The Unclouded Soul Episode Discussion - Episodes 15 - 20
Happy New Years! As a new year begins, so does a new mini-arc. What will our favorite demon Slayer, demon King, and feisty ingenue get up to? Let’s find out.
All Discussion Posts | Masterpost | Episodes 1 - 8 | Episodes 9 - 11 | Episodes 12 - 14 |
This week, on The Ghost Hunter,
our intrepid adventurers face two deadly challenges.
For the first challenge, the contestants much vanquish a ghostly apparition. Xiao Yao is able able to make a quick work of this challenge by lobbing a fireball at the apparition and have Da Li stoke the fire using the wind-controlling technique. For her troubles, Xiao Yao learns what it is like to be a smokestack.
For helplessly yelling “Xiao Yao, what do I do?”, Da Li the vainglorious peacock is rewarded with the women’s unwavering faith as she proudly shakes her plumage and leads her harebrained chicklets to the site of the next challenge. Are there women for real?
The reward didn’t last too long though, as most women switched over to Team Xiao Yao when she manages to light the candles in the stone statues array.
For challenge number two, the women must resist their baser instincts and calm a vengeful spirit.
In a candlelit room, five statues representing the 5 base human emotions (jealousy, vanity, greed, etc.) stand guard as all the women start fighting with each other, their baser instincts having been aroused.
”Why are they all acting like they’re not themselves?” Um..Yao Yao. This is exactly whose those women are. Have you not been paying attention?
Xiao Yao is able to save the day again when she asked the women to calm themselves and think of happy thoughts or someone they love. No brownie points if you guessed who Xiao Yao thinks about.
Having calmed themselves, the women hears the vengeful spirit sing something about making a human sacrifice. And just like that, the mindless sheep decide that they must kill Huang Ying. Leading the charge is Da Li, who tries to stab the bullied woman with a sword only to have Xiao Yao steps in front of her. Hong Ye’s primordial spirit shows up to play human…er…demon shield and breaks the sword into a dozen little pieces.
And Huang Yin starts to shimmer and glimmer. She is the vengeful spirit! Years ago, she killed herself after being bullied by other girls for being slow and dim-witted. So she‘s been waiting all these years for someone who genuinely cares for her to release her from her resentment so her soul can move on. While she speaks, the women all look ashamed but I am not buying it. These people are not sorry for being shitty human beings. They are sorry that their shittiness has been exposed for all to see.
Wow…I did not see this twist coming but I think it’s genius. There is a clear winner to the trial and no one can ride on Xiao Yao’s coattails…
Except that they do! Xiao Yao is offered the position of Dreamshard’s personal attendant but the other women anre all offered positions within the palace. And when Xiao Yao refused the position because she just wants Dreamshard to release Hong Ye, Da Li is offered the position and a new wardrobe. What kind of BS is this?!!! Shouldn’t the rest of the women be serving as fertilizers instead?
As far as I am concerned, Da Li is beyond redemption at this point. But I do think that this is the best acting the actress has done up till down.
The Odyssey, Part Deux
Elsewhere, Pian Pian agrees to help Bing Zhu retrieve his sister/sword but is caught red-handed by Dreamshard, who then sentence both Bing Zhu and Pian Pain to become human puppets.
So Bing Zhu agrees to find the Kunlun mirror for Dreamshard in exchange for letting Pian Pian and Tan’er go. Xiao Yao Also offers to search for the Kunlun mirror if Dreamshard lets Hong Ye go. Thus the two amigos find themselves on their way to Mount Qiansui, where the ancient beast Taotie is guarding a fragment of the much-coveted mirror.
Wait. Bing Zhu set off to face off against an ancient beast without his trusted sidekick/demon-slaying weapon? How does Dreamshard expect him to…okay. So Dreamshard actually set up Xiao Yao and Bing Zhu to fail.
And again, I feel like something got left on the cutting room floor, as there is no build up to explain why Bing Zhu suddenly cares about Pian Pian that much. And I find the opportunistic Bing Zhu much more interesting than the suddenly heroic, honorable, and self-sacrificing Bing Zhu.
The Taotie Hoax
Xiao Yao and Bing Zhu come upon a village being terrorized by Taotie.
Why do I have a feeling this is all a hoax?
Ha…Xiao Yao and Bing Zhu agrees with me. It turns out that the villagers are in the habit of staging zombie and Taotie attacks to scare off tax collectors.
The villagers don’t know that they are in the presence of an experienced con-artist.
But a real demon, Taotie or not, has been seen coming into the village at night. And before long, Xiao Yao, Bing Zhu, and the villagers have caught a demon. The villagers want to kill him but Xiao Yao wouldn’t let them. Oh, I get it. This is clearly intended to be one of fables about how one should not judge a book by its cover or that we should not be ruled by our fears.
And Xiao Yao turns out to be right of course. Because the demon is actually Ya’er, Ah Li’s wife who was thought to have been killed by a demon. Through Little Leaf’s intervention, Ya‘er is able to spend some time with Ah Li in human form, even if it is just for two hours.
The Yulin Spring Conspiracy
Just as I was really getting into the mini-arc, my least favorite person in all of Tiansheng-dom appears. <Sigh>.
Commander Ji and Bing Zhu immediately but heads over the former’s treatment of the villagers and the latter’s lack of progress on finding the Yulin Spring. Hum…I suspect some backstabbing by the insubordinate little weasel is just right around the corner.
Right again! Commander Ji has been in cahoots with Hei Wu all along. Pretending to be a celestial immortal, Hei Wu tries to con the villagers into drinking some fake Yuli Spring water that will turn them into a demon (cue xianxia trope #32, the ignorant and superstitious villagers). When Bing Zhu tries to intervene, his Feiyu guards turn on him. Ah Li and Ya’er are killed and…Lo and behold, Zixiu, the village orphan, turns into a giant horned demon in his rage.
Taotie’s Punishment
Zixiu is Taotie! A thousand years ago, he took on human form and befriended a Jin Ge, a mayfly who needed the Yulin Spring to stay alive. So he gave the eight Kunlun Mirror fragment to Jin Ge so she can find the Yulin Spring and promised to wait for her to return. And now the time is up and he must receive his punishment for giving away the Kunlun mirror.
It was a little out of character for Bing Zhu to play with Xiao Yao and Zixiu. But when he pushed them on that slide, my heart melted a little.
So Xiao Yao and Bing Zhu’s trip to Qiansiu is for naught? Not so fast. Because after Tao Tao goes the way of shimmering sparkles Xiao Yao and Bing Zhu find a fragment of the Kunlun mirror formed from Zixiu’s unresolved attachment, one of eight sufferings of human experience.
Mission accomplished! But do they really expect Dreamshard to release Pian Pian and Hong Ye because they brought back one fragment of the mirror? Does this mean that the Kunlun mirror is a renewable resource that can be created as many times as needed?
And Jin Ge is Dreamshard in discuss to con Taotie into giving her the mirror so she can cure her lover! I totally missed that connection. These arc had quite a few revelations that I didn’t coming and I am liking it.
Showdown at the Linghua Palace, Part Deux
Bing Zhu 0, Dreamshard 1
Bing Zhu has a plan. And that is to offer Dreamshard the Kunlun mirror fragment in exchange for Tan’er. When Dreamshard walks close enough to take the mirror out of his hands, he grabs Dreamshard and calls for Tan’er to stab through both Dreamshard and himself, sacrificing himself for the freedom of others and succumb to tired xianxia trope #12, the noble idiocy.
With his dying breadth, he asks Xiao Yao to take Tan’er and Pian Pain away from this place and..hold on…Dreamshard is unscathed but it’s Da Li who was stabbed and dissolves into tiny little sparkes. Oh Bing Zhu. I am not sad over Da Li (I was over her long before this episode) but that was a stupid thing to do.
Is Bing Zhu dead? Please tell me it isn’t so…
Hong Ye 0, Dreamshard 2
In another unexpected turn of events, Hong Ye has pledged his allegiance to Dreamshard because he’s angry that Xiao Yao eloped with Bing Zhu. What the #$@#*…
Hong Ye: Exalted immortal. Let her go. Don’t let her disturb our cultivation. Phew. For a minute I thought he said dual cultivation…
Oh, nevermind…it’s a ruse to get Dreamshard to remove his demon-devouring poison and plan the luan-phoenix spell, whatever that is. And now he will invoke the heart-burning incantation that will rupture his heart meridian. Since he and Dreamshard are now connected via the luan-phoenix spell, that will hopefully kill Dreamshard as well. What is it with these men and their martyr complex?
Except he ends up almost killing himself while Dreamshard is barely affected.
Surprise Winner: Xiao Yao
So Xiao Yao steps in and says that the reason Dreamshard is doing all of these things is because she wants to find out if there is true love and sincerity in this world. But what she ignored is the fact that there is someone who treated her sincerely and waited for her all those years - Taotie.
Just like that, Dreamshard is able to let go of her obsession and depart this world, leaving behind a mirror fragment for unattainable desire. Trust a woman to pick up the pieces when men failed. And moral of the story? Violence doesn’t solve anything. Sometimes you just need to talk things out.
The emperor’s dragon slayer is not dead. Oh, thank god.
Not so cool: Bing Zhu and our demon couple are enemies again. He’s back to being the emperor’s loyal puppet and wants to take the mirror fragments back to his dear overlord (I can’t believe he still wants to serve that disgusting creep) but Xiao Yao points out that this is something Tan’er would not approve. Hence an agreement was reached to wait until they have collected all eight fragments, then they will engage in a battle to the death.
Xiao Yao and Hong Ye Goes on a Date, Part Deux.
Hong Ye tries to cook Xiao Yao some noodles, and that’s when he discovers that he has lost all spiritual powers. Xiao Yao comforts him by initiating their first kiss….aw…
The two then goes for a romantic boat ride under the moonlight so they can…row a small boat all the way back to Demon Valley? Why didn’t they leave on that huge ship with Bing Zhu and Pian Pian?
New from Demon Valley
After a romantic boat ride, Xiao Yao and Hong Ye spends some time together, play at being con-artists and earning money using his looks (Hong Ye) and generally forget their troubles for one night.
It was nice seeing Hong Ye and Xiao Yao being playful and carefree for a change.
But alas. Good times never last. After enjoying a night on the town, Xiao Yao runs into Luo Luo, who has been captured (AGAIN!) by the FeiYu Guard. After saving Luo Luo, who I wish would just go away, Xiao Yao and Hong Ye find out that the Demon Valley has been taken over by Hei Wu and the Feiyu Guards. On the first and fifteenth of every month, the demons are being made to draw lots to decide who get offered to the emperor as sacrifice.
After listening to Luo Luo’s story, Hong Ye drugs Xiao Yao/puts her to bed and leaves for the Demon Valley with Luo Luo. Oh Hong Ye. Haven’t you learned by now that leaving Xiao Yao behind is just not going to work and that she will find a way to get to you?
Bing Zhu Sticks to His Principles
Speaking of which, Bian Zhu escorts Pian Pian and one hundred of Tiansheng’s wettest noodles back home. Knowing that he has failed at bringing back the Yulin Spring, he gives Pian Pian keys to his house and tells her where his life saving is. She promise to wait for him to return. OK. I am starting to dig this pair now. That and Bing Zhu’s off-duty look.
At the palace, the slithering snake that is Commander Jin levies a bunch of bogus charges against Bing Zhu. Some of the women who only days before were begging him to take them home also accuse him of drinking the Yulin Spring water himself. And that is how Bing Zhu principles earned him nothing but a sentence of beheading outside the city gates come the morrow.
That night, armed with Tan’er, badass Pian Pian tries to break Bing Zhu out of jail. She is ultimately unsuccessful but is able to escape unscathed. As she stands on a rooftop overlooking the city, wrecking her brains on how to help Bing Zhu, Dreamshard’s crystal heart appears before her. Next thing we know, Pian Pian is appearing in the emperor’s dream as an immortal. What will she do? How will she save Bing Zhu? I guess we’ll have to wait to find out.
So that’s it.
These episodes are so full of twists and turns that I find myself enjoying them quite a bit. I look forward to seeing Bing Zhu and Pian Pian’s relationship develop and where his convictions will take him now that he no longer has to serve the selfish emperor (we all know that there is very little chance he is actually going to die…not soon anyways).
What I am not looking forward to: Hong Ye getting back to the Demon Valley. The less I see of that place, the better.
How about you? Which direction do you think or hope that this drama will go? Sound off in the comments below.
Posted Jan 2, 2026, 6:52 AM UTC