Old Nine Gates 老九门 - Episode 21 (Recap)

kakashi: Looooooots and lots and lots of tomb-action! Very weird tomb-action too, but hey, we don't ask questions here. I'm keeping the stuff about the stupid villains as short as possible. Actually, I leave most of it out completely, which you will probably not notice. That's how little it matters.
SakiVI: Okay, I won't ask questions, sulk, sulk.

Epsidoe 21 - Discovering the Old Miner

Slime Fucker Lu and his men are at Chen Pi's, talking about claws and bullets. Ah, it's actually a challenge! Who is better, Chen Pi with his claws and metal bullets à la Er Ye or the military guys with their guns? Chen Pi blasts Slime Fucker Lu's subordinate's hat off his head (he could have aimed lower, I wouldn't have minded) and smiles smugly, but Lu pulls his gun on him. Who is laughing now?
I was, a bit.

After this "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" Lu Slime Fucker laughs it off, puts his gun away and leaves. We get it, you're all really, really impressive guys. Lu laters boasts that he can control Chen Pi, who is just a local gangster. Man, you bore me. There's some really unimportant stuff that follows but lets skip that. Have a nose pic!
Love that nose!

Fo Ye et al. have reached a room full of boxes. Ah, no, its coffins! Thank you Ba Ye.
I'm amazed how they don't care that there's bodies in there.  

Fo Ye thinks there must be a clue with so many coffins. Like ... what kind of clue? Where the treasure is? Fo Ye hotly brushes some dirty away from the lid of the coffin nearest to him and has some weird vision. There a house (completely empty) and some memorial tablets. He doesn't even flinch - actually, he doesn't even acknowledge it, so maybe only we saw it (*mild spoiler* actually, this is never explained at all in later episodes, but it is his former home we see - the Zhang ancestral home. And I guess it means the people in these coffins are all Zhangs).
Good point. I thought he was just flashbacking to some trauma. But it would make sense to flashback to his ancestral home if his ancestors were in the coffins. 

They find no clues, but Fo Ye says these coffins "do not belong here". You said that about the tombstone too. So what? He thinks the Japanese dug them up somewhere and stored them in this room. Okay.
They do seem rather randomly placed in that room. But in the end, they pretty much belong wherever they are laid to rest, right? So, even if they were dug up, the fact that they were put to rest in this room or cave or whatever it is, makes them belong there.

There are a lot of cave-ins, which means someone came in here and triggered the traps. Ba Ye thinks it's scary. Fo Ye thinks it's not. He orders his people to dug a way out of the cave. Here is Lt. Zhang demanding a shovel.
Oh, thank you! I really need my Visual Zhang in these tomb-and-villain episodes.

The Ye's consult the map and discuss the red crosses, which they now think mean "extra danger". See, that wasn't so hard. Pfft. But  Fo Ye says: "We can't give up, right?" And on they go! Competent Zhang has dug an exit.
Yay, Zhang!

Cut to the Huo Mansion. Lady Huo hears about Chen Pi's latest deed and gathers that he is working with Lu Fuck Slimer too, which she finds troublesome. Uhm, didn't you already know that? As we discussed, all of this is her way of getting herself out of trouble. If she had not quasi suggested Si Ye as a possible victim, it would have been her.
I can empathize.

And for the umpteenth time, we hear that she feels oppressed by Fo Ye and wants to overturn him. I kinda doubt that he actively oppresses anyone. He is just naturally dominant. 
Actually, as I discussed in our last recap, I do think he would've had trouble with a woman leader like her. Tis okay, Fo Ye can be flawed.

In the tomb, they encounter a ghost!
Spooky!

But Fo Ye isn't easily fooled by cheap tricks!
He's so hawt.

They're all like "Fo Ye, you're so cool" and he's all "don't panic needlessly", but when they've taken one or two steps, the opera singing suddenly starts! Oh wait, a Fo Ye jawline/profile pic before we continue.
Fans Self.

Er Ye orders everyone to put down their lamps and then, they (Ba Ye needs a little extra help) hang themselves down from the ceiling. Why, you ask? If only I knew! There's a shadow and the lamps go out. Once they're all out, the shadow comes back. I'm not even sure why there's a shadow, since there is no light, but hey, we do not ask questions in this show!
Don't make that mistake like I did, folks. Your brains will hurt.

Fo Ye switches on his torch (to make more shadows?), shines some light on his friends (they nod), then he turns it to the left ... and there's a super creepy thing hanging from the ceiling next to him!
That was a surprise, sure.

Fo Ye knocks it down and starts beating on it with all he's got. Fo Ye is clearly super scared. I thought so too! He is also a first class idiot, because that thing isn't a thing but a human being, a man. That was so clear from first sight. Seriously, Fo Ye. Stop being so damn intense all the time. Er Ye sees that the man drops some bells and after what seems half an eternity, he drops from the ceiling to stop Fo Ye. Everybody drops down at the same time. Why? Did the super glue lose its power?
True, I never understood how they hung themselves up on the ceiling, and they took way too long to stop Fo Ye's freakout.

Er Ye thinks the man can't hear and he can also not see, cause someone (=the Japanese, of course) did something horrible to his eyes. He does react to the bells though that Er Ye shakes... he flees. He has hair growing down to his ankles.
Crikey.

They run after him, but he is much faster than them. It's like Reverse Blood Man. Haha. Well, they do find him again, sitting against a well, singing a Hong family song. Who could have taught him that? (psst, don't say it yet! Okay.) From the man's weird behavior, Fo Ye guesses the man has never been outside. Ba Ye (he is so smart lately!!) suggests Er Ye should sing the Hong-song that seems to important to the old miner and indeed, when Er Ye does, the old man jumps up and leads them further into the mines.

Ba Ye is smarter than he looks. He told them to burn those hair bacteria, and instead of listening, they stepped on the bacteria and had to burn them anyway. And he knows how to communicate with people. Fo Ye should use him as an intermediary with Lady Huo.

 

He leads them to his sleeping place, another cave that seems to have served as underground barracks for the workers. Now, Fo Ye no longer thinks the man is confused, but just badly traumatized. Ba Ya: "Ha! You hit him like that! Of course he would have been traumatized!" BRAVO BA YE! EXACTLY! Luckily, they have Er Ye who can sing the old man's favorite opera song and tries to talk to the old man.  
It's the only opera song that poor fellow knows.

Fo Ye says to settle down for the night and Lt. Zhang starts the electric generator. Here he is:

Lovely.

Fo Ye decides the old miner should get their best provisions. Here is Lt. Zhang being A-okay with that:

Such a decent, pretty person.

Ba Ye is not okay with that:

Bit selfish, Ba Ye.

A bit later, they start puzzling over why the Japanese blinded the miners. Fo Ye does not know, but he does know that the Japanese did things they did not want anyone to know about. Ba Ye thinks it must have something to do with the "hair monster". Hair monster?! Since where is there a hair monster?! Fo Ye suggests Ba Ye should go set up some wards. If he's that afraid. Fo Ye, admit it: You're also a bit scared.
Ha, see, Fo Ye is hot, but not perfect. And this show could be a little clearer regarding its monster pantheon.

When he wants to go to sleep. Er Ye discovers another Hong-tag. A Hong must have been here! Yes, we guessed that too, Er Ye.

That night, Fo Ye gets lucky charms on his shoulders for his upright sleeping (so funny!), and there is the sounds of bells that wakes everyone up. Fearless Fo Ye says he will go out and investigate, but the blind miner says don't. They are safe here but not out there. Things from the mine cannot enter here.
Whatever those things are...

It seems the old man can hear after all. He guesses that Er Ye is a Hong and asks why he has only come now. Too many noodles, old man, too many noodles! And then, the old man tells his tale: At only 15, he was already working in the mines, alongside Sexy Uncle and his two men (who were so crazed by the hair disease they decided to work as miners for a bit?). Sexy Uncle - who taught him the opera song - helped the boy not to get beaten and convinced the foreman to use explosives cause things are going so slowly.
So far, so good.

What were they digging? A path. A path to the tomb, says the miner. Dun-dun.

Comments

Ah, finally. Word of the tomb! There's a path to the tomb! Get friggin on with it, you boring lot.
Sigh, I know, right?

I know that Fo Ye will properly apologize to the old miner in the next episode, so I won't go full out here, but that scene was horrible. He hit the old man with all his force, which we know to be considerable, and for a very long time. He really should have realized it was a human being immediately, Fo Ye superpowers and all.
And that poor fellow was weak, with rickets and blind! I was really mad at Fo Ye then, and that is where I thought not everyone will like him, and with good enough reason.

Ba Ye keeps saving the day with his smart suggestions. I underestimated you, Ba Ye. They should be really glad you're there.
It's why Fo Ye keeps fetching Ba Ye for things. 

Er Ye on the other hand is just as dull as he was when Yatou was still around. I am beginning to suspect that's just his personality.
He's lovely to look at, but definitely dreary.