[WoH Rewatch] Episode 19

[shadaras]

peachpai and I had a great conversation about disability in the comments over the last week; highly recommend reading if you’re interested in thoughts about SHL’s presentation of disability.

But today it is time for history, and learning how Long Que remembers everything going down.


List of Scenes
A little more Long family drama
WKX questions Long Que about how the Armory was built
YBY asks how Rong Xuan died
Learning about the key, and a wee bit of sparring between YBY and WKX
Zhao Jing gloats to the memorial tablets about how he’s the one who’s still alive
YBY and Long Que talk about the Combined Six Cultivation Method
Flashback! Drinking, joking, and Gao Chong scolding Zhao Jing
Long Que describes their attitude and how QHZ gave them the glazed armor and armory location
Flashback! Rong Xuan fights the five brothers and gets wounded/poisoned
Discussion of who did this/whether Gao Chong had any motive
The cost of the Yin Yang Book, and a flashback showing Yue Feng’er using it anyway
Flashback! Zhen Ruyu attempting to defend/save Rong Xuan on Mount Qingya
The punishment and exile of Zhen Ruyu and his family
Long Que explains his ruse to deflect attention from the Zhen family
YBY and Long Que realise how they failed their sons; YBY leaves

Timeline or Something
Present time takes place over probably an hour, maybe.

The flashback is to twenty years ago. Probably it starts off a couple years prior to the “Twenty years ago everything went to shit” section, but it mostly focuses on that last period of time. There’s no good sense of how long there is between any given flashback.



Recap

We get right back into Long family drama.

Long Xiao accuses Long Que of being mad at him because Long Que’s wife died in childbirth, and says he would rather have died than grow up with a disability. Long Que asks why, if the Yin Yang Book could cure such disabilities, it was kept a secret. Long Xiao doesn’t give a shit, because he thinks Long Que should’ve at least tried to help him using the Yin Yang Book.

WKX silences Long Xiao with some kind of magic that looks like it’s choking him. Long Que says he deserves this for not teaching Long Xiao well. YBY interrupts the pity party by asking if Long Que knows Yue Feng’er of Healer Valley. ZZS calls her “the senior of the Three Heroes of Healer Valley” (presumably Yue Feng’er, Gu Miaomiao, and Zhen Ruyu?), and Long Que implicitly agrees as he says that those Three Heroes were the reason that Yu Zhui agreed to marry him.

YBY asks for and receives confirmation that Yue Feng’er was Rong Xuan’s wife, then asks what happened between them. Before Long Que can answer, WKX (being respectful for once; he calls Long Que “Long-xiansheng”) wonders if he can ask Long Que a question. He doesn’t even just ask it outright! Long Que asks ZZS who WKX is, and ZZS hesitates a moment before simply calling WKX his “close friend” (至交好友) and introducing him as Wen Kexing. ZZS then thinks to himself “the situation is not clear yet” about WKX’s parentage, mostly because WKX doesn’t like his father, and wonders if he should reveal WKX’s identity. It’s kinda hard to tell if he’s figured out WKX is Zhen Yan yet or not.



Long Que’s just delighted that ZZS has a friend. WKX asks Long Que if Long Xiao spoke truly about Gao Chong forcing Long Que to open the armory. Long Que’s like “What? They have the glazed armor; why ask me to do that?”, so WKX follows this up by asking if Rong Xuan did indeed deceive Long Que into building the armory. Long Que says not to trust Long Xiao’s words; he helped Rong Xuan construct the armory willingly. (He’s also consistently saying Rong-xiongdi/Brother Rong.)



WKX appears to be Processing. ZZS follows up by asking Long Que to tell them the whole story about the armory, since there have been so many rumours flying around. Long Que agrees to tell them, and the flashback sequences begin.



QHZ knew Rong Xuan before the rest of the group. Long Que says that the whole group “practiced chivalry and justice and cracked down on evil forces” and it was a lovely time. Long Que specifically says that QHZ and Rong Xuan were the reason he (“a nerd”, 书呆子, which I think could also be “bookworm”) could have such a good time. Long Que feels like he was blessed to be part of such a group.

ZZS redirects to the armory, and Long Que tells him to stop referring to it as Rong Xuan’s; while Rong Xuan might’ve been the center of their group, they all built the armory together. Chengling wonders if his dad was involved, and Long Que is delighted to meet ZYS’s son (and says that, since he’s a handsome boy, Chengling must take after his mother). Because Long Que then asks how ZYS is doing, ZZS explains that ZYS, Lu Taichong, and Gao Chong have all died protecting the glazed armor from ghost valley.



Long Que says that the death caused by seeking the glazed armor is pointless, because the glazed armor is only a lock. “Without Rong-xiongdi’s key, what’s the point of having the lock?” he asks. This is the first time ZZS’s heard of the key. We then get a shot of WKX, who still appears to be bluescreening a wee bit.



YBY asks if Long Que has the key, and Long Que says he doesn’t. Apparently people keep not believing him about this. We get another brief shot of WKX’s fist tightening, and then another one of ZZS noticing this. ZZS stands up as Long Que sighs over how much he’s lost, and reaches WKX’s side as YBY demands to know if Long Que knows where the key is. Long Que says he knows but won’t tell YBY; he’s sworn not to tell anyone and YBY’s threats don’t matter when he’s already lost everything.

WKX continues having what looks like a panic attack, and ZZS squeezes his shoulder comfortingly. WKX, after a moment, places his hand on top of ZZS’s.



Chengling asks YBY to stop being so hard on Long Que, but YBY says he needs to know what happened to Rong Xuan. He wants to know how Rong Xuan went crazy, and if any of them hurt Rong Xuan. WKX is very upset by how pushy YBY’s being, and when YBY won’t back down WKX jumps at him and they start fighting.



YBY asks why WKX’s fighting him when WKX’s gone through so much effort to find the truth, and WKX snaps back “I don’t want to know the truth now”. When they get blown away from each other, ZZS grabs WKX and attempts to hold him back. YBY also tells him to stop or he’ll regret it, and follows it up with saying that YBY needs to know how Rong Xuan died because Rong Xuan was his disciple.



This does indeed blow the wind out of WKX’s sails.

But then we cut to Yueyang, where Zhao Jing enters the memorial hall via what feels like secret/automatic sliding doors. He carries in Gao Chong’s memorial tablet, and the doors close behind him. Zhao Jing recites a list of titles—Mountain Closing Sword (Rong Xuan), Two Heroes of Healer Valley (Yue Feng’er and Gu Miaomiao, presumably) [he calls them 双杰 shuangjie, which is the same term MDZS uses for WWX and JC.], Leader of the Five Lakes Alliance—and then says Gao-dage separately as if he’s not the leader of the alliance.



Zhao Jing says he’s finally got all of them together. He says they belittled him, crowded him out, and ordered him around like a puppet. He pours wine in offering for each of them, saying that he doesn’t think they ever would’ve expected they’d die first.

Then he tosses wine at Rong Xuan’s tablet and shouts that the armory is total bullshit. He calls it a whim of Rong Xuan’s, and says Rong Xuan could offend the jianghu because he didn’t have ties there, but the rest of them did. Zhao Jing says he’s struggled for most of his life to rise from a poor child to a sect leader, and Rong Xuan almost made his efforts vanish.

Zhao Jing says that Rong Xuan didn’t let them attempt the Combined Six Cultivation Method even though Rong Xuan kept failing to master it. Zhao Jing continues being mad about how Rong Xuan was always in the right, and he was always in the wrong, but now Rong Xuan’s dead and he’s alive so what does it matter anymore.

He then starts talking to Gao Chong, and says Gao Chong must regret “it” now. “It” seems to be going along with Rong Xuan’s plans and trusting Shen Shen over Zhao Jing. Zhao Jing thinks Gao Chong clung to power and deserves to end up like this.



Zhao Jing says that he regrets not letting Gao Chong see any of this when he was alive. He wants people to know that Zhao Jing is the only true hero here, the only one who can carry forward the Five Lakes Alliance.



We return to Longyuan Pavillion, where YBY draws his sword super dramatically, leaps into the air, and makes a show of a particular technique. (FUN FACT: I only realised when looking at the screenshot I’d already taken that what’s going on here is that YBY is sending out shadows/images of himself. I’d always assumed that he’d just dramatically shed a layer of robes! [link to full-sized screenshot for reference])

Long Que identifies it as Mountain Closing Swordsmanship, which Rong Xuan gained his title from, and agrees that YBY must be Rong Xuan’s master. Long Que is startled that YBY is still alive, though, and wonders if that’s the Combined Six Cultivation Method. He’s amazed/awed that it exists, and works, and that it’s a true path to immortality.

Long Que says that the Combined Six Cultivation Method is still kept safely in the armory, and that Rong Xuan was an ignorant youth who did things wrongly. YBY questions it when Long Que says Rong Xuan felt guilty and full of remorse. Long Que says that Rong Xuan asked his wife (Yue Feng’er) to send the key back to Mount Changming, tell YBY what happened, and apologize in Rong Xuan’s stead. But, obviously, that didn’t happen.



Long Que asks ZZS for alcohol, but it’s WKX who comes forward and offers his flask first. Long Que drinks, then coughs at how strong it is, and compliments it. YBY acts like Long Que is stalling, and demands he continue and get to the point. Long Que says he’s survived this long because the heavens want him to reveal the truth to the world, compliments WKX’s booze some more, then throws the flask away.



The flashbacks return! All the group are sitting at a table together, drinking. Shen Shen gives a toast, then smashes his cup after. Yue Feng’er is upset with him. Zhen Ruyu tells his dashijie to let Shen Shen go. She does, and they sit back down. Shen Shen goes on about the two beauties of healer valley (Yue Feng’er and Gu Miaomiao) taking all the loveliness of healer valley and leaving only foolishness for Zhen Ruyu himself.


(okay this is literally just here because young Long Que looks a lot like present-day Zhao Jing, which is moderately confusing until you get used to it, and also I had the realisation that young Zhang Yusen is hot.)

(Secondary note: Youtube’s subtitles incorrectly identify the man next to Qin Huaizhang during this sequence as Long Que. It’s not; you can tell that just by the number of characters in his name. It’s Lu Taichong, who I keep recognising during this as “the guy I don’t recognise” because he’s sadly unimportant throughout the whole show.)

Listening to all the rest of them call Zhao Jing “A-Jing” as they call for him to stop reading off on his own and sit at the table and drink together is very cute and sad. Zhao Jing does come over, but as he’s walking there Gao Chong storms up yelling about someone giving themself away stealing books from Mount Tai. Zhao Jing stammers out a defence that nobody saw him, which Gao Chong dismantles by saying that the Mount Tai elder came to his dad for an explanation, and his dad has asked all alliance disciples fitting the description to go to Mount Tai for investigation. He scolds Zhao Jing for not doing anything right.



Long Que comes over to suggest brainstorming solutions together (calling Gao Chong “A-Chong”), and Rong Xuan gestures for the rest of them to sit back down. Zhao Jing says he’ll admit his wrongdoing and ask for punishment, not getting anyone else involved. ZYS and Shen Shen don’t think he should do that; Shen Shen worries that ZJ would get punished by having his martial arts removed. Shen Shen then asks Da-ge (Rong Xuan, contextually) to help/do something about it.

Gao Chong’s upset that people aren’t even scolding Zhao Jing, since he thinks Zhao Jing deserves to be scolded. Zhao Jing says that “one should answer for what one does” and then Rong Xuan intervenes and says that since the World’s Armory was his idea, he should take responsibility.

Long Que says that Rong Xuan lit a fire in their hearts and turned them into devils, because Rong Xuan kept talking about how the jianghu was biased towards sects and many of the rules were just formalities. Long Que continues, saying that in those days they were “committed to collecting books of unique martial skills”. YBY says that this is stupid; techniques are created by humans, so fighting over books other people have written is ridiculous. He goes off on this for a while, ending with being glad Rong Xuan left the sect himself so that YBY doesn’t need to kill himself out of shame for having such a stupid disciple.



WKX shouts at YBY again, but ZZS bars him from continuing and tells YBY that if he keeps interrupting it’ll take even longer for Long Que to get to the point. YBY goes “Hmph” but does shut up. Long Que admits that YBY’s words made sense, and tells ZZS that QHZ said much the same thing to them at the time.

Long Que says that they spent a lot of trouble figuring out where to put the armory, and changed places a few times, before QHZ told them about “the underground palace of the former dynasty that he[’d] found”. Long Que later took care of its ”transformation”, but (when ZZS asks) says he didn’t create the glazed armor lock. He says that when QHZ and “his friends” travelled around, they acquired the glazed armor lock and its key. It wasn’t an easy process, but (Long Que says) when QHZ acquired all of the elements he found nothing inside the palace, so he gave it to Rong Xuan’s group. (This tracks with what ZZS puts together about the vault in ep36. This might be where ZZS got most of the pieces of that story, in fact.)

YBY once more asks how Rong Xuan dies. Long Que says that Rong Xuan’s death has puzzled him for many years. He doesn’t know who to blame for Rong Xuan’s tragedy. (The camera, and ZZS, are both focused on WKX’s face as he says this.)



Flashback once more! The five lakes brothers fight Rong Xuan.


(Left to right: Rong Xuan, Lu Taichong, Zhao Jing, Gao Chong, Shen Shen, Zhang Yusen)

The instigating argument seems to be them being irritated he won’t let them attempt to learn the Combined Six Cultivation Method, and him not wanting to let them try. Gao Chong scratches Rong Xuan’s arm; in the moment neither of them seem to mind/care once Rong Xuan has checked to make sure he’s okay. “Just a flesh wound, no big deal,” Rong Xuan says as he launches back into the fight.


(Left to right: Zhen Ruyu, Gu Miaomiao, Long Que, Yue Feng’er. Dunno where QHZ is during all this; he doesn’t show up at all during this flashback as best I can tell.)

Yue Feng’er, Gu Miaomiao, Zhen Ruyu, and Long Que show up to watch and be amused by how much all six of these people are fighty nerds.



Rong Xuan successfully fends off all five of the brothers at once. Unfortunately, just as they all accept that he’s bested them, Rong Xuan drops his sword and starts collapsing, clutching his arm.

Everyone immediately runs to him, with the women being given precedence as healers. Gu Miaomiao touches the wound, then sniffs the blood, and identifies the problem as Three Corpses Poison. Everyone is very confused and worried about this, including Gao Chong—whose sword clearly has blood on it. The fact that Zhao Jing is standing right next to him is a delightful blocking choice, especially since everyone else is kneeling/crouching around Rong Xuan. Zhao Jing joins in the accusation. Gao Chong throws down his sword and shouts that he’d never do this.



WKX continues being fucked up, and ZZS continues watching him. He asks Long Que to confirm that they had just been sparring/competing, not attempting to kill each other. Long Que says that they were so close, so why would they try and kill each other? Long Que also says that while he’s questioned if Gao Chong was at fault, he does believe Gao Chong’s words and that Gao Chong wouldn’t hurt Rong Xuan; he had no reason to.

ZZS says that Gao Chong had a reason: the Combined Six Cultivation Method. Long Que doesn’t think that matters, because nobody got it. Yue Feng’er hated all five of the brothers after that, so she drove them out. The armory hasn’t been opened since, because it needs all six of them, and the Combined Six Cultivation Method has been stuck in there.



We get some more shots of WKX processing all of this and not being okay. ZZS asks him what’s wrong, and WKX doesn’t respond.

In that silence, YBY says that three corpses poison turns people into walking corpses but doesn’t kill them, and he wants to know who drove Rong Xuan crazy. YBY wishes to kill that person. Long Que, after a moment, says that if someone must be found responsible it’s Yue Feng’er, Rong-furen.

Chengling’s very confused, because ZYS told him that Yue Feng’er is very nice and they were a very affectionate couple. Long Que agrees with him, and says that’s why Yue Feng’er used “the forbidden technique” on Rong Xuan. YBY identifies this as the Yin Yang Book. WKX says that the Yin Yang Book can cure poison, and asks how it works on withered meridians. (Because, as ZZS realises, he’s always thinking about ZZS.)

Long Que asks why Healer Valley didn’t use the Yin Yang Book to save people if it had such miraculous power, but instead banned it, then answers his own question: it works by reviving one person at the cost of another person’s life. So to fix a heart meridian, one must take the heart from another living person.



In the next flashback, we’re shown Gu Miaomiao, Zhen Ruyu, Yue Feng’er, and Long Que all standing around an unconscious (and shirtless) Rong Xuan. In the background is another man (also shirtless), wearing a ghost mask and robes. In brief glimpses, we’re shown: LQ holding medical tools for Yue Feng’er; Yue Feng’er cutting into the ghost’s chest; Yue Feng’er carrying a heart over to Rong Xuan; Rong Xuan, now with a shirt, opening his eyes. And then Rong Xuan starts throwing things around and screaming and clutching at his head.

Long Que talks about how Rong Xuan became increasingly insane, even killing his own wife by mistake. YBY shouts out an instinctive denial. WKX also seems distraught/confused by this. Long Que continues, saying that if Rong Xuan hadn’t made such a mistake, he wouldn’t have gone completely mad and been hunted down.

YBY asks why Yue Feng’er’s juniors (contextually probably Gu Miaomiao and Zhen Ruyu) didn’t stop them. Long Que says it’s because Yue Feng’er was banished from Healer Valley for using their forbidden technique. We get a brief flashback to the “Divine Hand” couple (Zhen Ruyu and Gu Miaomiao), along with Long Que, receiving the armory’s key from Yue Feng’er. Long Que says they then went to Healer Valley looking for a cure to help Yue Feng’er.

Long Que says that when Zhen Ruyu heard about the tragedy (Yue Feng’er’s death), the battle on Mount Qingya was only a few days away.

In this flashback, we’re shown Zhen Ruyu riding to Mount Qingya. When he arrives, he finds Rong Xuan locked in battle. (These shots are from the very opening of the show!) Rong Xuan is not doing well! He’s surrounded, but his foes don’t dare approach him. As he collapses to the ground, Zhen Ruyu runs up, still calling him Da-ge.



Zhen Ruyu checks on him, then (since Rong Xuan seems stable and not immediately dangerous/in danger) stands up and calls out to everyone else. He attempts to use his reputation to soothe everyone and ask them to stand down and not get caught in a cycle of revenge. He says he’ll pay back Rong Xuan’s sins.

Perhaps it even would have worked if Rong Xuan hadn’t woken up, knocked Zhen Ruyu out, and attacked everyone else ferociously again.



ZZS says that people used Rong Xuan’s madness as an excuse to hunt him down when really they were after the armory’s key. He then realises that, when they didn’t get anything from him, they went after Zhen Ruyu.

This flashback begins with Zhen Yan sitting on a swing being pushed by Gu Miaomiao. Zhen Ruyu gets tossed to the ground as ZZS narrates how he thinks people would’ve expected Zhen Ruyu to surrender, considering the threat to his family and home. Long Que picks up the narration, saying Zhen Ruyu would rather die than give away the armory’s secret. We see Zhen Yan, with the armory’s key as his hairpin, kneeling at his father’s side as an angry mob approaches.



Long Que also says the phrase “the so-called righteous clans”, which is a phrase I associate with WKX, as he describes the way the elders of healer valley were forced to “place righteousness above family loyalty”.

ZZS says that rumour says “the couple of the second disciple of healer valley” (Zhen Ruyu and Gu Miaomiao; this is so much shorter in chinese: 二弟子夫妇) fell into degeneration and colluded with bandits, and so had their martial arts abolished and were thrown out of the sect. Soon after, the old valley chief fell into decline and death, and his sect followed. The camera stays on WKX’s face throughout this entire explanation.



Long Que scoffs at the idea that Zhen Ruyu, the Divine Hand, could’ve degenerated when he’d dedicated his life to saving people. He says that nobody claims to be nobler than Zhen Ruyu, and his nobility and kindness made him incompatible with “this filthy world”. Long Que says that by the time word of what happened to Zhen Ruyu reached Longyuan Pavillion, Gu Miaomiao had already disappeared with her family. We’re shown a single-shot flashback of Gu Miaomiao dragging a frame with Zhen Ruyu strapped to it, Zhen Yan walking at his side.



ZZS says there’s a rumour that Longyuan Pavillion could open the armory in another way, and asks Long Que if he spread it. Long Que nods. ZZS continues, saying that Long Que gave up the promising future of Longyuan Pavillion to draw attention away from the Zhen family. ZZS’s attention fixes even more heavily on WKX as he says this, and WKX continues looking sad.

Long Que says the situation wasn’t good, but (because of his action) at least it didn’t get worse; this was the best/only way he could think to help them. He’s never heard from the Zhen family since, though he tried to find them. Long Que hopes they hid somewhere and lived a peaceful life. WKX attempts not to cry.

ZSS says that Long Que’s faithfulness/devotion to his friends could be compared to that of Zuo Botao and Yang Jiaoai (there’s probably better tellings of this in Chinese-language media but this is the only one I can find in English), and that having a friend like him means one can have no regrets.

Long Que tells YBY that he didn't intentionally hide the truth (of where the key is), but he truly doesn’t know. (The irony of this, knowing that WKX is carrying it—though not, right now, on his head—is incredible.) He says he promised Rong Xuan he’d send back the key, but he lacked the strength to do so, and begs YBY’s forgiveness.



YBY says he doesn’t need to apologise, and calls everyone involved an idiot. He asks if people think he cares about this. Long Que says that while YBY might not care, due to his martial arts, not returning the key is a regret for Rong Xuan. YBY calls Long Que a good person, and says Rong Xuan dragged him down; he says he’ll fulfill a wish of Long Que’s if asked. Long Que laughs, and says he has nothing to wish for. The only thing remaining for him is death.

Long Que then asks YBY why he didn’t teach Rong Xuan, his gifted disciple, the Combined Six Cultivation Method. He says it might've been wrong for Rong Xuan to steal the technique book, but, especially for such a martial arts addict/nerd, it’s understandable. YBY sighs, and says the technique won’t help fate. He taught Rong Xuan so much on the cold and lonely mountaintop, and held back only that one technique.

He calls it a wicked technique, with a name that warns those who attempt to learn it. YBY says it’s his fault, and that Rong Changqing and he pampered Rong Xuan too much. He says he thought Rong Xuan would return after a few years.



“If it’s anything good, I wouldn’t have hidden it from him,” Long Que says, repeating YBY’s words, and Long Xiao makes a face, because those words clearly apply to their family too. YBY, sad enough that a tear runs down his cheek, says he regrets only that he didn’t destroy the manual. Then he leaves the room.



ZZS calls after him, and this time it’s WKX who stops him from following as the episode ends.



General Commentary

There’s something about withholding techniques from angry sons that feels intentionally mirrored here, at the beginning and end of this episode. Long Que doesn’t seem to have told Long Xiao why he didn’t think the Yin Yang Book could help (even if he could access it). Ye Baiyi never told Rong Xuan why he didn’t want to teach the Combined Six Cultivation Method.

On the Long family side, Long Xiao does have a point about Long Que doing so much for his friends and wife, but not doing this for his son. But I get the impression that a lot of this issue is that Long Xiao also believed the rumour that Long Que had a way to open the armory. If Long Xiao had grown up knowing that accessing the Yin Yang Book was impossible, would he be so angry about this? Or if he had known the sacrifice that it would take (and, I wonder, would it be a whole-body sacrifice/transferral, for a whole-body disability like his growth disorder?), would that have changed his attitude/made him understand Long Que’s refusal to consider this potential cure?

On Ye Baiyi and Rong Xuan’s side, it’s harder to see how communication would’ve helped, but it’s still obvious that there was a specific lack of communication between the people involved. The whole deal makes it very clear (especially later, with the failures of Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu to communicate with each other!) that this show believes communication is important and the failure to communicate only brings tragedy.

This episode in particular is focused on how that applies to mentors/parent figures and their teachings. Even though QHZ and ZYS aren’t directly implicated in the stories being told (this is all about the Yin Yang Book and why it’s awful, which is directly about both Long Xiao [who wanted a cure] and Rong Xuan [whose life/death shows why it’s not a great idea]), the effects of their own failures (in dying too soon) are nonetheless written across Zhou Zishu and Chengling (who take on too much responsibility too early).

Pivoting back to other topics:

Watching Gao Chong react to the accusations he’d poisoned Rong Xuan reminded me of how he reacted to the equally-false accusations at the Heroes Conference. He had prepared better, at the Heroes Conference, but it makes me wonder if he’d only been able to prepare so well because he had this experience and knew how poorly things could go for him.

Wen Kexing spends this episode SO SAD and dealing with so many feelings! On a first watch, it’s clear that he has some connection to all this, but (due to surnames!) it’s hard to piece together that he and Zhen Yan are the same person. On a rewatch, seeing him learn all of this history (which his own parents clearly didn’t tell him; understandably, since he was like ~6-8 when it all went down) and understand why things went bad hurts. Especially since it’s entirely possible that entering Ghost Valley and drinking the Meng Po Soup had hidden some of what he had known at the time.

We also get to watch Zhou Zishu figuring it out and finally putting all the pieces together. The final reveal, when he’s confident enough to speak it openly, only comes next episode, but Zhou Zishu is paying so much attention to Wen Kexing here.

Discussion Prompts/Questions

1. This story is told through Long Que’s point of view, but we’re contextually told we should treat it as objective truth. I can’t recall anything coming up that contradicts the facts of the big events as Long Que lays them out, but Zhao Jing is certainly remembering different social dynamics than Long Que. What do you think? Is Long Que as objective as the show wants us to think? Are there missing pieces? Do you wish we’d heard this story from yet another source too?

2. Fathers (and/or father figures) keeping things from their sons (and/or students) sure is a big theme this episode! Ye Baiyi’s choices around Rong Xuan and Long Que’s with Long Xiao are paralleled here. What do you think of this parallel? Are there any other examples of this theme in the show? (Does ZZS not telling Chengling he’s dying count? Does WKX taking forever to tell Chengling about his part in the Zhang family’s death count?)

3. Okay, genuinely, literally any thoughts, feelings, and/or headcanons you have about Rong Xuan’s gang would be super fun to hear! I’m fascinated by the older generation, and we get so little about them! (Or, tbh, if you know about good fic focused on them I’d be interested in that too; I’m very bad at browsing for such things myself. xD)


Next Time: The whole Zhen Yan/Shidi thing, Long Que and Long Xiao’s (separate) deaths, and a return to seeing other characters! GX and CWN discuss what they’re doing next. LQQ and YQF try to take care of LFM. Zhao Jing sets the Alliance in search of Xiaolian.