Novoland: The Castle In The Sky 九州·天空城 - Episode 11 (Recap)

kakashi: Things in that Wingkind City sure are no fun for Wingkind Emperor. I hate to see him suffer, but at the same time, we get to know him from a completely different side and it does not make him less likeable. He isn't nasty at all, he is just sad and trying to fight those who humiliate him whenever they get a chance or want to outright kill him. We realize that Fuling is someone who gives him strength; and that's one of the reasons why she has become a very important person for him.
JoAnne: We loves him, we does. We loves WKE.

Episode 11

Story time! Aka background info on the Pollen Goddess! Yaaay! So, in ancient times, the God(dess) of Shooting Star was called Shao Wu - and she fell in love with the Humankind Leader, Pian Yu. We know from Ice Fantasy that gods and humans don't mix all that well... and our poor boy feels it acutely indeed. He cannot fly, so he cannot be with her, he laments. Bullshit, she says. We're in love and that is enough. Inspired, Pian Yu says yes, one day, he will fly with her.
I bet he could fly if he wasn't weighted down by all that fabric piled on his shoulders.

And indeed, he made himself a pair of wings! Alas, he trespassed on the Gods' mountain and was punished severely. He was imprisoned in the deepest abyss of the underworld on a distant continent. He also turned into a comic figure in the process, what fate! The poor woman in turn got branded with an enchantment shield = every time she tries to leave God Mountain, she dies of exhaustion.
'Listen, the boss nixed our request for a room of fire. Something about the stunt double union? We'll just slip a little animation in here.  They won't notice.'

Pian Yu tried to escape from the abyss but got severely wounded in his fight with the Gods' High Priest. As he lay there bleeding, his blood turned all the Spider Lilies in the abyss red. And thus, they came to be named Bi Anhua / Cluster Amaryllis. To see her lover one last time, the Goddess jumped into the abyss. They briefly reunited - and then both died in each other's arms. How tragic :(
Yes but it looks like he has a roll of toilet paper on his head, Kakashi.  I find that distracting.

Legend says her tears turned into the Shooting Star Pollen and got scattered all over Novoland. Her kind then became Wingkind. The Yin and the Yang amulet that are both needed to awaken her reincarnation every hundred years symbolizes the reunion of the lovers. Drunken Master knows: Now that the Cluster Amaryllis has appeared, the Yang Amulet will soon appear too and with it the lover of the Goddess.
Ah, Drunken Master. I like him.

Our Star Court Masters come to the conclusion that Bai Tingjun must be the mastermind behind, well, everything! That he destroyed the Lantern is clear, but they think he also stole the Yin Amulet. All for love, which is his biggest weakness. The one with the round face suggests they should devote their entire energy on catching the ex-Prince. They are a bit dumb, these masters. By the way, the boy is currently hallucinating in some hut (about Ling'er), but Bi Anhua takes good care of him.
Since that Xue princess showed up for WKE and it's clear that Fuling has basically lost all interest in Tingjun, I guess it's safe to assume that Bi Anhua will remain selfless and kind, with no evil second lead duties to fulfill.

But what is she up to next? She goes to some sinister looking location in the depth of the night. She blows a flute, to summon a very sinister looking man named Tian Yazi (Han Qing). Actually, it takes a bit of undressing for him to appear - the woman has a glowing tattoo! It's the Cluster Amaryllis! And he is magically drawn to it, it seems. Remember the evil astronomer from earlier? The one in the human city? Well, this one is his brother - the forgotten brother. And they are part of the Tian Ji Sect, which is translated as "Heaven's Secret Door".
So she's neither the lover nor the loved... she's just the human embodiment of ...what? Spilled blood?

She asks Tian Yazi whether the "extinguished light"-riddle is meant for her? It agitates him to hear that the shadow that appeared after the Lantern equals her tattoo. He knows immediately that this means that the God of Shooting Star has awakened early. The Yin Amulet has found its master! Now it's time for the Yang Amulet to find his. She thinks to herself that her Lord is that lover the legend mentions. That is why the Queen tried so hard to marry Fuling off to her son.
Tell me again why it's so important to Jishu that she NOT marry him. OH wait. I remember. (You guys don't know yet, though.) But wait...if...then he...the Queen..really? Wow. Tingjun has a terrible mother.

"Shadows will rise from extinguished light" has already happened, now it's "on the string of Heaven"'s and "Tears will melt the cinnabar"'s turn. Oh, and there is another part to the riddle, "Flying Flower returns to earth", which she also related to herself. She smiles knowingly. In her past, she was treated like a demon girl because of the flower on her back. She was "driven into prostitution" and the flower-tattoo helped to kill an evil man. Handy. Or not, because some other men hunted her down to kill her (at the "One String Sky Cliff"). But Bai Tingjun intervened and saved her! As they rode away, she got cinnabar in her eye and he told her to "just cry it out". And that crying things out makes everything better.
I mean if you try hard you can make anything about anyone, Bi Anhua.

At the Wingkind Territory, Tianyi plans to give his murdered friend the most honorable burial there is: the "Gloomy Sky Burial". Xue Lin is against it, since Ruo Fei died too young and "hadn't accomplished anything". Oh, but he saved his Emperor, says Tianyi, is there a greater accomplishment? The problem seems to be that this Gloomy Sky Burial needs people who can fly, and as we know, Tianyi cannot. So he commands that the 8 great noble clans need to carry it out.
What could possibly go wrong?

The eight noble clans agree willingly. And even the Regent gave his Vermilion signature. Tianyi looks so relieved... oh boy, why do I have such a bad feeling? The poor boy feels guilty about his friend's death - and bad about not being able to fly himself.

I volunteer to distract him.

Elsewhere, Princess Feishuang goes to see Yi Fuling. I'm with Fuling:
We are alllll with Fuling. Doesn't that girl have a home?

Fuling is quite cool about things. She says she knows that people are saying she is trouble for Feng Tianyi - and she knows the princess is in love with him and therefore hates her. "It's normal", she says. But she isn't here because of love. She is here because Feng Tianyi got heavily injured when helping her father. And recently, she's staying because she feels the Regent and her Xue family are a pain.
Basically: If you weren't such a bitch I could leave.

The Princess lets her know that she's the future Empress. Even if Tianyi were a commoner, she would be with him, to "roam freely around the world". Oookay. She also warns Fuling that the real danger to Feng Tianyi is not her brother, but the Regent, Feng Ren. In a short while, the Wingkind Emperor will spread wings - and who is willing to give away power freely? Of course, Fuling is the perfect weapon against Tianyi, in fact: because of her, he created so much ruckus in the Humankind territory. "I'll leave upon daybreak", Fuling declares.
Okay doofus, if he's the emperor the LAST thing he's going to be able to do is wander the earth with you.

That shouldn't be too hard, says the Princess, since she doesn't love Feng Tianyi. But no blaming her, okay? Well, the Wingkind Emperor will surely suspect her, adds Fuling - somewhat hopeful. But Feishuang crushes her hopes by saying the Emperor has only one woman in his heart, and that is her.
Wrong. So wrong. Like, the biggest wrong ever, so many people will tell you that. It's very sad. Not.

In the morning, not having slept a wink, Fuling is dressed in her humankind clothes, looking sad. She can't even say goodbye to Tianyi, because he's out, doing the burial. She's a bit of an idiot, but she's also very young and very inexperienced.
It's interesting to see that they had Ikea bookshelves even back then.

At the burial site, things are not at all going as planned. There are no nobles there. Fuling finds out why as she leaves the palace: The Regent has invited everyone to a grand banquet. Wow. Of course, Xue Lin goes to the Emperor to rub it in. In festive red. Reminding them all they cannot fly - so they cannot do the burial. He is SO HATEFUL.
What a piece of shit.

But Fuling knows a solution. She's come to Tiany's rescue and she doesn't care about being an outsider. The outsiders are the nobles, who never even had anything to do with Ruo Fei. She asks Tongmu (that's the chubby one) to put Ruo Fei's ashes on a kite she brought. It's a Humankind custom. Put your wishes on a kite, and then cut it free. Oh! She got this from Ice Fantasy!
Ooooh, there's that cute one, on the right.

I guess this is considered an equivalent to the Gloomy Sky Burial? Xue Lin (who stood there watching is furious), Feng Tianyi is in tears. He thanks her. She says that's the first time she does that - and most likely the last. Since she's leaving and all.
Your manboy will not be happy about that news, Fuling.

He doesn't like to hear this. He says he needs to show her something and takes her to his father's shrine. As we know, he hates his father ... among other things, because he killed his beloved pet falcon, Qing Feng. He took it away from Tianyi and made it suffer greatly: no food, no sleep. Little ten year old Tianyi did not and could not understand. His father said: "People will only remember successes and forget failures. You cannot blame others for Qing Feng's death". It was the beginning of their hate for each other. Even on his death bed, three years later, he didn't summon his son, but his brother, Regent Feng Ren. 
I wonder if this will turn out to be something other than what it appears.

And now, Tianyi understands what his father wanted to say. He used Feng Ren to pressure him, to make him suffer like the hawk. If he died from this halfway, he would have only himself to blame. "There will come a day when you will definitely snatch back everything that should be yours", Fuling says cheerfully and a little fierce. He turns to her and says: "Will you accompany me until that day comes?"
To infinity, and beyond!

Comments

Yes! Yes! I will! I'm yours, Wingkind Emperor!!! 
WE. WE are yours.

*Calms down*. Okay, we now know a bit more about the Yang amulet and its connection to the Cluster F... sorry, Amaryllis. Bi Anhua is the key to it and she knows it. What will she do next? There was some talk of "sacrificing herself". Don't do it, girl. I don't believe for a second that Bai Tingjun is the fated lover of the Goddess of Pollen! Also, I really like her.
She's mopey.


We now also know why Jishu said the Goddess cannot fall in love if the legend is "true" and ever reincarnation goes through the same thing. They will die horrible deaths! And obviously, father Jishu does not want his daughter to die horribly. So, sending Bei Tingjun to kill the fated lover/Yang Amulet person is a smart thing to do, from a father's perspective. Giving him the Boner Curse too, I guess. It's like a double-safety measure. If it's him, he can't go near him - and if he finds out it's him, he will kill himself. 
Apparently,Tingjun's mom doesn't have the same concerns about history repeating itself.

Last but not least, we learned about why Feng Tianyi hates his father. But why did he not pass the throne to his uncle, the Regent Feng Ren completely? A mystery. 
I'm sure we'll find out. In the meantime, aren't we due for a shower scene or something?