Recaps

Yang Qing entered the Sacrificial Temple and saw a portrait connected to the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom, but left without learning the man’s identity or intentions. After the village chief welcomed Yang Qing and his companions to a feast, they pretended to drink the poisoned wine and waited to see what would happen.

• The villagers celebrated when the Sacrificial Temple opened, and Yang Qing entered alone as its doors shut behind him.
• Yang Qing recognized the temple’s portrait as the same figure he had seen in the Ruins, questioned him, and watched blood drip from the painting before the doors reopened.
• Yang Qing told the village chief he had seen only a painting, then accepted the villagers’ invitation to a meal with Jiang Zhizhou, Bu Er, and the others.
• The village chief served heartbreak grass in the wine and escorted the apparently drunken guests to their rooms.
• Bu Er and the others revealed they had faked being drunk, and Yang Qing told them to wait as footsteps approached outside.

Yang Qing and his companions escaped the village chief’s attempt to burn them alive, then left the village as its people faced despair. At an inn, Yang Qing decided to abandon the planned route to Haiyan City and investigate the portraits that had repeatedly appeared to them.

• The village chief and his men set fire to the house, but Yang Qing, Bu Er, Jiang Zhizhou, and the others escaped as it collapsed.
• Yang Qing reminded the village chief that the villagers needed him alive to open the Sacrificial Temple, then led his companions out of the village.
• After leaving the village, Yang Qing and his companions found the surrounding scenery ordinary and continued their journey toward Haiyan City.
• At the inn, Bu Er told Yang Qing that towns along the western route could help them reach Haiyan City quickly.
• Yang Qing told his companions that the portrait in the Sacrificial Temple depicted the person he had seen in the Ruins and that they should stop letting others control their journey.
• Yang Qing took out the Bone Jade Thumb Ring and decided that they would go wherever they found portraits to discover why they kept appearing.

Mo Beixing was abducted from a clothing shop, and Yang Qing’s group discovered the shop was a den of thieves that had been abandoned. They suspected the abductors were still nearby and preparing to strike again, just as a fierce gust burst through their window.

• Mo Beixing went to a dressmaker’s shop, but Pei Buji learned she had left and found faint footprints by the rear window.
• Pei Buji reported the abduction to Yang Qing and the others, who worried about Mo Beixing’s identity and safety.
• Yang Qing suspected the clothing shop was involved, and Pei Buji and Jiang Zhizhou found it deserted when they returned.
• Yang Qing reasoned that the abductors were still in the city and might target the group again.
• A fierce gust burst through the window, and Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er moved to protect Yang Qing.

Yang Qing and his companions followed an unexplained invitation to the Spring Breeze House, only to find a martial contest for the Lin Family daughter blocking their way. As the contest continued, Jiang Zhizhou spotted someone who looked like Mo Beixing sitting by a window in the Spring Breeze House.

• A golden silk message invited Yang Qing and his companions to meet at the Spring Breeze House, and Yang Qing decided they should go despite the lack of a specified time.
• Yang Qing and his companions found a martial contest for a bride outside the Spring Breeze House and watched from a restaurant across the road.
• The spectators explained that the Lin Family daughter had been abducted years earlier and that the contest victor would marry her and inherit the family fortune.
• Jiang Zhizhou pointed out a woman at the Spring Breeze House who looked like the Holy Maiden, and Yang Qing recognized her as Mo Beixing.

Yang Qing and his companions investigated whether the Lin Family was connected to Mo Beixing’s disappearance after seeing the family’s daughter, who closely resembled the missing Holy Maiden. When the Lin Family left Nameless City early, Yang Qing’s group followed them toward Mountain City to continue the investigation.

• Yang Qing and his companions suspected that the message and the Lin Family Daughter’s appearance were meant to point them toward the Lin Family, so they decided to investigate in person.
• Yang Qing and Bu Er watched the Lin Family’s marriage tournament while Jiang Zhizhou, Pei Buji, and Ouyang Lin searched Nameless City for clues to Mo Beixing’s whereabouts.
• On the tournament’s final day, Yang Qing saw the Lin Family Daughter dressed plainly and concluded that the Lin Family must be connected to Mo Beixing’s disappearance.
• After the Lin Family chose a son-in-law and planned to return to Mountain City, Yang Qing’s group prepared to follow and investigate the Lin Residence.
• When the Lin Family left Nameless City ahead of schedule, Yang Qing and his companions packed quickly and followed their carriage.

Yang Qing and his companions discovered that the Lin Family had likely taken Mo Beixing and prepared to attend the family’s wedding banquet to find her. Meanwhile, rumors that Master Lin had gained an adopted daughter who resembled his own daughter stirred new ambitions in Mountain City.

• Yang Qing, Jiang Zhizhou, and Bu Er followed the Lin Family to Mountain City and watched their residence for several days.
• The Lin Family announced a grand wedding banquet, and Yang Qing noted it would give them a chance to enter the residence openly.
• An invitation appeared in Yang Qing’s locked room, and Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er caught a poisoned intruder hiding inside.
• Yang Qing concluded that the Lin Family knew Mo Beixing’s origins and had likely taken her during the martial contest in Nameless City.
• Yang Qing decided to attend the banquet to find the Holy Maiden, while rumors spread that Master Lin had taken in an adopted daughter who resembled the Lin Family Daughter.

Yang Qing and his companions entered the Lin Residence, where a woman tried to ensnare him with the Sound Enchantment Art before leading them into a confinement formation. Yang Qing and his companions broke the formation’s concealment and waited to see what the Lin Family would do next.

• Yang Qing and his companions learned that the Lin Family intended to keep Mo Beixing at the Lin Residence and set out to attend.
• A woman in a luxurious carriage invited them aboard and used the Sound Enchantment Art on Yang Qing, but he neutralized it.
• The woman brought Yang Qing and the others through the Lin Residence’s gates and into a confinement formation that kept them apart from the other guests.
• Yang Qing recognized the formation as the Lin Family’s warning not to interfere in the Holy Maiden’s affairs, and he chose to wait and observe.
• Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er moved quickly to take care of something, and the formation’s scenery vanished as someone approached.

Yang Qing suspected Master Lin planned to substitute Lin Family Daughter for Mo Beixing and send the Holy Maiden to the palace, while the Lin Family used the scheme to gain influence. At the banquet, Lin Family Daughter switched places with Mo Beixing, and Master Lin announced that his adopted daughter would enter the palace for an imperial audience.

• Yang Qing recognized Master Lin and the two identically dressed women accompanying him, and suspected the Lin Family intended to send Mo Beixing to the emperor.
• Yang Qing, Jiang Zhizhou, and their companions resolved to wait for proof before intervening to rescue Mo Beixing.
• Master Lin celebrated the return of his daughter and the arrival of his adopted daughter and son-in-law, then ordered the women to toast the guests.
• Master Lin threatened Mo Beixing by invoking Yang Qing and the others, so she went among the guests to offer toasts.
• Mo Beixing collided with Lin Family Daughter, lost her voice, and realized the other woman had taken her place.
• Master Lin announced that his adopted daughter had won the emperor's favor and would enter the palace the next day.

Yang Qing and his companions escaped the Lin Family’s trapping formation and pieced together Master Lin’s hidden purpose behind the Plum for Peach scheme. They decided to play along with his plans while investigating the portrait, and Master Lin arrived at their inn to meet them.

• The Lin Family lifted the trapping formation, allowing Yang Qing and his companions to return to the inn.
• Yang Qing revealed a map marking a place where someone had seen a portrait resembling the anonymous portraits tied to their investigation.
• Yang Qing explained that the Lin Family might be using the false Holy Maiden’s journey to bring the Lin Family Daughter along with his group and gain access to their investigation.
• Bu Er suggested that Master Lin might have been waiting for Yang Qing and his companions to appear, raising suspicions that he knew their origins and purpose.
• Yang Qing decided they should play along with Master Lin’s scheme and see what resources he had, just as Master Lin arrived at the inn.

Master Lin visited Yang Qing and his companions, offering information about the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom in exchange for their help. He revealed that he wanted them to take him to its ruins to find a Longevity Formula for his hidden, ailing son, and insisted that the formula existed.

• Master Lin arrived at the inn and met Yang Qing, while Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou kept curious onlookers away.
• Master Lin proposed cooperation and revealed that he knew Yang Qing’s group was interested in the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom.
• Yang Qing refused to trade for information about the kingdom until Master Lin said their missing friend was safe at his residence.
• Master Lin asked to accompany the group to the ruins in return for rescuing their friend, explaining that he sought a Longevity Formula for his son.
• Yang Qing doubted the formula existed, but Master Lin insisted it was hidden in one of the ruins.

Yang Qing refused Master Lin’s offer to join their search for the Longevity Formula and realized the visit had distracted them from Mo Beixing. After learning that Mo Beixing’s whereabouts were unknown, Yang Qing uncovered evidence of Master Lin’s ambitions and suspected she had been taken to the Lin Family Ancestral Grounds.

• Master Lin urged Yang Qing to take him to the ruins of the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom, but Yang Qing refused because they followed different paths.
• Yang Qing concluded that Master Lin had brought up the Longevity Formula to distract them from asking about the Holy Maiden.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou found that Mo Beixing’s whereabouts were unknown, so Yang Qing ordered Bu Er to investigate the Lin Family again.
• Yang Qing and the others planned to travel to the City of Eternal Night and evade the Lin Family’s surveillance.
• Bu Er reported finding a private brothel, forbidden objects, and Shadow Guards in the Lin Residence, leading Yang Qing to suspect Master Lin wanted to proclaim himself king and had taken Mo Beixing to the Lin Family Ancestral Grounds.

Yang Qing’s group tampered with the Lin Family’s tribute to delay their rise, then went to the Lin Family Ancestral Grounds to find Mo Beixing. They watched as Master Lin brought Mo Beixing there early and asked her to divine the family’s fortunes.

• Yang Qing guessed that Master Lin planned to have Mo Beixing divine the Lin Family’s fortunes at their Ancestral Grounds, and learned that the family had publicly announced a visit in three days.
• Yang Qing decided to plant forbidden objects in the Lin Family’s tribute to provoke scrutiny from the emperor while the group pursued its other plans.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou slipped the forbidden objects into the tribute chests, and Yang Qing’s group left the inn in disguise for the Ancestral Grounds.
• Yang Qing’s group arrived before the Lin Family and hid, but Master Lin soon appeared with Mo Beixing, three days ahead of the announced visit.
• Mo Beixing told Master Lin that prophecy revealed only fragments and instructed him to prepare an incense altar and place something he treasured on it as an offering.

Yang Qing and his companions rescued Mo Beixing from Master Lin and traveled to the City of Eternal Night, where Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou found the Auction House burned down and everyone inside dead. The chapter left the fate of the portrait unknown and hinted that someone had watched the two men investigate.

• Master Lin rejected Mo Beixing's warning and insisted on pursuing the Longevity Formula and his ambitions, so Yang Qing and his companions rescued her from the Lin Family.
• Mo Beixing fainted from exhaustion, then woke after a day and night of rest and told Yang Qing's group that Master Lin was the reincarnation of the Northern Wealth Star, but his greed would bring ruin to his family.
• Yang Qing told Mo Beixing to recover while the group continued toward the City of Eternal Night, where they arrived three days later than planned.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou went to the Auction House to trace the portrait, but found its building burned to ashes and learned that everyone inside had died.
• A figure hidden in darkness watched Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou leave the ruins, then turned and went away.

After someone burned down the auction house, Yang Qing realized they likely had the portrait and would use it to draw him into a trap. At Wangjiang Pavilion, a mysterious man revealed the portrait and claimed that two legendary treasures were hidden in the City of Eternal Night, but Yang Qing refused to retrieve them.

• Yang Qing concluded that the person behind the auction-house fire knew his plans and probably possessed the portrait.
• A letter directed Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou to meet outside the city at Wangjiang Pavilion, a place associated with exiles’ final farewells.
• At the pavilion, a mysterious man appeared and showed Yang Qing a portrait of the armored figure riding Chasing Wind.
• The man claimed that Chasing Wind and the Inkcloud Armor were hidden in the City of Eternal Night and urged Yang Qing to seek them.
• Yang Qing declined, and the man mocked him as a coward before warning that a calamity might follow.

Yang Qing and his companions were driven from their inn by a suspicious fire and found themselves funneled into an eerie inn connected to the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom. The chapter ended with Bu Er discovering that a Wind-Chasing Horse was inside.

• Yang Qing returned to the City of Eternal Night with Bu Er and the others after the mysterious man left, and they waited several days at an inn.
• A fast-spreading fire forced Yang Qing and his companions to evacuate the inn, and they rescued guests who could not get out on their own.
• Yang Qing suspected the fire was connected to the mysterious man and led the group away to search for another inn.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou realized that every road led to a strange inn, so the group entered it despite Yang Qing's suspicions.
• The inn door shut behind them, and Bu Er called out that he had found a Wind-Chasing Horse.

Yang Qing and his companions discovered that Chasing Wind had been kept alive for centuries by Longevity Gu, then realized their mysterious host had lured them to the place where Emperor Zetian was born. The host revealed his fanatical desire to restore the ancient golden age and attacked them for insulting the Sacred Emperor.

• Yang Qing noticed Chasing Wind’s statue blink and identified the pulsing bulge in its neck as Longevity Gu.
• Yang Qing explained that Longevity Gu sustained its host’s life, and the group feared Chasing Wind had been kept alive while waiting for Emperor Zetian to return.
• Pei Buji connected Chasing Wind and the Inkcloud Armor to the City of Eternal Night, where Emperor Zetian had been born.
• The mysterious man from Wangjiang Pavilion appeared and admitted his followers longed to restore the Sacred Emperor’s golden age.
• Yang Qing rejected the idea of reviving the past, enraging the man, who struck the wall and threatened to send them down below to atone.

Yang Qing and the others were trapped in a hidden chamber, where Pei Buji was wounded by poisoned needles and his long-hidden injuries were exposed. After they treated him, they found portraits of the Sacred Emperor and heard their unseen captor declare that they were worthy of serving him.

• Pei Buji revealed that concealed silver needles had struck him as the group fell into the chamber.
• Jiang Zhizhou removed the poisoned needles and treated Pei Buji, while Yang Qing discovered that Pei Buji had been hiding severe injuries.
• Yang Qing ordered Bu Er to give Pei Buji pills to regulate his internal qi, and Pei Buji recovered enough to stand.
• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou noticed portraits of the Sacred Emperor covering three walls of the chamber.
• An unseen man praised the Sacred Emperor and claimed Yang Qing and the others were barely worthy of becoming his servants.
• Yang Qing rejected the offer, and the man replied that ordinary people could not have survived to reach the chamber.

Yang Qing and the others were forced to choose between death and submission, but Pei Buji swallowed all six Mind-Cleansing Pills and used the blood taboo to turn the captor’s scheme against him. The captor fled with the Wind-Chasing Horse and Inkcloud Armor, while a residence beneath the inn collapsed and burned.

• Yang Qing silently warned Bu Er and the others to stay calm while they waited for the hidden man to explain his demands.
• The hidden man dropped six Mind-Cleansing Pills and threatened the group, while Yang Qing recognized that the promised antidote would leave them with another incurable poison.
• Pei Buji snatched the bottle, swallowed every pill, and slashed Yang Qing’s wrist so he could lick up his blood and invoke the blood taboo.
• Pei Buji’s eyes turned red as the pills unleashed his power, and the hidden man moved the Wind-Chasing Horse and Inkcloud Armor before fleeing.
• Muffled booms shook the inn, and nearby residents saw a residence collapse and burn amid heavenly fire.

After Pei Buji died protecting Yang Qing and the others, Yang Qing abandoned their plan to travel south and led the group toward the Imperial Capital through a dangerous swamp. Their journey began badly when poisonous fumes overwhelmed them, and Yang Qing realized they had taken the wrong route.

• Pei Buji died destroying the Hidden Chamber, and Yang Qing's companions mourned him before dawn.
• Yang Qing decided to head straight for the Imperial Capital instead of traveling farther south to mislead Master Lin.
• Yang Qing split the group to gather supplies, then led them into the swamp to evade the Lin Family and the powerful man pursuing them.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er and the others that the Wordless Heavenly Book had revealed a fortuitous opportunity in the swamp.
• Yang Qing, Mo Beixing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou encountered poisonous fumes that made Yang Qing and Mo Beixing vomit.
• Yang Qing checked a Terrain Map and realized they had taken the wrong way.

Yang Qing and his companions were caught in a violent storm in an unexpected marsh, where a giant snake emerged and attacked them. Jiang Zhizhou stabbed a strange human-shaped marking on its belly, and something fell from the wound.

• Yang Qing and his companions realized the marsh lay ahead of the spot shown on their map and stopped to shelter from the approaching rain.
• The downpour caused black water to spread from the marsh, where Bu Er and Ouyang Lin spotted something moving beneath the surface.
• A giant snake emerged from the mire and charged at Yang Qing and his companions.
• Bu Er trapped his sword in the snake’s mouth, while Jiang Zhizhou and Ouyang Lin attacked its head and belly.
• Jiang Zhizhou drove his sword into a human-shaped marking on the snake’s belly, and an object tumbled from the wound.

Yang Qing and Mo Beixing recognized the corpse expelled by the giant snake as Master Lin, despite the man’s recent departure for the Imperial Capital. After Bu Er, Jiang Zhizhou, and Ouyang Lin killed the snake, Yang Qing concluded that the man traveling to the capital was an impostor.

• A giant snake expelled a man who Yang Qing realized had been swallowed but remained largely unharmed.
• Yang Qing and Mo Beixing recognized the corpse as Master Lin before the snake crushed it.
• Yang Qing questioned why Master Lin had been alone in the swamp and suspected the man who left for the Imperial Capital was not the real Master Lin.
• Jiang Zhizhou noticed the snake’s lower body remained buried in the mire, and Ouyang Lin struck where its body met the mud.
• Bu Er, Jiang Zhizhou, and Ouyang Lin attacked the snake’s waist until it collapsed into the mire.
• Yang Qing told Jiang Zhizhou that the corpse was Master Lin and that the man heading to the Imperial Capital was not the real one.

Yang Qing and his companions learned that the Lin Family convoy had gone to the mountain stronghold, so they climbed the mountain to investigate. Jiang Zhizhou returned from scouting and revealed that the bandits had not captured the convoy but had invited the Lin Family up as old acquaintances.

• Yang Qing and his companions emerged from the swamp behind schedule and headed toward the Imperial Capital to learn the Lin Family's plans.
• In a city, Yang Qing and the others heard that mountain bandits had taken a treasure-laden convoy and suspected it belonged to the Lin Family.
• Yang Qing led the group to the bandits' mountain and agreed that Jiang Zhizhou should scout the summit alone.
• When Jiang Zhizhou did not return for hours, Yang Qing waited with the others until Jiang Zhizhou came back at dusk.
• Jiang Zhizhou reported that the Lin Family's carriages and horses were on the mountain and explained that the bandits had invited the Lin Family there rather than seized them.

Yang Qing and the others realized that a faction was using the Lin Family’s name and wealth to build a hidden army on Heavenly Tiger Mountain. Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou infiltrated its Underground City to disrupt the bandits, but Master Lin confronted them after they were surrounded.

• Jiang Zhizhou reported that the false Master Lin had received a seat of honor from the bandit chief, prompting Yang Qing to suspect the Lin Family was meeting the bandits rather than being held captive.
• Yang Qing concluded that a faction was using the Lin Family’s identity and resources to secretly build an army, and he resolved to clear the real family’s name.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou returned to the summit to locate the hidden valuables and found that the bandits’ stronghold extended into an Underground City.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou discovered that the underground soldiers were exceptionally well equipped, then were surrounded after someone sensed their presence.
• Master Lin approached the surrounded men and threatened them, while Bu Er dismissed his threat.

Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou defeated Master Lin’s soldiers and brought him to Yang Qing, who confronted him about the trap in the marsh and the real Master Lin’s fate. When Yang Qing asked who had ordered him to impersonate Master Lin, Ouyang Lin disrupted his Laughing Sound Art, leaving him spitting blood and demanding how they had countered it.

• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou defeated Master Lin’s soldiers, breaking their morale until many surrendered or cleared a path.
• Master Lin agreed to meet Yang Qing after learning that Yang Qing had come intending to rescue him.
• Yang Qing confronted Master Lin about arranging the false Terrain Map and leading them into the marsh, and Master Lin admitted he had directed them there.
• Yang Qing told Master Lin that the snake in the marsh had died, then asked who had ordered him to replace the real Master Lin and take control of the Lin Family.
• Master Lin used his Laughing Sound Art, but Ouyang Lin scraped his sword with a sliver of iron and disrupted the attack, causing Master Lin to spit blood.

Yang Qing and his companions exposed the disguised Master Lin, who had used the lost Laughing Sound Art, and questioned him about his ties to the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom. After Master Lin died without revealing more, Yang Qing decided to continue to the Imperial Capital to investigate Miss Lin and the people reviving the kingdom’s legacy.

• Yang Qing had Jiang Zhizhou seal Master Lin’s acupoints and asked who had taught him the Laughing Sound Art.
• Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er stripped away Master Lin’s facial disguise and found a tattoo matching one on a man they had encountered before.
• Yang Qing questioned Master Lin about the Twelve Holy Envoys, but Master Lin rejected his questions and soon died.
• Ouyang Lin reported that the people gathered on the mountain had been cleared out, and the group left without learning more from Master Lin.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er that he and Xiao Zhou had bluffed Master Lin about the Twelve Holy Envoys, then said they would still visit the Imperial Capital to find Miss Lin.
• Yang Qing concluded that descendants of the Twelve Holy Envoys were reviving the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom’s miracles and truly intended to defy heaven.