“Whoever isn’t treacherous isn’t worth my time” “You’ve been on my side from the start” It was nothing much at first, but the interaction/relationship between the crow and the wolf - also the phoenix - makes me feel sadder every time I re-read this manhua. Needless to say, the author of Ravages is extraordinary in many things and one of which is making improbable relationships happen, whether if it’s love, friendship, service or a friendly rivalry - all presented and developed in a way that could only make one gasp in awe. Guo Jia and Sima Yi walked on the same route without a common ground. I personally think, this kind of relationship would have never been so well presented outside of Ravages, because there is nothing easy about it. Tbh I’m shocked at the number of people who were shocked by Guo Jia’s posthumously revealed decision to let Sima Yi succeed him, for that basically leads to selling out his brothers Jia Xu and Xun Yu - or by extension, their lord Cao Cao. That’s why it was that hard a decision to make. But you have to remember who Guo Fengxiao is, the King of Decisive Strategies. He was entitled the most powerful of the Eight Geniuses and also the worst one to deal with foremostly because of his ability to make the most difficult choices. His kind of people is unfettered, upholding their one true goal with utmost commitment thus is unafraid of sacrifices: be it his name or his life - or the lives of others for that matter. He vowed to serve Cao Cao till his last breath, but it obviously wasn’t the crowning of the lord that his scheme - or his true devotion - stops at. The reveal wasn’t much of a reveal considering all the subtle and not-so-implicit conversations Guo Jia had with Sima Yi before about essentially upholding the same priority: the unification of the world. And how far has his calculation actually reached upon making that choice? As the story has it, no one else is on the same page with either Sima Yi or Zhuge Liang when it comes to foresight and analysis. If Zhuge Liang obtained the title of the Dragon after his answer to the riddle was proven right, it would take nothing for Guo Jia to know that Sima Yi, the one who collaborated with Zhuge Liang on solving the riddle and actually had a chance to join the range of the Geniuses - is the true Phoenix. Dragon and Phoenix, with the aid of one, you could have the world. If Shuijing was able to point out that Yuan Fang, Cao Cao and Sima Yi were the ‘same kind of people’, there is no excuse for his student who had defeated Yuan Fang, served Cao Cao and been not-so-secretly making rocky deals with Sima Yi to not know the same. Schemers think for long-term plans, and while Cao Cao was the true teacher to Xun Yu and Guo Jia in the evaluation of people - Guo Jia’s become almost unbeatable in this aspect as he is willing to ultilise talents and stops at no expense at all - so long as it serves his one true scheme altogether. Unlike the others, he fears no ‘loss’. His decision aims at something much further onwards, not simply to save Cao Cao’s life at the next major battle. Chibi is a battle he couldn’t foresee Cao Cao winning despite all of Cao’s advantages, thus its being the best chance for his ‘secondary plan’ to finally come into light. Even when he is unable to see (or to live) as far into the future as the Dragon-Phoenix, his insight is so terrifying that I’m sure by the time of his death, not much could escape what he already had expected - causing Sima Yi to go all hands on deck with him. Guo Jia knows what Sima Yi will potentially be, and Sima Yi knows that he supports him. The chief advisor of Cao has probably made his decision a while ago (hence calling Yi his ‘stomach worm’), as every single line in their last conversation spoke what they both had in mind: “Such painstaking effort to suppress it, don’t you think?”. I still think that at least 70% of the spin-off novels is purely commercial gibberish, but at least on this one account, the novel “Fengxiao” proves what I have to say. Of course, it was part of Sima Yi’s grand scheme to always let someone know about his next moves. Cao Cao for one, knew about this. Jia Xu should have caught some (or all) of it from Guo Jia, and his role is obviously to slow the process down. The only person who should be concerned about is Xun Yu. Does he know? Will he accept it? Xun Yu’s true lord is the Han Emperor, so we all know the answers, yet dare not to verbalize them just yet. It was very important for Xun Yu to finally acknowledge Guo Jia’s ideals, and was also the last person to do so. The discrepancy in their actual goals is something hard to live with, and by now it’s grown ever so hard to end with. Remember the overwhelming amount of foreshadowing and lampshading in this manhua from start to finish, remember the Guandu arc which’s heavily involved with the in-fighting between brothers. Then I remember the little hi-five between Guo Jia and Sima Yi on that day of their collaboration to purge out Yuan Fang’s mole - Xu You, aka Cao Mengde’s close friend. Before long, that scene’s become one of the saddest things for me to look at. And it saddens me still to think about how Sima Yi was all-around the person Guo Jia became most concerned with and one of the major factors to keep him feel alive, regardless of Yi’s true intentions. Then his offical acknowledgement and true regard of Sima Zhongda just prior to his death. Most of all, it is the fact that I never expected for these two to have this kind of interaction at first, or most of the rare occasions when I get to hear Guo Jia’s inner thoughts are during conversations with Sima Yi. I’m much happier that it’s turned to be Sima Yi rather than Zhuge Liang who Guo Jia kept his eyes on though, hahaha. Because there is something about all that which I understand yet cannot describe, the sadness won’t leave me. Especially when I think about how it will end for Xun Yu, or the fact that Guo Fengxiao is no longer at his post as the chief advisor of Cao. I also understand why some people said the storytelling had gone downhill ever since his death aka Sima Yi’s official in-universe promotion, though some of it I don’t agree with. According to the author, the end of Guandu was supposedly a huge transition in the Cao camp so of course it just feels different on many levels. After Chibi the manhua will actually shift into its third part as the Three Kingdoms now have formed, so it’s practically not the same story ever again.