A group of warm-blooded assassins find retirement complicated.
暗河傳
暗河傳
The Tale of Dark River
Cast
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| Gong Jun: Su Mu Yu |
Chang Hua Sen: Su Chang He |
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| Qiao Zhen Yu: Su Zhe |
Yang Yu Tong: Bai He Huai |
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| Zhang Shi An: Tang Lian Yue |
Peng Xiao Ran: Mu Yu Mo |
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| Geng Le: Patriarch [Grand Parent/Elder] |
Zhang Wei Na: Li Han Yi |
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| Gao Ji Cai: Mu Qing Yang |
Kong Xue Er: Mu Xue Wei |
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| Li Dai Kun: Mu Ci Ling |
Huang Yi: Xie Bu Xie [TY No TY] |
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| Liu Zhe Er: Xie Qi Dao |
Hou Chang Rong: Su Jin Hui (Ex Su Clan Leader) |
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| Zhang Duo: Mu Zi Zhe (Ex Mu Clan Leader) |
Hei Zi: Xie Ba (Ex Xie Clan Leader) |
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| Yang Kai Cheng: Xie Fan Hua |
Related
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| Main Story | Prequel |
Drama Overview & Review
[Drama Info] This is part of The Blood of Youth universe, a spin-off focusing on Su Mu Yu of "Dark River of Assassins". Timeline wise, Blood River happens after / in between Dashing Youth, which is the prequel to TBoY.
They brought back the same director, Yin Tao, from TBoY – not DY. This is a director you should know by now because his works include Under the Power, Love and Redemption, Who Rules the World, Destined, Love of the Divine Tree, Ancient Love Poetry, etc. Even if you haven't seen 'em, you've heard of 'em.
Character clashes from previous series: Bai Shu is Xiao Ruo Feng again (DY), father of his own character in TBoY; Xia Zhi Guang returns as Sikong Chang Feng; the same actors reprise their roles as Li Han Yi and Zhao Yu Zhen (Zhang Wei Na and Cao Yu Chen). And more.
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Su Mu Yu: “As long as you’re strong enough, you earn the privilege to hold onto naivety (天真).”
And Su Chang He fiercely protects that 天真.
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Skinship [1/2]
Skinship [2/2]
That's it 😂
"When the osmanthus flowers bloom in Nan An, 我還是希望與你重逢一日, I hope that we can at least meet once a year." (Su Chang He, Ep10)
“If you have no restraints, you’ll become a madman, so let me calm the storm with you" (Su Mu Yu, Ep10)
Su Chang He didn't just give Su Mu Yu a ring, but also a house and the freedom to live as he wants. Husband material!
Su Mu Yu's umbrella was custom-made by Chang He ~~ because it's embarrassing for him to hang out with Su Mu Yu, who's picking up all his 18++ weapons after every mission, hahaha. And thus begins Chang He's mission to earn lots of money for his poor Su Mu Yu xD
Osmanthus cakes :) (Su Mu Yu didn'tmake them!)
Su Mu Yu and Su Chang He's names flow together. [Su Mu Yu = Su Dusk Rain | Su Chang He = Su Bright River] (Ep7)
☔️ Su Mu Yu 蘇暮雨 explains that he chose his name because on the day his entire family was killed, his father protected him and placed him on a piece of driftwood. He floated down the river until he arrived here, it was dusk 暮(mu) under a light rain 雨(yu). So he took the name Mu Yu, which means “Dusk Rain.”
🏞 Su Chang He 蘇昌河 wants “Chang” (昌) because it’s made of two suns 日, representing brightness.
☀️ Interestingly Su Mu Yu’s Mu 暮 also has two suns 日. It just doesn’t mean bright at all, but rather the sun is setting and dusk is the final light before darkness.
💦 So “Dusk Rain” and “Bright River” become two halves of the same current. ML is hit with a downstream of tragedy, but clings onto the last bit of light (the dusk). And ML2's “river” almost feels like a continuation of SMY’s river, but he’s looking upstream where it’s bright.
🌇 Dusk really suits Su Mu Yu – suspended between light and darkness.
🌄 Light…I’m not sure that suits Su Chang He LOL. But his Bright River is innately against An He (Dark River)
🌊 The bond between the two ML runs like water (rain and river), always connected, even when they clash.
The subtext in Ep18 that's disguised with FL as the beard ;)
1️⃣ The pharmacy is named “He Yu,” which is Bai He Huai’s “He” and Su Mu Yu’s “Yu,” but it’s definitely a cover-up for Chang He’s “He.” Show/author didn’t have to use an overlapping homonym between Chang He and Bai He Huai 😉 She’s hiding Su Chang He in plain sight
2️⃣ When Bai He Huai tests Su Mu Yu by asking if his step-meimei was his childhood sweetheart, he smiles because what’s on his mind is Chang He shopping ~~ That subtle focus ^^
3️⃣ Chang He, this spendthrift lol, goes all out…buying fishes and birds. Fish (Yu魚) sounds like Su Mu Yu’s name, but Chang He didn’t just buy fishes, he bought the whole goldfish bowl with the water, which ties to his own name “He” (river).
As for the bird, it probably represents Bai He Huai’s “He” (crane) 🕊. But she’s kind of alone in her cage, looool. At least that’s how I’m interpreting it.
As for the bird, it probably represents Bai He Huai’s “He” (crane) 🕊. But she’s kind of alone in her cage, looool. At least that’s how I’m interpreting it.
4️⃣ Chang He is surprisingly sweet to Bai He Huai. He could’ve been a jerk, but he isn’t – and that counts as sweet to me, haha. It’s very 愛屋及烏 behaviour — love me, love my crow.
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FL isn’t just a beard. I appreciate that Bai He Huai isn’t a prop for heteronormativity. She’s genuinely important, both within the plot and outside of it, serving as exposition, occasional recapper, and plot armour xD. Even if I firmly ship the BL subtext. I didn’t mind her tagging along with the boys (though, if she vanished, I’d survive LOL. But if one of the boys did, my heart would break). And I actually prefer her dynamic with Su Chang He more. It’s petty sibling energy. [Skip »]
She tells Su Mu Yu to sit, and he goes sit xD. Su Chang He watches with slight bewilderment
Bai He Huai and her "gou diē"
Su Chang He and Bai He Huai's sibling energy. They're so immature.
They bicker endlessly but move in perfect sync whenever it comes to Su Mu Yu’s cooking or his chronic brokenness. This is why Su Chang He has to hustle so hard to fund this man, haha
Show's framing LOL
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2CP Mu Yu Mo & Tang Ling Yue. The shameless and the stoic. I love Mu Yu Mo because she’s so shameless xD Tang Ling Yue, on the other hand, is the definition of emotionally unavailable husband material. The kind who'd never take his wife's side in a family argument, but ....he's handsome. Looool. [Skip »]
It’s cute and heartwarming that everyone gangs up on Tang Ling Yue for upsetting Mu Yu Mo:
Mom Su Mu Yu never got so angry before this (Ep28; "Scram!")
Bro Mu Qing Yang sighing and disapproving
Sis Mu Xue Wei judging xD
Last but not least, Dad Su Chang He, lecturing Tang Lian Yue directly. Then Su Chang He apologizes – gently – to Mu Yu Mo for lecturing her lover :'). Chang He is a good, sweet man!
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3CP. Mu Qing Yang & His Many Ties. Well 2. Officially, his CP is Mu Xue Wei, but I also really liked his dynamic with Su Chang He – they’re like mischievous twins. [Skip »]
Mu Ci Ling! He had a bro too, but he was awesome on his own.
Xie Xuan & Li Han Yi
I don't know what relationship they have, but they were chill, and amusing too. I (willingly) forgot she had a boyfriend.
I don't know what relationship they have, but they were chill, and amusing too. I (willingly) forgot she had a boyfriend.
Xiao Ruo Feng & Situ Xue
Xie Clan's Leader, Xie Qi Dao, saying the funniest line:
"The cabbage in the field got rooted up by a wild boar?"
Which btw is also an idiom: the good girl got taken by a bad guy
Bai He Huai and her disciple, Xiao Zhao Yan
The ladies had a moment too.
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Ending Cliffnotes. (Ep35–38 spoilers). It's a happy ending! [Skip »]
In Ep35, Mu Qing Yang and Mu Xue Wei die. At least they die together. It was a death mission from the start – Mu Qing Yang planned to stay behind so the others could escape, and Mu Xue Wei chose to stay with him no matter what. I like to imagine Su Chang He secretly saved them :( He was way too calm after hearing about their deaths... and there were no bodies!! Cdrama rule: no body, no die. 🥺
In Ep36/38, Tang Ling Yue and Mu Yu Mo do not die, but they also don’t end up together-together. Tang Ling Yue may be frustratingly slow to express feelings, but when he makes a vow, he means it – at least in that moment. He truly intended to marry her, complete with a grand phoenix entrance to make up for all her shameless chasing. (Mu Yu Mo asking for this was so endearing!) But Tang Ling Yue serves the Imperial City, the same power that freed the criminal prince, while Mu Yu Mo, now head of the Mu Clan, stands firmly against it. They’re on opposite sides of the line.
In Ep37, Su Chang He never betrays. Su Mu Yu always knew that, and his trust never wavered. “Do you believe there exists an absolute kind of trust in this world? Between Chang He and me. Between Mu Yu and me. That is what absolute trust is.” 🔥
The main villain is Eunuch Zhuo Qing, who destroyed Su Chang He’s hometown – the reason he pretended to side with him in the first place. The eunuch gets wrecked, but not killed, sadly (because he still needs to be the mega villain in The Blood of Youth)
In Ep 38, the fate of An He remains as an assassin organization, still chasing the ideal of reaching the “Other Shore.” Su Mu Yu and Su Chang He reject the Imperial City’s authority, killing the criminal prince the Emperor refused to properly punish. What the empire calls “justice” isn’t what An He believes in – and honestly, they’re not wrong.
At the end, Su Mu Yu and Su Chang He live like newlyweds, occasionally galloping through meadows together. Eight years later, they return to the Imperial City, where something tragic supposedly happens in the sequel (which I will not be acknowledging – LALALALA).
In the post-credits, Bai He Huai survives too. Su Mu Yu’s teacher, Su Yun Xiu, saves her on the condition that Su Mu Yu can’t know because of the martial arts she’s learning. And so the ladies leave for 12 years. She reunites with Su Mu Yu twelve years later.
(As someone shipping the BL, I get why they needed that final scene to reassure censors it’s totally not a BL, I also appreciate that it’s respectfully tucked away as a post-credit, not part of the proper ending xD. But if you’re watching for the BG version, it's an even happier ending for you.)
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[Review & Rating] By cynlynn.
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