KJ2025

Testing of loyalties

One thing from last episode, 20 years later and they still have those damn demon talismans.😝 The leech demons has yin yang sides. She is interesting. My wish granted and they all got to meet. I am not sure if Mei should have warned YiTan or not, but I am glad the leech demon told on him for how much energy he used up. Ten years off his life to hold his own in that battle. HuaiZhu and HongYe playing cat and mouse game. Right now he is always going to be mouse. She held her own better with demon king than I expected. To be betrayed by your own mother is mind rattling. She took that in stride and gave that even more reason to be her new persona. She very realistically summed up both males wanting somebody that wasn’t who she is now. She does at least know HongYe was truthful but that doesn’t necessarily endear him to her. The demon king revealed that the dragon tribe was the nemesis of netherworld. She has plotted a strategy that spares HongYe for three days and will most likely bring the trio to her to protect him. She is expecting them to willingly trade the leech demon for him. Not a chance of that but waiting to see how it plays out. YeYuan is definitely tired of being the fall guy for her and HuaiZhu. It will be interesting to see what his role will be in 3 days. The leech demon has agreed for them to hypnotize her to see what happened. Now to see what they learn.

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Truth or dare

Wu Mei accidentally found himself close to where he wanted to go. He is a brave young man of good character but not street smart enough to deal with chief and bounty hunter. I am curious if he will get to meet Zui and YiTan. So far the leech demon is assisting against her better nature because it is like leaving a defenseless puppy to let him wander without escort. HuaiZhu can’t forget the clues HongYe gave her about her past. She has figured out that JiuHuo is not being truthful but still wondering if she is really going to be used for JiaLan. Demon King wasn’t expecting her to put everything together before JiaLin’s arrival. It is interesting that whether good or evil except for close circle HuaiZhu is cold and calculating. She just enjoys it more when on the dark side. She is most likely somewhat distant on the good side because of the responsibilities she has. She has spared HongYe but she has treated him equally whether good or evil. She did not draw blood on the good side but her heart darts were every bit as painful. So now that she is dark it is mutual destruction between them to see if they can outfox a fox and demon king. I wonder what she learned from beast kingdom book. It is funny with the aphrodisiac incense, but make no mistake, she is playing the grownup game brat JiaLin started. She will have amusement watching HongYe keep his brain active😂

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Questions about the past

They did a good job with actor choice to be Yan’s son. He looks like a combination of her and Mu Xiao Wu🥰 That leech demon could not have been asked a more dreaded question. He has the gift of foresight and hoping that keeps him out of trouble in Sky City. HongYe is not in good shape and neither is YiTan. They need some help. The JiaLan fighting the dragon was quite a beautiful and powerful demon. She had authority and regalness in how she carried herself. The shadow at the boundary was more like a spoiled child with way too much power. She was as annoying as cute.😝 Between HuaiZhu and her it will be interesting to see who really is in charge. HuaiZhu is piecing things together. JaiLan’s stunt of sending the pair to their meeting place may not have been as clever as she thinks it is. HuaiZhu is coming into her own on the dark side and I don’t see her volunteering to disappear for bratling JaiLan. There is a seven day window for both sides to make plans. I am annoyed that a brat like JaiLan can cause so much damage. That version of her needs to disappear. Both JiuHuo and HuaiZhu have grudging respect for HongYe. That doesn’t mean they don’t want him dead, but that he is at least a worthy opponent.

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Challenge made and accepted

I am surprised YeYuan is still alive. I am not sure if he is happy about HuaiZhu being stuck with HongYe and Black Fox at the barrier. His connection if any to JiaLan might change his opinion of HuaiZhu. The demon king reveals some of his history with JiaLan because I am sure the childhood stories he was telling her was to prep her readiness as vessel. He is intrigued with the abilities of the three from the past. They have exchanged info via the spy tracker and both sides came prepared for a meeting. Zui and YiTan have faith HongYe can get them home to right time so they snoop around the Demon King’s room to see what they can find. They get caught and the demon is impressed with how quickly YiTan understood his methods of spell casting. The two from future escape and find a place to hide out. YiTan is trying to hide the extent of his wound. The cut looks small but his blood doesn’t clot so he is in grave danger. HongYe and HuaiZhu find themselves playing a game of strip dice. While it is humerous to watch them interact they both know that fox means to kill them both. I don’t think HuaiZhu knows her role in this, but I think it is dawning on HongYe. The Demon King revealed his reason for 20 year gap. The stars are aligned for boundary to be at its weakest. When Golden Dawn is fixed, he can boost it with his power to free JiaLan. This story continues to be interesting. The actors are doing a good job and the fight scenes are nicely done. The leech demon is hiding herself so waiting to see if she evades ‘processing’. I would like to see her healing skills used to help our travelers from the past.

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Well played

This was a nail biter because just when you thought one side was going to win, it was equally countered. The bridge fire caused a slight delay but it played out right to the end. I wish Pei would not have caught the arrow and had let it fly. The fact that Zhuo cowardly sold him out at the end, I have to admit I was surprised a bit. I figured he would quietly bargain with emperor but I thought he had more to him than confessing that before the entire army. Li hands Pei the longevity lock and I think she is still playing out which baby is which but doesn’t survive long enough to tell Pei. Personally, I didn’t want Zhuo to live for an interrogation. He needs to be gone. Pei has some plan in mind to undermine him or he would not have interrupted the arrow. But I wonder if that will get him in trouble with Emperor or if they planned this as last case scenario. With these two I can’t tell. It would have been nice to outmaneuver the poisoning of Li but since Zhuo killed the apothecary, he had the top hand with poisons.

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Sky City — resistance is futile

Huai Zhu sword dance at beginning…beautiful. She is unaware that she is being watched by the demon king. He stalks her well and manages to get her 20 years in the future. HongYe, Zui, and YiTan find a way to get there too. What they see is the predecessor of eternal night. Things are very bleak. Huai Zhu is now dark her flame changed for a mandrake blossom. She is being prepared for JiaLan. JiuHuo has already replaced his guardian with her and after waiting for his master 500 years, I don’t blame him for being out of sorts about it. When she wakes up she has no recollection who she is other than JiuHuo’s guardian. Sky city has usurped all the royal families and villages and there are only burnt chars and vagrants surviving there. It has turned into a kill or be killed warzone. Sky City looks every bit a paradise and in many respects an improvement. Humans and demons seem to live in peace and it is a festive setting. HongYe finds HuaiZhu judging a case and challenges her to recall who she is. They have a brief battle where she poisons him. This seems to be her MO with him.😂 YeYuan lets her into JiuHuo’s chamber knowing it is forbidden and why. He pays for his mistake and HuaiZhu gets a brief look at the darker side of demon king. Their Golden Dawn relic has been in disarray and it seems demons are “processed” to create the gold materials for it. So it is not all peaceful regardless of appearances. Seems they are almost ready to get JiaLan from beyond the boundary.

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Jia Lan and Jiu Huo

Please ignore the 2 “well wishers” that gave every episode til end 5.5 rating😝🙄. Those two low raters bug me almost as much as old Yang😝 HongYe et al did no favors not bringing that old man and first son to justice. The Yang family would improve 100 fold being rid of these two. That suitor of Huai Zhu…he could not have picked a worse gift for her He might have been forgiven had it been gifted. But once he said he took the scale by force and why should that matter? He is now permanently on her s list. He has definitely gone off the deep end and it’s obvious that he wants her divine fire not her.😝 he seems to be only one notch above Nangong brat. He is far more trouble than I thought he’d be when first introduced. Huai Zhu and masked swordsman were having a decent time at their rendezvous. She delivered some things to Yan and gave him a gift. I am surprised HongYe revealed himself to her when she gave him the mask. She has no clue how to wrap her brain around that right now. He has cancelled himself on two fronts now. Yi tan has taken his father to task about how much he really “loves” his children. I see why Yitan and Zui so well matched. That elder Yang is despicable. He treats family like crap and then wonders why he is not respected and admired. He is obtuse beyond measure and these men that do not bring him to task for it with more than words are getting tiresome. The dark night cat reveals herself to the old man and he adds to his sins by accepting her offer. He uses HongYe to do his dirty deed, but luckily he manages to resist the talisman and destroys it. He rebounds on the old man and gets a good blow in. His words pleased the demon king so the dark was removed from him and his life spared. Says a lot about the humans in the story when the demons have better sense of judgment.😝Jian Lan reveals herself to Jiu Huo and he agrees to help her with her wishes. This will also impact Huai Zhu.

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Blast from the past

The constable comes home to find that he has offended a lady constable. She said she would marry whoever saved her brother and he wasn’t aware of her oath. When he left the city she was subjected to criticism and mocking which she has not forgiven him for. It is not clear if this might have spurred him on to leave hoping things would die down. She comes from money and he doesn’t so he really never considered himself a proper suitor nor did he give her any indication of interest aside from rescuing her brother as a police matter. These two are interesting because she already has him invited to dinner and he has to chat with the mom. 😂 it is yet to be seen which woman is more determined and outspoken but apples tend not to fall far🤣 I am looking forward to him being at the table with these two and wonder how the dad will be in comparison. It is obvious he is not really looking forward to it but he has been given an offer he cannot refuse. He is seeing how his friends at home already have families and are further ahead in careers. I am not sure if he’s glad to be home or hoping to get out of town quickly. There are two new demon hunters in town. They find rabbit and chase him home. It was interesting to see 3 demon hunters battle. They recognized XuanYe’s status, have not decided why he keeps a demon around, and seem to be plotting further for future encounter with rabbit. The two constables stop a knifing in the street and the victim turns into paper. This all is related to the underground city and that is the place BanXia wants to go next. That envelope I wondered about was new information entirely. It had a letter written to her dad from her mother that supposedly had passed years earlier. So now both parents assumed dead, are actually alive somewhere and she wants to follow the new clues to the underground city. Rabbit tells BanXia to not let XuanYe go there because his father had forbidden it. He also told her the fire sword shortened XuanYe’s life a bit each use and that is why his hair turned gray. It was very sweet her dyeing his hair and weeping while doing it. Song ZuEr acted very well for this. It was not over done and very tender towards hunter. She agrees with rabbit that he shouldn’t go even after he gave her a talisman to get in. When the constables got paper for their pass, I am curious what this talisman is. XuanYe tells her not to worry and while helping to wipe dye off her face notes it is not coming off.😂😳

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Endgame moves starting

First woman in court made official. The Emperor has declared her Censor. I think the Censor predecessor is smiling at this choice. Zhuo did not show up and has discovered his home ransacked. He is hiding Li and making his move. Ning punished the corrupt school officials and lightened the punishment of the witness. Advisor Zhuo has been stripped of his position. He has shrewdly moved directly in palace bringing the fight right to her. Pei and Ning figure this to be his move but their counter has not been shown yet. I am glad both women are where they are for governing and making change. The blossom group is an interesting concept but I wanted more strategy planning with Pei. The grassroots measure will have the heart of the people but takes time. Zhuo needs dealt with now because he is not going to delay with Pei declaring a side.

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The love of nine lives

Even cats seem to bring tears to my eyes. The inn keeper tried his best with son and daughter. He did not know how to handle their awakening of wanting to be more real and not being able to. I am glad WuNiang did not know how to react with the seal gone. BanXia knew how to signal XuanYe to let him know who was real. I can’t blame the demon for wanting to exist, but she turned down the peaceful way to live. She was never going to stop killing once she became bored with BanXia’s looks. Here again Song ZuEr does an excellent job playing both roles. The fight scene was well done and fun to watch. I was just yelling you need fire! when he called it up from the sword🤣 I was curious why the cat went to see the father when daughter snuck away with the hunter’s group. Here I thought the cat a she. But either way the story was touching and the love and loyalty of that cat far outweighed the feelings from the children he created. They outgrew him where the cat was forever loyal. I am curious about the strange man that gave him the skill to craft them. Was he good/evil/neither? Was he trying to help the man or sneak in demons with humans? How and why did he show up at such an away place with a promise of company for a lonely soul. It was sad to see the dad not think about including the cat with the puppets. Things might have ended much differently for all of them. The willing sacrifice of father and 9 lives was heartrending. These two souls should have been together as family. But here maybe occasional Fubai wine can let them visit. The meal at the noodle shop with leads was 🥰 Their mutual discomfort about the honey cakes, yet both trying them😂 his sweet gesture of carrying her home. There is so much happening between them. She does not realize that the one losing life is the giver of the seal when it is used. She did not equate the gray hair with her using it on WuNiang. But in her defense I can agree she didn’t just use without care. They really saved her from serious injury at just the right time. I got my wish from last episode to see his family bickering and having fun. XuanYe training with his father was such a bittersweet moment. I am glad he set out the memorial as heartbreaking as it is. He is still grieving but also moving forward. He saw too much of himself in Qiu and realized he also needs to recognize those that need him. When rabbit is getting the money I am not remembering who owned the envelope. Was he saving BanXia’s first hiring fee? Or does it have something to do with her father? XuanYe is still rough around the edges. I think both of them are remembering childhood and slowly becoming closer. This drama does an excellent job of pulling you into the story and the leads are believable as a pair. The production successfully makes the fantasy aspects come to life and the music and pace of story collectively work together to make this drama very enjoyable.

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Puppet master

Song ZuEr did an excellent job being WuNiang and BanXia.👏🏻 I liked the cat’s cradle game controlling the mini puppet. It was fitting since a cat got them there. The actors did an incredible job with the eerie and just slightly off movements for dolls/puppets. The dad really loves her but recognizes how dangerous she is. He is heartbroken that she only sees his efforts as confining and hypocritical. The tenderness BanXia showed looking after XuanYe.🥰 His cute grumpiness at not wanting disturbed while trying to sleep. I wish we could have seen his family bickering and having fun. It was a change of pace for BanXia who is usually the only one that can see things. That gave her a bit of perspective from those that can’t see who you’re talking about. WuNiang has successfully rounded up everyone and she makes them share stories for her birthday. She points out the double standard of the constable and her father. I don’t think he realizes he carves the same doll for her. I wonder how his face would look seeing the drawerful she has of them. WuNiang was so confident of her success that she showed BanXia her secret of transferring herself from puppet to puppet. It had to be eerie to see your likeness and hear your voice with WuNiang’s crazed ideas coming out. BanXia’s wisdom in getting another mark on her hand really paid off. She has got a good strike in at her doppelgänger and heads out the door with the hunter’s sword. Cast and production rounding out this arc nicely.

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Sun and Snow

This episode had me bawling my eyes out. The love between those two❤️💔The gentle soul he remained even after everything they put him through. Her strength and courage along with unshakeable love was his equal match. Together they would have been a formidable pair in all the right ways. The love of the carp demon equaled theirs . His beautiful sacrifice to show Mu Xiao Wu snow was a loving tribute to the human who showed him the sun. I was hoping Yan had a different use for the sword when she first drew it. Sundering herself from her family was the next best option. The fact that old man asked for and got mercy makes me grieved. He and eldest son should have gone to prison because they were equally guilty of killing him. I cannot say I shed a tear for the fate of Nangong brat. This was a time when justice was served with vengeance and in this case was well deserved. HongYe’s choice of words severed the tie he had with Huai Zhu. I can’t blame her for her sentiment but I hope he finds a way to dig himself out of the pit he made with his noble family assessment speak. It will be actions not words that rescues him. There is no way this episode should be a 7. Please rate this what it merits.

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Betrayal

I despise the elders in Yang family. It wasn’t enough to malign and demean the groom at his own wedding. But the lengths they went to put him in prison knowing that he is to be a father and had a gift that would have improved their lineage is reprehensible. The betrayal and cowardice of those two men leaves me speechless. I hope Yang daughter and son remove themselves from the household permanently and have no contact with them. Right when I thought I could not be more disgusted over the treatment of the carp demon, they became even more loathsome with their treatment of Mu Xiao Wu. I also hope HongYe metes out justice that is closer to vengeance for that miscreant Nangong son and the torturer. I can’t be sad that the demon got help and hope, but that the timing allowed grief from another quarter is heartbreaking. This was a very powerful episode and it’s a shame these episodes are being deliberately low rated for reasons other than drama quality.😝🙄

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Dolls and Fubai wine

It’s eerie that these dolls can be creepy and cool at the same time. I am guessing the innkeeper found a way to create a daughter to keep him company at the outpost and she further developed the skill but used it to get her own way. Today’s mini her was freaky and I am glad the cat was spared. This is the first time we see XuanYe vulnerable to self deception. He definitely understands the pitfall this is for Qiu and is actually successful at having him realize he needs to go home. I also think from time to time those two might get together with a jug of that wine and visit their ghosts to ease the pain of their loss. Misery does love company. The constable knows something is up but can’t prove it yet. When the daughter replaced the finger it was like ew and how’d she do that? They are a bit awkward but far more real than automotans. I am wondering if they will reveal how Pinocchio became a real boy. It is like Lego with flesh and blood. They can just add the missing piece and keep on going. Does the daughter intend to replace BanXia or just force herself as a companion? I am hoping the cat can communicate more directly because the daughter is running out of patience and the cat out of lives. The cast is doing an excellent job of making the drunken visions seem real, the daughter is like Wednesday dancing, and still figuring out the innkeeper part. Maybe he is just the gatekeeper trying to keep both sides safe. What would they see if all the calming balm was removed? Are the eyes taken from those attacked turn spy? Or just another example of the daughter’s craft multitasking? I am ready for them to finish up the cat/doll arc now. I hope the writer is too.

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