Chapter Summaries

Du Yu chose to investigate Zhongli Chun’s Saltless Woman legend before the other urgent missions, and learned that she had waited in the underworld for him for 2,300 years. After getting a bureau phone, he turned Xie Bi'an’s attempt to sell his contact into a profitable deal, then received a video call from Fairy Chang'e, who recognized him as Pang Meng.

• He Suoyi explained the bureau’s legend categories and urged Du Yu to prioritize Cui Jue Slays the Tiger and Black and White Impermanence, but Du Yu chose Zhongli Chun’s Saltless Woman legend instead.
• He Suoyi warned that Zhongli Chun’s legend spanned decades and required repeated missions, then issued Du Yu a phone and scheduled his entry into the legend for the next day.
• Dong Qianqiu took Zhongli Chun to stay in her office, and Zhongli Chun revealed she had waited 2,300 years in the underworld to see Du Yu.
• Du Yu joined GhostChat, and Xie Bi'an advertised his contact to ghosts for spirit money; Du Yu negotiated a fifty-fifty split and accepted dozens of friend requests.
• Du Yu accepted Fairy Chang'e’s request, answered her video call, and heard her call him Brother Pang Meng.

Du Yu reunited with Heng'e and learned that the Jade Rabbit was Da Yi before beginning a new descent into Zhongli Chun’s legend. He found the ten-year-old Zhongli Chun abused and living in a pigpen, where she knocked him flying when he tried to stop her from eating rotten food.

• Heng'e told Du Yu that the Jade Rabbit was Da Yi, and the two shared their joy at being together again.
• Dong Qianqiu’s team briefed Du Yu on Zhongli Chun’s legend and the abuse threatening to keep her from studying under Guiguzi.
• Du Yu descended into the Warring States era as a household servant named A-Wu and pretended to have lost his memory to learn about his surroundings.
• A-Da led Du Yu to the pigpen, where Du Yu found the filthy, starving Zhongli Chun eating rotten scraps alongside the pigs.
• Du Yu grabbed Zhongli Chun to stop her, and she punched him in the chest, sending him flying.

Du Yu rescued Zhongli Chun from the pigsty, cared for her, and gave her the first comforts and kindness she had known in years. After taking her to eat, he discovered his backpack had been stolen and fled the restaurant with her.

• Du Yu resisted Zhongli Chun’s attacks, earned her trust, and carried her out of the household with Ah Da’s cover.
• Du Yu took Zhongli Chun to a river, helped her bathe with soap-pod water, and reminded her that she was a person.
• Du Yu gave Zhongli Chun candies and took her to a restaurant, where he taught her to eat proper food instead of scraps.
• Zhongli Chun asked whether Du Yu would stay with her, and he promised to return after leaving at the end of the day.
• The waiter demanded payment, Du Yu realized his backpack had vanished, and he told Zhongli Chun to run.

Du Yu and Zhongli Chun defeated a gang of thugs, and Du Yu arranged for Zhongli Chun to seek out Guiguzi after he left. He then used Dong Qianqiu’s voice to impersonate the Queen Mother of the West and confront Hua about abandoning her daughter.

• Du Yu and Zhongli Chun fought off the waiter and his thirteen thugs, then took the waiter's knife coins before letting the gang go.
• Du Yu gave Zhongli Chun the money and told her to accept help from anyone who came to take her to Guiguzi.
• Du Yu returned to Zhongli Chun's former home and found her birth mother, Hua, praying to the Queen Mother of the West.
• Du Yu and Dong Qianqiu pretended to be the Queen Mother and questioned Hua about leaving Zhongli Chun in the Pigsty.
• Hua explained that she depended on her Husband and feared being cast out, so Du Yu told Dong Qianqiu to stop pressing her and get to the point.

Du Yu and Dong Qianqiu used a vision of the Queen Mother to frighten Hua into taking Zhongli Chun to Ghost Valley Mountain. There, after six months of searching for a reason to stay, Zhongli Chun became Guiguzi’s disciple and the junior sister of Sun Bin, Pang Juan, Su Qin, and Zhang Yi.

• Dong Qianqiu relayed Du Yu’s threats to Hua, who found Zhongli Chun and took her to Ghost Valley Mountain the next day.
• Zhongli Chun arrived at the mountain and mistook Sun Bin and Pang Juan for Master Ghost Dog before meeting Guiguzi.
• Guiguzi refused to accept Zhongli Chun until she could explain what she wanted, and she spent six months reflecting on the mountain.
• Zhongli Chun told Guiguzi she wanted to see Du Yu, while Guiguzi’s divination suggested she was destined to bring peace to the Qi Kingdom.
• Sun Bin tricked Guiguzi into calling Zhongli Chun his junior sister, and Zhongli Chun bowed to Guiguzi as his disciple.

Du Yu descended onto Ghost Valley Mountain twenty years after his first visit and reunited with Zhongli Chun, who had cultivated all seven po but lacked joy, fear, and desire. He promised she would see him again if she followed his guidance, but remembered that history destined her to marry King Xuan of Qi.

• Dong Qianqiu told Du Yu that his next descent would begin twenty years later, when Sun Bin and Pang Juan left the mountain, and gave him only ten minutes to prepare.
• Du Yu descended as a household servant carrying a single white flower and overheard Guiguzi explain that Zhongli Chun had cultivated all seven po but possessed four love po instead of joy, fear, and desire.
• Guiguzi discovered that Zhongli Chun had entered the qi refining realm, then asked his five disciples to bring him flowers before he would permit them to leave the mountain.
• Du Yu met Zhongli Chun, who showed him the candy she had kept for twenty years and confessed that thinking of him made her heart hurt.
• Zhongli Chun offered to undress so Du Yu would stay with her, but he covered her and told her not to do that; he then remembered that she would eventually marry King Xuan of Qi.

Guiguzi divined his disciples’ futures from flowers, while Zhongli Chun demonstrated her exceptional military skill and earned permission to leave Ghost Valley with Du Yu. She said a tearful farewell to Guiguzi and her fellow disciples as they watched her depart.

• Guiguzi interpreted Pang Juan’s withered flower as a sign of future success and danger, then sent him down the mountain; he gave Sun Bin a brocade pouch and told him to wait until spring before leaving.
• Guiguzi read the flower shared by Su Qin and Zhang Yi as a sign of their future fame, then divined from Du Yu’s white flower that Zhongli Chun had a benefactor and an unwavering heart.
• Zhongli Chun claimed she had mastered Guiguzi’s teachings and defeated Sun Bin in eleven of their twelve military strategy games.
• Zhongli Chun outmaneuvered Su Qin and Zhang Yi by leading an assassination unit herself, convincing Guiguzi that she was ready to leave the mountain.
• Guiguzi permitted Zhongli Chun to depart with Du Yu, and Zhongli Chun thanked her teacher and fellow disciples before leaving as they wept.

Du Yu and Zhongli Chun returned to Wuyan City, where Zhongli Chun rescued the maid Xiao Xia from abuse by Hua and the household master. Zhongli Chun claimed Xiao Xia as her personal maid, who accepted the name Xia Yingchun and vowed to devote her life to her.

• Du Yu reassured Zhongli Chun that he was taking her home to protect her, and they returned to Wuyan City together.
• Du Yu and Zhongli Chun found Hua beating Xiao Xia while the household master watched, and Xiao Xia tried to take her own life.
• Zhongli Chun stopped Xiao Xia from striking a pillar and defeated a guard with a light flick of her fingers.
• Du Yu reunited with A-Da and revealed that Zhongli Chun had returned after completing her studies on Ghost Valley Mountain.
• Zhongli Chun ordered the household to stop mistreating Xiao Xia and claimed her as her personal maid; Hua named her Xia Yingchun.
• Xia Yingchun initially asked to leave, but Zhongli Chun welcomed her, and Xia Yingchun vowed to live only for her.

Zhongli Chun decided to marry Du Yu after Xia Yingchun helped her understand marriage, but Du Yu fled because he knew they could not be together across two thousand years. He explained their separation and asked Zhongli Chun to marry King Xuan of Qi when she turned forty, leaving her to consider his request.

• Zhongli Chun asked Xia Yingchun about marriage and admitted that she liked someone, while Du Yu and Dong Qianqiu discussed his guard duty outside.
• After Xia Yingchun returned with her mother's wedding clothes, Zhongli Chun dressed as a bride and asked Du Yu to marry her.
• Du Yu ran from the courtyard, and Xia Yingchun confronted him for rejecting Zhongli Chun despite her knowing the risks and choosing him herself.
• Du Yu returned and told Zhongli Chun that a river spanning more than two thousand years separated them and that they could meet again after she lived out her natural lifespan.
• Zhongli Chun said she trusted Du Yu, and he asked her to marry King Xuan of Qi when she turned forty.

Du Yu urged Zhongli Chun to marry King Xuan of Qi and fulfill her destiny, then reunited with her in the Legend Management Bureau and promised to make up for their separation. As Zhongli Chun began building a fearsome reputation to deter unwanted suitors, Du Yu learned his final descent could either secure her marriage at forty or protect her from a dangerous war.

• Du Yu told Zhongli Chun she had to marry King Xuan of Qi, help repel foreign enemies, and restore peace to the Qi Kingdom, and she agreed because she believed it would let her see him again.
• After leaving Zhongli Chun, Du Yu asked Dong Qianqiu to take him to see her; he called her “Little Zhongli,” comforted her, and learned she had never regretted waiting for him.
• Zhongli Chun asked Xiao Xia to spread rumors that she was extremely ugly so only King Xuan of Qi would consider marrying her.
• Zhongli Chun appeared veiled before her adoptive father's gathered suitors, displayed her strength, and warned them that only a general, minister, prince, or king could marry her.
• Dong Qianqiu told Du Yu that his last descent could take place when Zhongli Chun turned forty or after she became queen, when she faced a sixty percent chance of dying while leading an army against Qin and Zhao.

Zhongli Chun and Xia Yingchun went to King Xuan of Qi to secure the Qi Kingdom’s survival, and Zhongli Chun became his queen. The story left Xia Yingchun in the palace as a royal consort while Zhongli Chun pushed her away to protect her, even as Xia defended her lady.

• Zhongli Chun and Xia Yingchun entered the Qi palace, where Zhongli Chun defeated the guards and confronted King Xuan of Qi.
• Zhongli Chun revealed her beauty privately to King Xuan, persuaded him to marry her, and secured his promise to reform the kingdom.
• On their wedding night, Xia Yingchun went to King Xuan’s bedchamber and accepted the position of royal consort to help protect Zhongli Chun’s aims.
• The next morning, Zhongli Chun told Xia Yingchun she no longer needed to serve her, but Xia begged to remain by her side.
• When King Xuan found them together, Zhongli Chun pretended to berate Xia and drove her away; King Xuan pursued Xia, who protested when he insulted Zhongli Chun.

Du Yu descended into the Warring States battlefield to protect Zhongli Chun, who had been fighting alone for three days after her army was trapped. He joined a small squad and reached her atop a mountain of corpses, where she warned that the Qi army was doomed and urged him to leave.

• Dong Qianqiu warned Du Yu that Zhongli Chun faced an eighty percent chance of dying in battle, but he insisted on descending to keep his promise and asked her to prepare weapons.
• Du Yu arrived on the battlefield as A-Wu, vomited at the sight and smell of the fighting, then joined squad leader Di Cong and three other soldiers.
• Di Cong led the squad north toward a trapped Qi unit, and Du Yu recognized Zhongli Chun atop a mountain of corpses after they fought through Zhao soldiers.
• Zhongli Chun told Du Yu she had killed for three days after assassinating the Zhao deputy commander, while Lian Po and Bai Qi argued over how to defeat her.
• Du Yu and the four soldiers shielded Zhongli Chun as she said the Qi army would lose and that she could not defeat the enemy commanders without another skilled general.

Du Yu used grenades to break the Zhao encirclement, but Bai Qi's Qin forces arrived and attacked, leaving Zhongli Chun badly wounded and Du Yu trapped. As the Qin soldiers closed in, Dong Qianqiu urged Du Yu to recall himself, but Du Yu refused to abandon Zhongli Chun and threatened the advancing army with another grenade.

• Du Yu threw a grenade into the Zhao ranks, killing and wounding soldiers and opening a breach in their encirclement.
• As Du Yu tried to escape with Zhongli Chun, Qin banners appeared and Bai Qi arrived with reinforcements.
• Zhongli Chun ambushed Bai Qi, but his elite guards attacked her and Bai Qi ordered archers to fire on everyone on the hill.
• Zhongli Chun shielded Du Yu from the arrows, while Corporal Di Cong and the surrounding soldiers were killed; Zhongli Chun suffered two arrow wounds.
• Du Yu threw another grenade at Bai Qi, killing his horse and hurling him aside, while Bai Qi ordered his troops to keep attacking.
• Dong Qianqiu urged Du Yu to recall himself, but Du Yu refused to leave Zhongli Chun and threatened the advancing Qin soldiers with another grenade.

Du Yu and the wounded Zhongli Chun were surrounded by Qin soldiers while the Legend Management Bureau prepared an emergency soul recall that would kill everyone nearby. As Bai Qi ordered Zhongli Chun beheaded, Du Yu and Zhongli Chun turned toward him in perfect unison, hinting that something had changed.

• Zhongli Chun woke and fought beside Du Yu, but both were badly wounded as Qin soldiers closed in around them.
• Zhongli Chun tried to enter the Legend Management Bureau to reach Du Yu, but Dong Qianqiu stopped her and ordered a wide-area Rapid Soul-Absorption Method to begin.
• Dong Qianqiu warned Du Yu that the recall would destroy the souls of everyone near him, and Du Yu refused to use Zhongli Chun as a human shield.
• Du Yu tried to bargain with Bai Qi by predicting his future, but Bai Qi rejected the offer and ordered the two captives killed.
• A sinister wind rose before the soul device was ready, Du Yu stopped responding to Dong Qianqiu, and he and Zhongli Chun simultaneously challenged Bai Qi as he ordered her beheading.

Du Yu became a malevolent ghost and helped Zhongli Chun annihilate Bai Qi’s army, but Zhongli Chun sacrificed herself to guard the Eight Directions Ghost Record. A thousand years earlier, Dong Qianqiu met Zhongli Chun in the Underworld and learned she refused reincarnation because she wanted to cross two thousand years to find someone.

• Du Yu used the Ghostly Movement Technique to slaughter Bai Qi’s soldiers and joined Zhongli Chun in fighting their way through the Qin Army.
• Bai Qi asked who Du Yu was, and Du Yu called himself a malevolent ghost guarding the eight directions.
• Dong Qianqiu found Zhongli Chun gone, with her bloodied signature at the Death Gate position on the Eight Directions Ghost Record.
• A thousand years earlier, Dong Qianqiu urged Horse-Face to release Zhongli Chun from the Hell of the Mountain of Blades.
• Dongli Chun told Dong Qianqiu she refused reincarnation because she needed to cross a river spanning two thousand years to find someone.

Du Yu took control of the scattered Qi army and led it to victory before returning to Zhongli Chun, then left her with a promise to meet again. More than two thousand years later, Zhongli Chun waited in the Underworld until Du Yu appeared, and she chose to wait for him to return with mandarins.

• Du Yu reorganized the retreating Qi soldiers, promoted Kuang Zhang, and ordered three forces to attack the Zhao Army Camp from separate roads.
• The Qi forces overwhelmed the Zhao camp, and Lian Po and Bai Qi withdrew as the battle ended.
• After the victory, Du Yu returned to himself and told Zhongli Chun he would leave, asking her to find him next time and live her life well.
• Zhongli Chun promised to endure the long wait, and Du Yu departed after telling her not to force herself if she became sad.
• More than two thousand years later, Zhongli Chun attacked people in a café because she was overwhelmed by sadness, then stopped when Du Yu called out to her.
• Du Yu told Zhongli Chun to stay put while he went to buy mandarins, and she recognized his memory of their promise and decided to wait.

Du Yu mourned Zhongli Chun after learning she had vanished from the world, then reunited with her in his inner world. The bonus chapters turned to the Queen Mother of the West choosing the zodiac guardians and Heng'e receiving news of Hou Yi from the mortal realm.

• Dong Qianqiu told Du Yu that Zhongli Chun no longer existed in the world and could only be reached within his heart.
• Du Yu grieved over Zhongli Chun’s keepsakes, then found and embraced her in a dark inner realm where they promised to stay together.
• Dong Qianqiu left Du Yu undisturbed after he sat smiling in his office for three days.
• The Queen Mother of the West rejected the cat as a zodiac guardian and ordered the divine official to use the rabbit instead.
• Heng'e asked Emperor Haotian for regular news of Da Yi, and the Supreme Elder Lord suggested that he might be known as Hou Yi.
• Heng'e received a letter reporting that Hou Yi had accompanied Emperor Yao on a western campaign and won a great victory.

Two strange visitors barged into the Legend Management Bureau to take Dong Qianqiu, and Du Yu and Cui Jue fought to stop them. Ox-Head and Horse-Face arrived after Du Yu secretly summoned help, leaving the visitors facing several powerful opponents.

• Two horned visitors forced their way into the Legend Management Bureau and demanded that Dong Qianqiu come with them.
• Du Yu returned after reconciling with Little Zhongli and confronted the man when he grabbed Dong Qianqiu, but the man overpowered him.
• Dong Qianqiu agreed to go with the visitors to keep them from fighting Du Yu, but Cui Jue arrived and challenged the man.
• Cui Jue and the man exchanged powerful attacks, while the woman identified the man as Chi Ghost.
• Du Yu secretly summoned help through GhostChat, and Ox-Head and Horse-Face arrived as the woman teased Chi Ghost about the reinforcements.

Chi Ghost and Mei Ghost took Dong Qianqiu away on Lady Houtu’s orders, leaving Du Yu with a jade pendant and instructions to continue his work. He Suoyi told Du Yu to proceed with the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers’ legends, though Du Yu suspected the director had known what was coming.

• Horse-Face and Ox-Head attacked the man, while Cui Jue trapped him in the Infinite Hell Formation until Mei Ghost shattered a rune and broke it.
• Black Impermanence and White Impermanence arrived and ordered Dong Qianqiu to go with Chi Ghost and Mei Ghost, explaining that their mistress was Lady Houtu.
• Dong Qianqiu agreed to leave, and Mei Ghost gave Du Yu a jade pendant and said Lady Houtu would contact him if he descended into the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers’ legends.
• Chi Ghost, Mei Ghost, and Dong Qianqiu vanished, while Fan Wujiao told Du Yu that Lady Houtu had entrusted him with the Eight Directions Ghost Record.
• He Suoyi told Du Yu to continue preparing the remaining legends, and Du Yu questioned whether the director had anticipated Dong Qianqiu’s departure.

Du Yu entered Cui Jue’s legend, where he was assigned as a Misfit and faced questioning in Cui Jue’s courtroom. He left Cui Jue baffled by claiming to have committed mass killings, while the legend’s unresolved case of the old woman and the tiger remained ahead.

• Cui Jue asked Du Yu to return to his past and disrupt the events that made him Grand Judge, and Du Yu proposed asking Cui Jue’s younger self to choose.
• Xiao Jin and Xiao Qi briefed Du Yu on the legend “Cui Jue Slays the Tiger,” explaining that the old woman had not reported her son’s death, so the court hearing had not begun.
• Du Yu descended into the Tang dynasty legend and found himself among three Misfits presented to Cui Jue in court.
• When Cui Jue asked about his offenses, Du Yu claimed he had killed a tyrant and thousands of gang members, leaving Cui Jue and Constable Li Neng questioning how such a man could be a Misfit.