Recaps

After days of wrestling with his fear, fifteen-year-old Dog Leftover decided to enlist to protect his family and village from the Japanese. His parents reluctantly accepted his choice, and his family embraced the formal name Captain Fang had given him: Wang Lei.

• Captain Fang and a young soldier told Dog Leftover he could take his time deciding whether to enlist.
• Dog Leftover spent several days thinking about the danger of war and realized that the other men who enlisted were afraid too.
• Dog Leftover told his parents he had decided to join the army, but his mother, father, and little brother begged him to stay.
• After four hours, Dad accepted Dog Leftover's decision and urged him to survive and return home; Mom also gave her blessing.
• Dog Leftover told his family that Captain Fang had named him Wang Lei, and he promised his little brother he would be careful and come back alive.

Fifteen-year-old Wang Lei left his mountain home and marched with Captain Fang and the recruits for thirty-one days toward Shanghai, enduring hunger, painful wounds, and fear as they witnessed the devastation of war. The column reached Shanghai, where Wang Lei accepted his duty as a soldier and prepared to defend the country.

• Wang Lei said goodbye to his family, received food and shoes from his mother, and left the village with Captain Fang and the recruits.
• Wang Lei and Chen Dazhu marched east with the column, tending their wounded feet and supporting one another along the way.
• Wang Lei and the recruits saw ruined homes and fleeing civilians, and their fear gave way to a determination to protect their homes.
• As the column neared Shanghai, Wang Lei and Chen Dazhu admitted they were terrified but continued marching with the others toward the distant artillery.
• After thirty-one days, Captain Fang led the column to Shanghai, where Wang Lei saw the smoke and flames and resolved to defend his country.

Wang Lei reached the front at Luodian with his fellow recruits and was caught in a Japanese artillery bombardment before he had fired a shot. Gravely wounded, he faced death thinking of his family, his comrade Chen Dazhu, and the civilians his unit had come to protect.

• Wang Lei and Chen Dazhu joined the 57th Division and received rifles after marching from Anhui to Shanghai.
• Wang Lei’s squad learned that Luodian was a fiercely contested position and spent their brief rest thinking of family waiting at home.
• Wang Lei’s squad moved to Luodian’s outskirts, where their veteran squad leader instructed them to shelter from the coming bombardment.
• Japanese artillery began shelling the trenches, and Wang Lei survived the first barrage before a later shell struck near him.
• Chen Dazhu crawled to Wang Lei after the blast left him gravely wounded, and Wang Lei remembered his family and the little stone his brother had given him.

Wang Lei returned to his transformed hometown in Huaining with Wen Ning, Lu Ming, and Feng Dema, and accepted that its prosperity fulfilled what he had fought for. As he searched for the site of his childhood home, a village boy named Wang Chong began helping them identify the family they sought.

• Wen Ning took Wang Lei and the others from Shanghai to Huaining, where Wang Lei found the village changed beyond recognition.
• Wen Ning helped Wang Lei see the village's prosperity as a good change and a fitting answer to his sacrifices.
• Wang Lei asked to find the location of his old home, and the group searched for landmarks from his memories.
• Wen Ning suggested asking villagers, but Wang Lei could not match the changed surroundings to his memories.
• Wang Chong approached the group, said nearly everyone in the village was named Wang, and listened as Wen Ning asked about an ancestor who had left to be a soldier and never returned.

Wen Ning brought Wang Lei to Wang Chong, where a centenarian recognized the long-lost soldier as his older brother and briefly saw him as his own life neared its end. Wang Lei reunited with his little brother and told him he had come home.

• Dog Leftover led Wen Ning's group to his grandfather, who brought them to his father to ask about Wang Lei.
• The centenarian recognized Wang Lei's name and revealed that Wang Lei was his older brother, who had left for Shanghai at fifteen and never returned.
• The centenarian showed the blue stone his brother had given him and sent his family outside so he could speak with Wang Lei alone.
• The centenarian saw Wang Lei because his nearing death had loosened the boundary between life and death, and called him brother.
• Wang Lei answered his aged little brother, saying he was home.

Wang Lei reunited with his younger brother across life and death, learned how his family had waited and remembered him, and finally let go of his century-old fixation. As Wang Lei faded peacefully, his brother introduced him to the family’s descendants, including his great-grandson Wang Huaijin, who carried Wang Lei’s childhood nickname.

• The old man told Wang Lei how their parents had waited for his return and died proud of the son who had gone to war.
• Wang Lei apologized for leaving his family, and his younger brother reassured him that his sacrifice had protected their peaceful homeland.
• The old man showed Wang Lei the prosperous village and told him that the family would remember him, allowing Wang Lei’s sorrow and fixation to fade.
• Wang Lei said he had no regrets, and the old man promised to preserve his memory for future generations.
• Wang Jianguo entered with Dog Leftover, and the old man introduced them to Wang Lei, explaining that his great-grandson’s formal name was Wang Huaijin and that his nickname honored Wang Lei.

Wen Ning and the others witnessed Wang Jianguo’s father pass peacefully after being reunited with the spirit of his long-lost brother, Wang Lei. White Impermanence, Xie Bi'an, arrived to guide the brothers to the Underworld, and they departed together.

• Wen Ning and the others shared dinner with the Wang family, and Wang Jianguo’s father died peacefully after silently saying he was coming to his brother.
• Wang Jianguo accepted his father’s death without resentment, while Wen Ning explained that the old man had passed with his wish fulfilled.
• The Wang family began funeral preparations with help from Wen Ning and the others, and the old man’s soul regained his youthful appearance beside Wang Lei.
• White Impermanence, Xie Bi'an, arrived and told Wang Lei and his younger brother that it was time to go to the Underworld.
• Wang Lei thanked Wen Ning and the others, then he and his brother followed Xie Bi'an into the night.

After returning from Wang Chong Village, Wen Ning’s group resumed their routine at the shop, and Meng Jiang continued her vacation while Lu Ming remained on duty. The Squirrel Spirit delivered Lin Ba’s invitation to a Maoshan Dharma Assembly, where Wen Ning would learn more about recent disturbances, and Wen Ning decided to attend alone the next day.

• Wen Ning, Lu Ming, Feng Dema, and Meng Jiang returned to the shop, where Wen Ning refused Lu Ming’s request for vacation because taking leave would cost him his permanent position.
• Meng Jiang left to continue her travels, while Wen Ning, Lu Ming, and Feng Dema rested and reopened the shop the next morning.
• The Squirrel Spirit told Wen Ning that Lin Ba had invited him to Maoshan’s Dharma Assembly and had waited two days to deliver the invitation.
• The Squirrel Spirit explained that Maoshan had summoned nearby cultivators to discuss recent disturbances involving evil entities and that Lin Ba had important information for Wen Ning.
• Wen Ning decided to attend the Dharma Assembly alone the next day, leaving Lu Ming and Feng Dema to watch the shop.

Wen Ning traveled to Maoshan for its Dharma Assembly and encountered cultivators from across the Daoist world, including Zhang Siyu and Zhang Qingxuan. Zhang Qingxuan’s respectful address of Wen Ning as “Immortal Master” left the gathered cultivators stunned and confirmed the suspicions of those who had fought the Evil Flood Dragon with him.

• Wen Ning left Lu Ming and Feng Dema in charge of the shop and traveled to Maoshan for the Dharma Assembly.
• Shi Dajian recognized Wen Ning at the visitor plaza and escorted him into the temple despite their strained history.
• Wen Ning entered the gathering and recognized fellow cultivators who had fought the Evil Flood Dragon at the Canglang River.
• Zhang Siyu spotted Wen Ning, greeted him excitedly, and asked whether Feng Dema was another newcomer sent by the Heavenly Court.
• Zhang Qingxuan bowed to Wen Ning and addressed him as “Immortal Master,” drawing the assembled cultivators’ attention and confirming the Canglang River group’s suspicions about Wen Ning.

At the Maoshan Daoist School Assembly, Daoist Wuji revealed that the seal beneath Maoshan’s thousand-year-old Demon-Suppressing Pagoda had cracked and its power had weakened. The gathered cultivators faced the threat of dangerous monsters escaping, while Wen Ning learned why the pagoda existed.

• Shi Dajian privately dismissed Wen Ning as an unorthodox practitioner, but Wen Ning ignored his hostility and Zhang Qingxuan stopped Zhang Siyu from responding.
• Daoist Wuji opened the assembly and said the gathered Daoists needed to investigate upheavals in the world and find a way to suppress evil and restore peace.
• Zhang Qingxuan asked whether the assembly concerned a problem with Maoshan’s Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, alarming the gathered cultivators.
• Zhang Siyu explained to Wen Ning that the pagoda had long imprisoned monsters and evil beings that past cultivators could not destroy.
• Daoist Wuji confirmed that cracks had appeared in the seal at the pagoda’s base, allowing baleful energy to leak out and weakening its power to suppress monsters.

As the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda’s seal weakened, Daoist Wuji explained that Thunder Arts could reinforce it and asked Wen Ning to enter the pagoda. Wen Ning refused at first, but agreed after his godfather Wen Zhong called and ordered him to help.

• Zhang Qingxuan asked how the gathered Daoist cultivators could help Maoshan stabilize the pagoda’s seal.
• Daoist Wuji explained that Thunder Arts could reinforce the seal, and Shi Dajian volunteered to enter the pagoda.
• Daoist Wuji asked Wen Ning to help, but Wen Ning refused and continued enjoying the refreshments.
• Wen Zhong called Wen Ning and told him to enter the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, explaining that the Three Mao Lords were visiting him.
• Wen Ning agreed to help, and Daoist Wuji thanked him.

Daoist Wuji explained the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda’s dangers and asked Wen Ning to keep Shi Dajian from acting recklessly inside. After revealing why he chose the ruthless Shi Dajian over the merciful Lin Ba, Daoist Wuji left Wen Ning wondering what else he had to say privately.

• Daoist Wuji told Wen Ning and Shi Dajian that they must reinforce the seals across the pagoda’s seven floors rather than focus on killing its monsters.
• Daoist Wuji warned Shi Dajian to cooperate with Wen Ning, but Shi Dajian bristled when Wen Ning called him a child and had to be restrained by his master.
• Daoist Wuji sent Shi Dajian outside, then apologized to Wen Ning and explained that monsters had killed Shi Dajian’s family when he was an infant, leaving him with an intense hatred of them.
• Daoist Wuji asked Wen Ning to watch over Shi Dajian, whose bloodlust could provoke his heart demon and endanger the pagoda’s formation nexus.
• Wen Ning asked why Daoist Wuji had not chosen Lin Ba, and Daoist Wuji explained that Lin Ba’s excessive compassion could make him fall for monsters’ deceptions and spare them.
• Wen Ning understood why Shi Dajian had been chosen and asked Daoist Wuji whether he had kept him alone for another reason.

Daoist Wuji revealed that the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda’s seventh-floor prisoner was Xu Chenzi, a Maoshan genius who sealed himself away after choosing a kind Qingqiu Spirit Fox over his sect’s demands. Knowing Wen Ning was a Thunder Department Heavenly Official, Wuji asked him to help resolve Xu Chenzi’s fate as he entered the pagoda, while Wen Ning prepared to take Shi Dajian along.

• Daoist Wuji told Wen Ning that Xu Chenzi, a Maoshan predecessor, had fallen in love with a harmless Qingqiu Spirit Fox and abandoned the Dao rather than kill her.
• Wuji explained that Xu Chenzi had harmed no one and sealed himself inside the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, where he had remained for a thousand years.
• Wuji revealed that the Three Mao Lords had told him Wen Ning was a Thunder Department Heavenly Official, and said he had arranged for Wen Ning to enter the pagoda with Shi Dajian so Xu Chenzi’s case could be settled.
• Wen Ning agreed to handle the matter inside the pagoda, then returned to the courtyard with Wuji and declined Zhang Siyu’s request to join them.
• Wen Ning called Shi Dajian a deadweight, angering him, and Daoist Wuji warned his disciple to steady his mind before Wuji addressed the waiting cultivators.

Wen Ning and Shi Dajian entered the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda to reinforce its seal, expecting vicious monsters but finding a peaceful village inhabited by harmless-looking demons. As Shi Dajian stopped himself from attacking, a little fox demon approached and asked whether they had come from outside the pagoda.

• Daoist Wuji chose Wen Ning and Shi Dajian to enter the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda and reinforce its seal.
• Maoshan disciples led Wen Ning and Shi Dajian to the pagoda, where they entered together.
• Wen Ning and Shi Dajian passed through the fog and discovered a quiet village filled with seemingly harmless monsters.
• Shi Dajian prepared to attack, but Wen Ning stopped him and pointed out that the monsters had no baleful aura.
• A little fox demon approached Wen Ning and Shi Dajian and asked if they were newcomers from outside the pagoda.

Wen Ning entered the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda with Shi Dajian to reinforce its unstable seal, but startled Xiao Bai by picking her up and was accused of abducting a demon child. Granny Red calmed Xiao Bai and the villagers, and the chapter ended with Wen Ning and Shi Dajian asking her about the seal’s instability.

• Wen Ning picked up Xiao Bai and stroked her fur, prompting her to cry that someone was kidnapping a demon child.
• The village demons gathered to watch as Shi Dajian stood stunned by Wen Ning’s behavior.
• Granny Red arrived, and Xiao Bai begged her to save her from the supposed human kidnapper.
• Granny Red reassured Xiao Bai that Wen Ning had picked her up because she was cute, and explained that the stories about humans making fox soup were made up by her mother.
• Wen Ning set Xiao Bai down and confirmed to Granny Red that he and Shi Dajian had come to reinforce the unstable seal; Shi Dajian asked what had caused the problem.

Granny Red explained to Wen Ning and Shi Dajian that the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda had been built as a refuge for gentle yao, not merely as a prison. She then warned that trouble at the pagoda’s top threatened the village’s long-standing safety.

• Granny Red led Wen Ning and Shi Dajian to the village inn and ordered twenty roast chickens for the little Fox Demons.
• Wen Ning asked why kind yao lived in the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, and Granny Red explained that Maoshan elders had sheltered them there from evil yao and prejudiced cultivators.
• Granny Red told Wen Ning and Shi Dajian that the pagoda had protected the yao village for generations, though its peace might soon be lost.
• Wen Ning asked whether the unstable barrier meant something had gone wrong at the top of the pagoda, and Granny Red confirmed that it had.

Granny Red left Wen Ning and Shi Dajian to pay for the roast chickens, but the innkeeper rejected Shi Dajian’s mortal-world phone payment and required him to work off the bill. Wen Ning left with Granny Red to handle the pagoda’s seal, while Shi Dajian stayed behind to wash dishes for four or five days.

• Granny Red led the fox demons toward the inn’s exit after they finished eating, but the innkeeper stopped the group and demanded payment for the roast chickens.
• Granny Red said she had no money and insisted that Wen Ning and Shi Dajian should treat, leaving them responsible for the bill.
• Shi Dajian offered to pay by phone, but the innkeeper explained that payments from the mortal world were useless inside the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.
• The innkeeper told Shi Dajian to wash dishes to work off the debt, and Wen Ning argued that the Maoshan disciple should take responsibility because the pagoda belonged to Maoshan.
• Granny Red and the fox demons urged Shi Dajian to accept the inn’s rules, and the innkeeper said he would have to wash dishes for at least four or five days.
• Wen Ning left with Granny Red, while Shi Dajian remained at the inn to wash dishes.

Wen Ning left Shi Dajian washing dishes to repay his meal and explained that the Demon Village could help soften the rigid Maoshan disciple's outlook. He reinforced the first-floor seal beneath Granny Red's home, while Shi Dajian remained trapped in the inn kitchen, watched by little Fox Demons.

• Wen Ning told Granny Red he had left Shi Dajian at the inn to experience life among the peaceful demons and temper his rigid views.
• Granny Red explained that the first-floor seal was beneath her home, where she could guard it safely from the curious young demons.
• Granny Red showed Wen Ning the damaged formation, and he used thunder arts to reinforce its cracked seal.
• Shi Dajian continued washing dishes to repay his debt while the innkeeper supervised and he silently resented Wen Ning for leaving him behind.
• The little Fox Demons returned to the kitchen and watched Shi Dajian wash the mountain of dishes.

Wen Ning reinforced the first-floor seal and entered the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda’s second floor, which contained a vast casino designed to exploit visitors’ desires. He resisted the casino’s bewitching influence and let a rabbit demon lead him deeper inside as he searched for the seal.

• Wen Ning told Granny Red that he had reinforced the first-floor seal, and she warned him to restrain his desires on the second floor.
• Wen Ning found the Aochuang Old Lisboa Casino and entered after two tiger spirits welcomed him, while they privately planned to exploit his greed.
• Wen Ning resisted the casino’s bewitching mist and searched the gambling hall for traces of the second-floor seal.
• A rabbit demon linked arms with Wen Ning and offered to show him around, while he discreetly blocked her Yao Qi and agreed to follow her.

Wen Ning used his Celestial Eye Supernatural Ability to win every round of sic bo at the casino, amassing a huge pile of chips. The rabbit spirit steered him toward the higher-stakes VIP rooms, where the casino planned to deal with his winning streak.

• Wen Ning pretended to accept the rabbit spirit's offer and borrowed a huge stack of chips from the leopard cat demon at the loan counter.
• Wen Ning used his Celestial Eye Supernatural Ability to see the dice and won his first bet on small.
• Wen Ning kept winning every round despite the snake demon dealer changing his technique and using demonic arts.
• The rabbit spirit invited Wen Ning to play in the VIP rooms after his winnings began costing the casino heavily.
• Wen Ning gathered his mountain of chips and agreed to follow the rabbit spirit upstairs.

Wen Ning faced the tiger spirit in the casino’s VIP room and lost his chips before wagering his body against information about the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda’s second-floor seal. He activated his Celestial Eye to win back the chips, leaving the tiger spirit accusing him of cheating and the rabbit demon watching viciously.

• The rabbit demon led Wen Ning to the VIP room, where the tiger spirit agreed to gamble with him.
• Wen Ning gambled without using his Celestial Eye and lost all his chips, then offered his body as collateral to keep playing.
• Wen Ning asked the tiger spirit to reveal the location of the second-floor seal if Wen Ning won, and the tiger spirit agreed while threatening to kill him if he lost.
• Wen Ning activated his Celestial Eye and accurately bet on the dice, winning the chips back from the tiger spirit.
• The tiger spirit accused Wen Ning of cheating, while Wen Ning claimed his success came from good luck and the rabbit demon turned hostile.

Wen Ning defeated Tiger Essence, Rabbit Essence, and their underlings with the Five Thunder Righteous Method, then demanded to know where the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda’s second-floor seal was. When Tiger Essence refused to reveal it, Wen Ning threatened them with a devastating lightning attack, and Rabbit Essence finally offered to talk.

• Tiger Essence and Rabbit Essence attacked Wen Ning after he overturned the gambling table, but Wen Ning struck them down with lightning.
• The monsters' underlings rushed into the VIP room, and Wen Ning incapacitated them all with the Five Thunder Righteous Method.
• Wen Ning asked Tiger Essence where the second-floor seal of the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda was, but Tiger Essence refused to betray its secrets.
• Wen Ning repeatedly struck Rabbit Essence with lightning to pressure Tiger Essence, while Tiger Essence insisted the demons would rather die than yield.
• Wen Ning gathered a powerful sphere of lightning, and Rabbit Essence broke down and offered to reveal the seal's location.

Wen Ning uncovered and reinforced the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda’s second-level seal beneath the casino, then killed the defiant tiger spirit and warned the monsters against malice. On the first level, Shi Dajian spent a quiet moment with Little Fox, who bluntly explained that she called him uncle because he looked old.

• The rabbit spirit revealed that the second-level seal lay beneath the casino and that the monsters had been eroding it with the casino’s corrupt energy.
• Wen Ning shattered the casino floor, exposed the damaged seal, and restored it with the Five Thunder Righteous Method.
• Wen Ning killed the tiger spirit with lightning and announced that he had reinforced the seal and installed a restriction that would activate against malice and evil intentions.
• On the first level, Shi Dajian relaxed with Little Fox after a day of washing dishes, and she asked when he would bring her roast chicken.
• Shi Dajian asked why Little Fox called Wen Ning her big brother but called him uncle, and she said Wen Ning was handsome while Shi Dajian looked old.

Wen Ning explored the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda’s third floor, a world of woods and streets, where he met a flower demon fleeing from pursuers. Over a meal, she told him the floor’s strongest monster was the owner of Spring Radiance Garden and warned that she liked fair, tender humans like him.

• Wen Ning entered the third floor and saw a flower demon flee from several pursuing monsters.
• Wen Ning let the flower demon and her pursuers pass, then continued exploring the floor.
• Wen Ning stopped at a restaurant and ordered food, drawing the attention of the demon diners.
• The flower demon sat opposite Wen Ning and scolded him for not rescuing her from the monsters.
• Wen Ning asked about the strongest monster on the floor, and the flower demon named the owner of Spring Radiance Garden.
• The flower demon warned Wen Ning that the owner liked fair, tender humans like him.

Wen Ning followed Hua Manlou’s directions to Spring Radiance Garden and discovered that the feared destination was a pleasure house run by female demons. He entered to investigate, unaware that the demons planned to exploit his pure human aura for nourishment.

• Hua Manlou warned Wen Ning that Spring Radiance Garden was dangerous, then told him where to find it and gave him her name.
• Wen Ning reached Spring Radiance Garden and realized it was a decadent pleasure house rather than a demonic lair.
• Several female demons coaxed Wen Ning inside, and he entered while secretly observing the Yao Qi around him.
• The pink-clad demon watched Wen Ning go with the fox spirits and said the demons should wait before trying to use his vital essence as nourishment.