The Wanted Detective Episode 7 Recap
> The Wanted Detective Recap
Two years ago, while working on a case in Nanren Lane, Zhu Yitie encountered Hibiscus, a young woman from Nanyue. He was immediately smitten and, to help her out, bought all her tea leaves. Their connection deepened, and they soon married in secret within a cliffside cave, as relations between their respective countries were strained.
Those were the happiest days of Zhu Yitie's life; he yearned to abandon his past as a killer and live simply as Hibiscus’s husband and a father to their unborn child. However, this peace was shattered two months ago when Zhu Yitie returned from a case to find Hibiscus and their unborn child brutally murdered by Ajia, Hu Shisan, Marquis Jingshan, and four other individuals.
Overwhelmed by grief and a thirst for revenge, Zhu Yitie reverted to his old ways, meticulously using "sewing murder"—the most agonizing method—to ensure his victims suffered, framing these deaths to appear as Yesha’s work. Zhu Yitie admitted to his role in the deaths of Zhong Yunchi and the others from the Fengbo Lake case three years prior. He recounted how he had hidden beneath the ship's deck, emerging only after the five victims had been drugged into complete incapacitation.
He then effortlessly carried out the assassinations, leaving Xiao Beiming alive as per Yesha's specific instructions. He claimed never to have seen Yesha, only vaguely hearing a middle-aged man's voice on the ship. He described Yesha as an "extraordinary genius" who had meticulously designed the previous "Case of the Blood-Weeping Statues" as well. Zhu Yitie hypothesized that if Yesha was indeed on the ship, he might have inadvertently killed him during the massacre.
Following the initial killings, Yesha had given him a second order: to infiltrate the Elite Constabulary Unit and track down Shen Bi, ensuring he was eliminated. Zhu Yitie had managed to join the Elite Constabulary Unit, but Shen Bi had retired and vanished, presumably under the protection of the Secret Investigation Unit, preventing Zhu Yitie from fulfilling that second command. Before his own death, Zhu Yitie revealed the true meaning of the name "Yesha": "Haiya."
He explained that Haiya was a small, peaceful border city, home to fewer than ten thousand people. However, in the 36th year of Ningtai, it was tragically beset by a strange phenomenon where its inhabitants turned on each other and were brutally massacred overnight by monstrous individuals, or more accurately, by humans whose evil surpassed that of ghosts. These perpetrators then deliberately framed the slaughter as the work of a vengeful spirit, calling it "Yesha."
Zhu Yitie, a survivor and orphan of Haiya, then declared that every survivor of the Haiya massacre is "Yesha," and as long as one remains, "Yesha" will endlessly reappear, including Xiao Beiming. To ensure Xiao Beiming remained burdened with the "Yesha" identity and walked the "dark path" of vengeance, Zhu Yitie committed suicide in front of him, forcing Xiao Beiming to continue the quest for truth about Haiya.
Afterward, Zhong Xueman was devastated to learn of her father, Zhong Yunchi's, murder at Zhu Yitie's hands. Entering her father's room, she recalled him giving her a thumb ring as her dowry the day before his death, realizing it felt more like a final entrustment. Her suspicions were further fueled by his desperate attempts to prevent Xiao Beiming from boarding the ship that fateful day.
Xiao Beiming admitted that he, too, had suspected his master of being Yesha after witnessing Zhong Yunchi’s "angry, frenzied, out-of-control" expression just before Xiao Beiming himself blacked out on the ship. Xiao Beiming recounted his three-year search for Haiya, a place mentioned by Miao Jie on the ship, but to no avail. An old man confirmed that Haiya was indeed a legend, a border town wiped out by "demons."
Xiao Beiming deduced that Yesha's actions were driven by a desire to avenge Haiya. Zhong Xueman, remorseful, tearfully apologized for ever doubting and even poisoning Xiao Beiming. He comforted her, stating he never blamed her, and in fact, her actions had ultimately led him to find Zhu Yitie and uncover crucial truths. He assured her that having her and others by his side was his greatest comfort.
The next day, as the Elite Constabulary Unit tirelessly searched for the vanished Zhu Yitie, Xiao Beiming decided to "be Yesha again." He confided in his companion that he intended to lure out Shen Bi, believing that as a survivor of the Fengbo Lake incident, Shen Bi held vital information about Haiya. Despite warnings about the dangers and his dwindling time due to the frost toxin, Xiao Beiming was resolute.
Meanwhile, the master orchestrating Yesha's actions, a masked man in a cave, expressed no concern over Zhu Yitie's death or potential revelations. Instead, he welcomed Xiao Beiming's pursuit of the truth, intending to lead him and the entire Qi Kingdom to a grand, unsettling revelation.
News of "Yesha's" reappearance, marked by blood characters on a pillar, quickly reached Zhuge Kongyun, head of the Secret Investigation Unit, who immediately dispatched Li Long and his men to Chunyu Town to escort Shen Bi to a heavily guarded safe house. Despite the precautions, Shen Bi was found dead. The Emperor, furious at the loss of another official, demanded answers. Zhuge Kongyun reported that Shen Bi had been poisoned by "Heart-Severing Red" found in his pastries.
Xiao Beiming, realizing he had been manipulated and that his plan to draw out Shen Bi had led to the former official's death, deduced the cunning method of the poisoning. He recalled Shen Bi's habit of wetting his finger with saliva to turn book pages. The poison, he concluded, was not directly in the pastry, but on the books Shen Bi brought with him, transferred to his fingers, and then to the pastry as he ate.
Zhuge Kongyun, independently investigating Shen Bi's study, came to the same conclusion about the tampered books. Facing the Emperor's wrath, Zhuge Kongyun and his father were given a strict deadline: one month to apprehend Yesha, or face severe punishment. Accepting the immense pressure, Zhuge Kongyun pledged that the Secret Investigation Unit would bring Yesha to justice within the month.
Believing Yesha had a compelling motive beyond mere chaos, Zhuge Kongyun decided to investigate the resume documents of the four officials from the "Blood-Weeping Statues Case" to uncover any hidden connections among the victims and reveal the true reasons behind Yesha's relentless vendetta. He obtained a token to access the Imperial Secretariat for his investigation.
