Original subtitles

ADAPTED FROM A SHUQI.COM NOVEL ORIGINAL AUTHOR: SENLIN LU

You don't know I once learned from a master.

She's way better than you are at this food-clash trick.

First you meant to harm me,

then you used banned drugs and killed the birth mother.

What are you after?

Just delivering babies

and doing good to earn merit.

If you won't say,

I'll have to ask

my well-read friend here.

Wuren.

In Dvaravati, there's a dark art.

They turn babies into gu kids, feeding them with tainted blood.

Then they do evil for their master.

Using dark arts to take lives,

how does the law sentence it?

No pardon. Death. Executed on the spot.

Are you raising a gu for Xu Daoyin?

I've never even heard of such a heartless dark art.

How would I dare do that?

Where did you take that baby?

It lost its mother right after its birth.

So we sent it to Vitality Hall to be cared for by a wet nurse.

Mr. Xu is generous, kind at heart,

and he's never meant harm.

Your Ladyship,

please don't misunderstand us.

So you're saying we got it wrong?

You're full of it!

What makes you say that?

This woman colluded with Xu Daoyin,

using this manor as a cover, to rob and kill!

That's nonsense!

Your Ladyship, could he be the killer in this manor?

That's right.

Now it's your turn!

Lady Yue.

After such a huge mess here, you can still deliver on time.

Wu family's money wasn't wasted!

Madam, you haven't left yet?

You think sending her away

would keep your filthy deal with Xu

from being exposed?

This so-called business of Mr. Xu

is timing a baby's birth to a set hour,

to fix a patron's missing element,

and bring luck, not bad omens.

You should've left earlier!

- Don't let Lady Yue get away! - Got it!

Help out already!

Nice moves!

Investigating Commissioner Su Kuangyuan. Greetings, Your Ladyship.

Thank you for your help.

Shouldn't you be thanking me for thinking ahead

and calling reinforcements in time?

Just as expected.

Your Ladyship,

Lady Yue likely took the secret passage and got away.

Where's the exit?

Tunnels run all through the manor,

with many exits leading everywhere.

I don't know.

There should be blueprints.

Xiao…

Xiao's been with Mr. Xu over three years.

He's the one Mr. Xu trusts most.

After Xiao came, they started building the tunnels.

Where is he?

Since Mr. Xu vanished,

Xiao's been praying at the living shrine.

WITHIN MISFORTUNE, FORTUNE RESTS WITHIN FORTUNE, MISFORTUNE WAITS

To keep the manor's fortune flowing,

Mr. Xu built several secret tunnels.

The tunnels all connect,

with many entrances.

But the exits are not complicated,

just well hidden.

They're at the spots I marked.

Most exits seal perfectly tight. Can they be opened from outside?

Of course they can.

Metal begets water.

This exit is near the stream, so there must be white marble nearby.

That's where the mechanism is.

Same for the other exits.

Just follow the five elements' generating cycle

and you'll find them.

Just as you said, sir.

Once you find the mechanism,

turn it right three times,

and the exit will open.

Split up and search. Signal if you find anything.

Chasing killers isn't your strength. Where are you going?

That mechanism is interesting. I'm going to take a look.

If there's nothing else I can help with,

I'll take my leave.

Let's go check on Madam Wu.

This baby isn't full-term yet

and doesn't even have the strength to cry.

- You may leave. - Yes, Madam.

Your Ladyship, please sit.

The night my uncle was killed,

- were you really drugged unconscious? - Don't slander Madam!

You can tell I hated him to the bone.

The year something happened to your family,

my husband suddenly claimed illness and quit office.

I knew it wasn't what he wanted,

but I didn't press.

I went with him back to Ping'en County.

CHUNMING GATE

That house in Ping'en County

was my family's ancestral property.

We settled down there, living quietly.

And I had a knack for business.

Before long, I built up an enterprise.

Life there was even more comfortable

than in the Western Capital.

After a year, I became pregnant

and handed the business to him.

Back then, nothing went smoothly.

All our hard work was about to be wasted.

My husband tried everything

to save the business, but nothing changed.

That's when he began worshiping Mr. Xu?

He worried about the business,

gloomy all day.

Until one day,

the house suddenly filled with gongs and drums.

Later I learned

he had brought home a statue.

Master,

what is this?

My lady, what are you doing here?

You're with child.

Don't offend the Immortal

with any trace of blood.

- Master… - My lady…

- Madam. - My lady.

- Master! - Step aside for now.

He was devout to Mr. Xu,

burning incense and chanting daily.

Even his clothes, food, and routines

followed Mr. Xu's instructions to the letter.

But with me,

he was kinder than before, looking after me in every way.

And he was eagerly awaiting the baby's birth.

My lady.

Stay back!

Careful, I'm covered in blood. I might offend you!

My lady.

I panicked just now and spoke without thinking.

I made you angry.

It's all my fault. It's all my fault.

My lady.

Mr. Xu is truly powerful.

He can bless our unborn child

to be safe and easy to raise.

He can also bless our business

to reach the next level.

Master,

business is made by people.

If worship and incense

could make wishes come true,

then everyone would just do it.

You always scoffed at spirits and omens.

How could you believe such lowbrow nonsense?

My lady.

Better safe than sorry.

My lady, just focus on the pregnancy.

Pretend our home doesn't have that scripture hall.

That was because of Xu Daoyin?

To support Mr. Xu, he spent a fortune.

I didn't care about that.

What moved me was how much he cared for me.

But since he believed a pregnant woman

could offend the deities with blood,

how could he suddenly change

and be so attentive to me?

Back then,

I never noticed that part.

Then that child…

By that logic,

he brought Wu Mujin home

soon after you miscarried.

He admitted Wu Mujin was a bastard,

afraid I'd mind.

At the time,

I felt ashamed that I couldn't carry on the Wu line.

So I accepted the child.

Who's the mother?

I never asked.

He never said either.

He raised the child

alone in a side courtyard

and even set up some strange formation there.

The child looked frail and pitiful,

but he told me not to worry.

Still, it felt wrong.

So I had Wu Lie look into it in secret.

I found out that child wasn't just a bastard.

Master was after his own smooth fortune,

so he had Xu Daoyin find poor women

to bear him children with lucky fates.

In Vitality Hall at the manor, there were many pregnant women.

Under the guise of cultivation,

Xu Daoyin was secretly doing dirty deals

for rich merchants and landlords.

To make the babies be born at the chosen time,

they forced medicine down the mothers!

Most of the mothers were already weak

and couldn't withstand such strong drugs!

But to get the babies,

they cared nothing for the mothers!

Wu Siping's crimes go even further!

He even laid hands on his own wife.

So Madam, you had a premature delivery too?

Not until Wu Lie

brought back from the manor the dregs of Tuohua Decoction

did I realize

what he made me drink before

wasn't a pregnancy tonic at all.

He wouldn't even spare his own wife and child.

Madam, why didn't you expose him?

I tried.

But he said

it was all for the family's business,

so I could live in luxury.

He wept and begged my forgiveness.

I wanted to leave him,

but old feelings remained.

Besides,

if I left,

that child wouldn't live much longer.

So you secretly switched the medicine Mr. Xu gave Wu Mujin

and had Wu Lie disrupt the layout of the side courtyard,

all to protect him.

I know.

My husband has gone mad.

Even if Mujin's health improved a little,

he'd suspect his fortune would weaken because of it.

If business hit a snag,

he'd take it out on Wu Mujin.

I didn't dare let Wu Mujin get too healthy,

but I feared he'd die.

Then how did you learn

about that baby just now?

I saw he wasn't as harsh

to Wu Mujin as before,

and he had people renovating another house.

He wouldn't say it,

but I knew he wouldn't do that for no reason.

Mujin's birth mother is already missing.

Now I'm afraid another woman is about to suffer.

All because of his greed and selfishness.

All these years,

I've wished the evil he did would come back on him.

I wanted him dead.

But I couldn't do it.

I'm not that smart and not that brave.

All I could do

was find a way to take that woman away

before she gave birth.

But your husband

wouldn't let you know Liu's due date.

The new house is finished.

He planned to come to Qingtan Town these days.

That's when I knew

the time was near.

Madam feared they'd use Tuohua Decoction to induce labor,

so she told me to come early.

Who knew Master would meet with disaster?

And I lost some time trying to confirm

who the mother was

and couldn't stop Lady Yue.

But Wu Siping…

really should taste Tuohua Decoction himself.

It's dusty here.

Lady Yue likely didn't leave from this way.

Mr. Su found nothing either.

Let's check elsewhere.

Wait.

Mr. Xiao.

What's this?

A signal marker.

If I'm not wrong,

every junction in these tunnels has one of these markers.

Beak pointing down means it's blocked.

Beak pointing forward means it's safe.

Someone was signaling Lady Yue.

Warn Su Kuangyuan to check the other exits.

Alright.

- Follow me. - Understood.

Madam Wu hates her husband,

but she's too soft-hearted.

She's not the killer.

My uncle's death was almost the same as Liu's,

upper body hanged from a beam above,

lower body soaked in fresh blood.

The killer must've seen how the mother died

and used this to take revenge.

That means

the killer is likely connected to Wu Mujin.

We need to find out fast where Wu Mujin's birth mother is.

I'll go see the midwife.

Mr. Xu said

as long as we help these women give birth,

we'll build up merit and ascend sooner.

We were forbidden to ask

about the mothers' identities.

I truly didn't mean to hide anything.

If you want to ascend, why go through all that trouble?

I'll help you.

This decoction…

You've brewed it so many times,

but you've never tasted it yourself, have you?

That's not for us to drink.

Oh, I almost forgot it.

Before drinking it…

My lady!

…you have to bleed a little first, right?

Spare me, my lady!

Please!

I don't know anything…

I don't know anything!

Let's see…

Where should I start to do it best?

My lady, spare me!

Spare me!

I… I'll talk!

I'll talk…

Stand up and speak.

Thank you, officer lady! Thank you, officer lady!

Thank you, my lady…

Get up.

I'll tell you…

I…

truly don't know

who was the mother bearing the child for Master Wu.

But these poor women in Vitality Hall

weren't pregnant by accident.

They were here to bear children for those patrons with money.

As long as they give birth on time,

the deal is settled.

After that, they have nothing to do with those patrons ever again.

If they want kids, why not have their own wives bear them?

To make the child

be born at an auspicious hour,

nearly every mother-to-be

had to take this Tuohua Decoction to induce labor.

But it's terribly harmful.

Those rich households

can't bear to make their own women suffer like this.

Some also fear

the wife's powerful family, so they won't risk it.

So these women

should suffer this and take the risk?

We've checked.

All the exits show the same signal,

nor is there any trace of Lady Yue.

Maybe

- she was never in the tunnels? - No.

They follow the Celestial Market pattern.

Okay, Mr. Xiao.

The northeast is governed by the Butcher's Star.

It rules over slaughter.

Those signal markers were meant to lure her into a death trap.

But there's no exit

in the northeast.

Follow me.

Keep up.

At daybreak,

you can leave the manor.

Leave… the manor? Where would we go?

Home, of course.

Xu Daoyin is missing, and Lady Yue got away.

You won't have to bear children for them anymore.

We can go home… We can go home now…

But the baby's already inside me.

How can I just not give birth?

Go home and rest.

When you're full-term, give birth in peace and safety.

You can't end up like Liu tonight,

dying in childbirth.

How do we raise them?

Lady Yue's gone.

Where do I get my money?

What about our pay?

What about the baby?

Miss, what are you doing?

I already have three kids.

I was counting on this one

to earn money and get by.

Now…

you're sending me back like this?

My husband

will beat me to death.

He'll kill me!

I can't live!

I can't live!

A friend from my village knew

how poor we are.

She told me this manor

had work that paid well,

so I came with her.

But only after I got here

did I learn it was birthing for the rich.

At first I refused.

But Lady Yue said

if we delivered the baby,

we'd get ten strings of coins.

That's what she told us too.

Yeah, she told us the same.

Once you're pregnant, you get three strings.

After birth, you get seven more.

Better than starving outside.

Liu San and Lady Yue

told my husband

an immortal gave Mr. Xu a dream,

and I was chosen to serve at the manor.

After a year,

I'd be sent home.

Your family even believed

that kind of talk?

With three strings of coins up front…

of course they'd believe.

Tuohua Decoction is extremely risky. Weren't you afraid of dying in childbirth?

Fine then.

Understood. Rest here for now.

I'll handle what comes next.

Take care of them.

Understood.

Don't run around.

Lady Yue knew about the tunnels.

She knew them well.

But the killer knew better all the hidden tricks inside.

All he had to do was flip the signal markers,

wait at the exit,

and effortlessly

lead Lady Yue into his killing trap.

The bell tower isn't far from the exit.

Looks like when he killed her, he'd already planned

to leave her here.

The bell ringer would find her at the Hour of Yin.

Strangled.

The scene wasn't nearly as bloody as before.

The killer went easy on Lady Yue?

Maybe he was pressed for time.

She must've torn it off from the killer during the struggle.

The killer is injured.

This gauze smells of incense.

We just can't tell if it's from Lady Yue or the killer.

Wu Siping, the patron,

Liu San, the conman,

and Lady Yue, forcing labor, are all dead.

No reason to spare Xu Daoyin.

Could Xu Daoyin already be silenced and buried?

The killer drew attention with those three deaths

to expose all their wicked deeds.

Why would he let Xu Daoyin live?

Xu Daoyin was superstitious.

The "money-direction" window would never be opened.

LIVING SHRINE

Who's in there?

- Break the door? - Wait.

It's a magnet!

Mr. Gu.

His belly is packed with gold cakes.

They must be offerings from patrons.

And his teeth

show signs of breaking.

The killer forced the gold cakes into Xu Daoyin's mouth.

He clenched his teeth and fought,

and his teeth got snapped.

The killer's hand was likely bitten.

The lock is controlled by magnets.

When the magnetic ball drops into the slot, the door opens,

but it also triggers a mechanism above,

cutting the string holding a dagger.

With his belly stuffed with gold cakes, he was weighed down in pain.

All he wanted was a quick death.

If someone cracked the lock,

the moment the door opened,

he could grab the dagger

and cut himself open.

But if no one found him here, he'd only die in swollen pain.

He deliberately hid the northeast exit on the map.

I should've known it was him.

So, the incense smell you caught on the gauze in Lady Yue's hand

came from Xiao?

He killed those four.

So it really is tied to Wu Mujin.

I couldn't bear children.

My husband brought him home from outside.

My daughter made it for me.

Find Xiao now!

Did you see someone leave?

A man, 40 or 50,

dark-skinned,

- with a black birthmark on his temple? - Yes.

He left two kes ago.

I told you to lock down the manor! Why did you let him pass?

He… He was riding your horse.

He said it was on your orders to go for help.

Mr. Xiao,

my fast horse runs hundreds of miles a day.

In two kes, he'd be long past Qingtan Town,

beyond chasing.

Don't worry.

I'll get your fast horse back.

Xiao took the shortcut on horseback. Can we really catch him

taking the waterway?

The west wind is strong now.

We're going with the current and riding the wind as well.

No matter how fast your horse is, it can't outrun us.

Xiao's left thumb web and back of hand

have old scars,

and his right middle finger has a long scar too.

They're marks left from years of planing and sawing.

He used to be a carpenter.

And Xu Daoyin's fingers are soft and delicate.

No way he could build mechanisms.

Xiao came to the manor three years ago.

Before that,

Xu Daoyin would sometimes put on little "miracles,"

but he never performed the beheading trick.

After Xiao arrived, Xu Daoyin's "powers" improved overnight,

and he trusted him for no reason.

Tianruo even saw Xiao repairing the altar mechanisms.

Did you learn anything about Xiao's past?

He rarely spoke of it.

All we know is, he has a daughter who's already married.

Li Peiyi didn't go back to the Western Capital.

She detoured to Ping'en County.

To see who?

Wu Siping.

He was Crown Prince's Left Guard Commander 15 years ago.

One of the Crown Prince's men?

What does he know?

Not sure yet.

Then eliminate them all.

And Li Peiyi…

Since…

she won't return to the Western Capital,

then she doesn't have to.

Good child.

Grandpa's here to take you home.

Back off!

Or I'll take you all with me!

Grandpa!

Grandpa! Grandpa, don't die!

Take him away!

Grandpa…

I killed them.

All four of them,

each deserved to die.

Your daughter is Wu Mujin's birth mother?

Yes.

And she…

They killed her.

My daughter, Xiao Wan,

married into the Suns in Qingtan County seven years ago.

I built secret mechanisms and tunnels

for manors and estates.

The jobs I took,

some lasted months,

some years.

So I rarely saw her.

When I went to Qingtan to see her three years ago,

- it had been so long since we last met. - Hey, in-law!

In-law, why… why are you here?

I finished early.

So I came to see you.

Just a small gift.

- Please accept it. - You're too kind.

Where's Wan?

I…

She… She's… in the back courtyard.

Wan?

Wan?

Wan? Wan?

XIAO WAN, XIAO'S DAUGHTER

In-law! In-law!

We had no choice! We…

Wan!

Oh my…

What have you done to her?

Let her go!

Father-in-law… Father-in-law…

You…

In-law, let me explain!

In-law, I… She…

In-law!

Xiao Wan's gone mad!

Xiao Wan's gone mad!

Wan?

Wan?

It's me!

They said Wan was weak

and miscarried again and again.

Little by little,

she started losing her mind.

She kept saying

she had a child.

At first, they didn't mind.

Until one day,

Wan ran away from home

and slipped into a rich family's house

in the neighboring county and tried to take their baby.

In the end,

they reported her to the authorities.

We…

We begged and pleaded and finally talked her into coming back.

But… after a few days, she ran off again.

This time… she got beaten.

We'd bring her back, and she'd flee once more.

This happened over and over.

And her mind

got worse and worse.

We saw physicians and gave her medicine,

but nothing worked.

So she wouldn't cause trouble or get beaten again,

we had to lock her up.

Yes. We had no choice.

I can't leave Wan

with the Sun family anymore.

I want to take her home.

Come.

Come. Take care.

Sit tight.

But when we passed Ping'en County,

Wan jumped off the cart and ran.

Wan? Wan?

Wan! Wan! Wan!

Come on. Stop it.

- Let's go home. - My child!

- My child's inside… - There's no child here!

This is someone else's home! Someone else's home!

Let's go!

Here…

My child…

I'm not crazy!

Father…

That child looks like Wan.

- I'm not crazy… - It's really alike.

I had to believe

Wan was telling the truth.

But before I could ask…

Hey…

Get away!

- This is my child! - Wan…

Hey! What are you doing?

Young master, are you alright?

Don't be scared.

- Don't be scared. - What's wrong with the child?

Mujin.

Tell me.

Do you know this woman?

Speak!

No…

He's not my child!

He's not my child…

I… I have no child.

Wan!

Wan!

Wan!

Wan!

Wan!

Wan!

I can't swim.

Wan!

I couldn't save her.

Wan!

I just stood there, watching her…

Watching her sink, little by little.

You wouldn't understand that feeling,

watching your only family die right in front of you,

and you can't do anything at all…

So, you chose to avenge Xiao Wan.

Yes.

But finding Mr. Xu wasn't easy.

Someone came to you.

Tell the truth.

I asked around near the Wu house.

Wu Mujin was Wu Siping's illegitimate son.

But the Sun family said

Wan never had a child.

The Sun family lied?

Yes.

The night before Wan was buried,

a woman came to me.

She said she knew Wan

and knew what she'd been through.

That's when I learned

soon after Wan married in,

her husband, Sun Renyi, fell gravely ill.

Physician,

my son's condition…

The medicine costs a fortune.

The Sun family can't afford it.

Renyi?

Renyi?

Renyi…

Lady Sun heard Xu Daoyin was generous,

so she took Wan to pray.

Immortal, bless us.

Don't worry.

The Immortal will surely bless us.

What's wrong with that girl?

Reporting.

That girl has a husband gravely ill, no money for treatment.

She came to beg Mr. Xu.

She's been coming for a month straight.

That's her mother beside her?

No, it's her in-law.

Tell her she can stay at the manor, cultivate and build merit for a few days.

After that, have her come see me alone.