Episode Summary
Jiang Wenhuan's group discovers the horrifying truth behind the Kui Fang clan's plan. A drum made of human scalp is being used to activate an immortality pill, creating an army of the undead. They learn this from murals and a hidden edict found in a cave. Granny Su sacrifices herself to save Qingqing and the others, but is captured and killed by the Kui Fang leader to complete the drum. Just as the drum is finished, Zhongli Yuan confronts the leader. The group also realizes there must be a traitor in their midst, and suspicion falls on Guxi.
Spoiler Alert
The Drum's Horrifying Secret
An Illusion and a Rescue
Things get weird fast. Chongyi Biao and Jiang Wenhuan are suddenly trapped in some kind of illusion. They start trying to strangle themselves. It’s a bad scene. Luckily, Guxi shows up with her people just in time. She throws water on them, and they snap out of it. Guxi immediately guesses what happened. She figures Granny Su used a drum to create the hallucination. This also means Granny Su must be from the Su Saintess clan.
They all head to the foot of Qingluan Mountain. Up there, Qingqing is trying to wake up a group of girls who are all passed out. She spots a man in black sneaking up. Thinking fast, she plays dead. The man starts beating a drum. The sound is hypnotic. All the unconscious girls stand up and walk toward him like zombies. Only Qingqing seems immune. She gets up and tries to stop them.
The man in black turns on her. Qingqing suddenly remembers something her mother told her. If a Saintess fails her duty, she must be sacrificed by fire. He’s about to grab her, but Kunwu and his men charge in and save the day. Qingqing tells Guxi that the drum is the key to all of this.
The Skin Drum
Guxi takes a look at the drum. The truth is disgusting. It’s made from human scalp. There’s also a piece missing from the drumhead. Guxi tells Qingqing to get the girls to safety. She and the others will search the nearby cave.
Inside, they find out the man in black was from Kui Fang. Jiang Wenhuan is pretty sure this is all connected to the immortality pill.
The History of the Immortality Pill
Murals in a Cave
Guxi finds a bronze trigger in the cave. It opens a hidden passage, revealing a wall of murals. The paintings tell an old story. Jiang Wenhuan studies them and has a breakthrough. He realizes the immortality pill is what turned General Lin into a monster.
We learn the pill was a gift from the ancestors to the Su Saintess clan. But the Kui Fang group discovered this secret. They started killing the Su people and using their scalps to make these drums. The drums are used to activate the pill's power. Their goal is to create an army of undead soldiers.
A Lost Edict
Jiang Wenhuan and his group are still exploring the cave when the exit gets blocked. They’re trapped. Jiang Wenhuan is confident there’s another way out. They light a lamp, and the shadows on the wall reveal another secret room.
Inside this new room, they find a box. It contains a final edict from Sheng'an. The edict says the Tushan clan was supposed to be guarding the immortality pill. But ten years ago, during an incident in Ningzhou, Ning Bohou came up empty-handed.Someone must have gotten to the pill first. The edict also contains a prophecy. It says the world will fall into chaos when the immortality pill and the divine drum appear. After reading this, they find the real exit and get out.
A Traitor in Their Midst
Granny Su's Last Stand
While escorting the girls down the mountain, Qingqing runs into Granny Su. The old woman hears a soldier call her "Qingqing" and gets emotional. She realizes Qingqing is the daughter of a woman named Xiao Ying. She thought the girl was dead. Granny Su says foreigners killed her whole village. She even heard the king of Zhongli had sacrificed Qingqing to consecrate a "divine drum."
Qingqing has never heard of this drum, so she asks for the full story. Before Granny Su can explain, they hear a noise in the bushes. She shoves Qingqing toward the soldiers. She tells them to get the girls out of there and to cover their ears. She decides to stay behind and face whatever is coming.
A Confrontation
Qingqing later gives Jiang Wenhuan a letter written in blood from Granny Su. It details all the crimes committed by the foreigners. It also confirms Kui Fang is making the divine drum by killing the Su people. This makes Jiang Wenhuan realize something important. Kui Fang couldn't have gotten into Qingluan Mountain so easily on their own. They must have an inside man. There is a traitor among them. Everyone immediately looks at Guxi.
The suspicion is left hanging. We see that Kui Fang has captured Granny Su. They’ve also moved the divine drum. Elsewhere, E Shun hears that Kui Fang is in Zhongli and has captured a woman from the Su clan. He figures they’re after the young princes as part of a much bigger plan. He decides to go to Tushan himself to look for clues.
The episode ends with the Kui Fang leader. He kills Granny Su and skins her. He needs her scalp to finally complete the drum. Just as he’s about to fit the last piece into place, Zhongli Yuan appears right in front of him.
