Saffy88

He's not a celestial or godly immortal and he will die if he doesn't continue to live in the mountain and eat only certain foods - that's why he's already aging as he stuffs his face and moves around the jianghu.

He's the leader of the Ghost Valley. They killed his family in front of him and then took him in. His childhood was therefore completely brutal and miserable and he only survived by beating everyone else to get to the top. Now he's out for revenge against both the jianghu guys who abandoned his family and the Ghost Valley who killed them. In this drama version, WKX also knows ZZS from when they were kids and he was on the run with his family. ZZS's shifu had rescued them and given them temporary shelter - so their fates are intertwined.
Is he good or bad? You see from his backstory that he turned out the way he did because of what was done to him as a kid and what he had to do to survive. His redeeming features are the fact that he hasn't lost all shreds of conscience and is self-aware. He will also defend to the death those he cares about. I would say he's very human, he's made mistakes and some bad choices, but it's not entirely his fault either given how awful his childhood and his time in the Ghost Valley was. Could anyone stay completely sane in that place? The other major point of course is that the story is about him finding redemption in loving ZZS and having ZZS love him. You will also find that the real villain of the piece is far more psycho, calculating and ruthless than WKX.

On the other hand this rule about shooting shorter series is helpful in keeping them focused and there's less risk of losing the plot. How many c-dramas have been ruined because they've let them run too long - 50/60/70 episodes which they fill up with boring/meaningless plots or boring/meaningless side couples etc. I'd rather have a beautiful coherent drama series that can be rewatched over and over again than one which was ruined because they didn't know when to stop.
Having said that though, wouldn't it be cool if there was a possibility of a prequel for ZZS for eg in the Seventh Lord story (I haven't read the novel but understand that part of his backstory would be there)? Needless to say it has to be brought to screen with the same screenwriter, though.

Don't ask for comparisons - just watch and judge for yourself

Drop some comments on their official social media pages - they are reading those cos they responded to mine.

IKR? I couldn't stop laughing but also thought wah she actually got a guy who's a super kungfu master to say those lines - what a great way to highlight sexual harassment

BTW - just a shout-out to the screenwriter - she actually managed to put in a #metoo moment in Ep 14 in the scene on the bridge with ZZH/YBY/WKX - I thought it was brilliant considering the #metoo movement doesn't seem to have percolated into C-dramaland much or indeed at all............

I too didn’t know his name then cos I mean when you have William Chan and Joe Xu in the drama your plate is full. I was just astonished when I checked out his other roles and it clicked that he was the sidekick. Haven’t even seen his other stuff like Advance Bravely etc

IKR. When I first started watching I had to keep doing double takes cos I know GJ best as the goofy sidekick 11th Prince in Lost Love In Times. I just couldn’t believe that he was the same actor. Truly amazing how he has just levelled up so much in this drama. For me though ZZH is my favourite cos his role requires more subtlety and nuances - suffice to say I’ve now become a total fangirl! He too is completely different from his previous costume drama roles. It’s been such a revelation to watch the two of them. I think too that credit should be given to the scriptwriter and the directors for being able to bring out these amazing performances from them. Am really happy they’ve hit the jackpot with these roles. Hope they will be sent lots of great scripts in the future.

The best is yet to come......

Yup kudos to GJ for being able to turn on that crazy homicidal look in an instant when WKX’s people are threatened.

Wondering about that. Think WKX will have to take some responsibility cos he let the ghosts rampage in jianghu to cause chaos. So although it was probably planned by psycho ZJ and executed by his weirdly clingy adopted son(s) (seems to have so many up his sleeve)and the defected crazies from the ghost valley, WKX will probably have to give an explanation and make amends to CL at some point.

See discussion topics above - links to English translation of novel are there

I woudn't say either of the main characters is a villain, unless one is just interpreting that term in the most simplistic, cliche way. As others have said above, this story asks us to examine the hypocritical behaviour of those who claim to be "righteous good guys" but actually are the truly greedy, evil and sinful ones. The two lead characters have complex backstories and when this is revealed you understand what has led them to where they are. Both of them are damaged characters in a sense, because of choices they have made or the circumstances they found themselves in, and you could even say they are suffering from PTSD. They also have enough conscience left to be self-critical and very hard on themselves, so no not villains - just human, and they find redemption in each other.

Here's the OST complete collection, and I mean really complete, with the best translation of the lyrics from Productive Procrastinator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIsMyvWasjY&t=1116s

sent you a message. hope it works.

try using the HD app on ipad - I got an option for ¥10..........

uh duhhh.... cos 1. the source material and wuxia genre are Chinese 2. there's nothing stopping someone in thailand from adapting the novel although there's probably lots of great source material in thailand itself 3. half the fun of the drama is the way it plays cat and mouse with the overdubbing and easter eggs and last but most certainly not least 4. ZZH and GJ - enuf said

Funny story - I turned on the first episode and then started vacuuming the floor with it playing in the background, thinking oh, it's ZZH with the severe bun hairstyle again acting as he usually does in period dramas. And then somewhere around the time in ep 1 when he put on the beggar mask and then that first exchange of glances with WKX, and then that first flirt-fight in the peach blossom orchard - that was it - HOOKED............so I went back to watch ep 1 properly and discovered a ton of necessary background info there.
Yup dunno why there must always be toxic fans/trolls out there. Both ZZH/GJ deserve a huge round of applause for demonstrating how well they can step up to these roles when given a chance. Hope they get more quality scripts in the future because they've shown that they can really surpass expectations.

ZZH talking about ZZS and WKX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNbQ8z5r1ig