Chapter Summaries

Tong Yao realized she had transmigrated into Dongfang Minghui, a doomed supporting character, and stopped Dongfang Lizhu’s men from attacking Dongfang Wanyu. As Tong Yao tried to follow Dongfang Wanyu, five more hired men appeared, leaving her to face the danger she had forgotten about.

• Tong Yao woke in a sedan chair and learned from Cui'er that she and Dongfang Lizhu had planned to ruin Dongfang Wanyu with hired men.
• Tong Yao realized she was Dongfang Minghui, a doomed character from the unfinished novel she had read.
• Tong Yao intervened when four disguised servants surrounded Dongfang Wanyu, and they fled when she ordered them away.
• Dongfang Wanyu questioned Tong Yao, then left, while Tong Yao asked to go back with her.
• Five furtive men emerged from the woods, and Tong Yao remembered that Cui'er had said she hired them to attack Dongfang Wanyu.

Plot points

• Dongfang Minghui and Dongfang Wanyu are confronted in the woods by five violent men. Wanyu tells Minghui to use her spiritual energy to bind them, then escape, but Minghui admits she cannot summon plants while frightened.
• Wanyu pushes Minghui toward the attackers as a distraction and traps the men with an Earth Thorn spell. When their leader breaks free, Minghui tries to protect Wanyu’s identity by claiming she is the spiritual practitioner, then provokes the leader with insults.
• A powerful wind attack knocks Minghui unconscious. Wanyu turns her attention to the third-tier wind-element practitioner responsible. By the time Cui’er and the search party arrive, the woods are badly damaged and everyone is gone.
• Minghui wakes at home with a swollen face and a bandaged forehead. She tells her mother she simply ran into a tree, and learns that a servant found her outside the gates.
• She suspects Wanyu hid the evidence and asks Cui’er to discreetly keep her informed about Wanyu, without spying. Later, Fourth Sister Dongfang Lizhu visits and asks to speak with Minghui alone.

Character developments and interactions

• Minghui remains fearful and physically inept under pressure, but her sharp tongue and instinct to shield Wanyu’s secret show both boldness and a desire to win Wanyu’s favor. She recognizes that her behavior has worsened their relationship and resolves to change Wanyu’s opinion of her.
• Wanyu is cold and impatient with Minghui, yet acts decisively to protect them both. Her concealed spiritual abilities remain a concern, and she leaves Minghui behind rather than explain herself.
• Cui’er obeys Minghui’s instructions but returns too late to witness what happened. Minghui questions her, then gives her a cautious task regarding Wanyu.
• Qin Qin, Minghui’s mother, is deeply caring and worries over her daughter’s injuries.
• Lizhu arrives after Minghui regains consciousness, presenting herself as a concerned sister but requesting privacy for a private discussion. Minghui suspects she may be there to confront her.

Significant themes

• Survival and dependence: Minghui wants to rely on Wanyu’s strength, but their strained relationship makes that dangerous.
• Appearance versus reality: Minghui’s cover story hides Wanyu’s role, while Lizhu’s seemingly affectionate manner may conceal ulterior motives.
• Secrets and political maneuvering: Wanyu conceals her abilities, and Minghui tries to gather information without attracting suspicion.
• Comic contrast: Minghui’s fearful inner thoughts and relentless banter clash with the deadly danger around her.

Plot points and events

• Dongfang Lizhu questions Dongfang Minghui about her risky actions and suspects she took punishment for Dongfang Wanyu. Minghui denies it, then pretends to regret failing to harm Wanyu so Lizhu will trust her.
• Lizhu suggests exploiting their cousin Qin Mu’s interest in Wanyu: arrange for him to get her alone and compromise her reputation. Minghui appears to agree, but privately decides to turn the scheme back on Lizhu.
• Qin Mu arrives for the family patriarch’s birthday. Minghui chats warmly with him and her mother, Qin Qin, while learning that he is indeed attracted to Wanyu.
• At the birthday banquet, Minghui seats Wanyu beside Qin Mu and invites Wanyu to watch a “show.” Lizhu assumes Minghui is carrying out her plan.
• Minghui instead lures Lizhu to a dark room with a false message. Cui’er drugs the incense, and Lizhu loses consciousness. Minghui and Cui’er undress her and place her in a bedroom, then send Qin Mu there while he is drunk.
• Wanyu sees what appears to be a sexual encounter and, disgusted, walks away. Minghui follows and explains that Lizhu had planned to set Wanyu up, and that she was retaliating against Lizhu. Wanyu accepts that Minghui acted for herself, not out of devotion to her.

Character developments

• Dongfang Minghui becomes more cunning and self-directed. She uses her apparent loyalty to Lizhu as a disguise, then turns Lizhu’s plot against her. She admits she acted for her own sake because she is tired of being manipulated.
• Dongfang Wanyu remains suspicious and guarded, interpreting the staged scene as evidence that Minghui and Lizhu are alike. She is willing to hear Minghui’s explanation, but does not mistake it for altruism.
• Dongfang Lizhu reveals her willingness to ruin Wanyu through Qin Mu. Confident that Minghui is obeying her, she fails to recognize the trap.
• Qin Mu is shown to be charming and accomplished but lecherous, and clearly infatuated with Wanyu.
• Cui’er helps Minghui carry out the reversal by delivering the message and preparing the drugged incense.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and counter-manipulation: Minghui uses the role Lizhu assigned her to deceive Lizhu in return.
• Agency and self-preservation: Minghui’s choice marks a break from blindly serving someone else’s schemes.
• Trust and suspicion: Wanyu is reluctant to believe Minghui’s motives and judges her by what she sees.
• Appearance versus reality: The apparent “show” conceals a plot against Lizhu, while Minghui’s outward obedience hides her real intentions.

Character interactions

• Lizhu pressures Minghui to prove her loyalty; Minghui placates her while secretly preparing to betray the plan.
• Minghui builds rapport with Qin Mu and later uses his drunken arrival as part of her counterplot.
• Minghui persistently draws Wanyu into the banquet setup, then leads her to witness the staged scene.
• Wanyu confronts Minghui afterward. Minghui rejects the claim that she acted for Wanyu’s sake, and Wanyu’s dry response—“Indeed. Quite foolish”—leaves Minghui unsure whether she is being criticized or acknowledged.

Plot points and events

• After Dongfang Lizhu is discovered in bed with Young Master Lai, the scandal spreads through the Dongfang household. Their father later orders her to marry Lai as his concubine within a month, refusing the third madam’s plea to change the decision.
• Lizhu confronts Dongfang Minghui, accusing her of arranging the incident. Minghui admits writing the note but gives an innocent-sounding account that shifts blame away from herself. Lizhu realizes she has been outmaneuvered and leaves furious.
• Minghui studies plants and rethinks her supposedly useless spiritual affinity: she believes plant-based abilities could make her a valuable support practitioner. She persuades a peony to give up its stamens, uses them as plant essence, and advances from spiritual level one to level two.
• After hearing that Dongfang Wanyu has left the estate, Minghui follows her. At a workshop, Wanyu is competing for a scarce herb she needs for her own advancement. Minghui pays for it and hands it to her, hoping to win her favor.
• A rival customer, angered at losing the herb, lashes a whip at Minghui as she and Wanyu leave. The chapter ends before the blow lands.

Character developments

• Dongfang Minghui becomes more proactive: she manipulates Lizhu’s confrontation, commits to developing her plant affinity, and seeks practical ways to help Wanyu.
• Dongfang Lizhu recognizes that Minghui has deceived her, but remains defiant and intent on settling the score.
• Dongfang Wanyu continues pursuing her own advancement, though her low status limits her ability to compete for resources.
• Cui’er remains Minghui’s trusted attendant, helping with errands and standing guard during her breakthrough.

Themes

• Power and usefulness: Minghui challenges the assumption that plant affinity is worthless and begins turning it into a strength.
• Manipulation and consequences: Minghui’s scheme leaves Lizhu facing a forced marriage, while Lizhu’s anger foreshadows further conflict.
• Status and resources: Wanyu’s low standing and lack of money make even essential materials difficult to obtain.
• Alliance and self-interest: Minghui’s generosity toward Wanyu is both assistance and a calculated attempt to secure her protection and favor.

Character interactions

• Minghui maintains a façade of innocence while confronting Lizhu, who sees through the deception but cannot prove it.
• Minghui bargains with the peony for its stamens, showing her new, cooperative relationship with plants.
• Minghui buys Wanyu the herb and takes her hand to leave, but their departure provokes the rival customer’s attack.

Plot and events

• In a shop, Dongfang Minghui and Dongfang Wanyu are harassed by an aggressive young woman. A handsome man in blue intervenes and fights her, damaging the shop. Minghui recognizes him as Li Yunan, a male lead who was meant to meet Wanyu, and worries that she has disrupted the original story. Wanyu leads her away before she can linger.
• Back at the residence, Wanyu gives Minghui three Marrow-Cleansing Pills to settle the matter between them, making clear she does not want to owe her anything.
• That night, cries of “assassin” ring through the residence. Minghui goes to Wanyu’s neglected courtyard and finds her locked in a standoff with a black-clad intruder. The intruder releases Wanyu and escapes while Minghui calls from outside.
• Minghui offers to help Wanyu and invites her to stay in her courtyard, but Wanyu rejects her sharply. Minghui realizes Wanyu is living in severe neglect and considers getting the courtyard repaired.
• Minghui understands that the intruder is connected to Wanyu’s mother and has come to reveal Wanyu’s true origins: Wanyu is not a Dongfang by birth, but was raised by Fourth Madam Qian Beiying, who has concealed the truth.
• Fearing Wanyu will eventually leave and later take revenge on the family, Minghui decides her best chance of survival is to follow Wanyu when she goes out to train. She secretly prepares money, medicine, and jewelry for the journey.
• When Wanyu asks to leave for the Royal Academy, Qian Beiying opposes her, while Father Dongfang is willing to let her go. Minghui intervenes, suggesting that Father send escorts. He agrees, and Wanyu’s departure is approved.

Character developments and interactions

• Dongfang Minghui remains anxious and self-preserving, but increasingly takes action to shape events. She tries to protect Wanyu, then supports her departure because she hopes to travel with her and avoid becoming her enemy.
• Dongfang Wanyu stays guarded and hostile toward Minghui’s kindness, insisting on distance. Her tense encounter with the intruder hints that she is beginning to confront secrets about her identity.
• Qian Beiying appears loving in public but is privately hostile toward Wanyu and resists her plans to leave.
• Father Dongfang is more open to Wanyu’s independence and accepts Minghui’s practical solution.
• Li Yunan’s unexpected intervention introduces a potential romantic lead, though Minghui deliberately avoids pursuing him.

Significant themes

• Fate versus altered storylines: Minghui worries that her actions are changing the expected plot and its relationships.
• Survival and self-interest: She plans her choices around avoiding Wanyu’s future revenge.
• Family, identity, and deception: Wanyu’s uncertain origins and Qian Beiying’s concealed motives undermine the apparent family bond.
• Kindness met with mistrust: Minghui’s offers of help repeatedly meet Wanyu’s suspicion, highlighting the distance between them.

Key plot points and events

• Dongfang Minghui disguises herself as a maid and sneaks out of the Dongfang household, then follows Dongfang Wanyu in disguise.
• After three exhausting days on the road, Minghui runs out of food and suffers from painful blisters. She briefly loses track of Wanyu, but the nearby grasses wake her in time to catch up.
• Near the Purple Demon Mountains, Minghui catches and roasts a rabbit. A hungry Poison Blossom Lightning Mouse appears and devours most of it. Wanyu warns Minghui that the seemingly cute creature is poisonous and dangerous.
• Wanyu tells Minghui to travel with her into the mountains, explaining that the route to the Royal Academy passes through them. She questions why Minghui followed her; Minghui admits she ran away without her father’s or stepmother’s permission and asks to come along.
• When a disturbance breaks out in the woods, Wanyu goes to investigate and tells Minghui to stay put. Minghui uses her unusual ability to speak with grasses, which reveal that humans are fighting demon insects.

Character developments

• Dongfang Minghui is physically unprepared for travel but proves persistent, resourceful, and kind-hearted. Her naïve enthusiasm leads her to feed a dangerous magic beast, while her ability to communicate with plants helps her learn what is happening nearby.
• Dongfang Wanyu remains capable and guarded, but shows some concern for Minghui by warning her about the mountains and their dangers. She is also increasingly curious about Minghui’s motives and persistence.
• The Poison Blossom Lightning Mouse is introduced as a deceptively adorable but potentially lethal creature.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: The cute lightning mouse is highly dangerous, and Minghui’s innocence makes her overlook the threat.
• Perseverance and inexperience: Minghui’s determination keeps her following Wanyu, but the hardships expose how unprepared she is.
• Kindness and risk: Minghui’s generosity toward the creature is genuine, yet potentially dangerous.
• Adventure and independence: Minghui’s escape marks her effort to leave the sheltered household and experience the wider world.

Character interactions

• Minghui deceives Cui’er and the household guards to escape, then secretly shadows Wanyu.
• Wanyu observes Minghui’s pursuit and later challenges her about why she followed.
• Minghui offers food to the lightning mouse, while Wanyu intervenes with a warning about its poisonous claws.
• After Wanyu leaves to investigate the disturbance, Minghui turns to the grasses for information, revealing her unusual rapport with them.

Key events

• Dongfang Minghui learns that Demon Insects—also called Ironclad Beetles—are deadly, hard-shelled insects that attack in swarms. Though she considers abandoning Dongfang Wanyu, she asks nearby plants for a way to repel them.
• Corpse-scent grass explains that its foul-smelling sap drives the beetles away. Minghui coats herself in it and rushes to Wanyu, scattering the swarm and saving Wanyu and six members of a mercenary group.
• Minghui and Wanyu discover their bundle has been stolen. Wanyu suspects a small, food-loving thief and hints that roasting more tasty food might bring it back.
• The group makes camp. Hungry Minghui discovers that Ironclad Beetles can be cooked, learns how to prepare them, and shares some with Wanyu. A woman in the mercenary party demonstrates a more skillful way to remove and roast the meat.
• The mercenary leader, Zhao Sanqi, explains that his group was hired to steal the Ironclad Beetle King’s eggs. The beetles attacked after discovering them. Their injured member suddenly wakes in a violent, apparently altered state, and the others rush to stop him.

Character developments and interactions

• Minghui is frightened and disgusted, but chooses to return for Wanyu. Her quick thinking and willingness to act save the group; she also adapts pragmatically by eating the insects despite her revulsion.
• Wanyu remains composed and capable in the wilderness. She protects Minghui’s cover by calling her “Ninth Brother,” notices her skills, and quietly recognizes that Minghui’s intervention was crucial.
• The two sisters show growing cooperation: Wanyu accompanies Minghui to search for the missing bundle, shares food, and takes the night watch while Minghui rests.
• The mercenaries thank the sisters, while their anxious companion’s close bond with the wounded man is suggested by her keeping watch over him.

Significant themes

• Courage and loyalty: Minghui overcomes fear to return for Wanyu.
• Resourcefulness and survival: Knowledge of plants, improvisation, and adapting to unfamiliar food help the group endure.
• Hidden identities and suspicion: Wanyu maintains Minghui’s disguise while quietly observing her unusual abilities.
• Unintended consequences: The mercenaries’ attempt to steal valuable eggs provokes the swarm, and the wounded man’s sudden transformation signals new danger.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Fei’s condition worsens after Ironclad Beetle larvae infest his thigh. Dongfang Wanyu says he can be kept alive for only one day with a Life-Protecting Pill; the group must capture a female beetle, whose scent will draw the larvae out.
• Wanyu explains that Corpse-Scent Grass repels the beetles and tells Dongfang Minghui to remove its smell from herself.
• While the mercenaries plan their expedition, the Lightning Mouse returns Minghui’s stolen bundle in exchange for food. The two quickly become friendly.
• Minghui treats Wanyu’s wound and volunteers for the night watch. She worries that the group will steal the Ironclad Beetle King’s eggs, unleashing the colony. She asks a blade of grass for help, but it knows nothing and promises to ask its companions.
• At dawn, the Lightning Mouse wakes Minghui and leads her away, though she does not know where it is taking her.

Character developments

• Minghui shows practical medical skill by treating Wanyu, and growing concern for the group’s safety. Despite her fear, she is gentle with animals and even speaks to plants.
• Wanyu takes charge of Wang Fei’s treatment and watches Minghui closely. She is surprised by how much Minghui has changed from the hostile Ninth Miss she remembers.
• Zhao Sanqi and Mu Qing are distressed by Wang Fei’s condition; Zhao feels guilty, while Mu Qing devotes herself to caring for him.
• The Lightning Mouse shifts from a thief to a playful companion, returning Minghui’s belongings and seeking her out.

Significant themes

• Survival and responsibility: The group faces a strict deadline and a dangerous mission, while Minghui tries to anticipate a catastrophe others have not yet considered.
• Change and perception: Wanyu’s memories of Minghui conflict with the kind, helpful person she now sees.
• Unexpected companionship: Minghui’s patience and generosity earn the trust of the Lightning Mouse.
• Knowledge and uncertainty: Minghui’s foreknowledge of the story gives her warnings, but not a clear way to protect herself or the others.

Character interactions

• Wanyu gives the mercenaries urgent instructions and medicine, while Minghui reinforces the danger of the larvae reaching Wang Fei’s organs.
• Minghui cares for Wanyu by cleaning and bandaging her wound; Wanyu accepts the help but remains guarded.
• Minghui and the Lightning Mouse establish a playful exchange of food for her recovered bundle, then the mouse leads her off at the chapter’s end.
• A mysterious voice questions Wanyu about Minghui’s motives, but Wanyu pretends to sleep and does not respond aloud.

Plot points and events

• Dongfang Minghui disappears while Dongfang Wanyu is away. She follows a Lightning Mouse deep into the forest, where a crowd of mice leads her to a cave and makes her roast meat for them.
• Dongfang Wanyu searches for Minghui, then detects an approaching swarm of Ironclad Beetles. Zhao Sanqi returns alone with a live female beetle and reports that the others are dead: Third stole the Ironclad King Bug’s eggs, provoking the colony, and Fourth also died.
• Wanyu helps Zhao Sanqi and Mu Qing flee with their unconscious fifth brother, then stays behind to hold off the beetles. She uses Minghui’s clothes, which smell of corpse-scent grass, to repel many of them, but the swarm keeps advancing.
• Minghui suddenly races into the beetles’ territory while fleeing a flock of Golden Crow Birds. The beetles scatter as she approaches, allowing Wanyu to escape the swarm and grab her.
• Wanyu learns that Minghui is carrying something that attracts the birds. Minghui finds a small stone—actually a Golden Crow Bird egg—and throws it back. The birds stop pursuing them.

Character developments

• Dongfang Minghui is resourceful but repeatedly lands in danger through mistaken or accidental actions. She adapts to the Lightning Mice’s demands and survives the bird chase through sheer speed and endurance.
• Dongfang Wanyu remains decisive and protective, prioritizing escape over explanations and risking herself to buy time for the others. Her concern for Minghui is clear when they reunite.
• Mu Qing is emotionally invested in her brothers and initially lets hope distract her from danger, but follows Wanyu’s orders.
• Zhao Sanqi returns traumatized and grieving after the failed egg theft, carrying both a live beetle and the burden of reporting the group’s losses.

Themes

• Survival and adaptation: Characters must make fast choices in a hostile wilderness.
• Consequences of recklessness: Stealing the King Bug’s eggs brings catastrophic retaliation.
• Loyalty and sacrifice: Wanyu risks her life to help the others escape.
• Accidental peril and comic misfortune: Minghui’s detours, the mice’s unexpected “cooking” request, and the egg mistaken for a stone give the danger an absurd edge.

Character interactions

• The Lightning Mouse guides Minghui and communicates its needs through gestures, effectively recruiting her as the group’s cook.
• Wanyu firmly directs Mu Qing and Zhao Sanqi to flee despite their grief and questions.
• Wanyu’s unseen mental companion advises her about the beetles and identifies the Golden Crow Bird egg as the source of the pursuit.
• Minghui’s reunion with Wanyu turns an apparently disastrous collision—Minghui bringing the birds after her—into a chance to escape the beetles.

Plot points and events

• After two Magic Beast hordes pass, Dongfang Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui stop to rest. Wanyu suspects Minghui provoked the Golden Crow Birds by stealing their eggs, though the birds’ arrival helped drive off the Ironclad Beetles.
• Wanyu tells Minghui to wash up. Minghui finds a clear, shallow lake and bathes alone, but two men arrive. Startled by one man swimming nearby, she slips, briefly struggles in the water, and calls for help.
• Wanyu rushes in, misreads the scene, and threatens the men with her whip. Once Minghui confirms she was not harmed, Wanyu proposes that the young man marry her because he saw her while she was bathing.
• Minghui firmly rejects the idea, explaining that the encounter was accidental and she does not want to marry a stranger. Wanyu accepts her choice, warns the men to keep quiet, and lets them leave.
• Wanyu asks Minghui to prepare food, prompting Minghui to wonder how she became their cook.

Character developments and interactions

• Minghui remains embarrassed and unlucky, but shows unusual resolve in defending her right to refuse an unwanted marriage. She also treats the bathing incident as an inconvenience rather than a catastrophe.
• Wanyu displays reluctant concern for Minghui: she rescued her, checked that she was unharmed, and tried to protect her reputation. However, her harsh, controlling manner—and readiness to arrange a marriage on Minghui’s behalf—remain evident.
• The young man and his servant are frightened by the confrontation and quickly leave after promising to keep the incident secret.
• The sisters’ exchange mixes Wanyu’s stern protectiveness with Minghui’s exasperated, sometimes irreverent inner commentary.

Significant themes

• Autonomy and social pressure: Wanyu assumes the encounter calls for marriage, while Minghui insists that an accidental glimpse does not determine her future.
• Protection versus control: Wanyu’s concern for her sister is genuine, but she expresses it through threats and decisions made on Minghui’s behalf.
• Comic misfortune: Minghui’s attempt at a simple bath turns into another absurd crisis, reinforcing the chapter’s humorous tone.

Plot points

• Dongfang Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui follow signs to a cave where Zhao Sanqi and his surviving companions are hiding. Zhao, bloodied and desperate, asks Wanyu to save his critically injured fifth brother, Wang Fei.
• Wanyu treats Wang Fei, who eventually wakes. The group plans to travel together once he is able.
• While waiting, Minghui reflects on knowing the companions’ tragic futures and wonders whether she can change them. She takes comfort in the fact that she is already making choices that may alter her own fate.
• The Lightning Mouse appears with a small animal for Minghui to cook. When Wanyu attacks the ground with her whip and demands an explanation, Minghui defends the creature, insisting it will not hurt anyone. Wanyu withdraws, visibly displeased.
• Zhao and Minghui talk while the Lightning Mouse eats. Minghui realizes Mu Qing loves Wang Fei and encourages Zhao to help them seize happiness while they can. Zhao agrees and goes into the cave, apparently intending to act on her advice.

Character developments and interactions

• Minghui remains anxious about Wanyu’s judgment but grows more willing to intervene in others’ lives. She defends the Lightning Mouse despite risking Wanyu’s approval, then uses what she knows about the group’s fate to encourage Zhao to bring Mu Qing and Wang Fei together.
• Wanyu continues to protect the group and treat the wounded, but is wary of the Lightning Mouse and frustrated by Minghui’s stubborn defense of it. Despite their tension, she tells Minghui they will leave together, suggesting she has begun including her in her plans.
• Zhao Sanqi shifts from despair to hope after Wanyu rescues Wang Fei. Minghui’s advice prompts him to recognize Mu Qing’s feelings and reconsider his role as the group’s eldest brother.
• The Lightning Mouse acts affectionately toward Minghui, bringing her food and seeking a meal, while reacting fiercely to Wanyu and the others. Minghui treats it more like a pet than a dangerous beast.
• Mu Qing and Wang Fei’s mutual attachment becomes the focus of Minghui’s matchmaking efforts.

Significant themes

• Fate and agency: Minghui is troubled by knowing the group’s likely tragic ending, but believes her actions may change what happens.
• Hope after despair: Zhao’s renewed hope after Wang Fei is saved reveals how suffering and repeated reversals can shape a person.
• Seizing happiness: Minghui argues that life is uncertain, so people should acknowledge their feelings and find joy while they can.
• Trust and unconventional bonds: Minghui’s defense of the Lightning Mouse contrasts with others’ fear of it, suggesting that understanding and familiarity can bridge human–beast distrust.

Key events

• Dongfang Minghui lends Mu Qing a red dress and officiates her wedding to Wang Fei. The simple ceremony takes place in the cave, with Zhao Sanqi standing in for their absent family.
• The next morning, Dongfang Minghui and Dongfang Wanyu set off deeper into the Purple Demon Mountains to train, while Zhao Sanqi plans to return to the Moonwhite Empire with his recovering brother.
• The sisters settle in an abandoned, foul-smelling cave. Dongfang Wanyu hunts powerful magic beasts and returns injured; Dongfang Minghui cleans and cooks the kills.
• Seeking something besides beast meat, Minghui discovers medicinal herbs and uses her unusual ability to communicate with plants to transplant and care for them.
• When Wanyu returns badly wounded, Minghui makes a remedy from living stargrass and applies it to her injuries. Wanyu reports less pain, and Minghui begins carving the herb’s properties into the cave wall for reference.

Character developments and interactions

• Dongfang Minghui continues trying to win Wanyu’s trust through practical care, cooking, and apologies. Though often anxious and self-deprecating, she becomes resourceful: she improves her cooking, learns about beast anatomy, and recognizes the potential of her plant-communication ability.
• Dongfang Wanyu remains guarded and focused on training, accepting Minghui’s help but questioning her sincerity by recalling her past hostility. Her wounds visibly ease after Minghui’s treatment, offering a small sign that her sister’s care may be genuine.
• Mu Qing and Wang Fei share a joyful, intimate wedding, while Zhao Sanqi supports them and then parts from the sisters on a subdued note.

Significant themes

• Care and reconciliation: Minghui’s repeated acts of service contrast with her former cruelty and show her effort to make amends.
• Self-reliance and adaptation: The sisters build a life in the wilderness, each contributing in different ways.
• Hidden potential: Minghui’s seemingly weak spiritual power proves useful through her connection with plants and emerging medicinal knowledge.
• Joy amid hardship and separation: The wedding offers a brief celebration before the characters’ paths diverge.

Plot points and events

• Dongfang Minghui notices that the medicine Dongfang Wanyu used on her wounds has worked well. While Wanyu is absent, Minghui tends the herbs outside their cave and sets out to find the ingredients she needs.
• Minghui senses that she may be close to advancing beyond the second level of Spirit Practitioner, but keeps this—and her knowledge of Wanyu’s hidden abilities—to herself. She believes staying close to Wanyu is essential to her survival.
• Guided by her ability to communicate with plants, Minghui finds a red peony. When a sudden, violent storm begins, she shelters the flower and negotiates for its seeds and heart. Its tangled roots prevent her from safely transplanting it.
• Lightning and falling trees drive Minghui into a suspiciously clean cave. A massive vine suddenly seizes her and drags her into its depths; she faints before discovering what has taken her.
• Elsewhere, Wanyu survives a lightning strike while fighting a magic beast. A voice in her mind urges her to use the storm to advance. She cultivates through repeated lightning strikes, refining the lightning essence over eighty-one cycles and rising from fifth-level Spirit Practitioner to Spirit Master.
• Wanyu returns after fifteen days to find the cave occupied by two snake beasts. She kills them, discovers the herbs have been battered by the storm, and realizes Minghui is missing. After searching for two days, she refuses to accept the voice’s claim that Minghui was likely eaten.

Character developments

• Minghui shows resourcefulness and compassion by protecting the peony, while cautiously concealing her developing spiritual power and what she knows about Wanyu. Her practical priority remains survival.
• Wanyu makes a major breakthrough and gains formidable control over lightning, but her concern about Minghui emerges in her determined, fruitless search. She frames that concern as Minghui still needing to fulfill her purpose.
• The voice in Wanyu’s mind remains a blunt, mocking presence, pushing her cultivation and dismissing Minghui’s chances of survival.

Significant themes

• Power and survival: Cultivation determines status and security, prompting both Wanyu’s perilous advancement and Minghui’s caution.
• Nature as both ally and threat: Plants guide Minghui, but the storm, lightning, and falling trees put her in danger.
• Fortune and risk: Wanyu treats the storm as an opportunity to grow stronger, while Minghui’s search for a useful flower leads her into unexpected peril.
• Attachment and denial: Wanyu’s search suggests an emotional investment she does not openly acknowledge.

Character interactions

• Minghui communicates with the red peony, protects it from the storm, and receives its seeds and flower heart in return.
• Wanyu follows the voice’s advice to cultivate through lightning, though she does not engage with its later taunts about Minghui.
• Minghui and Wanyu do not meet again in the chapter; Wanyu returns to find her gone and searches for her.

Key plot points and events

• Dongfang Minghui is captured by a powerful magical plant and repeatedly tortured while it tries to force her to become its cultivation vessel. She refuses, even as she loses hope and imagines several ways she might die.
• The plant eventually stops tormenting her, explaining that heavenly lightning has badly injured its main body and that it can no longer afford to keep fighting. When Minghui wakes, her wounds are gone and her cultivation has risen from a level-three Spirit Practitioner to a level-one Spirit Master.
• She discovers that she and the plant have formed a blood contract, binding their lives together. The plant can communicate with her mentally and threatens to pursue Dongfang Wanyu as a more desirable cultivation vessel.
• Wanyu returns with a Magic Beast. Minghui begs her to save her, but Wanyu assumes she is afraid the contracted plant will harm her and reassures her that it cannot.
• Wanyu and Minghui eat together, then prepare to leave the Purple Demon Mountains. Wanyu intends to train on the way to the Royal Academy and investigate mysteries surrounding herself.
• The plant refuses to suppress its intimidating aura unless Minghui agrees not to interfere when it next tries to make Wanyu its cultivation vessel.

Character developments and interactions

• Dongfang Minghui survives a terrifying ordeal and gains a major cultivation advance, but her relief quickly turns to dismay when she learns she is bound to the plant. She remains fearful of Wanyu’s reaction and tries to manage the plant’s dangerous intentions.
• Dongfang Wanyu continues to grow stronger and takes charge of their journey. She is amused by Minghui’s account, but treats her as both a burden and someone whose unusual new circumstances merit further investigation.
• The magical plant is revealed as a powerful, cunning, and predatory creature. Though injured, it has secured a blood contract with Minghui and remains fixated on turning Wanyu into its cultivation vessel.
• Qing Mo, the deceased soul connected to Wanyu’s Seven-Colored Stone, warns her that the plant’s vicious aura and high apparent level make the contract suspicious. Wanyu agrees to stay cautious.

Significant themes

• Survival through compromise: Minghui endures abuse and gains power, but the reward comes with an unwanted, lifelong bond.
• Power and coercion: The plant’s strength lets it torment Minghui and threaten Wanyu, while the blood contract makes its choices consequential for both of them.
• Uneasy, mismatched relationships: Minghui sees the plant as a threat and burden; it sees her as a master it can bargain with, while Wanyu misunderstands what Minghui most fears.
• Adventure and hidden mysteries: The planned journey to the Royal Academy shifts the story toward training and investigation beyond the mountains.

Key plot points

• Dongfang Minghui and Dongfang Wanyu travel through the mountains, where Wanyu defeats several level-three beasts. Minghui collects their energy cores, hoping to sell the ones she cannot use.
• They come upon Azure Mist Sect disciple Mu Qing and two companions trying to capture a level-five Winged Elephant alive. After the beast throws off its restraints, Mu Qing subdues it through sheer force.
• Minghui notices seven hidden onlookers waiting for the Azure Mist disciples to wear themselves down before stealing the beast. Wanyu also spots them—and considers using the opportunity to kill Mu Qing, whom she has promised Qing Mo to avenge.
• Qing Mo warns that attacking Mu Qing could expose Wanyu and bring deadly consequences. She decides she can still cause trouble without confronting him directly.
• Once Mu Qing has subdued the Winged Elephant, the seven ambushers reveal themselves and demand it. As the groups clash, Wanyu secretly strikes the injured beast with lightning. Revived by pain, it breathes fire into the melee, then escapes into the sky. Mu Qing loses his prize.

Character developments

• Dongfang Minghui remains cautious and fearful, but proves observant by detecting the ambushers before the others do. Her practical streak shows in her efforts to collect valuable beast parts and cores.
• Dongfang Wanyu continues to be decisive and dangerous, acting on her promise to Qing Mo while weighing the risks. Rather than attack Mu Qing outright, she engineers a distraction that turns the fight against him.
• Qing Mo reveals gratitude toward Wanyu for remembering her promise, though he advises her to avoid a reckless move that could expose her.
• Mu Qing demonstrates formidable combat skill, but his hard-won capture proves vulnerable to interference.

Character interactions

• Minghui follows Wanyu through the hunt and relies on her protection; Wanyu pulls her away from a fireball and sharply warns her to stay quiet.
• Minghui exchanges sarcastic thoughts with the magic plant in her mind, which mocks her fear and draws a defensive retort.
• Wanyu and Qing Mo discuss revenge and its dangers, showing both her resolve and his concern for the consequences.
• Mu Qing’s junior disciples depend on him during the hunt, while the seven ambushers openly challenge the Azure Mist Sect’s authority.

Significant themes

• Caution versus ambition: Wanyu wants revenge, but Qing Mo highlights the cost of acting recklessly.
• Opportunity and hidden motives: The ambushers wait for the right moment, while Wanyu exploits the chaos for her own purpose.
• Power and vulnerability: Even a skilled fighter like Mu Qing can lose control of a situation when others intervene.
• Unequal courage: Wanyu acts boldly, while Minghui’s fear reflects her lack of combat ability—and her practical awareness of danger.

Key plot points and events

• Dongfang Wanyu releases a level-five Winged Elephant into a fight between two groups, then escapes with Dongfang Minghui while they attack each other.
• She returns to the injured Winged Elephant’s lair, hoping to claim it as a mount. Qing Mo warns that another level-five Winged Elephant is inside—and discovers that it is giving birth.
• Wanyu decides it may be better to raise the newborn than try to force a contract with an adult. She asks Minghui to retrieve a Purple Cloud Fruit, which can restore a Magic Beast’s vitality and strongly attracts them.
• Minghui’s magic plant warns her that the fruit grows in the dangerous Black Pool, where a Three-Headed Snake lives. Despite her fear, she goes, partly to help Wanyu.
• At the pool, Minghui encounters a stronger group pursuing the same fruit. She and her magic plant agree to wait until they draw out the snake, then try to steal the fruit; the plant asks for any extra fruit as payment.
• The group bombards the swamp to provoke the Three-Headed Snake. A swarm of tiny, poisonous black spiders erupts instead, attacking the people and surrounding trees. Minghui hides in a tree with her plant’s help.

Character development

• Dongfang Wanyu shows tactical cunning and opportunism, but also ambition: she seizes the chance to obtain a rare mount and adapts her plan when she learns a newborn is involved.
• Dongfang Minghui remains fearful and self-deprecating, yet repeatedly acts to support Wanyu. She also becomes more assertive with her magic plant, using their shared blood contract to bargain as an equal.
• The magic plant shifts from taunting Minghui to cooperating with her, explaining its need for energy and negotiating for a share of the fruit.
• Qing Mo serves as a practical adviser, warning Wanyu about the dangers of confronting the Winged Elephants.

Significant themes

• Cunning and survival: Characters exploit distractions, conceal themselves, and weigh risks rather than confront every threat directly.
• Ambition and opportunity: Wanyu’s pursuit of a rare mount drives the chapter’s choices.
• Mutual dependence: Minghui and her plant are bound by a contract, turning their antagonistic relationship into a negotiated partnership.
• Danger beneath apparent opportunity: The coveted fruit comes with deadly threats, and the group’s attempt to force the snake out triggers an unforeseen attack.

Character interactions

• Wanyu directs Minghui to retrieve the fruit; Minghui agrees out of loyalty, though she is frightened and doubts the danger is worth it.
• Qing Mo cautions Wanyu about both the second Winged Elephant and the risks to Minghui.
• Minghui and her magic plant trade insults, then reach a practical agreement to share any extra fruit and cooperate in stealing it.
• The chapter ends with Minghui concealed in a tree as the poisonous spider swarm surges toward the group.

Chapter Summary

• The Blood Baleful Alliance attacks the three-headed snake with its deadly blood net, sacrificing the spiritual energy of its own members to capture the Purple Cloud Fruit. The wounded snake escapes and triggers a stampede of dangerous creatures.
• Dongfang Minghui and her magic-plant partner decide to steal the fruit. The plant snatches both fruits from the Alliance’s young master and grand elder, then carries Minghui away. Because she has no spatial ring, the fruit’s scent draws a huge pack of magic beasts and the Alliance after them.
• Minghui redirects the danger by having the plant throw one fruit into the winged elephant’s lair, hoping the pursuing forces will focus on it. Dongfang Wanyu recognizes the danger to the calf and enters the lair to retrieve it while Minghui and Qing Mo watch from outside.
• The plant eats the remaining fruit and offers Minghui a cultivation method, claiming it can help her overcome her supposed “useless constitution.” Minghui questions its motives but accepts the method. She names it Little Lecher after it boasts about finding a cultivation partner. The chapter ends as Little Lecher realizes Wanyu has been spotted and urges everyone to run.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Minghui shows more initiative than her usual helpless image suggests: she devises a diversion and cooperates with the plant, though her lack of preparation—especially not owning a spatial ring—creates new trouble. She remains skeptical of the plant’s promises but begins to trust their partnership.
• Little Lecher is powerful and fast, but its true strength is limited by its injured, juvenile state. It and Minghui bicker, bargain, and gradually establish a more familiar relationship.
• Dongfang Wanyu remains composed and capable under pressure, but her concern for the winged elephant calf motivates her risky rescue attempt. She is also angry that Minghui’s plan may endanger it.
• Qing Mo, who previously dismissed Minghui, notices something unusual about her and recognizes the magic plant.

Significant Themes

• Trust and uneasy partnership: Minghui and Little Lecher must rely on each other despite mutual suspicion and past coercion.
• Risk and improvisation: Minghui’s clever diversion helps avoid a direct fight, but its consequences are unpredictable.
• Power and sacrifice: The Blood Baleful Alliance’s blood net shows the extreme costs people will accept to obtain the fruit.
• Appearance versus potential: Minghui is treated as incompetent, yet begins demonstrating judgment and ambition of her own.

Plot points and events

• Wei Junlan, leader of the Blood Baleful Alliance, tracks the Purple Cloud Fruit and discovers that there are two. He realizes Dongfang Minghui and Little Lecher have outmaneuvered him and orders his men to capture them.
• Cornered by a fire-element Spirit Emperor, Minghui tells Little Lecher to lead their pursuers in circles and encourages them to set the forest alight. She hopes the spreading blaze will draw out the powerful beasts that protect the Purple Demon Mountains.
• Minghui summons the Lightning Mouse, which calls a swarm of its kind. The mice—poisonous, swift, and skilled at ambush—turn the tables on the Alliance, inflicting heavy casualties.
• A powerful presence approaches, frightening both the beasts and Wei Junlan’s party. The Alliance retreats, while Little Lecher carries Minghui far from the danger.
• Once safe, Minghui realizes they forgot her Seventh Sister. She also resents Little Lecher for apparently getting a Purple Cloud Fruit while she gained nothing.
• Little Lecher changes into a chubby child and tries to placate her, but its threats only make Minghui find it cuter. Their reunion with Mu Qing and his junior companions ends the chapter on a tense note: Minghui wonders what to do now that they have appeared.

Character developments

• Dongfang Minghui proves resourceful under pressure, using the forest’s ecology and her hidden bond with the Lightning Mouse to escape. She is also impulsive enough to risk provoking the mountains’ strongest beasts.
• Little Lecher is anxious and protective while carrying Minghui, then reveals a childish form and a cultivation method suited to her. Its attempts to intimidate her fail.
• Wei Junlan is shown as observant and commanding, but his confidence is shaken after being deceived twice in one day. He vows revenge.
• The Lightning Mouse shifts from an adorable, food-seeking companion to a fierce fighter when attacked.
• Mu Qing and his companions reappear; his junior sister seems badly injured.

Significant themes

• Cunning versus force: Minghui’s unconventional plans and the Lightning Mice’s ambush tactics overcome a stronger, better-equipped enemy.
• Nature’s power and boundaries: The forest’s fire and the arrival of its powerful guardians show that human conflict can provoke forces beyond human control.
• Comic relief amid danger: Minghui’s bickering with Little Lecher and delight in its baby form contrast with the life-threatening battle.
• Consequences of recklessness: Minghui’s plan succeeds against the Alliance but risks drawing in far more dangerous beings.

Character interactions

• Minghui and Little Lecher argue and cooperate throughout the escape, with Little Lecher protecting her despite its complaints.
• Minghui uses her relationship with the Lightning Mouse to rally its kind, while its anger at being burned sparks the counterattack.
• Wei Junlan directs his elders against the fugitives, then orders a retreat when the situation worsens.
• Minghui’s amused teasing of Little Lecher is interrupted by the arrival of Mu Qing and his junior companions.

Key plot points and events

• Dongfang Minghui and Little Lust encounter three members of the Azure Mist Sect: Mu Qing, a powerful Great Spirit Master; Qing Yan; and the injured Qing Miao. Minghui disguises herself as a weak boy traveling with a child, claiming others are nearby.
• While they wait, Minghui worries that the sect members will discover she and Little Lust helped divert the crowd at the Winged Elephant lair. Qing Yan tends to Qing Miao, who was injured saving Mu Qing; Minghui imagines a tragic love triangle among them.
• Dongfang Wanyu arrives with the Winged Elephant calf. Minghui and Wanyu leave before Mu Qing recognizes the deception. Little Lust identifies itself as an Intermediate Vine Grass, helping ease Wanyu’s suspicions.
• Wanyu asks how Minghui diverted the pursuers. Minghui credits Little Lust, which stole the Purple Cloud Fruit and tossed it into the Winged Elephants’ cave, drawing the crowd away. Wanyu reveals she obtained the calf and acknowledges Minghui’s role.
• Mu Qing later detects the lingering Winged Elephant scent on the pair, realizes they were involved in the trap, and sets off after them. As Minghui’s unease grows, Mu Qing suddenly appears in their path.

Character developments

• Dongfang Minghui remains anxious and outmatched, but improvises a convincing cover story. She is candid with Wanyu about Little Lust’s role, though she continues to fear that Wanyu’s earlier errand was effectively a death sentence.
• Dongfang Wanyu lowers her guard after hearing Minghui’s explanation and admits Minghui helped her secure the calf. Her feelings remain conflicted: she had hoped Minghui would return safely, but had also considered abandoning her.
• Little Lust proves resourceful in the Purple Cloud Fruit scheme, while its blunt criticism and playful exchanges with Minghui reveal their close, teasing partnership.
• Mu Qing shifts from resting to suspicion when he recognizes the Winged Elephant scent and reassesses the sisters’ behavior.

Significant themes

• Deception and suspicion: Minghui’s disguise protects her temporarily, but small clues expose her involvement.
• Unequal power and vulnerability: Minghui must navigate a world where nearly everyone she meets is far stronger than she is.
• Conditional trust and family conflict: Wanyu’s gratitude coexists with distrust and resentment, leaving their relationship uneasy.
• Luck, agency, and survival: Wanyu benefits from her apparent good fortune, while Minghui and Little Lust survive through quick thinking and risky improvisation.

Character interactions

• Minghui and Little Lust trade anxious, comic commentary as they try to maintain their cover.
• Qing Yan politely questions Minghui while caring devotedly for Qing Miao; Mu Qing remains distant until he uncovers the pair’s likely role.
• Wanyu and Minghui share an awkward exchange: Wanyu probes for information and acknowledges Minghui’s help, while Minghui hides her hurt behind cheerful compliance.
• The chapter ends with Mu Qing confronting Wanyu and Minghui, setting up a likely pursuit or fight.

Key plot points and events

• Mu Qing confronts Dongfang Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui, accusing them of releasing a Winged Elephant to sabotage him. He tries to seize Wanyu’s spatial rings, claiming they contain evidence.
• Wanyu refuses to let him take them and fights back, but Mu Qing’s greater strength and Vajra Fist overwhelm her earth-based attacks. She tells Minghui to escape and gives her a ring.
• Minghui stays and begs Little Lecher for help. It binds Mu Qing with vines, giving Wanyu a chance to attack. Wanyu reveals her lightning ability and strikes him repeatedly.
• Mu Qing breaks free, but Wanyu traps him with her whip and uses her stored Thunderclap Spell. She kills him completely, leaving no body or soul behind to prevent the sect from tracking his death.
• Little Lecher’s effort severely drains Minghui’s spiritual power. She collapses, and Wanyu carries her away as Qing Mo warns that the lightning may attract attention.
• At the Azure Mist Sect, Mu Qing’s soul tablet shatters. His master, Jin Xieyun, orders an investigation and demands that Qingyan and Qing Miao be brought back if found.

Character developments

• Dongfang Wanyu shows resolve and protectiveness, choosing to face Mu Qing rather than abandon Minghui. She also reveals herself as a dual-element spirit master, wielding both earth and lightning, and crosses a decisive line by killing an enemy.
• Dongfang Minghui refuses to leave Wanyu despite being frightened and outmatched. Her plea prompts Little Lecher to intervene, but supporting the battle costs her dearly.
• Little Lecher uses its vines to restrain Mu Qing, exhausting its spiritual power in the process.
• Mu Qing moves from suspicion to open violence, confirming Wanyu’s lightning ability before she kills him.
• Qing Mo guides the pair through the fight and stresses the danger of leaving evidence that could lead the Azure Mist Sect back to them.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and sacrifice: Minghui risks herself for Wanyu, while Wanyu fights to protect her.
• Power and survival: The battle shows how a strength gap can be overcome through teamwork, hidden abilities, and timing.
• Consequences of violence: Killing Mu Qing may prevent immediate retaliation, but his shattered soul tablet guarantees the sect will investigate.
• Secrecy and exposure: Wanyu’s concealed lightning ability becomes known to Mu Qing, while the pair must conceal their role in his death.

Character interactions

• Wanyu challenges Mu Qing’s accusations and refuses his attempt to take her rings.
• She urges Minghui to flee, but Minghui stays and calls on Little Lecher to help her.
• Little Lecher restrains Mu Qing long enough for Wanyu to attack, while Qing Mo advises Wanyu on both combat and the risks of killing a sect disciple.
• After the fight, Wanyu checks on the unconscious Minghui and carries her away.