When Destiny Brings The Demon Episode 5 Recap
> When Destiny Brings The Demon Recap
The various sect leaders gathered at the barrier, eager to discern the true state of affairs. Some, driven by a desire to immediately eliminate Sima Jiao and claim his pure blood for maximum gain, urged others to enter. However, others hesitated, fearing they might be outmatched and become sacrificial pawns. The four sect leaders who ventured in prematurely were no match for Sima Jiao. He quickly bound them to pillars and began their punishment.
During this process, Sima Jiao also suffered severe injuries, prompting Liao Tingyan to express her concern for him, even asking herself what she should do. Seizing the urgent moment to make a good impression, she carefully helped her "boss" onto a bed and covered him with a blanket. Unexpectedly, Sima Jiao produced a sword and instructed Liao Tingyan to strike him.
Despite his previous teachings on killing, Liao Tingyan had never taken a life and found herself unable to bring herself to harm anyone, especially Sima Jiao. When he repeatedly urged her to "do it," she wondered why everyone was forcing her to act and declared that she had "killed someone" after the blade went in. She then asked if Sima Jiao was trying to frame her.
Liao Tingyan contemplated fleeing, but Sima Jiao, sensing her hesitation, grasped her hand and used it to plunge the sword into his own chest. Liao Tingyan trembled, terrified by her first act of taking a life, especially that of her powerful Grandmaster. Sima Jiao, however, reassured her, stating that this act was a necessary step to break his seals. Liao Tingyan reacted by calling him a "murderer" and a "jerk."
Outside the barrier, the remaining sect leaders, observing Sima Jiao's seemingly weakened spiritual power, became emboldened. Believing it was a perfect opportunity, most of them surged into the divine hall, eager to deliver the final blow. Only Sect Master Shi and Madam Xing hesitated. When asked why she wasn't entering, Madam Xing deferred to Sect Master Shi, stating that he, as Sima Jiao's guardian and a witness to his sealing, must know his true power.
She doubted the rumor of Sima Jiao's weakness on the new moon night and believed he wouldn't easily become prey. This collective rush played right into Sima Jiao's hands, allowing him to corner and eliminate them all. As he absorbed their spiritual energy, his power surged dramatically. He effortlessly removed the eight nails impaled in his body and, with a powerful surge, broke through the barrier, finally free after five hundred years.
The surviving sect leaders realized too late that they had fallen into Sima Jiao's trap, confirming his supposed weakness on the new moon was a lie and that he had used their blood to break the seals. They desperately tried to flee but were trapped by the Spirit Fire. As they perished, some cursed Sima Jiao, believing his plan was incomplete because Xing Hecan, known for her cowardice, had not entered the hall.
Sima Jiao, however, asserted that her absence didn't doom his plan and that he had already made good use of the disciples they had sent in earlier. Liao Tingyan observed Sima Jiao after his liberation and noticed he didn't seem happy, leaving her to ponder the secrets he might still harbor. Having witnessed his confinement for five hundred years, Liao Tingyan felt a sense of pity for him.
Sima Jiao then confessed his elaborate plan, which he had been preparing for five hundred years: he had long known that connecting with the heart veins of the eight major palace heads was the key to breaking the barrier. His challenge was orchestrating a situation where they would willingly come to him since he couldn't leave the confines of the barrier himself.
To achieve this, he had cultivated the Spirit Fire's avatar to instill fear in the Eight Palaces, ensuring they would send disciples into the mountain. He explained that the initial killings were not random; those eliminated were spies or individuals with malicious intent. He specifically stated that the rumor of his spiritual power being weakened on the new moon night was a deliberate falsehood, designed to lure the palace heads in.
He couldn't stab himself, he revealed, because the Gengchen Celestial Palace's elders had placed restrictions on the sealing nails within him to prevent self-harm, fearing he would perish and take the sect's spiritual power with him. This is why he needed Liao Tingyan to stab him; as he was one with the Spirit Fire, damage to his heart would affect the connected spirit vein, making his spiritual power "appear" weakened to outsiders, thus confirming the fabricated rumor.
This act was also his final test to confirm her harmlessness. He stated that Liao Tingyan survived precisely because she had been simple-minded and naive. Despite this revelation, Liao Tingyan resolved to keep surviving, hoping to see many more sunrises. Meanwhile, the master of the Yin Palace had been killed. Ye Ruling possessed the former master's inner core, absorbed it and declared herself the successor, warning any who disagreed to challenge her.
She acknowledged Sima Jiao's role, saying, "Sima Jiao, you have actually done one good thing." Sima Jiao then led Liao Tingyan back to the ruined divine hall. Exhausted from the day's ordeal, Liao Tingyan found a small hammock and quickly fell asleep. When she awoke, she observed the devastation: the hall was a wreck, still smoldering in places, and many Bloodseal Blooms had been incinerated.
To prevent any surviving sect leaders from attempting further mischief, Sima Jiao and Liao Tingyan departed the ravaged hall. Sima Jiao took Liao Tingyan to White Deer Cliff, a serene and picturesque location meticulously prepared by the Sect Master Shi of the Gengchen Celestial Palace. Sect Master Shi, who had rebuilt the Cliff after a great fire, offered a dozen puppet servants to Sima Jiao, emphasizing their lack of consciousness or souls.
However, Sima Jiao declined them all, stating he disliked being disturbed. Sect Master Shi expressed his family's enduring loyalty to the Sima clan, stressing the importance of fulfilling their ancestral duties. Liao Tingyan, realizing she was the sole "laborer" in this vast place facing the "bloodthirsty Grandmaster," became apprehensive about her own survival. Sima Jiao noted her unusual quietness, mentioning she was usually "full of problems, nonsense, and all sorts of gibberish."
When Liao Tingyan asked if those people "really had to die" and sought an explanation, Sima Jiao, surprisingly, did not show anger. While exploring the gardens of White Deer Cliff with Sima Jiao, Liao Tingyan admired the dark, enchanting Moonshade Blooms. Sima Jiao, with a hint of sadness, explained that these flowers sprout from the bone pearls left behind after Sima clan members die; each pearl yields one bloom.
This revealed to Liao Tingyan that the beautiful garden was, in essence, a graveyard. He then offered her one of the flowers. As Liao Tingyan inhaled its fragrance, she was suddenly transported into someone's memory. She found herself in a vision of the past, at what appeared to be White Deer Cliff.
She witnessed Sima E, a Sima clan member, being forced into marriage with Sima Shi to preserve the "pure bloodline of the Fengshan line" and "nourish the Spirit Fire." Sima E vehemently resisted, proclaiming she did not love him and accusing the Eight Palaces of forcing her to marry and bear children, likening her existence to that of a "caged bird." She believed the Sima clan would only find freedom if the Fengshan Spirit Fire ceased to exist.
Despite her defiance, Sima E eventually yielded. The memory then shifted to a wedding ceremony where Sima Shi and Sima E were joined as "partners" to "continue the bloodline" and "nourish the Spirit Fire." Later, she saw Sima E cradling an infant, whom she named "Jiao." Liao Tingyan realized this baby was none other than Sima Jiao, confirming that Sima E was his mother. She observed how the Eight Palaces' greed had pushed the Sima clan to such extremes.
