Tiger and Crane Episode 31 Recap
> Tiger and Crane Recap
As night fell, the camellia flowers transformed from red to white, signaling the arrival of Yi Mei, who immediately trapped Hu Zi and his companions. She boasted about cultivating the vast camellia field and knew they had previously used their sense of smell to break her daytime hypnosis formation. Yi Mei taunted them, asking them to consider how they would escape.
Qi Xiaoxuan demanded to know where Yan was, but Yi Mei claimed Yan had followed her willingly and might be waiting for him elsewhere. At the main camp, the situation grew desperate as the camellia vines advanced, threatening to entangle anyone who moved, turning them into "flower fertilizer." The First Master, having expended much spirit essence on previous formations, confirmed no existing magic could counter these vines.
Some disheartened sorcerers at the camp expressed a desire to retreat, claiming their mission to cut off the source of the Legendary Sea was futile, especially with food scarcity. Wu Lidan and Xiao Yunzi vehemently criticized their lack of resolve, reminding them of the sacrifices of others, like Ben Shanxian, who died helping them reach Dianfeng Valley. They urged everyone to stay alert, as the vines would reach them in half an hour.
Yi Mei stated her sole purpose for being there was Qi Xiaoxuan, claiming Dianfeng Valley held "truths and answers here that no one else knows." When Hu Zi asked about his mother, Yi Mei confirmed he would see her but indicated she was currently "useful" to her. Qi Yanran confronted Yi Mei, accusing her of killing a being she referred to as "Eldest Master," who had sacrificed himself to protect Qi Yanran's primordial spirit.
Yi Mei, however, denied intentionally harming him, attributing it to fate, and even threatened to arrange a new body for Qi Yanran. As Qi Yanran fought Yi Mei, Yi Mei noted Qi Yanran's improved combat skills, though still insufficient. During the intense struggle, Mo Guzi utilized his Thousand Thread Break technique to bind Yi Mei. Once Yi Mei was restrained, Qi Xiaoxuan freed the others. Xintong then located the formation's core, successfully dismantling the Camellia Formation.
Cheers erupted throughout the camp as the immediate danger passed. With the Camellia Formation broken, Hu Zi and his companions decided against executing Yi Mei, as they had too many unanswered questions for her. Yi Mei, however, proved too cunning for the Thousand Thread Break. She declared that while her capture was one of their goals, cutting off the source of the Legendary Sea was an "impossible goal."
She then pointed to the Bloody Waterfall, identifying it as the source of the Legendary Sea, challenging them to cut it off. Yi Mei also remarked on Hu Zi's unexpected ability to activate the Phurba's power in a mere few days, a feat that took her five hundred years. Despite being wounded, Yi Mei used the opportunity to escape, mounting a White Tiger and flying away.
Qi Yanran immediately gave chase, vowing to catch Yi Mei to atone for her past sins, including destroying the Qi family and causing her grandma's death, and promising to restore Qi Xiaoxuan's original body upon Yi Mei's capture. Hu Zi watched in a daze, realizing the White Tiger was his mother. Hu Zi, Qi Xiaoxuan, Qi Yanran, and Mo Guzi arrived at the Bloody Waterfall.
Though Yi Mei had claimed it was the source of the Legendary Sea, they were wary of her trickery and recognized the immense difficulty in severing such a powerful flow. Hu Zi was also deeply troubled by his mother's alliance with Yi Mei. They debated returning to the camp to consult the First Master when they suddenly heard a human voice emanating from within the waterfall.
Intrigued, they entered the cave behind the waterfall, where they discovered an elder with white hair trapped within a stone wall—Qi Wuji, the ancient ancestor of the Qi family. Inside the cave, Hu Zi initially claimed to be a descendant of the Qi family. However, Qi Xiaoxuan, ever cautious, questioned the elder's identity despite his youthful appearance with white hair.
Qi Xiaoxuan then, observing a distinct mark, confirmed the elder's identity as Qi Wuji, the ancient ancestor, and knelt, acknowledging his own lineage as the 19th generation of the Qi family. Qi Wuji explained his five-hundred-year entrapment: after slaying the Demon Emperor, he gained an immortal body but was cursed to petrify if he left Dianfeng Valley, leading him to merge with the stone wall over centuries.
With Mo Guzi's Thousand Thread Break, combined with the collective strength of Hu Zi, Qi Xiaoxuan, and Qi Yanran, they successfully freed Qi Wuji. Qi Wuji recounted the five-hundred-year events: he led sorcerers to defeat the Demon Emperor using the Phurba, but the Demon Emperor's blood transformed into destructive legendary flames, devastating the land and creating the Legendary Sea, trapping them on the island.
While some managed to escape on a Legendary Ship built from the Demon Emperor's bones, Qi Wuji and his beloved wife, Ye Kongming, stayed behind to protect others, thus missing their chance to leave. He further revealed that the only way to sever the source of the Legendary Sea was to locate the Demon Emperor's heart, which had transformed into an "ever-beating stone heart." However, five centuries had drastically altered Dianfeng Valley, rendering its current location unknown even to him.
The return of Qi Wuji to the main camp immediately uplifted the flagging morale. Previously, some sorcerers, demoralized by the ongoing dangers, lack of food, and apparent lack of progress, had openly declared their intent to abandon the mission, causing heated arguments that even the First Master and Second Master could not resolve. The First Master, who was revealed to be Qi Xiaoxuan's grandmother and maintained her youthful appearance through a forbidden Mo family technique, greeted him.
They resumed discussions on finding the Demon Emperor's heart, but Qi Wuji confessed his imprisonment had left him unable to locate it in the transformed Dianfeng Valley. However, he provided crucial information: a wetland in the northwest corner of the Twin Mountains served as the island's only water source and harbored edible resources like wild olives and sweet potatoes, enough to sustain the camp.
Hu Zi, still grappling with his mother's alliance with Yi Mei, expressed a desire to find her, but was advised by Xintong to consult Qi Wuji about the five-hundred-year-old events first. The discovery of food greatly boosted the camp's spirits, though Qi Wuji revealed he could no longer taste, accepting it as a minor loss compared to being alive.
Recognizing his own fading life force after five centuries, Qi Wuji resolved to transfer his lifelong cultivation to Qi Xiaoxuan, seeing him as the Qi Sect's last hope. Qi Xiaoxuan then revealed his plight: he suffers from the Curse of Twin Primordial Spirits, with his original body usurped by another primordial spirit named Yan, who was now with Yi Mei.
The body he currently inhabited was a temporary form created by the self-sacrifice of a magic weapon, which Qi Yanran referred to as "Eldest Master." Qi Wuji then dropped a bombshell: the Curse of Twin Primordial Spirits originated five hundred years ago when the White Tiger, assisting the Demon Emperor, killed his twin brother Qi Wushuang and left a distinctive claw mark on Qi Wuji, leading to the birth of children with two primordial spirits in subsequent generations.
Hu Zi, stunned by Qi Wuji's accusation that the White Tiger was a "vicious and despicable" demon responsible for countless deaths, vehemently denied it, asserting the White Tiger was his mother. A heated argument ensued, with Qi Wuji condemning Hu Zi for questioning the sacrifices of ancestors who died in the Legendary Sea. Qi Xiaoxuan intervened, emphasizing that finding Yi Mei and rescuing Hu Zi's mother was their immediate priority, regardless of past grudges.
He reassured Hu Zi that he would help him retrieve his original body, no matter the cost. Hu Zi, deeply troubled, drifted to sleep, still wrestling with the disturbing revelation about his mother. That night, while the sorcerers patrolled, yearning for the glory of their mission and the hope of returning home, the White Tiger suddenly appeared. The patrolling sorcerers quickly spotted her, recognizing an opportunity for great achievements.
One immediately went to report, while others rallied to capture the White Tiger, declaring their intent to kill the tiger demon as retribution for the five-hundred-year-old tragedy and to honor their ancestors. Meanwhile, Mo Guzi was using Thousand Thread Break to stabilize Qi Xiaoxuan's spirit essence, whose Soul Lamp was nearing its limit, hoping to buy him a few more days until Yan could be found.
Hearing the commotion, Mo Guzi went to investigate and found Hu Zi standing protectively before the White Tiger, his mother, who was now surrounded and under attack by numerous sorcerers. The sorcerers, seeing Hu Zi defend the "tiger demon," turned their aggression on him, accusing him of siding with their enemy and abandoning his kin.
