Chapter Summaries

Yang Ge took Little Yellow to the grain market to buy supplies, but discovered that grain prices had doubled and the shop would not accept his official silver. He left without buying anything, while the shop assistant assumed he would not return.

• Yang Ge took Little Yellow out to celebrate his payday and walked through Firewood Gate Street, where children teased the muzzled dog.
• Yang Ge saw crowds buying grain and many closed shops at the market, then learned that millet cost nineteen copper coins per dou and barley cost thirty.
• Yang Ge ordered ten shi of millet and five shi of barley, but the shop assistant doubted he could pay and refused to accept his official silver ingot.
• Yang Ge explained that the ingot had come from selling his ancestral home and left to find a silver exchange.
• After Yang Ge disappeared into the crowd, the assistant called him a bandit and doubted he would return.

Yang Ge exchanged silver for copper and bought grain, then gave two pieces of silver to a starving man so he could bury the two bodies on his cart. He returned to Firewood Gate Street, where Shopkeeper Liu greeted Little Yellow with an egg.

• Yang Ge exchanged his silver ingot for copper coins and calculated the cost of the grain he planned to buy.
• Yang Ge saw a ragged man hauling the bodies of an adult and a child and gave him two pieces of silver for their burial.
• Yang Ge told the man to live on and help someone else when he could, then left him weeping.
• Yang Ge arrived at Firewood Gate Street with the grain delivery and reassured Little Yellow that he would buy it meat another time.
• Shopkeeper Liu and Liu Mang greeted Yang Ge, and Shopkeeper Liu welcomed Little Yellow with an egg.

Yang Ge warned Shopkeeper Liu that grain prices might stay high and urged him to stock food, then discussed helping Liu Mang run his inn and martial arts school. Yang Ge agreed to assist only if Liu Mang married and had children, leaving father and son stunned by the condition.

• Yang Ge told Shopkeeper Liu and Liu Mang that he had bought a large amount of grain because he suspected prices would remain high, and advised them to stock up.
• Liu Mang announced that he and his father would keep the inn open and that Yang Ge would manage it while also instructing at the martial arts school, earning two wages.
• Shopkeeper Liu explained that he wanted Yang Ge to help Liu Mang because trouble seemed unavoidable and Liu Mang was too reckless to run the inn alone.
• Yang Ge agreed to help Liu Mang only if he married and had children, arguing that he needed to build a family and become responsible before Yang Ge gave up his peaceful life.
• Liu Mang rejected the condition while Shopkeeper Liu approved it.

Yang Ge learned that the Xie Family would be executed and was warned that Tartar spies might enter the capital to stir up trouble. As he considered Shen Fa’s ambiguous orders, he concluded that the Xie Family’s downfall had become the center of a struggle for control of the court.

• Yang Ge reviewed Embroidered Uniform Guard case files and formed a preliminary intelligence-gathering plan for Luting County.
• Fang Ke told Yang Ge that the Xie Family would be executed in a month and that they had been ordered to watch for Tartar spies entering the capital.
• Fang Ke warned that the Xie Family’s connections meant powerful people might resist the investigation, and relayed Shen Fa’s instruction to proceed cautiously and act as circumstances required.
• Yang Ge considered whether Shen Fa was baiting opponents or waiting to see how events unfolded, and wondered whether troops might move through Luting County toward the capital.
• Yang Ge concluded that the apparent dispute over the Xie Family’s fate was part of a deeper struggle for control of the court.

Yang Ge began tearing down the rear courtyard he had bought so he could turn it into a vegetable garden, chicken enclosure, and workshop. After clearing the buildings and leveling the ground in a single day, he noticed the bright moon and realized the Mid-Autumn Festival was near.

• Yang Ge and Little Yellow ate noodles, then Yang Ge broke through the earthen wall separating the courtyards to mark the new property’s groundbreaking.
• Yang Ge showed Little Yellow their expanded home, and Little Yellow raced around the newly opened rear courtyard.
• Yang Ge planned the rear courtyard as a vegetable garden, chicken enclosure, and multipurpose workshop.
• Yang Ge and Little Yellow demolished the courtyard’s structures, and Yang Ge stacked the bluestone foundation strips aside.
• Yang Ge tamped down the courtyard ground under the bright moon and realized the Mid-Autumn Festival was almost here.

Shen Fa met his childhood friend Xie Yu in secret on Mid-Autumn night as the two confronted the destruction of Xie Yu’s family over its treasonous collusion. Shen Fa promised to spare the women and children, and Xie Yu placed his men under Shen Fa’s command before they parted, expecting not to meet again.

• Xie Yu asked Shen Fa whether he had come to share farewell wine, and Shen Fa explained that Xie Yu’s family had betrayed the country and forced his hand.
• Xie Yu said he had known his family was being used as a weapon but could not abandon them, while Shen Fa urged him to flee with his men.
• Shen Fa offered to save Xie Yu’s family and promised to seek survival for the women and children, though he would not spare those who had colluded with the enemy or held office.
• Xie Yu summoned his armored men and ordered them to obey Shen Fa while he fought the Tartars, but to kill him and his family if he ever turned traitor.
• Shen Fa and Xie Yu exchanged their final words as friends, and Shen Fa left through the window while Xie Yu apologized to him alone.

On Mid-Autumn Festival, Yang Ge received mooncakes from Shopkeeper Liu and learned that Fu Yu’s marriage had been arranged. Yang Ge refused to join the Liu family in presenting the betrothal gifts, explaining that he wanted to keep his dangerous work separate from them, then shared a mooncake with Little Yellow.

• Yang Ge welcomed Shopkeeper Liu, who brought him mooncakes and invited him to visit the City God Temple fair.
• Shopkeeper Liu told Yang Ge that Fu Yu would marry Butcher Deng’s second daughter and asked him to attend the betrothal-gift visit the next day.
• Yang Ge explained that his martial arts school and dangerous ties to the Embroidered Uniform Guard could put the Liu family at risk, so he needed to keep some distance from them.
• Shopkeeper Liu left troubled, and Yang Ge opened the mooncakes and shared one with Little Yellow.
• Little Yellow eyed the remaining mooncakes, and Yang Ge ran off with the parcel as the dog chased him.

Yang Ge encountered a Gray-Clad Man from the Five Ghosts of Yan Yun outside his home, but a black-clad figure called the man away before they fought. He then confronted his Embroidered Uniform Guard recruits over their failure to track the Five Ghosts, ordering them to find out how the group entered the city.

• Yang Ge watched Shopkeeper Liu and Liu Mang deliver betrothal gifts to Butcher Deng, then walked home with Little Yellow.
• A Gray-Clad Man attacked Yang Ge near his home and identified revenge and testing him as his purposes, but a black-clad figure called him away.
• Yang Ge took Little Yellow to the recruits' dining hall, ate the meat dishes, and demanded reports on martial practitioners entering Luting County.
• Yang Ge questioned the five Junior Banner Officers about when the Five Ghosts of Yan Yun entered the city and reached his home, then threw chicken soup over them.
• After Yang Ge left, Fang Ke ordered the recruits to investigate the Five Ghosts' route into the city or face disciplinary punishment.

After discovering his home had been ransacked, Yang Ge vented his anger by breaking through to the Qi Sea Realm using his unusual control over Inner Force. Fang Ke then told him the men responsible were at the Welcome Inn, and Yang Ge set out to confront them.

• Yang Ge found his courtyard and inner room ransacked, cursed in anger, and shut Little Yellow inside.
• Yang Ge used his Lesser Grandmaster Physique and precise Inner Force control to force open his Dantian and break through to the Qi Sea Realm.
• Yang Ge tested his new Inner Qi by striking the pool and rockery, then considered whether Wild Wind Leg had a Qi Sea Realm cultivation method.
• Fang Ke told Yang Ge that the two Northeastern Tigers were at the Welcome Inn.
• Yang Ge ordered Fang Ke to gather the brothers and weapons so they could confront the two men.

Yang Ge surrounded the Welcome Inn with the Embroidered Uniform Guard and challenged the men inside over their unlawful entry and assault. He began a duel with a gray-clad fighter, both intending to fight to the death.

• Yang Ge led the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the Welcome Inn and had Fang Ke demand that the criminals surrender.
• Yang Ge provoked the men inside, declared the inn a victim, and offered to either arrest them or settle their dispute in a fight.
• A gray-clad man emerged from the inn and challenged Yang Ge after recognizing his Wild Wind Leg.
• Yang Ge handed his saber to Fang Ke and cleared space for the duel while the guards aimed their crossbows at the gray-clad man.
• The gray-clad man attacked with a flurry of kicks, but Yang Ge countered with a whipping kick that forced him back.
• Yang Ge charged through the gray-clad man's leg shadows and vowed to fight to kill him.

Yang Ge and the gray-clad man fought an exhausting battle of leg techniques, each expecting to outlast the other. Yang Ge unleashed a dangerous killing move without building momentum, and the chapter ended with both men claiming they had caught the other as Yang Ge grabbed his opponent’s arm.

• Yang Ge and the gray-clad man traded rapid kicks, while Fang Ke ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guards to prepare reinforcements and keep the Banner Commander safe.
• The fighters continued using their strongest Wild Wind Leg techniques, draining their inner qi as each tried to endure longer than the other.
• Yang Ge launched Wind Sweeps Away the Clouds without building momentum, shocking the gray-clad man, who abandoned his attack and used Buxian Mountain Stance to block it.
• The gray-clad man caught Yang Ge’s kick on his crossed arms, but Yang Ge seized the man’s right arm and declared that he had caught him.

Yang Ge defeated the gray-clad man with his brute strength, then was swiftly beaten by the curly-bearded man. The curly-bearded man left Yang Ge a book and a message for someone at home before taking his injured brother and departing.

• Yang Ge overpowered the gray-clad man, broke his leg, and slammed him to the ground until he went limp.
• Fang Ke arrived with bailiffs and soldiers, surrounding the inn as Yang Ge and the curly-bearded man agreed to fight.
• The curly-bearded man struck Yang Ge down, leaving him badly injured and struggling to breathe.
• The curly-bearded man placed a thread-bound book on Yang Ge's chest and asked him to tell someone that he understood and would wait at home.
• Yang Ge told Fang Ke to let the brothers go, and the curly-bearded man carried off the gray-clad man while Fang Ke helped Yang Ge up.

Five days after the attack, Shen Fa visited Yang Ge and explained how the surviving Five Ghosts of Yan Yun had been driven from Lu Mountain and why Lei Heng and Liu Meng might have come after Jiang Kui. The visit ended with Yang Ge showing Shen Fa the martial arts manual Lei Heng had left him, the Eighteen Routes of Snowfall Palm.

• Shen Fa obeyed Yang Ge's warning signs and knocked instead of climbing over the wall, then asked about Yang Ge's injuries.
• Yang Ge demanded to know why Shen Fa had failed to prevent the trouble, and Shen Fa explained the Five Ghosts' history and the destruction of Lu Mountain.
• Shen Fa said the border army had swept through Lu Mountain again, possibly leading Liu Meng to believe Jiang Kui had used the brothers to earn merit.
• Yang Ge complained that he had been caught in the brothers' feud, while Shen Fa blamed his weak martial arts and Yang Ge mocked Shen Fa for remaining in the Qi Sea Realm.
• Yang Ge showed Shen Fa the manual Lei Heng had left him, titled Eighteen Routes of Snowfall Palm.

Shen Fa explained why Yang Ge should not bypass the hardships of martial training, arguing that the struggle itself tempered a martial artist. Yang Ge rejected the idea of seeking hardship and insisted on avoiding trouble, leaving the two arguing over whether to dodge or confront anyone who threatened him.

• After reading the Snowfall Palm manual, Shen Fa explained that Yang Ge's naturally open meridians might let him attempt advanced cultivation early, but warned that skipping the process could leave him untempered.
• Shen Fa compared slow martial training to forging a saber through repeated hammer blows and cautioned Yang Ge against trying to gain power without enduring hardship.
• Shen Fa advised Yang Ge that perseverance through setbacks mattered more than natural talent, and Yang Ge solemnly thanked him before saying he wanted no trials.
• Yang Ge said he would stay farther away from people in the martial world to protect himself, while Shen Fa argued that trouble might find him anyway.
• Yang Ge and Shen Fa quarreled over whether to avoid troublemakers or beat each one who caused trouble, ending with Shen Fa calling Yang Ge hopelessly foolish.

Yang Ge helped reopen the Welcome Inn while secretly receiving a warning that an enemy chief would pass through that night. He left to meet Fu Yu after ordering Fang Ke to investigate the city's soldiers and keep officials under surveillance.

• Shopkeeper Liu reopened the Welcome Inn, and Yang Ge served customers as Fang Ke and disguised Embroidered Uniform Guard enforcers arrived to show their support.
• Fang Ke discreetly passed Yang Ge a sealed message from Shen Fa warning that the enemy chief would pass through between the hours of the rooster and the dog, and Yang Ge burned the evidence.
• Wang Dali arrived with silver and demanded a meal, while Shopkeeper Liu mocked his apparent turn toward a crooked path.
• Yang Ge left the inn to check on Fu Yu, and Fang Ke followed him outside to ask what orders had come from home.
• Yang Ge told Fang Ke to investigate every soldier patrolling the city that night and place officials of every rank under surveillance until he heard further word.

Yang Ge refused to send his unit to support Shen Fa’s ambush, but responded when armed men attacked the county office and slaughtered its occupants. He led thirty guards into the compound, where the attackers launched an ambush.

• Yang Ge decided to keep his unit in Luting rather than join Shen Fa’s operation against the Tartar experts.
• A guard reported that armed men were killing people inside the county office, and Yang Ge ordered the town gates secured before heading there.
• Gu Tong told Yang Ge that masked attackers had slaughtered the county magistrate’s family and that three had escaped.
• Yang Ge ordered Gu Tong to maintain the cordon and led Fang Ke and thirty guards into the county office.
• As Yang Ge called on the attackers to surrender, one hurled a severed head at him and several others leaped from the eaves to attack.

Yang Ge captured the outlaws who had attacked him at the county offices, then confronted a one-eyed swordsman guarding a girl in a side room. The man killed himself after asking Yang Ge to protect her, leaving Yang Ge to face the consequences of his death.

• Yang Ge used Frost Slays a Hundred Grasses to defeat the attackers, and Fang Ke identified them as outlaws rather than death-sworn agents.
• Yang Ge ordered the guards to secure and search the county offices, concluding that the three who escaped were likely the leaders.
• Fang Ke advised Yang Ge that the escape of the leaders might not be a bad thing, and Yang Ge apologized for criticizing him.
• Yang Ge found a one-eyed man guarding a closed room and promised to protect the girl inside if she was innocent.
• The one-eyed man refused to surrender, said he deserved to die, and cut his own throat while telling Yang Ge to say he had acted alone.

Yang Ge investigated the magistrate’s residence after the raid and questioned a frightened servant girl who recognized the dead one-eyed man as Uncle Wang. He ordered her protected as the only witness and put the search for the escaped villains on hold until dawn.

• Fang Ke confirmed that the one-eyed man had died, and Yang Ge ordered the enforcers to keep searching the residence.
• Yang Ge entered the servants’ quarters and reassured a frightened girl who had just awakened.
• The girl identified the one-eyed man as Uncle Wang, a new stableman who had arrived shortly before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
• Yang Ge learned that the girl had once saved Uncle Wang two steamed buns because he had missed meals, and he reflected on the lives he had given to protect her.
• Yang Ge ordered Fang Ke to guard the girl and verify her identity with neighboring households.
• Fang Ke asked about the three escapees, but Yang Ge ordered him to restore order in the city first and wait until dawn to continue the investigation.

Yang Ge and Fang Ke discussed how to keep the Luting County murders from being pinned on the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Yang Ge ordered Fang Ke to pursue the escaped ringleader and link the county case to the ambush of the Tartar experts, leaving the Guard with the initiative.

• Fang Ke reported that seventy-six people in the county compound had been killed and that Geng Rong was among the dead.
• Fang Ke suggested blaming Geng Rong for consorting with bandits and issuing warrants for the escaped attackers to contain the scandal.
• Fang Ke warned Yang Ge that powerful officials could erase them if they pursued the truth, and revealed that his father, Fang Xiaotang, had died under suspicious circumstances.
• Yang Ge agreed they needed to protect themselves but refused to accept blame on behalf of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
• Yang Ge ordered Fang Ke to take two squads through the west gate in pursuit of the escaped ringleader and connect the case to the ambush of the Tartar experts.

Yang Ge defended the girl in the county court against three black-clad attackers who demanded he hand her over. He quickly overwhelmed them, but after one bit him, his bottled-up anger erupted as he pursued the last man trying to crawl away.

• Yang Ge refused the attackers’ demand to surrender the girl and challenged them to fight.
• Three black-clad men attacked Yang Ge, who used a sandalwood desk to knock two of them aside and injure them.
• Yang Ge drew his saber and forced the remaining attacker to his knees, while another man grabbed and bit his waist.
• Yang Ge hurled the man clinging to him into the floor and broke both knees of the fallen attacker beneath him.
• Yang Ge saw the last man crawling toward the doors and strode after him, intent on punishing the attackers.