Chapter Summaries

Lu San, Wang Dao Xuan, Sha LiFei, and Wu Ba defeated a poison-wielding attack on the Shunyuan Escort Agency and learned that the Shu King Residence was searching for something linked to Lu Lao Hei. After helping Wang Tianzuo escape Guan County, they hid from the authorities and began investigating events from thirty years earlier, when Hou Xuan mentioned the Ghost Opera Troupe.

• Lu San warned the escort masters about the Walking Corpses, but two were killed when poisonous smoke burst from one of the corpses.
• Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei subdued the Walking Corpses while Lu San and Wu Ba killed the attackers and captured the ritualist.
• The ritualist said the Shu King Residence wanted Lu Lao Hei's unknown possession, but the Jujube Pit Curse killed him before he could reveal more.
• Wang Tianzuo left Guan County with the Shunyuan Escort Agency, while Sha LiFei and the others evaded the yamen by hiding in an abandoned home.
• Sha LiFei asked Hou Xuan about strange events thirty years earlier, and Hou Xuan brought up the Ghost Opera Troupe.

Sha LiFei and his companions investigated the abandoned Yang Family Village, where they uncovered signs of a ritual and an old burial pit. When armed attackers ambushed them, the Twelve Yuan Chen defeated the Commandery Commandant Office gunmen and Shu King Residence forces, including the Loose Hair Sect sorcerer.

• Hou Xuan told Sha LiFei that the Ghost Opera Troupe had been linked to the destruction of Yang Family Village thirty years earlier, and led the group to the widow's former residence and then to the village.
• Wang Dao Xuan spotted footprints and found burned ritual materials; he used incense ash to trace a technique to a pit containing old bones beneath the Yang family's ruins.
• An eagle warned the group of an attack, and Sha LiFei identified New Style Firearms and directed the Twelve Yuan Chen to take cover.
• Sha LiFei and Lu San used Thunder Fire Pills and the Demon Gourd's venomous bees to fight back, while Sha LiFei shot down two attackers from the Commandery Commandant Office.
• Sha LiFei sent a Fire Caltrop into the attackers from the Shu King Residence, and the Twelve Yuan Chen finished off the remaining gunmen and fighters.
• Wang Dao Xuan used the date pit from Lu Lao Hei's body to disrupt the Loose Hair Sect sorcerer's spell, allowing Wu Ba to kill him; Hou Xuan recognized the group's strength.

After Sha LiFei’s group escaped the ruins of Yang Family Village, Granny Chang and the Ghost Opera Troupe tracked them into the mountains. Meanwhile, Li Yan completed the Fourth Floor of Dao Progress and tested the enhanced power of his North Emperor Yin Thunder Palm.

• Sha LiFei questioned a dying officer, learned that the Ghost Opera Troupe had scattered the Chengdu underworld, and led his group away from Yang Family Village.
• Hou Xuan warned that Guan County might impose martial law and guided the group toward a secluded tea plantation in the mountains.
• Granny Chang used animals to find the trail of the Twelve Yuan Chen, then set off with the black-faced martial performer and Clown to pursue them.
• Li Yan entered seclusion and reviewed how his Fengdu visualization had formed the Outer Altar Eight Generals, whose power strengthened his spells.
• At Zi Hour, Li Yan began building the Fourth Floor and successfully condensed it before the Chou Hour.
• Li Yan used the Outer Altar Eight Generals to empower his North Emperor Yin Thunder Palm, producing power comparable to a Dao Progress Fifth Floor sorcerer at the cost of considerable spiritual strength.

Li Yan studied the Fengdu Method and refined his combat path, strengthening his Soul Hooking Lightning Rope and mastering Yin Deity transformation. Meanwhile, an unseen enemy attacked the tea plantation group, disabling Lu San’s hearing and driving them into the snow, where Sha LiFei was seized by a hand from below.

• Li Yan practiced summoning the Outer Altar Eight Generals with Chuling Paper Figures, but the figures burned up under their power.
• Li Yan chose the North Emperor Divine Transformation Scripture as a central part of his fighting style and poured three strands of divine thunder into the Soul Hooking Lightning Rope.
• Li Yan used the strengthened ropes to transform into a Yin Deity.
• At the tea plantation, a powerful presence destroyed Wang Dao Xuan’s warning talisman and used a Soul-Shattering Technique to disable Lu San’s hearing.
• Sha LiFei led Wang Dao Xuan, Lu San, and Wu Ba out through a wall as Falcon Li Dong drove off the Strange Blood Parrot with Sha LiFei’s gunfire.
• As the group tried to flee through the snow, a hand reached from beneath it and grabbed Sha LiFei’s ankle.

Sha Lifei and his companions fought through the Old Woman’s ambush as they tried to reach the river and mountains. Xie SanYang and Gou Wa attacked them together, with the chapter ending as Gou Wa’s flames engulfed Lu San.

• Gou Wa’s buried hand seized Sha Lifei, but Wang Dao Xuan wounded it with his Coin Sword and Sha Lifei drove it back with a firearm.
• Lu San led the group after Chu Qi detected a route through the snow, while the Blood Parrot alerted the Old Woman that they had escaped the encirclement.
• The Old Woman sent Gou Wa to delay the group and Xie SanYang to intercept them, then used a Beast Controlling Technique that left Chu Qi writhing in pain.
• Sha Lifei sensed an ambush, and Wang Dao Xuan had Lu San strike Li Yan’s Cloud Thunder Divine Drum to disrupt the opera troupe’s Sonic Illusion Technique.
• Xie SanYang attacked with his Guan Sword, but Wu Ba fought him back with Eight Extremities techniques while Sha Lifei held his fire against Gou Wa’s feints.
• Gou Wa burst from the snow behind the group and blew flames from his burning club, engulfing Lu San.

Sha LiFei, Lu San, Wu Ba, and Wang Dao Xuan escaped the Ghost Opera Troupe and hid in a cave, where Wang Dao Xuan removed the curse afflicting Little White Fox Chu Qi and Lu San began restoring his hearing. At dawn, their group prepared to strike back while Li Yan descended Zhao Gong Mountain.

• Sha LiFei and Lu San exposed and destroyed the Clown’s Corpse Refining Puppet, then helped break the Ghost Opera Troupe’s attack as Wang Dao Xuan used Rampaging Soldiers to turn the battle.
• Wang Dao Xuan led the group across a river to erase their tracks, while the Ghost Opera Troupe regrouped under Granny Chang and searched the snowy mountains for them.
• In a concealed cave, Wang Dao Xuan extracted the Evil Curse from Little White Fox Chu Qi and sealed it in a straw figure, while Lu San chewed Mount Wu Divine Tea to mend his injured spirits.
• Wang Dao Xuan said the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl would hide them long enough to prepare traps, and Sha LiFei and the others began setting them at dawn.
• Li Yan bade farewell to the mountain guardian Daoist and descended Zhao Gong Mountain.

Li Yan entered Guan County to investigate the disappearance of Sha LiFei and the others, learning that the Shu King Residence had become involved in the deaths at the Shunyuan Escort Agency. After helping Hou Xuan escape a garrison raid, Li Yan hurried to Tea Mountain, where he found signs of a battle and confronted a Blood Parrot.

• Li Yan gave a charcoal seller silver for information and learned that deaths at the Shunyuan Escort Agency had prompted a strict search in Guan County.
• Li Yan infiltrated the city and overheard Yamen Runners reveal that officials from the Shu King Residence were pressuring the magistrate to find the people responsible.
• Li Yan discovered garrison soldiers surrounding Hou Xuan’s residence and used the Fengdu Eight Generals Pursuit and Capture Method to disrupt their attack.
• Li Yan met Hou Xuan outside the city and learned that he had sent Sha LiFei and the others to a tea plantation before escaping through a secret passage.
• Li Yan hurried to Tea Mountain, found the grounds wrecked by a battle, and called out when he sensed someone nearby.
• A Blood Parrot flew down from a distant treetop.

Li Yan captured the Blood Parrot, learned that the Ghost Opera Troupe was fighting Sha LiFei and his companions, and destroyed Clown Gou Wa’s hidden true body. He reached the battlefield just as Gou Wa attacked Sha LiFei and Wu Ba, stopping him beneath the snow.

• Li Yan subdued the Blood Parrot, found a dead man in a hut, and learned Granny Chang and the Ghost Opera Troupe were battling Sha LiFei’s group in the snowy mountains.
• The Blood Parrot revealed that Gou Wa’s Puppet Technique depended on his hidden true body, so Li Yan followed it to Gou Wa’s location and smashed his head.
• Sha LiFei, Wu Ba, and Wang Dao Xuan struggled against Xie SanYang and the Ghost Opera Troupe, while Wu Ba was wounded and his battle axe shattered.
• After Gou Wa’s true body was destroyed, his unstable Yin Soul returned to a puppet and lunged underground toward Sha LiFei and Wu Ba.
• Li Yan arrived, bound Gou Wa with the Soul Hooking Chain, and thrust his saber into the snow, bringing the attack to a halt.

Li Yan returned to the battlefield, helped his allies defeat the Ghost Opera Troupe’s gunman, and killed Xie SanYang after he summoned the Hanging Guest Star Lord and resorted to Evil Omen Qi. The chapter left Wang Dao Xuan struggling to maintain his Seven Arrows Secret Curse against Granny Chang as Li Yan placed a tally document on the ritual altar to help him.

• Li Yan ordered Sha LiFei, Wu Ba, and Lu San to deal with the other enemies while he confronted Xie SanYang.
• Sha LiFei, Wu Ba, and Lu San ambushed the gunman, and Wu Ba killed him with a powerful charge.
• Xie SanYang summoned the Hanging Guest Star Lord and attacked Li Yan, who used the Fengdu Method to block him and wound him with his Severing Dust Blade.
• Xie SanYang cut his forehead and unleashed Evil Omen Qi, but Li Yan defeated him with the Heavenly Thunder Demon Subduing Hammer and beheaded him.
• Li Yan returned to the cavern, found Wang Dao Xuan close to losing the sorcery battle with Granny Chang, and placed a tally document on the ritual altar.

Li Yan and Wang Dao Xuan used the Fengdu Method to strengthen the Seven Arrows Secret Curse while Granny Chang tried to protect herself with a Disaster Shifting Method. Sha LiFei and his companions broke through her defenses and killed her, but Li Yan warned that the Ghost Opera Troupe’s return could bring further danger.

• Li Yan summoned Laborer Envoys from Luo Feng Mountain, letting Wang Dao Xuan channel netherworld Yin Energy into his altar and strike Granny Chang with the curse.
• Granny Chang used the Disaster Shifting Method and sent three Ghost Opera Troupe musicians to trap Sha LiFei, Lu San, and Wu Ba in a fog illusion.
• Sha LiFei used a Fire Caltrop to break the illusion formation, killing the qin player and injuring the Erhu player, whom he then beheaded.
• Granny Chang released Plague Poison from a shattered earthenware jar, but Lu San used his flute and Poisonous Bee Swarm to counter it as Sha LiFei and Wu Ba closed in.
• Li Yan’s netherworld Malevolent Qi froze Granny Chang, and Sha LiFei shot her; Wang Dao Xuan’s straw effigy burned, confirming that the curse’s target had died.
• After the group confirmed the nearby enemies were dead, Li Yan warned that the Ghost Opera Troupe’s return could stir up a greater storm.

Li Yan and his companions reached Chengdu Prefecture, where they found an unusual number of martial artists and sorcerers gathered. After arranging a temple-building project for Hou Xuan, Li Yan visited the Fifth Prince’s residence and suspected that someone was trying to take over the Cheng family’s plan.

• On the snowy road to Chengdu, Li Yan spoke with Hou Xuan, who reported that the Shu King was gravely ill and that the city had issued no warrant for them.
• Li Yan gave Hou Xuan ten thousand taels to prepare for building a temple and warned him to stay clear of the coming conflict around the Shu King Residence and the Ghost Opera Troupe.
• Li Yan and his companions entered Chengdu Prefecture and noticed the streets held an unusually large gathering of martial artists and sorcerers.
• Li Yan led the group through the southern city to the Fifth Prince’s residence and presented the Cheng family token to its guard.
• After the guard went inside, Sha LiFei warned Li Yan that something was wrong, and Li Yan suspected someone was trying to seize the Cheng family’s business.

Li Yan and his companions confronted Xiao Jinghong after discovering that the Cheng Family’s agreed meeting place had been destroyed and another sect had taken over his protection. Xiao Jinghong persuaded Li Yan and Cao Yuanhuai’s group to guard him together, and the chapter ended with Xiao Jinghong asking A Man whether competing for the position of King of Shu was truly the only way to keep her alive.

• Li Yan and Sha LiFei realized the Cheng Family’s gold and silver shop had been destroyed and suspected the Cheng Family had entrusted the matter to others.
• A man in blue robes led Li Yan and his companions into the Prince’s residence, where they met Fifth Prince Xiao Jinghong and Master Cao Yuanhuai of Du Gate.
• Xiao Jinghong explained that his father was gravely ill, the Cheng Family’s Dark Hall had been wiped out, and Yang Duo had arranged for Du Gate to protect him.
• Xiao Jinghong asked Li Yan and Cao Yuanhuai to join forces in guarding him, and Li Yan agreed after hearing that a powerful Cheng Family elder had been killed.
• Li Yan and his companions settled into the Bamboo Grove Abode and arranged their defenses while Xiao Jinghong’s servant reported their preparations.
• Xiao Jinghong told A Man that he did not want to fight for the position of King of Shu and asked whether it was the only way to keep her alive.

Li Yan examined the Ghost Opera Troupe’s artifacts and letters, strengthened his paper soldiers, and confronted Cao Yuanhuai when he interrupted his work. Ming Shanzi arrived with the Five Chapters Divine Secret and asked Li Yan to investigate the powerful outsider who had killed a member of the Cheng family.

• Li Yan studied the Ghost Opera Troupe’s masks and letters, learning that its main force had gone to Qian Province and that the group sought opportunities amid changes to the Human Path.
• Li Yan trained with the Fengdu Method and made more than a hundred seven-colored paper soldiers to strengthen his combat abilities.
• Cao Yuanhuai interrupted Li Yan and clashed with him, but Li Yan’s speed and pressure forced Cao to back down.
• Ming Shanzi visited Xiao Jinghong’s residence and presented Li Yan with a wooden box containing the Five Chapters Divine Secret.
• Ming Shanzi asked Li Yan to investigate the powerful outsider who had killed his clan brother and destroyed the Cheng family’s Dark Hall.

Li Yan used Ming Shanzi’s intelligence to investigate the threats against Fifth Prince Xiao Jinghong and uncovered a trusted maid as a Dragon Worship Sect agent. After learning that the sect was not behind the gold and silver shop murders, Li Yan set out in disguise to pursue another lead in the city.

• Ming Shanzi gave Li Yan a detailed intelligence booklet and asked him to investigate the forces targeting Xiao Jinghong while he guarded the Prince’s residence.
• Li Yan reviewed the intelligence, left the residence as a decoy, and captured a disguised peddler who was identified as Lan Zhu’s accomplice and a death soldier.
• Ming Shanzi revealed that Lan Zhu was suspected of being a traitor, and Xiao Jinghong promised to spare her life if she explained herself.
• Li Yan used Little White Fox Chu Qi’s soul-bewitching art to learn that Lan Zhu was the Dragon Worship Sect’s Incense Holding Maiden, recruited after a flood ten years earlier.
• Lan Zhu said the Dragon Worship Sect had nothing to do with the gold and silver shop murders, so Ming Shanzi took responsibility for investigating the sect while Li Yan pursued another lead.
• Li Yan disguised himself as a wandering swordsman, concealed his aura, and headed to the eastern district where the Three Religions and Nine Schools gathered.

Li Yan visited the Fragrant Tea Pavilion to investigate a burned strip of Shu Brocade linked to the Cheng family murder case, where its hidden owner Liang Yu helped identify a suspect. She then took him to meet a poisoned old man Li Yan had once helped in Chongqing Prefecture.

• Li Yan entered the Fragrant Tea Pavilion and heard its wealthy patrons discussing overseas trade and New-Style Gunpowder mines.
• Li Yan showed Shopkeeper Lu a burned strip of Shu Brocade, and Liang Yu revealed herself as the tea house’s true owner after recognizing his perceptiveness.
• Liang Yu agreed to help investigate the ribbon and gave Li Yan a note identifying Shu King Residence Chief Secretary Xu Yongqing.
• Liang Yu led Li Yan through the tea house’s rear courtyard to meet a poisoned old man, who reminded Li Yan that they had met when Li Yan helped a theatrical troupe in Chongqing Prefecture.

Li Yan met Situ Bo and Liang Yu, learned that Situ Qian had stolen the dangerous Netherworld Stage, and agreed to join the Six Idlers of the Bamboo Grove against the Ghost Opera Troupe. Following a clue to Xu Yongqing’s residence, Li Yan slipped inside to investigate, but a voice in a courtyard invited him to come in.

• Li Yan learned that Situ Bo belonged to the Six Idlers of the Bamboo Grove and had been poisoned after his adopted disciple Situ Qian turned against him.
• Situ Bo explained that Situ Qian had stolen the Netherworld Stage, a treasure containing evil ghosts, and Liang Yu proposed an alliance with Li Yan’s Twelve Yuan Chen.
• Li Yan agreed to join forces against the Ghost Opera Troupe and learned that the group might have ties to the Royal Palace of the King of Shu.
• After leaving the teahouse, Li Yan followed a clue to Xu Yongqing’s residence, suspecting the palace official might be a hidden demon cultivator.
• Li Yan evaded the residence’s guards and entered a courtyard, where an unseen person invited him inside for a chat.

Li Yan infiltrated Xu Residence and discovered that Xu Yongqing had been implicated in an attack on Cheng Yuanhai after the King of Shu ordered a visit. Xu Yongqing revealed that the King had regained his youth and that a supernatural force was trapping people in the residence, so Li Yan took him toward a censor as the eerie tangyuan seller’s voice returned.

• Li Yan entered Xu Residence, subdued its guards, and confronted Xu Yongqing in his study.
• Xu Yongqing admitted that he had brought people to visit Cheng Yuanhai on the King of Shu’s order, and that the accompanying guards had attacked during the banquet.
• Xu Yongqing said the King of Shu had suddenly turned young again and that strange events had prevented him from leaving or reporting what he knew.
• A tangyuan-selling voice sounded outside, and Li Yan found the courtyard’s people motionless and afflicted, with the stone lions destroyed.
• Li Yan sensed tangyuan filling mixed with blood on the guards, learned Xu Yongqing had avoided eating it, and dragged him toward the kitchen.
• After finding a dead maid, Li Yan led Xu Yongqing out of the residence to find a censor as the tangyuan seller’s voice sounded again.

Li Yan confronted Nie Third Aunt, a God Ascender serving the King of Shu, in a snowbound Chengdu street and fought to protect Xu Yongqing. He destroyed her array’s Soul-Seizing Banner and cut through her hair whisk, but the fight continued.

• Xu Yongqing recognized Nie Third Aunt and explained that she was a former Mount Qingcheng disciple who had terrorized Shu.
• Li Yan called Nie Third Aunt out and identified the Soul-Seizing Banner on her lantern as the eye of the Mystic Gate Array.
• Nie Third Aunt attacked with poisoned caltrops, explosive iron balls, fire, and needles while Li Yan protected Xu Yongqing and pursued her.
• Li Yan shot apart the Soul-Seizing Banner, breaking the array and releasing its Yin Souls and Fierce Ghosts into the street.
• Nie Third Aunt fought Li Yan with her black hair whisk, but his upgraded Severing Dust Blade cut it through.

Li Yan rescued Xu Yongqing from Xu Residence and fought off Nie Third Aunt before fleeing through Chengdu with the old scholar. They reached Chengdu Prefecture Office, where Lord Wang recognized them as his guests, though Bagua Gate fighters had surrounded them.

• Li Yan destroyed Nie Third Aunt's Yin Demon Whisk, fought her with his Severing Dust Blade and thunder magic, and drove her to flee when City God Temple soldiers approached.
• Li Yan abandoned the chase after hearing Xu Yongqing call for help, caught him as he fell from a window, and led him away from Xu Residence.
• Li Yan and Xu Yongqing evaded garrison soldiers and the Shu King's Black Feather Guard, while Xu Yongqing identified the guards and saw flames consuming Xu Residence.
• Li Yan used the Chuling Paper Figure to divert pursuing experts and brought Xu Yongqing to Chengdu Prefecture Office, where Bagua Gate fighters surrounded them.
• Lord Wang arrived with Commandery Commandant Office battalion commanders and declared Li Yan and Xu Yongqing his distinguished guests.

At the Chengdu prefectural office, Imperial Censor Wang Yanling persuaded Xu Yongqing to reveal evidence of the King of Shu’s crimes, while Li Yan learned that the King of Shu’s turn toward brutality may have begun with Lu Sheng. The chapter ends with Nie Third Aunt reaching a hidden residence in Chengdu’s Mass Burial Grounds.

• Wang Yanling revealed that he had once been imprisoned for accusing the King of Shu, convincing Xu Yongqing to testify against him.
• Xu Yongqing recited evidence linking the King of Shu to disasters, arson, occult practices, and the deaths of miners, then said he had rewritten the burned account book.
• Wang Yanling told Li Yan that Yuan Feng had asked him to look after him and gave him a warrant to collect gunpowder.
• After Li Yan left, Wang Yanling explained that the King of Shu’s immortality-seeking had crossed a taboo and connected the southwest war to the murder of the Yang family heir in Chengdu.
• Li Yan secretly listened to Wang Yanling and Xu Yongqing, then suspected Lu Sheng was the key to the King of Shu’s change three years earlier.
• Nie Third Aunt reached the Mass Burial Grounds and found the hidden House of Accumulated Virtue.