Legend of Heaven and Earth: The Mermaid Beauty (2000)

The Mermaid Beauty is the story of the carp spirit who has finally taken form of a human after 500 years of cultivation. Mudan, her good friend who often fed her while Xiao Lian was still a carp got bethrothed to Zhang Ziyou, a poor scholar. However Mudan's parents, particularly the father was set on marrying Mudan to the great General's son, Jiang Yunfei for status purposes. However, Mudan and Ziyou were mutually attracted and because Yunfei was seen as evil and scheming, Xiao Lian, the carp spirit was set on helping Mudan and Ziyou be together. Often, Xiao Lian would secretly lead them to meet but in the end, was discovered by Yunfei. Together, his father, the General and Yunfei plotted to wreck Ziyou's life by framing him in attempting to violate Mudan. Ziyou got locked away in jail and Mudan was overwhelmed with grief. The carp spirit was enraged with this act of injustice, so helps in every she could, including getting Yunfei to confess the truth. Soon, Mudan got ill after discovering the truth and feel helpless that she caused Ziyou's death. Mudan's health continues to deterrioate and the Xiao Lian's final plan was to steal the bride on the day of the wedding and bring them into the mountains so they could be together. Unfortunately, fate wasn't their side and Mudan never made it. This began the story of Xiao Lian pretending to be Mudan and ultimately, her carefree spirit, playfulness and happy nature made their days in the mountain so very fun and memorable. Xiao Lian also teaches Ziyou many things, such as how to simply enjoy life and disregard all those confinements that only ties a person up. However, happiness doesn't last long because Ziyou soon found out the truth about Mudan and accuses Xiao Lian for killing her, as he viewed spirits like her to be demonic. In the mean time, Zhang Tianshi, the Taoist was set on killing all kinds of demons, including the carp spirit. He was hunting for the Yuanping Pearl, which was with Xiao Lian's mother The question is, would Ziyou eventually accept Xiao Lian for who she really is?