Immortal

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

Liyen wakes in a prison-like room in the Netherworld. The Wuxin wearing Chengyin’s body visits and introduces himself as Lord Dalian, the ruler of the Wuxin. He brings her to new quarters and instructs her to get ready for the banquet they are holding in her honor. Just before Lord Dalian leaves, a flicker of the real Chengyin breaks through, seizing control of his body long enough to mouth the word “run” to Liyen.

Lord Dalian sends a kind Wuxin servant named Mingwen to prepare Liyen for the banquet. The servant shows Liyen unexpected kindness by risking Lord Dalian’s wrath to subtly heal some of her wounds. This perplexes Liyen, who always assumed all Wuxin are “bloodthirsty monsters, hungering for strife” (302). The thought of more Wuxin like Mingwen, who are “no more evil or good than [her] own people” (302), makes Liyen reconsider everything she thought she knew about their kind. When Liyen asks Mingwen about Wuxin history, Mingwen reveals that the Wuxin once lived among the immortals in the Golden Desert. However, when Queen Caihong seized power and united the tribes, the Wuxin did not agree to her rule and were persecuted.