Introduction
In part three of the recap article series, Legend of Zang Hai: Drama Recap Episodes 21 to 30, we’re finished with the Zhuang Family saga and start to watch Zang Hai dealing with his second and third enemies. Also, in this final part of the article series, Zang Hai and An Tu start a romantic relationship. Therefore, I use the screenshot of them together as the featured image. I also notice that in the last quarter of the drama, Xiang An Tu’s role is increasingly important in helping Zang Hai execute his revenge. It’s important to inform the readers who haven’t watched this drama and only found this article through the featured image that romance is not the main focus in Legend of Zang Hai ( 藏海传 ).
Recap Episodes 31 to 40
Episode 31
The misunderstanding that the Queen of Dongxia is the third killer is cleared up. An Tu is back at the royal hostage mansion with her mother. Although the Queen sees that both her daughter and Zang Hai love each other, she’s reluctant to let her daughter be with him because avenging his family is his first and foremost ambition. She’s afraid that her daughter will suffer. Still, there is the mystery of who the third person is and why Marquis Pingjin lied to his son. Since there is no way a father lies to his own heir, most likely Zhuang Zhi Xing lied to Zang Hai.
An Tu invites Zang Hai to the Zhen Tower, and runs a shadow play for him to confess her feelings to him. Finally, they get together. He can no longer hold his emotions and hugs her tightly. She does the same thing to and refuses to let go. She even kisses him and bites his lips, ouch! Later, they sit together and Zang Hai tells her the whole story, so long that she falls asleep on his lap.
The next day, the Queen, An Tu, and Zang Hai meet together. The Queen gives him the real picture of the Gui Seal. She then tells the tragic story of the Seal and why it has to be destroyed. She wants him to work together; he’ll find the Seal, and she’ll find his third enemy. Before that, she asks Zang Hai to choose between revenge and An Tu. If he picks An Tu, he has to let go of the revenge. If he picks the revenge, he has to let go of An Tu. An Tu protests to her mother, stating that she’s always in danger in this country anyway. Zang Hai cannot choose, but he also gives her a choice: hearing his father’s last word that are addressed to her or make him choose. The Queen finally doesn’t force him to choose. She gave him a tool she created that can be used to find the Seal. The fish token can be used as a compass needle.
Zang Hai goes around the palace using the compass, and he manages to go inside. The compass points the direction to the Emperor’s private living quarters, in his bedroom! Of course, he can’t enter, and a eunuch seems to be watching him. He guesses whether his father handed the Gui Seal secretly to the Emperor; otherwise, why would anyone not find it? The spy eunuch reports to the Head Eunuch (yes, he’s still alive!), and he laughs at the possibility that the Emperor has the Seal after all! This is not an easy task to take the Seal out of the Emperor’s chamber.
Episode 32
Zang Hai plans to sneak into the Hang Zhang Hall, the Emperor’s study room, during the fireworks display when it’s dark everywhere. However, he doesn’t know that the Head Eunuch monitors him. Zang Hai unexpectedly finds a secret passage that leads to the Imperial Heavenly Prison. He has a model box to replace the authentic one. Zang Hai finally finds the Gui Seal and starts working on copying the carving. Just as he’s concentrating on making the imitation, someone suddenly appears. He is… Shi Quan! Shi Quan quickly controls him. He is the Head Eunuch’s spy! His real name is Lu Fen, and he’s one of the Head Eunuch’s foster sons! His job is to monitor Chu Hua Ming, and now he is to monitor Zang Hai! The Head Eunuch orders Shi Quan to kill Zang Hai. Suddenly, An Tu, the Queen, and her guards appear to rescue Zang Hai. The two sides are embroiled in a fierce battle. At this moment, the Head Eunuch shoots a hidden arrow at An Tu. Zang Hai tries to block the arrow with his body, but An Tu’s mom is faster and blocks the arrow from her daughter and Zang Hai. The Head Eunuch uses this opportunity to run away with his lackeys. Queen Dongxia express her last wish that Zang Hai would protect her daughter in the future. An Tu is very distressed seeing her mother die, but she has to hurry herself to take her back to the mansion since Zang Hai has to clean up the crime scene. Poor girl, she’d missed her mother for 10 years, reunited just for several days, and now she lost her mother forever!
The next day, the news of the Queen of Dongxia’s death shocked everyone. The Emperor thinks her death seems quite strange. The ministers propose that pacifying Dongxia is a top priority now. The Emperor orders the Queen to be buried according to the royal custom and sent back to her home country. The situation on the border is tense. Each country increases their troops.
Episode 33
Xiang An Tu bids her mother farewell when the carriage carrying her casket slowly leaves the city. Zang Hai can only watch her from afar.
The Head Eunuch finally dies… phew! His wounds from the fight are too severe. On his deathbed, a mysterious person walks in and listens to him until his last breath. The Eunuch hands him the fish token, and asks Lu Yan to write a secret letter we don’t know about for now.
Not only is An Tu losing her mom, she’s also in big trouble! An Tu is imprisoned by the Emperor because of the missing Gui Seal. She is accused as the mastermind to provoke a political relationship between Dongxia and Yong. There are inciting letters found at her place. This must be something to do with the letter Lu Yan wrote last time. An Tu’s sister, who is the crown princess of Dongxia, has now ascended to the throne after the passing of the Queen. It seems Dongxia no longer cares about An Tu.
The only hope Zang Hai put on is now the Emperor. He has to tell His Majesty everything. Zang Hai asks for an audience and is tied up until he states that he’s Zhi Nu, Kuai Duo’s son. At first, His Majesty doesn’t believe him until Zang Hai cites a rhyme that only His Majesty and Kuai Duo know. It turns out that the Emperor and Kuai Duo were best friends since they were little. Kuai Duo was his study companion. Their friendship was bound by woodcarving and carpentry. Later, the former Emperor appointed His Majesty as the crown prince although he was just the son of a concubine. While managing the court affairs since his father was away to war between a foreign country Daxia and Yong, His Majesty was poisoned. Kuai Duo saved his life with his acupuncture skills. The poisoner was none other than the Empress, who wanted her own son to succeed to the throne. Soon, his father died in Daxia, and His Majesty ascended the throne, thus, his life was saved. However, his ruling was very weak, especially since they lost the war in Daxia. His father gave a mandate to find the Gui Seal, which caused Yong to suffer losses. The Emperor recruited the Head Eunuch and General Zhuang Lu Yin to strengthen his sovereignty, and he secretly sent Kuai Duo to search for the Gui Seal, with the excuse of building the Altar. After three years, Kuai Duo finally returned with the Seal and handed it to the Emperor. He asked His Majesty not to use this to conquer the world. That was the last time the Emperor saw his best friend.
Episode 34
With tears in his eyes, Zang Hai recounts what happened that night of terror. The Emperor is extremely sad. He thought Kuai Duo could finally return home after being away, ‘building’ the Altar. He promised a position in his cabinet, but his best friend would rather go home to his family.
Earlier, right after Zang Hai informed His Majesty that the Head Eunuch had the Seal, the Emperor ordered a thorough search right away. However, they found that the Head Eunuch’s mansion is empty, all servants and guards are dead from poisoning, and the Head Eunuch’s rotten body is lying in bed. He has been dead for five days from poisoning. Zang Hai infers that the third person must be behind this, and he also has the Seal. The Emperor gives Zang Hai the Sword of Justice, which is basically his personal token. and orders him to Zang Hai to find the Gui Seal. Zang Hai also begs His Majesty to release Xiang An Tu, because she saved his life during his confrontation with the Head Eunuch, and most likely, she was framed.
The people who have helped Zang Hai
With An Tu’s release, there is a little party at the Zang Mansion to celebrate her release. Mister Eight comes to see her best friend, and so does Master Liu Chu. Zang Hai watches the warm scene of the family sitting together, eating, and laughing, and his heart is filled with happiness. Ugh, as good as the scene looks, I’m afraid this is calm before the storm!
The Head Eunuch’s mansion is sealed for investigation, and Zang Hai gets the first dip to investigate. He finds out that the servants and guards are not dead voluntarily from their loyalty to the Head Eunuch, but they were poisoned to death. After the body identification, only one person is missing, and that is Lu Yan, the Head Eunuch’s foster daughter! Zang Hai also wants to search for the traitor Shi Quan. To search for the third person, Zang Hai wants to start from the cabinet. He thinks of Shi Yi Ping, an arrogant and domineering minister. After the Head Eunuch’s death, Shi Yi Ping suddenly lives in seclusion and claims he’s sick. The Benefactor comes. He disagrees with Zang Hai’s choice. The Benefactor takes off his mask, and he’s none other than Minister Zhao Bing Wen!!!
Episode 35
To convince Zang Hai that he was the one who saved him during that tragic night, Minister Zhao takes out the toy that was with little Zhi Nu at that time. Zang Hai is very grateful for the rescue. Minister Zhao says that in the past, he was framed by court officials, and only Kuai Duo helped him. Later, the two became good friends. Many years ago, he received a secret letter from Kuai Duo, asking him to go and pick him up, so he rushed there, but he was still one step too late. He could only save Zang Hai and helped him take revenge. Master Gao Ming tells Zang Hai that he was an orphaned child, and Minister Zhao took him in and treated him as his own child. Master Gao Ming thinks that a similar thing happened with Master Liu Chu, too.
Minister Zhao will accompany Zang Hai to investigate Shi Yi Ping, since he doesn’t accept guests. Minister Shi says that he fully supports Zang Hai’s investigation of the death of the Head Eunuch. However, Minister Zhao and Zang Hai think that Minister Shi secretly tries to recruit Zang Hai to his side. Zang Hai notices that Minister Shi is a painting collector, so he wants to visit the minister again tonight to gift him a valuable painting, as if he’s eager to get close to Minister Shi. Zang Hai wants to act fast, as ordered by the Emperor, to move fast, or they’ll be caught in a bloody storm. Minister Shi feels that Zang Hai’s visit is not only to give him a painting. When Zang Hai tells him that the Emperor wants him to investigate the death of the Head Eunuch, the Minister insists on talking to the Emperor tomorrow to hand the case over to him. Minister Shi is suspicious that the case is not just about the Head Eunuch, but there’s more to it.
Suddenly, Minister Shi coughs up blood! Apparently, he’s poisoned! Before Zang Hai can help, a maid attacks them with a sword. It turns out she’s Lu Yan! Shi Lei, who’s with Zang Hai, tries to catch Lu Yan, but the woman is too strong for him. Luckily, An Tu and her guard arrive, and all of them fight Lu Yan and arrest her. Lu Yan says that Minister Shi betrayed her foster father. Once the Head Eunuch gave the Gui Seal to him, the minister killed him and everyone else. Now that she avenged her foster father, she committed suicide. After a thorough search, Zang Hai finds the Gui Seal behind the painting. He gives the Seal and the Sword of Justice back to the Emperor and asks for a painting found in Minister Shi’s mansion that covered the Gui Seal. The only thing he doesn’t give the Emperor is the copper fish token. Minister Zhao thinks that Zang Hai doesn’t give the Emperor the fish token because he worries that the Emperor will use the Gui Seal in any future war.
However, Zang Hai feels something is not right. It takes hella long time to reveal the identities of Marquis Pingjin and the Head Eunuch, and this third identity is like given in front of him. Could it be that Lu Yan is ordered to commit suicide in front of Zang Hai to distract his attention from the real third person by pointing at Minister Shi? The painting is made by an unknown painter; the rest of Minister Shi’s collections are from renowned artists. What’s the purpose of hanging an unknown painting on Mount Yuren in Dongxia? As if the painting screams loudly its connection with the Seal, hung in the most eye-catching place in the mansion. So, the third guy’s target is not the Gui Seal but the three fish token?
Episode 36
Zang Hai decides to resign and leave the capital with Xiang An Tu to travel the world. The plan is actually to lure the third person out. The person will be someone who tries to stop Zang Hai from leaving and wants to keep Zang Hai close by to monitor him. Uh oh… Minister Zhao tries to intercept his decision by taking him to a slum area where there are many refugees. Minister Zhao advises Zang Hai to rethink, he says that Zang Hai is righteous and trustworthy, and he is capable of being a great leader. He reminds Zang Hai how he sold all the gifts given by officials and bought porridge for the poor. If Zang Hai wants to achieve great things, he needs to be in a high position. Minister Zhao temporarily becomes the Chief Cabinet Secretary to replace the late Minister Shi. He gives Zang Hai an imperial edict to accept a position in the Cabinet under his supervision.
Zang Hai is shocked to find out that his own Benefactor is the candidate for the third person! So far, he’s the only person who has tried to stop Zang Hai from resigning and leaving the Capital. An Tu asks what if it’s just a coincidence and Minister Zhao just appreciates his talent? Zang Hai tells An Tu that no matter what, as a member of the cabinet, he gains confidential files for further investigation. He also asks An Tu to monitor Master Gao Ming. Either Master Gao is involved, or he’s just deceived; he’s very close to Minister Zhao. We later see that Minister Zhao asks Master Gao Ming if he has found the fish token or not. Oh, no!
With Minister Zhao becoming the Chief Cabinet Secretary and appointing Zang Hai to help him, Zang Hai has access to the royal archives. He found out from all drafts made by Minister Zhao, it seems he truly cares for the Emperor and the people. His discovery confuses Zang Hai about what his Benefactor’s real intention is.
An Tu does her part to help Zang Hai. She invites Mister Eight, Minister Zhao’s daughter to her mansion. An Tu put the painting taken from Minister Shi’s home at her place. When Mister Eight sees that painting, she claims it’s her father’s because it had been at their home for a long time. Mister Eight is surprised to find that Minister Shi had that painting, and now it’s An Tu’s. An Tu explains that Zang Hai saw it at Minister Shi’s home and asked the Emperor to have the painting for her, because she’s homesick.
Mister Eight is curious if the painting she saw at An Tu’s place is the same as the one her father once had. She checked the case and it’s gone. Her father walks in, and his daughter asks about it. He says that once he went to Minister Shi’s home for painting appreciation, bringing this painting, and Minister Shi loved it and forced him to give it to the minister. Mister Eight tells him it’s now at An Tu’s place because Zang Hai asked the Emperor for the painting and gave it to her, as the painting is about Dongxia. Minister Zhao then tells his daughter to no longer wear men’s clothes since Zhen Tower is closed down. He then tells his butler to appoint people to follow her wherever she goes.
While working, Zang Hai happens to chat with his co-worker, who tells him that the former boss, Minister Shi, was actually an upright and righteous man, and he went against Zhuang Lu Yin and Cao Jiang Xian. Moreover, the co-worker gives him a book with a list of all officials ever worked for the court since Minister Shi took office. Zang Hai sees that the Head Eunuch’s name used to be Lu Min. Zang Hai visited an old eunuch who used to be a head eunuch at the palace but has been retired for a long time. That eunuch tells Zang Hai that Cao Jiang Xian, that he bragged he went to a prestigious academy. Zang Hai goes to the academy and searches the student roster. He finds out that Cao Jiang Xian, Zhuang Lu Yin, and Zhao Bing Wen used to be classmates.
Zang Hai wants to confront Minister Zhao and asks An Tu to make some preparations.
Their relationship will no longer be the same…
Episode 37
Zang Hai invites Minister Zhao to his house, and Minister Zhao orders someone to make preparations. The person is none other than Shi Quan! At dinner, Zang Hai meticulously prepares the meals for Minister Zhao and Master Gao Ming, stating that Master always cooks for him, so now it’s his turn. He carefully tells the story about the dishes that connect him to his father and mother. All stories indirectly point toward Minister Zhao. In the end, Zang Hai speaks out bluntly and finally reveals whether he should call Minister Zhao his enemy or not. Minister Zhao expects that Zang Hai’s friends are around and ready to ambush, so he tells them to show up, and acknowledges that he is the last enemy.
Minister Zhao says coldly that even is Kuai Duo surrenders the Gui Seal that night, he won’t be able to escape death. Minister Zhao was there, hiding during the massacre, and Marquis Pingjin knew it. The three then divided the fish tokens. He was indeed the last person who was with the Head Eunuch on his deathbed and killed everyone but Lu Yan. But, he didn’t kill Minister Shi to deceive Zang Hai, but to deceive someone else… who is the Emperor!
Soon, the imperial guards surround the Zang Mansion and arrest Zang Hai, An Tu, Guan Ping, Shi Lei, and An Tu’s two guards. The Emperor interrogates Zang Hai alone. He feels Kuai Duo betrayed him by not surrendering the fish tokens. Zang Hai argues, his father doesn’t want anyone to activate the Gui Seal. Even if not the Emperor, the future emperors might want to do it. Where are the fish tokens? They’re hidden under Minister Zhao’s office seat. The Emperor isn’t surprised that the third enemy is Minister Zhao. Shi Quan surrendered to the Emperor, as per Minister Zhao’s order, and told him that he wanted to avenge his foster father by telling that Zang Hai had betrayed him and kept the fish tokens. Shi Quan is jailed, and later, Minister Zhao comes. Shi Quan thinks that the Minister releases him, but he’s silenced instead.
Minister Zhao visits Zang Hai, and tells him that he framed Zang Hai for hurting the Emperor since he was the last one to talk to the Emperor last night. Minister Zhao goes further by imprisoning the Emperor’s eunuch and the head of the imperial guards with a charge that they failed to protect His Majesty. Now, Minister Zhao is in charge of all the affairs in the court. The Emperor is now under his protection. Minister Zhao admitted that Kuai Duo helped him in his early years, but he lied about the massacre that night. He got a letter, not from Kuai Duo, but from Marquis Pingjin. Master Gao Ming stayed in the disaster area pretending to be Minister Zhao, while he returned to the Capital. He asked the Head Eunuch to keep an eye on Kuai Duo’s return with his Surveillance Office guards, but the latter used the secret passages to reach the palace and handed the Seal to the Emperor. Since the Seal was nowhere by Kuai Duo, Minister Zhao rescued Zang Hai with the purpose of finding the Seal. When he found out that the Seal was with the Emperor, he staged a scheme to kill the Head Eunuch and Minister Shi, with the purpose of getting the Seal and the fish tokens from Zang Hai.
Minister Zhao tells Zang Hai what happened when he was a child. He came from a poor family, but because he was smart, he was admitted to the prestigious academy with his own efforts. As a commoner, he was bullied by noble kids. When they wanted to cut his fingers, Lu Min and Zhuang Lu Yin rescued him. Lu Min is also from a poor family, and Zhuang Lu Yin is from a disgraced general who lost the war. The three of them were bullied often, until one day they couldn’t stand it anymore and caught the head bully and drowned him. Lu Min was found to be related to the incident, and he was castrated. He entered the palace as a eunuch and then became Cao Jing Xian. The three of them climbed to the highest positions in their careers and became true allies.
After Zang Hai is brought to the Emperor, his friends run away and are wanted by the court. Zang Hai set up a secret hiding place for them. Mister Eight runs away from her spies and meets An Tu. She says that the news in the Capital is that Zang Hai tried to assassinate His Majesty. An Tu wants to ask Prince Yong Rong for help, but Mister Eight says he’s under house arrest. When Mister Eight offers to ask her father for help, An Tu reveals that he is the enemy.
It turns out that Minister Zhao wants to use the Gui Seal to control the zombies and overcome the neighboring countries, and in the end conquer the whole world.
Episode 38
Zang Hai is sentenced to death. Master Gao Ming pleads with Minister Zhao to cook Zang Hai his last meal. The execution is using paper soaked with water to suffocate Zang Hai. During the execution day, Minister Zhao comes specifically to supervise the execution. After Zang Hai passes, he asks Master Gao Ming to make Zang Hai drink poison. But Master secretly drinks the poison. When Zang Hai is in a coma, he sees his family and his father’s apprentices who were killed on that day. They advise him to leave. When Zang Hai cries, his father tells him that this place doesn’t belong to him. One day he’ll be here, but now let him live well and continue bravely. Zang Hai wakes up from a coma and sees Master Gao Ming, An Tu, and others. The reason he survives because Master Gao Ming put a special herb in his last meal, which causes him to pass out and lose breath like he’s dead. Minister Zhao was then distracted by someone, so he let Gao Ming collect Zang Hai’s body. That someone turns out to be Lord Shen, Prince Yong Rong’s trusted aide. Lord Shen comes quickly and tells Zang Hai that Lord Yong Rong was by the Emperor’s side before he died. His Majesty called Zang Hai’s name and said that Zang Hai was right.
The next step is to take Zang Hai out of the Capital, as he wants to go to Dongxia. Minister Zhao wants to take the Seal to Dongxia to control the ghost soldiers. Master Gao Ming dresses Zang Hai and An Tu as rotten corpses, and Master Gao Ming takes them out in a carriage and tells the guards by the city gate that the bodies have a plaque and have to be cremated asap outside the city. Master Gao Ming even coughs up blood, so the guards let them go asap, without checking the bodies. At the same place, Master Gao Ming lets them go. Zang Hai is worried seeing his teacher with real blood. Master Gao Ming says it’s his last trick and hurries them. He leaves Zang Hai lots of money with a letter of apology. He says he drank the poisoned wine given by Minister Zhao, intended to finish off Zang Hai, so he won’t live long. The letter also says that Master Gao Ming has kept the secret for more than 10 years, since Minister Zhao ‘rescued’ Zhi Nu. He envies Liu Chu, who knows nothing that Minister Zhao is the enemy, or Xing Dou, who killed himself, because he knew he would be killed sooner or later. In a distance, Zang Hai tearfully sees Master Gao Ming walking slowly and painfully, and collapses in the end.
Zang Hai and An Tu come to the outskirts of Dongxia. Unexpectedly, the new Queen of Dongxia, An Tu’s sister, comes to see them. She gets a secret letter (from Minister Zhao, of course) stating that An Tu comes to fight for the throne. An Tu is taken to the royal palace, while Zang Hai is imprisoned in the royal prison. The Queen of Dongxia wants to marry An Tu off the Haidong Tribes, that is always in conflict with Dongxia. When An Tu argues that she is a hostage of Yong, it means that she can’t be married off without the permission of the Emperor of Yong; her sister says that the Emperor is dead. An Tu has to agree with the marriage arrangement, because her sister threatens her with Zang Hai’s life.
Episode 39
Zang Hai and An Tu secretly communicate to ask for help from Zhuang Zhi Xing. They pretend to argue about the debts each owes while a guard is listening to the conversation. Later, she asks for help from her nanny to send a letter to Zhuang Zhi Xing. Zhi Xing then sends his troop dressed as the Haidong Tribes, picks up Zang Hai and An Tu halfway. Zang Hai and Zhuang Zhi Xing reunite, and each other tells their life stories. However, Zang Hai feels Zhi Xing gets promoted too fast in just one year. He also mentions that Zhao Bing Wen is the third enemy, not the Queen of Dongxia, as Zhi Xing told him before. Zhi Xing casually says that his father lied. Zang Hai returns to the tent where An Tu is, and he tells her his suspicion. He fears that Minister Zhao helped Zhi Xing climb up the ranking fast. She overhears soldiers talking about forcing the Dongxia people to fix the Altar.
Zang Hai and An Tu want to run off the camp, but they’re discovered by Zhi Xing. Zang Hai tells everything about Minister Zhao, how, as his benefactor, he sent Zang Hai to Zhi Xing’s father to be destroyed. Zang Hai says that those three were best friends, yet Minister Zhao let Zang Hai take revenge on the Marquis of Pingjin and the Head Eunuch. Right now, Zhi Xing is still useful, but if he’s no longer useful, Minister Zhao will discard him like he did with others. Zhi Xing suggests giving him a new identity and letting him start a new life, but Zang Hai is determined to destroy the Gui Seal. Zhi Xing finally agrees to help Zang Hai destroy the Seal.
The next day, Zang Hai and An Tu search the cave entrance near the mountains. Finally, they find a rope, which Zang Hai guesses was used by his father. They find a lot of interesting things inside the cave, including murals depicting the story of ghost soldiers. They also fall into a hallucination and fight with the zombie soldiers. The mural pattern combined with a certain smell causes the hallucination, and only by their blood do they snap out of it. It turns out that there is a special smell here, and coupled with the stimulation of the mural pattern, it will make people fall into hallucinations. When Zang Hai and An Tu finally escape from the hallucination and walk out, Zhi Xing and Minister Zhao are already waiting for them!
Episode 40
Actually, Minister Zhao’s visit to the camp is to give Zhi Xing news that he has been promoted to the General of the Cavalry by the new emperor. Of course, it’s Minister Zhao’s doing. He also mentions to Zhi Xing that his father’s lifetime wish is to conquer Dongxia. Now Minister Zhao is here to help Zhi Xing fulfill his father’s wish. He never thought that Zang Hai was still alive. Zang Hai and An Tu are captured, and Minister Zhao confiscates an ancient manuscript that Zang Hai found in the cave.
Minister Zhao concocts a liquid coming out of the Gui Seal and forces a soldier to take it. the poison. The soldier is slashed by the sword, but doesn’t feel pain, and even his wound heals quickly. However, at night, that soldier becomes a zombie and wild, and can only be killed and his body burned.
Zhi Xing secretly lets An Tu go after disguising her as a soldier to ask for help. She runs back to Dongxia and tries to convince her sister that Minister Zhao is here to destroy Dongxia.
Minister Zhao tries to read the ancient manuscript, but Zang Hai has already torn several pages. The next day, Minister Zhao takes Zang Hai by force to the cave. Zang Hai tricks the minister and his people to get close to the mural. Just when they are close, Zang Hai yells to ‘release’ the ghost soldiers. The hallucination comes into effect, and Minister Zhao and his guards see the zombies. The guards fight and kill each other, and Minister Zhao sees a zombie, who is actually Zang Hai, walking towards him, and he dies of a heart attack.
Outside, Zhi Xing and his soldiers are clashing with Minister Zhao’s guards, because Minister Zhao found out that Zhi Xing had secretly released An Tu. Luckily, An Tu is able to convince her sister, so she comes back with Dongxia soldiers to help Zhi Xing fight and rescue the rest. Zang Hai walks out of the cave safely and soundly with the Gui Seal in his hand. Yay! Before destroying, he wants to study the Gui Seal.
After the enemies are defeated, Zang Hai and Zhuang Zhi Xing are summoned back to the Capital by the new emperor, and their positions are reinstated. Zang Hai requests his retirement and is granted by the new emperor. Master Liu Chu pays homage to her friend Master Gao Ming, who is buried on the mountain. Zhuang Zhi Xing returns to the Zhuang Mansion full of glory. Zang Hai leaves money and the mansion title deed to Guan Ping and Shi Lei. An Tu visits her friend Mister Eight, and she’s a teacher now. Zang Hai and An Tu leave the Capital with the Gui Seal and start a new life.
THE END.
Conclusion
Whew, what a journey! I am glad that, in the end, two of my wishes came true. First wish, Zang Hai and Zhi Xing stay friends. So I put the image, when Zhi Xing challenges Zang Hai for a horse race on the way to the Capital, in the last episode. Second wish, Xiang An Tu is alive. So, I screenshot the last scene, when Zang Hai and An Tu leave the Capital, below. I was worried that she would die after saving Zang Hai. Chinese dramas love to kill their main characters, or in the case of romance, the couple doesn’t get together. Therefore, I am happy that the production team chose to let the couple live peacefully and quietly somewhere safe in a secluded area, far from greedy people who covet the Gui Seal they’re taking in their next journey.
