Thousand Years For You Episode 1 Recap
> Thousand Years For You Recap
Three thousand years ago, the Spirit Clan, led by Saintess Yun Xi and the chieftain Zhu Rong, waged war against the human race, plunging the world into misery. During the conflict, Yun Xi was moved by the suffering of all beings and sealed her killing intent, hoping to bring about peace. However, this act earned her the hatred of Zhu Rong, who continued to lead the Spirit Clan in widespread plunder.
Meanwhile, Lu Yan, the human prince, bravely led his troops in resistance. He allied with Yun Xi, striving to end the war. Zhu Rong, however, cornered them both in a desperate situation. Before her death, Yun Xi extracted her Energy Core and gave it to Lu Yan, enabling him to use its power to slay Zhu Rong, end the war between the human race and the spirit clan, and fulfill her dying wish.
Peace returned to the Nine Continents, but Lu Yan mysteriously disappeared from the world, leaving behind countless legends. Three thousand years later, on Qingquan Mountain, Yu Dengdeng, the Chief of Qingquan Stronghold, led some of her men to a cave in search of treasure. According to local lore, a corrupt official from a previous dynasty had hidden all his ill-gotten gains there. To their disappointment, most of the boxes were empty.
Yu Dengdeng confidently broke the lock on a large chest, only to find it, too, contained nothing but empty containers. As everyone expressed their frustration, Yu Dengdeng inadvertently triggered a mechanism and plummeted into a newly opened hole beneath the large chest. Yu Dengdeng slowly got up and lit a torch, discovering a hidden chamber with a massive mural.
She was captivated by the person depicted in the painting, remarking on how handsome they looked, and wondered why such a beautiful image would be in such a dirty place. As she reached out to touch the mural, a golden light flashed, and a series of unfamiliar yet familiar images flickered through her mind. The entire cave began to collapse around her, leaving Yu Dengdeng in a state of panic. Suddenly, everything froze.
The figure from the mural, Lu Yan, emerged and called out "Yun Xi." He presented a hairpin, seemingly intending to return it to its rightful owner. However, the hairpin merely hovered around Yu Dengdeng without acknowledging her as its master. Lu Yan frowned, quickly retrieved the hairpin, and walked out of the cave.
The dazzling sunlight outside seemed to tell him that the world had changed beyond recognition, and he wondered if Yun Xi had transmigrated and returned to the world in a new form. Moments later, a car with failed brakes sped towards Lu Yan in the street. He remained unharmed from the collision, which left the car's front end damaged, and he effortlessly ascended to a rooftop.
Later, Lu Yan arrived at a residence where he found his old acquaintances, Chang and Xin. They knelt before him, overjoyed and deeply apologetic for having lost their master, Yun Xi. Lu Yan corrected them, stating that his only master was Yun Xi, and they agreed to call him "Sir."
Xin explained that 20 years prior, he had been injured by a spirit-hunter, and upon his return, Yun Xi's Spiritual feathers, which Lu Yan had placed on Qingquan Mountain to gather her spirit, were gone. He noted that the Spirit Clan was in decline, with most having fled to Yingdu, and only a few ordinary spirits remained in Qingquan Town.
Lu Yan took responsibility for the Spirit Clan's fate, but Xin quickly reassured him, emphasizing that if Lu Yan hadn't accepted the Energy Core and defeated Zhu Rong, the world would have been utterly devastated. Lu Yan summoned the local deity of Qingquan Mountain to inquire about the lost Spiritual feathers. The deity recalled that the feathers, which had been accumulating someone's spiritual sense, were indeed taken away about 20 years ago.
He described the person who took them as carrying a dagger with an emblem of the character 'Yu' (于), which he then drew for Lu Yan. Xin brought historical records of Qingquan Town, and as Lu Yan delved into them, he could sense the layered history of the place. His appearance transformed to match the current era's clothing and hairstyle, ensuring he wouldn't draw unwanted attention.
Lu Yan, however, began to experience intense pain, a consequence of carrying Yun Xi's Energy Core as a mortal. Xin explained that his energy was unstable, causing him agonizing pain and even temporary loss of consciousness. Lu Yan brushed off his suffering, reiterating that it was insignificant compared to Yun Xi's sacrifice.
He was determined to find her, regardless of what form she might have taken, even if she had reincarnated as a flower, a blade of grass, an animal, a breeze, or a snowflake. Meanwhile, Yu Dengdeng awoke from a vivid dream of a wedding, attributing it to the handsome man in the mural. Her Uncle Lv Er, who often dabbeled in divination, was burning mugwort to dispel bad luck around the stronghold.
He suggested Yu Dengdeng marry a man to change their fortunes. Yu Dengdeng vehemently refused, reminding him of a past incident from her childhood when, on her uncle's advice, she married a rooster to cure a heart ailment, a decision that led to years of ridicule from the chieftains of the 18 mountain strongholds.
However, a string of misfortunes soon struck the Qingquan Stronghold: their cart for groceries and grain overturned at Baizhan Bend, losing half a month's food supply, their only sow experienced a difficult labor, and Xiao'er's private school threatened expulsion over unpaid tuition fees. Faced with these mounting pressures, Yu Dengdeng reluctantly agreed to try Lv Er's suggestion. She descended the mountain, targeting the wealthiest family in town to "marry" their young master.
After coercing the young master’s father with undisclosed evidence related to the family’s raw opium business, Yu Dengdeng ensured the groom was placed in a sedan chair. She warned Mr. Lu to cease his illicit trade and indicated she would return for more "dowry" once the current supply was depleted. As Yu Dengdeng and her brothers traveled back up the mountain with the dowry, they noticed an unusual silence.
The young master, who had been crying earlier, was now completely quiet in the sedan. Despite the wedding attendant's protests, Yu Dengdeng insisted on opening the sedan. To her shock, the young master was gone, replaced by a paper figure. Furthermore, the dowry had mysteriously turned into stones.
Enraged, Yu Dengdeng interrogated the terrified wedding attendant, who finally confessed that the sedan was a magical one from Xin's Sedan Chair Company, capable of making people disappear and reappear elsewhere, sometimes even in other towns. Yu Dengdeng immediately led her men to Xin's Sedan Chair Company for answers. Finding the doors locked and impregnable, they began to shout, "Unethical Sedan Company, return my husband!" Their commotion coincided with a shootout between the police and a group of bandits.
The bandits seized a child as a hostage. Yu Dengdeng rushed to save the child, but an axe and a bullet flew directly towards her. Just as disaster seemed imminent, everything around them froze. Lu Yan appeared, effortlessly rescuing Yu Dengdeng and the child. As time resumed its normal flow, Chang, having arrived on the scene, mistook Yu Dengdeng for Yun Xi, but Lu Yan quickly corrected him. Yu Dengdeng, deeply impressed by Lu Yan's mysterious intervention, declared a change of plans: instead of pursuing compensation, she decided to "kidnap him for love."
