Story 2 - Kaifeng

[pastel acorn]

||In The beginning||

[summer crescent]

My hatred for Yingying festers with each day passing that I don't get to beat her up for what she did.

[summer crescent]

||Wdym "beginning"?||

[pastel acorn]

||in the literal beginning of the story after our jade was stolen||

From a letter ||From someone surnamed Wei||

[summer crescent]

||"Stolen" by who we can assume is Jiang in disguise?||

[summer crescent]

I'm gonna have to read that again. Do we still have the letter on our person, or do we need to go back to get it?

[pastel acorn]

I dont know, since I only read it the first time

[pastel acorn]

Yes

[summer crescent]

I mean, come on. It was so obvious...

[pastel acorn]

Oh and if Big Zhao can recognize us through our fighting style or techniques "Aren't you surnamed Jiang?" Surely anyone who knows Jiang or have fought with or against Jiang could

[summer crescent]

I forgot Big Zhao said that.

[pastel acorn]

Clearly Player character did as well

Could have asked Big Zhao how he knows Jiang and if he knows his whereabouts

[fleet maple]

He probably asked later in the end

We had to hide our identity at that time

[summer crescent]

Especially since we're also a target by the Aureate Pavilion and by the damn bi-- I mean, Qianye.

[lethal shore]

Jiang is definitely a very renowned figure. But something about this has always bothered me. Zhao thinks that he was mistaken about our connection cuz we never explained. But he still helps us and everything

[fleet maple]

He knows

Bro is… u know

[summer crescent]

Big Zhao is not just any Zhao. He is THE Zhao... and a really big homie at that.

[pastel acorn]

THE BIG homie bro

[pastel acorn]

Why you hate my Waifu? i can fix her

After caving her face in with a guardian palm, I'll fix her😂

[fleet maple]

Illusion qianye is my wife

[pastel acorn]

White haired Qianye and Blissful retreat Face off against aunt Han Qianye is top tier

[lethal shore]

I miss aunt Han

[pastel acorn]

The master of all Catfish

[fleet maple]

I miss ruby

[pastel acorn]

Some speculates aunt Han changed her face before the story started, but I personally think she did not, as she is adamant in letting Chu change his face

[pastel acorn]

You'd find out soon enough

[fleet maple]

Usually people who do the face changing keeps their og appearanance i think

[pastel acorn]

And Jiang is a renowned figure

[pastel acorn]

Unfated Tian changed

[fleet maple]

Unfated is just a doctor tho?

Takes care of aunt han failed experiments lol

[lethal shore]

Oml I was about to kill Yingying ahem I mean save. She was all tied up AND I JUST HAD TO FALL UNCONSCIOUS. How often can a person fall unconscious

[summer crescent]

Better hope your parry game is on point.

[pastel acorn]

The boss there is easy to parry, the color of attack confuses tho

[lethal shore]

The chase scene inside the furnace was absolute cinema

How did uncle Jiang train us lmao

[pastel acorn]

Possibly beating us up

[summer crescent]

He should've beaten us up even more.

[pastel acorn]

My head canon is that at least

Beat the skills into you

[summer crescent]

We're showcasing elite levels of hands when it's necessary, but somehow we're still low on the totem pole.

[pastel acorn]

Our PC is not motivated enough

[summer crescent]

The most effective kind of training.

[pastel acorn]

https://tenor.com/view/vergil-gif-25306498

[summer crescent]

...

"WHERE IS YOUR MOTIVATION!?"

[lethal shore]

I think unc taught us all the skills and moves we just don’t have the power and speed

[summer crescent]

Ohhhhh brother I cannot WAIT for that damn longsword to come out.

I am friggin' SALIVATING FOR IT.

[pastel acorn]

"Without power you can't protect anyone let alone yourself"

[lethal shore]

https://tenor.com/view/dante-devil-may-cry-dmc3spinning-gif-25858416

[pastel acorn]

Dang these words seem to fit our mc

[summer crescent]

Definitely not. He Ran noted that we were slower... but of course, this was during our budding days, prior to us leaving Blissful Retreat.

[pastel acorn]

Yeah, Jiang's kit was

Bamboo
Katon
Bell
Palm

[lethal shore]

Still think this applies even at the end of chap 2. Jiang is up there even at 19

Alright I’m at the top of this cool tower prolly a boss incoming brb

[summer crescent]

Not really. You'll see why.

[lethal shore]

Okay he’s actually kinda tough

Ahem

[gusty dagger]

I figure cutscene goons are second only to surprise knockout gas when it comes to MC kryptonite

smh uncle jiang should've run us through whatever their equivalent of tear gas resistance training is lmao

but yeah idk maybe I misread some stuff but I can't really hate yingying - people get weird with dementia and letting granny live out her days being cared for her by "her daughter" whether she knowingly adopted her at some point or not doesn't strike me as more cruel than ditching her to be all alone

[covert hazel]

Yingying never transforms her hair by the way.

Her cat eared hat comes with a wig that Granny Turtle made so she doesn't have to run around in the market catching attention.

Her white hair is pooled in that hat.

[gusty dagger]

It's not like granny's being used for like the 5 valid coins of currency she has

[fleet maple]

As ember of the east she did some bad stuff

Read about it in her bio

[gusty dagger]

oh there's bios?

[fleet maple]

Yeah, journals character

[covert hazel]

The more you read character back stories the more you hate her... And her current lovable persona doesn't help things if you realize she's still in contact with a conspirator working with South Tang to get back to Weiyang City

[fleet maple]

She isnt in cahoots with southern tang anymore at the end

Since according to the game paper money was her idea to fix song economy

[gusty dagger]

Oh she's literally Ember of the East? I thought that guy was somebody else

[fleet maple]

Wait did u finish kaifeng, might have spoiled it for you

[gusty dagger]

I'm all caught up on msq no worries

I'm about as head empty as the mc is canonically which works out I guess lol

[fleet maple]

Journals world character if you wanna read character bios

[covert hazel]

Her goal isn't fixing song economy, her goal is getting back to Weiyang City.

||Your last pot of Parting Tears was used by her to get a favor from Aunt Han, and she's still dealing with the shimmer of the south||

[fleet maple]

Not her goal but she still offered solutions since she “reformed”

And after the tang coin is solved idk she can have a friendly relationship with shimmer anymore

[gusty dagger]

Definitely seems like she's mellowed out from her ruthless profiteering rich girl days according to the bios at least. No idea about the shimmer of the south, I didn't quite grasp whether they were supposed to be an antagonist or not

I think part of my confusion is I've spent a large part of kaifeng story and side content cutting down Song soldiers, so IDK if we're supposed to be team Song Dynasty or not

also it's very funny to me in hindsight now at the gathering of heroes that literally nobody there was who they said they were

also how the heck did fu change clothes so fast

[lethal shore]

I can’t lie this is one of the funniest things I’ve seen all week

Much love twin

[fleet maple]

Shimmer of the south is ruler of southern tang

Tang coin is southern tang scheme to destabilize song to delay the invasion

[lethal shore]

Someone needs to make a counter of the times the mc gets beaten by a mysterious gas that knocks us out or random goons

Just the gas alone I’ve seen happen TWICE today

Yi Dao was trynna warn us about ts

[mental vigil]

Villain: ah yes i spread invisible knockout gas in this very open outdoor area which doesn’t affect me and now you are on the floor

[covert hazel]

Well your fault for not being immune to all poisons like the typical power fantasy MC

[mental vigil]

At least 10 times

So like what the hell was zheng e plan

[fleet maple]

He just wanted to preserve his sister with the fungi but the fungi was poisonous and gonna spread disease or sthing

Also he was joining in the conspiracy to destabilize song

[lament stump]

But they are though? Like Yingying is working with Zheng E to provide food for the poor and prevent starvation. Where do you think the missing grains went lmao?

[wispy coral]

I thought the missing grains were transferred to the army stockpile for the eventual war with the south

[lament stump]

Nope. It's Yingying pulling strings and trying to alleviate the starvation in Kaifeng.

Also, geez, the Ying Ying hate is strong, lmao. I’m not denying she’s done horrible things, but I seriously doubt the devs are going to paint her as some pure evil devil. It’s clear they want her to go through a character arc. Honestly, if you expect characters with squeaky-clean backgrounds who have never done anything shady or horrible, you won’t find that in Jianghu, especially not when there’s political turmoil.

Probably only the MC can be considered one pure character. Aside from child characters like Ruby of course.

[wispy coral]

I think ying ying is misunderstood that she is lying to granny with ill intention

[lethal shore]

Yingying is evil and she’s snared you in her clutches

[wispy coral]

Which she is not

[lament stump]

Bro I don't even like her that much but you guys are just being haters

[wispy coral]

And she scammed us because she don't think we can do much to help her cause

Scamming is her tactic due her uprising

[lethal shore]

I just don’t see her as someone who is trying to help the downtrodden. I think she’s using this facade to justify her own agenda

[wispy coral]

That's how you see it but not what the game narrated so far in the Kaifeng story

[covert hazel]

She asks "are the voices for the masses really unheard?"

But don't ask why the voice of the masses need to be heard in the first place, cuz the more you dig the more you find... The one giving them a voice is the one who gave them all these problems.

[lethal shore]

You guys see this girl trying her best in this awful awful world, but what I see is one of the strongest people in the world with connections everywhere that is not using her actual might to help people in need

Because there’s no reason the widow should be struggling with the ember of east in tow

[lament stump]

Not saying you have to change your minds or opinions, but at least admit that your vitriol is frankly tiring.

[lethal shore]

Yeah I’m out

[wispy coral]

She doesn't have connections though

She is outcasted and lost all her influence

The ember of the east actually has no power on wealth

[covert hazel]

And yea, she has no power or influence. She's just a terrible person acting like a saint.

Her meridians are crushed. Using the illusions and shooting the coins caused her to bleed.

She spent all her wealth to create a financial disaster that let the Tang coins flood the market, and now she's enacting a second tang coin disaster.

[wispy coral]

The scene in the place with the flying laddies are all fake and an act

[lethal shore]

I came to this chat and ranted my initial thoughts and reactions to all the shenanigans that we faced and most of my hatred was me just joking around and using hyperboles. I don’t hate her like that. But I don’t like her and I think she isn’t a good person. But if that’s tiring to you then frankly there’s no point in talking

Cuz to me this was a fun conversation with the others

[wispy coral]

I don't understand your 3rd paragraph

She isn't the one that flood the market with tang coins

[lethal shore]

Also WOW. I did not know her Meridians were crushed. Yikes that explains a lot of my initial confusion

I feel like the real ember of east wouldn’t get captured by the god of avarice

[covert hazel]

In her backstory she had a brilliant plan.

She used the last of her wealth she managed to smuggle out of Weiyang City to buy out the gang that's beating up people in the streets to spread a rumor that Big Zhao is gonna slaughter the city to assert his power.

That way everyone will sell crap for cheap and she can buy it all up and sell it for profit and make big bucks

[wispy coral]

And she gave out the tang coins using the prosperity bowl or something is because there aren't enough song coins in circulation so the lower class people do trade using tang coins instead

[covert hazel]

It backfired spectacularly and set the stage for Aureate Pavilion to enact the mass Tang Coin inflation plan

[lethal shore]

So they forged fake coins and started the mistrust?

[fleet maple]

The tang coins is southern tang plan to destabilize song's economy

In order to delay Song's invasion against southern tang

[covert hazel]

No, Tang didn't forget fake coins. They flooded the market with real coins. But the Song dynasty can't tax Tang coins... They're about to wage war with the Tang

[wispy coral]

This is correct but she do it to accumulate wealth so she can give granny a better life but the plan backfired because she wasn't expecting granny will be one of the person that flee too

[fleet maple]

And song coins use copper ones so they enacted a policy to confiscate all those illegal tang coins

[lethal shore]

So Big Zhao’s arguments against tang coins were baseless then

[covert hazel]

So Song needed to replace Tang coins in circulation with Song coins, which Aureate Pavilion stopped with a mass inflation plan aided by the braindead rumor Yingying spread.

[fleet maple]

It's true, those iron coins were worthless

But there was a lack of copper coins because big Zhao needed treasury to fund the war against southern tang

[fleet maple]

It was mainly shimmer of the south's idea, Aureate pavillion just created more chaos using lord Shi

[covert hazel]

Fact is, if Yingying hasn't destabilized the order in Kaifeng with her rumors, Big Zhao wouldn't have needed to take such drastic measures to replace the coins.

And Shimmer of the South is justified because he's fighting for his country's survival, but Yingying is really just pulling scams to line her own pocket.

She of all people had no right at the end to make that "ALL THE POOR PEOPLE MATTER" speech since she is the single biggest reason all of them are poor and desperate in the first place.

[wispy coral]

She used scam to profit because that's what she knows from her upbringing but ahe sis admit it is wrong and there is a better way to profit in her character profile

[wispy coral]

Because what she did is really about to help the poor?

Yes she did use scam tactic and lied to us because she doesn't trust our capability when she first met us

[fleet maple]

She reformed towards the end so that's what matters, you're too hung up over what she did in the past bro

[covert hazel]

Wait wait wait, why do people have this weird idea that what SHE did helped the poor?

The situation is not resolved by HER actions. It was resolved by BIG ZHAO'S actions.

She literally caused a whole incident where countless people's lives would've been trampled underneath political maneuvering so she can get back to Weiyang, the Ghost Market which was the poor people's lifeline would've been exposed to officials, and countless lives and wealth have been lost.

"oh but she smuggled food"

No, that was Zhang E.

[fleet maple]

You don't think her encouraging the folks to go out and help pressure big zhao into changing his mind to open the treasury matters...?

[covert hazel]

All she did was make a whole "DONT TRAMPLE ON THE POOR PEOPLE" speech after stepping all over them and somehow she is the good guy in the story

[fleet maple]

She literally used us to make big Zhao open the treasury lol

[wispy coral]

She made mistakes in the past but she did see the wrong that she did and try to be better.

At least as of current kai feng story

[fleet maple]

And it was yingying's plan to make Zheng E smuggle food, he wasnt in on it from the start...

[wispy coral]

No doubt there are people who will hate her if others know her past scheme but that is burdon she has to carry

[fleet maple]

Zheng E was on his own researching the whole fungi shii and the ember of the east contacted him to make him take the role of shen yilun

Aunt Han was called upon by ember of the east to make that plan work, in exchange she helps aunt han and peopel of blissful retreat escape

[wispy coral]

And you are justified to hate her for what she did in the past but you can't deny that she is trying to redeem herself too

[fleet maple]

But it was too late, Aureate attacked faster than expected and most died anyway

Basically, she was helping shimmer of the south but towards the end she changed her original goal and was the most important factor to make big Zhao open the treasury instead of making the situation worse

We literally did nothing except being used to kill lord Shi lol

[covert hazel]

Like, seriously, tell me, in this entire chain of events that she set off and turned the government against the citizens...

WHERE did she influence Big Zhao that wouldn't have happened if you, you know, just kept joking around with Big Zhao in Revelry Hall as he realizes how the situation is unsustainable and his little brother needs to be reined in.

[fleet maple]

She said told us to wait for information about aunt han in 3 months

In season 2 we will get the news

She used the whole treasure basin thing in the end to pressure the goverment to open the treasury

Because people hoped that with the treasury the goverment will "print" copper coins for the people to use

Idk if you just refuse to see what she did then Idk what else to tell you

[covert hazel]

You're failing to realize the Treasure Basin thing itself was the whole reason the treasury needed to open in the first place.

[wispy coral]

Because she is powerless? She is not an martial artist with crazy anymore

[fleet maple]

The devs dont just white wash her for nothing

She made it the reason

[wispy coral]

She use the basin to give out more tang coins to the poor for them to do trade

[fleet maple]

No the basin was a scheme for southern tang to flood tang coins in the market, but she manipulated the whole thing at the end, give hope to the commoners instead of fueling them with anger

Make big Zhao realize his brother's policy isn't gonna work and stop it before the whole situation becomes worse

Like if she was still the same blackhearted merchant from before the whole thing could have ended a lot worse

I mean if it weren't for her asking Zheng E to fake being Shen yilun a lot more people would have starved for example

[lament stump]

Just let them be. They're just going to be a hater.

[wispy coral]

True but I feel what I mentioned is her intention too with the help of 9 mortal way because the poor had no coins to do trade with

[fleet maple]

Yeah she used those tang coins for the people in the end

Could have just made them useless by not working with Zheng E to smuggle food and let the people die and become more mad at the goverment

Further destablizling Song

Oh yeah, she asked another guy in the unopened region in Kaifeng to transport those smuggled food too

He's gonna be a new boss

So Zheng E smuggle the food out, another guy transport it using the rivers to the ghost market

[wispy coral]

Yea so the poor has coins to buy food.
It just the government ruthlessly taking the coins off the poor that causes the issue

[fleet maple]

She could have ignored the whole thing and let it escalate

[wispy coral]

Yea but she didn't

[fleet maple]

So while she was one of the main reason why the economy went to sht in kaifeng, she did try to salvage the situation after the whole redemption arc

[wispy coral]

Remember its big zhao decision to take the tang coins off the poor without compensation with the reason being for the greater gopd and its ying ying plan to make the government realise this mistake

[fleet maple]

No, it's his brother's plan

The prefect of Kaifeng

[wispy coral]

That he approved

[fleet maple]

Whole arc is Big zhao wondering if the policy is correct, hence he went undercover

Well he had doubts about it at the very least

But I guess he did approve it lol

[fleet maple]

One thing is for certain is that she did influence the emperor to open the treasury

It's not all Big Zhao

[wispy coral]

Yes

[fleet maple]

Not to mention in game's lore paper money is her idea

To fix the economy

[versed vault]

Tian Ying let you “kill” him bro, you were the perfect scapegoat for him to “die” and change his identity

In this story you are definitely not strong enough to beat a martial master, you won’t be able to beat Yingying or Lord Shi 😭 You’re just a fledgling in Jianghu

[fleet maple]

Yo tbf we did beat lord shi later

[versed vault]

We killed him with the help of Yingying

The coin pouch

[fleet maple]

Well...illusions is the MC weakness lol

In a fair fight MC would win

[versed vault]

We were gonna die before the coin pouch did

No…?

That’s a Martial Master, we are not on the level of Uncle Jiang and clearly not on the level of He Ran either

[fleet maple]

Ok without the illusions MC would win against lord Shi I mena

Lord shi isnt a true martial art master too

He stole the wen martial art and studied it late

[versed vault]

And he’s still considered the God of Avarice

[fleet maple]

Mostly because of his intelligence

[versed vault]

What does it matter though if he stole a martial art? He has years on us

[fleet maple]

Not his martial art power

The guy was originally just a merchant

You know how people who learn martial art from young is always gonna be better than people who started late

[versed vault]

That’s not always true in Wuxia

[fleet maple]

It's obvious that we cooked him before the illusions started kicking in

The coin pouch was only to counter the illusion technique

And before he had his goons so MC couldnt really do much

[versed vault]

Sure I guess

[fleet maple]

Against prime yingying for example MC would surely lose though

[versed vault]

It’s just that we’re still basically nothing but a nepobaby in Jianghu at this point in the story, idk why people genuinely think we can kill people like Tian Ying

[fleet maple]

I think it's mostly because people dont know tian ying faked his death

Like you gotta dig deep into the lore to know that, get all the dark surges to get the secret cutscene

And also Tian Ying knows the MC's uncle

[versed vault]

Yes

Everyone knows Jiang Yan

[versed vault]

That’s fair, I have all the dark surges so I knew the information already, it sucks that it’s so hidden

[fleet maple]

On the friendship level I mean, Tian Ying probably went easy on us cause he knows we are related to the uncle

[versed vault]

No

Tian Ying did not go easy on us because he’s friends with Jiang Yan

You were his perfect scapegoat

[fleet maple]

I suppose he would because Jiang Yan did left to help him

[versed vault]

To die and change identities

[fleet maple]

So that's sthing

[versed vault]

No

His goal is to change his identity and disappear so he can do his work properly

[fleet maple]

Cant he go easy and fake his death at the same time lol

[versed vault]

He can go easy but not for the reason you state?

[fleet maple]

Like he gotta make the fight convincing enough that he "died"

Well ur right

But still it plays a part

[versed vault]

I’m saying he wanted you to “kill” him, he’s not going easy on you because he’s friends with Jiang Yan

[fleet maple]

He chose the MC to fake his death cause of Jiang Yan isnt too much of a stretch right

Like if MC is just a random bloke Tian Ying would have just destroyed us no?

[versed vault]

It isn’t too much of a stretch, that’s why I said MC is the perfect scapegoat

[fleet maple]

Exactly, it still counts as a factor is my point

not the main reason for sure

[lament stump]

You know the MC is strangely famous despite the fact that he got trapped in Blissful Retreat because of Aunt Hant

Seems like everyone knows about the MC

Did Jiang Yan and Han Xiangxun just love talking about the MC to their friends/allies?

[fleet maple]

I think the moment he uses nameless sword people just straight up know

[versed vault]

Word gets out very fast - a lot of the Jianghu knows that Jiangyan was protecting a baby (us)

when he had a bounty on his head

so the connection gets made fast once the recognise the sword style, MC is the baby jiangyan took

[fleet maple]

Jiang's martial art style is probably a lot more popular than it looks

Despite being nameless

[lament stump]

It should be called famous sword then

[fleet maple]

Charged vagrant sword is just too good that everyone in jianghu knows it

[wispy coral]

Is the secret cutscene about tian ying happened after we defeat him? I thought it was about his past when he took on a new identity and traveled to the khitan as spy

[fleet maple]

No, it's the one where we unlock all of qinghe dark surge

[wispy coral]

Nameless because uncle jiang didn't bother to give his style a name😂

[fleet maple]

Well ur right that he took on another new identity to go being a spy again

This time with a more thoughtful name to honor Li Zhenzhen

[wispy coral]

Yea I know, but i thought the scene is a flashback because the narrator was the head of the hanging sword

Man i hate it when we cant recall cutscene in game

So many details went unnoticed

[lament stump]

Lazy bum

[lament stump]

The head of the hanging sword should be Chai Rong I think...

[wispy coral]

Yea

Which is dead

[fleet maple]

Is it the one where he was acting as lord Li?

[wispy coral]

Thats why i thought the cutscene is about the past with him as narrator during the secret cutscene

[fleet maple]

Yeah it's the new identity in the current time, guess it can be easily mistaken

[wispy coral]

I see

[fleet maple]

Tbf in the past he never used an identity called Li

[pastel acorn]

If you raised someone even if they are not your blood, you'd be proud of them, and they are probably talking about you so that they can ask the others on your status

There are also some who sees how you move and think "Jiang Yan"

In regards to YingYing knowing you tho it is due to the parting tears you brought

[pastel acorn]

Isn't it only nameless because our character does not know the name Or the one who wrote the scroll as they saw the moves did not know the name?

[dull ravine]

Idk maybe I was too dumb to follow --"

[distant tulip]

Anybody know the next battlepass outfit?

[sleek atlas]

somebody know why we are invited at murong banquet?

[wispy coral]

You are invited for helping out on sending the invitation i think

Also iirc, the murong banquet should happen after kaifeng main story event

Otherwise make no sense that they know who you are when they are only introduced in the Kaifeng main story

[lethal shore]

Aaaa I want to beat the god of avarice and continue the main quest but uni takes priority 💔

[versed vault]

no, will find out when new one releases tomorrow

[pastel acorn]

Game can wait, Uni won't, you got this later

[crimson vessel]

The music is baller

[crimson vessel]

He took that name from lunar goddess to honour her

[lethal shore]

His phase 3 is so easy?

Or is that just practice mode making it much easier

He barely does any damage and u just parry random stuff

[fleet maple]

It's only cinematics and vibes

[covert hazel]

His sand clones ruin runs, practice mode only does 10% damage

It's actually a pretty bullpoop move that could end up as unavoidable damage if the stars align and the sand clones are positioned perfectly and all decide to use the stabbing charge at once

[fervent pecan]

ok so for kaifeng
is there any level restriction for progressing through the story

[fleet maple]

No, only TIME restriction

[fervent pecan]

cus i swear i saw some pop-up before we went to talk with the aunt last time

saying level 20 required to progress

[fervent pecan]

wym by that

[fleet maple]

Story is time gated

New msq starts in february next year

[fervent pecan]

time as in "can change the clock" time
or like literally wait some hours

[fleet maple]

real ife hours

[fervent pecan]

wait

[fleet maple]

You heard it

[fervent pecan]

i thought they announced new region

[fleet maple]

It;s just a sub region of kaifeng

Some new side stories, but not MSQ

[fervent pecan]

so kaifeng aint finished yet

[fleet maple]

The MSQ is

And even if there's level requirement, you will keep leveling as you do quests and yoink stuff anyway

[fervent pecan]

aw goodness gracious 😩

do i get my monies back from qinghe

im at that point where i have to sell grain and that scammer is blackmailing me for exposing my secret

[fleet maple]

I actually dont remember losing any money lol

Ohh, isnt that like story money. Not the currency in your inventory right

[fervent pecan]

i was at 723k

when i was buying grain i had 10k

[fleet maple]

What the fk

I didnt notice lol

I think you will get it back

[fervent pecan]

i guess they literally stole ur money till you get properly settled in kaifeng

[mental vigil]

It’s a different coin your coins are fine

[fervent pecan]

🙏 thx i saw they are named liquor coins

[stark jacinth]

my only problem rn is that noone in story take MC seriously. you can defeat/kill god of avrice and you are still dismissed. Emperor doing bassicly nothing to remedy situation and there is still feeling that ur just observer not even a passanger of the events. its becoming tiresome not only for me but for friends i play with. and its kinda sad because we love setting.

[fervent pecan]

[fleet maple]

First the MC is only 16 years old, and he's been used like a ragdoll throughout the whole thing, only after the arc was done did he get some respect. God of avarice is just a nickname of his back in Weiyang city, and he got the nick name because of his intellect, not strength. The fight where he become a godzilla is just an illusion technique and metaphorial fight. And wdym by the emperor not doing anything, he opened the treasury to save the people and have to delay the invasion of southern Tang?

[fervent pecan]

wait

[fleet maple]

The MC is just a chess piece in the power struggles, we don't get to become a big boy yet

[fervent pecan]

so the reason for poverty in the city is to fuel the invasion of the other area?

[fleet maple]

It's becaues of southern tang conspiracy. They are flooding the market of Song with worthless iron coins

And since there's a shortage of legitimate copper coins, they have to resort to using it

[fervent pecan]

and that way they control the city

[fleet maple]

To deal with the situation prefect of kaifeng enacted a policy to confiscate everything

[fervent pecan]

instead of taking it over like khitans did

[fleet maple]

Southern Tang is the underdog

They are trying to delay the invasion of Song

The emperor was saving money to prepare for war but citizens suffered, and southern tang made it even worse by ruining the economy of Song

[fervent pecan]

the desert region is supposed to be a city too?

or an area with like smaller villages like sumeru in genshin

[fleet maple]

A sub region of kaifeng I think, we get to find out more in the update later

The MSQ of kaifeng is already over so it;s just new side stories to supplement the lore

More exploration

[fervent pecan]

also i thought of unlocking maps in the area
but the top most region of kaifeng is locked

[fleet maple]

Yeah, it's released later today

[fervent pecan]

i finished the quest where guy asks if we are from jiang family and saves us from guards

[fleet maple]

Ur way too early to be in this chat lol

Spoiler chat

[fervent pecan]

i got spoiled of tye story 1 ending before i got to it

so it is fine ig

[fleet maple]

There are some plot twists in chapter 2

So the spoilers will be worse

You would want to be surprised, trust me

[fervent pecan]

aight i take ur word

🙏

[summer crescent]

||You think he knows Big Zhao's real identity?||

[stark jacinth]

no i dont think so.

[covert hazel]

nah MC is oblivious, else he wouldn't be asking "What if the prefect gave me a fake antidote?!"

[stray wedge]

And if they didn't limit it they would be asking for a crackdown, the market would have to close and even more people would suffer and die. Not exactly much choice there

[stray wedge]

If the theater sidequest is any indication, doesn't seem like they do. Then again, ||they are present when Zhao appears in his regalia at the end of the Furnace quest (assuming that's him)||, so they might just be keeping appearances (or the quest canonically happens before Furnace)

[summer crescent]

He's definitely just keeping appearances.

[pastel acorn]

||bro lives here but stays with us in the slums||

[round plinth]

what if evil emperor isnt our dad but our granpa

what if the reason he dont care about us is because since he is the "last emperor" (wants everyone to live forever as feelingless immortals) he has no need for an heir, but also, we have some cool power or whatever that was passed down to us

[stark jacinth]

my take we actually are and we his kidand we are some effect of the gleaming abyss experiments on Immortal Worms.

[silent lava]

@round beacon I mean cmon have you seen this xD

[round beacon]

Like I said wild but based XDD

[silent lava]

just wanted to solidify my point xD

[bleak turret]

Hey i am geting really curious now does anyone have a link to t jianghu kaifeng final quest?

[summer crescent]

The shamelessness was unbelievable when he walked out like that.

[silent lava]

can you blame him xD with how good he looks

[summer crescent]

Big Zhao is moving with swag and style.

What's the chronology of the 1.1 update? I'm seeing two Jianghu Legacy quests and one Lost Chapter quest;

Jianghu Legacy

• An Unnatural Omen
• The River's Fury

Lost Chapter

• Heavenfall

Does the Lost Chapter come first before the Jianghu Legacy quest or...?

[silent lava]

also can I ask why literally any of this was necessary 😭

[tepid pawn]

That had me cracking up

[summer crescent]

That's tame, if not average-bad-guy-nonsense compared to the nonsense shenaniganery that happens in daily Wuxia novels.

[honest harbor]

anyone know how to re-enter jimming pool campaign? i left 3 chests there and i cannot enter this area anymore...

[covert hazel]

It's to get the IGN review scores up, but IGN didn't play until this point unfortunately

[summer crescent]

As if anyone takes IGN seriously after they tried gassing up Concord

[summer crescent]

Then you get censored into hell and high water to show just how sublime the bots are.

[lament stump]

I don't think so.

[charred bay]

Is there different achievements from the options of picking if I want to resist or swallow the pill?

[brittle reef]

||after you finish the quest you will spawan near a mini boat, if you look around there's this big chest - you have to do some mini quest to open it. And there are also some chests on the outside area of the jinming pool.||

[silent lava]

idk maybe it's my inexperience with Wuxia talking, but the intro just read like more "haha gay men are predators" nonsense 😭

[mental vigil]

I’ll just say using kids to make pills is a very common and evil thing in Chinese media like this

[thick crater]

Hello

[graceful idol]

LOL bro I can't. The Ghost Market questline is SO BUSTED. First it starts with the walk back being annoying when I die to the boss. Then it becomes the boss doesn't respawn, and I have to do a mix of relogging, changing time, and teleporting just to retry. And then, it became that he just didn't respawn at all no matter what I did. And now, I come back with more HP and gear to try again, and he's not there -- except this time, he's already dead for no reason whatsoever, and I clear the quest. WHAT!?

[thick crater]

Trying to get to lvl 5 lol

[round plinth]

they aint, they (spoiler) || are two gay men who are pretending to be the villain to help the Ember of the East and indirectly the city and Emperor (good guy) ||

at least that is what someone else wrote up and it seems believable considering other spoiler stuff

but no theres no real gay bashing in this game

[summer crescent]

||...are you being for real right now?||

[supple hill]

I remember reading a comment somewhere ||where you can find the two in some place and they are alive and well. I'll have to dig it up somewhere, but yes, I believe what The Baewin said is true.||

[chilly needle]

||Is Murong Yuan still alive after we defeat her?||

[lament stump]

Yes go to masterwood hamlet and complete the Lu and Mo debate

[round plinth]

If you are referring to something else here, then I guess there is an argument to be made about the I guess, very flamboyant? Looks on some characters, but if I am not mistaken (I play a female character) npcs that flirt will flirt with you regardless in their dialogue, and Velvet Shade is an entire sect dedicated to liberal love including homosexual relationships and they are portrayed not only glamorously, but with sophistication

So no I would not say the game has something against gay people

I mean Unfated Tian is highly speculated to have been born a female so

I read that CN has a Girls love quest that will probably come over here too on global

Overall I think they did a good job portraying how these people might exist under ancient Chinese culture in wuxia

[chilly needle]

Thanks. It she losing memory or still realizes player? I'm not playing at the part yet. Just asking

[lament stump]

She's not amnesiac just hiding

[honest harbor]

someone has all anegdotes in martial temple? somehow i am missing one and dont know which one

[chilly needle]

Thanks. She one of my favourite boss and I'm glad she still alive

[old tulip]

the gate is not the 3rd item

[silent lava]

ah, looks like there's still much for me to see in the main story

thank you for your answers \o/

[summer crescent]

No, I meant, they're also in cahoots with ||Wen Wuque's scheme to basically reestablish herself and spread her fame throughout Kaifeng since she's planning to regain her former status in Weiyang city.||

I don't even know where you got the impression that I was referring to gay people.

[summer crescent]

You'd be surprised with how much shenanigans and evil are in Wuxia novels. It's standard for human sacrifices to be made for a simple "blood elixir" or "pill made out of human souls".

[abstract forum]

No one can escape my blade

[bitter smelt]

[gusty dagger]

FWIW I haven't found (or it might've played and i missed) it myself, but apparently in the ghost market there's idle chatter that hints they were playing it up and on team Yingying, which would line up given that she "kills" them via a martial arts move she later reveals she can't actually do anymore (or isn't strong enough to pull off) given her shattered meridians

[covert hazel]

I feel like I am scammed out of a wife by this game. I beat Feng Ruzhi fair and square, why is she not my wife yet

[abstract forum]

You will be able to beat her twice

But a wife? Idk

[gusty dagger]

Oh you can actually beat her? They called it a draw in mine

[covert hazel]

we know you really beat her damnit

[pastel acorn]

They will give you YingYing instead

Will you accept or be forever single?

[covert hazel]

Eh... Never said I wouldn't take her in my wuxia harem.

[round plinth]

Sorry! I thought maybe you were concerned like the other user about "evil gay" character, and I just wanted to be thorough!

[summer crescent]

I'd say Yingying deserves a beatdown.

[pastel acorn]

I would agree but hey Lord Shi and Guangyi might have done that already

[summer crescent]

Nope. She deserves worse, especially after I read her character story and the story of Widow Zhou and what happened to her husband.

[gusty dagger]

Widow Zhou had the unfortunate trait of not being able to pick up that she was in a wuxia story and making the absolute worst call of who to snitch and backstab on at every turn lol

[covert hazel]

The poor woman lost her husband and fed her child her own blood only to lose that child too...

All because Yingying "had a plan"

Oh, let's not forget that the REAL Lord Shi was said to be a benevolent man who would've been reasonable enacting the money exchange...

And the original Shen Yilun already lets food out of the granary to feed the common people.

But of course soldiers don't eat so we don't need to provide them with any food, and Yingying is on a redemption arc so everything she does is ok she's trying to fix things...

Lord Shi and Shen Yilun's deaths are just unfortunate byproducts.

[floral remnant]

Hi

Hello. I topped up the game three times. The first time I bought a skin, and the second time I gifted a skin. Despite this, 44 was deducted from my account. Why? Is this a game error?

[pastel acorn]

Hello, I think this inquiry should be made in the game client in fee

Cuetomer support or service you can ask here again if you can't find it but it's in the main menu or options
If not you can maybe contact them in the website

[vocal summit]

When will velvet shades be available?

[lament stump]

#game-support

[lament stump]

Dec 14

[thick crater]

Just finished heavens pier

Ready to go to kaifeng rn

[vocal summit]

oh okie i hope ill get their invitation asap

[gusty dagger]

how is the real Lord Shi getting replaced Yingying's fault? Fake Lord Shi threw his lot in with Wen Wuhen then was cast aside by him, not Yingying.

Also as I understand it orignal Shen Yilun's hands were tied - he built the granary and manged its stockpile for when famine hit, but instead the court ordered him to ration it for invasion campaigns instead. I don't know whether the plague death mushrooms are yingying's ideas or zheng going rogue, but either way yeah it's a bit of a shame she didn't see that one coming in case 2, and wtf in case 1

Soldiers need to eat, but importantly they need to bring food with them on campaign so they can eat where they are - they can't exactly return home in the middle of invasion, and it'd be foolish to rely on pillaging and plunder to sustain themselves. Every food saved for this purpose is one not going to the hardship the people are enduring now.

Yingying's a terrible person who only learned terrible ways to solve problems and watched it blow up in her face (twice), but to me a huge part of the issues were Song playing for invasion and unification risking the collapse of people right under them. There's a murder death forest plague to the east, people are starving and turning into little more than starving slaves in the south, the north is faring no better due to being ostracized by the courts for the flood, and I haven't been west yet but I'm sure it

[lament stump]

That guy just hate Yingying no reasoning with them lol.

[covert hazel]

Read Yingying's backstory.

Lord Shi was literally a creature of her own actions years in the making, that she invited into Kaifeng on her plot to destroy the granary.

She destroyed the guy's business so Weiyang City can take over the money he was making.

She threw a piece of jade at hungry refugees to laugh at them being rabid dogs, when the destitute Shi is desperate for a way out of the poverty she put him in, teaching him being kind is worthless.

Her first disastrous rumor that Big Zhao would slaughter the city like Khitans did to secure the court set the stage for the hyperinflation and mass poverty in the city.

She's the one who coordinated with Shimmer of the South to send Lord Shi to our beloved Water Lady to change his face into the real Lord Shi and replace him.

And you REALLY THINK that she didn't know hyper inflation will screw the general populace?

Zhao 2 wanted to change the coins from Tang coins to Song coins (Which would've went a lot more smoothly if a CERTAIN SOMEONE hadn't screwed his plan TWICE hadn't existed) and let the people squeeze their belt and go hungry to fund a war, and everything will be better. Honest.

Yingying wanted to set up a dark network of smuggling, illicit trade using worthless coins so people can squeeze their belt so she can go back to Weiyang City, and everything will be better. Honest.

They are NO DIFFERENT, and somehow SHE is on the moral high ground because she used to be complete and utter garbage?

Not saying Song didn't have problems, but Yingying is the one who made the problems much, much worse and now claim moral superiority because, what, she's poor and she lives with poor people?

But she's on a redemption arc so I guess that's alright.

Not saying she can't be on a redemption arc either, but at the end of the whole arc...

She is NOT the person who should've been saying "voice for the masses".

She is NOT someone who is your friend.

If the game had treated her actions and called out her selfishness that'd be OK, but apparently she's a mega saint everyone must love now because she said "voice of the people" guys, that washes everything away.

And no matter how much she helped Kaifeng's bottom class...

Remember she bought out the Unbound Cavern members. Those people trafficking, women selling slime balls are in her ballpark of people to work with.

All for the greater good m I rite

Not to mention those guys are the ones that killed the three little stooges' father and other elders of the Nine Mortal Sect by betraying them to the Khitans.

So yea, I really don't get how anyone wants to still wash her clean because "oh she's redeeming herself", she's the worst written character in terms of internal logical consistency

[dawn oyster]

doing the soaring eagle quest after killing off Murong Yuan feels so weird 😭

[fleet maple]

She’s still alive

[dawn oyster]

in our hearts?

[pastel acorn]

Literal sense

[dawn oyster]

okay

[fleet maple]

Do masterwood hamlet 1 lu and mo debate if you want to see her again

[polar egret]

Did everyone beat the 1st lady boss of the campaign? She beat me and then disappeared. Will i meet her again after i beat the big fish guy??

[solid needle]

ANY INTEL WHEN HENGDAO WILL BE RELEASED??????

[covert hazel]

What first lady boss? The girl in red with twin spears? she's Feng Ruzhi and you can fight her where she outs up a "beat me to marry me" scam

In the village south of the pier you fought her at as a field boss icon

[covert hazel]

And thus I am cheated out of a wife

[west hawk]

During the unbound cavern quest, did you hide away the women? Or did you decide to leave them?

[abstract forum]

So the wooden bird woman boss still alive guys

[autumn steppe]

Murong Yuan?

[abstract forum]

She maybe still alive 🫣

[abstract forum]

Her

[covert hazel]

||She's still alive, you see her hiding behind a mask leaving to join the Lubanists in a side quest||

Of course that makes her lose all her cool points for being a mohist but whatever I guess.

[dawn terrace]

No, but they confirmed from an interview that we are on accelerated schedule so we will get it faster than CN for sure

[sweet kestrel]

Guys when the next chapter main story will release?

[dawn terrace]

We dont know

[sweet kestrel]

Okay

[open raptor]

Why doesn't MC ask Large Zhao about nameless sword and Uncle Jiang? He clearly knows something

[vocal summit]

what are Lubanists and when can I be invited to velvet shades

[covert hazel]

Luban is a legendary carpenter in China.

Who lost to Mozi, the leader of the Mohist movement in designing siege mechanisms.

In the lore of this game, Mohists hid themselves from the world but they cling to their ideals of using their crafts for the betterment of the world with a teaching of universal love.

Lubanists are purely trying to make the best mechanisms possible.

[wispy coral]

Man, that Ba Gua puzzle that need to match the chinese character is hard to do on ps5 because the words on the dial are all blurred

[wispy coral]

Most likely early Jan

[vocal summit]

Jesus of China

ooh

so theyre both engineers!

I remember Luban now

[dawn oyster]

I met her just now and I'm kinda confused about this, is this side quest before or after the campaign lol, seems like the game is not managing wandering tales and campaigns well

because her enemy compendium implies she walked into the fire as we saw and being addressed as 'was/were' instead of is/are

[fleet maple]

After

She went into hiding after, hence the mask she had

[covert hazel]

Mozi is kinda pretty much Jesus with how much things he could just casually school other philosophers of his time with

Confucius got schooled in debating, Luban got schooled in engineering, Sun Tzu got schooled in siege warfare...

[dawn oyster]

damn

sis just tanked all those fire

[gaunt crow]

First of all, she pisses me off.
Second of all, why does she have a random ahh mid western country accent???

[gaunt crow]

Oh. 😵‍💫

[pastel acorn]

Felt chills in your bones?

[chrome sorrel]

So I'm wondering, Im doing stuff in jadewood court, and this one guy on a bridge gave me a wooden eagle, that he asked me to deliver to his sistern Murong Yuan now through a video i found out you can give it to some general nearby, but i'm curious if you can actually find Murong yuan somewhere to give it to if i haven't defeated her yet?

[fleet maple]

I think you can talk to her if you havent done jinming pools yet? but im not sure if you can even give it to her.

[chrome sorrel]

Would you happen to know where?

[fleet maple]

She’s at the place that triggers the jinming pool campaign iirc

[pastel acorn]

The meeting place

[chrome sorrel]

I ACTUALLY DID FIND HER

at petalfall crossing. i just randomly came across her as i was exploring Xd

idk if she'll be there after you do that whole jinming pool stuff.
and i did do the wandering tale in masterwood hamlet that had you do some stuff where at the end she revealed herself to you.
but in between those two things i know for a fact now she's here

and i'm pretty happy i get to deliver that eagle to her personally

[old oracle]

omg guys, i lost the lotus pastry zheng ran gave me 😭 ; it didn't seem like it was edible? what did i do

nvm im an idiot; its in the quest inventory lol all good

[wind wadi]

wait big zhao is the emperor lol

yeah I had an encounter

and they made a comment about the guy in the play looking like big zhao

so I looked at this channel lol

and looks like he actually was

[vocal summit]

and he's also a carpenter!

he's so op

[dusty cosmos]

Anyone who knows when pt 3 comes out?

[fleet maple]

Can you tell me what said after you gave her the eagle

[fleet maple]

Might be new season feb 2

[dusty cosmos]

Feb 2 bruh hell no imma kms 😭😭😭😭

[chrome sorrel]

oof.. uhm, it was something about her disliking her brother and father due to choices they made, but then the player explaining that the brother broke contact to protect her and her father doing a thing to make the best of their futures. which caused her to contemplate it.

[abstract forum]

Does kaifeng has dark surge real ending

[lament stump]

Not yet

[dawn oyster]

but I gave the eagle to the old man, oh no

[dawn oyster]

actually they revealed him in the official game trailer before the launch

[tacit flare]

Is it just me or does yingying pmo for some reason

wait not yingying

that widow

btw what happened to that "chai shen ye" guy and I thought we would get the mask he dropped as a reward

[neon parcel]

deliver the found items to the elder; I got 2/3 Vial and Dusty Spirit Tablet. I can't find the last one

[sour wasp]

iirc check his inventory

only need one tho

[neon parcel]

interesting thanks, so we have to rob him to give it to him back 😛

[sour wasp]

us warframe fans gotta stick together

[dawn oyster]

shes not there after jingming pool

😭

[faint harness]

Just did the heavenfall campaign, I LOVE the easter eggs in the end! Plz tell me someone else noticed it too

||The fact that he knows US and about Aunt Han. I wish we would have asked how he knows us||

[fleet maple]

I havent played the campaign but do you mean that the river master guy knows us?

[faint harness]

||Kinda, yes||

[fleet maple]

Iirc he's the guy who took us to Kaifeng right

So I kinda guess he knows us and aunt Han

[faint harness]

Oh!! RIGHT

Now I know why i recognise him

[dawn oyster]

I think there are a lot of people that we'll meet will know us and in a way, guide us.

If you remember Assassin's Creed 2's storyline you'd understand what I mean

but in a different way

I think Aunt Han has made a blueprint to guide us and we're, unknowingly, following that blueprint

or maybe that blueprint was made by uncle Jiang all along, Aunt Han is just executing it

[fleet maple]

I dont think they made any plans for us, Aunt Han clearly doesn't want the MCto be involved with Jiang Hu. We are just vibing and going with the flow atm

[faint harness]

Exactly, which is kinda funny since she left without us giving us the opportunity to do it

[dawn oyster]

idk, seems too coincidental to be just randomly meeting the most useful and powerful people along the way just randomly.

Maybe I'm thinking too much or maybe I'm relating too much with Assassin's Creed 2.

[gusty dagger]

I wonder if Uncle Jiang even had a plan for us beyond "I'll yoink the jade off of them and then that should be enough to keep them safe in Blissful Retreat with Aunt Han"

[fleet maple]

Jiang hu is usually a small world. People know each other

[dull ravine]

OK I have question regarding the Veiled Blades quest in Kaifeng. What does "ZhengYi's brother works at the Shadow's Arsenal. The old man backed some higher up, seized his troop and drew some wraths"?

Me no unnastan. So Zheng Yi's brother backstabbed some higherups and they sent assassins to Zhao Pu's mansion? What?

[polar egret]

Did anyone find the Bloodscale hall secret key that's required to unlock the little chest in Heavenfall?

[covert hazel]

Knowing Uncle Jiang honestly I think that's as far as his brain can function.

He is a cool dude in the idiot himbo sect. What he lacks in being a himbo, he has to make up for in being stupid.

[storm ice]

where did you get the peachwood sword?

[burnt folio]

anyone know the newspaper quiz answer?

[tulip plinth]

sword is by the river (the one with a bunch of rafts + rafter npc in ghostlight market)

[tulip plinth]

Shang Lu

[storm ice]

i talked to Jin Yunhai the ferryman npc on the raft, he has an option to ask about the sword of the past but when i click it it just closes the dialogue and does nothing, i also dont see the sword laying around anywhere

i know where to turn it in if you havent done that yet

i just cant seem to get it

[tulip plinth]

sent you the screenshot

[vocal summit]

How do i join velvet shades? I haven't received invitation!

[gaunt crow]

This FAWK ahh little girl ran through all this like it was nothing???? ehllo???

[vestal fable]

real

[weary lance]

Guys what is this shadow arsenal again, I see it mentioned several times in the story…

[pastel acorn]

She has a few mortal ways😂

[old oracle]

i rather fight the fat guy 10x rather than going through those girls again

[gaunt crow]

I entered the room with like 20 of them and cried

[old oracle]

i fell off the stage on the mini boss fight afterwards too lol; cringe

[zinc dock]

If we don't destroy this but take the flower to cultivate in our place it will be nice demonic path

Imagine an army of puppets

[open raptor]

"Im gonna make a sword style that doesnt involve using the sword and just shoots beams at people, then forget to name it"

[sinful bane]

did anyone fully understand heavenfall?

[west hawk]

To be fair, she's literally starving and dealing with a sick baby, and the government is confiscating the coins that most of her money was in without letting people exchange them for copper coins. She does pretty bad things in the chapter, but it's not hard to see why she did them.

Like, if you think that she was just a villain and not a victim, you'd be agreeing with Lord Si/the God of Avarice.

[pastel acorn]

They had the money, only unusable the Government is "confiscating" them which honestly is just robbery

[lethal shore]

Did we just beat the god of averice with the power of friendship

Alright after finishing the fight (great fight btw very cinematic) I’m p sure young wanderer is stronger than the god of avarice

[sinful bane]

god of avarice is not a real god it's a nickname

[lethal shore]

Dawg I’m well aware he’s just a dude

I just don’t know his real name

[fleet maple]

Shi Zen, I think you can read more about him in his Bio page

[lethal shore]

Big bro I’m not gonna do that

[fleet maple]

He's not the real lord Shi, real guy is gone

[gaunt crow]

Nah, she pissed me off when she looked at the coins. Totally her fault.😭

[crimson acorn]

How long Tang Dao release ?

[summer crescent]

Where's Murong Yuan now after completing the Jiming Pool quest? What side quest did she make a cameo on?

[silent lava]

sooooo Big Zhao is AN EMPEROR?????

[vocal summit]

yes thats why i been trying to rizz him up

[round plinth]

but he wont be emperor for super long, his younger brother will replace him

you should rizz up the younger brother

that way you dont need to be a dowager consort of a dead emperor

[silent lava]

and what's stopping the power of (my) love from keeping him alive for longer :)

[chilly quiver]

Can somebody explain to me why they couldnt start making paper money before people starved?

[covert hazel]

Because paper money implies a massive amount of trust in the government.

Big Zhao just took over Kaifeng city after a city wide slaughter by the Khitan 15 years ago, and he came into power very recently as well. This was a time in Chinese history where emperors and countries died left and right.

Paper money without trust behind it is even more worthless than iron Tang coins.

[chilly quiver]

Thats fair, tho i still dont see why government randomly got people's trust after main quest
First they came up with copper coins, bullied people and banned tang coins, then mc killed Lord Si, government came up with paper money and changed tang coins. Why didnt they change tang coins for copper coins if people still had a lot of them at the beginning 🤔

[covert hazel]

Because it's all Yingying's idea and the game wants us to believe she is so redeemed everything she does is right and her ideas are the bestest ever.

and no, the government hasn't implemented paper moneyyet. They just opened the national treasury and used the national copper coins to trade for iron coins.

Which is a terrible, terrible idea and will cause the country to suffer financially for quite some time, which was the point of the plot, so now the country cannot afford to wage war south.

[chilly quiver]

Aw man quest was so beautifull but i got very confused. I still didnt get why they had beef with ember of the east in the first place

[covert hazel]

Ember of the East is working with South Tang to destroy North Song's impending invasion of South Tang to unify China.

In return, she will get South Tang backing to go back to being the Weiyang City Lord.

[chilly quiver]

Ooh thank you, so she came to keifeng to ruin its economy at the beginning?

[covert hazel]

so the plot is as follows:

Ember of the East will use her name to gather heroes to see the 'magic' of Weiyang, a money generating pot that will spew money for three days and three nights.

In reality it will spew out Iron Tang Coins, not copper coins.

It will then be fought over and then disappear, stolen away, and that's how they can explain so much Tang coins driving hyper inflation in Kaifeng...

Which means the crackdown on Tang Coin will be harsher, and people will no longer be able to even afford food. And now Big Zhao MUST open the treasury or else Kaifeng will be a slaughterless bloodbath on his hands as he sacrifice the populace to wage a war.

and no, she didn't come to Kaifeng to ruin its economy... She was just there

which is why she is a monster

So basically she was the Weiyang City Lord, but she got ousted by her cousin who is even more of a monster than she was because after she ruined countless lives and killed countless people, "oh no I can't sacrifice my mommy" and apparently that means she has a heart and all that...

So her mom used her life to block a fatal execution blow on her, and she escaped Weiyang City somehow, after losing all her martial arts because her meridians are crushed...

and then she was saved by Granny Turtle who is half crazy, and confused her for her own daughter that had died over a decade ago during the Khitan slaughter.

So she decided to be Granny Turtle's daughter and...

Drive the city into chaos two entire times just so she can go back to Weiyang.

[chilly quiver]

Where did you see that about her meridians? I didnt see it in the quest :o

[analog stump]

Bdsm room and cannibalism lol

[gusty dagger]

From the people's point of view the Emperor saw their plight and intervened on their behalf - apparently according to a reddit thread "the government stepped in" was more like "the emperor personally intervened"

[gusty dagger]

Regarding this, I'm admittedly fuzzy on my history and the exact timeline of when the game, but the Song Dynasty faced a copper shortage and did not have enough copper coins to both perform an exchange and fund a campaign to the south. Initially, it was decided that it was better to face short term hardship and risk so that the Song campaign could succeed in reunifying China through conquest now and bring an end to turbulent period. Reunification would lead to prosperity later.

As a result of Big Zhao seeing the effects of all of this go down, he changes his mind and chooses to prioritize economic stability first and military second.

[gusty dagger]

Yingying's original plan as per her bio was actually to cause a deflationary crisis via rumors of the slaughter in order to buy up assets for cheat - this would be her way of paying back Granny Turtle for taking her in as Yingying only learned/knew the ruthless way to achieve a goal. Going back to Weiyang would be a bonus. This backfired on her when Granny Turtle also got caught up in the panic, and the only way to pacify her was to flee with her as well, and when she realized the evils of her ways upon experiencing this and seeing the hardship around her.

The Tang Coin crisis was already occurring by the time Yingying and NWM intervened - as per one of the Fu's "There's a cash shortage in Kaifeng, everyone's tight on money… People who have goods can't sell them, and those who want to buy can't get their hands on anything. No matter how bad Tang-coins are, at least they work. So… we smuggled in a batch…"

[vocal summit]

:(( but i like him he's funny

[pastel acorn]

If they let Ai live they might also do it for Zhao maybe instead of dying he just steps down

[zinc dock]

Long ahh quest and a couple of times it was bugged, whose idea is it to blow up their own furnace to stop one dude.

[pastel acorn]

It was that one captain's fault "Use any force necessary to stop him" proceeds to fire cannons😂

[brazen lintel]

Help! The “7 day soulbreaker pill” you take. Does it get lifted or resolved before finishing the game?

Because for RP purposes I feel like i need to rush the main story now but don’t want to complete it. (I know more than 7 days can pass and it’s just narrative)

[crimson acorn]

How long they release Tang Dao ?

[vocal summit]

Do u have to divorce twice to get velvet shade invitation?

[restive parcel]

Yes

[pastel acorn]

It does but honestly from that point rushing it does not affect gameplay wise, It's actually better to finish the main story then do the side quests which are fun and have good story

[pastel acorn]

No, depends on your partnership status currently

If you are seeking, then got bonded then immediately severed bond then you would get an invite

[tacit flare]

Oh-

So I need to get divorce twice?

[tacit flare]

anyone willing to do it with me?

[fleet maple]

This sounds hella sus without context

I need to get my sectless outfit first so if you still need I'll be there

[tacit flare]

IM SORRY

i mean to do the divorce twice\

[tacit flare]

Can u help me hehe

im planning to get my sectless outfit too

[fleet maple]

Sure, I still need a bit to get the outfit though

[tacit flare]

okii\

[gaunt crow]

So if Ember of East and Lord Shi are from Weiyang City, is this city in the game? Or will it eventually get added?

[pastel acorn]

It is in the map supposedly,we are a little bit far from weiyang

[rose nimbus]

Does Yi Dao actually die or we have a chance to see him again?

Also I didn't understood a bit of stuff

Why is it important for everyone to think we are dead? I think I missed some lore at some point.

[fleet maple]

Aureate Pavillion wanted to kill everyone related to aunt Han so you have to hide your identity to avoid being hunted down

[rose nimbus]

Oh ok.

Yeah I think I misread something at some point cuz.

In the end of Qinghe and start of Kaifeng I was lost lost

[fleet maple]

You got a letter from Wen Wuque to aunt Han, so that's why you have to go to kaifeng to find her. (letter is in your mail in case you missed it)

[rose nimbus]

Ooooh I see

That's the part I missed then

[fleet maple]

Yeah Wen Wuque is the only clue you got to find her so there starts the MC's first step to the jianghu

[foggy shadow]

Wen wuque asked aunt han to come to kaifeng?
So we got the letter and now we came to kaifeng in hope tht aunt han maybe in kaifeng.

Does tht sum it up?🤔
But idk when did we get tht letter..in the last chaos we never met aunt han.

[round beacon]

Is Uncle Jiang the star stealer? Do we find who it is

Are WE the child that is supposed to be taught by Said star stealer?

[gaunt crow]

Wait so the Kaifeng STORY chapter only goes up to defeating Lord Shi? Not further? I thought it was gonna be more intensive. My original thoughts were, when entering the room where the gold coin vessel was stolen and you saw all the bosses, that you’d need to fight them ALL to get the coin vessel.

[fleet maple]

No in the letter wen wuque said he would help her find a safe place for the folks to escape to in exchange for a favor, which he asker her to change zheng e into shen yilun. The letter was in your mail so you might have missed it

[west hawk]

Yeah, basically, this Wen Wuque person agreed to help Aunt Han find a new place to relocate to, since Aunt Han clearly thought there was some heat coming down on the Faceless.

[open raptor]

Offscreen yeah. Its really more of insurance to justify not having you thrown in prison immediately

I am not a fan of the random story timeskips myself. If something is happening, show me

Even just a still frame slideshow cutscene of events

[covert hazel]

It's a fakeass pill only your gullible MC believed was real. You think Big Zhao would really let you eat such a thing?

I can bet you it was really like, a ball of mud or something you cured with a ball of cat fur.

[open raptor]

Or he just knew he could give you the antidote at any time

[west hawk]

Probably that yeah

The former, you would have to actually explain why the pill didn't work, but with the latter, Big Zhao could have just "acquired" some from his "contacts".

[hollow dove]

so big zhao is the emperor? becaus of the trailer?

[old oracle]

Did anyone else even escape to this route? A bunch of people still at blissful retreat still rebuilding and looking sad and depressed; the rest dead or missing

[west hawk]

No, it was never used because the attack happened.

[old oracle]

Oh ye it happened a day earlier

[west hawk]

Like, it's a route in terms of the figurative sense, like "I will prepare a place for you to lie low at Kaifeng, and I will help you get there safely - but it wasn't like, an actual path or route.

[old oracle]

I see, but i was wondering why people were still rebuilding blissful retreat, technically cant the aureates try to attack again and question them? Maybe less relevant if unfated tian and aunt han not there?

[west hawk]

So, not everyone knows about the Faceless and Aunt Han being the Water Lady. I think a good chunk of people who did know died during the attack because they were the actual leaders and martial artists of the community, and thus defended the village and died for it - instead of being escorted to safety, much like Yi Dao and MC.

So the majority of the survivors are completely in the dark as to why the attack happened.

The ones that survived and are in the know don't know about Han's deal with Wuque, because Han kept that knowledge close to the chest and the MC has the only piece of evidence that tells them that. They also probably know that the attack probably wasn't after the Faceless themselves considering that the clinic and the well outside it was basically untouched - which is where the Faceless actually operate out of.

They also know the MC survived, so they'll probably stick around to make sure they have a place to come back to.

[old oracle]

Lore is so deep im afraid we wont see uncle jiang or aunt han until like the 20th region 😂

[west hawk]

Probably XD. The moment we actually get to talk to them properly is when we'd actually get answers, so the Devs are going to keep that away for a while.

[old oracle]

Or they keep teasing us w 1 second appearances of them and yeah prolonging 😂

[west hawk]

Aunt Han, I think could be earlier, but Jiang knows way too much about the MCs past to ever let us have more than a couple of seconds conversation

[old oracle]

Its so lonely in the jianghu 😔 yidao was right

[novel merlin]

guys

[vocal summit]

Star stealer is the mansion owner wife

i think

[dull temple]

JOIN OUR GUILD >:DD

[old oracle]

How many guilds can we join? Im in one already, also im a noob 😂

[pastel acorn]

#guild-recruitment

[foggy shadow]

Ahh i see i see tqq

[foggy shadow]

Yepp thanku, got it👍

[dull temple]

Lolll not sure but ours is pretty active so you won’t be lonely

[dull temple]

He said he was lonely that’s why 🥲

[pastel acorn]

I know bro sorry

[old oracle]

Dm me ur ID and invite me as friend and ill try to join dude

[solid needle]

kaifeng last chapter when?????

[open raptor]

We got the last chapter of Kaifeng pretty sure

Now we wait on chapter 3 and a new zone

[solid needle]

where? its locked

[open raptor]

Where?

None of it is locked for me

Several people have gotten basically 100% already minus the duels we aren't high enough level for

[solid needle]

are u trolling

[open raptor]

Are u trolling

No more chapters to kaifeng

Looks like we will get another side quest at some point, but the chapter 2 story is done

If I remember, the next chapter is Hexi desert? I could be misrembering though

[solid needle]

jianghu legacy last chapter

[open raptor]

I see that^

It seems like we've misunderstood each other, my bad

[open raptor]

Seems like not until January at least

Based on the road map

[foggy shadow]

Wow..mine is everything like 19% 12% 😂

[fleet maple]

Any Zhu yu lore from the heaven's fall campaign?

[unreal brook]

How does big zhao know uncle jiang?

[fleet maple]

They were involved with the military

[unreal brook]

For the same side? Or did they face each other?

[zinc dock]

I hate this place i hate this place

Whoever thought of this place puzzle should try it themselves

https://tenor.com/view/angry-thiago-mad-angry-fist-emoji-gif-17761307

[dawn terrace]

Ngl did this puzzle blind and it worked out for some reason

[zinc dock]

And then fall 100 times to finally get to that buddha head

[fleet maple]

Not to mention those mfs shooting at you

[zinc dock]

Lowering the difficulty to recommended made it tolerable

Faaahhh

[unreal brook]

i did a chunk of it, and got confused when i couldnt go further, then i got a quest an irl day later that activated the last part of the puzzle

[unreal brook]

forget the statue head, climbing the ladders without falling was painful

[zinc dock]

And then walking at the roof part

[pastel acorn]

That bugged for me when I got it

Didn't show on mystic skills list til I restarted

[crimson acorn]

How long chapter 3 release ?

[pastel acorn]

We have no idea bro but you can look at #content-roadmap for all planned updates that are coming soon

[upbeat flint]

https://tenor.com/view/speed-frustrated-speed-over-it-speed-crash-out-speed-crashing-out-crash-out-gif-12382450018351543960

Just walked into kaifeng and got scammed like thirty times

https://tenor.com/view/ishowspeed-my-mom-is-kinda-homeless-please-speed-i-need-this-tired-blow-gif-15401023925154467112

Now my links aren’t embedding man 😭

[old oracle]

Was this the place w the scary traps, even barely touching those traps will kill u, i really hated it.....

[zinc dock]

Yes

[zinc dock]

It's funny i hold off doing Unholy prophecy quest and instead doing the mystic skill quest so now i go back to the place there's no enemy and the traps are deactivated

[old oracle]

Im definitely never doing that creepy side quest near the mist area w the red lady popping up 3x

[night flame]

same side

[zinc dock]

Is doing Maorong Yuan quest after the big fight still exists or

When she fall in the fire i was like nooo

Whyy

[covert hazel]

This game is intent on ruining our MC's chances with all potential sugarmommies

[unreal brook]

from their point of view, we faint a lot

[vale dagger]

Just finished the story🥹🥹🥹

Omg it was so good esp towards the end

All the plot twists

I loved it

And I’m so glad I switched to Mandarin voiceover for this chapter

[fleet maple]

The climax was worth all the time gating BS

[vale dagger]

Seeing the English subtitles underneath a lot of the translations didn’t make a ton of sense lol

Lots of dialogue I think only work in mandarin

[vale dagger]

I levelled up a ton before going into story

So I got to do most of it at once

[fleet maple]

Back in my days you had to wait 4 5 days

[vale dagger]

I still have like 300k stored xp I need to release

So the ember of the east

Is actually 2 ppl

[fleet maple]

No, it's yingying

"Gongzi" is 2 people

[vale dagger]

Ohhh

So she does just slip on the disguise

I was like maybe she has a stunt double😂

[fleet maple]

I cant believe I couldnt guess Yingying was ember of the east lol

But she hides her golden hair under that cat ear cap

[vale dagger]

The three kids being Dao Lord was what got me

10 yrs old w 20 yrs of experience fr

They’re skilled

😂

[fleet maple]

Right, that was unexpected too.

[covert hazel]

The best part about the reveal is they all tell you exactly who they are, you just don't believe them

[vale dagger]

LMAO yeahhh

[covert hazel]

After the end of Kaifeng there's a special encounter with Big Zhao teaching a bunch of kids "official tongue", in his heavily accented mandarin.

It's super funny in Chinese, I wonder how they handled that in English

[summer crescent]

3 gnomes in a trenchcoat turned into 3 little sh** in whatever-the-hell-it-is-they're-wearing.

[icy jetty]

After I defeat Murong Yuan do I "Pick up the Fragments" of the wooden eagle or let them drift? Is there any significance?

[fleet maple]

I just picked them up, cant remember what it did but you can't go wrong picking it up

[vale dagger]

or the ppl (granny and the widow) with accents from diff regions of china

[harsh cipher]

Exploring Kaifeng and see two little girls by themselves. saying their mom and dad and brother vanished after leading them to a unknown place. like dang man it really is dark knowing two sisters got abandoned.

sadge you can't adopt them given that our mc doesn't really have a home right now.

least I don't XD

[foggy shadow]

I bought one place in kaifeng 😏

[cedar geyser]

guys main story ends after defeating furnace of righteousness boss?

[dawn oyster]

there is a smol epilogue cutscene afterwards but thats about it ye

you'll find more stories if u do campaign boss and some wandering tales

they are connected to the main story

also the main story technically doesnt end, it ends 'for now' until they give new story content

[cedar geyser]

i see thank u so much ♥

[pastel acorn]

why does everyone know han and jiang lol

granny collecting strays

[covert hazel]

The Water Lady is kind of a jianghu legend, the only face changer for the longest time ||and a super high level Aureate Pavilion operative||, who somehow broke countless promises and still remained alive without getting her head cut off by people seeking vengeance

[pastel acorn]

Yeah but not everyone calls her by her name and first name basis too, there are a few characters who mentions her to you in Kaifeng tho by first name or name basis

[lethal shore]

WHERE IS OUR PARTING TEARS

[left scaffold]

I straight up missed something in a cut scene, we fight the river king, defeat him, other dude shows up, last you see is them about to fight and then nothing happens?

[spare bolt]

ok, I'm, missing something..

I need to use the long distance snatch ability to get a book, but I don't have enough vitality. the message says restore vitality via boundary stone.. nothing happened.. I'm in the city so I can't just pick a fight .. wtf do I do?

[pastel acorn]

Real gone

[pastel acorn]

Snatch ability does not use vitality right?

[lethal shore]

Yeah I’m never forgiving Yingying no matter what

She steps on others without a care in the world

[spare bolt]

I hate the building quests..

[spare bolt]

NOT ENOUGH VITALITY and my vitality is completely filled..

[pastel acorn]

Try to restart the game bro

[fleet maple]

That white dude is the emperor’s brother who was scheming to get sthing from the river king. River king didnt know who was the mastermind so he used us to lure that schemer out, is what I understood

[covert hazel]

The river master went north to investigate the death of his spouse, the previous river master.

She died due to circumstances that put Song and Big Zhao as the most likely culprit.

But the only way Big Zhao can tell him that it wasn't his fault, is if he tells a random sailor gang leader the less than honorable way he seized power and became emperor.

So heaven's fall, following the River Master's grudges, chose to rebel against the government, leading to their dire poverty.

And, well, can you really expect an emperor to hand blackmail material to a gang leader just so he can beg for forgiveness?

But then, our MC with no affiliation to anyone comes onto the scene, backed by the name of the people who raised him, Jiang and Han.

So, with the MC as a bridge, the River Master got an audience with Big Zhao's little brother, and they had secret talks on their own...

Most likely...

Big Zhao decided to actually do the unthinkable and tell River Master the truth of his rebellion - And the real likely cause of his wife's death - Aureate Pavilion, who is working with the Khitans

[left scaffold]

thank you, that last bit is where I'm lost cause it just ended abruptly

[fleet maple]

Im sure the little bro got ulterior motives too, no?

[covert hazel]

At this point, no, we're only seeing the beginning of his descent to darkness. Right now he's still a nice guy underneath all that sacrificing talk

[fluid vector]

what is the population of kaifeng

[covert hazel]

Chinese humans of male or female gender.

There's a few Khitan diplomats here and there

[desert harness]

I just did the newspaper today and the answer was wrong

I'm confused

[rose nimbus]

I don't mind spoilers, actually they make me want to play the game more

Does that lady and the baby actually die or?

[fleet maple]

She didnt get the baby back, lost her mind

[rose nimbus]

Ah

It would be cruel If the game actually killed a baby in front of us

[fleet maple]

Kids are as far as the devs willing to go

[gray remnant]

Soo, i heard two guys talking about Zheng E when I was running aroused in soaring sands. I know it was him because they said it was Zheng of the Granary.

And they talked about another guy too. They said that Zheng E and the other guy have a "cozy" relationship.

And the other say something like "that can't be" or something. And the conversation ends with him saying to keep it down.

I'm sorry idk the exact location. I should have checked. I really wanna know what's going on

[jaunty coyote]

big zhao is the emperor like what?

[dawn terrace]

Yep!

[boreal raft]

bruh why do they give you the option to give old jin all the money you made 🤣

[jaunty coyote]

Achievement

[prisma oasis]

does this ever get resolved or is it just flavor text

[jolly yarrow]

Nah doesn't really affect the story regardless of the decision

[zinc dock]

I hate this hobo and his fish

[round plinth]

Zheng E was trained by River guy, and grew up as friends with his Kid and the other adopted son

basically these are his friends/adopted siblings and foster father

[old oracle]

guys i have a q. In sorrowfield village, we rescue this kid on the top of the roof...zong something, did he make it out? and he said he would be our student and his mom said they would make u a tablet...did anyone come across this tablet or kid in the future? ALSO. the secret boss before fighting the final one....the dude chilling in the ice area...who is he?

[west hawk]

Honestly, i did the same, though i feel like I might have screwed up leaving the lady there. Cause it looks like they were going to dispose of her anyway, by the way they were stringing her up

[unreal brook]

youre telling me i need to do a gacha to get the strategic sword skill?

i spent all my gold on that bookstore

[fleet maple]

No, you need to steal it

Skill steal.

[hazy ridge]

i think they're talking about sword horizon

[unreal brook]

the uh inner way thing

from ghost market

[ocean vigil]

is the widow with her child dead?

[fleet maple]

The widow is still alive, but her baby probably not

She didnt get her baby back so yeah...

[west widget]

So Zheng E technically is Feng Yi's/ Er Ma adopted son? And I just know he had other children. I was wondering where I can find bits of River Master's lore because I really like him (also was very sad I can't find him anywhere after heavenfall campaign quest 💔)

I tried to Google or go to the steam community page but nobody has been making the story explanation for him yet. I'm actually getting desperate 😂

[fleet maple]

Who's er ma? U mean Zhu Yu

Oh, his other name

Hopefully someone will do a summary on Zhu Yu and Feng Yi's lore too

[west widget]

I just scrolled up a bit and found someone explaining little bits about the quest, and I got the gist of it at least. But yeah I hope someone can help explain the whole feud between our big feesh guy and the emperor (also our unc and aunt). Because Aunt Han definitely trusted him enough to let him be our boatman to Kaifeng, probably with some kind of information as a payment.

[unreal brook]

Zhu? Zhu who?
Zhu yu
I;m not zhu, i'm mi

[round plinth]

You piece it together through the lore letters and stuff that you collect, it basically says that Feng Yi's wife, the previous River Master, loved picking up and adopting stray kids, they ended up with three of them this way and then in other documents you get them being named and things

its a lot of linking stuff together over descriptions and indirectly discovering the narrative

but yes its all linked and makes sense if you can connect it from all the separate places the info is given as pieces

sorry, one kid was their own (Angry spear wife)

The other two are strays

that just became their kids

[covert hazel]

So basically Zhu Yu came from the Silver Needles, as one of the top three disciples of the founder.

The other two are the current Sect Leader for silver needles, and Sun Buqi, the man responsible for the zombie invasion in Kaifeng.

[covert hazel]

So 50 years ago, Sun Buqi found out about the immortality bug... Then got obsessed with immortality and began doing human experimentation until he discovered the strain of strange fungus in Kaifeng that can be used to turn people to zombies

[idle crown]

did u just say ZOMBIES?

[covert hazel]

To clean house and investigate the traitor to the Silver Needles once his plot was discovered a few years later, Zhu Yu, a famous heroine already, left to Kaifeng to investigate.

This was about 20 years ago.

Khitans attacked, and she was instead embroiled in repelling the Khitans.

During the conflict, she met with the fishmonger youth Feng Yi and fell in love.

Also during the conflict, she met with the Zhang family who served as River Master for over 60 generations, since Han dynasty.

There, she saw the superstitious people and their unshakable belief in the River Master as a god, and scoffed in distaste.

The eldest son of the house at the time. The crazy old man you saw in the shrine asked her if she had any faith, and if she knew faith is the greatest medicine.

She said she only had faith in herself, and that planted the seed for her to become River Master in the future

[hollow mesa]

Is ruby still alive ?

[covert hazel]

The river master is actually a family that use something called the Dragon Pill to turn an ordinary carp into the giant monster you see. Then they have the giant fish eat the sediments of the Yellow River to control the flood.

But the pill itself is really made from the zombie fungus, so after a while the fish will go crazy, and it will be up to the river master to put down their beloved fish and raise a new one.

[tacit flare]

shes dead

[covert hazel]

The elder Zhang brother wanted to wander the Jianghu and hated the idea of the River Master too. The younger Zhang brother is too weak to control the massive river beast. But Zhu Yu eventually realized that people needed hope and belief in a symbol, so the Zhang family gave her the mantle of River Master. She worked with the Zhang family to repel the Khitans by using the river to drown tens of thousands of Khitans and repelled the slaughter for good.

But at the same time the Zhang family took on the brunt of the Khitan's anger and their clan was wiped out.

The elder Zhang brother was spared because he was not around.

The younger brother, the mastermind behind the water attack, died and his son was adopted by Zhu Yu

With the Khitans repelled, she went to investigate Sun Buqi's hideout, and on the way saw the tragedy of Zheng family's slaughter from the fleeing refugees who survived the slaughter. She took Zheng E as an adopted son.

Then Sun Buqi's hideout collapsed, and the zombie virus spread, and she went in to investigate. Unfortunately she discovered the truth, but she herself was infected with poison. Seeing no other choice, she wrote to the silver needles to send aid and a bunch of doctors arrived to build the nearby settlement to study how to detoxify the poison.

[pastel acorn]

Bro, so this somehow connects to YingYing story too as it has Zheng E too as he is working with YingYing right?

Everything is interconnected wow

Always a pleasure reading your breakdown of the stories bro

[covert hazel]

Yes, Zheng E is basically Zhu Yu's disciple in martial arts... And also heavily infected with the zombie virus.

Because he stole Zhu Yu's research on Sun Buqi's work to preserve his younger sister

[pastel acorn]

Basically that AH would have turned her sister if it means to keep her alive into an undead

Yeah he is a real AH

[covert hazel]

Well, his kindness got his entire family murdered by people he saved, so...

[pastel acorn]

Doesn't justify turning your sister into an undead

[covert hazel]

Anyways, continuing with Zhu Yu's tale...

After so many feats, she was recognized by the government of the time, even the emperor of Later Zhou, Cairong. They promised that if the Yellow River ever floods, simply strike the drums and imperial troops will come to help build the dam.

5-6 years ago...

The Yellow River flooded unexpectedly.

Zhu Yu smashed the drums with all her might but nobody came.

The sailor gang fought with all their life to stop the flood from destroying Kaifeng.

And when she was exhausted and emotionally betrayed... She was attacked by an assassin. Her poison she had been suppressing broke out and she died in the attack.

Feng Yi is understandably upset...

Later it is discovered Cairong mysteriously passed away just when the flood happened, and Big Zhao was seizing power so imperial troops could not be dispatched to help Zhu Yu.

So her mysterious assailant is assumed to be a government assassin from the ensuing Song dynasty, since they are who caused Zhu Yu to die.

As a result, the sailor gang Zhu Yu built with Feng and Zhang split off into two factions. The red scales and the green whatevers. The red guys stubbornly refuse to cooperate with the government and make life troublesome for them, so Big Zhao retaliated and turned Heaven's Fall from the greatest pier in Kaifeng to a slum of poverty and despair. They're led by our wife, Feng Ruzhi, who we totally beat and she cheated into a tie. But I'll forgive her if she becomes our wife after we come back as the rich young master of the new Heaven's Pier making very expensive wine and understands she can stop scamming money with the whole "beat me to marry me" scam and I'll take care of her, totally.

Meanwhile, the Green side lead by the last son of the Zhang family, Zhu Yu's adopted son, went to work with the government, which you see is now prospering in the western side of Kaifeng.

The two sides are actually working together to ensure survival of the gang while the current River Master, Feng Yi, who took his wife's mantle... Rode north to investigate the truth.

[pastel acorn]

Suddenly there is a timer, and suddenly you cannot join the fight again😂

[covert hazel]

As for the aftermath of the whole thing...

It's mostly conjecture and assumptions now but...

||Big Zhao needs to disclose his less than stellar account of how he got in power to wash himself of suspicion. That's a huge self depreciating move for an emperor, and it puts a lot of blackmail material in someone who just ruined your war prep plans.

But from how Zhao Guangyi and the river master parleyed at the end, it could very much be the case... Because by disclosing it, Big Zhao points the death of Zhu Yu to the real big bad - Aureate Pavilion, who had been working with the Khitans to destabilize the north. And the likely culprits of Cairong's death that sparked Big Zhao's seizing of power.

In this way, Big Zhao plants a traitor in someone who just worked with South Tang and the Aureate Pavilion, and a very powerful one at that, because killing of waifu is a grudge that can never be resolved.||

[pastel acorn]

Bro || some would probably ask where is Zhao Guangyi in the river master quest 😂😂😂||

[old oracle]

Makes sense cus he was coughing during the boss fight lol

@covert hazel the sorrowfield village where we visit zheng es past and try to save his sister, is the optional boss fight important? Or is he just some rando npc who started the pillage

[covert hazel]

I forgot who that was, I should read up on his file. I think he's just some rando npc.

His dialogue when you fight him is "I didn't want to do this but I owe a life debt to (name)..."

[wet estuary]

How does the ||list of faceless ones fall|| into ||Velvet Shade|| hands? think I missed that part

[left scaffold]

they are roughly going for historical accuracy so it's going to follow the actual events in which he doesn't have all the information the wanderer has

[covert hazel]

If you mean Big Zhao

In this story's continuity, Big Zhao himself did not take the throne through plotting.

One day, a super powerful martial artist like him fell asleep after drinking wine and when he woke up, he was adorned with emperor's robes and told he's the ruler now.

And Cairong's death was very unexpected.

There are a lot of cirucmstances regarding their deaths.

[fleet maple]

Damn bro how did you get all this juicy lore, this needs to be pinned

[fleet maple]

It's a fake list, velvet shade just wanted to use us to deal with the khitan envoy so they lured us with a fake one

[covert hazel]

Well, just like how Li Zuo is alive, they changed the historical Big Zhao's big plot to control the army and the narrative and name himself king into a conspiracy hosted with mysterious circumstances due to the Khitans and the South Tang suddenly being espionage masterminds.

Cairong's death now coincide with Zhu Yu's assassination and flooding of the Yellow River, and Big Zhao was repeatedly villified by people like Yingying and Rongyuan's brother...

You can check out the lore by checking through the timeline and dark history of Kaifeng, and I think at least one bit of information there snuck in there from Hexi story I accidentally read while reading chinese guides to unlock all the story bits...

[old oracle]

Yeah it made me think...didnt zheng e help some friend whos brother got some bandits to pillage city? Or was this friend a bandit lol and is this the dude..but whys he this old, and why did zheng e not also get killed?

Im only 30% through kaifeng so maybe i just need to keep playing to understand but i feel like even obvious things arent obvious to me even when revealed in cutscenes, i need to process the dialogue slowly lol

[covert hazel]

Zheng E was saved at the last minute by you, in the vision. In real life, he was saved by Zhu Yu, whose role you were playing in that illusion.

Zheng E helped his childhood friend get some food, and that childhood friend's brother learned "Oh, the Zheng family has food!" so he organized all the refugees to rob the family estate of all food

[west widget]

@covert hazel thank for explaining this whole thing, I really appreciate it🫶🏻I was down bad for Feng Yi and always laughing whenever I beat him and a signpost pop out showing other people being down bad too🤣also I love how every explanation story of Zhu Yu has the OP mentioning Feng Ruzhi as wife, I guess you can say the women was down bad for the dad while the men go for the daughter lmao.

By the way, just to make sure, the ghost we saw during the investigation into the zombie virus is Zhu Yu, right?, and then during Zheng E campaign we see a zombie doing some healing stuff -- which turns out to be someone who saved us when we first arrived in the village. I genuinely thought that was Zhu Yu, but after reading the story explanation I found out she was long dead. Then who was the zombie doctor we saw in the cave?

[covert hazel]

The zombie doctor is an unnamed Silver Needle doctor who succumbed to the poison while doing research for the antidote. Countless Silver Needle doctors lost their lives there, and you could even say Zhu Yu lost her life there as well.

[old oracle]

dude not gonna lie; i had to think about it when i saw her blonde.....i be like...why she now blonde? then it clicked 🤣

[grave shuttle]

LMFAOOO

[wet estuary]

oh, I thought only the transcription manual was fake, also there was something about us stealing the list itself for a nine mortal ways guy I think? been a bit since I did 😅

[clear wolf]

Do we really gotta do this to a helpless giant fish

[covert hazel]

It's suffering, the medicine to grow it that big is causing it immeasurable pain and suffering and is slowly killing it and driving it crazy.

[boreal raft]

Big Zhao is my favorite character so far

[west hawk]

\What which vision is this?

Is it part of the Granary quest?

[lethal shore]

How the hell are three kids the current sect master of the 9 mortal ways sect

How cooked is that sect

In fact we even beat these kids and we aren’t even that strong rn

[covert hazel]

In the sick village, 12 years blue book quest

[fleet maple]

It's the lost chapter, the one where we go to Zheng E's village when it was attacked by bandits in the past

[old oracle]

sorrowfield village; twelve years of feud thing

[dim walrus]

When will story2 unlock?

[dawn terrace]

so far in CN still presumed dead, and shes probably dead

[round beacon]

Faceless needs a hot fix

Her jump red attack is heavily delayed

It sometimes doesn't even show her jumping

[coral timber]

😭 I can't believe I just spent the whole day doing the Kaifeng story line... it's such a buggy translated mess... half of the plot does not flow well at all...

[pastel acorn]

Story 2 is already done

[pastel acorn]

Unless of course you have not gone through the breakthrough requirements yet

[jolly yarrow]

Has anyone seen the upcoming twin lion hero's realm? Ya'll we're so cooked.

[fleet maple]

Is it hard?

[jolly yarrow]

Pretty heavy on mechanics and team work 🥲 random lobby is going to be hard.

[fleet maple]

They making us work for those gold chests

[jolly yarrow]

Oof no links 🥀

It looks so fun though! I have a feeling that people will get used to it after a month

[old oracle]

Zheng es sister lowkey has the same model as ruby....i see who the devs like going after...

[dim walrus]

I couldn't pass that one 😿

[fleet maple]

you need to follow the lanterns

[dim walrus]

Yep I couldn't find the things, I keep dying before I found things 😓, is it able to help by Fri?

[fleet maple]

You need the invisible skill from the skill theft mission

[pastel acorn]

In Qinghe right?

[fleet maple]

Yeah, I didnt use it and just ran past all the ghosts before they hit me lol

[pastel acorn]

Wind sense helps too right?

[fleet maple]

Didnt need it to find the chest, I just ran along the lanterns and hope for the best

[dim walrus]

🙂‍↕️

[pastel acorn]

You can get it easily it won't even take 10 mins go to peace bell tower then look for skill theft

Good skill has good synergy with touch of death

[dim walrus]

I've been trying like 100 times and still need iron spear

[pastel acorn]

I meant the invisibility skill

[dim walrus]

Yeah, I found that skill, I couldn't find the way to iron spear chest 😓

[fleet maple]

Follow the lanterns, there might be some signposts along the way

[covert hazel]

I lead the ghost soldiers to the river for free locks.

[ashen moss]

is yingying a guy or is ember a girl

[lean kelp]

If you by any chance have a full spec healer you can just ignore the mist and live without lanterns fine (while you are lost and trying to find the road again)

[lean kelp]

It is disabled during this quest

[pastel acorn]

Oof

[dim walrus]

Yes…Ty . I watched ytube guides and it’s a little different in mobile version. I’ve lost in fog , I think pc version has more clear to see the pathway(btw I did it, much appreciated for the guidances)

[lean kelp]

I remember having a hard time with it on ps5 too, so healing helped me haha

[dim walrus]

I was trying like over 100 times at that task it’s really stressed me out

[oak trout]

Ember is a she. (Yingying pretended to be a man)

[tough crest]

err so was brother zhou the king or something in that country kaifeng?

[obsidian hollow]

I’m still so confused from that velvet shade quest why were the ladies laughing at us 😭

[covert hazel]

Cuz you were mega cherry boi

They used you, washed you, wrung you out to dry... And you were all "I'm so glad I was helpful"

[main urchin]

Guys I just full on sobbed in the end of the God of avarice story… the turtle grandma and the resemblance of her lost son had me IN TEARS

[languid dust]

enrealdiad creoque es el hermano del emperador, por una animacion cuando el emerador le pregunta "hermano confias en esa persona? gran no seque "si lo conozco de hace poco pero es confiable" "tu: "menudos conactos tienes....." (el emperador.... PD. el emperador no es rey es UN DIOS COMO LOS FARAONES y JESUS)

[vocal summit]

Whats the deal with the lion dancers in gracetown?? I'm just watching the show and that psycho attacks me

Do they have brain worms

[old oracle]

go back and visit her after chapter 2; i gave her as much money as i could lol

[vocal summit]

that's why I joined the Velvet Shade

Be one of the users not one of the tools

And now if Jiangnan comes after me they have to find me in the Rivalry Hall

and they have to poke trouble with Velvet Shade

[vocal summit]

Omg, i found Kaifeng irl

[fleet maple]

It’s quite a famous city in china

[boreal raft]

just finished the last 2 parts of the main story its soo goood 😭

[main urchin]

THANK YOU

[pastel acorn]

Mulan was crazy for that

[lean kelp]

Do we know if final chapter for Kaifeng scheduled for final current season breakthrough or sooner/later?

[coral timber]

Is it just me or is the Kaifeng storyline just really confusing? Like the translations are so rough that I have a hard time digesting the story.

[coral timber]

Still weird how she has dark hair when she has her hat on but gold hair when it's off

[boreal raft]

what part of the story? it didnt seem off to me

[coral timber]

No it's hard to explain. Like nothing was off but.. it just felt off. Idk how to explain it

[boreal raft]

u said the story was confusing

what part of the story

[coral timber]

I can't remember tbh lmao

[boreal raft]

I think I got a good grasp of it

[coral timber]

I think what I'm thinking of is the flow

[fleet maple]

Translation wasnt that bad

[coral timber]

Either that or there's just allusions to Chinese culture that we don't understand but all I remember was that there were times where I felt a little confused but idk I played the entire Kaifeng storyline on Saturday it was a long day lmao I can barely remember it now

[boreal raft]

tbh I dont really know the history, but I can summarize some

Basically the new dynasty in Kaifeng banned the previous dynasty's coins (Tang coins) which is what most common folks have

The common folk are left to suffer because of the coin shortage of copper coins ( Song new dynasty Coins)

[fleet maple]

I can help explain the story but need to know where ur confused at.

It's gonna be a long summary bro lol

[covert hazel]

People keep saying that but never talking about why the shortage is so bad, which is hyperinflation caused by Aureate Pavilion and The Ember of the East...