Episode Summary
Ye Zheng and Xiao Qing confront their master, Zhu Zhilong, leading to an emotional standoff where Zhu commits suicide after learning his students cared for his dead children's shrine. Xie Huaian secures safety for his friends with Cen Weizong's help. Xiao Wenjing uses Xiao Wuyang's severed arm to blackmail the army into holding their fire.
Spoiler Alert
The Aftermath of Betrayal
Xie Huaian is reeling. He never expected Xiao Wuyang to get taken out. The fact that Xiao Wenjing pulled the trigger makes it worse. Now the Iron Mo clan holds all the cards. Xie is anxious. He has no idea if Ye Zheng or Xiao Qing survived the chaos.
He moves through the streets alone. He keeps his head down. He turns a corner and spots a familiar shape. It’s Ye Zheng. The guy is actually alive. He didn’t just save himself. He managed to rescue his sister too.
Confronting the Master
Zhu Zhilong has dropped the act. He is fully against his former students now. Xie Huaian knows Ye Zheng is hurting. He tells him to go back and face his master. It’s time to end this. Ye Zheng takes Xiao Qing back to find Zhu.
Zhu draws his sword the second he sees them. Ye Zheng is holding back tears. He asks a simple question. Zhu raised them for twenty years. Can’t he even look them in the eye one last time?
Zhu tells them why he broke. He had two children back in the Iron Mo territory. The winter was brutal. They starved to death. The memory haunts him. He swore to make his people rich. He wanted to take the Central Plains to ensure they never starved again. He hid within Liu Bowen’s tribe for years just waiting for this chance.
Blood and Rice
Zhu gives them a warning. If they try to stop him from killing Xie Huaian, he will cut them down. He swings his blade. Xiao Qing doesn't even try to dodge. Ye Zheng steps in. The blade slices his stomach. Blood spills out immediately.
Then a secret comes out. Zhu used to find rice left at his children’s shrine. He never knew who did it. It was Ye Zheng and Xiao Qing the whole time. Xiao Qing is sobbing. She calls him Master. She screams that they are his children too. No parent kills their own kids. Zhu breaks. He drops the knife. He stumbles away in a daze.
A Warrior's End
Zhu returns to the blank spirit tablets of his children. He wishes they were born today. The Iron Mo people have food now. They have clothes. The land is fertile. He is done fighting. He slits his own throat.
Xie Huaian finds him in his final moments. He offers the old man some peace. He tells Zhu that his father, Liu Bowen, found those starving children years ago. He buried them properly near the hut Zhu described. Zhu can find them now. He closes his eyes and dies.
Safe Harbor and a Severed Arm
Xie takes the injured siblings to Cen Weizong. It’s a safe spot. Cen has hot porridge ready for them. He has been undercover in the palace for years. He watched the emperors rise and fall. He also protected Xie from the shadows. He hands Xie a book. It lists every safe contact and safe house. This network is how Xie survived growing up.
Meanwhile, Xiao Wenjing is on a grim mission. He looks rough from travel. He walks into the army camp outside the capital. He carries a box. He opens it in front of the commander. It holds Xiao Wuyang’s severed arm.
Wenjing delivers the threat. Do not attack the city. If the army moves, Xiao Wuyang dies. The commander is shocked. He kicks Wenjing to the ground. He demands to know Wuyang’s status. But the Iron Mo have the ultimate hostage. The army is frozen. They can’t make a move.
