Just made a discussion thread with the Douyin link of the extra 5 minutes episode so it won't disappear in this ever growing comment section! Enjoy folks!
I keep wondering whether he was supposed to come back for the final fight. Like this Tang Ze dude suddenly pops…
I wish they incorporated even that extra part better. Seemed like very much an afterthought even though it’s in the novel. They gave clues away that he was somehow alive in the breaking the death news scene but couldn’t cohesively return him to his friends.