Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xingyan’s childhood and hardships were described as he tried for years to become Qinghe’s disciple, hoping to secure food and lodging at the Shangqing Palace’s Raozhou Good Karma Office. The chapter ended with Xingyan heading to work and stopping at Li’s General Store to ask about Qinghe’s sandalwood while stealing a look at Li Xiaomei.

• Old Zhang asked Master Ji to name his son, and the boy changed from Goudan to Zhang Xingyan and began studying at the Ji Household’s private school.
• Xingyan repeatedly asked Qinghe to accept him as a disciple, but Qinghe refused, leaving Xingyan without a place to stay or reliable meals in Raozhou.
• Xingyan learned that Qinghe served at the Good Karma Office with Jingchen and Jingming, whose resentment made it harder for him to lodge there.
• Master Ji’s lecture about Kuang Jia’s fatal all-night metaphysical debate frightened Xingyan into resolving not to debate Qinghe through the night.
• Xingyan finished his daily apprenticeship request, went to work at the Rice Fragrance House, and stopped at Li’s General Store to ask about Qinghe’s sandalwood and look at Li Xiaomei.

At sixteen, Zhang Xingyan was caught between a surge of force from the white stone on Horseshoe Mountain and brilliant moonlight, enduring a painful transformation before the strange sensations faded. The next day, everyone dismissed his questions as a joke, and he returned to his usual routine, unaware whether the stone’s awakening had truly changed his life.

• After insects infested the family’s loquat grove, Zhang Xingyan stayed overnight on the mountain and rested on its white stone slab beneath the full moon.
• The stone sent a powerful force through Zhang Xingyan as concentrated moonlight struck him, causing intense pain before the forces merged and washed through his body and mind.
• At dawn, Zhang Xingyan asked people around Raozhou City whether they had seen the white light or noticed a change in him, but they denied it and mocked his behavior.
• Zhang Xingyan grabbed Li Xiaomei’s sleeve while questioning her, prompting Shopkeeper Li to warn him against molesting his daughter.
• Old Qinghe teased Zhang Xingyan by calling him especially stupid, and Zhang Xingyan gave up on the possibility that the night’s events had been real.
• Zhang Xingyan asked Old Qinghe to accept him as a disciple, then returned to his usual routine as the townspeople forgot the morning’s commotion.

Zhang Xingyan met Ju Ying and Uncle Cheng while working at the Rice Fragrance Tavern, then guided them around Raozhou and took them to his family’s Horseshoe Mountain. The day ended with Ju Ying admiring the hill in the sunset.

• Zhang Xingyan met Ju Ying and Uncle Cheng at the Rice Fragrance Tavern and recommended sights around Raozhou.
• Zhang Xingyan told them about his family’s Horseshoe Mountain, and Ju Ying and Uncle Cheng asked him to take them there.
• Zhang Xingyan guided Ju Ying and Uncle Cheng around Raozhou, entertaining them with descriptions and stories.
• Ju Ying told Zhang Xingyan her name, and the two teased each other about beautiful women.
• Zhang Xingyan rode with Ju Ying and Uncle Cheng to Horseshoe Mountain, where Ju Ying admired the hill at sunset.

Xing Yan took Ju Ying and Uncle Cheng to Horseshoe Mountain, where Uncle Cheng recognized Xing Yan as exceptional and grew warmer toward him. After Ju Ying accidentally fed rice meant for the family to the chicks, Xing Yan explained his family's poverty, and the two reconciled and became closer.

• Xing Yan showed Ju Ying and Uncle Cheng the white stone on Horseshoe Mountain, and Uncle Cheng praised him as extraordinary material.
• Xing Yan's family hosted Ju Ying and Uncle Cheng overnight, and Ju Ying admired Xing Yan's bamboo cup and heard him recite a poem.
• Xing Yan lay awake thinking about Ju Ying, while Ju Ying slept warmly in the room prepared by Xing Yan's mother.
• Ju Ying fed rice to Xing Yan's chicks, and Xing Yan explained how difficult it was for his family to afford rice.
• Ju Ying apologized tearfully, and Xing Yan promised to guide her again, bringing them closer.

Xingyan and Ju Ying traveled to Poyang Lake after Uncle Cheng left for Mount Sanqing, leaving a teasing letter for Xingyan. They toured the lakeshore and shared a meal at Lakeview Tower, where Ju Ying was moved by Xingyan’s embarrassment about his poverty and then became absorbed in the lake’s autumn scenery.

• Ju Ying ate amaranth-seed porridge to show her remorse, and Xingyan learned from the driver that Uncle Cheng had gone to Mount Sanqing and left Ju Ying in his care.
• Xingyan read Uncle Cheng’s poem and cryptic note about little Mei, then teased Ju Ying by claiming Uncle Cheng planned to marry her to him; Xingyan boasted that he would marry anyone except Princess Qingcheng.
• Ju Ying asked Xingyan to take her to Poyang Lake, and she marveled at its boundless waters and the places they visited along the shore.
• At Lakeview Tower, Xingyan admitted he could not afford a meal there, so Ju Ying insisted that he sit and eat with her and ordered the restaurant’s specialties.
• Ju Ying watched Xingyan grow excited over the feast and then gazed out from the tower, becoming absorbed in the autumn view of Poyang Lake.

While dining at Lakeview Tower, Xingyan and Ju Ying witnessed corrupt yamen runners arrest a herb seller and his daughter over invented taxes. After rejecting Wang Er’s offer to take the father’s beating for a fee, Xingyan decided to devise a better plan to rescue them and conceal his involvement.

• A waiter told Xingyan and Ju Ying that Lakeview Tower had run out of white reed shad, so they ordered other dishes.
• Xingyan and Ju Ying went to Watching Lake Street and saw Headman Chen Kui’s runners seize a herb seller and his daughter after demanding an invented cleanliness tax.
• An old man explained that Chen Kui preyed on poor women and Magistrate Lü Chonghuang protected him, while Wang Er offered to take the father’s court beating for money.
• Xingyan pulled Ju Ying away from Wang Er’s sales pitch and said that paying for a substitute beating would not solve the family’s troubles.
• Xingyan returned to Wang Er and pretended that he and Ju Ying had no intention of helping the arrested pair, then left to work out a plan.

Xing Yan and Ju Ying planned a rescue for the father and daughter held by corrupt officials, using Xing Yan’s extraordinary strength and information gathered around Poyang County. After preparing for their nighttime operation, Ju Ying asked how Xing Yan had become so strong, and he could only blame his family’s good feng shui.

• Ju Ying urged Xing Yan to rescue the captives, and the pair decided that paying a ransom or reporting the officials would not work.
• Xing Yan revealed his plan to Ju Ying and demonstrated his immense strength by lifting a huge lakeside rock; Ju Ying agreed to help and funded the scheme.
• Xing Yan and Ju Ying questioned townspeople about Lü Chonghuang and Chen Kui, learning their evening routines and favorite haunts.
• The pair finished preparing for the rescue and waited for nightfall at the Peaceful Inn.
• Ju Ying asked Xing Yan how he had gained his brute strength, and Xing Yan replied that his family might have good feng shui.

Xing Yan and Ju Ying abducted Head Constable Chen Kui to force him to release Ju Ying and her father from the yamen. Chen Kui hurried back to the yamen, terrified of angering the bandits and determined to arrange their release before noon.

• Xing Yan warned Ju Ying to follow their plan and escape alone to find Wang Er of Substitute Beating if anything went wrong.
• Chen Kui boarded a boat on Poyang Lake, where Xing Yan and Ju Ying covered him with a sack and beat him into submission.
• Chen Kui promised to release Ju Ying and her father from the yamen before noon the next day, and the bandits threatened to kill him if he failed.
• Xing Yan and Ju Ying left Chen Kui on the northern shore, and Chen Kui hurried toward the county yamen to prevent his subordinates from mistreating Ju Ying and her father.

Xing Yan and Ju Ying abducted Magistrate Lü and frightened him into reconsidering his treatment of the law, while Head Constable Chen was independently driven to release the wrongly arrested medicine sellers. The father and daughter were freed, and both officials concealed their injuries and their encounters with the young bandits.

• Xing Yan and Ju Ying seized Magistrate Lü on his way home and threatened him with a bandit’s speech, prompting him to reflect on his past abuses and hurry home to embrace Madam Lü.
• Xing Yan and Ju Ying returned to the inn, celebrated their escape, and learned the next morning that the arrested father and daughter had been released.
• Magistrate Lü went to the county office planning to make Chen Kui release the prisoners, but Chen Kui arrived first to ask permission to free them.
• Chen Kui claimed the arrests had been a mistake and offered to pay for the release, while Magistrate Lü readily approved and urged him to act quickly.
• Chen Kui blamed his bruised face on a fall, and Magistrate Lü blamed his scratches on a cat, as both concealed what had happened the previous night.

After the bandits were defeated, Xing Yan and Ju Ying toured Poyang Lake, where Xing Yan answered a boastful passenger’s poor poem with an impressive verse. As Xing Yan told Ju Ying a legend about the lake’s shad, the same passenger rallied the boat against them, while a dark cloud began spreading overhead.

• Master Lü Chonghuang assembled a militia, led it against the Great Solitary Mountain bandits, and defeated them; Chen Kui was captured and killed by a young scholar.
• Ju Ying and Xing Yan celebrated their rescue of a father and daughter by eating steamed shad at the Waterside House, then hired a pleasure boat to tour Poyang Lake.
• At Star-Net Mountain, Xing Yan laughed at a dandy’s clumsy poem, then recited his own verse when the man mocked him and Ju Ying.
• As the boat returned toward Nanji Island, Xing Yan told Ju Ying the legend explaining the red marks on Poyang Lake’s shad.
• The dandy mocked Xing Yan’s story and called him a toad longing for swan flesh, prompting the passengers and boatmen to jeer at Xing Yan and Ju Ying as a dark cloud spread overhead.

A supernatural storm trapped Xing Yan and Ju Ying on Poyang Lake, where the passengers tried to sacrifice them to appease the lake god. A blood-red lightning strike left Xing Yan and Ju Ying alive on shore, but Ju Ying’s disguise had vanished, revealing her extraordinary beauty as the pleasure boat disappeared beneath the lake.

• Black clouds and violent waves engulfed Poyang Lake, and the pleasure boat became unable to move.
• Crimson clouds formed the characters “Xing Yan Ying Ju,” and a frightened dandy blamed Xing Yan and Ju Ying for angering the lake god.
• The passengers tried to force the pair into the lake, but Xing Yan and Ju Ying resisted and then asked to leave in a small skiff.
• As Xing Yan and Ju Ying boarded the skiff, blood-red lightning struck them, and the storm subsided.
• Xing Yan awoke beside the lake and discovered that the beautiful girl before him was Ju Ying, whose disguise had disappeared.
• Xing Yan accidentally offended Ju Ying with an awkward compliment, and she pushed him into the water as the sun set over Poyang Lake.

After surviving the turmoil on Poyang Lake, Xing Yan brought Ju Ying to his family’s home, where she chose to stay despite Uncle Zong’s insistence that she return to Luoyang. The next morning, Ju Ying and Xing Yan exchanged keepsakes and parted, leaving her weeping as the carriage carried her away.

• Xing Yan rowed Ju Ying to the northern shore, where she asked Uncle Zong to take them to Xing Yan’s home.
• Xing Yan’s parents recognized Ju Ying as the visitor from before and welcomed her after Xing Yan explained that her beauty had been concealed.
• Xing Yan overheard Uncle Zong urging Ju Ying to return the next morning, and he realized she would soon leave.
• Uncle Zong announced Ju Ying’s departure after breakfast, and she gave the Zhang couple silver before handing Xing Yan her Protective Jade Pendant.
• Xing Yan gave Ju Ying a carved Bamboo Cup as a keepsake, and she left for Luoyang, crying as she held it.

After Ju Ying departed, Xing Yan lost his job at the Rice Fragrance House and found Sun Six-Finger trying to swindle his father, Old Zhang. Xing Yan staged a convincing saber threat that drove the rogue away, then explained how he had planned the scare; a bystander praised his courage and wit.

• Ju Ying's carriage departed, and Xing Yan returned to Raozhou City with Old Zhang, who planned to sell wild rabbits.
• Manager Liu refused to pay Xing Yan's wages and dismissed him from the Rice Fragrance House.
• Xing Yan found Sun Six-Finger lying on the ground and accusing Old Zhang of stealing a rabbit.
• Xing Yan grabbed a traveler's saber and threatened Sun Six-Finger, who sprang up and fled.
• Xing Yan told Old Zhang that he had staged the threat to frighten Sun Six-Finger and discourage other rogues.
• A bystander stepped forward and praised Xing Yan's bravery and cleverness.

After Xing Yan drove off Sun Six-Finger, a hale old man invited him and Old Zhang to lunch at the Rice Fragrance House and praised his earlier deeds. The old man gave Xing Yan a jade flute called Divine Snow and a score titled Water Dragon's Chant, then vanished after tumbling down the restaurant stairs.

• A brown-robed old man praised Xing Yan for his quick thinking in frightening off Sun Six-Finger and invited him and Old Zhang to eat.
• The old man led them to the Rice Fragrance House, where Manager Liu mistook Xing Yan's return for another demand for his withheld wages.
• Over lunch, the old man revealed that Xing Yan had unknowingly helped him by spreading a tale and composing a poem about him.
• The old man gave Xing Yan a jade flute named Divine Snow and an ancient music score titled Water Dragon's Chant.
• The old man paid the bill and told Manager Liu to give Xing Yan the change, which exactly matched the wages Liu had withheld.
• The old man fell down the stairs, but when Xing Yan and Old Zhang hurried outside to help him, he had disappeared.

After the mysterious old man vanished, Xing Yan tested the jade flute Divine Snow and found work as a flutist at Flower Moon House. His meals and lodging were secured, but his longing for the Dao began to fade.

• Xing Yan and Old Zhang searched for the vanished old man, then parted as Old Zhang went to sell the rabbits and Xing Yan considered how to earn money.
• Xing Yan played Divine Snow and found the old man's music book Water Dragon's Chant too difficult to perform.
• Xing Yan remembered Flower Moon House's notice seeking a flutist and hurried there to apply.
• Xing Yan played for Aunt Xia, who hired him after hearing a few simple tunes and learning how he had obtained the flute.
• Xing Yan settled into the job, which provided better wages, meals, and lodging, while his yearning for the Dao quietly diminished.

Qinghe and Xing Yan went to the Zhu Residence for what they expected to be an easy ritual, only to learn that a dangerous haunting had resisted another Daoist. After Qinghe tried to flee, Xing Yan pointed out that the disturbances had stopped since their arrival, and Master Zhu resolved to use another tactic to keep them there.

• Qinghe brought Xing Yan to the Zhu Residence after Master Zhu hired him to purify the household.
• Master Zhu plied Qinghe with food and wine until the old Daoist boasted that Shangqing Palace could subdue demons.
• Master Zhu revealed that strange disturbances had plagued his residence for over half a month and that Daoist Master Wang Pan had failed to stop them.
• Qinghe made excuses to leave, but Master Zhu offered to obtain whatever demon-subduing implements he needed.
• Xing Yan noticed that the haunting had gone quiet since they arrived, and Qinghe used this as a reason to leave.
• Master Zhu blocked Qinghe and announced that he would use another move to make him stay.

Master Zhu revealed that an elm bench was the monster haunting his residence, and the Bench Demon rampaged through the reception hall, injuring everyone except Xing Yan. The demon then fixed its attention on Xing Yan and charged straight at him.

• Master Zhu used the phrase "Your head is as thick as a lump of elm" to awaken the ordinary bench, revealing it as the Bench Demon.
• The Bench Demon charged through the reception hall, hurling Master Zhu and knocking Qinghe and the others to the floor.
• Xing Yan remained unharmed as the demon repeatedly avoided him during its rampage.
• The Bench Demon turned toward Xing Yan, gathered itself, and shot at him like lightning.

Xing Yan survived the Bench Demon’s final attack when the mysterious Flowing Water in his body stopped the creature and left it brittle enough to shatter. After he and Qinghe returned to the Good Karma Office, Qinghe rewarded him for saving his life by offering to teach him Shangqing Palace’s Upper Clarity Scripture.

• The Bench Demon struck Xing Yan, but Flowing Water appeared within him and halted the creature before it could hurt him.
• The Bench Demon turned deathly pale, and Xing Yan shattered it with a casual punch as the people in the reception hall watched in disbelief.
• Master Zhu thanked Qinghe and Xing Yan with gold and silver, accepted Qinghe’s admonitions, and later changed his rice business into a more charitable enterprise.
• Qinghe and Xing Yan left the Zhu Residence, and Xing Yan carried the injured Daoist back to the Good Karma Office while Qinghe explained how objects could become demons.
• Qinghe shared the money with Xing Yan, then announced that he would pass on Shangqing Palace’s Upper Clarity Scripture to him.

Qinghe gave Xing Yan a rare copy of the Upper Clarity Scripture containing two secret chapters and warned him to memorize and destroy them. Back at Flower Moon House, Xing Yan reflected on his strange power and planned to test whether it could help him play the flute, then remembered to examine the scripture.

• Qinghe led Xing Yan to his private chamber and gave him a hemp-paper copy of the Upper Clarity Scripture with the Spirit Refining Chapter and Void Transformation Chapter appended.
• Qinghe told Xing Yan to memorize the two added chapters and destroy their pages so outsiders would not discover them.
• Xing Yan returned to Flower Moon House, where Aunt Xia encouraged him to practice his flute and he met the maid Ying'er carrying coins for Sister Rui.
• Xing Yan learned that Lady Rui was rumored to be leaving Flower Moon House to follow a gentleman, then went to his room to rest.
• Xing Yan considered using his strange power to work as a martial arts sparring partner, but worried that he could not control it.
• Xing Yan decided to try using his strange power to play Water Dragon's Chant and remembered that he still needed to read the scripture Qinghe had given him.

Xing Yan studied the Upper Clarity Scripture, discovered the name Great Splendor Dao Power for the force within him, and learned that the text’s deeper chapters described profound Daoist principles. At dinner, he celebrated the tax exemption granted to Raozhou’s mountain folk but ended the evening drinking as memories of Ju Ying made him lonely.

• Xing Yan read the Upper Clarity Scripture and, after dismissing its cryptic opening lines, recognized that its Spirit Refining and Void Transformation chapters contained serious teachings.
• Xing Yan learned that the scripture called the primordial energy within him Great Splendor Dao Power.
• Ying'er told Xing Yan that the emperor had exempted Raozhou’s mountain folk from taxes and grain levies for three years in exchange for pinecone wine tribute.
• Xing Yan questioned Ying'er about the decree, then joined the Flower Moon House residents for dinner as they celebrated and speculated about its origins.
• Xing Yan heard a rumor that Princess Qingcheng had requested Raozhou pinecone wine and thought of Ju Ying, whom he had not seen for a month.
• Xing Yan grew sorrowful remembering Ju Ying and began drinking too quickly.