[Recap] Word of Honor – Episode 19

Episode 18 ⇦ Word of Honor Index ⇨ Episode 20

Note: For the confused people like me, here’s a character guide.

Credit: sixteenthshen@Tumblr

Longyuan Cabinet Cave, (a.k.a Uncle Long Que’s prison cell)

Before I start the recap, I just have to say Long Que didn’t seem to have showered for a long time. Soo… how come his hair wasn’t greasy? Was Long Xiao sending dry shampoo from time to time to his cave?

Remember Long Xiao’s whining about growing up disabled in the last episode? The whining continued. It seemed like Long Que and Long Xiao already had this conversation a hundred times before. It’s just that now they have audience. WenZhou family and grandpa Ye Bai Yi just stuck around and listened to this argument rehash live.

To summarize, the argument went like this. If the Healer Valley knew this was effective, why did they keep it a secret? Long Xiao only took this as an excuse and believed that this was his father’s revenge for being born and his mother dying because of it. That kid already made up his mind a long time ago that his father was the reason why he was miserable. Wen Ke Xing got irritated and shut him up.

Ye Bai Yi asked what really happened to Fairy Ganoderma Yu Feng Er and her husband Rong Xuan. Meanwhile, Wen Ke Xing looked vulnerable and curios the entire time. He decided to ask a question.

Censored gay bae introduction to your family be like…

At this point, Zhou Zi Shu had second thoughts on his unstable theory that bae was Rong Xuan’s child. So he kept mum about it. Long Que was happy about Zhou Zi Shu finally having a friend. Wen Ke Xing verified facts from Long Que. The emotions were raw on his face.

Q: Did Gao Chong really forced him to open the armory?

A: Not only Long Que denied this, he also said the last time he saw Gao Chong was 20 years ago. If the Glazed Armor was in the Five Lakes Alliance’s possession, they don’t need Long Que to open the armory.

Q: Did Rong Xuan deceive Long Que into building the armory for him?

A: False. Uncle Long willingly helped Rong Xuan.

Zhou Zi Shu asked Long Que to tell the real story about Rong Xuan and the world armory. Instead of helping Long Que out of this chain first, they made this meeting an interview session.

Rong Xuan & Friends: Storytelling Time by Uncle Long

Gather round for one heck of a confusing flashback lol.

Twenty years ago, Qin Huai Zhang introduced Rong Xuan to their group of martial artists friends. Long Que reminisced fondly of the simpler times. Since he was a nerd, he honestly thought their group was too cool but glad they accepted him, anyway. Contrary to the rumors, the armory was built by them collectively not just by Rong Xuan alone.

Back to the “Cave and Chains” reality

The story was cut short by Cheng Ling when he asked if his dad, Zhang Yu Sen, was a part of that group who built the armory. Long Que was delighted to hear about Zhang Yu Sen and asked about Cheng Ling’s dad. To his disappointment, he find out that Zhang Yu Sen, Lu Tai Chong and Gao Chong all died in protecting the Glazed Armor. Zhou Zi Shu also added that the ghosts of Mount Qingya were out and about wrecking havoc in the martial arts world. Greedy people scrambled for the Glazed Armor.

Long Que found this ridiculous. The Glazed Armor was just a lock. It would be useless if they didn’t have the key. Ye Bai Yi asked if Long Que had the key. Long Que denied it. Wen Ke Xing silently clenched his fist and said nothing. Zhou Zi Shu noticed this and approached him. Ye Bai Yi insisted on the key’s location. Long Que admitted he knew but since he swore to tell no one, he’s not telling anybody. He wasn’t afraid of anything. His wife was long dead and his son tortured him.

Meanwhile, Wen Ke Xing was almost close to tears. Zhou Zi Shu consoled him by putting his arm on Wen Ke Xing’s shoulder. Ye Bai Yi bombarded Long Que with more questions. Wen Ke Xing snapped at Ye Bai Yi for asking Uncle Long too many questions. They had a mini fight plus a sprinkle of bickering on the side. It turned out that Ye Bai Yi asked these questions on Wen Ke Xing’s behalf. However, Wen Ke Xing said he didn’t want to know the truth anymore. Zhou Zi Shu broke the fight. Ye Bai Yi added he must find out how Rong Xuan died because he was Ye Bai Yi’s disciple. Wen Ke Xing was shocked. I meant shookt.

Chongwu Palace, Ancestral Hall

Zhao Jing carried Gao Chong’s memorial tablet to the ancestral hall. He wanted to add it to his “Dead Friends’ Memorial Tablet” collection. He looked happy to see all of them. Zhao Jing aired out his grudges to these tablets. I made a list to switch things up.

Why does Zhao Jing hate [ insert dead friend’s name here ] ?

Why does Zhao Jing hate Rong Xuan?

• Zhao Jing shed a blood with Rong Xuan for his whim
• Rong Xuan practiced the “Combined Six Cultivation Power”
• But didn’t let them practice it because Rong Xuan failed to master it.

Why does Zhao Jing hate Gao Chong?

• Gao Chong acknowledged Rong Xuan as a leader
• Trusted Shen Shen the idiot
• For clinging to power

Zhao Jing had a mini monologue, with the memorial tablets as his audience, and proclaimed himself as a true hero.

Longyuan Cabinet presents Cave and Chains Interactive Storytelling feat. Long Que

By showcasing the Mountain Closing Swordsmanship, Ye Bai Yi proved he’s Changming Sword Immortal. Long Que was amazed. This proved that Combined Six Cultivation Power existed and immortality was possible. Long Que assured him the Combined Six Cultivation method was well kept in the armory. He also apologized on behalf of Rong Xuan, too. Ye Bai Yi scoffed at the use of the words “guilty and remorse”.

Rong Xuan & Friends: Storytelling Time by Uncle Long part 2

Rong Xuan asked his wife, Yu Feng Er, to send the key of the Glazed Armor to his master in Mount Changming, and tell him what happened. And she needed to kowtow and apologize to his master for him. Yet things didn’t pan out as expected.

Flashback

Let’s give their group a name, shall we?

Original Glazed Armor Homies

• Rong Xuan
• Yu Feng Er (Rong Xuan’s wife)
• Qin Huai Zhang
• Zhen Ru Yu
• Gu Miao Miao (Zhen Ru Yu’s wife)
• Long Que
• Lu Tai Chong
• Gao Chong
• Zhao Jing
• Zhang Yu Sen
• Shen Shen

The Original Glazed Armor Homies gathered round, merrily eating and chatting except for Gao Chong and Zhao Jing. Zhao Jing sat in one corner, reading. Gao Chong arrived fuming rage in the middle of the gathering and asked who was caught stealing books from Mount Tai as he stared directly at Zhao Jing. Zhao Jing avoided his gaze and denied being caught. Gao Chong angrily snapped that the elders of Yueyang Sect and Mount Tai Sect were discussing the matter as they speak. Gao Chong’s dad agreed to conduct an investigation and asked the members of the Five Lakes Alliance to find the person fitting the description.

Long Que tried to calm down Gao Chong. Zhao Jing said if things get worse, he would admit his crime and not get anyone else involved. Zhang Yu Sen and Shen Shen tried to talk some sense into him. He might get expelled from the sect or worse, get his martial arts removed. Shen Shen asked Rong Xuan what to do. Since the armory was Rong Xuan’s idea in the first place, he would take responsibility.

Back to the “Cave and Chains” reality

Ye Bai Yi cut the story off and scolded Long Que ( on behalf of the Original Glazed Armor Homies because some of them are either unavailable or dead ) for martial arts book stealing escapades. He said luckily Rong Xuan left the sect on his own. Otherwise, Ye Bai Yi would’ve killed Rong Xuan himself out of shame. Wen Ke Xing stood up in front of Uncle Long and asked Ye Bai Yi to shut up. Zhou Zi Shu immediately stopped the two from bickering further.

Rong Xuan & Friends: Storytelling Time by Uncle Long part 3

Truth be told, Qin Huai Zhang just as angry Ye Bai Yi. Original Glazed Armor Homies went through so much trouble to determine the site of the armory. They switched to a few places but none of which were satisfactory. Finally, Qin Huai Zhang told them about the underground palace of the former dynasty that he found. Long Que took care of its transformation.

When Qin Huai Zhang and his friends traveled around, they got the Glazed Armor lock and its key. Both of them were made with ingenuity. It wasn’t easy for Huai Zhang to collect them all. However, when he opened the palace, he found nothing in it. So he gave it to the Original Glazed Armor Homies, and that’s what the armory was built upon.

Flashback

Rong Xuan challenged the Future Five Lakes Sect Leaders (see Character Map above) in a friendly duel. It was five versus one. In this duel, if the five of them could not even master the Combined Six Cultivation Power, it wouldn’t make sense for any of them to master it in the first place. Rong Xuan’s arm got nicked from Gao Chong’s sword. They continued fighting. Zhen Ru Yu, Gu Miao Miao and Yu Feng Er watched the duel. Rong Xuan won.

As soon as they stopped the duel, he fainted. The audience rushed towards Rong Xuan. Gu Miao Miao identified Triple Corpses Poison from Rong Xuan’s blood. Gao Chong’s sword was laced with one. Gao Chong denied poisoning Rong Xuan.

After the incident, Yu Feng Er drove all five of them out.

Back to the “Cave and Chains” reality

Long Que could not, for the life of him, figure out who could’ve possibly done that. They were all extremely close. He believed Gao Chong didn’t do it. Gao Chong didn’t have any motive. Even if he longed for the Combined Six Cultivation Method, none of them got it in the end. It was left inside the armory. The armory could only be opened by all six of them. There were five pieces of the Glazed Armor which was distributed to the Five Lakes Alliance and there was one key kept by Rong Xuan. Since they split up, the armory was never opened again.

Ye Bai Yi pointed out Triple Corpses Poison could turn people into walking corpses but it does not make people crazy. Long Que said Yu Feng Er loved her husband so much she decided to use the forbidden technique from the Yin Yang Book. It caused Rong Xuan to lose his mind. Wen Ke Xing said it was supposed to work but Long Que argued it must have been a banned technique for a reason.

Rong Xuan & Friends: Storytelling Time by Uncle Long part 4

The so-called raising the dead, reversing Yin and Yang can only work by reviving one at the cost of the life of another. If you want to fix someone’s heart meridians, you have to take a heart out from another living man. This was exactly what Zhen Ru Yu, Gu Miao Miao and Yu Feng Er did. Got a man, took out his heart and transplanted it to Rong Xuan. He had terrible headaches and started destroying everything he saw.

Nobody really figured out what caused Rong Xuan to act insane. However, after accidentally killing his own wife, his last shred of sanity was spent. He completely went mad after that. Yu Feng Er used the forbidden technique. Hence, she was kicked out of the Healer Valley. The key of the armory was given to the Divine Hand couple, Zhen Ru Yu and Gu Miao Miao.

When Ru Yu heard the tragedy, the battle on Mount Qingya was only a few days away.He galloped there non-stop, only to see Rong Xuan in combat vs about twenty to thirty martial artists. His robes were full of blood, his hair was a mess and he swung his sword in the air to his invisible enemy. Other martial artists stood away from him at this point. Rong Xuan screamed in pain and started crying. His head hurt too much. Zhen Ru Yu rushed to his side. He turned to the martial artists to leave Rong Xuan alone. Zhen Ru Yu also claimed responsibility for Rong Xuan’s actions and promised to cure Rong Xuan to the best of his abilities. However, Rong Xuan knocked Ru Yu unconscious while he gave a speech.

Back to the “Cave and Chains” reality

Zhou Zi Shu continued the story in the most logical sense he could think of. Martial artists attacked Rong Xuan in the name of battling a demon but in reality they were actually looking for the key. When they didn’t find any, they all went after Zhen Ru Yu and his family.

Rong Xuan & Friends: Storytelling Time by Uncle Long part 5

Long Que continued the story. Zhen Ru Yu would rather die than give away the secret of the armory. This forced the then valley chief to place righteousness above family loyalty. The so-called “righteous clans of the martial arts world” threatened the Zhen Ru Yu and his family.

When this news reached Longyuan Cabinet, Gu Miao Miao disappeared with her wounded husband and her child. In order to protect Zhen Ru Yu and his family, Long Que spread the rumor that the Longyuan Cabinet could open the armory in another way. Long Que gave up Longyuan Cabinet’s promising future, moved to a remote place and lived as a recluse. He failed to find Zhen Ru Yu and his family and deeply wished the family hid somewhere and lived a peaceful life.

Back to the “Cave and Chains” reality

Long Que addressed Ye Bai Yi he didn’t mean to hide the truth from him. It’s just that he wasn’t sure where the key was. He promised Rong Xuan to send back the key to the armory, he was not powerful enough to have the means to find them. Long Que asked Ye Bai Yi how come he never taught Rong Xuan the Combined Six Cultivation Method.

According to Ye Bai Yi, on top of Mount Changming, it was so cold and lonely. He taught Rong Xuan all the martial arts without reservation, except the Combined Six Cultivation Method. Because of this, Rong Xuan and Ye Bai Yi had an arguement a couple of times. Eventually, this led to Rong Xuan stealing the book.

The name of this wicked martial arthas given a hint of warning for the successors. If it were anything good, Ye Bai Yi wouldn’t have hidden it from him. Rong Xuan’s father and Ye Bai Yi pampered him too much. Ye Bai Yi’s eyes were watery with tears and regretted not tearing up the book. Ye Bai Yi walked out. Zhou Zi Shu tried to go after him but Wen Ke Xing pulled him back.

Episode 18 ⇦ Word of Honor Index ⇨ Episode 20