Mystic Nine Episode 6

Under world or Other World? And raising the son well— a gold toad’s gift puzzle

We are immediately tossed in with Wu as he explores a long discarded passageway. He finds one dead end has a long way down. This has Winchester house vibe of hallways to no where. He finds himself running from a huge snake which is very reminiscent of Harry Potter basilisk chase. Right when he seems done for Zhang and dagger appear. He is rescued but way out has literal viper den in the way. Again flickering lights change scene and the vipers are gone and exploration continues. What is interesting Zhang concludes it was all illusion with the vipers. Even the wound in his hand has disappeared. Those left behind with Huo are in two camps demanding Qi send them to find their masters. Huo agrees to have them sent so they can all shut up. 😂😝 They are shamed into looking around and finding their own way out. She is a smart one and has the drafts cut off to determine if ceiling has escape possibilities….turns out it does. Zhang and Wu continue their exploration with Wu convinced they are in the underworld and showing evidence of the relief statues around them. Zhang points out they are sloppily made and no one would try to be immortal if this was their ending. One wall revealed a crack with wind. But whether to inside chamber or outside there is no way to tell. Wu has a trick up his sleeve and attaches a map to the sparrow he has with him. It will fly to his men and deliver the map. Depending on who shows up, if anybody, will be an indicator if bird escaped within or without the tower. Zhang and Wu find themselves in an opera house with stage and audience tables all set. The other world patriarch is positioned behind the stage rather than as part of the audience. Wu strikes the gong to open the show and finds that he did. The lights come on and the stage is set. What they find are the bodies to the skulls mortared in water passageway. Wu is more freaked out than Zhang. He is still convinced it is underworld setup. Zhang continues to oppose the notion for same reason Wu is all for it. There is then a hint between them of some place in the past where they had worked together. Neither confirm where or what this place was. As both men explore, Zhang finds a door and Wu finds a puzzle he called Golden Toad’s gift. He does at least finally agree Zhang was right and not under worldly. Solving the puzzle should open the door. Zhang wants to start with the door, but listens to Wu’s counter that if the room tied together, forcing the door could harm those in other locations. He suggests the stage and they start looking for clues. Wu finds a program book with the title Madame Wang’s Lecture. He confirms the last word with Zhang because literacy is not a strong trait of the Wu clan. They are to act out the story. They must raise the son well to escape. The scene goes back to Huo and she gets to the ceiling. She is bolder than me sticking her hand in the hole up top, what is interesting is she has Zhang’s button in her hand and Wu’s hand is shown trying to pull her in. It is unclear if Wu tells her to back off or if she shrinks back of her own volition. She is trying to figure things out while both clans argue in background. They are an annoying schoolyard tauntfest.😝🙉 We are returned to opera room where Wu puts rods in everybody’s hand. He points out that Zhang is not needed as director and the world will continue without him. They find out that the boy was not raised well and they must continue trying until the right balance of teaching leads to a good ending for the son. They have figured out the other world patriarch is watching them and they will be punished or rewarded depending on outcome of play. First round of all rods a failure. I like how Wu uses the royal we in making the wrong call.😝🙄 Second round they pay more attention to the purpose of the items in their hands. They distribute the props and Wu notices when he adds a hairpin that there are 15 rather than 14 flower poms in the headdress. They bicker about this a few times but Wu sees it flicker and disappear while Zhang notices something else entirely. He agrees with Wu but we do not get to see what he’s looking at. The puzzle is progressing with both groups. Too bad for Huo no duct tape for the bickering clansmen. She got the worst end of this deal. 😝

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