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Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji use Empathy on A-Qing in order to find out what unfolded between her, Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan.
- Adaptational Badass: Wei Wuxian uses the Summoning of Painted Eyes to fight the fierce corpses on a much more impressive scale than originally implied; while in the novel he uses the technique on a roomful of paper mannequins in the shop, in this episode he controls all of the paper mannequins around the entire city, and with only his blood (the text has him use both blood and used talismans when animating the additional paper mannequins).
- Adaptational Wimp: Downplayed. While Xue Yang is still able to hold up against Lan Wangji for a while, he struggles a lot more during their fight than in the novel, and it doesn't take as much time and effort for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji to put Xue Yang at a great disadvantage.
- Adaptation Distillation:
- A-Qing, Xue Yang and Xiao Xingchen's time together is shown in less detail, but still sends the message that they lived peacefully as a trio.
- To prioritise the dramatic confrontations in the limited runtime, Song Lan's death and Xiao Xingchen's discovery about Xue Yang's deception occurred almost in succession. In the novel, A-Qing waited for Xue Yang to leave their home the morning after Song Lan's demise before informing Xiao Xingchen what had actually happened.
- An Arm and a Leg: When Xue Yang dies, he not only deals a blow to the chest but also gets his arm cut off by Lan Wangji.
- …And That Little Girl Was Me: During the Empathy flashback, Xue Yang told a story of a little boy who got humiliated and abused when running an erand for a man in exchange for candy (which he didn't even get). He didn't make it clear that it was about himself, but A-Qing and Xiao Xingchen figured it out anyways and sympathised with the situation he was in.
- Bittersweet Ending: Xue Yang dies but his body is taken away before anything can be done about it, A-Qing's soul has shattered and nothing can be done about Xiao Xingchen's either. Song Lan however regains his conscious as a fierce corpse and decides to travel around while carrying the two's souls, with the hope that they'll eventually be recovered.
- Good-Times Montage: Despite A-Qing's distrust of Xue Yang and Xue Yang's sinister attitude towards Xiao Xingchen a few episodes ago, a short montage of the trio peacefully living together shows that they eventually came to genuinely enjoy each other's company.
- Go Out with a Smile: A-Qing gives a content smile as she falls and fades away after her soul gets shattered by Xue Yang, relieved that the man has finally been stopped.
- Gray Rain of Depression: It began to rain after Xiao Xingchen took his own life, setting the mood for the bleak sequence of Xue Yang breaking down and trying to stop the bleeding.
- Heroic Sacrifice: A-Qing helps Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji defeat Xue Yang in the fog by using the sounds of her bamboo pole to guide them, at the cost of her soul being shattered by the criminal in question.
- Holding Hands: When repositioning the umbrella Lan Wangji's holding so that it evenly covers the both of them, Wei Wuxian does it by holding his hand rather than the cane itself, as a sign of affection and trust between them.
- Interrogating the Dead: The protagonists perform Empathy on A-Qing so they can see her history with Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang before she died.
- Lost in Translation: Viewers who don't know Chinese will likely be left wondering why Xiao Xingchen was unable to recognise Xue Yang's voice during the time they lived together in this adaptation. note What the official subtitles don't clarify is that Xue Yang spoke with a Sichuan accent around him, making it easier to fool him until the end.
- Only a Flesh Wound: Wei Wuxian slides his hand down the blade of Ouyang Zizhen's sword to use his blood for the Summoning of Painted Eyes. He appears to be unaffected by the cut afterward, even though this would be far more serious in real life and likely permanently damage the hand.
- Parasol of Prettiness: Downplayed. While the former beggar A-Qing wasn't of high status, the way she playfully twirled around with an umbrella highlighted her beauty as well as her cheerfulness.
- P.O.V. Cam: After the Empathy session finishes, the camera shifts to Wei Wuxian's point-of-view as he wakes up to the sound of the Clarity Bell and Jin Ling's relieved face.
- Rain of Blood: In the Empathy flashback, Xiao Xingchen's death ends with a rain of blood pouring down.
- Tsundere: Jin Ling curtly denies that he's concerned about Wei Wuxian during the Empathy session, only to then throw a worried glance in his direction. Sure enough, he looks relieved when his Clarity Bell successfully wakes the protagonists up.
- Umbrella of Togetherness: Lan Wangji shields Wei Wuxian with an umbrella while it rains in Empathy, and Wei Wuxian makes sure the umbrella evenly covers both men by adjusting the cane. As this scene follows Xue Yang's mockery of Xiao Xingchen's heroic acts hurting others and Wei Wuxian's pained reaction to it, the umbrella can be seen as symbolic for Lan Wangji being willing to support him throughout his hardships and Wei Wuxian having an equal desire to protect him.
- Walking the Earth: As a fierce corpse with his conscious regained, Song Lan decides to travel around the world to help defeat evil while carrying Xiao Xingchen and A-Qing's souls, with the intention of apologising to his friend when he eventually returns.
