Time Raiders Episode 9 Recap
> Time Raiders Recap
Pan Zi suffered severe injuries, and as the local clinic was unable to treat him, Third Uncle immediately drove him overnight to a larger hospital in the provincial capital. During the drive, Third Uncle called Da Kui’s mother. Introducing himself as Da Kui’s employer, Wu Sanxing, he spoke to her while she was hospitalized. Da Kui’s mother, having often heard her son speak of him, asked Wu Sanxing to keep an eye on Da Kui and discipline him if necessary.
Unable to reveal the tragic truth, Wu Sanxing lied, assuring her that Da Kui was doing excellent work and had been sent abroad for several years where the pay was better, implying he wouldn't be returning soon. He fabricated that Da Kui himself couldn't bring himself to tell her and asked Wu Sanxing to convey the message, reminding her to take her medicine and care for herself. He also promised that the company would regularly transfer money to her account.
Though initially understanding, Da Kui’s mother eventually asked if her son was truly alright, to which Wu Sanxing falsely reassured her he was fine before hanging up, his heart heavy with sorrow. Afterward, Wu Sanxing decided to redistribute the money they had received. Pan Zi’s share was to remain untouched and kept for him. However, both Wu Sanxing’s and Wu Xie’s shares would be sent to Da Kui’s mother.
Wu Sanxing instructed Wu Xie to call and verify the payment from Old Ma. Wu Xie readily agreed to this decision, acknowledging Da Kui as a brother who had risked his life to save him, and now, with Da Kui gone, they had no heart to spend the money. Wu Sanxing also stated that Pan Zi's medical expenses would be covered by the company.
He then looked at Wu Xie and asked if this dangerous life was truly what he desired. Wu Xie later sent the designated funds to Da Kui’s mother as Third Uncle had instructed. Wu Sanxing took their recovered artifacts to the appraisal company. To his dismay, the golden manuscript was declared a fake. The experts stated that ancient crafting techniques could not have achieved such a high purity of gold, leading them to conclude it was a modern forgery.
Wu Sanxing was deeply frustrated that their perilous adventure had yielded nothing of true value. He suspected the Purple Jade Box was also fake and had been swapped. He pondered that the key to this mystery might lie with Xiaoge. Wu Sanxing believed Xiaoge's actions, continuously running from the blood corpse only to defeat it at the last moment, indicated he was trying to shake them off to act alone.
He suggested Xiaoge might have bypassed the main entrance and dug a tunnel behind the tree directly to the vessel's base to swap the items. Wu Xie, still confused, questioned why Xiaoge would save them only to deceive them. Wu Sanxing replied cryptically that saving someone and deceiving them were not mutually exclusive, and even those who are good to you might still lie. He then dismissed further thought, stating he was going to shower.
While Wu Sanxing was getting ready for a shower, he asked Wu Xie to check their backpack for soap. Instead, Wu Xie discovered a small metal box. Wu Sanxing immediately recognized it as a type of puzzle box used by foreigners to store valuables. He explained that despite its size, the internal compartment for items was small due to the intricate eight-dial combination lock mechanism.
Wu Xie mentioned he had found a key in the female corpse's mouth that fit the lock, but Wu Sanxing demonstrated that the key was for locking, not unlocking, after the password had been entered. He noted the brilliance of the ancient craftsman, whose techniques were now lost. Wu Sanxing believed the eight dials, each with digits from zero to nine, offered a hundred million possible combinations, making it nearly impossible to open by chance.
He planned to consult a craftsman friend. However, Wu Xie, recognizing the eight-digit lock, remembered a sequence of numbers—022, 00059—from a foreigner's belt at King Lu's kiln. He quickly input the numbers, and to their astonishment, the box clicked open. Wu Sanxing was shocked, asking how Wu Xie knew the code. Wu Xie explained its origin. Inside the box, they found a small, intricately designed metal fish.
Wu Sanxing then revealed an identical fish he carried in his own pocket, and the two fish could fit together perfectly, a discovery that clearly disturbed him. The sight of the two matching fish triggered a thirty-year-old memory for Wu Sanxing. Wu Xie remembered his aunt, Wen Jin, as a geological survey team leader who had disappeared during a maritime expedition, leaving Wu Sanxing distraught for years, and he wondered if her disappearance was connected to this fish.
Wu Sanxing recounted that twenty years ago, Wen Jin, driven by her passion for geological exploration, had led a team of young, like-minded individuals, forming the "Ru Sea Subsea Geological Survey Team." He, as a security consultant, joined them on an expedition to Ru Sea for deep-sea geological sampling. Their efforts initially yielded success, as Xie Lianhuan discovered giant tube-dwelling worms, leading them to speculate about massive oil reserves nearby.
Excited by the prospect of such a groundbreaking discovery, the team pressed onward. However, their journey was cut short by a violent storm that nearly claimed their lives. The next day, the weather cleared, and they arrived at the island Xie Lianhuan had identified as the habitat for the tube worms, only to find nothing but shattered ancient porcelain artifacts.
After two weeks of fruitless searching, morale plummeted, and some team members began to suspect Xie Lianhuan of exploiting his expertise for a scam. Sensing growing unrest and potential danger, Wu Sanxing and Wen Jin decided to propose returning to base the following morning. But tragedy struck first: Xie Lianhuan was found dead in a cave, clutching the bronze fish in his hand. His mysterious death plunged the team into profound grief.
To transport Xie Lianhuan's body back, they sent one team member with the ship's crew, while the rest stayed to finish their work on the island before returning. Wu Sanxing was concerned about their safety without the main ship, but others assured him that calm seas were forecasted for the week. A week passed, but the ship never returned. Instead, they faced an unforeseen crisis: a massive storm approached.
Someone warned that the island would be submerged by five to six meters of rising water, and they would either be smashed against the reefs or dragged into the deep sea. Wu Sanxing ordered everyone into the cave where Xie Lianhuan's body had been found, taking their oxygen tanks, believing it was their only chance to survive if they could avoid being swept away by the storm. They submerged into the water.
To their surprise, the pool in the cave led to the seafloor, where Wen Jin discovered a massive shipwreck. Inside, they found a pocket of air, a moment of relief and gratitude. Wen Jin explained that the six-hundred-year-old ship was ingeniously designed, likely intentionally sunk with a spiraling passage to create air pressure, trapping air within its hull.
Wu Sanxing found the ship peculiar, its interior remarkably intact, adorned with murals depicting the legend of the Forbidden Woman—a goddess whose jade-like bones, once concealed in a sachet, brought peace and protection to a fishing village. Despite the awe, Wu Sanxing urged caution, reminding them they were unprepared for exploration. Yet, a strange fragrance lingered, which Li Sidi attributed to the Forbidden Woman, but Wu Sanxing dismissed it as ancient incense.
Overwhelmed by exhaustion, Wu Sanxing sat beside Wen Jin and fell asleep, enveloped by the faint scent. When Wu Sanxing awoke, he was alone in a different, sealed compartment of the shipwreck, with a terrifying presence emerging from within. Without any tools, he decided to escape first, hoping to return to rescue the others later. He swam endlessly, finally surfacing only to find it was already the evening of the next day, the storm long gone.
He couldn't comprehend how a brief nap could have spanned an entire day. After being rescued, he spent a week in a coma. Upon recovery, he attempted to find the island and his team, but both had vanished without a trace, confirmed by the Maritime Affairs Office and Administration Bureau. For nearly twenty years, he carried their group photo, baffled by the mysterious disappearance. He confessed to Wu Xie that he still didn't understand why he was the only survivor.
He speculated that the bronze fish he carried was the sole difference, believing Xie Lianhuan had brought it from the shipwreck. He had researched the fish, discovering it was a 600-year-old artifact known as the Snake-Eyebrow Copper Fish. He noted the thousand-year gap between King Lu’s kiln and the shipwreck, and the bizarre fact that a modern counterfeit box contained such an ancient artifact at an ancient site.
He felt the entire affair was far more intricate than they had imagined, and Old Ma’s true motives were complex. He instructed Wu Xie to report the fish to the Cultural Relics Bureau with photos and to safeguard it until they responded. As Wu Xie examined the group photo, he noticed one person bore a striking resemblance to Xiaoge.
He questioned how this could be, as Xiaoge should have been a child twenty years ago, wondering if it was Xiaoge's father or why Xiaoge appeared not to have aged. Suddenly, Wu Sanxing stared intently at the photo, exclaiming, "The elevator!" He repeated the word, then declared, "The elevator had issues? I understand what happened back then now. Yes!"
Driven by this revelation, he announced his immediate return to Ru Sea, instructing Wu Xie to stay and care for Pan Zi. Separately, a mysterious voice commented, "They failed." Another responded, "No. He has already found it." When asked "What's next?" , the response was "Just wait. He will come to be with us."
