Episode 8 (Tomb of the Sea)

**Episode 8 (Tomb of the Sea)** is the eighth episode of the television series Tomb of the Sea.

## Synopsis

Wu Xie realizes the underground palace is not Gutong Jing. Old Ma becomes more obsessed with finding Gutong Jing.

## Story

Wu Xie deduced that Su Nan would set explosives up top. They needed to find a place to hide within 5 minutes. Wu Xie knocked on the wall and hit a brick. A square hole appeared in the ground and they went through arriving in another room. Wu Xie found a strange mural on the wall. The persons depicted in the mural were worshipping or paying respect to the sacred tree. The tree is probably their totem. That or the tree is the embodiment of a god, demon, or spirit. But interestingly, the tree was not in the palace. The explosion started and they looked for a place to hide.

Su Wan and Yang Hao were investigating the Xin Yue Restaurant. They found that Bao Sheng Auction House was supplying the restaurant with antiques to sell at their auctions. In fact, every auction item had Bao Sheng listed on it. They thought the boss of Bao Sheng could be the restaurant's real boss behind the scenes. They searched for the owner of Bao Sheng and found that it was Zhang Rishan who they realized was the person they met at the restaurant. Su Wan met his teacher after they left. The teacher insisted that Su Wan leave with him. Su Wan went to the teacher's car and confronted him that he was not his real teacher. Su Wan created voice messages recording his conversation and sent them to Yang Hao. Yang Hao did not read them. Eventually, Yang Hao realized that the teacher was an imposter. He ran into Shen Qiong who did not seem to concerned that Su Wan was with the teacher. Yang Hao and her mourned their friend thinking he was already dead. But Su Wan turned up just fine and gave up on his conspiracy that something was very wrong with the teacher.

Zhang Rishan made Kan Jian food. They discussed whether those people had taken action yet and that they should be prepared when they do.

Liang Wan got a promotion recommendation from the director in her department. But when the director mentioned Li Cu, Liang Wan broke down crying and said she didn't deserve a promotion.

Wu Xie, Ma Maonian, and Li Cu got out of the palace safely. Li Cu woke up without his shirt in a tent with Wu Xie and Wang Meng. Wu Xie and Wang Meng were talking about Ye Xiao and how he had turned up. Old Ma had somehow seen Li Cu's back when they were down in the palace. He came by the tent along with Su Nan, calling Li Cu the walking map. Old Ma wanted to know what the mural they had found down there meant. Wu Xie said that it was a map and that the place they were at was not the real Gutong Jing. He told Old Ma that the carvings on Li Cu's back and mural are related. But he needed time to think how they were related. Wu Xie also started to realize that Su Nan had a lot of power and seemed to be the real one in charge. Old Ma realized that everyone he hired worked for Su Nan.

Yang Honglu started complaining about the desert and said that they shouldn't go to Gutong Jing. Old Ma became upset and hit her drawing the attention of the documentary team. This in turn drew the attention of the men who worked for Su Nan. They all began to argue and Wu Xie interrupted them. Wu Xie talked about principles and saying that just because they knew he hired fugitives, they shouldn't kill them to keep this secret. But Old Ma did not know the group he hired were fugitives and were people who had killed before.

At night, Li Cu woke up and went out to go to the bathroom. He noticed Ma Rila trying to steal a car to leave and joined him. But when they turned on the headlights, Su Nan was standing in front of them. The two hurriedly went back to their tent.

Zhang Rishan was wearing the face mask of teacher Yang Jingmi. He took it off and went to take a bath. As he got into the water, a tattoo slowly began to appear. Similar to other Zhang Clan tattoos it only appeared when the skin became warm. Yin Nanfeng interrupted his bath. He made the comment that even though he was temporarily staying at the Xin Yue Restaurant, Yin Nanfeng showed him no respect. However, she thought that the word temporarily wasn't quite right since all the money from the restaurant went to him. He got out of the tub in front of her and she threw him a rob while looking away. They continued their conversation and Yin Nanfeng believed that no matter how chaotic it was, he would remain undisturbed. He did not agree because despite wanting to change things within the Nine Clans Association, he no longer had the ability, but he appreciated Xin Yue Restaurant's help at such a crucial time. She reminded him that the Nine Clans Association was no longer what it used to be and no one had the power to dictate things. They all needed to do business together and it was the reason why Zhang Rishan asked Yin Nanfeng to come. She brought up Fo Ye, saying that when he was still around, everyone was united and would work together. But she is an outsider, so he should be looking for the other members of the Nine Clans Association. Zhang Rishan told her that he liked to stay and eat for free at the restaurant. She reminded him that the nine families were watching him closely like prey and even if he lived at the restaurant, he probably couldn't be free from anxiety. He agreed since he thought he was a lonely old man with no support but that was the reason he needed her help. But Yin Nanfeng reminded him that her great aunt (姑奶奶), Yin Xin Yue, ordered that the Xin Yue Restaurant not to get involved in anything to do with the nine clans' association. She handed him an employment contract which he signed. She then promised to bring the person he asked for but Zhang Rishan wanted to pick the person himself and decided on Luo Que.

Director Wang and Old Ma were conversing. Old Ma wanted the director's team to join them to Gutong Jing. Old Ma started talking about himself saying he was in car accident three years ago. His lower body was almost paralyzed. He lived in the hospital for a few years and exercised like crazy, desparate to recover. He was in a lot of pain and still struggles to walk. He heard that Gutong Jing could help him recover. Director Wang tried to get out of going, but Old Ma was insistent and threatened him. Suddenly, in the distance, one of the trucks started sinking. Everyone started running away from their camp thinking it would also sink.

## Characters

* Wu Xie
* Ma Maonian
* Su Wan
* Yang Hao
* Yang Jingmi
* Liang Wan
* Shen Qiong
* Zhang Rishan
* Kan Jian
* Liang Wan
* Wang Meng
* Ma Rila
* Yin Nanfeng

### Director Wang's Team

* Director Wang
* Fu Mei
* Guo Zi
* Zeng Ye
* Dan Jie
* Cai Tou

### Old Ma's Team

* Ma Maonian
* Su Nan
* Kai Kai
* Yang Honglu
* Lao Mai
* Shao Tian
* Ye Xiao

## References

1. ↑ A **totem** is an object or being that is believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance and that is adopted by it as an emblem.