Original subtitles

The underworld.

Science.

Punch and kick.

The truth.

A great swimmer.

Forensics.

Sorceress.

Reporter.

Weak body.

Special detective.

Mother.

Secretary of municipal government.

An individual with unsurpassed and exceptional abilities.

Young Master.

Belongs to the Great God.

The heiress.

Neither a smoker nor a drunkard.

What is the use of having power and money?

Can't stand the sight of you.

Not bad. Reasonable and fair.

Take a bath.

Are you kidding me?

Not finicky.

There are clues.

Germany.

Spirit channeling.

Big news.

Chamber of Commerce for Water Transportation.

Master.

De-you!

Father.

Not messing things up.

Not afraid of things.

Inference.

Evidence.

Childhood sweetheart.

The people of Tientsin.

Mao Ding.

De-you Guo.

-River God. -River God.

-River God. -River God.

EPISODE 11

The doctrine of the Ancient Evil Gang mentioned

that there are three steps of biological evolution.

Survival of the fittest, law of the jungle, self-reproducing.

Which stage do you think they are in now?

I haven't thought about that.

If mankind proceeds to the completion of its evolution,

what would they live on?

Food, sunshine, and water,

or reason, desire, and love?

They need all of that.

They won’t rely on showing off shrewdness or playing petty tricks.

A man like Hai-jiang

doesn't even have any intention to evolve himself.

Such a man

is obsolete.

But I didn't expect that he'd be bold enough to do that.

It's his instinct to protect his master.

Actions that are made from one's instinct

are likely primitive.

Despite how primitive it was,

his involvement did have some effects on our plan.

No.

The Chamber of Commerce will be in utter chaos

as we expected.

No.

Even worse,

by the time they understand what's happening,

the chrysalises would have already turned into butterflies.

Do you mean them?

To evolve

is to break through. We need to break through!

At the Chamber of Commerce,

everybody gets an identity card.

But the color of the sealing wax used on the papers differs.

White cards are for the servants,

blue for dockers and sailors.

As for guards like Tian-ming, Lao-qi,

and Si,

their job may involve blood shedding.

That's why they hold the red cards.

Above them is Steward Hu

who has a silver card.

Really?

That means our Master Ding

must have the one and only, the glistening and shiny gold card!

Let me have a look.

There's a problem though.

Er-ma was a white card servant.

Why was he wearing rubber pants?

He didn't need to go to the pier, right?

That's what I'm wondering.

Besides, why did he have Lao-qi's body disinterred?

I believe Er-ma must've been manipulated.

Moreover, he was a white card servant.

How could he pay the ghouls?

Is it that far of a stretch to conclude

that when Er-ma had Lao-qi's body exhumed,

Lao-qi became zombie and bit Er-ma to death?

The living dug out the dead, and the dead bit the living to death.

That's impossible.

I don't want to believe it either, but it certainly seems so thus far.

You know what?

There must be more details that are yet to be discovered.

The Ancient Evil Gang.

President Ding is very generous.

The food he prepared is enough to keep us going for a whole week.

Hai, eat as much as you can.

-You're growing. -Okay.

-Have some. -Thank you.

What's wrong, Hai?

River monster!

River monster!

River monster!

River monster?

Hai, do you recall anything?

River monster.

The river monster bites!

Speak slowly.

My dad.

He was bitten to death.

By the river monster.

Were you there as well?

It's okay, I'm here with you.

Hai, do you remember what the river monster looked like?

River monster couldn't be real.

Hai, think carefully. Did someone kill your dad?

Tell me what you saw.

What was going on that day?

Tell me, Hai.

Hai, tell me what happened.

CHAOGUAN PIER

Dad.

What are you doing here?

Go home.

What a brat.

I'm not going home.

I'll follow you wherever you go.

Why are you still here?

It's dangerous here. You can't stay.

Dad, are you looking for someone?

You haven't slept at home for days.

I don't have time to be with you. Just go home for now.

If you don't, I won't feed you tomorrow.

-Hide there. -Okay.

Stay there and don't move.

I'll make you candied fruit tomorrow.

Okay.

Am I good with children?

Just cut to the chase!

-Praise me then. -What should we praise you for?

For being good with children.

You are very good with children.

That's enough.

What's with the river monster?

The river monster Hai talks about must be a person.

He popped out of the river and bit Er-ma to death.

Wait, I'm a bit confused. Just let me think for a second.

So Er-ma paid someone to dig Lao-qi's body out.

And Lao-qi popped out of the river and bit Er-ma to death?

Aren't you a lover of science, President Ding?

You can surely explain it scientifically.

What is that all about?

Trust me,

I'll find a scientific vindication that will surely serve your ambivalence.

Great! I'll be waiting.

So right now,

we have two directions.

The first one

is to find out who paid Er-ma to have Lao-qi's body dug out.

-The second is... -To find Lao-qi.

Er-ma was our guy. I'll ask around about him.

That should be easy.

Lao-qi was dug out from his grave.

That means he was already dead.

And this dead man was last seen in the river.

Therefore, we must look for him in the river.

You're absolutely right.

Tell me, who is the expert when it comes to the river?

It's obviously the captain of the Wuhe Salvage Team,

De-you Guo.

Who am I going to look for in the river?

Lao-qi, the red card guard of our Chamber of Commerce.

I see.

The situation is,

Mao Ding, the president of the Chamber of Commerce,

ask De-you Guo, the captain of the Wuhe Salvage Team's help

to retrieve a dead man who belongs to the Chamber of Commerce.

-Isn't it right? -Yes.

Pay me.

How much?

One hundred silver coins.

You only asked for 50 last time.

But it's dangerous this time.

And it bites too.

Who else remains in Er-ma's family?

Er-ma was single man

with one son.

He had no other relatives.

Who did he usually work for?

Hu's family.

There was not much work to do since Tian-ming's death,

so he usually helped Mrs. Hu serve Steward Hu.

Poor little boy.

For being left alone with no family.

Don't worry too much.

He's our brother's son. We'll take good care of him.

As I see it,

Yishengmen just wants the chance to make trouble for us.

The battle of words won't settle it.

No matter what the result is,

when we get over this,

I'll ask our men to arrange his funeral as quickly as possible.

By the way, when will the battle of words be?

Tonight.

How's the preparation going?

Don't worry,

I'm in charge.

I'll go there tonight as well.

You have to.

Having you there will boost our men's morale.

But l have to remind you.

When you get there, you can only watch, but not participate.

I know.

Because if I participate,

it'd seem like I'm bullying them.

Okay, you're absolutely right.

I'll leave you to your work then. I'm going to get things ready for tonight.

All right.

Master Guo.

With a net that loose,

what can we catch?

Something big.

Stop kidding.

How big must the fish be for it to be caught by our net?

Extremely big.

For real?

-President. -Yes.

Is Mrs. Hu in the study room or her bedroom?

Mrs. Hu went back to her parents' home.

-Back to her parents' home? -Yes.

Mrs. Hu just lost her son.

Now that Steward Hu was put in jail, she must be very distressed.

She might stay there for a while to recuperate.

Of course.

It's Da Hong Pao from Wuyi Mountains.

Although it was not grown from the two original bushes,

it's still a rarity.

How much longer should we wait?

The star won't show up

until the curtain is up.

My fellow brothers.

Thank you for your hard work!

Many of you

and I, Si Yu,

have been risking our lives following our old president,

so we can get to where we are today.

Nurturing soldiers takes more than 1,000 days,

only to lead a one-day battle.

Now that our Chamber of Commerce is embattled,

it is time for you to come forth.

In today's battle of words,

we'll show each and every member of Yishengmen

our absolute mettle and how we surpassed their threats!

Yes!

Draw lots!

Master Yu.

Are you playing in the theater?

All that ranting and raving.

Affected!

Tientsin men prefer straightforwardness.

Don't beat around the bush!

Hey, come on.

Calm down, will you?

And mind your manners,

or people may laugh.

And who would they laugh at?

I don't give a damn.

Only the coward would be laughed at!

Yishengmen comes here as our guests today.

Please go first!

What is this all about?

It's the battle of words.

Guys, we came here in haste.

So we don't have time to prepare gifts.

This ear is given to the brothers of Chamber of Commerce for a side dish.

Is this the battle of words?

Yes.

What is the battle of violence then?

It's the time when Tian-ming and Lao-qi defended our pier together.

The battle of violence is a battle for blood.

You fight it with skills and luck.

The battle of words is a battle for cruelty.

And you fight it with guts and spirits.

You know this is not what I had in mind.

I know.

But our opponents don't.

You must keep your word.

You are the president.

Your words must count.

There are rules that cannot be broken.

Brother, please.

One ear isn't enough to feed an ant.

I'll give you an arm.

-Sir. -Yes.

Is it really okay if we just stay here?

What's wrong with it?

Don't you think

it's best to have a look?

Which side are we on if we go there?

But just look at them

flexing their muscles and all.

We will show them who call the shots in Tientsin.

Here you go.

Go.

Show them who call the shots in Tientsin.

Go.

Goodness, sir.

I don't think I'm cut out to do that.

It should be you to go instead.

The battle of words

is a civilized and scientific solution to transcend predicament.

They take care of their own problems without bringing trouble to us.

That's the big gang's way of doing things.

They're showing us respect.

I say let them battle.

We'll be the casual observers.

As long as nothing extreme happens,

we'll just turn a blind eye to them.

Understood?

Wise!

I can't worship you more, sir!

-Learn from me. -Okay.

I'm feeling a little thirsty right now.

I'd like to have something hot.

I'll finish it to show my respect.

Lao-qi!

What did you say?

This is Lao-qi!

Is he really Lao-qi?

He swam faster than a turtle!

He was after me for about 1,000 meters!

What are you looking at?

Help me!

-Let's help. -Come on, guys! Hurry!

Pull harder!

Lao-qi!

What happened to you?

Don't forget to pay 100 silver coins.

Hey!

Hey!

-What's wrong with you? -It's on fire!

-What's on fire? -A human head!

Damn.

Look at those shameless bastards!

Stop looking!

What are you doing?

All of you are making a big scene instead of sleeping at this hour.

What's wrong with you?

What the hell is going on?

Captain Fu.

I'll let you be the judge.

The Chamber of Commerce try to blame us for their wrongdoings.

Crazy Cui.

Have you lost your mind?

What do you mean by that?

You've created such a disturbance on the pier of Tientsin.

And you dare to ask the police chief to be your judge?

What are you thinking?

What is your reason?

Let me hear it.

Tientsin has its own underworld

and the underworld has its own rules.

We don't rob.

We don't kill or set things on fire.

Because we value the rules.

Rules?

You have the audacity to say that while you're gathered here.

Tientsin is a city with docks of land and water transport

made of people from different ranks.

Thus, I have no doubt that the underworld settles things in its own way.

Listen.

You can battle all you want. Have I ever intervened?

Why?

Are you spoiled?

Where do you get the nerve?

Holy crap!

You plunged a man's head into boiling oil

and made him run around with his head on fire.

You are not going to rest until the pier was on fire.

Is my understanding correct?

I will not be held responsible for that.

Can you think twice before you act?

Captain Fu, that's not my man.

That's Lao-qi, the red card muscleman of the Chamber of Commerce.

You misjudged us.

Is he one of them?

They made their own muscleman into this ghostly look.

He bit everyone he saw.

Er-ma must've been bitten to death by this man.

Yet they wanted to blame it on us.

Since they have the new president,

they abandoned all the principles and rules.

They brought the living dead, Lao-qi, to today's battle of words.

And they screwed things up.

But it's all fine.

I accept your challenge.

Come on, this is not the time to play dumb.

It's obvious that we win the battle of words today.

Bullshit!

Who do you think Lao-qi belonged to?

Crap!

He was born as our man and died as our ghost.

One of us fried his head in the oil and burned it with fire.

Didn't you see?

You've broken the rule by having a dead man

join the battle of words.

If I don't teach you a lesson today,

I will fail Yishengmen then!

-Smash it! -Smash it!

All of you, stop!

Move if you dare!

Can you two heroes

stop disgracing yourselves?

If you want to settle it by the rules,

do as you please.

But since I am here,

it should be noted that the police have intervened.

If you continue this nonsense,

I will consider it a slap in my face.

-How did you find him? -Haven't I told you?

It's my line of work to retrieve bodies from the river.

Since I knew he was in the river and he could jump out and bite,

I thought of a way to fish him out.

With holes that big, the net stops any fish no matter how big it is.

The net is really just for him.

YAOWA PIER

You've got it right.

The dead came to life

and bit the living to death.

Why didn't you believe it?

Seeing is believing.

The Ancient Evil Gang is full of shenanigans.

They are coming for the Chamber of Commerce.

My dad used opium to poison more than 100 lives of their people.

If what Steward Hu told you in the jail is true,

these poisoned people were indeed the followers of the Ancient Evil Gang.

Lao-qi and Er-ma were related to the Ancient Evil Gang.

They are coming for your Chamber of Commerce.

What bug is this?

I've never seen it.

How were the 100-odd people your dad had poisoned,

specifically those retrieved from the river, be disposed of?

I haven't got the time to deal with them.

Because of all the things ensued,

they should still be in the Charity Hospital.

-Let's go! -For what?

The bug.

The bug?

TIENTSIN'S DAILY AND WEEKLY ISSUE PLANS

Setting aside your previous visit to the Charity Hospital

and the things that happened in the Juhua Grand Hotel,

why can't you let go of such an old story?

One concerns the floating corpses,

and the other concerns a hidden opium house.

Both are major news.

So why can't I follow up?

And this was only about a flood that happened 20 years ago.

Why can't I look into it?

Can there be an ulterior connection

behind these events?

Secretary-General Xiao has instructed me

to not let you get involved in things like these.

If you insist on doing more of this,

I'm afraid we won't be able to have you here anymore.

Since I'm in this line of work,

I must respect my profession.

Some news can't be held back from the public.

We'll report what should be reported.

There are things

you shouldn't dig too deep.

Otherwise, you'd make things worse.

To be frank with you,

Xiao family could get embroiled as well.

Half the truth is often a whole lie.

What was going on?

Explain it.

This insect fell on of Lao-qi’s body.

I've seen it on the dead bodies in the morgue.

If Lao-qi could stand up and bite people,

maybe those dead bodies can do that too.

Bug?

Aren't you afraid of those corpses getting stinky?

They were meant to be destroyed,

but it was put aside because of Uncle Hu's case.

That's a long overdue.

MEI-REN WANG STARS IN A RIVER LOVE STORY

TIENTSIN CHARITY HOSPITAL

Young Master.

Are you still calling him Young Master? Look clearly, he's President Ding now.

There is a shop selling doughnuts in West Street. Have you heard of it?

The doughnut is covered thickly with caramel

and put on the stove.

When it is taken out,

the smell wafts through the entire street.

And this isn't the best in Tientsin. Do you know what is?

There is a crepe shop in Back Byway.

They serve the most refined ones.

The paste is put on the stone mill

and spread meticulously.

You can smell it immediately.

Then, add two eggs to it

and sprinkle some sesame and chopped green onions on it.

Top it with a spoon of spicy sauce and a spoon of sweet soybean paste.

Then, put the newly fried dough on it.

This is when the shop owner asks you

if you want to add a special ingredient. And you know what that is?

Beef.

What?

The beef is not your ordinary beef.

It's salty stewed beef prepared by the shop owner.

I heard the recipe for the stew gravy has been passed on for 20 years.

The beef will be finely chopped and minced

before it's wrapped in the crepe.

Give it one bite.

I bet it would be crispy and tender. It's just full of beef flavor.

But you must eat it slowly,

or the beef may fall off.

That would be a waste.

Do you want one? Let's go there and buy it.

No problem.

But that's not enough.

What else would you like to eat?

Subtitle translation by Jing Chang