Evil Taoist Scourge

**Evil Taoist Scourge** (妖道之祸, *Yāodào Zhī Huò*) is the ninth episode of the donghua based on the *Heaven Official's Blessing* novel written by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. It first aired on the 19th of December 2020.

## Summary

Xie Lian decides to jump into the Sinners' Pit after San Lang, but Kemo stops him. Using Ruoye the Crown Prince tries to pull the general down with him, but Kemo seems to be too strong. The person hanging above the pit decides then to free themselves and throws all of Banyue soldiers into the pit. Xie Lian takes advantage of this distraction to pull Kemo down. While they fall he tries to get back up using Ruoye, but it hits an invisible barrier instead. He gets caught by someone and soon discovers it's San Lang, who seems to be different from before. Xie Lian asks to be put down, but San Lang denies him, saying that the ground is too dirty. The Crown Prince notices that San Lang has no heartbeat and doesn't breathe.

Kemo finds all of his soldiers dead, and attacks them, but San Lang beats him up with a scimitar without even putting Xie Lian down. The older male asks if it was San Lang who killed all soldiers, to which he answers with an affirmative and gets berated for jumping into strange pits without thinking. San Lang questions whether he's not more interested in him being not human, to which Xie Lian replies that what really matters is if they get along well, not who they are.

Xie Lian gives Kemo a slap with Ruoye, which seems to be enough to keep him down. San Lang finally puts him back on his feet on a cleaner spot, and returns to his previous form but a bit taller, which confuses Xie Lian. They start questioning Kemo, who at first doesn't want to cooperate, but he starts talking after they promise that they want to kill the Imperial Preceptor and threaten him with the bodies of his soldiers – in Banyue burial traditions the state in afterlife depends on the state of the body after death.

The Imperial Preceptor was of a mixed race, half-Banyue, half-Yong'an. Her father couldn't withstand the hard life at the border and left his family. Her mother died soon after from depression. The girl was more delicate than other Banyue citizens, so they often picked on her. She disappeared during a war and when she came back, she knew dark tricks of Yong'an. Nobody wanted to trust her due to her ability to control the Scorpion Snakes. Kemo asked for leniency for her, and she was assigned to his care. After a battle with bandits a storm hit the cave they were hiding in and only some of them managed to run. Later Kemo lead his people back for the bodies and instead found that the girl made a burrow with her own hands, saving many of the soldiers and burying the dead. Kemo vouched for her and thus she became the Imperial Preceptor. Soon Yong'an army attacked, and she opened the city gates, allowing her own people to be slaughtered.

After finishing his recollection Kemo starts screaming that he trusted her, and she deserves to be hung over the pit. Xie Lian tells him to calm down, but San Lang shushes him. The girl that they were talking about jumps into the pit.

## Characters

**In order of appearance:**

* San Lang
* Xie Lian
* Kemo
* Banyue soldiers
* Imperial Preceptor