Introduction
Remember, I told you in the second part, Love on the Turquoise Land: Drama Recap Episodes 9 to 16, that these Nanshan Hunters drove me crazy with their ineffectiveness being a ragtag group? In Part 3, finally, the Nanshan Hunters start actively fighting this mysterious army, and there are more non-Hunters join forces.
I was surprised that the production company didn’t even have any group poster, because in this part, there are more active people besides Nie Jieluo and Yan Tuo who work toward bringing down the villains.
The featured image was actually taken from Episode 29, during the final battle with the big boss!
Recap Episodes 17 to 24
Episode 17
To be able to go to Hanlin and meet Xing Sheng, Yan Tuo asked his adoptive sister to work together with him. During dinner, Yan Tuo mentioned Lin Ling and Lv Xian’s budding romance, suggesting they take a trip to a scenic place like Hanlin to spend a few days together and get to know each other. He even offered to accompany them to help Lin Ling. Of course, Boss Lin sensed something was not right with Yan Tuo’s idea, so she ordered Feng Mi to join them. Darn it! After dinner, Boss Lin warned Feng Mi that this was not a real vacation but to monitor Yan Tuo.
The next day, the four embarked on their journey. Yan Tuo secretly informed Lv Xian that he needed to go to Hanlin for an important matter and asked him to help create a distraction. Yan Tuo then faked a severe stomach ache, blaming the buns Lv Xian had bought, forcing them to stop at a gas station. Xing Shen, who was monitoring the situation, got a tip that Yan Tuo was heavily guarded. Xing Shen then contacted Yan Tuo, changing their meeting location from Hanlin to Licheng. Meanwhile, Lv Xian saw Xiong and his men, who was sent by the ever-suspicious Boss Lin. Yan Tuo then suggested that the group go to Licheng, claiming he’d just heard about a hotpot festival there, an idea that excited Lin Ling and Feng Mi. Jiuluo secretly texted Yan Tuo, warning him that Xing Shen was also tailing them.
Yan Tuo made another stop and feigned thirst, so Lv Xian and Feng Mi went to buy drinks. Yan Tuo asked Lv Xian to discreetly check their surroundings. Lv Xian confirmed that Xiong’s car and a white SUV (belonging to Xing Shen) had been following them and now had both stopped. Yan Tuo contacted Xing Shen again, who agreed to meet on the way.
Simultaneously, Jiuluo sneaked into the Boss Lin’s farm and entered an experimental base. Inside, she discovered human corpses and the chained Earth Fiend, Li Yueying. In Episode 15, Li Yueying blamed Boss Lin for making her consume an unhealthy blood bag, leaving her weak and disoriented as a half-finished monster. While Jiuluo was talking to Yueying, Boss Lin attacked Jiuluo. Yueying ripped out the electrical wires that caused a fire and burned the place down. Jiuluo managed to escape. Because of the fire, Boss Lin ordered Xiong and his men to return. Feng Mi also received the urgent call and demanded Yan Tuo turn around immediately.
Seeing this as his last opportunity to meet Xing Shen, Yan Tuo suddenly slammed on his brakes, causing a car behind them to rear-end their vehicle. This car was between Yan Tuo’s and Xing Shen’s cars. When the driver had an argument with Yan Tuo, Big Head, from the Nanshan Hunters, distracted the driver, while Lv Xian distracted Feng Mi. Yan Tuo approached Xing Shen. Xing Shen admitted that he didn’t really trust Yan Tuo, and asked about his relationship with Jiuluo. While Yan Tuo was trying to convince Xing Shen and was beginning to lose his patience, Feng Mi got out of the car. Seeing her approaching, Yan Tuo left Xing Shen after demanding that cooperation require mutual efforts. He agreed with the driver to resolve the accident through insurance and whisked Feng Mi away from Xing Shen’s car.
After escaping from Boss Lin’s farm, Jiuluo briefed Xing Shen on her confrontation with Boss Lin and gave him the mysterious soil sample from the farm that was flammable (that was why Yueying could burn the place down). During the meeting with the Hunters, Xing Shen distributed the list of humanoid Earth Fiends he got from Jiuluo. He admitted that he had had the list for a while but had to verify the source (Yan Tuo), whom he grudgingly told Jiuluo barely qualified as a collaborator.
Episode 18
Xing Shen then contacted Yan Tuo, who had passed the test, and shared the good news with Jiuluo. Right after he ended the convo with her, the creepy adoptive mother showed up. Then she revealed she knew details about Jiuluo, an independent artist, calling her perfect in every way except for her background. She wanted to invite Jiuluo for dinner and to create large sculptures for their company. Yan Yuo lied that because he had a drunken night with Jiuluo in Heyang, she was angry and played hard to get. When he contacted Jiuluo, they concluded that Boss Lin got the footage video from the hotel in Heyang, and probed her info. She couldn’t refuse the invitation, as that would only make them appear guilty. Attending the risky dinner offered a chance to understand the enemy better. Yan Tuo informed what he lied to his adoptive mother about their relationship status, that they were lovers, but then not. Jiuluo clarified, “A lie? So we aren’t lovers?” Yan Tuo confirmed, “Right.” They looked at each other, and Yan Tuo flustered about the lie and the truth, hahaha!
The next time Jiuluo went to the dinner invitation, and greeted by Xiong and Feng Mi, who posed like the researcher and the medical representative of the company. Xiong, who had met Jiuluo before when he was looking for Mr. Sun, wondered if they had met before, but Jiuluo said she had rarely known science people before. Jiuluo made her attendance fully professional and refused when Boss Ling admitted her invitation was indeed related to Yan Tuo. Jiuluo firmly stated her only purpose for being there, now and in the future, was to discuss art collaboration. Boss Lin then sent Yan Tuo, Xiong, and Feng Mi away and tried to talk to Jiuluo about Yan Tuo. Jiuluo said that she and Yan Tuo couldn’t truly get back together. Separately, Yan Tuo also stated the same thing to Xiong and Feng Mi. After the dinner, Boss Lin told Yan Tuo to drive Jiuluo home.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, the water pipe at Jiuluo’s home burst out. It was the Chinese New Year’s Eve, so no plumber would come. Yan Tuo helped Jiuluo fixing the leak temporarily. Since Yan Tuo hadn’t eaten much, having kicked out by Boss Lin earlier, he made instant noodles at her home. They celebrated the Chinese New Year’s together. The festive atmosphere became romantic, and they shared an embrace and a kiss.
Meanwhile, our second couple, Lv Xian and Lin Ling, went to the beach for the New Year’s countdown and set off fireworks. Although their relationship was still as friends, it was kinda cute.
Boss Lin sending Yan Tuo to drive Jiuluo home was not because she was gracious, tho. She ordered Xiong and Feng Mi to search Yan Tuo’s home. I wonder if the burst pipe at Jiuluo’s place was caused by Boss Lin to delay Yan Tuo coming back home? And of course, Xiong found that hidden box at the corner of his yard. Did that box contain his mother’s diary, as we saw him reading it last time?
Episode 19
See, I don’t like it if a couple gets together so soon, because there must be something bad that happens afterward. Sure enough, the next day, when they wanted to get breakfast together, not sure if they slept together last night or not, Boss Lin called and told Yan Tuo to go home to eat breakfast. As Yan Tuo arrived home, he saw several people waiting. He knew he was in trouble, so he turned off his phone and dropped it into the sewer. Inside, Boss Lin confronted him with the diary, and Xiong looked for his phone. Yan Tuo was then forcefully taken away and confined.
Back in the Nanshan Hunter base, Xing Shen found out that the soil sample was unusually sterile. It contained a unique substance that seemed either consumed or merged with all other organisms. He also identified Yuwang Meat mixed into the soil, confirming it was Turquoise Land. Xing Shen decided for the Nanshan Hunters to capture four humanoid Earth Fiends (the less dangerous, of course!).
When Jiuluo contacted Yan Tuo and didn’t get any response, she grew increasingly worried. When Xing Shen found out that Yan Tuo had disappeared, he was worried that this could jeopardize their plan, even suggesting Yan Tuo might have betrayed them. Jiuluo believed Yan Tuo, she feared he had been exposed by Boss Lin Xirou and insisted the mission should proceed as planned. She then met Lv Xian, who in turn contacting Lin Ling.
Two days passed with Yan Tuo secretly confined at home, refusing food and drink. Lin Ling asked her adoptive mother, since she didn’t see or couldn’t contact her adoptive brother. Boss Lin lied, claiming Yan Tuo had a contagious disease and was isolating at home. Later, Lv Xian visited Lin Ling for a health checkup. They conversed casually while secretly exchanging messages on his phone while he was checking her pulse, because the nanny was eavesdropping. Lin Ling also wrote that Boss Lin planned to go on a business trip next week and had grounded her. Lv Xian immediately called Jiuluo, informing her that Lin Ling confirmed Yan Tuo was confined at home, and that Boss Lin would go on a business trip. Jiuluo informed Xing Shen about Boss Lin’s trip and that she would attempt to rescue Yan Tuo while the Hunters captured the four Earth Fiends.
Episode 20
Yan Tuo, confined to his room, had been on a hunger strike for days. He eventually became angry and violently smashed glasses with his bare hands. Boss Lin didn’t care, as long as Yan Tuo lived, and went to her ‘business trip’ with Xiong, Fei Ming, and the other Earth Fiend.
Lv Xian visited Lin Ling, who in turn asked him to stay for dinner. Lin Ling took a chance to offer Lv Xian a special drink. As Lin Ling went to retrieve ingredients, the creepy nanny followed her. To create a distraction, Lin Ling then deliberately cut her hand while preparing ice and feigned a dizzy spell. The bleeding Lin Ling threw the household into chaos, and Lv Xian rushed her to his clinic. He then sent the nanny to a back room for medical supplies. Jiuluo, who had been lying in wait, swiftly knocked the nanny. To clear himself of suspicion, Lv Xian gave his car keys to Jiuluo, and she knocked Lv Xian out as well. Lin Ling left her necklace behind to simulate a kidnapping, then quickly left with Jiuluo, driving Lv Xian’s car, which had already been checked for the absence of tracking devices. While fleeing, Jiuluo got a message from Xing Shen confirming the successful capture of four Earth Fiends. Yay!
Boss Lin and the others arrived at a secluded mountain cave to retrieve the mysterious Yuwang Meat from the water. It was called Yuwang Meat, but it looked more like pink powder. She planned to use the Yuwang Meat to revive another Earth Fiend. Boss Lin then got a call from the creepy nanny that Lin Ling had been kidnapped. Upon returning home, Boss Lin found Lv Xian unconscious and seriously injured. However, she was suspicious of Lv Xian, because the nanny told her that he insisted on taking Linling to his clinic.
Episode 21
Boss Lin, using Mr. Jiang’s phone, contacted Xing Shen. She inquired about the Earth Fiends, which the Nanshan Hunters had captured. She proposed a direct exchange: Mr. Jiang and four hunters she held captive for the four Earth Fiends. She also asked for Lin Ling, but Xing Shen denied knowing her whereabouts. Xing Shen then countered, offering not only the four Earth Fiends but also Chen Fu, the Earth Fiend Jiuluo captured before. He then introduced a crucial demand: Yan Tuo must also be part of the exchange. Lin Xirou was enraged by this condition, because now she knew that Yan Tuo had betrayed her.
Boss Lin then confronted Yan Tuo. She demanded to know when he started colluding with the Nanshan Hunters and revealed that they were proposing an exchange that specifically requested him. They confronted each other about the past, and in the heated argument, Yan Tuo pulled a needle from his magic bracelet and slashed Boss Lin’s face close to her eye.
Xin Sheng told Jiuluo about Boss Lin’s contacting him and the demands. Jiu Luo was surprised that Boss Lin mentioned Lin Ling. Xing Shen then revealed he had added Yan Tuo to the exchange terms, believing this was a way to rescue him from Boss Lin’s confinement. His statement angered Jiuluo, because Boss Lin already suspected Yan Tuo, and this move would only confirm his betrayal.
That night, Jiuluo entered Yan Tuo’s home, finding it empty. She saw blood on the floor, which made her heart sink. Yan Tuo had been severely beaten up and taken away. Jiuluo decided to investigate every asset of Roadsound Chemical to find Yan Tuo’s whereabouts. However, Yan Tuo was taken to a deep, dark cave, Boss Lin’s former dwelling, as an Earth Fiend. They went back and forth, arguing about humanity versus monsterhood.
Meanwhile, scientifically, Xing Shen discovered the function of Yuwang Meat. He theorized that Earth Fiends originated from the genetic fusion of humans and other species. Yuwang Meat possessed the dual capability of both fusing and stripping genes, to reverse the process and revert to being fully human, capable of both immense good and terrible evil. He deduced that Boss Lin intended to use Yuwang Meat to create more Earth Fiends.
Jiuluo decided on her comeback, so she went to the Nanshan Hunter’s base, with some new generation members didn’t know who she was. Jiuluo drew her blade and formally introduced herself as the current Mad Blade. She explained her complicated history, including the loss of her parents and mentor, her initial desire to leave the Hunter life, and how she secretly inherited the Mad Blade mantle, keeping her identity hidden as per tradition, with only Mr. Jiang and Xing Shen knowing. She admitted to once believing Earth Fiends were a relic of the past.
However, she now revealed that all critical intelligence and progress against the humanoid Earth Fiends had come from Yan Tuo, who had risked his life to assist them. With Yan Tuo now missing, and their collaboration potentially exposed, maintaining her hidden identity was futile. Therefore, she chose to return, reveal herself, and unite with the Nanshan Hunters.
While the Nanshan Hunters were happy celebrating New Year as well as Mad Blade’s comeback, Xing Shen privately confronted Jiuluo, accusing her of returning because of personal feelings for Yan Tuo, rather than for the collective good. They argued until Yu Rong intervened. Yu Rong stated that now Mad Dog, Mad Blade, and Ghost Whip, finally united, would lead to certain defeat. Yu Rong emphasized that, despite differing goals between Xing Shen’s and Jiuluo’s, confronting Boss Lin to rescue both Mr. Jiang and Yan Tuo was the common goal.
Yu Rong suggested that since Lin Ling was vital to Boss Lin, it was better for Lin Ling to move to their base for protection than staying with the powerless Mr. Liu. Xing Shen then assigned Yu Rong to interrogate the five captured Earth Fiends for more intelligence, while Big Head and another Hunter were tasked with a comprehensive search of Roadside Pharmaceutical’s assets to find Yan Tuo.
Episode 22
Yan Tuo, had been held captive for ten days in the desolate old Roadsound mining site, his physical and mental states. Despite that, he refused to reveal information about his cooperation with the South Mountain Hunters and Lin Ling’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, the slash wound on Boss Lin’s face worsened because she lost her blood bag, and the needle seemed poisonous to Earth Fiends.
When Yu Rong trained Mr. Sun, who was infected by Earth Fiend, but she found that he had carved his wife’s name on the rock. This led her to believe that, despite his altered state, Mr. Sun still retained a trace of his former humanity.
Jiuluo offered Lin Ling to move to the Nanshan Hunters’ base, but she was reluctant since she loved helping Mr. Liu make dumplings now. Jiuluo decided to stay over at Mr. Liu’s place to get to know Lin Ling and gained her trust. While she was there, Yu Rong showed up and discreetly informed Jiuluo that several long-abandoned Roadsound mining sites showed recent activity, indicating something suspicious was happening.
Although we viewers already knew, another mystery was revealed for Jiuluo and Lin Ling. They found an old photo of Mr. Liu, and when they returned his photo, they saw a familiar face. Apparently, Mr. Liu was an old miner who worked for Yan Tuo’s father. The man in the photo was Li Ergou. Mr. Liu said Li Ergou disappeared, but his cousin, Li Shuangxiu, appeared and became a housekeeper at the Yan family. Jiuluo remembered Yan Tuo mentioning that one woman destroyed his family, who had a surname Li but then changed her name to Lin Xi Rou, which was Yan Tuo’s biological mother’s name.
Episode 23
From Mr. Liu, we got to know more about Yan Tuo’s background connected to Boss Lin, and it was heartbreaking. Rumors soon began to circulate that Mr. Yan had an affair with Li Shuangxiu. Mrs. Yan became jealous, and one day she quarrelled with Li Shuangxiu and pushed the housekeeper into the bathtub, got electrocuted, and died. Mr. Yan asked Mr. Liu to keep it a secret. The Yans buried the housekeeper’s body in the mountains. Feeling guilty, Mrs. Yan turned herself in, but the police couldn’t find Li Shuangxiu’s body and dismissed the case, deeming Mrs. Yan to be mentally unstable. To their horror, Li Shuangxiu reappeared alive later. Mrs. Yan was terrified and wanted to leave the place with their children. Sometime later, Mr. Liu saw Mrs. Yan at the hospital, very thin, weak, and paralyzed. According to Mrs. Yan, Li Shuangxiu forced her husband to draft a will, leaving all his family assets and the mine to her, using Yan Tuo as leverage. Shortly after this revelation, Mr. Yan passed away, and the will took effect after his death. Mrs. Yan, having foreseen her own fate, entrusted Mr. Liu with her diary to be given to Yan Tuo once he was old enough to handle such heavy matters. Mr. Liu gave the diary to Yan Tuo when he went to university. Mr. Liu trusted Jiuluo and Lin Ling, whom he considered as Yan Tuo’s family, so they knew how he had struggled.
Suddenly, there was a commotion downstairs. Oh no, Xiong and his men found the hiding place! They stormed into Mr. Liu’s dumpling shop; luckily, Yu Rong was still hanging around at the shop. Yu Rong immediately fought them. Seeing the imminent danger, Jiuluo quickly urged Mr. Liu to take Lin Ling upstairs to safety, then rushed down to assist Yu Rong. Xing Shen unexpectedly arrived, and Earth Fiends fled in terror. Jiuluo concluded that the dumpling shop was no longer safe for Lin Ling and insisted that Mr. Liu and Lin Ling come stay at her home.
After leaving Mr. Liu and Lin Ling in her housekeeper’s care, Jiuluo went with Yu Rong to a mine that showed signs of recent activity. They talked about the situation. Yu Rong theorized that if Li Ergou was Boss Lin’s initial blood bag, then Lin Ling was likely his blood relative. Jiuluo then remembered Lin Ling’s peculiar reaction to Li Ergou’s photo. Xing Shen’s investigation confirmed that Li Ergou was indeed Lin Ling’s biological brother. After he disappeared (or did he die?), Boss Lin went to see his parents and would pay them big money to conceive more children. They only had Lin Ling before they were killed in an automobile accident. Jiuluo decided to keep this secret from Lin Ling, because her very existence was a mere transaction.
In the mine, Jiuluo and Yu Rong saw an abandoned house. Inside, they discovered a faded photograph of a young Yan Tuo with his parents. They guessed that was the Yan’s house before. Noticing a clean keyhole, Yu Rong skillfully pried open the lock to a nearby cave entrance.
Episode 24
Deep within the mine, Jiuluo discovered Yan Tuo in an iron cage, barely alive. She and Yu Rong had to fight a giant Earth Fiend monster before they could rescue him. But that monster was too strong. Suddenly, another humanoid monster showed up and started to fight the Earth Fiend. Wait… that was Mr. Sun, who became infected and half-human, half Earth Fiend. He came to help Jiuluo (whom he knew from the beginning) and Yu Rong (who tried to tame him). Unfortunately, Mr. Sun was too weak against the giant Earth Fiend, which eventually killed him. Yu Rong strangled the giant with her whip, and Jiuluo stabbed his head to finish him off. Jiuluo and Yan Tuo were in shock seeing Mr. Sun.
Jiuluo decided to take Yan Tuo to her house. She lied to the housekeeper that Yan Tuo was attacked by his business competitors and warned her not to tell Lin Ling and Mr. Liu, who were staying with them. Yan Tuo was silent, withdrawn, and paranoid. When she took a bowl of noodles to his room, she saw the lucky star she had once given him when she taught him to make the paper stars. He had held onto it for strength, poor thing!
Xing Shen came later, and Jiuluo was very angry at him regarding Mr. Sun. Why was Mr. Sun there? Did the Hunters take him there to fight the Earth Fiends? Xing Shen definitely didn’t try his best to save the poor guy. When Xing Shen returned, Yu Rong reported about what had happened. She suspected that the cave was used to transform Earth Fiends into humanoids. The monster they fought was a partially transformed Earth Fiend—a creature in an intermediate state between humanoid and primal.
Conclusion
Wow, things got escalated, and now the Nanshan Hunters and we suspect a bigger scheme of Boss Lin. How many more Earth Fiends were there? Weren’t they supposed to be locked up by the previous generation of the Nanshan Hunters? Why did they roam around on the Earth’s surface now? So many questions, hopefully we got some understanding in the final part.
