Legend of Exorcism Volume 4 Thoughts

Have I written a review or thoughts post on Legend of Exorcism vols one through three? No, I haven’t. Am I going to let that stop my from writing my thoughts out about volume four? No, I’m not. To be fair, this is always a struggle of mine when I don’t do a volume one review of a series, because then I feel like it’s weird to come out of no where with thoughts on subsequent volumes. However, who cares about weird? I’ve mostly been journaling my thoughts of the other volumes personally, but I want to try to express more thoughts as I go. So this is that.

Every volume of Legend of Exorcism gets better and better. I always need to be in the right place to read them, because once I start, I am going to be nose in book until I’m done. Volume four was no different. I waited until my Christmas break to read, so I could have long, uninterrupted stretches of reading. And those stretches were so, so worth it. I spent the entire book giggling, blushing, kicking my feet, and most importantly, laughing out loud. I truly love how funny these books are.

The following are some thoughts and some of my favorite moments of volume four. This entire thing is a spoiler so don’t read if you’re not caught up.

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The Development of Li Jinglong x Hongjun

Reading the books as they are releasing means that there is a wait time in between novels. As a result, I forget that in the ending of volume three and the beginning of volume four, only ONE day has passed. But my god, what a day that was. Li Jinglong is waisting zero time being all up in, over, and under his man. The immediately jump to the affection boost was exactly what my shipper heart needed. To be fair, Li Jinglong was already very affectionate with Hongjun. But the “we’re officially a couple” affection is through the roof.

The reason I love Fei Tian’s writing so much is because of how much affection he writes with his couples. Actually with everyone. Every relationship, romantic or platonic, is laced with so much physical affection and so much emotional love. As a lover girl, my heart feels as if it’s being squeezed with every tender sentence I read.

All that being said, Li Jinglong and Hongjun’s first time is what dreams are made of. Having already read To Rule in a Turbulent World (1-4), I knew Feitian would not disappoint with this. I was blown away with how he manages to make these moments so true to the respective characters, while also revealing new sides to them. We knew Li Jinglong is down bad for Hongjun, but the way Hongjun came alive?? He was so direct and vocal. I love to see it.

Childhood Friends

As we learned in volume three, Hongjun and Li Jinglong were friends in childhood. Volume four has Hongjun viewing his past thanks to the help of Lu Xu. These childhood flashbacks tugged at my heart strings. They are fated to be, and even if they both forgot the past, the bonds that tie them forever didn’t disappear. Of course, the dream flashbacks end before we can find out exactly what happens with them and how both of them lost their memories.

It especially made my heart ache when Lu Xu allows Li Jinglong to also enter the dream and he learns they were childhood friends. He has so many questions for Hongjun and why he hasn’t told him, but ultimately Li Jinglong drops it. I appreciate that Jinglong is shown to struggle with how much Hongjun keeps him in the dark, but at the same time, he loves Hongjun so much he’s willing to wait and not push. I’m hoping soon Hongjun can be honest with him.

Lu Xu x Mergen

My ship is…not sailing but I can’t wait to leave the dock soon! This volume had so much Lu Xu, I was so happy. Lu Xu is my second favorite, after Hongjun. He’s so stubborn and has the best little quips and come backs. I especially love his friendship with Hongjun. They are the best pair of besties and I hope we keep seeing a lot of them together. Hongjun has a great understanding of Lu Xu, especially when it come to the complicated feelings about Mergen.

Mergens feelings about Lu Xu are so valid and it’s great that he didn’t instantly go “Okay, I love Lu Xu now.” He wasn’t expecting the White Deer to be a man, so of course, his feelings are complicated. All his life he felt that he was destined to be with the White Deer, expecting that it was a woman. Being that it was a man, and he never felt attraction to men, that is going to be complicated.

We end the volume with the crazy mission Mergen has set on, and that this mission is already bringing him and Lu Xu closer. I am counting down to volume five, where I can see from the synopsis that they be together more. I have faith that my ship will sail!!

The Story Overall

This volume does a lot to move the story forward and it keeps bringing in elements that keep me at the edge of my seat. I was extremely stressed about the divine kun being missing. I loved him since his introduction in volume two and I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. Unfortunately, he does get hurt and is kept captive. But good news, he’s alive!

His role was so important in this volume because it reminds us that the future is only pre-determined if you believe it is. When Li Jinglong had the opportunity to ask him about the future, he didn’t. And while Hongjun does receive a vision from the divine kun, I believe that it’s just one possibility. And like the divine kun said (or maybe it was the poet Li Bai, sorry my book is far away from me at the moment) knowing the future doesn’t mean you know the journey it takes to get there.

With Mergen now in An Lushan’s hands, the stakes are escalated to new heights (and they were already sky high to begin with!) I trust that Mergen knew what he was going when he planned this, and even though EVERYONE was opposed (“Does anyone have any objections?” “Yes! Think of something else!) he’s not going to let the team down.

I have some thoughts over Hongjun and Mara’s demon seed, but we’re still too far off from the end so I’ll keep them to myself for now. But the new developments really give me a lot to think about. Especially because of how intwined Li Jinglong and Hongjun’s fates are. I know Li Jinglong is not going to let his man go in any way, shape, or form!

Ugh I love them and this story so much! I will be patiently waiting for volume five. Until then, see ya!

Where to Buy Legend of Exorcism Volume 4