Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• With the Yang Family’s business partners refusing to cooperate, Yang Yubei concludes that winning back Leng Lingyi and their son, An Ning, is his best chance to solve the family’s troubles.
• He visits the Princess’s Residence with gifts, but Song Yaoyao has ordered the guards to keep him out. Yang leaves the gifts anyway, publicly claiming he regrets how he treated Leng Lingyi and will keep trying to earn her forgiveness.
• Song Yaoyao recognizes his apologies as a desperate attempt to rescue the Yang Family. She accepts the gifts on Leng Lingyi and An Ning’s behalf, framing them as compensation from a father to his son, and tells Leng Lingyi not to worry.
• Yang interprets the accepted gifts as encouragement and returns with more for several days. On the fourth day, he discovers that the Princess has left, taking Leng Lingyi and An Ning with her.
• A neighbor relays Song Yaoyao’s message: she has given all the gifts to the mother and child, will care for them herself, and intends that she and Yang never meet again. Yang collapses after hearing this, but a physician revives him with a Heart-Protecting Pill.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao remains protective and decisive. She sees through Yang’s motives, uses his gifts to benefit Leng Lingyi and An Ning, and ultimately removes them from his reach.
• Yang Yubei is driven by desperation rather than genuine remorse. His repeated appeals show that he mistakes Song’s acceptance of the gifts for a chance at reconciliation; the final rejection overwhelms him.
• Leng Lingyi and An Ning remain under Song’s protection. Though they do not directly confront Yang in this chapter, they are the beneficiaries of his gifts and are taken away with Song.
• Song Qinghui initially worries that accepting the gifts could invite criticism, but accepts Song Yaoyao’s reasoning.

Significant themes

• Sincerity versus self-interest: Yang’s apparent repentance is exposed as a strategy to solve his own problems.
• Protection and compensation: Song ensures Leng Lingyi and An Ning receive what Yang sends without requiring them to forgive or see him.
• Consequences and separation: Yang’s past mistreatment has cost him the family’s trust, and his attempts to reverse that damage come too late.

Character interactions

• Song Yaoyao instructs her guards to deliver Yang’s gifts to Leng Lingyi and explain that she will handle the situation.
• Song Qinghui questions whether accepting the gifts is appropriate; Song Yaoyao argues they are compensation for Leng Lingyi and An Ning.
• Yang repeatedly addresses the guards with apologies and promises, but the decisive answer reaches him through a neighbor after Song has already departed.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Yubei wakes in the Medical Hall and rushes to the Princess’s Residence, where he confirms Princess Jiahe has left with Leng Lingyi and her son. He realizes his plans are ruined.
• Merchants who learn what happened regret missing the chance to help Leng Lingyi and connect with the princess, but are relieved they had already cut ties with the Yang Family. The family’s eventual collapse under debt is foreshadowed.
• Elsewhere, the traveling convoy stops so its members can settle a dispute over who rides in the Off-Road Vehicle. Sima Yifeng insists that his disciple, Lu Xuangu Gui, accompany him, while Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng refuse to leave Song Yaoyao’s side, citing the emperor’s order to protect her.
• The argument escalates into a proposed fight. Leng Lingyi offers to ride in the Pickup Truck, but Song Yaoyao refuses and encourages everyone to treat the quarrel as entertainment. The three men begin fighting.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Yubei is devastated by Princess Jiahe’s departure and recognizes that his prospects have collapsed.
• Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng are fiercely protective of Song Yaoyao. They bicker with Sima Yifeng and even consider joining forces against him.
• Sima Yifeng is self-indulgent and stubborn, demanding a comfortable ride and his disciple’s company; he tries to provoke the younger men into a contest.
• Leng Lingyi is considerate, offering to give up her seat to prevent conflict, while Song Yaoyao insists she stay with her and playfully treats the dispute as a show.
• Lu Xuangu Gui is cast as his master’s unwilling “human pillow.” Guagua teases Song Yaoyao for supposedly inspiring a fight over her, but she insists it is only a seating dispute involving her brother, brother-in-law, and an older man.

Significant themes

• Fortunes shifting: The Yang Family’s downfall contrasts with Leng Lingyi and her son’s new protection and good fortune.
• Loyalty and protection: Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng prioritize their duty to guard Song Yaoyao.
• Comic conflict and camaraderie: A practical travel arrangement becomes an exaggerated showdown, with Song Yaoyao’s humor keeping the scene light.

Key plot points and events

• Sima Yifeng, despite being unwell, fights Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng to a standstill and refuses to stop when the match drags on.
• Song Yaoyao tries to end the fight so the group can continue their journey. When Sima dismisses her because she lacks martial arts, she uses the off-road vehicle’s exhaust to worsen his motion sickness until he vomits and the fight ends.
• Song Yaoyao and her companions drive off, leaving Sima and his disciple, Lu Xuangu Gui, to catch up on foot using their lightness skills.
• After an exhausting chase, the pair reach the last pickup truck, whose occupants slow down for them. Sima rides in the open truck bed, where wind and dust leave both master and disciple miserable.
• At a rest stop, Sima complains to Song Yaoyao, then admits he was wrong and asks to ride inside a vehicle.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao proves that she can outwit and control the situation without martial arts. She is playful and resourceful, but also firm when Sima’s stubbornness delays the group.
• Sima Yifeng is proud, competitive, and unwilling to back down, yet his physical discomfort makes him an easy target for Yaoyao’s practical joke. His annoyance eventually gives way to an embarrassed request for help.
• Lu Xuangu Gui remains cautious and obedient. He endures his master’s bad temper and even loses the chance to shield himself from the dust when Sima knocks his hand away.
• Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng stop fighting once Sima vomits, then leave with the group. The others refuse to give Sima special treatment, making him and his disciple catch up and ride in the truck bed.

Significant themes

• Cleverness over strength: Yaoyao uses a vehicle and knowledge of Sima’s motion sickness to overcome a martial artist without fighting.
• Pride and consequences: Sima’s refusal to compromise costs him comfort and leaves him chasing the group.
• Playful power reversal: The physically formidable Sima is repeatedly humbled by Yaoyao’s teasing and the group’s practical choices.
• Group loyalty and efficiency: Yaoyao prioritizes keeping the journey on schedule, while the others support that decision rather than indulging Sima’s stubbornness.

Key plot points and events

• Sima Yifeng begs Song Yaoyao to let him ride inside a vehicle instead of in the pickup’s open bed. He swears he will behave for the rest of the journey, staking his medical progress on it.
• Song Yaoyao agrees to trust him once more and lets him take the off-road vehicle. When Sima threatens to settle a score with Song Qinghui later, Yaoyao immediately warns him not to bully her second brother. Sima backs down and insists he was joking.
• The group stops for a two-hour rest and begins eating their dry travel provisions. Song Yaoyao has no appetite and says she will fetch something from the vehicle.
• Guagua tempts her with modern takeout and convenience foods. Yaoyao rejects hot delivery because its unexplained arrival in the wilderness would draw questions, especially from the inquisitive Sima.
• Instead, she orders instant noodles, self-heating meals, and other supplies. Guagua places them, unpackaged and divided in small quantities, among the three vehicles to keep the new provisions from attracting notice.
• Satisfied with the supplies, Yaoyao calls her brothers and the others over to see them. Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng, having overheard her exchange with Guagua, are curious about what she will reveal.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao remains practical and protective: she controls Sima’s behavior, defends her brother, and carefully conceals the source of her modern supplies.
• Sima Yifeng grudgingly accepts that he is at Yaoyao’s mercy. He makes an extravagant oath to earn a seat inside, then quickly retreats when she objects to his teasing of Song Qinghui.
• Song Qinghui looks after Yaoyao when she skips the dry food, while also teasing Sima about losing his “back cushion.”
• Guagua energetically tries to sell Yaoyao on modern food and delivery deals; Yaoyao resists the implausible option but accepts portable meals.

Significant themes

• Trust and accountability: Yaoyao gives Sima another chance, but makes clear that his behavior has consequences.
• Family loyalty: Her immediate defense of Song Qinghui shows how fiercely she protects her siblings.
• Resourcefulness and secrecy: Yaoyao finds a way to improve the group’s food supplies without exposing her unusual abilities.
• Humor and power dynamics: Sima’s dramatic oath and rapid change of tune provide comic relief, while Yaoyao’s authority over him drives their interaction.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao opens the vehicle’s trunk and offers the group a choice of unfamiliar convenience foods, including instant noodles, self-heating hot pots, and self-heating rice meals.
• The Shadow Guards hesitate to take anything, believing the food is too valuable. Yaoyao firmly orders them to choose.
• Sima Yifeng steps in, picks a hot pot and rice meal, then fumbles the preparation. Yaoyao stops him, demonstrates the correct steps, and helps him get both meals cooking.
• As everyone chooses and prepares food, Yaoyao decides to make luosifen over a makeshift fire. Song Qinghui and the others build a stone stove while she gathers ingredients.
• The luosifen’s strong smell surprises the group. Sima Yifeng and his disciple privately joke that it resembles something from a privy, while worrying Yaoyao might overhear.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is generous and decisive: she shares her supplies with everyone and insists the Shadow Guards accept food rather than go without. She also takes charge of teaching the group how to prepare it.
• The Shadow Guards, especially Eagle One and Song Yi, are deferential and reluctant to accept something they see as precious, but comply once Yaoyao makes it an order.
• Sima Yifeng is curious and eager to try the new foods, though overconfident about the instructions. He accepts Yaoyao’s correction and learns by watching her.
• Song Qinghui supports his sister by offering to handle the stove-building, and the others readily help.
• Sima Yifeng and Lu Xuangu Gui share a comic, conspiratorial exchange about the smell of luosifen, with the disciple trying to draw his master into the joke.

Significant themes

• Generosity and care: Yaoyao shares her food and ensures even the guards are included.
• Hierarchy softened by affection: The guards’ obedience contrasts with Yaoyao’s insistence that they accept her kindness.
• Curiosity and adaptation: The group encounters unfamiliar technology and learns to use it through demonstration.
• Humor and cultural contrast: The modern self-heating meals—and especially luosifen’s pungent aroma—create comic reactions in the wilderness.

Plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao finishes making several bowls of pungent Luosifen and offers it to the others. Everyone recoils, leaving her to enjoy it alone.
• Her companion Guagua tells her that Lu Xuangu Gui had asked whether she was eating “poop.” Annoyed, Song Yaoyao confronts Xuangu Gui and his master, Sima Yifeng.
• Sima quickly blames his disciple and encourages Song Yaoyao to punish him. Xuangu Gui accepts responsibility, so Song Yaoyao makes him eat a bowl of Luosifen.
• Though he initially expects the dish to taste as bad as it smells, Xuangu Gui loves it, finishes the bowl, and asks for more. Song Yaoyao joins him, while Sima remains incredulous and curious.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is enthusiastic about her food and turns her irritation into a playful punishment.
• Lu Xuangu Gui moves from reluctant offender to an eager Luosifen fan, but holds a grudge when Sima tries to learn whether it is good.
• Sima Yifeng abandons his disciple to avoid getting in trouble, then tries unsuccessfully to get Xuangu Gui to share his opinion.
• The exchange highlights the comic tension between master and disciple: Sima insists they are not “on the same side,” while Xuangu Gui is upset that his master betrayed him.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Luosifen’s offensive smell disguises a flavor Xuangu Gui finds irresistible.
• Consequences for careless words: Song Yaoyao makes Xuangu Gui face a humorous penalty for insulting her meal.
• Loyalty and self-preservation: Sima prioritizes protecting himself over standing by his disciple.
• Shared enjoyment: The food that initially repels the group becomes a source of pleasure for Song Yaoyao and Xuangu Gui.

Chapter Summary: “Winning Everyone Over”

• Everyone is won over by luosifen. After Song Yaoyao challenges Sima Yifeng to try it, he discovers he loves it and quickly joins the others in eating. Song Qinghui, Liu Zheheng, Eagle One, Song Yi, and the Shadow Guards follow suit. Song Yaoyao teaches them to cook more, and the group eagerly eats several bowls each. They ask for the dish again that evening, and she agrees.
• Sima Yifeng and his disciple bicker playfully. Lu Xuangu Gui boasts that he also ate four bowls. Sima scolds him for ignoring his master while eating, and the two end up chasing each other around.
• The meal leaves Song Yaoyao stuffed and sleepy. She settles into the car and falls asleep, trading sharp, humorous insults with Guagua first. When the others return, they quietly avoid waking her.
• The group continues its journey. Liu Zheheng drives toward Changning County, but the ancient roads make night travel dangerous: they are uneven, unlit, and sometimes bordered by steep drops. Song Yaoyao has therefore decided they should travel only during daylight, even though the group has recently been uncomfortable while camping outdoors.
• After waking from a long nap, Song Yaoyao learns they still have a considerable journey ahead. Bored, she asks Guagua to show her the popular drama Tales of Cultivation, especially because of its handsome male lead and alluring Demon Path Ancestor.

Character Developments and Interactions

Song Yaoyao’s cooking brings the group together, turning initial skepticism into shared enthusiasm. Sima Yifeng and Lu Xuangu Gui’s affectionate, teasing quarrel shows their familiar master-disciple bond. Song Yaoyao and Guagua continue their combative, comic exchanges, with neither willing to concede an argument. The group also shows quiet consideration for Song Yaoyao by keeping their voices down while she sleeps.

Significant Themes

The chapter emphasizes how shared food can create camaraderie, balances comedy with practical concerns about safety during travel, and highlights the group’s growing warmth and mutual consideration.

Key plot points and events

• While traveling, Song Yaoyao watches a drama and jokes with Guagua, their familiar, bickering companionship on display. Her brothers, Liu Zheheng and Song Qinghui, privately doubt that the pair ever get along peacefully.
• The party arrives in Changning County, attracting attention because their horse-less vehicles are unusual. The county magistrate, Tan Hanmin, spends the night trying to identify them.
• After a poor night’s sleep, Song Yaoyao proposes that the group rest in town for a day and restock. Her companions agree.
• Tan requests an audience, hoping to connect with influential visitors and improve his prospects. Guagua explains that Tan’s record is ordinary, and Song Yaoyao refuses to serve as a shortcut to promotion. She sends him away and orders the party’s identities kept secret.
• Later, Guagua alerts Song Yaoyao that people are trying to kill a witness and dispose of the victim in a dry well. Though the victim appears dead, they are still alive. Song Yaoyao gets the location and sets off with her brothers to intervene.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao shows practical concern for her weary party by arranging a rest day, while remaining firm against opportunists seeking favors.
• Tan Hanmin is revealed as ambitious but not seriously corrupt or accomplished; he sees the visitors as a chance to advance.
• Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng readily support Song Yaoyao, both in her travel decisions and in responding to the emergency.
• Guagua continues as Song Yaoyao’s sharp-tongued but useful companion, providing both entertainment and crucial information.

Significant themes

• Rest and recovery: The group’s fatigue prompts a pause in their journey.
• Integrity versus opportunism: Song Yaoyao rejects Tan’s attempt to use their status for personal advancement.
• Responsibility and intervention: Guagua’s warning turns a quiet stop into an urgent rescue mission.
• Trust and companionship: Song Yaoyao relies on Guagua’s information and her brothers’ support.

Character interactions

• Song Yaoyao and Guagua trade teasing insults while watching television, to the amusement and disbelief of her brothers.
• Over breakfast, Song Yaoyao consults her brothers about resting; both agree.
• Song Yaoyao dismisses Tan’s request through Song Yi and instructs her party to keep their identities concealed.
• When Guagua reports the attempted murder, Song Yaoyao immediately brings Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng along to save the victim.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao and her brothers, Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng, arrive at the Abandoned Residence before the men they are waiting for and hide.
• Ding Wang and Liu San appear carrying a burlap sack. Believing the “young madam” inside is dead, they confess that their young master and Miss Han harmed her and explain they were ordered to dump her in a well.
• Song Yaoyao and her brothers reveal themselves. The servants first threaten them, then become deferential when they realize the newcomers may be powerful outsiders.
• The sack suddenly moves: the woman inside has regained consciousness after being dropped. The servants panic, believing the corpse has come back to life.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao remains confident and quick-witted, using the servants’ own words to expose what happened. She is amused by their threats and suggests she has powerful connections.
• Ding Wang and Liu San are frightened and superstitious. Though they insist they did not commit the murder, their conversation reveals the order to dispose of the woman and their fear of their master.
• The young madam is revealed to be alive, setting up a potential rescue and further confrontation.

Significant themes

• Power and intimidation: The servants rely on their master’s status to silence witnesses, while Song Yaoyao’s confidence turns the threat back on them.
• Guilt and fear: The men’s guilty consciences make them mistake ordinary movement and sounds for supernatural signs.
• Abuse of power and complicity: The servants claim they are merely following orders, but their role in disposing of the woman implicates them in the wrongdoing.

Character interactions

• Song Yaoyao coordinates quietly with her brothers before confronting the servants.
• The servants bicker over whether Liu San should criticize their master, exposing both their fear and disapproval.
• Song Yaoyao challenges their threats with pointed questions, prompting them to shift from defiance to pleading.
• The sack’s movement abruptly changes the encounter, leaving everyone startled and the woman’s fate unresolved.

Plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao and her companions discover two men, Ding Wang and Liu San, trying to dispose of Duanmu Rui, whom they believe is dead. When she moves inside the sack, Yaoyao intervenes and frees her.
• Rui explains that she had fainted and was mistaken for dead. She is badly emaciated and covered in wounds, including repeated bloodletting scars. She names Yu Haochuan and Han Tianzhi as the people who tormented her and warns they may recapture her using something that can subdue her.
• Rui tries to leave immediately, but collapses from severe blood loss. Yaoyao diagnoses extreme physical depletion and fears Rui may have only a year or two to live without proper care.
• The group obtains clothes and a cloak, then takes Rui to their inn. Yaoyao cleans and treats her extensive wounds over two hours. The two would-be body disposers are left immobilized, with their acupoints expected to release after six hours.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao shows compassion, medical skill, and initiative, protecting Rui and personally carrying and treating her.
• Duanmu Rui is revealed as a traumatized but determined survivor, consumed by hatred and intent on revenge. Despite her condition, she insists on leaving to avoid being captured again.
• Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng support Yaoyao by helping secure the scene, obtaining clothing, and arranging transport. Liu Zheheng takes precautions by sealing the attendants’ acupoints.

Themes

• Cruelty and injustice: Rui’s extensive injuries and history of bloodletting expose the brutality of her captors.
• Compassion and moral responsibility: Yaoyao and her companions help Rui without seeking repayment.
• Survival and revenge: Rui’s determination to live is tied to her desire to avenge what was done to her.
• Healing and vulnerability: Rui’s collapse underscores the lasting physical cost of her abuse.

Character interactions

• Yaoyao reassures Rui that her rescue was no great deed, while Rui promises to repay their kindness once she has taken revenge.
• Rui warns Yaoyao’s group about Yu Haochuan and Han Tianzhi and the danger of being taken back.
• The brothers coordinate with Yaoyao to protect and transport Rui, while treating the two attendants as responsible for their actions despite their claim to be following orders.
• After treating Rui, Yaoyao asks Guagua to uncover what happened to her.

Plot and events

• Song Yaoyao finishes treating the badly wounded Duanmu Rui. Her brothers, Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng, check on her, then invite her to eat; Yaoyao cleans up before joining them.
• While the brothers discuss martial arts, Yaoyao resumes asking Guagua about Duanmu Rui. Guagua explains that Rui was once a great beauty, wears ritual clothing during ceremonies, and her normally black eyes turn blue when she performs them.
• Guagua reveals that Rui is a Metaphysics Master and a member of the Witch Tribe. He begins showing Yaoyao a video about her family’s past.
• The video depicts Duanmu Cangying, Rui’s father, escaping a massacre of his lineage. His dying master warns him that their Secret Art brought their enemies together, urges him to keep a low profile, and asks him to survive and rebuild the lineage. Cangying buries his master, evades pursuers with a formation, and eventually escapes the Witch Tribe.
• The excerpt ends with Yaoyao questioning how a powerful metaphysical lineage could have been nearly destroyed.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is compassionate and diligent, having spent hours treating Rui’s injuries. Her curiosity grows as she learns that Rui’s unusual appearance and eyes are connected to ritual practice.
• Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng show concern for Yaoyao and offer practical support. They respect the privacy required by Rui’s presence, then keep her company at dinner.
• Duanmu Cangying is introduced through the video as devoted to his master and determined to survive, even while grieving and facing pursuit.
• Guagua acts as Yaoyao’s guide, answering her questions and providing the historical video.

Significant themes

• Family and legacy: Cangying is charged with preserving and rebuilding his lineage.
• Power and its cost: The Secret Art is valuable enough to provoke a united attack, suggesting that extraordinary abilities bring danger as well as influence.
• Survival and restraint: Cangying’s master stresses secrecy and caution over revenge or open displays of power.
• Compassion and curiosity: Yaoyao’s care for Rui leads her to uncover the history behind Rui’s condition.

Key plot points and events

• A coalition ambushes Duanmu Cangying’s lineage in broad daylight, exploiting the fact that its members can summon vicious ghosts only at night. The sudden, carefully planned attack leaves them badly defeated.
• Guagua explains the secret they sought: the Paper Effigy Life-Exchange Technique, developed by the lineage’s ancestor, Ciyang. By crafting a lifelike paper effigy, attaching the target’s birth details, and placing a blood-drawn talisman over its heart, a metaphysics master can hide the target’s aura when their allotted lifespan ends. The Underworld’s envoys then take the effigy instead, extending the person’s life.
• The technique defied the Heavenly Dao, and Ciyang died from its backlash three days after creating it. He warned that revealing it would provoke a struggle for possession and endanger the lineage.
• Guagua sends Song Yaoyao a video showing how the secret may have leaked. It introduces Cheng Yin’s three disciples: gifted eldest disciple Duanmu Cangying, jealous second disciple Rui Rui, and straightforward third disciple Mu Jun. The video ends as Rui Rui, consumed by resentment and frustration, gets an unexpected opportunity for revenge.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is fascinated but unnerved by the supernatural explanation. She worries about ghosts, while Guagua reassures her that the Underworld’s rules prevent them from freely entering the human world.
• Guagua patiently explains the technique and the lineage’s history, then lets Song see the events for herself through a video.
• Duanmu Cangying is portrayed as exceptionally talented and generous, sharing what he learns with Mu Jun.
• Mu Jun respects Duanmu and readily seeks his guidance; the two exchange ideas amicably.
• Rui Rui interprets Cheng Yin’s extra instruction of Duanmu as favoritism. Too proud to ask his fellow disciples for help, he becomes increasingly isolated and convinced that everyone scorns him. His resentment turns into hatred, setting up his eventual betrayal or revenge.
• Cheng Yin appears to favor Duanmu, but the difference in attention stems from Duanmu mastering lessons more quickly, not from deliberate exclusion.

Significant themes

• Jealousy and isolation: Rui Rui’s envy, wounded pride, and refusal to communicate deepen his alienation.
• Secrets and their consequences: Ciyang’s warning that the technique would attract conflict comes true when outsiders unite to seize it.
• Fate versus defiance: The life-exchange technique attempts to evade a divinely ordained lifespan, but its creation carries a fatal price.
• Misunderstanding and perspective: Rui Rui mistakes Duanmu’s talent and Cheng Yin’s teaching approach for deliberate favoritism.

Key plot points and events

• Cheng Yin returns covered in others’ blood after surviving a large attack. He is exhausted but uninjured, and sleeps for a day.
• Suspecting someone is targeting him, Cheng Yin retrieves two secret lineage texts and gives them to his chosen successor, Duanmu Cangying. The thick book contains a secret cultivation method; the thin booklet describes the forbidden Paper Effigy Life-Exchange Technique, which can extend a person’s life.
• Cheng Yin warns Duanmu that the technique defies the Heavenly Dao and must never be used casually—or revealed. Duanmu accepts the responsibility.
• Rui Rui, Cheng Yin’s second disciple, secretly overhears the conversation. Resentful that Duanmu is favored, he leaks the technique’s existence.
• Outsiders confront Cheng Yin and demand the method. Rui Rui confirms what he heard, and the crowd attacks Cheng Yin and his disciples, intending to capture them and exploit the technique.

Character developments and interactions

• Cheng Yin becomes cautious after the attack and prepares Duanmu to inherit the lineage’s secrets. He insists he has not treated Rui Rui unfairly, though he admits Rui Rui learns more slowly than the others.
• Duanmu Cangying shows deep concern for his master, initially fearing Cheng Yin is giving last instructions. He accepts his role as successor and promises to guard the secrets.
• Rui Rui shifts from a suspicious eavesdropper to an active betrayer. He interprets Cheng Yin’s instruction of Duanmu as favoritism and retaliates by exposing the secret.
• The attackers care only about extending their lives. They dismiss Cheng Yin’s explanation that the technique is useless to non-practitioners and decide to seize him and his disciples.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and resentment: Rui Rui’s grievance over perceived favoritism turns into a betrayal that endangers the entire lineage.
• Succession and secrecy: Cheng Yin entrusts sacred knowledge to one chosen heir, creating both responsibility and division.
• Power and exploitation: A life-extending technique attracts people willing to use violence to obtain it.
• Trust and misinterpretation: Rui Rui treats private instruction as proof of rejection, while Cheng Yin’s intended protection of the lineage becomes the spark for conflict.

Key plot points and events

• The group that had turned against Cheng Yin’s party captures Rui Rui as well. Though he protests that he helped them learn how to prolong their lives, they condemn him as a traitor who betrayed Cheng Yin after being rescued and raised by him.
• Cheng Yin and Duanmu Cangying’s group are overwhelmed. Mu Jun is killed, and both Cheng Yin and Duanmu Cangying are wounded. Cheng Yin kills Rui Rui at the cost of worsening his own injuries; Duanmu Cangying carries him into a hidden chamber.
• Duanmu Cangying later settles in a remote village, marries physician Ren Lingling, and has three children. Their youngest, Duanmu Rui, inherits his sorcery and proves exceptionally talented.
• Though raised under strict protection because of her father’s enemies, Duanmu Rui longs to see the world. She leaves home secretly, disguises herself as a man, and travels safely for six months while avoiding sorcery and helping people.
• Duanmu Cangying and Ren Lingling panic when they discover her letter. His tracking spell fails because Rui has erased her traces.
• Rui’s travels bring her to Yu Haochuan, whom Guagua identifies as the man who will imprison her and cause her present suffering.
• The chapter begins explaining Yu Haochuan’s family history: he is the sickly son of Madam Yu, born prematurely after his pregnant mother was enraged to learn that Yu Xiang’an’s concubine Xia Ying was also expecting a child. Xia Ying gives birth to the healthy, clever Yu Mingchuan, whom Yu Xiang’an favors and eventually positions as heir. Madam Yu becomes bitter and repeatedly targets Xia Ying and her son.

Character development

• Rui Rui: Revealed as a traitor whose pleas for gratitude fail because his earlier betrayal of Cheng Yin defines him in others’ eyes.
• Duanmu Rui: Grows into a gifted, independent young woman eager to make her own choices, but her sheltered upbringing leaves her unprepared for the dangers she encounters.
• Duanmu Cangying and Ren Lingling: Their deep affection for their daughter is shown through their fear and desperate attempt to find her.
• Yu Haochuan: Introduced through the circumstances of his premature birth and the resentments surrounding his family. His role as Duanmu Rui’s future captor is foreshadowed.
• Madam Yu: Her grief and sense of injustice harden into hostility toward Xia Ying and Yu Mingchuan.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and gratitude: Rui Rui’s accusations ring hollow because he betrayed the person who once saved him.
• Protection versus independence: Duanmu Rui’s desire for freedom conflicts with her family’s efforts to keep her safe.
• Family favoritism and resentment: The Yu household’s unequal treatment of its children fuels Madam Yu’s bitterness and foreshadows further conflict.
• Fate and forewarning: Guagua’s account reveals that Rui’s adventurous departure will lead her into a trap.

Character interactions

• Rui Rui argues with his captors, who answer his appeal for gratitude by accusing him of betraying Cheng Yin.
• Cheng Yin’s final act is to kill Rui Rui; Duanmu Cangying then carries the wounded Cheng Yin to safety.
• Ren Lingling urges her husband to find their missing daughter, while Duanmu Cangying tries—and fails—to locate her.
• Yu Xiang’an’s preference for Yu Mingchuan, and his elevation of Xia Ying, intensify Madam Yu’s resentment toward both of them.

Key plot points and events

• Yu Xiang’an repeatedly favors Xia Ying and her son, Yu Mingchuan, over his principal wife, Madam Yu, and her son, Yu Haochuan. After repeated clashes, he removes Madam Yu’s household authority and gives it to Xia Ying.
• As a child, Haochuan is punished and confined alongside his mother. Mingchuan routinely flaunts the household’s best possessions and tells Haochuan that the gifts sent to him are merely Mingchuan’s leftovers.
• Mingchuan stages a false accusation, claiming Haochuan pushed him. Despite Haochuan’s denials and his attendants’ testimony, Xiang’an believes Mingchuan, slaps Haochuan, and confines him without food or water for three days. Haochuan falls gravely ill, and physicians predict he will not live past twenty-five.
• Mingchuan becomes more emboldened and repeatedly frames Haochuan. Madam Yu eventually hires martial artists to protect her son, while she and Haochuan are socially isolated and must rely on her dowry for food.
• At twenty, believing he has little time left, Haochuan asks his mother to let him see the outside world. She tearfully agrees. Half a year into the journey, he runs out of medicine and collapses on the road.
• Duanmu Rui comes upon the group, examines Haochuan, and gives him a pill, saying he has learned some medical knowledge from his elder brother.

Character developments and interactions

• Yu Haochuan grows up frail, neglected, and repeatedly betrayed by his father. The abuse leaves him withdrawn and fearful, though he later longs to experience the world before his predicted early death.
• Madam Yu is fiercely protective of her son but repeatedly loses power and breaks down over his suffering. She ultimately supports his final wish to travel.
• Yu Mingchuan is cruel and manipulative, using taunts and false accusations to secure his father’s favor and worsen Haochuan’s treatment.
• Yu Xiang’an consistently trusts Mingchuan and punishes Haochuan despite evidence in his favor.
• Duanmu Rui’s chance encounter with Haochuan marks their first meeting: she responds to his companions’ distress and tries to save him.

Significant themes

• Favoritism and injustice: Xiang’an’s preference for Mingchuan fuels the household’s repeated abuse of Haochuan and Madam Yu.
• Manipulation and betrayal: Mingchuan’s framing succeeds because his father refuses to question his claims.
• Resilience amid suffering: Despite illness and isolation, Haochuan still seeks a meaningful experience of life before death.
• Maternal devotion: Madam Yu’s protection and eventual sacrifice of her own wishes underscore her bond with her son.

Key plot points and events

• Duanmu Rui saves Yu Haochuan during a sudden illness, then travels with him and his servant, Baoqing, to Orchid City.
• After half a month together, Duanmu Rui and Yu agree to journey on without a fixed destination. Over the next year and a half, they visit many places and grow close, though neither discusses their family.
• Yu’s heart condition worsens, and he falls into a deep, three-day unconsciousness. Baoqing decides to take him home to Changning County, and Duanmu Rui joins them, hoping her medical knowledge might help.
• On the way, a doctor says Yu has a congenital condition and only days to live. His earlier doctor’s prediction that he might live to twenty-five assumed he would rest; the strain of traveling has greatly weakened him.
• Seeing Yu near death, Duanmu Rui weeps and announces she has a way to save him: the forbidden Paper Effigy Life-Exchange Technique.

Character developments and interactions

• Duanmu Rui begins as a compassionate stranger who helps Yu without hesitation. Her sympathy develops into love during their travels, though she does not recognize it at first. Desperate to save him, she is prepared to use a dangerous family secret despite warnings and the risks to her family.
• Yu Haochuan is a learned, handsome young man living with a serious heart ailment. He wants to see the world before he dies, but his travels worsen his health.
• Baoqing is devoted to Yu, praying for him, seeking medical help, and finally bringing him home. He is shocked and distraught by the doctor’s prognosis.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua comment on the events from outside the story. Guagua reveals that Duanmu Rui’s act of saving Yu will expose her mystical abilities and ultimately cost her dearly.

Significant themes

• Compassion and sacrifice: Duanmu Rui’s instinct to help becomes a willingness to risk herself to save someone she loves.
• Love and vulnerability: Their shared journey fosters an unspoken bond, but Duanmu Rui’s feelings leave her exposed to danger.
• Fate, mortality, and the cost of choice: Yu’s desire to experience life accelerates his decline, while Duanmu Rui’s attempt to defy death carries grave consequences.
• Duty and hidden heritage: Duanmu Rui’s mystical abilities and her family’s enemies connect her personal choice to a larger inherited responsibility.

Key plot points and events

• Yu Haochuan lies near death after suffering a sudden, severe pain in his chest. Duanmu Rui promises Baoqing she can save him, asks not to be disturbed, and secretly prepares a ritual.
• Duanmu Rui buys supplies from a paper-offering shop and spends days making and watching over a paper effigy resembling Yu. She performs the Paper Effigy Life-Exchange Technique, which drains her badly.
• At midnight, the effigy disappears. Yu awakens at the same moment, while Duanmu Rui collapses from exhaustion.
• A physician says Duanmu Rui has overexerted herself and will recover with rest and medicine. Yu, meanwhile, feels unexpectedly well and learns from Baoqing how she saved him.
• Yu suspects Duanmu Rui is a genuine warlock and orders Baoqing to keep her abilities secret. The next day, he visits her with tonics and thanks her for saving his life.

Character developments and interactions

• Duanmu Rui risks her health to save Yu, revealing her devotion through action. Though exhausted, she dismisses the deed as insignificant.
• Yu Haochuan moves from helplessness and unconsciousness to recovery and gratitude. He recognizes Duanmu Rui’s unusual power but keeps his suspicion private.
• Baoqing remains fiercely loyal to Yu, placing all hope in Duanmu Rui and carefully protecting her from interruption. He later reports the events and follows Yu’s order to keep her secret.
• Yu and Duanmu share a warm, respectful exchange when he visits her. He calls her sacrifice life-saving; she downplays it. He promises that his mother and he will thank her once they reach Changning County. He does not mention his father, and Duanmu Rui chooses not to ask.

Significant themes

• Self-sacrifice and devotion: Duanmu Rui spends her strength—and risks her well-being—to save Yu.
• Mystery and the supernatural: The vanished effigy and Yu’s sudden recovery suggest the ritual’s power and establish Duanmu Rui as someone extraordinary.
• Trust and secrecy: Baoqing and Yu protect Duanmu Rui’s identity, while her unexplained abilities remain concealed.
• Gratitude and restraint: Yu openly acknowledges his debt, while Duanmu Rui minimizes her sacrifice and avoids prying into his family.

Plot points and events

• Duanmu Rui agrees to visit Changning County. During the journey, Yu Haochuan visits her daily but avoids asking how she saved him, waiting for a better moment to investigate.
• After Duanmu Rui recovers, Yu Haochuan brings everyone home. His mother, Madam Yu, is overjoyed to see him after two years, and Duanmu Rui moves into the Yu residence.
• Green Lotus, a maid in Madam Yu’s household, sees Duanmu Rui’s wealth and handsome appearance and decides to seduce her for the chance at a richer life.
• When Duanmu Rui bathes alone, Green Lotus enters through an unlocked window. Duanmu Rui wakes, orders her out, and knocks her down with a palm strike when she approaches. Guards arrive and send for Madam Yu.
• Meanwhile, Madam Yu urges Yu Haochuan to marry and worries about having a grandchild. He refuses, citing his poor health. She jokingly wonders whether he is attracted to the handsome Duanmu Rui; he vehemently denies it, saying they are simply traveling companions and that Duanmu saved his life.
• A guard reports Green Lotus’s intrusion. Madam Yu and Yu Haochuan hurry to Duanmu Rui’s quarters to deal with the incident.

Character developments and interactions

• Duanmu Rui remains guarded about how she saved Yu Haochuan, but relaxes when he does not question her. She firmly protects her privacy when Green Lotus intrudes.
• Yu Haochuan is patient and strategic, deliberately postponing his questions about Duanmu Rui’s rescue. He is also evasive about his reluctance to marry, and has not yet clarified his own feelings or understanding of their bond.
• Madam Yu is affectionate toward her son and anxious for him to marry, even jokingly suggesting he might fancy Duanmu Rui.
• Green Lotus is opportunistic and overconfident; her scheme fails when Duanmu Rui catches and repels her.
• The incident pulls Madam Yu and Yu Haochuan into Duanmu Rui’s private quarters, setting up a confrontation over Green Lotus’s misconduct.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and trust: Yu Haochuan carefully waits for Duanmu Rui to feel safe before asking about her past actions.
• Consent and personal boundaries: Duanmu Rui’s locked door and forceful response underline her refusal to tolerate an unwanted intrusion.
• Family expectations and marriage: Madam Yu’s desire for a marriage and grandchild clashes with Yu Haochuan’s reluctance and concerns about his health.
• Appearance and mistaken assumptions: Green Lotus assumes Duanmu Rui is a man and believes seducing her will secure wealth, while Madam Yu’s teasing also turns Duanmu Rui’s beauty into a source of comic misunderstanding.

Key plot points and events

• A maid, Lühe, attempts to climb into Duanmu Rui’s bed while Rui is bathing. Rui knocks her down when she ignores a warning.
• Madam Yu orders the maid taken away and killed for disgracing her. The maid then claims she has learned a secret about the eldest young master.
• She reveals that Duanmu Rui is a woman disguised as a man. Rui confirms it, explaining that she dressed as a man for easier travel and that Yu Haochuan knows why she came to the residence.
• Yu Haochuan shuts down the maid’s accusations, has her gagged and removed, and reassures Rui that he understands her character.
• After Madam Yu and the others leave, Yu Haochuan admits he never realized Rui was a woman during their year and a half of traveling. He begins addressing her as Miss Duanmu.
• Rui learns more about the divided Yu household: Madam Yu and Haochuan live in the eastern courtyard, while Xia Ying and her son live in the western one. Master Yu is now keeping Yu Mingchuan close and teaching him.
• Sympathetic to Haochuan, Rui promises he will live a long life. When he doubts her because physicians predicted he would die before twenty-five, she tells him she is a practitioner of mystic arts and that a secret technique saved him before.

Character developments and interactions

• Duanmu Rui is exposed but chooses honesty rather than letting the household suspect her of scheming. She shows concern for Haochuan and discloses her supernatural abilities to reassure him.
• Yu Haochuan demonstrates trust and loyalty by defending Rui against the maid’s allegations. His curiosity about Rui’s identity gives way to accepting her as Miss Duanmu; he also appears eager to hear how she might help his health.
• The maid turns from pleading for mercy to vindictive accusation after her failed seduction attempt. Her revelation is partly true, but she tries to distort Rui’s motives.
• Madam Yu reacts fiercely to the attempted seduction because it threatens her reputation, but leaves once Haochuan takes control of the situation.

Significant themes

• Secrets and identity: Rui’s male disguise is exposed, changing how others see and address her.
• Trust versus suspicion: The maid frames Rui as a possible threat, while Haochuan’s knowledge and confidence in her counter the accusation.
• Power and vulnerability: The maid’s failed attempt leads to harsh punishment, while Rui’s hidden identity makes her vulnerable to exposure.
• Hope and mortality: Rui challenges Haochuan’s bleak prognosis and offers a possible path to a long life.

Key plot points and events

• Yu Haochuan flatters Duanmu Rui and asks about the life-extending technique she used to save him. She reveals its name—the Paper Effigy Life-Exchange Technique—but withholds its details, following her father’s warning.
• After another month, Yu Haochuan confesses his love. Duanmu Rui accepts, and they pledge themselves to each other.
• When Duanmu Rui says she wants to take him home to meet her parents before marriage, Yu Haochuan becomes alarmed. He worries they may reject him or separate them, and he privately discusses the problem with his mother, Madam Yu.
• Mother and son decide to keep Duanmu Rui from leaving by making the relationship a “done deal.” Yu Haochuan secretly puts an aphrodisiac in wine he shares with her. Duanmu Rui drinks it unknowingly, and they sleep together.
• The next morning, Duanmu Rui is distressed by what happened. Yu Haochuan feigns remorse, then persuades her to delay visiting her parents, claiming he must protect his mother from the rival west courtyard and improve his health first.
• Duanmu Rui accepts his explanation. The narration reveals that Yu Haochuan never intends to meet her parents: he fears they would see through his schemes.

Character developments

• Yu Haochuan presents himself as loving and vulnerable, but his real motive is to exploit Duanmu Rui’s power to prolong his life. He and his mother deliberately manipulate her.
• Duanmu Rui is sincere in her love and trusting of Yu Haochuan. Although cautious about revealing her secret technique, she fails to recognize his deception.
• Madam Yu prioritizes her son’s survival and supports his plan, even acknowledging that it unfairly uses Duanmu Rui.

Significant themes

• Deception and manipulation: Yu Haochuan’s affection and apologies conceal a calculated scheme.
• Power and self-preservation: Fear of death drives Yu Haochuan to exploit Duanmu Rui.
• Trust and vulnerability: Duanmu Rui’s genuine feelings make her susceptible to his lies.
• Family and marriage: Duanmu Rui views parental approval as essential, while Yu Haochuan treats it as an obstacle to avoid.

Character interactions

• Yu Haochuan probes Duanmu Rui for details about her technique, but she keeps them secret.
• Duanmu Rui asks to introduce him to her parents; Yu Haochuan deflects with excuses about his health and family duties.
• Madam Yu and Yu Haochuan privately coordinate how to prevent Duanmu Rui from leaving.
• After the drugged encounter, Yu Haochuan performs remorse and reassures Duanmu Rui, who believes him.