Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Lin Feng absorbs and partially masters the heavenly flames. Their gentleness restores him to a more “human” state, while strengthening him to the threshold of Sixth Rank. He discovers that the five fragments have unlocked the Body-Fixing Technique, which can freeze everything within a small area but rapidly consumes his mental essence.
• The flames become part of his body and manifest through three divine-beast forms: the Soaring Serpent, Calamity Hound, and Yak. The Calamity Hound’s flames can heal and bring bones temporarily to life; Lin Feng also uses his fire to destroy Yak flesh and cleanse the sinister aura from Mr. Luo’s Tianpeng Ruler.
• The flames spread through the Haunted Village and connected shrines, transforming the temple, strengthening its guards, and helping digest the presence within the Bronze Urn. The Temple Keeper grows especially powerful.
• Lin Feng notices that the Twelve-Sided Die has changed from its Soaring Serpent design to an unfamiliar fairy-like figure, possibly representing the Noble or Great Yin form. It begins changing again after he leaves the Kiln.
• Five days have passed while Lin Feng was absorbed in the flames. He tells Hong Ni that she should leave him, take the Sky Pearl and pendant, and live safely with her family: the danger is aimed at him, not her.
• As they travel toward the Min Mountains, Lin Feng studies Teacher Qie’s changing drawings and searches for clues about Shuzhong. He concludes that Western Xia is the lead most likely to help him. Entering the game, he selects Menzang E’pang’s Secret: Menzang E’pang once found ruins that appeared in the desert during moonlit White-Haired Winds, believing their hidden power could make him a ruler like Li Yuanhao.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng gains a powerful new fire-based ability and the Body-Fixing Technique, but recognizes that he has not mastered the flames’ full force and still lacks the wind element needed to advance. He also remains cautious about the destructive thunder and the dangers gathering around him.
• Hong Ni remains frightened by the threats but learns that she is endangered mainly through her association with Lin Feng. He urges her to separate from him and resume an ordinary life.
• The Temple Keeper flourishes in the Haunted Village, guiding the other guards as the flames strengthen the temple and its defenses.
• Lin Feng continues to honor Mr. Luo’s property by planning to return the cleansed Tianpeng Ruler, and consults Yu Lei, who provides a way to accompany him as a peach-wood tiger door god.

Significant themes

• Power and its limits: Lin Feng gains strength but cannot yet control the flames’ core, and greater advancement brings greater danger.
• Inheritance and transformation: The flames retain traces of previous owners and pass on abilities, while reshaping Lin Feng and the places tied to him.
• Time and uncertainty: Five days vanish unnoticed, Teacher Qie’s drawings keep changing, and the nature of time in the surrounding phenomena remains unclear.
• Protection through separation: Lin Feng tries to shield Hong Ni by sending her away, accepting that his own path has become dangerous and isolating.

Key plot points and events

• In the Qingli era, Lin Feng awakens in the body of the now-elderly Lin Youzhi. A transition quest asks him simply to reach Western Xia, with no penalty for failure.
• Lin Youzhi’s letter reveals that he knew Lin Feng would return and had spent more than twenty years preparing for it. It also explains that Lin Youzhi once prospered after serving in Hongzhou, but later lost his wealth and position.
• Lin Feng’s wife, unaware of the change in her husband, worries over his health. Xia Song’s servants arrive to summon Lin Youzhi, and Lin Feng goes with them.
• Xia Song tells Lin Feng that a Western Xia spy has approached the Song court. The spy claims that factions in Western Xia want Li Yuanhao killed, fearing his tyranny, and says a supernatural weapon and a formidable warrior will be needed.
• The emperor sees the proposal as an opportunity. Xia Song has summoned Lin Feng, apparently to recruit him for the mission.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng/Lin Youzhi: Lin Feng quickly adapts to his aged body, retains his skills, and approaches the situation with calm skepticism. He recognizes that Lin Youzhi knew of his existence and anticipated his return.
• Lin Youzhi’s wife: She shows affection and concern, but senses that her husband is behaving unlike himself.
• Xia Song: Still powerful and self-assured, he treats Lin Feng as an old acquaintance and presents the court’s plan.
• Lin Feng and Xia Song: Their conversation is direct and familiar. Lin Feng questions the practical value of killing Li Yuanhao, while Xia Song explains the emperor’s proposed operation.

Significant themes

• Identity and possession: Lin Feng’s return raises questions about what it means to inhabit another person’s body—and whether earlier hosts, such as Zhang Zhuoen, consented.
• Fate and preparation: Lin Youzhi’s long-term preparations suggest that Lin Feng’s return may have been anticipated or planned.
• Political ambition versus reality: The Song court views Li Yuanhao’s possible removal as an opportunity, but Lin Feng doubts that killing one ruler would defeat Western Xia.
• Power and superstition: The proposed use of Taoists and a magical weapon reflects the court’s belief that supernatural force may be needed to counter Li Yuanhao.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Song recruits Lin Youzhi to assassinate Western Xia’s ruler, Li Yuanhao. He claims Song spies have uncovered a plot involving Western Xia officials, but Lin Feng suspects the story is riddled with intrigue. Li Yuanhao has many enemies—including his son Ninglingge, whose position is threatened by his father’s interest in his fiancée.
• Xia Song reveals a palm-sized Jade Axe covered in incantations. Its power suppresses gods, spirits, and supernatural abilities, explaining why ordinary warriors lose their nerve. Lin Feng is fascinated by it, though Xia Song keeps it.
• Xia Song offers to secure Lin Youzhi’s son a place at the Imperial Academy—or, failing that, a hereditary post—and to bury the past scandal that ruined Lin Youzhi’s standing. Lin Feng accepts the mission and is told to leave in three days.
• At home, Lin Feng finds his wife anxious and still keeping the jar that contains a trace of the “Mother of Heaven.” He reassures her that he has arranged a fortune for her and their son, Zhao’er, and calms her into sleep.
• That night, Lin Feng secretly enters Xia Song’s duke’s residence and performs a ritual using the jar. The “Mother of Heaven” senses the attack and retaliates, but Lin Feng dismantles the formation. The backlash shatters many jars in distant burial chambers; the Mother of Heaven is left nearly dead.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng / Lin Youzhi is wary of Xia Song’s claims but accepts the mission because its promised future for his son matters to the persona he inhabits. Privately, he acts on a separate agenda, using his supernatural knowledge to strike at the Mother of Heaven.
• Xia Song presents himself as a pragmatic patron, appealing to Lin Youzhi’s family obligations and offering protection from the past. His display of the Jade Axe demonstrates both his political leverage and the supernatural resources behind the mission.
• Lin Youzhi’s wife distrusts Xia Song and fears the “great fortune” means her husband will die. Her concern reveals both her loyalty and her understanding of how precarious the family’s position is.
• Ninglingge is described as increasingly desperate, caught between his father’s brutality, his mother’s uncertain status, and the threat to his fiancée.

Significant themes

• Conspiracy and mistrust: The assassination mission appears entangled in rivalries within Western Xia, while Xia Song’s assurances may conceal his own motives.
• Family duty and sacrifice: The promise of a secure future for Zhao’er persuades Lin Feng to accept a dangerous assignment; his wife recognizes the likely personal cost.
• Political and supernatural power: The Jade Axe embodies the state’s capacity to suppress supernatural forces, while Lin Feng’s ritual shows how much can happen beyond official politics.
• Hidden agendas: Lin Feng appears to accept Xia Song’s mission, yet immediately pursues a private act of revenge with potentially far-reaching consequences.

Plot points and events

• Lin Feng’s attack with the Great Song’s dragon-tiger qi badly wounds the Mother of Heaven, likely keeping her subdued for centuries. Though the dynasty is troubled by military failures, floods, and corruption, its accumulated imperial qi proves overwhelming.
• On leaving the duke’s estate, Lin Feng is confronted by six powerful religious and court figures. They try to stop him, but he challenges their hypocrisy: they have the power to act against threats such as Western Xia and heretical cults, yet are interfering with him instead. He immobilizes one Daoist with his newly used Body-Fixing Technique, and the group eventually withdraws.
• Monk Wu, a jovial monk from Great Xiangguo Temple, invites Lin Feng to drink. At Fan Tower, he performs a remarkable feat involving the moon’s reflection, serves heavenly wine that can prolong life, and provides an extravagant meal. He also tells Lin Feng where to find hidden gold and copper for his family and says he has used the fortunes of court officials to help them.
• Lin Feng returns home with food, then goes to Chancellor Xia Song’s estate before dawn. Xia receives him promptly. Lin Feng asks to see a Western Xia spy and says he will leave as soon as he has done so.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng is relieved after striking the Mother of Heaven, but remains determined and unsentimental. He confronts the officials without backing down, uses his new technique, and insists that he is not a general even when Xia Song’s servant addresses him as one.
• The six officials are powerful but constrained by their own interests and responsibilities. Lin Feng’s accusations expose their reluctance to take risks, and they choose to leave rather than escalate the confrontation.
• Monk Wu appears carefree and generous, helping Lin Feng and his family without asking for anything in return. His supernatural abilities and knowledge suggest he is far more than an ordinary temple monk.
• Xia Song is alert and receptive despite the late hour, continuing his role in Lin Feng’s mission.

Significant themes

• Imperial power and national decay: The Song is deeply dysfunctional, yet its dragon-tiger qi remains formidable.
• Hypocrisy and self-interest: Powerful figures claim authority but avoid dangerous action, while obstructing someone willing to act.
• Generosity and loyalty: Monk Wu quietly supports Lin Feng’s family and mission.
• Resolve and farewell: Lin Feng prepares to depart on a dangerous task, seeking first to confront the Western Xia spy.

Key plot points and events

• A Western Xia spy, Jiang Quan, objects to being sent to Xingqing Prefecture with Lin Feng, whom he considers unfit for such a dangerous mission. Lin Feng demonstrates his strength by effortlessly defeating several veteran fighters, convincing Jiang Quan to cooperate.
• Lin Feng decides to leave for Western Xia’s capital that very night, rather than wait three days, because the winter conditions make time critical.
• Before departing, Lin Feng gives his family instructions: Zhao’er is to enter the Imperial Academy; if he cannot succeed as an official, hidden gold can secure his future; and coins are buried beneath the bed for immediate support. Lin Feng warns that if he returns and Xia Song has broken his promise, he will kill Xia Song and Emperor Zhao Zhen.
• Monk Wu appears, praises Lin Feng’s resolve, and hints that he too intends to assassinate the emperor. Lin Feng suspects Monk Wu belongs to the Maitreya Sect, though the monk neither confirms nor denies it.
• Lin Feng adopts the identity of Zhou Daode, a Daoist priest, while Jiang Quan poses as Jiang Quan. Lin Feng memorizes Daoist scriptures almost instantly, and his appearance makes the disguise convincing.
• The two travel by a covert trade route toward Xingqing Prefecture. Jiang Quan warns that their mission is intended to leave no witnesses and that he himself may be killed, regardless of whether the assassination succeeds.
• Jiang Quan describes Li Yuanhao as a superhuman, almost monstrous figure surrounded by supernatural rumors. Lin Feng dismisses the claims as fearful exaggeration and believes the emperor’s guards will be the real obstacle.
• After traveling through heavy snow, they reach Xingqing Prefecture.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng remains calm and decisive under pressure. He establishes authority through his combat skill, makes practical provisions for his family, and accepts the danger of the mission without hesitation.
• Jiang Quan shifts from contemptuous resistance to outward deference after witnessing Lin Feng’s strength. His fear grows during the journey, and he eventually reveals how little chance he believes they have of surviving.
• Xia Song is angry at Western Xia but keeps control of the operation, arranging the disguise and departure. His bitterness reflects his past military humiliation at the Battle of Haoshuichuan.
• Lin Feng’s exchange with his “old wife” is affectionate but strained: she panics over their sudden wealth and weeps at his preparations, while he speaks bluntly about the possibility of not returning.
• Monk Wu shares Lin Feng’s apparent hostility toward Emperor Zhao Zhen and hints at a secret religious affiliation, leaving his motives and plans uncertain.

Significant themes

• Duty and sacrifice: Lin Feng leaves his family’s future carefully arranged before undertaking a mission he may not survive.
• Power, fear, and reputation: Jiang Quan’s description of Li Yuanhao shows how legend and terror can make a ruler seem invincible, even when Lin Feng remains skeptical.
• Political mistrust: The mission treats its participants as expendable, and both Song and Western Xia rely on spies, disguises, and covert routes.
• History’s lingering scars: Xia Song’s and Han Qi’s shame over Haoshuichuan illustrates how military defeat and public blame can shape people long after the event.
• Uncertain supernatural forces: References to divine favor and Li Yuanhao’s supposed inhuman nature contrast with Lin Feng’s practical, skeptical outlook.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Feng and Jiang Quan travel with a grain caravan toward Xingqing Prefecture, Western Xia’s heavily fortified capital. Lin Feng observes the city’s dangerous concentration of troops and senses an ominous dragon vein connected to the Yellow River.
• That night, an unnatural storm and sudden cold overtake the camp. The nearby fortress lights go out, and armed guards respond to strange sounds emerging from the frozen river.
• A waterlogged ghost appears behind Lin Feng. Jiang Quan, terrified, addresses it as a returning “Great King” and asks it to enter his body, revealing that he is Uyghur.
• The ghost’s appearance and Lin Feng’s vision identify it as one of nobles Li Yuanhao had sunk in the Yellow River and whose bodies were reconstructed after a sacrifice. It tells Lin Feng that the Jade Axe cannot kill Li Yuanhao, warns him to stay away from the Yellow River after the emperor’s death, and declares that only danger can counter danger.
• The ghost gives Lin Feng its severed ear, identified as Yeli Yuqi’s ear, a “key to the gates of the Underworld,” then vanishes. Lin Feng conceals it before soldiers search the tent.
• Lin Feng makes Jiang Quan stand in his place. The soldiers beat and inspect Jiang Quan, find nothing suspicious, and leave. Afterward, Jiang Quan asks how Lin Feng managed it; Lin Feng instead asks what will happen when they reach the city. Jiang Quan says they will be taken into the palace.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng remains composed despite the supernatural attack. His visions help him identify the ghost, and he secretly accepts the strange artifact while hiding it from the soldiers. He also uses Jiang Quan as a decoy during the search.
• Jiang Quan’s fear of Li Yuanhao and the situation intensifies. His panicked plea to the ghost reveals his Uyghur identity and apparent reverence for the “Great King.” Once the danger passes, he is bewildered by Lin Feng’s survival and evasiveness.
• The drowned ghost is both threatening and strangely cooperative: it restrains Lin Feng but does not harm him, then offers cryptic guidance and the ear-key.
• The soldiers act with practiced familiarity, suggesting that encounters with the river beings are known and managed by the authorities.

Significant themes

• Danger as a counterforce: The ghost’s warning suggests Lin Feng’s mission may require confronting one peril with another.
• Buried violence and political consequences: Li Yuanhao’s sacrifice of nobles has produced supernatural horrors that now threaten the state.
• Secrecy and survival: Lin Feng hides his discoveries, while the guards suppress witnesses and anything that might spread panic.
• Power, fear, and fate: Xingqing’s military strength cannot prevent the river’s unnatural threat, and Lin Feng’s mission appears bound up with forces beyond ordinary political control.

Key plot points and events

• On Lunar New Year’s Day, Lin Feng and Jiang Quan reach Xingqing Prefecture. Lin Feng’s next mission appears: work with Ninglingge that night to kill Western Xia’s ruler, Li Yuanhao. Failure would impose a 100-hour cooldown, and the reward is the mysterious gratitude of an unknown person.
• A strange narration reveals that Chancellor Menzang E’pang knows a secret about Li Yuanhao and fears sharing the fate of the Yeli family. Because Menzang cannot act directly, he needs Ninglingge and other allies to kill the king.
• Armed Iron Kites ambush Lin Feng and Jiang Quan in an incense shop, apparently trying to capture them. Lin Feng tears through their traps and kills the attackers; Jiang Quan is captured briefly, then rescued.
• Jiang Quan explains that their group consists of survivors and followers of people Li Yuanhao has killed. They are associated with the Yeli family and have been scattered by the king’s efforts to destroy them.
• The pair flee into the crowds to avoid reinforcements. At the shop, arriving Iron Kites reconstruct the fight and conclude that an extraordinarily powerful outsider helped the fugitives. Their commander suspects someone influential is assisting the group and sees the discovery as a chance to advance.

Character developments

• Lin Feng remains composed despite the mission’s danger and the ambush. He shows overwhelming strength and decisiveness, prioritizing survival over capturing opponents.
• Jiang Quan is frightened and physically outmatched, but his knowledge of Western Xia proves useful. Once free, he quickly assesses the danger and guides their escape.
• The Iron Kites’ commander emerges as ruthless and ambitious, eager to use the incident to uncover a high-ranking conspirator and indulge his violent instincts.

Significant themes

• Tyranny and its consequences: Li Yuanhao’s arbitrary killings have created a dispersed network of survivors seeking revenge.
• Secrecy and conspiracy: Hidden knowledge, divided loyalties, and covert alliances drive the plot; exposure can mean death.
• Power and vulnerability: The king appears nearly untouchable, yet his secret may make him killable. Lin Feng’s strength also sharply contrasts with Jiang Quan’s vulnerability.
• Cultural and religious complexity: Xingqing’s diverse peoples and overlapping Buddhist, Daoist, Confucian, and indigenous traditions establish Western Xia as a politically and culturally varied setting.

Character interactions

• Lin Feng questions Jiang Quan about his identity and loyalties; Jiang Quan admits his connection to the Yeli family and explains the group’s origins.
• The Iron Kites attempt to capture Lin Feng and Jiang Quan, but Lin Feng’s resistance turns the ambush into a massacre.
• Afterward, Jiang Quan urges Lin Feng to escape and directs him into the crowded streets, while the surviving Iron Kites interpret the scene and begin searching for the powerful person aiding the rebels.

Key plot points and events

• After an attacker kills several Iron Kites with single punches, commander Binghao Shijin recognizes the threat as extraordinary. He orders a citywide crackdown, keeping suspected leaders alive for interrogation, and deploys the trackers called Ghosts and the lethal Convicts.
• Chancellor Menzang E’pang decides to leave Xingqing Prefecture with his infant nephew, Prince Li Liangzuo, fearing the turmoil will reach him. Before departing, he sees an Indian ascetic monk visible only to him. The monk’s appearance unsettles him; E’pang suffers a nosebleed and asks a Buddhist monk to recite the Diamond Sutra.
• Lin Feng and Jiang Quan evade the raid after realizing their hideouts have been exposed. Lin concludes that the city gates are likely sealed and that a captured contact may reveal their plans. With no safe alternatives, he proposes going to the nobles’ quarter to find Ninglingge.
• A Ghost hound and a Convict intercept them. Lin Feng kills both, along with the Goshawk tracking them from above. Jiang Quan is terrified, but Lin treats the encounter as a sign that their mission is progressing.
• Binghao Shijin arrives to find his special trackers dead. He summons the State Preceptor and sends out more Ghosts—not expecting them to catch Lin, but intending to use their deaths to trace his route and discover his objective.

Character developments and interactions

• Binghao Shijin emerges as a ruthless, capable commander whose loyalty is directed solely to Li Yuanhao. Faced with an enemy beyond his experience, he remains methodical, turning even failed pursuits into intelligence-gathering.
• Lin Feng stays calm and decisive under pressure, guiding the frightened Jiang Quan and taking control of their next move. His confidence contrasts sharply with Jiang Quan’s panic.
• Jiang Quan is increasingly shaken: the destruction of their network, the threat of interrogation, and the appearance of Ghost and Convict push him close to collapse. He nevertheless provides Lin with crucial information.
• Menzang E’pang reveals his political caution and ambition: he wants to protect Li Liangzuo, a potential claimant to the throne, while avoiding the crisis in the capital. The unseen monk’s message—or presence—undermines his composure.
• The Iron Kites’ disciplined response contrasts with Lin’s ability to destroy their elite assets, raising the stakes for both sides.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Even a well-connected chancellor must flee when caught in political danger, while a feared secret force can be outmatched by an unknown opponent.
• Surveillance and pursuit: Signals, spies, trained animals, and informants turn the city into a network of watchers, but Lin repeatedly disrupts it.
• Political ambition and survival: E’pang’s protection of the prince is tied to his own leverage, while Binghao’s actions are shaped by loyalty and the need to earn his sovereign’s approval.
• Fear versus resolve: Jiang Quan and E’pang are shaken by events, while Lin and Binghao respond with purposeful action.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Feng determines that Li Yuanhao must die that night and heads for Ninglingge, Li’s vulnerable crown prince, while Iron Kite forces pursue him. Jiang Quan, whose network has been exposed, guides Lin Feng to the prince’s estate.
• Lin Feng tells Ninglingge that conspirators are likely to make him the scapegoat for the assassination plot. With Li already considering replacing him, Ninglingge faces death whether or not he is involved.
• Ninglingge’s relative, the white-robed monk Yeli Langlie, recognizes the Jade Axe Lin Feng carries as a weapon capable of stripping Li Yuanhao of his supernatural protection. Yeli urges Ninglingge to seize this final chance for revenge.
• Ninglingge agrees to take Lin Feng and Yeli to Li’s temporary palace at Heavenly Capital Mountain, pretending they have captured a criminal. They travel with Jiang Quan, racing against pursuers led by Binghao Shijin and a man posing as the State Preceptor.
• The impostor State Preceptor accompanies Binghao Shijin, while the real State Preceptor has been murdered. Lin Feng’s group reaches the palace first, just before dawn.
• Inside, they find Li Yuanhao feasting amid drunken revelry. Ninglingge sees his former crown princess among the women present. Lin Feng breaks free, kills a guard, hands Ninglingge a sword, and urges him to act quickly.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng remains focused and pragmatic, using the prince’s danger and the conspirators’ likely deception to persuade him to act. He treats the assassination as a race against time.
• Ninglingge shifts from panic and disbelief to resolve. Though initially tempted to kill Lin Feng to prove his innocence, he ultimately chooses rebellion when he sees that inaction may mean death for himself and his family.
• Yeli Langlie emerges as a determined survivor of the Yeli Clan’s purge. His grief and hatred for Li Yuanhao help push Ninglingge toward action.
• Jiang Quan accepts that his network is lost and helps Lin Feng reach the prince, but the exhausting ride leaves him unconscious on arrival.
• Binghao Shijin suspects something is wrong and urgently pursues Ninglingge, but is deceived by the impostor accompanying him.
• The chapter ends with Lin Feng and Ninglingge poised to attack Li Yuanhao together.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Ninglingge is a crown prince, yet his title cannot protect him from his father’s authority.
• Revenge and survival: Yeli’s personal and clan losses, alongside Ninglingge’s fear of execution, turn the assassination into both vengeance and self-preservation.
• Deception and political scapegoating: The conspirators’ plan, Lin Feng’s warning, and the false State Preceptor show how easily truth and loyalty can be manipulated.
• A race against fate: Both sides push themselves and their horses to the limit, as the conspirators’ opportunity may vanish once Li learns of the plot.

Key plot points and events

• Ninglingge storms into Li Yuanhao’s quarters, but despite the confusion and help from Lin Feng and Yeli Langlie, he only manages to slash off the emperor’s nose before fleeing. Li Yuanhao is left bleeding and dying.
• Lin Feng holds off the palace guards while awaiting a more serious threat. Yeli Langlie is killed in the fighting, and Jiang Quan lies wounded.
• Binghao Shijin arrives with the State Preceptor, realizes the latter is compromised, and is killed along with his men. The impostor then enters the palace, revealing hostility toward Historians and intent to take Lin Feng’s eyes.
• Lin Feng defeats the impostor with swift, precise sword attacks, forcing it to reveal its true form: a mass of darkness. It warns that a greater enemy is coming and that Ninglingge has fled with the Magical Artifact that had been suppressing it.
• Li Yuanhao dies as a Black Storm sweeps over the palace. The storm destroys the protective talismans, brings forth strange Stone Effigies, and causes guards and spiritual practitioners to vomit themselves to death. Monks, Daoists, and Shamans flee; one warns Lin Feng that an Evil Dragon is buried beneath the site.
• Lin Feng uses fire against the weakened darkness while awaiting his ability’s cooldown. The quest registers as complete, though a unique quest fails and enters a 100-hour cooldown.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng remains composed amid the violence and supernatural disaster. He protects the hall, confronts the dark being, and chooses to stay and observe the danger rather than flee.
• Ninglingge shows boldness by attacking Li Yuanhao, but loses his nerve after wounding him and escapes with the Magical Artifact.
• Binghao Shijin trusts his intelligence instincts, recognizes the State Preceptor is not himself, and dies trying to protect his lord.
• The State Preceptor impostor is revealed as a hostile, nonhuman entity that despises Historians; Lin Feng’s attack exposes its dark true form.
• Li Yuanhao is reduced from a powerful ruler to a helpless, bleeding victim, ignored by both Lin Feng and the impostor as he dies.
• The frightened spiritual practitioners abandon the emperor and seek escape, while one monk gives Lin Feng a ritual writ and warning.

Significant themes

• Courage and fear: Ninglingge begins fearlessly but falters; Lin Feng stays steady even as the supernatural threat escalates.
• Loyalty and betrayal: Binghao Shijin’s devotion contrasts with the State Preceptor’s betrayal and the practitioners’ abandonment of their ruler.
• Human powerlessness before the supernatural: Palace defenses, talismans, and spiritual expertise prove inadequate against the storm.
• Survival and sacrifice: Characters make desperate choices—some to protect others, others simply to escape.
• Rising danger: The Black Storm and the buried Evil Dragon suggest that Li Yuanhao’s death is only the beginning of a larger crisis.

Key plot points

• After killing Li Yuanhao, Lin Feng earns the Yellow River Earl’s unique gratitude: the deity may act for him once, and Lin Feng can choose to worship it. He also learns of the Historical Remnants, ancient enemies of Historians who can be defeated for stolen fortune.
• The next act reveals Menzang E’pang’s hidden dealings with a suspicious Indian monk, who offered to help him kill Li Yuanhao and seize power in exchange for abandoning an archaeological investigation. Lin Feng begins the third act: finding vanished peoples and Menzang’s treasure site while avoiding both Western Xia and the Historical Remnants.
• As the new game starts, supernatural forces converge. The Yellow River’s forgotten deity and the imprisoned Evil Dragon stir, while an uncanny Underworld being drags Lin Feng through a gate opened with Yeli Yuqi’s ear.
• Yu Lei intervenes, but cannot overpower the Underworld entity. Lin Feng uses his Vertical Eye and Body-Fixing Technique to hold it briefly; a blood-red light then forces it to retreat. The light reveals Fengdu, whose territory shields Lin Feng.
• In the living world, the Evil Dragon escapes its prison and heads toward the Yellow River. Lin Feng emerges amid a pursuit, catches Ninglingge, takes the Jade Axe, and tells him that the white-robed monk and Li Yuanhao are dead—making Ninglingge ruler of Great Xia.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng responds to overwhelming danger with tactical retreat, then risks his remaining essence to delay the Underworld entity. He also acts decisively amid the political chaos, taking the Jade Axe and redirecting Ninglingge toward finding reinforcements.
• Yu Lei honors Lin Feng’s call and tries to rescue him, but the encounter establishes that the Underworld being is powerful enough to resist Yu Lei.
• The Yellow River Earl becomes a potential ally, though its favor is strictly limited to one intervention.
• Ninglingge is suddenly elevated from a fleeing prince to ruler after his father’s death; Lin Feng informs him of the new reality but leaves him to gather help.
• The Historical Remnants remain a looming threat, while the monk’s secret bargain suggests that Menzang’s ambitions and the search for the ruins are entangled with dangerous supernatural forces.

Significant themes

• Power and its price: worship, bargains, and supernatural aid all come with limits or conditions.
• History as conflict: the Historical Remnants’ pursuit of Historians complicates the search for lost peoples and buried secrets.
• Survival amid forces beyond control: Lin Feng cannot defeat the entities confronting him, so timing, allies, and quick decisions become essential.
• Political upheaval: Li Yuanhao’s death reshapes Great Xia even as a much larger supernatural struggle unfolds.

Plot and events

• Ninglingge, having murdered Li Yuanhao, turns to Menzang E’pang for protection and support in claiming the throne. Lin Feng escorts him, while the strange wind that had caused havoc retreats toward the Yellow River.
• A Uyghur monk explains that the wind may be connected to an escaped Flood Dragon, once captured while weak and imprisoned underground. It may now follow the changing Yellow River toward the sea and become a true dragon.
• The group reaches Menzang E’pang’s residence, where troops are already gathered. Menzang appears welcoming but is clearly prepared for a power struggle.
• Menzang reveals his betrayal: he has Ninglingge killed and orders his armored guards to eliminate everyone present. Lin Feng anticipated danger and had identified an old tree as a place to “save,” though the chapter does not yet explain what that means.
• Lin Feng smashes through the military formation, shrugs off an arrow to the head, catches another, and forces Menzang to appear. He threatens to kill Menzang and his men, then says he wants to discuss a separate matter.
• Lin Feng warns that Menzang could suffer mysterious deaths or disappear during a “white-fur wind” if he gains power. He says he is not protecting Menzang out of goodwill, but because Menzang may still be useful. Menzang withdraws his troops and agrees to hear him privately.

Character developments and interactions

• Ninglingge goes from desperate hopeful claimant to betrayed victim. He realizes too late that the man who encouraged his rebellion and arranged his escape was also the one who ordered his death.
• Menzang E’pang emerges as a calculating political operator: he feigns ignorance, prepares an ambush, and removes Ninglingge to clear the way for his own plans. Yet Lin Feng’s threats compel him to negotiate.
• Lin Feng remains calm and strategically observant, but his physical power is overwhelming. He protects the others when Menzang’s soldiers attack and takes control of the encounter through force and intimidation.
• The monk, Daoist, and shaman are exhausted and frightened. They know little about the wind and rely on Lin Feng to survive; his threats persuade Menzang to spare them.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and political ambition: Menzang manipulates Ninglingge, then sacrifices him once he is no longer useful.
• Power and legitimacy: Ninglingge’s weak political position and competing succession claims make the throne a dangerous prize.
• Supernatural forces and political upheaval: The escaped Flood Dragon and strange wind echo the collapse of the old order, though their cause remains uncertain.
• Individual power versus military force: Lin Feng’s extraordinary strength breaks a disciplined formation and overturns what seemed a certain execution.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Feng confronts Menzang E’pang after Li Yuanhao’s death. Though surrounded by guards, E’pang recognizes that Lin Feng could kill him and sees that ordinary force may not be enough to stop him.
• E’pang reveals he knows Lin Youzhi’s history: his earlier fame, his refusal of the Pan family’s offer, and his demotion over alleged ties to the Vegetarian Demon Worship. Lin Feng suspects E’pang has access to a high-ranking source within the Great Song.
• Lin Feng says he did not come to target E’pang or avenge Ninglingge, but to investigate the ruins inside the White-Haired Wind. E’pang takes him to the underground chamber holding the supposed corpse.
• Lin Feng concludes that the shrouded “corpse” is not a corpse at all, and that the shroud is a magical artifact covered in suppressive incantations. He offers to kill the Indian Monk for E’pang, asking in return for access to the ruins and a few rare materials for his formation banners.
• Meanwhile, Menzang learns from the Indian Monk that Li Yuanhao is dead. He reminds her of their bargain: he will secure eight years of power and make her young son, Li Liangzuo, emperor; in return, he wants a pair of eyes.
• News of Li Yuanhao’s death reaches the palace. Nobles and guards proclaim Menzang Empress Dowager and ask her to take charge. She swiftly orders the city secured, rival claimants confined or summoned, and key officials and military forces called in.
• Menzang E’pang arrives at the palace, reassuring her that he will handle events and protect her. Menzang then prepares to fulfill her bargain with the Indian Monk.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng displays calm confidence and an unsettling willingness to face death. He reveals little about his wider aims, treating powerful political figures as secondary to his search for the ruins and materials.
• Menzang E’pang shifts from anger and attempted intimidation to caution and cooperation. He acknowledges Lin Feng’s threat, shares what he knows, and agrees to guide him.
• Menzang emerges as ambitious and politically decisive. Once Li Yuanhao’s death is confirmed, she acts quickly to secure power for herself and her son, rather than waiting for events to unfold.
• The Indian Monk remains an unseen, calculating presence in the palace, enforcing his bargain with Menzang while observing the succession struggle.
• The relationships are transactional: Lin Feng bargains with E’pang for access to the ruins; the Indian Monk trades political power for the eyes he wants; and Menzang relies on her brother’s influence and forces to secure her son’s claim.

Significant themes

• Power and fear: Political authority and military guards offer little comfort when confronted by a force perceived as beyond ordinary human limits.
• Ambition and succession: Li Yuanhao’s death creates an immediate contest for control, and Menzang’s claim rests on both her son’s lineage and her ability to act decisively.
• Appearance versus reality: The supposed corpse and shroud are not what they seem, echoing the chapter’s broader uncertainty about hidden abilities, motives, and alliances.
• Bargains and sacrifice: Characters pursue their goals through exchanges that carry serious costs, especially Menzang’s agreement to provide the Indian Monk with what he demands.

Plot points and events

• Menzang leaves the palace with her brother E’pang’s guards, reassured that the infant Li Liangzuo is under protection. She and E’pang are currently allies, each providing what the other needs.
• She reveals that she has switched sides to survive Li Yuanhao’s predatory court. Though officially a Buddhist nun, she was taken into the emperor’s harem; she learned that even favored women—and the crown prince’s mother—could be discarded without protection.
• Menzang guides the group toward Li Yuanhao’s study, where “the thing” they seek is located. The Indian Monk follows her, but avoids sunlight and appears to be supernatural.
• At the study’s ominous, blood-marked gate, Menzang hesitates. Lin Feng intervenes, warning that bloodshed there would make matters worse, and confronts the monk.
• The Indian Monk and Lin Feng reveal themselves as Historians and clash using their special eyes. The monk’s Double Pupils unleash flame, apparently overwhelming Lin Feng.
• The palace suppresses many powers, however. Lin Feng adapts, uses close-range precision and the Body-Fixing Technique to immobilize the monk, then gouges out his eyes.

Character developments and interactions

• Menzang is relieved and newly confident, but her actions remain driven by survival. Her encounter with the Indian Monk and his recitation of the Diamond Sutra helped her see through the illusion of safety and status at court.
• The Indian Monk is mysterious and inhuman, seemingly tied to history and possessing powerful Double Pupils. His calm confidence turns to vulnerability when Lin Feng finds a way around his advantage.
• Lin Feng demonstrates tactical adaptability: deprived of many spells, he relies on swordsmanship, observation, and a brief immobilizing spell to defeat the monk.
• Menzang and E’pang’s men provide protection and follow her lead, though her apparent conversation with an invisible companion unsettles them.
• The confrontation pits the monk’s supernatural power against Lin Feng’s practical judgment and resourcefulness.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Rank and favor cannot protect people in Li Yuanhao’s court; even powerful abilities can be limited by place and circumstance.
• Survival and shifting allegiance: Menzang changes sides because she recognizes that loyalty and status offer no lasting safety.
• Impermanence and disillusionment: The Diamond Sutra’s imagery of bubbles and illusions crystallizes Menzang’s realization that beauty, favor, and authority are fleeting.
• Adaptation and perception: Lin Feng wins not through greater force, but by recognizing the constraints on both combatants and exploiting the monk’s weakness.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Lin Feng gouges out the Indian Monk’s eye, defeating him but discovering that the Monk’s essence survives as a black thread inside the Historian’s Eye. The eye is a powerful relic, and taking it leaves Lin Feng with a new, indistinct Fangxiangshi’s Mark on his wrist. Unable to burn it away, Lin Feng is warned that other, more dangerous heretics may come for him.
• The Indian Monk advises Lin Feng to flee somewhere remote. Though they are enemies, he says he respects Historians and sees their conflict as a struggle between different paths.
• Lin Feng sends Lady Menzang away with the Han Counselor and enters Li Yuanhao’s hidden courtyard. It contains decaying stone figures kneeling toward a windowless, locked study.
• The chapter recalls why Menzang E’pang could not act on Lin Feng’s prediction that his nephew Li Liangzuo would one day execute the Mizang Family. E’pang depends on Li Liangzuo politically, and rival royal claimants and tribal leaders could destroy the family if he moved against him.
• Inside the courtyard, the Indian Monk identifies the stone figures as relics of the One-Eye People, an ancient, learned people who studied the heavens, created an early calendar, and established city-states. After their homeland fell, they wandered until they disappeared. He believes Li Yuanhao recovered their ritual objects—and the eye of a Great Sacrifice—from the Yellow River.
• At the study door, Lin Feng asks the Indian Monk why he is helping him. The Monk asks Lin Feng to destroy him completely and give him a swift death.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng remains resolute despite the dangers of taking the eye. He is curious about the One-Eye People, but wary of the Monk’s unexpected cooperation.
• The Indian Monk shifts from opponent to reluctant informant. He accepts defeat and asks Lin Feng for release through total destruction, suggesting that death is preferable to whatever fate might otherwise await him.
• Menzang E’pang is shown as politically trapped: even if he believes Lin Feng’s warning about Li Liangzuo, acting on it could cost him his power and his family.
• Lady Menzang and the Han Counselor cooperate in getting her out of danger; she trusts their judgment and leaves without resisting.
• The Indian Monk and Lin Feng treat each other with a curious respect: their goals conflict, yet the Monk distinguishes Lin Feng from the heretics who share his own nature.

Significant themes

• History, memory, and extinction: The One-Eye People survive only in fragments, while the Historian’s Eye embodies the remnants of a vanishing past.
• Political necessity and power: E’pang cannot act freely, even against a predicted future, because survival depends on alliances and the threat of rival claimants.
• Rival paths and moral complexity: Enemies may still respect one another, while those with a shared nature may be more dangerous than an outsider.
• The horror of survival: The Monk’s request to be destroyed completely suggests that enduring beyond ordinary death can be worse than dying.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Feng enters Li Yuanhao’s sealed study and finds a jade-like, clouded eyeball facing a bronze mirror. The floor is covered in inscriptions about life’s brevity, emptiness, and time—words that seem strikingly unlike the ambitious Li Yuanhao.
• Lin Feng sits in the place where Li Yuanhao once meditated and looks into the mirror. The Shroud Cloth protects him by turning imagined things into reality, but the mirror shows only darkness and no reflection.
• The Indian Monk warns that the study is more dangerous than the enemies outside and identifies the mirror as an imitation of the legendary New Moon Mirror. The Temple Keeper explains that such mirrors were associated with ancient Zhou-era treasures and that this one was probably used to observe the eyeball during the new moon.
• Lin Feng gives the corrupted eyeball to the Temple Keeper, then has the Indian Monk’s eye placed in the Bronze Urn for refinement. The Temple Keeper’s flames seem to make the surrounding figures more lifelike, hinting at a possible reversal of life and death.
• Lin Feng closes the study door to test the mirror at the new moon. The room becomes completely dark and sealed from within; he cannot reopen it. As he feels for something in the darkness, a hand suddenly emerges and grabs him.
• Outside, political negotiations over the succession collapse into open confrontation. Menzang E'pang insists that the late emperor’s infant son, Li Liangzuo, must inherit. The factions accept the compromise, and the child becomes emperor.
• Seeing his nephew, Menzang E'pang remembers Lin Youzhi’s warning that the boy will eventually destroy his family. He feels trapped, like an insect caught in a spider’s web.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng remains curious and risk-taking: despite the Monk’s warning, he investigates the mirror and deliberately shuts himself inside. His control over the Temple Keeper and the Bronze Urn is also evident.
• The Indian Monk continues to cooperate without resistance, offering warnings and information even as Lin Feng has his eye taken for refinement.
• The Temple Keeper emerges as a source of historical knowledge about the mirrors. His flames affect the figures around the Bronze Urn, suggesting his powers may be tied to restoring life.
• Menzang E'pang shifts from political maneuvering to fear. Though he helps secure the throne for Li Liangzuo, the child’s presence makes him confront the prophecy of his own family’s destruction.

Significant themes

• Mortality and time: The study’s inscriptions dwell on life’s fleeting nature, contrasting with Li Yuanhao’s usual ambition.
• Fear and imagination: In the sealed darkness, Lin Feng’s thoughts could become real through the Shroud Cloth, making the unseen especially dangerous.
• Political compromise and power: Li Liangzuo’s accession resolves the immediate succession dispute but leaves Menzang E'pang feeling doomed.
• Fate and entrapment: Both Lin Feng and Menzang E'pang face situations they cannot easily escape—one physically trapped in the study, the other caught in a political and prophetic web.

Plot points and events

• Li Liangzuo is proclaimed emperor after Li Yuanhao’s death and Empress Yeli and Crown Prince Ninglingge’s executions. The coup’s victors, Menzang E’pang and the Mizang family, stand to dominate the government through the child ruler, while the other nobles focus on preserving their privileges.
• Lin Feng, watching events through the New Moon Mirror, sees a traveler enter Xingqing Prefecture. The traveler is a dangerous historical remnant disguised as a saber wielder.
• Granny Weiming, an ancient and powerful shaman, recognizes the intruder and orders him to leave. With the aid of Western Xia’s mountain and river deities, she crushes and kills him, then stores one of his eyeballs in a miniature coffin.
• A messenger says the state chancellor is waiting for Granny Weiming. She ignores him, falls asleep in a strange sacrificial pose, and is carried toward the chancellor’s residence.
• Through the dead remnant’s eye, Lin Feng sees what Li Yuanhao saw: evidence of life’s brevity and apparent futility. He nearly loses his sense of purpose, but pulls himself back by reaffirming his identity and goals. The Yellow River Earl appears to witness this moment.

Character developments and interactions

• Menzang E’pang and the Mizang family emerge as the political winners, while the nobles accept the new order as unavoidable.
• Granny Weiming reveals formidable spiritual authority beneath her frail, unsettling appearance. She confronts the traveler directly and acts as the land’s defender.
• Lin Feng experiences existential doubt after viewing the remnant’s memories, but deliberately grounds himself in who he is and what he intends to do. The Yellow River Earl’s appearance suggests it is watching or responding to his inner struggle.
• The traveler attempts to challenge Granny Weiming, but the local spirits’ rejection of him leaves him helpless against her.

Significant themes

• Fate and political change: The chapter frames everyone as caught in a web of fate, with Li Liangzuo’s recognition as emperor marking a transfer of national fortune.
• The sacred bond between land and people: Western Xia’s natural and spiritual forces reject the outsider, while Granny Weiming serves as their interpreter and agent.
• Mortality and meaning: Li Yuanhao’s reflections—and Lin Feng’s reaction—raise the question of whether effort matters in a fleeting life. Lin Feng’s recovery suggests that chosen purpose can resist despair.
• Power beneath appearances: The seemingly frail Granny Weiming proves overwhelmingly powerful, while the traveler’s apparent confidence cannot protect him.

Key plot points and events

• Menzang E’pang asks Granny Weiming to bless his nephew, the new emperor, but she refuses, insisting she is only an old woman. She accepts E’pang’s gifts and later agrees to perform a ritual for him.
• In a severe, elaborate ceremony, Granny Weiming reads animal livers, burns offerings and sacred materials, and lashes E’pang with smoke-soaked cloth while invoking hidden deities. The ritual exhausts them both but appears to strengthen E’pang’s fortune.
• She prepares a jeweled, spiced drink and tells E’pang it will protect him from weapons, animals, and other dangers within Great Xia. He drinks it and quickly feels renewed.
• E’pang then asks her to examine someone. They travel to the palace, where soldiers and religious practitioners are violently purging the former supporters of Li Yuanhao and Empress Yeli.
• At a courtyard gate, Granny Weiming recognizes a powerful presence on Lin Feng, drops to the ground in reverence, and murmurs a name. Lin Feng understands she is bowing not to him but to the lingering aura of the Yellow River Earl.

Character developments

• Menzang E’pang is revealed as anxious beneath his authority, haunted by Lin Feng’s warning that Li Liangzuo may execute his whole family. His willingness to endure the ritual shows how urgently he seeks protection and reassurance.
• Granny Weiming appears frail and self-effacing, yet commands immense ritual authority. Her fatigue underscores the cost of her powers, while her reaction to Lin Feng’s aura reveals the depth of her spiritual knowledge.
• Lin Feng remains a source of uncertainty and danger to E’pang. His connection to the Yellow River Earl is powerful enough to inspire immediate reverence from Granny Weiming.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Political rank offers little comfort when E’pang fears for his family and submits to spiritual protection.
• Ritual, secrecy, and belief: The ceremony’s guarded names and precise correspondences show religious knowledge as potent, costly, and inaccessible to outsiders.
• Political violence and instability: The palace purge reflects the brutality of the new regime and the precarious fate of former imperial allies.
• The unseen world: Spiritual forces visibly affect political actors, and the Yellow River Earl’s lingering presence commands more authority than Lin Feng himself.

Character interactions

• E’pang treats Granny Weiming respectfully and supplies the costly materials she requests, while she alternates between humble refusal and firm ritual command.
• During the ceremony, E’pang submits silently to her discipline, accepting pain and drinking the blessing she prepares.
• At the courtyard, Granny Weiming’s prostration alarms E’pang and makes clear that Lin Feng carries a supernatural presence beyond his own identity.

Plot points

• Lin Feng recognizes that Granny Weiming is not kneeling to him but to the Yellow River God within him. He warns Chancellor Menzang E’pang not to interfere with his promised visit to the imperial treasury, then heads there.
• Left behind, Menzang reflects on the prophecy that his nephew, the new emperor Li Liangzuo, will kill him. He also distrusts Granny Weiming because of her ties to the late emperor, Li Yuanhao. Her claim that she will soon die brings him relief.
• As Lin Feng crosses the palace, he thinks through what the New Moon Mirror revealed: the Ancients witnessed repeated world-ending catastrophes, but each was followed by a reversal that reset time. Strange entities and powers may have shaped humanity’s history, including the mutations that gave the people of One-Eye Country their abilities.
• Granny Weiming asks to accompany Lin Feng to a place disliked by the gods. She offers her life in atonement, apparently using the Forbidden Method to sustain the River God. Lin Feng cannot forgive her on the River God’s behalf, but agrees to discuss her request outside Xingqing Prefecture.
• Lin Feng enters Li Yuanhao’s private treasury without resistance and begins gathering precious metals, gems, and other valuables for his rituals. The first floor is lavishly stocked, but the second floor is mysteriously empty.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng is shaken by the revelations about repeated world resets and the vast, incomprehensible forces behind supernatural phenomena. He remains pragmatic, enforcing his bargain with Menzang while withholding judgment on Granny Weiming.
• Granny Weiming reveals guilt over her past and a willingness to sacrifice herself. Her devotion is directed toward the River God, not Lin Feng.
• Menzang E’pang is increasingly burdened by the prophecy and distrustful of those around him, yet chooses not to pursue Lin Feng or reclaim the treasury.
• Lin Feng and Granny Weiming establish a cautious arrangement: she may travel with him, but forgiveness—and the River God’s response—remain uncertain.

Significant themes

• Cycles of destruction and reversal: The world has repeatedly ended and reset, suggesting reality is shaped by forces beyond human understanding.
• Faith, guilt, and sacrifice: Granny Weiming seeks atonement through self-sacrifice, while Lin Feng questions whether she has the right to seek forgiveness.
• Power and political fate: Supernatural beings may be formidable, but Menzang believes they cannot determine the outcome of wars or a nation’s future.
• Knowledge and uncertainty: The chapter expands the origins of supernatural abilities and legendary beings while leaving their true causes—and the empty second floor—unexplained.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Feng finds the second floor of Li Yuanhao’s treasury unused and dusty, then discovers an incomplete dragon skeleton on the third floor.
• Granny Weiming recounts that sixty years earlier, during a Yellow River flood, her caravan found a dead dragon beside the river. It had swallowed an ancient inscribed Pottery Shard and died. When a man tried to pass the shard to her, a strange wave took him and the shard; the caravan carried away the bones.
• The shard’s writing recalls Lin Feng’s knowledge that the Three Mounds and Five Canons were recorded on Pottery Shards. He now suspects these texts conveyed practical knowledge of the Dao and supernatural arts, not merely observations of nature.
• Granny explains that the dragon’s bones are not the source of the ghostly cries heard during storms at Xingqing Prefecture; the cause is a mysterious “thing” in the Yellow River. The State Preceptor’s failed attempts to quiet the sounds helped prompt the ruler to build a temporary palace.
• Lin Feng tests the bones and finds them exceptionally compatible with his Intent: whatever aura or consciousness once clung to them has been completely cleansed, making them ideal material for a magical artifact.
• He uses the Clay Jar to store the Jade Axe, partially easing the Dragon-Tiger Qi’s restrictions. The jar appears to be familiar to Granny, but she refuses to explain why.
• Lin Feng arranges to take the treasures away and proposes that, if the River God forgives Granny, they visit a secret place that appears when the White-Haired Wind blows. Their party leaves the palace, and Lin Feng uses darkness to swallow the wagons and their cargo.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Feng moves from curiosity to intense interest when he recognizes the significance of the Pottery Shard and discovers the Dragon Bone’s value. He remains pragmatic, focused on acquiring useful treasures and wary of supernatural threats.
• Granny Weiming reveals a formative encounter from her youth, showing both her courage and her lasting fear of the Yellow River’s strange power. She is composed and candid with Lin Feng, but guarded about the Clay Jar.
• Lin Feng and Granny exchange knowledge: she supplies the dragon’s history and the palace’s haunting, while his questions and deductions connect the tale to ancient texts and the Dao. He offers a possible next destination, and she agrees.
• The soldiers accompanying them covet the treasures but fear the consequences of claiming them under Great Xia’s rule.

Significant themes

• The limits of reason and authority: The chapter opens by reflecting on how rulers’ choices can defy explanation and how subordinates often cannot question them.
• Ancient knowledge and power: The Pottery Shards may preserve practical supernatural wisdom, challenging Lin Feng’s earlier assumption that the ancient texts were only natural philosophy.
• The unknowable supernatural: The Yellow River’s wave, the lost shard, and the unexplained entity behind the dragon cries suggest forces that resist human understanding.
• Treasure, ambition, and constraint: The bones are valuable, but political danger makes them difficult for ordinary soldiers to claim; Lin Feng, meanwhile, can secure them through his abilities.