RedBear

No, he did like her romantically. The earring scene in the snow in the starting, and his expression during their wedding night when she asks him if he never once liked her, are the proof.

Yes, I’m afraid this will turn out to be like The Rise of Ning where they dragged the “sibling” arc for too long and the fl completely believed that the ml was her brother; she even tried setting him up with different girls. And when the truth came out, the transformation felt so forced, she suddenly fell deeply in love with him in the next scene itself. Ngl, their “couple” relationship felt so awkward, and I just couldn’t accept it naturally. Hope that doesn’t happen here.

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In the middle of ep7 and holy crap!! I can’t believe Xianjun is the one who set them up!! The ml and fl helped her when she was about to get r*p*d by those bandits, how can she do this to him??!! She did seem a little sus from the start. When they first introduced her, she was being a little prideful when she gave money to the leads for saving her and walked away cockily, but I thought maybe she is like that because she is from an affluent family. Well, turns out your intuition is always right. And her audacity to blame everyone else! Sorry girl, your sob story (which actually doesn’t exist at all) doesn’t justify your actions. I feel sad for her mother to have a daughter like her.

Ep5:

“Brother, go about your business. Mr. Song teaches me very well.”

LOL!! Serves him right. He had so many chances earlier but never took any. Too late bro, you shouldn’t have avoided her earlier. Well, he at least took the initiative to teach her now. But I don’t know, the fl completely believes him to be her brother now, even I’m starting to see them more as siblings. She will probably find it very hard to accept the truth later, and I would definitely feel awkward when they start being a couple later. They shouldn’t continue with this siblings arc for too long IMO.

He has fallen for her long back. He was in love with her even when he disagreed for their marriage. He said that he didn't want to marry her because he doesn't want her to be in danger due to his mission.

Exactly because he has decided to be her "brother", he should stop avoiding her, or else it would give wrong impression to everyone, including her.

Ep4:

I'm finding this "fix Ms. Arrogant " arc to be boring. I like it when the fl is bold, but I don't like it when they think that they can "fix" everything. They aren't omnipotent. Though I understand that Ms. Arrogant has some grievance against her dad's actions (she probably is against the marriage which her dad fixed for her, for his status upgrade), she doesn't get a free pass to hurt people and throw her weight around. I hope they stick to the initial storyline going forward without adding these fillers.

I don't understand why the ml is still pushing away the fl. Maybe when she had a family and was living a normal life, his reasons to not put her life in danger made sense, but not now. She lost her entire family overnight and is being chased by those killers. She IS in danger, probably more so than him. So why does he keep pushing her away even now? The 2ml is an eye candy and treats her better than him. So, if the ml doesn't change his attitude now, it'll be too late when the fl falls for the 2ml.

At the starting of ep3, and LMAO!! The way the fl directly aimed at the rear end of the rapist bandit🤣🤣!! Idiot got his a** burnt🤣🤣!! And the detailed embroidery on that new guy's gown. As I said earlier, the costumes are amazing!!

Ep1:

The storyline is pretty interesting. I'm liking the fl's character. The ml is being a d*ck towards her, and I hope he doesn't remain that way for too long. I'm liking the actor though. Their wedding costumes and that wedding room though! They're so beautiful. I guess it's the camera work, but I love the vibrant red and golden hues throughout the room. I really liked their styling here. Though not as extravagant as others, but the fabrics look pretty rich in quality. Hope the story doesn't get flat midway.

Ep 35 & 36:

I'm super pissed right now, so I'll not bother filtering my thoughts. These 2 episodes are an absolute waste of time; this should've ended at 34. If they really wanted to drag it for 2 more episodes with that ridiculous plotline, they should've rather dedicated that time for explaining important stuff like the ml's past in his demon tribe and the relationship between him and his demon brother. They showed that they have "great brotherhood" between them, but I couldn't connect to it at all, as there were no flashback scenes at all between them. I thought they would dedicate at least half an episode to show his past.

Also, are they not going to tell us WHY that uncle guy hates demons so much?? He said that his family was destroyed by demons, but nothing beyond that. Are they not going to tell us his backstory?? Are we supposed to just accept his irrational hatred towards the demons without any back story?? I'm sure they did film it, but because they spent so much time on unnecessary stuff like ep35 & 36, they had to edit it out due to lack of time.

I can't even call that ending an open ending, it's just a bizarre ending. Felt like the writers had some fetish for depression, so they made those 2 episodes just depressing all the way! Way to sabotage a good drama and spoil so many people's hard work. The cinematography and CGI were amazing, but the editing and writing just negated all the good stuff. I wonder what the novel ending actually was, coz I heard that it was a happy ending.

Ep33:

I hate how they are cutting off so many important parts because they feel rushed now. They wasted so much time in the first 10 episodes taking the plot so slow, and now they feel rushed for time. I so wanted to watch the scenes where XY remembers his past and comes to terms with it, but they didn't show any of those scenes. They are just jumping scenes and it's getting hard for me to follow the story.

You're welcome :)
"At first I thought she also kinda developed feelings for him & wanted him to die with her" - LOL🤣

Yes, given Chilian's nature, he wouldn't waste his time plotting revenge against her. He has better things to do. It also felt like it was his last act of pity on her. He loved her, so in a way, it was his way of getting closure for his love.

Chilian didn’t pretend to be XX, it was XX herself who spoke to XY. At first even I was confused and thought that maybe it was Chilian pretending to be XX or maybe XX was lying that Chilian was dead to protect him. But the next scene with Chilian leaving on his horse confirmed that it was indeed XX who poisoned Chilian with that wine. I think that the wine is supposed to kill only snakes and not humans, so she drank it. But Chilian followed Buddha’s teachings very strictly and gained lots of good karma, so his level of enlightment was higher than that of an ordinary demon. So, he managed to live but lost a lot of his cultivation and sustained internal injuries.

Even I don’t understand why she felt the need to kill him. XY told that she did it to assume Chilian’s identity completely, but I don’t understand why she needs to kill him for that. She could’ve simply left to the capital and pursued her dream by assuming his identity. It’s not like Chilian would ever get himself into spotlight or even go to the capital, so even if she didn’t kill him, she could easily live with his identity for the rest of her life.

In the middle of ep29, and wtf??? Xingxian actually tried to kill the snake demon! Does she not have a shed of humanity left in her? She tried to kill the one who saved her life. What exactly is she??? I thought she at least felt grateful towards him and would leave him without harming him, but wow! This pisses me off so much!!

He would still abuse her, I guess. And probably get his family also to blame her for his disability calling her a jinx. Killing him was the best solution.

Ep28:
Your typical neighbour ajhumma who just can't stop poking her nose in people's private business. These people are so real it pisses me off every time I see one. Their audacity to feel the need to tell you when and with whom you should have s*x and make babies!

I found the ML a bit annoying today, but I'm glad that he didn't kill the snake demon. He seems a bit biased against demons, and I disagree with him this time. He said not to fight evil with more evil, but did anyone actually try to rescue the victim and report the evil to the authorities? Are there even proper laws in place to protect the weak from the evil? Husbands abusing wives was so f**king normalized back then, and heck, even now in a few countries! Though there are laws in place against domestic violence, not many people use them effectively, at least in Asian countries.

So, the TED talks that the ML gave to the Snake demon, work only when the "right" ways of fighting evil are actually in place and working efficiently. There are certain situations where you unfortunately have to take things into your own hands, when there is no help available, and Xingxian's situation was one such.

Though I understand Xingxian's emotions and empathize with her pain, I think that she is going overboard with her ambition. She got a taste of freedom and power, which she could never achieve previously while she was in a woman's body. She saw that by being in a man's body, people actually respect her. She is enjoying all the attention she is getting through her work. She also realized that she could stand up to jerks, and they actually take her seriously unlike before, because they see her as a man. Not necessarily a bad thing to enjoy attention and power, but I feel that she is over-doing it. I'm afraid she will ultimately cause trouble, and the Snake Demon will end up paying the price for it. I so hope that doesn't happen, because I like him. He is so pure and loyal, just like the cat demon.

In the middle of ep13, and her brother is continuing to piss me off, he's a dead weight. Yes, I understand that you lost the love of your life (who lived feeding off of other people's throats including kids btw), now will you please stop being a burden to everyone else?

That inn is enchanting!! I love it. I wonder if it's a real working resort or something. I'd love to visit there someday if it's real. I'm loving this cat demon arc, it's so much more interesting than the previous ones, and I'm finally starting to enjoy this series fully. I'm loving the calm enchanting vibes this series gives off sometimes. Like the mountain spirits in the starting, and now this inn. It feels like I'm watching a Japanese Iyashikei anime. Speaking of mountain spirits, I wonder if that drink the mountain spirit gave the fl in the starting, is what's helping her to see the bird spirit, which even the ml wasn't able to see.

For anyone else who is also struggling to continue with this series in the starting episodes due to its very slow pacing and bland lead characters, watch till ep10. It starts picking up pace and gets a lot more interesting. The leads also slowly shed off their one-dimensional personality and start showing depth.

In the middle of ep9 and her brother is getting on my nerves. He is so selfish and hypocritical. He says that he didn't like it when his dad told him that for two people to be together, they should match in social status. He says that for two people to be together, the most important thing is that they should love each other. Then why did he force her in the starting to get married to someone she doesn't love? Why does he call her "unfilial" for leaving their home in search of her father? She was visibly upset when being forced into getting married back then, but he used his "brother" authority to shut her up. Now again he came to force her to go back home with him, as he thinks that she is being "unfilial".

So, a girl should be "obedient" and follow customs, and she becomes "unfilial" if she doesn't, but a "man" doesn't have to? Why is he not showing the same empathy and understanding to her which he is showing to himself and his wife? I want to feel bad for him as everyone was against his marriage, but I just can't because he is so selfish and hypocritical. He cares only about himself.

As I said, I do like the mystery part, that's why I'm continuing to watch. But the leads... they're just bland. Maybe they'll change later, but as for now, I'm not liking them.

No, I'm not talking about tension, I'm talking about individual characters. The leads don't have emotional depth as compared to the rest of the cast; they are just bland as characters. They aren't portraying a range of emotions, just being serious throughout the show. The mirror demon and the dancer, though appeared for last couple of episodes, displayed so much variation and depth in their characters. But the leads are just.... the ml is always serious, the fl is always scared...

About the ptsd scenes, I'm talking from a drama viewer point of view, not about real-life scenarios. She can be scared, but they don't have to take up 2 or 3 whole episodes just to show that she is scared. They could've wrapped up her fear in half an episode, but they dragged it for so long, over-dramatizing it. There are many other dramas with similar concept - mirror demon, water demon and so on, and the characters there are scared too, but those dramas don't over-dramatize the fear or waste so much time on just 1 demon.

I'll have to disagree with the openness point though. Fl is open to ml, but the ml is not open to her at all. He hides a lot of secrets from her and gets angry at her at every point literally for no reason. He comes off borderline controlling; with the way he controls conversations between them, getting angry at her, every time she tries to get closer to him.