Till the End of the Moon Episode 4 Recap
> Till the End of the Moon Recap
Princess Yue Ruanruan, known for her gentleness and virtues, was granted the title of Concubine Rou and welcomed with a grand wedding ceremony, celebrating a union with Tantai Wuji. Both eagerly anticipated the birth of their child. However, Princess Yue Ruanruan endured three days of torturous labor, and the imperial doctors could only save one—mother or child. Tantai Wuji, prioritizing his beloved wife, ordered her life to be saved above all else.
Before succumbing to the difficult birth, Princess Yue Ruanruan pleaded with her maid, Lan'an, to save her child, expressing her wish for him to be a kind-hearted boy. Yet, upon his birth, the child was deemed a monster by onlookers. Tantai Wuji, consumed by grief and anger, blamed the infant for his wife's death and vowed to kill him.
Lan'an and another maid, Yingxin, desperately begged for the child's life, reminding Tantai Wuji that the little prince was Princess Yue Ruanruan's only bloodline. Tantai Wuji eventually relented, banishing the child, whom he named "Jin" (cinder)—a cursed name—and his two maids to fend for themselves in the palace. A succubus, also known as the Dream Demon, sensed an awakened individual.
It discovered Tantai Jin, who, unlike others, experienced no nightmares because he was born without love threads and thus could not feel emotions like joy, sorrow, or fear. However, the Dream Demon found a slight weakness in Tantai Jin, a subtle attachment that would be enough to make him fall into a dream and allow its nightmare blossoms to flourish.
Within the dream realm, Li Susu witnessed Lan'an and Yingxin caring for the infant Tantai Jin in the desolate cold palace. Despite the harsh conditions, they devoted themselves to him. Yingxin observed that Tantai Jin would wake up after ingesting blood and was born with teeth, confirming her suspicion of him being a monster, though Lan'an cautioned her to keep it a secret.
Lan'an noted that Tantai Jin, who inherited his mother's ability to communicate with animals, was the hope of the Yiyue Tribe. As their resources dwindled and Tantai Jin faced constant abuse, Lan'an planned to sneak out during the "palace maids' off-day" to seek help from the Yiyue Tribe, entrusting Yingxin with Tantai Jin's care and promising to return soon to bring them both to their homeland.
Soon after Lan'an left, an edict arrived, ordering Tantai Jin to be sent as a hostage to the Sheng Kingdom. Yingxin, feeling abandoned and betrayed by Lan'an, expressed her resentment aloud. Li Susu continued to follow the young Tantai Jin into the Sheng Kingdom, where he faced constant bullying and physical abuse from other princes. During one incident, the Sixth Prince, Xiao Lin, intervened just as the others were about to break Tantai Jin's arm.
Prince Lin calmly explained to his brothers that Tantai Jin was a guest for peace between their kingdoms and deserved respectful treatment. After the bullies left, Prince Lin offered Tantai Jin a kind word. Curious about Prince Lin's authority and popularity, Tantai Jin learned from Yingxin that Prince Lin’s mother was the favored Queen, and Prince Lin himself was intelligent and benevolent. Tantai Jin began to wonder if he too would be liked if he were like Prince Lin.
Later, after Prince Lin left for three years to cultivate on Mount Buzhao, Tantai Jin, feeling even more vulnerable without his protection, continued to face abuse. He recounted to Yingxin how he had imitated Prince Lin's every action, hoping to gain acceptance and stop the bullying. Seeing Prince Lin’s kindness toward Ye Bingshang, he mimicked it, which led others to mistakenly believe he liked her.
However, he eventually realized that people's respect was only out of fear of Prince Lin, not genuine affection for him. He questioned Yingxin about what it felt like to be loved and confronted her about her true feelings, discerning that she also disliked him, trapped in the palace because of him. Tantai Jin confessed to faking smiles and kindness, unable to feel the emotions he imitated, and concluded that his "fake things" deserved to be detested.
He mused that for someone like him, merely being alive was enough, and he shouldn't crave love. Li Susu observed that Tantai Jin, born with an evil bone, was suffering unjustly, but also recognized that his future self, the Devil God, would commit heinous acts. Li Susu then witnessed Yingxin receiving a secret message from Tantai Minglang, Tantai Jin's older brother.
The message stated that Tantai Jin's impending marriage and departure from the Palace of Sheng would enable him to return to Jing Kingdom and potentially seize power, so Tantai Minglang instructed Yingxin to ensure Tantai Jin would "never leave," implying his death. Yingxin, swayed by the offer of returning to her hometown and escaping her miserable life, betrayed Tantai Jin despite Li Susu's silent pleas for her not to.
As Yingxin's memory in the dream ended, Li Susu awoke from the nightmare. Meanwhile, outside the dream realm, Prince Lin and Scholar Pang Yizhi arrived at Mount Banzhen, suspecting the Dream Demon's lair to be there. They planned to lure the demon out to rescue Ye Bingshang, and potentially Tantai Jin and Ye Xiwu, who might also be trapped. Scholar Pang Yizhi taunted the demon, threatening to burn its woods, successfully drawing it out.
Back in the dream realm, Li Susu found Tantai Jin still trapped. She tried to wake him, noting the nightmare blossoms growing from him. Tantai Jin was first plunged into a dream where his parents doted on him, praising his cultivation at Xiaoyao Sect, and arranging his marriage to General Ye Xiao's daughter. He was delighted, assuming the bride would be Ye Bingshang, but his joy shattered upon seeing Ye Xiwu as his intended.
The dream then twisted into a horrific nightmare: his mother died in childbirth, his father accused him of matricide, and Lan'an and Yingxin abandoned him. Then, a dream version of Prince Lin appeared, taunting Tantai Jin about the falseness of his happy dream and the suffering he brought to his loved ones, urging him to end his own life. A voice echoed, tempting Tantai Jin with the ultimate escape from his cursed existence.
As he raised a knife to end his life, Li Susu intervened, physically stopping him and asserting that he could not die. Her intervention abruptly woke both of them from the dream. Outside the dream, the Dream Demon, weakened by its confrontation with Prince Lin and Scholar Pang Yizhi, fled back into the mountain. Enraged to find its vines destroyed, the demon attacked Tantai Jin, intending to devour him.
However, a mysterious voice echoed in Tantai Jin's mind, revealing that his blood could suppress all demons and his body could bear their demonic power. The voice enticed him, suggesting that if demons could not kill him, their power could become his, promising him that this craving for power was his true desire, far more fulfilling than ephemeral emotions. Entranced by the promise of ultimate control, Tantai Jin began to absorb the Dream Demon's power.
Prince Lin and Scholar Pang Yizhi managed to rescue the trapped individuals from Mount Banzhen. Li Susu woke up in her room, attended by Chuntao. Recalling the depth of Tantai Jin’s suffering in the dream, she felt a profound pity for him. She resolved to extend a helping hand, hoping that by guiding him, she could prevent him from ultimately becoming the Devil God. In the east-wing chamber, Tantai Jin awoke with a new awareness, realizing he now possessed demonic power and, for the first time, truly understood what "power" felt like.
