Chi Cheng has to be the elder brother.
I actually wanted to comment this back in the prologue or Ch1, but I was waiting to see if you’d add the incest tag. You are not obligated to tag everything, so i get it.
The very ending of the prologue gave such a strong main character energy.
Wei keeps getting instinctively drawn to CC even when he’s actively resisting, the dreams full of smoke/ash (clear callback to the fire in the prologue), the golden elements in the 2nd dream..it all screams blood calling to blood.
And it really feels like CC senses something deeply familiar even if he doesn’t consciously remember.
Also, calling Wei “Maverick” felt very intentional. I know what that means more personally- it’s been my username on Reddit and Letterboxd for years. CC didn’t just pull that out of nowhere, he saw Suowei.
I could list a lot more but i’d have to reread everything again.
Even if I’m right, I know you won’t confirm it cuz you deleted your own comments to keep the mystery alive 😂 And if I am right, no need to praise me -I don’t have a praise kink but i do have a strong kink to be right lmao.
If I’m wrong? If the brother is JXS or someone we haven’t met yet? Then you’ve done something even more impressive -you’ve made me fully convinced of a misdirect, which means the real reveal is going to hit like a truck.
-MirrorCrush