Recaps

The empress persuaded the emperor to eat and to go to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, while Liu Yu and Chen Qing hurried into the palace over the missing crown prince’s deputy commanders. Chen Qing warned that the Thousand-Faced Fox might be targeting the emperor, leaving Liu Yu and Fei Jun to face the possibility of an attack on the dynasty’s ruler.

• The empress brought the emperor a meal, and he complained that the crown prince had secretly met a minister’s daughter.
• The empress reminded the emperor of his own youthful courtship, and he agreed that the crown prince would be disciplined but not severely punished.
• The empress invited the emperor to spend the night at the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, and he eagerly accepted.
• Liu Yu and Chen Qing gained entry through Vermilion Bird Gate after Chen Qing suggested that the crown prince might have been replaced.
• Liu Yu reasoned that the fox demon had trapped the crown prince and would soon need to act, while Chen Qing proposed that its next target was the emperor.
• Chen Qing privately considered that the Thousand-Faced Fox could use the emperor’s fortune to reach its final form and threaten the Great Jin dynasty.

Chen Qing warned Liu Yu that the Thousand-Faced Fox might be deceiving the emperor through the empress, and they rushed to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. Liu Yu shattered its protective formations, and the emperor appeared furious as he demanded to know whether the empress was an impostor.

• Liu Yu learned that the emperor and empress had gone to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility and that the crown prince had visited them.
• Chen Qing explained that the fox demon could become far more dangerous by feeding on the fortune of a founding emperor, then vowed to risk his life to protect the sovereign.
• Liu Yu sent Yuchi Peng and Fei Jun outside the palace and took Chen Qing to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility.
• Liu Yu dispelled the palace's spell barriers, provoking the emperor to descend in golden flames.
• Liu Yu explained the danger to the emperor, who turned on Chen Qing and demanded to know whether the empress was an impostor.

The emperor discovered Empress Luo’s gruesome death and ordered Chen Qing to find the Thousand-Faced Fox before dawn or face the extermination of his family. Meanwhile, Lu Ming’s fellow dukes pressed him to consider a rebellion, but he feared the Golden Crow’s power and the consequences of upheaval.

• Chen Qing told the emperor that Empress Luo had likely met with misfortune, and the emperor realized her silence confirmed his fear.
• The emperor found Empress Luo’s corpse hanging at the hall entrance, wrapped her in his robe, and carried her inside.
• The emperor ordered Chen Qing to find the Thousand-Faced Fox before dawn, promising him a title and governorship if he succeeded and threatening his family if he failed.
• At the Drunken Immortal Tower, Lu Ming questioned four fellow dukes about the incident while golden flames blazed above the imperial palace.
• A duke urged Lu Ming to lead their brothers in a gamble for power, but Lu Ming warned that the Golden Crow’s world-destroying legend was no mere tale.

After Chen Qing and Liu Yu deduced that the fox demon had likely used a Ghost Horse and the Yin-Yang Road to escape the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, Chen Qing identified Mr. Bai as the remaining clue. The emperor brought Chen Qing to the Thousand-Crane Palace, where Chen Qing called Mr. Bai “Mr. Origami,” and Mr. Bai revealed that he had served the Xiao Household for three hundred years.

• Chen Qing and Liu Yu reasoned that the fox demon could have hidden and retrieved the empress’s corpse through the Yin-Yang Road using a disguised Ghost Horse.
• Liu Yu explained that the palace’s shifting spell formations and the Heart-Questioning Mirror made it unlikely that a compromised spellcaster had enabled the escape.
• Chen Qing concluded that there was only one possibility left and identified Mr. Bai’s Thousand-Crane Palace as the place to investigate.
• Mr. Bai continued sending paper creatures around the palace while an old eunuch warned new servants not to follow or damage them.
• The emperor flew to the Thousand-Crane Palace in Golden Crow flames with Chen Qing, who identified Mr. Bai as Mr. Origami.
• Mr. Bai smiled and said that in his three hundred years serving the Xiao Household, this was the first time anyone had called him by that name.

Chen Qing exposed Mr. Bai as the palace insider who helped the Thousand-Faced Fox, and the emperor confronted him but could not attack while pregnant consorts were held hostage. The emperor agreed to Chen Qing’s demands for his family’s titles and ordered him to identify the fox among the consorts before dawn.

• Chen Qing deduced that Mr. Bai had supplied the Thousand-Faced Fox with the palace’s spell formation map, but the emperor demanded proof before acting against his longtime servant.
• Chen Qing revealed that the last Black Tortoise sorcerer had imprisoned Mr. Origami until the previous generation’s Thousand-Faced Fox helped him, shocking Mr. Bai and confirming the emperor’s suspicions.
• Mr. Bai admitted that A Li had the Ghost Horse and his spell map, while Chen Qing reasoned that A Li would leave the dangerous Yin Road and hide at Mr. Bai’s home.
• The emperor’s golden flames exposed pregnant imperial consorts held hostage in the rear hall, forcing him to stop his attack; Mr. Bai warned that the crown prince might have died on the Yin Road.
• The emperor ordered Chen Qing to find the Thousand-Faced Fox before dawn, and Chen Qing negotiated a hereditary marquisate and a fourth-rank title for his mother in exchange.
• Chen Qing approached the consorts and asked them to stand apart so he could identify the fox.

Chen Qing identified A Li among the imperial consorts by the fox scent hidden beneath her medicinal fragrance, but the emperor’s pursuit was disrupted when Mountain Ghost rescued her and Liu Yu escaped with the crown prince. Mr. Origami then confronted Chen Qing about how he knew the secret of reincarnation, also asking how the King of Qin had learned it.

• Chen Qing sniffed the abducted consorts and recognized Noble Consort Feng as A Li, calling her Sister-in-law Cui.
• A Li asked how Chen Qing had found her, and Chen Qing explained the Thousand-Faced Fox’s hidden fox fragrance and medicinal cover scent.
• A Li reached for Chen Qing while asking about reincarnation, but the emperor severed her arm; her face changed, briefly stunning him.
• Mountain Ghost arrived on a Ghost Horse and carried A Li through the Yin-Yang Road, while Liu Yu and the emperor followed after forcing the road open.
• Mr. Origami approached Chen Qing and asked how he knew about reincarnation, then wondered how Chen Qing and the King of Qin had discovered the secret.

Chen Qing learned that Mr. Bai believed the King of Qin was an uncanny being like him before Mr. Bai burned himself to escape imprisonment. After the emperor returned without the crown prince, he ordered Chen Qing to find him, and Chen Qing agreed in exchange for the Ghost Horse and Wang Ye's help.

• Mr. Bai gathered Golden Crow flames, set himself on fire, and suggested that Chen Qing and the King of Qin were the same kind of existence.
• Chen Qing left Thousand Cranes Hall and told Yuchi Peng and Fei Jun that Mr. Bai was dead.
• The emperor returned with Mountain Ghost's severed head, but the crown prince was still missing; Liu Yu arrived with the captured Ghost Horse.
• The emperor demanded that Chen Qing find the crown prince, promising not to kill or investigate him if he succeeded.
• Chen Qing asked for the Ghost Horse and Wang Ye, vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review, to help rescue the crown prince.

Chen Qing and Wang Ye enlisted Ghost Child to locate the missing crown prince and learned that he was trapped in the Tomb of King Xiang. As the crown prince's defenders neared collapse against endless ghosts, a mysterious figure appeared and made the ghosts prostrate themselves.

• Chen Qing confirmed that Wang Ye had kept Ghost Child secret from Liu Yu and persuaded him to help question the Ghost Horse.
• Wang Ye used Flying Star to transport Chen Qing and the Ghost Horse to Ghost Child, while Liu Yu secured the emperor's promise to trust Wang Ye.
• Ghost Child subdued the Ghost Horse and learned that the crown prince was in the dangerous Tomb of King Xiang.
• The gravely weakened crown prince urged his defenders to escape and warn the palace that a fox demon had assumed his appearance.
• The crown prince's attendant proposed borrowing General Hong's heart for a secret art that could help the crown prince escape.
• A mysterious frail figure appeared behind the ghost army, mocked the exchange, and caused the ghosts to prostrate themselves in fear.

A powerful old man confronted the crown prince and exposed his feigned weakness and cruelty toward his guards. Just as the prince prepared to flee with help from Chen Qing, Wang Ye, and Ghost Child, Chen Qing identified the old man as Senior King Chujiang.

• The old man stopped Hong Wu’s mighty saber strike between two fingers and mocked the crown prince for abandoning his subordinates.
• The old man killed Xun Ruo with a glob of phlegm, and the crown prince revealed that he still had strength and Golden Crow flames.
• The crown prince ordered Hong Wu to hold off the old man, but Hong Wu chose to stand his ground despite the danger.
• Chen Qing, Wang Ye, and Ghost Child arrived, and Wang Ye explained their agreement to repay Ghost Child with the flesh and blood of ten thousand cattle and horses.
• Chen Qing warned the crown prince that fleeing would mean death, then bowed to the old man and addressed him as Senior King Chujiang.

Chen Qing and the others escaped Yin-Yang Road after discovering the old man and his ghosts could not enter the Tomb of King Xiang, but the old man warned he would seek Chen Qing out once King Xiang was reborn. Back in the capital, Chen Qing was summoned to the palace while Wang Ye learned that Thousand-Faced Fox was alive and had been spared by the emperor.

• Chen Qing revealed that his ancestor had known Mister Donghua, causing the old man to recoil from the barrier around the Tomb of King Xiang and ask whether Donghua was still alive.
• Wang Ye used the Evening Elephant to stabilize Ghost Horse’s passage, and the crown prince, Hong Wu, and the others escaped Yin-Yang Road.
• The old man warned Chen Qing that King Xiang was about to be reborn and promised to come looking for him; Chen Qing admitted he did not know whether Donghua was alive.
• After reaching the capital, Chen Qing was taken to the palace by guards, while the crown prince had already flown back to the royal capital and Hong Wu thanked Chen Qing for saving them.
• At the Duke of Song’s residence, Liu Yu told Wang Ye that Thousand-Faced Fox had survived and that the emperor had spared her after she revealed an important secret.

The emperor ordered Chen Qing to take up his post in Liuzhou, betrothed him to Princess Yong'an, and prepared a beautiful concubine for him. Meanwhile, Wang Ye and Liu Yu deduced that the Thousand-Faced Fox was carrying the crown prince’s child, revealing the emperor’s desperate gamble to preserve the Xiao Household.

• A sorcerer told the emperor that the crown prince’s vitality had been depleted and his foundation damaged, leaving him unable to have children.
• The emperor ordered Chen Qing to depart for Liuzhou and said he would bring Chen Qing’s family there from Qi County.
• The emperor betrothed Chen Qing to Princess Yong'an and offered him a concubine so he could have children before the wedding.
• A familiar woman emerged as Chen Qing’s intended concubine, leaving him stunned.
• Wang Ye deduced that the Thousand-Faced Fox was carrying the crown prince’s child, and Liu Yu confirmed that the emperor had spared her for that reason.
• Liu Yu explained that the emperor was gambling on the child inheriting both bloodlines to save the Xiao Household from political collapse and possible extermination.

Princess Yong'an learned that Chen Qing was intended to be her husband and grew shy about meeting him, while Noble Consort Dong worried over the match and the emperor’s motives. On the road, Chen Qing confronted the fox demon about her pregnancy and revealed that he suspected she had convinced the emperor the child belonged to the crown prince.

• Noble Consort Dong told Princess Yong'an that Chen Qing was to marry her and described him as brave, refined, and handsome enough to suit her tastes.
• Noble Consort Dong said Chen Qing would meet Yong'an before leaving the capital, then privately worried about his distant posting and the emperor granting him a concubine before the wedding.
• Chen Qing recoiled from the fox demon, who had taken the appearance of Cui Yan’s wife and teased him as she followed him.
• Chen Qing deduced that the emperor was protecting the fox demon because she carried a child of the Xiao Household, and she remarked that he seemed like a reincarnated demon.
• Chen Qing asked how the fox demon had made the emperor believe her unborn child belonged to the crown prince, and her reaction confirmed his suspicion.

Chen Qing questioned the Thousand-Faced Fox about Cui Yan’s child and learned she had used the crown prince’s Golden Crow power to conceal the child’s true parentage. He then met Noble Consort Dong at the palace, where she mentioned that the Duke of Song had died suddenly.

• Chen Qing asked the Thousand-Faced Fox why she bore Cui Yan’s child, and she said she had loved him despite his fear when he learned she was a demon.
• The fox explained that she had wrapped Golden Crow power from the crown prince’s primal yang around the embryo to fool the emperor.
• Chen Qing learned the fox could not reincarnate yet because she was waiting for something, though she did not reveal what it was.
• Xiao Mingxue’s matron urged her to prepare to meet Chen Qing and learn how to manage a household after marriage.
• Noble Consort Dong met Chen Qing in the reception hall and teased him about the concubine the emperor had bestowed on him.
• Noble Consort Dong told Chen Qing that the Duke of Song had died suddenly the previous day.

Chen Qing learned that Duke of Song Liu Yu had died and attended his funeral, where officials mourned the powerful sorcerer and speculated about his fate. After Chen Qing paid his respects, several prominent men called him over, leaving him surprised by the attention.

• Noble Consort Dong told Chen Qing that Duke of Song Liu Yu had suddenly died, then left him to speak with Princess Xiao Mingxue.
• Officials from across the capital gathered at Liu Yu's funeral, where the crown prince presided and Wang Ye arrived as a guest.
• Chen Qing arrived to offer incense, exchanged tense words with the crown prince, and mourned Liu Yu's sacrifice.
• Fei Jun and Yuchi Peng both invited Chen Qing to sit with them, and an unfamiliar thin man in black also called him over.

At a banquet, Chen Qing met the Duke of Qin and learned that the court was divided among three powerful factions. As Wang Ye explained the political stakes and delivered a mysterious book from the Duke of Song, Chen Qing opened it with him, revealing spatial runes and leaving them poised to discover its contents.

• Chen Qing accepted the Duke of Qin’s invitation at the banquet, learned his identity, and thanked him for recommending him to become prefect.
• After the banquet, Wang Ye told Chen Qing that his master, the Duke of Song, had left something for him.
• The Duke of Qin and Minister Chen discussed Chen Qing while the crown prince worried about shifting alliances after Liu Yu’s death.
• Wang Ye explained the court’s three factions and how Chen Qing’s choice of whom to sit with could affect how others perceived his loyalties.
• Wang Ye gave Chen Qing a spell-bound black book, and Chen Qing opened it beside him as spatial runes flashed across its pages.

Chen Qing read Liu Yu’s farewell letter, which revealed Liu Yu’s respect for him and asked him to protect Wang Ye. The emperor learned that Liu Yu’s spell still bound him, then sent a decree to Mu Hongqing and arranged for Chen Qing to go to Liuzhou.

• Chen Qing found Liu Yu’s letter in the illustrated record of ghosts and monsters and read it while Wang Ye studied the book.
• Liu Yu’s letter compared Chen Qing to the King of Qin, warned him about human treachery, and asked him to look after Wang Ye.
• After the letter vanished, Chen Qing bowed toward the duke’s residence and praised Liu Yu, while Wang Ye misunderstood why Liu Yu had died.
• The emperor learned that Liu Yu’s spell could only be broken during his next blood cleansing and rebirth.
• The emperor ordered a decree sent to Mu Hongqing and said he wanted to see what Chen Qing would accomplish in Liuzhou.

Chen Qing arrived in Liuzhou to find the city nearly deserted after the ghost-puppet crisis drove most residents away. After learning that wealthy households had fled and ordinary families had retreated to the countryside, he rushed to South Street to see who remained.

• Chen Qing reached Liuzhou after ten days of travel and found its gates unguarded and its streets almost empty.
• Chen Qing recognized the butcher as a puppet and reunited with Ma Erniang, who explained that her husband had been replaced.
• Ma Erniang told Chen Qing that residents had fled after soldiers sealed the city, then withdrew amid a deadly rush at the gates.
• Chen Qing learned that Ma Erniang's children had gone to the countryside and that most wealthy merchants and scholars had left Liuzhou.
• Chen Qing hurried to South Street to check which households remained, hoping to bring people back and preserve the city's tax base.

Chen Qing surveyed Liuzhou’s deserted streets and realized that the fleeing merchants and teachers had left him with little prospect of restoring the city’s prosperity. In Jiangnan, Gong Qinian learned that the new prefect was the inexperienced examination candidate Chen Qing, while Mu Hongqing offered limited help with the crisis.

• Chen Qing lamented that Liuzhou’s wealthy households, teachers, and businesses had fled, leaving his plans for the city’s spring-water trade in ruins.
• Gong Qinian and a circuit intendant discussed how Liuzhou’s collapse had disrupted Jiangnan’s trade and crowded its other ports.
• Mu Hongqing arrived and explained that his inspection found no immediate supernatural threat, but that restoring public confidence and local administration was essential.
• Mu Hongqing said he could not stay in Liuzhou, but would send a disciple and help persuade renowned teachers to return.
• Mu Hongqing told Gong Qinian that the new prefect was Chen Qing, a newly successful examination candidate, and Gong Qinian was dismayed by the appointment.

Chen Qing met Jiangnan Commissioner Gong Qinian to secure help restoring Liuzhou, whose offices and defenses had been left empty after the Painted Skin Mister incident. Gong revealed that a spell called Tsukuyomi had erased demons from ordinary people’s memories across Great Jin, and Chen left with permission to recruit up to five hundred soldiers for his plans.

• Chen Qing arrived at the Jiangnan government offices and Gong Qinian welcomed him, believing he was a spellcaster and a promising official.
• Chen Qing asked Gong for tax relief, delayed remittances, clerks, and soldiers to rebuild Liuzhou; Gong promised financial support but said personnel transfers were difficult.
• Gong explained that ordinary people across Great Jin had forgotten demons because an unnamed existence had cast a spell called Tsukuyomi.
• Chen Qing asked about staffing Liuzhou’s defenses, and Gong offered to seek special authorization for him to recruit up to five hundred soldiers at the court’s expense.
• Chen Qing thanked Gong and recognized that authority over the recruits was essential to his plan to establish a divine gate guardian.

Chen Qing returned to Liuzhou overnight after securing permission to invest gods, planning to recruit door gods at Great Azure Mountain. Meanwhile, Mu Hongqing brought his apprentice Chen Ying to meet provincial administrative commissioner Gong Qinian and learned that Chen Qing had requested military authority.

• Chen Qing recalled that Divine Path Style depended on carefully investing gods and decided that door gods were the best choice for Liuzhou.
• On the journey back, Chen Qing discovered that coachman Old Meng had forgotten how his wife and child died and offered him a clerk’s position at the prefectural office.
• Chen Qing directed Old Meng to Great Azure Mountain to pick up his son and catch door gods.
• Mu Hongqing introduced his apprentice Chen Ying to Gong Qinian, explaining that she would be stationed in Liuzhou.
• Gong Qinian told Mu Hongqing that Chen Qing had left for Liuzhou after receiving authorization, and Mu Hongqing reacted with surprise when he learned Chen Qing had asked for military authority.

Chen Qing went to Great Azure Mountain to find harmless demons and ghosts he could invest as door gods, beginning his divine path style. The chapter ended by explaining that new officials had to choose their first divine investiture carefully to earn public recognition and expand their power.

• Mu Hongqing told Gong Qinian that Yuchi Feihong would command Liuzhou's prefectural troops, alarming Gong because of the brutal general's record and his poor relationship with Yuchi Peng.
• Gong Qinian considered warning Chen Qing not to fight Yuchi Feihong over troop control, while Mu Hongqing suggested the new commander might not surrender authority easily.
• Chen Qing climbed Great Azure Mountain at night and met Ghost Child, who had changed into the appearance of a little girl.
• Chen Qing asked Ghost Child to find demons or ghosts that had lived in the mountain for a long time without eating humans, intending to make them door gods.
• Ghost Child asked whether Nezha could become a door god, and Chen Qing said Nezha was destined for a greater role.
• Chen Qing reflected that his first divine investiture had to be chosen carefully, since new officials had limited power and needed public recognition to strengthen it.

Chen Qing planned to invest a low-ranking door god first in Liuzhou, where local conditions could help it gain faith quickly, and recruited a mountain turtle to leave Great Azure Mountain with him. Meanwhile, more than a hundred jinshi arrived in Liuzhou, including Liu Yiqi and Gu Beiquan, many of whom resented Chen Qing’s appointment and expected the troubled prefecture to bring him trouble.

• Chen Qing recalled that divine investitures had to match local conditions because deities needed faith to restore their lord’s investiture power, and he chose a door god as his first deity for Liuzhou.
• Ghost Child found and kicked a mountain turtle, which told Chen Qing that it was nearly two hundred years old, had eaten no people, and had survived on wild fruit in the mountains.
• The mountain turtle said its father had been a Scarlet Dragon Turtle and its mother had been killed by humans; after Chen Qing threatened to have Nezha beat it to death, it agreed to leave the mountains.
• On the third day after Chen Qing arrived in Liuzhou, more than a hundred jinshi were escorted to the city, arriving early the next morning.
• Liu Yiqi privately took satisfaction in Chen Qing’s difficult appointment, while Gu Beiquan and other jinshi resented Chen Qing’s rank and anticipated that he would bear the blame if Liuzhou’s problems worsened.

Chen Qing returned to Liuzhou and challenged the newly appointed jinshi officials to take responsibility for its problems. As Gu Beiquan and Shen Yuan sought to avoid the difficult river-defense assignment, Chen Qing resolved to keep Liuzhou’s government affairs under his control.

• Chen Qing returned to the prefectural yamen with Old Meng, where Gu Beiquan, Shen Yuan, Liu Yiqi, and other scholars questioned his absence and lack of progress in Liuzhou.
• Ghost Child emerged from Chen Qing’s carriage, startling the assembled officials when the curtain revealed both the child and a huge mountain tortoise.
• Chen Qing challenged the scholars to propose a solution to Liuzhou’s troubles and offered to recommend anyone willing to take responsibility, but they fell silent.
• Chen Qing read the court’s appointments and offered Gu Beiquan and Shen Yuan assignments, including responsibility for rebuilding river defenses and restoring merchant traffic.
• Gu Beiquan declined the river-defense assignment and suggested Shen Yuan take it, while Shen Yuan proposed that they receive postings outside the prefectural seat instead.
• Chen Qing rejected their plan and resolved to keep control of Liuzhou’s city and river defenses for his god-investiture plan.

Chen Qing assigned the new officials to Liuzhou’s counties and offered Zhou Haitao a choice of posts. Meanwhile, Wei Gongcheng reached Jiangnan with Lord Mu Hongqing’s escort, where he encountered someone claiming to be Lord Chen’s concubine.

• Chen Qing refused Shen Yuan and Gu Beiquan’s request to take county posts temporarily and return to Liuzhou later, assigning Shen Yuan to Whitewater County and Gu Beiquan to Spirit Deer County.
• Chen Qing invited volunteers for county posts, and Liu Yiqi secured an education instructor position in Spirit Deer County.
• Chen Qing rejected a former classmate’s request for a Whitewater County registrar post and assigned him to a remote location.
• Chen Qing offered Zhou Haitao an administrative post in Liuzhou or a commandant post in an outlying county, leaving Zhou to decide.
• Wei Gongcheng arrived in Jiangnan with Lord Mu Hongqing’s escort and asked an accompanying person whether they were Lord Chen’s concubine.

Chen Qing examined several spirits and recruited hunters to serve as Liuzhou’s city guards, then warned them that ghosts were approaching. The chapter left the hunters facing the prospect of fighting ghosts as the third round of PK neared.

• Wei Gongcheng discussed Liuzhou’s fleeing residents with Mu Hongqing’s female disciple and said he trusted Chen Qing to solve the crisis.
• Chen Qing used Spirit Caress to inspect the old wolf, the old tortoise, the bird, and the sapling, and considered the wolf for a divine gate-guardian post.
• Ma Erniang brought fifteen sturdy village hunters to Chen Qing, who offered them hereditary city-guard posts with generous pay.
• The hunters pledged to serve Chen Qing after he asked whether they dared to kill, and then asked whether they dared to kill ghosts.
• Chen Qing said ghosts should already be on their way.