Chapter Summaries

Qu Zan absorbed fortune essence and created Great Sun Tummo by combining Tummo Meditation with Sun Salutation, increasing his physique as he practiced. He continued his scripture studies and learned he would travel to Nagarjuna Victory Temple in Rika City in the first month.

• Qu Zan accepted fortune essence from Geshe Danba’s gift and returned to his quarters to absorb it.
• Qu Zan combined Tummo Meditation and Sun Salutation in contemplation and comprehended Great Sun Tummo.
• Qu Zan practiced Great Sun Tummo beneath the sun, and his physique increased from 6.7 to 6.9.
• Qu Zan attended his afternoon Debate class and studied the Five Great Treatises with Huo De Lama that evening.
• Huo De Lama told Qu Zan to read scriptures before his planned trip to Nagarjuna Victory Temple, and Qu Zan ended his study after gaining 1% progress in Extensive Learning.

After studying more Buddhist scriptures, Qu Zan’s possessed left hand tried to gouge out his eyes and strangle him, forcing him to use the last of his offerings to calm it. Duo'erna advised him to make a gold gauntlet as a temporary restraint, and Qu Zan went to Nyepa to seek another solution.

• Qu Zan asked Scripture Master Huode for more scriptures and spent the day reading the Sūtra on the Measure of Meaning and the Sūtra on the Bodhisattva's Conduct.
• During the night, Indra's Hand moved against Qu Zan, trying to gouge out his eyes before grabbing his neck and choking him.
• Qu Zan fed the ghost hand his remaining eyeballs, then pinned it to the floor with the Three-Pronged Vajra so he could make it through the night.
• Duo'erna offered to suppress the ghost hand only in an emergency and advised Qu Zan to make a thin, articulated gold gauntlet as a medium-term restraint.
• Qu Zan worked with his right hand at Duo'erna's quarters, then went to Nyepa after class to ask for help.

Qu Zan consulted Nyepa about controlling the Vengeful Ghost in his hand, and learned he needed another Vengeful Ghost tied to visual consciousness to balance it. Nyepa gave him records of supernatural incidents near Corpse Camel Temple, leaving Qu Zan with leads to pursue outside the temple.

• Nyepa examined Qu Zan's ghostly hand and warned that it would keep consuming him until it eventually took control.
• Nyepa explained that Qu Zan needed a complementary Vengeful Ghost power connected to visual consciousness to achieve equilibrium, but the temple had no suitable item.
• Nyepa warned Qu Zan to find another Vengeful Ghost quickly because the hand's resurgence and backlash would grow stronger over time.
• Nyepa brought Qu Zan parchment records of supernatural incidents around the three nearby dzongs and explained the incident-level classifications.
• Nyepa searched the records and selected an incident for Qu Zan to investigate.

Qu Zan chose to investigate the disappearance of the Indra Thangka and asked to borrow the Hundred-Eyed Prayer Beads, hoping to suppress the ghost hand within him and gain experience. Nyepa secured approval for Qu Zan to try two ritual implements, and Qu Zan arrived at the Evil-Subduing Institute to find both waiting for him.

• Nyepa told Qu Zan that supernatural incidents had sharply increased and that rumors linked them to Mìdì nearing the end of the world.
• Qu Zan selected the level one disappearance of the Indra Thangka and requested the Hundred-Eyed Prayer Beads.
• Nyepa agreed to seek approval and asked Jiamo at the Evil-Subduing Institute to provide ritual implements for Qu Zan.
• Jiamo recognized Qu Zan as the monk who had survived Mirror Granny's Ghost Domain and agreed to let him sign out ritual implements.
• Nyepa brought Qu Zan to the institute, where two attendants presented Golden Boxes containing the Eye-Oil Lamp and the Hundred-Eyed Prayer Beads.

Qu Zan visited the Evil-Repelling Court, passed Elder Jiamo’s test, and chose the Hundred-Eyed Prayer Beads as his ritual implement. He was assigned to investigate a moving Indra Thangka in Liduo Village and planned to leave after having a Golden Glove made.

• Nyepa brought Qu Zan to Elder Jiamo, who tested his composure with the Great Fearless Vajra.
• Qu Zan declined to join the Evil-Repelling Court and chose the Hundred-Eyed Prayer Beads over the Eternal Lamp.
• Jiamo assigned Qu Zan to investigate the Indra Thangka that kept appearing in different households in Liduo Village.
• Qu Zan wrapped the prayer beads around his left hand, restoring his control of it, and learned that they could dispel illusions and weaken spirits.
• Qu Zan told Jiamo he would set out after having a Golden Glove made, and Jiamo approved of his caution.

Qu Zan commissioned a golden gauntlet, then traveled from Corpse Camel Temple to Liduo Village under a Dharma decree to inspect an Indra Thangka. He found the village's Indra statue covered in countless eyes and asked Abbot Tu Jia why it looked so strange.

• Qu Zan paid a goldsmith fifty taels of gold and ten taels of secret silver to make a flexible golden glove.
• After collecting the gauntlet, Qu Zan left Corpse Camel Temple with supplies, a map, and Huode's copy of the Madhyamaka Treatise.
• Qu Zan reached Liduo Village and told Abbot Tu Jia he had come to collect the Indra Thangka for inspection.
• Tu Jia explained that villagers regarded the newly appeared Thangka as auspicious and might resist giving it up.
• Qu Zan examined the temple's Indra statue and discovered it was covered in tiny eyes, then asked Tu Jia why.

Qu Zan investigated reports that an Indra Thangka was vanishing and reappearing in Liduo Village, but found no uncanny power in the painting and learned that it had been seized from Tsering. Tu Jia revealed that Tsering later died in a fire and the steward’s son disappeared, leaving Qu Zan suspicious that the village’s strange events concealed something more.

• Tu Jia explained that the Thangka was being rotated among households, and Qu Zan went with him to see it at Taba’s home.
• Qu Zan intervened when Tu Jia ordered the blind Cizhu whipped, then learned that Lord Cai Xiangdangzhi had gouged out Cizhu’s eyes to punish his father, Tsering, for trying to escape.
• Qu Zan touched the Thangka with his left hand and found no ghostly resonance or other unusual quality.
• Tu Jia privately told Qu Zan that Tsering had found the Thangka, but a steward and then Lord Cai Xiangdangzhi had seized it from him.
• Tu Jia admitted he had reported the Thangka as an uncanny incident based on rumors, and said Tsering later burned to death in a house fire and the steward’s son went missing.

Qu Zan stayed at the Cai Xiangdangzhi manor, where blind Cizhu claimed he could hear his supposedly dead father’s footsteps. The steward showed Qu Zan a mysterious letter from his missing son, and its message appeared in blood: “You all must die!”

• Qu Zan went to the Cai Xiangdangzhi manor and learned that its master was ill and that the steward’s son had gone missing.
• Cizhu told Qu Zan that his father, Tsering, was not dead and that he often heard his footsteps inside the manor.
• Qu Zan heard slow footsteps approach his room, but the steward arrived with hot water and said he had received a letter from his missing son.
• The steward showed Qu Zan a blank sheet of wolf-venom paper, and bloodstains and handprints appeared before the words “You all must die!” emerged.

Qu Zan investigated a Vengeful Ghost haunting the Manor and discovered that the ghost was Tsering, who had survived and gained power from a flesh-and-blood eye. Tsering revealed his revenge against Lord Qiangzuo, then fused with the steward as Qu Zan’s uncanny power suppressed the resulting monster.

• Qu Zan examined the bloodstained letter and deduced that a Vengeful Ghost was creating illusions that affected sight.
• Qu Zan overheard the steward lead servants to excavate the buried remains of a mother and child beneath the Small Tower.
• Tsering appeared in the courtyard covered in eyes and revealed that he had survived, changed Weise’s appearance, and caused the steward’s son to burn to death.
• Tsering accused Lord Qiangzuo of killing his wife and younger son and gouging out his elder son’s eyes, then asked Qu Zan to subdue him.
• Tsering seized the steward and fused with him as countless hands emerged to suppress his uncanny power.

Qu Zan subdued and bound Indra’s Eye, then used its power to give Tsering’s eyes to Cizhu before leaving Liduo Village. After learning how the eye’s abilities worked, Qu Zan reached Corpse Camel Temple and found secret mastiffs guarding its gates.

• Tsering asked Qu Zan to give his eyes to his son Cizhu, and Qu Zan bound Indra’s Eye with Indra’s Hand.
• Indra’s Eye grew across Qu Zan’s arm, but Indra’s Hand devoured the excess power until twelve eyes remained.
• Cizhu woke with his sight restored and learned that his father had given him his eyes before dying.
• Qu Zan told Cizhu what had happened, showed him his family’s remains, and departed from Liduo Village.
• Qu Zan experimented with Indra’s Eye, discovering that it could alter vision, create illusions, make him invisible, and leap between eyes within fifty paces.
• After several days of travel, Qu Zan arrived at Corpse Camel Temple and saw secret mastiffs outside its gates.

Qu Zan was detained at Corpse Camel Temple when the Secret Mastiff sensed an uncanny aura, and inspection revealed the eyes on his arm. Nyepa verified Qu Zan and brought him into the temple, while Guocuo was allowed in only after Nyapa confiscated his prohibited mixture.

• Qu Zan presented his registered documents at the temple gate, where a Secret Mastiff and monk soldiers noticed the eyes growing on his left arm.
• The monk soldiers held Qu Zan for verification and placed him in the gatehouse, where he met the noble monk Guocuo and his servant Sangduo.
• Sangduo complained about the delay and invoked Guocuo's Red Gate lineage, but Guocuo rebuked him and told him to follow temple rules.
• Nyepa arrived, identified Guocuo's Zhongdu as a prohibited Curse-Object Mixture, and confiscated it.
• Nyepa examined Qu Zan's eye-covered arm, accepted his Hundred-Eyed Prayer Beads, and took him into the temple to report what he had encountered.
• Guocuo recognized Qu Zan as a promising Sutra Academy monk and explained to Sangduo why Nyepa's personal attention mattered.

Qu Zan reported the Liduo Village incident, and Nyepa negotiated with Jiamo for him to learn the first level of the Peacock Wisdom King Esoteric Method. Jiamo agreed that Qu Zan could borrow the Yidam Statue after earning merit and submitting four offerings, leaving Qu Zan puzzled about what the statue was.

• Nyepa explained the Three Secrets Empowerment and proposed the Peacock Wisdom King Esoteric Method as a suitable Mind Secret method for Qu Zan.
• Qu Zan submitted his report and returned the Hundred-Eyed Prayer Beads and Golden Box to Jiamo at the Evil-Subduing Institute.
• Nyepa argued that the Liduo Village incident deserved greater merit because it had escalated into a Level-Two Haunting Event.
• Jiamo refused to grant the method outright and offered Qu Zan an alternative, but Qu Zan declined to join the Evil-Subduing Institute.
• Nyepa negotiated for Qu Zan to submit lotus, Juyuan Fruit, Auspicious Fruit, and Peacock Tail; Jiamo agreed these offerings and Qu Zan's merit would let him borrow the Yidam Statue.
• Qu Zan wondered whether the esoteric method's cultivation was not recorded in the scriptures.

Qu Zan gathered ritual materials and visited Master Duo'erna, where she taught him the four forms of the mandala and how they supported esoteric cultivation. He recognized that the temple’s prayer-flag script formed part of a dharma mandala used against ghosts and spirits.

• Nyepa explained that Qu Zan would need the Four Ritual Objects for esoteric practice, and Qu Zan planned where to obtain them.
• Qu Zan returned to the Monks' Quarters and learned from Rinchen that the Dzong Temple was selling Secret Mastiffs to help guard against spirits.
• Qu Zan visited Duo'erna and processed medicinal ingredients, improving his Secret Medicine Identification skill.
• Duo'erna gave Qu Zan the book Essentials of the Mandala and applied ointment to his hands before teaching him.
• Qu Zan learned about the Great, Samaya, Dharma, and Karma Mandalas and connected the temple’s prayer flags to the Dharma Mandala.

Qu Zan studied mandalas and spells with Duo'erna while planning his cultivation, scripture studies, and search for the Peacock Wisdom King's held objects. He accepted Geshe Guocuo's invitation to lunch, unaware that Guocuo had sought him out after learning about his promising background.

• Duo'erna taught Qu Zan about mandalas and charged him for the pigments and lotuses he requested.
• Qu Zan studied with Huode and reviewed his goals, including finding three sacred objects, cultivating, mastering the Five Great Treatises, and preparing for the Water and Land Universal Salvation Assembly.
• Qu Zan continued his lessons with Duo'erna the next morning and practiced Great Sun Tummo on his way to the dining hall.
• Guocuo invited Qu Zan to lunch, and Qu Zan accepted and followed him to his spacious courtyard residence.
• Guocuo introduced his servant Sangduo and shared a lavish meal with Qu Zan, whom he hoped to befriend after learning of his accomplishments and studies under Duo'erna.

Qu Zan befriended Guocuo, who gave him peacock tail feathers and offered to search for the fruits he needed. After Qu Zan left, Doji Cizhu returned to his gruesome workshop and worked on a bodhisattva assembled from human remains, believing it would come to life once its eyes were finished.

• Qu Zan told Guocuo that he had mastered uncanny power, and Guocuo explained why he had left his lineage to join the Corpse Camel Temple.
• Qu Zan asked Guocuo about peacock tail feathers, Auspicious Fruit, and Juyuan Fruit; Guocuo gave him the feathers and offered to look for the fruits.
• Doji Cizhu arrived demanding the 'Zhongdu' Guocuo had been collecting, and Guocuo said Nepa Lama had confiscated it.
• Qu Zan returned to his quarters with the feathers and continued attending classes after Doji Cizhu left.
• Doji Cizhu entered his eerie workshop and stitched the Flesh-and-Blood Bodhisattva, saying only its eyes were missing before it could come to life.

After failing to find the Auspicious Fruit and Juyuan Fruit through ordinary searches, Qu Zan learned that Shi Long had both and wanted a trade. Shi Long offered the fruits in exchange for Qu Zan and Guocuo using a Terma-Opening Method to recover a lost cure for his stone-scale disease from the remains of the monk Yundan.

• Qu Zan spent points to strengthen his body and consciousness, while his search for the two fruits turned up no leads.
• Guocuo brought Qu Zan to meet Shi Long, a man suffering from advanced stone-scale disease, in a dilapidated courtyard in Jieyou Alley.
• Shi Long showed them the grotesque Auspicious Fruit and Juyuan Fruit, explaining that both grew in places of extreme yin and were difficult to cultivate.
• Shi Long refused money and offered to give them both kinds of fruit if they recovered a treatment formula for his disease from Yundan's remains.
• Shi Long revealed Yundan's preserved corpse and produced a parchment containing a Terma-Opening Method, which Guocuo said would be needed to open the monk's consciousness terma.

Qu Zan used the Meditative Dream-Practice Treasure-Excavation Method to draw a Samaya Mandala and perform a ritual on the Yundan Mummy. The mummy began manifesting its consciousness treasure by writing a treatment for stone-scale disease, but the chapter ended before the prescription was complete.

• Qu Zan mastered the Meditative Dream-Practice Treasure-Excavation Method and agreed to try it on the Yundan Mummy.
• Shi Long provided the ritual materials, and Qu Zan drew a nine-pace Samaya Mandala depicting the Charnel Ground Protector and the Nine Charnel Grounds.
• Qu Zan sent Guocuo and Shi Long outside, entered the mandala, and summoned the Charnel Ground Protector couple by visualizing and chanting their mantra.
• Qu Zan completed the first two ritual stages by making the mummy dance and binding it inside the mandala with imagined chains and flames.
• Qu Zan raised the Kapala Bowl over the mummy and drew out a blue-white consciousness treasure, then ordered the mummy to write a treatment for stone-scale disease.
• The mummy began writing the prescription, starting with the name “Nectar Scale-Moistening Paste.”

Qu Zan completed the Meditative Dream-Practice Treasure-Excavation Method, obtained a prescription for Stone-Scale Disease, and suppressed his visualized Charnel Ground Protectors with Indra's Hand. He traded the prescription for two eerie fruits and left with Shi Long and Guocuo agreeing to make and sell the medicine together.

• Qu Zan memorized the Nectar Scale-Moistening Paste prescription, then used Indra's Hand to stop the visualized Charnel Ground Protectors when they turned hostile.
• Qu Zan completed the ritual, gained three percent progress in the Meditative Dream-Practice Treasure-Excavation Method, and destroyed the Mandala traces.
• Qu Zan told Shi Long he had obtained the prescription and insisted on receiving the Auspicious Fruit and Juyuan Fruit before handing it over.
• Qu Zan wrote the prescription from memory and proposed that Shi Long and Guocuo help prepare and sell the medicine for a share of the profits.
• Shi Long agreed to Qu Zan's business proposal.

Qu Zan and Guocuo were ambushed by Doji Cizhu, who demanded six eyes from the Eye of the Ghost God. Qu Zan escaped the first attack, but Doji Cizhu revealed his bound Ghost Water Green Tara was close to reviving and threatened to make them perish together.

• Qu Zan gave Guocuo the Nectar Scale-Moistening Paste formula so they could prepare and sell the medicine together, then received the Auspicious Fruit and Juyuan Fruit from Shi Long.
• Qu Zan and Guocuo noticed foul yellow puddles along the path and realized someone was masking a ghostly stench with esoteric incense.
• Doji Cizhu appeared and demanded six eyes from the Eye of the Ghost God harbored by Qu Zan.
• Doji Cizhu trapped Guocuo in a puddle, but Qu Zan used Indra's Hand to crush what turned out to be a false body.
• Qu Zan escaped the puddle by climbing onto ghost hands growing from the rock face, while Doji Cizhu emerged as a bloated corpse and threatened to make them perish together.

Qu Zan used Indra's Eye and Ghost Hand to see Guocuo trapped beneath Ghost Water Green Tara's water and pull him toward safety. He forced Doji Cizhu to concede, then faced the monk's real body as Doji Cizhu realized Qu Zan had achieved Perfect Control over a Vengeful Ghost.

• Yellow-green water spread across the ground, and Qu Zan expanded Indra's Eye to see Guocuo sinking beneath it.
• Qu Zan grew ghost hands on Guocuo to tear away the wet hair trapping him and began pulling him toward the surface.
• Ghost Water Green Tara appeared and Qu Zan caught it with a chain of ghost hands, bringing it to a stalemate beneath the water.
• Qu Zan hauled Guocuo out of the puddle while challenging Doji Cizhu to continue their struggle.
• Doji Cizhu conceded, and his real body appeared as a rotting monk on the mountain behind Qu Zan.
• Doji Cizhu stared at Qu Zan in disbelief and asked whether he had achieved Perfect Control over a Vengeful Ghost.