Michelle Topham

I'm not AI. Stop being lazy and expecting others to do your work for you. Are you like this in real life? It's all literally in the first MINUTE of Ep 1.

There's no need to watch any other drama to be able to watch and understand this. It's a standalone story, with everything you need to know explained in the first MINUTE of Episode 1.

It was literally 1 minute long. I've seen a lot longer.

Can I gently suggest people listen to the opening narration/read the subs in the introduction to a drama. :)

The identity of the ML was hinted at right in the opening few seconds of this one where the narrator talks about demons and the five trials they need to endure to become human. Him not being able to feel pain, see colors, everything tasting like rot etc was also explained.

I'm seeing person after person in the comments who obviously didn't pay attention to that, so is not understanding who he is, why he didn't file a petition against the verdict instead of just accepting a death by a thousand cuts, why he needed to get married before he died etc.

It's literally all explained in the first minute of the narration. ;)

Yes. From books written by the same author.

Wow, this is excellent. Allen Ren and Wang He Run are an interesting pairing, he's looking even prettier than normal, the cast is epic, the plot is somewhat unique, the world-building is well-done, and the writing is superb. (Would expect that, though, as she's the same screenwriter as the writer of the equally fabulous The Demon Hunter's Romance and A Moment But Forever).

Everything about this so far is checking all my boxes. First time in a while I've seen the "40 episodes" and thought "Ooooooh, nice.". )

Just block them and move on :) This person is beyond vile. The block feature gets rid of their comments from your timeline. Highly recommend :)

I'm only 1 episode in, and it's nothing unusual plot-wise, but Li Ge Yang is always brilliant, and it's an interesting pairing with him and Eleanor (she was phenomenally good in Why Is He Still Single?). Nice cinematography/camera angles, and excellent wire work for a short series as well.

Very happy with it so far, as it's nice to have a short series that's high quality and an interesting watch.

Exactly. Some of my favorite dramas were not that well-received in China, and vice versa. Although, if a drama is unmistakenly bad, and we do get those occasional, both demographics do tend to hate it :)

Right! I'm getting the creepy vibe from the dude too :) Thought it was just me!

Want to add I'm changing my mind on the writing in this. While it's driving me insane with the ridiculous "coincidences' in every episode, it IS the screenwriter's first produced drama and, for that alone, I have to commend her for her effort and for the plot. (Well, one of the screenwriters. I don't know about her co-writer?)

Yes, it's over-the-top, yes it's ridiculously over-dramatic in so many areas, yes, the characters are infuriating, and yes, both leads need to grow a spine but, if nothing else, she has managed to create a drama that's entertaining -- even if some of that entertainment is because you want to slap silly half the characters in it :)

EDIT: And btw, if you think it's melodramatic now, I'd recommend you avoid watching the teasers for the next two episodes -- ROTFL.

Yep, Kevin has no interest in what Miyu wants for her life, just what SHE can do for HIM -- ie: be in a relationship with him. So much so, he talks down to her when she's reading a management book and then, out of the blue, suddenly asks her to leave Purong and work for HIS company. Loved how she just completely ignored what he said :)

Yep, and yours is a great attitude to have. Never base your likes/dislikes on what other people say about a drama. And definitely NEVER on MDL ratings :) I never do either.

And btw, I rate as I go along, but then change the rating as a drama improves/fails -- that way I remember my particular feelings as new episodes drop. So, what I'm rating it a few episodes in is, very often but not always, a completely different rating from how I ultimately end.

I watched a drama recently (Love and Sword), and really found it draggy/uninteresting through the latter half of the series. But it's last couple of episodes, and in particular the final one, made the whole drama much better as it pulled everything together so well. So... my initial rating of 7 throughout almost all of it ended up as a 9 by the time I'd finished :)

I also never care what other people rate dramas compared to my rating. If I personally love a drama, I give it a 10, even if 99% of others think it's only worth a 7 or 8. I don't care. I liked it. So it gets my high rating :)

And yep, never understand the hater ratings. Especially people who "hate" specific actors. If you don't like an actor, move on to a drama starring an actor you do like, instead of deliberately downrating a drama you didn't even watch because of one person in it. Very immature behavior, IMO.

I saw you ended up dropping it. Actually not that surprised.

I'm on Ep 9 and still not finding the FL remotely "better". Sooooo close to dropping it, and just holding on hoping she will eventually grow an improved personality :)

I do think Wang Xing Yue's performance is superb in this though, so different than Unveil: Jadewind (which I did end up dropping as the plot was so bland), which proves what a phenomenal actor he is, especially for his ridiculously young age, as he seems to be able to play just about any type of character. And I don't find him subdued in this at all. He's very subdued in Unveil, to the point of his character being completely uninteresting, which was a big reason I dropped it.

You really should. I also dropped it after Episode 1 after she kept dying and then had about 976 people on MDL tell me "No, no, no, you MUST pick it back up again". So, I did, figuring I may have been missing something and, yep, it ended up being one of my Top 3 dramas of 2025. And one of the very very very few C-dramas I have on my list to watch again.

Primarily because the characters really are amazing, I ended up loving every one of them, even a couple I could have happily murdered through most of the drama :) (one in particular has such a wonderful redemption arc), the performances are superb right down to the smallest bit part actors, and the writing is very very clever. So much so, I have a feeling I missed a lot of the twists/turns/ hints in it, and want to do a rewatch to see if I can spot them.

If you ever have time, I recommend you try again and, you may be surprised, and end up like me. Obsessed :)

I think the rating is low because the FL is absolutely insufferable, and hard to watch. Ratings HAVE gone up since it premiered to lower ratings, primarily due to the FL at that point as well. Even so, I'm still a couple of episodes away from dropping it (I just started Episode 9) if she doesn't improve as I despise everything about her. (The character, not Julia Xiang, although I don't think she's doing a particularly good job here -- much better in Love of the Divine Tree -- liked her in that).

A pity, as the rest of it is excellent.

You shouldn't worry too much about the MDL rating, though, as it's earning a low 6.4 on Douban with over 35,000 ratings, which means it's "Mediocre or/Below Average" so, apparently, the Chinese weren't that impressed either.

EDIT: I've just started Episode 15 and am here to tell anyone thinking of dropping it the drama and the FL get MARKEDLY better after Episode 8. Sure, I'm only five episodes passed that, but I'm enjoying it quite a lot now when, for the first eight episodes, I really wasn't.

Oh, so sorry to hear your parents passed away. And I have a feeling mine will be the same (they're 87 and 88 now), as they're joined at the hip so, when one eventually passes on, I highly suspect the other won't be too far behind.

Rare nowadays to have such strong marriages though as our parents obviously did/do, as so many people don't. (All my family do -- all 3 uncles and their wives are the same -- think it's that generation!). Grew up poor or working class and so are more interested in the important things in life (being financially stable, having a strong family) than in petty quarrels.

1,000% agree with you. And what an interesting story about your mother. Good for her!!! (And my mother is the same in connection to looking up at my dad (she doesn't!) -- she doesn't let him get away with ANY bad behavior - hence why they've been happily married for 65 years :)

I think there's one good thing that's come out of today's disappointing episodes = more people talking about the drama on MDL, and having some pretty respectful conversations overall. Big thumbs up for that. :)

And I think most of us who are annoyed with today's episodes haven't given up on the show just yet. We're just hoping we'll start to see the two things that are taking forever finally move in the right direction a little faster -- Miyu's people pleasing being done with completely, and the ML and FL stopping pussy footing around each other when it comes to their feelings. If these start moving in the right direction soon, I'm still happy with the drama :)

Oh I don't think that's true (her needing to remain single), as Ji Feng has made it pretty obvious right from the beginning that he dislikes that "people pleaser" side of her.

Being in a relationship with him is her best possible choice, as at least he doesn't let her kisser-up tendencies slide :) He's been calling her out every time he sees her do it. So it's not like he wants a subservient partner like her detestable ex-husband did.