Original subtitles

♪The Upper Three hold the seals♪

♪A valiant general, an opera star, and a ruthless cripple♪

♪The Middle Three stir the clouds♪

♪A fiend, a wandering hero, and a master of the blade♪

♪The Lower Three deal in gold♪

♪A beauty, a seer, and a scholar♪

♪The Upper, Middle, and Lower Three♪

♪Represent the nine houses of old Changsha♪

♪Together, they are known♪

♪As the Mystic Nine♪

[Mystic Nine] [Adapted from the novel of Kennedy Xu]

[Episode 1] [This story is purely fictional]

[Changsha Military Hospital]

[Ward 8]

A patient this late?

Ms. Head Nurse, something is going on!

Please come with me.

Sir.

What is happening?

[401 Zhang Zhide] Sir?

[401 Zhang Yuanhang] They are stoic.

[401 Zhang Zhexi]

Unit 401?

They are Master Zhang's people.

Gather everyone here.

Okay.

Be careful!

Clean it up.

[Changsha Military Hospital]

[Changsha Military Hospital]

One. Two. One.

Halt!

Turn left. Turn right.

[Zhang Qishan, Changsha Defense Commander]

Master, Unit 401 has vanished.

[Zhang Xiaoyu, Zhang Qishan's Adjutant]

Nurse Xu, the witness, claimed

they came for a checkup

around 11:30 PM.

Our records

indicate this unit is repairing the moat

under your command.

[Derun Gate]

Keep it up.

- Take this. - Okay.

Zhang Yuanhang.

Go there.

- Okay. - Bring two over here.

Careful.

- Is Zhang Duo here? - Watch out.

Peiwu.

I need manpower here.

Put it here.

Careful.

At 5 PM,

the superintendent inspected the site.

Nothing was unusual.

Everything was right on track.

No prints

outside of the hospital.

127 men

vanished in an enclosed place.

Don't come near me.

Don't come near me.

Don't come near me.

Don't come near me.

Master.

Her name is Xu Yuan.

The only survivor in the hospital.

Don't come near me.

She's emotionally unstable right now

and might attack you.

Don't come near me.

Don't come near me!

I won't hurt you.

I'm here to help.

Trust me.

Do you know how they vanished?

Over there.

They suddenly vanished over there.

So sudden.

When did it begin raining?

After dusk.

It was already raining when Unit 401

came here.

But no traces

were left in the hospital.

If they didn't walk in from outside,

they must have crawled up from underground.

Come.

Let's find the secret passage in the hospital.

Pry this plank open.

Yes.

There is indeed a hole.

Did they crawl up from here?

And they covered the hole afterwards?

Master.

The mountain underneath has been completely hollowed out.

This is suspicious.

Let's go down and take a look.

[Zhang Xiaojin, Zhang Qishan's Communication Officer]

A wall?

Master.

Why did someone build a wall here?

The answer is below us.

Master,

I found some traces here.

Probably traces of Unit 401's

ascent and descent.

Following the traces,

Unit 401

walked into the wall?

Master, it doesn't make sense.

Weren't they repairing the moat?

How did they end up going in and out of the wall?

Just smoke and mirrors.

Someone wants me to find this place.

They merely used Unit 401.

Search every corner carefully.

Yes!

Master.

I found something.

Over 400 meters deep.

Over 400 meters deep?

That's even longer than Changsha Thoroughfare.

Who built this?

And what for?

To hide what's on the other side, of course.

So, Unit 401

entered the structure behind the wall?

How should we enter, Master?

The mechanism to open the passage

should be inside the tunnel.

At the very least, that's what we're led to believe.

But it's such a small tunnel.

No one could possibly enter.

Master,

I heard

that in ancient times, there was a contraption

whose entrance was very narrow.

Only a child

could get in to decipher it.

Give me the list of missing persons.

There is a child.

Master, I'll have this wall demolished now.

Wait.

Hide it underground,

and it shall be as resilient as the universe.

Hide it underwater,

and it shall withstand a thousand waves.

It's a pebble and lime wall.

It'll take six months to dig through it.

We can't brute-force it.

Bring Eighth Master here.

Master.

You're not on good terms with him.

Will he come?

Just go.

Yes.

Wait.

He probably knows I'll look for him.

So he is already on the run.

Understood.

[Challenge Fate]

[Qi Tiezui, Qi Clan of the Mystic Nine]

Oh, no.

Master Zhang?

Stop.

Sir.

We have to bury the deceased.

How did he die?

He died from the plague.

We have to bury him outside the city.

Let them through.

Let them through!

Go.

What is going on?

Help!

Help!

Master Zhang?

What are you doing here?

Am I in the afterlife?

Are you dead too?

You have no idea.

Today,

I had an excruciating chest pain.

It was hard to breathe and I...

Master Zhang!

Someone lured me here

so that I could discover this place.

Unit 401 might be inside.

You know contraptions well.

Tell us what you see.

Then, we'll bury you properly.

But I...

Speak.

Pianzuo laying method?

It's taller and narrower than the old bricks in Changsha.

But the bricks are not that old.

Hardly a century old.

But in the past century,

who would build such a high wall?

Only the Qin people can do this.

The bricks intersect

with each other,

but they are not symmetrical.

3:7 split.

1:9 split.

2:8 split.

Master Zhang, look.

You cannot demolish this wall.

This is a xingxiu seal.

Each brick is carefully placed.

Take one out

and the entire wall will collapse.

What does a xingxiu seal mean?

It means this is not a tomb.

It's a living house.

Wait.

Someone is living behind the wall?

Impossible.

Who can possibly live underneath Changsha?

But that's what the wall says.

Master Zhang, the house behind this wall

is a living place.

Who stays inside?

They brought Unit 401 in.

Why would they need soldiers, doctors, and nurses?

Is anyone in there?

Come out and let's talk.

This is a peculiar matter.

Eighth Master.

Please tell us how to solve the contraption on the wall.

Show him the way.

If you can hear me,

please open the wall

and let us in.

We can talk.

Is anyone in there?

Is anyone in there?

Eighth Master.

How do we solve the contraption here?

When are you going to crawl inside?

I can't crawl inside.

Master Zhang asked me to explain the contraption,

not solve it.

Don't you know spells?

Shut up.

Don't waste our time, Eighth Master.

Maybe you don't know how to solve it. You're just buying time.

I know someone who can.

Who?

Quit being mysterious.

Just tell us already.

Wu Laogou.

Fifth Master of the Mystic Nine?

How will he crawl in?

He can't.

But his dog can.

Since this concerns the Zhang Clan,

he probably won't help.

Wu Laogou will just be a nuisance anyway.

If a human can't fit inside,

a dog can't either.

I see you don't know anything about his dog.

His dog

is not an ordinary dog.

How so?

Zhang Xiaojin, you just came back,

so you might not know this.

Five years ago in Changsha City,

there was a once-in-a-century storm in Changsha City.

The Xiang River rose tremendously.

Check that place.

- Many houses - Quick.

- collapsed - You two, go up there.

- because of the rain. - You two, go there.

There's a survivor here.

- Wu Laogou's brother, Wu Tie, - Are you there? Make a sound!

[Wu Tie, Wu Laogou's Elder Brother] - brought his men and dogs - Hello?

to rescue survivors tirelessly.

Wherever a dog barks,

it means someone is there.

Wake up, my friend.

Later,

a landslide cut across the mountain path.

The food supplies couldn't come in.

Unexpectedly, the starving villagers

- killed the dogs - Doggie.

- who saved them to feed themselves. - Doggie.

[Peaceful Years]

The offender, Wu Tie,

committed homicide.

He will be given the death penalty in accordance with Section 282

of the Criminal Code (of the Republic of China).

He will be executed immediately.

Stop!

[Wu Laogou, from Wu Clan of the Mystic Nine]

Laogou.

Zhang Qishan!

Anyway,

let's drop it.

Regardless,

Fifth Master

will not help you out here.

Master Zhang.

I totally get your message.

I'll go.

I'll convince Fifth Master.

I'll go right now.

Wait.

You've been talking so much

that your legs must be sore.

We'll send you back

the way you came in.

Are we there yet?

[Wu's Residence] Let me out!

[Wu's Residence] Let me out now!

Is anyone there?

Come out now, prick.

How dare you put

a coffin before the Wu's Residence?

Take it away now.

Don't!

Don't take it away.

It's me.

Tiezui.

Juanlian.

[Wu Tianpeng, Wu Clan's Mason]

It's Eighth Master.

[Wu Juanlian, Wu Clan's Superintendent]

Oh, my friends,

please tell your master

that I'm here, and I'm Laogou.

And let me out now.

Eighth Master.

It's not up to us

to release you.

If you want to be free,

you'll have to wait for my master to be here.

What?

When did this ever become a rule in your clan?

Go tell your master that Master Zhang

forced me to talk to him.

I didn't want to be here either.

I was coerced.

An odd event often foretells the arrival of an omen.

Zhang Qishan is definitely

up to no good.

He placed you in front of my residence.

That's fishy.

Laogou.

Remember what you promised me

when I cleared up your mess

last year?

I now want you

to get me out of here.

You want to get out?

Sure.

The lid is not fastened anyway. Don't play the victim now.

Fifth Master, get it away from me.

Fifth Master!

Fifth Master!

Get it away from me!

Xiaozhu.

I almost died there.

Xiaozhu.

Watch Eighth Master's feet.

If he leaves the coffin,

bite him to death.

Laogou.

You're being really disloyal.

Tiezui.

If you were in trouble today,

I would save you without any hesitation.

But you are on Master Zhang's side.

And that broke my heart.

I failed to kill him, but killing you is easy.

What were you thinking? Seriously.

Laogou.

I was forced.

Master Zhang said

that if you could assist him,

he could do anything for you.

Sure.

I only want Zhang Qishan dead.

That's too much to ask for.

After he took over Changsha,

this place has become more peaceful.

He cleared out

all the Japanese agents, didn't he?

His merit makes up for his wrongdoing.

Let's just

bury the hatchet.

You're right.

Laogou.

Let me kill you first.

Then, I'll clean up your house.

That way,

my merit makes up for my wrongdoing, and we're even.

Juanlian, Tianpeng.

Yes, Master.

If Eighth Master does not comply,

set up a pot.

Give the dogs an extra meal.

Steam him?

Or braise him?

It won't come to that.

Please don't, my friends.

Don't do that.

Come on.

Look at you.

Stop threatening to kill people.

I did come

with a great offer.

Why don't you hear me out first

before eating me?

Okay?

You're so dedicated to Zhang Qishan's cause today.

Whose side are you on?

Your side, of course, Fifth Master.

Zhang Qishan...

Zhang Qishan is nothing.

Did you hear that?

Insulting the Defense Commander of Changsha

in public.

- No. - The audacity!

No.

Come.

Put him back in the coffin.

We'll blanch out the filth, fry everything, and eat it.

- Yes! - Yes!

Don't!

Fifth Master!

Fifth Master!

Master Zhang tried to kill me.

And now you too?

Can you two please spare me?

Spare you?

You know very well what happened

back then.

Do you think I'll ever help

Zhang Qishan?

About that matter,

Master Zhang had no choice but to do what he did.

He is the Defense Commander of Changsha.

What do you expect him to do?

What if it was his family on the line?

Laogou, you see.

You and he need to meet up and talk this out.

He has changed a lot over these years.

And this time,

hundreds of lives are at stake.

Hundreds.

Think it over.

Laogou.

Stay

out of this.

Ask Zhang Qishan to negotiate with me in person.

Fifth Master.

Do we have a deal?

We have a deal.

A deal is a deal!

Judging from the color

of these underground bricks, they're no more than 80 years old.

A basalt brick

mixed with gold threads during molding

to increase its strength.

This kind of brick

can't be produced by ordinary kilns at all.

There must be a huge kiln factory nearby.

Master,

I have gone through all major kiln factories around Changsha.

Only five factories fit the criteria.

They are Fayuan, Tianxin,

Liuyang, Xiangtan,

and Hengyang.

The making of basalt will release

a lot of smoke.

So the factory will not be in the city

or in the mountains where transportation is difficult.

Then...

Let's visit Liuyang Kiln.

[Liuyang Kiln]

Master,

this should be where they made

the gold thread basalt bricks.

Master.

Master.

This was once a kiln.

But during our investigation,

we discovered that there was another wall inside.

They might be hiding

something illegal inside.

Master.

These were probably the kiln workers.

They were all killed.

They all killed themselves.

They did not hesitate either.

The cultists probably were told

that they would be rewarded after death.

They formed the taiji diagram with their bodies.

What a fanatical ritual.

Karma will uncover itself.

My Sovereign awaits you.

Master.

What does "My Sovereign" mean?

It might have something to do with the cult.

It seems like

the one who had built the huge underground wall

already knew we would investigate and trace it here.

[Karma will uncover itself.] So they deliberately left these messages

[My Sovereign awaits you.]

to taunt us.

They sure are bold.

Master.

Master.

Eighth Master Qi said

that Wu Laogou agreed to meet up.

- Bravo! - Bravo!

Well played!

- Bravo. - Very nice.

- Bravo! - Bravo!

What a play!

- Bravo! - Bravo!

Impressive.

Let's go.

[Pear Garden]

Master, aren't you going to finish it?

Why must we always leave during this act?

The monkey will be captured next.

I don't like the ending.

The monkey made a mess.

Shouldn't it be captured?

The Jade Emperor and his immortals

only cared about the persecution.

They never once asked why

the monkey made a mess in the first place.

That's because the monkey did not like

the rules set by the immortals.

Bad rules

need to be amended.

Master, are you meeting with Zhang Qishan for real?

I have a bad hunch about it.

This must be a trap he set up.

A journey to the West.

And my journey has gone on long enough.

It seems like Zhang Qishan's ego

has soared higher than the sky.

He clearly knows I hate him so much,

but he still asks for my help.

Juanlian. Tianpeng.

The time to turn everything upside down will soon be upon us.

♪The past fades like smoke♪

♪A choice is made in silence♪

♪In this labyrinthine puzzle♪

♪Who can reach the shore?♪

♪Just an ordinary farewell♪

♪The sun seems to shine bright over our heads♪

♪But this could be our last trip together♪

♪The spring breeze continues outside♪

♪Who was it who left in such haste?♪

♪Caught in the game, the raging waves fall silent♪

♪Who believes in fate?♪

♪For my home and my country, the years pass like a dream♪

♪When the song ends, who will still be waiting?♪

♪With a nod, we bid farewell and set out again♪

♪Take care♪

♪We once raced♪

♪For the dawn♪

♪Ever-lasting bond, a satisfying vindication♪

♪In the web of fate♪

♪No one can escape♪

♪Life and death cut like a blade♪

♪We too were young once♪

♪Fortunate to brave the raging waves together♪

♪Keep the ember lit♪

♪To illuminate the journey ahead♪

♪The spring breeze continues outside♪

♪Who was it who left in such haste?♪

♪Caught in the game, the raging waves fall silent♪

♪Who believes in fate?♪

♪For my home and my country, the years pass like a dream♪

♪When the song ends, who will still be waiting?♪

♪With a nod, we bid farewell and set out again♪

♪Please, do take care of yourself♪