Chapter Summaries

After Guan Xinrui presented the dragon scales to Prince Xin, the scales stirred a strange change in North Sea Commandery City as Ya You drank and awaited a confrontation with Celestial Lord Lingshu. Old Man Yu recognized the divine visitor as the old landlord who had rented him a house in Mingzhou City, while Guan Xinrui left the city convinced Prince Xin might claim the throne.

• Prince Xin accepted Guan Xinrui's dragon scales as treasures meant for the emperor, and Guan Xinrui returned to Haiyu County.
• Ya You sensed what the dragon scales had revealed, went to a tavern, and drank wine while dark clouds gathered over North Sea Commandery City.
• Old Man Yu noticed the clouds and the dragon qi from Prince Xin's Residence, then saw a divine being approach the tavern.
• Celestial Lord Lingshu warned Old Man Yu to leave and confronted Ya You over the turmoil in the North Sea coast's destiny.
• Old Man Yu recognized Celestial Lord Lingshu as the old landlord who had rented him a house in Mingzhou City.
• Guan Xinrui departed North Sea Commandery City and grew more convinced that Prince Xin had a strong chance of claiming the throne.

Celestial Lord Lingshu confronted Ya You in a tavern about the North Sea Dragon Lord’s influence on the weather and human destiny, but Ya You invoked an old agreement between Dragonkind and the Heavenly Realm. After Guan Xinrui returned to Haiyu County and learned that the County Office had been haunted, he visited his ill wife Liu Shi, whose fear of him had grown, then summoned Qiao'er to the study.

• Ya You shared wine with Celestial Lord Lingshu and denied seeking to influence humanity’s destiny, while warning him about the events that had once led to his reincarnation.
• Celestial Lord Lingshu left the tavern, and the clouds began to disperse; Old Man Yu and Hui Mian watched him depart and speculated about his conversation with Ya You.
• Guan Xinrui returned to Haiyu County and learned from his staff that the County Office had been haunted and that Liu Shi had fallen ill from fright.
• Guan Xinrui visited Liu Shi, but she trembled at his touch and asked him to leave so she could rest.
• Guan Xinrui signaled Qiao'er to join him in the study after leaving Liu Shi’s room.

Guan Xinrui questioned Qiao'er about the vengeful ghost and learned that Daoist Xue had destroyed it, while growing suspicious of Liu Huifang’s actions and Zhong Xingwen’s absence. After visiting Zhong Xingwen’s home and hearing he had left to visit an unnamed senior, Guan Xinrui suspected he had gone to Dahekou in Dingfeng Commandery.

• Guan Xinrui summoned Qiao'er to the study, coerced her into sex, and then questioned her about the ghost attack.
• Qiao'er told Guan Xinrui that Daoist Xue had trapped the vengeful ghost and burned it to ash, easing his fear that it had come for him.
• Guan Xinrui pressed Qiao'er about Liu Huifang’s actions and learned that she had visited Chief Constable Zhong to thank him.
• Guan Xinrui visited Zhong Xingwen’s home and learned from Madam Zhong that Zhong had left to visit an unnamed senior and learn skills.
• Guan Xinrui gave Madam Zhong twenty taels and left, suspecting Zhong Xingwen had gone to Dahekou in Dingfeng Commandery.

Guan Xinrui sent Chai Wang to Great River Mouth to stop Zhong Xingwen, while Yunlai judged the County Magistrate to be a danger to the realm. Zhong Xingwen reached Great River Mouth at dawn, unaware that Chai Wang was also racing there.

• Guan Xinrui met Chai Wang in a tea shop and ordered him to intercept Zhong Xingwen at Great River Mouth, using force if necessary.
• Guan Xinrui considered seeking Daoist Xue’s help with the ghost problem, while Yunlai watched him leave and condemned his corruption.
• Chai Wang departed Haiyu County for Great River Mouth, relying on his familiarity with the route to catch up with Zhong Xingwen.
• Zhong Xingwen pressed onward despite exhaustion, taking boats and avoiding inns as he hurried toward Dingfeng Commandery.
• Zhong Xingwen arrived at Great River Mouth before dawn and learned that he needed to travel west toward Dingfeng Commandery.

Zhong Xingwen followed the trail of Zhang Shi to Xiaogu Village and discovered that she had vanished after searching for her husband, Guan Xinrui. After secretly following Chai Wang to a hidden well, Zhong Xingwen found Zhang Shi’s corpse surfacing in the water, and his talisman had been soaked.

• Zhong Xingwen traveled to Xiaogu Village and learned from an elderly villager that Zhang Shi had left to find Guan Xinrui after receiving a divorce letter.
• Zhong Xingwen searched the abandoned Guan family home, found no sign of a murder, and recorded the old man’s account over dinner.
• Chai Wang entered the village around midnight and went to the Guan courtyard, while Zhong Xingwen followed him using a talisman from Daoist Xue.
• Chai Wang led Zhong Xingwen to a rubble-covered well outside the village, then left without noticing him.
• Zhong Xingwen uncovered the well, descended into it, and searched underwater for Zhang Shi’s remains.
• A corpse rose to the surface before Zhong Xingwen, who realized his talisman had become wet.

Zhong Xingwen recovered Zhang Shi’s remains from the well and fled Xiaogu Village, carrying them toward a safer place. At a ruined mountain temple, the remains stirred while he slept, and the Blue-Robed Ghost intervened to stop the local god from attacking them.

• Zhong Xingwen spoke to the corpse in the well, then dove down and found Zhang Shi’s remaining bones in a hemp sack.
• Zhong Xingwen gathered the bones, climbed out of the well, and returned to the old man’s courtyard as the Blue-Robed Ghost vanished.
• Zhong Xingwen packed his belongings, left silver for the old man, and rode out of Xiaogu Village with the remains, using narrow paths to evade a suspected pursuer.
• Zhong Xingwen and the old horse took shelter from the rain in a ruined mountain temple, where he fell asleep beside a fire.
• The old horse shook off the sack, and a chilling aura and bloody water emerged from it as the Vengeful Ghost stirred.
• A local god attacked the sack, but the Blue-Robed Ghost blocked him and asked him to spare the Vengeful Ghost; Zhong Xingwen stirred in his sleep.

As Zhong Xingwen slept in a ruined mountain temple, Chai Wang followed his trail and was attacked by a tiger. The tiger backed away from Chai Wang, while a stream of bloody water crept toward the temple entrance.

• The Blue-Robed Ghost explained that the bloody water came from a drowned woman seeking justice and agreed with the Woodcutter's Knife god to watch over Zhong Xingwen, whose fate showed approaching danger.
• Chai Wang heard that Zhong Xingwen had left Xiaogu Village, found the well uncovered, and knocked the old man unconscious before setting out in pursuit.
• Chai Wang followed Zhong Xingwen's hoofprints along a mountain path toward a ruined temple, where Zhong lay unconscious beside his horse.
• A tiger ambushed Chai Wang near the temple, struck him down, and pinned him beneath its paw.
• Bloody water flowed toward the temple entrance, and the tiger retreated as Chai Wang tried to escape.

Chai Wang was confronted on the mountain path by the ghost of the woman he had helped murder, while Zhong Xingwen woke in a ruined temple and rescued a badly injured stranger. The stranger recounted how a woodcutter once toppled the temple’s Land God statue, leaving Zhong Xingwen to wonder who—or what—had protected him.

• A tiger abandoned Chai Wang near the ruined temple, but the ghost of the woman he had thrown into a well appeared and confronted him.
• Zhong Xingwen woke in the temple, found the wounded Chai Wang at the threshold, and treated his injuries with ointment and a talisman.
• Chai Wang told Zhong Xingwen that a tiger had injured him, then described the temple as a former Land God Temple where passersby still left offerings.
• Chai Wang recounted a tale in which a Land God offered a woodcutter hiding beneath its altar to a hungry tiger, prompting the woodcutter to drive the tiger back and topple the statue.
• Chai Wang said the woodcutter was later found dead in the temple, apparently gnawed by the tiger.

Zhong Xingwen returned to Haiyu County with Zhang Shi’s remains, and Daoist Xue realized her ghost was still missing and feared Liu Huifang was in danger. They reached the County Office as Zhang Shi, possessing Chai Wang, confronted Liu Huifang, while Guan Xinrui was away in the capital.

• Zhong Xingwen left the ruined temple and hurried for more than a month to return to Haiyu County with Zhang Shi’s remains, followed by Zhang Shi possessing Chai Wang.
• Zhong Xingwen brought the remains to Daoist Xue, who assembled the bones and discovered Zhang Shi’s ghostly body was absent.
• Daoist Xue divined that Liu Huifang was in danger, so he and Zhong Xingwen rushed to the County Office.
• Zhang Shi, speaking through Chai Wang, seized Liu Huifang and demanded to know where her husband was, then lowered her to the floor.
• Zhong Xingwen and Daoist Xue entered the dining room, where Daoist Xue urged Zhang Shi not to harm Liu Huifang; Guan Xinrui was away in the capital.

Zhang Shi learned the truth about Guan Xinrui’s betrayal and agreed to seek justice with Liu Huifang, Zhong Xingwen, and Daoist Xue, while the Dragon Scales’ influence was spared further wrongful karma. As Prince Xin neared the Capital City with Guan Xinrui and the scales, merchant Lou Yuancheng arrived at Dragon Painting Temple to speak urgently with its abbot.

• Zhang Shi reacted in grief and disbelief when Liu Huifang, Zhong Xingwen, and Daoist Xue told her that Guan Xinrui had betrayed and killed her.
• Zhong Xingwen urged Zhang Shi to confront Guan Xinrui and demand justice, and Daoist Xue pledged to help her.
• The bailiffs discovered the unconscious people at the Official Residence, while Zhang Shi hid above them and Liu Shi reassured the arriving officials.
• The Blue-Robed Ghost told Great God Yunlai about a deity and a local story, and Yunlai approved of what he heard.
• Prince Xin continued toward the Capital City with Guan Xinrui, praising his flattery as they discussed the Dragon Scales and the throne.
• Lou Yuancheng reached Dragon Painting Temple, asked to see the abbot at once, and looked toward the vast dragon painted across the mountainside.

Lou Yuancheng visited the Dragon Painting Temple to tell the abbot how a dragon scale he bought in Haiyu County vanished and became a pearl. After the abbot experienced a vision warning that a great tribulation was coming, Old Man Yu arrived at the temple with Hui Mian to conceal it from a dragon and enter before it found them.

• Lou Yuancheng told the old abbot about buying a dragon scale, dreaming of a dragon demanding it, and waking to find a white pearl in its place.
• The old abbot recognized the dragon's words from a dream he had experienced thirty years earlier and assured Lou Yuancheng that the pearl represented escaping misfortune.
• After Lou Yuancheng left, the old abbot saw the painted dragon warn that trouble was coming and urge him to tell its friend to stop helping and flee.
• The old abbot woke from his vision still seated in his meditation chamber, while Old Man Yu arrived outside the Dragon Painting Temple.
• Old Man Yu used mist from his Dragon Pearl to conceal Dragon Painting Mountain, then pounded on the closed gate and called to be let inside.

At Dragon Painting Temple, Old Man Yu and Hui Mian discussed how the temple had calmed Ya Ci’s spirit and how the North Sea Dragon Lord’s interference had endangered it. Meanwhile, a woman who had helped bring four Dragon Scales ashore searched the Li family home and abducted Li Yi, leaving him threatened over the hidden scale.

• Old Man Yu explained that Dragon Painting Temple’s teachings had soothed Ya Ci’s spirit, and Hui Mian realized Black Dragon’s meddling in Haiyu County could have corrupted it.
• Old Man Yu sensed the Great Toad King’s arrival and decided to confront the North Sea Dragon Lord.
• The woman escaped her watchers, traveled to White Wave Village, and found a Dragon Scale concealed behind the Li family’s ancestral tablets.
• The woman abducted Li Yi and demanded to know how many Dragon Scales his family had fished up.
• Li Yi admitted there were four scales and revealed that one was hidden in the family shrine, then compared offering it to the emperor to a toad longing for swan meat.
• The woman pressed her sword against Li Yi and demanded to know what toads had ever done to him.

Chan Qin admitted to the Great Toad King that she had been trying to save Ya Ci, whose scale was hidden in Li Yi’s family shrine. Her father took the scale and appeared almost entirely unaffected by it, while Chan Qin watched in astonishment.

• The Great Toad King arrived and found Chan Qin confronting Li Yi, then made Li Yi faint.
• The Great Toad King tried to take Chan Qin home, but she escaped his grasp and confessed that she wanted to save Ya Ci.
• Chan Qin explained that Ya Ci’s scale was in Li Yi’s family shrine and that she had prepared for this plan for a long time.
• The Great Toad King carried Li Yi to his house and found the Dragon Scale hidden in a wall niche.
• The Great Toad King unwrapped Ya Ci’s Scale and felt almost no yearning for it, astonishing Chan Qin.

Chan Qin told the Great Toad King how the North Sea Dragon Lord Ya You had destroyed Ya Ci, and explained her plan to restore Ya Ci’s true spirit with the dragon scales and the Great Qiu emperor’s aid. The Great Toad King agreed to travel with her to the capital, while Liu Shi remained troubled in Haiyu County and began writing.

• The Great Toad King asked Chan Qin to reveal everything about Ya Ci’s death and her plans, then listened as they walked away from the village.
• Chan Qin explained that Ya You had confined Ya Ci and exploited his blood and scales, and the Great Toad King realized that Ya Ci’s blood stained the scale he carried.
• Chan Qin proposed having Great Qiu enshrine the scale at Dragon Painting Temple so it could merge with the painted dragon and restore Ya Ci’s true spirit.
• The Great Toad King agreed to present a treasure to the Great Qiu emperor and carried Chan Qin toward the capital on a demon wind.
• Chan Qin wondered where the fourth dragon scale was, and the Great Toad King told her they should prepare for the worst.
• In Haiyu County, Liu Shi struggled to focus on her book, then began writing as Qiao'er brought her tea.

Old Man Yu left Dragon Painting Temple and rented a fortune-telling stall, where his uncanny readings drew a long line of customers. The Black-Robed Man arrived and recognized Old Man Yu from North Sea Commandery, leaving the two face to face at the stall.

• Old Man Yu rented a fortune-telling stall and its equipment for three days from a goateed fortune-teller.
• Old Man Yu attracted a crowd by interpreting fortunes, reassuring an elderly woman that her daughter-in-law would have a girl with an extraordinary destiny and predicting the birth time.
• Old Man Yu bluntly told a scholar that his poor study habits made high examination results unlikely.
• The Black-Robed Man arrived, recognized Old Man Yu from North Sea Commandery and the cry outside Haiyu County, and claimed his place at the stall.
• Old Man Yu recognized the Black-Robed Man from a roadside tavern and asked him to make way if he had no question.

Ya You tested Old Man Yu’s divination and learned that his offspring faced grave misfortune but that a reunion could turn things around; he left vowing to kill the old sorcerer and destroy Ya Ci. Meanwhile, Prince Xin presented alleged dragon scales to the emperor as an auspicious omen.

• Ya You wagered gold that Old Man Yu could divine why he had come to the Dragon Painting Temple, and Old Man Yu correctly said he sought news of his household and offspring.
• Ya You offered a hundred taels for a reading about his offspring, threatening to destroy Old Man Yu’s eyes if he was wrong.
• Old Man Yu declared that Ya You’s offspring faced grave misfortune but that adversity could turn to prosperity through a meeting between the estranged father and son.
• Ya You left Old Man Yu with six gold ingots and vowed to come for his eyes within three days, then entered the Dragon Painting Temple and resolved to kill Ya Ci.
• Prince Xin told the emperor that a fisherman in Haiyu County had caught dragon scales and unwrapped the scales in the Golden Hall.

Prince Xin and Guan Xinrui presented dragon scales to the emperor and proved their supernatural nature before the court. The emperor considered using them to obtain longevity medicine, and Prince Yi proposed consulting Master Dingzhen of the Dragon Painting Temple.

• Prince Xin told the emperor that the dragon scales came from Haiyu County and said Guan Xinrui could prove what they were.
• Guan Xinrui demonstrated that a dragon scale in a basin of water cast dragon-like light across the Golden Hall and recounted how he had obtained the scales.
• The emperor ordered the guard commander to strike a scale, but the scale remained unharmed while the sword and its supporting stool broke.
• The emperor wondered whether the scales could be used to find longevity medicine, and Prince Yi recommended seeking Master Dingzhen's advice.

Guan Xinrui’s newly won promotion and ambitions collapsed when Zhang Shi, possessing Chai Wang, confronted him and learned he had ordered her murder. A Night Patrol Spirit intervened before she could kill him, and the Great Toad King recognized the divine official who then blocked the spirit’s chain.

• The Great Toad King and Chan Qin reached Great Qiu’s Capital City and sensed Chai Wang nearby, while Daoist Xue and Zhong Xingwen prepared to confront him.
• Guan Xinrui celebrated his appointment as governor of North Sea Commandery and imagined a prosperous future at the waystation.
• Zhang Shi, possessing Chai Wang, confronted Guan Xinrui, who admitted he had ordered Zhong Xingwen killed and would sacrifice anyone for his own advancement.
• Zhang Shi’s last illusions about Guan Xinrui shattered, and she seized him by the throat as waystation guards rushed in and were thrown aside.
• A Night Patrol Spirit struck Zhang Shi with a chain and knocked her from the room, but a silver ruler blocked the chain and let her escape.
• The Great Toad King recognized the person wielding the silver ruler as a divine official of Yunlai Hall.

Blue-Robed Ghost stopped the Night Wandering Gods from attacking Zhang Shi, then explained her grievance against Guan Xinrui. After Zhang Shi escaped, Daoist Xue petitioned the City God for help, while Great Toad King wondered whether Great God Yunlai was in the Northern Territory.

• Blue-Robed Ghost fought off the two Night Wandering Gods and explained why Zhang Shi had tried to kill Guan Xinrui.
• Great Toad King and Chan Qin discussed the Demon-Subduing Great Emperor and the possibility that Great God Yunlai was nearby.
• Daoist Xue stabilized Zhang Shi after she escaped and learned that she had nearly killed Guan Xinrui.
• Daoist Xue went to the City God Temple and offered his final three sticks of incense with a written petition to the Netherworld.
• The Kyoto City God read Daoist Xue's petition as Xue left without asking for an omen.

At Dragon Painting Temple, the Great Toad King tried to present the emperor with a dragon scale, while Guan Xinrui praised the gift as proof of heaven’s mandate. Old Man Yu confronted Ya You in the Capital City and identified him as the black dragon of the North Sea, prompting Ya You to decide the old man must die.

• Master Dingzhen wondered whether the painted dragon’s promised friend had arrived, then went to welcome the emperor at the mountain’s foot.
• Old Man Yu recognized that the Great Toad King and the Great Toad King's Daughter had come to help Ya Ci.
• The Great Toad King rushed into the street and offered the emperor a genuine dragon scale, earning permission to accompany the imperial party to Dragon Painting Temple.
• Guan Xinrui and Prince Xin praised the scale as a sign that heaven’s mandate rested upon the emperor.
• Ya You approached Old Man Yu’s stall and threatened him, but Old Man Yu identified him as the Dragon Lord of the North Sea.
• Ya You was shocked by Old Man Yu’s knowledge and resolved that the old man must not be allowed to live.