For those looking to understand how Yan Li (2ML) and Yue Ning (2FL) will come to an understanding and protect their personal freedoms because they are rather similar in deviousness (not yet shown in any episode), here's a hilarious new clip on Douyin from the official channel:
YL: Aiyah Brother, you don't be angry. You know my mouth runs faster than my brain (This line is an acceptable…
I believes IQiyi knows bad subs can be hilarious and contributes to international non-Mandarin speaking fans crushing on characters and the plot. It's fun, contributes to fandom wars, and helps stir up more attention. That's good for IQiyi.
The horse analogy at this point is Yan Li using it as an example for Yan Chi to understand to what extents Yan Li is willing to humble himself to help his future sister-in-law. One could say Yan Li was starting to hint at something otherwise in his final reply on this to Yan Chi. But it is because Yan Li is using the right words and context (including how he addresses Shen Wan as older brother's wife, how he will regard her, and how he would humble himself for her), which is why Yan Chi stops being angry.
YL: Aiyah Brother, you don't be angry. You know my mouth runs faster than my brain (This line is an acceptable…
I believe the transformation will be refreshing. This series is showcasing how male nobility also scheme and plot in politics involving family, instead of focusing on the usual politics by the females. Yan Li clearly uses his appearance to mask what he wants to get done on a serious note, so the playboy appearance is real but also comes in handy for political reasons of being underestimated.
IQiyi is decent for translation when it comes to the parts of investigating cases and autopsies but for general dialogue, quite atrocious at times. Either leaving things out and/or completely transforming the original context of the scene. There are times when the villain is truly more disgusting than the translations, the scene is funnier than the subs (wordplay is impossible to translate accurately because it is Mandarin wordplay), but I would say despite IQiyi's flaws... For this drama series, doesn't detract as badly as before.
YL: "From now on, I'll be on my best behaviour around her. I'll let her ride me like a horse if she wanted."…
YL: Aiyah Brother, you don't be angry. You know my mouth runs faster than my brain (This line is an acceptable but not quite accurate translation). From now, I will treat 七嫂 (sister-in-law ie my older brother's wife) like a bodhisattva. She can use me as a steed.
YC: Get lost. You would not be suitable [even if] she takes a steed.
YL: That's fair. With you around, she doesn't need me as a steed.
YC laughs and tries to kick YL. Nothing dirty in the original Mandarin exchange. The translation is just somewhat totally lacking at times.
The first song from ADWAD OST is indeed very good! Thank you :D I will continue listening, after I finish Ep 16.
I added another timestamp detail to Song 24 in the OST when Bai Feng barged in and interrupted the actual kiss in Ep 15, and I have a stomachache from laughing.
I could timestamp that OST easily if I exert some effort, but I might OD the edit button XD
I have not heard the OST for ADWAD. I thought I might be able to get into that series, but it didn't take me. I am looking forward to 古乐风华录 where Li Yitong is the FL and it involves twelve music spirits and music such as the guzheng (I play the guzheng). To have such an upcoming drama really fascinates me.
I don't know if you watched Serenade of Joy in 2020, but the main song is heart-breaking and unforgettable (link below):
Episode 15 is iconic. Landy Li has this way of gelling very naturally with her MLs and bringing out the best in their acting. Where I usually don't like Ao Ruipeng, this series has me reckoning his acting is the most natural of the dramas I have seen him in. Episode 15 has me totally embracing his acting and Yan Chi as a character. Totally rooting for Yan Chi and Shen Wan to kiss, but cracked up laughing when Bai Feng interrupted everything by accident.
Cheng Hong Xin has an apt penchant and timing for comedy, and it is almost hard to believe he was Su Muyu of Dark River in Dashing Youth. When he interrupted a second time, I was literally doubled over.
That kiss between Yan Chi and Shen Wan had me thinking it would actually be wonderful if Landy Li and Ao Ruipeng in RL had such chemistry. It wasn't the kind of OTT passionate kiss. it was an innocent kiss deep in love, lost in the moment, about to possible become- Thanks, Bai Feng. If I want a stomachache from cracking up, I know which episode to watch.
The ML and FL have healthy communication, by the end of this episode. No barbs, tropes, etc. And for once, the subtitles for an IQiyi series is doable for the cases but for other aspects... Geez.
And the music for Ep 15 at 42:59 is hilarious (Bai Feng interrupts the actual kiss). I added the timestamp for that in the entire OST song list description, which I shared in a different link:
This drama really likes to use Huang Xiaoyun's song "Don't Sigh" for the iconic tragic couple scenes (I edited to add the timestamps of when for Eps 11 and 15 above). Possibly the best OST for a Mandarin drama series that I have heard this year. But the year is far from over XD
You're welcome. Yesterday there was an interesting video on bilibili being shared by multiple users (a certain ML confessing something to the FL, and contains scenes not yet shown). It's not even in IQiyi previews for 15 and 16 (I've watched up to episode 14), so I wonder where the original source is from. If you choose to see the link, it would be considered a spoiler.
I think it was a great start to the episode. LL learns he is wrong about WZY, and WZY learns he doesn't know everything…
LL's path is not yet finished. I'm very impressed with the writing for this script, in terms of tackling character development. As to other aspects of the script, that needs work.
This episode was fantastic in my opinion from beginning to end and everyone did a magnificent job acting and character-wise.However,…
Before I give my takes on any scenes, here is IMHO vital context and background for FoF: ZYC will never understand LL, but neither will anyone else in FoF. LL and ZY are a totally different species from ZYC. Not only are demons completely different from humans, many of them (unlike Ran Yi, whose dead paramour mentions him having a hometown) do not have the friends or tribe or community or family constructs or societal constructs which humans such as ZYC, PSJ and others grew up with and have experienced. Demons have emotions and can feel, but take longer to learn to understand their emotions, and appear to be more emotionally naïve when they trust (since they clearly do not trust easily, are slow to trust, and very careful of who they trust) and as a result, betrayal cuts more deeply.
LL was born of a tree, so he has never known a mother or father. He appears to be introverted and as naively straight as the trunk of a tree in his youth, unlike ZY who is extroverted and more socially adept and adventurous, as per that of an ape. The drama also shows in the few flashbacks that LL is slower to understand the human world or learn certain human traits akin to a frog in a well when compared to ZY, but LL was opening up to possibilities of changing his worldview to a more positive one about the human realm because of ZY sharing observations with him, plus LL observed how fast the human world changes when compared to the Wilderness.
When LL realised humans could exploit and torture low-level demons, he became completely emotional and reacted badly. LL was wrong to kill all humans in the medicinal shop, including the customers who knew nothing of what was happening underneath the shop. That also shows LL unable to parse the specifics of context for this situation accurately. ZY was naive to touch the Ever-Burning Wood without first exercising some caution, which could have destroyed ZY but fortunately it only became absorbed and part of him (but with unforeseen later catastrophic consequences for ZY whenever there is a blood moon).
When ZY wanted to stop his best friend, he made the mistake of assuming one hit from ZY in a non-vital area would be enough to stop LL, not realising it would be a fatal wound to a tree spirit. LL deserved punishment but LL did not deserve to be hit with a life-threatening wound from his best friend that not only brought him constant physical agony, but was also supposed to eventually kill him. When ZY tried to explain that the humans who knew nothing about what happened in the shop below should not have been killed, his words came too late after this blow. The emotional wound ZY inflicted on LL was akin to a betrayal worse than the life-threatening wound ZY gave LL.
Also, ZY as ZYZ clearly hasn't learned from his mistake with LL, that giving others one more chance and having a proper conversation before you reach a conclusion is usually the better way to go. ZY has other issues of his own which thankfully, LL does not have.
We can assume that after that, LL could not tolerate such injustice done to demons and since he is so straight and inflexible unlike ZY's flexible nature, LL then actively sought to find out if such things happened to demons in the human world because of humans, which he was never aware of. To LL, he feels as if he has been deceived by the human world. He does not realise that if you look for evil from humans in the human world, you will easily find it just as if you looked for goodness from humans, you will easily find it too. If LL was specifically looking for evil from humans, LL would have seen or become aware of too many examples of how badly humans treat fellow humans and/or demons, also because all the good examples of demon-human interactions seem to keep dying off or breaking up before they are known. And since LL is bad at parsing context, he’ll take the wrong lessons to heart, when he most-needed a demon mentor such as Bingyi or Yinglong to help guide him.
ZY being more adventurous than LL and having visited the human world more often, most likely saw mainly goodness from humans, but ZY is not actively looking for anything more than simply enjoying the human world as a human walking the streets. ZY probably did not know that LL was actively searching for what LL perceived as truth, and neither did Ying Zhao know. As a result, LL became very vengeful towards humans, so killing more humans indiscriminately only ensured WX’s teacher would come to find LL in the Wilderness to seal LL. ZY befriended WX’s teacher while most likely also hoping to find a way to stop his friend from going down a path that ZY could not understand. LL’s change of behaviour and mindset also wounded ZY.
ZY and LL were at odds before that unfortunate battle where ZY intervened to save WX’s teacher from LL. ZY allowed his best friend to be sealed, but noted it was most likely a fate worse than soul dissipation for LL. To LL, LL not only had to deal with finding a solution to an ever-burning wound from his best friend which was supposed to eventually kill him, but his best friend had also allowed him to be sealed underground for eternity with no hope of escape, unless LL resorted to forbidden arts. And never once did ZY visit LL. Unknown to LL, ZY was shocked and deeply wounded at what he did without control, whenever there was a blood moon. Did LL allow ZY to know the effects of the Ever-Burning Wood on him? Did ZY ever take responsibility for his terrible accidental mistake towards LL?
Unlike ZYC who had family, friends, community, no lack of material needs and the love of a doting older brother who knew how to teach him, for almost his entire life, LL had almost nothing in comparison to ZYC, for almost his entire life. Many people are underestimating how LL lived with scraps, unlike ZYC. The Wilderness is not a nurturing place. Survive or die. Being sealed underground and needing to find a way to not burn to death from inside if you get out are hugely shitty problems and minimal solutions to deal with, while not forgetting that the Baize goddess seems to be useless at getting any justice for your fellow demons and can be perceived as being biased only for humans.
Since ZYZ has an inferiority complex towards demons and has trouble accepting himself as a demon while not realising that it is what you choose and do which ultimately matters, ZYZ is not suitable for helping LL out of the darkness. There is that inconvenient situation in ep 4 whereby ZYZ removes the Eyes of Truth from WX, and LL asks ZYZ if ZYZ is afraid of WX seeing his true form. The one who is proud of being a demon and willing to embrace his best friend ZY in all his forms (including original demon ape form) is asking questions which ZYZ doesn't want to answer, but should at least answer to himself
LL had Ying Zhao as some form of guidance and kindness, and ZY. That is far from enough, for emotional support and guidance which LL definitely needed more than ZY. LL is unfortunate, unlike ZYC. Bullies, narcissists, and other types of people not welcomed in society do not always choose to be that way. Narcissists are usually shaped from being badly traumatised and emotionally abused for an extended period of time of many years by parental figures, while growing up. Those who grow up surrounded by love and material comforts but turn out to be sociopaths or criminals are the puzzling ones.
To be buried underground in a place with no nourishment, when he loved freedom and sunlight? Left for dead by those he assumed had some amount of emotional fondness for him, for eternity? If LL didn’t go mad, PTSD likelihood is very high. He was abandoned, and he knew it. He did not understand why.
That’s the LL we see in episode 3, who isn’t going to deal well with being mocked and condescended to, by anyone. He bled away part of his life to enable a medium for himself to get out, to have a conversation with ZY who now goes by ZYZ, and he never got that conversation. The moment I knew BJ has tree spirit lineage but can pass for a human, I already guessed what LL was going to eventually do to BJ, and BJ’s “teacher” WZY being an a-hole of the lowest order will not stand in LL’s way. There is no other way for LL to survive the Ever-Burning Wood, so he will take BJ’s body. LL came across (to me) as someone constantly in a lot of pain, even if he was smiling or gloating. At no point would I say that I could label LL as “happy“(except in the flashbacks), even if he smiled and gloated.
Ep 23 gave me no pleasure, to see LL beating ZYC almost to death. Based on what ZYZ said in ep 4, I knew ZYC would not be able to beat LL. That fight was as mesmerising as a trainwreck. If LL was a friend, it was akin to watching my friend morph into a monster, transformation almost complete, and leaving me cold with dismay while wondering if there was still any way to transform him back. Seeing LL smile with pleasure as he strangled ZYC, moving like a lazy predator when ZYC was down, speaking about a younger weaker demon BJ in such terms? LL has almost completely lost himself. 难道他完全无法回头是岸吗?
And now, to the scene between LL and ZYC: ZYC did his brother proud. I am glad that ZYC behaved akin to how a best buddy or older brother would handle someone who needed to wake up, in how he handled LL. ZYC knows he cannot beat LL in a fight. And ZYC remembered how his older brother always spoke to him, explained things to him, and taught him some very important lessons, such as how a callus gained in training is not a callus but represents one’s heart (GJM does not stick in little flashbacks for nothing). ZYC’s brother was not accepted by the Cloud Light sword, but the sword wielded by ZYC’s brother cuts the heart. ZYC may not have the Cloud Light sword at this point, but he has a sword which he can use. Combining his emotional honesty and humility towards everything he is going through and bearing that same gently firm frankness, ZYC utilises the sword he learned from his brother, and transforms this sword into his own, to stand for himself.
The symbolism of not touching LL while knocking LL into the water was apt. LL going underwater made me smile, because this was ZYC literally helping LL with 给我清醒吧! 饮水思源- in reply to my somewhat despondent question of 难道他完全无法回头是岸吗?
A good dunking in cold water wakes people up. ZYC does not need the water because he is filled with love and strength, while LL is dehydrated with loss and loneliness. ZYC pierces through LL’s heart not with the Cloud Light sword, but with his sword of humanity. And I know this means LL will eventually restore himself. ZYC did not offer to pull LL out of the water for multiple reasons, and his answers did not paint LL as an enemy. As a swordsman, ZYC knows that the only way to pull yourself out of darkness is for the swordsman to voluntarily get up. And with an instinct honed of swordsmanship, ZYC knows when to leave and not to look back, even when he pauses because LL reverts back to only BJ's body and calls ZYC’s name with BJ’s voice.
BJ stands there, and Ao Yin brings an umbrella. This umbrella and its meaning, I referred to it yesterday with my take about what ZYC basically helped LL remember, which is a lot to take at one shot: https://kisskh.at/755301-the-story-of-mystics#comment-19428204
I am also very pleased that LL did not transform into leaves and fly away. He walks up the canal (which I think is in the direction which the water is coming from ie 饮水思源), and I interpret as him walking his own path but this time, he will remember what he used to be as a tree spirit and what he used to be grateful for, finally able to eventually reclaim himself and become the truest version of LL which will protect the Wilderness and protect his best friend. He will break through the cliffs and turn into a white horse, bite through all struggles and enable suffering to blossom, because he will honour a certain vow with his truest form and values. And when he does, may his next life be what he deserves.
That said, it doesn't mean LL is going to suddenly become good. He'll need to learn at least two more lessons first, in order to change.
. .. . .. . Also, GJM, kindly make my guesswork wrong for once, instead of ticking off the boxes in my list.
I think it was a great start to the episode. LL learns he is wrong about WZY, and WZY learns he doesn't know everything…
I'm still gathering my thoughts, but the implications are very interesting. What ZYC did in his verbal honesty and that well-timed short burst of power as a demon temporarily to send LL into the water, was to teach LL what ZYC stands for: No matter what happens, I do not lose myself. I choose how and when I will react to whatever comes at me, but I will not hide or bend or retreat. I will protect what I love. I can be hurt, and I may suffer or fall down, but I will get up and never yield to anyone because of my principles.
This graceful firmness of not-yet-fully-demon ZYC in black clothing still retaining his humanity hits hard, because this is what LL used to be. When LL made that oath with ZYZ to protect the Wilderness, they too wore black with the noblest of firm intentions. LL has lost sight of the original form of what his tree was supposed to be, in that gracefully-framed shot of a handsome human demon clothed in light clothing standing among colourful umbrellas in the rain (as ZYZ remembered him with the umbrellas). And when LL bought an umbrella to shelter ZYZ, that too was how LL used to be, which ZYC just reminded him with this encounter. Ao Yin bringing the umbrella to shelter LL also reminds LL of how LL used to be, with ZYZ. It is too painful to stay under that umbrella but then again, LL never needed an umbrella. He only bought the umbrella for ZYZ to shelter with.
I actually see it as a good sign that LL rejects the umbrella to remember he never needed one to begin with. It can be interpreted in multiple ways, but rain can also wash away things which are unclean. In this, LL might finally be able to wash away that which has bent and warped him from what he used to be, and start growing again.
ZYC is only in his early 20s, while LL has lived for more than 30,000 years. And yet, the gulf between them is not about how long one has lived, but how one chooses to live. All this is crashing in on LL, and it's a lot to take at once. The tear which ZYC sheds is for ZYZ. And the tears in LL's eyes are possibly for all the reminders which ZYC is unintentionally giving LL, while helping LL realise what he has lost with his childhood friend ZYZ that he previously couldn't see because of certain actions from himself, while helping him realise the friend which ZYC could be and why ZYZ treasures a human as a friend, such as ZYC.
The way LL talked to ZYC when trying to bend him to his will is not how LL used to speak to others. And ZYC's choice of standing for who he is only reminds LL of how LL used to speak his truth, without warping others. If anything, the unfortunate frequency of having seen far more betrayal than goodness from humans does not help, from having lived so long. Demons seem to become very vulnerable when they trust (could be due to emotional naivety and innocence akin to a child), and hence a betrayal hits them more deeply, but it doesn't mean they have the emotional ability and maturity to process the emotional wounds of what they have experienced. Zhu Yin was very knowledgeable and old but in the end, that one betrayal from the scholar who became the Prime Minister made him believe humans will never accept demons.
I believe it is LL who will go looking for ZYZ and ZYC in the Wilderness, rather than wait for ZYZ to come to him.
I think it was a great start to the episode. LL learns he is wrong about WZY, and WZY learns he doesn't know everything…
If ZYC stays in a dream sleep forever because nobody can wake him up from ZYZ's spell, ZYC's physical body dies. Just sending a human into permanent sleep is enough.
I am still gathering my thoughts for ep 25, because it is very well shot. Then I will look at your post another day. Also, I appreciate that LL finally realises how pitiful and small his mindset has become, because ZYC is able to get through to LL directly and frankly. Self-pity in certain doses is understandable, but it is all-consuming and tediously harmful when ODed. The only thing I am miffed about is that it isn't ZYZ delivering these words to LL, but then again, I don't see ZYZ as being able to delve this deep to deliver such gently firm incisiveness with the humility that LL needed, when ZYZ cannot be honest with himself on certain issues.
It is the humbled willingness of ZYC to reflect and look at himself in the darkness of being despised by those who once adored him yet understand them, even as he is struggling to come to terms with losing the mortal part of himself which he had once seen as more noble than demons, and still find that candle which burns and he refuses to relinquish... And grasps again, but this time, with an even greater and deeper understanding of pain and empathy. This is the candle which ZYC temporarily extends to LL, and then takes with him as he leaves. ZYC can do so, because he has come to terms with the most vulnerable pains of losing his father and brother while in the midst of the belief that he is losing himself, even as he faces the anguish of being confronted by the demon who broke his sword and stole the body of his beloved "little brother".
Where he was once the loser in his first bout with LL, he is now the victor in this second bout with LL. And he is graceful in his victory. He is using his humanity to teach LL several lessons. Yan An and Tian Jia Rui acted very well here.
Now I'm 100% sure there is going to be more LL x ZYC fics, but of a different nature :D
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https://www.douyin.com/user/MS4wLjABAAAAqSFPgyr7WPC2WbenMxOsB1yXCVV5qrlI1nmMnGrC1DQKjLR6JHgSltMA9k3eq0Iw?from_tab_name=main&modal_id=7528622998908128527
Also, being Comment #4444 is quite a jackpot XD
The horse analogy at this point is Yan Li using it as an example for Yan Chi to understand to what extents Yan Li is willing to humble himself to help his future sister-in-law. One could say Yan Li was starting to hint at something otherwise in his final reply on this to Yan Chi. But it is because Yan Li is using the right words and context (including how he addresses Shen Wan as older brother's wife, how he will regard her, and how he would humble himself for her), which is why Yan Chi stops being angry.
https://kisskh.at/752181-chao-xue-lu#comment-22709638
I gave someone the full context here:
https://kisskh.at/752181-chao-xue-lu#comment-22709638
YC: Get lost. You would not be suitable [even if] she takes a steed.
YL: That's fair. With you around, she doesn't need me as a steed.
YC laughs and tries to kick YL. Nothing dirty in the original Mandarin exchange. The translation is just somewhat totally lacking at times.
I will continue listening, after I finish Ep 16.
I added another timestamp detail to Song 24 in the OST when Bai Feng barged in and interrupted the actual kiss in Ep 15, and I have a stomachache from laughing.
I have not heard the OST for ADWAD. I thought I might be able to get into that series, but it didn't take me. I am looking forward to 古乐风华录 where Li Yitong is the FL and it involves twelve music spirits and music such as the guzheng (I play the guzheng). To have such an upcoming drama really fascinates me.
I don't know if you watched Serenade of Joy in 2020, but the main song is heart-breaking and unforgettable (link below):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh524QWVzkE
Cheng Hong Xin has an apt penchant and timing for comedy, and it is almost hard to believe he was Su Muyu of Dark River in Dashing Youth. When he interrupted a second time, I was literally doubled over.
That kiss between Yan Chi and Shen Wan had me thinking it would actually be wonderful if Landy Li and Ao Ruipeng in RL had such chemistry. It wasn't the kind of OTT passionate kiss. it was an innocent kiss deep in love, lost in the moment, about to possible become- Thanks, Bai Feng. If I want a stomachache from cracking up, I know which episode to watch.
The ML and FL have healthy communication, by the end of this episode. No barbs, tropes, etc. And for once, the subtitles for an IQiyi series is doable for the cases but for other aspects... Geez.
And the music for Ep 15 at 42:59 is hilarious (Bai Feng interrupts the actual kiss). I added the timestamp for that in the entire OST song list description, which I shared in a different link:
https://kisskh.at/752181-chao-xue-lu#comment-22698968
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1MjgczoEVP/
[ The same user known as xiaoxiao also shared this on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDb2b6umrZ8 ]
1#00:01 周深 - 若以尘埃 (主题曲)
1#04:32 黄霄雲 - 别叹 (插曲) = This is in Episode 11, starting around 10:00. And in Ep 15, 16:45. For very iconic scenes.
1#08:41 希林娜依·高 - 是你在心底 (铭忆曲)
1#12:33 李兰迪 - 风雨 (秦莞主题曲)
1#14:42 敖瑞鹏 - 此爱 (燕迟主题曲)
——【配乐：衣睿】——
1#18:03 朝雪录 (配乐)
1#20:20 白雪皑皑 (配乐)
1#23:26 无头新娘 (配乐)
1#25:36 旧案重提 (配乐)
1#27:38 别装了就是你 (配乐)
1#28:57 发现线索 (配乐)
1#30:44 躲在暗处的她 (配乐)
1#32:18 彻夜查案 (配乐)
1#34:39 我不怕 (配乐)
1#36:01 凶手就在我们当中 (配乐)
1#38:03 情与法 (配乐)
1#39:29 还怎么狡辩 (配乐)
1#41:21 真相只有一个 (配乐)
1#42:57 又一个受害者 (配乐)
1#44:44 总要有一点甜 (配乐)
1#45:21 口是心非的家伙 (配乐)
1#46:14 千里追凶 (配乐)
1#47:38 是送给我的吗 (配乐)
1#49:03 小聪明 (配乐) - In Ep 15, at 42:59
——【伴奏Ins.】——
1#49:55 周深 - 若以尘埃 (伴奏)
1#54:26 黄霄雲 - 别叹 (伴奏)
1#58:36 希林娜依·高 - 是你在心底 (伴奏)
1#01:02:28 李兰迪 - 风雨 (伴奏)
1#01:04:37 敖瑞鹏 - 此爱 (伴奏)
LL was born of a tree, so he has never known a mother or father. He appears to be introverted and as naively straight as the trunk of a tree in his youth, unlike ZY who is extroverted and more socially adept and adventurous, as per that of an ape. The drama also shows in the few flashbacks that LL is slower to understand the human world or learn certain human traits akin to a frog in a well when compared to ZY, but LL was opening up to possibilities of changing his worldview to a more positive one about the human realm because of ZY sharing observations with him, plus LL observed how fast the human world changes when compared to the Wilderness.
When LL realised humans could exploit and torture low-level demons, he became completely emotional and reacted badly. LL was wrong to kill all humans in the medicinal shop, including the customers who knew nothing of what was happening underneath the shop. That also shows LL unable to parse the specifics of context for this situation accurately. ZY was naive to touch the Ever-Burning Wood without first exercising some caution, which could have destroyed ZY but fortunately it only became absorbed and part of him (but with unforeseen later catastrophic consequences for ZY whenever there is a blood moon).
When ZY wanted to stop his best friend, he made the mistake of assuming one hit from ZY in a non-vital area would be enough to stop LL, not realising it would be a fatal wound to a tree spirit. LL deserved punishment but LL did not deserve to be hit with a life-threatening wound from his best friend that not only brought him constant physical agony, but was also supposed to eventually kill him. When ZY tried to explain that the humans who knew nothing about what happened in the shop below should not have been killed, his words came too late after this blow. The emotional wound ZY inflicted on LL was akin to a betrayal worse than the life-threatening wound ZY gave LL.
Also, ZY as ZYZ clearly hasn't learned from his mistake with LL, that giving others one more chance and having a proper conversation before you reach a conclusion is usually the better way to go. ZY has other issues of his own which thankfully, LL does not have.
We can assume that after that, LL could not tolerate such injustice done to demons and since he is so straight and inflexible unlike ZY's flexible nature, LL then actively sought to find out if such things happened to demons in the human world because of humans, which he was never aware of. To LL, he feels as if he has been deceived by the human world. He does not realise that if you look for evil from humans in the human world, you will easily find it just as if you looked for goodness from humans, you will easily find it too. If LL was specifically looking for evil from humans, LL would have seen or become aware of too many examples of how badly humans treat fellow humans and/or demons, also because all the good examples of demon-human interactions seem to keep dying off or breaking up before they are known. And since LL is bad at parsing context, he’ll take the wrong lessons to heart, when he most-needed a demon mentor such as Bingyi or Yinglong to help guide him.
ZY being more adventurous than LL and having visited the human world more often, most likely saw mainly goodness from humans, but ZY is not actively looking for anything more than simply enjoying the human world as a human walking the streets. ZY probably did not know that LL was actively searching for what LL perceived as truth, and neither did Ying Zhao know. As a result, LL became very vengeful towards humans, so killing more humans indiscriminately only ensured WX’s teacher would come to find LL in the Wilderness to seal LL. ZY befriended WX’s teacher while most likely also hoping to find a way to stop his friend from going down a path that ZY could not understand. LL’s change of behaviour and mindset also wounded ZY.
ZY and LL were at odds before that unfortunate battle where ZY intervened to save WX’s teacher from LL. ZY allowed his best friend to be sealed, but noted it was most likely a fate worse than soul dissipation for LL. To LL, LL not only had to deal with finding a solution to an ever-burning wound from his best friend which was supposed to eventually kill him, but his best friend had also allowed him to be sealed underground for eternity with no hope of escape, unless LL resorted to forbidden arts. And never once did ZY visit LL. Unknown to LL, ZY was shocked and deeply wounded at what he did without control, whenever there was a blood moon. Did LL allow ZY to know the effects of the Ever-Burning Wood on him? Did ZY ever take responsibility for his terrible accidental mistake towards LL?
Unlike ZYC who had family, friends, community, no lack of material needs and the love of a doting older brother who knew how to teach him, for almost his entire life, LL had almost nothing in comparison to ZYC, for almost his entire life. Many people are underestimating how LL lived with scraps, unlike ZYC. The Wilderness is not a nurturing place. Survive or die. Being sealed underground and needing to find a way to not burn to death from inside if you get out are hugely shitty problems and minimal solutions to deal with, while not forgetting that the Baize goddess seems to be useless at getting any justice for your fellow demons and can be perceived as being biased only for humans.
Since ZYZ has an inferiority complex towards demons and has trouble accepting himself as a demon while not realising that it is what you choose and do which ultimately matters, ZYZ is not suitable for helping LL out of the darkness. There is that inconvenient situation in ep 4 whereby ZYZ removes the Eyes of Truth from WX, and LL asks ZYZ if ZYZ is afraid of WX seeing his true form. The one who is proud of being a demon and willing to embrace his best friend ZY in all his forms (including original demon ape form) is asking questions which ZYZ doesn't want to answer, but should at least answer to himself
LL had Ying Zhao as some form of guidance and kindness, and ZY. That is far from enough, for emotional support and guidance which LL definitely needed more than ZY. LL is unfortunate, unlike ZYC. Bullies, narcissists, and other types of people not welcomed in society do not always choose to be that way. Narcissists are usually shaped from being badly traumatised and emotionally abused for an extended period of time of many years by parental figures, while growing up. Those who grow up surrounded by love and material comforts but turn out to be sociopaths or criminals are the puzzling ones.
To be buried underground in a place with no nourishment, when he loved freedom and sunlight? Left for dead by those he assumed had some amount of emotional fondness for him, for eternity? If LL didn’t go mad, PTSD likelihood is very high. He was abandoned, and he knew it. He did not understand why.
That’s the LL we see in episode 3, who isn’t going to deal well with being mocked and condescended to, by anyone. He bled away part of his life to enable a medium for himself to get out, to have a conversation with ZY who now goes by ZYZ, and he never got that conversation. The moment I knew BJ has tree spirit lineage but can pass for a human, I already guessed what LL was going to eventually do to BJ, and BJ’s “teacher” WZY being an a-hole of the lowest order will not stand in LL’s way. There is no other way for LL to survive the Ever-Burning Wood, so he will take BJ’s body. LL came across (to me) as someone constantly in a lot of pain, even if he was smiling or gloating. At no point would I say that I could label LL as “happy“(except in the flashbacks), even if he smiled and gloated.
Ep 23 gave me no pleasure, to see LL beating ZYC almost to death. Based on what ZYZ said in ep 4, I knew ZYC would not be able to beat LL. That fight was as mesmerising as a trainwreck. If LL was a friend, it was akin to watching my friend morph into a monster, transformation almost complete, and leaving me cold with dismay while wondering if there was still any way to transform him back. Seeing LL smile with pleasure as he strangled ZYC, moving like a lazy predator when ZYC was down, speaking about a younger weaker demon BJ in such terms? LL has almost completely lost himself. 难道他完全无法回头是岸吗?
And now, to the scene between LL and ZYC: ZYC did his brother proud. I am glad that ZYC behaved akin to how a best buddy or older brother would handle someone who needed to wake up, in how he handled LL. ZYC knows he cannot beat LL in a fight. And ZYC remembered how his older brother always spoke to him, explained things to him, and taught him some very important lessons, such as how a callus gained in training is not a callus but represents one’s heart (GJM does not stick in little flashbacks for nothing). ZYC’s brother was not accepted by the Cloud Light sword, but the sword wielded by ZYC’s brother cuts the heart. ZYC may not have the Cloud Light sword at this point, but he has a sword which he can use. Combining his emotional honesty and humility towards everything he is going through and bearing that same gently firm frankness, ZYC utilises the sword he learned from his brother, and transforms this sword into his own, to stand for himself.
The symbolism of not touching LL while knocking LL into the water was apt. LL going underwater made me smile, because this was ZYC literally helping LL with 给我清醒吧! 饮水思源- in reply to my somewhat despondent question of 难道他完全无法回头是岸吗?
A good dunking in cold water wakes people up. ZYC does not need the water because he is filled with love and strength, while LL is dehydrated with loss and loneliness. ZYC pierces through LL’s heart not with the Cloud Light sword, but with his sword of humanity. And I know this means LL will eventually restore himself. ZYC did not offer to pull LL out of the water for multiple reasons, and his answers did not paint LL as an enemy. As a swordsman, ZYC knows that the only way to pull yourself out of darkness is for the swordsman to voluntarily get up. And with an instinct honed of swordsmanship, ZYC knows when to leave and not to look back, even when he pauses because LL reverts back to only BJ's body and calls ZYC’s name with BJ’s voice.
BJ stands there, and Ao Yin brings an umbrella. This umbrella and its meaning, I referred to it yesterday with my take about what ZYC basically helped LL remember, which is a lot to take at one shot: https://kisskh.at/755301-the-story-of-mystics#comment-19428204
I am also very pleased that LL did not transform into leaves and fly away. He walks up the canal (which I think is in the direction which the water is coming from ie 饮水思源), and I interpret as him walking his own path but this time, he will remember what he used to be as a tree spirit and what he used to be grateful for, finally able to eventually reclaim himself and become the truest version of LL which will protect the Wilderness and protect his best friend. He will break through the cliffs and turn into a white horse, bite through all struggles and enable suffering to blossom, because he will honour a certain vow with his truest form and values. And when he does, may his next life be what he deserves.
That said, it doesn't mean LL is going to suddenly become good. He'll need to learn at least two more lessons first, in order to change.
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Also, GJM, kindly make my guesswork wrong for once, instead of ticking off the boxes in my list.
This graceful firmness of not-yet-fully-demon ZYC in black clothing still retaining his humanity hits hard, because this is what LL used to be. When LL made that oath with ZYZ to protect the Wilderness, they too wore black with the noblest of firm intentions. LL has lost sight of the original form of what his tree was supposed to be, in that gracefully-framed shot of a handsome human demon clothed in light clothing standing among colourful umbrellas in the rain (as ZYZ remembered him with the umbrellas). And when LL bought an umbrella to shelter ZYZ, that too was how LL used to be, which ZYC just reminded him with this encounter. Ao Yin bringing the umbrella to shelter LL also reminds LL of how LL used to be, with ZYZ. It is too painful to stay under that umbrella but then again, LL never needed an umbrella. He only bought the umbrella for ZYZ to shelter with.
I actually see it as a good sign that LL rejects the umbrella to remember he never needed one to begin with. It can be interpreted in multiple ways, but rain can also wash away things which are unclean. In this, LL might finally be able to wash away that which has bent and warped him from what he used to be, and start growing again.
ZYC is only in his early 20s, while LL has lived for more than 30,000 years. And yet, the gulf between them is not about how long one has lived, but how one chooses to live. All this is crashing in on LL, and it's a lot to take at once. The tear which ZYC sheds is for ZYZ. And the tears in LL's eyes are possibly for all the reminders which ZYC is unintentionally giving LL, while helping LL realise what he has lost with his childhood friend ZYZ that he previously couldn't see because of certain actions from himself, while helping him realise the friend which ZYC could be and why ZYZ treasures a human as a friend, such as ZYC.
The way LL talked to ZYC when trying to bend him to his will is not how LL used to speak to others. And ZYC's choice of standing for who he is only reminds LL of how LL used to speak his truth, without warping others. If anything, the unfortunate frequency of having seen far more betrayal than goodness from humans does not help, from having lived so long. Demons seem to become very vulnerable when they trust (could be due to emotional naivety and innocence akin to a child), and hence a betrayal hits them more deeply, but it doesn't mean they have the emotional ability and maturity to process the emotional wounds of what they have experienced. Zhu Yin was very knowledgeable and old but in the end, that one betrayal from the scholar who became the Prime Minister made him believe humans will never accept demons.
I believe it is LL who will go looking for ZYZ and ZYC in the Wilderness, rather than wait for ZYZ to come to him.
I am still gathering my thoughts for ep 25, because it is very well shot. Then I will look at your post another day. Also, I appreciate that LL finally realises how pitiful and small his mindset has become, because ZYC is able to get through to LL directly and frankly. Self-pity in certain doses is understandable, but it is all-consuming and tediously harmful when ODed. The only thing I am miffed about is that it isn't ZYZ delivering these words to LL, but then again, I don't see ZYZ as being able to delve this deep to deliver such gently firm incisiveness with the humility that LL needed, when ZYZ cannot be honest with himself on certain issues.
It is the humbled willingness of ZYC to reflect and look at himself in the darkness of being despised by those who once adored him yet understand them, even as he is struggling to come to terms with losing the mortal part of himself which he had once seen as more noble than demons, and still find that candle which burns and he refuses to relinquish... And grasps again, but this time, with an even greater and deeper understanding of pain and empathy. This is the candle which ZYC temporarily extends to LL, and then takes with him as he leaves. ZYC can do so, because he has come to terms with the most vulnerable pains of losing his father and brother while in the midst of the belief that he is losing himself, even as he faces the anguish of being confronted by the demon who broke his sword and stole the body of his beloved "little brother".
Where he was once the loser in his first bout with LL, he is now the victor in this second bout with LL. And he is graceful in his victory. He is using his humanity to teach LL several lessons. Yan An and Tian Jia Rui acted very well here.
Now I'm 100% sure there is going to be more LL x ZYC fics, but of a different nature :D