Episode Summary
The Empress discovers Jin Xiu is not her son but the Emperor's child with another fairy, leading her to renounce her love for the Emperor and focus solely on duty. Hong Ning returns to Bai Zhou Mountain but learns her friend Bai Cha's area is dangerous due to Shui Xian, who seeks revenge. The Emperor tasks Jin Xiu, Kunlun, and Lu Yao with organizing a banquet, leading to conflict between Kunlun and Lu Yao. Hong Ning tries to invite Jin Xiu to a festival but is trapped by Shui Xian in an illusion where she becomes a narcissus spirit encountered by Duan Fei. Jin Xiu enters the illusion to save her, while Kunlun follows, only for Lu Yao to become ensnared and believe she is Shui Xian.
Spoiler Alert
Love Never Fails: Episode 8 Recap & Spoilers
Alright, buckle up, because this episode kicked off with some serious royal drama up in the heavens. Remember how the Empress popped out a kid? Well, the Emperor drops a bombshell: turns out she actually had twins – both sons. The Empress is, understandably, floored. She consults the heavenly records (or something like 'Heaven's Book') and gets another shocker: Jin Xiu, who everyone thought was her son, is actually the Emperor's kid with another fairy!
The Emperor shows up, and the Empress confronts him. His explanation? Basically, "It's all part of Heaven's grand plan." Super comforting, right? He even warns her not to mess with the future Emperor (implying Jin Xiu, maybe?) or she'll face his wrath. Ouch. The Empress is beyond furious. Realizing her marriage and even having kids were just tools for the Emperor to follow this "Heavenly Path," she basically tells him she's done with any feelings for him. From now on, she's all about duty and adhering to Heaven's Will, nothing more. Talk about drawing a line in the celestial sand!
Meanwhile, back down on Bai Zhou Mountain, our girl Hong Ning finally makes it back home. Big happy reunion with Lemon Spirit and the gang! Everyone's thrilled to see her. Naturally, Hong Ning wants to find her friend Bai Cha (White Tea). But Lemon Spirit and the others drop some worrying news: Bai Cha's territory has become a danger zone. Apparently, immortals and demons alike have gone there recently and just... vanished. Instead of being scared off, this just makes Hong Ning more determined to find Bai Cha. Classic Hong Ning.
Upstairs, Jin Xiu reports to the Emperor that the folks from the Northern Immortal Realm have headed home. The Emperor's still annoyed, grumbling that Jin Xiu and his people basically handed the North an excuse to keep a closer eye on their Central Heaven domain by messing up previously. Then, someone reports the weird happenings around Bai Cha's area. The Emperor, seemingly displeased that Bai Cha descended to the lower realm in the first place, tells Jin Xiu to handle it. The punishment? He orders the entire Bai Cha clan's flowers to be unable to bloom for a century. Harsh.
Hong Ning manages to find Bai Cha, and it's a happy, albeit brief, reunion because Bai Cha immediately tells her to leave for her own safety. Later, Bai Cha confronts the troublemaker, Shui Xian (Narcissus), telling her point-blank that Hong Ning is her friend and Shui Xian better not harm her. Shui Xian's response is cryptic and vengeful, saying she just wants everyone else to experience the kind of suffering she went through. Uh oh.
Back with her friends, Hong Ning is excitedly recounting her adventures in the heavens. Everyone's eating it up. Jiaobo happily remarks that their Moon Lantern Festival has never been this lively, all thanks to Hong Ning. She humbly brushes it off, saying she didn't help much before, so this is the least she can do. Bai Cha watches all this from the sidelines, looking pretty glum.
The Emperor then summons Jin Xiu, Kunlun, and Lu Yao. Big task: they're in charge of organizing the upcoming Yan Chi Hui (Pool Banquet). Lu Yao is thrilled. Jin Xiu, however, tries to bow out, saying he's swamped and suggesting Kunlun (who's been doing well lately) and Lu Yao handle it. The Emperor agrees.
Predictably, as soon as they're dismissed, Kunlun and Lu Yao start bickering over the banquet plans. Jin Xiu, seeing the inevitable headache, basically tells them to sort it out themselves and makes a swift exit. Smart move, Jin Xiu.
Down below, Hong Ning wants to invite Jin Xiu to the Moon Lantern Festival. How to get a message past the immortal/demon divide? She recruits that little paper crane messenger from before! The crane initially hesitates, worried about being a demon delivering a message to the immortal realm ("I'll be toast!"). Hong Ning hilariously convinces it by saying, "You're not a demon, you're just a piece of talking paper!" Logic checks out, apparently. The crane delivers the message. Jin Xiu receives it, a bit taken aback by Hong Ning's boldness in sending a note straight to the heavenly realm.
And then things take a dark turn. Shui Xian traps Hong Ning in an illusion! Jin Xiu rushes to the rescue, but Shui Xian throws up a magical roadblock – he has to enter her illusion world first if he wants to save Hong Ning.
Word gets back to Kunlun that Jin Xiu is trapped. Like a good bro, he immediately heads down to help, and Lu Yao tags along. Unfortunately, Lu Yao gets completely sucked into the illusion, becoming convinced that she is Shui Xian. Kunlun can't snap her out of it, so he resorts to knocking her unconscious (ouch!) so he can figure out what's going on with this crazy illusion.
So, what's Hong Ning seeing in this illusion? She's suddenly a narcissus flower plant in the residence of the Duan family. A worker is about to rip out all the flowers in the area, but Young Master Duan Fei spots her, thinks she looks nice, and decides to save her, potting her instead. The flower (Hong Ning) moves without any wind, and Duan Fei instantly clocks that she's a demon. But instead of freaking out, he's kind of amused, thinking a little demon could be fun. Just then, the narcissus takes on human form (it's Hong Ning!), and Duan Fei casually reveals he knew she was more than just a flower all along.
And that's where Episode 8 leaves us! Hong Ning trapped in an illusion as a flower-demon, Jin Xiu entering the illusion to save her, Kunlun dealing with an unconscious and brainwashed Lu Yao... Things are getting complicated! Can't wait to see how they get out of this mess.
