Chapter Summaries

Gu Moran captured the Iwami Silver Mine with its official silver intact and discovered evidence that the current emperor had poisoned the late emperor with mercury powder supplied by Wa. The chapter left Gu Moran holding proof of the suspected patricide, while Kim Seon-a recovered Goryeo’s royal maps and tomb plans from the same chest.

• Murong Xue disabled Shōni Sukemoto, and the Wa guards and surviving mine soldiers surrendered as the Great Yan forces took the Iwami Silver Mine and secured its silver.
• Gu Moran sent everyone else away and treated Kim Seon-a’s shoulder wound in the silver vault.
• Gu Moran broke open the chained iron chest, and Kim Seon-a found Goryeo’s geomantic map and royal tomb mechanism plans.
• Gu Moran discovered a hidden cylinder containing Imperial Medical Bureau records of the late emperor’s pulse readings and a blood-written confession.
• Gu Moran read that the current emperor had poisoned the late emperor with Longevity Red Pills containing Wa-made mercury powder.

After taking the Iwami Silver Mine, Gu Moran and his companions planned an assault on Heian-kyō, while debating whether to kill Wa’s imperial bloodline and spare the innocent. Gu Moran began arguing that sparing the samurai families could leave them to suffer after their men died for the emperor.

• Gu Moran ordered Pu Yunshan to secure the silver mine and led the rest of the army to a nearby hot spring estate.
• Gu Moli presented a map showing that Heian-kyō lay less than two hundred li away and proposed resting before marching on the capital.
• Kim Seon-a urged Gu Moran to exterminate Emperor Takaichi’s bloodline and asked to kill the emperor herself.
• Xie Linyuan offered to kill the chief culprits but argued that innocent women, children, and samurai families should be spared.
• Gu Moran praised Xie Linyuan’s compassion, then asked what the samurai would do if their emperor were killed.
• Xie Linyuan predicted that thousands of samurai would commit suicide, and Gu Moran asked him to consider the families they would leave behind.

Gu Moran persuaded Xie Linyuan that killing the families of Heian-kyō’s imperial clan and warriors would be an act of Buddhist compassion that protected Kim Seon-a from future vengeance. Xie Linyuan embraced this twisted reasoning and vowed to massacre every household when the army attacked Heian-kyō.

• Gu Moran warned Xie Linyuan that spared children might grow up to avenge their fathers and assassinate Kim Seon-a.
• Xie Linyuan suggested remaining after the war to chant sutras and persuade the orphans to abandon vengeance.
• Gu Moran accused Xie Linyuan of valuing his reputation over Kim Seon-a’s safety and argued that true compassion meant sending families to the afterlife together.
• Kim Seon-a and Gu Moli stared in shock as Gu Moran’s reasoning shattered Xie Linyuan’s resolve.
• Xie Linyuan seized his Nine-Turn Golden Wheel and vowed to kill every member of the Takaichi Imperial Clan and every warrior’s household in Heian-kyō.

Gu Moran used a cage suspended over a caustic hot spring to make the captured envoys and Takaichi Nanako bargain for protection from assassins. The prisoners turned on each other, and Shuangxi revealed a secret hidden in Zhou Yanru’s boot before Tuoba Mang silenced them with a hammer strike.

• Gu Moran learned that over a hundred Ise Grand Shrine warriors were closing in on his estate and ordered Tuoba Mang to move the prisoners beside the hot spring.
• Gu Moran had quicklime and sulfur dumped into the pool and suspended the prisoners’ cage above its boiling fumes.
• Gu Moran offered the single iron-plated room to whichever prisoner could provide a ransom exceeding the three million taels from Iwami Silver Mine.
• Zhou Yanru blamed Shuangxi for knowing a secret, and Shuangxi revealed that Zhou Yanru had hidden a letter and bronze contact token inside his boot.
• Zhou Yanru and Shuangxi fought in the cage while Takaichi Nanako kicked at them, and Tuoba Mang struck the cage’s iron ring with his hammer.

Zhou Yanru revealed the location of Wa’s covert fleet and its plan to arm the false prince, but Ise Grand Shrine shadow ninjas attacked the manor before Gu Moran could act on the information. Xie Linyuan slaughtered the attackers and pursued them into the night, while Emperor Takaichi ordered a poison formation prepared to stop Gu Moran’s forces.

• Zhou Yanru revealed that twelve covert ships near Osaka Bay carried five thousand suits of armor and alliance letters, and Tuoba Mang retrieved a token and secret letter from Zhou Yanru’s boot.
• Ise Grand Shrine shadow ninjas attacked Gu Moran’s manor with poisoned weapons, and Gu Moran stayed with Kim Seon-a while Xie Linyuan confronted them.
• Xie Linyuan destroyed the attackers with his golden wheels, then pursued the survivors and killed the forces at three covert outposts along the road.
• Emperor Takaichi ordered Hattori Hanzō and the Onmyōryō to prepare the Hundred Demons’ Night Parade Illusion-Poison Formation near Rashōmon.

Gu Moran’s army confronted the poisonous defenses at Rashōmon, and Xie Linyuan charged alone through the Wa warriors to destroy Hattori Hanzō’s ritual platform. With the platform shattered and Hanzō dead, Zhen Meili ordered the Great Yan artillery to fire.

• Emperor Takaichi learned that a Great Yan monk had slaughtered the hidden sentries outside Rashōmon and sent back a ruined shadow ninja bearing a bloodstained message.
• Two days later, Hattori Hanzō prepared Rashōmon’s defenses with poisonous mist, frenzied warriors, and a ritual platform while Gu Moran’s army assembled outside the city.
• Xie Linyuan entered the Wa formation, cut through the warriors, and leapt toward the ritual platform as Gu Moran ordered Zhen Meili to ready the trebuchets and guns.
• Xie Linyuan smashed the ritual platform with his golden wheel, killing Hattori Hanzō and sending the onmyōji tumbling beneath the wreckage.
• Zhen Meili lowered her command flag and ordered the artillery to fire.

Great Yan forces breached Heian-kyō and captured Emperor Takaichi, who surrendered with a treaty and lavish offers. Gu Moran signed, then claimed imperial envoy Shuangxi had gone missing and ordered the army to occupy and search the city.

• Tuoba Mang's forces bombarded Rashōmon while Xie Linyuan and the cavalry attacked, breaking the Wa defenders and opening the way into Heian-kyō.
• Kim Seon-a led the Goryeo and Great Yan cavalry through the breach and captured Emperor Takaichi at the imperial residence.
• Emperor Takaichi offered territory, treasure, weapons, and imperial women in exchange for a treaty and the withdrawal of Great Yan's army.
• Gu Moran signed the surrender memorial, then claimed Eunuch Shuangxi was missing in Heian-kyō and ordered the entire army into the city to search every household.
• Emperor Takaichi realized Gu Moran had deceived him and protested, but Gu Moran ordered the gates sealed and threatened anyone who obstructed the search.

Murong Xue and Gu Moran captured Heian-kyō, where Kim Seon-a avenged Goryeo by executing Emperor Takaichi, while Xie Linyuan destroyed loyalist clans and Gu Moran’s forces seized vast wealth. After learning of a rebellion planned for the Dragon Boat Festival, Gu Moran ordered his army to return to Chang’an; meanwhile, Zhaxi Dawa’s defeated Tubo troops retreated to Silver City with the captive Chen Qing.

• Murong Xue crippled Emperor Takaichi’s guards and ankles, and Kim Seon-a beheaded him and recovered Goryeo’s battle banner.
• Xie Linyuan slaughtered imperial loyalists across Heian-kyō as Gu Moran’s forces looted the palace and seized nearly ten million taels’ worth of treasure.
• Lin Qingdai reported that she had intercepted twelve covert ships carrying five thousand suits of armor and captured a Great Yan envoy.
• Gu Moran learned that the deposed empress and her allies planned to seize the capital and enthrone a prince during the Dragon Boat Festival, and he ordered his army to return to Chang’an.
• Zhaxi Dawa led twenty thousand defeated Tubo troops into Silver City while Chen Qing’s warnings and taunts undermined the retreating general.

Zhaxi Dawa retreated to Silver City, where Yang Tie’s Crimson Blood Divine Pill had already placed most of the Tubo officers under another power’s control. Meanwhile, Gu Moran’s fleet left Tsukushi Port for Dengzhou with its plunder and prisoners, and Kim Seon-a approached him in the cabin.

• Zhaxi Dawa reached Silver City and ordered Chen Qing locked in the dungeon, while the Tubo deputy general concealed the pills prepared to ensnare him and the city’s army.
• Yang Tie’s Crimson Blood Divine Pill had already made most of Silver City’s officers dependent on the drug and the silver they received.
• Tuoba Mang locked Shuangxi, Zhou Yanru, Gu Debai, Inukami Jusaburo, and Shōni Sukemoto in the fleet’s prison as Great Yan’s soldiers loaded plunder and supplies aboard the ships.
• Lin Qingdai reported that the fleet was ready, and Gu Moran ordered the cannons fired and the ships to sail from Tsukushi Port for Dengzhou.
• Gu Moran checked on Shen Ling’er and Meng Jiuning before the women left the cabin, then found Kim Seon-a waiting for him in the inner room.

After conquering Kim Seon-a, Gu Moran received a martial breakthrough and a persuasion skill, along with a warning about new fortune in Chang'an tied to the imperial family and the war against Tubo. He went to the hold to persuade his captured uncle Gu Debai and Zhou Yanru to cooperate before their return to the capital.

• Gu Moran and Kim Seon-a spent the night together after she pledged herself to him.
• The system raised Gu Moran's cultivation to Peak Second Rank, granted him the Mind Disarray skill, and warned him of new fortune gathering in Chang'an.
• Tuoba Mang told Gu Moran that Gu Debai and Zhou Yanru were trying to kill themselves rather than face trial in Chang'an.
• Gu Moran ordered the captives watched and went to the hold, intending to persuade them to help him confront the empress and ministers.
• Gu Debai demanded that Gu Moran kill him, but Gu Moran offered him and Zhou Yanru a path to higher office, noble rank, and glory; Shuangxi listened as well.

Gu Moran persuaded Zhou Yanru and Gu Debai to pose as loyal undercover agents and promised them positions and rewards if they denounced the empress's faction. Meanwhile, Yang Tie and Tubo commanders confronted Zhaxi Dawa in Silver City, demanding surrender in exchange for wealth and Crimson Blood Divine Pills.

• Gu Moran reframed Zhou Yanru's dealings with the Japanese as undercover service and claimed Gu Debai had faked his death to expose a court conspiracy.
• Gu Moran offered Zhou Yanru the Minister of War's seat and Gu Debai command of the Qi and Lu Navy if they blamed the empress and crown prince's faction in court.
• Zhou Yanru and Gu Debai knelt and agreed to support Gu Moran's account, while Eunuch Shuangxi begged to join them as an undercover agent.
• Gu Moran ordered Tuoba Mang to bring Shuangxi General Tuoba's war boots, then the ship sailed toward Dengzhou.
• In Silver City, Gesang and other Tubo commanders surrounded Zhaxi Dawa alongside Yang Tie and demanded that he surrender the city and lead twenty thousand cavalry to attack Yi Prefecture in exchange for rewards and Crimson Blood Divine Pills.

Yang Tie revealed that he had poisoned Tubo warriors with Crimson Blood Divine Pills to avenge his family, and that Zhaxi Dawa’s tendon-weakening powder had accelerated the Living Corpse Worms inside them. The warriors transformed and rose against Zhaxi Dawa as Yang Tie prepared to command them to attack Silver City and Yi Prefecture.

• Zhaxi Dawa revealed that he had drugged Gesang and the other commanders with Ten Fragrances Tendon-Weakening Powder, then prepared to kill Gesang.
• Yang Tie released blood worms from two jade bottles, and Gesang and the commanders transformed into blood-eyed, supernaturally strong living corpses.
• Yang Tie showed Zhaxi Dawa the scars from his torture and explained that Great Yan soldiers and Zhaxi Dunzhu’s raiders had destroyed his family twelve years earlier.
• Yang Tie confessed that he had poisoned Great Yan nobles with pills and made Crimson Blood Divine Pills from women’s heart’s blood, corpse poison, and beetle eggs.
• Yang Tie said Zhaxi Dawa’s powder had matured the worms and rang a bronze bell, intending to command twenty thousand Tubo cavalrymen to attack Yi Prefecture.

Chen Qing rescued Zhaxi Dawa from Yang Tie’s drugged chiliarchs and escaped with him into a sewage drain, but a poisoned dart struck Chen Qing. The two were trapped in darkness beneath the rubble, where Chen Qing warned Zhaxi Dawa to stay quiet before passing out.

• Chen Qing escaped the water dungeon, drugged the kitchen guards, and used a brazier cart to smash through the hall’s screen and rescue Zhaxi Dawa.
• Chen Qing struck the great bronze bell with a copper pot, disrupting Yang Tie’s control of the drugged chiliarchs and causing them to attack each other.
• Yang Tie fired poisoned sleeve darts at Zhaxi Dawa, but Chen Qing tackled him out of their path and took a dart in his shoulder.
• Chen Qing dragged Zhaxi Dawa into a hidden sewage passage and collapsed the entrance behind them as Gesang and the chiliarchs pursued.
• In the dark drain, Chen Qing warned Zhaxi Dawa to stay silent, then passed out against his chest.

Zhaxi Dawa pulled the poisoned arrow from Chen Qing's shoulder and sucked out the poison, promising to protect him as Chen Qing remained unconscious. On the East Sea, Gu Moran woke to a system alert that Zhaxi Dawa had fallen in love with Chen Qing, his destiny storyline had changed, and Gu Moran had received two compensation rewards.

• Zhaxi Dawa hid with the unconscious Chen Qing in a culvert after Chen Qing saved him from a poisoned arrow.
• Zhaxi Dawa removed the arrow, sucked the poisoned blood from Chen Qing's shoulder, and bandaged the wound.
• Zhaxi Dawa held Chen Qing close and promised not to kill him again, offering him horses and gold once they escaped.
• Gu Moran woke aboard the Great Yan navy's flagship when the system reported Zhaxi Dawa's love for Chen Qing and the collapse of his original destiny storyline.
• The system granted Gu Moran the Body Impervious to Ten Thousand Poisons constitution and divine-grade explosive-shell blueprints.

Gu Moran checked on Chen Qing through the system and learned that both Zhaxi Dawa and Batuer had fallen for his strategist. As Gu Moran traveled toward Dengzhou Port with Murong Xue and Kim Seon-a, he chose not to tell Batuer that Chen Qing’s affections had shifted.

• Gu Moran saw that Zhaxi Dawa’s favorability toward Chen Qing had reached 92 and worried about what Chen Qing was doing in the Tubo camp.
• Murong Xue told Gu Moran that Batuer had become lovesick, treasured Chen Qing’s battered folding fan, and had lost her appetite.
• Gu Moran checked the system and saw that Zhaxi Dawa was holding Chen Qing in a drainage channel and planning to rebel to make him her queen.
• Gu Moran decided to keep Zhaxi Dawa’s changed affections secret from Batuer and considered the system rewards of poison immunity and explosive-shell blueprints.
• Kim Seon-a woke and asked whether they were nearly at Dengzhou Port.

Gu Moran arrived near Dengzhou Port after defeating Zhou Yanru’s forces and learned that Sun Chengzong had brought three thousand elite infantry and a hundred thousand taels of silver to support them. He planned to disguise his fleet and use his silver tongue to take the reinforcements and money without a fight.

• Gu Moran spent the early morning with Kim Seon-a, Murong Xue, Shen Ling'er, and Meng Jiuning aboard the flagship before the fleet approached Dengzhou Port.
• Lin Qingdai told Gu Moran that Sun Chengzong had arrived with three thousand Capital Garrison elites and a hundred thousand taels of silver, unaware that Zhou Yanru had been defeated.
• Tuoba Mang offered to attack the reinforcements with fire thunder, but Gu Moran rejected the idea and ordered Zhou Yanru and Gu Debai brought from the hold in clean clothes.
• Gu Moran ordered the fleet to replace its Great Yan command flags with Zhou Yanru’s military supervisor banners and forbade the troops from drawing their blades first.
• Gu Moran prepared to persuade Sun Chengzong to hand over the silver and command of the three thousand elites.

In Silver City, Chen Qing gave Zhaxi Dawa a plan to destroy Yang Tie’s drug men, and Zhaxi Dawa vowed to make him queen after they retook the city. At Dengzhou Port, Sun Chengzong demanded that Zhou Yanru and Gu Debai produce Gu Moran and account for the government silver, but Gu Debai suddenly accused Zhou Yanru of treachery.

• Chen Qing explained that fire could kill Yang Tie’s drug men and instructed Zhaxi Dawa to lure them into the western fire-oil depot with warm blood.
• Zhaxi Dawa swore to kill Yang Tie, retake Silver City, rebel against Tubo’s court, and make Chen Qing queen; Chen Qing fainted from excitement.
• Gu Moran told Murong Xue, Kim Seon-a, and Shen Ling'er to rest aboard the flagship while he went to meet the officials at Dengzhou Port.
• Sun Chengzong surrounded the dock with Capital Garrison archers and demanded that Gu Moran be brought down for identification and that the three million taels of government silver be counted.
• Gu Debai drew his saber against Zhou Yanru and accused him of trying to claim credit for capturing Gu Moran, while Zhou Yanru blamed Gu Debai and called for the cage to be brought down.

Gu Moran revealed that he had faked his weakness and exposed Sun Chengzong’s plan to poison him, Zhou Yanru, and Gu Debai, then claim the reward. After breaking free and attacking Sun, he used his Heart Confusion skill to turn the Capital Garrison soldiers against their commander, leaving them hesitating over whether to shoot.

• Sun Chengzong verified Gu Moran’s identity and ordered Zhou Yanru and Gu Debai to poison him with a gold flask coated in deadly poison.
• Gu Moran broke free of his unfastened chains, seized the flask, and drank the poisoned wine without harm.
• Gu Moran shattered the cage bars, struck an elderly imperial retainer with one, and smashed the flask into Sun Chengzong’s face.
• Sun Chengzong ordered the Capital Garrison to shoot, but Gu Moran used Heart Confusion to make the soldiers freeze.
• Gu Moran revealed Sun Chengzong’s plot to poison Zhou Yanru and Gu Debai and steal the three million taels, leaving the soldiers suspicious and uncertain.