Episode Summary
A disfigured body found in the Ghost Market is identified as Wuyang, devastating her mother. However, the real killer, the Lord of a Hundred Changes, reveals he killed a different woman out of spite after the real Wuyang was stolen from him. After the Lord of a Hundred Changes dies in a freak accident, the team learns from Li Fengjie that Wuyang was caged and thrown in a river, but evidence suggests she was rescued. The case causes political turmoil and spawns new rumors implicating Abbot Guangxiao, who begins a hunger strike.
Spoiler Alert
A Body in the Ghost Market
A Horrific Discovery
Lu Lingfeng and his crew rush to the Ghost Market. They've been told about a body. It's exactly as the guards described. A young woman. Her face was peeled completely off with a sharp blade. It's a bloody, gruesome sight.
Chi Ying is there to identify the body. She takes one look and knows. A small ornament on the clothes confirms it. This is her daughter, Wuyang.
Despair and a Promise
Chi Ying completely breaks down. She loses her mind with grief and tries to smash her own head against a stone pillar. Xue Huan moves fast. He throws himself in the way, taking the full impact with his back. The force makes him cough up blood, but he stays standing. He looks Chi Ying in the eye and promises her he will catch the killer.
Su Wuming steps in. He gently tells Chi Ying not to give up. He points to Xue Huan. The kid is younger than Wuyang, but he just risked his life for her. Su Wuming asks her to honor that promise. His words seem to calm her down. Chu Yingtao and Pei Xijun stay by her side to comfort her.
Lu Lingfeng feels terrible. He might have solved the case of the body in the well, but Wuyang's case ended like this. He feels like he failed the people of Shengye Square. Su Wuming, however, thinks something is still not right. He can't put his finger on it, but the case doesn't feel closed. Once Xue Huan recovers a bit, Lu Lingfeng takes him back into the Ghost Market. They're going hunting for the Lord of a Hundred Changes.
Two Separate Hunts
A Tavern Brawl
Lu Lingfeng and Xue Huan have a destination in the Ghost Market. It's a shop with a dim yellow lantern called the "Yellow Springs Tavern." They go inside and immediately start trouble. They flip tables and smash cups. They want to draw out the owner, a guy known as "Yanwang Zhui."
It works. Yanwang Zhui shows up, flanked by two attendants dressed as women. The attendants know how to fight, but they are no match for Xue Huan. Lu Lingfeng takes on Yanwang Zhui himself and defeats him in just a few moves. Yanwang Zhui accepts his defeat without any argument. Lu Lingfeng can tell he's just a small-time player in the Ghost Market, not a major villain. So, he tells him to help find the Lord of a Hundred Changes.
A Master of Disguise
While that's happening, Master Fei is bored. He gets Su Wuming to have a drink with him. They run into a man named A'mu, who is just getting off work. Su Wuming starts a conversation. He learns A'mu was scammed while trying to summon his dead father's spirit. This gives Su Wuming a clue. He and Master Fei head off to investigate the home of someone called the "White Apothecary."
They find a remote, quiet hut. This is the place. Inside and outside the yard, they hear the same strange, shrill cry of the "Night-walking Woman." The sound stops the second they light a lamp. They go inside to talk to the White Apothecary. Su Wuming watches him closely. He suddenly realizes this isn't the White Apothecary at all. It's the Lord of a Hundred Changes in disguise.
The Truth Comes Out
A Shocking Confession
The Lord of a Hundred Changes was ready for them. He throws out a cloud of smoke. It knocks Su Wuming and Master Fei out, and he ties them up. He pulls out a knife, ready to peel off a face. Su Wuming urgently asks him if he killed Wuyang.
The Lord of a Hundred Changes says no. He admits he snatched Wuyang from Chenkong. He wanted her because her face looks so much like the Empress. But then someone ambushed himand stole Wuyang away. He was furious. So he found another woman about the same age, killed her, and peeled off her face. It was an act of rage, meant to confuse everyone.
An Accidental End
Just as the Lord of a Hundred Changes raises his knife over Su Wuming, Su Wuming kicks out hard. The kick sends the man stumbling backward. He trips and falls, hitting his head on the sharp point of a broken piece of armor in the corner. He dies instantly.
Right then, Lu Lingfeng and Xue Huan arrive. The four of them head straight for the prison. They need to question Li Fengjie. They ask him where he's keeping Wuyang. Li Fengjie just smirks. He boasts that he put Wuyang in a wooden cage and sank it in the river long ago.
Lu Lingfeng dives into the river to search. He finds the cage. It's empty. The ropes inside were cut cleanly, as if by a sharp blade. They realize someone must have rescued her. Wuyang might still be alive.
Political Fallout
Rumors and Pressure
The news about Wuyang's disappearance spreads through the capital. The rumors are flying. The Princess watches all of this unfold. She notes how complicated people's feelings are about the Empress. It seems the world just isn't ready for a woman to hold power.
Du Ming is worried the situation will spiral out of control. He orders Su Wuming to close the case immediately. Lu Lingfeng refuses. He insists on finding the real truth and won't accept a sloppy conclusion. Su Wuming is stuck in the middle, trying to keep the peace.
Du Ming then shares the latest street gossip. People are saying Shen Yu wasn't the Empress's old lover. He was a demon secretly raised by Abbot Guangxiao. There's another rumor, too. It claims the painter Qin Xiaobai was possessed when he painted the murals at Chengfo Temple. That's why they look so demonic. And Abbot Guangxiao is the true mastermind behind it all. The pressure has gotten to Guangxiao. He has decided to go on a hunger strike to prove his innocence. Lu Lingfeng and Su Wuming hear this and immediately head for the temple.
