Previously…
Love Beyond the Grave: Drama Recap Episodes 7 to 12 ended with Duan Xu confessing to He Simu, but she told him to say it to someone else. Our boy was smitten!
What would the next sense be exchanged, and what would they experience? Let’s continue!
Recap Episodes 13 to 18
Episode 13
Duan Xu won a great victory over North Chong and regained several lost territories. Two months went by, and eventually, the Great Liang and North Chong stopped fighting temporarily. Duan Xu used this peaceful time to lend his sense to Simu but held his request. Since Simu’s power was gone every time she borrowed his sense, she made him swallow the sugar-coated Spirit Lantern. With it, he could protect her. His spiritual power grew tenfold; he could fly, see spirits, and enter the spirit world. Duan Xu could activate the Spirit Lantern using his Deliverance Sword.
The sense exchanged at this time was the sense of smell. They were in a beautiful flower field, and Simu could smell the flowers. Duan Xu made her flower crown, and she could sense his body smell. His sister loved to make fragrance for his clothes. Duan Xu asked Simu if she wanted to travel with him to Youzhou, a city famous for its fragrance, and she could learn perfume making. He told her that the first thing to learn was his fragrance.
In Youzhou, Duan Xu, who could now see spirits, met a wandering spirit named Mai Zi who was 600 years old, but she had never seen Simu. Mai Zi told him that the Sovereign of Spirit’s mother used to be a sorcerer in Starhaven.
Although Simu couldn’t taste, she could smell wine. It had been a while since she smelled wine, so she drank a lot and got drunk. Simu went to bed right away, and Duan Xu watched her at the bedside, but he couldn’t help but kiss her while she was sleeping!
Assassins came to their room to kill Simu, but they couldn’t see Duan Xu, so he defeated them. Simu and Duan Xu knew that these assassins were sent by Yili’er. He was a powerful local merchant. The next day, Yili’er invited them for a meal and pretended that he wanted to make friends with them. Simu flatly refused as she knew that Yili’er was connected to the rebellious spirit Song Xingyu from Jingling Temple.
Episode 14
Simu pretended to work with Yili’er, but she actually wanted to lure Song Xingyu out. Haha, this Song Xing turned out to be in the form of a little kid. I had seen the actor a lot in dramas as the younger version of the male leads! He’s so cute, I couldn’t take him seriously as a villain!
We also finally met Jiang Ai, the Left Hand of the Void. Yan Ke called her to discuss the Void business left by Simu. Jiang Ai could see through Yan Ke that he was jealous because Simu found a man.
Simu also did her homework to defeat Yili’er by checking his background. He had a son named Lu Da, who used to be Duan Xu’s colleague in the All Knowing assassin organization, but he was now a young priest in the Chong Court. Simu visited Lu Da, who recognized him right away as Seventeen, but Lu Da didn’t know his father’s doing. Simu took Lu Da to his father to confront him. Duan Xu defeated Song Xingyu with his Deliverance Sword, and he ran away in panic. Yili’er treasure storage collapsed. He ran trying to save it, chased by his son.
Duan Xu was so worried about the helpless Simu because he had to leave her to look for Lu Da. He hugged her tight and mentioned that she knew he had kissed her last night. Since he knew that she would punish his wrongdoing after she got back her power, he must as well be bolder now, right?
Episode 15
Well, this Youzhou’s arc turned out to be a short one. Yili’er’s vast treasure vanished. His son would take him to the Capital for atonement. Although they were once colleagues, Duan Xu and Lu Da didn’t part as friends. Especially since Duan Xu was a Liang and Lu Da was a Chong. I had a feeling that we would see Lu Da again!
The next arc would be very interesting. But first things first, let the love rivals meet…
Yan Ke sent a spirit to watch over Simu on her mission to catch Song Xingyu. The spirit reported that there was a very strong bodyguard spirit by her side. Well, that got Yan Ke’s attention! He decided to go to Youzhou to check it out. In the mortal world, he ran into Mai Zi and Duan Xu. Mai Zi knew the Right Hand of Sovereign, so she feared him and bowed down immediately. But not with Duan Xu, although he guessed this guy was Simu’s subordinate. Before the two love rivals confronted each other, Yan Ke was alerted to an emergency in the Void, so he disappeared.
Mai Zi filled in Duan Xu with who Yan Ke was. Not only was he the most trusted by Simu, but they had also known each other for a long time. Rumors had it in the Void that they were like a couple. Duan Xu was concerned about this love rival, especially when Mai Zi said that the Sovereign of Spirits liked Yan Ke. He went back to Simu and asked her to come with him to Nandu, where he was from. He even gave her the sugar figurine for her to smell the sweetness.
But as it was shown before, there was an emergency situation in the Void. Because a lot of restless spirits died during the Liang-North Chong war, there was a massive influx of wandering spirits. Fusang Tree couldn’t bear the burden and started to wither. Yan Ke and Jiang Ai tried to repair it, but they failed. Only Simu was able to repair it, thus. Simu had to stop her vacation and return home. She assembled the fragrance for Duan Xu and told him that she had to go. Duan Xu begged her to come to Nandu with him, as when she had her other leave next time, he might have been dead. Ten days had passed, so they went back to their normal situation. Although Simu took back her spiritual lantern, she left Duan Xu with the ability to see spirits.
Jiang Ai picked up Simu with a grand entourage, but Duan Xu stopped them. He insisted she still owed him a wish, and now his wish was to go to the Void. Simu went to fix the Fusang Tree, but it didn’t heal right away. Simu warned Duan Xu that to enter the Void Spiritual Palace, he had to go through the violent whirlpool, which could shred his body to pieces. Simu and Jiang Ai advised him to go back, but Duan Xu said that since she refused to go with him to Nandu, he would follow her to the Void.
Duan Xu then jumped into the current and fought his way down the Void. Clearly, Simu was worried about him, but she didn’t take Jiang Ai’s offer to rescue. Simu knew Duan Xu better. Lots of spirits attacked him, and he fought them with the Deliverance Sword and his sheer willpower. So, Duan Xu arrived at the Void Spiritual Palace. Simu ordered Duan Xu to be bound and hanged at the entrance of the spiritual hall for three days. This was a punishment for his previous boldness in “offending” her while she was powerless in the mortal world, hahaha. But I think she did this to prevent Duan Xu from running into trouble. Then Simu tackled the internal issue one by one.
Episode 16
To kill time while he was up there, Duan Xu tried to talk to the friendly Jiang Ai, particularly asking her about the origin of his sword and Simu’s parents. Eventually, Jiang Ai, who was the Void Treasurer, took advantage to sell information for spiritual stone payment, which Duan Xu didn’t have. Another encounter was with the grumpy Yan Ke, who was even grumpier when Duan Xu referred to Simu by her name.
At night, an angry spirit attacked Duan Xu. He managed to avoid it, and was even cut off the rope. He fought the spirit but was also wounded. Duan Xu used this freedom to wander around the palace and came to a humble cottage. The cottage was designed like the one in a mortal world. Inside, of course, he found Simu who was busy carving. Simu was surprised Duan Xu managed to find the place guarded by a spiritual barrier.
Duan Xu didn’t waste time but brought up the kissing incident, which made Simu “punish” him. He knew she was not furious; if not, she would’ve killed him. Duan Xu reaffirmed his feelings to Simu, that he was serious. He said he started to know her bit by bit. For example, the cottage she designed and everything inside was made as a replica of her childhood home. Duan Xu was angry and banished him outside. Duan Xu hanged himself up again.
The next day, Duan Xu confronted Yan Ke that the angry spirit who attacked him last night was indeed him, because Duan Xu could smell Yan Ke’s fragrance. Duan Xu warned Yan Ke that killing him would only tarnish Simu’s reputation, since she was the only one who could kill him.
The second night, Duan Xu released himself and wanted to visit Simu again, but she locked him out. He passed out from hunger and fatigue. Jiang Ai told Simu that since Duan Xu was a human, he needed food and rest. So Simu prepared a table of food. After finishing eating, Duan Xu went back to hanging, since he wanted to complete the three-day punishment. However, he was not only weak from fatigue but also from the cold and the wound after fighting with Yan Ke. Duan Xu passed out again, and Simu was fast to catch him. That was when she found the wound in his arm. Yan Ke wanted to kick Duan Xu out of the Void, but Simu coldly dismissed Yan Ke and took Duan Xu to her place. She effortlessly healed Duan Xu, including his inner cold. Duan Xu laughed and said that since they met, she had healed him many times. Simu asked if he would heal her, but he said he wanted her to never get hurt. Simu advised Duan Xu not to stay. Duan Xu said life was short, he wanted to live his way.
The next morning, Simu tasked Mai Zi to be Duan Xu’s maid. Duan Xu asked Mai Zi to take him to Simu, but she was executing Fang Chan. Simu asked Mai Zi to take him to see, but when Simu found out Duan Xu had been peeking to see the execution, she was angry.
Episode 17
Luckily, Simu didn’t punish Duan Xu, but disappeared, followed by her subordinates. Simu ended up looking around the execution ground, and with Mai Zi as his tour guide, he walked around the Void and got to know the realm. He carried the Sovereign’s aura, so the spirits didn’t prey on him. Only one person seemed to target him, which was Yan Ke. He specifically was curious why a mortal like Duan Xu could have the Deliverance Sword. Of course, Duan Xu wouldn’t tell him.
Duan Xu’s cold poison flared up, and even some braziers couldn’t help him. Simu put a protective barrier around him to suppress the poison, with the condition that he had to stay ten steps away from Simu. Of course, Duan Xu was happy to comply. He gave her a carving of a fox to represent him, as she called him Foxy because she regarded him as cunning.
Jiang Ai sold Simu an important info about how to cure Duan Xu’s cold poison, which was a 300-year-old Crystal Orchid. They went to the Void forest, and they were brought into the illusion by her father’s spiritual consciousness of her childhood life. But the illusion was sucking Simu’s spiritual power and Duan Xu’s soul. Simu wanted to destroy her father’s illusion, but Duan Xu used his five senses to find the exit. Her father’s illusion told her that he would give her a gift when she brought someone truly important to her to that place. They followed her father’s spiritual sense to find the Crystal Orchid. However, after obtaining it, Duan Xu consumed it, and Simu became weak. She gave out so much power to fix the Tree as well as put a barrier around Duan Xu.
Back to the Sovereign’s Palace, Duan Xu felt better, and he wanted to take a walk to enjoy the moonlight. Simu wanted to go with him and they took the Spiritual Lantern. The night date was beautiful, but Duan Xu found out that he had a fear of heights, hahaha!
Episode 18
Their night date was interrupted by a wandering spirit guarding the Ascension Pool. I wouldn’t go into detail about what happened, but eventually Simu and Duan Xu managed to convince the wandering spirit to let go of his obsession with the past. He willingly stepped into the Ascension Pool to be free and left the Void. His example encouraged other spirits to let go of their obsession and go down to the Pool. That solved the population issue in the Void.
The Void was not always gloom and doom. Mai Zi took Duan Xu to Xuling Temple, which was full of worldly pleasures. With his charming personality, he won over Jiang Ai, especially since she used him to win big in her casino. She suggested to Simu to keep Duan Xu in the Void because he was an interesting mortal. But Simu looked unhappy and left Jiang Ai. Was Simu jealous?
TL;DR
- The Great Liang and North Chong stopped fighting temporarily, so Duan Xu and the military had their vacation.
- Duan Xu used this peaceful time to lend Simu his sense of smell, but she owed a debt. They went to Youzhou to deal with an ambitious merchant and a rebellious spirit master.
- The Fusang Tree was wilting because of the influx of spirits due to the war. Simu returned to the Void to fix the Tree.
- Duan Xu requested that she grant his wish she owed him. His wish was to go with her to the Void.
- Despite the danger, Duan Xu not only managed to survive in the Void but also thrived!
Alright, Duan Xu’s adventure in the Void was so much fun, but they still had to exchange three more senses for three more wishes. Would they return to the mortal realm in the next part? Let’s continue!
