Chapter Summaries

Baozhu discovered a forbidden prophecy book hidden at the Xiao Residence and questioned Xiao Ren about Xiao Ran’s unwanted marriage and disappearance. She and the Setting Sun Courtyard disciples followed clues toward the Pang Residence, where a suspicious gathering of martial artists awaited them.

• Baozhu showed the Apocryphal Prophecy Book to Xiao Shilian and demanded that Xiao Ren reveal everything she knew about the household.
• Xiao Ren explained that Xiao Ran seemed unwilling to marry Pang Liangji and recalled that the Pang Family’s female wedding attendant had disappeared before the bride left her room.
• Baozhu left Qiu Ren at the Xiao Residence to investigate its servants, then followed the bridal carriage’s route with Huo Qilang and the others.
• Baozhu found a huge gray-black feather near the Turbid River, and Huo Qilang described the legend of the tomb-dwelling Rakshasa Bird.
• Baozhu and her companions encountered hundreds of martial artists heading to the Pang Residence after Pang Liangji supposedly summoned them to announce something momentous.
• Xu Baozhen suspected someone else had called the gathering and rode ahead to investigate, leaving Baozhu displeased.

Baozhu investigated the bride’s disappearance and uncovered evidence implicating the Lu Family in a plot against the Xiao and Pang Families. Her search of Xiao Ran’s bedchamber ended with a blood-written verse and a Gilt Hairpin hidden beneath the bed.

• Baozhu questioned Huo Qilang about the Disguise Art, and Tuoba Sanniang revealed that the false bride said Xiao Ran was already missing when he entered the bridal chamber.
• Tuoba Sanniang found blue-dyed feathers beneath a crow’s wings, and Baozhu concluded that two separate groups were targeting the wedding for different reasons.
• Steward Pang reported that the search for Apocryphal Prophecy Books had succeeded, and Baozhu returned to the Xiao Family with him to investigate.
• Xiao Ren presented Xiao Ran’s former maid, who confessed that the Lu Family had sent a secret letter to Xiao Ran and that Xiao Ran had insisted on dressing alone on her wedding day.
• Qiu Ren discovered that datura had been added to the Pang Family’s drugged wine, while Baozhu continued searching for clues and invited Huo Qilang to join her; Huo Qilang refused.
• Huo Qilang dragged Xiao Ran’s bed away from the wall, revealing signs that someone had hidden beneath it, a blood-written verse, and a Gilt Hairpin.

Baozhu deduced that Xiao Ran had escaped her wedding to avoid a plot by the Lu Family, then led Huo Qilang and Xu Baozhen to confront Lu Tingfang and demand Xiao Ran’s release. The Lu Family’s matriarch revealed that Xiao Ran was being kept as revenge for her son’s death, leaving Baozhu fearing Xiao Ran was in immediate danger.

• Baozhu found a death poem and tear marks beneath Xiao Ran’s bed and concluded that Xiao Ran had hidden there before escaping her wedding herself.
• Steward Pang confirmed that Xiao Ran had kept a childhood copper hairpin from Pang Liangji, and Baozhu realized the two had loved each other.
• Baozhu recruited Huo Qilang and Xu Baozhen, then led them to the Lu Residence to confront Lu Tingfang about Xiao Ran and the family’s plot.
• Baozhu and her companions fought through the Lu guards, and Baozhu threatened Lu Tingfang with exposure unless he handed over Xiao Ran.
• Lu Tingfang’s wife accused Xiao Ran and Pang Liangji of bringing about her son’s death and declared that Xiao Ran would never be allowed to leave the Lu Family alive.

Baozhu and the Seven Sunset Techniques rescued Xiao Ran from Lu Dan’s tomb, where Pang Liangji found her buried alive. They rode to the Pang Residence to confront the martial artists gathered there, and Baozhu arrived carrying Chen Shigu’s Fish-Intestine Sword while Wei Xun remained absent.

• Baozhu realized Lu Tingfang had buried Xiao Ran with her former husband, Lu Dan, and Xu Baozhen dragged a servant along to guide them to the grave.
• Luo Toutuo blasted open Lu Dan’s tomb and Pang Liangji carried out the unconscious Xiao Ran, whom he had found after noticing fresh soil by the entrance.
• Luo Toutuo found Baozhu’s marked arrow inside the coffin beside Lu Dan’s corpse, and Baozhu asked him to have Master deal with the uncanny arrow.
• Qiu Ren stabilized Xiao Ran and told the others that more than a thousand martial artists were surrounding the Pang Residence and demanding action.
• Baozhu refused to return to the inn and rode with the Seven Sunset Techniques toward Jade City to confront those gathered at the Pang Residence.
• Baozhu arrived at the Pang Residence with the Seven Sunset Techniques, carrying Chen Shigu’s Fish-Intestine Sword, while Wei Xun was nowhere to be seen.

At Pang Liangji’s wedding, the Rakshasa Bird sect tried to turn the martial community against the Setting Sun Courtyard, but Baozhu fought them off with her archery. She returned victorious after bringing down their leader, and the onlookers recognized her prowess.

• Pang Liangji stayed with the Setting Sun Courtyard disciples as the Rakshasa Bird sect accused them of treason and demanded Chen Shigu’s relic.
• Xu Baozhen exposed one infiltrator, and Tuoba Sanniang killed him before the Rakshasa Birds released smoke and took to the sky on mechanical gliders.
• Baozhu rode through the crowd and shot down the airborne Rakshasa Birds, while the Setting Sun Courtyard disciples pursued those who fell.
• The Rakshasa Bird leader sent two subordinates to attack Baozhu with poisoned darts, but she evaded them with Hiding by the Stirrup and continued firing.
• Baozhu took three Gilt Armor-Piercing Arrows from above the Pang Residence gate and shot down the fleeing leader.
• The crowd cheered Baozhu’s victory, and Tuoba Sanniang and the other disciples acknowledged her strength.

Baozhu joined the Setting Sun Courtyard at Pang Liangji and Xiao Ran’s wedding, where she explained why she planned to become a Daoist Priestess and revealed her innocent misunderstanding about how children were conceived. Tuoba Sanniang hinted that Wei Xun had slipped away, and Baozhu spotted a blue-green figure vaulting over the wall.

• The Setting Sun Courtyard disciples discussed giving Pang Liangji and Xiao Ran a wedding gift by destroying the sect that had buried Xiao Ran alive.
• Pang Liangji and Xiao Ran repeated their wedding rites and drank the Hejin Wine before the gathered heroes.
• Thirteenth Son suggested that Master had expelled Sixth Senior Brother because he had a family, and Huo Qilang offered to attend Baozhu’s future wedding.
• Baozhu said she would become a Daoist Priestess to avoid the dangers of childbirth, then revealed she did not know how children were conceived.
• Tuoba Sanniang hinted that Wei Xun was like a wild lynx, prompting Baozhu to rise as a blue-green figure vaulted over the wall.

Baozhu returned to the inn to check on Wei Xun, who had secretly fled the Setting Sun Courtyard and pretended to be asleep. She discovered his deception but chose not to expose him, leaving him alone with his disappointed hopes.

• Baozhu borrowed a horse and rode to the inn while Thirteenth Son followed, and Tuoba Sanniang eventually paid her wager instead of drugging Wei Xun.
• Wei Xun escaped the Setting Sun Courtyard, abandoned his stolen horse, and raced to the inn ahead of Baozhu.
• Wei Xun hid beneath the quilt and hoped Baozhu would comfort him, while she quietly checked on him and stopped herself from touching his cheek.
• Baozhu noticed Wei Xun's unfinished calligraphy and wrote “No arrow misses. No grudge survives the night” before leaving Rhinoceros Illumination on the page.
• Baozhu realized Wei Xun had tricked her by pretending to be asleep, but she decided to let him keep up the act.
• Wei Xun heard Baozhu leave and curled up in disappointment.

Baozhu learned that Yang Xingjian had arranged Lu Songzhi’s assassination after Lu manipulated the physicians assigned to treat her, while Wei Xun explained how the harsh medicine and frightened palace staff had left her unattended. The reason for Baozhu’s hurried burial remained unresolved, and she ended by asking Wei Xun how he had saved her.

• Wei Xun kept Baozhu’s handwritten note, while he spent the night driving away young wandering heroes who had gathered to see her.
• Baozhu confirmed that Chen Shigu’s disciples knew nothing about the mysterious object and decided she needed to keep Wei Xun close; she also proposed sending Huo Qi to serve her brother in Youzhou.
• Baozhu asked about Lu Songzhi, and Yang Xingjian confessed that he had hired an assassin to kill him on Prince Shao’s orders.
• Yang Xingjian showed Baozhu evidence that Zhou Mingzhi had prescribed a powerful emetic before her apparent death, and Wei Xun explained that she had likely died from dehydration after receiving no care.
• Baozhu realized that fear and the arrest of her attendants could have left her unattended, but she still could not explain her hurried burial or the talismans placed on her body.
• Yang Xingjian revealed that the assassin was Tuoba Sanniang, and Baozhu later asked Wei Xun how he had saved her; he joked that he had given her plenty of hot water.

Baozhu arranged for Huo Qilang to ride ahead to Youzhou with a coded letter telling her elder brother that she was alive, and recruited her to serve as his bodyguard. After Huo Qilang departed, she teased Wei Xun about spending more time with Baozhu, leaving him flustered and angry.

• Wei Xun learned from Yang Xingjian that Baozhu had raised her younger brother in Phoenix-Resting Hall after their mother died, and felt reassured that she could look after herself.
• Baozhu offered Huo Qilang gold to carry a letter and travel to Youzhou, then persuaded her to serve as her elder brother's bodyguard there.
• Huo Qilang accepted the job, and Baozhu wrote a coded letter to her elder brother using the alias Wang Ying and sealed it as a Carp Letter.
• Huo Qilang advised Wei Xun to focus on making Baozhu happy and comfort her when she feared the dark, but he angrily rejected her advice.

Baozhu prepared to leave Lingbao County as the Lu family’s strange disappearance and the legends surrounding the Setting Sun Courtyard spread through the Rivers and Lakes. The chapter ended with Baozhu grieving over her lasting nickname, the Donkey-Riding Lady, while a nursery rhyme about Pang Liangji’s wedding became popular.

• Baozhu refused Pang Liangji’s jewelry and maidservants but accepted clothing, while Xiao Ran promised to make Pang Liangji study after their marriage.
• Huo Qilang bought a horse, weapon, and travel supplies, then left east after discovering Wei Xun had spent the night playing backgammon with Baozhu.
• Wei Xun refused to help Baozhu arrange her hair and decided to burn her scented garment rather than let Thirteenth Son wear it or sell it.
• Tuoba Sanniang, Xu Baozhen, Qiu Ren, and Luo Toutuo filled a pit at the Lu family burial ground and wondered whether Baozhu had encountered a Rakshasa Bird in the sealed tomb.
• The Lu family vanished from Jade City, and Baozhu learned that people called her the Donkey-Riding Lady; she wept as Wei Xun, Thirteenth Son, and Yang Xingjian tried to comfort her.
• A tale about Young Master Pang’s true and false brides spread, and children sang a nursery rhyme about the wedding.

Baozhu and her companions survived an attack at a rural inn disguised as a murderous establishment, while she endured hunger, filth, and the nickname “Donkey-Riding Lady.” After Yang Xingjian proposed staying at Chan'guang Temple for its hot springs, Baozhu agreed to consider the journey there.

• Baozhu ate coarse, undercooked millet at the inn while Yang Xingjian served fermented black bean paste, and bandits fell into the room as Wei Xun and Thirteenth Son fought their way through the attackers.
• Wei Xun reheated the millet and explained that the inn’s sign had revealed its purpose, while Thirteenth Son teased Baozhu about attracting trouble and her nickname, “Donkey-Riding Lady.”
• The donkey stole millet from Baozhu’s bowl, and the group discussed Chen Shigu’s feared reputation and the strange sobriquet “Rouge-Mixed Tripe.”
• Yang Xingjian suggested they stay at Chan'guang Temple near Luoyang, where his former superior Wang Sui had become Abbot Tanlin.
• Baozhu questioned Yang Xingjian about Tanlin, then agreed to the temple plan after hearing that Chan'guang Temple was famous for its hot springs.

Baozhu and her companions traveled through famine-stricken territory toward Luoyang, where grain shortages and desperate refugees exposed the severity of the crisis. At the Great Chan'guang Temple, Baozhu witnessed monks exchanging rice for corpses and demanded an explanation from the temple officials.

• Wei Xun warned Baozhu to cover her silk robe and hide her wealth as they encountered starving refugees along the road.
• The party watched an armed grain convoy pass hungry people, and Wei Xun told Baozhu she could not save everyone.
• The party reached the Great Chan'guang Temple, where Guanchao gave two dou of rice to people who surrendered their relatives' corpses.
• Baozhu saw Guanchao wrap a naked young woman's corpse in his robe and carry it inside the temple.
• Yang Xingjian introduced Baozhu to the senior monks Guanshan and Guanyun, and Baozhu asked why the temple bought corpses with rice.

Yang Xingjian, Baozhu, and their companions toured Great Chan'guang Temple, where an uncanny mural and unusual practices raised their suspicions. As they approached Abbot Tanlin’s secluded hall, Wei Xun and his disciples smelled what seemed to be rotting corpses.

• Guanyun explained that the temple exchanged rice for the bodies of people who had starved, and Wei Xun questioned whether the dead might have been murdered for grain.
• Guanshan and Guanyun led the party through the temple’s murals and showed them the ancient osmanthus tree, which was budding unusually early.
• Baozhu was frightened by a lifelike painting of hungry ghosts, and the monks identified its painter as their former junior brother Wu Guancheng.
• A young monk announced that Tanlin was ready to receive visitors, and the party headed to his secluded Hall of Returning to Impermanence.
• Wei Xun and Thirteenth Son detected the smell of rotting corpses near the hall and became alert as they guarded Baozhu.

Yang Xingjian, Baozhu, Wei Xun, and Thirteenth Son visited Chan'guang Temple’s Hall of Returning to Impermanence, where Tanlin explained the temple’s corpse contemplations and its search for bodies to paint a new Nine Contemplations Painting. Guanchao revealed that the temple rationed rice against the flesh of the dead to discourage people from killing relatives, then escorted the guests to the Guest Hall as preparations for the Ullambana Assembly continued.

• Guanshan showed the party murals of a beautiful corpse and bare bones, and Baozhu noticed unsettling details in the painting.
• Yang Xingjian greeted Tanlin, while Wei Xun inspected the corpse in the Lime Pool and challenged Tanlin about the temple’s use of famine victims’ bodies.
• Tanlin explained the nine stages of corpse decay and said the body in the Lime Pool belonged to a monk who had donated it for contemplation.
• Tanlin agreed to divine Yang Xingjian’s and Baozhu’s fortunes, then remarked that Wei Xun was an orphan like Guancheng.
• Guanchao reported that one person had died during the temple’s rice alms, and explained that an important person in Luoyang had commissioned Tanlin to paint a new Nine Contemplations Painting.
• Guanchao asked to distribute more rice, but Tanlin explained that the temple matched rice rations to the edible flesh of corpses to prevent people from killing relatives, then discussed the Ullambana Assembly and sent Guanchao to escort the guests to the Guest Hall.

Baozhu and Wei Xun stayed at Chan'guang Temple, where they learned about the disgraced monk Guancheng and the temple's corpse desecrations. Wei Xun inspected Baozhu's room for hidden dangers before leaving her to bathe and rest.

• Baozhu asked Wei Xun to paint over the nude mural in the Hall of Returning to Impermanence, and he agreed to do it that night.
• The four guests enjoyed an elaborate vegetarian meal, and Miaozheng told them that Guancheng had left the temple to marry Wu Guier, who ran the sugar shop that made their osmanthus rock sugar.
• Wei Xun deduced that Guancheng had studied corpses for his paintings, and Miaozheng admitted that Guancheng had repeatedly desecrated corpses before returning to secular life.
• Miaozheng identified Guanchuan as the temple's Karmadana, who enforced discipline and usually guarded Abbot Tanlin.
• Wei Xun exchanged Baozhu's assigned room with Yang Xingjian's and searched it for tunnels, secret chambers, and hidden mechanisms before advising her to secure the doors and windows.

Wei Xun and Baozhu spoke across the bamboo partition between their hot spring pools, and he revealed his childhood and doubts about the elixir he had sought in tombs. Baozhu urged him to stop robbing tombs, and Wei Xun admitted he had felt better lately.

• Wei Xun soaked Baozhu’s robe and examined the spreading blue-black veins caused by his illness.
• Baozhu entered the adjoining hot spring pool in the dark, and Wei Xun warned her that he was nearby before staying when she asked him not to leave.
• Wei Xun told Baozhu that Chen Shigu had bought him as a starving child and named him after the command “Hey! Obey.”
• Baozhu questioned whether an elixir could truly be hidden in a tomb and suggested Chen Shigu might have invented the story to make Wei Xun help rob tombs.
• Wei Xun admitted he had long suspected Chen Shigu was lying but could not let go of his hope for a cure.
• Baozhu suggested Wei Xun’s illness might come from tomb poison, and Wei Xun said he had felt much better over the past two months.

Baozhu allowed Wei Xun to call her by her true name, and their closeness left him struggling to control his feelings. After he frightened her with caterpillars, he apologized with a lotus and spoke with her about trees that helped people survive hunger.

• Wei Xun accidentally revealed that he had seen other princesses' tombs, then blamed Chen Shigu and assured Baozhu that hers was the only princess's tomb he had touched.
• Baozhu decided to let Wei Xun call her Baozhu, and they shyly exchanged her name across the hot spring.
• Wei Xun frightened Baozhu by telling her that caterpillars hung from the pagoda tree above her, and she fled the spring in anger.
• Wei Xun submerged himself to calm his arousal and noticed that the hot spring had eased his illness before preparing to go paint a mural.
• Wei Xun found Baozhu writing with her bow nearby, offered her a lotus as an apology, and told her that pagoda blossoms and elm seeds helped hungry people.
• Baozhu forgave the pagoda trees, and Wei Xun stayed outside her window while she continued writing.

Baozhu and Wei Xun wandered through Great Chan'guang Temple at night, where Baozhu reflected on her mother and grew closer to Wei Xun. When Wei Xun slipped into the Hall of Returning to Impermanence to alter a mural, he found Abbot Tanlin waiting there, and Tanlin asked whether Chen Shigu was still alive.

• Baozhu calculated the rice used to buy corpses and spoke of her helplessness over the starving, so Wei Xun coaxed her into a nighttime walk.
• Baozhu and Wei Xun studied a mural of Guanyin, and Baozhu connected its details to her mother and recalled the lotus crown her mother had left her.
• Wei Xun offered Baozhu his hand, and they walked together before she waited beneath a statue of Skanda while he went to the Hall of Returning to Impermanence.
• Wei Xun entered the hall through the roof and found Abbot Tanlin meditating beside the Newly Dead Tableau.
• Tanlin asked Wei Xun whether Chen Shigu was still alive.

Wei Xun learned that Tanlin recognized his connection to Chen Shigu and gave him a grim fortune, which Baozhu rejected and destroyed. As Chan'guang Temple prepared for the Ullambana Festival, Wu Guier's family arrived accusing the temple of hiding her.

• Tanlin told Wei Xun that his life was in danger from foolishness poison, recognized Fish Intestine, and warned him against repeating Chen Shigu's fate.
• Tanlin gave Wei Xun a poem containing the names of Chen Shigu's three supreme martial arts, leading Wei Xun to suspect that the monk truly knew his master.
• Wei Xun returned Baozhu safely to the Guest Hall and resolved to appear before her only as his new identity, not reveal his past.
• Baozhu interpreted Tanlin's poem as a mournful death verse, then burned it and insisted Wei Xun should disregard the bad fortune.
• As the temple's Ullambana Festival began, Wu Guier's family confronted the monks, claiming Chan'guang Temple had hidden her after she disappeared for more than ten days.

The Wu family publicly demanded that Chan'guang Temple hand over Wu Guancheng and Wu Guier, but Guanchuan stood firm and impressed the crowd with his apparent invulnerability. As the Ullambana Festival preparations continued, Baozhu and her companions learned about Wu Guancheng's unusual painting methods and his plans to leave Luoyang for Chang'an.

• Wu Arong and his relatives surrounded Chan'guang Temple and demanded that the monks return Wu Guier and find Wu Guancheng.
• Guanchuan explained that Wu Guancheng had left the order and was not at the temple, then refused the Wu family's demand to search the grounds.
• When the Wu relatives attacked Guanchuan and Wu Arong's knife broke against his shoulder, Wei Xun caught the blade and embedded it in a stone pillar to demonstrate his strength.
• Guanchuan invited the Wu family to discuss the dispute in the Great Kitchen, while Baozhu and Yang Xingjian speculated about his martial arts.
• Baozhu and her companions watched the Ullambana Festival preparations and learned from a painter that Wu Guancheng performed Spray Painting and Water Painting.
• The old painter said Wu Guancheng planned to leave Luoyang for Chang'an, and Baozhu reflected on how differently people judged Tanlin's and Wu Guancheng's studies of corpses.