Cao Xuanxuan suddenly wakes up with a completely changed personality, as though she’s become a different person altogether. Everyone finds this very strange, and both Master Guo and the Guo family’s steward suspect that the current Cao Xuanxuan is not really her but someone else who looks exactly like her. All of this is overheard outside the door by Guo Zijie’s elder brother.
While using a Rubik’s Cube as bait to find other “travelers,” Cao Xuanxuan encounters a man who easily completes the cube. Thrilled, she steps forward to ask how he learned to solve a Rubik’s Cube. The man claims he has been gifted at such things since childhood. Cao Xuanxuan assumes he’s trying to conceal his identity as a fellow traveler and decides to keep an eye on him. She then brings him to the county yamen (government office), intending to recommend him to Guo Zijie for official work. However, seeing Cao Xuanxuan getting close to this man makes Guo Zijie jealous. He comes up with various excuses to make things difficult for the newcomer, but the man responds with flawless answers.
That night, Guo Zijie brings his adviser home for tea. It turns out they already know each other: the man’s name is Sun Weiyan, and Guo Zijie specifically brought him in to mislead Cao Xuanxuan. The Rubik’s Cube was something Guo Zijie memorized after watching Cao Xuanxuan play with it once. Guo Zijie then calls on Old He to discuss investigating the case. Old He’s granddaughter, He Chuner, believes Guo Zijie is not a good official. However, seeing her grandfather’s advanced age, she decides to take his place. Just then, assassins infiltrate the yamen, but He Chuner manages to drive them away. Guo Zijie’s elder brother, who had been sleeping soundly, is enraged to learn that his people failed to capture Cao Xuanxuan. It turns out there are two groups of assailants: one group sent by Guo Zijie’s brother, who only wanted to bring Cao Xuanxuan back; and another group of real assassins with the intent to kill.
Guo Zijie and Cao Xuanxuan take everyone to the crime scene to investigate. Since it’s already late, they find an inn for the night. But due to limited rooms, someone must stay in the storage room. Though each person initially volunteers, the timid and frail among them feel too frightened to sleep there, fearing something is following them. Finally, Zhao Qiang volunteers to sleep in the storage room. Cao Xuanxuan and Guo Zijie end up sharing one room. That night, while lying next to Guo Zijie, Cao Xuanxuan secretly slips the Chronicles of Yancheng from his person. She discovers the book is completely blank. In frustration, she shakes Guo Zijie awake, demanding that he quickly finish writing it so she can return home. Guo Zijie replies that since none of the events have actually transpired yet, there’s nothing for him to write.
Just then, a scream comes from outside.
Everyone rushes out to find Zhao Xiaolin panicking in the middle of the courtyard: the storage room where Zhao Qiang was supposed to be has vanished without a trace. Overcome by fear, Zhao Xiaolin flees. Guo Zijie orders everyone to chase after her, while he and Cao Xuanxuan remain at the scene to investigate.
Meanwhile, He Chuner and Sun Weiyan have been secretly observing Zhao Xiaolin’s behavior from the sidelines. They end up dozing off side by side, and the next morning Guo Zijie and Cao Xuanxuan find them and wake them up, leaving both slightly embarrassed. Everyone begins analyzing the case and finds it utterly bizarre—no one knows where to start. Cao Xuanxuan suggests first looking into the victim’s social relations prior to his death to uncover leads. But since they aren’t at the county yamen, they can’t officially conduct a trial. Cao Xuanxuan spontaneously comes up with an idea and sets up a makeshift “interrogation room,” complete with a spotlight, using modern interrogation methods to dig for the case’s origin.
The villagers are summoned one by one for questioning. They all hold the fox spirit in great reverence and are terrified even at the thought of starting a fire, for fear of offending the fox spirit. When someone mentions having found the missing husband’s headband, Zhao Xiaolin starts sobbing uncontrollably on the side. But the crowd grows resentful of Zhao Xiaolin because her husband was from another village. They complain that she could have chosen a local man instead of marrying an outsider and thus bringing misfortune upon the entire village by angering the fox spirit.
At that moment, someone discovers the victim’s corpse. Everyone rushes over, and He Chuner dons a mask to examine the body, hoping to uncover any clues.
