The Lost Tomb 2 : Explore with the Note Episode 1 Recap
> The Lost Tomb 2 : Explore with the Note Recap
Wu Xie awoke from a vivid nightmare in which his Uncle San Xing scolded him for reading his grandfather's notebook. In the dream, Uncle San Xing had transformed into a menacing monster. Startled, Wu Xie soon realized he was trapped in a series of layered dreams. After truly waking, his computer received an urgent message: "Come to Hainan if you want to save Uncle San Xing!" Wu Xie immediately rushed to Hainan.
A stranger handed him a car key and a business card, instructing him to go to the Clear Water Bay Private Dock. As he drove, Wu Xie reflected on past moments with his uncle, recalling a specific memory of Wu San Xing lamenting, "How could you let Xie Lian Huan down? How could you let Xie family down? Impudent child!" Wu Xie knew this journey would be incredibly difficult but was determined to find his uncle.
At the dock, Wu Xie was surprised to find A Ning waiting for him. He immediately questioned if she had sent the email and if Wu San Xing was truly missing, mentioning that his uncle's store staff also didn't know his whereabouts. Wu Xie, confident in his uncle's experience as a veteran tomb raider, initially refused to believe he could simply disappear.
A Ning explained that Wu San Xing had initiated a collaboration with her company, an international marine resources development company, which specialized in locating shipwrecks and salvaging resources. Wu Xie, understanding the lucrative nature of such ventures, remarked, "A ship is worth 10 tombs." A Ning clarified that their collaboration was "to protect the ocean ruins" and had undergone "legal formalities." Wu Xie was skeptical, recalling A Ning's less-than-kind demeanor in their previous encounters.
A Ning revealed that Wu San Xing and her boss were good friends, and the convincing clues provided by his uncle led the board of directors to lend him "extra equipment and staff with strata guarantee" for a scouting mission around the North Reef. The operation began smoothly, but two days prior, at 5 p. m. , Wu San Xing's ship vanished from satellite positioning. Wu Xie grew agitated, questioning why A Ning hadn't called maritime rescue.
A Ning calmly stated that Wu San Xing had specifically instructed them to find Wu Xie first if anything happened to him. Despite his doubts, as his uncle had never sought his help in his many years of tomb raiding, Wu Xie agreed to accompany A Ning. She warned him that the mid-month windy season was approaching, and the sea would soon become rough.
On board the ship, Wu Xie reunited with Wang Pangzi, who was also there at A Ning's invitation. Wang Pangzi excitedly talked about an underwater tomb, which he described as a shipwreck belonging to a wealthy Ming dynasty tycoon named Shen Wan San. Wu Xie sternly reminded Wang Pangzi that their priority was finding Uncle San Xing, not tomb raiding or reselling items from the ship.
Wu Xie privately wondered about A Ning's truthfulness, a sentiment Wang Pangzi echoed, describing her as sly, like a "pitcher plant" that "only tells a half truth" and "will rip you off behind your back." A Ning, listening in via intercom, retorted that Wang Pangzi was "definitely not on my list." She then summoned them to the deck. On deck, Wu Xie pressed A Ning about the discrepancy between a "shipwreck" and an "underwater tomb."
A Ning explained that Wu San Xing had come to them with information from Wu Xie's grandfather's notebook, which mentioned an underwater tomb. Wu San Xing's archaeological team had previously located the tomb, but an incident prevented its excavation, and the information was then sealed away.
Wu Xie deduced that A Ning had lied about the "legal formality" and was using an ordinary fishing boat as a rescue vessel because "border guards noticed" their activities, forcing them to disguise their operation. A Ning dismissed these as "trivial matters," emphasizing that finding Wu San Xing was paramount. As they spoke, Consultant Zhang Hao, accompanied by the captain, joined them. Zhang Hao immediately voiced his concern about the ship, declaring, "This boat won't work!"
and that it was "too old and too small," warning it might "overturn" in a storm. Wang Pangzi quickly shut him down, calling him a "foul mouth, Mister Jinx." A Ning introduced Zhang Hao as an "expert of ocean ruins," though Zhang Hao modestly downplayed his achievements. Zhang Hao, a bald man, was overly enthusiastic, praising Wu Xie as a "promising young man" and admiring his expensive watch. Soon, the weather turned, and a fierce storm engulfed the ship.
Crew members struggled to secure ropes and items. Zhang Hao's predictions came true as the boat was battered by waves, and one of its motors broke down. The captain ordered the radio to be fixed to send a distress signal. Wang Pangzi, in a fit of frustration, shouted at the ocean and was knocked unconscious by a massive wave. Wu Xie and A Ning rushed him to the cabin. Suddenly, a strange sound caught their attention.
Peeking outside, they saw a "ghost ship" looming in the stormy darkness. A Ning warned Wu Xie not to look directly at it or react if anything touched him, claiming there was no such thing as a ghost ship. Despite his skepticism, Wu Xie watched its reflection in the cabin glass, growing curious. As the two ships drew closer, a pair of strange, hand-like objects detached from the ghost ship and latched onto A Ning's shoulder.
Wang Pangzi, now somewhat coherent, tried to hit the hands, but inadvertently knocked A Ning overboard, onto the ghost ship. Ignoring the crew's attempts to restrain him and Wang Pangzi's desperate pleas, Wu Xie insisted, "We have to save her! We came together, we must go back together." He climbed across to the ghost ship using a rope, but the deck planks gave way, sending him and A Ning plunging into the ship's interior.
Inside the ghost ship's cabin, the strange hands that had gripped A Ning disappeared. Wu Xie noted the thick rust, deducing the ship had been floating on the sea for over a decade rather than sinking. He then discovered a "Notebook" titled "Archaeological Records of the Paracel Reefs," dated "July 1984, from Wu San Xing to Chen Wen Jin." Just then, the peculiar hands reappeared, grabbing A Ning again and forcing open a hatch.
A terrifying "sea monkey" emerged from the depths. Wu Xie desperately dragged the unconscious A Ning back as the monster advanced. In a critical moment, Consultant Zhang Hao arrived, identifying the creature and engaging it in a fierce battle, eventually driving the sea monkey away. Zhang Hao carried A Ning, and with Wu Xie, they returned to their original boat. The captain noticed the strange hands still clamped around Wu Xie's neck.
He swiftly removed them using a knife and a sprinkle of cow hair, identifying them as a "human-faced tumor." A Ning, though shaken, was deemed fine and taken to rest. Later, Wang Pangzi, recovering from his head injury, offered to take watch in two hours, but Wu Xie, still wired from the night's events, insisted he was too "hyper" to sleep and would watch.
Wu Xie mused that Consultant Zhang Hao was "very strange indeed," and A Ning was "hiding a lot of stuff." The next morning, Wu Xie sat on the deck, engrossed in the notebook he found on the ghost ship. He saw the names "Chen Wen Jin" and "Wu San Xing," and a list of members for the July 1984 expedition, including "Zhang Qiling" (Zhang Qiling) and "Xie Lian Huan."
He remembered a childhood incident where Wu San Xing left home, promising to bring back good food and explaining he was going to meet "Aunt Wen Jin," who would soon be his "aunt-to-be" and "bear many brothers and sisters" for Wu Xie to play with. Wu Xie found himself wondering if "Zhang Qiling" in the notebook was the mysterious Little Master, and whether Zhang Hao's fighting prowess against the sea monkey mirrored his.
A Ning approached, and Wu Xie quickly concealed the notebook. She thanked him for saving her, but Wu Xie credited Zhang Hao and pressed her for the full truth about why he was there. A Ning finally admitted that while Wu San Xing's ship was genuinely missing, they had discovered a crucial clue: three hours before its disappearance, he had successfully located the underwater tomb and was preparing to enter.
They suspected the research ship had either been hijacked by pirates or, more disturbingly, that Wu San Xing had orchestrated his own disappearance to "do it on his own." A Ning shared that Wu San Xing had once mentioned the tomb contained a "certain amount of oxygen" that could sustain life, leading her to believe he "knew this tomb too well" and "must've been there before."
Wu Xie vehemently rejected the idea of his uncle betraying their collaboration, but A Ning chillingly retorted with the same phrase Wu Xie had heard in his dreams: "How could you let Xie Lian Huan down? How could you let Xie family down? Impudent child!"
