Ultimate Note Episode 15 Recap
> Ultimate Note Recap
Ancient murals within the laboratory detailed the Queen Mother of the West’s human trials involving the Shibie Pill. Observing these, Wu Xie concluded that Chen Wen Jin and her team were likely exploited in experiments to uncover the secret to longevity. He further theorized that his Master San, the one who orchestrated his own fake death, had unearthed this intricate truth, leading to the complex and often adversarial relationship between him and Xie Lian Huan.
The murals consistently featured Emperor Mu of Zhou in both the fake and current palaces. The group pondered if the Queen Mother of the West’s profound affection for Emperor Mu might have prompted her to share her immortality secrets with him, lamenting his eventual failure to return.
Separately, Hei Yan Jing and Xie Yuchen, exploring a different section of the palace, discovered a massive stone-like object depicted in murals, which Hei Yan Jing believed to be the Queen Mother’s ultimate secret and his personal quest, anticipating Wu Xie and Chen Wen Jin shared this objective. Xie Yuchen and Hei Yan Jing navigated an intricate twelve-tile puzzle guarding their path.
As both dealt with attacking Jade Servants—Hei Yan Jing noting they were indestructible unless the snakes inside were killed—Xie Yuchen focused on the puzzle's human and animal figures. Hei Yan Jing patiently explained the Queen Mother’s achievement of human-animal symbiosis, theorizing the puzzle required arranging tiles to depict this concept, with the female figure having a human upper body and snake lower, and the male a human upper body and centipede lower, an evolution he linked to the dragon totem.
He also deduced the mechanism relied on weight. With Hei Yan Jing's guidance, Xie Yuchen swiftly solved the puzzle, opening a new route. Meanwhile, Wu Xie's group, following Zhang’s increasingly obscure markings, found themselves in a tunnel guarded by Birdman statues, a sign they were nearing the palace’s core. Wu Xie expressed frustration that Zhang’s amnesia prevented him from recalling the markings’ meaning, though Zhang assured him they were on the right path.
Wu Xie, Fatty, and Chen Wen Jin decided to scout ahead, soon discovering a vast artificial lake, the palace’s central water supply. After lighting the area, they noticed countless clay pot fragments and a horrifying sight: the water was turning red, filled with blood-sucking worms draining their blood. A coffin, weighed down by these creatures and surrounded by tiger keelbacks, sat in the center. As the worms gorged themselves, their increased weight triggered a mechanism that opened hidden traps above.
While Wu Xie and Fatty desperately fought the overwhelming worms, Zhang battled a tiger keelback. The sheer number of worms forced them to retreat to a nearby ledge. Suddenly, the ground vibrated, startling even the tiger keelbacks. A massive bronze door opened, revealing a woman on a throne, remarkably preserved after millennia. Fatty initially thought it was the Queen Mother, but Zhang identified her as a substitute, noting her odd complexion and a mask that also served as a preservative.
Wu Xie reasoned the Queen Mother likely used this replacement to conceal her own departure. Nearby, Wu Xie found an inscription, which Zhang translated as a message from Xuan Nv to the Queen Mother. Chen Wen Jin and Wu Xie then realized the coffin in the pool belonged to Xuan Nv. Zhang explained that Xuan Nv, the Queen Mother's loyal general, had turned her tomb into a trap to protect the Queen Mother's territory even after her own death.
Wu Xie activated the mechanism, causing the blood-sucking worms to vanish, making the pool safe. Chen Wen Jin understood Xuan Nv's clever design was meant to ensure the Queen Mother’s safe passage, hinting at the deeper secrets of her immortality quest. After securing the area, Zhang retrieved a piece of jade from the substitute’s body, giving it to Wu Xie as a life-saving charm.
Chen Wen Jin, however, showed no interest in the throne, stating her true objective was elsewhere and that her time was short. She pointed to a colossal stone structure, proclaiming it the Queen Mother’s ultimate secret and her own final destination. Fatty, initially mistaking it for an ordinary meteorite, marveled at its size. Zhang corrected them, identifying it as a legendary jade meteorite. Chen Wen Jin, confirming her long-held belief, declared that what she sought was inside it.
Despite Wu Xie’s pleas for her to take a safety rope, Chen Wen Jin resolutely entered a narrow passage within the meteorite without it, a clear sign of her unwavering determination for a journey of no return. Seeing her disappear, Zhang immediately followed. Fatty tried to follow, but the passage was too small. Just then, Xie Yuchen and Hei Yan Jing arrived, having taken a different route that led them directly to the now worm-free water storage pool.
Seeing the massive jade meteorite, Xie Yuchen recognized it from ancient accounts, though he had doubted its existence. Learning that Chen Wen Jin and Zhang had entered, Xie Yuchen theorized, based on the murals they had observed, that the Queen Mother herself had entered the meteorite in pursuit of immortality, explaining the substitute.
Wu Xie then revealed Chen Wen Jin's desperate state, explaining her belief that the meteorite could stop her body’s mysterious deterioration, likely caused by the Shibie Pill she received after the Paracel Islands incident. Wu Xie questioned if Zhang had also been given the pill, noting his agelessness, and asked if he and Chen Wen Jin would return. Xie Yuchen stated Chen Wen Jin likely would not, but Zhang most probably would.
Hei Yan Jing cautioned Fatty against entering, emphasizing the dangers of the unknown. Fatty, lamenting his losses, eventually conceded. Recalling his failure to wait for Zhang at Cloud Top Palace, Wu Xie vowed to stay by the meteorite’s entrance this time, determined to wait for him and resolve his many questions about Zhang’s secrets. Meanwhile, Xie Yuchen, having left the injured Xie Lian Huan with an employee, returned to care for him, leaving supplies for Wu Xie and Fatty.
Xie Yuchen expressed profound skepticism about immortality, viewing it as a meaningless delusion, especially considering the tragic pursuits of the Mystic Nine generations. Hei Yan Jing, however, advised against premature conclusions about the unknown, suggesting one might encounter an immortal without realizing it. Xie Yuchen asserted that while the jade meteorite was Chen Wen Jin’s end, it was not his, and he would continue his investigations.
After departing, Xie Yuchen and Hei Yan Jing returned to find Xie Lian Huan gone. With no signs of struggle or snake activity, they concluded he had left on his own and immediately set off in pursuit, leaving subtle signs for Wu Xie to follow later.
