Chapter Summaries

Xu Qi'an investigated tightened security in Sanhuang County and met Cai'er, a Nightwatchers covert agent, at a brothel. Her intelligence about Xikou Commandery being sealed off and Sanhuang County’s month-old inspections left him suspecting a hidden crisis.

• Xu Qi'an noticed soldiers checking lone adult men for disguises and told the princess consort that the Prince Who Guards the North’s forces were taking the threat seriously.
• Xu Qi'an left the princess consort at their inn and went to the Elegant Sound House, where he sought out the Nightwatchers agent Cai'er.
• Xu Qi'an used the covert code and his waist token to identify himself to Cai'er, then asked about unusual events and large-scale warfare.
• Cai'er reported that a merchant had said government troops had sealed off Xikou Commandery and its three counties, closing all official roads.
• Xu Qi'an learned that Sanhuang County’s strict inspections had been in place for a month and became more suspicious.

The author discussed volume two’s slower, character-focused approach, the difficulty of writing tightly plotted investigations, and the preparation for the Northern Territory case. He left off exhausted but confident that the case outline was nearly finished and that the story would soon reach a major turning point.

• The author said he had written two-thirds of volume two and noted that reader subscriptions rose during showing-off scenes but fell during slice-of-life chapters.
• The author explained that volume two spent more time building characters and laying groundwork, and teased a major eruption and turning point at its end.
• The author blamed padded chapters during the Thousand-Li Blood Massacre Case on not having worked out its clues and details beforehand.
• The author said the Northern Territory case outline was nearly complete and described it as a chain of interlocking cases that also set up later events.
• The author admitted that the work left him mentally drained and exhausted.

Xu Qi'an headed toward Xikou Commandery to investigate the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre and planned to ambush a Prince Who Guards the North spy for information. Meanwhile, the imperial delegation arrived in Chu Prefecture City but could not access the border army’s deployment records without Xu Qi'an’s authority, and Xu Qi'an noticed suspicious men near his tea shelter.

• Xu Qi'an decided to travel to Xikou Commandery, questioned whether to bring the princess consort, and made Cai'er sleep on the floor while he took the bed.
• A masked man leading armored troops stopped Xu Qi'an in Sanhuang County, questioned his identity and martial arts, then rode on after Xu Qi'an concealed his strength.
• Xu Qi'an concluded that the masked man was likely one of the Prince Who Guards the North’s spies and decided to capture him for information about the massacre.
• Fuxiang received a message through a black incense stick saying she could return to her clan once matters in the Northern Territory were settled.
• The imperial delegation reached Chu Prefecture City, where Zheng Xinghuai agreed to provide local government correspondence but said only the chief investigator could request border army deployment records.
• Xu Qi'an waited with the princess consort at a roadside tea shelter outside Sanhuang County, hoping to ambush a departing spy, and noticed several men acting suspiciously nearby.

Xu Qi'an and the princess consort witnessed an ambush on the Prince Who Guards the North's agent, and Xu Qi'an revealed his mastery of the Indestructible Vajra Divine Art to defeat the Azure Face barbarians. After identifying the princess consort and asking about the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre, Xu Qi'an exposed the agent's lies and seized him by the throat.

• The princess consort gave food and ten copper coins to an old beggar and his grandson, who had fled after barbarians destroyed their village.
• Xu Qi'an followed the Prince Who Guards the North's agent and watched three Azure Face barbarians ambush him; one barbarian attacked Xu Qi'an and the princess consort.
• Xu Qi'an revealed his golden, shaved head, killed the attacking barbarian, and pursued and killed the two who fled.
• Xu Qi'an introduced himself to the agent and identified the disguised woman as the princess consort, while the agent wrongly assumed Xu Qi'an planned to use her as leverage.
• The agent claimed to know nothing about the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre and urged Xu Qi'an to go to an army camp, but Xu Qi'an used his Qi-Observing Technique to expose his lies and grabbed his throat.

Xu Qi'an learned that the Prince Who Guards the North had committed the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre to advance his cultivation and resolved to find the massacre site and stop him. The chapter ended with a mysterious middle-aged man preparing to head north and warning Cai'er not to return if he died.

• Xu Qi'an killed the Prince of Huai's black-robed spy and summoned his soul, which revealed that the prince had slaughtered people to strengthen his martial blood and Qi.
• The spy's soul identified Que Yongxiu and the Prince of Huai's Heaven-rank secret agents as the only people who knew where the massacre occurred.
• The Azure Face barbarians revealed that they were searching for the massacre site to seize its blood essence, and Xu Qi'an inferred that mysterious arcanists were helping their chief pursue the prince's fortune.
• Xu Qi'an stored the bodies and souls, escaped with the princess consort, and told her he intended to find the massacre site, stop the prince, and kill him if possible.
• At Elegant Sound House, Cai'er confirmed that she had given Xu Qi'an information about Xikou Commandery, and a middle-aged man told her to leave Sanhuang County before he headed north.

Xu Qi'an learned that the Prince Who Guards the North planned to slaughter hundreds of thousands of people to advance, and he set out to sabotage the scheme while hiding the princess consort. In Chu Prefecture, Yang Yan investigated the massacre as a mysterious woman revealed that she liked Xu Qi'an and the white-robed man insisted the Barbarian Race needed a Second Rank.

• Xu Qi'an learned from Shenshu that the Prince Who Guards the North needed the refined life essence of several hundred thousand people and that Shenshu could not confidently kill him.
• Xu Qi'an decided to investigate Xikou Commandery, conceal his identity with Shenshu's Undying Body, and secretly protect the princess consort.
• Yang Yan and the officials found no irregularities in Chu Prefecture's correspondence, so Yang Yan sent Constable Chen to gather information and went to meet Que Yongxiu with Censor Liu.
• The mysterious woman met the white-robed man in the mountains and demanded to know the Director's plans in exchange for helping him.
• The woman said she liked Xu Qi'an and offered to stop the Prince Who Guards the North from advancing, but the white-robed man insisted that the Barbarian Race must gain a Second Rank.

The white-dressed woman sent the demons into Chu Prefecture while Yang Yan and Censor Liu failed to obtain the Chu Guard’s deployment records from Que Yongxiu. Xu Qi'an encountered the demon army on the road, and it recoiled when he revealed his Vajra Divine Art.

• The white-dressed woman ordered the demons to gather in Chu Prefecture and await orders while she and the sorcerer discussed finding evidence of the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre.
• Xu Qi'an carried the princess consort west and joked with her before they encountered a massive demon army in a valley.
• Que Yongxiu refused to let Yang Yan and Censor Liu inspect the Chu Guard’s deployment records and provoked Yang Yan by demanding he kneel.
• Yang Yan told Censor Liu that Que Yongxiu had been trying to provoke them into a fight and that Xu Qi'an had wisely left the delegation.
• The demon army threatened to eat Xu Qi'an and the princess consort, so Xu Qi'an revealed his Vajra Divine Art and caused the demons to panic.

Xu Qi'an and Monk Shenshu subdued a demon army and learned that the remnants of the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons were searching Chu Prefecture for the site of the Prince Who Guards the North's Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre. The chapter then shifted to Jili Zhigu learning of a prisoner with information about the massacre, while Li Miaozhen returned to North Mountain Commandery.

• Xu Qi'an let Monk Shenshu suppress the attacking demons, then questioned their leader and learned they belonged to the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons and planned to join their princess in attacking the Prince Who Guards the North.
• Monk Shenshu spared the demons because he hoped the Nine-Tailed Princess might help restore his memories, and Xu Qi'an warned them not to prey on humans.
• A twin-sabered Azure Face barbarian told Jili Zhigu that his tribe had captured a prisoner who claimed to know where the Prince Who Guards the North had slaughtered people and refined their blood essence.
• Li Miaozhen arrived outside North Mountain Commandery with a convoy, returning to her role as the Flying Swallow Heroine.

Li Miaozhen built her reputation in North Mountain Commandery while investigating the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre, and Susu’s suggestion led her to suspect that a powerful arcanist had concealed the truth. Meanwhile, Zhao Jin revealed that his lord was Zheng Xinghuai, the Chu Prefecture administrative commissioner and the sole survivor of the Prince of Huai’s massacre.

• Li Miaozhen returned to North Mountain Commandery after leading jianghu fighters against barbarian cavalry and used the rewards to feed refugees.
• Susu proposed that memories of the massacre might have been erased, prompting Li Miaozhen to suspect the Supervisor could have hidden the event.
• Zhao Jin secretly told Li Miaozhen that his lord wanted to meet her and knew about the Prince of Huai’s slaughter of the common people.
• Yang Yan and Censor Liu questioned Zheng Xinghuai, who argued that a massacre on that scale could not have been concealed and explained the resistance to the delegation as loyalty to the Prince of Huai.
• Li Miaozhen questioned Zhao Jin in a dream, and he identified Zheng Xinghuai as his lord and the only survivor of the massacre.

Li Miaozhen told Xu Qi'an that Zheng Xinghuai had witnessed the Prince Who Guards the North’s massacre of Chu Prefecture City, and Xu Qi'an hurried to meet her in North Mountain Commandery. After reuniting, they prepared to meet Zheng Xinghuai, with Xu Qi'an confident the meeting was unlikely to be a trap.

• Li Miaozhen questioned Zhao Jin, learned that Zheng Xinghuai was behind his warning, and asked Daoist Jinlian to connect her privately with Xu Qi'an.
• Li Miaozhen told Xu Qi'an that Commander-in-Chief Que Yongxiu had massacred Chu Prefecture City while the Prince Who Guards the North was away, and that Zheng Xinghuai had escaped and gone into hiding.
• Xu Qi'an reasoned that the massacre could have been concealed through an elaborate deception, then knocked out the princess consort and placed her in the Earth Book Fragment before setting off for North Mountain Commandery.
• Xu Qi'an flew north using a Confucian School spell, reached Li Miaozhen’s inn, and reunited with her despite arriving with a painful crick in his neck.
• Xu Qi'an and Li Miaozhen agreed to meet Zheng Xinghuai, and Xu Qi'an told her he did not think the meeting was a trap.

Xu Qi'an and Li Miaozhen learned how Zhao Jin uncovered the truth about the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre and set out to meet the real Zheng Xinghuai. As they fled on Li Miaozhen’s flying sword, a Fourth Rank martial artist attacked them with a pursuing arrow.

• Xu Qi'an reasoned that Zheng Xinghuai had sought Li Miaozhen’s help to expose the Prince Who Guards the North’s massacre, and Zhao Jin confirmed that he had sent messengers who vanished after leaving Chu Prefecture.
• Zhao Jin revealed that Chu Prefecture City appeared untouched after Zheng Xinghuai witnessed Que Yongxiu’s troops massacre it, and Xu Qi'an decided to meet the real Zheng Xinghuai.
• Li Miaozhen introduced Xu Qi'an as the delegation’s lead investigator, earning Zhao Jin’s trust and admiration.
• Xu Qi'an warned that the Prince Who Guards the North’s spies might be watching them, so Li Miaozhen took Xu Qi'an and Zhao Jin away on her flying sword.
• A powerful arrow struck at the fleeing trio, and Li Miaozhen identified their attacker as a Fourth Rank martial artist.

Xu Qi'an, Li Miaozhen, and Zhao Jin escaped a Fourth-Rank spy and reached Zheng Xinghuai’s mountain hideout, where Xu Qi'an learned the survivors’ account of the Chu Prefecture massacre. He asked Li Miaozhen to use Empathy on Zheng Xinghuai, and the spell pulled them into his memories.

• Li Miaozhen evaded the black-robed Fourth-Rank archer’s attacks, while Xu Qi'an burned a page to briefly suppress the man’s urge to fight and help the group escape.
• Zhao Jin identified the pursuer as a Heaven-grade spy and guided Li Miaozhen and Xu Qi'an to a hidden valley.
• Li Han verified their identities, and Zheng Xinghuai welcomed Xu Qi'an and Li Miaozhen into the cavern where his remaining retainers were hiding.
• Li Miaozhen released Qian Youyi’s remnant soul, and Wei Youlong explained that Qian had died helping Zheng Xinghuai’s group after the massacre.
• Zheng Xinghuai described the massacre and his fear that the Prince Who Guards the North could silence anyone who exposed it; Xu Qi'an confirmed he was investigating the case.
• Li Miaozhen began one-sided Empathy with Zheng Xinghuai, and a vortex formed from his talisman swallowed her and Xu Qi'an.

Xu Qi'an relived Zheng Xinghuai's memories of the Chu Prefecture City massacre and resolved to punish the Prince Who Guards the North and Que Yongxiu. He set out for Chu Prefecture while barbarian and demon forces mobilized toward the city.

• Xu Qi'an witnessed through Empathy how Que Yongxiu ordered soldiers to massacre civilians in Chu Prefecture City.
• Zheng Xinghuai lost his family during an attempted escape, and Second Young Master Zheng died shielding him from Que Yongxiu's spear.
• Li Han explained that two Fourth Rank experts had sacrificed themselves to secure Zheng Xinghuai's escape.
• Xu Qi'an suspected that a powerful accomplice had concealed the massacre and sent Li Miaozhen to inform the barbarians and the Demon Race.
• Xu Qi'an left the princess consort and his Earth Book Fragment at an inn, promised to return, and departed to confront the Prince Who Guards the North.
• The Azure Face Tribe mobilized its cavalry, a white-robed arcanist informed Zhu Jiu of the location, and a woman in white ordered demon troops to attack Chu Prefecture City.

The Prince Who Guards the North prepared to defend Chu Prefecture City while his secret plan to use the slaughter of 380,000 people to advance to the second rank neared completion. As the city’s dead were revealed, Yang Yan and the delegation realized the atrocity’s purpose and could only hope someone would stop him.

• The Prince Who Guards the North learned that Jili Zhigu’s Azure Face cavalry and Zhu Jiu’s demon army were advancing on Chu Prefecture City, while his blood pill would be ready in six hours.
• Que Yongxiu joined the Prince Who Guards the North, and they prepared to face the approaching armies as the city’s defenders readied their weapons.
• Jili Zhigu charged the walls, and the Prince Who Guards the North met him in the air with a saber strike while the defenders rallied behind their prince.
• The demon army reached the city as the defenders’ attacks disrupted its ranks, and the scarlet python’s golden beam damaged the wall’s protective barrier.
• The civilians of Chu Prefecture City were revealed as dead, with their blood Qi and souls being extracted; Yang Yan identified the city as the site of the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre.
• The delegation condemned the Prince of Huai and feared his advancement to the second rank, while Constable Chen and Censor Liu wished Xu Qi'an could stop him.

The Prince Who Guards the North’s plan to refine a Blood Pill from Chu Prefecture City’s people drew powerful enemies into a battle over the pill. As the Prince’s advantage faltered, Xu Qi'an appeared and drew the Nation-Guarding Sword, leaving the assembled experts stunned.

• Jili Zhigu attacked the city wall while the Prince Who Guards the North and the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox moved to seize the Blood Pill, and Yang Yan warned the delegation’s martial artists not to look at it.
• The white-dressed woman reached for the Blood Pill, but Heilian emerged from a black lotus and fought her; the white-robed arcanist realized the city’s formation was not the Shaman God Cult’s work.
• Li Miaozhen learned that Xu Qi'an had gone to Chu Prefecture City and hurried after him, afraid he would repeat his reckless actions in Yunzhou.
• The Prince Who Guards the North revealed the Nation-Guarding Sword and battled Jili Zhigu, Zhu Jiu, and the other experts, while Que Yongxiu welcomed Chu Prefecture City’s destruction as a way to hide his part in the massacre.
• After Zhu Jiu and the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox helped Jili Zhigu knock the Prince down and dislodge the sword, Xu Qi'an pulled the Nation-Guarding Sword from the ruins and declared that he could use it too.

Xu Qi'an revealed himself, accused the Prince Who Guards the North of slaughtering Chu Prefecture City, and proved the accusation when the Nation-Guarding Sword rejected the prince and chose him. After the Blood Pill was divided among the other experts, the prince and four powerful allies agreed to attack Xu Qi'an together, leaving the battle poised to begin.

• Xu Qi'an appeared with the Nation-Guarding Sword, and Heilian recognized his connection to Jinlian and demanded to know where Jinlian was.
• Xu Qi'an transformed with Shenshu's power, accused the Prince Who Guards the North of sacrificing 380,000 people to refine a Blood Pill, and declared that he had come to kill him.
• The Prince Who Guards the North tried to wield the Nation-Guarding Sword, but it rejected him and drove him back, convincing the soldiers that Xu Qi'an's accusation was true.
• Xu Qi'an attacked the prince as Zhu Jiu, Jili Zhigu, the shaman, and Heilian joined the chaotic battle and fought over the Blood Pill.
• The Blood Pill shattered into seven pieces, and the experts consumed their shares, increasing their strength.
• The Prince Who Guards the North persuaded the shaman, Heilian, Zhu Jiu, and Jili Zhigu to join forces against Xu Qi'an while the woman in white watched.

Xu Qi'an, possessed by Monk Shenshu, fought the Prince Who Guards the North and four other peak experts in Chu Prefecture City. After the prince’s formation gave their group overwhelming power, Shenshu awakened a demonic Dharma Idol and tore the prince apart before the soldiers and jianghu folk who had learned the truth about the massacre.

• Xu Qi'an, under Shenshu’s control, overwhelmed the high-ranking shaman, wounded Zhu Jiu and Jili Zhigu, and traded devastating blows with the Prince Who Guards the North.
• The Prince Who Guards the North and the other experts used a formation to combine their strength into a hundred-foot Dharma Idol, while Daoist Head Heilian’s formation corrupted the Nation-Guarding Sword.
• Xu Qi'an broke free of the corrupted bell, and the Prince Who Guards the North admitted that he would bury the soldiers to conceal his massacre of Chu Prefecture City.
• Shenshu revealed a second, pitch-black Dharma Idol, then battered the Prince Who Guards the North with 380,000 punches as Xu Qi'an condemned him for slaughtering the people.
• The soldiers and jianghu folk shouted for the prince’s death, and Xu Qi'an tore the Prince Who Guards the North apart before the watching crowd.

Xu Qi'an killed the Prince Who Guards the North for massacring Chu Prefecture City, then pursued Jili Zhigu while Yang Yan took command of the surviving soldiers. Li Miaozhen arrived, revealed that Que Yongxiu had led the city’s slaughter, and was asked to explain how she uncovered his role.

• Zhu Jiu, Jili Zhigu, and the high-ranked shaman fled after Xu Qi'an shattered their fused battle form and turned to face the Prince Who Guards the North.
• Xu Qi'an overcame the Prince Who Guards the North’s Substitute Gu and Buddhist commandment resistance, then drained his life essence and killed him for the 380,000 people of Chu Prefecture City.
• The people on the battlements bowed to Xu Qi'an, and he chose Jili Zhigu as his next target before Monk Shenshu pursued him.
• The white-robed arcanist told a white-dressed woman that he had enticed Emperor Yuanjing to cultivate immortality and warned that the Prince Who Guards the North’s death would unleash a tide even the Overseer might struggle to stop.
• Yang Yan assumed command of the Northern Territory’s surviving soldiers, and Li Miaozhen arrived to learn that the Prince Who Guards the North had been killed.
• Li Miaozhen revealed that Que Yongxiu had led the massacre, but the delegation could not find him; the officials then asked her how she had investigated the case.

Li Miaozhen told the delegation how Xu Qi'an had enlisted her help to investigate the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre, and she and Yang Yan found Jili Zhigu dead on the road. As the soldiers of Chu Prefecture mourned the fallen barbarian leader, Xu Qi'an recovered from the battle and reconsidered Emperor Yuanjing and Wei Yuan’s roles before heading to meet the princess consort.

• Li Miaozhen explained that Xu Qi'an had secretly directed her investigation and that Zheng Xinghuai had survived, prompting the delegation to praise Xu Qi'an’s plan.
• Yang Yan and Li Miaozhen flew north and found Jili Zhigu’s headless body; Yang Yan carried his head back to Chu Prefecture City, where twenty thousand soldiers mourned the barbarian leader’s death.
• Xu Qi'an rested after Shenshu fell asleep and reviewed how Emperor Yuanjing had known about and enabled the massacre.
• Xu Qi'an suspected Wei Yuan had secretly manipulated events, possibly leaking the massacre’s location to Jili Zhigu and Zhu Jiu while steering Xu Qi'an away from the Northern Territory.
• The next morning, Xu Qi'an entered the inn in disguise and knocked on the princess consort’s door.

The author celebrated reaching one hundred Alliance Leaders by thanking readers individually, recalling their support across several books and welcoming new fans. After writing a long tribute, the author thanked all subscribers and said there might not be another chapter that day.

• The author said more than twenty readers had joined the Alliance Leaders, bringing the total to one hundred and inspiring a promised ten-thousand-character thank-you.
• The author named and thanked Alliance Leaders one by one, recalling longtime readers, group regulars, and readers who had newly discovered Nightwatchers.
• The author finished the tribute after two and a half hours and said the five thousand characters were meant to honor the readers' support.
• The author thanked tens of thousands of legitimate subscribers and said longtime readers were a precious reward for years of writing.
• The author welcomed new readers, hoped the book would continue to grow, and warned that there might not be another chapter that day.