Episode 22 recap: Di Ren Jie was led to Qingchuan Town.
For three consecutive days, Di Ren Jie went out to hunt geese, but he didn't even see a single feather. Qiao Tai thought that Di Ren Jie wanted to eat goose meat and directly expressed that goose meat is not good to eat during this season, suggesting that they should eat deer meat instead. Since Di Ren Jie indeed hadn't seen any geese, he called Qiao Tai to go back. Unexpectedly, they found a fat goose on the way, but there was a unique black flame mark on the stone beneath the fat goose.
Today, Cao An went out shopping and saw some good cloth, so he directly spent fifty coins to buy it. When Ma Rong found out, she was extremely distressed and thought that Cao An spent money too easily. As a result, she followed Cao An for more than two hours and witnessed him spending over a hundred coins. After returning, she complained to Hong Liang about Cao An.
Hong Liang straightforwardly stated that the money Di Ren Jie had belonged to Cao An. He speculated that Di Ren Jie had been going out to hunt geese in the past few days to formally give Cao An a status. Qiao Tai remembered that Chen Xiaoyun had once said that every time the Black Flame gathered people, it was on the night of the new moon. Ma Rong found out that tomorrow was the new moon and immediately suggested that Di Ren Jie set an ambush. However, Di Ren Jie's thinking was very clear, and he believed that the Black Flame was always unpredictable. This time, giving such a clear clue must have a problem. He advised Ma Rong not to act foolishly and to remain still.
Cao An specifically bought handguards for Di Ren Jie, stating that the cold wind would sweep through Lanfang in the following days, and Di Ren Jie would need them when shooting arrows. This surprised Di Ren Jie because he had explicitly instructed Hong Liang not to tell Cao An about hunting geese, but Cao An had already figured it out from the goose feathers on his shoes and the sand and stones on his clothes.
Ma Rong squatted in a corner, eavesdropping on the conversation between Di Ren Jie and Cao An. Qiao Tai couldn't bear to see her doing nothing and unexpectedly stabbed Ma Rong's lung tube, criticizing her for not doing anything productive. Qiao Tai pointed out that Di Ren Jie accompanied Cao An in idle chat while Cao An went shopping and made her accompany him.
After hearing Ma Rong's words, Qiao Tai blamed her for targeting Cao An. If she didn't want to accompany Cao An next time, she should go by herself. Ma Rong felt that everyone was biased towards Cao An and decided to approach Chen Yunxiao to inquire about the Black Flame, intending to make everyone busy. That night, wearing a black face towel, Ma Rong took Chen Yunxiao out of the prison cell and had him lead her to the small forest where the Black Flame gathered people. Unexpectedly, they encountered a masked figure in black clothes with a group of people. Ma Rong initially thought they were enemies, but it turned out that Qiao Tai had anticipated her actions and deliberately waited for her there. The two of them went together and entered the eerie and mysterious small forest. They discovered many corpses hanging from the trees in various states of death. As a dark flash passed through the forest, Qiao Tai realized that something was wrong and immediately engaged in combat. Soon, most of the soldiers who had come with them were injured and lying on the ground. Ma Rong noticed that Chen Yunxiao took advantage of the chaos to escape. Despite Qiao Tai's attempts to stop her, she chased after him only to witness the eerie scene of Chen Yunxiao being shot dead with a smile on his face.
At this moment, someone came to report to Ma Rong that Qiao Tai was injured. Ma Rong snapped back to her senses and hurriedly went to check on him. The doctor examined Qiao Tai's injury and found that he not only had wounds but also seemed to be poisoned. However, the doctor couldn't identify the type of poison. Ma Rong threatened the doctor, demanding that he must save Qiao Tai, and criticized him for being an incompetent physician. Di Ren Jie, seeing Ma Rong losing control, shouted, "Enough!" This made Ma Rong realize that she was the one responsible for causing all of this and couldn't help but kneel in tears by Qiao Tai's bedside.
Di Ren Jie analyzed the information deliberately sent by the Black Flame through the geese. If he wanted to know the truth, he had to make a trip to Qingchuan. He knew that it was a trap, but he had no choice but to go. Cao An was extremely worried about Di Ren Jie's safety but couldn't stop him. Hong Liang instructed Di Ren Jie to be cautious and gather information without taking unnecessary risks. Although Cao An was reluctant and anxious, he prepared Di Ren Jie's belongings and implored him to return safely, requesting that he no longer refer to himself as "Lady Cao."
Di Ren Jie rode towards Qingchuan Town. On the way, he encountered an old man who called himself Mr. Hulu, and they traveled together. Upon entering Qingchuan Town, they saw that the bandits they had encountered in the forest earlier were dead. Di Ren Jie wanted to know the cause of their deaths, so he presented an item as proof of his identity and entered the military camp. However, Lieutenant Xiao dismissed him, not only casually discarding the item on the table but also drinking without a care. Furthermore, when Di Ren Jie requested to examine the corpses, Lieutenant Xiao claimed they had already been buried.
Di Ren Jie sensed that something was amiss. If the Black Flame was truly causing trouble, he hoped that Lieutenant Xiao would send troops to suppress them. However, Lieutenant Xiao evaded the request, claiming that his manpower was insufficient. He also refused to seek reinforcements from higher authorities, considering Di Ren Jie's concerns to be exaggerated. Di Ren Jie obtained a certificate as a skilled physician and went to stay at Xiao Wei's shop. Xiao Wei expressed gratitude to Di Ren Jie for saving her earlier on the street and reminded him not to flaunt his wealth in Qingchuan Town as he would attract unwanted attention.
I used to watch dramas based on looks, and although Zhou Yi Wei is handsome, he's not my type, so I never followed his dramas. However, I accidentally came across a short film and realized that he has great acting skills. This is the first time I've followed one of his dramas, and I was completely engrossed in his performance.
I've been anxiously waiting for several days for the next episode to come out. His acting is explosive, and because of his talent, I think he's incredibly outstanding! I really like him!