For many years, cultivation clans had failed to summon the Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian, whom was believed to be killed by his brother Jiang Cheng. However, he is finally incarnated into the body of Mo Xuanyu through a sacrificial ritual, who was a young man full of hatred for his abusive family members. While Wei Wuxian carries on to exact revenge on the Mo Family as per request, he meets the new generation of the Lan sect and finds himself in a zombie mystery. When the situation is deemed too difficult to be defeated alone, Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi call for help from any nearby seniors, ultimately attracting the attention of Wei Wuxian's long-time acquaintance.

Banishing Evil, Part 2

After Lan Wangji successfully stops the mysterious arm, Wei Wuxian escapes to prevent being spotted by him. He arrives at the nearby Mt. Dafan and meets another young disciple, Jin Ling from the Jin sect. The two have a heated argument which causes Jiang Cheng to come by. Wei Wuxian then learns that Jin Ling is the nephew of Jiang Cheng, whom was left orphaned because of Wei Wuxian's past mistakes. Due to being in Mo Xuanyu's body, Jiang Cheng was unable to recognise Wei Wuxian until the latter starts using his demonic abilities to save everyone from the escaped arm, which summons the Ghost General Wen Ning.

While he suspects Wei Wuxian, the latter plays dumb and acts as the notorious cut-sleeve Mo Xuanyu to prevent his cover from being blown. As Lan Wangji also has the same suspicion, he protects Wei Wuxian and even offers to take him back to Gusu when Wei Wuxian speaks of his liking for him, catching Wei Wuxian by surprise. At the end of the episode, the timeline changes to twenty years ago, starting the flashbacks of Wei Wuxian's teenage years.

Lan Wangji: moral, honest, and introverted. Lan Wangji possesses a true desire to follow the right path, and supresses his emotions in order to do so. Oftentimes, he appears completely emotionless.

Wei Wuxian :possesses an energetic and mischievous personality, caring little for rules and decorum. He enjoys teasing others and flirting with girls. Beneath his carefree attitude, Wei Wuxian cares deeply for those he loves.

Lan Xichen :has a kind and gentle personality. He tends to wear a smile on his face, and is polite to everyone he meets. In contrast to many in their cultivation society, Lan Xichen treats everyone with the same courtesy regardless of status.

Jiang Cheng :is a strict guardian to his nephew Jin Ling. He often threatens Jin Ling not to fail and, when angered, threatens to break his legs. Still, he never carries out his threats of violence. In fact, he willingly offers himself to save both Wei Wuxian and Jin Ling.

Jiang Yanli :was mild, with nothing too notable. She enjoyed cooking for others, especially her brothers, and was implied to prefer cooking over cultivation. Underneath her gentle and polite exterior, however, Jiang Yanli was fiercely protective of her family.

Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and their friend Nie Huaisang, start their education in the prestigious Cloud Recesses to become better cultivators. They meet the top disciple Lan Wangji, whom Wei Wuxian confessed he had angered upon his arrival in Gusu. Due to Wei Wuxian's playfulness, he broke three rules during his first encounter with Lan WangJi, and thus is resented by both the latter and the teacher Lan Qiren. However, despite his mischief, he is shown to be a knowledgeable student, although his solutions involve the use of the forbidden demonic path.

He is then punished to copy passages in the Library Pavilion and to be supervised by Lan Wangji, much to Wei Wuxian's dismay as he does not chat with him. One month later, Wei Wuxian finishes the punishment and draws a portrait of Lan Wangji as a farewell gift. But this is just another of his pranks as Lan Wangji was drawn femininely. Wei Wuxian also replaces Lan Wangji's poetry book with an erotic art book, causing a fight to break out in the library as Wei Wuxian teases him continuously.

On the other hand, the Wen sect causes trouble for the Lan sect as dangerous water ghouls are driven downwards to Gusu's waters.

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Nie Huaisang : a poor student who seems unwilling to focus on tasks he is not interested in, including his saber and schoolwork. He prefers to use his intelligence on other areas, such as painting fans, skipping classes, searching for birds, and catching fish.

Nie Mingjue : well known for his strictness and violent temper. His temper only worsens over the years, as the saber spirit of his clan's cultivation methods begins to affect him.

Water Ghoul

The disciples of the Cloud Recesses are brought along to Biling Lake to exorcise the water ghouls that had mysteriously appeared recently. While they pass by Caiyi Town, they discover that water ghouls had also arrived in town. The disciples are puzzled as the corpses were not recognised by the locals and appear in a place where they did not drown in. As Biling Lake is overflowing with resentful energy, Wei Wuxian comes up with the idea to harvest these energy to counterattack the water ghouls, causing Jiang Cheng to stop him using the threat of copying more passages.

Subsequently, Wei Wuxian discovers a water ghoul hiding below Lan Wangji's boat, causing Lan Xichen to be impressed by his wits. The Waterborne Abyss then starts attacking, causing some boats to capsize. While Wei Wuxian is saving one of the disciples, he is dragged into the water and met with resentful energy up-close for the first time. Thankfully, he is pulled out of the water by Lan Wangji before anything can happen. With the problem at hand finally solved, the disciples start to suspect the Wen sect's malicious intent.

Wen Chao : a pompous man who considers it natural for others to yield to him. He enjoys attention, flaunting himself before other clans at various events. Despite this arrogance, Wen Chao is unskilled in both sword work and archery, and tends to panic in dangerous situations.