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
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 believe ZYZ can influence and moderate the aims of malicious energy when it controls him, but ZYZ cannot fully control the outcome of how he reacts. His first target was Zhu Yin who broke the Baize token, and ZYZ made him blind. LL who had been standing next to Zhu Yin was totally ignored, and WX was supposed to be his next target, which was stopped only by Ying Zhao and Ying Lei, and ZYC intervening after that.
When ZYZ gave ZYC immunity to the one-word spell, ZYZ didn't know what his out-of-control self might say, but to send him into "dream", would that mean ZYC could never wake up? Zhu Yin's blindness was permanent. When controlled by his malicious energy, ZYZ will sense that the Bingyi sword can kill him. If I wanted the fastest way to stop being attacked, sending someone to dream permanently would be the quickest. That pat on the head wasn't meant to be benevolent. I read it as a permanent farewell from OTC ZYZ while OTC ZYZ moves to kill everyone else.
I have not yet seen ep 25, but I am sure that ep plus ep 23 will spawn a significant number of PWP BDSM fics between LL and ZYC. ZYC is totally going to be topped and tortured XD There's already a 7000+ word fanfic on AOO about LL topping ZYC. I'm going to er, give you the description as listed for the viewer, and you can decide if this is going to be hilarious or not:
[ Zhuo Yichen receives a message to meet Li Lun. But whatever Zhuo Yichen expected from this, it wasn’t Li Lun waiting for him in his bedroom. ]
Appearances might be deceiving. I'll watch ep 25, before I decide.
I'm sorry, but that scene where LL was trapped unexpectedly in that cage and then was like "really?" and turned…
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 about demons including LL. This sets up the scenario for ZYZ possibly being wrong about what he is telling various team members in this episode. ZYZ's knowledge of what happened to Yinglong and Bing Yi is based on traditional oral lore, but it might not be correct ( and oh yes, I'm quite sure ZYZ is going to find out the story he told was wrong about what really happened between Yinglong and Bing Yi, when they go to the Bing Yi clan's sacred place in the Wilderness). Similarly, ZYZ also said LL could not have broken ZYC's sword by himself.
When ZYZ received the Baize token as the strongest demon present because WX's teacher was dying and broke it into two to save ZYZ and her student, LL had been sealed away so LL wasn't a candidate. Where ZYZ couldn't escape the cage in ep 18, LL could escape in ep 24. Is LL actually weaker than ZYZ? All this time, LL has never actually focused his full power as a demon in an attack against ZYZ. When LL was attacking WX's teacher, it was ZYZ who interfered and blocked LL's attack (which probably wasn't even at full power, since LL knew he was fighting a human).
Either LL's powers as a Pagoda Tree demon can defy the restrictions of the cage because transformation is natural to LL plus LL was honing various other skills even when sealed, or the cage cannot restrict LL completely because LL has enough power to defy the power restrictions of the cage (plus being in a human body with Divine power might enable LL to not be fully restricted in his demon powers, because we don't know if he can temporarily tap into Divine power in such a situation). ZYZ has the Ever-Burning Wood which means ZYZ injuring someone would be deadly. If ZYZ has a lot of malicious energy, he becomes quite powerful. But against other powerful demons when he doesn't OTT in malicious energy, how powerful is ZYZ? ZYZ is very powerful, but we don't know if he is the most powerful demon now.
When Cheng Huang broke the rules as the most powerful demon with half the Baize token in him, the Baize goddess he loved took that half back from him and then tried to seal him. If he had attacked her head-on instead of standing there like a lovestruck male torn between staying or fleeing, she wouldn't have even been able to start playing her tune and would die. She stopped, because the plague weakened her. Any demon can be sealed, regardless of power. We don't know how powerful LL actually is relative to ZYZ, at this stage.
Anyways, the plot needs to move along now. Ep 25 preview is also heartbreaking for ZYC but is going to result in quite a lot of fanfiction, because I'm sure some parts of cnet will find it impossible to resist pairing LL and ZYC.
1. Who else could have they suspected? Bai Jiu stating that he didn't develop such a needle really made ZYC look…
I think your interpretations are rather apt, even if you don't understand Mandarin. I speak at least four languages, and Mandarin is one of my childhood languages. The subtler nuances in a book or drama are usually noticed by native speakers and enriches and/or gives more specific context.
I used my understanding of some BTS vids from early this year, to write a speculation thread of what I think happens for the rest of this series and at the end to certain characters. @acidmana is already dying after seeing ep 23 and probably going to wish I'm wrong for the rest of my guesses after they read my thread because so far, I have been right: https://kisskh.at/755301-the-story-of-mystics?r=notif&_nid=173593512#comment-19383038
I left out some speculations, because I'm sure they will unfold in the rest of the series and it is just a matter of which episode. I would like GJM to prove me wrong. But GJM enjoys putting his favourite characters through the wringer, so almost all the males are going to suffer in this series while the females will get off more lightly (meaning they don't die, or they die off-screen).
It's not always a case of if ZYZ is right, LL must be wrong. It could simply be that each of them overlooked something about a situation and did not realise both could be right or both could be wrong. And in some situations, there is no right or wrong. The fact is that the main characters are being subjected to constantly stressful life-or-death situations, which will lead to mistakes and people having to learn fast or die. ZYZ already said in ep 4 to WX that if LL wanted her dead, she would be dead, and also said to WX that ZYC cannot protect WX from LL. ZYZ doesn't underestimate LL. ZYZ was not expecting to be helpless in a situation where LL comes back and ZYZ cannot protect the team from LL.
ZYC being the next best fighter in the team would be the one to have to go and try to save PSJ and YL, so his ass was going to get kicked by LL. If he didn't go, PSJ would die. It was a good thing YL and PSJ were present to delay LL, otherwise WX would be dead. LL's first target to kill has always been WX but since ZYC showed up, then he will kill ZYC in WX's place.
Now, as to a few examples of homoerotic lines or cues:
Ep 4 at 7:15 - LL stops in front of ZYZ, who asks LL what LL is up to. LL replies, "I only want to catch up with an old friend. *pause* What's the matter?"
The change in tone for the second sentence (怎麼了) after the first sentence, becoming softly tender and combined with that unblinking focused stare which is hungry yet soft, already has my eyebrow twitching. The finer cues of homoeroticism can escape me, but this made me pause. The rest of that conversation is littered with more eyebrow-twitching. At 12:12, LL labels ChongWu Camp as stupid, and it is not wrong for the English translation to convey his next words as "They don't deserve to fight you." However, what is being spoken actually implies a pairing as per a certain chinese belief and not as simple as ChongWu Camp not being good enough to fight ZYZ. That is why ZYZ replies to LL with a question in kind, about whether there is a need to find a suitable match (般配 ) even for a fight. LL then tells ZYZ that all things in heaven and earth are predestined to be suitably matched (which you can shorten into whatever the subtitles are and cut out all implications), and then LL raises the drum which ZYZ gave him and points it at WX. His finish is understandably ferocious about how she is pathetically unfit to stand next to ZYZ and not a suitable match.
Ignoring the contemptuous dismissive words, the way LL talks about WX is completely the opposite of the tone that LL used when addressing solely ZYZ. The coupling issue raised by LL had me wondering where this conversation was going. At one point, ZYZ tells WX that he cannot leave her because they made a blood oath and he must protect her. LL interjects at this point. His facial expression when he looks at ZYZ and addresses ZYZ, versus addressing WX, is like night and day. At 12:53, LL queries and indirectly criticises ZYZ as to how long ZYZ can protect WX, while getting a bit personal about the time issue... 此时此刻, 还是生生世世呢 ? This is personal because LL seems to be indirectly fishing for how long ZYZ is supposed to protect WX, which makes one question why LL would want to know that.
This is a very uncomfortable non-platonic conversation, but it might fly over WX's head because as I understand, WX has never been in love, and I doubt WX has any experience or knowledge about all this as a student of the Baize goddess. At 13:45, WX collapses from the strain of bearing the Eyes of Truth (I would prefer to call it the Illusion-Dispelling Eyes, instead of whatever is being used for subtitles right now). ZYZ puts his hand in front of her eyes to remove it. At 13:58, the camera pans to LL's non-verbal reaction. LL has stopped breathing just for a short moment, and then he inhales and blinks, while the hurt in his eyes and vulnerability on his face is not the reaction of a platonic friend. ZYZ then says a human cannot bear the Illusion-Dispelling eyes for an extended period of time.
14:09 is LL's reply, about whether ZYZ is afraid of WX seeing ZYZ's true form. Bear in mind that the current human forms of ZYZ and LL are not their original forms. These are their forms when they learned to first take on human shape. Their original demon forms are not shown. LL was given the Illusion-Dispelling Eyes from ZYZ. LL would know what ZYZ's first true form is, because he is using those eyes as a demon. But LL may not know whether the Eyes temporarily lent to a human would enable the human to see a demon's original first form, so he is wrong on that subject.
One could say that LL's feelings for ZYZ are deeper and truer, regardless of what form ZYZ takes, because LL is willing to embrace all the forms of ZYZ. WX is another matter, because she has never seen ZYZ's original form. That said, LL's feelings for ZYZ are not noble after what LL was willing to do to ZYZ to keep ZYZ by his side. WX would not consider ever doing such a thing to ZYZ, which LL wanted to do with that needle made from half his spiritual soul power. But before that, never once did LL want to kill ZYZ, and LL never pointed his weapon directly at ZYZ. Episode 19 was the gamechanger. It was not a good sign to hear LL constantly addressing ZYZ as ZYZ, and not his name of ZY.
Episode 16 is another example, where I nearly choked on my water. In the flashback, ZYZ and LL are in the human realm, and ZYZ sees a paper windmill among several paper windmills at a stall. Upon remarking how pretty one of them is and picking it up, his first reaction is to want to insert it into LL's hair. LL recoiled as ZYZ raised the windmill to do so, while ZYZ is stopped only by the stallholder saying it is not a 髮簪. The connotation of a hairpin in chinese culture is usually a gift between lovers, or husband and wife. One could argue to the censors that as demons, demons wouldn't know the symbolism. However, this is clearly not the first trip to the human realm of ZYZ dragging LL along. Since ZYZ knows more about the human realm than LL and knows what a hairpin is even if he didn't know what a paper windmill is, how does ZYZ not understand or overlook the connotations of a hairpin in chinese human culture? This is the same ZYZ who went through all the walnuts bought for Grandpa Ying Zhao, to make sure that the walnuts would not crack his teeth. Very considerate, and very fastidious with details for those he values.
But we can still argue that away, because ZYZ was willing to buy and give a child's drum to a child and LL. A drum gifted from the original beast of ill-omen that is ZY would be seen as a war drum, because of the connotations in mythology of ZY but since it was gifted to LL, from one demon to another, LL made it something different and sentimental, transforming it into something else. Not everything non-human is inferior. You could see how upset LL was, when WX destroyed it in ep 19. I actually could not stand WX's attitude towards LL and demons because despite her intelligence and reading of books, she was too smug and unempathetic to the demons in front of her (except ep 1). But after ep 16, she has become more understanding. If I was a powerful demon at least thousands of years old, I would be pissed at pre-ep-16 mortal WX being in charge of deciding the laws of my existence and freedom, hence I would definitely ruin her Baize token or kill her... which is what Zhu Yin and LL tried to do.
Meanwhile, in Ep 18, when ZYC asks ZYZ how many unresolved grudges remain between ZYZ and LL, that sounded a bit too jealous to be brotherly or non-platonic. I interpret it at that point as ZYC being in denial because up until then, I could interpret everything between them as platonic, but the delivery of that line and facial expression, given the context.... Ep 12 was hilarious, when ZYZ and ZYC were fighting in front of Qing Geng, ZYZ summons a red whirlwind mist to surround them, then proceeds to free ZYC and have the mutual-cheek-slapping scene with deliberate connotations courtesy of GJM just wanting to mess with the viewers' minds.
As to co-operation and whatnot, I am sure LL will co-operate with ZYZ and ZYC. As to why, it's in my above-spoiler summary of what I am guessing will happen at the end, including a bit about the backstory with Yinglong and Bing Yi.
[ P.S. 2: What do you think about ZYZ seeing Li Lun when ZYC went there to kill him in episode 23 -pretty sure-? Was it because ZYC had fought LL before? Was it just a simple misdirection to make the viewers believe that ZYC was truly LL, was it that ZYZ's malicious energy "played" with his emotions? Or was there another reason? That scene seemed to be of importance, but I am still not sure what the director tried to achieve and I would be interested to know your opinion. ] - Timestamp? That would help me better understand which segment, so I can answer.
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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
When ZYZ gave ZYC immunity to the one-word spell, ZYZ didn't know what his out-of-control self might say, but to send him into "dream", would that mean ZYC could never wake up? Zhu Yin's blindness was permanent. When controlled by his malicious energy, ZYZ will sense that the Bingyi sword can kill him. If I wanted the fastest way to stop being attacked, sending someone to dream permanently would be the quickest. That pat on the head wasn't meant to be benevolent. I read it as a permanent farewell from OTC ZYZ while OTC ZYZ moves to kill everyone else.
I have not yet seen ep 25, but I am sure that ep plus ep 23 will spawn a significant number of PWP BDSM fics between LL and ZYC. ZYC is totally going to be topped and tortured XD
There's already a 7000+ word fanfic on AOO about LL topping ZYC. I'm going to er, give you the description as listed for the viewer, and you can decide if this is going to be hilarious or not:
[ Zhuo Yichen receives a message to meet Li Lun. But whatever Zhuo Yichen expected from this, it wasn’t Li Lun waiting for him in his bedroom. ]
Appearances might be deceiving. I'll watch ep 25, before I decide.
When ZYZ received the Baize token as the strongest demon present because WX's teacher was dying and broke it into two to save ZYZ and her student, LL had been sealed away so LL wasn't a candidate. Where ZYZ couldn't escape the cage in ep 18, LL could escape in ep 24. Is LL actually weaker than ZYZ? All this time, LL has never actually focused his full power as a demon in an attack against ZYZ. When LL was attacking WX's teacher, it was ZYZ who interfered and blocked LL's attack (which probably wasn't even at full power, since LL knew he was fighting a human).
Either LL's powers as a Pagoda Tree demon can defy the restrictions of the cage because transformation is natural to LL plus LL was honing various other skills even when sealed, or the cage cannot restrict LL completely because LL has enough power to defy the power restrictions of the cage (plus being in a human body with Divine power might enable LL to not be fully restricted in his demon powers, because we don't know if he can temporarily tap into Divine power in such a situation). ZYZ has the Ever-Burning Wood which means ZYZ injuring someone would be deadly. If ZYZ has a lot of malicious energy, he becomes quite powerful. But against other powerful demons when he doesn't OTT in malicious energy, how powerful is ZYZ? ZYZ is very powerful, but we don't know if he is the most powerful demon now.
When Cheng Huang broke the rules as the most powerful demon with half the Baize token in him, the Baize goddess he loved took that half back from him and then tried to seal him. If he had attacked her head-on instead of standing there like a lovestruck male torn between staying or fleeing, she wouldn't have even been able to start playing her tune and would die. She stopped, because the plague weakened her. Any demon can be sealed, regardless of power. We don't know how powerful LL actually is relative to ZYZ, at this stage.
Anyways, the plot needs to move along now. Ep 25 preview is also heartbreaking for ZYC but is going to result in quite a lot of fanfiction, because I'm sure some parts of cnet will find it impossible to resist pairing LL and ZYC.
Reddit has some good discussions, especially the demon catalogue thread which I think you'll enjoy (it has been well-explained and simplified for non-native speakers): https://www.reddit.com/r/CDrama/comments/1gel5rh/catalogue_of_mythical_beings_in_fangs_of_fortune/
I used my understanding of some BTS vids from early this year, to write a speculation thread of what I think happens for the rest of this series and at the end to certain characters. @acidmana is already dying after seeing ep 23 and probably going to wish I'm wrong for the rest of my guesses after they read my thread because so far, I have been right: https://kisskh.at/755301-the-story-of-mystics?r=notif&_nid=173593512#comment-19383038
I left out some speculations, because I'm sure they will unfold in the rest of the series and it is just a matter of which episode. I would like GJM to prove me wrong. But GJM enjoys putting his favourite characters through the wringer, so almost all the males are going to suffer in this series while the females will get off more lightly (meaning they don't die, or they die off-screen).
It's not always a case of if ZYZ is right, LL must be wrong. It could simply be that each of them overlooked something about a situation and did not realise both could be right or both could be wrong. And in some situations, there is no right or wrong. The fact is that the main characters are being subjected to constantly stressful life-or-death situations, which will lead to mistakes and people having to learn fast or die. ZYZ already said in ep 4 to WX that if LL wanted her dead, she would be dead, and also said to WX that ZYC cannot protect WX from LL. ZYZ doesn't underestimate LL. ZYZ was not expecting to be helpless in a situation where LL comes back and ZYZ cannot protect the team from LL.
ZYC being the next best fighter in the team would be the one to have to go and try to save PSJ and YL, so his ass was going to get kicked by LL. If he didn't go, PSJ would die. It was a good thing YL and PSJ were present to delay LL, otherwise WX would be dead. LL's first target to kill has always been WX but since ZYC showed up, then he will kill ZYC in WX's place.
Now, as to a few examples of homoerotic lines or cues:
Ep 4 at 7:15 - LL stops in front of ZYZ, who asks LL what LL is up to. LL replies, "I only want to catch up with an old friend. *pause* What's the matter?"
The change in tone for the second sentence (怎麼了) after the first sentence, becoming softly tender and combined with that unblinking focused stare which is hungry yet soft, already has my eyebrow twitching. The finer cues of homoeroticism can escape me, but this made me pause. The rest of that conversation is littered with more eyebrow-twitching. At 12:12, LL labels ChongWu Camp as stupid, and it is not wrong for the English translation to convey his next words as "They don't deserve to fight you." However, what is being spoken actually implies a pairing as per a certain chinese belief and not as simple as ChongWu Camp not being good enough to fight ZYZ. That is why ZYZ replies to LL with a question in kind, about whether there is a need to find a suitable match (般配 ) even for a fight. LL then tells ZYZ that all things in heaven and earth are predestined to be suitably matched (which you can shorten into whatever the subtitles are and cut out all implications), and then LL raises the drum which ZYZ gave him and points it at WX. His finish is understandably ferocious about how she is pathetically unfit to stand next to ZYZ and not a suitable match.
Ignoring the contemptuous dismissive words, the way LL talks about WX is completely the opposite of the tone that LL used when addressing solely ZYZ. The coupling issue raised by LL had me wondering where this conversation was going. At one point, ZYZ tells WX that he cannot leave her because they made a blood oath and he must protect her. LL interjects at this point. His facial expression when he looks at ZYZ and addresses ZYZ, versus addressing WX, is like night and day. At 12:53, LL queries and indirectly criticises ZYZ as to how long ZYZ can protect WX, while getting a bit personal about the time issue... 此时此刻, 还是生生世世呢 ? This is personal because LL seems to be indirectly fishing for how long ZYZ is supposed to protect WX, which makes one question why LL would want to know that.
This is a very uncomfortable non-platonic conversation, but it might fly over WX's head because as I understand, WX has never been in love, and I doubt WX has any experience or knowledge about all this as a student of the Baize goddess. At 13:45, WX collapses from the strain of bearing the Eyes of Truth (I would prefer to call it the Illusion-Dispelling Eyes, instead of whatever is being used for subtitles right now). ZYZ puts his hand in front of her eyes to remove it. At 13:58, the camera pans to LL's non-verbal reaction. LL has stopped breathing just for a short moment, and then he inhales and blinks, while the hurt in his eyes and vulnerability on his face is not the reaction of a platonic friend. ZYZ then says a human cannot bear the Illusion-Dispelling eyes for an extended period of time.
14:09 is LL's reply, about whether ZYZ is afraid of WX seeing ZYZ's true form. Bear in mind that the current human forms of ZYZ and LL are not their original forms. These are their forms when they learned to first take on human shape. Their original demon forms are not shown. LL was given the Illusion-Dispelling Eyes from ZYZ. LL would know what ZYZ's first true form is, because he is using those eyes as a demon. But LL may not know whether the Eyes temporarily lent to a human would enable the human to see a demon's original first form, so he is wrong on that subject.
One could say that LL's feelings for ZYZ are deeper and truer, regardless of what form ZYZ takes, because LL is willing to embrace all the forms of ZYZ. WX is another matter, because she has never seen ZYZ's original form. That said, LL's feelings for ZYZ are not noble after what LL was willing to do to ZYZ to keep ZYZ by his side. WX would not consider ever doing such a thing to ZYZ, which LL wanted to do with that needle made from half his spiritual soul power. But before that, never once did LL want to kill ZYZ, and LL never pointed his weapon directly at ZYZ. Episode 19 was the gamechanger. It was not a good sign to hear LL constantly addressing ZYZ as ZYZ, and not his name of ZY.
Episode 16 is another example, where I nearly choked on my water. In the flashback, ZYZ and LL are in the human realm, and ZYZ sees a paper windmill among several paper windmills at a stall. Upon remarking how pretty one of them is and picking it up, his first reaction is to want to insert it into LL's hair. LL recoiled as ZYZ raised the windmill to do so, while ZYZ is stopped only by the stallholder saying it is not a 髮簪. The connotation of a hairpin in chinese culture is usually a gift between lovers, or husband and wife. One could argue to the censors that as demons, demons wouldn't know the symbolism. However, this is clearly not the first trip to the human realm of ZYZ dragging LL along. Since ZYZ knows more about the human realm than LL and knows what a hairpin is even if he didn't know what a paper windmill is, how does ZYZ not understand or overlook the connotations of a hairpin in chinese human culture? This is the same ZYZ who went through all the walnuts bought for Grandpa Ying Zhao, to make sure that the walnuts would not crack his teeth. Very considerate, and very fastidious with details for those he values.
But we can still argue that away, because ZYZ was willing to buy and give a child's drum to a child and LL. A drum gifted from the original beast of ill-omen that is ZY would be seen as a war drum, because of the connotations in mythology of ZY but since it was gifted to LL, from one demon to another, LL made it something different and sentimental, transforming it into something else. Not everything non-human is inferior. You could see how upset LL was, when WX destroyed it in ep 19. I actually could not stand WX's attitude towards LL and demons because despite her intelligence and reading of books, she was too smug and unempathetic to the demons in front of her (except ep 1). But after ep 16, she has become more understanding. If I was a powerful demon at least thousands of years old, I would be pissed at pre-ep-16 mortal WX being in charge of deciding the laws of my existence and freedom, hence I would definitely ruin her Baize token or kill her... which is what Zhu Yin and LL tried to do.
Meanwhile, in Ep 18, when ZYC asks ZYZ how many unresolved grudges remain between ZYZ and LL, that sounded a bit too jealous to be brotherly or non-platonic. I interpret it at that point as ZYC being in denial because up until then, I could interpret everything between them as platonic, but the delivery of that line and facial expression, given the context.... Ep 12 was hilarious, when ZYZ and ZYC were fighting in front of Qing Geng, ZYZ summons a red whirlwind mist to surround them, then proceeds to free ZYC and have the mutual-cheek-slapping scene with deliberate connotations courtesy of GJM just wanting to mess with the viewers' minds.
As to co-operation and whatnot, I am sure LL will co-operate with ZYZ and ZYC. As to why, it's in my above-spoiler summary of what I am guessing will happen at the end, including a bit about the backstory with Yinglong and Bing Yi.
[ P.S. 2: What do you think about ZYZ seeing Li Lun when ZYC went there to kill him in episode 23 -pretty sure-? Was it because ZYC had fought LL before? Was it just a simple misdirection to make the viewers believe that ZYC was truly LL, was it that ZYZ's malicious energy "played" with his emotions? Or was there another reason? That scene seemed to be of importance, but I am still not sure what the director tried to achieve and I would be interested to know your opinion. ] - Timestamp? That would help me better understand which segment, so I can answer.