Chapter Summaries

Wang Lei recovered his memories of fighting and dying as a fifteen-year-old soldier in the Battle of Shanghai. Seeing modern Shanghai, he realized the peace and prosperity he had fought for had endured, and told Wen Ning, “We won.”

• After dinner in Nanjing, Lu Ming asked Wen Ning why he had brought Wang Lei to see the country instead of taking him straight home, and Wen Ning said Wang Lei deserved to see the world he had protected.
• The next morning, Wen Ning, Lu Ming, and Wang Lei traveled by high-speed train to Shanghai.
• On seeing modern Shanghai, Wang Lei relived the Battle of Shanghai and remembered his childhood, his comrades, and his death defending the city.
• Wang Lei wept as he saw the peaceful, prosperous city and said, “We won.”
• Wen Ning affirmed that the land was safe, the nation was prosperous, and the people were at peace.

Wang Lei recounted his poor childhood in a remote Huaining village, where his family called him Dog Leftover and he worked from a young age to help support them. As war spread and refugees increasingly passed through the village, fifteen-year-old Wang Lei began to fear that the mountains might not keep his family safe.

• Wang Lei explained that his father named him Dog Leftover because he had been frail at birth and the family hoped a humble name would help him survive.
• Wang Lei described working in the fields and mountains while his younger brother followed him and their parents struggled to feed the family.
• Wang Lei recalled the small pleasures of malt candy, market trips, and listening to village elders describe the outside world.
• When Wang Lei was thirteen or fourteen, refugees brought news of war and the Japanese invasion, but villagers believed the fighting was too distant to reach them.
• More refugees arrived with injuries and frightening accounts, market activity dwindled, and the village grew anxious.
• At fifteen, Wang Lei sensed that the world was changing but still hoped the mountains would shelter his family.

Wang Lei struggled between fear of war and the thought of protecting his family and village from the Japanese advance. After Captain Fang gave him a proper name and invited him to enlist, Wang Lei was left weighing whether he could hide while others fought.

• Recruiters arrived in Wang Lei’s village seeking men to fight the Japanese, but most villagers refused or tried to evade them.
• Wang Lei told his mother and father about the recruitment, and his father begged him not to go.
• Wang Lei visited the village entrance out of curiosity and met Captain Fang, who named him Wang Lei.
• Captain Fang invited Wang Lei to join the soldiers but told him he would not force him.
• Wang Lei remembered refugees fleeing Japanese violence and wondered who would stop the Japanese if everyone hid.

Fifteen-year-old Dog Leftover impulsively agreed to enlist after seeing refugees and hearing Captain Fang say that people had to stand up against the Japanese. At home, his family begged him to stay, and he was left torn between his loved ones and the suffering caused by the war.

• Dog Leftover told Captain Fang he would enlist, though he was frightened and had not thought the decision through.
• Captain Fang warned Dog Leftover that he might not return alive and told him to discuss it with his family.
• Dog Leftover told Ma and Pa that he had signed up to fight the Japanese, and Ma tearfully tried to stop him.
• Pa warned Dog Leftover that the family depended on him, while Ma pleaded for them to hide and stay safe.
• Dog Leftover remembered the refugees and Captain Fang's warning, but his little brother clung to him and begged him not to leave.
• Dog Leftover broke down in tears and admitted to himself that he was scared and did not want to go.

Fifteen-year-old Dog Leftover returned to Captain Fang after backing out of enlistment and asked why the soldiers were willing to go to war despite fearing death. Captain Fang explained that they kept going because they feared others would die in their place, leaving Dog Leftover torn between his fear and the thought of living with regret.

• Dog Leftover stayed away from the village entrance for several days after withdrawing his offer to enlist, but he kept wondering why Captain Fang and the soldiers did not hide from the war.
• Dog Leftover went to the village entrance and asked Captain Fang whether he was afraid to die at the front.
• Captain Fang admitted that he and the other soldiers were afraid, but said they could not retreat because the villagers and their families would suffer in their place.
• Captain Fang told Dog Leftover that he would not force a fifteen-year-old to enlist and encouraged him to care for his family and live peacefully.
• Dog Leftover realized the soldiers were risking their lives to protect people like him and feared that he would regret hiding for the rest of his life, though he was still afraid to die.

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.