The Mystic Nine Episode 7 Recap
> The Mystic Nine Recap
Er Yue Hong, seeking to assist Zhang Qishan without direct involvement, penned a letter containing ancestral knowledge about the mysterious mining mountain. He entrusted Chen Pi to secretly deliver this letter to Zhang Qishan's mansion, explicitly instructing him not to reveal the sender. Chen Pi, however, did not proceed directly to Zhang Qishan. Instead, he first made a copy of the letter and took it to Tanaka Ryoko.
Chen Pi refused to hand over the copied letter, demanding to meet the true buyer. Tanaka Ryoko conceded and led him to the American Changsha Chamber of Commerce, leaving him to wait in the hall. Unbeknownst to Chen Pi, assassins were lying in ambush, intending to eliminate him and seize the document. Chen Pi, demonstrating his formidable martial arts skills, engaged them in a fierce battle. The fighting was interrupted by the appearance of Hendry Cox, who calmed the situation.
Identifying himself as the primary interested party, Hendry Cox offered to cure Ya Tou's illness in exchange for the letter. Chen Pi, initially skeptical of Hendry Cox's medical claims, was convinced after Hendry Cox demonstrated a "wonder drug" on one of the injured assassins, providing immediate pain relief. Trusting Hendry Cox for the time being, Chen Pi agreed to the deal. Following the agreement with Hendry Cox, Chen Pi delivered the original letter to Zhang Qishan's mansion.
Zhang Qishan and Qi Tiezui examined the document. They noted the deliberate alteration in the handwriting, yet recognized Er Yue Hong's distinct style, confirming his authorship. Zhang Qishan deduced that Er Yue Hong was deliberately withholding some information about the mining mountain. Despite Qi Tiezui's reservations about revisiting the dangerous mine, Zhang Qishan decided they must return. First, he dispatched Qi Tiezui alone to scout the area surrounding the mining mountain and investigate local conditions.
Meanwhile, Zhang Qishan received news from his subordinate that an intelligence officer named Lu Jianxun had been transferred to Changsha to assist him. Zhang Qishan revealed to his subordinate that he knew Lu Jianxun, describing him as a complex and two-faced individual whose political views often clashed with his own, hinting at potential trouble with his arrival.
When Lu Jianxun arrived, he outwardly presented a cordial demeanor, claiming his superiors had sent him to help stabilize the volatile situation in Changsha. Despite this, Zhang Qishan remained wary, advising his subordinate to always be on guard against such deceptive individuals. After leaving Zhang Qishan's residence, Lu Jianxun expressed his envy for Zhang Qishan's power, commenting on his comfort and resources, and ordered his own subordinate to discreetly monitor Zhang Qishan, intent on finding leverage to displace him.
Hendry Cox, aware of Lu Jianxun's ambition to usurp Zhang Qishan's position and control the Nine Families, instructed his own subordinate to merely observe Lu Jianxun, believing he might prove useful in their own schemes. True to his word, Hendry Cox, impersonating a doctor, accompanied Chen Pi to Er Yue Hong's mansion to treat Ya Tou.
After examining her, Hendry Cox accurately diagnosed her with chronic fatigue syndrome caused by excessive stress and worry, listing several precise symptoms which Ya Tou confirmed. He administered an injection, providing Ya Tou with immediate relief from her pain through the temporary effects of morphine. This quickly earned him the trust of both Ya Tou and Chen Pi. Hendry Cox left them with a two-month supply of the medication and promised to teach Chen Pi how to administer the injections.
Ya Tou expressed profound gratitude to Chen Pi for his persistent efforts to find a cure, acknowledging his hard work for her illness. Concurrently, Qi Tiezui, disguised as a Daoist fortune-teller, arrived at a village near the mining mountain to gather intelligence. He heard villagers talking about an eccentric mad beggar. Following their directions, he found the beggar in a dilapidated temple, frantically pulling out his hair and muttering about it trying to consume him.
Employing a clever ruse, Qi Tiezui, acting as a "Great Immortal," convinced the beggar to reveal that ten months prior, he had entered a cave in the back mountain and encountered a terrifying, hair-like entity. Qi Tiezui then shaved the beggar's head, symbolically "removing the hair demon" and calming him. He instructed the beggar to continue getting his head shaved regularly by the local barber, to fully dispel his "heart's demon."
From other villagers, Qi Tiezui also learned that several Japanese individuals had recently been seen loitering suspiciously around the mining mountain and the village, providing him with significant new clues about the mysteries of the mine.
