Chu Lei and the Palace leader both don’t want Xuan Ji and Si Feng hanging out with each other, but the two stubbornly continue to try and figure out a way to break out and rescue Ling Long.
Recap
Yan Ran pouts at rice crackers Xuan Ji gave her. They were her favorite when she was in her snake form, but she’s a human now. She runs into Ruo Yu, who can tell that she’s upset about something. She says it’s none of his business, then walks away, but turns back quickly and shoves the rice crackers at him. Si Feng told her she should show gratitude toward the people who helped her, so this is her gratitude for him.
Ruo Yu smiles as he eats the rice crackers. They remind him of his sister, and he remembers how she had encouraged him to join Lize Palace and said she would wait for him to return. Then he frowns at a darker memory: going home with rice crackers for his sister, only to find Yuan Lang holding her and telling him that he had to obey his orders otherwise she would never wake up again.
Xuan Ji and Min Yan try to get Ling Long to eat or drink something, but her body drifts in and out of consciousness. Si Feng and Ruo Yu show up. Si Feng explains that because Ling Long’s soul has been separated from her body for too long, she’s starting to lose control of her body. Xuan Ji suggests they should immediately go to Buzhou Mountain. They can’t afford to wait any longer.
Min Yan also wants to go, but Ruo Yu and Si Feng point out that no one knows where Buzhou Mountain is. It’s not on any maps. Si Feng remembers the captured demon mentioning “west.” Maybe if they keep going west, they’ll find it?
The four prepare to leave immediately, but Chu Lei enters Ling Long’s room and blocks their way; they’re not going anywhere. He lectures Xuan Ji for placing Ling Long’s individual safety above the safety of countless others. Chu Lei feels pain, too, to see his own daughter like this, but he knows what’s important. The Palace leader strolls in, agreeing with Chu Lei.
The Palace leader looks disapprovingly at Si Feng and Xuan Ji, blaming Xuan Ji for leading his own disciple astray. Chu Lei tries to interject, but the Palace leader cuts him off, saying that he’s talking to his own disciple right now. He calls the Shaoyang disciples useless and reminds Si Feng that he’s supposed to keep his distance from them. Chu Lei decides to lecture Xuan Ji as well, making sure to throw in barbs about the Lize Palace disciples.
Chu Lei orders Xuan Ji to cease all contact with Si Feng. The Palace leader says that he’ll confine Si Feng to the Palace, so that he no longer associates with useless people. He orders Si Feng to leave with him. Ruo Yu pushes a reluctant Si Feng out the door. Xuan Ji tries to follow, but her father orders her to stay, then tells her to follow him.
Xuan Ji is surprised to find Heng Yang at Fuyu Island. He says that he’s here for a joyous occasion and asks Xuan Ji what place Hao Chen has in her heart. Xuan Ji responds that he’s very important to her. Heng Yang then asks if she’s willing to accompany Hao Chen her whole life. She responds that she already swore to protect the secret place with him. Of course she’s willing to do that with him for the rest of her life. The elders exchange smiles.
Chu Lei says that it’s a good thing Hao Chen doesn’t mind her stubbornness, otherwise he wouldn’t know what to do with her. Hao Chen bows to Chu Lei and says that he’s willing to accept Xuan Ji as his wife. Xuan Ji turns to stare at him, alarmed. What’s going on?
Chu Lei says that he approves of Hao Chen, but Xuan Ji says that she doesn’t accept. Ling Long and Min Yan can take care of her. Si Feng can help her train. She can’t marry Hao Chen.
Heng Yang seems to respect her choice and says that they shouldn’t force her. Chu Lei is fed up with Xuan Ji’s troublemaking ways and decides that he’s going to lock her up back at Shaoyang with him.
The Lize Palace leader lectures Si Feng and demands to know for how long he’ll foolishly make mistakes because of Xuan Ji. He could’ve died on that dais had the Palace leader not shown up to save him. Si Feng responds that Xuan Ji put her life on the line to protect him. His heart is already hers. The Palace leader demands if he’s going to foolishly give her his life as well. Has he forgotten who he really is? Does he think that she will still protect him if she finds out?
Si Feng insists that Xuan Ji is different. She won’t hurt him.
The Palace leader says if that’s the case, then he’ll let Si Feng be. Whatever happens to him, he’s not the Palace leader’s problem anymore.
Xuan Ji begs the disciples guarding her room to let her go see Si Feng, just once, but they’re under strict orders from Chu Lei to keep her in her room. She frowns, wondering how she’ll escape. Xiao Yin Hua slithers into her room and then takes human form. She drags Xuan Ji into a corner, then hands her some talismans that Si Feng wrote. He’ll help her escape, as long as she follows his plan.
Wu Tong and Demon Ling Long use Yu Er to lure Liu Yi Huan to them. Once Liu Yi Huan is found, Wu Tong puts a chain around Yu Er’s neck, holding her hostage so that Yi Huan will do his bidding.
Wu Tong also puts a chain around Yi Huan’s neck and brings him to the Tianxu leader, who wants him to use his heavenly eye and tell him if Xuan Ji is the God of War. Yi Huan at first refuses, but then agrees after they torture Yu Er.
The heavenly eye confirms what the Tianxu leader suspected and shows the God of War’s face. The only problem for the Tianxu leader is that she hasn’t awaken yet. He needs to figure out how to wake her up soon.
Yi Huan asks the Tianxu leader who he is. Why can’t he see his true identity? The Tianxu leader responds that he has his ways of masking his identity. After he’s gone, Yi Huan warns Wu Tong that he picked the wrong person to follow. Yi Huan might not have been able to see the Tianxu leader’s true identity, but he saw enough to recognize that the Tianxu leader is someone who is being punished by the heavenly realm. There is no good ending that comes with associating with someone like him. He won’t help Wu Tong achieve what he wants: taking down the five sects.
Wu Tong laughs and responds that he trusts no one but himself. But after Yi Huan is taken away, he contemplates what he said. If the Tianxu leader bears a mark making him a criminal of the heavenly realm, then how did he enter Buzhou Mountain? He must have some sort of magical object allowing him to do so. Wu Tong guesses that he has the Feilong (“flying dragon” or “wyvern”) Seal.
Min Yan asks Min Xing if he can hang out with Xuan Ji a bit. Min Xing lets him in, but warns them to behave. Once Min Yan gets inside, he and Xuan Ji put Si Feng’s plan into action. They play a childish game, making Min Xing chuckle and shake his head outside. Min Xing suddenly has to go to the bathroom and asks two fellow disciples to cover for him. They notice that Xuan Ji and Min Yan’s shadows seem unusually close and chalk it up to “young people.” But Min Xing realizes that something is wrong when he gets back. He goes inside, where Xuan Ji and Min Yan are robotically repeating the same game. When he touches them, they turn to dust, reverting back into the talismans that Si Feng made.
The Fuyu disciples search the island for Xuan Ji and Min Yan. Xuan Ji, Min Yan, and Si Feng run into Ruo Yu in the woods. He’s offended that they didn’t invite him along. They explain that they just didn’t want him to get in trouble along with them. He insists on going, saying that Ling Long is his friend, too. The sword shield around Fuyu Island is still activated, but Si Feng knows of a hole they can escape through that has not yet been repaired.
Zi Hu goes to Fuyu Island in search of the spirit keys, but slams into the shield. She frowns, then spots the friends as they attempt to flee Fuyu Island. Hao Chen and Chu Lei pursue them.
Hao Chen overtakes the group, blocking their way. He asks Xuan Ji to go back with him. They can work things out. But Xuan Ji refuses to go back to Shaoyang. Chu Lei catches up and blocks the group on the other side. But suddenly, the friends all disappear in a plume of purple smoke.
Yuan Lang stands on the beach and smiles when he sees Chu Lei and Hao Chen up in the sky with the runaways nowhere to be found.
Zi Hu brings the group to an abandoned building. Min Yan doesn’t look happy to see her, but Xuan Ji and Si Feng thank her for helping them escape. Zi Hu asks for the spirit keys as a token of their gratitude, but Xiao Yin Hua tells her that she’s too late — Tianxu Hall already has them. They tell her that Tianxu Hall is at Buzhou Mountain, but they don’t know where it is.
Zi Hu turns away thoughtfully with a smile. Buzhou Mountain is the entrance to Fenru City, where Wu Zhi Qi is being held. She turns back to the group and says that she can take them there.
Min Yan and Xiao Yin Hua both don’t trust Zi Hu and are ready to walk away, but Zi Hu tells them that they can’t get to Buzhou Mountain without her. Buzhou Mountain doesn’t exist in the mortal realm anymore. After Gonggong smashed into Buzhou Mountain, it disappeared from the mortal realm and became a demonic territory. The Asuras (aka Xiuluo) found it and claimed it, using it as their own training ground. Zi Hu knows it well because she grew up there.
Si Feng approaches Zi Hu and says he’ll believe her now. So how do they get there? Zi Hu smiles and gently taps him on the cheek, saying he treats her the best. Xuan Ji quickly puts herself between them and drags Si Feng away from Zi Hu.
Zi Hu admits that there’s one little problem. After the war between the immortals and the demons, the immortals claimed Buzhou Mountain for their own. They moved Fenru City there and its now guarded by heavenly soldiers, so she doesn’t know how to get back there. However, Ting Nu should know how to get there, if they help her find him. She admits that she and Ting Nu got separated after the demon attack. She left him alone for just a moment, and when she got back, she saw signs of a struggle. He seems to have been taken away by a powerful demon, one she doesn’t know. She’s pretty sure that the demon isn’t associated with Tianxu Hall, though.
The group discuss together what they want to do. Si Feng suggests that they can go along with Zi Hu for now, then prevent her from getting the spirit keys when that time comes. Min Yan really doesn’t want to collaborate with a demon, but Xuan Ji points out that this is their only way to rescue Ling Long. Min Yan reluctantly agrees, but warns them that if Zi Hu plays any tricks, he’ll show her no mercy.
Chu Lei is furious that both Xuan Ji and Min Yan have been led astray by Si Feng. Ying Hong points out that their priority should be to find the kids. Hao Chen guesses that they’ve gone to Buzhou Mountain. He tells them that even though Buzhou Mountain may not be in the mortal realm, there’s a way to get there from the mortal realm. They can go there to look for Xuan Ji. Chu Lei promises to secure a wedding date for the two of them once Hao Chen brings Xuan Ji back. Hao Chen looks like he wants to say something, but stays silent.
The Tianxu leader instructs Wu Tong to send Yu Er and Yi Huan out of Buzhou Mountain. He has plans for them.
The next day, when Wu Tong is supposed to bring Yu Er and Yi Huan to the Tianxu leader, he shows up himself instead. He wants to know why the Tianxu leader wants them. He guesses that the Tianxu leader’s goal is to rule the three worlds and that he doesn’t care about defeating the five sects at all. Wu Tong attempts to strike a deal: he’ll help the Tianxu leader if the Tianxu leader will give him control over the demon army — Wu Tong will eliminate the sects himself.
The Tianxu leader laughs and reminds Wu Tong that he’s in no position to be making deals. He is at the Tianxu leader’s mercy, and the Tianxu leader decides whether he lives or dies. He attacks Wu Tong, but Wu Tong surprises him by pulling out the Feilong Seal and using it to unmask the Tianxu leader’s real identity: Yuan Lang.
Wu Tong remembers his history. There’s only one person who has been marked by the garuda, and that’s the Right Minister of the demon clan, Yuan Lang. After what Yi Huan said about the Tianxu leader being marked by the gods, Wu Tong knew that the only way he could’ve entered Buzhou Mountain was by using the Feilong Seal. Yet he didn’t remember hearing about Lize Palace losing their treasured artifact, and noticed that Tianxu Hall never had any plans to move against Lize Palace. He put two and two together and realized that the Tianxu leader had disguised himself in the Lize Palace. He also guesses that no one at Lize Palace knows that Yuan Lang is the leader of Tianxu Hall.
Wu Tong is willing to keep all of Yuan Lang’s secrets and participate in his cause if he’s willing to make a deal with Wu Tong and agree to eradicate the five sects. Yuan Lang agrees and asks for his seal back, but Wu Tong says he’ll hold onto it — and the spirit key it contains — in order to make sure Yuan Lang follows through on his word.
Zi Hu leads the group by following her nose to track Ting Nu. They camp for the night. Zi Hu sits by herself apart from the group, but Xuan Ji brings her a blackened yam on a stick to eat. Zi Hu sniffs disdainfully, saying she only eats people and grapes, but her stomach growls so eventually joins everyone else by the campfire.
Zi Hu offers Si Feng a cob of corn on a stick, smiling when Xuan Ji pushes it away and tries to get Si Feng to eat her yam instead. She reassures Xuan Ji that she has no interest in Si Feng — that troublemaking monkey Wu Zhi Qi is enough for her.
Xuan Ji asks why Zi Hu, who doesn’t seem like a bad demon, likes Wu Zhi Qi, one of the most evil demons. Zi Hu gets defensive again, repeating that Wu Zhi Qi isn’t bad. She smiles nostalgically as she recalls the first time she met him. Back then, he had caught her stealing grapes in his vineyard while in her fox form and threatened to use her fur as a scarf.
Commentary
This Yuan Lang reveal is so obvious, but I also expected him to be a much more important person, such as the actual demon king, than he is. Also I don’t even remember if they mentioned Yuan Lang’s name before this, or if they always referred to him as the deputy Palace leader, but I just went off the cast lists because it’s easier to refer to characters by name than title.
Wu Tong is disgusting, but also interesting in the sense that he has guts and he’s pathetic when it comes to his attraction to Ling Long.
Ruo Yu is such a cute puppy and I’m sad that he gets bullied by Yuan Lang. I thought he liked Yan Ran in a romantic way, but perhaps she is just a stand-in for his sister?
It seems like Si Feng knows more than what he’s letting on, so maybe Hao Chen has been justified in his suspicion of Si Feng. But also, shouldn’t Yuan Lang know who Si Feng is as well?
The Drama Llama 