Episode 17 recap: Tan Jing, Tian Jin Ling and a third person encountered a strange incident.
The villagers only provided two rooms for the three of them, and the third person felt afraid to sleep alone, so they ended up sleeping together that night. The next morning, the third person woke up to find Tan Jing and Jin Ling holding hands, and tried to take a photo but the phone was out of battery.
The wedding banquet was about to start, and the groom's family was busy preparing. Compared to yesterday, today there was a more joyful atmosphere for the wedding. However, the matchmaker had disappeared, and they didn't know what would happen next, only that the mother had told them they needed to participate in the tea ceremony as the bride's family.
The village chief had been waiting, as he had other matters to attend to, and was getting impatient. The host family didn't want to wait for the mother, and directly announced the start of the ceremony.
After the tea ceremony, the village chief suddenly frothed at the mouth and fainted after eating a cookie offered by the bride. Jin Ling examined the chief and determined he was poisoned by cyanide, but was unsure if he could be saved. The policeman, De, had been trying to contact them frantically and decided to come find them personally, while also having other officers on standby in case his own signal was lost.
Tan Jing analyzed the scene - the chief had symptoms of poisoning after drinking the tea and eating the snack, while the others who only drank the tea did not. This indicated the snack was poisoned. Unfortunately, the chief could not be revived. It was the chief's birthday, and he had passed away unexpectedly.
When the groom's mother heard the news, she fainted and then later said it was retribution, before the groom's father kicked her and told her not to say such things. Tan Jing's group was moved to another room, and the third person decided to go investigate further, as the remote location meant the police would arrive late even if called. They needed to determine if this was indiscriminate murder or targeted at just the chief, what the groom's mother meant by "retribution", and whether the missing matchmaker was involved in poisoning and then fleeing, or if there were other hidden circumstances.
In the other room, the village chief's wife was causing a commotion. She demanded that the groom's family pay compensation, threatening to stay at their house until they did. As they were arguing, a few butterflies flew in, and one landed on the village chief's nose. The groom's mother was terrified, insisting on protecting her remaining son, so she quickly dragged her son and the bride away, intending to hide the child.
The people here seem to be very fearful and respectful of butterflies. Seeing the butterfly land on the village chief's body, they knelt down, murmuring that the butterfly fairy had manifested. Tan Jing Tian and Jin Ling witnessed this, and although they could not understand what the villagers were saying, their behavior seemed very strange.
Tan Jing Tian realized that the two butterflies were just common ones, and the villagers' fear of them was likely due to someone exploiting the butterfly phenomenon. The villagers were not afraid of the butterflies themselves, but the story behind them. From inquiring with the villagers, Tan Jing Tian and Jin Ling learned that Niang Dui was a notorious human trafficker in the area, and many people had bought women from her. They were not surprised by this, as they had already guessed that the beautiful bride was bought by the groom's family from Niang Dui, given the groom's apparent intellectual or physical disability.
Difference also discovered that the only telephone in the village had its wires cut, and no one had reported it. Tan Jing Tian and his companions could now conclude that the village chief's death was a premeditated murder, and the culprit was likely still in the village. This was because the village chief and Niang Dui had been colluding, as evidenced by their argument, during which the groom's father had revealed their profit-sharing arrangement.
The next day, the groom disappeared, and the bride was also tied up. Later, they found the unconscious son in the forest. This village is truly strange, with people repeatedly getting into trouble. It seems that Tan Jing Tian will have to use his skill in uncovering the truth once again.
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