Chapter Summaries

Luo Bin let Huang Ying leave with the Feng Family after she showed that she recognized him and chose to go to Three Perils Mountain. He and his companions discussed the threat that had frightened Li Qingxiu, then returned to the city, where Luo Bin remained quiet and thoughtful.

• Huang Ying indicated that she knew Luo Bin’s identity, insisted on going to Three Perils Mountain, and mended his shoes before leading the Feng Family away.
• Lu Xie and Lu Guo chose to leave separately, while Luo Bin refused to return to Mountain Turtle Float because he could not control the Blackblood Vine there.
• Luo Bin explained what had happened at the mountain deity’s temple, and Xu Lu concluded that something might be hunting projected Yin Spirits.
• Luo Bin, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian crossed the Great Bridge and met Yun Miao and Tu Miao, who took them back to the hotel.
• After washing and changing, Luo Bin stood quietly by the hotel window as Fourth Master Gray asked whether he was thinking about Huang Ying or their next adventure.

Luo Bin reflected on how constant crises had pulled him away from his goal of mastering his inheritance, then questioned whether he could stand on his own without ritual artifacts. He decided not to accompany Xu Lu to Divine Firmament Mountain, but Xu Lu objected after noticing how completely Luo Bin had changed.

• Luo Bin reviewed the chain of events that had diverted him from studying primordial calculation and the Spirit Medium Arts.
• Luo Bin removed his ritual artifacts and gu worms, then considered whether his own foundation was strong enough without external aids.
• Luo Bin slept while Fourth Master Gray watched over him, then woke and went to speak with Xu Lu.
• Luo Bin gave Xu Lu the stone brain and said he would not go with him to Divine Firmament Mountain.
• Xu Lu rejected Luo Bin's plan to split up and noticed that Luo Bin carried no visible ritual artifacts and seemed like a different person.

Luo Bin experienced sudden enlightenment and left Xu Lu, Bai Xian, and his companions to return to Three Perils Mountain, while Miao Yun and Tu Miao were left stunned. Elsewhere, Dai Zhixiong advanced his plan to revive Chen Lingling through Shangguan Xingyue, Kong An pursued the reincarnating Rinpoche, and Mao Yousan encountered a presence he could not detect or divine.

• Luo Bin packed his ritual artifacts, Gu worms, and valuables, then told Miao Yun to return to Thousand Miao Village and Three Perils Mountain.
• Xu Lu stopped Miao Yun from pursuing Luo Bin, explained that Luo Bin's sudden enlightenment meant they would part ways, and collected the food bags.
• Shangguan Yuexingguan offered the Bright God the pills she received from her master, unaware that Dai Zhixiong had hidden Chen Lingling's soul in them.
• Dai Zhixiong cut off another limb from the corpse in the crystal coffin as he prepared to place Chen Lingling's soul in Shangguan Xingyue's body.
• Kong An searched the Tibetan grassland for the reincarnating Rinpoche and celebrated the decline of the Five Lama Court.
• Mao Yousan completed his work on the Dao corpses, but his attempt to divine the source of a strange force failed, and he sensed someone standing behind him.

Luo Bin rented and settled into a house in an old neighborhood, hoping to quietly develop his Feng Shui abilities while remaining among ordinary people. After studying a boy named Anzi’s face, he warned the boy’s family to watch for a fire that night.

• Luo Bin chose a renovated house in the old neighborhood and rented it from Wang Qin.
• Luo Bin cleaned and furnished the house, while Fourth Master Gray complained that he was retreating from unfinished business.
• Luo Bin spent the day practicing his bone-reading skills and reflecting on how life continued without his involvement.
• A boy named Anzi warned Luo Bin that the house contained old spirits, and Luo Bin examined the boy’s face.
• Luo Bin warned Anzi that a fire might start in his home’s east or southeast that night, but the man who came to fetch the boy pulled him away and scolded him.

Luo Bin spent the night in the haunted house while two old ghosts tried and failed to drain his yang energy. The next day, Zhang Hang thanked him for warning his son about a fire, while a mysterious figure watched Luo Bin’s doorway as he revisited a bone-reading through Rewind.

• Two old ghosts tried to suck away Luo Bin’s yang energy as he slept, but he woke refreshed and left them unharmed.
• Luo Bin found money, a bankbook, and a cold smoking pipe hidden in the mattress, then bought offerings and returned to the house.
• Zhang Hang brought Luo Bin liquor and cigarettes to thank him for warning his son about a kitchen fire, but Luo Bin declined the gifts.
• Zhang Hang warned Luo Bin that the house was haunted and that its former tenants and other renters had suffered, but Luo Bin stayed focused on his Rewind.
• A figure in a broad hat and gauze robe watched Luo Bin’s doorway from across the busy street, unseen by everyone else.

Luo Bin opened Primordial Calculation and began practicing as a neighborhood diviner while continuing to study yin-yang arts. When Li Ya brought him a case involving children being attacked, he used their facial signs to identify a likely female culprit and told Zhang Hang to report her to the police.

• Luo Bin fed the two old ghosts incense at noon and warned them not to appear at night.
• Luo Bin posted a sign for Primordial Calculation, and a practitioner from Heavenly Dipper Hall warned him to leave the haunted house.
• Over the next few days, the practitioner watched Luo Bin use a compass and grew astonished by his abilities.
• Zhang Hang brought Li Ya to Luo Bin because several neighborhood children had been attacked, including Li Ya's son.
• Luo Bin examined the boy and other victims, found the same fading white mark on each child's face, and concluded that the danger had passed.
• Luo Bin inferred that a mistreated woman was attacking boys and urged Zhang Hang to report her to the police.

After Xu Yu was arrested for attacking children, Luo Bin learned the truth about her abuse and the danger she posed. He went to her home at night, where he overheard her parents discussing their plans to exploit and sell her, and hurled Fourth Master Gray at her father.

• Zhang Hang told Luo Bin that Xu Yu had confessed to attacking neighborhood children and had planned to give them prohibited substances.
• The neighbors thanked Luo Bin and offered him gifts, while Zhang Hang gave him Xu Yu's address.
• Luo Bin invited Fourth Master Gray to accompany him, and the reluctant rat eventually climbed onto his shoulder.
• Luo Bin entered Xu Yu's courtyard and overheard her parents discussing how to exploit her, threaten her, and sell her.
• Luo Bin opened the window and threw Fourth Master Gray at Xu Yu's father, who caught the rat.

Luo Bin defended his role in punishing Fourth Master Gray and his associates when the Night Watch tried to seize his soul. After they vanished, he questioned what justice and heaven meant, wondering whether his uncertainty marked a new stage in his understanding.

• Luo Bin used divination to study the wicked couple’s faces as Fourth Master Gray’s attack caused screams and drew onlookers into the street.
• The Night Watch confronted Luo Bin and accused him of crossing the line by taking human lives, but he challenged them for neglecting the couple’s crimes.
• Luo Bin’s soul remained anchored by a hexagram position and Heavenly First’s moon-shaped stone, and the Night Watch disappeared after he warned them to do their duty.
• Back at his lodgings, Luo Bin pondered justice, heaven, and the Night Watch’s failure to seize the old ghosts’ souls.
• Luo Bin wondered whether his inability to understand the questions troubling him signaled a bottleneck or a new realm of insight.

Luo Bin reflected on his stalled approach to Emergence from Darkness, then learned that Xu Dadong and Tang Lu had died after a Gray Immortal attacked them and that their son was missing. At the City God Temple, Qian Tongbao and the Day Patrol discussed the killings and decided to watch Luo Bin, whose identity and methods remained mysterious.

• Luo Bin questioned whether Primordial Calculation had brought him to the edge of Emergence from Darkness, but Fourth Master Gray interrupted his thoughts, and Luo Bin fell asleep.
• Zhang Hang told Luo Bin that Xu Dadong and Tang Lu had died after a large white rat gnawed at them, and that police had arrested six other men after finding evidence at Xu Dadong’s house.
• Zhang Hang reported that Xu Dadong and Tang Lu’s son had gone missing, while the neighborhood called the deaths Heaven’s punishment; Luo Bin dismissed Zhang Hang and returned to his work.
• Luo Bin resolved to strengthen his Yin-Yang Arts from the basics and continued helping customers with readings and bone examinations.
• At the City God Temple, Qian Tongbao and the Day Patrol discussed Tang Yu’s killings, noted that he seemed to be a young Great Master, and agreed to observe him rather than risk trouble.

Luo Bin rejected Zhu Youming’s lucrative offer and was startled by thoughts of abandoning the world to live in seclusion. After remembering his obligations and unresolved dangers, he came back to himself and found the Primordial Calculation stone at his feet.

• Luo Bin refused Zhu Youming’s request to split a 600,000 payment and shut the shop door on him.
• Fourth Master Gray confronted Zhu Youming at Heavenly Dipper Hall, startling him with his spirit-like form.
• Luo Bin posted the shop’s consultation hours and accepted a drawing from Zhang Ze, who thanked him for saving his family.
• Luo Bin considered hiding away at Three Perils Mountain and relying on the Old Miao King, but recalled his ties, enemies, and unfinished concerns.
• Luo Bin regained his resolve as the wind died down and noticed the crescent-shaped Primordial Calculation stone on the ground.

Luo Bin recovered from his turmoil and followed Zhang Ze to meet an unlucky resident, while Qian Tongbao investigated Tang Yu’s shop and discovered a trove of extraordinary treasures. His greed overcame his caution until Zhu Youming startled him in the shop.

• Luo Bin picked up the Moon-Shaped Stone, apologized to the Patriarch, and told Zhang Ze he felt better.
• Zhang Ze led Luo Bin through the old neighborhood to find a good person who had always been unlucky.
• Qian Tongbao warned the Day Patrol not to hook Tang Yu’s soul again, then entered the Primordial Calculation shop with his Pangolin, Secret Treasure.
• Secret Treasure led Qian Tongbao to Tang Yu’s inkstone, ritual artifacts, blood peach wood treasures, and a Cinnabar Tortoise, stirring his greed.
• Zhu Youming appeared behind Qian Tongbao and warned him not to let the Pangolin bother the little toad.

Zhu Youming and the Gu creatures subdued Qian Tongbao, while Zhang Ze showed Luo Bin the hardship of Zhao Gang’s life in the Old District. The chapter ended with Zhang Ze bringing the frail Zhao Gang food and moving Luo Bin to a new thought.

• Zhu Youming, aided by the Black-Gold Toad and Golden Silkworm Gu, subdued Qian Tongbao and took him to taste the Tribute God's snacks.
• Zhang Ze told Luo Bin how Zhao Gang had been deceived by his wife and son, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, and been left alone and in debt.
• A woman from the courtyard opposite threatened Zhang Ze with a broom after he accused her of mistreating Zhao Gang.
• Zhang Ze stood up to the woman, then went to help Zhao Gang and offered him food from his schoolbag.
• Luo Bin watched Zhang Ze care for Zhao Gang and felt a new thought arise within him.

Luo Bin comforted Zhao Gang and used feng shui arrangements to improve his home and bring retribution to those who had wronged him. The chapter ended with Luo Bin and Zhang Ze watching the opposite courtyard under the moonlight.

• Zhang Ze brought Zhao Gang home, cleaned him up, and shared food with him while Luo Bin asked whether he wanted revenge.
• Zhao Gang said he still loved his son and did not want to hurt anyone, so Luo Bin abandoned the idea of helping him kill his betrayers.
• Luo Bin explained that the courtyard’s feng shui had caused Zhao Gang’s misfortune and had Zhang Ze hang a bronze mirror on the old house.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Ze dug pits east and west of the woman’s home, then planted a peach sapling as retribution for her theft and for leaving Zhao Gang disabled.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Ze returned to Zhao Gang’s courtyard and sat by the gate, watching the opposite courtyard in the moonlight.

Luo Bin used the events surrounding Liu Wen-Zhu’s courtyard to teach Zhang Ze about feng shui and the manipulation of destiny, then accepted him as his disciple. Zhang Ze bowed to Luo Bin and went home as the first disciple of the primordial calculation lineage.

• Zhang Ze watched as two thieves broke into Liu Wen-Zhu’s courtyard, and Luo Bin stopped him from interfering.
• Liu Wen-Zhu returned, chased the thieves away, then attacked his wife with a butcher’s knife and severed her hand after she confronted him.
• After the police and ambulance arrived, Luo Bin explained to Zhang Ze that the incident had taught him about feng shui, destiny, and carrying out justice on people’s behalf.
• Luo Bin saw signs of calamity and death appear on Zhang Ze’s face, then fade after he told him that retribution would come in time.
• Luo Bin declared himself Zhang Ze’s master, named him the chief disciple of primordial calculation, and instructed him to study and help Zhao Gang receive redemption.
• Zhang Ze knelt before Luo Bin, bowed three times, and asked him to accept his disciple’s bow.

Luo Bin questioned Heaven and realized his pursuit of emergence from darkness might keep him under Heaven’s gaze, while Heaven Veil could be the only way to escape it. After meeting landlord Jiang Xiao, he continued investigating the mystery and called for Fourth Master Gray, but received no answer.

• Luo Bin reflected on Zhang Ze’s kindness and his decision to take the child as a disciple, then woke troubled by his thoughts about Heaven.
• As Luo Bin tried to shut out the sunlight, an unseen force struck him, and Jiang Xiao entered the shop with Wang Qin.
• Jiang Xiao asked Luo Bin to find money left by his deceased parents, and Luo Bin told him to return at nightfall after identifying a cigarette holder among the belongings.
• After Jiang Xiao and Wang Qin left, Luo Bin considered whether questioning Heaven trapped him under its gaze and whether Heaven Veil was necessary for emergence from darkness.
• Luo Bin called for Fourth Master Gray, but the room remained silent.

At the City God Temple, Fourth Master Gray enjoyed an opera while Qian Tongbao sat beside him, and Luo Bin awaited Jiang Xiao at the Primordial Calculation shop. Jiang Xiao found the money Luo Bin had predicted, but Luo Bin confronted him about neglecting his dead parents, and Jiang Xiao responded with anger and greed.

• At the City God Temple, Qian Tongbao watched an opera while Zhu Youming, possessed by Fourth Master Gray, praised the City God’s luxury and laughed loudly.
• Zhao Gang knelt and wept outside Primordial Calculation, drawing a crowd that connected his misfortunes to Mr. Tang’s uncanny predictions.
• Jiang Xiao arrived after dark, mistook Tang Yu’s face at the window for a ghost, and hurried upstairs to find Tang Yu waiting beside a bag of cash.
• Luo Bin explained that mundane troubles were stepping stones toward overcoming fear and asked Jiang Xiao what made a person human.
• Luo Bin accused Jiang Xiao of ignoring his parents’ deaths and leaving their spirits without incense, but Jiang Xiao grabbed the money and angrily defended his past gambling losses.

Luo Bin watched Jiang Xiao face the ghosts of his murdered parents, but the Night Watch unexpectedly dragged away their souls and Jiang Xiao’s. As strange forces converged at the City God Temple and a mysterious figure appeared, the Black-Gold Toad and Golden Silkworm Gu broke a copper box; Luo Bin woke the next day to find Fourth Master Gray back beneath his bed.

• Jiang Xiao begged Luo Bin to save him as his parents’ ghosts confronted him, but Luo Bin said he had to pay for their deaths.
• The Night Watch appeared on the ceiling, then used chains to bind the old ghosts and pull Jiang Xiao’s soul away before fleeing through the window.
• Luo Bin summoned the River Lady and sent her to carry Jiang Xiao’s body to a nearby river.
• At the City God Temple, mist and the Night Watch arrived with the two old ghosts, while a tall, black-robed figure made Zhu Youming and Qian Tongbao collapse and then vanished.
• The Black-Gold Toad and Golden Silkworm Gu entered the temple’s main hall, where the toad broke a corroded copper box before fleeing with Fourth Master Gray.
• Luo Bin woke the next morning and found Fourth Master Gray hiding beside his pillow after missing his summons the previous night.

Luo Bin rejected the Beiwei City God’s appointment for him to serve as On-Duty City God and clashed with the Night Watch. After noticing Fourth Master Gray acting strangely, Luo Bin spotted a newly dead man seeking a fortune reading.

• Luo Bin agreed to teach Zhang Ze Yin-Yang Arts but warned Zhang Hang that his son would have to choose between studying and learning the craft.
• The Day Patrol delivered an appointment naming Luo Bin On-Duty City God, but Luo Bin tore up the document and refused the position again when it appeared on his shop door.
• Luo Bin read fortunes through the day and taught Zhang Ze Feng Shui in the evening.
• The Night Watch warned Luo Bin that he had brought calamity upon himself, and Luo Bin attacked him with a geomantic compass before he vanished.
• Luo Bin questioned Fourth Master Gray about missing spirit-invoking talismans, then saw a recently dead old man ask for a fortune reading.
• Fourth Master Gray joked that the City God Temple was too short-handed to deal with dead men, making Luo Bin suspect something was wrong with him.

Luo Bin discovered that the Netherworld Office had stopped collecting souls, leaving the dead trapped in their bodies and unable to live or die. As he rushed to investigate, Fourth Master Gray revealed that the former On-Duty City God had been eaten by a ghost, explaining why the City God Temple had gone quiet.

• Luo Bin suppressed an old man who had risen from his coffin and sent him back to his grieving family after realizing the dead man’s soul had not been collected.
• Luo Bin found and suppressed another dead woman, then followed the Compass’s strange readings to the nearest hospital.
• Luo Bin concluded that no Netherworld Office officers were collecting souls, so the dead could not leave their bodies even after their lifespans ended.
• Fourth Master Gray told Luo Bin that the former On-Duty City God had been eaten by a ghost after failing to suppress it.
• Luo Bin realized that the City God Temple’s vacancy explained why the Night Watch had appointed him On-Duty City God.

Luo Bin went to the City God Temple to face the consequences of the escaped Death-Prison Yama Ghost and the On-Duty City God's death. The Night Watch rejected his appointment and accused him and Fourth Master Gray of causing the disaster, while Fourth Master Gray urged Luo Bin to fight them.

• Luo Bin decided to visit the City God Temple because he was involved and feared the disorder would endanger innocent people.
• Luo Bin and Fourth Master Gray reached the temple and found the corpses of three opera singers, Zhu Youming, and the On-Duty City God.
• Two Underworld Runners appeared and went behind the stage, while Fourth Master Gray speculated about the temple's opera troupe.
• Luo Bin entered the second courtyard and saw the City God Temple's statues and clay figures carrying out their duties.
• The Night Watch told Luo Bin that the On-Duty City God had already taken office and that he had lost his chance after tearing up his appointment edict twice.
• Fourth Master Gray threatened the temple statues, and the Night Watch condemned him before Fourth Master Gray demanded that Luo Bin kill them.