American Perspectives: Behold! The Dingkun Sword! Pt. 2 ("Love and Redemption" Ep. 15)

“Love and Redemption” can be viewed on  Viki  or  Youtube  . Dialogue adapted from English subtitle translations by "Destined Love Team at Viki.com." "Love and Redemption," is based on the novel "Liu Li Mei Ren Sha," by Shi Si Lang. The writings presented here are based on observations from the television series.

 

Sifeng and Xuanji are happily sitting by the fire while Xuanji is drying the red outer robe of her hanfu.

"Xuanji, can you identify other colors besides red?" asks Sifeng.

"Linglong said the wedding dress is red.  And eyebrows are black.  Am I right?"

"Yes."

She runs up to him and sits beside him.  "Sifeng, are your eyebrows the same color as what was written in the book?"  She traces his eyebrow with her finger.  "Are they as black as ink?" She purses her lips.

"You're right.  They're black."

"What's the color of your lips, then?"

"They're red, as well."

"But why are our lips and the wedding dress different in color?"

"Both of them are red," Sifeng says softly.  "The wedding dress is bright red in color.  It's dazzling.  Our lips are pinkish red in color.  They're gentle and elegant."

Xuanji rests her head in her hand.  "Oh...there are so many different hues to a color?" She walks back to where she was originally sitting.  "Sifeng, what color is the land, then?"  She jumps onto a rock.

"The land is yellow in color."

She toys with her outer robe.  "Sifeng, there are so many colors in the world.  Which color is the best?"

He carefully stands up. "Red. Because women look best when they wear a red wedding dress."

Xuanji clutches her outer robe to her chest and smiles.  "Sifeng, did I do the right thing by removing your mask?"

"Of course."

"Since I did something right, shouldn't you grant me a request?"

He tweaks her nose, and she giggles.  "No problem," says Sifeng.

"I'll change your dressing for you, then," says Xuanji.  She reaches behind him and peels off his outer and inner robes.  His chest wound is looking better.

"It must be painful," remarks Xuanji.  She gently applies ointment to the cut on his back.

He smiles.  "It is."

"That's why you need to dress up your wounds.  You won't be in pain after that.  Tell me if it's too painful."  She blows on his cut, and then unexpectedly pokes his nose.

He smiles and laughs.

 

Ruo Yu and Little Silver Flower are passed out by the river bank.  Ruo Yu is also missing his mask, which is not good for him.  Little Silver Flower is sleeping on his forearm.

Little Silver Flower wakes up coughing.  She carefully sits up.  She looks at the man laying beside her, quickly realizing he isn't Sifeng.  She sees his mask, split into two pieces, on the grass.  She picks them up and examines.

Ruo Yu awakens, and slowly sits up.  "Yan Ran, are you okay?"

"I'm fine.  Your mask..."

His face changes from relaxed to horrified.  He grabs the broken mask pieces.

"It fell by itself," Little Silver Flower says quickly.  "I have nothing to do with it.  Don't blame me for this.  You should try and patch it together."

"Never mind.  The mask has been broken.  It won't return to its original state.  I will return and accept my punishment," says Ruo Yu.

"I wonder how Sifeng and the rest are doing," says Little Silver Flower.  "We shouldn't waste any time."  She quickly walks away, leaving Ruo Yu behind with the mask pieces.  She turns to look at him.  "Let's go!" she says impatiently.  "Let's go."

He slowly stands up, while continuing to carefully examine his destroyed mask.

 

Little Six and Linglong are still stuck in the hallway of Fox Demon's palace.  Linglong gasps, and quickly pulls Little Six down with her.

"Did you discover anything?"  a male voice says.

"No," responds another male voice.

Linglong and Little Six see four Tianxu disciples wearing masks and hooded cloaks.

"Stop wasting time here," says one of the men.

"Our leader asked us to search from the top to bottom.  We must find those cultivators and obtain the spirit key."

Little Six protectively puts his arm around Linglong.

The Tianxu disciples leave.  Little Six and Linglong breathe a sigh of relief.  Linglong quickly shrugs his arm off of her shoulder.

Little Six rolls his eyes.

"Let's go," says Linglong.  They walk further through the hallway.  "I wonder if Xuanji and the rest are safe?"

"You have the Transmission Bell with you, right?" asks Little Six.  "Try and see if you can contact them."

"You're right."  She pulls the Transmission Bell out of her pink sleeve.  She touches her finger to the bell, applying white energy.  "Xuanji, can you hear me?"

"Linglong, how are you doing?" asks Xuanji.

"I'm with Minyan.  We're fine.  Where are you?  We'll look for you."

"No need," says Xuanji.  "Don't come and find us.  Sifeng and I are at the bottom of a valley.  The undercurrent took us to an unknown location.  You don't need to find us.  You should leave Mount Gao now."

"How could I just leave without you?" Asks Linglong, not realizing  that Sifeng and Xuanji want to be alone for a reason.  "Moreover, I don't know the location of Ruo Yu and Yan Ran."

"We don't know where we are," Sifeng interjects, "but we're safe.  We'll find a way out later.  It's dangerous for you to stay there.  You should report to Fuyu Island.  Ruo Yu and Yan Ran should be fine.  We'll try to contact them after we leave this place."

"Okay.  You be careful then," says Little Six.  "The spirit key is hidden inside the Destiny Pearl in Xuanji's hand.  You should rush back to Fuyu Island and hand it over to the elders there.  See you on Fuyu Island."

Xuanji lowers the bell.  "It's good that they're fine.  I didn't expect the Destiny Pearl to attract demons from Tianxu Hall.  And I didn't expect Wu Tong to be one of them, as well."

"I'm afraid Xuanyuan Sect is gone now," says Sifeng.  "If it weren't for Mount Gao's complex structure, we would've been gone, as well.  Tianxu Hall is far stronger than we thought.  If our sects don't work together against them, they'll become a big threat."  He coughs.

"Sifeng, are your wounds hurting again?  You were severely wounded.  You need some food to recover.  Wait for me.  I'll find you some food."

"Be careful."

"Don't worry.  I have no problem finding food."

 

As Linglong and Little Six find their way out, Wu Tong and his fellow Tianxu Hall disciples descend upon them.  In a matter of seconds, Linglong and Little Six are surrounded.

Wu Tong laughs with delight.  "Chu Xuanji has the spirit key indeed.  We've surrounded the entire mountain, but we couldn't find anyone.  I was thinking that you might be hiding here.  I was right!"  He grins wickedly and laughs.

"Wu Tong," says Linglong, "you gave up on being a human.  You became the lackey of demons instead."

"You wretch!" Wu Tong growls.  "Take them down!"

Linglong and Little Six do their best to fight off the demon disciples, but they are painfully outnumbered.  They manage to harm a few demons, but their chances of getting away are minimal.

Wu Tong watches them and smiles.  With his hand, he summons blue and black energy.  He makes a ball from it, but instead of throwing, he shoots energy from it.

Linglong unsuccessfully blocks it with her sword.  The black energy wraps around her neck.

As Little Six is stabbing a demon disciple, Wu Tong is pulling Linglong to him.

"Linglong!" exclaims Little Six.

Too late.  Wu Tong has his hand around Linglong's neck.

Little Six fights through the disciples.

"Wretch, you're finally in my hands," Wu Tong says to Linglong.

"You pervert, let me go!" Yells Linglong.

Wu Tong is getting excited.  "You're still as stubborn as ever.  Where's Chu Xuanji?"

Little Six gets past the disciples, and he points his sword at Wu Tong.  Wu Tong uses his black and blue energy to throw Little Six back onto the concrete floor.

"Minyan!" screams Linglong.

Little Six uses his sword to help himself up.

Wu Tong is behind Linglong, his hand still around her neck, holding her closely.

"Despicable!" says Linglong.

"I'm despicable?" asks Wu Tong.  He whispers in her ear.  "The five great sects are despicable for trying to hunt me down!" He pulls her back to his chest.  "I still have debts to settle with the Five Great Sects.  As long as you're in my hand, I'm sure your sister will show up."

"Kill him!" Wu Tong instructs the demon disciples, who are surrounding Little Six.

In a cloud of blue and black smoke, Linglong and Wu Tong disappear.

Little Six flies outside, into the forest, frantically looking for Linglong.

The Tianxu disciples try to attack him, again, but with a burst of blue energy, he is able to defend himself.  One of the disciples stabs him in the chest.  Another stabs Little Six in the back.  Little Six continues to fight, using whatever he has available to defend himself.  He is kicked through the air, sent flying backwards.

 

Xuanji finds a fruit tree in the valley.  She grins with delight.  With a lovely movement of her index fingers, she draws forth electric blue energy, and she points it at the tree.  The branches barely move.  She tries again.  Nothing. "Strange.  Is this a barrier?"  She looks around. "I can't cast any spells.  I can't leave, as well."

She sees an unusual looking staff standing up in a boulder.  Could this be causing the barrier?  She decides to attempt to climb the tree before doing anything. She doesn't get far, and she certainly can't reach the fruit.

She looks back at the thick staff, and she pulls it like a lever.  The stick turns electric blue, and lightning forms in the sky.  The stick is still in the boulder, but she is reluctant to let go.  She jumps back, just in time, as lightning strikes the staff.

She grabs the staff again.  Lightning keeps striking at it, and she moves away.

 

The Heavenly Realm notices something is off.  An elder summons four men.  They bow to him.

"The four sacred beasts are here to report the current situation," they say.

"King Bailing is not here," says the elder.  "Just leave the report here."

The four beasts exchange glances.  They hold out their hands, palms up.  A solid bubble appears in each of their outstretched palms.  They tilt their palms forward, and the bubbles drift to the elder, who absorbs them all in his fist.

The elder breathes a sigh of relief.

"It's Teng She again," says one of the four beasts.  "He can't stop creating trouble."

Teng She is in his relatively luxurious prison cell, jumping high into the air, like he's on a trampoline.  He can't go too high, as a barrier formation pushes him right back down.  He tries to run through the entrance to his cell, and again, he is pushed by a barrier, landing flat on his back.

"Ugh!" he grunts.  With much sass, he walks up to the guards at his cell entrance.  "This is too much!"  He flips his long, platinum blonde hair.  "King Bailing only wanted you to keep watch over me, so that I would not create trouble.  But now, I have something to do in the Human Realm!"

"Our King said that if you leave this place, you'll wreak havoc down below," says a guard.

"That's why you won't be able to leave," says another guard.

Teng She growls.  He sees something out of the corner of his eye.  He grabs his ice blue pendant from his hanfu.  "It's glowing!" he exclaims.  The color of the pendant remains flat and opaque.  "Look, it's glowing!  You know what this is, right?"  He waves it in front of their faces.  "When the God of War was punished, her sword was sent to the Human Realm, too.  Her Dingkun sword is hard to control.  King Bailing had no choice, but to seal it away, and he gave the medallion to me."  He sticks his nose in the air.  "That's why I became Teng She.  Someone is trying to take the Dingkun Sword!  Let me leave and check that out!"  He glances at the pendant, and notices it isn't glowing.

"My Lord," says a guard. "You're the Guardian of Dingkun Sword.  This is not a joke.  Please stop joking around."

"Glow!" Teng She growls at his pendant.  He slaps it a few times. "Glow now!  Hurry up and glow!"

"Teng She, if you do this again, I'll call for Lord Green Dragon."

Teng She looks at the guard with disgust.  He slowly lowers his pendant and looks around.  "Fine.  I won't argue with you.  I'll go back to sleep."  He walks back to his bed, but with a flip of his hair, he turns around and faces the guards.  "Listen, I'm not doing this because I'm afraid of Lord Green Dragon.  Ugh!"

As he gets back to his bed, his pendant once again glows.  He shrieks, and just as quickly as the glow came, it went away.

 

Xuanji feels a mix of fear and fascination about the mysterious staff.  The thunder is rolling loudly.  As it does, many fruits fall from the tree, and Xuanji is quick to pick them up.  Lightning strikes this mysterious staff, and Xuanji decides to go back to Sifeng.

Sifeng finds her out in the storm.  He pulls her close.  "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine.  The lightning is trying to strike me.  Let's go in!"

They go into the cave for cover.

"Why would it try to strike you?" asks Sifeng.

"I don't know.  It seems like there's a barrier around us.  We're isolated from the outside world.  We can't cast any spells.  Look!  There are no other living things here.  And we can't leave, as well."

"Actually, we don't need to worry.  We need to be here for a few days, no matter what.  It's the same with or without the barrier.  Think about it.  We came out of the pool.  I'll see if we can leave using the same route after my wounds are healed."

"We still need to be here for a few days?  It's lucky that I'm smart.  I've gathered many fruits.  We will starve to death without them."

Sifeng affectionately squeezes her face.  "Xuanji, you're the best."

"I'll wash them for you."

 

Sifeng is slowly eating the fruit.

"Is it nice?" asks Xuanji.

"It is."

Xuanji smiles.  "You should eat more, then."

He takes a bite, and tries not to make a face.  "Mmm.  It's delicious."

"It's that good?"  Xuanji takes a huge bite, and an overpowering tart taste floods her mouth.  "Sifeng, this is very bitter!"

Sifeng laughs.

"It's not nice at all."

"Apricot kernels are naturally bitter.  I'm afraid your tummy has to suffer for a few days."

"That will be the saddest thing in life," says Xuanji.

"I figured you would be hungry in the mountains."  He takes out a white cloth.  He carefully unwraps it.  "I brought a bun.  You should eat this."

She eagerly grabs the meat and vegetable filled bun from him.  "This will be so delicious!"  She splits it in half, and hands one to Sifeng.  "Sifeng, you should have some, as well."

"No, thanks.  I only eat the buns from Yongfang Court."

"You're being particular, even when we're in this situation?"

"I'd rather be particular than to compromise.  If I must choose, I would choose wild fruits over buns that are not from Yongfang Court.  Do you know what I feel like eating now?"

Xuanji shakes her head.

"Osmanthus cake with lotus seed from Liufengzhai.  It's sweet, delicious, and fragrant."  He looks at the fruit in his hand.  "This is that cake."  He takes a huge bite.  His eyes widen.  "Mmm...delicious." 

Xuanji looks at her bun.  "This will be the most delicious peach chicken from my house, then."

"The eight treasure duck from Guangyuan Court."

They both take bites of their food.

"Roasted deer," says Xuanji.

"The beef noodles in Kelajiu Inn are great, as well.  With so many delicious dishes and some drunken dragon from Liuxianlou.  Cheers!"  They raise their food to each other.  "This is so delicious."  It's obvious he dislikes the bitter taste.

"Eat this, then!"  Xuanji hands him part of her bun.

"I won't eat that.  I'll leave it for you.  I'll eat this."  He takes a bite out of the bitter fruit.

 

Xuanji is sleeping against the wall, by the fire.  Sifeng puts his outer robe over her.  He sits down beside her, and her head rests on his shoulder.

"Sifeng, cover yourself."  She shares the robe.  "Let's sleep together."

"You're really testing me all the time.  I'm not a saint.  Do you know how happy I was when I knew that you could remove my mask?  If you continue this, I won't be able to stand it anymore."

"I know now." She snuggles closer to him.

He puts his hand over hers.  He's soon fast asleep.

 

Linglong's is uncomfortably resting against a wooden bar.  The sound of a ringing bell pierces through her sleep.  She slowly opens her eyes, and sees the Transmission Bell dangling in her face.  She's wide awake.  She tries to grab it from Wu Tong, but he quickly retracts his hand.  She looks around and realizes she's in a prison cell.

"I know you can pass your message to other people with this.  Is this the thing you use to contact Xuanji?"

Linglong side eyes him, but doesn't say a word.

Wu Tong smirks.  "Seems like it is."

Linglong is trying not to cry.

"How do you use this?  Ask Chu Xuanji to hand over the spirit key right now."

"No way," says Linglong.

"Wretch, how dare you reject me!  You're in my hands.  If you don't follow my orders, I have more than a thousand ways to deal with you.  I will let you suffer so much that you will wish you were dead.  I will make you suffer until you follow my orders.  Do you want to try it now?  You better listen to me right now."  He dangles the bell in her face.

She slowly takes the bell from him.  He watches her closely.

Linglong throws the bell on the ground, and it shatters into many pieces.  He grabs her wrist.  She smiles and laughs.  He slaps her across the face, sending her flying across the cell.  She turns around to fight back, but he grabs her by the neck, and slams her into the wall of her cell.

"I hate lackeys like you the most," hisses Linglong.  "I hate it even more when I'm threatened by a lackey.  You'll never get the spirit key!"

"Young Lady, you're overestimating yourself.  The Tianxu Hall has countless demons inside.  Do you think I can only obtain the spirit key by holding you as a hostage?  I'm just teasing you.  It's more interesting when you don't listen to me."

 

The cave at night is looking magical and ethereal.  Blue blossoms are falling from the trees.  Xuanji twirls in the shower of blue flowers. "So beautiful!"

Sifeng watches her adoringly.

She catches three blue blossoms in her palm.  She smiles.  She closes her hand.  "Sifeng, what color is this?"

"The Hydrangea is blue."

She looks at her flowers.  "This is blue?  It's nice.  My favorite color is blue."

"You have decided to like the color blue?"

"I liked it since I was young.  I'll bring it with me and I'll show it to Linglong and Sixth Senior."

"Xuanji, let's check and see if there's an exit over there."

"Okay."

"Let's go."

She grabs his hand, and they run.  Instead of an exit, they come upon an invisible barrier.  They both touch it curiously and cautiously.

"This is strange," says Xuanji.  She taps on it some more.  "We were washed ashore of the same pool.  But now, we can't even touch the water."

They walk around the edge of the pond.  "We've been stuck here for some days," Xuanji continues.  "We couldn't contact Linglong and Minyan, as well.  What should we do?"

"We should try and seek another exit," says Sifeng.  "I think something is hidden in here.  That'll explain the barrier.  I'm sure the barrier has a weakness.  Xuanji, where's my mask?"

"The mask?  Didn't you say you didn't need it anymore?  We still need to find it?"

"I need to bring it back in order to give my master an explanation.  Maybe it could even help us out.  The mask is made from the bark of the undying tree.  It's filled with spiritual energy.  Maybe it can help us break through the barrier."

Xuanji takes Sifeng back to the location of the mask.  She picks it up and carefully examines it.  She turns to Sifeng.  "Sifeng, didn't you say the mask will become a smiling mask after it was removed?  Why is it crying?"

Sifeng's heart drops.  He takes a close look at the mask.  Sure enough, it is most certainly not smiling.