Old Nine Gates 老九门 - Episode 46 (Recap)

kakashi: This episode is fun, fun, fun. Hot Fo Ye (temporarily deep frozen), pretty Lt. Zhang, even Er Ye gets his act together and Ba Ye is helpful and un-annoying. The downside: it's episode 46 of a much too long drama.
SakiVI: At least it was all entertaining! 

Episode 46 - Sunken Ship

Fo Ye tells us how it is: The Japanese staged a war JUST to get their hands on the meteorite in the mine, and to do evil experiments with it. Of course. Fo Ye et al. thought it was over once they gave the mine-meteorite to the Zhang family, but not so! Maybe they have even found the third meteorite, these evil Japanese? But Fo Ye, kissed by the exposition fairy, explains that the disease created with the meteorite isn't fully developed yet - it was accidentally leaked! And then, the Hei Qiao tried to cover it up by telling bullshits about deities etc. Makes PERFECT sense.
How does he know all this?

One nerd, one flower boy, and one super-hawt man.

After these revelations, Fo Ye and Lt. Zhang travel to Dongting Lake immediately. On their motorbikes. Looking sizzling. I like this long overcoat on Fo Ye.
Victorian chic suits him.

There are no signs of the disease at Dongting Lake. Good, because I really don't want to see those boils again. They wander through the market and find out that there is an issue with the lake - there are Japanese there and they're preventing the local fishermen from catching fish. Evil!
Extremely evil.

Attractive men should always dress like this.

At the local inn, the innkeeper takes a good look at them and then asks whether they are here for the treasure. Must be a tourist attraction. Oh yes they are! A bit of money makes the man talk. So there was a sunken ship in the lake and the Japanese pulled it out and sealed off the area. Rumor has it something really, really valuable is on that ship! Could it be our meteorite? The ship, they find out, has been moved away though - but the innkeeper offers to take them to the freezer. Yes, the freezer. Many people are known to have found treasures there. *looks into her freezer .... nope*
Bwahahahaaha, I usually dare not look in mine. 

The freezer is one of the miracles of Dongting: a natural cave full of ice. So the fishermen use it to store their catch. On the way up the mountain, Fo Ye eagle-eye notices many footprints and fish scales. Okay. Inside the freezer, they meet a little girl named Cui Cui who claims she's from a fishing village nearby and just came here to play. She asks Fo Ye for alcohol. She is actually a bit scary (and he gives it to her - not sure you'll get the Dad of the Year reward, Fo Ye)
Maybe she's a ghost.
We think alike! (see below)

She then wants to keep his flask in exchange for some earrings - that Lt. Zhang identifies as Hei Qiao objects. She claims she has lots of them and invites the two men to follow her. She leads them to a different village, where they see people selling treasures from the sunken ship. The rule there is: Buy and don't ask (very legal, I guess). Not something Fo Ye would ever adhere to - for him it's more take and hit if necessary. But he's in a good mood these days and simply buys everything. Is this Xin Yue's money by the way? I thought he was completely broke. 
I think he actually kept something back for himself. Or, it's Xin Yue' dowry.  

What the heck, she gets to hold Fo Ye's hand?

Why did he buy everything? Is he drunk?! He actually only wants to know where the ship is and he even offers the little girl money for this huuuuge secret. She refuses, but sends them to an inn - maybe there is someone who will tell them there. Okay, they take all the artifacts to an inn. Fo Ye meditates, Lt. Zhang peeks down to the common room (prettily (of course)). It's deserted. 

But then comes a knock and ... wild Hei Qiao people come in! Oh yes, we have already met their leader! Well, Lt. Zhang has, Fo Ye was down and out during that time. After they fought him, he disappeared and took shelter with the Japanese (Fo Ye knows). The Hei Qiao get a room from the frightened innkeeper and Fo Ye and Lt. Zhang tiptoe over to eavesdrop (prettily squeeeee!).

Because they're not listening servants, Fo Ye and Zhang-Cutie can't hear what is said - but one of the men inside hears them whispering outside! Haha, FAIL. Fo Ye and Lt. Zhang manages to slip back into their room, but the Hei Qiao leader (Hei Shi) wants everyone near and far dead anyway. The confrontation seems inevitable ...

... when Chen Pi appears and draws the warrior away. Wait a second ... Chen Pi is here?! Haha, that is so unexpected (Fo Ye is as surprised as I am, I'd like to note (on the other hand, Chen Pi is wherever nefarious things are happening)). There are Japanese with him. Oh, the Hei Qiao expected them! And they discuss "an item" that they need to protect, before they leave together. Could it be the meteorite?

Chen Pi looks like an evil Robin Hood.

Our sexy duo follows them through the night. Fo Ye is very sexy and bossy, look:
Fanning self now...

They go into a cave, but guard the entrance too well. Smart Fo Ye realizes this is close to the freezer and they go there ... and meet Cui Cui again. Is she a ghost?! I think so! Isn't this in the middle of the night?! Fo Ye asks whether there's a cave nearby that the Japanese guard well - oh yes, there is. It's where the sunken ship is and where everyone gets the treasures from. Ooookay, so they dragged a ship up from the lake to a cave?

They send the girl away with a bag full of money (she later gives it back, crying, because her dad is dead and that means she doesn't want it. Oh well. So, not a ghost?) and explore the caves, in search of a clue about the meteorite or whatever is so valuable. They happen upon the Chen Pi- Hei Qiao group, who are standing around a big pot full of disease ingredients. Yes, you guessed correctly - these ice caves aren't natural phenomena! It's all created by the evil Japanese, JUST to keep the deadly virus safe! Haha. 
Sigh. Also, Chen Pi should be careful considering he already has acne.

Just then, Lt. Zhang steps on some dry wood. Oupsie. He runs, but Fo Ye decides to stay - and fight. I don't know, Fo Ye. He kills everyone, but in the process, he gets powdered.
Is this the disease? Because that's a sacrilege. 

Was that just to blind him? Anyway, when he walks towards to disease pot, he steps on a trap door and falls. He remains unhurt, but this looks like a hole he won't get out of easily.
I feel like he should know how to levitate since he can move giant Buddhas and all.  

Chen Pi et al. run after Lt. Zhang for a while, but our Poo realizes quickly that this just means the disease pot was left unguarded. When they get to that chamber, Chen Pi smirks at Hei Shi's dead body. I'm so glad he left that other Yatou: she does not deserve this nutjob.  He also looks down the trap hole, but there is no Fo Ye there. Huh. Skillz! They realize that there are fishermen coming in and out of these caves to take treasures with them to sell and decide it's time to move the disease pot.

And then we see where Fo Ye is!! He is actually still down in that hole, but he managed to hide from view. The bad news is: he is basically frozen already. Come on, just use your hotness to melt that ice! You can do it!
Surprising the ice even got to him.

Lt. Zhang, who is hiding in another cave, gets worried after a while and goes in search for him. He finds him, unconscious! Skillfully, he rappels down and pulls himself and his great leader up. You did well, boy! Let me give you a hug. Are you cold?

Cui Cui, now with a dirty face, is there again all of a sudden and tells him their friends are outside. Say what? I think she's a ghost after all. Has anyone else even seen her? It's Er Ye with some of the fishermen who stole and sold treasures! Er Ye got worried when Ba Ye told him where Fo Ye went. Awww, I thought you never wanted to be friends again?

Luckily, the fishermen know a way how to unfreeze Fo Ye! They put him inside a sweat lodge and all is well again. Oh wait ... Er Ye makes a comment as to "The Dongbei Zhang family is mysterious as expected, it was such an eye-opener" - I think he saw the tattoo! Haha. Cute! They can then continue to go in search of the missing meteorite afterwards, which they suspect in either the Hei and Bai Qiao village. They park their motorbikes near the swamps and walk from there, lead by Lt. Zhang. Such a  good boy! He needs rewards!
Come here, my lovely Visual, and Jie will reward you loads and loads and loads. 

In the marshes, they come across some Hei Qiao praying to an ugly statue. One of the men tells them where Chen Pi went. The exposition fairy must have told them he came this way. They follow and come to a tree full of dead people. Gruesome. Exposition fairy Fo Ye knows that they have met with a sudden illness. Likely poisoned from the looks of it, most likely used as test subjects by the evil Japanese.
Sometimes, I think Fo Ye just wants the Japanese to be doing secret experiments just to be right.  

On they walk until they come to the Hei Qiao village, where they expect Chen Pi to be at. They decide to wait until it's dark before moving. When they go in, the village is deserted. They find two coffins and Lt. Zhang recognizes them - they are the ones that were stolen from the Sacred Tree of the Bai Qiao! Wow, show. I am actually amazed you pick up unfinished business at this hour. They probably had the writers scouring old plotlines to drag this show out. Exposition Fo Ye knows: these two coffins are the key to producing the disease.
How do you know, Fo Ye? Oh, never mind. You look really good.

They can't let that happen! Lt. Zhang is sent back to Changsha (to do what? Go shopping? Be Pretty) and once he's gone, Fo Ye and Er Ye are attacked with poisonous gas. They collapse. Nooooooo!  And the voice over tells us: the third meteorite exposed the coffins on the tree to long-term radiation. And the Hei Qiao were forced by the Japanese to use this for secret experiments. Oh, will they experiment on Fo Ye now? Will he be naked?
Shirtless Fo Ye is worth a few secret experiments. He'll blast his way out, anyway.

Comments

Everything makes a lot of sense. We are wrapping things up. Even those horrible boring village episodes in the middle of the drama make sense now. Amazing.
At least there's a point to episode 46 of a much too long drama, yay!