Previously…
Love Beyond the Grave: Drama Info and Recap Episodes 1 to 6 ends with He Simu offering Duan Xu to fulfil his wish in exchange for him lending his five senses. How would this offer demand go?
Recap Episodes 7 to 12
Episode 7
Simu went into Duan Xu’s room when he had just finished putting a bandage on his arm, and he was topless. Well, if you saw the suggestive image at the end of Part 1 of the recap article series, honestly, there was no romantic scene here. Simu interrogated Duan Xu mercilessly about his background by choking him. He still didn’t reveal any other identity than what he already told anyone after age 18. Did he have amnesia? Since Simu couldn’t get any confession she wanted from him, she proceeded with the exchange. However, there was a limit; she couldn’t alter the mortal world’s fate. Duan Xu refused the offer; he never made a wish, just worked to get what he wished. He cleverly concluded that Simu went near him to get the Deliverance Sword. However, the old man who gave it to him revealed that the sword didn’t have a master for 300 years, so it was fated to be his. Not only did Simu lose against Duan Xu’s arguments, but she also accidentally revealed that she was 400 years old. Duan Xu calmly fell asleep with Simu next to him, not afraid of any ghosts.
The rest of the episode was about the wealthy Shuozhou businessman named Lin Jun, but the man dealing with the Tabai Army was not the real Lin Jun. The fake one was a spy for the North Chong under the name Mr. Fifteen. He kidnapped the real Lin Jun and sabotaged the situation from the carriage ambush to the granary issue. Chenying stumbled upon the real Lin Jun, who was imprisoned in a secret room. Mr. Fifteen managed to take Duan Xu as his hostage, or was it Duan Xu’s plan?
Episode 8
It was. Mr. Fifteen escaped with Duan Xu as a hostage and went to the enemy’s camp. Simu followed Duan Xu into the prison, waiting to see if he would make a plea for her to release him. But Duan Xu released himself with a pin hidden in his hair, and invited Simu to watch the show. He sneaked into the enemy camp, put on a soldier’s garb, broke into the enemy camp, and started a killing spree. At that time, the enemy soldiers were celebrating Duan Xu’s capture, so everyone was drunk. Simu killed everyone, including the leader Awo’erqi, and put his head into a bag.
Mr. Fifteen gave chase to Duan Xu. He was the only one who could probably fight him, because they were from the same secret assassin organization called All-Knowing. Before the duel, Duan Xu mocked Mr. Fifteen, saying he could not recognize him. He was his fellow assassin and junior brother, Seventeen, who had been missing. All along, Mr. Fifteen was suspicious of Han Lingqiu being Seventeen. Duan Xu let him be suspicious; he even put Han Lingqiu in prison, and told everyone that Captain Han was a Chong spy. Duan Xu finally killed Mr. Fifteen.
Duan Xu was happy that he killed Awo’erqi, North Chong soldiers, and the spy Mr. Fifteen. Then he asked Simu to make a pact with him. He wondered that when Simu tasted the senses, colors, and warmth, she wouldn’t want to return the senses. By then, he would be a living corpse. He also wagered that when that day came, she wouldn’t wish to do it. Ugh, I hope this was not a foreshadowing! But why did he suddenly agree to her exchange offer???
After the spiritual ceremony, Duan Xu told Simu about his identity. He had always been Duan Xu, so he didn’t lie to her. When he was twelve, he was kidnapped by the Chong soldiers as leverage for his father to give out the Great Liang’s intelligence. However, his father told the enemy that the boy they caught was not Duan Xu. His son Duan Xu was with his grandmother; he was the impostor Fang Xian Ye. After he was abandoned by the enemy, his father never came to rescue him. He was taken by a man and trained to be an assassin in a secret organization called the All-Knowing. His assassin’s name was Seventeen. One day, one of his tasks was to kill a family of three. After killing the man and his wife, Duan Xu couldn’t kill their child, a baby, and gave the baby away to a family to raise. Seventeen was punished severely by his master, but Seventeen blinded him and ran away. Regarding Han Lingqiu, who knew the way of North Chong, he was a trainee of All-Knowing but didn’t make it. Han Lingqiu was beaten and scarred during the trial to be an assassin. He remembered Seventeen’s face, but since Han Lingqiu had amnesia, he didn’t know Duan Xu was from All-Knowing.
Because of the agreement, now Simu and Duan Xu’s were bound in heart and pledged in soul. Simu then took Duan Xu away with her Spirit Lantern. He asked her name and Simu told him.
Episode 9
Duan Xu went back to the enemy camp to pick up General Awo’erqi’s head. His army had waited there, and they returned to Shuozhou with victory. Duan Xu entered the city gate with the crowd cheering him up. Even Simu admired Duan Xu and understood why the Deliverance Sword chose him. The sword was born in mercy; it took lives or saved lives. It wished to redeem Duan Xu and cleansed the blood off his hands and the hardship etched on him.
Because now Simu had seen him topless, he asked her to come to bandage his wounds. I think also because he started liking her, and the spiritual agreement bonded the two. This caused Meng Wan’s jealousy. On Simu’s side, Yan Ke was also jealous when he visited her and gave her a painting of pine and cypress. But she preferred plum blossoms now and described the characteristics that resembled Duan Xu. Yan Ke asked if she was influenced by Duan Xu, but she said he was just her amusement. I had to screenshot Yan Ke’s facial expression changes, from being smiley and sweet to Simu to being dark. Miles Wei was always good at being a villain!
Remember, in the previous episode, Mr. Fifteen suspected Han Lingqiu, Duan Xu’s subordinate, to be Seventeen? Duan Xu once promised Han Lingqiu that when the situation in Shuozhou stabilized, Han Lingqiu could ask him any questions. However, now Han Lingqiu didn’t want to know the past. Now he was Han Lingqiu, the Captain of Tabai Army. Later, Duan Xu told Simu that he defeated Han Lingqiu during the Blindfold Duel and scarred him. He was ordered to kill Han Lingqiu, but Duan Xu faked his death and gave him an amnesia potion, so he wouldn’t remember his dark past and could start anew.
The soldiers celebrated their victory with a banquet, and during the meal, Simu kept staring at Duan Xu. Later, Duan Xu wound reopened, and he asked Simu to rebandage it. When Duan Xu flinched in pain, Simu commented that, when fighting enemies, he was like an emotionless ghost, but now he was like a crybaby. Duan Xu seemed to be intentionally getting close to Simu and flirting with her!
Episode 10
For the first deal, Duan Xu had a simple wish: to get to know Simu. With it, also to call her by her real name, not her reverent name. He liked the name very much, and calling her by name made him closer to her. Simu didn’t seem enthusiastic about that wish. I know that at this time, Simu still didn’t have emotion. I guessed she didn’t like being reminded of her human origin? Something must’ve happened in her past. In exchange, Simu could borrow his sense of touch. Because Duan Xu was ticklish, so was Simu, and he teased her by tickling her. And, she couldn’t punish him with her power either, because it was temporarily gone. But Simu didn’t worry too much; she was too busy to be excited about this new experience. Duan Xu became her first touch; she was finally able to feel his skin, breathing, and pulse. She even asked him to bite her. She handed him her arm, but he bit her neck instead. This was sensual!
Simu couldn’t sleep all night and began to touch everything, making a mess in the mansion. On the other hand, Duan Xu lost his sense of touch, which also meant his fine motor skills. He lost his accuracy and even walked unsteadily and stumbled. He Simu proceeded to touch everything on the street, which worried him. When he came to the street, Simu had already broken a lot of merchandise with her touch, and Duan Xu had no choice but to pay for the damage. He saw how happy she was, like a little child, so he couldn’t bear to reprimand her and let her have fun.
During the 10-day rental, luckily, Duan Xu didn’t have to go to war because they’d won. But enemies also came from within. Marshal Qin arrived, and he was arrogant and wanted to take Simu under the guise of “promotion”. Because of her weather prediction, Duan Xu won several battles last time. Simu refused, stating that she was fated to the general, and her fate revelation only served him. The marshal was very angry, and his guard wanted to take Simu. Duan Xu blocked the guard, and Simu feigned fainting. She was exhausted because she didn’t sleep last night. Duan Xu princess-carried her all the way to her room. Duan Xu fell asleep and dreamed about her parents. Ah, it seemed that her father was a mortal and her mother was an immortal.
Episode 11
When Simu woke up, Duan Xu was sitting next to her bed. Because his touch sense was gone, he couldn’t sleep. Duan Xu learned that it was Simu’s rule, not spirit’s world, to make a deal with a mortal to take their obsession. Simu also told him about her parents. She said that her mother died of old age, and her father died for love. Uh oh, why I felt her father sacrificed for her mother, that affected Simu later. Duan Xu thought her parents were very kind to her. Although she didn’t have her senses, they taught her how to play music, paint, and make sugar figurines. They wanted her to feel the world.
The fur pendant Duan Xu gave to Simu was very cute! He made it himself.
Because of the exchange, Simu experienced physical needs such as sleep and… eat! Duan Xu prepared a table full of food, and Simu was busy touching the texture. Although she couldn’t experience the taste yet, she was hungry and ate a lot, much to the surprise of Shenying, who knew Simu barely ate in the past.
While Simu was busy touching and feeling the touch of nature, Duan Xu learned to adjust to his touch sense being gone. He knew he would be in danger without one of his senses, so he practiced walking the street blindfolded to replace the sense of touch with others.
The drama better made Simu reveal her real identity to Shenying soon, because the boy was not only confused by her physiological change, but later was scared of her when he was kidnapped and experienced two Simus! This fake Simu, we could guess who the person was, made trouble when Duan Xu was away to Yunzhou. The fake Simu worked together with a so-called Taoist Master, whose identity we hadn’t figured out. They wanted Shenying to kill the fake Simu (who was actually the real one), to get her spiritual lantern. It was easy to tell because the Simus wore different clothing.
Episode 12
This Shenying was smart. As cold as He Simu was, she never killed or wanted people to kill, so Shenying knew the Simu who asked him to kill was the fake one. He threw the knife back to the impostor and returned the spiritual lantern he took under the impostor’s order to Simu. The impostor wanted to kill both of them, but Simu guarded Shenying and was hurt instead (because she didn’t have her power). She gave the spiritual lantern to Shenying, so no spirit could harm him, and asked him to find Meng Wan.
Well, apparently, Simu knew that the 10th day was over, so her power was back, and she subdued the impostor aka Fang Chang. Duan Xu also regained his senses, and right away, he felt that Simu was in danger. He returned just about the time when the Taoist Master chased Shenying. Simu banished Fang Chang, but she was wounded and also felt pain before the exchange was over. Now she understood the pain Duan Xu endured when he was injured in the past.
Duan Xu found her and took her back to the Mansion. At this time, Meng Wan took care of her. She already knew that Simu was a spirit. Recognizing his worry might stem from love, Duan Xu indirectly confessed to Simu. But she said her evil heart didn’t know love, so he had better say it to someone else. Later, Duan Xu told his love secret to Shenying. Awww, this bro bonding was so cute! Also, that Simu was the Sovereign of Spirits, thus nothing could harm her. Shenying asked Duan Xu to learn martial arts from him, and he would get stronger so he could protect Duan Xu and Simu.
Duan Xu captured the Taoist Master, and Yan Ke punished Fang Chang. Fang Chang mocked him for being Simu’s dog, and he also mentioned Duan Xu. Curious, Yan Ke asked Simu about Duan Xu. She didn’t like him prying into her private life and wanted him to stay strictly business with her.
TL;DR
- Duan Xu slaughtered the general and the soldiers at the enemy’s camp.
- Duan Xu revealed his past to He Simu.
- Simu and Duan Xu made a spiritual agreement to lend his five senses. His first request was to get to know her and call her by name. The exchange was his sense of touch.
- Along with the bond, their romantic feelings toward each other started blossoming.
- Although the external enemy was temporarily gone, there were still internal and spiritual enemies Duan Xu and Simu had to take care of.
I don’t like enemies from within, because protagonists are usually unaware or skeptical of the truth. Let’s continue to the next part!
