Chapter Summaries

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.

Director Li tried to appear confident when Bibi Dong ordered an investigation, then panicked as the maid searched his home for evidence of corruption. The maid returned with no large quantities of gold, silver, or jewels, leaving Director Li's fate unresolved.

• Director Li claimed his family was poor, while Xiao Li taunted him for taking at least as much as he had.
• Bibi Dong reassured Director Li and ordered her maid to investigate after he said to proceed as she saw fit.
• Director Li regretted inviting the investigation, knowing his household openly stored the wealth he had embezzled.
• The maid returned and reported to Bibi Dong that she had found no large quantities of gold, silver, or jewels in Director Li's home.

Bibi Dong learned that Director Li’s home contained no evidence of his corruption, though Xiao Li accused him of hiding his stolen wealth. She left Director Li detained overnight and questioned Li Mubai, who insisted that he and his companions were law-abiding citizens.

• A maid reported that she had found no hidden wealth or suspicious valuables in Director Li’s home, leaving Bibi Dong doubtful and Director Li convinced his wife had moved his possessions.
• Xiao Li accused Director Li of accepting valuable gifts and hiding his accumulated wealth, urging Bibi Dong to interrogate him.
• Director Li demanded evidence and pointed out that the inspection had found nothing in his home.
• Bibi Dong ended the questioning for the night and ordered Director Li to remain at the City Guard Office to avoid alerting others.
• Bibi Dong asked why Li Mubai was still in the cell, and he claimed that he and his companions were good, law-abiding citizens.

After Bibi Dong came to the City Guard Office to release Li Mubai, he asked her to reopen the cases of prisoners he believed had been wrongly jailed. She agreed, and as they left together, Li Mubai explained that the action would win the people’s hearts.

• Bibi Dong dismissed Director Li’s request for guidance on punishing Xiao Li and prepared to leave.
• Li Mubai called Bibi Dong back and asked her to thoroughly reinvestigate the prisoners’ cases so the wrongfully jailed could be freed.
• Bibi Dong agreed, prompting many prisoners to thank her and Li Mubai.
• As they walked through the City Guard Office, Li Mubai told Bibi Dong that helping the prisoners was a way to win the people’s hearts.

Li Mubai argued that ordinary people mattered because their wisdom and inventions could overcome Soul Masters’ strength, while Bibi Dong insisted Spirit Hall had no need of them. Bibi Dong heard Li Mubai’s thoughts that ordinary people would one day defeat Spirit Hall and was left shocked, wanting to question him without driving him away.

• Bibi Dong questioned Li Mubai about why the people’s support mattered, and she explained that Spirit Hall depended on Soul Masters rather than ordinary people.
• Li Mubai acknowledged Bibi Dong’s reasoning but reflected that ordinary people’s ingenuity and tools could overcome the limits of individual strength.
• Li Mubai recalled that Tang San’s Hidden Weapons had devastated an army of Soul Masters and considered introducing firearms to change the balance of power.
• Li Mubai thought that Bibi Dong would one day regret dismissing ordinary people when they defeated Spirit Hall.
• Bibi Dong heard Li Mubai’s thoughts and was stunned by the prediction, but she held back from taking him to her bedchamber to question him for fear he would flee.

Li Mubai challenged Bibi Dong’s belief that ordinary people had little value, arguing that human wisdom and thought made civilization possible and that weapons could let ordinary people threaten Soul Masters. Bibi Dong remained unconvinced and grew angry after overhearing Li Mubai privately compare his speech to playing the lute to a cow, while Li Mubai prepared to make his final point.

• Li Mubai told Bibi Dong that her status as a Soul Master shaped her belief that ordinary people were useless and that Spirit Hall did not need their support.
• Bibi Dong argued that ordinary people were weak, contributed little beyond taxes, and would flee if conflict broke out.
• Li Mubai argued that wisdom and thought, rather than individual strength, made humanity great and enabled civilization.
• Bibi Dong said that his argument did not change the fact that most people were weak, and Li Mubai privately wondered if his speech had been wasted.
• Bibi Dong overheard Li Mubai compare his speech to playing the lute to a cow and became angry, while he remained unaware she could hear his thoughts.
• Li Mubai argued that weapons capable of harming Soul Masters could make ordinary people important, then asked whether Bibi Dong would still dismiss them if they could use such weapons.

Bibi Dong was stunned by Li Mubai’s descriptions of weapons powerful enough to destroy Spirit City and kill Titled Douluos, and she wondered if Spirit Hall could obtain them. Li Mubai explained that existing weapons were limited and began discussing how arrows were too slow to threaten powerful Soul Masters.

• Bibi Dong imagined the Gatling gun and Fat Man destroying armies, Spirit City, and even Titled Douluos.
• Bibi Dong realized Li Mubai’s inner thoughts meant these weapons existed in his world and became eager to know if he could make them.
• Bibi Dong asked whether such weapons really existed, while Li Mubai wondered why her face had turned red.
• Li Mubai explained that ordinary weapons could barely harm Soul Masters, and that bows and arrows remained ineffective against powerful ones because they could sense and dodge them.
• Li Mubai looked seriously at Bibi Dong as he concluded that arrows were not fast enough.

Bibi Dong tried to provoke Li Mubai into developing a powerful weapon for Spirit Hall, but he refused and left. She then turned her attention to Director Li, who feared she would punish him for witnessing the exchange.

• Bibi Dong questioned whether Li Mubai could create a weapon more powerful and easier to use than a bow and arrow, while privately hoping to spur him into action.
• Li Mubai thought he could eventually make a Gatling gun but saw no reason to do so, then told Bibi Dong there would be no such weapon and left the hall.
• Director Li watched Li Mubai leave and silently admired his boldness toward Bibi Dong.
• Bibi Dong let Li Mubai go because she feared threats would drive the powerful Titled Douluo away from Spirit Hall.
• Bibi Dong noticed Director Li, who feared being punished after having crippled Xiao Li’s cultivation and thrown him into a cell with prisoners.

Director Li realized his wife might have spent his embezzled money on handsome young men, but Bibi Dong ordered him to audit the City Guard Office’s accounts overnight, leaving him stuck at work. Li Mubai returned home, where Xiao Qian greeted him eagerly as the beautiful woman staying with her wondered at their unusual form of address.

• Director Li suspected his wife had taken his stolen money and jewels to support pretty boys.
• Director Li stopped himself from going home and began auditing the City Guard Office’s accounts because Bibi Dong had ordered him to finish by morning.
• Li Mubai walked home and thought about visiting the Mandarin Duck Lantern Festival to meet its famously beautiful poet.
• Li Mubai reached home and heard Xiao Qian call him “Master” from inside.
• Xiao Qian opened the door and threw herself into Li Mubai’s arms as the beautiful woman watched.

Li Mubai woke to find Xiao Qian still asleep, then accidentally collided with Sister Zhao and caught her when she stumbled. After he left to buy breakfast, Sister Zhao’s thoughts were interrupted by her daughter Xiao Yu'er.

• Li Mubai got out of bed without waking Xiao Qian and went to wash up.
• Li Mubai ran into Sister Zhao in the hallway and caught her when she lost her balance.
• Li Mubai apologized for grabbing Sister Zhao while catching her, and she told him he had stopped her from falling.
• Li Mubai asked Sister Zhao about her dark circles, and she said worry about Xiao Yu'er had kept her awake.
• Li Mubai went out to buy breakfast after reassuring Sister Zhao that Xiao Yu'er was fine.
• Sister Zhao came out of the toilet when Xiao Yu'er called to her from the backyard.

Li Mubai enjoyed breakfast in Spirit City while thinking that Bibi Dong was failing to profit from the prosperous city. Bibi Dong sensed that he was thinking about her and decided to find him something to do, while Li Mubai later discovered that Spirit Hall had wiped out the Wild Wolf Gang.

• Li Mubai ordered sweet and savory tofu pudding at a busy street shop and privately criticized Bibi Dong for claiming Spirit Hall had no income.
• Bibi Dong sneezed in the Pope's Hall, suspected Li Mubai was talking about her, and decided to give him something to do.
• Li Mubai finished his breakfast, left Copper Soul Coins on the table, and headed down the street to find more food.
• Li Mubai joined a crowd on Jingxi Street and heard people celebrate Spirit Hall's destruction of the Wild Wolf Gang.