Episode Summary
Following Luo Yin's tip, Zhang Jianmin is identified but immediately attacked. Suspicion initially falls on Luo Yin, but planted evidence (a SIM card) points towards Zhang Jianmin. While Luo Yin is interrogated, a dark web user "Shen Yuan" posts crime details, with their IP briefly traced to Luo Yin's hacked computer. During a hospital blackout caused by a hacker, the recovering Zhang Jianmin is murdered by a disguised intruder. This event clears Luo Yin, leading Ning Zhen to suspect the murder was orchestrated precisely to establish Luo Yin's innocence. Both Lu Fan and Ning Zhen are left feeling guilt-ridden over the events and their pasts.
Spoiler Alert
"Mie Zui" Episode 6 Recap & Spoilers: The Plot Thickens
Alright, so Episode 6 kicks off right in the thick of it. Cao Jin and his team are meticulously searching the butcher shop where the latest incident went down. Amidst the grim scene, they find a discarded SIM card on the floor – could be a clue, right? Just then, Tao Zi rushes in with the victim's ID: it's the shop owner himself, Zhang Jianmin.
Meanwhile, over at the hospital, Ning Zhen and Lu Fan are anxiously waiting and trying to piece things together. They're both stumped. It seems way too coincidental that Luo Yin just gave them Zhang Jianmin's name, and boom, the guy gets attacked almost immediately. Ning Zhen floats a chilling theory: maybe the real killer didn't even know about Zhang Jianmin until they started digging. Once Ning Zhen and Lu Fan found him, the killer got wind of it too. Since Zhang Jianmin is now the only person who could potentially identify the killer, they realize he's in extreme danger. If the killer finds out Zhang Jianmin survived the initial attack, they'll definitely come back to finish the job. Protecting him becomes priority number one.
Cao Jin arrives at the hospital just in time to overhear Ning Zhen and Lu Fan's analysis. Ning Zhen goes further, suggesting the clues they've been finding might have been intentionally left by the killer. Perhaps the killer wants them to reinvestigate the old Cangbei Nude Corpse case, leading them down a specific path to find certain people from the past. Her suspicion lands squarely on Luo Yin – after all, before she and Lu Fan knew, Luo Yin was the only one aware of Zhang Jianmin's existence in this context.
Acting on this suspicion, Cao Jin has Luo Yin brought in for questioning. Simultaneously, Tao Zi delivers another bombshell: the SIM card found at Zhang Jianmin's shop matches the last number that contacted Li Guokun (the previous victim). Even more damning? The card has Zhang Jianmin's fingerprints on it. On the surface, all signs point to Zhang Jianmin being the killer. But Ning Zhen isn't buying it; she strongly suspects the SIM card was planted.
In the interrogation room, Cao Jin learns from Luo Yin that he discovered Zhang Jianmin's information around 4 AM but didn't tell Ning Zhen and Lu Fan until after 8 AM. What was he doing in between? Sleeping in the office, he claims. When Luo Yin hears that Zhang Jianmin is actually dead (or presumed dead/fatally attacked at this point), he seems genuinely shocked.
Just when things couldn't get more tangled, Tao Zi uncovers something else: a strange dark web user going by the handle "Shen Yuan" (深渊 - meaning Abyss), whose online activity seems eerily relevant. He reports it to Cao Jin, who immediately goes to check it out. Seeing her chance, Ning Zhen asks to take over Luo Yin's interrogation. Around this time, Lu Fan gets a call updating Ning Zhen: Zhang Jianmin's surgery was successful, but he's still unconscious – clinging to life.
Cao Jin investigates the dark web profile. Disturbingly, "Shen Yuan" has posted crime scene photos from both Zhang Jianmin's and Li Guokun's attacks, complete with the unique symbol found at both locations. Realizing the potential for public panic, Cao Jin orders the site blocked and an urgent trace on Shen Yuan's IP address.
The initial trace points directly to Luo Yin's home address! Case closed? Not quite. The tech team quickly determines the IP address was spoofed – deliberately manipulated by a skilled hacker. Luo Yin's computer had been compromised.
Across the street from the hospital, a mysterious figure dressed in black watches. This individual then hacks into the hospital's network, triggering a sudden, hospital-wide blackout. Lu Fan, who had just received the dark web intel, gets up to investigate the power outage. Just as suddenly, the power flickers back on. Worried this was a diversion for an assassination attempt, Lu Fan sprints back to Zhang Jianmin's room. He finds a colleague standing guard and breathes a sigh of relief... for a moment.
Zhang Jianmin's medication needs changing. A nurse is notified. But as the nurse heads to the room, the black-clad figure intercepts them, creating a distraction. The figure, likely disguised, then slips into the room and injects an unknown substance into Zhang Jianmin's IV drip. As Lu Fan walks back down the corridor, he passes a "doctor" (the disguised killer) who brushes past the nurse he just saw. Back in Zhang Jianmin's room, Lu Fan immediately notices something is terribly wrong with the patient. Recalling the "doctor" he just passed, the pieces click into place. He gives chase, but the killer has already changed clothes and vanished into the hospital chaos.
While this unfolds, Ning Zhen takes a different approach with Luo Yin. Instead of a direct interrogation, she frames it as seeking psychological consultation, subtly probing his mind and even showing him a drawing of the killer's symbol.
The tech team hits a wall tracing the hacker ("Shen Yuan") – the trail leads to a foreign IP address, masked by sophisticated anti-tracing techniques. They can't pursue it further.
Lu Fan has the grim task of reporting Zhang Jianmin's murder (killed by the injection) to Cao Jin. This tragic event, however, definitively clears Luo Yin, as he was in custody when the murder occurred. Luo Yin is released.
But Ning Zhen has a new, unsettling theory: she believes Luo Yin might be the person closest to Shen Yuan. Why? Because this entire elaborate frame-up, culminating in Zhang Jianmin's murder while Luo Yin was detained, ultimately served to prove Luo Yin's innocence. Was it all orchestrated to clear his name?
The episode ends on a somber note. Lu Fan is devastated, blaming himself for Zhang Jianmin being killed right under his nose and drowning his sorrows in alcohol. Ning Zhen is also deeply troubled, consumed by guilt from her past. She believes a phone call she made years ago might have indirectly led to the death of Lu Fan's father.
Phew! What an episode. A key witness silenced, a digital ghost leaving clues and red herrings, and our main characters grappling with suspicion and guilt. It definitely leaves you wondering who Shen Yuan really is and what their connection to Luo Yin might be. Can't wait to see what happens next!
