Minor spoilers ahead

Well, this review will probably get me cancelled by the TGCF fandom but here we go. 

The best way to describe this volume and the whole series is messy. This volume started out so interesting with the whole mystery about the Reverend of Empty Words, but in the end this arc left me in utter disbelief. First of all, I wasn't a fan how this mystery got portrayed. We start with a tense and mysterious atmosphere, then we are back to Hualian doing domestic stuff for like 10 pages and then the action starts again. In general it feels weird how the plot gets interrupted by some domestic scenes. Don't get me wrong, I often times prefer those scenes to action packed ones, but there is a time and place for everything. Having them in the middle of a mystery felt weird. Additonally most of these mysterys never get fully resolved. e.g. the fetus spirit mystery. It just ended like that in volume 3 and in this volume we get one mention of it right in the middle of another mystery. I hope there is an actual explanation for all these things being dragged out. Another thing that bothered me (like in the volumes before) is the fact that we always end the volume in the middle of an arc or scene. It was especially prevelant in this volume. 

The characters, oh my. It actually hurts to write that, but the main characters disappointed me. First we have Xie Lian. I liked him from the start, but in this volume I was so saddened how he behaved. The way he just gave up when Hua Cheng told him to leave the whole Black Water mystery alone because "outsiders shouldn't intervene in this affair" rubbed me the wrong way. The Wind Master was the only official that was actually kind to him and I thought at this point they were actual friends. And now he is currently captured and god knows what will happen to him. At first Xie Lian did behave like a friend should and actually went to help him. It's also understandable that he actually couldn't do much to help him the second time around, but it's the aftermath that gets me. It's the way MXTX decided to just drop the whole thing. 

So, let's discuss Hua Cheng. I actually liked his devotion to Xie Lian the first few volumes and it's also understandable why he is like that. But we are at a point in the story where I just find it annoying. I also don't like how Xie Lian seemingly can't do anything himself, because in the end Hua Cheng always comes around and saves the day. The thing is I KNOW Xie Lian could do it himself. He isn't some weak princess that needs to rely on other people all the time. He is actually quite capable. I know all these gestures from Hua Cheng are supposed to be romantic, but it just makes the character of Xie Lian look useless. During SVSSS and MDZS the protagonists had help and got rescued by other people too, but not once did they appear useless. For some reason, I also don't feel their romance as much as other MXTX couples. Maybe it's because the flirting these past two volumes happened at the most inconvenient times. I don't know. 

All the side characters like Mu Quing, Feng Xin, Pei Ming and the Wind Master are carrying this series for me.

I am gonna finish this series since I have all the volumes at home. It's definitely a huge disappointment since this series seems to be a favourite for a lot of people.