Chapter Summaries

At the Ullambana Festival, Baozhu attended rites at the Great Chan'guang Temple and was mistaken for the dead Princess Wanshou by Prefect Dou Jing, who fled in terror. As she prayed for her mother, a bloated corpse surfaced in the temple pond, turning the festival into a scene of panic.

• Dou Jing saw Baozhu in the crowd, believed the dead princess had returned, and hurried away from the temple.
• Baozhu joined the festival rites and listened as Abbot Tanlin told a story about an asura whose inheritor was present at the temple.
• Baozhu placed a lantern bearing her mother's maiden name on the Life-Releasing Sea and prayed for her mother.
• A water painting of hell appeared on the pond, and a swollen corpse rose into its blank center.
• Worshippers panicked and trampled one another as the corpse and the Hell Transformation scene spread terror through the temple.

Wei Xun helped evacuate the panicked crowd at Chan'guang Temple after a corpse appeared in the Life-Releasing Sea, while Baozhu agreed to investigate only if the temple donated its Ullambana offerings to disaster victims. Tanlin accepted her condition, then challenged her belief that everyone could one day have enough to eat and singled out Wei Xun's Master, Chen Shigu, as an exception to his disillusionment.

• Wei Xun carried Baozhu and Yang Xingjian above the stampede, and Baozhu spotted a side gate that Wei Xun broke open to create an escape route.
• Wei Xun rescued people from the crush while Guanchuan used the Fearlessness Roar to calm the crowd, allowing the monks to evacuate worshippers; seven people died, along with the unidentified corpse in the Life-Releasing Sea.
• Tanlin asked Wei Xun to help uncover the truth behind the tragedy, and Baozhu agreed on the condition that the temple use its Ullambana offerings to aid disaster victims.
• Tanlin accepted Baozhu's demand, and she, Wei Xun, and Yang Xingjian went to meet him in the Hall of Returning to Impermanence.
• Tanlin argued that hunger and disaster had persisted even in the Great Tang's prosperous eras, then named Chen Shigu as the exception to his belief that feeding everyone was a naive ambition.

After Tanlin defeated Baozhu's famine-relief arguments, he revealed that Wei Xun's master, Chen Shigu, had once passed the Presented Scholar Examination before falling victim to Foolishness Poison and abandoning official life. The group then turned to investigate the floating corpse, which Guanchuan believed belonged to Wu Guancheng, while Wei Xun began probing Guanchuan about his former identity.

• Baozhu cried after Tanlin exposed the weaknesses in her proposals, then returned to ask him about Chen Shigu.
• Tanlin explained that Chen Shigu had passed the Presented Scholar Examination, suffered from Foolishness Poison, and later taught disciples in the Rivers and Lakes; he recognized Fish Intestine as the sword Chen had worn.
• Yang Xingjian broke down after learning that Wei Xun's master had passed the examination he himself had failed, and Wei Xun's teasing sent him fleeing in tears.
• Guanchuan said the floating corpse was probably Wu Guancheng because its short, loose hair matched the painter's appearance, and Baozhu suggested someone might have altered the corpse's hair to conceal its identity.
• Wei Xun asked Guanchuan whether he had been the martial-arts expert Qiu Jiancheng, then entered the mortuary to examine the corpse while Baozhu waited outside.

Wei Xun examined the floating corpse and concluded that it had drowned, though its bound hands and feet showed no signs of struggle. While investigating Wu Guancheng’s paintings with Baozhu, they met an elderly painter who believed Wu and his missing wife Gui'er were dead and began telling them what he knew.

• Wei Xun examined the swollen corpse and identified signs of drowning, bound limbs, and pigments beneath its fingernails, but found no evidence of a struggle.
• Wei Xun and Baozhu considered whether Guanchuan could have incapacitated Wu Guancheng and discussed Tanlin’s interest in Wei Xun and Chen Shigu.
• Wei Xun and Baozhu agreed to keep their hair, then studied Wu Guancheng’s lifelike murals and wondered whether he had recovered lost pigments from Wu Daozi’s former residence.
• An elderly painter mistook Wei Xun and Baozhu for Wu Guancheng and Gui'er, then told them that Wu was believed dead and Gui'er had been missing for half a month.
• Wei Xun asked the elderly painter to explain what he knew about Wu Guancheng and Gui'er, and the painter began recounting Wu’s childhood.

Baozhu and Wei Xun investigated Wu Daozi’s former residence after hearing how Wu Guancheng became a painter and died mysteriously. They found a clue linking the Wu family to the house, then parted for the night with Wei Xun calling Baozhu by her real name.

• The old painter told Baozhu and Wei Xun that Wu Guancheng invented new painting techniques, returned to secular life for Wu Guier, and later drowned under mysterious circumstances.
• Baozhu told Wei Xun about Rui'an and others who vanished from her life after the palace’s Blood-Smeared Ghost was mentioned, and Wei Xun eased her fear by drawing a lynx on a temple mural.
• Baozhu and Wei Xun searched Wu Daozi’s former residence, where Baozhu recounted Wu Daozi’s jealousy of Huangfu Zhen and Wei Xun warned her that silver vermilion was poisonous.
• Wei Xun found softened cogon grass and osmanthus-scented sugar residue in wrapping paper, linking the former residence to the Wu Family Sugar Shop and suggesting Wu Guancheng or Wu Guier had visited.
• Wei Xun gave Baozhu the Fish-Intestine Sword for protection, and she went back toward the Guest Hall with Thirteenth Son.
• Wei Xun called Baozhu by her real name as she left, and she turned back and promised she would answer him.

Wei Xun confirmed that the cord from Wu Daozi's former residence matched the thatch on Wu Guancheng's corpse, while Tanlin began recounting Chen Shigu's past. His story traced Chen Shigu and Yuan Xu's friendship through war and the imperial examinations, ending with the first strange clue to a case that would later shake the emperor and bring bloodshed to Lingnan.

• Wei Xun matched the cord to the thatch on Wu Guancheng's corpse and noticed his illness worsening.
• Tanlin warned Wei Xun about the danger of inner demons and persuaded him to hear Chen Shigu's story by raising Baozhu's safety.
• Tanlin described how Yuan Xu befriended Chen Shigu, taught him to read, and stood by him despite his family's objections.
• Chen Shigu led Yuan Xu's family to safety during the An Lushan Rebellion, and the two later traveled to Chang'an to take the examinations.
• Tanlin recalled Chen Shigu leaving the Qujiang banquet after Yuan Xu asked the Sage for permission, then realized the boat's distance from shore made his return mysterious.

Tanlin recounted how Yuan Xu was banished to Lingnan, died after his correspondence was intercepted, and was left without a recoverable grave after a flood. Chen Shigu became a violent grave robber searching for Yuan Xu’s remains, and Tanlin explained that he had been sent to confront him and was captured.

• Yuan Xu rose to Palace Censor while Chen Shigu remained outside official life, and their friendship endured despite their different beliefs.
• After Yuan Zai fell from power, Yuan Xu was banished to Lingshui County, where he died before an edict restoring him to office could arrive.
• Chen Shigu gave rare antiquities to Yu Chen'en to secure Yuan Xu’s recall, then set out to bring Yuan Xu’s coffin home after learning of his death.
• Xi Jianzhang had intercepted Yuan Xu’s letters and obstructed his treatment, and Chen Shigu killed Xi Jianzhang and his household.
• A flood buried Yuan Xu’s grave, and Chen Shigu began robbing graves and killing people as he searched for his friend’s remains.
• Tanlin recalled traveling to Qinzhou to confront Chen Shigu, who killed his guards and attendants before capturing him at a ruined temple.

Tanlin recounted how Chen Shigu sought Yuan Xu’s body, escaped punishment for his killings, and disappeared after threatening the imperial court. He warned Wei Xun that delusion was awakening within him, but Wei Xun refused to become a monk and was directed to study Guancheng’s Nine Contemplations Painting.

• Tanlin told how Chen Shigu imprisoned him to calculate where Yuan Xu’s coffin had gone, then spared him when the calculations showed the flood had carried it to sea.
• Tanlin explained that Chen Shigu’s identity was fabricated and that the court released him, Yuan Yi, and Li Xian after Chen Shigu left a blood-written poem beside the emperor’s throne and killed Zheng Chengping.
• Tanlin said he had asked Wei Xun about Chen Shigu five years earlier because he feared the asura might return, and Wei Xun assured him Chen Shigu was dead.
• Tanlin urged Wei Xun to practice the Nine Contemplations because delusion was stirring within him, but Wei Xun refused, saying he had a mission and would be Baozhu’s guardian.
• Tanlin advised Wei Xun to examine Guancheng’s Nine Contemplations Painting to find his inner demon.

Wei Xun and Baozhu investigated Wu Guancheng’s Nine Contemplations murals and the coffins displayed beside them, finding that the painted stages of decay did not match the bodies. Their search left them questioning why Wu Guancheng painted the murals at Chan'guang Temple and worried about Wu Guier’s safety.

• Wei Xun told Baozhu that Wu Guancheng had painted the Nine Contemplations Painting at Chan'guang Temple shortly before his death, and they went to inspect the murals.
• Wei Xun opened Lady Duan’s coffin and found that her corpse’s condition did not match the mural; he also noticed a six-armed Heavenly Demoness whose face resembled Baozhu’s.
• Wei Xun and Baozhu examined another coffin near the Meditation Hall and found that the military officer’s remains also did not match the adjacent mural’s stage of decay.
• Baozhu wondered why Wu Guancheng had painted beside the coffins of wealthy or important people, and worried that Wu Guier might be in danger.
• Wei Xun explained how witnessing a mother grieve over her child’s desecrated grave had made him reconsider tomb robbing, while Baozhu watched him in the midnight mist.

Wei Xun mistook Baozhu for an impostor in the temple and attacked her, but she proved to be the real Baozhu and exposed his buried desires and violent nature. He fled across Chan'guang Temple, only for a six-armed demoness wearing Baozhu's face to confront and kiss him atop the Pagoda.

• Wei Xun found a young girl's coffin but left her jewelry untouched, then confronted the Baozhu waiting in the corridor.
• Wei Xun pinned Baozhu and tested her face and birthmark, discovering that she matched the real Baozhu exactly.
• Baozhu described Wei Xun's memories of examining her body after rescuing her, leaving him terrified and confused.
• Wei Xun searched Baozhu's room and the hot spring, where Baozhu taunted him about his desire and wounded pride.
• Wei Xun fled through Chan'guang Temple and climbed the Pagoda, but Baozhu appeared behind him and revealed herself as his inner demon.
• A six-armed Heavenly Demoness wearing Baozhu's face kissed Wei Xun atop the Pagoda.

Wei Xun endured a demonic hallucination in which he believed Baozhu had died by his hand, then discovered he was in a temple meditation hall beside an unfamiliar corpse. Finding osmanthus sugar in the corpse’s mouth, he suspected the vision had been a clue about Wu Guier and prepared to make the dead speak.

• Heavenly Demon Baozhu tried to seduce Wei Xun, then vanished after telling him she was with Guier.
• Wei Xun followed a funeral procession through the temple and found Baozhu’s body in a grand tomb-like vision, killed with the Fish-Intestine Sword.
• A demonic voice made Wei Xun believe he was strangling Baozhu, so he burned his hand on an incense burner to break the hallucination.
• Wei Xun realized the vision had ended and that he was holding an unfamiliar woman’s corpse in the temple meditation hall.
• Wei Xun found osmanthus sugar in the corpse’s mouth and set out to make the dead speak on the night of the Ullambana Festival.

Wei Xun uncovered how Wu Guier and Guancheng died, then confronted Guanchuan, who admitted Chan'guang Temple intended to keep him there. Poisoned and half-blind, Wei Xun prepared to fight Guanchuan to protect the people he cared about.

• Wei Xun found poison in the temple's incense burners and identified Wu Guier among the coffined corpses, learning that her husband Guancheng had strangled her.
• Wei Xun examined Guancheng's body and concluded that poison-induced hallucinations had driven Guancheng to kill Wu Guier before he drowned himself in the Life-Release Pond.
• Wei Xun found that Guancheng had been dead for more than three days, ruling him out as the person who poisoned the incense burners.
• Guanchuan confronted Wei Xun and admitted that the temple planned to keep him there while Yang Fangxie rested in the Guest Hall.
• Guanchuan revealed his connection to Kashyapa and prepared to attack Wei Xun, who resolved to fight despite his injuries, poisoning, and impaired vision.

Wei Xun killed Tanlin after exposing his role in poisoning Wu Guancheng and causing the Ullambana Festival tragedy. Deafened and badly wounded, he burned the Hall of Returning to Impermanence and searched Chan'guang Temple for the woman he called his lost moon, knowing one enemy remained.

• Tanlin waited for Wei Xun to succumb to the incense, but Guanchuan's roars shook the Hall of Returning to Impermanence.
• Wei Xun entered with Guanchuan's severed head and limbs, accusing Tanlin of poisoning Wu Guancheng and framing him for the deaths at the festival.
• Wei Xun confronted Tanlin with his jealousy of Wu Guancheng and his deception of Chen Shigu and Qiu Jiancheng, then killed him with the Sunset Mist-Waves Palm.
• Wei Xun burned the mural and the hall, disposed of Tanlin's body, and returned Guancheng's tongue as evidence before leaving the building in flames.
• Despite his wounds, deafness, and blurred vision, Wei Xun searched Chan'guang Temple by scent for the woman he called his lost moon, while one enemy remained.

Wei Xun spent the night fighting his inner demons and kneeling beside Baozhu’s sleeping form, then waited outside her room until dawn. Baozhu woke safely and found him injured and exhausted, and he asked why she had spent the night in Thirteenth Son’s room.

• Blue Demon found Baozhu asleep beside the Fish Intestine and realized that his own desires made him a danger to her.
• Wei Xun took the Fish Intestine, knelt beside Baozhu, and resolved to purge his inner demons before dawn or kill himself.
• Baozhu woke in the morning, noticed water tracks leading to the door, and found Wei Xun injured and asleep outside.
• Baozhu woke Wei Xun and asked how he had been hurt, but he first asked why she had spent the night in Thirteenth Son’s room.

Wei Xun explained how he had killed Tanlin and set fire to the hall, while Baozhu devised a plan to turn the abbot’s death into a way to collect food and money for disaster victims. By the end, Tanlin’s body had been presented as an unburned living Buddha, prompting Luoyang’s wealthy to donate vast stores of grain and wealth.

• Baozhu explained that she had slept in Thirteenth Son’s room because Wei Xun had frightened her away from the pagoda tree, and she discovered his burned hands.
• Yang Xingjian warned Baozhu that the Hall of Returning to Impermanence was on fire, and Wei Xun revealed that he had killed Guanchuan and Tanlin and started the blaze.
• Wei Xun recounted Tanlin’s crimes, and Baozhu realized Tanlin’s corpse could be used to obtain donations for the starving.
• Baozhu ordered Yang Xingjian to write a false testament and went with Thirteenth Son and Wei Xun to retrieve Tanlin’s body.
• Tanlin’s remains were presented as an unburned living Buddha, and wealthy donors gave grain and riches to relieve disaster victims.

After Tanlin’s death, Guanchao became abbot and organized relief while Baozhu and her companions uncovered more of Chen Shigu’s mysteries and prepared to leave Chan'guang Temple. On the road to Luoyang, Wei Xun gave Baozhu the first blooming sprig of osmanthus, leaving her delighted and the group close to their destination.

• The monks preserved Tanlin’s body, accepted Guanchao as abbot, and watched him organize temple affairs and aid the starving.
• Baozhu learned that Thirteenth Son had been taught to read and write by Chen Shigu so he could recite and copy sutras for an unnamed friend of Chen Shigu.
• Baozhu confronted Wei Xun about his distance, inspected his healing burns, and warned him to call her for help in future fights.
• Wei Xun gave Baozhu the Seven-Treasure Glazed Glass Box and later revealed that it held the first sprig of osmanthus to bloom that year.
• Baozhu joyfully let Wei Xun pin the osmanthus in her hair as the group traveled toward Luoyang, while Wei Xun reflected on their connection.

Huo Qilang reached Youzhou after a grueling journey and carried Yang Xingjian’s letter into Prince Shao’s Residence. She finally found the ailing Prince Shao, who identified himself as Ying, and prepared to deliver the letter directly to him.

• Huo Qilang crossed the guarded territories of Weibo, Chengde, and Youzhou, reaching Youzhou City within twenty days.
• Huo Qilang went to Prince Shao’s Residence and learned that a resident was gravely ill and funeral preparations were underway.
• Li Chengyin recognized the letter as being from Registrar Yang and brought Huo Qilang to Lady Li, who allowed her to enter the prince’s chamber.
• Huo Qilang surrendered her weapons and passed a search before approaching the bed behind a screen.
• Prince Shao answered Huo Qilang and identified himself as Ying.

Huo Qilang delivered a letter to Prince Shao, Li Yuanying, and discovered that its writer, believed dead Princess Wanshou, was alive and traveling to Youzhou. The revelation restored Li Yuanying’s will to live, while Huo Qilang received a reward and was kept at the residence to await the princess.

• Household Steward Li Chengyin revealed that Wang Ying was Prince Shao’s alias, and Huo Qilang handed Li Yuanying the Carp Letter.
• Li Yuanying and Madam Li recognized Princess Wanshou’s handwriting in the letter, and Li Chengyin learned from Huo Qilang that its writer was alive and headed to Youzhou.
• Li Chengyin told Huo Qilang that the woman was Princess Wanshou, and Huo Qilang deduced that her senior brother Wei Xun had rescued her from her tomb.
• Li Yuanying concluded that Baozhu had been buried alive, then asked Madam Li for rice porridge after his hope of seeing her returned.
• Li Chengyin paid Huo Qilang two hundred taels of gold and arranged for her to stay in the residence, where Steward Zhou struggled to find clothes that fit her.

Huo Qilang settled into Prince Shao’s residence, obtained clothes and food, and showed her remarkable strength while adapting to the household’s customs. Madam Li assigned her to stay in Prince Shao’s room and take night duty alongside the guards, saying his health had improved since Huo Qilang arrived.

• Steward Zhou issued Huo Qilang black guard robes and arranged for her to be registered as a maid, while she secretly took a set of moon-white inner garments.
• Huo Qilang ate a lavish meal, bathed, and carried a water-filled bathtub with ease, impressing Steward Zhou with her natural strength.
• Steward Zhou explained that Madam Li, Prince Shao’s wet nurse, held great influence, while the household’s principal wife and Madam Li were at odds.
• Steward Zhou struggled to find Huo Qilang suitable lodging and considered placing her in the Eunuch Quarters, but she refused.
• Cai Fang arrived with Madam Li’s order for Huo Qilang to stay in Prince Shao’s room and take turns on night duty with the household guards.

Huo Qilang learned about the divisions within Prince Shao’s household and witnessed the elaborate poison checks surrounding his meal. After hearing that his younger sister had survived and ensuring Lady Jing was cared for, Li Yuanying remained gravely ill but said he could hold on for a few more days.

• Huo Qilang heard from Cai Fang about the west courtyard, Princess Consort Cui, the deceased Yang Fangxie, and Li Yuanying’s mistress, Lady Jing.
• Cai Fang and Huo Qilang caught a maid from the west courtyard eavesdropping, and Cai Fang explained the conflict between the household’s east and west courtyards.
• Madam Li and the attendants inspected and tasted Li Yuanying’s food for poison before Madam Li served him a small meal.
• Li Yuanying told Madam Li not to supervise the kitchen anymore and learned that officials had asked about the letter Huo Qilang delivered.
• Li Yuanying asked after Lady Jing, then told the household steward to have her wait patiently while he tried to hold on for a few more days.