Episode Summary
Director Cui, filled with remorse, saves Liang Shuo before avenging his wife's death and committing suicide in a final act of defiance against Mizuho Genxin. Tired of fleeing, Liang Shuo rejects a plan to escape Shanghai and instead confronts and kills Takagi Yugi in the street. Rescued by Old Tan, Liang Shuo decides his final mission is to infiltrate and disrupt the imminent Peace Conference.
Spoiler Alert
A Path of No Return: Redemption and Revenge in Abyss Dweller
The net tightens around Liang Shuo as the Japanese officially identify him as a member of the Underground Party, demanding Director Li's full cooperation with the Kempeitai. While Director Li grows impatient, Director Cui remains lost in grief over his wife's death.
Fleeing from his pursuers, Liang Shuo stumbles into a jewelry shop, only to find a despondent Director Cui inside. Cui is mourning his wife, wishing he could bury her with all the jewelry she once loved. The stress and his injuries finally catch up to Liang Shuo, and he collapses. Director Cui rescues him, now consumed by a profound sense of regret. He realizes that in trying to protect his family by collaborating with the Japanese, he led them to their doom, and that Liang Shuo's path of resistance was the righteous one all along. After getting Liang Shuo to safety, Cui's journey takes a dark turn.
Mizuho Genxin’s investigation leads him to the jewelry shop, and his suspicion immediately falls on Director Cui. Meanwhile, Cui hunts down the Japanese majors who murdered his wife and kills them, exacting his personal revenge. When Mizuho Genxin confronts him, Cui is a changed man. He defiantly calls Mizuho by his full name, confessing that he is the one who truly destroyed his own family. Takagi Yugi shoots him in the shoulder, but before Mizuho can take him alive, Director Cui commits suicide by taking poison, vowing that he will be waiting for them in hell.
Devastated by the sacrifice of his comrades, many of whose names he never even knew, Liang Shuo meets with Old Tan and hands over a partial list of enemy agents. As Takagi Yugi's hunt for Liang Shuo intensifies, resulting in the indiscriminate killing of local merchants, Old Tan urges Liang Shuo to flee Shanghai. But Liang Shuo is tired of running. He misses the planned rendezvous at the port.
Instead, Liang Shuo makes a bold move. He brazenly steps in front of Takagi Yugi's car, challenging him directly. In a tense standoff, Liang Shuo faces down Takagi's rifle and succeeds in killing him on the street, finally avenging Jiang Feiman, Lu Xijian, and his other fallen comrades. Just as the Kempeitai arrive, Old Tan appears and manages to pull Liang Shuo from the scene.
With Takagi dead, Mizuho Genxin is less concerned with immediate retribution and more focused on the upcoming Peace Conference, now just 24 hours away. Old Tan desperately pleads with Liang Shuo to escape the city before the Japanese lock down all the exits. However, Liang Shuo refuses to run. He has a new plan: infiltrate the venue and sabotage the Peace Conference from within.
