Chapter Summaries

Luo Bin learned that Six Yin Mountain had driven Zhou Sanming from Gui Market at great cost, then traveled with Long Liang toward Cloudmist Mountain. Meanwhile, Shangguan Xingyue led Underground Palace disciples toward her imprisoned master, and Xu Lu and Bai Xian investigated the Tibetan Lands, where Xu Lu suspected Black City Temple might be a Heaven Veil place.

• Tang Wu left Gui Market after Six Yin Mountain practitioners warned him that his presence would hinder their plan to stop Zhou Sanming.
• Shangguan Xingyue directed Underground Palace disciples as they dug toward her master’s location, rejecting Dai Ci’s questions and focusing on rescuing him.
• Luo Bin learned that Zhou Sanming had escaped badly injured and that Six Yin Mountain had branded him for pursuit, then traveled with Long Liang’s group toward Cloudmist Mountain.
• Xu Lu told Bai Xian that the Tibetan Lands’ monasteries held great authority and that locals knew nothing of Black City Temple, the Black Rakshasa, or Sinpo.
• Xu Lu wondered whether Black City Temple was a Heaven Veil place in the Tibetan Lands.

Gonpo sent Lama Tsangyang to Dergé Thangka Temple with a prophecy while secretly preparing the Black Rakshasa and Bright Consort to take their places. Meanwhile, Luo Bin and Long Liang searched Cloudmist Mountain for blood peachwood, but the first night ended with white-clad figures pinning Luo Bin beneath an unbearable weight.

• Gonpo prophesied that a born Jom woman and a man destined to become Daren Lama Temple’s Umze would face trouble at Dergé Thangka Temple, and Lama Tsangyang set off to help them.
• After Lama Tsangyang left, Gonpo pulled a tiny rat from a crack in the ground and murmured that the Black Rakshasa and Bright Consort would complete the initial framework.
• Luo Bin and Long Liang reached Cloudmist Mountain, and Luo Bin used his knowledge of peachwood to determine that they should search the southern side of a mountain ridge.
• Long Liang’s men scouted ahead as the group traveled south, then pitched camp when dusk fell before they reached the ridge.
• At night, Luo Bin became unable to move or keep his eyes open as white-clad figures gathered around his bed and climbed onto him, pinning him beneath their combined weight.

Luo Bin escaped a nightmare in which his double, Luo Shan, and the Ghost Monks attacked him, then learned that Nightmare Ghosts had trapped the group in their dreams. Long Liang urged everyone to leave Cloudmist Mountain and find protection before nightfall.

• Luo Bin believed he had awakened and found Long Liang twitching in his tent, then followed Gu Worms to a bloodied figure who looked like himself.
• Luo Bin's double claimed they had traded places and attacked him with Copper Beads, while Lu Si and the Ghost Monks tried to tear him apart.
• Luo Bin woke for real after Long Liang and the others slapped him, and saw that his gray-black little finger had not changed.
• Long Liang explained that Nightmare Ghosts had trapped the group in their dreams and said they needed to leave and ward off another nightmare.

Luo Bin and Long Liang led the group toward the southern ridge despite the danger from powerful Nightmare Ghosts. After five members left, Luo Bin’s party reached a peach-covered slope and prepared talismans for the night, while Long Liang arranged for the remaining twelve to sleep in three tents.

• Long Liang explained the Nightmare Ghosts’ three nightmare layers, and Luo Bin revealed that he had reached the third layer before waking.
• Long Liang warned that the Ghost could roam the mountain and urged the group to descend, but Luo Bin said he could ward off nightmares and suspected someone was raising the Ghosts on Cloudmist Mountain.
• Chen Qin and four others rejected the risk and left, so Long Liang doubled the payment for the ten who stayed.
• By midafternoon, Luo Bin spotted red peach blossoms on a southern ridge and decided to secure the Blood Peachwood before nightfall.
• Luo Bin carved three sets of Seven Yin Talismans from lightning-struck jujube wood, and Long Liang assigned the twelve remaining travelers to three tents.

Luo Bin and the others endured a night surrounded by Nightmare Ghosts and Nightmare Hags, protected by the Seven Yin Arts Talismans. After Chen Qin and his companions returned to camp, a blood-robed Taoist entered their tent and emerged carrying their hearts, leaving Luo Bin to wonder why the other tents were spared.

• Luo Bin ate zhongshan baijiao and watched as civet Nightmare Ghosts and mountain rats gathered around the tents but could not pass the talismans.
• Long Liang explained that the elderly, pregnant-looking figures outside were Nightmare Hags, formed from women who died in difficult childbirth.
• Chen Qin and four companions returned from the mountain path, and Long Liang directed them into the empty tent to avoid disturbing the talismans.
• A red-robed Taoist emerged from the woods and entered Chen Qin's tent after Chen Qin invited him inside.
• The Taoist came out carrying a cord of human hearts, while Luo Bin and the others watched from their protected tents.

After surviving a blood-robed Taoist’s attack, Luo Bin led the group onward, but they became trapped in an unnaturally perfect chestnut grove. He found a stone tablet warning that those harboring treachery would have their chests split and livers taken.

• Luo Bin and the others discovered five corpses with their chests emptied, then prepared to continue toward the mountain ridge.
• Luo Bin warned the group away from the chestnut grove, but after circling for kilometers they found themselves surrounded by chestnut trees.
• Luo Bin used Rewind to search for where they had become trapped but could not identify the moment they entered the grove.
• Luo Bin found a stone tablet declaring that the treacherous could not leave unless they cast off hatred and malice.

Luo Bin found the remains of feng shui masters and Taoists in the strange woods, then prepared to confront whatever was killing people there. After he destroyed one green-and-gold-robed figure with gu worms and a Copper Bead, several more attacked him from every direction.

• Luo Bin uncovered seven bodies, including a Green-Robed Taoist and a Red-Robed Taoist, and the group realized some victims had their livers removed while another had his throat slit.
• Shen Kang challenged Luo Bin to swear that he could protect them and urged the group to identify and kill a villain, but Luo Bin refused to follow the gravestone's instructions and said he would face the threat.
• Luo Bin made three circles with Seven Yin Talismans for the others to shelter inside, then released his gu creatures and waited for the attacker to appear.
• A green-and-gold-robed figure approached from the west, and Luo Bin summoned a swarm of venomous creatures with the Miao King's Ocarina until the figure collapsed into a skeleton.
• More figures appeared around Luo Bin; he struck one with a Copper Bead, but others rushed him as Long Liang warned that one had risen behind him.

Luo Bin and the Heterodox Path group were trapped in a deadly grove until Shen Kang killed Long Liang, causing the attackers to vanish. The group emerged among Cloud-Shrouded Mountain’s pines, where Shen Kang suggested the grove had been a screening for a Feng Shui treasure site and pressed Luo Bin about its treasures.

• Luo Bin was surrounded by dead figures in the chestnut grove, but they all fell and disappeared beneath leaves just as Shen Kang slit Long Liang’s throat.
• Shen Kang claimed Long Liang had plotted to seize Luo Bin’s talismans and argued that killing him had saved the group; the others lowered their weapons.
• The chestnut trees vanished, leaving Luo Bin and the group among the pines and cypresses of Cloud-Shrouded Mountain.
• Shen Kang proposed that the grove had screened entrants to a Feng Shui treasure site, and several members of the group accepted his explanation.
• Shen Kang asked Luo Bin whether the site held precious treasures beyond the sea spring, while Luo Bin remained silent.

After Long Liang’s death, Shen Kang led the group onward with Luo Bin, who remained wary of him. At a grove of white lilies guarded by a new admonition, Luo Bin inferred that the mountain’s barriers judged travelers by the five organs and their corresponding sins.

• Shen Kang persuaded Luo Bin and the others to continue cooperating despite Long Liang’s death, while Luo Bin concealed his suspicions of Shen Kang.
• Tang Yu and Tang Heshou watched from Cloudmist Mountain and discussed the intruders approaching the Three Altar Taoist Temple and the dangers ahead.
• Luo Bin carved a new set of Seven Yin Arts Talismans, and the group rested overnight before continuing through thick fog at dawn.
• The group reached a clearing of white lilies and found a stone tablet warning that cruel killers could not leave the grove.
• Luo Bin and Shen Kang connected the mountain’s barriers to the five organs and moral failings, and one traveler accused Shen Kang of killing Elder Liang Long.

Luo Bin and the Heterodox Path survivors crossed several marked groves as Shen Kang killed those accused of violating their rules. At night, Luo Bin found the missing stele and realized the trials included the six hollow organs, just as dozens of dark-robed figures surrounded the group.

• Shen Kang killed two men, exposed details about He Nan and Chen Jin, and had Xu Jiang bound before the group continued through the groves.
• The group crossed a bamboo grove and a vine-covered slope, where Shen Kang killed Chen Jin and Xu Jiang, leaving seven survivors including Luo Bin.
• As night fell, Luo Bin noticed they had missed a stone stele and spotted it outside the talisman circle.
• Luo Bin read the stele's warning about slanderers having their chests split and gallbladders removed, then saw dozens of dark-robed figures behind the survivors.
• Luo Bin shouted for everyone to run.

Luo Bin escaped the Dao Corpses and found Three Altars Taoist Abbey beside a Peach Grove filled with human hearts. He cut down the grove’s only nine-bump white-flower tree, but as he tried to leave, a grieving feathered corpse emerged and began searching the grove.

• Dao Corpses killed several members of Shen Kang’s group, but the attackers suddenly vanished and left Luo Bin alive.
• Luo Bin discovered Three Altars Taoist Abbey and entered the Peach Grove, where human hearts hung from the trees.
• Luo Bin searched the grove and found its sole tree with nine bumps, white flowers, and no heart-fruit, then cut it down and strapped the trunk to himself.
• Luo Bin became lost in the grove’s Feng Shui arrangement and hid after hearing footsteps near the stump.
• A Daoist corpse dug up a coffin, mourned over its dismembered contents, and began searching the Peach Grove.

Luo Bin escaped the Peach Grove after cutting down a tree that had been nurturing an ascended malevolent corpse, but the corpse pursued him to the Cliff Platform above the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey. Tang Yu revealed that Luo Bin had entered the Ten Commandments Corpse Prison and invited him into the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds while the corpse remained awake.

• Luo Bin found a severed female Taoist beneath the felled nine-knob white-blossom peach tree and hurried out of the Peach Grove as the ascended malevolent corpse pursued him.
• A person on the Cliff Platform signaled Luo Bin to climb up, where the ascended malevolent corpse nearly grabbed him before an invisible barrier stopped it and sent it crashing to the ground.
• Tang Yu introduced himself as a disciple of the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds and asked Luo Bin how he had passed through the Ten Commandments Corpse Prison.
• Tang Yu explained that the corpse prison sealed the way out of Cloudmist Mountain and that only a person without fault in all ten commandments could come and go freely.
• Tang Heshou, the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds' guardian elder at Three-Altars Cliff, told Luo Bin to enter the grounds and wait until the Dao corpse fell dormant.

Luo Bin followed Tang Yu through the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds as Tang Yu explained how the Dao Corpse and Ten Commandments Corpse Prison trapped the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey. The path led behind a waterfall to a settlement of temples suspended against Cloudmist Mountain, leaving Luo Bin stunned by the sight.

• Luo Bin chose to follow Tang Yu along the cliffside path after realizing he had no safe way to leave.
• Luo Bin told Tang Yu he came from the Cabinet Mountain Taoist Grounds, and Tang Yu described how the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey became trapped by the Ten Commandments Corpse Prison.
• Tang Yu explained that the Abbey Master became a Dao Corpse after the failed screening of True Cultivators and that the Venue Master of Cloudmist Mountain could not stop him.
• Tang Yu said Luo Bin had passed the Ten Commandments for Novice Cultivators and could try leaving after the Dao Corpse became dormant.
• Luo Bin followed Tang Yu behind a waterfall and emerged onto a wooden platform beneath temples suspended along the steep mountainside.

Luo Bin settled into the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds while Tang Gaoji and the elders discussed using him and his artifact to escape the mountain gates. When Tang Yu brought Luo Bin a meal, he found the courtyard swarming with venomous insects.

• Tang Yu guided Luo Bin to a courtyard, where Luo ate, set his gu worms to watch the rooms, and released a ghost beside his bed.
• Tang Yu and Tang Heshou reported Luo's arrival to Venue Master Tang Gaoji and the elders, who doubted that a perfect person existed.
• Tang Gaoji ordered Tang Yu to bring Luo hot soup and rice with ginseng and to tell him to rest before meeting the Venue Master the next day.
• After Tang Yu left, Tang Gaoji and the elders discussed taking Luo's magical artifact and escaping the mountain gates, then sent Tang Si to watch him.
• Tang Yu entered Luo's quiet courtyard with the meal and found venomous centipedes and swarms of insects covering the bedroom door, walls, and table.

Xu Lu and Bai Xian visited Dergé Thangka Temple after heavy snow kept them from reaching the Scripture Printing Institute, and Xu Lu secretly infected three lamas with insects from Bai Xian. Back in their rooms, Bai Xian’s human-skin garment reacted, revealing a woman’s face and transforming her demeanor as Xu Lu ordered it to stop.

• After the snowfall eased, Xu Lu and Bai Xian visited Dergé Thangka Temple and met its guest-receiving lama, Samba.
• Xu Lu told Samba they were occult practitioners seeking experience and asked to stay at the temple for a few days.
• While touring the temple, Xu Lu recognized its enormous four-armed Avalokiteshvara thangka as a guardian treasure and saw the lamas prostrate when a sudden wind made it sway.
• After settling into their rooms, Xu Lu revealed that Second Madam Hu had used insects from Bai Xian to infect three lamas so they could observe how the temple handled the problem.
• Bai Xian’s human-skin garment emerged from her chest, released mist, and changed her appearance, prompting Xu Lu to order it back down.

Xu Lu forced the Bright Consort Deity out of Bai Xian to stop her from completing a rite, then fled as the lamas tried to capture them. At dawn, Luo Bin discovered that his gu worms had trapped Tang Yu while he slept, and learned they had eaten the treasured rice soup prepared for him.

• Xu Lu used a talisman and the Fourfold Compass to drive the Bright Consort Deity out of Bai Xian as the lamas approached.
• The khenpo ordered the lamas to capture Xu Lu and Bai Xian, and Xu Lu decided they had to flee.
• At dawn, Luo Bin found Tang Yu surrounded by venomous gu worms and played his Ocarina to call them back.
• Tang Yu recognized Luo Bin's gu arts and questioned him about Three Perils Mountain and Mountain Cabinet.
• Tang Yu told Luo Bin that the gu worms had eaten the thousand-year-old mountain ginseng rice soup prepared for him.

Luo Bin met Tang Gaoji, the Venue Master of the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds, who explained that the Dao Corpse had sealed the mountain paths and that Luo Bin’s Nine-Knobbed White Peach Tree was tied to the corpse’s companion. Tang Gaoji asked Luo Bin to help destroy the Dao Corpse in exchange for a treasured sword, leaving Luo Bin to consider the dangerous bargain.

• Tang Yu apologized to Luo Bin for the Ginseng Whiskers being eaten by his Gu Worms, and Luo Bin declined to ask for more.
• Tang Yu brought Luo Bin to meet Tang Gaoji in the main hall of the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds.
• Tang Gaoji learned that Luo Bin practiced Gu Arts and praised him for having purified all six senses.
• Tang Gaoji explained that the Dao Corpse had sealed the mountain paths and that leaving with the Nine-Knobbed White Peach Tree would provoke it because the tree held the soul of its companion.
• Tang Gaoji proposed that Luo Bin leave the tree behind and drive an abbey sword into the Dao Corpse’s mouth to destroy its body and grant it deliverance.
• Tang Gaoji promised Luo Bin the sword and the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds’ gratitude if he succeeded.

Luo Bin discovered that the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds’ ginseng soup had changed his gu worms only the previous night, when it had been poisoned, and concluded that the grounds could not be trusted. Shi'an confirmed that the courtyard had contained poison and offered to help Luo Bin escape by walking where ordinary people could not.

• Tang Gaoji offered Luo Bin a sword near the level of yang spirit projection if he helped the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds, then Tang Yu showed him around.
• Luo Bin noticed that the gu worms had grown stronger after eating the previous night’s soup, but showed no reaction to the same food served that day.
• Luo Bin suspected that the previous night’s soup had been poisoned, and the ordinary disciple who delivered his evening meal brought no soup.
• Luo Bin summoned Shi'an with a talisman and asked whether poison had been in the courtyard the night before.
• Shi'an confirmed the poison and told Luo Bin he would help him escape by walking where ordinary people could not.

Luo Bin agreed to help the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds deal with the Dao Corpse and examined the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword in its storeroom. After sneaking back to inspect it, he concluded Tang Gaoji’s eagerness to hand over the prized sword concealed a serious problem.

• Shi'an possessed Luo Bin briefly and demonstrated that he could climb the courtyard wall, then told him he had an affinity with the Buddha.
• Luo Bin met Tang Gaoji and asked when the Dao Corpse became dormant, why it had failed to notice him, and whether he could wield the Yang Spirit Sword.
• Tang Gaoji led Luo Bin to the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds’ storeroom, where Luo Bin examined the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword.
• After returning to his lodging, Luo Bin waited for Tang Gaoji to leave, then had Shi'an carry him to the storeroom by climbing the cliff.
• Luo Bin studied the sword without touching it and reasoned that its corrosion and Tang Gaoji’s lack of reluctance made the offer suspicious.

Luo Bin uncovered Tang Gaoji’s plan to kill him with a Dao Corpse and found the genuine Three Altars Yin-Slaying Sword hidden in the Storage Pavilion. He concluded the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds elders coveted his ritual artifacts and took their prized sword in return.

• At the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds, Tang Gaoji told the elders he planned to use a Dao Corpse to kill Luo Bin and obtain his ritual artifacts, while two elders questioned whether Luo Bin might be the perfect person.
• Luo Bin used Rewind to study Tang Gaoji’s movements in the Storage Pavilion and noticed a concealed mechanism beneath a loose floor brick.
• Luo Bin opened a hidden door in the mountain wall and found the Three Altars Yin-Slaying Sword, the Three Altars Daoist Temple’s true Yang-spirit ritual artifact.
• Luo Bin reasoned that Tang Gaoji had given him a fake sword and that the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds suspected he possessed ritual artifacts.
• Luo Bin seized the Three Altars Yin-Slaying Sword, declaring that he would take what Tang Gaoji’s group coveted.