Episode 01

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**This page contains spoilers through the end of the series**
**Disclaimer: All the information here is based on the subtitles.**

## Summary

Guo Changcheng starts his first day of work at the SID, the "Special Investigations Department", led by Zhao Yunlan.

When a female student is mysteriously killed on the campus of the University of Dragon City, they go to investigate the scene of the murder.

There they meet Professor Shen Wei, who admits that the murdered girl was one of his students.

## The Prologue

"Haixing: An ancient planet. More than 10,000 years ago, an alien race came to this planet on a spaceship. Among them, some of the aliens' cells fused their genes with Haixing's plants and animals and were restructured, making them possess the same characteristics as the plants and animals. They even evolved such that they could shift forms at will. We call them the Yashou Tribe.

The other aliens chose to stay deep underground on the planet. Thus, they were called the Dixing people, or Dixingren. The climate in that place caused a fascinating chemical reaction in them, and also triggered their genes to restructure and mutate. They looked similar to us, but the powers within their bodies started to awaken. They could control water, thunder, and lightning, decompose natural elements and even control human will. Or other various abilities.

We were once afraid of this phenomenon but because their numbers are far less than ours, and they all lived separately, so there was peace. However, this all changed when a giant meteor crashed. The meteor destroyed the ecological system of Haixing, and the underground resources of Haixing started to deplete and the Dixing people escaped to the surface. Some ambitious Dixing people started to invade the Haixing and Yashou Tribe's lands for resources. A war finally broke out. By absorbing the powers from the meteorite and creating four Holy Tools, the Haixing people, Yashou Tribe, and the Dixing people established a peace agreement. From then till today, there was peace."

## Story

The prologue ends, and the next scene shows Shen Wei writing on a blackboard. A student, named Li Qian, is running a powerpoint projector at the back of the room. The first slide reads: “Investigating Species Mutation from a Genetic Standpoint.” Shen Wei begins lecturing to the class, which includes an older man with gray hair and glasses. Shen Wei asks the audience why, if their society is supposedly so advanced, they have not discovered any mutants yet. He opines that the pursuit of the unknown is part of the human condition and that this is why humans are fascinated with biology. Shen Wei admits that he is not good at using technology, and so he asked Li Qian to help. Li Qian appears distracted, however, and it takes her a moment to realize it is time to switch the slide.

After the lecture, Shen Wei, Li Qian, and the older man, who is named Professor Ouyang Zhen, walk down the stairs outside the lecture hall. Li Qian still appears distracted. Professor Ouyang wants to talk to Shen Wei alone, and so Shen Wei tells Li Qian she can leave. He immediately tells Shen Wei that there is no need to hide the truth with him—mutants have already appeared and have been around for a long time. He says that Shen Wei’s former teacher, Professor Zhou, are investigating mutants and they want Shen Wei to join them, but Shen Wei politely declines.

In the next scene, it is night, and a young man named Guo Changcheng is walking down an empty street, looking scared and clutching a piece of paper. He looks at the addresses on the buildings and stops at #4. At that moment, a motorcycle roars onto the street and stops in front of Guo Changcheng. The man on the motorcycle is Zhao Yunlan, and he asks who Guo Changcheng is. Guo Changcheng gives his name, adding that he is twenty-four years old and is there to report for duty. Zhao Yunlan walks over, takes the notice, glances at it, and then throws it away. He drags Guo Changcheng inside the building. They first see Old Li (Lao Li), who is cooking some dried fish. Zhao Yunlan pauses and takes out a lollipop, telling Guo Changcheng that he just quit smoking and needs something in his mouth.

Guo Changcheng nervously asks why he was told to report at night. Zhao Yunlan tells him that it had to be special—if it wasn’t, how could they be called the “Special Investigation Department”? Guo Changcheng then meets the other employees. First, Zhu Hong comes to inspect him. When he takes her hand, Guo Changcheng exclaims at how cold her skin is—then he realizes that instead of legs, she has the tail of a snake. Horrified, he scrambles away, only to encounter Da Qing sliding down the banister. As he leaps off, Da Qing transforms into a cat. Before Guo Changcheng can process this, he hears an explosion, and then Lin Jing storms into the room, covered in soot with his hair standing on end. When Zhu Hong teases him, Lin Jing retorts that the only reason they are able to be in the building without constant worrying is because he invented a shield that can keep out Dixingren.

Another SID employee appears, walking down the stairs toward Guo Changcheng. Her name is Wang Zheng. Guo Changcheng realizes that her lower body is very transparent, that she is in fact a spirit or a ghost. Overcome, Guo Changcheng faints. Da Qing, still in his cat form, calls him a “wimp.”

We cut to the Dragon City University campus, where Li Qian is walking. It is still night, and she is frightened. She clutches at a something hidden under her jacket, perhaps a necklace, and then starts running away from whatever has frightened her.

The next scene finds us back at SID headquarters, where a traumatized Guo Changcheng is being “comforted” by Zhao Yunlan. Zhao Yunlan tells him that he is part of the SID family now. Guo Changcheng—who everyone begins calling Little Guo (Xiao Guo)—freaks out when Da Qing in cat form begins speaking again. All the other SID employees laugh at him, and Xiao Guo faints again. Zhao Yunlan is annoyed and tells everyone that Xiao Guo is Minister Guo’s nephew and that for the sake of next year’s new location, they can’t afford to offend him. He chastises everyone and tells Da Qing he will reduce his dried fish quota, to Da Qing’s dismay.

We cut to the following day and see Zhao Yunlan arriving at the university campus on his motorcycle. He is there to inspect a crime scene. At first, one of the police doesn’t want to let Zhao Yunlan into the cordoned area, but the policeman’s partner hurries over, apologetic. Zhao Yunlan tells him to call him “Little Zhao” instead of “Chief Zhao.” They let Zhao Yunlan through the cordon, and the one policeman whispers to the other that the SID deals with strange and unresolved cases.

The corpse of a young woman is lying on the ground. Marks on her neck indicate she has been strangled. Zhao Yunlan studies the corpse while Da Qing looks on in his cat form. Then Xiao Guo arrives. He almost vomits at the sight of the corpse. Pitiless, Zhao Yunlan grabs him and drags his hand over to the dead woman’s neck. It is obvious that the finger marks are much longer than Xiao Guo’s—too long for a human. On the window sill on the second floor of the adjacent building is a similar handprint, with very long fingers. Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing go to inspect it. Xiao Guo is made to dangle out of the window on a rope. Zhao Yunlan, examining the handprint, tells Da Qing that it was definitely made by someone from “over there.” Da Qing asks if the “management” became sloppy “over there.” Zhao Yunlan tells Da Qing that they need to find the first eyewitness to the crime scene.

Outside, Xiao Guo’s rope breaks, and he falls to the ground. Shen Wei was walking by at that moment, and he hurries over to help. At Xiao Guo’s shout, Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing both stick their heads out of the window, alarmed. Shen Wei glances up, sees Zhao Yunlan, and then does a double-take. He stares at Zhao Yunlan. When Zhao Yunlan notices him, though, he ducks back inside, muttering that Xiao Guo is his “current life’s retribution.” Shen Wei appears shaken, but he goes and kneels by Xiao Guo, who is not seriously hurt.

Da Qing arrives in his cat form, and Shen Wei pets him. Then Zhao Yunlan arrives. He introduces himself and asks for Shen Wei’s name. Shen Wei explains that he is a professor. Zhao Yunlan repeats Shen Wei’s name and says that it’s a good name. Zhao Yunlan gives him his card. He shakes Shen Wei’s hand, but Shen Wei keeps holding on until he realizes what he is doing, and then he lets go quickly.

We cut to inside a campus building, where Li Qian is walking down the hallway, distracted and bumping into people. We see a flashback to her standing outside and seeing the woman who was murdered dangling from the window and struggling. Back in the present, Li Qian hears a meow and looks down to see a cat (Da Qing). Zhao Yunlan and Xiao Guo approach, and Zhao Yunlan confirms that Li Qian was the first person at the crime scene. The murdered woman’s name was Lu Ruomei. Zhao Yunlan takes Li Qian into an empty office to interrogate her. Li Qian admits that she saw a shadow winding around Lu Ruomei’s body, winding tighter and tighter. Xiao Guo is taking notes, but Da Qing is guarding the door and is annoyed that he has to do such an unimportant task when he is thousands of years old and also the Deputy Chief of SID. Shen Wei appears behind Da Qing, and when Da Qing notices him, he stares at Shen Wei. Shen Wei says he is there to pick up Li Qian.

Zhao Yunlan mentions that Lu Ruomei was Shen Wei’s student too. He remarks that Shen Wei must have seen her dead body and yet, Shen Wei appears not to have had any reaction to it. Shen Wei says that is because he knows there are some things in the world that cannot be explained, and that he is a biology professor who studies mutations. Zhao Yunlan says that Shen Wei is an expert then, and that the next time he sees something interesting in a book on the subject, he should call and Zhao Yunlan will rush to his side. Shen Wei laughs and then, becoming serious, asks Zhao Yunlan to find the culprit as soon as possible. Zhao Yunlan tells him that is SID’s duty and pats him on the shoulder. But once Shen Wei and Li Qian have left, Zhao Yunlan orders Xiao Guo to tail both of them, especially Shen Wei.

We cut to Shen Wei and Li Qian walking through the city streets. Xiao Guo is trying to tail them, but he quickly loses them. He runs into an old woman who is wandering in the street, crying for “Qian Qian.” She is Li Qian’s grandmother. He helps her back to her home and when they are sitting on the couch, he discovers a strange metal box hidden in the couch cushions. He opens it, and a shadow figure bursts forth. It starts to attack them, but suddenly a strange puppet appears and begins fighting the shadow. Then a man runs into the room. He is controlling the puppet, and Xiao Guo realizes he is Chu Shuzhi, an SID member. The shadow figure escapes. Chu Shuzhi asks if Xiao Guo is the newbie. Xiao Guo starts to call him “Old Chu” (Lao Chu) but quickly changes it to “Brother Chu” (Chu-ge) at Chu Shuzhi’s glare. Xiao Guo and Chu Shuzhi report back to the SID headquarters and tell Zhao Yunlan what happened. Zhao Yunlan says that this shows that Li Qian was the intended victim, not Lu Ruomei.

The next scene shows Shen Wei in his office. He is looking at Zhao Yunlan’s official SID file and lingering on Zhao Yunlan’s picture. We see a flashback to a younger Shen Wei, with long hair and old-fashioned clothes, sitting next to a man who looks like Zhao Yunlan except also with longer hair and dressed differently. The two are talking, and Shen Wei says that he hasn’t asked the man’s name. The man says that his name is “Kun Lun,” and he sticks a lollipop in Shen Wei’s mouth. Present-day Shen Wei thinks, “I’ve searched for you for 10,000 years” and also that he hopes Kun Lun still remembers their arrangement to meet.

Next, we cut to Li Qian, who is putting her grandmother to bed. In her own bedroom, she takes out a bottle of pills.

The next scene is at SID headquarters, where Lin Jing is sitting in his lab examining something under the microscope. Zhu Hong comes along and gives a distracted Lin Jing a piece of dried fish to eat. Lin Jing is horrified when he realizes he is eating some of Da Qing’s precious snack food. But then he thinks “fish” and this appears to give him the clue he is looking for.

We cut to Zhao Yunlan, who is following Li Qian. On campus, Li Qian is handing out fliers. Zhao Yunlan sits on his motorcycle, some distance away, watching. She appears tired and upset and drops all the fliers. Once she has picked them up, she sits down on a bench and we see a flashback to her preparing food in the kitchen and coughing. At dinner with her grandmother, she is tired and irritable, and snaps at her grandmother when her grandmother tries to give her some food. Back in the present, Shen Wei comes by and sits next to her. Li Qian asks if SID is really going to be able to catch the killer but also wonders if they are monsters too. Shen Wei says no, they are only special and that the real monsters only exist in people’s hearts. Li Qian thinks about earlier when she was holding the bottle of pills. Shen Wei sympathizes with Li Qian, remarking on how she has to hold several jobs and look after her grandmother. Li Qian asks him if doing everything in one’s power to protect someone is really worth it, and Shen Wei replies immediately that it is. Li Qian touches her hidden necklace, and Shen Wei glances over to where Zhao Yunlan is watching them.

After Li Qian leaves, Zhao Yunlan tries to walk past, but Shen Wei stops him. During their conversation, Shen Wei reveals that he knows the real purpose of SID is to investigate Dixingren. He asks Zhao Yunlan if he really thinks Dixingren are so different from humans. Zhao Yunlan does not answer the question and instead asks Shen Wei what his thoughts on the case are, but Shen Wei says solving crimes is not his specialty. Zhao Yunlan remarks that he doesn’t know why, but he feels a sense of kinship with Shen Wei. Shen Wei says, “Who knows, maybe we really have met before.” Then Zhao Yunlan’s phone rings, and it is Da Qing telling him they have a new lead.

Zhao Yunlan, Lin Jing, Xiao Guo, and Da Qing all go to an old abandoned building. It is empty, but Lin Jing collects a sample of something from the wall. Xiao Guo—nervous as usual—knocks over some debris and clings to an exasperated Chu Shuzhi.

Back at the university, Shen Wei is coming out of his office and runs into Li Qian. He gets a good look at her necklace for the first time. It is a silver dial with a green stone. At first, Li Qian doesn’t want to let Shen Wei see it, but relents. As Shen Wei reaches toward it, the shadow figure appears. Shen Wei and Li Qian run away and barricade themselves in a room. Shen Wei tells Li Qian to call Zhao Yunlan on her cell phone. When Zhao Yunlan answers, Shen Wei tells him that the Dixingren is at the university.

The shadow Dixingren bursts into the room where they are hiding. Shen Wei fights it off, and they run up onto the roof. The shadow Dixingren approaches them, and Shen Wei stands in front of Li Qian. Just before the shadow reaches them, Shen Wei appears to notice something out of the corner of his eye. He pushes Li Qian further back, grapples with the shadow Dixingren, and appears to fall off the roof. The shadow Dixingren grabs Li Qian’s necklace, but then Chu Shuzhi’s puppet strings appear, grabbing the Dixingren and throwing him away.

Zhao Yunlan, Da Qing, Xiao Guo, and Lin Jing emerge onto the roof. Lin Jing starts filming on his cell phone. Zhao Yunlan tells the shadow Dixingren it is time to go back.

The sky grows dark, a strong wind blows, and everyone else on the campus appears to freeze in time except for the group on the roof. A black-cloaked man wearing a mask appears—the Black Cloaked Envoy (Hei Pao Shi) from Dixing. He freezes the shadow Dixingren in place. Chu Shuzhi bows his head and forces Xiao Guo to bow too.

But Zhao Yunlan is much more disrespectful. He calls him “Brother Black” (Hei Lao-ge) and says that this is the first time Hei Pao Shi has visited since he became chief. He wonders if Hei Pao Shi forgot the way or if he thought fighting with Dixingren was a good way for the SID team to gain experience. Hei Pao Shi says that he was detained by business. But before he takes away the shadow Dixingren, he tells Zhao Yunlan that the weather is changing and that they will meet each other again soon. Zhao Yunlan retorts that next time, he should arrive earlier.

After Hei Pao Shi and the shadow Dixingren disappear, Da Qing explains to Xiao Guo that although the SID can capture Dixingren, they have to turn them over to Hei Pao Shi, who will take them away to Dixing for punishment.

Zhao Yunlan goes over to Li Qian and wonders aloud where Professor Shen is—not realizing that Shen Wei had come up onto the roof with Li Qian. Li Qian gasps, horrified, and cries out Shen Wei’s name, running over to the edge of the roof. Zhao Yunlan runs over too, and the episode ends with both of them looking down to see what happened to Shen Wei.

## Highlights

* Prologue to the series: Alien spaceship and meteor backstory
* Shen Wei at the podium in front of his class
* Introduction to the SID through Guo Changcheng's eyes
* Chu Shuzhi showing off his puppetmaster power and coming to Guo Changcheng's rescue
* Black Cloaked Envoy's entrance and demonstration of powers - freezing time and people, opening portals to Dixing
* Shen Wei being helped up from the bushes at the end

* **Weilan Moment:** First meeting in the modern day! Zhao Yunlan goes to the University of Dragon City's campus to investigate the death of a student. Shen Wei sees Zhao Yunlan leaning out of a window and visibly recognizes him. They formally introduce themselves to each other and Zhao Yunlan gives him a business card, telling him to call him if he thinks of anything that can be helpful to the investigation.

* **Featured Hallow:** Longevity Dial - Li Qian wears this as a small pendant on a necklace. She says it's been a family heirloom and was given to her by her grandmother. She had used it to save her grandmother's life before the show started.

## Appearances

* Shen Wei
* Zhao Yunlan
* Da Qing
* Zhu Hong
* Chu Shuzhi
* Guo Changcheng
* Wang Zheng
* Lin Jing
* Li Qian
* Professor Ouyang
* **Villain:** Shadow guy, who isn't ever named. He's been sent to retrieve the Longevity Dial and he kills other female students while trying to find Li Qian. One of his weapons is a metal sharp-tipped glove. He's subdued by Chu Shuzhi's puppet strings and then Black Cloaked Envoy appears, freezes him in ice, and takes him back to Dixing via a portal. Shadow guy later returns in Episode 33.

## Quotes

Zhao Yunlan talking to Da Qing about Shen Wei: "I have a feeling that he is a tricky fellow."

Kun Lun: "No matter what you do, do not regret it."

Shen Wei to Zhao Yunlan: "Who knows, maybe we really have met before."

Shen Wei: "Real monsters only exist in people's hearts."