Episode Summary
In this episode, Nie Jiuluo and Yan Tuo arrive in the mysterious town of Nanshan. A local man, Gou Yan, transforms into a monster and attacks people. Yan Tuo tries to cover it up after a fight, while Nie Jiuluo gets abandoned by her terrified guide and ends up in a dangerous confrontation with Yan Tuo's associate.
Spoiler Alert
Welcome to Nanshan
Two Strangers Arrive
The show kicks off with a story within a story. A TV program is talking about something called "Qing Rang" and a villain named Di Xiao. It also mentions hunters in a place called Nanshan.
Then we meet our first main character, Nie Jiuluo. She’s in a taxi heading straight for that same Nanshan. The driver won't stop talking. He tells her all the local spooky legends. She doesn't seem bothered at all.
At the same time, a guy named Yan Tuo shows up in Nanshan. He’s supposed to be a philanthropist doing charity work. He leaves his associate, Gou Yan, behind to work as a teacher. Gou Yan looks incredibly nervous. Someone quietly warns him to watch a kid in a green shirt. Then, Gou Yan seems to hear a strange voice in his head but tries to play it cool.
A Trip to a Creepy Temple
Nie Jiuluo hires a local guide, Master Sun, to take her to an old, abandoned temple. He’s another chatterbox. He spends the whole trip telling her stories about mountain demons and ghosts. Again, she looks completely unfazed.
While this is happening, Yan Tuo is sneaking around the backyard of the local school. He almost gets spotted by the principal.
Back with Master Sun, he leaves Nie Jiuluo to use the bathroom in the woods. He hears a weird noise and follows it. He finds a woman's clothes hanging in a tree. He pulls out a camera to record it. That was a bad idea. Something attacks him immediately.
The Monster Appears
A Teacher's Transformation
Nie Jiuluo is inside the temple, just casually cleaning a statue. She hears Master Sun screaming. She runs out to see what’s going on. She finds Gou Yan, the nervous teacher. Except he doesn't look like a teacher anymore. He looks like a monster, and he's chasing and trying to bite Master Sun.
Master Sun runs for his life out of the forest. He trips and falls into a field. His fall sets off a loud alarm system. The sharp noise scares the monster, who stops dead in its tracks.
Nie Jiuluo looks for Master Sun and finds his car. It's empty. Suddenly, he sprints out of the woods, jumps into the driver's seat, and speeds away. He just leaves her standing there alone. What a guy.
An Unlucky Encounter
The story then cuts back to Yan Tuo. He's in a room, searching for someone's ID card. He gets attacked by the same monster, which the show calls Dog Tooth. Yan Tuo fights back hard. He manages to push the creature off a balcony. He looks down and sees it lying still on the ground. He thinks it's dead.
Nie Jiuluo makes her way to a welfare center, looking for help. The front door is locked, so she heads around back. She gets there just in time to see Yan Tuo stuffing something into his trunk. She doesn't see exactly what it is, though. She asks him for help, but he completely blows her off.
Just then, another man arrives. His name is Xiong Ge. He seems to know what's going on. He gives the creature in the trunk an injection. He sees blood on its mouth and looks worried. We also see him find a dead woman in the hills. She was killed by the monster. And guess whose phone is lying next to the body? Master Sun's.
A Dark Hotel
The Final Showdown
Nie Jiuluo eventually finds Master Sun at a hotel. She sees that he's injured. He's also completely out of it, muttering about hearing a "mountain ghost's voice."
Then, the power in the entire hotel goes out. Everything is pitch black.
Xiong Ge sneaks into Master Sun's room. Nie Jiuluo is sharp and hides just in time. She watches as Xiong Ge knocks Master Sun unconscious. She doesn't hesitate. She grabs a pencil, attacks Xiong Ge in the dark, and manages to escape.
