"A-Qiao, pray for yourself."
— Yan Wushi
The world seems to be determined in teaching Shen Qiao the true meaning of despair.
Warning: Spoilers Off applies to these pages. Proceed at your own risk.
open/close all folders
Xuandu Mountain
- If Shen Qiao slowly coming to terms with the fact that his own shidi betrayed him for ambition isn't bad enough, the donghua decides to take things further. Once the entire truth completely sinks in, Shen Qiao takes one last look at the scenery of Xuandu Mountain before kowtowing to Qi Fengge's statue and apologizing. It's obvious that he feels that he has failed his sect and as such he doesn't deserve to be a part of it anymore. This weighs on him hard, and hard enough for him to ask Yan Wushi to get him away from the place.
Bailong Temple
- Chapter 45 is widely considered to be the biggest gut-punch of them all for a very good reason. In this chapter, Yan Wushi betrays Shen Qiao. And he does so with no remorse whatsoever, with the audio drama having each and every hurtful word he utters drip with both cold apathy and sharp sadism in equal measure.Yan Wushi: A-Qiao, do you still think of me as your friend? You... are really too naive. When others treat you with such cruelty, how could you possibly just turn away and forget it? I had said this to you early on, that I had only saved you because I wanted an opponent. But you have really disappointed me. I give you the slightest kindness, and you cling so tightly to it. Perhaps it was because Yu Ai and everyone else had betrayed you that you had become so desperate for any semblance of friendship? People like you are not destined to live for very long. When you left Xuandu Mountain, you became nothing. You could accomplish nothing.
Shen Qiao: [calmly] The reason why I have been betrayed time and time again was not because of my naivete, but because I believed in the goodness of this world. If this world did not have idiots like me, from where would Yan-zongzhu find pleasure?
Yan Wushi: [laughs coldly] What an interesting thing to say! But I don't need friends. I only need someone who is qualified to stand on equal footing with me, who can be my opponent. And you... have lost that qualification.- It gets even worse when the extra reveals that Yan Wushi's main motive for betraying Shen Qiao was not disappointment or fear of getting too attached, but mainly because he wanted to see what could happen. The same extra also reveals that despite Yan Wushi telling Shen Qiao that he didn't regret what he did even if his feelings for him have changed now, deep down Yan Wushi actually did feel some remorse for double-crossing Shen Qiao. This hints that even before they properly fell in love with each other, Yan Wushi had already began to treasure Shen Qiao as more than an asset or an experiment, but his cynicism towards virtue and humanity reared its ugly head the second Shen Qiao expressed that he saw him as a friend.
Bixia Sect Massacre
- Although Fan Yuanbai is a newcomer to the narrative, it's hard not to empathize with his horror and grief as he finds so many of his fellow disciples slain in Ruan Hailou's coup.
- Ruan Hailou, the mastermind behind the attack on Bixia sect, is revealed to have been framed by Hui Leshan, his most trusted martial brother, to secure the title of sect leader. While justified in his anger, Ruan Hailou's Roaring Rampage of Revenge resulted in countless innocent Bixia sect disciples dying in the conflict, with only six of them left when the dust settles.
- Worse still, Ruan Hailou's shock and subsequent breakdown over Hui Leshan's death suggests that deep down, his relationship with his martial brother still means a lot to him, enough that he ends up committing suicide by throwing himself off a cliff, holding Hui Leshan's memorial tablet as he goes.
Refuge in Tuyuhun
- It's obvious that it's not the original Yan Wushi who's speaking, even though it's never confirmed which of his split personalities is talking to Shen Qiao. But in spite of what Yan Wushi had done to the other man, it's hard not to feel sorry for him when he, in a state where both his mind and soul are in complete disarray, weakly begs Shen Qiao over and over to not leave his side. Shen Qiao could even see the fear and vulnerability in Yan Wushi's eyes when the latter thought that he was going to walk away. And this is Yan Wushi we're talking about.
- Despite Yu Ai evidently still caring deeply about Shen Qiao as his martial brother, his stubborn refusal to stop his plans with Xuandushan and the Tujue finally leads to Shen Qiao publicly cutting ties with him and renouncing Yu Ai's position as one of Qi Fengge's disciples. Yu Ai can do nothing but silently leaving the scene, knowing that his relationship with his most beloved martial brother is beyond remedy.
Heading to Weizhou
- When Yan Wushi confirms to Shen Qiao that his core has healed enough and as such, neither Xie Ling nor A-Yan will surface ever again, Shen Qiao's reaction is silent. However, Yan Wushi quickly notices that Shen Qiao is shedding tears and is mourning their "deaths", even if they — especially Xie Ling — are no more but fragments of Yan Wushi's personality.Yan Wushi: You're crying, just like that? Xie Ling is but the fragment of a soul. You couldn't even call him a person.Shen Qiao: Perhaps to you, he is nothing more but the fragment of a soul. But to me, he was someone that had once existed.
Visiting the Bixia Sect
- Although the entire context behind the scene is mostly hilarious, one might feel sad for Shen Qiao when he lets some of his frustrations show and asks Yan Wushi upfront why he keeps on deliberately driving him up the wall in spite of telling him before that he doesn't seek friends nor that he sees Shen Qiao as worthy to be his friend, his rival, or anything else on the same level as him. At this point, he still thinks that Yan Wushi sees him as nothing more than a toy that he messes with purely for self-amusement but will soon discard once he's had his fun. One can't blame Shen Qiao for believing that, especially since that once was the case.
Battle at Banbu Peak
- The night before Yan Wushi's duel with Hulugu, Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi exchange a few drinks. Once Shen Qiao is drunk enough, he suddenly starts shedding tears, and both of them know why: neither are certain if Yan Wushi would come back alive, and Shen Qiao is afraid of losing him even if he still has yet to reconcile with the reason why. The moment becomes more bittersweet when Yan Wushi consoles Shen Qiao with an embrace.
- While the novel does end on a happy note, it's hard not to shed tears for Shen Qiao when he thought for a moment that Yan Wushi is well and truly dead, since it's only then that he fully realizes just how much Yan Wushi has come to mean to him. The audio drama makes it even more painful thanks to Xia Lei's performance letting the audience feel the full brunt of Shen Qiao's sorrow, up from when he panics at seeing Yan Wushi's bloodied state, to frantically trying to heal his wounds, and to when he breaks down in tears and begs Yan Wushi to wake up.
