500 years ago,
a fox demon saved a mortal man's life,
which violated the laws ofthe demon world.
For this, she was imprisoned in an icy abyss,
tortured in extreme coldness day and night.
A bird demon, attracted to her face,
circled above the abyss daily.
Faster! Faster!
I have two pleasures in life:
taming the wildest horses
and taming the most beautiful women.
I can give you whatever you want.
But what can you offer me?
My pretty one, don't you know who I am?
Tell me, what is your desire?
You name it. I can give you anything.
I want your heart.
I knew it, a miser. No need to waste time on him.
Sister.
We've trapped so many men. All of them are liars, aren't they?
Where is the man who will offer up his heart...
...willingly, my dear sister?
The day of the solar eclipse is approaching.
Don't worry, sister.
I'll have my whole flock help you find him!
A MONTH LATER
Help!
My name is Xiaowei.
Since a child, I was trained as a singer and dancer.
I have no way to repay you, my saviour,
but to follow you, General, and serve you wherever you go...
Once I departed, carrying the woe of the willows.
Today I returned,
in the midst of rain and snow.
Those who know me say,
"Your heart is overflowing with sorrow."
Those who know me not say,
"What more do you want?"
Those who know me say,
"Your heart is overflowing with sorrow."
Those who know me not say,
"What more do you want?"
General, I thought the bandits had returned.
General, your body is so hot.
I'm scared.
I can't believe a man could be like that.
He's the first to resist your temptation.
Let's boil a healthy stew from his heart.
- Hold on. - What's wrong?
His body radiates so much heat it could melt ice.
If he hadn't appeared, I'd be in trouble.
Let's see what's so special about him.
It's a woman!
Sister, a waste of time again!
Huo Xin...
WHITE CITY, ON THE BORDER
Hey! Don't touch my medicine. What are you doing?
Fine. I'll tell you a story, OK?
The demons...
They look just like human beings,
they even speak human languages.
You can't pick them out when they stand before you.
The demons...
They know how to tempt human hearts.
They know exactly how to control us.
You'd think you're acting with free will.
But actually, you're under their spell.
Then...
They'll dig out your heart and eat it.
Do you know what this is? It's a "Demon Capture Bottle".
It illuminates whenever it's near a demon.
Do you know why demons want to harm people?
No!
Because demons have no hearts.
The demons only have demon spirits.
They must devour hearts to look like humans
and continue to harm human beings.
Then you'll have to come to me
and beg me for my help.
Demons are coming!
What are you doing?
Come back! Come back!
Come back!
Demon!
There's a demon here.
General Huo, once more, please!
Yes, show us what you've got, General Huo.
Bravo! Bravo!
What a skill!
General Huo is a really great archer.
General, someone wants to meet you.
Let's change the rules.
Let the man who loses drink first.
Don't try and fool me.
General Huo, you go first.
Huo Xin. Do you like me?
General Huo, General Huo...
What a waste! I should've drunk it first.
You smell like you've just bathed in wine.
Could you be any more disrespectful?
Remember, each and every one of you!
No staring, heads down. Stare at your own feet.
Don't look at her face, understand?
General Huo Xin is honoured to see you, Your Highness.
It seems the border has become a paradise for you.
General Huo, you must be enjoying it.
I'm sorry, Your Highness.
General Huo, do you remember...
...when did we last see each other in the palace?
- I'm sorry, I don't remember. - Try harder.
- Six... seven... or eight years ago? - Wrong!
I'm a fool. Pardon me for my poor memory.
Let's help General Huo sober up.
It's been eight years and seven months.
It's snowing!
Prepare the feast. I wish to reward the men guarding the border.
- Halt! - Who are you?
Who are you?
Dear brothers...
There are demons in the general's home.
Haven't you heard of demons? Your weapons won't work on them.
Look. This is my Demon Capture Bottle.
It lights up whenever a demon is near. There are demons here, so it lights up.
See?
Let me in. I need to see General Huo.
What are you doing? How dare you!
Get out!
General Huo!
No formality is needed at this feast.
Come on. Cheers.
I've been stationed at the border for too long and have become too lax.
Thanks to the criticism from Your Highness,
I will never drink again.
How dare you?
If you dare to get close to Huo Xin again,
I'll kill you.
Xiaowei is just an entertainer.
Please have mercy, Your Highness.
General Huo is waiting at the door.
He's been standing there for one day and one night.
Will Your Highness see him now?
My lady, where are you going?
- Let me take you there. - Move out of my way.
I'm seeing a relative nearby.
Lady, come with me, please. I'll take you there, all right?
We'll find him for you, no matter how long it takes.
All right?
Judging from the skin tone on your forehead,
I can tell that your liver has a fever. I have inherited a remedy.
It will cure you immediately. Would you like a double dose?
Lady, go.
Away with your potions! How dare you spoil my fun?
Don't you dare hit me. General Huo is my sworn brother, truly!
General Huo's father is my stable-boy! Loser!
Lady.
Come with me.
Demon... Demon...
Shut up, will you?
Aren't you a demon hunter? Have you never seen a real demon before?
Which species... of demons are you?
Huo Xin. This is your dagger from your time as a royal palace guard.
Do you remember?
I thought I lost it in the black bear's stomach.
After you left the capital,
whenever it snowed,
I had one more gem embedded in its handle.
The goldsmith said
there is only room for one more.
Huo Xin. Hurry!
It's snowing!
Huo Xin.
Do you like me?
Do you?
Why didn't you answer me back then?
I was just one of your guards. I had no right.
Your Highness, it's dangerous over there!
Leave me alone.
Huo Xin, look at me.
Now tell me.
Do you like me?
I had dreamed of...
...protecting Your Highness all my life.
Nobody has seen the other half of my face before.
But I don't mind your seeing it.
Now I give you my permission
to remove the mask.
White City is near the warmongering Tian Lang Kingdom.
Your Highness, you'd better leave here soon.
I will go,
but not without you by my side.
We'll run away together.
Anywhere. Just you and me.
Your Highness, please don't joke.
I have responsibilities at this post.
You and I belong to different worlds. I mustn't repeat my mistake.
Don't force me to leave.
Your Highness, please forget me.
ROYAL COURT OF THE TIAN LANG KINGDOM
Spirits of my ancestors,
please grant me the power.
From the Divine Kingdom,
please answer my prayer.
Spirits of my ancestors,
please grant me the power.
The masked woman is in White City.
The Han Chinese broke their promises.
In seven days' time,
The Tian Lang God will swallow the sun.
That is the only chance
for our prince to return to your side.
Great God of Tian Lang,
my Azhuna can wait no more!
My lord,
this isn't the time to shed tears.
Call the chiefs to wage war on White City!
We'll get her here, one way or another.
Go. Go and taste the freedom I never enjoyed.
That bug tastes delicious. Don't waste it.
How... come it's stopped glowing?
I just gave you a nice meal. Are you still trying to hurt me?
No, no. It's not like that.
I'm just curious about your species...
and what made my bottle stop working?
You're a fake demon hunter. You don't even know me at all.
I am truly a demon hunter!
I'm the thirteenth generation - it's the truth!
If you don't believe me...
this Almanac of Demons is the proof.
What the hell is this?
Haven't you heard of the Almanac of Demons?
It's from my ancestors.
All demons, big or small, are listed in it.
Look for me, then.
I'm curious what it says.
Forms, Weapons, Fishes, Bugs, Beasts...
...Birds!
Manman Bird, Five-Coloured Bird,
Nine-Headed Bird, Dragon-Headed Bird,
Corpse-Eating Eagle, Luan,
Jingwei, Phoenix.
You're not listed.
Then you're probably not a demon.
What do you mean, I'm not a demon?
You are... No, you're not a demon.
Perhaps you're too insignificant to be mentioned.
Perhaps you're a new species orjust an amateur.
You...
What are you doing to me?
You are not qualified... to be included!
You can't kill me.
You're not human.
You're right. I am a demon.
Why did you save me?
Because you in turn can save me.
I violated demon law
and have been frozen in ice for 500 years.
I escaped, but I may be captured again at any time.
What does this have to do with me?
Your heart is different from others, hot enough to melt ice.
General Huo, I think you're under the spell of a demon.
Get out of here with your witchcraft.
Aren't you the fake medicine seller in the market?
I've kept the broken tail of a fox demon in my bottle.
It is from my ancestors.
Whenever a demon passes by, the bottle will glow.
General Huo, do you have any guests in your home?
The fox demon will cause you trouble, or kill you.
I saw her entering your gate.
She was on a large horse, wearing a mask.
When she passed by, the bottle began to...
That was Princess Jing.
Stop talking nonsense.
Princess Jing?
What is she doing in White City?
Since you love Huo Xin so much, you should know everything.
Do you know why you've been separated?
Is he in love with another woman?
All due respect,
but what men care about most is a woman's beauty.
I don't believe it.
Huo Xin is not like that.
Then why did he reject you?
General Huo is a man too. Men only see a woman's beauty.
He said...
He said he remembered how I once looked.
But you no longer look like that.
So, you're... a demon?
And you know sorcery?
Yes.
Can you transform me to my old self?
Demons can paint their own faces however they like.
But you're only human. You can't paint your own face.
But I do have a way.
What is that?
I am a princess of this empire.
How humiliating to steal a man's heart with borrowed beauty!
Try it once.
You'll see how he behaves if you look exactly like me.
This is ridiculous.
Come on, drink it. It will feel just like a dream.
It's just like wearing new clothes in a dream.
No!
I am not going to hurt you.
From this moment on,
you are the most beautiful woman in the world.
No man will be able to resist your charm.
In order to have you,
they'll be willing to do
or say anything.
You must return here
within 12 hours to wear your own skin,
or it will flake into a thousand pieces.
Huo Xin.
Now I give you permission
to take off my mask.
General Huo, Her Highness sent me to ask you a few questions.
General, as you know,
His Majesty has 14 daughters,
but why is Her Highness
the only one still unattached?
No man in the world is worthy of Princess Jing.
Or perhaps she has a lover in her heart already.
Perhaps she wants to spend the rest of her life with him.
Despite his status.
Her Highness said you saved her life eight years ago.
If not for you, she would have been dead then.
I was only fulfilling my duty.
Your duty?
After her disfigurement, you left without saying goodbye.
General, you can be honest with me.
Is it because you loathed her disfigured face?
- No. - Or that you never really liked her?
Please leave me alone.
I'm responsible to guard the border. Death comes in the blink of an eye.
I have no time for romance.
General, are you in love with somebody else?
If you say so.
Finally the truth.
Who is she?
Why are you carrying Her Highness' dagger?
She ordered me to kill you.
You hold it just like Her Highness.
Smell it...the fragrance of azaleas in the breeze.
It takes a sparrow 570 years to become a spirit,
a snake 820 years,
and a fox 1 ,000 years.
Don't move!
A fox demon is the closest to human in nature.
Can you introduce me to the fox demon?
What do you want to meet her for?
I... actually... had never met a real demon before.
I only heard stories from my father.
So... I...
What on earth do you want?
I want to become a demon.
What a crazy world we are in!
Demons want to be humans, and humans want to be demons!
It must be wonderful to be a demon! See, they're immortal
and can do whatever they want.
But is it true...
...that demons can become human?
Let me check.
Forms, Spiritual Cultivation,
Magic.
Here we go, look. Life-Transforming Magic.
A solar eclipse obscures the line between day and night,
so it is the only time
humans and demons can change places.
But a demon must have a heart
offered freely to them. Then the demon...
...can transform into a human.
See? It's written right here.
Who would be stupid enough to give up his heart?
Would you?
It's just a myth. There's no record of a successful attempt.
By the eclipse,
if Xiaowei isn't human, she'll die.
Why would a fox demon want to become human?
I was right, wasn't I?
Men only care about beauty.
Even Huo Xin.
I hate your skin.
But Huo Xin desires it.
If you destroy it, you'll never be close to him again.
You may have my skin forever.
But there is a price to pay.
It's only a small price.
What on earth do you want?
- I can give my skin to you. - Why?
My body is getting colder and colder.
I want to...
...borrow your heart for a while.
No!
You travelled thousands of miles to be with him, right?
Your Highness, Huo Xin needs to speak with you.
Remember, it was I who spent the night with him.
General Huo, come in, please.
Your Highness, please take your dagger,
and leave here soon.
With whom did you spend last night?
I order you to answer me.
With a woman.
To do what?
She is a demon.
Kill her.
I order you to kill her!
You'll see how she really looks!
You can't do that.
Then I'll kill her for you!
Get out of my way!
You're so blinded you can't tell human from demon.
Your Highness...
Sir Jian Ling is here!
I'm here at your service. Pardon me for being so late.
In the beginning of time, to tame all demons,
Fuxi created human beings with his own blood.
The first man he created was a demon hunter.
I think you and your almanac are both fake.
You don't know how to capture demons. You're just a con artist.
The blood of a demon hunter can kill demons. This bloodline has never been broken.
My medicine might be average, but my blood is real.
Then let me try your blood.
You're a complete coward.
It's just a drop of blood.
It won't kill you.
What's wrong, Quer?
Ah... finally I can feel pain.
Xiaowei said...
...to feel love is to experience pain.
After insistent proposals from the Kingdom of Tian Lang,
by Imperial Edict, the Chinese Empire approves the marriage
between Princess Jing and Prince Tian Lang.
This happy marriage
means our kingdoms will live in peace.
Every man is responsible
for Princess Jing's protection.
From His Majesty.
You were due to arrive at the Kingdom of Tian Lang five days ago.
Your disappearance caused chaos at the royal palace.
Any more delay
will be taken as a declaration of war.
I'm not going.
Your Highness, please bear in mind the interest of the empire.
I'm not going through with the marriage.
I am already Huo Xin's woman.
You? How dare you...
Guards! Arrest this man for treason. Behead him!
- No! Don't touch him! - Nobody may touch General Huo!
Are you rebelling against His Majesty?
Pardon me, Your Highness...
Emergency!
General, the Tian Lang army is 15 miles away!
Sister, look! I know the real feeling of pain now!
Only humans can know pain.
I really know how it feels.
It's just a small burn. Don't pretend to know anything.
I know it for sure!
Do you have a human temperature and heartbeat?
Can you smell flowers?
Can you tell the colour of the sky? Have you shed tears?
Is there anybody in the world prepared to die for you?
Is there?
She was once hurt because of me.
I won't let it happen again.
Ancestors of the Wolf tribes, descend upon us.
Help our brave warriors conquer everything in their path.
All under heaven will surrender to us!
Victory! Victory!
Your Emperor has commanded Princess Jing to marry our prince.
We're here to take our bride home.
Her Highness needs to rest after herjourney.
Please be patient.
We have no more patience.
Our 100,000 warriors will trample White City.
Where are your so called "warriors"?
You outnumber us, that's all.
Has the motherly love of your queen turned you to cowards?
How are we going to fight? One on one, or one on 100,000?
General Huo is fighting outside
to give you some time.
He asked me to escort you out of the city through a secret passage.
Your Highness, please don't break the marriage commitment.
Let's go out of the city to make peace before it's too late.
Who else is ready to fight?
This brave warrior reminds me of my Azhuna.
We can't beat him without using our wolf slaves.
My lord, let them tear him apart.
Bao, go back and guard the city.
Tian Lang fights dirty. Let me help you, General Huo.
Open the city gates and give us Princess Jing.
And my lord may consider having mercy on you.
Here I am.
Let Huo Xin go.
Retreat 20 miles,
and in three days I will marry your prince.
You've betrayed your marriage vows once.
How can we trust you to keep your commitment?
If you don't retreat now, you'll get nothing but a corpse.
Within three days,
if you haven't bowed down before me,
I will come back and kill everyone.
The heavens and the earth are eternal,
but my heart is full of sorrow.
If there is a sweet hereafter,
it will be another endless torture.
Those who know me say,
"Your heart is filled with sorrow."
Those who know me not say, "What...
Save me.
I loved a man once.
I only ever wanted to be with him.
He said he loved me.
And I believed him.
Then he told me he couldn't abandon his wife.
I saved their human lives with my magic.
That's why I was sentenced to 500 years imprisonment.
I'm so envious of you.
He loves you so much that he's willing to die for you.
How can you leave a man like that?
I am a princess.
I have no choice.
Yes, you have.
You can transform into me and be with him forever.
At the cost of my heart, my soul?
Yes.
You'll trade your heart for my skin.
You kill humans as easily as killing an insect.
Wouldn't it have been easier to just tear out my heart?
Why did you bother to plot this elaborate scheme?
Why waste so much time on me?
By force, all I'll get is a dead heart full of fear.
It will be useless.
I only want the heart that you willingly offer me.
That is the only way for me to become human.
If you trade with me,
I'll fulfil the marriage duties.
If you went to the Tian Lang Kingdom,
you'd suffer and wish you were dead.
At least I would know how it feels to be human.
I'd thought demons were free of worries.
It seems that you're the same as us.
What will happen if I have no heart?
To maintain the health of this skin,
you must devour human hearts, just like a wandering ghost.
Nobody will know your real identity. It will forever be a secret.
But I'll be able to spend the rest of my life with Huo Xin.
That's good enough.
Without a heart, you will become a demon.
You might be thrown back into the icy abyss to endure endless torture.
I understand.
I am willing to take the risk.
Her Highness asked me to stay and take care of you, General.
She also asked you
to love me as if I were her.
Why can't I hear your heartbeat?
Welcome! You must be tired.
With the God of Tian Lang's blessing, please drink this wine.
Dear Princess,
my brother has been waiting for you for too long.
He's been waiting for you patiently as he sleeps.
Your wedding ceremony is tomorrow.
Go.
He is the heir to the throne.
Two months ago, a demon stole his heart.
- Pretty one, don't you know who I am? - I want your heart.
Your Highness, you have a heart that will quicken another.
Only your heart can bring our prince back to life.
It will happen at the hour of the solar eclipse.
Your highness, you are only here
to help us with this divine ceremony.
What we want from you is nothing but your heart.
- Sir! - The wine...
The wine...
Your heart will continue to beat in my brother's chest.
His blood will flow again
and he will take the throne.
My brother is returning.
O, sons of the Tian Lang!
Drink to your heart's content for the next three days!
TIAN LANG KINGDOM, VALLEY OF ASCENDING SPIRITS
The resurrection of our prince must come to pass
with the blessing of the God of our ancestors.
The ceremony will be in the Valley of Ascending Spirits.
Your Majesty, please wait for the prince's return in the central camp.
Sister Fox Demon!
You're Sister Fox Demon?
I've heard a lot about you, and I feel so honoured to...
Where have you been?
I was looking for you. I thought you'd become a demon.
I'd better be content to be human.
I saw your fox demon sister today, and I was almost killed.
Forget it. I'll never want to be a demon again.
What you saw was not my sister, but the princess.
The princess?
They traded skins. My sister is now the bride in place of the princess.
The princess gave away her heart. She is now Xiaowei.
She'll soon become a demon.
The marriage was a trap.
All the escorts have been poisoned.
I saw that they took Xiaowei into a valley.
Xiaowei has no magic. What can she do now?
General Huo.
The princess hasn't left yet.
She transformed into Xiaowei. They traded skins.
She is a demon. I order you to kill her.
I'm already Huo Xin's woman.
Is it because you loathed her disfigured face?
Why can't I hear your heartbeat?
Her heart is inside that demon!
During the eclipse, she can get her heart back from that fox demon!
General Huo!
If the princess devours a human heart, she'll be a demon forever.
Whenever it snowed, I had one more gem embedded in its handle.
The goldsmith said there is only room for one more.
No more room.
Can you smell the fragrance of azaleas in the breeze?
Your Highness, don't do it.
Go away.
I am not your princess. You are mistaken.
I am not...
Jing.
I was chosen as a royal guard when I was 14.
The first time I saw you in armour was on the hunt.
I dared to dream to be with you forever.
But I'm no longer your Jing any more.
I am an ugly demon.
I should have told you, you are the most beautiful woman in the world.
If I devour this heart,
I will be the most beautiful woman in the world again.
I'll never be the princess again, but we can be together forever.
Jing.
Don't eat it.
Let's leave together and get your heart back.
My heart?
I thought you loved this skin more than anything else.
I was under the spell of the fox demon.
At the time my heart was only for you,
but my eyes...
...were drawn to this skin.
No man can resist beauty. You did nothing wrong.
Let me eat this heart, then we can pick azaleas together.
Jing!
It's my treacherous eyes that condemned you to this hell.
Even if I see this skin 1 ,000 times,
I'd still be charmed by it.
Huo Xin!
Beauty means nothing to me now.
You no longer need to devour a human heart.
We should be happy together now.
We're back to our old selves again.
I'll spend the rest of my life with you.
When the sun is swallowed by the God of Tian Lang...
When a living heart beats inside our prince...
O Lord ofAll Things, please quicken his life.
Again, the heart will beat. Again, the blood will be warm.
In the name of God, Thy life will be quickened.
Once I departed, carrying the woe of the willows.
Today I returned in the midst of rain and snow.
Great God of Tian Lang.
Faster!
I feel sleepy.
Don't close your eyes.
If you fell asleep, you'd never wake again.
Go and save Xiaowei!
She's a good woman.
Love her as if she were me.
Jing!
I smell azaleas.
Jing!
Those who know me say, "Your heart is overflowing with sorrow."
Those who know me not say, "What more do you want?"
The hallowed moment is due!
Watch out! My blood is on the blade!
Don't come any closer.
Quer, go!
Quer!
What's wrong with you? No! Quer!
I am going now.
Quer.
No! Quer! No, no!
Come back! Quer!
Come back! Come back!
No! Quer! No!
Watch out. He's behind you!
Xiaowei is here.
General Huo...
Hurry!
If you want to be human,
I'll give you my heart.
I'll give it to you willingly.
But return Jing's heart to her.
Give her life back to her.
Human hearts are warm, and human tears are bitter.
The azaleas smell really nice.
Huo Xin...
It's me.
It's you.
I heard it.
That's right.
That's exactly what it sounds like.
A solar eclipse obscures the line between day and night.
So it is the only time humans and demons can change places.
For a demon to become a human,
the human heart must be freely offered.
Then the demon spirit will merge with the human spirit,
and become one with the human body
until the end ofthe body's natural life.
Quer!
Is that you? Quer?