Chapter Summaries

A Qige’s night raid shattered the Capital Garrison and sent the Capital Region into panic as his forces advanced toward the Capital City. At the Corpse Burning Facility, Qin He refused to flee, while Shen Lian’s forces rode north from the city.

• A Qige led five thousand elite cavalry in a night assault, routed the Capital Garrison, and drove Gao Qiqian and Cao Wenzhao into retreat.
• A Qige seized Bao'an Prefecture, surrounded Changping, and then led three thousand cavalry toward the Capital City as the Emperor summoned reinforcements.
• Refugees and fleeing merchants overwhelmed the Capital City, and the Corpse Burners argued over whether to leave the facility.
• Qin He said the Di Barbarians would not reach the facility and refused to go with Xu Changshou and the other Corpse Burners into the city.
• A force of more than two thousand soldiers rode north from the Capital City's northern gate, led by a man in white and accompanied by ten Flying Fish Guard Thousand-Household Commanders.

At the frozen Sha River, Shen Lian revealed that he had reached External Force and led the Flying Fish Guard against A Qige’s Di Barbarian army. The battle left the Di Barbarians’ commanders dead and their ranks without orders.

• A Qige confronted Shen Lian at the Sha River and challenged him to a duel before the armies fought.
• Shen Lian blocked A Qige’s attack with External Force, lifting the Flying Fish Guard’s morale.
• Ji Chenliang ordered the Flying Fish Guard to charge as the Di Barbarians charged to meet them.
• The Di Barbarian horses began splitting their legs and throwing their riders, causing chaos as the armies collided.
• The horses threw and trampled the Di Barbarian Zhangjing and company commanders, leaving their army without anyone to command it.

Qin He used the Gale Technique to bring down Di Barbarian horses while Shen Lian fought A Qige on the frozen river. A Qige retreated after repeated falls and his army’s defeat, but Shen Lian collapsed after forcing his internal strength beyond its limits.

• Qin He repeatedly used the Gale Technique to topple Di Barbarian riders as both armies charged again.
• A Qige gained the upper hand against Shen Lian, but Qin He’s One-Leg Gale Technique made A Qige fall and injure his groin repeatedly.
• Shen Lian recognized the unknown force behind A Qige’s falls and attacked while A Qige struggled to rise.
• A Qige risked a desperate strike, forcing Shen Lian to retreat, as the Flying Fish Guards won the second clash and reduced the Di Barbarian cavalry to fewer than two thousand.
• A Qige sensed something was wrong, ordered a retreat, and rode away with his army.
• Shen Lian did not pursue; he spat blood after using medicine to force out his internal strength, and Qin He recognized the damage it had caused.

Qin He caught up with A Qige and killed him with help from Big Turtle, while the victorious Flying Fish Guard returned to the Capital City with Shen Lian gravely wounded. The chapter ended with physicians gathered at Shen Lian’s bedside as his life hung in the balance.

• Qin He caught A Qige at the rear of the Di Barbarians’ retreat and revealed strength worthy of a fourth-rank External Force expert.
• A Qige recognized Qin He as the one who had cursed him, then fled when he realized he could not win.
• Big Turtle struck A Qige down with its force-wrapped shell, and Qin He packed away the corpse.
• The Flying Fish Guard reached the Capital City’s north gate and forced the guards to open it despite the nighttime rules.
• The Flying Fish Guard split up to fetch renowned physicians while Ji Chenliang brought them to Shen Lian, who lay unconscious and gravely injured.

The physicians examined Shen Lian and declared themselves powerless, while the Flying Fish Guard threatened them for answers. Tu Baishou sent everyone out and secretly retrieved a pill from beneath his arm, leaving Shen Lian's fate unresolved.

• Ji Chenliang and Yuwen Jing pressured the physicians to examine Shen Lian, and several pretended to faint after taking his pulse.
• The physicians revealed that Shen Lian's tendons and veins were severed, his qi and blood flowed in reverse, and they could not save him.
• Ji Chenliang threatened to kill Qiao Daosan for the physicians' failure, but Tu Baishou arrived and ordered everyone out of the room.
• Tu Baishou examined Shen Lian, then retrieved a pill from beneath his arm.

Qin He treated Shen Lian’s life-threatening injuries and damaged meridians with pills, a horsewhip, and a feather duster, then told the Flying Fish Guard that Shen Lian had died. After Qin He left, Shen Lian suddenly sat up in front of his grieving loyalists.

• Qin He fed Shen Lian a Golden Wound Pill, whipped him to subdue his rampaging inner strength, and forced the pill down his throat with a feather duster.
• Qin He gave Shen Lian a Marrow Cleansing Pill, noticed a charred piece of wood marked with a faint seven, and left the study.
• Qin He told Ji Chenliang and the others that Shen Lian had died, released the famous physicians, and returned to the Corpse Burning Facility on Little Calf.
• Shen Lian’s loyalists rushed into the study, found him apparently cold and lifeless, and mourned him.
• Shen Lian abruptly sat upright and gasped, shocking the grieving divine constables.

Shen Lian awoke after being mistaken for dead and learned that Tu Baishou had declared him gone west. At the East City Corpse Burning Facility, Qin He burned A Qige’s corpse and saw how the celebrated Di general’s rise and political isolation led to his final campaign against Great Li.

• Ji Chenliang slapped a Corpse Suppressing Plaque onto Shen Lian, but Shen Lian pulled it off and spoke, startling the Divine Constables.
• Shen Lian learned that Tu Baishou had said he was dead, then went to bathe and examined the whip marks on his body.
• Qin He cleansed A Qige’s corpse, repaired its injuries, and burned it while Big Turtle watched.
• Qin He’s Shadow Play Performance revealed A Qige’s military victories, his fall from favor, and his eventual appointment to lead the Di Barbarians’ southward campaign.
• The Black Robed Man judged A Qige’s fate and granted Qin He the Truth Spell.

Qin He tested the Truth Spell on Big Turtle and discovered that his subordinate resented going hungry and wanted meat. Qin He appeased him with a heap of precious medicinal herbs, and Big Turtle’s resentment disappeared as he stored them safely away.

• Qin He cast the Truth Spell on Big Turtle, who blurted out that he was underfed and had considered returning to the canal.
• Qin He cast the spell again, and Big Turtle admitted he wanted meat instead of steamed buns and grazing.
• Qin He brought out a pile of ginseng, fo-ti, and lingzhi mushrooms and told Big Turtle to eat them when he got hungry.
• Big Turtle eagerly packed the treasures into a rice sack, hung it from a roof beam, and kept the youngest ginseng away from Little Calf.

The Di Barbarians retreated after Cao Wenzhao’s victories, and Great Li celebrated with imperial rewards and disaster relief. Liang Shijie was executed with his entire family for abandoning Shunyi County during the invasion, and he recognized his death as retribution.

• The Di Barbarian army, leaderless after its commanders died, retreated from Changping under Cao Wenzhao’s harassment and withdrew beyond the Great Wall after Rong Tribe reinforcements arrived.
• The emperor rewarded Cao Wenzhao, Wei Zhongliang, Shen Lian, and other officials and generals for their roles in repelling the invasion.
• Prince Zhongshan, Xu Tianen, received permission to distribute congee, and refugees and beggars crowded the new relief stalls.
• Liang Shijie fled Shunyi County as the Di Barbarians approached, and Wei Zhongliang’s allies impeached him after the invasion ended.
• The emperor ordered Liang Shijie’s entire family executed, and the Flying Fish Guard escorted more than thirty family members to West Market Gate.
• As the executioner killed him, Liang Shijie saw Laifu and understood that his fate was retribution for Huang Chengren.

After the Liang Family was executed, Qin He watched ordinary life resume at West Market Gate. Meanwhile, Liu Changan learned that Shen Lian had reached External Force and that Great Di’s spies had been ordered to lie low, leaving him suspicious of a blind fortune-teller nearby.

• The executed Liang Family was sent to the Corpse Burning Hall, and vendors quickly resumed business at West Market Gate.
• Qin He bought candied hawthorn from a vendor who immediately produced two more skewers after claiming they were the last.
• Liu Changan told Gantuji that Shen Lian had broken through to External Force and reflected on Great Di’s mounting losses and the hidden power in the Capital City.
• Gantuji relayed that Lord Aquina had reported the attacker was concealed from Heavenly Secrets and that King Di had ordered the spies to await reinforcements.
• Liu Changan looked toward a blind fortune-teller’s stall near the tavern.

Qin He returned to Zhaoyu Prison disguised as Wei Wu, burned the Liang Family corpses, and checked on the Shiju. When the real Wei Wu realized he had been impersonated, he urged Shen Lian to capture Great Immortal Green Ox, but Shen Lian and his subordinates questioned the accusation for lack of evidence.

• Qin He entered Zhaoyu Prison disguised as Wei Wu and went to the Corpse Burning Hall.
• Qin He cleansed and burned the thirty-seven Liang Family corpses, while Liang Shijie showed no resentful energy.
• Wei Wu arrived at the prison and learned that the guards had seen someone impersonating him enter.
• Wei Wu sounded the alarm and went to Shen Lian, declaring that the impostor was Great Immortal Green Ox.
• Yuwen Jing and Ji Chenliang challenged Wei Wu to provide evidence, and he admitted he had none.

Wei Wu pushed for Great Immortal Green Ox’s arrest, but Shen Lian and the other commanders backed the decision to search Zhaoyu Prison. The Flying Fish Guards captured the real Green Ox, yet mistook him for Wei Wu and carried him away while Qin He watched.

• Wei Wu urged the commanders to arrest Great Immortal Green Ox, and Shen Lian agreed with Yuwen Jing and Ji Chenliang’s reasoning.
• Shen Lian ordered the Corpse Burning Facilities in the four city districts to close for seven days while the Corpse Burning Hall handled the bodies.
• Wei Wu returned to Zhaoyu Prison and led a force of Flying Fish Guards in a search for Green Ox.
• The guards found Green Ox disguised as Wei Wu and swarmed over him, tying and gagging him before he could explain who he was.
• Qin He advised the guards to interrogate their captive for accomplices, and they carried the struggling Wei Wu away, believing him to be Green Ox.

Qin He visited the restored Immortal Green Ox Temple, where refugees’ prayers brought him a steady flow of Merit, and learned that Huang Chengren had died after leaving him a cherished piece of fur. With the Liang Family’s deaths and Huang Chengren’s natural death, their long feud ended, while a karmic warning granted Qin He a Wish-Granting Brush.

• Qin He evaded a powerful master who had tracked him from Zhaoyu Prison and went to the Immortal Green Ox Temple in disguise.
• Qin He saw the temple’s repairs and heard refugees praying for food, missing relatives, and the chance to survive the winter, earning over a thousand Merit points a day.
• Qin He found Laifu mourning the Liang Family beside more than thirty makeshift graves.
• Laifu gave Qin He a yellow fur neck wrap that Huang Chengren had left for him before dying, and Qin He recognized it as Huang Chengren’s cultivated pelt.
• Qin He concluded that the feud between Huang Chengren and the Liang Family had ended, and a karmic warning on the bronze scale awarded him a Wish-Granting Brush.

Qin He received the Wish-Granting Brush and read the prayers recorded in his notebook before learning that the Corpse Burning Facilities had been granted seven days of leave. Yang Baitu then offered him one thousand taels from each of the Gao and Qiao families to investigate their Ghostly Recruitment, and Qin He agreed to take a look.

• Qin He clipped the Wish-Granting Brush onto the Mysterious Little Notebook, which recorded several prayers and Granny Huang's thanks for her son's recovery.
• Qin He returned to the Corpse Burning Facility, where Yang Baitu announced that Commander Shen had granted the facilities seven days of leave.
• Yang Baitu told Qin He that the Gao and Qiao families had raised their offer to one thousand taels each for his help.
• Qin He agreed to look into the families' Ghostly Recruitment while the facility was on leave.

Qin He went to the Qiao Family estate at night to investigate Ghostly Recruitment, which had been killing members of the Qiao and Gao families by decapitation. He saw that the Qiao Family had hired his old acquaintance, Daoist Wu De, and the chapter left the two men not yet face-to-face.

• Qin He rested during the day, then headed to Qiao Family Alley at night with a shovel over his shoulder.
• Qin He watched the Qiao Family courtyard from a tree and saw its residents sheltering amid lights and protective talismans.
• Qin He recognized the Daoist feasting in the courtyard as his old acquaintance, Daoist Wu De.
• Qiao Dai asked Daoist Wu De whether the family should prepare more food, trusting the chief disciple of Lingyun Temple to save them.

Qin He hunted Demons and Monsters in the Capital City, using Old Striker’s terrified screams to draw hidden creatures out and capture them. After recognizing a ferocious corpse’s Corpse Claws from the Qiao Family’s Shadow Play, he suspected he had found the culprit, but screams erupted from the Qiao Family compound.

• Qin He left the Qiao Family compound to search the Capital City for Demons and Monsters.
• Old Striker encountered a ferocious corpse, and Qin He arrived and subdued it with his Great Iron Shovel.
• Old Striker screamed and ran, drawing out a hidden refined corpse puppet that Qin He also captured.
• Old Striker’s cries stirred another ferocious corpse, whose distinctive Corpse Claws Qin He recognized from Gao Bancheng and Qiao Dalu’s Shadow Play.
• Qin He heard a chorus of screams from the Qiao Family compound and wondered what had happened there.

After Qiao Dai was mysteriously beheaded, Qin He investigated the scene but found no clear traces of the killer. He burned the vicious corpse he had captured and discovered it had no connection to either the Qiao Family or the Gao Family, leaving the attacks unexplained.

• Old Striker reported that a shovel-wielding monster had tried to kill him, but Chang Wen and the Flying Fish Guards found no one at the scene.
• Qiao Dai was beheaded while relieving himself near a straw shed, and the Qiao Family demanded answers from Daoist Wu De.
• Disguised as a Qiao Family junior, Qin He examined Qiao Dai's body and found no distinctive lingering aura or explanation for the clean, swift beheading.
• Qin He returned to the Corpse Burning Facility and burned the vicious corpse while Big Turtle tended the furnace.
• After nearly three shichen, the corpse had turned to ashes, but Qin He found no connection between it and either the Qiao Family or the Gao Family.

After investigating the Qiao family’s vicious corpse, Qin He suspected people might be behind the deaths and went openly to the Gao family to investigate. There, he clashed with a Daoist who warned him the families were connected to something enormous and offered him a thousand taels to stay out of it.

• Qin He pondered why Qiao Dai had become a vicious corpse despite dying naturally, then told Big Turtle about the Qiao and Gao families.
• Big Turtle suggested that humans could be more frightening than ghosts or vicious corpses and said people could not be ruled out as the cause.
• Qin He rewarded Big Turtle with a Marrow Cleansing Pill for its answer.
• The next night, Qin He entered the Gao family openly and met Gao Wensong, who welcomed him warmly.
• The Daoist confronted Qin He, claiming the case had come to him first and warning that the Qiao and Gao families were tied to something enormous.
• The Daoist offered Qin a thousand taels to do nothing, but Qin He refused.

Wu De exposed a Human Corpse hiding among the Gao Family and trapped it in a Corpse Restraining Cage, while Qin He remained bound nearby. As the Human Corpse began cutting through the cage, Qin He offered Wu De help.

• Wu De tricked Qin He, sealed his acupoints, bound him to a pillar with the Immortal Binding Rope, and took his silver and Corpse Bags.
• Wu De gathered the Gao Family and chanted the Lingyun Town Evil Scripture to reveal the beheading murderer among them.
• Qin He recognized a hired hand as a Human Corpse when its fingers sharpened and Corpse Qi began to rise.
• The Human Corpse dropped its disguise and attacked Wu De with its Corpse Mane, slicing through nearby furniture.
• Wu De trapped the Human Corpse in a Corpse Restraining Cage, but its Corpse Mane began cutting through the formation as Qin He offered to help.

A Daoist battled a Human Corpse with a razor-sharp Corpse Mane, but a second Human Corpse arrived and forced him to abandon the fight. As the Daoist tried to free his captive, he discovered Nameless was loose and ready to help.

• The Daoist used a Sword Talisman against the Human Corpse, whose Corpse Mane blocked the attack while Qin He offered help and was told to stay put.
• The Daoist and the Human Corpse struggled in a stalemate until the corpse began to weaken and the Magic Sword started to descend.
• A Human Corpse disguised as the Qiao Family’s steward crashed into the courtyard and attacked the Daoist, disrupting his spell.
• The Daoist fled to the pillar and tried to untie his prisoner, only to find Gao Wensong bound there instead of Nameless.
• Nameless stood nearby with a Big Black Shovel and calmly asked the Daoist if he could help.