Chapter Summaries

Duan Rong appointed Yang Zhen chief escort master of Yuan Shun Escort Agency, helped Hu Huanhuan with a remedy for her facial scars, and turned down offers of business shares as he prepared to marry Xiao Yu. The chapter ended with Duan Rong and Xiao Yu married and Duan Rong being escorted to the bridal chamber after the wedding guests drank themselves into a stupor.

• Duan Rong offered Yang Zhen the chief escort master position at Yuan Shun Escort Agency, and Yang Zhen accepted and quickly left his constable job.
• Duan Rong introduced Yang Zhen to the escort agency and personally guided him through its operations, winning the respect of the escort teams.
• Hu Huanhuan gave Duan Rong thirty percent of Flower Shadow House, and Duan Rong wrote her a medicinal paste formula to treat her scars while she vowed never to speak of Shen Ping again.
• Duan Rong refused shares offered by other business owners, and after word spread, Guo Xiangbao returned the twenty percent of Flower Shadow House that he had extorted from Hu Huanhuan.
• Duan Rong handed the escort agency’s affairs over to Yang Zhen and devoted himself with Xiao Yu to their wedding preparations.
• Duan Rong and Xiao Yu married on the nineteenth day of the fifth month, and Zhu Xiaoqi helped the drunken Duan Rong to the bridal chamber after the guests collapsed from drinking.

After marrying Xiao Yu, Duan Rong traveled with her and Xi Men Kan Kan to Yuan Yang Prefecture, then continued to Ruyang Prefecture to visit Shen Mizhi. At Shen Garden, Duan Rong followed Guan Kui into a restricted inner garden and discovered a secret scene involving two officials.

• Xiao Yu and Duan Rong welcomed Xi Men Kan Kan, whose visit ended with him enduring her cooking before the three set out for Yuan Yang Prefecture.
• Xi Men Yong hosted Duan Rong and Xiao Yu and gave them a Beaded Crown and Scarf set to make up for what Xiao Yu's late parents could not provide.
• Duan Rong and Xiao Yu traveled to Ruyang Prefecture, where Shen Mizhi greeted them and Shen Yanliu and Ma Chunmin hosted a banquet.
• Shen Yanliu sent Shen Mizhi, Duan Rong, and Xiao Yu to visit Shen Garden, where they saw two county magistrates arrive in sedan chairs and were barred from the inner garden.
• Guan Kui invited Duan Rong to view a painting for Manager Tang, then led him through the forbidden gate, where Duan Rong saw a skilled drunkard and used his Consciousness Shroud to discover two officials in bed with a woman.

Duan Rong visited Shen Garden, where Tang Wan Hong presented him with a powerful painting while Duan secretly watched the courtyard. Shen Mizhi infiltrated the garden and fought Xiong Yi, then escaped after Duan used a Divine Soul Illusion to stop him briefly; Duan left with the painting as Tang Wan Hong worried that Shen Garden was being watched.

• Duan Rong met Tang Wan Hong in Shen Garden and learned that Tang now worked for Shen Yanliu.
• Tang Wan Hong showed Duan Rong Ni Yunlin’s painting “Autumn Clearing,” whose Artifact Spirit was powerful enough for Duan to devour.
• Duan Rong sensed a masked True Qi Realm intruder enter the courtyard and approach his room while he pretended to admire the painting.
• Shen Mizhi fought Xiong Yi after he caught her spying, and Duan used a Divine Soul Illusion to distract Xiong Yi long enough for her to escape.
• Tang Wan Hong gave Duan the painting on Shen Yanliu’s instructions, and Duan left as Tang worried that Shen Garden had attracted attention.

Duan Rong learned that Shen Garden concealed sinister dealings and that Xiong Yi was an undercover agent seeking Tang Wan Hong’s roster and account books. After overhearing Xiong Yi’s secret meeting, Duan Rong decided he and Xiao Yu would leave the garden the next morning.

• A maid alerted Guan Kui to the two county magistrates, and Tang Wan Hong reassured them after they demanded to leave following the break-in.
• Duan Rong returned to Shen Mizhi and Xiao Yu with the painting Autumn Clearing, then noticed Shen Mizhi’s hidden resentment.
• Tang Wan Hong questioned Xiong Yi, who suspected the intruder had used the Filthy Blood Divine Skill and described being trapped in another dimension.
• Tang Wan Hong left for the city to speak with Shen Yanliu, while Xiong Yi secretly slipped out of the garden.
• Duan Rong followed Xiong Yi and overheard him tell a contact that he had infiltrated Tang Wan Hong’s circle to find a roster and account books.
• Duan Rong concluded the records were tied to Shen Garden’s illicit dealings and decided to leave with Xiao Yu the next morning.

After completing their assignments, Duan Rong repeatedly helped his fellow disciples solve difficult cases. When Liu Shushan arrived with news that Shen Mizhi’s family had been raided and she had rushed back to Ruyang Prefecture, Duan Rong and the others set out to find her.

• Duan Rong and Xiao Yu left Ruyang City, returned to Xiangu County, and began their sect assignments after their family leave ended.
• Duan Rong solved his investigation quickly, then helped Xiao Yu and Xi Men Kan Kan with their cases, earning a reputation among his fellow disciples.
• Liu Shushan arrived at the Post Station and told Duan Rong, Xiao Yu, and Xi Men Kan Kan that Shen Mizhi’s family had been raided and Shen Mizhi had abruptly left her assignment.
• Xiao Yu urged everyone to hurry to Ruyang Prefecture, and Duan Rong agreed that they should go see whether they could help.
• Duan Rong, Xiao Yu, Xi Men Kan Kan, and Liu Shushan bought four horses and rode through the night toward Ruyang Prefecture.

Duan Rong and his companions found Shen Mizhi near the Ruyang City prison, where she planned to rescue her imprisoned father, Shen Yanliu. After persuading her to investigate before acting, Duan Rong began examining the case and discovered that a tea-stall owner near the prison was likely watching for suspicious people.

• Duan Rong used his Divine Sense to find Shen Mizhi disguised as a servant, then brought her to Xiao Yu, who embraced her with relief.
• At Liu Shushan's secluded residence, Shen Mizhi said she intended to rescue her father at the execution ground, and Xiao Yu offered to go with her.
• Duan Rong warned them that an execution-ground rescue could bring a province-wide hunt, then learned the Court of Judicial Review's examination could give them at least a month.
• Duan Rong sent Liu Shushan and Xi Men Kan Kan to investigate while he stayed with Shen Mizhi and Xiao Yu before going out to inspect the prison area.
• Duan Rong recognized that the limping tea-stall owner near the prison was a fourth-level Inner Breath Realm expert and suspected he was a prison informant.

Duan Rong investigated Ruyang Prefecture’s dungeon and discovered Shen Yanliu, Tang Wan Hong, and Ma Chunmin imprisoned there, while uncovering how Chen Xun had engineered Shen Yanliu’s downfall. After learning Chen Xun’s allies planned to use Shen Yanliu’s execution to draw out Shen Mizhi, Duan Rong remained nearby to hear their next move.

• Duan Rong used his divine sense to survey the dungeon, found Xiong Yi guarding the prison area, and located Shen Yanliu, Tang Wan Hong, and Ma Chunmin in separate cells.
• Duan Rong learned that Chen Xun and Yang Ji had conspired to bring Shen Yanliu down by trapping Tang Wan Hong and collecting evidence of Shen Yanliu’s corruption.
• Duan Rong concluded that rescuing a prisoner from the dungeon would be extremely difficult and went to a teahouse near the prefectural yamen to watch Chen Xun.
• Duan Rong recognized Li Hong entering Chen Xun’s study with Yang Ji and stayed at a nearby wonton stall to overhear their discussion.
• Li Hong reported that Shen Mizhi had abandoned her case, while Yang Ji proposed using Shen Yanliu’s execution to draw her out.
• Chen Xun told Yang Ji to visit Divine Cloud Manor and secure approval of the case’s review document within ten days.

Duan Rong learned how Shen Yanliu had been arrested and warned Shen Mizhi that her father was badly injured and held in a heavily guarded prison. After Shen Mizhi begged him to save her father, Duan Rong agreed and began a plan that depended on her returning to work and maintaining an alibi.

• Xi Men Kan Kan and Liu Shushan told Duan Rong how Tang Wan Hong's confession led Chen Xun to arrest Shen Yanliu, while Duan Rong explained that three True Qi Realm experts guarded the underground prison.
• Duan Rong learned that provincial administration commissioner Yang Ji would visit Divine Cloud Manor and arrange for the case documents to reach Ruyang Prefecture within ten days.
• Shen Mizhi knelt and offered her life to Duan Rong if he saved her father, and Duan Rong agreed after deciding he could save Shen Yanliu without exposing their group.
• Duan Rong ordered Shen Mizhi to return to her duties, finish her case, and maintain a visible alibi until the tenth night, with Xiao Yu accompanying her.
• Duan Rong reassured Shen Mizhi that he was highly confident in his plan, and Xiao Yu left with her while Duan Rong prepared to act.

Duan Rong selected an abandoned house near the prefectural prison and began digging a tunnel there with Xi Men Kan Kan and Liu Shushan. Meanwhile, Chen Xun grew suspicious of Shen Mizhi’s return to investigating cases and ordered Li Hong to learn about her relationship with her father.

• Xi Men Kan Kan told Liu Shushan that Duan Rong had drawn the Light of Humanity and planned to burn it.
• Duan Rong inspected a run-down district and chose an unoccupied house as the site for his plan.
• Duan Rong had Liu Shushan prepare food and ten days of rations, then led him and Xi Men Kan Kan to the chosen house at night.
• Duan Rong started digging beneath the house and instructed Xi Men Kan Kan and Liu Shushan to carry the soil into its rooms.
• Chen Xun learned that Shen Mizhi had returned to investigate cases and ordered Li Hong to question her childhood maid about her relationship with her father.

Duan Rong and his companions finished digging a tunnel to the prison cell where Shen Yanliu was held, while Chen Xun dismissed his suspicions about Shen Mizhi. As the rescue plan reached its final stage, Duan Rong crafted a lifelike face skin modeled on Shen Yanliu.

• Duan Rong, Xi Men Kan Kan, and Liu Shushan labored for days to dig an underground tunnel toward the target prison cell.
• Chen Xun read Li Hong’s investigation materials and decided Shen Mizhi’s self-harm and resentment toward her father were not signs of an abnormal plot.
• On the ninth night, Duan Rong reached a point about half a zhang below the prison cell, then left the tunnel with Xi Men Kan Kan and Liu Shushan to prepare for the rescue.
• Duan Rong sorted the contents of his sack and worked through the night, while Xi Men Kan Kan and Liu Shushan rested.
• By noon, Duan Rong peeled a lifelike face skin from a carving of Shen Yanliu and smiled sinisterly at his work.

Duan Rong carried out his plan to break into the prison beneath the city and rescue Shen Yanliu before his execution. After disguising Tang Wan Hong as Shen Yanliu and silently killing guard Xiong Yi, he prepared to continue the escape.

• Duan Rong learned that Yang Ji had returned with the approval for Shen Yanliu’s execution, then sent Xi Men Kan Kan out of the city and told Liu Shushan to stay behind.
• Duan Rong left for the prison at the Yin hour and dug through the final half-zhang of his underground tunnel.
• Tang Wan Hong heard Duan Rong digging beneath his cell, and Duan Rong emerged through the floor and knocked him unconscious with medicinal powder.
• Duan Rong altered Tang Wan Hong’s face to resemble Shen Yanliu, then put him back over the tunnel entrance and drugged the nearby prisoners.
• Xiong Yi sensed the poison and tried to move, but Duan Rong killed him with a Willow Leaf Flying Knife without alerting the jailers.

Duan Rong broke into the prefectural dungeon and switched Shen Yanliu with Tang Wan Hong, disguising Tang Wan Hong to resemble the prisoner and taking Shen Yanliu away. He escaped Ruyang Prefecture with Xi Men Kan Kan while the guards discovered the break-in and began searching the prison.

• Duan Rong drugged the prisoners and jailers, moved Shen Yanliu and Tang Wan Hong between their cells, and altered Tang Wan Hong's face with Shen Yanliu's mole.
• Duan Rong dislocated Tang Wan Hong's bones to match Shen Yanliu's injuries, left Tang Wan Hong in the cell, and carried Shen Yanliu through the underground tunnel.
• Duan Rong carried Shen Yanliu through the city and escaped over the East City Gate, then met Xi Men Kan Kan outside and set off by carriage.
• A patrol discovered Xiong Yi's headless corpse and the unconscious jailers, and the True Qi Realm guard ordered a search of the prison.
• Duan Rong directed Xi Men Kan Kan toward a dilapidated temple west of Tongbai County, near the route Shen Mizhi and the others would take.

Chen Xun investigated the jailbreak and secured Shen Yanliu for his imminent execution, while Duan Rong brought the rescued Shen Yanliu to a ruined temple outside Tongbai County. Shen Yanliu insisted on returning to die so Chen Xun would not target Shen Mizhi, but Duan Rong knocked him unconscious and left Xi Men Kan Kan to watch over him.

• Chen Xun found Xiong Yi dead and confirmed that Tang Wan Hong had escaped through a tunnel, then ordered Li Hong to guard Shen Yanliu until the execution.
• Chen Xun suspected retired knife expert Guo Er might have helped with the jailbreak and ordered an investigation into his connection to Tang Wan Hong.
• Duan Rong and Xi Men Kan Kan stopped at a ruined temple outside Tongbai County, where Duan Rong laid the injured Shen Yanliu on straw and treated his dislocated bones.
• Shen Yanliu woke and demanded to be returned to the dungeon, fearing that his escape would endanger Shen Mizhi and Duan Rong.
• When Shen Yanliu tried to crawl toward a pillar to kill himself, Duan Rong used sleeping powder to knock him out and told Xi Men Kan Kan to watch him.

Autumn deepened, while the expected gains remained out of reach and the losses had already occurred.

• Autumn deepened.
• What should have been gained remained ungained.
• What should have been lost had already been lost.

Duan Rong reunited Shen Mizhi with her rescued father, Shen Yanliu, and explained a plan that required Shen Yanliu to be publicly executed so he could survive. After Shen Mizhi swore herself to Duan Rong, they returned to Ruyang, where wanted posters for Tang Wan Hong left Liu Shushan wondering who Duan Rong had actually rescued.

• Duan Rong met Xiao Yu and Shen Mizhi on the road and told them he had rescued Shen Yanliu from the prefectural dungeon.
• At the Dilapidated Temple, Shen Mizhi embraced her father, and Duan Rong explained that Shen Yanliu had to appear to be publicly executed to stay alive.
• Shen Mizhi knelt before Duan Rong and pledged to serve him as her master, while Shen Yanliu accepted her decision.
• Xiao Yu and Shen Mizhi entered Ruyang City using the Taiyi Token, and Duan Rong followed on foot after ditching his horse and belongings.
• Duan Rong visited Liu Shushan, told him to go help Xi Men Kan Kan guard Shen Yanliu, and left him puzzled about the rescue.
• On his way to the Dilapidated Temple, Liu Shushan saw wanted posters for Tang Wan Hong and wondered whether Duan Rong had rescued him instead of Shen Yanliu.

Duan Rong watched Shen Mizhi’s plan unfold as a disguised prisoner was executed in Shen Yanliu’s place, allowing her to retrieve the bodies without arousing suspicion. At the charity graveyard, Duan Rong destroyed the false face skin, completing the scheme and leaving the real Shen Yanliu’s fate hidden.

• Duan Rong observed the execution ground and discovered Chen Xun’s forces waiting to catch Shen Mizhi if she tried to rescue the prisoners.
• Shen Mizhi entered the execution ground in mourning, fed wine and food to the disguised Shen Yanliu, and said farewell to Ma Chunmin before being escorted out by Xiao Yu.
• Yang Ji ordered the executions, and Ma Chunmin realized that the beheaded man was not Shen Yanliu before she herself was killed.
• Shen Mizhi and Xiao Yu collected the bodies and carried them to the charity graveyard, where Shen Mizhi and Xiao Yu kept vigil that night.
• Duan Rong arrived at midnight, destroyed the false face skin inside the coffin, and burned it with Shen Mizhi and Xiao Yu’s help.

After rescuing Shen Yanliu and outmaneuvering Chen Xun, Duan Rong helped the Shen father and daughter settle at a secluded Xi Men estate before returning to sect duties. At New Year, he returned Shen Yanliu’s painting and continued refining the Filthy Blood Divine Skill’s source bloodlight, preparing for his eventual entry into the Inner Sect.

• Duan Rong, Xi Men Kan Kan, and Liu Shushan arranged for Shen Yanliu to recover at a Xi Men Family estate in Yuan Yang Prefecture while Duan Rong, Xiao Yu, and Shen Mizhi returned to their sect mission.
• Duan Rong reflected that his plan to mislead Chen Xun had drawn inspiration from Keigo Higashino’s The Devotion of Suspect X.
• At New Year, Xi Men Kan Kan brought Duan Rong and Xiao Yu to celebrate with the Xi Men Family, while Shen Yanliu and Shen Mizhi stayed at their secluded estate.
• Duan Rong visited Shen Yanliu and returned Ni Yunlin’s painting, “Fishing Village Autumn Clearing,” which Shen Yanliu had entrusted to him.
• Duan Rong entered his Luminous Consciousness Sea and continued using the Garbha Sutra to slowly digest the Filthy Blood Divine Skill’s source bloodlight.

Duan Rong was ordered by Zhu He to investigate Secretary Zhu Shizhong’s death in Divine Cloud Manor, leaving Xiao Yu behind as he traveled to the provincial capital. After hearing that Zhu Shizhong and his concubine had been struck by lightning, Duan Rong began weighing how to investigate without getting caught in the city’s political struggles, and discovered that Heaven and Earth Essence Qi remained thin even near Changliu Mountain.

• Duan Rong received a sealed order from Zhu He to investigate Secretary Zhu Shizhong’s unnatural death in Divine Cloud Manor.
• Duan Rong refused Xiao Yu’s offer to send companions with him, then left alone after she escorted him beyond the city gates.
• After reaching Divine Cloud Manor, Duan Rong listened to teahouse conversations and learned that Zhu Shizhong and Li Muping had reportedly died in a lightning strike.
• Duan Rong wondered why Zhu He had summoned him if the deaths were merely caused by lightning, and resolved to seek answers at the Court of Judicial Review.
• Duan Rong sensed the local Heaven and Earth Essence Qi and found it only slightly denser than in the Southeast Four Prefectures, suspecting Changliu Mountain sealed it within the sect.

Duan Rong reported to the Court of Judicial Review and met Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng, the officials investigating Zhu Shizhong’s death. After questioning their natural-disaster conclusion, he explained how long-practiced intuition could guide an investigation, earning Zhu Cheng’s respect and making Zhu Peng reconsider him.

• Duan Rong queued to make an appointment but was recognized by Pockmarked Face and taken directly inside the Court of Judicial Review.
• Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng introduced themselves as the investigators of Zhu Shizhong’s case and said they believed lightning had killed him in the Cooling Room.
• Duan Rong read the case file and questioned whether the lightning strike’s timing and its target were suspicious.
• Duan Rong explained that he refined his investigative instincts by examining why they conflicted with the facts.
• Zhu Cheng praised Duan Rong’s insight, and Zhu Peng began to suspect that Duan Rong had genuine skill.

Duan Rong investigated the lightning deaths of Zhu Shizhong and Li Muping, spending the night searching the charred Cooling Room ruins. After absorbing the ruins’ artifact spirits, he found a hidden mechanism and realized someone had deliberately drawn lightning to kill Zhu Shizhong.

• Duan Rong visited Zhu Peng’s Cooling Room before inspecting the destroyed room where Zhu Shizhong and Li Muping had died.
• Duan Rong searched the debris by hand through the night while Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng doubted his methods.
• Duan Rong listened to a storyteller as the artifact spirits he had absorbed were digested, then abruptly rushed back to Zhu Shizhong’s residence.
• Duan Rong used his Divine Sense to find a concealed wooden handle and needle connected within a roof beam’s water channel.
• Duan Rong concluded that someone had deliberately drawn heavenly lightning to kill Zhu Shizhong and ordered a guard to summon Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng.