#dzyb

As expected of a story revolving around assassins, so many gruesome character deaths! Xiahou Pei's was the most traumatizing for me. And the way her body was treated afterwards omg 😭 Then Xiahou Lian casually walked by her corpse, covering his nose from the smell before realizing it was her... Agh! It's awful. There's also Tang Shiqi whose corpse was used as a puppet to fight Xiahou Lian. He did not deserve that. And in the first chapters when that consort was assassinated as she was giving birth, along with her baby. That's when I knew this novel would not hold back. Situ Jin's death as not that graphic but it was very sad. He was such a good person and he had just reconciled with his wife 😢 It hit me hard.

Chi Yan became one of my favorite characters and his ending was so bittersweet. We don't even know if he's alive by the end. Speaking of that, what do you mean Xiahou Lian was unconscious for three years?! I'm still not clear if he was completely cured from the poison, but that element created some great angst. That point when there was no hope to cure him was heartbreaking. The way he just accepted he would die while Xie Jinglan was so desperate he climbed up that mountain to beg Buddha to save him 😭

Baili Yuan was so creepy. I usually don't make facial expressions when I read but I remember that when I was reading the scene where she stabbed that eunuch in the eye my jaw literally dropped. I wish she had showed up earlier because she's one of my favorite danmei antagonists.

More on Jinglian, at first I was happy that there's finally a sickly, delicate top for a change. However, Xie Jinglan is... not the best top. Is it because he was not good in bed and Xiahou Lian didn't enjoy it at all? Is it because I'm more used to delicate bottoms after all? Is it the pettiness he treats Xiahou Lian with sometimes? I'm not sure, but there was something lacking in their intimate life that left me unsatisfied, which has never happened with other danmei before.