For various reasons, I can't travel overseas despite currently being on a break between work and study, so instead I followed the Iron Triangle on their holiday. Though, as Wu Xie states on the cover and in the blurb, their trip is more about returning to places they've been before, looking at the afterimages of themselves there. It's an apt description. Much of this story recalls earlier events; in terms of emotional resonance, I like the Motuo leg of their journey best.
There's more action and mystery in this volume, and I maybe still prefer the first volume for the atmosphere and motifs. But this also has a lot of depth to it, and ends on such a lingering note. What I love best about the Rain Village books is the sense of melancholy alongside peacefulness. To rest, but also to remember what one has done and been through - it's so needed and so lacking in most stories. I am glad that NPSS has given so much room for that in this series.