Recaps

Du Yu helped Cui Jue understand that his reluctance to become an Underworld Enforcer came from worrying about his mother, then urged him to ask what she wanted. His mother encouraged him to accept the role and serve as a Judge of the Underworld, and Cui Jue’s unformed knot in his heart came undone.

• Lady Houtu granted Cui Jue until that night to decide whether to become an Underworld Enforcer after Du Yu relayed his request for more time.
• After the mortals departed, Du Yu told Cui Jue he had come from over a thousand years in the future and had been entrusted with helping untie his knot in the heart.
• Cui Jue revealed that his late wife was not the person he could not let go of; he feared leaving his elderly mother without care.
• Du Yu advised Cui Jue to ask his mother what she wanted instead of deciding for her, and Cui Jue went to speak with her.
• Cui Jue’s mother urged him to become a Judge of the Underworld and uphold justice, explaining that this would be the greatest filial devotion he could offer her.
• Cui Jue bowed to his mother as he realized her wishes and the knot in his heart came undone.

Cui Jue accepted Lady Houtu’s invitation to become Judge of the Underworld, but a mysterious voice transmission made Du Yu suspect that she intended to assassinate the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai. Back at the Legend Management Bureau, Du Yu shattered the jade pendant to force Lady Houtu to reveal herself, and a woman in green appeared from its remains.

• Lady Houtu asked Du Yu to test whether Cui Jue would agree to assassinate the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai, and Cui Jue said he could not answer without knowing the circumstances.
• Lady Houtu arrived and was unaware of the earlier voice transmission, leaving Du Yu to suspect that his contact had been a different version of her.
• Du Yu returned to the Legend Management Bureau with the jade pendant and concluded that Lady Houtu was screening the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers for a secret plan.
• Du Yu learned that the director had ordered Xiao Qi to prepare the Black and White Impermanence legend, then decided he needed to confront Lady Houtu before proceeding.
• Du Yu repeatedly struck the jade pendant until it shattered, and a woman in green emerged from its remains and asked why he had hit her.

Du Yu brought Yingning, whose soul would disperse without a new vessel, to the Underworld in search of a way to preserve her. At Strange Tales Studio, the old shopkeeper recognized her laughter and read a story called “Yingning,” leaving her identity in question.

• Yingning told Du Yu that the shattered jade pendant had sheltered her soul and that she might disperse within two days.
• Du Yu called Xie Bi'an, who suggested Yingning was a vengeful spirit and directed him to a specialty shop on Stone of Three Lives Pedestrian Street.
• Du Yu asked Fan Xiaoguo to drive him and Yingning to the Ghost Gate, and she reluctantly brought them there before leaving.
• Du Yu and Yingning searched the Underworld for over an hour, laughing Yingning along the way, before finding Strange Tales Studio in an alley.
• The shopkeeper demanded a story in exchange for a vessel, then recognized Yingning and read a tale about a laughing woman named Yingning.

Yingning corrected the old man's version of her story, revealing how Wang Sheng betrayed and killed her before she became a vengeful spirit. The old man accepted that his account was wrong and let Du Yu choose vessels for free, while Du Yu wondered how famous Yingning's story had become.

• Du Yu asked the old man to show them vessels for vengeful spirits, but the old man demanded a story in exchange.
• Yingning retold her life with Wang Sheng, describing how his family blamed her for a neighbor's assault and how Wang Sheng divorced and poisoned her.
• Yingning explained that she had not lost her smile but her life, and that she stayed in her jade pendant until Wang Sheng discarded it.
• Yingning told the old man that Wang Sheng later lost his fortune after his new wife ran off with the steward.
• The old man recognized Yingning, admitted he had recorded her story incorrectly, and offered Du Yu any vessels in the shop as compensation.
• Du Yu asked whether Yingning was famous because everyone in the world was reading her story.

Du Yu and Elder Pu tried to find a vessel strong enough to contain Yingning, but she shattered each one they tested. Xie Bi'an arrived and identified Elder Pu’s writing brush, imbued with the resentment of the ghost stories he had recorded, as their last hope.

• Yingning entered a sachet at Du Yu’s suggestion, but it exploded when her resentment proved too powerful.
• Elder Pu offered Du Shiniang’s Treasure Chest, but it also burst apart after Yingning entered it.
• Elder Pu brought out several famous objects of resentment, and Du Yu called Xie Bi'an for help before they risked testing them.
• Xie Bi'an examined Yingning and the objects, then said none could contain her alone, though all together might work.
• Xie Bi'an pointed to Elder Pu’s writing brush as a possible vessel, explaining that it had absorbed resentment from the ghost stories he recorded.

Du Yu and Xie Bi'an discovered that Yingning could enter legends, making her a potential Operator and a target for rival factions. As they discussed the danger, Chi Ghost arrived with Lady Houtu’s order for Xie Bi'an to prepare for an important mission.

• Xie Bi'an explained that resentment had gathered in Old Pu’s writing brush, and Yingning entered it, transforming it into a high-grade magical artifact.
• Du Yu told Xie Bi'an that Yingning had followed him into a legend, and Xie Bi'an suspected she could become an Operator like Du Yu and Zhan Qisheng.
• Xie Bi'an warned Du Yu to keep Yingning’s ability secret because a faction could seize her and kill Du Yu to gain control over the world’s only Operator.
• Yingning confirmed that Lady Houtu had given her the jade pendant, and Xie Bi'an said he could not locate Lady Houtu unless she revealed herself.
• Chi Ghost appeared and ordered Xie Bi'an to return to his cave, gather his protective treasures, and join the Underworld Enforcers on Lady Houtu’s mission.

Du Yu rushed to Mount Unreturning to stop Lady Houtu from carrying out a plan that could destroy the Underworld, but when he finally found her, she did not remember him. The chapter ended with Wraith holding Dong Qianqiu hostage and Du Yu trying to understand why Lady Houtu had forgotten their past.

• Du Yu warned Xie Bi'an not to go to Lady Houtu, but Xie Bi'an left with Chi Ghost, so Du Yu persuaded Yingning to help him find her.
• Yingning directed Du Yu to Lady Houtu's hidden cave on Mount Unreturning, and Mei Ghost guided him through the mountain's deadly Defensive Formations.
• Du Yu found Lady Houtu feasting with Dong Qianqiu and Wraith, who held a Bone Blade to Dong Qianqiu's neck when he recognized Du Yu as the new Operator.
• Du Yu reminded Lady Houtu of their meeting in Cui Jue's legend, but she could not remember him, leaving him baffled by her apparent inability to recall their shared history.

Du Yu tried to stop Lady Houtu from carrying out a retaliatory assassination, but learned that the Underworld’s crisis involved a hidden conflict with the Heavenly Court. Dong Qianqiu revealed that the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai was once the Haotian God, and Du Yu realized his goal was to unite the Underworld and challenge the Heavenly Court.

• Lady Houtu admitted that she had sent the Seventh Master to assassinate the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai after deciding Du Yu was not on her side.
• Du Yu questioned the accusation against the Eastern Peak Great Emperor and urged Lady Houtu to learn his motive before acting.
• Lady Houtu said Wraith had devised the plan and revealed that the Eastern Peak Great Emperor had a motive known to only a few powerful figures in the Immortal Realm.
• Dong Qianqiu connected the secret to the former Haotian God, whom mortals called the Jade Emperor.
• Dong Qianqiu revealed that the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai was the former Haotian God, and Du Yu concluded he wanted to unite the Underworld and challenge the Heavenly Court.

Du Yu offered to handle Lady Houtu’s dilemma over the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai and learned that her agents had been sent to gauge his attitude. Chi Ghost returned after provoking the emperor, but his report showed that the supposed test had amounted to an assassination attempt.

• Du Yu asked Lady Houtu to let him meet the emperors and privately offered to take the problem off her hands.
• Lady Houtu explained that the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers had been sent to provoke the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai and assess his attitude.
• Yingning emerged from Du Yu’s Green Writing Brush and told Lady Houtu that the Northern Emperor had found her a suitable vessel.
• Chi Ghost reported that he had angered the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai but had not assessed his attitude.
• Chi Ghost revealed that he had blasted the emperor with a spell and knocked out Zhao Wenhe, prompting Du Yu to call it an assassination attempt.

After Chi Ghost’s attack on the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai triggered a counterattack, Du Yu tried to keep Lady Houtu’s side from escalating the conflict. Before he could ask the Eastern Emperor why he had targeted North..., the Ten Courts of Yama and Zhong Kui arrived and attacked, leaving the Eastern Emperor confronting Zhong Kui.

• Chi Ghost told Du Yu that he had ordered the seven Underworld Enforcers to attack and flee, and Little Wraith reported that the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai had brought the Five Directions Ghost Emperors to attack.
• Du Yu stopped Lady Houtu from confronting the Eastern Emperor and went outside, where he discovered that the Eastern Emperor had arrived with ten Ghost Emperors.
• The Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai questioned Du Yu and Dong Qianqiu about the attack, while Shentu grabbed Du Yu and Zhongli Chun’s power revealed his strong ghost aura.
• Dong Qianqiu showed the Eastern Emperor her Underworld Constable Token, and Du Yu began to explain that the attack was a misunderstanding before trying to ask why the Eastern Emperor had targeted North....
• The Ten Courts of Yama, except the King of the Wheel, and Second Master Zhong Kui suddenly arrived and attacked the Eastern Emperor, prompting Zhong Kui to accuse him of lacking kindness and righteousness.

Du Yu watched the Underworld powers clash over the accusation that the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai had ordered an attack on the Great Emperor of Fengdu. The dispute remained unresolved, and the sudden attack on Bao Zheng by the King of Biancheng revealed another apparent enemy among the Ten Courts of Yama.

• Zhong Kui fought Yulei and Shentu while the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai and the Ten Courts of Yama called for reinforcements.
• Du Yu asked Lady Houtu to intervene, but she refused to reveal her hidden refuge, so he urged her to summon the other seven Underworld Enforcers.
• Bao Zheng confronted the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai with the King of the Wheel's confession and evidence of a Soul-Dissolving Pill, while the Eastern Emperor denied ordering the attack.
• The Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai's anger shook Mount Unreturning, and Jiang Ziwen used the Birth Chart to protect Bao Zheng from a surprise strike.
• Bao Zheng recognized the attacking treasure as the Divine Stone of Wo Jiao belonging to Bi Yuanbin, the King of Biancheng, and questioned why he had attacked.

Du Yu stepped into the standoff over the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai after the King of Biancheng accused him of ordering Bao Zheng’s murder. Though the leaders remained divided and suspicious, Du Yu announced that he had a plan to resolve the crisis.

• The King of Biancheng joined the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai, prompting Bao Zheng to accuse the Eastern Emperor of arranging an attack on him.
• Horse-Face used the Nine-Turn Soul-Washing Whip to interrogate the King of Biancheng, who named the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai as the one who ordered the attack on Bao Zheng.
• The Eastern Emperor examined the whip, found it genuine, and insisted he would not surrender, while Bao Zheng and the others considered arresting him.
• Du Yu emerged from the Stone Grotto, blocked the King of Qin'guang’s attack with his brush, and revealed that he was the new Operator at the Legend Management Bureau.
• Du Yu told the gathered leaders that he had a plan that might resolve the crisis.

Du Yu used Horse-Face’s Nine-Turn Soul-Washing Whip to establish that the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai had not ordered the assassination, but Zhong Kui tried to arrest him anyway. Du Yu stood in Zhong Kui’s way and fought him, ending with Zhong Kui recognizing that Du Yu was possessed by an evil ghost.

• Du Yu proposed questioning the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai with Horse-Face’s whip, and the Great Emperor agreed to answer questions about the incident.
• Du Yu asked whether the Great Emperor wanted to return to the Heavenly Court and whether he had sent assassins after the Northern Yin Great Emperor of Fengdu; the whip’s flames faded, confirming his answers were truthful.
• Du Yu told Horse-Face to release the Great Emperor, but Zhong Kui seized the whip and declared that he would take the Great Emperor into custody.
• Du Yu refused to let Zhong Kui take the Great Emperor, and Zhong Kui attacked with the Demon-Slaying Sword.
• Du Yu dodged Zhong Kui’s nine swords and struck at him with Zhongli Chun’s power, but Zhong Kui blocked the punch and recognized that Du Yu was possessed by an evil ghost.

Du Yu resisted Zhong Kui’s attempt to capture him and helped free the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai. The Ghost Emperors turned against Zhong Kui, and the Eastern Emperor drove him back, leaving Du Yu convinced that the man was innocent.

• Zhong Kui used the Ghost-Slaying Pouch to drain Du Yu’s strength, but Yingning’s Green Writing Brush struck him and Du Yu shielded it from Zhong Kui’s talismans.
• Mei Ghost criticized the Five Directions Ghost Emperors for standing by, prompting Yulei, Shentu, Zhao Wenhe, and True Person Wang to join the fight against Zhong Kui.
• Black and White Impermanence and Horse-Face and Ox-Head avoided helping Zhong Kui, while the Golden and Silver Generals supported Du Yu.
• Du Yu staged Horse-Face’s capture so Horse-Face could release the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai without openly defying Zhong Kui.
• The freed Eastern Emperor struck Zhong Kui into the mountainside and declared that no one could harm Du Yu.
• Dong Qianqiu checked on Du Yu, who said he had risked everything for riches and glory.

Du Yu uncovered that the King of Biancheng’s account of a secret order from the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai did not fit the historical record, and concluded that someone had manipulated the Yamas into attacking the Eastern Emperor. After the factions stood down, Du Yu told the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers that he suspected an insider in the Legend Management Bureau.

• Du Yu checked that Zhongli Chun, Yingning, and the writing brush were unharmed before Cui Jue urged everyone to stop fighting and investigate the person behind the conflict.
• Du Yu questioned the King of Biancheng, who said the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai had secretly promised him immortality in exchange for killing the leader of the Yamas thousands of years later.
• Dong Qianqiu pointed out that the King of Biancheng would have gone to the hill and become a Yama regardless, and the Eastern Peak Great Emperor denied ever giving him the order.
• Bao Zheng showed Du Yu a computer-printed letter that had brought the Yamas to Mount Unreturning, leading Du Yu and the Eastern Peak Great Emperor to suspect a plot against the Eastern Emperor.
• The Eastern Peak Great Emperor and the Yamas called off the fighting, agreed to investigate, and decided to release the King of the Wheel.
• Du Yu gathered the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers and said he suspected an insider in the Legend Management Bureau.

Du Yu persuaded the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers that a mole in the Legend Management Bureau had altered events by imitating the Eastern Peak Great Emperor’s voice. They disguised themselves poorly as robbers, seized the Bureau, and began preparing to question every employee, with Xiao Qi chosen as the first.

• Du Yu explained that a mole could have used a voice transmitter to deceive the King of the Wheel and the King of Biancheng, and urged the Underworld Enforcers to arrest the Bureau’s staff before the culprit could act.
• The Underworld Enforcers agreed to help, gathered magic treasures that could block transmissions, and followed Du Yu’s plan to storm the Legend Management Bureau in disguise.
• Du Yu and the masked Underworld Enforcers burst into the Bureau, restrained its employees, and stopped Xiao Qi from using the Concealment Art to hide.
• Du Yu confirmed with Dong Qianqiu that every employee was present, while the Enforcers secured the building, activated the Spirit-Locking Formation, and confiscated the staff’s phones.
• Mei Ghost selected Xiao Qi to be the first employee taken to Horse-Face for questioning.

Du Yu and the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers questioned the Legend Management Bureau staff but found no one involved in the strange transmission. Du Yu narrowed the culprit down to someone absent from the bureau, leaving the group with a new lead.

• Xie Bi'an revealed his identity as White Impermanence and explained that the group was investigating a threat to the Immortal Realm.
• Du Yu discovered that Lady Houtu had secretly joined the group and agreed to let her stay on the condition that she follow his instructions.
• Horse-Face questioned all forty-five bureau employees, including the voice transmitters, while Dong Qianqiu and Du Yu were also considered.
• Du Yu concluded that none of the bureau’s voice transmitters had sent the message that altered events in the Underworld.
• Du Yu ruled out Zhan Qisheng as the likely culprit and pointed out that one person from the Legend Management Bureau had not appeared.

Dong Qianqiu rejected the accusation that He Suoyi had attempted an assassination, and the story revealed how Old He had found and taken her in during the Song Dynasty. As Xu City fell to famine and cannibalism, he made the starving girl an immortal and opened the city gates, leaving its remaining inhabitants to be slaughtered.

• Dong Qianqiu insisted that He Suoyi could not have been responsible and fled to her office in tears.
• During the Jingde era, a starving girl named Qianqiu ate meat her father had cooked, unaware that he had slaughtered women to feed the city.
• When famine returned, Old Dong hacked off Qianqiu’s leg for food, and Third Brother fatally wounded her while trying to take part of her body.
• Old He appeared to the dying Qianqiu, offered to take her in as an immortal, and promised to wash her hair and spare her further suffering.
• Old He shattered Xu City’s gates, and the Jurchens slaughtered the 148 people left inside.

With Lady Houtu’s help, Du Yu’s group located He Suoyi, but a Grade A or higher legend went off course before they could set out to find him. Dong Qianqiu ordered Du Yu to stay behind while she and the others dealt with the emergency.

• Worried about Dong Qianqiu and the accusations against He Suoyi, Du Yu asked the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers to help find the director.
• Lady Houtu revealed she knew someone who could track He Suoyi, dismantled the Spirit-Locking Formation, and summoned Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and his Demon Beast, Truth-Hearing.
• Truth-Hearing listened to the world and its past and future, confirmed he had heard He Suoyi’s location, and prepared to lead Lady Houtu, Du Yu, the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers, Mei Ghost, and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva there.
• Dong Qianqiu joined the group, but an alarm announced that a Grade A or higher legend had gone off course.
• Dong Qianqiu explained that only He Suoyi could seal such a legend and told Du Yu to stay behind while she and the others responded immediately.

Du Yu learned that the Jade Emperor legend was a rare Mist Level case whose hidden events made its difficulty impossible to predict. Exhausted but determined, he prepared to enter the legend and follow its known plot, while Dong Qianqiu led the others to investigate the bureau’s crisis.

• Dong Qianqiu organized the investigation team and insisted on accompanying them, leaving Du Yu and Xiao Qi behind.
• Du Yu nearly collapsed from exhaustion but pushed himself to prepare for the mission with Xiao Qi and Xiao Jin.
• Xiao Jin explained that the legend was a Mist Level case with obscured footage and limited support from Xiao Qi.
• Xiao Qi told Du Yu that Zhang Youren became the Jade Emperor after Jiang Ziya accidentally appointed him, then became the Eastern Peak Great Emperor after Zhang Jian stole his identity and granted him Mount Tai.
• Du Yu accepted that he had to complete the legend’s known plot points despite not knowing what lay hidden in the mist.

Du Yu descended into the Shang dynasty legend as Zhang Zhen and learned that Zhang Youren had become the lord of all gods, while Zhang Jian’s connection to the investiture remained suspicious. The chapter left Du Yu discovering that he and Zhang San were bandits with powerful magic, as Zhang San attacked two young women.

• Du Yu awoke at the Investiture Altar as Zhang Zhen after the Investiture of the Gods had ended, and Xiao Qi told him that the Bureau could neither see nor hear what happened inside the legend.
• Zhang San told Du Yu that Zhang Youren and Zhang Jian had once looked only slightly alike, and Du Yu wondered how Zhang Jian could have been replaced by Zhang Youren.
• Du Yu spotted a black-robed figure who resembled Zhan Qisheng, but the figure vanished before Du Yu could catch up; Zhang Jian then joined Du Yu and Zhang San and concealed his conversation with Jiang Ziya.
• Zhang Jian told Zhang San not to take any lives, and Zhang San led Du Yu into the woods to rob travelers, calling it their old trade.
• Zhang San threatened two young women for their provisions, and Du Yu stumbled into one of them while trying to stop him.
• The two women used wind and fire magic against Zhang San, who raised a stone wall and counterattacked with flying rocks.

Du Yu intervened in a fight between Zhang San and two cultivator girls, then persuaded Zhang Jian that the stronghold should not rob or kill travelers. The group returned to the Zhang Family Stronghold, where Zhang Jian dismissed the victory feast and firmly put Zhang Qian in his place.

• Du Yu dodged the fire-wielding girl's attacks, then used Yingning to stop Zhang San from striking the white-clad girl and let both women escape.
• Du Yu argued with Zhang San that the chief had forbidden killing and told Zhang Jian he had let the girls go because robbing and killing them was wrong.
• Zhang Jian laughed at Du Yu's explanation, abandoned the search for food, and led the group back to the Zhang Family Stronghold.
• Zhang Jian told the stronghold members that Zhang Youren had died in battle and said he would rest instead of attending the victory feast.
• When Zhang Qian insisted on holding the feast, Zhang Jian sternly asked whether his word no longer carried weight, and Zhang Qian backed down.

Du Yu warned Zhang Jian that joining King of Zhou Ji Fa’s army could doom the stronghold, and Zhang Jian asked him to explain the story behind the warning. The two began talking through the tale deep into the night.

• Zhang San asked Du Yu why the chief had announced Zhang Youren died in battle, and Du Yu guessed the chief was embarrassed that Zhang Youren had become ruler of all the gods.
• Zhang Gouzi summoned Du Yu to Zhang Jian, who praised him for what he had said earlier and explained that he wanted the stronghold’s bandits to turn toward goodness.
• Zhang Jian told Du Yu he hoped to take the brothers to join the army so they could live peacefully, but Du Yu warned that the bandits would likely become targets and cannon fodder.
• Zhang Jian asked Du Yu to tell him the story of the hundred and eight bandits, and Du Yu began with the thirty-six Heavenly Gang and seventy-two Earthly Fiends.

Du Yu persuaded Zhang Jian not to rush into joining the imperial army, then learned Zhang Jian needed a successor at the Zhang Family Stronghold before he could exchange places with Zhang Youren and become lord of all gods. Du Yu planned to accept the Stronghold Chief role and abandon the bandits, but Xiao Qi warned him that the Grade A legend still hid a dangerous problem; after sleeping, Du Yu awoke to Zhang San asking if he could write.

• Du Yu told Zhang Jian the tragic story of the one hundred and eight heroes to warn him about the dangers of joining the imperial army, and Zhang Jian thanked him for changing his mind.
• Zhang Jian asked Du Yu to become the next Stronghold Chief and revealed he had five days left to switch places with Zhang Youren and claim the position of lord of all gods.
• Du Yu considered accepting Zhang Jian's request, then decided to rest before committing to the plan.
• Du Yu told Xiao Qi he intended to take the Stronghold Chief role and abandon the bandits, but Xiao Qi cautioned him that the legend's unresolved danger might still be nearby.
• Du Yu slept through unsettling dreams and woke late at night to find Zhang San watching him and asking whether he could write.

Du Yu tried to help Zhang San write an anonymous letter to the girl he loved, but a sudden attack killed Zhang San and plunged the Zhang Family Stronghold into chaos. Du Yu discovered Zhan Qisheng leading the slaughter while Zhang Qian challenged Zhang Jian, and the chapter left their confrontation unresolved.

• Du Yu asked Zhang San what he wanted to write, and Zhang San admitted he only wanted the girl to know he existed.
• Zhang San was killed at the doorway, and Yingning blocked an Ice Spike aimed at Du Yu.
• Du Yu learned from Xiao Qi that the unrest was likely the problem with the legend, then ran through the burning stronghold as its residents fought.
• Zhan Qisheng appeared and killed dozens, prompting Zhang Jian to confront him.
• Zhang Qian revealed that he had invited Zhan Qisheng to help him take control of the stronghold, but Zhan Qisheng said someone else had hired him to kill Zhang Jian.