Psych-Hunter Episode 31 Recap
> Psych-Hunter Recap
After Old Master Qin consumed the swapped medication, Shen Tian returned to her office with the documents she had retrieved from him. She realized that these were patient records from Renji Hospital, detailing individuals who had succumbed to the plague. Realizing the gravity of her discovery, she promptly called Qin Yiheng.
She informed him that she had stolen a file and mortuary records from Old Master Qin and needed to organize them, arranging to meet him the following noon at the abandoned church in the northern district. Soon after, Sergeant Bai presented Qin Yiheng with a "Cooperation Agreement." It revealed that Qin Yiheng's father, Qin Yi, had been Jiang Ye's partner in the mining business.
Sergeant Bai further explained that all six members of the Jiang family were found dead overnight, and police investigations had mysteriously stalled, leading to rumors of ghost murders. This made Qin Yiheng suspect that his brother's earlier incident at the Jiang Residence might not have been an accident but rather related to the Jiang family. Stunned by this revelation, Qin Yiheng immediately left to confront his father.
Qin Yiheng went to his father's hospital room and placed the "Cooperation Agreement" in front of him, hoping for answers. He directly asked his father, Qin Yi, what truly happened to the Jiang family. Qin Yi asserted that Jiang Ye, despite his philanthropic facade, was a traitor who sold the copper mine to the Japanese, thereby tarnishing the Chamber of Commerce's reputation. Qin Yiheng then directly questioned his father if he was the one who reported Jiang Ye.
At this, Qin Yi appeared offended, asking if that was how his son saw him. Qin Yichi, overhearing the confrontation, entered the room and admonished Qin Yiheng for his attitude towards their father. He claimed Qin Yi's actions were for the family's and Qin Yiheng's own good, demanding an apology. Unswayed, Qin Yiheng retorted that if his father truly cared for them, he should reveal the truth about the Jiang family in 1912.
He also pressed Qin Yichi about his reasons for going to the Jiang Residence, demanding to know what secrets they were hiding. With a sense of dawning realization, Qin Yiheng declared that he understood. Meanwhile, as Shen Tian returned home, she noticed someone following her. Before she could react, an assailant attacked her from behind, strangling her. Qin Yiheng and Jiang Shuo waited at the church, but Shen Tian never arrived.
Instead, they were met by her elder sister, Jiang Yan, who questioned their presence. Jiang Shuo explained Shen Tian had asked them to meet, which immediately concerned Jiang Yan, as she stated Shen Tian wouldn't have called them without involving her. Qin Yiheng asked Jiang Yan if the Qin family was involved in Jiang Ye's treason conviction. Jiang Yan, however, deflected, accusing the Qin family of becoming increasingly hypocritical.
Determined to find the truth, Qin Yiheng allowed Jiang Shuo to guide him into Jiang Yan's Psych-scape. Jiang Shuo noted that her Psych-scape differed from her brother's. Inside, they witnessed a charitable celebration hosted by Jiang Ye, who was being praised for donating to many elementary schools. A faceless man approached Jiang Ye privately, urging him to sell the copper mine to the Japanese, promising profits equivalent to twenty years of mining.
Jiang Ye vehemently refused, declaring himself a philanthropist, not a traitor, and warning that the Japanese's ambition and the copper mine would endanger Changshanzhou. He vowed that as long as he lived, the Japanese would not acquire a single piece of ore. The faceless man then summoned black-clad assassins who brutally murdered Jiang Ye and his wife, while Jiang Ye urged his children to flee. Jiang Shuo quickly pulled Qin Yiheng out of the harrowing Psych-scape.
Upon waking, Jiang Yan stated she had no evidence to prove Qin Yi was the true murderer, but was certain it was related to the Qin family, especially given Qin Yi became the sole beneficiary of the mine, and her marriage to Sun Zhilong was to investigate Qin Yi's involvement. She revealed that after Jiang Ye's treason conviction, his former beneficiaries turned against him.
After his death, their mother found four children's corpses from a mass grave and used them to fake their children's deaths, allowing them to escape. Recalling her father's good deeds ending in such betrayal, Jiang Yan swore that the Jiang family would never again show kindness to others. Soon after, Li Mi rushed in to announce that Shen Tian had been killed.
Overwhelmed with grief and rage, Jiang Yan confronted Shen Tian's body, expressing sorrow that Shen Tian had not heeded their father's last words about "kindness bringing bad endings." Li Mi, in turn, blamed Qin Yichi for Shen Tian's death, noting Shen Tian's choice to meet at the church rather than the hospital. She then rushed towards Qin Yichi, who was tending to Old Master Qin, accusing him of the murder.
Qin Yichi denied involvement, stating he was with his father all night, a claim the nurses could verify. Sergeant Bai intervened, promising a thorough investigation and warning Li Mi against causing a scene. Later, the police apprehended Zhang San's associate, who confessed that Shen Tian and Zhang San had argued over money, resulting in both their accidental deaths, allowing him to steal the money. Jiang Shuo and Qin Yiheng found this explanation unsatisfactory.
They learned that Zhang San was stabbed with scissors and Shen Tian was strangled, with all money missing from her house. Qin Yiheng noted Zhang San's prior promise to leave after taking money, making his presence and death suspicious, which led him to theorize a third party was involved.
Jiang Shuo and Qin Yiheng then sought out Wan Jiang Shuo, who asserted Zhang San was like a brother and would never have killed Shen Tian, as he had promised to protect her. Jiang Shuo and Qin Yiheng concluded the murders were not for money, but to conceal something deeper. Yuan Muqing then remembered Shen Tian's phone call to Qin Yiheng, offering documents. This prompted them to search Shen Tian's room, where they found the promised files.
Qin Yiheng realized these were the documents Shen Tian had stolen from his father, Qin Yi, containing mortuary reports and details of every case they had investigated. He observed that while the mortuary reports were simply ordered by case time, the other documents, also from his father, were highly suspicious. Each victim's profile detailed the purchase time of their houses and their deepest vulnerabilities, ending with the phrase "I can use this man."
Qin Yiheng deduced that each victim had been thoroughly researched, their weaknesses exploited, and problematic houses sold to them, implying all cases were orchestrated by the seller. Yuan Muqing suggested the phrase "I can use this man" might refer to Liu Zhi. This led Qin Yiheng to a painful realization: if Shen Tian stole these files from his father, what was his father's connection to Liu Zhi?
Jiang Shuo tried to calm Qin Yiheng, suggesting his father might not be Liu Zhi. He refocused their efforts on identifying the original owners of the houses. Jiang Yan confirmed that all the houses belonged to the Jiang family, confiscated after her father's downfall. She explained they had continued to follow the fate of these properties, noticing a pattern when all the solved cases occurred in them, which then inspired her serialized stories.
She also revealed a ledger she had acquired, noting that while the stolen patient records listed buyer information but no seller, and her ledger listed dates and payments but no buyer, the times and sequences perfectly matched. Qin Yiheng discovered a peculiar entry in the ledger from 1912: an income of 200,000 silver notes with no corresponding purchase record.
Jiang Yan explained this correlated with the copper mine incident when her father was framed for treason and murdered, his death disguised as suicide. Qin Yi then became the sole owner and primary beneficiary of the mine. Jiang Yan directly accused Qin Yi, Qin Yiheng's father, of orchestrating her family's downfall, a suspicion affirmed by years of investigation and her marriage to Sun Zhilong to obtain this very ledger.
Qin Yiheng connected the dots: if these houses originally belonged to the Jiang family, then his father was likely the one who sold them. He then asked Jiang Shuo, who had previous real estate dealings with Liu Zhi, about his father's possible relationship with Liu Zhi. Jiang Shuo urged them to confront Qin Yi immediately. When Qin Yiheng returned to the hospital, his father, Qin Yi, was gone. The medical staff confirmed his disappearance.
Yuan Muqing, seeing Qin Yiheng's distress, offered to ask her own father for help in finding him. Qin Yiheng found a charred note by his father's bedside. Jiang Shuo admitted he had studied it but found no clues, suggesting they needed to focus on it to find Qin Yi.
Qin Yiheng mused whether a character on the note might refer to "Earthly Branches" or "Eight Symbols," but then realized, given his father's handwriting and past remarks, it was "Yin" (阴) from "Yin River" (阴河). He recalled his father often speaking about searching for the Yin River, and the accumulating evidence linked his father and Liu Zhi to the previous cases. Qin Yiheng expressed deep sadness and confusion about his father's motives.
Jiang Shuo reassured him that if his father was indeed seeking the Yin River, their objectives aligned, and solving Liu Zhi's puzzle would lead them to Qin Yi. Meanwhile, the thief imprisoned earlier received a note reading, "Your affairs are in order. You may die in peace." Without hesitation, he violently rammed his head against the cell wall, killing himself. Later, at home, Yuan Muqing ate dinner with her family.
Her father, General Yuan, questioned her about her continued association with "that little punk Jiang Shuo," a characterization Yuan Muqing quickly refuted. She then asked her father if he knew about Qin Yi's return and recent disappearance, mentioning its connection to Liu Zhi and suggesting they help find him. General Yuan became furious, dismissing Qin Yi as merely a businessman with no family to report his disappearance to. He sternly warned Yuan Muqing not to get involved in the matter.
That night, Jiang Shuo woke up in his Psych-scape and called out for Liu Zhi, seeking answers. Liu Zhi responded, telling him not to worry, as they would meet after two more levels. He then left Jiang Shuo a new clue: a single character, "Qin" (秦). The next day, a new victim was discovered: Tang Ming, the owner of a shipping business. The new victim, Tang Ming, was found dead at Tian Sheng Port, a property managed by Qin Yichi.
As Qin Yiheng arrived to assist Sergeant Bai with the investigation, he encountered his brother. Qin Yiheng ignored Qin Yichi's presence, instead asking if their father had returned home, then quickly moved to examine the body. Qin Yichi, meanwhile, derisively questioned Sergeant Bai, implying that Qin Yiheng's involvement was due to some elevated status from doctor to medical examiner, and complained that the investigation was disrupting port business and causing financial losses.
Sergeant Bai urged him to prioritize the human life lost. Qin Yiheng's initial examination revealed that Tang Ming had not died from hanging; rather, he was strangled from behind, his neck broken, and his body bore a strange leaf tattoo. This suggested a quick and professional assassination, likely by someone he didn't even see.
Qin Yichi attempted to halt the investigation and remove it from his "territory," further insulting Sergeant Bai and Qin Yiheng by implying Qin Yiheng was not suited for the work and was sabotaging their family business. Qin Yiheng intervened, reminding them this was an investigation, not a private dispute. Sergeant Bai then requested to inspect the deceased's cargo, but Qin Yichi refused, worrying about potential losses and demanding who would pay.
Qin Yiheng stepped forward, taking responsibility for any lost cargo, and proceeded to the warehouse. Qin Yichi followed, warning him to stay out of port matters, claiming it was their father's wish. Qin Yiheng pressed him on whether he knew their father's location, but Qin Yichi denied knowing, simply reiterating that the port's affairs were too complex for Qin Yiheng to meddle in.
