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TL;DR Version
DFQC and Orchid arrive in the Cangyan Sea. Orchid wants to go home despite the danger and won’t help him fix the Destiny Book. DFQC gets the You Jade Ring so he won’t feel her emotions anymore, and commits to finding the Chengying Sword to kill her and completely free himself. Orchid’s attempt to escape involves kissing him during a lightning storm.
Recap
Orchid still clutches DFQC, but they’re past the turbulent part of the flight and in the sun. She lets go to enjoy the view, and he watches her enjoying the view.
Warriors are actively engaged in civil war in the Cangyan Sea when the sky changes and everyone realizes DFQC is back. The fighting stops and DFQC walks between them, Shang Que and a timid Orchid behind him, everyone else getting down on the ground in obeisance.
DFQC’s brother Xun Feng, after looking angry and resistant, gives an obedient greeting. DFQC brushes by him to announce he’s back. While everyone shouts in welcome, Orchid too gets on the ground.
In the Fairy Realm, Chang Heng talks with the other high immortals about why DFQC might have stayed there so long rather than go straight home. Chang Heng is ready to kill him, but Yun Zhong implies he knows his real interest is saving Orchid.
In the Cangyan Sea, Shang Que escorts Orchid to the Devouring Immortal House. Orchid resists until Shang Que explains it’s a bedroom and everything has those kinds of names here. Immortal Slaying Pavilion. Divine Slayer Ward. They’re just really into killing fairies.
While in a bath, DFQC tells busy Shang Que that the ancient Chengying Sword can be used to destroy the Xilan Holy Spell by killing Orchid. But it’s broken into pieces. Shang Que is happy to find those pieces but DFQC discourages him.
Orchid is being insulted by the Moon Tribe attendants who’ve shown up to help her. They don’t get why she’s there and Orchid would like people to stop insulting her everywhere she goes.
DFQC sends them away and is annoyed Orchid is now afraid of him. When she mentions leaving, DFQC tells her that since he took her away in front of everyone, she’s stuck with him. And she’s stuck in that room until she fixes the Destiny Book. But he won’t explain why and she’s worried about his motives and doesn’t want to help.
In the Main Hall of the Silent Moon Palace, Xun Feng shows up with the You Jade Ring and deep resentment. To become Moon Supreme DFQC killed their father, the old Moon Supreme. Xun Feng pulls an obvious jerk move and drops the ring rather than hand it over.
DFQC is not concerned that his brother wants him dead. The You Jade Ring will help keep Orchid’s mental state from affecting him. But he wants Shang Que to help him figure out how to make her fix the Destiny Book. When Shang Que suggests she’s not used to traveling, DFQC wants to find a carpenter.
The Lord of Haishi City is pissed he still doesn’t have Chi Di’s Destiny Book back. He’s concerned DFQC has it and will use it to free his soldiers and turn Chi Di into ashes. He orders henchwoman Die Yi to have his spies in the Silent Moon Palace find out what’s going on.
Orchid talks some Moon Tribe flora into helping her knock out some guards, but Shang Que stops her escape. He takes her to a dark hallway where DFQC waits and she’s convinced she’s being thrown in prison.
Instead, she’s taken to Siming Hall. Orchid is ecstatic and her happiness leaks into DFQC. She can see sunsets and sunrises from there too. He built it special for her.
Orchid doesn’t understand until she tries to call her flower spirit friends, and realizes it’s a fake Siming Hall. DFQC knows she’s unhappy and pushes her into admitting she wants to be in her real home. She tries to leverage the help she gave him in the Fairy Realm, but when he asks if she would have helped him if she knew who he really was she goes silent.
They get into another fight and he yells that he only tolerated her because of the Heart Spell, and now that he has the You Jade Ring he no longer needs to deal with this weakness. He calls his kindness disgusting.
Orchid is heartbroken. DFQC tells Shang Que to keep an eye on her and get the Chengying Sword.
Now the fake Siming Hall is in the midst of a lightning storm. After cowering a bit, Orchid gets up and yells out the window, calling DFQC a bully. Then she seems to think of something.
Shang Que reports that Orchid is doing poorly and going on hunger strikes. DFQC hopes she is close to breaking. Someone else reports she’s close to dying and DFQC storms off to see her. She’s coughing and acting sick but doesn’t seem that bad off. At one point he seems about to help her and seems disconcerted by his instinct.
She leads him outside with a mischievous look he can’t see, and as thunder strikes, she gives him a kiss. He looks horrified.
Thoughts
Now we’ve reached the Cangyan Sea and everything is changing again.
In the last few episodes DFQC seemed to be making some progress in having feelings, but now in the face of Orchid’s fear and refusal to do whatever he wants he’s regressing. Worse, he’s ready to get a magical sword that’ll kill Orchid so that he can be free of her. Yet even after he’s committed to pursuing this darker path, there’s that furtive movement to help the sick Orchid that shows he’s not back to square one.
Also, with the new location comes new information and new conflict. All is not well in the Cangyan Sea and not just because of the exterior threat of the fairy realm, DFQC’s own brother wants to kill him. Also, the Lord of Haishi City has spies there that he can’t know about. And since DFQC is the only one who has any reason to keep Orchid there too, if things get out of his control she’s in trouble too.
At the same time, Orchid is also trying to get back to how things were. She doesn’t know anything about what’s going on with Chang Heng and Yun Zhong and the danger there. So she’s holding onto this hope that she can somehow still get back to what her life once was, and DFQC’s anger isn’t exactly convincing her to want to stay in the Cangyan Sea. Plus everyone there really wants to kill fairies.
On the subject of the Cangyan Sea, it’s always fun to travel in a show. I really love stories that have distinct senses of place. The desert maybe isn’t my favorite type of place, but the Silent Moon Palace is interesting and distinctly different from the more ethereal seaming Fairy Realm Locations. And the Main Hall of the Silent Moon Palace is a throne room worthy of a Moon Supreme with those dark carvings that make me think of HR Giger. We’ll get to see more of it in the coming episodes.