Episode Summary
Feng Qingzhuo's connection to the poison master "Old Bug" is revealed. A new investigation into Huo Dairong's past leads the team to Guangsha Villa, where the master dies after taking an "immortality pill," mirroring General Huo's death and making Huo Dairong a suspect. The trail leads to a deceitful pill-maker and a lying monk, proving the team is being intentionally deceived.
Spoiler Alert
This episode uncovers a major secret while plunging the team into a new, deadly mystery. As Zhong Xueman's vision returns, she questions Feng Qingzhuo about the old man who attacked them. Feng Qingzhuo lies, denying any connection. However, when confronted privately by a suspicious Xiao Beiming, he is forced to come clean. The old man is his martial uncle, known as "Old Bug," a master of poisons. Feng Qingzhuo explains that his master bequeathed the sole copy of a coveted poison manual to him, earning him his uncle's undying hatred. He also reveals that he recognized his uncle's signature poison in the medicine used on General Huo.
Meanwhile, a new lead emerges from an unexpected source. Huo Dairong, while poring over old account books, discovers a transaction between her family and the "Guangsha Villa" dating back 23 years. Believing this is a clue to her own mysterious past, she shares her findings with Zhong Xueman, asking for help to investigate.
Zhong Xueman relays this information to Xiao Beiming, theorizing that the villa's master, Zhu Guangsha, must have been one of General Huo's personal soldiers and was likely at the infamous Haiya. Though Xiao Beiming is wary of Huo Dairong's true motives, he agrees to play along and investigate. The group, including Huo Dairong, travels to Guangsha Villa, arriving as the master, Zhu Guangsha, is hosting a large gathering to celebrate his creation of a supposed "immortality pill."
After gaining entry, they witness a bizarre spectacle. Zhu Guangsha proudly presents his pill, explains its miraculous effects, and ascends a high platform to consume it in a ritualistic ceremony. Moments after swallowing the pill, he is struck by horrifying visions of the massacre at Haiya. He descends into madness, and then, bleeding from all seven orifices, he leaps from the platform to his death—a demise identical to General Huo's.
Zhong Xueman immediately secures the scene while Feng Qingzhuo examines the body. The autopsy reveals the same poison that killed General Huo, instantly making Huo Dairong the prime suspect in Xiao Beiming's eyes.
The investigation leads them to a temple to question the "celestial being" who supplied the pill. He flatly denies his elixir is poisonous and refuses to provide a sample. Xiao Beiming, appealing to the man's reputation, persuades him to hand over some "waste pills" for analysis. A young monk is tasked with delivering the pills, claiming he will walk the entire way out of piety and that the box has been sealed with wax.
However, Xiao Beiming's sharp eyes catch inconsistencies. He notices the monk has injuries on his hands from holding reins and seems unaccustomed to riding, suggesting he did not walk as claimed. His suspicions are confirmed when Feng Qingzhuo analyzes the pills and discovers they are nothing but ordinary health supplements, completely different from the substance found in Zhu Guangsha's body. The team realizes they are being deliberately misled, and the young monk's lie is just one piece of a much larger conspiracy.
