Chapter Summaries

Third Aunt and the Shu King’s other agents argued over their failed operation against Li Yan, then received orders to protect the Prince and prevent the Yang Family’s remnants from reaching Chengdu. Li Yan trained through the morning, learned that the city’s demonic forces were closing in, and left the government office wary of the coming New Year.

• At the House of Accumulated Virtue in the Northern Suburb Mass Burial Grounds, Third Aunt blamed Situ Qian and Bai Qi Hong for the disastrous attack on the Cheng Family Gold and Silver Shop.
• Ba Dai Zha ordered Situ Qian and Bai Qi Hong to enter the royal residence and protect the Prince, while Tian Qi Ye and Duo Ji Zha Xi were told to eliminate the two who had left the Dragon Worship Sect.
• Ba Dai Zha told Third Aunt that the Open Sea Faction was moving and that the Yang Family’s remnants must not be allowed to reach Chengdu alive.
• Li Yan practiced the Ten Great Coil Exercises of Red Fist, startling the nearby Bagua Gate disciples with the thunderous sounds of his cultivation.
• Li Yan ate breakfast and spoke with Dong Cunshan, who warned him that the demonic atmosphere in Chengdu was heavy and that the Bagua Gate could only protect Imperial Censor Wang.
• Li Yan left the government office during the Kitchen God Festival, heard rumors that the Xu family had burned to death, and worried that the coming New Year would be difficult.

After learning that King of Shu had feigned illness and returned to youth, Xiao Jinghong agreed to oppose his father, and Li Yan joined him at the Kitchen God Festival ceremony. The party entered Shu King Residence, where the princes and princesses confronted Xiao Jinghong over his secrecy.

• Li Yan reported the battle at Xu Residence and the strange movements around the City God Temple to Xiao Jinghong, Ming Shanzi, and the others.
• Ming Shanzi identified the City God Temple formation as likely tampered with, and Cao Yuanhuai pointed out that the Black Feather Guard and death warriors had probably been stationed outside the city.
• Xiao Jinghong accepted that King of Shu was rebelling and agreed to cooperate with Imperial Censor Wang, while Ming Shanzi warned that King of Shu had to die without Xiao Jinghong killing him himself.
• Xiao Jinghong invited Li Yan to attend the Kitchen God Festival rites at Shu King Residence, and Li Yan arranged for Sha LiFei and Lu San to gather gunpowder and news while Wu Ba protected Wang Dao Xuan.
• Li Yan disguised himself as Xiao Jinghong's steward and accompanied the party into Shu King Residence, where the ceremony's rules had changed and the guests were made to wait outside Chengyun Gate.
• The First Prince fixed his attention on Xiao Jinghong and accused him of hiding himself deeply.

During the Kitchen God Festival rites, Xiao Jinghong’s brothers grew suspicious about the King of Shu’s absence, while Li Yan discovered that the Ghost Opera Troupe had infiltrated the Shu King Residence. As the First Prince went to see the Royal Concubine, Li Yan used the ensuing Zhong Kui Dance and a fire distraction to slip away and investigate the palace.

• Xiao Jinghong faced his siblings’ accusations and hinted that the King of Shu might not be as ill as everyone believed.
• The sacrificial procession and Kitchen God ceremony took place without the King of Shu appearing, and the royal family remained uneasy.
• At the banquet, the First Prince demanded to see the Royal Concubine and was told he could visit after performing the Zhong Kui Dance.
• Li Yan recognized Situ Qian as Zhong Kui and silently told Ming Shanzi that the Ghost Opera Troupe was hiding in the Shu King Residence.
• After the dance, Ming Shanzi used the Cheng clan’s Celestial Step to distract onlookers while Li Yan hid in the hall’s rafters and prepared to investigate.
• Ming Shanzi set the hall’s curtains alight, and amid the commotion Li Yan vanished into the palace under cover of the Outer Altar Eight Generals’ black mist.

Li Yan infiltrated the Shu King Residence and discovered that the King of Shu had stopped honoring the dynasty’s ancestral rites while a Ghost Opera Troupe member used a paper figure to manipulate the First Prince. As Situ Qian and her companions gathered, Li Yan learned that the King of Shu might have vanished from the palace, and his tally hook suddenly heated up.

• Li Yan used the Heavenly Official Incantation to drive back the residence’s deities of popular worship and entered the inner palace undetected.
• Li Yan followed the First Prince and saw a Ghost Opera Troupe maid use a paper figure and blood-filled sugar melons to control him.
• The maid compelled the First Prince to forget what he had witnessed and return to the Hall of Inherited Fortune.
• Situ Qian arrived in her Zhong Kui disguise with the Five Ghosts, while her companions said the King of Shu and an old eunuch had disappeared from the palace.
• Li Yan heard the group discuss whether the King of Shu had found an Elixir of Immortality, then felt his tally hook begin to heat up.

Li Yan discovered that Li Wenyuan, a fugitive from the Heavenly Court, was hiding in the Shu King Residence and learned that the King of Shu had been displaced and the residence’s treasures sent to Dujiangyan. Back at the Fifth Prince’s residence, Li Yan and his allies prepared for a major confrontation expected during the martial tournament on the fifteenth.

• Li Yan followed the Gou Ledger’s signal to the Shu King Residence, where a mysterious formation of Five Directions Flags sealed a courtyard in mist.
• Li Yan identified the figure in the mist as Li Wenyuan, who warned Situ Qian that the King of Shu had deceived the Ghost Opera Troupe and sent the residence’s treasures to Dujiangyan.
• After the mist vanished, Situ Qian and Bai Qi Hong suspected the King of Shu had been possessed and decided to stay and observe his plans.
• Li Yan returned to the Hall of Inherited Fortune during the Nuo ritual, then told Xiao Jinghong and his allies that the First Prince was under an Enchantment Curse and two demon practitioners were inside the Shu King Residence.
• Ming Shanzi announced that Qingcheng Mountain would send reinforcements, while Sha LiFei reported that the Yang family’s remnants were being escorted to Chengdu.
• Li Yan concluded that Lu Sheng had arranged the martial tournament as cover for a major plan, and assigned Sha LiFei to prepare for the ritual on the fifteenth while he continued gathering intelligence.

On Dust Sweeping Day, Li Yan investigated the King of Shu’s plans and learned that a water ghost was haunting Fu River Wharf. After hearing the Six Idlers of the Bamboo Grove discuss the King of Shu’s forces and the Divine Land’s grandmasters, Li Yan went to the wharf at night and smelled roasted mutton.

• Wang Dao Xuan swept the Prince’s residence according to Dust Sweeping Day customs while Li Yan and his companions prepared to investigate the King of Shu’s forces.
• Li Yan visited the Fragrant Tea Pavilion, where Liang Yu gave Situ Bo a Grass God Pill and Situ Bo explained the dangerous Hundred Aspects Manual technique his renegade disciple had refined.
• Li Yan warned Liang Yu and Situ Bo about the King of Shu’s southwestern Evil Path allies and Black Feather Guard, then learned of strange incidents at Chengdu’s City God Temple, Qingyang Palace, and Fu River Wharf.
• Liang Yu described reports of a water ghost beating people unconscious at Fu River Wharf, and Li Yan decided to investigate it that night.
• Li Yan listened as Liang Yu and Situ Bo recounted stories of the Divine Land Top Ten Grandmasters, then left Chengdu through the western gate for Fu River Wharf.
• Li Yan arrived at the deserted wharf and caught the smell of roasted mutton.

Li Yan was ambushed at the docks by members of the fractured Yellow Springs Organization, but he defeated them and learned how the group had split apart. He discovered that Tian Qi Ye, a demonic overlord under the King of Shu, had arrived, just as a brocade-clad man carrying mutton emerged from a nearby boat and demanded that the fighting stop.

• Li Yan was trapped in a Southern Dipper Six Stars Soul Locking Array and attacked by a merchant-dressed Living Underworld Messenger and hidden gunmen.
• Li Yan killed the merchant and the other attackers, then captured a Commandery Commandant Office gunman and questioned him about the Yellow Springs Organization.
• The gunman explained that Wu Qu had exposed traitors plotting a bombing, which triggered accusations and caused the Yellow Springs Organization to split apart.
• Li Yan learned that a local boatman had helped conceal the attackers and turned toward the docks, where Tian Qi Ye rose from the water aboard a boat carrying chained Bronze Coffins.
• A bearded man in brocade clothes emerged from a nearby boat with a leg of lamb and angrily demanded that everyone stop fighting.

Li Yan reunited with Yang Chenghua, the reincarnation of Erlang Zhenjun, and learned how incense power had clouded Yang’s sense of identity. After telling him that his protector Taoist Lu had died and warning him of the danger in the Great Luo Dharma Realm, Li Yan asked him to help eliminate the Heavenly Beings and two Ghost Opera Troupes.

• Li Yan and Yang Chenghua fought and killed Water Ghost Artisan Tian Qi Ye, who had been plotting against the Yellow Springs Organization.
• Yang Chenghua explained that the Meishan Brothers had sent Erlang Zhenjun’s true spirit into a concubine’s womb, and that the Ghost Opera Troupe later attacked the Yang residence.
• Yang Chenghua told Li Yan that the growing voices of incense worship had left him unsure whether he was Yang Chenghua, Li Erlang, or the Manifest Saint True Lord.
• Li Yan revealed that an immortal had descended into the mortal world and fused with the Jiang God Great Lord, and Yang Chenghua said he had suspected the old dragon’s involvement.
• Li Yan told Yang Chenghua that Taoist Lu had died, and Yang Chenghua reacted with grief and anger as his appearance began to resemble the divine statue.
• Li Yan asked Yang Chenghua to help destroy the Heavenly Beings and the evil practitioners of the two Ghost Opera Troupes so he could erase his Karmic Obstacle and discover his true self.

Li Yan investigated Qingyang Palace on the day of welcoming the Jade Emperor, suspecting that the palace was concealing demonic trouble. After Daoist Yun Lingzi recognized him and led him away from the crowd, Yun Lingzi revealed that something terrible had happened.

• Li Yan observed the cover-up of Tian Qi Ye's death at Fu River Wharf and left for Qingyang Palace to investigate its role in the growing conflict.
• Li Yan entered Qingyang Palace disguised as a worshipper and sensed that the palace's incense and ritual arrangements suppressed supernatural abilities.
• Li Yan saw that the Laozi statue that had reportedly shed bloody tears had been replaced, and heard a spirit inside a Warrior statue warn, "Demonic evil, retreat!"
• Li Yan watched the Taoists perform the Jade Emperor ritual and realized that its apparent miracle was created through ritual arts.
• Daoist Yun Lingzi recognized Li Yan, led him to a tea room, and grimly told him that something terrible had happened.

Li Yan escaped Qingyang Palace after its Daoists framed him for Yun Lingzi’s murder, while the King of Shu used the accusations to seize control of Chengdu. The chapter ended with Sha LiFei, Wang Dao Xuan, and others meeting the Faceless Young Master in an abandoned warehouse.

• Yun Lingzi told Li Yan that Qingyang Palace’s abbot had covered up strange events and that the palace formation had been altered.
• The King of Shu’s troops and Qingyang Palace swordsmen attacked Li Yan, who fled after the Daoists’ leader killed Yun Lingzi and blamed the murder on him.
• Li Yan used his hook tally to break through Qingyang Palace’s barrier and escaped over its wall; the senior Daoists stopped the pursuit after recognizing him as a Heavenly Official.
• The King of Shu’s soldiers searched Fifth Prince Xiao Jinghong’s residence but failed to find Li Yan, and the Prince condemned his father’s actions.
• The King of Shu mobilized garrisons and the Black Feather Guard, who occupied Chengdu and killed people attempting to flee.
• Sha LiFei thanked the Faceless Young Master in an abandoned warehouse, where Wang Dao Xuan and the others had gathered.

The Faceless Young Master explained that the King of Shu had orchestrated Chengdu’s turmoil to secure the final pieces needed to enter the Dragon Palace Water Mansion, and he pressured Sha LiFei’s group into an alliance. Li Yan entered the occupied city and reached Xiao Jinghong, where he learned the garrison commanders had been bewitched and discovered that the Princess Consort was a living corpse.

• The Faceless Young Master revealed that the King of Shu had secretly prepared to enter the Dragon Palace Water Mansion and needed the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl and another missing item.
• The Faceless Young Master proposed that Sha LiFei’s group join his allies in attacking the King of Shu during the Lantern Festival, then travel together to the Dragon Palace Water Mansion.
• The Faceless Young Master led Sha LiFei, Wang Dao Xuan, and Lu San through an ancient tunnel beneath Chengdu after making clear that leaving the warehouse would expose them to the King of Shu’s forces.
• Li Yan evaded reconnaissance falcons, used Profound Water Escape to enter Chengdu, and reached Xiao Jinghong at the Prince’s Residence.
• Xiao Jinghong told Li Yan that the First Prince had invited military commanders to a banquet where they were bewitched, and Li Yan discovered that the Princess Consort was a living corpse.

Li Yan learned that Xiao Jinghong’s wife had become a living dead through the Willow Ghost Corpse Raising Art, then investigated the King of Shu’s takeover of Chengdu. He reached the Huaiqing Carriage Guild to find his companions, only to spot two Ghost Opera Troupe demon practitioners nearby.

• Li Yan questioned Xiao Jinghong and the Princess Consort, learning that her illness had led her to cultivate the Willow Ghost Corpse Raising Art and that someone had recently urged her to use royal incense to bear a child.
• Li Yan left Xiao Jinghong a coded signal for Ming Shanzi and warned the prince about seeking to prolong the Princess Consort’s life.
• Li Yan investigated the deserted City God Temple and learned that the authorities had sealed it after soldiers arrested people there amid an alleged internal fight among the Daoists.
• Li Yan met Liang Yu, Situ Bo, Lu Qingshan, and Cui Bai at the Fragrant Tea Pavilion, reported finding Tian Qi and Qingyang Palace involved, and asked them to locate his missing companions.
• Lu Qingshan directed Li Yan to the Huaiqing Carriage Guild, where Li Yan recognized Sha LiFei’s scent before seeing two demon practitioners from the Ghost Opera Troupe.

Li Yan discovered that the Shu King’s forces had surrounded the meeting place of Faceless Young Master and the Huaiqing Carriage Guild, where Ghost Opera Troupe experts launched an attack. The allies fought to break through amid gunfire and supernatural techniques, but their escape plan faltered as the Black Feather Guard opened fire.

• Li Yan spotted garrison soldiers and Black Feather Guard squads positioned around Chengdu, then considered how to break through the siege.
• Ghost Opera Troupe members attacked the Huaiqing Carriage Guild shop, and Faceless Young Master urged the gathered allies to escape through a secret passage beneath Lock Dragon Well.
• Bai Qi Hong stopped an attacker’s knives with her Yin Wind, then used the maddened horses and wolf-smoke to disrupt the defenders as gunfire erupted.
• Sha LiFei fired on the Ghost Opera Troupe while Bai Qi Hong’s mourning song staggered the advancing allies, but Sha LiFei resisted it with a Buddhist prayer bracelet and Xie Huaiqing countered with a mantra.
• Faceless Young Master confronted Situ Qian outside the shop, but Bai Qi Hong’s technique had slowed the allies, and the Black Feather Guard began firing on them.

Li Yan helped the Faceless Young Master’s faction break through the Black Feather Guard’s encirclement, forcing Situ Qian and Bai Qi Hong to retreat before the garrison arrived. The group escaped through an old secret passage, where the Faceless Young Master revealed that it led to the Shu King Residence and said Li Yan would need his help to deal with the King of Shu.

• Tang Ling performed a firearm ritual and fired into the Black Feather Guard, creating an opening for the trapped fighters.
• Li Yan attacked the guards, joined forces with Cui San Dao and the others, and led them toward the remaining enemy groups.
• Li Yan and the Faceless Young Master trapped Situ Qian with gunfire and metal wires, but Bai Qi Hong rescued him after Sha LiFei blasted apart his leg.
• As garrison soldiers approached, the Faceless Young Master led Li Yan, Sha LiFei, Xie Huaiqing, Tang Ling, and the others into a secret passage and collapsed its entrance behind them.
• The Faceless Young Master revealed that the passage led to the Shu King Residence and told Li Yan he would need his help to deal with the King of Shu.

Li Yan joined Faceless Young Master’s faction in plotting against the King of Shu, then reunited with Wang Dao Xuan and learned how the King controlled the garrisons. After the Fragrant Tea Pavilion was destroyed, Li Yan sought a way to reach the Chengdu Prefecture yamen and discovered the Salt Gang was distributing gifts to draw Chengdu’s residents into the streets.

• Faceless Young Master led Li Yan and the others through a Salt Gang passage to a hidden base in Yu King Temple, where Li Yan reunited with Wang Dao Xuan and the others.
• Faceless Young Master and Tang Ling discussed how to counter the King of Shu’s firearms, and Tang Ling proposed finding and detonating the New-Style Gunpowder stores.
• Li Yan told Wang Dao Xuan and the others that Lu Sheng was pursuing the Nine Cauldrons and that the King of Shu controlled the garrisons through a Bewitching Soul Spell.
• Faceless Young Master revealed that the Fragrant Tea Pavilion had been burned after garrison soldiers surrounded it, while Xie Huaiqing identified the captured coachman as a Salt Gang spy.
• Li Yan learned that no underground passage reached the Chengdu Prefecture yamen, then saw the Salt Gang distributing gifts to Chengdu’s residents in the streets.

Li Yan investigated the King of Shu’s actions after diviners warned that the first month’s fifteenth day would bring a calamity to the gods. He discovered that the Shu King’s forces had surrounded the Chengdu Prefecture government office, where Imperial Censor Wang was holding the Gunpowder Depot against them.

• Zhai TianBao ordered Salt Gang men to distribute goods throughout Chengdu Prefecture to restore the festive atmosphere and calm the people.
• Li Yan and the others inspected the free goods, while Iron Calculator Daoist and Wang Dao Xuan independently divined a great calamity on the fifteenth day, when incense offerings were forbidden.
• Li Yan disguised himself and scouted the city, finding checkpoints around the Shu King Residence and soldiers and hired martial artists surrounding the Chengdu Prefecture government office.
• Li Yan recognized Feng Lao Hai, who explained that his former Salt Gang allies had been bought off and that he had returned to the gang while looking for an opportunity to break away.
• Feng Lao Hai told Li Yan that Imperial Censor Wang was guarding the Gunpowder Depot with a torch, and that an expert was expected to storm the government office that night.

Li Yan entered Chengdu Prefecture's office and warned Imperial Censor Wang that the Shu King planned to attack that night, but Wang chose to hold the gunpowder warehouse until a military ceremony could restore control of the army. Meanwhile, Nie Third Aunt repaired Situ Qian's leg and revealed that Cheng JianXin had been weakened and was being pursued by Ba Dai Zha.

• Feng Lao Hai helped Li Yan enter Chengdu Prefecture's office, where Dong Cunshan secretly led him to Imperial Censor Wang.
• Li Yan told Imperial Censor Wang that the Shu King was likely possessed and that the Ghost Opera Troupe's spell could be undone to reclaim the army's generals.
• Li Yan warned that the Shu King planned to attack that night, but Imperial Censor Wang refused to abandon the gunpowder warehouse and relied on Cloud Daoist to defend it.
• Nie Third Aunt used insects to attach a wooden prosthetic leg to Situ Qian and warned him to feed the insects a five-paced viper each day.
• Nie Third Aunt told Situ Qian that Cheng JianXin had become a blind, weakened old Taoist and that Ba Dai Zha was pursuing him, then Situ Qian revealed the Netherworld Stage.

Situ Qian and Nie Third Aunt used the Ghost Opera Troupe’s Netherworld Stage to perform the forbidden Yin Nuo Opera, unleashing a deadly formation across Chengdu Prefecture. Li Yan and Imperial Censor Wang’s group resisted its evil wind, but as the opera’s power grew, Baiyun urged them to flee along the Northern Dipper stars while he guarded the altar.

• Situ Qian showed Nie Third Aunt the Netherworld Stage and suggested that the King of Shu had emptied his treasury rather than pay the troupe, prompting them to consider joining forces.
• Eunuch Liu delivered the Prince’s order to kill their targets without causing too much commotion, and Situ Qian set up the Netherworld Stage with Nie Third Aunt directing the operation.
• Situ Qian and Bai Qi Hong began the Yin Nuo Opera, summoning black mist and Bi Wind that overwhelmed soldiers and spread through Chengdu Prefecture.
• Li Yan, Imperial Censor Wang, Dong Cunshan, Jinghai Zen Master, and Baiyun defended themselves near the Gunpowder Depot with an altar and Seven-Star Dharma Banners.
• Bai Qi Hong’s opera overwhelmed Jinghai Zen Master, who charged into the fog, while Baiyun warned that the Three Yin Generals and Blood Basin Holy Mother could follow.
• Baiyun told Imperial Censor Wang’s group to escape by following the Northern Dipper stars while he stayed behind to protect the altar.

Wandering Cloud Old Taoist fought the Three Yin Generals but lost consciousness after the ritual altar was destroyed. Li Yan led Imperial Censor Wang and the others out of the prefectural office, then prepared to break the Netherworld Stage formation as the Ghost Opera Troupe summoned the Blood Basin Holy Mother.

• Wandering Cloud Old Taoist used a life-risking technique to burn two of the Three Yin Generals, but the remaining puppet and sinister wind overwhelmed him and destroyed the ritual altar.
• Li Yan led the group through the prefectural office gate, where garrison soldiers shot and killed Zhu Zi before Li Yan counterattacked and opened a path.
• Li Yan gathered the group in the street and handed Dong Cunshan two packs of explosives, while the White Cloud Temple Daoists set up a protective formation.
• A White Cloud Temple Daoist explained that they needed to destroy the Three Yin Generals and then suppress the Blood Basin Holy Mother to break the formation.
• Situ Qian and Bai Qi Hong summoned the Blood Basin Holy Mother after the Three Yin Generals' spirit tablets burned, while Li Yan prepared his remaining Celestial Decree.

Li Yan used the Divine Transformation Method and thunder magic to defeat the Blood Basin Holy Mother possessing Bai Qi Hong, then killed Nie Third Aunt and broke the Netherworld Stage array. Worn down but still moving, he led Dong Cunshan and the others toward an escape route through the Imperial River Waterway as heretical sorcerers and garrison soldiers arrived.

• The Blood Basin Holy Mother’s manifestation terrified the people near the Netherworld Stage, and Nie Third Aunt explained that the evil god had been created through worship and ritual performances.
• After Li Yan destroyed the Three Yin Generals of the Altar, the Blood Basin Holy Mother emerged, and he summoned his generals and used the Divine Transformation Method to confront it.
• Li Yan identified Bai Qi Hong as the Holy Mother’s Spirit Medium and fought her blood mist while the White Cloud Temple Daoists maintained their protective formation.
• Situ Qian gave Nie Third Aunt a bronze bell that let her pass through the Netherworld Stage, and she joined the fight by throwing a phosphorus-fire bomb at Li Yan.
• Li Yan used thunder magic to drive back the Blood Basin Holy Mother, forcing Bai Qi Hong to flee into a well, then killed Nie Third Aunt when she attacked him.
• The Netherworld Stage array collapsed, and Li Yan gave Dong Cunshan a blueprint and ordered the group to escape through the hidden conduit and Imperial River Waterway as soldiers and heretical sorcerers approached.