Episode Summary
Sima Jiao places a truth spell on Liao Tingyan to stop her from lying, which inadvertently causes her to discover his secret desire to protect her. Their investigation into Yan Huan's family uncovers a major conspiracy connecting them to the Sima bloodline and a mysterious place called Baifeng Mountain. The episode ends on a cliffhanger as Sima Jiao's plan to go there is interrupted by his subordinate's sudden and shocking defiance.
Spoiler Alert
When Destiny Brings the Demon Episode 11: Truths and Consequences
Sima Jiao is sharp, and he knows Shi Qianlv is plotting something big involving the Fengshan bloodline. He's determined to shut it down. His first stop is Yan Huan's place. Yan Huan's been pretending to be a good-for-nothing playboy, but he's still a target. Sima Jiao basically tells him, "Have you ever thought about fighting back?" and decides to help him sort out his mess for good.
Meanwhile, the folks from the Yin Palace have spotted Liao Tingyan. They're desperate to get their hands on someone with her "extremely cold" constitution to break a magical barrier. Knowing they can't win in a straight fight, they try to team up with Shi Qianlv's crew. Luckily, Sima Jiao is always one step ahead. He quickly turns Liao Tingyan into an otter, and just like that, she's hidden from sight.
Liao Tingyan, back to normal, goes to thank her "grandmaster" (who is, of course, Sima Jiao in disguise). But when he asks who she was with, she tries to cover for Ye Ruling. Sima Jiao isn't having it. To stop the lies, he hits her with a truth spell. Now, every word she says is the absolute, unfiltered truth. As you can imagine, this makes her instantly unpopular wherever she goes, because she can't help but be brutally honest. Sima Jiao, on the other hand, finds the whole thing hilarious.
Over at the Yin Palace, there's some internal drama. Cang Lan is doing shady things behind Ye Ruling's back, messing with their plans. Ye Ruling punishes her hard, warning her that if Sima Jiao catches on, they're toast. Sima Jiao does get suspicious of Ye Ruling and uses his truth-telling trick on her to find out why she's in Chiyan City. He confirms she's not up to anything evil (for now) but gives her a chilling warning: if he ever finds out she's done something dirty, he'll kill her himself.
To advance his plan for Yan Huan, Sima Jiao disguises himself as Yan Huan and dismisses most of the servants, even telling them to take treasure from the family chests to pay for their travels. The head butler is horrified, knowing how hard Yan Huan's father worked for that fortune.
Liao Tingyan is having a miserable time with the truth spell. Desperate to get rid of it, she finds a special "reflection mirror" that's supposed to make a spellcaster feel their own magic. She secretly uses it on the grandmaster, but instead of just getting revenge, she overhears his inner thoughts: everything he's doing is to protect her from harm.
She's totally stunned. Why would this incredibly powerful grandmaster be into a "salted fish" (that's slang for a total slacker) like her? It doesn't make any sense. Being Liao Tingyan, her solution to things she can't figure out is to eat and drink until she forgets about it. So, she shelves that shocking revelation for later.
When Sima Jiao says he's ready to get rid of Yan Huan for good, Liao Tingyan pulls him aside. She argues that killing him won't solve the real problem and suggests a different approach: they should just spread a rumor that Yan Huan ran off with a girl named Qing'er after spending all the family money.
The rumor works like a charm, and Yan Huan's father comes rushing back. Using his truth spell, Sima Jiao gets a massive bombshell out of the old man: the Yan family bloodline is closely related to the Sima clan. Their babies are taken by an "immortal envoy" to a place called Baifeng Mountain. The gifted ones stay there, trained to potentially replace Sima Jiao one day. The less talented ones, like Yan Huan, are sent back home after a few years.
This changes everything. Sima Jiao knows he has to go to Baifeng Mountain. He orders his loyal subordinate, Nian Jiu, to get ready. But in a final twist, Nian Jiu, who has been secretly influenced by Ye Ruling, actually says "no" to his master's command, leaving Ye Ruling, who is standing right there, absolutely terrified.
