Recaps

Zhai Le questioned an old man and his stuttering grandson about dates and wine, while Zhai Huan grew suspicious of their appearance near the Tax Silver convoy. After divining a dangerous omen, Zhai Huan arranged for a scout to follow them, leaving the convoy wary of what lay ahead.

• Captain Yang ordered the old man and Shepherd Boy to move aside so the Tax Silver convoy could pass.
• Zhai Le asked whether the old man’s family sold dates or brewed wine, but learned they had neither.
• Zhai Huan watched the grandfather and grandson leave, then borrowed a scout from Captain Yang to follow them.
• Zhai Huan told Zhai Le that his Eight-Day Divination had produced the Water-Thunder Dun hexagram, a sign of difficulty and danger.

The Shepherd Boy and the old man carried out their plan to delay the tax silver procession, while Zhai Huan grew suspicious of them and worried over an ominous hexagram. The procession was forced to stop in the rain, leaving its exhausted soldiers asleep beneath the carts.

• The old man and the Shepherd Boy discussed Xiao Fang and Zhai Huan, then returned to their hideout in an abandoned village.
• A scout followed the old man and the Shepherd Boy, and the Shepherd Boy concluded that Zhai Huan had sent him because he was suspicious.
• The Shepherd Boy explained how the rain and landslide would slow the procession and leave its soldiers vulnerable on the narrow road.
• Captain Yang ordered his soldiers to clear the landslide instead of taking a detour, then halted the procession to rest in the cold rain.
• The exhausted soldiers sheltered beneath the carts and fell asleep, while Zhai Huan's unease deepened over the inauspicious Tun Hexagram.

Zhai Huan and Zhai Le waited for an expected attack while Captain Yang’s lax camp settled in for the night. Chu Yao and Gongshu Wu watched the soldiers and waited for Shen Tang’s group to strike before joining the assault.

• Zhai Huan told Zhai Le they had done all they could and prepared to face a possible attack in the latter half of the night.
• Captain Yang let his favored subordinate handle the patrols, while the subordinate scolded shirking soldiers and accepted their bribes.
• Two exhausted soldiers complained during their patrol, unaware that Chu Yao and Gongshu Wu were watching them.
• Gongshu Wu asked whether they should attack, but Chu Yao chose to wait for Wu Lang and the others so both teams could strike together.

Shen Tang and Qi Bu Shan planned to ambush Captain Yang, while the Zhai brothers discovered an attack on their camp and raised the alarm. Gongshu Wu prepared for battle after hearing the signal, but Chu Yao gave him an unexpectedly destructive Literary Heart Word Spirit.

• Shen Tang rejected Qi Bu Shan’s suggestion to kill the Zhai brothers and decided to leave Xiao Fang to Banbu while she dealt with Captain Yang.
• Qi Bu Shan got Shen Tang drunk and persuaded her to attack the thieves by targeting their leader, Captain Yang.
• The Zhai brothers sensed an approaching enemy, raised a Literary Qi barrier, and fired a Signal Arrow that alerted both camps.
• Captain Yang woke as the attackers struck the camp, and Zhai Huan’s barrier cracked in the first clash.
• Gongshu Wu armed himself and awaited Chu Yao’s aid, but Chu Yao announced a fiercely destructive attack.

Chu Yao and Gongshu Wu’s ambush against the Tax Silver convoy began, as Chu Yao’s Word Spirits sowed panic among the soldiers and the enemy discovered their position. Zhai Le used the Martial Gall Tiger Tally to arm nearby soldiers as the battle escalated.

• Chu Yao unleashed two dragons of Literary Qi, but Zhai Le destroyed them with an arrow and Zhai Huan raised a dome over the camp.
• Chu Yao’s falling Literary Qi seeped into the soldiers and filled them with terror, throwing the camp into chaos.
• Gongshu Wu shot down incoming arrows while Chu Yao declared their position exposed and granted Gongshu Wu glorious Martial Fortune.
• Captain Yang killed a retreating soldier and threatened the rest, but the exhausted troops remained unstable.
• Zhai Le used the Martial Gall Tiger Tally to blast open a path through the falling Literary Qi and equip 350 soldiers with crude armor and weapons.

Zhai Huan and Chu Yao rallied Captain Yang’s troops against the enemy’s Martial Qi soldiers, but a scar-faced swordsman suddenly attacked Captain Yang and knocked him from his horse. The chapter ended as the stranger charged at him again.

• Zhai Huan urged Captain Yang to manifest his troops and form ranks, while Zhai Le also summoned Martial Qi soldiers.
• Chu Yao used all Five Virtues of the General to strengthen Gongshu Wu and his Martial Qi soldiers, and the opposing formations clashed.
• Captain Yang handed over control of his soldiers and prepared to draw out the hidden enemy leader.
• A scar-faced burly man attacked Captain Yang, kicked him off his horse, and snapped the horse’s neck.
• The stranger used the fallen horse to propel himself toward Captain Yang as the subordinate officers remained trapped by literary Qi.

Shen Tang and her allies fought a surprise attack on their temporary camp as Zhai Le recognized the disguised Gongshu Wu. The literary qi dome fell, leaving ordinary soldiers exposed, and the chapter ended with Captain Yang striking Shen Tang with a powerful saber attack.

• Captain Yang recovered from a powerful kick and resumed fighting, while Zhai Le recognized his opponent as Gongshu Wu and suspected Shen Tang and Qi Yuanliang were among the attackers.
• Gongshu Wu’s superior rank and strength forced Zhai Le to fight defensively as Zhai Huan used Three Hearts, Two Minds to support him, Captain Yang, and the soldiers.
• Arrows from the forest struck the camp’s literary qi dome in repeated volleys until it cracked and shattered.
• The arrows killed unprotected ordinary soldiers, and the fighting intensified as both sides suffered casualties.
• Captain Yang attacked Shen Tang with a blazing, killing-intent-filled saber strike and knocked her back several yards.

Shen Tang met Captain Yang’s full-force saber strike with her sword and then continued fighting him despite severe injuries and depleted Literary Qi. As the battle remained deadlocked, Gongshu Wu shattered Zhai Le’s weapon and struck his shoulder armor.

• Shen Tang used the Word Spirit “Three cups, and promises poured forth; the Five Sacred Mountains weigh no more” to repel Captain Yang’s attack, though the clash injured her and drained her Literary Qi.
• Qi Shan and Chu Yao used Word Spirits to restore Shen Tang, who then charged Captain Yang and resumed their fierce, deadlocked fight.
• The shock waves from Shen Tang and Captain Yang’s duel devastated the camp, while Zhai Le recognized that Shen Tang was a Literary Scholar without martial armor.
• Gongshu Wu broke Zhai Le’s weapon and struck his shoulder guard, sending him flying and leaving his arm badly hurt.

Shen Tang and her allies fought Captain Yang's force over the Tax Silver until beacon fires signaled an emergency in Xiaocheng and forced the enemy to withdraw. The Tax Silver remained with Shen Tang's side, while the cause of the Wolf Smoke was still unknown.

• Zhai Le and Gongshu Wu fought fiercely as both sides' soldiers dwindled, while Shen Tang wounded Captain Yang during their duel.
• A series of Wolf Smoke signals rose across the horizon, prompting Captain Yang to abandon the Tax Silver and return to Xiaocheng to reinforce it.
• Shen Tang agreed to let Captain Yang's surviving men leave but kept the Tax Silver, and Gongshu Wu allowed Zhai Le to ride away with his cousin.
• After Qi Shan and the others arrived, Shen Tang asked why the enemy had retreated, and Chu Yao and Gongshu Wu identified the Wolf Smoke as a call for reinforcements but did not know what had happened in Xiaocheng.

After defeating Captain Yang’s men, Shen Tang fell asleep while Chu Yao, Qi Shan, and Gongshu Wu decided to hide the Tax Silver nearby. Captain Yang’s exhausted remnants stopped to rest on their way to Xiaocheng, where a wolf-smoke signal had warned of an overwhelming enemy force.

• Chu Yao stopped Qi Shan from lending Shen Tang his bloodstained outer robe, then gave her his own.
• Shen Tang circled Gongshu Wu to check that her treasure was safe, then fell asleep standing up.
• Chu Yao and Qi Shan told Gongshu Wu they would hide the Tax Silver nearby until the danger passed.
• Captain Yang led his exhausted remnants toward Xiaocheng and stopped beside a stream to rest.
• Zhai Huan asked Captain Yang about the wolf smoke, and Captain Yang revealed it had summoned troops back to Sibao Prefecture’s capital.
• Zhai Huan and Zhai Le realized Xiaocheng faced an enemy force large enough to overwhelm its garrison.

Captain Yang learned that Lingzhou was in turmoil and feared the uprising might be connected to the siege of Xiaocheng, while Zhai Huan and Zhai Le suspected Qi Shan had arranged the Tax Silver robbery. Shen Tang woke after blacking out, learned the silver had been buried, and prepared to return with her companions.

• Zhai Le told Captain Yang about the unrest in Lingzhou, but concealed that Shen Tang and her group had provided the information.
• Zhai Huan argued that if Lingzhou's rebels were besieging Xiaocheng, they were likely an undisciplined and weak force; Captain Yang remained furious that Sibao Prefecture's governor had sent the Tax Silver despite the unrest.
• Zhai Huan guessed Qi Yuanliang was behind the previous night's bandit attack, and Zhai Le said he recognized Shen Tang's sword.
• Shen Tang woke with no memory of the night and learned from Chu Yao that the robbery had succeeded and the Tax Silver was buried.
• Chu Yao scolded Shen Tang for fighting recklessly while drunk, and Qi Shan defended her courage.
• Shen Tang used Lin Feng as an excuse to end the argument and set out with the others, but her good mood ended when they reached a teahouse beside the official road.

Shen Tang and her companions stopped at a roadside inn, where they learned that fighting had broken out near Xiaocheng, the provincial capital of Sibao Prefecture. Chu Yao questioned a fleeing schoolmaster and learned that his private school had closed, leaving the group to face the possibility that Xiaocheng was in danger.

• Shen Tang’s group reached a busy roadside inn, and she ordered food and asked a servant about the unusual number of travelers.
• A family arrived with their children and belongings, and the servant told Shen Tang that fighting had started and refugees were fleeing.
• Shen Tang and her companions realized the fighting might be near Xiaocheng, the provincial capital of Sibao Prefecture.
• Chu Yao recognized the head of the household as a former private schoolmaster from Xiaocheng and spoke with him.
• The schoolmaster told Chu Yao that his private school had closed and his students had scattered.

Chu Yao learned that Geng Country was engulfed in civil war, making the road to Xiaocheng dangerous. A host explained how Zheng Qiao’s rise to the throne and brutal treatment of his brothers led to a sudden coup that put Sibao Prefecture under attack.

• Chu Yao asked the host why he could not travel to Xiaocheng, and the host warned him that Geng Country was in the middle of a civil war.
• The host explained that Geng Country’s Queen and court officials had backed Zheng Qiao as an easily controlled successor after the aging Sovereign suffered a stroke.
• Zheng Qiao returned from hostagehood, took the throne, and had rival brothers killed or driven insane, sparing two only after the Queen Mother intervened.
• After Zheng Qiao invaded Xin Country, two surviving brothers exploited a trusted aide’s fear of Zheng Qiao and persuaded him to betray the king.
• The brothers launched a coup in one night, and the Rebel Army attacked Sibao Prefecture, sending residents fleeing without their belongings.

Chu Yao reported that Xiaocheng was descending into chaos under Zheng Qiao’s rule, prompting Shen Tang and her companions to turn back to rescue their people. As they approached, they learned the prefect had vanished after trying to negotiate with the Rebel Army, leaving Xiaocheng leaderless and in danger.

• Chu Yao relayed a prominent Xiaocheng resident’s account of the Geng princes’ abuse and the atrocities committed under Zheng Qiao’s rule in Sibao Prefecture.
• Shen Tang decided to return to Xiaocheng immediately because Lin Feng, Tu Rong, and more than a hundred of their people were still there.
• Shen Tang, Qi Shan, Wu Lang, and Yuan Liang rode against the flow of refugees fleeing Xiaocheng, despite warnings from townsfolk.
• Qi Shan suspected Xiaocheng had already fallen because the prefect had withdrawn five thousand garrison troops and was unlikely to resist Zheng Qiao’s punishment.
• Refugees told Shen Tang that the prefect had secretly sent an envoy to negotiate with the Rebel Army, then disappeared, leaving Xiaocheng without a leader.

Shen Tang and her companions detoured through a village, where Rebel Army soldiers were forcibly recruiting people and abducting women. After the four killed the soldiers and urged the villagers to flee, Shen Tang threatened villagers who blamed them for the violence, leaving them terrified and compliant.

• Shen Tang and her companions changed course because refugees had blocked the roads, then encountered Rebel Army soldiers rounding up villagers.
• The soldiers tried to seize Shen Tang and her companions, while two others dragged a farmer's wife from hiding and kicked her husband when he intervened.
• Shen Tang cut off one soldier's lower leg, and Gongshu Wu, Qi Shan, and Chu Yao helped her kill the remaining soldiers.
• Shen Tang told the rescued villagers to gather their belongings and flee before the Rebel Army investigated the missing soldiers.
• Several villagers cursed Shen Tang and blamed her for making them flee, so she held her sword to one man's neck and threatened them until they begged for mercy.

After Shen Tang spared the villagers who had insulted her, she and her companions set out for Xiaocheng by a local mountain path. They found fresh footprints and signs of someone nearby just as Shen Tang joked that trouble always found her.

• Shen Tang threatened the villagers but refused to kill them, and Chu Yao teased her about using a Word Spirit to silence people instead of ripping out their tongues.
• A rescued man offered to guide Shen Tang and her companions toward Xiaocheng, but Shen Tang clarified that she only needed directions and the group left without the villagers.
• The four followed the narrow mountain trail on foot while evading Rebel Army patrols, and Shen Tang wondered whom the soldiers were searching for.
• Shen Tang speculated that the Rebel Army might be hunting the governor of Sibao Prefecture, while Qi Shan hoped they were searching for his old enemy.
• Gongshu Wu found a fresh scrap of cloth and several footprints in the grass, and Shen Tang joked that her transmigrator's halo had led them into trouble.

Shen Tang and Qi Shan split from Chu Yao and Gongshu Wu to pursue the Sibao Prefecture prefect, whom they found hiding in a cave with two injured Martial Gall Warriors. Qi Shan confronted the prefect over his connection to Qi Yuanliang, while Shen Tang fought the guards and challenged Qi Shan for merely trading insults.

• Shen Tang silenced Qi Shan to stop him from refusing her help, then accompanied him to search for the fugitive while Chu Yao and Gongshu Wu headed toward Xiaocheng.
• Shen Tang and Qi Shan found the Sibao Prefecture prefect hiding in a cave with two retainers, and Shen Tang attacked the Martial Gall Warriors as Qi Shan targeted the prefect.
• Qi Shan revealed himself and taunted the prefect by invoking the name Qi Yuanliang, frightening him into believing he had encountered an old enemy.
• The prefect realized Qi Shan might be impersonating Qi Yuanliang and demanded to know who he was, while Shen Tang complained that Qi Shan was only trading insults instead of fighting.

Shen Tang defeated Yan Cheng’s two retainers while Qi Shan confronted the prefect and crippled his literary energy. Qi Shan then beat and bound Yan Cheng, leaving their old grudge unresolved.

• Qi Shan taunted Yan Cheng while Shen Tang fought the prefect’s two retainers.
• Yan Cheng recognized Qi Shan and tried to claim he had not harmed Qi Yuanliang, but Qi Shan rejected his excuse and stopped his literary energy.
• Shen Tang killed the Fourth-Class Bugeng and defeated the Fifth-Rank Grand Master.
• Shen Tang questioned Qi Shan about his confrontation with Yan Cheng, and the prefect accused him of seeking revenge for Qi Shan.
• Qi Shan punched and kicked Yan Cheng, then bound him with literary energy.

Qi Shan revealed to Shen Tang that his real name was Qi Yuanliang and explained how the real Qi Shan had once been his teacher, friend, and benefactor. He began recounting the events that separated them, ending as Yan Cheng recognized the student who had died during the special examination.

• Qi Shan beat the governor, then took him into a cave and told Shen Tang that he was really Qi Yuanliang.
• Qi Yuanliang explained that the real Qi Shan had taught and befriended him after helping him find a teacher.
• Qi Yuanliang recounted how the real Qi Shan had helped him study and supported him while he was poor.
• Qi Yuanliang said he had returned home for a relative's funeral while the real Qi Shan traveled alone to the special examination.
• Qi Yuanliang explained that he arrived at the examination shortly before it began, where a student died, and Yan Cheng began to recognize who it was.

Qi Shan confronted the governor over the death of the original Qi Shan, then explained Xin Country’s recruitment examinations to Shen Tang. The chapter ended as Qi Shan began describing the unusual assessment of candidates’ conduct and ability.

• Qi Shan accused the governor of causing the death of the sixteen-year-old Qi Shan and beat him again when he refused to admit wrongdoing.
• Shen Tang asked whether the special examination was an imperial examination, and the governor mocked her for not knowing.
• Qi Shan told Shen Tang that Tan Lezheng was his discarded name and insisted that she call him Qi Yuanliang.
• Qi Shan explained the regular and special recruitment examinations, including the recommendations granted by regional examiners and local notables.
• Qi Shan said the examination assessed candidates’ family background, conduct and ability, and Literary Heart rank, and identified conduct and ability as the source of the problem.

Shen Tang learned that recommendations granted scholars entry to the Mountain Sea Sacred Land, whose Book Mountain and Learning Sea offered different trials and great rewards. Qi Shan revealed that he and Yuan Liang had once been betrayed inside Book Mountain, and he accused Governor Yan Cheng of knowing the truth about Yuan Liang’s death.

• Shen Tang questioned how examiners could fairly judge a candidate’s character, and Qi Shan explained that recommendations also enabled scholars to enter the Mountain Sea Sacred Land.
• Qi Shan told Shen Tang that entering the sacred land required National Fortune and that Chu Wu Hui could enter again because his Literary Heart Sigil had been renewed.
• Qi Shan described Book Mountain’s many peaks and Learning Sea’s Word Spirit waves, including the record-setter who survived sixty-six waves with the help of a newly discovered Literary Heart Word Spirit.
• Qi Shan recounted how a man lured him and Yuan Liang into an unexplored place in Book Mountain, used them as sacrifices at the death gate, and escaped through the life gate.
• Qi Shan accused Governor Yan Cheng of knowing that Yuan Liang had died saving him in the snowstorm and challenged him to call it an accident.

Qi Shan confronted the governor over betraying Xin Country and his friend, while the governor accused Qi Shan of being no better than himself. Shen Tang rejected the governor’s unsupported accusations against Qi Shan, and killed him after Qi Shan gave his approval.

• Qi Shan seized the governor and accused him of helping Ten Crows unify its tribes with a hidden formation.
• The governor defended his betrayal, and Qi Shan repeatedly choked him before releasing him and taunting him.
• The governor claimed Qi Yuanliang had given him a chance to escape, while Qi Shan accused him of killing his friend and stealing his identity.
• Shen Tang stopped Qi Shan from taking the governor’s accusations to heart and argued that Qi Shan was innocent without proof.
• Qi Shan told Shen Tang to kill the governor, and she crushed his skull beneath her foot.

Qi Shan told Shen Tang about his beloved friend, whose kindness and stubborn generosity had shaped his life. He revealed that his friend sacrificed himself in Book Mountain so Qi Shan could survive, and that the secret realm’s closure—not Qi Shan’s skill—saved him from the formation.

• Qi Shan described his friend as a kindhearted, easily swayed boy who helped others despite his own poverty.
• Qi Shan explained that he and his friend had secretly made and sold illustrated bedroom-education booklets to support the family.
• Qi Shan admitted that he had survived by taking advantage of his friend’s sacrifice in the stone formation.
• Qi Shan recounted how the formation’s illusions and hunger drove them toward death, though his friend’s Way of the Scholar shielded him more than Qi Shan.
• Qi Shan woke in his friend’s clothes and arms beside a blood-written half-farewell, realizing his friend had died to keep him warm.
• Qi Shan explained that he escaped only when the blizzard stopped and Book Mountain closed, leaving his friend’s body behind.

Qi Shan explained how he took Qi Yuanliang’s identity after the scholar died in Book Mountain, using his unusual second Literary Way to keep Yuanliang’s name alive. He recounted how his hatred of Yan Cheng erupted into a street brawl, bringing his natural enemy and Seat Master into the investigation.

• Qi Shan said he had assumed Qi Yuanliang’s identity after Yuanliang died, and revealed that his obsession had given him the second Literary Way, Masterful Painting and Calligraphy.
• Qi Shan told Shen Tang that Yan Cheng was his natural enemy and that the man had once brought him close to death.
• After recovering from his injuries, Qi Shan saw Yan Cheng among Book Mountain’s top-ranked scholars and attacked him in the street.
• Yan Cheng fought back, and nearby scholars joined the brawl as they tried and failed to stop it.
• The Xin Country examiners questioned Qi Shan and Yan Cheng after Qi Shan accused Yan Cheng of killing Tan Qu, but Yan Cheng denied it.
• The dispute reached Qi Shan’s Seat Master, who saw through his disguise and recognized that he was no longer the original Qi Shan.

Qi Shan told Shen Tang how Yan Cheng framed him for impersonating Qi Shan and how he escaped execution by proving his cat allergy. As Qi Shan prepared for exile, Yan Cheng gave him a jar of ashes and claimed he had killed Huai Xu, the old cat who had belonged to Tan Lezheng.

• Qi Shan explained that people believed Yan Cheng over him because Yan Cheng was noble-born and had excelled in the examination, while Qi Shan was a lowborn scholar who had turned in a blank paper.
• Qi Shan said a classmate’s mention of Huai Xu inspired him to prove he was the real Qi Shan by demonstrating his severe allergy to cats, overturning the charges that depended on his being Tan Qu.
• The Sovereign sentenced Qi Shan to caning and exile, and friends gathered to see him off and help him prepare for the journey.
• Yan Cheng arrived with a small jar of ashes and claimed they were Huai Xu’s remains, saying he had put the sick old cat out of its misery.