Episode Summary
Baiban confesses to murdering Zhao Dafeng and reveals his connection to the elusive trafficker, Qingpi. A new case emerges as the team races to find He Xiaoying, a girl who escaped from traffickers and is being protected by Mo Lin. After her successful rescue and the arrest of her pursuers, He Xiaoying recounts her traumatic past. The trafficker names Qingpi as the mastermind. The episode ends with a new crisis as Zheng Luoluo vanishes from an amusement park while under Chang Rui's care.
Spoiler Alert
The episode opens with Deng Yan and Chang Rui interrogating Baiban at the detention center for the murder of Zhao Dafeng. Baiban vehemently denies any involvement until Deng Yan presents the murder weapon—a knife bearing his DNA. Cornered and after a harsh reprimand from an enraged Chang Rui, Baiban finally confesses.
He explains that Zhao Dafeng had hijacked a shipment of his, angering his superior, Qingpi. When Baiban confronted Zhao Dafeng to get the goods back, Zhao Dafeng was arrogant and refused. In a fit of anger, Baiban threatened him with a knife. Zhao Dafeng, unafraid, charged at Baiban, provoking him into the fatal stabbing. Baiban claims he has no idea where to find Qingpi, who only contacts him using frequently changed phone numbers. Meanwhile, Qingpi receives a call from his own boss, warning him to lay low.
In a separate storyline, Zheng Luoluo runs away from the welfare home and goes directly to the Anti-trafficking Office to find Chang Rui. He takes her for a meal, trying to understand why she left. Zheng Luoluo simply feels the other children at the home are too immature. When Chang Rui insists on taking her back, she asks to go to an amusement park first, a request he agrees to.
The main case intensifies when Yan Lei, who is tailing Mo Lin, witnesses him helping a girl named He Xiaoying escape from four menacing pursuers into the mountains. Yan Lei immediately reports this to Deng Yan. She leads a team to Pengcang Town, where they, along with local police, search the mountain all night for Mo Lin and He Xiaoying without success. Deng Yan decides to push deeper into the forest.
During the search, Chang Rui discovers numerous cigarette butts, suspecting they were left by the traffickers, as locals would know better than to risk a fire by smoking in the forest. Following another lead, Yin Jiansheng and Yang Jiajia visit the convenience store of Lao Mo, Mo Lin's father. They persuade him to talk, and he admits that He Xiaoying escaped from traffickers and came to his son for help. A local guide named San Laizi and three other men came looking for her, forcing Mo Lin to flee with her into the mountains.
The cigarette butt clues eventually lead Deng Yan and Chang Rui to San Laizi and the three traffickers, and they are promptly arrested. The search continues until they find a small wooden cabin where Mo Lin has hidden He Xiaoying. Safe now, He Xiaoying tells her horrific story. Her father, a gambling addict, sold her to traffickers to pay his debts. When she discovered the deal and tore up the contract, he raped her in a rage. Deng Yan promises she will not be sent back home.
He Xiaoying further explains that after her father sold her, she was drugged and held captive. She managed to escape when the traffickers were moving her and other girls. Qingpi sent men after her, hiring San Laizi to guide them. It was during this chase in the mountains that she encountered Mo Lin.
With the traffickers in custody, Chang Rui interrogates one of them. Under the threat of a life sentence, the man breaks and names Qingpi as the mastermind behind the operation. Later, Deng Yan visits Auntie Zhang's Reunion Diner. Auntie Zhang praises her police work and serves her a bowl of "Lao Cu Fen" (Old Vinegar Noodles), remarking that it was a favorite dish of Lin Ranran, the girl whose kidnapping years ago still haunts Deng Yan. Deng Yan expresses her guilt, but Auntie Zhang quickly reassures her that she was never to blame.
The episode concludes on a cliffhanger. Chang Rui takes Zheng Luoluo to the amusement park as promised. She is having a wonderful time. He steps away to use the restroom, telling her to wait for him. When he returns, Zheng Luoluo is gone.
