Chapter Summaries

After Hero Treading the Moon threatened to kill Li Chunfeng in three days, Li Jun and the capital’s powerful families fortified the Duke of An’s residence. Cheng Zhiwei helped devise the defenses but questioned whether the law could be trusted, while the threatened girl clung to the hope that the hero would bring her justice.

• Li Chunfeng learned that Treading the Moon had threatened him, but regained his confidence when Li Jun surrounded the Duke of An’s residence with guards and soldiers.
• Cheng Zhiwei advised Li Jun to illuminate the residence to deny Treading the Moon places to hide, and Li Jun ordered the plan carried out.
• Cheng Zhiwei asked Cheng Ming whether helping Li Chunfeng meant helping a tyrant, and Cheng Ming insisted that the law—not an outlaw—must judge him.
• News of Hero Treading the Moon’s threat spread through the capital, drawing anger from powerful families and hope mixed with worry from ordinary people.
• The girl Li Chunfeng had harmed began to respond when her mother urged her to wait three days and see whether the hero brought justice.

Chen Ye robbed Duke Anguo's businesses and used a fire to distract the constables during his escape, but Cheng Zhiwei spotted him and drew his eyes. Chen Ye returned to his ordinary life and prepared for the final day before his announced operation.

• Chen Ye robbed two banks and a pawnshop owned by Duke Anguo and distributed the silver to the poor.
• Li Jun berated the officials, while Cheng Zhiwei studied a map and identified three likely targets among Duke Anguo's properties.
• Cheng Ming and Cheng Zhiwei led constables to watch a silk shop, where a fire broke out in the rear courtyard.
• Cheng Zhiwei pursued Chen Ye's escape route and saw him on a rooftop, but he vanished before she could shoot.
• Cheng Zhiwei drew Chen Ye's eyes, and Cheng Ming recognized the portrait as their first clear clue to the thief.
• Chen Ye returned to his shabby room, reviewed his plan for the next day, and went to rest.

As the capital prepared for Treading the Moon’s anticipated raid on the Duke of Anguo’s residence, Chen Ye finished his preparations and returned to find Wu Xiaorui waiting for him. He took her out to eat, while an overlooked gap in the residence’s defenses left it vulnerable.

• Li Chunfeng watched Cheng Zhiwei patrol the Duke of Anguo’s residence and lusted after her, while her hurried inspection left several corners unchecked.
• Chen Ye packed his Treading the Moon equipment at a hidden safe house and stole a bully’s purse as he passed him.
• Chen Ye returned to the shared courtyard, where Fang Tao told him Wu Xiaorui was waiting in his room.
• Wu Xiaorui greeted Chen Ye and agreed to go out to eat with him.
• Chen Ye accepted coins from Fang Tao and led Wu Xiaorui out, where she suggested they eat and drink at the Big Wine Jar.

Chen Ye used incendiary jars to set the Duke Anguo's Residence ablaze and break through its carefully arranged defenses. As Li Jun ordered everyone to fight the fire, a soot-covered servant slipped into the residence unnoticed.

• Chen Ye met Wu Xiaorui at Big Wine Jar, then left her and went to his safe house to prepare for the night.
• Chen Ye observed the Duke Anguo's Residence and waited for the northwest wind before attacking with a sling and incendiary jars.
• Chen Ye set fires at several points around the residence, forcing the guards and household experts to abandon their posts and fight the flames.
• Cheng Zhiwei realized the fire was meant to draw the defenders away while the Moon-Treading Great Thief entered the residence.
• A soot-covered servant carrying a bucket slipped into the Duke Anguo's Residence unnoticed.

Cheng Zhiwei realized the Moon-Treading Great Thief had targeted Duke of An Li Jun as well, drawing the guards away from Li Chunfeng. A black-clad attacker emerged from the stream, mortally wounded Cheng Ming, and raised his blade to kill Li Chunfeng as Cheng Zhiwei aimed her crossbow.

• Li Chunfeng mocked the Moon-Treading Great Thief while Cheng Ming and Cheng Zhiwei guarded him in the courtyard.
• An explosion struck Li Jun’s study, and Cheng Zhiwei realized the thief’s letter had not named Li Chunfeng as his only target.
• The guards rushed to protect Li Jun, and Li Chunfeng broke free from Cheng Ming and ran toward the stream.
• A black figure sprang from the water and attacked Li Chunfeng, but Cheng Ming intercepted him and was slashed in the neck.
• Cheng Zhiwei aimed her mechanical repeating crossbow at the attacker as he brought his blade down on Li Chunfeng.

Cheng Zhiwei chased the Moon-Treading Great Thief after he killed Li Chunfeng and her grandfather, Cheng Ming, and confronted him in the shantytown. As she tried to locate him, he came up behind her and slit her throat, revealing his face before she died.

• Cheng Zhiwei shot at the Moon-Treading Great Thief as he killed Li Chunfeng, but Cheng Ming died from his throat wound moments later.
• Overcome with grief and anger, Cheng Zhiwei pursued the thief from Duke Anguo's Residence to a remote shantytown.
• The thief taunted Cheng Zhiwei and challenged her defense of the law by asking why she had ignored the suffering of Li Chunfeng's victims.
• Cheng Zhiwei pretended to consider his argument while silently aiming her repeating crossbow toward his voice.
• As Cheng Zhiwei prepared to fire, the thief appeared behind her and slit her throat, and she saw his face before dying.

Chen Ye escaped after killing Cheng Zhiwei, while officials discovered the bodies and the destruction at the Duke of An's residence. Li Jun survived the explosion, learned that Li Chunfeng was dead, and appealed to Emperor Yang Zhao, who ordered the city sealed and a massive search for Treading the Moon.

• Chen Ye left Cheng Zhiwei's corpse and disappeared into the darkness as the pursuers arrived.
• The Six Gates, Military Patrol Office, and Arrest Bureau found Cheng Zhiwei dead and realized Treading the Moon had killed several of their people.
• Rescuers dug Li Jun out of the wreckage alive, though he had lost an arm and an eye.
• Li Jun saw Li Chunfeng's corpse, fainted after his son's head rolled away, and then set out for the palace to complain to the emperor.
• Li Jun and other officials told Yang Zhao what had happened, and Yang Zhao ordered the city sealed and the three government offices to hunt down Treading the Moon.

After Treading the Moon’s attack on Duke Anguo’s Residence, the Capital’s people celebrated while the imperial court launched a frantic search. Chen Ye hid in plain sight as the authorities failed to find him, until word arrived that the grassland barbarians were marching toward the Capital.

• Yang Zhao ordered the Capital’s gates closed and patrols sent out after the attack on Duke Anguo’s Residence.
• The people praised the Moon-Treading Great Hero, and a young woman Li Chunfeng had abused wept with relief when she learned he was dead.
• Chen Ye checked his system and found that he had gained three levels, improved Shadow Concealment, and acquired Throwing.
• Fang Tao warned the courtyard’s Brushing Walls to stay inside, but the Arrest Bureau soon arrived to question them.
• Chen Ye claimed he had spent the previous night at the Big Wine Jar, and Zhao An accepted his story before leaving empty-handed.
• The Arrest Bureau, Six Gates, and Military Patrol Office failed to find Treading the Moon, then received news that the grassland barbarians were marching south toward the Capital.

As the barbarians advanced toward the Capital, Emperor Yang Zhao found that the provincial armies would not obey and the Feathered Forest Guard refused to fight. Meanwhile, the Lin Family decided to contact the steppe people, unaware that a hidden figure had overheard their secret plan.

• Yang Zhao learned that the provincial garrisons had stopped obeying the court and ordered the Feathered Forest Guard to meet the enemy outside the Capital.
• The Feathered Forest Guard descended into chaos, with its members refusing to fight and the supervising general unable to make them obey.
• Lin Hong told the Lin Family that Great Zhao was doomed and proposed contacting the steppe people to protect the family's future.
• Lin Qian objected that the plan amounted to betraying the nation, but Lin Hong silenced him and warned everyone to keep the secret.
• Lin Rui eagerly imagined the rewards the family would gain, while an unseen figure listened from above the study.

Chen Ye intercepted a Lin Family courier carrying evidence of Lin Hong’s collusion with the grassland forces and secretly brought the letter to Vice Minister Lu’s residence. The letter struck a pillar in Lu Ying’s study, leaving Lu Ying and Lu Jingcheng to discover it.

• Chen Ye overheard Lin Hong order A De to deliver a letter to Khan Yelü and learned that the Lin Family had secretly made contact with the grassland forces.
• A De left the Capital through a guarded side gate, and Chen Ye followed him into the wilderness.
• Chen Ye killed A De with a flying knife, took the wax-sealed letter tube, and returned to the Capital.
• Lu Ying and Lu Jingcheng discussed the approaching grassland army and the court’s failure to fund the troops.
• A flying dagger carrying a letter struck a pillar in Lu Ying’s study, startling Lu Ying and Lu Jingcheng.

After a mysterious letter exposed the Lin Family’s plot to betray the nation, Lu Ying brought the evidence to Emperor Yang Zhao, who ordered the Imperial Guard to seize the family. Lu Ying led the raid on the Lin estate, where Lin Hong realized the family had been exposed and Lin Yan was captured.

• Lu Jingcheng read the letter delivered by throwing knife and suspected its sender was the same person who had exposed Lin Yan before.
• Lu Ying hurried to the palace and presented the letter to Emperor Yang Zhao, warning him that the Lin Family planned to betray the nation.
• Yang Zhao ordered the Imperial Guard to confiscate the Lin estate and appointed Lu Ying to lead the operation.
• Lu Ying’s soldiers surrounded the Lin estate, broke down its gates, and detained the household.
• Lin Hong confronted Lu Ying and learned the raid was ordered by Yang Zhao, while Lin Rui and Lin Yan were brought into custody.

After the Lin Family’s residence was seized, Emperor Yang Zhao decreed that the entire clan be publicly executed for treason. Lu Ying oversaw their beheading at Caishikou while Chen Ye watched from a nearby teahouse, leaving the vendetta seemingly complete.

• Lu Ying ordered the Imperial Guard to arrest the Lin Family and seize their residence, while Lin Yan realized the soldiers would not obey her.
• At court, Yang Zhao rejected a lenient sentence and ordered every member of the Lin clan, young and old, to be beheaded in public.
• Lu Ying delivered the decree to Lin Hong in prison, and Lin Hong cursed him and predicted the grassland barbarians would destroy the capital.
• A crowd gathered at Caishikou as Lu Ying ordered the execution, and the executioners beheaded the Lin Family.
• Chen Ye watched the executions from a nearby teahouse and drank his tea without changing expression.

As Great Zhao’s northern front collapsed and the capital grew tense, Chen Ye completed his Nightwalker training and changed class to Thousand-Faced Thief Saint. He tested his new disguise abilities and prepared for the chaos he expected to engulf the capital.

• Chen Ye trained until his Nightwalker class reached level five and unlocked the option to change class.
• Chen Ye rejected Mechanism Master and Netherwalker, choosing Thousand-Faced Thief Saint for its identity-stealing talent and adaptability.
• Chen Ye gained Bone Alteration and Sound Mimicry, alongside the Soul Seizing and Shadow Stealing talent.
• Chen Ye transformed his face into Shaojun Fang Tao’s and tested how familiarity affected the accuracy of his disguises.
• Chen Ye successfully imitated Little Bell of the Cai Character Gate, then quickly returned to normal after becoming unsettled by the transformation.
• Chen Ye anticipated that the capital would descend into chaos as bad news drove Emperor Yang Zhao closer to collapse.

Driven by a Daoist priest’s promise of immortality, Yang Zhao ordered officials to seize a thousand young women, including Wu Xiaorui, while Chen Ye prepared to confront the emperor. Chen Ye infiltrated the imperial city disguised as a eunuch, but a sinister voice challenged him near the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

• Xuanjizi told Yang Zhao that an immortal pill required the blood and heart essence of a thousand young women, and Yang Zhao ordered the city’s authorities to seize them.
• Officials raided the Cai Character Gate and took Wu Xiaorui along with the other girls.
• Fang Tao told Chen Ye that Wu Xiaorui had been captured, but Chen Ye calmly returned to his room and gripped his saber with killing intent.
• Chen Ye left the shared courtyard late at night, entered the imperial city, and knocked out a young eunuch to steal his disguise.
• Chen Ye approached the Hall of Mental Cultivation disguised as a eunuch, but a sinister voice suddenly asked what he was doing.

Chen Ye killed a powerful eunuch who attacked him in the palace, then used the man’s appearance to deceive the Imperial Guards and avoid discovery. He headed toward the Hall of Mental Cultivation while the guards resumed their patrol.

• An old eunuch in a dark purple robe caught Chen Ye near a rockery, and Chen Ye pretended to be a frightened new palace eunuch to lower his guard.
• Chen Ye flung dirt at the old eunuch and evaded his poisonous palm strike before fleeing to keep the fight from drawing the guards.
• The old eunuch chased Chen Ye, but Chen Ye wounded him with flying knives and killed him with a slash across the neck, then stabbed his heart and hid the body.
• Chen Ye emerged disguised as the old eunuch and told the arriving Imperial Guards that he had scared off an intruder.
• The Imperial Guards left, and Chen Ye walked toward the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Chen Ye disguised himself as the old eunuch, murdered Emperor Yang Zhao, and took his place on the dragon throne. He summoned Immortal Master Xuanjizi, who headed to the Hall of Mental Cultivation unaware of the emperor’s death.

• Chen Ye entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation disguised as the old eunuch and sent the attendants away.
• Yang Zhao drunkenly told Chen Ye that Xuanjizi would prepare his immortality pill in two days.
• Chen Ye strangled Yang Zhao, cut his throat, and revealed his own face as the emperor died.
• Chen Ye changed clothes, sat on the dragon throne, and ordered a eunuch to summon Xuanjizi.
• Xuanjizi left his room, where he had been drinking and reveling with palace maids, and went to meet Yang Zhao.

Chen Ye killed Xuanjizi and Yang Zhao, concealed their bodies, and escaped the palace in disguise. He returned to the courtyard and told Fang Tao he planned to leave the city, while Wang Yuanzhi arrived to request an audience with the emperor.

• Chen Ye captured Xuanjizi, who confessed that the Cui Clan and Wang Clan had hired him to bewitch Yang Zhao and stir up public anger against the emperor.
• Chen Ye killed Xuanjizi, disfigured his body and Yang Zhao's, and buried them in the emperor's private garden.
• Chen Ye impersonated the emperor to mislead the palace attendants, then disposed of the old eunuch's body and left the palace in disguise.
• Chen Ye returned to the shared courtyard and told Fang Tao he planned to hide in the countryside; Fang Tao gave him copper coins for the journey.
• Wang Yuanzhi arrived at the imperial city and requested an audience with Yang Zhao.

Chen Ye returned to the palace in disguise and began securing the Imperial Guard as his own source of power. After inspecting its soldiers, he planned to use the force to overturn the aristocratic clans’ hold on the kingdom’s dwindling food.

• Wang Yuanzhi was turned away from both the emperor and Xuanjizi, then told Cui Lang about the suspicious timing.
• Cui Lang’s aide reported that Yang Zhao had met with Xuanjizi in secret and had taken the day off because he felt unwell, easing Wang Yuanzhi’s suspicions.
• Chen Ye ordered the palace eunuchs to protect the women summoned to refine pills, then called Tong Lei, commander of the Imperial Guard, to an audience.
• Chen Ye ordered Tong Lei to assemble the Imperial Guard so he could inspect it personally.
• Chen Ye judged the Imperial Guard’s discipline and morale to be weak, but resolved to use it to overturn the clans’ control of the food supply.

Chen Ye rewarded the Imperial Guard and acted like a changed ruler, alarming Wang Yuanzhi and Cui Lang enough to consider moving against him. Disguised as the sinister Old Ancestor, Chen Ye then checked on the captive young women and ensured they were being treated well, while Wu Xiaorui remained among them.

• Chen Ye distributed wine, meat, and money to the Imperial Guard, winning the soldiers’ favor.
• Wang Yuanzhi and Cui Lang discussed Chen Ye’s review of the troops and feared he was preparing to challenge their power.
• Chen Ye refused the selection plaques, unsettling the chief eunuch with his changed demeanor.
• After hearing the eunuch’s report, Wang Yuanzhi hurried to the Cui residence and urged them to act immediately.
• Disguised as the Old Ancestor, Chen Ye visited the cold palace, confirmed Wu Xiaorui was safe, and ordered the guards to care for the captives.

Wu Xiaorui worried about Chen Ye while preparing to resist the emperor, as Chen Ye returned to court and agreed to attend the winter solstice sacrifice. Both Chen Ye and the Wang and Cui families prepared an ambush, and he left the palace in a snowstorm to confront them.

• Wu Xiaorui recalled the eerie eunuch, wondered whether Chen Ye was safe, and gripped a sharpened hairpin in case the emperor threatened her.
• Chen Ye appeared before the court with newfound authority, while Wang Yuanzhi and Cui Lang watched him warily.
• Wang Yuanzhi urged Chen Ye to attend the winter solstice sacrifice, secretly planning to ambush and kill him outside the palace.
• Chen Ye accepted the invitation, knowing the ministers' intentions and planning to use the journey to crush the Wang and Cui families.
• Chen Ye rewarded the Imperial Guard and secretly plotted with Tong Lei as the clans mobilized their retainers and deathsworn.
• On the snowy winter solstice, Chen Ye burned the almanac and left the palace for the Temple of Heaven.