Recaps

Bai Yousi’s force captured the mountain stronghold, but Han Shixiong and Li Ding had already left, so she pursued Han alone. Zhang Xing persuaded the remaining officials not to report the captured bandits until Bai returned, leaving their fate undecided.

• The Brocade-Clad guards and Bai Yousi’s force quickly captured the stronghold, where Li Qingchen learned that Han Shixiong and Li Ding had left for Nanyang Commandery.
• Bai Yousi vowed to capture Han Shixiong and flew off in pursuit, leaving the others to manage the stronghold.
• Qian Tang and the officials agreed to disarm and guard the able-bodied captives, feed the women and children, treat the wounded, and prevent the Jinwu Guards from looting or assaulting anyone.
• Zhang Xing argued that reporting the stronghold to local authorities could harm its desperate inhabitants and distress Bai Yousi, who had sought to avoid implicating the innocent.
• Qian Tang and Li Qingchen agreed to wait for Bai Yousi before deciding whether to report the captives, and the officials began arranging their care and guard.

Zhang Xing and the Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry were captured by Wu Changzai, but Zhang Xing pressed Li Ding to help prevent a fight between Wu Changzai and Bai Yousi. The chapter ended with Zhang Xing dragging Li Ding outside to make him confront his junior brother and take responsibility.

• Wu Changzai captured Zhang Xing and the other patrol officers, and Li Ding explained that his junior brother had misunderstood his intentions.
• Zhang Xing refused to accept Li Ding's claim of brotherhood and demanded that the wounded patrol officers be allowed to leave together.
• Wu Changzai threatened the patrol officers, while Li Ding urged him to consider the stronghold's people and avoid a clash with the authorities.
• Bai Yousi returned and confronted Li Ding, prompting Wu Changzai to leave the hall and seek a fight with her.
• Zhang Xing challenged Li Ding to control Wu Changzai while he handled Bai Yousi, then dragged Li Ding outside.

Zhang Xing and Li Ding helped persuade Bai Yousi to spare the stronghold and release the Jinwu Guard after Wu Erlang stormed off. As the party traveled toward the Eastern Capital, Bai Yousi went looking for Zhang Xing and Li Ding, only to discover they had gone missing in the mountain mist.

• Li Ding and Zhang Xing called out to Wu Erlang and urged him and Bai Yousi to stop fighting, and Wu Erlang finally fled after striking the ground near them.
• Bai Yousi questioned whether Han Shixiong should be released, but accepted Li Ding's proposal to let the Jinwu Guard leave and spare the stronghold after Qin Bao and Qian Tang supported it.
• Han Shixiong explained to Zhang Xing that he had escaped by getting everyone drunk, stealing the key, and fleeing into Mount Funiu to find an old acquaintance.
• Bai Yousi let the Jinwu Guard return to Taolin Post Station, then left with Han Shixiong and her Brocade-Clad subordinates for the Eastern Capital.
• Bai Yousi went to find Zhang Xing after hearing he was sulking, but returned to report that he and Li Ding were missing along the route.
• Zhang Xing and Li Ding got lost in the mountain mist, and Zhang Xing complained to Li Ding after they passed the same strange rock for the third time.

Zhang Xing and Li Ding camped on Mount Funiu, where Li Ding shared a dragon’s prophecy and Zhang Xing recited a poem from his dreams. They discovered a ruined temple and a book for conditioning the body, then settled in for the night, unaware of what the find might mean.

• Zhang Xing and Li Ding climbed to Mount Funiu’s summit to avoid the strange wind and wait for Bai Yousi.
• Li Ding told Zhang Xing about Lord Cloud-Calling, who had once predicted that Li Ding would decline upon meeting a dragon, be ruined upon meeting a pig, grow rich upon meeting a guest, prosper upon meeting a mountain, and stop upon meeting a tide.
• Zhang Xing shared a dream about Han Qinbao and recited a poem about the moon, leaving Li Ding stunned by its unfamiliar verses.
• Li Ding spotted a ruined temple behind Zhang Xing, and Zhang Xing found a thread-bound copy of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic beneath a cushion marked with a yin-yang symbol.
• Zhang Xing told Li Ding to keep and study the book, then realized they were on Mount Laojun and reassured him that the summit was safe.

After returning to the Eastern Capital, Zhang Xing used his reward money to buy Inspector Chai a painting and asked about Gao Changye’s family. He learned they had likely fled to Hebei, then returned home after hearing that executions had begun and told Yue Niang that her father was dead.

• Zhang Xing and Li Ding returned to the Eastern Capital, where Li Ding went to report to the Ministry of War and attend to his condemned cousin’s affairs.
• Zhang Xing and Qin Bao collected fifty taels each from the Bai family for helping capture Han Shixiong.
• When the price of a dragon painting had risen to 140 taels, Zhang Xing bought a painting called Seven Steeds for 100 taels instead.
• Zhang Xing presented Seven Steeds to Inspector Chai, explained how he had earned the money, and asked about Gao Changye’s wife and children.
• Inspector Chai said Gao Changye’s family had probably fled to Hebei and offered to look into their whereabouts.
• After learning that executions of the Gao clan remnants had begun, Zhang Xing went home and told Yue Niang that her father was dead.

As the Eastern Capital’s executions reached their peak, Zhang Xing learned that he had been promoted to White Ribbon and went to collect his new rank. After completing the paperwork at the Black Tower, he visited Bai Yousi’s courtyard, where she angrily demanded that he stop commenting on the grass growing on her roof.

• Great Wei executed hundreds of people connected to Yang Shen’s rebellion, and Yang Shen was shot to death with headless arrows before his corpse was circulated among government offices.
• Zhang Xing learned that Bai Yousi had secured his promotion to White Ribbon for his service in searching for Heluo Huaibao and pursuing Han Shixiong.
• Zhang Xing signed his promotion documents at the Black Tower and gave paper packets to the officials and clerks on duty.
• Zhang Xing went to Bai Yousi’s courtyard to collect his White Ribbon and remarked that grass was growing on her roof.
• Bai Yousi angrily told Zhang Xing to come inside and collect his ribbon instead of shouting about her roof.

Zhang Xing received his White Sash and asked Bai Yousi how to advance through the Jing'an Directorate’s ranks. After learning the cultivation requirements, he requested a desk assignment in Bai Yousi’s courtyard, claiming he wanted to avoid friction with Qian Tang and spare her trouble.

• Bai Yousi handed Zhang Xing a White Sash, and he immediately asked what it would take to become a Black Sash.
• Bai Yousi explained the different Black Sash roles and the cultivation required for promotion to Black Sash and Vermilion Sash.
• Zhang Xing said he would rather seek clerical work than risk his life on patrol while opening his meridians.
• Bai Yousi guessed that Zhang Xing was giving way to Qian Tang to prevent conflict, and he agreed with her explanation.
• Zhang Xing asked to handle internal affairs in Bai Yousi’s courtyard, and she was moved by his apparent consideration.

Zhang Xing used his clerical work to study Black Tower records and proposed ranking criminals and martial artists to Bai Yousi. Bai Yousi approved his ideas, while Intendant Cao decided to wait until Zhang Xing became a Black Sash before recruiting him for the Tower.

• Zhang Xing settled into clerical work, requested hundreds of records and books, and submitted corrections and a summary of historical materials to the Black Tower.
• Intendant Cao learned that the Black Sashes wanted to recruit Zhang Xing, but refused to poach him from Bai Yousi and said they could ask again if he became a Black Sash.
• Zhang Xing showed Bai Yousi a revised wanted notice that rated a criminal’s abilities and encouraged fugitives to compete for notoriety.
• Zhang Xing proposed Black Rankings for wanted criminals and White Rankings for martial artists, including regional lists and an Outstanding Talent Ranking.
• Bai Yousi approved the ranking proposals, and Zhang Xing placed himself at number 299 on the Human Ranking, with Qin Bao at number 300.

Zhang Xing and Qin Bao discussed the rankings and the court’s motives before discovering a decree to rebuild a powerful army in the Eastern Capital. The new recruitment drive promised to draw heroes and political conflict to the city, though Zhang Xing hoped to remain uninvolved.

• Zhang Xing explained to Qin Bao why the court supported the Black, White, and Outstanding Talent Rankings, then drafted recommendations for the Heroine Ranking.
• Zhang Xing sent his notes and documents to Black Sash Chen and walked home with Qin Bao, who observed that Zhang Xing seemed to care little about immediate fame or fortune.
• Zhang Xing and Qin Bao found a recruitment notice ordering the creation of a 180,000-strong elite army, including 120,000 soldiers under direct central command in the Eastern Capital.
• Zhang Xing and Qin Bao realized that recruiting 40,000 imperial guards from across the realm would attract ambitious fighters and intensify political tensions.
• Zhang Xing reached home pleased that the coming conflicts would involve field operatives rather than an office-bound clerk like him.

As the newly published rankings stirred up the Eastern Capital, Zhang Xing talked Hong Changya out of challenging him and explained how reputation shaped the lists. The next day, after hearing Hong had been beaten and jailed for challenging Commandant Zhao, Zhang Xing watched martial artists fly toward the Black Tower.

• Zhang Xing warned Yue Niang and Qin Bao to avoid the unrest caused by the rankings, then explained the ranked experts and their reputations.
• Hong Changya entered Zhang Xing’s courtyard and challenged Qin Bao, but Zhang Xing explained that defeating him would not earn Hong a place on the rankings.
• Hong Changya accepted Zhang Xing’s advice and left to challenge a ranked expert publicly on Heaven Street.
• Zhang Xing meditated on opening his eighth Orthodox Meridian, then heard that Commandant Zhao had defeated Hong Changya and sent him to the Black Tower.
• Several martial artists flew toward the Black Tower, shocking Zhang Xing and the patrol cavalry gathered at the Jing'an Directorate.

Attackers stormed Cao Lin’s Black Tower, and Zhang Xing joined the northern formation to help bring them down. After Cao Lin returned and defeated Zhou Wuji, Zhang Xing was carried out of the formation with severe formation sickness.

• Cultivators and martial fighters attacked the Black Tower, prompting Zhang Xing to lead the Patrol Cavalry and clerks toward the tower’s defensive formation.
• Zhang Xing joined the northern formation and discovered that his True Qi strengthened the collective force as the cultivators struck together.
• The formation’s Black Sash commander used a combined sword stroke to smash the Condensing the Core expert Chi Ming to the ground.
• Zhang Xing was overwhelmed by the returning surge of True Qi, vomited, and was carried out of the formation by familiar faces.
• Cao Lin returned and captured several fleeing attackers with Radiant Light True Qi, while Zhou Wuji escaped with both legs severed before falling into the Jing'an Directorate’s pool and dying.

After the Seven Saints’ attack left the Jing'an Directorate damaged and its pool full of human remains, Zhang Xing handled the resulting mess while working through his illness. He secured Hong Changya’s release and escorted him out of the Eastern Capital, where Hong left in tears.

• The Jing'an Directorate dealt with the aftermath of the Seven Saints’ attack, while Zhang Xing was reassigned to help manage its affairs.
• A White Ribbon told Zhang Xing that dredging the pool had uncovered thirty-five sets of human remains, and Zhang ordered him to pass them off as livestock bones and remove them discreetly.
• Li Qingchen complained that the kitchens would not accept the fish and frogs caught from the pool, so Zhang suggested giving them away to nearby wards as a festival gift.
• The Black Sash surnamed Chen approved Hong Changya’s release after Zhang signed the necessary documents and arranged to settle the remaining matters through the Ministry of Justice.
• Zhang Xing and Qin Bao escorted Hong Changya beyond the Southern City's wall, gave him silver, and urged him to return home and forget the Eastern Capital.
• Hong Changya thanked Zhang Xing, then broke down sobbing as he set off beneath the moonlight.

On Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhang Xing spent time with Li Ding, who lamented his stalled career and discussed his ambitions and the Great Wei Dynasty’s prospects. After Li Ding left, a servant from the Bai Clan’s Marquis of Ji'an’s residence invited Zhang Xing to a banquet, but Zhang Xing refused to become a retainer and shut the door.

• Zhang Xing received his festival benefits, shared some with Little Gu and the others, then bought books, food, and supplies before returning home.
• Zhang Xing found Li Ding waiting and learned that his family had excluded Shiniang from their banquet while his attempt to transfer into the new army as a Soaring Eagle Commander had failed.
• Li Ding explained what he had learned from the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic and asked Zhang Xing how he stayed content with his current position.
• Zhang Xing said he was willing to pursue a career in the Southern Office or become a Vermilion Sash if peace continued, and Li Ding told him the Ministry of War was still recruiting while new palace construction would require widened roads.
• A servant from the Bai Clan’s Marquis of Ji'an’s residence invited Zhang Xing to a banquet, but Zhang Xing refused the household’s invitation and returned to meditating in the courtyard.

As Zhang Xing settled into clerical work, the court ordered a Bright Hall built and began bringing laborers to the Eastern Capital. After freeing Niu Da from the Black Tower, Zhang Xing promised to kill the gang boss who had betrayed him, then saw the first frightened laborers arriving to demolish Qianyuan Hall.

• The court overruled objections and ordered Minister Bai Hengqiu to oversee construction of a Bright Hall, with a deadline before the Longevity Festival.
• Niu Da refused Zhang Xing's money and explained that gang boss Liu had betrayed him, so Zhang Xing promised to deal with Liu himself.
• Zhang Xing enlisted Qin Bao to kill Liu, and they carried Liu's head toward the island to complete the paperwork.
• Zhang Xing and Qin Bao saw the first laborers arriving by boat to prepare for the demolition of Qianyuan Hall, and Zhang Xing felt pity for them.

Zhang Xing learned that laborers were fleeing the harsh construction work around the Luo River, while officials focused on meeting quotas rather than protecting them. Bai Yousi then brought Zhang Xing and Qian Tang to meet her father, a Southern Office official with influence over appointments.

• Qin Bao told Zhang Xing and Li Qingchen that the Jinwu Guard, Upper Five Armies, and Street-Cleaning Tigers had been ordered to round up fugitive laborers.
• Hu Yan explained that local officials cared about supplying enough corvée laborers to satisfy their superiors, not whether the laborers survived or returned home.
• Zhang Xing wondered how Great Wei could endure the losses from repeated mass corvée projects, and Li Qingchen attributed it to the empire’s enormous population.
• Bai Yousi asked whether Zhang Xing had refused an invitation from her household, then explained that her father wanted to meet Zhang Xing and Qian Tang that night.
• Zhang Xing and Qian Tang rode with Bai Yousi to the Marquis of Ji'an's Estate, where Zhang Xing jokingly listed Bai Yousi’s supposed bad habits when she asked them to tell her father the truth.

Bai Hengqiu welcomed Qian Tang and Zhang Xing at the Marquis of Ji'an's residence, praised Qian Tang for supporting Bai Yousi, and offered Zhang Xing a promising career away from the capital. Zhang Xing accepted the offer in principle but asked to speak frankly about matters troubling him, leaving Bai Hengqiu staring at him in anger.

• Bai Yousi led Zhang Xing and Qian Tang through the Marquis of Ji'an's residence to its extravagant ancestral shrine.
• Bai Hengqiu warmly thanked Qian Tang for helping Bai Yousi and asked him to continue supporting her.
• Bai Hengqiu praised Zhang Xing's talent and offered to arrange a Black Sash posting in Bashu or Jiangdong, followed by a provincial assistant prefect's position.
• Zhang Xing considered the offer tempting, then asked Bai Hengqiu for permission to voice his grievances about the Bright Hall construction and his time in the Jing'an Directorate.
• Bai Hengqiu stared at Zhang Xing as the chapter ended.

Zhang Xing bluntly criticized Bai Hengqiu over the Ministry of Works’ failures and the treatment of laborers, then challenged his judgment as both a chief councilor and a father. After fleeing the Marquis of Ji'an's Estate, Zhang Xing returned to Chengfu Ward and saw laborers working through the night on Bright Hall supplies.

• Zhang Xing listed the Ministry of Works’ extravagance, lax controls, and disregard for laborers, and urged Bai Hengqiu to think carefully before acting.
• Bai Hengqiu questioned whether Zhang Xing’s sincere criticism was useful and whether he would follow it if he held power; Zhang Xing said he would.
• Bai Hengqiu warned that he could not support Zhang Xing and might tell Bai Yousi to keep her distance, but Zhang Xing argued that Bai Yousi had already made her own choices.
• Bai Yousi angrily ordered Zhang Xing to leave, and he rushed out of the ancestral hall.
• Zhang Xing ate camel stew and mandarins at the Marquis of Ji'an's Estate, then fled without saying goodbye or collecting his government horse.
• On his way home, Zhang Xing saw laborers working at night in Chengfu Ward to prepare supplies for Bright Hall construction.

Zhang Xing coordinated reports on corruption uncovered by the Patrol Groups and learned that the work crews and city officials were exploiting the construction project. After nightfall, he killed Banner Officer Wang for an earlier injustice, only for a mysterious white figure to arrive and find his verse signed Li Taibai.

• Zhang Xing pressed Han Jiulang for an honest account of the copper shortages and learned that most of the missing value had gone to local officials and overseers.
• Zhang Xing heard how the Third Group arrested a Ministry of Works clerk and broke up a gang extorting laborers, returning the stolen money.
• After talking with Yue Niang about Qin Bao and his family, Zhang Xing changed into black clothes and left home armed.
• Zhang Xing slipped into Banner Officer Wang's bedroom, killed him, took some silver, and left a verse signed Li Taibai on the wall.
• A white figure entered Banner Officer Wang's bedroom, saw the corpse and verse, and then vanished into the night.

Zhang Xing learned that a new pair of killings had stirred the Jing'an Directorate, then joined Bai Yousi and the Second Patrol Team as they were sent to search for thousands of escaped corvée laborers. With the fugitives hiding in dense reeds along the Yi River, Zhang Xing used the Compass and recited its activation phrase.

• Zhang Xing heard that two officials had been killed and realized one victim was the Ministry of Works Vice Director he had planned to investigate over the Copper Materials Case.
• Investigators disagreed over whether one expert or a gang had committed the killings, while Zhang Xing worried he might have acted in his sleep.
• Deputy Regular Inspector Shen told Zhang Xing that thousands of corvée laborers had fled after rumors spread that their service would be extended to build the Heaven-Piercing Tower and a golden pillar.
• Zhang Xing joined Bai Yousi and the Jing'an Directorate's patrols as they rode east to search for the fugitives, who were likely to escape across the rivers.
• At a dense reed marsh on the Yi River, Zhang Xing told his men to spread out and quietly used the Compass, reciting its activation phrase.

Zhang Xing secretly used his ice true qi to make a makeshift bridge across the Yi River, allowing the hidden corvée laborers to escape. Bai Yousi found him afterward and revealed that she had completed Core Formation and was trying to visualize him in her Inner Core before carrying him across the river.

• Zhang Xing used the Compass to find people hiding in the reeds and built a precarious bridge of frozen reeds and river water across the Yi River.
• After exhausting his True Qi, Zhang Xing crossed the river and hid on the opposite bank, where one of the people in the reeds followed his example and crossed after dark.
• Bai Yousi found Zhang Xing and challenged him about risking himself to help the laborers; he said he had expected her to come and trusted her.
• Bai Yousi told Zhang Xing she had completed Core Formation and was visualizing him for her Inner Core, but found it difficult.
• Bai Yousi laughed at Zhang Xing's modest explanation and carried him over the Yi River.

Zhang Xing reflected on the sovereign’s motives and his own uncertain course before Vermilion Sash Luo accused him of helping corvée laborers escape across the Yi River. Zhang Xing demonstrated that he could freeze water but not make a river-crossing bridge, and Bai Yousi intervened as another inspector executed the accuser; Zhang Xing was left grieving the laborer’s death.

• Zhang Xing discussed government service with Young Gu, then considered the sovereign’s achievements and questioned what he was pursuing.
• Young Gu woke Zhang Xing to warn him that Vermilion Sash Luo had arrived with men who wanted to see him.
• Luo Fang presented a captured laborer who accused Zhang Xing of using an ice bridge to help fugitives cross the Yi River.
• Zhang Xing froze a vat of water to demonstrate his technique and argued that he could not have created the alleged bridge.
• Bai Yousi arrived and threatened to cut down anyone who humiliated his subordinate, while two inspectors restrained Luo Fang and one killed the laborer.
• Zhang Xing watched the laborer’s head roll and mourned that the man would not return to his family.

After Zhang Xing exposed the First Patrol Team’s copper embezzlement, Intendant Cao questioned Luo Fang about the conflict with Bai Yousi’s team and arranged difficult assignments for both patrol teams. Luo Fang accepted the orders, though he worried his men would see the punishment as unfair.

• Zhang Xing filed and posted a report accusing the First Patrol Team of embezzling public funds in the Southern City’s Copper Materials Case, and the Black Tower recognized the allegations as true.
• Intendant Cao asked Luo Fang why he had targeted Zhang Sanlang and Bai Yousi’s Patrol Group.
• Luo Fang admitted that resentment over Bai Yousi’s status and anger at Lord Bai’s clashes with Cao Lin had influenced him.
• Luo Fang explained that he had suspected Zhang Sanlang after seeing a block of ice on the river and hearing a laborer’s accusation, but Cao Lin pointed out that the evidence had been weak.
• Cao Lin ordered Luo Fang to travel to Chengdu to pursue the Reckless Vajra and investigate Qinghe, while assigning the Second Patrol Team to collect overdue autumn grain from Jiangdong.

Zhang Xing and Bai Yousi led the Patrol Group south to Jiangdong, discussing the emperor’s cultivation and the supernatural Han River as they traveled. Aboard an official ship, Zhang Xing ended their conversation with a playful poem about the river dragon.

• The Black Tower ordered the entire Patrol Group to leave together for Jiangdong, and Zhang Xing felt relieved to be away from the Eastern Capital’s oppressive politics.
• Qin Bao arranged money, food, and protection for Yue Niang before the group departed, and they brought the Bump-spotted Horse along.
• The group traveled south through Nanyang and reached Xiangyang, where Bai Wulou hosted them and provided a three-deck official ship.
• Bai Yousi told Zhang Xing that the emperor might have reached the Grandmaster realm and explained that Grandmasters built towers or other great enterprises.
• Bai Yousi recounted how the Lord White Emperor slew Lord Huaiyang and transformed the Han River into a broad, dependable waterway.
• At Bai Yousi’s request, Zhang Xing recited a poem about their ship and the dragon beneath the Han River, making her laugh.

Zhang Xing and the Patrol Group traveled down the Yangtze, where they reached Tianmen Mountain and Zhang Xing gave Bai Yousi a poem to carve into the cliff. After Bai Yousi repelled a stranger’s challenge, Zhang Xing broke through his eighth Orthodox Meridian, and the ship arrived at Yangzi Ford.

• The Patrol Group endured seasickness, bad weather, and a passenger falling overboard before reaching the calmer waters of Danyang Commandery.
• The group admired Tianmen Mountain, and Zhang Xing recognized the scene from a poem by Li Taibai.
• Zhang Xing wrote a poem and asked Bai Yousi to carve it into the cliff with her Heaven-Reliant Longsword; she inscribed the poem and their names in the rock.
• A man on a passing ship challenged Bai Yousi, who sent a sword stroke after him and drenched him with a wave before the government ship sped onward.
• The next day, Zhang Xing broke through his eighth Orthodox Meridian on deck, and two days later the ship docked at Yangzi Ford.

Bai Yousi's Patrol Cavalry arrived in Jiangdu and were shuttled from Yangzi Ford to the imperial lodge before Duke Lai Zhan'er hosted them at a banquet. An assassination attempt at the banquet killed Liu Jing, and Lai Zhan'er ordered Bai Yousi to take action.

• Bai Yousi and the Patrol Cavalry reached Yangzi Ford, where frightened officials and travelers fled and local authorities hurried them onward to Jiangdu.
• Zhou Xingfan brought the Patrol Cavalry to the imperial lodge, and Duke Lai invited Bai Yousi and local dignitaries to a banquet.
• Zhang Xing noticed that nearly all the powerful figures in Jiangdu were southerners serving the northern court, and he discussed their uncertain position with Qin Bao.
• A dancer attacked Zhou Xiaoming with a qi-powered sleeve as servants revealed daggers and assaulted the banquet guests.
• Bai Yousi fought off the attackers and killed several, but Liu Jing was found stabbed through the heart.
• Zhou Xiaoming dismissed suspicion of Lai Zhan'er, who returned to find the aftermath and angrily told Bai Yousi that she would no longer have an idle assignment.