Chapter Summaries

Luo Bin, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian escaped the Daren Lama Temple and met up with Luo Bin’s men, who drove them away from danger. As snow fell during the quiet ride, Xu Lu reflected on loneliness.

• Luo Bin gave Bai Xian and Xu Lu Heavenly Cycle Concealment Talismans to hide their yang energy from the lamas, while Xu Lu scattered talismans to mislead anyone searching for them.
• Fourth Master Gray and Second Madam Hu caught up with the group, and Luo Bin led them toward a road where a car was waiting.
• Miao Tu and Miao Yun met them in the car, and Luo Bin revealed that Gonpo had eaten Little Gray Spirit.
• Luo Bin’s men drove the group away, while Xu Lu stopped asking questions and realized they were still fleeing for their lives.
• Xu Lu watched the falling snow and wondered whether people were sometimes lonelier than snow.

After Xu Lu learned about He Dongsheng, he connected him to a forbidden offshoot of Earth Aspect and planned to bring back proof of the discovery. As lamas searched outside their lodging, Luo Bin suspected Gonpo wanted more than the title of Living Buddha: he wanted to become one in substance.

• Xu Lu arrived with Luo Bin and the others at a town on the edge of a snowy expanse, where Huang Bing brought them food.
• Luo Bin described He Dongsheng, and Xu Lu said the man could not belong to the Mountain Gate’s recognized lineages.
• Xu Lu recalled the origins of Lesser Earth Aspect, an offshoot led by a rejected half-master who disappeared with disciples from the Mountain Gate.
• Xu Lu grew eager to return to the Mountain Gate with He Dongsheng’s head and the lead on Lesser Earth Aspect, while Bai Xian left to practice in the courtyard.
• Huang Bing warned Luo Bin that many lamas were moving outside, and Luo Bin concluded Gonpo wanted the substance, not just the name, of Living Buddha.

Luo Bin, Xu Lu, Bai Xian, and Huang Bing weighed their role in Kong An’s rise and decided to seek help from the Five Lama Buddhist Court. As they drove there after dark, Huang Bing suddenly braked for something on the road.

• Luo Bin explained how Kong An became a Living Buddha and why he believed the group had become expendable pawns.
• Xu Lu argued they should leave, but Bai Xian concluded their actions had helped bring about Kong An’s rise and that they could not simply ignore the consequences.
• Luo Bin proposed seeking support from the Five Lama Buddhist Court, which might believe them because of Lama Agong’s forewarnings.
• The group agreed to drive to the Five Lama Buddhist Court, and Xu Lu muttered angrily about Kong An as they left the city.
• After night fell, Huang Bing honked, switched on the high beams, and braked hard, sending Xu Lu into the seatback.

Luo Bin and his companions were ambushed by wild yaks and lamas on the road to the Five Lama Court. Luo Bin used his Gu Worms and the Purple Flower Lantern to bring down most of the attackers, but the lama leader kept advancing and questioned the relic and deity possessing him.

• Luo Bin identified a Living Buddha as the one who had predicted their route as wild yaks gathered and charged at their vehicle.
• The Black-Gold Toad and Luo Bin's Gu Worms killed the attacking yaks, revealing Luo Bin's power as the Miao King to Miao Yun, Miao Tu, Huang Bing, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian.
• Lamas surrounded the group, and Luo Bin demanded that one accompany them to the Five Lama Court to hear what had really happened.
• When the lamas charged, Luo Bin drew Heavenly First's Purple Flower Lantern as Bai Xian dragged Xu Lu into the vehicle and Huang Bing reversed away.
• Luo Bin used the lantern to knock down most of the lamas, then swallowed Medicine Person Blood Pills to steady himself as three lamas remained standing.
• The lama leader ignored Luo Bin's warning and advanced, asking what Corpse-Stripping Relic Luo Bin carried and what deity possessed him.

Luo Bin and his companions fought off an attack by three elite lamas, but Luo Bin’s lantern and hexagram technique failed, leaving him helpless. An unknown force emerged from the mist to save him, and the group escaped while the battle continued behind them.

• Xu Lu, Bai Xian, Miao Yun, and Miao Tu fought the three lamas who had stopped their car, with Bai Xian using lightning and the Miao sisters sending out Gu Worms.
• Luo Bin’s Purple Flower Lantern restrained the lamas’ souls, but their Gau Bone Beads and the leading lama’s chant broke his hexagram technique and left him badly injured.
• Ghost Monks and Shi An emerged to protect Luo Bin, but the lamas quickly destroyed them before jade-colored mist separated Luo Bin from his attackers.
• An unseen force pulled Luo Bin out of the mist, and Bai Xian’s lightning struck down the three lamas as Gu Worms swarmed them.
• Luo Bin’s companions changed the car’s tire and drove away without stopping, while Luo Bin said that the one who had helped them was not a person.

Luo Bin’s group escaped Daren Lama Temple, but Black City Monastery’s offering families blocked their way and urged them to join the New Sinpo’s monastery. They reached Da County and learned that vultures circling the Five Lama Court had led locals to suspect its Living Buddha was a demon.

• Xu Lu explained that the jade-transformed female corpse had followed Luo Bin, while Fourth Master Gray teased him about her devotion.
• Qi Yu and the other offering-family members knelt before Luo Bin as the Chief Seat and invited him, Bai Xian, and their companions to Black City Monastery.
• Luo Bin refused the invitation, and Qi Yu’s group opened a path while urging them to contact him later.
• Luo Bin decided to go to Da County and send Miao Yun, accompanied by Fourth Master Gray and Second Lady Hu, to find Lama Agong.
• After the group reached Da County, Huang Bing reported that vultures had begun circling the Five Lama Court and locals feared its Living Buddha was a living demon.

Luo Bin and his companions fled the Tibetan lands after failing to reach Lama Agong, then regrouped and discussed their next move. Miao Tu revealed he knew the location of the geomancy ritual ground and proposed ambushing He Dongsheng at home.

• Huang Bing told Xu Lu and Luo Bin that Luo Xianshen, Four-Rules Mountain's Junior Granduncle, had left by train.
• After Miao Yun returned injured from the failed search for Lama Agong, the group decided to leave and drove through the night toward Daxiang City.
• At a service area, Luo Bin recounted what had happened since his soul returned, and Xu Lu asked him to use Xu Lu's name when acting alone.
• Miao Tu said he knew where the geomancy ritual ground was and suggested waiting at He Dongsheng's home to ambush him.
• Xu Lu welcomed Miao Tu's proposal and praised Luo Bin for inspiring the plan.

Luo Bin’s group traveled toward Eastwatch Mountain to ambush He Dongsheng, while Gonpo confronted the latest reincarnation of a child he had sworn to kill. The group entered the woods near Fuding Village, believing the village was a safe place to wait for He Dongsheng.

• Xu Lu urged Luo Bin to find a way to use lamp oil for the Purple Flower Lantern, but Luo Bin said he lacked the means.
• Gonpo learned that a mysterious deity was hiding, then went to his former home and killed a woman and an infant with the lead sheep; he wrapped the infant’s corpse and vowed to kill the child in each reincarnation.
• Luo Bin’s group reached Dingshan Town and learned that outsiders who entered Fuding Village rarely left without settling there.
• Xu Lu dismissed the group’s fears about Fuding Village and led them into the woods toward Eastwatch Mountain.
• Luo Bin agreed that they should wait in Fuding Village rather than camp in the woods or approach the mountain, expecting He Dongsheng not to suspect an ambush.

Luo Bin and his companions entered Fuding Village, where they found signs that the village’s peaceful appearance concealed something wrong. Lin Jin led them to a strange temple at the village’s edge, and the chapter left them preparing to investigate it.

• Xu Lu, Luo Bin, and their companions entered Fuding Village and accepted lodging from Lin Jin and Zhao Ni.
• Luo Bin noticed that Lin Jin and Zhao Ni had no readable facial signs and that Zhao Ni’s pregnancy did not fit the couple’s stated timeline.
• Luo Bin warned Fourth Master Gray that they should avoid drawing attention and wait for He Dongsheng before leaving.
• The next morning, Lin Jin told the group about the village temple and its Temple Keeper, while Luo Bin continued to find Lin Jin’s face unsettling.
• Huang Bing, Miao Yun, and Miao Tu returned from a village stroll appearing unusually relaxed, and Lin Jin led the group to the imposing temple beside the headless-looking mountain.

Luo Bin’s group entered Fuding Village’s temple and discovered that Feng Jun and He Qin were collecting people’s heads and turning victims into statues. Xu Lu killed them both, leaving the group to confront the horror of what had happened in the village.

• Luo Bin warned Xu Lu to keep the situation contained while the group entered the temple and found rows of smiling, white-ceramic-headed statues.
• Feng Jun and He Qin arrived, and He Qin asked Feng Jun to behead Luo Bin so she could give his head to her injured brother.
• Xu Lu confronted Feng Jun and He Qin about the village’s dead residents and the method used to make the ghosts seem alive.
• Feng Jun attacked Xu Lu, but Xu Lu immobilized him with a talisman and beheaded him with his own blade.
• He Qin tried to flee, but Xu Lu called out that her brother might be He Dongsheng and then killed her with the thrown blade.
• Xu Lu pointed out a statue of a pregnant woman and angrily stomped on Feng Jun’s severed head.

Luo Bin and his companions discovered that the temple’s life force restored the decapitated Feng Jun and He Qin while erasing their memories of death. Following a crystal-bottle fish to the village’s Feng Shui focal point, they found a headless corpse wearing a White Porcelain Head inside a well.

• Xu Lu’s talismans failed to capture Feng Jun and He Qin’s living souls, so Luo Bin placed White Porcelain Heads on their bodies and watched them return to life without remembering their deaths.
• Luo Bin concluded that Fuding Village’s life force kept its dead residents’ souls trapped, while Fourth Master Gray took Feng Jun and He Qin’s heads to eat.
• Bai Xian urged the group to find and destroy the source of the village’s power before He Dongsheng arrived, and Xu Lu used a crystal-bottle fish to lead them onward.
• Xu Lu identified a well at the foot of East View Mountain as the Feng Shui focal point sustaining the village’s souls.
• Luo Bin and the others looked into the well and found a headless corpse topped with a White Porcelain Head.

Luo Bin broke the female corpse’s enchantment with a spoken divination hexagram, severing her head and freeing himself and the others. The village’s feng shui began to change, and the headless corpse unexpectedly walked toward the mountain as Luo Bin urged Xu Lu to inspect her ceramic head.

• The female corpse enchanted Luo Bin and the others, then tried to tear off Luo Bin’s head while resisting the Black-Gold Toad’s suppression and poison.
• Luo Bin used the spoken hexagram “The King Approaches the Ancestral Temple” to free himself and make the female corpse’s ceramic head fall off.
• Xu Lu and Bai Xian regained their senses, and Xu Lu explained that the female corpse had controlled the village by occupying its acupoint eye.
• Xu Lu realized that destroying the site’s feng shui would alert the Lesser Earth Aspect Taoist Grounds, while their search for a life-force object had failed.
• As blood and well water spread, Xu Lu proposed leaving to intercept He Dongsheng, but the headless female corpse began walking up the mountain.
• Luo Bin pointed out the ceramic head and asked Xu Lu to check whether anything was wrong with it.

After the feng shui at Fuding Village was broken, the Headless Female Corpse escaped through the well and headed up the mountain to seek revenge. He Dongsheng arrived at the village, unaware that He Qin and Feng Jun were dead and that the people waiting nearby were preparing to confront him.

• Xu Lu and Luo Bin realized the Female Corpse had been freed from suppression and would pursue revenge and her missing head.
• The Female Corpse plunged into the well and vanished through the Yin Dragon Water, while Xu Lu and Luo Bin anticipated trouble for the Lesser Earth Aspect Taoist Grounds.
• He Dongsheng walked toward Fuding Village, vowing to avenge his injuries by targeting Luo Bin and Black City Monastery.
• He Dongsheng saw blood mist over the village, worried about his sister He Qin, and hurried to the entrance.
• He Dongsheng met He Qin and Feng Jun, who described the chaos in the village, while Luo Bin and the others watched from a thicket and waited to act.

He Dongsheng returned to Fuding Village and discovered that He Qin and Feng Jun had been killed, only to be trapped and defeated by Luo Bin’s group. As Huang Bing, Miao Yun, and Miao Tu took revenge on him, his death exposed the conflict with the Minor Earthly Physiognomy Taoist Grounds as far from over.

• He Dongsheng found that He Qin and Feng Jun had become headless corpses, and he used talismans to suppress them.
• Xu Lu appeared and admitted that he had cut off He Qin’s head, while Huang Bing, Miao Yun, and Miao Tu confronted He Dongsheng over their losses.
• He Dongsheng recognized Luo Bin and tried to flee, but a Taoist’s spells scattered his peachwood swords and severed his right foot.
• Luo Bin’s group caught He Dongsheng with a hexagram spell, and Luo Bin handed him over to Huang Bing, Miao Yun, and Miao Tu.
• Miao Yun and Miao Tu used Gu Release on He Dongsheng, Huang Bing drove a nail into his fontanel, and Gray Fourth Master tormented him before he died.
• A green-vapor-wreathed soul burst from He Dongsheng’s body and tried to escape.

Xu Lu’s group learned that the corpse liberation immortal had taken stone brain and found out where her stone-brain head was hidden. They reached the cave behind the summit, where the inscriptions suggested the Mountain Gate’s plan to ascend to heaven.

• Xu Lu captured He Dongsheng, recovered He Qin and Feng Jun’s souls, and took a yin-filled banner and a wooden carving from him.
• Bai Xian explained that the corpse liberation immortal had taken stone brain and was beheaded before completing her transformation.
• The group crossed Fuding Village, where headless corpses wandered amid the broken feng shui, and climbed toward the summit.
• Xu Lu coerced He Dongsheng into revealing that the stone-brain head was in a cave behind the summit, where corpses who had taken stone brain guarded it with Corpse Worms.
• Xu Lu’s group avoided the lesser Earth Aspect training ground and reached the cave near the hour of the Ox, where Xu Lu mocked the inscriptions about ascending to heaven.

Xu Lu’s group discovered that the Mountain Cave entrance was trapped and that its defenses could scatter souls, but Bai Xian still wanted the stone brain for Divine Firmament Mountain. Inside the Inner Grotto, Shangguan Yuexingguan and Fang Jinyan were already searching for the same treasure.

• Xu Lu sent Fourth Master Gray into the cave, where hidden arrows forced it to retreat, and Luo Bin sensed a tug on the wisp of Luo Shan’s soul in his finger.
• Bai Xian released a ghost from her Human-Skin Garment, but the cave’s arrangement scattered it and severed its connection to the garment.
• Xu Lu explained that he wanted the stone brain for Bai Xian and urged her, Luo Bin, and the others to risk passing the Three Corpse Worms.
• Inside the Inner Grotto, Shangguan Yuexingguan stood with Fang Jinyan and two Palace Grounds disciples among coffins and worm-infested heads.
• Shangguan Yuexingguan refused to turn back, insisting they needed the stone brain as an ingredient for a special pill.

Shangguan Xingyue pressed to obtain the strongest Stone Brain, but Fang Jinyan persuaded her not to risk the group against the Three Corpse Worms. Outside the cave, Luo Bin and the others used Mountain Rats to trigger its traps, only to discover they had entered the Mountain of Blades Hell.

• Shangguan Xingyue tried to send Hu Lin toward the platform, but Fang Jinyan stopped her and urged her to protect the group.
• Shangguan Xingyue explained that she needed the best Stone Brain to help her master refine the Three Peng Pill and to pursue her plans for Sawu Mountain and her dead junior brother.
• Second Lady Hu inspired Xu Lu and Luo Bin to use Fourth Master Gray to summon Mountain Rats and send them through the cave's traps.
• Luo Bin offered Medicine Person blood mixed with soil as a reward, and the rats swarmed into the cave, triggering many traps.
• Huang Bing cut his foot on a hidden blade, and the group found themselves surrounded by weapons as the night sky turned dark red.
• Bai Xian identified the new setup as the Mountain of Blades Hell and began chanting while holding ritual implements.

Luo Bin and Bai Xian tried to cross the Mountain of Blades Prison toward the cave, where they hoped to find the Corpse Liberation Immortal’s head and stone brains. As Prison Guards closed in and an unseen attacker struck, Fourth Master Gray possessed Luo Bin and began fighting back.

• Fang Jinyan’s group sensed the Mountain of Blades Prison had been opened, but Shangguan Xingyue refused to leave before obtaining a stone brain.
• Bai Xian and Luo Bin set out toward the cave while Xu Lu used a Prayer Wheel to protect the others.
• Luo Bin completed a possession with Fourth Master Gray as the mist thickened and Prison Guards approached.
• Bai Xian caught a Bronze Sword with her foot while continuing to chant, and Luo Bin warned that someone was nearby.
• Fourth Master Gray bit Luo Bin’s shoulder, took control of his body, and swiftly pulled several Bronze Swords from the ground.

Luo Bin and Bai Xian fought the Lesser Earth Aspect Taoist Grounds near the Stone Brain Cave while the mist concealed other arrivals inside. Shangguan Yuexingguan hesitated to leave the cave, knowing that releasing the Twenty-Four Hells’ suppression could trap the pair outside.

• Qi Youming, Yan Kan, and Ren Du identified Bai Xian as a likely red-robed Taoist and advanced on her and Luo Bin.
• The three men used incantations to disrupt Fourth Master Gray’s possession and strike Luo Bin with Bronze Swords, but the Black-Gold Toad knocked Yan Kan down and Bai Xian sent Qi Youming flying.
• Luo Bin released his Snake Gu as Bai Xian attacked Ren Du, forcing Ren Du to retreat toward the cave entrance.
• Hu Lin revealed that he, Fang Jinyan, Shangguan Yuexingguan, and Zi Lin had been hidden inside the cave, and handed the limbless Ren Du to Fang Jinyan.
• Fang Jinyan and Zi Lin urged Shangguan Yuexingguan to act, but she remained focused on the two figures outside in the mist.

Luo Bin and Bai Xian discovered that Underground Palace Fangshi had reached the cave before them and taken the Brainstone, then fought to stop the intruders from reaching their allies. Bai Xian’s Taoist Arts crippled Hu Lin and Lin Zi, who waited among the coffins and taunted their pursuers.

• Hu Lin explained that Spirit Mediums from the three northeastern provinces could qualify to enter Sawu Mountain, and Shangguan Xingyue continued deeper into the cave after agreeing not to let her hatred derail the operation.
• Luo Bin and Bai Xian approached the cave entrance as a prison guard dragged a captured man’s soul away, and Fourth Master Gray reported that the intruders’ scents had weakened or disappeared.
• Two Underground Palace Fangshi ambushed Luo Bin and Bai Xian, but Bai Xian struck them with Thunderheart Palm and knocked them backward.
• Luo Bin concluded that another group had taken the Brainstone and ordered Bai Xian to disable the Fangshi before they could warn the people inside.
• Bai Xian burned Hu Lin and Lin Zi with talismans, then used the Three-Character Wisdom King Mantra and a thunderfire Taoist Art to cripple them.
• Luo Bin and Bai Xian reached a coffin-lined passage, where the wounded Hu Lin and Lin Zi sat waiting and mocked them for not approaching.