Recaps

Qu Zan learned of the Hero Army’s uprising and discovered that Tuya’s family had a disgraced monk ancestor who might be connected to the Formless Tathagata and the murders. After returning to Tuya’s manor, Qu Zan advanced his discipline-keeping to level 5 and awaited a new ability.

• Qu Zan heard that Gonbo Lujie and Sangzhu Luobu led serf uprisings known among the people as the Hero Army.
• Qu Zan and Tuya met Deji, Namkha’s mother, who asked about her son and revealed the hardships of his life as a serf.
• Deji told Qu Zan and Tuya that Tuya’s uncle Duowang had set the family manor on fire decades earlier and been expelled from the monastic community.
• Qu Zan and Tuya suspected Duowang might be connected to the Formless Tathagata, though Qu Zan noted that the mystery remained unresolved.
• Qu Zan used Secret Conduct to enter the Form Realm, gained fortune essence, and advanced discipline-keeping from level 4 to level 5.

Qu Zan reported that Duowang might be the [Formless Tathagata], while Xia Ba entered Buze Village to investigate a Vengeful Ghost for a promised reward. Xia Ba’s companions and the villagers were revealed as paper figures, and he was left transformed into mud as the village vanished around him.

• Qu Zan gained the ability Discipline-Keeping · Taking as a Precept and added fortune essence from Tuya’s antiques to [Extensive Learning].
• Qu Zan told Cangyang Konghai that Duowang might be the [Formless Tathagata], and Cangyang Konghai ordered Bensen to investigate Duowang’s former companions and whereabouts.
• Xia Ba reached Buze Village with five guides and hired a local boy to help him find a supposed sister.
• Big Cheeks noticed the boy’s strange footsteps, and a guide led Xia Ba to a chalk-white, bridal-dressed double that he claimed was Xia Ba’s sister.
• Xia Ba attacked the boy with grave-mound soil, but the boy collapsed into paper and reformed as the villagers surrounded Xia Ba with identical smiles.
• The villagers burst into paper scraps and disappeared, leaving a mud figure in the lane as Xia Ba’s eerie power consumed him.

Qu Zan learned that Duowang had joined Hell's Beings and chose a Medicine Mother spirit to serve as his pharmacist. He named her Mianmu, promised to pay her wages, and then set out to visit Naicang Manor, wondering whether Xia Ba had found Buze Village.

• Cangyang Konghai told Qu Zan that Duowang had died, and divination using the temple's records showed that Duowang had joined Hell's Beings long ago.
• Cangyang Konghai awarded Qu Zan fifty merit points and sent Bensang to show him the Inner Court's spirit servants.
• Qu Zan toured the Guardian Spirits palace and chose a Medicine Mother because she could refine esoteric medicines.
• Qu Zan brought the Medicine Mother to his courtyard, named her Mianmu, and promised to pay her wages for working as his pharmacist.
• Qu Zan instructed Liuwa to set aside food for Mianmu and left to visit Naicang Manor, wondering whether Xia Ba had found Buze Village.

Qu Zan learned about the Vengeful Ghost in Zebu Village from Xia Ba and devised a cautious plan to investigate it before attempting to capture it. While cultivating amid noise from the workshop below, Qu Zan understood the meaning of Patience Practice and reached the perfected realm of the Third Abode Stage.

• Xia Ba told Qu Zan how he escaped the Vengeful Ghost in Zebu Village and described its ability to imitate people and control their skin.
• Qu Zan identified the ghost as Indra's Skin and suspected that it killed by touching skin, then instructed Xia Ba to use animals and signals to investigate its movements and locate its true body.
• Sangyan Blind Monk convinced Xia Ba that Qu Zan had recognized his value, and Xia Ba resolved to serve his boss faithfully.
• Qu Zan returned to his Separate Courtyard, where the Medicine Mother arranged his secret-medicine workshop, and resumed cultivating the Three Mysteries of Body, Speech, and Mind.
• After irritation at the workshop noise prompted him to examine how afflictions arose, Qu Zan grasped the meaning of Patience Practice and attained the perfected realm of the Third Abode Stage.

Qu Zan perfected his Throat Chakra, learned the Sound Secret Pulse-Refining Method, and prepared to investigate the Vengeful Ghost in Zebu Village with Xia Ba. The village’s uncanny power reacted to Qu Zan, so he planned to enter through Red Guanyin’s shadow while Xia Ba used his disguise.

• Qu Zan dissolved the final obstruction in his Throat Chakra, strengthening his body and allowing him to sustain Vajra Recitation through internal vibrations independent of his breath.
• Qu Zan chose to cultivate his Root Chakra, obtained Mianmu’s Essence of Consolidating the Origin formula, and collected its ingredients from Duo'erna.
• Qu Zan found and comprehended the Sound Secret Pulse-Refining Method in the Inner Court’s Scripture Repository and practiced using mantra vibrations to clear his channels.
• Xia Ba showed Qu Zan a map of Zebu Village and proposed entering disguised with mud to investigate the Vengeful Ghost at the village’s center.
• Qu Zan and Xia Ba found the villagers standing motionless and staring at them, while Qu Zan’s left hand reacted to Indra’s power within the village.
• Qu Zan told Xia Ba to proceed with the original infiltration plan and planned to follow by merging Red Guanyin’s shadow into Xia Ba’s.