Chapter Summaries

Chen Yi and Min Ning investigated the blood-stained ancestral hall in Huai River Village, where the terrified villagers expected Shangqing Dao to deal with a demon. Yin Weiying tried to provoke Chen Yi, but he left her flustered with a teasing proposal as the group prepared to enter the hall.

• Chen Yi showed the village chief his imperial token and demanded access to the ancestral hall, but the chief begged him to leave and warned that no one could handle what was inside.
• A villager arrived with Xuanzhen and the Shangqing Dao group, prompting the villagers to welcome them and leave Chen Yi and Min Ning aside.
• Yin Weiying recognized Chen Yi and suggested he was capable of slaying demons, while Xuanzhen urged the two officers to go back.
• The village chief opened the ancestral hall and led the Daoists and officers inside.
• Yin Weiying told Chen Yi that her divination showed he lacked the Heavenly Eye, and Chen Yi teased her by asking her to be his dao companion, leaving her blushing as other Daoists overheard.

Chen Yi and Yin Weiying arrived with Shangqing Dao priests at Huai River Village’s ancestral hall, where they discovered children being prepared as sacrifices to a ghost deity. As the priests investigated the dangerous spirit, the statue seemed to move and stare at the village chief.

• Chen Yi claimed Yin Weiying had fallen for him at first sight, embarrassing her and convincing the Shangqing Dao priests that they were lovers.
• Chen Yi teased Yin Weiying about becoming her Golden Lad and Jade Maiden, and she said she would treat it as a dog bite.
• Chen Yi and the others entered the ancestral hall and found a boy and girl tied before a ghost-general statue, with fresh beef on the altar.
• Daoist Xuan Zhen freed the children, distributed protective talismans, and urged Chen Yi and Min Ning to leave.
• The village chief said nobody knew the ghost deity’s name and admitted the villagers could not drive it away.
• The statue appeared to turn its head and stare at the village chief.

After the Deng Ghost General trapped the group in the ancestral hall, Chen Yi revealed that it feared him and made Yin Weiying beg for his help. He identified the ghost as Deng Ai and prepared to summon Jiang Wei with a door-god talisman.

• The old village chief strangled himself, and Daoist Xuanzhen recognized the arrival of the Ghost General’s ghost domain.
• The Shangqing Dao priests fought Chi and Mei while Wangliang possessed a young priest and struck Daoist Xuanzhen, leaving him gravely wounded.
• Deng Ghost General appeared outside the ancestral hall and overwhelmed Yin Weiying’s paper maids and the priests’ weapons without crossing the threshold.
• Yin Weiying asked Chen Yi for help, and he demanded that she beg before showing her a Red-Gold Sarira.
• Yin Weiying reluctantly begged Chen Yi, who revealed that the Ghost General was Deng Ai and that its presence came from a statue housing one of its manifestations.
• Chen Yi took out a door-god talisman depicting Jiang Wei and said he would invite him.

Chen Yi fought and killed the Ghost General Deng Ai in the ancestral hall, using the Red-Gold Sarira and Jiang Wei’s portrait to repel its baleful energy. Min Ning kissed Chen Yi after recognizing the finishing slash as one she had taught him, leaving Yin Weiying and the Shangqing Daoists stunned.

• Chen Yi used the Red-Gold Sarira and Jiang Wei’s portrait to withstand the Ghost General Deng Ai’s baleful energy and attacks.
• Chen Yi struck the Ghost General’s armor with his Cangshan Fist and fought on despite being pierced in the arm and struck in the shoulder.
• Chen Yi used the Wind- and Rain-Scattering Saber to sever the Ghost General’s arm and spear, killing it.
• Min Ning recognized Chen Yi’s finishing slash as the one she had taught him and kissed him.
• Yin Weiying faltered as the Shangqing Daoists watched Min Ning kiss Chen Yi.

Chen Yi killed Ghost General Deng Ai, secured the Shangqing Heart Method from the Shangqing Dao, and realized he could practice cultivation methods without infusing True Qi or True Essence. Yin Weiying stayed behind to help summon a soul and asked Chen Yi to spare her parents if he ever fought her father, but he instead told her he had his eye on her.

• The villagers destroyed Ghost General Deng Ai’s remains after Chen Yi killed him, while the Shangqing Daoists watched in shock.
• Chen Yi asked the Shangqing Dao to help him summon a soul and let him study the Shangqing Heart Method, and Daoist Xuan Zhen agreed to both requests.
• After hearing the method explained, Chen Yi noticed Min Ning circulating qi and realized he could practice cultivation methods directly without infusing True Essence.
• Yin Weiying stayed behind to lead the soul-summoning formation and told Chen Yi that her father wanted to kill him, asking him to spare her parents if they ever faced each other.
• Chen Yi learned that Yin Weiying’s courtesy name was Luanhuang and told her, “I’ve got my eye on you,” leaving her unnerved.

Yin Weiying performed a soul-summoning ritual at a grave, while Chen Yi teased her about Min Ning and their past. After returning to Capital City, Chen Yi and Min Ning received a threat from Jade Elegance Estate over the Chancellor Case, and Chen Yi decided to shut the estate down.

• Yin Weiying and the Daoists summoned the scattered souls at the grave, with the ritual expected to take three days during Demon-Quelling Day.
• Chen Yi teased Yin Weiying about wanting Min Ning and about their former feelings, provoking her anger and earning three years of True Qi.
• Chen Yi and Min Ning returned to the Min Household, where a little beggar delivered a letter threatening Min Ning to stop investigating Chancellor Zhang's case.
• Min Ning explained that Jade Elegance Estate had once belonged to Chancellor Zhang and was now backed by Prince Jing, Feng Luo, and the Nameless Old Matron.
• Chen Yi told Min Ning he planned to take men and shut down Jade Elegance Estate, and Min Ning called him shameless and lewd.

Chen Yi cultivated Daoist qi despite the strange poison in his body and resolved to meet Zhou Yitang, while Jade Elegance Estate prepared a shipment of illicit pills and powders. The chapter left a Thousand Household confronting the estate guards as he moved to investigate.

• Chen Yi put a hairpin in the dressing cabinet, then cultivated with the Shangqing Heart Method and sensed qi despite the pain of his poison.
• Chen Yi considered the coming Prayer Daoist Grounds dangers and decided he needed to meet Zhou Yitang soon.
• At Jade Elegance Estate, Feng Ying dismissed Min Ning’s investigation of the Chancellor Case and praised his son Feng Luo’s martial skill.
• Feng Ying learned that a large shipment of immortal pills and powders had been unloaded and was being brought to the estate.
• An Embroidered Uniform Guard Thousand Household arrived at Jade Elegance Estate and challenged its guards after they barred his way.

Chen Yi and Min Ning led the Embroidered Uniform Guards in a raid on Jade Elegance Estate to seize its contraband. They defeated Estate Master Feng Ying and Feng Luo, leaving the estate’s defenders subdued as the battle neared its end.

• Chen Yi surrounded Jade Elegance Estate with Eastern Depot Agents and Western Depot chief constables, then ordered the guards to let them investigate.
• When the head guard tried to block Chen Yi, Min Ning severed both his hands, and fighting broke out at the estate gates.
• Estate Master Feng Ying ordered his men to stop unloading the goods and gathered the estate’s forces to resist the raid.
• Chen Yi and Min Ning fought Feng Ying and Feng Luo at the Martial Practice Field, with Chen Yi quickly defeating Feng Ying.
• Min Ning disarmed Feng Luo and knocked him down, and the battle at Jade Elegance Estate began to wind down.

Chen Yi captured Feng Ying and Feng Luo at Jade Elegance Estate, killed Feng Ying, and crippled Feng Luo to prevent revenge. Prince Jing learned of the investigation and ordered Huang Liuqing to prepare a trap to kill Chen Yi.

• Min Ning reported that the estate stewards had confessed, and Feng Ying cursed them before Zeng Chief Constable silenced him.
• Chen Yi told Feng Luo he would spare him for the Nameless Old Matron’s sake, then killed Feng Ying and severed Feng Luo’s wrist and ankle tendons.
• Chen Yi ordered Zeng Chief Constable to imprison Feng Luo and further restrict his ability to seek revenge, while the gathered officials agreed to support Chen Yi’s account of the incident.
• A servant told Prince Jing that Chen Yi had investigated Jade Elegance Estate, and Prince Jing blamed the Eastern Depot guards for failing to stop him.
• Prince Jing remembered that most of the guards had died in an earlier attempt on Chen Yi, then ordered the servant to have Huang Liuqing set up a killing trap.

Empress An and the Nameless Old Matron discussed Chen Yi’s rise and decided to draw him closer to the imperial family by sending him into danger and arranging a palace reward. After Director Wu assigned Chen Yi to investigate Demon-Quelling Day, Chen Yi recalled the demons threatening the capital and the fox ancestor tied to the Chancellor Case.

• Empress An agreed to spare Feng Luo as long as he lived and discussed testing Chen Yi’s strength with the Nameless Old Matron.
• Empress An suspected Chen Yi might be acting for Grand Secretary Lin and ordered him to investigate the Chancellor Case and the Grand Empress Dowager’s death.
• Empress An arranged for Consort Dong to be used as a reward and a means of binding Chen Yi to the imperial family.
• Director Wu told Chen Yi that officials from the Ding'an and Lin factions had impeached him over Jade Elegance Estate, then assigned him to investigate Demon-Quelling Day.
• Chen Yi recalled the three great demons threatening the capital and the fox demon Tushan Ancestor, whose involvement linked the Prayer Daoist Grounds to the Chancellor Case.