Read on Twitter
Been having thoughts about Xue Yang again and I think his final speech to Xiao Xingchen says more about the themes of the story than anything else, more so than even JGY's words at the end. THIS part more than any other haunts me. Because he's fucked up and bitter but he is right
Cultivation could be used for anything but ultimately it's been used to establish a gentry and police. What Xue Yang is actually asking here is 'What the ever-loving fuck have "heroes" like you ever done for kids like me?' And it's a fair question bc it's pretty much nothing.
XXC/SL are thought of as wandering heroes (cops). They had a dream of saving the world/establishing a new kind of sect. They did neither. And Xue Yang is right bc he asks how tf they could expect to save the world when they don't know or want to know what's actually wrong with it
Cultivation society is so far removed from the lives of normal people that JGY's watchtowers were considered radical. His practice of paying off cultivators when they demanded payment from the poor implies that extortion and protection racket behaviour was also pretty common.
This para also makes it clear normal people don't give a shit about cultivator wars/high society. They're just hoping not to be pillaged or killed in anyone's crossfire. So, again, Xue Yang is right to get in their faces about these ideals of heroism. Whose world are they saving?
XXC and SL think the world needs to be saved from magical monsters. XY knows firsthand (excuse the pun) that cultivator society has created an abusive, exploitative elite who do whatever they want and tell themselves it's noble, bc they are noble. Cultivator society is monstrous.
'The people that I hate the most are ones like you who say they’re righteous ... dumb idiots like you who think the world’s better just because you did something good!' XY is right. They're ineffectual at best. Uphold the abuse at worst. They've done nothing for kids like XY/JGY
There's even a twisted logic to XY's horrific methodology in tricking XXC into killing those villagers. He proves that — in the name of heroism — cultivators will just destroy anything that seems different and doesn't adequately fight back, even without full info. Because noble.
'If you couldn’t understand the happenings of this world, then you shouldn’t have come!'
The happenings of their world is that kids are starving and abused and cultivation society is about wrestling for power over their heads. That's what he's saying.
The happenings of their world is that kids are starving and abused and cultivation society is about wrestling for power over their heads. That's what he's saying.
And when XY says, regarding value, 'My finger was my own, while those lives were other people's.' it's bc no one else would place value on a poor kid's life. Gentry ARE valued more. Sever a gentry's little finger and they can't wield a sword, then they'd view it as worth lives..?
There's also the recurring theme of gentry being fucking IMMUNE to context when it concerns commoners. This exchange is almost identical to how NMJ reacted when JGY begged him to try seeing things from his perspective.
There are also parallels bw how NMJ asserts all his killings are justified, and JGY's aren't. NMJ acts out of revenge a tonne due to the Wen being responsible for the death of his father. But JGY and XY seeking revenge against nobles for anything is a crime, bc they're NOT noble.
I might have further thoughts but for all my EAT THE RICH analysis of Xue Yang (who I maintain, is a psychopath but Correct!), I should note another central theme of mdzs/cql is fatal pettiness. Pettiness that kills you and everyone around you. And XY also embodies that perfectly
But ALSO (turns out I'm not done) Xue Yang's pettiness over his finger isn't even that petty. Who will stand up for his dignity if not himself? The gentry only stand up for each other. They literally threaten to fight to the death over ANY perceived slight. The hypocrisy is rank!
'If you sought revenge, you could’ve simply broken one of his fingers as well. ... you could’ve broken two, or even all ten! ... Why did you have to kill his entire clan?'
idk man, ask either of the TWO surviving Wen about disproportionate revenge (one of whom is still dead)
idk man, ask either of the TWO surviving Wen about disproportionate revenge (one of whom is still dead)
