Chapter Summaries

Li Yuanying was visited in secret by Huo Qilang, who overpowered him and spent the night with him. Alarmed by the thought that Huo Qilang’s senior fellow disciple might be doing the same to Baozhu, he rushed to question her, then left after she discovered the marks on his body.

• Li Yuanying prepared to sleep alone in the Bedchamber, but Huo Qilang disguised as a palace guard sneaked in and pinned him down.
• Huo Qilang and Li Yuanying wrestled on the bed, and afterward she ate mandarins and stayed beside him while he slept.
• Li Yuanying woke in alarm and asked whether Huo Qilang’s senior fellow disciple treated Baozhu as Huo Qilang treated him.
• Li Yuanying hurried to the Supreme Immortal Temple and woke Baozhu to question her; she insisted no one had forced her.
• Baozhu spotted the marks on Li Yuanying’s wrist and body, and he told her to pretend she had been dreaming before hastily leaving.

Wei Xun brought the wanted disciples of Setting Sun Courtyard to meet Baozhu, who revealed she was the Eldest Princess and offered them gold to settle his debts. The disciples took their rewards and left, while Wei Xun shouted that he could write both war-god and domineering-CEO stories.

• Xu Baozhen, Tuoba Sanniang, Huo Qilang, Qiu Ren, and Luo Toutuo gathered at the noticeboard and discussed their wanted notices and Wei Xun’s unusually small bounty.
• The disciples followed Huo Qilang to a curtained military camp, where Wei Xun invited them inside to collect money from a wealthy benefactor.
• Baozhu entered in imperial attire and revealed that her surname was Li and that she was the Eldest Princess.
• Baozhu offered each disciple a thousand taels of gold to settle Wei Xun’s debts and told them they could return to Chang’an without worrying about the wanted notices.
• Huo Qilang began collecting gold and pastries, and the other disciples took their shares and departed.
• Baozhu explained that she had arranged for her people to take over Chang’an’s gambling houses so Huo Qilang’s losses would return to her; Wei Xun then chased after the departing disciples, shouting that he could write both war gods and domineering CEOs.

Pengshan survived an attempted murder and a night fighting off wild dogs, then Chen Shigu took her as his fifth disciple. As he carried her away, she accepted the chance to change trades and vowed she might someday kill him.

• Pengshan awoke wounded in a blanket as two gravediggers prepared to bury her, and she remembered how a banquet host had beaten and tortured her before ordering her death.
• A mysterious old man killed the gravediggers, restored a small grave, and left Pengshan beside their corpses as wild dogs approached.
• Pengshan used the gravestone, blanket, and pottery to survive the dogs through the night, and Chen Shigu returned to find her barely alive.
• Chen Shigu offered to make Pengshan his disciple, and she said she wanted to live and take revenge.
• Pengshan chose the surname Tuoba from the gravestone, and Chen Shigu carried her away while promising to train her as a martial artist.