Chapter Summaries

After Yan Xia was found dead from a rat attack, Zeng Mu left Yu City and said a silent farewell to Yue Rushuang. On the grassland, he read the third secret letter and learned to seek Felman, a female zither player and legendary spy operating near the Yan State's Royal City.

• Yan Xia was discovered dead in his bed, and healers concluded that a rat had bitten him to death.
• Zeng Mu left the Moon Estate and wrote Yue Rushuang a farewell letter before riding out of Yu City.
• Yue Rushuang read the letter, fell unconscious, and later unknowingly ate it; she never spoke of its contents.
• Zeng Mu rode across the grassland, read the third secret letter, and learned that Felman was a skilled spy near the Yan State's Royal City.
• Zeng Mu burned the letter and rode east toward the setting sun to find Felman.

Zeng Mu traveled to the Yan State Royal City and searched for a female musician whose music was melancholy and whose eyes looked as though rain had washed them clean. A potter gave him a list of famous musicians, and Zeng Mu went to a musical theater to hear one perform, where the play had just begun.

• Zeng Mu forged identity papers to enter Yan State and reached the Royal City at midnight.
• Zeng Mu asked flower-shop owners and tavern patrons about female musicians but received no useful leads.
• Zeng Mu bought pottery from a local potter and described the musician he sought.
• The potter gave Zeng Mu a list of famous female musicians and packed his purchases.
• Zeng Mu followed the list to a musical theater, bought a ticket, and watched a love story begin onstage.

Zeng Mu watched a play, then sought out Ning Shenhai to ask a recognition phrase, but she angrily mistook him for a lecher and he fled. He next went to a music school, where Xiao Wan'er unexpectedly ushered him into a classroom and asked him to demonstrate the bamboo flute, leaving him performing before the students.

• Zeng Mu watched a romance play and imagined several possible endings before the story concluded with the couple fleeing the Qin Kingdom's cavalry after their family was killed.
• Zeng Mu approached lute player Ning Shenhai during the intermission and quietly asked her a recognition phrase.
• Ning Shenhai called Zeng Mu a shameless lecher, prompting the musicians to rise against him, and he ran away.
• Zeng Mu went to a music school, where Xiao Wan'er welcomed him as though the students had been waiting for him.
• Xiao Wan'er handed Zeng Mu a bamboo flute and asked him to demonstrate for the class, and he began to play.

Zeng Mu failed to prove himself as a flutist, angered Xiao Wan'er with an inappropriate password, and fled before searching for Felman at a casino. He used his ability to sense metal to win sixteen rounds and earn enough chips to reach the casino’s second floor.

• Zeng Mu played the bamboo flute badly, and Xiao Wan'er questioned whether he was the Maple Flutist.
• Zeng Mu whispered an indecent password to Xiao Wan'er, dodged her slap, and fled the classroom.
• Zeng Mu followed his list to the Noble casino, where he hoped to find Felman, and learned that first-time gamblers had to advance floor by floor.
• Zeng Mu sensed the metal dice through his Metal Elementalist ability and won sixteen consecutive rounds on the lower floor.
• Zeng Mu earned thirty gold coins' worth of chips and reached the second floor with the casino attendant.

Zeng Mu gambled his way through the Noble Casino while searching for Felman, drawing the casino watchers’ suspicion with an extraordinary winning streak. On the upper floor, he recognized Felman as the musician and discreetly made contact with her.

• Zeng Mu learned that Madam Linlin was the casino owner’s wife and continued past the middle floor without pursuing her.
• Zeng Mu won enough at dice to reach the upper floor, while casino watchers noticed his streak and ordered him watched and tested after dark.
• Zeng Mu entered the lavish upper floor and recognized the female musician as Felman when he saw her eyes.
• Zeng Mu gave Felman the gut string, and she quietly told him she had been awaiting Viscount Nameless.
• Zeng Mu and Felman exchanged ordinary conversation in public, introducing themselves as Nameless and Fei’er.

Zeng Mu met Felman at the Noble Casino, arranged to meet her at eight that night, and left after earning nearly two hundred gold coins. On his way back to the casino, he faced four enforcers demanding his winnings, but Sen Miao intervened and reminded him that they had met three years earlier at the Underground Fighting Arena.

• Felman played three pieces for Zeng Mu, then warned him that his casino winnings had attracted trouble and invited him to meet her at eight that night.
• Zeng Mu cashed in nearly two hundred gold coins, ate at a restaurant, and spent the afternoon resting and cultivating at an inn.
• Zeng Mu hurried through the nighttime marketplace toward the Noble Casino and realized that four men had been following him.
• The four men demanded Zeng Mu hand over his winnings and threatened to break his thumbs, but a newcomer ordered them to stop.
• The newcomer introduced himself as Sen Miao and reminded Zeng Mu that his older brother had met him at the Underground Fighting Arena three years earlier.

Zeng Mu, traveling under the name Nameless, was recognized by Sen Miao and invited to the Sen Residence, where he met Madam Lin and discovered that her husband Ruan Fan was gravely ill from an Elemental Toxin. The chapter left Nameless offering to help treat Ruan Fan after the Royal City’s Healers had given up.

• Sen Miao recognized Zeng Mu from his brother’s description and explained that his twin brother had died two years earlier.
• Zeng Mu invented a carefree, debauched traveler persona and followed Sen Miao to the Sen Residence, leaving Felman waiting outside the casino.
• Sen Miao described his cautious father and brought Zeng Mu to meet his bedridden stepfather, Ruan Fan, and his mother, Madam Lin.
• Zeng Mu recognized Madam Lin from the casino and examined Ruan Fan, identifying an unusual Elemental Toxin as the cause of his condition.
• Zeng Mu offered to help treat Ruan Fan, and Madam Lin eagerly asked him to save her husband.

Zeng Mu discovered that Ruan Fan had been poisoned by a rare, transparent toxin and ordered the Lin family to search their residence. He then went to find Felman, only to sneak into her home, hear unfamiliar women, and nearly be struck by a throwing knife before Felman confronted him.

• Zeng Mu used his elemental sight to find a colorless toxin in Ruan Fan’s body and tested a blood sample, then destroyed the toxin with lightning element.
• Madam Lin and Sen Miao told Zeng Mu when Ruan Fan collapsed and that other healers had failed to identify the poison.
• Zeng Mu instructed them to search the Lin Residence and left, claiming he needed to investigate the toxin while secretly intending to see Felman.
• Zeng Mu learned where Felman lived, slipped into her home, and heard two women making intimate sounds inside.
• Zeng Mu moved toward the room and dodged a throwing knife, which struck a table instead.
• Felman came out with a bath towel, recognized Zeng Mu, and confronted him.

Zeng Mu visited Felman to get information about his target, but first ran into Ning Shenhai and Xiao Wan'er, who accused him of harassing them. Felman revealed the target, Feng Yue, had already been secretly killed, leaving Zeng Mu to wonder how he died.

• Zeng Mu startled Ning Shenhai, who recognized him as the man she accused of harassing her earlier that day.
• Xiao Wan'er came out of the bathroom and also accused Zeng Mu of harassing her, and Felman calmed both women and made them greet him.
• Ning Shenhai and Xiao Wan'er left, and Felman revealed she was attracted to women and men before turning to business with Zeng Mu.
• Felman showed Zeng Mu information identifying his target as Feng Yue, a powerful count and potential heir to King Yan.
• Felman told Zeng Mu that Feng Yue had been secretly killed around five o'clock, and Zeng Mu asked how he had died.

Zeng Mu learned more about Feng Yue’s gruesome death and the Lin family’s affairs before examining Ruan Fan, whose poisoning was worsening. Sen Miao showed him evidence pointing toward the Gong Family, and Zeng Mu began investigating their possible motive and secret dealings.

• Felman described Feng Yue’s grotesque death, and Zeng Mu agreed to wait for more details while she investigated.
• Felman warned Zeng Mu about Lin Lin and advised him not to get involved in Ruan Fan’s poisoning, but he said he would honor his promise.
• Zeng Mu arrived at the Lin Residence and found Ruan Fan weaker, with the poison already beyond the reach of ordinary treatment.
• Sen Miao showed Zeng Mu an outsider’s footprint near the outer wall and a business statement suggesting the Gong Family was in financial trouble.
• Sen Miao revealed that Ruan Fan had uncovered the Gong Family’s shady dealings and showed Zeng Mu a cryptic note that might explain their motive for poisoning him.

Sen Miao and Zeng Mu suspected that someone in the Gong Family was trafficking people and had persecuted Ruan Fan after he discovered the crime. Zeng Mu sneaked into the Gong Residence, found a suspicious document bearing Ruan Fan’s name, and followed a young man who left the estate at night.

• Sen Miao explained the Gong Family’s history and Zeng Mu interpreted Ruan Fan’s coded message as evidence of people trafficking.
• Sen Miao warned Zeng Mu that Gong Heng released venomous snakes throughout the Gong Residence at night, and Zeng Mu decided to investigate anyway.
• Zeng Mu entered the estate, crossed the grounds protected by his fire element, and searched several rooms for evidence.
• Zeng Mu found a six-month-old Commercial Order signed in Ruan Fan’s name and noticed that its handwriting differed from the note Sen Miao had shown him.
• A young man left the estate carrying a candle and torch, and Zeng Mu followed him down the deserted street.

Zeng Mu followed Gong Heng to a hidden underground chamber after mistaking his nighttime journey for a shady operation. Gong Heng revealed that an anonymous blackmailer had summoned him over his embezzlement, then confessed his predilection for married women.

• Zeng Mu followed Gong Heng from the Royal City to a deserted woodland cabin and discovered a concealed passage beneath its floor.
• Zeng Mu crawled through the dark, narrow passage into an underground chamber, where Gong Heng asked why he had been summoned there.
• Gong Heng mistook Zeng Mu for the anonymous letter writer, but Zeng Mu denied knowing him and introduced himself as Nameless.
• Zeng Mu grabbed Gong Heng by the throat and demanded to know what secret was being used to blackmail him.
• Gong Heng confessed that he had embezzled silver three months earlier and received seven anonymous letters threatening to expose him to his father.
• Gong Heng explained that he had embezzled money to support his mistresses and confessed that he especially liked married women.

Zeng Mu questioned Gong Heng about Ruan Fan’s poisoning and suspected the Gong Family, but Gong Heng argued they had no motive and suggested someone had manipulated them both. After they escaped the secret passage and searched the Gong Residence without finding evidence, Zeng Mu concluded Sen Miao had lied and planned to visit Felman at daybreak.

• Gong Heng denied knowing who had sent him anonymous letters, and Zeng Mu told him Ruan Fan had been poisoned.
• Gong Heng explained the Gong Family’s business dispute with the Lin Family and argued that they had no reason to poison Ruan Fan or engage in human trafficking.
• Gong Heng suspected someone from the Lin Residence had sent Zeng Mu to kill him and warned that the Iron Chest was likely dangerous.
• Zeng Mu used his Green Bead Elemental Artifact to take the Iron Chest, and he and Gong Heng crawled out of the secret passage.
• Gong Heng took Zeng Mu to the Gong Residence, where they searched locked rooms, cellars, and hidden attics but found no evidence of human trafficking.
• Zeng Mu concluded that Sen Miao had lied and decided to visit Felman at daybreak to investigate further.

Zeng Mu visited Felman to learn about Feng Yue’s gruesome murder, and they suspected the Soul-Returning Cult was responsible. After hearing Zeng Mu’s investigation into Ruan Fan, Felman spotted a crucial flaw and rushed with him to the Lin Residence, fearing they might already be too late.

• Zeng Mu waited outside Felman’s home, then shared breakfast with her before asking about Feng Yue’s death.
• Felman described Feng Yue’s mutilated body and revealed that the coroner had found a scale in his brain matter.
• Zeng Mu identified the scale as likely belonging to a snake and suspected the Soul-Returning Cult had killed Feng Yue.
• Felman explained Feng Yue’s campaign against the Soul-Returning Cult and said she would investigate its presence in the Royal City.
• Zeng Mu recounted his investigation into Ruan Fan, including his meeting with Sen Miao and his conversation with Gong Heng.
• Felman said she had figured out what really happened and hurried Zeng Mu toward the Lin Residence.

Zeng Mu and Felman found Ruan Fan dead and discovered black blood in Sen Miao’s locked room, then arrived too late to save Gong Heng from murder. Felman concluded that Sen Miao belonged to the Soul-Returning Cult and that his childhood illness and recovery were connected to it.

• Zeng Mu and Felman found Ruan Fan dead, and Lin Lin said he had died half an hour earlier while Sen Miao was missing.
• Zeng Mu and Felman found a large puddle of black blood in Sen Miao’s locked room and realized Sen Miao might be targeting Gong Heng.
• Zeng Mu rushed to the Gong Residence and found Gong Heng dead from a knife wound to the neck.
• Zeng Mu regretted failing to stop Sen Miao, and Felman reasoned that Sen Miao’s actions were tied to the Soul-Returning Cult.
• Felman told Zeng Mu that Sen Miao had suffered and recovered from a rare childhood illness, leading Zeng Mu to suspect the cult had cured him.

Felman told Zeng Mu that Sen Miao had often dug a grave for himself as a child at the Wanderers burial ground, where his mysterious illness began to improve. They found the old shovel and fresh black blood there, then discovered Sen Miao lying in a newly dug pit with a black scale on his neck and a message written in blood beside him.

• Felman recounted how young Sen Miao repeatedly dug a grave at the Wanderers burial ground and slept in it before his illness improved.
• Zeng Mu and Felman hired a carriage to travel to the graveyard north of the Royal City.
• They found a small, rusted shovel beneath a mulberry tree that matched the one Sen Miao had used as a child.
• Felman noticed fresh black blood by the tree, and the pair searched the graveyard for Sen Miao.
• Zeng Mu found Sen Miao lying in a recently dug pit with a gleaming black scale on his neck and a line of words written in black blood nearby.

After hiding Sen Miao’s death and waiting out the Royal City’s security crackdown at Felman’s home, Zeng Mu left Yan and followed Malena’s fourth secret letter toward Bear City to find He Yaohun. The chapter ends with his journey underway and an introduction to Bear City’s history and trade in Elemental Beasts.

• Zeng Mu and Felman buried Sen Miao and agreed to conceal his death and his connection to the Soul-Returning Cult.
• Zeng Mu spent eight days at Felman’s home while the Royal City enforced strict patrols, avoiding the women’s gatherings and cultivating elemental power at night.
• Felman bid Zeng Mu farewell, and he left the city before summoning Abyss and continuing alone through the wilderness.
• Zeng Mu read Malena’s fourth secret letter, which identified He Yaohun as a young diviner and spy living in Bear City, and burned the letter.
• Zeng Mu rode toward Bear City, a Chu Kingdom trading center for Elemental Beasts, as the chapter recounted how the former hunting village grew into a city.

Zeng Mu reached Bear City and learned that the fortune-teller Yao Chun had been bedridden and was refusing visitors. When Zeng Mu arrived at Yao Chun’s hut, the hunters outside let him in, and he found Yao Chun gravely ill in bed.

• Zeng Mu entered Bear City and searched for a way to ask about Yao Chun.
• An apothecary proprietor told Zeng Mu that Yao Chun had shut himself away half a month earlier and refused visitors, medicine, and even the city lord.
• Zeng Mu paid for directions and went to Yao Chun’s thatched hut, where hunters recognized him as Nameless.
• The hunters said Yao Chun had predicted Zeng Mu would visit that day and cleared the way for him to enter.
• Zeng Mu entered the hut and saw Yao Chun struggling to sit up, his face showing signs of a strange illness.

Zeng Mu met the cursed diviner Yao Chun, who explained that a Six-Eyed Raccoon had cursed him for directing hunters toward its food. Yao Chun planned to use Zeng Mu’s cat, Xuanzi, to lure the creature out and make it lift the curse.

• Yao Chun recognized Zeng Mu as Viscount Nameless and said his true nature was far more complicated than it appeared.
• Yao Chun explained that his divinations for independent hunters had drawn the hostility of an Elemental Beast that depended on nearby prey.
• Yao Chun identified the creature as a Six-Eyed Raccoon with mutated yin earth elemental power that could curse people through personal belongings or bodily traces.
• Zeng Mu summoned Xuanzi, and Yao Chun said the cat could help lure out the Six-Eyed Raccoon.
• Yao Chun asked Zeng Mu to find the creature and make it lift the curse, warning him not to kill it.

Zeng Mu set out to capture the Six-Eyed Raccoon so it would lift Yao Chun’s deadly curse, but the creature outsmarted him and buried him and Xuanzi in the ground. As the raccoon taunted its captives, Xuanzi woke in a rage, its colors seeming to carry elemental energy.

• Yao Chun explained that killing the Six-Eyed Raccoon would not end his curse and warned that it would kill him in about ten days if it reached its final stage.
• Yao Chun gave Zeng Mu bait and a map, and Zeng Mu went with Xuanzi to search the marked forest locations.
• Zeng Mu laid out bait and watched from a tree, but Xuanzi stopped meowing and he hurried to investigate.
• Zeng Mu found Xuanzi beside overturned bait, then fell with the cat into a fissure that closed around them.
• The Six-Eyed Raccoon revealed that it had deliberately tricked Zeng Mu and boasted that it had escaped a large force seven years earlier.
• Xuanzi woke after the raccoon’s ambush and grew agitated, while Zeng Mu noticed what seemed to be elemental energy in the cat’s vivid colors.