LayarHijau – The highly anticipated drama Duel on Mount Hua: Nine Yin True Sutra officially premiered on July 26, 2025, starring Meng Ziyi and He Yu. The series is part of the ambitious New Jin Yong Wuxia Universe, which reimagines the legendary works of Jin Yong for a new generation. Its first installment, The Legend of Heroes starring Ci Sha and Bao Shangen, aired in June 2024.
Adapted from Jin Yong’s classic The Legend of the Condor Heroes, this marks the eighth TV remake of the martial arts epic. Meng Ziyi, who portrayed Mu Nianci in the 2017 version, now steps into the shoes of the iconic Mei Chaofeng — one of the most feared and complex antagonists in Jin Yong’s world.
In this retelling, Mei Chaofeng is introduced as Mei Ruohua, the daughter of a wealthy family whose life is shattered when her loved ones are massacred. Consumed by vengeance, she steals the legendary Nine Yin Scriptures (Jiu Yin Zhen Jing) and betrays her master, inadvertently causing the death of her master’s wife (played by Chen Duling) and being separated from her lover Chen Xuanfeng (played by He Yu). These tragedies drag her into a deep spiral of darkness.
One of the most talked-about moments is the heartbreaking scene where Chen Xuanfeng dies in her arms, with Meng Ziyi’s eyes brimming with blood and tears — a performance praised by netizens as “a legendary moment on par with the iconic scenes from Creation of the Gods (Fengshen).” This sequence also plants the seeds of the tragic, fearsome Mei Chaofeng seen later in The Legend of the Condor Heroes.
Despite her fearsome image, Meng Ziyi brings unexpected tenderness to Mei Chaofeng. In one standout scene, she soothes her junior apprentice to sleep in a way that viewers jokingly called “unique and classy.” Meng shared amusing behind-the-scenes stories, including a scene where Mei Chaofeng — suspecting her senior apprentice of betrayal — waits with a kitchen knife, an idea spontaneously suggested by actor Zhou Yiwei.
Chen Duling’s character, Feng Heng, though gravely poisoned, risks her life to save Mei Ruohua. Zhou Yiwei even offered the two actresses his so-called “ICU theory” during filming: “You have to act like a critically ill patient. Only then will the audience truly feel your emotions.”
Source: World Journal
