ShortCircuit

We're back to dancing, yay! And I think it's quite a cheerful atmosphere, are we really going to get a HEA?! Please please please pretty please with a cherry on top!

To ZY: Please... don't die.

Wow. I mean, ZYC is now a mindreader. He's reading my mind at least.

Showerthought: if ZYC ends up in a HEA marriage with Wen Xiao... does that make him ZYC's uncle? :D

...And I know tomorrow's the ep with the broken heart mark. I'll pretend tomorrow doesn't exist.

Maybe because the one doing the choking was the great demon Lord BingYi possessing the body of their best friend Zhuo YiChen, and also let's just take a second to remember that 1. Zhu Yan just almost died because of his senses being sealed and having to deal with horrific torture for days before still being overwhelmed and 2. If he breaks now, there's nobody much who can still stop him again?....

People are freaking out about their great hero suddenly becoming a demon, that was definitely NOT the time to show off great demonic powers, LOL.

Tian JiaRui still can't dance much, but at least he can sing and he's not doing the chicken dance any more LOL.

And when Li Lun couldn't turn YiChen's head by himself, he called him as Bai Jiu, the bastard. Any low trick is worth it.

Amazing episode, the best so far.

Chinese dragons are spiritual beasts of thunder and rain, portending good fortune. Imperial dynasties took the dragon as their emblem (eventually even the Imperial Throne became "the Dragon Throne"), such was their symbolic power and benevolence. They're always associated with water, either sweet, but more often salt water (there are Dragon Kings ruling over the more important bodies of water).

So for ZYC / Lord BingYi to go straight into the water means he is feeling more of a dragon right then than the human ZYC, and it tells a lot about how alienated his thinking is, already.

Now I wonder if more dragon-related business would happen (such as the Dragon Pearl, or the Heart Scale... which I hope not T_T)

Also, Lord Ying Long might also be part of the dragon clan, since his name actually means "dragon" (long). The Yinglong of mythology is actually a master of rain, and since this is based on the Classic of Mountains and Seas... he should definitely be that dragon.

It felt like he fell for YiChen too, LOL, AND remained infatuated with Zhu Yan too.

This is shaping up to be a love triangle but not the kind we'd expect, hahaha~

I don't know if ZYC deserved that, but the way this unfolded was masterpiece-level. He was always the glorious hero and it took only a shapeshifting demon's action for a few seconds to destroy his whole reputation, while at the same time he's facing his own personality's impossible and unacceptable change.

"I can't understand you... but now I understand Zhu Yan."

YES!! That moment is worth everything. Now he KNOWS what it's like to be powerful but hated when all you want is to be your very best for everyone else. Now he KNOWS how it is to have no control over your own actions and be doomed forever because of things that are not your doing...

I am seriously starting to hope for a HEA.

Everyone was just PERFECT this ep. Tian JiaRui - WOW!!Xu ZhenXuan - WOW!! Hou MingHao - WOW!! Yan An - WOW!! Chen Xiao, Chen DuLing - WOW!

I can't believe it I'm falling for all of them all over again!

And I most appreciated they respected the heck out of dragon lore - he goes straight into the water, he's reacting to water, he's moving like a different person, cold and serpentine, and those expressions are just - perfection, there's no other word for it.

This ep will be my go-to place for a long time, I can tell you that.

...But I don't like the not-dancing ending scene. It feels like they're all saying goodbye to us T_T

THIS IS UNFAIR!!!!! UNFAIR I TELL YOU!!

I didn't think they'd top ep 23... but they did. This is the introspection episode.

This is how it feels to be Zhu Yan under the sway of evil energy.

This is how it feels to be Li Lun, rejected by everybody.

This is how it feels to be a pariah, an outcast and unable to do anything about it.

I don't know about everybody else, but this is my favourite episode so far, hands down.

I'd consider them anti-fans, don't bother with them.

Except he, himself, or any of his ancestors except Lord BingYi, were never demons. And neither was BingYi once the Goddess Nuwa cleared his blood of celestial power.

I don't think the TL is quite accurate though, if BingYi was dragonblood - dragons are spiritual beasts, not demons. Just as there are monsters and demons and they're different, but the TL doesn't always separate them. (I mean, the freaking Chinese Throne of the Emperor features dragons, the Emperor himself claimed being related to dragons, they are always a positive force of nature). So yeah, I'd take them being forces of nature, but not evil as demons are supposed to be.

Then again, we get Zhu Yan (DaYao, Great Demon) who is obviously not evil either... so there's that, too.

The calm before the storm.

I don't think it's something he knows, he's just depressed his sister seems to care more for her friend than she did for him while he was an actual human. Or maybe the magic is about to run out if the Wilderness is destroyed, which means the puppet won't keep his soul any more...

What, one episode per day for the rest of them?! No express package?

...And I'll take no rain for the last episode, drama, do you hear me?!

Dragon blood confirmed though!! And was Lord Ying Long also a dragon (as his name implies?)

Wow, Li Lun isn't joking about taking over Bai Jiu, even their hair and clothing is the same. I hope little Bai Jiu can make a comeback...

Drama, please don't turn Ying Lei into the clown of the team, dammit. He's too much of a ray of sunshine for that...

Wen ZongYu telling Li Lun he's going to have to obey orders, Li Lun in return leaf-flying away like, B*tch, please...

All quiet episodes predict doom is close by...

ETA Took a look at other comments, what the heck, are the haters up in a team commenting, today?! So you don't like it, grow up and find a new life, why don't you? What, are you favourite dramas in a slump so you thought it's the perfect time to gang up on other dramas? Didn't know so many 14yos were on MDL...

Bai Jiu is a Ghost (Pagoda) Spirit hybrid, possessing human, demon, and god bloodlines. (And he obviously is being controlled by Li Lun ATM).

What if ZYC is a also some sort of hybrid? His ancestor, Lord BingYi, definitely wasn't just a normal human (I was thinking dragon blood, but other than the hair ornaments and the talk about dragon horns being used for the sword, the drama hasn't revisited the idea yet). What if there is some demon/spiritual beast blood in ZYC, too... in which case, maybe Li Lun can get a hold anyway.

I don't think he could control someone without parasitising them, and ZY already said every time he does it, he has to use up a bit of himself, and he doesn't have all that much left... By now Li Lun is an expert at dishing out soul pieces of himself to his puppets. He could find a way if needed.

ETA another argument in favour of any dragon bloodline would be affinity to water. Even their special magic involves water. I really hope they go with dragons :D

It would've been so much cooler (but I don't see how they could have gotten out of that situation) if he had parasitised ZYC. Adding to the fact everybody would have lost their damned minds, ZYC would have been a hard target to take down, and a lot more motivated to kill ZY.

I am wondering about that final fight though, Li Lun definitely tried to parasitize ZYC anyway, what with that black smoke around his face, before ZYC bit him. I hope there's no leaf tattoo on him by now.

Myself, I love the slo-mos. For some (totally unperverted reason) I love the slo-mo they were doing while filming Zhuo YiChen running - from behind him. That svelte silhouette, the way that fabric moved around him - yes, gimme more of that. I liked that a whole lot.

And in the fights too - usually they're spinning around so fast you can't even see what they're actually doing. In slo-mo, you can see all the graceful choreography - I've been re-watching the first fight since it first aired, I'm still amazed by that under-slide ZYC did under ZY's reach, and also by that awesome cool effect where ZY's hand gets claws that retract (also in slo-mo). MORE!!

They have to cry prettily because TTEOTM used up all the fake blood stocks so they can't be spitting up blood as per usual.

Also, let's think positively. ZYC had to kill ZY because of reasons, but now he doesn't have a special sword to do it with anymore. Plus he doesn't really want to either. I am starting to cautiously hope for a HE or at least a HFN.