Chapter Summaries

Luo Bin killed Song Tianzhu, retrieved his belongings, and led Hu Jin, Zhang Yunxi, and two Taoists out of Floating Tortoise Mountain through a gap in the fog formation. Li Yunyi and Shangguan Xingyue watched them enter the fog, with Shangguan Xingyue deciding to follow Luo Bin.

• Luo Bin slit Song Tianzhu's throat and left him to be devoured by evil spirits.
• Luo Bin returned to the Mountain God Temple, apologized to Zhang Yunxi for the delay, and agreed to lead the group out.
• Luo Bin used his ability to follow the flow of life force and guided Hu Jin, Zhang Yunxi, and the two Taoists through the underground routes and out of the temple.
• Luo Bin checked the Compass and led the group toward a possible gap in the fog formation, while Zhang Yunxi and Hu Jin insisted on following him.
• As the five entered the fog, Li Yunyi emerged among moss and Blackblood Vines and called for them to come back.
• Shangguan Xingyue followed the group into the fog, murmuring that she would bring Luo Bin back to the right path.

Luo Bin and his companions escaped Floating Tortoise Mountain, but Hu Jin chose to leave rather than help them search for the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds. Shangguan Xingyue caught Hu Jin and forced him to repay Luo Bin’s kindness, leaving him facing the forest instead of returning to his junior brother.

• Li Xiangyang realized daylight had returned to Floating Tortoise Mountain and concluded that Li Yunyi had escaped after taking control of the Blackblood Vine.
• Yuan Yinxin urged Luo Bin to return to Cabinet Mountain, while Luo Bin remained beyond his calculations.
• Luo Bin, Hu Jin, Zhang Yunxi, and the two Taoists emerged from Floating Tortoise Mountain into daylight, and Hu Jin said he would go no farther.
• Zhang Yunxi told Luo Bin that Hu Jin could help locate the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds, so Luo Bin went after him.
• Shangguan Xingyue confronted Hu Jin for abandoning Luo Bin before repaying his kindness and threatened him until he agreed to go back.
• Shangguan Xingyue pointed Hu Jin toward the mountain forest and told him that he should go that way rather than seek out Luo Bin.

Hu Jin fled Shangguan Xingyue but was trapped again in the uncanny woods, while Luo Bin failed to catch him and continued south with Zhang Yunxi and the two Taoist priests. As they left Floating Tortoise Mountain, Luo Bin remained wary of his corpse poison and concealed nature, unaware that his shadow had begun to change.

• Shangguan Xingyue drove Hu Jin into the woods, where he found himself trapped in the gloomy mountain and saw the supposedly dead He Shen.
• Luo Bin failed to catch Hu Jin, changed into Song Tianzhu's clothes, and glimpsed the woods briefly turn ominous as a voice called his name.
• Luo Bin rejoined Zhang Yunxi and the two Taoist priests, and they walked south until they reached a bridge after nightfall.
• The priests noted Luo Bin's severe corpse poison, and Zhang Yunxi promised to purge it after they crossed the city, making Luo Bin worry that the treatment might expose his Evil Spirit nature.
• Shangguan Xingyue followed unseen beneath the bridge as Luo Bin and the others continued, while Luo Bin's shadow darkened and took on the faint shape of unfurling petals.

Luo Bin reached the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds with Zhang Yunxi and impressed its masters by reading the hidden feng shui of their mountain layout. While Luo Bin rested, Zhang Yunxi and the elders discussed Floating Tortoise Mountain and whether to investigate Cabinet Mountain, deciding to study the techniques Yuan Yinxin had taught Luo Bin first.

• Luo Bin recognized the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds’ mountain configuration and revealed its layout, astonishing Zhang Yunxi and Wenchang.
• Zhang Yunxi brought Luo Bin to the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds, where three elders and the disciples welcomed him back.
• Zhang Yunxi arranged for Luo Bin to rest in the Kind Heart Courtyard, where he showered and settled into a room.
• Zhang Yunni and the other elders warned Zhang Yunxi that investigating Cabinet Mountain could get them killed, since even Qin Jiume had died there.
• Zhang Yunni proposed helping Luo Bin purge his poison and studying the feng shui arts Yuan Yinxin had taught him before considering a return to Cabinet Mountain.

Zhang Yunni and the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds elders discussed taking Luo Bin’s Feng Shui Arts and worrying about the poison in his body, while Luo Bin waited for Zhang Yunxi and tried to steady himself. When Zhang Yunni finally visited, he put the search for the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds aside and focused on Luo Bin’s poison.

• Zhang Yunni persuaded the elders that Luo Bin should share the Feng Shui Arts he had learned, while Zhang Yunxi objected and was led away to rest.
• An old Taoist warned Zhang Yunni that Luo Bin’s poison might spread if he became an evil spirit and left Floating Tortoise Mountain.
• Luo Bin slept briefly, read Yuan Yinxin’s book, worried about his parents and Huang Ying’s death, and made himself a hot meal while waiting for Zhang Yunxi.
• The next morning, Zhang Yunni arrived with Elder Wenye, Wen Qing, and Wen Chang and explained that Zhang Yunxi was recuperating.
• Luo Bin asked when they would search for the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds, but Zhang Yunni said treating the poison in his body came first.

Luo Bin realized the poison in his body was a shackle Yuan Yinxin could use to control him, so he accepted the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds’ attempt to cure it. As Wen Ye prepared the ritual, Zhang Yunni asked Luo Bin to record Yuan Yinxin’s techniques, but Luo Bin kept a book hidden and planned to reveal only a little.

• Zhang Yunni and Wen Ye warned Luo Bin that the poison could spread to others, and Luo Bin recognized it as a means for Yuan Yinxin to control him.
• Luo Bin agreed to let Wen Ye draw out the poison and told Zhang Yunni that Shangguan Xingyue had explained Yuan Yinxin’s material to him.
• Zhang Yunni asked Luo Bin to write down the material so they could study Yuan Yinxin’s techniques, and Luo Bin agreed while deciding to share only rudimentary signs.
• Luo Bin hid a book between the roof tiles, washed up, and returned to the courtyard without revealing his caution.
• Wen Qing and Wen Chang brought disciples and ritual supplies, and Wen Ye instructed Luo Bin to remove his outer clothes and prepare to enter a tub of glutinous rice.

Luo Bin endured the Jade Hall Taoists’ attempts to remove his corpse poison, but the treatment revealed strange changes that alarmed Wen Ye. Unable to cure him, Wen Ye ordered the others to fetch something and insisted they could not keep Luo Bin there.

• Wen Qing and Wen Chang set a tub in the courtyard, and Luo Bin climbed into it as the Taoists filled it with glutinous rice.
• Wen Ye treated Luo Bin with cinnabar and powders, then tried to cut his chest and draw out the poison with a Black Donkey Hoof.
• Wen Ye saw Luo Bin appear in a Python Robe holding a Jade Scepter, while the Black Donkey Hoof turned blackish red and came away covered in blood.
• Wen Ye dismissed the disciples and told Zhang Yunni, Wen Qing, and Wen Chang that Luo Bin’s condition was dangerous and they could not keep him there.
• Wen Chang reminded Wen Ye that Luo Bin had saved them, but Wen Ye asked whether they would show misguided mercy to someone who might harm many people.

Zhang Yunni and Wen Ye searched Luo Bin's belongings for the inheritance while continuing to treat his poison. Wen Qing warned Luo Bin that the elders planned to kill him, but Luo Bin refused to let Wen Qing risk helping him escape and said he would find his own way out.

• Zhang Yunni reported that Luo Bin's poison was deeply rooted and that the Inheritance Book was missing, so Wen Ye ordered Wen Chang and Wen Qing to search the rooms.
• Luo Bin woke to find his poison still present and noticed that someone had disturbed his belongings.
• Zhang Yunni and Wen Ye told Luo Bin the treatment had barely worked and urged him to rest and write down the inheritance.
• Wen Qing secretly warned Luo Bin that Wen Ye wanted to kill him, that Wen Qing and Wen Chang were under house arrest, and that Practitioner Yunxi had advised him to head north to a dead river.
• Wen Qing offered to help Luo Bin leave the ritual grounds, but Luo Bin refused and said he would find his own way out.

Luo Bin escaped the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds by climbing the cliff, but Wen Ye intercepted him and stole his Legacy Book and Emotion Flower Fruit. As Wen Ye carried him away, Luo Bin suddenly bit into the Grand Elder’s neck.

• Luo Bin distrusted Wen Qing, retrieved the Legacy Book and Emotion Flower Fruit, and climbed the cliff to escape the grounds.
• Zhang Yunni told Yun Qing that Wen Ye had gone to stop Luo Bin and criticized Yun Qing for siding with an outsider.
• Luo Bin fled across the mountain, but Wen Ye found him and tried to persuade him to return for help with his poison and family.
• Luo Bin pretended to collapse, allowing Wen Ye to take the Legacy Book and Emotion Flower Fruit and bind him.
• While Wen Ye carried him through the woods, Luo Bin bit into Wen Ye’s neck and tore away a chunk of flesh.

Luo Bin escaped after killing Wen Ye and waited for Zhang Yunxi, who agreed to help him despite the killing. Their meeting was interrupted when Jade Hall Taoist Grounds disciples surrounded the temple, while an unseen woman approached from across the river.

• Luo Bin freed himself after biting Wen Ye to death, then mutilated the corpse as a warning to the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds.
• Luo Bin traveled north and waited in a ruined temple for Zhang Yunxi, worrying that Wen Ye's death might make Zhang withdraw his promise.
• Zhang Yunxi arrived alone and told Luo Bin that Wen Ye had brought his death upon himself by plotting to steal the treasure.
• Zhang Yunxi warned Luo Bin just as someone fired a bronze projectile at him, and voices outside accused Zhang of siding with Wen Ye's killer.
• At least thirteen people surrounded the temple, while an unnoticed woman crossed the riverbank reeds in a deliberate pattern.

Zhang Yunxi brought Luo Bin to a secluded temple to meet Luo Bin, but the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds surrounded them and tried to seize him. After Shangguan Xingyue secretly disrupted one attacker, Moss Eater emerged from Luo Bin’s shadows and attacked the Taoists, leaving the remaining disciples to face a terrifying swarm.

• Zhang Yunni and the Jade Hall Taoists confronted Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin, accusing Luo Bin of killing Wen Ye and demanding that Zhang Yunxi join them.
• The Taoists captured Zhang Yunxi and stabbed Luo Bin, but their swords could not pierce his body and tore apart the Tang suit Huang Ying had sewn for him.
• Shangguan Xingyue secretly affected one red-robed Taoist, allowing Luo Bin to seize him as Moss Eater burst from his shadow and bit off both his arms.
• Moss Eater attacked and killed a green-robed disciple, while the remaining red-robed Taoist rallied the others to stab Moss Eater until it collapsed.
• More Moss Eater Flowers emerged from Luo Bin’s shadows as the temple filled with roots and dark fragments, and Zhang Yunni and the surrounding practitioners recoiled in fear.

Zhang Yunni led the retreating Jade Hall Taoist Grounds disciples away from the Ruined Temple, but Shangguan Xingyue ambushed them and killed nearly everyone. After the temple’s transformations faded, Zhang Yunxi stayed with Luo Bin and urged him to conceal his inheritance and prevent another uncontrolled slaughter.

• Zhang Yunxi warned Zhang Yunni to leave the Ruined Temple, and Zhang Yunni finally withdrew with the surviving disciples.
• Shangguan Xingyue appeared behind Zhang Yunni and killed him and the disciples, while one of the two elderly gentlemen escaped.
• Shangguan Xingyue praised Luo Bin for controlling and bringing forth the moss eater flower, then left the clearing.
• Inside the Ruined Temple, Luo Bin watched the moss eater flower vanish and struggled with guilt over the deaths.
• Zhang Yunxi concluded that Luo Bin had not known he would transform, and told him to hide his special inheritance and prevent the slaughter from happening again.

Zhang Yunxi took Luo Bin to Nanping City’s underground market to seek information about the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds. They arrived at a quiet teahouse, where Zhang Yunxi noticed something on the right side of Luo Bin’s face.

• Zhang Yunxi told Luo Bin he would help him return to Cabinet Mountain despite the deaths at the temple, and they burned the bodies before leaving.
• Zhang Yunxi decided to seek information through Hu Jin’s faction and explained that there was no point pursuing Hu Jin himself.
• Zhang Yunxi withdrew cash for Luo Bin, but Luo Bin said he wanted to visit somewhere after they had settled in.
• Zhang Yunxi led Luo Bin through a hidden entrance in a city park into Nanping’s eerie underground market.
• Zhang Yunxi brought Luo Bin to a wooden teahouse to ask around, then stared at the right side of Luo Bin’s face.

Luo Bin learned that his former body had recovered and been discharged, then visited his father, Luo Yong, in Nanping. He discovered that Luo Yong had gone blind and that a mysterious master had taken Luo Bin away to cure him, leaving Luo Bin desperate to learn who was occupying his body.

• Zhang Yunxi read troubling signs on Luo Bin's face and suspected that Luo Bin's father was in danger.
• At Nanping City Hospital, Luo Bin learned from Xu Kaiguo that his paralyzed body had recovered and been discharged.
• Luo Bin went to his family home and found his father, Luo Yong, alone in the courtyard, blind and unaware of his arrival.
• Luo Yong told Luo Bin that his son had left with a master who had secretly paid the family's medical bills and promised to cure him.

Luo Bin visited his father, learned that his master was called Mr. Mao, and paid respects at his mother’s grave before returning to the Nether Market to seek the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds. As he slept there, he mysteriously transformed into a hunter.

• Luo Bin gave Luo Yong money for cataract surgery, gathered his old belongings, and visited his mother’s grave to grieve and promise to live well.
• After Luo Bin left, Shangguan Xingyue arrived at the grave, then rescued Luo Yong from Xu Cong and the village men who were beating him, and offered to take him somewhere safe.
• Luo Bin returned to the Nether Market and told Zhang Yunxi he needed to find the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds to settle his score with Yuan Yinxin.
• Zhang Yunxi said he had put out word about the Taoist Grounds, explained that talismans shaped what people could hear, and took Luo Bin to lodging for the night.
• As Luo Bin slept, mist transformed his clothes into a python-patterned robe, placed a jade tablet in his hands, and made him look like a hunter while his shadow writhed beneath him.

Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin obtained a map pointing toward the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds and traveled to Qushui Town, where the locals reacted fearfully to questions about boatmen. Zhang Yunxi asked Luo Bin to consider what was wrong with the town.

• Chen Zu kept his subordinates from reporting Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin to the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds and showed them a map of the area around the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds.
• Zhang Yunxi learned that Hu Jin had not returned to Jinyang or any connected underworld-market faction, then left Nanping with Luo Bin.
• During the three-day journey, Luo Bin studied Yuan Yinxin's book, focusing on the Primordial Sixteen Trigrams.
• Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin reached Qushui Town and learned from the innkeeper that there were no boatmen, though he reacted nervously to the subject.
• Zhang Yunxi pointed out that something was wrong with Qushui Town, prompting Luo Bin to reconsider what he had noticed.

Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi investigated Qushui Town’s missing boatmen by going onto the river at night. After discovering a paper effigy and meeting Li Zi on the far bank, they saw pale figures gathering beneath the water as she urged them ashore.

• Luo Bin noticed the town’s yellow talismans and empty dock, then suggested they investigate the boatmen themselves after dark.
• Luo Bin packed a waterproof bag and rested before joining Zhang Yunxi for their nighttime trip to the dock.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi rowed toward a candlelit boat carrying a paper effigy and spotted people waving from both the dock and the far bank.
• Zhang Yunxi told Luo Bin to row back, but Luo Bin went ahead to meet the young woman, who introduced herself as Li Zi from Qushui Village.
• Li Zi said the boat was her father’s Passing Ship and warned them not to be on the river at night.
• After Zhang Yunxi reached the bank, Li Zi warned that pale figures beneath the water were gathering around them.

Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi exposed a Carp Wraith in Qushui Village and found the village deserted. The next morning, townspeople led them to the body, leaving them to confront the consequences of the demon’s death.

• Luo Bin used the Evil-Breaking Banner to kill Li Zi after discovering scales on her face, and Zhang Yunxi explained that it countered certain demons.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi found Qushui Village deserted and encountered another Carp Wraith that fled into hiding.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi carried Li Zi’s body back to town and left it beside the town-name stone before returning to the hotel.
• The next morning, Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin accepted an ordinary man’s invitation and followed him to a courtyard, where they found Li Zi’s exposed, shriveled face beneath a white cloth.

Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi concluded that the ambiguous map to the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds pointed to trouble there, and Wei Dong agreed to guide them. They set out by boat, while Luo Bin felt an unexplained unease as they entered the mountain river.

• Luo Bin analyzed Qin Jiumo’s map and concluded that something had happened at the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds, prompting Qin Jiumo to seek outside help.
• Wei Dong volunteered to guide Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin, and Zhang Yunxi agreed to help Qushui Town in return.
• Luo Bin bought supplies for the journey, then packed his gear and the Fate-Suppressing Objects taken from Song Tianzhu.
• Wei Dong arrived with a small boat and a copy of the map, and Zhang Yunxi confirmed that it matched his own.
• The three men left Qushui Town by boat, while Luo Bin sensed an unexplained problem in the surrounding mountains and river.

Luo Bin, Zhang Yunxi, and Wei Dong traveled by boat and through the mountains toward the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds, encountering eerie signs and hazards along the way. Wei Dong insisted on joining them to search for his missing son, and the chapter ended with the three reaching a gateway marked Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds.

• Luo Bin studied the route’s bearing and wondered whether the Dispersing Hexagram connected to Qin Jiumo’s fate.
• Wei Dong guided Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi through a dark mountain waterway, where they found many mold-covered boats abandoned beside the shore.
• Wei Dong led the group through dangerous woods and protected them from hazards, including a venomous snake near their campsite.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi reached a towering stairway at dusk and decided to wait until morning before climbing.
• Wei Dong revealed that his son had guided someone into the mountains and never returned, then pleaded to accompany them in search of him.
• Zhang Yunxi, Luo Bin, and Wei Dong climbed the stairs and found an old gateway bearing the words Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds.