Episode 2 recap: Hu Zi Seeking a Master
Zhao Xin Tong wanted to rescue Hu Zi, but Hu Zi insisted that everyone should let go because they believed the common people were innocent. Suddenly, chaos broke out among the people and the group. Hu Zi was overwhelmed by people, but suddenly a power surged within him. His eyes became translucent, and he saw that the Sun Bead was on the dog's body.
Qi Xiao Xuan was surprised to see the scene and felt that things had already spiraled out of control. The dog had become delirious and was holding a knife, attempting to assassinate Hu Zi. Qi Xiao Xuan shouted for Hu Zi to knock down the dog. The dog was knocked down and spat out the Sun Bead, and the demon exited its body. However, the dog lost its life in the process.
Hu Zi desperately fought against the demon, intending to take its life. However, he proved to be no match for the demon. In a critical moment, Hu Zi swallowed the Sun Bead and gained the power to confront the demon. Eventually, he captured the demon. The villagers were released from the control of the demon. However, seeing that the dog had lost its life, they were furious. The dog's mother, in particular, resented Hu Zi for killing her son. The villagers were enraged, blaming Hu Zi for bringing disaster to the village. Hu Zi was also filled with sorrow, falling to the ground.
Da Lao Ye used a spell to seal the power of the Sun Bead, and Qi Xiao Xuan decided to wait for three more days, determined to bring the Sun Bead back with him.
Hu Zi looked at the villagers who wanted him to leave and quickly knelt down, hoping they would take him in, but everyone refused. The old woman felt a bit reluctant, but for Hu Zi's safety, she insisted that he go out into the outside world and see for himself.
Qi Xiao Xuan tried to persuade Hu Zi that sometimes the best way to atone for one's mistakes is to keep living. However, Zhao Xin Tong didn't quite understand. Despite Hu Zi saving the villagers, they couldn't accept him and wanted him to move on, thinking it would be better for him. Hu Zi felt that Qi Xiao Xuan also had a significant responsibility in this matter. If it weren't for him failing to keep an eye on the Sun Pearl, Hu Zi wouldn't have had to retrieve it and wouldn't have encountered all these troubles.
Under Qi Xiao Xuan's threat, Hu Zi reluctantly agreed to go with him. Zhao Xin Tong thought that Qi Xiao Xuan, being a national demon-hunting master, had an extraordinary identity. When Hu Zi was in Bao Bao Town, he also thought that Qi Xiao Xuan had an extraordinary identity, and it might be a good thing to follow him. Hu Zi found Da Lao Ye more interesting than Qi Xiao Xuan. Da Lao Ye told Qi Xiao Xuan that Yi Mei's family was impressive and wanted to go find Yi Mei.
Yi Mei specialized in crafting weapons and would act as a substitute for Qi Xiao Xuan's master to welcome them. However, Yi Mei was not talkative and noticed the presence of the Sun Pearl within Hu Zi's body. Yi Mei tried to get Hu Zi to reveal the Sun Pearl, attempting to extract it from his body. However, Yi Mei discovered a strong demonic energy within Hu Zi, and in order to retrieve the Sun Pearl, the demonic energy had to be suppressed.
When Hu Zi heard that he had to participate in a martial arts competition, he wanted to refuse but was forced to go to the scene. Qi Xiao Xuan, under Da Lao Ye's coercion, had no choice but to teach Hu Zi martial arts, hoping to sharpen him for the upcoming battle and have him pass the test on the arena quickly.
Hu Zi believed that he was naturally talented and would quickly learn martial arts. However, when he picked up a wooden stick and closed his eyes to focus, he didn't exhibit much power. He practiced countless times but couldn't unleash any strength, feeling a bit discouraged and wanting to give up. Qi Xiao Xuan warned Hu Zi about the dangers of losing control and becoming possessed by demons. This made Hu Zi angry, and he wanted to quit. Seeing the situation worsening, Da Lao Ye quickly intervened to ease the tension between the two. Da Lao Ye wanted to take Hu Zi as his disciple, and Hu Zi agreed, even calling Qi Xiao Xuan "Senior Brother," feeling satisfied that he now had a master. Grandpa Lao Ye saw the two reconciling and smiled happily.
I'm utterly fed up with this terrible drama. I couldn't even get through a single episode. While other shows may be hard to follow due to weak costume and makeup design, this one is entirely plagued by problematic plot and character development.
Firstly, the character Hu Zi is the most infuriating. Firstly, his act of stealing the Red Bead is inherently wrong. He stole it and caused evil spirits to enter the village, yet he blames Qi Xiao Xuan, saying it's his fault for not keeping an eye on the bead.
This is the first thing that made me angry. Stealing is already wrong, so why does he have the audacity to shift the blame onto someone else? Secondly, after Hu Zi leaves the beginner's village, they need to hurry to Baobao Town to retrieve the Red Bead.
But Hu Zi keeps dragging his feet and refuses to go. I understand he's grieving, but to throw a tantrum and refuse to cooperate at a time when he's at fault for causing such a big problem is just outrageous.
Even if the writers turned him into a dog stealing the bead, I still wouldn't buy it. That excuse is simply not enough! These two points make Hu Zi's character extremely poorly developed.
His supposed kindness, even in the face of controlled villagers, cannot redeem his character!
Next, I want to criticize the male lead, Qi Xiao Xuan. It's understandable that he lacks experience as a newcomer, but stumbling over the same issue twice demonstrates a lack of intelligence.
The first time he was deceived by Hu Zi, I can understand that he had a sense of caution, thinking that the person hanging there might be an ordinary person and wanting to rescue them is forgivable.
Being deceived can be attributed to inexperience. However, the second time, he had already seen through the demon and knew that it was after the Red Bead. Shouldn't his main concern be protecting the bead?
Why did he allow the bead to be stolen again? Why wasn't he more focused on the bead hanging from his waist? I simply can't comprehend it. Watching this drama makes me want to pull my hair out in frustration.
It's been so long since I've come across a show with such problematic character development, and I couldn't help but vent my frustrations here.
Those comments are probably made by people who only watch the drama and don't read xianxia novels. There are plenty of scripts in the novel world with character setups like Hu Zi. Watching a drama and giving comments after just one or two episodes proves that the portrayal of Hu Zi's character has come to life.
It's similar to your personal growth from childhood to entering the workforce, where everything accumulates over time through exposure, learning, and experiences. It's not fair to judge the entire drama based on just one or two episodes, just as many people may have criticized you as aimless before you turned a certain age, but who knows that your journey in life turned out to be more exciting than those who criticized you in your teenage years.
After watching one episode, Xuan Yi is easily swayed, gullible, and not very clever. Hu Maomaoshishi is impulsive and foolishly kind-hearted. The plot is mediocre and not very engaging.
The beginning of the story is also inconsistent. They insist on searching for the pearl after it's broken, and the person sent to find it is too careless. Giving such an important task to a novice male lead, who also doesn't have very intelligent subordinates, resulted in them being easily mesmerized and then quickly waking up.
It's just average.
These villagers are truly unbelievable. Hu Zi, at least, went out and robbed houses to bring back resources for everyone. During the fire, he risked his life to save people. When there were monsters, he fearlessly rescued people and fought the monsters.
But just because a few villagers died, they labeled Hu Zi as a disaster. They conveniently forget about all the good he has done and refuse to forgive him for any mistakes! It's frustrating dealing with these people.
Hu Zi just staged a self-directed and self-acted kidnapping. He wasn't in any life-threatening danger, and after achieving his goal, he even untied himself. But that demon has been coveting the Fire Orb all along. Even if there wasn't the plot twist of Hu Zi stealing the Fire Orb, that demon wouldn't have given up on their way back.
So, this vote doesn't really mean anything. It just wasted some time.
I've seen many people saying that the character Hu Zi has issues with his portrayal, but I disagree. I think Hu Zi's character is very realistic. He grew up in a poor village, where he struggled to make ends meet. He lacked education and culture, and his actions of robbery and theft were driven by his instinct for survival.
This background was given to him to set the stage for his transformation later on. (This is just my personal opinion and should be taken as a reference only.)
Hu Zi is someone who wasn't taught properly, not inherently evil, but simply lacking the right moral compass due to a lack of guidance. Growing up as a rascal became a habit for him.
Judging from the attitudes of the villagers, who have known him for ten years but still have a distant relationship with him, it's clear that no one is willing to teach him anything.
Therefore, Hu Zi can only rely on being a scoundrel and resorting to sly tactics to get by.
I can't stand it anymore. There are major logical flaws. Critique 1: Knowing how important the bead is, they sent very few people to retrieve it. Just one main person and a few lackeys.
At least they should have sent a few highly skilled individuals to retrieve the bead.
Critique 2: When encountering unidentified individuals seeking help, shouldn't they send a subordinate to investigate the situation?
How did the main person personally go to scout and fall into someone else's trap?
Critique 3: As a sorcerer, easily getting drugged and falling into a trap set by ordinary people, it's ridiculous.
Critique 4: For such an important bead, it was found in a subordinate's package. Shouldn't the male lead personally keep it? If he had personally kept it, would there have been so many subsequent troubles?
Finding it in a subordinate's package shows a lack of importance.
Critique 5: Honestly, I don't even want to watch the second episode anymore, but I endured and watched it. Hu Zi, as a thief, appeared and stole wealth.
He will definitely become the protagonist later, so his character must be whitewashed. Hu Zi shifted the blame for stealing the bead, and they all just kept shifting blame.
Critique 6: When they found the bead, it was easily stolen by a demon.
At this point, I really wanted to beat up the screenwriter. There is no logical thinking behind such an important bead being easily stolen back and forth.
Critique 7: In order to retrieve the bead, there are various power struggles, and then the crucial bead is swallowed by Hu Zi.
They had already explained to Hu Zi the importance of the bead, yet he still swallowed it. I guess it's meant to be a plot device for the protagonist to obtain a chance. At this point, it's not just about wanting to beat up the screenwriter.
I want to know who the screenwriter is. Such a brainless plot. Find the screenwriter and execute them, definitely abandon the drama.
I feel like the character setup for Hu Zi in the first two episodes is a bit too extreme. First of all, he stole things along the way, right? He took the bead and didn't want to return it after the incident with the fox spirit and the crown prince, right?
Ordinary people wouldn't know about the Red Bead, and even when it was explained to him, he didn't believe it. And he had the audacity to say, "Why didn't you say so earlier?" I thought he was just trying to scare people, and it baffles me.
The bead was originally stolen by him, and he gave it to the little dog. When the dog came into contact with the bead, it definitely had some Red Bead aura. So, when the calamity happened and the dog was harmed, can we say it has nothing to do with Hu Zi?
Hu Zi indirectly caused the death of the dog. This village had been taking care of him for so long, and the village had been peaceful. It's normal for him to do small favors for the villagers.
If someone treats you so well, can you still call yourself human if you don't show any gratitude? But stealing cannot be justified.
The disaster started because of Hu Zi. Yes, he saved everyone, but shouldn't he be responsible for it?
This tranquil little village was hit by such a catastrophe, and isn't it all because of Hu Zi?
And he even swallowed the Red Bead.