Chapter Summaries

Black Snake tracked down the man and White Deer, killed the man’s body, and drove his Yin Spirit to vanish before Mount Ding’s gate. He returned to the mountain and resumed his routine, where he saw He Ning waiting outside the Mountain Gate.

• Black Snake overheard the man and White Deer discuss their defeat and plans to seek shelter on Mount Ding.
• Black Snake burst into the house, grievously wounded the man, and destroyed the Vengeful Ghosts summoned by his Bone Whistle.
• White Deer fled toward Mount Ding with the man’s Yin Spirit, but Black Snake struck them; the man faded away after urging White Deer not to avenge him.
• Black Snake turned back from the mountain, avoided the villagers, and returned to his familiar rock to resume listening to lessons and secretly practicing sword techniques.
• After drinking from the spring well, Black Snake saw He Ning asleep on a stool outside the Mountain Gate before someone woke her and she went inside.

He Ning met Black Snake outside the monastery and began teaching him how to speak. The next morning, the Abbot warned her to keep Black Snake’s cultivation method secret and stressed that concealment was essential.

• While weeding, He Ning spotted Black Snake across the ravine, thanked him for saving her, and invited him to meet her after evening lessons.
• He Ning met Black Snake at the monastery gate, introduced herself, and began teaching him the basics of speaking with his yin spirit.
• Black Snake tried to make sounds through the night and resolved to remember He Ning and her lessons.
• The Abbot told He Ning that she must not reveal Black Snake’s cultivation method because others could use that knowledge to target him.
• The Abbot emphasized to He Ning that concealing oneself was the most important part of cultivation.

He Ning taught Black Snake beneath the Mountain Gate and shared her worries and a story about a man haunted by a red-dressed woman. When the woman threatened He Ning in a dream, Black Snake entered to protect her, and his hiss woke her as he wondered whether his Yin Spirit had finally made a sound.

• Black Snake met He Ning at the Stone Terrace, where she taught him and reflected on their shared loneliness.
• He Ning and Black Snake continued meeting nightly, and she told him about a young man haunted by a red-dressed woman.
• After He Ning fell asleep, Black Snake sensed danger and entered her dream, where the woman threatened her.
• Black Snake formed a Sky-Blue Long Sword and drove the red-dressed woman away with a terrifying hiss.
• He Ning woke in her room, while Black Snake wondered whether his Yin Spirit had finally made a sound.

He Ning and Black Snake prepared to descend from Azure Cloud Monastery to investigate strange happenings in Erlihe Village. That night, Black Snake chased a corpse-like old man away from the mountain.

• He Ning told the Abbot and her senior sisters that Black Snake had driven the red-dressed vengeful ghost from her dream, and they decided to wait and see whether the man involved would resolve the matter honestly.
• He Ning invited Black Snake to come down the mountain with her, explaining that the Abbot had ordered him to gain experience and that they would investigate strange events in Erlihe Village.
• Black Snake agreed to go with He Ning the next morning, and they planned to bring food, water, and a sword for the long journey.
• That night, Black Snake sensed a cold, corpse-stinking old man prowling at the foot of the mountain and charged at him.
• The old man fled, and Black Snake stopped chasing him once he was no longer heading up the mountain.

He Ning and Black Snake investigated strange incidents around an old willow and discovered that the awakened tree had been tormenting travelers who relieved themselves nearby. After He Ning cleaned the ground and marked the tree, they frightened off five men who harassed her and headed back along the mountain road.

• He Ning and Black Snake traveled through the mountain roads, asking villagers for directions to the place described in a letter.
• They found an old, hollow willow and Black Snake sensed that it had awakened into a spirit; He Ning spotted scorch marks and foul ground nearby.
• He Ning realized travelers had angered the willow by relieving themselves behind it, washed away the filth, and tied a red cord around the trunk as a warning.
• While He Ning ate beside the road, five armed men mocked and threatened her.
• Black Snake appeared from the elm tree, frightening the men into fleeing and abandoning their weapons.
• He Ning and Black Snake left the boulder and retraced their route along the mountain road.

He Ning returned to Azure Cloud Monastery, while Black Snake practiced swordsmanship and traveled to the village below to explore entering human dreams. After watching a mother soothe her infant with a lullaby, Black Snake returned to the mountain wondering what was missing within and whether becoming more human could fill it.

• He Ning reached Azure Cloud Monastery after a tiring walk, and Senior Brother Wang told her food had been saved for her.
• Black Snake copied the Daoist's sword practice, fell from the rock, then resumed practicing before returning to the summit.
• Black Snake descended to the village to test how far the Yin Spirit could travel and learned to enter dreams without making them collapse.
• Black Snake entered several villagers' dreams, including a boy's dream of meeting a woman and a child's dream of collecting coins.
• Black Snake heard a woman singing a lullaby to her infant and felt unfamiliar warmth and sorrow before returning to the summit.
• Black Snake sat alone, wondering what was missing and whether becoming like a human could make it whole.

Black Snake watched the Daoists save a young man haunted by a vengeful ghost, then spent the next days observing their mushroom gathering and wondering about spirits and immortals. He Ning prepared to travel to Lin Family Ferry to help search for people missing after a boat capsized, with Black Snake following secretly.

• Black Snake watched a family bring a young man haunted by the Red-Skirted Vengeful Ghost to Azure Cloud Monastery, where the Daoists suppressed his condition.
• He Ning explained that the young man's family had concealed the truth about the ghost, and Black Snake wondered what conditions caused someone to become a vengeful ghost.
• Black Snake saw the morning mist briefly reveal a dazzling view from the summit and wondered if it resembled the scenery immortals saw.
• He Ning and her senior brothers gathered mushrooms along a ridge, climbed to the summit to meditate, and dried their harvest at the monastery.
• He Ning told Black Snake that a boat had capsized on the Great Ox River and that they would go to Lin Family Ferry to help search for the missing people.

He Ning arrived at Lin Family Crossing to search for the nine people missing after a ferry sank, and sent Black Snake into the river to find them. Black Snake recovered three bodies, while six remained missing and the search continued.

• He Ning reached Lin Family Crossing and heard Old Man Lin describe the ferry accident that had left nine people missing.
• He Ning told the villagers to bring in their boats and said she would ask a Flood Dragon to help search.
• Black Snake searched the riverbed, found two bodies wedged between boulders, and nudged them to the surface.
• The villagers retrieved the two bodies and thanked He Ning, who told them to thank the Flood Dragon instead.
• Black Snake found another body, which Old Man Lin persuaded several villagers to retrieve, leaving six people still missing.

Black Snake fought a strange corpse in the river while villagers recovered and burned it, then encountered three bear Yin Spirits and discovered a human Yin Soul hiding inside the great tree underwater. At dawn, he left the river and headed back through the forest.

• Black Snake attacked the seventh corpse underwater until it was brought ashore with the other bodies.
• He Ning recognized the extra corpse as dangerous and urged Old Man Lin to burn it, despite the Mount Ding man's suggestion to investigate.
• Black Snake fished after dark and encountered three black bears in a Yin Spirit state, which soon wandered downstream.
• The middle-aged man from Mount Ding sent his Yin Soul into the river, where Black Snake found it hiding in a hollow in the great tree.
• Black Snake explored the tree's surroundings and left the river for the forest as dawn approached.

Black Snake reflected on his cultivation and the limits of his understanding, then settled into winter hibernation while continuing to explore his Yin Spirit form. He watched He Ning play in the first snowfall and remained on the stone terrace as the snow grew heavier.

• Black Snake puzzled over Dream Entry, faint murmurs, and his inability to distinguish good from evil, deciding he needed to keep learning at the Azure Cloud Monastery.
• After He Ning was too tired to teach him, Black Snake practiced swordsmanship alone on the stone terrace.
• As the weather turned cold and frost covered the spring well, Black Snake entered a rocky crevice to hibernate while his Yin Spirit cultivated and experimented with growing limbs.
• Black Snake attended He Ning's evening lesson and watched her breath form white clouds in the cold air.
• When snow began falling, He Ning told Black Snake to take shelter, but he showed that the flakes did not harm him.
• He Ning happily caught snowflakes before returning inside, while Black Snake stayed on the terrace and watched the snow fall harder.

Black Snake struggled with strange visions, sounds, and smells while planning how to grow limbs, then explored villagers’ dreams and encountered a curious youngling. The next morning, a festival at Qingyun Temple intensified the disturbances, and Black Snake left the cave until the pilgrims departed.

• Black Snake decided on short, nimble limbs but could not settle on where they should grow.
• Black Snake visited a village home, approached a reaching youngling, and withdrew when the woman noticed the child reaching toward empty air.
• Black Snake watched a dream in which a deceased elder appeared to pass into a special place, then teased Yellow Dog in its dream and startled it awake.
• Black Snake returned to the cave for the morning lesson, but festival preparations and pilgrims brought louder sounds and a stronger river smell.
• Black Snake watched the crowds at Qingyun Temple and waited outside until the pilgrims left and the disturbances faded.

Black Snake studied how to grow limbs while winter gave way to spring and the Azure Cloud Monastery faced hunger and threats from desperate men. After the men left, he resumed cultivating and found that his body had grown longer, leaving him determined to continue and reward the Abbot someday.

• Black Snake searched the wilderness for bones, studied how limbs were supported, and cultivated the bones in his body to strengthen them.
• Black Snake watched villagers reinforce their wall against bandits, then saw wandering spirits and a pack of hungry wolves during his nighttime wanderings.
• Seven or eight gaunt men demanded food and entry to the Azure Cloud Monastery, but the Abbot refused to summon Little Black and the men left at sunset.
• Black Snake noticed the heavy mood during the evening chanting and returned to his cave to cultivate his limb bones.
• After his hibernation ended, Black Snake realized his body had grown longer and decided to bring the Abbot a gift, perhaps a fawn, badger, or wild boar.

After spring returned, He Ning taught Black Snake and warned him that a powerful demon hunter was searching for him. Black Snake learned that villagers had built a Dragon King temple for him near Lin Family Crossing and decided it had to be torn down.

• He Ning picked wild greens and taught Black Snake how to use a ruler, measuring his body at four zhang.
• Black Snake sensed two yin cultivators battling near the county town, then continued cultivating beneath the moon.
• A limping cultivator offered to eliminate the demon behind Azure Cloud Monastery, but the Abbot refused to let him harm Black Snake.
• He Ning warned Black Snake to stay on the mountain because the powerful cultivator wanted to kill him.
• He Ning told Black Snake that a temple dedicated to the Dragon King had been built near Lin Family Crossing, and he resolved to have it torn down.

Black Snake tried to use dreams to persuade Old Man Lin to tear down the riverside Small Temple, but his first attempts failed because he could not speak. After anger finally made him speak, the temple’s destruction cut off the incense and drained his power, so he chose cultivation instead and began practicing conversation in villagers’ dreams.

• Black Snake entered Old Man Lin’s dream and appeared as the Dragon King, but Old Man Lin mistook his gestures for a request to build a larger temple.
• Black Snake finally shouted “Tear it down” in Old Man Lin’s dream and discovered he could speak when enraged.
• Old Man Lin demolished the Small Temple, cutting off Black Snake’s incense offerings and causing his incense energy to leak away.
• Black Snake practiced speaking with He Ning, then visited villagers’ dreams to chat and also checked on the little cub.
• Villagers told the Daoist on duty that a strange child had been appearing in their dreams, and Black Snake found talismans pasted on every household’s door.

Black Snake discovered that someone had built a lavish temple in its name and was exploiting the villagers, stirring resentment against it. As the long-awaited rain began, Black Snake raced toward Lin Family Crossing to confront whoever was responsible.

• Black Snake told He Ning that it had torn down the old temple because debts had to be repaid, then sensed resentment and incense smoke coming from the temple’s direction.
• Black Snake entered Old Man Lin’s dream, where he claimed that the Dragon King had ordered him to rebuild the temple and demand livestock from the villagers.
• Black Snake and Old Man Lin found a grand new temple filled with offerings and a sinister statue that seemed to radiate greed.
• Black Snake realized that someone was impersonating it and burdening it with the villagers’ anger, and decided to investigate despite the dangers beyond the mountain.
• When heavy rain began, Black Snake hurried through the forest toward Lin Family Crossing, discovering that its speed increased with the rainfall.

Black Snake destroyed a newly built Dragon King Temple and pursued the incense-powered ghost that had fled from it. After defeating another false Dragon King and catching his quarry, he turned back toward home as the rain resumed.

• Black Snake confronted a Ghost Creature at the New Dragon King Temple, smashed its statue, and brought the temple down.
• Black Snake pursued the fleeing ghost through the River and discovered that it could stir currents and flee at great speed.
• A second incense-powered ghost confronted Black Snake, but his burst of lightning frightened it away.
• Black Snake cornered the exhausted ghost beneath a rocky spur, then bit it and carried it into a beam of sunlight.
• Black Snake climbed onto Rocky Ridge and decided to head back.

Black Snake returned through the flooded River, removed the ominous Sunken Wood, and went back to the mountain to absorb rain qi and study the Yin Spirit. After the prolonged rain ended, he found that floods had reshaped the land and damaged the mountain paths and Azure Cloud Temple.

• Black Snake swam back through the swollen River and saw the collapsed Small Temple and the flood’s debris.
• Black Snake pulled the Sunken Wood from its rocky enclosure, but the current carried it away after he failed to drag it ashore.
• Old Man Lin saw Black Snake surface beside the tree and wondered if he was the true Dragon King.
• Black Snake returned to the mountaintop, waited for lightning, absorbed rain qi, and began studying how to cultivate the Yin Spirit.
• Black Snake woke to a changed landscape after the heavy rain, then discovered the mountain well and gully had been washed away and the Daoist temple was damaged.

After the flood, Black Snake patrolled the mountain crossroads and turned away strange beings seeking shelter, while He Ning explained the rules for approaching a monastery’s cultivation grounds. Black Snake remained on watch as fewer worshippers came to the mountain and floodwaters revealed unusual things.

• Black Snake tested his yin spirit’s sword, then listened as He Ning warned that flood-displaced spirits might come up the mountain and that bandits could appear after a failed harvest.
• Black Snake confirmed he had killed the impostor at Lin Family Crossing, and He Ning urged him not to meddle in supernatural affairs unless they threatened the monastery.
• Black Snake patrolled the southern slope and crossroads, where several balls of black smoke turned away from the mountain and a sinister boy in a bellyband fled when Black Snake pointed his sword at him.
• Black Snake practiced carrying his sword on his back through the night, then returned to his body and hid in a tree beside the mountain path.
• He Ning explained that beings seeking to stay or cultivate on Azure Cloud Monastery’s mountain had to approach openly by the main path and follow its rules.

After the flood disrupted the earth veins and drove supernatural beings from their homes, Black Snake met He Bai, a white crane Yin Spirit seeking a patron, and later learned that He Ning had been assigned to protect a feng shui master. Black Snake and He Ning traveled to meet him, and Black Snake wondered why the master seemed like an ordinary person.

• Black Snake met He Bai, who explained that the flood had changed river courses and feng shui, forcing many demon cultivators to abandon their homes.
• He Bai said an accomplished master had agreed to take him in, then hurried away to meet them.
• He Ning told Black Snake that the monastery had tasked them with protecting a feng shui master while the Daoist sects dealt with escaped eerie beings.
• Black Snake and He Ning traveled through flood-damaged roads to a crossroads near a small town to meet their charge.
• He Ning identified an old man arriving with a young man and three donkeys as the people they had been sent to meet, while Black Snake questioned whether the ordinary-looking elder was the feng shui master.

Black Snake accompanied He Ning, the old man, and the young man as the Feng Shui master surveyed flood-damaged land and began altering its Feng Shui. At night, Black Snake guarded the old man from agitated uncanny creatures, and after the group performed several tasks around the old riverbed and ruined village, he found fewer creatures lingering nearby.

• He Ning and the old man met the Village Elder and his son, then traveled with them to survey the land reshaped by the flood.
• Black Snake watched the old man study the terrain and make calculations, then guarded him overnight as uncanny creatures gathered to protest the coming changes.
• The next morning, the young man dug a pit at a spot chosen by the old man on a hilltop.
• In the old riverbed, the old man hid a red-wrapped object in a rock hollow, then had the young man fill the ruined village's old well with stones.
• The party dug another pit and returned to town, where Black Snake practiced swordsmanship that night and noticed fewer uncanny creatures.