Chapter Summaries

Shen Tang's group rescued the badly wounded Bai Su, who revealed she had been robbing the rich to aid the poor in Heyin. She began explaining her impoverished childhood after warning Shen Tang not to travel there.

• Shen Tang examined the rescued woman's calluses and muscles, while Gu Chi treated her severe wounds and the group continued toward Heyin.
• As Shen Tang reviewed her accounts, Gu Chi proposed taking wealth from Heyin's corrupt powerful families, and Shen Tang asked him to find out whether Qi Shan and Chu Yao would support the idea.
• Bai Su awoke and falsely claimed to be a farm girl named Hei, but Gu Chi exposed her story and Shen Tang told her to leave in the morning.
• Bai Su revealed that her name was Bai Su and warned Shen Tang against going to Heyin, then admitted she had robbed the rich to aid the poor.
• Bai Su began describing how her poor family had struggled under a heartless landlord.

Bai Su told Shen Tang how she became a bandit who helped the poor and warned her not to go to He Yin, but learned Shen Tang was headed there to take up an official post. After resting, Bai Su woke during the journey and saw Shen Tang’s group carefully escorting a crowd of vulnerable commoners toward He Yin.

• Bai Su recounted her family's deaths, her adoption and training by Nameless, and her decision to continue helping the poor as a thief.
• Bai Su warned Shen Tang that He Yin was dangerous, then learned Shen Tang was going there to take up her post and was asked to share everything she knew about the region.
• Shen Tang gave Bai Su time to recover, while Gu Chi pointed out that Bai Su had only pretended to faint.
• Shen Tang and Gu Chi discussed her attempts to earn Bai Su's trust, and Shen Tang confirmed that she was a woman.
• The group set out at first light, and Bai Su woke to find that they were escorting many elderly people, women, and children alongside their own guards.

Bai Su learned why Shen Tang’s refugees considered him a great benefactor and was moved by the food and care he provided. Meanwhile, Shen Tang grew bored on the journey and joked with Kang Shi about asking Qi Shan what color of sack he liked.

• Bai Su questioned the woman caring for her and learned that Shen Tang had taken in her and her child after rebels killed the rest of her family.
• Bai Su saw the refugees receive generous flatbreads and watched them eat, confirming the woman’s account of Shen Tang’s kindness.
• Lin Feng brought wild-game soup for Bai Su, who gave it to the woman’s child and remembered how her younger siblings had died after eating mud.
• Shen Tang entertained herself by imagining melodramatic stories, leaving Gu Chi frustrated because she had not finished one of them.
• Qi Shan teased Gu Chi, who threatened him with his sword scabbard, and Shen Tang told Kang Shi to ask Yuan Liang what color of sack he liked.

Shen Tang's group traveled onward as Qi Shan and Gu Chi's rivalry sparked comic misunderstandings, while Zhao Feng discovered that Lili had Martial Qi. Bai Su apologized to Shen Tang for misjudging her and offered to serve her.

• Shen Tang's explanation of the sack saying and a crude hometown joke bewildered Kang Shi and embarrassed Qi Shan and Gu Chi.
• Zhao Feng admired Gongshu Wu's training and noticed Lili's potential, but Gongshu Wu said Lili was not a Martial Gall Warrior.
• Zhao Feng and Gongshu Wu examined Lili and discovered faint Martial Qi in his meridians.
• Lili celebrated the discovery by shouting to the soldiers that he had Martial Qi, while Bai Su and her attendant mistakenly thought he was pregnant.
• Bai Su apologized to Shen Tang for judging her unfairly and offered to serve at her command.

Shen Tang heard Bai Su’s detailed account of Heyin’s feuding families and used the Zhang family scandal to devise a way to weaken their united resistance. She left the group planning to exploit old wrongful cases as a pretext for intervention.

• Bai Su told Shen Tang and Kang Shi how a sage and the Zhang family’s adopted daughter conspired to place their child in the Zhang household, with help from rival Zhang relatives.
• Bai Su warned Shen Tang that Heyin’s powerful families were linked by marriage and would unite against her small force.
• Shen Tang said she had found a solution to her manpower shortage and asked about the Zhang family’s secret execution of the adopted daughter and sage.
• Kang Shi and Chu Yao explained that Shen Tang could use Heyin’s past wrongful cases to justify seeking revenge and investigating the local families.
• Shen Tang claimed she had a female cousin in Heyin, giving herself a pretext to intervene against the families.

Shen Tang chose the Zhang Clan of Heyin as the first target for her campaign against the local powerful families after Bai Su described its abuses. When Zhao Feng arrived with Lili, Shen Tang concealed the truth about Lili’s new Martial Qi by claiming he had succeeded through an ancestral cultivation secret, leaving Zhao Feng unaware of the real circumstances.

• Bai Su named the Zhang Clan of Heyin as a suitable target and recounted its members’ brutal exploitation and abuse of commoners.
• Shen Tang learned about the Zhang Clan Head’s younger brother’s depraved Three Beauties and vowed to kill him, then settled on striking the clan before the New Year.
• Gongshu Wu brought Zhao Feng and Lili to Shen Tang, and Shen Tang guessed that Lili had managed to cultivate his first wisp of Martial Qi.
• Shen Tang claimed Lili’s success came from a secret ancestral cultivation method, and Lili played along with the story.
• Zhao Feng considered the method’s potential but concluded that Lili had begun cultivating too late to become exceptionally powerful, then left to handle other matters.
• Shen Tang told Lili to keep practicing the supposed secret method and seek guidance from Banbu or Captain Yang.

Shen Tang asked Gu Chi to investigate Bai Su and considered recruiting talented girls as future fighters while she waited for Wu Xian and Gu Ren to secure her claim to Heyin. Meanwhile, Wu Xian learned that Yan An had entered Zheng Qiao’s service and discovered that the two were fellow disciples.

• Gu Chi warned Shen Tang to stay wary of Zhao Feng and suggested testing Bai Su’s potential to cultivate a Martial Spirit.
• Shen Tang told Gu Chi to sound out Bai Su and use her only if she proved trustworthy and loyal.
• Wu Xian received Zheng Qiao’s summons for the Alliance Army to collect titles and rewards, then followed Qin Li’s advice to attend rather than risk seeming guilty.
• Qin Li investigated the situation at court and reported that Yan An had joined Zheng Qiao’s service.
• Wu Xian recognized Yan An’s name and learned from Qin Li that Yan An and Zheng Qiao were senior and junior fellow disciples.

Wu Xian and Gu Ren worried that Yan An’s service under Zheng Qiao would strengthen the Sovereign and threaten their interests, while Yan An tried to make Zheng Qiao address the people’s food shortage. The chapter left Yan An preparing to audit grain stores and distribute food as Zheng Qiao dismissed the crisis as a trivial matter.

• Wu Xian recalled that Yan An had politely sent him away on all three visits after he criticized Zheng Qiao, and Qin Li explained that Yan An had likely been pleased with him otherwise.
• Qin Li warned Wu Xian that Yan An’s influence might help Zheng Qiao stabilize his rule, but predicted Zheng Qiao’s cruelty and intolerance would eventually put Yan An in danger.
• Gu Ren restrained his sworn brothers when they proposed killing Yan An, reminded them they were near Zheng Qiao’s traveling palace, and ordered most of them to stay behind the next day.
• Gu Ren met Wu Xian on the way to the traveling palace, where Zheng Qiao listened impatiently as Yan An reported on urgent matters.
• Yan An insisted that the people’s livelihood was not a trivial concern and planned to audit grain stores and distribute food to prevent famine and unrest.

Yan An’s proposal to provide winter rations was blocked by court officials, while Zheng Qiao rewarded the Alliance Army and appointed Shen Tang governor of Heyin Commandery despite her absence. Several days later, a youth conquered a bandit stronghold and was acclaimed as its new boss.

• Court officials opposed Yan An’s plan to distribute winter rations, and Zheng Qiao let them argue before shifting the court’s attention to the Alliance Army.
• Zheng Qiao rewarded Wu Xian, Gu Ren, and the other Alliance Army leaders for their military merits.
• Gu Ren and several others recommended Shen Tang as governor of Heyin Commandery, and Zheng Qiao approved the appointment despite Wu Xian’s shock.
• Yan An warned Zheng Qiao that Shen Tang’s absence and her refugee convoy might be connected to the missing National Seal, but Zheng Qiao dismissed his suspicion.
• Wu Xian blamed Gu Ren for taking the governorship from him, while Qin Li suspected Qi Yuanliang had arranged the recommendation.
• A youth fought through a bandit stronghold, killed its leader, and forced the surviving bandits to acclaim him as their boss.

Shen Tang seized two bandit strongholds near Heyin and began turning their surviving bandits into an organized force. She paused her campaign to bring the recruits under control while her allies pursued separate plans against other strongholds.

• Shen Tang killed the Head of the Household, intimidated the bandits into submission, and appointed members of her hype squad as squad leaders.
• Shen Tang took two strongholds in one day, using captured bandits to lead her to the next one.
• Shen Tang ordered the hype squad to organize and discipline the recruits, threatening punishment for anyone who rebelled or fled.
• Shen Tang's allies split up: Gongshu Wu and Chu Yao guarded the people in the valley, Zhao Feng and Qi Shan targeted a larger stronghold, and Kang Shi and Captain Yang used a disguised merchant caravan to lure bandits into an ambush.

Shen Tang exchanged messages with Qi Shan, Chu Yao, and Kang Shi using a blue-bird Word Spirit, then her forces began rounding up the bandits from two captured strongholds. The chapter left the bandits being forced awake under threat of death.

• Qi Shan sent Shen Tang a message reporting that he and Zhao Feng had captured their target, found evidence that a powerful Heyin family backed the bandits, and asked how her forces were faring.
• Shen Tang created a blue-bird message in reply, bragging about her exploits and sending questions to Chu Yao and Kang Shi as well.
• Chu Yao received Shen Tang's message and taught Lin Feng how blue-bird message Word Spirits worked; Lin Feng sent a short letter to Shen Tang.
• At dawn, Shen Tang's twenty-five cheer squad members woke and registered the bandits from both captured strongholds, killing one who resisted.
• The young man threatened the bandits with death if they were not all awake within ten breaths.

Shen Tang forced hundreds of bandits from two strongholds into submission and put them through a brutal seven-day training program. As the bandits began to improve, Chu Yao and Gu Chi received her progress report while their allies continued watching the refugees and hunting other strongholds.

• Shen Tang threatened the bandits with a countdown, and one bandit killed a stubborn companion with a rock so the others could meet her demand to stand up.
• Shen Tang had the surviving bandits line up, learned that only around twenty people had died overnight, and ordered the mood-setting crew to train them for seven days.
• The mood-setting crew put the bandits through punishing drills, and escape attempts and a disturbance led to more deaths over the first two days.
• Shen Tang used a bluebird to tell Chu Yao that the bandits had made rapid progress, while Chu Yao, Gu Chi, and Gongshu Wu discussed her report.
• Gu Chi warned Chu Yao that some refugees had ulterior motives, and Chu Yao advised keeping watch over them.
• Chu Yao and Gu Chi compared Shen Tang's results with the more traditional training led by Zhao Feng and Qi Shan, then contacted Kang Shi and Captain Yang about their hunt for nearby strongholds.

Kang Shi and Captain Yang used a caravan as bait to investigate a suspicious gang of young robbers, while Lili learned of his past connection to Captain Yang’s former acquaintance and vowed to catch up to her. When the robbers attacked, Captain Yang held back to see whether a more powerful force would appear.

• Kang Shi and Captain Yang concluded that the unusually cruel robbers were likely being funded and set out to draw them into an ambush.
• Captain Yang recognized Lili’s name from stories told by a former Prefect and urged him to work hard; Lili said he hoped Madam would rise higher and that he would catch up to her.
• Lili detected an approaching arrow, knocked it aside, and warned the caravan as dozens of coordinated attackers emerged from the woods.
• Lili and Captain Yang’s soldiers fought the attackers while pretending to be ordinary guards, and Kang Shi secretly monitored the battle.
• After a blade nearly reached Captain Yang inside the carriage, he refused to intervene, deciding to wait and see whether a bigger target would take the bait.

Captain Yang and Kang Shi captured a bandit and learned that the Zhang Lineage of Heyin secretly operated a weapons workshop and mine. They summoned reinforcements while the Zhangs remained unaware that their armed men had been wiped out.

• Captain Yang killed the attacking bandits and had Kang Shi question a surviving prisoner.
• Kang Shi learned that the bandits guarded a mountain mine and weapons workshop preparing to send out five thousand arrows.
• Kang Shi identified the Zhang Lineage of Heyin as the workshop's owner, and he and Captain Yang discussed Shen Tang's coming struggle with the local clans.
• Kang Shi sent bluebirds to summon reinforcements while Captain Yang's men disposed of the bodies and maintained their disguise.
• The Zhangs learned that all the men they had sent down the mountain were dead, but their leader dismissed the idea of moving the workshop and ordered more men sent instead.

After receiving Kang Shi’s report about a weapons workshop, an ore vein, and five thousand arrows, Shen Tang roused her bandits and led them toward the neighboring mountain. Kang Shi and Captain Yang’s group fought off an enemy led by a Fifth-Rank Grand Master, while Zhao Feng rushed to join the battle.

• Shen Tang received Kang Shi’s letter, woke the bandits, and promised rewards for defeating enemies and taking prisoners.
• Shen Tang used a Word Spirit to speed the bandits as they marched toward the neighboring mountain.
• Kang Shi warned Captain Yang that a powerful enemy force led by a Fifth-Rank Grand Master was approaching.
• The Fifth-Rank Grand Master attacked a guard but discovered the caravan had a Literary Scholar and numerous Martial Gall Warriors.
• Kang Shi used “Scattered Like Stars and Chess Pieces” to hinder the fighters while two Fourth-Class Bugeng engaged the Fifth-Rank Grand Master.
• Zhao Feng reached the mountain path, sent Qi Shan on more slowly, and leapt ahead toward the battle.

Kang Shi, Zhao Feng, and Qi Shan subdued a bandit force and headed for its arms workshop, only to find it burning and learn Shen Tang had arrived there after getting lost. The chapter left Shen Tang’s group fighting at the stronghold while the others rushed to join them.

• Kang Shi trapped the Fifth-Rank Grand Master with literary energy, but the man broke free and ran into Zhao Feng, who knocked him down and defeated the remaining bandits.
• Zhao Feng told Kang Shi that Qi Shan and the others were on their way, but Qi Shan used Steal the Peach to swap more than a hundred people into Zhao Feng’s position, forcing Zhao Feng to climb the mountain again.
• Kang Shi questioned and killed the Fifth-Rank Grand Master, while Qi Shan agreed that the man was too dangerous to recruit.
• Kang Shi, Qi Shan, and Zhao Feng found the road to the arms workshop strangely quiet and saw the stronghold burning, with figures fighting inside.
• Qi Shan recognized Shen Tang’s literary energy and realized she had reached the stronghold after her group and the bandits accidentally got lost while following her Haste Word Spirit.

Shen Tang led her bandits to the hidden armory, where they launched a raid against hundreds of defenders. She unleashed her Literary Qi and fought off powerful Martial Gall Warriors, but the battle continued as two more high-ranking opponents approached.

• Shen Tang realized her group had climbed the mountain from the back and followed the sound of metalworking to the armory.
• Shen Tang ordered an attack after patrol guards discovered her group, and the bandits poured out to defend the stronghold.
• Shen Tang used her Word Spirit to send fiery sparks raining onto the enemy and fought alongside her bandits.
• Shen Tang taunted and killed a scarred, one-eyed Martial Gall Warrior, then defeated another with a powerful sword strike.
• Shen Tang faced the remaining two high-ranking Martial Gall Warriors as the battle raged beneath the burning armory.

Shen Tang captured the Zhang Lineage’s Armory, killing its defenders and taking its craftsmen, weapons, and supplies before withdrawing with her force. After the Zhang Lineage discovered the devastation, Chu曜 sent Lin Feng and Bai Su to Shen Tang so they could earn merit and support her.

• Shen Tang fought the Armory’s remaining Martial Gall Warriors while Qi Shan killed a Literary Scholar and Zhao Feng led reinforcements to help defeat the defenders.
• Shen Tang and her allies captured more than a hundred prisoners, secured 156 craftsmen and apprentices, and loaded the Armory’s weapons, armor, and other valuables onto carts.
• Shen Tang released the miners and withdrew before the Zhang Lineage arrived; the Zhang Lineage found the Armory looted and its dead defenders displayed with directions to their corpses.
• News of the Armory’s destruction spread after more than three hundred miners fled, leaving the Zhang Lineage on edge and its enemies celebrating.
• Chu曜 sent Lin Feng and Bai Su to Shen Tang so Lin Feng could earn merit and cultivate Literary Qi, while Bai Su could develop her martial talent and become one of Shen Tang’s helpers.

Shen Tang helped Lin Feng confront her fear of being replaceable by suggesting she pursue a path that could protect the common people’s food supply. Lin Feng appeared to awaken signs of her Way of the Scholar before forming a Literary Heart, and Gu Chi went to investigate.

• Lin Feng told Shen Tang she feared her talent and place in the world could be replaced, and Shen Tang comforted her.
• Chu Yao recognized Lin Feng’s insecurity and considered how her Way of the Scholar might develop beyond conventional schools.
• Shen Tang urged Lin Feng to pursue agriculture and protect the common people’s food supply as her distinctive path.
• Lin Feng contemplated the idea, and Shen Tang sensed a change in the surrounding Heaven and Earth Qi.
• Chu Yao asked Gu Chi whether a Way of the Scholar could awaken before a Literary Heart had formed, and Gu Chi traveled to investigate Lin Feng.

Lin Feng awakened the Way of the Scholar before forming a Literary Heart, revealing that she was a woman and startling Bai Su. Her Way appeared connected to the agricultural book Qi Min Yao Shu, whose scattered and incomplete Word Spirit left Gu Chi concerned about what came next.

• Shen Tang learned that Lin Feng was surrounded by Heaven and Earth Qi and worried that she was awakening the Way of the Scholar too soon.
• Bai Su learned from Shen Tang and Gu Chi that Lin Feng was a woman, then struggled to understand how she could awaken the Way of the Scholar when women had been excluded from that path.
• Gu Chi explained that a prolonged resonance with Heaven and Earth Qi could accompany an awakening and recorded Lin Feng's condition while they waited.
• Lin Feng woke after a vision of fields, rain, and a lake, then told Gu Chi that her Way of the Scholar seemed to be Qi Min Yao Shu.
• Gu Chi identified Qi Min Yao Shu as an agricultural book and warned that its Word Spirit was scattered and incomplete.