Blood River Episode 11 Recap
> Blood River Recap
At the Healing Hands clinic, Bai Hehuai was preparing medicine when Su Muyu entered and offered to cook for her. Feeling a touch of embarrassment for all the tasks he had been doing for her lately, she tried to decline, but he insisted. Though she eagerly anticipated his meal, she found his noodle dish unpalatable, remarking on how someone with his mastery of sword arts could be so terrible at cooking.
Bai Hehuai implored Su Muyu to spare her and Miss Wang next door from his cooking. Su Muyu, however, remained steadfast, believing that with enough practice, he would eventually succeed, just as with sword training. Bai Hehuai gently explained that talent in one area does not guarantee success in another, but Su Muyu refused to believe that effort wouldn't lead to mastery.
Resigned, Bai Hehuai led him to the kitchen to demonstrate her own cooking skills, surprising Su Muyu who had not imagined her capable of such a feat. She prepared an Herbal Chicken Stew, a dish taught by her master, which filled the clinic with a delightful aroma.
Su Muyu was impressed, and Bai Hehuai reflected that while making the dish used to bring her sadness, it now filled her with warmth, indicating she had come to terms with her master's passing. As the clinic reopened, Bai Hehuai noticed the patients' attention frequently straying to Su Muyu, which inexplicably soured her mood.
When a scholar, Xie Xuan, approached, she rudely announced that the day's quota of thirty patients was full and tried to send him away by claiming he suffered from a highly contagious illness. Recognizing Xie Xuan as the Scholar-Sword Deity and current dean of Shanqian Academy, Su Muyu quickly greeted him. Upon hearing Xie Xuan's identity, Bai Hehuai's demeanor instantly shifted.
Her eyes gleaming, she eagerly introduced herself as Bai Hehuai, the miracle physician and junior aunt to Xin Baicao of Medicine King Valley. She further elaborated that this connection meant Xueyue City's Third City Lord, Sikong Changfeng, would have to call her grand-master. Awed by her high status, Xie Xuan bowed respectfully.
Xie Xuan explained that he had sensed an unusual guest in Nan'an City and sought to understand Su Muyu's purpose, and was relieved to confirm that it was not to kill. Su Muyu then invited Xie Xuan to stay for a meal, a rare smile gracing his lips. Xie Xuan, noting the unusual sight of Su Muyu smiling, agreed.
To their surprise, Xie Xuan himself cooked, demonstrating his deep understanding of "the way of cooking" which he likened to swordwork, while Su Muyu earnestly observed and learned. Xie Xuan then served a delicious Flower Viewing Cake. Meanwhile, Li Hanyi, the Second City Lord of Xueyue City and Sword Deity Xueyue, arrived in Nan'an City, concerned for the safety of its citizens given Su Muyu’s presence. She approached with an aggressive stance, ready to confront him.
Bai Hehuai, admiring Li Hanyi’s reputation, was thrilled at the prospect of witnessing a fight between two powerful figures. Su Muyu, understanding Li Hanyi’s vigilance towards someone from Blood River, explained that their presence in Nan'an was due to his need for treatment after Bai Hehuai's previous residence in Qiantang City was exposed.
Bai Hehuai intervened, pulling Li Hanyi into their circle and emphasizing their familial connections to Xueyue City by revealing that the First City Lord, Baili Dongjun, was her cousin. She offered Li Hanyi some wine, which Li Hanyi praised as excellent, acknowledging its peach blossom scent left by a friend from Wangchengshan Sect. Bai Hehuai then feigned drunkenness to allow Su Muyu and Li Hanyi to speak privately.
Li Hanyi expressed her disappointment that Su Changhe, not Su Muyu, had become the Patriarch of Blood River, calling it a "very, very bad ending" and contrary to what Su Changhe had promised. Just then, Su Changhe entered, having overheard their conversation. He playfully commented on Li Hanyi’s prejudice against him. Li Hanyi recounted Xie Xuan’s words, describing Su Changhe as not the most evil person but certainly the most annoying, with an unparalleled thick skin.
Su Changhe, feigning indignation, lightly sparred with Li Hanyi. Li Hanyi declared her intent to kill him for his deception, asserting that an organization like Blood River should not exist. Su Changhe defended his vision for a "new Blood River" that would no longer live by killing but would become a sect operating out of the shadows.
Li Hanyi warned that if the new Blood River remained as it was before, she would return to take both Su Changhe’s and Su Muyu's heads. Li Hanyi then left, vowing to find Su Muyu for a fight another time. Xie Xuan observed the dynamic between Su Muyu and Su Changhe, quoting a passage: "Hearing snow outside the window, so near, yet so far," suggesting their relationship's fate hung on a single thought.
After the meal, Su Changhe revealed to Su Muyu that the Dormant Dragon Sword, which the former Blood River family heads had so desperately sought, contained a key hidden within its hilt. This key would unlock a secret held within the Yellow Springs Pawnshop, which he described as the world's most mysterious bank and the repository of Blood River’s accumulated wealth.
He planned to use this immense fortune to fund their new vision for Blood River, transforming it into a righteous sect. Su Muyu agreed to depart that very night, seeing his peaceful life in Nan'an City as a dream that had naturally come to an end. Su Changhe found Bai Hehuai, who had been feigning sleep, and she playfully admitted to being woken by his "reeking" presence. Su Muyu bid her farewell. Though saddened, Bai Hehuai understood his purpose.
She assured him that Nan'an City, her clinic, and all its lovely ladies would await his triumphant return, asking him to make her a proper bowl of noodles when he came back. Su Muyu agreed. Guided by Hongying, a shapeshifting beauty whose disguise skills surpassed even the Mu family's, Su Muyu and Su Changhe arrived at the Yellow Springs Pawnshop.
Su Changhe found it amusing that as the Umbrella Ghost and the Undertaker, they were encountering others putting on "spooks" in front of them. The Yellow Springs reapers, who had been awaiting their arrival, led them to the pawnshop's master. Inside, Shopkeeper Wang, engrossed in his calculations, angrily threw down his abacus and, pretending not to see them, ordered his subordinates to kill the two intruders.
