Love Better than Immortality (天雷一部之春花秋月): Episode 32

~ Dark Xiao Bai? + Chun Hua learns the truth about Qiu Yue…or is it a misunderstanding? ~

Synopsis:

Back at Feng Ming Manor, Cai Cai went to find Xiao Bai to check if there was any progress on the restaurant investigation and he shows her an account book that recorded all of Ba Xian Residence’s dealings. He had gotten it by smashing in the back door and explained to her that desperate times called for desperate measures.

Meanwhile, Leng Ning was alone in her room as she recalled something she had previously said – that she didn’t want to be pretty because she was annoyed by the many shameless men that acted frivolously. A knock then sounded on the door, breaking her out of her thoughts. It was Liu Feng who had come to apologise for making her angry the night before. He presented her with a gift as a sign of his remorse and Leng Ning opened the box to see a set of female clothing. She initially rejected his present and shut the door on him but later creaked the door open and took the box from him wordlessly.

Liu Feng paced anxiously outside Leng Ning’s room as he tried to think of how to compliment her when she came out. When he heard the door open, he spun around and was stunned by what he saw and his fan slipped from his grasp, causing Leng Ning to chuckle. Despite his preparations, his mind became blank and he could only manage “beautiful” as a compliment. Xiao Bai and Cai Cai then came along and showed them Ba Xian Residence’s account books. When Xiao Bai suggested going to Ba Xian Residence to observe, Cai Cai volunteers to follow along, shooting Liu Feng a suggestive glance which he quickly understands and replies with a grateful smile.

Meanwhile, somewhere in a forest, the restaurant’s lady boss was pleading for her life with a still-cloaked Mr Shi. She explains that she had left in a hurry and didn’t think that the righteous good sects would barge into the property. Mr Shi was angry and laments that he should’ve listened to Qiu Yue’s advice and killed her.

Back at Qian Yue Cave, Qiu Yue brings Chun Hua to the field (from Episode 18) and there, after he asks if she was a reincarnated mudfish after seeing her roll around in the grass, Chun Hua asked him what he would be if she were a mudfish reincarnate. Qiu Yue tells her that he would be a white mudfish because he had to be eye catching so that the lascivious little mudfish (Chun Hua) would act frivolously with him. Commenting that she couldn’t possibly let his meticulous planning go to waste, Chun Hua leaned in to kiss him. After pulling away, Chun Hua tells him that she wished they could continue living this kind of life everyday in the future and Qiu Yue pulls her into his embrace before affirming that they would be that way. He then spots a single dandelion (Pu Gong Ying) within his reach and plucks it, commenting that she had previously said that it was her favourite flower. She replies that she now liked the Lotus flower because they bloomed prettily and lived happily, before taking the dandelion and blowing the puffs. She then tells him that she had been feeling terribly stifled recently, asking if they could go down the mountain for a stroll. Qiu Yue agrees with a small smile.

Qiu Yue and Chun Hua entered the city and because she was worried that they would bump into Xiao Bai, Qiu Yue changed his appearance. Chun Hua giggled when she saw the moustache he had. However, a little boy soon appeared and called Qiu Yue ‘father’. He followed them, saying that he would tell his mother about this lady his ‘dad’ was with. When Qiu Yue threatened to cut off his tongue, the boy hollered that he wasn’t his father before running off. It turns out that Qiu Yue had taken on the likeness of someone they had walked past earlier. Qiu Yue tells Chun Hua that since she liked the little boy, he had intended to bring him back to Qian Yue Cave to be their son, explaining that they just had to feed him some medicine and he would forget everything from before. Chun Hua tells him that sons can’t be snatched and asked him to remove his disguise. Qiu Yue obliges, telling her that they would have to make many sons in the future.

Xiao Bai and Cai Cai loitered outside Ba Xian Residence to keep a lookout for any suspicious activity. When they see Li Yu and a few other men bringing large crates into the Residence, they stopped him for questioning. Li Yu retorts that it wasn’t the Longevity Fruit that was in the boxes before telling them about the rebellion in Qian Yue Cave and Qiu Yue’s current missing status, adding that Pu Er was very happy and had ordered them to purchase all the medicine in the city so that he could sell them at a higher price later. When Xiao Bai tried to verify the news’ authenticity, Li Yu told them that he had heard it from Pu Er’s own mouth. After a careful glance at Xiao Bai, Cai Cai asks about Chun Hua but Li Yu had no idea and comments that he would assume the worse. Seeing that Xiao Bai’s expression hadn’t changed even after Li Yu had left, Cai Cai worriedly called out to him and shook his arm gently. She didn’t get a response but Xiao Bai’s eyes suddenly turned red and he drew his sword and cut his palm before writing down two phrases on the ground with his blood and sword as ink and pen. He spoke out the lines as he wrote them, later addressing Chun Hua as he told her that this was her fate for choosing to follow evil. He swore that if she were lucky enough to survive this, he would get even with her later. After this, Xiao Bai spits out a mouthful of blood and loses consciousness. Cai Cai had grabbed onto Xiao Bai’s arm in worry when he had cut his palm but had been pushed to the ground by him and could only watch this unfold.

Meanwhile, Chun Hua and Qiu Yue enter a store because she felt that it would reduce their chances of bumping into Xiao Bai. Chun Hua first asked the shopkeeper for ‘couple pendants’ and when he didn’t understand what she wanted, she clarified that she wanted a pair. She then picked out a pair of jade pendants but Qiu Yue didn’t have any money on him so the shopkeeper refused to sell it to them and Chun Hua had intended to leave but Qiu Yue insisted on buying the pendants because she had personally chosen it for him. Seeing that Qiu Yue might very well hurt or kill the shopkeeper, Chun Hua diffused the situation by offering to pay, explaining to the shopkeeper that Qiu Yue wasn’t quite sane and asking for his understanding. However, she soon realised that she didn’t have any money on her either and when she turned to tell Qiu Yue, he asked her if she also wasn’t quite sane because she chose to stay with him. Chun Hua then told him that she would go and retrieve money, asking him to be good and wait in the shop for her.

Outside, Chun Hua bumps into Gu Xing Zhu who tells her the ‘truth’ about Qiu Yue, adding that he didn’t have any more internal powers and was just like a normal person now. He adds that Qiu Yue’s wish to rule (or unify?) Jianghu was about to be fulfilled so he wouldn’t lose anything by leaving her, continuing that they were very similar – her feelings for Qiu Yue were like his for Ye Xing Zhu’s which is why he wouldn’t let her come to a tragic end like he did.

At the same time, Li Yu had called for Pu Er to tend to Xiao Bai and Cai Cai couldn’t refuse so she hurriedly went to get Liu Feng and Leng Ning instead. They were worried because all the clues currently pointed to Ba Xian Residence and if Mr Shi was someone at the Residence, he might take the opportunity to do something to Xiao Bai. On their way back to Ba Xian Residence, the trio bumped into Chun Hua and Liu Feng asked the two girls to go ahead while he tried to sound out Chun Hua’s stance.

Liu Feng approaches Chun Hua and tells her that day and night, Xiao Bai had longed for her to return and upon hearing about the rebellion at Qian Yue Cave, he had spit out blood and fainted. As Liu Feng pleaded with her to visit Xiao Bai, Qiu Yue sees them and called out to them angrily. Liu Feng immediately stood in front of Chun Hua protectively but Qiu Yue pushes him to the side with a wave of his hand. Qiu Yue then approaches Chun Hua and tells her not to believe Liu Feng’s words but she responded coldly towards him so Qiu Yue asked if he had disturbed their fling. Liu Feng’s eyes widen in shock when Chun Hua agreed and hearing this, Qiu Yue insists that she returned with him. When Liu Feng made a move to stop them, Qiu Yue shot his hidden weapon towards him and by the time Liu Feng recovered, they had both disappeared.

Cai Cai and Leng Ning arrive at Ba Xian Residence and Li Yu brings in a medicine with calming properties (aka sedative) which Pu Er was about to feed to Xiao Bai but Cai Cai stops him, saying that what Xiao Bai needed, was to be awake. Pu Er then suggests making another medicine but Cai Cai refuses, saying that Xiao Bai had internal energy and should wake anytime soon. Pu Er tries to convince her otherwise, telling her that he couldn’t be responsible if any complications arose but at that moment, Xiao Bai started to stir and Leng Ning rushes forward excitedly, pretending to accidentally bump into Pu Er, causing the bowl of medicine to crash to the floor. Upon gaining consciousness, Xiao Bai tries to leave, saying that he had important matters to tend to but before he could leave, Liu Feng rushed into the room, exclaiming that he had something important to say. Seeing that Liu Feng was alone, Leng Ning asked about Chun Hua and Cai Cai quickly shushed her. Hearing this, Pu Er quickly made up an excuse to leave, saying that he had to check up on Li Yu to make sure that he didn’t mess up the medicine again. When they were alone, Liu Feng suggested that they first returned to Feng Ming Manor to discuss things further.

Back at Qian Yue Cave, Qiu Yue tells Chun Hua that he had waited a long time for her and had even gotten the shopkeeper to carve her name into the pendant because he wanted to make her happy but came out only to see her fooling around with someone from Feng Ming Manor. When Chun Hua responded coldly towards him, Qiu Yue asked what drug Liu Feng had given her that she would treat him like that. Chun Hua responded with cynicism, telling him that she had treated him by facing him with a smile everyday, adding that what he wanted was a puppet that he could control, not a living person. Frustrated, Qiu Yue raised his voice, asking what exactly Liu Feng had told her. When Chun Hua replies that ‘he’ had just told her everything Qiu Yue had done to her, Qiu Yue reminds her that Liu Feng was from Feng Ming Manor and wouldn’t have any inkling about him, before the thought came to him that perhaps Xiao Bai was the one behind this because he still missed Chun Hua and was using this ‘despicable method’ to drive a wedge between them. As Qiu Yue continued telling her that Xiao Bai didn’t deserve her and would only make her sad, unlike himself who only wanted to be good to her, Chun Hua finally had enough and after pointing out that he was still trying to sow discord between her and Feng Ming Manor, she revealed that it was Gu Xing Zhu who had told her all this.

Thoughts:

For the first time in forever ~~~ Chun Hua took the initiative! Guys ~ The ship has sailed! Also, I don’t know if I’m just imagining things but when Chun Hua initiated the kiss, Qiu Yue was kind of shocked? He IS Qiu Yue afterall so his reaction wouldn’t be the typical *gasp* but I feel like he was shocked, Qiu Yue-style shocked.

And then the ship hit a iceberg and is in danger of sinking…THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE GONE DOWN THE MOUNTAIN!!! We don’t know exactly what Gu Xing Zhu told Chun Hua so we can’t even be sure whether Qiu Yue deserves the treatment he is currently getting, which is making me very confused. Why OH WHY didn’t Chun Hua get Qiu Yue’s side before coming to any conclusions? Back when she had misunderstood that Xiao Bai was out to kill her, she had given him the chance to explain himself, even insisting to Qiu Yue that she wanted to see Xiao Bai and hear it directly from him. What is this difference in treatment?! The only explanation I can think of is purely due to Qiu Yue’s status as leader of the evil sect, so it’s easier for her to believe that he would do bad things. Idk…

On another note, we finally see Leng Ning in female clothing and the moment she shared with Liu Feng where they were both shy is so cutee! Cai Cai’s teasing gaze is 💜
Also, what’s wrong with Xiao Bai? It was like he had been possessed…and he was back to normal when he woke up, full of worry for Chun Hua.

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♢  Lyrics for “Unfinished Moment”  ♢