Guardian Episode 19 Recap
> Guardian Recap
Following Yunlan's orders, Chu Shuzhi was driving Guo Changsheng and two youths out of the city when their car broke down. Chu got out to investigate and was ambushed by the swift Subterranean, Zhu Jiu. Zhu Jiu mocked Chu, revealing he knew about Chu's deceased younger brother, Jie. He then cruelly confessed to murdering Jie and fabricating his suicide note, reading it aloud to torment Chu, who became enraged.
Just as Zhu Jiu prepared to overpower the group, Ye Huo arrived, having returned out of concern for their safety. Chu, having previously misunderstood him, appealed to Ye Huo for help in avenging his brother. However, Zhu Jiu revealed that Mr. Zhou from the Boxing Arena had rigged the boxers' rewards with hidden bombs.
He then triggered an explosion using the prize in Ye Huo’s backpack, knocking Chu, Guo, and Ye Huo unconscious before gazing at them with a sinister smile. Later, Yunlan, despite Shen Wei's warnings, used the Hallows to locate Zhu Jiu, causing him to faint from the strain of the Dark Energy. He recounted a vivid, precognitive dream in which Chu, Guo, and Ye Huo were dead, their faces pale and covered in snow.
Alarmed, Shen Wei explained that Dark Energy infection can cause visions of the future. Their fears were confirmed when Wang Zheng received an anonymous email from Zhu Jiu, who had captured the trio in a remote lab. He demanded the Longevity Sundial and the Mountain-River Awl in exchange for their lives, giving Yunlan until the next day to choose between his men and the Hallows. Recognizing the urgency, Yunlan devised a two-pronged strategy.
He dispatched Shen Wei and Zhu Hong to the jungle to persuade Zhu Hong's Fourth Uncle, a presbyter of the Sub-beast clan, to hold an emergency meeting, which would successfully delay the rogue Presbyter Yaqing from reinforcing Zhu Jiu. Simultaneously, Yunlan tasked the hacker Cong Bo with infiltrating the city's power grid. The plan was to isolate Zhu Jiu from his support and use a city-wide blackout to trap him.
Zhu Jiu agreed to the exchange but, before leaving, activated a mechanism in the lab. He smugly revealed it to be the "Absolute Zero Lab," which would gradually freeze the captives to death, clarifying the exchange was a ruse to kill them all along. Inside, the three struggled against the plummeting temperature. Changsheng began to experience hallucinations of intense heat, a symptom of severe hypothermia.
A heartbroken Chu removed his own clothes to warm the delirious Changsheng, pleading with him to hold on. Despite Chu's desperate efforts, Changsheng succumbed to the cold and fell unconscious in his arms. Meanwhile, Ye Huo frantically searched for a way to stop the freezing, but while a "stop" button was visible, the control panel was locked and inaccessible. Guided by the Hallows, Zhu Jiu arrived at the downtown meeting point to confront Yunlan and Shen Wei.
Sensing a trap, Zhu Jiu attempted to flee. At that moment, Yunlan gave the signal, and Cong Bo triggered a city-wide blackout, plunging the area into darkness. The move, though impacting thousands of households during the Reunion Festival, was deemed necessary for the city's safety. Disoriented and cut off from Yaqing's aid, Zhu Jiu was left vulnerable. Seizing the opportunity, Shen Wei tracked Zhu Jiu in the darkness and struck him down with the Soul-Slaying Blade.
As he fell, Zhu Jiu expressed his only regret was failing to kill Shen Wei, whom he called a "jinx." Confused by the deep-seated hatred, Shen Wei asked why Zhu Jiu bore such a grudge against him and if he even remembered him.
