Yan Nian was just a carefree nobleman in the past. He had never killed anyone. How could he attract others? Why was he able to grow so much and attract others so much in such an era?
Because of his free and noble soul.
This soul cannot exist except through words and thoughts.
He is higher than this world, and sadly, he is so aware of this fact, but because of his nobility, he decides not to compromise, not to be numb, and he decides not to tie his soul even if he is trapped in such an era.
So he never killed anyone but he still became a killing Buddha.
I like such a tangled but noble soul.
Such a contradiction must be caused by time travel. I like to watch time travel because I like to see the contradiction between modernity and ancient times. What I like about time travel is that the protagonist may succumb but still has a modern soul and is uncompromising.