The Martial God of the East, Lang Qianqiu, causes a commotion in the ghost king's gambling hall, forcing Xie Lian to play a dice game against the king himself, Hua Cheng, to save his comrade.

Acknowledging his position as the State Preceptor, Xie Lian is apprehended and put under house arrest. He reflects on his haunted past before the doors of the Palace of Xianle are kicked open and silver butterflies swarm in.

An Le, a descendant of the imperial house of the fallen kingdom of Xian Le, was left in charge of preparations for the Golden Feast by the ruler of Yong An. While on the surface, An Le was a good friend to the Yong An Imperial Family, there was a darkness in his heart that Qi Rong took advantage of. When Fangxin (Xie Lian) arrives late to the banquet, he encounters something shocking, and is forced to make a choice...

When the Imperial Preceptor joins them, it's an unexpected reunion between her and Xie Lian the two having met over 200 years ago. Ban Yue apologizes for the treason but denies using the scorpion snakes to attack people.

Xie Lian is summoned by Jun Wu to the Heavenly Realm where he's informed that a certain Heavenly Official needs to be rescued, so he goes to the Ghost Realm, the territory of the dead.

A masked ghost leads Xie Lian to the Paradise Manor, where Hua Cheng is waiting for him. Later on, Xie Lian meets the bandaged boy from Yu Jun Mountain again and recalls a similar boy he met eight hundred years ago.

Xie Lian returns to the Heavenly Capital and tells Junwu the truth about the banquet massacre. The events have made Xie Lian trust Hua Cheng even more, but Junwu feels even more suspicious of him. Xie Lian leaves heaven and heads to the ruins of Xian Le. As he goes to see his parents' coffin, someone is waiting for him...

Pei Xiu turns out to be the culprit. As Ban Yue's childhood friend he's the one responsible for convincing her to betray her kingdom and the massacre that followed. Xie Lian figures San Lang is actually Hua Cheng.

Back in the Heavenly Realm, Lang Qianqiu confronts Xie Lian about the true identity of the State Preceptor of Yong'an kingdom, Fang Xin, who massacred Yong'an's nobility and killed Lang Qianqiu's father, the king.

Hua Cheng leads Xie Lian away from the Heavenly Realm. Meanwhile, Feng Xin and Mu Qing encounter many obstacles while attempting to rescue him, and Lang Qianqiu has a plan of his own.

Xie Lian and Hua Cheng enter the lair of the Night-Touring Green Lantern, Qi Rong. After a brief, violent confrontation, Qi Rong reveals the truth about the Yong'an massacre but other surprising truths are also told.

Hua Cheng loses his composure and begins to violently assault Qi Rong. Qi Rong gives in and reveals the truth about the massacre at the Golden Feast... The truth is revealed about what happened in Yong An, which was supposed to have been heading towards peace, just before Lang Qianqiu was about to have his 17th Birthday...

Reunited, the four seek shelter in a cave where they find a group of merchants and their guide. Scorpion Snakes surround them and Xie Lian and uncle Zheng are stung and the only antidote, the Shanyue Fern, is in the Banyue kingdom.

Xie Lian jumps the pit taking Kemo with him. He gets caught by San Lang, who seems to be different. With all the pit soldiers dead Kemo recalls the story of the downfall of his kingdom at the hands of the Imperial Preceptor.

Xie Lian gets angry with Hua Cheng for revealing the truth about the Golden Feast Massacre to Lang Qianqiu. But Hua Cheng tells him plainly that Xie Lian did nothing wrong. When he realizes that Hua Cheng trusts him absolutely, and is the one person to see through to the truth of the matter, he says aloud that he wonders if they've met somewhere before...

After infiltrating Paradise Manor and using a mysterious door granting access to various spaces depending on dice rolls, Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan eventually reach the underground dungeon, where they discover the missing Heavenly Official.

In the kingdom they find the Shanyue Fern which heals Xie Lian's hand. A commotion alerts the Banyue soldiers, who arrive to take the group hostage and throw a few of them in the Sinner's Pit. San Lang says goodbye and jumps in.

Merchants are going missing in Banyue Pass and Xie Lian is joined by Fu Yao and Nan Feng to investigate. The latter are very weary and suspicious of San Lang but a sand storm that takes Xie Lian away interrupts their bickering.

After the dead brides come to live, the villagers run back and seek shelter in the courtyard of the Ming Guang temple. Xie Lian tries to distract the brides with Ruoye, but after even more villagers come into the courtyard, the brides once again start attacking them. Xie Lian creates a protection circle with Ruoye instead and the villagers manage to save themselves inside of it.

After finding out more information about "Crimson Rain Sought Flower" and escaping the Ghost Festival, Xie Lian invites San Lang to stay in the temple. In the morning he finds a painting of the Crown Prince hanging above the altar.

The group is still being at Xiao Ying's grave. Xie Lian is shocked to see Lang Ying has the Human Face Disease, but Lang Ying runs away before he can ask further. He tells Fu Yao and Nan Feng that they should inform Ling Wen to track him down as soon as possible.

Xie Lian and Hua Cheng are still walking together through the forest. They stop and Hua Cheng attempts to lift Xie Lian's veil, but he sends out Ruoye to attack. Hua Cheng dissolves into silver butterflies and Xie Lian notices he was guided to an abandoned Ming Guang temple. He proceeds to enter and discovers the seventeen missing, but already dead, brides. When he suddenly hears the Ghost Bridegroom come in, he quickly hides among the brides. As the person checks the brides, Xie Lian tries to attack them. However, they manage to turn into black fog and escape.

17 brides have been kidnapped by a ghost groom for over 100 years at Mount Yujun. Xie Lian descends to the mortal realm to help defeat the mountain's ghost and gain the merits of this mission to pay off his debt.