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"Wei Ying, you know what... you're a real nuisance."
— Lan Wangji making small talk with Wei Wuxian
Everyone finds themselves in a tight spot as inside the cave, there is a malevolent spirit ready to devour anyone who disturbs it, and outside the cave are Wen clansmen waiting to kill anyone who escapes.
- Adaptational Badass: The difficulty the duo faces in fighting against the Tortoise of Carnage is heavily downplayed from the novel, where Lan Wangji took six hours of pulling his guqin strings to strangle and eventually decapitate the spirit. In this episode, Lan Wangji kills the beast in a single flashing strike after Wei Wuxian wounds it from the inside.
- Adaptation Distillation: To quicken the pace, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wei Wuxian's interactions before they fight against the Toroise of Carnage are shortened. In particular, their discussion of Wei Wuxian's injury from protecting Mianmian and Lan Wangji's irritation is shortened down to the latter chastising the other teen for getting a scar that will stay with him for the rest of his life.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Lan Wangji shows great observational skills in this episode, as he notices that there's another way out the cave just from seeing maple leaves on the water, and also points out to Wei Wuxian that the Tortoise of Carnage has a chink in its armor.
- Big Brother Instinct: As much as he may nag his martial brother, the first thing Jiang Cheng does after escaping the cave is punch Su She for shooting Wei Wuxian.
- The Corruption: Dark energy makes its third attempt to lend its power and take over Wei Wuxian when he tries to draw out the cursed sword from the lake's depths.
- David Versus Goliath: Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are both injured and without their swords when they clash against a 400-year-old behemoth of a spirit. Thanks to the two's smart thinking and determination, they succeed in defeating the giant creature.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Downplayed with the Tortoise of Slaughter. The way it's killed here is the same as the novel, only it's much quicker than the original six hours (the time Lan Wangji needed to decapitate the monster with his guqin strings).
- Exactly What I Aimed At: Implied. Su She claims he was aiming for the monster and shot Wei Wuxian by accident, but everyone suspects he purposely hit the latter so they could leave him behind and turn him into bait.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: While Wei Wuxian keeps the tortoise demon distracted, the scene then cuts to the rest of the party after they make it out of the cave — however, Lan Wangji is nowhere to be seen. In the next scene, Wei Wuxian is shocked to see the Lan clansman appear and take the hit for him.
- Foreshadowing: A particular sword catches Wei Wuxian's eye while he's swimming under the lake, which he uses later to help defeat the Tortoise of Carnage.
- Honor Before Reason: Even after Wei Wuxian explains that he needs more cloth to treat his leg wound, Lan Wangji still refuses to hand over his forehead ribbon.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he and Wei Wuxian don't get along, Jin Zixuan also shows anger at Su She for wounding the latter and forcing the party to leave him behind.
- Kill It Through Its Stomach: Downplayed. Wei Wuxian uses the cursed sword to cut open the Tortoise of Carnage from the inside. Although it doesn't kill the demon, it still provides Lan Wangji an opportunity to deliver the killing blow.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: An entire episode could probably be dedicated to Jiang Cheng's escape from Wen territory and efforts to find help.
- Off with His Head!: Lan Wangji kills the Tortoise of Carnage by slicing off its head.
- Razor Floss: The Lan Clan has a special technique that uses guqin strings in this manner, and they're sharp enough to cut through stone.
- Tamer and Chaster: The scene where Wei Wuxian tends to Lan Wangji's wounds is more modest than in the novel. In an attempt to agitate the latter into coughing out the bad blood in his body, he tries to remove his head ribbon rather than outright disrobe him.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: While the audience knows that the plan involves killing the beast and the use of Lan Wangji's guqin strings, they're never informed of the exact steps of Wei Wuxian's strategy — which is why it succeeds (even with a few hitches in the middle).
