Recaps

Li Mubai served zongzi to Bibi Dong, Hu Liena, and Xiao Qian, then showed Bibi Dong and Hu Liena how to unwrap and eat the unfamiliar food. Bibi Dong enjoyed the savory zongzi, while Hu Liena cautiously tried the sweet kind.

• Bibi Dong felt pleased that Li Mubai's attitude toward her had softened, and Li Mubai decided to stay at Spirit Hall for now because his job paid well.
• Li Mubai handed out the seven zongzi, leaving himself only one, and Xiao Qian offered him one of hers before he declined.
• Bibi Dong and Hu Liena watched Li Mubai, so he unwrapped his zongzi and explained the savory and plain varieties.
• Bibi Dong unwrapped a cured pork zongzi and tried a small bite, finding its savory flavor acceptable and novel.
• Hu Liena opened a plain zongzi, added sugar like Xiao Qian, and cautiously tasted it.

Hu Liena enjoyed the plain zongzi and Xiao Qian’s cooking, while Bibi Dong disliked the sweet zongzi and worried about her disciple’s manners and her attitude toward Li Mubai. Bibi Dong still hoped to keep Li Mubai in Spirit Hall and reflected on the importance of his ruler-and-people theory.

• Hu Liena loved the plain zongzi, while Bibi Dong found it unpleasant and Li Mubai reassured her that sweet and salty tastes were a matter of preference.
• Hu Liena ate enthusiastically, prompting Bibi Dong to decide she should spend less time with Xie Yue and the others.
• Hu Liena praised Xiao Qian’s cooking, and Bibi Dong was troubled that Hu Liena had befriended Xiao Qian instead of showing Li Mubai courtesy.
• Bibi Dong judged Hu Liena too quick to follow her emotions and thought Li Mubai’s household arrangements were ordinary rather than debauched.
• Bibi Dong recalled Li Mubai’s theory that the people could carry or overturn a ruler and reaffirmed its importance.

The Wild Wolf Gang cornered Widow Zhao and her child in a Jingxi Street alley, while Li Mubai enjoyed a quiet evening after seeing Bibi Dong off. When Xiao Qian invited him to bathe, a woman’s cry for help interrupted them, and Li Mubai turned toward the troubled street.

• The Wild Wolf Gang terrorized Jingxi Street, where Scarface and his men threatened Widow Zhao and her young daughter in an alley.
• Li Mubai watched Bibi Dong’s carriage disappear and hoped she would not involve him in her plan to hunt a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.
• Xiao Qian called Li Mubai inside to bathe, and he welcomed the chance to spend the evening with her instead of risking his life in the Star Dou Great Forest.
• A woman’s cry for help reached Li Mubai, erasing his smile as he looked toward Jingxi Street.

Li Mubai ignored a cry for help in Spirit City and returned home to Xiao Qian, while Widow Zhao and her daughter were cornered by the Wild Wolf Gang. The gang prepared to assault Widow Zhao and target her child, leaving their fate unresolved.

• Li Mubai heard a cry for help but dismissed it as a common occurrence and entered the house, where Xiao Qian frowned.
• Members of the Wild Wolf Gang trapped Widow Zhao and her daughter in a dead-end alley and taunted them as no one came to help.
• Widow Zhao recalled how Xiao Qian had helped her sell tofu and care for her daughter, and how the gang had extorted her earnings.
• After her daughter fell ill, Widow Zhao went out at night for a doctor and ran into the gang on her way home.
• Widow Zhao begged the gang to spare her daughter, but Scarface agreed to let one of his men take the child.

A woman escaped the Wild Wolf Gang by charging through the drunken thugs while protecting her sleeping daughter, but Scarface revealed himself as a Soul Master and intercepted her near the street corner. She lay on Jingxi Street with Scarface blocking her path, still determined not to let him capture her or her child.

• The woman resolved to protect her daughter and burst out of the alley, knocking Scarface and the other thugs down.
• Clutching her daughter, the woman ran toward another gang’s street, hoping the Wild Wolf Gang would not pursue her there.
• Scarface revealed that he was a Soul Master above level ten, jumped onto the rooftops, and raced ahead to intercept her.
• As the woman approached a sweet potato vendor near the street corner, Scarface grabbed her hair and yanked her back onto Jingxi Street.
• Scarface blocked the way forward and threatened the woman, who struggled to rise while holding her daughter and refusing to be caught.

Li Mubai rescued Sister Zhao and her daughter Yu'er from Scarface, a member of the Wild Wolf Gang who had threatened and attacked them. The chapter left Scarface restrained and facing Li Mubai, whose strength appeared far greater than his.

• Scarface threatened Sister Zhao and Yu'er, and the nearby sweet potato vendor refused to help when Scarface challenged him.
• Scarface grabbed Sister Zhao and threatened to sell her and Yu'er to a brothel before reaching for her.
• Li Mubai seized Scarface's wrist, stopping him effortlessly as Scarface struggled to break free.
• Scarface claimed he belonged to the Wild Wolf Gang and begged Li Mubai to release him, but Li Mubai ignored him.
• Sister Zhao told Li Mubai that Yu'er had a high fever and Scarface had attacked them on their way home.
• Li Mubai helped Sister Zhao to her feet, reassuring her as Scarface watched in fear.

Li Mubai rescued Zhao and her daughter from Scarface, then awkwardly got caught staring at Zhao's chest. After Xiao Yu'er woke, Li Mubai asked how she would deal with Scarface, and she chose to kick him in the balls.

• Li Mubai pulled Zhao to her feet and accepted her thanks for saving her and Xiao Yu'er from Scarface's gang.
• Zhao bowed to Li Mubai, and he caught sight of her chest through her loose neckline before she noticed him staring.
• Zhao quietly pointed out that Li Mubai was still holding her hand, and he released it awkwardly.
• Xiao Yu'er woke, greeted Li Mubai, and called Scarface ugly; Zhao and Li Mubai told her he was a bad man who had bullied her mother.
• Li Mubai asked Xiao Yu'er how she would deal with Scarface, and she firmly answered that she would kick his balls.

After Xiao Yu'er revealed that Xiao Qian had taught her how to deal with bad men, Li Mubai remembered that he had taught Xiao Qian the same lesson. Sister Zhao ordered Li Mubai to do as Xiao Yu'er said, and his sword Qi struck Scarface between the legs, leaving him screaming that he was a eunuch.

• Scarface begged Sister Zhao to spare him, kowtowing until his forehead bled, while Li Mubai waited for her decision.
• Xiao Yu'er said Xiao Qian had taught her to kick bad men between the legs, and Li Mubai remembered giving Xiao Qian that advice years earlier.
• Sister Zhao rejected Scarface's pleas and told Li Mubai to do as Xiao Yu'er had said.
• Li Mubai sent a streak of sword Qi between Scarface's legs, and Scarface fell to the ground screaming that he was a eunuch.

Li Mubai crippled Scarface and won the grateful residents’ praise, while reflecting on the oppression in Spirit City. The Wild Wolf Gang’s first and second bosses arrived with a crowd, threatening the street and its residents.

• Scarface fainted from the pain, and the residents of the street cheered Li Mubai for defeating him.
• The residents lit their homes and praised Li Mubai, while the sweet potato vendor watched and regretted not helping the mother and daughter.
• The beautiful woman warned Li Mubai that Scarface had accomplices, and Li Mubai said he had already dealt with them.
• A Soul Power-enhanced shout silenced the street as the first and second bosses of the Wild Wolf Gang arrived with a crowd.
• The leather-clad boss threatened to raise the residents’ protection fees by thirty percent, and frightened people shut their windows and extinguished their lights.

Li Mubai lured the Wild Wolf Gang into a fight after its members threatened and humiliated Zhao and her daughter. He defeated the gang in Spirit City's west street, while the gang's second-in-command escaped toward the City Guard Office, where the gang had influential help.

• The leather-jacketed leader confronted Li Mubai over his attack on Scarface, and Li explained that he had defended Zhao from the gang's threats and insults.
• Li Mubai sent Zhao and Xiao Yu'er away, then charged the Wild Wolf Gang and stomped Scarface again as he recovered.
• Li Mubai defeated the gang members with ease, knocking out the leather-jacketed leader and leaving the rest injured across the street.
• The beanpole man used a Soul Skill to escape, and the Wild Wolf Gang's second-in-command fled to the City Guard Office for help.

Ye Lao'er went to the City Guard Office to seek help after Li Mubai defeated the Wild Wolf Gang, but Xiao Li demanded a bribe before listening. Ye Lao'er offered a valuable dagger, and Xiao Li accepted it and asked him to explain his business.

• Ye Lao'er rushed to the City Guard Office after Li Mubai struck down the Wild Wolf Gang's boss and left the gang in danger.
• Xiao Li mocked Ye Lao'er and demanded money, then ordered him to leave when he said he had none.
• Ye Lao'er offered Xiao Li the valuable dagger he had brought from his collection.
• Xiao Li reacted warily when Ye Lao'er reached for the dagger, then accepted it and asked what he had come to report.

Ye Lao'er persuaded Xiao Li of the City Guard Office to confront Li Mubai after the latter destroyed the Wild Wolf Gang. Xiao Li challenged Li Mubai over the city’s rules, but Li Mubai said he had never heard of the City Guard Office.

• Ye Lao'er told Xiao Li that Li Mubai had threatened the City Guard Office, and Xiao Li agreed to take action after accepting his gift.
• Li Mubai waited on Jingxi Street for the Wild Wolf Gang's backer, reflecting that the gang's abuses stemmed from Spirit Hall's system.
• Li Mubai grew impatient as no reinforcements arrived, while the surrounding residents reacted to the Wild Wolf Gang's defeat.
• Ye Lao'er arrived with Xiao Li and accused Li Mubai of breaking the City Guard Office's rules against private fighting.
• Li Mubai asked what the City Guard Office was, and Ye Lao'er told Xiao Li that Li Mubai was deliberately insulting him.

Li Mubai faced Xiao Li, a City Guard Office officer who tried to arrest him after Ye Lao'er accused him of causing trouble in Spirit City. As Xiao Li approached, Li Mubai asked whether he knew who he was.

• Li Mubai reflected that he had once wanted to avoid Spirit Hall's reforms, but his Sign-In System required Spirit Hall and the Pope's Hall to remain available for him to gain strength.
• Ye Lao'er gloated as Xiao Li threatened to take Li Mubai to the City Guard Office, hoping to use the officer's corruption to take revenge.
• Li Mubai argued that he had acted in self-defense because the Wild Wolf Gang members had attacked him together, while bystanders voiced support for him.
• Xiao Li dismissed Li Mubai's explanation, accused him of starting the fight, and stepped forward to arrest him.
• Li Mubai asked Xiao Li whether he knew who he was, but Xiao Li arrogantly told him to admit his wrongdoing and accept punishment.

Li Mubai let Xiao Li arrest him so he could expose the City Guard Office’s corruption and see how Bibi Dong would respond. Bibi Dong realized his arrest was a test of her willingness to support him, and she was delighted that he might help her reform Spirit Hall.

• Xiao Li accused Li Mubai of causing the street incident and ordered him to come to the City Guard Office, ignoring the other people involved.
• Li Mubai went with Xiao Li willingly so he could establish the officials’ abuse of power and observe Bibi Dong’s response.
• Bibi Dong heard that the Tenth Elder had been arrested and learned that he had gone willingly.
• Bibi Dong understood that Li Mubai had looked back at his watcher to test her attitude, and she concluded he was finally willing to help her.

Bibi Dong rushed to the City Guard Office after learning that her subordinates had arrested Li Mubai, while Li Mubai observed the office’s corrupt officials as they mistreated him. Director Li eventually recognized Li Mubai’s name from a portrait of the new Spirit Hall elder and froze in shock.

• Bibi Dong dressed and set out for the City Guard Office, angered that Li Mubai had been arrested.
• Xiao Li brought Li Mubai and Ye Lao'er into the City Guard Office, then questioned them without asking what had caused their fight.
• Li Mubai concluded that Xiao Li was protecting the Wild Wolf Gang, while Ye Lao'er realized Xiao Li wanted another bribe before deciding how to handle the case.
• Director Li noticed that the conflict’s cause was missing from the register, but Xiao Li gave him Ye Lao'er's dagger to make him leave the matter alone.
• Director Li learned that a courtesan was serving a powerful expert, went home, and saw a portrait of Li Mubai identified as the new Spirit Hall elder.
• Director Li recognized Li Mubai’s name and froze in shock.

Director Li realized the City Guard Office had arrested Spirit Hall’s Tenth Elder, Li Mubai, and rushed to stop Xiao Li and the Wild Wolf Gang from mistreating him. Xiao Li forged charges against Li Mubai and locked him in a filthy basement cell, while Director Li arrived at the office asking where he was.

• Director Li learned Li Mubai was twenty-seven and recognized him as the Tenth Elder, then hurried toward the City Guard Office to prevent a scandal.
• The Wild Wolf Gang’s boss bribed Xiao Li with Gold Soul Coins and a sapphire, and Xiao Li helped him add false charges against Li Mubai.
• Xiao Li ordered Li Mubai to fingerprint the one-sided register, and Li Mubai complied while anticipating Bibi Dong’s arrival.
• Xiao Li led Li Mubai into a filthy basement cell, where he saw prisoners suffering in dreadful conditions.
• Director Li reached the City Guard Office and anxiously demanded that Ye Lao’er tell him where Li Mubai was.

In the City Guard Office prison, Li Mubai heard a fellow prisoner describe how Spirit City’s corrupt authorities had imprisoned the poor and destroyed his family to seize their ancestral craft. Li Mubai urged the disillusioned man to trust Spirit City once more, confident that it would change by tomorrow, but the old man dismissed him.

• A white-haired prisoner asked Li Mubai why he had been jailed, and Li Mubai said the City Guard Office had framed him after he offended a gang.
• The old man described other impoverished prisoners who had been locked up for minor offenses because they could not pay, then questioned whether poor people could dare break the law.
• The old man recounted how powerful men had forced him to reveal his family’s ancestral craft, framed him, and had him tortured and imprisoned.
• The old man advised Li Mubai to pay for his release and said he had lost faith in Spirit City after suffering its lawlessness.
• Li Mubai asked the old man to trust Spirit City one more time, saying it might have a new face by tomorrow, but the old man scoffed at him.

Li Mubai considered how Spirit City's economic weakness could undermine Spirit Hall's war, while Director Li panicked after learning Xiao Li had jailed Li Mubai. Director Li found Li Mubai in the dungeon and rushed to free him, but had no key.

• Li Mubai reasoned that Spirit City's dwindling independent merchants and Spirit Hall's overconfidence could make war against both empires disastrous.
• Director Li learned that Xiao Li had locked Li Mubai in the dungeon and feared the consequences.
• Director Li hurried through the dungeon, searching the cells for Li Mubai while the prisoners mocked him.
• Xiao Li threatened the prisoners into silence and followed Director Li deeper into the dungeon with two Wild Wolf Gang members.
• Director Li found Li Mubai, acted respectfully, and asked the others for the cell key.
• Li Mubai mistook Director Li's arrival as a dismissive response from Bibi Dong and felt displeased.

Director Li rushed to free Li Mubai, but Xiao Li and the Wild Wolf Gang misunderstood his reasons and tried to obstruct him. After Director Li asserted his authority, Xiao Li handed over the key, while Director Li privately recognized Li Mubai as the Pope’s favored Tenth Elder.

• Xiao Li demanded to know why Director Li wanted the key and pointed to Li Mubai’s signed confession as a reason to keep him locked up.
• Director Li threatened to fire and detain Xiao Li, making him immediately adopt a submissive attitude.
• The old man in the neighboring cell realized Li Mubai was no ordinary prisoner and reflected on how their situations differed.
• The Wild Wolf Gang boss challenged Director Li, but Ye Lao’er warned him that the director could destroy their gang, so he backed down.
• Director Li thought to himself that Li Mubai was the Pope’s favored Tenth Elder, and Xiao Li handed him the key.
• Director Li opened Li Mubai’s cell door.

Director Li realized Li Mubai was a powerful Spirit Hall elder and humbled himself, while Xiao Li and the Wild Wolf Gang leaders panicked over having offended him. Bibi Dong’s maid arrived at the dungeon, and Li Mubai recognized that Bibi Dong had come too.

• Li Mubai interrupted Director Li’s attempt to reveal his identity and asked whether Bibi Dong had come.
• Director Li bowed deferentially to Li Mubai, and the prisoners speculated about Li Mubai’s status as Xiao Li grew terrified.
• The two leaders of the Wild Wolf Gang fled the dungeon, while Xiao Li regretted forcing Li Mubai to press his fingerprint onto the confession.
• Li Mubai resented Director Li, whom he mistook for the person Bibi Dong had sent to receive him.
• Bibi Dong’s maid called for Li Fuqiang, the City Guard Office director, and Li Mubai recognized her voice as a sign that Bibi Dong had arrived.

Director Li and Xiao Li realized that Li Mubai had been arrested in the dungeon, and Bibi Dong arrived at the City Guard Office asking for him. The chapter ended with Bibi Dong demanding to know who had dared to imprison her trusted elder.

• Li Mubai refused Director Li's pleas to leave the cell and said he wanted Bibi Dong to see the City Guard Office's abuses.
• Director Li regretted his corruption, while Xiao Li realized Li Mubai must hold an exceptionally high status.
• Director Li and Xiao Li went to the hall and welcomed Bibi Dong, while Xiao Li hoped she would not inspect the dungeon.
• Bibi Dong ignored their greetings and asked where Li Mubai was, shocking Xiao Li and alarming Director Li.
• Director Li admitted that Elder Mubai was in the dungeon, and Bibi Dong demanded to know who had arrested her trusted elder.

Bibi Dong came to the City Guard Office after learning that Li Mubai had been arrested, and the guards realized he was a Spirit Hall elder. She found him in the dungeon and asked why he had chosen to let himself be captured.

• Xiao Li realized Li Mubai was likely Spirit Hall's Tenth Elder and feared the consequences of arresting and threatening him.
• Bibi Dong ordered Director Li to take her to the dungeon, where the foul air and prisoners' cries stirred her anger and discomfort.
• Bibi Dong wondered why Li Mubai had willingly entered the City Guard Office despite his strength and status.
• Bibi Dong ignored the prisoners and continued to the innermost cell, where Li Mubai sat cross-legged.
• Li Mubai smiled at Bibi Dong and asked, "Your Holiness, how is the scenery in this prison?"

Li Mubai argued that corruption had made Spirit City as rotten as its prison and proposed confiscating corrupt officials’ estates to raise Spirit Hall’s income. Bibi Dong questioned whether the officials had stolen enough to make the plan worthwhile, and Li Mubai pointed to the two City Guard Office men as proof.

• Prisoners recognized Bibi Dong as the Pope and pleaded with her to investigate their wrongful imprisonment.
• Li Mubai compared the prison’s foul conditions and many cries of injustice to the disorder hidden beneath Spirit City’s prosperous appearance.
• Bibi Dong asked whether Li Mubai meant Spirit City was rife with corruption, and he agreed.
• Li Mubai proposed confiscating corrupt people’s estates as a way to obtain a large sum for Spirit Hall.
• Bibi Dong questioned whether the corrupt officials had embezzled enough to justify confiscations, and Li Mubai pointed to the two City Guard Office men as proof.

Bibi Dong ordered a search of Xiao Li’s home after the prisoners accused him of corruption. The maid returned with evidence of a room full of Gold Soul Coins, jewels, and rare treasures, while Director Li feared his own hidden wealth would also be discovered.

• Director Li and Xiao Li pleaded with Bibi Dong that they had never embezzled money, but the prisoners cursed them and accused them of abusing their power.
• Bibi Dong grew suspicious of Xiao Li and ordered her maid to search his home.
• Xiao Li worried that the maid would find the basement beneath his bedroom, where he had hidden more than nine hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins and other treasures.
• Director Li hoped Bibi Dong would not investigate him, knowing his wife had kept the wealth he had embezzled.
• The maid returned and reported that Xiao Li’s home contained a room full of Gold Soul Coins, jewels, and rare treasures.

After Xiao Li admitted to embezzling a huge fortune, Bibi Dong became excited by the wealth recovered through confiscating his home. Encouraged by Li Mubai and the prisoners, she turned her attention to Director Li and hinted that his household should be searched next.

• A maid reported that Xiao Li's home contained wealth worth at least a million Gold Soul Coins, and Bibi Dong realized the scale of corruption in the Spirit Hall.
• Confronted with the evidence, Xiao Li confessed to embezzlement and asked how the maid had found his hidden basement vault.
• The maid explained that Xiao Li's home was suspiciously bare, and an out-of-place oil lamp led her to the treasure room; Xiao Li laughed at his own caution betraying him.
• Li Mubai asked Bibi Dong whether confiscating homes was faster than collecting taxes, and she agreed that the method was effective.
• Prisoners praised Bibi Dong for confiscating Xiao Li's home and urged her to investigate the City Guard Office, while Director Li trembled with fear.
• Bibi Dong asked Director Li whether his household was terribly poor, signaling that she wanted to confiscate his home next.