Introduction
We have seen the immortal realm in When Destiny Brings the Demon: Drama Recap Episodes 7 to 15, where Sima Jiao and Liao Tingyan met, and how the romance blossomed. In this third part, their story continues in the demon realm. That makes Tingyan a demon, the cold fish one. How will they reunite and fall in love again?
I love the pool scene in this featured image because of all the flower petals in the water. This is when they rekindle their romance in the demon realm. Hot and steamy. The scene is, sorry to say, taken from Episode 25, which will be covered in the final part of When Destiny Brings the Demon ( 献鱼 ) recap series.
Recaps Episodes 16 to 24
Episode 16
Long-distance relationships are bound to have many uncertainties
The fish that Jiao caught was a rare kind called Soul Flying Fish. When Tingyan heard that this species was good for beauty, she wanted to keep it. Jiao said they could also roast and eat it. Although catching fish in someone’s lake was stealing, she dared to do it with Jiao as her backup. Roasting one little fish was not enough, so Tingyan tried to catch more fish. She had a hard time grabbing them barehanded, so Jiao used his magic spell to catch a lot of them. She roasted the fish and made fish soup for Jiao. The funny thing was, Cloudsky Lake belonged to Mr. Shi, so did the fish. So, they were devastated when they saw the fish stolen, and only fish bones were left. Haha!
The bitchy princess, who built the flying pavilion before, practiced black magic and sucked a lot of their disciples’ spiritual energy. To cover up for her daughter, the master sent her to the Luo River Immortal District. It just happened that Tingyan bumped into this bitch at a clothing shop. They ended up wanting a certain satin brocade fabric. Tingyan gave up and left, but the bitch bullied her, stating she didn’t like Tingyan’s aura (remember, Tingyan was still in Yong Lingchun’s body). Tingyan was outnumbered, and the bitch also had black magic skills. She was beaten up, and her face was slashed.
There was another bitch, too, none other than Ruling. She saw that her supposed friend was beaten up, but she didn’t do anything. Instead, she wanted to use Tingyan to kill Jiao.
Jiao was away for several days for a business trip (aka looking for the Spiritual Fire). When he came back, he couldn’t find her anywhere. At this time, Er Jiu was helpful and found Tingyan. Of course, the eight masters found Jiao, too. Jiao offered Tingyan to kill and bully the bitch, but she couldn’t. So Jiao stripped the bitch’s power. He also let Tingyan and Er Jiu communicate with Ruling so she wouldn’t attack Jiao. He did it on purpose, because Mr. Shi was suspicious that there was a spy in the Eight Great Palaces. Furthermore, he suspected the spy was Ruling because he knew she was Tingyan’s friend and was close to Er Jiu. Jiao covered for the real spy, who was Yuan Che. Now, both Tingyan and Er Jiu found out that their so-called friend and lover wanted to kill Jiao.
Episode 17
The man who fights lightning with his bare hand is the ultimate catch.
WOW… I’d never known that sex… it was called soul bond here… could heal wounds… Anyway, it’s better if you watch the beginning of this episode, because it was hot… Tingyan no longer had scars on her arm and face, and there was a yellow flower growing inside Jiao’s Soul Mansion.
When Tingyan woke up, she was in a strange place. Jiao took her to Fenghua City and changed her to Shi Yuxiang, Mr. Shi’s niece. This woman was a good-for-nothing, had numerous toy boys, and indulged in luxury. Mr. Shi despised her, so Jiao thought this was a good place to hide Tingyuan. Of course, now that Tingyan occupied the body, Shi Yuxiang only had one toy boy, Jiao.
Tingyan would undergo thunderbolt tribulation to ascend her cultivation rank to Void Forge. She would suffer 49 extremely painful lightning strikes. If her cultivation was not enough, Tingyan would be in danger of being struck to death by thunderbolts. Therefore, Jiao injected all kinds of magic weapons into a necklace to protect her.
It was the day when Tingyan finally underwent the tribulation. Her necklace was able to defend her from the thunder strikes, but not all of them. When Jiao saw that she couldn’t hold any longer, he stepped in to block the thunder, to the point that he vomited blood. Seeing him undergo the tribulation with her, Tingyan was very distressed. Tingyan braved herself to block the thunderbolts alongside Jiao.
Episode 18
No quest is harder than love.
A lot of stuff happened between Jiao and Mr. Shi in this episode. I would just summarize it for you:
- Silly Yuan Shang died, killed by Mr. Shi and others. His father, Yuan Che, tried to protect Yuan Shang but was injured. Seeing this, Yuan Shang had the last showdown and hurt a lot of people from Eight Great Palaces.
- Because his hand was injured, Jiao used Tingyan’s hand and spiritual power to kill Mr. Shi’s son. Poor thing was so traumatized after her hand killed the guy, she even had nightmares of the dead Mr. Shi’s son. Imagine, she probably had never even killed an ant in the modern world, not even a human! Jiao regretted forcing Tingyan, so he went into her Soul Mansion to heal her PTSD.
Episode 19
Immortal and demon on separate paths, parted by life and death.
Jiao found the second Spiritual Fire, which was guarded by none other than his father himself, Sima Shi. His father told him what actually happened that time, how they tricked Mr. Shi. Long story short, Shi held the Spiritual Fire in his body as a container. Now that Jiao was here, Shi merged with the Spiritual Fire, and Jiao absorbed it to fulfil his father’s last wish. Mr. Shi sensed that Sima Shi’s Spiritual Fire he had kept all this time, had been found, so he ordered people to capture Jiao.
What a super short reunion!
Meanwhile, Mr. Shi threatened Ruling to find and capture Tingyan or her clansmen would die. Jiao, who was fighting with Mr. Shi, received a message that Tingyan was in danger. To end the battle, he destroyed the Black Lotus Pond where Mr. Shi used to keep the Spiritual Fire. He also destroyed Taixuan Peak, Mr. Shi’s home. Mr. Shi mocked Jiao because, unfortunately, Tingyan was taken there after being captured. When fire and stone rained over Taixuan Peak, everyone fled. Ruling released Tingyan and quickly said she couldn’t run away because Mr. Shi held her clansmen.
After Mr. Shi told Jiao that Tingyan would die, too, because Taixuan Peak was destroyed, Jiao flew away anxiously. Unfortunately, Tingyan died in a fire. Jiao arrived late, and no matter how hard he looked for her, he only found her protective necklace. He couldn’t even find her soul. Jiao was so devastated and collapsed.
18 years later…
That little, cute teacher was still teaching, as young as before. He said that because Lord of Mercy, Jiao, lost his cultivation partner, his spirit collapsed, and he gave in to inner demons and never woke up. However, the Immortal Demon Barrier cracked, and demons broke in. The immortals were busy fighting the demons. Wow, Nian Ju was now a handsome immortal general, wearing gold and white battle garb. He had a comrade, Chi Anhe. Yuan Che was still there, too. Luckily, Jiao’s ally didn’t die.
Because the demon wreaked havoc on the Gengchen Immortal Palace, Jiao finally woke up and destroyed them all. Nian Ju briefed him that the Shi Clan was almost annihilated, but Mr. Shi had disappeared. Jiao was suspicious that he might be in the Demon Realm, so he and Nian Ju went there.
There was a new villain on the block. He was You Yan, former Demon Lord, who had waited to restore his soul and just needed Jiao’s Fengshan Blood. Oh, apparently Tingyan was a demon called Frost Fish. She was the only one who was supposed to be a spy before. But, since Jiao now had two Spiritual Fire, Frost Fish couldn’t kill him, not with the help of the ancient artifact Xingtian Chain. This Frost Fish must be attached to the chain.
What, now Tingyan was Mr. Chi’s daughter??? They lived in Celestial Crane City.
I liked it that the Tingyan here, or Shi Yan, was no longer a weak woman. With Void Forge cultivation level, she could fight demon thugs.
Episode 20
Given the average lifespan in the cultivation world, it’s only a brief parting.
The episode title above was ironically funny. It means people in the cultivation world die fast and reincarnated fast.
Yes, Tingyan was reincarnated. Yes, you read it right, she was Mr. Chi’s daughter. To be exact, Mr. Chi found her and took her in as his daughter. However, Tingyan, or let us use her current name Shi Yan, knew she was a time traveller. But she didn’t remember at all becoming a disciple of Serene Vale and Jiao’s assistant, then his lover. And, Mr. Shi always fed her an unhealthy dose of hate and fear over Sima Jiao, the scary Grandmaster had killed her brother, and now that he was awake, he was after her. Moreover, she had to avenge her dead brother.
Shi Yan had to leave home to get winter supplies. Mr. Shi gave her a mask, so Jiao wouldn’t be able to find her. Shi Yan worked as a corpse collector. Was it like a trash collector in the modern world? Before working, she stopped by a tavern, lamenting her hard life. Shi Yan carved her name on the table. The “Yan” was the same as “Yan” in Tingyan.
Not only did Tingyan get reincarnated, but Ruling, too. She’s a top courtesan in a brothel; her name here was Hong Luo. Because Hong Luo killed a guest, Shi Yan came to clean up the corpse. Ah, turned out that they were besties. Hong Luo knew that Shi Yan time-traveled, and the guy whom she called father (Mr. Shi) was not her real father. Hong Luo also didn’t remember her previous life. She wondered why Shi Yan cared about her ‘father’, but Shi Yan said that the man saved her. However, every day, Mr. Shi tortured her to wash away her marrow.
Jiao and Nianjiu went to the Demon Realm, and Jiao saw the carving Shi Yan made at the tavern. He remembered Tingyan carved her name before, and the character “Yan” was the same. He was happy that she was still alive, but somehow someone had hidden her. Jiao tried to track Tingyan using blood resonance. He thought he found her, but the woman was Zhou Yueqing. She was Zhou Qing’er and Yan Huan’s daughter. Remember them? Her mother was now dead. Bi’an was hunted down because of her Fengshan blood. Jiao gave her a shield of protection to hide her bloodline.
Knowing that someone had hidden Tingyan, Jiao made a plan. First, he took over several cities in the Demon Realm. This was to gather demonic armies, also to establish sanctuary cities for the immortals who lived in the Demon Realm, as per Yuan Che’s request. Many weak immortals were taken by demons to be their slaves. Once these sanctuary cities for immortals were established, Jiao hoped that Tingyan would show up. Nianjiu would be the new city lord of Winter City. He had followed Jiao for 400 years; it was time for him to be independent.
After taking over several cities, Jiao took Celestial Crane City, yay! He knew this city was bigger and a hub that connected several cities. He hoped Tingyan would be here. Jiao entered the city with great fanfare, riding the giant black snake, which demons called Demon Dragon. The whole city welcomed him. Shi Yan and Hongluo were in the crowd. Seeing Jiao, Shi Yan couldn’t help but blurt out that the guy who besieged the city had such a pretty face. Surprisingly, Jiao heard her voice amidst the cheering crowd and turned his head!
The display of the city siege was such a grand show!
Episode 21
Shi Qianlu, the stock you bought just crashed!
Shi Yan was shocked when hearing from someone that the handsome young conqueror was none other than Sima Jiao! She quickly pulled Hongluo and hid, just as Jiao turned around, hearing her voice. Her father always told her that their archenemy was a gigantic and grotesque monster.
Knowing that the Shi family’s enemy had entered the city, Shi Yan wanted to take her father away, and Hongluo offered to help by lending her money. Unfortunately, Hongluo was killed! When Shi Yan found out who the killer was, she killed him! The guy’s clansmen hunted her down, but luckily, Nianjiu smelled the blood. When he saw her, he knew she was Tingyan and captured her. She was brought to Jiao, who cried immediately.
Shi Yan didn’t remember anything about Jiao, but she was confused seeing Jiao in tears. He was also very sweet and gentle. When he hugged her, because of fear, she passed out.
When Shi Yan woke up, Jiao was by her side. She wanted to stab Jiao, but he grabbed the dagger. Jiao used the truth spell on her. He found out that Mr. Shi destroyed Tingyan’s memories and lied that Jiao was her family archenemy.
Jiao told Shi Yan that she was his cultivation partner. I assumed that when Mr. Shi cleansed her marrow, she became amnesiac. Mr. Shi also taught her to kill. Jiao was surprised that Tingyan had killed someone, considering she didn’t want to kill in her previous life. He promised that he would resurrect her bestie, Hongluo. Although Nianjiu warned Jiao that it would cost a lot of his cultivation.
Episode 22
What’s your lover Liao Tingyan got to do with my Shi Yan?
Jiao pretty much ‘kidnapped’ Shi Yan, she settled down at his place. Jiao ordered to decorate her room and bought a lot of stuff for her. Yueqing served her. Shi Yan’s brain was busy figuring things out. She knew she was from the modern world, but who was she in the cultivation world? They kept calling her Liao Tingyan. Who lied? Sima Jiao or Shi Qianlu? Is Sima Jiao really her cultivation partner? Is Shi Qianlu really her father? She compared the romance with Romeo and Juliet because of the family feud. Haha! I like Shi Yan; she was not only badass but also smart.
Poor Jiao tried to restore Shi Yan’s memory by giving her fish to touch and preparing a lot of food. But this Shi Yan was completely different than Tingyan. She was also still suspicious of him. When Shi Yan slept restlessly at night, Jiao visited her nightmares and saw how she was forced to kill people. He calmed her down in her dream, and Shi Yan woke up feeling at ease. He also healed her facial scar when she told him that she got that from Spiritual Fire 18 years ago, when he burned down Taixuan Peak.
No, not another annoying SML! This Feng Qi, whom Shi Yan saved before, thus wanted to be by her side, sneaked into Jiao’s mansion, and met Shi Yan. Of course, Jiao was angry and jealous. Especially since this Feng Qi acted like he was her boyfriend. Jiao demanded that Shi Yan tell him if Feng Qi was her “boyfriend”. Shi Yan was surprised that Jiao knew that modern word. He said she told him before. Since Shi Yan begged him not to kill Feng Qi, and Feng Qi didn’t want to leave, he sadly let him live and left.
Episode 23
If we still believe in us, then amnesia just spices things up.
Hahaha… the episode title above, they tried to make us, the viewers, not hate this stupid amnesia trope. But… this episode pretty much didn’t go anywhere with the amnesia.
But I really hated Feng Qi, and so did Jiao and Nianjiu. Nianjiu was also annoyed by Feng Qi. Jiao was very jealous of Feng Qi, and he also tried hard to restore Shi Yan’s memory. Jiao took her to the Gengchen Immortal Mansion, where their relationship started. Shi Yan vaguely felt familiar, but her memories had been damaged by Mr. Shi. Jiao was the most patient and the most romantic boyfriend at this moment.
Nianjiu caught Mr. Shi’s sister to get some truth from her. I assumed this was the master whose annoying daughter bullied Tingyan’s Yong Lingchun persona. Also, the one who built that flying vessel was close to Jiao. However, Shi Yan’s aunt’s memories had also been damaged by Mr. Shi, they were all what Mr. Shi wanted Shi Yan to see. So, once again, Shi Yan believed Jiao was the killer who hurt the Shi’s family. Ugh!
This Jiao tried so hard to recover his lover’s memory that it cost him his cultivation and spiritual strength. Resurrecting Honglu, aka Ruling, was already cost a lot of his strength, but he did it for Shi Yan. The funny thing was, Ruling was reborn, from a child, haha! But she grew so fast. The child Honglu instinctively called Shi Yan Tingyan when they met again.
Shi Yan told Honglu that she went to her Spiritual Manor and saw a flower that was similar to Jiao’s Spiritual Fire. That was the pink flower that bloomed when she and Jiao, ehem, became spiritual partners, aka had sex. While she was there, her ‘brother’ Zhenxu suddenly came from behind, and she killed him. Judging from her own Soul Manor, she killed her brother, not Jiao. Indeed, he was the one Jiao forced to kill before.
Episode 24
The brave girl who dated the Big Boss was actually me?!
Let’s hope her memory finally returns in this episode. So far, she only believed that her host body in this time travel was Tingyan, who was Jiao’s lover. But not her.
Remember in Episode 19, there was this former Demon Lord who wanted to take back the Demon Realm? He needed Jiao’s Fengshan Blood to be reborn. Now, he knew that Shi Yan was Tingyan, Jiao’s reincarnated lover, and her so-called father, Mr. Shi. Using his servant, the Demon Perceptor Mingli, he concocted a plan to work with Mr. Shi. They knew, Shi Yan’s weak link was that stupid friend of hers, Feng Qi. So they wanted to use Feng Qi’s unrequited love for Shi Yan for their plan.
Jiao made a lot of cleansing potions with his blood to help Shi Yan regain her memory. Her cultivation was weak because Mr. Shi tampered with it. The cleansing potion helped her go into her Soul Manor. She went to the scene where she killed Zhenxu. By the way, Zhenxu cursing her, it didn’t sound like he was her brother after all. Shi Yan realized that she was not a member of the Shi family, and Mr. Shi tampered with her memory and his sister’s memory.
After the revelation, Shi Yan walked further into her Soul Manor. She found cute stuff that belonged to Tingyan, the fried chicken she loved, the duster she used when she was still Jiao’s maidservant cleaning Gengchen Immortal Mansion, and her diary when she poured out her annoyance to her boss. Then she found a little box that shocked her, because it contained a pair of rings. She was shocked that she had wanted to propose to Jiao before.
Suddenly, Jiao showed up. Shi Yan dropped the rings. He picked them up. When he asked what the rings were about, Shi Yan was angry and left. Jiao tried the bigger ring and it fitted well! They returned to their conscious state. Jiao said that the ring was her gift to him because it was the perfect size. He then put the other ring on her finger. She was still awkward and said that these were not wedding rings but couple rings. Jiao asked: “So, am I your boyfriend now?” Haha… she was still shy, so she said not to rush it.
Shi Yan acknowledged to Jiao that everything she saw in her Soul Manor proved that she was Liao Tingyan. Jiao said that now he believed she was not Liao Tingyan, either. This statement was crucial, imo, because they would meet again in the future, and he would recognize that she was always the same:
“But now I start to doubt that maybe Liao Tingyan isn’t really you. From the moment I saw you, you’ve been the same. No matter what name you go by, I won’t mistake you for anyone else.”
Conclusion
I was glad that Shi Yan, or Tingyan, finally remembered who she was and who Sima Jiao was to her! In the final part of the recap series, their romance would still be in the demon realm, and then some. Let’s continue to the final part!
