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Hi, welcome back to our Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch! Watch half an episode a week, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!

Here is the first half of episode 18. On to the second half!

Episode 18 from 23:38:

Summary: Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei chase Ye Huo, but stop at a T junction. Lin Jing and Da Qing catch up, and the black energy detector shows both Ye Huo and another black energy signature. Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei follow Ye Huo, and a fight ensues, but eventually Ye Huo concedes defeat. Zhao Yunlan asks about Zhu Jiu, but Ye Huo doesn't know the name. Meanwhile Lin Jing and Da Qing find Ye Huo's base. Bo Bi also turns up, and all three of them get jumped by Ye Huo's friends. And at the fight club, Zhu Jiu kills one of the manager's flunkies and then the manager himself, but not before being extra-dramatically threatening at him.



Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei and Ye Huo arrive at Ye Huo's house. Zhao Yunlan gets a phone call about what happened at the fight club. Ye Huo's friends demand Ye Huo's release, threatening their captives. Zhao Yunlan quips that they should be in school instead, and he and Shen Wei start discussing the Dixing education system, then segue into whether or not Zhao Yunlan will be allowed to go to Dixing again. Then Ye Huo tries to talk reason into his friends. In flashback we learn that Ye Huo discovered Zhu Jiu's life force-stealing scheme and has since been trying to protect people from it. Then Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng arrive to free the hostages. Ye Huo expects to be taken back to Dixing for judgment, but is granted mercy. Shen Wei tells him to leave the city, and Zhao Yunlan tells Chu Shuzhi to take the human boys somewhere else too. Lao-Chu gives the trophy belt back to Ye Huo. Meanwhile Ya Qing reminds Zhu Jiu of the three missions Ye Zun gave them, and Zhu Jiu struggles with his injury from the black energy gun, which is getting worse.

Quote:

Ye Huo to Chu Shuzhi: "Actually, I envy you, for being able to live freely and easily here."

Chu Shuzhi: "Yes, true, but my boss is a bastard who's full of himself."

Detail(s):

When Shen Wei summons his dao, ending the fight with Ye Huo, at first he holds it with the edge against Ye Huo's neck - but then he turns it, so it's the blunt side pointing at Ye Huo. He threatens Ye Huo, but only so far, signalling that he's not out for blood, and he's careful with the sharp edge of his weapon.

Questions: Which this your favourite part/scene/moment in this half-episode? Any favourite lines? Why do Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan stop at the T junction? How does tracking Ye Huo via the trophy belt work? Why does Ye Huo stop fighting back eventually? What do you think is the best way of getting schools in Dixing? (Is it removing the Regent? *g*) How confused were Ye Huo's friends by Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei not taking their hostage-taking very seriously? Is Ye Huo as a masked saviour a parallel for the Envoy? What exactly does the black energy gun do, that Zhu Jiu seems to be dying from his injury? What is the third mission Ye Zun gave them? And finally, any thoughts about whether (or how) any of this connects with the novel?

(These are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in!)

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