Recaps

Li Yan drove off Lang Wu and learned that Lu Sheng’s allies sought the Nine Cauldrons to reopen the passage between Heaven and humanity. As the Flower God Parade’s spell ended in rain, the crowd’s frenzy began to fade.

• Li Yan summoned underworld soldiers to attack Lang Wu, but the Bronze Nuo Mask shielded him and fueled Evil Omen Qi before he escaped toward Chengdu Prefecture.
• Li Yan accepted an underworld mission and overheard a Red Robe underworld deity and the Five Paths General discuss unrest in the Great Luo Dharma Realm and changes to the Human Path.
• Li Yan and his companions found Liu Daoren dying, and the Qingyang Palace overseer confessed that Lu Sheng had persuaded them to seek the Nine Cauldrons and reforge the passage between Heaven and humanity.
• Liu Daoren revealed that secret scriptures linked the passage’s destruction to Da Yu’s flood control, and Li Yan realized Zhao Changsheng might also be targeting the Nine Cauldrons.
• At the Flower God Parade, a tornado formed over the Bronze Flower Basket and rain fell, awakening the frenzied crowd and clearing the blood-red tint from their eyes.

Lang Wu failed to sever Li Yan’s connection to the Dragon Girl and returned to Chengdu Prefecture, where Li Wenyuan and Lu Sheng agreed to proceed with their plot against the gods. Outside the city, Li Yan led rescued citizens to safety as the sound of approaching dogs came from the snow.

• Lang Wu entered Chengdu Prefecture through a well and reported his failure to Li Wenyuan, who explained how the Dragon Girl had restored her divine soul through the Flower God.
• Xiao Qipan confronted Li Wenyuan and offered to cooperate; he revealed his true appearance as Lu Sheng and urged Li Wenyuan to join his plan to replace the gods.
• Li Wenyuan handed Lu Sheng the Bronze Nuo Mask and revealed plans to use it against Erlang and spread corruption through the Shu King Residence.
• Lu Sheng and Li Wenyuan went to the palace’s ritual square, where Situ Qian performed an underworld rite and Zhao Jie watched the sky from a second altar.
• Li Yan and Sha LiFei guided more than a thousand rescued Chengdu citizens beyond the fog, and Li Yan heard countless dogs approaching across the snow.

Li Yan gathered reinforcements in Chengdu and explained that Lu Sheng planned to remove the Nine Cauldrons, threatening Shu and the Divine Land with disaster. He divided the forces into three teams and revealed that he would summon Marshal Wen to cleanse Chengdu of its demonic aura.

• Yang Chenghua arrived with spirit hounds, Qingcheng Mountain and Cheng Family members, and several hundred soldiers, and recalled how Li Bing had used the mask to suppress an ancient water demon.
• Li Yan and Ming Shanzi agreed that Qingcheng would support worship of the Dragon Girl, whose power could control the Dragon Palace Water Mansion and restore peace to Chengdu.
• Zhao Xianda brought nearly ten thousand Chongqing garrison troops, and Li Yan used the Bronze Flower Basket to dispel curses afflicting their soldiers.
• Li Yan told the assembled leaders that Lu Sheng sought the Nine Cauldrons and could unleash devastating earthquakes and disasters by removing them.
• Li Yan planned a three-pronged assault: Zhao Xianda would lead a frontal feint, Lu San and Sha LiFei would breach the palace gates through a tunnel, and Li Yan would lead the attack on the ritual altar.
• Li Yan revealed the Bing Ding Life-Creating Ghost Talisman and declared that he would summon Marshal Wen to cleanse Chengdu of its demonic aura.

Li Yan and the Qingcheng Sect prepared to summon Marshal Wen while Zhao Xianda led the Chongqing army toward the Shu King Residence. The chapter left the army advancing along the cleared main street as Yang Chenghua’s rain broke the curse’s hold on the civilians.

• Ming Shanzi approved Li Yan’s plan, and the group split up to prepare the assault and enter the underground passage.
• Li Yan sent Yue SanEr, Sha LiFei, and their companions toward the Shu King Residence, then joined Qingcheng Sect Taoists at Number One Scholar Pavilion to establish the Jingyang Altar.
• Li Yan began preparing the Bing Ding Life-Creating Ghost Talisman, relying on his visualization of Luo Feng Mountain and his identity as a Heavenly Official.
• Zhao Xianda’s army set out, but cursed civilians rushed toward the soldiers and threatened to block their route.
• Yang Chenghua poured incense power into the Bronze Flower Basket, summoned a dragon-shaped tornado, and brought down rain that freed the civilians from their frenzy.
• Zhao Xianda ordered the army forward, and the soldiers advanced as the recovered civilians scattered from the main street to the Shu King Residence.

Yang Chenghua left after reflecting on the Bronze Flower Basket and Cheng JianXin’s choice to remain in the mortal world, while the armies clashed outside the Shu King Residence. Sha LiFei’s party reached the secret passage and triggered explosives as Li Yan began a ritual, but the chapter ended before its result was clear.

• Yang Chenghua spoke with Cheng JianXin, then departed with the Bronze Flower Basket as Cheng JianXin and Chang TianQue continued onward.
• Zhao Xianda tried to turn the Chengdu Garrison soldiers against the Shu King Residence, but a Black Feather Guard fired first and both armies erupted into a chaotic gun battle.
• Li Yan took his position with the Qingcheng Sect at the Jingyang Altar and prepared to invoke power from Luo Feng Mountain.
• Lu San led Sha LiFei and the others through an underground passage despite a Ghost Wall, where they encountered the Faceless Young Master and misled him with news of the Nine Cauldrons.
• Sha LiFei’s party planted explosives near the Shu King Residence, blasting its main gate and surrounding walls as the fighting intensified.
• Li Yan invoked the Divine Transformation Method and chanted the Marshal Wen Precious Edict, drawing Baleful Qi as lightning flickered and a colossal shadow moved through the clouds.

The Chongqing Garrison broke into the Shu King Residence after Sha LiFei’s explosion shattered the palace gate and disrupted the Soul Guiding Lamp formation. As Situ Qian’s opera shrouded the palace in black fog, Yang Chenghua revealed his inheritance of Erlang and killed him, leaving the great formation in ruins.

• Sha LiFei’s gunpowder blast collapsed the Shu King Residence gate, scattered its defenders, and set the Funeral Lamps ablaze, allowing fog and snow to engulf the Shu King’s army.
• The Chongqing Garrison attacked the disoriented forces with firearms and Wu Ba’s Tiger Lord Cannon, then charged into the palace as the Shu King’s soldiers fled.
• Situ Qian performed Zhong Kui Marries Off His Sister with the Netherworld Stage, filling Chengyun Gate with black fog that blinded and confused the invading army.
• Li Yan held back from summoning Marshal Wen, while Wang Dao Xuan warned that attacking Situ Qian recklessly could endanger the Chongqing Garrison soldiers trapped in the fog.
• Yang Chenghua took the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade and performed Erlang Hunts the Mountain, cutting through the black fog and killing Situ Qian.
• Yang Chenghua’s attack shattered the Netherworld Stage and nearly destroyed the formation, and he declared himself the lad of Guan Estuary after inheriting the incense offerings.

Erlang revealed himself at Chengyun Gate and turned the battle against the evil practitioners, but Lang Wu’s Nuo mask distracted and temporarily incapacitated him. As Zhao Jie completed his ritual, the Dragon Palace Water Mansion appeared in the stormy sky.

• Erlang killed Situ Qian and revealed himself as the Manifest Saint True Lord, causing the soldiers of Shu to hesitate and the battle to shift.
• Erlang killed Duo Ji Zha Xi with a golden pellet, and Sha LiFei and Zhao Xianda rallied the Chongqing Garrison to attack Chengyun Gate.
• Li Wenyuan activated the spell hidden in Lang Wu’s soul and forced the Bronze Nuo Mask onto him, turning him into a creature driven by Evil Omen Qi.
• Lang Wu crossed the palace wall and used demonized soldiers to fire at Erlang, but Erlang evaded their shots with an illusion technique.
• The Bronze Nuo Mask showed Erlang visions of Shu’s founding, and he put it on himself, temporarily losing his combat strength as Heavenly Dipper Qi began to wear away its Evil Omen Qi.
• Wu Ba blasted open Chengyun Gate, Zhao Jie drew incense power from the shattered ancestral tablets, and the Dragon Palace Water Mansion appeared in the sky.

Li Yan summoned Marshal Wen to drive away the Dragon Palace Water Mansion before Lu Sheng and Li Wenyuan could retrieve the Nine Cauldrons. Lu Sheng’s Earth Official’s Treasure Edict of Atonement helped stabilize the palace, but Marshal Wen’s fire struck Zhao Jie and disrupted the retrieval, while Faceless Young Master fell asleep in the Eastern Palace.

• Lu Sheng revealed that the Dragon Palace Water Mansion had appeared early and had Zhao Jie prepare his gourd to retrieve the Nine Cauldrons.
• Li Wenyuan used the Five Directions Flags beneath the Shu King’s imperial canopy to reinforce the altar and draw the Dragon Palace into view.
• Li Yan summoned Marshal Wen, whose meteoric fire scattered evil cultivators and began dispersing the Dragon Palace’s phantom.
• Lu Sheng used the Earth Official’s Treasure Edict of Atonement to counter the divine fire and stabilize the Dragon Palace Water Mansion.
• A streak of Marshal Wen’s fire struck Zhao Jie, waking him from his dream and making him bleed from his seven orifices.
• Faceless Young Master watched the Dragon Palace from the Eastern Palace while holding a jade artifact, then succumbed to sleep.

The Faceless Young Master reached one of the Nine Cauldrons inside the Dragon Palace Water Mansion, but touching it destroyed him as the cauldron emerged in Chengdu and disrupted the earth veins. Li Yan rushed to the vortex as Lu Sheng and Li Wenyuan prepared to retrieve it, while Ba Dai Zha attacked him.

• The Faceless Young Master endured the ancient Shu Witch Ritual’s curse and followed a vision toward the Nine Cauldrons.
• The cauldron’s tremors destroyed the chained coffins, and the Faceless Young Master touched it before his body crumbled to ash.
• The Nine Cauldrons appeared above the square, and Li Yan used the Great Luo Dharma Body and Wu Ba’s throw to reach the vortex.
• Li Yan saw Lu Sheng and Li Wenyuan preparing to retrieve the cauldron, while his hook document lost its connection.
• Ba Dai Zha attacked Li Yan and kept him occupied as Lu Sheng and Li Wenyuan approached the Nine Cauldrons with a hide pouch.

Chengdu Garrison’s forces breached the Shu King Residence, but the Nine Cauldrons’ violent power trapped Li Yan and the others in a deadly struggle. Cheng JianXin entered the vortex to aid Li Yan, who killed Ba Dai Zha and reached the Jingzhou Cauldron as Lu Sheng and Li Wenyuan approached it.

• Yue SanEr, Liang Yu, Granny Jin, Lu San, Fan TieGuai, and Wu Ba helped suppress the Black Feather Guards as Zhao Xianda led his men into the palace.
• Zhao Xianda and the others found that the Nine Cauldrons’ vortex prevented most people from entering, and Wu Ba was driven back after Ba Dai Zha attacked him to distract Li Yan.
• Cheng JianXin drew the sword engraved Mortal World and entered the vortex, cleaving open the mist despite spending his remaining strength.
• Li Yan wounded Ba Dai Zha with a sleeve blade, then killed him when Cheng JianXin’s Sword Intent distracted him.
• Li Yan reached the Jingzhou Cauldron and saw Lu Sheng and Li Wenyuan approaching it with an Animal Hide, so he gripped his hook tablet.

Li Yan summoned the Thunder Department through his Heavenly Official identity while Cheng JianXin held off Li Wenyuan. The thunder struck Li Wenyuan dead, but Lu Sheng seized the moment to cover the Jingzhou Cauldron with the spirit-beast hide.

• Lu Sheng and Li Wenyuan endured the Nine Cauldrons’ divine might and advanced with the spirit-beast hide while Li Yan tried to use his arrest warrant.
• Li Yan sensed the Thunder Department’s power and performed the Heavenly Official’s Subduing Evil Thunder Edict, summoning heavenly thunder.
• Li Wenyuan abandoned the hide and attacked Li Yan, but Cheng JianXin intercepted him and fought to protect Li Yan.
• As the thunderclouds gathered, Li Wenyuan fled beneath the Nine Cauldrons, and Li Yan pointed his warrant at him and ordered the Thunder Department to execute him.
• A bolt of heavenly lightning killed Li Wenyuan, and Lu Sheng covered the Jingzhou Cauldron with the spirit-beast hide while the Nine Cauldrons’ divine might weakened.

Lu Sheng tried to escape with the Jingzhou Cauldron, but Sword Immortal Cheng and Li Yan stopped him before Yang Jian used his power as Lord of Sichuan to make the cauldron disappear. After Cheng JianXin’s funeral, Li Yan described the meaning of Sword Immortal Cheng’s final sword.

• Lu Sheng used the beast hide to suppress the Nine Cauldrons and tried to flee with the Jingzhou Cauldron, but Sword Immortal Cheng scattered his Five Ghosts Transportation mist with a final sword and died.
• Li Yan awakened with the Thunder Department’s power, fought Lu Sheng through his illusions, destroyed his bronze sword, and captured his netherworld spirit after taking the Qin jade disc.
• The damaged beast hide failed, and the Jingzhou Cauldron’s divine might returned as the earth veins shook beneath Chengdu.
• Yang Jian arrived, gave the Bronze Nuo Mask to Li Yan, and used his power as Lord of Sichuan to make the Jingzhou Cauldron vanish before departing.
• Li Yan and Chang TianQue attended Cheng JianXin’s funeral, where Li Yan said Sword Immortal Cheng’s final sword had buried a legend so the cooking smoke of Brocade Official City would never cease.

After Chengdu Prefecture’s upheaval, rumors spread, the court tightened its control over Shu, and the abandoned King of Chengdu faced isolation. Li Yan and his companions gathered at the newly built Dragon Daughter Temple, where the Dragon Girl opened the way to her Water Mansion’s treasure vault.

• Boatman Chen Tuozi ferried two members of the Tang Family to Wanzhou, where they met Zou Shaohai at the Drunken River Breeze teahouse.
• Tang Hai and his companion asked Zou Shaohai for help rescuing Tang Ling, and Zou said Li Yan could influence the matter after Qingcheng’s Opening Cellar Assembly.
• Zhao Xianda studied reports on the court’s military reshuffling and the Nine Cauldrons, hoping to investigate the Ghost Cult and advance his position.
• Xiao Jinghong sat alone in the Eastern Palace, isolated after the Chengdu upheaval and clutching the bloodstained robe of his dead Princess Consort.
• Li Yan, Wang Dao Xuan, Sha LiFei, and their companions gathered at the Dragon Daughter Temple, where the Dragon Girl sent them into a dream realm leading to her treasure vault.

Li Yan and the others explored the Dragon Palace Water Mansion in a dream and recovered several treasures, including an ancient shrine that could repair his Great Luo Dharma Body. As they prepared for the Opening Cellar Assembly, signs of a wider Human Path transformation emerged, and a Kunlun Taoist encountered a fight between the Netherworld Sect and the Tongtian Sect near Qingcheng Mountain.

• Li Yan passed through the cavern where the Jingzhou Cauldron had appeared, and the Dragon Girl’s phantom protected him from the lingering curse and showed him visions of the past.
• Li Yan found a crude shrine of the Queen Mother of the West and took it as a Grotto-heaven Stone for his Great Luo Dharma Body.
• Wang Dao Xuan collected Mystic Turtle Shells, Sha LiFei gathered Dust-Avoiding Pearls, and Lu San returned with an ancient iron rhinoceros.
• Li Yan heard the Dragon Girl Tranquil Wave Sutra being recited at her temple and wondered whether the abnormal cold across the land was another transformation of the Human Path.
• A Kunlun Old Taoist traveling to the Opening Cellar Assembly learned that the Netherworld Sect’s Night Crying Man was fighting members of the Tongtian Sect near Qingcheng Mountain.

Shen SanYou confronted Di Longzi below Qingcheng Mountain, claiming he had attacked him as a greeting gift for Li Yan. When Li Yan learned Di Longzi had nearly killed Zhao the Donkey, he and his companions cornered the Tongtian Sect elder, who revealed that Zhao was alive.

• The Kunlun Sect Old Taoist recognized Shen SanYou among a crowd watching him face Di Longzi on the mountain flat.
• Di Longzi set a Hidden Virtue Coin array and attacked Shen SanYou with Yin Fire Thunder, but Shen SanYou dodged the attacks and disrupted the array.
• Ling Yunzi intervened to stop the fight, and Li Yan greeted Shen SanYou as an old acquaintance.
• Shen SanYou explained that he had attacked Di Longzi because Di Longzi had nearly killed Zhao the Donkey in Yuzhou, prompting Li Yan to confront him.
• Li Yan disarmed Di Longzi and broke his right wrist, while Ling Yunzi broke his left wrist and knocked away his bronze tablet.
• Li Yan's companions surrounded Di Longzi, who admitted that Zhao the Donkey was alive and had escaped with a woman's help.

Li Yan questioned Di Longzi about Zhao the Donkey, then heard from Shen SanYou that the Netherworld Sect was investigating the Nine Cauldrons and the Qin King's Undying Palace. As the Opening Cellar Assembly approached, Li Yan and his companions planned their next journey, and he examined several mysterious treasures from the Shu King's palace.

• Di Longzi admitted that Zhao the Donkey had been forced to search for a pearl from a Northern Wei tomb, and Li Yan let him go under Qingcheng Sect's protection.
• Shen SanYou told Li Yan that the Netherworld Sect had long monitored the Nine Cauldrons and had been warned by people from the Qin King's Undying Palace to prevent their appearance.
• Li Yan told Shen SanYou what he knew about the mysterious group plotting against the Nine Cauldrons, and Shen SanYou left to report it to his sect.
• Li Yan and his companions agreed to attend the three-day Opening Cellar Assembly, then retrieve Dragon Lady and travel to Yuzhou.
• Li Yan examined the National Sacrifice Divine Artifact, Lu Sheng's spent Prayer Flags, and the bronze Nuo mask Yang Erlang had left behind.

Li Yan learned that Yan Jiuling had become Lu HongYuan’s disciple and agreed to attend Qiankun Academy’s opening in the capital. At Qingcheng’s Opening Cellar Assembly, the vaults were confirmed intact, and the gathering prepared to discuss the Orthodox Xuan Gate’s response to the Human Path revolution.

• Li Yan examined the treasures he had collected, then went to meet Qingcheng headmaster Chen Kongzi at Vice Minister Pei Zongti’s request.
• Pei Zongti questioned Li Yan about Zhao Changsheng and the Nine Cauldrons, then delivered Yan Jiuling’s letter announcing that he had passed the palace examination as top scholar and become Lu HongYuan’s disciple.
• Pei Zongti told Li Yan that Yan Jiuling wanted him at Qiankun Academy’s opening shortly after Qingming, and Li Yan agreed to travel to the capital.
• Li Yan told his companions that Di Longzi had concealed something and said they would investigate him after the Opening Cellar Assembly.
• Chen Kongzi led Qingcheng’s sacrifices at Tianshi Cave and Zhangren Peak, where purple qi emerged from Tiancang Cave and Pei Zongti confirmed the treasure vaults were intact.
• Chen Kongzi announced that the vaults would open the next morning and directed everyone to Shangqing Hall.

At the Qingcheng Xuan Gate Assembly, the court secured support for stricter control of Xuan Gate affairs by backing Meishan’s bid to become an Orthodox sect. As Qingcheng opened its treasure cellar, Li Yan studied a shrine that had begun to show strange signs.

• Chen Kongzi and Pei Zongti addressed the assembly, and Pei read an imperial edict imposing new reporting requirements and legal restrictions on Xuan Gate practitioners.
• Tang Lao Jiu announced that Meishan supported the court’s policy and would send disciples to serve in the army, revealing Meishan’s ambition to become an Orthodox Xuan Gate sect.
• Chen Kongzi, Wudang, and the Doumu Institute endorsed the court’s policy, and Pei declared the matter settled.
• Qingcheng opened its treasure cellar on Zhangren Peak, where disciples retrieved urns containing treasures and spiritual materials for sorting ahead of the third day’s trading.
• Li Yan stayed in Chaoyang Cave to study a Grotto-heaven Stone shrine carved with the Queen Mother of the West, which had begun showing faint abnormalities.

Li Yan considered the incense gathering at the ancient Queen Mother shrine and prepared for the upheaval caused by changes in the Human Path. At the final day of the Opening Cellar Assembly, Tang Jiu gave him the Meishan Firearms Compendium, and Li Yan entered Hunyuan Pavilion with Lu San to select treasures.

• Li Yan swept the faint incense power from the Queen Mother shrine and planned to absorb it after traveling to the Western Ridge.
• At the Opening Cellar Assembly, Tang Jiu gave Li Yan the Meishan Firearms Compendium, which Sha LiFei eagerly read.
• Ling Yun Zi announced that the Orthodox Sects and other selected guests could enter Hunyuan Pavilion first.
• Zhu Qingzi explained the pavilion's three floors and offered guests a Celestial Master Golden Talisman to buy three spiritual materials at cost price.
• Li Yan sent Wang Dao Xuan to the Golden Cellar and took Lu San to inspect the Spirit Wood District.

Li Yan and his companions selected spiritual materials and traded the Mystic Turtle Shells and iron rhinoceros to Qingcheng for supplies and fifty thousand taels. After the Opening Cellar Assembly ended, they sold their heavy belongings and left Qingcheng Mountain, with Li Yan having uncovered further clues about the Great Luo Dharma Realm.

• Li Yan and Lu San chose three-transformation lightning-struck dark wood, then agreed to buy it jointly with Qing Lingzi of Quanzhou Yuanmiao Temple for their water journeys.
• Li Yan observed sects collecting materials for their plans, while Lu San selected spiritual wood and ritual tools for the team.
• Wang Dao Xuan bought rare Shu coins, and Li Yan examined books about the Nine Headed Phoenix Vein and the Great Luo Dharma Realm.
• When the team lacked money for all their chosen materials, Wang Dao Xuan offered two Mystic Turtle Shells, and Zhu Qingzi traded auxiliary refining materials and fifty thousand taels for them and the iron rhinoceros.
• The artifact auction featured several prized ritual objects, and Mount Mao and Lingbao competed over a Zhang Jixian Heavenly Master Seal.
• The Opening Cellar Assembly ended, and Li Yan and his companions sold their heavy belongings before leaving Qingcheng Mountain.

Li Yan and his companions reached West Ridge Snow Mountain to cultivate while Dragon Girl remained in seclusion amid dangerously abnormal weather. As Li Yan absorbed the Queen Mother of the West's Spiritual Charm and Sha LiFei prepared to establish his foundation, Sha LiFei recognized that his awakened talent might be the rare Instrument Sense.

• Li Yan's group crossed the snowbound Yin Yang Boundary and learned that the lingering cold might endanger Dragon Girl's Natal Gu reconstruction.
• The group located Dragon Girl's cave and arranged to cultivate nearby, with Wang Dao Xuan guiding Sha LiFei through Foundation Establishment.
• Li Yan sealed himself inside a cave, kept his remaining divine qi in reserve, and absorbed the Queen Mother of the West shrine's Spiritual Charm into Mount Luo Feng.
• Sha LiFei endured the cold as he prepared for cultivation and read of a rare firearm technique that required Instrument Sense.
• Sha LiFei connected the compendium's description of Instrument Sense to the natural skill he had gained with objects after awakening his Body Mystical Power.

Sha LiFei secretly began forging a path toward gun cultivation and successfully preserved his spirit, while Wang Dao Xuan and Li Yan advanced their own cultivation. When Sha LiFei went to check on Long Yan'er, he found her trapped in a cave behind a swarm of illusion-casting Frost Moths, and she used her newly recondensed Natal Gu to affect him.

• Sha LiFei used the Meishan Firearms Compendium to pursue the idea of uniting his spirit with a gun, then successfully opened an altar and preserved a spirit bearing a gun phantom.
• Wang Dao Xuan absorbed Li Yan's divine fiend-force and cultivated his mystical power, while Sha LiFei emerged safely from his seclusion.
• Li Yan cleared the Queen Mother of the West's strange incense qi from his spirit-preservation space and formed the Inner Altar Eight Generals, expanding Luo Feng Mountain's divine palaces.
• When Li Yan failed to emerge by Zi Hour, Sha LiFei went with the Bai woman to check on Long Yan'er, then climbed down a cliff toward her cave.
• Sha LiFei broke the ice sealing the cave's tree hollow and was attacked by illusion-casting Frost Moths, which stopped when he called Long Yan'er.
• Long Yan'er, newly recovered and weakened after recondensing her Natal Gu, used her Lute Worm's sound as Sha LiFei succumbed to the Frost Moths' illusions.

After Long Yan'er escaped her frozen cave, Sha LiFei carried her back to the group, and Wang Dao Xuan welcomed her into the Twelve Yuan Chen by giving her the Si Snake coin. The group descended to Jinshui Post, where Li Yan and Di Longzi agreed to travel east by water toward Kaifeng.

• Long Yan'er used her Lute Worm Gu to dispel the spell affecting Sha LiFei, and he freed her from the ice cave and carried her through the snow.
• As they climbed, Sha LiFei told Long Yan'er that their engagement should be forgotten, but she explained that marrying him was one of her remaining attachments and he encouraged her to keep living and exploring.
• Li Yan emerged after breaking the spell of the Heavenly Calamity Five Crippling, then reunited with the others and welcomed Sha LiFei and Long Yan'er back to the cave.
• Wang Dao Xuan distributed paired Yuan Chen coins for sending messages and gave Long Yan'er the Si Snake coin, making her part of the group.
• Di Longzi waited with his disciples at Jinshui Post for Li Yan, and the group arrived and met him there.
• Li Yan agreed to Di Longzi's plan to travel by waterways through Chongqing, Jingzhou, and Xiangyang toward Kaifeng because snow made the Sichuan Road risky.

As Li Yan and his companions traveled toward Luoyang, a paper-figure procession and a mysterious coffin brought death to a shop in the city. At Longmen Post, Di Longzi learned that the horses had been taken by the Thousand-Household Office, and the group was directed to the Dragon Gate Inn to seek mounts.

• In Luoyang, night watchman Lao Zhao and his apprentice hid from a blood-lettered procession of paper figures carrying a vermilion coffin, then found the paper shop apprentices dead and the shop covered in black mold.
• Li Yan and his companions continued their journey to Luoyang, recalling the trouble they had faced along the way and arriving at the Yi River Ford with Di Longzi.
• Di Longzi told Li Yan they would change horses at Longmen Post and travel onward to Luoyang.
• At Longmen Post, Di Longzi discovered that the Thousand-Household Office had taken all the relay horses that morning.
• A disciple told Di Longzi that an elder of the Heluo Horse Caravan still had horses at the Dragon Gate Inn, and the group set out to find him.

Li Yan and Di Longzi arrived at Dragon Gate Inn to spread news and draw out the people they were seeking, but a confrontation among the inn’s disguised patrons erupted before they could act. Madam Pei broke it up, recognized Li Yan and the Twelve Yuan Chen, and hinted that she knew of the Night Crying Man’s visit.

• Di Longzi explained Dragon Gate Inn’s history and its reputation as a Yuzhou intelligence hub, and Li Yan decided to release news there to lure their enemies out.
• Li Yan surveyed the inn and noticed that its carved River Earl beam carried incense qi, suggesting someone versed in the Xuan Gate was present.
• After a patron insulted Li Yan, Di Longzi’s disciple threw a chopstick at him, and the inn’s disguised patrons drew weapons as the HeShuo Escorts challenged them.
• Madam Pei came downstairs, identified Di Longzi as a Tongtian Sect elder, and drove the would-be attackers from the Heluo route.
• Madam Pei recognized Li Yan and the Twelve Yuan Chen, then said Li Yan was famous in Pingkang Ward and asked whether the Night Crying Man had been there.