is.
The heroes of the conference start drawing swords, and WKX calls them cowards for not outright fighting. ZZS grabs his arm and asks if he hates the Five Lakes Alliance or the whole jianghu, and wonders once more if he’s Rong Xuan’s son. WKX says, again, that he’s never lied to ZZS.
ZZS asks why he’s even bothering with these people, then, and WKX says he doesn’t think the righteous sects deserve to be called human. “The only difference between them and Ghost Valley is that one is blatantly evil, while the other is wearing a cover of benevolence, justice, and morality,” WKX says, and that they’ll rip their human skins off at the first sign of blood.
ZZS listens to this, then says they walk different paths and they should go their separate ways. He leaves, and WKX watches him go for a few long seconds before turning back to watch the show.
The scene changes to those two Scorpion-affiliated prisoners making tally marks on their prison wall. They’ve got 65 marks on the wall, which is quite a while if they’re counting days; certainly more than it feels like have passed since their capture. Dunno what else they might be counting, though!
The number is clearly meaningful, since it signals them to put tiny little whistles in their mouths and start whistling Deng Kuan awake. Deng Kuan gets up from his bed, doesn’t put on any more clothes, and walks out.
A Yueyang disciple in the prison complains about being left behind. Deng Kuan comes up behind him, and then stabs the disciple as soon as he greets Deng Kuan. Deng Kuan takes the keys and frees the two prisoners.
The scene changes to Qiao Luohan standing by a lake. Wuchang Gui recites something that definitely sounds like a saying, and greets her, asking if it’s his turn. She says everything will be done in accordance to her master’s arrangement, and then leaves.
At the Heroes Conference, joss paper falls from the sky. This gets everyone’s attention off their internal arguments for the moment! Gao Chong seizes the moment to try and get everyone aligned to kill Ghost Valley, since they’re arriving.
Wuchang Gu laughs and calls Gao Chong a cruel man, then says (as WKX listens and almost smiles): Long-tongued Ghost destroyed Mirror Lake Sect for Gao Chong, but Gao Chong killed him? Xisang Gui trapped and killed Danyang Sect’s disciples. Happy Ghost killed Ao Laizi. Wasn’t that all at Gao Chong’s order?
Mount Tai Sect, of course, is infuriated by this and accuses Gao Chong. Wuchang Gui doesn’t let up, saying that he and Gao Chong had agreed to split up the Armory after collecting the Glazed Armor, but Gao Chong betrayed Ghost Valley after collecting three pieces. Gao Chong asks who’s slandering him, and doesn’t receive an answer.
Deng Kuan walks into the Heroes Conference. His white robes are lightly stained with the Yueyang disciple’s blood. Thunder rumbles overhead as people are surprised to see him alive. Deng Kuan speaks, saying that Gao Chong imprisoned him. He also says Gao Chong ordered Deng Kuan and Long-tongued Ghost to sneak into Mirror Lake Sect and kill the Zhangs. Gao Chong protests this nonsense, while Deng Kuan calls him a traitor, a disgrace, and an overall terrible person in a number of ways.
Deng Kuan says he assisted Gao Chong, and is now too ashamed to live. He stabs himself in the stomach and collapses to the ground. Yueyang disciples are devastated, Qiao Luohan smirks in the distance and walks away, and Gao Chong is shocked and heartbroken.
Shen Shen tries to tell people not to believe him. Gao Chong asks who wants to kill him by controlling Deng Kuan.
WKX takes another drink, and is interested to see that this is where Wuchang Gui is making his move.
General Commentary
Gao Chong is calling himself “Gao-mou” throughout most of this episode, which I’ve gotten the sense is a fairly humble way to refer to oneself; something like “this Gao”? It’s a striking, and no doubt intentional, contrast with everyone trying to call him selfish.
Wen Kexing offers his flask to Zhou Zishu, and Zhou Zishu doesn’t take it. Wen Kexing keeps drinking, though. Dunno what to make of this! But it sure is interesting, considering how many issues they both “solve” with alcohol.
Cao Weining is really good at fighting! He can fight Tao Hong and Lv Liu for a solid chunk of time! He doesn’t even have a weapon with him! The show doesn’t even highlight his skill here, so I’m not sure it’s obvious if you aren’t thinking about it. Cao Weining is often shown as a soft-hearted romantic, but when he’s given a chance to fight it’s clear that he’s talented!
I continue to not understand why Zhou Zishu is so caught up on the idea that Wen Kexing might have lied about not being Rong Xuan’s son. This is the third denial!Important things must be said three times! This one might actually stick?
He’s got a point about asking if Wen Kexing has a grudge against the Five Lakes Alliance or the whole jianghu, though; wanting the Heroes Conference to devolve into mindless (and needless) violence isn’t targeted at all in the way gathering the Glazed Armor had been.
I feel so bad for Deng Kuan. I don’t quite get how the mind control stuff works, but it sure does work!
Ever since I saw that one post/article about how literally all visual media gets wheelchair design wrong, I haven’t been able to unsee it. (I can’t find that specific one! This is pretty cool though, and related: “How to illustrate wheelchairs”.) The point of the post I can’t find was that a lot of made-up wheelchairs in fiction have large wheels in front and small wheels in the rear, whereas real useable wheelchairs are the other way around; you want the small wheels in front for maneuverability. If you look at Long Xiao’s wheelchair, it falls into this problem.
Long Xiao also lets one of the Yueyang disciples push his chair when Gao Chong dismisses him, despite how he clearly has the ability to move his own wheelchair, which… like, maybe there was preestablished permission, but Long Xiao’s general attitude doesn’t seem like someone who would just let a random mook push his wheelchair around when it’s so unnecessary. Seems rude. But the show doesn’t have time for that, because the show isn’t going to talk about disability outright much at all.
Discussion Prompts/Questions
1. Long Xiao! Showing off technological prowess and also giving us another story about the Glazed Armor. Long Que is involved in the story for the first time, I believe? Nobody else has brought him up. We’ll get more about him over the next arc, but if you have anything to say about his introduction I’d be interested in hearing that!
2. Zhou Zishu walking away. This won’t last long, but the argument/moral dispute that leads to him choosing to walk away is pretty interesting. Wen Kexing’s not wrong about the righteous sects being just as bad as ghost valley, but Zhou Zishu’s not wrong that wanting to watch everyone die in a bloodbath isn’t good either. Thoughts, feelings, opinions about their arguments and reactions?
3. The reveal that Zhao Jing is Xie-wang’s yifu! Which, like, I honestly cannot recall if I realised on the first watch? Because we don’t see Zhao Jing’s face, just his silhouette and enough bits of his clothes to make it clear. But it’s a brief scene in the middle of a lot of other things, and we only really get into Zhao Jing and the Scorpion’s relationship next episode. Thoughts about this reveal, and how Zhao Jing is otherwise acting this episode?
Next Time: The monument falls! Gao Chong dies! ZZS and WKX take Chengling away from all this mess! We see a lot more of Xie-wang (and Zhao Jing with him)! YBY shows up at ZZS and WKX’s cave!
Also: Why I’m using “Longyuan Pavillion” instead of “Longyuan Cabinet”.
List of Scenes
GXL tends to first Deng Kuan and then GX (who’s faking being sick)
Gao Chong asks Mount Tai Sect what reparations the alliance can offer
Huang He wants to know the story of the Glazed Armor
ZZS sees Qiao Luohan sneaking around
Gao Chong begins talking about the Glazed Armor; Feng Xiaofeng riles up the crowd
ZZS talks to WKX and realises the Scorpions have been pulling a lot of strings
Xie-wang calls Zhao Jing “Yifu” for the first time
ZZS says someone’s manipulating this show; WKX thinks that’s a good thing
Gao Chong says he can’t open the Armory (even if he had all of the Glazed Armor)
LQQ and YQF rescue LFM from the Scorpions who’d been stealing her
Xiaolian, GX, and CWN are ambushed by Tao Hong and Lv Liu (who hurt CWN and kidnap Xiaolian)
Long Xiao makes his entrance
Long Xiao tells a twisted version of the Glazed Armor’s story, further implicating/slandering Gao Chong
ZZS and WKX continue talking about schemers and WKX’s grudge
Gao Chong swears he’s not selfish, and then tells everyone about Chengling and his planned betrothal
ZZS realises that Chengling has no more value to Gao Chong but Gao Chong’s still being nice
Gao Chong rallies everyone to mingle their blood in alliance (and forces Huang He to do so)
Feng Xiaofeng riles the crowd into wondering what’ll happen with the Combined Six Cultivation Method and Yin Yang Manual
ZZS asks again who WKX is, and WKX once again says he’s not Rong Xuan’s son
ZZS says he and WKX are walking different paths, and leaves
The prisoners wake Deng Kuan
Qiao Luohan and Wuchang Gui briefly meet
Wuchang Gui sends joss paper over the conference and says Gao Chong was working with him
Deng Kuan arrives, denounces Gao Chong, and stabs himself
WKX looks forward to seeing where Wuchang Gui’s schemes lead
Timeline or Something
This episode takes place over a very short period of time! Like, if it’s more than an hour or two I’d be amazed! It still manages to reference time in enough ways to make me go “AUGH” despite this.
Xiaolian says that the Heroes Conference is “Tomorrow”, when last episode Shen Shen said it started at noon. Perhaps the opening ceremony is at noon and the proper conference would start tomorrow?
The prisoners have 65 tally marks on their cell wall. Does this represent them having been locked up for 65 days (a little over two months) or 65 meals (~1 month if 2 meals/day, ~3 weeks if 3 meals/day) or 65 something elses? There being 65 is meaningful!
Recap
Gao Xiaolian sits at Deng Kuan’s bedside, telling him that “tomorrow is the Heroes Conference” (last episode, Shen Shen said it started at noon! Timelines! Augh!) and hoping very much that he’ll wake up (and that he won’t blame her for agreeing to marry Chengling for politics).
Gu Xiang walks in, seeming rather not okay, and Xiaolian helps her lie down and tells her to be more careful. As Xiaolian checks GX for a fever, GX thinks about how she could stab Xiaolian. She doesn’t, but she does keep Xiaolian close. Her goal is to gain a hostage to exchange for LFM, but CWN runs in (very concerned) before GX can enact any plans to incapacitate Xiaolian. GX is irritated by CWN caring for her, because he interrupted her plans, but he’s very sweet anyway.
At the Heroes Conference, Gao Chong is addressing the crowd. He invites Mount Tai Sect to state any demands they have, saying that the Five Lakes Alliance will comply with them. Huang He, despite not being a member of Mount Tai Sect, responds and says that Mount Tai Sect’s only demand is for Ao Laizi’s murderer to be punished immediately. But the Mount Tai Sect agrees with him, so that’s fine.
Gao Chong says that of course they’ll all work together to capture and punish the Ghost Valley person who did this. Bai Hua, the young Mount Tai disciple, steps forward and once again accuses Shen Shen of being at fault. Gao Chong asks for proof, which nobody can give it to him, and asserts that it’s all Ghost Valley’s fault really and they’re here to avenge the dead. He warns them not to fall into evil’s trap.
Huang He can’t even argue with him, much as he’d like to. Fan Huaikong agrees with Gao Chong, Gao Chong continues into a rousing speech, and Wen Kexing is impressed by Gao Chong’s eloquence.
Huang He asks Gao Chong to explain the Glazed Armor. He says that “over half” of the people attending the conference are there already, so Gao Chong should tell them the truth now. Gao Chong wonders if he wants backstory, or information about where the Glazed Armor currently is.
Other sects start speaking up in agreement with Huang He, wanting to know about the Glazed Armor because of their prior losses related to the battle at Mount Qingya.
ZZS sees Qiao Luohan sneaking off and follows her away from the shouting crowd. He confronts her (and her definitely-a-disguise moustache), and she throws a knife at him. When he dodges, she runs away. He follows.
Gao Chong agrees to tell them about the Glazed Armor, and starts by saying that it’s in the possession of the Five Lakes Alliance Shen Shen protests him saying this, but quiets immediately. Gao Chong says that the Five Lakes Alliance did all this for peace, including dividing the Glazed Armor between them after the battle of Mount Qingya.
Feng Xiaofeng asks why the Five Lakes Alliance made this choice for everyone else and didn’t tell anyone, and a sect leader agrees with that sentiment. This sets people off demanding that Gao Chong hand over the Glazed Armor.
Gao Chong says that the Glazed Armor has caused catastrophe in the past, and is doing so again now, so it’s a curse. Feng Xiaofeng calls him a hypocrite, since he thinks the Five Lakes Alliance planned all of this—especially since the fake armor looks so similar to the real ones. One of the sect leaders scolds Feng Xiaofeng for slandering Gao Chong, but it doesn’t have any real effect beyond getting people to start ramping up into death threats.
WKX’s observation (and drinking) is interrupted by ZZS throwing a pebble at him. WKX seems surprised (but pleased) to see him, and comes down from his tower (at ZZS’s request) to chat. ZZS tells WKX that he saw Qiao Luohan, and that he’s worried. WKX’s unconcerned; so long as Chengling’s okay, everything’s going just fine.
ZZS’s still caught up in how the Scorpion kidnapped Chengling originally, but WKX doesn’t want to think about any of that. He just wants to watch the show, and even tells ZZS he’s sure there’ll be a shocking twist later.
ZZS doesn’t seem quite certain what to make of WKX’s declarations (and contained glee). He considers the factions currently at play, and how the Scorpion has always been lingering in the background. It feels a bit like the show’s deliberately pointing them out to the viewers who might not have been attending so much to the whole political situation, which is very kind of the writers.
The scene switches to Xie-wang and Zhao Jing. Xie-wang is being very dramatic, Zhao Jing is writing something. Xie-wang calls Zhao Jing “Yifu” for the first time, and says that everything ZJ planned has been arranged. ZJ responds, saying that it’s time to “end it.”
Back with ZZS and WKX, ZZS is considering how Ghost Valley and the Scorpion are working together, while WKX is busy enjoying the show. ZZS breaks their silence to tell WKX that someone is running this show, and “scheming with malicious intent.” WKX, too busy thinking about his own schemes to realise someone else is interfering, asks, “Isn’t that good?” and goes on to say that all the manipulations and tricks are what’s resulting in such a good show. (WKX is firmly in ghost mode here, not worried about the harm to people at all.)
ZZS points out how much innocent blood will be spilt as a result, but WKX doesn’t think anyone here is innocent. He also says that “This exciting blood-filled play of animals fighting over food is exactly what [he wants] to see”, and ZZS just gives him a Look.
Huang He demands that Gao Chong take out the Glazed Armor, unlock the Armory, and allow all the sects to take back their stolen secrets. Then they can fight Ghost Valley. The crowd clamors in agreement.
Gao Chong pounds his (sheathed) sword into the wooden platform he’s on and tells everyone that he can’t open the Armory (true; he doesn’t have all the pieces, let alone the final key). Huang He calls him a liar and continues demanding he hand over the Glazed Armor. Feng Xiaofeng chimes in to insult Gao Chong.
Gao Chong says there’s someone who will “testify for him”, and WKX is very curious to see what tricks he’s got up his sleeve.
Meanwhile, back at Yueyang, LQQ and YQF are rescuing LFM. The Scorpions (identifiable by their curved swords) got to LFM first, so LQQ and YQF need to fight them for her. They fight, and win, and begin taking her away.
Xiaolian, walking with CWN and GX, wonders where everyone is. Tao Hong and Lv Liu appear and demand that Xiaolian come with them. CWN says he’ll fight both of them, which might have even worked to buy Xiaolian and GX enough time to escape if they’d tried to run instead of just standing there watching the fight.
They beat CWN back. GX catches him, is mad that he got hurt, and goes to fight them instead. When they throw darts at GX, CWN jumps in front of them and uses his body as a shield. GX rushes to look at his wounds, and Xiaolian is left undefended. She takes about two steps before Tao Hong and Lv Liu steal her away.
GX feeds CWN medicine and has a lot of emotions about how she cares about him but never wanted to have feelings like this. LQQ and YQF arrive, carrying LFM. LQQ gently scolds GX for using the lifesaving pill on CWN. GX’s surprised to see them. But we don’t have time right now for more of a reaction from her!
At the Heroes Conference, a carriage driven by a mechanical automaton arrives. Long Xiao rolls out the back and down a lift in his powered wheelchair. The gathered sects don’t seem familiar with him, but are familiar with the mechanical devices of Longyuan Pavillion. One sect leader even says “In the old days, even the emperor showed Longyuan Pavillion his respect.”
Zhao Jing and Chengling accompany Long Xiao up to Gao Chong’s platform, where Gao Chong introduces Long Xiao as “the master of mechanics” and says Long Xiao’s here to share the story behind the armory. Long Xiao agrees that’s what he’s there for, and that “nobody knows the story of the Armory better than [his] father”, who he first calls/titles “Ban Zhuge” (半诸葛) before naming Long Que. Dunno what’s up with that, since Youtube didn’t try to translate it at all. Netflix translates it as “the half-genius”? Which doesn’t answer any of my questions.
Long Xiao says that Rong Xuan stole records, knew it was wrong, and tricked Long Que into building the Armory so that Rong Xuan could keep the stolen secrets safe. Huang He asks him what was up with Gao Chong saying he couldn’t open the Armory even with the Glazed Armor, and Long Xiao says Gao Chong is right; it’s impossible to safely open the Armory with only the Glazed Armor. (The emphasis on safely makes it sound possible, and ignores the fact that there’s a whole other item needed.)
Upon being asked if he can open the Armory, Long Xiao says he didn’t inherit “the true teachings” of his dad and makes it sound like this is why he can’t open the Armory. Everyone’s upset about this. Long Xiao says his dad probably could, but that no matter how much Longyuan Pavillion is bribed or threatened, they won’t help open the armory and “satisfy [Gao Chong’s] selfishness”. Long Xiao calls it “the Armory of the people”, which the assembled sects are super into.
Huang He uses this as leverage to make it sound like Gao Chong wants everything for himself. Shen Shen jumps up to the platform to confront Long Xiao face-to-face, asking when Gao Chong has ever bribed or coerced Long Que and threatening to kill Long Xiao for slander. Zhao Jing gets involved too, saying that Long Xiao lied to him. But, all things considered, this could easily be just part of a play they schemed to put on.
Feng Xiaofeng keeps shouting for Gao Chong to hand over the Glazed Armor, and the rest of the crowd joins in. Zhao Jing drops to his knees and apologises to Gao Chong, saying that he didn’t find Longyuan Pavillion; Long Xiao found him.
ZZS calls ZJ “赵玄德 (Zhao Xuande)” for some reason? And then goes on to call him a “weak and stupid fool” while wondering how he’s part of the Five Lakes Alliance, proving that Zhao Jing’s playing everyone very well. WKX responds by saying that Shen Shen isn’t an idiot, and that ZYS and LTC “are not much better”.
ZZS asks why WKX has such a grudge, and points out that someone set Gao Chong up. WKX says he wants to applaud whoever did this scheme, and tells ZZS to wait and watch.
Gao Chong quiets the crowd, says there must be a misunderstanding between him and Long Que, and promises he doesn’t have selfish motivations. This does not stop people from shouting for the Glazed Armor. Gao Chong then swears that after they defeat Ghost Valley, he and Long Xiao will open the Armory and share it with everyone, saying that he’ll be cut into a thousand pieces if he lies. This finally gets people to stop.
Gao Chong tells Long Xiao to go rest (he allows that), then tells Zhao Jing to stand up (he doesn’t do so immediately). Gao Chong then goes to Chengling, tells him to not be afraid, and draws him to the front of the platform. Gao Chong introduces Chengling to everyone, and says that he’s betrothing Chengling to Xiaolian, and they’ll lead Mirror Lake and Yueyang Sects together in the future. Gao Chong says that when that happens, he’ll go be a monk and no longer deal with the mortal world.
Shen Shen doesn’t like this, and one of Gao Chong’s subordinates is mad about people forcing Gao Chong into this choice. WKX thinks that Gao Chong is dragging Chengling down with him. ZZS realises that this doesn’t benefit Gao Chong at all. WKX reads this as contradicting him, since he thinks Gao Chong’s only been pretending to be a paragon of virtue and thus must be using Chengling somehow. ZZS asks WKX what value Chengling has for Gao Chong at this point, and they both turn back to watch.
Gao Chong jumps down to stand in front of that big stone sword next to Huang He. He shows everyone YBY’s token and explains what it means. Gao Chong repeats again that he’s going to return the Armory to everyone, and that his only wish is to destroy Ghost Valley (in revenge, and to bring peace to the jianghu).
Gao Chong calls for one of his men to pour wine into the bowl beneath that sword, and tells people to mix their blood into the wine if they’re willing to work together to destroy Ghost Valley. They’ll drink it, and become sworn brothers, and it’ll all be good.
Huang He starts to argue with him, and Gao Chong grabs his hand and slices it on the blade. Then he cuts his own hand, so that their blood is mixed and they’re sworn to each other (and Huang He can’t argue nearly as well now). Fan Huaikong comes up, declares his sect’s blood feud with Ghost Valley, and drips his blood in. This begins a chain of other sect leaders joining him.
Feng Xiaofeng needs to ruin it, of course. He wants to know what Gao Chong is gonna do with the Combined Six Cultivation Method and the Yin Yang Book. Huang He wonders if they’ll end up with Gao Chong, and thinks that people are being too hasty about swearing allegiance to Gao Chong, calling it Gao Chong’s “usual trick”.
Gao Chong says that Rong Xuan had his own sect, and so he’ll return the Combined Six Cultivation Method to Rong Xuan’s mentor. (so… YBY…?) The Yin Yang Book belongs to Healer Valley, and so Gao Chong will return it to them. WKX’s face gets very rigid as Gao Chong speaks, and the hand he’s holding his fan with begins trembling. ZZS looks at him in concern.
One of the sect leaders says that “those people” are all dead, and doubts Gao Chong’s ability to return the texts as a result. This starts people arguing about who has close ties to Healer Valley, or who had the most dead, or who did the most during the battle at Mount Qingya, or whatever, and thus who should get the texts. (Feng Xiaofeng encourages this debate.)
WKX is saying “Fight, fight, fight,” in a way more desperate than anything else, and ZZS finally asks him who exactly he is.
The heroes of the conference start drawing swords, and WKX calls them cowards for not outright fighting. ZZS grabs his arm and asks if he hates the Five Lakes Alliance or the whole jianghu, and wonders once more if he’s Rong Xuan’s son. WKX says, again, that he’s never lied to ZZS.
ZZS asks why he’s even bothering with these people, then, and WKX says he doesn’t think the righteous sects deserve to be called human. “The only difference between them and Ghost Valley is that one is blatantly evil, while the other is wearing a cover of benevolence, justice, and morality,” WKX says, and that they’ll rip their human skins off at the first sign of blood.
ZZS listens to this, then says they walk different paths and they should go their separate ways. He leaves, and WKX watches him go for a few long seconds before turning back to watch the show.
The scene changes to those two Scorpion-affiliated prisoners making tally marks on their prison wall. They’ve got 65 marks on the wall, which is quite a while if they’re counting days; certainly more than it feels like have passed since their capture. Dunno what else they might be counting, though!
The number is clearly meaningful, since it signals them to put tiny little whistles in their mouths and start whistling Deng Kuan awake. Deng Kuan gets up from his bed, doesn’t put on any more clothes, and walks out.
A Yueyang disciple in the prison complains about being left behind. Deng Kuan comes up behind him, and then stabs the disciple as soon as he greets Deng Kuan. Deng Kuan takes the keys and frees the two prisoners.
The scene changes to Qiao Luohan standing by a lake. Wuchang Gui recites something that definitely sounds like a saying, and greets her, asking if it’s his turn. She says everything will be done in accordance to her master’s arrangement, and then leaves.
At the Heroes Conference, joss paper falls from the sky. This gets everyone’s attention off their internal arguments for the moment! Gao Chong seizes the moment to try and get everyone aligned to kill Ghost Valley, since they’re arriving.
Wuchang Gu laughs and calls Gao Chong a cruel man, then says (as WKX listens and almost smiles): Long-tongued Ghost destroyed Mirror Lake Sect for Gao Chong, but Gao Chong killed him? Xisang Gui trapped and killed Danyang Sect’s disciples. Happy Ghost killed Ao Laizi. Wasn’t that all at Gao Chong’s order?
Mount Tai Sect, of course, is infuriated by this and accuses Gao Chong. Wuchang Gui doesn’t let up, saying that he and Gao Chong had agreed to split up the Armory after collecting the Glazed Armor, but Gao Chong betrayed Ghost Valley after collecting three pieces. Gao Chong asks who’s slandering him, and doesn’t receive an answer.
Deng Kuan walks into the Heroes Conference. His white robes are lightly stained with the Yueyang disciple’s blood. Thunder rumbles overhead as people are surprised to see him alive. Deng Kuan speaks, saying that Gao Chong imprisoned him. He also says Gao Chong ordered Deng Kuan and Long-tongued Ghost to sneak into Mirror Lake Sect and kill the Zhangs. Gao Chong protests this nonsense, while Deng Kuan calls him a traitor, a disgrace, and an overall terrible person in a number of ways.
Deng Kuan says he assisted Gao Chong, and is now too ashamed to live. He stabs himself in the stomach and collapses to the ground. Yueyang disciples are devastated, Qiao Luohan smirks in the distance and walks away, and Gao Chong is shocked and heartbroken.
Shen Shen tries to tell people not to believe him. Gao Chong asks who wants to kill him by controlling Deng Kuan.
WKX takes another drink, and is interested to see that this is where Wuchang Gui is making his move.
General Commentary
Gao Chong is calling himself “Gao-mou” throughout most of this episode, which I’ve gotten the sense is a fairly humble way to refer to oneself; something like “this Gao”? It’s a striking, and no doubt intentional, contrast with everyone trying to call him selfish.
Wen Kexing offers his flask to Zhou Zishu, and Zhou Zishu doesn’t take it. Wen Kexing keeps drinking, though. Dunno what to make of this! But it sure is interesting, considering how many issues they both “solve” with alcohol.
Cao Weining is really good at fighting! He can fight Tao Hong and Lv Liu for a solid chunk of time! He doesn’t even have a weapon with him! The show doesn’t even highlight his skill here, so I’m not sure it’s obvious if you aren’t thinking about it. Cao Weining is often shown as a soft-hearted romantic, but when he’s given a chance to fight it’s clear that he’s talented!
I continue to not understand why Zhou Zishu is so caught up on the idea that Wen Kexing might have lied about not being Rong Xuan’s son. This is the third denial!
He’s got a point about asking if Wen Kexing has a grudge against the Five Lakes Alliance or the whole jianghu, though; wanting the Heroes Conference to devolve into mindless (and needless) violence isn’t targeted at all in the way gathering the Glazed Armor had been.
I feel so bad for Deng Kuan. I don’t quite get how the mind control stuff works, but it sure does work!
Ever since I saw that one post/article about how literally all visual media gets wheelchair design wrong, I haven’t been able to unsee it. (I can’t find that specific one! This is pretty cool though, and related: “How to illustrate wheelchairs”.) The point of the post I can’t find was that a lot of made-up wheelchairs in fiction have large wheels in front and small wheels in the rear, whereas real useable wheelchairs are the other way around; you want the small wheels in front for maneuverability. If you look at Long Xiao’s wheelchair, it falls into this problem.
Long Xiao also lets one of the Yueyang disciples push his chair when Gao Chong dismisses him, despite how he clearly has the ability to move his own wheelchair, which… like, maybe there was preestablished permission, but Long Xiao’s general attitude doesn’t seem like someone who would just let a random mook push his wheelchair around when it’s so unnecessary. Seems rude. But the show doesn’t have time for that, because the show isn’t going to talk about disability outright much at all.
Discussion Prompts/Questions
1. Long Xiao! Showing off technological prowess and also giving us another story about the Glazed Armor. Long Que is involved in the story for the first time, I believe? Nobody else has brought him up. We’ll get more about him over the next arc, but if you have anything to say about his introduction I’d be interested in hearing that!
2. Zhou Zishu walking away. This won’t last long, but the argument/moral dispute that leads to him choosing to walk away is pretty interesting. Wen Kexing’s not wrong about the righteous sects being just as bad as ghost valley, but Zhou Zishu’s not wrong that wanting to watch everyone die in a bloodbath isn’t good either. Thoughts, feelings, opinions about their arguments and reactions?
3. The reveal that Zhao Jing is Xie-wang’s yifu! Which, like, I honestly cannot recall if I realised on the first watch? Because we don’t see Zhao Jing’s face, just his silhouette and enough bits of his clothes to make it clear. But it’s a brief scene in the middle of a lot of other things, and we only really get into Zhao Jing and the Scorpion’s relationship next episode. Thoughts about this reveal, and how Zhao Jing is otherwise acting this episode?
Next Time: The monument falls! Gao Chong dies! ZZS and WKX take Chengling away from all this mess! We see a lot more of Xie-wang (and Zhao Jing with him)! YBY shows up at ZZS and WKX’s cave!
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In retrospect, WKX's reaction to the Healer Valley stuff is very telling.
I get why ZZS' stuck on the idea of WKX being Rong Xuan’s son - it makes sense based on his reactions w/r/t what happened 20 years ago (and I think having a protagonist be the child of the previous generation's villian is a trope in wuxia stories).
2) They really have very short break-ups! And it reminded me a bit of the one they had a few episodes back re: both of them having valid, albeit conflicting, perspectives. I wonder if ZZS' pov is partially influenced by regret over the collateral damage he caused during his Window of Heaven days.
3) I don't think I realized that was ZJ on my first watch, iirc.
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I get why ZZS' stuck on the idea of WKX being Rong Xuan’s son - it makes sense based on his reactions w/r/t what happened 20 years ago (and I think having a protagonist be the child of the previous generation's villian is a trope in wuxia stories).
It makes less sense to me the more times WKX denies it. My irritation is more about ZZS not believing WKX when he says "No" than about ZZS wondering about it in the first place.
I wonder if ZZS' pov is partially influenced by regret over the collateral damage he caused during his Window of Heaven days.
That seems likely to me!
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I get that. I suspect it’s partially because ZZS' twigged that WKX is hiding something specific from him and it’s nagging at him. I'm not sure if it sticks this time, but I think this is the last time ZZS asks.
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Totally fair to save more Long Xiao thoughts for when he's shown up more. :)
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I confess I zoned out through most of the political stuff in this episode, despite my best efforts this time around. The
penisphallic symbolobeliskmonument is still there, yep. My other coherent thought was that Qiao Luohan looks really cute with that mustache and the hat.no subject
xD it's really hard to focus on the political stuff, even as someone who really wants to focus on it and care. Writing up this episode was more of a drag than most of them, and I'm so looking forward to next episode when more exciting stuff begins happening again.
Qiao Luohan does look cute! :D
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Seriously. Spy master should reevaluate, and it's especially egregious given ZZS has actually met Zhen Yan and his parents. Though he did, admittedly, miss basically all the backstory discussion.
I love Long Xiao's actor. He was incredible. I thought the scene and blocking of his appearance were great, the clicking sounds that then opened up to show him.
Thoughts, feelings, opinions about their arguments and reactions?
Zhou Zishu, it's pretty funny coming from you! Or maybe not. So much of his story is about regrets, and he really does seem to dwell on some of his murders. When Wen Kexing confronted him while digging the graves for the Four Sages, he does seem to flash back to killing children, etc. So this version of Zhou Zishu does dislike what he did, and it's compounded by the fact that... it was so not worth it, for Jin Wang, who doesn't sound much like Helian Yi at all. So when he sees Wen Kexing bringing jianghu to blows, it's (1) totally against everything ZZS did to create peace 'for the greater good', and (2) he feels like Wen Kexing will regret it.
Personally, I also feel like, (3) it's so chaotic! Zhou Zishu would have no issue with WKX sniping the people he wants to kill, however many hundred there are, but so much uncontrolled chaos that can't help have unintended consequences. So untidy!
Whereas WKX is straightforward and wants all those people dead, and the world burning down to do it is just an extra treat. He already comes from a lawless place anyway, so why would he feel that peace is worth preserving?
The reveal that Zhao Jing is Xie-wang’s yifu! Which, like, I honestly cannot recall if I realised on the first watch?
I did not realize who it was either. I just knew - it had to be a main character. But I couldn't figure out who, haha.
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ZZS calls ZJ “赵玄德 (Zhao Xuande)” for some reason?
玄德 itself means someone who keeps a low profile but has great ambition within them, which really fits ZJ.
At the same time, 玄德 most likely also refers to Liu Bei (玄德 was his courtesy name), one of the warlords from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Liu Bei was known for using tears as a way to sway others to his side. Opinion of him is mixed, some saw him as a good leader on the surface but also felt he wasn't quite as righteous as his reputation said he was.
ZZS listens to this, then says they walk different paths and they should go their separate ways. He leaves, and WKX watches him go for a few long seconds before turning back to watch the show.
This breakup between ZZS and WKX lasted like...all of an hour? At the first sign of ZZS having trouble handling the fight against the beggar sect, he jumps right in.
3. The reveal that Zhao Jing is Xie-wang’s yifu!
I think during my first watch I was fairly convinced that someone close to Gao Chong was ruining Gao Chong's reputation on his behalf but didn't realize it was Zhao Jing until this ep.
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His actor is fantastic! He does such a good job of being eerie for reasons that have everything to do with his expressions and nothing to do with his disability.
Jin Wang, who doesn't sound much like Helian Yi at all
xD They're incredibly different people. Jin-wang is worse than Helian Yi! Helian Yi did shitty things, but he was definitely the best choice out of his siblings for taking the throne. Jin-wang doesn't seem competent enough for all the death he's left by the wayside as he tries to take the throne.
Zhou Zishu would have no issue with WKX sniping the people he wants to kill, however many hundred there are, but so much uncontrolled chaos that can't help have unintended consequences. So untidy!
Yeah! Targetted assassination might lead to chaos in the aftermath, but the aftermath can be justified as "not my problem/fault" in a way that this chaotic fight really can't.
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Especially for the information about 玄德; I can definitely see, from your description of Liu Bei, how SHL is evoking him with Zhao Jing.
This breakup between ZZS and WKX lasted like...all of an hour? At the first sign of ZZS having trouble handling the fight against the beggar sect, he jumps right in.
Like, fifteen minutes? xD He shows up to help Chengling, technically, but... him being that close means he was probably there for ZZS too...
I think during my first watch I was fairly convinced that someone close to Gao Chong was ruining Gao Chong's reputation on his behalf but didn't realize it was Zhao Jing until this ep.
Nice! :D That is closer to realising what was going on than I got! xD