The thirty-eighth episode of the Web Series premiered on August 6, 2019.
Synopsis[]
Jin Ling is initially asked to be supervisor for Empathy, but Lan Sizhui volunteers instead. To the juniors' confusion, Wei Wuxian asks for Jin Ling's Clarity Bell from the Yunmeng Jiang Clan to be used as a code, and Jin Ling insists on supervising instead.
In Empathy, Wei Wuxian awakens near a brook. He quickly realizes that the girl, whose name is A-Qing, was not blind, but merely pretended to be blind for her safety. In a town, she deliberately runs into a man, who lecherously pinches her rear end. Still, she manages to steal his coin purse before cursing him out once she is alone again.
She continues her charade to bumps into Xiao Xingchen. The young man has bandages around his eyes that weep blood, and he asks her if she too cannot see. pauses before affirming that she too is blind. Xiao Xingchen advises her to walk slower for her own safety, and she thanks him, referring to him as "Brother."
However, he then responds that if he is "Brother," she should return the money bag she just stole from him.
The man she stole from earlier approaches and attempts to slap her for stealing, but Xiao Xingchen stops him, though he does request that she return his money.
A-Qing denies that she intended to steal, saying it was only revenge after he pinched her butt. Xiao Xingchen attempts to leave, but he allows her to keep his own money bag. A-Qing chases after him, begging to travel together since both are blind. To convince him, she insists that she will have to keep stealing if he does not allow her to accompany him, to Xiao Xingchen's amusement.
She continues to follow Xiao Xingchen, and he allows it. One day, they pass a body beside the road, and A-Qing cries out on instinct.
Not wanting the inconvenience of helping the person, she pretends to have twisted her ankle. However, Xiao Xingchen smells blood and locates the heavily person on his own. He carries him to Yi City, which at the time was not nearly as run-down or foggy as Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji found it. They take shelter for the night in a vacant coffin home.
As A-Qing cleans and Xiao Xingchen tends to the injured man, who is none other than Xue Yang.
Recognizing Xiao Xingchen's voice, Xue Yang sits up with a malicious and cruel expression. However, he alters his voice to avoid recognition.
A-Qing accuses him of being mean, and Xue Yang realizes immediately that she could only know he was mean if she saw him. He begins to suspect that she can see.
Xiao Xingchen insists that Xue Yang allow himself to be treated, as he will end up crippled if not. Xue Yang decides to allow it, though he carefully prevents Xiao Xingchen from feeling that he is missing his little finger.
The next morning, Xue Yang calls to A-Qing, asking if she wants candy. A-Qing refuses to approach him, and he throws a piece of candy towards her. Her acting skills, however, are well-developed, and she does not flinch in the least as the candy strikes her chest.
After she finds the candy by feeling around on the ground, Xue Yang offers more candy if she approaches him. However, he draws Jiangzai, so that if she approaches, she risks impaling herself on his sword.
A-Qing passes his test by approaching without hesitation, and he gives her more candy. Curious if Xue Yang is a cultivator himself, she says that Xiao Xingchen went "hunting," and Xue Yang automatically corrects her to the proper term "night-hunting," revealing himself as a cultivator.
Xue Yang asks how a blind man can night-hunt, and A-Qing brags about the swiftness of his sword. Xue Yang asks how she can tell it is fast, and she immediately says that she knows this from listening.
Although A-Qing does not trust Xue Yang, he does not leave after healing. In fact, he stays and assists Xiao Xingchen with repairing the roof to the coffin house, and his quick wit frequently amuses Xiao Xingchen.
One day, Xue Yang asks to accompany Xiao Xingchen night-hunting Puppets, and the suspicious A-Qing trails them.
After killing the Puppets, Xiao Xingchen sheathes his sword, wondering why there are no living people left in the village. Xue Yang comments that he is relieved that Shuanghua points out corpse energy, or it would have been difficult to break through.
After they leave to search for survivors, A-Qing examines the corpses. She notices that they are the villagers who mocked the sight of a limping man and two blind people not long ago. Although A-Qing knows little about cultivation, her intuition tells her that Xue Yang is not just helping Xiao Xingchen, and she remains suspicious.
At the market, Xue Yang threatens vendors from taking advantage of Xiao Xingchen's blindness by selling him rotten vegetables.
One day, A-Qing plays a game on the streets, only to be caught by Song Lan advises her to go home if she cannot see, as the sun is setting. He ask if she has heard of a blind cultivator, and A-Qing questions him.
After Song Lan answers correctly, she agrees to take him to Xiao Xingchen. However, Song Lan freezes when he sees Xue Yang in the coffin home with Xiao Xingchen. A-Qing explains that he was saved by Xiao Xingchen, is an annoying bastard, yet sticks to Xiao Xingchen all the time.
They watch while Xue Yang pranks Xiao Xingchen to determine who will go to the market today. Xue Yang immediately confesses that he lied when he claimed he pulled the longer stick, and sets off for the market.
Song Lan learns from A-Qing that Xue Yang has been living with them for a few years, that they used to night-hunt Walking Corpses but now just focus on creatures, and that Xiao Xingchen likes his jokes. He sets off to confront him, and A-Qing surreptitiously follows.
After intercepting Xue Yang on his way back from the market, Song Lan draws his sword and demands to know what he is scheming.
Although Song Lan initially has the upper hand, he loses his composure once Xue Yang reminds him that Xiao Xingchen into killing living people via Corpse Poisoning. Once their tongues were removed, Shuanghua could not discern the difference between Puppets and living people. Xue Yang reminds Song Lan that Xiao Xingchen became blind for him, and that he told Xiao Xingchen to stay away from him in the aftermath.
Xue Yang tosses Corpse Toxin upon the emotional Song Lan, then uses Jiangzai to remove his tongue. Suddenly, Xiao Xingchen arrives and, drawn to corpse energy, Shuanghua pieces through Song Lan's heart.
As he turns into a Puppet, Song Lan attempts to pass his sword to Xiao Xingchen, knowing that his friend will recognize, but fails. Just then, the Clarity Bell rings, and Wei Wuxian leaves Empathy.
Wei Wuxian thanks A-Qing before ordering the juniors to stay put while he departs the coffin house. The juniors demand to know what he saw, but all he says is that, "in summary: Xue Yang must die."
Lan Wangji still maintains the upper hand in his fight against Xue Yang despite the thick fog. Wei Wuxian also sees that Wen Ning has defeated Song Lan, and takes the chance to remove the Skull-Piercing Nails from his head to restore his consciousness.
The Spirit-Trapping Bag containing Xiao Xingchen's soul flies out, and Wei Wuxian catches it. As Lan Wangji continues to attack, Wei Wuxian attempts to goad Xue Yang into speaking, so that Lan Wangji may track Xue Yang's location through the fog via the sound of his voice.
Despite Wei Wuxian's insinuation that he intended to execute revenge for Xiao Xingchen's sake, Xue Yang continues to insist that he does not care for Xiao Xingchen.[1]
Characters[]
In order of appearance:
- Wei Wuxian
- Jin Ling
- Lan Sizhui
- Lan Jingyi
- Ouyang Zizhen
- A-Qing
- Xiao Xingchen
- Xue Yang
- Song Lan
- Wen Ning
- Lan Wangji
Events[]
- Learning the truth about Yi City
- Massacre of Baixue Temple (mentioned)
Locations[]
Creatures[]
Cultivation Abilities[]
Cultivation Tools[]
Divergence from the Novel[]
The novel only shows Empathy used on Ghosts; it is never used on a living person. A-Qing is a ghost in the novel, and before being blinded, she has white eyes that gave her the appearance of one born blind.[2] In the Web Series, her eyes are dark brown.
In the novel, Wei Wuxian already knoews that Xiao Xingchen had given his eyes to Song Lan, so he is not surprised by his blind appearance.[3]
Xiao Xingchen asks A-Qing to address him as "Daozhang," rather than "Brother;" she replies that he is both. In the Web Series, he simply answers to "Brother."[4]
In the novel, Xue Yang's throat is too injured for him to talk clearly, so Xiao Xingchen can recognize his voice. Only later does he disguise it. Additionally, he tests A-Qing's blindness the same night he is rescued, once Xiao Xingchen had left to night-hunt, rather than wait for morning.[4]
Xiao Xingchen's story to A-Qing of Baoshan Sanren's mountain, and Xue Yang's story of his childhood trauma, are cut from the Web Series.[5]
When Song Lan encountered A-Qing, he advises her to play on the side of the road where it is safer, not that the sun is setting. She overhears him asking other people for a blind cultivator, and only then approaches him to question him. She does not describe Xiao Xingchen as wearing white, which she could not discern if truly blind; she merely asks Song Lan if his friend is handsome, which he affirms.[5]
In his dying moments in the novel, Song Lan does not dare pass Fuxue to Xiao Xingchen, knowing that his friend would not be able to bear knowing that he killed him.[5]
Moreover, Wei Wuxian does not awaken from Empathy until he has seen both Xiao Xingchen's and A-Qing's deaths.[6] Lan Wangji catches the Spirit-Trapping Bag from Xue Yang, not Wei Wuxian.[7]
References[]
- ↑ Web Series, Episode 38
- ↑ Novel, Chapter 38
- ↑ Novel, Chapter 30
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Novel, Chapter 39
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Novel, Chapter 40
- ↑ Novel, Chapter 41
- ↑ Novel, Chapter 42