The Lion's Secret Episode 23 Recap
> The Lion's Secret Recap
Taisa was in a critical state, having lost her will to survive and refusing to eat or drink. Mu Wanqing asked Tata if there were any secret words only she and Taisa understood, as Taisa was in grave danger and could be sold or die at any moment. Initially, Tata couldn't recall anything and wept, but Mu Wanqing urged her to remember, confirming Taisa's grim situation. Tata then remembered their special code word: "wax apple."
Liu Qing decided to send a message to Taisa. He placed a bid of 100,000 dollars to have two wax apples delivered to Taisa and Xiang, requesting them to dance with them. When Taisa saw the heart-shaped wax apple, she immediately recognized it as a message from her mother. She exclaimed, "Wax apple means mom! My mom found me!" Xiang, however, was skeptical, questioning if Taisa's mother was rich enough to save them.
Taisa admitted her mother wasn't wealthy but insisted it was her mother's signal. Despite Xiang's warning to be quiet, Taisa, filled with renewed hope, began to eat the wax apple. Soon after, the live stream received a new, horrifying instruction. Despite Liu Qing's high bid, an old client demanded that Taisa and Xiang kill each other, or both would die.
The team realized this customer was driven by a desire to witness their despair, not by a specific interest in twins, and that their auction strategy to contact the traffickers wouldn't work because the traffickers didn't trust them. Inside the room, the trafficker relayed the command: "Now you have to strike the other down, or neither of you will survive." Xiang, remembering Taisa's mother was looking for her, quickly devised a plan.
She urged Taisa to fight her to buy time and satisfy the traffickers, even though Taisa was physically weaker. Xiang deliberately took Taisa's blows, feigning a struggle, which was evident to Liu Qing and his team, who observed that Xiang was clearly trying to delay. Seeing Mu Wanqing's distress, Liu Qing advised her to rest, promising to inform her of any critical developments.
While the team was engrossed in the live stream, Feng Cong, having previously given Mu Wanqing a drugged drink, quietly carried the unconscious Mu Wanqing out of the school and drove away. The others, busy with the urgent situation, didn't notice Feng Cong's absence. The next morning, Mu Wanqing woke up in Feng Cong's car, bewildered by their location.
Feng Cong revealed they were heading to the airport for her safety, claiming it was a "cutting loss" strategy because the school situation was too complex for them to help, and Liu Qing's profile was top secret. He even stated that taking her away was a joint decision with Liu Qing. However, Mu Wanqing vehemently refused to abandon the children, insisting she wouldn't be selfish and demanded to be driven back to save Taisa and Xiang.
She stressed her responsibility as the school's largest shareholder to ensure the children's safety and complete her mission. Faced with her unwavering determination, Feng Cong had no choice but to comply. Upon their return, Mu Wanqing immediately confronted Liu Qing, accusing him of restricting her personal freedom. She warned him that while she wouldn't interfere with his dangerous plans, she would never accept being removed from the situation while others faced peril.
She rejected his claim of acting for her sake, telling him not to impose his idea of "good" on her. With just fourteen hours left on the auction countdown, the same account issued a new chilling command: provide Taisa and Xiang with a knife and double the countdown speed, forcing them to stab each other. Taisa, terrified, cried out for her mother.
As the trafficker pressed them to act or die, Xiang, in a desperate act of defiance, grabbed the knife and, looking directly at the camera, shouted, "Ugople will drive you to hell!" before cutting the camera's wire, instantly stopping the live stream. This drastic action angered the traffickers, who then retaliated by tying up Xiang and injecting Taisa with a lethal dose of ketamine, intending for Xiang to watch her die a slow, agonizing death.
The trafficker explicitly told Xiang, "According to your weight, 500 milliliters is enough to kill you. Then she can watch you die." Xiang begged him to kill her instead and fake her death for the livestream, but he refused, saying their boss wasn't naive and he would still get paid after Taisa's death.
Liu Qing and his team, piecing together Xiang's cryptic message about "Ugople," a god from Feircona, and recalling how Ugople saved a princess from "Devil Nuzana," Liu Qing asked if there was a temple of Nuzana. Lei Shuo, investigating, found no temple dedicated to such an evil figure, but instead, a deserted Nuzana Steelworks. They immediately recognized this as the likely location. Liu Qing quickly sent the location to Nawa, who was tasked with an outer perimeter encirclement.
He instructed Feng Cong to stay at the school with the others to protect the children. Liu Qing, along with Wu Fengyu and Lei Shuo, then set off, with Liu Qing leading the charge and Lei Shuo coordinating the outer flank. As Taisa weakened, Xiang, with a surge of strength, managed to break free from her bonds.
Seeing Taisa's dire condition, she rushed to her side and pulled out the syringe, saving Taisa from the immediate threat of the lethal solution. Just then, a trafficker entered, noticed the detached syringe, and turned furiously towards Xiang. Xiang quickly knocked him down, attempting to escape with Taisa. However, the trafficker recovered, grabbed his gun, and aimed at Taisa. In a heroic act, Xiang bravely lunged forward, shielding Taisa and taking the bullet meant for her.
At that very moment, Liu Qing and his team burst in, with Liu Qing kicking the trafficker to the ground. Taisa was finally safe, but Xiang, having sacrificed herself, succumbed to her injury. Liu Qing, witnessing Xiang's bravery and loss, was deeply saddened. The rescue operation freed many children, and the entire human trafficking group was apprehended. Following the rescue, Taisa reunited with her mother, Tata, who expressed immense relief and sorrow for her daughter's suffering.
Taisa, though injured, was deemed out of danger by the doctors. In the interest of avoiding complications and publicity, Liu Qing had Nawa take full credit for the successful operation, a move Nawa accepted, even using bureaucratic language when addressing the press. Nawa later introduced Liu Qing to Atuna, a prominent local entrepreneur from Bazhen, who expressed profound gratitude for saving the children.
Atuna, also revealed to be preparing for next year's election, announced that he would cover all medical and psychological intervention costs for the rescued children before leaving to visit them. Meanwhile, Liu Qing gave Nawa instructions regarding the other rescued children, tasking him with verifying their identities, reuniting them with parents if possible, or contacting welfare houses for those without families. Wu Fengyu, staying at the hospital, gently questioned Taisa about her kidnapping.
Despite her trauma and guilt over Xiang's death, Taisa bravely recounted her two-year ordeal. She remembered being snatched while walking behind her mother with another child, gagged and blindfolded, and later finding herself in a deserted Nuzana Steelworks, specifically a smelter, where she met Xiang. She vividly recalled the kidnappers' car having a "green license plate with white characters" and described the despair before the camera's installation marked the beginning of their nightmare.
Later, as Liu Qing drove Mu Wanqing back to the school, Mu Wanqing confessed her initial belief that he would save both girls. She reflected on his resilience, stating that Fu Jundie had shared the traumatic past experiences of Liu Qing, Lei Shuo, and Wu Fengyu, finally helping her understand why he was so reluctant to discuss his past. Liu Qing acknowledged the world's inherent unfairness, stating they could only strive to do their best and live without compunction.
After Liu Qing dropped Mu Wanqing off, Wu Fengyu called him, urging him back to the hospital. Wu Fengyu suspected a shadowy figure was orchestrating events, pointing out how Taisa's identity and the leaked video suggested someone intimately familiar with their operations was manipulating them. Immediately after, Lei Shuo called with urgent news: all the captured traffickers had been silenced, except for one, who was being brought to their hospital. Liu Qing rushed to the designated ward.
After briefly getting Nawa's permission to enter the guarded room, Liu Qing confronted the lone surviving trafficker, trying to persuade him to cooperate by highlighting the fate of his dead comrades. However, just as Liu Qing began to question him, the trafficker suddenly foamed at the mouth and collapsed. Liu Qing, realizing the nurse who had just left the room was suspicious, quickly gave chase. He saw the nurse, who was Naam in disguise, escaping.
As Liu Qing pursued Naam, he witnessed Atuna abducting a young girl. The girl desperately cried out for help, pleading with Liu Qing to save her sister. Atuna quickly intervened, claiming the girl was his mentally unstable maid whose mind had been affected after her sister went missing. He dismissed Liu Qing's offer of assistance, insisting it was a "housework" matter he would handle himself.
Liu Qing, unable to press further given Atuna's explanation, could only watch as the girl was taken. On the ground, he found a photograph of a little girl, a potential clue. Atuna brought the abducted girl to his compound. Soon after, Yan Jing, who was actually Ma Kulu, and Naam arrived. Atuna mocked the girl for believing Liu Qing was a "savior" who could help her find her sister.
He then ordered his subordinates to kill the girl, saying he would "satisfy" her desire to be with her sister by sending her to "hell." As the girl, identified as Su Pan, tearfully called out for her sister, Naam, unexpectedly, drew her gun and stopped Atuna's men, seemingly moved by the girl's plight as she remembered her own sister.
