Well, after waiting twelve episodes for a single shot of Tony Leung Chiu-wai, episode 13 makes up for that in a big way. There are only a few scenes that Leung isn’t in, so we’ve now gotten a much better look at who Zhang Wuji is now that he’s grown up.
Dr. Hu, the Demon Sect healer who was persuaded to take in Zhang Wuji, has managed to keep the boy—now young man—alive, but the poison hasn’t completely left his system. As a result, Wuji hasn’t been back to Wudang Mountain in years. When Dr. Hu falls gravely ill, he tries to send Wuji away for his own safety, but he insists on staying, and soon finds himself with both a crisis and a conundrum on his doorstep.
A shadowy, nefarious figure sends a message to Dr. Hu in the form of several poisoned warriors from various sects, including Miss Ji, the former fiancée of one of Zhang Wuji’s uncles. The dying martial artists are used as cruel pawns, deliberately sent to a doctor who famously refuses to treat anyone outside of Demon Sects. Luckily for all of them, Dr. Hu is no longer there alone.
Because now Zhang Wuji is there! Dr. Hu relented and decided to treat him, in part because his late mother had belonged to a Demon Sect and in part because he’d been struck by such a rare, difficult poison. When Dr. Hu took Wuji in, he made it very clear that he wasn’t doing it out of the goodness of his heart. Wuji explains to a friend, “Mr. Hu said he would kill me once he finishes treating me.” This is why he doesn’t mind that he’s still affected by the poison, adding, “So if I don’t recover, I can live.”
Zhang Wuji, though, has a very different temperament to Dr. Hu. He’s incredibly earnest, almost painfully so, taking everything to heart and thinking of others before himself. When the doctor contracts a serious illness, Wuji won’t even think of leaving to avoid contagion, saying, “If I leave, who will take care of you?”
He’s studied medicine over the years he’s spent with Dr. Hu and is eager to help those in need, though he’s also cognizant of how much he doesn’t know. When the poisoned warriors show up on the doctor’s doorstep, Zhang Wuji is caught between his desire to help them, his reluctance to go against Dr. Hu’s wishes, and his fear that his skills won’t be enough to cure them.
It's a nice performance from Leung. There’s a quiet, rather peaceful quality that he brings to the character (Zhang Wuji has apparently mellowed a lot since childhood, hehe,) and he’s able to project extreme goodness, so far, without being cloying. I’m looking forward to seeing more.
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