Chapter 55: Why Share?

[This is so good!]

[Are you talking about The Empress?]

[Yeah, yeah, yeah! I watched one episode each of The Path of Bones and The Empress, and I feel like The Empress has a faster pace.]

[The Path of Bones is great too. Wow, Lu Xu’s acting is incredible. Yu Yi’s transformation really stunned me.]

After the first two episodes of both dramas aired, an unexpected outcome emerged. Despite the pre-release rivalry and the buzz dominating social media, both shows received surprisingly positive reviews. On authoritative review sites, both dramas scored around 9.5.

The Empress stood out with its core theme. It resonated as a “big heroine” drama, the kind audiences adored these days. The protagonist refused to depend on or submit to others, displaying a free-spirited soul. From the very beginning, her ambitions transcended the palace walls—her eyes were on the entire world.

[So good!!]

[Who doesn’t love a clever and visionary heroine?!]

On the other hand, The Path of Bones excelled through Lu Xu’s portrayal of Yu Yi.

The initial scenes of Yu Yi’s introduction had been partially shown in trailers, but the difference between a trailer and the full drama was night and day.

“Yu Yi, loved by everyone, is truly blessed. And everyone Yu Yi loves is equally blessed.” — This was the assessment of one drama critic.

The warmth of the bonfire was conveyed through a gentle melody, soft and slow, like tender raindrops caressing a cheek.

The shy and silent Yu Yi was like a kitten carefully protected by his teammates at the center of their group.

Someone read letters from his family to him, while others brought him cured, rock-hard salted fish. The items they brought varied, but their concern for him was unquestionably genuine.

Although Kong Le had not given Yu Yi’s character a happy ending, in the opening of The Path of Bones, the original novel, he had poured genuine effort into portraying Yu Yi’s gentleness.

While watching the drama, Tan Qi truly felt a sense of warmth.

Even though Yu Yi’s styling was plain—likely the makeup artist’s way of masking Lu Xu’s original appearance—she could still sense the warmth radiating from the character.

It was subtle and intricate, filling her heart with genuine joy.

Lu Xu had never played this type of role before, but after seeing Yu Yi, Tan Qi felt that this character seemed closer to Lu Xu’s true self.

Online, Lu Xu appeared flamboyant and brash, but in person, he was gentle and delicate.

[Lu Xu should try more gentle, ordinary roles next time,] Tan Qi messaged a friend. When she received no reply, her attention returned to The Path of Bones.

She actually preferred the earlier parts of the plot, so she deliberately paused for a moment.

Because in the next moment, Yu Yi’s nightmare was about to begin.

The ordeal of Team 01 was bloodier than the previews had shown—blood splattered everywhere: on the ground, on trees, on grass, on the photo of a lover, and on the pink teddy bear secretly brought along for a daughter.

The scenes were dimly lit, creating a disorienting mix of sight and smell, as if the metallic scent of blood had permeated the air.

A moment ago, they had been full of hope for the future. In the next, pairs of eyes remained open, unblinking for eternity, with only the tightly clenched photographs in their lifeless hands testifying to their unfulfilled desires.

To the mastermind behind this massacre, Team 01 were nothing more than ants.

But to Yu Yi, they were family—they were everything.

The next shot focused on a pair of eyes.

Those eyes were smeared with blood, whether his own or his teammates’, it was hard to tell. Only after the assailants had departed did they slowly open.

He looked at his fallen teammates. His pupils were dilated to the point of almost losing focus, blood stained his lashes, seeping into his eyes until they glowed with a deep, haunting red.

Yu Yi slowly crawled to his feet.

He was gravely injured, so every movement was painstakingly slow. Yet no matter how long it took, he stubbornly closed his teammates’ eyes, held their now lifeless hands, picked up the scattered photographs, wiped away the bloodstains, and tucked the pink teddy bear into his teammate’s chest.

He made a silent vow.

Yu Yi began crawling through the night.

This segment moved at a deliberate, slow pace, but as Tan Qi watched, she felt herself immersed in Yu Yi’s emotions.

Yu Yi didn’t cry, but the sorrow he exuded at that moment was so tangible that Tan Qi could feel it through the screen.

She found it almost unbearable to watch, wishing she could comfort Yu Yi on the screen.

Revenge was satisfying, and in the original novel, Yu Yi’s path of vengeance encountered few obstacles. But the pain he endured at this moment was real.

What was lost was lost forever.

It would never come back.

The night was eerily quiet. In this scene, the director chose not to use somber or heavy music. Instead, there was only the sound of Yu Yi dragging his legs along the ground, accompanied by the occasional chirping of insects. Yet no matter how excruciating the pain or how terrifying the night, Yu Yi’s eyes remained resolutely open.

A pair of eyes.

Two pairs, three pairs, four pairs…

The living eyes of Yu Yi overlapped with the lifeless eyes of his fallen teammates.

Until the horizon began to glow faintly with the light of dawn.

And perhaps, even at the end of his life, those bloodstained eyes would remain with him.

[Alas.]

[The dead are already gone, but can the living truly call this living?]

[Even though it wasn’t explicitly shown in the drama, I feel like I can see Yu Yi’s once colorful heart turning black.]

[Ugh, I cry so easily. The moment Yu Yi opened his eyes, I couldn’t hold back anymore.]

Tan Qi liked these comments on the screen.

For reasons she couldn’t quite explain, she felt that Lu Xu’s performance had a strange power—something that made her chest tighten and forced a mournful cry from deep within her. It was as if, the moment her gaze met Yu Yi’s through the screen, she understood everything he was feeling.

Though she was a fan, based on just this segment of his performance, she believed Lu Xu deserved to be hailed as a legend.

When Yu Yi appeared again, his face had changed.

More refined, more striking, cloaked in a deep, unfathomable desire—it was Lu Xu’s true face. Yet, for all its perfection, Yu Yi now seemed like an empty shell, his soul stripped away.

His smile never reached his eyes, and his gaze was so deep it felt as though it could swallow anyone whole.

Yu Yi’s revenge had begun.

As the captain of Team 01, Yu Yi had always been intelligent and skilled, though his teammates’ protective habits often allowed him to display a playful, childlike side.

But now, with no one left to trust, no one to rely on, Yu Yi had no choice but to face danger alone.

On screen, Yu Yi used every means at his disposal to obtain information—through alcohol, dr*gs, and even his own body.

In the dead of night, Yu Yi infiltrated the secret chamber, searching for the ledger. He meticulously committed every word displayed on the machine to memory. The tension in the air was palpable, so thick that even the sound of breathing felt amplified. Yet, Yu Yi remained eerily composed, embodying absolute calm.

He was a blade forged for vengeance.

Though Tan Qi was already familiar with the plot of The Path of Bones, Lu Xu’s performance transcended mere adaptation of the written word.

He was Yu Yi in the flesh.

[I always knew Lu Xu’s acting was incredible, but… he delivered an upgraded version of the Yu Yi I had envisioned.]

[+1+1, Yu Yi’s state during his revenge wasn’t even human, yet he still brought it to life.]

[So powerful!!]

[If Undercover cast Lu Xu as the lead, what would there even be to criticize?]

[Ughhhh, don’t even get me started on Undercover! Thinking about those hacks makes me so angry!]

[This version of Yu Yi, I truly love deeply.]

[The contrast between Yu Yi before and after his revenge is like sunlight versus a cloud that blocks out all light. When Yu Yi first appeared, he gave me the feeling of basking in the sun with freshly laundered blankets—so warm.]

[Such a masterpiece!]

Despite the high praise from the audience, the buzz surrounding The Path of Bones still lagged behind that of The Empress.

Qiao Mengyao’s fanbase was both massive and steadfast, and following the drama’s release, discussions of The Empress dominated forums, chat groups, and other online platforms.

One subplot from the The Empress’s original novel involving the assembly of a royal harem had started to unfold, with one concubine already crossing paths with Xi Rongyi.

[Is February about to deliver another blockbuster drama?]

[The last time Deyi Film shattered records was with Qiao Mengyao’s Born a Woman. This time, with The Empress, the platform is set to rake in another fortune.]

[The level of discussion is so high. Based on search volume, The Empress far outperforms The Path of Bones. Qiao Mengyao is really carrying the show.]

[The Path of Bones and The Empress aren’t even in the same league. What gave you that impression?]

Across major platforms, viewers rooting for The Empress were noticeably more abundant.

Qiao Mengyao herself was a golden brand. With its well-paced storytelling and a solid growth arc for the female lead, The Empress fit perfectly into the type of drama most likely to become a hit in today’s market.

Although The Path of Bones had a strong following of book fans, the buzz they generated was quite limited. It was a relief they weren’t outright opposing the adaptation.

The disastrous flop of Undercover was still fresh in everyone’s minds, and the endless criticism from book fans had played a significant role in its downfall.

However, the second day’s buzz data turned out to be… a bit peculiar.

The Empress had undeniably high numbers. Its first-day average buzz reached 13,900, just shy of 14,000—a figure rarely seen in recent years for a premiere.

And this was with the plot of The Empress not yet fully unfolding.

Qiao Mengyao’s ability to carry a show was beyond question.

Yet, against the colossal presence of The Empress, the first-day popularity score for The Path of Bones came in at—11,111.

A strangely symmetrical number, but it had crossed the 10,000 threshold and even surpassed 11,000.

Breaking 10,000 was no small feat, and every additional 1,000 beyond that became significantly harder to achieve.

There had long been an unspoken consensus among platforms, celebrities, and audiences: surpassing 10,000 marked the dividing line between a drama being considered good or bad.

Dramas like My Baby Prince and Son of Heaven, which follow a bittersweet trajectory from suffering to sweetness, are rare. The vast majority of popular dramas tend to have first-day popularity score hovering around 10,000, fluctuating as the plot develops. Some shows take a long-term growth approach, while others, like The Watchers and Rising Sun, have unpredictable trajectories that leave viewers puzzled.

But regardless of the broader trends, the first-day performance of The Path of Bones was impressive.

Especially when compared to the search volume and discussion levels of The Empress, The Path of Bones appeared unremarkable in most metrics. Achieving such results despite this context was enough to leave the industry genuinely surprised.

Even with a gap of over 2,000 in popularity score, no one felt that The Path of Bones had “lost.”

The two shows were fundamentally different in scale, and the disparity in cast strength was significant. The Path of Bones only had Lu Xu as a widely recognized name, and even then, he had yet to prove himself in the television industry.

[…Actually, the ratings for The Path of Bones are slightly higher than those for The Empress.]

[And that’s despite original fans being harsher critics than the general audience.]

[Hey, no way! Even as a book fan, I have to admit that Lu Xu’s performance really moved me.]

[Same here! I’m super forgiving of performances that genuinely touch me.]

[I love both The Empress and The Path of Bones. The Empress is about one person fighting alongside a group, while The Path of Bones is a solitary battle. Between the two, I find myself drawn more to Yu Yi.]

[Both are excellent dramas—there’s no need to argue over which is better.]

Compared to the intense fan wars surrounding Lu Xu’s previous works and the chaos of shows like The Watchers and Rising Sun, the competition between The Empress and The Path of Bones felt relatively harmonious in the eyes of Lu Xu’s fans.

Fans were naturally unaware of the subtle undercurrents and hidden rivalries between the two dramas. After all, Lu Xu had only dissed the other three members of Verse and had never targeted The Empress production team, so there was no direct clash between the two shows.

For the Path of Bones production team, maintaining the current state of affairs was not a bad outcome.

The first-day popularity score had already exceeded their expectations; The Path of Bones never anticipated winning.

Unfortunately, the Empress production team had no such complacency.

If they could dominate the field entirely, why settle for sharing the spotlight?

The premiere had already broken nearly two years’ worth of popularity score records. With a little more effort, it wasn’t impossible for the show to set an all-time record for overall popularity score.

But as everyone knew, the audience pool was inherently limited. When one show became a massive hit, there was no room for another breakout drama in its vicinity.

<< _ >>

Related Posts

Leave a Reply