Chapter Summaries

Li Yan used the Fengdu Examination Summons Great Method to track down and execute the Ditch Snake Master, Chen Hui, ending the spell that endangered Sha LiFei. After Zhang Tiankui returned with a letter, he asked Li Yan whether the Silkworm Mother had appeared again, revealing her other name as Lady Lei Yin.

• After the Six Ding Six Jia Talisman shattered, Li Yan placed the Dragon Snake Plate around the unconscious Sha LiFei and began preparing a Fengdu summoning ritual.
• Li Yan summoned the Inner Altar Eight Generals, used Sha LiFei's affliction to trace the demon, and sent Marshal Che Zi and Marshal Xia Kui with soldiers and horses after it.
• As venomous snakes swarmed the hillside, Li Yan told Zhang Tiankui to destroy the banners outside an abandoned Mountain God Temple on the southeastern peak.
• Zhang Tiankui resisted the demon's offers, broke its banner, and released the Fengdu darkness that crushed the temple and captured the Ditch Snake Master, Chen Hui.
• With Chen Hui's spell broken, Sha LiFei stabilized, and Zhang Tiankui returned with a dusty letter asking whether the Silkworm Mother, also known as Lady Lei Yin, had appeared again.

Li Yan learned that Lei Yin had cursed the Zhang family for generations and helped Long Yan'er treat Zhang Tiankui’s son, but Lei Yin sabotaged the cure from afar. A secret letter then revealed that Lei Yin had obtained the Yangzhou Cauldron and was leading cult followers and demons toward Jinling.

• Zhang Tiankui explained that his ancestor had sacrificed Su E, whose curse had haunted the Zhang family for three hundred years, and revealed that his eldest son was afflicted with Silkworm Zombie Disease.
• Long Yan'er tested the curse with a Gu worm and found that ordinary medicine and spiritual force could not remove it.
• With Li Yan’s permission, Long Yan'er prepared nine leech Gu and began drawing the curse from Zhang Tiankui’s son, briefly reducing the white fuzz on his body.
• Lei Yin’s distant will struck Long Yan'er, destroyed the leeches, and caused the young man’s curse to worsen; Li Yan realized the hook register had revealed Lei Yin’s identity and weakness.
• Li Yan received a secret letter reporting that Lei Yin had rebelled at Taihu Lake and was marching on Jinling after obtaining the Yangzhou Cauldron.

Li Yan and his companions captured Cocoon Clothes Cult followers and learned that Lady Lei Yin had used the Yangzhou Cauldron to threaten Jinling and the lower Yangtze River basin. They reached a heavily militarized Jinling City, where they discovered that Tian Chiliarch had died and the Lin trading company had been imprisoned.

• Wang Dao Xuan and his companions used Long Yan'er's Sesame Gu to make the captured Greenwood Path villains reveal their ties to Lady Lei Yin's Cocoon Clothes Cult.
• One captive explained that the cult had transported a rapidly growing, silk-spitting monster to Taihu and that Lei Yin planned to use the Yangzhou Cauldron to threaten Jinling with seismic upheaval.
• Li Yan and his companions traveled toward Jinling through increasingly strict military checkpoints and saw the city preparing for war.
• Li Yan led the group to the City God Temple, where Zhang Jingqing told them that Tian Chiliarch had died during the journey and all twenty-seven members of the Lin trading company were imprisoned.
• Zhang Jingqing said that Lin's master had accused Vice Minister Zhou of colluding with the Maitreya Sect to ambush imperial troops before being thrown into prison.

Li Yan and his companions found the Jinling City God Temple and the Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild unwilling to help with the Lin Family crisis, then accepted an invitation from the Golden Swallow Gate. As Li Yan approached Qi Yan Tower for the meeting, his Hook Warrant detected the missing immortal Zhou Yinyao inside.

• Zhang Jingqing explained that Dragon Tiger Mountain lacked manpower and support, then asked the Twelve Yuan Chen to help maintain order in Jinling; Li Yan reserved his answer.
• Li Yan chose the Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild as a place to stay, but Manager Wang refused to discuss the Lin Family upheaval or offer help.
• A Golden Swallow Gate invitation summoned Li Yan to Qi Yan Tower, and he decided to attend while his companions provided support outside.
• Li Yan traveled by boat along the Qinhuai River to Qi Yan Tower and sensed a Yin criminal within.
• Li Yan recognized the Yin criminal as the missing immortal Zhou Yinyao.

Li Yan confronted Zhou Yinyao at Qi Yan Tower, where Zhou admitted that Lei Yin had coerced him into revealing the Yangzhou Cauldron’s location and proposed a Dragon Offering Ceremony to help suppress the demonic chaos. Li Yan agreed to let Zhou mediate the Lin family’s release, and the chapter ended with Zhou revealing that the Da Li Bronze Bell was on its way to Jinling to aid the ritual.

• Li Yan entered Qi Yan Tower, where Wang Lu led him to meet Murong Yan and Zhou Yinyao while Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei watched from outside.
• Li Yan accused Zhou Yinyao of revealing the Yangzhou Cauldron’s location to Lei Yin, and Zhou admitted that she had abducted his disciples and forced him to disclose it.
• Murong Yan said the Gusu Lu Family and Qiantang Xie Family were moving against the Lin Family, but were not responsible for Tian Chiliarch’s death; she also assured Li Yan that the Young Master of the Lin family was alive.
• Zhou Yinyao offered to use his ties to Jiangnan lineages to secure Master Lin and the others’ release, and Li Yan agreed to overlook Zhou’s past if he succeeded.
• Zhou Yinyao proposed gathering Jiangnan’s Taoist lineages for a Dragon Offering Ceremony to stabilize the land’s veins and enable the imperial court to confront the Taihu Lake demonic chaos.
• Zhou Yinyao explained that the ceremony required the Da Li Bronze Bell, which was already being brought to Jinling.

Li Yan secured the release of Fatty Lin, Kong Shangzhao, and Kuai Dayou, then learned that the powerful Lu and Xie Families were behind the accusations against the Lin Family. As Fatty Lin recounted Tian Chiliarch’s death by a strange, mind-bewitching wind, Li Yan suspected the Cocoon Clothes Cult and resolved to find the missing Colonel Zhou.

• Zhou Yinyao asked Li Yan to help protect the Dragon-Casting ceremony from the Jianmu Demon Man, and Li Yan agreed after learning the prisoners could be released.
• Wang Lu escorted Li Yan into the prefectural prison, where he freed Fatty Lin, Kong Shangzhao, and Kuai Dayou from their cangues and talisman needles.
• Li Yan’s companions followed them back to the Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild, where Fatty Lin explained the power of the Lu and Xie Families and their conflict with the Lin Family.
• Fatty Lin described how an uncanny wind had swept through the camp and reduced Tian Chiliarch to a skeleton while bewitching the Xuan Gate People.
• Kong Shangzhao said Tian Chiliarch had argued with his brother-in-law, Colonel Zhou, about Zhou’s weaver clansmen, leading Li Yan to suspect the Cocoon Clothes Cult and plan to search for Zhou after daybreak.

Li Yan and his companions followed a military register to Locust Tree Village, where they discovered that Zhou Dayong and the villagers were afflicted by a silkworm curse. After fighting off the village’s parasitized inhabitants, they demanded that Zhou explain how Tian Chiliarch died.

• Chiliarch Zhou helped Li Yan obtain a military register stating that Zhou Dayong had been demoted and sent to his family’s village after Tian Chiliarch’s death.
• Li Yan’s group traveled to Locust Tree Village, where a boatman described the hardships imposed on local weavers and the villagers warned the newcomers to leave.
• Long Yan’er recognized signs of the Silkworm Zombie Curse on the villagers, and the group followed a limping old man to Zhou Dayong’s house.
• Long Yan’er exposed living silkworm threads in the food, prompting Zhou Dayong to attack Li Yan and the villagers to ambush the group.
• Lu San’s venomous bees and Sha LiFei’s gun helped the group defeat the attacking villagers, while Kuai Dayou, Fatty Lin, and Kong Shangzhao pursued the fleeing old man.
• Li Yan confronted the captured Colonel Zhou and demanded to know how Tian Chiliarch died, but Zhou denounced the group as imperial hounds.

Li Yan’s group uncovered how the Cocoon Clothes Cult had cursed villagers and harvested silk from their bodies, while Zhou Dayong revealed his role in Tian Chiliarch’s death and identified the cult’s local leader. After Zhou left to seek revenge, Li Yan’s group set out for Jinling City to rescue the remaining members of the Lin Family and confront those responsible.

• Li Yan’s group questioned Zhou Dayong and the lame old man, learning that the village had worshiped the Silkworm Goddess after a plague and that the Divine Silkworms’ curse had numbed the villagers to their suffering.
• Long Yan'er drew silk from Zhou Dayong’s wife and children, revealing their severe condition, and gave Zhou Dayong Heavenly Incense Powder so they could die peacefully.
• Zhou Dayong led Li Yan’s group to a cavern beneath the ancestral hall, where they found villagers trapped in cocoons and giant Divine Silkworms producing unusually durable silk.
• Li Yan identified the statue as Lei Yin, and Zhou Dayong revealed that Old Man Lin, a member of a Ghost Opera Troupe, had tricked him into ringing a bell that caused Tian Chiliarch to fall asleep.
• Zhou Dayong left to kill people, while Li Yan led his group back toward Jinling City to rescue the rest of the Lin Family and confront those behind the cult.

Li Yan forced Jinling’s officials to confront evidence linking the Cocoon Clothes Cult to Tian Chiliarch’s murder and the Lin Family case, while Qiu Mingyuan and Chu Zhenyue arrived with imperial authority. The Lin Family investigation was postponed until after the Dragon Offering Ceremony, and Li Yan uncovered a possible deeper secret involving silver mines in Japanese lands.

• Li Yan confronted Jinling officials over the Locust Tree Village massacre, Tian Chiliarch’s murder, and their obstruction of the Lin Family case.
• Evidence from Zhou Dayong’s letters implicated the Cocoon Clothes Cult in the village killings and Tian Chiliarch’s murder, prompting Zheng Chiliarch to demand a broader investigation.
• Qiu Mingyuan and Chu Zhenyue arrived with an imperial edict and military order, compelling the officials to cooperate with Li Yan.
• Qiu Mingyuan proposed securing the Lin Family members and postponing a full investigation until after the Dragon Offering Ceremony, and Li Yan accepted.
• Xie Yunzhi directed the Jinling faction to borrow silver, cover their shortfall, and destroy records while concealing their dealings in Japanese lands.
• Lu San and Li Yan overheard the faction’s plans, and Li Yan suspected the Lin Family case concealed a deeper secret and returned to the Commandery Commandant Office.

Li Yan and the others uncovered evidence that the Lin Family had secretly funded esoteric craftsmen and Treasure Hunters, possibly tied to Tian Chiliang’s murder. As Jinling’s demon practitioners launched coordinated attacks ahead of the Dragon Offering Ceremony, local forces fought them across the city, and an earthquake struck as the chapter ended.

• A Lin Family collateral-branch member reported that Lin Yaozu’s steward paid unfamiliar craftsmen, one of whom was identified as Chen Crippled Hand, a wanted esoteric craftsman.
• Li Yan, Kuai Dayou, and Sha LiFei suspected the funds supported a sinister formation and might be connected to Tian Chiliang’s murder, while Qiu Mingyuan thanked Li Yan and pledged to pursue the guilty officials.
• A constable reported riots and Silkworm Zombie Curse attacks across Jinling, and Li Yan led the others out to respond.
• Wang Laosi raised the alarm when a Ghost Opera Troupe member infected a well, and Tiger Gate Order Taoists fought the demon practitioner and freed controlled citizens.
• Demon performers attacked the water sluice and Zhengyang Gate, while Meishan Sect magicians, garrison troops, and Maoshan cultivators fought them off.
• The Maoshan leader dismissed the attacks as a last stand, but an earthquake shook Jinling and brought down roofs as cries of “The earth dragon is turning over!” rose through the city.

Jinling narrowly escaped an earthquake attack when Lei Yin’s attempt to use the Yangzhou Cauldron stopped abruptly, while unrest, curses, and political tensions continued to threaten the city. As the sects prepared the Nine Dragons Lock Abyss Grand Formation, Li Yan’s group set out to reinforce the escort carrying the Da Li Bronze Bell.

• The earth shook across Jinling before stopping suddenly, and Li Yan helped capture Ghost Opera Troupe members who said Lei Yin’s planned attack had failed for an unknown reason.
• Weavers driven to desperation by taxes gathered at a public well and cast silken threads into it, while Zhang Jingqing learned that Qiu Mingyuan had arrested Silk Weaving Bureau officials.
• Qiu Mingyuan confronted local officials and the Lu and Xie families over the arrests, insisting that corruption had worsened the demonic crisis.
• Zhou Yinyao outlined the Nine Dragons Lock Abyss Grand Formation and assigned Li Yan and the Twelve Yuan Chen to help escort the Da Li Bronze Bell.
• Daoist Priest Qingwei reported that Lei Yin had been badly injured by backlash while trying to refine the Yangzhou Cauldron, but organized Rampaging Soldiers attacked the bronze bell convoy.
• Li Yan led the Twelve Yuan Chen and a musket squad out of Jinling at night to reinforce the convoy.

Li Yan and his allies defeated the heretics attacking the fleet that carried the Da Li Bronze Bell to Jinling, completing the Dragon Offering Ceremony’s core preparations. As the city awaited the auspicious hour, Old Man Lin met with Hundred Bones True Man and Corpse Clothes Granny near the Mass Burial Grounds.

• The One-Eyed Taoist and his battered fleet were surrounded by Rampaging Soldiers and Ghost Ships while transporting the Da Li Bronze Bell toward Jinling.
• Wu Ba blasted the Ghost Ships with the Tiger Crouching Cannon, and Wang Dao Xuan summoned the Five Camps of Soldiers and Horses to protect the fleet.
• Li Yan, Lu San, and Long Yan'er attacked the Jiangnan heretics behind the assault, while the Commandery Commandant Office's forces routed their accomplices in the forest.
• The fleet reached Jinling, and the Da Li Bronze Bell was taken to Qixia Mountain Taoist Temple, completing the Dragon Offering Ceremony’s core components.
• At the Mass Burial Grounds, Old Man Lin greeted Hundred Bones True Man and Corpse Clothes Granny, who had emerged from seclusion for the coming battle.

Hundred Bones True Man and Corpse Clothes Granny took over Jianmu’s operation in Jinling, while the Ghost Opera Troupe leader arrived seeking entry into the Holy Sect. With Zhang Jingxuan and other Daoist leaders racing to Jinling, the villains ordered the troupe leader to eliminate Li Yan; meanwhile, Li Yan received a royal invitation that might conceal a move by the Lu and Xie families.

• Hundred Bones True Man and Corpse Clothes Granny took command after Lady Lei Yin was injured, and the Ghost Opera Troupe leader arrived to help Jianmu and prove himself worthy of the Holy Sect.
• Old Man Lin reported that Zhang Jingxuan and other Daoist leaders were heading to Jinling, leaving Jianmu about three days before they arrived.
• Old Man Lin warned the group that Li Yan, a Living Underworld Messenger, threatened their plans, so Hundred Bones True Man assigned the troupe leader to kill him before the Dragon Offering Ceremony.
• Li Yan and his allies learned that Zhang Jingxuan was coming to reinforce the Daoist factions and protect the formation at Qixia Mountain.
• A messenger delivered Li Yan an invitation to the Jinling royal palace’s birthday banquet, and Li Yan agreed to attend after suspecting the Lu and Xie families were involved.

Li Yan rejected King of Jinling’s attempt to reconcile him with the Lu and Xie Families, and Zhou Dayong’s suicide bombing devastated the royal banquet. While Li Yan was held at the palace for questioning, the Ghost Opera Troupe attacked the Commandery Commandant Office, where its Ghost-Faced Rakshasa and Blood Hand Scholar appeared.

• King of Jinling tried to persuade Li Yan to settle past grievances with the Lu and Xie Families, but Li Yan refused and questioned why the prince was mediating.
• Zhou Dayong disguised himself as a servant and detonated a Thunderfire Mechanism beside Fifth Master Xie, killing Xie and leaving Third Master Lu and King of Jinling gravely affected.
• Qiu Mingyuan sealed the palace and asked Li Yan to remain there while the attack was investigated; Li Yan agreed.
• A gray fog and illusion formation put the Commandery Commandant Office guards to sleep, while phosphorus-coated paper figures attacked the officers and were driven back by Wang Dao Xuan’s ritual.
• The Ghost-Faced Rakshasa and Blood Hand Scholar appeared atop the office wall and vanished into the fog when Sha LiFei fired at them.

The Ghost Opera Troupe attacked the Twelve Yuan Chen at the Commandery Commandant Office, and the defenders struggled against its puppets and fiends. An Earth Immortal abducted Wang Dao Xuan and Lu San, leaving a demand for Li Yan to bring the Soul-Fetching Iron Tablet to Hongxiao Workshop by the Qinhuai River one day later.

• Wang Dao Xuan identified the Ghost-Faced Rakshasa and Blood Hand Scholar as core Ghost Opera Troupe members and warned that the attack likely targeted the team as leverage against Li Yan.
• The Ghost-Faced Rakshasa sent corpse puppets into the Commandery Commandant Office while her Netherworld Stage illusion disrupted the defenders’ attacks.
• Kuai Dayou discovered that a buried monster silkworm controlled the puppets with threads, and Wu Ba exposed it so Sha LiFei could destroy it and reveal the Rakshasa’s true body.
• The Blood Hand Scholar seized Sha LiFei with cursed hands as Old Man Lin’s birds attacked from above; Wang Dao Xuan’s ritual flames freed Sha LiFei, but the disturbance weakened the Fengdu Banner formation.
• An Yin Soul patrol appeared, knocked Wang Dao Xuan and Lu San unconscious, and carried them away; a scroll demanded that Li Yan bring the Soul-Fetching Iron Tablet to Hongxiao Workshop at Zi Hour the next day.

After Wang Dao Xuan and Lu San were abducted, Li Yan and his companions investigated the scheme and learned that their intended meeting place, Hongxiao Workshop, was a sealed Secret Realm. Li Yan refused to abandon his companions, and Kong Shangzhao ended the chapter with a possible lead tied to Zhao Changsheng’s former life.

• Li Yan rejected Qiu Mingyuan’s warning to give up the arrest warrant and instead pressed him to investigate the plot behind the Prince De’s Residence banquet.
• Kuai Dayou examined the Thunderfire Mechanism fragments and identified the work of Chen Sanxiang, also known as Deaf-Ear Lu Ban, giving Qiu Mingyuan clues to search for him in Jinling.
• Kong Shangzhao warned that powerful people in Jinling might be colluding with the demon practitioners, then suggested using an escaped Living Underworld Messenger to help rescue the captives.
• Li Yan revealed that his authority as a Living Underworld Messenger let him summon Netherworld troops without an arrest warrant, but said they still had to find Hongxiao Workshop before the deal that night.
• Murong Yan explained that Hongxiao Workshop was a sealed Secret Realm on the Qinhuai River, and Wang Lu relayed her master’s advice to consider abandoning the captives; Li Yan refused.
• Kong Shangzhao recalled that Zhao Changsheng had once been Zhang HuaiSu, leader of the Great Song Ghost Sect, and hinted that his past connection to Jinling might offer a lead.

Li Yan and his companions prepared to confront the Cocoon Clothes Cult, uncovered the location of the formation’s vulnerable point at Lock Dragon Well, and planned to disrupt Hongxiao Workshop. As a storm broke, enemies used a water-escape technique to appear in Li Yan’s courtyard, leaving the impending battle underway.

• Kong Shangzhao recalled Zhang HuaiSu’s rebellion and searched the Commandery Commandant Office archives with Long Yan’er, finding clues that linked the Li Fire Yin Locking Formation to the Yan Zhi River and Lock Dragon Well.
• Sha LiFei, Kuai Dayou, and Fatty Lin secretly prepared explosive jars and mechanical fire crows using Divine Silkworm Silk for the night’s fight.
• Li Yan meditated and prepared his ritual artifacts while his spirit pets returned, worried about Lu San and the others who had been abducted.
• Kong Shangzhao and Long Yan’er reported that Zhao Changsheng had likely set a live latch near Lock Dragon Well, which could affect Hongxiao Workshop, and Li Yan ordered the group to investigate after nightfall.
• As a torrential storm began, Qiu Mingyuan worried that the rain would hinder his search, while Li Yan sensed figures appearing in his courtyard through a Water-escape Yuan Guang Technique.

Li Yan pursued the Old Woman’s misty figure toward the Netherworld while Qiu Mingyuan imposed a curfew and Kong Shangzhao’s team uncovered a dangerous well. Li Yan followed a red lantern into a strange realm where his physical body could enter, leaving him uncertain what awaited him.

• The Old Woman’s mist figure challenged Li Yan’s group to follow, and Li Yan used the North Emperor Swift Travel Technique to pursue it.
• Kong Shangzhao explained his suspicions to Qiu Mingyuan, who ordered Jinling sealed under curfew to cut off the Cocoon Clothes Cult’s informants.
• Kong Shangzhao led Qiu Mingyuan’s men to Lock Dragon Well, where they blasted open the basalt cover and discovered a foul, cold aura and the smell of lamp oil.
• Sha LiFei, Wu Ba, Long Yan'er, Kuai Dayou, and their allies waited aboard warships on the Outer Qinhuai River for Li Yan’s signal.
• Li Yan followed the Old Woman through corpse-scented fog and pursued a red lantern, realizing he had entered a strange place in his physical body.

Li Yan was trapped inside the Hongxiao Workshop Secret Realm, where a staged vision of the Southern Song’s collapse tried to drown him in despair. As Lu San waited for his tampered Demon Gourd to become useful and Kong Shangzhao destroyed the bronze mirror at Lock Dragon Well, Li Yan broke through the illusion’s melancholy and faced the ghostly guests.

• Li Yan boarded the Hongxiao Workshop and found himself trapped in an illusion as Luo Yuan, a drunken wanderer of the final years of the Great Song Dynasty, unable to use his usual powers.
• Li Yan witnessed revelers discussing the Southern Song’s military defeats and corruption, while the singing girl’s despair and the guests’ indulgence intensified the illusion’s hold on him.
• At the riverside, the Ghost Opera Troupe’s master, Corpse Clothes Granny, Hundred Bones True Man, and Old Man Lin watched Li Yan through the Yuan Guang Technique and discussed how the Secret Realm had been cultivated from centuries of suffering.
• Old Man Lin took Lu San’s Demon Gourd into the woods to refine it, while Lu San pretended to remain unconscious and waited for the tampering he and Sha LiFei had prepared to take effect.
• Kong Shangzhao’s men hauled the blackened workers and bronze mirror from Lock Dragon Well, and Kong Shangzhao destroyed the mirror, causing thunder and disrupting the illusion.
• Li Yan denounced the ghosts of the fallen country and shattered the despair surrounding him, prompting every figure in the cabin to turn toward him.

Li Yan broke free of Hongxiao Workshop’s illusion and rescued Wang Dao Xuan and Lu San from the Cocoon Clothes Cult’s trap, but the cult escaped with the Underworld Writ. After Li Yan sent a beacon for help, the Netherworld Criminals began their assault, leaving him facing Hundred Bones True Man’s curse.

• Li Yan used the Northern Emperor Body Protection Incantation to destroy Hongxiao Workshop’s illusion and found Wang Dao Xuan and Lu San captive on a nearby boat.
• Li Yan gave the Underworld Writ to the Cocoon Clothes Cult, then Long Yan’er’s Sesame Gu infected the cultists and forced them into agony.
• Corpse Clothes Granny’s corpse poison turned the cultists into Walking Corpses, who dragged Lu San into the river; Li Yan used the Heavenly Thunder Demon Subduing Hammer to free him.
• The ferry escaped into the darkness with the Underworld Writ, so Li Yan rescued Lu San and fired a beacon that Sha LiFei and the warships saw.
• Hundred Bones True Man, the Ghost Opera Troupe, and Corpse Clothes Granny prepared to attack, while Old Man Lin remained occupied refining the Demon Gourd.
• Hundred Bones True Man cast a curse against Li Yan, causing red skull-shaped blotches to appear on his arms as Li Yan recited the body-protection incantation.