Chapter Summaries

Ren Ye let Yu Weifeng’s squad take the first operation at the Wang Residence while his team watched the Wang Family’s opera and discussed clues about the Nine-Curve Azure Cloud Bamboo. As the performance began, Old Zhu summoned Ren Ye upstairs to meet someone from the Wang Family.

• Liu Tang announced that Wang Shoucai would return in three days and asked the players to choose eight people to search the residence during the opera performances.
• Mad Dog and Old Liu argued over who should join the search, but Gao Ye broke up their fight before Yu Weifeng and Ren Ye agreed that Yu Weifeng’s squad would handle the first operation.
• Ren Ye and Old Liu suspected Old Qu had visited the West Mountain Taoist Temple and might compete with Apu for the Nine-Curve Azure Cloud Bamboo.
• Ren Ye’s team went to the opera, where Liu Tang told them to stay put while the operation team secretly returned to the residence; Old Qu joined Yu Weifeng’s group.
• After the opera began, Old Zhu invited Ren Ye upstairs to meet someone from the Wang Family, who watched him from an open window.

Ren Ye met Wang Lili, the Wang Family’s eldest daughter, who probed him about the Gao Family and revealed a potential threat tied to an old blood feud. She invited him to her home for tea, and Ren Ye accepted despite his teammates’ concerns.

• Butler Zhu brought Ren Ye to a private room, where Wang Lili invited him to sit and watch the performance with her.
• Wang Lili tested Ren Ye’s knowledge of the Gao Family and accused the Gao Family of seeking the Wang Family’s help against the Shen Family survivor from the Lust Village incident.
• Ren Ye answered cautiously as Wang Lili disclosed that her father had obtained a treasure and that the Shen survivor might be hiding in Seven Families Town, disguised as a madman.
• Wang Lili invited Ren Ye to her home for tea, and he agreed before returning downstairs to inform his teammates.
• Old Liu warned Ren Ye against going alone, while Xu Qingzhao appeared displeased and Old Master Jiang joked about Ren Ye attracting both men and women.

Ren Ye accompanied Wang Lili to the Wang Residence, where she tried to recruit him and warned him about the Gao Family’s role in the Shen Family massacre. Meanwhile, Yu Weifeng’s team entered a trapped underground passage beneath the residence and began testing its mechanisms.

• Ren Ye left the private performance with Wang Lili and was escorted to her quarters at the Wang Residence.
• Wang Lili ordered Butler Zhu to receive the Zhou family’s people and secretly bring her the Dragon Cauldron.
• Wang Lili changed into a nightgown and asked Ren Ye to leave the Gao Family and pursue a future with her.
• Yu Weifeng’s team reached a sealed underground passage, where Gao Ye triggered a volley of mystical crossbow bolts with a silver sphere.
• Mad Dog used Silver Water to identify floor slabs with possible pressure-triggered mechanisms, and Yu Weifeng told Gao Ye to continue testing.
• Ren Ye told Wang Lili that Gao had warned him to be careful at the Wang Residence, and she revealed that Gao had served as an executioner in the Shen Family massacre.

Ren Ye learned from Wang Lili that Gao Jiansheng had been related to the Shen Family and heard new clues about Shen Yuan’s survival, while she tried to recruit him to the Wang Family. Elsewhere, Zhou Congcong arrived at the Wang Residence, Gao Ye was killed by the underground passage’s traps, and Butler Zhu entered the concealed tunnel to retrieve the Dragon Cauldron.

• Wang Lili told Ren Ye that Gao Jiansheng had been the Shen Family Head’s younger brother-in-law and that Yin Wan’er had disappeared before the Bloody Night.
• Wang Lili revealed that Shen Yuan, the Shen Family’s eldest son, had survived the massacre and might have hidden in Seven Families Town, then warned Ren Ye that the Gao Family’s secrets could put him in danger.
• Wang Lili offered to recruit Ren Ye to the Wang Family, but he remained wary of her motives and the truth of her claims.
• Zhou Congcong arrived at the Wang Residence with soldiers and ordered Butler Zhu and the servants to stay off the fifth floor.
• Gao Ye stepped onto a trapped floor slab in the underground passage, was engulfed by blue flames and struck by crossbow bolts, and died.
• Butler Zhu entered Wang Shoucai’s study and opened the concealed passage leading to the Dragon Vault.

Ren Ye sneaked into Wang Shoucai’s office, found a letter linking the West Mountain Taoist Temple to a search for bamboo, and killed an elderly intruder who tried to attack him. As footsteps rushed toward the office, Yu Weifeng’s group returned with Gao Ye’s charred corpse and argued over their misfortune.

• Butler Zhu entered the underground passage with a black sphere and opened the sealed wall, while Yu Weifeng’s team had already abandoned their exploration after Gao Ye died in the trap.
• Zhou Congcong sent Adjutant Zhou to contact Shopkeeper Qiu, the Zhou Family’s mole in the Wang Residence, to prepare to steal the supreme treasure.
• Wang Lili learned from Butler Zhu that the Dragon Cauldron reacted strongly to Ren Ye, then instructed Butler Zhu to return it to the vault and meet Ren Ye again the next day.
• Ren Ye slipped into Wang Shoucai’s office and found an old letter mentioning an investigation of the West Mountain Taoist Temple and a Taoist priest searching for bamboo.
• An elderly man discovered Ren Ye hiding in a cabinet and attacked him with a green dagger, but Ren Ye killed him with his antique longsword; the dagger then wounded Ren Ye before he destroyed it.
• Yu Weifeng’s group returned to the guest courtyard with Gao Ye’s corpse, and Mad Dog blamed a jinx on the team before Yu Weifeng angrily cursed at him.

Shopkeeper Qiu was found dismembered in Wang Shoucai’s office, throwing the Wang Residence into alarm and disrupting Zhou Congcong’s plan to steal the supreme treasure. As Wang Lili investigated, Zhou Congcong identified a blood-triggered poison on the broken weapon and urged a search for the wounded killer, while the killer received a chance to revive the dead Remnant Soul Gate Spirit.

• Patrolling soldiers found Shopkeeper Qiu’s dismembered body in Wang Shoucai’s office and raised the alarm.
• Adjutant Zhou told Zhou Congcong that Shopkeeper Qiu had died, and Zhou Congcong hurried downstairs in his pajamas.
• Wang Lili criticized the alarm, questioned the household staff, and learned that the guest she had brought in had disappeared after going to the first-floor toilet.
• Zhou Congcong examined the scene, found blood on a broken weapon fragment, and said its Southern Region Gu Poison could reveal the wounded killer.
• A voice told the killer that the Powerful Local Retinue ability could revive the deceased Remnant Soul Gate Spirit within the killer’s territory.

Wang Lili’s men questioned the Gao Family’s birthday delegation about a murder in the Wang Residence, and Ren Ye was brought in for examination after Zhou Congcong accused him. Meanwhile, a strange man appeared in a Dungeon cell in Prefecture City.

• Butler Zhu surrounded the Gao Family’s guest courtyard and said a Wang Family manager had been killed, prompting Old Liu to worry that Ren Ye was involved.
• Butler Zhu noticed Ren Ye was missing, but Ren Ye returned from the rear courtyard and claimed he had been using the outhouse.
• Zhou Congcong argued that the killer had been wounded by a poisoned mystical treasure and demanded that Ren Ye be examined.
• Old Liu insulted Zhou Congcong, and Butler Liu blocked Zhou’s attempted slap before Ren Ye agreed to go inside with Butler Zhu.
• Zhou Congcong ordered Ren Ye to remove his trousers, but Ren Ye refused and taunted him, prompting Zhou Congcong to summon Adjutant Zhou and his men.
• Brother Huang learned that a strange man had appeared in the innermost cell of the Dungeon and had complained about being killed by a sword-wielding brat.

Zhou Congcong suspected Ren Ye of killing Shopkeeper Qiu, but Ren Ye passed Butler Zhu’s examination after healing his wound with the Water of Life. With security tightened and the Dragon Vault’s map and mechanism catalogue missing, Zhou struggled to find a way to investigate, while Ren Ye’s companions worried that the vault’s traps would obstruct their plans.

• Zhou Congcong left the communal room after Butler Zhu insisted on handling the investigation, and Butler Zhu examined Ren Ye, finding no wounds.
• Wang Lili dismissed Zhou Congcong’s suspicion based on dirt and vegetation on Ren Ye’s shoes, and the residence increased its security patrols.
• Zhou Congcong brooded over Shopkeeper Qiu’s death and the missing Dragon Vault Map and Mechanism Catalogue, then decided to wait until just before dawn to seek a pretext to join the investigation.
• Yu Weifeng and Old Qu worried that the murder and the underground passage’s complicated mechanisms would make their plans harder, but Apu confidently asked how difficult the mechanisms could be.

Ren Ye’s team uncovered a letter linking the Seven Families’ rise to the Nine-Curve Azure Cloud Bamboo, while murders and Zhou Congcong’s schemes made the Wang Residence harder to investigate. When Butler Liu Tang failed to return, Zhou Congcong used the murder to pressure the Gao Family and keep someone from returning.

• Apu offered to help crack the underground passage’s mechanisms, and Ren Ye learned that Apu’s artisan inheritance covered a wide range of weapons and devices.
• Ren Ye admitted killing the shopkeeper and showed his teammates a letter from Shen Jishi ordering Old Wang and the other brothers to destroy the West Mountain Taoist Temple and seize the Nine-Curve Azure Cloud Bamboo.
• Ren Ye’s team connected the letter to the Seven Families’ origins, while Ren Ye learned that the man he had killed had revived in Qingliang Prefecture.
• A Zhou Family soldier was killed in a latrine, and Zhou Congcong claimed authority over the investigation before secretly ordering the surviving witness killed as well.
• Butler Liu Tang went to investigate the residence’s patrols but did not return by late afternoon, leaving Ren Ye’s team worried.
• Zhou Congcong told Adjutant Zhou to tell the Gao Family that their missing person would only be allowed back if the killer turned himself in.

Ren Ye confronted Wang Lili about the Zhou Family’s suspected kidnapping of Liu Tang, while his team struggled to keep the birthday mission on track. Wang Lili agreed to search for Liu Tang, and Zhou Congcong prepared to attend the opera as the captive remained under interrogation.

• Adjutant Zhou revealed that a Zhou Family soldier had been murdered and hinted that the Zhou Family had spotted Liu Tang near the mountain, leading the group to suspect he had been kidnapped.
• The team realized Liu Tang’s disappearance had stalled their search for the treasure, and Ren Ye promised to seek Wang Lili’s help and take responsibility for the consequences of killing Shopkeeper Qiu.
• Yu Weifeng directly asked Ren Ye whether he had killed Shopkeeper Qiu, and Ren Ye admitted it; Yu Weifeng suspected the Zhou Family were rival treasure seekers and urged Ren Ye to consult the team before acting again.
• Ren Ye told Wang Lili that the Zhou Family had likely kidnapped Liu Tang and asked her to uphold justice, and Wang Lili agreed to send people to search for him.
• Zhou Congcong learned that Liu Tang remained tight-lipped under interrogation and decided to go watch the opera.

Ren Ye confronted Zhou Congcong at Master Wang’s birthday performance and attacked him with the Human Emperor Sword after demanding that he return Liu Tang. Zhou Congcong was knocked into a table as the fight began, while Butler Zhu stopped the soldiers from intervening without Wang Lili’s order.

• Ren Ye and his allies agreed to confront Zhou Congcong at the performance, while Xu Qingzhao, Old Liu, and Apu received instructions for what to do if events went their way.
• Wang Lili warned Zhou Congcong that the Wang Family was searching for Liu Tang and said she planned to investigate Shopkeeper Qiu’s home for clues.
• Ren Ye approached Zhou Congcong’s table as the opera began and demanded that he hand over Liu Tang.
• After Zhou Congcong taunted Ren Ye, Ren Ye raised the Human Emperor Sword and struck at him, forcing Blazing Sun to block the attack.
• The sword’s force sent Zhou Congcong crashing into a table, and Butler Zhu stopped nearby soldiers from intervening without Wang Lili’s order.

Ren Ye overturned the opera table and fought Zhou Congcong, Blazing Sun, and Azure Ice after Wang Lili turned the public humiliation into a challenge. The chapter left Ren Ye trapped between Blazing Sun’s descending fire palms and Azure Ice’s ice swords.

• Ren Ye smashed the tea table, humiliating Zhou Congcong in front of the gathered guests.
• Wang Lili pressured Zhou Congcong to defend his pride and warned the crowd not to interfere on Ren Ye’s behalf.
• Zhou Congcong vowed to kill Ren Ye, while Blazing Sun and Azure Ice joined him against Ren Ye.
• Ren Ye rushed at the three opponents, and Blazing Sun attacked him with a massive Blazing Sun Palm.
• Blazing Sun continued striking from above as Azure Ice formed ice swords and launched them at Ren Ye, trapping him in their pincer attack.

Ren Ye endured Blazing Sun, Azure Ice, and Zhou Congcong’s attacks while learning to conceal his sword intent, then turned the fight around after Xu Qingzhao’s Dao Body located Butler Liu. He killed Azure Ice, pinned Zhou Congcong to the ground, and Old Liu and Apu stormed the place where Butler Liu was held.

• Ren Ye fought off Blazing Sun and Azure Ice while Zhou Congcong attacked from behind them, and he refused to use Zhao Baicheng’s supreme treasure.
• As Ren Ye struggled to break the pair’s coordinated assault, he learned to withdraw his sword intent into his blade without revealing its power.
• Zhou Congcong had Adjutant Guo use Butler Liu’s jade pendant to threaten Ren Ye, but Xu Qingzhao’s Dao Body reassured Ren Ye and directed Old Liu and Apu to Butler Liu’s hiding place.
• Ren Ye pierced Azure Ice’s defenses with a concealed sword thrust, rupturing his organs and killing him.
• Ren Ye split Blazing Sun’s palm attack with The Sword Holds a Divine Kingdom and pinned Zhou Congcong to the ground with the Human Emperor Sword.
• Old Liu and Apu broke into the underground hidden chamber where Butler Liu was being held.

Ren Ye defeated Zhou Congcong and exposed the Zhou Family’s involvement in abducting Butler Liu and staging murders in the Wang Residence. Wang Lili ordered Young Master Zhou and his men to leave Greed Village, while Ren Ye considered her earlier offer.

• Ren Ye pinned Zhou Congcong with the Human Emperor Sword, received a Star Gate reward, and watched Azure Ice revive under the Heavenly Dao’s protection.
• Old Liu rescued Butler Liu, while Apu captured the Zhou Family soldiers and Xu Qingzhao placed a Soul-Control Talisman on their leader.
• The soldier leader testified that Zhou’s men had abducted Butler Liu, staged the latrine murder, and may have killed Shopkeeper Qiu while searching the Wang Residence for a supreme treasure.
• Ren Ye asked Wang Lili whether the soldiers’ testimony satisfied her and apologized for his earlier actions while saying he was considering her offer.
• Wang Lili slapped Young Master Zhou and ordered him and his men to leave Greed Village immediately.

After Ren Ye helped Wang Lili drive Zhou Congcong away, the group planned a final search of the Underground Vault for the supreme treasure. Ren Ye received the Blazing Sun Palm manual, while Tang Feng continued waiting at the Desire Restraint Center for the clues that might save him.

• Wang Lili ordered Zhou Congcong and his people out, detained their soldiers, and resumed the opera to reassure the guests.
• Wang Lili privately told Butler Zhu to blame Shopkeeper Qiu’s death on Zhou Congcong and secretly tighten security before the birthday banquet.
• Ren Ye healed Butler Liu with diluted Water of Life, then agreed with the group to explore the Underground Vault after two in the morning the next night.
• Jiang Qin settled on a ten-person team for the exploration, including Ren Ye, his teammates, Xu Bangzi, and the group’s leaders.
• Ren Ye revealed that defeating Azure Ice had earned him the Blazing Sun Palm manual, but he withheld it from Apu while he studied it.
• Tang Feng chose to conserve his Antianxiety Medication and wait for Ren Ye and the others to return with clues.

Ren Ye, Yu Weifeng, and the others entered the underground passage beneath the Wang Residence and relied on Apu to solve its deadly traps. After Mad Dog crossed the passage safely with carefully chosen counterweights, a stone wall opened to reveal an enclosed room.

• At 1:45 a.m., Yu Weifeng led the group into the underground passage where Gao Ye had died.
• Apu examined the bluestone slabs and used a listening horn to determine the weights needed to disable the traps.
• The group voted Mad Dog to test the route, and he carried Apu's chosen weights across all three slabs without triggering the flames.
• Apu explained that the traps required specific weights on each slab, then the stone wall opened to reveal an enclosed room.

Ren Ye’s team entered the Wang Family’s Dragon Vault, where enchanted Iron Men attacked them and tried to raise an alarm. After Old Liu redirected the Iron Men toward Mad Dog and Yu Weifeng, the remaining group reached the inner chamber, where Butler Liu sensed the treasure inside a chest.

• Butler Liu identified the sealed room as Wang Shoucai’s Dragon Vault and sensed the treasure behind its iron doors.
• The Iron Men awakened and attacked the team; Ren Ye fought them while Jiang Qin warned everyone to avoid killing them and triggering the Wang Family’s alarm.
• Four Iron Men opened the inner chamber’s doors, and Jiang Qin deduced that the Iron Men reacted to life energy.
• Old Liu poured Water of Life on invisible Mad Dog, drawing Iron Men away; Mad Dog and Yu Weifeng then led many of them toward the entrance corridor.
• Ren Ye’s group entered the inner chamber, where Butler Liu found the treasure in a large wooden chest and Jiang Qin reached for its lid.

Ren Ye and the others discovered that opening the chest required Wang Shoucai’s blood, while Xu Qingzhao found a trapped Yin Soul and began breaking its seal. Greed drew Old Qu to a treasure basin, triggering a crossbow trap, and the group was left dealing with the aftermath.

• Apu used the Thousand-Mechanism Fluid to inspect the chest and found that it could only be opened with Wang Shoucai’s blood.
• Xu Qingzhao heard a Yin Soul pleading from a Soul-Sealing Jar, identified the evil talisman sealing it, and began trying to free it.
• Old Qu became consumed by greed for a treasure-gathering basin, while the Star Gate gave him no warning of his rising Mental Health Value.
• Ren Ye and the others decided to leave the chest and seek Wang Shoucai’s blood later, possibly with help from one of Yu Weifeng’s summoners.
• Old Qu grabbed the basin and triggered hidden crossbows; Old Liu kicked him clear, while Xu Bangzi hid in a wall recess and escaped the bolts.

Ren Ye’s group escaped the Dragon Vault after its treasures stirred their greed, then learned Wang Shoucai had returned to the residence ahead of schedule. Ren Ye and Jiang Qin suspected Xu Bangzi’s quick escape from the crossbow trap was more than luck.

• Old Qu took the Treasure-Gathering Basin during a burst of greed, and the group treated his injuries and lowered his Mental Health Value with Antianxiety Medication.
• Ren Ye’s group left the vault, waited, then returned to check that the little iron figures had reset in their cabinets.
• As the group hid in the Little Garden, Wang Shoucai arrived at the Main Building, and Ren Ye recognized him from a photograph.
• Wang Shoucai asked Butler Zhu about the Gao Family’s birthday delegation and ordered him to take him to the Dragon Vault.
• Ren Ye and Jiang Qin discussed how Xu Bangzi had instantly found the safest recess during the crossbow barrage and questioned whether it was luck.

Ren Ye’s team questioned Butler Liu about Xu Bangzi, then summoned Xiao Gui’s Yin Soul, who revealed the Shen Family’s rise and the feud between Shen Jishi and Zhou Bo over Yin Wan’er. The chapter left Wang Lili asking why Wang Shoucai still took risks despite his wealth.

• Ren Ye and Jiang Qin suspected Xu Bangzi after his practiced escape from a vault mechanism, but Butler Liu insisted the close attendants of the family heads could not betray them.
• Ren Ye proposed waiting until the birthday banquet to finalize their plan to obtain Wang Shoucai’s blood and open the vault chest.
• Xu Qingzhao summoned Xiao Gui’s Yin Soul, earning the team a Star Gate clue and reward; Xiao Gui said Zhou Bo had sent him to spy on Wang Shoucai before Wang discovered and killed him.
• Xiao Gui recounted how Shen Jishi and his six sworn brothers built the Shen Family’s power, then massacred everyone at the West Mountain Taoist Temple.
• Xiao Gui revealed that Zhou Bo had been obsessed with Shen Jishi’s wife, Yin Wan’er, and Ren Ye asked whether Zhou Bo was left-handed.
• At the Wang Residence, Wang Shoucai confirmed that secret guests had arrived, and Wang Lili asked why he continued taking risks despite his wealth.