Resumen del episodio 18 de Archives: The Nanyang Mystery
> Resúmenes de Archives: The Nanyang Mystery
Zhang Haixia did not want his mentor, Zhang Haiqi, to carry the heavy burden of guilt, so he expressed his desire to handle their enemy, Mo Yungao, himself. Although Zhang Haiqi was deeply concerned about his physical state and the consequences, she ultimately respected his decision. Having spent three agonizing years paralyzed in Nanyang under the selfless care of Zhang Hailou, Haixia desperately wanted to prove he was no longer a burden to anyone.
Before leaving Xiacheng, Zhang Haiqi paid her final respects at the cemetery to return the identity of Miss Dong to the late Dong Zhuohua. After dismissing the Dong family staff and transferring their estate to a relative, she and Zhang Hailou boarded a train to Changxiang. Along the journey, Hailou playfully teased his mentor about her timeless beauty attracting too much attention in their carriage.
However, their lighthearted banter quickly shifted to concern over Haixia, whom Hailou suspected was hiding something or suffering from the side effects of his medication. As they neared their destination, Zhang Haiqi handed Hailou the files on Zhang Qishan, the formidable Defense Commander of Changxiang and the head of the notorious Old Nine Gates.
She explained that the warlords of the Mo faction highly feared Qishan, who was rumored to have performed the miraculous Five Ghosts Transport Technique to move a massive mountain Buddha into his residence overnight, earning him the title of Zhang Da Foye. Their upcoming visit was fraught with tension, as Zhang Haiqi and Qishan shared a complicated history. When she had previously sent agents to investigate him, Qishan's formidable intelligence network caught them within a single day.
Her subsequent apology gift was promptly returned with a chilling warning that there would not be a third time. She reminded Hailou of the ancient family proverb warning that the mountains and the seas must never meet, for their reunion would signal the demise of the Zhang family. Yet, this trip marked their third attempt. Upon arriving in Changxiang, Zhang Haiqi and Hailou stopped at a street stall for rice noodles.
Their meal was abruptly interrupted by a peculiar street performer who intentionally bumped into Hailou, spilling his noodles. Detecting that the travelers were not locals, the mysterious man offered to read Zhang Haiqi's fortune. He warned her that her meeting with an old acquaintance would face severe obstacles and even a bloody disaster. Though Hailou dismissed him as a fraud, the performer left the money with them as a tab, promising a free reading in the future.
Sensing they were already being watched, Hailou decided to confront the performer. However, before a proper interrogation could begin, a sudden, bizarre turn of events saw the performer's head fall off on the street after a gust of wind, inciting mass panic. Almost instantly, a troop of soldiers surrounded them, led by Zhang Changlin—the adjutant of Zhang Qishan who had previously disguised himself as He Jianxi to infiltrate the Archives. Changlin immediately framed Hailou for the murder.
A fierce clash ensued, but Hailou easily held his own against the soldiers, demonstrating his newly heightened agility. To prevent him from killing Qishan's men and ruining any chance of cooperation, Zhang Haiqi pulled Hailou away to escape. In a calculated move to test Qishan's ultimate motives, she intentionally left Hailou behind to act as bait to draw the soldiers' fire. Hailou navigated the chaotic streets with the help of a local child who guided him to safety.
Once clear of the pursuit, Hailou was overjoyed to find Zhang Haixia riding a horse to meet him. Haixia was finally back on his feet, though Hailou quickly noticed his brother trying to hide a fresh wound on his arm. Haixia explained that the street performer they encountered was actually Qi Tiezui, the Divine Seer and the Eighth Master of the Old Nine Gates.
Knowing how indispensable the Seer was to Qishan, they realized the death was merely an elaborate trick, and the real Qi Tiezui was still very much alive. To lure the Divine Seer out of hiding, Hailou devised a plan to set fire to Qi Tiezui's fortune-telling shop.
The scheme worked perfectly; horrified at the prospect of losing his family's ancestral scrolls, secret texts, and priceless antiques, Qi Tiezui ignored Qishan's orders to stay put and rushed back to save his belongings. Hailou and Haixia were already waiting inside and promptly took him hostage. When Zhang Changlin and his men arrived to secure the perimeter, Hailou and Haixia fought off the first wave of soldiers with seamless coordination.
During the chaotic scuffle, they even resorted to throwing Qi Tiezui's precious antiques, including a rare enamel pearl-patterned vase, to fend off their attackers, much to the captured fortune-teller's absolute horror.
