One thing that bugged me was the extensive info-dump about the continent’s history right in the middle of Feixue and Bing Ling’s argument. It broke the flow for me. I get that the author wants to establish the world, but it felt like a textbook section suddenly inserted. Maybe it could have been spread out more naturally through dialogue or Mo Han’s learning later. Still, the lore itself is interesting, so I’ll forgive it if the rest of the story avoids such heavy exposition.
The final scene with the wishing well and the contaminated rabbit corpse building tension is a great way to end the excerpt. The well water boiling and the power of the blast hint at something big, the cut-off leaves me desperate for more. The mystery of what happens to Bai Yi and the world keeps me hooked. The author does a great job balancing cliffhangers with satisfying progression, I can’t wait to read more.
The pacing was a bit uneven. The staircase test and suspension bridge were detailed nicely, but the final staircase felt rushed. I would have liked more description of the pressure and the challenge other characters faced before Leng's easy run.
1 The section where the protagonist crawls around and finds the father is a masterclass in subverting a typical scene. We expect a reunion or a hug. Instead, we get the father calling for someone to take the baby away, and the baby just gives a dismissive sigh. That moment—where she pats his legs to tell him not to be mad at Hanna—is simultaneously adorable and powerful. She's already more mature than the adult in the room.
The dream of the girl calling him “Brother Long Yang” and wiping that blood scratch is such a gentle, poetic moment in the middle of all this violence. She sounds like a fairy. I really hope that’s not a dead lover or a red herring. I need him to find her and get his memories back just for that one image.