Time Raiders Episode 13 Recap
> Time Raiders Recap
Pangzi returned to the central area of the room, noting that each hall inexplicably featured a water pool. With the oxygen tanks still missing, he began a thorough search. At the bottom of one pool, Pangzi discovered seven bodies. He exclaimed, "What are these? Twelve hands? Are there six people inside here? They drowned together while bathing?" Zhang Qiling corrected him, stating, "There's only one person here."
Zhang Qiling explained that what appeared to be multiple heads were actually growths on her body, but she indeed possessed twelve arms. Pangzi found this bizarre, questioning, "A human with twelve arms? Is that still human? It's clearly some sort of insect. Theoretically speaking, someone with congenital chromosomal abnormalities would have severely underdeveloped organs. How could she grow this large?"
Pangzi suggested they drain the water from the pool to examine a large stone slab at the bottom, which appeared to have inscriptions. " If you ask me, there's an easy way to figure this out. Let's hurry back to that room we were in and bring all those clay pots here. When we bail out this water, we'll see what's really underneath. And look. There seems to be a stone slab down there. We can take it out too.
Maybe we can find something unexpected." Wu Xie agreed, adding, "Since we came down, we haven't seen a single word. If I could read the inscription on this stone slab, we might piece together some clues. That would greatly help our next steps." Pangzi urged them to hurry before the mechanisms reset. He then went to retrieve the pots, while Wu Xie lingered, observing the patterns on a nearby stone pier.
He noticed the designs were not characteristic of the Central Plains region. He tried to ask Pangzi about them, but realizing he was alone in the unsettling silence, he called out, "Pangzi? Pangzi?" with no response. As Wu Xie ran from the room, he realized the layout had changed, confirming his suspicions about the shifting structure. Suddenly, a great commotion erupted from the pool. A hairy, ape-like monster lunged out. Wu Xie fled, pursued relentlessly by the creature.
Fortunately, he had a flashlight, which the monster seemed to fear. He used the strong beam to fend it off, strategically pushing it towards a stone wall until he managed to trap it outside a door. A noise from the central pool in the new room startled Wu Xie, making him fear another monster. He braced himself with a dagger, only to find Pangzi and Zhang Qiling emerging from the water. Relieved, Wu Xie exclaimed, "Darn you, Pangzi!
You scared me half to death!" He immediately asked, "Where were you guys?" Pangzi replied that they had been chased by a monster. Wu Xie then asked if it was the same white-furred, fast-moving creature with tiny hands, but Pangzi said no. Wu Xie described his attacker as "human-shaped. . . It launched from the spring instantly. But it definitely wasn't human. It's over two meters. Freakishly tall." He remarked to Zhang Qiling, "Xiaoge, this place feels wrong.
Why are there so many monsters here?" Zhang Qiling identified the creatures as "sea monkeys." Pangzi, surprised, asked, "Sea monkeys? Who keeps them? They actually exist?" Wu Xie insisted they leave immediately, but Pangzi reminded him that the sea monkey Wu Xie encountered was locked outside the door, and they should wait for the elevator to activate before attempting to leave. Wu Xie asked Pangzi what he had encountered.
Pangzi recounted how he and Zhang Qiling had drained the pool. " After we drained all that water, we hauled that thing up." He referred to the body with the growths, asking Zhang Qiling, "She has a swollen belly. Could she have been pregnant?" He also mentioned the stone slab: "What's written here? Wu's not around. I can't read these characters." He asked Zhang Qiling if he recognized them. Zhang Qiling pointed out a hole beneath the stone tablet.
Pangzi was surprised, "A hole is under this stone tablet. How'd you know that? It's man-made. Could it be dug by Wu's third uncle? That doesn't make sense. But why dig a hole here? Unless they encountered the same situation as us and tried to leave through here?" As Zhang Qiling focused on the wriggling belly of the monster they discovered, a small hand emerged and grabbed his arm. Zhang Qiling immediately yelled, "Pangzi, run!"
Pangzi, despite offering help, quickly jumped into the deep hole below the pool, with Zhang Qiling following close behind. Pangzi explained how they had escaped: "Then we just kept swimming and swimming until we surfaced. Then we saw you, scaring me to death." He pressed Zhang Qiling for details about the creature, asking, "What exactly was that thing? Is it that terrifying?" Zhang Qiling clarified, "It's a small-clawed otter. Possibly mutated. It lurks in putrid, damp places.
If we kill it, it releases toxic gas." Pangzi agreed, "So running was smart. No argument here." Though Zhang Qiling's arm bore a rotten wound from the toxic creature, his unique constitution allowed him to effortlessly heal it, restoring his skin to its original state. Wu Xie then realized, "That means the tunnel you came through leads to this pool?" Zhang Qiling nodded. Wu Xie pondered, "What's the point of this?"
Pangzi remarked on Wu Xie's contemplative state, asking why he was still staring at the stone pier. Wu Xie explained that the images on the stone pier were narrative paintings, depicting the ship's owner and its construction. He deduced the architect must be Wang Canghai, a legendary master of Feng Shui and engineering from six centuries prior. Wang Canghai was responsible for designing the vast Dayong Imperial Palace and several major cities, his expertise in geomancy and ingenious mechanisms unparalleled.
Wu Xie theorized that such a genius could undoubtedly construct a ship capable of remaining submerged and incorruptible for a millennium. Pangzi then asked Wu Xie if he could recall any inscriptions on the stone slab they found earlier, hoping to corroborate this theory, but Wu Xie admitted he was too startled by the white-furred monster to remember any details. The pool in their current location made another noise. The three remained alert, but the disturbance subsided without anything emerging.
Upon closer inspection, they found the water in the pool had mysteriously vanished, revealing a deep pit several tens of meters deep with many steps leading to its bottom. Pangzi bravely suggested they explore, "It's so deep. This is a bottomless pit. If we follow these stone steps down, there might be another path. Should we go check it out? Let's go." Wu Xie urged caution, "Pangzi. Wait a second. At least wait for the mist to clear.
It's too dangerous right now." Pangzi, however, was determined. " I'll be fine. I'm just going to scout ahead. If there's real danger, I'll come back up. Relax." He descended the steps, Zhang Qiling jumped directly into the pit, and Wu Xie followed Pangzi down the stairs. As they descended, Pangzi spotted something on the walls. " English letters here! You must be mistaken. Why would there be that in the shipwreck?
I might not know English well, but I know the alphabet. This is clearly English. Come down and see for yourself. Read what it says then." Wu Xie, still higher up, retorted, "If I could read it, would I need you to come down?" Pangzi insisted, "Enough talk. Get down here. If this isn't English, I'll write my surname upside down." Wu Xie descended and confirmed, "Yes, it is! I apologize, okay?"
Wu Xie then speculated on the unexpected presence of English. " Why are there English letters here? Could it be that some foreigners came down here before? Those foreigners! Always stealing our treasures! Not necessarily. Chinese people could write these too. My theory is that when the previous exploration team came down, they encountered dangers and carved these English letters as a warning." He considered the possibility: "Are you saying it might've been your third uncle's team?
That crossed my mind. But if the others came down here while my third uncle slept, could there be a connection between their disappearance and this place?" Zhang Qiling then stated, "I think I've been here before." Pangzi was curious, "Where's he going? What did he say? Xiaoge!" Wu Xie pondered if Zhang Qiling was the young man from the old photo he saw in Chen Wenjin's diary.
Pangzi commented on the vastness of the space, "I'm telling you, this place is pitch black. Earlier, Xiaoge and I nearly drowned underwater. We didn't notice the space below is so huge." They then found Zhang Qiling fixated on a stone sculpture. Pangzi asked, "What's this stone sculpture supposed to be? Looks like some Hemudu tribesman." Zhang Qiling identified it as a "Sea-Calming Stone Monkey, usually sunk at pond bottoms to ward off evil." Pangzi, ever the pragmatist, retorted, "It wards off evil? I should be thanking it if it doesn't beat me."
