Chapter Summaries

After waking in the body of the spoiled young master Huang Shaojie in the martial dynasty of Great Chu, he learned his father had bought him an Imperial Guard captain’s post. He reported for duty despite dreading the dangerous work, and a system appeared in his mind, granting him martial arts techniques.

• Huang Shaojie absorbed the former owner’s memories and learned he had taken over the body of a dissolute silk merchant’s son in Great Chu.
• Huang Shaojie met his maid Xiao He and acted like the young master she remembered.
• Huang Shaojie learned that Huang Baiwan had paid Zhu Shi to secure him an Imperial Guard captain’s position.
• Huang Shaojie accompanied Zhu Shi to the Imperial Guard Office, completed his appointment, and received his uniform, saber, and captain’s token.
• The Capture God System appeared and awarded Huang Shaojie Insight Technique and the first three forms of Wind God Leg.

Huang Shaojie gained insight into the first three forms of the Wind God Leg but lacked the internal energy to use them, then began learning the Imperial Guard’s rules and hierarchy. After his first day of duty, he returned home to a firecracker welcome as Huang Baiwan announced his entry into the Imperial Guard to their neighbors.

• Huang Shaojie received the first three forms of the Wind God Leg and learned that he needed to solve cases, apprehend criminals, or check in daily to gain internal cultivation.
• Zhu Shi gave Huang Shaojie a beginner’s saber manual and told him to study the Imperial Guard’s procedures before reporting to Battalion Commander Xiao the next morning.
• Huang Shaojie read about the Imperial Guard’s hierarchy and its oversight by the Imperial Surveillance Bureau.
• Huang Shaojie rode home at dusk, where Huang Baiwan and Madam Huang welcomed him with servants and firecrackers.
• Huang Baiwan told the neighbors that Huang Shaojie had entered the Imperial Guard, and they offered congratulations and gifts.

Huang Shaojie practiced the Wind God Leg and began cultivating its internal method, reaching the Postnatal First Level in less than two hours. After learning the martial arts ranks from the system, he went to sleep, aware of how far he still had to go.

• Huang Shaojie recited a poem in the rear garden and teased Xiao He before returning to his courtyard.
• Huang Shaojie practiced saber techniques and three Wind God Leg moves, but his lack of true qi left him exhausted.
• Huang Shaojie bathed, then circulated the Wind God Leg internal cultivation method in his bedroom.
• Huang Shaojie developed true qi and reached the Postnatal First Level, prompting a system notification.
• Huang Shaojie asked the system about martial arts ranks, learned that Great Grandmasters were the strongest, and went to sleep.

Huang Shaojie began his Imperial Guard duties, earning Internal Cultivation through daily attendance and patrolling Suzhou City with Zhang Biao under Battalion Commander Xiao Qiuyue. After more than a month, his cultivation reached the Houtian Ninth Layer, and his Wind God Leg became powerful enough to defeat Xiantian experts above the First Level.

• Huang Shaojie signed in at the Imperial Guard office and received one year of Internal Cultivation from the system, which would also reward him automatically when he was away on a case.
• Xiao Qiuyue arrived, questioned Huang Shaojie about who had recommended him, and heard Zhu Shi claim responsibility for his recommendation to Commander Zhao.
• Xiao Qiuyue assigned Huang Shaojie to patrol the streets, where Zhang Biao told him about her powerful family background, martial skill, and record of handling major cases.
• Huang Shaojie and Zhang Biao patrolled Suzhou City, and Huang Shaojie paid for his dumplings while Zhang Biao left without paying.
• After more than a month of daily sign-ins and practice, Huang Shaojie reached the Houtian Ninth Layer and gained enough Wind God Leg strength to defeat Xiantian experts above the First Level.

Huang Shaojie and Zhang Biao patrolled a bustling street in Suzhou City, where Huang bought a talking parrot that denounced corrupt officials. They then intervened when a nut cake seller extorted and assaulted a woman, and the chapter ended with her accusing him before them.

• Huang Shaojie and Zhang Biao passed a parrot stall, where the bird insulted officials and Zhang nearly arrested its owner.
• Huang bought the parrot for five taels of silver and joked with it as he and Zhang continued their patrol.
• A nut cake seller demanded three taels of silver from a woman after claiming a piece cost only a few wen, then grabbed and groped her.
• Huang and Zhang approached the stall, and the woman told them the seller had extorted money and assaulted her.

Huang Shaojie recognized a nut cake seller as a suspected Japanese pirate spy and defeated him after the man attacked. The captured spy was brought to the Imperial Guard's Ninth Station, where Xiao Qiuyue heard how Huang and Zhang Biao had apprehended him.

• Zhang Biao took the nut cake seller's silver and let him go, but Huang Shaojie questioned his accent and accused him of being a Japanese pirate spy.
• The nut cake seller revealed himself as a Japanese pirate and attacked Huang Shaojie, while Zhang Biao was knocked aside and injured.
• Huang Shaojie used the Wind God Leg to defeat the Postnatal Eighth Level pirate and helped Zhang Biao up.
• Huang Shaojie and Zhang Biao escorted the bound pirate to the Ninth Station and reported the capture to Zhu Shi.
• Zhu Shi informed Xiao Qiuyue, who came to inspect the prisoner and listened as Zhang Biao recounted the events.

After Huang Shaojie captured a Japanese pirate spy, Xiao Qiuyue learned that the playboy constable was a powerful martial artist and promised to recommend him for promotion. He returned to Huang Manor with a talkative parrot and postponed claiming his True Essence Pill.

• Xiao Qiuyue questioned Yamada Taro about Japan’s spies and plans, then ordered him taken to the dungeon for torture.
• Huang Shaojie received a mid-grade True Essence Pill as a reward but chose to claim it after work.
• Xiao Qiuyue asked Huang Shaojie why he had joined the Imperial Guard, recorded his merit, and promised to recommend him for promotion.
• Huang Shaojie returned to Huang Manor with a parrot, gave it to Xiao He to care for, and watched it marvel at the wealthy household.

Huang Shaojie refined a True Essence Pill, broke through to the Innate First Layer, and tested the first three moves of the Wind God Leg. The next morning, Prefect Liu asked Commander Niu to help catch Suzhou’s Flower Picking Thief, whose crimes had recently targeted women from wealthy families.

• Huang Shaojie swallowed a middle-grade True Essence Pill and refined his true qi into True Essence Qi.
• Huang Shaojie broke through the mysterious gate and reached the Innate First Layer.
• Huang Shaojie practiced Catching Wind and Shadows, Strong Grass in the Wind, and Violent Storm in his courtyard.
• A masked thief drugged a sleeping young woman in a Suzhou manor and attacked her.
• Prefect Liu visited Commander Niu and requested the Imperial Guard’s help in apprehending the Flower Picking Thief.

Prefect Liu paid Niu Ren to have the Imperial Guard investigate the Flower Picking Thief, who had recently attacked Magistrate Lu’s daughter. Xiao Qiuyue led the Ninth Station’s investigation and went with Huang Shaojie to inspect the crime scene at the Lu residence.

• Prefect Liu asked Niu Ren for help capturing the Flower Picking Thief and offered two hundred taels of gold for the investigation, plus a hundred-tael reward.
• Niu Ren accepted and ordered Battalion Commander Xiao to come to the main hall.
• Xiao Qiuyue told the Ninth Station Guards they had one month to capture the thief or lose a month’s salary, then assigned teams to investigate.
• Xiao Qiuyue took Huang Shaojie and several Guards to Magistrate Lu’s residence to inspect the crime scene.
• Magistrate Lu showed Xiao Qiuyue the pavilion where his daughter had been attacked, and Xiao Qiuyue vowed to capture and punish the thief.

Xiao Qiuyue and Huang Shaojie investigated the Flower Urging Gentleman’s attack on Magistrate Lu’s daughter. Huang Shaojie found a faint footprint on the pavilion windowsill, and Xiao Qiuyue asked him to search Miss Lu’s chamber for more clues.

• Magistrate Lu told Xiao Qiuyue that the Flower Thief had incapacitated four guards with silver needles and used sleeping incense to attack his daughter.
• Xiao Qiuyue ordered Huang Shaojie and the constables to search the pavilion, then examined Miss Lu’s chamber with Magistrate Lu and saw the thief’s poem and the bloodstained sheets.
• Huang Shaojie found a faint footprint on the windowsill and estimated that its shoe size was about 38.
• Xiao Qiuyue questioned how Huang Shaojie had noticed the nearly invisible print, and he explained that he had exceptionally keen eyesight.
• Xiao Qiuyue asked Huang Shaojie to enter Miss Lu’s chamber and look for further clues.

Huang Shaojie and Xiao Qiuyue found no useful leads in the Flower Thief cases, so Xiao Qiuyue planned to stake out the bedchambers of beautiful young women. Huang Shaojie proposed that the thief might have disguised himself as a peddler to identify his targets and scout their homes, prompting Xiao Qiuyue to revisit the victims’ residences with him.

• Huang Shaojie explained that the Flower Thief had left fingerprints on a jewelry box, but Xiao Qiuyue could not see them and they had no way to preserve or compare them.
• Xiao Qiuyue and Huang Shaojie visited the other victims’ homes but found no clues, then returned to the Imperial Guard Office.
• Xiao Qiuyue asked Huang Shaojie to search family records for households with unmarried young women over fourteen so they could plan stakeouts.
• Huang Shaojie questioned how the Flower Thief learned which young women were beautiful, and Xiao Qiuyue said he might have gathered information beforehand.
• Huang Shaojie suggested the Flower Thief could have disguised himself as a peddler to see the young women and survey their homes, so Xiao Qiuyue took him to revisit the victims’ residences.

Xiao Qiuyue and Huang Shaojie discovered that the Flower Thief had disguised himself as a peddler to scout his victims’ homes, then set Imperial Guards to protect three likely targets. After several nights without a sign of him, the Flower Thief appeared at He Residence and was ambushed by Zhu Shi’s squad.

• Xiao Qiuyue questioned Magistrate Lu’s daughter’s maidservants, who recalled a short, dark peddler who had visited shortly before the assault.
• Huang Shaojie and Xiao Qiuyue investigated other victims’ residences and found the same peddler had appeared before each attack.
• Xiao Qiuyue assigned squads to protect three young ladies and ordered Huang Shaojie to patrol between the residences with her.
• After several nights of waiting, a masked shadow entered He Residence and approached a west-wing window with a tube of sleeping smoke.
• Zhu Shi and his officers sprang an ambush, while an officer struck a gong and called for help capturing the Flower Thief.

Huang Shaojie and Xiao Qiuyue captured Flower Destroyer Gentleman after he attacked the He Residence. They returned him to the Imperial Guard office, where Xiao Qiuyue promised to recommend Huang Shaojie for promotion to Banner Officer.

• Flower Destroyer Gentleman struck Zhu Shi with silver needles and tried to flee the He Residence, but Xiao Qiuyue blocked his escape.
• Huang Shaojie raced past Xiao Qiuyue and kicked Flower Destroyer Gentleman off a rooftop, breaking several of his ribs.
• Xiao Qiuyue kicked Flower Destroyer Gentleman between the legs, and he passed out before they took him to the Imperial Guard office.
• Xiao Qiuyue told Huang Shaojie she would ask Commander Niu to reward him and recommend him for promotion to Banner Officer.
• Xiao Qiuyue excused Huang Shaojie from duty the next day, and he rode home to rest.

Huang Shaojie returned to Huang Manor after capturing the Flower Picking Thief and received the first level of the Indestructible Vajra Technique as his reward. He broke through to the second level of the Innate Realm and went to sleep.

• Huang Shaojie climbed over Huang Manor's wall with his horse, alarming the guards and his family before he revealed himself.
• Huang Shaojie told Huang Baiwan and Madam Huang that he had captured the Flower Thief and carried his horse over the wall, astonishing them.
• The system rewarded Huang Shaojie with the first level of the Indestructible Vajra Technique, which protected him from attacks by anyone below the Grandmaster Stage and from ordinary poisons and sleeping drugs.
• Huang Shaojie cultivated the Wind God Leg's internal method and broke through to the second level of the Innate Realm.

Huang Shaojie received a year of internal energy, earned a promotion recommendation and three hundred taels of reward silver for capturing the Flower Picking Thief. He invited the Ninth Station to celebrate at the Drunken Immortal Restaurant, and Xiao Qiuyue agreed to join them.

• Huang Shaojie signed in at the Imperial Guard yamen and received a one-year internal energy reward from the system.
• Zhu Shi praised Huang Shaojie's martial arts, and Xiao Qiuyue brought him to meet Commander Niu.
• Niu Ren told Huang Shaojie he had recommended him for promotion to Squad Leader and awarded him three hundred taels of silver.
• Niu Ren awarded Xiao Qiuyue and the Ninth Station silver for solving the Serial Flower Thief Case, and Xiao Qiuyue distributed it to her colleagues.
• Huang Shaojie invited the Ninth Station to dinner at the Drunken Immortal Restaurant, and Xiao Qiuyue accepted.

Huang Shaojie officially became an Imperial Guard Company Commander, earning his parents’ celebration and admiration. After returning home, he broke through to the third level of the Innate Realm.

• Huang Shaojie received his appointment as an Imperial Guard Company Commander in Suzhou, with a higher salary, a new uniform, and a token.
• Niu Ren assigned Huang Shaojie to Xiao Qiuyue’s Ninth Guard Post and transferred eleven Imperial Guard Captains to serve under him.
• Huang Shaojie told Huang Baiwan and Madam Huang about his promotion, and Huang Baiwan arranged a celebration at the manor.
• Huang Shaojie cultivated the Wind God Leg in his room and broke through to the third level of the Innate Realm.

Niu Ren led the Imperial Guards to Drum Camel Ridge to investigate the robbery of three hundred thousand taels of Suzhou tax silver and the slaughter of its escort. The bodies appeared to account for all 511 soldiers, while no bandit corpses were found, leaving Huang Shaojie to wonder whether the robbers had disguised their dead as soldiers.

• A guard delivered the Suzhou Prefectural Governor’s urgent letter, and Niu Ren ordered the Imperial Guards to assemble.
• Niu Ren told the guards that the tax silver had been robbed at Drum Camel Ridge and all five hundred escort soldiers had been killed.
• Niu Ren led several hundred Imperial Guards to the crime scene, where Prefectural Governor Luo Dayong and Prefect Liu Changqing briefed him.
• The officials reported that Commandant Ma and his elite escort had left Suzhou the previous morning, and a passing merchant had discovered the massacre.
• Prefect Liu said the bodies numbered 511, all wore soldiers’ uniforms, and none appeared to be bandits.
• Huang Shaojie wondered whether some bandits’ bodies had been dressed in soldiers’ uniforms.

Niu Ren investigated the massacre of the soldiers escorting three hundred thousand taels of official silver and concluded that they were likely drugged before the bandits killed them. The officials began testing the soldiers’ rations and water as they considered whether an insider had helped the robbers.

• Niu Ren ordered his subordinates to inspect the corpses and the scene, while Huang Shaojie observed that the soldiers had been killed with single slashes and seemed unable to resist.
• Niu Ren told the officials that either an extraordinarily powerful bandit force had slaughtered the soldiers or the soldiers had been drugged, and he favored the latter explanation.
• Niu Ren proposed that an insider might have drugged the soldiers, escaped with the bandits, or been replaced by a corpse, though he also considered that someone might have drugged their supplies before they departed.
• Niu Ren explained how drugged dry rations could have taken effect at Drum Camel Ridge, and Prefectural Governor Luo ordered Prefect Liu to have the rations and water tested.

Huang Shaojie and Xiao Qiuyue discovered that bandits had used stupefying incense to disable the soldiers guarding the tax silver. Niu Ren followed the wagon tracks to a hillside where the wagons had been discarded, then ordered the Imperial Guard to search for the missing silver nearby.

• Huang Shaojie examined the dead soldiers and concluded that they had been unable to resist their attackers.
• Huang Shaojie and Xiao Qiuyue found stupefying incense in ashes by the road and worked out how the bandits had incapacitated the escort.
• Xiao Qiuyue reported the discovery to Niu Ren, who dismissed the theory of an inside accomplice and led the Imperial Guard after the wagon tracks.
• Huang Shaojie found the discarded wagons down a hillside, but a search revealed no silver inside them.
• Niu Ren ordered the Imperial Guard to search the area for clues to where the bandits had hidden the three hundred thousand taels of silver.

Huang Shaojie realized the bandits had likely unloaded the official silver before driving empty wagons away to mislead the Imperial Guards. He led Xiao Qiuyue and several dozen guards back along the official road, where he found the point where the wagon ruts became deeper.

• Huang Shaojie found no tracks showing how the bandits had escaped and noticed the wagon ruts were too shallow to have been made by heavily loaded wagons.
• Huang Shaojie told Xiao Qiuyue he suspected the bandits had unloaded the silver before driving empty wagons to draw the authorities away.
• Xiao Qiuyue brought Huang Shaojie's theory to Niu Ren, who ordered them to search back along the official road.
• Huang Shaojie and Xiao Qiuyue rode back with several dozen Imperial Guard Captains as Huang Shaojie inspected the wagon tracks.
• Huang Shaojie spotted where the ruts became deeper, identified it as the place where the bandits unloaded the silver, and dismounted to investigate.