It's not a cool novel, it's not a sad novel, and the pace is slow. A deformed emotion, a lifelong soul bond. A self-destructive revenge.
Protagonist: Murong Chong. A victim whose personality has been completely destroyed and reshaped by systemic violence (Fu Jian). His tragedy is not about revenge, but that the only way he can get revenge is to internalize the logic of the perpetrator and become a more extreme perpetrator. He tried to "go home", but ended up burning the entity and concept of "home".
Themes: the transmission of trauma, the corruption of power, the weight of history, and the failure of self-actualization. This is not a history of a hero's growth, but a report on a failed experiment of depersonalization and reconstruction.
Tone: cold, lean and tough. It does not romanticize war and intrigue. It is a psychological novel about historical figures, similar to "Chess" or "Lover". Reading requires enough patience.
