Episode 31 recap: The Chao Yun Academy has an altar.
Di Ren Jie's condition not only didn't improve but worsened. Cao An asked Zhou Miao for some water and a towel, wanting to cool down Di Ren Jie. Zhou Miao suggested giving Di Ren Jie a more powerful medicine. Just as Zhou Miao left, a gust of wind blew open the door, scattering a stack of papers mixed with snowflakes. Cao An hurriedly closed the door and picked up the paper from the ground. Seeing the strange and chaotic diagram on it, Cao An immediately remembered Zhou Miao's mention of the peculiar aspects of Zhou rituals, which involved opening the heavenly eye to see wandering spirits. Cao An carefully examined the illustration and had the feeling that someone was watching her. She got up to investigate and discovered a hole directly facing her seat. At that moment, footsteps could be heard outside, and Cao An realized that someone in the academy was searching for something in the snow.
Cao An felt puzzled and turned around to carefully examine every place. Then she heard the sound of the door opening. Cao An noticed that the wind and snow were seeping through the crack in the door, so she went to investigate. She didn't find any footprints but saw the sinking incense from the Yunshui Mountain House that Di Ren Jie had sent out that day. She picked up the incense, deepening her suspicions.
Cao An felt that something was amiss, so she carried a lantern and followed the path Zhou Miao had taken that day. As she walked, she recalled how Zhou Miao had repeatedly warned them not to wander around on their own, and now she had even more doubts. Cao An heard the voices of two people not far ahead and quickly hid herself. She didn't know if the other party had discovered her or noticed something else, but they followed her with a lantern. Cao An hurriedly moved away and concealed herself along the way. However, the other party not only had more people but also kept searching for her hiding place. In her anxious state, Cao An gritted her teeth and entered a copper door. Inside was a passage that felt eerie in every way. She gathered her courage and proceeded to explore. She was startled by the scurrying mice and also discovered that this place had a connection to the outside because snowflakes would drift in.
Cao An constantly felt that a pair of eyes were staring at her, but whenever she turned around, she found nothing. When she discovered a hidden passage leading to an altar, Zhou Miao suddenly appeared. Cao An took the opportunity to ask him about the location. She learned that it was a place to guide the spirits, and this time, Zhou Miao intended to guide Zhou rituals. Cao An asked if Cui Haoran knew about the Zhou rituals, and Zhou Miao said he would report it later. He then asked Cao An why she was there. Cao An stated that she had no intention of offending and was inquiring about the abnormality at Chao Yun Academy. Zhou Miao mentioned that they were searching for the child mentioned by Di Ren Jie but emphasized that there was no child present on that day and suggested that Di Ren Jie was experiencing hallucinations.
Cao An tested Zhou Miao with the words spoken by Di Ren Jie that day, and unexpectedly, Zhou Miao believed that Di Ren Jie was telling the truth because the underground palace housed spirits from two hundred years ago. In a few days, there would be a total solar eclipse, and on such days, the Yin energy would be heavy, making the spirits particularly active. Di Ren Jie's weakened body and his strong obsession made him more susceptible to disturbances.
Cao An hoped the snow would stop soon so that they could leave this place, but Di Ren Jie hadn't figured out many of the strange things yet. He didn't want to leave and asked Cao An to go first once the snow stopped. This made Cao An bitter and unsure if her suggestion to come to the Moon Crescent Spring that day was right. Di Ren Jie covered Cao An with a blanket and went out alone with his weakened body. He followed the path he had taken that day and found Cui Haoran's residence. There was no response when he knocked on the door, and remembering Cui Haoran being motionless that day, Di Ren Jie was puzzled. He pushed the door open and found that Cui Haoran was not inside. Instead, there were scattered bamboo slips on the floor. As he was about to examine them closely, he heard voices of students outside the door and quickly hid.
Di Ren Jie had already seen the blood characters on Zhou Li's body, so he remembered Cao An saying that she witnessed Zhou Li writing blood characters on his hand. He seemed to want to say something, but when he turned around and took a look, he was terrified. Zhou Li immediately jumped down from the roof and died. Following this clue, Di Ren Jie went through the door and entered a secret passage, eventually arriving at an underground palace.
Di Ren Jie had always believed that he wouldn't be affected by the shadows of the deceased, but after entering the underground palace, he saw the child dressed in white. When the child turned around, it turned out to be the appearance of his deceased younger brother. This startled Di Ren Jie, and when he turned his head, he saw his deceased brother grown up and transformed into a ferocious Lin Fan, pouncing towards him. Di Ren Jie was shocked, and his already weak body couldn't bear it any longer, and he fainted in the underground palace.
Cao An woke up and found that Di Ren Jie was not in the room. There were not only medicine stains on the ground but also a wooden sword. At that moment, there was a commotion outside the door. Cao An didn't have time to think and casually put the wooden sword into a wooden compartment. She got up to welcome Di Ren Jie and became even more worried when she learned that he had fainted in the center of the underground palace.
When Zhou Miao learned that Di Ren Jie hadn't taken the medicine, he said he would go and brew another dose, but his face was extremely grim. With Di Ren Jie's reminder, Cao An discovered that the wooden sword had the characters that Zhou Li wrote on his hand before his death carved into it.
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