Chapter Summaries

Song Xuan returned to the Imperial Capital after exposing the Tian Household’s crimes and learned that the case had sparked a major political purge. He left the Inspection Office celebrated and on good terms with Zhao Dezhu, while the Tian Household faced the possibility of execution and extermination.

• Song Xuan returned with his team to the Black Robe Guard’s Inspection Office, where Zhao Dezhu welcomed them and reported that Tian Yuan and his son had victimized more than three hundred women.
• Zhao Dezhu explained that the emperor had dismissed the minister of justice and planned to investigate officials tied to the case, while the Tian Household faced severe punishment.
• Song Xuan said the Tian Household deserved death by a thousand cuts and gave Zhao Dezhu a bottle of pills he claimed would restore a man’s vigor.
• Zhao Dezhu advised Song Xuan to reward his men for their work, and Song Xuan promised each of them several dozen taels of silver.
• Zhao Dezhu told his wife that Song Xuan and Song Qian might support the Zhao Household in the future, then tried Song Xuan’s pills and left his wife exhausted.

Song Xuan and Song Qian returned home to find Lin Daiyu staying with their family, and learned their parents hoped to match her with Song Xuan. Song Xuan rejected the idea because Daiyu was too young and left to visit a pleasure house, while Song Qian urged him to stop relying on Lu Xiaoliu for money.

• Song Qian pinned two serving women who blocked her and Song Xuan from entering their home, until Song Yuanshan intervened.
• Lin Daiyu apologized for the servants, and Song Linshi introduced her as Song Xuan and Song Qian's younger cousin.
• Song Yuanshan admitted that he and Song Linshi had brought Daiyu to the house hoping to match her with Song Xuan.
• Song Qian told Song Xuan that Daiyu was a sensitive distant relative who had grown up without her mother and with her maternal grandmother.
• Song Xuan said Daiyu was too young for him and went to find Lu Xiaoliu to visit a pleasure house.
• Song Qian gave Song Xuan a silver ingot and warned him not to keep accepting Lu Xiaoliu's money if he would not marry Xiaoliu's second sister.

Song Xuan unexpectedly unleashed Sword Qi while striking at a young thief, but discovered that he was still at the ninth level of the Houtian Realm. He demanded that the thief write down his exceptional Lightness Skill in exchange for his life, and the thief continued to protest.

• Song Xuan cultivated in the hills, sensed that he was nearing a breakthrough, and wondered whether a dangerous fight might push him into the Xiantian Realm.
• A young thief stole Song Xuan’s money pouch, and Song Xuan instinctively slashed at him, sending a streak of Sword Qi across the road and carving a trench in the ground.
• Song Xuan examined his cultivation and realized he remained at the ninth level of the Houtian Realm, though he had discovered how to unleash Sword Qi.
• Song Xuan recognized the thief’s exceptional Lightness Skill and demanded that he write down how to practice it in exchange for his life.
• Song Xuan sent the frightened travelers away as rain clouds gathered, while the thief objected that Song Xuan was bullying a newcomer and violating martial honor.

Song Xuan traded Huang Rong’s copy of a Nine Yin Manual lightness skill for her silver and let her leave, then returned home after practicing Sword Qi. Huang Rong rode toward Mingzhou, while a matron at Song Xuan’s home criticized him for meeting Lin Daiyu privately.

• Song Xuan made Huang Rong correct the manual before accepting it, and his attribute panel recorded the Spiral Nine Shadows lightness skill.
• Song Xuan and Huang Rong settled their grievances, exchanged the manual and silver, and agreed to keep the matter secret.
• Huang Rong left the Imperial Capital for Mingzhou on a donkey, deciding not to seek revenge or involve her father.
• Song Xuan watched Huang Rong leave, then returned to the forest to practice unleashing Sword Qi.
• Song Xuan returned home after mealtime and heard a matron scold him for meeting Lin Daiyu in private.

Song Xuan intimidated two servants with a display of Sword Qi, then agreed that Song Qian could teach Lin Daiyu martial arts. At the Inspection Office, Lu Xiaoliu told him Song Qian had taken Lin Daiyu and his sister on a spring outing outside the city, where a wealthy man's wife had died.

• Song Xuan carved a burial pit with Sword Qi and threatened the two servants against spreading gossip about Lin Daiyu.
• Song Qian asked whether Song Xuan had reached the Xiantian realm, and he denied it before advising Lin Daiyu to strengthen her frail body.
• Song Qian brought Song Xuan food and told him Lin Daiyu had been dazed by his sword strike; Song Xuan agreed she could teach her martial arts.
• Song Xuan and Zhao Dezhu discussed the Imperial Capital's quiet streets and the court's power struggle after the Tian Household's fall.
• Lu Xiaoliu told Song Xuan that Song Qian had taken Lin Daiyu and his sister outside the city for a spring outing, and that a wealthy man's wife had died there.

Song Xuan investigated the apparent suicide of Master Shen’s wife after Song Qian insisted she had been murdered. Song Qian’s observation of the missing rope-friction marks persuaded Song Xuan that the case needed further scrutiny, and he warned her not to endanger herself again.

• Lu Xiaoliu told Song Xuan that Song Qian, Lin Daiyu, and Lu Qingshuang had found a woman hanging in a grove and reported it to the Ping'an County Yamen.
• Song Xuan arrived at the yamen and learned from Magistrate Chen Huaili that Master Shen’s wife had argued with her husband before being found dead, while Master Shen claimed an alibi.
• Chen Huaili said he believed Madam Shen had committed suicide, but Song Qian maintained that the death was murder.
• Song Qian explained that she had tried hanging herself and noticed that a person’s struggle left friction marks on the rope and tree, marks missing from the scene.
• Song Xuan scolded Song Qian for risking her life, then told her to ask him about investigations instead of trying dangerous experiments.

Song Xuan questioned Squire Shen about his movements and exposed his lies, forcing him to confess to murdering his wife. Song Xuan left the rest of the case to the stunned Chen Huaili.

• Song Qian criticized Chen Huaili for treating the murder case casually, and Song Xuan warned her about her own enjoyment of killing.
• Chen Huaili ordered Squire Shen tortured to force a confession.
• Song Xuan questioned Squire Shen about his wine, route, and a funeral procession, catching him in several lies.
• Song Xuan asked what Squire Shen had done the night before his wife's murder and threatened to take him to the Black Robe Guard Imperial Prison.
• Squire Shen broke down and confessed to killing his wife, and Song Xuan left Chen Huaili to handle the case.

Song Xuan’s interrogation method helped Magistrate Chen Huaili expose Wang Shi’s false testimony and confession, while Song Xuan returned to the Inspection Office and showed signs of grasping sword intent. At the Song home, Song Qian promised to teach Lin Daiyu martial arts so they could roam the jianghu together.

• Song Qian praised her role in solving the case as Song Xuan led her and their companions away, while Lin Daiyu reconsidered her view of him.
• Chen Huaili questioned Wang Shi about his story and debt to Shen Youliang, and Wang Shi broke down and confessed to giving false testimony.
• Chen Huaili ordered his secretary to bring him the backlog of cases so he could investigate them through the night.
• Song Xuan returned to the Inspection Office and spent the afternoon standing with his sword, prompting Zhao Dezhu to suspect he was beginning to comprehend sword intent.
• Song Qian let Lin Daiyu cover the marks on her neck and promised to teach her martial arts so they could roam the jianghu together.

Song Qian met Lu Qingxue, who had returned after years away, and learned why she had fled before her engagement to Song Qian's brother. Lu Qingxue revealed that he had agreed to marry her but immobilized her when she tried to secure their relationship, leaving Song Qian stunned by their strange misunderstanding.

• Song Qian received a letter from Lu Qingxue and left Lin Daiyu at home to meet her by West Lake.
• Lu Qingxue asked Song Qian to call her Sister Qingxue, but Song Qian accused her of abandoning her family and brother years earlier.
• Lu Qingxue said she had just returned from training and had not known Song Qian's brother was visiting pleasure houses.
• Lu Qingxue explained that she loved Song Qian's brother, agreed to wait ten years for marriage, and proposed they consummate their relationship first.
• Lu Qingxue said Song Qian's brother struck her acupoints and immobilized her when she began to undress, and Song Qian called them both twisted.

Lu Qingxue told Song Qian how Song Xuan had humiliated her years ago, then explained that she had become Inviting Moon, a direct disciple of the Flower Shifting Palace. Just as she began to reconsider whether Song Xuan had acted out of some hidden difficulty, she spotted him entering a pleasure house and condemned him as a bastard.

• Lu Qingxue told Song Qian that Song Xuan had sealed her acupoints, rolled her in a bedsheet, hung her from a roof beam, and chanted a Buddhist mantra at her all night.
• Lu Qingxue revealed that she had joined the Flower Shifting Palace and become the palace mistress's direct disciple, taking the name Inviting Moon.
• Lu Qingxue said she had returned to bring Qingshuang to the Flower Shifting Palace and invited Song Qian, who declined and praised Song Xuan's martial talent.
• Song Qian asked whether Song Xuan might have had a hidden difficulty, and Lu Qingxue began to regret leaving without speaking to him.
• Lu Qingxue saw Song Xuan and Lu Xiaoliu walking arm in arm into a pleasure house and declared that Song Xuan was simply a bastard.

Song Xuan learned that Lu Qingxue had returned as the Flower Shifting Palace’s young palace mistress and planned to take Qingshuang away. After they met on a rooftop, Song Xuan agreed that he would marry Lu Qingxue in five years.

• Song Qian told Song Xuan that Lu Qingxue had returned and would take Qingshuang to the Flower Shifting Palace.
• Song Qian questioned Song Xuan about his health supplements and Lu Qingxue’s feelings, but he refused to explain his secrets.
• Song Xuan recalled how he and Lu Qingxue had discussed his dream of becoming a sword immortal when they were young.
• Song Xuan went to a rooftop, where Lu Qingxue appeared and teased him about refusing her advances years earlier.
• Lu Qingxue asked whether Song Xuan still meant to marry her after ten years, and he agreed to keep his promise.
• Lu Qingxue said she would take Qingshuang away the next morning and wait five more years for Song Xuan to marry her.

Song Xuan learned that Lu Qingxue had become the Flower Shifting Palace’s junior palace mistress, then received a promotion and a posting to Mingzhou with Song Qian. Zhao Dezhu warned them that the local commander’s death was suspicious and urged them to prioritize survival, assuring them that powerful support in the capital stood behind them.

• Song Xuan reflected on Lu Qingxue’s rise as the Flower Shifting Palace’s junior palace mistress and left beneath the moonlight.
• The Imperial Capital’s redistribution of power neared its end, and the Zhou Emperor questioned a report of a martial artist drowning after becoming drunk.
• The Zhou Emperor suspected that someone had infiltrated the Black Robe Guard and ordered the commander summoned.
• Song Xuan was promoted to hundred-household commander, and Song Qian became deputy hundred-household commander.
• Zhao Dezhu assigned Song Xuan to fill a suspicious vacancy in Mingzhou and permitted him to bring only Song Qian.
• Zhao Dezhu warned the siblings to stay alive, use their authority when necessary, and remember that he, the commander, and the emperor stood behind them.

Song Xuan learned that his promotion required him to investigate a mysterious death and possible infiltration in Jiangzhe Prefecture, so he and Song Qian prepared to leave for their new posts. Lin Daiyu asked to accompany them to visit her living father, Lin Ruhai, and Song Xuan agreed.

• Zhao Dezhu told Song Xuan that a Xu Household hundred-household commander had died mysteriously in Jiangzhe Prefecture, and suspected the local Thousand-Household Office had been infiltrated.
• Song Xuan returned home and told Song Qian that he had become a hundred-household commander while Song Qian had been made a deputy commander.
• Song Xuan told Song Qian and Lin Daiyu that they would leave for Jiangzhe Prefecture the morning after tomorrow to fill the dead commander's post.
• Song Qian joked that they should dig up the dead commander's grave, and Song Xuan agreed that it could help confirm certain things.
• Lin Daiyu asked Song Xuan to take her to Jiangzhe Prefecture so she could visit her father, Lin Ruhai, and Song Xuan apologized for thinking he was dead.
• Song Xuan agreed to take Lin Daiyu, who planned to return to the Jia Mansion to ask the Old Matriarch's permission before leaving.

Song Xuan and Song Qian went to the Jia Mansion to bring Lin Daiyu home, but Jia She refused to let her leave and insulted them. Song Xuan summoned the Black Robe Guards, leaving Jia She terrified as they gathered outside the mansion.

• Song Yuanshan advised Song Xuan to take it easy at work and return home if trouble became unbearable.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian arrived at the Jia Mansion to collect Lin Daiyu and escort her home.
• Jia She dismissed their request, claimed Lin Daiyu could not decide to leave, and ordered them away.
• Song Xuan stopped Song Qian from attacking and told her to call in backup.
• Song Qian fired a signal arrow, and Black Robe Guards arrived until they nearly filled the street.
• Jia She called the confrontation a misunderstanding and trembled at the sight of the assembled guards.

Song Xuan and Song Qian confronted the Jia Mansion after Jia She refused to let Lin Daiyu leave, and the Black Robe Guards surrounded the estate. Faced with their threat, Jia Mu let Daiyu go, and Daiyu left the inner residence to join her cousins.

• Song Xuan gave Jia She fifteen minutes to send Lin Daiyu out or face the Black Robe Guards entering the mansion.
• Song Qian explained the dispute to the gathered guards, who threatened to search the Jia Mansion and arrest its residents.
• Jia Zheng apologized to Song Xuan for Jia She's insults, but Song Xuan insisted that the deadline still stood.
• Jia Mu learned that the Black Robe Guards had surrounded the mansion because Jia She had offended Lin Daiyu's cousins.
• Jia Mu asked Lin Daiyu if she truly wished to leave, and Lin Daiyu affirmed her resolve.
• Lin Daiyu kowtowed to Jia Mu three times and walked out of the inner residence.

Lin Daiyu left the Jia Mansion with Song Xuan and Song Qian, escorted by a large procession of Black Robe Guards after Song Xuan caused a commotion outside the gates. The incident reached the Imperial Study, where the emperor began asking for details.

• Lin Daiyu packed her things and said goodbye to her young friends, who teased her about her cousin and marriage.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian met Lin Daiyu at the Jia Mansion gates, where a crowd of Black Robe Guards had gathered.
• Song Xuan's men loudly called Lin Daiyu their cousin, then formed ranks to escort her carriage out of the city.
• Jia Zheng remarked on Song Xuan's influence in the Black Robe Guard, while Jia She hurried back to change after his fright.
• A Black Robe Guard reported the commotion to Zhao Dezhu, who dismissed it as youthful impulsiveness.
• The emperor heard that the Black Robe Guard had blockaded the Rongguo Duke Mansion and asked for more details.

The emperor declined to intervene in the Jia Mansion dispute or openly support Lin Ruhai, while Song Xuan traveled south with Lin Daiyu and Song Qian. Aboard the ship, Song Xuan met the young Lin Pingzhi and reflected on the tragic fate he knew awaited him.

• The emperor learned that the Jia Mansion had blocked Lin Daiyu from leaving and rejected the suggestion that Song Xuan assist Lin Ruhai with salt administration.
• Song Xuan took his party to the docks and traveled by boat toward Jiangzhe Prefecture, considering Great Zhou's vast territory and its resemblance to the world of his former game's setting.
• Several days later, Lin Daiyu stayed in her cabin with seasickness while Song Qian cooked a barbecue on deck with Song Xuan.
• Lin Pingzhi, the young master of the Fuwei Escort Agency, joined Song Xuan and Song Qian, and Song Xuan noted that the unassuming boy had not yet faced the fate of the story he knew.

Song Xuan, Song Qian, and Lin Daiyu left their ship during a harbor stop and joined a village wedding, where Song Xuan offered the newlyweds a poetic blessing. At an inn that night, Lin Daiyu asked about his words, and Song Qian began telling her the Legend of the White Snake.

• Song Xuan took Song Qian and Lin Daiyu ashore to explore while Lin Pingzhi stayed behind to guard the ship and cargo.
• The three found a village celebrating a wedding, and the villagers invited them to join the feast.
• Song Xuan and his companions watched the wedding rites and shared a meal with the guests.
• At the newlyweds' toast, Song Xuan wished them a long and loving marriage with a poetic blessing.
• At the county inn, Lin Daiyu asked Song Qian where Song Xuan's blessing came from, and Song Qian began recounting the Legend of the White Snake.

Song Xuan and Song Qian intervened after learning that the bride from the previous night’s wedding had reported the murder of her family and been beaten by the corrupt county magistrate. After Song Xuan killed the magistrate, they disguised themselves as bandits and set out with the bride to investigate the crime.

• Song Qian recognized the injured bride beating the drum at the County Yamen, and townspeople said her family had been murdered in Radiant Spring Village.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian fought their way into the yamen and rescued the bride from the bailiffs and magistrate.
• The bride told them that the prefect’s son and an older accomplice had murdered her husband and his family, then raped her.
• The magistrate confessed that he knew about the murders and had planned to imprison the bride for the prefect’s son.
• Song Xuan killed the magistrate at the bride’s request, and the group covered their faces and left to inspect her house.

After the bride poisoned herself, Song Xuan and Song Qian decided to pursue justice by killing the people responsible. They attacked the commandery governor’s son’s Manor, where Song Xuan began cutting down its defenders.

• Song Xuan and Song Qian found the Zhang family murdered, buried them, and promised justice to the surviving bride.
• The bride poisoned herself after asking Song Xuan whether her family’s killers would die; Song Qian buried her with her husband.
• Song Xuan chose to kill rather than follow legal procedures, and Lin Daiyu insisted on coming along to witness the culprit’s death.
• Song Qian confirmed that the commandery governor’s son was staying at a Manor, and Song Xuan smashed through its gates in the rain.
• Several armed men charged Song Xuan, but he killed them with droplets flicked from his paper umbrella and fixed his attention on a pale-faced young man.