Episode Summary

The police find a body, leading Tong Hao to Xu Qingli's ex-girlfriend, who confirms his identity. Under pressure and overwhelmed with guilt from his family's unwavering belief in his goodness, Xu Qingli confesses everything. He reveals that he was the one who killed Ni Xiangdong after a botched burial, then staged his own death using the body. In the end, Xu Qingli is sentenced to death, his father is revealed to have passed away, and the other characters find their own forms of closure.

Spoiler Alert

The Hunt: Episode 16 Recap

The Past Comes Digging

A Body and an Old Flame

The episode kicks off with the cops at Guo Adi's house. You remember him. He's Wu Ximei's ex-husband. They search the property and finally find it. A skeleton buried in the ground for years.

While that's happening, Tong Hao is busy tracking down leads. He finds Xu Qingli's ex-girlfriend, a woman named Tian Baozhen. He shows her some photos. She immediately recognizes a watch. Her whole expression changes. She remembers buying it for Xu Qingli after she got her first paycheck.

Tong Hao tells her Xu Qingli is alive. She is completely stunned. She admits she helped him escape all those years ago. But she is adamant he didn't kill Bao Desheng. She says they grew up together. He was a guy who was scared to even kill a chicken. He just wasn't capable of murder.

The Brother's Betrayal

Tong Hao gets serious. He explains that Xu Qingli has been sending money to his father anonymously for years. But the numbers don't add up. There's money missing. Tong Hao suspects Xu Qingli's brother, Xu Qingdong, has been skimming off the top. If they prove it, he's going to jail too.

The Confession We've Been Waiting For

The Breaking Point

The police are interviewing everyone who knew Xu Qingli. All his friends and family say the same thing. He was a good person. Honest and kind. The cops even visit his hometown and talk to his father, Xu Caizeng. The old man is convinced his son is innocent. He just wants the police to clear his name and find the truth.

All of this gets back to Xu Qingli. And he just shatters. He completely breaks down and starts sobbing. All the guilt and pain he's held in for years comes pouring out.

He looks at a photo of him with his father. He also looks at a family drawing Tianbao made, with him in it. The guilt is too much. He finally confesses. He killed Ni Xiangdong. Wu Ximei had nothing to do with it.

How It Really Happened

Here is the whole story. That night, when he and Wu Ximei buried Ni Xiangdong, the guy wasn't actually dead. He was still breathing.

After they left, Xu Qingli got a weird feeling and went back. He dug Ni Xiangdong up. But Ni Xiangdong was conscious enough to recognize him. He kept muttering that Xu Qingli couldn't escape. This freaked Xu Qingli out. How did this guy know he was a fugitive?

He panicked. He grabbed something and smashed Ni Xiangdong's head in, killing him for good. To cover his tracks, he did something clever. He put his own watch on Ni Xiangdong's body. He wanted everyone to think the body was his. He even left a bloody T-shirt with a fake suicide note outside. It worked. After that, no one was hunting for Xu Qingli anymore.

Tying Up Loose Ends

A Return to the Village

Later, Tian Baozhen goes back to her old village. She sees the big tree where she and Xu Qingli had planned to run away together. It's still standing there.

She runs into Xu Qingdong. He looks totally panicked to see her. She guesses right away that he's the one who stole the money meant for their father. But she doesn't make a scene. She says the past is the past. She even gives him some money to give to Xu Caizeng, as a kind of apology.

That's when Xu Qingdong tells her. Their father died last month. He handled the funeral himself.

The Final Judgment

Xu Qingli doesn't escape the law. He is found guilty and sentenced to death.

Tian Baozhen is there in the courtroom. She stands quietly in a corner, just watching him. He never even sees her. It's like there's a giant wall between them now.

A few months pass. Meng Chao is awake but now uses a wheelchair. He looks happy, though. Through all this, he and Xiao Xia finally got together. So that's a small win. And Tong Hao gets a promotion. He's the new captain, with a lot more responsibility on his shoulders.