Chapter Summaries

Old Feng recalled the police officer who arrested him and later visited him in prison, while Luo Qiu suggested the man had not forgotten him. After returning home, Luo Qiu heard Black Soul Eighteen’s report about her troubled client, Zhao Ru, and went to observe her.

• Old Feng told Luo Qiu that the police officer arrested him on the day he finished a customer’s garment and had later visited him in prison.
• Old Feng explained that the officer had taken and secretly displayed a photograph; Luo Qiu said the man had not forgotten him before departing.
• Old Feng resumed embroidering the Phoenix Gown Skirt, while Luo Qiu bought sliced noodles and went home to eat with Ren Ziling.
• Luo Qiu met Black Soul Eighteen, who described her trouble with a self-taught magician and her client, Zhao Ru.
• Luo Qiu watched Zhao Ru sitting alone in a makeshift cardboard-box shelter in a dim alley.

Zhao Ru left her cardboard-box home after giving Mai Xiaojun one last reward, while Mai Xiaojun and his grandfather wondered where she had gone. Elsewhere, Lin Feng and Ma Houde kept watch over a threatened high school student and discussed Wang Yuechuan’s disguise.

• Zhao Ru told Mai Xiaojun that he did not need to visit the next day and gave him two Crispy Sharks.
• Mai Xiaojun woke to find Zhao Ru’s cardboard-box home empty, and Uncle Mai said she might have left to make a decision.
• Mai Xiaojun asked Uncle Mai whether Zhao Ru was going to find her family, but Uncle Mai said he did not know.
• Lin Feng asked Ma Houde why Wang Yuechuan had dressed as a woman while they watched over the high school student who had received a threatening letter.
• Ma Houde scolded Lin Feng, then took the binoculars for himself so he could watch Wang Yuechuan’s surveillance position.

Wang Yuechuan and the police waited for Zhao Ru while Cao Yu confronted Black Soul Eighteen and trapped her in a prepared spell. As Cao Yu moved to seize Zhao Ru, the police spotted an unidentified person walking ahead of her, and Zhao Ru stopped just before entering their arrest range.

• Wang Yuechuan watched the street from a rooftop, waiting for Zhao Ru and Cao Yu.
• Black Soul Eighteen secretly marked Zhao Ru, then fell into Cao Yu’s twelve-crystal trap and was sealed inside a small icosahedron.
• Cao Yu left the alley to take Zhao Ru, whom he considered ideal cultivation material.
• Officer Ma spotted Zhao Ru approaching the police ambush, but noticed an unidentified person walking ahead of her.
• Zhao Ru stopped just before she entered the effective arrest range.

Zhao Ru was stabbed by Cao Yu after he stole her Blackwater Crystal Pendant, and she died in despair as the police failed to catch him. Black Soul Eighteen escaped Cao Yu’s trap, destroyed him, and Zhao Ru awoke in the frozen operating room to hear someone call her a guest.

• Zhao Ru stopped after finding an unknown black card in her pocket, but continued toward the rooftop where she expected to witness a girl’s despair.
• Cao Yu passed Zhao Ru, stabbed her, and took her Blackwater Crystal Pendant before disappearing around the corner.
• Ma Houde’s officers found Zhao Ru bleeding, but they could not locate Cao Yu or reach Wang Yuechuan as they rushed her to the hospital.
• Black Soul Eighteen escaped the Icosahedron, revealed she had used Cao Yu to further her plan, and engulfed him.
• As the doctors and nurses froze around her, Zhao Ru woke on the operating table and heard a voice ask, “Did you call for me, guest?”

Luo Qiu spoke with Zhao Ru while time was suspended, then brought her to her old apartment as her protection period neared its end. Zhao Ru chose to buy wealth from the club.

• Luo Qiu explained that his employee had given Zhao Ru the black card and that the crystal she wore attracted people with strong desires.
• Zhao Ru asked why misfortune and unfairness existed, and Luo Qiu admitted he did not know while offering his thoughts on fortune and misfortune.
• Zhao Ru reflected on her past crimes and asked Luo Qiu to take her somewhere.
• Luo Qiu brought Zhao Ru to her old apartment, where she looked at the withered plants and the Jewel Flower.
• Luo Qiu warned Zhao Ru that her protection period was almost over and offered her several purchases, and Zhao Ru chose wealth.

Black Soul Eighteen tormented Cao Yu until he stabbed himself, but she fled after Ma Houde and Wang Yuechuan confronted her. Cao Yu died after passing Wang Yuechuan a strange book, and Ma Houde learned that Zhao Ru had disappeared from the hospital.

• Black Soul Eighteen drove Cao Yu to destroy his eardrums and stab himself, then revealed that she had trapped the souls of other magicians inside her robe.
• Wang Yuechuan confronted Black Soul Eighteen with his pistol, and Ma Houde arrived and forced her to surrender before she escaped in a cloud of smoke.
• Cao Yu died after warning Wang Yuechuan that he would become like him, and Wang Yuechuan found a strange book on his body.
• Ma Houde questioned Wang Yuechuan about the black-robed woman, and Wang Yuechuan kept the book to investigate its unfamiliar writing.
• Ma Houde received a call informing him that Zhao Ru had disappeared from the hospital.

Officer Ma launched a citywide search after a woman vanished from a sealed hospital emergency room, while a mysterious young man arranged educational support for Mai Xiaojun. Zhao Ru established the Jewel Flower Foundation and died peacefully in the club owner’s arms.

• Officer Ma ordered officers to search for the missing woman and questioned the emergency room staff.
• A young man told Uncle Mai that the newly established Jewel Flower Foundation would fund Mai Xiaojun’s education, then gave the boy a dictionary and a message about his parents.
• Uncle Mai later saw the Jewel Flower Foundation listed on a securities center screen and decided to visit its address.
• Luo Qiu presented Zhao Ru with the foundation contracts, and Zhao Ru accepted the name Jewel Flower Foundation.
• Zhao Ru prepared herself, spoke of the Jewel Flowers she could see in the mirror, and died in the club owner’s arms as sunlight entered the room.

Ren Ziling learned that Zhao Ru had been found dead in her rental apartment and chose not to write a report about her. Wang Yuechuan pursued a translation of ancient Egyptian writing, while Qiangzi searched for Tao Xia man and Taiyinzi taught the men in prison a dance.

• Officer Ma told Ren Ziling that a landlord had found Zhao Ru dead on her bed in her spotless rental apartment, with no note or other clues.
• Ren Ziling refused to write about Zhao Ru, saying speculation would exploit the dead woman, and remembered that Officer Ma still owed her an informant fee.
• Wang Yuechuan received a translation of ancient Egyptian writing that read, “The death of the flesh opens the door to eternal life for the soul,” and contacted a professor in Japan for help.
• Qiangzi found Zhou Xiaopeng and dragged him into a van, ordering him to take the group to Tao Xia man.
• Taiyinzi unveiled a pen, an apple, and a pineapple, then performed PPAP for Fatty Zhang, Limping San, Zhou Xiaokun, and the others, and the song spread through the prison.

Tao Xia man revisited the old street where she had lived, recalling her childhood and meeting a quiet young man buying noodles for a friend. After leaving the street, she unexpectedly encountered a tattooed man named Qiangzi downstairs from her home.

• Tao Xia man got off at Jihua Road and revisited the noodle shop tied to memories of her father.
• A young man entered the shop to buy noodles for a friend who often forgot to eat, and Tao Xia man spoke with him without learning his name.
• Tao Xia man ordered knife-cut noodles with extra toppings and then passed her former home and an old elementary-school classmate.
• Tao Xia man left the old street, hoping time would erase her lingering memories.
• Downstairs from her home, Tao Xia man encountered a tall, muscular, tattooed man wearing sunglasses who identified himself as Qiangzi.

Officer Lin investigated the reported kidnapping of Zhao Ru after her fiancé, Zhou Zihao, identified Long Qiang as the man who took her. Meanwhile, Qiangzi’s van ran out of gas on the highway, and he discovered that Tao Xia man had escaped while his crew was outside.

• Zhou Zihao told Officer Lin that he had seen Long Qiang force his fiancée into a van and identified Long Qiang from a photograph.
• Officer Lin ordered officers to go to Long Qiang’s home after confirming Long Qiang’s identity and criminal record.
• Qiangzi’s van ran out of gas on the way to prison, and he found Tao Xia man bound and gagged in the back.
• Qiangzi removed Tao Xia man’s tape, but she bit him and shouted that she had been kidnapped, so his men gagged her again.
• Qiangzi and his men left the van to get some air, and Tao Xia man escaped after rubbing through her plastic ties on a metal toolbox.

Long Qiang mistook Xia Man’s phone call for a ransom negotiation and sent Zhou Zihao scrambling to gather cash, while Zhou Zihao and Officer Lin discussed the supposed kidnapping. After Old Feng finished Xia Man’s wedding dress, his call with Zhou Zihao revealed that something had happened to his daughter, and Luo Qiu promised to find her.

• Long Qiang answered Xia Man’s phone and demanded a full gasoline drum and eight hundred in medical expenses from Zhou Zihao.
• Zhou Zihao told Officer Lin that the kidnappers had demanded eight million in cash and threatened Xia Man, then called Stephen to arrange the money.
• Old Feng finished most of Xia Man’s wedding dress while Luo Qiu watched and praised it as a treasure.
• Old Feng called Zhou Zihao, who mistakenly thought he was speaking to Xia Man’s kidnappers and said he was bringing the ransom.
• Luo Qiu told Old Feng that Xia Man was not in immediate danger and promised to help find her for free.

Taiyinzi learned that Fatty Zhang had arranged something for him, while Long Qiang’s crew lost Tao Xia man after demanding gasoline from her fiancé. Zhou Zihao and the police prepared to deliver the ransom and rescue her, unaware that the kidnappers could not find her.

• Taiyinzi recited a poem about unrequited love as Fatty Zhang hinted that he had arranged a surprise for him.
• Long Qiang’s workers returned without finding Tao Xia man, who had run off and left her phone behind.
• Long Qiang told Tao Xia man’s fiancé to bring gasoline and pretended she would be waiting when he arrived.
• Police traced the phone signal, and Lin Feng arranged an armed escort as Zhou Zihao prepared to deliver the ransom.

Zhou Zihao’s attempt to rescue Tao Xia Man disrupted the police operation, while Boss Luo secretly brought her and Old Feng to a cave. The chapter left Tao Xia Man awake but unable to see, and Old Feng unsure whether the blindness was part of Boss Luo’s compensation for a mistake.

• Officer Lin’s team prepared an ambush, and Zhou Zihao accepted stun grenades before approaching Long Qiang’s group.
• Long Qiang told Zhou Zihao that Tao Xia Man had bitten him and that their boss wanted her, prompting Zhou Zihao to pull a grenade’s pin.
• The blast incapacitated Long Qiang and the workers, and Lin Feng’s assault team surrounded the van but found it empty.
• Boss Luo brought Old Feng to Tao Xia Man, who was unconscious by the river, then moved them both to a cave and said he would handle a matter caused by a slip-up.
• Tao Xia Man woke up unable to see, and Old Feng wondered whether she had temporarily gone blind.

Lin Feng discovered that Long Qiang’s supposed kidnapping might have been a misunderstanding and sent officers to find Fatty Zhang and Tao Xia man. Meanwhile, Old Feng cared for the injured, temporarily blind Tao Xia man in a cave, where their growing closeness reminded him of his lost family and left her fearing she would be abandoned.

• Long Qiang told Lin Feng he had been taking Tao Xia man to prison for Fatty Zhang and had demanded only eight hundred yuan for his bitten ear, not an eight-million ransom.
• Lin Feng ordered a search for Tao Xia man and arranged for Fatty Zhang to be brought from Chaoyun Prison to confront Long Qiang.
• Old Feng helped Tao Xia man after finding her unconscious by the river, lent her his coat, and made a fire in a cave.
• Tao Xia man realized she could not see and began to panic, so Old Feng reassured her and promised to stay with her.
• Old Feng told Tao Xia man about his deceased wife and estranged daughter, then went to pick wild fruit while she sat alone, frightened and remembering being lost as a child.

Taiyinzi learned that Fatty Zhang had kidnapped Tao Xia man to win his approval, while the search for her continued and Zhou Zihao discovered that Feng Guichun was likely her biological father. As rescuers closed in, Luo Qiu chose to give Tao Xia man and the old man a little more time together.

• You Ye warned Taiyinzi that the master was displeased because Fatty Zhang had arranged for Tao Xia man to be kidnapped, and Taiyinzi realized what his disciple had done.
• Lin Feng learned that Fatty Zhang's scheme had brought several prisoners into the mess, including Feng Guichun, Zhou Xiaokun, and Zhou Xiaopeng.
• Zhou Zihao concluded that Feng Guichun was Tao Xia man's biological father and learned that Feng Guichun claimed the tailor Zhou was his twin brother.
• Fatty Zhang angrily berated Qiangzi for kidnapping Tao Xia man, while Lin Feng ordered the prisoners returned to jail and said they would face punishment.
• You Ye told Luo Qiu that the search team would soon reach Tao Xia man, and Luo Qiu summoned fog to give her and Feng Guichun more time.

Tao Xia Man spent a night in a cave with Old Feng, who was secretly her estranged father, and shared memories of her childhood without recognizing him. Old Feng chose to return to prison rather than disrupt her life, and Tao Xia Man woke with her vision restored to find him gone.

• Old Feng roasted wild sweet potatoes with Tao Xia Man, who said she could see a little and wanted to call her fiancé once they left the forest.
• Tao Xia Man confided that she was the daughter of a murderer and described the cruelty she faced after her father was arrested.
• Tao Xia Man remembered her father burning his hands on sweet potatoes, while Old Feng struggled to conceal his identity and regret.
• After Tao Xia Man fell asleep, Old Feng told Luo Qiu he wanted to return to prison, deciding not to reenter his daughter's life.
• Tao Xia Man woke with her eyesight restored, found Old Feng gone, and called out until the search team found her.

Tao Xia Man learned that her biological father had arranged her abduction, then discovered that Zhou Zihao’s supposed Master Zhou lived in the childhood home she could not bring herself to explain was hers. As she went to investigate, Old Feng accepted that his daughter was happy, while Fatty Zhang’s attempt to become his disciple ended with an embroidery needle.

• Lin Feng questioned Tao Xia Man about Long Qiang, and Zhou Zihao explained that her biological father had been behind the abduction through Fatty Zhang’s actions.
• Tao Xia Man said she might not pursue the matter and asked for time before deciding whether to see her father; Zhou Zihao supported her and revealed that her uncle Master Zhou lived on Jihua Road.
• Tao Xia Man recognized Master Zhou’s home as her childhood home and asked Zhou Zihao to take her there immediately.
• Taiyinzi tried to choose a record while You Ye was away, but ropes bound him and hoisted him to the ceiling beside a warning note.
• Old Feng told Zhou Xiaokun that he was content as long as his daughter was happy, then forgave Fatty Zhang for the misunderstanding.
• Fatty Zhang asked Old Feng to teach him martial arts, and Old Feng handed him an embroidery needle as the sum of his life’s skills.

Tao Xia man returned to Master Zhou’s workshop with Zhou Zihao, where she found the completed Phoenix Gown Skirt and signs that Master Zhou had been caring for someone. After searching for the noodle-shop regular, reconnecting with Meimei, and hearing her urge to reconcile with her father, Tao Xia man dreamed of an aged figure choosing not to disturb her happiness; she woke the next morning still waiting for Master Zhou.

• Zhou Zihao carried Tao Xia man up to Master Zhou’s workshop, where they found the finished Phoenix Gown Skirt, childhood height marks, and food containers beneath the workbench, but Master Zhou was gone.
• Tao Xia man noticed bloodied tissues and recalled the quiet young man who bought noodles, then left the workshop to look for him at the noodle shop.
• The Shop Owner told Tao Xia man that the young man usually came for breakfast and dinner, but had not appeared that day.
• Tao Xia man reunited with her former classmate Meimei, who apologized for their class’s past treatment of her and urged her to visit her father; Zhou Zihao found Tao Xia man at the shop.
• Tao Xia man and Zhou Zihao waited for Master Zhou until late at night, and Tao Xia man dreamed of an aged figure sewing her gown and saying he should not return to her life.
• Tao Xia man woke the next morning beside Zhou Zihao, still at the old house, after dreaming of herself asleep in a cave as the aged figure vanished into fog.

As Tao Xia man prepared to marry Zhou Zihao, Old Feng chose to remain in prison rather than use his final transaction to leave. On the eve of her wedding, she appeared before him in the gown he had sewn and asked him to comb her hair.

• Tao Xia man left the old house on No. 33, Second Lane, Jihua Road, with Zhou Zihao as her wedding day approached.
• Old Feng told Luo Qiu he would stay in prison, trusting that Tao Xia man was loved and would have a happy wedding.
• Lin Feng visited Old Feng and congratulated him on marrying off his daughter.
• Old Feng resisted the temptation to walk out of the unattended meeting room, deciding Tao Xia man should live her own life.
• Tao Xia man appeared in her red wedding gown, called Old Feng Dad, and asked him to comb her hair.
• Old Feng praised her beauty and treasured the moment as she stood before him in the Phoenix Gown Skirt he had sewn.

At Tao Xia man and Zhou Zihao’s wedding, a mysterious young man appeared with the missing bouquet and urged her to seek an answer for herself. At midnight, Luo Qiu collected Old Feng’s contracted lifespan and left him a wedding photograph.

• Tao Xia man threw her bouquet, and it disappeared among the guests as Zhou Zihao went to greet Officer Lin.
• Tao Xia man glimpsed the mysterious young man holding the bouquet and remembered his earlier message urging her to confirm what she had been waiting to learn.
• Old Feng shared wedding food and liquor with Luo Qiu, reminiscing about an officer who used to drink with him during visits.
• At midnight, Luo Qiu carried the sleeping Old Feng to bed and collected the lifespan specified in their contract.
• You Ye gave Luo Qiu a developed photograph of Tao Xia man holding her bouquet, and he placed it in Old Feng’s palm before departing.