The Return of the Flying Hero

Category: Event

Note

Whether or not the Eldest Senior Brother survives, the story buries him on the back mountain, and he only returns in Year 4. The only way to know right away is to go down the mountain with him, dream of Ruixing, and choose "No matter what, I hope the Eldest Senior Brother can live."

Keys to Survival

Mid Jan Year 3, Destiny: Do you need more help?.... (Limit 60, + bonus: Tang Buyi Affinity):

• 【＜80】Not needed: Do not go down the mountain with the .
• 【≧80】Not needed, Zhao Huo and I are enough., then choose:
  • Choice: I don't want to go (resist fiercely).: Do not go down the mountain with the . If your Beloved is the Junior Martial Sister, she talks you around and you go down the mountain with the anyway.
  • Choice: I have no choice but to deal with you: Go down the mountain with the .

Staying at the Tang Clan

Late Jan Year 3, the is sent back gravely wounded.

1. Zhao Huo has two possible ways to treat the Eldest Senior Brother; either one suffices. If neither applies, Zhao Huo is helpless and the Eldest Senior Brother dies that night:
   • Way one: Medicine Skill ≧5 or Total Alchemy Points ≧250.
   • Way two: the sum of Affinity with the Mud Cult's paths ＞1 (see Notes);
     when you meet the Mud Cult Disciples at the foot of the mountain, choose to let them take refuge at the Tang Clan;
     afterward the Mud Cult Disciples tell you in the Alchemy Room the cause of the Eldest Senior Brother's Internal Injury, and that the Qi of a fellow disciple can heal it.
2. Choice: Hesitate does not affect the outcome, but after hesitating you may not pick "There's nothing wrong with looking out for myself" on the first two choices.
3. Once treatment begins, Internal Force is deducted. Based on your starting Internal Force and your Nangong Heart Guard Skill, the Eldest Senior Brother's Survival Points are:
   • Nangong Heart Guard Level ＜3, and starting Internal Force ≧55: Survival Points = 2.
   • Nangong Heart Guard Level ＜3, and starting Internal Force ＜55: Survival Points = 1.
   • Nangong Heart Guard Level = 3, and starting Internal Force ≧53: Survival Points = 3.
   • Nangong Heart Guard Level = 3, and 53＞starting Internal Force ≧28: Survival Points = 2.
   • Nangong Heart Guard Level = 3, and starting Internal Force ＜28: Survival Points = 1.
4. Survival Points are then deducted depending on whether you Complete the Technique:
   • Xiaomei is at the Tang Clan and you Complete the Technique: you enter the Lonely Island ending, and The Return of the Flying Hero cannot be unlocked.
   • Xiaomei is at the Tang Clan and you do not Complete the Technique:
     • Yu Zhu is at the Tang Clan, or Yu Xiaomei Affinity ≧40: no Survival Points are deducted; Xiaomei drives off the enemy, and Zhao Huo cannot witness the Golden Crow's Feigned Death.
     • Yu Zhu is not at the Tang Clan and Yu Xiaomei Affinity ＜40: Xiaomei carries Zhao Huo off, and just as with Completing the Technique you enter the Lonely Island ending, and The Return of the Flying Hero cannot be unlocked.
   • Xiaomei is not at the Tang Clan and you Complete the Technique: Survival Points−1, followed by several battles, and Zhao Huo can witness the Golden Crow's Feigned Death.
   • Xiaomei is not at the Tang Clan and you do not Complete the Technique: no Survival Points are deducted, no battles, and Zhao Huo cannot witness the Golden Crow's Feigned Death.
5. Final tally: if Survival Points ≧2, the Eldest Senior Brother lives.

Going Down the Mountain

1. On the way back to the Tang Clan in Mid Jan Year 3, you are ambushed by Venerable Golden Crow. Destiny: Your opponent...... (Limit 99, + bonus: Yu Xiaomei Affinity):
   • 【＜80】Venerable Golden Crow: Duel Venerable Golden Crow. If you lose, or win but fail to dodge the sneak attack, he strikes your head; if you dodge, Shentu Long drains your Internal Force.
   • 【≧80】That wicked woman beside Venerable Golden Crow:
     • Xiaomei is not at the Tang Clan: Duel the Lady Thief. If you win, Shentu Long drains your Internal Force; if you lose, Book of Life and Death No.37 "Ambushed by a Lady Thief".
     • Xiaomei is at the Tang Clan: Duel Yu Xiaomei; see Xiaomei's Route below.
2. If your head is not struck by Venerable Golden Crow and Shentu Long drains your Internal Force, the Eldest Senior Brother survives if either condition is met:
   • Reputation ≧50 and Morality ≧80 【Hero】.
   • You know Shentu Long and have Affinity ≥30 with him.
3. If your head is struck, or the above conditions are not met, and Fate ≧30, you dream of Ruixing while unconscious on the way back:
   • Choice: No matter what, I hope the Eldest Senior Brother can live.: Fate−30, the Eldest Senior Brother lives.
   • Choice: Yes.: Mood+30, Fate+1, the Eldest Senior Brother does not survive.

Xiaomei's Route

1. Duel Yu Xiaomei. If you win, Shentu Long drains your Internal Force, as in point 2 above.
2. If you lose, or if Yu Xiaomei Affinity ≧50 and you spend the first 7 Rounds using only Brace and Verbal Attack to hold out to Round 8 (Xiaomei stops), the outcome branches as follows:
   • Yu Zhu is at the Tang Clan:
     • Yu Xiaomei Affinity ≧20: Xiaomei carries Zhao Huo off, entering the Lonely Island ending, and The Return of the Flying Hero cannot be unlocked.
     • Yu Xiaomei Affinity ＜20: Book of Life and Death No.38 "Stabbed by Xiaomei".
   • Yu Zhu is not at the Tang Clan:
     • Yu Xiaomei Affinity ＜45: Book of Life and Death No.38 "Stabbed by Xiaomei".
     • Yu Xiaomei Affinity ≧45: Xiaomei turns coat and joins the Eldest Senior Brother to kill Venerable Golden Crow. On this route it is the Eldest Senior Brother and Xiaomei whose Internal Force is drained, so the conditions in point 2 above do not count, and only the dream in point 3 can keep the Eldest Senior Brother alive.

Time of Return

At the time of the event there is no way to know whether the Eldest Senior Brother survives; he only returns at the following points:

• Western Wulin Alliance storyline: Mid Feb Year 4, East-West Wulin Alliance Battle, with or without a bonded partner.
• Stubborn Resistance storyline: Mid Jan or Mid Feb Year 4, Siege of the Tang Clan, with no bonded partner, defeat and enter Annals 46: Comedy Duo.

Both routes unlock The Return of the Flying Hero.

Notes

• How to gain Mud Cult Affinity.
  1. In the Year 1 December "Nangong's Birthday Banquet" event, if you are on the Nangong enemy route you gain Hell Path Affinity+1.
  2. In the Year 2 September "Night Visit to the Nangong Family", choose "I want to go up and take a look" and avoid being knocked unconscious; then in Year 2 October, during Yu Xiaomei's Xiangyang trip, on "shopping", with Tactics Skill ≧3, Temperament ≧60 and Morality ≧60, you gain Heavenly Path Affinity+1.
  3. In the Year 2 November Qingcheng study route, during the "Zhao Kui Goes Up the Mountain" event, with Morality ＞40, you can gain up to Hell Path Affinity+2 depending on the story.
  4. While studying at Qingcheng, in Qingcheng Mountain Town, "Seeing Patients" brings up "Treating the Ghost Soldier" (only appears with Hell Path Affinity ≧1); choose "It's a deal" to gain Hell Path Affinity+1.
• Going down the mountain and losing Fate is the simplest way.
• Xiaomei joins the Tang Clan:
  1. Early Feb Year 2, at the Tang Clan Meeting, Topic: I want to study at Kongtong Sect.
  2. Late Oct Year 2, Yu Xiaomei Affinity ≧20.
• Knowing Shentu Long:
  1. Take in the Ye siblings.
  2. Do not go to study at another sect; after leaving, stay at the Ruined Temple.
  3. Defend the Tang Clan with Ye Yunshang as your Beloved, triggering the Qingcheng study route.