If the sudden explosive popularity of "Sea Fog Pursuit" was the inevitable result of gradually accumulated positive word-of-mouth from earlier episodes.
Then its late-stage momentum, sending the show's metrics skyrocketing, was due to the appearance of several super charismatic characters.
The first character to explode in popularity was naturally the protagonist Mu Wen's uncle, Ji Baili.
Ji Baili had returned from neighboring White Elephant Country, originally groomed as Old Master's successor, being both Old Master's son-in-law and disciple. Because he encountered enemies, he was delayed abroad for some time, and when he finally returned—oh my god! His home had been stolen, and Old Master's only grandson from his lineage had actually gotten involved in this smuggling crime!
But there was no choice—Mu Wen was already entangled, and leaving wasn't an option anymore.
So Ji Baili had no choice but to grit his teeth and bring his young nephew along this "tightrope walk."
Ji Baili held considerable prestige within the entire land smuggling team. Whenever Mu Wen encountered any trouble, he would appear like timely rain, then help Mu Wen resolve all difficulties.
Every time Ji Baili appeared, he would inevitably spark a wave of bullet comment frenzy, giving viewers a full sense of security.
No helping it—a man who can solve problems doubles his charm value in any situation.
The actor playing Ji Baili also successfully rose to fame through this role, leaping from an ordinary "middle-aged supporting male" who had been struggling for over ten years to becoming a representative figure in the domestic entertainment industry's "uncle circle."
And besides this character, there was naturally Xiao He who appeared later in the series.
Mo Tun made a deep psychological impression on all viewers from his very first appearance.
Unlike other big shots who appeared in mysterious, enigmatic attire, Mo Tun sported somewhat messy, curly medium-length hair, wore the same short-sleeve shirt and loose shorts commonly seen on seaside fishermen, paired with flip-flops, while occasionally chewing betel nut, his gaze sinister as if a terrifying creature lurking in the deep sea had locked onto its prey.
His brutal method of digging out people's mouths at the slightest provocation also made viewers shudder with fear.
Some bloggers had already analyzed that his digging out tongues and teeth was actually related to regional folk culture.
Seaside fishermen often have beliefs and greatly respect ocean deities. They believe the sea is naturally where the sea god resides, and these criminals, after killing people and dumping bodies in the sea, worry that wrongfully killed victims might appeal to the sea god, bringing divine punishment. So Mo Tun digging out mouths might be a folk metaphor for "preventing their words from reaching the deities."
Of course, "Sea Fog Pursuit" also involved extensive antique knowledge and Taoist-Buddhist culture—this was just a small detail about the production team incorporating folk culture.
Back to the topic—Mo Tun's character, like Mu Ze back then, dominated the entire Bilibili platform immediately after appearing.
And amusingly, Xiao He was currently the only man on Bilibili who wasn't dead yet but frequently appeared with black-and-white filters.
Why?
Because he was always covered in blood, every appearance either killing someone or on his way to kill someone.
Although censorship had relaxed now, Bilibili's sensitive nature remained very strict. Situations like Xiao He killing indiscriminately on TV couldn't pass review there, yet paradoxically every time Xiao He killed someone, his charm value exploded, leaving deep impressions—so since Xiao He's debut, in every villain compilation, his figure never appeared in any other colors.
Although censorship had relaxed now, Bilibili's sensitive nature remained very strict. Situations like Xiao He killing indiscriminately on TV couldn't pass review there, yet strangely every time Xiao He killed someone, his charm value exploded, leaving deep impressions—so since Xiao He's debut, in every villain compilation, his figure never appeared in any other colors.
Oh, you ask why his face and body always get splattered with large amounts of black water stains? Haha, that must be accidentally spilled ink, right? Could it possibly be blood? Haha, how could that be—our video passed review, there's no bloody violent content here~
The most famous naturally had to be the latest video from Xiao Zhao the Roamer—the representative content creator who originally made Mu Ze explode on Bilibili, pushing the "refined scumbag" series into Mu Ze's "new era."
This Xiao Zhao the Roamer could now be considered one of Xiao He's online benefactors, and also one of Xiao He's earliest fans.
Originally she was just a somewhat famous film editing blogger, usually posting high-energy mashups and funny videos on Bilibili. Later, with the rise of short videos and prevalence of editing studios, this small content creator was almost forced out of the industry by the insanely competitive environment.
And right at that time, Xiao He's portrayal of Mu Ze appeared.
Xiao Zhao the Roamer, recommended by one of her fans, saw Mu Ze's character clips in "Heart of Embers" and was utterly amazed. She stayed up all night editing a very high-quality, sophisticated mashup short that exploded on Bilibili, instantly hitting the platform's front page.
Because of this, Xiao Zhao the Roamer regained massive traffic and attention. Being quite clever, she capitalized on that high heat to continue producing high-quality content, creating many editing videos about Mu Ze's character based on popular fan ideas, successfully breaking through the million-follower milestone with that heat, reigniting her career flames.
Later she persistently created some Xiao He personal compilation videos, especially after "Thief Catcher" aired—high-energy fight scene mashups of Shen Jue, plot-based story mashups... etc.—these types of videos again topped Bilibili's trending charts.
One could say Xiao Zhao the Roamer's subsequent rise was largely thanks to Xiao He.
Of course, conversely, Xiao He's ability to maintain super high heat on Bilibili was also thanks to editing content creators like Xiao Zhao the Roamer, adding finishing touches to Xiao He's character highlights.
This time was naturally the same.
Actually, after noticing Xiao He's participation in "Sea Fog Pursuit," Xiao Zhao the Roamer had been continuously following the drama and had long planned to edit character videos.
After all, both "Sea Fog Pursuit" and "Heart of Embers" had the same director, and she originally became famous on Bilibili through Mu Ze mashups from "Heart of Embers." Now Xiao He was playing Mo Tun in "Sea Fog Pursuit"—this situation held special commemorative meaning for her.
So even though "Sea Fog Pursuit" initially had terrible viewership metrics—good reputation but no traffic—Xiao Zhao the Roamer never gave up, persistently followed updates, even promoted it everywhere, and finally waited for Xiao He's appearance—
One could only say, Xiao He truly lived up to being Xiao He. Compared to Mu Ze's elegant madness, Mo Tun's character was clearly the other extreme—carefree yet ruthlessly vicious.
Especially that scene where he digs out someone's mouth—vivid red blood against silvery white teeth—bullet comments were filled with question marks, and later because it was too bloody, when reposted to other short video platforms, it had to be censored with mosaics.
Many people found it hard to accept—the visual impact was too strong. Yet Xiao Zhao the Roamer was already so excited her eyes were shining—
Good! Good! Inspiration's coming! All my inspiration!