Chapter Summaries

Fang Yuan declined Su Wan’s invitation to join the White Lotus Sect and offered her refuge at the Imperial City Security Department if she faced trouble. He investigated changes in his talent, identified several possible abilities, and completed eighteen circulations to strengthen his body.

• Fang Yuan refused to join the White Lotus Sect and told Su Wan she could seek shelter at the Imperial City Security Department.
• Fang Yuan examined the tree in his Sea of Consciousness and found it still resembled an Iron-Thread Willow despite his attempts to imagine other willows.
• Fang Yuan considered that his talent might grant Teleportation, resistance to mental interference, and danger warnings.
• Fang Yuan chose to focus on raising his strength before asking Old Hei about talents.
• Fang Yuan completed eighteen circulations, five more than before, and looked down at his hand.

Fang Yuan discovered that his awakened talent was strengthening his body and continued circulating Yin-Yang Force in complete cycles. Su Wan left the Imperial City Security Department in high spirits, but encountered Sister Li in a secluded alley, where Sister Li confronted her about nearly causing a major incident.

• Fang Yuan felt his body growing tougher and reasoned that his talent and physical strength could reinforce each other.
• Fang Yuan settled into a slow, steady cultivation rhythm, completing full cycles without his Force weakening.
• Su Wan decided she and Fang Yuan were even after he helped her and she shared information about her abilities.
• Su Wan wandered into a secluded alley and found Sister Li waiting behind her.
• Sister Li told Su Wan that her return had revealed how close Su Wan had come to causing a huge incident.

Li Suxin reunited with Su Wan after returning from the Capital City and revealed that her attempt at talent evolution had failed. She gave Su Wan a Xuanyuan Pill and ordered her to advance her cultivation, then learned that Fang Yuan had protected Su Wan from Zhao Tianci and grew furious.

• Li Suxin met Su Wan and said her talent evolution in the Capital City had failed.
• Li Suxin asked about Su Wan's training and gave her a Xuanyuan Pill, ordering her to reach the threshold for a second talent evolution within half a year.
• Su Wan hesitated over taking the pill but agreed after Li Suxin insisted, and Li Suxin promised to protect her.
• Li Suxin warned Su Wan about the dangerous aura in the Imperial City Security Department and advised her not to visit often.
• Su Wan told Li Suxin that Zhao Tianci had harassed her at Zui Xian Lou and Fang Yuan had rescued her by crippling two guards.
• Li Suxin grew angry that Zhao Tianci had bullied a member of the White Lotus Sect.

Li Suxin weighed Fang Yuan’s strength and considered recruiting him into the White Lotus Sect, but Su Wan warned that Black Hall had targeted him. Li Suxin was left wondering why Black Hall would act against a newly promoted Captain.

• Li Suxin abandoned her plan to kill the Prefect’s wastrel after Su Wan warned that the Prefect might have a fifth-rank expert guarding him.
• Su Wan told Li Suxin that Fang Yuan had crippled two fourth-rank fighters with one slash and practiced the Breaking Wave Saber Art.
• Li Suxin doubted Su Wan’s account but considered recruiting Fang Yuan to strengthen her faction and protect Su Wan after she left.
• Su Wan concealed that she had already tried and failed to recruit Fang Yuan, then said Black Hall intended to make a move against him.
• Li Suxin questioned why Black Hall would target Fang Yuan and silently considered Su Wan’s warning.

Su Wan persuaded Li Suxin to mediate between Fang Yuan and Black Hall, then questioned her about talents and people whose memories could not be erased. Li Suxin described such people as either great martial artists or possessors of terrifying talents, leaving Su Wan to conceal that she had failed to erase Fang Yuan’s memories.

• Su Wan proposed that Li Suxin mediate between Fang Yuan and Black Hall so White Hall could recruit him and gain his favor.
• Li Suxin agreed to make the trip after Su Wan praised Fang Yuan’s strength and potential.
• Su Wan asked whether Imperial Court-trained martial artists could awaken talents, and Li Suxin said they almost never did.
• Su Wan asked about people whose memories resisted erasure, and Li Suxin said they were great martial artists or had exceptionally terrifying talents.
• Li Suxin grew suspicious of Su Wan’s questions, but Su Wan denied having met such a person and kept Fang Yuan’s secret.

Su Wan worried that revealing Fang Yuan’s extraordinary talent would disrupt his life, while Fang Yuan strengthened his body and considered how to obtain Precious Medicine. After he jokingly addressed the light points in his Sea of Consciousness, Foolish Egg and Third Brother both felt an inexplicable urge to squeak.

• Su Wan decided not to tell Sister Li about Fang Yuan and agreed to inform her before visiting the Imperial City Security Department.
• Fang Yuan noticed that his Yin-Yang Force had improved his body and resolved to consider buying Precious Medicine from the Myriad Treasures Pavilion carefully.
• Fang Yuan inspected the two light points nourishing the Iron-Thread Willow and wondered how he could find more.
• Fang Yuan jokingly asked a light point to squeak, and Foolish Egg and Third Brother both felt a strange urge to squeak during training.
• Third Brother squeaked, but an instructor ordered him and Foolish Egg to resume training.

Fang Yuan left the Imperial City Security Department and crossed the Outer City, where he noticed an organized group of white-clothed people loading grain onto carts. Meanwhile, Old Hei examined the Bronze Mirror as it healed and a face began to form within its mist.

• Fang Yuan left the Mission Courtyard after seeing that the two points of light had not changed and passed the Square-Faced Captain at the department gate.
• Fang Yuan found that the crowd and the old lady outside the gate had departed, then reflected on his strength and Eunuch Cao's backing.
• Old Hei noticed that the Bronze Mirror's cracks had healed and saw clouds and mist swirling inside it as a face began to take shape.
• Fang Yuan entered the Outer City and spotted a disciplined procession of white-clothed people loading burlap sacks from a Grain Store onto carts.

Fang Yuan watched White Lotus Sect members force a grain shopkeeper to accept an order for ten thousand jin, then questioned the shopkeeper about his reluctance. The shopkeeper blamed the risks of selling grain amid renewed fighting in the north, and Fang Yuan connected the influx of unfamiliar faces to Cao Mansion’s position in the Outer City.

• White Lotus Sect men shoved a clerk aside and ordered the Grain Store to provide ten thousand jin of grain within seven days, leaving a deposit.
• The White Lotus Sect leader warned the shopkeeper that the grain was for charitable deeds and led his group to the next shop.
• Fang Yuan considered confronting the group but held back to avoid alerting the sect members watching him.
• Fang Yuan showed the shopkeeper his Imperial City Security Department token and asked why he feared accepting the order.
• The shopkeeper said unfamiliar faces had arrived amid renewed fighting in the north and feared the grain could end up with the Rebel Army; Fang Yuan realized Cao Mansion was at the heart of the Outer City.

Fang Yuan learned that rumors of the Rebel Army advancing south had reached Cangwu County and hurried to report the danger to Eunuch Cao. After discovering a man was following him, he confronted him and learned that the stranger was Zhao Si, an elder of the Carefree Sect.

• The shopkeeper told Fang Yuan that the Rebel Army in Hanshan Commandery was moving south and that people in Cangwu County were preparing to flee.
• Fang Yuan advised the shopkeeper to seek help at Cao Mansion if anyone tried to force him to sell grain, then left to report the rumors to Eunuch Cao.
• Fang Yuan sensed someone following him and used the alleyways to confirm his suspicion.
• Fang Yuan circled behind Zhao Si, startling him, then demanded to know who had sent him and why he was following.
• Zhao Si identified himself as an elder of the Carefree Sect and claimed the sect had an old connection with Fang Yuan.

Zhao Si of the Carefree Sect approached Fang Yuan with an advancement method for Treading Snow Without Trace, hoping to win his favor. Fang Yuan accepted the gift but warned Zhao Si never to follow him again.

• Fang Yuan suspected the Carefree Sect had sent Zhao Si to confront him over his use of Treading Snow Without Trace.
• Zhao Si offered Fang Yuan a brocade box containing the Carefree Sect's follow-up advancement method for the movement technique.
• Fang Yuan considered how his current footwork had fallen behind his strength and questioned why Zhao Si had followed him instead of making an open visit.
• Zhao Si decided to give Fang Yuan the method and tossed him the brocade box, which Fang Yuan caught.
• As Zhao Si prepared to leave, Fang Yuan warned him that he did not tolerate being followed and expected this to be the last time.

Fang Yuan discovered that Iron-Thread Willow’s mental pressure could affect others, then learned the Rebel Army had already taken Hanshan Commandery and that Wushui Commandery had not prepared for war. Eunuch Cao planned to transfer them to safety, while Fang Yuan found that Dust-Transcending Shadow-Stepping offered little advantage over his perfected Treading Snow Without Trace.

• Fang Yuan tested Iron-Thread Willow’s mental pressure on Zhao Si and saw it stiffen Zhao Si’s movements.
• Fang Yuan learned from Eunuch Cao that the Imperial Court had misjudged the Rebel Army’s timing and that Hanshan Commandery had fallen.
• Eunuch Cao told Fang Yuan to prepare to leave Wushui Commandery once an official transfer order arrived.
• Fang Yuan returned to his courtyard and opened the Carefree Sect’s brocade box, finding the Dust-Transcending Shadow-Stepping manual.
• Fang Yuan read the manual and realized his perfected Treading Snow Without Trace already matched its movement technique.

Zhao Si returned to the Carefree Sect’s covert gathering after meeting Fang Yuan and reported that Fang Yuan had discovered and outmaneuvered him. The elders doubted Zhao Si’s account, leaving him to realize they could not understand the danger he had faced.

• Fang Yuan considered the Carefree Sect’s Treading Snow Without Trace booklet useful but beneath his standards, and put it away for later.
• Zhao Si entered a hidden courtyard in the prefectural city and told the Carefree Sect elders that he had given Fang Yuan Dust-Transcending Shadow-Stepping.
• Zhao Si reported that Fang Yuan had discovered him almost immediately, shaken him off, and silently circled behind him.
• The elders questioned how Fang Yuan could track Zhao Si using a supposedly Low-grade movement technique and suggested Zhao Si was exaggerating to avoid cooperating with the White Lotus Sect.
• Zhao Si stopped arguing when the Carefree Sect Master also showed doubt, realizing the elders were deadweight teammates who could not grasp the pressure Fang Yuan had put him under.

Zhao Si asked the Sect Master to promise Fang Yuan the sect’s treasured movement technique in exchange for inviting him to a meeting, and the Sect Master agreed. Meanwhile, Old Madam Zhao lamented her humiliation at the Prefecture Governor’s Mansion as Prefect Zhao returned home after dealing with an urgent report from Hanshan Commandery.

• Zhao Si warned that Fang Yuan might refuse an invitation and demanded the sect’s treasured movement technique as a condition for approaching him.
• The Sect Master agreed to Zhao Si’s condition, though Zhao Si doubted he understood the risks or would truly hand over the technique.
• After Zhao Si left, Old Li criticized him, while the Sect Master silently watched the darkness beyond the gate.
• At the Prefecture Governor’s Mansion, Old Madam Zhao complained of her humiliation to the Prefect’s Wife and pretended to be gravely ill.
• Prefect Zhao returned from discussing unusual activity in Hanshan Commandery and saw his mother suddenly appear more vigorous when she heard his voice.

Zhao Tianci suffered another terrifying episode, prompting Prefect Zhao's household to summon Qian Duoduo for help. The chapter ended the next morning with Fang Yuan waking and greeting Little Purple Sable.

• A servant reported that Zhao Tianci was possessed by a nightmare again, and Old Madam Zhao rushed to his room.
• Zhao Tianci violently rejected his grandmother and repeatedly murmured, "Not mine... not mine..."
• Prefect Zhao ordered his aide to invite an Investigative Captain, and Old Madam Zhao insisted they summon Qian Duoduo rather than Fang Yuan.
• The aide left to fetch Qian Duoduo while Prefect Zhao waited uneasily for help and an answer about his son's condition.
• Fang Yuan woke the next morning, checked the two motes of light among the Iron-Thread Willow's branches, and welcomed Little Purple Sable as it leapt into his arms.

Fang Yuan noticed the weather turning unnaturally cold and sensed that the Mission Courtyard was in danger as war with the Rebel Army approached. Qian Duoduo then told him that someone from the prefect's side had invited him to inspect a residence.

• Fang Yuan wondered whether Little Purple Sable's chirp was connected to the two motes of light in his Sea of Consciousness, then set the question aside and left for work.
• Fang Yuan saw that Wushui Commandery had grown unusually cold, and townspeople remarked that the season and the earth's qi seemed wrong.
• Fang Yuan observed that the Imperial City Security Department had mobilized its Captains as the threat of war approached.
• Fang Yuan felt an ominous warning from Iron-Thread Willow near Old Hei's room in the Mission Courtyard and considered skipping work.
• Qian Duoduo told Fang Yuan that someone from the prefect's side had come to invite him to inspect a residence.

Fang Yuan agreed to accompany Qian Duoduo on a private job investigating the Black Calamity in Prefect Zhao’s household, despite suspecting it might be tied to the war and the stability of Wushui Commandery. The two left the Mission Courtyard, while a crack quietly opened in Old Hei’s side-chamber door.

• Fang Yuan learned that Prefect Zhao had approached Qian Duoduo privately about the Black Calamity in his household.
• Qian Duoduo suggested that the matter might be connected to the threat facing Wushui Commandery and its role as a military logistics hub.
• Fang Yuan weighed the danger and possible payment, then agreed to go with Qian Duoduo.
• Fang Yuan and Qian Duoduo left the Mission Courtyard without entering the duty room.
• After they disappeared, the door to Old Hei’s side chamber quietly opened a finger’s width.

Fang Yuan and Qian Duoduo went to the Prefecture Governor's Mansion to investigate Zhao Tianci's unexplained sleep after he was afflicted by a nightmare. They found several fourth-rank experts already gathered, and Prefect Zhao asked them to discover what was wrong with his son.

• Qian Duoduo told Fang Yuan that he had been summoned to the Prefecture Governor's Mansion because Zhao Tianci had been afflicted by a nightmare, but he had waited until morning to go.
• Fang Yuan noticed that the stone lions at the mansion's gate looked unnaturally fierce and suspected they had been arranged that way or tampered with.
• A steward welcomed Fang Yuan and Qian Duoduo into the mansion, where servants were busily preparing for something.
• Fang Yuan and Qian Duoduo entered a hall with several fourth-rank experts whom Prefect Zhao had invited.
• Prefect Zhao told the gathered experts that Zhao Tianci had not awakened since his nightmare and asked them to find the cause.

Prefect Zhao gathered several people to investigate his son’s nightmare possession, but the discussion grew tense as they debated its cause. After Qian Duoduo asked when the symptoms began, a woman suggested that Prefect Zhao’s son had done something to trouble his conscience, leaving the room in awkward silence.

• Prefect Zhao invited the group to speak freely about his son’s nightmare possession, and a burly man blamed servants and maids for conspiring against their master.
• A white-bearded scholar called the burly man an idiot, and Prefect Zhao’s fifth-rank bodyguard silenced their argument with his pressure.
• Fang Yuan resisted the bodyguard’s pressure, while the bodyguard sensed a dangerous presence coming from Fang Yuan’s direction.
• Qian Duoduo asked whether Prefect Zhao’s son became unwell before or after he fell asleep, and Prefect Zhao said the boy began shouting about an hour after lying down.
• A woman suggested that Prefect Zhao’s son had nightmares because someone had come to punish him for a guilty conscience, and Fang Yuan turned to look at her.

Prefect Zhao offered a large reward to those who could solve his son’s problem, and Fang Yuan encountered two White Lotus Sect members with opposing messages. The chapter ended with Zhao Si waiting outside the Prefecture Governor’s Mansion.

• Prefect Zhao promised one million taels to whoever solved his son’s problem and guaranteed the others one hundred thousand taels as tea money.
• The burly man left with Steward Fu to inspect the young master’s courtyard.
• Ma Ben introduced himself as a White Lotus Sect member and tried to recruit Fang Yuan and Qian Duoduo, but Fang Yuan refused.
• Li Suxin identified herself as a White Lotus Sect member, judged Fang Yuan and Qian Duoduo, and warned Fang Yuan not to trust Ma Ben.
• Zhao Si paced outside the Prefecture Governor’s Mansion and looked up at its closed gates.

Fang Yuan and Qian Duoduo investigated Zhao Tianci, who remained trapped in an unresponsive sleep, but found no sign of a Black Calamity or its medium. Ma Ben and Li Suxin arrived, and Ma Ben began using a White Lotus Sect method to try to resolve the case.

• Zhao Si went to the Prefecture Governor's Mansion to warn Fang Yuan that White Lotus Sect members might harm him, but servants refused him entry.
• Fang Yuan and Qian Duoduo went to examine Zhao Tianci after learning he could not be roused from sleep.
• Steward Fu told Fang Yuan that Zhao Tianci had briefly awakened the previous night and kicked the old lady before falling back into his strange sleep.
• Fang Yuan searched the room while Qian Duoduo used his compass, but neither found evidence identifying a Black Calamity or its medium.
• Ma Ben and Li Suxin entered, and Ma Ben claimed the White Lotus Sect could resolve the affliction before beginning a ritual with a Small Jade Buddha.