Si Feng tries to keep his distance from Xuan Ji, but she’s persistent and oblivious. Ling Long grows suspicious of Xuan Ji and Min Yan’s relationship, especially after she discovers that they’re keeping a secret from her.
Recap
Ling Long, Min Yan, Ruo Yu, and Yan Ran explore the cave where Si Feng said the demon controlling the quru birds would be. Ling Long and Yan Ran continue to bicker along the way. They eventually find the demon’s lair and the demon bursts out of a cobweb cocoon. The four try to fight, but quickly get caught in glowing nets.
Xuan Ji follows Si Feng outside, trying to get him to talk to her. He tells her to leave her alone, but then they’re interrupted when Xuan Ji gets a message from the others: they’re in trouble.
Xuan Ji and Si Feng hurry to the demon’s cave. Si Feng engages the demon in a fight while Xuan Ji tries to free the others. She’s almost succeeded in weakening the nets when the demon attacks her and traps her in a net. He then binds Si Feng with glowing rope and slowly starts to strangle him.
Si Feng and Xuan Ji stare at each other helplessly as they both start to get suffocated by their respective traps. Xuan Ji starts glowing blue and everyone gasps as she breaks free of the net and starts floating, swarming with blue clouds and energy. She turns into a bolt of energy that blasts through the demon, turning it to ash, then cuts through the nets trapping the others. Finally, she returns to Si Feng, where she traps him in glowing curls of blue energy and dark smoke. Si Feng says her name. Xuan Ji seems to come back to herself and her eyes stop glowing blue. The energy around Si Feng disappears and looks like it gets absorbed into him.
Xuan Ji collapses and faints in Si Feng’s arms.
Now freed, Ling Long and Min Yan rush to check on Xuan Ji while Yan Ran and Ruo Yu check on Si Feng, who says he’s fine. Ling Long is concerned about Xuan Ji, but says that she probably just overexerted herself using advanced magic and will be fine. Yan Ran is upset that Xuan Ji almost killed Si Feng, but Si Feng says that he’s fine.
Ling Long supports the unconscious Xuan Ji while the others investigate the rest of the cave. Si Feng frees the quru birds, since they were being used by the demon and weren’t causing harm on their own. The demon spoke about Tianxu Hall before dying, and is evidence that Tianxu must have been secretly working undetected for the past four years. Si Feng suggests that they should all go back to their respective sects to warn them. He glances at Xuan Ji, then suggests that they should rest and recover for now. Ling Long, Min Yan, and Xuan Ji are free to stay with them if they don’t have other lodging.
Yan Ran follows after Si Feng at the lodge, asking if he’s going to see Xuan Ji again. She reminds him that he’s not supposed to have any attachments with his mask. He responds that he’s going to pay their lodging fee. They leave tonight.
Xuan Ji dreams that she stabs Si Feng, then bolts awake saying his name. She asks what happened to the demon and about Si Feng. Ling Long tells her that she was the one who killed the demon. Xuan Ji looks confused. Min Yan tries to cover for her, but that just makes Xuan Ji more confused and makes Ling Long suspicious.
Xuan Ji is distraught to hear that she destroyed the demon the same way she killed the gudiao. She asks the details of what happened, worried that she did something to Si Feng. Min Yan reassures her that she stopped before she harmed him. Xuan Ji is still uneasy. In her dream, she remembers killing endlessly and without feeling. She’s worried that she may turn into an unfeeling killing machine, and can’t shake the feeling that whatever happened to her is related to the mirror.
Ling Long, Si Feng, Yan Ran, and Ruo Yu are the guests of honor at a thank you dinner put on by the grateful townspeople. Yan Ran is unhappy because she wants to leave and be on the road. Ling Long is unhappy and drinks several shots by herself, wondering about what secret Min Yan and Xuan Ji are keeping from her. She holds out a glass to Si Feng, trying to get him to drink with her and upset that he’s suddenly acting so cold.
Min Yan thinks that maybe the mirror pieces are what’s causing Xuan Ji to turn into the version of herself that she can’t control. He suggests that they should destroy them, and warns Xuan Ji not to believe what the merman said. Demons are inherently up to no good.
Yan Ran paces the lodge hallways, trying to figure out what to do about Xuan Ji and how to make sure she doesn’t bother Si Feng again. She walks by Xuan Ji’s room and spies on Min Yan trying to destroy the mirror. The mirror glows with the energy being funneled into it, then releases a small explosion of its own. Min Yan throws himself in front of Xuan Ji to shield her. Yan Ran shoots in a bit of magic toward them, spinning them onto the bed so that Min Yan is stuck leaning over Xuan Ji. She smirks and leaves.
Min Yan and Xuan Ji are both paralyzed and assume that it’s because of the mirror. Xuan Ji thinks they should ask for help, but Min Yan says no. How are they supposed to explain this compromising position? Maybe they can free themselves by moving their energy.
Ling Long reminds Si Feng of how good he was to Xuan Ji before. She thought he liked Xuan Ji. What happened? Si Feng says the usual things about Lize Palace disciples not being allowed to have relationships. Yan Ran comes in and claims she saw a shadow fly by. Could it be more demons?
Ling Long rushes out to check on Xuan Ji. The others follow. Yan Ran says she saw the shadow fly into Xuan Ji’s room. They burst in and see Min Yan over Xuan Ji on the bed. At that moment, the two manage to free themselves. Xuan Ji runs over to Ling Long with a smile, not noticing that anything was wrong. Min Yan is more flustered.
Ling Long pulls out her sword, saying that she’s going to kill Min Yan for taking advantage of her sister. Min Yan says that she can kill her if she wants, but she knows that later she’ll just cry over him. Xuan Ji tries to get her to drop her sword. It works, but then a dagger falls to the ground out of Xuan Ji’s dress. Ling Long recognizes it as Min Yan’s family heirloom, the one he was going to give to his future wife.
Xuan Ji says that Min Yan gave it to her before she left for Xuyang Peak. Ling Long looks crestfallen. Yan Ran interjects, saying it’s obvious that Min Yan and Xuan Ji were together long ago.
Ling Long smiles a sad smile and hands the dagger back to Xuan Ji, saying it’s clear that she’s meant to be his future wife. Min Yan looks like he wants to protest, but doesn’t say anything. Xuan Ji just looks confused.
Ling Long tells Min Yan that he needs to take good care of her sister, otherwise she won’t show him any mercy. Then she leaves.
Yan Ran suggests they should leave, too. Si Feng says a terse goodbye and leaves. Xuan Ji chases after Si Feng and Min Yan is left alone.
“Are you happy now, Xiao Yin Hua?” Si Feng asks Yan Ran. Yan Ran admits that she purposely lured Si Feng over, but that’s because Xuan Ji isn’t worth his time. Si Feng says that he didn’t need her to do that.
Xuan Ji calls Si Feng’s name as she chases after them. She falls down a step and cuts her hand on the ground. Si Feng turns and takes a few steps toward her before he catches himself. Xuan Ji gets to her feet and grabs Si Feng’s arm, saying that there are still things she needs to say to him. He brushes her arm off and turns away, but Xuan Ji won’t let him go that easily. She blocks his way, but Si Feng says that they’re strangers to each other and tries to go around her. She tries to grab for him again, but ends up pulling at the pouch around his waist. He tells her to not touch it, but it’s too late: the glowing rope from the cave worms its way out of the pouch and wraps each end around one of their wrists so that they’re bound together.
Min Yan finds Ling Long drinking by herself in the wine cellar. He tries to explain himself, but she won’t let him get a word in. She throws wine in his face and storms out after he starts comparing her to Yan Ran in frustration.
Yan Ran tries to break the rope between Si Feng and Xuan Ji, who sit as far apart as the rope will allow. She’s frustrated that Ruo Yu won’t help, but he says it’s pointless. The rope is attracted to flesh and blood and will only let go when it wants to. Yan Ran cuts herself and starts rubbing her blood on the rope, then starts hacking at it when that doesn’t work. Xuan Ji points out that that’s not working either. Yan Ran turns to her, annoyed, and says that maybe she should just chop off her hand. Si Feng waves his hand, summoning a draft of wind that pushes Yan Ran away into Ruo Yu’s arms, saying that’s enough.
Xuan Ji smiles. Si Feng asks her why she’s smiling when she caused so much trouble today. Xuan Ji acknowledges that she did cause trouble, but she can’t help but be happy that this means Si Feng can’t leave, and the fact that he stopped Yan Ran from hacking off her arm is proof to her that he still cares about her. He tells her she’s wrong and gives alternative explanations.
Ruo Yu suggests that they can go ask the Xuanyuan sect for help tomorrow. Si Feng agrees; they can go tomorrow. Yan Ran petulantly says that Xuan Ji and Si Feng aren’t allowed to share a room tonight. “Then where am I supposed to sleep?” Xuan Ji asks.
Xuan Ji ends up standing outside Si Feng’s room. She gets sleepy and falls through the door. Si Feng pushes her with some magic into his own bedroom and closes the screen, saying she can sleep there for the night. He’ll explain the situation to Min Yan tomorrow.
But Xuan Ji is suddenly not sleepy anymore and wants to talk. She asks if Si Feng knows what happened earlier with Min Yan and Ling Long and why she was so angry. Si Feng’s hands clench at the mention of Min Yan. Xuan Ji thinks that Ling Long really dislikes Min Yan and that’s why she’s so upset that Xuan Ji likes him. She asks Si Feng for help figuring out how to make Ling Long like Min Yan.
Si Feng waves his hand again, forcing Xuan Ji back onto the bed. He grits out that he doesn’t have the time to listen to her talk about Min Yan and says that if she won’t sleep, she can go outside. She obediently crawls into bed, but still can’t sleep, so she decides to write a letter to Hao Chen. While she silently writes, Si Feng tries to silently treat a wound on his shoulder from his earlier fight with the demon.
Xuan Ji accidentally tugs on the rope as she swipes to send off the letter. It knocks into her candle and the rope contracts, pulling her and Si Feng together. Xuan Ji is excited that she’s figured out how to make the rope shorter. She hovers a section over a nearby candle, and it contracts again, pulling them even closer together so they’re pressed into a corner. Si Feng hisses in pain as she lands on his shoulder. She pulls open his shirt to check on his injury, despite his protests.
Si Feng does his best to remain impassive, but it’s difficult, so he pushes her away, saying that men and women shouldn’t have physical contact, especially when she’s already engaged to Min Yan. Xuan Ji doesn’t find anything wrong, saying she just wanted to check on his wound. He tries to brush past her, but then his bell drops onto the ground. She picks it up and rings it. Didn’t he say he lost it? Si Feng claims that it’s unimportant and he doesn’t know why it’s even on him.
Xuan Ji gets hungry. Si Feng orders some food for her and she beams. Eating is a struggle with their wrists bound together, so Si Feng ends up grabbing the chopsticks with his free hand and feeding Xuan Ji. She keeps wanting to talk. He tells her to shut her mouth. She points out she can’t eat if she shuts her mouth. By the time Xuan Ji’s finished eating, the rope has returned to its long form. She heads off to bed.
Hao Chen reads some letters that Xuan Ji sent, then frowns when he gets to the one about the Tianxu Hall demon saying something about two stars meeting.
Xuan Ji turns in bed to face Si Feng and says that his silhouette is very good-looking. She keeps chattering about how she remembers he doesn’t like it when people compliment him. He seemed kind of angry when she complimented his smile before. Now, she’s noticed that he hasn’t smiled once since they’ve met again. She admits that even though he’s right in front of her, she still feels like she misses him. He doesn’t respond, so she goes up to him, wondering if he’s asleep. She gets close to his face and smiles looking at him. It’s only when she’s about to touch his mask that he says, “Don’t touch.”
Xuan Ji backs away slightly, startled. She asks if she really won’t ever be able to see his face again. Can they not go back to the way they were before? Si Feng thinks about the good moments between them, but then also the moments more recently that have made him angry. She notices his hands clenching and asks if anything’s wrong. He responds that he just finds it funny. The past can’t be revisited. The person he least wanted to see when he came to the outside world this time is her. They shouldn’t have seen each other again.
“Why?” Xuan Ji asks. Si Feng asks why she chose Min Yan. She doesn’t understand. He asks why she likes Min Yan. She smiles and says a lot of the things that check off the boxes of what she thinks it means to like someone. Si Feng clenches his fists and tells her that that’s enough. She can tell he’s angry and is confused because he was the one who asked. He claims he’s tired.
After Xuan Ji goes back to bed, Si Feng drops his head, breathing heavily. But then, as he watches Xuan Ji sleep, his mask glows red and his hands slowly relax.
Commentary
I have so many questions! What does the mask do exactly? We know that Si Feng is not supposed to feel love for anyone otherwise the mask will poison him. At first, I thought that the mask would make him heartless, but after a while it seemed more like he would be forced to make himself emotionless, rather than the mask doing it for him. Now, it seems like the mask is doing something to absorb his emotion and take it away. And what about what happened with Xuan Ji’s uncontrollable magic and how he absorbed that energy?
This whole fake love triangle with Min Yan is hilariously sad, but I’m surprised that I’m not yet annoyed. It’s hard to blame Xuan Ji for getting into a messy situation when she literally does not know what it means to like someone. Si Feng is just a fool. The only person really at fault is probably Min Yan, but that’s just because he seems incapable of communicating clearly. I love how selfless Ling Long is. She’s a great sister, prioritizing Xuan Ji’s happiness over her own, and she got mad at the only person she should have been angry with: Min Yan.
Lu Yan Ran actually being Xiao Yin Hua’s human form is a fun twist and explains a lot about her behavior and Si Feng’s reaction to her. She’s actually just Si Feng’s spirit snake, which is why he tolerates all her antics, but also why sometimes he just brushes her aside, but is never cruel to her. Her animosity toward Xuan Ji also makes so much more sense now. She’s seen everything that Si Feng experienced because of Xuan Ji, so naturally she would feel protective toward him.
The Drama Llama 