Chapter Summaries

Lin Taichu returned to the Healing Immortal Medical Hall, rested, and treated several patients, but a contemptuous man in blue repeatedly criticized his methods. Elder Li, Hall Master Zhou, and Elder Wang identified the stranger as Su Mingyuan, a former gifted disciple of the medical hall.

• Lin Taichu heard that the Healing Immortal Medical Hall's reputation had improved and rested after returning from the Kunlun Sect.
• Lin Taichu treated a convulsing emergency patient and waived the consultation fee.
• A man in blue mocked Lin Taichu's medical skills and returned over the following days to watch and criticize his treatments.
• The man criticized Lin Taichu's acupuncture while he treated a patient with palpitations, prompting Wang Xiaohu to defend him.
• Lin Taichu asked Elder Li and Hall Master Zhou about the man, and they suspected he was Su Mingyuan, whom Elder Wang identified as the medical hall's most talented former disciple.

Elder Li and Hall Master Zhou told Lin Taichu that Su Mingyuan had once poisoned people with Weak Force Powder to gain fame before being expelled from the Healing Immortal Medical Hall. Su Mingyuan returned and challenged Lin Taichu to identify an antidote to his new powder, and Lin recalled a possible remedy as time ran short.

• Elder Li and Hall Master Zhou explained that Su Mingyuan had secretly poisoned townspeople with Weak Force Powder, then used its antidote to gain fame before the old hall master expelled him.
• Wang Xiaohu announced that Su Mingyuan had returned to challenge Lin Taichu, who agreed to compete on the condition that Su Mingyuan leave the hall if he found the antidote.
• Su Mingyuan placed a powder that caused unconsciousness on the table and challenged Lin Taichu to identify an antidote within half an hour.
• Lin Taichu tested the powder with several herbs, but his mixtures showed no reaction as the Disciples worried and time passed.
• Lin Taichu recalled Awakening Spirit Grass, which could restore consciousness, while continuing to search for an antidote.

Lin Taichu tested antidotes for Su Mingyuan’s layered poison, but the white mouse died after Su Mingyuan secretly increased the dose of a hidden toxin. Lin exposed the deception and explained how Su Mingyuan had caused the mouse’s death, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Wang Xiaohu celebrated when Lin Taichu’s first antidote woke the mouse, but Lin noticed signs that it was still poisoned.
• Lin Taichu used test strips to identify Twin Poison and prepared a second antidote with Root-Breaking Grass.
• The mouse initially recovered after Lin Taichu gave it the second antidote, but it died when Su Mingyuan’s hourglass ran out.
• Su Mingyuan accused Lin Taichu of poisoning the mouse and demanded that he leave the Healing Immortal Medical Hall.
• Lin Taichu identified Heart-Corroding Powder as a third poison and accused Su Mingyuan of secretly adding a larger dose to the mouse’s wound.

Lin Taichu exposed Su Mingyuan’s poison scheme, saved the clinic’s patients, and ordered precautions after Su Mingyuan escaped. When a Qingfeng Sect disciple reported that Su Mingyuan had poisoned a village, Lin Taichu hurried there, suspecting the attack was meant to lure him into a trap.

• Lin Taichu revealed how Su Mingyuan had used Heart-Corroding Powder and explained why he had protected himself from its poison.
• Su Mingyuan released Drunken Immortal Powder among the clinic’s patients and fled while Lin Taichu prepared an antidote that saved them.
• Lin Taichu told Elder Li and Hall Master Zhou to alert nearby sects, strengthen clinic security, and study the poison; he warned Wang Xiaohu not to confront Su Mingyuan recklessly.
• Zhang Wen of the Qingfeng Sect told Lin Taichu that Su Mingyuan had poisoned more than a dozen villagers in Li Family Village and asked him to help.
• Lin Taichu left with Zhang Wen and suspected Su Mingyuan had poisoned the villagers to lure him there.

Lin Taichu treated poisoned villagers in Li Family Village and suspected that Su Mingyuan’s increasingly potent poisons were backed by a major sect. He and Sect Leader Wang agreed to investigate the Dark Cult in secret while searching for Su Mingyuan.

• Lin Taichu examined the poisoned villagers and identified a mixed poison containing Heart-Corroding Powder, Weak Force Powder, and a blood-coagulating toxin.
• Lin Taichu stabilized the old man and child, prepared an antidote with Qingfeng Sect disciples, and helped the villagers recover enough to wake.
• Lin Taichu prescribed three days of follow-up treatment and warned the villagers to avoid unboiled water and food from unknown sources.
• Sect Leader Wang told Lin Taichu that Su Mingyuan had not been found, but villagers had seen a man matching his description asking about the village’s water and grain.
• Lin Taichu suspected a major sect was supporting Su Mingyuan and identified the Dark Cult as a likely possibility.
• Lin Taichu and Sect Leader Wang agreed to investigate the Dark Cult secretly and share any information they received.

Lin Taichu investigated Su Mingyuan’s possible connection to the Dark demon Cult while weighing the risks of attending Zhao Tianba’s Martial Arts Exchange Conference. With Qin Feng sent by the Lingxiao Sect to guard him, Lin Taichu set out for the Southern Fist Sect’s headquarters.

• Sect Leader Wang rewarded Lin Taichu for saving the villagers and arranged for Disciples to escort him back to Qinghe Town.
• Lin Taichu told Wang Xiaohu and Chen Zhiming that he suspected Su Mingyuan had joined the Dark demon Cult, then studied the poison and sent scouts to verify sightings of him.
• Wang Xiaohu brought Lin Taichu an invitation from Zhao Tianba to a Martial Arts Exchange Conference, and Lin Taichu asked the Lingxiao Sect for protection.
• The Lingxiao Sect sent Qin Feng to accompany Lin Taichu, and Lin Taichu told him about the Southern Fist Sect and Su Mingyuan.
• Lin Taichu and Qin Feng traveled on foot to the Southern Fist Sect’s headquarters.

Lin Taichu and Qin Feng attended a Southern Fist Sect banquet hosted by Zhao Tianba, who publicly apologized for his past attack. Lin Taichu discovered that Su Mingyuan and a Southern Fist Sect disciple planned to blow up the main hall and kill him and Qin Feng, leaving him hidden nearby as the attack was about to begin.

• Lin Taichu and Qin Feng traveled to Nanyue Mountain, where Zhao Gang escorted them to the Southern Fist Sect headquarters.
• Zhao Tianba welcomed Lin Taichu and Qin Feng, apologized for ambushing Lin Taichu, and seated them at the banquet’s main table.
• Lin Taichu exchanged medical knowledge with the wife of Hundred Flowers Valley’s Valley Master while Qin Feng discussed swordplay with the deputy Sect Leader of the Profound Iron Gate.
• Zhao Tianba proposed friendly sparring, then left the hall after a disciple whispered to him; Lin Taichu grew suspicious when he noticed the disciple glance toward the storeroom.
• Lin Taichu slipped out of the hall and overheard Su Mingyuan and a Southern Fist Sect disciple planning to ignite explosives in the storeroom and kill Lin Taichu and Qin Feng.

Lin Taichu and Qin Feng discovered that Su Mingyuan and Zhao Tianba had planned to blow up the main hall, and they stopped the attack before the explosives could be lit. The gathered sects captured Zhao Tianba, Su Mingyuan, and Black Tiger after Su Mingyuan exposed Zhao Tianba’s role.

• Lin Taichu warned Qin Feng that Su Mingyuan and Zhao Tianba planned to collapse the main hall with explosives.
• Lin Taichu and Qin Feng confronted Su Mingyuan, Black Tiger, and two Southern Fist Sect disciples at the storeroom as they prepared the fuse.
• Lin Taichu defeated Su Mingyuan and stopped him from lighting the explosives by throwing his trident between the Fire Tinder and the fuse.
• Qin Feng defeated Black Tiger, and he and Lin Taichu captured the two Southern Fist Sect disciples.
• Zhao Tianba denied responsibility, but Su Mingyuan revealed Zhao Tianba’s letter and accused him of arranging the plot.
• The people from the various sects tied up Zhao Tianba, Su Mingyuan, and Black Tiger.

Lin Taichu and Qin Feng uncovered signs that an unknown force had arranged the Southern Fist Sect gathering to provoke conflict between major sects. Lin Taichu prepared the Healing Immortal Medical Hall and warned the Kunlun Sect, but their search for the force yielded no clues.

• Lin Taichu and Qin Feng left the Southern Fist Sect after arranging for the explosives to be disposed of, and suspected that an unknown force had drawn the visiting sects to the gathering.
• Qin Feng headed to the Lingxiao Sect to warn its Sect Master while Lin Taichu returned to the Healing Immortal Medical Hall and explained his suspicions to Wang Xiaohu and Chen Zhiming.
• Lin Taichu sent Chen Zhiming to warn Daoist Master Xuanqing and Daoist Master Xuanxu, ordered Wang Xiaohu to strengthen security, and directed scouts to investigate unfamiliar forces nearby.
• Lin Taichu searched his notes on Su Mingyuan's Poison Powder but found no clues linking it to the hidden force.
• Chen Zhiming returned with news that the Kunlun Sect had strengthened its defenses and contacted nearby sects, while the scouts found nothing useful.

Lin Taichu investigated a reward notice offering ten thousand gold to cure Qinghe Town's city lord, Li Kun, whose daily chest pains baffled the Imperial Physicians. After examining Li Kun and finding no apparent cause, Lin Taichu remained unsure what was wrong as the chapter ended.

• A disciple told Lin Taichu that the City Lord's Mansion had offered ten thousand gold for a cure for the city lord.
• Lin Taichu read the notice describing Li Kun's recurring chest pains and agreed to go examine him after steward Li Fu asked for his help.
• Li Fu told Lin Taichu that the pain began a month earlier, struck at the hour of the tiger each day, and had resisted the doctors' treatments.
• Lin Taichu examined Li Kun's pulse, tongue, and chest but found no sign of illness, then inspected the room and its surroundings.

Lin Taichu briefly eased the City Lord’s chest attacks but found no cause after inspecting his belongings and birthday gifts. Three days later, a servant reported that the City Lord had died, and Lin Taichu hurried to the mansion to investigate.

• Lin Taichu stopped the City Lord’s convulsions with Silver Needles and asked about Su Mingyuan, prompting the City Lord to promise help tracking him down.
• Lin Taichu inspected the City Lord’s birthday gifts and left instructions, while Li Fu gave him a deposit.
• Lin Taichu returned to the clinic and told Wang Xiaohu and Chen Zhiming about the visit and the search for Su Mingyuan.
• For two days, Lin Taichu waited for news while treating patients and having his informants watch for Su Mingyuan and the mysterious force.
• A City Lord’s Mansion servant reported that the City Lord had died, so Lin Taichu and Wang Xiaohu rushed to the mansion, where Li Fu greeted them with a dark expression.

Lin Taichu examined the city lord’s body after being accused of causing his death and resisted arrest with support from the Healing Immortal Medical Hall and the townspeople. He discovered the city lord had been poisoned, but the culprit remained unknown.

• Li Fu accused Lin Taichu of treating the city lord to death, and Lin examined the body for signs of illness or injury.
• Master Zhang arrived to arrest Lin while Li Fu and the servants accused him of murder and poisoning.
• Wang Xiaohu defended Lin, and Chen Zhiming brought Healing Immortal Medical Hall Disciples and villagers to support him.
• Master Zhang allowed Lin to continue examining the body under the constables’ watch after Chen Zhiming promised the medical hall would guarantee the investigation.
• Lin used Silver Needles and detected blackened tips and a bitter trace in the city lord’s mouth, concluding that the city lord had died from a slow-acting poison.

Lin Taichu identified the city lord’s poison as rare Qianji Powder and learned that Steward Li had been forced to administer it and frame him. The killer remained unidentified, so Lin Taichu and Master Zhang planned to investigate the City Lord’s Mansion, search for Su Mingyuan, and circulate a description of the suspect.

• Lin Taichu collected samples from the city lord and returned to his clinic to test them while Wang Xiaohu and Chen Zhiming guarded the medicine room.
• Lin Taichu identified the poison as Qianji Powder, a rare toxin that could remain dormant for several days before killing its victim without obvious pain.
• Master Zhang told Lin Taichu that Steward Li had confessed to adding poison to the city lord’s ginseng soup after a masked stranger threatened his family.
• Lin Taichu learned that the stranger had instructed Steward Li to blame him for the city lord’s death and suspected the force behind Su Mingyuan was responsible.
• Lin Taichu proposed drawing a portrait from Steward Li’s memories, investigating for an insider, and tracking Su Mingyuan, and Master Zhang agreed to arrange the search.

Lin Taichu investigated the force that framed him while Healing Immortal Medical Hall lost patients and a rival clinic opened. After visiting Medicine Peace Medical Hall, he suspected Doctor Liu was prescribing unnecessary medicine to attract patients with free eggs.

• Lin Taichu ordered Wang Xiaohu and Chen Zhiming to investigate unfamiliar forces and alert Daoist Master Xuanqing, then linked Su Mingyuan's poison to Qianji Powder through their shared ingredient, Nether Grass.
• Lin Taichu told Wang Xiaohu and Chen Zhiming that Steward Li's confession sounded rehearsed and that their enemies might be trying to ruin his medical hall or force him to reveal a weakness.
• Healing Immortal Medical Hall's business declined, but Lin Taichu told his disciples to keep treating patients carefully and providing free medicine to poor families.
• Chen Zhiming reported that Medicine Peace Medical Hall had opened on West Street, where Liu Ren, a doctor said to have served at the Imperial Hospital, was drawing crowds with free eggs.
• Lin Taichu watched Liu Ren diagnose a healthy-looking patient with deficiencies and prescribe medicine, then pulled Chen Zhiming aside.

Lin Taichu uncovered that Liu Ren was using Medicine Peace Medical Hall to swindle patients and work with Li San, a bandit leader from Tu Huang Mountain. He provoked complaints against Liu Ren and followed him toward the outskirts, hoping to locate the bandits’ stronghold.

• Lin Taichu sent Gou Sheng to investigate Medicine Peace Medical Hall, where Gou Sheng observed Liu Ren prescribing costly tonics and meeting with a scar-faced man who brought herbs and crates.
• Gou Sheng overheard the scar-faced man demand five thousand taels from Liu Ren and threaten to expose his fake medicine and fraud.
• Gou Sheng identified the scar-faced man as Li San, a bandit leader from Tu Huang Mountain, and Lin Taichu deduced that Liu Ren was giving the bandits money and supplies.
• Lin Taichu told Gou Sheng to spread a claim that Liu Ren’s medicine had made him sick, prompting customers to demand refunds at Medicine Peace Medical Hall.
• Liu Ren hurried toward the outskirts after closing his medical hall, and Lin Taichu followed with Wang Xiaohu and Gou Sheng while Chen Zhiming stayed behind.

Lin Taichu uncovered the bandits’ stronghold on Tu Huang Mountain and learned that Su Mingyuan had arranged the City Lord’s poisoning and used Liu Ren’s medical hall to fund the operation. Su Mingyuan had already gone to the capital, so Lin Taichu wrote a detailed letter reporting the scheme.

• Lin Taichu, Wang Xiaohu, and Gou Sheng followed Liu Ren and Li San to a cave on Tu Huang Mountain, where they overheard a hoarse-voiced leader ordering them to move their supplies and flee.
• Lin Taichu recognized the leader’s voice as resembling Su Mingyuan’s and sent Wang Xiaohu to fetch Master Zhang and the constables.
• Master Zhang’s force surrounded the cave and captured seventeen people, including Li San and Liu Ren, along with medicinal herbs and weapons.
• Lin Taichu confronted Li San with evidence of Qianji Powder, and Li San confessed that Su Mingyuan had hired him to poison the City Lord and frame Lin Taichu.
• Liu Ren confirmed Su Mingyuan had used his medical hall to fund the bandits and planned to enter the Imperial Hospital, where he would use a new poison to control people around the King.
• Lin Taichu had the prisoners and seized goods taken away, then returned to Medicine Peace Medical Hall and wrote a letter detailing Su Mingyuan’s scheme.

Lin Taichu pursued Su Mingyuan after the King ordered an investigation into possible Imperial Hospital collaborators, but Su Mingyuan escaped with help from an imperial physician. Lin Taichu sent evidence of the physician’s involvement to the capital, leaving the search focused on uncovering the Imperial Hospital’s Inside Agent.

• Lin Taichu sent the King a letter, restored his medical hall’s reputation by posting evidence of Su Mingyuan’s guilt, and organized a search for him.
• Wang Xiaohu returned with the King’s decree ordering Lin Taichu to pursue Su Mingyuan and the Imperial Hospital to investigate its physicians.
• After a scout reported seeing Su Mingyuan with a man in imperial physician robes, Lin Taichu and his companions chased them toward Qingfeng Ridge.
• The imperial physician attacked Lin Taichu as Su Mingyuan and his companion fled into a forest, where they disappeared.
• Lin Taichu concluded that the Imperial Hospital Inside Agent held significant influence and sent Manager Li a letter describing the physician’s assistance.

Lin Taichu waited a month for news of Su Mingyuan, but the investigation stalled and Su remained missing. Lin decided to leave Qinghe Town to seek Su’s old connections and hideouts, and the Qing Nang Sect elders supported his pursuit.

• Lin Taichu reported Su Mingyuan’s escape to Master Zhang, who strengthened surveillance across Qinghe Town.
• A messenger told Lin that Manager Li and the Imperial Guards were investigating the Imperial Hospital and had issued a nationwide warrant for the missing imperial physician surnamed Zhou.
• For a month, Lin, Master Zhang, and Manager Li found no solid leads, while Lin’s clinic regained its business.
• Lin told Wang Xiaohu and Chen Zhiming he would leave town to investigate places where Su had once stayed, with help from Jianghu friends.
• Lin visited Qing Nang Sect and explained Su’s scheme to the elders, who approved of his plan to pursue the investigation.

Lin Taichu searched Su Mingyuan’s abandoned hometown for clues but found nothing and discovered that someone was watching him. Su Mingyuan learned of the search and decided to fake his death to stop Lin Taichu’s investigation while he pursued his plans in the capital.

• Lin Taichu left Qinghe Town with the sect’s support and traveled to Su Family Hollow to investigate Su Mingyuan’s past.
• Lin Taichu searched Su Mingyuan’s abandoned home and questioned village elders, who recalled that another man had searched the house three years earlier.
• Lin Taichu sensed he was being watched and spotted a dark figure hiding in a cornfield when he doubled back to test his pursuer.
• The man in gray reported Lin Taichu’s search to Su Mingyuan, who rejected Imperial Physician Zhou’s suggestion to kill him because it could expose their plans.
• Su Mingyuan proposed faking his death so Lin Taichu would stop pursuing him and the group could head to the capital, while Imperial Physician Zhou worried Lin Taichu might see through the ruse.

Su Mingyuan planned to fake his death at Qingfeng Ridge with Turtle Breath Powder so he could evade Lin Taichu and flee to the capital. Lin Taichu found him in a staged cave scene, but the deliberate-looking wound and other suspicious details left him doubting that Su Mingyuan was truly dead.

• Su Mingyuan gave Imperial Physician Zhou a cover story for returning to the capital and planned with his gray-clothed man to fake his death at Qingfeng Ridge.
• Lin Taichu told Wang Xiaohu and Chen Zhiming that someone had been watching him, and decided not to investigate prematurely.
• A child delivered Lin Taichu a note claiming Su Mingyuan was at Qingfeng Ridge, so Lin Taichu and Wang Xiaohu rode there while Chen Zhiming stayed at the clinic.
• Lin Taichu found Su Mingyuan lying in a cave with a chest wound and an almost imperceptible pulse, and judged that he might have died from blood loss.
• Lin Taichu examined the wound more closely and noticed its neat edges looked deliberate, making him suspect the scene was staged.