Episode Summary
The great demon Xuanhui is released, appearing as a small black snake. During the Sky Lantern Festival in Chang'an, Xuanhui attacks in the form of a giant, fire-breathing dragon lantern, specifically targeting Wu Zhen. In the ensuing chaos, Wu Zhen is injured while fighting him, and Mei Zhuyu is severely wounded after jumping from a tower to save her. Liu Taizhen easily defeats the transformed Xuanhui, and the episode ends with Wu Zhen using her demonic powers to save an unconscious Mei Zhuyu.
Spoiler Alert
Episode 10 of Moonlit Reunion begins with a bang over the Demon Market. Lightning flashes and Wu Zhen, standing at the center of a magical array, helps the other demons create a protective barrier. Seeing his chance, Elder Hui uses the combined power of all the demons to shatter the locks on a prison cell. But instead of some terrifying beast, they find a tiny, weak black snake. Turns out, this little guy is Xuanhui, a once-powerful demon who caused major chaos back in the day.
Meanwhile, Wu Zhen uses a special item, the Thunderstruck Wood, to destroy another cursed object, the Boneless Bone. Just as the evil energy dissipates, the Wordless Book suddenly collapses, unconscious. Everyone tries to heal him, but nothing works. At the same time, Mei Zhuyu is digging through old case files about a "Sky Fire" that burned the city for three days. He finds some very weird details: the city's water channels were mysteriously blocked, the victims' bodies looked untouched, and the survivors were too scared to even say the words "demon shadow."
Luckily, Wu Zhen manages to heal the Wordless Book, and Ling Xiao confirms he's okay. Hu Zhu then reminds Wu Zhen that the big Sky Lantern Festival is the next day, which gives Wu Zhen a headache just thinking about how her sister, the Empress, will drag her along. Over at the Xuanjian Division, Mei Zhuyu tells Shuang Jiang to attend the festival on their behalf. Shuang Jiang isn't thrilled but agrees. On another note, Mei Si, who saw the little black snake appear, is now bugging Shuang Jiang to go demon-hunting with him.
The day of the festival arrives, and just as she feared, Empress Wu shows up and forces Wu Zhen to accompany her. Wu Zhen is totally out of it, annoying the Empress with her zoned-out expression. When Consort Mei asks for her wish, Wu Zhen says "world peace," which the Empress openly mocks. But when Mei Zhuyu says his wish is also for peace and prosperity for the people, the Empress is surprisingly impressed.
As night falls, the city of Chang'an is buzzing with celebrations. Hu Zhu bumps into Shuang Jiang and drags him to enjoy the festival. Elsewhere, Xie Yao finally gets to talk to her crush, Mei Zhuyu. She confesses her feelings and even offers to set up a marriage alliance through her father. Mei Zhuyu politely turns her down, which makes Xie Yao angry. She accuses him of social climbing by aiming for Wu Zhen. Wu Zhen, who was hiding nearby, steps out and shuts Xie Yao down with some sharp words.
In a lighter moment, Hu Zhu writes "get rich" on a lantern for Shuang Jiang, which makes him super happy. Mei Si releases a dozen lanterns, all wishing for a connection with Liu Taizhen, who happens to see it and walks off, clearly annoyed. Wu Zhen isn't into making wishes, but when Mei Zhuyu shows up with a lantern, she joins him. They write their wishes on the same lantern: she wishes for peace in the Demon Market, and he wishes for peace in the human world.
Just as thousands of lanterns float into the sky like a river of stars, a massive, dragon-shaped lantern appears, radiating demonic energy. Wu Zhen and Liu Taizhen immediately know something is wrong. The dragon lantern breathes fire, burning all the other lanterns and sending fiery debris down on the panicking crowd. Liu Taizhen yells a warning to Wu Zhen: it's Xuanhui, and he's here to kill her.
In the chaos, Xie Yao gets trapped by the fire, and Wu Zhen saves her before heading back into the flames. The Empress orders her guards to fight the fire and declares a permanent ban on the lantern festival. Wu Zhen fights Xuanhui alone but is eventually overpowered and injured. Mei Zhuyu, seeing she's in danger, runs through the fire to the city tower and finds her collapsed.
Liu Taizhen chases Xuanhui to the countryside and confronts him. Furious that she would side with Wu Zhen against her own kind, Xuanhui transforms into a giant python. But he's no match for Liu Taizhen. She defeats him in three moves, sending him crashing into a lake, which then becomes perfectly still.
While unconscious, Wu Zhen has a nightmare about the Sky Fire from her childhood. She wakes up to find Mei Zhuyu, who jumped from the tower to save her, now severely injured and unconscious himself. Back in her room, Wu Zhen dismisses the doctors and uses her own demonic power to heal him.
