somethingponysomething

[somethingponysomething]

So about Pei Sijing..

So. Pei Jiejie.. Has no backbone.

Physically, that is. She does stand her ground when she believes she’s doing the right thing. Like putting ZYC in the cell when he’s accused of bloody murder in the street. (No, I’m not going to be evil and say ‘killing her own didi-turned-demon’, that was group pressure. Or ensuring a clean death instead of letting others do the deed with less respect.)

She does have perfect aim, though. She can effortlessly shoot through the smallest gaps!

Yes, I know, she hits more than she misses. But I do enjoy the way the missed shots are filmed/created.

She’s capable of slapping sense into her girlfriend bestie WX.

That moment.. Not going to lie. It’s both OUCH and satisfying at the same time. I get WX’s despair and pain. I really do. But she did need to snap out of it and have some sense slapped into her. And PSJ delivered. Big time.

So. Yes. That’s it. That’s the post.

Disclaimer: troll mode switched on. This post does not necessarily reflect my actual opinions. Mostly some GIFs I made without purpose or context. The ol’ brain is being rebellious and obnoxious. It does far worse privately. Trust me.

[somethingponysomething]

Li Lun lends a helpful.. branch - Part 9 of musings on a silly tree

Contains spoilers.

Link to previous part, with links back to the one before: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/788086268385001472/ll-vs-the-demon-hunting-bureau-team-musings-on-a?source=share

What do you do when, after lots of misunderstandings, you finally realise your ex former best friend still cares enough about you to want you to stay alive? Enough even, to give you the opportunity to enter your trusty old pagoda root to cultivate in for 100 years, and then take human form again. Presumably free from previous nastiness, like burns from ever burning fire and such. Then you leave the body of one of said former friend’s current friends and enter your root to do that cultivating. So after that’s done, you can perhaps talk things over and become friends again. Something like that, anyway.

But what if just a few days in, at most, your tree senses tingle and you just know said former friend and one of his current friends/your new potential best friend opponent are in Trouble? Because seriously, how can they not be? Then you sparkle out of your root and leave to come to their rescue.

At least, if you’re Li Lun.

And after that grand entrance, there’s that look between him and ZYZ. They finally understand each other (again). Enough for LL to decide to appear in his human world excursion form.

And of course ZYZ has to ask him if he’s beeping serious, because the 100 years are far from done, so LL will die. But the tree doesn’t seem to mind. He knows (somehow) what’s happening and wants to help ZYZ snap ZYC out of his dream. With the Truth Eye.

What he doesn’t know yet then, is that this particular dream isn’t an illusion, but a poison, so the Truth Eye won’t be enough. (Fortunately, the DHB team made friends with other useful demons, like the poison resisting bird Qing Geng (Who LL once infused with his own feelings of anger, discontent and dislike of being trapped demonic energy, so she would help spread a plague (and get her boyfriend killed). The look between them when she is summoned by ZYZ speaks volumes). She can help. By donating her inner core to dispel the poison. A bit rash, but she does it voluntarily, so she can be with Fei. The actual, real Fei. Not the fake one Big Bad tried to distract her with.

With ZYC snapped out of it and back for action, Big Bad does a half-hearted attempt to persuade LL to reconsider what side he wants to be on? Sort of?

But LL doesn’t respond to the taunt. He hasn’t forgotten that Big Bad has the nasty habit of experimenting on demons (to get invisible-ink-blood, teleportation feathers, demon-magic-blocking-blood to use on cages and cells, to name a few) and forgot to tell him about that before offering him cookies. And he’s the cause of ZYZ and LL falling out. Technically speaking.

So he just blocks the attack.

And is caught, without hesitation, by his best (if probably temporary) buddies.

Then he finally replies.

Of course he’s rather worried about the ever burning fire. That stuff keeps spoiling everything for him. But he had already decided to leave the stick (cultivating for a century is booo-riiing after all), so he’s going to die anyway (or is he? More on that elsewhere).

They join forces against the big bad (and send Bai Jiu away – who clearly didn’t go away immediately when ZYZ told him to).

I think the boy really, really, really wanted to tell them that killing WZY was not going to work, because he’d come back unless someone destroyed/scatterered his fancy bowl of ashes, but no one listens to a kid, so he runs off to take care of that, himself. Although, tbh.. WZY would probably have noticed if ZYC, ZYZ and/or LL left the battlefield. And then he’d probably figure out where he/they ran off to and come to fight them there. Unless the Bingy chilling techniques could have dispelled the barrier. Or protected the person going through it before WZY could add one and one and get there, so no one had to die.. But we’ll never know. Ahem, going back on track now.)

Big Bad WZY still manages to blast them all down, but fortunately enjoys drawing stuff out, so waits for them to regain consciousness instead of finishing them off while they’re down. (Again, I’d be a very boring villain. Efficient, though.)

Now.. for some reason, I can’t take screens and clips (for GIFs) from episode 33 on iQIYI (well, I can, but it gives a black screen, as if it were blocked or something, but it only happens in this episode as far as I’ve noticed), but other sites are currently wonky for me, or have subs in less than ideal places, so I’m afraid I’ll keep those limited to the bare minimum for this part. (Most of it is probably already GIF-ified by people much more skilled and patient than I am, because mine are quick and dirty: only for illustration purposes.)

So while WZY is standing around, LL wakes up, and after a few long looks at ZYZ, goes to ZYC, who snaps out of it, and after a look at ZYZ, tries to get up, but LL stops him to tell him he knows how to deal with the Big Bad. Basically, he can attract the fire so WZY’s power get lower/used up a bit. It’ll also distract WZY so that ZYC can destroy his core. Sounds like a plan. ZYC comments that this tactic will kill LL (he missed the memo that he can only take human form for a while before going poof anyway, due to being in a poison dream). Instead of explaining, LL grabs him by the throat.

And gives him half his demonic power.

(and possibly more? Wild speculation about this moment here: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/787267391021252608/what-exactly-passed-between-zhuo-yichen-and-li-lun?source=share )

He also tells ZYC that he and ZYZ were always each other’s equals in fights and that he can’t stand seeing him weak and useless.

When the energy transition is over, LL and ZYC get to their feet (ZYZ needs a little more time. LL gives ZYC the Truth Eyes, saying their weren’t actually his to begin with, and that he hopes YZC will see the world clearly with them. He also tells him not to be like him. I assume he means himself in angry period, when he made a few regrettable choices. Like joining forces with WZY and wanting to kill ZYZ.

Ignoring ZYZ’s objections, LL then flies up, makes a wall of vines/branches, fights WZY for about 30 seconds, woods up completely and then burns to sparks and ashes. It would seem he’s truly gone this time. Sacrificed himself for his friend(s). Who then end up finishing stuff and saving the day.

Goodbye, silly tree..

I think have a few more words to say, but this is getting ridiculously long. So best leave this here.

[somethingponysomething]

LL vs the Demon Hunting Bureau Team: Musings on a silly tree - part 8

Contains spoilers.

Previous part with links to those before can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/787537639280623616/ll-cant-read-zyzs-mind-musings-on-a-silly?source=share

It takes LL exactly one attack move to find out that ZYZ’s demon power battery is completely empty.

And suddenly he goes from ‘I used to be your friend’ to ‘You don’t deserve to be my opponent anymore’.

I get it, he’s disappointed, hurt even, that ZYZ has dubious communication skills appears to have chosen his new friends over him. But not only does he no longer want to be his friend, he even discards him as an opponent. Guess their friendship mainly consisted of fighting/sparring/comparing strength then? I don’t know. Fortunately, ZYC is there to declare that he is his (new) opponent. LL doesn’t comment, so I suppose he considers him worthy, then.

Before, LL seemed to want ZYC to see him (so he could see who killed him, and later to see who he was talking to) and applied Truth Eyes. In this fight, he doesn’t. Probably because he knows very well that all of the team will have difficulties full-on attacking someone who appears as Bai Jiu to them. But fight him, they do. When controlling him with the Baize token doesn’t work, because WX is simply too poisoned for that, brave, loyal Ying Lei steps up to do that ‘building’ of containment thing he (and his grandpa) used to ‘control’ ZYZ much earlier. Unfortunately, he gets stabbed by (no doubt poisonous or corrosive) vines. Because he pushed ZYC away. Who was actually ready with his sword? Why did the silly boy not let the sword guy keep LL busy and then put him in his magic prison of golden glowiness? Ah, yes. Someone probably wanted him to die. Boo. (I’ll never get over his last words.. Ever.) *forced brain back to the subject*

And then, apparently out of nowhere, the pagoda tree root pops up.

(Can’t help wondering.. In that flashback, we see ZYZ with the root in a box, his thoughts implying he got the root in exchange for the Truth Eye. If that is indeed the case, why didn’t LL link the earlier memory of ZYZ giving him the Truth Eye to himself giving ZYZ the root? Did he assume ZYZ had thrown it away? Destroyed it? But even if he thought so, he could have asked if ZYZ still had it. Or accuse him of getting rid of it, based on an assumption, I guess. And yes, ZYZ could have mentioned it just as easily. *shakes head* Why make your life easier with communication, right?)

LL fortunately believes ZYC when he tells him that ZYZ made him promise not to kill him.

It seems to be enough to persuade LL to go back to his root(s). I wonder if he would have believed it if ZYZ had told him the exact same thing, himself. Judging by the amount of times he was convinced ZYZ lied to him (even when he didn’t), I doubt it.

LL has a message for ZYZ (who was carted off by Momma Tree, due to his weakness – and possibly his tendency to ignore such details and involve himself in a fight anyway if he happens to be present), which we only get to see later, when ZYC tells him.

It would seem that LL agrees to call this a draw then. And well, both he and Bai Jiu get the change to live a bit longer.

That seems to be it for LL for the next 100 years.

Spoiler: it’s not.

Next part can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/788533821535567872/li-lun-lends-a-helpful-branch-part-9-of?source=share

[somethingponysomething]

[somethingponysomething]

LL can’t read ZYZ’s mind – Musings on a silly tree, part 7

There is actually quite a bit of musing (or rambling) here and a bit less analysing what happens on the screen. Yay? That’s up to you. But I always enjoy a good (or a least sizable) ramble.

Contains spoilers.

Previous part (with link back to the one before) can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/787090109089579008/beneath-li-luns-bark-musings-on-a-silly-tree?source=share

LL wakes up with part of his conversation with ZYC echoing in his memory/dream. He gets up, leaves the room and sees ZYC sitting at a table (with a game of go/Chinese chess on it). LL (in Jiu shape, obviously) approaches a little warily, but sits down and visibly tries to relax. ZYC also relaxes a bit. When LL smiles a little, ZYC also produces a tiny smile which doesn’t quite reach his eyes, but said eyes do soften a little.

While LL gives ZYZ the Truth eye to see who is across the table he/they remember(s) when and why ZYZ gave him that unique ability. In the memory, LL calls ZYZ a ‘destined enemy’. So I suppose they both knew they’d end up opposing each other eventually. And well, that does make sense. Their goal - to protect the Wilderness - was the same, but their views and opinions on how that should be done, and on wrong and right, were so different that a falling out was inevitable.

And still ZYZ gave LL his Truth Eye, so LL could use his unique talent (possession, I assume) without having to worry that his best friend (and apparently future enemy) would see through him. Unless LL chose to let him. Or anyone else, for that matter.

Hmm.. I wonder if they were once acting as opposites balancing each other. If so, it would seem that their falling out, or possibly LL being sealed away, shifted that balance. Perhaps it even caused the blood moon phenomenon? After all, why would ZYZ after 34.000 years suddenly lose control during that event if it occurred every year (I seem to recall that it was mentioned it did) and he was always fine before? Was LL (who wouldn’t mind to see the human world destroyed) somehow restraining him? Not very likely. Buuut.. the moment LL was sealed, the blood moon popped out and ZYZ killed the Baize goddess. The Baize token was lost. Well, split apart and no one (except LL) knew where part 2 had disappeared to. Although.. if the duty of protecting the Wilderness (and the human world) coming with it, was always meant to be split between the strongest demon of that time and the current baize goddess, like it was with the very first goddess and Cheng Huang, it should have been clear where it went. After all, ZYZ was (suddenly) the strongest of that time, at least, with LL out of the picture, because they were equals. So.. bad documentation by the Baizes? Or did the token decide not to bother/couldn't make up its mind for those 34.000 years that there were two strongest demons, and reside in the goddess alone, making that the norm and causing the knowledge of the original ways to be lost? Erm. Yes, I digress. Big time. I may come back to this. It deserves more pondering.

Back to LL. And ZYZ.

They talk a bit about go/chess, sacrificing pawns and how life is like chess. LL apparently assumes ZYZ means a human life is like that. Or something.

But he also thinks that, like in chess, there can be only one winner. ZYZ reminds him that it’s also possible to draw/tie.

They both remember (or ZYZ reminds LL) of how he (at least) once said they could draw and that he didn’t mind being the best with ZYZ. He also tells LL that he can still make amends by leaving Bai Jiu’s body and letting the boy live. I'm not sure how that would be a tie/draw. After all, it would mean LL does not get what he wants, only ZYZ does? It would actually seem that he’d die if he left BJ without a host and ZYZ didn’t mention he had one. But he does have one. Kind of.

As much as I love ZYZ, his communication skills are often.. not ideal. He can be direct if he wants to, but rarely does. He seems to prefer to not tell the whole truth, nothing at all, just the parts he thinks are essential, or to expect the other to put it all together on their own. Or use body language and put a lot of faith in his conversation partner’s mind reading skill.

So obviously, he does not bring up that he practically begged ZYC not to kill LL. Nor that WX should arrive shortly, carrying the pagoda tree root LL had once given him.

ZYZ doesn’t want LL to die, but.. he keeps his mouth shut, and waits to see what LL will do? While he should know that LL either isn’t very good at/interested in reading body language, tell what ZYZ means (as opposed what he says – or omits) and strongly believes ZYZ actually hates him. I mean, even if ZYZ had used plain words to tell LL what was going on, LL might still have done a table chessboard flip. He might still have thought ZYZ cared more about Bai Jiu than about him, because going into the root would put him out of action for another 100 years before he could freely walk the world again (and he thought 8 years was a long time already). Or perhaps ZYZ expected LL to refuse to leave that very useful body and see how he’d get through a fight with ZYC (and friends).

Or.. perhaps ZYZ thought LL would dig around in his brain and remember that he gave ZYZ said root in the past, have a chuckle while fondly shaking his head, understanding fully what ZYZ was implying, realizing that ZYZ actually still did consider him a friend..

All possible (well, except for the latter, I guess, LL doesn’t seem the type for that kind of communication – especially not when hurting). And yet ZYZ chose to just look at LL intently with his eye leaking prettily. (Frankly, I’m guessing someone, somewhere just wanted to add some more drama to the drama and kill off the character who least deserved such a fate, but that’s just me)

Either way, LL smashes the game board and attacks. ZYZ seems mildly startled/surprised for a split second. So.. did he expect LL to get that he was just being mysterious and that it seemed obvious to him that he was not going to let him die? Not his best choice.

And that’s me talking too much and likely outstaying my welcome. Best see myself out for a bit.

But worry, I’ll be back before you miss me.

Next one can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/788086268385001472/ll-vs-the-demon-hunting-bureau-team-musings-on-a?source=share

[somethingponysomething]

What exactly passed between Zhuo Yichen and Li Lun before that final fight?

Or rather from LL to ZYC.

Not part of my musings. This is just wild speculation that came to me when pushing a swing, of all things.

Contains spoilers

So. Episode 33. Big Bad Wen Zongyu is taking a break to let everyone come to their senses. Li Lun has thought of something and grabs ZYC by the throat. Which is basically his favourite way of bonding with people. Must be a tree thing.

ZYC – understandably – asks what he’s doing. Not a strange reaction to being grabbed like that. LL explains that he’s going to transfer half his demonic energy to ZYC. Which seems like a decent enough explanation.

Until he just throws/channels the other half to ZYZ, who is lying a few meters away, still unconscious.

No touch needed. Let alone those big black veins that make marks appear on ZYC’s cheeks (not the forehead ones that appear when he’s done and the energy settles).

And then I remembered this moment:

Yes, sure, those ‘veins’ are different and we don’t see enough of LL’s hands to see if they are there, too. Not to mention LL is in a rush, not leisurely transferring energy (while a deadly enemy is watching from an uncomfortably small distance – okay, I guess ZYC and Pei Sijing are also a reason to hurry, in their own right). I guess Bai Jiu’s body is also different, the divine bit clearly objecting to this sudden invasion. Where ZYC’s (pretty much) demon body knows what’s going on  and is letting it happen.

But still. What if LL didn’t only pass his energy, but also let’s say.. (some of) his core? Or spirit. Or soul or whatever. They didn’t find his core when he went out with a bang, did they? Assumed it burned up, probably. Like they did before. Or simply didn’t bother looking, because there was no time. (Makes me wonder what happens to those cores to begin with if they aren’t crushed in a suicidal manner. Are there collectors? Do the demons eventually spawn back from them? Do they just lie around? Ah well *pulls brain back on track*)

With Bai Jiu, LL could at first only control the body if its actual owner was asleep. Or unconscious. ZYC may be stronger and more able to resist. He may also not sleep, being a demon and all that. So it may take a while until it manifests.

*shrugs* I’ll just put that leash back on the brain

[somethingponysomething]

Beneath Li Lun’s bark – Musings on a silly tree, part 6

Contains spoilers

Previous part with links back to those before can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/786544227261808640/li-lun-vs-zyc-a-word-fight-part-5-of-musings-on?source=share

Do angry trees have a softer side? This one does and we finally get to see it. (Yeah, I know, the flashbacks showed a little, too)

Li Lun is not having a great time after the talk with ZYC. Although the talk is not directly related. Main problem is that the poison is getting worse. He’d rather die than go to Wen Zongyu to ask for the cure (wise, really, because he’d never get anything useful from that one). As he is past the point where human livers are of any use, Ao Yin went to try an obtain the dragon scale the DHB managed to get. When she returns apparently victorious, though, he doesn’t seem to care much about the box immediately. He notices a wound on her hand and heals that, first.

She thinks he should save his power instead. LL disagrees, he’s dying and he would rather use it instead. She doesn’t like it that he offers to give it all to her if he’s actually going to die. He seems calm and even somewhat cheerful about it. Even smiles a bit.

And well, she got him a dragon scale, didn’t she? So he shouldn’t die at all. If only she could get that annoying box open.. LL prods the sealed box with his power and is disappointed and actually hurt to find that it was only a restriction.

He thinks ZYZ has forgotten he gave him all his passwords taught him all of his tricks. But I’m sure ZYZ didn’t forget. In this case, it wasn’t personal. At least, not against LL. ZYZ only restricted it so YL/the team couldn’t open it and find it empty (because he needed the scale for his own purposes, namely have a chat with Momma Tree). If there was any message for LL in that restriction at all (there might have been, because it was to be expected that LL would want to have it), it would be ‘this box is empty, so no need to bother locking it properly’. Besides, LL knows all his tricks, so even if he pulled out his biggest seal, he’d still be able to open it, wouldn’t he? But he might have felt better about that, I suppose. Or not. I think LL may be reading too much in this. (But I do feel sorry for him that this hurts him.)

Before they can look inside the box and find it’s empty, Ying Lei catches up and knocks it on the floor. It opens and nothing comes out. For his grandpa’s sake, LL doesn’t harm YL, only paralyses and silences him, so he can be witness to the rest of the conversation with Ao Yin. (Where we see LL partly through AY and possibly his own eyes and the rest through YL’s, who sees LL as Bai Jiu) It shows the sad story of someone who never felt like he actually belonged anywhere and can only ever return to the gloomy cave of darkness where he was born.

(That sounds like a reference to what ZYC told him about there always being light somewhere..)

And then he offers AY his hand and she takes it. Which he probably knew she would. Not because she’s an obedient servant (well, she is that, too, I guess), but because she already said that she’d die if he did. And so they leave together. (But they don’t go to their destination immediately, because AY finds the opportunity to peek in when ZYC and ZYZ do their ever burning fire extraction trick, and show up when ZYC takes the ever burning wood to WZY to intercept the empty medicine bottle and then overhear the actual way to cure the poison.)

When LL shows up at Kunlun Mountain – Bai Jui shaped to those present, being Pei Sijing and Ying Lei – he makes it up the steps and answers PSJ’s question before collapsing. Fortunately, AY has perfect timing. He gives her Truth Eyes so she can see him.

PSJ realises that to AY, LL is not just her master, but she has other feelings for him (too). I’m fairly sure LL must have heard her, too, but doesn’t show it.

Then she draws the poison out of LL and into herself. LL barely objects, but that’s probably because he’s too weak. She finishes, saves him and they exchange a few more words before she sparkles up.

Once she’s gone, LL is sad (obviously) and seems thoughtful, or realising something. Perhaps it hits him that he did have a friend all that time. (And perhaps could have more, even, if he had wanted to.) But failed to see it because he was too busy being angry. And now she’s gone. And then he collapses for real.

PSJ and YL take him away to a safe place, because they don’t want BJ’s body to be harmed. Or go ‘missing’, I suppose.

And so it's shown that LL isn't truly a bad guy after all. I still think this change comes from his talk with ZYC. He needed someone to make him think. And that happened.

Part 7: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/787537639280623616/ll-cant-read-zyzs-mind-musings-on-a-silly?source=share

[somethingponysomething]

Vegetable tossing in Ancient Fantasy China

Cointains spoilers. Or at least spoiled goods.

Yes, I am familiar with the concept of tossing rotten vegetables, particularly tomatoes, and the occasional egg. It’s never a compliment.  

So I get that people picked up their basket full of slimy and smelly leftovers when they came to the Demon Hunting Bureau when they were angry after word was out that ZYC had (presumably) killed a man. I also get that, when it turned out they were not going to take this dangerous criminal out of the dungeon for their target practice, their anger was vented at a stand-in. Sadly, it had to be poor Ying Lei. (But somehow, they didn’t even get a stray leaf on Pei Sijing)

So far, I can follow the reasoning.

However.

Can someone please explain if it’s a tradition to take a supply of rotten stuff on a night out. Like, to a brothel?

I don’t think the smell would add to the experience. Unless it’s to counter overly strong perfumes and such, I suppose. Or were the throwers/suppliers all women who went there to keep an eye on their husbands and brought their ickies just in case they forgot they were married. Or to throw at the workers for seducing their men? No? Ah well.

And again, poor, poor Ying Lei caught most of it. Shielding ZYC. Goodests boy deserved better. On many levels.

This is obviously just an inane observation. Although I guess I did some real head scratching. Not gonna lie.

[somethingponysomething]

Li Lun vs ZYC: a word fight - Part 5 of musings on a silly tree

Contains spoilers

Previous part, with links to the ones before, can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/786090516173537280/li-lun-again-part-4-more-musings-on-a-silly?source=share

You’d think I should be getting somewhere with this now. But am I? At least I’m having fun. Which is rather selfish of me, but there you have it ☺

ZYC is now a demon. Or turning into one. It seems to be a bit of a process, not an instant change. And Li Lun did it to him, pretty much. So it’s only natural that Li Lun comes to visit him after ZYC got pelted with rotten food while looking for answers Ao Yin in the local brothel. They meet in the street for a good talk, that doesn’t seem to go as LL expected it would. At all.

The way he casually leaves in and instantly applies Truth Eyes shows that he didn’t run in on ZYC by accident.

I think every single line and bit of body language in this talk is important, but I have to keep it reasonable, illustration-wise. Besides, I’m sure it’s been picked apart before by people better suited for that than I am. So just my observations should suffice.

I personally believe this is where Li Lun’s redemption arc started. Or rather, was made possible. It was his plan to make ZYC a demon, so he could be humiliated and feel what it was like to be hated for simply being a demon, by those much weaker than himself. The goal was to make ZYC understand him, so he would hate ZYZ again/more. (Feel free to disagree, I don’t mind being wrong and like to hear about and discuss other views)

It looks like ZYC didn’t expect Li Lun to want to talk about what ZYZ hates the most.

I guess LL means himself, there, because both of them know ZYC didn’t kill any humans since he started to turn into a demon. The guy who was attacked didn’t die and it wasn’t ZYC, but Ao Yin attacking him. And it’s not like ZYZ doesn’t know that.

ZYC knows/figured out that LL planned all this. And it would seem that this is basically all about Li Lun wanting to talk about himself. (No, it's not)

ZYC doesn’t even deign to answer the question. For now.

But Li Lun isn’t going to give up just yet. He wants ZYC to get angry by reminding him of what was done to him. How the people suddenly feel about him.

But ZYC was born as a human and still is very much human. He actually is a demon hunter. It’s is job, it’s what he does on a daily basis. He knows it’s not that black and white. For one thing, the Demon Hunting Bureau doesn’t kill demons because they hate them. Instead, they want to bring them to justice and send them back to the Wilderness eventually (WX with that rabbit demon in episode one, and they weren’t going to kill Ran Yi either) – which is very different from Chongwu Camp. The ones LL decide to join use.

What I like most about this part, is that it looks like LL came to gloat at ZYC’s 'fall'/misfortune, but without even trying, ZYC reverses the situation and shows LL that he's completely mistaken. It's not that people hate all demons on principle. They only hate/fear the ones who cause harm and bloodshed. And even if LL points out that they hate ZYC, he tells them that's because they don't know what really happened.

Instead of hate and aggression, ZYC shows that he understands why the people reacted the way they did. LL wanted to turn ZYC into what ZYZ hates the most: a demon who kills people. He expected that to be easy, because what else could happen if someone who is used to being admired, suddenly feels the hate of those who once looked up to him? But nope, not this demon-in-the-making. Even LL’s statue analogy doesn’t get to him. Possibly because ZYC knows a statue can’t redeem itself with actions or when the truth comes out. Or just because he’s not really in it for the attention and adoration. (And well, he knows there’s always a light somewhere, no matter how dark the situation)

Li Lun then gets even more angry and a bit desperate and tries even harder to get ZYC to explode.

He even calls ZYC a real outcast and asks if he feels lonely. Because the way LL sees it, there’s no place for him among humans anymore, but because he killed quite a few demons, too, he won’t be welcome in the Wilderness, either. ZYC remembers he once asked his brother if he had become an outcast. At that time, he did feel lonely. But now he has his little found family and no longer feels that way.

It isn’t until Li Lun opens the heavy artillery and calls both ZYC and ZYZ cowards that ZYC gets up and shows his demon fangs. He proceeds to flash LL, who falls over backwards in the water. I don’t think he saw that one coming.

When he’s sitting there all wet, ZYC tells him – not even unkindly – that he knows what LL wants him to do, but he’s not going to. Oh, and btw, he and ZYZ aren’t weak, they’re just nice people. And light (kindness) will always shine through the darkness.

Yes, I cut a bit in that abyss part. For the full thing, just watch the show, episode 25. I think these cover the essence of what I want to say here.

ZYC is done with it then and starts walking away. LL won’t accept his defeat (in the sense of being unable to persuade ZYC) and calls him back. I’m not sure he wanted to hear what ZYC had to say to him in response.

Again, ZYC starts walking away, only to be called by LL. This time in Bai Jiu’s voice (but LL’s intonation).

It means LL cancelled the Truth Eyes (the murderous glare he sent ZYC before calling makes me certain the effect didn’t just wear off). ZYC obviously knows that, too. He doesn’t turn, well aware that his eyes will show him Bai Jiu. But he knows it will still be LL. So he walks away.

That silly tree is so desperate for ZYC to understand him and to become him, that it's sad. Especially because while ZYC doesn't 'understand' him in the sense of seeing where he's coming from and respecting his feelings and actions, he does 'understand' what kind of person LL is. And though he knows that makes him a very unhappy tree, he’s not going to try to make him feel better.

The last bit, however, is painful. At least, I thought it was.

The surprise and hope that shows so clearly when he notices that umbrella.. It hurts. But then he realizes it’s not the umbrella he hoped it would be and it’s not held by the demon he secretly hoped for (ZYZ, obviously) and he stomps – well, wades – off. Which is rather unkind of him. But I think in that moment, he realized he secretly wanted to be back on good terms with ZYZ. He’s still angry with him. He still hates him (in a way), but he also realized that he still cares. And well, he probably hates that realization, too.

Alright, that’s much, much more than enough out of me. Best shut up for a while ☺

Part 6: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/787090109089579008/beneath-li-luns-bark-musings-on-a-silly-tree?source=share

[somethingponysomething]

Li Lun again - part 4: more musings on a silly tree

I really intended to stay away from details, but I guess it’s how my brain works. It needs to gather a lot of info and illustrations, and spread those out on a large, messy table, or pin them haphazardly on a mental wall to come to some kind of point. Or not. Ah well.

Contains spoilers.

Previous part, with links to the ones before, can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/785730183793672193/li-lun-li-lun-musings-on-a-silly-tree-part-3?source=share

For a while, LL is forced to lie low in Bai Jiu’s body, because at first, he can only take control when the boy sleeps. He decides to take matters back into his own hand just when the team has made a fresh Baize token and if preparing to break ZYZ out of his fresh round of losing control. They did figure out that LL was hiding in someone, but made a wrong assumption. Until they are presented with this image:

There’s a lot of fighting with Li Lun looking like BJ (and Ao Yin looking like pretty much everyone at some point), until ZYC shows up. They fight, LL breaks the cloud Light sword (that already cracked during ZYC’s fight with ZYZ). The pointy bit ends up in the wrong tree.

For some reason, LL wants him to see ‘who killed him’.

He doesn’t end up finishing the job, however, because WX and ZYZ show up to spoil his fun. ZYZ tells Li Lun that he’s chosen the wrong person to side with. LL doesn’t agree. He believes Wen Zongyu and he are just using each other to get what they want. In response to ZYZ’s revelation that WZY was involved in (or rather, the driving force behind) the demon torturing practices they fell out over, LL predictably calls him a liar. Again. He leaves after WX and ZYZ inform him that it was WZY who lied to him, with a free suggestion.

No sure if it was because he believed ZYZ/WX, or that he just wanted to prove them wrong, but Li Lun does visit WZY’s secret laboratory. It doesn’t make him happy. He makes no secret of that when WZY shows up.

And of course WZY tells him he has to, because he poisoned him, so he’ll die if he doesn’t, but LL is too angry to care.

Guess his new partly divine body is what allows him to escape through the demon warding stuff that’s no doubt on every surface in that basement.

Also, can I just say that Lin Ziye does a nice job acting as Li Lun? Sure, he may exaggerate a bit now and then, but that is somehow actually believable for a 34000 year old demon inhabiting a kid’s body.

So now that ZYZ spoiled Li Lun’s fun once more by also proving you just can’t trust a human in any way, Li Lun gets even more creative. He goes to the demon hunting bureau, where the sparkly bismuth stone five/fire-coloured stone (translation can’t seem to make up its mind – I’d love to know what it really is) just arose from the water.

He tries to run off after fondling it with a vine and dropping it, but of course, ZYZ follows him. Pei Sijing gets to witness the exchange.

I actually felt a bit sorry for the tree there. He seems to want ZYZ to say something to make him feel better. But all ZYZ does is take the side of his new friends. Although he never says he stopped caring about LL, and his body language clearly tells he still does care. LL either doesn’t see it or chooses not to. But.. I suppose there’s nothing ZYZ could say that LL would believe. Or accept.

If ZYZ says he indeed doesn't care, LL would get angry, say he already knew that and that he hates him and wants him to die. And then leave. Perhaps after hitting him a few times. And if ZYZ would say he still cares, LL would only tell him he's lying again. Or that he has to prove it. Probably by hurting or killing his new friends. Which ZYZ would refuse to do. So LL would be back to calling him a liar. The wall of pain between them is too big and neither of them is willing to sit down and have a good talk, like adults, at that time. Because communication is overrated.

Either way, LL leaves again.

Not much later, after the five/fire coloured stone broke and the drop of demon blood chose YZC to merge with, ZYZ suddenly gets what LL was really trying to do:

So basically, making ZYC’s worst nightmare come true. The one he knows about. Because he knows ZYC had a scale from Ran Yi that his brother gave him specifically to block those nightmares out. Bad, bad tree..

Aaaand talking too much again. Sorry.

Part 5: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/786544227261808640/li-lun-vs-zyc-a-word-fight-part-5-of-musings-on?source=share

[somethingponysomething]

Li Lun, Li Lun.. - Musings on a silly tree Part 3

Contains spoilers

Previous part can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/784908315542028288/li-lun-musings-on-a-silly-tree-part-two?source=share

It has a link to part one, too.

After working so hard to destroy the Baize token, so he can go where he wants (without possessing anyone), Li Lun – understandably – wants to keep the team from repairing it (or creating a new one, same difference).  So when they come to his home (kinda) in the Wilderness, he’s not going to give it to them like that. Or at all. Even if the other part they need is not available anymore. To his credit, he did put a lot of thought and effort in welcoming them when they come calling. To make the team feel at home, he even made it look like the demon Hunting Bureau. He splits them up so he can have Wen Xiao to himself for a bit, while he has a tree demon girl and Ao Yin to entertain the other four.

At least he doesn’t intend to straight out kill WX. That’s nice of him.

His talk with WX does bring up some painful subjects. Like friendship and ZYZ. Or friendship with ZYZ.

Li Lun tries to persuade her, with the help of some vines, to become friends with him, instead. Erm, nope, he doesn’t. Friendship is evil and not real, after all. He does tell her she should hate ZYZ and want him dead, because he killed her shifu.

But WX doesn’t agree. Not everyone thinks only in black and white, seeing the world through their own filter. To LL, if someone hurts him, they deserve nothing but his hate and contempt. Oh, and death. He should know by now not everyone works that way, but he needs more time (and another confrontation with someone he expected to successfully turn against ZYZ) for that to slowly start sinking in. A little.

But all he wanted to do was play the question game with her, while waiting for ZYZ (but didn’t seem to expect her answers – much less being grudgingly impressed by those). Oh, and he wanted to dramatically render the Yao water useless by dripping her blood in it. He could just have.. I dunno, emptied the bowl on the floor or something if he really didn’t want them to have it. *shrugs* Guess I’d make a boring villain.

When ZYZ arrives is safely tossed into a cage, he and LL first chat a bit about Bai Jiu, while LL chokes BJ. It’s what he does. LL calls baby doc a demon (before eventually putting his core inside the boy for safe-keeping purposes). And tells ZYZ off for lying about what friendship means to him.

It’s clear that LL is not just angry, but also still very hurt by the events of 8 years ago. (As is ZYZ, for that matter.)

I’m fairly sure, back then, ZYZ intended to attempt to free the demons, too. That’s why he waited, acting all mysterious, instead of hiding. But not by killing anyone if he could avoid it. Li Lun acting rashly (and ZYZ telling him off) made a very big crack in their friendship. But I think that ZYZ would have found a way to forgive and explain killing just those two guys, so they could get away with it. Get some lighter punishment perhaps. And he’d even take half of that punishment on himself. Probably. After all, demons were being held and tortured. Baize Goddess would not approve of that, either, would she?

But Li Lun was angry about the caged demons and ZYZ’s disappointment over him killing the two men. So he ran off, with (one of) the demons (Ao Yin), leaving ZYZ behind. Knowing his friend, ZYZ might have been smarter to just run after him, but he didn’t. Instead, he accidentally found a way to unintentionally make things even worse.

ZYZ clearly didn’t expect the Ever Burning Fire to act like that. But it did. Li Lun was already angry (and hurt) because ZYZ dared to disagree with him about killing the two men in the dungeon. Then ZYZ dared to tell him off for killing random humans. And on top if it, hurt him, a tree, with fire that can never go out. And back in the Wilderness, not much later, ZYZ had the audacity to protect and defend Baize Goddess when she imprisoned him, instead of helping his friend out by attacking and killing her, instead. I mean, sure, he ended up killing her shortly after, but that was by accident and had nothing to do with Li Lun.

So their life-long friendship ended just like that. Makes me wonder if they never fought about anything before in all those years. Millennia, even. Seems inevitable with their different opinions and ways of seeing life, but still. Sad, really.

Back in the present time, several things happen: mainly the thing with the demon core transfer to baby doc (without anyone noticing), triggering a blast of divine energy that breaks open ZYZ’s cage, just when ZYC and PSJ enter the scene. And then PSJ leaving with Bai Jiu.

There’s an inevitable fight between Li Lu and ZYZ & ZYC, until WX gets tired of it, grabs the rattle drum and then does this:

WX basically kills LL by smashing the broken Baize token into the rattle drum. Go, WX!

Fortunately, he takes his time before sparkling up, so ZYZ has time to tell him he’s sorry. I don’t think LL believes it, though.

When Li Lun finally does sparkle up, there’s no core left, but they chalk that up to it being consumed by the Ever Burning Fire. Shows that assumptions can be dangerous.

Talking too much again. Ah well.

Part 4: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/786090516173537280/li-lun-again-part-4-more-musings-on-a-silly?source=share

[somethingponysomething]

Hey, that looks like another hint (about Bai Jiu)!

I was rewatching bits and pieces, as one does, and as always, found something I can’t really believe I missed before. Thought I’d share.

After https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/776123601003986944/bai-jiu-and-white-flashes-and-fresh-green-leaves?source=share

And

There is another bit in episode 18, after the tree-girl’s game shenanigans, where it was already clear that ZYZ had some suspicions and ended up ‘cheating’ to get past the girl and tree blocking their way.

They get attacked, Bai Jui gets grabbed and ZYZ goes after him. In the next room, they are attacked by Ao Yin and ZYZ ends up in a cage. He can’t get out, because it has a kind of demon blood seal that blocks his magic. And then this happens.

Bai Jiu curiously touches the bars and pulls back. Not quite startled, but he looks at his hand as if he definitely felt something. ZYZ is not surprised and doesn’t ask questions, but he does grab the bars and holds on until it sizzles and smokes. Not sure he was testing something (perhaps to see if Bai Jiu would say something?) or making a point (look, it burns me, too, I think I know your secret – even if you don’t). Sure, it could be that anyone, of any race, touching the cage would feel something, but in episode 21, WX touched the bars in the Chongwu dungeon without any effect. Sure, they may be coated in a different kind of protection, but the way that guard looks and flees when she touches them make it clear something should have happened. Ah well.

Either way, ZYZ and BJ don’t have much time to talk about it (but Jiu does look at his own hands a bit longer), because Li Lun shows up.

He calls BJ a demon, even says he intended to keep him after ‘the first round’. I assume he means the demon girl’s game. So.. I suppose he told the girl that BJ is a demon. Why LL thinks/assumes he is, isn’t entirely clear. Probably something Wen Zongyu told him when he offered the boy to Li Lun to hide his demon core in. Because I am rather sure WZY knew very well who and what Jiu’s mother is. He just never bothered informing him about it.

And that’s me talking too much again. Just wanted to share.

Feel free to add more if you found something. It's fun to share, no?

[somethingponysomething]

Li Lun – musings on a silly tree, part two

Contains spoilers

Part one can be found here:

Writing in chronological order is overrated. Especially when it’s mostly thoughts that pop up one after another. Especially with a mind like a hyperactive grasshopper. I’ll try to refrain from bouncing around too much, pwomise!

So.. After showing the memory of who really did the killing back then, ZYC has a rather obvious question (and LL does answer)

So it was a game to him? Then why did he drop helpful hints before? Even if they weren’t very clear at first. I mean, in episode 6, he actually tells them where the second half of the Baize token is.

Only with WX and ZYZ standing rather close to each other, it’s probably not quite clear who he’s pointing at from their POV. So everyone assumes he points at WX and is just being annoying for the sake of it.

Li Lun also casually dropped a bit of a bomb in that one, telling them ZYZ couldn’t help killing ZYC’s dad and brother. But he didn’t elaborate. So ZYC asks ZYZ to enlighten him.

ZYZ doesn’t say anything, of course. Fortunately , WX just had a fish powered dream, where she saw that ZYZ was controlled by malicious energy and could not help that his body went on a murderous rampage without his consent. At that point, ZYC still thinks that killing is killing and bad deeds done are still bad deeds, no matter why someone ended up doing them.

I’m not sure why LL chose to tell them that. Probably because he needed them to cooperate to fix the token, only so he could destroy it later on, breaking his shackles. So at that point, he needed them to bond. Just like showing the memory of ZYZ killing Zhao Wan’er was supposed to drive them apart. And I think he’s convinced he succeeded, considering what he tells ZYC before leaving (yes, it’s a pun, he turns into a cloud of leaves, harharhar - alright, I'll see myself out).

Earlier (in episode 6, iirc), Li Lun told ZYC that he’s not worthy of killing ZYZ. And even after running off, he still thinks so.

But.. his branch arm was hurting now that he was free from being sealed. Breaking free also freed the ever burning fire. Good thing demons in this setting are capable of healing magic. I guess it has to be reapplied often. It’s also another reminder of why he and ZYZ fell out.

And I think, even though he doesn’t believe ZYC has any right to kill ZYZ, LL is beginning to see him as a way to get that done. And if not that, as someone he can influence and use for his own purposes. Perhaps he even thinks he sees something of himself in ZYC? In some twisted way. Or perhaps he will, later. But that concept is still marinating in the brain.

But even without that, there will be more tree musings. There’s still quite a bit more to say.

Part 3: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/785730183793672193/li-lun-li-lun-musings-on-a-silly-tree-part-3?source=share

[somethingponysomething]

Li Lun, you silly tree..

I mean, a tree that doesn’t like staying in one place for long sounds a bit silly, no? Although, who knows, really. Trees might secretly wish to travel. I may have talked to trees occasionally, but they never said anything back. And it was mostly related to pruning. Not their wishes.

Contains spoilers

Not going to lie, I wanted to slap some sense into him for most of the series. But in the end, he did get his redemption and it came from growth, not as a mere plot device. So yes, I did end up liking him because of that.

This is also part one of beep knows how many, because I talk too much. I just tend to ramble when musing over stuff.

The first time we ‘see’ him is in episode 3, where he introduces himself by shooting an arrow at Wen Xiao. Fortunately, ZYZ is there to catch it. So they go after him.

Li Lun is obviously possessing someone, because he’s still chained in his gloomy cave of boredom, but ZYZ does recognize him. Or at least has a hunch. Probably because he tells ZYZ he wants to catch up before running off to a better spot to show himself. Or his rattle drum, at first. Which is all the confirmation ZYZ needs.

When the name Li Lun is mentioned, WX remembers that he’s her shifu’s killer. As far as she knows, anyway. After all, she heard him tell Zhao Wan’er that he was going to kill her when WX came running, only to be blasted unconscious by Li Lun. LL suggests letting her ‘remember’ the actual events and does his Truth Eyes trick on her. He tries to make her remember more, but it won’t click. And well, she kinda was unconscious when it all happened? Not sure people remember much from that. Buuut I digress. The idea is to share some musings. Not a guide to Li Lun sightings, or a retelling of the whole thing.

What it boils down to, is that LL holds a huge grudge against ZYZ for things that happened in the past. And he’s bitter about that, because they used to be friends. (Yes, I know, there are numerous ships sailing, but let’s stick to the terms used in the series. At least for now)

It takes a while for the bits and pieces of ZYZ and LL’s story to be shown, but the main things are that ZYZ did not approve of Li Lun’s murderous rampage 8 years ago, where he didn’t only kill people who were actually responsible for locking up and torturing demons, but also innocent bystanders, who were only getting medicine it that clinic. They didn’t know what was going on beneath their feet. (LL might argue that they didn’t care either, which may or may not be correct, and he doesn’t care about the rule that killing on human world excursions is forbidden in the first place. Because he hates humans on principle. Much like he believes all humans hate demons – on principle.) That, and ZYZ burned him with the ever burning fire that he absorbed while LL was having his little killing spree upstairs. Add to that that ZYZ didn’t stop the mere human Baize goddess when she sealed LL away as a punishment for his crime of randomly killing humans. To Li Lun, there was nothing random about it and according to his reasoning/way of seeing things, ZYZ should have backed him up, because demons were mistreated by humans. (Makes me wonder if those demons were on mortal world excursions with permission and if so, how long said permission lasts. Ah well.. *drags mind back on track*)

The way LL sees it, ZYZ abandoned him, betrayed him and physically hurt him. So that must mean their friendship, and he, himself, do not mean a thing to ZYZ. And probably never did. So he’s been fuming over that for the past 8 years. Which, considering that he’s ZYZ’s age, is less than the blink of an eye for him? Still a fresh wound, then.

I can see his frustration, because he didn’t hear ZYZ tell Zhao Wan’er that being locked up was the worst kind of punishment for someone like LL. He didn’t see how bad he felt for his friend. Didn’t see his tears. Or that wounding him with the ever burning fire was an accident. Just like absorbing the stuff in the first place. (Or did he?)

I mean, is this the look of someone who doesn’t care that his best friend is locked away? True, LL was a little preoccupied with being bound and locked away, but I think he might have seen it.

He didn’t see/shouldn’t have seen what came after, because all that was left of him at the scene was a leaf. Although.. it was LL who showed the full memory, including this part, to WX. So he somehow did see it? Through his leaf? All the way until after the whole blood moon episode, that ended with ZYZ crying his pretty eyes out, while trying to wash blood off his hands in a muddy puddle? Ah well. Even if he somehow obtained the memory in a different way, he would still have seen ZYZ’s emotions and words, so he should have known that ZYZ cared. Even someone as fond of acting as ZYZ is, isn’t going to do that for the benefit of someone who isn’t even there.

But I guess feelings are inferior to actions.

So.. should ZYZ have visited Li Lun in his prison? Cheng Huang did, so I’m fairly sure ZYZ would have been able to. But.. I doubt it would have changed a thing. LL isn’t really interested in hearing about what other people think, or wanted, or intended, or feel. Oh, he’ll be affected by it when he sees it. Eventually. But I strongly believe that if ZYZ tried to talk to him there, LL would just be angry and tell him that he’s a bad friend, unless he frees him (even if they both know he couldn’t). If not, get the beep out. I think ZYZ knew that, too. So he saved them both the pain of trying.

This is getting far too long already. So I guess I’m going to leave it here and do another one soon-ish. Didn't expect I'd have so much to say about him. I was going to say that for most of the series, he was a narrow minded, self-righteous idiot with a one track mind. But I guess it's a little bit more nuanced ;)

Part two: https://www.tumblr.com/somethingponysomething/784908315542028288/li-lun-musings-on-a-silly-tree-part-two?source=share

[somethingponysomething]

What if Fangs of Fortune was an RPG game?

No, not really, but.. yeah, really.

Contains spoilers, I guess

The first two episodes are setting the stage and gathering the party.

It all starts when a battle mage (race: demon) gets a quest to save the wilderness. He’s good with spells and umbrellas.

He needs a party and decides to look for a tank, first. To get the one he wants (from a demon hunting organization, no less), he needs to provoke him. Theatrically, because that’s his style.

He somehow manages to convince the tank. (race: human, later eligible for demon upgrade/downgrade, depending on your POV)

The battle mage/demon also really wants a bard and set his mind on a particular one. Never mind that she currently doesn’t possess a (magical) instrument. At least she has a sharp, pointy knife that doesn’t kill, but hurts a lot anyway. And her charisma is high enough to let her lie decoratively on the ground if she can’t be otherwise useful in a fight. (race: human, when she finds her instrument, she gets the title ‘goddess’, but that’s mostly ceremonial)

The team could still use some ranged DPS. They find a fierce one. A bit of a ranger with a twist. Instead of an animal companion, she gets a didi, who appears randomly, but often when he’s most needed. (race: human)

But what is a good party without a healer? Exactly, nothing. They get one recommended. He’s young, but a bit of a prodigy. He can also treat both humans and demons, which may come in handy. He’s also afraid of blood. And corpses. Oh, and demons, too. (race: human, or so everyone – including himself – assumes, until his personal background quest develops, and it turns out he’s half human, quarter god and the rest demon)

Later on, the group encounters an additional member, who doesn’t get chosen as often. Cooks are not a favourite class, after all. Although he skilfully wields his knife in battle as well as in the kitchen. He also knows a spell or two and somehow adds to group morale. (race: half mountain god, half demon, all adorkable)

Together they set out on big, small and personal quests. They fight a fish, a plague, a puppet master (who is a demon and a puppet), a tree boss (who at the very last moment changes his mind and joins them) and finally a guy who hates demons so much, he decided to become one.

Yep. That's about it. Also, yes, this is just a bit of silliness. What can I say? I started watching a new drama and about 10 episodes in, I already miss my FoF gang ♥

[somethingponysomething]

zhao yuanzhou and his emotional support strand of hair

[somethingponysomething]

Why did Zhao Yuanzhou go to the Demon Hunting Bureau the way he did?

Contains spoilers

I do not mean why he went there. That is made clear in Episode 2

But why he did it the way he did. As in, arriving all cocky and mysterious, announcing himself as the great demon Zhu Yan. Including the red eyes.

But also straightening the Bureau’s sign.

And then, of course, fighting ZYC.

He seemed pretty evil there. He even killed a guy to show he can. And will. Bit ruthless. But I suppose that’s the point of his act up to that point. (It's never mentioned again, so it's even possible that the guy didn't actually die, was just used for point making and was later healed. Or not.)

And then it turns out he also wrote a letter about helping the Demon Hunting Bureau solve cases (so there’s a chance to rebuild it, despite Chongwu Camp’s sabotaging) and came to offer himself as a gift.

He could have just knocked and started with that explanation, but as ZYC came running with his sword out as soon as the great demon sauntered in, I think we can scratch that as a viable option. ZYZ knew that. After all, he did kill ZYC’s father and brother and quite a few members of the DHB. Not something someone would easily forgive or forget. If he did so without introducing himself as Zhu Yan, he would probably have been referred to the application procedure. If there is one. No idea if DHB is recruiting at that point. But then he wouldn’t have gotten ZYC’s promise to kill him. Sure, bringing up his true identity later might have done that anyway, but I think he also wanted to get an idea of ZYC’s strength and skill with any sword, but especially the Cloud Light Sword.

And that’s not all. ZYC isn’t the only one he can’t simply talk to. He has a connection to Wen Xiao, too. After all, he’s not going to request working with someone he doesn’t know, is he? The way he puts it does feel like a threat and escaping from the dungeon doesn’t help his case, though. Until the two of them meet in the hallway and she gets a number of strange flashbacks and then wonders if they have met before.

They have, of course. He was her shifu’s close friend. Although she apparently never got to see his face back then. Or heard either of his names. And something is up with her memory. Possibly caused by trauma? Hm. We never know, although we are kind of led to believe ZYZ may have something to do with that (or at least knows more) in episode 5.

But I digress.

ZYZ chooses to pretend they do not know each other for the time being. When it turns out they do know each other, he says he hid it from her because he wanted them to get to know each other again, but I think there’s more than just that. I think it has something to do with him leaving her at the DHB’s door some time ago (my guess would be 8 years, because a lot of stuff got messed up around that time) and his promise to come back for her. Including the famous note with a promise form Great Demon to stay with her until he died. If she does recognize him, she’d probably be a tad cross with him. Pretending they don’t know each other seems like the safest way.

So apart from enjoying making such a dramatic entrance, he probably believed this was the best way, perhaps the only one. And I think he was right.

Call it another hill, if you like. And feel free to join and enjoy the scenery. Or tell me why I’m wrong. I can take it and more importantly, am always interested in other people’s theories.