Episode 1

Zhong Kui is the Devil Punisher, a legendary figure who hunts down evil in the world with the blessing of the Jade Emperor.

In the modern day, a possessed taxi driver swerves haphazardly down a single-lane road while his passenger pleads with him to stop. He swerves into a mother and child. The mother pushes her child out of the way and is struck, landing in the water. The taxi crashes into a pole. The driver climbs out, unscathed.

A blue-haired woman and black-hatted old man, Zhong Kui’s left and right hand, Xiao Qi (Dewi Chien) and Ah Fu (Chen Bo Zheng), land in a flash of lightning and confront the driver, who is possessed by the demon Wu Qing Yuan. They’re here to bring him to the underworld for wreaking havoc in the human world. The demon tries to run, but Xiao Qi and Ah Fu block his way and they fight.

While they’re fighting, Zhong Kui (Mike He), the Devil Punisher himself, appears in a flash of lightning beside the girl who is crying for her mother. He puts her to sleep with a bit of magic, then zaps to walk on the water and rescue her mother.

Then, he goes to confront the demon, turning Xiao Qi into a sword in order to fight. He knocks the demon out of the human body and eventually manages to capture him in a cell phone-like device in Ah Fu’s hand that reports that their mission is accomplished

The three walk away and disappear in a cloud of smoke. Once they’re gone, the unconscious humans left behind slowly wake up.

In the underworld, Meng Po 1087 (Ivy Shao) causes a commotion as she sprints through the portal to her counter. There, she brews hot tea for souls that will allow them to forget all of their past suffering before passing through back to the human world. A fellow employee skateboards through, yelling her ID number. He hands her an envelope containing her application for release from service in the underworld. It’s been denied. She sighs with disappointment.

The atrium suddenly turns dark and stormy as Zhong Kui strides through the portal, followed by his left and right hand and their demon prisoner. 1087 frowns at how gloomy it is and brightens up the atrium with a wave of her hand. Zhong Kui pauses in front of her counter and they exchange small smiles.She tries to hide the rejected application on her counter, but it’s too late. Xiao Qi has noticed. She sneers that 1087 is already trying to get out of being a Meng Po after only a thousand years. 1087 retorts that she just wants to try something different. Xiao Qi responds that she’s been a sword spirit for over 3000 years and has never thought of running away. She and 1087 start bickering. Zhong Kui tries to separate them.

While they’re distracted, Wu Qing Yuan breaks free of the shackles using his own blood. Zhong Kui shields 1087. The demon manages to take possession of Xiao Qi, turning her into her sword form, and starts using her to fight. Zhong Kui manages to knock him back, but then the demon aims for 1087. Zhong Kui teleports and blocks the sword with his own hand. The demon smirks that Zhong Kui has been injured by his own sword, but Zhong Kui pulls the sword out of his hand and attacks the demon again. The demon takes 1087 hostage, threatening to kill her if they don’t let him back into the human world.

Ah Fu helps Zhong Kui distract the demon so he can regain possession of his sword. But the demon drags 1087 toward one of the gates and causes an explosion as he opens a portal. Zhong Kui reaches for her and cries out, “Xiao Bing!”

The demon tries to pull 1087 away with him, but Zhong Kui summons a magical rope to tether him to the underworld and grabs onto 1087 with his other hand. He tells her to hold on, no matter what, but she sees that his other hand has started to bleed from trying to pull her back in. She tells him to let go. He refuses, so she lets go instead, her hand slipping through his.

The demon pulls 1087 through the portal, which closes. Zhong Kui catches all that’s left of her: the piece of her nametag with her ID number.

A woman in red, the Qin Guang King (Amanda Chou), flies in and says that the underworld is closed. No one is allowed in or out. Zhong Kui ignores her and flits toward the gate. She blocks his way — did he not hear her mandate? But all he says is, “She’s very important.” Then he walks past her through the gate.

She watches him go. A moment in the underworld is months in the human world. Does he really think he can catch up to her?

She walks back into the atrium and asks for a report on the number of lost soulswhile glancing disdainfully at Ah Fu and Xiao Qi, who look down.

Three months later in the human world…

Meng Po 1087, now known as Meng Xin Yu, tapes up a barebones hiring flyer for a baker in the window of a bakery. Granny Wu, the bakery owner, seems skeptical that the flyer is enough, but Xin Yu seems to think that it includes all the important bits: room and board included. Her boss asks if she really doesn’t remember her past. Xin Yu has tried, but can’t remember anything. No one has reported her missing to the police, either. She guesses that she’s probably someone that no one would care if she disappeared or died. Granny Wu frowns sadly, but Xin Yu says that she knows if she disappears in the future, at least Granny Wu will look for her.

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