What do you think?
Rate this book


344 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 25, 2026
This was quite a disappointing read. After the action-packed previous volume, this one felt like a bit of a letdown, even though it included the final battle and the main villain's defeat. The final battle itself was rather anticlimactic. Not that it was boring, but it almost felt like reading a step-by-step depiction of it, which was not suspenseful in the least. The main villain acting like a parody of a villain didn't help either.
I liked the parts about Duan Wen and Li Yun. Their story is awfully tragic, especially knowing that if not for the grandmother's toxic upbringing and values, Duan Wen could've grown up to be a decent human being, and he could've had his happy ending with Li Yun. Despite being one of the bad guys, Duan Wen was still somewhat better than the rest; he was fair in some regards, and even he despised the likes of Anthony. But sadly, he only realized his love for Li Yun too late. I found his and Li Yun's end far more tragic and sad than what happened to Xie Qingcheng. For me, Xie Qingcheng's end and the chapters showing He Yu coping with it felt more melodramatic than sad, and far too depressing to enjoy reading. In fact, the last few chapters were so depressing that I just wanted to read it as quickly as I could so I could finally end it. He Yu's reaction to Xie Qingcheng's death was on point and totally believable. What I didn't like was all the melodrama that preceded it because it made Xie Qingcheng's death more melodramatic than tragic, which is a tragedy in itself.
I liked that in his letter, Xie Qingcheng finally admitted a lot of things both to He Yu and to himself as well that he previously outright denied, even to himself. I liked that he faced many things he previously didn't want to face or didn't even bother to think about, or he reconsidered his previous viewpoint regarding certain matters and realized and admitted that he was wrong for thinking those things or thinking that way. It's very much like Xie Qingcheng, but I still hate how much he says over and over again that he owes He Yu, and that He Yu is right to be angry at him and resent him, while completely ignoring all the things He Yu had actually done to him as if they didn't happen. Honestly, He Yu owes him just as much as he owes He Yu. But by the end of this volume, both of them matured a lot. Xie Qingcheng grew to understand himself better and became better at expressing himself and his feelings, while He Yu became more selfless, wanting nothing more than for Xie Qingcheng to survive, to be alive even if he won't love him. Thus, both of them have gone a long way from the people they used to be.
I personally hate what happened to Xie Qingcheng's eyes. He was already so sick and frail; why did he have to lose his eyes, too? This was just too much. But I liked how Xie Qingcheng finally told Anthony his opinion of him and made him face his actions and realize his true feelings. Still, it came far too late, which could have prevented many bad things from happening if they had cleared up the misunderstandings earlier.
Overall, the story was interesting, but sadly not as good as the previous volume. Bonus points for being the only volume so far without a single multiple-page-long sex scene. There was a short implied one between side characters, but that's it. And I honestly don't mind it.