Chapter Summaries

Cui Jiuyang learned how Rasputin survived his apparent death and gained influence over Russian exiles in Harbin, then took him away with the Cathedral clergy’s tacit approval. The next morning, Cui Jiuyang and Liu Jingtang listened to Father Ram’s sermon before preparing to leave the church, with Cui reflecting on what he had learned about the Liu Family ancestor.

• Cui Jiuyang recognized the unconscious priest as Rasputin and heard Father Ram explain how Rasputin had escaped Russia and won the devotion of exiled aristocrats.
• Father Ram said the clergy distrusted Rasputin, and Cui Jiuyang offered to take him away without killing him.
• Holy light from senior priests signaled their approval, and Father Ram promised the Cathedral’s friendship if Rasputin never returned.
• Cui Jiuyang used the Five Warlords Register to absorb Rasputin, whose portrait appeared in its “Extraordinary Individuals” section.
• The next morning, Cui Jiuyang and Liu Jingtang listened to Father Ram preach, while Cui considered the Liu Family ancestor’s exposed whereabouts and strength.

Cui Jiuyang devised a trap at Liu Jingye’s new freight depot to capture the Liu Family ancestor, using Liu Jingtang as bait. After five days of waiting, the ancestor’s chilling aura finally approached the yard.

• Cui Jiuyang reasoned that the Liu Family ancestor was an isolated, dying divine soul and suspected Great-Grandfather had defeated him before.
• Cui Jiuyang told Liu Jingye that the ancestor had attacked Liu Jingtang at the church, and Liu Jingtang described Rasputin’s possession attempt.
• Liu Jingye took Cui Jiuyang and Liu Jingtang to his newly acquired freight depot, where Cui Jiuyang prepared a concealed trap using talismans, Liu Jingtang’s hair, a paper figure, and the Five Warlords Register.
• Cui Jiuyang stayed hidden and cultivated while Liu Jingtang endured eighteen aura-concealing talismans and studied the Three Character Classic.
• After five days, Cui Jiuyang sensed the Liu Family ancestor approaching the rear yard in a black wind amid falling snow.

Cui Jiuyang trapped Liu Longtong in the Five Warlords Register and searched his memories, discovering the snake demon’s past crimes and his connection to Cui Chengshou. Liu Longtong had escaped the destroyed register and returned to the Liu Family, where the clan had obstructed his efforts to obtain a Possession Vessel.

• Liu Longtong mistook a decoy for Cui Jiuyang and was sucked into the Five Warlords Register.
• Cui Jiuyang realized Liu Longtong bore Cui Chengshou’s mark, which helped him subdue the demon.
• Cui Jiuyang summoned Liu Longtong and searched his memories, learning that he had gathered human essence blood through bandits and military leaders to extend his life.
• Cui Chengshou crippled Liu Longtong, imprisoned him in the Five Warlords Register, and left him there until the register was destroyed.
• Liu Longtong escaped and returned to the Liu Family, but its elders and younger members delayed or concealed the Possession Vessels he sought.

Cui Jiuyang subdued Liu Longtong and broke through to the fourth extremity, ending the threat to Liu Jingtang. Liu Jingye revealed he had delayed a northbound caravan so Cui Jiuyang could travel with them, and the caravan set out into the heavy snow.

• Cui Jiuyang drew Liu Longtong into the Five Warlords Register after explaining that he had brought his predicament upon himself.
• Cui Jiuyang cultivated through the night and calmly advanced to the fourth extremity, refining the Drought Ghost's yin qi and healing his hidden injuries.
• Liu Jingtang woke and sensed that Cui Jiuyang had become strangely distant from him.
• Cui Jiuyang told Liu Jingye that the demon threatening Liu Jingtang had been dealt with, easing Liu Jingye's worry.
• Liu Jingye admitted he had delayed the caravan's departure and arranged a comfortable carriage so Cui Jiuyang could travel north without leaving Liu Jingtang behind.
• The wagon caravan creaked onward through heavy snow, its loaded wagons carving deep ruts into the road.

Cui Jiuyang traveled through heavy snow toward the Greater Khingan Range with a large caravan, sharing its meals and helping its workers. After repeated fallen trees blocked the road, he joined Sun Haidong in going to help clear the latest obstruction.

• Cui Jiuyang refused the maid Liu Jingye had assigned him, and Liu Jingye and Liu Jingtang thanked him before he set off with the caravan.
• Cui Jiuyang rode in a comfortable carriage driven by Sun Haidong and joined the caravan’s men for their shared meals.
• A group of snow-laden trees fell across the road, so Niu Ergan stopped the caravan while the men cleared the way and cooked a hot meal.
• Cui Jiuyang noticed the cleared branches with an inscrutable smile before returning to his carriage.
• When more fallen treetops blocked the road, Cui Jiuyang told Sun Haidong he would help and asked him to tie the carriage to a cart.

After the convoy failed to reach Langya Village in the worsening snowstorm, Niu Ergan chose a sheltered place beneath a cliff and organized a fortified camp for the night. Cui Jiuyang stayed alert, suspecting that the unexplained delay had been deliberate, and stepped out of his carriage after midnight when nothing had attacked.

• Niu Ergan abandoned the journey to Langya Village and found a sheltered site beneath a cliff for the convoy to camp.
• The teamsters formed a wall from the wagons, settled and blanketed the livestock, and raised tents around dry grass bedding.
• Haidong explained the convoy's custom of sleeping close together, while Cui Jiuyang prepared to sleep in his carriage.
• Niu Ergan lit two fire pits and assigned four groups of six men to keep watch through continuous patrols.
• Cui Jiuyang concealed his aura while cultivating in his carriage and remained wary of whoever had delayed the convoy.
• After the camp stayed quiet past midnight, Cui Jiuyang emerged from his carriage beside a fire pit.

Cui Jiuyang watched the caravan struggle through unusually deep snow Beyond the Pass, where Niu Ergan’s work song and the travelers’ performances lifted everyone’s spirits. The caravan continued toward Wolf Fang Village as the young night watchman began a bawdy rustic song.

• Cui Jiuyang spent the night beside the fire, hiding his aura while he waited for an expected visitor who never came.
• After dawn, Niu Ergan saw the exceptionally deep snow and ordered the caravan to clear a path with wooden shovels and snow pushers.
• The caravan worked its way forward through the snow while Cui Jiuyang experienced the quiet of the vast white landscape.
• Niu Ergan sang a forceful work chant, encouraging the caravan as they cleared the road.
• An elderly driver performed a passage from Generals of the Yang Family, and a young night watchman followed with the rustic song “The Blind Man Enters the Bridal Chamber.”

Cui Jiuyang arrived in Langya Village with the convoy and was assigned to stay at the home of the beautiful widow Jiang Xiao'e. She explained that her family needed grain to get through the winter, leaving Cui Jiuyang inside her courtyard as he learned of their hardship.

• The convoy reached Langya Village, where Niu Ergan and Uncle Jiang arranged lodging with local families.
• Sun Haidong left for a household he knew, and Niu Ergan brought Cui Jiuyang to Uncle Jiang for help finding a place to stay.
• Jiang Lao'er led Cui Jiuyang to Jiang Xiao'e's home, and Cui Jiuyang recognized her as a beautiful widow whose features foretold a lonely life.
• Cui Jiuyang tried to leave, but Jiang Xiao'e held his sleeve and explained that she needed five jin of coarse grain because her household had no food for winter.

Cui Jiuyang refused Jiang Xiao'e’s offer to provide more than a room for the night, then discovered through his Divine Sense that many caravan members were accepting similar arrangements in Langya Village. He tried to cultivate and sleep, but Jiang Xiao'e’s persistence and private mutterings kept him awake.

• Jiang Xiao'e offered Cui Jiuyang a place to sleep for five jin of coarse grain and hinted that seven jin of fine grain would buy more, but he refused and shut himself in the west room.
• Jiang Xiao'e brought a basin of water and knocked on Cui Jiuyang’s door, but he pretended to be asleep until she threw the water aside and returned to the main house.
• Cui Jiuyang used his Divine Sense to sense caravan members staying with village widows, the households’ hunting gear, and Langya Village’s abundant Spiritual Energy.
• Cui Jiuyang began cultivating but stopped after Jiang Xiao'e knocked again, then lay down to sleep.
• Jiang Xiao'e cursed Cui Jiuyang for rejecting her, speculated that the villagers wanted him to be the first guest through her door, and admitted that she found him handsome.

Cui Jiuyang fled Jiang Xiao'e’s home after a night of temptation, then waited with the caravan as Niu Ergan weighed whether the snow-covered road was safe to travel. The caravan debated whether to set out or spend another day in Langya Village, and no decision was reached.

• Cui Jiuyang left Jiang Xiao'e’s home at dawn and warmed his carriage while waiting for the caravan to gather.
• Niu Ergan inspected the wagons and roads, then visited Jiang Lao'er and waited with him for the other caravan men.
• Niu Ergan warned the caravan that frozen snow and the long mountain road to Suoyi Village could force them to spend the night outdoors.
• The caravan men debated whether to travel that day or stay in Langya Village and clear the road, with one young driver urging them to leave and an experienced driver supporting Niu Ergan’s proposal to wait.

Niu Ergan kept the caravan in Langya Village for a day to clear the snow before traveling on, while Cui Jiuyang overheard the men’s stories about unusual encounters with village women. By lunchtime, the caravan members’ similar experiences made Cui Jiuyang suspect something was wrong.

• Niu Ergan ended the debate by deciding that the caravan would clear the road and leave for Suoyi Village the following day.
• Niu Ergan led the caravan in clearing a wagon-wide passage through the snow, while Cui Jiuyang listened as Niu Ergan and an Old Driver discussed their encounters with women the previous night.
• A man joined the conversation and described a new bedroom trick, prompting Niu Ergan and the Old Driver to ask for details.
• Jiang Lao'er brought lunch to the road, where the caravan members compared their experiences and realized they had all encountered unusual tricks from Langya Village women.
• Cui Jiuyang listened to the men’s stories and began to suspect that the women’s similar behavior was not ordinary.

Cui Jiuyang discovered that the Langya Village before him was an illusion and that its women had been stealing years from the caravan men who slept with them. After exposing the sorcery to Niu Ergan, he gathered men born in the years of the Dragon or Tiger and headed back toward the village.

• Cui Jiuyang used a stronger divination and learned that Jiang Xiao'e and Langya Village were ten li away, despite appearing nearby.
• Cui Jiuyang found that many caravan men had unusually short lifespans and connected the lost years to their nights with women in the village.
• Cui Jiuyang jabbed Niu Ergan's lower back to break the woman's evil art, then told him that he had lost seven years of his lifespan.
• Niu Ergan believed Cui Jiuyang and agreed to quietly gather caravan men born in the years of the Dragon or Tiger.
• Cui Jiuyang led Niu Ergan and the selected men toward the illusory village.

Cui Jiuyang discovered that the Langya Village was an ice-sculpture decoy built by rabbit demons to drain the caravan men’s lifespans, but the demons had escaped. He gathered blood and traces from the men’s bedding to perform a tracking spell and pursue them.

• Cui Jiuyang noticed that the cart tracks did not lead back to the village and found Jiang Lao'er’s home deserted.
• Cui Jiuyang exposed the ice beneath the village’s painted surfaces and realized the entire village was an elaborate illusion made of ice.
• Cui Jiuyang concluded that rabbit demons had lured the caravan into the false village to steal seven years of the men’s lifespans, then fled when they sensed danger.
• Niu Ergan asked whether the men could recover their lost lifespans, and Cui Jiuyang resolved to investigate the demons’ unusual method.
• Cui Jiuyang collected blood from the caravan men and scraps from their bedding, then burned the scraps into ashes for a tracking spell.

Cui Jiuyang tracked the rabbit spirits to a hidden mountain residence, where two young rabbit demons turned him away after he questioned them about their elders. After leaving, he summoned Liu Longtong, who identified their aura and began explaining the Rabbit Spirits’ origins near Full Moon Pool in the Greater Khingan Range.

• Cui Jiuyang used a blood tiger to lead Niu Ergan and the others through the snow-covered mountains to a hidden hill.
• Two young rabbit spirits destroyed Cui Jiuyang’s blood dragon with a snowball, then cautiously received him as a supposed neighbor.
• Cui Jiuyang questioned the rabbit spirit guarding the entrance and learned that older sisters had gone out to fetch Granny.
• The returning rabbit spirit claimed their master was away, and Cui Jiuyang agreed to leave and visit another day.
• Cui Jiuyang created a soundproof barrier and summoned Liu Longtong from his booklet.
• Liu Longtong identified the rabbit demon’s aura as belonging to the Rabbit Spirits by Full Moon Pool and began describing their home in the Greater Khingan Range.

Cui Jiuyang learned that the rabbit demon Granny Full Moon possessed a powerful treasure and might be behind the attacks on people in Langya Village. After sending the convoy away, he returned to confront the rabbit demons and faced a veiled woman who attacked him with an icicle.

• Liu Longtong explained Granny Full Moon's history, the Profound Ice Treasure Mirror's abilities, and the danger she posed.
• Cui Jiuyang considered joining forces with Liu Longtong, then sent Niu Ergan and the convoy away to camp safely and continue toward the real Langya Village the next day.
• Cui Jiuyang returned to the pine grove and tricked the two rabbit demons into confirming that they had come from Full Moon Pool.
• The rabbit demons summoned an older sister, and Cui Jiuyang waited while whistling a song about the Jade Rabbit Spirit.
• A veiled woman confronted Cui Jiuyang, spoke about how women reacted to losing face, then revealed her mouth and spat an icicle at him.

Cui Jiuyang fought and captured Jiang Xiao'e, the eldest senior sister of Full Moon Pool, then entered the rabbit demons’ cave to confront their Granny. He ended the chapter facing a crowd of hostile rabbits in the darkness.

• Jiang Xiao'e attacked Cui Jiuyang with ice and snow, but he countered her spells and trapped her with the Nine Apotropaic Coins.
• Cui Jiuyang used a false body and invisibility to evade Jiang Xiao'e’s fire attack, then sealed her acupoints and captured her.
• Two young rabbit demons fled to report Jiang Xiao'e’s capture, while Cui Jiuyang carried her toward the concealed cave with the help of talisman figures.
• Cui Jiuyang reached the cave and taunted Granny from outside, and she opened the gate and invited him in.
• Cui Jiuyang entered the cave and faced the angry red-eyed rabbit demons, greeting them with a boast that he had gotten the better of them.

Cui Jiuyang met Granny Full Moon, a giant rabbit who recognized his great-grandfather and reacted with surprise when she learned Cui Chengshou had descendants. She questioned Cui Jiuyang about how he had become her great-grandson, and he began giving her a selective, partly fabricated account.

• Cui Jiuyang entered the cave chamber and found the enormous white rabbit reclining on a chaise longue.
• Granny Full Moon's gale destroyed Cui Jiuyang's paper talisman figures, dropping Jiang Xiao'e to the ground.
• Granny Full Moon recognized Cui Jiuyang as resembling Cui Chengshou and asked whether he was related to him.
• Cui Jiuyang said Cui Chengshou was his great-grandfather, prompting Granny Full Moon to unleash killing intent before realizing she had misunderstood the timing.
• Granny Full Moon described herself as Cui Chengshou's friend and asked where Cui Jiuyang came from.
• Cui Jiuyang concealed some details and claimed Cui Chengshou had summoned him from a hundred years in the future to help refine the immortal sword in his soul.

Cui Jiuyang declined Granny Full Moon’s offer to stay and learned how she lost Full Moon Pool and was gravely injured. After Liu Longtong identified the attacker as a likely younger member of the Five Immortals Beyond the Pass, Cui Jiuyang recognized the aura as Hu Seventeen’s.

• Granny Full Moon recalled Cui Chengshou’s cultivation of The Eight Extremes and offered Cui Jiuyang a place to cultivate in her cave abode.
• Cui Jiuyang refused, explaining that he needed to carry Crane Feather He Feixu’s ashes to White Crane Manor on Mount Heming and fulfill his dying wish.
• Granny Full Moon warned Cui Jiuyang that the Greater Khingan Range was in turmoil after she had been driven from Full Moon Pool.
• Granny Full Moon recognized Liu Longtong in Cui Jiuyang’s sleeve, and Liu Longtong emerged and greeted her.
• Granny Full Moon recounted how a gray streak shattered her Profound Ice Treasure Mirror during a fight with a tiger demon, leaving her injured and forcing her to flee Full Moon Pool.
• Liu Longtong sensed that the lingering aura on the mirror belonged to a younger member of the Five Immortals Beyond the Pass, and Cui Jiuyang identified it as Hu Seventeen’s.

Cui Jiuyang identified Hu Seventeen as the one who damaged Granny Full Moon’s Profound Ice Treasure Mirror, and learned that the harvested lifespans were meant to help her heal. He stayed with Liu Longtong to guard Granny as she used Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water to recover, ending with her transformed into a beautiful woman in palace robes.

• Cui Jiuyang recognized Hu Seventeen’s aura on the damaged mirror and told Granny Full Moon who he believed had struck it.
• Granny Full Moon explained that she had ordered the rabbit sisters to harvest lifespans to help heal her, then gave Cui Jiuyang Moonlight Dew to restore the men’s lost years.
• Granny asked Cui Jiuyang and Liu Longtong to stand guard while she healed, and Cui Jiuyang agreed to stay for the night.
• Granny Full Moon began healing in a secluded chamber as Jiang Xiao'e mixed elixirs and Moonlight Dew into spiritual liquid for her technique.
• Granny Full Moon and her mirror image invoked Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water, and the shattered mirror’s light transformed her into a beautiful woman in palace robes.

Cui Jiuyang left Granny Full Moon’s cave with Li Mingyue, who was ordered to guide him to the Greater Khingan Range. After they reunited with the caravan and shared medicine to restore the travelers’ lost lifespan, Cui Jiuyang and Li Mingyue began their journey together in an awkward carriage ride.

• Granny Full Moon gave Cui Jiuyang the core jade talisman of Full Moon Pool’s Grand Formation and assigned Li Mingyue to accompany him to the Greater Khingan Range.
• Granny Full Moon gave Cui Jiuyang a handkerchief for his Great-Grandfather and warned him to avoid Hu Seventeen if he could not catch him.
• Li Mingyue explained that Granny Full Moon was nearing the end of her life, leaving Cui Jiuyang to understand why she and the rabbit demons had wept.
• Cui Jiuyang and Li Mingyue caught up with the caravan, and Li Mingyue gave the travelers medicine to restore their lost lifespan.
• Cui Jiuyang and Li Mingyue rode together in silence until she explained that the earlier seduction had only been an illusion, then they each began cultivating.