Previously…
In Veil of Shadows: Drama Recap Episodes 17 to 21, we were introduced to the last Great Demon Han Ba.
What was the result of the journey to retrieve the last piece of the Dragon Deity’s power? Let’s continue!
Recap Episodes 22 to 25
Episode 22
Wangyan and Shiguang finally came out of the paint, at the right time when the others fought Ji Ling who snatched the goat horn pendant. Wuyi came in, all bloody, and lied that Ji Ling injured her because she found out about his collusion with Jiu Ying. Ji Ling was shocked by Wuyi’s betrayal, but he didn’t say anything. The group believed her.
However, it turned out that the pendant was empty! Han Ba realized that the author of the draft was Sujan. She sealed her memories inside the pendant, but before dying, she accidentally released them. Han Ba was so aggrieved for Sujan that he couldn’t control his power to come out. Before dissipating, he revealed that he hid the Dragon Deity’s Power in a sealed place and only Mu Long could show them.
Ji Ling fled with Wuyi. He confronted her about her lies, but she said she saw him killing Wangyan in the time loop. She refused to release Mu Long from the spell. Wangyan and Shiguang chased them down. While Shiguang was holding Ji Ling, Ji Ling told Shiguang that Wuyi was the one who cast the Magic Word spell. Wuyi lied that Wangyan’s power was higher than hers so she could undo the spell. Ji Ling told everyone again that Wuyi had the power to rewind time. Shiguang didn’t know if Ji Ling told them the truth or not, so he decided to take Ji Ling’s Spell Binding Ring as leverage. Shiguang, Wangyan, and Wuyi then returned to the inn, leaving Ji Ling powerless.
Li Jie decided to stay loyal to Ji Ling, so he took You Chi as a hostage and demanded Shiguang return the Ring. Amidst the confusion, Wuyi snatched the Ring and fled with Mu Long. Shiguang tried to retrieve the Ring, but surprisingly, the Ring didn’t obey him. It acknowledged Wuyi as its master! Wuyi undid Mu Long’s spell so she could retrieve the Dragon’s Deity Power hidden by Han Ba. Wuyi was super powerful now; she could even make Wangyan, Shiguang, and Li Jie bow down to her.
Since Han Ba released his power uncontrollably before vanishing, the drought in Luo’an City escalated. Ji Ling, who was left by himself, drowned in sorrow by Wuyi’s betrayal. He fell into a nightmare of people asking for help from the drought, but he failed to help because the Ring was gone. He almost gave up to his inner demon. At the critical moment, Bai Ze, who was meditating, sensed Ji Ling in distress. He arrived in time to rescue Ji Ling.
Episode 23
The white-haired Ji Ling’s look-alike was called Ji Can. He went into Ji Ling’s body. When Ji Ling finally woke up, Bai Ze told him and us about Ji Can. Ji Ling accidentally swallowed Chi Wen’s dragon scale. The dragon scale became Ji Can, a Lone Scale, formed from centuries of Ji Ling’s loneliness deep in his heart. Ji Can was a demon. The “Ji” in its name was 寂 (means “lonely”), not 寄 in Ji Ling. Bai Ze said that throughout the ages, there were only two Ji Can. One was in Ji Ling, the other one was the moon.
Ji Ling remembered that both Wuyi and the late Yuan Wuhuo had told him that he had a special smell on him. It turned out this smell was from the Lone Scale. The lonelier Ji Ling was, the stronger the smell was. The smell made people sad, it was like their hearts were emptied. Bai Ze explained that only the ones who truly understood him could detect the smell.
Ji Ling realized that he not only felt lonely, but also scared. He feared that he would fail in the last moment and disappoint everyone. He knew that completing his mission meant losing Wuyi, so he had delayed doing it. Bai Ze warned Ji Ling that he had to decide what to do; the longer he waited, Ji Can would go stronger and devour him. Before Ji Ling had a chance to ask Bai Ze what would happen if Ji Can devour him, Li Jie arrived and reported that Wuyi had taken both the Spirit Control Ring and the Dragon Deity’s Power.
Ji Ling, Bai Ze, and Li Jie returned to Luo’an, only to find that the city was scorched and desolate from Han Ba’s uncontrollable power. Since Ji Ling couldn’t help them, people got angry at him. Ji Ling saw this vision in loops. Not only him, but Shiguang saw the same repeated vision in his meditation, and Wangyan in her dreams. With repetitions, nobody knew which one was true which one was not. But they all agreed on one thing: that Wuyi had tried to save Ji Ling in every loop. Shiguan, Wangyan, Ji Ling, and Bai Ze met at the Shilin Temple to discuss their shared visions. Bai Ze noticed traces of Ji Can’s power on Wuyi. Since Ji Can was formed from a dragon scale, the Ring was deceived by Ji Can and accepted Wuyi as its master.
Wuyi saw in the first loop that Ji Ling sacrificed himself to fix the drought in Luo’an. Unable to accept it, Wuyi tried to change the event. Ji Can revealed himself in front of Wuyi and told her that she could save her loved one by time loop. However, every time she did it, she would injure herself. Wuyi did it for 26 loops, and still couldn’t save Ji Ling. That was why she appeared injured in front of everyone last time and lied that Ji Ling worked together with Jiu Ying. Wuyi wanted to steal the last Dragon Deity’s Power and the Spirit Control Ring, so Ji Ling wouldn’t sacrifice himself to fix the drought. However, Bai Ze reminded them that it was destined that Ji Ling would have to sacrifice itself to resolve it. What Wuyi did to defy the fate was similar to what Xiao Wei did to revive Yu Shengwei, his reincarnated benefactor.
Everyone tried to approach Wuyi, but she was determined to change Ji Ling’s fate. Wuyi even used the Word Magic to immobilize Ji Ling, Shiguang, Wangyan, and Bai Ze. But suddenly Li Jie arrived. However, he was no longer Li Jie, but Yuan Wuhuo! He thanked Wuyi for immobilizing the others and prepared to take the Dragon Deity’s Power from Wuyi.
Episode 24
Yuan Wuhuo explained that Li Jie’s body was also transformed from the Twin Six-Eyed Butterfly Demon. Its power reached the triple-flower long time ago. Since Li Jie didn’t have his own sacred power, the mark never appeared. Now that Yuan Wuhuo’s soul had fused with his body, the mark appeared.
Wuyi was injured because of all those time loops; she couldn’t withstand Yuan Wuhuo. She used herself as bait to take the hit from Yuan Wuhuo while chanting the incantation to activate the Dragon’s Deity Power. It caused heavy rain and ended the drought. Mu Long woke up. Ji Ling and others were free from the spell. Ji Ling ran towards Wuyi and hugged her until she dissipated. Ji Ling passed out.
Well, Wuyi was not gone. She woke up in a cave with Ji Ling lying and Bai Ze standing next to her. She didn’t understand why she was still alive. Bai Ze explained that some unknown force protected her. However, seeing Wuyi disappear, Ji Ling fell into ultimate despair and loneliness. Ji Can took advantage by consuming Ji Ling.
Bai Ze asked Shiguang to go to the Dragon Abyss and meet his brother, Chi Wen, to ask for a way to save Ji Ling. Shiguang actually felt embarrassed because he could not transform into a dragon. Wangyan comforted him, saying that what mattered was not his origin, but the love and loyalty in his heart.
Shiguang still had concerns, though. Since he couldn’t destroy the Oracle Stone, it meant next month on the full moon, Wangyan would be forcibly called back to the Formless Moon Sect. Wangyan said she would sever her spiritual tail to be with him. In contrast to the lonely Xiao Wei, she had Shiguang by her side. He was deeply moved, so he braided a bracelet with their hair and tied it on her arm. He vowed to protect her forever.
Ji Can told Wuyi that Ji Ling’s consciousness was currently trapped in a century-old nightmare. He offered to send her back to the past, but warned her that she would only be a bystander and could not change the past. Wuyi travelled back 150 years ago, on the day when the Star Stone exploded. Her spirit was attached to the rag doll, which belonged to Yuan Xizai, Yuan Wuhuo’s brother.
At that time, because of the Stone’s explosion, the Yuan brothers were gravely injured. Ji Ling was a blind little fox demon with no name. With his magical power, he saved Yuan Wuhuo’s life, but not enough to save Wuhuo’s brother, Yuan Xizai. Yuan Xizai died. Yuan Wuhuo was very angry at Ji Ling and chained him in the Shilin Sect.
After Yuan Xizai’s death, his ragged doll was discarded, but eventually floated down a river to the prison where Ji Ling was chained. The doll became his companion. When Wuhuo discovered the doll, he wanted to destroy it. Wuyi’s spirit was stabbed instead. Her blood spilled through the doll, and the fox gained a human body with Ji Ling’s appearance, but in Wuhuo’s eyes, he looked like Xizai. Seeing this, Wuhuo couldn’t bring himself to kill Ji Ling. Later, Ji Ling and Yuan Wuhuo eventually became friends and brothers. Wuhuo let Ji Ling keep the doll, whom he called Awu.
One day, Chi Wen, the Dragon Deity’s son, came to select a candidate who could be the Dragon Deity’s stand-in and picked Yuan Wuhuo. Ji Ling believed his friend and brother were in danger. So, he snatched Chi Wen’s dragon scale from Wuhuo’s hand and swallowed it.
Episode 25
Shiguang took Wangyan to the Dragon Abyss to see his brother. He apologized that he couldn’t transform into a dragon because the last Dragon Deity’s Power was gone. Chi Wen didn’t blame him, as he believed it was fate. Even if Shiguang couldn’t transform into a dragon, Jiu Ying couldn’t kill him either.
Chi Wen asked for Ji Ling. Chi Wen told us about Ji Ling’s background story, continuing from what we had known. After swallowing Chi Wen’s dragon scale, he didn’t die. In fact, he was no longer blind. In the past, Chi Wen gave the blind fox a healing power. However, since the fox was weak, he could only revive Yuan Wuhuo, not his brother.
Chi Wen saw that the fox had a pure heart and was ready to sacrifice himself for his friend. Chi Wen gave the fox the name Ji Ling (寄灵), which means “a spirit vessel.” Since Ji Ling didn’t have any power and he was originally a demon, Chi Wen made a pact with four Great Demons: Xiao Wei, Wu Zhiqi, Han Ba, and Bai Ze to share their spiritual essence, while he lent them his Dragon’s Deity Power. Ji Ling was not human, not a demon, not a deity. He was an immortal, so the price was eternal solitude.
Since then, Ji Ling had lived in the Dragon Deity’s Temple, only with Yuan Wuhuo, the Commander of the Sect, and Attendant Ye Daoxuan by his side. Ji Ling was serious with his heavy responsibility. He was no longer playful, so he stored his beloved rag doll Awu in the prison chamber where he used to live as a fox.
Yuan Wuhuo eventually got sick from the Wasting Disease beyond recovery, and left Ji Ling to die. Attendant Ye Daoxuan also died from old age, and his son Ye Changsheng became his successor. As the people around him died one by one, Ji Ling felt very depressed. While sitting in front of his rag doll, he thought about committing suicide.
At this critical moment, Wuyi, in her real time, severed her spiritual tail and passed out. She used her spirit inside the doll to talk and begged Ji Ling not to be sad or not to cry, because she would always be with him. Ji Ling woke up and saw Ji Can in his consciousness. Ji Ling realized that Wuyi had accompanied him as the rag doll since he was the blind fox. He was no longer lonely.
Before leaving Ji Ling forever, Ji Can warned Ji Ling that he still had to make choices between saving Wuyi or let her die by killing Jiu Ying. Wuyi’s existence was tied to Jiu Ying. If Jiu Ying died, so would Wuyi. Ji Can then dissipated, leaving his power in the Ring to strengthen Ji Ling.
Meanwhile, the demon Yuan Wuhuo broke into the Shilin Sect to kill Ji Ling. Attendant Ye Changsheng and Bai Ze tried hard to fight him, but Yuan Wuhuo was too strong. However, Bai Ze had prepared in advance to fight Yuan Wuhuo. He gave Ye Changsheng the Purple Lightning Chain. When they were fighting, Ye Changsheng attached it to Yuan Wuhuo’s blade. The chain sent thunder to the blade, and the blade lost its power. Bai Ze could easily defeat Yuan Wuhuo.
TL;DR
- Han Ba exploded and died. His power intensified the drought in the city.
- Wuyi kidnapped Mu Long to find the fourth Dragon Deity’s Power.
- Ji Can, Ji Ling’s inner demon, showed up.
- Wuyi took the Dragon Deity’s Power and the Spirit Control Ring because she didn’t want Ji Ling to sacrifice himself.
- Yuan Wanhuo was still alive and wanted to take the Dragon Deity’s Power and the Spirit Control Ring.
- Wuyi activated the Dragon Deity’s Power to end the drought.
- Shiguang and Wangyan met Chi Wen.
- Revelation of Ji Ling’s past. Wuyi sacrificed her tail to be the rag doll to accompany the lonely Ji Ling since his fox days.
Would they be able to kill Jiu Ying once and for all? What will be the ending of our leading characters? Let’s continue to the final part!
