Episode 6 recap: Monkey demon hunting.
When Qu San Geng was beating Shi Cong, he intentionally hit Xia Bu Tou with a board, causing him to scream in pain and lie on the ground. Song Dian rebuked Qu San Geng for his actions, but Xia Bu Tou insulted Song Dian, calling him disabled and falsely accusing him of spending a lot of money to obtain his position.
Song Dian angrily stood up. Although Eyas was cruel, he held grudges like a ferocious beast. The mysterious person told Zhang Ji Zu that during the twenty years, Leng Bu Tou, Mr. Wang, and Chen Wang had not changed their identities. The three of them had to trace back to twenty years ago to uncover their dealings. Zhang Ji Zu believed that the next person who might die was Mr. Wang or Chen Wang, so he decided to track them alternately at night.
The mysterious person mentioned that even after twenty years, he still sneaked into the house at midnight. Zhang Ji Zu questioned whether the night clothes could still fit after all these years. Twenty years later, Xia Bu Tou was going to capture the monkey demon because he believed it was the link between Leng Bu Tou and Mr. Wang. Later, the county lord captured a Taoist priest and asked about the function of his talisman. The priest claimed that it could control not only monkeys but also other animals. Due to his misleading words, he was about to be punished, but the priest quickly confessed. When he looked up at the county lord, he seemed familiar, but he changed his statement and praised the county lord's appearance, adding that he had a sharp insight. This immediately caught the county lord's attention. The priest mumbled about the origin of monkeys and claimed that the monkey demons were disguised as humans. Even if they were caught on the spot, they would scare people to death with their height.
Cheng Yi Zhi was worried that Qu San Geng would discover the secret of the prescription from back then, so he sought advice from Zhang Ji Zu. Zhang Ji Zu suggested plastering the streets with prescriptions, making them appear ordinary. Xia Bu Tou wanted to capture the monkey demon and was preparing to investigate the legend of the Wukong Gate.
Qu San Geng deliberately went to the arrest house to clean his waist badge and then made a bet with Song Dian that Xia Bu Tou would not stay there for long. If Qu San Geng won the bet, he hoped that Song Dian would return his waist badge. The county lord arrested Qu San Geng on charges of framing Cheng Yi Zhi's prescription and extortion. Qu San Geng explained that the two taels of silver were a reward from Cheng Yi Zhi on the twenty-seventh day when they were working on the case. Since he had no merit at the time, he donated it to the temple, and there was a record of it. He also had the Taoist priest add Cheng Yi Zhi's name to the donation.
Upon learning the truth, the county lord released Qu San Geng on the spot, and Cheng Yi Zhi claimed it was all a misunderstanding. Xia Bu Tou then punished his subordinates because the five-day deadline had passed without any progress in the case.
Xia Bu Tou deliberately had Qu San Geng count while other colleagues were beaten. The other colleagues held even more resentment towards Xia Bu Tou. In the end, the brother of the quick team was punished doubly, and Shi Cong voluntarily took the punishment for someone else. However, he allowed Qu San Geng to carry out the beating, assuring him that he had prepared medicine. Qu San Geng was unsure whether he intentionally hit Xia Bu Tou, but he saw him writhing in pain. Song Dian, on the surface, reprimanded Qu San Geng for not being able to handle the board properly and injuring Xia Bu Tou. He said that the punishment should have been twenty, but in reality, it was meant to protect Xia Bu Tou. However, Xia Bu Tou wanted someone to beat him to death and insulted Song Dian, falsely accusing him of being the instigator.
Song Dian intended to apprehend Xia Bu Tou, who had committed the offense of usurping authority, using the law. The trusted subordinate of the county lord hurriedly arrived to mediate the situation. Qu San Geng was to be given thirty strokes of the cane. All of this was within Qu San Geng's expectations. Before entering the prison, he had entrusted his waist badge to Song Dian. Song Dian was appointed by the emperor himself. More than ten years ago, at the imperial examination hall, he was a renowned talent named Song Zhongqiu. At that time, his calligraphy and paintings were highly valued. His courtesy name was Zhongqiu, and he had the reputation of being a child prodigy. At the age of sixteen, he passed the Xiu Cai examination, and at nineteen, he ranked first in the provincial examination, becoming the top scholar. He thought he would achieve the top ranking in the imperial examination, but instead, he was imprisoned. Many people had paid respects to the chief examiner at the time, but eventually, the chief examiner was reported. Song Chen was falsely accused of bribery and thrown into a prison, and his physical disability was a result of being unable to withstand torture while admitting to leaking the examination questions. However, the chief examiner was later exonerated, and due to Song Chen's confession, he spared him the top scholar title, while Song Chen's good friend committed suicide by hanging.
Later, the emperor gave him the opportunity to choose a position below the county magistrate. Song Chen chose to be a judicial official and personally learned about various forms of punishment. He tattooed an eye-catching mark on his body as a constant reminder. The salary he received was that of a fifth-ranked official, but he never took more than he deserved. Xia Bu Tou, after hearing this, dared not provoke Song Dian again.
While listening to a song, Song Dian was reminded of his young friend and spontaneously wanted to compose a poem. However, he couldn't hold a brush with his hand, so he used his remaining fingers to write the long-lost characters on the folding screen. He was ecstatic with joy. Zhang Ji Zu had been tracking the person disguised as a monkey demon for several days and discovered that they kept appearing nearby. In the middle of the night, the townspeople noticed the monkey demon, claiming that it was the same size as a human and was squatting by the river, constantly scooping up the moon in the water.
Later, Ya Yi followed the monkey demon in the dark and discovered that it was not scooping up the moon but rather a basket in the water containing stolen goods. Ya Yi began to plan the capture of the monkey demon and shared the plan with Qu San Geng in the prison. The plan was put into action at night, and the monkey demon started to escape. It displayed extremely agile movements, while the team members had different roles. Ya Yi, stationed on a high attic, used lantern signals to communicate the direction of the demon's escape. The monkey demon intentionally avoided harming people but also discovered the traps set by Ya Yi. Finally, the monkey demon was caught in the net.
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