Chapter Summaries

After ascending, Jin Shanyao learned she had to repay an ancient debt by caring for her benefactor’s children, Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci. She arrived in the Sheng Dynasty to find their mother dead and their relatives looting the household and trying to take the children.

• Jin Shanyao passed her tribulation and reached the Southern Heavenly Gate, but Taishang Laojun stopped her from receiving a divine position because she still owed a karmic debt.
• Taishang Laojun showed Jin Shanyao how a woman had saved her long ago and sent her to find the woman’s reincarnation, Wen Jingshu, in another world.
• Jin Shanyao arrived in Little River Village and learned that Wen Jingshu had died, leaving Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci in her care.
• Jin Shanyao carried the children back to the Meng household and found Meng Hongde and Diao Siniang looting the home and claiming they would raise the children.
• Meng Anci refused to go with his eldest aunt and rolled on the ground, repeating Old Woman Li’s familiar curses and drawing laughter from the watching villagers.

Jin Shanyao defended Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci from their relatives and villagers, promised to raise them, and decided to teach them martial arts. When the hungry children asked where she was going, she tried to make them food but revealed that she did not know how to light a fire.

• Diao Siniang tried to take belongings from the courtyard, but Jin Shanyao slapped her and kicked Meng Hongde into a wall when he attacked.
• The villagers urged Jin Shanyao to hand the children and their inheritance over to the Meng clan, but Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci asked to stay with her.
• Jin Shanyao reassured the children, then promised to begin teaching them martial arts the next day.
• After the three and their animals tidied the house, Jin Shanyao noticed the children were hungry and went to prepare food.
• Jin Shanyao found two duck eggs but hesitated to light the stove, and Meng Anzhi came in to ask whether she needed help.

Jin Shanyao cared for Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci after their mother’s death, while villagers realized she might be an impostor and Meng Hongde plotted against her. She took the frightened children up White Head Mountain to find food.

• Jin Shanyao boiled duck eggs for the children, and Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci cried when she told them their dead mother would not get hungry.
• Diao Siniang and Meng Hongde realized that Madam Meng’s surname had been Wen, while Jin Shanyao’s was Jin, and Meng Hongde sent Diao Siniang to fetch his Second Brother.
• Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci went out to dig wild greens, but found only a few and stayed close to home to protect Dahuang and Xiaoli.
• Jin Shanyao offered to take the children up the mountain to find food, then carried them along despite their protests about the dangerous animals.

Jin Shanyao took Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci into White Head Mountain, reassured them, and gave them protective ginkgo-leaf charms. As they gathered mushrooms, she taught them how to distinguish edible honey mushrooms from poisonous deadly funeral bells.

• Matchmaker Gao accused Jin Shanyao of taking Meng Anzhi into the mountains to abandon her, but Jin Shanyao reassured the girl that the rumors were false.
• Jin Shanyao let the children rest by a river, fed them sweet ginkgo leaves, and gave each a protective necklace made from her branches.
• Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci found honey mushrooms and a fresh wild pheasant egg, but Meng Anci fell and crushed some of the mushrooms.
• Jin Shanyao warned the children that some lookalike mushrooms were deadly, then showed them how to tell poisonous deadly funeral bells from edible honey mushrooms.
• The children admired Jin Shanyao's knowledge as she continued teaching them about mushrooms in the mountain.

Jin Shanyao returned from the mountain with Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci, carrying game after a successful hunt, but the Meng family accused her of endangering the children and tried to take them away. She kept the children and the meat, leaving the villagers resentful as she headed home to make chicken and mushroom stew.

• Dahuang brought down a wild rabbit and the wildcat brought down a pheasant, delighting Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci and prompting Jin Shanyao to promise them chicken and mushroom stew.
• At the foot of the mountain, Meng Hongde and Meng Hongyi accused Jin Shanyao of endangering the children and demanded that she return them to the Meng family.
• The village head accepted that Jin Shanyao had been entrusted with the children and dismissed the dispute, warning her not to take them up the mountain again.
• After Meng Hongde threatened Jin Shanyao, she used spiritual power to make him, Diao Siniang, and Meng Hongyi tumble and get injured.
• Matchmaker Gao and other villagers tried to inspect or buy Jin Shanyao's game, but Jin Shanyao refused to sell, and Dahuang blocked Matchmaker Gao as she left with the children.

Jin Shanyao prepared the game she brought home while Meng Anzhi helped, and Wang Guihua arrived hoping to take some food. Jin Shanyao made Wang Guihua cook chicken with mushrooms in exchange for a bowl of meat, then sent her home with it.

• Jin Shanyao began preparing the rabbit and pheasant while Meng Anzhi guided her through the cooking.
• Wang Guihua came to the house with a basket of lotus roots and tried to take the meat Jin Shanyao had brought back.
• Jin Shanyao stopped Wang Guihua from grabbing the meat and told her to cook chicken with mushrooms for a bowl in return.
• Wang Guihua cooked the meat with mushrooms while Meng Anzhi watched and learned the steps.
• Jin Shanyao gave Wang Guihua a bowl of meat, keeping the two drumsticks for Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci, and Wang Guihua hurried home with it.

Jin Shanyao shared the meat she had received with Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci, while Wang Guihua’s attempt to bring meat home ended in a confrontation with Diao Siniang. Jin Shanyao planned to turn the Meng Household’s first and second branches against each other and promised to send the children to private school, leaving them anxiously refusing the expense.

• Jin Shanyao gave Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci chicken legs and made sure they ate their fill.
• Wang Guihua returned home with meat from Jin Shanyao, but Diao Siniang accused her of stealing it and caused the meat to spill onto the ground.
• Jin Shanyao studied the Record of Admonishing Evil, and Meng Anci advised her how to fight more effectively next time.
• Meng Anzhi offered to cook in the future, while Jin Shanyao explained how she would use meat to make the first and second branches distrust each other.
• Jin Shanyao said she would send Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to private school, and the children protested that they did not want to study.

Jin Shanyao hunted a wild boar, sold most of it to villagers, and let Wang Guihua cook and keep the blood and offal. Meng Hongde arrived with yamen runners and accused Jin Shanyao of being a child trafficker, and she was taken away while Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci pleaded for her.

• Jin Shanyao had Dahuang and Xiaoli catch a wild boar, then sold most of its meat with the village head's help.
• Jin Shanyao gave Wang Guihua the pig's blood and offal in exchange for cooking, and Wang Guihua advised her to preserve the remaining meat.
• Meng Hongde and Meng Hongyi arrived with yamen runners, and Meng Hongde accused Jin Shanyao of pretending to be the children's aunt.
• Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci insisted Jin Shanyao was their aunt, but the head runner ordered her to come to the yamen.
• Jin Shanyao told the children she would return and warned Wang Guihua to guard the house before the runners took her away.

Jin Shanyao used a Truth Incantation to expose Meng Hongde’s plans in court, and the magistrate punished him and ruled in the children’s favor. The chapter left Meng Anci set to inherit his father’s property while Jin Shanyao’s connection to Wen Jingshu was accepted as the children’s guardian.

• Meng Hongde threatened to sell Meng Anzhi and ordered Meng Hongyi to find a trafficker, while Meng Anci pleaded with Wang Guihua to protect his sister.
• Diao Siniang took food and a pig’s hind leg from the kitchen, then forced Meng Anci to lead her up the mountain as Dahuang and Xiaoli followed the children.
• At the county yamen, Jin Shanyao secretly cast a Truth Incantation on Meng Hongde, making him confess his plans to sell Meng Anzhi and seize the family property.
• The magistrate ordered Meng Hongde beaten after he insulted the court, then checked the household records and asked Jin Shanyao about her relationship with Wen Jingshu.
• Jin Shanyao explained that Wen Jingshu had entrusted her with the children, and the magistrate accepted the arrangement and transferred Meng Hongzhong’s property to Meng Anci.

Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi endured Diao Siniang’s abuse while secretly preparing for the eldest and second branches to face their fate. The chapter ended when Meng Hongyi brought a broker to inspect Meng Anzhi.

• Diao Siniang forced Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi to clean mushrooms, then refused to share the meat broth with them.
• Wang Guihua gave the children half a bowl of pig’s blood and warned them not to tell their youngest aunt she had mistreated them.
• Meng Tietou tried to take Dahuang, but the dog bit his leg and he demanded that his father kill it for meat.
• Meng Anci comforted Dahuang and waited with Meng Anzhi for the family branches to return.
• Meng Hongyi arrived with a broker and called for Meng Anzhi to be brought out for inspection.

Diao Siniang and Meng Hongyi tried to sell Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci, but Diao Siniang and Meng Tietou collapsed after eating poisonous mushrooms. Jin Shanyao arrived, rescued the children, and confronted Meng Hongde over beating Meng Anci.

• Diao Siniang brought a people trader to buy Meng Anzhi, while Meng Hongyi argued over the price until Wang Guihua tried to stop the sale.
• The trader offered to buy Meng Anci too, but Diao Siniang began hallucinating and convulsing, and Meng Tietou was reported to have fainted with foam at his mouth.
• The people trader tried to lure the children away during the commotion, but Jin Shanyao arrived and the children told her that Meng Hongde had hit Meng Anci and Meng Hongyi wanted to sell Meng Anzhi.
• Meng Hongde blocked Jin Shanyao and accused her of poisoning his wife and son, but she kicked him and demanded to know which hand had struck Meng Anci.
• Meng Anci identified Meng Hongde's right hand, and Jin Shanyao stepped on it before kicking Meng Hongde into a stone and leaving him bleeding.

Jin Shanyao defended Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi from the villagers and took them home with the pig leg. She learned the children had poisoned the Meng family’s food because they feared being sold and killed, and comforted them after discovering they had not planned to survive.

• The villagers accused Jin Shanyao and the children, but she declared that the authorities had placed Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi in her care and warned the crowd to stop slandering them.
• Meng Hongde denied knowing about the poisoning, and Jin Shanyao retrieved the pig leg from the Meng family kitchen while the frightened children begged her not to punish them.
• After Jin Shanyao left, Meng Hongde demanded that Meng Hongyi divorce Wang Guihua, but Meng Hongyi refused and took his wife and children home.
• At home, Jin Shanyao treated Meng Anci’s wound with golden powder and asked the children how they had thought to use poisonous mushrooms in the stew.
• Meng Anci confessed that the Meng family had wanted to sell his sister and kill Jin Shanyao and Dahuang, while Meng Anzhi admitted they had not planned to live.

Jin Shanyao punished Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci for poisoning the Meng family by deciding to send them to school, then received a warning from the village head about the danger of poisonous mushrooms and the consequences of anyone dying. As she listened in on the village with her Divine Sense, she learned Diao Siniang planned to return to White Head Mountain to hunt and heard Matchmaker Gao insult her.

• Jin Shanyao told Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci that she would send them to school as punishment, while the children mistook her decision for praise.
• Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci recalled villagers who had mistreated them and spoke privately about them as Jin Shanyao prepared meat.
• The village head showed Jin Shanyao how deadly mushrooms resembled honey mushrooms and warned her that a death could bring the authorities to the village.
• Jin Shanyao made the children chase Xiaoli as martial arts training, then used her Divine Sense to overhear Diao Siniang discussing a return to White Head Mountain to hunt.
• Jin Shanyao heard Matchmaker Gao complain that Wen Jingshu and her younger sister were no good, and wondered whether she had failed to act human enough.

Jin Shanyao cared for Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci, encouraged Meng Anzhi to study medicine, and taught both children to read. After villagers accused them of taking all the mountain’s mushrooms and cursed them, the children used a rope and knife to force the villagers to swear they would stop bullying them, only to find Jin Shanyao had witnessed the confrontation.

• Jin Shanyao gave Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi spiritual ginkgo leaves, then agreed to teach Meng Anzhi to recognize medicinal herbs.
• Jin Shanyao began teaching the children to read each night while the villagers increasingly shunned them.
• Matchmaker Gao and Lady Qin of the Yu Family accused the children of taking all the mountain’s mushrooms and cursed them.
• Meng Anci put a rope around his neck at Matchmaker Gao’s house while Meng Anzhi threatened the crowd with a knife, forcing Matchmaker Gao to swear she would stop cursing them.
• Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi made Lady Qin and the other villagers swear not to curse them, then discovered Jin Shanyao had been watching.

Jin Shanyao tried to gather a mountain full of game with her Spiritual Power, but Taishang Laojun struck her with Lightning Punishment and warned her to repay her kindness without using Divine Abilities. After Meng Hongde saw the lightning strike, Jin Shanyao knocked him unconscious and headed home with a few animals and mountain pears.

• During a storm, Jin Shanyao sealed the leaks in the house with a Law Technique and comforted Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci.
• Jin Shanyao found that the pork leg she had meant as a tuition gift had spoiled, then left the children with Old Woman Li and went up White Head Mountain to hunt.
• Jin Shanyao used Spiritual Power to summon animals, but Lightning Punishment struck her and Taishang Laojun warned her that further abuse of her power could destroy her cultivation.
• Meng Hongde saw Jin Shanyao get struck by lightning and mocked her, so she seized him and knocked him unconscious.
• Jin Shanyao gathered pheasants and rabbits, picked two mountain pears, and went down the mountain while the villagers hesitated to help Meng Hongde.

Jin Shanyao returned from the mountain with her Spirit Core cracked by lightning, then comforted Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci as village gossip branded her a demon. After hearing Meng Anzhi describe the cost of medicine, Jin Shanyao decided to gather medicinal herbs and mushrooms to sell and take the children along the next morning.

• Jin Shanyao told Dahuang and the cat that Taishang Laojun had struck her with two lightning bolts for abusing Spiritual Power, while Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci worried over her.
• Old Woman Li helped Jin Shanyao wash, and Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci defended her after rumors spread that she was a demon.
• Jin Shanyao kissed both children, and Meng Anzhi kissed her back, while Meng Anci shyly hoped for a kiss too.
• Jin Shanyao watched Diao Siniang and Old Woman Li quarrel next door and recorded their arguing techniques, but she nearly burned dinner while taking notes.
• Meng Anzhi explained the expense of her late mother's medicine, prompting Jin Shanyao to plan a trip up the mountain to gather herbs and mushrooms for sale.

Jin Shanyao took Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci into White Head Mountain to gather medicinal herbs, then realized the children wanted to preserve their parents’ belongings and home. She apologized and promised to repair their old house instead of replacing it, leaving them reconciled and ready to tell her what they wanted.

• Jin Shanyao led Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci deep into White Head Mountain and gathered medicinal herbs, including century-old ginseng and lion's mane mushrooms.
• Jin Shanyao and the children ate roasted rabbit by a stream while Meng Anzhi studied the Compendium of Herbs and copied the name of a blue-staining bolete.
• Jin Shanyao noticed the children’s broken shoes and treated Meng Anzhi’s sore foot, prompting Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to cry over their mother’s handmade shoes.
• Meng Anzhi told Jin Shanyao she wanted to keep their mother’s clothes and preserve the house their parents had built.
• Jin Shanyao apologized for overlooking the children’s feelings and promised to repair the old house rather than build a new one.
• Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci agreed to tell Jin Shanyao what they wanted, and Meng Anzhi said Jin Shanyao could ask Anci for help when she did not understand something.

Jin Shanyao gathered herbs and prepared to take Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to the county town, but the village’s evening search for missing Choudan interrupted their lesson. She used her Spiritual Power to locate him in an abandoned house, though the villagers doubted her and gathered to see whether she was right.

• Jin Shanyao collected herbs with Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci, and Dahuang and Xiaoli returned with a deer.
• Jin Shanyao planned to sell the herbs, buy grain and seeds, and take the children to the county town the next day.
• Old Woman Li’s grandson Choudan went missing, and the village head asked Jin Shanyao to lead the search in the mountains.
• Jin Shanyao claimed she had the Heavenly Eye, silenced the skeptical villagers by striking the courtyard wall, and used Spiritual Power to search the plants for clues.
• Jin Shanyao told the villagers that Choudan was trapped in the cellar of Widow Wang’s abandoned house, but they doubted her and gathered at the Li Household to watch.

Jin Shanyao saved Choudan and discovered that doing good deeds seemed to heal her damaged Inner Core. Old Woman Li began cooking for Jin Shanyao and the children, while Jin Shanyao planned to test her theory again.

• Old Woman Li brought the delirious Choudan back, and Jin Shanyao agreed to save him in exchange for a month of cooking.
• Jin Shanyao treated Choudan with silver needles, and he woke up to embrace Old Woman Li.
• Jin Shanyao found that her Inner Core's cracks had begun healing and suspected that good deeds were repairing it.
• Old Woman Li brought rice and vegetables to Jin Shanyao's courtyard and cooked porridge and braised venison.
• Jin Shanyao and the two children enjoyed the meal and talked about eating food like that every day once they had earned money.

Jin Shanyao took Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to Willow and Poplar County to sell medicinal herbs, where Shopkeeper Qin offered 1,700 taels for her goods. She refused to sell the lion's mane mushrooms, choosing to save them for the children, and waited while Qin went to withdraw the payment.

• Jin Shanyao rode an ox cart with Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to Willow and Poplar County.
• Jin Shanyao and the children explored the town before visiting several apothecaries to ask about prices.
• Jin Shanyao brought her basket of herbs to an apothecary, where Shopkeeper Qin inspected the ginseng, deer antler, lingzhi, and lion's mane mushrooms.
• Shopkeeper Qin agreed to buy the medicinal herbs at his quoted prices, and his assistant calculated a total of 1,700 taels.
• Jin Shanyao refused to sell the lion's mane mushrooms because she wanted the children to eat them, and Shopkeeper Qin went to withdraw the payment.