Treasure at Dawn Episode 4 Recap
> Treasure at Dawn Recap
Fu Sheng meticulously examined the deceased, discovering the person died from a tiger bone. Learning from a local that a hunter had recently killed a tiger, the group visited Hunter Zhao, who claimed to have eaten the tiger meat and sold the bones to Zhang Mazi at a plaster shop on the outskirts of the city, stating they were for medicinal use.
When asked about his whereabouts the previous night, Hunter Zhao asserted he had been drinking at home and had not attended the Nuo opera by the lake. However, Fu Sheng noted that the oil in Hunter Zhao's lamp was full, arousing his suspicion. The group proceeded to Zhang Mazi's home. Zhang Mazi was visibly nervous. He feigned going inside to retrieve the tiger bones but seized the opportunity to escape.
He was quickly apprehended and confessed that he ran because he feared being caught for selling fake medicine, specifically dog bone paste instead of genuine tiger bone paste. He offered his numerous dog bones as proof. He also revealed that he had sold the sole real tiger bone he acquired to Jizhi Hall. At Jizhi Hall, Fu Sheng located the tiger bones and expertly assembled the skeleton. He observed that one thigh bone was missing.
The Jizhi Hall clerk, after consulting his ledger, confirmed that only three thigh bones were received during the initial purchase, as each part was priced individually, with thigh bones being the most expensive. With a new plan, Fu Sheng instructed Gu Tian to retrieve a Fangxiang mask. Wearing the mask, Fu Sheng appeared at Hunter Zhao's window, impersonating a ghost and uttering phrases like, "Let's die together, Hunter Zhao. Give me your life."
Terrified, Hunter Zhao blurted out, "I've already killed you! You can't take my life." Fu Sheng then confronted Hunter Zhao, revealing his suspicions about the full oil lamp and Zhang Mazi's fake tiger bone business, which led them to the real tiger bone at Jizhi Hall and the discovery of the missing thigh bone.
Fu Sheng also found a leather glove with white powder and an arrow with similar residue in Hunter Zhao's cabinet, concluding the arrow was crafted from tiger bone. Faced with irrefutable evidence, Hunter Zhao confessed to the murder. He explained that he killed the shaman because his family died from the poisonous lake water, which he believed was caused by the Ma Gang, and he himself was deeply poisoned.
He wanted to take the shaman, who failed to drive away the plague devil or save his family, with him. He had hoped that using a bone arrow would conceal his crime, but Fu Sheng saw through it. Wen Jue expressed her admiration for Fu Sheng's ingenuity, calling his tactic "shadow puppetry." Fu Sheng then questioned Xubu Huai about the Xiangshui Lake water, which Xubu Huai confirmed was indeed poisonous and the cause of the villagers' sores.
Despite Gu Tian's concern, Fu Sheng insisted on tasting the lake water himself to investigate a cure. After tasting it, he declared the lake water was not poisonous, which bewildered the villagers. When asked about other common activities, Xubu Huai mentioned that the villagers regularly worshipped the Fangxiang statue and washed their faces with "holy water" from a nearby Holy Pool. Upon examining the Holy Pool, Fu Sheng noted the water's unusual color.
Xubu Huai explained that the statue's "spiritual body" (red paint) had recently been recoated, and the rain had washed some of it into the pool. Fu Sheng immediately concluded that the red paint on the statue was the source of the poison. The villagers reacted with anger, accusing him of blasphemy and calling him a charlatan. To test Fu Sheng's theory, Xubu Huai scraped some paint from the statue and challenged anyone to try it.
Hunter Zhao volunteered, grimly stating it would save Ma Gang the trouble of executing him. He immediately succumbed to the poison, confirming Fu Sheng's discovery. Meanwhile, tensions grew within the Jibei Chamber of Commerce. Chairman Song Jingye visited Vice Chairman Li Zhizhuo, where a horse slave named Sun Siming was deliberately humiliated for Song's benefit, forced to serve as a human step and have his clothes used to wipe Song's shoes, an insult he endured with silent fury.
Inside, Song Jingye questioned Li Zhizhuo about a jade plate that had been added to the bounty list, reasserting his ultimate authority and warning him to be discreet, particularly as "the old guy inside" was growing suspicious. Later, Li Zhizhuo informed Song Jingye that Ma Gang had uncovered the poisonous red paint on the statue. Worried they might uncover the Chamber's involvement, Song Jingye instructed Li Zhizhuo to act preemptively.
Fu Sheng successfully treated Hunter Zhao, who, recovering, passionately rallied the villagers. He reminded them that their families had died due to the poisonous statue and urged them to stop making further mistakes. Together, they toppled the Fangxiang statue. Shortly after, Song Jingye arrived with a large group of men, sternly reprimanding Xubu Huai and Ma Gang for destroying the statue and warning them of haunting by the plague devil.
Xubu Huai retorted, accusing Song Jingye of being disappointed that his "cover-up" had been exposed. He then directly accused Vice Chairman Li Zhizhuo of being behind the poisonous paint, citing his earlier anxious interjection. Xubu Huai recounted the long-standing conflict between the Ma Gang and the Chamber of Commerce. Years ago, both groups were drawn to Xichuan by the "Star Gold" mine and shared Xiangshui Lake. Tensions escalated into a violent battle over water rights, which Ma Gang won.
To intimidate the Chamber, Ma Gang piled the bodies of their fallen enemies by the lake, creating a "mountain of corpses" that deterred villagers from accessing the water. After two days, desperation drove the villagers back, only for them to discover that heavy rains had washed the corpse mountain into the lake, leaving bodies floating everywhere. This led to rumors that Ma Gang's actions had summoned a "plague devil" that spread disease.
Fearing these rumors, Ma Gang enlisted an "extraordinary person" who claimed to connect with Fangxiang's will to suppress the evil and stop the incessant rain. They erected a Fangxiang statue at the former site of the corpse mountain, and miraculously, the rain ceased. This "extraordinary person" subsequently instructed Ma Gang to regularly repaint the statue with red paint and create a pool, asserting that rainwater collected there would become purified "holy water" to dispel bad luck.
However, this only resulted in the "plague devil" seemingly residing permanently in Xiangshui Lake, rendering the water poisonous and afflicting all who drank it. Xubu Huai concluded that the villagers were mere pawns in this protracted dispute, simply wanting to survive.
He then directly accused the Chamber of Commerce of orchestrating this entire scheme, including hiring the "Fangxiang" shaman and continuously applying poisonous paint to the statue, all to sow resentment against Ma Gang and secure exclusive mining rights for Star Gold. Song Jingye dismissed these accusations as unfounded and threatened war. Xubu Huai defiantly accepted the challenge, and both sides prepared for battle.
