Archives: The Nanyang Mystery Episode 1 Recap
> Archives: The Nanyang Mystery Recaps
The mystery began in Balai, Nanyang, during what was supposed to be a joyous wedding ceremony. Amidst the celebrations, a putrid, sickening stench suddenly filled the air, originating from a bizarre wedding gift presented by the clan. The bride and groom were urged to abandon their mortal bodies in exchange for everything a human could ever desire. Not long after, the mutilated corpses of the groom’s family were discovered in a salt marsh deep in Nanyang.
Bizarrely, they had spent their final moments frantically clawing at the earth to unearth a hidden underground treasure. This legendary treasure, guarded by a malevolent entity known as the Balai Ancient God, continued to lure countless greedy souls to their deaths in the salt-alkali marshes of Balai Yazhou. Among those obsessed with the secret power beneath the marshes was Zhang Ruipu, a former member of the Southern Archives who had escaped to Nanyang after a failed coup.
Even as his hired men perished one by one in the deep pits, Zhang Ruipu callously ordered them to keep digging, declaring their lives worthless compared to the prize hidden below. To investigate these mysterious deaths, the Southern Archives—a secret agency composed of extraordinary individuals tasked with handling the supernatural—dispatched two of their probationary agents to Nanyang.
The partners were Zhang Hailou, a brash young man who could spit deadly blades, and Zhang Haixia, who possessed an incredibly sharp sense of smell. This marked their very first official assignment in the region. As they approached the site, Zhang Haixia warned his partner that more than a hundred people had already died in these marshes after searching for the mysterious cave and coming into contact with the whispering deity.
Zhang Hailou was less focused, insisting on having a smoke to stay alert before they went down. Zhang Haixia reminded him that anyone who interacted with the Balai Ancient God inevitably returned within three days to dig, only to meet a gruesome end. Hoping to secure their permanent positions within the Archives, the two partners suspected that Zhang Ruipu was behind the deadly trickery. To bypass the guarded main entrance, they decided to dig their own tunnel into the cavern.
Zhang Hailou casually used a small, heavy Evil God statue as a hammer to break through the rock, ignoring Zhang Haixia’s warnings about the superstitious dangers of Nanyang’s deities. Using his exceptional calculations, Zhang Haixia determined they were only a few meters away from the main chamber. Suddenly, his keen nose picked up the scent of blood. He realized three people had just died ahead, while two others were still moving deeper into the cave.
Wary of the toxic air and muddy water, the duo advanced and breached the wall into the Evil God’s ancestral shrine. Ancient murals on the walls detailed the grim legend of the shrine: greedy ancestors had built it to worship the deity, but the Evil God exploited their avarice, turning its own worshippers into mindless wooden puppets to guard its treasure. Anyone who trespassed would be slaughtered and added to the puppet army.
While Zhang Hailou scoffed at the tale as a mere bedtime story, the wooden puppets in the chamber suddenly creaked and turned their heads, their lifeless eyes locking onto him. Zhang Haixia quickly noticed that the puppets were only staring at Zhang Hailou. Realizing they were tracking the small statue he carried, Zhang Haixia urged him to throw it away. The moment the statue left Zhang Hailou’s hands, the puppets immediately looked away, confirming the curse.
Further inside, they encountered a massive stone structure shaped like a ten-meter-tall human head with green grass growing like hair. To render the small statue harmless, Zhang Hailou playfully covered its eyes with grass, declaring they were safe. They then noticed a base with a slot that perfectly matched the small statue.
Despite Zhang Haixia’s stern warnings not to touch the sealed mechanisms, Zhang Hailou placed the small statue into the slot, hoping to find crucial evidence behind the sealed doors of the shrine. The mechanism activated, opening the sealed doors to reveal a massive, living incarnation of the Evil God. To their horror, the giant creature’s actions were perfectly synchronized with the small statue.
When the beast attacked, Zhang Hailou desperately grabbed the smaller icon to manipulate its movements, managing to temporarily freeze the giant in place. Knowing they couldn't hold it forever, Zhang Haixia volunteered to run back to the entrance and fetch one of the heavy corpses to weigh down the small statue. However, before he could return, the giant deity broke free, forcing a defeated Zhang Hailou to abandon the mechanism and run for his life.
The brothers fled through the dark tunnels until they hit a dead end, where they unexpectedly ran into Zhang Ruipu. To keep their Archives identities secret, they claimed to be simple bandits looking for a share of the treasure. Zhang Ruipu explained that a toxic water leak had killed the rest of his men, forcing him to hide in the corners.
He proposed that they split into two groups to draw the monsters away, but Zhang Hailou refused the unfair deal, pointing out that Zhang Ruipu was old and his companion was heavily injured. A fight broke out, and the two brothers quickly subdued Zhang Ruipu. Before Zhang Ruipu could voice his suspicion that they were Archives agents, his injured companion suddenly knocked him unconscious with a heavy blow.
The man revealed himself to be Zhang Siye, an undercover agent from the Southern Archives' Xiacheng headquarters who had been monitoring Zhang Ruipu ever since his escape to Nanyang. Zhang Siye explained that Zhang Ruipu had recently hijacked an official vessel and stolen a mysterious Balai statue originating from Xucheng, which had driven him mad with a desire to unleash an ancient power. Zhang Siye had secretly called the Nanyang branch for assistance to stop him.
With his final breaths, Zhang Siye warned the brothers to immediately halt their investigation, urging them never to accept any future Archives missions concerning the reef. Before passing away, he repeatedly whispered the word "grass" and muttered about plants and the reef. With the giant beast still pursuing them, the two agents rushed toward the exit. At the surface, they encountered Zhang Ruipu’s remaining henchmen.
Zhang Hailou lied, claiming that Zhang Ruipu was dying inside and demanding their explosives to clear the path. Once he secured the dynamite, he threw it back down the shaft, collapsing the entrance to seal the Evil God inside before running away with Zhang Haixia. Later, on their journey back, the two debated the outcome of the case.
Zhang Haixia grumbled that because the shrine was now buried, he couldn't write a logical report for their master, as the clues were now severed. When Zhang Hailou argued that the undercover agent had pointed them toward Xucheng, Zhang Haixia retorted that Xucheng was too vast and filled with countless such statues. The bickering eventually turned to their past, with Zhang Haixia reminding his partner of how they had ended up in Nanyang for a thirty-year assignment.
Originally, Zhang Haixia was supposed to take a comfortable post at the Thirteen Hongs of Guangchuan, but he had voluntarily requested a transfer to Balongzhou just to keep his stubborn brother safe. While traveling in a carriage back to Xiacheng to report to their master, Zhang Hailou suddenly changed his mind halfway through the journey.
Realizing that he was the one who had insisted on taking the case in the first place, and that returning empty-handed would only lead to severe punishment, he refused to give up. Zhang Hailou decided to continue the investigation on his own and got off the carriage. Unwilling to abandon his stubborn partner, Zhang Haixia chose to join him, and together they set off on foot toward Xucheng to continue their pursuit of the mystery.
