Chapter Summaries

Xu Bai and Liu Xu sneaked into Lin Fenghua’s room and Xu Bai used the Hammering Kidney Method to kill him for harming Xiao Yue. They staged the death to look like Lin Fenghua had died from kidney deficiency, then Xu Bai said he wanted to do one more thing.

• Liu Xu used Sedative Smoke to put Lin Fenghua and the woman in his room to sleep, and she and Xu Bai entered through the window.
• Xu Bai tied Lin Fenghua up, woke him, and confronted him over what he had done to Xiao Yue.
• Xu Bai repeatedly used the Hammering Kidney Method on Lin Fenghua until he died.
• Xu Bai placed Lin Fenghua’s body on the bed and said it would look as if he had died from kidney deficiency.
• Liu Xu said Xu Bai had acted for Xiao Yue, and Xu Bai announced that he wanted to do one more thing.

After killing Lin Fenghua, Xu Bai and Liu Xu left the Lin Residence and tested each other’s identities and intentions. Xu Bai hinted that he had killed a corrupt Bureau of Surveillance clerk, then disappeared into the night before calling back with one more thing to say.

• Xu Bai and Liu Xu arranged the room to disguise Lin Fenghua’s death, then escaped through a window and walked away from the Lin Residence.
• Xu Bai suddenly drew his saber at Liu Xu, forcing her to reveal her brush-and-book abilities before he sheathed the blade and admitted he had been testing her.
• Liu Xu used Xu Bai’s saber technique to connect him to the Nether Blacksmith couple, the Extreme Life Sect members, and the Bureau of Surveillance clerk.
• Liu Xu asked why Xu Bai had killed the clerk, and Xu Bai said the clerk had lined his own pockets and colluded with the Extreme Life Sect.
• Liu Xu promised to explain the clerk’s crimes to the Bureau of Surveillance, and Xu Bai walked away before calling back from a street corner to say there was one more thing.

After Xu Bai teased Liu Xu about disguising herself, County Magistrate Zhang learned that Lin Fenghua had died during sex with a courtesan and rushed to Lin Residence. He refused to punish the courtesan, citing her ties to the Ninth Princess, and left as Lin Fu’s influence over him faded.

• Xu Bai told Liu Xu to bind her chest when disguising herself, and she left after angrily retrieving the page she had thrown at him.
• County Magistrate Zhang congratulated himself on manipulating a murder case to preserve his ties with Lin Residence.
• A yamen runner reported that Lin Fenghua had died while playing with red rope at Spring Rain Pavilion.
• At Lin Residence, Lin Fu accused the courtesan of killing his son, but County Magistrate Zhang said Lin Fenghua had died from excessive excitement and ordered her jailed temporarily.
• County Magistrate Zhang warned Lin Fu that the courtesan was connected to the Ninth Princess, then left and reflected on the princess’s secret role as the emperor’s capable assistant.

Xu Bai learned that County Magistrate Zhang had refused to help the Lin Residence, then completed the progress bar on the Chinese scholar tree and fused Inverted Yin and Yang with the Four Directions Slaughter Heart Sutra. The resulting Inverted Chaos of the Four Directions combined the sutra’s battle-strengthening effect with Inverted Yin and Yang’s abilities, which Xu Bai began to examine.

• County Magistrate Zhang decided to release the courtesan and end the Lin Residence matter rather than arrest the Ninth Princess.
• Liu Er told Xu Bai that the young master of the Lin Residence had died and that County Magistrate Zhang had refused the Lin Residence’s demand to deal with the courtesan.
• Xu Bai considered how County Magistrate Zhang’s withdrawal from the Lin Residence’s affairs might leave room to act against him, but postponed deciding until he finished observing the Chinese scholar tree.
• Xu Bai completed the tree’s progress bar and comprehended Inverted Yin and Yang.
• Xu Bai fused Inverted Yin and Yang with the Four Directions Slaughter Heart Sutra, creating Inverted Chaos of the Four Directions and discovering it had added Divine Essence to his True Yuan Power.

Xu Bai mastered Inverted Chaos of the Four Directions and set out to search Sheng County for another mental cultivation method. A Blue-Robed Monk arrived in Sheng County after killing two tiger demons and entered the Liu Residence, while Xu Bai watched from hiding.

• Xu Bai reviewed his newly mastered techniques and planned to look for books at the bookstore and deal with County Magistrate Zhang.
• The Blue-Robed Monk killed two tiger demons outside Sheng County and headed toward town.
• Xu Bai ate breakfast and wandered through unfamiliar parts of Sheng County in search of a new progress bar.
• Xu Bai reached the Liu Residence, recognized it as the masked woman's home, and hid when the Blue-Robed Monk noticed someone watching him.
• A servant admitted the Blue-Robed Monk into the Liu Residence, and Xu Bai watched from an alley while admiring the monk's shiny head.

Xu Bai spotted a golden progress bar above the monk Wu Hua and wondered how to pursue it, while Wu Hua recruited Liu Xu to help with an undisclosed matter. That night, Xu Bai went out in disguise, as Lin Fu raged over his family having no heir.

• Xu Bai noticed the golden progress bar above Wu Hua, then left to consider how he could get access to it.
• Wu Hua told Liu Xu that the office had investigated Iron Calculation Immortal's death and asked her to help find the expert who killed him.
• Liu Xu read her teacher's letter ordering her to stay in Sheng County and assist Wu Hua, who planned to reside at the Liu Residence.
• Xu Bai returned to the escort agency without finding another progress bar, then dressed in disguise and went out after nightfall.
• Lin Fu raged in his room over his son's death and his inability to father another child.

Xu Bai persuaded Lin Fu to expose County Magistrate Zhang’s bribery as a way to bring him down and avenge Lin Fu’s son. Lin Fu agreed to take his account book to the capital, while Xu Bai warned that one more step remained.

• Lin Fu raged over County Magistrate Zhang’s refusal to help punish the woman responsible for his son’s death.
• Xu Bai entered the Lin Residence in disguise and provoked Lin Fu by reminding him that he could not avenge his son while Zhang remained in power.
• Xu Bai suggested Lin Fu report Zhang’s bribery while presenting himself as a man driven to resist oppression.
• Lin Fu agreed to take his account book of bribes to the capital and expose Zhang.
• Xu Bai told Lin Fu to connect his decision to his son’s death, then said one more step remained.

Xu Bai arranged for Lin Fu to send information through the Fulong Escort Agency, then visited the Liu Residence to recruit Liu Xu to oversee the account book and related matters. Liu Xu told him that a Vajra Temple disciple had investigated the clerk’s death and found the clerk at fault, then began to share another matter.

• Xu Bai told Lin Fu to use the Fulong Escort Agency to transport an item, and Lin Fu agreed to make preparations.
• Xu Bai entered the Liu Residence and heard a wooden fish being played in a brightly lit room, but continued searching for Liu Xu.
• Xu Bai found Liu Xu’s room by its sandalwood fragrance and asked to speak with her outside after spotting her traps.
• Xu Bai asked Liu Xu to oversee the account book and related matters, and she agreed because she wanted to avenge Xiao Yue.
• Liu Xu told Xu Bai that a Vajra Temple disciple had investigated the clerk’s death and ruled that the clerk had brought it upon himself, then said she had something else to tell him.

Xu Bai learned that Wu Hua, a favored disciple of Vajra Temple, had come seeking helpers, but he put that matter aside to focus on County Magistrate Zhang's case. The Lin Family then hired Fulong Escort Agency to carry a wooden box to the Wu Family in the Capital City, and Xu Bai accepted while suspecting Lin Fu was concealing part of the plan.

• Liu Xu told Xu Bai that Wu Hua had come seeking helpers and that she had been drawn in by a letter from her teacher.
• Xu Bai decided to handle County Magistrate Zhang's matter first, and Liu Xu resolved to join him in acting recklessly this time.
• Xu Bai waited for Lin Fu to act after Lin Fenghua's death, believing Lin Fu might now be willing to pursue their plan.
• The Lin Residence's Old Butler arrived at Fulong Escort Agency with a job to deliver a wooden box to the Wu Family in the Capital City.
• Xu Bai accepted the escort job, took the payment, and received the heavy wooden box, suspecting Lin Fu had hidden part of the arrangement.

Xu Bai opened the box delivered by the Old Butler and found Lin Fu’s letter and an account book detailing bribes to County Magistrate Zhang. After copying the incriminating entries, Xu Bai secretly delivered them in an envelope to Zhang’s County Office and escaped.

• The Old Butler handed Xu Bai a locked wooden box, and Xu Bai broke the lock after entering his room.
• Xu Bai read Lin Fu’s letter asking the Wu Family for protection and accusing a mysterious saber-wielding person, then burned it.
• Xu Bai examined the account book recording payments to County Magistrate Zhang and copied the bribery entries.
• Xu Bai hid the original account book, prepared an envelope with the copied records, and went to the County Office after dark.
• Xu Bai left the envelope outside County Magistrate Zhang’s room and fled; Zhang found it, returned inside, and shattered a teacup.

Xu Bai tricked County Magistrate Zhang into believing the Lin Family planned to expose his bribes, prompting him to secretly summon the escort master and the shipment. The box proved empty, and Xu Bai returned to the escort agency pleased that Zhang had taken the bait and begun to suspect a mysterious culprit.

• Xu Bai planted a letter and bribery records for County Magistrate Zhang, who ordered Yamen Runners to secretly fetch the Fulong Escort Agency’s escort master and cargo.
• Xu Bai took an empty wooden box to the County Office after the Yamen Runners summoned him.
• County Magistrate Zhang found the box empty, and Xu Bai pretended the item had vanished before the escort began.
• County Magistrate Zhang ordered Xu Bai to keep the matter secret while he focused on the Lin Family and suspected a mysterious person had taken the ledger.
• Xu Bai returned to the escort agency and smiled, satisfied that County Magistrate Zhang had taken the bait.

Xu Bai returned to the Liu Residence at night to investigate, but Monk Wu Hua confronted him and proposed a wager: if he endured one sword strike, Xu Bai would help him. Xu Bai asked Wu Hua to explain Buddhism for five days, and Wu Hua agreed, mistaking him for a devoted Buddhist.

• Xu Bai disguised himself, took the hidden ledger and a longsword, and sneaked into the Liu Residence.
• Monk Wu Hua revealed that he had noticed Xu Bai before and said he wanted to ask for his help without fighting.
• Wu Hua proposed taking one strike from Xu Bai's sword in exchange for Xu Bai agreeing to help him, or helping Xu Bai himself if he failed.
• Xu Bai asked Wu Hua to explain Buddhism to him for at least five days if Wu Hua endured the strike.
• Wu Hua agreed and concluded that Xu Bai was wholeheartedly devoted to the Buddha.

Xu Bai defeated Wu Hua in a test of his saber and earned Wu Hua’s promise to explain Buddhist teachings and consider helping him. Liu Xu confronted them after hearing their fight and declared that Wu Hua could not leave now that he knew about their business, leaving both men stunned.

• Xu Bai asked Wu Hua to explain Buddhist teachings, and Wu Hua agreed to do so if Xu Bai helped him.
• Xu Bai struck Wu Hua with a saber technique that pierced his Buddhist radiance and wounded his arm, winning their contest.
• Wu Hua accepted defeat and agreed to fulfill his promise after Xu Bai dealt with his current affairs.
• Liu Xu emerged and angrily confronted Xu Bai and Wu Hua for fighting in her residence.
• When Wu Hua tried to leave, Liu Xu told him he could not go because he knew about their business, stunning him and Xu Bai.

Xu Bai and Liu Xu recruited Wu Hua to help expose County Magistrate Zhang, and Wu Hua agreed after hearing what had happened. The next day, Lin Fu was brought before Zhang at the County Office, where the magistrate demanded to know if he understood his crime.

• Liu Xu explained that she planned to submit the account books and bring County Magistrate Zhang down, and Xu Bai agreed to involve Wu Hua.
• After hearing Liu Xu's account, Wu Hua vowed to help punish those responsible for the injustices.
• Xu Bai said he would give Zhang time before pursuing the other people involved, then left without revealing his face.
• Liu Xu tried to learn what Xu Bai looked like, but she tricked Wu Hua instead when he admitted his curiosity.
• The next day, yamen runners seized Lin Fu at the Lin Residence and brought him to the County Office.
• County Magistrate Zhang sat in the main hall as Lin Fu was forced to kneel, then Zhang demanded to know whether he understood his crime.

County Magistrate Zhang silenced Lin Fu with fabricated charges, then killed him in prison and staged his death as suicide. Xu Bai moved on to the next phase of his plan while Zhang waited anxiously for the Mysterious Person to appear.

• County Magistrate Zhang sentenced Lin Fu to three years in prison on fabricated charges while keeping him gagged, and Xu Bai left the County Office satisfied that the Lin Family matter was finished.
• The next morning, Liu Er told Xu Bai that Lin Fu had died in prison, and Xu Bai revealed that the County Office had secretly forbidden the escort shipment from being delivered.
• Xu Bai let Liu Er distribute the payment among the brothers, while Liu Xu and Wu Hua began arranging their next move with evidence from Azure Cloud Academy and Vajra Temple.
• County Magistrate Zhang waited through the night for the Mysterious Person, having killed Lin Fu and grown increasingly panicked when no clue appeared.

County Magistrate Zhang spent five days tormented by the Mysterious Person’s silence, then learned that Daoist Priest Li had arrived with evidence of his corruption. Daoist Priest Li confronted Zhang Yi and prepared to carry out the Capital City’s order for execution.

• County Magistrate Zhang stayed awake all night, wondering why the Mysterious Person who had taken the ledger had not come to see him.
• For five days, County Magistrate Zhang grew increasingly frantic as he waited for the Mysterious Person to make contact.
• When the adviser announced a visitor, County Magistrate Zhang expected the Mysterious Person, but learned it was Daoist Priest Li.
• Daoist Priest Li reviewed the ledger submitted by Azure Cloud Academy and Vajra Temple and investigated County Magistrate Zhang’s payments through the Money House.
• Daoist Priest Li had the disheveled County Magistrate Zhang brought into the hall and demanded to know his crime.

County Magistrate Zhang was condemned to execution after Daoist Priest Li rejected his attempt to implicate a mysterious person, and Xu Bai prepared to watch the execution before turning to his wager with Wu Hua. At the Liu Residence, Liu Xu and Wu Hua discussed an Azure Lotus Platform.

• County Magistrate Zhang accused a mysterious person from the Extreme Life Sect of helping bring about his downfall, but Daoist Priest Li said the Lin Family had delivered the ledger directly to Azure Cloud Academy and Vajra Temple.
• Daoist Priest Li ordered County Magistrate Zhang stripped of his scholarly abilities, imprisoned, and scheduled for execution the next day.
• The people of Sheng County learned of County Magistrate Zhang's impending execution and showed little concern for him.
• Xu Bai decided to watch County Magistrate Zhang's execution, then have Wu Hua fulfill their wager by explaining Buddhist teachings.
• At the Liu Residence, Liu Xu asked Wu Hua whether their plan involving a tiny Azure Lotus Platform was impolite.

Wu Hua used an imitation Karma Lotus Platform to trace the Mysterious Person, and Liu Xu recognized the Ghost-Head Saber it revealed. The next day, as County Magistrate Zhang faced execution, he spotted the saber-wearing man in the crowd.

• Wu Hua decided to use the imitation Karma Lotus Platform despite Liu Xu warning him that investigating the Mysterious Person could be dangerous.
• Wu Hua activated the platform with his blood, and it formed the image of a Ghost-Head Saber.
• Liu Xu recognized the saber and concluded that she might know the Mysterious Person’s identity because of his connection to Xiao Yue.
• Liu Xu refused Wu Hua’s suggestion to approach the man immediately and proposed waiting until after County Magistrate Zhang’s execution.
• The next day, County Magistrate Zhang saw a smiling man wearing a Ghost-Head Saber at the execution ground.

Xu Bai watched County Magistrate Zhang get executed, and Zhang realized too late that Xu Bai had been the Mysterious Person and had acted for Xiao Yue. After leaving the execution ground, Xu Bai was confronted in an alley by Liu Xu and Wu Hua.

• County Magistrate Zhang recognized Xu Bai as the Mysterious Person and tried to reveal his identity to Daoist Priest Li.
• Daoist Priest Li ordered County Magistrate Zhang's execution, and the executioner beheaded him before he could speak.
• As he died, County Magistrate Zhang saw Xu Bai silently say “Xiao Yue” and understood why Xu Bai had targeted him.
• Xu Bai left the execution ground and planned to return to the escort agency before visiting the Liu Residence and looking for books with progress bars.
• Liu Xu and Wu Hua appeared in an alley and blocked Xu Bai's path, prompting him to grip the Ghost-Head Saber.

Xu Bai considered killing Liu Xu and Wu Hua after they discovered his identity, but spared them because he judged them decent people. Wu Hua began explaining his request, though Xu Bai warned that he would not agree to help before hearing the details.

• Liu Xu and Wu Hua recognized Xu Bai by his Ghost-Head Saber, and Xu Bai prepared to attack them.
• Wu Hua urged Xu Bai to spare them, praising his deeds and offering the ties between Vajra Temple and Azure Cloud Academy as a reason to cooperate.
• Xu Bai decided not to kill Liu Xu and Wu Hua because they had stood up for Xiao Yue, but said their argument had not changed his mind.
• Wu Hua tried to ask Xu Bai for help, and Xu Bai refused before hearing what the matter was.
• Xu Bai agreed to hear Wu Hua's explanation while warning him not to expect assistance, and Wu Hua began recounting the matter.