Chapter Summaries

Gongxi Chou and his companions escaped Luo San after Wei Cheng intervened, and Luo San learned that Gongxi Chou might be the famous Strange Hero Chou. Shen Tang reunited with the group and, furious that Gongxi Chou had helped restore Luo San to Che Hou, confronted him and learned how much trouble the encounter had caused.

• Wei Cheng persuaded Luo San to let Gongxi Chou and the others leave, and Luo San withdrew after warning them to stay out of Shanyong Commandery.
• Lin Feng questioned Luo San's motives, while Luo San asked his subordinates and the imprisoned commandery governor about Gongxi Chou's identity.
• The commandery governor suggested Gongxi Chou might be Strange Hero Chou and joked that taking his Fundoshi could attract wandering knights to help Luo San.
• Shen Tang followed the unfamiliar signals to Lin Feng's concealed base and angrily attacked Gongxi Chou when she realized what he had done.
• Shen Tang explained the trouble Gongxi Chou had caused, and he tried to shift blame to Wei Cheng, who rebuked him for acting recklessly.

Shen Tang chose to surround Luo San in Shanyong Commandery rather than risk a direct fight, then heard Lin Feng's account of her journey through Qu State. As the two groups of officials and generals met, Gongxi Chou's face revealed a past connection that he did not remember.

• Gongxi Chou apologized after Shen Tang's wig came off, and Shen Tang decided to contain Luo San by surrounding Shanyong Commandery and cutting off supplies.
• Lin Feng reported on the schemes against Qu State's Crown Princess and Zhai Xiaofang's attempt to intercept her party.
• Shen Tang recalled why she had ordered close protections for young girls, describing an attack on an academy student and the punishment of her assailant.
• Shen Tang introduced the two groups' leaders, and several men reacted shyly to meeting Lin Feng in person.
• Gongxi Chou removed his face guard, prompting several of Fundoshi's recruited generals to confront him, but he claimed he did not know them.

Shen Tang’s officials reconciled with Gongxi Chou over their old fundoshi rivalry and bonded over popular dramas and storybooks. She then led a meeting to draw Luo San out of Shanyong Commandery with a supposed supply shipment, and Lin Feng proposed exposing the location of a granary to bait his forces.

• Gongxi Chou failed to recognize the men whose fundoshi he had taken, then vaguely remembered them and taunted them about winning the garments back.
• The men bonded with Gongxi Chou and Luo Sha over storybooks and performances, and Lin Feng revealed that Five Elements Lack Virtue was one person from her teacher’s generation.
• Shen Tang proposed luring Luo San out of Shanyong Commandery with provisions because hunger might drive him to attack or break through the siege.
• Gu De suggested using provisions as bait, and Xiahou Yu proposed faking a shipment.
• Lin Feng suggested letting Luo San discover the location of a granary, reasoning that she could replace the supplies while his forces could be weakened if they tried to seize them.

Shen Tang set a trap around the enemy granary, and Luo San led his starving troops toward it after a fugitive revealed where the stolen grain was stored. As Luo San arrived, Shen Tang spotted a giant ring above the granary and anticipated an unusual opponent.

• Shen Tang arranged for a grain transport official to escape and report that the stolen grain was stored near Qiaodan County.
• Luo San questioned the fugitive, then reunited him with his nephew, the governor of Shanyong Commandery.
• The fugitive said the grain was still at the enemy granary, though an ambush might be waiting there.
• Luo San decided to lead his troops to the granary, willing to risk the trap or destroy the grain if they could not take it.
• Shen Tang saw Luo San's troops arrive and noticed an enormous ring above the granary.

Luo San attacked Shen Tang’s granary camp with troops descending from the sky, but Shen Tang and her allies fought back and revealed that the provisions there were only a decoy. The battle continued as Wei Cheng engaged Luo San, and Shen Tang ordered her forces to kill as many of Marquis Luo’s elite troops as possible.

• Luo San’s troops descended through a ring in the sky and attacked the granary camp, while Lin Feng directed the defenders and archers.
• Shen Tang fought Luo San until Luo Sha and Gongxi Chou joined her, and the three worked together to contain his attacks.
• Luo San redirected their attacks with his strange full-moon technique, prompting Shen Tang to call on Wei Cheng for help.
• Lin Feng enhanced Wei Cheng, who summoned enormous skeletal hands to trap Luo San, but Luo San broke free.
• Shen Tang revealed that the granary provisions were real but that the true granaries were elsewhere, then ordered her forces to kill as many of Luo San’s elite troops as they could.

Shen Tang and Wei Cheng fought Luo San while He Shu’s [Great Auspice Under Heaven] transformed soldiers into lightning-armored berserkers and Wei Cheng summoned the dead to overwhelm Luo San. The chapter ended with Wei Cheng breaking Luo San’s bone and demanding that he submit.

• Wei Cheng blocked Luo San and fought him, while Shen Tang realized the strange full moon redirected attacks rather than absorbing them.
• Luo San struck Wei Cheng into a pit and nearly destroyed his ghostly fire, but Shen Tang intervened and kicked Luo San away.
• He Shu arrived and used [Great Auspice Under Heaven] to transform hundreds of soldiers into powerful lightning-armored fighters, then took control of their attack.
• Wei Cheng dragged Luo San across the battlefield, but Luo San refused to surrender despite his serious injuries.
• Wei Cheng summoned the dead as Yin soldiers, who overwhelmed Luo San and exploited his weakness; Wei Cheng broke Luo San’s bone and demanded his submission again.

Wei Cheng and Lin Feng stopped Luo San’s rampaging vine tumor, and Shen Tang’s forces captured Shanyong Commandery after a costly battle that destroyed their grain warehouses. Shen Tang later questioned Luo San about his loss of control and offered him medical help and conditional freedom, leaving him wary of her treatment of Wei Cheng.

• Luo San unleashed his Martial Gall Totem, and Lin Feng’s Corpse Man Vine spores overran the tumor and exposed Luo San, whom Wei Cheng captured and restrained.
• Shen Tang ordered the prisoners guarded, while Xiahou Yu and He Shu assessed the defenders’ losses and the destruction of the grain warehouses.
• Xiahou Yu’s army entered Shanyong Commandery with little resistance, and Lin Feng ordered the captured governor kept alive for judgment.
• Luo San woke in the dungeon, learned that he had not massacred the city, and admitted that he had once lost control and massacred a city.
• Shen Tang offered Luo San a choice between cooperating with the Xinglin Physicians and remaining under house arrest if he could not prevent another loss of control.
• Luo San questioned Shen Tang’s judgment of Wei Cheng after she said she only wanted him not to cause trouble.

Shen Tang secured Luo San’s agreement to her terms and showed him Kang Country’s humane process for resettling his captured former subordinates. As Luo San began treatment and learned more about Kang Country, hearing that Chu Yao’s student was Lin Feng left him visibly troubled.

• Luo San accepted Shen Tang’s terms, then asked her to consider the fate of his captured former subordinates.
• Shen Tang explained that the prisoners could serve in the army or perform labor to ransom themselves, and gave Luo San a process for helping them become self-farming peasants.
• Luo San questioned why Shen Tang’s forces were still considered wandering troops, and Shen Tang privately reflected on Kang Country’s hidden strength.
• An Xinglin Physician began treating Luo San and eagerly offered to use him in medical testing.
• Luo San asked the Shanyong Commandery Governor about Xinglin Physicians and learned that Dong Dao served the Sovereign of Kang Country.
• The governor recited the Biographies of Famous Ministers and Scholars, and Luo San reacted sharply when he heard that Chu Yao had a student named Lin Feng.

Luo San learned that the woman commanding the force was Shen Tang of Kang Country, but his suspicions about her ambitions led him to offer help with a rebellion. Meanwhile, his former subordinates discovered that their captors treated them far better than expected.

• The commandery governor mocked Lin Feng’s appointment as Kang Country’s future Right Chancellor, and the Rope Dart Warlord hinted that she might be nearby.
• Luo San agreed to persuade his former subordinates to accept their new circumstances, and many cried as he urged them to put their families first.
• Luo San’s former soldiers found that wasteland laborers received manageable workloads, three hot meals a day, and opportunities to earn wages and regain their freedom.
• Former soldiers who joined the army received leadership roles and warm winter clothes, leaving them baffled by their treatment.
• Luo San asked Shen Tang whether Kang Country was wealthy and offered to help her establish her own household, prompting her to realize he thought she might rebel against herself.

Shen Tang organized relief and a massive reconstruction effort in Shanyong Commandery, recruiting Martial Gall Warriors to haul city stones for military merit and a share of the budget. Luo San learned that his former subordinates had refused the lucrative work because they had been mistreated, and he called them fools for enduring it.

• Shen Tang rejected Luo San’s assumption that she was secretly building an independent power base, then began relief work, rebuilding registers, clearing ruins, and repairing Shanyong Commandery’s defenses.
• Shen Tang’s forces recruited Martial Gall Warriors of Fifth-Rank Grand Master and above to haul stone, while the other soldiers repaired roads and earned military merit.
• Luo San watched Gongxi Chou, Luo Sha, and other warriors carry bricks, then learned that the hundred-million martial-fortune budget was being divided among a small group of workers.
• The Rope Dart Warlord told Luo San that Shanyong Commandery’s former warriors had declined the work, and Luo San went to question his former subordinates.
• Luo San’s former subordinates said they had been mistreated and could no longer fight back, and Luo San called them fools for tolerating it.

Luo San learned that Shen Tang’s reconstruction offer was backed by Kang and arranged for his old subordinates to join the project. As Shanyong Commandery recovered through rapid construction and grain relief, the royal court grew alarmed and debated how to oppose Shen Tang’s faction.

• Luo San read Shen Tang’s notice and explained that Kang could honor its promised martial fortune, convincing his old subordinates to reconsider their refusal.
• Luo San asked Shen Tang to resolve the concern that his men’s late entry would anger the soldiers already assigned to the project, and Shen Tang agreed.
• Luo San saw the rapidly rebuilt city wall and witnessed how free and cheap grain brought wary residents out of hiding and stabilized Shanyong Commandery.
• Luo San heard commoners praise Shen Tang for saving them and warned that such talk could leave them vulnerable to hostile forces posing as benefactors.
• The royal court received news of Shanyong Commandery’s swift recovery, and its generals hesitated to fight while suspecting an unknown faction was supplying Shen Tang.

Shen Tang learned that Qi’s court had framed loyal officials to hide its corruption, creating an opportunity to win them over and weaken the throne. As her central faction’s officials grew impatient to attack, she agreed to begin preparations to found a state and challenge Qi.

• Qi’s Sovereign demanded advice about the rebel faction’s unexplained grain supplies, while his ministers feared that investigating further would expose corruption within the court.
• Shen Tang spared Luo San’s former governor and his uncle, confiscated the Prefectural Government’s assets, and appointed the two men to work in Shanyong Commandery.
• The former governor learned that his uncle’s friend Duke Ye and his family had been imprisoned after defending the uncle against accusations of selling military grain.
• Xiahou Yu explained that Shen Tang’s false surname, Xiahou, had been used as evidence against her, and he warned that Qi’s court was alienating its loyal subjects.
• Shen Tang decided to clear the falsely accused and accept defectors, while acknowledging that the time was approaching to found a state and attack Qi.
• Shen Tang ordered preparations and provisions to be made before the armies moved, as her officials’ impatience to expand had grown.

Shen Tang kept her eager generals in check while preparing her new territory and its army for the coming war with Qi. As Gongxi Chou revealed his unusual bond with his brother and Luo San warned her about a deadly time-based Word Spirit, Shen Tang worried that a powerful enemy might appear before the campaign.

• Shen Tang told Xiahou Yu to conceal the upcoming plans from the battle-hungry generals while the new territory was still unstable.
• Gongxi Chou explained to Shen Tang that he and his elder brother could sometimes sense each other’s thoughts and emotions, and he obeyed when she told him not to bully the other warriors.
• Lin Feng arrived from Qu and rapidly replenished the army’s provisions, surprising the officials and prompting Luo San to ask how the burned granary had been restored.
• Luo San told Shen Tang about a rare Word Spirit that could turn time into an arrow, warning that its users paid for its power with their lifespans.
• Shen Tang feared she might encounter the Word Spirit’s user or descendants during the war with Qi, while Luo San dismissed Qi as too inept to pose a serious threat.

Shen Tang’s forces declared war on Qi in Duke Ye’s name, and the Qi State Sovereign answered by sending the executed man’s family heads to the front. As Shen Tang’s army attacked, the Qi envoy’s camp was thrown into chaos, and a fleeing maidservant witnessed a phantom being struck down.

• Shen Tang announced that Xiahou Li would wage war against Qi in Duke Ye’s name, condemning the Qi State Sovereign and his court.
• The Qi State Sovereign ordered Ye executed and his head sent to Xiahou Li’s army, while forbidding commoners from discussing the proclamation.
• A Qi envoy delivered a box of decomposed heads, and Ye’s uncle recognized them as his friend’s murdered family and swore vengeance against the Qi State Sovereign.
• The Qi envoy killed his godson for reporting an enemy attack, while the maidservant fled the camp amid explosions and collapsing buildings.
• The maidservant survived a falling boulder and saw a shining figure strike down a towering phantom.

Shen Tang rescued a badly injured refugee during the siege and learned that Gongxi Chou’s clan used “Mama” as a title for a god. The city’s refugees were brought under control, while the envoy who had ordered attacks on them remained at large.

• Shen Tang used a giant whale phantom to block the trebuchet stones as refugees were crushed in the panic.
• Shen Tang freed the trapped maid, cut off her crushed leg, and soothed her to sleep.
• Gongxi Chou and the soldiers calmed the crowd, and he told Shen Tang that the defending general had killed himself after capture.
• Gongxi Chou revealed that the escaped envoy was a eunuch martial artist and a Seventh Rank Duke's Minister who had ordered the trebuchets to target refugees.
• Shen Tang ordered the envoy captured and sentenced him to be slowly cut to pieces.
• Gongxi Chou explained that “Mama” meant god in his clan’s language, and Shen Tang handed the rescued woman to the infirmary.

A wounded woman recovered in Shen Tang’s army and struggled to understand why it treated disabled commoners with care. As the army marched on, Doctor Chen offered her a place in the Clothing Camp and assured her that no one could force her into prostitution.

• The woman awoke from a nightmare in the medical tent and learned that the bandits had been driven off, though she feared how her lost leg would affect her future in the Army.
• Shen Tang learned that she had killed Qi’s envoy, ordered his corpse sent to the royal house of Qi, and prepared a proclamation condemning Qi’s actions.
• Shen Tang’s army broke camp and brought the seriously injured commoners along because they would not survive without its medical care.
• The woman asked Doctor Chen for work and explained that she had once relied on her beauty but could no longer perform because of her injury.
• Doctor Chen offered her work in the Clothing Camp and promised that anyone who tried to force her to remove her clothes would be killed or punished under military law.

After a treacherous Qi commander launched a night raid on Shen Tang’s rear camps, Shen Tang’s forces defeated the attackers and killed their leader. The wounded and civilians survived, and the woman reunited with the medical unit as the camps began recovering.

• The medical unit reassured the woman that the traitor would die, and the woman spoke of her admiration for their lord.
• A night raid sent the wounded and medical soldiers fleeing up a mountain, while Shen Tang’s troops fought to defend the rear camps.
• Shen Tang revealed that she had suspected the surrendered Qi forces and set a trap that exposed their attack; she ordered the captured enemy general beheaded.
• Shen Tang learned that casualties were limited, sent people to find separated civilians, and ordered the camps to rest before setting out.
• At dawn, the woman found the medical unit and helped tend the wounded, and the soldiers’ teasing briefly lifted the camp’s mood.

Shen Tang learned that Gongxi Chou had abandoned her planned campaign route and was leading the army straight toward Qi’s capital. The Qi State Sovereign remained confident in the capital’s defenses until he woke to find Xiahou Li sharpening a knife beside his bed.

• Shen Tang read Gongxi Chou’s letter and learned that he had chosen a rapid direct march instead of following her plan to capture Qi’s strongholds one by one.
• Gu De identified Sansuo Commandery as the army’s likely next target, but Shen Tang traced Gongxi Chou’s route straight to Qi’s capital.
• Xiahou Yu questioned Gongxi Chou’s reckless march, and Gongxi Chou argued that elite troops could cross the terrain quickly while their morale was high.
• The Qi State Sovereign cursed his officials for opposing his plan to reinforce the capital and worried that the vanished Che Hou had left him unprotected.
• The Qi State Sovereign fell asleep dreaming of Xiahou Li’s defeat, then woke to find Xiahou Li beside his bed sharpening a knife.

Gongxi Chou captured the Qi State Sovereign during a nighttime assault and hung him from the Great Banner as bait, while Wei Cheng watched. Shen Tang and Gu De continued chasing Qi forces, whose armies attacked them on sight.

• The Qi State Sovereign woke to find Gongxi Chou sharpening a blade beside his bed, while Xiahou Yu and Wei Cheng watched and mocked him.
• Wei Cheng explained that he had come to observe Qi because its royal family claimed descent from Wu, but he refused to save the Qi State Sovereign after seeing his cowardice.
• Gongxi Chou seized the Qi State Sovereign and ordered him hung from the Great Banner, daring Qi reinforcements to come and fight.
• Gongxi Chou's troops seized members of the Qi royal family and noble houses to draw more enemies into the capital.
• Shen Tang and Gu De encountered two Qi armies, which attacked them immediately, leaving Shen Tang wondering whether they had offended Qi.

Shen Tang learned that Gongxi Chou had captured Qi State’s capital and decided to intercept the forces rushing to its aid. As reinforcements gathered before the capital, Gongxi Chou taunted them from the walls and stopped their first challenger with two fingers.

• Shen Tang discovered that Qi State’s Sovereign had been captured and that Gongxi Chou’s actions had prompted a widespread call for reinforcements.
• Shen Tang ordered her army to rest, then chose a mountain pass to ambush the forces marching toward the capital.
• A Qi State general heard from his classmate that Xiahou Li’s bandits had seized the capital, captured the royal clan, and hung the Sovereign from the Great Banner.
• Qi State’s warlords marched on the capital, furious at Xiahou Li and eager to confront the bandits.
• Gongxi Chou taunted the arriving reinforcements from atop the gate tower, then stopped a charging general’s attack with two fingers.