Chapter Summaries

Ding Songyan told the Legend of the White Snake to an audience at Dangkang Temple, then went to the Zhen Estate to perform for a hidden honored guest. The guest revealed that he knew Ding Songyan had read the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas and directed him to a shop in Beili Ward, where an opportunity would arise.

• Ding Songyan asked Xiaoqing about the mist and figures he had seen, and she suspected he might have Yin-Yang Eyes before returning him to his courtyard at midnight.
• Ding Songyan told the story of the Legend of the White Snake at Dangkang Temple, moving the audience and bringing Xiaoqing to tears with his song about waiting a thousand years.
• Ding Songyan went to the Zhen Estate and told Mr. Yu that he had decided to perform for the honored guest.
• Mr. Yu blindfolded Ding Songyan and led him down to a hidden room, where the honored guest listened to his story.
• The honored guest spoke into Ding Songyan's mind, revealed that he knew Ding Songyan had read the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, and told him to wait at the Perfume Shop on Hongxiu Street before the hour of the rooster.

Ding Songyan followed a diviner’s prediction to Hongxiu Street, where he helped the battered Ren Youyang and struck up a friendship with him. Ren Youyang revealed that he was a True Spirit Sect inheritance disciple, leaving Ding Songyan convinced that their meeting was his predicted fortuitous encounter.

• Ding Songyan went to Ganyue Firm on Hongxiu Street to wait for the fortuitous encounter predicted by the Zhen Estate’s honored guest.
• Ding Songyan saw Ren Youyang beaten out of Cuiliu Tower and helped him up, recognizing him from the Zhen Estate.
• Ren Youyang explained that he had disguised himself as an ordinary man to seek Headliner Li’s favor, but the people at Cuiliu Tower had beaten him.
• Ren Youyang invited Ding Songyan to a tavern, introduced himself, and quickly treated him as a younger brother.
• Ren Youyang told Ding Songyan that he was a true inheritance disciple of the True Spirit Sect.

Ding Songyan learned that two parties were following him and accepted Ren Youyang’s offer to investigate one of them. After returning to Chengyu Lane, he received silver from Xu Chang'an, while Ren Youyang reported that he had failed to catch the mysterious follower.

• Ding Songyan drank with Ren Youyang, who explained that Li Linquan’s appearance came from eating Fu Grass and warned him not to repeat the ranking gossip.
• A guard alerted Ren Youyang that Yu Wanxiong and an unknown man were following Ding Songyan, and Ren Youyang offered to investigate the stranger.
• Ding Songyan spotted the unknown man trailing him as he returned to Chengyu Lane and considered seeking help from Zheng Zhuxi about Yu Wanxiong.
• Xu Chang'an thanked Ding Songyan for his help by giving him a silver ingot, including five taels for Eldest Brother Ding.
• Ren Youyang emerged from the shadows and told Ding Songyan that he had failed to catch the mysterious follower.

Ding Songyan returned home after Ren Youyang failed to catch one of the group stalking him, then gave his brother money and wrote Xu Shilin’s story while Xiaoqing read beside him. He learned that Ren Youyang was genuine and heard how the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas had been scattered, leaving him to suspect his own copy might be nearly complete.

• Ren Youyang told Ding Songyan that a group had ambushed him and that Yu Wanxiong had been keeping his distance, then promised to investigate again the next day.
• Ding Songyan gave Ding Daniu five taels of silver from his earnings, and Ding Daniu admitted he was saving money for a trip to Beili Ward.
• Ding Songyan wrote the next part of Xu Shilin’s story, and Xiaoqing arrived to read his pages.
• Ding Songyan asked Xiaoqing about Ren Youyang, and she confirmed he was the real True Spirit Sect disciple but said his cultivation technique made him unsuited to catching stalkers.
• Xiaoqing said she and the True Spirit Sect had come to Dingjiang Prefecture for similar reasons, and she planned to help Ding Songyan catch the stalkers the next day.
• Xiaoqing explained that no one had a complete Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, leading Ding Songyan to suspect his own copy was nearly complete.

Ding Songyan grew increasingly wary of the Zhen Estate and its mysterious honored guest while continuing to tell the Legend of the White Snake. After Ren Youyang offered to protect him at the estate, the honored guest revealed that he had deliberately drawn Ding Songyan into a game.

• Ding Songyan reconsidered the rarity and uncertain origins of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas and wondered whether the Zhen Estate was watching him because of it.
• Xiaoqing praised Ding Songyan’s tragic story and suggested a closing verse, which he added to his manuscript.
• Xu Chang'an told Ding Songyan he planned to seek martial arts training, and Ding Songyan warned him that Constable Xue knew about his master’s conflict with the Zhen Estate.
• Ding Songyan embellished the Legend of the White Snake with episodes inspired by his own youth, moving the audience and Xiaoqing to tears.
• Ren Youyang offered to accompany Ding Songyan to the Zhen Estate and protect his life, then went to pay his respects to Old Master Zhen.
• The honored guest told Ding Songyan that he knew the Zhen Estate had sent someone to follow him, and Ding Songyan realized the guest had deliberately drawn him into a game.

Ding Songyan recognized that the imprisoned elder was trying to frighten and recruit him, but the elder forced a strand of qi into him and revealed himself as Yan Changqing. Yan Changqing claimed Zhen Qianfan had betrayed him over a divine object, and Ding Songyan remained wary as the account ended with Yan Changqing refusing to name his former sect.

• Ding Songyan calmed himself and suspected the elder was using fear before offering an enticing bargain.
• The elder forced a strand of qi into Ding Songyan, drawing his awareness into a vast sea of consciousness where they spoke unseen.
• Yan Changqing asked Ding Songyan to help him escape and recover in exchange for a tremendous fortune, claiming Zhen Qianfan had arranged for Ding to tell stories so Yan could use him.
• Yan Changqing recounted how he had helped his childhood friend Zhen Qianfan cultivate, only for Zhen to betray him after he suffered grave injuries while obtaining a divine object.
• Yan Changqing said Zhen Qianfan needed the divine object because his Northern Abyss Fishback Scripture was incomplete and his body was declining after age sixty.
• Ding Songyan asked which sect Yan Changqing had belonged to, and Yan refused to name it, saying he had betrayed it over the divine object.

Ding Songyan weighed Yan Changqing’s offer and went to the County Yamen to test whether he could report the mysterious prisoner. He discovered that he forgot his purpose while inside the yamen, then recognized a corpse as the man who had followed him the previous day.

• Yan Changqing offered Ding Songyan a secret martial arts method in exchange for help escaping, and Ding Songyan asked for a day to consider.
• Ding Songyan left the Zhen Estate, reassured Ren Youyang that no one had mentioned his earlier visit, and went to eat.
• Ding Songyan visited the County Yamen intending to report Yan Changqing, but forgot why he had come until he left.
• Ding Songyan returned to the County Yamen and confirmed that he again forgot his purpose while inside, suggesting someone was interfering with his thoughts.
• Constables brought a corpse to the yamen, and Ding Songyan recognized the dead man as the person who had followed him the previous day.

Ding Songyan learned that Chen Yuliang and Wang Yishu had suffered the same abnormal decay, deepening his suspicions about the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas and the forces behind the gang conflict. After piecing together several possible schemes, he heard a familiar, low voice call his name, but could not see Miss Xiaoqing.

• Ding Songyan questioned Li Wu and a Xiaoming Sect disciple, then learned Wang Yishu's corpse had also been abnormally rotten.
• Ding Songyan recounted his encounter with Chen Yuliang and Wang Yishu while hinting that he might also be affected, hoping the authorities would keep watch on him.
• Li Wu told Ding Songyan that the Four Waters Gang had filed notice of its dispute with the Small Boat Gang, and the Xiaoming Sect disciple suggested the Small Boat Gang's Martial Grandmaster might be plotting against Zhen Qianfan.
• Ding Songyan left the County Yamen and reasoned that someone might be manipulating the gang conflict and the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas to draw Zhen Qianfan out of his estate.
• Ding Songyan considered how to use Yan Changqing's Qi and cautioned himself about relying on its ability to dispel illusions.
• A familiar voice quietly called Ding Songyan, but he saw no sign of Miss Xiaoqing.

Ding Songyan met Xiaoqing, learned that the Zhen Estate was watching him, and planned to test Yan Changqing’s qi while seeking contact with the Small Boat Gang. He went to the Stone Pool Martial Hall to meet Master Liu, where the hall’s disciples froze at his arrival and Senior Brother Yang led him to the training ground.

• Xiaoqing told Ding Songyan that Old Master Zhen had watched him near the County Yamen and that another Zhen Estate attendant had continued following him.
• Ding Songyan decided to test Yan Changqing’s qi and asked Xu Chang'an about people still connected to the Small Boat Gang.
• Xu Chang'an identified Master Liu of the Stone Pool Martial Hall, and Ding Songyan said he would try to contact the gang.
• Xu Chang'an accompanied Ding Songyan to the martial hall before waiting for him near Dangkang Temple.
• Ding Songyan introduced himself as a member of the Zhen Estate, causing the martial hall’s disciples to stop and withdraw.
• Senior Brother Yang escorted Ding Songyan through the hall to meet Master Liu at the training ground.

Ding Songyan demonstrated the power of Yan Changqing’s qi to Liu Yuxuan and the Stone Pool Martial Hall, then returned home and spent time with Ding Qingyan. That night, he resumed writing and asked Xiaoqing whether she knew Yan Changqing.

• Ding Songyan questioned Liu Yuxuan about Chen Yuliang’s behavior before his death and hinted that Chen might not have been acting on his own.
• Ding Songyan used Yan Changqing’s qi to destroy a wooden dummy with a burst of wind, shocking Liu Yuxuan, Senior Brother Yang, and the disciples as lightning struck and heavy rain began.
• Sheltering from the rain at Dangkang Temple, Ding Songyan told Xu Chang'an that his talk with Master Liu had gone well and accepted Xu Chang'an’s offer to help.
• Ding Songyan gave Ding Qingyan a silver hairpin, then agreed to tell her the Dragon Boat Festival episode from Legend of the White Snake before bed.
• After writing for a while that night, Ding Songyan saw Xiaoqing and asked whether she knew someone named Yan Changqing.

Ding Songyan learned from Xiaoqing that Yan Changqing’s name and imprisonment offered no clues to his identity, while Xiaoqing confirmed that the Zhen Estate was delaying a matter involving her and the True Spirit Sect. As they discussed Mythical Beast cultivation and developed Xu Shilin’s story, Ding Songyan accidentally invented a detail that matched a passage in the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas.

• Xiaoqing said she had never heard of Yan Changqing and explained that powerful figures could remain unseen for years, leaving Ding Songyan convinced he needed someone who knew the honored guest to identify him.
• Ding Songyan guessed that the Zhen Estate was delaying something involving Xiaoqing and the True Spirit Sect; Xiaoqing confirmed the delay but did not explain further.
• Xiaoqing explained how eating Mythical Beasts could grant temporary Law Realm strength and recommended a Kui Ox for Xu Shilin because it suited the Divine Firmament Sect’s Thunder God legacy.
• Ding Songyan chose the Maiden Kingdom Ruler as Xu Shilin’s romantic interest and wrote a plot involving the Mother-and-Child River and a quest for the Kui Ox Orb.
• Xiaoqing recognized that Ding Songyan’s invented detail about women becoming pregnant after bathing in the Yellow Pool matched the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, while Ding Songyan insisted he had made it up.

Ding Songyan reviewed what Yan Changqing had kept him from asking, then agreed to help him in exchange for a secret method. The chapter left Yan Changqing beginning to teach him a Divine Art whose first principle was “Humanity Is Supreme.”

• Ding Songyan reviewed his conversation with Miss Xiaoqing and identified what Yan Changqing did not want him to know or reveal.
• Yang Shiduo recalled Ding Songyan’s astonishing palm strike, then watched him tell stories and struggled with envy and anger.
• Ding Songyan found Liu Yuzao at a market and learned she had vowed to spend one day out of every ten doing good deeds for her children’s safety.
• Ding Songyan met Yan Changqing in his Sea of Consciousness and agreed to help him escape without becoming his disciple for now.
• Yan Changqing began teaching Ding Songyan a secret method from a Divine Art whose first line was “Humanity Is Supreme.”

Yan Changqing taught Ding Songyan a secret art that used deception to accelerate cultivation, then sent him to wander Dingjiang Prefecture and secretly look at Wangtianmen Island. Ding Songyan practiced by convincing Xu Chang'an that the yamen planned to punish him, leaving with Xu Chang'an's silver after the trick succeeded.

• Yan Changqing explained that human cultivation relied on wisdom and spirit, then taught Ding Songyan a secret art based on deceiving his own divine soul and body, warning that it consumed vital essence and shortened lifespan.
• Yan Changqing replenished Ding Songyan's qi and instructed him to wander the city, visit the dock, and secretly glance at Wangtianmen Island three times.
• Ding Songyan went to the dock, met Xu Chang'an, and pretended to admire the Great River while looking at Wangtianmen Island.
• Ding Songyan told Xu Chang'an that the yamen planned to make an example of him because he had not paid off the constables, prompting Xu Chang'an to offer his savings for help.
• Ding Songyan revealed the deception, picked up Xu Chang'an's silver ingot, and told him to be more careful.

Ding Songyan questioned Yan Changqing’s supposed divination skills and suspected that the rare Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas was connected to him and the Zhen Estate. After spending the evening with Xiaoqing and failing to activate his Yin Eye, Ding Songyan considered combining it with Yan Changqing’s Seed to make it reliable.

• Ding Songyan asked Xiaoqing what face-to-face diviners could accurately determine, and her answer led him to suspect the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas had a connection to Yan Changqing and the Zhen Estate.
• Ding Songyan wrote Xu Shilin and the ruler of the Maiden Kingdom’s trials for the Kui Ox Orb, and Xiaoqing praised the story before asking what the Zhen Estate wanted.
• Ding Songyan suggested the Zhen Estate might be seeking help at a critical moment, and Xiaoqing called him someone who hid his depths.
• Ding Songyan walked with Xiaoqing to Fengshui Bridge, where she warned him about Ren Youyang and described his reputation for reckless invitations.
• Ding Songyan gave candied hawthorn to Xiaoqing and her maid, confessed that he had drawn Xiaoqing out to gather information, and learned she had wanted to tell him those things herself.
• Ding Songyan failed several times to activate his Yin Eye and considered using Yan Changqing’s Seed in his eyes to make it more reliable.

Ding Songyan tested how his Yin Eye and Yan Changqing’s qi connected him to the Netherworld, then returned to his ordinary routines. The next day, Ren Youyang warned him that the group was following him again.

• Ding Songyan opened his Yin Eye near Fengshui Bridge and saw the Netherworld Grounds, where ghosts wandered among black pillars and a distant mountain.
• Ding Songyan moved the seed into his palm, touched ghosts and a pillar, and sent a Jianwu Tongbao coin into the Netherworld, where it became old and eerie when retrieved.
• Ding Songyan concluded that Yan Changqing’s qi resonated with heaven and earth, which explained how it let him sense the Netherworld, then went home and fell asleep exhausted.
• Ding Songyan told his family he had visited Fengshui Bridge, then set up his storytelling pitch outside Dangkang Temple and performed for Miss Xiaoqing and the crowd.
• Ren Youyang approached Ding Songyan at noon and warned him that the group was following him again.

Ding Songyan used Yan Changqing’s seed to expose a moth-like creature controlling a stalker, then found a description of the vermilion moth in the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas. The chapter leaves him unaware that the county authorities have received a report linking Chen Yuliang’s death to several evil-path groups, including the Moth God Sect.

• Ren Youyang and Ding Songyan spotted a suspicious man in a bamboo hat and planned to catch him, while Xiaoqing confirmed he showed signs of being controlled.
• Xiaoqing identified the bamboo-hatted gambler as the stalker and said his condition resembled control by a Gu insect.
• Ding Songyan used the cyan seed to see a vermilion, ant-like moth retreat into the stalker’s ear, then hurried home after recalling the moths around the Ding family courtyard.
• Ding Songyan tested the seed on the moths and midges around the elm-coin tree and on Ding Qingyan, finding no hidden abnormalities.
• Ding Songyan retrieved his copy of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas and found an entry describing vermilion moths that could control insects and share a marrow sea.
• At the Linjiang County Yamen, Xue Zhangjian and Yi Qincang showed Li Wu a reply naming four possible groups behind Chen Yuliang’s abnormal death, including the Moth God Sect.

Ding Songyan told Constable Xue Zhangjian and Li Wu what he knew about Chenyu Liang, then consulted Yan Changqing about the strange moth-linked stalker and the officials’ suspicions. Yan Changqing identified the moth as tied to the Moth God Sect, warned Ding Songyan to stay out of the brewing conflict, and sent him to Dangkang Temple to burn incense.

• Ding Songyan met Xue Zhangjian and Li Wu at the county yamen and recounted how Wang Yishu had told him about Chenyu Liang and the treasure he supposedly sold.
• Ding Songyan realized a hidden force in his Sea of Consciousness had made him forget to report the prisoner in the Zhen Estate’s secret prison.
• Ding Songyan told Yan Changqing about Ren Youyang, the red ant-like moth, and the strange behavior of Chenyu Liang and Wang Yishu.
• Yan Changqing identified the moth as a Moth Species from the Vermilion Moth heritage of the Moth God Sect and suspected another source of assistance might be involved.
• Yan Changqing advised Ding Songyan to act as though he knew nothing while the officials and the other party investigated each other.
• Yan Changqing told Ding Songyan to go to Dangkang Temple and burn three sticks of incense on his behalf.

Ding Songyan tried to draw his pursuers into the open by alerting the authorities and Ren Youyang, then went to the Potter’s Field at dusk as Yan Changqing had advised. There, a ghost’s fragmented words led him to suspect he might be able to speak with his predecessor’s spirit at the Ruined Temple, so he headed there.

• Ding Songyan told Li Wu that someone was following him and prompted the constables to watch him, hoping they would notice the Zhen Estate’s attendant tracking him.
• Ding Songyan offered incense at Dangkang Temple, then apologized to Ren Youyang and told him that a suspected Moth God Sect tracker might be connected to the Zhen Estate.
• Ren Youyang admitted that his Useless Divine Art was poor at detecting trackers and left to consult someone.
• Ding Songyan arranged for Xu Chang'an to cover for him and went alone to the Potter’s Field at dusk.
• In the back mountain, Ding Songyan saw a ghost muttering that its sect master had killed it nine times, but it could provide no further answers.
• Ding Songyan recalled that his predecessor had died near the Ruined Temple and went there hoping to speak with his ghost on the seventh night after his death.

Ding Songyan encountered the remnant soul of his former self, whose terrified final words suggested he had fled to the abandoned Land God Temple under pressure. He returned to his family, then told Xiaoqing that he had heard their pursuers were Mothmen, but his restrictions kept him from revealing who told him.

• Ding Songyan activated his Yin Eye at the Ruined Temple and saw his former self’s remnant soul, which repeatedly begged not to be killed before dissolving.
• Ding Songyan suspected that Yan Changqing’s old friend and the Moth God Sect were working together, and inferred that Chen Yuliang and Wang Yishu might carry Qingmengmeng Seeds.
• Ding Songyan returned home, chatted with Ding Shengyi and the neighbors, tried on shoes made by Liu Yuzao and Ding Qingyan, and agreed to help Ding Daniu go to Beili Ward.
• Ding Songyan told Ding Qingyan more of the Lady White story, then resumed writing after she fell asleep.
• Ding Songyan told Xiaoqing he had heard their pursuers were Mothmen from the Moth God Sect, but could not reveal who had told him; Xiaoqing guessed it might be someone from the Zhen Estate.

Ding Songyan found a way to work around Qingmengmeng’s seed by revealing information indirectly and letting Xiaoqing draw her own conclusions about Yan Changqing and the Zhen Estate. Xiaoqing reported the mystery to her Second Uncle, who ordered her to stop visiting Ding at night, while Ding returned home unaware of what he had meant to tell him.

• Xiaoqing deduced that Yan Changqing was hiding in the Zhen Estate and had told Ding about the Moth God Sect, while Ding realized she had connected clues beyond the seed’s control.
• Ding persuaded Xiaoqing to let him speak with her Second Uncle, intending to expose how his thoughts and words were being restricted.
• Xiaoqing left for the Tianyang Guildhall, and Ren Youyang told Ding that a Mothman had stopped following him and someone from the Government Office was now watching him.
• An unseen attacker ambushed Xiaoqing in an alley, but she dodged and struck back with her Formless Whip, driving the attacker away.
• Xiaoqing told her Second Uncle about the ambush, Yan Changqing, and the Moth God Sect, and he forbade her from visiting Ding at night.
• Ding drank with Ren Youyang, forgot what he had wanted to hint at, and returned home to sleep.