Chapter Summaries

New Court of Judicial Review recruit Yu Qian investigated a suspected Feather-Robed Ghost murder and learned that the office planned to catch the culprit the next night. Back home, his mysterious golden book appeared to identify and destroy an Azure Mandarin Fish, leaving Yu Qian stunned by his newfound power.

• Yu Qian joined Sun Shoucheng and the Dingyou Office team to examine a scholar murdered in Clear Water Lane.
• Guo Yi identified a Feather-Robed Ghost as the likely killer, and Ji Cheng destroyed a ghost spirit inside the corpse before assigning the team to catch the ghost the next night.
• Yu Qian went home to retrieve his appointment notice and saw a flying fish fall into his water vat after a Spellcaster passed overhead.
• A golden book appeared in Yu Qian's mind, identified the fish as an Azure Mandarin Fish, and sealed its demon soul, leaving Yu Qian astonished.

On his first day at the Court of Judicial Review, Yu Qian joined the Dingyou Office, learned its structure and received a cultivation manual. While sorting old case files, he noticed vague records and settled on blending in with his idle colleagues.

• Yu Qian traveled to the Court of Judicial Review to secure his new position, reflecting on his recent arrival in this world and the threat the Green Garment Gang posed to his family home.
• Yu Qian reported to the Personnel Hall and joined the Dingyou Office, where Ji Cheng welcomed him and assigned Sun Shoucheng to show him the ropes.
• Sun Shoucheng explained the court's divisions and gave Yu Qian the Sun Scroll, telling him he needed to reach the Qi-Blood Realm to become a full member.
• Yu Qian began sorting the office's case files and found that many records were vague or questionable, including reports of supernatural crimes.
• Yu Qian noticed his colleagues were largely idle, so he left the files in their usual disorder and read documents that interested him.

Yu Qian spent his first day at the Dingyou Office meeting his colleagues and discovering their relaxed work routine. After the office chose to celebrate his arrival in Wishful Ward, Yu Qian arrived at the Fragrant Garden and fixed his attention on its foreign courtesans.

• Yu Qian joined his new colleagues for lunch and celebrated his first day at the Dingyou Office.
• Sun Shoucheng introduced Yu Qian to the office’s staff and described their roles.
• The office clocked out at four, and Sun Shoucheng explained that Chief Ji Cheng made the workplace so laid-back.
• Ji Cheng and the others decided to celebrate at a brothel in Wishful Ward despite Wu Wancai’s warning that their funds were low.
• Yu Qian traveled with the group to Wishful Ward and stared at the blonde, blue-eyed courtesans outside the Fragrant Garden.

Yu Qian joined his colleagues for an evening of wine and games at the Fragrant Garden, then returned home after learning a demon had appeared near the docks. The chapter left him heading back through Seven Li Lane, aware that the Court of Judicial Review had posted a warning but revealing no further details about the demon.

• Ji Cheng led Yu Qian and the Dingyou Office men to the Fragrant Garden, where they drank wine and played suggestive games.
• Yu Qian bonded with his colleagues during the evening, and the group left without staying overnight.
• Yu Qian returned to Seven Li Lane and stopped at a noodle shop overlooking the docks.
• Dockworkers told Yu Qian that the Demon-Capturing Hall had posted a notice about a demon sighted near the docks.
• Yu Qian found the notice, which offered only a general warning, and continued home as residents greeted him timidly.

Yu Qian discovered that the Spirit Talisman could explain martial arts and use a bound demon’s essence to accelerate his cultivation, bringing him close to the Ninth Grade. At the Court of Judicial Review, he learned that strange demons had appeared around Tai'an City and prepared to accompany his colleagues to investigate a Feather-Robed Ghost.

• Yu Qian used the Spirit Talisman to understand the Sun Scroll and absorbed the Azure Mandarin Fish’s essence, rapidly advancing his cultivation.
• Yu Qian tested his new strength by punching down his neighbor’s wall, then resolved to become permanent staff at the Court of Judicial Review.
• The next day, Yu Qian joined the Dingyou Office’s idle routine and went with Sun Shoucheng to collect sword oil.
• Sun Shoucheng told Yu Qian about recent demon sightings near the docks and in Clear Water Lane, where a Feather-Robed Ghost had appeared.
• Sun Shoucheng and Yu Qian collected a Unicorn Steed and waited for Ji Cheng and Guo Yi before setting out to deal with the Feather-Robed Ghost.

Yu Qian joined Ji Cheng, Guo Yi, and Sun Shoucheng in hunting a Feather-Robed Ghost in Five Blessings Ward and unexpectedly destroyed it himself. The next day, he received credit and a reward, while Yan Sheng told the office about Nanyang’s attack on the Two Neighboring Commanderies.

• Guo Yi detected the Feather-Robed Ghost near ten at night, and Ji Cheng led the group southeast from the Watchtower.
• Yu Qian lost sight of the others, encountered the ghost alone, and struck it with his sword oil-coated saber.
• Yu Qian’s Spirit Talisman identified the ghost as an unranked, abused male courtesan, and a golden light scattered its soul.
• Wang Zhen named Yu Qian the chief contributor in the case report and awarded him ten taels of silver for slaying the ghost.
• Yan Sheng told the Dingyou Office that the Nanyang Army had launched a surprise attack on the Two Neighboring Commanderies.

Yu Qian joined Wang Zhen and the Dingyou Office to investigate a murder in Azure Cloud Ward, where they quickly executed the accused and sentenced his accomplice. He learned that the Court of Judicial Review had special authority to enforce the law without the usual limits, and began adjusting to its harsh methods.

• Yu Qian listened as the Dingyou Office arranged a welcome banquet at a restaurant beside the Red Sleeve House and signed the public-funds requisition.
• Wang Zhen took Yu Qian, Shi Da, and Sun Shoucheng to investigate Master Ding’s murder in Azure Cloud Ward.
• A constable reported that hired laborer Ding Lang had killed Master Ding after being caught with his concubine, Zhou.
• Yu Qian announced the legal punishment, but Wang Zhen ordered Shi Da to behead Ding Lang immediately.
• Sun Shoucheng declared Zhou would be drowned for adultery and conspiring in the murder, while the crowd cheered.
• Sun Shoucheng explained that the Court of Judicial Review had special authority, and Yu Qian reflected on its power as they returned home.

Yu Qian entered the Ninth-Rank Qi-Blood Realm, then killed two assassins who broke into his room and suspected the Green Garment Gang had sent them. He buried the bodies, alerted the Court of Judicial Review, and headed to the gang’s hall to confront them.

• Yu Qian absorbed the Azure Mandarin Fish’s remaining essence and entered the Ninth-Rank Qi-Blood Realm.
• Two assassins entered Yu Qian’s room, and he killed them after one admitted they had been hired to murder him.
• Yu Qian suspected the Green Garment Gang had ordered the attack because they wanted his property deed and had been involved in his father’s death.
• Yu Qian buried the assassins beneath the mulberry tree and planned to have his colleagues investigate the bodies.
• Yu Qian sent a constable to alert the Dingyou Office that he was in trouble, then walked toward the Green Garment Gang’s hall.

Yu Qian confronted Bao Dawei at the Green Garment Gang’s Seven Li Lane headquarters over the gang’s role in his father’s death and the attempt to seize his house deed. He killed two of the men involved, while the third remained to answer for the crime.

• Yu Qian arrived at the Green Garment Gang headquarters and demanded to see its leader, Bao Dawei.
• Yu Qian accused Bao Dawei’s gang of killing his father and threatening to take his house deed.
• Bao Dawei ordered an inquiry, and a scholar returned with three men who had visited Yu Qian’s residence.
• Yu Qian questioned the first man and killed him when he blamed greed instead of identifying who gave the order.
• Yu Qian questioned the thin second man, who also refused to name the person responsible, and killed him.

Yu Qian confronted Bao Dawei over the Green Garment Gang’s attempt to seize his property deed, then accused the gang of sending assassins after him. Ji Cheng arrived, accepted Bao Dawei’s payments, and took Yu Qian back to inspect the two assassins’ bodies.

• Yu Qian killed two Green Garment Gang members and questioned a third, but Bao Dawei killed the surviving man before he could speak.
• Yu Qian threatened Bao Dawei over the property deed, and Bao Dawei offered him a thousand taels to settle the dispute.
• Ji Cheng arrived, accepted five hundred taels from Bao Dawei, and heard Yu Qian’s account of the deaths at the branch hall.
• Yu Qian told Ji Cheng that assassins had attacked him the previous night and suspected the Green Garment Gang; Ji Cheng ordered an investigation.
• Yu Qian led Ji Cheng and the others to his courtyard, where they dug up the two assassins’ bodies, and Yu Qian said he had killed them in self-defense before dawn.

Yu Qian’s colleagues investigated the two assassins who attacked him, and Ji Cheng promised the Dingyou Office would pursue whoever hired them. Yu Qian returned to work, then joined his colleagues for an evening outing to the Red Sleeve House.

• Guo Yi examined the bodies and concluded that the assassins were ordinary men with little skill, while Yu Qian explained his lethal techniques as lessons from slaughtering animals in the countryside.
• Yu Qian suspected the Green Garment Gang had hired the assassins, and Ji Cheng ordered a thorough investigation and the preservation of the bodies.
• Yu Qian declined an offer to move into the Court of Judicial Review, and Sun Shoucheng assured him that the Court would protect its officers.
• The Dingyou Office returned to its routine, and Yu Qian’s colleagues learned what had happened during the attack.
• Yu Qian and his colleagues walked through Five Blessings Ward in the rain and headed for the Red Sleeve House.

Yu Qian learned about the Cang River Aquatic Tribe during a welcome banquet at the Red Sleeve House, where his colleagues discovered he had entered a martial rank in only three days. Ji Cheng secured Yu Qian’s agreement to remain with the Dingyou Office and said he would apply to make him a full-fledged officer.

• Yan Sheng told Yu Qian that the demon in Seven Li Lane belonged to the Cang River Aquatic Tribe, and Wang Zhen explained how humans and demons coexisted and clashed.
• Ji Cheng brought Yu Qian and the others to the Red Sleeve House for Yu Qian’s welcome banquet, where Guo Yi asked the madam about overnight bookings.
• Ji Cheng warned Yu Qian to preserve his primal yang until he entered a rank, but Yu Qian demonstrated his Blood-and-Qi Power by punching the windowsill.
• Sun Shoucheng revealed that Yu Qian had received the Sun Scroll only three days earlier, astonishing everyone with how quickly he had entered a rank.
• Ji Cheng had Yu Qian sign an agreement to stay with the Dingyou Office and said he would apply to make him a full-fledged officer.

Yu Qian left the Red Sleeve House to focus on cultivation, then joined Guo Yi at the Court of Judicial Review to investigate the assassination attempt. Guo Yi began examining the assassins’ corpses while Yu Qian watched from a cautious distance.

• Yu Qian declined to stay overnight at the Red Sleeve House, and Shi Da and Guo Yi left with him.
• Guo Yi told Yu Qian to arrive early the next day so they could investigate the assassination case.
• Yu Qian meditated and cultivated through the night, then headed to the Court of Judicial Review after realizing he had no origin power left.
• Yu Qian entered the Court of Judicial Review’s mortuary and went to the Ding Division’s section, where Guo Yi was examining the assassins’ bodies.
• Guo Yi beckoned Yu Qian over while holding a kidney, and Yu Qian approached before backing away from the bloodied examination.

Yu Qian and Guo Yi investigated the assassins who had attacked Yu Qian, tracing clues to Longyou County and its Ghost Market. After Longyou officials found where the assassins had lived, Yu Qian set out with Guo Yi, Shi Da, and Sun Shoucheng to investigate.

• Guo Yi found that the assassins had calluses associated with reverse-grip knife training and signs of long-term use of inferior Body-Tempering Pills from the Ghost Market.
• Guo Yi identified seahead grass in the assassins’ stomachs, suggesting they had spent time in Longyou County, and warned that they would have killed Yu Qian if he had not entered a rank.
• Guo Yi drew portraits of the assassins, then told Yu Qian they would send them to the Longyou county office and visit the Ghost Market.
• Yu Qian returned to the Dingyou Office and obtained a written order from Ji Cheng to send the portraits to Longyou.
• The Longyou county office reported that afternoon that it had found where the assassins had lived.
• Ji Cheng sent Shi Da with Yu Qian and Guo Yi, while Sun Shoucheng volunteered to accompany them; they changed into plain clothes and rode toward the Ghost Market as Sun began explaining what he knew about it.

Yu Qian and the others investigated the empty residence of two missing suspects in Longyou County, but found no useful evidence. They then headed for the Ghost Market in Bright Moon Gorge.

• Yu Qian and the others arrived in Tai'an City and continued west to Longyou County.
• Constable Chen led them to the rented courtyard where the two suspects had stayed, but Guo Yi found it empty.
• Guo Yi used the Spirit-Communing Art and detected no demonic creatures or spirit beings, leaving the lead unresolved.
• Sun Shoucheng explained that only people with the right aptitude could readily master the Spirit-Communing Art.
• Yu Qian and the others left their carriage and ran to Bright Moon Gorge, where the Ghost Market was located.

Yu Qian and his companions entered the Ghost Market and learned about its lawless trade and brutal customs as they made their way toward the Hundred Affairs Tower to investigate two assassins. They left the valley floor and climbed to a more orderly district on the mountainside.

• Guo Yi led Yu Qian, Sun Shoucheng, and their companion through the lantern-lit entrance into the Ghost Market.
• Yu Qian’s Spirit Talisman identified the noodle-stall owner as a wanted eighth-grade Yellow Ox Demon, but Yu Qian chose not to seal him in front of the crowd.
• Sun Shoucheng explained that the Ghost Market welcomed anyone who could pay and directed the group to the Hundred Affairs Tower to investigate two low-ranking assassins.
• Yu Qian and his companions watched a young man gamble his life against money, losing three fingers before staggering off with four silver ingots.
• The four settled their noodle bill and climbed toward the Hundred Affairs Tower, reaching a more spacious and civilized district partway up the mountainside.

Yu Qian and the Court of Judicial Review investigated the attack on him at the Hundred Affairs Tower and learned that the Green Garment Gang had hired the assassins. Yu Qian suspected the answer had been arranged to conceal a larger scheme, but chose to keep a low profile and build his strength.

• At the Li Residence, a black-robed girl reported that the Court of Judicial Review's investigation had led to the Hundred Affairs Tower, and the purple-robed man ordered the Green Garment Gang to take the blame while delaying its efforts to claim Yu Qian's courtyard.
• Yu Qian, Sun Shoucheng, and Guo Yi asked the Hundred Affairs Tower's manager to investigate who hired the assassins that attacked Yu Qian.
• The manager returned with a report identifying Kong Xing, a deputy hall master of the Green Garment Gang, as the employer, but said he could not discover the reason for the killing.
• Yu Qian questioned whether anyone else had commissioned an attack on him, and the manager said there were no current requests.
• After leaving, Yu Qian suspected that someone had fed them a convenient account to hide the truth and resolved to investigate his courtyard while remaining cautious.

Yu Qian and his companions stayed overnight in the Ghost Market, where Yu Qian watched its violent streets and learned about the Monster Houses. He and Sun Shoucheng went to see one, arriving at the lavish Clear Crisp House.

• Yu Qian and his companions found an inn after the city gates closed, and Yu Qian watched the Ghost Market’s patrol squads quell violent incidents from the balcony.
• Sun Shoucheng invited Yu Qian to explore the Monster Houses, and Yu Qian agreed after hearing about their monster and ghost girls.
• Yu Qian and Sun Shoucheng traveled two li to a lavish brothel called Clear Crisp House.

Yu Qian and Sun Shoucheng left the Clear Crisp House after their Court of Judicial Review tokens signaled that a colleague needed help. Yu Qian was separated from the others in the ensuing battle, but stopped the Yellow Ox Demon with his golden sealing ability and pulled out its demon soul.

• Yu Qian and Sun Shoucheng paid to enter the Clear Crisp House, admired the demon dancers, and looked through the Phoenix Flower Album before their tokens vibrated with a distress signal.
• Yu Qian, Sun Shoucheng, Guo Yi, and Shi Da followed Shi Da's Talisman Paper Crane out of the Ghost Market toward the signal.
• Shi Da broke free of an Earth Bind talisman and fought a blue-robed Talisman Master, who retreated into the woods.
• Several attackers ambushed the group, and the Yellow Ox Demon charged Yu Qian while Guo Yi, Shi Da, and Sun Shoucheng were occupied fighting others.
• Yu Qian fled from the Yellow Ox Demon, then used his golden sealing ability to freeze it and pull its demon soul from its body.

Yu Qian concealed his ability to seal demons after defeating the Yellow Ox Demon, then regrouped with his colleagues and learned they had stumbled into a major case involving an evil cult. The Dingyou Office chose to avoid further trouble and head back to Longyou County, while Yu Qian’s claim that he killed the demon shocked his companions.

• Yu Qian fabricated wounds on the Yellow Ox Demon, burned its body to hide the evidence, and waited for help.
• Shi Da found Yu Qian and said the enemies had scattered and the encounter was over.
• Yu Qian rejoined Sun Shoucheng, Guo Yi, and the others, who explained that Divisions A and B were investigating an evil cult in a major case.
• The officers from Divisions A and B thanked the Dingyou Office and departed toward the Ghost Market, while Yu Qian’s group decided to return to Longyou County instead.
• Yu Qian told his colleagues the Bull Demon had been the Ghost Market beef noodle stall owner, and Shi Da revealed Yu Qian had killed it, leaving Sun Shoucheng stunned.