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TL:DR Version
DFQC rescues Orchid and discovers that she knows nothing about the spell that binds them. He also discovers he’s connected to her emotionally and she has the destiny book for Chi Di Nu Zi, who he needs to free his soldiers. Unfortunately, that destiny book gets damaged. Orchid is weak and tired and cannot fix it right away so he’s spending the night.
Recap
Because this show can’t end with the heroine dying in the third episode, Orchid does not plummet into the giant cauldron of doom. Instead, an eerie eclipse appears, Orchid stops mid-fall, the warriors dissolve, and the DFQC shows up in his winged fire-and-smoke glory.
He’s ginormous. His face fills the screen. Like she’s Fay Wray* and he’s King Kong, he takes her in one hand and tucks her away. The bad guys are not as intimidated as they should be, and are obliterated except for the woman leader. DFQC destroys the cauldron, which releases the evil spirit that was being fed the flower spirits, and the woman disappears.
DFQC brings Orchid out. She didn’t see anything. He confirms that her injuries match his, which she misinterprets as concern. He then declares that every part of her is his and he will keep her safe.
After this intense confession, along with the previous kisses, Orchid sees him as a lonely former prisoner now in love. She shakes his hand gently and reassures him there are other women.
He demands she break the spell, his forehead lighting up with the green flower. She knows the spell is the Xilan Holy Spell, but she’s not Xilan and it’s not hers. He magically probes and discovers her damaged immortal root. Indignant at his invasion of her privacy, she flounces off and leaves her pill from Jie Li lying in the snow.
In Haishi City the evil spirit is causing chaos in the population. A masked guy shows up and restores the cauldron and sticks the evil spirit back in. He’s the Lord of Haishi City, and he’s not happy with his woman subordinate for losing the destiny book. She knows that someone in Shuiyuntian has it and promises to get it.
At Memory Loss River, DFQC learns from his lieutenant Shang Que that the Xilan Clan has been wiped out since his disappearance 30,000 years ago. Shang Que warns that he can’t mess with Orchid if she’s one of them, because the Xilan Clan exists to guard the three realms from evil gods and never took sides. It would be unethical to attack any of them.
DFQC is dismissive. DFQC is also crying. And annoyed. He’s not only feeling Orchid’s physical pain.
Orchid is wailing to her flower spirits because she lost the Universe Pill she got from Jie Li. Her hopes for serving Chang Heng are dashed. After crying it out, she’s ready to return to Haishi City and get it. But DFQC has snuck into the fairy realm and is lurking outside.
She treats him like an unwanted suitor and he ignores her attempts to get him to leave. Even when he yanks close to threaten her, she thinks he’s being over persistent. But in her efforts to physically get some space, she drops the destiny book from Haishi City.
DFQC picks it up and finds it’s the book for Chi Di Nu Zi, the woman who brought about his downfall 30,000 years ago. He needs her to free his 100,000 soldiers in stone seen last episode. Orchid warns him against messing with it, trying to get it back, but their fight causes the book to get damaged. DFQC is now pissed.
Chang Heng is at his place, staring at the orchid that Orchid gave him. A flashback to 500 years ago shows that they met in the past when he was injured, though she no longer remembers him. It’s clear he’s got a crush that he doesn’t want her or anyone else to know about.
A servant reports that they haven’t found anyone missing, because Chang Heng is still worried about the fairy he saw go into the Haotian Tower. He’s annoyed they didn’t check Orchid’s place because they didn’t think anyone lives there.
Orchid has to explain she doesn’t know anything about Chi Di Nu Zi and her master is gone. Then DFQC wants her to fix the destiny book.
Chang Heng shows up, and a clearly frightened and lying flower spirit tells him Orchid’s gone. She all but asks him to search the place, but he leaves.
DFQC is holding onto Orchid, who sobs because she lost her chance to talk to Chang Heng. So DFQC is crying too. He shows her that he has the Universe Pill, which perks her up, and he’ll give it back to her once she fixes the destiny book.
She tries, but can’t. It’s been a long day, she points out. This leads to a prolonged squabble over where to sleep. First she tries to get him to leave entirely, then she puts him in her master’s bedroom, then he teleports to her bed. When her inability to sleep sitting up at her desk affects him, he finally listens to her argument that they should sleep separately.
At last getting into her bed, Orchid closes her eyes. The next instant she’s awoken and dragged out of bed along with DFQC, captured by Chang Heng and his men.
Thoughts
Back when I first watched this show and wasn’t paying attention because I thought I’d drop it, this is the first episode that really caught my attention. I thought the whole beginning sequence, with DFQC rescuing Orchid, was visually stunning. Once again, I loved how creative and fantastical it looked, with the eclipse, him appearing huge, and his billowing robes. They really sell him here as an intimidating, terrifying immortal god and it does so much for his character.
Orchid, meanwhile, is shown to be so lowly that no one even realizes she exists and is living in Siming Hall. She continues to be a sad fairy tale princess. But this sad lonely orphan flower has no qualms about arguing with DFQC, though she doesn’t always win those arguments.
The setup here is great. Not just that he feels her feels and will die if she dies so he can’t just kill her and move on. But also that they are such completely different people(?) at this moment that they can barely communicate. She’s all feelings and interprets everything he does as being feeling based. He’s all cold, merciless planning and doesn’t understand what to say to her or how to get her to do what he wants. They’re stuck with each other.
And in the midst of this high fantasy, we have the beginning of the cohabitation trope, which can be seen in every country’s shows including the United States. They might as well be the odd couple.
*Fay Wray might be one of the original scream queens and was in the 1933 King Kong.