Word of Honor 山河令 Review

Word of Honor has been creating storms in China dramaland. It is also my first BL drama. I didn’t know what to expect, but it was quite good. This drama is adapted from A Tale of Wanderers by Priest. I went to read the book a bit, but the book lacked in comparison to the drama. Finally, a drama that surpassed the book.

Summary
The story is about Zhou Zishu who quit his job as the leader of a royal praetorian secret service called Window of Heaven to become a wanderer. To be able to leave the organization, he has to insert seven iron nails into his body. These nails let his body has lower martial arts and a limited lifespan of three years. He met Wen Kexing while pretending to be a beggar. Wen Kexing took an interest in him and followed him everywhere. Wen Kexing had a bad childhood where he was forced to kill to survive. He wanted to take revenge against the martial arts world for letting his father down. He pretended to a benevolent person but is the leader of the Ghost Valley. During this time, the people of the martial arts were trying to find the keys to open a legendary vault which was rumored to give one immense power. They became embroiled in this search and discovered that they are each other’s soulmates.

Review
Zhang Zhehan as Zhou Zhishu: Zhou Zhishu became the master of the Four Seasons Manor after his master died. After he became the master, people came to challenge the disciples constantly. He watched how one died after another and decided to seek refuge at his cousin Prince Jin. There, he founded the Window of Heaven that worked on the orders of Prince Jin. After some years, he saw how every one of the Four Seasons Manor died during missions. He began to wonder whether Prince Jin’s cause is right. He decided to leave the organization and became a wanderer.

I watched this mainly for Zhang Zhehan after I became his fan when he participated in the variety show Everybody Stand By. He instantly caught my eye during his participation. Moreover, he is not a bad actor. Plus, he is also an eye-candy. He portrayed the lonely Zishu quite well. I liked how he started as someone very cold to Wen Kexing, slowly warming up to him and then see him as more important than his life. The emotions from Zhang Zehan’s eyes are no joke. He had always been a good actor but never got the chance to stardom. I’m so happy that his chance came now.

Simon Gong as Wen Kexing/Zhen Yan: His sad childhood made him a cold person. He is only warm to a few people with who he is close. He is the leader of the Ghost Valley, a sect that supposedly only did bad things. People who have nowhere to go would come to the Ghost Valley, where they would drink the Soup of Madam Meng to forget everything. He wanted to take revenge for his parent’s death. His father was a genius doctor who helped countless people, but when it was time for the people to help his father, they deserted him. His father was being chased because it was rumored that he held the key to the vault. After his father died at the hands of the Ghost Valley, the former leader took him in. He had to kill others and become the strongest to survive. Wen Kexing killed the former leader of the sect and took his place. Wen Kexing is quite a cultured flirt and would pester Zhou Zhishu, making him stumped for words. It was so fun watching him.

This is my first time seeing a work. His chemistry with Zhang Zhehan is so great that his acting is paled when he acted against other actors. He was likable as the flirt and scary when someone hurt Zhou Zhishu. He is really like a puppy (The nickname the fans gave him).

Zhou Ye as Gu Xiang: Gu Xiang is the only one who still got her innocence after entering the Ghost Valley. Her love with Cao Weining was cute and pitiful. I liked how she was like Wen Kexing’s daughter and how Wen Kexing acted like a father every time, her lover was brought up or she is with her lover.

I like Zhou Ye’s acting. Her acting peaked when her lover died. She was so good. I could feel her pain, anger and despair. This also caused Simon Gong’s acting to pale in that episode.

Sun Xilun as Zhang Chengling: At the start of the story he became an orphan and was being chased after because he held one of the jades to open the vault. As fate would have it, he became a protege of Zhou Zhishu. He wanted Zhou Zhishu to become his master, but Zhou Zhishu refused. One of my favorite scenes was when Wen Kexing taught him that Zhou Zhishu is a soft-hearted person and that he needs to pester Zhou Zhishu. It was so funny. He is like the son of Zhou Zhishu and Wen Kexing.

Sun Xilun acted well, but you can see that his acting is still raw. He really needs more experience

Huang Youming as Ye Baiyi: Ye Baiyi has achieved god status in the martial arts world. He resides on Changming Mountain. He came down the mountain because he had promised to get rid of the Ghost Valley. The martial arts he practiced is the one everyone is after. It supposedly makes one an immortal. Hence, Ye Baiyi is quite old but still looks very young. It turned out that to achieve immortality, he had to stay in the mountain and not eat food. So, when he came down the mountain and started eating food, his hair began to turn white.

Huang Youming is a seasoned actor. It’s a pity that he never got famous and always plays supporting roles. He was not bad as Ye Baiyi.

Overall, I give this a rating of 4.5/5. There were some plot holes, but they can be overlooked. The overall story is good and for this budget, they did a good job. I highly recommend this drama to everyone.