Chapter Summaries

Li Yan and the others uncovered the Heavenly Saint Sect’s ties to the Ghost Sect and learned that its followers had gathered in Three Mountain Hollow Village. They found the village destroyed and traced the slaughter to the Tiger Demon, whose lair appeared to be nearby.

• Yang Chengzi identified the skull-covered skeleton as a Leng Zheng God created through the Ghost Sect’s blood sacrifices, and Wang Dao Xuan suspected the sect had a major plan for it.
• Under torture, Wang Qian revealed that about three hundred Heavenly Saint Sect followers had come to Dangyang, and that an altar lay beneath the shrine in Three Mountain Hollow Village.
• Li Yan led the group out of Dangyang toward the village after learning that Cheng Qu’s group had been responsible for directing monsters and spirits.
• The group found Three Mountain Hollow Village burned and abandoned, with blood everywhere but no bodies, and concluded that the Tiger Demon had slaughtered its inhabitants.
• The trackers found signs of possessed victims and enormous tiger paw prints, while Yang Chengzi explained that the Tiger Demon’s chang gui could possess people and act during daylight.

Li Yan and his companions uncovered the ritual behind the Headless Knight in Three Mountain Hollow Village, but withdrew rather than confront the powerful Tiger Demon. After returning to the Guan residence, they planned their next journey, until a possessed watchman broke into Lu San’s room and revealed himself as a Living Underworld Messenger.

• Li Yan’s group found Heavenly Saint Duke’s statue, a ritual altar, and evidence of a paper-effigy craftsman beneath the village shrine, then destroyed the site and left the village.
• The Tiger Demon watched the group depart, killed a Daoist who offered to guide it, and spoke of a Living Underworld Messenger and its own dwelling.
• Li Yan and the others reported to Magistrate Zhang, agreed to wait for True Martial Palace reinforcements, and discussed traveling onward once the experts arrived.
• At night, black smoke possessed a watchman, who took a yellow jade plaque and used the Northern Emperor Mountain Climbing Art to enter the Guan residence.
• The possessed watchman attacked Lu San and released black smoke into his mouth; Li Yan burst into the room and challenged him to produce the soul-hook warrant.

Li Yan learned that the possessed Lu San was Liu Gang, a powerful Returning Yang criminal, and followed him to a mountain ridge where Liu Gang revealed his tiger form and the Chang Gui under his command. Liu Gang began explaining how he and his wife had been drawn into a scheme by Ghost Sect Leader Zhang HuaiSu, leaving Li Yan wary as he learned Zhang had ties to Jiang Zuo Zhu Family.

• Li Yan recognized Liu Gang through his North Emperor Mountain Climbing Art and attacked him, but Liu Gang caught the Soul Hooking Chain and overpowered him with the Yin Thunder Hand.
• Liu Gang demanded Li Yan help capture underworld criminals, then revealed he was the Tiger Demon from Guan Family Village and ordered Li Yan to meet him south of the city.
• Li Yan left Sha LiFei to wait for True Martial Palace reinforcements and raced south using the North Emperor Swift Travel Technique.
• Li Yan reached Liu Gang's camp, where hundreds of Chang Gui and a giant tiger surrounded the unconscious Lu San; Liu Gang warned Li Yan not to interfere with his plans.
• Liu Gang explained that he and his wife had once followed Ge Xianweng, repeatedly returned to mortal life, and eventually became involved with Zhang HuaiSu, whom he identified as an old associate from the Jiang Zuo Zhu Family.

Li Yan learned how the Jiangzuo Evil Cultivators originated and heard Liu Gang explain how Tongtian San Niang had betrayed him and planned to revive Huang LiuShi. As they raced toward the Earth Immortal Cave, Liu Gang revealed the Ghost Sect and Heavenly Saint Sect’s plans for the flood-dragon soul and disclosed how old monsters evaded the underworld; Li Yan remained wary of his motives.

• Liu Gang explained that a sorcerer of the Zhu family had captured Flying Head Liao and developed the evil arts that became the Jiangzuo Evil Cultivators’ legacy.
• Liu Gang told Li Yan that Tongtian San Niang had taken over his body, held his wife hostage, and intended to use her in a ritual to revive Huang LiuShi, so he asked Li Yan to arrest her with the warrant during their fight.
• Liu Gang revealed that Zhang HuaiSu had returned to life as Zhao Changsheng, and Li Yan said Zhao had caused the deaths of his father and grandfather.
• Liu Gang led Li Yan and the others toward the Earth Immortal Cave, and Li Yan followed with Paper Horses while they carried Lu San.
• Liu Gang explained that the Heavenly Saint Sect and Ghost Sect sought the Dragon Tiger Kanli Pill and the flood-dragon soul in the Inverted Well to cause a flood and disrupt the court’s forces.
• Liu Gang revealed that his Profound Yellow Heavenly Talisman let him evade the underworld, while Li Yan privately suspected that Liu Gang had concealed his own intentions near Dangyang City.

Li Yan and Liu Gang entered the ruined Earth Immortal Cave after overcoming the Heavenly Saint Sect’s defenses, where Liu Gang explained the history of the site and the Three Sovereigns Scripture. Meanwhile, a drunken Daoist arrived in Dangyang County and was identified as Yu Longzi, the region’s most powerful Demon Hunter; the chapter ended as bloody handprints surged toward Li Yan in the cave.

• Liu Gang told Li Yan that his wife’s disciples had built the Earth Immortal Cave, and he revealed what he knew about the changing origins and loyalties of Living Underworld Messengers.
• Liu Gang’s Chang Gui attacked the Daoist temple with Gu worms and tigers, overcame the Heavenly Saint Sect’s defenders, and entered the cave with Li Yan.
• Sha LiFei demanded reinforcements in Dangyang County, where a drunken Daoist arrived and Yang Chengzi identified him as Martial Uncle Yu Longzi, the most powerful Demon Hunter in Ezhou.
• Liu Gang worshiped the Three Sovereigns statues and explained their identities to Li Yan before leading the group deeper into the Earth Immortal Cave.
• Bloody handprints appeared across the cavern and surged toward Li Yan.

Li Yan learned Liu Gang’s secret method and reforged his Soul Hooking Chain with the jade claw of an ancient Soul Hooking Bird while Liu Gang confronted Tongtian San Niang. After Liu Gang drew away the Blood Ghosts, Li Yan began destroying the Earth Immortal Cave’s formation points and left marks for the reinforcements.

• Liu Gang used the North Emperor Calamity Removal Technique, empowered by the Profound Yellow Heavenly Talisman, to drive the Blood Ghosts into the cavern’s depths.
• Liu Gang explained that the cave’s formations had been tampered with and taught Li Yan how to refine the Soul Hooking Chain using the Gangsha Energy in an ancient Soul Hooking Bird’s claw.
• Li Yan refined the claw into his Soul Hooking Chain, forming a hooked claw at its tip that could tear at and seize souls.
• Tongtian San Niang appeared as a Yin Soul, taunted Liu Gang, and claimed that Zhang HuaiSu would break the shackles binding them during the Human Path transformation.
• Liu Gang led the Chang Gui tigers away to draw off the Blood Ghosts, while Li Yan used the Soul Hooking Chain to extract and destroy a Blood Tomb Beam with a Netherworld Fire Musket.
• Li Yan marked the route for reinforcements and headed toward another formation point, keeping the Fei Yi corpse he had brought as a possible cure for Lu San’s Gu poison.

Li Yan and Liu Gang broke through the cave’s defenses and reached the Ezhou Ghost Cult’s main altar, where Tongtian San Niang was performing a ritual to revive Huang LiuShi. As Liu Gang confronted Tongtian San Niang, Li Yan secretly fed Lu San a piece of dried Fei Yi corpse, leaving his own next move unclear.

• Li Yan destroyed the Blood Tomb Beams and found Lu San safe among the corpses left after Liu Gang’s first obstacle.
• Liu Gang warned that poisonous tomb guardians, buried explosives, and armored Old Zombies blocked their path, then ordered Li Yan to summon Netherworld soldiers.
• Li Yan summoned the Netherworld soldiers, who cleared the centipedes, killed hidden Ghost Cult members, and defeated three of the five Old Zombies before vanishing.
• Liu Gang smashed the remaining two Old Zombies, and the group advanced to the main altar, where Ghost Cult disciples fought Chang Gui and tigers amid a disrupted ritual.
• Tongtian San Niang raised a strange oil lamp and summoned a hundred Fierce Ghosts to face Liu Gang.
• Li Yan pretended to protect the unconscious Lu San, then secretly put a piece of dried Fei Yi corpse into his mouth.

Li Yan helped Liu Gang attack Tongtian San Niang during Huang LiuShi’s interrupted resurrection ritual, but both Liu Gang and Tongtian San Niang were captured by the Underworld. After a drunken Daoist and Lu San joined the fight, Li Yan fulfilled his promise to Liu Gang by placing him with his wife and burning their remains.

• Liu Gang revealed that Tongtian San Niang possessed the Rhino Horn Lamp and Necklace Pearl, then used a Straw Man Curse to force Li Yan to approach her with the hook writ.
• Liu Gang attacked the altar and disrupted Huang LiuShi’s resurrection, while Tongtian San Niang burned him with the Rhino Horn Lamp and immobilized him with the Necklace Pearl.
• Li Yan used the hook writ to bind Tongtian San Niang, but she struck him through the heart with a Heart-Piercing Nail before the Underworld chains took her.
• A drunken Daoist arrived and fought Liu Gang’s forces with the Five Thunder Demon Subduing Sword as Lu San and the poisonous bees helped him.
• Li Yan revealed that he had survived and used the hook writ on Liu Gang, while the Daoist stabbed him and the Underworld seized him.
• Li Yan placed Liu Gang beside his wife in the stone coffin and burned their bodies, honoring Liu Gang’s final request.

Great Xuan’s navy used its New Type Cannon to devastate the Tusi rebels’ camp at Zigui, while Yuan Kejian learned of trouble in Dangyang that wandering heroes had already stopped. In the mountains near Dangyang, Li Yan and his companions found Liu Gang’s lair and discovered that his collection of feng shui books was tied to a search for something.

• Yuan Kejian and Vice General Luo Yao led the fleet through an ambush at Xiling Gorge and continued toward Zigui.
• Luo Yao fired the New Type Cannon and then a Fire Dragon Bomb, destroying the Tusi rebels’ camp before the navy’s troops charged ashore.
• Yuan Kejian received word that demon practitioners had caused trouble at Dangyang but that several wandering heroes had subdued them.
• Lu San used Rat One and Rat Two to guide Li Yan, Sha LiFei, and their companions to Liu Gang’s lair in a mountain valley.
• The group found ancient books on feng shui, and Li Yan examined Yijian Zhi and concluded that Liu Gang had been searching for something.

Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan examined old feng shui records before returning to Dangyang, where Yu Longzi demanded the Profound Yellow Heavenly Talisman. Li Yan traded it for instruction in the Heavenly Thunder Demon Subduing Hammer, and Yu Longzi departed for Mount Wu after teaching him.

• Wang Dao Xuan concluded that Liu Gang and his wife had sought feng shui conditions to become Earth Immortals, but found no clues about the Western Xuan Lineage.
• Officer Yang told Li Yan that Yu Longzi had been waiting for him and that merchants and wandering sects had arrived for the Guan Mausoleum Temple Fair.
• Yu Longzi insisted that Li Yan hand over the Profound Yellow Heavenly Talisman, warning that powerful hidden experts would otherwise hunt him for it.
• Li Yan agreed to give Yu Longzi the talisman in exchange for guidance in Yang Thunder arts, and Yu Longzi demonstrated the Heavenly Thunder Demon Subduing Hammer.
• Yu Longzi taught Li Yan the method through a day and night of instruction, then accepted the talisman and left for Mount Wu.

Li Yan and his companions arrived at Parrot Isle aboard the E Prefecture Merchant Guild’s Tower Ship and learned that Prince of Wu Prefecture had sealed the Western Zhou Ancient Mine. They accepted Patriarch Tian’s offer to stay in Hanyang, while Yue Xing recognized Li Yan from a fresh intelligence booklet as an Over the River Dragon.

• Yue Xing’s White Crocodile Gang informants reported the wharf’s arrivals, and Yue Xing ordered them to watch for trouble amid the unrest linked to the southwest war.
• Patriarch Tian told Li Yan and Sha LiFei about Hanyang’s Dragon Boat Festival and revealed that Prince of Wu Prefecture had sealed the Western Zhou Ancient Mine after deadly Jianghu clashes.
• Li Yan agreed to stay at Patriarch Tian’s residence while they rested, sought Arcane Path craftsmen, and considered how to reach the guarded mine.
• Li Yan notified Lu San and Wang Dao Xuan that the ship had arrived, and the group disembarked at Parrot Isle with their luggage and cargo.
• Yue Xing checked his intelligence booklet, recognized Li Yan from the report of his deeds in Yichang, and concluded that he was no longer an unknown nobody.

Li Yan and his companions entered bustling Hanyang City, where they witnessed Lowly Third Master force a crooked tavern to pay a poor young man. At Patriarch Tian’s residence, they found no obvious cause for the household’s illnesses, and Li Yan ended the evening studying Liu Gang’s notes on the Living Underworld Messenger.

• Patriarch Tian guided Li Yan, Sha LiFei, and the others through Hanyang City, where Li Yan noticed the many wanted notices and entered using his credentials.
• Li Yan and his companions watched Lowly Third Master expose Wang the Blind’s fraudulent wine contract and win payment for the lame young man through a contest of couplets.
• Patriarch Tian brought the group to his residence, where Wang Dao Xuan inspected the feng shui and Li Yan used Mystical Gestures, but neither found anything unusual.
• Patriarch Tian hosted a banquet and told the guests about his estranged relatives and lonely household before drinking himself into a stupor.
• Li Yan returned to his room and studied the secret manual and notes on the Living Underworld Messenger that Liu Gang had given him.

Li Yan studied the Living Underworld Messengers’ records, learned more about their missions and the Soul Hooking Chain, and joined his companions in investigating the Tian family’s strange residence. After splitting up, Li Yan and Sha LiFei visited Hanyang City’s City God Temple, where they found a nearly deserted temple and a white-haired Old Taoist treating poor residents.

• Li Yan read the Yin Laws and learned about different underworld wells, the limits of the underworld authorities’ influence, and a way to temper the Soul Hooking Chain.
• Wang Dao Xuan and Patriarch Tian discussed the strange dreams and illnesses affecting the Tian family at its new residence, and Wang Dao Xuan agreed to investigate the residence and ancestral graves.
• Li Yan and Sha LiFei decided to ask about Hanyang City’s martial world and Xuan Gate, while Wang Dao Xuan and Lu San investigated the residence.
• Li Yan and Sha LiFei went to the Hanyang City God Temple to meet the Mystic Sacrificial Official and register their Taoist registers.
• The little novice revealed that only he and the Old Taoist remained at the temple because the Old Taoist had driven the other senior brothers away.

Li Yan and Sha LiFei learned about Hanyang’s martial arts tournament and the powerful factions controlling the local jianghu while investigating suspicious trouble at Tian Fengchang’s residence. After Wang Dao Xuan uncovered a strange Yansheng Curse beneath the front steps, Patriarch Tian identified Wu Jiu Cheng as the likely culprit.

• Li Yan and Sha LiFei visited a jianghu inn, where Master Feng described the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival tournament at Turtle Mountain and its expected contestants.
• Yuan Si Hai recognized Li Yan and briefed the pair on Hanyang’s major factions, then shared rumors about attacks on the feng shui diviners hired by Patriarch Tian.
• Li Yan and Sha LiFei returned to the Tian Family Mansion and found Wang Dao Xuan investigating the front steps, whose mismatched bricks resembled little coffins.
• Wang Dao Xuan identified the strange construction as a sophisticated Yansheng Curse, and Li Yan summoned Patriarch Tian to explain the missing diviners.
• After learning that Spirit Medium Wang had left Hanyang, Patriarch Tian said he suspected Wu Jiu Cheng, the merchant guild chairman’s son.

Li Yan and his companions agreed to help Patriarch Tian investigate the Yansheng Curse in exchange for money and assistance with their plans. Their nighttime ritual revealed an old man clinging to Patriarch Tian, while Li Yan chased down a fleeing intruder and recognized Wudang techniques.

• Patriarch Tian accused Wu Jiu Cheng of using mystical arts to steal his guild shares, and Li Yan and Sha LiFei agreed to investigate after securing a tournament entry and help finding a craftsman.
• Patriarch Tian identified Xu Qingquan of the Xu Family Troupe as the builder of his residence, while Li Yan urged the group to find the curse's source before confronting him.
• At midnight, Wang Dao Xuan's ritual revealed that Patriarch Tian fell asleep under a supernatural influence, but the Bagua Mirror and incense ash failed to expose its cause.
• Wang Dao Xuan used the Rhino Horn Lamp, and Sha LiFei saw a pale old man in a burial robe crouching on Patriarch Tian's chest.
• Lu San spotted a fleeing figure, and Li Yan chased and struck the intruder before recognizing the Red Dragon Turns Over and Longhua Fist techniques associated with Wudang.

Li Yan uncovered a curse targeting Patriarch Tian and captured Yang ChongZi, a disgraced Wudang disciple who had been forced by a black-clad man to help the plot. The investigation revealed the Xu Family Troupe had been slaughtered, and Zhang XiaoShan arrived at Tian Residence, revealing that Yang ChongZi was his grandson.

• Li Yan defeated Yang ChongZi, and Wang Dao Xuan discovered that bricks from Patriarch Tian’s ancestral grave had been laid beneath his front hall to cause nightmares.
• Patriarch Tian recognized Yang ChongZi as a former City God Temple disciple who had been expelled after fighting with a fellow disciple over a woman.
• Li Yan pressed Yang ChongZi until he revealed that a black-clad man had threatened him and abducted his fellow disciples and Yun Niang.
• Sha LiFei, Lu San, Wang Dao Xuan, and Patriarch Tian found the Xu Family Troupe’s residence covered in corpses, with no survivors.
• At the county office, Yang ChongZi explained that the black-clad man had ordered him to threaten occultists and deliver blueprints through a Xu Family Troupe disciple.
• Zhang XiaoShan arrived at Tian Residence and revealed that Yang ChongZi was his grandson.

Li Yan and his companions investigated the curse afflicting Patriarch Tian’s family while Zhang XiaoShan came to Hanyang over his grandson’s disgrace. As the Tian family prepared to visit its ancestral graves, a fire broke out at the Xu Family Troupe’s residence, drawing Li Yan’s attention.

• Zhang XiaoShan told Li Yan how his grandson Zhang YuFu had been expelled from Wudang and arrested, then ordered his disciples to summon nearby Greenwood Path leaders.
• Cheng Jue, a patrolling monk from Wuchang’s Enforcement Hall, questioned Li Yan and Patriarch Tian but withheld the hall’s suspicions about the case.
• Wang Dao Xuan said the Yansheng Curse could only be addressed at the Tian family’s ancestral graves, so Patriarch Tian summoned relatives to join the visit.
• Li Yan trained his boxing by combining Red Fist and Pigua Fist with thunder techniques, but he had not yet mastered the Heavenly Thunder Demon Subduing Hammer.
• Li Yan inspected Patriarch Tian’s relatives and found no sign that they were infiltrators, then a Signal Arrow and distant fire revealed a blaze at the Xu Family Troupe’s residence.

Li Yan learned that the Xuan Gate craftsmen were tied to a dangerous overseas naval project, while Cheng Jue investigated the burned Xu Family Troupe manor and uncovered a demonic plot. The Tian family set out for its ancestral graves, unaware that monks from the Enforcement Hall were secretly following them.

• Li Yan and Lu San saw the Xu Family Troupe manor burning, and Patriarch Tian explained that the E Prefecture Merchant Guild wanted Xuan Gate craftsmen to build warships for an overseas port threatened by a giant, soul-bewitching octopus.
• Patriarch Tian recounted troubles abroad and Goryeo’s strained relationship with the Great Xuan court as he and Li Yan’s group talked through the night.
• At the ruins, Cheng Jue told Zhang XiaoShan that Jiangxia Barbarians were secretly causing trouble, while Zhang XiaoShan revealed the craftsmen had hired the Mystery Exploration Branch to collect ancient tombs and bricks.
• Cheng Jue learned that a statue in the Meditation Hall was shedding bloody tears and ordered the monks to watch the Tian Residence because it might be connected to the coming calamity.
• Tian Wei returned home and explained that he had stayed at the academy to avoid trouble over his arranged marriage and to invite a Feng Shui Master to inspect the family home.
• Patriarch Tian learned that his second son had become a monk named Bu Kong, then led the family toward its ancestral graves as Enforcement Hall monks secretly followed.

Li Yan traveled through the Yunmeng Marsh with the Tian family, learned legends about its Three Treasures, and heard that Wenjin Academy's teacher might know about the Life Controller Society. The party sheltered in an abandoned Water God Temple, where a strange Tuogu cry sounded in the night despite the nearest waterway being miles away.

• Tian Wei told Li Yan that the Life Controller Society was a women's Witch Doctor tradition and offered to introduce him to his teacher when he visited Hanyang.
• Tian Wei recounted legends of the Lord of the Clouds Divine Gate Longevity Palace, Self-Growing Soil, and Wang Chan Ancestor's Scripture Forest, and Li Yan became interested in the last because it was linked to Xing He Pu.
• Patriarch Tian led the party to rest at an abandoned Water God Temple, where Li Yan used the Northern Emperor Body Protection Incantation and drove swarms of venomous insects from the ruins.
• Wang Dao Xuan recognized the statue of General Yang Si, and the party cleaned the temple, ate together, and took turns keeping watch.
• Li Yan mistook a midnight sound for thunder, but Liu YiZhong identified it as a Tuogu cry and warned that it was strange because the nearest waterway lay several miles away.

Lu San was drawn into a supernatural sacrifice at a lake, where Li Yan narrowly escaped lightning and cultivated his thunder techniques. After the mist cleared, Lu San returned a Five Hues Jade Tablet to the Giant Alligator and received a bundle of Bamboo Strips in exchange.

• Lu San fell into a Spirit Medium Dance after hearing the Alligator Dragon chant, and Li Yan followed him from the temple toward the lake.
• Li Yan encountered an armored Giant Alligator performing a sacrifice and dodged lightning that struck him for interrupting the ritual.
• Li Yan used the storm to cultivate the Heavenly Thunder Demon Subduing Hammer and combined it with the North Emperor Yin Thunder Palm until he lost consciousness.
• Lu San awoke and recalled taking a Five Hues Jade Tablet from a palace in a dream after following an Old Woman through the mist.
• Lu San gave the Five Hues Jade Tablet to the Giant Alligator, which swallowed it and left behind a huge bundle of Bamboo Strips.