Chapter Summaries

Lian Youming and Li Da reached the mountains where an underground fortress might hide, with the White Lotus Sect and Japanese soldiers among the dangers they expected. After Li Da went ahead alone, Lian Youming hid in an abandoned cabin and rescued a bound girl from a White Lotus Sect man, then fled as three pursuers gave chase.

• Lian Youming followed Li Da through the mountains after three days and four nights on the trail, growing leaner and stronger along the way.
• Li Da warned Lian Youming that the White Lotus Sect and possibly hidden Japanese soldiers might be near the underground fortress, then left him with a Type 54 pistol and told him to meet at entrance number two before dark.
• Lian Youming avoided the marked fortress route, found an abandoned cabin, and rested his bruised legs while hiding from an approaching stranger.
• A rough middle-aged man carried a bound young girl into the cabin, but left when a woman outside scolded him for neglecting the Vice Sect Leader's plans to follow Li Da.
• Lian Youming saw the girl plead for help, grabbed her, smashed through the cabin wall, and ran as the White Lotus Sect pursuers chased them.

Lian Youming realized the White Lotus Sect had used him as bait and carried the suspicious girl toward the Underground Fortress while trying to stay alive. His escape brought White Lotus Sect and Xingyi Sect fighters into confrontation, which he left behind as he ran ahead.

• Lian Youming realized the girl and his rescue were part of a trap, and that the White Lotus Sect members were herding him toward the Underground Fortress.
• Lian Youming freed the girl’s wrists and ankles, then carried her on his shoulder while guarding himself against a possible attack.
• Two Xingyi Sect fighters caught up, and Lian Youming claimed to know Xue Hen and asked them for help.
• The Xingyi Sect fighters reacted angrily to Lian Youming’s connection to Xue Hen, while the White Lotus Sect members challenged their interference.
• Lian Youming told both groups they were after treasure and lifespan-extending Old Medicine in the Kwantung Army Underground Fortress, provoking them into a standoff.
• Lian Youming ran ahead and shouted insults at both factions as they prepared to fight.

Lian Youming escaped through the forest with the girl while beasts driven into a frenzy by the White Lotus Sect’s technique closed in around them. He found a hidden entrance and jumped into the fortress with her as martial-world factions gathered above, leaving him to descend while listening to their arguments.

• Lian Youming tested the girl and found no sign that she had unusual abilities, then carried her away when a tiger’s roar sent beasts stampeding through the forest.
• The girl guided Lian Youming toward Erman’s Birch Forest, where he uncovered a hidden metal hatch beneath a rock.
• A tiger appeared with a bloody body in its jaws as armed figures surrounded Lian Youming and the girl.
• Lian Youming cursed Li Da, grabbed the girl, and leaped into the fortress entrance.
• The factions above argued over sect members who had joined the White Lotus Sect, while Lian Youming listened and then slid farther down the fortress wall with the girl.

Lian Youming and Xiao Li descended into the Underground Fortress, where they found Japanese soldiers and a martial artist dead with their throats torn open and their blood drained. Suspecting a blood-cultivating martial artist was hidden inside and that Third Brother Xie’s map might be bait, Lian Youming followed a scream and found a dying young man.

• Lian Youming and Xiao Li landed on a rope net among several dried corpses in the cavern below the passage.
• Lian Youming chose a tunnel and led Xiao Li through the Underground Fortress, where they saw carvings and a stone tablet warning trespassers to die.
• Lian Youming found a recently killed martial artist in a burial chamber, with broken limbs and a throat wound but little blood.
• Lian Youming suspected that a hidden martial artist was draining victims’ blood and wondered whether Third Brother Xie’s map had lured them into a trap.
• Lian Youming followed a scream with Xiao Li and found a young man who begged for help before coughing up blood.

Lian Youming tried to save a dying intruder, but a strange man seized Xiao Li and defeated him with an unfamiliar internal technique. After Lian Youming learned Xiao Li was an ordinary girl caught up in a coincidence, the White Lotus Sect surrounded him and forced him to lead them through the tunnels.

• Lian Youming pitied the dying young man, tried to stop his bleeding, and took two gold bars from him after he died.
• Xiao Li’s frightened expression warned Lian Youming of danger, and a strange man ambushed him from the ceiling and carried her away.
• Lian Youming fought the strange man, recognized his Coiling Silk Force, and was struck by a technique that left him temporarily numb.
• Lian Youming chased the stranger through the tunnels, but three White Lotus Sect members appeared and told him Xiao Li had been abducted by chance.
• Lian Youming realized he had wrongly suspected Xiao Li of acting and turned to continue his search, but the White Lotus Sect and other pursuers surrounded him and demanded he lead the way.

Lian Youming learned why martial artists feared dissipating cultivation while the factions searched a treasure-filled Kwantung Army fortress. Li Da confronted the White Lotus Sect, and as the group split up, a tiger charged toward Lian Youming while Li Da faced the sect’s Vice Sect Leader, Gu Yutong.

• A White Lotus Sect woman explained that aging could weaken a martial artist’s spirit and cause their essence and Qi to erupt, dissipating their cultivation.
• Lian Youming and his captors entered a cavern filled with military supplies, treasure, antiques, and skeletons, where members of various martial sects converged.
• Li Da arrived and offered the White Lotus Sect members a chance to leave with two items each, then effortlessly evaded their coordinated attacks.
• Li Da revealed that the fortress passages led toward a great tomb and warned that the map was incomplete before leading the group out.
• Lian Youming suspected that a black-clad Xingyi Sect woman was the White Lotus Sect’s hidden Vice Sect Leader and noticed the beast-luring scent around her.
• The woman revealed herself as Gu Yutong and said she had lured a tiger toward Lian Youming, while Li Da prepared to fight her.

Lian Youming fought a vicious tiger in the Underground Fortress, killed it with a breakthrough punch, and found Xiao Li among the remains in a hidden chamber. He rejoined Li Da, who was fighting a group of martial artists and began identifying their styles.

• Lian Youming climbed onto the tiger and stabbed and punched it as their struggle broke through walls into hidden chambers filled with remains and weapons.
• Lian Youming found Xiao Li among several unconscious people, then used a bayonet and his fists to fight the tiger as it attacked the others.
• Lian Youming broke through the second barrier of Golden Bell Cover and killed the tiger with a full-strength punch.
• Lian Youming gathered grenades and a light machine gun, then led Xiao Li back through the tunnel to help Li Da.
• Li Da told Lian Youming not to shoot and identified the fighting styles of the martial artists attacking him.

Li Da and Lian Youming fought their way through the Underground Fortress after discovering the White Lotus Sect had lured them into a trap, then escaped separately through the tunnels. Li Da reunited with Lian Youming outside, but after they left, Xiao Li revealed a sinister nature and returned to the fortress.

• Li Da fought the White Lotus Sect members while Lian Youming covered him with a light machine gun, and Li Da pressed toward Vice Sect Leader Gu Yutong.
• A strange man intervened and used Taiji Cloud Hands against Li Da; Gu Yutong revealed that the map was bait and the Underground Fortress was the White Lotus Sect's stronghold.
• Li Da told Lian Youming to escape, and Lian Youming fled through the tunnels with Xiao Li before a burly man attacked him at Entrance No. 2.
• Lian Youming struck the burly man, threw his last grenade, and escaped with Xiao Li as the blast collapsed the entrance beneath the waterfall.
• Li Da met Lian Youming outside with a tiger and gave him a pouch of Eastern Pearls, then explained that he had driven the White Lotus Sect members deeper into the tombs.
• After Lian Youming and Li Da left Xiao Li at her courtyard, she revealed her sinister personality and returned toward the mountain.

Lian Youming spent six days eating tiger meat and practicing, healing his wounds and strengthening his body before preparing to return to Tahe. On the journey, Li Da told him the Underground Fortress had been buried, explained his senior brother’s age, and gave him a handwritten copy of Journey to the West that might help him fight Xue Hen.

• Lian Youming ate and digested the tiger meat while practicing until the pot was empty, then slept for two days.
• Li Da returned, was surprised that Lian Youming had eaten all the meat, and noted that his bearing had changed toward the Ming Jin stage.
• Lian Youming packed the tiger hide and bones, gold bars, and Eastern Pearls, and asked Li Da about the mountain.
• Li Da said the White Lotus Sect had blown up the entrances to the Underground Fortress, though he suspected another way in and out remained.
• On the truck ride back, Li Da told Lian Youming that his senior brother was eighty-three and promised him books introducing the martial arts schools and sects.
• Li Da gave Lian Youming a handwritten copy of Journey to the West, saying it might show him how to fight Xue Hen within three to five years.

Lian Youming returned to the Logging Camp, reunited with the educated youths, and read Yan Lingyun’s advice on martial training. As the group prepared to leave the mountain, he sang at their farewell gathering, where the first snow marked autumn’s end and the time to go down the mountain.

• Lian Youming returned to the Logging Camp with supplies, hid the treasures he had brought back, and received nearly twenty pages of letters from Yan Lingyun.
• Lian Youming read Yan Lingyun’s guidance on avoiding harmful habits, preparing medicinal wine, and practicing the Witnessing Art with the rising sun and moon.
• Platoon Leader Yang arranged for the educated youths to leave the mountain early, and Lian Youming caught two roe deer and bought snacks for their farewell show.
• Wu Kui played the accordion as the educated youths performed, and the others urged Lian Youming to sing.
• Lian Youming sang “Lan Huahua,” and the first snow fell as he realized another autumn had arrived and it was time to leave the mountain.

Lian Youming experimented with reversing Coiling Silk Force and developed a powerful new striking method while studying the illustrated Journey to the West. In mid-October, the educated youths learned they could return to the cities, and Lian Youming stayed behind, determined to pursue the martial world.

• Lian Youming reversed the movement of Coiling Silk Force and shattered a wooden door panel with a silent strike.
• Lian Youming studied the illustrations and elixir formula in Journey to the West but decided to focus on training his foundation and martial skills.
• Lian Youming continued working in Kaoshan Village and practicing martial arts while Li Da remained absent.
• An educated young woman announced that new policy allowed educated youths from Shanghai and Beijing to return to the cities, and Wu Kui celebrated with Lian Youming.
• Two days later, Kaoshan Village residents waved goodbye as the educated youths departed, and the old Party secretary rejoiced.

Lian Youming returned from Tahe, discovered a new insight into martial arts while studying the pictures in Journey to the West, and helped Sun Duhe prepare to head south. On the train home, he spotted Sun Duhe’s girlfriend being led away by a suspicious old woman and suspected she had been drugged.

• Lian Youming left Tahe by train and realized that reading the Seventy-Two Small Pictures backward revealed a different relationship between Buddha and demon, inspiring him to imitate the ape’s movements.
• Lian Youming met Sun Duhe in the capital and learned that Sun had been arrested, lost most of his possessions, and planned to travel south with his girlfriend.
• Lian Youming gave Sun Duhe two hundred yuan, shared his home address, and urged him and his girlfriend to contact him after reaching the south.
• Lian Youming boarded a crowded train home and encountered Zhao Xiaozhi, who offered him hot water.
• Lian Youming saw Sun Duhe’s girlfriend walking unsteadily beside a suspicious old woman who gripped her shoulder, and suspected the girl had been drugged.

Lian Youming followed a trafficker through the train and uncovered a gang abducting women and children. After exposing his strength and bluffing that he had a gun, he held back from alerting the attendant while the gang still threatened the babies, and prepared to deal with them himself.

• Lian Youming followed the old woman and discovered more than twenty accomplices watching the train’s passengers.
• The gang drugged the young woman, disguised her as a man, and surrounded Lian Youming when he confronted them.
• Lian Youming crushed roasted soybeans in his hand to intimidate the traffickers and refused their offer to let him leave with the victim.
• The old woman threatened the young woman with a screwdriver, but Lian Youming made her believe he had a gun and warned the gang to surrender at the station.
• When a train attendant approached, Lian Youming and the traffickers acted as if nothing had happened because the gang still held babies that could be thrown from the train.

Lian Youming fought off the armed gang on the train while protecting Yan Tao, but the old woman escaped. He immobilized the passengers and attackers, then confronted the one-eared man.

• Yan Tao told Lian Youming that she remembered being drugged and had heard the old woman mention Eighth Master.
• The one-eared man attacked Lian Youming with a knife, but Lian Youming struck him and slowed his movements.
• The old woman ordered the gang to attack, and Lian Youming disarmed and injured several attackers while shielding Yan Tao.
• The old woman tried to stab Lian Youming with a screwdriver, then escaped when he grabbed at her leg.
• Lian Youming immobilized the people in the carriage and seized the one-eared man by his remaining ear.
• The one-eared man begged Lian Youming to talk things over.

Lian Youming uncovered a child-trafficking operation run by the Thieves' Gate and protected Yan Tao and five unconscious children aboard the train. At Tianjin Station, he got the railway police to take the children away, then returned with Yan Tao to wait for the gang’s next move.

• Lian Youming interrogated One-Ear, who described the Thieves' Gate’s network of railway thieves and named Mountain Hawk’s Eight Great Guardians.
• One-Ear escaped and threatened Lian Youming, Yan Tao, and the children, but Lian Youming revealed he had secretly injured the gang members and expected them to die within days.
• Lian Youming told Yan Tao to stay with him until Xijing, warned her that the gang had accomplices, and kept watch over the five drugged children.
• Zhao Xiaozhi spotted Lian Youming in the strangely empty carriage, then left without approaching him; three passengers who sat down were drugged and dragged away by thieves.
• At Tianjin Station, Lian Youming called the unconscious children abandoned, prompting railway police to carry them off the train, then returned with Yan Tao and said they should enjoy the show.

Lian Youming used an Eastern Pearl to lure Eighth Master’s gang into revealing themselves, then led Yan Tao toward the rear of the train as he disabled their ambushers. He reached the second-to-last passenger carriage with a crowd of gang members behind him and challenged them to come on.

• One-Ear reported to Eighth Master that Lian Youming had incapacitated their men and handed the children over to uniformed officers.
• A filthy boy told Eighth Master that Lian Youming had shown an Eastern Pearl, prompting Eighth Master to gather his men and order them to seize the pearl and kill him.
• Eighth Master slapped One-Ear for suggesting they use Yan Tao against Lian Youming and insisted they face him according to the rules of the underworld.
• Lian Youming revealed that he had used the Eastern Pearl as bait to draw out the gang and led Yan Tao toward the freight cars.
• Gang members attacked Lian Youming along the train’s aisles, but he quickly incapacitated each one he encountered.
• Lian Youming reached the second-to-last passenger carriage, saw a crowd of gang members behind him, and silently challenged them to come on.

Lian Youming faced Song Fei and his armed gang in the last passenger carriage after reassuring a sick grandmother and her granddaughter. As snow poured through the open windows, he fought off the attackers, but more men closed in around him.

• Lian Youming found a sick old woman and her granddaughter hiding in the last carriage and told them he would pay their fares.
• The granddaughter mistook Lian Youming’s followers for child snatchers, but he explained that the crowd was after him and warned her not to smear dung on herself.
• Lian Youming opened the carriage windows and back door, then confronted Song Fei, who called himself Eighth Master.
• Lian Youming exchanged a martial challenge with Song Fei as the carriage doors were shut.
• Lian Youming caught and returned iron balls, then struck down two attackers and threw them out through the windows.
• Song Fei ordered his men to kill Lian Youming as armed figures surged around him.

Lian Youming fought off a coordinated attack by the Eighth Master's bandits on the train, protecting Yan Tao and the old woman and child nearby. The Eighth Master struck him with Baji Boxing, but the conductor's arrival interrupted their fight, which resumed after the bandits cleaned up and left.

• Lian Youming used his Toad-Fishing Skill and martial arts to repel the bandits' blades, kicks, and grappling attacks, while Yan Tao watched in shock.
• Lian Youming hurled the little old woman into the attacking bandits, then gouged One-Ear's right eye when he tried to steal the luggage.
• Lian Youming blinded the remaining bandits with bean flour and knocked them down, but the Eighth Master charged him with Baji Boxing and made him bleed.
• The Eighth Master taunted Lian Youming, who mocked the source of his Baji Boxing, before a bandit warned them that the conductor was coming.
• The bandits carried away the fallen attackers and cleaned the carriage, while Lian Youming paid the fares for the old woman and the girl.
• After the conductor left, the Eighth Master removed his sunglasses and rolled up his sleeves as he prepared to fight Lian Youming again.

Lian Youming defeated and killed the Eighth Master in a brutal fight aboard the train, but he suspected the man might have been a stand-in for the real bandit chief. At dawn, he mistook a female attendant for the Eighth Master in disguise, only to learn she was the twin sister of another attendant.

• Zhao Xiaozhi secretly watched Lian Youming's carriage and spotted a mustached man leaving it.
• Lian Youming fought the Eighth Master, endured his attacks, and killed him with a powerful palm strike and a final punch.
• A little girl took the Eighth Master's ring and money, and Lian Youming had bandits carry the corpse off the train.
• The little girl told Lian Youming she had seen a mustached man in an animal-hide vest behind the Eighth Master, leading him to suspect the dead man was a stand-in.
• Lian Youming rested through the night while the train continued toward dawn.
• Lian Youming accused a female attendant of being the Eighth Master, but she explained that the attendant he had seen elsewhere was her twin sister.

Lian Youming returned to Xijing with Yan Tao and Zhao Xiaozhi after surviving an attack by a hidden-blade assailant, and he brought the mysterious Journey to the West home. As his family welcomed him, he discovered that the book’s illustrations might contain a training method and perhaps a breathing technique, but studying them disturbed his mind.

• Lian Youming used the crowd’s distraction and Zhao Xiaozhi’s scream to evade a mustached man’s hidden-blade attack, while Xiaoyun tried to help him; his punch fatally injured the attacker.
• Lian Youming gave Xiaoyun three silver dollars, but she refused them and ran off, while Zhao Xiaozhi asked him to teach her kung fu.
• Lian Youming took Yan Tao to call Sun Duhe, then brought both young women home, where his mother Zhao Lanxiang, his third aunt, and his siblings welcomed him back.
• Lian Youming studied the pictures in Journey to the West and realized their poses could be linked into a possible training method, though he could not find a breathing technique.
• Lian Youming found that the pictures worked in either direction, and the conflicting sequences made his thoughts spiral until he shut the book and steadied himself.