Recaps

Fang Mo visited Nian Nu'er at Yihong Pavilion, but his hunger interrupted their flirtation. Nian Nu'er revealed that she had pinned up her hair because their trade's rules made Fang Mo her husband, leaving him astonished at the bargain he had found.

• Fang Mo embraced Nian Nu'er, but his rumbling stomach interrupted their intimate moment.
• Nian Nu'er ordered Mama Feng to prepare a generous meat feast and aged Huadiao wine for Fang Mo.
• Nian Nu'er explained that she had married Fang Mo according to the rules of her trade because he was her first guest.
• Fang Mo promised to provide for Nian Nu'er, and someone knocked to announce that the feast had arrived.

Fang Mo enjoyed a lavish meal with Nian Nu'er, but Monkey and Han Niu barged in and forcibly took him to the Demon Suppression Division. As they carried him away, Fang Mo decided to punish Monkey with ten thousand lashes and chili water.

• Fang Mo feasted on delicacies and wine while Nian Nu'er watched and poured for him.
• Nian Nu'er flirted with Fang Mo, and he carried her to the bed as they prepared to be intimate.
• Monkey and Han Niu smashed through the door and wall, then ordered Fang Mo to come with them because their chief urgently wanted to see him.
• Fang Mo kissed Nian Nu'er goodbye before Monkey and Han Niu carried him out through the hole in the wall.
• Fang Mo vowed to give Monkey ten thousand lashes with chili water.

Li Mingyue recruited Fang Mo to investigate whether three Western Desert monks imprisoned in Block C, Room Shen were connected to the Blood Spirit Pills. Fang Mo accepted in exchange for a Demon Suppression Division Black Iron Token and a book about the Western Desert, then set off to investigate.

• Monkey and Han Niu rushed Fang Mo to the Demon Suppression Division’s Mirror Hall, where Li Mingyue was waiting.
• Li Mingyue told Fang Mo that Gu Yichuan was dead and explained that the Blood Spirit Pills likely had a powerful source beyond Iron Bone Liu.
• Li Mingyue said she suspected three newly imprisoned Western Desert monks might be connected to the pills and that they were held in Fang Mo’s prison block.
• Fang Mo negotiated for extra compensation, and Li Mingyue offered him a Demon Suppression Division Black Iron Token as protection in the Divine Capital.
• Fang Mo accepted the mission, took the token and Li Mingyue’s book Strange Tales of the Western Desert, and left to investigate.

Fang Mo learned about the Blood Buddha monks in an old book and eagerly returned to the Heavenly Prison to meet the three Western Desert prisoners. He entered their cell, where Yuantong attacked him, and Fang Mo faced the lunge without flinching.

• Fang Mo read Strange Tales of the Western Desert and learned about the Blood Buddha lineage and its gruesome practices.
• Fang Mo returned to the Heavenly Prison, where Old Huang warned him that the new Western Desert prisoners’ chanting had driven jailers to nearly kill themselves.
• Fang Mo approached the three monks in Cell Block C, Room 7 and saw the human finger bones strung around their leader’s neck.
• The Record of Punishing Crimes identified the three monks as Demonic Blood Monks and listed their crimes, delighting Fang Mo.
• Yuantong sprang at Fang Mo and reached for his throat, but Fang Mo stood his ground.

Fang Mo fought the three monks in the Heavenly Prison, using his Water-Fire Cudgel and Liu Tiegu’s ghostly aid to turn the battle in his favor. He left Yuanji stunned by surviving poisoned Bone Piercing Nails to the forehead as he pressed his attack.

• Fang Mo struck Yuantong in the mouth with the Water-Fire Cudgel and kicked him into the cell wall, leaving him collapsed.
• Yuanji attacked Fang Mo with his Fire Toxin palms while the old monk used mental suppression to slow him.
• Fang Mo summoned Liu Tiegu, who interrupted the old monk’s chanting and engaged him with a Soul Hook.
• Fang Mo endured Yuanji’s Flaming Palm without injury, then thrust at him with the Water-Fire Cudgel.
• Yuanji launched three poisoned Bone Piercing Nails at Fang Mo, who took them on his forehead and kept attacking.

Fang Mo and Iron Bone Liu defeated three monks in the prison cell, and the Record of Punishing Crimes absorbed their corpses. The immense energy from the powerful monks flooded Fang Mo’s body, leaving him on the verge of bursting.

• Fang Mo killed Yuanji by thrusting the Water-Fire Cudgel through his throat.
• Fang Mo joined the battle against the old monk, whose blood-red bell shield resisted his attacks.
• Iron Bone Liu restrained the old monk, and Fang Mo pierced him from behind with the Water-Fire Cudgel, breaking his defense.
• Iron Bone Liu kicked the weakened old monk in the temple, killing him and ending the fight.
• Prison Suppression · Containment absorbed the three corpses, sending a huge surge of energy into Fang Mo’s Dantian.

Fang Mo diverted a dangerous surge of stolen power into his bones, stabilizing at early Bone Tempering while gaining Silver Bones. He then entered Prison Suppressor, where Wang Ergou and Iron Bone Liu were tormenting the newly imprisoned souls.

• Fang Mo stopped his forced advance toward Organ Refining and channeled the surging energy into his 207 bones.
• Fang Mo stabilized at early Bone Tempering and discovered that his bones had turned silver and become exceptionally hard.
• Fang Mo entered Prison Suppressor and found that it had taken in the souls of Gu Yichuan's group and the three monks.
• Wang Ergou and Iron Bone Liu tormented the prisoners, and Wang Ergou immediately fawned over Fang Mo when he appeared.

Fang Mo sentenced Gu Yichuan to a thousand cudgel strokes and concluded the three monks were likely couriers for a more powerful figure connected to Fang Dashan’s death. The Record of Punishing Crimes rewarded him with another Iron Bone talent, a duplicate of one he already had.

• Fang Mo exposed Gu Yichuan’s corrupt history in the Record of Punishing Crimes and sentenced him to a thousand strokes of cudgel punishment.
• Fang Mo assigned Wang Ergou to carry out the punishment, and Wang Ergou beat Gu Yichuan while the three newly arrived monks watched in terror.
• Fang Mo examined the monks’ abilities and lack of medicinal knowledge, concluding they were probably couriers for a larger figure linked to Fang Dashan’s death.
• Wang Ergou completed the thousand strokes, and the Record of Punishing Crimes awarded Fang Mo the Iron Bone talent again.

Fang Mo absorbed a second Iron Bone Talent, turned the condemned Gu Yichuan into a subordinate jailer, and then returned to the real-world prison after killing three monks. He left Old Huang to handle the bodies and fled, claiming he had only been volunteering.

• Fang Mo absorbed the Iron Bone Talent, strengthening his silver bones with golden threads.
• Fang Mo restored Gu Yichuan as a soul-bound prisoner and ordered him to serve under Wang Ergou and welcome his former subordinates.
• Fang Mo returned to his cell, arranged the three dead monks in meditation poses, and prepared to greet Old Huang.
• Old Huang found the bodies, and Fang Mo claimed the monks had repented and chosen to die in meditation.
• Fang Mo fled the prison, leaving Old Huang to deal with the corpses and warning him only that he had been volunteering.

Fang Mo discovered that his evolved Golden Bones made him extraordinarily durable, then entered the Prison Suppressor to question the three captured monks. He found Wang Ergou and Gu Yichuan already tormenting them and began by observing their lesson.

• Fang Mo examined his Golden Bones and found they had fused deeply with his skeleton.
• Fang Mo tested his new durability with a cleaver and a powerful palm strike, neither of which damaged his bones.
• Fang Mo read about the Blood Buddha lineage and decided to interrogate the three monks before their masters could respond.
• Fang Mo entered the Prison Suppressor and saw Wang Ergou teaching Gu Yichuan how to torment their prisoners without killing them.
• Wang Ergou and Gu Yichuan stopped and bowed when Fang Mo appeared before them.

Fang Mo punished Yuantong, Yuanji, and Yuanjue after Wang Ergou and Gu Yichuan ruined their chance to interrogate the monks. The Record of Punishing Crimes revealed the monks’ Blood God Temple ties and an imperial contact identified only by the character Li, then rewarded Fang Mo with Cold-Blooded.

• Wang Ergou and Gu Yichuan admitted that they had smashed the monks’ mouths while trying to establish their authority, leaving them unable to answer Fang Mo’s questions.
• Fang Mo used the Record of Punishing Crimes to sentence Yuantong and Yuanji to one thousand cudgel strokes each and Yuanjue to two thousand.
• Gu Yichuan and Wang Ergou beat Yuantong and Yuanji, and the Record revealed their violent past and their mission to deliver Blood Spirit Pills to an imperial contact marked by the character Li.
• The Record awarded Fang Mo the Cold-Blooded talent, and he accepted two clusters of blue light into his brow.

Fang Mo gained the Still Water Mirror talent, then discovered that destroyed low-level criminals left behind Soul Debris that could nourish and strengthen his jailers. He began considering how to use the debris to motivate and manage his growing team.

• Fang Mo awakened Still Water Mirror and found that it let him perceive minute movements and details with extraordinary clarity.
• Fang Mo restored Yuantong and Yuanji as jailers, assigned them to Gu Yichuan, and ordered them and Wang Ergou to whip Yuanjue two thousand times.
• Gu Yichuan finished his sentence by striking Wang Wu, whose shattered soul left behind a crystallized piece of Soul Debris instead of a new jailer.
• Fang Mo learned that Soul Debris could feed, strengthen, and repair jailers, and he considered using it as a reward to encourage their efforts.

Fang Mo rewarded Wang Ergou with Soul Debris, then punished Yuanjue until the Record of Punishing Crimes revealed his crimes and ties to the Divine Capital’s Red Sleeve Beckons. When Yuanjue’s hidden demonic power attacked Fang Mo, Prison Suppressor severed and absorbed it, and the Record completed its accounting, leaving the reward about to be revealed.

• Fang Mo gave Wang Ergou Soul Debris for his service, and Wang Ergou grew stronger and pledged his loyalty.
• Gu Yichuan led the punishment of the remaining former Punishment Department members, and Fang Mo stored their four pieces of Soul Debris.
• Fang Mo finished Yuanjue’s punishment, and the Record of Punishing Crimes exposed his past as a bandit, human alchemist, and Blood God Temple elder.
• The Record showed a bloodstained ledger linking Yuanjue to Red Sleeve Beckons in the Divine Capital, though the recipient’s full name remained obscured.
• A demonic hand burst from Yuanjue and attacked Fang Mo, but Prison Suppressor cut it off and absorbed it along with Yuanjue.
• The Record of Punishing Crimes completed its accounting of Yuanjue and displayed a reward prompt.

Fang Mo gained the Bloodthirsty Rakshasa Authority and mastered the Bone Transformation Chapter, then returned to the real world and set out to draw the Demon Suppression Division into his investigation of Red Sleeve Beckons and Lord Li. He left for the Division carrying breakfast, intending to stir up trouble in the Divine Capital.

• Fang Mo absorbed the Bloodthirsty Rakshasa Authority and demonstrated his ability to control his blood.
• Fang Mo practiced the Bone Transformation Chapter, reshaping his bones and appearance into different forms.
• Fang Mo returned to his courtyard in Wannian County and connected the clues about Blood Spirit Pills, Red Sleeve Beckons, and Lord Li to his father's death.
• Fang Mo decided to involve the Demon Suppression Division rather than investigate Red Sleeve Beckons alone.
• Fang Mo bought breakfast and headed for the Demon Suppression Division to muddy the waters of the Divine Capital.

Fang Mo brought Li Mingyue news that three captured monks had confessed to arranging a meeting at Red Sleeve Beckons, and she paid him an advance while deciding to investigate. He left the operation to her people and went back to his duties.

• Fang Mo entered the Demon Suppression Division by showing the guards his Black Iron Token and brought breakfast to Li Mingyue.
• Fang Mo told Li Mingyue that the three monks had confessed to a contact surnamed Li and a planned meeting at the Pavilion of Listening to Rain in Red Sleeve Beckons.
• Li Mingyue gave Fang Mo one hundred taels and decided to send her own people to investigate Red Sleeve Beckons.
• Fang Mo declined to join the investigation, warned Li Mingyue to eat while the tofu pudding was hot, and left.

Fang Mo returned to the Heavenly Prison and found Lei Heng waiting to promote him to Junior Officer in the Punishment Department. Though Fang Mo recognized the appointment as a way to keep him under suspicion, he accepted and was ordered to report to White Tiger Hall the next morning.

• Fang Mo left the Demon Suppression Division after feeding Li Mingyue information about Red Sleeve Beckons and resolved to grow stronger himself.
• Fang Mo arrived at the unusually silent Heavenly Prison and saw Lei Heng, Li Yan, and Wang Youan waiting in the break room.
• Lei Heng scrutinized Fang Mo and praised his physique while keeping him under suspicion over Gu Yichuan's death.
• Li Yan announced that Lei Heng had chosen Fang Mo to fill Gu Yichuan's vacant Junior Officer post in White Tiger Hall.
• Fang Mo accepted the promotion, and Lei Heng ordered him to report to White Tiger Hall in Wannian County at the hour of the Dragon the next morning.

Fang Mo prepared to leave the Heavenly Prison for the Punishment Department, where Lei Heng had placed him in a dangerous position. Wang Youan warned him about the scheming ahead and offered him former acquaintances as staff in exchange for a cut of their salaries, while Fang Mo looked forward to making his mark.

• Li Yan congratulated Fang Mo on becoming a Junior Officer, while Wang Youan mocked Li Yan and then dragged Fang Mo into the storage room.
• Wang Youan confronted Fang Mo about visiting Yihong Pavilion and warned him that Lei Heng was setting him up over Gu Yichuan's case.
• Wang Youan told Fang Mo to blame bandits for Gu Yichuan's death and warned that Lei Heng would give him spies or troublemakers in the Punishment Department.
• Wang Youan offered Fang Mo several former students and acquaintances to serve under him, bargaining for a share of their salaries.
• Wang Youan advised Fang Mo to hide his cleverness and act greedy and lecherous at White Tiger Hall, and Fang Mo left the Heavenly Prison determined to rise through the Punishment Department.

Fang Mo prepared for his new post by assigning Gu Yichuan to investigate the Punishment Department’s factions and ordering Wang Ergou to train his Ghost Soldiers. He reported to White Tiger Hall and found that his Seventh Squad’s barracks were dilapidated and empty, leaving him to recruit his own people.

• Fang Mo told Gu Yichuan to compile information about Lei Heng and the Punishment Department’s factional ties.
• Fang Mo ordered Wang Ergou to drill the Ghost Soldiers and extract knowledge from the Bloodthirsty Rakshasa.
• Fang Mo examined his Junior Officer token before heading to White Tiger Hall the next morning to report for duty.
• Fang Mo bribed the clerk, who led him to the remote western courtyard and the empty Seventh Squad barracks.

Fang Mo won over Yan Wangchou and Iron Bull with silver, then completed his registration and collected equipment for his new post in the Punishment Department. He wondered what duties the Seventh Squad handled as he returned with his appointment papers and weapons.

• Fang Mo gave silver to Yan Wangchou and Iron Bull, and Yan introduced himself and described Iron Bull's work in the department.
• Fang Mo asked how to register for his post, and Yan led him through White Tiger Hall while explaining its factions and taboos.
• Fang Mo obtained appointment papers stamped with White Tiger Hall's seal and collected a Silver Thread Fish Scale Armor and a Hundred Refined Steel Waist Knife.
• Fang Mo reflected that he was drawing income from the Heavenly Prison, Prison Suppressor, and Punishment Department.
• Fang Mo asked Yan what duties the Seventh Squad usually handled.

Fang Mo discovered that Yan Wangchou and Iron Bull were far more formidable than they appeared, then met his new subordinate Qian Dagui, whose extravagant gifts revealed a surprising generosity. Wang Youan fled the courtyard after exchanging wary words with the two old men, leaving Fang Mo surrounded by a strange collection of hidden experts and wealthy newcomers.

• Gu Yichuan told Fang Mo that Yan Wangchou and Iron Bull had long served in the courtyard as an aging gatekeeper and a foolish blacksmith.
• Fang Mo used the Still Water Mirror and recognized that Yan Wangchou and Iron Bull possessed extraordinary physical control and hidden cultivation far beyond his own.
• Wang Youan brought Qian Dagui to work under Fang Mo and introduced him as the son of a distant family friend.
• Qian Dagui gave Fang Mo a thousand-tael banknote and gave Yan Wangchou, Iron Bull, and Wang Youan five hundred-tael notes each.
• Wang Youan reacted warily to Yan Wangchou and Iron Bull, then hurriedly left the courtyard.

Fang Mo welcomed wealthy newcomer Qian Dagui into the Seventh Squad and planned to use his funds to improve their barracks. Zhao Lao Si then arrived demanding a share of the squad’s tribute silver, and the chapter ended as he swung at Fang Mo after Qian Dagui offered him five thousand taels to kneel and apologize.

• Fang Mo learned that Qian Dagui was the son of Qian Wansan, a famously wealthy Jiangnan merchant, and warmly welcomed him as a brother.
• Fang Mo gave Yan Wangchou silver for food and drink and assigned him and Iron Bull to repair the Seventh Squad’s barracks.
• Zhao Lao Si, General Flag of the Fourth Squad, stormed into the courtyard and demanded that the Fourth Squad keep sharing the eastern city’s tribute silver.
• Fang Mo asked Qian Dagui what his father would do about Zhao Lao Si’s threat, and Qian Dagui offered Zhao five thousand taels if he knelt and apologized.
• Humiliated by Qian Dagui’s offer, Zhao Lao Si roared and swung his fist at Fang Mo.

Fang Mo used Iron Bull’s strength to drive off Zhao Fourth Brother’s men, declared the Seventh Squad’s territory under his control, and demanded five thousand taels for Zhao’s medical expenses. As a new group entered the courtyard under orders from the Hundred Households, Fang Mo was still eating an apple.

• Iron Bull struck Zhao Fourth Brother with the wind of his hammer, sending him flying and leaving him severely injured.
• Fang Mo reclaimed the banknotes, warned Zhao Fourth Brother’s men that the Seventh Squad’s territory belonged to the Fang family, and demanded five thousand taels in medical expenses.
• Yan Wangchou asked whether Fang Mo feared trouble from Lei Laohu, and Fang Mo said he would use the situation to his advantage.
• Qian Dagui worried about the broken gate, while Fang Mo said his display of force had spread their name.
• An armed group entered the courtyard under orders from the Hundred Households, and its leader fixed his gaze on Fang Mo.

Fang Mo received a seven-day order to investigate the disappearance of 132 people in Liuxi Village and learned the case might be tied to the Western Desert demonic monks. He set out to investigate, while Lei Heng grew suspicious of him and summoned Shadow.

• Wu Er delivered Fang Mo an order from the White Tiger Hall to investigate Liuxi Village and solve the case within seven days.
• Fang Mo bribed Wu Er, who revealed that the disappearance might be connected to the three Western Desert demonic monks sent to the Heavenly Prison.
• Fang Mo realized Lei Heng had set a deadly trap for him, but ordered his men to prepare to leave for Liuxi Village.
• Lei Heng questioned Wu Er about Fang Mo's response, accepted that Wu Er had kept the bribe, and warned him to keep quiet.
• Lei Heng suspected Fang Mo had hidden secrets and called for Shadow.

Fang Mo assembled Yan Wangchou, Iron Bull, and Qian Dagui to investigate the dangers surrounding Liuxi Village, while Lei Heng secretly ordered a watcher to track him. The group reached the village and found dried human-skin lanterns hanging from a dead locust tree.

• Lei Heng ordered a masked shadow to watch Fang Mo and kill him if he discovered too much about Liuxi Village.
• Fang Mo used Still Water Mirror to check for a tail, then gathered Yan Wangchou, Iron Bull, and Qian Dagui and secured their support.
• Fang Mo led the group toward Liuxi Village in Qian Dagui's extravagant carriage.
• As the group neared the village, Fang Mo saw gray mist, a dead locust tree, and dried skin lanterns hanging from its branches.

Fang Mo and his companions entered Liuxi Village, where he sensed a scheme using the village and its living souls as fuel. An old woman invited them to eat meat soup as the villagers revealed themselves as a threatening group with black teeth and green eyes.

• Qian Dagui showed off his chest of magical artifacts and covered himself in protective talismans before Fang Mo used Still Water Mirror to inspect the village.
• Fang Mo saw Grievance Qi and blood-red Qi flowing toward the village and led the group inside.
• Fang Mo secretly sent Iron Bone Liu to capture the wandering spirits at the entrance for Soul Debris.
• Fang Mo questioned an old woman beneath the pagoda tree and offered her silver as she eyed Qian Dagui hungrily.
• The old woman invited the group to eat her meat soup, and more than a dozen villagers rose with matching grins, black teeth, and green eyes.