Chapter Summaries

Ding Songyan gathered clues about a Ghost-Wyrm Path traitor and checked that Shi Wuyan posed no threat over Twelfth Madam Luo. When news spread that a masked Jade Maiden had killed Huo Minglou, Ding Songyan realized his sister Qingyan was behind the identity and planned to muddy the waters by creating more Jade Maidens.

• Ding Songyan paid Lay Buddhist Little Zhang for information, and Zhang Qiang shared clues suggesting the Ghost-Wyrm Path was hunting a turtle-featured traitor.
• Ding Songyan secretly used the Mirror Lake Divine Mirror to check Zhang Qiang's thoughts, then asked him to find the Ghost-Wyrm Path traitor.
• Ding Songyan told Shi Wuyan that his performance with Twelfth Madam Luo had been a favor and warned him not to become an unwelcome suitor; Shi Wuyan said he only wished her well.
• Fan Chunlin and the others reported that a woman wearing a Jade Maiden Mask had killed Huo Minglou, and Ding Songyan realized his sister Qingyan had worn the mask.
• Ding Songyan told Twelfth Madam Luo that the Jade Maiden was an enemy framing him as her partner, then proposed creating more Jade Maidens to confuse their pursuers.

Ding Songyan agreed to teach Hu Chaohui a lesson at Twelfth Madam Luo’s request, after learning about the Treading the Sea Gang leader and his gambling business. He infiltrated Hu Chaohui’s residence and struck as the man relaxed with a concubine.

• Ding Songyan offered to teach someone Twelfth Madam Luo wanted to punish, and she named Hu Chaohui, leader of the Treading the Sea Gang.
• Twelfth Madam Luo explained that she wanted to warn the gang over its Silver Hook Gambling House, but spared Liu Cheng because he was injured and opposed to the business.
• Twelfth Madam Luo described Hu Chaohui’s background, martial arts, and guards, while Ding Songyan asked about his residence and prepared to go there as the Jade Maiden.
• Ding Songyan infiltrated the Hu Residence, avoided its guards and sentries, and learned from a concubine’s dream where Hu Chaohui was staying.
• Ding Songyan found Hu Chaohui smoking beside his favorite concubine and suddenly attacked him with a shadowy fist.

Ding Songyan disguised himself as a Jade Maiden and nearly killed Hu Chaohui, prompting Yi Beiwang to suspect Ji Hanyi was behind several masked attacks. After returning to his room, Ding Songyan was approached by someone who called him “Second Brother.”

• Ding Songyan attacked Hu Chaohui, used the Book of Returning to Silence to make him mistake the technique for the Returning Ruins Divine Art, and escaped after injuring him.
• Ding Songyan told Twelfth Madam Luo he had spared Hu Chaohui because the man had acted strangely and he wanted to investigate further.
• Yi Beiwang heard Hu Chaohui had been attacked by someone wearing a Jade Maiden Mask and suspected the Golden Boy and Jade Maiden identities were being used to mislead the Martial Prohibition Bureau.
• Yi Beiwang identified Ji Hanyi, the Nine-Evil Witch, as the likeliest suspect behind the masked attacks.
• Ding Songyan returned to the Prince's Residence and, just after getting into bed, heard a voice call him “Second Brother.”

Ding Songyan questioned Ji Hanyi about the Demon Seed, Jiang Weichen, and the Xiaoming Great Art, but she revealed little about her own secrets. After teasing him about his schemes and romantic interests, she had him tell several installments of a story before asking which woman the Spirit-Communicating Precious Jade would choose.

• Ding Songyan found Ji Hanyi sharing his bed, dressed, and asked whether she had arranged the events involving Mister Wei, Fu Yangquan, the Demon Seed, and the Two-Faced Clan.
• Ji Hanyi said she had not known about the Demon Seed, and Ding Songyan told her about Jiang Weichen and asked who had helped her escape through the Netherworld Grounds.
• Ji Hanyi said Jiang Weichen had not helped her and promised to reveal the helper after Ding Songyan satisfied her with his future performance.
• Ji Hanyi explained that the Xiaoming Great Art remained with the Accumulated Evil Path and mentioned surviving lineages, then teased Ding Songyan about his disguises and his interest in women.
• Ding Songyan told Ji Hanyi three installments of his story, and she asked whether the Spirit-Communicating Precious Jade would choose Tree Demon Xiaoqian, Jade Pool Crimson Grass, or Princess Iron Fan.

Ding Songyan comforted Li Baima after the Fire-Stealing Sect leader died on a secret assignment for Prince Kang's Residence, then kept searching for clues about the mission. Steward Peng Jushan summoned him for a task involving his ability to perform Spirit Walking Through the Netherworld.

• Ji Hanyi teased Ding Songyan about his story's romantic choices, then left him with her scent lingering beneath the quilt.
• Liu Cheng worried that masked Jade Maiden attackers had killed Huo Minglou and nearly killed his adoptive father, and reconsidered whether Ding Songyan was connected to them.
• Li Baima told Ding Songyan that the Fire-Stealing Sect leader had died from injuries sustained while working for the prince, but he did not know the nature of the assignment.
• Ding Songyan urged Li Baima to take time away from the side gate to grieve, while he and the others covered his duties.
• Steward Peng Jushan asked Ding Songyan whether he could perform Spirit Walking Through the Netherworld and said he had a task for him.

Ding Songyan used Spirit Walking Through the Netherworld to question a dead guard and uncovered signs that the Yellow Heaven Path and Sage-Slaying Path were cooperating. He realized Han Shun had summoned him partly to make the ghost disappear, and left the Prince's Residence aware that its secret mission involved deeper intrigue.

• Peng Jushan led Ding Songyan to Commander Han Shun, who asked him to question a dead guard and keep the matter secret.
• Ding Songyan learned that the guard had leaked mission information to the Yellow Heaven Path after they gained leverage over him.
• Ding Songyan discovered that a silent woman wearing a Black Gauze Veil Hat had appeared during both the leak and the guard's earlier mistake, suggesting the Sage-Slaying Path was involved.
• The ghost dissipated during questioning, and Han Shun said he would report the apparent cooperation between the two paths to Prince Kang.
• As Ding Songyan left, he concluded that Han Shun had wanted him to destroy the Yin Soul and decided to wait before confronting him.

Ding Songyan received and read a heartfelt letter from Zheng Zhuxi, while she learned of the masked fighters in the Flame Capital and grew worried that he might be entangled with Ji Hanyi. Zheng Zhuxi asked her father to let Ding Songyan study the Book of Utmost Sincerity, and Zheng Ziming asked whether Ding had killed Sun Feiyang.

• A Director from the Martial Prohibition Bureau delivered Zheng Zhuxi’s letter to Ding Songyan, and Li Baima, Wu Mo, and Fan Chunlin realized his senior sister was Miss Zheng of the Xiaoming Sect.
• Ding Songyan went to Twelfth Madam Luo’s East Wing Room, read Zheng Zhuxi’s letter, and planned to send his reply through the Xie Family and the banks owned by those surnamed Fang.
• Zheng Ziming told Zheng Zhuxi about the masked fighters in the Flame Capital, and she suspected that the male Jade Maiden who attacked Hu Chaohui was Ding Songyan and that the Jade Maiden who killed Huo Minglou might be Ji Hanyi.
• Zheng Zhuxi decided not to alert others about her suspicions and asked Zheng Ziming to keep Ding Songyan’s secrets while explaining his martial arts path.
• Zheng Zhuxi asked her father to let Ding Songyan read the Book of Utmost Sincerity, excluding its methods for opening orifices and organ dressing, and Zheng Ziming asked if Ding had killed Sun Feiyang.

Ding Songyan and Twelfth Madam Luo disguised Wu Zheng as Ding Songyan, then as the invented Hero Lin, to get him safely to the Phoenix Bookshop and alert the Five Saints Sect about He Jin. Their pursuers followed them, while Ding Songyan’s explanation for inventing Lin Chong’s detailed identity was that he was a Storyteller.

• Ding Songyan encountered his younger sister Ji Hanyi in the marketplace, allowed her to speak into his sea of consciousness, and wondered why she had appeared on Shushui Street.
• Ding Songyan and Twelfth Madam Luo disguised Wu Zheng as Ding Songyan, using the Heavenly Mind Formula and their answers to make the likeness convincing for two hours.
• Ding Songyan and Twelfth Madam Luo left the Cheap Wine Shop with Wu Zheng while martial artists watched, divided up, and reported to He Jin.
• At a restaurant, Ding Songyan joined Wu Zheng and Twelfth Madam Luo in a private room, where they ate before changing Wu Zheng’s disguise.
• Twelfth Madam Luo transformed Wu Zheng into the older Hero Lin, and Ding Songyan instructed him to go to the Phoenix Bookshop after they left and tell the Five Saints Sect about He Jin.
• Ding Songyan confirmed that their pursuers had followed them from the restaurant, then told Twelfth Madam Luo he had invented Lin Chong because he was a Storyteller.

Wu Zheng reached Phoenix Terrace Studio safely and sought Yu Chongyuan’s protection, revealing his family’s connection to Fire Virtue True Lord Wu Hui and the attack that drove him into hiding. Twelfth Madam Luo returned to the Cheap Wine Shop after nearly encountering someone from her past, and she and Ding Songyan spoke of the difficulty of forgetting someone.

• Wu Zheng followed Ding Songyan and Twelfth Madam Luo’s instructions, reached Phoenix Terrace Studio without drawing attention, and broke down in tears upon entering.
• Twelfth Madam Luo and Ding Songyan watched from nearby, then discussed Ding Songyan’s writing and the Legend of the White Snake before Luo abruptly led him away from the market.
• Yu Chongyuan met Wu Zheng in a quiet room, heard the account of his parents’ deaths and He Jin’s involvement, and agreed to shelter him while investigating.
• Zhang Yingbo confirmed Wu Zheng’s martial arts came from Fire Virtue True Lord Wu Hui, and Yu Chongyuan wondered whether the mysterious disguise was connected to Emperor Terrace.
• Twelfth Madam Luo returned to the Cheap Wine Shop and told Ding Songyan she had nearly encountered someone she did not want to see.
• Twelfth Madam Luo asked whether Ding Songyan had ever wanted both to forget someone and draw close to them, and he admitted that he had.

Ding Songyan met Jiang Lanting and Bai Qilin at Xiumei Mountain, where Jiang challenged him to a swordsmanship exchange. Ding exposed the weakness in Jiang’s Great Thousand Myriad Forms Art, and the encounter ended with Jiang declaring that the defeated “Young Master Jiang” was now “Miss Jiang.”

• Xie Fengchao brought Ding Songyan to Xiumei Mountain and introduced him to Jiang Lanting and Bai Qilin.
• Bai Qilin asked whether Ding had beaten Xie, and Ding explained that Xie’s overconfidence had cost him the match.
• Jiang Lanting revealed that he had worn both a Jade Maiden Mask and a Golden Boy costume in recent days.
• Jiang challenged Ding to exchange Cosmic Star-Dipper Swordsmanship through incense smoke, and Ding repeatedly broke his attacks with a single move.
• Jiang stopped the spar after realizing Ding was exploiting the manifested swordsmanship’s reduced power, then announced that the defeated Jiang was now Miss Jiang.
• Xie Fengchao told Ding that Jiang was born with both female and male aspects, suited to the Yin-Yang Religion’s arts.

Ding Songyan learned more about Jiang Lanting and the Yin-Yang Religion before killing a Ghost-Wyrm Path assassin who suddenly attacked Jiang. He used Spirit Walking Through the Netherworld to question the assassin’s Yin Soul about the employer and informant.

• Xie Fengchao told Ding Songyan about Jiang Lanting’s struggles with his dual nature and asked him to keep the Yin-Yang Religion’s secrets private.
• Jiang Lanting explained aspects of the Religion’s transformations and arts, then discussed martial arts with Ding Songyan, whose Swordsmanship insights impressed him.
• As the group left to eat, a masked Ghost-Wyrm Path assassin attacked Jiang Lanting, but Ding Songyan killed him with Cold Shadow.
• Jiang Lanting wondered who had ordered the attack, and Ding Songyan questioned the assassin’s Yin Soul about the assignment and who had gathered information on Jiang.