JINZHENHE TAVERN
Waiter, what happened?
-Why did you suddenly run out? -Sir.
That was not our intention at all.
An influential young man suddenly came here today.
He booked the whole tavern
and drove everyone out, except his people.
Sir, I'm sorry, but I think it's better you find another tavern.
Waiter!
Oh, ladies.
According to your orders,
all rooms have been tidied.
And we have also sent other guests away.
Please take these perfume bags.
Put them in Young Master Jin's room.
The chopped herbs inside can keep mosquitoes at bay.
Mianmian, how considerate you are.
No wonder our young master favors you.
Stop that.
You should be careful about this.
Our young master is widely renowned.
Please rest assured. I fully understand.
Let's go.
Let's check our young master's room.
Please go this way, ladies.
I see. They are the Jin Clan from Lanling.
They must be here for the lecture too,
and are planning to rest in Caiyi Town.
Jiang Cheng,
only a few members of the Jin Clan
will occupy the whole tavern,
and yet they still want the whole place.
There's no vacant tavern left in town.
We have no choice.
Lady Mianmian!
May I have one of your perfume bags?
Who are you?
Who gave you the right to call me Mianmian?
It's her.
She called you Mianmian.
Why can't I?
Who on earth are you?
Don't call me that!
All right.
How about you tell me your real name?
I won't call you Mianmian then.
Why should I tell you?
You should say your own name
before asking somebody else's.
That's easy.
I'll say my name. Keep this in mind.
My name is Yuandao.
-Yuandao... -Yuandao...
Mianmian.
I can't remember which clan's young master bears this name.
But judging from his looks and demeanor,
he doesn't seem like a nobody.
You...
You teased me!
What happened?
Think about poetry.
What's next to "Green, green, the riverside grass"?
"Green, green, the riverside grass.
Long, long, missing that far road."
Don't say it out loud!
Who would miss you?
How shameless.
So, Lady Mianmian, you came from the Jin Clan of Lanling, right?
People say that girls from the Jin Clan are as pretty as fairies.
Now that I have seen one,
I can't agree more.
So clever.
I am Wei Ying from the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng.
My courtesy name is Wuxian.
We're going to the Lan Clan of Gusu for the lecture
and are resting in Caiyi Town.
As fellow cultivators,
surely Lady Mianmian won't bear to see us sleep in the streets.
So, Master Yuandao,
you do have a decent name.
However,
as for the rooms...
Mianmian.
Our young master won't bring a lot of people here anyway.
These rooms are vacant for no reason.
Not to mention, they arrived earlier.
As is the case, Young Master Wei, you and your party may stay.
And I won't bother our young master with this.
Ladies, much obliged.
Only a frivolous playboy like you can take the rooms back from those girls.
Yanli, listen to what he said!
Jiang Cheng,
I'll generously take that as you being jealous of me.
How about you two fight here and now?
But, Yanli,
who is the Young Master Jin that Mianmian mentioned?
Who else could it be?
They're about the same age as we are and are from the Jin Clan.
If it's not the youngest one, Jin Zixuan, who else could it be?
I just wonder if Young Master Jin
is still as fancy as he was when he was a child.
Excuse me, I'm terribly sorry,
but there aren't enough rooms.
Please leave these rooms as well.
-Young Master Jin. -Young Master Jin.
JINZHENHE TAVERN
This is the best tavern in Caiyi Town?
Yes, Young Master.
This still can't be compared to Carp Tower, it's the best.
As for the chairs,
we, the Jin Clan, make them out of black sandalwood.
As for the teacups, we only use peacock green glazed porcelain.
The tea is stale.
JIN ZIXUAN JIN CLAN OF LANLING
Let's go check the rooms.
This way, Young Master.
Jiang Clan of Yunmeng, pleased to meet you.
I suppose Junior Young Master Jin is also going to the Lan Clan as an auditor?
Mind your manners!
Our young master is Young Master Jin,
not Junior Young Master Jin.
Young Master Jiang is also passing by this place?
Yes, we need to rest here.
Unfortunately,
every room in this tavern has been booked by us, the Jin Clan of Lanling.
You guys better go elsewhere.
Hey, we arrived earlier.
You were earlier, so what?
You should go complain to the owner.
Anyway, we booked the whole tavern.
Our young master would rather not have associations some random folks.
As for the lecture of the Lan Clan,
there are only a few slots available for each clan.
Junior Young Master Jin, you brought out a grand display
with so many people.
What's your purpose?
We're Young Master Jin's servants. What's wrong?
So it's true that the Jin Clan is ostentatious.
But I heard the Lan Clan was strict and puritanical.
Junior Young Master Jin has so many retinues.
I'm really afraid you couldn't stand that kind of suffering.
Xian.
Yanli.
I'm just giving a friendly suggestion.
How dare you insult our young master!
Where are the manners of the Jiang Clan?
How did I insult him?
Tell me.
You can confront me,
but don't involve the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng.
Xian, Cheng.
Go pack up.
We'll find another place.
Goodbye, Young Master Jin.
Young Master.
Your room is the next one.
Forgive me, Lady Jiang.
I opened the wrong room.
I mean no offense.
You are too humble to say that.
Isn't the whole tavern yours?
It's said that the etiquette of the Jin Clan is of highly reputed.
Now I can say otherwise.
LAN CLAN OF GUSU
JINZHENHE TAVERN
This Jin Zixuan, he is so arrogant!
Yes.
He is flaunting himself just like a peacock.
It's a pity that I couldn't even touch the pot of Emperor's Smile.
Think of our situation.
You're still thinking about liquor?
Did you see the look on Yanli's face?
I just don't know what Clan Master Jiang was thinking.
Why did he arrange a marriage between Yanli and that peacock?
CLOUD RECESSES
According to the Lan Clan's principles, everyone coming for to lecture
won't be allowed inside without an invitation.
Oh, sir, I've told you a thousand times.
We accidentally lost our invitations.
We never intended to lose them.
What's more, we're all standing here.
Why would we lie to you?
Sir, I can't identify you people without an invitation.
Look, the sun is about to set.
You can't just have us sleep on the streets, can you?
How about this...
Please fetch your clan leader.
He had seen our sister.
By then, he will know we're being honest.
Well then, please wait here for a moment
until we change shifts at 5:45 p.m.
At 5:45 p.m.?
The sun would have already set then.
Xian. Behave yourself.
But Yanli...
As Father instructed,
no matter what, we can't forget our manners.
Let's leave the gate and plan for our next step.
LAN ZHAN WANGJI
Second Young Master, welcome back.
Who are looking for trouble?
-That must be Lan Zhan, -I heard that the Lan Clan
-one of the Twin Jades, -was here for the lecture too.
and the younger brother of their clan leader, Lan Xichen.
He must be our key to getting in.
What happened?
Just carry him inside.
-How did he end up like this? -"End"?
I don't think he's dead.
He's cursed by some wicked sorcery.
Wicked sorcery?
Second Young Master Lan, I'm Jiang Cheng from the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng,
son of Clan Leader Jiang Fengmian.
This is my sister, Jiang Yanli.
My older brother, Wei Ying or Wei Wuxian.
Second Young Master, we've heard a lot about you.
It's an honor.
Second Young Master Lan,
we accidentally lost our invitation.
It's getting late and it's inconvenient to sleep outside.
Please make a merciful exception for us.
No invitation, no entry.
Second Young Master Lan, we came all the way from Yunmeng.
Despite the exhausting journey,
we still made it to Cloud Recesses before sunset.
You just turned us down for an invitation.
Don't you think it's a little rigid?
No invitation, no entry.
Second Young Master Lan, it was an accident.
We never intended to lose it.
Please make an exception.
Find it and come back.
Second Young Master Lan, the sun is about to set,
and we are more than 20 miles away from Caiyi Town.
You're asking us to find it now.
What an imposition!
Hey...
Second Young Master Lan,
in the worst-case scenario, we can...
Second Young Master has put the Silence Spell on you.
No one can remove it except the Lan.
And it dispels automatically after a stick of incense's time.
How inflexible Second Young Master Lan is.
Yes.
So much fuss about Cloud Recesses.
Yunmeng is much better.
Tell me about it.
I'd rather not be here.
Yanli, don't worry.
He just went back to the tavern for the invitation.
Everything will be fine.
I'm just worried...
Yanli, Jin Zixuan is typical of his kind.
Don't worry too much.
It's not that.
I'm just worried that Young Master Jin will embarrass Xian
because of his character.
As long as he is fine with others, nobody will embarrass him.
It's hard to say he is not having fun with some Mianmian or some Yuandao now.
Cheng, you know that Xian always takes things seriously when they're important.
Second Young Master Lan.
Yanli!
Cheng!
Where is everybody?
No wonder nobody's here.
Wards are made to be broken.
What a coincidence! We meet again.
Second Young Master Lan. You are out at this hour.
Are you going to admire the moon?
Second Young Master Lan, I came for my sister.
Oh, right.
I found the invitation. It's right here. I'll show you.
Breaking through the wards, it's a violation of the Lan Clan's principles.
What?
Those who come at night should not be allowed in until 7:00 a.m.
Two violations of the Lan Clan's principles.
Unauthorized carrying of liquor.
Three violations of the Lan Clan's principles.
Second Young Master Lan,
I am new to the Lan Clan of Gusu
and not familiar with the rules.
But I swear,
these things won't happen again.
Also, I was just in a hurry to find Yanli and Cheng.
How about this?
Just let me in for a glimpse.
Just one glimpse.
Well, then...
The Emperor's Smile.
I will spare you one pot.
Forget about this, deal?
Attempting to bribe a law enforcer.
Doubly guilty.
Second Young Master Lan.
Are you seriously so inflexible?
When we were at the gate,
you put the Silence Spell on me for no reason.
You are somehow responsible for that case, right?
I didn't expect that fuddy-duddy to have real skills.
I'm occupied today.
Excuse me.
Lan Zhan!
Pay for my Emperor's Smile!
Turn around.
What?
What's this?
The principles of the Lan Clan of Gusu.
This many?
Put it down.
Since you came for the lecture,
let's count how many principles you have violated tonight.
Well, I'm so fortunate
that I wasn't born into the stiff and horrible Lan Clan of Gusu.
Liquor is forbidden in Cloud Recesses.
Well, I can stay outside and sit here to drink.
This won't count, right?
So disobedient.
The female cultivators in every clan
are all admiring the famous Second Young Master Lan.
What a pity.
Pity?
What a pity that they don't know
the person they are admiring
is a relentless, unreasonable, and rigid guy.
But it doesn't matter.
When I go back to Yunmeng, I'm going to...
Let's go.
Grand Master.
LAN HUAN XICHEN
This man's death looks strange.
Nothing like this has happened before.
LAN QIREN
It looks like he was cursed by some wicked sorcery.
Wangji only brought back one corpse?
Clans around Gusu have been reporting recently.
They say there have been cultivators going missing lately.
So I sent Wangji to investigate.
This man is one of our disciples from the branch families.
Wicked sorcery.
Grand Master.
Who is making noise?
Xichen.
Young Master Wei.
Cloud Recesses is not like Lotus Pier.
There are many rules indeed.
You are new here.
I can't blame the innocent.
But under no circumstances can I defame our principles.
So punishment is inevitable.
As for how...
Wangji, it's up to you.
Transcribe the principles 300 times.
Wangji,
just dispel the Silence Spell on Young Master Wei.
You fuddy-duddy!
Zewu Jun, listen to me.
What Lan Zhan said was totally wrong.
He is such a fool.
If one word is enough, he won't say two words.
Let me speak.
The truth is, my party and I arrived
at the gate of Cloud Recesses at dusk,
only to find that our invitation was lost.
But actually, it's not our fault.
It's all that peacock Jin Zixuan's fault.
Anyway, we made it to the gate but weren't able to get in.
We had no choice.
So I went back for the invitation alone.
And the Emperor's Smile from Gusu is so well-known.
It's only reasonable that I bought two pots, isn't it?
However, I hadn't even take one sip
before Lan Zhan broke one of them.
Before I could get my liquor compensated...
You know what?
He put the Silence Spell on me.
Young Master Wei, anyhow, you have violated our principles first.
So you can't blame Wangji for that.
Also,
Lady and Young Master Jiang have gotten in all thanks to Wangji who explained to me.
Xichen.
They got in?
He let them in?
So you aren't that grim.
Hey, Lan Zhan, are you serious?
I am sorry, okay?
Well, Young Master Wei...
Since it was a misunderstanding, please go back and get some rest.
Zewu Jun, is he dead?
Why is he covered with white cloth?
What did you say?
Am I wrong?
When I was at the gate this afternoon, he was still alive.
NIGHTLESS CITY
The things I just told you, did you get them all?
WEN QING WEN CLAN OF QISHAN
Yes, Your Excellency.
I got them.
I'll send Wen Chao with you.
He'll take you to Cloud Recesses.
Everything after that is up to you.
Remember,
the shard of Yin Iron looks exactly the same as the one in Dafan Mountain.
You should recognize it.
Find it and bring it here.
Your Excellency, I...
Speak.
Ning has been frail and feeble since childhood.
May I take him with me?
You're worried that he would be treated unfairly in the Nightless City?
How dare I?
Whatever.
Do what you want.
Wen Ning has a special constitution.
Maybe he could help you when you do the investigation.
Thank you, Your Excellency.
Your departure is tomorrow.
Off you go.
Understood.
You see?
He looks dead...
and he feels like he's dead,
but he's still affected by the fluctuation of spiritual power.
He can't truly be considered dead.
He's nothing more than...
Than what?
It's hard to say.
But he seems to have lost his spiritual cognition.
Spirit snatch.
A puppet.
Yes.
He's like a puppet.
A manipulable puppet.
Wangji.
-Xichen. -Wangji.
What's the matter?
You and Grand Master were both preoccupied with that puppet.
I just had a conversation with Grand Master.
The reason remains unknown,
but we can preliminarily infer
that it must be caused by someone trying wicked sorcery.
If it is true,
the culprit must be ambitious.
Cultivators going missing may just be the start.
What's your plan?
For now, we can only investigate.
But what if...
Xichen.
Never mind.
Maybe I'm just thinking too much.
Wangji, look into the missing case again.
But remember, don't be reckless.
I know, please rest assured.
I always am.
Ever since our father's death,
you've been becoming more prudent.
I sometimes wonder
whether I have been too strict on you.
You have taken on a lot of duties and I'm just helping with the burden.
It's good for you to be with me during the lecture.
Many disciples from different clans are the same age as you.
It's time for you to make some friends.
I actually feel good about that Young Master Wei.
Even though he does some excessive things,
he is smart, and has a lively and cheerful character.
Wangji, doesn't he have some real skills?
You two tied against each other?
XUE YANG
Xue Yang.
WEN RUOHAN WEN CLAN OF QISHAN
What are you laughing at?
Your Excellency.
I'm just laughing because all the puppets are just a trial.
Yin Iron can do much more than this.
Is that right?
If Your Excellency doesn't trust me
and the power of Yin Iron,
why did you bother to snatch so many cultivators
to test this shard of Yin Iron?
Xue Yang, you dare talk to me like that?
What a daredevil.
I don't fear death.
I fear boredom.
Help me find the other three shards of Yin Iron
and subdue all the other clans,
then you can call your life worthwhile.
Please don't forget, Your Excellency.
I don't have the slightest interest in dominating others.
I have said my wish
the first time I came to Nightless City to see you.
I hope Your Excellency doesn't forget it.
Don't worry.
Once I've collected all four shards of Yin Iron,
your wish will definitely be fulfilled.
Thank you in advance, Your Excellency.
Xue Yang.
West of Dafan, East of Gusu, North of Yueyang,
where is the last shard of Yin Iron?
Don't forget the promise between us, Your Excellency.
If Your Excellency tells me
to go to the Chang Clan of Yueyang for that shard of Yin Iron,
I will tell you about the last shard then.