The second volume of Meng Xi Shi’s "Thousand Autumns" sees the relationship between Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi develop further. The first volume was full of world-building detail, while this second volume dwells more on character development. There are quite a number of duels but the nature of each combatant is revealed in their fighting style and so the duels are not mere martial artistry, they move the plot on as well.

The central relationship between Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi is very slow burn and the romantic aspects are more implied than shown in this volume. They are clearly very different people: Yan Wushi believes that, “Humans are evil by nature” (p. 64) whereas Shen Qiao believes in the kindness of humans and thinks that, “You mustn’t reject others just because they are different from you” (p. 230). The clash of these philosophies echoes in the real world, too.

It is precisely this difference that creates the push / pull in their relationship but it is also Shen Qiao’s obvious big-hearted nature that creates the shock when he is so spectacularly betrayed in the middle of the book. Yan Wushi believes that, “Life is never fair” (p. 182) but even so this betrayal seems astonishingly cruel.

There is some sugar as well, though, since Yan Wushi revels in teasing Shen Qiao and creating scenes that deliberately give outsiders the wrong impression of their relationship. The kiss scene (p. 108) is multi-layered, because Yan Wushi is teasing Shen Qiao who is incapacitated, which is slightly problematic, but the embrace is not entirely orchestrated. Yan Wushi is both pretending and perhaps not; however, he definitely delights in giving an onlooker to wrong impression.

Ironically, Shen Qiao is able to turn his weakened situation around, which allows him to grow as a person and as a martial artist. So, there is a nuance in the betrayal even though the impact is not lessened by its positive consequences. The last section of the book is dominated by Shen Qiao’s touching relationship with the little boy, Shiwu, and the Bixia sect. His capacity for caring has not been lessened by the unfairness of his own life and he is able to provide the boy with parental love, despite not being related. The episodic nature of these books means that Shen Qiao is forced to leave Shiwu with the Bixia sect, but perhaps this is foreshadowing of his future…