Chapter Summaries

Summary

• In the Demon-Quelling Office’s main hall, Fugui and Shen Lang worry that Ye Qianfan has not returned from his physical examination. Fugui wants to ask Eunuch He about him, but Shen Lang stops him, believing that raising the issue publicly could make things worse for Ye.
• Eunuch He announces that the successful candidates will be assigned missions in groups under experienced Nuo Masters. Fugui instead requests a month’s leave to recover from his injured leg. Eunuch He grants it and arranges for him to return to Fog City.
• Shen Lang reassures Fugui that Ye’s situation may still be fixable, though he hints that the corrupt court can be swayed by profit. Before Shen can leave to search, the new mission leaders enter—and Ye is among them, wearing the red python robe of a Patrol Constable. Fugui and Shen Lang are astonished that Ye has apparently not merely passed, but been selected for the role.
• The chapter then flashes back to explain Ye’s absence. Following a Daoist’s instructions, he goes to the latrine, where the Daoist proposes using Puppet-Painting Art to make a counterfeit banknote from talisman paper. The imitation will last only about twelve double-hours and cannot truly pass as real. Ye cuts off the Daoist’s rambling explanation and asks whether the same incantation used to paint a roast pig will work. The scene ends before the attempt is shown.

Character developments and interactions

• Fugui is anxious and loyal, eager to learn what happened to Ye, but accepts Shen Lang’s warning and uses the opportunity to request leave.
• Shen Lang shows caution and pragmatism: he protects Ye by keeping questions private and believes money may help navigate the corrupt bureaucracy.
• Ye Qianfan remains unseen in the hall until his surprising appearance as a Patrol Constable; the flashback reveals he is relying on a dubious magical scheme to produce money.
• Eunuch He is authoritative and impatient, but readily grants Fugui’s practical request.
• The Daoist is resourceful but long-winded; Ye responds with impatience and pushes him to get to the useful instructions.

Significant themes

• Corruption and transactional power: Shen’s belief that “anything is negotiable” suggests that advancement and justice in the court depend on profit.
• Appearance versus reality: Ye’s counterfeit-note plan and the uncertainty surrounding his examination echo the chapter’s concern with deception and what can be made to look real.
• Loyalty under uncertainty: Fugui and Shen worry over Ye and try to help him, even without knowing what has happened.

Plot points and events

• Ye Qianfan uses a human-hair brush and blood to perform the Painted Skin technique, adapting a talisman he had previously used on a paper pig.
• His talisman transforms into a convincing, worn Four Seas Bank note. The physician accepts it without suspicion and directs Ye to the company commander for his assignment.
• At the Dragon Gate Inn’s Passage Well, the recruits receive instructions for traveling to Riverside Town: hold their Demon-Quelling Office tokens, say the destination clearly, close their eyes, and jump.
• Their squad leader warns them to help teammates when practical but forbids grudges and infighting. He jumps first, with the patrol constable assigned to go last.
• A man named Li Pu introduces himself as a Second-Skin Artisan of the Four Lesser Yin Gates, then jumps into the well with a large load that somehow passes through without scraping its sides.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye shows striking talent and self-reliance: after using the talisman once, he can modify it for a new purpose without instruction. The Daoist is impressed—and discouraged by the comparison with his own hard-won training.
• Ye’s quick deception gets him past the physician, though the consequences of the counterfeit note are left unresolved.
• The squad leader establishes firm expectations for cooperation, while Li Pu’s unusual entrance hints at specialized skills and an air of mystery.

Significant themes

• Talent and learning: Ye’s ability to adapt a technique contrasts with the Daoist’s slow, difficult mastery.
• Deception and risk: The convincing counterfeit succeeds for now, but its eventual discovery remains a possible danger.
• Loyalty and survival: The squad leader balances mutual aid with the realities of dangerous work, insisting that peril must not become an excuse for revenge or internal conflict.
• Mystery and supernatural travel: The Passage Well’s strange sounds and Li Pu’s effortless passage with his load suggest that its workings—and the people who use it—are not ordinary.

Key plot points and events

• After Li Pu introduces himself as a Second-Skin Tailor, Mo Hechuan demonstrates his conjuring: he turns a hand-made dove shadow into a real dove, then disappears—apparently entering the Passage Well.
• The Daoist suspects Mo is skilled at deceiving people as well as ghosts. Ye Qianfan, by contrast, is impressed and considers combining conjuring with puppetry.
• The Daoist explains the Four Lesser Yin Gates: the Executioner, Corpse Stitcher (also called Second-Skin Tailor), Coroner, and Paper Effigy Maker. He insists the Puppet Sect’s work is superior to ordinary paper effigies.
• Shang Xueli of the Gu Sect introduces herself as experienced in corpse control. Other participants introduce themselves, including Chi Xi, Qingfeng, Hong Qilin, and the opera performer Qi Zhu.
• Ye Qianfan enters the Passage Well with the others, keeping his eyes shut as instructed despite eerie sounds and the sensation of floating. After about three breaths, the group arrives beside a well on a riverbank near Riverside Town.
• The chief counts the group and discovers Qingfeng is missing. Ye Qianfan confirms no one followed him. The chief concludes that Qingfeng must have disobeyed the warning not to look around and hopes he can escape the resulting danger.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qianfan shows curiosity and openness: he asks about the Lesser Yin Gates and is inspired by Mo Hechuan’s technique, while carefully following the chief’s safety instructions.
• The Daoist is skeptical of Mo Hechuan and defensive of the Puppet Sect’s status.
• Mo Hechuan presents himself as a playful, capable conjurer, though his sudden disappearance leaves his motives and abilities uncertain.
• Shang Xueli makes a confident introduction, presenting herself as a skilled corpse-controller.
• The chief acts as the group’s guide and warns them about the Passage Well; Qingfeng’s absence leaves him concerned.

Significant themes

• Curiosity versus caution: Ye Qianfan resists the urge to open his eyes, while Qingfeng apparently does not.
• Craft, status, and rivalry: Practitioners define themselves by specialized traditions and debate the relative worth of their arts.
• Deception and the uncanny: Mo’s conjuring blurs the line between illusion and reality, while the Passage Well’s voices and sensations make the journey unsettling.

Key plot points and events

• Ten Nuo Masters arrive at Riverside Town to investigate a river god blamed for poor harvests and the villagers’ inability to pay household taxes.
• The captain reveals that two inspection teams sent by the Demon-Quelling Office have disappeared without reporting back, raising the stakes. The squad must question the town chief and determine whether the locals’ account is truthful.
• The town’s layout is unusual: its residents live in a mountain hollow away from the river, reached by a ridge road bordered by farmland and orchards.
• The fields are full of ripe rice, and peach trees are laden with impressive fruit—yet nothing is being harvested. This appears to contradict the town chief’s claim of hardship.
• The squad enters the village and finds residents, including young people, lounging in the shade instead of working. Ye Qianfan senses that something is wrong.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Pu questions why the squad was sent without the usual prior investigation; the captain explains that the inspectors vanished, making the mission more uncertain.
• Shang Xueli, Shen Lang, and Mo Hechuan point out the town’s abundant crops and wasted fruit, fueling suspicion that the town chief may be lying. Mo Hechuan is tempted by the peaches but is reminded that eating local food in an evil entity’s territory is forbidden.
• Shen Lang interprets the villagers’ idleness as laziness, while Ye Qianfan looks beyond appearances and suspects a deeper problem.

Significant themes

• Suspicion and unreliable appearances: The town’s reported poverty conflicts with its apparent abundance.
• Unseen danger and uncertainty: The missing inspectors suggest the river god—or something else in town—may be more dangerous than expected.
• Waste amid hardship: Food is left to rot while the wider region faces famine, intensifying the mystery and moral tension.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Lang and Ye Qianfan notice Riverside Town’s villagers look anxious and exhausted, despite the apparently abundant crops along the road.
• The pavilion head greets the Demon-Quelling Office delegation and claims the town has had no harvest for a year. He says he reported the problem months ago, but no inspectors came.
• The officials point out that the fields and orchards look full of ripe produce, contradicting his claim. The pavilion head avoids explaining in public and invites them to the Pavilion Office.
• Inside, Shang Xueli grows more suspicious as she sees the pavilion head’s carefully tended garden. During the seating arrangements, she pointedly refuses to give him the place of honor.
• The pavilion head orders tea made from lotus leaves saved from two years earlier. Shang Xueli challenges him for serving stale tea while fresh leaves are readily available, further questioning his conduct.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qianfan notices the villagers’ distress and shares his concern with Shen Lang.
• Shen Lang is initially puzzled, then recognizes that something is wrong with the town.
• Shang Xueli becomes openly hostile toward the pavilion head, accusing him of neglect and treating his evasions and stingy hospitality as evidence of misconduct.
• The pavilion head presents himself as worried about the town, but his claims clash with the visible crops and his own well-kept garden. His reluctance to explain matters directly increases suspicion.
• The service chief takes charge of the delegation’s formal proceedings, while the others follow his lead into the Pavilion Office.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: A town that seems prosperous is described as suffering, and the pavilion head’s account conflicts with what the visitors see.
• Official responsibility and possible neglect: The chapter raises questions about whether the pavilion head has failed his people or is concealing the cause of their hardship.
• Unequal burdens and authority: The villagers appear burdened while their official maintains a cultivated, comfortable residence.
• Suspicion and confrontation: Small details—especially the garden and stale tea—intensify the delegation’s doubts, setting up a deeper investigation.

Key plot points and events

• Station Chief remains silent as Shang Xueli argues with the Pavilion Chief over why the guests were served stale lotus-leaf tea instead of fresh tea.
• The Pavilion Chief explains that he is not refusing out of stinginess, but cannot make the situation clear. He asks the guests to taste fresh peaches instead.
• The tea is stale and unpleasant to the guests, yet the Pavilion Chief seems to crave even that little flavor. Shang mistakes his reaction for proof that he is keeping better tea for himself, and angrily drinks from his cup—only to discover it is stale too.
• Station Chief reprimands Shang sharply. She apologizes and returns to her seat.
• A maid brings five unusually large, flawless peaches. Station Chief is impressed, but the Pavilion Chief urges him to cut one open so the guests can see the problem. The chapter ends as Station Chief slices into it.

Character developments and interactions

• Shang Xueli is outspoken and quick to accuse the Pavilion Chief, but she backs down after Station Chief’s stern rebuke and recognizes that she overreacted.
• The Pavilion Chief appears patient and apologetic. His intense reaction to the stale tea suggests he has gone a long time without anything flavorful, hinting at hardship behind the tea and fruit.
• Station Chief tries to keep order and protect his guests’ standing, first tempering the exchange and then firmly correcting Shang when she goes too far.
• Ye Qianfan observes the tea and peaches, noting how unusually perfect the fruit looks, but cannot yet identify what is wrong.

Significant themes

• Misjudgment and appearances: The Pavilion Chief’s craving is mistaken for greed, while the peaches’ flawless appearance conceals an unexplained problem.
• Restraint and authority: Shang’s impulsiveness clashes with Station Chief’s expectation of discipline.
• Scarcity and deprivation: The Pavilion Chief’s hunger for even stale tea suggests that the pavilion’s situation may be worse than it first appears.

Plot points and events

• The Station Chief cuts open a peach, revealing that fruit that looks normal outside is rotten-smelling inside. The stench makes most of the group gag or vomit.
• The Pavilion Chief explains that Riverside Town’s troubles began during a severe drought a year earlier. A passing Daoist persuaded the villagers to worship the local River God, and their first offerings were followed by rain and a revived river.
• The River God later withheld water, and the Daoist claimed it was displeased with the villagers’ offerings. It demanded the Three Sacrifices, then required them twice a month to keep the river flowing and the wells full.
• When the villagers lacked enough livestock, the Daoist said children could be offered instead. Unwilling to sacrifice their children, the villagers planned to leave after harvest—but discovered that the crops nourished by the River God’s rain were inedible despite looking sound.
• Unable to feed themselves normally or afford outside food, the villagers have waited for the Demon-Quelling Office to help.

Character developments and interactions

• The Station Chief takes charge, recognizes that the spoiled produce explains the town’s lack of harvest, and presses the Pavilion Chief for the full story.
• The Pavilion Chief reveals how the villagers were persuaded to worship the River God and describes their increasingly desperate attempts to appease it.
• Ye Qianfan’s lack of smell leaves him unusually unaffected, while the Pavilion Chief appears accustomed to the stench. Li Pu and Actor Qi Zhu react with disgust; Shang Xueli vomits.

Significant themes

• Exploitation through fear and desperation: The River God’s demands escalate as the villagers become more dependent on it.
• Misplaced faith and manipulation: The Daoist frames worship as a practical bargain, then uses the River God’s supposed displeasure to justify further sacrifices.
• Appearance versus reality: The crops look healthy but are rotten within, mirroring the false promise of the rain and the villagers’ apparent salvation.
• Community and survival: The villagers refuse to sacrifice their children and seek to escape, but their ruined harvest leaves them trapped and dependent on outside help.

Key plot points and events

• The village head offers the officers lodging and hot water, but the squad leader insists they investigate immediately.
• The head warns them about strict nighttime rules: never leave a room after dark, and sleep exactly two to a room. He says one person alone may die mysteriously, while groups of three or more can encounter intruders or vanishings.
• He recounts supernatural incidents: his youngest son died after a childlike figure appeared by the cradle; elsewhere, children reportedly disappeared and were replaced by piglets. Villagers sacrificed one pig to the river god, which caused a small patch of rice to become normal, though the food remained insufficient.
• The squad leader gathers the Nuo Masters to investigate and agrees they should return before sunset.
• The village head notices the team has an odd number of members and worries about how they will follow the two-to-a-room rule. The squad leader dismisses the danger confidently and prepares to leave.

Character developments

• The squad leader is decisive and self-assured, prioritizing the investigation over comfort. He is skeptical of the lodging rules and confident the team can handle the spirit.
• The village head is frightened and superstitious, sharing painful memories and repeatedly warning the officers. He nevertheless defers to their authority and presumed abilities.
• Ye Qianfan asks whether sacrificing a pig actually improved the villagers’ food supply, helping clarify the limited results of their actions.

Significant themes

• Supernatural dread and uncertainty: Strange events follow seemingly arbitrary rules, and their cause remains unclear.
• Poverty and desperation: Hunger drives the villagers to accept a sacrifice that provides only a small amount of relief.
• Conflict between caution and confidence: The head urges strict precautions, while the squad leader trusts the team’s strength.
• Moral cost of superstition: The villagers’ response to the supernatural has involved tragic deaths and coercive sacrifice.

Character interactions

• The squad leader rejects the village head’s offer of rest and presses ahead with the investigation.
• The village head warns the team and recounts his family’s tragedy; the squad leader listens but questions the rules.
• Ye Qianfan probes the practical outcome of the sacrifice, and the head admits it barely helped.
• The village head’s concern about the team’s odd numbers clashes with the squad leader’s bravado as the group sets out.

Plot points and events

• After leaving the Pavilion Office, the Station Chief assigns teams to verify the pavilion head’s account, question villagers, map the village, and investigate the river.
• Most investigators hurry into the village, wary of searching a river where the entity could lurk. Ye Qianfan stays with Shen Lang and the Station Chief, hoping to learn from his experience.
• At a strange, round River God Temple downstream, Shen Lang compares it to the odd temple in the Ghost Village. The Station Chief realizes Ye and Shen were the newcomers who cleared that earlier trial.
• Shen explains that Ye uncovered the Ghost Village’s clues and resolved its evil entity’s anguish, though the Night Watchman attacked them rather than accept his daughter’s release.
• The Station Chief identifies the temple as a Fish Bone Temple. Ye notices the key mystery: a small river somehow produced the enormous fish whose bones form the temple.
• Inside, they find the fish skeleton covered with earthen plaster, an offering table, an incense burner, stale fruit, and a clay river-god statue shaped more like a green, yellow-eyed fish monster than a human deity.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qianfan shows initiative and sharp observation, staying close to the Station Chief to learn and quickly spotting the temple’s central anomaly.
• Shen Lang praises Ye’s role in their previous success, while recounting the Night Watchman’s betrayal with frustration.
• The Station Chief is impressed by Ye and Shen’s achievement and by Ye’s reasoning, treating the newcomers with new respect and guiding their investigation.

Significant themes

• Caution and uncertainty: The river’s hidden danger makes even experienced investigators reluctant to approach it.
• Observation and inference: The investigators must question accepted explanations and notice physical details to uncover the truth.
• Appearance versus reality: The “river god” looks like a demon, and the temple’s unusual construction hints that the village’s beliefs—and perhaps its story—may conceal something sinister.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qianfan examines the abandoned Fish Bone Temple and concludes that its River God has recently returned: a wet creature dragged dust from the temple floor, and claw marks and water stains suggest a huge, dangerous fish-like being.
• The group finds a funeral procession dressed in red despite carrying a coffin. Its members explain that they are taking a woman who died unmarried to the River God as a bride, in accordance with local custom.
• A village elder insists they have done nothing illegal and warns that missing the ceremony’s appointed hour could anger the River God and bring disaster. His son nearly reveals too much before the elder silences him.
• Following the procession from a distance, Ye Qianfan, Shen Lang, and the Station Chief discover a small riverside offering platform. The coffin bearers approach it while the others kneel; the elder burns incense and launches a paper boat carrying what appears to be a talisman.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qianfan demonstrates sharp observational reasoning, earning the Station Chief’s admiration with his reconstruction of the creature’s movements and size.
• Shen Lang confronts the procession directly, but the elder deftly avoids giving details about the woman’s death and asserts the villagers’ right to follow their customs.
• The elder’s son is nervous and blunt, nearly incriminating the group; his father scolds him and takes charge.
• The Station Chief directs the investigation cautiously, ordering the others to follow without getting too close.

Significant themes

• Superstition and fear: The villagers’ ceremony is driven by the belief that the River God must be appeased.
• Tradition versus law: The elder frames the ritual as ancestral custom and challenges the officials to prove wrongdoing.
• Mystery and danger: The supposed River God may be a real, formidable creature, while the coffin ceremony raises troubling questions about the woman’s death and the villagers’ intentions.

Key plot points and events

• The River God appears to answer the villagers’ summons: bubbles rise, and the coffin containing the bride is pushed into the river. A villager is dragged underwater by a mass of black energy, which Ye Qianfan recognizes as killing intent. The villagers flee, leaving the old man behind until his son leads him away.
• The Station Chief suspects the River God is a demon or monster. Since he cannot locate it with his Heavenly Eye, he plans to set a trap the next day.
• As the group returns to Riverside Town, dark clouds gather and rain begins. Ye Qianfan rushes back to the Pavilion Office to protect his vulnerable paper body; Shen Lang follows with a flimsy excuse.
• The Pavilion Chief warns that rain brings darkness sooner, and anyone still outside after dark will be in danger. Before he can explain further, kite-like creatures called Human-Skin Paintings appear, seeking their bodies.
• One swoops down on Nuo Master Qi Zhu just as he calls for help from his troupe’s Patriarch and Lord Zhong Kui; the chapter ends with his cry of terror.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qianfan recognizes the river creature’s nature and remains cautious, especially about rain exposing his paper body.
• Shen Lang backs Ye Qianfan’s attempt to hurry indoors, inventing a stomachache to leave with him.
• The Station Chief takes charge of the River God problem but postpones action until he can prepare a trap.
• The Pavilion Chief reveals the urgent rule that people must be indoors before dark, though he explains it only after danger begins.
• Qi Zhu tries to summon supernatural aid but may be too late. The villagers’ terror is evident in their abandonment of the man dragged underwater.

Significant themes

• Supernatural danger and uncertainty: Both the River God and the Human-Skin Paintings pose threats whose origins and limits are unclear.
• Survival through caution: The characters prioritize getting indoors and avoiding exposure rather than confronting unknown dangers unprepared.
• Ritual and helplessness: The villagers’ offering fails to prevent a death, while Qi Zhu’s attempt to invoke protection appears mistimed.
• Time pressure: Rain accelerates nightfall, turning a warning about staying indoors into an immediate crisis.

Key plot points and events

• The Human-Skin Painting covers Qi Zhu, and Ye Qianfan sees Qi Zhu’s yang energy vanish. Although the creature imitates him, Qi Zhu is already dead.
• The disguised ghost claims it will summon its Patriarch, then reveals its plan to kill everyone and give its fellow spirits human bodies.
• The Daoist warns that consuming Qi Zhu’s essence, energy, and spirit has strengthened the creature to the sixth tier—too powerful for Ye Qianfan and Shen Lang to fight directly.
• Instead of fleeing, the usually timid Pavilion Chief rushes to shut the courtyard gate. Ye Qianfan trusts his local knowledge and helps, along with Shen Lang.
• The gate’s Door God glows and burns the Human-Skin Painting. Its painted skin melts away, exposing Qi Zhu’s bloody, skinless corpse.
• As the creature disappears, someone knocks on the gate, leaving a new threat or mystery unresolved.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qianfan recognizes the disguise, confronts the ghost, and then chooses to trust the Pavilion Chief’s unexpected action rather than simply follow the Daoist’s warning to retreat.
• The Pavilion Chief shifts from fearful bystander to decisive protector, using the gate as a defense against the creature.
• Shen Lang backs Ye Qianfan and the Pavilion Chief in closing the gate.
• The disguised Qi Zhu drops his pretense once exposed and reveals his murderous intent.
• The Daoist provides crucial information about the enemy’s strength and urges the others to escape.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: The apparent Qi Zhu is a ghost wearing human skin, while the truth beneath the disguise is horrifying.
• Local knowledge and trust: The Pavilion Chief’s practical response succeeds where direct combat would likely fail.
• Protection through belief and tradition: The Door God’s image on the gate proves capable of repelling the supernatural threat.
• Transformation and the cost of survival: The creature gains power by consuming Qi Zhu, who is left as a mutilated corpse.

Plot points and events

• A voice claiming to be the Station Chief calls from outside the courtyard. The Pavilion Chief is ready to open the door, but Ye Qianfan recognizes that a Human-Skin Ghost is impersonating him and stops him.
• A sword thrusts through the door. Ye recognizes it as a Nuo Master’s sword and opens the door, revealing that the real Station Chief had pinned the ghost there and immediately cuts it in two.
• Mo Hechuan and others return through the rain with another ghost in pursuit. Mo distracts it with his Paper-Cutting Art: it swallows a paper bouquet, then a rooster. The ghost’s skin wraps around the chicken, leaving it looking like a grotesque, skirted creature. The Station Chief kills it once Mo reaches the courtyard.
• The Station Chief tells Mo to get inside, explaining that the ghosts cannot enter the courtyard, then asks about Mo’s teammate, Chi Xi. Mo says Chi Xi was devoured while choosing to fight the ghosts. The Station Chief assures Mo it was not his fault.
• Li Pu rushes back with three more Human-Skin Ghosts pursuing him, ending the chapter on an immediate threat.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qianfan acts decisively, recognizing the impostor and overriding the Pavilion Chief’s fear-driven impulse to open the door.
• The Pavilion Chief trusts the courtyard’s protection but is frightened when the ghost’s sword pierces the door.
• Mo Hechuan shows cleverness and composure, using tricks rather than force to evade a ghost. He also grieves Chi Xi and feels responsible for failing to save him.
• The Station Chief is capable and protective: he kills the ghosts, brings survivors back, and comforts Mo without blaming him.
• Chi Xi is revealed to have died fighting the ghosts, reinforcing his self-sacrificing nature. Ye regrets his death but questions whether the sacrifice achieved much.
• Li Pu’s desperate return sets up the next confrontation.

Significant themes

• Deception and vigilance: A familiar voice can be a dangerous disguise; survival depends on recognizing the threat.
• Courage and sacrifice: Chi Xi’s choice to fight reflects admirable righteousness, but also its risks.
• Ingenuity versus strength: Mo’s resourcefulness buys time against enemies he cannot defeat directly.
• Shared danger and responsibility: The survivors rely on one another, while the Station Chief’s reassurance highlights the importance of not assigning blame for every loss.

Plot points and events

• Shang Xueli and Li Pu struggle to hold off three Human-Skin Ghosts: her sword can repel them, while Li Pu’s needles only push them back briefly.
• The Station Chief pins one ghost with his thrown sword, allowing Shang Xueli to kill it. Shen Lang’s flute then briefly freezes the remaining ghosts, and Shang Xueli and the Station Chief destroy them.
• Hong Qilin returns and effortlessly cuts down a Human-Skin Ghost with his Ghost-Head Saber’s energy. His fearsome killing intent also frightens another ghost into fleeing.
• Hong Qilin asks about his partner, Qi Zhu. Ye Qianfan reveals that Qi Zhu has been reduced to a puddle of bloody water. The group realizes three Nuo Masters have already been lost on their first day in Riverside Town.
• Once inside the compound, the Station Chief confronts the Pavilion Chief, demanding to know why nobody warned them that rain was dangerous and why Lower River Village’s bridal procession carried a coffin.
• The Pavilion Chief insists he knew nothing about the rain and had not known the village was arranging a marriage for the River God. On hearing about the marriage, he realizes it may explain why the rain suddenly began.

Character developments and interactions

• Shang Xueli proves capable and composed in battle, then openly praises Hong Qilin. His intimidating warrior persona gives way to bashful, goofy modesty in response.
• Shen Lang’s flute provides a crucial opening for the fighters, while the Station Chief’s quick sword throw helps turn the fight.
• The Station Chief shifts from directing the group in battle to angrily interrogating the Pavilion Chief, though he gets no clear explanation about the rain.
• The group’s shock at Qi Zhu’s death underscores how dangerous the town is and how little control they have over events.

Significant themes

• The danger of the unknown: The sudden rain, the ghosts, and the River God’s apparent influence make Riverside Town increasingly threatening.
• Loss and the cost of investigation: Three Nuo Masters are lost almost immediately, suggesting their mission may be far more perilous than expected.
• Unintended consequences and hidden connections: The Pavilion Chief’s realization hints that the River God’s marriage arrangement and the sudden rain are linked.

Key plot points and events

• The Pavilion Chief explains that Lower River Village has broken away from Riverside Town. Its people blame him for angering the River God by seeking help from the Demon-Quelling Office, and now try to appease the god themselves.
• He says he knew nothing about the village’s decision to deliver a bride that day. The sudden rain may signal an agreement with the River God, who has reportedly received brides before—women who usually drowned, whether as punishment or by design.
• The Station Chief accepts the Pavilion Chief’s account for now, orders the team to write factual reports, and settles everyone into rooms. The Pavilion Chief warns that villagers who go out at night never return; the Station Chief dismisses the danger.
• The group divides among the rooms. Shang Xueli refuses to share with Li Pu and chooses Hong Qilin instead. Li Pu rooms with Mo Hechuan, while partners Ye Qianfan and Shen Lang share a room with only one bed.
• Shen Lang worries that the team is running out of time: three people have died or disappeared in a single day, and he fears the rest may soon follow. Ye Qianfan urges patience and doubts that an ordinary evil spirit could control the river and crops.
• Ye Qianfan begins cultivating rather than sleeping, using the Devouring Great Method to absorb faint ambient energy despite lacking heavenly treasures.

Character developments and interactions

• The Station Chief remains confident and forceful, dismissing warnings about nighttime danger and asserting that he can handle any spirit that appears.
• The Pavilion Chief is fearful and politically weakened, emphasizing that Lower River Village no longer obeys him and repeatedly warning the team about the night.
• Shen Lang voices the group’s urgency and fear, contrasting with Ye Qianfan’s steady, practical approach.
• Ye Qianfan stays composed, questions the apparent scale of the River God’s power, and uses every available moment to cultivate.
• Shang Xueli bluntly rejects Li Pu’s offer to room together, teasing his lack of respectability while choosing Hong Qilin.
• Li Pu accepts the rejection and turns to Mo Hechuan, who is indifferent about the arrangement.

Significant themes

• Fear and survival: Deaths, disappearances, and the rule against going out at night make the investigation feel urgent and dangerous.
• Faith, blame, and power: Lower River Village’s split from Riverside Town shows how fear of divine retribution can divide a community and reshape its loyalties.
• Uncertainty and investigation: The team has clues but no clear explanation for the River God’s apparent influence, and must distinguish facts from speculation.
• Persistence and preparation: Ye Qianfan’s cultivation reflects his belief that small, steady efforts can matter when time and resources are limited.

Plot points and events

• Ye Qianfan spends a strangely peaceful night sharing a room with Shen Lang. While Shen sleeps, Ye completes six circuits of his soul technique and slightly strengthens his soul power.
• In the morning, the Pavilion Chief calls for the Station Chief, but gets no answer. The others gather, and Shang Xueli opens the unlocked room.
• The room is drenched in blood smeared across the floor, yet the Station Chief’s body is missing. His clothes and saber remain, and the only identifiable part of him is a severed thumb on the bed.
• The group concludes that an Evil Spirit must have killed and devoured him silently during the night.
• With the Station Chief gone, Mo Hechuan asks Ye to lead. Ye accepts temporarily, urges everyone to stay together, and insists that no one else can die that day.
• Ye searches the room. The only possible clue is several holes in the window paper, though he cannot tell whether they are new.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye shifts from deputy to acting leader, responding to the crisis with resolve and practical caution. He prioritizes keeping the group together rather than investigating alone.
• Shen Lang immediately supports Ye, reinforcing their close bond.
• Shang Xueli discovers the bloody room and reacts with shock and grief.
• Mo Hechuan formally acknowledges Ye’s authority, while the others accept his leadership.

Significant themes

• The danger of the town: Even a quiet night offers no assurance of safety; the Station Chief is killed without warning.
• Leadership under pressure: Ye must take responsibility after a sudden loss and try to protect the remaining group.
• Uncertainty and vulnerability: The missing body, unexplained blood, and ambiguous window damage leave the nature and method of the attack unclear.

Key events

• Ye Qianfan suggests the group eat breakfast together and pool their findings, rather than leaving him to solve the mystery alone. The Pavilion Chief has scraped together scarce food; Ye Qianfan shares it with the household, who are visibly hungry.
• Mo Hechuan reports that Riverside Town’s troubles began during last year’s drought. A Daoist promised to help without payment, and his ritual brought rain, earning the villagers’ trust.
• The Daoist then urged the villagers to worship a “River God,” whose demands escalated from incense to food and sacrificial animals, and eventually to living creatures. Mo’s account ends when a villager interrupts him; the villagers refuse to discuss the River God, and no one can say where the Daoist is.
• Shang Xueli presents a map of the village. Its layout seems ordinary except for a huge tree at the center, unusually covered in tumor-like growths.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qianfan shows restraint and leadership: he invites collaboration, avoids jumping to conclusions about the Daoist, and shares the limited breakfast with the Pavilion Chief’s people.
• Mo Hechuan backs Ye Qianfan’s approach and relays the villagers’ guarded account. Shen Lang supports Ye Qianfan without hesitation.
• Shang Xueli contributes careful investigative work through her map, drawing attention to the central tree as a possible clue.

Significant themes

• Collective investigation: The group pools information rather than relying on one person to interpret events.
• Fear and secrecy: Villagers’ abrupt silence about the River God suggests a threat or taboo surrounding the cult.
• Corruption of trust: The Daoist’s successful rain ritual made the villagers receptive to increasingly disturbing demands.
• Scarcity and compassion: Ye’s willingness to leave precious food for the household contrasts with the group’s larger, ominous mystery.

Plot points and events

• Shang Xueli reveals that the tree they plan to investigate is unusual not merely for its burls, but because each burl bears a human face.
• The investigators decide to inspect the tree and then investigate Lower River Village, where villagers had been escorting a bride to the River God. Ye Qianfan suspects the Daoist there may be connected to the strange events.
• The Pavilion Chief warns that Lower River Village is more than two hours away on foot and that traveling after dark is dangerous.
• The group splits: Ye Qianfan, Shen Lang, and Li Pu head for the human-faced tree, while Mo Hechuan, Hong Qilin, and Shang Xueli go to Lower River Village to look for the Daoist.
• Just after leaving, Ye Qianfan encounters a funeral procession. Its leader says they are going to the Pavilion Chief’s residence to collect a body from the Pavilion Office.
• Ye Qianfan realizes the dead person must be the Station Chief, even though the death has only just occurred and the Pavilion Chief has not left the building. The funeral leader demands to know how he could have known.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Lang initially dismisses ordinary burls as unremarkable, but Shang Xueli’s description of human faces on them shocks him.
• Ye Qianfan takes charge of the investigation, organizing the teams and warning them to return before dark.
• Hong Qilin volunteers to pursue the Daoist, confident he can deal with him by force. Shang Xueli eagerly joins his team.
• Ye Qianfan’s sudden, apparently impossible knowledge of the Station Chief’s death creates a new mystery and puts him under suspicion.

Significant themes

• The uncanny intruding on the ordinary: a familiar tree feature becomes horrifying when human faces appear on it.
• Danger and urgency: the threat of night travel reinforces the risks surrounding the village and its strange events.
• Suspicion and hidden knowledge: Ye Qianfan’s foreknowledge of the Station Chief’s death raises questions about what he knows—and how.

Key plot points and events

• During a funeral procession, Ye Qianfan learns that the Human-Head Tree bears the faces of everyone who dies in Riverside Town. The villagers claim the latest face belongs to a stranger who stayed at the Pavilion Office.
• A villager warns Ye not to witness the burial of someone who died after breaking village rules, but says he can honor his friend at the tree. Ye lets the procession go and plans to follow it secretly.
• Ye sends Li Pu and Shen Lang to inspect the Human-Head Tree and record the faces, looking especially for anyone familiar. The group splits into three teams.
• Ye secretly follows the procession to the Pavilion Office. The pallbearers enter with an empty coffin and emerge carrying a noticeably heavy one.
• Because the Station Chief’s room contained only blood and a severed finger—not a body—Ye doubts the Station Chief is dead and suspects the coffin may be part of a River God sacrifice.
• The procession reaches the river and performs a ritual: a small boat bearing a yellow-paper talisman is taken underwater by the River God, then returned with a grain of rice where the talisman had been.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qianfan stays cautious and investigative. He questions the villager, uses his sword to stop the man’s warnings from escalating, then chooses covert surveillance rather than openly following the procession.
• Li Pu and Shen Lang volunteer to inspect the tree and show confidence in Ye’s plan; Ye reminds them to be careful and thorough.
• The Daoist suggests the villagers may be offering the body to the River God, reinforcing Ye’s suspicions.
• The villagers’ nervous response to Ye’s challenge—and their strict burial rules—suggest that fear and inherited custom govern their behavior.

Significant themes

• Hidden truths and uncertainty: The unexplained body in the coffin conflicts with what the investigators saw in the Station Chief’s room.
• Ritual and superstition: The Human-Head Tree and the river offering shape village life, with rules enforced through threats of collective punishment.
• Surveillance and danger: Ye’s team divides to investigate, but the mysterious customs make even routine inquiries risky.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qianfan realizes the villagers’ offerings to the River God are part of an exchange, possibly trading for benefits such as restoring the flavor of their rice.
• He interrupts the funeral procession before it can place the coffin on the dock. The frightened villagers flee, but their middle-aged leader urges them to stand together.
• Ye Qianfan kills the leader. The man’s head rolls into the river, where the River God swallows it.
• Rather than reveal itself, the River God spreads a dense black mist of killing intent across the water and bank. It drags nearby creatures, including a snake, into the river.
• The Daoist warns that the mist can invade Ye Qianfan’s soul and urges him to flee. Ye Qianfan refuses to abandon the coffin, fearing for the Station Chief and the consequences of the River God consuming someone with such heavy karma.
• Ye Qianfan uses Ye Fu’s strength to throw the leader’s corpse toward the river, hoping to distract or appease the River God, then opens the coffin.
• He discovers that the body inside is not the Station Chief.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qianfan shifts from investigating the villagers’ ritual to confronting them directly. Despite the danger, his concern for the Station Chief—or at least for recovering the body—keeps him from retreating.
• The Daoist interprets the villagers’ exchange with the River God and recognizes the black mist as a serious spiritual threat. He urges Ye Qianfan to escape.
• Ye Fu shows an increasing appetite for human flesh and blood, but still obeys Ye Qianfan’s command.
• The villagers reveal their dependence on the River God and fear its retaliation. Their leader tries to resist Ye Qianfan, but the rest panic and flee.

Significant themes

• Transactional worship and exploitation: The villagers appear to trade offerings for material benefits, and Ye Qianfan suspects they intend to sacrifice the Nuo Master.
• Power and sacrifice: The River God’s response to the offering is violent and unpredictable, turning the villagers’ ritual into a deadly threat.
• Loyalty and persistence: Ye Qianfan risks facing the River God rather than leave the coffin behind.
• Uncertainty and deception: The coffin’s occupant is not the person Ye Qianfan expected, raising new questions about the funeral and the Station Chief’s whereabouts.