01x03 - Episode 3

[bunniefuu]

[Shadow Punisher]

[Divine Constable Tally]

[Episode 3]

How did he get here before us?

Li Qingyang,

do you know the punishment

for breaking out of prison?

Lady Constable Frost,

this isn't the first time

I've broken out of prison.

Besides,

the shackles
of your Divine Constable Bureau

can't trap me.

Instead of sitting and waiting there,

being wronged by you,

I'd rather take the initiative to move

and catch the real culprit
to prove my innocence.

This way,

even if I

have offended your bureau a lot,

I can make up for it.

Right?

Chief,

if we run into Li Qingyang,

what should we do?

This person is highly suspicious.

If he's caught,

bring him back to the bureau.

I'll interrogate him in person.

If he still won't behave,

don't push too hard.

Observe his words and actions.

Only then can you know what he's up to.

Alright,

let me see

how you prove your innocence.

Please.

Thank you, Lady Constable Frost.

According to what the Advisor said,

he saw the coroner, Wen Nansheng,

carrying this bundle out.

Undoubtedly,

inside this bag are

Master Sun's body parts.

And Wen Nansheng

abandoned the body here and fled.

Tell us something we don't know.

Wen Nansheng's jade pendant?

This head is indeed Master Sun's,

but only the upper half
of the body is his.

The lower half isn't.

Are you so sure, Constable Frost?

I can tell everything about a body

that I've handled at a glance.

Judging from the corpse's swollen legs,

they were mostly caused

by the coroner's long exposure
to damp places.

The jade pendant left on these clothes

belongs to Wen Nansheng.

But judging from the cut,

the m*rder weapon is still

the silk thread used
to control puppet dolls.

I got it.

The m*rder*r first k*lled Master Sun

and then k*lled Wen Nansheng.

He mixed the lower half

of Wen Nansheng's body

with the upper half

of Master Sun's body.

Then he took away

the lower half of Master Sun.

He did this

to make people mistakenly believe

that from beginning to end,

there was only one corpse—

Master Sun's body.

Continue.

Ms. Bai,

does Dead Bone Spice
have the effect of warding off evil?

It is indeed recorded
in the Strange Medicines Chapter.

Why do you ask?

Last night, Mr. Meng and I were

repeatedly caught in illusions.

But today,

we are both completely fine.

You mean

the scent of Dead Bone Spice
on the silk thread

broke the illusion formation?

No wonder.

A lot of young women were

m*rder*d in Tianhuang City.

This shows the m*rder*r

needs a large amount of Dead Bone Spice

to safely enter

the Black Wind Forest in Dougu County.

It seems that Dead Bone Spice is

going to be a key clue next.

Don't forget

about the puppet doll

that abducted the children.

Puppet doll?

It's all based on eyewitness statements.

Did you see it?

Not exactly.

Li Qingyang,

I still remember

the puppet doll found

in your Star-Gathering Pavilion.

What on earth are you up to?

My Lord, My Lady,

there's no time to waste.

Most of the spice shops here

don't sell Dead Bone Spice,

but

we should still go try our luck.

Perhaps

there will be new clues.

Ms. Bai,

what do you mean by this?

Sealed acupoints with golden needles.

Your lightness skill is marvelous.

I have to be on guard.

Sorry for that.

[Dougu]

[Tumi House]

[Tumi House]

My Lord, My Lady,

this is the most famous spice shop

in our county.

Tumi House?

Bro,

why are you carrying

a puppet doll on your back?

This?

I borrowed it from a troupe.

It's just a normal puppet

for those eyewitnesses to identify.

But they all said
they didn't see it clearly.

[Tumi House]

Li Qingyang.

Who allowed you to go in?

Ms. Bai,

my acupoints are sealed
with golden needles.

What tricks can I possibly play now?

My Lord, My Lady,

please be extra careful going in.

What do you mean?

Something happened
to this shop not long ago.

The owner of this shop

has gone mad.

I

missed you so much.

You look unfamiliar, sir.

What brings you

to my Tumi House?

I'm here

to ask about a kind of spice.

Could it be

Dead Bone Spice?

Sir,

I am still

an unmarried maiden.

Staring at me like this is

quite impertinent.

It really is Dead Bone Spice.

How could this be?

Why are you surprised?

Refining Dead Bone Spice

requires the blood of young girls

with pure Yin birth characters.

In the past, if a poor girl

who met the conditions
fell terminally ill,

she would be sold to spice refiners,

who used her body to refine the Spice.

This was a way to earn money
for her family

in her final days.

Exactly.

The rare Dead Bone Spice

in Tianhuang City's black market

mostly comes from this.

Such an opportunity is

hard to come by even in decades.

So even across the entire Great Shi,

the supply
of Dead Bone Spice is very limited.

I didn't expect

that such a remote, rural backwater
like Dougu County

would have this rare Dead Bone Spice.

Tumi House was burglarized



Actually, not too many spices were

missing from the House.

But

somehow,

the owner of this shop

seemed to have

suffered a great hit

and gone mad.

Two months ago?

The case of refining the Spice
with young girls in Tianhuang City

and the disappearance of children
in Dougu County

were both...

They both started 2 months ago.

Could the stolen item be
Dead Bone Spice?

I have never seen that legendary

and precious item,

so I'm not too sure either.

Who robbed the spice shop?

Has the case been solved?

Well...

You can neither find the missing children

nor catch a petty thief!

Your Dougu County government is really...

My Lady,

you can't blame it on us.

This theft case is really

quite bizarre.

As you can see,

to keep the fragrance,

Tumi House has sealed
all the windows here.

The only opening is this door.

The spices here are so precious

that the owner would lock the door

when he closes the shop every day.

After the incident,

we also checked the lock,

and it was intact.

In a situation like this,

unless...

Unless it was a ghost manifesting,

how else could

this be explained?

No other entrance or exit
besides the door?

Then what is this?

Ms. Bai,

this dog hole is too small

even for a 7-year-old child

to get in,

let alone a thief.

You may go out first.

Bring Young Master Qingyang out, too.

Understood.

Don't bother.

I will leave by myself.

He is right.

Even one who masters

the Bone-Shrinking Technique or something

can't get out.

Unless

the thief is the size of a child.

The puppet doll...

What is this?

Puppetry.

I've learned it.

Lady Constable Frost,

didn't you find one

in my Star-Gathering Pavilion?

What?

Have you forgotten?

I didn't expect you
to still be able to perform

puppetry with your acupoints sealed
by golden needles.

I really underestimated you.

Sealing acupoints with golden needles
restricts inner power.

What does it have to do
with controlling a puppet?

Are

inner power masters
the only ones in the world

who can perform puppetry?

At least it proves

that a puppet doll
can crawl through this dog hole

to steal the Dead Bone Spice.

So the spice thief is

someone who can

control puppet dolls.

I don't think so.

Firstly,

many people can control puppets.

Secondly,

actually, a puppet doll

can't steal the Dead Bone Spice.

I did this experiment

just to prove this point.

Indeed,

it can crawl in.

However,

what happens after it crawls in?

A puppet is not a dog.

How could it steal the Spice?

You are just a beginner in puppetry.

Just because you can't do it

doesn't mean your accomplice can't.

Lady Constable Frost,

puppetry is basically

an extension of the hands.

A puppet is not a human.

It cannot see or think.

If the m*rder*r outside the dog hole

couldn't see the situation inside,

it'd be absolutely impossible for him

to control the puppet

to steal the Dead Bone Spice from inside.

Unless

someone can train a puppet

to have a mind.

Otherwise,

as long as it's just puppetry,

it's definitely impossible
to achieve this.

Seems like

the clue has gone cold again.

My Lord, My Lady,

do you want to hear

the clues I've found?

The spices brought in by this Tumi House

in Dougu County are famous far and wide.

It's said

that the original owner here was

a graceful young woman.

Everyone called her Lady Fragrance.

But now, look

at this shop owner in front of us.

If you call him a lady,

everyone in Dougu County

must be blind.

Then who exactly is this person?

Two months ago,

the Dead Bone Spice
in Tianhuang City's black market was

so valuable and hard to come by.

You two also know about this.

Soon after,

Lady Fragrance
disappeared without a trace.

At this time,

here in Tumi House,

a heavily made-up Mr. Fragrance

appeared out of nowhere.

I heard

that Lady Fragrance

has an elder brother.

You mean

the brother k*lled his younger sister

to refine Dead Bone Spice
and rake in profits?

This blood-stained,

invaluable Dead Bone Spice

was stolen overnight.

Since then, he has turned

into the way he is now.

The county government
couldn't find evidence

to prove he committed m*rder,

and neither did they find

Lady Fragrance's body.

Given his current state,

County Magistrate Du

just left him alone.

Brother,

you're here.

I

missed you so much.

If the spice thief is

the m*rder*r we're looking for,

then everything lines up.

Exactly.

A puppet doll was used
in the case of refining the Spice

with young girls in Tianhuang City.

The missing children here were

also abducted by puppet dolls.

If the m*rder*r stole the Dead Bone Spice

in order to break

the illusion formation
in the Black Wind Forest,

then why on earth

did he want to enter
the Black Wind Forest?

What a pity.

Young Master Qingyang
demonstrated it himself,

said it with certainty,

and proved that puppetry

couldn't help steal the Spice
from a locked room.

So...

Investigating to this point,

the clue has gone cold again.

My Lord, My Lady,

have you ever thought about

why those children's graves

in the Black Wind Forest are empty?

Let's assume those children are not dead.

If they're not dead,

why are there tombstones erected for them?

Those children will die sooner or later.

Two months ago,

the m*rder*r abducted the children

not for ransom. The motive is a mystery.

You should go back

and start by investigating the children.

Here.

[Map of Dougu County]

Here.

And here.

These alley entrances are

on the only route from the county

to the Black Wind Forest.

You must strictly guard them

day and night.

Once suspicious people are spotted,

arrest them immediately.

Understood!

Let's go.

How is it?

I've checked the household records
several times.

Some children's families are farmers,

some sell vegetables,

and some do small businesses.

There are boys and girls,
older and younger.

Except for being children,

they have nothing in common.

Is everything ready?

It's time to set off.

Where are we going?

Li Si,

you trespassed into the government morgue,

broke out of prison,
impersonated an official,

and interfered with the investigation.

You are now being arrested
and escorted back to Tianhuang City

to stand trial.

Go.

Got it.

Mr. Meng,

will Lady Constable Frost

run into danger

staying here alone?

What if that culprit

has some tricks up his sleeve?

Every extra day those children

stay here just makes things

more dangerous for them.

Who on earth are you?

Why do you care so much about this case?

Or rather,

do those missing children

have anything to do with you?

Go.

My Lord!

My Lord!

My Lord, My Lord!

Is there any news of my son, Yuanbao?

No. Not yet.

Stop running.

Come over here.

We'll butcher the pig later

and offer its head to the Earth God,

begging the Earth God

to bless my son Yuanbao
to come home as soon as possible.

Yuyao, be careful.

Erbao, stop digging.

There's no food there,

only Yuanbao's tooth.

Tooth?

Come here, little piggy.

Time to eat grass.

Madam!

What is it digging for over there?

Yuanbao's tooth.

According

to our local custom,

upper teeth go to the ground;
lower teeth go to the sky.

I took our Yuanbao's

fallen incisor

and buried it there.

Incisor?

Mr. Meng.

Aren't you looking for

what those children have in common?

I think I've figured it out.

Mr. Wang, look.

Yuanbao has

reached the stage of losing teeth

and often complains of toothaches.

My teeth hurt so much.

I see.

Mother,

it's my sister's tooth.

My Lord! My Lady!

In the other homes

of the missing children,

we also found their shed baby teeth.

The m*rder*r is indeed

looking for kids

who are losing their baby teeth.

Now we have a direction.

Ask them to make a list

of children
who are losing their baby teeth

and set up ambushes to catch the culprit.

Li Qingyang!

He got away again.

Forget it.

We'll catch him eventually.

The priority is to find the kids
losing their teeth.

[Dougu County Office]

My Lord!

My Lord!

[Enter the County Office
to Examine Oneself]

[Righteous Dougu County Magistrate]

My Lord, this...

My Lord.

My Lord, My Lady,

we've got the complete list.

It's the full list

of all the kids who are losing

their baby teeth in Dougu County.

[Chunfeng Hall, Sun Yuyao]

Yuyao?

Why is there only one kid?

My Lady,

Dougu County is

a very small place.

And with years of droughts,

crop failures, and a population decline,

there can't be many children left!

The night the children went missing,

why did the m*rder*r take all the children

except for Yuyao?

That night, Yuyao was with me

at the county office.

The m*rder*r didn't have a chance.

But now Mrs. Hua is taking care of her.

Let's go.

My Lord! My Lady! Bad news!

[Righteous Dougu County Magistrate]

My Lady!

What's up?

Bad news!

Yuyao is missing!

My Lord, My Lady.

Weren't there staff
from the county office watching her?

I just went to put
the freshly butchered pig's head

in the Earth God Temple.

When I turned around,

Yuyao was just gone.

My Lord, My Lady, what should we do?

Let's find Yuyao first.

[Enter the County Office
to Examine Oneself]

Tanghulu [candied haws]!

Eat slowly.

[Rice Shop]

Tanghulu [candied haws]!

-I want one, too!
-Kiddo, want some tanghulu?

Here you are.

Come and see!

Let's go, Yuyao.

Take care!

Let's go look over there.

Little girl.

-A little hat!
-You've got good taste. This one's pretty.

Sir, take a look.

Come on.

The tiger one looks energetic.

Yuyao.

Madam.

I want to see the one behind.

So pretty.

Yuyao,

have you had fun today?

Yes.

If only Yuanbao, Erniu, and Cuicui were

here, too.

Mr. Young Master,

were they really

taken away by bad guys?

Yuyao,

I promise you

I will definitely save your friends

from the bad guys.

Okay?

Don't forget to beat up the bad guys, too.

Of course I will beat up the bad guys.

I hate those

who bully children the most.

Let's go.

Boss.

Let's go.

You haven't paid!

That bottle

is worth

your entire stall.

It smells so good!

It's Dead Bone Spice.

Where did you get this bottle?

A gentleman used it

to pay just now.

The symbol of the Star-Gathering Pavilion.

[Gathering]

Li Qingyang.

Did you see that gentleman

have a child by his side?

Yes!

He was with a little girl.

He took Yuyao away.

If he were the m*rder*r,

he wouldn't have helped us
investigate the cases all along.

What I'm worried about now is

that even if he's on our side

and wants to help us catch the m*rder*r,

Yuyao could still be in danger.

Meng, think about it.

Why did he take Yuyao away?

Simply because he knew Yuyao was

the last child.

If he uses Yuyao as bait,

the m*rder*r will definitely show up.

This b*stard!

How dare he treat a child's life

like it's nothing!

[Chunfeng Hall]

[Chunfeng Hall]

Emperor of Heaven,

Emperor of Earth,

there's a boy in my home crying at night.

-Gentlemen passing by,
-Here he comes, as expected.

read it three times,

and he will sleep soundly until daybreak.

Yuyao,

Yuyao!

Come out and play.

[Chunfeng Hall]

Come on.

Come out.

Let's play together.

Let's have fun together.

My Lord, My Lady.

You came neither early nor late,

just in time.

Mr. Meng,

it's too late.

Yuyao's mind has already been seized

by the puppet doll.

If we act rashly,

Yuyao might be in graver danger.

Good point, Ms. Bai.

Now,

we just need to wait for the puppet doll

to take Yuyao to its destination.

The m*rder*r will
let his or her guard down by then.

That way,

we'll have a better chance.

I didn't expect

you to actually use Yuyao as bait!

Who was it that kept saying

hurting children is unforgivable?

Mr. Meng,

if you are done lecturing me,

why don't we go after them together?

How's that?

[Chunfeng Hall]

[Chunfeng Hall]

Golden needles blocked my channels,

and a heavy strike sealed my acupoints.

Great,

even an immortal can't escape now.

Li Si,

I hate people who disregard

children's lives the most in my life.

Once the m*rder*r is brought to justice,

I swear I'll throw you

into the Divine Constable Bureau's prison!

Let's go.

Dead Bone Spice?

As expected,

the missing children from the county are

right in this Black Wind Forest.

So this Dead Bone Spice

can not only break

the illusion formation
in the Black Wind Forest

but also open a path
through these flowers.

This proves

we've found the right way.

There seems to be some writing

behind this spider web.

This is

the writing of Liluo?

I recognize it,

but I don't know what it means.

The Kingdom of Liluo that was

destroyed
by the late Emperor Wuzong of Shi



Could it be

that the puppet dolls

and the incident from 17 years ago

have something to do
with the Kingdom of Liluo?

Zhenzhu?

Meng Rui!

Li Si!

What...

Let me check.

It's nothing.

I'm fine.

It's just that I was stabbed

by Lord Constable Ghost last time.

Now the wound has reopened.

It won't k*ll me.

Sorry.

Li Si,

thank you for saving us.

My Lord, My Lady, what's this for?

I'm fine.

The priority is to save them.

Let's go.

It was originally a sure thing.

I didn't expect that Li Si

would risk his own life

to break through the sealed acupoints

and save those two
from the Divine Constable Bureau.

You've really disappointed me.

Please rest assured!

I will protect God Kelu

and the Sacred Moluo Fruit

even at the cost of my life!

So big.

This flower must be

the mother plant

of those bizarre flowers outside.

Inside these are all children!

It's Yuanbao.

Yuanbao.

Yuanbao.

Yuanbao!

The person who set up Spider's Tear

must be nearby.

Be careful.

Show yourself!

May I

have your name, lady?

How dare you profane
the Sacred Moluo Fruit?

It's livor mortis.

Wait a minute.

Don't you think

the dress of the woman in front of us

looks very familiar?

Tumi House was burglarized



But

somehow,

the owner of this shop

seemed to have

suffered a great hit

and gone mad.

Lady Fragrance?

The person in front of us

must be the long-missing

real owner of Tumi House,

Lady Fragrance.

You guessed it right.

Her elder brother used her blood

to refine Dead Bone Spice.

And I used her body

to make a human puppet.

Compared to puppet dolls,

this lifelike human puppet is

far superior.

Come out!

Or I'll cut down this flower!

The only chance of survival
for these children

relies entirely

on the great Tianmoluo.

If the flower dies,

they won't survive either!

This Spirit of Tianmoluo is

a remnant from the ancient Liluo Sect.

These Moluo Flowers in the canyon are

all its descendants.

It is the soul of God Kelu!

Liluo fell



You were the one who transplanted it here?

Forty-seven years ago,

the Shi Empire wiped out Liluo,

committing atrocious crimes!

Tianmoluo taking root here was

the will of God Kelu.

It's going to use the lifeblood
of the Great Shi's children

to grow the fruits of revenge!