WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Drowning Sorrows in Raging Fire Episode 5, "Reincarnation," now streaming on Funimation.
In Drowning Sorrows in Raging Fire, Xuan Ji still knows very little about Sheng Lingyuan despite having crossed blades with him and the emperor now taking up residence in his sword. It's not for lack of trying though. The problem is that Sheng Lingyuan remembers very little of his own past. What little memories he has, have been full of pain and suffering. This week's episode sheds a little more light on Sheng Lingyuan's past as well as drops hints of why there's a special connection between him and Xuan Ji.
Something strange happens after the skeletal hands drag both Xuan Ji and Ji Qingchen's accomplice, a scammer, through a portal. As soon as they enter, Sheng Lingyuan winces in pain and Xuan Ji gets inadvertently dragged down as his sword gets drawn to something on the ground. He tries to see what's in his surroundings and immediately jumps into the sky with his phoenix-like wings bursting out from his back when he realizes what he landed in: a mass grave of the Wu people.
The mass grave has a huge effect on Sheng Lingyuan. He imagines himself drowning with screams around him, calling him a liar. He slowly falls, straight into hundreds of hands straining to pull him down to join the rest of the corpses. The only light in the murky darkness is a single feather, red like fire. As soon as Sheng Lingyuan touches it, he returns to the sounds of Xuan Ji's frantic shouts.
The sword returns to Xuan Ji and their telepathic link returns. Suddenly, the scammer gets up and walks as if the bones from the skeletons are controlling him. Immediately, millions of Illusory Butterflies appear out of nowhere and attack Xuan Ji. Because of his Fire powers, he's not affected by it but his biggest concern is the scammer who had just disappeared into a cave. He follows after him and the butterflies halt just at the opening.
Strangely, Sheng Lingyuan pleads for him to not go any further, warning him that there is danger ahead. He tries to tempt him by telling him that he'll tell him more about the butterflies' origins if he turns back but Xuan Ji isn't swayed. He firmly believes that it doesn't matter if a person is good or bad, they still have the same basic rights as everyone else.
Xuan Ji arrives at the center of the hall where an enormous pool is. In the middle of the pool, there appears to be a coffin with runes that look similar to the ones on the Thousand Spirits Array. His sword suddenly acts oddly as Sheng Lingyuan sharply asks who opened the casket. The two go to the scammer to interrogate him.
The scammer stammers that Ji Qingchen had wanted to search for a spell jar where one contains the seeds and the other a cure. These were used by masters at Elder Yuede's sect to force their 800 disciples to solve a certain quota of cases. If they don't reach it, they'll create their own. And this Elder had purposefully tried to blow the current case of the mutated Illusory Butterfly out of order to cover up his own crime.
Ji Qingchen and the scammer had hired some grave robbers to examine the casket. When they opened it, nothing was there except a sleeping man whose limbs and forehead was nailed to the casket. At the sight of the man, the grave robbers attempted to steal everything inside the coffin including the nails. Ji Qingchen managed to get one thing out of the ordeal: the seeds from the mutated butterfly.
Without warning, the cave turns red and blood starts pouring out of its walls and shooting straight out at Xuan Ji. He uses his wings to protect him and the scammer from the poisonous mist and in the process drops the sword straight into the open casket. The scammer strangles himself to death. Xuan Ji watches as a pale hand reaches out and grasps the edge of the coffin: It looks like Sheng Lingyuan has reincarnated.
