Original subtitles

No need to fight.

Because we got tricked too.

No problem.

One more.

-Thank you. -You're welcome.

What that disciple at Weimiao Pavilion said was false.

She was deceived by Xiaowei too.

You found the talisman in Li Mao's hand, didn't you?

That's right.

If it were really as that disciple said,

and his wife, who asked for the talisman, had torn it up,

how could the talisman have ended up in Li Mao's hand?

Before Wangyan and I came to the Wei mansion,

we'd already investigated the three victims.

When they died,

they were all clutching a love talisman.

So the truth is

that the one under the spell will suffer the blowback

only if they tear the talisman up themselves?

Wei Qing's death proves that too.

Which means

Li Mao died because he tore up the talisman himself.

How could you use something this filthy on me?

How could you?

Once someone is targeted by a love talisman,

their heart will be slowly eroded by the Fox-Allure Spell within it.

And once the talisman is destroyed,

the person under the spell will die from unbearable heartache.

Only Xiaowei knew the truth,

so she must've been the one who switched the talismans.

She wanted Wei Qing dead.

With everyone who wanted to catch Xiaowei gathering in the Wei mansion,

the protective barrier you set up,

and the Ice Curse in play,

she didn't dare use demon magic recklessly.

But she still wanted Wei Qing dead,

so she had to leverage the blowback of the Fox-Allure Spell.

The Ice Curse's true name is the Never-Ending Curse.

Anyone who betrays the Formless Moon Sect

will be hunted by this curse for all eternity.

The Never-Ending Curse?

Didn't you read widely back at the Shilin Sect?

Haven't you read about it?

I can be a bit playful sometimes.

"Sometimes"?

Shut up.

The Never-Ending Curse

is the Formless Moon's cruelest form of punishment.

People often compare moonlight to things such as water,

frost,

and mist.

And the members of the Formless Moon take surnames like Wu,

Lu, Xue,

Shuang,

and Bing

as they move through the mortal world.

Once we violate the sect's laws,

the moonlight transforms into our surname

and hunts us for eternity.

The Never-Ending Curse can reach

wherever the moonlight can,

and it won't stop until we're dead.

Xiaowei's surname is Bing,

so what pursues her is the Ice Curse.

Once it catches up to her,

she'll be turned into ice

and shattered into pieces.

What's your surname?

Lu, as in dew.

My name

is Lu Wuyi.

That's a beautiful name.

I'll remember it.

As long as Xiaowei doesn't use demon magic,

the Ice Curse won't lock onto her.

But there is one exception.

Around the full moon,

the moonlight is strongest, and so is its power.

Even if Xiaowei doesn't use demon magic,

the Never-Ending Curse will still sense her.

That means she'll have to hide in dark places

to avoid the moonlight.

Yesterday was the 15th.

Today is the 16th.

That means…

The moon is the fullest on the 16th night of the month.

Wangyan and I hurried back

to enjoy tonight's moonlight.

I imagine

it'll be beautiful.

You stayed behind,

but you're not saying anything.

What's on your mind?

I'm thinking about you--

You're thinking about me?

I'm thinking about how you had the audacity to come back.

-And what if I hadn't come back? -If you hadn't,

I would've dragged you back myself.

Then you'd better keep a close eye on me.

Once I'm gone, I won't be easy to find.

How about I tie you up?

Want to try the Demon-Binding Rope again?

What's that on your arm?

A mark from the Formless Moon.

Is it a moon phase?

It looks like the full moon.

But I prefer to call it Wangyue.

Wang, as in hope?

As in gazing until your eyes go dry.

Do all the sect members have one?

Everyone except Wuyi has one.

This mark will be with us for life after life.

Here.

I've heard

that everyone in the Formless Moon has a mark on their arm.

Why don't you have one?

Because my moon phase

is Hui.

Hui?

I've read

that the Formless Moon has seven moon phases.

Waning gibbous, full, last-quarter,

waning crescent, waxing crescent, first-quarter, and waxing gibbous.

I've never heard of Hui as a moon phase.

When you can't see the moon at night,

that moon phase

is Hui.

That's why I don't have a mark.

Hui, as in regret?

Hui, as in obscure and hard to understand.

But it doesn't matter if I'm hard to understand.

There's one person

who understands me.

Actually, I don't really understand you.

I mean my sister, Wangyan.

She knew I didn't have a moon phase on my arm,

so she said she'd give me one.

This hollow jade jue

is like the new moon.

So Xiaowei has a moon phase too?

Of course she does.

Back then, to make sure she could find her savior,

she branded him with the same mark she bore herself.

That way, even through life and death,

even if he vanished into the crowd and his appearance changed,

she could still find him through that mark.

Do you remember what you have to do to ask Lady Wei for a love talisman?

Take off your clothes and bare yourself completely.

So, that's to look for the mark?

You catch on quick, Shiguang.

Then what is Xiaowei's moon phase?

Kui,

as in indebted.

The waning gibbous moon?

I think I've seen it somewhere before.

I'm looking at the flowers.

What are you looking at?

I've noticed several times before that you often stare at flowers in a daze.

Do you like flowers a lot?

Do you like flowers a lot?

They all like gold, silver,

fine silk, and satin.

But I

only like flowers.

But no matter how beautiful a flower is, it'll still wither.

It can't last forever.

And that's exactly why

it's more beautiful

and more precious.

Don't you think so?

Miss Lu,

have we really never met?

Should we

have met?

Your hand is dirty. Let me wipe it for you.

Miss Lu, let me ask you one more time.

Before we came here, did we ever meet?

I don't remember.

Miss Lu, your heart is racing.

Are you lying?

If I'm the one lying,

why are you blushing?

So…

So are you admitting it?

Back then, you had this rag doll with you too.

There aren't many grown men who still play with dolls.

You were too memorable to forget.

It's no ordinary doll.

It's been my loyal companion since childhood.

So you do remember me.

But my memories of you

have been blurry.

Why is that?

Here's a bouquet of wildflowers in bloom.

Cheer up.

Forget me.

Maybe…

you've just met too many pretty girls.

Are you calling yourself pretty?

You are pretty. Very pretty.

You don't have to say it. I'll say it.

Instead of doing your job,

you're here admiring flowers and playing with the doll?

You scared me!

When did you get here? How much did you hear?

Isn't the real business supposed to wait until tonight?

By the way,

there is something I really need your help with, Ji.

Tell me.

This is the note Xiaowei used to lure me to the workshop and frame me.

COME TO THE WEAVING WORKSHOP THIS AFTERNOON

THE DEADLOCK CAN BE BROKEN - XIAOWEI

That's outrageous.

Investigate the handwriting on this note and see if it gives us any clues.

You really know how to order people around.

Just go already.

That's just how he is.

If the moon doesn't come out all night,

won't our plan fail?

What… What are you doing?

Master Wei's body should be placed in the ancestral hall,

then buried and laid to rest after the funeral.

What exactly are you trying to do here?

Everyone, stay calm.

Master Wei was killed by a demon.

His spirit can only rest after the evil influence is purged.

Before dawn,

everyone must remain in the courtyard

and help purify and guide Master Wei's soul.

Purifying the soul.

Guiding it onward.

All of you were close to Master Wei.

You must remain in the courtyard until dawn.

Then the ritual will be complete.

Don't worry.

I'll stay by your side here.

You won't be in danger.

They should've started by now, right?

A night hunt for Xiaowei…

Wangyan, that's really brilliant.

But can they really handle it?

Shouldn't we go take a look?

Are you worried about them

or just bored staying here?

You saw right through me again.

Not fun at all.

We've already exposed our identities.

We can't let Xiaowei find out we've come back.

Just stay put.

Don't forget that we're waiting here

because there's something else we need to do.

All right, I'll do as you say, Wangyan.

-I need to relieve myself. -Can't you wait?

I'll go with you.

Xiaowei still hasn't been caught.

If you go alone,

it could be dangerous.

I'm the descendant of a military commander.

Why would I fear some seductive fox demon?

You stay here and mind things.

A grown man following me to the latrine? Ridiculous.

He should go with you.

Otherwise,

we would be worried.

Ms. Yu, where are you going?

The wind is strong tonight.

I'm going back to my room to get a cloak.

All right.

On a starless, moonless night like this,

what are you looking at, Steward Luo?

With no stars and no moon,

and night at its darkest,

I'm just a little afraid.

Mr. Liu, you've been looking up nonstop.

What exactly are you looking at?

I wanted to admire the moon.

Too bad

these tactless clouds

have hidden away all that beautiful moonlight.

So you enjoy moon-watching, Mr. Liu?

Then how come you stay in your room

and never go out most nights?

I go to bed early.

The moonlight is dim tonight,

and it's hard to see clearly.

I'd better lead the way for you,

so we can head back sooner.

I just slipped and fell.

If you won't help me up, fine.

But why do you look like you want to eat me alive?

Ever since Wei Qing passed,

the Wei household has fallen apart.

The servants have all grown lazy.

They won't even clean up the standing water in the corridor now.

The ritual isn't over yet.

Where are you going, Steward Luo?

To the dye workshop.

In the middle of the night?

You may not know this, Master Wu,

but dye-making is a complicated process.

How long the materials need to soak depends on the weather and temperature.

They have to be checked constantly.

Master Wei may be gone,

but the Wei family's business still has to go on, doesn't it?

In a household this large,

do you really need to handle such minor matters yourself?

Too many tragedies have struck the household lately.

The servants are already demoralized.

Business comes first.

Let Steward Luo go.

I'll go with you.

Steward Luo.

Thank you for your hard work.

It's cold at night. Keep yourself warm.

Thank you.

Where's Ms. Yu?

She went back to her room to get a cloak.

I'll go check on her.

The servants have all grown lazy.

They won't even clean up the standing water in the corridor now.

Just as I thought.

Fox demons really do love to lie.

Not good.

Only Ji Ling is with him.

You gave her your outer robe.

Aren't you cold?

When the heart is warm, the body doesn't feel cold.

Do you really have one?

Have what?

A heart.

If you really like her,

you can't just do little things like bringing her tea and water.

That won't move her.

If you have something to say, just say it.

I'm a warrior. I like things direct.

I can't stand people beating around the bush.

It gives me a headache.

If you like her that much,

why not just go to Weimiao Pavilion and ask for a talisman?

Can love won through a talisman

really be called love?

It'll be nothing but an illusion.

You're a clever man, Master Ji Ling.

Surely you can see that too.

Since you know that love forced by a talisman is false,

why do you think

the head of Weimiao Pavilion

goes to such lengths to do all this?

Then you'd have to ask her.

I am asking.

Why are you so nervous?

Are you the head of Weimiao Pavilion?

Are you Xiaowei?

MOONLIT RADIANCE

They all say Steward Luo is indispensable to the Wei household.

You handle everything yourself,

even the account books,

recording every detail personally.

I'm the steward.

It's only right that I keep the books myself.

What are you implying, Master Li?

I have a note here.

The handwriting on it

matches the writing in your account books exactly.

I'd like you to take a look.

I've never seen this note before.

I went to the fabric house

and compared it with your ledger.

It is your handwriting.

What you may not know, Master Li,

is that while I know a bit about weaving and tailoring,

I've never had any schooling.

Master Wei was kind enough to teach me to read and write.

He even gave me copybooks in his own hand for me to practice from.

So strictly speaking,

the handwriting on this note

looks more like Master Wei's.

The servants said

you were the last person

to enter his room before Master Wei died.

That's not true.

They were mistaken.

The fox demon…

It's the fox demon!

Why isn't she out yet?

GOLDEN WEAVE

Wuyi!

Master Wu,

what are you doing?

And what are you doing?

I've been kneeling so long, my legs went numb.

I just wanted to get up and stretch.

Still acting?

Admit it. You are…

Ms. Yu has been attacked by the fox demon.

Are you really not…?

Did we get it wrong?

The demon… The fox demon…

The fox demon is in the dye workshop!

Li Jie is fighting it!

Li Jie…

-Li Jie, is there really a fox demon? -There was,

but then it suddenly disappeared.

How is that possible?

Wangyan,

the moon is out.

Break!

If you don't want the Ice Curse to consume you,

stop using demon magic.

Show your true form,

Liu Weixue.

So it really is Liu Weixue.

But I was with him the whole time just now.

Did he use Word Magic on me?

He wouldn't dare.

Otherwise, the Ice Curse would've come long ago.

Then why did he suddenly use demon magic and reveal his demon form?

Xiaowei,

it's been a while.

How…

How did you figure me out?

We went down the wrong path at first

and thought Xiaowei was a woman.

Otherwise, we would've caught you long ago.

Xiaowei, you'd hidden yourself well all along.

But on the wedding night,

you couldn't resist using demon magic,

and that drew the Ice Curse.

Vile demon!

That night,

all of us saw

Xiaowei being chased by the Ice Curse,

and its back foot got frostbitten.

-It hurts. It hurts. -You were clever.

Feigning drunkenness, you pretended to twist your ankle

to cover up the injury caused by the Ice Curse.

An ordinary sprain heals in a few days.

But frostbite from that curse is much harder to recover from.

Just now, when I went with you to the latrine,

I noticed you were still having trouble walking.

You saw I was getting suspicious,

so you lied and said there was standing water on the ground

and that you'd slipped.

That's not the only way you gave yourself away.

Demons can wear countless human guises,

but their demonic nature is hard to change.

Habits and preferences formed over hundreds of years

certainly can't be changed overnight.

Young Master Liu has lived in comfort since childhood.

He only sleeps on tussah silk bedding.

A martial artist can sleep rough and eat rough.

No way someone like that would sleep only on tussah silk.

Lady Wei really lives in luxury.

All her bedding is made of tussah silk.

So comfortable.

Xiaowei severed the spiritual tail long ago

and lost the sense of smell.

You can smell that from that far away?

What about now?

Go wash up.

I see.

I'll go bathe right now.

What Ms. Yu smelled

was actually the scent of the weasel demon

inside Wu Shiguang's Cosmic Pouch.

After Li Jie took the pouch away,

Wu Shiguang no longer smelled of it.

But you still pretended you could smell it and kept lying

to hide the fact that you'd lost your sense of smell.

Xiaowei,

are you still going to deny it?

Shengwei?

How did this happen?

Shengwei.

Shengwei! Shengwei…

You clearly killed her by ripping out her heart.

Drop the act.

That's not true. That's not true.

Shengwei.

Shengwei. Wake up, Shengwei!

Shengwei! Shengwei…

I didn't do it. Untie me! Shengwei!

Untie me!

She's still alive.

But her heart is badly damaged, and she's lost too much blood.

My seal will only slow the bleeding for a short while.

It can't save her.

It can only buy her a little more time.

I saw the wound on the left side of her chest

and thought she'd stopped breathing, so I didn't stay.

How is she still alive now?

You did it.

You killed her.

Fox demon, I'll kill you!

I wanted to repay her.

How could I ever hurt her?

She's the Wang Sheng I've searched for across lifetimes.

A packed bundle.

Chestnut cakes.

A shadow puppet.

So, as it turned out,

Ms. Yu was Wang Sheng.

But then why is there a waning moon mark on Wei Qing's sole?

That's only an old scar.

Scars can be erased with magic.

But a Formless Moon mark

can never be removed.

It remains lifetime after lifetime.

You discovered it

when you attacked Ms. Yu half a month ago, didn't you?

But

it was already too late.

I had already granted a love talisman to Wei Qing.

I never imagined

that by doing so, I'd be signing a death warrant

for the one I'd been searching for.

I couldn't let Shengwei die,

so I came to the Wei mansion.

I needed to make sure she'd

never suffer the blowback of the Fox-Allure Spell.

Unfortunately,

that's impossible.

As long as the love remains,

the spell can't be lifted.

Even killing someone won't end it.

No, it can be lifted

once the one who asked for the talisman

falls for someone else.

I see.

You used another love talisman

to make Wei Qing fall for someone else.

And the perfect choice happened to be right in front of you,

Luo Wei.

YU SHENGWEI IS MY CLOSEST AND DEAREST FRIEND. BY LUO WEI

Yu Shengwei is my closest and dearest friend.

You knew that she and Ms. Yu were intimate friends.

Without Ms. Yu, she could never have worked here.

Luo Wei tried to break the two of them apart

not because of Master Wei,

but because of Ms. Yu.

Everyone says Weimiao Pavilion is the best place

to pray for love.

If I went to ask for a talisman,

would your heart…

Would your heart finally be mine?

You secretly nudged Luo Wei into seeking a love talisman.

And so Master Wei fell for Luo Wei.

After that,

his feelings for Yu Shengwei naturally disappeared.

Thus, the Fox-Allure Spell on her was lifted.

But why did you still want Wei Qing dead

after the spell had been lifted?

Because he refused to divorce Shengwei.

He wouldn't set her free.

He deserved to die.

You actually used the blowback of the Fox-Allure Spell to kill.

So it was you who switched the talismans.

It wasn't me.

It was Luo Wei.

She stole the love talisman before I could.

Mr. Liu, are you looking for something?

Why are your clothes in such a mess?

Where's your belt?

Steward Luo said Master Wei's belt was damaged,

so she took it away to mend it for him.

It's no use.

-But those demon hunters said… -I lied to them.

Only the person under the spell can tear up the talisman.

No one else can destroy it.

Only if Wei Qing tears it up himself

will the blowback be triggered.

If you really want him dead,

do as I say.

You have Shengwei's sachet

with you too, right?

If Yu Shengwei really divorces you,

you will become the laughingstock of the entire Luo'an City.

Then what should I do?

How did you get her sachet?

I had Luo Wei

cover the talisman bearing her name and Wei Qing's

with a thin sheet of paper

bearing the names Wei Qing

and Yu Shengwei.

Tear it up, and everything will be solved.

You lied to me…

Your plan worked.

Wei Qing

killed himself.

Then who was the fox demon who attacked Ms. Yu?

She wasn't attacked by a fox demon.

I set up a protective barrier around the Wei mansion.

If any demon had tried to cause trouble,

I would've sensed it at once.

A demon couldn't make a move, but a human could.

Luo Wei, you're worse than a demon.

One, two, three, four.

These four items hold all the secrets behind tonight's murder case.