Chapter Summaries

After the banquet, Luo Xuanqing invited Ye Xingge home and gave him an intimate massage, then admitted their relationship had become more than purely official. Ye Xingge left before things went further, while Luo Xuanqing was left reflecting on how far she had gone.

• Luo Xuanqing walked Ye Xingge home and, after recalling their bond and her feelings for him, invited him inside under the pretext of giving him a massage.
• Luo Xuanqing massaged Ye Xingge with Golden Fragrance Dew, teased him, and asked him to continue his unfinished story.
• Luo Xuanqing told Ye Xingge that in private he could regard her as someone close, but in public he still had to address her as Lord; she then kissed him.
• Hongyu listened from Peach Blossom Lane and urged Ye Xingge to return, offering him rewards if he stopped kissing Luo Xuanqing.
• Luo Xuanqing continued touching and pleasuring Ye Xingge, then ran to the bathroom after he praised her martial arts.
• Ye Xingge left for the inn, while Luo Xuanqing privately admitted the night had gone further than she intended.

Ye Xingge returned to Hongyu, who was jealous and determined to claim her place as his partner in cultivation. They drank, teased and fought before becoming intimate, and Hongyu revealed that her secular name was Ye Hongling.

• Ye Xingge returned to the courtyard and found Hongyu waiting for him, angry about his time with another woman.
• Hongyu dragged Ye Xingge into the bedroom, undressed, and declared that he would serve as the Mountains and Rivers Association's acting live-in son-in-law.
• Hongyu drank Qinghua wine with Ye Xingge to calm her nerves as they continued teasing each other.
• Hongyu told Ye Xingge that her secular name was Ye Hongling and that she did not know whether she had been born into the Great Zhou imperial family.
• Ye Xingge and Hongyu kissed, bickered, and fought playfully before settling into intimacy behind the bed curtains.

After spending the night cultivating with Hongyu and reconnecting with Luo Xuanqing, Ye Xingge rode out of Yong Capital to pursue Yellow Beard, Pan Zhuo, in a suspected kidnapping case. Hongyu planned to meet him at Han River Bay, while Luo Xuanqing might join them later.

• Ye Xingge reflected on how the Blissful Illusory Body converted affection into cultivation gains as Hongyu woke and protested their night together.
• Ye Xingge made breakfast for Hongyu, then went to Stone Bridge Alley and coaxed Luo Xuanqing into accepting their private relationship.
• Luo Xuanqing said she could not leave her duties after the attempted assassination of the emperor, and Ye Xingge told her he had to investigate a case outside the city.
• Duke Wu assigned Ye Xingge to pursue Yellow Beard, Pan Zhuo, whose suspected dealings might be linked to people kidnapped and sold in the Western Regions.
• Ye Xingge rode from Yong Capital, summoned Hongyu through Yellow Strip, and arranged to meet her at Han River Bay.
• Ye Xingge told Hongyu that Luo Xuanqing might join them and that he would seek Perfected Jiuhua's help at the Temple of Vast Compassion.

Ye Xingge waited at the Mountain-Viewing Pavilion for Yellow Beard Pan Zhuo’s boat and spotted it during a storm. He plunged from the cliff into the river to intercept it, leaving Dugu Changxin and Dugu Yan wondering what had happened to him.

• Ye Xingge reached the Han River after learning that Yellow Beard Pan Zhuo was traveling south by boat, and he waited near Martial Emperor Mountain.
• Ye Xingge exchanged messages with Luo Xuanqing while keeping watch for Pan Zhuo’s vessel.
• Dugu Changxin and Dugu Yan arrived at the pavilion with eight guards and discussed Martial Emperor Mountain and the jianghu.
• Ye Xingge spotted a merchant vessel matching the Inspection Bureau’s description and leapt from the cliff into the river.
• Dugu Changxin and Dugu Yan searched the water but could not find Ye Xingge, then speculated about why he had jumped.

Ye Xingge killed Pan Zhuo aboard a merchant ship and discovered thirteen children abducted from the Western Regions. After reporting the trafficking operation to the Heaven-Observing Pavilion, he took three surviving lackeys along to identify the buyer, Incense Master Su.

• Ye Xingge boarded the merchant ship and identified the disguised Pan Zhuo from the Inspection Bureau's wanted notice.
• Pan Zhuo tried to distract Ye Xingge, but Ye Xingge killed him and found a letter linking him to Lance Wind City and Medicine King Valley.
• Ye Xingge opened the hold and found thirteen shackled children, then beheaded Pan Zhuo.
• Three lackeys told Ye Xingge the children had been trafficked for at least three years and that Incense Master Su of Vast Sea Bay was the buyer's contact.
• Ye Xingge ordered the lackeys to dispose of the bodies and clean the ship, then reported the case to Great Beauty Luo.
• Great Beauty Luo relayed Duke Zhang's order to pursue the case and punish those responsible while protecting himself, and Ye Xingge agreed.

Ye Xingge disguised himself as a boat-gang hall master and helped move thirteen kidnapped children through Han River Bay, while Dugu Yan searched the harbor for a wanted bandit and spotted someone who resembled the wandering swordsman from the cliff. The chapter ended with Dugu Yan going downstairs to investigate as the children’s carriages left the harbor.

• Hongyu watched Ye Xingge arrive by merchant ship and reported that six men were waiting near the docks.
• Ye Xingge deceived the county inspectors with forged papers and a bribe, then brought thirteen chained and gagged children off the ship.
• Incense Master Su accepted the children and led Ye Xingge away with the three underlings, while Ye Xingge claimed he had punished two men who refused to obey.
• Dugu Changxin and Dugu Yan discussed Ye Xingge’s strange leap from the cliff and her mission to find Cold Cloud Blade Qiu Shu at Han River Bay.
• Dugu Yan spotted a swordsman resembling Ye Xingge traveling with the carriages and went downstairs to get a closer look.

Ye Xingge and Incense Master Su traveled with trafficked children when Dugu Yan confronted them and demanded their release. Ye Xingge defeated and captured her, then continued toward the stronghold with the carriage as Incense Master Su and the thugs chose not to interfere.

• Ye Xingge questioned Incense Master Su about the children and learned they were heading to meet a hall master.
• Dugu Yan appeared in the street, accused Ye Xingge of trafficking children, and demanded that he release them.
• Ye Xingge blocked Dugu Yan’s Qi channels, subdued her, gagged and bound her, and took her into custody.
• Ye Xingge said he would take Dugu Yan to his stronghold, while Incense Master Su decided to leave and pretend they had never seen her.
• Ye Xingge returned Dugu Yan’s saber to his waist, put her in the carriage, and the group drove away.