Thousand Years For You Episode 24 Recap
> Thousand Years For You Recap
Paralyzed Yu rushed back, excitedly telling Dengdeng that he had finally discovered a way to combat the Gu worm plaguing her: the Dust-proof Bead. Lu Yan recalled that the ancient Shu royal family possessed such a bead three thousand years ago, but he was unsure if it still remained in the old capital of ancient Shu. Nevertheless, for Dengdeng's sake, he was willing to investigate.
Since the ruins of ancient Shu were located in Lingdong, not far from their current position, the group quickly packed their belongings and set off. Meanwhile, the Xiongya Stronghold launched a brutal attack on the Bai family, showing no mercy. In a desperate attempt to protect Bai Shiqi, her maid Cuizhu donned Bai Shiqi’s clothes, drawing the attention of the bandits and sacrificing herself. Despite this, dozens of Bai family members were captured.
At a critical moment, a young concubine appeared, but she was shot and died in the arms of Chief Bai. Soon after, Chief Bai was also shot and killed right in front of Bai Shiqi. Bai Shiqi awoke from her nightmare to find herself in a dark, small room, her hands and feet tightly bound. Two men burst in, intending to harm her. Bai Shiqi fought back fiercely, her desperate resistance scaring the men away.
To ensure Dengdeng's safety, Lu Yan embedded a soul-tracing technique into her hairpin, integrating his own energy with hers. This allowed him to sense whenever Dengdeng used her energy, even anticipating her mischievous attempts to step on him. Dengdeng, initially amused, joked about him being a controlling husband from novels. Lu Yan clarified that the technique was for monitoring her energy loss and, more importantly, for tracking Zhu Rong’s whereabouts.
He admitted that Zhu Rong had not been detected yet, possibly because he hadn't used his energy or had retreated to a place beyond the technique's reach. Dengdeng assured him they would search together. Along their journey, Paralyzed Yu grew uneasy about Dengdeng and Lu Yan traveling alone in a carriage. He instructed Dahai to stop and promptly moved to Dengdeng's carriage, intending to separate the two. As the father and daughter bickered, Dengdeng suddenly collapsed.
Lu Yan quickly realized Zhu Rong was absorbing her energy, and his soul-tracing technique had been blocked. Sometime later, Zhu Rong, who was still recovering from his previous defeat, was seen acknowledging his impatience in trying to retrieve the energy core. He vowed to resolve the situation swiftly, promising to retrieve what belonged to him once his allies arrived. Dengdeng eventually regained consciousness, downplaying her condition as mere fatigue from travel.
However, Paralyzed Yu chastised her, revealing that Lu Yan had to transfer energy to her to revive her. Upon reaching a village near the old capital of ancient Shu, Lu Yan and Xin went to investigate. They found the villagers peculiar; everyone claimed to have never heard of ancient Shu, despite ancient Shu totems being visibly carved into the village buildings. A shopkeeper explained that these were ancestral patterns, but he knew nothing of ancient Shu.
Lu Yan deduced that the villagers might have forgotten their heritage or were deliberately secretive with outsiders. He decided they must stay longer and investigate every possibility. Meanwhile, Gu Beixi infiltrated the Xiongya Stronghold, confronting its chief and demanding to know Bai Shiqi's location. He swiftly overpowered the chief, learning she was held in the backyard woodshed. After freeing other captives, he found a terrified Bai Shiqi huddled in a corner.
Recognizing him, she tearfully clung to Gu Beixi, recounting the horror of her family's massacre and her despair at being left without a home. Gu Beixi gently comforted her, promising vengeance and declaring that he would be her new home. The Xiongya Stronghold chief soon regained consciousness and ordered his men to capture Gu Beixi and Bai Shiqi. Gu Beixi, pulling a panicking Bai Shiqi, took cover behind some sandbags.
He calmly told her that while he usually used a gun, the knife he wielded was from his childhood training. Realizing they were being surrounded, he devised a plan for Bai Shiqi to escape while he distracted their pursuers. He instructed her to wait for him at a shabby City God Temple in a nearby village called Taiping.
Bai Shiqi, understanding his intentions, made him promise to return safely, vowing to wait for him there and not leave until he arrived. Gu Beixi, with a self-assured grin, handed her a knife for self-defense and bravely dashed out, facing a hail of gunfire as he led the bandits away. Back in a village named Baile, Lu Yan’s group observed that all the villagers, even those celebrating a wedding, were eerily expressionless, making the joyous occasion resemble a funeral.
Lu Yan confirmed that they were ordinary people, not of the spirit clan. An exception to the village's apathy was a "fool," who showed fear at a totem and muttered about "fireflies." Believing this man might hold crucial information, Lu Yan placed a tracking mark on him. They found the man, a former scholar named Sun, with a woman named Mei. Mei, a Tongyangxi who had been rescued by Sun from abuse by the Zhang family, explained his history.
When Lu Yan showed Sun the ancient Shu totem again, Sun became agitated, repeatedly shouting "dragon pattern" before collapsing, a reaction that visibly disturbed Paralyzed Yu. Later that night, Dengdeng, noticing Paralyzed Yu's troubled demeanor, pressed him for answers. Yu revealed that the "dragon pattern" was connected to her mother's death. He recounted the night the Yu Village was massacred, and he found her dead, with the "dragon pattern" marked in the snow beside her.
He believed this mark was linked to her killers. He also shared that villagers had told him a beggar took Dengdeng out of the village for safety. Dengdeng speculated that Sun might know how her mother died and the significance of the dragon pattern. Unbeknownst to them, Lu Yan had overheard their conversation. When Xin later asked about his somber mood, Lu Yan confessed that he, too, bore a dragon pattern on his body.
