Episode Summary
A'Lai is framed for bribery by A'Jia and suspended from the police force. Lu Na wakes up with amnesia and goes home with A'Lai, drawn by a faint memory of his voice. They encounter a mysterious, violent man connected to Lu Na's comic and the abandoned Old Friends Hotel, where a dark history of abuse and murder is revealed. The comic book begins to magically fill with new drawings as the past collides with the present.
Spoiler Alert
This episode throws us into a whirlwind of betrayal, lost memories, and a mystery spanning decades. A'Lai, after seeing a newspaper article about Liu Meng collaborating with actor Wang Ke, is reminded of a story from the comic book. Driven by this connection, he makes a grim discovery – Wang Ke's body buried in the woods. He summons Wei Lun for questioning, but the interrogation is interrupted when A'Jia bursts in with a box of gold bars, accusing A'Lai of taking a bribe. A'Jia claims Wei Lun offered the bribe to help A'Lai get off the hook. Shockingly, Wei Lun confirms this, leading to A'Lai's immediate suspension. We quickly learn this is a setup orchestrated by A'Jia, who's been having Xiao Zhao spy on A'Lai. Xiao Zhao discovered a letter to A'Lai containing photos of water birds, which led A'Jia to the planted gold, framing A'Lai to remove him as a rival for the police chief position.
Meanwhile, Lu Na wakes up in the hospital with amnesia. She has no idea who she is or how she got there. A'Lai visits, and while doctors suggest electroshock therapy, A'Lai decides to take Lu Na home. Lu Na is skeptical of A'Lai, but a faint memory of hearing his voice reading a story while she was unconscious convinces her to go with him. At A'Lai's place, Lu Na demands to see his police ID, but it's been confiscated due to his suspension. He shows her his police academy diploma instead. A'Lai explains that her comic book is connected to the cases and even to his suspension. Their conversation is overheard by Xiao Zhao, who, sensing something fishy, reports back to A'Jia.
A'Lai tries to jog Lu Na's memory by having her look at the comic, but she draws a blank. When she gets hungry, A'Lai cooks her noodles. Later, A'Lai plays with his lighter, and the sound triggers a flash of a man's face in Lu Na's mind. She quickly sketches it, unsure why. The building's superintendent then arrives, reporting a disoriented man banging his head against a cabinet in the storage room. Lu Na recognizes the man as the one she just drew. A'Lai instructs Lu Na to grab the comic books, but she deliberately leaves the sketch behind. A'Lai and Xiao Zhao break into A'Lai's apartment, find the drawing, and learn about the man in the storage room. They try to follow A'Lai and Lu Na but are discovered and lose them.
A'Lai and Lu Na follow a tag on the strange man's neck to the "Old Friends Hotel." According to the superintendent, it's a new hotel, but what they find is an abandoned building. Inside, A'Lai discovers a newspaper from twenty years in the future, adding another layer of confusion. The strange man then grabs an axe and turns towards A'Lai and Lu Na. He is the target to attack them, he thought if it is not because of Lu Na, he would not go to jail. As Lu Na flees, she trips, dropping her notebooks. The wind flips open one of the previously blank comic books, and new drawings begin to appear.
We're then given a flashback revealing the man's identity: Da Bing. He and his father were both employees at the Old Friends Hotel, living in room 237. Da Bing's father was abusive, frequently beating him for mistakes, leaving Da Bing terrified of him. When Da Bing is falsely accused of stealing a guest's gold watch, his father forces him to strip in public to prove his innocence. Later, the watch is found in the guest's laundry, but instead of an apology, Da Bing's father and Da Bing are humiliated by both the guest and the hotel manager. That night, Da Bing's father gives him milk laced with sleeping pills, then murders the guest and steals the watch. Later, a coworker teases Da Bing and tricks him into drinking. Witnessing this, the father drags Da Bing to room 237 for another beating, followed by another drugged glass of milk. While Da Bing sleeps, his father murders the coworker.
