Introduction
I’m so ecstatic that I was able to watch the leading actress again, having watched her previous dramas as late as 2022. Therefore, I picked up this xuanhuan to recap, despite not knowing what the ending would be. The protagonists’ life journey is amazing, and each demon arc/case is interesting with quirky characters.
This drama makes you think: who can be the real monsters?
Drama Info
Drama title: The Demon Hunter's Romance (Native title: 无忧渡 )
Alternative title: Worry-Free Ferry, Wu You Du
Genres: Adventure, Romance, Drama, Fantasy
Aired: Apr 12, 2025 - Apr 25, 2025
Episodes: 36 | Duration: 45 minutes
Directors: Lam Yuk Fan ( 林玉芬 ) - general PD, Leung Sing Kuen ( 梁胜权 ), Cao Hua ( 曹华 ), Huang Xiao Ying ( 黄肖英 )
Screenwriters: Zhao Na ( 赵娜 ) - chief screenwriter, Lu Yi Ning ( 吕亦宁 ), Chen Chen ( 陈晨 ), Xu Quan ( 徐权 )
Adapted from the novel "Ban Xia" (半夏) by Ban Ming Ban Mei (半明半寐).
English translation: Midnight Scrolls
Where to watch: iQiyi and WeTV
OSTs: Full album (English fansub)
Trailer:
Synopsis
In the prosperous city of Guangping, humans and demons coexist. Demons are skilled at hiding their forms and disguising themselves as humans. Ban Xia, the daughter of a wealthy family, has a pair of strange eyes and can often see the shadows of those who are not there. Because of this, no matter how well-behaved and docile she is, she is still called “crazy” secretly.
When Ban Xia reveals that her cousin’s sister-in-law is a demon, it leads her to be hunted down and she meets the demon hunter, Xuan Ye. The gentle kiss he gave to Ban Xia’s eyes made her thoroughly see the world where humans and demons coexist. As they investigate several strange events together in Guangping City, their relationship grows closer. But the secrets that Xuan Ye carries push Ban Xia away again and again as he gradually discovers that although he is a demon hunter, he might also be a demon… (Source: MyDramaList)
Characters
Main Characters
Ren Jia Lun ( 任嘉伦 ) as Jiu Xuan Ye
Jiu Xuan Ye is free-spirited and confident. After a tragedy that killed his entire family, he bears heavy responsibilities to capture demons and save people.
Song Zu Er ( 宋祖儿 ) as Duan Ban Xia
Duan Ban Xia is a well-behaved, sensible, and obedient young woman. Her only flaw is that she has a strange eye that can see demons. She wants to live an ordinary life.
Supporting Characters (General)
I will put the supporting characters specific to cases in the next section: Story Arc/Case Breakdown.
Chu You Huang (Xuan Yan) – Guangping City Chief Constable
Sima Ling Ying (Fan Shuai Qi) – Court of Judicial Review Commissioner
Chi Xue (Lin Ruo Gu) – Rabbit Demon and Jiu Xuan Ye’s aide.
Ting Zhou (Liu Qi Qi) – Ban Xia’s maid
Duan Ying Heng (Li Jin Rong) – Ban Xia’s father
Tang Ru Yun (Xu Bai Hui) – Ban Xia’s mother
Jiu Cang Ming (Zong Feng Yan) – Xuan Ye’s father
Hong Ning (Chen Yi Sha) – Xuan Ye’s mother
Wen Jian (Vinnie Yao) – Guangping City Chief Constable
Story Arc/Case Breakdown
These are only supporting characters shown on the arc’s relationship charts. There are supporting characters who also appear in several arcs. The listing is based on the order in which they appear.
The Owl’s Wedding Song (Episodes 1 to 4)
Duan Ban Xia attends her cousin’s wedding and finds out that his bride is a demon.
Supporting Characters
Duan Yan Qiu (He Lei) – Ban Xia’s cousin
Man Niang (Wang Yi Yao) – Duan Yan Qiu’s bride and Owl Demon
Sound Eel Demon (Zhang Xi Lai) – Owl Demon’s companion
The Rejuvenating Jade Pear (Episodes 5 to 8)
A Mirror Demon gives women who are obsessed with beauty jade pears to rejuvenate their youth.
Supporting Characters
Ji Li (Hankiz Omar) – Dancer
Xu Zhi Zhi (Chen Fang Tong) – Dancer
Tian Rui (Deng Yun Chu) – Dancer
Chi Wang Chuan (Carlos Chan) – Jade-Pear-Delivering Demon aka Mirror Demon
Zhou Jing Yuan (Xiong Ao Bo) – Ji Li’s lover
The Puppet’s Heart (Episodes 9 to 15)
A Cat Demon leads Jiu Xuan Ye and Duan Ban Xia to the mysterious Reunion Inn.
Supporting Characters
Feng Tian (Hei Zi) – Innkeeper
Feng Wu Niang (Zhang Zi Xin) – Feng Tian’s daughter
The Underground City (Episodes 16 to 18)
The case of Ban Xia’s missing father led Ban Xia and Jiu Xuan Ye to the mysterious and forbidden Underground City.
Supporting Characters
Shen Tu Nan (Zhang Zhen Yang) – Xuan Ye’s martial uncle
Sha Man (Li Yu) – Enlightenment Bookstore owner / Sand demon
Jiang Shang Yun (Han Shuai) – Demon hunter
Xue Qiao (Huo Xing Yu) – Shang Yun’s disciple
Song Qi (Wei Xi Zin) – Underground City guide / Fish demon
A Spring Day in Guangping Painting (Episodes 19 to 23)
A day in a loop in the magic A Spring Day in Guangping painting. Who is human flesh and blood? Who is ink?
Supporting Characters
Xiang Shan / Er Mao (Fu Lei) – Swordsman / Mao second brother
Xiang Feng / San Mao (Zhang Jia Hang) – Swordsman / Mao third brother
Si Mao / “Mirage” (Li Zi Rui) – Mao fourth brother
The Snake Demon (Episodes 24 to 29)
Supporting Characters
Zi Kong (Cao Jun) – Mystic Black Panther demon clan’s First Prince
Xing Xian (Li Jia Qi)
Chi Lian / Mr. Bai / Xing Xian [Male] (Wu Chong Xuan) – Snake demon
Li Xian (Sun Tian Yu) – Ban Xia’s fiancee
Carefree Land (Episodes 30 to 36)
Jiu Xuan Ye’s mysterious past is revealed.
Supporting Characters
All supporting characters shown in the relationship chart have appeared in earlier arcs.
Drama Recap Episodes 1 to 6
Episode 1
Duan Ban Xia returns to her hometown with her father Duan Ying Heng to attend her cousin’s wedding. Duan Yan Qiu is the County Commandant of Nanyang City. He’s smitten with a shadow puppet performer, Man Niang, and adamantly wants to marry her despite the Duan Family’s objection. On the wedding day, Ban Xia sees her new cousin-in-law’s shadow with wings and thinks she sees a strange thing again. She’s been treated by a physician who gave her a calming incense so she won’t see strange things anymore. Meanwhile, Jiu Xuan Ye, a demon hunter, follows the track of a killer demon who escaped from Guangping City to Nanyang City. The killer slits young women’s throats. Chi Xue, a rabbit demon who aids Xuan Ye, informs him that the demon now resides in the Duan Family. When sneaking into the wedding, Xuan Ye notices that Ban Xia may see the demon. On the wedding night, he wants to kill Man Niang, but fails. Ban Xia is there, too, and tries to find out her new cousin-in-law’s identity. Xuan Ye tries to reach Ban Xia and tells her that she has a unique talent to see demons and that the calming incense is harmful for her, but Ban Xia refuses to hear. When she meets Man Niang, she’s creeped out by her. Ban Xia decides to meet Xuan Ye at night in the forest to seek help to save her cousin. He then gives her an incense to unblock her supernatural vision so she can see a mountain demon’s wedding procession in front of them.
Episode 2
After their encounter with the harmless mountain demons, Xuan Ye explains to Ban Xia about demons. He suspects Man Niang is an Owl Demon who bites people’s throats to take their voices. Man Niang is also a ventriloquist. Xuan Ye cannot give Duan Yan Qiu the incense that enables him to see demons because it’s harmful for ordinary people, but gives Ban Xia Bitter Throat pill so Man Niang won’t bite her cousin’s throat. She makes a tonic for her cousin. At night, when Man Niang wants to bite her husband’s throat, it tastes bitter. She suspects Ban Xia has something to do with it and wants to deal with her.
Xuan Ye runs into his old nemesis, Chu You Huang, the Guangping City Chief Constable. He comes to Nanyang to track the throat-slit killer. From him, we find out that Xuan Ye is a physician, and that six years ago, the entire Jiu Family was murdered, leaving Xuan Ye the only survivor and still a suspect in the Chief Constable’s eyes. Xuan Ye argues that his family was killed by demons.
At night, while Duan Yan Qiu and his men are away, Man Niang enchants everyone in Duan Mansion to sleep. She wants to kill Ban Xia, but she’s the only one in the entire house who is awake. It is possibly because she drank the potion given by the mountain demons last time? While Man Niang is chasing her, Xuan Ye comes and lures Man Niang away. She escapes and changes to her original form, which is a bird. But it doesn’t look like an owl, tho! The next day, she comes back to kill Ban Xia again, but Xuan Ye kills her for good. Seeing Man Niang’s real demon form, Ban Xia believes Xuan Ye, but can help feeling sorry for her cousin who has lost his wife.
So at night, Ban Xia sneaks out again to find Xuan Ye and brings him food. Finally, they officially introduce each other! Xuan Ye assures her that Man Niang is gone for good. He will return to Guangping City since his mission is over. He advises her not to deceive herself by pretending not to see demons. Ban Xia argues, she just wanted to save her cousin, not to be a demon hunter. Now she just wants to live an ordinary life. Xuan Ye then gives her a talisman to guard her from evil demons and tells her where to find him in Guangping City. Since he’s a physician, he runs Ganshan Clinic. When Ban Xia walks home in the dark forest, Xuan Ye secretly watches her, and the cute rabbit demon Chi Xue sends out myriads of fireflies to enlighten her path. Awww!
Episode 3
Ban Xia arrives home safely, thanks to Xuan Ye and Chi Xue secretly guarding her. Her father, who has been out for business for several days, is home. Ban Xia wants to talk to him about what happened to Man Niang, but he looks tired, so she waits until morning. While she’s sleeping, she has a nightmare again being chased by a black panther when she was little, and a boy named Man Ying saved her. Instead of a scary nightmare, we see a fantastical scene below. Don’t tell me that Man Ying and Xuan Ye are the same, and the drama uses the same ol’ trope called childhood connection!
In the morning, the servants are surprised when Ban Xia tells them that her father is back. Apparently, not! In a hurry, her cousin comes and takes her to a burned-down building. Duan Ying Heng’s body is there, burned! The death time is between 9 to 11 pm. However, Ban Xia believes her father is not dead because she saw him past midnight! Later, she and her maid Ting Zhou investigate her father’s room and find a mirror that doesn’t reflect them! Ban Xia brings the suspicious mirror in front of her family, but the mirror reflects again. She believes there is a demonic work, but her family doesn’t believe her. They tell her to see the physician again and take her medications. Ban Xia’s fiancé will also pick her up once he’s done with his work. Ban Xia decides to leave the Duan Mansion with her maid and go to Guangping City.
Meanwhile, Xuan Ye and Chi Xue try to lure out the Sound Eel Demon, the Owl Demon’s companion, to kill him. Chu You Huang interrupts their fight. The wounded demon runs into a brother in disguise and forces a courtesan to play music to heal him. Since the courtesan has been playing music all night long, the brothel owner calls the police. Chu You Huang arrives. The Sound Eel Demon bewitched the courtesan to play all night long, and was about to kill Chu You Huang when Xuan Ye arrives and fights the demon to turn him into his original eel form.
Episode 4
Ban Xia and Ting Zhou arrive in Guangping City and meet Xuan Ye. She asks him to help her with her father’s case since she believes he’s still alive and is taken by demons. She shows him the mirrors as evidence. However, Xuan Ye refuses to help her, even with a lot of money. He argues that when he came to Nanyang, it was because the Guangping City Governor paid him handsomely. Now he has another case to work on.
The eel runs away, and now Xuan Ye and Chi Xue are busy looking for Ban Xia and Ting Zhou because the eel will avenge the death of his companion. Meanwhile, Ban Xia decides to stay in Guangping City and rents a shop just behind Xuan Ye’s pharmacy. She suspects that Xuan Ye’s refusal is not about money but another reason. In the evening, she comes bringing Xuan Ye and Chi Xue cakes and cookies and tells them that she has moved in next door, lol!
Meanwhile, there is a murder case in Guangping City. Madam Zhang from Zhang Mansion appears to be abducted. The police find an old woman’s body in exchange, wearing Madam Zhan’s jewelry and clothing.
Ban Xia and Ting Zhou go to a temple to pray. While waiting for the rain to stop, they make an acquaintance with two dancers from the Yunmen Dance Troupe, Ji Li and Xu Zhi Zhi. From Xu Zhi Zhi, who grew up in the neighborhood where Ban Xia rents a shop, we get to know Xuan Ye’s family background. Six years ago, the Jiu family was killed overnight, the father, mother, elder brother, and even the people who worked with them. The younger brother, Xuan Ye, was suspected of killing them all due to jealousy because the parents wanted to leave all the inheritance to the elder brother.
Sure enough, at night, while Ban Xia is sleeping, the Eel Demon wants to kill her. Xuan Ye has been watching Ban Xia (he also overheard Xu Zhi Zhi tell Ban Xia about his family background. Xuan Ye catches the demon, changes him back to an eel, and releases him into the water.
The next day, Ban Xia comes to Ganshan Clinic, pretending that she’s not feeling well. She knows Xuan Yue overheard the convo at the temple yesterday, but she believes Xuan Ye is a good person and didn’t kill his family. If yes, there must be a reason. She follows Xuan Ye wherever he goes and offers him money and her supernatural skill to see demons. When they’re on the busy street, they meet two boys who fish near Underground City. Ban Xia overhears Xuan Ye warn the boys not to get close to the place because demons and bad guys live there. Ban Xia wants to go there because her father might be kidnapped there. Ban Xia keeps persuading Xuan Ye and even takes him to eat at the restaurant where the Yunmen Dance Troupe will perform. While watching them dance, the top dancer Tian Rui spins in the air, falls onto the floor, and dies.
Episode 5
The police are called to investigate the death of Tian Rui. Lord Geng Zhen, the Prefectural Governor of Guangping, is surprised seeing Tian Rui, who still looked the same, since he had seen her dancing a decade ago. While the police are discussing the case, they suddenly see Tian Rui change into an old woman!
Wen Jian, Chief Constable of Guangping City, wants to ask Xuan Ye for help since he believes this must be a demon case, like the killer who slit throats last time. Luckily, he finds Xuan Ye sitting for his turn to be questioned, along with Banxia and other dancers, restaurant workers, and guests. Wen Jian brings Xuan Ye to the Governor, but Xuan Ye doesn’t want Ban Xia to go with him, so she’s waiting outside. While waiting, she overhears several constables discuss how Tian Rui’s corpse changed into an old woman. The constables spilled Tian Rui’s belongings. Ban Xia helps them and happens to grab a mirror that, again, doesn’t show her reflection! She wants to see the mirror again, but a constable refuses to give her a piece of evidence. Xuan Ye goes with Wen Jian to Tian Rui’s residence, which hasn’t been lived in for a long time. There, he sees a dried pear peel. Xuen Ye informs Wen Jian about the rejuvenating jade pear and the pear-delivering demon. Since the dancer is obsessed with maintaining her beauty, they suspect Tian Rui summoned the demon. Xuan Ye wants to inspect the corpse, but his nemesis Chu You Huang prohibits him, so he can only send the rabbit demon.
At night, not only Chi Xue who sneaks into the police station, but Ban Xia as well, lol! She wants to grab the mirror. Chi Xue sends out mosquito demons who make the constables fall asleep. He sneaks in to steal the corpse and brings it to the Clinic. When Xuan Ye hears that Ban Xia is also at the mortuary and Chi Xue traps her, Xuan Ye runs to release her. Luckily, Chu You Huang and a constable are also at the mortuary. Xuan Ye manages to distract Chu You Huang and rescues Ban Xia. But Ban Xia is very angry, so she slaps Xuan Ye. In turn, at home, he slaps Chi Xue, lol! Ban Xia then yells for Xuan Ye to come over. She gives him the mirror and wants him to include her in the investigation.
Wen Jian, and Ban Xia are at the Clinic to examine the body. Her stomach is missing, Xuan Ye only finds a tree root. They want to summon the demon using the mirror Ban Xia took, using a female bait who is none other than Ban Xia!
Now we know who the culprit is in the killing of the dancer. It’s Chi Wang Chuan, Mirror Demon aka Jade-Pear-Delivering Demon. He visits none other than Ji Li and forces her to eat another jade pear. Ji Li is unhappy knowing that he killed Tian Rui. She wants to quit, but the troupe manager wants her to work two more years since Tian Rui is dead, and Ji Li is the top dancer now.
Episode 6
The operation to catch Mirror Demon fails, and he escapes. Chi Wang Chuan runs to Ji Li’s residence. She spends time with her lover, Zhou Jing Yuan, who wants her to quit and marry him. When she comes home, Chi Wang Chuan is already waiting for her and tells her that his identity is discovered and they need to move to another city. Ji Li lies that she hasn’t talked to her manager yet. Chi Wang Chuan wants to take a revenge at Ban Xia and Xuan Ye before they move.
Chi Wang Chuan targets Ban Xia, since Xuan Ye is more powerful. At first, he bewitches everyone in town to offer Ban Xia a pear. When she runs away, she is practically chased by pears. Pears… pears everywhere! The scene reminds me of an old American movie called “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes”. When Chi Wang Chuan shows up and wants to force Ban Xia to eat a pear, the talisman given by Xuan Ye counterattacks him. Ban Xia runs away looking for Xuan Ye, and finally collapses in his arms!
Poor Ban Xia, she practically gets PTSD from pears and mirrors. But the Mirror Demon is even cleverer. He can show up through reflections. When Ting Zhou gives Ban Xia medicine broth, she sees Chi Wang Chuan’s face on the water! Xuan Ye orders Ting Zhou to remove everything that can show reflections, and Xuan Ye guards Ban Xia the whole night. She can’t sleep and starts talking to Xuan Ye. We get to know her background. She moves a lot because of her ‘sickness’. Her ability to see demons started when she was kidnapped by a child trafficker. She escaped and fell into a pool. She arrived in a strange place. A beast chased her, but she was saved by a young man. The child trafficker also chased them, and she and her savior fell off a cliff. She woke up in three days, her savior was gone, and so was the strange place. Her parents said that it was only her dream. Since then, she could see demons, but her parents told her that she was sick. Xuan Ye teaches her a mantra so she can sleep.
In the morning, Chu You Huang and his guards come to the Clinic to pick Xuan Ye up for interrogation. Xuan Ye set up a barrier around Ban Xia’s room to protect her from demons. However, Chu You Huang detains him until night. At night, although Ting Zhou sleeps with Ban Xia, she sleeps (or is bewitched?) through the rainstorm. Chi Wang Chuan is still be able to enter Ban Xia’s room though the rainwater that drips in through the leaky roof. Ban Xia sees the rainwater slowly forms into Chi Wang Chuan!
Conclusion
Wow, this Mirror Demon is super cunning, and his arc is very intriguing. How will this arc end, and what other evil beings are lurking on Xuan Ye and Ban Xia’s journey dealing with demons? Let’s continue to the second part: The Demon Hunter’s Romance: Drama Recap Episodes 7 to 16!
