Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng reveals four nearly finished fourth-rank Yin Soldiers, powerful enough to dominate a region.
• He completes their refinement with the Primordial Yang Divine Lamp and Purifying Dharma Water, which restores their missing awareness. The soldiers awaken, thank him, and acknowledge him as their master.
• Tang then performs a form-bestowal rite, giving each soldier glowing golden armor and weapons that strengthen them, though the equipment is less powerful than the Ghost Artifacts he has seen before.
• Using a bloodstained scrap of Da Xiang’s clothing as a link, Tang orders the soldiers to rescue him, authorizing them to kill anyone who obstructs them. They depart immediately.
• Tang remains behind to monitor their progress, while Wu Shulan sits quietly beside him.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng demonstrates sophisticated Daoist abilities and considerable confidence. He has prepared the Yin Soldiers in advance and brought Wu Shulan along partly to impress her and assess her as a possible trusted helper.
• Wu Shulan moves from curiosity to astonishment and respect as she recognizes the rites Tang performs. She also shows her knowledge of Daoist practice and becomes deferential once Tang begins monitoring the mission.
• The Yin Soldiers change from refined but insensible spirits into aware, equipped servants who willingly obey Tang.

Significant themes

• The chapter contrasts authentic Daoist practice with later misunderstandings attributed to Buddhist influence. It explains that some ghosts cannot receive offerings because their souls are incomplete, and that Daoist rites restore what is missing.
• Power in the Age of Dharma’s Decline is scarce: four fourth-rank Yin Soldiers are an extraordinary force.
• Tang’s compassion—restoring the soldiers’ souls—exists alongside his practical ambition. He seeks capable, loyal helpers and uses his demonstrations to build influence.
• Rituals are not merely symbolic: they restore spirits and confer real strength.

Character interactions

• Tang explains and demonstrates his power before Wu Shulan, who recognizes the significance of his rites.
• Wu supplies Da Xiang’s bloodstained cloth, enabling Tang to direct the soldiers to him.
• The soldiers express gratitude and unquestioning obedience to Tang; Wu, impressed and cautious, avoids disturbing him as he tracks their mission.

Key plot points

• Tang Changsheng sends four Grade-D Yin Soldiers to rescue Da Xiang from a villa in Lower River City. He watches their progress through his Heavenly Heart rather than revealing more of his abilities to Wu Shulan.
• The soldiers break into the villa despite its door-god images, which are only decorative and have no power to stop them.
• They find Da Xiang handcuffed to a bed. Unable to manipulate the cuffs themselves, two Yin Soldiers possess the guards, making them unlock the restraints and help him downstairs.
• Surveillance alerts the other occupants, who rush in armed. The Yin Soldiers attack, and gunfire proves useless against them; the guards and armed men are left in pain and confusion. The chapter ends with the villa in chaos as everyone fires wildly.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng shows both confidence in his control of the Yin Soldiers and caution about revealing or expending too much power.
• Da Xiang recognizes the soldiers as orthodox Guardian Yin Soldiers. His initial shock gives way to relief when he realizes a rescue is underway.
• The Yin Soldiers demonstrate their limits: they cannot unlock handcuffs without help or a Ghost Artifact, but they can possess ordinary people and overpower the villa’s occupants.
• The guards and armed men shift from complacency to panic. Their conventional defenses—including guns—are ineffective against the supernatural attackers, while their frantic shooting risks injuring one another.

Significant themes

• Traditional spiritual practice versus modern defenses: Guns and surveillance cannot counter the Yin Soldiers, while even traditional door-god images fail when they are unblessed.
• Power has limits and costs: Tang Changsheng’s magic consumes energy, and his soldiers’ abilities are formidable but not unlimited.
• Fear and loss of control: The villa’s occupants rapidly lose command of the situation, while the possessed guards become instruments of the rescue.

Key plot points and events

• Da Xiang escapes a villa under heavy gunfire, protected by two Yin Soldier-possessed guards, and flees in a car.
• Zuo Xingfa reports to Tang Changsheng that he has erased evidence from the escape. The attackers were an influential international antiquities-smuggling group allied with tomb robbers; they had captured the gang’s strategist after a dispute over an object.
• Zuo also tells Tang that Ling Zheng’s bid to become Lower River’s governor is faltering. Ling secretly planned to let foreign reporters disrupt the Three Households’ ancestor worship, then intervene with a police superintendent and take credit for restoring order. The scheme became known and damaged his standing with the Three Households.
• Tang visits the recovering Da Xiang, who offers him a way to acquire wealth useful for cultivation through tombs and the ritual or magical objects hidden among antiques.
• Tang proposes allowing Da Xiang’s branch to return to the General’s Temple, leaving Da Xiang startled and uncertain.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng remains calculating and perceptive. He recognizes Da Xiang’s usefulness and turns the offer into an opportunity to bring Da Xiang’s branch back under his authority.
• Da Xiang is clever and pragmatic: he understands that Tang saved him with expectations, so he quickly offers something valuable in return. Tang’s unexpected proposal unsettles him.
• Zuo Xingfa is eager to please Tang and delighted by his praise. His report also reinforces his confidence in his local power.
• Wu Shulan is quietly present while tending to Da Xiang, but Tang’s supernatural strength has left her intimidated.
• Tang and Zuo discuss Ling Zheng’s political maneuvering; Tang sees the failed scheme as a cautionary lesson about trying to manufacture credit instead of acting openly.

Significant themes

• Cleverness versus integrity: Ling’s attempt to create a crisis he could solve backfires, showing that manipulative tactics can destroy trust.
• Power and obligation: Da Xiang’s rescue creates a debt, while Tang uses his authority to negotiate a possible reunion.
• Material wealth versus spiritual value: The chapter introduces relics and ritual treasures as resources that may aid cultivation, not merely enrich their owners.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng invites the injured Da Xiang and Wu Shulan to join the General’s Temple as elders, offering guidance in cultivation.
• Da Xiang hesitates because the Gourd Islet branch was once expelled from the sect, but Wu Shulan urges him to accept. Tang seals the offer by giving each of them a Yin Soldier Command, granting them control of one of his formidable Yin Soldiers.
• Tang then invokes the General’s Temple’s traditional Life-Origin Talisman requirement. Da Xiang and Wu Shulan provide their birth details, swear loyalty, and submit to a supernatural ritual involving a strand of black energy that takes the shape of a tiny snake.
• Each burns and swallows half of their written birth details, completing the binding. Tang assures them the talismans will protect them from curses and other dark attacks, and can help safeguard their souls after death.
• Tang leaves to finish preparing the talismans while the two recover. Wu Shulan ruefully wonders whether they have effectively “sold themselves.”

Character development and interactions

• Da Xiang moves from resentment and reluctance to full acceptance. Tang’s offer of cultivation guidance, the Yin Soldier Command, and the implications of Tang’s power persuade him to rejoin the sect.
• Wu Shulan is more immediately pragmatic, sharply pushing Da Xiang to accept. The frightening ritual unnerves her, but she follows through once Da Xiang commits.
• Tang Changsheng presents himself as a generous mentor, but also enforces strict sect loyalty through an intimidating ritual. His enigmatic response about mastering the Nine Luminaries Heavenly Heart Method reinforces his formidable, mysterious reputation.
• The exchange between the three mixes genuine gratitude and renewed belonging with apprehension about the price of joining.

Significant themes

• Security versus autonomy: The Life-Origin Talismans impose a powerful bond, yet also offer protection.
• Loyalty and reconciliation: Da Xiang’s branch returns to the General’s Temple despite its painful history.
• Power and trust: Tang’s gifts and assurances win cooperation, while his supernatural display makes clear that the relationship is not entirely voluntary.
• The changing value of cultivation: In an age of declining magic, affiliation with a powerful sect and its resources is especially attractive.

Key plot points and events

• After Tang Changsheng leaves, Wu Shulan scolds Chen Xiang for hiding his connection to the General’s Temple. Chen Xiang tries to play innocent, but his injuries—and Wu’s grip on his ear—cut short his protest.
• Tang decides not to press Chen Xiang about his secrets, though he remembers that Chen once used the Effigy Curse against Ling Xiaoyu.
• The chapter explains Tang’s cultivation of the Nine Luminaries Heavenly Heart Method. He is working to subdue Fu Shi, one of the body’s seven corporeal spirits, associated with bodily toxins and harmful impulses. Past progress lets him use some of Fu Shi’s power, but a dense core of black qi remains difficult to refine.
• Tang uses a wisp of that black qi to feed a jar of fighting insects. He is deliberately breeding a poisonous gu insect, using repeated rounds of survival and consumption to produce a single, powerful survivor.
• Tang sees the gu as another way to protect himself. His Yin Soldier can only appear at night, and in a world where firearms are dangerous, he wants to avoid fighting opponents personally.
• Over the following days, he continues cultivating, practicing spells, and tending the insects.

Character development and interactions

• Tang Changsheng shows patience and caution: he gives Chen Xiang space to reveal his secrets in time, while steadily refining his own abilities and preparing additional means of defense. His willingness to use sinister arts reflects his practical outlook rather than a strict distinction between righteous and evil methods.
• Chen Xiang appears evasive and adept at playing dumb, while Wu Shulan is protective and forceful, reminding him that she risked herself to find help for him.
• Tang and Chen’s relationship remains marked by trust mixed with suspicion: Tang recognizes Chen’s past wrongdoing but chooses not to confront him yet.

Significant themes

• Power and self-mastery: Tang’s cultivation is framed as the struggle to subdue harmful forces within the body.
• Pragmatism in the use of magic: The General’s Temple’s teachings are not treated as inherently good or evil; their morality depends on how they are used.
• Preparation and survival: Tang’s gu-breeding and reliance on indirect defenses reflect the dangers of facing magic—and modern weapons—unprepared.
• Patience and secrecy: Tang’s refusal to interrogate Chen immediately underscores the value of letting hidden truths emerge in their own time.

Plot and key events

• Tang Changsheng has settled into an easier routine at the General’s Temple. He is raising an ordinary gu insect: a poisonous, metal-black ant that seems unusually attached to him, though its potential is limited.
• Da Xiang visits and asks about the ant. Their conversation turns to the mysterious gu art Da Xiang used earlier and the bat necklace associated with it.
• Da Xiang admits he once joined the Black Snake Gang, which smuggled cultural relics. He says the powerful organization above the gang operates worldwide and appears to seek ritual artifacts and other extraordinary objects, not simply money or antiques.
• Da Xiang then confesses that he deliberately led the organization’s people to Lower River, intending to use the General’s Temple to eliminate them—and acknowledging that he had used Tang Changsheng in the process.
• Tang Changsheng listens without showing alarm. He recognizes the potential danger of the organization and its modern weapons, but accepts Da Xiang’s explanation and does not punish him for actions taken before he returned to the sect.

Character developments and interactions

• Da Xiang chooses candor over concealment, admitting both his criminal past and his manipulation of Tang. He presents himself as ready to accept punishment, while showing a practical understanding that honest confession may limit the consequences.
• Tang Changsheng remains curious and composed, questioning Da Xiang about the gu art and the organization. His awareness of his own vulnerability to firearms tempers his confidence, while his commitment to rules shapes his response: since Da Xiang acted before returning to the sect, Tang sees little basis for disciplining him.
• Their exchange is respectful but frank: Da Xiang speaks deferentially as a disciple, while Tang allows him to explain himself fully.

Significant themes

• Honesty and accountability: Da Xiang believes admitting wrongdoing is wiser than allowing concealment to compound it.
• Power and vulnerability: Tang has formidable supernatural abilities but remains wary of modern weapons and the limits of his cultivation.
• Order and authority: Tang’s adherence to rules reflects both personal discipline and his position as a leader who benefits from maintaining the existing order.
• Hidden forces: The worldwide search for ritual artifacts suggests that a much larger, potentially dangerous organization is at work.

Key events

• Tang Changsheng lets Da Xiang off for pursuing Ling Xiaoyu before he returned to the General’s Temple, while making clear that Da Xiang must obey the sect’s rules from now on.
• Tang asks about Ling Xiaoyu’s necklace and why Da Xiang targeted her. Da Xiang explains that he had accepted a paid job through the Demon Web, a secret online network for cultivators.
• Using Da Xiang’s account, Tang finds the job targeting Ling Xiaoyu, though the anonymous client cannot be identified. He also discovers a newly posted job to investigate the General’s Temple. Someone accepts it while they are browsing.
• Da Xiang explains the Demon Web’s costly points system and its marketplace for cultivation goods and services. Intrigued by the site’s value as a source of information, Tang asks to join and has Da Xiang arrange an anonymous account.
• Three days later, Tang receives the client software, but the investigator expected at Yin-Yang Mountain has not arrived.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng shows measured authority: he treats Da Xiang fairly but emphasizes that sect membership means following its rules. His curiosity about the Demon Web quickly turns into strategic interest, especially after he sees the job targeting his sect.
• Da Xiang is relieved to be forgiven, but anxious that his failed assignment against Ling Xiaoyu might anger Tang personally. He explains the Demon Web and offers to arrange Tang’s account, showing both practical expertise and an effort to stay in Tang’s good graces.
• Their conversation shifts from discipline to investigation: Tang questions Da Xiang about the necklace and the job, while Da Xiang supplies information about the hidden network and its economy.

Significant themes

• Rules and authority: Tang’s fairness reassures Da Xiang, but forgiveness does not exempt him from future discipline.
• Money and cultivation: The Demon Web’s expensive points and valuable rewards underline that cultivation depends on resources as well as ability.
• Information and hidden power: Though its goods are mostly low-grade, the Demon Web’s real significance is its role as a clandestine hub for intelligence—and a possible threat to the General’s Temple.

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng realizes he had wrongly assumed that gathering information about the General’s Temple required a personal visit: someone has already completed the information-gathering mission.
• He enters the “Immortal Realm,” where his mountain hut is damaged and unsuitable for comfortable cultivation. Because Marquis Wu’s government persecutes Daoists and spiritually rich locations are already claimed, Tang has few safe places to settle.
• A familiar tabby cat appears with a chicken. Tang recognizes it as the creature that has been quietly feeding on the light of his Primordial Yang Divine Lamp—and bringing him stolen poultry in return.
• The cat understands Tang’s question about the damaged hut and leads him toward its cause: a wild boar. After the cat blinds the boar, Tang wounds it with his flexible sword and kills it by sending the Flying Ant Gu into its nostril. This confirms the Gu’s potent venom.
• Tang notices a red cord around the cat’s neck, realizes it is a pet and is pregnant, and follows it as it disappears into the grass.

Character development and interactions

• Tang shows greater flexibility in his thinking, recognizing that information can be gathered without direct personal contact. He also remains cautious and resourceful in a world where technology offers no protection.
• The tabby is revealed to be unusually intelligent, agile, and powerful. Its exchanges with Tang are mostly nonverbal, but it understands his speech and guides him toward the boar.
• The cat and Tang cooperate against the boar: the cat initiates the encounter, while Tang delivers the decisive blow. Tang’s curiosity about the cat deepens when he discovers its collar and pregnancy.

Significant themes

• Adaptation and ingenuity: Tang revises his assumptions and relies on cultivation tools rather than modern technology.
• A world shaped by supernatural forces: Even ordinary wildlife may be approaching spiritual awareness, while sacred places are controlled by gods and political powers.
• Fragile safety and belonging: Tang’s damaged hut and lack of a secure cultivation site underscore how precarious his life in the Immortal Realm remains.
• Unexpected companionship: The tabby shifts from a nuisance and chicken thief into a capable, possibly important companion.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng follows a fast-moving tabby cat to a small mountain village, where he meets Chen Wangshi, the village’s elderly spirit medium.
• The cat, Ahua, has repeatedly had stillborn litters. Tang recognizes that her unusually strong vitality has made her fertility suffer.
• He gives Ahua a medicinal pill and leaves Chen Wangshi the bottle, explaining how to use it. In return, he hopes to receive one of her kittens, which he thinks could become a spirit beast for the General’s Temple.
• Tang gives Chen Wangshi several taels of silver and continues on, declining her invitation to stay.
• With his cultivation now requiring less frequent practice, he travels to Fuyang Mountain after dark and summons the Ghost Messenger who calls him “brother.”

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng shows practical compassion: he helps Chen Wangshi and Ahua, gives them medicine and money, and does not insist on taking a kitten immediately. His growing cultivation also gives him greater freedom to travel.
• Chen Wangshi is revealed as a modest, limited practitioner who deeply loves Ahua and treats her almost as a daughter. Her isolation reflects the hardship faced by folk spirit mediums.
• Ahua is unusually attuned to spiritual forces and medicine. Though initially wary of Tang, she eagerly accepts his help.

Significant themes

• Compassion and reciprocity: Tang’s aid is generous, while his interest in a kitten is a modest exchange rather than a demand.
• The bond between humans and animals: Ahua is Chen Wangshi’s closest family, and the cat’s reactions suggest a deep sensitivity and personality.
• Unequal spiritual knowledge: A village medium may possess unusual gifts but lack the training and resources of a formal cultivator.
• Cultivation and changing demands: Tang’s improved abilities reduce the time he must spend practicing, allowing him to pursue other responsibilities.

Character interactions

• Chen Wangshi initially addresses Tang with deference, recognizing him as a fellow practitioner; Tang responds warmly and asks about her cat.
• Tang explains Ahua’s condition and offers medicine. Ahua’s eagerness for the pill helps persuade Chen Wangshi that his advice is valuable.
• Chen Wangshi thanks Tang and invites him to stay, but he declines before setting off to meet the Ghost Messenger.

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng meets his Ghost Messenger friend, who gives him a rare Century-old Mountain Essence as thanks for Tang’s recent help.
• The Messenger reveals he has paid bribes to secure an acting Patrol Inspector post at Whitewater Creek. Tang thinks the appointment is unimpressive, but offers to cover the extra cost to make it permanent.
• The permanent appointment requires Dharma Money, Purifying Dharma Water, and ritual food. Tang can supply these using the General’s Temple’s stored resources and his own ability to consecrate Dharma Money.
• Tang asks the Messenger to obtain some weaker ghosts for refining Yin Soldiers, along with one or two Ghost Artifacts. The Messenger agrees.
• Rather than make a special trip back to the temple—and wary that crossing between worlds has a cost—Tang decides to prepare the necessary supplies himself. He goes to Shanyang Market to buy materials.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng shows generosity and practical foresight. He is grateful for the gift, agrees to finance his friend’s promotion, and sees how the Messenger’s new territory could help him settle his own affairs.
• The Ghost Messenger demonstrates growing loyalty to Tang, going beyond ordinary friendship by sharing a valuable treasure and offering access to ghosts and scarce Ghost Artifacts. He is ambitious but still needs Tang’s support to secure a permanent post.

Significant themes

• Reciprocity and friendship: Tang and the Messenger’s relationship has grown from casual companionship into mutual commitment and material support.
• Power and bureaucracy: Even supernatural appointments depend on bribery, payments, and ritual offerings.
• Resourcefulness and cultivation: Tang uses his knowledge, temple stores, and spiritual abilities to meet practical needs and strengthen his Yin Soldiers.
• The cost of power: Tang treats travel between worlds cautiously, suspecting that it consumes resources.

Character interactions

• The Messenger’s generous gift initially makes Tang hesitate to ask for help, but the two quickly shift into candid discussion of promotion and expenses.
• Tang reassures the Messenger that he will provide what is needed, while the Messenger reciprocates by offering underworld resources.
• Their friendly teasing and frankness reinforce the trust that underlies their growing partnership.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng visits a quiet Shanyang Market to buy spirit money, offerings, candles, and sesame oil. He pays with a conspicuously large piece of silver.
• Shopkeeper Hou, tempted by the apparent wealth, sends his assistant Xiaosheng to fetch help, apparently intending to rob or otherwise take advantage of Tang.
• Tang notices the scheme but stays calm, waits for his purchases, and leaves after taunting Hou for lacking the nerve to follow through.
• Xiaosheng is found convulsing and foaming at the mouth. When Hou goes to inspect him, he is struck by the same affliction. The remaining assistants suspect Tang’s involvement and beg for mercy.
• The incident becomes a long-lasting local tale warning people against greed and harming others. The chapter reveals that Tang’s Black Flying Ant likely caused the men’s mysterious fits; he praises it and feeds it black qi.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng appears watchful, confident, and quietly capable. He recognizes Hou’s intentions, avoids confrontation, and uses the situation to teach him a lesson.
• Shopkeeper Hou shifts from welcoming a paying customer to plotting against him, but his greed is matched by cowardice. His nephew Xiaosheng serves as his messenger and suffers the first consequence.
• The remaining assistants quickly distance themselves from the scheme, pleading with Tang despite having no clear proof of what happened.
• Tang’s exchange with Hou is outwardly courteous but edged with mockery; his brief interaction with the Black Flying Ant shows both his command over it and his approval of its work.

Significant themes

• Greed invites punishment: Hou’s impulse to exploit Tang leads to public humiliation and becomes a cautionary legend.
• Appearances can mislead: Tang’s large payment attracts danger, while his calm manner conceals his awareness and power.
• Stories as moral instruction: The market incident is embellished over generations into a lesson about honesty and restraint.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng returns from the incense shop, where he had punished the dishonest shopkeeper and his companion with lifelong epileptic fits rather than killing them.
• He uses the Primordial Yang Divine Lamp to refine spirit money, visualizing gold and projecting it onto the paper. The lamp makes the process far more efficient, but the work still drains his spiritual energy.
• After resting, he spends the day preparing Purifying Dharma Water, Ritual Food, and other offerings.
• The offerings’ spiritual glow attracts a growing crowd of wandering souls and Wild Ghosts. Tang’s Guardian Yin Soldier initially frightens them back, but they keep gathering.
• Fearing the crowd may attract something more dangerous, Tang orders the soldier to attack. It quickly scatters or destroys several ghosts, sending the rest fleeing.
• Tang draws one spirit into the lamp and discovers that burning it purifies the flame, which had been tainted by adulterated scented oil. He considers using wandering spirits as fuel, reasoning that they are mindless fragments destined to disappear anyway.
• He then uses the lamp’s light to transform a bowl of uncooked rice, as perceived by ghosts, into a lavish banquet.

Character developments

• Tang remains practical and self-assured, but shows restraint in punishing the shopkeepers and concern about the danger posed by the accumulating ghosts.
• His growing familiarity with the Primordial Yang Divine Lamp deepens his interest in its powers. Discovering that spirits can purify its flame leads him to consider a morally questionable new use for it.
• The Guardian Yin Soldier proves effective in combat, though its intimidation alone cannot keep the ghosts away from the tempting offerings.

Significant themes

• Power and restraint: Tang has the power to kill the shopkeepers but chooses a lesser punishment.
• Resourcefulness and moral ambiguity: He finds a useful purpose for wandering spirits, while acknowledging that using them as fuel could seem unpleasant.
• Spiritual labor and cultivation: Refining Dharma Money and preparing ritual offerings require time, focus, and magical energy.
• The unseen consequences of ritual practice: The offerings attract spirits, creating a danger Tang had not fully anticipated.

Character interactions

• Tang punishes the shopkeeper and his companion indirectly, then leaves them behind.
• His Guardian Yin Soldier confronts the gathering ghosts, first warning them off and then attacking at Tang’s command.
• Tang engages with a wandering spirit by drawing it into the lamp, discovering its effect on the flame, and preparing an apparent feast for the remaining ghosts.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng uses the Primordial Yang Divine Lamp to burn wandering ghosts as lamp oil. The process strengthens the lamp and saves him magical power, letting him consecrate a large supply of ritual food.
• After finishing the ritual money and provisions, he summons paper servants and animals to carry the goods toward Fuyang Mountain.
• A group of villagers traveling at night passes the ghostly procession. They initially fail to notice anything unusual, but later realize the silent, torchless travelers looked like paper figures and flee in terror.
• Near the mountain, a patrolling Ghost Messenger challenges Tang Changsheng. On learning the provisions are for Fang Xin, he offers to escort the procession—eager for a share of the feast.
• Tang Changsheng accepts, reasoning that it is wiser not to antagonize an official representative of the underworld. They reach Fang Xin’s patrol grounds, where Fang Xin appears and recognizes the escort as Song Cai, a Ghost Messenger from the mountain’s front.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng is practical and increasingly confident in his powers, but still uneasy about using wandering ghosts as fuel. He also shows restraint, avoiding needless conflict with underworld officials.
• The patrolling Ghost Messenger is portrayed as hungry and opportunistic, while Fang Xin greets Tang warmly and appears pleased by his arrival.

Character interactions

• Tang commands the paper servants to carry the offerings and lets the villagers pass without incident.
• Song Cai attaches himself to the procession, and Tang allows it after learning he is an official Ghost Messenger.
• Fang Xin’s recognition of Song Cai introduces a possible complication, though the chapter ends before their conversation continues.

Significant themes

• Pragmatism versus scruples: Tang benefits from burning ghosts but remains morally uncomfortable about it.
• The unseen world intersecting with ordinary life: Villagers encounter the procession without understanding what they have seen until later.
• Authority and restraint: Tang avoids challenging even a minor official, recognizing the power of the organization behind him.
• Scarcity and self-interest: The mountain Ghost Messengers’ poor conditions explain Song Cai’s eagerness to join a lavish delivery.

Key plot points and events

• Song Cai, the Ghost Messenger, joins Fang Xin’s banquet under the pretense of escorting him, though Fang Xin recognizes that he mainly wants food and wine.
• Tang Changsheng delivers the banquet supplies and ritual money, then receives a Cloudwater Bag from Fang Xin. After returning, he confirms that the Bright Pearl has grown brighter.
• Da Xiang reports signs of activity beneath Dead Man Mountain and says a few Lonely Wandering Ghosts escaped. Tang Changsheng assures him the founder’s seal remains intact and that the threat is not immediate.
• Tang Changsheng opens the bag and finds two Ghost Artifact weapons, two bound Vicious Ghosts, and Century-old Mountain Essence. He plans to refine more Yin Soldiers—eventually a full company—before investigating beneath the mountain.
• The next morning, Da Xiang asks to go down the mountain to settle personal affairs. Tang Changsheng gives permission and suggests he seek help from Zuo Xingfa and Zhang Dacheng if needed.

Character developments and interactions

• Fang Xin is pleased with Tang Changsheng’s generous delivery and rewards him with valuable supplies, including the Cloudwater Bag and dangerous ghosts.
• Tang Changsheng has gained confidence and resources. He remains calm about the mountain’s disturbances, while quietly planning to build his forces before investigating.
• Da Xiang shows concern about the seal beneath the mountain but accepts Tang Changsheng’s reassurance. His request to leave suggests unresolved personal matters.
• Song Cai maintains a jovial, sociable manner while subtly angling to share the banquet.

Significant themes

• Preparation in the face of danger: Tang Changsheng intends to strengthen his forces before confronting whatever lies beneath Dead Man Mountain.
• Trust, exchange, and self-interest: Gifts and hospitality bind characters together, but their motives are not always entirely selfless.
• Unease beneath apparent stability: The Bright Pearl’s growing light offers reassurance, yet continued disturbances hint at a danger that remains unresolved.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng continues refining two Vicious Ghosts with the Seven Absolutions, steadily stripping away their Grievance Aura. Though the process is agonizing, the ghosts are nearly ready to recover as Yin Soldiers—and should eventually become powerful Grade-D fighters.
• During dinner, Tang senses that Da Xiang’s Life-Origin Talisman is reacting to an outside attack. He hurries to the Dharma Hall and realizes someone is casting a spell against Da Xiang.
• Tang sends Wu Shulan to guard the hall, then prepares carefully, summoning four Guardian Yin Soldiers and lighting the Primordial Yang Divine Lamp.
• A hostile shadow emerges from Da Xiang’s talisman and attacks Tang’s Heartlight. Tang counters with a snake-like shadow within himself, which swallows the attacker.
• A thousand li away, Da Xiang coughs up blood that transforms into writhing worms. He thanks Tang for saving him; the worms consume the blood and become a thin, red, snake-like creature.
• Tang recognizes that Da Xiang’s attacker used Witchcraft. He is relieved the curse was manageable, but worries he might not withstand more unfamiliar Western curse techniques, especially those involving a Curse Stone.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng demonstrates growing confidence and power, while remaining cautious when facing unfamiliar magic. He tolerates Da Xiang’s secrets because he believes his own capabilities are greater, but intervenes when Da Xiang is threatened.
• Da Xiang is revealed to be involved in dangerous hidden affairs and to have unusual powers or methods of his own. He acknowledges Tang’s rescue with gratitude.
• Wu Shulan notices Tang’s sudden alarm and follows his orders promptly, helping secure the Dharma Hall.
• Tang’s relationship with Da Xiang is defined by guarded trust: he knows Da Xiang keeps secrets but allows them, provided they do not endanger the temple or himself.

Significant themes

• Power and preparation: Tang’s elaborate precautions show that strength does not eliminate the need for caution.
• Trust and tolerance: Tang knowingly permits Da Xiang’s secrecy, balancing suspicion with a willingness to protect him.
• The limits of knowledge: Tang’s unfamiliarity with Western curse systems leaves him uncertain about what threats he could withstand.
• Control through suffering: The harsh Seven Absolutions gradually turn dangerous ghosts into useful, disciplined Yin Soldiers.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng reveals a painting of the Gourd Immortal Abode, a legendary underwater Cave-Heaven Blessed Land. He suspects Da Xiang and his companions entered it and recovered something valuable, which may explain Da Xiang’s break with his former organization.
• Tang has deliberately allowed Da Xiang to act, hoping he will investigate the Abode’s remaining formations and restrictions. He gives Da Xiang one more chance to tell the truth, while acknowledging that he needs capable helpers.
• Wu Shulan asks about the situation. Tang reassures her, while she privately worries about her secretive husband.
• After a quiet stretch, Ling Zheng visits Tang. Using the Heavenly Heart Light, Tang judges that Ling has modest fortune and longevity but some potential for official rank.
• Ling has come to seek Tang’s view on the future of the Lower River. He has reluctantly recognized the General’s Temple’s broad influence and now takes Tang seriously, despite his earlier suspicion of him. The chapter ends as Ling begins arguing that the region must keep pace with technological and industrial change.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng emerges as patient and calculating: he has knowingly tolerated Da Xiang’s plans, assesses Ling’s prospects, and understands why Ling has come before Ling states his purpose. He remains cautious about involving himself in political affairs.
• Da Xiang remains absent, but Tang’s confidence in his intelligence contrasts with Wu Shulan’s anxiety about his secrecy.
• Wu Shulan trusts Tang’s ability to manage the situation but remains uneasy about her husband’s conduct.
• Ling Zheng shifts from dismissing Tang as an ordinary mage to recognizing the temple’s regional power. Asking Tang for advice is a difficult concession for the proud official.
• Tang and Ling exchange restrained, awkward pleasantries about Ling Xiaoyu before turning to the political question Ling came to raise.

Significant themes

• Hidden motives and calculated patience: Tang’s apparent tolerance is strategic, and he watches others’ actions rather than intervening too soon.
• Power and legitimacy: The General’s Temple wields influence comparable to that of entrenched local clans, challenging Ling’s assumptions about supernatural institutions.
• Tradition and modernization: Ling’s concern that the Lower River will fall behind introduces tension between changing technology and the region’s established order.
• Political responsibility and boundaries: Tang’s response suggests that governance belongs to officials, even as Ling seeks his involvement.

Key plot points

• Ling Zheng presents Tang Changsheng with an ambitious, detailed plan to modernize Lower River’s traditional economy, especially by attracting investment in marine industries and algae-based energy.
• Tang recognizes that Ling Zheng is capable and politically serious: Ling confirms he intends to run for another term as governor.
• Tang reveals that the region’s three powerful households disapprove of Ling, partly because Ling’s attempt to bring reporters to an ancestral rite damaged their opinion of him. Tang offers to persuade them to support Ling, potentially raising his election chances substantially.
• In exchange, Tang asks Ling to arrange the sale of Gourd Islet to the General’s Temple if he becomes governor.
• Ling is surprised to learn that Yin-Yang Mountain already belongs entirely to the Temple—and that its valuable timber makes the Temple’s holdings worth billions. After checking Gourd Islet’s status, he finds it is an unoccupied, low-value sandbar, so the sale should be straightforward.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang reassesses Ling, discovering that his prospective father-in-law is a competent planner rather than merely a political figure. At the same time, Tang makes clear that his support is transactional, not simply a favor to Ling Xiaoyu.
• Ling moves from surprise and suspicion to excitement as he realizes how much Tang’s backing could improve his election prospects. Learning the scale of the Temple’s wealth also increases his respect and confidence in Tang.
• Their conversation is frank and strategic: Tang states both Ling’s political weakness and his own price plainly, while Ling responds without taking offense and begins to reconsider his earlier opposition to Tang’s relationship with his daughter.

Significant themes

• Power and political patronage: Tang’s influence over the region’s major households could determine Ling’s political future.
• Wealth and hidden influence: The Temple’s assets extend far beyond what Ling expected, with Yin-Yang Mountain’s valuable forest revealing the institution’s economic power.
• Modernization and changing fortunes: New energy technologies and private investment are reshaping economies and global power, making Ling’s development plans timely.
• Pragmatic relationships: Personal ties matter, but political and financial interests shape the bargain between Tang and Ling.

Key plot points

• Tang Changsheng agrees to support Ling Zheng’s bid to become governor of the Lower River, in exchange for the General’s Temple gaining control of Gourd Islet. The islet is strategically important to Tang.
• Ling Zheng raises concerns about Tang’s relationship with his daughter, Ling Xiaoyu: she is already engaged to someone else, and he wants Tang to leave her alone. Tang cannot honestly promise to do so.
• Tang plans to consult the influential three Households before acting, but Deng Ruiming unexpectedly summons him to the City God Temple.
• Deng shows Tang his grandson, who is near death after becoming addicted to a new drug called Holy Salt. The drug induces intense bliss and leaves its users smiling as their bodies waste away; Tang senses the grandson’s souls and spirits have almost entirely dissipated and says he cannot save him.
• Deng reveals that he did not summon Tang to seek a cure. He wants Tang’s help taking revenge on whoever is responsible for the drug.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng is politically ambitious and pragmatic, using Ling Zheng’s request as an opportunity to secure Gourd Islet. Yet he also sympathizes with Ling Zheng’s past efforts to protect his daughter. His feelings for Xiaoyu remain unresolved.
• Ling Zheng is willing to make a political deal with Tang but remains protective of Xiaoyu and wary of the danger Tang’s pursuit could bring her.
• Deng Ruiming appears shaken by his grandson’s condition, then hardens into a desire for vengeance. His grief suggests the grandson had been especially dear to him.
• Tang and Deng shift from a political alliance to a personal appeal: Deng asks Tang to help punish those behind Holy Salt.

Significant themes

• Power and political influence: Tang’s temple is preparing to intervene directly in secular government.
• Family, protection, and conflicting desires: Ling Zheng’s concern for Xiaoyu clashes with Tang’s unspoken feelings.
• The limits of spiritual power: Tang can recognize the devastation Holy Salt causes but cannot restore the victim.
• Grief and revenge: Deng’s loss turns sorrow into a demand for retribution.

Key plot points and events

• Deng Ruiming asks Tang Changsheng to avenge his grandson, A Lang, by killing those who sold him “holy salt” and led him astray in Lufadan. He wants the culprits to suffer before they die.
• Tang initially hesitates, but Deng offers to help secure Ling Zheng’s bid for the next governorship of Lower River. Tang considers accepting and sees the trip to Lufadan as a chance to visit Ling Xiaoyu.
• Before Tang can leave, three armed, disciplined men arrive from the Black Snake Syndicate. They ask Deng to stay out of their business with Tang and demand that Tang stop sheltering a traitor.
• Deng refuses to back down, despite knowing the Syndicate is powerful and dangerous. Tang challenges the visitors’ empty apology, then mysteriously causes two of them to collapse in convulsions. The third realizes Tang may be using the feared powers of the General’s Temple.

Character developments and interactions

• Deng Ruiming reveals the depth of his grief and anger over A Lang’s fate. He is willing to risk conflict with the Syndicate because he feels indebted to Tang and wants revenge.
• Tang Changsheng weighs practical and political benefits before agreeing to help. He remains calm and controlled when confronted, but responds decisively to threats.
• The Syndicate envoys begin with formal politeness and veiled pressure, then resort to threats. Tang’s display of power leaves them frightened and confused.
• Tang and Deng stand together against the visitors, while Deng’s household staff facilitate the meeting.

Significant themes

• Revenge and justice: Deng seeks punishment not only for A Lang’s sellers but also for those who influenced him.
• Power and political bargaining: Deng’s support for Tang’s political aims is offered in exchange for help.
• Loyalty and obligation: Deng’s new debt to Tang outweighs his fear of a formidable organization.
• Hidden power and intimidation: The Syndicate’s influence is challenged by the mysterious abilities associated with the General’s Temple.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng’s flying ant incapacitates three men who harmed Deng Ruiming’s grandson. Tang says he can keep them from ever recovering, and Deng enthusiastically demands they suffer for life.
• An armed force attacks the Deng estate with heavy weapons. Deng stays composed and orders Tang and his guards toward the family shelter.
• Tang’s heightened senses and flying ant kill two attackers before they can fire. A booby-trapped rifle explodes when a bodyguard tries to take it, badly injuring his hand; Tang uses a talisman to stop the bleeding.
• The group reaches a reinforced underground shelter. Deng reveals a large, well-stocked armory and recalls the Deng family’s role in Lower River’s wartime militia.
• Family members of all ages take up weapons, expressing determination and preserving a tradition, though Tang suspects this is mainly symbolic and educational.

Character developments and interactions

• Deng Ruiming is shown as both ruthless about punishing his grandson’s attackers and remarkably calm under siege. His confidence and pride emerge as he explains the family’s military history and preparations.
• Tang Changsheng demonstrates the practical limits of his magic in a daytime gunfight, while still using his senses, flying ant, and talisman to protect the group. His initial thought of taking a rifle shows his fear and resourcefulness.
• The Deng family and bodyguards respond to Deng’s leadership, drawing courage from their shared history. Tang and Deng exchange dry humor about the shelter’s protection before Deng answers seriously.

Significant themes

• Preparedness and inherited resilience: The shelter, weapons, and family history reflect generations shaped by conflict.
• Family loyalty and vengeance: Deng’s desire to punish those who harmed his grandson is fierce and uncompromising.
• The limits of power: Tang’s supernatural abilities are formidable but less dependable against modern weapons and a daylight assault.
• Tradition as identity: The family’s armed response links present danger to Lower River’s wartime past.