Noble Aspirations Episode 20

ep 20 spoilers ahead

1.We open up to our group (Xue Qi, Xaio Fan, Ba Yao, and Jung Yue) fighting off bats the size of small houses. I want discuss the CGI (its bad) but it gives Xiao the opportunity to save Xue Qi (for all of those on that ship). The two of them plunge over a cliff while their worried friends call their names. Finally, the ones left behind try to use a grappling hook (so for everyone on the Ba Yao/Yue ship they look pretty close) to climb down to them

2.The set where Xue Qi & Xaio land is a stunning green screen (if anyone has ever played the video game Dark Souls 2, it reminds me of the Shrine of Amana meets FFX Farplane) where Xiao Fan hallucinates and sees the images of the family and friends he has lost. They turn scary, so he destroys these images....

3.He saves Xue Qi from being strangled by spirits, and she becomes conscious and helps him. Meanwhile, Yue, Bi Yao, and Shu Shu call for them with no luck. Ba Yao tells Shu Shu to stop calling for fear it will attract the wrong kind of attention. They decide to follow the road (and direction) of the giant bat monster that felled them....

4.Back to Xiao and Xue Qi. The latter explains that the spirits are vengeful ghosts, unable to let go of their attachments, they live beneath the ground. Xiao explains to Xue that he dreams of his dead friends and family here. Most people might offer comfort, but that is not her way. Instead she opens up a little. She tells Xiao that after 12 years of cultivation and being gifted with the Tianye sword, she never thought she would lose to Xiao (given his record, that is a reasonable conclusion)

5.(Perhaps she respects him as a man because he is stronger than her?) Meanwhile the others are at the same level as them but have not found them. Bi Yao clearly seems to be nervous (ghosts) but the others show no fear. Shu Shu summons a spirit bird to scout the area (I have lost count of all the mystical objects) Bi Yao sees her mother, beckoning her...Yue cuts the ghost and then explains the story about vengeful spirits

6.Shu Shu gives them some talismans and tells everyone to stick it to their forehead so the ghosts can't sense them. They may look silly but at least it is effective

7.Turns out one of the ghosts is Boss--he seizes control of Xiao and Xue. They might have died if their three friends didn't arrive...

8.Meanwhile, Jing'er and Xua Hue are talking to one of the officials (I can't remember his name, he wears red and is a bit judgmental). But the important thing is that the legend of Madame Jing comes up again (she came from Jing'er's sect). Again she tells the tale of Elder Blackheart and Madame Jing, two lovers who are eternally slumbering in this cave. Blackheart was a master in divination (telling the future) and Jing was a master in hallucinations, thus the place is filled with traps.

--If those revenge spirits are trapped in a place where two people died for love...then did they really die for love? are those two really dead??--

9.They come to a bunch of bubbles. Just as Bi Yao warns them not to touch, it could be a trap, Shu Shu touches. The bubbles reflect images back, but of what...?

10.Meanwhile, Jing Er, the official in red, and the guy who looks like the cliff master, journey after the students in the cave. Obviously more experienced, they set about tackling some of the traps. The bats, they burn...

11.Back to the students: the bubbles reflect precious memories (we can see that Xiao clearly values Bi Yao)(Xue Qi's best memories are of her shifu)(Shu Shu's include his grandfather and Xue Qi)(Jing Yue's seem to be childhood memories)(Bi Yao's are of her parents) It is not clear if everyone can see each other's memories--I don't think they can--it is like they are mesmerized. Bi Yao moves closer to her bubbles and plunges off the cliff (again!) and Xiao Fan falls after. They fall in each other's arms....

12.This is such a pretty area! Xiao Fan and Bi Yao emerge from the mist and are on the shore of a midnight ocean. There enemy (city guard guy) watches them smugly (they don't know he is there). Bi Yao explains that they are at 'Heartless Ocean' I guess named for unrequited love?

13.City guard guy manages to poison + incapacitate Xiao, grab Bi and is preparing to sacrifice her to get to the heavenly text below the ocean when a giant serpent appears. Xiao is injured in his efforts to save her while city guard guy hides, waiting for the right time

14.Apparently it is the infamous 'Black water Snake'. The two are able to get to the tomb because of Xiao's weapon (I really think he is the incarnated elderheart)

15.Meanwhile, Jing'er and her group comes across the mesmerized students staring at the bubbles. They dispel the trick and work out a plan to get to Xiao Fan and Bi Yao, confident that the two must be okay

16.(this is kind of funny) Bi Yao offers her body to Xiao but not in the way you think. She essentially says eat me, you can live longer, and he calls her crazy. She tells him the full story about how her mother died and she recounts how she actually had to eat her mother's blood/flesh to survive (OMG!) and then wait to be rescued while she rotted by her (PTSD!

--I imagine it is a really big deal for her to make herself this vulnerable. Xiao is the kind of guy who is nice enough not to judge, otherwise she wouldn't be in this is situation--

After all of those bad episodes our plot moves forward!

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