Let me rewrite episode 33, the most problematic episode in the drama, based on the storyline of some leaked screenplay in the vast expanse of the internet.
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"Brother, if you stare any harder at her, she might break," Zhang Hai said, raising an eyebrow at Cang Jiumin staring sullenly at Sect Sister Li Susu up at the Hengyang Sect's table.
Zhang Lin smirked. "So it seems our junior brother is no different from all the disciples that fell for Li Susu's charms." Cang Jiumin threw him a dirty look, which quickly wiped the smile off his face.
They were at the Hengyang Sect's banquet hall, having the farewell dinner for all the sects who have participated in the recent Immortal Competition. Even if it was spoiled by the Ancient Devil God's lieutenants, the Immortal Competition was still something to celebrate about.
Cang Jiumin turned to his food with a frown. Our past is now over, and we have become strangers to each other. He clenched his fist tightly. How can she just say that as easily as if the past was truly nothing?
Zhang Hai watched Cang Jiumin closely. His junior brother's mood after coming from Mount Changze was similar to when he first came to the sect, dark and gloomy, instead of happy and giddy, as Zhang Lin thinks he should be. How can the Lady of Spirituality, Li Susu, have this effect on junior brother? He decided to pry. "What happened with you and Senior Sister Li?" he asked his junior brother.
Cang Jiumin looked at his senior brother, who looked back at him in concern. He shook his head. "Nothing," he said simply, because how was he to explain what Ye Xiwu… no, Li Susu, was to him?
Zhang Feng moved closer to his brothers. "I heard Goddess Yuling called off her engagement with Senior Brother Gongye Jiwu," he whispered.
Cang Jiumin's ears perked. They were actually engaged? he thought with a shock, thinking back at all the times he and Gongye Jiwu talked. Gloomily, he picked at his food. Memories of Ye Xiwu fawning over Xiao Lin came rushing back to him, and jealousy pricked at his heart again. In that life, or in this one, she is still entangled with Xiao Lin.
"Why would she do that?" Zhang Hai exclaimed, not noticing Cang Jiumin's expression darken further. "He's the best disciple Hengyang Sect ever produced, and besides, he has always cared for her, cultivated with her, and waited for her for the ten years she had been in seclusion."
Cang Jiumin bit down the urge to scoff. Try 500 years.
"From what they say, Goddess Yuling is determined to practice the Heartless Way, to cut off all emotions and ascend to a god," Zhang Feng said. "They say she has the bloodline of the ancient phoenix goddess Chu Huang, and that makes it easier for her to ascend." He smiled. "Imagine Goddess Yuling truly becoming a goddess! The Devil God won't stand a chance."
Cang Jiumin remained silent. I am Li Susu, daughter of the Hengyang Sect Chief, training in the Heartless Way to become a god, to fight the threat of the Devil God and uphold justice. When she said that, she truly meant it. He stood abruptly, surprising his brothers, and took his leave from the table.
Cang Jiumin walked around Hengyang Sect, seemingly without direction, finally drifting towards the rock formation his master and Sect Chief Qu Xuanzi usually went to play chess. He sat down at a rock ledge, and looked up at the full moon.
Five hundred years ago, Ye Xiwu left me because she wanted to reverse my destiny of becoming the Devil God in her nightmares. Five hundred years later, Li Susu does not want to have anything to do with me because of the threat of the Devil God.
He sighed bitterly. Until I find a way to eradicate this threat of the Devil God, she and I won't have a chance to start over again.
He looked down on his hands. I need to learn more about the Devil God, and I can't do that here.
It was time to pay the two demons, Si Ying and Jing Mie, a visit at the Barren Abyss.
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"Jiumin, come," Immortal Zhaoyou called Cang Jiumin, who quickly came over to his master's side.
"Yes, master?"
"I would like you to accompany Li Susu to the mortal realm," Zhaoyou said, oblivious to the sudden soaring of Cang Jiumin's heart. "To reinforce the sealing spells on the Devil God's Bone-defining Seal, we need more ancient artifacts to draw power from. Years ago, the Xiaoyao Sect had one such powerful artifact, the Heart Guarding Scale of the God of War, Ming Ye. But our former master generously gifted it to a mortal prince at his wedding day, and now, who knows where it is. Li Susu has undertaken the task to find it, and she said she can do it alone, but I worry after my niece."
Of course she's going to know where it is, Cang Jiumin thought, his heart suddenly throbbing as he remembered that wedding night when she pierced his heart with the six Soul-slaying Nails.
Tantai Jin closed his eyes, in resignation to the fate that awaited him at the hands of Ye Xiwu.
"Tantai Jin, farewell," he heard Ye Xiwu whisper, then scream as she drove the last three nails into his heart.
Ye Xiwu, farewell, Tantai Jin also thought, and braced himself for the pain that was coming.
But it never came.
A familiar sensation of power made him open his eyes. Ming Ye's Heart Guarding Scale floated in front of his heart, casting a barrier between him and the three nails that trembled in the air. The scale released power and repelled the nails, knocking him and Ye Xiwu down on the floor.
"I'll go now, master," Cang Jiumin said, gesturing respectfully towards Zhaoyou.
"Protect Li Susu well," Zhaoyou commanded him.
"I will." With my life. Cang Jiumin turned to walk down the path leading to the mortal world.
Zhaoyou followed him. "She's gone ahead," he said, falling into step with Cang Jiumin, "but she said she'll be going towards the Jing Kingdom first."
"Thank you for the information, master."
"Send me a message when you've seen her."
"I will, master."
Seeing that Zhaoyou still continued walking with him, Cang Jiumin stopped and looked at his master. "Is there anything else, master?"
Zhaoyou stopped walking too. "Nothing," he said in an unconvincing, bright tone. Cang Jiumin narrowed his eyes at him. Zhaoyou then waved him off. "All right, all right, I'll let you go now."
With a last bow, Cang Jiumin walked off through the Immortal Gates and vanished.
Zhaoyou called Zhang Hai. "Are you sure something's up with Cang Jiumin and Li Susu?" he asked his disciple.
"Yes, master," Zhang Hai replied. "He's been in a dark mood recently, ever since he returned from Goddess Yuling's residence."
Zhaoyou raised an eyebrow at that. "Interesting…" he said, a playful smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
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Walking through the streets of the kingdom he once ruled, Cang Jiumin marveled at how much was changed, but also how little.
The marketplace was as lively as ever. There were a lot of new shops, but there were still some stores which had stood the test of time. The path at his feet had patches that still held the cobblestones he had laid during his restoration of the city. Even five hundred years later, the smell, the look, the feel of the marketplace was the same.
Looking at the decorations, and the goods being sold in the smaller stalls, Cang Jiumin was surprised that he had come just in time for the Pohang Festival. He smiled at the memory of the last time he and Ye Xiwu had been here. Walking through the streets, unrecognized by any, it felt as if they were just like any other couple going for a walk, eating tanghulu and shopping for frivolous items like those demon masks.
And then they were chosen by the diviner: Ye Xiwu as the goddess of mercy, and Tantai Jin as the Devil God. Ironic, but then he didn't know. Ye Xiwu's eyes sparkled through her golden mask as they performed the sword dance. His hand was outstretched towards her throat. Her sword pointed at his heart, and he opened his arms. He had wondered, briefly, what the look was in her eyes when she still held the sword up even when the music ended, but now he understood.
She was holding her sword up against the Devil God.
But when he took her in his arms, she had looked at him with another expression, one that had escaped his notice when he was so distracted by her beauty as she looked up at him in her goddess attire.
He saw her doubts. Are you Ming Ye, or are you the Devil God? Are you my enemy, or my lover?
He saw those doubts clear away as she took the devil mask away from his face, and be replaced with pure affection. You are Tantai Jin.
Cang Jiumin sighed deeply. If only time had stopped there, when he had flown away with her safe in his arms, up in the sky, surrounded by the light of the lanterns and away from court life, away from other people, just the two of them basking in the simple joy and happiness he saw through her eyes…
He shook his head. Time never stood still, not for Ming Ye and Sang Jiu, not for Tantai Jin and Ye Xiwu, and certainly not even for Cang Jiumin and Li Susu. They could only move forward with what they have and what they were at present.
I am a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect, learning the immortal arts from Immortal Zhaoyou. She is a practitioner of the Heartless Way, aiming to ascend to godhood.
Two roads diverge on the road. When will they ever become one and the same?
As if answering his thoughts, Cang Jiumin looked up and saw Li Susu among the crowd.