Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Yang Qing and his companions examine the Bone Jade Thumb Ring, whose carving depicts the Imperial Scepter of the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom. The Holy Maiden explains that the ring may have belonged to a trusted noble or subject, not necessarily Emperor Zhetian himself.
• Yang Qing recalls a portrait in the ruins’ hidden chamber. Its face is unclear in his memory, but its unusually lifelike eyes left a strong impression. The portrait burned shortly after he entered.
• The group camps for the night near the ruins, taking turns on watch and helping shield the less resilient members from the cold.
• At dawn, Bu Er discovers that the ruins have vanished completely. Yang Qing suspects a legendary Stillness Spell had preserved them through time and that the portrait’s destruction may have ended the spell.
• Yang Qing warns that their journey is becoming increasingly entangled with the ancient kingdom and asks Pei Buji, the Holy Maiden, and Ouyang Lin to consider whether they should continue with him.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing grows more convinced that the strange events on the journey are centered on him. Concerned that his companions may be harmed, he raises the possibility of separating from them.
• Pei Buji is hurt by the suggestion, interpreting it as Yang Qing viewing the group as a burden. Yang Qing reassures him that his concern is for their safety, not a lack of trust or affection.
• The Holy Maiden contributes historical knowledge, clarifying what the ring’s emblem can—and cannot—prove.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou keep watch, while Pei Buji and the others help the group endure the cold. Their shared effort reflects the loyalty and bonds formed during the journey.
• The companions react with awe to the disappearance of the ruins and to Yang Qing’s explanation of the Stillness Spell.

Significant themes

• The past resisting time: The ring, portrait, and vanished ruins suggest that ancient magic can preserve remnants of the Eastern Radiance Kingdom.
• Fate and growing entanglement: Yang Qing wonders whether the route and discoveries are drawing him toward a larger, possibly predetermined mystery.
• Protection versus companionship: Yang Qing’s instinct to spare his friends danger clashes with their desire to remain at his side.
• Uncertainty and wonder: The ruins’ disappearance deepens the sense that the journey will bring increasingly inexplicable events.

Key plot points and events

• Pei Buji and Mo Beixing each explain why they intend to stay with Yang Qing’s group: their journey has brought them together, and they no longer wish to part. Yang Qing recognizes that he spoke too hastily and accepts their decision.
• Ouyang Lin wakes from his injuries. He recounts finding a hidden path in the forest that led to an Underground City, where he saw several wall paintings before the Tree Serpent caught and bound him.
• Yang Qing suspects the paintings may have been connected to the mysterious painting in the Ruins, but the group has already left the forest and cannot return to investigate.
• After two days crossing the desert, the group reaches its edge and enters a small village. The villagers question whether they came from the desert, then suddenly attack with flaming sticks, apparently intending to burn them alive.

Character developments and interactions

• The group’s bonds deepen: Pei Buji, Mo Beixing, and Ouyang Lin all make clear that they want to continue traveling with Yang Qing and the others.
• Ouyang Lin is still weak but alert, relieved to find the group safe and eager to remain with them.
• Yang Qing listens to Ouyang’s account and reflects on the lost chance to investigate the Underground City, while remaining intrigued by its connection to the Ruins.
• Jiang Zhizhou’s casual address to the villagers’ leader as “Brother” provokes an unexpectedly hostile response, triggering the attack.

Significant themes

• Chosen companionship and loyalty: The travelers’ shared dangers have turned them from temporary companions into a close-knit group.
• Missed chances and uncertainty: The lost opportunity to examine the Underground City’s paintings underscores how events can move beyond anyone’s control.
• The world’s mysteries: The Eternal Gaze Curse, Stillness Spell, Tree Serpent, and Underground City suggest that many forces remain unexplained.
• Fear and suspicion: The villagers’ hostility hints that the group’s arrival from the desert carries a meaning or threat beyond their disheveled appearance.

Plot points

• Yang Qing’s group approaches a village hoping to ask for directions, but the villagers attack them with fire strikers and insist they are cursed harbingers of disaster because they came from the land behind them.
• The group extinguishes the flames easily. When the villagers refuse to explain their fear or let them pass, Bu Er intimidates their leader and demands food, water, clean clothes, and another route.
• The villagers reluctantly agree to fetch supplies but refuse to reveal what they meant. Bu Er punches their leader, yet the villagers remain strangely resigned rather than answering.
• Yang Qing sends Jiang Zhizhou into the village to investigate. Jiang spots a stone shrine amid the thatched houses, but an unseen force at its gate throws him back.
• The villagers explain that the shrine protects them and warns them of coming disasters. They claim it identified Yang Qing’s party as the very danger Heaven had foretold.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing begins by seeking peaceful information, but abandons negotiation when the villagers’ hostility makes it useless. He stays composed and lets Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou act on his suspicions.
• Bu Er is fiercely protective and uses threats and force to press for answers, though he cannot bring himself to slaughter ordinary villagers. Their silence leaves him frustrated.
• Jiang Zhizhou’s investigation reveals the village’s supernatural or mysterious defenses and exposes the shrine as the source of the villagers’ warning.
• The villagers’ fear conflicts with their defiance: they are terrified of the travelers, yet seem equally afraid of whatever—or whoever—stands behind the shrine’s warning.

Significant themes

• Fear and superstition: The villagers judge the travelers by the place they came from, not by their actions.
• Authority and belief: The shrine’s warning controls the village’s response, even though its power and reliability remain unexplained.
• Force versus understanding: The travelers’ attempts to ask questions fail, and intimidation produces little clarity, suggesting that the conflict has deeper roots than simple hostility.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• The villagers block Jiang Zhizhou and his companions from passing, believing they are “harbingers of disaster” because they emerged alive from the nearby Demon Domain.
• The villagers explain that the Demon Domain is a barren, rainless place where demon light sometimes appears. For generations, anyone from the village who entered vanished without a trace; hundreds reportedly died.
• Jiang Zhizhou learns that the village’s concern also stems from a courtyard that mysteriously caught fire two days earlier. Suspecting the courtyard is the source of the trouble, he returns to Yang Qing to report what he has uncovered.
• Yang Qing asks the village chief about the Hard Tribe. The chief calls them fiends, describing their blood-drinking, nocturnal rituals, apparent return from death, and unchanging faces. Yang Qing recognizes these as distorted accounts of the tribe’s curse.
• The chief says the Hard Tribe once lived beside the village. After the villagers discovered what was happening there, their crops failed and their river changed course, forcing them to migrate. Over time, they ended up far away, separated from the tribe by a vast desert. Yang Qing suspects an unseen force may have engineered these events to keep the villagers apart from the Hard Tribe.
• Yang Qing asks the chief about the village’s Sacrificial Temple, but the chapter ends before he receives an answer.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Zhizhou remains composed and diplomatic, questioning the villagers rather than threatening them. Once he understands their fears, he avoids further argument and brings the information back to Yang Qing.
• Yang Qing investigates calmly and respectfully. He recognizes the truth behind the village’s stories about the Hard Tribe but chooses not to reveal his knowledge, instead probing the chief for more information.
• The villagers are fearful and suspicious, interpreting the travelers’ survival in the Demon Domain as proof of danger. Their hostility softens somewhat when addressed calmly.
• The village chief begins angry and contemptuous but becomes more receptive to Yang Qing’s courteous questioning. A child briefly speaks up about the chief, only to be pulled back by a protective adult.

Significant themes

• Fear and superstition: The villagers label the travelers and the Hard Tribe as threats based on frightening, incomplete evidence.
• Hidden forces and manipulated events: The village’s migration, environmental disasters, and separation from the Hard Tribe seem too coincidental to Yang Qing.
• Curses and misunderstood truths: The Hard Tribe’s curse is recast as proof of fiendishness by people unfamiliar with it.
• Communication as a tool: Jiang Zhizhou and Yang Qing use restraint and courtesy to uncover information where force might have worsened the standoff.

Key plot points and events

• The village chief explains that the Sacrificial Temple appeared in the village during a sudden summer storm, though its origins are known only through generations of hearsay.
• No villager—or ancestor—has ever entered the courtyard. Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou suspect it is an illusion, perhaps preserved by a Stillness Spell.
• The village’s tradition says that the person who can make the Sacrificial House open at their approach is the “Fated One,” echoing the title given to Yang Qing and his companions by the Hard Tribe.
• The group follows the chief to the temple. Jiang Zhizhou could not approach it, but Yang Qing walks straight to the door without resistance. The door begins to open, revealing a sliver of light.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing remains composed and determined, but resents the sense that unseen forces are directing his journey. He chooses to investigate while staying alert rather than confronting a stronger hidden power prematurely.
• Jiang Zhizhou recognizes that the temple may be another phenomenon centered on Yang Qing and shares his suspicions with him.
• Bu Er questions the chief’s account; Yang Qing calms him and encourages the chief to continue.
• The village chief shifts from guardedness to cooperation. He hopes the visitors might help the village escape its decline.
• Jiang Zhizhou gives the chief silver as compensation, while the villagers gather, curious about what the temple contains.

Significant themes

• Fate versus agency: The repeated label “Fated One” suggests a larger design, while Yang Qing insists that his choices should remain his own.
• Mystery and hidden forces: The temple’s unexplained arrival and possible magical preservation point to powers beyond the group’s understanding.
• A village’s decline: The revelation that no children have been born for years gives the villagers’ hopes for outside help a deeper urgency.
• The burden of being chosen: Yang Qing’s unusual ability to approach the temple reinforces the possibility that events are arranged around him, even as he resists being controlled.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Qing opens the Sacrificial Temple, which the villagers believe marks him as the Fated One destined to save them. Their joy conflicts with an ancestral rule requiring people from the Demon Domain to be burned.
• Inside, Yang Qing finds a portrait of the same mysterious man he saw in the Ruins, linking the village and its celestial temple to the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom.
• The portrait’s subject seems to regard Yang Qing. After Yang Qing challenges him to explain his purpose, blood drips from the painting and briefly forms an image of the man smiling. The temple doors then reopen, and Yang Qing leaves without learning the man’s identity or intentions.
• The village chief welcomes Yang Qing and his companions to a banquet. Yang Qing stays wary and only pretends to drink; the others consume wine laced with heartbreak grass, a poison.
• After being escorted to their rooms, the group feigns drunkenness. Once the villagers are gone, they wake and prepare to see what the village chief will do next.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing remains patient, observant, and cautious. He recognizes the portrait’s significance but keeps its connection to the ancient kingdom from the villagers. His refusal to drink shows his suspicion of the chief’s sudden hospitality.
• The village chief shifts from apparent reverence to friendly host, but his secret poisoning reveals his duplicity. The brief dark gleam in his eyes when the temple opens foreshadows his hidden motives.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou try to follow Yang Qing into the temple but are repelled by its force. Later, Bu Er quickly recognizes the poisoned wine and asks when the group should act.
• The villagers treat Yang Qing and his companions as honored guests, while also waiting for guidance about their people’s future.

Significant themes

• Faith versus inherited rules: The villagers’ hope in the Fated One clashes with their ancestral command to kill outsiders from the Demon Domain.
• Appearance versus reality: The chief’s warm welcome conceals an attempt to poison the visitors, continuing the group’s experience with danger hidden behind courtesy.
• Patience and uncertainty: Yang Qing waits for the portrait to respond and accepts that he must proceed without understanding the full situation.
• Unanswered history: The temple and portrait deepen the connection to the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom, while leaving the figure’s identity and intentions unresolved.

Key plot points and events

• The village chief and his men surround the house and set it on fire, believing Yang Qing and his companions are demons who must die according to ancestral instructions. The villagers watch without helping.
• Yang Qing, Bu Er, Jiang Zhizhou, and the others escape the burning house unharmed. Yang Qing reminds the chief that only he can open the Sacrificial Temple, making the villagers’ hoped-for escape impossible after they tried to kill him.
• The group leaves the village as it burns and its people face the consequences of their betrayal. Beyond the village, the landscape returns to ordinary scenery.
• At an inn, Bu Er reports that the western route through populated towns should make travel to Haiyan City easier. Yang Qing rejects the idea of simply continuing toward the Ultimate Land: he wants to investigate the recurring portraits, including one depicting the figure he saw in the Ruins.
• Yang Qing decides they should go wherever portraits appear, using the Bone Jade Thumb Ring and taking the initiative against the forces that have been directing their journey. The threat of the ferocious beast remains unresolved.

Character development and interactions

• Yang Qing shows restraint by initially urging his companions not to kill the villagers unnecessarily. After the attempted murder, however, he draws a firm line: the chief has made reconciliation impossible. He then shifts from reacting to events to choosing their next goal.
• The village chief is driven by fear, ambition, and visions of future status and family. His plan to kill the travelers backfires, leaving him and the villagers in despair.
• Bu Er reads Yang Qing’s mood and checks on him, while he and Jiang Zhizhou support Yang Qing’s decision without hesitation.
• The companions share a growing resolve to stop being manipulated and to act on their own terms.

Significant themes

• Self-inflicted consequences: The village’s suffering is presented as the result of its own choices, not unavoidable fate.
• Freedom versus manipulation: Yang Qing and his companions refuse to remain pawns in forces they do not understand.
• Betrayal and gratitude: The villagers repay the group’s earlier help with violence, prompting Yang Qing to abandon any expectation of goodwill.
• Choosing the path ahead: The group postpones the most direct route to the Ultimate Land in favor of confronting the mystery that has repeatedly crossed their path.

Plot points and events

• Yang Qing’s group settles in a busy crossroads city to rest and gather information before continuing their journey.
• Mo Beixing goes shopping, accompanied at a distance by Pei Buji. She enters a dressmaker’s shop but never comes out; the staff claim she left after being taken to the rear courtyard to rest.
• Pei Buji finds faint footprints on the courtyard windowsill, confirming that Mo Beixing was abducted. He returns to the inn and alerts the others.
• Yang Qing suspects the shop was involved. He and the others find it abandoned, revealing it as a thieves’ den whose occupants have fled.
• Yang Qing reasons that the abductors likely remain nearby and may be planning another strike. Before the group can act, a sudden gust bursts through their window, prompting Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er to respond.

Character developments and interactions

• Pei Buji is protective of Mo Beixing but feels guilty for failing to prevent her abduction. Jiang Zhizhou reassures him that the kidnappers’ trap was carefully planned.
• Yang Qing shifts from regret over the group’s carelessness to a focused assessment of the danger, emphasizing that finding Mo Beixing is their priority.
• Jiang Zhizhou supports Yang Qing’s reasoning and comforts Pei Buji. When the gust arrives, he moves to shield Yang Qing while Bu Er confronts the threat.
• Mo Beixing, the Holy Maiden, is absent after her abduction; her status makes the incident especially dangerous.

Significant themes

• Vigilance and vulnerability: Even a seemingly ordinary errand can conceal a carefully prepared ambush.
• Responsibility and guilt: Pei Buji blames himself, while Jiang Zhizhou reminds him that the criminals’ planning—not his negligence—made the trap effective.
• Broader consequences: The Holy Maiden’s prophetic role means her captors could exploit her for purposes that might endanger the wider world.
• Suspense and looming danger: The group suspects the abductors are still close and may target them again, a threat underscored by the sudden attack at the chapter’s end.

Plot points and events

• A golden silk-wrapped dart arrives with the message, “Is there news of the Holy Maiden?” Bu Er carefully removes the cloth, which invites Yang Qing’s group to meet at the Spring Breeze House, without giving a time or sender. The silk then mysteriously dissolves into black liquid.
• Yang Qing decides to go, reasoning that the invitation may reveal the hidden sender’s intentions.
• On the way, the group finds a crowd gathered for a martial contest to win the hand of the Lin family’s only daughter. The victor is also promised the family fortune.
• Unable to reach the crowded Spring Breeze House, Yang Qing’s party takes seats at a restaurant opposite and watches the contest.
• Jiang Zhizhou spots a woman at a window in the Spring Breeze House who looks remarkably like the missing Holy Maiden, Mo Beixing.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing remains composed and curious, choosing to investigate the suspicious invitation rather than avoid it; he also treats the detour as a chance to enjoy a meal.
• Bu Er is cautious about the mysterious message and warns against walking into a trap. He also mocks an overconfident spectator who boasts about winning Miss Lin.
• Ouyang Lin and Pei Buji examine the invitation and gather information about the location and the crowd.
• Jiang Zhizhou notices the possible resemblance to Mo Beixing, bringing the group’s search back into focus.

Significant themes

• Suspicion and investigation: The anonymous invitation and vanishing message suggest deliberate secrecy and possible danger.
• Appearance versus reality: Yang Qing considers that the sender may be disguising their true intentions, while the invitation’s unusual form and timing invite doubt.
• Wealth, beauty, and ambition: The contest draws spectators eager for both Miss Lin’s hand and the Lin family fortune.
• Chance convergence: The lively public event may intersect with the group’s search for the missing Holy Maiden.

Plot points and events

• Yang Qing and his companions see the Lin Family’s daughter at the Spring Breeze House. She strongly resembles the missing Holy Maiden, Mo Beixing, though her lavish appearance is very different.
• A torn piece of silk and a throwing dart that had appeared in their room are gone. The group suspects someone deliberately led them to see the Lin daughter as a clue—or a distraction—about Mo Beixing’s disappearance.
• They decide to investigate the Lin Family, whose marriage tournament gives them a reason to approach openly. Yang Qing argues that going straight to Mountain City could mean losing track of the family if it travels elsewhere.
• The group splits up: Yang Qing and Bu Er watch the tournament, while Jiang Zhizhou, Pei Buji, and Ouyang Lin search Nameless City for signs of Mo Beixing. Their search turns up nothing.
• The tournament lasts three days. On its final day, the Lin daughter appears in plain clothes, without makeup or ornamentation, and looks even more like Mo Beixing. The change convinces Yang Qing that the Lin Family is connected to the Holy Maiden’s disappearance, though the nature of that connection remains unknown.
• The Lin Family chooses a son-in-law and plans to return to Mountain City. Yang Qing’s group prepares to follow and investigate the Lin Residence discreetly. Before they can leave as planned, the family departs early, so the group immediately follows its carriage.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing moves from cautious suspicion to firm resolve as the resemblance and the daughter’s sudden change in appearance deepen his doubts. He leads the investigation and urges the group not to risk alerting whoever may be behind the disappearance.
• Bu Er questions whether they should simply travel to Mountain City ahead of the Lin Family, but accepts Yang Qing’s reasoning.
• Jiang Zhizhou, Pei Buji, and Ouyang Lin help assess the clues and search the city. Ouyang Lin raises the possibility that the Lin daughter was presented specifically to mislead them.
• The group debates whether the apparent connection is real or a trap, then cooperates by dividing its efforts and agreeing to follow the Lin Family.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus identity: The daughter’s resemblance to Mo Beixing—and her dramatically different presentation on the final day—makes appearance an unsettling but inconclusive clue.
• Suspicion and uncertainty: The group must weigh coincidence against deliberate deception, knowing that either assumption could mislead them.
• Caution in investigation: Yang Qing favors discreet observation over confronting the Lin Family or searching its party directly, to avoid exposing their intentions.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Qing’s group follows the Lin Family to Mountain City, suspecting a connection between the family’s daughter and the missing Mo Beixing. They take rooms near the Lin Residence and watch it, but see nothing unusual beyond preparations for the daughter’s wedding.
• The Lin Family announces a lavish public banquet and offers food to travelers. Yang Qing sees the event as a chance to enter the residence openly, though his companions remain wary.
• An invitation appears inside Yang Qing’s locked room. When the group investigates, a concealed assassin attacks. Bu Er captures him, but the messenger is poisoned and dies.
• Yang Qing concludes that the Lin Family knows Mo Beixing’s identity and has likely taken her. He recalls the Lin Family’s earlier martial contest in Nameless City, reasoning that they used it to spirit her away.
• The group decides to attend the banquet and prioritize finding Mo Beixing, despite not knowing who is backing the Lin Family.
• Meanwhile, rumors spread that Master Lin has taken in an adopted daughter who looks remarkably like his own. The news stirs new ambitions among people seeking the family’s power.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing stays composed and strategic, interpreting the attack as confirmation of the Lin Family’s involvement and keeping the group focused on rescuing Mo Beixing.
• Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er act in close coordination: they secure the room’s exits, Jiang draws out the intruder, and Bu Er captures him. Their caution contrasts with Yang Qing’s willingness to proceed once the danger is contained.
• The Lin Family emerges as powerful, politically influential, and highly calculating. Their public generosity masks a secret operation, and their unseen representative appears to be drawing Yang Qing’s group toward the banquet.

Significant themes

• Deception and appearances: The Lin Family’s public hospitality conceals their likely abduction of Mo Beixing.
• Power and influence: Master Lin’s wealth gives him near-total control over Mountain City, including its officials and public opinion.
• Strategy and risk: Both sides anticipate a confrontation at the banquet, while the group must balance caution against the urgency of finding Mo Beixing.

Plot points and events

• Yang Qing and his companions learn that the Lin Family plans to make Mo Beixing’s identity official and keep her at the Lin Residence. They suspect the family has motives beyond her status.
• On their way to the residence, they are intercepted and invited into a luxurious carriage by a mysterious woman. She uses the Sound Enchantment Art on Yang Qing, but he resists it through unusual techniques learned from books in the Library Pavilion.
• The woman brings them directly inside the Lin Residence, where they discover they have been placed in a confinement formation that makes the surrounding guests seem impossibly distant.
• Yang Qing recognizes the formation as a warning: the Lin Family wants them to stay out of matters involving the Holy Maiden. Rather than panic, the group decides to wait and observe.
• Yang Qing has Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er take precautions. They return, and the formation’s illusion abruptly breaks. Someone is approaching.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing remains composed and perceptive, quickly identifies the woman’s attempt to influence him, and interprets the Lin Family’s trap as a deliberate show of force.
• He reveals that he once gave his heart to someone who has since died, answering the woman’s flirtation with restrained grief.
• The mysterious woman initially treats Yang Qing as an easy target, but his resistance forces her to reassess him. She probes him with flirtation and enchantment, though her motives remain unclear.
• Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er recognize the danger and act on Yang Qing’s instructions, apparently preparing a countermeasure that disrupts the formation.
• The Lin Family communicates with Yang Qing’s group indirectly, using both the woman and the confinement formation to warn them away from the Holy Maiden.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and resistance: The woman’s enchantment and the Lin Family’s formation test whether Yang Qing and his companions can be controlled.
• Power and boundaries: The Lin Family tries to dictate what outsiders may investigate, while Yang Qing refuses to be intimidated.
• Loss and emotional restraint: Yang Qing’s brief reference to his deceased beloved reveals grief beneath his calm exterior.
• Performance and hidden motives: The carriage encounter and the “stage” metaphor suggest that the characters are being drawn into a larger scheme.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Qing recognizes Master Lin and sees him accompanied by two women dressed and made up identically: the Lin Family’s daughter and the Holy Maiden, Mo Beixing.
• He suspects the Lin Family plans to exchange the women, sending Mo Beixing to the palace as a means of gaining influence over the emperor and, ultimately, power across the realm.
• Yang Qing and his companions resolve to act if they can confirm the scheme, but decide to wait for evidence rather than break out of the formation immediately.
• At a lavish banquet celebrating the Lin Family daughter’s supposed return and marriage, Master Lin publicly announces three blessings: his daughter has been recovered, he has gained an adopted daughter, and there is a worthy son-in-law.
• Master Lin pressures Mo Beixing to toast the guests, threatening the people trapped in the formation if she refuses.
• During the toasts, Mo Beixing collides with the Lin Family’s daughter. Afterward, she cannot speak, while the other woman takes her cup and continues in her place.
• Master Lin announces that his “adopted daughter” has impressed the emperor and will go to the Imperial City for an audience the next day, confirming the apparent plan to send Mo Beixing to court under the Lin Family’s control.

Character developments

• Yang Qing grows increasingly suspicious of Master Lin, interpreting the family’s actions as part of an ambitious political scheme. He remains cautious, wanting proof before acting.
• Mo Beixing is trapped and coerced. Though anxious about Yang Qing and his companions, she obeys Master Lin’s demand to protect them; after the collision, she is left voiceless and apparently displaced by the Lin daughter.
• Master Lin reveals himself as calculating and power-hungry, using Mo Beixing’s identity and the threat to her companions to advance his family.
• Jiang Zhizhou reinforces Yang Qing’s suspicions, suggesting the recovered daughter may also be part of the deception.

Significant themes

• Ambition and political manipulation: The Lin Family seeks influence far beyond Mountain City, using the Holy Maiden as a route to imperial power.
• Identity and deception: Matching clothes and makeup blur the women’s identities, while the exchange during the banquet makes the substitution tangible.
• Coercion and loyalty: Mo Beixing complies not for her own benefit but because Master Lin holds her companions’ safety over her.
• Power and public image: The celebratory banquet presents the Lin Family as prosperous and fortunate while concealing its scheme.

Character interactions

• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou discuss the likely substitution and agree that Mo Beixing may need rescuing.
• Master Lin privately threatens Mo Beixing, tying her obedience to the safety of Yang Qing’s group.
• Mo Beixing is forced to toast the guests, then collides with the Lin daughter, after which their apparent roles are reversed.
• Master Lin addresses the assembled guests, shaping their understanding of the women and announcing the supposed adopted daughter’s royal prospects.

Plot points and events

• The Lin Family celebrates its new status after the emperor shows special favor to its adopted daughter. Its plan is to send the Lin Family Daughter to the capital while keeping Mo Beixing behind as a substitute bride.
• Yang Qing and his companions are released from the Lin Family’s trapping formation and return to their inn.
• Yang reveals a map and explains that a similar portrait may have been seen somewhere in the city. A route through a nearby mountain could take the group toward the Imperial Capital while allowing them to pursue the portrait.
• The group suspects the Lin Family’s apparent willingness to let them take Mo Beixing is part of a deeper scheme: the family may intend for its daughter to travel with them, investigate the portrait, and perhaps follow them to the Ultimate Land.
• Master Lin arrives at the inn to visit.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing remains focused on the portrait and is increasingly impatient, but he demonstrates strategic thinking by anticipating how the Lin Family may exploit the situation.
• Jiang Zhizhou warns that the Lin Family’s ambitions make them dangerous and helps Yang interpret the plan.
• Bu Er questions why the Lin Family would make it easy for them to take the Holy Maiden, prompting the group to consider a hidden motive.
• Ouyang Lin realizes that the rescued “Holy Maiden” might actually be the Lin Family Daughter, leaving the group vulnerable to manipulation.
• The companions discuss whether Master Lin has been waiting for them and whether he knows their origins or purpose. They decide to play along for now and observe what else he may be concealing.

Significant themes

• Deception and layered schemes: The apparent bride substitution may conceal a plan to attach the Lin Family Daughter to Yang Qing’s group.
• Caution versus overconfidence: Master Lin’s suspicion has helped him gain power, but his reliance on his own judgment may also lead him astray.
• Ambition and hidden motives: The Lin Family’s pursuit of imperial favor may be only one part of a larger objective.

Key plot points and events

• Master Lin, Mountain City’s wealthy and influential patriarch, visits Yang Qing’s group in person. His arrival draws a crowd, but Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou keep outsiders from approaching or eavesdropping.
• Lin proposes cooperation. Yang Qing initially assumes he wants a business arrangement and deflects him, but Lin reveals he knows the group is interested in the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom.
• Yang Qing suspects Lin may have learned about their mission through unexpected connections, possibly involving the missing Hardway, but cannot determine how.
• Lin says he knows the whereabouts of the group’s missing female friend: she was abducted, rescued by someone from his household, and is now at his residence.
• In return for bringing them to see her, Lin asks to join their journey to the ancient kingdom’s ruins. He explains that he has spent a fortune searching for them—not for personal gain, but to help his hidden son.
• Lin believes a Longevity Formula in the ruins could provide eternal youth and life. Yang Qing challenges this claim, pointing out that even Emperor Zhetian died. Lin insists the formula exists.

Character developments

• Yang Qing remains guarded and perceptive, testing Lin’s motives and refusing to accept his claims at face value. He weighs the offer against the group’s priorities.
• Master Lin emerges as more than a wealthy businessman: he is a determined father willing to spend heavily in pursuit of a cure or salvation for his son. His certainty about the Longevity Formula borders on desperation.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou act as protectors, keeping curious onlookers away from the private meeting.

Significant themes

• Hidden motives and negotiation: Both sides conceal information and try to shape the terms of cooperation.
• The cost of hope: Lin’s search for immortality is driven by love for his son, while Yang Qing questions whether such hope can be trusted.
• Life, death, and legacy: The chapter contrasts the desire to defeat mortality with the historical truth that even powerful rulers eventually disappear.
• Trust and obligation: Lin uses the rescue of Yang Qing’s friend to make his request, turning gratitude into a potential bargain.

Character interactions

• Yang Qing and Lin engage in a cautious verbal contest, each probing the other’s intentions.
• Lin’s revelation about the rescued friend shifts the discussion from speculation to a direct bargain.
• Yang Qing questions Lin’s belief in the Longevity Formula, prompting Lin’s emotional insistence that it is real.
• The group listens as Lin explains his years of searching, and their respect for him grows even as they remain skeptical of his goal.

Key plot points and events

• Master Lin reveals that he believes the Longevity Formula lies in the ruins of the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom and asks to join Yang Qing’s group.
• Yang Qing refuses. His party is seeking the Rootless Wood, not the kingdom’s treasures, and believes the Longevity Formula is too dangerous to pursue.
• After Master Lin leaves angrily, Yang Qing suspects his talk of longevity was a distraction meant to keep them from asking about the Holy Maiden, Mo Beixing.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou investigate the Lin Family Mansion and discover Mo Beixing has disappeared. Yang Qing decides they must search the Lin family again before leaving for the City of Eternal Night, where a place resembling their picture has been reported.
• Bu Er spends the night surveilling the Lin estate. He reports that Master Lin uses Shadow Guards and maintains a secret brothel and a building containing forbidden objects—signs, Yang Qing suspects, of ambitions to claim kingship.
• Yang Qing concludes that Mo Beixing may have been taken to the Lin Family Ancestral Grounds.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing stays focused on his party’s mission and rejects Master Lin’s offer, wary of both the Longevity Formula and Lin’s motives. He quickly recognizes the possibility that Lin manipulated the conversation to buy time.
• Master Lin shifts from excited persuasion to hostility when refused. His public friendliness contrasts with the suspicious secrets Bu Er uncovers.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou act on Yang Qing’s orders: they check the Lin residence for Mo Beixing, then Bu Er conducts a dangerous overnight investigation.
• The group’s concern over Mo Beixing deepens as they realize Lin’s delay may have cost them the chance to control events.

Significant themes

• Ambition and moral restraint: The group refuses to pursue a power that could bring further bloodshed, even if it exists.
• Deception and appearances: Master Lin’s seemingly earnest discussion may have concealed a deliberate diversion, while his respectable image masks disturbing activities.
• Urgency and lost control: Mo Beixing’s disappearance turns the group’s plans into a race to uncover where the Lin family has taken her.

Plot points and events

• Yang Qing reasons that Master Lin intends to use the Holy Maiden’s prophecy at the Lin Family’s Ancestral Grounds to legitimize his political ambitions.
• News spreads that the Lin Family will visit the grounds in three days. Yang Qing suspects Master Lin may go earlier, so his group decides to investigate immediately.
• To delay the Lin Family’s plans, Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou secretly place forbidden objects among the family’s tribute bound for the Imperial Capital. Yang Qing expects the discovery to draw the emperor’s suspicion and buy them time—not destroy the Lin Family.
• The group disguises themselves and heads to the Ancestral Grounds, hoping to find Mo Beixing. They arrive before the Lin family, hide, and then see Master Lin arrive with her three days ahead of schedule.
• Mo Beixing appears healthy and seems to have been treated well. Master Lin behaves unusually deferentially toward her as he seeks her help with a divination.
• Before the ritual, Mo Beixing cautions that prophecy reveals only fragments of heaven’s secrets and cannot be demanded without restraint. She asks for an incense altar and an object Master Lin deeply treasures as an offering.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing demonstrates strategic caution: he anticipates Master Lin’s early move, chooses a temporary distraction in the capital, and keeps his group focused on reaching the Ancestral Grounds.
• Master Lin appears calculating but also remarkably humble toward Mo Beixing, in contrast to his more equal, bargaining manner with Yang Qing. He relies on her prophecy to advance the family’s standing.
• Mo Beixing remains composed and guarded, though she privately wonders whether Yang Qing and the others are trying to rescue her and reflects that their paths may eventually separate. Her warning about prophecy emphasizes her restraint and knowledge.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou carry out Yang Qing’s plan by tampering with the tribute and returning the chests undisturbed.
• Yang Qing observes Mo Beixing’s improved condition and is relieved that the Lin Family has not mistreated her.

Significant themes

• Political ambition and legitimacy: The Lin Family seeks to present its rise as sanctioned by heaven and supported by the people.
• Strategy and misdirection: Both sides act cautiously; Yang Qing uses the imperial tribute as a delaying tactic while Master Lin moves ahead of schedule.
• The limits of prophecy: Mo Beixing stresses that glimpses of heaven’s will are incomplete and should not be exploited greedily.
• Uncertain bonds and separation: Mo Beixing’s thoughts reveal affection for her companions alongside doubt about whether their connection will last.

Key plot points

• At the Lin Family ancestral graves, Mo Beixing warns Master Lin to abandon his plans and accept what is destined. He refuses, insisting that fate is his to command and that obtaining the Longevity Formula will let him fulfill his ambition. Mo warns that his actions could bring the destruction of all nine branches of his clan.
• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and their companions seize the chance to rescue Mo Beixing from Master Lin. She collapses from the mental strain of being forced to glimpse Heaven’s secrets.
• The group leaves Mountain City and travels toward the City of Eternal Night, slowing their pace so Mo can recover. She sleeps for a day and night, then explains what she has learned about Master Lin.
• Mo reveals that Master Lin is the reincarnation of the Northern Wealth Star. He might have achieved great influence, but his greed and desire for the throne have turned him away from his proper path. His son’s mysterious illness and his long-lost daughter’s disappearance are signs that Heaven has already warned him.
• In the City of Eternal Night, Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou investigate the auction house where the portrait was last seen. They find the building burned down and learn that everyone inside died. As they leave, an unknown, shadowed figure watches them.

Character developments and interactions

• Master Lin remains defiant despite Mo’s warning, revealing the depth of his ambition and his belief that power can overcome fate.
• Mo Beixing is physically and mentally depleted, but grateful to Yang Qing’s group for rescuing and protecting her. She shares her insight into Master Lin’s nature, then trusts the group to handle what comes next.
• Yang Qing reassures Mo and takes responsibility for the group’s next steps, claiming they have a plan to end the Lin Family’s rise.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou continue the search for the portrait, but their investigation is obstructed by the suspicious destruction of the auction house.

Significant themes

• Fate versus free will: Master Lin rejects destiny, while Mo argues that resisting one’s proper course brings consequences.
• Ambition and corruption: The pursuit of power blinds Master Lin to warnings and threatens his family.
• Consequences of greed: His ambition may destroy the very lineage and legacy he hopes to protect.
• Loyalty and mutual care: Yang Qing’s group delays its own mission to protect Mo, who recognizes and appreciates their support.
• Suspicion and danger: The burned auction house and unseen watcher suggest that the portrait’s trail is being deliberately concealed.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Qing learns that the auction house they hoped to investigate has been burned down just before he and Jiang Zhizhou arrived. He suspects someone knows their plans and may have taken the portrait they were seeking.
• He predicts the person behind the destruction will approach them to bargain. The next morning, an anonymous note directs them to Wangjiang Pavilion.
• Bu Er explains that the pavilion is associated with farewells to convicts sent into exile, giving the meeting place a threatening implication. Yang Qing nevertheless decides they should go and discover the sender’s intentions.
• At the pavilion, Yang Qing interprets its name as honoring its builder, Wangjiang, who offered condemned exiles a final gesture of warmth.
• A mysterious man appears without being noticed and presents the portrait. It depicts the same figure Yang Qing has seen before, now wearing the Inkcloud Armor and riding Chasing Wind—historic treasures once reserved for Emperor Zhetian.
• The stranger claims both treasures are hidden in a ruin within the City of Eternal Night and challenges Yang Qing to retrieve them. Yang Qing refuses, saying he will not pursue them. The man insults him as timid and warns he may regret his choice if disaster follows.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing remains composed and perceptive. He recognizes the fire as deliberate interference, reads the pavilion’s history, and identifies the portrait’s famous armor and steed. Though curious about the ruin, he refuses the stranger’s provocation.
• Bu Er is wary of the meeting and protective of Yang Qing, offering to hold off the stranger so Yang Qing can escape. He also helps investigate Wangjiang Pavilion.
• Jiang Zhizhou accompanies Yang Qing and silently signals that the stranger’s sudden appearance is unsettling.
• The mysterious man uses the portrait, the promise of legendary treasures, and a personal insult to pressure Yang Qing into entering the ruin.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and hidden agendas: The burned auction house and staged meeting suggest an unseen opponent is tracking Yang Qing and steering events.
• Courage versus caution: The stranger frames refusal as cowardice, while Yang Qing’s restraint suggests he will not confuse recklessness with responsibility.
• Memory and compassion: Wangjiang Pavilion’s history reflects the small kindness of remembering people society has condemned.
• Temptation and integrity: The legendary treasures offer great rewards, but Yang Qing insists that valuable things should not be sought at any cost.

Plot points and events

• After a mysterious, overwhelmingly powerful man confronts Yang Qing’s group about finding the Wind-Chasing Horse and Inkcloud Armor, they return to the City of Eternal Night and wait, expecting the matter to continue.
• Three nights later, a fierce fire breaks out near their inn. Yang Qing orders the group to evacuate guests who are elderly, disabled, or otherwise unable to escape easily.
• Once safe, Yang Qing suspects the fire was arranged by the mysterious man to drive them from the inn. As they search for shelter, they find an inn that Bu Er had not seen before.
• The roads funnel the group toward the strange inn, leaving them little choice but to enter. The lantern goes out and the door closes behind them.
• Inside, Bu Er discovers that the legendary Wind-Chasing Horse is real.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing recognizes the unknown man’s superiority but remains composed, choosing patience over flight. The fire and the man’s earlier words sharpen his concern about the danger to ordinary people.
• Bu Er is frustrated by how completely the man outclasses him, but remains loyal to Yang Qing. He helps evacuate guests, searches for shelter, and leads the group into the inn.
• Jiang Zhizhou reassures Bu Er that Yang Qing likely has a plan and supports him in following their young master’s lead.
• Ouyang Lin responds to their lack of options with boldness, urging the group to confront the mystery directly.
• The group works together during the evacuation, then stays alert as they enter the inn.

Significant themes

• Power and humility: Bu Er’s experience is challenged by an opponent far beyond his ability.
• Responsibility toward others: Yang Qing prioritizes rescuing vulnerable guests, even amid danger.
• Fate and manipulation: The fire appears to be a deliberate tactic that steers the group toward the mysterious inn.
• The extraordinary entering the ordinary: The discovery of a living Wind-Chasing Horse suggests that legends may be real—and that the stakes are rising.