Previously…
In Veil of Shadows: Drama Recap Episodes 22 to 25, it was revealed that if Jiu Ying died, so would Wuyi.
This is the final part. How does Veil of Shadows end?
Recap Episodes 26 to 29
Episode 26
When Ji Ling woke up, he saw Bai Ze was dying. He called Ji Ling by his name, not “Master Dragon Deity”. He had long regarded Ji Ling as his family. Bai Ze died, and his spirit merged into the Spirit Control Ring. While Ji Ling was mourning Bai Ze’s death, Wuyi woke up. Since she cut her spiritual tail, she lost her vision. She still comforted Ji Ling not to be sad and not to cry, because she was by his side.
Ji Ling gave the Ring to Si Feng and Hua Qi to forward it to Shiguang, so he could become the true Dragon Deity. Jiu Ying suddenly appeared and attacked them. Shiguang thought Jiu Ying killed Wangyan, and he was distracted. Jiu Ying used this chance to activate her fragment inside Shiguang. Shiguang wanted to pull the Gui Li Sword, which pinned Jiu Ying’s demonic body, and strike at Chi Wen’s body. Hua Qi activated a spell to guard Shiguang’s spirits and isolated Jiu Ying’s fragment from probing into Shiguang’s memories.
What was the reason for the isolation? When Ji Ling gave the Ring to Hua Qi and Si Feng, he made it clear that the Ring not only contained the Dragon Deity’s Power but also Ji Ling’s memories, including Chi Wen’s grand plan.
After Chi Wen swallowed Jiu Ying’s true form, a dragon had to wield the Gui Li Sword to cut Chi Wen’s body to kill Jiu Ying. Originally, Chi Wen planned to seal Jiu Ying in his body first, then separate his spiritual consciousness from his body. He would insert his scale into the host’s body, transforming him into “Chi Wen”. Then “Chi Wen” would go to the Dragon Abyss to kill Chi Wen. Later, he realized that Jiu Ying might take the opportunity to take over his body. So the dragon sons created the 10th brother. Chi Wen sent Ji Ling to guide Shiguang. However, during the process, Ji Ling discovered that the guidance plan didn’t work smoothly. So, he pretended to collude with Jiu Ying and tried to trick her into her own demise. Shiguang finally understood what Ji Ling had done.
Shiguang transformed into a complete dragon and killed the Fox Queen’s Jiu Ying. He then saw his brother Chi Wen. He ordered Shiguang to kill him, as he bore Jiu Ying’s true form inside him. Heartbroken, Shiguang did as his brother asked. The Oracle Stone announced the arrival of the new Dragon Deity. Ji Ling brought Wuyi a flower bouquet. They pledged to be together forever, and finally they became husband and wife.
Episode 27
When Wuyi woke up the next morning, she could see again, but Ji Ling had gone! Wuyi found Attendant Ye Changsheng weeping. He told her that Ji Ling had given his dragon scale (snatched from Li Jie) to give Wuyi eyesight and dissipated.
Meanwhile, Yuan Wuhuo, who borrowed Li Jie’s body, was dying. Before death, he shared their background in Li Jie’s spiritual consciousness. Yuan Wuhuo explained to Li Jie that their likeness, the mortal Yuan Wuhuo, had two obsessions in his life. First, protecting his brother. Second, freeing Ji Ling from his hollow existence as the “Dragon Deity”. When the twin Six-Eyed Butterfly Demons devoured the mortal Yuan Wuhuo, they absorbed these two obsessions. They became Yuan Wuhuo, who tried to kill Ji Ling to free him, and Li Jie, who was protective of Ji Ling. Yuan Wuhuo finally died and Li Jie woke up.
After killing the Fox Queen’s Jiu Ying and slaying Jiu Ying’s true form inside Chi Wen’s body, Shiguang, Wangyan, and You Chi travelled to the Formless Moon Sect to deal with Jiu Ying’s fragment inside the Oracle Stone. Naturally, the other foxes defended the Stone. Wangyan took them to the Sacred Pool to share her memories with them, thus informing them about Jiu Ying. Shiguang then destroyed the Oracle Stone.
With the announcement of the arrival of the new Dragon Deity, people flocked to the Dragon Deity Temple to pay respect to Shiguang. At the same time, the Shilin Sect also mourned the death of Ji Ling. Wuyi dressed one puppet in the Dragon Deity’s robe and treated it as Ji Ling. Li Jie wandered around the Temple, lost in his memory of Ji Ling. He went to the secret room that stored Ji Ling puppets and saw Ji Ling’s Heart Stone. Ji Ling had used it to bring the puppets to life. Li Jie wanted to bury the Heart Stone and build a tombstone. However, suddenly, he saw a trace of Chi Wen’s spirit. Chi Wen said that he would take the Heart Stone, which contained Ji Ling’s memories, back to the Dragon Abyss and bathe in the sun and the moon. Who knows, in thousands of years, the Stone would cultivate a human. Later, Li Jie insisted that Ji Ling was the former Dragon Deity, not Chi Wen. Shiguang was not angry at Li Jie; he solemnly acknowledged Ji Ling. Later, Li Jie told Shiguang about Chi Wen taking the Heart Stone to the Dragon Abyss.
Wangyan tried to comfort her sister Wuyi, urged her to live well, as it was Ji Ling’s wish. Wangyan invited Wuyi to return with her to the Formless Moon Sect. However, as soon as Wangyan left Wuyi, Jiu Ying’s fragment inside Wuyi was suddenly activated. Jiu Ying revealed that he not only put his fragment inside her, but also a piece of the Oracle Stone. The Stone nurtured his fragment to live. As long as the piece of the Stone inside Wuyi remained, Jiu Ying would never die. Jiu Ying took Ji Ling’s face and tried to persuade Wuyi’s mind.
Now that he had become the Dragon Deity, Shiguang proposed marriage to Wangyan. Wangyan went back to her Sect to persuade the others to free themselves from the Sect. While she was there, suddenly Wuyi arrived. Only at this time, Wuyi had been completely controlled by Jiu Ying! She used the Word Magic to control them.
Episode 28
Jiu Ying ordered the foxes to activate the ancient Nuwa Formation. This Formation would reveal the four divine trees that serve as the pillars of the earth. Jiu Ying wanted to overthrow the trees and cause the heaven and earth to collapse, and all living things to be destroyed. Wangyan managed to escape with one of the foxes and ran to the Shilin Temple. Her fox sister died, and in sadness, Wangyan told Shiguang about what happened in the Formless Moon Sect. They must save the four trees. The Tree of Water was the throne in the Formless Moon Palace. The Tree of Earth at the Crying Elm in the desert (where they went and got trapped in the illusions). The Tree of Fire was in the Wei mansion’s weaving workshop. And lastly, the Tree of Metal, or the Golden Scale Tree, was in the Shilin Sect.
Jiu Ying started attacking the trees. Earthquakes emerged. People flew in terror and sought refuge in the Shilin Sect. Li Jie brought others to help Shiguang. Shiguang assigned them to counter the threats on each tree based on their attributes. Mo Yuntan to use water to defeat fire, Jin Zheng to use gold to defeat wood, and Li Jie to use earth to defeat water. Meanwhile, Hua Qi was assigned to defeat the metal, but Jiu Ying appeared and attacked Shiguang. Hua Qi stayed to protect Shiguang. Wangyan tried to fight Jiu Ying, but he took Wuyi’s appearance, so it was difficult for Wangyan to fight her.
You Chi left Shilin Sect before because he felt useless. Since Shiguang had been surrounded by powerful people, he felt he was not needed anymore. However, when he felt the disaster of the earth, You Chi returned to the Shilin Sect. He faced a bewitched nine-tailed fox demon and fought her. Despite being mocked for being a low-level weasel demon, You Chi snatched her Shiling Sect token. Remember, this Token allowed anyone to pass by Sect’s traps. Without the pass, the Sect’s trap annihilated the fox.
Even if Shiguang and Hua Qi joined forces, they still couldn’t defeat Jiu Ying. Shiguang suddenly remembered the Oracle Stone message:
The old dragon falls. The new dragon rises. Heaven and earth tremble. Chaos fills the world. An old soul returns against time. A new moon reshapes the world.
He realized that the “old soul” referred to Ji Ling. He then handed the Star Stone to Hua Qi. This Star Stone was given by Shiguang’s master, Xie Lingxi, for an emergency need. Shiguang smeared Hua Qi’s hand with his dragon blood and instructed Hua Qi to go to the Dragon Abyss to activate the Stone Star illusion with his blood and bring Ji Ling’s Heart Stone inside. The reason Shiguang asked this was that a moment in the human world was thousands of years in the illusion. As long as Ji Ling’s Heart Stone entered the illusion, his spirit would be reborn.
While Shiguang and Wangyan were fighting Jiu Yin, the reborn Ji Ling came back bringing Shiguang’s master Xie Lingxi, Mo Yuntan, Jin Zheng, Hua Qi, and Li Jie. Shiguang was confused as to why the others who were sent to other trees returned. The reborn Ji Ling freed the foxes from Jiu Ying’s control. The foxes contacted Wangyan through the Pearl and decided to sacrifice themselves to protect the Four Divine Trees. They felt ashamed and regretful of being manipulated by Jiu Ying. Wangyan was also ready to sacrifice herself, so she lied to Shiguang that she would check the Metal Tree. When she got there, she found You Chi, who was dying. You Chi asked her to relay his final message to Shiguang, that he didn’t run away. You Chi eventually died.
The others were left fighting Jiu Ying. Deep within her consciousness, Wuyi woke up seeing Ji Ling. She begged Ji Ling to end her life quickly, so Jiu Ying would be destroyed. In pain, Ji Ling and the rest killed Wu Yi. However, although Wu Yi died, not Jiu Ying. The piece of the Oracle Stone kept her alive.
Faced with the deadlock situation, Shiguang and Ji Ling came up with the most painful solution: to go back to the past and prevent Wuyi from being created. Jiu Ying mocked them and said that it couldn’t be done. However, Xie Lingxi had a solution. The Star Stone was originally a meteorite from the sky and was not bound by world laws. Before, he didn’t know why he came here before, but now he finally understood the true meaning of his existence. He facilitated the birth of Jiu Ying with his explosion; now, he would end the demon’s existence.
Episode 29
Xie Lingxi explained the plan. He would forcibly open the rift of time and space. However, keeping the rift open would cause the caster’s body to continue to suffer heavy injuries. Li Jie, with his superhuman strength, became the only candidate to take the blow. Hua Qi had to keep healing him, while Mo Yuntan protected them with his barrier. Shiguang had to fight Jiu Ying with the help of Jin Zheng. Ji Ling would go to the Formless Moon Sect from 50 years ago to personally fight the Fox Queen’s Jiu Ying to create Wuyi. However, Ji Ling had to rely on his own spirit’s strength to open the exit on the other side to go back in time. Failure to do so would leave him trapped or destroyed.
Meanwhile, Wangyan, with the rest of her fox sisters, sacrificed herself to secure the Four Divine Trees. The earthquakes stopped. Jin Zheng and Mo Yuntan were killed in the final battle. Ji Ling, in the time and space rift, had a problem breaking through the Formless Moon Palace. The Spirit Controlling Ring suddenly shone brightly and brought back the remnant souls of Ji Can, Xiao Wei, Wu Zhiqi, Han Ba, and Bai Ze. They helped Ji Ling to reach the six-flower state. With it, he was able to enter the Formless Moon Palace. He snatched the piece of Oracle Stone and killed the fake Fox Queen.
In real time, Wuyi woke up, took out the piece of Oracle Stone, and asked Shiguang to destroy it with his Gui Li sword. She knew she would perish with it; she felt no regret. Shiguang destroyed the piece. However, he was completely devastated when he found out that Wangyan had sacrificed herself to secure the Metal Tree.
Meanwhile, Wuyi in the time and space rift was born, but without the fragment of Jiu Ying, nor the piece of Oracle Stone. Although she didn’t recognize Ji Ling, she felt inexplicably peaceful. She cooperated with Ji Ling to pour their spiritual power into the rift and turned the time back.
The World was reborn, without Jiu Ying. Since Ji Ling put the piece of the Oracle Stone back into its body, the Stone was intact and delivered a new oracle: “The old dragon falls, the new dragon rises. Rewind the river of time; a new chapter has started.” Shiguang was the new Dragon Deities; he was surrounded by You Chi, who was the Commander of the Shilin Sect, Li Jie, Hua Qi, Jin Zheng, Si Feng, and Mo Yuntan. You Chi was really a serious Commander, haha! Shiguang was the only one who remembered the old world, so naturally, he missed Wangyan. Wangyan was reborn in the Formless Moon Sect but didn’t have her memory. Shiguang visited her and showed her their vowed bracelet. She was surprised it contained her hair. He said that was a long story to tell her, and they both smiled. Li Jie, not a Commander, decided to leave the Sect to follow the voice deep in his heart that was always calling him.
What happened to Ji Ling and Wuyi? Because they didn’t come out of the time and space rift as warned by Xie Lingxi, they conveniently became mortals in another time and space. Ji Ling worked in a flower shop. Wuyi stopped by, but she didn’t have money to buy flowers and left. Ji Ling picked flowers here and there and chased her down. He gave her a free bouquet. In return, she gave the fresh raspberries she picked. It was like before. Only this time, their wishes to be mortals were fulfilled.
“No matter how the universe changes, I will always be by your side.”
Summary of Final Part (Major spoiler not hidden)
- This Jiu Ying was extremely hard to kill because of its many bodies. Many characters died sacrificing themselves to annihilate the demon.
- The Star Stone, who was not of this world, opened the time and space rift for Ji Ling to go back 50 years, killed the fake Fox Queen, put the Oracle Stone back, and, with Wuyi, closed the time rift.
- A new world was reborn. Shiguang was a Dragon Deity with everyone else alive. He went to see Wangyan, who didn’t have any memory of the old world, and gave her their vowed bracelet.
- Ji Ling and Wuyi met again as mortals in another time and space.
Mini Review
- The story is unique, but extremely confusing.
- There are so many characters, and several actors/actresses played more than one character or have several names.
- The romance between Tian Jiarui’s characters and Ju Jingyi’s characters is very sweet with great chemistry.
- Joseph Zeng and Chen Duling’s characters are underutilized. Theirs are more like supporting characters.
- Stunning and high-fantasy visuals with beautiful costumes and makeup.
- Final rating based on my rating system: 9.0/10 (+0.5 for unique premise, +0.5 for Ji Ling and Wuyi’s romance, +0.5 happy ending, +0.5 Tian Jiarui’s acting, +1.0 visualization)
Conclusion
Watch it if you are a fan of the mystery genre. Make some notes and rewatch if you want to understand the plot. I hope these recaps help!
