PeachBlossomGoddess

Thanks for the helpful color. I didn't watch any of those but I like FSF's acting, esp in more mature roles these past few years. I share your views on Gulnezer and she is the main reason I hesitate.

Jiao Feng is airing from Sunday. It is led by Wang Kai. It won't finish airing in time for me to watch it but its something you can consider.

Xin Zhilei's Zhang Yulao is one of a kind!

Unsettled Case has great China reviews and high Douban score. If you want to you should go ahead and watch Narcotic Operation, don’t wait for me. My folks will be in town with me the rest of the year when I get back. When they are here they get to decide what we are watching. Knowing my mom it will probably be something like The Lead. 😅

Thanks. Maybe look for Narcotic Operation and Unsettled Case? They are all contemporary though. Bai Yu made a Chinese Sherlock Holmes one set in Republican a few years ago Detective L that was pretty good.

I believe The Narcotics Operation, Unsettled Cases, The Light to the Night and The Light of Dawn were all well received. Check them out and see if any appeal. Unfortunately I am not a good watch partner at the moment as I have a lot of work and personal stuff to wrap up before I leave on vacation in about 2 weeks. Not to mention my niece is leaving for college in the US in less than a week. I am just looking for a casual watch if I do have spare time that I won't mind dropping if I don't get around to completing. Putting off anything I really want to watch until early/mid October when I get back.

Tyvm - I haven't watched either Cases Between Us or Mystic Nine. I am not a fan of the entire Mystic Nine genre - I watched one or two of them and decided no more. There are lots of investigative dramas in the last 2 years that got better ratings than Cases Between Us that I didn't have time to watch so I decided to skip that one.

Thank you for your kind words. It was fun chatting with you and yes indeed, hope to meet again on the threads for future dramas.

If you liked this I think you can check out Fearless Blood. Another excellent Xu Bing wuxia - this time set in Republican era. Explores very similar themes.

I just rewatched some parts. I think you are right, Bancha talked about the other guardians as if they were still alive. I just found it very strange that 16 of them just stayed at Wusuhai leaving Bana at Lieyang Well and Bancha to go back and forth? Not to mention Bana named his son 17. It just gave me a strong feeling that the other 16 were dead. And then of course Bancha told Luyao Wusuhai is like heaven - I always think heaven is for dead people.

And then there is the bit about Minghai 冥海/Nether Sea - in Chinese fantasy that is a nebulous realm between that of the living and the dead. Even Tang Zheng hesitated to cross Minghai. I do think there is room for interpretation that Luyao really did wake up and go on to live in Wusuhai. But I don't think that is the case bc after Pu Ying slides down the sand, we see the gold bars are a mirage and all that is ahead is the desert stretching on endlessly. Even the oasis Wusuhai disappears. It was all a mirage.

Finally - I was tired and missed this but Tang Zheng told Bancha that Luyao had died and was going to be buried at Wusuhai. Tang Zheng planned to intercept and cremate her and eat her ashes for all the poison medicine he had steeped her in all those years. That's what enraged Bancha into turning back and going for him. The only part I can't square is the kid was there - but then something tells me just like Pu Ying was escorting Luyao to her final destination, Bancha could have been taking Seventeen back to Wusuhai to be buried as well. And the Qin Demons - they were not after the gold but were also infatuated with Luyao and sending her off. Its an interpretive ending, one of the better done ones.

Is this any good? And for those of you who know me - will I like this? Trying to decide between this and Sharp Turns.

Yes I agree with that - Luyao was quite indifferent as to whether she came out of that alive. Nonetheless I didn't really think she had an endgame other than to get everyone killed dead. Which just doesn't seem like HER either. She rocked the screen when she first appeared and then seemed to go out with a whimper.

I need to go back and rewatch as it was late last night and I just wanted to go to sleep. But I can't help but feel Luyao died on the way to Wusuhai. Didn't Bancha tell her it is the best place to be buried? Also Bancha seemed to suggest in earlier episodes that he and Bana are the only remaining surviving guardians. So idk how all 16 of them popped up again unless it is an illusion or they are ghosts. Ep 12 felt like the finale to me while ep 13 seemed to be a pointless digression and oddly disconnected with the plot. I think the ending is very ambiguous. When Luyao opened her eyes after passing Tang Zheng, I think she literally crossed over to the other world Wusuhai. And it seems from the gold beneath the rolling sands all Pu Ying sees is a mirage. Ironically Bancha died to set her free from her husband and thus ends up joining her in Wusuhai.

Idk - Puying just seemed so cluelessly righteous he annoyed me no end and then it just lost me when Luyao started to fight with Pu Ying. I never understood what her plan was to wander into the General's mansion like that and I don't see how the crazy grass helped her. She is already weak so making Ha go berserk on her just didn't seem to me on any level smart. Not to mention its pretty hard to get a coherent confession from someone who hallucinating zombies. I think I also just don't like Pu Ying and I wish they stuck to the original IP and they killed him off instead of Xiao Fang.

I need to think about all the specific reasons why but ep 12 I just hate. I mean to the point I am unable to continue.

That's the fantasy element of this wuxia...😅

Yeah me too. I think he let her "escape" so that he could follow her to the gold. But I also think she lured him there. And I suspect she means to do something to the grass she cut a piece with to kill him. I am just surprised he seems to have come after her alone.

So do we think her hubby is after her or after the gold?

I think you will really like Remnants of Gold but you need to subscribe to Tencent for it.

You could try Swords into Plowshares - it should be on Hunan TV ‘s YouTube channel.
Or Zhan Zhao adventures is on Disney+.

They sound close enough to fool me but I am not familiar enough with any of those dialects to be able to tell if they are spoken authentically . To be honest I find it a bit annoying and unnecessary. I have to have Chinese subtitles on bc I can only understand some not all the words and for such nice cinematography I would prefer to have no subtitles on my screen. I understand the point the director is trying to make but it doesn’t add that much value to the story. It’s also a bit odd bc it’s set in the Gansu and it is not as if all the locals are speaking in NW dialect.

They were joyless together.😅