Chapter Summaries

Lin Taichu infiltrated a warehouse in White Cloud City and identified seized goods as Dharma Artifacts from Immortal Soldier Island bound for Luofeng City. Su Yao rallied the affected merchants, and Sun Desheng arrived at Zhao Family Mansion to negotiate.

• Lin Taichu slipped into the warehouse, memorized the crates’ numbers and stamp, and escaped when someone entered.
• Lin Taichu told Su Yao to trace the goods and use their buyer to pressure Sun Desheng through the seven merchant caravans.
• Su Yao showed the merchants the crate markings, and Wang confirmed the four crates were bound for Luofeng City and meant for Zhao Feng’s cousin.
• Su Yao reported that the goods had been due two days earlier but were still held in White Cloud City.
• Sun Desheng arrived at Zhao Family Mansion with Zhou Lin and several attendants to negotiate with Lin Taichu.

Lin Taichu confronted Sun Desheng over White Cloud City's seizure of goods contracted for Luofeng City, and revealed that he controlled the output of Immortal Soldier Island's ninety-five workshops. Sun Desheng trapped Lin Taichu, Su Yao, and Boss Wang in the hall and attacked them with poisonous smoke, leaving them incapacitated.

• Lin Taichu refused Sun Desheng's demand for thirty percent and showed him evidence that seized Dharma Artifacts belonged to a shipment bound for Luofeng City.
• Lin Taichu revealed that he had contracted all goods from Immortal Soldier Island's ninety-five Forging Workshops after Qian Dagui's freight depot burned down.
• Boss Wang demanded the release of his goods and asked Sun Desheng who would bear the debt if Luofeng City never received them.
• Sun Desheng accused Lin Taichu of starving White Cloud City and ordered Black-clothed Men to surround the hall.
• A Black-clothed Man shattered an iron ball, filling the hall with poisonous smoke that weakened Lin Taichu and caused Su Yao to collapse.

Lin Taichu, Su Yao, and the Wang-surnamed merchant woke imprisoned in White Cloud City Prison after Sun Desheng captured them. As Sun’s plan to void Lin’s contracts with the Forging Workshops became clear, Su Yao prepared a blood-activated fire talisman to help them escape.

• Lin Taichu woke with his meridians sealed in a cell with Su Yao and the Wang-surnamed merchant.
• Zhou Lin told Lin that Sun Desheng would keep them imprisoned until the contracts with Immortal Soldier Island were settled, and explained that Lin’s workshop agreements could become void if he could not contact the Stewards for three months.
• Lin noticed the talisman paper hidden in Su Yao’s sleeve and waited for nightfall while estimating the prison’s location.
• Su Yao cut her palm, smeared blood on a cinnabar fire talisman, and activated it without spiritual power.

Lin Taichu and Su Yao broke out of their cell in White Cloud City's prison by using Su Yao's spiritual power to open the Dharma Artifact locks. They reached the southern city wall and passed two guards, leaving their escape route open.

• Su Yao used a Restriction-Breaking Talisman to loosen the seal on her Spirit Veins, but Zhou Lin arrived with four black-armored cultivators before they could escape.
• After Zhou Lin left, Su Yao broke another layer of the seal, and Lin Taichu used her spiritual power to open all four locks on the cell door.
• Lin Taichu, Su Yao, and the cargo owner surnamed Wang slipped through the alley toward the southern city wall.
• Su Yao threatened two guards with a half-activated Fire Talisman, and they moved aside as the three passed.

Lin Taichu returned to Luofeng City after escaping imprisonment, while Sun Desheng’s attempt to secure supplies from Immortal Soldier Island failed. Sun Desheng released his prisoners and returned the seized goods, left with his trade routes blocked and his city’s future uncertain.

• Lin Taichu, Su Yao, and Wang escaped White Cloud City and fled south toward Luofeng City.
• Lin Taichu told Zhao Feng to watch the city gates while they waited for news from Immortal Soldier Island.
• Zhao Feng reported that Sun Desheng’s negotiators had returned and gone back to White Cloud City without entering Luofeng City.
• The stewards of all ninety-five forging workshops refused Sun Desheng’s offer of a thirty-percent price increase, honoring their contracts with Luofeng City.
• Sun Desheng learned that Lin Taichu and the others had escaped, then ordered the seized goods returned and the prisoners released.

Lin Taichu offered Sun Desheng a way to revive White Cloud City by ending tolls and directing Luofeng City's trade through the city. Sun Desheng considered the proposal and asked how many residents could find work.

• Zhou Lin reported that another White Cloud City shop had closed as trade dwindled.
• Sun Desheng received Lin Taichu, who explained that caravans had begun using a toll-free road around White Cloud City.
• Lin Taichu proposed that White Cloud City stop collecting tolls and earn money by providing transport, lodging, repairs, and other services to caravans.
• Lin Taichu offered to have Luofeng City's warehouses cover freight to White Cloud City so caravans would pass through it before heading north.
• Sun Desheng asked whether Luofeng City could provide enough work for the city's residents, and Lin Taichu said work would be available for everyone willing to do it.

Lin Taichu and Sun Desheng reopened the trade route between Luofeng City and White Cloud City, bringing more merchants and business to both cities. The arrangement ran smoothly until Zhao Feng reported that an important figure’s household had detained a shipment of medicinal herbs in White Cloud City.

• Sun Desheng removed White Cloud City’s toll checkpoint and notice after agreeing to Lin Taichu’s proposal.
• Lin Taichu told Su Yao that caravans from Luofeng City would use the official road through White Cloud City, and Su Yao informed Zhao Feng of the new rules.
• Zhao Feng spread the news, and caravans resumed traveling through White Cloud City without tolls, restoring business and increasing trade.
• Su Yao reported that trade volume had risen forty percent, while Lin Taichu spent his days overseeing goods and resting at the Zhao Family Mansion.
• Zhao Feng told Lin Taichu that men claiming to serve an important figure had detained a shipment of northern medicinal herbs in White Cloud City, and Sun Desheng’s people had been unable to recover it.

Lin Taichu investigated the seizure of his medicinal-herb shipment in White Cloud City and learned that the Chen Family had taken it for Dr. Fang’s treatment of their gravely ill patriarch. He confronted Dr. Fang at the Chen Residence, where the doctor refused to release the herbs because they were essential to the patriarch’s prescription.

• Lin Taichu went to White Cloud City and found that the Chen Family’s men were guarding his seized shipment of medicinal herbs.
• Sun Desheng and Zhou Lin explained that the Chen Family had requisitioned the shipment because Dr. Fang needed its rare ingredients to treat the Chen patriarch.
• Lin Taichu went with Sun Desheng to the Chen Residence to ask Dr. Fang to release the shipment.
• Dr. Fang refused, saying the herbs were the only source in the city and that he could not cure the patriarch without them.

Lin Taichu helped Dr. Fang find herbs for Old Master Chen, and the Chen Residence released the shipment bound for the Northern Region. After shipments resumed, the Chen Residence detained two carts of iron goods, leaving Lin Taichu facing a new dispute.

• Dr. Fang explained that Old Master Chen needed wild Astragalus, Chicken Blood Vine, and Dendrobium to treat his weak spleen and kidneys.
• Lin Taichu directed Dr. Fang to a South Street shop, where an apprentice found suitable wild-grown herbs.
• Lin Taichu insisted that the shipment be released, and Sun Desheng agreed to send it north the next morning.
• Lin Taichu confirmed with the freight depot that the herbs would ship, then returned to the Zhao Family Mansion and told Su Yao why Dr. Fang had held them.
• Zhao Feng reported that the Chen Residence had detained two carts of iron goods, and Lin Taichu asked whose shipment they had held.

Lin Taichu went to the Chen Residence to recover Zhang's Ironworks' stolen shipment, then questioned Dr. Fang about Old Master Chen's worsening illness. Dr. Fang described the old man's symptoms, and Lin Taichu asked to examine him.

• Lin Taichu learned that the Chen Residence had taken two cartloads of ironware from the freight depot and flew to White Cloud City.
• At the Chen Residence, Lin Taichu confronted Dr. Fang and Steward Chen about the shipment, and Dr. Fang ordered the goods returned to Boss Zhang.
• After Boss Zhang recovered his ironware, Lin Taichu asked Dr. Fang about Old Master Chen's condition.
• Dr. Fang described the old master's prolonged diarrhea, weakness, swelling, drowsiness, poor appetite, and worsening hearing.
• Lin Taichu concluded that the symptoms involved more than spleen and kidney deficiency and asked Dr. Fang to let him see Old Master Chen.

Lin Taichu prescribed a treatment that eased Old Master Chen’s illness, then returned to the Zhao Family Mansion as trade shipments resumed. Dr. Fang later brought him medicinal herbs in gratitude and offered help if his goods were detained again.

• Lin Taichu diagnosed Old Master Chen’s fluid retention and gave Dr. Fang a prescription to administer for five days.
• Lin Taichu returned to the Zhao Family Mansion and told Su Yao that Dr. Fang had released the detained goods.
• Over the next few days, Su Yao checked Zhao Feng’s lists, and the shipments continued without further delays.
• On the sixth day, Dr. Fang visited Lin Taichu and reported that Old Master Chen’s swelling had subsided and his condition had improved.
• Dr. Fang gave Lin Taichu medicinal herbs, asked how he had developed the prescription, and offered to help with future detained goods.
• Su Yao concluded that Old Master Chen had recovered after seeing Dr. Fang leave.

Lin Taichu visited the recovering Old Master Chen in White Cloud City, where Chen asked him to help open a medical clinic with Dr. Fang. Lin Taichu considered the offer but was already burdened with other responsibilities.

• Su Yao told Lin Taichu that shipments from Luofeng City had increased and that warehouses in White Cloud City were full.
• Steward Liu invited Lin Taichu to the Chen Residence, where Old Master Chen thanked him for his prescription and reported that his health had improved.
• Old Master Chen proposed opening a medical clinic in White Cloud City because the city lacked capable doctors.
• Old Master Chen explained that Dr. Fang would run the clinic and wanted Lin Taichu to see patients with him and share his medical knowledge.
• Lin Taichu declined to involve himself in White Cloud City's affairs and considered the demands already occupying his time.

Lin Taichu considered Old Master Chen’s request to help establish a clinic in White Cloud City, then agreed to visit twice a month and see only Dr. Fang’s difficult cases. He chose a site on North Street and arranged for a longtime pharmacist to move there, insisting on paying the rent himself.

• Old Master Chen asked Lin Taichu to visit a proposed White Cloud City clinic two or three times a month, and Lin Taichu said he would think it over.
• Lin Taichu inspected the warehouses in White Cloud City, returned to Zhao Family Mansion, and told Su Yao about the clinic proposal.
• Su Yao said she could manage the Luofeng City business while Lin Taichu visited White Cloud City, and encouraged him to help Dr. Fang improve his medical skills.
• After spending the next day at home, Lin Taichu flew to White Cloud City and persuaded an old pharmacist to move his shop to the main street when he was ready.
• Lin Taichu told Old Master Chen he would visit twice monthly to see Dr. Fang’s uncertain cases, proposed a North Street storefront, and arranged for the pharmacist to dispense medicine there.
• Old Master Chen agreed to the plan and offered to pay the rent, but Lin Taichu insisted on paying it himself before returning to Luofeng City.

Lin Taichu opened Rejuvenation Hall in White Cloud City with Dr. Fang and Shopkeeper Wang, then examined an injured freight-depot worker and prescribed treatment. Back in Luofeng City, he received an increased shipment plan from Immortal Soldier Island, and Su Yao asked whether the clinic had opened.

• Lin Taichu arranged a storefront in White Cloud City, moved Shopkeeper Wang's pharmacy there, and opened Rejuvenation Hall with Dr. Fang.
• After visiting the clinic, Lin Taichu heard about a bedridden worker surnamed Liu and went with Dr. Fang to examine him.
• Lin Taichu diagnosed Liu's waist injury, prescribed internal and external medicines, and left Dr. Fang a copy of the prescription.
• Lin Taichu returned to Luofeng City, where Zhao Feng delivered a shipment plan from Immortal Soldier Island showing a ten percent increase.
• Su Yao shut the door and asked Lin Taichu whether the White Cloud City clinic had opened.

Lin Taichu found Rejuvenation Hall crowded with townspeople seeking health-preserving prescriptions, a surge fueled by rumors about his medical skills. He refused to prescribe unnecessary medicine and left the clinic serving the city more people, though many still waited for him to come.

• Lin Taichu visited Rejuvenation Hall and saw that its patient traffic had grown sharply.
• Dr. Fang gave Lin Taichu his consultation seat because most of the waiting townspeople wanted to see him.
• A healthy merchant asked Lin Taichu for medicine to nourish his body and prolong his life, but Lin Taichu advised him to take no medicine.
• Lin Taichu turned away or offered gentle dietary remedies to a succession of townspeople seeking health-preserving prescriptions.
• Dr. Fang told Lin Taichu that rumors kept drawing people to the clinic, while the clinic's growing popularity made medical care more convenient for White Cloud City residents.

Lin Taichu’s work at Rejuvenation Hall helped the clinic earn the trust of White Cloud City’s people. An enigmatic traveler arrived, said he had come only to meet Lin Taichu, and left his purpose unexplained.

• Rejuvenation Hall became White Cloud City’s most highly regarded clinic by offering fair care and helping poor patients.
• Lin Taichu continued visiting the clinic every three days and patiently treated patients seeking his advice.
• A plain-clothed middle-aged man arrived at Rejuvenation Hall and silently scrutinized Lin Taichu.
• The man entered the clinic, asked whether Lin Taichu was who he thought, and said he had come only to meet him.
• The man explained that Lin Taichu’s conduct had made him curious, denied bearing ill intent, and saluted him without revealing any further purpose.

Lin Taichu investigated a spice merchant’s sudden collapse in business and discovered a strange odor and mysterious illness affecting the entire Spice Manor. The chapter ended as the merchant began to suspect the illness and falling orders were connected.

• A middle-aged man asked Lin Taichu to investigate why orders at his Spice Manor had suddenly plummeted despite strong demand for spices.
• Lin Taichu noticed the man’s rigid posture and suspected he had a hidden illness, then agreed to visit the manor.
• Lin Taichu traveled with the man from White Cloud City to the manor at the foot of Green Spiral Mountain.
• At the manor, Lin Taichu detected a faint, cold odor beneath the heavy spice fragrances and saw that the workers were sluggish and exhausted.
• The middle-aged man told Lin Taichu that everyone had suffered poor sleep and weakness since the orders began falling, and started to suspect the problems were related.

Lin Taichu traced the estate’s workers’ fatigue, the middle-aged man’s chronic illness, and the collapse in orders to a batch of blended incense that had absorbed stagnant dampness while drying in heavy fog. He explained the cause and reassured the middle-aged man that the illness could be treated once the estate was cleared.

• Lin Taichu inspected the warehouse and found the strongest abnormal aura in a batch of blended incense made half a month earlier.
• The middle-aged man confirmed that the batch had been dried during seven days of heavy fog and that its formula, ingredients, and craftsmen had not changed.
• Lin Taichu explained that the fog’s cold damp aura had seeped into the incense, spread through the estate, and caused workers’ fatigue and merchants’ unease.
• Lin Taichu told the middle-aged man that prolonged exposure to the incense had caused his chronic illness and that he could recover after the estate was cleared and he took medicinal soup.
• The middle-aged man thanked Lin Taichu and said he would arrange for people to follow his instructions.

After Lin Taichu resolved the strange air problem at Spice Manor, he stayed overnight and discovered that attackers had broken in to seize the manor. The gates were smashed open, and Green Spiral Mountain Manor’s people were forced into a fight.

• Lin Taichu helped the middle-aged man move and dry the spices, clean and fumigate the warehouse, and restore the manor’s air.
• Lin Taichu declined a reward and told the middle-aged man to keep the warehouses clean, dry, and ventilated.
• As night fell, Lin Taichu agreed to stay at the manor rather than travel the dangerous mountain roads in the dark.
• Around midnight, Lin Taichu heard a commotion and learned from the middle-aged man that people from nearby spice manors had attacked.
• Lin Taichu ordered the workers to hold the courtyard gate and went toward the entrance as twenty or thirty armed men broke through and attacked the manor’s guards and hired hands.

Lin Taichu stopped a raid on Green Spiral Mountain Manor and learned that rival spice manors had joined forces to exploit its decline. He recognized that the market’s infighting threatened the North-South Trade Route, while the manor’s troubles remained unresolved.

• Lin Taichu defeated the invading thugs and immobilized their leader when they attacked Green Spiral Mountain Manor.
• Lin Taichu questioned the leader, who revealed that the estate lords of three surrounding spice manors had sent them to seize the manor’s goods and trade routes.
• Lin Taichu released the leader after warning him not to trespass again, and the raiders fled.
• The middle-aged man explained that spice manors had long fought over goods, customers, and trade routes, and that Green Spiral Mountain Manor had become vulnerable after its business collapsed and its workers weakened.
• Lin Taichu considered how the market’s unchecked competition could damage spice quality and destroy the North-South Trade Route.