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"Evil? Not more evil than the Wen Clan. As long as it can kill people from the Wen Clan, I don't care if he's a monster or a demon."
— Jiang Cheng after being told about the power behind the altered exorcism talismans
The war between the Four Clans and the Wen Clan begins. The Wen Clan initially has the advantage, although they are eventually worn down by the former's willpower and growing numbers. Then to the surprise (and horror) of both, a third party joins the fray.
- Actionized Adaptation: In the novel, Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng arrived at Wen Chao's hideout with the intent of initiating an ambush... only to find almost every Wen dead and Wei Wuxian in the middle of tormenting the latter. The episode takes a more action-packed approach, with the Wens being the ones to ambush them and starting a grand battle at Chongyang.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Unlike in the novel, Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng find out from Wen Chao himself that he threw Wei Wuxian into the Burial Mounds and (presumably) killed him. The two are horrified by the news, with Lan Wangji in particular losing any composure he had left.
- Adaptational Wimp: In the novel, once Wang Lingjiao learned that things weren't looking good for the Wen Clan, she immediately started making plans to leave and was only unsuccessful as Wei Wuxian had already been trailing her. However, in this episode, she does nothing but cower until it's too late for her to try and flee.
- Adaptation Expansion: In the novel, Wei Wuxian briefly mentions Jiang Cheng reuniting with Yanli some time after the Sunshot Campaign began, which we get to see in this episode.
- Asshole Victim: Wei Wuxian gets his revenge on Wang Lingjiao for her vile actions against him and the Jiang Clan via one of the most horrific means possible — getting her devoured by corpses.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Lan Xichen and Meng Yao's brief appearances feature them fighting with their backs to one another.
- Big Damn Heroes: Wei Wuxian appears just as Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng are overwhelmed by the Wen forces and nearly killed.
- Big Damn Reunion: Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli, who haven't seen each other since the burning of Lotus Pier, are finally reunited after a long and uncertain period of separation.
- Creepy Crows: Whenever Wei Wuxian arrives at a scene, murders of crows fly in and surround the area.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Wang Lingjiao is devoured by some corpses that Wei Wuxian summons.
- Decapitation Presentation: Although not shown onscreen, the narration states Nie Mingjue hung up Wen Xu's head on display after decapitating him.
- Desecrating the Dead: During their raids on one of the Wen Clan's hideouts, Jiang Cheng kicks one of the corpses out of sheer spite.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: While in the novel Wang Lingjiao choked on a table leg, in this episode she's devoured by corpses.
- Dies Wide Open: Wang Lingjiao dies screaming with her eyes wide in fear as Wei Wuxian's fierce corpses eat her alive.
- Early-Bird Cameo: During the narration of what happened during the Sunshot Campaign, Meng Yao makes his first donghua appearance in a brief cameo fighting alongside Lan Xichen.
- Eaten Alive: Downplayed with Wang Lingjiao. Wei Wuxian sets a couple of zombified Wens on her and has her torn apart with their teeth while she was still kicking and screaming.
- Fingore: Near the end of the fight, Lan Wangji's fingertips are bleeding from over-strumming his guqin.
- Foreshadowing: After Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng converse about the altered exorcism talismans found in the Wen Clan's hideouts, in the next scene Wen Chao tells Wang Lingjiao that no vicious ghost can get past a place marked with so many exorcism talismans. Unfortunately for the woman, Wei Wuxian later alters those talismans which is what gets the place infested with corpses and leads her to her doom.
- Four Is Death: Wei Wuxian reverses the effects of an exorcism talisman by adding four strokes, which is what triggers the talismans' attraction to malicious spirits and can spell doom for anyone nearby.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The appearance of an exorcism talisman before and after it's altered with blood are briefly shown. Then upon closer inspection at the house Wang Lingjiao is in, the many talismans plastered all over the place turn out to be altered, making it easier for the viewer to predict what happens next.
- Hell Is That Noise: Wei Wuxian's flute music sounds unworldly and becomes more unsettling the longer it plays on. Everyone present tenses up while listening to it.
- Lighter and Softer: Downplayed. In the novel Wei Wuxian manipulated Wang Lingjiao into literally eating the leg of a wooden table until she choked to death. In this episode her death is less brutal and disturbing but not necessarily less violent, as she's devoured by corpses instead.
- Not So Stoic: This episode has one of the rare instances where Lan Wangji is at his most emotional, particularly when he learns about what happened to Wei Wuxian. Case in point, he raises his voice when he demands to know where the latter is, and upon finding out he screams in rage as he attempts to attack Wen Chao.
- Off with His Head!: During the Time Skip, Nie Mingjue beheaded Wen Ruohan's eldest son Wen Xu.
- Oh, Crap!: Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng look nothing short of shocked when they realize that the Wens have discovered their hideout.
- Orbital Shot: The camera pans around Jiang Cheng when he fights a group of Wen soldiers.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Despite his earlier and more sceptical views on demonic cultivation in earlier epipodes, Jiang Cheng is now open to the idea of any means being used to wipe out the Wen Clan.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Wang Lingjiao begs Wen Chao not to leave her alone at their base before he goes off to capture Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji, mainly because she's afraid that something or someone is out to get her. Her hunch turns out to be correct.
- The Power of Blood: The marks on the exorcism talismans are altered with blood so they attract evil spirits rather than repel them.
- Properly Paranoid: Wang Lingjiao was right to worry that Wei Wuxian is back to wreak bloody vengeance, even though everyone including Wen Chao assume she's worrying over nothing. Not that it keeps her alive in the end.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The first thing Wei Wuxian does after leaving the Burial Mounds is to get back at the Wens for everything they've done to him and the Jiang Clan.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Despite going along with their clan's orders up to this point, Wen Ning and Wen Qing choose to desert the battlefield after all Wen clansmen are called out to participate in the war.
- Sickly Green Glow: Once Wei Wuxian starts to reanimate the dead in Chongyang, the fire around him turns bright green in color.
- Slasher Smile: Jiang Cheng sports a menacing and vitriolic grin when saying the Wens deserve any death they get even if it's through less than ethical means.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Downplayed. Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng work well together in recruiting an army and laying siege to the various Supervisory Offices. However there is subtle tension between the two, particularly when they discuss the methods that their Anonymous Benefactor is using to kill the Wens.
- Time Skip: The episode takes place three to four months after the events of the previous episode, where the clans declared to take on the Wen Clan together.
- The Unapologetic: Even when a terrified Wang Lingjiao continuously rambles that she's not the one who pushed Wei Wuxian down into the Burial Mound, she doesn't offer any apology for being a complicit witness in every crime Wen Chao committed against him.
- Villain Ball: Although Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng are already outnumbered and overpowered, Wen Chao decides to take his time instead gloating about Wei Wuxian's fate to break their spirits even further. This gives the latter enough time to arrive at Chongyang and stall Wen Chao from killing them by reanimating the dead to settle things once and for all.
