Plot Synopsis
"Tiger and Crane" tells the story of an optimistic orphan from the mountains named Hu Zi, who accidentally consumes theprecious sun bead, and meets the cold and fastidious captain of the Imperial Demon Master, Qi Xiao Xuan. These two young individuals with contrastingpersonalities are forced to travel together due to the sun bead, and they encounter other companions such as Zhao Xin Tong, Wang Yu Qian, and Shan Cha. When the ambitions of the human and demon realms threaten to bring great disaster to the mortal world, thesepassionate and dream-filled young heroes are willing to sacrifice themselves to save the world.
Five hundred years ago, evil demons wreaked havoc on the EasteContinent,plungingpeople into deepsuffering. The righteous Qi Wu Ji led the demon masters to thePeak Valley, where they slayed the Demon Emperor and restoredpeace to the world. However, the blood of the Demon Emperor transformed into the Abyss of Infernal Fire, dividing the continent into the countries of Fu Long, Qian Yu, and Ju Lun. The demon masters used the sun beads to create a barrier toprotect the lives on the continent. However, the tranquility of thepast five hundred years is shattered by the damage to one of the sun beads. The Fu Long Kingdom sends the young demon master Qi Xiao Xuan to find a replacement sun bead, but it is stolen by the mischievous mountain rogue Hu Zi, who accidentally swallows it, intertwining their fates.
From their initial unpleasant encounter to mutual understanding, support, and the gradual elimination ofprejudices through life-and-death rescues and battles against demons. Hu Zi faces controversy due to the demonpower within him, and Xiao Xuan goes against his father's wishes toprotect Hu Zi. However, during a crucial moment in the Imperial Demon Master competition, Xiao Xuan is compelled by the curse of his "twin soul" to confront Hu Zi with blades. After experiencing a dark rift, they reunite during theirpursuit of mysteries and the extermination of demons, gradually dissolving misunderstandings through unspoken understanding, and their friendshipbecomes even stronger. They face a series of enigmas such as the Fu Long crisis, the Qian Yu calamity, and thePeak Battle, overcoming each challenging moment hand in hand. However, it seems that behind it all, there is always an invisible hand manipulating everything.
Where to Watch "Tiger and Crane"
iQIYI (Subscription)Episodes Recap
- 1-4
- 5-8
- 9-12
- 13-16
- 17-20
- 21-24
- 25-28
- 29-32
- 33-36
Episode 1 : Qi Xiao Xuan's Quest for the Sun Bead
Episode 2 : Hu Zi Seeking a Master
Episode 3 : Hu Zi discovered that Zhao Xin Tong was actually a woman disguised as a man.
Episode 4 : Zhao Haotian killed Hei Feng.
Episode 5 : Zhao Xin Tong was humiliated.
Episode 6 : Divine Doctor Wang Yu Qian.
Episode 7 : Qi Xiaoxuan was punished.
Episode 8 : Qi Xiao Xuan went to the Ghost Market.
Episode 9 : Hu Zi took the initiative to prove his innocence.
Episode 10 : Qi Xiao Xuan suspected Zhi Xie.
Episode 11 : Qi Xiao Xuan slayed the Bo Yao.
Episode 12 : Yimei wanted to activate the Kongjue weapon.
Episode 13 : Qi Xiao Xuan stabbed Hu Zi.
Episode 14 : Qi Xiao Xuan cut ties with Hu Zi.
Episode 15 : Mo Gu Zi died.
Episode 16 : Yi Mei and Zhi Xie's conspiracy was discovered.
Episode 17 : Hu Zi bravely enters the Yan Luo Hall.
Episode 18 : Everyone planned to catch Yimei.
Episode 19 : "A Brow" caused chaos in Fulong City.
Episode 20 : Hu Zi met his mother.
Episode 21 : Qi Xiao Xuan transformed into a puppet.
Episode 22 : Hu Zi outwitted Jingang Jue.
Episode 23 : Zhao Xin Tong became the Grand Master
Episode 24 : Hu Zi and his companions, Qi Xiao Xuan, Zhao Xin Tong, Wang Yu Qian, finally arrived in the Kingdom of Qianyu.
Episode 25 : The profound father-son bond.
Episode 26 : Qi Ling Shen appeared in the world.
Episode 27 : Hu Zi rushed towards Yang Ancient Town.
Episode 28 : Hu Zi confessed his feelings to Zhao Xin Tong.
Cast & Role
Hu Zi
(Jiang Long)
Wang Yu Qian
(Chen You Wei)
Hu Zi
(Jiang Long)
Zhao Xin Tong
(Wang Yu Wen)
I think Qi Xiao Xuan is doing great as he is now. Individual lives are being valued, while not giving up on the well-being of the world. He delayed taking the Crimson Pearl to save Hu Zi, but still controlled it within a limited time, trying to balance both aspects as much as possible.
Hu Zi, as an orphan, understands the pursuit of personal gain and avoidance of harm better than ordinary people. Despite lacking education and being impulsive, he never holds grudges and only causes trouble for others.
He skillfully shifts blame onto others and sees through the hypocrisy of those self-righteous individuals in the Tian Gang Hall. He is far from being foolish.
I'm always moved by the friendship between Hu Zi and Qi Xiao Xuan. When the other person, Yan, emerges from within Qi Xiao Xuan, he claims to have no friends and wants to kill his own brother in front of Hu Zi. Even in the face of this version of Qi Xiao Xuan, Hu Zi firmly believes that he is just under a demonic spell.
The more I watch, the more exciting it gets. The initial scenes were a bit dull, but later on, they became more textured. Qi Xiao Xuan, isn't he such an adorable character? I feel like he's so innocent.
Maybe he pretends to be cold like Yan to conceal the fact that he has dual primordial powers. He acts aloof like Yan to hide his true nature. He's actually a cute and innocent young gentleman, isn't he?
SOS, it's finally going to air! Hu Zi, the orphan from the mountains, accidentally swallowed the precious Chi Zhu, which led him to meet Qi Wu Ji, the descendant of the demon-slaying ancestor. Dual male leads, a group of passionate youths, and a team fighting demons—this setup is right up my alley!
One is Hu Zi, the orphaned fiery youth with a faint touch of chuunibyou aura. It's like he has a bit of social bull on him, and his sense of humor really hits my funny bone.
The other is Qi Xiao Xuan, the captain of the national demon-hunting team.
He's stern and somewhat obsessed with cleanliness, a cool and arrogant young master. He has two souls, one black and one white. Oh my, I love his dual personality!
As reluctant partners, they embark on an adventure together, experiencing all sorts of hilarious daily life moments.
The jokes keep coming, and it gives me a feeling of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" meets "The Young Warriors." From being mortal enemies at first sight to trusting each other through life and death, they become each other's strong support.
They grow together as a development-oriented couple, and I love it! The contrast between their actions and demeanor is adorable. Can I ship them with a light tap on the shoulder?
I'm utterly fed up with this terrible drama. I couldn't even get through a single episode. While other shows may be hard to follow due to weak costume and makeup design, this one is entirely plagued by problematic plot and character development.
Firstly, the character Hu Zi is the most infuriating. Firstly, his act of stealing the Red Bead is inherently wrong. He stole it and caused evil spirits to enter the village, yet he blames Qi Xiao Xuan, saying it's his fault for not keeping an eye on the bead.
This is the first thing that made me angry. Stealing is already wrong, so why does he have the audacity to shift the blame onto someone else? Secondly, after Hu Zi leaves the beginner's village, they need to hurry to Baobao Town to retrieve the Red Bead.
But Hu Zi keeps dragging his feet and refuses to go. I understand he's grieving, but to throw a tantrum and refuse to cooperate at a time when he's at fault for causing such a big problem is just outrageous.
Even if the writers turned him into a dog stealing the bead, I still wouldn't buy it. That excuse is simply not enough! These two points make Hu Zi's character extremely poorly developed.
His supposed kindness, even in the face of controlled villagers, cannot redeem his character!
Next, I want to criticize the male lead, Qi Xiao Xuan. It's understandable that he lacks experience as a newcomer, but stumbling over the same issue twice demonstrates a lack of intelligence.
The first time he was deceived by Hu Zi, I can understand that he had a sense of caution, thinking that the person hanging there might be an ordinary person and wanting to rescue them is forgivable.
Being deceived can be attributed to inexperience. However, the second time, he had already seen through the demon and knew that it was after the Red Bead. Shouldn't his main concern be protecting the bead?
Why did he allow the bead to be stolen again? Why wasn't he more focused on the bead hanging from his waist? I simply can't comprehend it. Watching this drama makes me want to pull my hair out in frustration.
It's been so long since I've come across a show with such problematic character development, and I couldn't help but vent my frustrations here.
I think everyone shouldn't get too caught up with Hu Zi's character. This is a story of growth, a wild orphan without parents or education. It's already good enough for him to maintain his innate kindness, let alone expecting high emotional intelligence or strategic planning.
His character is quite realistic. Some plot points might be more comfortable if it were a manga, but they might not be as pleasing in a TV drama. This is a story with two male leads, and I hope everyone can read the manga or at least understand the background of the story.
The more I watch, the more I like Qi Xiao Xuan. He has so many similarities with Chang Heng and Gong Zi Yu, especially the part where he couldn't bear to shoot the doe with the fawn.
Yen's appearance, telling him that he did nothing wrong, really moved me to tears. As an exorcist, although he says that all demons must be eradicated, he still carries kindness and avoids unnecessary killings.
He is loyal and true to his principles.
Chang Heng, as the God of War in the celestial realm, shoulders the heavy responsibility of protecting the Water Cloud Realm. He cannot freely love Xiao Lan Hua.
Even his marriage to the Goddess was for the sake of saving all beings. But he would stand up against his brother and say there is nothing wrong with saving the one he loves.
He would sacrifice himself to save Dongfang Qing Cang. He has his own sense of discernment between good and evil in his heart.
As the Gatekeeper of the palace, Gong Zi Yu remembers the names of everyone above and below him.
He would use the Hundred Herbs Extract to save a dying servant. In his eyes, every life is precious, and a person's goodness or evil cannot be measured solely by their status.
That's why he's willing to trust Yun Wei Shan and work together to protect the palace.
In them, perhaps there isn't an unparalleled mastery of martial arts, but they shine with the rare radiance of human beauty in life.
We can see the ultimate goodness and beauty that we pursue in life reflected in them, which deeply touched me. My graduation thesis is related to the beauty of human nature, so for a period of time, I devoted myself to discovering the splendor of human nature in various characters.
That's why when I was binge-watching Zhang Ling He's three dramas, I was deeply moved by him.
So far, I've watched the first three episodes, and I don't like that woman. First of all, Hu Zi stole things, which indeed caused trouble for an entire village.
After all, the ones who died were ordinary people's close relatives, so it's natural for the people to be angry. Even if he desperately saves everyone, it's a compensation for the consequences of his actions.
Yet, that woman keeps complaining about the villagers driving away Hu Zi, but the ones who died weren't her close relatives. She supports and sympathizes with Hu Zi so much, but she left when it was time to fight because her weapon was gone.
Is someone else's life not more important than her weapon? I hope a new female lead appears later on because I currently don't find this female lead likable.
To be honest, this drama treats us like fools. Whether the Red Pearl is cracked or not, everyone who watches it knows. Yet, the senior figures in the story have the audacity to say it's impossible, absolutely impossible. This is a matter concerning the lives of the people, and they're just spouting empty words.
And can you believe they actually let an unreliable young person go and retrieve the pearl? On top of that, the young one gets bewitched and loses the pearl along the way. In the village, they suddenly say there are demons and tell everyone to go home and secure their doors and windows.
Come on, guys, there was just a recent fire incident! And didn't they say there's a device that resonates with the pearl? Why do they still need someone to guide them?
I'm not nitpicking, but let me share my emotional changes after watching the drama. I was originally excited to watch it because I really like supernatural-themed shows. However, after watching the first 6 episodes, the character Hu Zi completely ruined it for me.
My impression of the character is that he's always stealing things, doesn't apologize or take responsibility for his actions, and fails to grasp the importance of certain events (he even let the female lead fix the gun first).
I apologize for being brutally honest, but it's truly because of this that I lost interest in watching further.
That's not right. I've seen many people say that it's possible to balance both within the limited time, but how do you control it within that timeframe? Hu Zi had to repair the gun and then retrieve the bead...
Many things can't go according to plan. The bead is related to the lives of so many people. Shouldn't the priority be to ensure the safe delivery of the bead first? Everything else can be dealt with later. Once the bead is safely delivered, Hu Zi's life can be saved as well!
So, ensuring the safe delivery of the bead is crucial.
At first, I thought it was pretty good. A team of four fighting demons and evil spirits, and I thought it would be a combination of intelligence, strength, and humor. But as it progressed, it felt more and more lackluster, with weak character development.
I watched it because of Jiang Long. In the early stages, Hu Zi had a strong presence in the village, and there were fights with the demon tail and the stubborn golden figure. I thought there would be plenty of action scenes later on.
But I didn't expect that Hu Zi's biggest role would be to bring sadness to others. When everyone in the city was busy fighting monsters, he cried for Xiaoxuan, then cried for his mother, cried for Xintong when his mother came back and then disappeared again, and finally cried for Xintong and cried over a brick.
Only in the very end did he have a few minutes of a strong presence.
Jiang Long's acting skills are good, but it's a pity that the script falls short.
Those comments are probably made by people who only watch the drama and don't read xianxia novels. There are plenty of scripts in the novel world with character setups like Hu Zi. Watching a drama and giving comments after just one or two episodes proves that the portrayal of Hu Zi's character has come to life.
It's similar to your personal growth from childhood to entering the workforce, where everything accumulates over time through exposure, learning, and experiences. It's not fair to judge the entire drama based on just one or two episodes, just as many people may have criticized you as aimless before you turned a certain age, but who knows that your journey in life turned out to be more exciting than those who criticized you in your teenage years.
After watching one episode, Xuan Yi is easily swayed, gullible, and not very clever. Hu Maomaoshishi is impulsive and foolishly kind-hearted. The plot is mediocre and not very engaging.
The beginning of the story is also inconsistent. They insist on searching for the pearl after it's broken, and the person sent to find it is too careless. Giving such an important task to a novice male lead, who also doesn't have very intelligent subordinates, resulted in them being easily mesmerized and then quickly waking up.
It's just average.
These villagers are truly unbelievable. Hu Zi, at least, went out and robbed houses to bring back resources for everyone. During the fire, he risked his life to save people. When there were monsters, he fearlessly rescued people and fought the monsters.
But just because a few villagers died, they labeled Hu Zi as a disaster. They conveniently forget about all the good he has done and refuse to forgive him for any mistakes! It's frustrating dealing with these people.
To be honest, Hu Zi is quite speechless. It feels like he's a bit love-struck, and if it weren't for him stealing that pearl in the first place, wouldn't the whole village have been in disaster? (And you didn't even exchange the pearl for money!
) Setting that aside, he should have returned the pearl to its rightful owner. So why did he suddenly give such a great opportunity to the female lead so selflessly?
Hu Zi just staged a self-directed and self-acted kidnapping. He wasn't in any life-threatening danger, and after achieving his goal, he even untied himself. But that demon has been coveting the Fire Orb all along. Even if there wasn't the plot twist of Hu Zi stealing the Fire Orb, that demon wouldn't have given up on their way back.
So, this vote doesn't really mean anything. It just wasted some time.
Hu Zi's character goes against public morals, and in order to justify his success, the script forcefully labels him as kind-hearted and good. However, there are numerous inconsistencies that insult the viewers' intelligence. He's portrayed as a coward who kneels down as soon as Xiaoxuan catches him, but then miraculously rushes to the arena to save someone.
He deeply regrets causing the death of the villagers by stealing the pearl, but in the next moment, he shifts the blame onto Xiaoxuan and the previous bandits. The screenwriter's thought process is unclear. Jiang Long's performance is earnest, but this character is truly unlikeable.
Even the makeup makes him look messy and old-fashioned. If Jiang Long had a bit more cuteness and handsomeness, he could overshadow everything. Unfortunately, the screenwriter didn't include any scenes to showcase Hu Zi's naive and sweet side.
Why should it be that way? Chi Zhu is doing it for the sake of the world and its people, while Hu Zi swallowed the Chi Zhu to save the villagers. That's why this question arises. So, if Qi Xiao Xuan prioritizes the Chi Zhu over Hu Zi's life, what's the difference between her and a monster?
Moreover, there's a constant emphasis on time, indicating that Qi Xiao Xuan has been controlling it. So, why shouldn't she be held accountable?