Chinese Drama 2020

Ever Night Season 2 (Chinese Drama Review & Summary)

Episodes Recap follows below!

I have to admit that when it was announced that Chen Feiyu had opted not to continue on as Ning Que for Season 2, something in my heart dedicated solely to Ever Night grieved.

There is no one out there that could possibly play Ning Que with enough charm, maturity, understanding of the role, agility for action, charisma, chemistry with Song Yiren as Sang Sang and those movable eyebrows.  🙂

But with less than a minute of Dylan Wang jumping all over the place with his little ponytail, I am sold.

Yes, I can see him as Ning Que.  I also began to remember how he treated the tiny (compared to his height anyway), Shen Yue, when they were playing Dao Ming Si and Shancai in Meteor Garden 2018.  It was like Ning Que and Sang Sang.

Now I am so looking forward to this coming installment or rather conclusion to the drama.

And just to confirm, Dylan Wang He Di has been officially announced as the new Ning Que.

I don’t want to give spoilers but we do want to know what is on offer in season 2.  Anyway if you really wanted to know the full story, it can be found in tome of books,   Apparently, there were more than 1000 chapters to this web novel and the first 600 chapters made for the first season.

From the first season-ending, we see Sang Sang dying.  Is our Sang Sang dead?

Sang Sang, you can’t die!

Wailed Ning Que

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo

No, she can’t be dead because she will play a pivotal role in Season 2;

Sang Sang was very much weakened after using her Hao Tian light to help Ning Que defeat the far superior Xia Huo, who had attained the ultimate level of Wu Duo.

Fully spent in the snow, Sang Sang almost fatally damaged her pulmonary system as she has always been susceptible to hypothermia.  She had a cold disease as Ning Que called it.

Apparently, Ning Que will travel the world with Sang Sang to find the cure to her malady. (Why not just consult with Fu Zi, who knows everything?)

In their travels, they would meet adventure after adventure as it became known that Sang Sang is far from the child of light as Master Guang Ming had predicted.  He did say in episode 41 that ‘they were so wrong and yet so right’ LOL.

In fact, Sang Sang is darkness incarnate.  She has the spirit of Yong Ye within her, who comes every thousand of years to bring eternal darkness. (Thank God, she is obviously not good at her job as she keeps coming back🤣)

Ning Que, of course, would not abandon her, his wife,  Yes they got married apparently.  He had to protect his wife from all factions that wanted to harm her.

There is also the now invigorated Long Qing, who has turned really evil with lots of lovely eye makeup.

I have to admit that Long Qing was such a loser in Season 1,  Everything he did, he always ended up losing, especially to Ning Que.

Yep there are so much to look forward to in Season 2.

I hope it would equal Season 1, as I reckon it was the historical drama for 2018 to beat.

17 February 2019

I read in Twitter that Season 2 is likely to be shown next year, 2020.  That is just too long a wait.    huhuhu

Sang Sang…….

Ning Que……

Second Brother…..

 

28 April 2019 Update

IT IS A WRAP.  Yey . Shooting is over.  Hope to see this continuation drama towards the end of this year or early next year.

Did you know?  Dylan Wang actually turned down the role when it was first offered to him?!!!

Dylan seemed to imply in his sweet wrapped letter that there may be more Seasons to come.

 

September 2019 update:  Rumours that this drama might be shown in the coming month.  Just a rumour though at this time.

Yup, it was just a bloody rumour 🙁

We are ready…

December 2019 Update:  Apparently Evernight 2 is scheduled for showing immenently.  X’mas of early January?

8 January 2020 Update!

New character posters for Sang Sang and Ning Que had been released and there are rumours that Evernight 2 will start showing on 17 January 2020.  HOPE THIS IS TRUE!

 

13 January 2020 Update

It is premiering tonight at Tencent App.

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• Genre: Historical Costume Drama, Fiction, Romance, Action, Fantasy
• Release Date: 13 January 2020
• Origin: China, sequel to Ever Night
• CDrama: 43 Episodes
• OST: Youtube

Cast:

• Dylan Wang as Ning Que/ Mr Shisan
• Song Yiren as Sang Sang
• Adam Cheng as Confucius (FuZi, the Sage)
• Bao Jian Feng as Emperor Li Zhongi of Tang
• Yao An Lian as State Preceptor, Li Qing Shan
• Lopsang as High Priest of Revelation
• Lian Lian as Xia Tian
• Chen Tai Shen  as Chen Mou (Chen Pi Pi’s father – Temple Master)
• He Zhong Hua as Sword Saint Liu Bai
• Wang Jin Song as Master Qi Shan of Rotten Wood Temple
• Li Sheng Jia as Prince Li Hun Yuan of Tang (Third Prince)
• Marco Chen as Lee Man Man (1st Brother)
• Dylan Kuo as Jun Mo (2nd Brother/Disciple)
• Kang Keren as Xu Lian (3rd Disciple)
• Jiang San as Fan Yue (4th Disciple)
• Chen Pinyan as Song Lian (5th Brother)
• Yan Zi lun as Tie Jiang (6th Disciple)
• Lin Jade as Mu You (7th Sister/Disciple)
• Li Xi Zi as (8th Disciple)
• Wang Zihao (Hayden) as Beigong Weiyoung (9th Brother)
• Wang Zijie (Jayden) as Ximen Buhuo (10th Brother)
• Yi Yongding as 11th Disciple
• Hu Yu Suan as Chen Pi Pi (12th Brother)
• Sun Zujun as Prince Long Qing, 2nd Prince of Yan
• Andy On as Chao Xiaoshu
• Crystal Yuan as Mo Shan Shan, the Book Maniac
• Liu Yi Jun as Ye Hong Yu, The Dao Maniac/High Priestess of Jurisdiction
• Wang Hui Zhen as Lu Chen Jia, The Flower Maniac
• Zong Feng Yan as Archduke Li Peiyan of Tang
• Yin Zhu Sheng as General Ma Shi Xiang (Ning Que’s pseudo father in Wei City)
• Cao Cheng as Luo Kedi (Head of Justice Department/Cavalry Battalion Commander)
• Ai Li Ya as Aunt Qu Nu of Yue Lun
• Mark Du as Tang (World Walker from Devil’s Doctrine)
• Wang Dong as Ye Qing (World Walker of Dao – Dao Maniac’s Brother)
• Ngawang Rinchen as Cheng Li Xue
• Liao Yu Chen as Tang Xiaotang (Pi Pi’s girlfriend from the lowlands)
• Qin Yi Ming as He Ming Chi (Old State Preceptor’s assistant who became the new State Preceptor of Tang)
• Ailei Yu from Xilling
• Ma Lun as Tofu, the Butcher
• Yang Chaoyue Yue as Hao Tian

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Season 2

Episode 1 

Beautifully filmed as can be expected from its precedent from  Season 1.

I have to admit I am not sold with Dylan Wang as Ning Que yet.  He was just too pretty and doesn’t have the natural swagger of Chen Feiyu.  But he is watchable enough.  He might still surprise me after all this is only the first episode.

After the 60 episodes of the first series, where we had gotten to know characters and got used to the actors who played them, it was strange to be watching different actors playing the familiar characters.

The Emperor of Tang is no longer Leon Lai, Li Yu is no longer Tong Yao and Zoey Meng is no longer the Dao Maniac.

It started with a prologue, summarising what happened in Season 1 where some scenes had been reshoot to show Dylan Wang as Ning Que.

Just after Ning Que fought off Xia Hou, Sang Sang was lying comatose on the frozen lake.  In her dream, she met Hao Tian who told her to go walk with her.  Sang Sang looked as beautiful as the radiant Hao Tian.  They were dressed identically in an ethereal white gown, they have the same long hairstyle.  They looked happy together gamboling in the snow which looked like cottony clouds or probably they were in heaven.

The next thing was that Ning Que had taken Sang Sang to Fu Zi, who was using his energy to defrost the now almost crystalised Sang Sang.

Though Fu Zi was able to defrost Sang Sang, his mighty energy level was not enough to cure Sang Sang.  Fu Zi caused some concern because his energy was low.

But he had enough leftover energy for a long monologue. 😜  He blamed Ning Que for Sang Sang’s current condition.  Ning Que should have not brought or allowed Sang Sang to be near the frozen lake.

Fu Zi said that Sang Sang condition was congenital.  Having met Guangming, gave her the Haotian light which stabilised her condition, but then Sang Sang used the Haotian light to help Ning Que defeat Xia Hou, that Sang Sang is iller than ever.

But there was a man that could cure Sang Sang.  He was Master Qi Shan who lives at Rotten Wood Temple at Mount Wa.  It was quite far away to go to and also Sang Sang must get there before the last of the tree leaves falls.

So there is no time to waste.

Ning Que went to say goodbye to the Emperor of Tang, who wished him and Sang Sang well.  Ning Que was surprised when the Emperor gave him a tight hug but all the same glad about it.

Ning Que then went to the back mountain and said goodbye to each of the disciples, his brothers and sisters.

Ning Que and Sang Sang started their journey in a carriage self-driven by the intuitive horse called Blacky.

Ning Que and Sang Sang stopped for the night and were having a mild flirtation, which was actually rather cute, this scene is more like Dao Ming Si/idol drama rather than Chen Feiyu’s Ning Que/Season 1 version.

Despite only the first episode, you can feel that this version is so different from the first season.  This is lighter.

Though Dylan Wang is likable and watchable, he doesn’t have the same gravitas as Chen Feiyu who really gave life to Ning Que.

Anyway, Sang Sang and Ning Que are now married and their relationship is very modern, they are very touchy-feely like Dao Ming Si and Shancai (yap I am going to say this again, different from the old Ning Que and Sang Sang who grew up together and knowing how each other’s good points and foibles, thus there is awkwardness of familiarity)

Sang Sang was quizzing Ning Que about his love life.

Ning Que admitted that the Princess of Tang was puppy love, another was an experience and the Book Maniac was… But Ning Que said that the love of his life is Sang Sang.  Awww their cuteness was interrupted by the sound of horses coming towards them.

It was an army led by the newly invigorated and stronger Long Qing.

Long Qing had decided to step back from the royal family, oh sorry from Xilling.  He reinvented himself from being the Son of Light, which he thinks was boring, into the more relevant Son of the Lord of the Deceased and also he also rebranded his army to the Fallen Knights.  He had decided to live an independent life, if financially independent? I don’t know!  Perhaps he will still be getting an allowance from the Principality of Yan. 🙂 . Oop the Meghan & Harry debacle had truly blindsided me. LOL

Speaking of Xilling, the Dao Maniac had returned to Xilling where she confronted Mo Yu, the High Priest of Jurisdiction.  She wanted in but to be able to do this she has to abide by the Jurisdiction rule of killing the High Priest, who is of course Mo Yu.

Mo Yu sniggered at her at first but she challenged him, to begin with, she looked still less than par compared to his power but as he found out her stage of cultivation was improving as she battled with him.  It was too late for him when he realised that Dao Maniac had reached the Stage of All-Knowing.

Upon the death of Mo Yu, Dao Maniac announced herself as the New High Priestess of Jurisdiction.

Going back to Long Qing and Ning Que, Long Qing attacked the carriage where Ning Que had returned the still very weak Sang Sang.

Ning Que had a fight with Long Qing, who he found to have gained a higher level of cultivation, who can now return all of Ning Que’s attacks.

Ning Que’ knowing that Long Qing would target the carriage, put it under cultivation.

Though Long Qing can’t get to them, Long Qing managed to penetrate the carriage with his poison, which hurt Sang Sang.

Ning Que was now truly pissed.  He up the ante and made his cultivation bigger.  Not only to cover the carriage but also build invisible walls between him (& Sang Sang) against Long Qing and his army.

For now, Long Qing knew that Ning Que had the upper hand.

Episode 2

His upper hand did not last long because Long Qing was really all-powerful and at this point, he was better than Ning Que.  Dylan’s Ning Que does look weak.  LOL

Long Qing was able to beat up Ning Que like a punching bag.  Ning Que tried to call out for help from his brother, Li Man Man, who said that he was only a call away.

Though Long Qing got a little concerned that the disciples might turn up, no one did.

Almost all spent, Ning Que laid down his sword and beg Long Qing not to hurt Sang Sang.

But Long Qing was far from being magnanimous.  He was enjoying his new power over Ning Que.  He started baiting Ning Que that he will take Sang Sang away from him, after he sucked out Ning Que level of cultivations.

This was the last straw.  Sang Sang is literally his life, without Sang Sang he might as well be dead.

So he started drawing on his enchantment that would be able to match and even better Long Qing’s newfound strength and vitality.

Before Ning Que could turn into a full-on Ghost Rider persona, Fu Zi flicked his finger and downed Long Qing and his army to the ground.  Long Qing dare not get up because he knew it was Fu Zi’s doing.

Ning Que thank the invisible, all-seeing, all-hearing, all-knowing, all-everything Fu Zi.

Fu Zi told Ning Que to stop dilly-dallying and proceed to Mount Wa as time is the essence.

Ning Que was very concerned that Sang Sang was so ill again.

The Dao Maniac had proven herself and had become a force to be reckoned within Xilling.

The Dao Maniac was ordered to escort Sang Sang, the Child of Light to Mount Wa and at the same time kill Ning Que as he may be or even may not be the Son of the Lord of the Deceased.

Without further ado, the Dao Maniac went to see Sang Sang who was almost like a sack of vegetables.  She was almost lifeless.

Dao Maniac went beyond the call of her duty.  She sacrificed herself by transferring her brilliance/energy to Sang Sang thereby losing her earlier cultivations.

Sang Sang knew this and was suitably grateful to Dao Maniac.  Sang Sang recovered well enough to be more animated.

But not well enough so they had to continue their journey to Mount Wa.

As to killing Ning Que, the Dao Maniac told Ning Que that she will put that on hold after Sang Sang had been fully cured.

Ning Que agreed with alacrity.  He said to the Dao Maniac that he was willing to be killed after Sang Sang fully recovers.

The intended visit of Ning Que and Sang Sang to Mount Wa will coincide with the Yulan Festival, which is widely attended by people from everywhere.

One of those who were going was the monks headed by the Great Master Bao Shu from the Sect Tian Qian, who had decided to bring the Yulan Bell with them to once and for all prove that Ning Que was the dark lord.  Apparently a quick ring of the Yulan Bell will pinpoint to the Dark Lord.

Episode 3

After watching 3 episodes, with and without subtitles, I feel that Season 1 is far superior in every aspect, it is an epic saga while season 2 has the feel of being lighter and had turned into a more idol drama, but that doesn’t mean to say that it is not as addictive as the first one.

Ning Que and Sang Sang finally arrived at Mount Wa.

Ning Que was alarmed that all the trees were leaves-less.  But Sang Sang said that they were not in the area of Mount Wa where Little Qi Shan Cave was located.  They had to find that place.

As luck would have it, they had a surprise.  The radiant Mo Shan Shan, the Book Maniac turned up astride her equally glorious white horse.

Ning Que was stupefied to see his ‘true love?’

Sang Sang did notice the rather longing looks Ning Que was giving Mo Shan Shan.  So she gave them privacy by telling them that she was tired and would like to rest while the carriage doors automatically shut.

Ning Que asked Mo Shan Shan what she had been up to the past months?

“Writing, cultivating and upgrade my stage”, she said.

Ning Que echoed her activities as well, He had been doing the same things.

Mo Shan Shan said that she was so impressed with Ning Que for having defeated Xia Hou and she confessed that she had always known that he could do it.

Ning Que flirted back and said that she was giving him too much credit.

Blacky, the intuitive horse, can’t take the rather awkward but emotionally charged side looks and smiles between the two so he took it upon himself to drive the carriage with Sang Sang inside near Ning Que and Mo Shan Shan.

Sang Sang invited Mo Shan Shan to sit with her in the carriage while Ning Que rides Mo Shan Shan’s horse.

Sang Sang is not innocent enough not to know that Mo Shan Shan and Ning Que still have unresolved feelings for each other.

Anyway Sang Sang said that she knew she was not pretty, she had been told by Ning Que often enough that she looked like a mouse when she was growing up.  She knew she was so plain and would fade in the background and no one remembers.

She recounted a rather poignant story of buying noodles from the same vendor every day for years and yet the vendor never remembered her. She was totally insignificant and unmemorable unlike Ning Que, who was always feted and hailed.  Everyone watches him.

Mo Shan Shan was really lovely, she said that in Ning Que’s eyes Sang Sang is the most beautiful.  Mo Shan Shan further added that she wanted Ning Que to be happy more than she wanted to be with him.  Such as selfless love!!!

Sang Sang asked Mo Shan Shan if she likes Ning Que.  Mo Shan Shan quickly agreed.  Sang Sang was not finished, she added that Mo Shan Shan can’t have him. Again Mo Shan Shan agreed.  But Sang Sang gave a glimmer of hope to Mo Shan Shan by saying “You can wait till I die.”

Finally, Sang Sang and Ning Que were left alone.  Ning Que cuddled up with Sang Sang but he had a rather guilty and ashamed look in his face, that look when you have been naughty and had been found out.

They had finally got to Rotten Wood Temple but getting inside proved a dilemma.  They had to play a 3-Go-Game and win the games to be allowed to enter as per the temple’s rule.

Ning Que was all for vanquishing the monks but Sang Sang stopped Ning Que. She told the monks that she would play the game.

She only made her first move when the monk said that she will lose. But Sang Sang had a pure Qi, she can see and anticipate what was going to happen ultimately within the game.  With her second move, the monk gave up and congratulated the Daughter of Light.  The monk was so impressed that Sang Sang can apply the sky calculation, which was inhumanly impossible.

With the second Go game, it was a mysterious draw and the monk just walked off as if he was ready to die.  Huh?!!!

They finally reached the Little Qi Shan Cave where they were at first barred by a man with long gray hair which really annoyed Ning Que who had Sang Sang carried on his back having climbed the steep steps to the cave.

Sang Sang warned Ning Que that the man looked like Master Qi Shan and he was.

Master Qi Shan had a very kind face and welcome Sang Sang for the game of the third Go/checkers.

Ning Que noticed at first the three remaining leaves on the tree until it became two and then only one.

Before Sang Sang and Master Qishan could really start the game, his relatives from the Tian Qing Sect came barging in with the annoying overacting Aunt Qu Nu.

Master Qi Shan immediately told Bao Shu to put away the Yulan Bell.

Anyway, Master Qi Shan offered Sang Sang a pear to eat.

Episode 4

Sang Sang gladly accepted and took a big bite but Ning Que did not trust the fruit so he took it from Sang Sang and started eating it himself as he saw the last leaf fall on the checkerboard.  Sang Sang was just about to put down her black stone when she fainted directly on the board.

Ning Que was incandescent with rage.  He took Sang Sang to lay her under a tree while he asked Master Qi Shan what happened to Sang Sang.

He was told that Sang Sang was inside the board game. The Raging Ning Que used his sword to slashed on the board but he fell asleep instead.

Sang Sang felt free inside the board game where she met Hao Tian again.

Sang Sang asked Hao Tian who she was.  Hao Tian said “I am You”

This is interesting!  “I am you”, meaning there is no difference from black and white.  Hao Tian was as good as Yong Ye to start with.  But in the end Yong Ye was fed so much harm, negativity, brutality and cruelty by the people that Yong Ye became darkness itself.  She is a product of all the abuses thrown to her by the people.

Sang Sang was still puzzling over this when Ning Que appeared.

At first, she seemed not to recognise Ning Que but Ning Que was so memorable she jumped happily into his arms and they had never been happier to be together.

They were still so loved up when they became conscious and noticed that they had a big audience before them.

The lovebirds got rather embarrassed but they noticed that Sang Sang seemed to have been cured.

Though Master Qi Shan said that Sang Sang will always have her cold disease, she can control it and live a normal life through the Law of Tian Qing.

Sang Sang begged Master Qi Shan to be his new disciple.

Bao Shu was gagging to use the Yulan Bell on Ning Que.  Master Qi Shan told him off and reminded Bao Shu that Tian Qing is about mercy.

So he took the Yulan Bell from Bao Shu and told him that he will return it to Xiaokang and Bao Shu can be the guardian of it again once Ning Que and the Daughter of Light had left.

Though Sang Sang seemed to be getting better, she seemed more introspective.  She even wrote a testament of the 10 most important things that she must always remember.  She wanted it private but Ning Que had a quick look.

He was puzzled why she would like to write some mundane things like Ning Que’s being Mr 13, being the guardian of the God Shocking Formation, his favourite noodles, the Chicken Soup calligraphy, etc.

He feels as if Sang Sang was trying not to forget them.

The next morning Ning Que woke up early and asked Master Qi Shan what really happened inside the chessboard.

Master Qi Shan did not say but said Ning Que was there with Sang Sang.

Ning Que then asked if he was indeed the son of the Lord of Deceased, is he detrimental to Sang Sang and her health.

Master Qi Shan started talking about the future.

The future that can be foreseen is no future. Just go with the flow.

Master Qi Shan seemed to have developed quite an affinity with Ning Que despite his reputation of being the Son of the Lord of the Deceased.  He gifted Ning Que with a Tian Qing book about the Four Palms of Tian Qing: Opportunity. Fearless. Zen. Conquering the Monster and Clearing the Mind.

Ning Que complained that he doesn’t like reading.

Master Qi Shan said that he took that into consideration so the book is the children’s version.  I thought this was out of character for Ning Que.  When he got into the academy, he spent 27 (?) consecutive days reading at the library.  He read and read until he was fainting and having nose bleeds and needed to be brought home.

Meanwhile, Master Qi Shan tasked one of his monks, Guan Hai, to look after and bring the Yulan Bell back to Xangkang.  He reminded Guan Hai that the Yulan Bell should always be under the care of Tian Qing.

Guan Hai was on his way to Xangkang when Aunt Qu Ni forcefully took the Yulan Bell from Guan Hai.

The Shrine Master was determined to kill Ning Que, whether he was the son of the Lord of the Deceased or not.  Because this would give him a reason to conquer Tang Empire and also to disband the academy.

Episode 5

It was the Yulan Festival.

Against Master Qi Shan’s order, the Yulan Bell was rung by Bao Shu.

At first, Ning Que was gleefully showing everyone that he was not affected, therefore he was not the Son of the Lord of Deceased.

He then quickly realised that their attentions were not on him.  He turned around and saw a luminous Sang Sang, with dark energy oozing from her and the crows started surrounding and flying all around her.

Sang Sang was the Daughter of the Lord of Deceased as confirmed by Master Qi Shan.

Ning Que made an impassioned speech.  He said that he dug up Sang Sang from the dead and look after her from infancy so if she was anyone’s daughter then she was his.

I must admit a had a bit of a cry when Ning Que went to Sang Sang, who told him that he can leave her now and live his own life.

He told her that he will look always look after her, he will never abandon her and he was even prepared to abandon the Back Mountain so as not to implicate them with the Sang Sang issue.

Master Qi Shan said that he can’t abandon Sang Sang either because she was his disciple.  But before he could do much more, he fainted.

Qu Ni screamed that they had to kill the Daughter of the Lord of the Deceased.

This episode is the best yet.  It has a lot of action, drama, and good acting except for the overacting Qu Ni character.

Episode 6

Mo Shan Shan was really impressive in this episode.  Knowing that she will be in trouble, she still chose to help Sang Sang and Ning Que so they can get away.

Her stage of cultivation had really increased and she was able to ward off Qu Ni and Bao Shu from getting to Sang Sang and Ning Que.

Ning Que with Sang Sang on his back was fighting off martial artist monks.

Master Qi Shan finally had a bit of energy and saw how precarious Ning Que and Sang Sang’s situation was so he blew up the gate door so Ning Que can get out with Sang Sang.

They did manage to get out but straight to the cage cultivation of the jet-setting Qi Nian of Sect Tian Qing.

It was sad that Master Qi Shan died in this episode.  I felt that he could have given more to this drama.  His character is brilliant, a great compliment to Fu Zi.

Fu Zi with his disciple honoured Master Qi Shan as a sad loss.

The disciples asked Fu Zi, if like Master Qi Shan, if he knew that Sang Sang was the Daughter of the Dark Lord?

Fu Zi contemplated and then ate.  I must say Fu Zi had such a gorgeous gourmet diet.  The food, especially the stews and soup served to Fu Zi are so mouthwatering.  Probably there is something about good food and brainpower!  LOL

Episode 7

Ning Que felt guilty about Mo Shan Shan and he had reasons to.

Poor Mo Shan Shan had been arrested and brought to Xilling.

The Shrine Master declared that Mo Shan Shan will be spared from the death penalty if she refrains from having more to do with Ning Que and the Daughter of the Lord of the Deceased.

Mo Shan Shan said that she did not save the Daughter of the Lord of the Deceased during the Yulan Festival, she saved her friend, Sang Sang.

Her assistant was brought in and was used to blackmail Mo Shan Shan into confessing of her part in allowing Sang Sang and Ning Que to get away.

Knowing that Mo Shan Shan was in a lot of trouble, her assistant chose to throw herself to one of the swords pointed at her.

Her death so troubled and upset Mo Shan Sha, she can’t help but use her cultivation to remove the guards around her dead assistant and then throw more of her cultivation to the Shrine Master

The Shrine Master had more powerful cultivation which he applied on full force on Mo Shan Shan.

Dao Maniac was not happy with what happened to Mo Shan Shan but she can’t go against the Shrine Master.

Meanwhile, the Emperor of Tang was discussing how they are going to deal with Sang Sang being Yong Ye.

The overacting Aunt Qu Nu of Yue Lun was demanding to see the Emperor of Tang.  She brought with her a couple of coffins which contained the body of Bao Shu, the Great Master of Tian Qing.

Qu Ni was one annoying and persistent woman and cannot be declined.  State Preceptor told her to retire and rest at the west wing of the state and to come back in the morning.

When she came back in the morning she found that the coffin of Bao Shu had been incinerated on the spot.

Qu Ni became demented with rage that she took it out of the State Preceptor.  She said that the days of Tang Empire is over because Master Yan Se, its protector is dead.

She further added that the coward Fuzi was hiding in the academy.

Fu Zi head this and can’t stand Qu Ni’s temper tantrum anymore threw one of his chopsticks towards Qu Ni which banished her.  Fu Zi hoped she returned to Tian Qing.

I am not sure if this was a year, because Sang Sang was now sporting long hair.

Poor Sang Sang knew how much trouble and worry she was putting Ning Que in so she decided to try to end her life by jumping off the cliff.

But Ning Que was there to stop her.

I won’t let you leave me.  We fought so hard for our lives to survive.  We shall not go into the dark without a fight.
– Ning Que to Sang Sang

It seems the disciples had started worrying about Ning Que and Sang Sang.

Li Man Man had started looking for them, and so the rest of the disciples were also busy with the issue of Ning Que and Sang Sang, being the daughter of darkness.

Poor Jun Mo was now on duty to cook for Fu Zi.

And Fu Zi was not very happy because Jun Mo’s cooking left something to be desired.  Fu Zi was also getting fed up because even Chen Pi Pi was also asking him for his help.  Fu Zi is annoyed he can’t eat the noodles that Jun Mo had made.  Chen Pi Pi came up with a beef stew that somehow calms down Fu Zi.

Dao Maniac visited Book Maniac from her cell.  She asked Mo Shan Shan if she regretted what she had done.

Mo Shan Shan said that she would do it again, given half a chance, what she did.

She said that she like Ning Que because she likes books.  Dying to love, being able to love someone is the best thing in the world.  She further added that she can die a happy woman.

Episode 8

The Dao Maniac met with the Flower Maniac.

Flower Maniac admired the single-mindedness of the Book Maniac about love.

Dao Maniac said, “Losers” which was a favourite expression of Ning Que.

Flower Maniac asked the Dao Maniac if she had ever loved anyone?

Flower Maniac went to visit Mo Shan Shan, the Book Maniac.  She tried to convince the Book Maniac to agree with whatever terms they would offer her.  Flower Maniac said that she heard Mo Shan Shan’s punishment might be the Three Jurisdiction Swords.  The first hit alone is enough to kill Mo Shan Shan.

Loving a person is not about the person himself.  I only followed my heart.  I did what i think.
– Mo Shan Shan

Flower Maniac said, “You are the most maniac, someone who truly deserves to be called a bloody maniac!”  🤪

It was the day of Mo Shan Shan’s trial.

Li Man Man turned up but was stopped by Dao Maniac’s brother from the Zhenghon Temple.

Anyway, Mo Shan Shan was ordered to be executed for abetting the Daughter of the Lord of the Deceased in her escape.

Dao Maniac was to be the one to carry out the execution.

Before each of the jurisdiction swords, there were three drum beats to allow the Book Maniac to promise not to associate with either Sang Sang or Ning Que.

Mo Shan Shan did not say anything and the first sword fell her to the ground but still, she was unrepentant.

The second sword again was thrown by the Dao Maniac surprisingly returned to the Dao Maniac, who got the full force effect of it.

The Shrine Master was so annoyed but the Dao Maniac said that she was only paying a debt of gratitude towards the Book Maniac who saved her when they were in Liangsheng (the mountain cave in the grassland).

The Shrine Master gave a vote of no confidence to the High Priestess of Jurisdiction so he decided to do the third sword himself.

The Flower Maniac protected the Book Maniac and took the hit.

Apparently the ruling was that a person who outlived all the three hits will be freed from death.

As this was the case, the Shrine Master withdraw the execution order as he knew that it would be bad press to go against the three lovely maniacs all at once as they are revered by the youths.  Girl Power here.

But he said that the Book Maniac will live the rest of her life confined at the Hidden Boudoir.

Li Man Man was relieved because at least his foster sister, the Book Maniac is still alive.

Li Man Man said to the Dao Maniac’s brother that Fu Zi once said that “Beautiful Girls always get rescued.”

Both Flower and Dao Manic were given punishment of 72 fires (whatever that is)

Meanwhile Sang Sang and Ning Que were able to take a refuse inside the Chessboard.  Apparently (not too sure about this) Master Qi Shan was able to create a bridge connecting Tian Qing and its ally Xiangkong.  This connecting bridge is a secret passage only a few knew about.  It was like another dimension. And this allowed Sang Sang and Ning Que to have a rest.  Surprisingly, a day at this dimension is equivalent to 1 year in their own world.

After a good rest, Sang Sang and Ning Que went for a walk.  They had some existentialist conversation.

Since the day of birth, men are running towards the day of death.

So we must live everyday to the fullest.

We should have the courage to do what we want to do
– Ning Que

Ning Que asked Sang Sang what she wanted to do while looking at the barren but beautiful panoramic scenery before him.

“I want to make a baby with you.” said Sang Sang.

Ning Que was taken aback and rather embarrassedly said that it takes a long time to give birth to a baby.

Instead, Ning Que distracted Sang Sang by taking her to see the orange Tian Qing tree, where Tian Qing slept for eternity.

Meanwhile. Long Qing is back again.  He was in the desert when then saw a girl being hounded by a group of Grassland men.

Long Qing decided not to get involved as he was no longer the right and bright prince.

But when he found out that she was Wu Zhu, the daughter of the previous Dan Shu of the Golden Horde, he changed his mind and saved her.

Episode 9

Long Qing killed the current Dan Shu and put Wu Zhu as the new Dan Shu.  He will control her.

One year later…

The Dao Maniac is missing Ning Que, thus, becoming obsessed with him.  Her brother asked if her obsession was because she wanted to kill Ning Que or was it something else?

Chen Pi Pi was in a quandary.  He was trying to get a bit of confidence to be able to tell his brothers and sisters and Fu Zi that he was leaving the academy to return to his home so he can look for Ning Que.

In the end, he was able to talk to the Third sister who sadly gave him her blessing.

Poor Jan Mo had become the constant companion of the rather crotchety Fu Zi.

Fu Zi thinks he was being neglected by his disciples.  He was being for granted.  LOL

Chao Xiaoshu is back and rather sad to see that the Calligraphy House was shut and empty.

Sang Sang woke up and found that their water bottle was empty. She got out and went to fetch some water.

She found an old man, who she asked for direction to the water source.

The old man ignored her at first and then he spoke.

Sang Sang ran towards him. She was rather starved of companionship other than Ning Que.  🙂

When Sang Sang got to the man, he turned weird and started drawing out her energy until she fainted.

Ning Que just got there in time to stop the man from completely destroying Sang Sang.  But Sang Sang was back from being half-frozen again.

The old man is being controlled by the monster slayer, Jiang Jin of the Tian Qing clan.

Li Man Man finally found some signs where Ning Que and Sang Sang had been.  He saw the Tian Qi tree which Ning Que desecrated by inscribing that he had visited the place with his wife.  This only made Qi Nian of Tian Qing go mental.

Episode 10

First Brother helped Sang Sang to get defrosted.  Isn’t First Brother looking gorgeous?!!!  His face is all sculpted!

Episode 11

Sang Sang started to freeze what she touches but Ning Que as ever was there to reassure her.

The Flower Maniac found out where Sang Sang and Ning Que were living.  She stalked them and found that the two love each other so much.

Meanwhile, Long Qing found Flower Maniac, who has a Kardashian make-over. She looks so pretty with contouring and highlighting.

Gorgeous Long Qing wanted to get back with her again but now she was playing hard to get.

The blasted crows started to noisily camp at the hidden cottage of Ning Que and Sang Sang.  Poor Ning Que can’t do anything about it.

Episode 12

What have you done to Ning Que?  His new version is so out of character.  He hardly wins any battle anymore.  He had to be rescued all the time.

In this episode, the poor First Brother had to intervene and stopped the monster slayer, Jiang Jin from completely annihilating both Ning Que and Sang Sang.

I hope there is going to be something lighter soon.  It will get so boring if both Ning Que and Sang Sang remains a victim of circumstances for long.

We want Ning Que to be arrogant, know it all, fierce.

One thing though, the annoying Aunt Qu Ni is finally dead.

Episode 13 – Dao Maniac Get Naked

The Dao Maniac was leading the Xilling soldiers who she told that she was going alone and not to follow her at all cause.

Ning Que and Sang Sang were on their way to the Everglades.  They were in the marshland when they encountered the Dao Maniac who had been searching for them.

The Dao Maniac, who was on the other side of the lake, said that she had come to kill the daughter of the Lord of the Deceased and Ning Que.

Ning Que said that he would not be killed by a dirty woman with mud all over her.

The Dao Maniac who said that Ning Que is a perv and she said she was a bit of a pervert herself, slowly removed her clothes piece by piece until she was completely naked.  (We can only see a bit of naked shoulder and legs from knees below.  (No gratuitous nudity here, LOL)

Sang Sang, who was also watching the Dao Maniac walked leisurely into the lake, said that the DManiac was beautiful which Ning Que agreed to.

After her bath, she got out to get dress while Ning Que signaled to Sang Sang to pass him his bow and arrows.

Ning Que and DManiac had a beautiful fight scene which DManiac was winning.  She had achieved her ultimate level of cultivation as a Dao Maniac.

The DManiac was just about the stab Ning Que with her sword when Sang Sang flew into the sky and release her black energy to fell the DManiac, who was badly injured, though not fatally as she used her energy against her own assisting soldiers when she found out that they had disobeyed her and completely ignoring her order.

Although Ning Que was relieved that he was alive to live and fight another day, he began to worry that Sang Sang seemed to use her dark energy without any hesitation and therefore becoming more really like the Daughter of the Lord of the Deceased.

Sang Sang And Ning Que happily realised that they reached Wei City.

The Xilling people got to Wei City before Ning Que and Sang Sang and they threatened the General and the people of Wei City if they don’t surrender Ning Que And Sang Sang.

General Ma said to feel free to search for them.

He then went into the desert and found Ning Que and Sang Sang.  He gave his and the city’s full support to the end because Ning Que and Sang Sang belong to Wei City.

Episode 14 – 15

The Emperor of Tang gave his letter to the State Preceptor to be sent urgently to Ning Que in Wei City which was thousands of miles away.  The emperor ordered that it should be sent via Transmission Formation, meaning by teleportation.  They are super advance.

The State Preceptor was going mental with the order as he thought it was so over the top.  He said that the last person to use the Transmission Formation was the Founder King of Tang because of the state of emergency.

The Emperor said that it was an emergency now.

The message was Leave Now which was received by Master Ma as Ning Que and Sang Sang had left by then.

Anyway, Sang Sang was still in a bad way so they needed a more permanent place to stay rather than being carted by Blacky.

They went to Badlands.  They met the Huangs the family of Tang Xiaotang, who is now a disciple of Third Sister at the academy.

Ning Que and Sang Sang ended up begging the Huangs for sanctuary.

The Huangs at first declined to have anything to do with Ning Que and Sang Sang because Sang Sang is the most wanted ‘person’ on earth because she was the daughter of the Lord of the deceased.

Ning Que declared that this was the more reason that they are given sanctuary,  The Badlands have been worshipping the Lord of the Deceased for thousands of years and here is the daughter, was it right to turn her away?

With this logic, Tang decided to accept them.

He gave Ning Que and Sang Sang a drink of wine which drugged Ning Que to sleep while Sang Sang was unaffected.

Yuan Li, one of the warriors disagreed with Tang of giving asylum to Sang Sang and Ning Que.  He made a secret meeting with Long Qing and agreed to bring Ning Que and Sang Sang to Long Qing.

Yuan Li spoke to Sang Sang telling her that the First Elder of Badlands wanted them gone.  Yuan Li then said that he will take them to a place where they will be safe.  Ning Que was still asleep inside the carriage.

Sang Sang did not much have any choice so she allowed Yuan Li to lead them away.

When they arrived at the place, Long Qing was already waiting with his army.

Yuan Li was about to kill Sang Sang with his sword by he was hit by a rock on the head by Tang, who said that he had to kill the scum of the Huang people.

Long Qing just watched from the other side.

I have to say Long Qing (Kris Sun) was looking particularly more handsome than normal in this episode.  He looked gorgeous in black, badass in black.

Tang brought back Sang Sang and Ning Que to their community.

Alas, the First Elder did resist giving shelter to Ning Que and Sang Sang because they would be caught up in a war led by the Xilling.

He threw Ning Que’s bag back to Tang to return to Ning Que and tell them to be gone.

Out of the bag rolled the jade ring given to Ning Que by the Third Sister.

Tang immediately recognised the sacred ring by the Suzerain and so did the First Elder.

The Suzerain had been gone for 25 years of cicadas.

Quickly the First Elder welcomed Sang Sang into their fold.

He had a blood compact with the now awake Ning Que, Tang and the First Elder himself.  They mixed the blood with wine and drank it. Sang Sang also enjoyed some.

The Badlands harbouring both Ning Que and Sang Sang spread rapidly like wildfire.

The Shrine Master immediately ordered that soldiers from around the world should be gathered up for a war against the Badlands.

The King of Tang as well had to consider to go to war to rescue Ning Que and Sang Sang plus aiding the Bandland people because they were the people of the present Queen who came from the Badlands originally.

He convened his ministers for a consultation.  Knowing that most of them are reluctant to go against their uneasy alliance with Xilling, the King declared that he was going to war/expedition to the lowlands himself.

No one can stop him.

The State Preceptor was going wild with worry so his assistant who was really as Xilling spy told him to do one of his divination.

The state preceptor threw the dice. The result was menacing.  It was the Hexagram Ominous.  The State Preceptor sent his assistant immediately to the king.

What the assistant told the king was the opposite of the message.  He told the king that his exception will be very auspicious.

Episode 16

I felt rather emotional with this episode.  It was hard going for the last five minutes.

Anyway, the Tang King left Tang City for Wei City for a military expedition.  He brought with him the Queen and the sixth prince. (Who are the fourth and fifth?)

While he was gone, he tasked Li Yu, the Princess to look after the house/family.

The Third Prince took advantage of the King absence and tortured/played the servants.  Li Yu told him off and told him to grow up because he is going to be the crown prince.

It came out in their conversation, that the imperial uncle has been in contact with the Third Prince.  This gave LiYu food for thought.

She went to see Imperial Uncle who said that he would always support her and the Third Prince and would not do anything to endanger the position of the third Prince as a future king.

Anyway, the State Preceptor was talking to the Xilling Spy assistant about the will of the King.  The State Preceptor said that the Sixth Prince will more than likely to inherit the crown but he was was not in favour of it.

The assistant was curious to know why.

The State Preceptor was in a very chatty mood so he willingly shared that the Queen was the Saint Virgin of the Demonic Cult.

Having her son inherit the crown would mean the end of the Tang State.

The assistant was really shocked and can’t wait to share his new-found knowledge to the Third Prince.  He also told him that the Sixth Prince was the heir.

The Third Prince was annoyed.

Meanwhile, the war has started between Xilling and gang against the Badlands.  It was really bad, all because of Badlands giving refuge to Sang Sang and Ning Que.

Sang Sang was really upset about it but Ning Que was very pragmatic of the whole situation  He told Sang Sang that everyone dies in the end anyway.

But they both knew that it was better if they leave now and they did.

Along the way, they saw the snowy ground littered with dead bodies from Badland.

And the statistic was growing.

Tang realised that they had to fight to the death and went on a suicide mission to meet the gargantuan numbers of Xilling and their soldiers and advocates.

The Badlands put a brave fight but the immense number of soldiers from the other side was just too much.

Sang Sang and Ning Que arrived just in time to see that the Bandland warriors were overwhelmed by the massive number of their opponents.

Episode 17

It was the war that ends all wars.

The shrine Master created a super-dragon to finally vanquish Sang Sang, the daughter of the Lord of the Deceased.

With her umbrella, Sang Sang walked into the dragon.  She looked rather hypnotized.  Ning Que followed her and held on to her feet as she flew up into the curling ferocious dragon.

And then Sang Sang and Ning Que were dropped like a couple of sacks of potatoes.

Fu Zi saw this and said this was just too much and flew and materialised into the sky near the dragon.

I have to say the visual of Adam Cheng as Fu Zi was the most perfect (too many superlatives here) in this drama.  His long perfectly coiffured white hair and immaculate black hanfu were a sight to behold.

He embodied the perfect kung fu master and he was too because he was the master of everything.  His cultivation is topped up to its limit.

He was able to vanquish the dragon in no time with the help of the most super-cultivated sword by Sword Saint Lui Bai.

Fu Zi said that no one hurt his disciples.

The Shrine Master said that this was what he was hoping for all the time.  Fu Zi had chosen a side and that was darkness.  Fu Zi was now an enemy of the state.

Who is Hao Tian?

Hao Tian knows everything. She is like a herder.  She nurtures cultivators and then after they had reached the five levels of all-knowing, no-distance, etc, she would wait some more until they had mastered everything and then she eats or feeds on them.

At the moment there were three who were ready to be supper.  The first two were Mr Drink and Mr Butcher and as Sang Sang said, the most delicious of them all was Fu Zi.

Episode 18

Awww It seems Ning Que and Sang Sang at this point was only an engaged couple.  While having a nice break at the seaside of the Georgian Black Sea with FuZi at the lookout, he told them that they can’t have any form of hanky-panky.

Ning Que said that they were engaged.

FuZi said engagement and marriage are two different things.

Ning Que said they just had to bow to the high heavens and to each other.

FuZi said he will marry them.

They bowed to Fu Zi twice and then to each other and then started their married life with a honeymoon where Fu Zi gave them privacy to enjoy each other.

FuZi went walkabout and met up with the other two divinators, who had been evading HaoTian’s dinner plate.  Mr Butcher and Mr Drink.

They told Fu Zi that they had been hiding from Haotian for couple of a thousand years.

Episode 19

Fu Zi was in a chatty mood with Ning Que and Sang Sang.  He was trying to distract the rather taciturn Sang Sang who was developing a rather schizophrenic personality. He was observing her.

Sang Sang was sometimes docile and then she turns all badass.

Anyway, Fu Zi said that he once met a young man who he helped to build his own kingdom in order to rival the West Shrine.

Ning Que was so impressed. Fu Zi helped the first emperor who founded the Tang Empire.

Meanwhile, in the Tang Palace, the State Preceptor was once again being quizzed by his assistant.

The assistant wanted to know what would happen to the Shocking God Formation now that Ning Que had not been seen for a while.  He wanted also to know where the location of the formation and the key.

For once, the State Preceptor managed to control himself from divulging state secret.  Instead, he said that he will not die until Ning Que had come back.  Also, he had finally learned to distrust his assistant.

Ning Que was asking Fu Zi if Sang Sang is the daughter of the Lord of the Deceased.

Fu Zi had to confessed that at some point in the Badlands, he really thought that Sang Sang is the daughter of the Lord of the Deceased.

But then Fu Zi said that:

If you know everything.  Life would be so boring.

He also said that Hao Tian knows everything.

But he was sure now that Sang Sang is not the daughter of the Lord of the Deceased.  Fu Zi explained that he had been around the world, explored every nook and cranny and not once did he find the nether world.  And if there is no nether world then the Lord of the Deceased cannot exist.

Then who is Sang Sang?

Fu Zi reminded Ning Que that Sang Sang was known first as the Daughter of Light. She and Hao Tian are one and the same.

The absolute light is also the absolute darkness.

The Great Way makes everything the simplest.
– FuZi

Fu Zi continued that when he was fighting the dragon, Fu Zi infused Sang Sang with the power of the man’s world (humanity).

Humanity is Fu Zi.

So a part of Fu Zi was now in Sang Sang.  This meant that Fu Zi was now at war with Hao Tian.

Fu Zi wanted to fight with Hao Tian so Sang Sang can stay with Ning Que.

FuZi was there to try to reason to Sang Sang (Hao Tian) that despite calling humans as worms, she actually married a worm (Ning Que) who she just shared a bridal bed with and enjoyed a night of passion that was very human.  So instead, leaving why not stay in the human world?

Sang Sang was having none of it anymore.  She then saw the darkening sky and chose to fly away into the sky.

Poor Ning Que looked clueless about what was going on.

Everyone was there to witness what was happening in the sky, including the Shrine Master and Dao Maniac and all the disciples.

FuZi saw an angel-like creature who was ascending into the heavens.

FuZi used his supersonic formation and levitated to followed the angel who he found out was Haotian.

People watching from below where shouting, “Please make your presence felt, Sage.” as FuZi had disappeared from the naked eye.

Chen PIPI who had gone home to his father’s house felt that FuZi was never coming back.

He might be right because Fu Zi himself had said that he was ready to go to the sky.

Poor Ning Que was in bits.  He was devastated that both Sang Sang and Fu Zi seemed to have gone from this world.  Awww

After Fu Zi had left the world.

The duty to inform the very ailing King of Tang fell on Ma Shuxiang’s shoulders.

He told the king that Fu Zi had ascended to the sky and now the sky is falling.  (It was snowing non-stop)

Upon hearing Fu Zi’s fate, the king fainted.

Episode 20

The king recovered enough to will that the 6th Prince was his one and true heir and he made Ma Shuxiang as his will executor.

The Princess was informed of the death of the King and she immediately went into action to ensure that the Third Prince was to be announced, declared and accepted as the new Emperor.

This including forging the last will and testament of the king which was stored at the west bank with the State Preceptor.

The Princess said that the Sixth Prince was not a real Tangese, because his mother was from Bandlands.  As he was already thinking of the same thing and also hoping that having a 100 percent Tangese as successor, he finally agreed to forge the will.

The palace was in chaos.  The third prince was kidnapped and the mastermind turned out to be the uncle.  He wanted the last will of the King.

Princess Li Yu though knew her uncle so much, she was able to rescue her brother.

Chen Pi Pi, who was now back at his family mansion, quizzed his uncle why his father was banished and trapped to the South Sea.

His uncle said that it has something to do with the killing of Ke Haoran, who was a disciple from the Academy.  He was killed by Xilling.

Fu Zi went absolutely berserk and rushed to West Shrine over the Peach Hill.  With just a stick, Fu Zi withered all the peach blossoms.

Again with the stick, he defeated every Taoist warrior.

With just his stick, Fu Zi prevailed over Jiang JIn of Xuankong.

He then banished Chen Mou, Chen Pi Pi’s father, in the South Sea guarded only by the same stick that the Sage used in his battle.

But now, as the Sage is dead and gone, Chen Mou can come home.  Chen Pi Pi was more upset about the Sage rather than be glad that his father was coming back.

Episode 21

Long Qing came back to Yan and reunite with his father and a rather jealous and reluctant older brother.

Their father told them to make Yan great, strong and safe.

The assistant once again was asking the State Preceptor the whereabouts of the Key to the Shocking God Formation.

The State Preceptor finally confronted his assistant, He Ming Chi, that he knew that he was working for Xilling.

When He Ming Chi asked him why he had not grassed on him, the State Preceptor said that he was his favourite student, and he thinks that Tang need to be one with the light once again, blah blah blah.

He said, now that the Sage was gone and so was the Emperor, the fall of Tang is imminent.  He made He Ming Chi promised to make the fall as painless as possible.

He then died.

Meanwhile the next morning the will of the king was read which named the Third Prince as his successor.  Most were surprised and some ministers even refused to kneel down before the new emperor until they were threatened by death by the Princess.

One of the ministers who was shocked was Minister Zeng, Sang Sang’s father, who was the right hand man of the dead king.

He went with Commander Xu to the State Preceptor’s mansion only to find that he had passed away.

Minister Zeng questioned why he died immediately after giving the will to the princess?  The new king was insulted, he order that Minister Zeng get 50 lashes.

The Princess was beginning to realise that her brother was too spoilt and immature to be the king over Tang.  However, she was trying her best to rehabilitate him.

She said that instead of punishing Minister Zeng, who was their father’s most trusted minister, he should have tried to win him over.

Anyway, as the State Preceptor was now dead, it left a vacancy.  He Ming-Chi was a buddy of the new King so he was made the new State Preceptor.

With his new elevated position, He Ming Chi started his machination.  He told the Imperial uncle that the will was forged and the 6th Prince was the true heir.

When asked by Imperial Uncle why he was being told this, He ming Chi divulged that they are both sympathiser of Xilling.

Oh no!  Is Fu Zi really gone?  It seemed the disciples and everyone else were now resigned to the fact that Fu Zi was not coming back.  They were paying him honour and goodbye.

Episode 22

The ‘Empress Dowager’ and the young true King were refusing to abandon the wake of the king in Wei City despite Ma Shuxiang urging them to go back to Tang City to claim back the throne.

The Third Prince/King made He Ming Chi his confidant and had been doing some dastardly moves behind the scene.

He Ming Chi went to Minister Zeng to tell him to resign from the government and be able to live at the capital in relative peace otherwise the new king will sack him himself and that would mean many things like he will be dead as soon as he leaves the capital.

Minister Zeng would not comply.

He Ming Chi asked the king if he knew of the Shocking God Formation?  He said that he heard that Ning Que had the key.  As Ning Que was otherwise incommunicado, there was no one to protect Tang State.

As Commander Xu was rather dismissive of the new king, the king asked He Ming Chi to asked someone from Xilling to get rid of the commander.

The princess was finding out that she can’t control the third prince.  Anyway she told him that he should be valuing their late father’s people who were absolutely loyal to him.  But what the king was doing was expelling them one by one.

She also told him that one person they could really do with was Chao Xiaoshu, who was like a brother to their father and would do anything to protect Tang.

The King, however, was very dismissive of Cho Xiaoshu, who he things were nothing but an uncouth hooligan.

The king was intrigued by the Shocking God Formation and started to search for it.

Episode 23

Yan State let down Tang State badly.

Yan was a traitor to their ally, the Tang State.

Tang was supposed to come to the rescue of Yan but instead, Yan soldiers supervised by Long Qing and the Crown Prince of Yan killed every single one of the strong army sent by Tang to help.

This army was the best and they should have not been the one to be sent as they were supposed to guard Tang Capital.

I must say the sound of clapping and rhythmic knocking was amazing as Chao Xiaoshu walked into the dais.

Chao Xiaoshu went to see what happened and was met by Prince Chong Ming and his guards.  They laughed and sniggered at him.  They said that Chao Xiaoshu might have attained the ultimate level of All-Knowing but against them all, he is mincemeat.

He was not!  Again, Adam Oh gave us a fantastic fight scene.  I love his scenes when he fights.  Marvelous.  No one was left standing.

Even the King of Yan who also came out ended up dead when he said that he was satisfied that Yan had defeated Tang in his lifetime as every single soldier of Tang lay dead in Yan.

Chao Xiaoshu disagreed and said, ‘No, they are not, I am still here’Meanwhi and threw his sword at the king, killing him instantly.

Meanwhile, the Princess of Tang undid most of the new king’s edicts including dismissing Minister Zeng and killing the closest ministers to the former king.

The Empress Dowager and the young true king were left starving in the Wei City after food supplies to soldiers and the people failed to reach Wei City.

The Shrine Master took the opportunity to declare war on Tang State.  The high priests who initially tried to complain about it was told that the Queen of Tang was the St Virgin of the Demon Cult.  Then they also had the Daugther of the Lord of the Dead.

Episode 24

The Imperial Uncle was regretful for having made an alliance with He MIng Chi who assured him at first that Xilling will never attack Tang State.

Imperial Uncle warned He Ming Chi that if Tang falls he will personally kill him.

Bit by bit parts of Tang State alliance are falling into the hands of Long Qing and his golden horde (whatever)

Meanwhile, Chao Xiaoshu returned to the capital and went to see the Princess.  He said he would like to make two requests from the Princess.

First, he would like a special dispensation for the Yulong Gang to guard and protect Tang City.

The Princess said that the city doesn’t need protecting it was the border that needs it.

Chao Xiaoshu said that was his second request, he wanted to be made the temporary commander of the Army Battalion and fight in the borders.

The Princess did not really have much choice so she agreed.

More bad news was coming including some loyal allies abandoning them.

The Princess started thinking about why the Academy had not shown any support.

Well, without Fuzi they have become lackadaisical.

Poor Ning Que was still hopelessly looking for Sang Sang and Fu Zi in the desert.  He was now limping, weak, starving and thirsty.

The Queen had decided that they must leave Wei City or they will die from starvation.

By the way, why does Hao Tian has the Jesus Fish on her right foot just like Sang Sang.  Is this some nod to Christianity.  Sort of God the father is Hao Tian, who according to the Old Testament was rather vengeful and then he came to earth as Jesus in Sang Sang?  And then Hao Tian eating humans was also a nod to the holy communion, i.e. the body & blood of Christ?!!!

Episode 25

The Queen went out to fight the army and soldiers waiting at the gate.  She revealed her cultivation, thus letting people know that she was more than human.

She was so good but there were just too many of the enemies.  The leader of the army was just about to killed her when a flying sword fell him down, thus the queen was saved.

The sword came from Ning Que, who was very upset to find out that the old king had died.

Everyone was preparing to leave Wei City but Mr Ma had made up his mind to stay and keep the City guarded even just by himself which broke Ning Que’s heart.

He said that he had lost Sang Sang, FuZi, the Emperor and now Ma would rather stay at Wei City and die than go to Tang City with them all.

I found the scene where they were cremating the old emperor particularly sad.

But even sadder was when General Ma was impaled by a javelin stake which did not kill him immediately but waiting to die as the blood flowed freely from him. While around him his soldiers lay dead.

Meanwhile, in the palace, the third prince/king was losing it.  When a soldier refused to do as he was told, the king killed him without a second thought.

Episode 26

Ning Que returned to Tang City, escorting the Queen and the prince regent.

Actually the Princess had had enough really of the new king that she hoped Ning Que would return even against the king’s wishes.

Meanwhile, He Ming-Chi was sent to the border after he overdid himself by having Commander Xu killed.

The Princess found Ning Que at the palace court. She wanted to know if he was very upset with her.

Ning Que looked at her disappointedly and said that what she did was heinous, tampering with the last will of the King.  He added that if her brother, the king had been half-way decent as a king, Ning Que would have supported her decision but the fall of Tang State will come from within and that would be via her nincompoop of a brother.

The Princess said that Ning Que has no business with her family.

Ning Que said, ‘Au contraire, Tang does not belong to your family, it belongs to the people, in fact, Fu Zi established Tang, therefore, Tang belongs to the academy.’

Episode 27

The Princess invited Ning Que to a little tea party at the palace.

What they did not know (but NIng Que suspected) was that the tea had been poisoned by the order of the king.

Anyway, the Princess tried to convince NIng Que that she was only doing what Ning Que would have done if it had been Sang Sang in the same situation.  The Princess said that she would protect her brother.

She did, in the end, agree that she would ask her brother to abdicate.

Suddenly the Princess felt faint and knew the tea was poisoned by her own brother.  Ning Que fell asleep on his table and believed dying from poisoning.

The King then came out and started sniggering.

His sister could not believe that he would stoop so low to kill his own sister who brought him up.

The king said that he only poisoned her but she did much worse by tampering with the testamentary will of the king.

He said it was her ambition for him to be king.  He would have been happy just to be rich and idle.

The Princess said that she made a mistake and should have killed him.

Ning Que clapped and interrupted the word-dueling royal siblings.

After the king gave the antidote to the Princes, Ning Que was ready to kill the king but Li Yu begged Ning Que to spare her brother.

She would confess her part in the tampering of the will and her brother then would abdicate.

Ning Que thought that was fair enough and left.

During the following day’s morning court session, the king humbly apologised for letting the country down.  He accepted that it was all down to him why the country was in such a mess.  He said that he was young but he would persevere to became a good king.

Ning was annoyed and tried to walk out but the Princess said that it was all her fault and she would give her life after the war is over.  She added that she had only one brother and he is the king.

Again both brother and sister reneged on their promise to abdicate and confessed but what annoyed Ning Que was the Princess’s decalarion that she has only one brother.

Ning Que quickly took his sword and slashed the throat of the king.  He then told the princess, now you really have one brother.  The princess fainted.

The ministers and soldiers were stunned that NIng Que would commit a most appalling act of regicide in front of them, which is punishable by his death and family.

Ning Que said that he did not kill a king, he killed the Third Prince who stole the crown from his young brother, the 6th Prince, the true heir as per the testamentary edict of the king.

The next day, the 6th Prince was in power.

Episode 28

Ning Que killing li Hunyan, the Third Prince started trending everywhere.

The Shrine Master ordered Cavalry Commander Luo Kedi and Ye Hongyu (Dao Maniac)  to march to Qingxia of Tang State to watch over the brewing civil war over Li Hupo, the son of the St Virgin of the Demon Cult with the King, who had been crowned as the new king.

The poor princess was in bits, she was drinking hard and put under house arrest and Ning Que ordered sharp objects removed from her mansion and vicinity so she doesn’t get any ideas of killing herself.

She would have actually been a good Empress but she was a victim of her time and gender.  I must say I am liking the actress who plays the princess.  She was able to bring her own charisma to the princess which was first portrayed by Tong Yao.

Yong Ye and Haotian had a bitch fight.  Haotian got so annoyed she vanished Yong Ye. (I saw the behind the scene shoot for this scene and it was quite horrendous.  It was in a real freezing snowy place and both young actresses were dressed in these rather diaphanous white gowns, they were both shivering and were too cold they could not even crack a joke; they just wanted to get on with the filming and into some warmth.)

Sang Sang /Yong Ye told Hao Tian that she was her and Haotian was Sang Sang.

Haotian denied it but Sang Sang said that humanity through Sang Sang had been poured  by Fu Zi through Haotian and therefore they are now one and the same.  There won’t be light without darkness and vice versa.  Hao Tian is three in one (Christianity nod again? – The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost/Spirit?) Hao Tian is Light with Sang Sang as darkness and FuZi as humanity rolled into one.

Chen Pi Pi came to spring Mo Shan Shang from the Hidden Boudoir, then Flower Maniac and Dao Maniac also turned up to do the same.  They do look outstandingly beautiful these maniac ladies.  LOL

Chen Pi Pi was accosted by the Shrine Master and forced him to reveal whose side he was on and to stop sitting on the fence.

Chen Pi Pi cheekily said that he was too large and too heavy to be sitting on the fence.

The Shrine Master had a sense of humour bypass so he punished Chen Pi Pi by making him roll round and round on the ground (wow I was a poet there, LOL).

Ye Qing turned up and did his cultivation as well and pulled Chen Pi Pi away from the Shrine Master by counter-rolling him to the other side.  Then the shrine master pulled PiPI back which Ye Qing counter-acted again.  These went on several times.  Poor Chen Pi Pi was not having a great time.

Luckily for him the Temple Master appeared.

Be a guiding light to the world, one shall always maintain his virtue, therefore eh can eventually reach the state of the ultimate.
– Temple Master

Episode 29 

The boy King was advised by a minister that going into war would surely obliterate Tang, it was more conducive to surrender to Xilling.

The Boy King, however, said that Tang will go to war.

His mother was pleased with what he said but the boy was suddenly daunted.  She said to trust.  Trust Tang, trust the people.  Trust Ning Que.

Ning Que went back to the academy.  It was still the same and yet it was not the same.  For starter, Fu Zi was no longer there who was often sampling gourmet dishes and had to think about life and things from the essence of the food.

Looking around, he can’t find his brothers and sisters.  He did eventually find Third Sister and the Fifth and Eight brothers after a while.

He was told that Second Brother was leading the Fourth Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Brothers to guard the Green Gorge.

Ning Que said that he was glad to see them but he came to the academy for the formation Key.

The Third Sister immediately ushered him to where the formation key was stored.  She said that it had been noted that the key had cracks on it and fast degrading.  It might not work as was hoped to do.

Ning Que was a little worried because Fu Zi and Master Yan Ze did not tell him how to fix the key.

Third Sister said that he should not worry too much because he was chosen by Fu Zi, Yan Ze and the formation itself to be its master.  It will come to him.

Ning Que launched the Shocking God Formation under the eye of the now Queen Dowager and her son, the new Emperor (the young Sixth Prince).

It was noted immediately that it was not working as it should and yet it was still functioning.  Ning Que said that it was because First Brother had worked 24/7 for months which made him very ill to try to slow down the degradation of the formation key.  He created a map with little shortcuts here and there to preserve the life of the key. In a way, he reformated that formation key.  So the Academy was working for Tang all along.  Mind you, it was not an easy task to get the Academy to go into war for Tang.

This was because the Academy is made up of disciples from all over the land.  The twins were from the land of Song who had now waged war with Tang, The Seventh Sister was from Chen, which had waged war with Tang as well.

But as they now Academians which support Tang, then they were pro-Tang.

The Queen Mother surmised that He Ming Chi might have something to do with the failing formatted key.

The Shrine Master went to the Back Hill of the Academy to find the formation key.  He found the Fifth and Eight Brothers instead, playing chess.

He told them that the Academy will be gone soon and so was Tang and it was all due to him.

He will be known in history as the greatest Shrine Leader ever.

Episode 30

While the Temple Master and First Brother were playing cat and mouse, the Third Sister was impressive in protecting the Academy.

After all she is Lin Wu, had been incognito for the 23rd of the Cicadas. She was the youngest and last Suzerain since the establishment of the Demonic Cult.

That was a very impressive fight with the Shrine Master which the Suzerain won fairly easily through a mind connection with Fu Zi.

Then there was a flashback of the Suzerain delaying Qi Nian who traveled the universe to come and help Xia Hou during his fight with Ning Que (see last episode of Season 1 for the fight).

Ning Que was very impressed when he found out that his beloved Third Sister was the fabled Last Suzerain.

OMG, every time they mentioned Fu Zi, I get tearful,  what the heck!

The cavalry commander and Dao Maniac were reaching the Green Gorde when some of the fakest rocks came raining on their soldiers.  LOL

The Dao Maniac was fangirling Jun Mo, the Second Brother.  I don’t blame her, he is gorgeous and tall.

Anyway, the Second Brother has seven days to keep away Xilling from invading Tang.

Seven days that Ning Que had to return back the formation key to its default mode.

Because the First Brother had only seven days to distract the Temple Master who is the biggest danger of all to Tang.

Wow, the fighting scene was so good. The Second Brother was impressive with his arrow, sword cultivation.

It also showed why 7th sister’s penchant for embroidery was relevant to the fighting scene.  Her embroidery design created how the arrow/sword formation should best coalesce for ultimate effectivity.

And Fu Zi knew this all along, he recruited his band of disciples not because they had attained the ultimate level of all-knowing but because they have their individual passions that if combine together will be unbeatable.

Episode 31

The Brothers and a sister had barely started their breakfast when the Dao Maniac/ High Priestess of Jurisdiction turned up to challenge Second Brother.

Sword St Lu Bai who can see everything mentally from the confine of carriage said that the High Priestess was not as good as Jun Mo but she made a very tactical move.  While attacking Jun Mo she made him create a Great Formation of Confinement and therefore the Xilling soldiers can then attack at random while Jun Mo was otherwise confined.

It did take Jun Mo a few long minutes to get out of confinement and the meantime the musician disciple went ahead to delay the incoming soldiers.

The disciples were rescued by the sudden appearance of Fist Brother who effortlessly used his energy to fell the soldiers from all sides.

He then went to Lu Bai to give thanks (So Lu Bai had been secretly helping them because he was Fu Zi best friend)

Within seconds of his leaving, the Temple Master appeared and created a sky formation that was now keeping the disciple busy.  They were all working and supporting each other to keep the sky formation from engulfing them.

First Brother ended up at the Temple Master place where he was informed that he walked into a trap.  He was standing in the middle of an unbreakable Huhan confinement formation.

First Brother seemed not bothered because he said the formation was damaged as he picked up a winged bird formation which means he was free to fly which he did.

Pipiiiiiiiii

Yep, Pipi confided to his uncle who created the Huhan in the front yard that he knew immediately that the trap was for someone with no-distance cultivation which means it was for First Brother. so he sabotaged it.

His uncle told him off for betraying his father the Temple Master.

Pipi opined that being the son of the Temple Master was hard work.

PiPi asked, What is wrong or right?

There is other side to see.

Meanwhile, Third Sister was trying to calm Ning Que down who only has 4 days more to fix the Shocking God Formation.

Third Sister said that  Ning Que is quite good with writing Taliman so he needed to practice his formation pronto.  The Third Sister said someone was coming to help him.

And then walked in Mo Shan Shan

Episode 32

Ning Que asked Mo Shan Shan to help him repair the Shocking God Formation (God Startling Formation) as she was good at creating formation.  They traveled the capital to look for hotspots.  Ning Que noticed that places like their calligraphy shop, his house by the pond, Zeng Mansion, the academy, were places that he had stayed or visited with Sang Sang.

He realised that Sang Sang was the conduit of the degradation of the Shocking God Formation.

Mo Shan Shan quickly said that Sang Sang was pure and innocent, she would not be trying to degrade the Shocking God Formation.

Ning Que agreed but said that Sang Sang could have down it by just being there, she was now a follower of god.

Anyway Ning Que now knew what to do.  He had to vanquish everything that has a memory of Sang Sang.

Meanwhile, at the Green Gorge, everything was heating up.

Ye Qing, the tao universal master (brother of the Dao Maniac) challenged Jun Mo to a duel.  He lost but he said to Jun Mo that if Jun Mo was wearing his armour vest then he would have won.

Jun Mo who is always quiet and peaceful said that if Ye Qing wanted the ‘What if” then he said without his armour and Ye Qing not wearing his sheath, then Jun Mo would still win. No sword for Jn Mo and also for Ye Qing, Jun Mo would win.

Ye Qing did realise the veracity of what Jun Mo said.  And because of it, he decided to give up everything including Tao/Dao.

His sister tried to stop him walking away but it was no use.

Enemies at the gate.

The Temple Master was able to enter the city despite the effort to stop him by First Brother.

Episode 33

Though Ye Qing lost to Jun Mo.  He reckoned that the fight he had Jun Mo was delightful.  It was a once in a lifetime experience.

The fight between Sword Saint. Lu Bai, with the Second Brother, ended terribly for both parties.  Lu Bai was heavily wounded while Second Brother lost his right arm. Ouch, super ouch.

This episode was a particularly emotive one for Ning Que.  He came to the conclusion that Sang Sang was the cause of the degradation of the shocking God Formation.

During her stay in Tang, Sang Sang somehow affected the formation and now Ning Que had to vanquish every apparition of a happy and loving Sang Sang to stop the ‘doomsday clock’ and reformat the Shocking God Formation.  Poor Mo Shan Shan had to follow Ning Que as he got sadder and sadder.

Meanwhile, the Temple Master was creating havoc against First Brother and Third Sister.  The Temple Master was too powerful for both their cultivation.

The Temple Master was about to finish off the First Brother and Third Sister when Chen Pi Pi appeared and begged his father to show leniency to his brother and sister.

The Temple Master gave Chen Pi Pi a choice.  Chen Pi Pi can fight for the lives of his brother and sister by defeating the Temple Master.  If he does not succeed, Chen Pi Pi had to completely become loyal to Shunggang Temple.

Well, Chen Pi Pi lost but he did manage to buy time for Ning Que and Mo Shan Shan to repair the Shocking God Formation.

Episode 34

The Tang Capital had fallen.  But Ning Que had not quite given up yet.  With a last effort, he tried to battle it out with Chen Mou, who created a formation in the sky, over Tang Palace.

At the same time, Ning Que was able to create a huge talisman and with the help of the Fiery Bird Ning Que flew into the sky to undo the Temple Master’s formation with his flaming sword.

Temple Master had fallen and Tang State was saved.

Episode 35

The aftermath of the war.

The Shrine Master was putting the blame for the failure of their coup against Tang to Dao Maniac but she was having none of it.  She enumerated each of all their failures.

Sang Sang was with Haotian in the sky having more bitch fighting.  They looked good though.

Mo Shan Shan was most concerned about Ning Que who had been hitting the bottle.  The war tooks its toll on him.  He was a wreck and had to use crutches to be able to walk.

Ning Que met Chao Xiaoshu for a drink.  They were musing the last five years of their lives as well as contemplating what to do with Xilling because they both knew that the ending is yet to come.

Xiaoshu said that they should go to West Shrine and kill everyone of them.  Ning Que half-drunkenly agreed.

Meanwhile, Haotian found the Drinker and the Butcher.

The Drinker and the Butcher both knew that their time of hiding from Haotian was at an end after a thousand years surviving the last ever night.

However, Haotian had not killed (eaten) them yet.  Instead, she tasked them to do her bidding.

She sent The Butcher to Xilling to announce her forthcoming visitation to Peach Hill.

She instructed the Drinker to find Ning Que in Tang and give him the carriage with a message that

Every death in the world is a long awaited reunion.

Ning Que was finally recovered from his injuries.

It was the spring festival and he and Mo Shan Shan were looking at the fireworks in the sky.

The beautiful dancing lights in the sky had no effect on Ning Que who was looking morose and sadder than ever.

Ning Que was one depressed mess.

Mo Shan Shan finally realised that Ning Que without Sang Sang was just a shell.

However Mo Shan Shan and Ning Que had a reminisce of their pass together.  Mo Shan Shan said that back then she liked him and he liked her back and knowing that was enough.

She then said that if Ning Que suddenly say that he likes her now then she would see that as shameless.  Love Mo Shan Shan.

Episode 36 (Death of the St Virgin of the Demonic Cult)

Xilling was delaying the peace treaty negotiation.

This did not go well with the Tang Boy King, who said to give Xilling seven days to come up with offers otherwise…

Anyway, the Dao Maniac was the peace negotiator for Xilling and part of their deal offer was for the Queen of Tang to be gone, because she was after all the St Virgin of the Demonic Cult.

Ning Que told the Dao Maniac that was not gonna happen.

The Queen Dowager, still missing her husband, decided that she had to go for the good of her son and Tang.

She climbed to the tower where she told Ning Que to look after Tang and the young King.  She then plunged into her death.

Even the Princess of Tang got so upset.  She might not have trusted the Queen but she did not wish her to die.  She realised she had not anyone else.

Until reminded that she has a very young brother who could do with some tender love and care.

And she saw him crouching sadly against a pillar inside the huge palace, all alone in his resplendent kingly clothes.  He was literally a poor little rich boy.  Her heart melted.

The Imperial Uncle thought that he became collateral damage and lost his reputation.  People were so annoyed with him for being a traitor.  So he committed suicide.

Ning Que and Second Brother met the Drinker, who arrived in a horseless carriage.

NIng Que was stunned to see the carriage again but without the mysterious Blacky.

The annoying Drinker delivered the message about every death is a long-awaited reunion.

Ning Que recalled the very same thing once said to him by Sang Sang.  This new information invigorated his belief that Sang Sang was out there waiting to be found.

Episode 37

The Dao Maniac visited the Book Maniac.  They got talking about Dao/light.  Dao Maniac asked the Book Maniac if she still believed in the Dao teaching.

Book Mania said that she does not believe in the  Shrine Master anymore.  He should be leading everyone into the light but all he had done was set brothers against brothers and he was so self-serving.

To not end up having a disagreement, the two maniacs changed the subject to Ning Que (who else?  They both got the hots for him)

Anyway, Mo Shan Shan said that a one-side love for Ning Que was a lost cause.  Sang Sang is Ning Que’s life, end of!

This talk was a cathartic one for Mo Shan Shan as well because she realised that she had to go back home.

Ning Que said a final goodbye to Mo Shan Shan, who couldn’t wait to go back to Dahe State.

She did say that she will wait for him at Dahe and Ning Que gamely said that it was a deal.

Sad.  I did not like Mo Shan Shan in the first series but she redeemed herself so much in this current series with her dignity and grace.  Love her.

Anyway, Hao Tian met the Shrine Master and his posse at the Peach Hill

Despite the Shrine Master being so slimy, Hao Tian allowed him to regain his cultivation powers.

She needed him to hold a light festival so she can go back to heaven.

Ning Que had permanently based himself in Tang guarding the Shocking God Formation.

However, First Brother advised him that he will be aged before he knows it so while there is time he should venture out of the Capital and gets ready to mingle.

First Brother said he will look after the Shocking God Formation on his behalf.

Episode 38

The Shrine Master started organising a Millenial Light Conference.

Meanwhile, the Academy had its own agenda.

Each disciple provided a motto for their manifesto.

Second Brother: We must unite the people we trust.

First Brother: We need to sacrifice ourselves.

Third Sister: We may be in deep trouble; we may drift from place to place.

Seventh Sister: We may fall forever, we may disappear

Fourth Brother: We may change

Sixth Brother: We will break the shackle

The disciples started the mission and first approached Chao Xioshu being their most trusted ally.  They needed him to get close to the Drinker and Butcher to be able to vanquish them.  They reckoned that the terrible two are the deadliest opponents.  The two are masters and reached beyond the five levels of cultivation.

They had explained to Chao Xioashu that he might have to lose his cultivation to be able to get close to the Drinker and Butcher.

They said the only person that could help is the Sword Saint Lu Bai.

Liu Bai was most of the time was above partisan.  But he does think a great deal of Fu Zi, so as the Academy had asked he granted Chao Xiaoshu’s request.  Beautiful scene and panoramic scenery.

The actor Andy Oh who plays Chao Xiaoshu was so charismatic, he steals every scene he was in.  and this scene with He Zhong Hua as Liu Bai is no exception. He gave this scene in this drama an extra dimension especially when supported by a strong character like Lu Bai.

Anyway, Lu Bai warned him that he will hide two swords within Xiaoshu’s body, which was both difficult and complicated.  If the swords burst out of his body, Xiaoshu was a goner.

Hao Tian had another command for the Shrine Master.  He was told to go to Shiangkang Temple to fetch the Envoy of  the Light.

When they got there, they found the Temple Master rather a broken man.  He said thought if he was only able to he would willingly go to Xilling to be the envoy of the light but in his condition, he doubted that he could manage.

Xillng though was insistent.

Chen Pi Pi intervened to protect his father.

The Dao Maniac pointed a sword at his throat but suddenly they all heard the voice of Hao Tian who said that “He was the one”

Suddenly a beam of light shown on Chen Pi Pi.  Apparently Chen PiPi had the purest of hearts.

Episode 39

Chao Xiaoshu found the Drinker and the Butcher at Song.  He said hello to them and introduced himself as the new neighbour.

Meanwhile, Ning Que was sure that Sang Sang was in West Shrine.  He got himself a job at the forthcoming light conference as a servant/cook.

Someone requested a Sour and Spicy Noodles, which convinced Ning Que that Sang Sang was definitely in the building.

He happily made the noodle soup and was so looking forward to delivering it when it was taken from him and was given to Long Qing.

Hao Tian took just one look at the gorgeous Long Qing and said that she did not like him and did not want to see him again.

NIng Que tried to climb the precipice of the mountain which would lead him to the Hall of light.  He accidentally found Chen Pi Pi who was kept prisoner at the Hidden boudoir.

They were chatting when they heard someone coming.  It was Long Qing who said to Chen Pi Pi that he would help him out.  He said that Chen Pi Pi need not be the envoy to the light as he was willing to take his place.

Chen Pi Pi accepted and said that Long Qing had to arrange it with the Temple Master at Zhixiong Temple.

When Long Qing was gone, Ning Que climbed up back and promised Chen Pi Pi that he will be back to save him.

The pure Chen Pi Pi said to Ning Que not to bother as Ning Que’s life is more important.

Meanwhile, Long Qing did not waste any time.   He immediately sought the Temple Master at the Zhixiong Temple.

The Temple Master was very disparaging towards Long Qing at first.  He said that granted that the Fuzi was better than the Temple Master and that Long Qing was inferior to Ning Que, but it looks like Long Qing had lost everything.  He had lost his fight, his guts.

The Temple Master said that he was very disappointed with Long Qing and then he took Long Qing’s Natal Object, the flower that the Flower Maniac put into Long Qing’s chest so he can live again.

He was promised that he can have his Natal Object back when he had accomplished his mission.

The Temple Master then said that Zhixiong Temple is above Xilling that is why they can observe what is going on around the world.

The Temple Master said that the Heavenly Maid was not the ultimate god because she was here on Earth.  And as this was the case, who was currently fighting Fuzi in Heaven?

The Temple Master further added that the Light Conference will not succeed because the Heavenly Maid had so many issues connecting her to Earth and therefore she can’t leave.

The Temple Master said that as this was the case they will help Haotian to sever her connection to Earth and if that can’t happen they will end Hao Tian.

Episode 40

Dao Maniac quickly realised that NIng Que was in Xilling.  Quite near her in fact because she can almost feel him, she can certainly smell him.

Ning Que did not try to hide his presence.  He told her that he was really in Xilling for 12th Brother.  He was going to save Chen Pi Pi.

Dao Maniac warned Ning Que that she might now find him and so will the Shrine Master, but Hao Tian is another thing coming  She knows everything, she can read minds and see all things.

She warned him that he will die in Xilling, it might not be in her hands but he will die if stay any longer.

Ning Que seemed to have agreed to what she was saying because he did lieave on his own accord.

Meanwhile, Ye Qing went to see Lu Bai to bid him goodbye as he was going back to the Peach Hill to make a stand because he did not believe in Dao/Tao anymore.

Lu Bai advised him to reconsider and to go find his Dao/Tao.

Meanwhile, it was getting too much for Chen Pi Pi.  He cannot bear to have the blood of his brothers and sisters in his hand so he tried to commit suicide by hanging himself but it was useless. He seemed to be protected by an invisible force/field.  He even tried to throw himself agaisst the rocky boulders that made up of the walls of his prison cell but someone he was stopped from touching the walls.

Hao Tian then appeared.  She told him that she needed him to be her envoy of light.  If he does manage to kill himself there are going to more people to die including tang Xiaotang. his girlfrind.

All she needed from him was to sit at the altar during the light conference.

Having not much of a choice, Chen Pi Pi allowed to be taken to the altar.

The ceremony began but he interrupted to ask for a drink of water.

A hooded Ning Que can’t help but smirk by how typical Pi PI was.

The ceremony then turned into a bit of a farce because. Long Qing turned up to rescue PiPi as well to prove himself to the Temple Master.

Then XiaoTang also turned up to rescue PiPi and when the Shrine Master was using his energy to subdue XiaoTang, PiPi called for Thirteen Brother.

That was the cue for Ning Que to attack.

Hao Tian noticed the commotion and was livid because the Butcher and the Drinker were not around to monitor the proceeding.

Actually, First Brother and Chao Xiaoshu were on their way to see the Butcher and the Drinker.

But the way, there was a nice scene where Sang Sang was reminiscing her romantic moments with Ning Que, who said that she had been a member of his family since he found her 16 years ago.  He had never felt that he could live without her. Aww

It was, of course, Fu Zi who married them.

They got talking about food.

Eating is the most important thing,
Because eating is to live.
And living is more important than anything.
– Fu Zi

Episode 41

First Brother and Chao Xiaoshu went to see the Drinker and the Butcher.

First Brother started fighting with the Drinker.

The Drinker started being the stronger but First Brother was more cunning. So he defeated him in the end.

Meanwhile, Xiaoshu, stood and watch the Butcher, who instinctively knew that Xiaoshu was almost harmless for his lack of cultivation.

This did not stop the Butcher to challenge Xiaoshu.  When it was time, Xiaoshu had the sword formation burst out of his body putting an end to both the Butcher and the Drinker.

But as Lu Bai did warn Xiaoshu, that he will die when the swords burst out of his body.

Poor First Brother, did not really know of this side effect so he was heartbroken to find the great Chao Xiaoshu was dead.

Meanwhile, the battle between Ning Que and Xilling continued on until Hao Tian released brilliant light which engulfed Ning Que, meaning he now the protection of the Heavenly Maid.

Xilling and the soldiers started kneeling in front of Ning Que, suspended in light.

Episode 42

Ning Que told Dao Maniac that answer to the question she most wanted to learn.  He said that it was Xiong Chumo, the Shrine Master, who molested her.

Dao Maniac waited for the Shrine Master at the Peach Hill.

The Shrine Master knew that it was the end of him.  He was no match to the Dao Maniac.

Dao Maniac was about to use her sword against the Shrine Master when all of a sudden, the Temple Master intervened by tossing a ripped page of the most sacred book of Taoism.  He told off the Dao Maniac for being so silly and being so obssessed with Ning Que.

Finally, the Dao Maniac was so shocked that the Temple Master would rip and use the page of the most sacred book to issue an order.  She realised what the Book Maniac had meant.  Mo Shan Shan said she believed in Tao/Dao but not at the Shrine Master, who was working for his own benefit.

An impressive Hao Tian batted it out with Lui Bai who became really old.  Lui Bai had promised Fuzi that he will not let humanity be extinguished.  He then tried to touch Haotian in the forehead which made him disintegrate.

Ning Que at last found Sang Sang but he had been greatly punished for it by Hao Tian.  He had turned into a Robinson Crusoe with tattered clothes and battered bleeding body which really upset Sang Sang.

Episode 43

NIng Que was happily talking to an empty bed which was strewn with dainty pink little flowers.  He then tucked himself in when all of a sudden Hao Tian turned up.

Ning Que seemed happy to see her and even invited her to share the bed with him.

She was not amused and showed it.

Ning Que was only too happy to be with the taller, paler and prettier Hao Tian but he kept telling HaoTian that he believed that she was Sang Sang.

Now and again Hao Tian would say things that Sang Sang would say and this made the hardship he was suffering bearable because he felt that Sang Sang was still there.

However, Hao Tian did torture him a lot and kept ordering him to submit to her will and he could live forever.

Ning Que however, declined every time.  But he said that he will only agree to be her slave after she returned his wife to him.

Hao Tian told him that Sang Sang had forgotten him and she was now gone.

Ning Que was heartbroken (I must say Dylan Wang acted his heart out in this scene, it made me cry).  He said that Sang was his life and he was Sang Sang ‘s life.  He then ran out of the Hall of Light into the cliff and plunge into his death.

As he was slowly falling he suddenly saw and felt Sang Sang diving and falling after him.  They almost had a literal Happy Ending but at the last moment, HaoTian vanished Sang Sang while Ning Que continued falling.

Poor Ning Que.

Not really because he woke up lying in Sang Sang’s lap while she looked on happily at his still sleepy face.

But when he looked up again, it was Hao Tian. whose lap he was lying on.  He smiled happily and said that she saved him.  She was Sang Sang or the humanity of Sang Sang.

It seemed Hao Tian had fallen for him because in the end she allowed him to take her anywhere he wanted to go in the carriage with Blacky.

The ending, I find was a bit of anti-climax.  There was no cliff-hanger.

It was just Ning Que and Sang Sang going to the mountains where they buried Masters Guangming and Yan Ze side by side.

It seemed that Sang Sang had taken over Haotian’s body completely.

Surely there is a third season.

I would love and look forward to the third season but I feel that it would be so sad without the best actors who had all been killed off.

The End