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The drunk Lan Wangji continues to surprise Wei Wuxian with his bizarre actions. The headless corpse pieces itself together and goes on a rampage at the inn; Lan Xichen arrives in time to keep it in check, but he and the protagonists realize this corpse seems awfully familiar. The group heads to Jinlintai for the Discussion Conference lead by Jin Guangyao, the man they suspect the most.
- Adaptational Badass: The headless corpse — which belongs to the mighty warrior Nie Mingjue — is powerful enough that it can piece itself back together and run amok after just one night of not being subdued by the protagonists (in contrast to a few nights in the novel, although the change is due to Adaptation Distillation being at play). It also requires the efforts of not just the Twin Jades but also Wei Wuxian to calm it down, whereas in the novel the latter didn't need to help.
- Adaptation Distillation: Multiple events in the novel occur in the same night at Yunping City in this episode to allow a quicker progression of the plot without giving up the comedy.
- This episode combines both Yi City drunken events (specifically Wei Wuxian getting tied up and interrogating Lan Wangji).
- Lan Xichen originally reunited with the gang and helped subdue the headless corpse a few days after the Yi City incident, but here he manages to find and save them the same night it happens. This results in him not just encountering his sworn brother, but also seeing his little brother drunk with his forehead bare while his head ribbon just so happens to be tied around Wei Wuxian's wrists...
- Adaptation Expansion:
- Jin Ling is also present for the headless corpse's rampage in this adaptation, and there's an additional moment where he's chased by the corpse. This gives Wei Wuxian an extra clue on the culprit behind the corpse's murder, since it matches up with the previous incidents where both himself (in Mo Xuanyu's body) and Jin Ling were similarly targeted by the Demonic Left Arm.
- The Discussion Conference banquet adds in a scene of the guest cultivators discussing Wei Wuxian's potential resurrection and Mo Xuanyu's involvement with the Dafan Mountain incident, creating tension in the room.
- Alcohol Hic: Still drunk off his ass, Lan Wangji again hiccups while drowsily standing around outside with Wei Wuxian, with the crooked head ribbon adding on to the scandalous look. Jin Ling also hiccups while drinking with the juniors, a sign of him being tipsy.
- Animal Motifs: The scene of the Jin disciples fighting and running away is compared to a couple of geese doing the same thing nearby.
- Backing Away Slowly: Lan Wangji stares at his head ribbon (which he's just taken off) and then at Wei Wuxian a little too suspiciously, causing the latter to slowly stagger backward. Sure enough, the next time they show up on screen, Wei Wuxian's tied up by the very ribbon.
- Beergasm: Lan Jingyi is overly enthusiastic when drinking the wine from his cup, and doesn't tone it down when later drinking straight from the jar while bragging about his plans to drink to his heart's content.
- Big Damn Heroes: Lan Xichen arrives just in time to get Wei Wuxian out of a tight spot with the headless corpse by fighting it off with his sword.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: While neither he nor Jin Ling are sober at dinner, Lan Jingyi appears to be the more wasted of the two by far, which isn't surprising when one looks at how his fellow Gusu Lan Clan descendent Lan Wangji reacted to drinking a single cup last episode. Jin Ling comments on his terrible alcohol tolerance.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Nie Mingjue, who's made a few minor appearances in flashbacks up to this point, turns out to play a big role in the plot when it's revealed the headless corpse belongs to him.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with Qin Su reacting badly to a letter but doesn't reveal the contents, save for a sentence alluding that there's more to her son's death than she thinks.
- Continuity Nod:
- Mo Xuanyu was stated to be an Extreme Omnisexual back at Dafan Mountain, apparently even going after animals. When Wei Wuxian (who's still pretending to be him) claims to have moved on from Jin Guangyao, the potential candidates that immediately come to Jin Ling's mind are "Bai from the stables", "Jin from the fish pond" and Fairy.
- When asked about who he likes now, Wei Wuxian reminds Jin Ling that he already said it back at Dafan Mountain. Jin Ling recalls that "Mo Xuanyu" said Lan Wangji was his type, and panics when the aforementioned man arrives...
- Fell Asleep Standing Up: After finally taking down the headless corpse, Lan Wangji returns to his drunken sleep while standing up and holding his guqin, forcing Wei Wuxian to put him back to bed.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Lan Wangji opens their inn room to find the qiankun bags torn apart. Seconds later he pulls Wei Wuxian to the side, and sure enough the headless corpse that was originally stored in the bags violently smashes its way out of the room.
- Food Shove Gag: When Lan Jingyi is disturbed by Wei Wuxian being tied up by Lan Wangji and is about to explain the importance behind the head ribbon, Lan Sizhui stuffs a chicken leg in his mouth to shut him up and save the protagonists some face.
- Foreshadowing: Wei Wuxian notices the headless corpse's particular way of fighting when holding Lan Xichen's sword. That helps him deduce that the corpse is Nie Mingjue, whose clan boasts dao sabers as their main weapons instead of the standard jian sword other clans use.
- Funny Background Event: If one pays close attention when the shocked junior disciples notice Lan Wangji misusing his head ribbon, the wine jar Lan Jingyi's holding behind his back can be slightly seen and heard dropping to the ground.
- Gilligan Cut: Jin Ling declares he can fight the other Lanling Jin disciples without Fairy. The scene cuts to a goose getting overwhelmed by the other geese ganging up on it, and then cuts right to Jin Ling being in the same situation with the disciples.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Wei Wuxian (unintentionally) convinces Lan Wangji to remove his head ribbon. Moments later he finds himself tied up by the latter with the very ribbon. This comes back to bite Wei Wuxian when he tries to fight off the headless corpse and realizes he can't grab hold of his flute because his hands are still tied.
- Hypocritical Humour: Jin Ling is unimpressed by how far gone Lan Jingyi is while drinking, only to drunkenly mistake Lan Sizhui for Ouyang Zizhen (who has long separated from the group at this point) right afterward.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Lan Jingyi brags about how much he'll drink even with Lan Wangji around. Cue the aforementioned man walking in from the entrance and the young teen scrambling to hide his wine jar, losing all (drunken) courage he had. Luckily for him, Lan Wangji is too drunk to even notice or care.
- In Vino Veritas: Seeing how Lan Wangji is very upfront about what he says and does when drunk, Wei Wuxian attempts to take advantage of it by asking him a few questions, which are all answered with no hesitation. He does it as a lead-up to once again asking how his companion recognised him at Dafan Mountain, but Lan Wangji refuses to reply.
- I Was Just Joking: Wei Wuxian teasingly tells Lan Wangji to take off his head ribbon (which had become loose) and is shocked when the latter actually complies with no hesitance, especially given how badly it ended the last time the head ribbon came off because of him.
- Kids Raiding the Wine Cabinet: The junior disciples (or at least Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling) sneakily acquire some wine jars during dinner and are no longer sober when the episode shifts the focus to them. Lan Jingyi panics and clumsily hides his drink behind his back when the protagonists re-enter the inn, since they were assumed to still be upstairs. Lan Wangji is too drunk to react; Wei Wuxian does comment on it, but only in an attempt to distract them from the bigger problem (namely his drunk companion dragging him around tied up).
- Meaningful Look: More subdued. Many emotions — particularly grief — pass through the mostly silent Lan Xichen's face when he sees the headless corpse. This is his reaction to 1) recognising the corpse's identity as his deceased sworn brother Nie Mingjue and 2) realizing that the most suspicious person in this situation is his other sworn brother Jin Guangyao.
- Missed Him by That Much: It's hinted the protagonists missed the mysterious party they're tracking by mere moments, as Wei Wuxian notes that the cup of tea on the table is still warm.
- Oh, Crap!: Preparing to face the headless corpse, Wei Wuxian panics when he realizes he's unable to grab hold of his flute thanks to his hands being tied up.
- The Reveal:
- This episode finally confirms the identity of the headless corpse whose body parts the protagonists have been investigating — the deceased former Qinghe Nie Clan leader Nie Mingjue. And given what they know and have observed, they deduce that Jin Guangyao is the most likely culprit.
- The reason behind Mo Xuanyu getting kicked out of the Lanling Jin Clan and earning the disgust of many others (especially Jin Ling) prior to the series? According to the disciples, he apparently harassed Jin Guangyao aka 1) the clan leader and 2) his half-brother.
- Right Behind Me: Wei Wuxian claims to have moved on from Jin Guangyao to Lan Wangji so that Jin Ling can stop suspecting him. A shocked Jin Ling loudly gives his greetings to the man in question and dashes off in fear, and Wei Wuxian assumes he's just making up excuses to run away. Then he bumps into someone and sees that, no, Lan Wangji really was right behind him and caught that entire exchange.
- Security Cling: Jin Ling clings to Jin Guangyao's back while greeting Jiang Cheng, scared of his maternal uncle's wrath (since he ran off on him in the previous season) and depending on his paternal uncle for support.
- Sibling Team: The Twin Jades show off their impressive teamwork when fighting against the headless corpse together, despite only half of them actually being sober.
- Suddenly Sober: Jin Ling and especially Lan Jingyi are drunk at the beginning of the episode, but they're so disturbed the sight of Wei Wuxian tied up with Lan Wangji's head ribbon that they immediately act like how they would when sober. Supposedly the shock is so great that their instincts are still sharp when the headless corpse crashes their dinner and forces them to be on guard.
- The Unreveal: The significance behind the Gusu Lan Clan's head ribbon is brought into question twice, but someone interrupts or gives a non-answer each time so Wei Wuxian and the audience don't find out anything.
- Willfully Weak: To drive home how much he overpowers the Lanling Jin Clan disciples, Wei Wuxian puts his right arm behind his back and effortlessly fights them off with just his left hand.
