Episode Summary
A'Ning betrays the group and escapes, leaving them to be saved by the reappearance of Zhang Qiling. While A'Ning follows Third Uncle's trail and finds grim evidence of another explorer's fate, Wu Xie's team realizes their oxygen tanks are missing. They discover they are not in the same room and conclude the ship's interior is a massive, shifting elevator, trapping them deep underwater.
Spoiler Alert
A'Ning Ditches the Team
So Much for Teamwork
The episode kicks off right where we left off. A'Ning dives through a secret door with a totem on it. She leaves Wu Xie and Pang Zi to get turned into human pincushions by a hail of arrows. They wisely hit the deck and wait for the trap to stop.
It turns out the arrows were blunt "lotus arrows." They don't have sharp tips. So while Pang Zi got hit a lot, he's not in any real danger. Professor Zhang is also fine. The three of them are now standing around, a little confused. A'Ning clearly doesn't see them as partners. They have no idea what to do next.
Look Who's Back
Just as they're trying to figure out their next move, a familiar face appears. It's Zhang Qiling.
He tells them A'Ning knew exactly where the trap was. She triggered it on purpose. She wanted to ditch them and move on ahead. This makes Wu Xie question everything. Can he trust anything A'Ning said? Is his Third Uncle really missing, or was that just another lie? They won't get any answers until they find her.
A'Ning's Side Quest
Following the Breadcrumbs
A'Ning moves quickly through the secret passage. She finds symbols left behind for her by Wu Sanxing. These marks lead her to a large, cold, and dry hall. Inside, she finds a dead body.
She searches the corpse and finds a micro-camera. The memory card is still intact. It contains video of the man's final moments.
A Grim Discovery
The footage shows the man met Wu Sanxing during his own exploration. Wu Sanxing even helped him at one point. But Wu Sanxing pushed deeper into the tomb, and the man was too scared to follow. He just stayed put. The video ends when a bunch of thick vines grab him and crush him to death.
The Walls are Closing In
A Familiar Face
Back with the group, Wu Xie remembers something. He once saw a photo in Chen Wenjin's diary. It showed a young man who looked a lot like Zhang Qiling. Wu Xie had asked his uncle about it, but Third Uncle couldn't be sure if it was him.
Now that Zhang Qiling is with them again, they have to decide what to do. Pang Zi trusts him, based on past experience. The three of them agree on one thing. They need to get their oxygen tanks. A'Ning said the air in here would only last for about ten hours. Even if they wanted to turn back now, they'd need the extra oxygen.
The Vanishing Room
Pang Zi leads them back the way they came. He gets to the room where he stashed the oxygen tanks next to a stone pedestal. But they're gone.
Pang Zi panics for a second. His mind races, trying to remember if he put them somewhere else. But no, this was the spot. Wu Xie takes a closer look around. He notices the floor decorations are different. Then Zhang Qiling shines his flashlight on the ceiling. Wu Xie is shocked to see the totem patterns on the ceiling have also changed. This isn't the same room.
Wu Xie recalls a story his Third Uncle told him. He once woke up completely alone in a different room, with no memory of how he got there. His uncle suspected some kind of elevator mechanism was at play. Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling realize the inside of this ship might be a giant elevator. The question is how to get out alive. Before, they could always dig their way out. But now they're dozens of meters underwater. Digging is not an option. Pang Zi decides to try finding the original room with the oxygen. The group starts moving, feeling their way forward into the dark.
