Episode 24 recap: Wei Dong Yang is a discarded disciple of the Sanqi Sect.
Yan Si Fang unconsciously stared at the table of a nearby family, and upon hearing the father scolding the child for eating loudly and shaking his legs, Yan Si Fang couldn't help but compare and subconsciously stopped. Qiu Yue Bai noticed Yan Si Fang's actions and advised him not to worry about it. Yan Si Fang sadly expressed that no matter how similar, he could never replace Xiao Hai from that table.
Qiu Yue Bai told Yan Si Fang that he, too, is an irreplaceable person. Meng San Xi went to find Wei Dong Yang with his sword. At that moment, Wei Dong Yang was sitting bored in a chair in the courtyard, looking at the sky.
Meng San Xi noticed the cloth wrapped around the hilt of Wei Dong Yang's sword and remembered the day in the thieves' den when Wei Dong Yang was his fifth younger brother, Wu. In the city of Muyun, there was a star named Li Jun Zi. Wei Dong Yang had watched her performance seventeen times in the span of four months, spending all his monthly allowance and the money extorted from Meng San Xi and others.
Meng San Xi already knew that Bei Xiao Hai and Li Jun Zi were in love but faced opposition from their families. After Bei Xiao Hai's death, Li Jun Zi returned to Muyun City to make a living through dance, but a piece of her soul was missing. Muyun City was a good place, and if ordinary people lived there, they could have a good life. However, Meng San Xi and Wei Dong Yang were both people of the martial world and destined for unrest.
Wei Dong Yang had recently been studying winemaking and pottery, but his skills were truly poor. His wine tasted like porridge, and his ceramic cups leaked. Twenty days ago, Wei Dong Yang received a mission to kill Meng San Xi, even though his previous task was to protect him. He didn't understand why the mission had changed so drastically, so he secluded himself in the courtyard for ten days to finally understand the meaning of the elder's words before leaving.
Wei Dong Yang and Meng San Xi met in battle, intentionally luring Meng San Xi alone, knowing that Ye Wu Zhi and Meng San Xi together would be unbeatable. After Meng San Xi took a pill, he and Wei Dong Yang fought evenly matched, but when Wei Dong Yang's sword stabbed towards him, he chose to close his eyes and seek death.
Meng San Xi was filled with doubts and wanted to stop fighting, but he couldn't control himself. Fortunately, Ye Wu Zhi and Yan Si Fang arrived and used poisoned needles to injure Wei Dong Yang, causing him to lose all his martial arts abilities within a day. Meng San Xi quickly stopped Ye Wu Zhi from attacking Wei Dong Yang. It was only then that he learned from Wei Dong Yang that Wei Dong Yang had actually been chosen as a discarded disciple by the Sanqi Sect. If Wei Dong Yang succeeded in killing Meng San Xi, he would be eliminated by the Sanqi Sect for killing an innocent person. If Meng San Xi killed Wei Dong Yang in self-defense, he would be eliminated by the Sanqi Sect for killing an innocent person as well.
Wei Dong Yang didn't want Meng San Xi to die, so he thought of ending everything by sacrificing himself. Meng San Xi believed that they could both choose to suffer and evade punishment together, but Wei Dong Yang already knew the harm caused by the actions of the Sanqi Sect against ordinary people. He also knew that the Sanqi Sect had mistakenly killed Bei Xiao Hai, and he didn't want to go back and be a tool for their purging.
Regardless of Wei Dong Yang and Meng San Xi's thoughts, Ye Wu Zhi only knew that when someone was injured, they needed to go to the yamen (government office) to deal with it. So Wei Dong Yang was exiled for seven years for injuring Meng San Xi, which resolved his predicament.
Meng San Xi was satisfied with this outcome and had already submitted all the necessary testimonies to the yamen. He also promised Wei Dong Yang that they would be friends when he returned. Ye Wu Zhi knew that Zhou Yang didn't recognize her because he wanted to save his own life. She felt guilty about tearing Zhou Yang's pants last time, so she borrowed money from Meng San Xi and bought new clothes for Zhou Yang, pretending not to recognize him. She also bought five bags of chestnuts, gave one bag to Qi Gai, who was at the entrance of the gambling house, and carried the remaining four bags back home.
Meng San Xi was deeply moved by the recent events and wanted to believe that there were really immortals in the sky, but he couldn't convince himself. At that moment, Ye Wu Zhi, who never lied, expressed Meng San Xi's feelings, comforting him and making him feel relieved. The two of them shed tears with red eyes.
Ye Wu Zhi's biggest heartache was that no one dared to admit knowing her, but Meng San Xi did. Anytime, anywhere, Meng San Xi would openly admit that he knew Ye Wu Zhi. This greatly touched Ye Wu Zhi, as there was finally someone in this world who acknowledged her existence.
Yan Si Fang had always been trapped in his father's teachings, afraid to shake his legs and wanting to wear shoes properly. He couldn't make any noise while drinking soup. But now, he had let go of all that. Ye Wu Zhi and Meng San Xi accompanied Yan Si Fang in doing the things he was always afraid to do, and the three of them drank and became more cheerful.
Ji Ming Xin and Dai Meng Hui had been striving to avenge their brother. They finally gathered a group of people to resist the Sanqi Sect and launched an attack together. (End of the drama.)
Duan Shou being in the Liu family and Liu Jian's scheming against him is understandable. Duan Shou is probably in the Liu family because Liu Jian saved him back then.
His purpose is also to uncover the truth from that time. Lao Ding took a leave of absence, and 29 mentioned something big happening. They should both be part of the anti-37 Alliance.
Lao Ding's thirty thousand taels should be one-fifteenth of the total. It was a purchase for a position in the 37th Sect headquarters.
In a way, Meng San Xi and Ye Wu Zhi also have powerful external support. Meng San Xi is the Lord of Mu Yun City, and even though she claims not to recognize her senior brother, he may not actually refuse to acknowledge her as his junior.
Zhao Shishu, the city lord's guard, may not truly turn a blind eye if Ye Wu Zhi is in danger in the future and might lend a helping hand. Xie Cheng Huan, from the Xie family in Mu Feng City, is Ye Wu Zhi's "fiancé" and a former senior brother from the outer sect.
He is now collaborating with Ji Ming Zhao and might be aware of Ye Wu Zhi's situation.
I think the mastermind behind the whole thing is Liang San (the brothers from the Liang family seem more like spoiled playboys, unlikely to have such a deep scheming ability to set up this perfect scheme and even deceive the 37th Sect, leading to the wrongful accusation of Bei Xiao Hai).
Therefore, Liang Da (Ye Wu Zhi's senior brother) might know about this, so in order to protect his younger brother (or for similar reasons), he burned those 16 people. It seems to make sense, doesn't it?
My Speculations (Don't take them too seriously):
1. Ji Mu mentioned that almost all the families were involved in the events of the past, suspecting it to be related to the Bei Xiao Hai case.
It's possible that the Liang family used manipulative methods to frame other families.
2. Lui San and Duan Shou, Lui San might have been involved in the planning.
3. Si's village was burned down, and Liang Lao Si carried valuable treasures with him.
It's unlikely that his family members were unaware of this, indicating that the Liang family might have had a significant role or helped in some way.
4. The Sanxi Sect is quite peculiar.
Based on the scenes, it disbanded shortly after San left. It gives the impression that the sect had some kind of status or identity.