Kusuriya no Hitogoto Season 3 Ep.04 - Jinshi what are you doing?! White...

Episode 4 of Kusuriya no Hitogoto Season 3 finally introduces the "White Lady," who seems to be at the center of this entire story arc. She doesn't actually take center stage until next week (she was only shown briefly at the end of this episode), but she finally reveals her face, and she's just as stunning as expected.

As teased last week, Maomao confers with Suirei at Ah-Duo's villa, and it seems Shisui left the final book for Maomao to find before disappearing. Not that it was of much immediate use, though, as it merely explains the mechanics behind the phenomenon without offering any practical solutions beyond what the government already knew.

The infamous scene, that density and movement is clearly mercury, but that's way too poisonous...how did she?

Zulin emanate that 'must protect' aura that it's hard to not react to. Just look at her worried face!

The entire episode was about Maomao arranging the puzzle pieces she gathered and deducing what is happening across the country. It felt a bit like a return to the great heights of the first season, even if the tension is somewhat diminished by Maomao's current role, which feels far less "life-or-death" compared to her time in the rear palace.

I'm not entirely clear on the whole business with the insects changing color, so I don't fully understand the underlying mechanism yet. Hopefully, they'll explain it later during the big reveal, because I'm curious to see whether this is based on an actual real-world phenomenon rather than just being a fictional, magical plague of sorts.

We also got quite a few funny scenes, like Maomao practically forcing Jinshi to eat insects, as well as a few moments of the Madam meddling in Maomao's business. The scene with Joka was interesting, too: she seems completely disillusioned with men (which makes sense considering her line of work), but I wonder if there was a specific incident that triggered her deep aversion.

The final scene of the episode with the White Lady enthralling her followers was a bit bizarre. Did she actually ingest liquid mercury? Judging from the visuals, consistency, and metallic color, that certainly seemed to be what it was. She didn't appear sick immediately afterward, though, so there must be a trick involved.

Maomao wasn't expecting Jinshi to actually go through, she clearly understimate his hunger for Maomao attention.

Seems like Ah-Duo finally feel at home and way more relaxed after dropping from her position. I guess it's a lot less stressing now.

Judging from the preview, the next episode will show the White Lady in action, with Jinshi and Maomao infiltrating one of her gatherings to learn more about her involvement. I'm still curious to see how someone could orchestrate a scheme grand enough to plunge an entire empire into famine...