Original subtitles

[Strange Chronicles of Tang]

[Episode 8]

You've drawn the eyes quite accurately.

But Chen Shubao's eyebrows

aren't this short.

Alright. I'll redraw them

and let you review them again.

Master!

Something terrible has happened!

It's Mr. Fei.

Mr. Fei is in trouble!

This is how it happened.

Two ghosts

took Mr. Fei away

right in front of us.

Official Lu,

please save him quickly!

Yeah,

Official Lu, please hurry and save him!

A woman in red clothes wearing a white face veil

and a man in black with his face covered. Is that right?

-Yes, that's right. -Yes, yes.

They must be the same killers from that day

in Ascension Forest in the Xiuzhen District

who ambushed Wuming and Yingtao.

What they witnessed

matches Yingtao's account.

Xijun,

stay here to draw the portrait.

Xue Huan, Jia, Luo, Liu,

take all available men

from Yongzhou Prefecture

with us

to search the entire city for Mr. Fei's whereabouts.

-Yes! -Yes!

Lu Lingfeng,

will Master Fei be alright?

I really wonder

what these Ghost Birds do at night

and what they eat to survive.

Also,

about those 2 assassins,

I believe that day,

they weren't

following me here.

Rather, we encountered them here.

You mean...

They're still in the forest even now.

Ascension Forest.

Old drunkard,

do you still recognize us?

He won't remember.

We were too young back then.

With you two making me hang upside down like this,

I really can't recognize you.

Since we're old acquaintances,

why not let me down first?

If there's any misunderstanding,

you can let me explain.

If it's money you want,

I can give you everything I have.

And you still want to live?

This is Ascension Forest.

Your feet point to the heavens

and your head to the earth.

You haven't forgotten

this way of punishing traitors, have you?

A-Ascension Forest?

Traitors?

Fei Yingjun,

you helped the officials set a trap

to harm our mentor.

Tonight

is your death day.

I remember now.

You are

the disciples of Silent Ember,

Wu Zhu and Chi Zhen.

[Chi Zhen, Disciple of Silent Ember]

Thanks to you,

[Wu Zhu, Disciple of Silent Ember]

we can no longer contact our assassin group.

Therefore,

our code names are useless now.

So,

you two were the ones who tried to assassinate Su Wuming that day,

weren't you?

We wanted to kill him

to avenge our mentor.

But unexpectedly,

the woman by his side was truly formidable.

We weren't about to fight her to the death.

Today, after killing you

to avenge our master,

my wife and I

will leave Chang'an.

Then the assassins Wu Zhu and Chi Zhen

will no longer exist in the martial world.

There will only be

carefree Zeigong and Zeipo living happily.

When your blood

is about to drain completely,

Ghost Birds will send you to heaven.

By tomorrow morning,

not even your bones will remain.

For the sake of me

treating your wounds back then,

please let me down!

Spare my life!

I still have plenty of living to do!

[Abode of Transcendence]

[Abode of Transcendence]

As the stars and moon made their rounds,

3 days have passed,

and the Confession Assembly

arrives as scheduled.

Though worldly affairs are complex,

they follow certain rules.

[Abode of Transcendence]

Life is full of suffering,

but there is always a way to relieve one's woes.

Today, the deity descends again,

dwelling within Master's body,

to remove all woes for you

and deliver salvation to all beings.

The god who relieves woes,

the king of us all.

Today's Relief-from-Woes Assembly,

as usual,

will select from among the confessors

the most miserable one.

The chosen one,

according to tradition,

will slay this month's Demon of Woes.

Where is the Lamp-Lighting Messenger?

[Abode of Transcendence]

Ceremony completed.

Let's respectfully invite Master.

Under the flames,

[Abode of Transcendence]

speak your true thoughts.

All present today

shall be sincere inside and out.

Let lips speak and hearts dance

to dispel the eternal night.

Master!

I am the Chicken Master of Tang.

Don't go.

I am the Chicken Master of Tang.

Mr. Fei!

Lu Lingfeng,

help...

Mr. Fei!

In magnificent Chang'an, the land of the Emperor,

who are you brazen villains?

State your names and face execution!

We have no name,

and we're punishing a traitor.

This doesn't concern outsiders.

Please do us the favor of leaving.

You're taking a life,

yet you speak so righteously.

How absurd!

I know your martial skills are superior.

We didn't want to fight to the death,

but unfortunately,

the punishment ritual has already begun

and can't be stopped.

Zeipo!

Now you can

turn over the wooden tablet in front of you.

Those with tablets numbered 1 to 5

are tonight's lucky ones.

Please come to the stage one by one to share your stories.

Thank you, almighty Master,

for giving me this chance to relieve my woes.

On that Lantern Festival,

I secretly cut a piece from a gold-threaded skirt

to make him a headband.

With his cane in hand,

my father chased me all the way to the Qu River.

I said

if I wasn't beaten to death,

I would become his wife.

In the early days after my marriage,

when I set up

my sesame flatbread stall in the East Market,

the sun had just reached the corner tower of the Yongchong District.

I saved every copper coin.

He said

he would make me a plain silver hairpin.

I thought it was too expensive.

For 10 years,

whether it was heavy snow

or pouring rain,

the charcoal fire at my flatbread stall

never went out.

We

finally had our own shop.

But he

got drunk every night in the Pingkang District

and refused to come home.

I thought my husband worked hard outside.

If the pleasure houses could relieve his woes,

then so be it.

So I let him be.

Three years ago,

he said silk prices in Luoyang were good

and wanted to take all our savings

to trade in silk.

He also said that after he made this big deal,

I would never again have to

sell flatbread at a stall.

Fearing he didn't have enough capital,

I pawned our shop and old house

to the pawnshop.

I even gave him

the sheep fat jade pendant

that my mother had given me on her deathbed.

Now,

900 days have passed.

Every day at Chunming Gate,

I gazed eastward,

waiting for his return.

Waiting and waiting.

But all I received

was a unilateral repudiation letter sent from Luoyang.

How tragic.

Tragic.

After both my parents passed away,

my child was kidnapped.

I blamed my wife for not watching carefully,

but she blamed me for not having money to hire a housekeeper.

I was so angry

that I slapped her.

Then she ran off with a butcher from the back street.

Later, I found out

that they'd been having an affair for a long time.

I became

a lonely, desolate man.

But I knew I couldn't sink into despair.

So I sold my ancestral home,

and together with a friend,

rented a shop

and started a spice business.

At first, we really made money.

But soon,

the court decided to increase taxes.

My friend didn't want to pay taxes,

so he tampered with the accounts.

As a result, we were caught

and fined 3 times the tax amount!

In this case,

all our assets

were gone in fines!

And I was left with a mountain of debt.

My friend refused to bear the debt,

so he took all the spices

from the shop and ran away.

I wanted to run too,

but I was caught and beaten badly.

Now, I have nothing left,

and my body has also been crippled.

Fortunate to have this chance to speak

and find relief from my woes.

Thank you, all-powerful Master.

How tragic.

Tragic.

The one with the wooden tablet numbered 3

may come up and speak.

[3]