Chapter Summaries

Song Xuan and his sister Song Qian headed to the Black Robe Guard assessment, which they hoped to pass for access to rare cultivation pills. On the way, Song Xuan recalled how he had transmigrated into the Great Zhou world with a game panel and a powerful cultivation technique.

• Song Qian caught Song Xuan reading The Plum in the Golden Vase and bargained for candied hawthorns in exchange for keeping quiet.
• Song Yuanshan warned Song Qian to follow her brother's lead during the dangerous Black Robe Guard assessment.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian left for the assessment, and Song Qian joked about revealing that they were stronger than their father.
• Song Xuan remembered fusing martial arts techniques in a game before transmigrating into the body of a young boy with a game panel and the Pure Yang Limitless Virgin Skill.
• Song Xuan recalled that passing the assessment would promote them to second-class guards and grant them valuable rejuvenation pills.

Song Xuan and Song Qian chose a bandit-suppression assignment for their Black Robe Guard promotion assessment and prepared to leave for Langlang Mountain. Song Qian suspected her brother of being the flower thief outside the city, but Song Xuan explained he planned to use Ecstasy Powder against powerful opponents.

• Lu Xiaoliu joked with Song Xuan and Song Qian, then invited Song Xuan to the pleasure house.
• Zhao Dezhu explained that second-class Black Robe Guards had to prove they could kill and gave the siblings a choice of assessment assignments.
• Song Xuan chose the bandit-suppression assignment on Langlang Mountain, rejecting the flower thief assignment as too unpredictable.
• Song Xuan gathered weapons, medicine, and protective gear while Song Qian complained about wearing a breastplate.
• Song Qian asked if Song Xuan was the flower thief outside the city, and Song Xuan said Ecstasy Powder could help bring down even an innate expert.

Song Xuan and Song Qian encountered bandits plundering a village on their way to Langlang Mountain, and Song Xuan discovered how devastating his powerful internal cultivation made even basic martial techniques. After killing several bandits, he left the rest facing the siblings’ strength.

• Song Xuan reviewed his status and reflected on his advanced internal cultivation, weak martial techniques, and the martial realms of the Great Zhou dynasty.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian found more than a dozen Langlang Mountain bandits abusing villagers and celebrating their plunder.
• Song Xuan stopped Song Qian from attacking first and charged a bandit with his beginner lightness technique, killing him with one punch.
• The bandit leader tried to flee, but Song Qian cut him down with a sword strike that also split his horse in two.
• Song Xuan realized that his pure yang internal power had made his basic sword technique extraordinarily powerful.

Song Xuan and Song Qian killed the bandits outside a village, then identified themselves as Black Robe Guard members and ordered the villagers to report the bodies. While searching the bandits for loot, they found silver, a bottle, and an erotic album, leaving Song Xuan disappointed.

• Two Black Robe Guard observers watched Song Xuan and Song Qian defeat the bandits, then left to report and order the destruction of Langlang Mountain's bandits.
• Song Qian celebrated her first fight, while Song Xuan warned her to remain cautious.
• Song Xuan showed the villagers his Black Robe Guard token and ordered them to return home and report the bodies to the County Yamen.
• Song Xuan promised to protect the villagers from corrupt officials, and Song Qian told them they could find her brother in the Imperial Capital.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian searched the bandits' bodies and found silver, a bottle, and an erotic album, which Song Xuan angrily stomped on.

Song Xuan and Song Qian rode toward Langlang Mountain to wipe out its bandits, arguing along the way about marriage and Song Xuan’s past with the Lu sisters. They reached the stronghold and drew their swords, preparing to attack.

• Song Xuan and Song Qian set out for Langlang Mountain, where Song Xuan planned to kill the bandits after demonstrating his strength against the village lackeys.
• Song Xuan caught Song Qian reading an erotic booklet she had secretly picked up, then they discussed her ambitions to become a heroine.
• Song Qian asked Song Xuan about his romantic life and urged him to consider Lu Qingshuang, but Song Xuan refused to discuss the Lu sisters.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian dismounted near the Langlang Mountain stronghold and drew their swords, with Song Xuan telling his sister to stay close during the attack.

After Song Xuan and Song Qian completed their assessment, they learned that the Enforcement Office had wiped out the bandit stronghold and wanted to recruit them. Zhao Dezhu rejected the transfer and assigned the siblings an unusual adultery case, telling them to investigate and promising to take responsibility if trouble arose.

• Song Xuan and Song Qian found the bandit stronghold full of recently killed corpses and concluded that the Enforcement Office had cleared it after their assessment.
• Song Xuan explained the Black Robe Guard's three offices and worried that he and Song Qian might be transferred to the Enforcement Office.
• Zhao Dezhu told the siblings that the Enforcement Office had requested their transfer, but he had rejected it because the work was dangerous.
• Zhao Dezhu promoted Song Xuan and Song Qian to second-class Black Robe Guards and assigned them a local adultery case suspected of involving martial-world figures.
• Song Xuan asked whether they could defend themselves if threatened, and Zhao Dezhu told them to kill if necessary and promised to take the heat.

After Song Xuan and Song Qian passed the second-class Black Robe Guard examination, their parents celebrated and Song Yuanshan urged Song Xuan to consider marriage. Song Xuan left the dinner table when his father mentioned the Lu family, and the chapter ended with Song Yuanshan lamenting that he still had not gotten over Lu Qingxue leaving without saying goodbye.

• Song Qian and Song Xuan returned home after Zhao Dezhu promised to support them, and their parents celebrated their examination results with a family dinner.
• Song Yuanshan praised Song Xuan’s work and urged him to marry, while Song Qian tried to delay the discussion because they had an urgent case out of town the next morning.
• Song Yuanshan proposed matching Song Xuan with the Lu family’s second daughter, Qingshuang, and mentioned Song Xuan’s past near-engagement to the eldest daughter.
• Song Xuan abruptly left the table, and Song Linshi reproached Song Yuanshan for bringing up the eldest Lu daughter.
• Song Qian went to speak with Song Xuan that night, but he said they could talk on the road the next day; Song Yuanshan and Song Linshi watched them secretly.
• Song Yuanshan lamented that Song Xuan still seemed unable to move on from Lu Qingxue, who had left without saying goodbye five years earlier.

Song Xuan and Song Qian left for an assignment and recruited three reluctant Black Robe Guards to accompany them. Song Qian picked Lu Xiaoliu, Monkey, and Big Ox, who begged to be excused because his father had arranged a marriage match.

• Song Xuan and Song Qian left home early without saying goodbye to their father and ate breakfast on their way to the Black Robe Guard Office.
• Song Xuan realized the crowds in the capital were heading to the triennial Imperial Examination.
• At the office, Song Xuan found Zhao Dezhu away at a meeting and asked the Third-Rank Black Robe Guards to join his assignment, but they stayed silent.
• Song Xuan stepped behind Song Qian, who threatened the guards and chose Lu Xiaoliu, Monkey, and Big Ox to accompany them.
• Big Ox asked Song Qian to let him sit out because his father had arranged a marriage match for him.

Song Xuan and his companions reached Huai'an Commandery to investigate an adultery case that may be entangled in a political power struggle. Big Ox announced the Black Robe Guard’s arrival at the governor’s office and demanded to see whoever was in charge.

• Big Ox joined Song Xuan’s group after Song Xuan promised to find him a wife.
• Song Xuan and his companions arrived in Huai'an Commandery after several days of travel and went straight to the governor’s office.
• Lu Xiaoliu explained that Governor Shen Qingyun and the local administration were notoriously corrupt, and few people dared bring them complaints.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian concluded that powerful officials might be using the case to attack political rivals, but Song Xuan insisted on investigating it fully.
• Big Ox seized a bailiff, showed him the Black Robe Guard token, and loudly demanded that the person in charge come out.

Song Xuan and the Black Robe Guards arrived in Huai'an to investigate Sun Liu’s adultery conviction. After Clerk Ye directed them to the prison, Song Xuan took over the case and asked Sun Liu whether she was guilty.

• Song Xuan introduced himself to Clerk Ye and requested the case file.
• Song Xuan read the file and asked Clerk Ye to recount the case, but Clerk Ye suggested questioning Sun Liu because the case involved struggles among powerful figures.
• Clerk Ye led Song Xuan and his companions to Sun Liu’s death-row cell.
• Song Qian roused Sun Liu, and Song Xuan identified himself as a Black Robe Guard taking over her case.
• Song Xuan asked Sun Liu whether she had committed adultery.

Song Xuan questioned Sun Liu about her alleged adultery and summoned her husband, who revealed that a woman named Xiao Li had arrived at their home before the trouble began. The husband began recounting the events, leaving the connection between Xiao Li and Sun Liu’s case unexplained.

• The prefect told his adviser to avoid offending the Black Robe Guards and arranged a banquet and courtesans for them.
• Song Xuan questioned Sun Liu, who insisted she had been forced and had not committed adultery but could not explain what happened.
• Song Xuan sent Monkey and several bailiffs to bring Sun Liu’s husband to the prison.
• Lu Xiaoliu intimidated the husband into answering Song Xuan’s questions, and the man admitted that he had not reported his wife to the authorities.
• The husband said a widow named Xiao Li had asked to stay at their home, and he identified her as the reason the trouble began.

Sun Bu'er told Song Xuan and the others how a supposed widow named Xiao Li had joined his household and was later caught with Sun Liu. He revealed that Xiao Li was actually a male martial artist who had forced Sun Liu into the affair, leaving Song Xuan to question her about the case.

• Sun Bu'er explained that he had invited the homeless Xiao Li to live with him and Sun Liu, partly because he hoped to take the pretty widow as a second wife.
• After noticing Sun Liu acting distressed, Sun Bu'er pretended to leave for several days and secretly returned home, where he caught Xiao Li and Sun Liu in bed together.
• Sun Bu'er revealed that Xiao Li was a man disguised as a woman, and that Xiao Li escaped through a window after being discovered.
• Sun Bu'er said he beat Sun Liu but did not report her to the authorities, while Sun Liu confirmed his account.
• Sun Liu told Song Xuan that Xiao Li had forced her and threatened to kill her family if she told anyone.

Song Xuan investigated Sun Liu’s adultery conviction and learned that officials had concealed the identity of the Flower Thief who raped her. He sent Lu Xiaoliu to summon reinforcements and promised Sun Bu’er that his wife could be saved if his account was true.

• Sun Bu’er explained that he had beaten and cursed Sun Liu after the Flower Thief assaulted her, and tax officers overheard him and arrested her.
• Sun Bu’er said Assistant Prefect Li’s officials extorted him, then convicted Sun Liu of adultery and threatened his family into silence.
• Song Xuan and Lu Xiaoliu concluded that powerful connections had likely erased the Flower Thief from the case file.
• Song Xuan told Lu Xiaoliu to use Zhao Dezhu’s name to mobilize the Huai’an Commandery Black Robe Guard outpost, and Lu Xiaoliu left with Monkey.
• Song Xuan ordered Song Qian to stay beside him and told Sun Bu’er that Sun Liu could be saved if he had told the truth.

Song Xuan uncovered a pattern of adultery cases that pointed to a flower thief targeting married women while officials concealed the truth. He brought in Shen Lian and the Black Robe Guard’s Enforcement Office, whose men prepared to help hunt down the culprit.

• Clerk Ye told Song Xuan that eight adultery cases had been recorded in Huai'an Commandery over three years, but no adulterous men had ever been caught.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian suspected the cases were the flower thief’s work and that someone had disguised them as adultery cases.
• Lu Xiaoliu returned with Shen Lian and a squad of Enforcement Office elites after arranging their help.
• Song Xuan explained that the case involved a martial artist who preyed on ordinary women and that the flower thief might have powerful local connections.
• Shen Lian declared that killing was the Enforcement Office’s domain, and his squad drew their sabers as they prepared to hunt the flower thief.

Song Xuan led the Black Robe Guard to take Sun Bu'er and his wife from the Heavenly Prison and storm the Huai'an Commandery governor's residence. After beating Assistant Prefect Li, Song Xuan learned that the governor had personally handled Sun Liu's case and might know the Flower Thief's identity.

• Song Xuan ordered Niu Mang to bring Sun Bu'er and his wife out of the Heavenly Prison, and told Clerk Ye that the Black Robe Guard was taking over the case.
• Song Xuan rode with Song Qian and the Black Robe Guards to the governor's residence, where the yamen runners opened the gates.
• Lu Xiaoliu and Skinny Monkey dragged out Assistant Prefect Li, and Song Xuan ordered him beaten.
• Song Xuan questioned Assistant Prefect Li about the Flower Thief, and Li blamed the governor, who had personally conducted Sun Liu's trial.

Song Xuan and Shen Lian investigated the assault on Sun Liu and learned that Prefect Tian Yuan may have ordered the cover-up because of his son. As they reached Mingzhou, Shen Lian explained why the Black Robe Guard had not arrested Tian Boguang, and Song Xuan asked whether a plausible reason would let them intervene in martial affairs.

• Song Xuan’s men captured Commandery Governor Wang, who admitted that Prefect Tian Yuan had ordered him to hush up Sun Liu’s case.
• Wang revealed that Tian Yuan’s adopted son was named Tian Chong, courtesy name Boguang, and Shen Lian identified him as the notorious martial-world predator Tian Boguang.
• Song Xuan decided to arrest Tian Yuan first, while Shen Lian sent the governor and Assistant Prefect Li to the jail and arranged for Sun Bu’er and his wife to go with them.
• Song Xuan and his companions reached the outskirts of the prefectural city the next morning, where Shen Lian explained that the Black Robe Guard avoided interfering in martial-world affairs without cause.
• Song Xuan asked Shen Lian whether having a plausible reason would allow the Black Robe Guard to enter the fray.

Song Xuan and Shen Lian led the Black Robe Guards to the Jianghuai prefectural office, where the Prefect’s private guards barred their way. After Shen Lian killed the captain, Song Xuan overwhelmed the defenders, and the chapter left him cutting down another charge with sheer speed.

• Shen Lian told Song Xuan that the Black Robe Guard could report a sect protecting criminals and might send a First-Class Black Robe Guard to deal with it.
• Song Xuan and the Black Robe Guards arrived at the Jianghuai prefectural office, but its guards refused to obey their authority.
• Shen Lian killed the guard captain, and the guards attacked the Black Robe Guards.
• Song Xuan killed several guards with powerful strikes and shattered a saber, sending its fragments into the front ranks.
• A steward rallied the Prefect’s guards by reminding them of the benefits he had given them, and they charged again.
• Song Xuan drew his sword and used his overwhelming speed to kill the charging guards despite knowing no advanced sword technique.

Song Xuan and the Black Robe Guard stormed Tian Yuan’s residence over the crimes of his son, whom Tian Yuan tried to kill to save the Tian Household. Cornered by Song Xuan, Tian Yuan offered a million taels of silver for every guard present in exchange for sparing his household.

• Song Xuan cut down the prefectural office guards with overwhelming speed, while the surviving guards fled into the compound.
• Tian Yuan told his son that the Black Robe Guard had come because of his crimes and that their household could not withstand them.
• Tian Yuan trapped his son in iron nets and tried to kill him, claiming his death was the only way to save the Tian Household.
• Song Xuan knocked the dagger from Tian Yuan’s hand and entered the garden with Song Qian, Shen Lian, and the Black Robe Guard.
• Tian Yuan pleaded for the Tian Household to be spared and offered one million taels of silver for every guard present.

Song Xuan rejected Tian Yuan’s bribe, arrested the Tian Household’s suspects, and later accepted a modest share of silver from Shen Lian’s men as they parted ways. Song Xuan and his companions headed back to the Imperial Capital, while Shen Lian praised his prospects.

• Tian Yuan offered Song Xuan and the Black Robe Guards huge sums to spare his household, but Song Xuan refused the bribe and ordered everyone in the rear residence arrested.
• Five days later, Song Xuan and Shen Lian’s group shared a farewell meal after the case files and prisoners had been sent to the Imperial Capital.
• Shen Lian privately told Song Xuan that his men had taken a little silver from the Tian Household and offered Song Xuan’s group fifty taels each.
• Song Xuan accepted the silver, then said goodbye to Shen Lian and rode toward the Imperial Capital with Song Qian, Little Six, and the others.
• Jin Yichuan asked whether Song Xuan had accepted the silver, and Shen Lian said he had, praising Song Xuan’s strength and understanding of the world.

Song Xuan divided the silver from the Tian Household among his companions and shared a Lightness Skill manual with them. As they headed back to the Imperial Capital, he decided to bring Old Zhao a bottle of supposed virility medicine.

• Song Xuan revealed the silver Shen Lian had given him and offered fifty taels to each of his companions, who admitted they had already taken small spoils from the Tian Household.
• Song Xuan showed them the Lightness Skill manual he had found in Tian Yuan's son's room and let them copy it before giving the original to Song Qian.
• Song Xuan gave the remaining silver to Song Qian to spend on their parents and keep for her dowry, reassuring her when she feared he was preparing for his death.
• Song Xuan told the group to return to the Imperial Capital and report to Old Zhao, then chose a bottle labeled "Low-Dose Ecstasy Powder" as a health gift for him.