Chapter Summaries

Black Snake killed a wild boar but could not swallow it until the hunter cut it into pieces, giving the snake food after his exhausting fight. He returned to his cave to hibernate, carrying a rough new desire to change himself so he could tear prey apart.

• The hunter told Chi Ke that Black Snake had poisoned the boar, and Chi Ke greeted Black Snake with relief.
• The hunter killed the dying boar, cut away its innards, and offered Black Snake chunks of meat.
• Black Snake swallowed the meat, then left for his cave after the hunter wondered whether a tiger had caused the boar’s old wounds.
• As Black Snake climbed back to his cave, he began imagining changing his skull to help him tear and bite prey.
• The boar’s poisoned carcass froze beneath the ice and snow, while scavengers gradually stripped away its remains.
• The hunter hung the boar’s tusks in his courtyard and considered selling them to a spirit medium.

Black Snake struggled with repeated thirst and mist during hibernation, then waited on a sunny slope for spring while trying to understand the moisture loss. A sudden late-spring cold snap buried it in snow before warmth returned, and it emerged from the woods to coil beside Chi Ke as he cultivated.

• Black Snake repeatedly woke thirsty in a mist-filled cave, drank from the melting snow and ice, and eventually suspected that its lost moisture was creating the mist.
• Black Snake left the cave, found a sheltered sunny spot using thermal sensing, and tried to stay half awake to discover why sleep brought mist and thirst.
• Chi Ke spotted the isolated mist in the mountains, and the hunter told him that mountain mist was considered a sign of a fine burial site.
• Black Snake waited for rain to ease its deeper thirst, but a late-spring snowfall buried its coiled body and disrupted its thermal sensing.
• Chi Ke worried the cold snap would damage herb seedlings, while the hunter identified a loud crash as the frozen waterfall at Dripping Water Crag collapsing.
• After warmth returned, Chi Ke went to cultivate on the great boulder, and Black Snake emerged from the woods and coiled in its usual spot.

Black Snake shed its skin and traveled to the river to hunt, only to find 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.

• After spring rain restored its strength, Black Snake shed its old skin and fell asleep.
• Black Snake woke thirsty, then set out toward the distant river to hunt and keep its Rain Essence from escaping.
• Black Snake reached the riverbank and found the meadow submerged beneath muddy floodwater, with dead fish and drowned animals scattered along the shore.
• As the floodwater retreated, Black Snake noticed an unfamiliar scent and found a pale, living object among the driftwood.
• Black Snake coiled around the object and squeezed it, but it sprang back into shape and left Black Snake perplexed.

Black Snake ate a strange mass of meat, drove off a herd of wild boars, and discovered that its body was leaking the rain energy it had absorbed. It then sensed the mysterious heatless man from its memories nearby.

• Black Snake tore and swallowed the strange, edible meat until Wildcat approached, judged the snake too dangerous, and left.
• A herd of wild boars came to the basin, and Black Snake struck one when it entered its threat range.
• Black Snake bit a little boar and released a cloud of fog that confused the herd and helped it escape.
• Black Snake realized the fog was escaping rain energy it had absorbed, then finished eating the remaining meat.
• Black Snake used its thermal vision to identify a human-shaped gap in the surroundings and remembered the mysterious man from the icy path.

Black Snake met a mysterious man who explained that cultivators suffered from leakage and gave him a piece of Tai Sui, which Black Snake hoped might reduce his loss of mist. After returning from his search for more Tai Sui, Black Snake was struck repeatedly by lightning and awoke at dawn beneath broken branches and leaves.

• A mysterious man approached Black Snake, identified the flesh as Tai Sui, and explained that leakage could damage a cultivator’s foundation.
• The man left, and Black Snake ate the warm head of the little wild boar before resting on the mountainside.
• After waking, Black Snake suspected the Tai Sui could curb his loss of mist and searched the flood wreckage, but eventually turned back toward the mountain.
• Black Snake climbed a nearby hill as rain fell and breathed the rain-scented air.
• Repeated lightning strikes numbed Black Snake, made him vomit, and left him twisting and struggling on the hill.
• At dawn, sunlight warmed Black Snake beneath the debris, and he stirred and opened his eyes.

Black Snake returned to the old basin, hunted fish and birds, and discovered that less of its cool aura was leaking from its body. As the rainy season approached, it headed back toward Giant Rock and passed unseen by four people entering the mountain.

• Black Snake returned to the familiar basin and hunted frogs and large fish to build up fat for the rainy season.
• While sleeping beneath the full moon, Black Snake saw that its aura was leaking more slowly and formed a low mist around it.
• Black Snake spent several days hunting and resting, then sensed the approaching rainy season and set off for the mountain.
• Black Snake visited the silent stone pillar before continuing toward its old lair at Giant Rock.
• On the mountain path, Black Snake killed and ate an injured fawn, then sensed three adults and a child approaching and let them pass.

Chi Ke examined a boy from the Zhao Household who could see strange things and gave him medicine that eased his condition. The boy recovered enough to see Fox in the courtyard, while Chi Ke wondered whether the underworld truly existed and read a letter reporting that the Eastern County Grand Temple had collapsed.

• Hunter brought the Zhao Household men and their child to Lone Crag Courtyard, where he warned them about venomous wasp nests along the trail.
• Chi Ke examined the child's strange dreams and yin-leaning fate, then gave him a pill and instructed the family to administer the remaining forty-eight pills daily.
• The child slept peacefully after taking the medicine and woke refreshed, eating more than usual and appearing less timid.
• Chi Ke considered whether the underworld existed and read a letter reporting the collapse of the Eastern County Grand Temple.
• The child saw Fox on a rock after dinner, though the others could not, and Hunter reassured the Zhao Household that the fox often visited.

Black Snake watched a cold apparition drawn toward the human cub’s unstable soul, and the fox destroyed it with one swipe. Later, seeking lightning to heal the mist leaking from his body, Black Snake climbed to the mountain summit, where charred stumps stirred painful memories.

• Black Snake noticed a spectral disturbance around the human cub and went to investigate it at Lone Crag Courtyard.
• A cold apparition approached the courtyard whenever the cub’s soul wavered, but the fox scattered it with a swipe.
• After the cub woke and stabilized, Black Snake returned to Giant Rock and wondered why the fox’s energy was growing purer.
• Black Snake sensed the rainy season approaching and decided to climb the mountain peak in search of lightning to heal his condition.
• At the summit, Black Snake saw fire-charred stumps that brought back painful memories.

Black Snake endured repeated lightning strikes to temper his body while Chi Ke learned that war and strange deaths threatened the mountain region. After discovering that an ancient stone temple had collapsed, Chi Ke suspected a connection to the spreading dangers and sealed the courtyard with protective measures.

• Black Snake survived repeated lightning strikes at the summit, and the thunder helped the Rain Essence strengthen his 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.
• The supply caravan was delayed, so the villagers planned a safer place to live, and the hunter went down the mountain to move his family.
• After reading a letter about strange deaths and an extraordinary person near the county, Chi Ke noticed a report that an ancient stone temple had collapsed.
• Chi Ke and the bookboy laid cinnabar protections around the courtyard and decided to remain inside for several days.

Chi Ke feared that something evil had entered the mountains while Black Snake and the fox were missing, but he emerged from the night unharmed and heard the hunter had found Spirit Medicine in the herb plot. He hurried down the mountain with the hunter, unaware of the unnatural silence around them.

• Chi Ke heard the crows cry frantically and prepared his books, cinnabar, and hand crossbow as he feared a threat in the mountains.
• Phantom shapes gathered around Lone Crag Courtyard but could not cross an invisible barrier, while Chi Ke and the others stayed inside through the night.
• The hunter returned and called up to Chi Ke, eventually telling him that he had found Spirit Medicine in the herb plot.
• Chi Ke rushed down the mountain to see the Spirit Medicine, passing through a misty valley where the birds and insects were silent.
• The hunter led Chi Ke toward the herb plot, and Chi Ke noticed that the hunter's face looked unusually stiff.

Chi Ke fought off apparitions besieging the Thatched Hut with fire and a hand crossbow until Fox arrived and drove some of them back. Fox summoned Black Snake, who recognized the signal as a call to hunt and rushed toward the hut.

• Chi Ke realized Hunter was an apparition when the bolt passed through him and daylight vanished.
• Chi Ke reached the Thatched Hut, lit a fire, and defended himself as apparitions attacked and the door gave way.
• Fox arrived, rekindled the fire, and slashed several apparitions before returning to guard the doorway.
• Fox called for help, then used its prey signal to summon Black Snake after the first cries went unanswered.
• Black Snake sensed the apparitions around the hut and charged downhill toward Fox and Chi Ke.

Black Snake, the fox, and the fat weasel joined forces to destroy the eerie creatures threatening the valley, while Chi Ke sheltered in the Thatched Hut. As they searched for a remaining hidden threat, Book Boy arrived wearing Black Snake’s shed snakeskin as protection.

• Black Snake used his lightning-tempered energy to destroy the phantoms, while the fox and fat weasel helped drive them back.
• The fox sent out its warm shadow to chase fleeing phantoms, and Black Snake learned to send out his own consciousness to hunt them down.
• Chi Ke thanked the three mountain spirits, and the four gathered around the brazier in the Thatched Hut.
• The fox warned that one threat still remained hidden in the valley, and Black Snake agreed to keep searching.
• Book Boy arrived at the Thatched Hut with the yellow dog, wearing Black Snake’s shed snakeskin like a rain cape.

A hunter encountered a strange old man on a mountain trail and continued into the hills, while Black Snake and his neighbors traced a lingering deathly energy to a deep pool. Black Snake defeated the spectral presence beneath the water and returned to bask in the sun.

• A wary hunter met an unfamiliar old man, who asked whether he had suffered nightmares or heard strange sounds at night.
• The hunter dismissed the old man and headed into the mountains, secretly plotting to lead him toward a dangerous spot.
• The fox detected a faint smell of decay in the stream, and it led Black Snake and the fat weasel upstream to investigate the deep pool.
• Black Snake descended into the pool and found a spectral shape in a hollow, which attacked him with a piercing scream.
• Black Snake unleashed a powerful attack that killed the spectral presence, leaving many small fish floating belly-up.
• The pool lost its deathly energy and rotten odor, and Black Snake returned to his sun-warmed boulder as the fox and fat weasel departed.

A battered old Qi Refiner followed a fox to the deep pool and discovered that the dangerous Bone Fragment had been destroyed, while Black Snake recovered from the phantom’s rampage. The valley’s daily routine resumed, and Chi Ke thanked the hunter for saving their lives.

• Chi Ke mistook the returning hunter for a ghost, then let him into Lone Crag Courtyard after the yellow dog and Black Snake’s shedding reassured him.
• A swollen old man encountered the fox, asked about evil spirits, and followed it past the Thatched Hut to the deep pool.
• The old man sensed traces of thunder arts in the pool, retrieved the Bone Fragment, and realized its deathly energy had almost entirely vanished.
• The old man thanked the fox’s supposed elder and left without visiting Lone Crag Courtyard or confronting the boy who had led him into the wasps.
• Black Snake basked and recovered as Chi Ke, the hunter, Book Boy, the fox, and the fat weasel practiced breathing and studied together.
• Chi Ke sent two pheasants with the hunter to thank him for saving their lives.

Seventeen years passed as Black Snake grew and learned some human speech while Chi Ke aged in the mountains. Hunter left for home, and his son took over guarding Chi Ke at the Lone Crag Courtyard as war and banditry spread toward the valley.

• Fox helped Chi Ke realize his unusual eyes had let him see through the ghosts' illusion, and Chi Ke celebrated what he thought was a cultivation breakthrough.
• Black Snake prepared for winter, hibernated in his cave, and continued leaving his body to gaze at the moon on full-moon nights.
• Over seventeen years, Chi Ke grew old, Black Snake added more than two feet to his length, and Black Snake learned a few simple human phrases.
• Hunter departed for home, and his sturdy son arrived with a large black hunting dog to protect Chi Ke at the Lone Crag Courtyard.
• Chi Ke introduced Hunter's son to Black Snake and warned them that fighting and roving bandits were drawing closer to the valley.

Black Snake waited by the river for the large fish that appeared each spring, then avoided a human camp and watched as a band of attackers ambushed it before dawn. The two groups fought beside the river as Black Snake sensed blood in the air.

• Black Snake traveled to the river, found old charcoal, and settled into his usual routine of fishing and basking.
• A group of people leading horses camped in the meadow, and one man found Black Snake's broad wet trail near the river.
• Black Snake avoided the camp and secretly swam through the river at night while the people kept watch.
• Black Snake noticed two groups stealthily approaching and watched them from a distance.
• At dawn, hidden attackers shot the two watchmen and charged the camp, where both sides struggled in the dim light.
• Black Snake sensed the fighting through the heat sources and smelled fresh blood on the wind.

Black Snake was wounded by an arrow while observing a human battle, then attacked the armed survivors and killed a horse for food. After resting, he took advantage of the seasonal fish run to build up reserves for the rainy season.

• Black Snake watched a battle between two groups of humans until an archer's arrow struck his side.
• Black Snake counterattacked, killing armed humans and driving the remaining survivors away.
• Black Snake turned from the two children to kill a horse, then tore off and ate much of its flesh.
• The survivors gathered supplies, buried their dead, and left downstream as Black Snake moved deeper into the meadow.
• Black Snake rested for about two days, then began catching schools of large fish in the rain to prepare for the rainy season.

Black Snake returned to the mountain, learned that strangers were seeking information about him, and decided to kill them. He bypassed their scent-repelling powder by leaving his body and attacked the sleeping fat man in his gray form.

• Black Snake found human remains from the recent fighting and continued back to the valley.
• At Lone Crag Courtyard, a fat stranger demanded that Chi Ke reveal Black Snake’s habits and hiding place, but Chi Ke refused.
• Black Snake overheard the strangers’ hostility and followed them into the woods, where he waited for night to ambush them.
• The strangers’ powder kept Black Snake from approaching their camp, so he left his body and entered his gray form.
• Black Snake reached the sleeping fat man, memorized the taste of his soul, and bit down.

Black Snake survived the rainy season and the threat posed by the men who had entered the mountains, while Chi Ke learned that the fat man had died and burned the letters about the danger. As the story left off, Black Snake sensed that Chi Ke’s life was fading.

• Black Snake weakened the fat man by biting his phantom outline, then hid on the mountain and waited for rain.
• The rainy season brought lightning that struck near Black Snake, leaving him dazed but eager to absorb the rain-charged air.
• Chi Ke received a letter reporting that the fat man had fallen into water, fallen ill, and died, easing his fear that outsiders would come after Black Snake.
• Chi Ke burned the letters and resolved to teach Black Snake more human words while he still could.
• After the rain ended, Black Snake sensed during Chi Ke’s lesson that Chi Ke’s life force was weakening.

After nine years in the mountains, Chi Ke grew old as Black Snake, Fox, and Fat Weasel watched over him. He said farewell to his mountain friends, returned to the Lone Crag Courtyard, and peacefully died after one last day among the places he had cherished.

• Over the years, Chi Ke taught Fox and Fat Weasel about the world beyond the mountains while Black Snake watched his life gradually fade.
• As autumn came, Chi Ke sorted and distributed his pills, then had the books he had gathered carried into a dry cliff fissure for safekeeping.
• When spring apricot blossoms opened, Chi Ke went with the old servant to see Black Snake, and Fox and Fat Weasel joined them on the great boulder.
• Chi Ke solemnly bade farewell to Black Snake, Fox, and Fat Weasel, who stayed behind together as he returned to the Lone Crag Courtyard.
• Chi Ke shared a final meal with the Hunter and the old servant, looked over his courtyard, toasted the Vast Mountain Valley, and peacefully closed his eyes.