Chapter Summaries

Three months after settling in the mountain village, Li Ping'an struggled to find a new home and tried to pawn valuables he had taken from Huyan Zhuo. The chapter ended with a black-market proprietor taking an interest in Li Ping'an's broken protective talisman and beckoning him inside.

• Li Ping'an spent his days cultivating and living quietly with Old Ox, but learned that the house's owners were returning and he would soon have to leave.
• Liu Dashuan secretly gave Li Ping'an a copper coin while his wife dragged him home from the willow tree.
• Li Ping'an decided to build a thatched hut and prepared to sell some of the valuables looted from Huyan Zhuo, keeping his Spirit Stones for cultivation.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox went to town the next morning and brought a broken golden protective talisman to a black-market pawnshop.
• The pawnshop proprietor examined the talisman, asked where Li Ping'an had found it, and beckoned him inside; Li Ping'an recognized that the proprietor had taken the bait.

Li Ping'an used twenty taels from a pawnshop deal to buy supplies, hire villagers, and build a house, but soon ran out of money. After failing to pawn another item at the same shop, he spotted a shopkeeper being threatened over rent and saw a new chance to earn money.

• The pawnshop owner tried to intimidate Li Ping'an into explaining where his item came from, but Li Ping'an forced him to hand over twenty taels of silver.
• Li Ping'an bought food and supplies, paid for beef for Old Ox, and hired villagers to help build a house.
• Liu Dashuan came to the building site at his wife's urging, and Li Ping'an offered him work for two coins a day.
• Li Ping'an gave roasted soybeans to village children, then spent his money on the house, land, meals, and trips to town.
• Li Ping'an returned to the pawnshop with a broken protective talisman, but the owner refused to deal with him again.
• Li Ping'an saw thugs led by Brother Zhao threaten a shopkeeper over rent and brightened at the prospect of making money.

Li Ping'an brought the blind man and his ox to the Black Tiger Gang, demanding compensation after Zhao Hu and his thugs had beaten them. When a gang member shouted at him, Li Ping'an kicked him through a wall and sat back down, complaining that the noise bothered his heart condition.

• Zhao Hu and his thugs beat the blind man and demanded his ox as compensation for their staged collision.
• Li Ping'an slapped Zhao Hu aside and took the blind man to the Black Tiger Gang to demand compensation from Guo En.
• Guo En questioned Li Ping'an and asked how he wanted to settle the matter.
• A minor gang leader shouted at Li Ping'an and accused him of extortion.
• Li Ping'an kicked the gang leader through a wall and told him not to shout so loudly because of his heart condition.

Li Ping'an used the Black Tiger Gang’s protection money to settle into village life and cultivate, but as his funds ran low, he dealt with the gang’s collectors again. The chapter ended with him appearing before Guo En yet another time, leaving the gang leader close to despair.

• Li Ping'an accepted a hundred taels of silver from Guo En and spent it on furniture and livestock.
• After two months of cultivation, Li Ping'an nearly ran out of Spirit Stones and found no low-grade stones at the black market.
• Two Black Tiger Gang men demanded dues from Li Ping'an, so he beat them and brought them to Guo En, who paid him another hundred taels.
• More than two months later, Li Ping'an appeared before Guo En again with another Black Tiger Gang underling, and Guo En feared he was being fleeced once more.

Li Ping'an shared food with Liu Dashuan, then learned that Dashuan was a deadly fighter when he killed a band of robbers. Constable Wei Wu recognized Dashuan as someone he had been searching for, and a message in Li Ping'an's group revealed that someone wanted to kill a person in Sanshui Village.

• Li Ping'an welcomed Constable Wei Wu, read the Court Gazette praising Liu Yun, and brought some pork to Liu Dashuan's family.
• Liu Dashuan thanked Li Ping'an for the food and praised his erhu playing.
• Liu Dashuan and Old Wang encountered bandits on the road, and Dashuan killed them all after their leader threatened them.
• Constable Wei Wu identified Liu Dashuan as the person he had spent years searching for and said he had a plan.
• Li Ping'an received a group message requesting help to kill someone in Sanshui Village, Yong'an County, Great Sui.

Liu Dashuan arranged for Li Ping'an to take his wife and son to the provincial capital, where they would wait for him. After seeing them off, he remained behind with an urgent matter to handle.

• Li Ping'an comforted Liu Xiaoshuan, who complained that his father was poor and cowardly, and fed him roasted soybeans.
• Liu Dashuan brought Li Ping'an white-flour buns and asked him to take Liu Dashuan's wife and son to the provincial capital.
• Li Ping'an agreed without saying so directly, and Liu Dashuan's family prepared to leave the next morning.
• Liu Dashuan told his wife and son to wait for him in the provincial capital, then watched their carriage depart.

Li Ping'an escorted Liu Dashuan’s wife and son away while Liu Dashuan faced Wei Wu and two other pursuers over a Great Dao Runes fragment. After Li Ping'an confirmed his family was safe, the mortally wounded Liu Dashuan died, learning that Li Ping'an was also searching for the Great Dao Runes.

• Li Ping'an’s ox cart ran down a swordsman who tried to block the road, then Li Ping'an cut through the figures waiting in the bamboo grove.
• Li Ping'an recognized that Advancing Eagle’s target was Liu Dashuan and arranged for Old Ox to take Liu Dashuan’s wife and son to the provincial capital.
• Liu Dashuan took his saber and Rune Fragment from their hiding place, then went up the mountain to meet Wei Wu, an elderly man, and a burly man.
• Wei Wu demanded Liu Dashuan surrender the saber and fragment, and Liu Dashuan refused before fighting the three men.
• Li Ping'an found Liu Dashuan among the corpses and told him that Old Ox had taken his family to safety.
• Liu Dashuan died after asking who Li Ping'an was, and Li Ping'an said he was a fellow martial-world seeker of the Great Dao Runes.

Li Ping'an learned that another Great Dao Rune Fragment had been recovered, bringing his total to two, while Soaring Fish sought information about the Turks’ military plans. Back in the village, Li Ping'an continued his quiet life and refused to give meat to Sister Cai’s children after their family repeatedly took advantage of his generosity.

• Advancing Eagle questioned the group about who had killed the man with the saber and ox, and Soaring Fish deduced that someone now held two Rune Fragments.
• Soaring Fish paid Happy Big Boy for information about the Turks’ strategic deployments in their war with Great Sui.
• Li Ping'an realized he had obtained a second Great Dao Rune Fragment and needed three more to complete a rune.
• Li Ping'an grumbled about his meals while Old Ox watched him eat, as the village struggled with poor harvests, increased taxes, and bandit trouble.
• Li Ping'an stopped giving meat to Sister Cai’s children after they repeatedly returned for more and Sister Cai spoke ill of him.

Li Ping'an shared food with Widow Wang and her daughter Er Ya, while Old Cai secretly helped a band of outlaws target Li Ping'an's home. The outlaws prepared to strike while the constable was away in the county town.

• Er Ya brought Li Ping'an dates, and he tried to send her home with stewed pork.
• Widow Wang and Er Ya ate a meager supper, and Li Ping'an brought them meat and rice, calling it a loan.
• Old Ox guessed that Li Ping'an favored Widow Wang, while Sister-in-law Cai complained about his generosity toward her.
• Old Cai met with Brother Liu and told him Li Ping'an's house was full of money and unguarded because the constable was away.

Bandits led by Old Cai broke into Li Ping'an's home, but Li Ping'an defeated them and turned them over to the authorities. Old Cai and the bandits were sentenced to execution and put to death, despite Mrs. Cai's plea for Li Ping'an to intervene.

• Old Cai led a band of bandits to rob Li Ping'an's home, while Skinny Monkey stayed outside to keep watch.
• Li Ping'an subdued the bandits, recognized Old Cai, and said he would haul them to the authorities.
• Old Cai begged Li Ping'an for mercy, but Li Ping'an ignored him and captured him too.
• Villagers learned that Old Cai had brought the bandits into the village, and the authorities sent Old Cai and the bandits to prison.
• Mrs. Cai and her children begged outside Li Ping'an's home for him to speak up for Old Cai, but he did not intervene.
• Seven or eight days later, Old Cai and the bandits were executed, and Mrs. Cai fainted.

As bandit troubles and hardship worsened, Li Ping'an used his new leverage over the Black Tiger Gang to recover the food and money he had bought. He gained the red destiny Benevolent Healer and set out to treat Widow Wang, who had caught a chill.

• Sister-in-law Cai and her family left the village after the villagers shunned them.
• Li Ping'an collected less protection money from a restaurant on Guo En's behalf, repeating Guo En's own words to him when he returned to the Black Tiger Gang.
• Two Black Tiger Gang underlings robbed Li Ping'an, then brought the food and silver back to Guo En, who nearly fainted when he recognized them.
• As bandits grew stronger and villages began conscripting soldiers, Li Ping'an gained the red destiny Benevolent Healer and Beginner Medical Arts.
• Li Ping'an decided to visit Widow Wang and use his new medical knowledge to treat her chill.

Li Ping'an visited the sick Widow Wang and stopped Yang Kuzi from exploiting her with a fake poll tax and threat of conscription. He examined Widow Wang’s pulse, while she grew flustered by his touch.

• Widow Wang lay weak from hunger and a chill as Er Yatou brought her hot water.
• Yang Kuzi claimed he had authority to collect a poll tax and threatened to send Widow Wang to comfort soldiers unless she let him alter her household record.
• Yang Kuzi tried to grab Widow Wang, but Li Ping'an seized his wrist and kicked him out.
• Li Ping'an brought Widow Wang a bag of rice and told her Yang Kuzi had deceived her.
• Li Ping'an took Widow Wang's pulse, and she blushed and felt her heart quicken.

Li Ping'an treated Widow Wang and spent a brief respite at home as unrest and plague worsened in the besieged county town. When officials sought physicians to treat the infected, he went to help, leaving his motives unexplained.

• Li Ping'an diagnosed Widow Wang with a weak pulse and prescribed Cinnamon Twig Decoction, and she later brought him dates and locust blossoms to thank him.
• Li Ping'an discussed the bandit siege and unrest with Widow Wang, then cooked steamed locust blossoms and cultivated at home.
• More than half a month later, the siege and violence had worsened, and people in town began contracting the plague.
• The authorities forced physicians to attend plague patients, and Li Ping'an arrived at the treatment site, introducing himself as both blind and a physician.

Li Ping'an entered the quarantine wards to treat a plague and studied medical texts while the county physicians struggled to help the growing number of patients. He experimented with a medicinal decoction alongside Old Ox, leaving Pockmarked Li to question his sanity.

• Li Ping'an visited the quarantine room, examined a patient, and assessed the symptoms as damp heat accumulated within.
• Li Ping'an ate heartily and studied the medical texts in his mind while Li Tongchuan tried to introduce himself and the physicians discussed the outbreak.
• The physicians treated new patients through the night but could offer little help, and Pockmarked Li wished a physician from Capital City would arrive.
• Li Ping'an stirred a medicinal decoction while Old Ox read a medical book and tasted the medicine, then left with him to keep refining it.
• Li Tongchuan stopped Li Ping'an and told him to get his head examined, prompting Li Ping'an to wonder where his manners were.

As the plague worsened, Pockmarked Li refused to abandon his patients, and the mysterious Li Ping'an left him a prescription that helped ease their symptoms. Several days later, the townspeople gathered to thank Pockmarked Li for his efforts.

• Pockmarked Li told Li Ping'an that he would keep trying to save every patient who still had a breath, despite the danger and the other physicians fleeing.
• Li Ping'an left, and Pockmarked Li discovered that a prescription had appeared in his medical text with a note saying, "Do not look for me."
• Pockmarked Li recognized the prescription as a way to treat the plague and used it alongside fumigation and other measures to curb its spread.
• Several days later, the patients' symptoms had eased, and townspeople brought Pockmarked Li gifts and a plaque reading "Practising medicine to save the world!!"

Li Ping'an gained Benevolent Healer experience while turmoil spread through the county town and Little Mountain Village. When local thugs terrorized his neighbors, he killed one and drove the rest away, leaving the village stunned by his strength.

• Pockmarked Li accepted the townspeople's gifts uneasily, feeling that he had taken credit for the blind man's work, but he chose not to seek the man out.
• Li Ping'an gained Benevolent Healer experience as bandits and troublemakers stirred up the county town, while he and Old Ox remained well supplied.
• Li Ping'an trained and sharpened his Staff-Sword as the nightly unrest grew louder around Little Mountain Village.
• A gang of thugs threatened Li Ping'an's neighbors and demanded that the family open their door.
• Li Ping'an flicked a thug's blade and beheaded its owner, then kicked another thug away and frightened the rest into fleeing or collapsing.

Li Ping'an became a temporary constable and helped restore peace to Little Mountain Village by patrolling and driving off thugs. Meanwhile, Guo En heard Old Sun’s plan to join powerful figures in secretly destabilizing the county town and began to consider it.

• The authorities asked Li Ping'an to serve as a constable, and he agreed to help maintain order in Little Mountain Village.
• Li Ping'an patrolled the village, chased children away from an anthill, and later killed several thugs who tried to cause trouble.
• Li Ping'an rode Old Ox through the village at night while playing the Erhu, helping the villagers feel safe enough to sleep.
• Old Sun told Guo En that powerful figures wanted the gangs to throw the county town into chaos, and argued that Great Sui was nearing collapse.
• Guo En asked Old Sun what he planned to do after hearing his proposal.

Guo En and Old Sun led a group of gang members to Sanshui Village to ambush Li Ping'an, while a pair of constables let them pass. When Li Ping'an arrived, Guo En abandoned his plan and claimed he had only pretended to cooperate with Old Sun so he could expose the plot.

• Old Sun told Guo En that Li Ping'an had killed many of his men in Sanshui Village, and they agreed to ambush him.
• A young constable spotted the gang heading toward the village, but his older master pretended to be blind and told him not to risk his life for a few copper coins.
• Li Ping'an heard the approaching men and rode Old Ox toward the village entrance.
• When Guo En saw Li Ping'an, he dropped his Mountain-Cleaving Saber and rushed to report Old Sun's plot.
• Guo En claimed he had feigned loyalty to Old Sun to expose him, then declared himself the sworn enemy of evil.

Li Ping'an killed Old Sun and routed the Clearwater Gang, then returned to his routine in the county town. After a meal at the morning market, he resumed cultivating and felt certain he would break through that day.

• Old Sun ordered the Clearwater Gang to attack, but Li Ping'an killed him with a thrown brick and defeated the gang members with pebbles.
• Li Ping'an left Guo En to handle the aftermath, and the next morning the Government Office accused the Clearwater Gang of colluding with the enemy and conscripted its members.
• Li Ping'an ate at a county-town stall, refused the stallholder's offer of a free meal, and quietly left exact payment.
• Li Ping'an reflected on his gains from his time in Little Mountain Village and began cultivating through intense pain and exhaustion.
• Li Ping'an sensed that the Thousand-Legged Centipedes and his recent quiet cultivation had prepared him to advance another step.

Li Ping'an broke through in the Turtle Breath Technique, accidentally struck Old Ox, and later considered visiting the Black Tiger Gang to borrow supplies. As the besieged county town neared collapse, news arrived that Huailu Academy’s cultivators had come, and Li Ping'an heard that they had reached the village.

• Li Ping'an advanced the Turtle Breath Technique and the Mud Pellet, then accidentally blasted a wooden board while demonstrating his new strength and upset Old Ox.
• Li Ping'an appeased Old Ox with two servings of beef in soy sauce and proposed visiting Guo En at the Black Tiger Gang to borrow money and supplies.
• The roving bandits intensified their siege of the county town, used firearms, and pushed its defenders toward running out of provisions as residents awaited reinforcements from Huailu Academy.
• Li Ping'an wondered whether Huailu Academy would send anyone important, while Little Mountain Village remained quiet after he had killed more than ten local thugs.
• A villager announced that the Academy’s immortals had arrived and could fly, prompting Li Ping'an to look up from his meal.