Episode Summary
Wangquan Hongye evades suspicion for sneaking into the Nangong sword forge with a cover story involving Dongfang Huaizhu. They strike a deal: she'll restore his senses during the sword ceremony in exchange for him freeing a prisoner. Meanwhile, Wangquan Zui sabotages the sword purification, resulting in Nangong Ye wielding a demonic sword. During the ceremony, Nangong Ye challenges Wangquan Hongye but is defeated and killed by his own sword. Dongfang Huaizhu frees the sword's spirits and secures the prisoner's release, asking Wangquan Hongye to arrange a marriage as her final payment. The Black Fox Queen benefits from the chaos.
Spoiler Alert
So, Nangong Ye is all suspicious about Wangquan Hongye sneaking around his sword-making forge at night. Wangquan Hongye smooth-talks his way out of it, even throws Dongfang Huaizhu under the bus, saying she set off the alarm. Nangong Ye buys it (kinda), but he's still got his eye on Wangquan Hongye. He tells his son to guard that forge like it's Fort Knox because the sword-forging ceremony is tomorrow!
Dongfang Huaizhu isn't thrilled about covering for Wangquan Hongye, especially because of what happened with A'nan. She gives him the cold shoulder – literally! She messes with his senses, but then Wangquan Hongye says just the right thing to stop her. Turns out, Dongfang Huaizhu knows a thing or two about magical formations. This bell thingy, the "Entangling Silk Kasyapa Bell," is usually used by spider demons to mess with your head. The Nangong family turned it into a sound-based trap that mirrors the one outside the forge.
The only way to fix Wangquan Hongye's senses is during the sword ceremony. He needs to stand in the center of the sound field, and Dongfang Huaizhu will restart the bell trap. Her price? Wangquan Hongye has to bust someone out of the Investigation Bureau. He agrees without hesitation.
Even though they've made a deal, Dongfang Huaizhu is still up all night worrying that Wangquan Hongye will double-cross her. Wangquan Hongye casually mentions he'd take poison to prove his loyalty, and BAM! Dongfang Huaizhu pulls out a "Sparrow's Gall" poison pill. Wangquan Hongye swallows it without batting an eye. Forget the backstabbing; these two might actually start trusting each other!
Meanwhile, Yang Yitan uses his magic eye to see that the sword forge is only guarded by a few weaklings. Wangquan Zui and Yang Yitan knock them out cold. The Nangong family is using a "Soul Cleansing Mirror" from the Li family to purify the evil energy in the forge. But Yang Yitan uses a "Trigram Mirror" (thanks to his fourth brother's advice) to block the purification. So, when Nangong Ye grabs that sword at the ceremony, it's gonna be one evil blade!
Wangquan Zui messes with the guards' memories and sneaks A'nan to safety. The sword ceremony happens, and everyone gets their weapons. Nangong Ye gets a seriously demonic sword. He challenges Wangquan Hongye (the acting leader) to a duel! Wangquan Hongye does what Dongfang Huaizhu told him to do, stands in the magic spot, and she plays her flute to restore his senses.
Wangquan Hongye's sword clashes with Nangong Ye's demon sword, and it's not pretty. Nangong Ye gets his butt kicked and realizes Dongfang Huaizhu helped Wangquan Hongye. He tries to attack her, but Wangquan Hongye stops him. Nangong Ye's had enough! He lost to Wangquan Shouque ten years ago, and now he's losing to Wangquan Hongye. The demon sword takes over, he goes berserk, and starts slaughtering everyone. Wangquan Hongye puts him down for good. Dongfang Huaizhu uses her divine fire on the demon sword, freeing all the trapped spirits.
Wangquan Hongye takes Dongfang Huaizhu to the Investigation Bureau to free the prisoner. The head guard is a jerk until Dongfang Huaizhu flashes Wangquan Hongye's sword. Suddenly, he's all apologies and releases the prisoner. But Dongfang Huaizhu isn't ready to cure Wangquan Hongye just yet. She wants him to play matchmaker for Mu Xiaowu and Yang Yan. If he gets them hitched within a month, they're square. Wangquan Hongye agrees.
And of course, all this chaos is exactly what the Black Fox Queen wants. She's getting stronger from all the hatred and despair. She'll be back, folks!
