Chapter Summaries

Yang Ge visited the old fisherman who had saved him from the Bian River, bringing him food and firewood. The old man returned Yang Ge’s long-lost necklace and watch, and Yang Ge admitted he no longer wanted to die, though he still did not know how to live.

• Shopkeeper Liu told Yang Ge his household registration would be settled soon, and Yang Ge thanked him before leaving Luting County with a cart of supplies.
• Yang Ge traveled along the Bian River to the old fisherman’s home and unloaded wheat for him.
• Yang Ge gathered firewood, then reminded the old man to share grain with needy villagers and seek him out if he fell ill.
• The old man showed Yang Ge the gold Buddha necklace and Casio Big Mudmaster watch he had recovered from the river.
• The old man asked whether Yang Ge still wanted to die, and Yang Ge said he did not, though he had not yet figured out how to live.

Yang Ge returned to the Welcome Inn and served Jiang Kui, a notorious bandit chief, who discovered Yang Ge’s extraordinary martial potential and gave him a book. The government men refused to acknowledge the gift, leaving Yang Ge holding something even Manager Liu feared to accept.

• Yang Ge returned to the inn and noticed armed government men filling the front hall.
• Wang Dali told Yang Ge that the fearsome guest upstairs was a bandit chief from Hebei Circuit, so Yang Ge carried the man’s meal himself.
• Jiang Kui grabbed Yang Ge and examined his body, realizing that Yang Ge had jade-like bones and unusually open meridians.
• Yang Ge calmly reminded Jiang Kui that his food was getting cold, and Jiang Kui released him and gave him a book as a reward.
• Manager Liu and the government men refused to take or acknowledge Jiang Kui’s book, while Jiang Kui laughed upstairs.

Yang Ge kept the martial arts manual Jiang Kui had given him and warned Shopkeeper Liu and Wang Dali that it could draw dangerous enemies to the Welcome Inn. As the Grace Martial Examination approached, he urged them to leave and stayed behind to face whoever came for the manual.

• Shopkeeper Liu scolded Wang Dali for reaching for Yang Ge's manual and urged Yang Ge to burn it.
• Yang Ge explained that destroying the manual would not prevent trouble and might make him seem guilty if Jiang Kui's enemies came looking for it.
• Yang Ge persuaded Shopkeeper Liu to close the Welcome Inn because martial artists traveling for the Grace Martial Examination were making the area dangerous.
• Shopkeeper Liu explained that the Grace Martial Examination could pardon accepted candidates' past crimes, and recalled that a similar examination had preceded troubled times.
• Yang Ge warned that Jiang Kui's reputation and enemies made the manual dangerous regardless of its value, and told Shopkeeper Liu and Wang Dali to leave the inn the next morning.
• Yang Ge said he would wait alone through the night and asked Shopkeeper Liu to dispose of his body if he did not survive; Shopkeeper Liu urged him to stay alive.

Yang Ge confronted a black-clad intruder who came to steal Jiang Kui’s Wild Wind Leg manual and drove him off after a fight. As Shopkeeper Liu reported the damage to the night patrol, Yang Ge hoped the spectacle would deter other opportunists from pursuing the martial world.

• A black-clad intruder appeared at the inn and tried to take Jiang Kui’s Wild Wind Leg manual without offering anything in return.
• Yang Ge stopped him with a hatchet, fought him in the dark, and forced him to flee through the front door.
• Shopkeeper Liu found Yang Ge bloodied and joined him in loudly lamenting the stolen item and the wrecked inn.
• Night patrol soldiers arrived, and Shopkeeper Liu told the officer how the intruder had attacked the inn.
• Yang Ge hoped the fight and commotion would scare off small-time martial-world seekers.

After the attack on the Welcome Inn, Yang Ge reassured Shopkeeper Liu and planned to lie low elsewhere in case trouble returned. Shopkeeper Liu arranged a small courtyard house for him, and Yang Ge settled in by bringing Little Yellow home.

• Yang Ge told Shopkeeper Liu that the danger might not be over and suggested the inn close for repairs while he found another place to stay.
• Shopkeeper Liu offered Yang Ge a vacant courtyard house on Firewood Gate Street, with two months free in exchange for fixing it up, and they signed a rental agreement.
• Yang Ge returned alone to the cluttered courtyard and sat there, reflecting on how far his life had changed.
• Yang Ge came back carrying a yellow puppy, secured the gate, and told Little Yellow that the courtyard was its new home.

Yang Ge spoke with a government official who had secretly taken and read his martial arts manual, then learned his unusual constitution was known as the lesser grandmaster physique. The official explained the martial realms and hinted that Yang Ge had become entangled in Jiang Kui’s outlaw affairs, leaving Yang Ge unsure whether he still had a choice.

• Yang Ge woke to find a well-dressed young man had taken his martial arts manual and put Little Yellow outside, and he realized the visitor had drugged him.
• The young man asked about Yang Ge’s family, and Yang Ge said they were several worlds away and asked the official to find Little Yellow a good home if he killed him.
• The young man returned the manual, promised to blame the previous night’s trouble on the old man who had caused it, and explained that Yang Ge’s body had every bone like jade and every meridian open.
• The young man called Yang Ge’s innate constitution the lesser grandmaster physique and described the five realms of martial arts.
• Yang Ge asked what realm Jiang Kui had reached, but the young man began reciting Jiang Kui’s criminal history and warned Yang Ge that he might have no choice in the matter.

Shen Fa pressured Yang Ge to work for him, and Yang Ge reluctantly agreed to take wages without formally joining the court. Shen Fa left after identifying himself as a Thousand-Household Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, then struck Yang Ge with a pebble for grumbling about him.

• Shen Fa argued that Yang Ge should serve the court, while Yang Ge insisted he wanted to avoid other people’s conflicts and live out his days in peace.
• Shen Fa offered Yang Ge paid work under him without making him an officially registered government man, then threatened to kill him if he refused again.
• Yang Ge accepted the job, though he privately believed the wages would not give Shen Fa control over his life or choices.
• Shen Fa introduced himself as a Thousand-Household Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and left the courtyard.
• Yang Ge complained that Shen Fa had climbed over the wall instead of using the gate, and Shen Fa hit him in the chest with a pebble.

Yang Ge practiced the Eighteen Routes of Chaotic Wind Kicks and discovered that he could generate inner force far more easily than the manual described. Wang Dali then arrived to tell him that someone had been caught and rushed him to meet the innkeeper.

• Yang Ge practiced splitting kicks while clearing the courtyard and discovered that a kick could make wood explode from the force of his inner energy.
• Yang Ge reread the Eighteen Routes of Chaotic Wind Kicks and studied its twelve training routes and six dangerous combat routes.
• Yang Ge realized that he could channel inner force despite the manual saying apprentices normally needed years of training and preparation.
• Wang Dali arrived and told Yang Ge that someone had been caught, then pulled him toward the innkeeper.
• Yang Ge insisted on locking his courtyard gate before leaving with Wang Dali.

Yang Ge identified Ding Man as the man who attacked the Welcome Inn, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard executed him publicly, leaving Yang Ge shaken. Shen Fa watched the spectacle from nearby and received detailed reports about Yang Ge’s habits and past.

• Shopkeeper Liu told Yang Ge that the authorities had caught the Welcome Inn’s attacker and were parading him through the streets.
• Yang Ge identified Ding Man by the chest wound and the bloodied Firewood Axe he had used during their fight.
• After Ding Man confessed to intending to rob the inn, the officer executed him and announced his crimes to the crowd.
• Yang Ge recoiled from the execution, fell to the ground, and scratched at himself in shock while the crowd praised the officer.
• Shen Fa watched from a nearby house as his informants reported Yang Ge’s reaction, purchases, rejected marriage proposals, and past remarks.

Shen Fa studied a painter’s portrayal of Yang Ge and ordered his dossier sealed while two men tried to contact him. At the Welcome Inn, Shopkeeper Liu considered handing Yang Ge the manager’s role and urged him to keep living despite his homesickness, but Yang Ge wondered which way counted as forward.

• A painter delivered Shen Fa a painting that showed Yang Ge looking across a river toward a distant village, and Shen Fa approved the title “Looking Homeward.”
• Shen Fa reviewed Yang Ge’s accounts, relationships, and cultural allegiance, then ordered his dossier sealed and two elite men assigned to contact him discreetly.
• Yang Ge waited at the Welcome Inn, concerned that Shen Fa’s contact had not arrived and wondering where he would collect his wages.
• Shopkeeper Liu told Yang Ge he planned to retire and bring his son back to take over the inn, then suggested Yang Ge become its shopkeeper.
• Yang Ge declined to decide on the job before the Martial Examination, and Shopkeeper Liu urged him to move forward rather than remain trapped by homesickness.
• Yang Ge asked which way was forward, and Shopkeeper Liu replied that every direction was forward once he took a step.

Yang Ge spent the summer renovating his courtyard and heard Wang Dali’s reports about the martial examination and Great Wei’s troubles. Reading historical books during the autumn rains, he confirmed that this world’s history had diverged after the Three Kingdoms because Sima Yi had died early, allowing Ji Han to unite the realm.

• Yang Ge rebuilt his courtyard through the summer, while Shopkeeper Liu promised the Liu family would not take the house back and Wang Dali visited with gossip and hints about martial arts.
• Yang Ge learned that Jiang Kui placed fifth in the Grace Martial Examination after winning the field tests but performing poorly in the written tests.
• Yang Ge heard that the examination’s top two were rumored to be disguised sons of hereditary nobles, and watched martial wanderers leave Luting County after the competition.
• Wang Dali told Yang Ge about Great Wei’s history, the steppe Tartars’ raids, the failed northern campaign, and rising grain prices.
• Yang Ge read rented histories and confirmed that his world’s history had diverged after the Three Kingdoms, with Ji Han uniting the realm after Sima Yi was snuffed out early.

Yang Ge met Shopkeeper Liu’s son, Liu Mang, who wanted to turn the inn into a martial arts school, then heard Shen Fa’s request for help catching a Tartar spy. Yang Ge agreed to intervene if necessary, while Shen Fa declared that he wanted to become someone who protected others.

• Liu Mang arrived at Yang Ge’s courtyard, recognized his martial arts, and introduced himself as Shopkeeper Liu’s son.
• Liu Mang proposed turning the inn into a martial arts school, but Yang Ge said he would agree only if Shopkeeper Liu approved.
• Yang Ge found Shen Fa waiting inside with food and learned that a Tartar spy carrying military intelligence had evaded their men.
• Shen Fa asked Yang Ge to use his footwork to hold the spy until Shen Fa’s men could catch him, and Yang Ge agreed to help if he had no other choice.
• Yang Ge explained that people’s sacrifices kept conflict away from ordinary lives, and Shen Fa said he wanted to become someone like them.

Yang Ge left with Fang Ke to ambush suspected Tartar spies traveling on the Bian River, equipped with a heavy battle-axe and four Ghostly Walls. The chapter ended as lantern-lit cargo boats bearing Xie flags approached under a moon obscured by clouds.

• Yang Ge cleaned his home and spent a quiet moment with Little Yellow before Fang Ke arrived and ordered him to leave immediately.
• Yang Ge requested lime and a short-hafted battle-axe, and Fang Ke led him out of the city toward the Bian River.
• Fang Ke presented Yang Ge with a sixty-two-jin battle-axe and four Ghostly Walls, warning him not to use the pellets against a Qi Sea expert.
• Fang Ke heard a signal, drew his Ox-Tail Saber, and told Yang Ge that their guests had arrived.
• Yang Ge followed Fang Ke to the river and saw several lantern-lit cargo boats bearing Xie flags traveling downstream.

Yang Ge realized Shen Fa had drawn him into a dangerous conflict between Great Wei, the Tartars, the emperor, and the great clans. When fighting broke out on the river, Yang Ge chose to join Fang Ke and charge the Xie Family’s boats.

• Yang Ge anxiously prepared for his first mission while Fang Ke steadied him beside the river.
• Shen Fa confronted Fourth Master Xie over the Xie Family’s cargo and demanded that he return to the capital and confess.
• Yang Ge understood that he had become entangled in a high-stakes political struggle and regretted trusting Shen Fa.
• A disguised boatman accused the Xie Family of dealings with the Grasslands, and an attacker struck him as Shen Fa ordered his forces to attack.
• Fang Ke charged toward the cargo boats, and Yang Ge followed with his great axe rather than refuse to choose a side.

Yang Ge and Fang Ke fought aboard the cargo ship as Shen Fa confronted Fourth Xie and a Tartar spy. Fourth Xie’s justification for colluding with the enemy turned the guards against him, and they began surrendering.

• Yang Ge leaped onto the cargo ship, fought off ship guards, and urged them to drop their weapons to spare their families.
• Fang Ke joined Yang Ge, cut down a ship guard, and threatened the others with punishment for resisting the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
• Yang Ge’s appeals about the guards’ families weakened their resolve, while Fourth Xie urged them to keep fighting.
• Shen Fa attacked Fourth Xie and condemned the Xie family for keeping enemies alive to bolster their power and betraying the country.
• A guard dropped his weapon, and the others followed by throwing theirs onto the deck.

Yang Ge discovered that the cargo ship carried guns and gunpowder, then learned the Embroidered Uniform Guard had prepared precautions and was retrieving a member of the Xie Family from the river. Later, Shen Fa visited Yang Ge at the Welcome Inn, where Yang Ge revealed he had been promoted to manager.

• Yang Ge saw Fourth Master Xie plunge into the Bian River as the battle ended and the Embroidered Uniform Guard subdued the ship's guards.
• Yang Ge entered the cargo hold, found guns and gunpowder, and warned the guards on deck.
• Fang Ke explained that the powder was protected and the guns were weak fire lances, while the Embroidered Uniform Guard raised an iron-chain net to recover a man from the Xie Family.
• Shen Fa visited Yang Ge at the Welcome Inn with a food parcel and praised his cooking.
• Yang Ge told Shen Fa that he had already been promoted to manager of the Welcome Inn.

Yang Ge learned that his words had saved the merchant-ship guards and their families from death, and Shen Fa pressured him to vouch for them. Yang Ge faced the choice of backing them as Guard spies or letting them be exiled to Lingnan.

• Yang Ge and Shen Fa ate together, and Shen Fa offered to answer questions about the previous night's mission, but Yang Ge refused to ask.
• Shen Fa summoned the merchant-ship guards Yang Ge had saved, explaining that Yang Ge's shout had prevented many deaths and spared their families.
• Shen Fa told Yang Ge that the guards faced demotion and exile to Lingnan unless someone vouched for them.
• Yang Ge argued that their families should be spared, while Shen Fa said the Guard could put the men on its rolls as spies if Yang Ge accepted responsibility for them.
• Shen Fa placed his Banner Commander waist token on the table and demanded Yang Ge choose, as the kneeling guards struck their foreheads against the ground again.

Yang Ge took command of a new Embroidered Uniform Guard banner in Luting County and set rules for its frontier-army recruits while arranging practical work to keep them inconspicuous. Shen Fa learned of Yang Ge’s plans and ordered case files brought to him, while Yang Ge returned home uncertain about his new official life.

• Shen Fa brought Yang Ge to the Guard’s covert post, introduced him to roughly thirty soldiers, and assigned Fang Ke as his Junior Banner Officer.
• Yang Ge dismissed two soldiers who wanted a posting where they could wear uniforms and carry weapons, then set rules requiring obedience, endurance, and restraint.
• Yang Ge ordered the soldiers to work as towmen on the Bian River and asked Fang Ke to request old, closed patrol and arrest case files for study.
• Fang Ke reported Yang Ge’s plans to Shen Fa, who ordered about a hundred case files from the Northern Pacification Office’s Archives Repository to be delivered to Yang Ge.
• Yang Ge returned home and told Little Yellow he felt unsure about becoming an official.

Yang Ge finally mastered Wind-Catching Shadow-Seizing, unleashing the true power of the Eighteen Routes of Chaotic Wind Kicks. He resolved to focus on advancing his martial arts realm rather than learning a weapon technique.

• Yang Ge completed his morning practice and discovered his kicks could whip up powerful gusts of wind.
• Yang Ge chained kicks together in midair and performed Wind-Catching Shadow-Seizing, producing a devastating burst of force before collapsing from exhaustion.
• Yang Ge realized the Wild Wind Leg’s killing moves relied on inner force and demanded immense strength and stamina.
• Yang Ge considered learning a weapon technique but rejected the idea, deciding to prioritize raising his martial arts realm and rely on the Wild Wind Leg’s killing moves.

Yang Ge trained martial arts while building his Embroidered Uniform Guard banner, then confronted Fang Ke over a large bribe collected from the men. He rejected the personal share, directed some of the money toward meat for the soldiers, and learned that the Guard’s past inspection and arrest files had arrived.

• Yang Ge refined his martial arts and continued planning renovations while Wang Dali, Liu Mang, and Fang Ke visited his courtyard.
• Yang Ge appointed four former frontier squad leaders as Probationary Banner Officers, and reinforcements brought his banner to fifty-one men.
• Fang Ke brought Yang Ge his Koi Narrow-Sleeved Uniform, Bronze-Pattern Ox-Tail Saber, and a bundle of silver collected from the men.
• Yang Ge questioned the silver’s source and ordered Fang Ke to return the men’s contributions, forbidding anyone in his banner from exploiting the soldiers.
• After Fang Ke explained that the silver came from proceeds of the Xie Family case, Yang Ge kept fifteen ingots to provide meat for the men and sent Fang Ke back with the rest.
• Fang Ke told Yang Ge that the Guard’s previous inspection and arrest files had arrived and were secured at his house.