Recaps

Shen Hui explored Yongchang Commandery, returned borrowed books and rented four new ones at Fragrant Snow Book Studio. Outside, he saw Zhang Qi being thrown out of Cloud-Staying Pavilion for sneaking in and eating pastries without paying.

• Shen Hui left a note for the Old Taoist and went out to explore the morning market in Qu County.
• Shen Hui returned three books borrowed under Wang Shi's name and used the remaining deposit to rent four new books.
• Shen Hui noticed the women working at Fragrant Snow Book Studio before leaving the shop.
• Shen Hui saw a woman drag Zhang Qi out of Cloud-Staying Pavilion and scold him for sneaking in and eating pastries without paying.

Mother Liu and Master Bai traded increasingly personal insults outside Cloud-Staying Pavilion and Moon-Gazing Tower, drawing a crowd. Master Bai’s remark about Mother Liu’s children left Mother Liu speechless as the street laughed.

• Mother Liu dragged Zhang Qi away from Cloud-Staying Pavilion after he ate some pastries and threatened him against returning.
• Master Bai opened her window across the street and mocked Mother Liu for making a public scene.
• Mother Liu and Master Bai exchanged taunts about their brothels and each other’s customers as onlookers gathered.
• Mother Liu offered to let Master Bai suckle from her, and Master Bai replied that she disliked the smell of Carefree Grass.
• Master Bai taunted Mother Liu about her children, and Mother Liu shoved aside a girl who tried to calm her.
• Master Bai suggested Mother Liu’s three children had different fathers, leaving Mother Liu unable to answer as the crowd laughed.

Shen Hui watched Mother Liu and Master Bai trade insults outside the Cloud-Staying Pavilion. After Mother Liu invited him inside and he declined for lack of money, Master Bai offered him tea, songs, and even traveling money, leaving the onlookers shocked.

• Mother Liu resumed her shouting match with Master Bai, who ended the exchange by shutting her window and mocking Mother Liu’s crooked doorway.
• Shen Hui encountered Zhang Qi among the spectators, and the crowd gathered again when Mother Liu restarted the argument.
• Mother Liu berated the onlookers and silenced an older man who challenged her about staring at her chest.
• Mother Liu spotted Shen Hui and invited him into the Cloud-Staying Pavilion, but he said he had no money and declined.
• Master Bai invited Shen Hui upstairs for tea and songs and offered him a place to stay and traveling money, prompting Mother Liu to sneer at her.

Shen Hui was lured into an isolated alley by a youth claiming that the Xu Family’s young master was possessed, where the youth and a Black-Clad Woman revealed their ambush. Shen Hui struck back with lethal techniques and raised earthen walls, leaving the woman shocked by his earth magic.

• Shen Hui followed a youth toward the Xu Family estate after the youth begged him to save his possessed young master.
• In a deserted alley, Shen Hui realized the youth and a Black-Clad Woman had trapped him and demanded to know who they were and why they targeted him.
• Shen Hui identified himself as Qingxuan of Clear Wind Temple and warned the pair that they would die by his hands.
• Shen Hui burned through the Black-Clad Woman’s short sword and badly wounded the youth with Sharp Gold Qi.
• The Black-Clad Woman summoned skeletons from grayish-white beads, and Shen Hui raised earthen walls to block the alley and separate his opponents.
• The Black-Clad Woman stared at Shen Hui’s earth walls and asked how he could use earth techniques too.

Shen Hui killed two attackers in an alley, collected their token and White Beads, and concealed the evidence before returning to the Old Taoist. The Old Taoist identified the attackers as members of the Corpse Refining Sect’s White Bone Hall.

• Shen Hui used fire and earth magic to kill the young man and bury the skeletons summoned by the Black-Clad Woman.
• The Black-Clad Woman attacked Shen Hui, but he used Heartfire to kill her.
• Shen Hui searched the bodies, took White Beads, an Ebony Token, and a sword, then cleaned up the alley.
• Shen Hui returned to the Post House and reported the ambush to the Old Taoist, handing over the token and beads.
• The Old Taoist examined the token and told Shen Hui that the attackers belonged to the Corpse Refining Sect’s White Bone Hall.

The Old Taoist told Shen Hui how his senior brother died and how his second senior brother became the master of White Bone Hall, revealing that the men who had troubled Shen Hui were sent by that former disciple. He said he had found an opportunity to reach Core Formation and gave Shen Hui the Sword Box before entrusting him with the remaining matters.

• The Old Taoist recounted how his senior brother died, his second senior brother killed their junior sister, and the second senior brother left the sect to found White Bone Temple before joining the Corpse Refining Sect and becoming hall master of White Bone Hall.
• The Old Taoist revealed that Shen Hui's second senior uncle had sent the two men who troubled him, and said he expected to reach Core Formation within three years.
• Shen Hui offered to handle the remaining matters so his master could continue meditating.
• The Old Taoist gave Shen Hui the Sword Box to use if he faced trouble he could not resolve and advised him to flee rather than risk his life.
• The Old Taoist warned Shen Hui to control the effects of his fire arts on his temperament, and Shen Hui assured him he understood.

Shen Hui traveled to Zhang Family Village on the Old Taoist’s instructions and learned that he had arrived on the day of the She Festival. He reached the village square as the ceremony began, where elders gathered around a bound mountain goat.

• Shen Hui showed the Old Taoist the sword he had taken from the Black-Clad Woman, and the Old Taoist said it was ordinary iron refined with Killing Intent and suitable only as a temporary weapon.
• The Old Taoist noticed it was the fourth day of the second month and sent Shen Hui to Zhang Family Village immediately.
• Shen Hui arranged a carriage with the station master, and Zhang Qi drove him south toward the village.
• Zhang Qi explained that the crowds were traveling to the She Festival, where the Ailao Barbarians worshiped the mountain god and held contests.
• Shen Hui arrived at Zhang Family Village, followed the drums and gongs to the packed square, and watched elders gather around a bound black mountain goat.

Shen Hui attended Zhang Family Village’s She Festival, observed its rituals and festivities, and learned that the evening included a matchmaking custom. After several young women showered him with gifts, he escaped the teasing and watched the celebration from a banyan tree.

• Shen Hui watched the Ghost Master sacrifice a black goat and consecrate a blood-covered stone during Stone Setting.
• Shen Hui enjoyed the wrestling contests and She Festival Rice before asking Village Chief Zhang to take him to Widow Wang’s grave the following morning.
• Shen Hui watched Song-Stepping and an illusionist’s performance, then learned from Zhang Qi that village women chose potential partners with ribbons or brocade.
• Several young Yi women crowded Shen Hui with ribbons, sachets, and brocade, so he handed the gifts to the Ghost Master and left the crowd.
• Shen Hui climbed a banyan tree and rested beneath the stars as the She Festival continued around the bonfire.

Shen Hui and Monk Faming went with the village head to investigate Widow Wang’s case and learned about the tragedy that preceded her death. The chapter ended with Shen Hui confronting the village head after he admitted that Widow Wang’s in-laws had beaten her to death.

• Shen Hui found Zhang Qi with a Yi woman in his cart, then headed to see Widow Wang.
• Shen Hui encountered Monk Faming at the village head’s courtyard, and the village head led them to investigate Widow Wang’s case.
• The village head explained that Widow Wang had been sold into marriage, lost her husband and young son, and was abused by her in-laws.
• The village head said Widow Wang’s belly had grown as if she were pregnant, and that her in-laws had beaten her to death.
• Shen Hui challenged the village head, pointing out that murder was against the law too.

Shen Hui investigated a bound coffin in the widow’s home and learned that a Han Chinese scholar named Li had given it to the family. After his fire made the coffin shudder, Shen Hui decided to open it and ordered the village head to get help, while the old man tried to block them.

• The village head led Shen Hui, Zhang Qi, and Monk Faming to the widow’s home, where Shen Hui inspected the coffin.
• The widow’s father-in-law charged in with a hoe, but the village head disarmed him and identified him to Shen Hui.
• The widow revealed that a Han Chinese man had given the family the coffin, and the village head recalled a scholar named Li who had visited the village the previous autumn.
• The village head explained that earlier attempts to burn the coffin had failed, and Shen Hui’s flame made it shake violently.
• Shen Hui announced that he would open the coffin and sent the village head to find people to carry it outside, while the old man again blocked the coffin.

Shen Hui investigated the widow’s unnaturally preserved corpse and discovered a blood-red infant inside her swollen belly. A Heart-Linking Talisman identified the old man as the infant’s father and the widow as its mother, leaving Shen Hui to confront the old man and the old woman over their crimes.

• Shen Hui opened the coffin and found the widow’s corpse unnaturally preserved, with a huge belly and dried blood inside.
• An old woman said the widow had been locked in a pigsty and that her belly had been only slightly swollen when she died.
• Shen Hui’s fire made the widow’s belly writhe and burst, releasing a red-skinned infant that he caught with threads of fire.
• Shen Hui drew a Heart-Linking Talisman, which identified the widow and the old man as the infant’s parents.
• Shen Hui cited Great Shuo law, stating that incest and the widow’s unjust killing warranted execution by strangling.

Shen Hui exposed the truth behind Widow Wang’s death, dealt with the Red-Skinned Imp, and arranged for the widow’s remains to be buried. He invited Monk Faming to join him in investigating several supernatural cases, and the monk accepted.

• The village head struck the old man and ordered villagers to bind him and the old woman until the authorities arrived.
• Shen Hui burned the Red-Skinned Imp to ash and prepared Widow Wang’s remains for burial in a clay jar.
• Shen Hui revealed the coffin’s blood-written incantations and burned the coffin after examining them.
• Shen Hui asked Monk Faming to accompany him as he investigated missing children, river ghosts, vanished corpses, and disturbed graves.
• Monk Faming asked about Scholar Li, and Shen Hui said he had killed the Qishan Sect villain responsible for the Liu Family Old Residence and Widow Wang’s case.
• Monk Faming accepted Shen Hui’s invitation after Shen Hui explained that he valued the monk’s ability to deliver the dead.

Shen Hui, Monk Faming, and Zhang Qi traveled toward Xu Family Village and stopped at a roadside teahouse, where three armed men watched them. When the bearded man insulted Shen Hui, Shen Hui sat back down instead of paying, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Shen Hui checked his cultivation after defeating the Red-Skinned Imp and spoke with Monk Faming about his home at Wan'an Temple and his search for work in Qu County.
• Zhang Qi stopped the cart at a roadside teahouse, where Shen Hui, Monk Faming, and Zhang Qi rested and ate.
• Three armed men at the teahouse eyed Shen Hui and his companions, and the fair-skinned man studied Shen Hui's sword box.
• The bearded man mocked Shen Hui and Monk Faming for traveling together and ridiculed Shen Hui's sword box.
• Shen Hui withdrew the hand he had reached for his money and sat back down, leaving the exchange unresolved.

Shen Hui forced three men who had eaten without paying to settle their bill, then placed Salary Recovery Talismans on them. After leaving the tea stall, he reflected on the three missing children and the mysterious black shadow in Xu Family Village.

• Shen Hui blocked the three men's path with earthen walls and made them pay for their tea and flatbreads.
• Zhang Qi asked the old woman to pack more flatbreads, prompting the bearded man to pay extra.
• Shen Hui sent a Salary Recovery Talisman into each man's chest and warned that unpaid food would bring hunger and turn to iron and stone in their stomachs.
• Shen Hui lowered the earthen walls, paid his own group's bill, and left the tea stall with Zhang Qi and Monk Faming.
• Shen Hui rode in the mule cart and considered the missing children and the unexplained black shadow in Xu Family Village.

Shen Hui investigated the disappearances of three children in Xu Family Village and questioned the family of Xu Afu, the eldest boy who vanished. Afu’s little sister described a black shadow calling his name, and Madam Zhao gave Shen Hui one of his baby teeth to aid the search.

• Shen Hui arrived in Xu Family Village and learned from the village head that three children had disappeared at dusk three or four months earlier.
• Shen Hui and Zhang Qi visited the children’s households, finding the first two families away at work.
• Shen Hui questioned Madam Zhao about her son Xu Afu’s disappearance and learned he had vanished from the courtyard at dusk without a sound.
• Afu’s little sister said a black shadow had called his name from outside the courtyard and claimed it had called her, Nannan, too.
• Madam Zhao said she had called the children herself, then gave Shen Hui one of Xu Afu’s baby teeth.

Shen Hui followed a tracking talisman to a remote Yi People village, where he found the missing child’s trail ending at a courtyard with a bull-headed figure. The figure removed its bull’s head to reveal an elderly human face, leaving Shen Hui and his companions confronting an apparent illusionist.

• Shen Hui used the baby tooth to create a tracking talisman, and its paper crane flew west from Xu Family Village.
• Shen Hui, Monk Faming, Zhang Qi, Madam Zhao, and the little girl followed the crane out of the village, with Faming carrying the child.
• The group reached a small Yi People village at dusk, where the paper crane stopped outside a courtyard.
• Shen Hui saw dried animal heads hanging in the yard and a bull-headed figure standing at the main room’s entrance.
• Shen Hui identified the figure as an illusionist, who removed the bull’s head and revealed a gaunt man beneath it.

Shen Hui intervened when Madam Zhao recognized A-Fu in the home of the old Illusionist, who claimed he had bought the boy. After inspecting the stamped deed of sale, Shen Hui took it and discovered that the county chief clerk was listed as its guarantor.

• Shen Hui sent Zhang Qi to fetch the village head while the old Illusionist shouted at them in his courtyard.
• Madam Zhao recognized the boy as A-Fu and pulled him into her arms, but Shen Hui raised an earth wall to stop the old Illusionist from taking him back.
• The village head arrived, and the old Illusionist claimed that he had bought A-Fu with silver under a government-stamped contract.
• Shen Hui told everyone to stay while they investigated, and the old Illusionist brought out the deed naming Xu Youtian as seller and Lou Song as buyer.
• Shen Hui noticed that Zhang Erhe, the county office chief clerk, had guaranteed the sale and tucked the deed into his sleeve.

Shen Hui freed A-Fu from the illusionist old man by paying him with a piece of silver, then prepared to leave the village with Madam Zhao and the others. He set out by lantern light to search for wandering spirits and stopped Madam Zhao from carrying A-Fu.

• Shen Hui summoned his sword, snapped off its silver tip, and gave it to the illusionist old man as payment for A-Fu.
• Shen Hui asked Village Chief Sun whether anyone else in the village had bought children, and the village chief and illusionist said they knew of no others.
• A-Fu ran to Madam Zhao and threw himself into her arms.
• Shen Hui borrowed a lantern, placed a floating flame inside it, and led the group out of the village.
• Shen Hui stopped and told Madam Zhao to put A-Fu down so he could walk on his own.

Shen Hui escorted Madam Zhao and her children through the night and learned from Monk Faming that officials carried the dynasty’s fortune, making harm to them dangerous for cultivators. He decided to find the other two children first, while insisting that Chief Clerk Zhang repay the ten taels he had spent.

• Madam Zhao let A-Fu walk beside her, and the little girl woke, recognized her brother, and hugged his leg.
• Shen Hui teased Zhang Qi and Monk Faming about their unpaid teahouse bills and asked Zhang Qi whether he was related to Zhang Erhe.
• Zhang Qi questioned whether Shen Hui would pursue the matter against the chief clerk, and Monk Faming explained the dangers of opposing officials protected by the dynasty’s fortune.
• Shen Hui recalled seeing faint purple qi above county officials and realized it was connected to the court’s fortune.
• Shen Hui decided to search for the other two children before dealing with Chief Clerk Zhang and demanded repayment of his ten taels.

Shen Hui connected the child abductions to a coordinated scheme involving a soul-bewitching technique and corrupt officials, then encountered an ordinary wandering ghost on the road. The ghost led him and his companions toward a roadside drainage ditch.

• Shen Hui realized that the deed of sale and the little girl's account matched the Dusk Shadow Soul-Summoning Technique and suggested the abductions involved an organized chain of accomplices.
• Shen Hui suspected a registrar in the Qu County yamen was only one part of the scheme and considered exposing the evidence so other yamen officials could act.
• Shen Hui kept Monk Faming's warning about harming officials in mind but doubted that heaven would punish him for pursuing justice.
• Shen Hui spotted a harmless lonely ghost beneath a willow tree and called for the group to stop.
• The ghost drifted toward a roadside drainage ditch, repeatedly checking whether the group followed, and Shen Hui told the others to keep up.

Shen Hui discovered the bones of an old person in a river ditch, where the Specter had been trapped, and Monk Faming delivered the spirit through chanting. Shen Hui buried the remains on a nearby hillside, and the group headed back toward Xu Family Village.

• Shen Hui found scattered bones, tattered clothes, and a broken sandal in the river ditch and concluded the person had fallen, become trapped, and died there.
• Shen Hui gathered the bones while Monk Faming chanted scriptures to deliver the Specter.
• The Specter grew calm, bowed to Monk Faming, and faded away as the chanting ended.
• Shen Hui carried the bones to a sheltered hillside and buried them, marking the grave with stones.
• Shen Hui and the others walked back toward Xu Family Village.

After Shen Hui escorted Madam Zhao and her children home, he discovered that Zhang Qi’s mule-cart had been dismantled and its mule stolen in Xu Family Village. Shen Hui confronted the village head and demanded an investigation and compensation, leaving the village head to summon the villagers.

• Shen Hui escorted Madam Zhao and her two children home, and they thanked him before closing the door and sobbing inside.
• Zhang Qi found his mule missing and his cart stripped of its wheels, canopy, and parts, then angrily cursed the villagers.
• Shen Hui promised Zhang Qi that the village would compensate him and led him to confront the village head.
• Shen Hui told the village head the mule-cart had been dismantled and threatened to search every house if the theft was not investigated.
• The village head agreed to beat the gong and gather the villagers to provide an explanation.

Shen Hui confronted the villagers about the stolen parts of Zhang Qi’s mule cart and used a Truth Talisman to make the culprit confess. He recovered Zhang Qi’s mule from Xu Dachun’s home and took an ox bell as payment for its overnight care.

• The village head gathered the villagers, and Shen Hui demanded that whoever had dismantled the mule cart return what they took.
• When no one came forward, Shen Hui burned a Truth Talisman, frightening the crowd into silence.
• Xu Dachun admitted that he had led the mule away, and his father explained that Xu Dachun’s brother had tricked him into doing it.
• Xu Dachun led Shen Hui, Zhang Qi, and Faming to his home, where Zhang Qi found his mule safe and well cared for.
• Shen Hui let Zhang Qi take the mule and claimed a copper ox bell as rent for keeping it overnight.

Shen Hui recovered the mule cart parts stolen by villagers and took replacement materials as compensation, then left the village with Zhang Qi and Monk Faming. The repaired cart headed back toward the county town with a spare wheel aboard.

• Shen Hui confronted the man who took the cart wheel, reclaimed it, and ordered the man's sons to roll it back to the village entrance.
• Shen Hui found the burned cart crossbeam at an old man's house and cut a replacement plank from the man's coffin lid, which Monk Faming carried away.
• Shen Hui recovered the washed cart canopy from a woman's yard and cut a strip from her jacket after learning she had also taken the cart's curtains.
• Zhang Qi repaired the mule cart with the reclaimed parts and coffin plank while Shen Hui dismissed concerns that they had taken too much.
• Shen Hui, Zhang Qi, and Monk Faming left the village in the repaired cart, carrying the spare wheelbarrow wheel toward the county town.

Shen Hui used a minor spell to ease Zhang Qi’s hunger, then redirected their cart to the Mass Grave and Righteous Mortuary. There, they spotted a strange creature digging into a grave.

• Zhang Qi grew hungry on the journey, so Shen Hui drew a cake on his palm that let him taste and feel full after pretending to eat it.
• Zhang Qi praised Shen Hui’s spell and asked him to draw other foods, but Shen Hui told him to drive the cart.
• Shen Hui directed Zhang Qi to take the cart west of the city to inspect the Righteous Mortuary and the Mass Grave.
• At the Mass Grave, Zhang Qi spotted a gray-white, red-eyed creature digging into a grave, and Shen Hui examined it.