Chapter Summaries

Song Ning persuaded Han Xiao to help secretly awaken Zhou Yunzhi so they could learn who had tried to kill her, while keeping the plan from Tian Juying. After a quiet day of exam preparation, Song Wang reported that Wu Tao Ying’s home had burned down, and Song Ning asked whether anyone was hurt.

• Song Ning explained why Lin Xiaoming’s repeated presence at key incidents made him suspicious, and Han Xiao agreed to help investigate him.
• Song Ning told Han Xiao that Zhou Yunzhi might wake if she received secret acupuncture, and they planned to begin after Song Ning’s exams while keeping the treatment from Tian Juying.
• Han Xiao asked Song Lan for more Bone-Binding Lure so Song Ning and Gu Zheng could take it, but Song Lan struck him with a basket and accused him of trying to drug Song Ning.
• Song Ning studied while Song Lan prepared herbs and Han Xiao guarded the courtyard.
• Song Wang reported that Wu Tao Ying’s home had caught fire the previous night, and Song Ning asked whether Wu Tao Ying and her family had been hurt.

After learning that the Wu family’s house burned down and Wu Tao Ying’s grandmother died, Song Ning suspected the fire was meant to silence Wu Tao Ying over something she had witnessed at the Red Star Auditorium. She and Han Xiao tried to question Wu Tao Ying, but she refused to cooperate, and they left without answers.

• Song Wang explained that Wu Tao Ying’s fight with her brother had taken her family to the hospital, sparing five relatives from the fire that destroyed their home and killed her grandmother.
• Song Ning and Han Xiao learned that the displaced Wu family was staying temporarily in a guesthouse, and Song Ning suspected the fire was connected to Wu Tao Ying recognizing Lin Xiaoming at the Red Star Auditorium.
• Han Xiao questioned Wu Tao Ying about anything unusual she had seen at the auditorium, but she accused him and Song Ning of bullying her and refused to answer.
• Wu Tao Ying’s family came out to defend her, so Song Ning and Han Xiao left without learning what she had witnessed.

Song Ning finished her exams and arranged for Jiang Chengshi to watch for Fuwai Hospital's reorganization while she went to Qingbei. She learned Gu Zheng had pursued Buddha Lord alone and was missing, then recruited Kong Jianming to investigate what Wu Tao Ying had seen at the Red Star Auditorium.

• Chen Liang told Song Ning that Gu Zheng's forces had captured the gang's members, but reinforcements had rescued Buddha Lord, whom Gu Zheng pursued alone.
• Han Xiao learned Gu Zheng was out of contact and agreed to go with Chen Liang to help Yang Qi search for him, keeping the news from Song Ning.
• Song Ning completed her exams, reassured Jiang Chengshi about her results, and asked him to watch for Fuwai Hospital's reorganization.
• Song Ning spotted Kong Jianming being beaten in an alley, and Han Xiao drove off his attackers.
• Song Ning asked Kong Jianming to find Wu Tao Ying and learn what she had seen at the Red Star Auditorium performance.

Song Ning prepared her research team for Elder Zhou’s possible surgery and agreed to join Han Xiao and Chen Liang on their mission to find their missing boss. Before leaving, she set up a medicine room and asked the Meilan Sisters to secure the courtyard while she was away.

• Song Ning told Kong Jianming to find Wu Tao Ying and learn what she had seen at the Red Star Auditorium, promising to handle the illegal lenders’ interest demands.
• Song Ning discussed the project’s next stages with Mike, updated Lao Qi about Zhou Yuanhang, and asked Lao Qi to assist if she operated on Elder Zhou; Lao Qi agreed.
• Han Xiao reported that the police planned a joint crackdown on the student loan-sharking gang, then called Song Ning their future sister-in-law.
• Song Ning deduced that Gu Zheng had lost contact and that Han Xiao and Chen Liang were preparing to find their boss, and she insisted on joining their mission.
• Song Ning gave the Meilan Sisters a rear-courtyard room for making medicine, provided money for supplies, and told them to keep outsiders—including Song Wang—out of the courtyard while she was away.

Song Ning traveled with Han Xiao, Xiong Gang, and Chen Liang to a new mission while learning more about the weapons and chemical agents recovered from the Jin City Base. Zheng Zhenguo’s account and Li Zekun’s notebook deepened the mystery of what the K organization was seeking, and the group headed toward a potentially dangerous destination.

• Song Lan and Song Mei accepted Song Ning’s assignment to keep anyone from moving into the courtyard.
• Han Xiao explained how Wu Tao Ying had fallen through a concealed delivery hatch in the hospital basement.
• Xiong Gang reported that investigators had recovered weapons, explosives, and toxic chemical agents from the Jin City Base.
• Xiong Gang said Zheng Zhenguo and other captured engineers had been questioned about an unidentified thing, which Song Ning connected to the abduction of Zhou Yuanhang.
• Han Xiao explained that Li Zekun’s notebook exposed the K organization’s infiltration of Factory 282 and that carbon fiber samples were not the thing they sought.
• As the Jeep left Capital City, Chen Liang warned Song Ning to rest because they might have to fight when they arrived.

Song Ning and her team reached Tangshan to reinforce Gu Zheng’s pursuit of Buddha Lord, whose group was believed to be hiding in a collapsed sulfur mine. Zhang Ming explained the underground mine’s maze-like, earthquake-damaged tunnels, and Song Ning warned that toxic sulfur dioxide made the search especially dangerous.

• Song Ning received a pistol and ammunition under Regiment Commander Lei’s orders before she and the others traveled from the base into Tangshan’s earthquake ruins.
• The team learned how Gu Zheng had trapped Buddha Lord’s group in the ruins, only for masked intruders to force Buddha Lord’s release by threatening a pregnant woman.
• Chen Liang led the three Jeeps to the northern suburbs, where Zhang Ming identified the team and took them to their temporary base.
• Zhang Ming explained that the group was hiding in a collapsed sulfur mine with deep, maze-like tunnels damaged by the earthquake.
• Song Ning warned that sulfur dioxide in the mine was toxic and could cause explosions, putting anyone who stayed underground too long at risk.

Song Ning and Chen Liang led a six-person rescue team into the abandoned mine to search for Gu Zheng and Yang Qi’s men. On the fourth basement level, Song Ning suspected the missing men had found an overlooked escape route.

• Chen Liang learned that Gu Zheng had been underground for eighteen hours and Yang Qi for thirteen, then formed a six-person search team with Han Xiao, Xiong Gang, and Song Ning.
• Song Ning asked Zhang Ming to contact Regiment Commander Lei and investigate Lin Xiaoming’s whereabouts.
• The team descended through the mine to the fourth basement level, where poisonous gas grew stronger and the men had lost track of Gu Zheng.
• A guard told Chen Liang that Yang Qi had led his men farther down while searching for Gu Zheng, but they had found no trace of him.
• Song Ning reasoned that the men were unlikely to risk descending farther without breathing equipment and searched the fourth level for an overlooked escape door.

Song Ning retraced the spot where Yang Qi lost Gu Zheng and searched the rubble for clues. She found a collapsed mine shaft that could not have served as an escape route, but remained convinced Gu Zheng had vanished nearby and kept examining the area.

• Yang Qi's soldier showed Song Ning, Xiong Gang, and Chen Liang's team where Gu Zheng and the fugitives had disappeared from sight.
• Song Ning split the search party into two groups to slowly retrace the area and look for overlooked clues.
• Xiong Gang found a gap in the rubble and searched it, but reported that it was blocked except for a damaged mine shaft.
• Song Ning inspected the shaft and saw that its lift cage and passage were ruined, ruling it out as the fugitives' escape route.
• Han Xiao urged them to continue searching, but Song Ning stayed behind, wondering why Gu Zheng had disappeared so suddenly.

Song Ning discovered a hidden passage in the mine shaft and reasoned that it was an emergency escape route. Xiong Gang entered to investigate, but he had not returned after five minutes.

• Song Ning noticed that the shaft walls were unusually intact and asked Xiong Gang to dislodge the lift cage.
• After Xiong Gang kicked the cage down the shaft, Song Ning and Han Xiao spotted a round metal cover hiding an opening in the wall.
• Han Xiao pushed the cover aside, revealing the passage, and Song Ning explained that the mine workers had built escape routes at intervals along the shaft.
• Xiong Gang crossed a plank and crawled into the passage, finding handholds before the cover swung shut behind him.
• Song Ning suggested Gu Zheng had left the cage positioned to draw attention to the hidden entrance, then noticed that Xiong Gang had been gone for five minutes.

Song Ning followed Xiong Gang and Han Xiao into the emergency passage and discovered a steep, water-filled chute that carried her into the darkness. Meanwhile, the Wu family decided to seek shelter from Song Wang, while Kong Jianming failed to find Wu Tao Ying at the Guesthouse.

• Han Xiao entered the emergency passage after Xiong Gang, cried out, and then fell silent.
• Song Ning crawled inside to look for the two men, but the passage sealed behind her and dropped her onto a steep chute.
• Song Ning slid down the wet chute, unable to see where it led.
• Kong Jianming went to the Guesthouse to find Wu Tao Ying, learned the Wu family had to leave the next day, and returned to school.
• The Wu family panicked over their lack of shelter, and Mother Wu and the eldest Wu son persuaded them to ask Song Wang for help.

The Wu Family pressured Song Wang to let them stay at his home, and he went back to ask his sisters about the rooms. Meanwhile, Song Ning emerged from an underground river into an astonishing scene.

• The Wu Family cornered Song Wang at the winery and asked him to rent them rooms after their home burned down.
• Song Wang left work to consult Song Mei and Song Lan, while Zheng Chunzhi warned him not to hurry back.
• The Wu Family headed toward Song Wang's courtyard, planning to move in and delay paying rent.
• Song Mei and Song Lan carried medicine-making tools into the rear courtyard, and Song Lan warned that a confrontation over rooms might be coming.
• Song Ning slid into an underground river, removed her oxygen equipment, and floated to the surface.
• Song Ning surfaced and stared in astonishment at what lay before her.

Song Ning followed the underground river and found the markings left by Gu Zheng, Xiong Gang, or Han Xiao, confirming she was on the right route. She and Han Xiao discovered hidden steps leading upward behind a rock, and began climbing toward the surface.

• Song Ning found glowing fluorite and ashes from a fire, then spotted two arrows pointing right and followed them.
• Song Ning reached a flooded basin with no visible way forward and rejected the idea of following the river downstream.
• Han Xiao surfaced after searching underwater and told Song Ning the submerged passage was too narrow for Xiong Gang to fit through.
• Song Ning noticed faint scratches pointing into the water, and Han Xiao found hidden steps behind a rock.
• Song Ning made the arrow more visible, then followed Han Xiao up the steps toward the surface.

Song Ning, Han Xiao, and Xiong Gang crossed a broken fissure while pursuing the fugitives and worrying about Gu Zheng, who was alone ahead of them. They reached a heavy iron door near the surface and prepared for danger before Xiong Gang pressed its red button.

• Han Xiao and Song Ning reunited with Xiong Gang, who showed them a wide fissure where the fugitives had destroyed a chain-and-plank bridge.
• The three tied their five-meter safety ropes together, and Xiong Gang secured the rope across the fissure so they could swing over one at a time.
• Song Ning struggled with worry for Gu Zheng, imagining the dangers he had faced alone as he continued pursuing the fugitives.
• The team climbed through the shallower mine passage, where the sulfur dioxide smell grew stronger, and reached a heavy iron door with a red button.
• After Song Ning found no other way to open the door, the three loaded their weapons and Xiong Gang pressed the button.

Song Ning, Han Xiao, and Xiong Gang found a way to open the mine door and discovered a dead member of the Buddha Lord’s group, then continued after Gu Zheng. Meanwhile, Song Wang tried to keep Wu Tao Ying’s family out of his home, but they sat across the entrance to wait for his sister.

• Song Ning, Han Xiao, and Xiong Gang found fresh blood by the unresponsive iron door and realized Gu Zheng had passed through it, possibly injured.
• Song Ning had Han Xiao fit her helmet lamp’s bulb into the ceiling socket, and Xiong Gang’s press of the button opened the door a crack.
• The group found a dead black-clad man with a dagger wound outside and followed the rail-lined passage toward daylight.
• Song Wang refused to let Wu Tao Ying’s family move in before his sister returned.
• Mother Wu and Wu Tao Ying’s brothers sat down at the gate, blocking the entrance while they waited for Song Wang’s sister.

Song Lan and Song Mei defended the Song Family courtyard when Mother Wu and her family tried to move in, and Song Lan brought Public Security officers to remove them. The Wu Family was ordered to accept temporary shelter, and they revealed the location was Songnian Alley, a place Wu Tao Ying remembered as rundown.

• Mother Wu appealed to neighbors while Song Wang hesitated, then the Wu Family tried to force its way into the courtyard.
• Song Mei and Song Lan blocked the Wu Family, and Song Lan climbed over the wall to fetch officers from Xiangyang Police Station.
• Song Lan returned with Zheng Yang and another officer, but the Wu Family had already pushed Song Mei down and entered the living room.
• Song Wang told Wu Tao Ying that Song Ning had decided the courtyard could not be rented, while Mother Wu staged a loud protest.
• Chief Jin and a housing office comrade arrived and offered the Wu Family free temporary shelter, warning that their behavior could cost them subsidies.
• Mother Wu admitted she had concealed the shelter arrangement, and Wu Tao Ying identified Songnian Alley as a rundown place she had known as a child.

Song Ning, Xiong Gang, and Han Xiao followed Gu Zheng’s trail through an abandoned shantytown and found signs that he was wounded and had tracked the fugitives in two directions. While Xiong Gang and Han Xiao searched separately, Song Ning heard their agreed distress signal from the fog.

• Xiong Gang, Han Xiao, and Song Ning followed Gu Zheng’s markers through the abandoned miners’ shacks.
• The group found blood and two arrows in a ruined building, suggesting Gu Zheng was injured and had tracked fugitives in two directions.
• Xiong Gang and Han Xiao split up to search while Song Ning stayed behind in the building.
• As thick fog hid the shantytown, Song Ning heard the long-short-long distress whistle at six fifty.

Song Ning followed a hidden chute from the shantytown to a coastal escape route and discovered a fog-shrouded dumping ground full of derelict boats. As she searched for the fugitives and Gu Zheng, a gunshot rang out ahead over the sea.

• Song Ning tracked drops of blood to a shack and found a concealed mechanism beneath a wooden board on its kang bed.
• Song Ning fell through a chute and followed a damp, salty passage to an exit beneath a large reef near the shore.
• Song Ning realized the passage led to the fugitives’ intended escape route by water and headed toward the coast to look for Gu Zheng.
• Song Ning found that the boats along the shore were abandoned, rusted vessels rather than an enemy fleet, and began searching them in the fog.
• A gunshot sounded ahead over the sea, startling Song Ning as she searched the boats.

Song Ning followed gunfire through the fog to an abandoned ship and overheard Buddha Lord’s men planning to escape after shooting Gu Zheng. After being discovered and knocked into the sea, she realized Buddha Lord and his men were surrounding Gu Zheng, then swam toward the danger to reach him.

• Song Ning heard gunshots from different directions and concluded that Gu Zheng and Buddha Lord were among the abandoned ships.
• Song Ning climbed aboard a large ship and overheard a man say that Gu Zheng had been shot and Buddha Lord planned to leave before the fog cleared.
• Song Ning tried to retreat as Buddha Lord’s men came down the stairs, but one of them attacked her when she hid nearby.
• Song Ning cut her attacker’s face with her dagger before he knocked her off the ship and fired several shots into the water.
• Song Ning identified the tall, thin man as likely being Night Owl and realized that Buddha Lord and his men had been firing at Gu Zheng.
• Song Ning swam toward the direction of the gunfire to reach Gu Zheng.

Song Ning infiltrated Buddha Lord’s ship through its flooded lower compartment, hoping to stop his escape. After discovering the ship was heavily guarded, she was seized from behind while scouting the main cabin.

• Song Ning used her oxygen tank to search underwater and spotted the ship sent to collect Buddha Lord.
• She opened the ship’s sea-valve grating, squeezed through the narrow pipe, and entered the flooded bottom compartment.
• Song Ning climbed into the baggage hold, found a black cloak, and disguised herself as one of the ship’s men.
• She reached the deck and saw that the ship was already moving through the fog, then spied on the main cabin.
• Song Ning saw Buddha Lord being treated by a doctor amid at least a dozen armed men, but did not spot Night Owl.
• As Song Ning considered whether to attack the engine or Buddha Lord, someone grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth and nose.

Song Ning reunited with the wounded Gu Zheng aboard the enemy ship, and they decided to follow it to learn how it crossed the navy’s patrol line. They hid in the luggage hold, where Gu Zheng fell asleep while Song Ning prepared to treat his leg.

• Gu Zheng revealed that a bullet had grazed his left arm and his right leg was badly bruised, though the bone was intact.
• Gu Zheng told Song Ning that some of the ship’s weapons were military issue and that at least thirty armed men were aboard.
• Song Ning and Gu Zheng chose to follow the ship rather than attack it, hoping to discover its route or the location of its base.
• Gu Zheng guided Song Ning past the patrols to the luggage hold, where they gathered food and water and hid in a remote corner.
• Gu Zheng fell asleep from exhaustion as Song Ning prepared to treat his injured leg with acupuncture.