Explore With the Note Episode 3 Recap
> Explore With the Note Recap
Wu Sanxing met with Uncle Hai, who initially expressed concern about Wu Xie resuming tomb raiding, hoping the Wu family could remain on a righteous path. Uncle Hai then tried to cover up his real activities by claiming to be investigating the conflict between Chen Pi Ah Si and Xie Yuchen. However, Wu Sanxing saw through his deception, and Uncle Hai eventually admitted that Xie Lianhuan's body had been found.
Xie Yuchen, now the head of the Xie family, was preparing to hold a belated funeral for his adoptive father, and planned to inter a Snake-Eyed Copper Fish with him as a tribute. Wu Sanxing clarified that his interest was solely in the Snake-Eyed Copper Fish, not the Xie family's affairs. Meanwhile, the Iron Triangle rested in the ancient village. Wang Pangzi had fully recovered, and Elder Kua Xiong's health was also improving with the care of Kun Na.
Wang Pangzi jokingly suggested they should be match-made as a reward for saving the Elder. When Elder Kua Xiong first saw Zhang Qiling, he was overwhelmed with emotion, kneeling and calling him "Leader," remarking that Zhang Qiling had not changed over the years. Wu Xie quickly explained that Zhang Qiling was their friend, not the leader he remembered.
After calming down, Elder Kua Xiong apologized for the misunderstanding and recounted his forty-plus years of being trapped in the underground palace without daylight, which he said could drive anyone mad. He emphasized the danger of the place and how it's always been a place of ill omen. He explained that the village had resided there for generations, with their ancestral home built on the "brow of the Mountain God," and their duty was to protect it.
They feared the "monsters" rumored to be locked in the pagoda, believing that if the Mountain God were enraged and the pagoda collapsed, misery would befall the mortal world. Thus, they performed annual sacrifices for peace. Elder Kua Xiong then recounted how, decades ago, Chen Pi Ah Si had arrived in the village.
He falsely introduced himself as a history teacher from Wuhan University, claiming to have been stranded with his students during an earthquake while collecting data from the ancient pagoda in Guangxi. He pleaded for help to rescue his students. The village leader believed Chen Pi Ah Si's story and dispatched the men to search for his "students," unaware they were being manipulated.
While the villagers were searching, Chen Pi Ah Si used a compass to locate the entrance to the Mirrored Palace and successfully retrieved the Eightfold Reliquary. Elder Kua Xiong, who was young and hot-headed at the time, witnessed Chen Pi Ah Si murdering his clansmen and tried to fight him but was no match. To escape Chen Pi Ah Si's bullets, he was forced to flee into a stone chamber, where he became trapped for over forty years.
An explosion soon alerted the village leader, who realized Chen Pi Ah Si's deceit. According to tribal law, for his crimes, the leader personally blinded Chen Pi Ah Si. Elder Kua Xiong mentioned that being expelled by Er Yuehong was Chen Pi Ah Si's greatest humiliation, so he always concealed the truth, letting outsiders believe he lost his sight in the Mirrored Palace. This made the sole remaining Snake-Eyed Copper Fish an object of contention for many factions.
At Xie Lianhuan's funeral, Xie Yuchen calmly placed a jade box into the tomb, despite knowing he was being watched. He then led his men away, secretly observing the surroundings. Jason and his team were also present, monitoring the process from a distance of several hundred meters from the cemetery, preparing to use their advanced equipment to steal the item.
However, the situation escalated beyond Xie Yuchen’s expectations when Chen Pi Ah Si unexpectedly intervened, using iron pellets to snatch the jade box from Jason's grasp, demonstrating agility comparable to Xie Lianhuan. Jason's superior, Qiu Dekao, later chastised Jason for underestimating local tomb robbers and lacking understanding of Chinese culture and ancient tombs. Later, Xie Lianhuan met with Wu Sanxing at Wu Sanxing’s old house.
Xie Lianhuan expressed reluctance about their ongoing plan, feeling uneasy about the potential harm to Wu Xie and Xie Yuchen, stating that it deviated from their initial goal of avenging their brothers. He hadn't expected the younger generation to be involved.
Wu Sanxing angrily rebuked Xie Lianhuan’s indecisiveness, insisting that they were past the point of no return, like "riding a horse on a wall, only able to advance, not retreat," warning that any hesitation would lead to a terrible end for everyone, including Wu Xie. He further reminded Xie Lianhuan that "the old you are dead" since the Underwater Tomb, and their goal of revenge had never changed.
Xie Lianhuan pressed Wu Sanxing on why he sent Wu Xie to the Mirrored Palace. Wu Sanxing explained that the Mirrored Palace was Wang Zanghai's final stop, where he left a critical, overlooked item. While the copper fish could unlock the secrets of the Cloud Top Palace, Wu Sanxing wanted Wu Xie's sharp mind and good luck to find a shortcut, an artifact left by the creator of the Snake-Eyed Copper Fish that he had long been searching for.
Before dawn, Wu Sanxing went to Qiu Dekao's residence to make a deal. He first spoke with A'Ning, subtly implying that Qiu Dekao was hiding things from her and warning her about the complexity of human intentions. A'Ning then expressed her concern about Qiu Dekao's undisclosed research on the Misty Village corpses and his attempt to blame her. When Qiu Dekao appeared, Wu Sanxing proposed trading the jade box for the original Warring States Silk Book.
Jason was skeptical, questioning if the item had been swapped, but Wu Sanxing warned that the ancient lock, a fruit of ancient wisdom, could not be restored once opened. Wu Sanxing insisted on the original Silk Book, not scanned copies, for the jade box. Qiu Dekao initially found the deal unattractive since the Snake-Eyed Copper Fish was not particularly valuable to him, and Jason was the one who desired it.
However, he ultimately agreed, instructing Jason that business was about profit, not sentiment. Wu Sanxing then proceeded to open the jade box, revealing a tracker and a counterfeit Snake-Eyed Copper Fish inside. Jason accused Xie Yuchen of placing the tracker. Qiu Dekao, realizing it was a fake, attempted to cancel the transaction. Wu Sanxing countered that the deal was for the "jade box," not the "Snake-Eyed Copper Fish," implying he didn't guarantee the authenticity of its contents.
He feigned ignorance about the fake, attributing it to Chen Pi Ah Si's reputation as a master forger and suggesting that whether an item was authentic was a matter of luck. He also implied Chen Pi Ah Si might have placed the tracker.
With no grounds to renege, Qiu Dekao allowed Wu Sanxing to take the Warring States Silk Book, believing that the future returns from Wu Xie, influenced by Wu Sanxing, would be far more significant than a map to the Empyrean Palace. Back in the village, Wu Xie tried to extract secrets about the pagoda from Elder Kua Xiong but received no definitive answers.
Wu Xie declared his unwavering resolve to proceed, stating that his biggest wish was to personally meet his uncle and hear the truth from him. Elder Kua Xiong described his bizarre experience in the Black Crystal Cave: after an explosion, his Sacrificial Staff fell into a crevice. He crawled down into what felt like another world, filled with black stones and multiple phantom images of his staff, making it impossible to reach.
He lost his way, saw his despairing face reflected everywhere, and scratched himself in a frenzy until his hair covered his eyes. Although he felt he was trapped for a year, only a few days had passed in the outside world, as the bodies of his fallen clansmen had only just begun to decompose.
Before Wu Xie, Wang Pangzi, and Zhang Qiling departed, Elder Kua Xiong gave Wu Xie a map of the underground palace's secret passages, warning them about geothermal activity and unknown dangers. Wang Pangzi expressed concern about leaving in the middle of the night, worrying about Kun Na’s reaction, but Wu Xie told him they could explain later. As they left the village, Wang Pangzi wistfully hoped the place would never be disturbed again, looking at collected photos of Kun Na.
Soon after their departure, as Dang Mang and Kun Na brought medicine for Elder Kua Xiong, they discovered he had been mysteriously murdered in his room, leading to a profound misunderstanding between them. Meanwhile, the Iron Triangle descended deeper underground, feeling increasing heat as they neared their destination.
