Veil of Shadows: Drama Info and Recap Episodes 1 to 4

Introduction

To keep up with the airing Chinese dramas I am currently watching, I decided to start recapping Veil of Shadows. I watched several of Guo Jiming’s dramas, and I liked their meticulous, high-fashion visual aesthetic and stunning cinematography. The director focuses heavily on beauty, with visually pleasing casts, artistic action sequences, and high-quality production values. I watched the first five episodes when it started, and it was a visual feast!

That being said, I found that the plot was a bit confusing. The drama started with a crime/mystery storyline where characters constantly lie and shift alliances, making it hard to track motivations. In general, with a large cast, keeping track of who is who and their specific motivations is difficult. I also saw from the cast list and relationship chart that some actors/actresses played multiple roles or personas, so there was also confusion regarding character identities.

Therefore, I tried to recap this drama as best as possible, but also summarize the mystery/crime part as I usually do with such genres. I hope that this episode recap article series helps viewers to clear up some confusion.

I will update this part towards the end of the drama with more OSTs, their English translations of OST titles, links, and corrected main character’s descriptions.

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Drama Info

Drama title: Veil of Shadows (Native title: 月鳞绮纪)
Alternative title: Yue Lin Qi Ji, Moonscale, Painted Skin: The Resurrection
Genres: Romance, Xuanhuan
Aired: 1 April, 2026 - ???
Episodes: 29  |  Duration: 45 minutes
Director: Edward Gui/Guo Ji Ming (郭敬明)
Screenwriter: Edward Gui/Guo Ji Ming (郭敬明)

Where to watch: Youku and Netflix

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OSTs

Below are the official MV and audios from Tencent Music Distribution Channel. Fan-subbed full album: Peachey Blossom.

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Trailer

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Synopsis

Lu Wuyi teams up with her sister to pursue a fugitive demon. But when they join with rival hunters, hidden motives emerge for seeking divine power. (Source: Netflix)

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Characters

Main Characters

Relationship Charts

The important supporting characters are shown in the translated relationship charts below. Credits to Wasabi, Mrs Gong, and BaekhyunoonaID on MyDramaList.

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Recap Episodes 1 to 4

Episode 1

A serial murder happened in the city of Luo’an every seven days. Rumors spread that a high-ranking demon was the killer, who ripped off the hearts of the victims. To keep their wedding going, the Wei family hired a demon hunter from the Shilin Sect. Lu Wuyi, our Female Lead, the nine-tailed fox, went to the Wei Mansion pretending to be the bride’s long-lost cousin, Yu Wei. She bewitched the bride, Yu Shengwei, to recognize her “cousin”, and took her in.

Next time, Wuyi, Shengwei, and Wei Qing (the groom) went to the temple to pray. Our Male Lead, Wu Shiguang, staged an act to get close to the Wei family, with the help of his companion, Youchi. Youchi pretended to take Shengwei as his hostage. Shiguang was an independent demon hunter. He was chasing a broken-tailed fox demon, with only eight tails, whom Shiguang suspected was hiding in the Wei Mansion. Therefore, he staged that act to gain favor from Wei Qing and be invited to the Wei Mansion. However, Wuyi was also chasing that fox demon, Xiao Wei. Naturally, she regarded Shiguang as a rival and wanted to get rid of him. Wuyi praised Shiguang as handsome with a good physique in front of Wei Qing and approved him as her “cousin” bodyguard. Wei Qing became jealous and kicked Shiguang out.

Two days before the seven-day serial murder interval, the determined Shiguang sneaked back into the Wei Mansion. He knocked the groom out and disguised himself as the groom. Wuyi found out Shiguang’s deception and told her sister, Wu Wangyan (our Second Female Lead). The sisters were hunting Xiao Wei because Xiao Wei had stolen the Dragon Deity’s power. Wangyan decided to disguise herself as the bride to confront Shiguang.

Meanwhile, the invited demon hunter from the Shilin Sect was Ji Ling, our Second Male Lead, who came with his bestie Li Jie, the demon hunter commander. Alas, they didn’t bring a wedding gift, so they couldn’t go in. Ji Ling and Li Jie climbed the wall and saw the Wei family’s female steward behaving suspiciously. They also saw the “bride” and the “groom” chasing each other on the roof. Shiguang and Wangyan found each other’s disguises and started fighting.

Ji Ling and Li Jie eventually joined the “fun” to block Shiguang and Wangyan. Knowing that she was outnumbered by demon hunters, she pretended to take Wuyi hostage. Seeing Wuyi, Ji Ling seemed to have a déjà vu. However, Shiguang easily freed Wuyi and tied up Wangyan. Ji Ling identified Wangyan as the nine-tailed fox demon, but misjudged her as the serial killer.

Right at that time, they heard a blood-curdling scream. Shiguang, Ji Ling, and Li Jie rushed into the source of the sound. They found a dead man with his heart missing! He held a paper with “Weimiao Pavilion” written on it. His wife was terrified at the corner, and another body was in the frost. Shiguang saw the shadow of a fox demon, so he gave it a chase. He almost caught the demon with a magical net, but there was a sudden burst of icicles, and the fox escaped into the weaving pavilion. Shiguang chased it there and saw that almost everyone was in the room. Before the event, Youchi already filled Shiguang in with info on everyone. After declaring that he was after the serial killer, a broken-tailed fox demon, he said that everyone in the room was a suspect. Then they heard a noise from a nearby box.

Episode 2

The noise came from the groom Wei Qing, whom Shiguang bound and put into the box. Lol, so much for playing detective, Shiguang was the biggest suspect! However, soon Wei Qing vomited blood and went into a coma. Ji Ling, who was also a physician, checked on him and diagnosed a long-term poison.

Wuyi had a neck wound from Wangyan’s sword. Ji Ling gave her ointment, but she flirtatiously asked him to put it directly on her neck. We knew from the first episode that Wuyi was tasked to get close to Ji Ling by their master because he was her fated one.

Apparently, the one who asked Shiguang to come and pose as the groom was Luo Wei, because she was worried about her master. Wangyan denied being the killer despite having the nine-tailed fox demon aura, as per Ji Ling. Wangyan concocted a lie about the killer called Xiao Wei. Xiao Wei thought Wei Qing was a reincarnation of her savior, so Xiao Wei wanted to kill his bride. Xiao Wei became a human by eating a human’s heart every seven days.

Everyone protested when Shiguang proposed that nobody could leave until the culprit was caught. He then proposed a Blood Binding Seal to keep track of everyone, no matter where they go. They agreed, but as soon as the seal was implemented on everyone’s palm, another blood mark appeared on five people: Shiguang, Ji Ling, Li Jie, Wangyan, and Wuyi. They found out that not one of them brought a wedding gift. So, Xiao Wei put the curse on the wedding registry! They were all uninvited guests! Wuyi lied that her family was so poor that she couldn’t afford to bring a gift. The curse on five of them was that they would gradually lose their five senses.

They raced against time to find the culprit. Ji Ling, Li Jie, and Wuyi found the poison and the antidote in Luo Wei’s room. Shiguang and Wangyan went to Weimiao Pavilion, which was a marriage temple. They found that marriage talismans sold in the temple contained a Fox Alluring Spell, which could cause the grooms ripped off their own hearts from heartbreak!

Episode 3

After they applied the antidote, Wei Qing woke up and was angry because the steward of his family had poisoned him. Luo Wei stated that she was in love with him for a long time. Under the marriage spell from the temple, Wei Qing hugged Luo Wei. Seeing this, his bride Sheng Wei wanted to break the engagement, but Wei Qing refused.

Although the poison and the modus operandi were revealed, they haven’t caught Xiao Wei, nor have they learned how to cure the poison on their senses. To lure Xiao Wei out, Ji Ling knocked Wei Qing unconscious and hid him in the weaving room and surrounded it with a mystical array. Meanwhile, Wuyi received a mysterious note and went to the weaving room. She accidentally set off the trap and revealed her true form: a nine-tailed fox demon. Ji Ling and Li Jie wanted to deal with Wuyi, but Shiguang revealed that Wuyi had nine tails, not eight. Wangyan arrived and didn’t have any choice but to reveal her true form to defend her sister.

The three hunters were no match for the fox demons until a powerful demon hunter famous as “Double Flowers” showed up: Mo Yuntan. But the two sisters disappeared after being summoned back to their sect. Mo Yuntan then explained to the hunters and us about the Formless Moon Palace Sect, and the sisters were immortal nine-tailed fox demons under the goddess Nuwa. Their curses were cleared up after soaking in the pool.

In this episode, from Wuyi’s dream we also found out that there was a glimpse of Wuyi and Ji Ling’s past. Wuyi remembered it, but not Ji Ling. It seemed he was a human reincarnation of her past lover, or was he the master of the Shiling Sect in disguise, as suspected by Shiguang earlier?

The hunters didn’t get the privilege of the curse removal, so they had to race against time to find Xiao Wei. Mo Yuntan had already left, and the three hunters found that Wei Qing was dead, having gouged out his own heart. This matter was confusing; he and his bride had reconciled. But on his dying breath, Wei Qing said that “she tricked me.” The hunters examined the marriage talisman used and found there was a hidden name on the talisman: Luo Wei. While the three were trying to figure out what happened, Wangyan and Wuyi arrived.

Episode 4

The foxes admitted to the hunters that they, too, were deceived by Xiao Wei. The deaths were actually a fatal backlash triggered when the subjects, not the objects, under the spell tore the love talisman themselves. Now, who made Wei Qing tore the talisman?

We got to know some information from the Formless Moon Palace Sect, and how the foxes tried to figure out Xiao Wei’s tricks. They would wait for the night to come to lure Xiao Wei out. While waiting, Ji Ling and Wuyi were flirting with each other. Ji Ling kept asking if they had met before, but Wuyi lied. The past glimpse showed that they were lovers, but Wuyi erased his memories. But I was more interested into the ragdoll Ji Ling had with him the whole time.

To lure Xiao Wei out of the three remaining suspects: Yu Shengwei, Liu Weixue, or Luo Wei, the detectives pretended to do a “Spirit Purification and Guidance” ritual. While Ji Ling sat the whole time with Liu Wei Xue and Li Jie followed Luo Wei to the weaving room, the foxes watched Yu Shengwei get a warm cloak. They couldn’t show up since Xiao Wei knew that they were her former sect members. They waited for a long time, but Yu Shengwei never came out. That was when they realized something was wrong with her. Sure enough, when the foxes barged into Shengwei’s room, she was attacked, and her heart was badly injured. The Double Flowers Mo Yuntan, who possessed healing power, couldn’t save her and only prolonged her life a little while. They also lured Xiao Wei out, and he was none other than Liu Weixue!

Although Liu Weixue was Xiao Wei, he didn’t kill Yu Shengwei, because she turned out to be the reincarnation of his benefactor. Liu Weixue worked together with Luo Wei to make Wei Qing divorce his fiancée, but he didn’t. Xiao Wei claimed that he did not switch the talisman that killed Wei Qing. Ji Ling and Li Jie did a quick investigation and came back with some items they believed would reveal the true crime!

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TL;DR

• Our leading characters met in the city of Luo’an for a serial killing by a broken-tailed fox demon. They suspected the killer hid in the Wei Family.
• The Wei Family’s groom was murdered.
• The celestial background of our pretty foxes was revealed.
• Hints on Ji Ling and Lu Wuyi’s past connection.
• The killer was found, but…

The mystery in this first arc isn’t over yet. Let’s continue to Part 2!

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