Chapter Summaries

Chen Ji helped Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit resolve the confrontation with the Liu Family, then refused the Bureau of Punishments and accepted payment for his assistance. As he returned through the city, he completed his fourth furnace fire and fought off a pursuer with Dark Cloud, whose final question suggested he thought Chen Ji was a traveling official.

• Liu Mingxian abandoned his attack after Lin Chaoqing warned him not to endanger the Liu Family, but ordered his men to investigate the masked Chen Ji.
• Lin Chaoqing and the Bureau of Punishments departed, while Cloud Goat paid Chen Ji and warned him about serving the court.
• Chen Ji exchanged ginseng with Dark Cloud, whose warmth helped him ignite his fourth furnace fire and complete the cage around his dantian.
• Chen Ji realized someone was following him, turned to confront the middle-aged killer, and repeatedly prevented him from drawing his saber.
• Dark Cloud leapt from the wall and cut the killer's throat; as he died, he asked Chen Ji if he was a traveling official.

After killing an assassin, Chen Ji returned to the medical hall and tried to put the night behind him. Consort Yun sent White Prajna to him for treatment, and Chen Ji’s prescription impressed Old Yao, who also told him his father had returned home.

• Chen Ji searched the dead assassin for clues, then returned to Taiping Medical Hall with Dark Cloud and washed the blood from himself.
• Old Yao returned from the Liu Family estate after arriving too late to treat Old Master Liu, and Chen Ji wondered whether the carriage breakdown had been a coincidence.
• Consort Yun found White Prajna badly injured and sent Xibing to Taiping Medical Hall with the cat, reward clothes, and a consultation fee for Chen Ji.
• Chen Ji examined White Prajna and prescribed herbs, including a fifty-year-old ginseng root, which Consort Yun’s household agreed to pay for.
• Old Yao praised Chen Ji’s business sense and told him to take the next day off to visit his father and ask for his apprenticeship fee and medicine money.

Chen Ji discovered that his wealthy family treated him as an ignored, illegitimate son, so he returned their money and brought the groceries to Old Yao. That night, he accompanied Dark Cloud to his former home, where the cat learned his mother was likely gone, and Chen Ji promised they would depend on each other.

• Chen Ji bought rice, millet, sesame oil, and cured pork to bring to his family in Emerald Cloud Alley.
• Chen Ji learned the decorated Chen Residence belonged to Luo City's assistant prefect and watched the household welcome his two young masters without recognizing him.
• Chen Ji left the family's three hundred copper coins at the gate, then returned to the clinic with his purchases and paid Old Yao what he owed.
• Dark Cloud asked Chen Ji to take him to Clear Peace Alley, and they traveled there together late at night.
• Dark Cloud found his mother's home empty and said she had probably been sold; he had brought dried fish to share with her.
• Chen Ji carried Dark Cloud back to the clinic and told him they would depend on each other to live.

Chen Ji learned that the Secret Intelligence Directorate suspected him of being a Jing Dynasty spy and sent Dream Rooster to investigate him through a dream. Chen Ji resisted Dream Rooster’s control and turned the dream against him, exposing Zhou Chengyi as a spy before Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit attacked.

• Dark Cloud told Chen Ji that Prince Jing’s children and a Buddhist child were returning to the estate for the Double Ninth Festival.
• Old Yao realized Chen Ji’s tuition came from the Secret Intelligence Directorate and warned him to be careful.
• Cloud Goat hired Dream Rooster to interrogate Chen Ji in a dream and determine whether he was a Jing Dynasty spy.
• Dream Rooster used Chen Ji’s hair to enter his dream, where Zhou Chengyi pressed him to reveal whether he was a spy.
• Chen Ji’s four furnace fires broke Dream Rooster’s control, and Chen Ji recognized that the dream was no longer under Dream Rooster’s command.
• Chen Ji accused Zhou Chengyi of being a Jing Dynasty spy, and Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit pounced on him.

Chen Ji escaped Dream Rooster’s layered dream and learned that he had the talent to become a xingguan. After decoding a secret message in Liu Shiyu’s book, he discovered a connection between the Jing Dynasty and Prince Jing’s Estate, but he could not tell who was spying for whom.

• Chen Ji used the General Outline of Medicine to make enough noise to wake Liu Quxing, who inadvertently pulled him out of Dream Rooster’s dream.
• Dream Rooster told Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit that Chen Ji had xingguan potential, denied that Chen Ji was a Jing Dynasty spy, and demanded extra payment.
• Chen Ji decoded a message in Records of Reflections on Things at Hand revealing that the Jing Dynasty did not believe Liu Shiyu was passing messages for Prince Jing’s Estate and that a spy inside the estate would meet him.
• Chen Ji wondered whether his master or Liu Quxing was the spy, then caught Liu Quxing secretly studying in the kitchen as Liu Quxing caught him watching from the sleeping quarters.

Chen Ji found five silver ingots hidden in the shared sleeping platform and wondered whether they belonged to a spy at Taiping Medical Hall. After a Buddhist procession inspired him to seek a way to bring his parents back, he exposed a firewood seller as a spy and asked Lord Cloud Goat for access to the inner prison.

• Chen Ji searched the shared room and discovered five hidden silver ingots, but could not tell whether they belonged to She Dengke, Liu Quxing, or himself.
• Old Yao pulled Chen Ji back inside as monks from Dharani Temple carried a Buddha statue through the street before dawn.
• Liu Quxing and Old Yao told Chen Ji about cases of the dead returning to life, including Xu Shu, prompting Chen Ji to resolve to cultivate and make money so he might find a way to return home and revive his parents.
• Chen Ji recognized a firewood seller as a Jing Dynasty spy and told him to inform Lord Cloud Goat that he wanted to inspect the inner prison's prisoners and case files.
• The firewood seller dropped his load and walked away after realizing Chen Ji had seen through his disguise long ago.

Chen Ji accompanied Cloud Goat to Luo City's secret inner prison to investigate whether the Liu Family descendants were involved in Liu Shiyu's case. As they entered, streams of gray-white ice poured into Chen Ji and gathered in his dantian, threatening to extinguish his furnace fire.

• Dark Cloud visited Taiping Medical Hall, where Old Yao recognized her by name and fed her pastries.
• Chen Ji left the medical hall with a disguised Cloud Goat and agreed to investigate the Liu Family by visiting the inner prison.
• Cloud Goat blindfolded and escorted Chen Ji to the secret prison, explaining that its jailers had recently been replaced after the Liu Family's infiltration was discovered.
• As Chen Ji and Cloud Goat walked past the cells, streams of gray-white ice entered Chen Ji and gathered in his dantian, threatening his furnace fire.

Chen Ji discovered that the icy currents in the inner prison came from dead officials and used the case files to identify a pattern in his cultivation. After proving that Liu Shiyu had been murdered rather than hanged, he urged Cloud Goat to investigate the Liu Family, and Cloud Goat concluded that Old Master Liu might still be alive.

• Chen Ji took an oil-residue lamp from a cell and found that holding it made the icy currents recede.
• Chen Ji searched the prison files and discovered that dead officials produced icy currents, while dead jianghu figures and itinerant officials did not.
• Cloud Goat told Chen Ji that Liu Shiyu had hanged himself, but Chen Ji examined the body and identified signs that the death had been staged.
• Cloud Goat tested Chen Ji’s observation by hanging a condemned prisoner, whose toes pointed straight down after four hours.
• Chen Ji named Liu Mingxian and Liu Mingde as suspects and suggested that the Inner Minister might have sent Cloud Goat to target the Liu Family.
• Chen Ji pointed out that Old Master Liu’s death had benefited those putting Cloud Goat on the defensive, leading Cloud Goat to suspect that Old Master Liu was not dead.

Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit took Chen Ji to the Liu Family's ancestral graves to investigate Old Master Liu's supposed death. Bright Rabbit's Yin Spirit entered the tomb and confirmed that the coffin was empty.

• Chen Ji persuaded Cloud Goat to open Old Master Liu's coffin, and Cloud Goat brought him along to the Liu Family's ancestral graves.
• On the journey, Cloud Goat questioned Chen Ji about possible Jing Dynasty spies in Prince Jing's Estate, including Imperial Physician Yao and Liu Quxing.
• At Zhuangyuan Mountain, Bright Rabbit noticed that the ancestral graves had far more guards than before and warned that they could not force their way in.
• Bright Rabbit sent out her Yin Spirit while Cloud Goat guarded her body and Chen Ji turned away blindfolded.
• Bright Rabbit's Yin Spirit entered Old Master Liu's tomb and returned with the discovery that there was no one in the coffin.

After discovering that Old Master Liu’s coffin was empty, Chen Ji collected payment from Bright Rabbit and Cloud Goat and returned to Taiping Medical Hall, where he learned more about cultivation from Old Yao. The chapter left Chen Ji suspecting his birth was connected to the icy current and learning that Old Yao’s crow had been watching him.

• Bright Rabbit confirmed that Old Master Liu was not in the coffin, and she and Cloud Goat considered alerting the inner minister and sending troops against the Liu Family.
• Chen Ji demanded payment for his work, receiving a Buddhist Sect Circulating Treasure bracelet and silver from Bright Rabbit and Cloud Goat.
• The icy current overwhelmed Chen Ji at the medical hall, so Dark Cloud fetched ginseng and helped him survive; Old Yao caught them, but Dark Cloud distracted him from scolding Chen Ji.
• Old Yao told Chen Ji that the third quarter of the chou hour was when Chen Ji had been born, and explained that cultivators hide their paths because those who share a path compete for its limited Dao.
• Old Yao summoned his enormous crow, revealing it had watched Chen Ji before, and introduced it to Dark Cloud as a new friend.

Chen Ji learned that his Mountain Lord cultivation path was secretive and grew more dangerous when shared, while Old Yao revealed why he kept disciples at a distance. The next morning, Chen Ji went to buy ginseng at Hundred Deer Pavilion, where he was ambushed and accused of betraying Zhou Chengyi.

• Old Yao told Chen Ji that their cultivation path was called Mountain Lord or Dragon Swallowing, and that sharing it divided their cultivation speed and could invite betrayal.
• Old Yao said he had taken Chen Ji and the other disciples because he did not want the cultivation path to die with him, then warned Chen Ji about the jianghu and the Venomous Chancellor.
• Chen Ji went to Hundred Deer Pavilion to buy old ginseng for the prince's residence, and the shopkeeper led him into a storeroom.
• The shopkeeper attacked Chen Ji with a dagger, but Chen Ji dodged and kicked him in the belly.
• A second attacker held a dagger to Chen Ji's neck and accused him of abandoning his identity, turning traitor, and selling out Zhou Chengyi.

Chen Ji was accused of betraying the Jing Dynasty and was interrogated by the Military Intelligence Directorate's Sicao. He secured a month to prove his loyalty and learned that his maternal uncle was from Jing Dynasty, leaving his own heritage and past more mysterious.

• The Hundred Deer Pavilion shopkeeper accused Chen Ji of betraying the Jing Dynasty, but Chen Ji argued that Zhou Chengyi had died after Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit arrived, not because Chen Ji defected.
• The Sicao knocked Chen Ji unconscious, then interrogated him while he hung upside down and bled, questioning why the Secret Intelligence Directorate had trusted him.
• Chen Ji explained that he had earned the Secret Intelligence Directorate's trust by finding a secret letter and surviving Dream Rooster's interrogation without knowing he was a Jing Dynasty spy.
• Chen Ji told the Sicao he had burned Records of Reflections on Things at Hand rather than expose the Liu Family, and asked who else had passed Dream Rooster's interrogation.
• Chen Ji asked for one month to prove his loyalty, and the Sicao agreed to summon Long Whale and give him the chance.
• The Sicao revealed that Chen Ji's maternal uncle was from Jing Dynasty and had asked him to protect Chen Ji, deepening the mystery of Chen Ji's identity.

Chen Ji convinced the Military Intelligence Directorate officer that his mother had taught him a new codebook method, earning praise and a possible promotion. The officer killed Shopkeeper Yuan to protect Chen Ji’s cover, leaving Chen to work among dangerous and ruthless spies.

• Chen Ji learned that his uncle had been framed, demoted, and forced out of office, but the officer ordered him to remain in the Ning Dynasty and get close to Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit.
• When the officer questioned how Chen Ji knew fanqie and had found the Records of Reflections on Things at Hand, Chen Ji claimed his mother had taught him and demonstrated a codebook cipher.
• The officer accepted Chen Ji’s explanation, promised to report his achievement for a promotion, and warned him that Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit were ruthless adopted killers of the Poison Minister.
• Shopkeeper Yuan entered and accidentally revealed information across separate intelligence lines, so the officer ordered him to slap himself.
• Chen Ji requested that everyone who knew he was a spy be transferred back to the Jing Dynasty; after Shopkeeper Yuan objected, the officer killed him and told Chen Ji to remember the cost of disloyalty.

Chen Ji confirmed that Jing Dynasty officials also produced streams of ice, then continued balancing his orders from the Military Intelligence Directorate with his unknown mission involving an important woman. In the capital, the inner minister learned that Chen Ji was the masked person who helped Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit uncover Liu Shiyu’s crimes, while the Directorate of Ceremonial left their risky plan to expose the Liu Family to them.

• The bureau officer killed Shopkeeper Yuan, and Chen Ji saw a stream of ice flow from the dead man into himself.
• Chen Ji warned that Shopkeeper Yuan had not revealed where or when he was to meet Long Whale, then heard that he must approach an important woman about delivering goods.
• The inner minister ordered Wu Xiu to open the Bureau of Punishments’ message, which reported that a masked person had helped Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit find evidence against Liu Shiyu.
• Wu Xiu read Cloud Goat’s report that Old Master Liu’s coffin was empty, and the inner minister let Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit deploy the Trouble-Resolving Guard without Directorate of Ceremonial backing.
• Wu Xiu reported that Dream Rooster had tested Chen Ji with a grade C dream, and the inner minister identified Chen Ji as the masked helper and requested his information.
• The inner minister declined to stop the heir to Prince Jing’s Estate from gathering jianghu heroes, saying fame and fortune could cut down most chivalrous people.

Wu Xiu sent instructions to Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit, who decided to mobilize the Trouble-Resolving Guard and plot against Chen Ji. After Dark Cloud warned Chen Ji that Consort Jing had identified him and planned to kill him, he declined her invitation and left the medical hall, realizing he needed to act before she tried again.

• Wu Xiu sent Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit a message authorizing them to decide whether to open the Liu Family's coffin and asking them to identify the masked man at the Liu Residence.
• Cloud Goat warned Bright Rabbit that Chen Ji was dangerous and would hold a grudge, then decided they should borrow someone else's knife to kill him while mobilizing the Trouble-Resolving Guard.
• Chunhua arrived at Taiping Medical Hall with pastries and invited Chen Ji and the other doctors to meet Consort Jing.
• Dark Cloud warned Chen Ji that someone had revealed his identity to Consort Jing and that she intended to lure him into a trap and kill him.
• Chen Ji learned Consort Jing was connected to the Liu Family, refused her invitation by claiming he was going home for the festival, and left to plan his next move.

Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit led the Trouble-Resolving Guard to Old Master Liu’s tomb, where they found his body in the coffin and were arrested after their accusations collapsed. As Chen Ji walked through Luo City, the heir returned with Chen Ji’s two elder brothers, passing him without recognition.

• Cloud Goat led Bright Rabbit and five hundred Trouble-Resolving Guards toward Northern Mang Mountain, while Lin Chaoqing challenged their use of the royal command token and followed them.
• Cloud Goat ordered the guards to attack the Liu Family’s ancestral graves, and Bright Rabbit split open Old Master Liu’s tomb with her saber.
• Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit found Old Master Liu’s body inside the coffin, and Lin Chaoqing ordered their arrest after Liu Mingxian accused them of persecuting a meritorious official.
• Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit wondered whether Chen Ji had warned the Liu Family, while Liu Mingxian ordered his people to find out who had sent the anonymous warning.
• Chen Ji walked through Luo City with Dark Cloud and saw the heir return from Eastern Grove Academy with Liang Gou'er, Liang Mao'er, and Chen Ji’s two elder brothers, who passed him without noticing him.

Chen Ji celebrated the Double Ninth Festival with his fellow disciples before Miss Xibing summoned him to Flying Cloud Court to examine White Prajna. Consort Yun dismissed the others and confronted him about the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Directorate, leaving Chen Ji facing the question of why its expected delivery had not arrived.

• Chen Ji saw the Buddhist Son smile at him during the festival procession, then returned to the medical hall with roast chicken and admitted to Old Yao that he had tipped off the Liu Family.
• Old Yao warned Chen Ji to keep a low profile and wait for his enemies to die, but Chen Ji said he could not wait that long to take revenge.
• Miss Xibing summoned Chen Ji to treat White Prajna, and Chen Ji realized Consort Yun wanted to speak with him.
• Chen Ji followed Xibing to Flying Cloud Court, where Consort Yun dismissed Zhu Baili and the attendants before questioning him about the Directorate's missed delivery.
• Consort Yun asked why the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Directorate had not appeared on the agreed delivery date.

Chen Ji negotiated a new meeting with Consort Yun and learned why the Liu Family had joined her, while Grand Secretary Liu returned to Yu Province and confronted Liu Mingxian over the family’s crimes and collusion with the Jing Dynasty. He ordered Liu Mingxian to find the unknown person who had helped imprison Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit, then remained alone at his father’s tomb.

• Chen Ji told Consort Yun that the transaction had been delayed because Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit had nearly uncovered the Liu Family’s affairs, and he claimed the Military Intelligence Directorate had helped put them in prison.
• Consort Yun agreed to meet the next night at the Gold House in Red Clothes Alley and explained that the Liu Family shared interests with her because it could not control Consort Jing.
• Consort Yun invited Chen Ji to the heir’s gathering, but he declined and left to arrange the handover of the goods.
• Grand Secretary Liu returned to Yu Province, went to the ancestral graves, and summoned Liu Mingxian to explain the death of his grandfather.
• Liu Mingxian admitted that he had killed his grandfather and caused his sister to lose her child, while arguing that the Liu Family had to fight the emperor to survive.
• Grand Secretary Liu ordered Liu Mingxian to investigate who had tipped him off that Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit were imprisoned, then stayed behind at his father’s coffin.

Consort Jing’s maid Chunhua accused Chen Ji of stealing a South Sea pearl and brought guards to search Taiping Medical Hall. As Chunhua searched the apprentices’ wardrobe, Chen Ji realized She Dengke had helped frame him, but the chapter ended before the pearl was found or his fate was decided.

• Chen Ji realized the Liu Family might have killed Old Master Liu and suspected their ruthless actions had helped frame others.
• Old Yao reminded Chen Ji to bring medicine to Prince Jing’s Estate to keep up his pretense of treating the injured cat.
• Chunhua arrived with General Wang and accused Chen Ji of stealing Consort Jing’s South Sea pearl, prompting the guards to seize him and search the medical hall.
• Old Yao defended Chen Ji, while Chunhua searched the back courtyard and focused on the apprentices’ wardrobe.
• Chen Ji suspected She Dengke and Chunhua had conspired to frame him, and She Dengke’s anxious reaction strengthened his suspicion.
• Chunhua stood trembling and crying in front of the wardrobe after searching it.

After Chunhua’s attempt to frame Chen Ji failed, he accepted her compensation but held her and She Dengke responsible for owing him a life. That night, Chen Ji mistook several people climbing into the medical hall for assassins, only to discover the heir, Commandery Princess Bai Li, and a little monk were sneaking out of the prince’s estate.

• General Wang left after Chunhua found no evidence, and Chen Ji asked her to tell Consort Jing that the Liu Family had killed Liu Shiyu and that he could help her seek revenge.
• She Dengke confessed that Chunhua had been forced by Consort Jing to frame Chen Ji; Chen Ji took the money and valuables but said Chunhua and She Dengke each owed him a life.
• Chen Ji tallied his money with Dark Cloud and considered becoming the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Gyrfalcon in Luo City to take over the Hundred Deer Pavilion.
• Hearing footsteps, Chen Ji extinguished the lamp and armed himself, believing that attackers were surrounding the medical hall.
• Chen Ji discovered the heir, a little monk, and Commandery Princess Bai Li climbing over the walls between the medical hall and the prince’s estate.
• The little monk recognized Chen Ji from their meeting earlier that day and told the heir that he had wanted to ask Chen Ji for advice.