Recaps

A mysterious man examined the Tai Sui, explained that cultivators suffered from bodily leaks, and left the Black Snake to seek its own path. After searching the flood debris for more Tai Sui, the Black Snake was struck repeatedly by lightning during a storm and awoke beneath broken branches at dawn.

• The mysterious man identified the strange meat as Tai Sui, ate a piece, and told the Black Snake about cultivation leaks and the limits of the Tai Sui’s uses.
• After the man left, the Black Snake ate the little wild boar and rested, later suspecting the Tai Sui could curb its loss of Mist.
• The Black Snake searched the flood wreckage for more strange meat, hunted along the way, then turned back when it could not find any.
• Caught in a storm near the River, the Black Snake was repeatedly struck by lightning, became numb and disoriented, and vomited partly digested food and Parasites.
• At dawn, the Black Snake awoke beneath broken branches and leaves as sunlight warmed its body and restored its senses.

The Black Snake hunted along the river, discovered that the loss of its cool energy had eased, and returned to the mountain as the rainy season approached. It passed near four people entering the mountain without attacking them, unaware they had narrowly escaped it.

• The Black Snake returned to the old basin, where it hunted frogs, fish, and fledglings to build up fat before the rainy season.
• While practicing Moon-Gazing Breathing, the Black Snake discovered that less cool energy was seeping from its body and formed a misty domain around itself.
• As damp winds signaled the rainy season's approach, the Black Snake set off for the Giant Rock, stopping to visit the silent pillar of rock on the way.
• The Black Snake followed a mountain stream toward its old lair, ate an injured fawn, and rested in the woods.
• At dawn, the Black Snake sensed three adults and a child approaching, but let them pass because it was not hungry.

Chi Ke treated the Zhao Household's child, whose Yin-leaning fate caused him to see strange things and suffer nightmares, and gave him elixirs that quickly improved his condition. After reading a letter reporting the collapse of the Eastern County Grand Temple, Chi Ke ended the day pleased when the child spotted a Fox that no one else could see.

• The Hunter brought the Zhao Household villagers and their child to Lone Crag Courtyard, where they saw a huge Snake Shedding on the wall.
• The Hunter warned the villagers about Poison Wasp nests along the mountain paths while they waited for Chi Ke to finish refining elixirs.
• Chi Ke examined the child, heard about his visions and nightmares, then gave him an elixir and prescribed one each day from a gourd of forty-eight more.
• The child relaxed, fell asleep in the sun, and woke up energetic and rosy; Chi Ke recorded his observations and read a letter reporting that the Eastern County Grand Temple had collapsed.
• The child pointed out a Fox on a rock that only he could see, and the Hunter reassured the Zhao Household that it was a familiar animal nearby.

The Black Snake investigated eerie phantoms drawn toward a child in Lone Crag Courtyard, and the Fox scattered one with a swipe. Seeking lightning to stop its Mist from dissipating, the Black Snake climbed to the mountain summit, where charred stumps stirred painful memories.

• The Black Snake sensed a strange flickering around the child in the Small Courtyard and went to investigate.
• It discovered the child's unstable Soul Phantom was causing eerie images to overlap with reality, while a cold phantom on the hillside crept toward the courtyard whenever the child's soul wavered.
• Before dawn, the Black Snake blocked the phantom, but the Fox struck it once and scattered it like green smoke.
• After the child swallowed something and the adults took the Youngling home, the Black Snake returned to Giant Rock and focused on repairing its Mist.
• Sensing the rainy season approaching, the Black Snake climbed toward the summit to seek lightning that might stabilize its Mist.
• At the summit, the Black Snake saw charred stumps whose marks brought back painful memories.

The Black Snake endured repeated lightning strikes at the Scorched Tree Stump and grew stronger as Rain Essence fused with its body. At Lone Crag Courtyard, Chi Ke learned of war, village preparations to move, and spreading strange incidents, then fortified the courtyard after discovering that an ancient temple had collapsed.

• The Black Snake absorbed Rain Essence and endured lightning strikes that accelerated its growth and strengthened its body.
• Chi Ke warned the Hunter that war had broken out and told the villagers to avoid the outside world or move deeper into the mountains.
• Merchants failed to arrive on time, so the villagers began planning to move; the Hunter went home to help his family while the Yellow Dog remained at Lone Crag Courtyard.
• Chi Ke read a letter from his friend surnamed Lü about fatal strange incidents near the County Seat and traced their spread toward the mountains on a map.
• Chi Ke found a report that an ancient stone temple had collapsed and suspected it was connected to the strange incidents.
• Chi Ke and the Book Boy marked the courtyard with Cinnabar, collected rainwater, and decided to remain inside.

Chi Ke faced an eerie silence in the Valley and prepared to defend Lone Crag Courtyard, then hurried down the mountain after the Hunter reported a spirit medicine in the Medicine Field. He followed the Hunter into the mist, where the chapter ended before they reached the plant.

• Chi Ke noticed the crows behaving strangely and feared that something dangerous had entered the mountains while the Hunter was away.
• As the mist deepened and unnatural silence fell around Lone Crag Courtyard, Chi Ke stayed inside with the Book Boy and Yellow Dog and searched his books for protection.
• The next morning, the Hunter returned and called to Chi Ke from below, pointing toward the Medicine Field and mentioning a spirit medicine.
• Excited by the prospect of advancing his cultivation, Chi Ke grabbed the Herb Hoe and ran down the mountain despite the strange White Light and absence of birds and insects.
• The Hunter told Chi Ke that he had found one of the spirit medicines Chi Ke had described, and led him farther into the mist.

Chi Ke was trapped in darkness by vengeful phantoms and struggled to survive inside the thatched hut until the Fox arrived to protect him. The Fox’s call lured the Black Snake down the mountain, and it rushed toward the hut after sensing the phantoms.

• Chi Ke realized the hunter was a phantom, found himself in pitch darkness, and fled to the thatched hut for fire and flint.
• Chi Ke lit a fire and defended himself with his crossbow as the phantoms broke into the hut and crowded outside.
• The Fox entered the hut, revived the fire, and drove back several phantoms while guarding Chi Ke.
• The Fox called for the Black Snake, then used its prey signal to draw it down the mountain.
• The Black Snake sensed the phantoms around the hut and charged through the forest toward Chi Ke and the Fox.

The Black Snake, Fox, and Fat Weasel fought off the Ghostly Shadows attacking Chi Ke and the Thatched Hut, then searched for a threat still hidden in the Valley. At dawn, Chi Ke heard the Book Boy calling for him and saw him arrive with the Yellow Dog, wearing a Snake Shedding as protection.

• The Black Snake used its stored energy to crush the Ghostly Shadows, while the Fox and Fat Weasel joined the fight and drove the phantoms away.
• The Fox and Black Snake sent out their warm and cool energies to chase down and extinguish the fleeing phantoms.
• Chi Ke thanked the three mountain friends and sheltered with them around the Fire Basin in the Thatched Hut.
• The Fox told the Black Snake that a threat remained hidden in the Valley, and the two agreed to keep searching for it.
• The Book Boy called for Chi Ke from the Stream, then arrived at the Thatched Hut with the Yellow Dog, wearing a Snake Shedding like a rain cape.

A hunter encountered a strange old man on a mountain path and tried to lose him, while the Black Snake, Fox, and Fat Weasel traced a deathly aura to a deep pool. The Black Snake confronted a phantom underwater and returned exhausted but uninjured after the threat disappeared.

• The hunter met an unfamiliar old man on the path, questioned him, and hurried into the mountains when the man followed.
• The Black Snake, Fox, and Fat Weasel continued searching the Valley for the faint deathly aura, but found no source.
• The Fox detected a rotten scent in the Stream and led the others upstream to the deep pool near the Thatched Hut.
• The Black Snake descended into the pool, found a twisted phantom in a rock hollow, and attacked it as a deadly danger overwhelmed it.
• A flash lit the pool, and dead fish floated to the surface before the Black Snake emerged exhausted and returned to shore.
• The deathly aura and foul smell vanished, and the Fox and Fat Weasel departed while the Black Snake returned to the Giant Rock.

A wasp-stung old Qi Refiner followed the Fox to the Deep Pool and discovered that the Bone Fragment had been cleansed of its deathly energy. The Valley returned to its usual routine, and Chi Ke thanked the Hunter for saving his life.

• Chi Ke mistook the returning Hunter for a ghost until the Yellow Dog and the Black Snake's Snake Shedding convinced him the man was human.
• The Fox spotted an old Qi Refiner covered in wasp stings, and the old man asked whether he had seen any dangerous Evil Spirits.
• The Fox led the old man to the Thatched Hut and Deep Pool, where he sensed Thunder Arts in the water and retrieved the Bone Fragment.
• The old man wrapped the nearly cleansed Bone Fragment in Red Cloth and left, assuming a powerful ally of the Fox had used Thunder Arts to destroy its deathly energy.
• The Black Snake watched the old man depart, then resumed basking as the Fox, Fat Weasel, Chi Ke, the Hunter, and the Book Boy followed their morning routine.
• Chi Ke sent the Hunter two Pheasants to thank him for saving his life.

Seventeen years passed as Chi Ke and the mountain creatures lived in seclusion, while the Black Snake grew larger and learned a few human words. As fighting and banditry spread toward the valley, the Hunter left his son to guard Lone Crag Courtyard with Chi Ke.

• The Fox helped Chi Ke realize that his unusual eyes had allowed him to escape the ghost's trick and reach the Thatched Hut safely.
• The Black Snake prepared for Hibernation as winter arrived, while Chi Ke, the Fox, and Fat Weasel refined another batch of medicinal paste.
• Over seventeen years, Chi Ke grew older, the Black Snake grew more than two Chi longer, and the Black Snake learned to recognize a few simple human words.
• The Hunter left the mountains with his old Yellow Dog, and his seventeen- or eighteen-year-old son took over guarding Lone Crag Courtyard with a black Hunting Dog.
• Chi Ke introduced the Hunter's son to the Black Snake, who inspected his scent and returned to his usual spot.
• Chi Ke warned the mountain creatures that fighting and bandits were moving closer to the valley and told them to kill dangerous strangers.

The Black Snake returned to the river to fish and encountered a human campsite, then watched as a group of ambushers attacked it before dawn. It remained nearby, sensing the clash and smelling fresh blood as the two groups fought.

• The Black Snake crossed the mountain ridge and reached the riverbank to wait for the plump fish that appeared each spring.
• After finding old Charcoal and detecting no immediate danger, the Black Snake ate fish and basked by the river.
• A traveling group camped in the meadow, and an Old Man spotted the Black Snake’s wide, wet trail.
• The Black Snake avoided the people and continued hunting in the river while they kept watch around their Bonfires.
• The Black Snake noticed two groups approaching and treated them as threats, waiting for them to enter dangerous range.
• Before dawn, one group shot the campsite’s watchmen with arrows and charged, while the startled campers and ambushers stumbled into a chaotic fight.

The Black Snake was wounded by an arrow during a human battle and attacked everyone armed, then killed a horse for food. After the survivors left, it rested and spent the rainy days hunting upstream fish to build reserves.

• The Black Snake watched a battle between humans from the grass and studied their weapons and fighting.
• A bearded man’s arrow struck the Black Snake, prompting it to attack and kill armed people nearby.
• The Black Snake approached two children, then turned toward the horses and crushed one with its coils.
• The survivors gathered supplies, buried their dead, and followed the river downstream as the Black Snake left to eat and rest.
• After resting for two days, the Black Snake hunted schools of large fish and repeatedly alternated between feeding and digesting to prepare for the rainy season.

The Black Snake returned to the Valley and learned that strangers at Lone Crag Courtyard were seeking it. After deciding they were a threat, it followed them to their campsite and attacked the sleeping fat man through its dim, disembodied perspective.

• The Black Snake traveled back toward the Valley, passing the Stone Pillar and the remains of the fight at Riverside Meadow.
• At Lone Crag Courtyard, a fat man demanded that Chi Ke reveal the Black Snake’s habits and hiding place, but Chi Ke refused.
• The Black Snake overheard the visitors’ hostility and followed them into the mountains, where it watched them set up camp beneath the Rocky Ridge.
• The Black Snake found that pungent powder around the camp prevented it from approaching until it discovered it could bypass the smell in its dim perspective.
• The Black Snake approached the sleeping fat man, memorized his soul’s scent, and lunged to bite him.

The Black Snake killed the fat man who had threatened him, and Chi Ke received news that the man had died, then burned the letters tied to the danger. After the rainy season ended, the Black Snake noticed that Chi Ke’s life force was weakening as the old man continued teaching him human words.

• The Black Snake attacked the fat man’s phantom image with his fangs, weakening his life force, then retreated to recover.
• The villagers delivered supplies and Chi Ke’s letters while the Black Snake waited for the rainy season and the lightning at the summit.
• Lightning struck near the Black Snake, briefly dazing him, and he endured the rainy season by breathing in Rain Essence.
• Chi Ke received a letter reporting that the fat man had died after falling into water, then burned the letters about the threat to the Black Snake.
• Chi Ke decided to keep teaching the Black Snake human words while he was alive, and the Black Snake later sensed Chi Ke’s life force weakening during their morning routine.

After nine years in the mountains, Chi Ke’s life slowly faded as he prepared for his death and said farewell to his Mountain Friends. He returned to Lone Crag Courtyard, shared one final meal, and peacefully closed his eyes.

• Chi Ke grew old while teaching the Fox, Fat Weasel, and Black Snake, and the Black Snake watched his life force diminish.
• Chi Ke sorted his pills for old friends and villagers, then wrapped his books and stored them in a cliff crevice with help from the Hunter and the old servant.
• When spring arrived and the Mountain Apricot Blossoms bloomed, Chi Ke went to Giant Rock and bid farewell to the Black Snake, the Fox, and Fat Weasel.
• Chi Ke returned to Lone Crag Courtyard, ate a final meal, looked over the place he had tended for half his life, and toasted the Vast Mountain Valley.
• Chi Ke went to bed, pulled the covers over himself, and peacefully closed his eyes.

After Chi Ke died, the Black Snake and the other Mountain Friends watched his Yin Spirit depart, then carried on with life as the years passed. A century later, the Black Snake encountered the Fox displaying a strange humanlike Yin Spirit form, while signs of human activity in the valley continued to increase.

• Chi Ke’s two companions buried him, left the Small Courtyard with their dog, and descended the mountain.
• Chi Ke’s Mountain Friends arrived, and he thanked them before his Yin Spirit faded away in the sunlight.
• The Black Snake continued hunting and practicing Qi Circulation, gradually forgetting Chi Ke and the people of Lone Crag Courtyard.
• After a hundred years, the Black Snake questioned whether shedding its skin was worth the effort and focused on growing larger and strengthening its scales.
• The Fox appeared with a humanlike body and Fox head, then demonstrated how it shifted between that form and its Red Fox shape; Fat Weasel watched in surprise.
• The Black Snake noticed more people entering the valley to gather herbs and mountain products, though they avoided Giant Rock and Lone Crag Courtyard.

Three mountain ginseng gatherers visited an abandoned medicine field and were caught between a hungry Tiger and a massive Black Snake. After both beasts left them unharmed, they built a small stone temple beside the ruins.

• The old man led the burly man and the young fellow to an abandoned medicine field and warned them not to approach the Lonehead Crag Small Courtyard, where a Great Black Snake was said to live.
• A red fox raced toward the crag, and a Tiger's roar sent the three men scrambling to a cliff to prepare a fire and makeshift spears.
• The Tiger approached the men but stopped, sensed something in the opposite hillside, and bounded into the forest.
• A huge Black Snake emerged, drank from the pool, and returned to the mountainside without harming the three men.
• The men stayed by the ruined house and built a waist-high stone platform topped with a small stone temple.

The mountain folk built a temple to honor the Black Snake, and it became a landmark where travelers prayed for safe passage. After years of watching humans and advancing their Yin Spirits, the Fox and Fat Weasel left the Valley to seek further cultivation, leaving the Black Snake alone on the Giant Rock.

• The mountain folk built a small temple for the Black Snake and left offerings there, and travelers gradually made it a place to pray for protection.
• The Black Snake sensed a faint glow inside the stone house near the Deep Pool but soon forgot about it.
• The Fox and Fat Weasel began visiting travelers in their Yin Spirits to learn human speech and gestures.
• Over the years, the Fox and Fat Weasel advanced their cultivation enough to take on humanlike forms and speak a few words.
• After the Continuous Rainy Season ended, the Fox and Fat Weasel signaled that they were leaving the Valley, and the Black Snake watched them depart.

The Black Snake watched a thin hermit move into the Small Courtyard and struggle to survive while repairing the buildings, finding water, and trying to grow food. After two months away hunting, the Black Snake returned to find him still alive but emaciated, and no longer worth considering as prey.

• The Black Snake noticed the Small Temple changing and reflected that it was gradually forgetting the Fox and Fat Weasel.
• A thin man climbed to the Small Courtyard, inspected the buildings, and excitedly discovered a huge blackened Pill Furnace among the ruins.
• The Black Snake left to hunt Wild Boar, while the man settled into the Small Courtyard and sought a quiet life in seclusion.
• The man found Dripping Water Crag, cleared farmland, and planted seeds, but rabbits ate the shoots and rain flooded his crude shelter.
• The Black Snake observed the man's exhausting, hungry life and wondered why he spared prey, while the man's enthusiasm for seclusion faded.
• After two months of hunting, the Black Snake returned to find the man alive but extremely thin, and lost interest in him as potential food.

The Black Snake watched the thin man leave and saw the mountain village gradually grow around the stone temple, while human neighbors continued to come and go without affecting his routine. As the first snow began to fall, he wondered whether he should change something.

• A Wildcat stole something from the thin man’s home, and after a night of smashing things, the man left the mountain at dawn.
• The villagers replaced the Small Temple with a Green Stone shrine, and as people settled nearby, they began leaving offerings and tying red threads around it.
• Several armed newcomers settled in Lone Crag Courtyard, but the Black Snake ignored their quiet, nocturnal habits.
• During a dry winter, villagers filled the stone altar with offerings and incense, and the Black Snake listened to the indistinct voices held within the temple.
• Two blood-scented residents left Lone Crag Courtyard with bundles, prompting the Black Snake to wonder whether he should change something as snow began to fall.

The Black Snake practiced shaping its Yin Spirit and visited a village to study what humans looked like, then spent the rest of winter refining its attempts. When spring came, it noticed a New Neighbor at Lone Crag Courtyard and headed to the River to catch fish.

• The Black Snake learned to shrink and stretch its Yin Spirit through repeated practice, then went to the village at night to observe people.
• After finding most villagers asleep, the Black Snake watched a little boy and tried to remember his shape for its transformation practice.
• The Black Snake spent the winter practicing its Yin Spirit’s form in the cave and avoided shedding in spring.
• A New Neighbor moved into Lone Crag Courtyard, but the busy Black Snake did not investigate.
• The Black Snake crossed the mountain ridge to fish in the River and noticed hollowed-out wooden shells floating along its banks.

A fisherman’s net snagged on the Black Snake, which dragged his boat before freeing itself and returning to the mountains. The snake encountered a boy by a stream and a frightened old man near its Giant Rock, then spent over ten days basking while the old man hid in terror.

• A fisherman caught several fish before his net snagged on the Black Snake, which pulled his boat against the current and then shook the net off.
• The fisherman escaped to shore, while the Black Snake ate a large fish and left the river for the mountains.
• The Black Snake circled the Stone Pillar, then approached a boy catching crawfish by a stream; the boy recognized it as the Great Black Snake and watched it leave.
• The Black Snake returned to the Valley and settled on the Giant Rock, where it noticed a skinny old man nearby and judged him harmless.
• The old man spotted the Black Snake, retreated into his house, and remained afraid to leave or call for help for more than ten days.

The old man tried to reform the Black Snake by reciting scriptures, convinced his efforts had tamed it. After the Snake left to seek Lightning, the old man attempted to tame a pit viper and was bitten, leaving the Black Snake to watch as he began to die.

• The old man climbed onto Giant Rock and recited scriptures beside the Black Snake, while villagers gathered at the Snake Immortal Temple to make offerings.
• After the villagers left, the old man declared that he had cleansed the Snake’s vicious nature and tried to make it obey his commands.
• The Black Snake warned the old man away from its head, then left for a higher peak to meet the approaching thunderstorm and Lightning.
• The old man waited out the Rain in the Small Courtyard, imagining how he would tame beasts and gain respect.
• When the weather cleared, the Black Snake returned and saw the old man try to touch a pit viper; the snake bit him, and he collapsed after fleeing downhill.

The Black Snake spent years refining its Yin Spirit, gradually improving its intelligence and learning to shape a crude human form. After visiting the village at night and encountering Idiot, it followed three adults and two Younglings into the mountains.

• The Black Snake realized that refining its Yin Spirit sharpened its mind and strengthened its body, so it resolved to keep practicing.
• After years of effort, the Black Snake formed fingers and traveled to the village to observe people moving.
• The Black Snake encountered Idiot, who could see its Yin Spirit and followed it while it searched several homes for sleeping Younglings.
• At dawn, the Black Snake saw three adults leave with two Younglings and silently followed them through the grass.