Chapter Summaries

Xi Men Kan Kan treated Duan Rong to an elaborate meal at Snow Covered Residence, where Duan Rong discovered the extraordinary skill behind Old Xu’s dishes. As they began drinking, Xi Men Kan Kan prepared to reveal what he wanted from Duan Rong.

• Duan Rong and Xi Men Kan Kan left the Yuan Shun Escort Agency and rode to Snow Covered Residence, Xi Men Kan Kan’s home.
• Duan Rong admired the treasured paintings and calligraphy that Xi Men Kan Kan said his late mother had collected.
• Old Xu’s hollowed, stuffed bean sprouts amazed Duan Rong, who suspected Xi Men Kan Kan’s hospitality came with an ulterior motive.
• Xi Men Kan Kan served Eight Treasure Gourd Duck, and he and Duan Rong ate the entire dish before the next course arrived.
• Shi Kang brought in an old, wax-sealed wine jar, and Xi Men Kan Kan poured wine for himself and Duan Rong.

Duan Rong accepted Xi Men Kan Kan’s request to paint an erotic picture of Xia Shuangshuang, recognizing that the secret could give him leverage over Xi Men Kan Kan. He completed the painting and called Xi Men Kan Kan over to see it.

• Duan Rong enjoyed Xi Men Kan Kan’s lavish meal and learned that the Bamboo Leaf Green Wine had been aged for thirty-two years.
• Xi Men Kan Kan dismissed Shi Kang and privately asked Duan Rong to paint Xia Shuangshuang naked.
• Xi Men Kan Kan pleaded with Duan Rong and promised to honor him as an elder brother if he agreed.
• Duan Rong decided to accept, seeing the secret request as a chance to control Xi Men Kan Kan.
• Duan Rong painted Xia Shuangshuang in a nude, seductive pose, then beckoned Xi Men Kan Kan over.

Duan Rong asked Xi Men Kan Kan to secretly find two qian of the rare medicinal ingredient Dragon Flame Grease for his supposed friend, the Red Serpent Child. Xi Men Kan Kan learned that the ingredient might come from the Western Regions and ordered Qin Zhong to obtain it, while neither man knew anything about the Red Serpent Child.

• Duan Rong painted a birthmark on Xia Shuangshuang’s portrait for Xi Men Kan Kan, then asked him to find two qian of Dragon Flame Grease in secret.
• Xi Men Kan Kan agreed to ask Qin Zhong about the rare ingredient, and Duan Rong warned him that a leak could endanger the Red Serpent Child.
• After Duan Rong left, Xi Men Kan Kan spent time alone with the portrait and arranged for Qin Zhong to visit the next morning.
• Qin Zhong said Dragon Flame Grease might come from the Western Regions, and Xi Men Kan Kan ordered him to buy two qian and keep the matter secret.
• Xi Men Kan Kan asked Qin Zhong about the Red Serpent Child, but Qin Zhong had never heard of him.

Fan Yuanhai investigated the Dragon Flame Grease lead while Duan Rong completed his initial mastery of the Bone Shrinking Skill and prepared for his first escort assignment. The next morning, Duan Rong rode out with the convoy, which stopped at the City God Temple to pray for a safe journey.

• Xi Men Kan Kan suspected that the rare Dragon Flame Grease was tied to a dangerous matter and decided to make Qin Zhong swear another oath of secrecy.
• Fan Yuanhai reconsidered the case involving Xu Ruhu and Jie Lei, ruled out Jie Daohan as the likely culprit, and chose to investigate the portraits and Dragon Flame Grease.
• Fan Yuanhai inspected the Crude Drug Store's ledgers, found no record of Dragon Flame Grease, and warned the staff to report anyone asking about it.
• Duan Rong emerged from a wooden basin after initially mastering the Bone Shrinking Skill and reflected on his recent training before his first escort assignment.
• Duan Rong rode with Xiao Yu and the convoy out of Yuan Shun Escort Agency, and they stopped at the City God Temple to pray for safety.

Duan Rong discovered that the City God Statue held a Rank 21 Artifact Spirit, then joined the escort convoy on its journey to Ruyang Prefecture. On the road, he recognized Liu Ao as the man connected to the Oxtail Saber he had devoured and suspected Liu Ao faced a grim fate.

• Ruan Fengshan led the convoy in worshipping the City God, and Duan Rong read the statue's Artifact Spirit as Rank 21 with a devouring effect tied to millennial incense and the Law of Power of time.
• Ruan Fengshan advised Duan Rong to consult his master and Escort Captain Sun on the road, then the convoy left Xiangu County through the East City Gate.
• Duan Rong noticed a black mole on Liu Ao's neck that matched the figure he had glimpsed while digesting the Oxtail Saber Artifact Spirit.
• Xiao Yu explained that Liu Ao was a veteran escort at the Minor Accomplishment stage of the third level of Inner Breath, known as the Nine-Fingered Death Warrior after losing his right little finger while defending cargo.
• Duan Rong connected Liu Ao's missing finger to the damaged Oxtail Saber and worried that Liu Ao's mole and fierce appearance foretold misfortune.

Duan Rong traveled with the Second Escort Team as they escorted the scholar Li Yuliang through Crouching Ox Mountain. Xiao Yu taught Duan Rong how escort agencies negotiated safe passage with local strongholds, while Lu Feng watched with envy.

• Sun Huang led the Second Escort Team, including Duan Rong and Lu Feng, as they escorted Li Yuliang along the official road.
• At Crouching Ox Mountain, Tang Dejin and Ren Tiewa raised the Source Prosperity banners and called out the escort slogans.
• Two men from Black Tiger Stronghold greeted Sun Huang and delivered wine and roasted game on behalf of Third Chief Li Meng.
• Li Yuliang remarked on the gifts, and Xiao Yu explained to Duan Rong that the agency paid the stronghold annually to keep the route open.
• Xiao Yu advised Duan Rong on escort work, while Lu Feng felt jealous of the attention Duan Rong received and his faster progress in Martial Arts.

Xiao Yu and Duan Rong delivered a letter in Chang'an Town before the escort team settled in for the night. Duan Rong protected Xiao Yu from an awkward rooming arrangement and forced Li Yuliang to sleep on the floor, while Liu Ao took the first shift guarding the goods.

• Xiao Yu took Duan Rong to Chang'an Town's martial arts school to deliver a letter and explained the escort team's rules for Letter Escorts.
• The escort team ate at Peng Lai Inn, and Sun Huang assigned rooms before ordering everyone to rest for an early departure.
• Li Yuliang announced that he wanted to share a room with Xiao Yu, so Duan Rong seized him and volunteered to room with him instead.
• Sun Huang praised Duan Rong for helping Xiao Yu, while Liu Ao arranged to guard the goods during the first half of the night.
• Duan Rong claimed the bed and threatened Li Yuliang until he agreed to sleep on the floor rather than complain.

The escort party stopped for the night at a Dilapidated Temple, where a disguised refugee tried to assassinate Li Yuliang. Duan Rong and Xiao Yu saved him, but the attacker escaped into the night.

• Sun Huang led the escort party to a Dilapidated Temple, where the escorts settled in and prepared food.
• Yao Liangrong spotted a motionless man in the temple, and Sun Huang ordered the escorts to feed him if he was still alive.
• As Duan Rong served Li Yuliang a bowl, the supposed refugee sprang up and attacked him with a dagger.
• Duan Rong flung hot soup at the attacker and kicked Li Yuliang out of the dagger's path.
• The attacker threw his dagger at Li Yuliang, but Xiao Yu knocked it aside with her saber.
• The attacker knocked Tang Dejin down and escaped; Sun Huang returned to find Li Yuliang alive, though badly shaken by Duan Rong's kick.

Yuan Shun Escort Agency’s party was pursued by Hong Yan and the Wang Family’s light cavalry, who demanded that the escorts surrender Li Yuliang. Sun Huang refused to hand him over without an official wanted notice, and Hong Yan attacked him.

• After traveling through the night, Sun Huang stopped the exhausted escort party when light cavalry approached from behind.
• Hong Yan confronted Li Yuliang, accusing him of impregnating a Wang Family concubine and demanding that he come out.
• Hong Yan explained that he had been sent by the Wang Family patriarch to stop Li Yuliang from reaching his influential aunt in Ruyang Prefecture.
• Sun Huang refused to surrender Li Yuliang without a wanted notice and accused Hong Yan of arranging the assassin at the Dilapidated Temple.
• Hong Yan drew his spear, leaped from his horse, and thrust it toward Sun Huang.

Hong Yan and Sun Huang led their sides into battle, while Duan Rong survived a coordinated attack by using an improvised saber technique. Hong Yan called a halt and withdrew with his injured men, leaving the escort party with fewer casualties.

• Hong Yan and Sun Huang clashed as their fighters joined battle, while Duan Rong and Liu Ao engaged their respective opponents.
• Liu Ao cut off three fingers from one of the brothers and sent his saber flying toward Duan Rong's back.
• The old man attacked Duan Rong with a hidden Crossbow Bolt as the saber flew at him, but Duan Rong deflected both strikes with a spinning saber blossom.
• Hong Yan shouted for both sides to stop, and Sun Huang agreed to end the fight.
• Hong Yan's injured men withdrew on horseback, while the escort party's losses remained comparatively light.

After the escort party reached Sheqi County, Xiao Yu took Duan Rong to deliver a letter at the Zhao Residence, where they found the place deserted and overgrown. When a venomous snake bit Xiao Yu, Duan Rong sucked out the poison and secretly devoured the Silver Anklet’s artifact spirit, gaining Cloud Serpent Step Mastery.

• The escort party entered Sheqi County and ate at Six Harmonies Inn after their night-long journey.
• Xiao Yu took Duan Rong to deliver a letter to the Zhao Residence and showed him other delivery points along the way.
• Xiao Yu and Duan Rong found the Zhao Residence abandoned, with an overgrown courtyard and a human skull hidden in the grass.
• A Short-tailed Pit Viper bit Xiao Yu, and Duan Rong urgently sucked the venom from her calf.
• Duan Rong read the Silver Anklet’s artifact spirit and devoured it, gaining Cloud Serpent Step Mastery.

Duan Rong treated Xiao Yu’s snakebite and later accompanied Liu Ao to deliver a Letter Escort outside Wan City County. In a deserted wasteland, Duan Rong confronted Liu Ao and realized Luan Jingfu had sent him to kill him.

• Duan Rong sucked the poison from Xiao Yu’s leg, dressed the wound, and helped her return to the Six Harmonies Inn.
• A shopkeeper told Xiao Yu and Duan Rong that the Zhao Residence had been wiped out two months earlier and was rumored to be haunted.
• Sun Huang gave Xiao Yu Detoxification Powder, and the escort party resumed its journey after resting at the inn.
• After the party reached Wan City County, Liu Ao took Duan Rong to deliver two Letter Escorts, then led him along a side path into the wilderness.
• Duan Rong asked Liu Ao whether Luan Jingfu had sent him to kill him, and Liu Ao’s reaction confirmed his suspicion.

Duan Rong fought Liu Ao after learning that Liu Ao had sided with Luan Jingfu, using Cloud Serpent Step and Plum Blossom Needles to counter the stronger escort master. The fight ended with Duan Rong’s poisoned needles lodged in Liu Ao’s eyes, though Liu Ao’s inner breath blocked the needles’ force.

• Duan Rong questioned Liu Ao about joining Luan Jingfu, and Liu Ao attacked him with his Oxtail Saber.
• Duan Rong used Mastery Level Cloud Serpent Step and Plum Blossom Needles to evade Liu Ao and strike his shoulder and legs.
• Liu Ao cut the poisoned flesh from his wounds and charged Duan Rong, who drew his Oxtail Saber and fought with evasive footwork and varied saber techniques.
• Liu Ao used his modified Leopard Drilling the Forest to stab Duan Rong in the waist, but the blade met no human body.
• Duan Rong fired two Poison Needles into Liu Ao’s eyes; Liu Ao’s inner breath deflected their force, but Corpse Rot Poison entered his eyeballs.

Duan Rong killed Liu Ao after using poisoned needles and repeated attacks, then delivered the Letter Escort in Wan City County. He returned to the inn alone, leaving Sun Huang asking where Liu Ao was.

• Duan Rong blinded Liu Ao with Corpse Rot Poison and repeatedly wounded him until he collapsed.
• Duan Rong stabbed Liu Ao through the heart, then narrowly avoided a crossbow bolt Liu Ao had triggered from beneath his corpse.
• Duan Rong took the Letter Escort and money from Liu Ao, recovered some Plum Blossom Needles, and burned Liu Ao's body.
• Duan Rong delivered the Letter Escort to the Su Family Dyehouse and collected the receipt payment.
• Duan Rong returned to the inn, handed Sun Huang the money for the two Letter Escorts, and faced questions about Liu Ao's absence.

After the escort team reached Ruyang Prefecture and delivered Li Yuliang to the Li Residence, an assassin killed him and escaped. Sun Huang led the team away, leaving Li Yuru and the residence guards to deal with the aftermath.

• Duan Rong explained that Liu Ao had left with a monk, and Sun Huang ordered Yao Liangrong to search for clues while the escort team continued on without Liu Ao.
• The team reached Ruyang Prefecture, delivered its crates, and escorted Li Yuliang to his aunt Li Yuru’s residence.
• A newly hired servant suddenly cut Li Yuliang’s throat and fled past the Second Escort Team.
• Duan Rong recognized the attacker as the assassin from the Dilapidated Temple, while Sun Huang warned the escort masters not to interfere.
• Sun Huang led the team away as Li Yuru rushed to Li Yuliang, who lost consciousness.

After returning from the prefectural city, Sun Huang and the Second Escort Team searched Wan City County for Liu Ao but found no trace of him. They reached Xiangu County after the Xiao Man Festival and returned to Yuan Shun Escort Agency, where an empty Martial Arts Field made them suspect something had happened.

• Sun Huang hosted the bodyguards at the Nameless Inn, where the team drank heavily and sang about the dangers of life in the rivers and lakes.
• After returning to Wan City County, Sun Huang and the others searched for Liu Ao and asked the county yamen about him and the skinny monk, but found no news.
• The escort team left Wan City County and entered Xiangu County, where Duan Rong realized they had missed the Xiao Man Festival.
• The team returned to Yuan Shun Escort Agency and handed back their horses and carts.
• Sun Huang and the others found the Martial Arts Field empty at training time and worried that something had happened at the agency.

Duan Rong and Sun Huang returned to the Yuan Shun Escort Agency and learned that Ruan Jing had been abducted during the Dragon Lantern Festival. The chapter ended with Ruan Fengshan receiving a letter written by Ruan Jing and realizing the boy was in the kidnappers’ hands.

• Sun Huang handed Xu Shouxian the escort team’s remaining payment and receipts, then led the team to report to Ruan Fengshan.
• Sun Huang reported that Liu Ao had left the team without permission, and Ruan Fengshan assigned Luan Jingfu to investigate.
• Luan Jingfu explained that Ruan Jing had been abducted amid a staged crowd crush at the Dragon Lantern Festival, and the escort agency’s search had found no trace of him.
• Ma Wentao rushed in with a letter that someone had shot onto the escort agency’s gate, and Ruan Fengshan recognized Ruan Jing’s crooked handwriting.

Ruan Fengshan received a ransom letter demanding one thousand jin of gold for Ruan Jing and ordered a secret plan to rescue him. As Xiao Zongting moved to detain suspected insiders, Duan Rong and Lu Feng were summoned to deliver the gold, unaware of what awaited them.

• Ruan Fengshan read a silk letter claiming Ruan Jing had been kidnapped and demanding one thousand jin of gold at the Mass Burial Grounds.
• Ruan Fengshan reassured Ma Wentao, told him to keep Chun Ying from learning about the letter, and discussed suspected leaks with Xiao Zongting and Luan Jingfu.
• Ruan Fengshan ordered Xiao Zongting to detain Xu Shouxian, Zhou An, Wang Dean, and Zhu Shicheng, then planned to follow the gold cart with Luan Jingfu.
• Luan Jingfu named Lu Feng and Duan Rong as the Trainee Escorts who would carry the gold, despite Xiao Zongting's objection about Duan Rong.
• Xiao Zongting and Sun Huang went to arrest the suspects while a guard brought Duan Rong and Lu Feng to meet Ruan Fengshan and Luan Jingfu.

Duan Rong learned that Ruan Fengshan was sending him and Lu Feng on a dangerous gold-delivery mission, then Xiao Zongting summoned him and began teaching him the Three Unnamed Forms. The chapter ended with Duan Rong watching Xiao Zongting demonstrate the third form, which combined offense and defense.

• Ruan Fengshan ordered Duan Rong and Lu Feng to report to the Mass Burial Grounds at dawn, and Luan Jingfu urged Lu Feng to accept the assignment.
• Duan Rong told the frightened Lu Feng to prepare himself, then refused to let him follow as Duan Rong went to Xiao Zongting's courtyard.
• Xiao Zongting retrieved the Broken Blade Broadsword and felt a powerful sense of reunion upon gripping it again.
• Xiao Zongting began teaching Duan Rong the Three Unnamed Forms, explaining that the first was offensive and the second defensive.
• Xiao Zongting demonstrated the third form, which alternated between attack and defense, as Duan Rong watched closely.

Xiao Zongting showed Duan Rong the Three Unnamed Forms, then left him to study them. Duan Rong figured out how to combine the forms with other saber techniques and began practicing a repeating move, impressing Xiao Zongting when he returned.

• Xiao Zongting performed the Three Unnamed Forms for Duan Rong, who stood lost in thought as the movements replayed in his mind.
• Xiao Zongting told Zhu Xiaoqi not to disturb or speak to Duan Rong, then went to check on the detained Xu Shouxian, Zhou An, Wang Dean, and Zhu Shicheng.
• Duan Rong tried practicing the first form but realized the hidden pauses were openings for changes of form that could turn the incomplete forms into many different moves.
• Duan Rong combined the first form with Black Tiger Ascends Mountain and Leopard Drilling the Forest from the Five Tigers Herd Sheep Saber, creating a looping move.
• Xiao Zongting returned and watched Duan Rong practice the move, moved that Duan Rong had understood his creation on his own.