Chapter Summaries

Luo Bin entered Thousand Miao Village under restrictions and faced Granny Li’s test to determine whether he could keep the shell-devouring gu. After he proved himself, the village agreed to let him stay and arranged for him and his companions to live near Miao Gu.

• Luo Bin challenged Eighth Granduncle’s demand that he trust Thousand Miao Village, and Miao Miao persuaded Eighth Granduncle to consult the village headman, Miao Yi.
• Miao Yi allowed Luo Bin to stay under supervision, required him to meet Granny Li, and sent Zhang Yunxi, Hu Jin, and Huang Ying to separate lodgings.
• Granny Li tested Luo Bin by drawing the shell-devouring gu toward herself, and Luo Bin cut his finger to feed it blood and flesh so it would return to him.
• Granny Li declared that Luo Bin qualified to keep the gu, ordered that his companions’ movements not be restricted, and arranged for them to stay near Miao Gu.
• Granny Li instructed Miao Miao to hold the Bamboo-Splitting Ceremony and later pay respects at Three Miao Cave, and Luo Bin left relieved that he could remain in the village and study.

Luo Bin settled into a stilt house in Thousand Miao Village with Zhang Yunxi, Hu Jin, Huang Ying, and Fourth Master Gray, and studied the black shell sixty-four celestial calculations. Late that night, Miao Lan lured him outside the village and revealed his hostility toward Luo Bin’s place among the Miao.

• Miao Miao showed Luo Bin the house and warned him to avoid wandering until the village had heard and accepted Granny Li’s orders.
• Zhang Yunxi, Hu Jin, and Huang Ying arrived, and Luo Bin told them about the Bamboo-Splitting Ceremony and their lodging.
• Luo Bin studied the black shell sixty-four celestial calculations, then shared a meal with the others and Fourth Master Gray.
• After midnight, Miao Lan told Luo Bin that Miao Miao wanted him and led him away from the village toward the mountain.
• Miao Lan accused Luo Bin of arrogance and questioned whether he deserved to join the Miao, pass the Bamboo-Splitting Rite, or inherit the Shell-Devouring Gu.

Luo Bin discovered that Miao Lan had lured him out to steal the Shell-Devouring Gu and kill him, but Fourth Master Gray turned Miao Lan’s attack into a brutal defeat. A crowd arrived and accused Luo Bin of murder, and he agreed to face Granny Li’s judgment.

• Miao Lan attacked Luo Bin with a centipede, but Fourth Master Gray burst out and ate its head.
• Miao Lan revealed that he planned to kill Luo Bin and take the Shell-Devouring Gu, then sent gu worms and a moth-like gu after him.
• Luo Bin ordered Fourth Master Gray to punish Miao Lan without killing him, and Fourth Master Gray tore off Miao Lan’s fingers and gouged out one eye.
• When someone ordered Fourth Master Gray to stop, Luo Bin told him to keep eating, and the rat returned with Miao Lan’s big toe in its mouth.
• A crowd arrived, and a middle-aged man accused Luo Bin of murder and threatened to hand him over to Granny Li, which Luo Bin accepted.

Luo Bin survived Miao Lan’s attack, settled the dispute with Miao Meng and Granny Li, and gave blood to revive Miao Miao’s grandfather. He woke weak but recovering, with Miao Miao ready to feed him medicine.

• Miao Meng admitted Miao Lan had attacked first, apologized to Luo Bin, and took the injured Miao Lan back to Granny Li’s courtyard.
• Luo Bin explained to Fourth Master Gray why he had stopped fighting and went to Granny Li to report what happened.
• Granny Li accepted Luo Bin’s account, and Miao Meng promised to discipline Miao Lan and prevent further trouble.
• Granny Li explained that Miao Miao’s grandfather needed gu blood, and Luo Bin let the blood leech gu drain blood from his palm until he collapsed.
• Luo Bin woke in his room as Miao Miao told him his blood had revived her grandfather enough to join the Bamboo-Splitting Rite, then offered to feed him medicine.

After recovering from blood loss, Luo Bin accompanied Miao Miao from Thousand Miao Village to Three Miao Cave to pay his respects and be judged by the Miao King. Blindfolded, he entered the cave and encountered an unseen presence that seized his face.

• Miao Miao explained that Granny Li had changed her mind and wanted Luo Bin to pay his respects at Three Miao Cave, then accompany him there.
• Luo Bin and Miao Miao walked through Thousand Miao Village and into the mountains, where he ignored a hollow-eyed woman who beckoned to him from beside a spring.
• At the entrance to Three Miao Cave, Miao Miao led Luo Bin through a ritual, and he sensed someone inside watching him before the feeling faded.
• Miao Miao told Luo Bin to enter the cave blindfolded so the Miao King could judge his aptitude, and Luo Bin accepted.
• Luo Bin walked into the darkness and stopped when he sensed someone ahead, but icy hands suddenly clamped around his face.

Luo Bin underwent a mysterious procedure in Three Miao Cave that left a line between his eyebrows, then he and Miao Miao escaped the ravine’s seductive women. A storm and the arrival of the Gu-Bound People trapped them in a cave, where Miao Miao explained that some were powerful shells inhabited by living Gu.

• Luo Bin endured a painful procedure in Three Miao Cave, and Miao Miao noticed a thin line between his eyebrows.
• Miao Miao hurried Luo Bin through a ravine where village women surrounded and touched him, and Luo Bin used Rewind to resist their visual assault.
• Luo Bin and Miao Miao crossed a boundary that the women would not pass, and Miao Miao said the village’s secrets would be revealed after the bamboo-splitting ceremony.
• A storm broke as they left the ravine, and Miao Miao pulled Luo Bin into a cave when silent figures stood outside in the rain.
• Miao Miao explained that Gu-Bound People were shells inhabited by Gu and that some were stronger than her grandfather.

Luo Bin used the Lake-Thunder Following Hexagram to lead Miao Miao through a path the Gu-Bound People would not cross, then tested his theory by bringing one into the hexagram. The corpse’s gu worms retreated and black fuzz spread across its body as it began to breathe, leaving Miao Miao stunned by the black fiend.

• Miao Miao explained that Luo Bin’s unusual gold-and-purple gu mark had attracted both Gu-Bound People and Cave Maidens, and warned that the Gu-Bound People might attack him as a vessel.
• Luo Bin identified the Lake-Thunder Following Hexagram as a way to break the Mountain-Wind Gu Hexagram and led Miao Miao east to west through the storm.
• The Gu-Bound People kept away from the hexagram’s path, so Luo Bin crossed the boundary, grabbed one, and brought it back without the gu worms harming him.
• The Gu-Bound Person’s gu worms retreated as black fuzz covered its face and its chest began to move.
• Miao Miao recognized the transformed corpse as a black fiend, while Luo Bin compared it to the moving, fuzz-covered bodies he had seen on Central Mound Mountain.

Luo Bin and Miao Miao encountered a living corpse at a forbidden pool, where Miao Miao was affected and dragged him underwater. After driving the corpse away with his Compass and Lightning-Struck Chestnut Heartwood, Luo Bin reached shelter and analyzed the hexagrams, while Fourth Master Gray suddenly began squeaking at him.

• Luo Bin and Miao Miao reached a forbidden pool and saw a blue-green, fur-covered corpse floating toward them.
• Miao Miao shoved Luo Bin into the water and tried to drown him, but Luo Bin used his Compass to break her grip and swim them to shore.
• The living corpse attacked Luo Bin, who struck it with the Lightning-Struck Chestnut Heartwood as thunder sounded, driving it away.
• Luo Bin rescued Miao Miao and followed Fourth Master Gray to a tree hollow, where he warmed her by a fire.
• Luo Bin analyzed how the lake-thunder following hexagram had countered the mountain-wind gu, and Fourth Master Gray suddenly sprang up and squeaked at him.

Miao Miao and Luo Bin returned to Thousand Miao Village after escaping the forbidden ground, where Eighth Uncle covered the unusual mark on Luo Bin’s forehead and hurried them to Granny Li’s courtyard. While they waited for Granny Li, an old man entered and attacked Luo Bin with needles, which Fourth Master Gray intercepted.

• Miao Miao woke after the night in the cave with no memory of what followed, and she and Luo Bin made their slow way back toward Thousand Miao Village.
• Eighth Uncle noticed the colorful gold mark on Luo Bin’s forehead, covered it with cloth, and led them into the village to find Granny Li.
• Miao Miao explained to Luo Bin that the mark indicated a person’s status and that Eighth Uncle had hidden it because it was not pure.
• After Eighth Uncle left to find Granny Li and Headman Lou Fang, an old man entered the courtyard and sat beside Granny Li’s bed.
• The old man flicked three needles at Luo Bin, but Fourth Master Gray caught them in his mouth before Miao Miao stepped in front of Luo Bin.

Miao Na confronted Luo Bin in Granny Li’s courtyard, accusing him of hiding his Three Miao Cave mark and demanding that the shell-devouring Gu be removed. Granny Li revealed the golden and purple mark on Luo Bin’s forehead, stunning the gathered Miao people and leaving Miao Na shaken.

• Miao Na claimed he was treating Luo Bin and accused him of greed, cruelty, and arrogance, while Luo Bin mocked him and asked whether an even older relative would come after him.
• Miao Na introduced himself and moved to attack Luo Bin, killing the Gu worms Miao Miao sent against him with smoke from his sleeve.
• Miao Yi arrived with Headman Lou Fang, Eighth Uncle, and Granny Li, stopping Miao Na from approaching Luo Bin.
• Miao Na accused Luo Bin of concealing his mark and argued that the shell-devouring Gu should be removed, then demanded Luo Bin be handed over to replace his grandson’s fingers and toes.
• Granny Li tapped her water pipe, the cloth fell from Luo Bin’s forehead, and a Multicolored Centipede crawled into the pipe as his golden-purple mark was revealed.
• The crowd fell silent, and Miao Na trembled in disbelief and shock.

Granny Li revealed that Luo Bin’s purple-and-gold forehead mark identified him as a possible successor to the Great Witch Doctor, prompting the Miao people to kneel and setting plans for his Bamboo-Splitting Ceremony. After Zhang Xiyun joined them, Granny Li explained the relationship between Thousand Miao Village and Spirit-Transfer Cave and clarified that Luo Bin had not provoked its people; she then asked Zhang Xiyun to witness the ceremony.

• Granny Li explained the purple mark’s significance, and the Miao people knelt before Luo Bin while Miao Lan fled in grief and fury.
• Granny Li set the Bamboo-Splitting Ceremony for the day after tomorrow, sent Miao Na to report to the Great Witch Doctor, and warned Luo Bin to avoid the forbidden ground.
• Miao Miao recounted how she and Luo Bin encountered a living corpse, prompting Granny Li and Miao Yi to question what had happened there.
• Zhang Xiyun arrived with Hu Jin and asked whether Luo Bin had crossed into Spirit-Transfer Cave’s territory and offended its people.
• Granny Li explained that Spirit-Transfer Cave collected the dead on Three Perils Mountain, clarified that Luo Bin had not been noticed or targeted, and invited Zhang Xiyun to witness the ceremony.

Luo Bin visited the awakened Miao Gu, who confirmed Luo Bin had been chosen as Thousand Miao Village’s Miao King and arranged for the Bamboo-Splitting Ceremony to proceed without making him a disciple. Miao Gu sensed someone harboring ill intentions and asked Luo Bin to carry him while he gave directions.

• Luo Bin returned to his room, reflected on Granny Li’s words, and fell asleep while Zhang Yunxi and Hu Jin stayed behind at Granny Li’s Courtyard.
• The shell-devouring gu crawled across Luo Bin’s face and led him and Fourth Master Gray to Miao Gu’s house in the middle of the night.
• Miao Gu told Luo Bin he had brought back a Miao King and urged him to promise Miao Miao that Kong An would die, giving her a chance to take revenge.
• Miao Gu explained that he could no longer become Luo Bin’s master, though the Bamboo-Splitting Ceremony could still take place there.
• After sensing hostility from someone nearby, Miao Gu asked Luo Bin to carry him and follow his directions.

Luo Bin and Miao Gu were trapped in a corpse prison created by Spirit-Transfer Cave, which used Miao corpses to distort their surroundings. Luo Bin discovered they had been led out of Thousand Miao Village, and the chapter ended as the gu worms protecting them suddenly went still.

• Luo Bin left Miao Gu's house with Miao Gu's Clay Jar and noticed that ordinary insects were chirping inside Thousand Miao Village.
• Luo Bin tried to reach Granny Li's courtyard but kept seeing the village archway and learned from Miao Gu that they had fallen into a corpse prison.
• Miao Gu explained that Spirit-Transfer Cave likely targeted Luo Bin because he escaped the Living Corpse and might possess treasures they wanted.
• Luo Bin used Rewind and saw rows of talisman-covered Miao corpses had steered them through the archway and into the mountains.
• Luo Bin saw the village despite being in the mountains, while Miao Gu sensed the approaching threat through his gu worms.
• The gu worms protecting Luo Bin and Miao Gu suddenly became motionless, and Luo Bin Rewound to the moment before they stopped.

Luo Bin and Miao Gu fought off an ambush by spirit-shifting men using Rewind, the Calling Bell, and Blood Leech Gu. Four attackers escaped, but Fourth Master Gray and the Living Corpses pursued them, leaving the survivors convinced Thousand Miao Village had gained new powers.

• Luo Bin spotted an attacker through Miao Gu’s Gu Worms and struck him repeatedly with a Bronze Club, leaving him alive but mentally broken.
• Luo Bin rang the Calling Bell while Miao Gu sent Blood Leech Gu toward five attackers, and together they immobilized and overwhelmed the ambushers.
• Four men escaped after scattering powder, while Luo Bin and Miao Gu captured another attacker and Miao Gu’s Blood Leech Gu tortured him for information.
• Miao Gu advised Luo Bin not to chase the fleeing men and said they should kill their captive rather than seek an interrogation.
• The four survivors regrouped, but Fourth Master Gray attacked them and the Living Corpses surrounded them after a Copper Bell rang.
• The survivors realized Thousand Miao Village had a spirit medium and House Immortal, while Fourth Master Gray returned after biting one of them.

Luo Bin drove off the corpse-controlling attackers, then investigated the feng shui formation around the deep pool. He restored warmth to the corpse pill at the pool’s center and discovered a dark hole beneath the island.

• Miao Gu lamented that he had failed to help Luo Bin against their enemies, and Luo Bin examined the dead attacker while Fourth Master Gray mutilated the corpse.
• At Fourth Master Gray’s urging, Luo Bin followed the four surviving attackers and used the Yin Hexagram to restrain two of them, allowing Fourth Master Gray to kill them by biting their throats.
• The two remaining attackers fled with their living corpses toward the deep pool, and Luo Bin decided not to pursue them, planning instead to warn Granny Li.
• While waiting, Luo Bin studied the pool’s shape and concluded that its feng shui formation could explain why a corpse gained life force during thunderstorms.
• At dawn, Luo Bin swam to the island at the pool’s center and held out the corpse pill, which began to warm in the exceptional feng shui.
• Luo Bin discovered a deep hole beneath his feet and felt drawn to investigate it.

Luo Bin followed Fourth Master Gray into a hidden stone chamber beneath Lakeheart Island after the gray seized the corpse core and entered the life-force acupoint. When the airflow stopped and water flooded the chamber, Luo Bin escaped into a tomb passage, while Fourth Master Gray remained below and the bamboo-splitting ceremony drew near.

• Fourth Master Gray snatched the corpse core from Luo Bin and dived into the opening beneath Lakeheart Island, prompting Luo Bin to follow him into a hidden stone chamber.
• Luo Bin realized that Fourth Master Gray was taking the corpse core to the source of the life force, which could deprive the buried living corpse of nourishment and suppression.
• Luo Bin tried to call Fourth Master Gray back and sent Miao Gu's gu worms toward the opening, but the lake-thunder site suppressed the mountain-wind gu.
• The airflow stopped, water poured through the opening, and Luo Bin found a mechanism that opened a tomb passage on the chamber's north side.
• Luo Bin escaped into the passage with Miao Gu, who warned that missing the next day's bamboo-splitting ceremony could cause trouble with the Thousand Miao Stockade.

Luo Bin and Miao Gu became trapped in a tomb beneath Lakeheart Island, where corpse-made doors and a malign spirit nearly killed them. Luo Bin entered the burial passage alone and encountered an apparent illusion of his home and his biological father's voice.

• Luo Bin steadied himself, walked down the flooded passage with Miao Gu, and found two figures beside a sealed doorway.
• The figures turned out to be corpses and gu worms: the worms trapped Luo Bin while a malign spirit made Miao Gu attack him.
• Luo Bin used the Compass to break Miao Gu's possession and struck the Spirit-Relocation corpse with Lightning-Struck Chestnut Heartwood, then Miao Gu collapsed into the Clay Jar.
• Luo Bin passed the corpses and entered a passage lit by lamps made from flesh, where he heard indistinct voices and saw a familiar wooden door.
• Luo Bin realized the door and the scene were an illusion, then heard a voice pleading and asking about its son in the voice of his biological father.

Luo Bin became trapped in a gu worm illusion that forced him to witness imagined scenes of Yuan Yinxin killing his father and his mother dying in a truck accident. Miao Gu woke and found Luo Bin covered in worms, but his attempts to free him failed as Luo Bin collapsed, still lost in anguish.

• Luo Bin used Rewind and discovered that white gu worms had covered him while he stood frozen in the tomb passage.
• Luo Bin saw Yuan Yinxin rip open Luo Yong's chest and expose his organs, then tried to attack him but could not enter the doorway.
• Luo Bin watched an imagined truck run over his mother as she brought him food, and he fell to his knees in grief.
• Miao Gu woke, saw worms burrowing into and crawling out of Luo Bin, and tried wind chimes and powder to drive them away.
• Luo Bin collapsed beside the clay jar, calling for his parents as Miao Gu shouted for him to wake up.

Luo Bin remained trapped in the Tomb Passage as the insects turned toward Miao Gu, while Fourth Master Gray defended a corpse core in the Main Tomb Chamber. In Thousand Miao Village, Luo Bin’s disappearance disrupted the planned Bamboo-Splitting Ceremony, and Miao Shun declared that he would test Luo Bin’s loyalty and strip away his Gu seed if he failed.

• Luo Bin’s condition worsened as white insects crawled out of him and began moving toward Miao Gu, who could neither abandon him nor escape the sealed passage.
• A bluish-faced figure tried to reach the corpse core beneath the suspended coffin, but Fourth Master Gray wounded him before a stalemate formed.
• Zhang Yunxi concluded that Luo Bin had encountered trouble and chose to watch how Thousand Miao Village responded, while Hu Jin worried that Luo Bin had vanished before the ceremony.
• Miao Miao waited in wedding preparations at Granny Li’s courtyard, wondering whether Luo Bin had noticed the ceremony’s true purpose and was refusing it.
• Miao Na accused Luo Bin of endangering Thousand Miao Village’s succession by disappearing with the Gu seed, and Miao Shun announced he would test Luo Bin and strip the seed from him if he was not devoted to the stronghold.
• Miao Miao questioned whether the village should help Luo Bin first, but Miao Na rebuked her for challenging Miao Shun’s decision.

Miao Na accused Luo Bin of fleeing with Miao Gu, but news of a fight with Spirit-Transfer Cave sent Thousand Miao Village searching for them. In a tomb passage, Miao Gu used the Calling Bell to wake Luo Bin from a deadly illusion, and the two faced an unknown gu that nearly consumed Luo Bin.

• Miao Na ordered the villagers to restrain Luo Bin's companions and search for him and Miao Gu, while Miao Miao questioned the accusation.
• A villager reported finding Spirit-Transfer Cave bodies nearby, and Granny Li sent Miao Yi to organize a search from the fight site.
• Luo Bin lay trapped in an illusion of his mother and Yuan Yinxin as strange white gu worms consumed his body.
• Miao Gu risked approaching Luo Bin and rang the Calling Bell, shattering the illusion and waking him, though the bell burned his hand and its runes melted.
• Luo Bin resisted an urge to attack a white gu worm and asked Miao Gu what it was; Miao Gu said he had never heard of or seen one before.
• Miao Gu crawled into his earthenware jar, and Luo Bin strapped it to his back while asking whether the Calling Bell had driven all the gu out.