Heroes Episode 3 Recap
> Heroes Recap
At Six Half Hall's Pobanmen branch, an order was given to eliminate Su Mengzhen, with the formidable Lei Hen tasked to lead the mission. Madam Dou of Mount Qilian, the Hall's Seventh Elder, expressed great excitement at the prospect of killing Su Mengzhen, even offering to forgo payment. However, Monk Huayi, the Eighth Elder, insisted that he charged for any killing.
Exasperated by their bickering over money, Lei Hen, the Fourth Elder, slammed his bowl down and rallied the fighters, declaring they must succeed in taking Su Mengzhen's life. Continuing from their meeting at Kushuipu, Wang Xiaoshi, recognizing Su Mengzhen by his famous sword, presented him with a letter from his master, Recluse Tianyi. Yang Wuxie, Su Mengzhen’s advisor, found it unusual that Wang Xiaoshi showed no surprise upon hearing Su Mengzhen’s name.
Amused by the young man's composure, Su Mengzhen declared them friends, a sentiment Wang Xiaoshi warmly reciprocated before they parted ways for the moment. Elsewhere, Lei Chun, daughter of Six Half Hall's leader Lei Sun, decided against retrieving a certain box. She explained that her father had broken his promise that securing the box would lead to peaceful negotiations with the House of Sunset Drizzle.
With the truce already violated, she saw no reason to retrieve the box, calmly stating that she would endure any punishment for the sake of "that person" she holds dear. As night fell over Kushuipu, a group led by Gu Dong, the Ninth Elder of Six Half Hall, arrived. Gu Dong deceitfully claimed he was sent by the House of Sunset Drizzle's leadership to help Su Mengzhen eliminate traitors, offering a supposed list.
As Su Mengzhen saw the paper was blank, Gu Dong attacked. The fight quickly escalated as other assassins emerged. Yang Wuxie identified them as Monk Huayi and Madam Dou, noting their attack formation was a signature of Lei Hen. Though Wang Xiaoshi wanted to help, Bai Choufei held him back, confident in Su Mengzhen’s ability to handle the situation. With a fierce look, Su Mengzhen swiftly dispatched his attackers.
Suddenly, a volley of arrows rained down, which he and Yang Wuxie skillfully deflected with their daggers. Lei Hen then appeared with a force of elite archers, trapping them. As a storm began to brew, Wang Xiaoshi and Bai Choufei leaped into the fray, disrupting Lei Hen's plan. Realizing the battle was lost, Lei Hen ordered a retreat, and as his forces withdrew, the heavy rain and wind abruptly subsided.
Su Mengzhen succumbed to a fit of coughing, revealing he suffers from numerous terminal and unnamed illnesses. He explained that these ailments paradoxically keep him lucid, and as long as he is awake, he cannot be killed. He acknowledged that by intervening, Wang Xiaoshi and Bai Choufei had made an enemy of Six Half Hall and now had no choice but to join his House of Sunset Drizzle.
The three agreed to challenge Six Half Hall at Pobanmen, while Su Mengzhen sent Yang Wuxie to protect his martial sister, Wen Rou. Yang Wuxie found Wen Rou at an inn, informing her he was sent by Su Mengzhen for her protection. Wen Rou was skeptical, refusing to believe her highly-regarded martial brother would team up with two "unreliable" individuals to challenge a Six Half Hall branch.
Yang Wuxie tried to vouch for them, describing Wang Xiaoshi as handsome and heroic and Bai Choufei as direct and well-dressed. Wen Rou scoffed at his descriptions, calling Wang Xiaoshi a "wild monkey" and Bai Choufei a "cunning" and "sharp-tongued" rogue. Upon arriving at Pobanmen, Su Mengzhen, Wang Xiaoshi, and Bai Choufei were greeted by loyalists from the House of Sunset Drizzle, led by Shi Wukui.
Six Half Hall had anticipated them, with Lei Mei guarding the pass and the strategist Di Feijing waiting on the city wall. Su Mengzhen tasked Wang Xiaoshi with guarding the pass alone, noting it was a more perilous job than accompanying him. Wang Xiaoshi accepted, and Su Mengzhen ascended the wall with Bai Choufei to confront Di Feijing. On the wall, Su Mengzhen and Di Feijing conversed like old friends.
Di Feijing, whose head was permanently bowed from an old neck injury, conceded that Lei Hen's forces had failed to stop the famed "red-sleeved swordsman." Su Mengzhen noted his own chronic cough was a choice he made between life and death. He then pressed Di Feijing about Six Half Hall's recent aggression, and Di Feijing admitted to deploying eleven branches and four Elders in the failed attempt at Kushuipu.
Asserting his advantage, Su Mengzhen demanded Six Half Hall withdraw from the internal affairs of the House of Sunset Drizzle. After Di Feijing agreed, Su Mengzhen promised to send him a plaque honoring his integrity. Unseen by them, Di Feijing's superior, Lei Sun, observed from the shadows. Meanwhile, Minister of Justice Fu Zongshu and his men watched from a nearby building, viewing the martial world's conflicts with disdain.
Finding the standoff dull, Fu Zongshu departed, ordering his subordinates to investigate Wang Xiaoshi and Bai Choufei. After the parley concluded, the fighting below ceased. Later, Lei Sun remarked to a subordinate that even a combined victory against Su Mengzhen would have been a costly one, only benefiting others, and concluded that the Capital was now destined for turmoil.
Back at the city gate, Wang Xiaoshi had successfully repelled a purple-clad, masked assailant, much to Su Mengzhen's relief as he watched from the wall. Later, Su Mengzhen told his new friends that despite Lei Sun's immense efforts to stop him from reaching the Capital, meeting them might be the luckiest thing that had ever happened to him.
