Episode Summary
Xu Jingzhi exposes Jiang Yongquan for impersonating Hou Liangyuan. Zhuang Mingcheng kidnaps He Ya and forces Xu into a timed rescue mission. Xu hallucinates He Ya's death, but she breaks free and saves him instead. Mai Boyuan realizes Zhuang's true identity but finds no mercy.
Spoiler Alert
The Truth Comes Out
Things get heavy in the interrogation room immediately. Jiang Yue drops the act. She tells the police her real name is Wu Haoxue. Xu Jingzhi warns her to stop playing games. She admits the name "Jiang Yue" came from Hou Liangyuan. It literally means "to please." It’s gross. She finally spills the full story because she realizes the bad guy might actually get away with it.
Xu Jingzhi counters with his own trauma. He tells the fake Hou Liangyuan about his childhood. Traffickers stole him. He ended up in Lu Youliang’s house. Lu’s wife, Wu Min, was a victim too. She was sold to that family and gave birth to Lu Ran. Xu swore back then he would make these people pay.
The Fat Suit Deception
Xu Jingzhi rips the mask off the man sitting across from him. That isn't the real Hou Liangyuan. It’s Jiang Yongquan. The guy is a total scumbag. He even tells Xu he regrets not selling him to criminals years ago.
Xu lays out the scheme. Jiang Yongquan has been dodging the cops for years. He intentionally gained a massive amount of weight to look like his cousin. He stole the real cousin's identity. He lived large while committing crimes under a stolen face.
Tick Tock
He Ya wakes up in a nightmare. It looks like a desert. Chains bind her legs. Xu Jingzhi is at home, paranoid and jumpy. A phone call sends him running out the door.
The police pick up a trail on some shady art deals. A company is funneling artwork through Liang Xinyue’s firm. They spot a weird discrepancy. A batch of art scheduled for next month sold last night.
Xu crashes the auction. He corners Zhuang Mingcheng. He demands to know where He Ya is. Zhuang plays it cool. He wants to see Xu suffer. He taunts Xu about being a "good brother." Then he drops the deadline. He Ya is running out of time.
A Deadly Game of Tag
Xu hits Zhuang with a reality check. He reveals that Jiang Yongquan has been impersonating Hou Liangyuan this whole time. This actually rattles Zhuang. He pauses. But he recovers quickly. He pulls out a coin. He gives Xu exactly 53 minutes to save He Ya. Xu snatches the coin and bolts.
Mai Boyuan tries to sneak out of the auction. He jumps into a random car. Bad call. Zhao Xin hired the driver to kill him. Boss Gao’s men are trailing them too. Mai realizes the danger too late.
He Ya is fighting for her life. She releases oxygen tanks to stay conscious. She manages to pick the lock on her leg chains. But the door won't budge. The room is freezing. The oxygen is thinning out. She is fading fast.
Hallucinations and Heroes
Zhuang Mingcheng watches the clock. He loves knowing Xu is in pain. Xu arrives at the location. He finds He Ya. But she looks frozen inside a block of ice. It breaks him. He freezes up completely. He calls his colleagues with the location.
Zhuang watches Xu’s agony on a monitor. He is having the time of his life. Xu collapses from the stress.
But here is the twist. He Ya isn't dead. The ice was a hallucination in Xu's mind. She sees him drop on the monitor inside her cell. She summons her last bit of strength. She smashes the door open. She drags Xu out. Zhuang is stunned. Xu wakes up and thinks he is still trapped in a nightmare.
No Mercy
We learn a bit more about the web of connections. Hou Liangyuan sold Zhao Xin to Mai Boyuan by mistake. Mai finally puts the pieces together. He realizes Zhuang Mingcheng is actually "Zhifei." He begs for a conversation to save his own skin. Zhuang ignores him.
Back in safety, Xu yells at He Ya. He is angry she risked her life to save him during a potential explosion. He Ya doesn't take it personally. She knows he is just terrified of losing her.
