The Journey of Legend Episode 2 Recap
> The Journey of Legend Recap
Xiao Qiushui proposed ambushing Jinyin Bank in a few days. When his companions, Tang Rou, Deng Yuhan, and Zuoqiu Chaoran, heard this, they were eager to act, believing that upholding justice meant disregarding the opponent's status. However, Xiao Qiushui, remembering that Tang Rou was ambushed during this very event in the original story, tried to find a reason for her not to participate. He claimed to have met a fortune teller who predicted danger for her on this trip.
His friends found his sudden timidity unusual, and Tang Rou dismissed it, asserting that while she might fear danger, her Meteoric Needles would not. Unable to explain, Xiao Qiushui reluctantly agreed to their participation. The four soon arrived at the Zigui dock. While dining, they witnessed several Jinyin Bank employees demanding protection fees from two boat owners, threatening to burn their boat if they didn't pay by noon the next day. Deng Yuhan intervened, driving the employees away.
Tang Rou then approached the boat owners, learning that since Jinyin Bank took control of the waterway, they had been tyrannical, extorting money from everyone, a practice that made making a living impossible. Xiao Qiushui, observing, remarked that these were non-player characters pushing the plot forward. While Xiao Qiushui wanted to plan their next move, his three impatient companions insisted on heading to Jinyin Bank immediately.
That night, Tang Rou, Deng Yuhan, and Zuoqiu Chaoran scaled the walls of the Jinyin Bank. They quickly subdued all the bank employees. Xiao Qiushui, after several failed attempts to demonstrate his own lightness skill, remained on the courtyard wall, admiring his companions' prowess, specifically Zuoqiu's precise grappling skill, Deng Yuhan's clever Hailin Sect sword techniques, and Tang Rou's formidable Tang Sect's hidden weapons.
He was also horrified to overhear the bank manager ordering an employee to gouge out a shop owner's eyes and display her as a warning. Finding himself getting increasingly nervous, Xiao Qiushui decided to discreetly leave the premises, prioritizing his own safety. As he walked by the riverside, he encountered the two boatmen from earlier, who were on their way to deliver the protection money.
Xiao Qiushui informed them that they no longer needed to pay, as Jinyin Bank had been dealt with. Suddenly, a voice from nearby announced that the Jinyin Bank was indeed destroyed, revealing the speaker to be Fu Tianyi, the Iron Demon of the Power Gang, who was fishing by the riverside boulders. An old man nearby who began denouncing Jinyin Bank's crimes was instantly killed by a fishing hook swung by Fu Tianyi.
Xiao Qiushui was shocked, realizing that despite his attempts to avoid this encounter, the plot had forced his hand. He urged the boatmen to quickly leave. Back at the bank, Tang Rou and her companions couldn't extract the mastermind's whereabouts from the subdued employees. A constable arrived with his subordinates and offered to lead the trio to Fu Tianyi.
Tang Rou, recalling Xiao Qiushui's earlier, cryptic warning to "beware of someone holding an umbrella," noticed that despite the rain having stopped, only the constable still carried an umbrella. Becoming wary, the trio cautiously followed. Fu Tianyi attacked Xiao Qiushui, attempting to strangle him with a fishing line.
During the struggle, Xiao Qiushui's dormant martial arts foundation was activated, allowing him to employ several moves from the Huanhua Swordplay, including Soaring, Petals Plucking, and Starry Fall, narrowly escaping Fu Tianyi's grasp. His companions arrived, mistakenly believing Xiao Qiushui was intentionally facing the most formidable enemy alone and cheering him on, much to his exasperation. Xiao Qiushui realized that his subconscious retained memories of the body's previous martial arts training.
Fu Tianyi, recognizing the Huanhua Swordplay, attempted to recruit Xiao Qiushui, but he refused. The constable then tried to ambush Tang Rou, but thanks to Xiao Qiushui's earlier warning, she dodged the attack and used a pair of underpants given by Xiao Qiushui for defense. She declared that no one could ambush a Tang Sect member and that the four of them would remain united. Fu Tianyi, frustrated, engaged all four in a fierce battle.
Fu Tianyi's iron palm technique proved impenetrable in direct combat. Xiao Qiushui devised a strategy, instructing Tang Rou and Deng Yuhan to restrain Fu Tianyi's arms while Zuoqiu Chaoran attacked his lower body. Xiao Qiushui then used the Flowers Rain sword technique, employing the sword as a hidden weapon and the scabbard as a killing blow, striking Fu Tianyi's heart and killing him instantly.
While his companions celebrated the elimination of a villain, Xiao Qiushui remembered that in the original story, the Power Gang's Eight Great Lords besieged the Xiao family upon discovering Fu Tianyi's death. To prevent this, he quickly instructed Deng Yuhan and Zuoqiu Chaoran to get money to silence the boatman, and Tang Rou to procure a small boat and some lamp oil. Tang Rou questioned the need for secrecy.
Following his instructions, they placed Fu Tianyi's body on the boat, set it ablaze, and the four of them hastily left Zigui before nightfall. After traveling a considerable distance, the four finally found a place to eat. Tang Rou questioned why they had to act like thieves when they had simply rid the world of evil. Xiao Qiushui explained that this was not out of fear, but to "stay humble and grounded."
He reasoned that they, four individuals, had barely managed to defeat one demon. If the remaining members of the Power Gang pursued them, they would surely be doomed. Therefore, he argued, they must secretly build their strength, and only when they possessed sufficient power should they openly challenge the Power Gang and eliminate all the remaining Eight Great Lords and Nineteen Demons.
Deng Yuhan was deeply moved by this strategic vision and suggested that now was the perfect time to form the Shenzhou Alliance, reminding Xiao Qiushui of his earlier promise. Xiao Qiushui was surprised, having thought they were simply the "Jinjiang Four Brothers," but his companions clarified that he had previously expressed a desire to unite righteous individuals from across the land, hence the ambitious name.
They then performed a blood oath, cutting their palms and dripping blood into wine, vowing to live and die together. Xiao Qiushui, though finding the ritual a bit dramatic, joined them. He expressed his confusion at their profound respect for him, prompting Tang Rou to recall how Xiao Qiushui, a stranger, had risked his life to save her when she was ambushed. Deng Yuhan and Zuoqiu Chaoran shared similar stories of Xiao Qiushui's past acts of selfless heroism.
Moved by their unwavering loyalty and his own past "chivalrous spirit," Xiao Qiushui resolved to protect his three companions. That night, the Demon Codex appeared, informing Xiao Qiushui that he had "spoiled a crucial plot to Tang Rou, altering the story's course." As a result, the Boiling Blood Cocoon was activated, inflicting excruciating pain, and a countdown began.
After the punishment subsided, the Demon Codex warned that the next activation would "deplete the user's Hit Points" and confirmed that the "story difficulty had increased from this moment." Xiao Qiushui was both frustrated and perplexed. He had taken care to destroy Fu Tianyi's body to prevent the Power Gang's retaliation, yet he still dreamt of the Xiao family being massacred. He realized he could not risk any more plot spoilers.
Remembering the Demon Codex's promise that becoming the Huanhua Sect leader would allow him to control the story's direction, he decided to pursue this goal. He planned to seek help from Xiao Xueyu, whom he had written into the story as an adopted daughter, and to search for various "cheat modes" he had embedded in his original novel, such as an indestructible sword, a martial arts-knowing white wolf, a Gatling gun, and the powerful NPC Feng Lang.
The next morning, Xiao Qiushui eagerly woke his three companions to search for these "auxiliary elements." However, their efforts yielded disappointing results: the "indestructible sword" turned out to be a broken pair of scissors, the "Gatling gun" a mere chamber pot, and the "martial arts-knowing white wolf" was a yellow wolf that showed no such abilities. Xiao Qiushui realized that the system's "difficulty increase" meant it was systematically removing all his pre-set cheats. His companions, still unaware of his true intentions, grew confused by his unusual search. Finally, Xiao Qiushui revealed his true ambition: to become the leader of the Huanhua Sect.
