Original subtitles

The underworld.

Science.

Punch and kick.

The truth.

A great swimmer.

Forensics.

Sorceress.

Reporter.

Weak body.

Special detective.

Mother.

Secretary of municipal government.

An individual with unsurpassed and exceptional abilities.

Young Master.

Belongs to the Great God.

The heiress.

Neither a smoker nor a drunkard.

What is the use of having power and money?

Can't stand the sight of you.

Not bad. Reasonable and fair.

Take a bath.

Are you kidding me?

Not finicky.

There are clues.

Germany.

Spirit channeling.

Big news.

Chamber of Commerce for Water Transportation.

Master.

De-you!

Father.

Not messing things up. Not afraid of things.

Inference.

Evidence.

Childhood sweetheart.

The people of Tientsin.

Mao Ding.

De-you Guo.

-River God. -River God.

-River God. -River God.

EPISODE 15

What is it?

Are all men that shallow?

-What are you talking about? -Is that flower beautiful?

Yes.

It's as flaunting as that actress.

I can smell it from far away.

I knew it's obviously a bad thing. Go find him now.

Who are you?

What are you doing up there?

Come down.

Come up.

Come down.

Come on up.

Fine, I'll come up.

Stop right there!

Stop right there!

Hey, stop right there!

Lao-xian!

Stop right there!

What is going on?

If I hadn't caught you, you would have jumped into the river.

De-you would have to save you again.

I was chasing Lao-xian just now.

You kept circling around that hut.

We were under Lao-xian's spell.

Spell?

No wonder those flowers reminded me of that actress.

There's something wrong with those flowers.

It has a similar smell with those in Juhua Grand Hotel.

What did you just splash me with?

When Yi-suo was killed,

he was under the same spell as I am.

Afterward, my mom made me this powder to break the spell.

This kind of spell won't fool me at all.

Then, what should we do now?

Let's split up.

I'll go check along the river, while you check the road.

We could outflank him then.

Hey.

Hey!

Hey!

The kid over there.

Why are you here all alone?

Where are your parents?

Young Master, it's been a while.

Mr. Hu?

Why are you here?

Shouldn't you be in jail right now?

In Tientsin,

there is no place that could imprison me.

Back then, your dad, Guo and I wiped out the Ancient Evil Gang together.

But we didn't expect that it's still alive.

Now, there's even sign of recovering.

We have no choice but to do this.

Our aim is to wipe out the remaining members of the Ancient Evil Gang.

What about him?

Was he also a member of the Ancient Evil Gang?

Exactly.

Aren't you trying to destroy Ancient Evil Gang

to avenge your dad's death?

Kill him.

No.

Pardon me?

Kill him.

It's impossible.

Can't you recognize me?

It must be the spell.

Don't try to fool me.

You'll get your answer once you touch me.

Trust me.

This is the Ancient Evil Gang's trick.

Kill him.

De-you.

See?

You do recognize me.

That person is dead.

Pardon me?

That human trafficker.

I killed him to save you.

So you owe me your life.

I regret it.

I regret giving my life to you.

Wake up.

Give it back to me.

What are you trying to do, De-you?

Now, I want your life back.

De-you.

Return your life to me.

Kill him.

The illusions will disappear after that.

Kill him.

Kill him.

Kill him.

Trust me.

Kill him.

Kill him.

Just kill him!

De-you.

You've saved me before.

You wouldn't do this to me.

De-you.

Master.

Can't you see?

Can't you see the things that you've done to this city?

Where have you been these days?

If I didn't come back sooner, you will cause trouble.

Master.

We need to investigate this case.

We can't just leave them be.

You are discourteous and disobedient to your master.

Do you think you're worthy for the title of the River God?

I'm not worthy of it.

-But how about you? -You...

How dare you talk back to me?

-Kneel right now! -I'll only kneel to my master.

What did you say?

You are not my master.

And now you're denying me?

My master never smokes in front of me.

Impressive.

You recognize your master.

Of course.

These tricks won't fool me.

Tricks?

Do you know where you're trapped?

Or how did you fall for this trick?

Master.

Stop beating around the bush.

You're still stuck inside this trick.

What should I do, Master?

Please help me.

Do you want me to help you?

Of course.

Why did you do that?

Looks like you're deep inside this trick.

It hurts.

What's wrong with you?

Answer me!

Are you deaf?

Why are you so stupid?

Why didn't you listen to me?

There are things that concern me.

Aren't you already aware of all that?

I didn't want to involve or trouble you.

But you never listened to me.

You insisted on interfering.

How silly you are!

But it's my fault too.

I didn't listen to my master.

I insisted on getting myself involved.

I was involved in the wretched business of the Chamber of Commerce!

Do you think that only you can hold your breath that long?

Even though you're smart,

I still win over you in the end.

De-you, every dog has his day.

Do you think that's fun?

What were you guys thinking?

Actually in the beginning,

I didn't agree with her prank.

But to be frank, it's pretty interesting.

De-you, do you really mean the things that you said just now?

What are you doing here?

-To catch the criminal. -Did you catch him?

No.

Mao, wake up!

Mao!

Wake up!

Wake up!

Wake up!

Even I woke up. Why didn't you?

Come on! Wake up!

We took the powder made by my mom, but why can't we break the spell?

I never felt like we were stuck in an illusion.

Even the touching felt real.

How did you fall under the spell?

Those flowers.

Stramonium, salvia, and some type of fungus.

All of them could cause illusion.

Along the Amazon basin, there are some tree frogs.

In the Mediterranean, there's a kind of fish called sarpa.

All of them could cause illusion on humans for several days.

But these will only work after they're eaten.

We had only smelled the flowers planted by Lao-xian.

How could the effect be so strong?

If it were so strong as you said,

how did you break the spell?

Of course, it was because of me.

Of course, it was because of her that my feet became like this.

What are you talking about?

I injured my foot when I was hypnotized.

It was bleeding so much.

But my conscious slowly recovered.

Therefore, I conclude that

my injury must've snapped me to consciousness.

So you made the same injury on my foot?

Did you wake up?

Tell me if you did.

That was because of the pain.

The pain stimulated my nerves, and that's why I woke up.

Pain?

In the illusion, De-you kept on choking my neck.

I felt the pain too.

-But why didn't I wake up? -It's the blood.

I know.

It's because of the bleeding.

We got free from the illusion after we bled.

Is anyone around?

Let's go.

He wanted to kill me.

Don't move! We're the police!

Yu!

Be careful, Madam Huang.

Are you hurt?

It's you guys again.

Is he Lao-xian?

Yes.

Why is he dead?

I killed him.

Mr. Huang.

Mind your words, please.

He brought me here while I was sleeping.

It's known that tying and untying is our family's unique skill.

He's just a disciple.

It's impossible for him to tie me up.

Therefore,

I took the chance to...

Yu, don't bother about that.

These bastards deserve it.

Now that it's all over,

I shall take my leave with my son to care for him.

After he recovers, we'll come again and give our thanks.

Just a moment, Madam Huang.

I have a quick question.

Please.

There's some kind of white flower in Lao-xian's house.

It looks bewitching.

Do you know what kind of flower it is?

You are talking about the camel flower.

It's one of the important ingredients for our medicine.

Even though it can cause hallucinations,

it's only one of the vast ingredients needed.

If it's just the camel flower,

anyone who has pharmacological knowledge can develop the antidote easily.

How about this powder made by my mom?

Ms. Gu.

This is just flour with some brown sugar.

Are you saying that it doesn't have any effect at all?

But we used it to break some spells.

It's called the placebo effect.

It's like a dying patient who believes that he's cured

after he took some kind of magic drug.

This Lao-xian is malicious.

There should be some traps nearby.

If we don't do anything about it,

the civilians around this area might get hurt.

Captain Fu.

I think you should search around this area again.

Great minds think alike.

Come on.

Listen to me. I need you to search around this area, okay?

-Yes, sir. -Hold on a second.

What else do you want?

Lao-Xian uses spells from the streets.

We're not familiar with those spells.

Madam Huang.

You are a predecessor in that.

He's one of your disciples too.

You should understand his tricks.

Could you please bring Captain Fu and my junior to have a look?

-But... -Don't worry.

I'll take good care of your son.

He'll be safe with me.

Go check over there.

Our family has two secret skills.

One is the tying skill.

The other one is this psychedelic medicine.

Madam Huang.

Can the drug be counteracted with blood?

Keep searching.

It's our family secret.

I can't tell you the answer.

There's a kind of medicine that can cause strong hallucinations.

The victims of this trick can only get out after they bleed.

This is your family's secret skill, right?

How do you know that?

Because of what happened today. We were both the unlucky victims.

-Were you? -Yes.

It's impossible.

The mentioned trick that could only be broken by bleeding

is our family's highest level of skill.

But it was no longer passed on after my dad's generation.

Because it is extremely dangerous.

If someone with evil intentions managed to learn it,

there would be disasters.

Are you saying that no one knows this skill anymore?

Not really.

This skill can be inherited by the head of our family,

selected by us.

So,

since the former head of the family has passed away,

who is going to pass this skill on?

Of course, it'll be me.

What?

Do you think that I'm the one who cast the spell?

Madam Huang, you just arrived here.

The timing doesn't match at all.

That is highly unlikely.

Other than Lao-xian,

do you know who arrived here before we did?

Mr. Huang.

Among the younger generation in Tientsin, you are the wisest and most courageous.

Please do take care of me.

It's just my luck.

I don't deserve the honor.

In the future, whenever you need me, I'll help you without a doubt.

Thank you so much.

May I ask you a question?

In order to protect you,

I scattered a layer of lime powder outside your window.

If Lao-xian really snuck in through the window and kidnapped you,

why is there only lime powder on your shoes,

but none on his?

When I saw the knot

around your brother's neck in Juhua Grand Hotel,

I noticed something strange.

But those stupid police cut the knot with a knife.

That has left me even more puzzled.

But when I saw the knot around Lao-xian's neck,

my suspicion to you arouse.

Goodness, I have wasted so much time.

Fish knot.

-Pardon me? -A knot that can bind up

a living fish instantly.

It will only get tighter when the bound person begins to struggle.

Only the descendants of the Huang family know how to untie it.

Medicine and rope tying skill are the unique skills of the trick school.

But the fish knot really impressed me today.

What a pity.

If you exposed me in front of everyone earlier,

you might still have your life.

But now,

I can only let you experience the beauty of the fish knot yourself.

Mr. Huang.

Don't you feel anything strange

when I patted on your shoulder?

I'll take good care of your son.

He'll be safe with me.

I'm nothing but a labor

who picked up a body from the river.

But my master is good in medicine.

The drug on this needle is really something.

It's cooked with fresh tobacco leaves and puffer fish's blood.

Without the antidote,

I'm afraid you won't walk out of here alive.

Do you feel any numbing on your arms or legs?

I heard about one of the Huang family's medicine skills

that can only be passed on to the head of the family.

Could you please explain it to me?

What?

Do you think I have no money?

Mr. Huang, you're our distinguished guest.

But you didn't pay for two months already.

Silly.

I'm the head of the Huang family. So money is nothing to me.

I'm Yi-suo Huang.

My skills are valuable.

This is the secret technique of our family.

You can use it to build ten brothels.

What is this? Hey, stop!

-Get him! -Master Huang.

Are you trying to cheat me

-with this tattered book? -Mr. Huang.

-Hurry up! -Sorry to offend you.

Our master is just drunk.

Sorry about that.

This is too much. It's not necessary.

If everything has been settled,

could you please return the book?

SKILLS OF HUANG FAMILY

Please keep it.

Ever since I grew up,

everyone acknowledged that I have a greater talent than my brother.

My mom was extremely strict with my studies.

But I didn't expect that in the end,

she appointed my stupid brother as the head of our family.

Yi-suo never cared about inheriting our family's skills.

He even took for granted our family's highest skill.

He never bothered about our family's traditional techniques.

He was brimmed with pride.

He even performed western magic in front of the public.

I can't let him corrupt the reputation of our family.

So I asked Lao-xian to put on a show with me.

When my brother died, I could take over his position.

Don't you think it's pretty logical?

How would others think of me?

Having to be put up with the second best?

Yi-suo has already ruined our family's reputation.

If I want to clear up his mess,

I'd need some help from the news agency

to put on a show.

Let the entire Tientsin know that I, the second son of Huang family, is worthy.

You can show up to accept the challenge.

And admit that you're the murderer.

I promise you won't die after you're defeated.

I'll treat you well in the future.

This way, everyone will focus on me.

I can turn my mom into a mere figurehead too.

Yi-suo accused me of betraying my master.

Now that he's dead,

I have gotten my revenge.

I just want to return to the family and learn the skills in peace.

But you asked me to be your scapegoat.

Aren't you drawing the fire against me?

Do you wish to return to my family?

Aren't you ashamed?

At this age, you're still this naive.

Whatever the reason is,

you've been expelled from my family.

It's impossible for me to let you come back.

Hey!

Why are you here again?

But I didn't expect that you have the capability

to track Lao-xian down.

I could only turn your strategy against you

by pretending to be kidnapped.

Since Lao-xian couldn't look at the bigger picture,

he couldn't see the revival of the trick school.

I had to kill him first to stop him from pursuing his dream.

It's funny.

I've been learning medicine ever since I was young.

But in the end,

I was defeated with this poison.

Explain it.

Goodness, Yu Huang colluded with Lao-xian

to lie to his own mom and killed his brother.

He committed treason and deserved to die.

I didn't mean that.

I know.

Yu Huang committed so many crimes.

He must be nervous.

In his presence, I revealed all of his secrets one by one.

He panicked.

My words were like a knife that kept stabbing him in his heart.

When his nervousness got the best of him,

of course he would pass out.

Do you mean that the needle you prickled him with wasn't poisonous?

It was the placebo effect.

De-you Guo, tell me.

Before you went to find Lao-xian,

did you touch or eat anything special?

I had fried twisted dough.

Did you really break the spell with your own sheer will?

Of course.

Pay up.

I told you that De-you is indeed an outstanding cream of the crop.

Lao-xian's camel flower

is the last ingredient needed for the medicine.

What do you mean?

The candied medicine he sold could cause hysteria.

We were poisoned with the first few ingredients.

But you didn't smell the camel flowers.

That's why the effect on you is lighter.

You could break the spell with your sheer willpower.

That's possible.

Boring.

But when did we get poisoned

with the first few ingredients?

Did we come across anything together?

In Huang's mansion.

Burn an incense before you leave

as a sign of respect to the dead.

I held my breath on purpose in the mourning hall.

Because I'm afraid that my body couldn't take in the smoke.

I must've taken much less than you.

But the incense

also belongs to air borne transmission.

How could Yu Huang be all right?

He must've had his way to detoxify his own poison.

Then, how did Yu Huang kill Yi-suo?

I only saw Lao-xian at the crime scene.

Didn't you say that you saw a bald fatty

-holding a huge case? -Yes.

Contortion.

Pardon me?

Yu was hiding in that case.

There are all kinds of tricks.

In addition to the western magic,

more skills are required including qigong, acrobatics, contortion and others.

These are the basic skills for magicians.

He must have prepared a back-up plan.

If something went wrong,

he could frame Lao-xian.

But now it's all our deduction

with your testimony alone.

Without any evidence, we can't convict Yu Huang.

He has already committed two murders by killing Lao-xian and his brother.

We should put an end to this.

Not two.

It's three lives.

When I got information about Hua-qing from the black market,

the man was killed in front of me.

He was killed by the magic rope.

Looks like Yu Huang must be the murderer.

Is Yu Huang related to the Ancient Evil Gang?

I believe so.

Why didn't you tell us earlier?

Calm down.

We caught the guy, didn't we?

We'll find out when we interrogate him.

How secretive.

I'll expose this bastard's true color.

I can't make him talk.

ACCEPT PUNISHMENT AND PLEAD GUILTY

See?

He confessed.

But he's mad now.

He didn't tell us the whole story.

Interrogate him again.

Go ahead. Do whatever you want.

Yu Huang is the master of contortion.

Do you think that the prison doors could imprison him?

He's turning mad. He can't do that anymore.

How long has he been like this?

Ever since he was arrested.

Mr. Huang?

Head of the Huang family?

He lost his ability to communicate.

Take a look at him.

He is a severe psychopath.

He can only take some steamed buns now.

He'd spill other food given to him.

I have some questions for you.

Answer me honestly.

And I'll give this to you.

It's no use.

We've tried that.

Well, we should take it up a notch.

-Captain Fu. -Yes?

Do you have chili water or any torturing bench?

It's illegal to punish prisoners.

He'll pretend like a fool forever to escape from the charges.

We must teach him a lesson.

A criminal has dignity too.

Then, what about those three victims?

Of course.

But rules are rules.

Laws are laws.

It can't be changed, just like your street laws.

Then, are you going to leave him like that?

The police station isn't for mad people.

I'll need to put him in jail as soon as possible.

If he really is mentally ill, we'll need to change our charges.

He can't be sent to the prison for now.

Mr. Ding, this is Tientsin,

not Germany where you've stayed before.

Don't fool me with those restrictions.

Well,

I'll arrange a psychological evaluation for him right now.

If the result shows that he's faking it, I wouldn't let him go easily.

He'll be charged with several offenses instead.

PAWNSHOP

Mr. Guo.

These are some good stuff.

Watch your mouth.

Make a good deal.

Are pawning and selling the same thing?

Stop blabbering and hurry up.

I believe all this stuff belongs to Mao Ding.

Are you sure you're going to pawn all these?

When you pawn some items,

someone should redeem them, or they'll be gone.

It's the same.

If no one claims it,

it'll be mine.

If that's the case, can I get back the thing that I lent you?

Keep working.

Where are my belongings?

Possession belongs to the material world.

When the time comes,

-you'll leave the world without it. -I'm aware of that.

I had to do that in order to solve the case.

I exchanged them for money and used them to get information.

We lured out Yu Huang and even solved the case.

You did something good!

When are you going to return the money I loaned you?

How about this young woman right here?

I'll give her to you as a mortgage.

Don't hit my face!

Deal.

De-you, let me tell you.

If you do this again,

I'll make you regret it.

Subtitle translation by Blue