The group goes after the next piece of the mirror, giving both couples — Si Feng and Xuan Ji, and Ling Long and Min Yan — a chance to connect more with each other as they explore a new city.
Recap
The group is relieved and Xuan Ji is elated when Si Feng reveals that he personally made all the food on the table. Xuan Ji reveals that she can smell now and declares that she wants to continue recovering her senses. Min Yan asks if she’s still worried about demonic influence, but Xuan Ji is unconcerned because she knows her friends will help her. Yan Ran comes in and immediately starts bickering with Ling Long again.
Yi Huan discovers that Yu Er has run away. Si Feng wants to help go after her, but Yi Huan says he can do it on his own. Before he leaves, he tells Si Feng that he saw a piece of the mirror on Gaoshi Mountain in Zhongli City in his travels. He also says that if Si Feng ends up marrying Xuan Ji, they should drink together.
The group goes to Zhongli City. Yan Ran and Ling Long continue to bicker and have to be separated. Si Feng asks around for where Gaoshi Mountain is, but discovers that Zhongli has only one mountain: Xianren (Immortal) Mountain. The woman he talks to warns him that mortals can’t go up the mountain.
The group finds the entrance to the mountain blocked by a door and it turns out that Gaoshi Mountain and Xianren Mountain are one and the same. Si Feng stops them before they approach the door and instead throws a magical weapon at it. An invisible magical barrier stops the weapon before it can reach the door. The three men in the group try attacking the barrier together, but are unable to pierce through. Does an immortal actually live here? Xuan Ji doesn’t smell immortals, but something about the place feels off.
Supposedly, a goddess will be coming to the mortal realm soon. Si Feng says they can wait in the city in the meantime.
The city is celebrating the Hanshi (cold food) Festival, and Si Feng buys treats for Xuan Ji to eat. He leads her off to go explore more. Yan Ran tries to follow, but Ling Long blocks her way.
Ling Long and Min Yan go to a fortune teller. Ling Long’s fortune is ominous. Min Yan asks for his fortune, then reveals that he was actually asking about marriage when it turns out that it’s a good one. Ling Long runs away, as usual. Min Yan gives chase, as usual. He offers to give Ling Long his fortune stick, saying that when they go to ask her father about marriage, they can just show him the fortune to prove they’re meant to be. Ling Long gets scared by the talk of marriage and tells him to go give it to someone else, but then gets upset when he jokes that he’ll go find someone else to give it to.
Xuan Ji and Si Feng watch a fire breather. Xuan Ji is enthralled, while Si Feng seems to only have eyes for her. Xuan Ji is startled when the flames get too close to her and shies back, but loses her balance. Si Feng catches her. His hair gets caught on her dress. After he frees himself, he heads off to buy her a hair accessory, seeming flustered.
Xuan Ji wanders around alone for a little bit. Two well-dressed men run into her. One introduces himself and tries to convince her to go home with him, luring her with claims of collecting antique mirrors. He starts to get pushy when she wants to wait for Si Feng. Si Feng finds them and promptly encases the man in a floating orb of energy. They leave the man floating there while Si Feng shows Xuan Ji the accessory he bought and puts it in her hair for her. The man begs to be let down. Si Feng instead makes him float away even higher, then tells Xuan Ji she shouldn’t talk to male strangers in the future.
Xuan Ji and Si Feng go watch the ceremony in which the goddess supposedly comes to the mortal realm. They watch as a purple cloud of smoke spirals down toward a shrine in front of which many people wait. The smoke drops off a scroll. They leave, unimpressed.
Xuan Ji recognizes the purple cloud of smoke as the demon who abducted Ling Shi. Before they can discuss more, they’re interrupted by a group of four men, led by the same man who tried to hit on Xuan Ji earlier. He begs for Si Feng’s help. Every year, the goddess picks four men to be sent up the mountain as grooms. This year, they were chosen. It’s a certain death. The man knows that the goddess isn’t actually a god — she’s a demon. He secretly followed one of the wedding processions to the mountain and saw what she looked like. But everyone in the city worships her as a god and won’t believe what he says.
Si Feng agrees to help. He, Min Yan, and Ruo Yu can dress up as the grooms and infiltrate the mountain. Xuan Ji points out that they’re still missing one person and volunteers to disguise herself as a man. Si Feng is reluctant to let her come, thinking it’s too dangerous, but Xuan Ji reassures him that she can hold her own.
Ling Long is worried about Xuan Ji going up the mountain, but Xuan Ji shows her the skirt she’ll wear, which is embroidered with all the spells she can think of to combat the demon. Ling Long notices a bracelet on Xuan Ji’s wrist and recognizes it as something their aunt gave them for their 12th birthday. Ling Long lost hers long ago.
Xuan Ji takes it off to let her look at it, then says that the gift is actually from their 14th birthday. She remembers, because there’s a bead for every two years of their life. But when she counts, there are actually 8 beads. She frowns, distinctly remembering that there used to be 7 beads.
Hao Chen hasn’t received any letters from Xuan Ji for several days and is worried that something might have happened to her. Duan Qing rushes in, reporting that Heng Yang had an accident while in seclusion.
Heng Yang’s disciples work together to help him recover. Once he returns to consciousness, he dismisses all of them except for Hao Chen. Heng Yang tells Hao Chen that he must keep an eye on Shaoyang’s secret place while he recovers. Then he confesses to Hao Chen that he may have picked incorrectly when he chose to focus on the Wuqing technique. There was another option, the Youqing (with love) technique, that Heng Yang now realizes is more powerful than the Wuqing technique. But Heng Yang has found that he has no love anymore, so it’s beyond his reach. Hao Chen responds with something to the tune of all ways leading to the same way. Heng Yang remarks that he seems wise beyond his years. (If he only knew…)
The men accompanying the fake wedding procession turn and run the moment they reach the door to the mountain. The doors open and purple smoke gushes out, revealing five women. The “grooms” are told to step out of their palanquins and given red wedding dresses to wear. Yan Ran and Ling Long spy on them and giggle, then tease each other but without ill will. Si Feng helps shield Xuan Ji while she changes and seems momentarily taken aback when he sees her in the red dress.
Si Feng notices that the veils have an enchantment on them and warns Xuan Ji to be careful. The demon woman in charge orders them to step back into their palanquins.
Zhu Shi and the remnants of the Xuanyuan sect attempt to fight off the Tianxu demons. Wu Tong appears and immediately kills two disciples, drawing from their essences to strengthen himself. He boasts that he’s strong enough to take out the whole sect and demands that Zhu Shi give him the spirit key.
Zhu Shi orders his sect to lay their lives down in a last stand. He attacks Wu Tong, who easily subdues him. No one else moves. Wu Tong tells the sect members that if they kneel to him, he will give them the drug they crave. The disciples kneel. Only the two elders remain standing. Zhu Shi tries to summon his power for his last stand, but he’s too weak. Wu Tong easily throws him away. The two elders attempt to go to him, but Wu Tong drags them back and demands to know if they’ve found the spirit key. When they confess that they haven’t, he kills them with one blow.
Wu Tong asks the room where the spirit key is. If no one tells him, they will all die. Shi Feng crawls to Wu Tong’s feet and says he knows where it is. He takes Wu Tong to a secret vault, but is dismayed to find that the Tianji Pearl that holds the spirit key is gone. He tells Wu Tong that the only people to come by the sect in recent days was Xuan Ji, Ling Long, and Si Feng.
The palanquins holding the four “grooms” are teleported into the mountain. The four are told to step out of their palanquins and sat down in chairs while attendants fawn over them and try to push wine at them. Si Feng senses that something is wrong with the wine and warns the others not to drink. He draws his sword and the attendants flitter away in clouds of purple smoke.
The primary demon laughs as she reveals herself, spawning out of a veiled statue at the center of the cave. She giggles that cultivators’ essences are infinitely better than ordinary people’s. She can’t wait to absorb them. Si Feng recognizes that she must be a fox demon. The demon congratulates him on guessing correctly. She’s Zi Hu, the Purple Fox.
Zi Hu vanishes in a cloud of smoke and flies past each member of the group. They each reel, sedated. Except Xuan Ji was faking it and attacks Zi Hu when she turns her attention on Si Feng. She gets the upper hand at first, but then Zi Hu grabs her by the neck. Zi Hu is displeased when she discovers that Xuan Ji is a woman, and says she must kill her. Si Feng throws his sword at her before she can attack. He’s clearly still affected by the enchanted smoke, but manages to say, “You can’t hurt her.”
Zi Hu smirks as she observes them, finding it very interesting that they’re lovers.
Commentary
This episode was mostly a lot of cute, but I don’t mind! I like the dynamic between Si Feng and Xuan Ji, especially now that she has abilities of her own. He wants to protect her, but not in an oppressive way. Xuan Ji felt she could handle herself in the demon’s lair and Si Feng trusted her and agreed. Yes to more mutual respect!
I could probably do with less Wu Tong, but if his presence means we get to see the others beat him up and get the revenge they’ve longed for, then I’m okay with that.
The Drama Llama 