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TL;DR Version
Orchid won’t let DFQC die so she can go home, and with another kiss, bodies are swapped back. DFQC stops Xun Feng’s rebellion and puzzles over the Lord of Haishi City’s involvement. Chang Heng wants to go to Orchid again but Yun Zhong won’t let him. Orchid enjoys newfound respect at the Cangyan Sea and DFQC wants to feel her happiness.
Recap
Chang Heng’s romantic moment is ruined when “Orchid” bites him, magically shoves him away, and runs off. “Orchid” catches up with “DFQC” and wants to switch their bodies back. “DFQC” is afraid that if they switch back Chang Heng will be killed.
As Chang Heng gets closer, “DFQC” demands a promise that Chang Heng will be kept safe. I didn’t see an actual promise, but “DFQC” seems to think she got one and threatens to kill herself and trap “Orchid” in her body if he goes back on it. Then, “DFQC” runs and hides.
Chang Heng is determined to rescue “Orchid”, which makes “DFQC” happy. “Orchid” counters with how awful the fairy realm is and how good it is in the Cangyan Sea, which “DFQC” silently refutes. “Orchid” demands to know if Chang Heng can really protect “her” from Yun Zhong. Chang Heng’s reply that his brother is fair does not satisfy anyone, including himself. “Orchid” says the Moon Supreme can protect her.
Chang Heng is horrified and ready to force “Orchid” to come back with him. Before he can, Rong Hao appears and reveals the hiding “DFQC”.
Now they know who is who, and Rong Hao has a sword at “Orchid’s” neck. “DFQC” wants the fairies to leave and be safe, but they’re ready to kill DFQC in Orchid’s body and sort the rest out later.
Rong Hao is about to kill “Orchid” when the thunder and lightning hits and “DFQC” runs for the kiss. Blue and green light swirls, their bodies switch and hellfire blasts Rong Hao and Chang Heng back.
DFQC gets heavy metal again, with hellfire-blue eyes. At Orchid’s reminder of the promise he didn’t really make, he tells them to get lost. Before Orchid can run to them, DFQC grabs her and gives her a kiss and Chang Heng a triumphant look. The fairy guys vanish and Orchid wipes her mouth and runs off, pissed.
Meanwhile, Xun Feng has taken over the Silent Moon Palace. Shang Que shows up to update DFQC, who waves away the offer of backup and goes to confront his brother alone. Xun Feng quickly realizes he’s no longer facing Orchid in DFQC’s body and is easily subdued by DFQC’s hellfire.
Dan Yin is waiting at Chang Heng’s place when Rong Hao brings him back, badly injured. Rong Hao sacrifices his own cultivation and gains a streak of gray hair to heal him.
DFQC learns from Shang Que that Xun Feng conspired with Haishi City. They aren’t sure what the Lord of Haishi City wants except it’s related to the Destiny Book and Chi Di.
DFQC wants to know when Shang Que realized he was weak. Shang Que didn’t know about the body swap, but “DFQC” mentioned being weak on that first day. DFQC asks why he didn’t kill him and Shang Que is horrified at the thought he’d betray him. DFQC thinks about Orchid’s confidence in Shang Que from their earlier conversations.
In Haishi City, a weakened Rong Hao tells his henchwoman that he only saved Chang Heng to keep using him. He learns Xun Feng is imprisoned, but there’s no need to kill him since DFQC probably will.
Chang Heng wakes up and leaves to rescue Orchid despite Dan Yin and Rong Hao trying to stop him. But he’s only steps from his front door when he’s summoned by Yun Zhong to the fairy court. Rong Hao and Dan Yin make excuses for him, and when Yun Zhong makes a show of his power, Chang Heng reluctantly lies about going after DFQC. Yun Zhong seals his powers and sends him back to his place to reflect.
Orchid is at fake Siming Hall, questioning her own actions in saving DFQC and betraying Chang Heng. Shang Que is watching and goes back to report to DFQC, who orders that she now can freely move around the Cangyan Sea. After helping him she can’t go back home anyway. Shang Que and others in the Silent Moon Palace are now more respectful of Orchid. They don’t know about the body swap, but they know Orchid helped DFQC. The women of the palace are holding a banquet for her that night.
DFQC rejects the idea of going to the banquet but keeps fiddling with the ring that protects him from her feelings. While Orchid and the Moon Tribe women gather in a wooded area, DFQC sneaks nearby. Orchid is dressed like a Moon Tribe member and chattering with the women. DFQC makes the trees shed flowers like party confetti to everyone’s delight. Orchid seems to sense something because she looks back, but doesn’t see him. She joins the women in dancing and laughing.
Standing behind a tree, he pulls off the ring and smiles slightly as he feels her happiness.
Thoughts
The joy of this show continues to be in the characters.
Rong Hao, did he just save Chang Heng for his own purposes or does he care about him even a little? Is any of him the fairy Rong Hao or is the Lord of Haishi City the real him? It’s hard to know.
DFQC, meanwhile, is clearly taking what Orchid said to him to heart, even if he’s trying not to reveal it to anyone. His asking Shang Que and reflecting that Orchid was right is an interesting contrast to Chang Heng ignoring “Orchid’s” assertions she wanted to stay and being ready to force her back for her own safety. Chang Heng, whose efforts to defy Yun Zhong are still, ultimately, useless.
Of course, DFQC has been holding Orchid prisoner in the Cangyan Sea and his decision to allow her to have freedom now isn’t the most altruistic. But he’s so clearly not the Moon Lord he once was, going so far as to remove the ring so that he can feel her feelings when he was so desperate to get away from them for so long.
And is this the first kiss-for-kiss-sake in this episode? I don’t think it quite counts since Orchid wasn’t willing and DFQC seemed to mostly do it to be a dick to Chang Heng. Almost!
Then there’s Orchid, who wants what she wants but won’t betray her own sense of right and wrong to get it. She may love Chang Heng, she may be DFQC’s prisoner, but she’s not going to let Chang Heng take advantage of the situation and kill DFQC any more than she was willing to allow the opposite. When she, as “DFQC”, defied Chang Heng to save the real DFQC, is almost as memorable a moment as when DFQC saved her life a few episodes ago. Also, heavy metal DFQC with hellfire eyes is very cool.
Speaking of other gorgeous things, the Moon Lord’s costumes are eye-catching in these episodes. They’re rich combinations of deep colors, different fabrics, and embroidery. I do think it’s charming that when he sits in front of his fire in his high-backed chair with his goblet he reminds me of some old British programming. At any moment he’ll turn to Shang Que and introduce a murder mystery.