AnthonyKing

The rain imagery is used really well throughout the chapter. It's drizzling when Chi An wakes up. It gets heavier as the tension builds at dinner. It's calming down when he's alone with Fu Wenxiu. The weather mirrors the emotional state of the scene. It's a classic technique but it works when done right and it's done right here.

The biggest hook is the identity of the dark room man. The text drops clues but keeps him hidden until the banquet. That reveal with the match lighting in the bathroom and later as Yan Shiyu is well-executed. I want to know more about his motives.