MC kills his stepmother and ML kills the stepbrother.

They just have s*x. CONSTANTLY. In ML's house and courtyard, in a cave and in MC's place at his grandparents' mountain, with people outside their window/door. During the morning, day, afternoon, evening, night.

At one point MC gets attacked and almost dies, and what does he do immediately after being saved by ML? Of course he wants to have sex! And nevermind that throughout the novel it was said quite a few times that what he fears the most is dying. Guess the desire for s*x is greater than the fear of dying.

And literally the next day ML breaks off their engagement. Then you read a few chapters where poor little meow meow ML is just so sad and suffering so much because of the break-up QvQ. Maybe you shouldn't have broken up with your lover then? And of course MC is the one who cracks first and comes to him.

it starts off as an unabashed romance. idk if it's the translation but there's a flow to the narration that feels like the sway of flower blossoms along a breeze, softly guiding readers to keep watching the budding relationship bet. our two youngsters, xue huai (mc) and yun cuo (ml).

the two people clearly have lingering feelings for each other, but due to misunderstandings in their past life, MC is unwilling to get close to ml. and yet, he can't seem to completely get rid of this young man. his past life comes to haunt him, details that he hadn't noticed before are slowly being unraveled like pushing off the wool that had been put over his eyes.

his stepmother and stepbrother could've caused his and his father's death and the huge gap that made him and ML drift apart later on. the ML might've loved him this whole time, but the MC continues with his life despite this. he aims to cultivate properly so that he can protect his family; he wants to inherit his family's business and the ML is the same. he wants to learn medicine instead, wanting to heal. he is bolder in pursuing the MC and stops hiding how he truly feels for him, a mistake that he'd made in his youth.

the MC and ML eventually get back together. they have their fights, but what really grabs you is the war. finally having the mystery person after our little immortal's life gradually be revealed, and the closer we get to the two's marriage, the more interesting the novel becomes.

so you couldn't imagine my disappointment when the villain was finally revealed and that the story didn't even end at their marriage!

MC is clever. while he is cautious and careful, he isn't a pushover and knows to strike first against those who wronged him. throughout the story, he grows from wanting to avoid people to taking action against those who are hostile to him and.. being kinder to the ML (even if reluctantly or more subconsciously than on purpose). I like him. he has a strong character. despite only being about 26 years old, his mind is very clear, but he also doesn't claim to be perfect.

ML is.. adorable. he's a refreshing love interest. he genuinely wants the MC to be happy while longing for him. I admit, he's childish but it's usually in endearing way. at first, he doesn't outright say that he wants to be with the MC, but it doesn't take very long until he comes clean about his feelings. like the MC, he has a character that keeps moving forward.

what I like about the main couple is how they don't stay where they are. they stay true to the traits assigned to their characters in writing and have actions that align with that rather than a rigid way of behaving. they always react to their environment so I'm not just reading variations of one scenario like "MC has a suitor, ML gets jealous and beats them up without reason, rinse and repeat." no. these two are proactive in their own lives. if they want something, they go for it. what I find particularly pleasing is how they're like that but not in a mere dominating and unreasonable way. they always have measure, have logic and reasoning behind their actions, and they respond beyond just a trope that they're supposed to embody. in fact, I don't think either of them necessarily have a bl trope applied to them. they're such unique individuals for characters from a webnovel. I have to give props to that.

i had a good time reading the face slapping against the mc's stepfamily. it's rare to have a faceslapping incident that could be as cathartic without being over the top. other characters like the ml's friends gradually stop popping out. I'm glad the mc's father could have more screentime as he and the MC become closer.

might I add, it's sweet that the MC and ML are so immature despite their age and how they have their own grievances.

i was sorely disappointed by the villain. in my opinion, the mystery behind his character was built up so much but when he was just revealed to be... some unrelated person that the MC didn't even have much interaction with, my expectations weren't met. so.. he just got obsessed with the MC and that's it? "is it someone I hang out with a lot" "yes" but the villain constantly masks himself as background characters that MC barely interacts with lol. he wasn't interesting, didn't have any depth to him. he just feels like some weirdo who happened to cultivate with a bit more focus and time. idk, he's a lunatic, but not an interesting one. it was pretty funny though when he told MC that his daoist partner would be able to show him all the seasons or something and he did that before he died. and then, the ML literally does that but not as an illusion. instead, he can actually control nature. the guy tried to set himself up as the one and flopped while ML casually fulfilled the prophecy himself lmfaooo

this novel had its ups and downs. I think the flow was good. the story was engaging enough. there's not much to say about it, but you can see the heart put into it. I feel like if it completely rounded itself out by putting more emphasis on the people who were reborn, the wedding, and the war, this would be better. but otherwise, it was a good read.

I really wanted to know what the gluttonous ghost looked like bcs half way through, I decided to google it and it low-key looked like those ugly titans from aot and I kept imagining a dog version of it throughout and it isn't good bcs the gluttonous ghost actions were lowkey cute HAHAHHA. It wasn't until I think 60-ish that the translator said the author did say the gluttonous ghost had a prototype and had it on their weibo but the account was deleted. :')

I did feel shocked that there were more than 2 people who got rebirthed. the other mc's father and the villain.