Chapter Summaries

Luo Bin led his companions into the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds to rescue Zhang Yunxi and confront Mr. Yin Yue, but found that Yin Yue had fled and slaughtered the sect. Zhang Yunxi learned that his disciples were dead and mourned the destruction of his sect.

• Luo Bin warned his companions that Mr. Yin Yue was their greatest threat, and they hid Chixin’s corpse and erased signs of the fight.
• Xiao Ke heard a gong, felt danger approaching, and used Bamboo Strips to divine his fate.
• Luo Bin and the others entered the Small Courtyard, found Zhang Yunxi tortured, and rescued him with Emotion Flower Fruits.
• Luo Bin searched the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds and discovered its disciples dead, their livers removed, while Mr. Yin Yue was gone.
• Zhang Yunxi emerged from hiding, learned that his disciples had been killed, and lamented that his pursuit of treasure had cost him his life and sect.

After helping Zhang Yunxi reclaim the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds, Luo Bin learned that Long Phu might be connected to Yi Ren’s case and returned to the urban village. Zhu Mao then arrived with a group of people and cautiously asked to come in.

• Luo Bin proposed using Chixin’s animated corpse to force the Red Armor Taoist Abbey to withdraw, and Zhang Yunxi led the group through its gate.
• Zhang Yunxi’s people searched the abbey, found tortured survivors, and reunited with Wen Qing and Wen Chang, the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds’ last two Red-Robed Taoists.
• Luo Bin told Zhang Yunxi about Yi Ren’s two addresses, and Zhang Yunxi identified one as a possible hiding place for Long Phu and warned Luo Bin not to approach it.
• Zhang Yunxi arranged for the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds survivors to relocate to Nanping while he and Luo Bin planned to recover and deal with their troubles.
• Luo Bin returned to the urban village, where Yi Ren and Gu Ya were making dumplings, and Zhu Mao arrived with a group and asked to enter.

Zhu Mao offered Luo Feng a place in the Judicial Executor Lineage, but Shang Liuli challenged him to give Luo Feng the patriarch’s position instead. Luo Feng accepted the Judicial Executor Jade with Luo Bin’s support, then Luo Bin recounted how he had killed the red-robed Daoist, leaving Shang Liuli to remark that she had once met Long Pu.

• Luo Bin let Zhu Mao and the Judicial Executor Lineage members into the courtyard, where Zhu Mao asked Luo Feng to return to the main household and offered him the Punishment Head Residence.
• Shang Liuli challenged Zhu Mao to make Luo Feng patriarch, and she identified herself as the Temple Keeper of the Kindling Temple on Cauldron Mountain.
• Under pressure, Zhu Mao offered Luo Feng the Judicial Executor Jade, and Luo Feng accepted it with Luo Bin’s encouragement.
• Zhu Mao bowed to Luo Feng, and the other lineage members knelt before the new patriarch before leaving the courtyard.
• Luo Bin reassured Gu Ya and Yi Gu, then described his recent fight and the death of the red-robed Daoist; Shang Liuli said the killing would shake the yin and yang worlds and mentioned that she had met Long Pu.

Shang Liuli recounted how the Long Phu killed her Master and later became a respected figure in South Flat, while Zhang Yunxi’s group planned to confront him at the Fire Official Temple. At the Luo Family courtyard, divination master Xiao Ke arrived seeking the inheritance, but Zhu Mao and the others surrounded him and ordered that he be captured alive.

• Shang Liuli told Luo Bin and the others that the Long Phu had murdered her Master and disappeared after abducting children near Cauldron Mountain.
• Zhang Yunxi identified the Long Phu’s likely bases and chose to strike at him directly rather than attack his disciples first.
• Chen Zu prepared the group to confront the Long Phu at the Fire Official Temple and arranged protective shoes, socks, and gloves.
• Xiao Ke came to the Luo Family courtyard, used divination to persuade Gu Ya to let him inside, and approached the house despite her refusal.
• Zhu Mao and the Nether Market’s people surrounded Xiao Ke, and their leaders ordered them to capture him alive.

Luo Bin was separated from the others inside Fire Official Temple and faced a series of supernatural illusions while trying to dispel the temple’s evil qi. After his attacks revealed a wounded monk who might have been Long Phu, unseen hands reached for Luo Bin from behind.

• Zhang Yunxi’s group entered Fire Official Temple, and a sudden wind shut the gate and separated Luo Bin from everyone else.
• Luo Bin found the temple restored and its Buddha statue bearing a savage pig-like head, then used his Compass to investigate the disturbance.
• Luo Bin dodged an armored attacker and used the Thunder-and-water hexagram to dispel illusions of insects and water.
• Luo Bin saw the attacker take the form of the mutilated Luo Feng and struck it with the Mountain-and-earth hexagram, revealing a monk who appeared to be injured.
• Luo Bin threw his blade into the monk as the figure fled, then turned when a pair of hands reached from behind to cover his face.

Luo Bin resisted Long Phu’s attacks by identifying the Buddha statue as the source of the Fire Official Temple’s distortions and using Zhang Yunxi’s Compass to break the Feng Shui arrangement. The group reunited in the main hall, where Zhang Yunxi and Shang Liuli learned that Luo Bin had confronted Long Phu and destroyed the temple’s malign setup.

• Luo Bin faced Long Phu and two controlled people while resisting illusions and the temple’s oppressive influence.
• Luo Bin recognized the Buddha statue at the Death Gate as the source of the temple’s abnormalities and lodged the Compass in its pig-headed mouth.
• The temple’s red candles went out, Long Phu and the attackers vanished, and the separated group members reappeared in the main hall.
• Luo Bin realized Long Phu had altered the temple’s original Feng Shui arrangement and that the peeling gold revealed the statue’s true clay form.
• Zhang Yunxi was shocked that Luo Bin had broken the arrangement, while Shang Liuli confirmed that the man he described was Long Phu.
• Luo Bin credited Director Chen’s gloves, shoes, and socks, along with Master Xiyun’s foresight, for helping him survive.

After uncovering Long Phu’s hidden witchcraft tools at the Fire Official Temple, Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi went to the White Buddha Temple to investigate what seemed to be missing from Long Phu’s setup. Luo Bin learned that the people protecting his family had vanished, though his parents and Gu Yiren were safe, and the chapter ended as the group reached an old monk before a towering wooden Buddha.

• Zhang Yunxi sent Chen Zu’s people to search hidden spaces around the Fire Official Temple, where they found hair figures, enchanted bones, and Buddha amulets that released insects and corpse oil when Wen Chang destroyed them.
• Zhang Yunxi decided to go with Luo Bin to the White Buddha Temple, while Luo Feng and Shang Liuli prepared to protect the others and investigate the Fire Official Temple.
• Luo Bin received a call from Luo Feng, who reported that the Able-Bodied Team and Nether Market guards had disappeared, but Luo Bin’s mother and Gu Yiren were safe.
• Zhang Yunxi questioned whether the guards’ disappearance and safe return were suspiciously well timed, and Luo Bin called Luo Feng again to make sure Gu Ya and Gu Yiren had been examined.
• Zhang Yunxi, Luo Bin, and Shang Liuli crossed the White Buddha Temple’s halls and found an old monk tapping a wooden fish before an enormous wooden Buddha.

Zhang Yunxi drew White Buddha Temple into the investigation after monks uncovered the remains of victims and corpse oil at Fire Official Temple. He revealed that Long Phu was the former Chief Monk Overseer, who had abandoned that identity, and the group planned to search for further clues.

• Zhang Yunxi persuaded Abbot Bai Zhi to send monks to investigate Fire Official Temple by arguing that the abandoned temple belonged to the Buddhist community.
• Zhang Yunxi told Shang Liuli and Luo Bin that Long Phu was the Chief Monk Overseer, and explained how he hoped White Buddha Temple's involvement would expose him.
• Monks reported finding skeletal remains, infant corpses, and a hidden chamber of corpse oil beneath the Buddha statue at Fire Official Temple.
• Abbot Bai Zhi revealed that the former Chief Monk Overseer had died three years earlier and sent his successor, Bai Guang, to search for clues.
• Zhang Yunxi realized Long Phu had used Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell to leave his temple identity behind and discussed pursuing his disciples and other leads.
• Luo Bin asked to inspect the Chief Monk Overseer's quarters and suggested Shang Liuli search for overlooked clues.

Zhang Yunxi, Shang Liuli, and Luo Bin searched the Chief Monk Overseer’s office at White Buddha Temple and were caught by the monks. Shang Liuli insisted that the Buddha head behind the desk be opened, but Bai Zhi demanded to know whether she had fooled around enough.

• Zhang Yunxi led Luo Bin and Shang Liuli through White Buddha Temple to the Chief Monk Overseer’s quarters, where Shang Liuli picked the lock on the office door.
• Luo Bin and Shang Liuli searched the office, and Shang Liuli wondered where the Chief Monk Overseer’s living quarters were before hurried footsteps approached.
• Monks burst into the office and caught the three intruders, and Shang Liuli smashed a clay pot and a wooden fish, finding nothing inside.
• Bai Zhi arrived and questioned Zhang Yunxi, then ordered Jingming and Mingxin to let the group inspect the office’s vessels.
• After every vessel proved empty, Shang Liuli pointed to a Buddha head behind the desk and told the monks to open it, prompting Bai Zhi to ask if she had fooled around enough.

Zhang Yunxi and his companions left the White Buddha Temple after Bai Zhi refused to investigate their suspicions, then regrouped at Universal Heaven Abbey. Luo Bin woke beside Gu Yiren and prepared to return home with her and Gu Ya, but Luo Feng warned against the trip and asked Zhang Yunxi for his opinion.

• Bai Zhi ordered Zhang Yunxi, Shang Liuli, and Luo Bin out of the White Buddha Temple, and Shang Liuli was injured when she tried to reach the Buddha head.
• Shang Liuli told Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin that the containers bore the distinctive scent of Long Phu's corpse worms, while Zhang Yunxi suspected worms were hidden in the Buddha head and Long Phu was concealed somewhere safe.
• Zhang Yunxi, Shang Liuli, and Luo Bin returned to Universal Heaven Abbey, where Zhang Yunxi arranged for Shang Liuli to be treated and Luo Bin to rest with the Luo Family.
• Luo Bin woke beside Gu Yiren, confirmed their family was safe, and explained that he needed to retrieve the books he had hidden at home.
• Gu Yiren and Gu Ya joined Luo Bin for a meal before planning to return home with him to pack more belongings.
• Luo Feng objected to Gu Yiren and Gu Ya going with Luo Bin and asked Zhang Yunxi what he thought.

Luo Bin was poisoned and ambushed by Long Phu's disciples after returning to Gu Yiren's courtyard to retrieve the Legacy Books. The attackers took his belongings and knocked him unconscious, while Xiao Ke revealed himself as the pig-headed man.

• Luo Feng and Zhang Yunxi refused to let Gu Ya and Gu Yiren leave the Taoist Abbey, warning that Long Phu's disciples remained a threat.
• Luo Bin returned alone to the Urban Village house and retrieved the Legacy Books from a pen holder.
• A venomous centipede bit Luo Bin when he reached for Gu Yiren's jewelry box, leaving him numb and slowing his thoughts.
• A hooded attacker emerged from beneath the bed, stabbed Luo Bin with a tiny blade, and knocked him to the floor.
• Several attackers arrived, took Luo Bin's talismans, Compass, Cloth Pouch, Copper Coins, and books, and said they would deliver him to Long Phu.
• Dou Li thanked the pig-headed attacker, who removed his hood and revealed himself to be Mr. Yin Moon, Xiao Ke.

Xiao Ke and Dou Li’s scheme led to Luo Bin’s capture and his delivery to Long Phu in the Thousand Buddha Grottoes. As Chen Zu pursued Gu Yiren and Gu Ya after spotting them leaving the abbey, Long Phu prepared to turn Luo Bin into a Buddha amulet.

• Xiao Ke revealed that he had used enchanted items and Dou Li’s help to draw the Nether Market and Judicial Executor Lineage into a trap, then promised Dou Li that Gu Yiren and Luo Bin would be handed over.
• Dou Li’s group carried the unconscious Luo Bin away, while Luo Feng and Zhang Yunxi waited for him and agreed to investigate the Thousand Buddha Grottoes.
• Chen Zu spotted Gu Yiren and Gu Ya leaving the Taoist abbey, lost his phone in a drain, and chased after them with Wen Qi as they took a taxi.
• Dou Li brought Luo Bin to Long Phu in the Thousand Buddha Grottoes and claimed he had captured him through his own scheme.
• Luo Bin opened his eyes as Long Phu asked what kind of Buddha amulet he would make.

Luo Bin realized that the Yin-Yang Practitioner had secretly manipulated Zhang Yunxi and was the eighth member behind the plot to steal his legacy and frame Long Phu. He exposed the betrayal to Long Phu, leaving the scheme on the verge of unraveling.

• Long Phu offered Dou Li a witchcraft insect and a letter of recommendation in exchange for his cooperation, and Dou Li asked him to help rescue Qi Lu.
• Luo Bin reconsidered the number of attackers, Zhang Yunxi’s strange behavior, and the theft of his belongings, then used Rewind to examine the earlier conversation.
• Luo Bin concluded that the Yin-Yang Practitioner had tampered with Zhang Yunxi’s judgment and joined Dou Li’s group as its hidden eighth member.
• Luo Bin told Dou Li that Long Phu was about to be betrayed and mocked Long Phu for failing to notice his subordinates’ treachery.

Luo Bin accused Dou Li of betraying Long Phu, making Dou Li panic and deny the charge. Meanwhile, Xiao Ke prepared to seize Gu Yiren, but as Gu Yiren and Gu Ya entered the residential complex, they were led into a trap beneath the trees.

• Luo Bin used Long Phu's past to accuse Dou Li of betrayal, and Dou Li urgently tried to convince Long Phu that Luo Bin was lying.
• Xiao Ke studied the Legacy Book of the Primordial Sixteen Trigrams and revealed his plan to manipulate Zhang Yunxi and take Gu Yiren while framing Long Phu.
• Chen Zu and Wenqi waited outside the residential complex, expecting Gu Yiren and Gu Ya to return and watching for Witchfolk.
• Gu Yiren and Gu Ya entered the landscaped area and followed an enchanting Lean Fox off the path.
• The Lean Fox led Gu Yiren and Gu Ya to an old man and a young woman waiting among the trees.

Xiao Ke was ambushed by a Spirit Medium and lost his backpack, while Luo Bin tried to turn Long Phu against Mr. Yin Yue. Long Phu killed his masked followers and revealed the parasitic insects behind his grotesque powers, then declared that Luo Bin could no longer hide after seeing his people.

• Xiao Ke prepared to kill Gu Ya and take Gu Yiren, but four immortal creatures poisoned him and stole his backpack before he escaped.
• Luo Bin accused Dou Li and Mr. Yin Yue of deceiving Long Phu and claimed Mr. Yin Yue planned to take Yiren and leave Long Phu to bear the blame.
• Long Phu questioned his masked followers, killed two who lied, and had Infant Spirits tear Dou Li apart when Dou Li attacked him.
• Luo Bin watched insects manipulate the severed heads and organs, and realized they were behind the witch practitioners' apparent ability to survive decapitation.
• Long Pu told Luo Bin that he had nowhere left to hide because he had seen Long Phu's people.

Luo Bin was about to be mutilated by Long Phu when an unseen connection to Yin Yuan intervened and killed Long Phu through a deadly hexagram. After freeing himself, Luo Bin was left terrified that Yin Yuan still controlled and watched over him.

• Long Phu prepared to peel off Luo Bin’s face, then paused when the witch bugs he had planted on him were found dead.
• Mao Yousan placed Luo Bin’s true body in a jade coffin with a female corpse, severing the dangerous fate link between them.
• Yin Yuanxin remained connected to Luo Bin through the Flower Affection fruit and murmured that Luo Bin was his good disciple.
• As Long Phu tried to gouge out Luo Bin’s eye, Luo Bin spoke the death hexagram, and Long Phu saw a terrifying figure in his eye before bleeding to death.
• Luo Bin freed himself from his bindings and rose, overwhelmed by the fear that Yin Yuan still watched and controlled him.

Luo Bin defeated Long Phu’s corpse, which the witch bugs had turned into a flying-head attack, and followed strange creatures into Long Phu’s insect-filled cavern. There he found the imprisoned Gu couple, who resembled Gu Yiren but did not recognize him, leaving their connection to him unclear.

• Long Phu’s head attacked Luo Bin under the control of witch bugs, but Luo Bin anticipated its dodge and pinned it to the ground with a knife.
• The witch bugs retreated from Luo Bin and vanished, after which he saw small, blood-covered creatures darting through the dark cavern and followed them.
• Luo Bin entered Long Phu’s lair, where he found bones, insect-covered corpses, living golden boys, and a vat of corpse oil.
• Luo Bin heard cries for help and freed Uncle Gu and Aunt Gu from an iron-grated pit.
• Uncle Gu and Aunt Gu did not recognize Luo Bin and asked whether he was a police officer.

Luo Bin rescued Mr. and Mrs. Gu from Long Phu’s lair in the Thousand Buddha Grottoes and carried Long Phu’s severed head toward White Buddha Temple. At the grotto entrance, eighteen armed monks surrounded them and recognized the head as belonging to the former Chief Monk Overseer.

• Luo Bin led Mr. and Mrs. Gu out of the grotto, where he discovered the Thousand Buddha Grottoes and explained that Yi Ren had been targeted by Long Phu’s people.
• Luo Bin returned to Long Phu’s corpse, took his head, and considered whether Long Phu’s followers and the Chief Monk Overseer were still alive.
• Luo Bin and the Gu couple walked for several hours along the dangerous riverside path until they reached the grotto entrance.
• Eighteen muscular monks emerged from the woods and surrounded Luo Bin and the Gu couple.
• Luo Bin threw Long Phu’s severed head before the monks, and one recognized it as the former Chief Monk Overseer’s.

Luo Bin confronted the Buddhist Order with evidence that Long Phu, the former Chief Monk Overseer of White Buddha Temple, had led the Witchfolk and used the Thousand Buddha Grottoes as his lair. After recounting what happened, he urged the eighteen temples to investigate White Buddha Temple and left Gu Yiren's parents in their custody as he departed.

• Luo Bin explained Long Phu's crimes to the monks and said he knew nothing of the former Chief Monk Overseer's connection to the Buddhist Order.
• Luo Bin waited with Gu Yiren's parents until Abbot Bai Zhi, Chief Monk Overseer Bai Guang, and representatives from the other temples arrived.
• Luo Bin recounted Long Phu's death and challenged Bai Zhi over whether he had ignored evidence that could have exposed Long Phu sooner.
• Kong Chen called for Bai Guang to be examined and said White Buddha Temple's other affairs also needed investigation.
• Luo Bin agreed to leave Gu Yiren's parents with the temples after assuring them they would be safe and could go home that day.
• As a monk approached Luo Bin to escort him away, a white, silkworm-like bug remained caught in a fold of his trouser leg.

Luo Bin returned to the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds and warned everyone that Xiao Ke might be manipulating them through talisman marks. He found Gu Yiren and Gu Ya there, but their unexplained return deepened his suspicion about Xiao Ke’s unfinished plan.

• A Golden Peace Temple disciple drove Luo Bin to the Jade Hall Taoist Grounds, where Luo Bin worried that Yuan Yinxin was growing stronger inside him.
• Luo Bin learned that Gu Ya and Gu Yiren were safe, then questioned Zhang Yunxi about strange behavior and talisman marks.
• Zhang Yunxi confirmed that his group had encountered Witchfolk and that Chen Zu had taken them to the Underworld Workshop for questioning.
• Wen Qing and Wen Chang warned Zhang Yunxi that he had been acting strangely and might be under Xiao Ke’s influence, but Zhang Yunxi continued after Luo Bin.
• Luo Bin found Gu Yiren and Gu Ya in the rear courtyard, and Shang Liuli and Luo Feng knocked them unconscious to check them for anything strange.
• Shang Liuli explained that Gu Ya and Gu Yiren had vanished during the Witchfolk incident before inexplicably returning, leaving Luo Bin to question why Xiao Ke had taken the inheritance but not them.