Ice Fantasy 幻城 - Episode 50 (Recap)

kakashi: Oh wait ..... is this Xing Gui?! What happened to you, innocent child? Also, I'm starting to get a bit impatient for that Lotus. You?
JoAnne: She looks better without bangs.
SakiVI: we knew from way back when that she was in touch with the Black Smoke. Okay, guess this is why.

Episode 50

Pian Feng .... oh Pian Feng. Mortally wounded, his soul fading away (and a voice belonging to Xing Gui in his ears), he drags himself the Bear King's grave, where Chao Ya still holds vigil. What he picked up from the blacksmith is this: instructions how to turn the Earth Breaker into two gloves. Oookay?
Dammit, he better be one to come back.
Live, Pian Feng! And then fly away from this Chao Ya nuisance. 
And then he dies. Chao Ya goes from two men to zero men in just two days.
I blame her for this.
I also blame them for being stupid. 

The cause of death is a drug called Shangyao, says Healer, which was injected right into his chest. It takes seven days to act up. so he was poisoned right when they entered the cursed Snow Place! Wow, only seven days? Feels like aaaages. When Chao Ya hears this, she gets really suspicious ... of Luna, of course. Kasuo supports that suspicion! And they're overheard by a bird, casually sitting there in the house. Which isn't a bird but ... a servant of Phoenix (you see him in the picture on the right). All is going according to their plan, har har.
I'm pretty much done with Kasuo, by now.
The next stage of the plan is to frame Luna for the poisoning. They switch her poison-test needle with an identical looking but actually poisonous needle. A mouse dies.
NOT THE MOUSE, nooooo
Poor mouse. Horrible Phoenix!!!
This is proof enough for Chao Ya that Luna is the traitor in their midst! She is the West Guardian in disguise! Fight! Fight! Fight! Kasuo just stands there as always as they battle it out. Awww, but Healer intervenes for his Luna. And gets wounded...... and dies. What?! Stop this!!! Luna, stricken by grief, strikes down Chao Ya. And kills herself. They're .... all dead. Damn.
Look at that little mouse, his tiny back legs. Poor baby.
Did this show really kill a mouse?
Well, except for Kasuo. Who is all alone now. All alone and very, very emo.
Honestly, does anyone even give a shit about him? Just die, Kasuo. Die and end your misery. (Also, if everyone is dead I'm quite ready to believe that this is all a hallucination to screw with Kasuo, and that none of them are dead at all.)
I'd be emo if they weren't all dead, though.
He ends up in a ghostly winter forest. And then, Xing Gui appears in front of him. Only, this is not gentle pink Xing Gui. But demonic evil Xing Gui. She is ... you won't believe it .... the West Guardian.
So, was she always? Or is it more a case of doppelgangers?
She was in touch with the Black Smoke, Darn it! 
How this came to pass will be revealed by the last of the bottled up dreams that Kasuo conveniently forgot about all this time. Back when they fought against Granny, the High Priestess, and Dreamlord got so badly wounded, Xing Gui made a deal with Yuan Ji - the black mist who had been in her dreams for so many years - to save her brother.
So she said she'd do it then. But who was the guardian before that?
Why are her and Granny so sassy about being Guardians when they're forced into it?
"Succumb to the only true immortal, Yuan Ji", she demands - and casts a spell against Kasuo. Only, it never reaches him, because Chao Ya and Luna interfere! and Healer! What the ... they were not dead! Haha, tricked you, little witch! Kasuo knew you were playing them! Again! He is so smart!
Oh now, I never even considered that he might have a plan. I feel a little bad about telling him to just go die.
Nah, he's still annoying. 
But she is determined to end this and make them surrender to Yuan Ji (even though she isn't by nature evil). It takes her brother to make her stop. He just casually came here, you know, from the Ice Realm. Xing Jiu says her actions cannot be forgiven, like absolutely not - to him, his sister is dead. She died on her 100th birthday. Ouch, harsh. Hearing her brother denounce her like this breaks her heart -  she says, yes, I wish I had died so you would have never had to dislike me! And self-destructs.
Well that was easy.
And I've now got another reason to dislike this sneak. 
And dies, in her brother's arms.
Come get hugs, Dream Lord.
Nah, it's his own fault. He could've always brought Xing Gui back from the dark side that she joined under duress. What a selfish jerk. 
And with that, they have finally unlocked Sacred Snow Mountain! Yuan Ji doesn't know yet they're there, because he is feeding souls to the Veiled Lotus (it likes this, apparently).
So we have those little Ice Babies that like blood, and Sword Fairies that like souls, and Mini Shi that likes souls, and Yuan Ji likes souls, and now the Veiled Lotus likes souls... could they not find anything else? Could not one evil being maybe have a craving for a nice piece of liver and some fava beans?
Phoenix comes with the news. Yuan Ji remains unfazed. He considers it "good timing" that Kasuo et al. have arrived at his Heavenly Hall now. He wants to feed their souls to the Lotus. Oh, look! The Lotus is getting bigger as we speak.
Souls are high in fat.
He could've just killed the Scoobies and brought their souls to the Lotus like his minions brought souls to him. 
Phoenix goes to fetch the Fire Princess in the astral prison. Only ... she isn't there! She is hiding (see below). And he doesn't see her fingers on the asteroid.  And then, she is suddenly blessed with understanding something important: It takes the souls of all tribes to make a wish on the Lotus. Okay, but who is going to substitute for Bear?
Fire Princess? Yan Da?
Maybe his soul was already harvested.  
Oh! YES! You are right!!! 
She gets to the Heavenly Hall just in time to hear Yuan Ji rage at Phoenix (why did she not flee before if it's that easy?  Maybe Phoenix left the door open.) and tell him he needs Kasuo alive to break an enchantment shield She Mi cast on him. How is this done? If all the descendants offer their souls to him willingly. Excuse me? Anyway, it's all Yuan Ji's evil plan. He LET them get here, so that he can use them. He also tells Phoenix to steal the Deicide from Kasuo once he gets here - and to destroy the Sword Fairy. Lotus (as in Lian Ji) is not to find out. She is not allowed to make a wish on the Lotus (as in Veiled one).
At a certain point show, you just do too many things. Too many things!
Doesn't matter because YuanJi is beautiful. 
Dear Yan Da goes straight to Kasuo to warn him - he cannot enter! It's a trap! Their souls will be fed to the Lotus! And he's going to kill the last of Shi there is!! Kasuo tells Healer to attend to Yan Da's wounds (so noble, our Prince) and then thanks her. However! He cannot yield. Because Kasuo is secretly a BADASS.
He's been screwing with us this whole time?
Only since he got Shi's powers. I think he got a bit of Shi's gumption with them.
And in they go.
Yuan Ji cannot wait.
'Regain his physical form'? What's wrong with this form? We like this form! Don't take this form away! This is a very good form!
It's not real though. It's an illusion. He wants to turn this illusion form into something you can actually touch
So what has LianJi been touching?
Smoke.

Comments

Can we get on with it?! 
Seriously. This drama is about 14 years too long.
I don't want it to end because I am afraid of losing LianJi and YuanJi.

I really hope this Veiled Lotus is worth all this suffering and walking around in a crazy place full of crazy people.
I really hope this drama ends before I die.
I don't think I will EVER recap something longer than 30 episodes again.
Let's see if you stick to that promise.
Oh well.