Episode Summary
The group uncovers a secret chamber containing the last testament of the poison master Beihai. An inscription reveals that years ago, Beihai created the "Swift Wind Pill" to save the empire, but it turned soldiers into crazed killers, leading to the tragic massacre of Haiya City. The bodies in the chamber are Beihai and his wife, who committed suicide after entrusting their infant son—now revealed to be Xiao Beiming—to a compassionate soldier. As Xiao Beiming mourns his parents, he accidentally triggers a mechanism that opens yet another secret passage.
Spoiler Alert
As a stone door grinds open, it reveals not treasure, but a long, dark tunnel. The group proceeds cautiously, led by Feng Qingzhuo, who gravely explains his theory: the intricate mechanisms of the secret room they just escaped were likely the work of his own junior martial uncle, Beihai. According to his master, Beihai was a once-in-a-century genius from the Valley of Ultimate Poisons, the most brilliant talent the valley had ever seen. His life, however, was marked by tragedy. He fell deeply in love with an outsider woman, only to discover she was a spy. When she was later poisoned, Beihai, desperate to save her, tested antidotes on himself. The two eventually left the valley together, vanishing without a trace.
Their journey through the tunnel leads them to another secret chamber. Inside, the bodies of a man and a woman lie in state, leading the group to suspect they've found Beihai and his wife. Their attention is drawn to a stone wall covered by a heavy cloth. Pulling it aside reveals an inscription detailing a terrible secret from the 30th year of the Ningtai era. With the emperor critically ill and enemy armies at the border, the empire's only hope was a miraculous drug called the "Jifeng Dan" (Swift Wind Pill), which could grant a person immense martial power in an instant. The young Beihai successfully tested the pill on a soldier, who then single-handedly defeated all opponents. Earning the emperor's favor, Beihai worked tirelessly to produce more, recording his entire process on the stone wall.
The Canfeng Jia soldiers took the pills and were initially victorious. However, upon returning to Haiya City, they descended into a frenzy, slaughtering one another. A horrified Beihai desperately sought an antidote, realizing the pills were the cause. He stopped taking the drug himself, but the damage was done, and he began to suffer from bouts of madness. As the insanity spread through the city like a plague, a court official proposed sealing Haiya City off from the world. The emperor, however, gave a single, cold command: "Kill."
The army's general was tormented. He couldn't bear to kill the soldiers who had served him for years, but he knew he could not risk the infection reaching the capital. He sent his troops to purge the city, but the situation became uncontrollable as they discovered the citizens of Haiya were also infected. A subordinate, Zhu Guangsha, reported that the troops sent in were now trapped. Left with no other choice, the general ordered the city sealed, abandoning the innocent civilians and children inside to their fate. Days later, the gates were opened again, and the general, with a heavy heart, ordered any remaining survivors to be executed to ensure the safety of the world outside.
During the grim task, a soldier named Zhong Yunchi, using his wits and eloquence, convinced four of his comrades to help him save a single infant boy. Zhong Yunchi later found Beihai, who, consumed by regret, entrusted him with the last of the Jifeng Dan, hoping his senior martial brother could finally devise a cure. Beihai understood the emperor's brutal order was a necessary evil but knew it would sow seeds of immense hatred. He gave Zhong Yunchi his thumb ring—the key to this very chamber—so that a cure could one day be found. Finally, he entrusted his wife and child to Zhong Yunchi. As Beihai took his own life, his wife chose to die with him. They were buried together in the chamber. Zhong Yunchi adopted their son, who is revealed to be none other than Xiao Beiming. The fate of Beiming's older brother, however, remains a mystery.
Staring at the bodies, Xiao Beiming finally understands he is looking at his birth parents. As Feng Qingzhuo studies the inscription for more clues, a distraught Xiao Beiming paces near the corpses. He inadvertently touches a hidden mechanism beneath them, and with a low rumble, another secret stone door grinds open, revealing a new path.
