Chapter Summaries

Cui Jiuyang discovered that Zhang Yuanbao was a murdered corpse inhabited by the Li Family’s dead grandson, kept fresh with crude Yin-Yang Dew made from human ingredients. He stayed at the Li Residence to watch Zhang Yuanbao and trace the evil practitioner behind the possession, whom divination suggested was an old acquaintance.

• Cui Jiuyang found livor mortis beneath Zhang Yuanbao’s chest and identified the celadon and white bottles as Yin Dew and Yang Dew.
• Cui Jiuyang recalled Great-Grandfather’s account of Plum Substitution and concluded the Li Family had killed Zhang Yuanbao to house their dead grandson’s soul.
• Cui Jiuyang sensed that the hidden practitioner shared a connection with him, then decided to remain at the Li Residence and follow Zhang Yuanbao’s search for a remedy.
• Zhang Yuanbao woke and continued applying Yin Dew to the corpse’s emerging livor mortis.
• At dawn, Zhang Yuanbao secretly applied Yang Dew while Cui Jiuyang pretended to sleep, and they later ate breakfast together in a side hall.

Old Master Li and Zhang Yuanbao drugged Cui Jiuyang with wine and prepared him for a body-changing ritual, hoping Zhang Yuanbao could take over his body. As the Great Immortal was due to arrive in the latter half of the night, Old Master Li left Zhang Yuanbao guarding Cui Jiuyang in the woodshed, and Zhang Yuanbao heard his grandfather return.

• Zhang Yuanbao and Old Master Li secretly mixed a talisman into the wine and got Cui Jiuyang drunk so he would meet the Great Immortal’s requirements for changing bodies.
• Old Master Li and Zhang Yuanbao carried Cui Jiuyang into a blood-marked woodshed and laid him beneath the black coffin containing Li Rulin’s corpse.
• Zhang Yuanbao lit lamps and incense around Cui Jiuyang, while Old Master Li checked that he was unconscious and ordered Zhang Yuanbao to guard him.
• Old Master Li left to welcome the Great Immortal, and Zhang Yuanbao waited beside Cui Jiuyang and the coffin through the night.
• Zhang Yuanbao heard his grandfather return, hurried to the door, and bowed respectfully.

Cui Jiuyang exposed Spirit Medium Wei and the Li family’s plan to use Cui Jiuyang as a vessel, then confronted Spirit Medium Wei over Zhang Yuanbao’s stolen body and other victims. Spirit Medium Wei tried to escape, but Cui Jiuyang trapped and subdued her with his Apotropaic Coins.

• Spirit Medium Wei arrived at the Li Family woodshed and learned that Cui Jiuyang was meant to become Ru Lin’s next vessel.
• Spirit Medium Wei recognized the supposedly unconscious Cui Jiuyang, and he greeted her while Master Li and Zhang Yuanbao watched in alarm.
• Cui Jiuyang accused Spirit Medium Wei and the Li family of stealing Zhang Yuanbao’s body and demanded they free it and return it for burial.
• Spirit Medium Wei threatened Cui Jiuyang but backed down when she feared his connection to Cui Chengshou.
• Spirit Medium Wei turned into black wind and tried to flee, but Cui Jiuyang’s Gen Palace Mountain Spirit Demon-Subduing Coin blocked her escape.
• Cui Jiuyang sent out eight more Apotropaic Coins and pinned Spirit Medium Wei to the floor with their power.

Cui Jiuyang defeated Spirit Medium Wei and the Li Family, trapping their souls in his Eternal Lamp and leaving the Li Family First Madam insane. As he left the devastated residence, he encountered an old Daoist pushing a wheelbarrow of divination tools.

• Cui Jiuyang immobilized Zhang Yuanbao with Corpse-Quelling Talismans and contained Spirit Medium Wei's Cat Lock with the Heavenly Mandate Black Tortoise Coin.
• Cui Jiuyang pulled Spirit Medium Wei's half-rat soul from her body and sealed it inside the Eternal Lamp.
• Master Li charged Cui Jiuyang with a door bar, but Cui Jiuyang's paper tigers killed him, and Cui Jiuyang extracted Li Rulin's soul from Zhang Yuanbao and trapped it in the lamp.
• Cui Jiuyang ignited the woodshed with the Eternal Lamp's soul fire, while the Li Family servants failed to extinguish the blaze and the Li Family's First Madam went mad.
• Cui Jiuyang left the Li residence and encountered an old Daoist pushing a wheelbarrow filled with divination tools.

Cui Jiuyang uncovered the truth about Zhang Yuanbao’s murder, told the Zhang family, and arranged for them to see Yuanbao’s soul before it reincarnated. He and Bai Susu traveled from Tianjin to the Capital, where they arrived at the grand residence of her master’s friend, Li Zhongqing, and waited for him to return.

• Cui Jiuyang told Bai Susu that Li Rulin’s soul had occupied Zhang Yuanbao’s body after the Li Family and Spirit Medium Wei murdered him.
• Cui Jiuyang explained the truth to Mr. Zhang and Mrs. Zhang, then gave them Soul-Summoning Talismans so they could see Yuanbao’s soul during its final three days before reincarnation.
• Cui Jiuyang instructed the Zhangs to leave the Eternal Lamp beneath a stone bridge, trapping Li Rulin and the other hostile souls inside it.
• Cui Jiuyang and Bai Susu left the Zhang family and boarded a train from Tianjin to the Capital.
• Cui Jiuyang and Bai Susu reached Li Zhongqing’s lavish residence in Willow Tree Hutong, where servants admitted them and said Li Zhongqing would return soon.

Cui Jiuyang left Bai Susu at Li Zhongqing’s residence so he could hurry to Beyond the Pass, but her shed snakeskin calmed his mounting agitation and revealed that she was a rare Jade-Illuminated Cold. With his thoughts clear, he began to suspect something was wrong with the Li household.

• Cui Jiuyang grew increasingly impatient while waiting for Li Zhongqing to return, and he spent a sleepless night in meditation.
• After breakfast, Cui Jiuyang told Bai Susu he needed to leave for Beyond the Pass and asked whether she was willing to stay at Li Zhongqing’s residence.
• Bai Susu gave Cui Jiuyang her shed snakeskin as thanks, and he accepted it before leaving the residence by rickshaw.
• Cui Jiuyang unfolded the snakeskin and felt its moonlight spiritual energy calm his mind, leading him to identify Bai Susu as a Jade-Illuminated Cold.
• Cui Jiuyang reconsidered the unusual absence of Li Zhongqing’s family and the lack of maids, realizing the household might not be what it seemed.

Cui Jiuyang returned to the Li Residence and found Bai Susu fighting four Queue Army men in the rear garden. He used the Soul-Anchor Pearl to trap them in freezing mist and prepared another attack.

• Cui Jiuyang realized the tea at the Li Residence had likely been tampered with and hurried back, using an Invisibility Mudra and Light-Body Divine Travel to reach the residence quickly.
• Cui Jiuyang found the side rooms deserted and the side hall wrecked, with human blood and signs that Bai Susu had fought there.
• Cui Jiuyang followed traces of spiritual and demonic energy to the rear garden, where Bai Susu was fighting four Queue Army men in her snake form.
• Cui Jiuyang sent talisman-paper beasts to distract the men, then used the Soul-Anchor Pearl to turn water into icy tornadoes and trap them in freezing mist.
• Cui Jiuyang remained invisible, formed a circle with his fingers, and blew toward the immobilized Queue Army men.

Cui Jiuyang defeated the Queue Army soldiers and healed Bai Susu with dragon qi, deepening her dependence on him. They escaped the Li Residence and settled in an empty house nearby to watch for the Queue Army’s next move, where Bai Susu made up only one bed.

• Cui Jiuyang froze the four Queue Army soldiers with a yin wind and caught Bai Susu when she fell from the tree.
• Cui Jiuyang used the Dragon-Transformation Wall’s dragon qi to heal Bai Susu and expel the Spell-Breaking Bead fragments from her wounds.
• Bai Susu regained human form in Cui Jiuyang’s arms, blushed at their closeness, and expressed her gratitude and attachment to him.
• Cui Jiuyang warned Bai Susu that more Queue Army soldiers might arrive, and they left the Li Residence together.
• Cui Jiuyang chose an empty residence near Willow Tree Hutong so he could monitor the Li Residence, and Bai Susu cleaned the house and made up only one bed.

Cui Jiuyang learned why Bai Susu had come to the Capital and kept watch near the Li residence while trying to locate Li Zhongqing. When a mysterious attacker lured him away from Bai Susu and ambushed him, he destroyed the incoming talisman, but the attacker remained hidden.

• Bai Susu explained that her master, Yan Bin, sent her to find Li Zhongqing and deliver him a protective artifact after snake demons began disappearing.
• Cui Jiuyang examined the aura-concealing bracelet and returned it to Bai Susu, then warded her room and left to watch the Li residence.
• Cui Jiuyang divined that Li Zhongqing was being held captive but could not determine who had taken him or where he was.
• Cui Jiuyang hid near the Li residence and watched a black shadow enter it, then went to investigate the rear garden.
• Cui Jiuyang sensed that someone was breaking the ward protecting Bai Susu and hurried to leave the garden, where a hidden attacker launched a lethal talisman at him.
• Cui Jiuyang's prepared Talisman intercepted and destroyed the attacker's talisman, but he still could not see his assailant.

Cui Jiuyang confronted a Daoist hired by the Queue Army, killed him, and hastily refined him into a Yin Soldier. He returned to find Bai Susu abducted and learned through divination that the Queue Army’s powerful fortune obscured her location.

• Cui Jiuyang used a mist spell to conceal himself and the hidden attacker, then discovered the attacker was a middle-aged Daoist disguised as a maple leaf.
• Cui Jiuyang shot and subdued Daoist Xuansheng, who revealed that the Queue Army had hired cultivators to distract him while others captured Bai Susu.
• Cui Jiuyang killed Xuansheng and used the Evil Ghost Pearl and Heart Talisman technique to turn his corpse into a Yin Soldier.
• Cui Jiuyang hurried back to the vacant house but found Bai Susu gone and the protective ward broken.
• Cui Jiuyang divined with Bai Susu’s snake slough and sensed that she was captive, but the Queue Army’s fortune prevented him from finding her location.

Cui Jiuyang searched for a place to refine Daoist Xuansheng and cultivate while he looked for Bai Susu. After two days in a mass grave, he broke through to the third extremity and demonstrated his newly increased power.

• Cui Jiuyang recalled the Yin Soldier and flew from the courtyard to search for a place to refine it.
• Cui Jiuyang followed a divination to a mass grave on the outskirts of the Capital and released Daoist Xuansheng to fight the corpse-eating dogs there.
• Cui Jiuyang fed Xuansheng the dogs and discovered that the Soul-Anchor Pearl could purify the Drought Ghost's yin qi into spiritual power.
• Cui Jiuyang built a straw shelter in the mass grave and cultivated for two days and two nights.
• Cui Jiuyang broke through from the peak of the second extremity to the third, stirring a vast whirlwind that stopped when he pressed his hand down.

Cui Jiuyang refined Xuansheng into the first ghost soldier of his Buzhou Battalion, then went to the Capital to track Snake Demons who might lead him to Bai Susu. He identified a Snake Demon impersonating a Land God and settled in an abandoned house nearby to watch the temple.

• Cui Jiuyang used the Buzhou Battalion method to transform Xuansheng into a masked, bronze-armored ghost soldier.
• Cui Jiuyang failed to divine Bai Susu’s location because the Queue Army’s fortune obscured the Heavenly Mechanism, so he searched for other Snake Demons in the Capital.
• Cui Jiuyang followed his divination to a small Temple of Blessings and Virtue and recognized that the supposed Land God was a Snake Demon.
• Cui Jiuyang found an abandoned house within sensing range of the temple and settled there to monitor it.

Cui Jiuyang watched the Snake Demons secretly help worshippers while waiting for the Queue Army, and resolved to protect the kindhearted short-tailed viper. When the Queue Army finally arrived at the Land God’s temple, its old Daoist leader trapped the temple beneath a bowl that released dark energy.

• Cui Jiuyang used paper figures to clean an abandoned courtyard and waited there while monitoring the Land God’s temple and divining Bai Susu’s fortune.
• A short-tailed viper demon secretly cured a stonemason by drawing foul blood mist from his injured back, then vomited it outside.
• The Snake Demons marked a traveling merchant for protection, and Cui Jiuyang considered recruiting them while deciding not to let the Queue Army kill them.
• Armed men and several cultivators from the Queue Army arrived, and Cui Jiuyang followed them toward the temple under an Invisibility Spell.
• The old Daoist tossed an earthenware bowl onto the temple roof and released dark blue-green energy that enveloped the building.

A group of demon hunters captured the Short-tailed Viper with Old Farmer Xu’s Sleeping Snake Incense, while Cui Jiuyang secretly followed them south in hopes of finding Bai Susu. At a pond, they drew out a rare Little White Dragon, and the nun prepared to confront it.

• The old Daoist trapped the sleeping Short-tailed Viper inside the temple with Dark Clouds Cover the Summit.
• Old Farmer Xu used Sleeping Snake Incense to weaken the demon, and the little beggar placed it in his sack.
• Cui Jiuyang followed the group out of the city, hoping their destination would lead him to Bai Susu.
• The group reached a pond where Old Farmer Xu scattered medicinal powder, drawing a snowy-white Little White Dragon to the surface.
• Old Farmer Xu warned that his usual snake-catching methods would not subdue the creature, and the nun stepped forward with a bronze gong.

Cui Jiuyang watched the nun capture Little White Dragon with a golden gong, then followed her group to a heavily guarded Queue Army camp hidden in a mountain hollow. After using modified mist to locate the camp’s warning restrictions, he slipped inside and headed toward a cavern near the mountain wall.

• The nun used her golden gong to shrink Little White Dragon into a tiny worm, then had Xiao Liuzi put it in his sack.
• Cui Jiuyang followed the group to the Queue Army’s concealed camp in the Western Capital mountains and suspected Bai Susu and the other captured Snake Demons were being held there.
• Cui Jiuyang released modified mist that revealed the camp’s hidden spiritual barriers and their warning functions.
• Cui Jiuyang used the mist to map the restrictions, slipped over the camp wall during a gust of wind, and moved toward a cavern near the mountain wall.

Cui Jiuyang infiltrated the Queue Army camp and discovered dozens of captured Snake Demons sealed in porcelain jars, including Bai Susu and a powerful ancient demon. The old demon spoke from the central jar and struggled to climb out, leaving Cui Jiuyang face-to-face with an unexpected captive.

• Cui Jiuyang observed the Queue Army’s battle-hardened soldiers and silently passed the sleeping cultivators’ tents to reach the cave.
• Cui Jiuyang used mist to explore the cave and found nearly a hundred jars imprisoning Snake Demons, including Bai Susu.
• Cui Jiuyang entered the cave to approach Bai Susu’s jar, but an unseen aged voice challenged him from behind.
• Cui Jiuyang discovered that the voice came from the central jar and sensed that its occupant had cultivated for at least fifteen hundred years.
• The old demon tried to climb out of the jar but became stuck at the waist, then revealed his handsome, aged face to Cui Jiuyang.

Cui Jiuyang rescued the unconscious Bai Susu from the military camp and escaped into the mountains, leaving behind a strange old snake demon. In a secluded cave, he discovered that seven needles had been placed in Bai Susu’s body to immobilize her spiritual power and movement.

• Cui Jiuyang questioned the powerful old snake demon in the cave, who repeatedly forgot their conversation and seemed to recognize Bai Susu.
• Cui Jiuyang shattered Bai Susu’s porcelain bottle, gathered her unconscious snake body, and left before the old demon could become dangerous.
• Cui Jiuyang slipped out of the military camp with Bai Susu and headed into the mountains to avoid the Queue Army’s expected search.
• Cui Jiuyang found a secluded cave, concealed its entrance with Xuansheng’s help, and laid Bai Susu on a stone platform.
• Cui Jiuyang examined Bai Susu’s meridians and found seven needles embedded beneath her scales, blocking her spiritual power and movement.

Cui Jiuyang cleansed the poison from Bai Susu and waited for her to recover, then learned that the seven needles in her body were an incomplete version of the Dragon-Trapping Pillars. He realized that Great-Grandfather's Record of All Under Heaven described the complete technique, which used 108 needles.

• Cui Jiuyang removed the snake-specific poison from Bai Susu's scales but could not safely extract the seven needles.
• Bai Susu woke, transformed into human form, and sobbed in Cui Jiuyang's arms about being captured before falling asleep again.
• Cui Jiuyang roasted pheasants for Bai Susu, and they shared a meal after she woke the next morning.
• Bai Susu explained the Beggars' Sect's Long Worm Art and identified the needles as the incomplete Dragon-Trapping Pillars technique.
• Cui Jiuyang recognized the technique from Great-Grandfather's Record of All Under Heaven, which recorded its complete form with 108 needles.

Cui Jiuyang removed the seven Dragon-Trapping Pillars needles from Bai Susu, then spotted a Queue Army squad near the mountain and decided to capture someone for questioning. He secured Bai Susu in the cave and silently pursued the squad westward.

• Cui Jiuyang used his knowledge of the complete Dragon-Trapping Pillars technique to remove the seven silver needles from Bai Susu’s back.
• Bai Susu thanked Cui Jiuyang, pretended to sleep, and later watched him cultivate while he left her alone.
• Bai Susu reported that the Queue Army was near the mountain, and Cui Jiuyang determined that its squad appeared to be traveling west rather than searching for them.
• Cui Jiuyang recognized a young Daoist whose cultivation lineage resembled Xuansheng’s and watched the squad while checking for hidden followers.
• Cui Jiuyang told Bai Susu to remain in the cave, fortified the entrance with nine Apotropaic Coins, and pursued the squad westward.

Cui Jiuyang ambushed the Queue Army group with a formation, killing most of them and capturing Chen Yun and an officer. Back at the cave, he questioned Chen Yun, who began explaining how Xuansheng became connected to the Queue Army.

• Cui Jiuyang used a Yin Soldier and a Five-Element Formation to attack the Queue Army group on the mountain path.
• The formation killed most of the group and left the officer and Chen Yun bound as the only survivors.
• Cui Jiuyang brought the captives to the cave, where Xuansheng returned to an Evil Ghost Pearl and entered Cui Jiuyang's sleeve.
• Chen Yun recognized Bai Susu and feared Cui Jiuyang had killed his master, Xuansheng.
• Cui Jiuyang questioned Chen Yun, who said his name and explained that Xuansheng's Daoist friend Xingliang had established their connection with the Queue Army.