Episode Summary
A fight with a revealed Di Xiao leaves Yan Tuo injured and forces him and Nie Jiuluo to seek a sunlight cure on a mountain. Xing Shen admits he raised the beast. Jiang Baichuan sacrifices himself to let his friends escape but gets captured by Xiong Hei. Lin Xirou reveals to Jiang that she is a Di Xiao who survived a war twenty years ago. Yan Tuo and Nie Jiuluo bond over noodles and his missing sister.
Spoiler Alert
The Beast Unleashed
Things go sideways immediately. The creature posing as Dog Tooth drops the act and reveals its true form. It is a Di Xiao. The Nanshan hunters try to swarm it. They fail. This thing is fast and hits hard. The hunters are out of their depth.
Nie Jiuluo steps up. She is the only one who can actually fight this monster. She holds her own for a moment. Then she spots a necklace around the beast's neck. She freezes. That hesitation almost costs her life. The Di Xiao lunges. Yan Tuo jumps in the way just in time. He saves her but takes a nasty hit. The beast escapes in the chaos.
Yan Tuo is in bad shape. Nie Jiuluo patches him up quickly. They need to get to Leilan Mountain. Apparently, only sunlight at the peak can cure a wound from a Di Xiao.
Secrets and Sacrifices
Lin Xirou figures out the truth. That wasn't Dog Tooth. It was a tamed, primitive Di Xiao. She looks worried. She orders Xiong Hei to handle the situation immediately.
Deep in the forest, Xing Shen blows a special whistle. The beast comes to him. It recognizes the sound. Xing Shen goes back to his group and comes clean. He captured and raised this Di Xiao years ago. It somehow escaped his base today. He looks miserable. He claims the creature is only acting out of self-defense. He wants Nie Jiuluo to kill it quickly to end its suffering.
Bells start ringing in the woods. Xiong Hei is closing in. Jiang Baichuan makes a tough call. He tells Xing Shen and the Cripple to run. He stays behind with a few others to buy them time.
Xiong Hei tears through the guards. He tries to grab Jiang Baichuan. His lackeys can't handle Jiang, so Xiong Hei steps in personally. They fight. Xiong Hei is too strong. He subdues Jiang and captures him.
Old Wounds and New Revelations
The sun rises on Leilan Mountain. Nie Jiuluo heats a piece of iron in the sunlight until it is scorching hot. She presses it right onto Yan Tuo's wound. It looks painful. Yan Tuo barely notices the pain. He is too busy staring at Nie Jiuluo.
Xiong Hei drags Jiang Baichuan to Lin Xirou. She plays nice at first. Then she drops the mask. She reveals her true identity. She is a Di Xiao. She survived the Golden Gate battle twenty years ago. Jiang Baichuan realizes the connection. That was the same battle where the Cripple lost his leg. They caught one beast back then, but Lin Xirou slipped away.
Road Trip Bonding
The sunlight therapy works. Yan Tuo feels better. He decides to cook noodles for Nie Jiuluo right there on the mountain. He opens up about his past. His family was poor. He and his sister used to dream about eating instant noodles.
They drive back to the city. Nie Jiuluo notices the rubber duck and the Five Emperor Coins on his dashboard. It looks tacky compared to the rest of the car. Yan Tuo explains. The duck was a gift from his missing sister. He keeps it there for luck. He hopes to give it back to her when he finds her. Nie Jiuluo feels a pang of sympathy. She promises to make a custom, high-quality duck for his sister.
