trying to convince to read it

I forgot which arc but holy fuck was it angsty. apparently they needed jinghua's ashes for a certain mission but MANY chapters ago Jinghua personally got rid of his ashes, he dumped them out after his ashes were used go harm Xi. So... he basically had no more ties to the mortal world... but Xi gave him a tie... the spirit rings that connected them both... my heart...

MAJOR MAJOR SPOILER ALERT....



it turns out that even THAT was false because from the VERY VERY beginning, Xi never had a proper contract with Jinghua, go back to the first chapters, you'll notice that no exchanging of rings or vows are made. Xi just tells Jinghua but never shows proof of it. Obviously Jinghua is distraught but Xi, ever the altruistic good boy that he is, never wanted to bound anyone to the abusive and destructive Duanmu family rituals. Jinghua is so hurt by this betrayal but more so because he realizes that Xi is put in an even more vulnerable and unbearable position as the Duanmu family and the Entire World. He has always been a sacrifice.

When it comes to the restrictive Chinese censorship laws and danmei, BL writers have to work around and deliberately make relationships as ambiguous as possible. And sometimes it allows for gut wrenching and unique displays of love and devotion.

Xi LITERALLY broke down when it was suggested that Jinghua faded from the world. Oh my gawd, read it. I read the translations and the raws in a multi-view display on my phone.