Chapter Summaries

After Lord Qiu's Dyke burst in Hua Zhu County, Liang Qu learned that a devastating flood had struck his companions' homeland and received orders to lead relief efforts. He set out for Hua Zhu County, tasked with reaching it by midnight the next day and investigating the disaster.

• Li LiBo reported that Lord Qiu's Dyke had burst, flooding more than half of Hua Zhu County and nearby counties.
• Yan Qingshan explained that the county's unusual terrain made floods especially severe when the dyke failed, and he and three other Martial Masters pleaded to help their homeland.
• Liang Qu left for the River Conservancy Office with the four men, while Fan Xinglai told Aunt Zhang to keep the Flying Dragon alive.
• At the Prefectural Office, Ran Zhongshi organized relief orders as Xu Yuelong angrily questioned officials over the lack of flood warnings.
• Xu Yuelong gave Liang Qu dossiers and dyke manuals, ordered him to save people and assess the disaster, and demanded he reach Hua Zhu County by midnight the next day.
• Liang Qu accepted the assignment and departed at once.

After learning that Hua Zhu County had flooded without a clear warning, Liang Qu organized river officials for disaster relief and prepared to travel there. Before leaving, he learned that his master had found the fourth and fifth forms of the Azure Dragon Seven Kill Spear, and he set out by water with Red Mountain.

• Liang Qu suspected that the hydrological station had either failed to issue a warning or had been deliberately interfered with, then sent Yan Qingshan and three others to summon river officials to the Liang Residence.
• Liang Qu gathered his weapons and gear, instructed Old Giant Clam to watch over the pond, and told Old Monk and Xu Shi that he was going to investigate the flood.
• Yang Dongxiong told Liang Qu that the fourth and fifth forms of the Azure Dragon Seven Kill Spear had been found in exchange for a Treasure Plant, and Liang Qu agreed to spend one Great Merit on it.
• Liang Qu assembled three River Earls, nine River Chiefs, and twenty-four river officials, assigned their disaster-relief duties, and sent most of them toward Hua Zhu County.
• Liang Qu took Red Mountain to the docks and set out by water to reach Hua Zhu County ahead of his subordinates.

Liang Qu sailed through the storm toward the flood disaster, reviewing his rescue mission and realizing that Hua Zhu County could lose its entire rice harvest. He considered the limits of his water-controlling power, then used all his remaining Marsh Essence on himself.

• Liang Qu left Yi Xing Town by houseboat, pulled through the waves by his aquatic beasts.
• Liang Qu reviewed his orders to rescue residents, assess the disaster, and investigate the failed warning and breached dyke.
• Liang Qu realized that flooding during the rice-growing season could leave Hua Zhu County without a harvest until the following year.
• Liang Qu considered whether slower-growing rice might survive, but doubted the flood would recede in time.
• Liang Qu checked the Ze Cauldron and poured all his remaining Marsh Essence into himself.

Liang Qu awakened several new Marsh Ape abilities, including one that could stop rain, but using it nearly drained him and left him in the Great Marsh. After testing its limited range, he continued toward Hua Zhu County and entered the Black Water River region, where people in the mountains noticed his houseboat.

• Liang Qu reached forty-two-percent Marsh Ape fusion and gained abilities by absorbing traces of Yinglong, Tian Wu, and the River Master Emperor.
• Liang Qu used Stopping Wind Halting Rain Fixing Mist, nearly exhausted himself, and fell into the Great Marsh, where Fist rescued him.
• Liang Qu saw the rain stop across a few square kilometers and tested how long the clear patch lasted before the clouds closed over it.
• Liang Qu continued toward Hua Zhu County, switched the exhausted beasts for River Dolphins, and arrived in the Black Water River region.
• A group of people in the mountain forest noticed Liang Qu's houseboat traveling upstream.

Liang Qu discovered that the Black Water River was mysteriously losing water despite the torrential rain, while his scout Awei uncovered a band of water bandits preparing to rob his houseboat. The bandits attacked for Liang Qu’s horse, but his lightning-charged arrow destroyed one raft and sent three men into the flood.

• Liang Qu noticed the river level dropping and sent Awei to scout the nearby area.
• Awei found a hidden stockade, where Zhang Shun and Guan Xian reported a valuable horse on an approaching houseboat.
• Lu Xinqing decided to rob the boat and rallied the water bandits, boasting of his martial arts strength.
• The bandits saw Liang Qu aboard the houseboat but convinced themselves he was not an important official and prepared to attack.
• As the bandits rushed the houseboat on sheepskin rafts, Liang Qu fired a lightning-charged arrow that destroyed one raft and swept three bandits into the flood.

Liang Qu destroyed the water bandits’ rafts and captured their leader, Lu Xinqing, as the houseboat continued toward Hua Zhu County. After Lu Xinqing’s escape attempt failed, Liang Qu began questioning him about the flood and the Black Water River.

• Liang Qu used an enhanced Falling Star Arrow to destroy four of the five rafts, while the current swept the bandits into the Black Water River.
• Liang Qu hauled Lu Xinqing aboard, exposed his identity as a seventh-rank River Conservancy Office official, and learned that the river’s water level began dropping around noon the day before yesterday.
• Liang Qu accused Lu Xinqing of killing victims when they carried enough wealth, and Lu Xinqing jumped into the river to escape.
• The Fat Catfish returned Lu Xinqing to the boat bruised and terrified, and Liang Qu ordered him to answer questions truthfully.

Liang Qu interrogated Lu Xinqing about Hua Zhu County’s fallen martial arts schools, the Sand River Gang, and how Lu became a water bandit. Lu revealed that he had stolen a martial art and built his bandit life around avoiding trouble, while Liang Qu pieced together the county’s decline.

• Liang Qu pressed Lu Xinqing to explain the powers in Hua Zhu County and learned that the three great martial arts schools had collapsed and the Sand River Gang had been purged.
• Lu Xinqing identified Pan Mountain, Zhu Family, and Clear River as the county’s former great martial arts schools, and Liang Qu asked about Pang Qinghe and the Yan Family Martial Hall.
• Liang Qu inferred that Lu Xinqing had come from Pan Mountain Martial Hall and learned that Lu had secretly stolen the Four Extremities Skill after failing to gain recognition there.
• Lu Xinqing explained that he became a water bandit after fleeing the martial hall and lacking travel money, and said the father and son he first robbed later became bandits and were executed.
• Lu Xinqing told Liang Qu that his stockade held no women because he forbade his men from harming women to avoid attracting powerful enemies.

Liang Qu found Lord Qiu's Dyke breached and discovered that both Water Standard Tablets had been broken, leaving him unable to determine the river's earlier water level. After failing to hold back the flood, he headed for the Hua Zhu County Magistrate and saw that Gan Huang Village had been submerged.

• Awei returned from scouting and reported that Lord Qiu's Dyke was one li away.
• Liang Qu found the dyke's huge breach and, with his River Dolphins, searched the riverbed for the missing Water Standard Tablets.
• Fist and Cannot Move found the broken tablets, and Lu Xinqing said they had still been intact five days earlier.
• Liang Qu sensed that both tablets had been submerged for at least two days, then briefly used Water Control to block the flood before collapsing from exhaustion.
• Liang Qu set out to find the Hua Zhu County Magistrate and discovered that Gan Huang Village was completely underwater.

Liang Qu traveled through flooded Hua Zhu County, rescuing stranded animals and searching for survivors while navigating toward the county seat. At Huang Shan Town, he met instructor Chai Shiqiao, who recognized his rank and told him County Magistrate Yu was out evacuating disaster victims.

• Liang Qu fed his exhausted Spirit Monsters, sent Fat Catfish, Cannot Move, and Fist to scout, and continued north toward Mu Tang Town.
• Liang Qu found Mu Tang Town submerged and apparently deserted, then used the current to rescue a water buffalo, rooster, and dog before continuing onward.
• Liang Qu reached Huang Shan Town and guessed the villagers had taken refuge on the nearby mountain, then rode up with Lu Xinqing.
• Chai Shiqiao learned that a visitor was approaching and recognized Red Mountain as a Dragon Blood Horse, then hurried down the slippery mountain to greet Liang Qu.
• Liang Qu identified himself as an official and asked whether County Magistrate Yu was at the county seat; Chai Shiqiao explained that Yu was away searching for and evacuating flood victims.

Liang Qu inspected the disaster victims at Yellow Mountain, ordered measures to combat disease, and learned the flood had caused widespread devastation. He then reached Yu Dayi’s fleet near Xiangxi Town, where a Water Beast had the rescuers at a stalemate.

• Liang Qu questioned Chai Shiqiao about Yu Dayi’s whereabouts and went to inspect the refugees at Yellow Mountain.
• Liang Qu examined the crowded camp and used Expelling Waterborne Diseases to disperse the pestilent miasma, easing the fevers of the sick.
• Chai Shiqiao reported that more than twenty-eight thousand people were at Yellow Mountain, over eight thousand had died, and food supplies might last less than five days.
• Liang Qu ordered the refugees’ excrement buried, obtained a disaster map, and rode toward Xiangxi Town.
• Awei spotted Yu Dayi’s fleet, where Martial Masters were holding a black-scaled Water Beast at bay with a large net.

Liang Qu rescued the fleet from a deadly fish monster by wounding it with an arrow and killing it with his spear. The river dolphins brought up the corpse, which Liang Qu recognized as resembling a Dunkleosteus.

• A fish monster ambushed the Galloping Horse Martial Masters, leaving them unable to pierce its armor or fight it safely underwater.
• Liang Qu shot an arrow through the fish monster's exposed belly, and Round Head led the river dolphins in hemming it in.
• Liang Qu ordered the river dolphins to let the wounded monster charge toward his houseboat.
• Liang Qu thrust Fubo through the fish monster's armor and crushed its brain with Gang Wind, killing it in one exchange.
• The river dolphins retrieved the corpse, and Liang Qu wondered if the fish monster was a Dunkleosteus.

Liang Qu arrived in flooded Hua Zhu County, killed the Iron Head Fish that had stalled the Galloping Horse Martial Masters, and went to meet County Magistrate Yu Dayi about the disaster. Yu accused the River Conservancy Office of taking credit for destroying the Ghost Mother Sect while leaving Hua Zhu County to suffer the retaliation, and Liang Qu countered by dragging Lu Xinqing into the dispute.

• Liang Qu killed the Iron Head Fish in one exchange, and Ling Shixiong recognized him as a Waterman from the River Conservancy Office.
• Liang Qu told the Galloping Horse Martial Masters that he had come to address the flood, settle the people, and discuss repairs to Lord Qiu's Dyke.
• County Magistrate Yu Dayi refused to receive Liang Qu, claiming he was coordinating disaster relief, so Liang Qu insisted the servant take him to Yu.
• Liang Qu overheard Yu complaining that the River Conservancy Office took credit for destroying the Ghost Mother Sect while Hua Zhu County bore the retaliation and flood damage.
• Liang Qu rebuked Yu for hiding behind disaster relief as an excuse, and Yu openly accused the River Conservancy Office of shifting the consequences onto his county.
• Liang Qu called Yu muddled and dragged Lu Xinqing forward as an example of a water bandit who understood the situation better.

Liang Qu confronted County Magistrate Yu over his attempt to blame the River Conservancy Office for Lord Qiu's Dyke collapsing, using Lu Xinqing's past to turn the accusation back on him. Yu Dayi fell silent, and Liang Qu recognized that the dispute was about shifting responsibility rather than establishing right and wrong.

• Liang Qu questioned Lu Xinqing about his first robbery, and Lu revealed that the father and son he robbed later became bandits and were executed by Yu Dayi.
• Liang Qu argued that Yu Dayi's poor governance had left Lu Xinqing with no other path, making Yu partly responsible for the father and son's deaths.
• Liang Qu compared Yu Dayi's blame of the River Conservancy Office to his own deliberately sophistical argument, leaving Yu Dayi unable to respond.
• Liang Qu realized Yu Dayi was trying to shift blame for the dyke collapse onto the River Conservancy Office to reduce his own responsibility.

Liang Qu and Yu Dayi set aside their argument to address the flood crisis, while Liang questioned Yu about the breach of Lord Qiu's Dyke. When Liang asked to borrow boats to rescue people, Yu refused and pointed him toward the Sand River Gang.

• Lu Xinqing urged Liang Qu and Yu Dayi to stop arguing and focus on rescuing people, and Yu agreed to work with Liang through the crisis.
• Liang reminded Yu that there was no evidence the Ghost Mother Sect had caused the breach, then questioned him about Lord Qiu's Dyke.
• Yu said he believed an outside force had destroyed the dyke, citing the broken Water Standard Tablet and the Hydrology Station's silence, and blamed the Ghost Mother Sect.
• Liang decided to pass his evidence to the Three Laws Department and asked Yu to lend him a fleet for rescue work.
• Yu refused because his fleet was stretched thin and directed Liang to the Sand River Gang instead.

Liang Qu mapped the expanding flood through his Water Beasts while rescue efforts began across the region. As Wei Shao searched for the missing Water Standard Tablets, Fat Catfish and Fist killed men assaulting stranded women.

• Liang Qu used messages from Fat Catfish, Cannot Move, and Fist to mark the growing flood zone on his map, finding that the damage exceeded Chai Shiqiao’s estimate.
• Wei Shao reached the breached Lord Qiu's Dyke, sent six Galloping Horse Martial Masters into the river, and recovered two Water Standard Tablets.
• Yan Qingshan and his companions traveled toward the dyke while a relief fleet departed Ping Yang County with supplies and personnel.
• Fat Catfish surfaced beside a grove and killed two men who were assaulting a woman in a barrel.
• Fist’s Crab Monster attacked three young men who were tormenting a woman in the floodwater, killing them with its pincers.

After rescuing flood victims, the Village Elder claimed the Jiang Huai River God would punish the Black Water River God, while Liang Qu recorded reports of lawlessness spreading beyond Hua Zhu County. Liang Qu then asked Lu Xinqing about the Sand River Gang before heading there to seek boats.

• Old Zhang reunited with Hongmei, and villagers recovered her bloodied skiff and a headless corpse.
• The Village Elder declared that a Crab Monster had been an incarnation of the River God and told the villagers that the Jiang Huai River God would end the flood.
• Fist reported the rescue to Liang Qu, who recorded accounts of rape, robbery, and other crimes worsening farther from Hua Zhu County.
• Liang Qu decided to visit the Sand River Gang and asked Lu Xinqing about its customs and headquarters.
• Lu Xinqing explained the gang’s ceremonial rules for making a request, and Liang Qu said he understood them.

Liang Qu reached Sand River Mountain to confront the Sand River Gang, whose members gathered around him as he openly mocked their coded speech. Gang Leader Cheng Chong then appeared and claimed responsibility for destroying Lord Qiu's Dyke, leaving both Liang Qu and the gang stunned.

• Wei Shao arrived at Yu Dayi's fleet and learned that Liang Qu had reached Sand River Mountain hours earlier.
• Cheng Chong instructed Lian Jingye to deal with the River Conservancy Office's arrival, while his gang's history revealed why its leaders held a complicated debt of gratitude toward the authorities.
• Liang Qu and Lu Xinqing entered the Sand River Gang's teahouse and proceeded into Gathering Righteousness Building, where Liang Qu ignored the memorial rites and ordered tea.
• Liang Qu criticized the gang's use of coded speech, provoking Lian Jingye and the other members to surround the hall.
• Cheng Chong appeared with a memorial tablet and declared that he was the Gang Leader and the one who had destroyed Lord Qiu's Dyke.

Cheng Chong revealed that he had destroyed Lord Qiu's Dyke to avenge the death of his son, Zheng Yingjian, and warned Liang Qu that he would resist arrest. Liang Qu faced the gang leader as the Sand River Gang's members reeled from the revelation.

• Hu Yan Shijing reframed Cheng Chong's words as sarcasm, and the gang members surrounded Liang Qu while demanding that he kowtow or leave.
• Cheng Chong insisted that he had not been joking, then honored a memorial tablet bearing the name Cheng Yingjian.
• Cheng Chong confirmed that the Young Gang Leader was his son, Zheng Yingjian, and explained that the River Conservancy Office's purge had killed him.
• Cheng Chong admitted that he had destroyed Lord Qiu's Dyke to make those responsible pay for his son's death.
• Cheng Chong addressed Liang Qu and said he would not surrender without a fight if Liang Qu tried to arrest him.

Liang Qu promised the Sand River Gang leniency if they captured Cheng Chong alive, and the gang erupted into a fight against its Gang Leader. Cheng Chong’s fierce Tiger Stance overwhelmed the first attackers, but Liang Qu’s arrows and the Martial Masters’ coordinated assaults began to restrain him as Lian Jingye and Hu Yan Shijing returned to the battle.

• Liang Qu promised to protect the gang members’ families and plead for lighter punishment if they captured Cheng Chong alive.
• Lu Xinqing overturned a tea table and urged the gang to charge, while Liang Qu fired an arrow that Cheng Chong caught barehanded.
• Lian Jingye and Hu Yan Shijing attacked Cheng Chong, but his Fierce Tiger Stance blasted them backward and injured them.
• Hu Yan Shijing urged the Martial Masters to press on after Cheng Chong’s initial burst of power faded.
• Liang Qu fired arrows from the second floor as the Martial Masters coordinated their attacks and began to restrain Cheng Chong.
• Lian Jingye and Hu Yan Shijing swallowed pills to recover and charged back into the fight.

Liang Qu joined the Sand River Gang’s fight against Cheng Chong, using his archery and Golden Eyes to help the gang’s leaders hold the powerful Water Gang Leader at bay. He finally struck Cheng Chong with Fubo and pinned him beneath a tree, leaving Cheng Chong gravely wounded and drained.

• Liang Qu watched the Sand River Gang’s leaders use a battle formation while he fired arrows at Cheng Chong.
• Hu Yan Shijing urged the gang members to use their secret arts, and Liang Qu promised to spare those who had not helped destroy the dam.
• Cheng Chong unleashed more power, shattered the Gathering Righteousness plaque, and began breaking through the gang’s formation.
• Liang Qu leaped down from the second floor and used his Golden Eyes to distract Cheng Chong as Lian Jingye and the others restrained him.
• Liang Qu thrust Fubo through Cheng Chong’s dantian and into a tree, then pulled the spear free after widening the wound.
• Cheng Chong collapsed beneath the tree and told Liang Qu that Ying Jian had not been his match.