The Wanted Detective Episode 17 Recap
> The Wanted Detective Recap
A thick, mysterious white smoke suddenly billowed from a deep forest outside Weizhou. Not long after, a team of wagons, emblazoned with escort flags, slowly made their way along a winding road, drawing curious stares. A passing traveler noticed the deserted wagons and, upon closer inspection, found them laden with corpses. Xiao Beiming, Zhong Xueman, Feng Qingzhuo, and Huo Dairong arrived in Weizhou, making their way to the former Pingyuan Escort Agency.
Xiao Beiming felt a dizzy spell but dismissed it, claiming he hadn't rested well on their journey, though he later admitted to Huo Dairong that his poison was not yet cured, which was why he couldn't exert himself. Tong Shuang, the Third Young Master of the agency, found the main gate sealed.
As he tried to open it, Mr. Hai, the agency's old steward, emerged from a side door, scolding him and demanding he leave, believing everyone in the agency had died in the great fire. Tong Shuang quickly recognized Mr. Hai and revealed his identity, delighting the old steward, who had faithfully looked after the desolate property for years.
Mr. Hai recounted the tragic Pingyuan Escort Agency massacre, where nearly a hundred people perished overnight, expressing his grief at not being present to die with them. Zhong Xueman inquired about Mr. Hai's return, to which he explained he had buried the Tong family before returning to his hometown, only to return to the agency after his own parents passed away, drawn back by dreams of the family's past happiness.
Mr. Hai then busied himself preparing food, while Xiao Beiming and the others helped clean the long-abandoned courtyard and rooms. That night, Xiao Beiming assigned tasks for the next day. He and Zhong Xueman would visit the Weizhou Garrison to report and inquire about red obsidian. Feng Qingzhuo and Huo Dairong would visit the stables to investigate the horse plague. Tong Shuang, who hadn't been back to Weizhou in a long time, was instructed to visit his parents' graves.
Tong Shuang then brought up Mr. Hai's initial hostility, noting that the steward had clearly mistaken them for someone else who had been disturbing the agency recently. Zhong Xueman, confiding in Huo Dairong, reflected on her past marriage to Xiao Beiming and her hopes for their future, now that she believed his poison was cured and he was no longer suspected of being Yesha.
Huo Dairong advised her to either directly ask Xiao Beiming about his feelings or wait for him to express them, and Zhong Xueman decided to wait. The following morning, Feng Qingzhuo checked on Xiao Beiming, who was still feeling cold, and offered him ginger soup. Their quiet morning was abruptly interrupted by a commotion outside the agency's gates.
A large crowd, led by a man named Li Goudan, had gathered, accusing the Pingyuan Escort Agency of being infested with evil spirits. Tong Shuang, enraged by the slander against his family, tried to confront them but was held back by Xiao Beiming and Mr. Hai. Wang Feihu, a constable from the Weizhou Garrison, arrived with his men to disperse the crowd. He identified Li Goudan as the ringleader and demanded an explanation.
Li Goudan claimed to have repeatedly seen a "haunted escort wagon" since the massacre, and his uncle's grave had been desecrated and the body stolen shortly after one such sighting, leading him to believe vengeful spirits from the agency were responsible. Other townsfolk corroborated his stories. Zhong Xueman pressed Constable Wang to investigate seriously, and Wang Feihu promised a thorough inquiry while warning the crowd against further disturbances.
Xiao Beiming then asked Mr. Hai if the alleged haunted wagons were original Pingyuan Escort Agency property. Mr. Hai confirmed that after the massacre, all the agency's equipment had been looted, implying anyone could be using them to create false illusions. Constable Wang agreed to let Xiao Beiming and Zhong Xueman's group handle the "haunted escort wagon" case. Meanwhile, Tong Shuang and Huo Dairong investigated the horse plague at the local stables.
Tong Shuang observed that while the horses' feed seemed fine, their water source might be the culprit. A stable hand explained they sometimes fetched water from the Salty River, a slightly saline river flowing down from the mountains, which was usually used for livestock, unlike the pure well water reserved for human consumption. This led Tong Shuang to conclude that the problem must lie with the Salty River water.
Separately, Zhong Xueman discussed "red obsidian" with Constable Wang, who informed her that the stone, once considered worthless and rare, had become unobtainable in Weizhou after a mysterious wealthy merchant bought up Mount Chixia, its source, and aggressively purchased all existing red obsidian from the locals about a year ago. Wang Feihu offered to investigate the merchant's identity, and Zhong Xueman asked to be immediately informed of any news. Xiao Beiming suspected this mysterious merchant might be Yesha.
Later, Tong Shuang returned, reporting his findings from the Salty River. He and Huo Dairong had discovered charred human fingers and evidence of an abandoned corpse-processing operation upstream. They found kilns built along the river, with kiln waste dumped directly into the water, contaminating it and causing the horse plague downstream. They surmised the perpetrators had fled before finishing their work.
Xiao Beiming speculated that these charred bodies were likely the stolen corpses, used to extract "corpse oil" for refining "red crystal," a process "Old Bug" had mentioned, suggesting a connection to Yesha. He deduced that the culprits would likely return to steal more fresh corpses using the "haunted escort wagon" ruse. Feng Qingzhuo then informed the group of two recent deaths: a wealthy merchant and a farmer who died from a fall.
They decided the farmer's body would be easier to steal. Xiao Beiming instructed Feng Qingzhuo to stay behind and care for Huo Dairong, who was feeling unwell, while he, Zhong Xueman, and Tong Shuang, without the Weizhou Garrison's bulk, would confront the "haunted escort wagon" at the farmer's new grave. Tong Shuang secretly placed joss paper under the tombstone, confident they would catch the "ghostly" thieves.
That night, as the "haunted escort wagon" approached the grave, Tong Shuang impulsively charged, enraged that his family's agency name was being tarnished. Xiao Beiming swiftly intervened, pulling him back and having Zhong Xueman extinguish the lantern, plunging the area into darkness. They captured the perpetrators, who revealed the "haunted escort wagon" was a mere illusion.
Xiao Beiming explained how the thieves used sulfur-core candles mixed with copper powder for green flames, and a stove burning camphor and cypress wood to create dense white smoke, combined with black iron wires from the shadows to pull and control the wagons, giving the illusion of unguided movement.
The captured grave robbers confessed to regularly stealing corpses, admitting they had modified old Pingyuan Escort Agency wagons to create the "haunted" facade, hoping to deter witnesses and profit from selling bodies to buyers. However, they claimed they did not know what the corpses were used for. Xiao Beiming concluded they were mere pawns, believing the corpse buyers were the same individuals who operated the processing kilns by the Salty River.
The next day, Xiao Beiming outlined a plan to catch the corpse buyers: Tong Shuang would go to the marketplace disguised as a chamber pot vendor, using the number of chamber pots to signal how many "goods" (corpses) were available. Feng Qingzhuo would disguise himself as a corpse thief for the delivery, while Tong Shuang would hide inside a coffin, ready to surprise the buyers.
Xiao Beiming expressed concern about Tong Shuang's recklessness and hot temper given the sensitivity of the Pingyuan Escort Agency case, and Zhong Xueman urged him to speak with Tong Shuang. Later, the plan was set in motion. Feng Qingzhuo, disguised, delivered the coffin. However, Tong Shuang, impatient, burst out of the coffin prematurely, alarming the buyers. One buyer immediately grabbed Feng Qingzhuo, threatening to kill him.
The buyers, unafraid of death, began chanting, declaring their readiness to sacrifice themselves for the "Holy Master" and the "Yellow Heaven," believing they would ascend. Xiao Beiming quickly subdued the buyers, and Zhong Xueman produced an "impurity pill" made from diseased animals, asserting it would corrupt their spiritual cultivation and prevent their ascension. Faced with this threat, the terrified buyers confessed. They admitted to burning corpses for "corpse oil" to make "immortality pills" for the "Holy Master," their leader.
They revealed that this alchemy involved two stages: "Earth's Whisper," which was corpse oil extraction, and "Heaven's Roar," which involved harvesting blood from the living. While they had not seen the Holy Master's face, one of them recalled he had a black mole by his right eye. They claimed ignorance regarding the specifics of the "Heaven's Roar" operation or the identities of those involved, stating their "Earth's Whisper" rank within the Yellow Heaven cult was the lowest.
