Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms 三生三世十里桃花 - Episode 56 (Recap)

kakashi: Hell. What an episode so close to the end! Let me tell you, I am glad I did not live-watch this show.
JoAnne: I'm not sure if I was live-watching at this point or not. Well, what passes for live-watching, since it had completely aired already on Chinese TV. I don't think I was, though.

Episode 56

Li Jing, nobody is surprised, has completely miscalculated - his father swings his halberd and just like that, Prince Mopey is on the ground, dying. In fact, he has even helped Qing Cang get out of the Bell earlier. Braaavo, you idiot. His father kills him and, lo and behold, gains 100’000 years of cultivation in the process. I can't even with Li Jing. Seriously. 
I consoled myself throughout the show with the thought that he would do some big redeeming thing, but no. He died as he lived, though, so yay for consistency? I think the show was just trolling us. Li Jing is the price we paid for Ye Hua's awesome rejections of Su Jin.

At the Bell, Fengjiu is hit by lightning (crimson hellfire induced, I guess) and catapulted through the air. Dijun manages to catch her, but she looks wounded. Urgently, Dijun tells Si Ming to fetch Mo Yuan. No, Kunlun is too far! Go to Qing Qiu and fetch Bai Qian!
Oh right, this is still happening too.

Tian Shu and the Celestial soldiers try to prolong the seal break with a wave of energy, and Fengjiu talks about dying. But there will be no dying on Dong Hua's watch! At least not her dying, but maybe his - he wants to give his soul to seal the Ghost Lord once again, even though that won’t contain him for long, given his low powers. He sends her away, but Fengjiu refuses to leave him. Once again, he tells Fengjiu they cannot be, but she is stubborn. If he lives, she lives - if he dies, she dies. When he wants to rush forward, she holds him back. Oh Vengo … your eyebrow acting, well …
Portrait of the Actor, Pretending Not to Smell Your Eye-Watering Fart

Qing Cang sends out a blast of black energy / crimson hellfire … and Fengju throws herself in front of Dijun, to shield the weak him. She collapses into the tall god’s arms. Quickly, he builds a protective bubble around them.
A Danger condom, if you will.

Our Fox Queen is still hoping that alcohol would make her forget her pain. She threatens Mi Gu to turn him back into his original form if he doesn’t stop mentioning the Crown Prince. Suddenly, there is unnatural lightning outside and now, Bai Qian is concerned. But she won't make that step outside, she just can't - Si Ming’s urgent voice at the cave entrance changes that. Trouble at the Bell! She orders Mi Gu to fetch her 4th brother. Still completely ignoring Ye Hua, she zaps herself away.
I'm imagining someone very short yelling 'The bell, the bell, the bell!' like Tattoo used to, on Fantasy Island. (Does anyone remember that show? I loved it.)

At the Riverbank, Tian Shu cries “protect Lord Dong Hua” and the celestial soldiers fall behind him to build an even bigger bubble around Dijun and themselves. Su Jin tries to hide behind the Earth Deity, but he pushes her away. He will risk his life to guard this bell! Su Jin runs in the other direction, right before Bai Qian arrives.
I hope something terrible happens to Su Jin in all the action. Even if it's jsut a stray lightning bolt zapping her bald, I could be happy.

Qing Cang recognizes her spirit and is delighted. He has been waiting for her and Mo Yuan for so long ... finally, it's revenge time! Ye Hua appears. He ties Bai Qian up in some (unbreakable) magical chains. Telling her she cannot beat the Ghost Lord with her cultivation, he flies out to the Bell to take care of things.
Doesn't she have more cultivation than he does, right now?

Qing Cang first mistakes him for Mo Yuan, but quickly realizes his mistake. He breaks out! He and Ye Hua fly high up into the hellfire illuminated sky, breaking the clouds, while pitting their powers against each other. 
Who else is reminded of the Wicked Witch of the West?

Below, Ghost soldiers appear. The brave Earth God goes up against them and it looks dire, but 4th Brother comes to his aid. He’s sexy when he fights.
He's got style, he's got sass, it's no wonder Zhe Yan wants his ass.

Now, Ye Hua and Qing Cang begin to battle. They fall back into the clouds and Ye Hua hits the old bastard good, but the Ghost Lord knows how to sneakily hide behind dark clouds and almost wounds Ye Hua badly. Then, Qing Can draws lightning power into the tip of his weapon and forces Ye Hua to pour more energy into his weapon too.
So even Gods trust heavily in the power of their tips.

Ye Hua, how are you doing? His energy shield breaks down and Qing Cang hits him on the shoulder. Was it deliberate? Ye Hua cuts the Ghost Lord’s weapon in two uses one bit to hurt his opponent gravely. Both crash down and onto the Riverbank.
(Okay, next time, I'll just write: "they fight and at the end, they both crash down onto the riverbank")
Noted.

Qing Cang has lost, but he claims it wasn’t fair. He is still affected from his injuries 70’000 years ago. Haha! Worst excuse I’ve ever heard! But we all wonder … how did Ye Hua manage to do this with almost no cultivation? Bai Qian hugs her Ye Hua - awww, happily reunited! - when, oh no …. we see that the Bell has been activated! Looks like Qing Cang played them all! He connected his life to the Bell of the Emperor. When he goes, the world goes. Oupsie. He's dead.
Wow, if that isn't being a sore loser...

The Bell starts sucking up lesser soldiers … Ye Hua acts. He flies up the the Bell (4th Brother holds back Bai Qian) - one last look to his beloved and he is gone. As is the Bell. I hope it stays dead, the nasty thing!
OH, good! Ye Hua to the rescue!

Damn, Bai Qian. She catches Ye Hua’s floating body… he isn’t quite dead yet. “Don’t cry”, he tells her, “I’m alright. This injury isn’t serious”. As if. She kisses him, tears streaming down her face … but he breaks the kiss, to cough up blood. She tells him not to try and hide his grave injuries. It is alright to look weak, especially when one is as young as him.
Wait, what?  

“Mo Yuan has returned”, he tells her, “stay with him”. His brother will take good care of her - and “he would be better than me”. He then tells her how he has always only loved her and to not forget him. She cries that she will go get the amnesia potion from Zhe Yan if he dies - but that doesn’t bother him either. If it means she will be happy, he can die in peace.

And die he does.
Ha, ha. Very funny.

What a calamity.    
Wait. No, really? This is it? This SUCKS.

Mo Yuan hears the Bell of the East Emperor and rushes out of meditation. He feels the pain of his brother’s sacrifice. His eyes fill with tears. He knows it was his little brother.

Bai Qian sits at the Riverbank, cradling Ye Hua’s dead body. She has built a dome around him and herself and nobody can get near her, not even Fengjiu. A huge delegation of Celestials kneels behind her (Zhe Yan tells them to get lost shortly after, haha), sent by the Heavenly Lord to retrieve the Crown Prince’s body. She has not noticed them. 
This is too harsh, honestly. How can he just suddenly be gone like that, after everything they've been through? Do they really never get to be happy together? Why would you DO this to us?

Mo Yuan approaches … when he says “Seventeenth”, she looks up - and breaks the bubble. She seems so weak TT___TT She believes Mo Yuan can save Ye Hua, since he has been through this himself, but after testing for Ye Hua’s breath, he says: “Seventeenth, get Ye Hua a coffin so he can rest in peace.”
Oh no, it's really the end? Really really? Not even Mo Yuan can fix this? Maybe DiJun?

Bai Qian shakes her head. She is in no mood for such jokes. She can wait! She will wait! 70’000 or hundreds of thousands of years. If Mo Yuan returned, so will Ye Hua! Exactly! Mo Yuan puts his hand on her shoulder and strokes her hair. He cries with her. And he tells her that even if she is to wait, she should let him rest comfortably (why ... was it not comfortable on that stone slab?). Bai Qian nods and says yes, she did promise him to take him to the Fox Den.
Like a stone slab is any different than a coffin? He's talking about restless spirits... Ye Hua must really be dead, then? Who will tell A Li?

The whole delegation of Celestials kneels in front of the cave for ten days, but Bai Qian certainly won't let go of her Ye Hua. She is looking after his body with great care and nobody can talk her out of it. Zhe Yan decides it's time to make a sleeping concoction and have Mi Gu mix it into her drink.
This girl likes her comatose men, I guess...

Su Jin has completely failed in her duty to guard the bell and alert them in time. End of the line for her - she's banished from the Nine Heavens and will never be given Celestial status again, for all eternity.
Right, so it's the animal realm now, right? Life as a worm?

Because of Bai Qian's high status, Heavenly Lord asks Dijun to please visit Qing Qiu to assist with the retrieval of Ye Hua's body. They all go: Ye Hua's father and mother, 3rd uncle and Dijun as well as several Celestial soldiers, carrying a (basalt crystal) coffin. Fengjiu and Dijun stare at each other for a looooong time.
And no one cares at all.

After Dijun politely asks to take Ye Hua away and Bai Qian refuses, Le Xu has a go at her. Damn, she is rude. She basically blames Bai Qian for being Su Su and for Ye Hua's suffering. She has no right to hold onto him, she claims, since he did so much for her but she never did anything for him. (Can we please smite her?!)
She can go be a worm, too.

Comments

I hate these damn Celestials so much! Yes, okay, they have a right to the Crown Prince's body and she should not just snatch bodies and keep them, but could they be less rude and arrogant about it, please?!
To be fair, they are suffering as well. We just don't care.

Poor Bai Qian.

Ye Hua's death scene was very moving (saw a BTS clip of it, that was very moving too). Also Bai Qian's interaction with Mo Yuan afterwards ... so sad.
The whole thing took me by surprise - I had avoided all spoilers, so I had no idea he would die.  It really shocked me. And then it made me worry what would come next.  Is Bai Qian going to die, too?  Are we going to only see them happy together as ghosts, like my Most Emotional Drama of All Time, Sang Doo?

Only the fight scene between Big Bad and Ye Hua was a bit of a let-down, but I'll get over it.
Ready for the end? 
All good things must come to an end. I am a little bit Peach-weary, truth be told.