chen says "alex, the guardian of the third lineage, its been two weeks since he fell asleep due to the main house's 'punishment'. he infiltrated the main house of the Zhou clan disguised as a cleaning service employee, attempting unauthorized access to confidential cdocuments and being punished for challenging the authority of the main line"
chen continues "i am... as successor of the third lineage. he completely unrelated to the intentions of the third line made a personal deviation. in advance i failed to prevent this... i feel a heavy responsibility... the reason he made such a foolish judgement it's all because of me."
xin finally looks up at chen.
chen continues "continuing rumors about jigyecheongseon." (again jigyecheongseon is the term for the head family killing off the collateral lines) "upon hearing the news that resumption of it is imminent. sleepless and trembling in fear every night... i was the appearance of a poor successor"
mind u while chen is saying all this we're getting flashbacks of chen dropping a bottle of pills and alex pushing down chen on the bed??? flashback alex says "no more than one pill at a time. you promised chen"
present chen continues "so he, to ease my pain... if i had known i would have stopped it. it's true! he had nothing but an innocent heart and rash behavior. i never once thought of encroaching upon the authority of the direct line..."
xin says "why did you come to me?"
chen looks shocked then says "a plea... with a plea to help me, xin! please! please reverse the decision of the direct line" he gets up out of his chair and kneels before xin.
he says "if it continues like this alex.."
xin then says "overturn that... how do you do it?"
chen stammers "yes? that. that... the head of the five collateral branches and the leader of the entire Zhou clan. by the authority of Zhou Aixin..."
xin says "please do it 'somehow', is that what you mean?" xin gets out of his chair and approaches chen, saying "there's something i don't understand"
"a 'direct heir' means... was it a position with such power? was 'i' a person with such power? this, does this mean it's the life i chose?"
he continues "as long as i've lived, i don't think i've ever achieved anything the way i wanted... no, until this moment today. what is my life like? things have never gone my way." BRO WHAT ARE U DOINGGGG. i mean i expected him to lwk be an ass to chen but still.
xin says "chen... easy? what do you think? what do i look like?"
chen, still kneeling, stammers out "i-i am.." xin lifts up chen's chin (try saying that 5x fast).
xin says "rest assured. alex will get up from his seat soon. soon of late... if you open the door to the hospital room where he is like this. raise your hand... and say 'hey' im welcoming you with a smile" what the fuck does any of that mean. google translate kinda sucks balls sry. pic for reference: https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437889/#image
he continues "eventually, everything will return to normal." chen shouts "really!? thank you. this grace..."
xin then interrupts him and says "no, that's a lie. alex's life has ended. he can't get out of bed forever now" BRO WHAT LMFAOO??? hes deadass ragebaiting a dude abt his bf waking up from a coma?? ts had me gagged ngl bro what was thattt im crying. pic of xin ragebaiting for reference: https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437890/#image
chen looks shocked and he starts crying. ngl he kinda reminds me of lau a bit in this ch. he says "that is... what.." he starts begging "please lord aixin, i'd rather it be me" https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437891/#image
xin interrupts him and says "would you rather punish yourself?" and then he starts laughing in his face. BRO WHAT. pic so u can see how insane ts is: https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437893/#image
xin continues laughing and says "you get along so well! an examplary guardian and heir"
xin's REALLY tweaking atp. he looks up and says "my life doesn't matter at all. to think you would protect the other person no matter what... there is definitely something like that for me too, i think there was." okay so what pissed him off was the fact that chen and alex are a much better guardian and heir than himself and lau.
xin says "go back, chen. you won't get what you want from me."
xin is pounding on a door with the head family symbol on it. he's shouting "what are you talking about!? what did you do to that kid alex!? that just wasn't me. just... i just made a slip of the tongue! there's no way i would wish for the misfortune of someone i don't even know!"
he continues shouting "jigyecheongseon? wasn't it just preserved in literature? is someone else going to get hurt? is there any way to turn alex back to normal?! why!! i can't do anything." now he's scratching at the door like a wild animal.
he continues "is everything pouring down on me? what does this all mean!! answer me, answer me!!!" he stops pounding the door, hes crying and kneeling now. "please... someone please answer..." https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437899/#image END OF CHAPTER.
so this chapter was unintentionally hilarious for me ngl. lian clocking xin last ch literally broke him and now hes tweaking.
plotwise, the most important thing this ch was the fact that chen wasnt lying to lau when he said xin laughed in his face when he begged to save alex. xin was being very cruel to chen, but later he was still trying to do something behind the scenes to save alex. i expected xin was cruel to chen given his trackrecord but i didnt know he was *this* cruel. i thought he was deliberately playing in chen's face so chen would want to kill him, all so lian would be able to get chen on board w the tattoo plan. but ig the point of season 3 so far has really been how entirely powerless xin feels. even he is entirely at lian's whims.
what i'm confused abt is when he says "i just made a slip of the tongue, isn't the jighecheongseon just in books?" bro you literally SAVED yajin and mali from the jigyecheongseon, yk damn well its a real thing. also im a bit confused by what he means "i just made a slip of the tongue" cuz i don't think he's said to have the jigyecheongseon go underway yet? at least not on screen? he might've said it to lian after last chapter idk.
the other interesting thing is that xin is very bitter abt the failed guardianship btwn him and lau. he says "to sacrifice yourself for the other no matter what, i have something like that too, i had it once" i think he's referring to the time before him and lau were actually guardian and heir, when he lied to lau about miu's dead body. i think the fact that chen was willing to sacrifice himself for alex was what rly broke him this ch and also part of the reason why he acted even crueler.
the part that really gagged me this ch tho was the fact that xin is seemingly bitter abt chen ignoring him in hs??? lol i js think thats funny. idk if xin is just putting up a front cuz he doesn't want to talk to chen anymore but either way thats petty asf lmfaooooo.
overall, unintentionally hilarious chapter. idk abt the general quality of it, its not as good as last ch obviously, and i think the author maybe went a little overboard w xin's tweaking and laughing but i hope that it was just a one time thing.
still it progressed the plot quite well, and i think the only thing left between this flashback and the current timeline is lian, wei and xin conspiring abt the tattoo plan. im very curious about how much xin even had a say in that. from the looks of it, the tattoo plan is actually a way of xin getting the succession ritual and jigyecheongseon done in one go, but it seems that the tattoo plan is actually a much less violent version of the jigyecheongseon. through this plan, the head family and lian are able to gain control of all the artifacts used in the yearly ritual, thereby eliminating the collateral lines' power, and im assuming kinda making them not a part of the zhou family anymore. basically this is their way of getting the collateral lines out of the head family's way without having to kill them off, as was the original jigyecheongseon plan.
the part which we still don't have much info about is the new ritual that xin is a part of. is he the sacrifice instead of the turtle now? but at the same time, the head family is very clearly on board with this whole plan, and i really can't imagine they're willing to let go of their living idol.
i'm also still very curious about the meaning of the tattoo, considering how it is very clearly saying that the killing of the 2nd collateral line is what has lead to the zhou family's ruin in the present. what is the purpose of this ritual? i'm assuming it's the succession ritual that lian mentioned xin has to do, but i don't think any other heir has ever had to do something like this before. the story seems to be getting a lot clearer now, and im guessing the succession ritual itself is going to be the climax of the story.
CHAPTER 84 SUMMARY/SPOILERS
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lian's words are echoing from earlier "instinct... sit still in the annex... selfish... do you live the way you want to live?"
theres a teapot being poured. xin says "like now? what are you talking about."
turns out, xins having tea with chen. chen seems flustered and says "yes, well that, so what i mean is..."
the camera pans to xin looking like this LMFAO. doing his best L cosplay:
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437881/
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437883/#image
chen says "alex, the guardian of the third lineage, its been two weeks since he fell asleep due to the main house's 'punishment'. he infiltrated the main house of the Zhou clan disguised as a cleaning service employee, attempting unauthorized access to confidential cdocuments and being punished for challenging the authority of the main line"
chen continues "i am... as successor of the third lineage. he completely unrelated to the intentions of the third line made a personal deviation. in advance i failed to prevent this... i feel a heavy responsibility... the reason he made such a foolish judgement it's all because of me."
xin finally looks up at chen.
chen continues "continuing rumors about jigyecheongseon." (again jigyecheongseon is the term for the head family killing off the collateral lines) "upon hearing the news that resumption of it is imminent. sleepless and trembling in fear every night... i was the appearance of a poor successor"
mind u while chen is saying all this we're getting flashbacks of chen dropping a bottle of pills and alex pushing down chen on the bed??? flashback alex says "no more than one pill at a time. you promised chen"
chen looks delirious and says "but, now i can't sleep without medicine."
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437885/#image
present chen continues "so he, to ease my pain... if i had known i would have stopped it. it's true! he had nothing but an innocent heart and rash behavior. i never once thought of encroaching upon the authority of the direct line..."
xin says "why did you come to me?"
chen looks shocked then says "a plea... with a plea to help me, xin! please! please reverse the decision of the direct line" he gets up out of his chair and kneels before xin.
he says "if it continues like this alex.."
xin then says "overturn that... how do you do it?"
chen stammers "yes? that. that... the head of the five collateral branches and the leader of the entire Zhou clan. by the authority of Zhou Aixin..."
xin says "please do it 'somehow', is that what you mean?" xin gets out of his chair and approaches chen, saying "there's something i don't understand"
"a 'direct heir' means... was it a position with such power? was 'i' a person with such power? this, does this mean it's the life i chose?"
"is that how it happens?" he's face to face w chen now and ngl hes tweaking asf, and lwk giving lian:
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437886/#image
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437887/#image
he continues "as long as i've lived, i don't think i've ever achieved anything the way i wanted... no, until this moment today. what is my life like? things have never gone my way." BRO WHAT ARE U DOINGGGG. i mean i expected him to lwk be an ass to chen but still.
xin says "chen... easy? what do you think? what do i look like?"
chen, still kneeling, stammers out "i-i am.." xin lifts up chen's chin (try saying that 5x fast).
xin says "rest assured. alex will get up from his seat soon. soon of late... if you open the door to the hospital room where he is like this. raise your hand... and say 'hey' im welcoming you with a smile" what the fuck does any of that mean. google translate kinda sucks balls sry. pic for reference: https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437889/#image
he continues "eventually, everything will return to normal."
chen shouts "really!? thank you. this grace..."
xin then interrupts him and says "no, that's a lie. alex's life has ended. he can't get out of bed forever now" BRO WHAT LMFAOO??? hes deadass ragebaiting a dude abt his bf waking up from a coma?? ts had me gagged ngl bro what was thattt im crying. pic of xin ragebaiting for reference: https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437890/#image
chen looks shocked and he starts crying. ngl he kinda reminds me of lau a bit in this ch. he says "that is... what.." he starts begging "please lord aixin, i'd rather it be me"
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437891/#image
xin interrupts him and says "would you rather punish yourself?" and then he starts laughing in his face. BRO WHAT. pic so u can see how insane ts is:
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437893/#image
xin continues laughing and says "you get along so well! an examplary guardian and heir"
xin's REALLY tweaking atp. he looks up and says "my life doesn't matter at all. to think you would protect the other person no matter what... there is definitely something like that for me too, i think there was." okay so what pissed him off was the fact that chen and alex are a much better guardian and heir than himself and lau.
xin says "go back, chen. you won't get what you want from me."
chen says " well.. why.. how come.." xin responds "well, why... what would be better? okay..." cue this ominous ass face: https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437928/#image
xin says "you. when i was in school you never once greeted me." and then he starts laughing like a maniac. BRO WHAT ARE U DOING OMGGG. this dude petty asf. also, ik this is probably when he decided he was going to kill xin, but chen's reaction is pretty hilarious: https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437897/#image
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437898/#image
xin is pounding on a door with the head family symbol on it. he's shouting "what are you talking about!? what did you do to that kid alex!? that just wasn't me. just... i just made a slip of the tongue! there's no way i would wish for the misfortune of someone i don't even know!"
he continues shouting "jigyecheongseon? wasn't it just preserved in literature? is someone else going to get hurt? is there any way to turn alex back to normal?! why!! i can't do anything." now he's scratching at the door like a wild animal.
he continues "is everything pouring down on me? what does this all mean!! answer me, answer me!!!" he stops pounding the door, hes crying and kneeling now. "please... someone please answer..." https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437899/#image
END OF CHAPTER.
so this chapter was unintentionally hilarious for me ngl. lian clocking xin last ch literally broke him and now hes tweaking.
plotwise, the most important thing this ch was the fact that chen wasnt lying to lau when he said xin laughed in his face when he begged to save alex. xin was being very cruel to chen, but later he was still trying to do something behind the scenes to save alex. i expected xin was cruel to chen given his trackrecord but i didnt know he was *this* cruel. i thought he was deliberately playing in chen's face so chen would want to kill him, all so lian would be able to get chen on board w the tattoo plan. but ig the point of season 3 so far has really been how entirely powerless xin feels. even he is entirely at lian's whims.
what i'm confused abt is when he says "i just made a slip of the tongue, isn't the jighecheongseon just in books?" bro you literally SAVED yajin and mali from the jigyecheongseon, yk damn well its a real thing. also im a bit confused by what he means "i just made a slip of the tongue" cuz i don't think he's said to have the jigyecheongseon go underway yet? at least not on screen? he might've said it to lian after last chapter idk.
the other interesting thing is that xin is very bitter abt the failed guardianship btwn him and lau. he says "to sacrifice yourself for the other no matter what, i have something like that too, i had it once" i think he's referring to the time before him and lau were actually guardian and heir, when he lied to lau about miu's dead body. i think the fact that chen was willing to sacrifice himself for alex was what rly broke him this ch and also part of the reason why he acted even crueler.
the part that really gagged me this ch tho was the fact that xin is seemingly bitter abt chen ignoring him in hs??? lol i js think thats funny. idk if xin is just putting up a front cuz he doesn't want to talk to chen anymore but either way thats petty asf lmfaooooo.
overall, unintentionally hilarious chapter. idk abt the general quality of it, its not as good as last ch obviously, and i think the author maybe went a little overboard w xin's tweaking and laughing but i hope that it was just a one time thing.
still it progressed the plot quite well, and i think the only thing left between this flashback and the current timeline is lian, wei and xin conspiring abt the tattoo plan. im very curious about how much xin even had a say in that. from the looks of it, the tattoo plan is actually a way of xin getting the succession ritual and jigyecheongseon done in one go, but it seems that the tattoo plan is actually a much less violent version of the jigyecheongseon. through this plan, the head family and lian are able to gain control of all the artifacts used in the yearly ritual, thereby eliminating the collateral lines' power, and im assuming kinda making them not a part of the zhou family anymore. basically this is their way of getting the collateral lines out of the head family's way without having to kill them off, as was the original jigyecheongseon plan.
the part which we still don't have much info about is the new ritual that xin is a part of. is he the sacrifice instead of the turtle now? but at the same time, the head family is very clearly on board with this whole plan, and i really can't imagine they're willing to let go of their living idol.
i'm also still very curious about the meaning of the tattoo, considering how it is very clearly saying that the killing of the 2nd collateral line is what has lead to the zhou family's ruin in the present. what is the purpose of this ritual? i'm assuming it's the succession ritual that lian mentioned xin has to do, but i don't think any other heir has ever had to do something like this before. the story seems to be getting a lot clearer now, and im guessing the succession ritual itself is going to be the climax of the story.
my fav panels this ch are probably these two:
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437893/#image
https://www.mangago.me/home/photo/60437899/#image
the framing and everything is really nice, and i like how animated xin is, esp in the panel where hes laughing.