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TL;DR Version
Rong Hao’s situation grows dire, and to save his master he needs to start refining Evil Spirit again. He also needs to kill the Xishan Fairy. While trying to fix the fates of the immortals-who-are-mortals, Orchid and DFQC learn that they’ve gotten themselves caught in a love square. 

Recap
DFQC, getting his wound tended to by Xiao Run/Chang Heng, is embarrassed to be spied on by Orchid and Jie Li. 

Rong Hao is back at the Soul-Shattering Abyss with his henchwoman, Die Yi, who is sad and backhuggy. Rong Hao rejects her to sit next to the stone altar and remember thirty-thousand years ago.

Back then, Chi Di Nu Zi sacrificed herself to save Shuiyuntian and Rong Hao was desperate to save her. Swirling smoke appeared and pushed him towards the only solution: kill the Xishan Fairy and use her primordial spirit. Rong Hao is hesitant, knowing Chi Di Nu Zi wouldn’t want him to do this. But the evil smoke cloud works on his emotions, making it seem like Rong Hao is the only one who cares about his master.

Rong Hao slaughters the Xilan clan but they won’t give him the Xishan Fairy. Instead, they hide who she is from everyone including herself, disguising her as an ordinary fairy. 

The swirling smoke can keep Chi Di Nu Zi alive with Evil Spirit, but needs her to be thrown into Yungmeng lake to experience hardship. Rong Hao learns what he already knew, the smoke is Evil God Tai Sui. It wasn’t killed by the Xilan tribe but they destroyed its body and sealed it in the Soul-Shattering Abyss. It needs Rong Hao’s help refining Evil Spirit, killing the Xishan fairy, and getting rid of the seal so it can be free. 

In the present, Tai Sui is low on Evil Spirit from healing Rong Hai. It won’t be able to stay in this world and if it is gone, so is Chi Di Nu Zi. Because of DFQC destroying the Cauldron, stopping the wars, and reconnecting with Xun Feng, Rong Hao doesn’t have any Evil Spirit handy. But he promises to find and refine it. 

Back to the adventures of the immortals in mortal land. Jie Li has a plan: each half of the fated couple is coming to the restaurant, and at the right moment they’ll meet. Wan Qing/Chi Di shows up first and joins Orchid. She talks to a guilty-feeling Orchid about their pure friendship, then she talks about falling in love with someone who came on the moon. Orchid starts to worry and suggests Wan Qing was drunk. Wan Qing/Chi Di is tired of that question.

Xiao Run/Chang Heng shows up late and asks for DFQC’s help marrying the woman of his dreams. DFQC does not catch on as fast as Orchid and agrees. Then, Xiao Run/Chang Heng has Cricket unfurls a giant poster of Orchid in the middle of the restaurant. While the crowd mocks him, he asks for help finding her.

Orchid, hearing the commotion, peeks out and sees her own face. 

Xiao Run/Chang Heng is promising the crowd that DFQC will pay a reward, which is apparently what the help meant. Shang Que is reminding DFQC he can’t kill Xiao Run/Chang Heng. 

Xiao Run/Chang Heng is so enthusiastic about DFQC helping him, he pushes him into a ceremony to become brothers with different surnames. DFQC suffers through it with an unhappy expression that his new brother doesn’t notice.

Shang Que and Ji Lie get Cricket to pull down the giant poster. Cricket tells them there are hundred more posters plastered around the city. Jie Li also has a strange reaction to Cricket.

At Memory Loss River, Rong Hao and his henchwoman work on the Evil Spirit refinement issue. Fairy soldiers show up and Rong Hao makes up an excuse for being there about needing elixirs. The fairy soldiers offer to help.

Orchid and DFQC escape their rooms and meet up on the stairs. DFQC thinks Orchid met with Xiao Run/Chang Heng secretly and is pissed. Orchid brings up DFQC’s new admirer. Both Wan Qing/Chi Di and Xiao Run/Chang Heng come out, the plan looks like it’s falling apart, and DFQC wants to kill Jie Li.

DFQC and Orchid end up hiding in a large cabinet. It’s spacious for a cabinet but forces the quarreling couple into close contact. Meanwhile Wan Qing/Chi Di and Xiao Run/Chang Heng are wandering around looking for their missing companions. For a moment it seems like they might meet but no, it won’t be that easy.

Orchid and DFQC leave the cabinet and split up, and are almost immediately found by their admirers.

Thoughts
There are parts of this series I don’t remember as well as others, Rong Hao is going to kill those fairies for Evil Spirit, right? On that subject, I still find the Evil Spirit stuff a bit confusing. Exactly what it is and where it comes from and what it does isn’t clear to me.

Also, the timeline of the Rong Hao backstory feels murky. He seemed to make a deal with ominous smoke, failed to kill the Xishan Fairy, but still worked with the evil smoke even knowing it’s really an evil god that wants to kill everyone. I didn’t have a great sense of when that all took place, but I seem to remember that the Xilan clan was wiped out after DFQC, so I guess it all happened quickly.

Also, is the Xishan Goddess and Xishan Fairy the same title? They’re both Orchid, right? 

Not everything needs to be explained or make sense when it comes to magical realities, but I worry I’m missing something I should understand or there are translation issues. 

The design of Evil God Tai Sui was nicely otherwordly and the swirling particles and streaks of red are visually interesting. It’s convincing as an evil god that no longer has a body.

Rong Hao was the more interesting character this episode, as our main group mostly found out what we already knew. The Chang Heng/DFQC bromance was cute but didn’t develop much further. Orchid and DFQC are still fighting like a couple while stuck in relationship-limbo. DFQC still wants to solve problems by killing Jie Li. We’ll have to wait for next episode for more.