Recaps

A wildfire and the rainstorm that followed awakened a faint intelligence in a black snake, leaving it with fear of fire and a fondness for rain. After the disaster, it resumed hunting and hiding, but whenever rain returned, it climbed to high ground to breathe in the rain essence.

• A wildfire trapped the black snake in a rock crevice, and the pain and fear of the flames awakened an intelligence beyond its instincts.
• After the fire passed, rain cooled the scorched mountain, and the black snake developed a fondness for its rhythm, scent, and coolness.
• The black snake hid from floods in its crevice, then emerged after the storm and began hunting among the unfamiliar rocks.
• The black snake survived by hunting and resting, while its faint intelligence faded without new stimuli.
• When rain returned, the black snake climbed onto a boulder to breathe in the rain essence and thereafter sought high ground whenever it rained.

Fifty years after the mountain fire, a giant black snake lived in the valley as a man in a Blue Robe established a secluded home there. When the man and his companions approached the snake’s boulder, the Hunter discovered a shed skin that suggested an enormous snake was nearby.

• The black snake ignored the first people who entered the valley and cleared a path beside the stream.
• The group built Thatched Huts, and the man in the Blue Robe arrived with a Book Boy, a Hunter, and a yellow dog, praising the secluded life of refining qi.
• The black snake shed its skin and sensed that an unseen shackle was limiting its growth, then felt an instinctive urge to break free.
• The man in the Blue Robe climbed toward the boulder with the Book Boy while the Hunter and yellow dog scouted ahead.
• The Hunter saw the yellow dog dragging a long Snake Shedding from a crevice, realized a huge snake had shed it, and ran back.

A man in a blue robe encountered a Great Black Snake on the Giant Rock during a storm and concluded that it was a Snake Demon cultivating with Spiritual Qi. He chose to stay in the mountains and cultivate beside it, while the snake accepted him as no threat and their cautious coexistence began.

• The man in the blue robe, the Hunter, and the Book Boy found the Great Black Snake on the Giant Rock, and the Hunter held back from shooting it.
• A torrential rain fell as the Black Snake raised its head to breathe in Rain Essence, and the three visitors retreated to the Thatched Hut.
• The man in the blue robe recognized the snake as a demon and decided to remain in the mountains rather than kill it.
• The next morning, the man climbed onto the Giant Rock and sat beside the Black Snake, which examined him before returning to breathing in the mist.
• The Black Snake left to hunt, while the three people discussed the encounter and realized that its coils had polished the rock smooth.

The Black Snake returned to its mountain lair, where Chi Ke settled in to cultivate and offered to share an ancient breathing manual. As the Black Snake worried over an inexplicable restriction, its strength began to increase, and it continued worrying when Chi Ke returned at dawn.

• After digesting its meal, the Black Snake returned to the Giant Rock and found Chi Ke, the Book Boy, and the Hunter there.
• Chi Ke introduced himself as a hermit, practiced breathing alongside the Black Snake, and read aloud from an ancient book containing a Qi-Refining Breathing Art.
• Chi Ke and the Book Boy left the mountain, while the Black Snake stayed behind and worried about an unexplained restriction.
• That night, the Black Snake sensed that its body was growing stronger despite having stopped growing after its last shed.
• At dawn, Chi Ke and the Book Boy returned, and Chi Ke recited the ancient book while the Black Snake continued to worry.

As autumn arrived, the Black Snake prepared to hibernate while Chi Ke received a Pill Furnace at the Thatched Hut and studied an old book on Alchemy. As the Black Snake began to sink into hibernation, it found itself in a strange woodland with weakened senses and detected an approaching heat source.

• The Black Snake ignored a weasel and later encountered a fox, which called to it before leaving without an answer.
• The Black Snake spotted a group of red heat sources near the valley and fled into the dense forest.
• The Hunter and villagers brought supplies to the Thatched Hut, including a five-Chi-tall Pill Furnace that Chi Ke had commissioned after finding an old book on Alchemy.
• Chi Ke studied the book and compared its herb descriptions with the plants' roots and stems.
• The Black Snake entered its rocky den and began hibernating, but sensed that something was wrong as its consciousness faded.
• The Black Snake found itself in a woodland with severely weakened smell and Thermal Sensing, then detected a blurry heat source approaching.

The Black Snake experienced another inexplicable vision, then approached Chi Ke to seek answers but could not communicate its questions. As winter arrived and the Black Snake entered hibernation, it suddenly found itself on the Giant Rock again, facing a snow-covered Valley.

• The Black Snake saw a fox in a strange, colorless vision, then found itself back in its den with its senses restored and could not sleep.
• Driven by a vague desire to ask questions, the Black Snake went to the Giant Rock, where Chi Ke spoke about alchemy and taught it from an ancient book.
• The Black Snake left Chi Ke, and he felt lonely before returning to his winter preparations with the Hunter and the Book Boy.
• Snow fell across the mountains, and the Black Snake entered hibernation in its cave.
• The Black Snake's consciousness cleared, and it found itself on the Giant Rock looking over the snow-covered Valley.

The Black Snake began waking in a ghostlike state during full moons and learned to breathe in the moon’s faint coolness, while Chi Ke continued his secluded life after the snowfall. During a snowy night, the Black Snake visited Chi Ke’s courtyard and appeared in his dream before returning to its cave to sleep.

• The Black Snake repeatedly woke outside its sleeping body, eventually noticing that the full moon offered a faint coolness it could breathe in.
• After snow covered the valley and hid the moon, the Black Snake visited Chi Ke’s courtyard and discovered that animals and people could not see it.
• The Black Snake watched the yellow dog and peered through the Thatched Hut’s window, where Chi Ke dreamed of greeting it as an old friend.
• Chi Ke woke from the dream feeling lonely and empty, while the Black Snake returned to its cave and fell asleep.
• A large tree crashed down in the snowy valley, startling the yellow dog before it returned to its kennel.

The Black Snake emerged from hibernation, endured the wait for its old skin to shed, and renewed its body. After eating Wood Frogs, it wondered whether sleep was what let it see the dim world again.

• The Black Snake wandered too far from its cave and raced back when an instinctive terror warned it to return.
• As early spring arrived, the Black Snake drank from a small pool in the cave and waited through the cold.
• Thunder and rain signaled the end of hibernation, but the Black Snake stayed hungry while its blurred vision and old skin awaited renewal.
• The Black Snake basked in the sun for several days, then shed its old skin among a pile of rocks and revealed clear vision and new scales.
• The Black Snake swallowed several Wood Frogs at the creek and wondered whether sleeping would restore its dim vision.

The Black Snake shifted from hunting Wood Frogs to raiding bird nests, using Thermal Sensing to steal Eagle eggs and catch a Pheasant and its eggs. At the Giant Rock, he met Chi Ke again in spring, while Chi Ke spoke about gathering herbs and planting a Herb Plot.

• The Black Snake hunted Wood Frogs along the stream until the frogs left and the hunting season ended.
• He used Thermal Sensing to find an Eagle nest, waited for night, then shoved the Female Eagle from the nest and swallowed all three eggs.
• The Black Snake caught a Pheasant sitting on its eggs, ate the bird and the remaining eggs, then went to the Giant Rock to bask in the moonlight.
• Chi Ke arrived at the Giant Rock and greeted the Black Snake, who recognized his scent and recalled fragments of their past meetings.
• Chi Ke told the Black Snake about gathering medicinal ingredients, preparing to refine pills, and planting medicinal roots and ginseng in a new Herb Plot.

When the Wu family brought their gravely ill child to Chi Ke, he believed the boy was possessed by an evil influence and inadvertently drew it into himself while treating him. The child recovered, but Chi Ke was left chilled and frightened, so he hurried up the mountain to seek help from the Black Snake.

• The Black Snake watched Chi Ke and the Hunter discuss the agitated goshawks, then basked in the sun and forgot the failed pill-making attempt below.
• The Hunter brought a travel-worn couple and their limp son to Chi Ke, explaining that the villagers believed the boy had been struck by something evil.
• Chi Ke examined the boy and listened as the woman described his shadow-filled dreams and worsening condition.
• As Chi Ke pondered how to help, an icy chill overtook him; he realized the evil influence had entered his own body, while the boy's face regained color and he woke.
• Chi Ke took Cinnabar from the medicine basket, then decided the Black Snake could deal with the evil spirit and hurried up the mountain to find it.

The Black Snake chased the Yin Soul that had possessed Chi Ke, then joined the Fox in batting the phantom around until it became too weak to move. The Black Snake left to hunt for ordinary prey, while the abandoned phantom lingered in the forest, nearing disappearance in the morning sunlight.

• Chi Ke climbed onto the Giant Rock and asked the Black Snake to help him with the Evil Spirit possessing him.
• The Black Snake frightened the Yin Soul out of Chi Ke and chased it through the forest, switching its sensory mode to see the phantom clearly.
• The Fox trapped the fleeing phantom between itself and the Black Snake, then struck it repeatedly whenever it tried to escape.
• The Black Snake tried to gather coolness at its fangs and attack the phantom, but it could not manage it.
• The Fox and Black Snake batted the phantom around until it stopped struggling and grew nearly transparent.
• The Black Snake left to search for prey, the Fox went looking for mice and birds' nests, and the phantom hid behind a tree from the morning Sunlight.

The Black Snake settled in a riverside meadow, hunted for food, and practiced Moon-Gazing Breathing despite the cold river and a sobbing shadow near a corpse. Before returning to the mountains, it followed a strange light to a wooded slope, but found no obvious source.

• The Black Snake moved to a riverside meadow, where it hunted frogs and tried several times before catching a fish.
• The Black Snake noticed a corpse being pecked by crows and a blurry shadow weeping nearby, but ignored it to bask and practice Moon-Gazing Breathing.
• The Black Snake spotted a faint, unusual light in the mountains and decided to investigate it before heading home.
• The Black Snake hurried from the meadow into the mountains, repeatedly recalling the light’s location as it navigated the terrain.
• The Black Snake reached the wooded area where it had seen the light, but detected nothing unusual and found no large creatures.

The Black Snake returned to the Valley and basked near the path while Chi Ke and Brother Lu discussed their failing fortunes and the turmoil beyond the mountains. During a fierce storm, the Black Snake absorbed Rain Essence, then writhed down the mountainside and expelled parasites before recovering in the mist.

• The Black Snake found a strangely glowing Stone Man-shaped rock, confirmed it was only a rock, and continued back to the Valley.
• The Black Snake basked beside the Valley path as people passed nearby without noticing it.
• Chi Ke and Brother Lu discussed their declining family fortunes, the approaching end of the turmoil, and Chi Ke's decision to remain in seclusion.
• Brother Lu saw a huge snake atop the Giant Rock during a lightning storm, waking Chi Ke.
• The Black Snake breathed in Rain Essence as lightning struck nearby, then itched, rolled down the mountain, and scraped parasites from its body.
• The Black Snake vomited mucus and parasites, rested through the rain, and regained strength by swallowing the mist.

After witnessing the Black Snake absorb Golden Radiance Mist, Chi Ke warned it about the dangers humans posed and revealed that he had burned an evil Alchemy Manual rather than pursue immortality through cruelty. The Black Snake investigated whether other unusual beings could help with its hunger, then discovered that moonlight and morning mist could also nourish it.

• Chi Ke saw the Black Snake's fresh wounds, practiced Qi Circulation beside it, and watched it swallow Golden Radiance Mist.
• Chi Ke told the Black Snake that humans could not be trusted and explained that he had burned an Alchemy Manual advocating the use of living beings and Demonic Beasts.
• The Black Snake wondered how to absorb more invisible nourishment and decided to investigate the Fox's eating habits.
• The Black Snake found the Fox, but their attempts to communicate through gestures failed.
• The Black Snake discovered that moonlight eased its hunger and greedily breathed in morning mist and dawn light.

The Black Snake continued its daily lessons with Chi Ke while Chi Ke’s alchemy failed and a rash left him troubled by thoughts of the world beyond the mountains. When a Fox returned with an urgent warning, a large unfamiliar heat source began approaching Giant Rock from the Valley.

• The Black Snake followed its routine of hunting, basking, and listening to Chi Ke’s lessons, eventually memorizing the words “Snake Brother” while mistakenly believing they referred to Chi Ke.
• Chi Ke made a batch of black pellets that he buried in the Medicine Field as fertilizer, and the Yellow Dog ran wildly after eating one.
• Chi Ke developed an itchy rash from a poisonous plant, then fell silent and lay on Giant Rock, troubled by the people and affairs beyond the mountains.
• The Fox appeared and gave the Black Snake urgent warning cries before bounding toward the mountain peaks, prompting the Hunter to suspect a ferocious beast was nearby.
• Birds fled in alarm, the Yellow Dog hid beside the Hunter, and the Black Snake sensed a large unfamiliar heat source approaching Giant Rock from the stream at the bottom of the Valley.

A tiger approached the Giant Rock during a downpour, but the Black Snake’s threatening display drove it away without a fight. After the hunter sent the Yellow Dog for help, villagers arrived with hunting dogs, and the group headed down the mountain the next morning.

• The hunter prepared a spear and wooden stakes as a tiger approached the Giant Rock in the rain.
• The Black Snake hissed at the tiger and gathered mist around itself, prompting the tiger to retreat.
• The hunter returned to the Thatched Cottage, sent the Yellow Dog toward the village, and barricaded the hut while Chi Ke vowed to continue his journey.
• More than twenty people and a dozen hunting dogs arrived in the mountains after the Yellow Dog led them there.
• After daybreak, the group traveled down the mountain, with the hunter carrying the Yellow Dog.

The Black Snake and Fox settled into their mountain routines while Chi Ke built a new residence and resumed teaching them. When a young visitor arrived seeking spirit medicine for his gravely ill mother, Chi Ke learned of his filial purpose and planned to send him safely down the mountain the next morning.

• Hunters drove the Tiger several ridges away, while the Black Snake continued its solitary routine and the Fox remained unable to communicate with it.
• Chi Ke returned with craftsmen, built a sturdy courtyard near the Giant Rock, and moved in with the Book Boy and Hunter.
• Chi Ke studied the Yin Spirit and encouraged the Black Snake and Fox to cultivate alongside him.
• A young visitor reached Chi Ke's courtyard and asked how to dispel Baleful Intent affecting a friend; Chi Ke recommended sunshine, ginger soup, Realgar Wine, and Mugwort.
• The visitor explained that he had come seeking spirit medicine for his gravely ill mother, and Chi Ke decided to send him down the mountain safely the next morning.

Chi Ke told a young visitor he could not make the medicine needed to save the visitor’s mother, and the young man went to bed after accepting his advice. That night, the Black Snake watched an apparition visit the sleeping man in a dream and became more wary of the unexplained phenomenon.

• A young visitor smelled the pills in Chi Ke’s room, returned, and begged him to save his mother.
• Chi Ke explained that he could not refine pills and advised the young man to spend time with his family; the young man thanked him and went to the guest room.
• The Black Snake left its resting place to absorb mist on the Giant Rock after the rain stopped.
• The Black Snake spotted an apparition near the courtyard and watched it approach the sleeping visitor.
• The visitor dreamed of meeting his deceased mother, then woke sobbing as the apparition vanished.
• The Black Snake returned to the Giant Rock to breathe in the mist and grew more wary of the apparition’s unexplained appearance.

Chi Ke sent the Hunter and the young man safely down the mountain, then returned to his lessons with the Fox and the Black Snake. As winter arrived, the Black Snake struggled with its fading memories before retreating to its cave to sleep until the full moon.

• Chi Ke saw the Hunter and the young man off, then asked the Fox and the Black Snake to watch over him while the Hunter was away.
• Chi Ke taught from his book at Giant Rock, where the Fox listened closely and brought him a pine cone.
• The Black Snake realized its memories and feelings were fading, and decided it would rather endure the confusion of remembering than lose itself in forgetting.
• As the weather turned cold and snow covered the mountain, the Black Snake moved from Giant Rock to dry leaves and waited for winter.
• After waking beneath the snow, the Black Snake remembered its cave, crawled inside, and settled down to sleep until the full moon.

The Black Snake, Fox, and Weasel met a mysterious traveler who taught the Fox and Weasel about cultivation before continuing on his way. The next morning, Chi Ke learned that unfamiliar footprints had appeared near Lone Crag and kept the household on guard, though the tracks never returned.

• The Fox summoned the Black Snake and Fat Weasel to a frozen stream, where they waited for a traveler to arrive.
• The traveler recognized the Fox as a descendant of an old acquaintance and explained True Breath and Moonlight Essence to the Fox and Weasel.
• The traveler departed, and the Black Snake returned to its cave without understanding the lesson.
• The Hunter reported unfamiliar footprints leading up the icy path, so Chi Ke told everyone to stay alert and take precautions.
• The footprints did not appear again, and after more than twenty days the household eased its vigilance, leaving their source unknown.

The Black Snake left its cave to find water and was attacked by a wild boar at a spring. After the snake poisoned the boar and both slid out of control across the ice, the Hunter and Chi Ke rushed to help.

• The Black Snake emerged from its cave and followed signs of water to a spring in the valley.
• A hungry wild boar charged the Black Snake, knocking it onto the icy stream.
• The Black Snake used a rock to brace itself, then bit the boar's belly and injected it with venom.
• The Hunter, Chi Ke, and the Yellow Dog hurried down the mountain after the Yellow Dog alerted them to the fight.
• The dying boar struck the Black Snake as they slid downstream, then crashed into a Rocky Ridge; the Hunter found the snake scraped but not visibly bleeding.

The Hunter killed the venomous Wild Boar and cut it into pieces so the Black Snake could eat, while the snake formed a faint idea about changing itself to tear prey apart. Later, the Hunter hung the boar’s tusks in his courtyard and considered asking the Neighboring Village Shamaness what they were worth.

• The Hunter killed the dying Wild Boar with his Short Knife and cut its carcass into pieces for the Black Snake.
• The Black Snake ate the meat, then returned to its cave and fell asleep, imagining how it might modify its head to tear prey apart.
• Water and later snowfall covered the Wild Boar’s remains as scavengers picked at the carcass over time.
• The Hunter hung two Tusk in his Small Courtyard and considered taking them to the Neighboring Village Shamaness to sell.

The Black Snake struggled with recurring thirst and discovered that the white fog filling its cave seemed connected to water leaving its body, while Chi Ke noticed the unusual fog from Lone Crag Courtyard. After a Late Spring Cold Snap blanketed the valley in snow, the weather warmed again, and the Black Snake emerged from beneath wet leaves at Giant Rock.

• The Black Snake repeatedly woke thirsty, drank from the valley, and noticed that fog in its cave thickened while it slept and thinned after it left.
• As the ice thawed, the Black Snake suspected that its lost water became the cave’s white mist and moved to a warm, sheltered spot to study the problem while staying awake.
• Chi Ke and the Hunter saw a strange patch of fog over the mountain, and Chi Ke considered examining the area for a possible Medicine Field.
• The Black Snake waited for rain to ease its deep thirst, but a Late Spring Cold Snap brought heavy snow instead and disrupted its Thermal Sensing.
• The icefall at Dripping Water Crag collapsed during the snowfall, and Chi Ke worried that the cold would damage the herb seedlings.
• After warmth returned the next morning, Chi Ke went to Giant Rock to practice, and the Black Snake emerged from beneath damp, rotting leaves and coiled in its usual spot.

After spring rain helped the Black Snake complete its shedding, it traveled toward a river to hunt and found that a flood had submerged the meadow it remembered. As the water receded, it discovered a strange, living object among the driftwood and cautiously tested it.

• The Black Snake waited for spring rain, absorbed Rain Essence, and used the downpour to finish shedding its skin.
• The Fox visited the Giant Rock, and the Black Snake noticed how much the Fox had changed over winter.
• The Black Snake shed again, rested, then set out toward a distant river to hunt and find a way to keep Rain Essence from dissipating.
• The Black Snake reached the river and found the meadow submerged beneath floodwater, with driftwood and dead animals scattered along the shore.
• As the river receded, the Black Snake followed an unfamiliar scent and found a pale, resilient, faintly living object among the debris.
• The Black Snake coiled around the strange object and squeezed it, then watched it spring back to its original shape.

The Black Snake discovered that a strange lump of pale tissue was edible and fed on it through the night. After driving off a wildcat and scattering a herd of wild boars with a sudden cloud of mist, it sensed the return of the mysterious man from its past.

• The Black Snake learned to tear and swallow the strange meat, then ate most of it while a cautious Wildcat watched and left.
• A herd of wild boars approached the meat, and the Black Snake wounded one when it entered its range.
• The Black Snake released a cloud of mist that confused the herd and let the boars flee, leaving a small wild boar behind.
• The Black Snake recognized that the mist came from its Rain Essence and Mist, but lamented that it could not stop them from dissipating.
• After finishing the strange meat, the Black Snake used Thermal Sensing to identify a human-shaped gap in the temperature background and remembered the mysterious man from the icy path.