Xue Wu is pretty upset with Gao Chang Gong for not revealing earlier that he was a man. She's distracted by the knowledge that Snowy the horse is severely injured. She makes the rash decision to sneak Chang Gong and Snowy into the secretive White Mountain Village.
Granny may be blind but she ain't no fool. She knows there's a stranger in town. Granny gruffly allows Chang Gong shelter for one night as they work on Snowy, but the unwelcomed guests must leave immediately tomorrow. Granny warns Xue Wu that if Chang Gong betrays their secret, Xue Wu's life is forfeit per village law.
Xue Wu falls asleep while working on her ceremonial belt. Chang Gong decides to help her out by adding an accessory from his own clothing. The next morning Xue Wu rushes to join the initiation ceremony. There are only three other girls participating in the ritual and of course these are the three mean (and kind of unattractive) girls who have been bullying Xue Wu. (As we all know, Mean Girls come in sets of three.)
The big climax of the ritual is when a local man from the village steps forward to accept the belt from the girl he is interested in. As would only happen in a fairy tale, all the ugly girls get guys while beautiful Xue Wu tries to keep a brave face. Chang Gong, watching the ceremony as he was preparing to leave, wants to help Xue Wu out. He steps up to accept Xue Wu's belt.
But he's cock blocked by an angry Granny. Why is he still here? Why is he interfering in their ceremonies? Xue Wu is embarrassed and runs home to cry. Chang Gong picks up the belt to take with him as he leaves the hidden village. When Granny finally finds a weeping Xue Wu, the elder lady explains why she was so harsh earlier. She was trying to make sure Xue Wu didn't fall in love with Chang Gong, as Granny had looked at the fortune telling bones and saw the man is destined to die in a year or so.
Back at Hu Kou, Chang Gong's buddies are worried that he's been gone for an entire day. Hula Xu Da recklessly rides out alone to search for his friend. Suddenly he's attacked by a small Zhou squad. He's holding his own against the superior numbers when Chang Gong, wearing his battle mask, rides in and comes to Xu Da's aid.
Or does he?
Without warning Chang Gong stabs Xu Da twice in the back. A dying Xu Da stumbles around to face the man he thought was his friend. Turns out it wasn't. The man removes the mask to reveal...
Yuchi Jiong.
This is a Taiwan/Mainland China joint effort and already I can see the contribution Taiwan has made. The episodes have logical endings. As you may know, my one pet peeve with Chinese dramas is the way they end an episode. Look, I don't expect cliffhangers like Korea excels at. I just ask for closure. Chinese episodes tend to peter out. Either nothing important is happening or it appears an actor is right in the middle of performing his scene when the director realizes, "Whoops, we're out of time. Cut!" So annoying.
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