As the story gets complicated, I often tend to forget the “first cause” or the initial reason the protagonists landed where they are at the moment.
Here, in this episode, MY’s companion beast 27 is sent to MQ’s abode, the Dragon Carp Terrace, to search for proof that MQ is raising netherbeasts (for short, I’ll call them NB).
Do you remember when the NB entered the scene?
It was in Ep 6. The monster came out of nowhere to kill Fairy Ruo who had testified in court and took down her own father, the corrupt ex-head of the Judgment Hall and warden of the Sunken Abyss prisoner. But MY rescued Fairy Ruo by killing the NB.
At first, MQ and the others didn’t believe her story about the NB because NBs were considered extinct. So, MY quickly claimed that Situ Ling killed the beast himself. As Situ Ling is the newly appointed head of the Judgment Hall, his word carried weight. When he corroborated her account of the NB attack, they had to believe her and an investigation of the NB was ordered.
In a roundabout way, JBZ and MY confirmed the existence of NBs when they captured MQ’s general who was breeding an army of NB for MQ. Looking back at Ep 11, I get now why the wife of the MQ’s general kept carving “zheng” on the walls, and why she couldn’t fall in love with him no matter what he did. As I mentioned before, “zheng” means righteous, incorruptible.
The wife knew that her husband and MQ were producing something catastrophic and she wanted no part in it. She wanted out of the marriage.
I guess, that’s one lesson of this cdrama. Good women want to love men who are incorruptible and righteous. One example, Princess TianJi couldn’t bear associating with her “oppa,” Yan Xiao, after he joined forces with MQ. Another example, MY fell for JBZ instead of Situ Ling.
Anyway, MY decided that, just as MQ sent his minions to JBZ’s home to search for the Golden Millet Dream, she was going to send her cat 27 to MQ’s residence to search for tangible evidence that he was raising NBs. She and JBZ had to lure MQ out of his mansion, so her cat 27 could scout his home which was left (hopefully) unattended.
However, when her cat 27 investigated the place, he stumbled upon something very important, something that would change JBZ’s original objective of seeking justice for his master’s murder. He discovered the existence of the Soul-consuming Tree.
That’s where Episode 15 begins. And here are my highlights of this episode.
1. Discovery of the Soul-consuming Tree
The Tree is MQ’s dirty secret.
Even Yan Xiao is shocked to hear MQ’s sidekick accidentally blurt out that he kept the existence of the tree hidden from 27. Note: that’s why MQ ordered the sidekick – and not Yan Xiao – to punch his own face as punishment. From MQ’s perspective, a blabber mouth will cause more trouble than YX’s failure to contain JBZ in the Academy.
MY and JBZ discover that not only is the tree draining the life energies of other plants, but it’s also being “fed” the primordial spirits (souls?) of fairies and humans. The spirits are being “fed” or grafted onto the tree so it can store/preserve them for manufacturing the NBs later.
Initially JBZ appears to be unaffected by this discovery; the implication didn’t seem to resonate with him. It only becomes personal for him when he discovers that the primordial spirits grafted onto the tree belonged to his former fellow prisoners in the Sunken Abyss and to Fairy Ruo.
After that, he feels guilty that:
a. his quest for vengeance has precipitated their deaths, and
b. he isn’t so different from MQ when it comes to using people as means to an end. Sure, MQ killed the women, orphans, and poor in the society to raise an NB army. But he had also used Fairy Ruo to take down Hou Zhao, then coldly snubbed and cut ties with her after he accomplished his mission.
I think his awareness of this error makes him a better hero in the end.
2. MY is the encyclopedia JBZ needs.
I like that MY is knowledgeable about the goings-on in the Six Realms. She’s JBZ number 1 resource on the Six Realms’ history and current events. I like the idea that while JBZ was stuck in the Sunken Abyss gaining Spiritual Veins, she trained herself to be a warrior god, an artifact inventor, and a data bank.
JBZ: The best nourishment for a NB is the primordial spirit of a living being.
MY: A century ago, NBs ravaged the realms, devouring everything in their path. Even the Spiritual Veins Fairies who raised them were eaten alive. If MQ gathers these beasts into an army, there will be disastrous consequences.
As I told @GB in the Open thread, it’s slowly becoming clear to me that:
a. the fairies aren’t as innocent, harmless, or helpless as they appear, and
b. the Soul-hiding Nails on their bodies which suppressed their power/spiritual veins may have been a punishment for their NB shenanigans.
3. Introduction of Lord Jingxi, son of the Emperor of the Spiritual Zhushui
Aka Chao Yu. He’s the bane of Situ Ling’s existence.
I’m going to get their names confused.
Chao Yu: oldest brother; renamed Lord Jingxi but was angling for the Crown Prince’s title; weapon of choice: whip
Chao Yuan: youngest brother/third brother; alias: Situ Ling; without Spiritual Veins
3. Jealousy
The dragon Buxiu is slow to comprehend JBZ’s feelings for MY.
BX: As Ming Xian’s companion beast, he’s obedient to Ming Yi probably because she shares a strong bond with Ming Xian.
JBZ: (silent)
To me, JBZ doesn’t know whether Buxiu is really that obtuse or just relishing JBZ’s discomfort/annoyance/jealousy.
On his way to MQ’s residence, MY stops him to give him his coat. I don’t know why MY is giving him extra attention at that moment. Perhaps she, too, feels guilty because she’s planning to sneak into his spirit well and steal the Golden Millet Dream while he’s away. Or perhaps she thinks this is her last farewell as she’s fleeing to Yaoguang Mountain as soon as she steals the antidote. Either way, she doesn’t intend to be there when he returns home.
However, JBZ interprets her show of attentiveness differently.
JBZ: What is it? You’re worried I might cover the NB army? If you are, come with me.
MY: Of course not. I believe you are just like me. You won’t be tempted by this dangerous power. (draping his coat over his shoulder) It will be cold tonight, and your journey will be perilous. Please take care of yourself.
She’s taking an extra-long time to fix his coat – like she’s clinging to him – so he releases her hand and walks away. With his back turned to her, he asks her about Ming Xian.
JBZ: Would you let him go alone in search of the NB too? (facing her) I mean, the power of a NB army is tempting to everyone, isn’t it?
MY: Right now, aside from myself, the only person I trust is you, Immortal Ji.
I guess, her answer eases his jealousy because for one, he values trust, and two, he likes to think that he’s proven himself worthy of her trust. But he doesn’t know, of course, that this is MY’s doublespeak. She’s Ming Xian.
4. What it means to have a heart imprint
I like this episode because it shows character growth and transformation. As I said above, JBZ realizes that he’s guilty of treating people like Fairy Ruo as useful but disposable to his mission of avenging the death of his master. Similarly, MY realizes in this episode that she’s guilty of treating JBZ as a necessary but disposable tool for her mission of acquiring the Golden Millet Dream. She thought that forming a heart imprint was merely procedural. She can perform the ceremony with JBZ then forget about it after she secures the antidote.
But when all the spirit tablets (or plaques to commemorate the deceased people JBZ knew from Sunken Aybss) as well as Fairy Ruo’s plant appeared in JBZ’s spirit well, she realizes that a heart imprint was more involved, personal, and binding. She can no longer leave him behind.
MY: So that’s what it means to form a heart imprint as a couple. To share joy and suffering, and to see what the other sees and feel what the other feels in their deepest pain.
While the gifs are definitely pretty, I don’t think they convey the full import of this scene. The point here is NOT that she’s running to him to give him shelter from the rain. No. The important point here is that she’s there to stand with him in the soaking rain. To form a heart imprint with him means that she’ll support and comfort him in the “storms of life.”
🌼🌼🌼
A note on JBZ’s cultivation stage.
He hasn’t yet reached the Perfected Stage, but he’s been in the Transcendent Stage for quite some time. Per 27′.
The Soul-consuming Tree and its odd behavior struck me as out-of-place in a more standard magico-fantasy, where nature is generally helpful, especially trees (possibly just a NW European trope?). Possibly the Zhushui Emperor could be considered the trees’ corrupter, but I just think nature and nature spirits in this show are dangerous.
That family Tree of villain #1 Hou Zhou, all shot through with iridescent purple veins and hungry for human sacrifice. Ick.
Likewise the fact that Lord Hafeng loved plants, even more so than the usual calculating Cdrama baddie whose mini-pruners demonstrate finesse at evil. But then his own home’s tree killed his other plant projects.
This is not a story where nature spirits are going to save us all. It has that battle of angels feeling/17th century. An intellectual fairytale. I personally and somewhat disconcertingly, actually ended up liking Lord Hafeng quite a bit. Mournfully handsome, fratricidal, deluded poisoner, and traitor to Jixing Abyss out of bellicose patriotism. Really overthetop.