Original subtitles

=To Kill a Songbird=

(Adapted from Shen Xiaoguan's Bird Kills Seven People)

=Episode 7= (When Guilt Comes Calling at Midnight)

He… he's gone!

Looks like Zhong Kui devoured that magistrate, bones and all.

This is eerie indeed.

If you ask me, I don't think this was the deed of Zhong Kui.

Feels more like a vengeful spirit.

Silence!

Any more nonsense and I'll have you all tied up and thrown to feed the spirits.

Divine Lady Thrush.

Do you have any way to break this curse?

I can set up a ritual to dispel it.

Tomorrow at the You hour,

have your men prepare everything for the altar.

Everyone in the stronghold must be present.

The thrush appeared!

Yes. Look!

Ever still and unchanging.

Without arrival or return.

Understand what is real.

Recognize what is evil.

Strip away all illusions.

Perceive the void.

This is purified talisman water.

Each of you drink some.

It'll drive away the evil

and keep it from returning.

Men.

Stop!

That woman's just putting on an act.

Her intentions are questionable.

There's got to be something in that water.

- Chief! - Chief!

Seize that sorceress!

- Chief! - Chief!

Good thing you kept things under control, Deputy Chief.

I have a proposal.

Would you care to hear me out?

Men!

Eat and feast! Drink to your heart's content!

Great!

- Come on now! Bottoms up! - Let's drink!

Come on!

Here!

Chief Huang.

Congratulations. Here.

Cheers.

Drink up!

Let's have a toast.

I know the schedules and paths

of those tax silvers and official funds escorted along

the Huachang County routes better than anyone.

We can discuss how to close the books

and split the profit.

Come. Let's fill your cup.

Please.

Drink.

Bottoms up!

Bottoms up!

Don't just eat. Drink up! Come on!

This is good liquor.

This is not bad.

Good liquor.

What's the matter?

Did I disappoint you?

One day, you'll learn this world

serves only those who serve themselves,

and who know how to plot

for themselves.

You're still too naive.

You trusted me just because I spared you.

Let this be your lesson.

Next time, don't hold back

against your enemy.

She has ulterior motives,

but as things stand,

she can't stir up much trouble.

Master Lu, if she curries your favor,

why not take her

as a concubine?

If you're worried about people talking,

you can always

keep her here in the stronghold.

Excellent idea. Thank you, Huang.

She's very much to my taste.

It'd be a pity to kill her.

Drink up!

Look at that.

- Great! - Great!

Come on, men!

Fill those cups!

- Great! - Great!

- Great! - Great!

Here, here.

Come on. Bottoms up!

Drink!

Fill them up!

Carry on.

Keep going. Come on. Bottoms up!

Can you do it?

Don't even think about it!

I'll take the lead then.

Seize them!

It's just you.

We're on the same side.

Drink with us…

Ow…

Take them back to the magistrate's office.

You thought this through.

If the troops show up,

then your plan worked perfectly.

If they don't,

then you'd thrown in your lot

with the bandits.

Yes.

You know me well.

Watch your tone with me, though.

Or have you given up on your case?

Worst comes to worst, I'll go to County Magistrate Jiang.

There must be a misunderstanding.

Magistrate Lu's upstairs

right now.

Silence.

Take him away.

Release me! Let me go!

Don't move. Stay still.

Move it.

Let me go!

Move it.

You…

Sir, have you seen Huang Baocheng? He's the leader of these bandits.

We've searched everywhere except the dense woods out back.

You're an interesting one.

You seem driven by gain alone,

yet you never quite mean what you say.

I saw it

with my own eyes just now.

You fed something

to that woman.

It's none of your concern.

Baotian's sleeve bracer's always coated with poison.

You and her

were poisoned.

You risked your life to feed her the antidote,

yet she didn't appreciate it at all.

But it doesn't matter.

She'll never be able to return the favor.

Is that the murder weapon?

Is this what you used

to hack off your father,

Huang Agen's head?

(Spirit tablet of Huang Agen, deceased in the third month of the Jihai year)

(Honored by his sons Huang Baocheng and Huang Baotian)

So that's what this was all for.

Truth is,

he swallowed his last breath on his own.

Do you know

how long it takes a man to starve to death?

Four to five days for most people.

At his age,

two days without food or water

was enough.

When he died, his face was ghastly and purple.

His eyes were wide open

and staring right at me.

So you starved your own father to death,

cut off his head,

and used it to pass as Shen Xiu's head to claim the reward.

Want to know

how I dealt with that old fool?

I tied him up

with rope like this,

and carried him up the mountain.

I left him in a wooden basin,

exposed him to the sun for days,

then soaked him in water

until his face completely rotted away.

Then, I branded Li Ji's mark onto him.

Li Ji?

- The mark? - Yes.

I needed that mark

to seal the crime

and collect the reward.

If you came to investigate this case,

you're looking for the wrong man.

The one who paid for a fake head

was Zhao Chengxi.

Zhao Chengxi.

He's who you should be after.

Too bad

you won't live to see another day.

♪A thrush's song pierced the endless night♪

♪Blood splattered on the bamboo cage, reflecting the cool moonlight♪

♪Thirteen years of frost and snow sealed the old study window♪

♪I twisted the needle, prying open the past♪

♪A cold stone marrow presses against my palm♪

♪My older brother lay buried afar♪

♪Flames licked across that place♪

♪A list of righteous hearts♪

♪Who laughed in the dark at the panic?♪

♪I'm the shadow caged within as well as the flying light♪

♪Only when hatred burns out did we know how scorching our obsessions were♪

♪You said you'd die if you hit a stone♪

♪Yet you crashed into my fate's web♪

♪Pear blossoms fell all over the wound on your shoulder♪

♪The wind in the bamboo forest dispersed the hexagrams♪

♪The thrush carried the past away♪

♪I stood at the end of the fireworks and gaze♪

♪You lifted a lantern to illuminate♪

♪That page♪