Chapter Summaries

Xia Fan trusted Li to control his body so he could face Blood Crow and unleash a powerful lightning spell. The ghosts were defeated, but the grand residence caught fire, forcing the group to flee before they could explain what had happened.

• Xia Fan let Li use the Kan Technique of Mao to control his body and told her he trusted her.
• Xia Fan charged into the darkness toward Blood Crow while Shangguan Cai, Wang Renzhi, and Wei Wushuang fought the other attacks.
• Li maneuvered Xia Fan past Blood Crow's scythe and placed a Copper Wire Pendant in the Abyss Ghost's pouch as Xia Fan prepared his spell.
• Xia Fan cast the Zhen Technique, Gui Shen, Thunderclap, and lightning engulfed Blood Crow and the Abyss Ghost.
• Li felt her distrust of Xia Fan begin to peel away as the thunder echoed across Gaoshan County.
• The lightning set the grand residence ablaze, and Shangguan Cai led the group outside while Wang Renzhi and Wei Wushuang questioned Xia Fan.

Xia Fan returned to Jinxia City with the injured Luo You'er and was questioned by the Lingbu Official about the failed operation and the ghosts in Gaoshan County. He concealed the Fox Demon's involvement, and the questioning ended with three days of leave and a promised commendation.

• Xia Fan's group reached Jinxia City at dawn, and bureau attendants took Luo You'er away for treatment.
• Shangguan Cai told Xia Fan she had once served in Da Qi's military.
• The Lingbu Official questioned Xia Fan about the Abyss Ghost, the Blood Crow, and how he had resisted the Blood Crow's immobilizing technique.
• Xia Fan explained that he had used self-stimulation to break the spell and had followed rats through the shadows, while concealing the Fox Demon's role.
• The Lingbu Official asked about the falling candlestick, and Xia Fan said he knew nothing about it.
• The Lingbu Official ended the questioning, granted Xia Fan three days off, and promised that a commendation order would arrive soon.

After the Bureau of Military Affairs refused to investigate the deaths behind Gaoshan County’s Evil Spirits, Xia Fan decided to return with his companions and trace their source. Li warned him that uncovering the truth could bring trouble, but joined him in the end.

• Xia Fan questioned the officer about unnatural deaths in Gaoshan County, but the officer said the Bureau of Military Affairs only handled Evil Spirits and ordered him to leave.
• Wei Wushuang and Wang Renzhi argued over whether wrongful deaths or bandits could explain the ghosts, until Xia Fan decided to investigate Gaoshan County again.
• Wang Renzhi, Wei Wushuang, and Shangguan Cai agreed to accompany Xia Fan, and they planned to meet at the Bureau of Military Affairs in half an hour.
• Li urged Xia Fan to stop investigating, warning that the truth could be impossible to change, but Xia Fan argued that the prefectural authorities might act.
• Li agreed to go with Xia Fan and remarked that Evil Spirits were not the most terrifying things.

Xia Fan investigated the recurring Evil Spirit incidents in Gaoshan County by questioning Zhou Dafu’s father, who recalled the county’s history. His account revealed that the incidents had become much more frequent in recent years, leaving Xia Fan wondering what had changed.

• Xia Fan reunited with Li and explained that they would investigate the Evil Spirits in secret, dressed as wandering heroes.
• Xia Fan questioned Zhou Dafu’s father about unusual events and Evil Spirit incidents in Gaoshan County.
• Zhou Dafu’s father recalled that Evil Spirit incidents had once been less frequent, with a peaceful stretch of more than ten years.
• Xia Fan realized that incidents had grown sharply more frequent: eleven had occurred in the past eight years, including six in the past three years.

Xia Fan uncovered a link between Evil Spirit incidents and changes in Gaoshan County officials, then discussed possible motives for Magistrate Hu’s Exorcism Tax with his companions. He concluded that someone might be directing the magistrate and planned to expose a flaw in their scheme the next day.

• Xia Fan learned from an elderly resident that Magistrate Hu introduced the Exorcism Tax and that the previous magistrate, Zhu, had died after being plagued by something unclean.
• Xia Fan visited other families who had received aid and found that their accounts reinforced a strange connection between Evil Spirit incidents and changes in local officials.
• Xia Fan told Wei Wushuang, Wang Renzhi, and Shangguan Cai what he had learned, and they debated whether Magistrate Hu sought money, land, or grain.
• Xia Fan reasoned that the tax and Evil Spirit incidents might serve someone’s interests beyond the magistrate’s own greed, and the group agreed they needed evidence.
• Xia Fan announced that they would investigate the next day and promised they would learn the result within a day.

Xia Fan publicized the investigation into the Evil Spirit incident by paying townspeople for strange reports, hoping to draw out whoever was hiding the truth. Hu Huairen grew alarmed and ordered his subordinates to conceal the Stone Grotto, just as a mysterious woman appeared before him.

• Xia Fan and his companions offered copper coins for reports about strange events, drawing crowds in Gaoshan County.
• Xia Fan told Wei Wushuang the public investigation was meant to spread news and provoke a hidden threat into revealing itself.
• After hearing the constable’s report, Hu Huairen suspected the Fangshi might uncover the truth and sent an urgent letter to the Wang family in Jinxia City.
• Hu Huairen ordered Du Mingjin and Du Mingyin to clear out the Stone Grotto and seal its gate.
• A beautiful woman carrying wine interrupted Hu Huairen as he dismissed the Du Brothers.

Li discovered that Hu Huairen’s favored concubine used a Kan Technique to influence people, while Xia Fan’s plan revealed the magistrate’s strong connection to the Evil Spirit affair. At midnight, Xia Fan and Wei Wushuang waited near the mountain path as two figures approached.

• Hu Huairen’s concubine gave rice wine to the Du Brothers and persuaded Hu to treat them more gently before he took her inside.
• Li sensed that the concubine was using a sustained Kan Technique to seduce those around her and wondered why a Qi-Sensing Person served Hu Huairen.
• Li followed the Du Brothers and concluded that Hu’s intense reaction to Xia Fan’s plan showed he had a major connection to the Evil Spirit affair.
• Li returned to the inn to leave Xia Fan a clue and conserve her strength before the planned nighttime tracking.
• Xia Fan and Wei Wushuang waited near Gaoshan County’s western mountain path, and Xia Fan told the others to stay silent when lights signaled someone’s approach.

Xia Fan and his companions followed two armed men through the mountain forest, using Li’s markers to avoid detection. They reached an ancient stone gate that Xia Fan believed led to the Stone Grotto, where the truth about the cyclical Evil Spirit disasters might be hidden.

• Xia Fan refused to follow the two armed men directly and instead waited before trailing them with Li’s help.
• Xia Fan led the group through the dark forest by following white-cloth markers, while Shangguan Cai explained how scouts could read broken branches.
• Xia Fan stopped the group when the targets halted to check for pursuers, and they waited until the trail resumed.
• After roughly two hours, Xia Fan and his companions found an old stone gate hidden in the mountains.
• Xia Fan recognized the entrance as the Stone Grotto and walked inside to uncover what the county magistrate was hiding.

Xia Fan and his companions found the Du Brothers in a cavern beneath the Stone Grotto, where one brother fell into a blood-stained bronze honeycomb device. Du Mingjin warned that the device was about to contract, and Shangguan Cai began torturing him for answers.

• Xia Fan, Shangguan Cai, and Wei Wushuang followed the strange static to a fire-lit cavern and surprised the Du Brothers.
• Shangguan Cai struck Du Mingyin's ankle with her spear, and he vanished after falling into a huge bronze disk.
• Xia Fan found Du Mingyin trapped inside one of the disk's barbed openings, surrounded by hardened blood and bronze crusts.
• Du Mingjin pleaded for his brother's rescue and warned Xia Fan that the bronze device was about to contract.
• Shangguan Cai slapped Du Mingjin and drove her broken spear down as she demanded that he look at her.

Shangguan Cai interrogated Du Mingjin, who revealed that the Bronze Disk imprisoned living people and used an underground river to power a cycle that created Evil Spirits. Xia Fan realized the victims’ terror and deaths had produced the Abyss Ghosts, then found an inscription on the grotto wall written in the same characters as the Knife Coins from Qingshan Town.

• Shangguan Cai forced Du Mingjin to explain that people were placed in the Bronze Disk’s honeycomb cells and swept away by an underground river every seven days.
• Du Mingjin revealed that the disk could summon Evil Spirits when filled to thirty percent, and the Bronze Disk suddenly contracted, waking Du Mingyin.
• Xia Fan explained that the disk’s repeated contractions trapped people in shrinking spaces until they died in despair, producing the Abyss Ghosts.
• Du Mingjin blamed Magistrate Hu for forcing him and his brother to bring people to the grotto, then pointed out an inscription on the wall.
• Xia Fan recognized the inscription’s characters as matching those on the Knife Coins from Qingshan Town.

Xia Fan uncovered evidence that the ancient facility had been used to study Evil Spirits, then tried to bring Du Mingjin to Jinxia City as a witness. After Du Mingjin died from poison, Xia Fan sent for help and set out to confront Magistrate Hu Huairen, while Shangguan Cai warned that the Bureau of Military Affairs might know why Evil Spirits were appearing so often.

• Xia Fan questioned Du Mingjin, who said Magistrate Hu Huairen had arranged the victims and received silver and a woman from hooded outsiders.
• Xia Fan took Du Mingjin toward Jinxia City, but Du Mingjin died after confessing that a bowl of wine had poisoned him.
• Xia Fan suspected the poison was also a warning and feared Hu Huairen would send people to destroy the Stone Grotto and its evidence.
• Xia Fan sent Wang Renzhi to Jinxia City and asked Wei Wushuang and Shangguan Cai to guard the crossroads while he went to control Hu Huairen.
• Shangguan Cai refused to join Xia Fan and warned him that the Bureau of Military Affairs might know why Evil Spirits had been appearing so frequently.

Xia Fan rejected Shangguan Cai’s warning and went with Li to confront Magistrate Hu at the Magistrate’s Residence. Their arrival left them committed to uncovering the truth in Gaoshan County, even if the Bureau of Military Affairs turned against them.

• Xia Fan explained that the Bureau of Military Affairs might tolerate Evil Spirits because practitioners gained merit and influence by eliminating them.
• Shangguan Cai withdrew from the investigation, while Xia Fan thanked Wei Wushuang and headed toward the county town alone.
• Li joined Xia Fan and admitted she felt relieved that he had uncovered the truth; she also confirmed she would continue helping him rescue her master.
• Li revealed that her injury had healed, carried Xia Fan over the rooftops, and leaped with him into the Magistrate’s Residence.

Xia Fan and Li broke into Magistrate Hu's residence to confront him, but Hu revealed he had a powerful ally named Qingzi. After Qingzi wounded Xia Fan and fought Li, she attacked again with an unfamiliar fire technique, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Xia Fan and Li entered Magistrate Hu's bedroom, where Hu admitted his guilt but accused them of being sent by the Bureau of Military Affairs.
• Qingzi dropped from the ceiling and slashed Xia Fan, but Li drove her back while Xia Fan bound his wound.
• Hu ordered Qingzi to kill the intruders, and she attacked them with daggers before Li trapped her in an illusion.
• Qingzi escaped Li's strike by turning into smoke and rushed Xia Fan, who prepared to use the Copper Wire Pendant to summon lightning.
• Qingzi halted and formed strange hand gestures, then breathed a stream of fire at Xia Fan.

Xia Fan and Li fought Qingzi in Hu Huairen’s residence, defeating her before her Explosion Talisman wounded Xia Fan. As Hu Huairen’s servants moved to seize them, Shangguan Cai arrived and challenged the crowd.

• Qingzi used flames and a dagger to attack Xia Fan, but he shocked her with the Guichen Shock Technique and kicked her toward Li.
• Li transformed into a colossal fox and struck Qingzi, leaving her badly injured, and Xia Fan stabbed her in the chest.
• Qingzi grabbed Xia Fan and triggered an Explosion Talisman, so he severed her arm and pulled Li down to shield them from the blast.
• Xia Fan collapsed with wood fragments embedded in his back, while Hu Huairen rallied his servants to capture him and Li.
• Shangguan Cai arrived and stopped the crowd with a cold warning.

Shangguan Cai rescued Xia Fan and Li from Hu Huairen’s residence, revealing herself as Qi State’s Third Princess and proposing that Xia Fan take charge of the Bureau of Military Affairs. After recovering, Xia Fan reunited with Li, who had stopped hiding her Fox Demon traits and said she would support his choice to stay or leave.

• Shangguan Cai’s armored soldiers defeated Hu Huairen’s guards, and she revealed that she was Qi State’s Third Princess.
• Shangguan Cai told Li she wanted Xia Fan to take charge of the Bureau of Military Affairs and offered to save him from his worsening injuries.
• Xia Fan woke in a luxurious room and hurried to find Li, who entered carrying food.
• Li explained that Shangguan Cai had given her new clothes and that she no longer saw a reason to hide her ears and tail.
• Li told Xia Fan the princess wanted to recruit him and promised to follow his choice, wherever he decided to go.

Xia Fan learned that Shangguan Cai was actually Ning Wanjun, the Third Princess of Qi and the fief-holder of Jinxia, who had chosen him as her proxy in the Bureau of Military Affairs. She sought to take control of her territory, and the chapter ended with her offering to let Xia Fan act as he pleased.

• Xia Fan met Shangguan Cai in her bedroom and learned that she was Ning Wanjun, the Third Princess of Qi.
• Ning Wanjun explained that she had chosen Xia Fan during the Scholar Examination to serve as her proxy in the Bureau of Military Affairs.
• Ning Wanjun revealed that Jinxia was her fief and that she wanted control over everything within her territory.
• Xia Fan worried that serving Ning Wanjun would embroil him in a dangerous political struggle and began to refuse her offer.
• Ning Wanjun offered to let Xia Fan act as he pleased, causing him to spit out his tea.

Ning Wanjun offered Xia Fan command over Jinxia’s Bureau of Military Affairs and freedom to pursue his goals, while explaining the difficult path to the post. Xia Fan agreed to try, beginning with a promotion to Lingbu Official, though the princess remained confident he would advance further.

• Ning Wanjun offered Xia Fan authority over the Bureau of Military Affairs and local administration, saying she trusted his actions and wanted to see what he would do with power.
• Xia Fan declined to hear Ning Wanjun’s true goal and agreed to try working with her.
• Ning Wanjun said Xia Fan should first become the Bureau’s Prefectural Assistant and revealed she had reported his rescue of her to the Emperor to secure a commendation.
• Ning Wanjun explained that the commendation could promote Xia Fan three ranks to Fifth Rank Shifeng and make him a candidate for Lingbu Official.
• Ning Wanjun outlined the further rank and departmental support Xia Fan would need to become Prefectural Assistant, while insisting she believed he would find a way.

Ning Wanjun explained that Hu Huairen had died in custody and that she did not yet control Jinxia’s government offices. She and Xia Fan suspected that a woman using foreign techniques might have come from across the sea, and Ning Wanjun left Xia Fan to investigate while she prepared to meet Wang Yi’an.

• Ning Wanjun told Xia Fan that Wei Wushuang had returned to Jinxia, while Wang Renzhi’s whereabouts remained uncertain, and learned Xia Fan’s account of the events at Gaoshan County.
• Ning Wanjun revealed that Hu Huairen had died in the Jinxia government-office dungeon that morning, and admitted that her authority over local officials was limited.
• Ning Wanjun identified the woman’s techniques as possibly originating in Yama, a country beyond the East Sea, and explained that Evil Spirits had severed sea travel and foreign contact.
• Ning Wanjun assigned Xia Fan to investigate whether people from across the sea had found a new route to Jinxia, then left to meet Wang Yi’an.
• Qiuyue warned Ning Wanjun against trusting Xia Fan too much, but Ning Wanjun said his unusual confidence and belief that the world could be changed had caught her interest.

Wang Yi'an offered Princess Guangping gifts and the Wang family's support, but Ning Wanjun showed little interest and questioned whether he would hand over the saltworks. After he left, she decided to return to Xia Fan to discuss their next plans, while Wang Yi'an remained convinced the Wang family would become her support.

• Wang Yi'an visited Princess Guangping and presented scrolls listing people, fine fabrics, and valuables as gifts from the Wang family.
• Ning Wanjun asked whether Wang Yi'an would give her the saltworks, then dismissed the question as a joke and asked after Wang Renzhi.
• Ning Wanjun admitted to Qiuyue that her question had been a meaningless test and said she would visit the previous bedchamber to discuss future plans with Xia Fan.
• Wang Yi'an reviewed the costly information he had gathered about Ning Wanjun and concluded that she would eventually rely on the Wang family.

After Xia Fan’s success in Gaoshan County made him famous and earned him a rapid promotion, he learned more about the Bureau of Military Affairs’ divisions and the human causes behind Evil Spirits. Meanwhile, Wuyue Yao and her surviving companions struggled to hide and find food, and pinned their hopes on contacting Princess Guangping.

• Xia Fan became a citywide sensation after he slew an Evil Spirit, protected the princess, and was promoted to take over a Command Department post.
• Wei Wushuang told Xia Fan that his new fame had drawn many marriage proposals, and Xia Fan learned from Ning Wanjun that factions within the Bureau of Military Affairs had differing views about Evil Spirits.
• Xia Fan concluded that Evil Spirits arose from human actions and that the Bureau’s rewards helped conceal their artificial origins.
• Shanhui brought Wuyue Yao a meager flatbread, which she ate despite its poor quality as she urged her companions not to delay.
• Wuyue Yao recalled that her party had lost their ship, failed to reach officials, and suffered six deaths while fleeing and hiding in Qi State.
• Wuyue Yao’s group placed their hopes in the arrival of Princess Guangping, who might recognize their former ties with Qi State.