The Return, Reunion, and Reassurance | Heaven Official’s Blessing Book 5

Like every other book in the series, book five of Heaven Official’s Blessing picks up right where book four left off. Running away from a crowd towards a mountain calling for ghosts to fight to the death is certainly a way to start off a book.

We start off with pretty low stakes, Xie Lian and a child-Hua Cheng start off with a much needed wardrobe change. Stumbling upon an out of place inn leads to a reunion between Xie Lian and Qi Rong and the awkward baby daddy reveal of the fetus spirit. With such a big blow in the side story, we don’t stay here for long. Jun Wu decides that Xie Lian is truly his favorite child and tells him to return to the Heavens and help run it while Jun Wu goes and handles Mount Tonglu all on his own something that has been called a suicide mission. Since that is not something that would make any sense, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng end up going to the mountain instead.

Since this is a trip for ghosts, Xie Lian has to be disgusted in not only appearance, but scent. When questions go around about who is what, what answer does a Heavenly Official say? I’m a puppet master. The fight that breaks out after the investigation leaves a lot of questions. Why is there another Heavenly Official’s scent? What is General Pei doing here? Why was a man split in half like that? Luckily, most of these get answered in the upcoming fight in the middle of the mountains.

General Pei showed up to help take out as many ghosts trying to make it to the kiln, and the suspicious man is the man of many names. First a sword, then a once friend- now enemy. Once Pei’s trusted friend, now he lives through the general’s broken sword and has murderous intent. This section has the most out of pocket character gathering that I have seen so far. With the introduction of one new character, we see the return of three old ones. General Kemo makes his return from the Sinner’s Pit to join in the brawl between Pei and Rong Guang. Thinking on his feet, Xie Lian calls out for Banyu and Little Pei to flee the area - only for them to show up a few pages later - WHY ARE THEY ACTUALLY THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE? This is by far the weirdest moment I have read so far.

The new group of travelers continue through the mountains. Threats of two strong enemies loom on both ends to the pathways. Come to find out one is our old friend Ling Wen. Turns out that strong ghost dressed in black was Ling Wen with the Brocade Immortal. They don’t stick around for a long time, but we do see the return of adult-Hua Cheng.

On a long journey up a dangerous mountain, what better way to traverse than inside a giant mountain spirit? This is where I think the most backstory is revealed. We get word that there is indeed a connection between Xie Lian and the fallen Kingdom of Wuyong, and the shocking part is it comes from Xie Lian’s former master. This is also where we see Qi Ying once more! The air-headed kid that helped in book 4 is back and stuck in the walls of the mountain spirit. We get the whole backstory of him along with Yin Yu, his former master, and the conflict that developed between them.

This section included a lot of connecting details, Yin Yu never seemed to really hate Qi Ying to the point of wanting to hurt him physically or emotionally. He does seem envious, he leaves the banquet because he was mistaken as Qi Ying, but he was never rude to Qi Ying himself. Yin Yu constantly stood up for Qi Ying’s unique behavior and even gave him a birthday present after failing to get the point across that he wants to distance himself. The only problem is Jian Yu. This is the person who hold hatred and resentment towards Qi Ying. He chose to disobey Yin Yu and switch the gift. He is the one to give Qi Ying the Brocade Immortal. He is the one to dismiss any fear over the powers of the gift. Yin Yu had good intentions when he approached Qi Ying, he just chose that moment to unleash years, decades of aggravation when his pride was hurt. This shows how poorly Yin Yu can handle stress, we see the downward spiral that happens until Jun Wu steps in.

The only break we get between craziness is seeing is Xie Lian sleeping on Hua Cheng’s shoulder and the others getting scolded for being too loud. There was definitely more of a focus on the story in this book compared to the past ones that split the plot progression with the relationship development. But, we do see Hua Cheng connect them with a red string of fate under the pretense of wanting to stay connected in the mountain spirit.

The city covered in ash was hard for me to visualize. This area was just super weird, between the talking rats (why why oh why do the rats gain the ability to talk after EATING THE DEAD PEOPLE) and stumbling upon Xuan Ji and Qi Rong, the only thing that could make it weirder would be if the Rain Master shows up and it’s revealed they are actually a woman…

I still do not understand why Xuan Ji and Qi Rong got together. I mean, yes, they both hold onto a lot of hatred and are making their way to the kiln, but why together? It was nice that a side character from book 1 was brought back and reconnected with the plot (her passionate obsession with Pei Ming) instead of introducing a brand new character to play the role of Qi Rong’s sidekick.

The Rain Master was probably the biggest twist for me. I seem to have a problem of imagining a lot of characters as older than they appear (thank you illustrations for showing me how wrong I am) and that is exactly what happened with the Rain Master. I pictured them as an older man who lives peacefully in the countryside. Instead, she is a queen who gave her life for her people… and now lives peacefully in the countryside. Her backstory was heartbreaking, the lack of emotions felt toward the Rain Master by her own family, and the narcissistic personality of her father makes me so happy that she can now live a nice life away from those evil people.

Wrapping up the story on a mountain-side shrine with Hua Cheng saying someone else is in the room with them was creepy. It left a haunting feeling when finishing this book and also the immediate urge to start on book 6. My last thoughts on this book is that if one more bad thing happens to connect Xie Lian with this place, he is going to have a full on mental break down.