Brazier

Story context

Homecoming is a beast in any story, but for Li Huowang, it’s a special kind of emotional minefield. This chapter finally delivers on the long-awaited promise of returning to Niuxin Village. But instead of a triumphant hero’s welcome, what we get is something far more human and far more awkward. Li Huowang stands at the same spot where he once contemplated confessing to mass murder, now contemplating how to explain his latest batch of horrors. The village is alive, the people are happy, and for a moment, our perpetually miserable protagonist gets a taste of peace, right before a bombshell named Li Sui drops the word "Mother" and sends the domestic tranquility spiraling.

Why it matters

Ah, the sweet, awkward tension of a family reunion! This chapter is a masterclass in emotional pacing. After so much pain and cosmic horror, we’re given a moment of pure, unadulterated domesticity, only to have it shattered by a single, perfectly timed line. Li Huowang’s thought that “maybe this is what home feels like” is a dagger of hope, which makes Bai Lingmiao’s subsequent explosion all the more delicious and painful. Notice how the chapter doesn’t shy away from the mundane details—the finances, the pregnant wife, the dog’s stubbornness—it grounds the cosmic in the local, making the weirdness of Li Sui standing there in a rain cloak feel even more jarring. Pay attention to the dynamic between Hong Zhong and Zhuge Yuan, too; it’s a classic “chaos agent vs. moral compass” setup, and knowing their respective factions, this is a powder keg waiting for a spark.

Quick facts

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Source novel

Dao Gui Yi Xian