Recaps

Qu Zan learned about the monastery’s ranks and the strict scripture teacher Nepa Lama, then attended Nepa’s class and impressed him with his explanation of Collected Topics. After class, Qu Zan met Doje in the dining hall and asked whether he had encountered the old menial worker again.

• Rusu and another Scholar Monk told Qu Zan that Nepa Lama was a formidable teacher who could punish students and was qualified to enter the Ancestral Temple.
• A Scholar Monk explained Mìdì’s temple hierarchy and the Scholar Monk advancement ranks, while Qu Zan learned that Nepa could deduct students’ allowances for poor conduct.
• Nepa Lama entered the scripture hall surrounded by a chilling darkness, and Qu Zan suspected he carried a Vengeful Ghost.
• Nepa asked the students to explain Collected Topics, and Qu Zan gave a clear answer that earned Nepa’s praise.
• Qu Zan attended the afternoon lessons, noticed wealthy Scholar Monks taking notes on expensive paper, and later met the exhausted Doje in the dining hall.
• Qu Zan asked Doje whether he had seen the old menial worker again.

Qu Zan sought Huode's help to study more scriptures and discovered that reading them could improve his consciousness and grant him techniques. The chapter ended with him gaining Pain Reduction lv1 from "Eight Sufferings, Five Chapters."

• Qu Zan and Doje wondered whether the gap-toothed old servant had been a hidden monastery figure, and Doje volunteered to search for him.
• Qu Zan thanked Huode for his guidance and secured permission to attend the next Dharma Assembly.
• Huode guaranteed Qu Zan access to three scriptures, which Qu Zan read at the repository.
• Qu Zan's consciousness rose by 0.3 as he studied, and he visited Meiduo during a day off.
• Qu Zan finished reading "Eight Sufferings, Five Chapters" and gained insight into Pain Reduction lv1.

Qu Zan worried about finding warmer housing for Meiduo and Duimu, then began the monthly assessment, hoping his studies would help him earn a good ranking. He excelled at recitation but drew his classmates’ attention, and the written test began under Lama Nyepa’s watchful eye.

• Qu Zan considered using his savings and any competition winnings to find a warmer home for Meiduo and Duimu.
• Doje told Qu Zan that the mysterious gap-toothed old servant was named Yeluo and tended horses in the monastery stables; they planned to visit him the following evening.
• Lama Nyepa explained that the monthly assessment covered recitation, a written test, and scripture debate, with scores affecting the Scholar Monks’ prospects.
• Qu Zan flawlessly recited the verses on effects and earned twenty points, prompting Nyepa to praise him in front of the class.
• The written test began, and Nyepa threatened Qima after catching him trying to peek at another student’s answers.

Qu Zan took part in a scripture debate assessment and defeated Chima by exposing a contradiction in his argument. Lama Nyepa declared Chima the loser, leaving Qu Zan’s ring and Chima’s twenty taels of secret silver at stake.

• Namkha handed in his exam first, and Nyepa awarded him eighteen points while giving Gyatso a perfect score for his answers and calligraphy.
• Nyepa began the scripture debate assessment and paired Chima with Gyatso after Chima volunteered to face him instead of Namkha.
• Chima offered twenty taels of secret silver as the debate reward, and Gyatso put up a valuable saddle-shaped ring.
• Chima argued that everything white was an impermanent visible color, but Gyatso disproved the claim by pointing out that Chima had called the definition of white white and then denied that its whiteness was real.
• Nyepa declared Chima the loser and explained that the debate required distinguishing concrete objects from attributes and abstract concepts.

Qu Zan won the reading assessment, received a tea brick from Nyepa, and enjoyed brewing it in his room. He later went with Doje to meet Yeluo, the old stable worker, and sought a private conversation with him about tending horses.

• Qu Zan accepted Chima’s twenty taels of secret silver after winning their scripture debate, and Nyepa awarded him fifty-nine points for his first assessment.
• Qu Zan placed first in the reading assessment with ninety-nine points, received a tea brick and salt from Nyepa, and saw the Scholar Monks’ attitudes toward him improve.
• Qu Zan brewed the tea brick and found comfort in its warm, sweet taste.
• Qu Zan’s Consciousness increased from 2.6 to 2.7 after the day’s studying and assessment.
• Qu Zan and Doje went to the monastery stable to meet Yeluo, and Qu Zan offered butter to the servant monk before asking to speak with Yeluo alone about tending horses.

Qu Zan concluded that Yeluo might become a different person when drunk and could predict the future, so he planned to investigate by getting him alcohol. After arranging to learn Doje’s Yoga Method, Qu Zan continued studying and looked forward to their training session on the seventh day.

• Qu Zan questioned Yeluo, who remained confused and barely spoke, then learned from the Attendant Monk that Yeluo had tended the temple’s horses for over twenty years.
• Qu Zan told Doje he believed Yeluo was the same person they had met before, and theorized that alcohol caused his shaking hands and changed his behavior.
• Qu Zan and Doje suspected Yeluo stole liquor from the Lay Disciples' Courtyard and decided to find a way to get him drunk, though they rejected stealing alcohol themselves.
• Doje offered to teach Qu Zan the Yoga Method on their day off, and Qu Zan agreed to learn the Warrior Monk practices.
• Qu Zan kept studying over the following days as his mental consciousness and [Extensive Learning] progressed, and he anticipated that Yoga Method training would improve his physique.

Rusu took Qu Zan to Jieyou Alley, a marketplace near Corpse Camel Temple, and then brought him to the Consort Lodge, a place for practitioners of esoteric sexual rites. Rusu went upstairs to meet a consort, while a woman offered to find one for Qu Zan.

• Qu Zan listed his four goals and worried that most of them would require more money than he had.
• Rusu invited Qu Zan to Jieyou Alley, and Qu Zan collected his free dinner before setting out with him.
• Rusu paid a warrior monk to let them pass through a guarded gate and explained that the nearby estates belonged to living buddhas, officials, and nobles.
• Qu Zan inspected the alley’s shops for items bearing fortune essence, while Rusu warned him that the goods were fake and overpriced.
• Rusu led Qu Zan into the Consort Lodge and explained its practice of sexual union.
• A woman offered to find Qu Zan a consort after Rusu headed upstairs.

Qu Zan refused an offer of dual-body cultivation, then searched Jieyou Alley for alcohol and antiques. He met Namkha and Tuya, enjoyed the snacks Tuya bought, and followed them to an antique shop Namkha said was relatively trustworthy.

• Qu Zan rejected dual-body cultivation because he feared it violated monastery precepts, then bought two boiled potatoes and searched Jieyou Alley for alcohol.
• Qu Zan met Namkha, Madam Yangjin, and Tuya, and recognized Madam Yangjin as the woman who had sought a son from the monastery's elder.
• Madam Yangjin went to buy a tapestry while Namkha took Qu Zan and Tuya to browse antique shops.
• Tuya bought Qu Zan a succession of snacks and asked about his scripture debate victory over Chima.
• Namkha led Qu Zan to an antique shop and explained that about half its goods were probably fake.

Qu Zan and his companions visited an antique shop, where the shopkeeper warned them about Shaktism followers after a dreadlocked practitioner tried to sell medicinal oil. Qu Zan found two antiques containing secret essence and bargained to buy them, learning they had recently come from the Vast Sea.

• Qu Zan, Tuya, and Namkha entered the antique shop and encountered a Shaktism follower selling Tila medicinal oil.
• The shopkeeper explained Shaktism’s beliefs and Sacred Wheel gatherings, then warned the companions to keep their distance from its followers.
• Tuya mistook a ceramic melon for food, while Qu Zan searched the antiques for secret essence.
• Qu Zan found Fortune Essence in a vajra bell and another antique, then haggled with the shopkeeper.
• Qu Zan bought a vajra and vajra bell for sixteen taels, and the shopkeeper said both had come from the Vast Sea.

Qu Zan absorbed fortune essence from two antiques and strengthened his body, consciousness, and Patience. He planned to find warmer housing for his younger sister, learn the Yoga Method from Doje, and compete in the Courtyard Competition Dharma Assembly.

• Qu Zan bought two antiques from the Vast Sea and absorbed 2.8 fortune essence from them, bringing his available points to 3.4.
• Qu Zan increased his Body from 2.4 to 3.6, his Consciousness from 2.7 to 3.8, and his Patience progress from 20% to 56%.
• Qu Zan declined Rusu's invitation to practice at the Consort Wisdom Court and continued studying for the next few days.
• Doje offered to teach Qu Zan the Yoga Method, and Qu Zan agreed to learn it and test himself against Doje after visiting his younger sister.
• Qu Zan told Doje he would look for warmer housing for his younger sister, and Doje offered him money, which he declined.
• Rinchen encouraged Qu Zan to compete in the Courtyard Competition Dharma Assembly, and Qu Zan studied scripture with Huo De Lama before leaving before dawn.

Qu Zan took Duimu and Meiduo from their cold wooden hut to find a sturdier home before winter. He rented a detached stone house near Corpse Camel Temple, then returned to the temple for his yoga lesson.

• Qu Zan saw Meiduo shivering in the cold hut and decided they needed a stronger house before the snow came.
• Qu Zan took Duimu and Meiduo to a trading house and asked to see detached stone houses.
• Qu Zan chose a stone house near Corpse Camel Temple and negotiated a rent of one tael and nine mace a month.
• Qu Zan arranged to exchange the wooden hut's remaining rent for dried cow dung and settled into his own room in the new house.
• Qu Zan returned to the temple after lunch to learn the yoga technique.

Doje taught Qu Zan Tummo Meditation, which awakened spiritual heat and increased Qu Zan’s physique and consciousness. Doje then taught him the Tummo Saber Technique, and they sparred before heading out to celebrate Qu Zan’s family’s move with mutton.

• Doje explained Tummo Meditation and invited Qu Zan to test his newly trained strength, but Qu Zan’s charge knocked Doje down.
• Doje guided Qu Zan through Tummo Meditation, helping him ignite and gather tummo fire as his physique and consciousness increased.
• Doje taught Qu Zan the Tummo Saber Technique, and the two practiced fighting and sparred together.
• Doje told Qu Zan that some warrior monks doubted fighting techniques could help against vengeful ghosts, and Qu Zan argued that every skill opened another path.
• Qu Zan invited Doje to his home for mutton to celebrate his family’s move, and Doje eagerly agreed.

Qu Zan and Doje found liquor and brought it to Yeluo, whose changed demeanor revealed him as the Gap-Toothed Old Man. Yeluo asked Qu Zan to fetch a Golden Benba Bottle from the Golden Roof of the Corpse Camel Temple.

• Qu Zan, Doje, and Meiduo shared noodles and lamb, and Duimu obtained home-brewed liquor for Qu Zan.
• Qu Zan and Doje visited Yeluo at the stables and urged him to drink while Doje took over his work.
• After drinking, Yeluo's cloudy eyes cleared and his bearing transformed, startling Doje.
• Qu Zan confronted Yeluo about their earlier meeting and its connection to fate.
• Yeluo said he could see signs of the future and asked Qu Zan to retrieve a Golden Benba Bottle engraved with a hand from the Golden Roof.

Qu Zan learned that Yeluo wanted him to fetch the Golden Benba Bottle in exchange for a wish, but he withheld his answer after discovering Yeluo could alter memories. Qu Zan then prepared for the Courtyard Competition Dharma Assembly, which began with him and Namkha among the assembled monks.

• Yeluo asked Qu Zan to fetch the Golden Benba Bottle and offered to grant him one wish within his power, but Qu Zan delayed committing.
• After Yeluo touched Doje's arm, Doje forgot who they had come to meet, and Qu Zan suspected Yeluo could alter memories through contact.
• Qu Zan stayed away from the stable and focused on studying scriptures for the Courtyard Competition Dharma Assembly.
• Namkha told Qu Zan that the dzong governor had come to watch and warned him to watch out for Jiumo, a talented Senior Druptsawa nearing graduation.
• The Dharma Assembly began, and the monks sat in the cold before the Sutra Academy's main hall.

Qu Zan, under the Dharma name Gyatso, impressed the assembly with his flawless recitation of the Sutra of the Excellent Lion's Roar and placed third in the first day's rankings. The Debate began the next morning, while the Sutra Academy Abbot's unsettling presence left the presiding officials uneasy.

• Qu Zan recited the Sutra of the Excellent Lion's Roar without hesitation, earning praise and applause from the scripture masters and spectators.
• Huo De told Qu Zan he had placed third, behind Gama and Dunzhu, while Namkha placed ninth.
• Huo De and Namkha advised Qu Zan to prepare an unassailable thesis for the Debate the next day.
• Doje and Gonbo discussed the Debate's reputation for provoking furious arguments, and Gonbo warned that outside factors could influence the contest.
• The Debate began as the Sutra Academy's officials presided, unsettled by the Sutra Academy Abbot's vivid crimson robe and shadowed presence.

At the Sutra Academy’s Dharma Assembly, Gyatso drew a one-against-five Debate against leading competitors, prompting suspicions that the strongest contender was being targeted for the prize. He calmly proposed “A White Horse Is Not a Horse” and began dismantling his opponents’ arguments, while Namkha’s principled objection to the unfair matchup led him to join the debate anyway.

• The School Monitor opened the Courtyard Competition Dharma Assembly, where Scholar Monks debated in matchups determined by lots.
• Gyatso drew a one-against-five Debate against Gama, Dunzhu, Tsering, Namkha, and Jiumo, and Rinchen explained that the competition’s rewards included completion empowerment and a path to becoming a Geshe.
• Namkha objected to the unfair matchup, but the Iron Staff Lama threatened him with forfeiture, so Namkha took his seat after Gyatso invited him to stay.
• Gyatso proposed the thesis “A White Horse Is Not a Horse,” and Gadeng and Dunzhu challenged it.
• Gyatso used Dunzhu’s agreement that having a yellow horse meant having a horse to expose the inconsistency in his reasoning about a white horse.

Qu Zan defeated five opponents in the Sutra Academy debate by arguing that a white horse was not a horse, earning first place. After the Courtyard Competition Dharma Assembly, the Abbot recognized him and arranged a teaching for him, and Qu Zan collected the substantial rewards for the top ten.

• Qu Zan defeated Namkha, Jiumo, and the other debaters, while Tsering conceded that a white horse was not a horse.
• The Sutra Academy Abbot declared Gyatso first in Debate, and the crowd erupted at his victory over five opponents.
• Namkha congratulated Qu Zan and admitted he had underestimated him.
• The School Monitor announced the assembly rankings and led the top ten to pay their respects to the Abbot.
• The Abbot recognized Qu Zan by the saddle-shaped ring, praised his past help against Ghost-Fallen Guanyin, and ordered a good teaching to be selected for him.
• Qu Zan received clothing, provisions, writing supplies, and a hundred taels of Secret Silver as his competition rewards.

Qu Zan learned how Binding Monks controlled Vengeful Ghosts as the steward led him toward his Dharma-transmission Empowerment. The chapter left him approaching a row of ominous, sealed stone houses.

• The steward invited the monks to attend a seven-day Dharma Assembly at Nagarjuna Victory Temple in Rika City and told Qu Zan to stay behind.
• The steward took Qu Zan to receive his Dharma-transmission Empowerment, and Qu Zan asked about the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin and the monk it had escaped from.
• The steward explained that Binding Monks sealed Vengeful Ghosts in bodies or objects, using Offerings, Ghost Medicine, and Binding Artifacts to restrain them.
• The steward told Qu Zan that the temple had few Binding Monks and that its academy head was one of them.
• The steward led Qu Zan past heavily guarded buildings to windowless stone houses with vermilion doors and scripture drapes.

Qu Zan underwent a secret empowerment ritual and received the Lion-Headed Dakini’s power, along with the Reversal and Obstruction Method. After leaving the chamber, he fused his new curse seal with the Lion’s Roar Heart Mantra, improving its progress.

• Qu Zan entered the secret chamber after monks covered his naked body in scripture written with ghost blood.
• An old monk summoned the Lion-Headed Dakini, which clawed Qu Zan and infused him with its power.
• Qu Zan experienced a vision of becoming a Ghost Lion, then awoke with a black mark around his shoulder and neck.
• The old monk warned Qu Zan that using the ghost’s power could make him lose control and granted him the Reversal and Obstruction Method.
• Qu Zan left the chamber and chose to fuse the Lion Ghost Curse Seal with the Lion’s Roar Heart Mantra, raising its progress to ten percent.

Qu Zan survived the uncanny-power ritual and prepared to study Mìdì’s four methods under a reclusive Jomo. As the Dharma Assembly continued and his debating fame spread, Dongzi’s Zongben discussed damaged Mani Piles and presented offerings to Corpse Camel Temple.

• The steward told Qu Zan that some people who entered the red door never returned, then explained the Binding Monks and arranged for a Jomo to teach him the four methods.
• Qu Zan returned to his quarters and happily unpacked his prizes, including a hundred taels of secret silver.
• During the Dharma Assembly, Huode urged Qu Zan to keep studying the Five Great Treatises, while Rusu and Chima discussed his growing reputation after he defeated five debaters.
• At a reception hosted by Corpse Camel Temple, Tshewang praised the Dharma Assembly and reported that Mani Piles along his route had collapsed and their contents had rotted.
• Tshewang said he had ordered manor owners to repair the Mani Piles and asked the Sutra Academy to provide replacement scriptures and incantations, then presented the monastery with a document of offerings.

Tuya and Dzongben Caiwang returned from a banquet, while a Vengeful Ghost dragged an Attendant Monk into a chest of ritual implements. Qu Zan saw a ghost in his tea and was transported from Corpse Camel Temple into darkness, where he steadied himself and prepared to find a way to see.

• The chief stewards questioned Caiwang’s tribute, and he explained that more carts carrying gold and secret silver would follow.
• Tuya noticed the skull ring on Caiwang’s hand and spoke affectionately with him on their way back to the Lay Buddhist Courtyard.
• An Attendant Monk found blood seeping from a chest of copper ritual implements, and a dead hand dragged him inside it.
• A monk shut the chest and ordered laborers to carry it into the storehouse without noticing that blood began seeping from it again.
• Qu Zan saw a Vengeful Ghost’s face in his tea, then found himself in darkness outside his quarters and calmed his fear with mindfulness.

Qu Zan used the Lion Ghost Curse Seal to see through a vast underground cavern, where he found two mutilated corpses and was pursued by a Vengeful Ghost dripping corpse oil. He escaped by transforming into a ghost lion and fleeing toward a terrifying aura, then found himself on a boulder above a scene that left him horrified.

• Qu Zan transformed his eyes with the Lion Ghost Curse Seal and explored the cavern, finding the corpse of a Corpse Camel Temple monk surrounded by strange footprints.
• Qu Zan discovered a villager’s corpse beneath a boulder and continued searching the seemingly endless cavern.
• Qu Zan heard dripping corpse oil behind him and realized a Vengeful Ghost was pursuing him.
• Qu Zan transformed into a white ghost lion and ran, but the ghost continued to follow him.
• Qu Zan sensed a terrifying aura ahead, leaped down a slope, and escaped the pursuing ghost when it did not follow.
• Qu Zan returned to human form on a boulder and stared in horror at the scene below.

Qu Zan discovered a Four Continents Zan Dho ritual built to suppress a terrifying uncanny hand, then found a way through a rock wall to reach Doje, Tuya, and their companions. The group mistook Qu Zan for a Vengeful Ghost when he emerged, but he calmed them and Doje lent him a robe.

• Qu Zan examined the Four Continents Zan Dho and saw a severed hand pinned to its central platform by a demon-subduing vajra.
• Qu Zan left the ritual site, found an orange-red glow behind a rock wall, and recognized Doje and Tuya's voices on the other side.
• Qu Zan passed through the wall, where a Rebudian Chieftain attacked him with a curved blade.
• Qu Zan deflected the attack with the Lion Ghost Curse Seal, then let the curse's power recede and explained that it had burst his clothes.
• Doje gave Qu Zan his outer robe to cover himself.

Qu Zan reunited with Doje and a group of travelers inside a Vengeful Ghost’s Ghost Domain, where he pieced together how they had been drawn in and urged them to investigate the cause. The group learned their arrivals may have been linked to reflections, while Zuo Qian’s revelations about killing runaway slaves left Qu Zan silently watching him.

• The Dzongben recognized Qu Zan as the Scholar Monk from the Dharma Assembly debate, while Zuo Qian distrusted him and Doje defended him.
• Qu Zan said he had inferred that three Vengeful Ghosts were involved, then asked the group how they had entered the Ghost Domain.
• Tuya explained that she, her father, and their steward had been pulled in while trying to save Zhuoma from a bronze vessel, and Doje said he had been urinating by a wall.
• Qu Zan deduced that reflections had drawn them into the Ghost Domain, and Zhuoma recalled strange light and shadows on the vessel she had been polishing.
• Zuo Qian claimed that his torches had saved the group, and Doje revealed that the torches were made from thighbones taken from corpses in the Ghost Domain.
• Zuo Qian admitted that he had killed runaway slaves, while Qu Zan silently watched the flames reflected in his eyes.

Qu Zan and Doje left the group to search the dark ghost domain, where they found many corpses and humanlike black sheep. They encountered an old man from the market beside an upright black goat, and the old man said he had been swept into the ghost domain too.

• Qu Zan chose to keep searching for people, and Doje left with him while Zuo Qian kept the torch.
• Doje told Qu Zan that the Rebudian Chieftain carried human organs as offerings and recalled how a Rebudian Chieftain had tortured his uncle to death.
• Qu Zan sensed that Zuo Qian was powerful and led Doje through the darkness using his unusual eyes.
• Qu Zan and Doje came upon many corpses and four black sheep with human organs and limbs.
• Qu Zan spotted an upright black goat, then recognized the old man who appeared beside it from the market.
• The old man said he had also been swept into the enormous ghost domain.