Recaps

Wu Shuangren learned how Hou Huai had been tortured by men working for Hong Fan and questioned whether the city’s law could protect ordinary people. After refusing to let the matter go, he visited Hou Huai’s family at the clinic, where Hou remained near death.

• Butcher Zhang told Wu Shuangren that a constable had returned to fight the attacker, who broke Hou Huai’s limbs and tore off his ear.
• Wu Shuangren told Liao Yu what happened and asked whether the city had laws; Liao urged him to wait until he was stronger before challenging Hong Fan’s men.
• Hong Fan learned Hou Huai had survived, dismissed the attack as minor, and ordered Si Congjian to send compensation to the family.
• Wu Shuangren returned to the clinic in new clothes and learned Jiang Rong had refused the compensation, so he kept the money pouch to return it later.
• Wu Shuangren visited Hou Huai’s bedside, spoke with Jiang Rong, and asked her timid son, An'an, his name.

Wu Shuangren prepared to meet Wei Laohei before attending Hong Fan’s banquet at Moxian Tower, while the county’s officials and gentry gathered and the Mo Family’s leaders arrived. The chapter left Wu Shuangren’s confrontation with Wei Laohei unresolved as the banquet approached.

• Wu Shuangren spoke with Hou Ping'an and spent the night at the clinic keeping watch with Wu Dongrong.
• Wu Dongrong told Wu Shuangren that Hong Fan was holding a banquet at Moxian Tower and asked whether he was ready; Wu Shuangren said he was.
• Hong Fan sent Wei Laohei to meet Wu Shuangren, believing the encounter would let Wei Laohei put the new militia commander in his place.
• Zhang Li led Wei Laohei to Butcher Zhang's home, where Wei Laohei recognized the place as the residence Luo You had chosen.
• Officials, gentry, clerks, and trading firm owners arrived at Moxian Tower, followed by Mo Zhenglin and Mo Zhengxing, who attended without attendants.

Wu Shuangren confronted Wei Laohei over Hou Huai and proved far stronger in their saber fight. He disarmed and pinned Wei Laohei, then kicked his left knee, leaving the outcome of the confrontation unresolved.

• Hong Fan grew impatient that Wei Laohei had not returned and sent someone to find him and bring Wu Shuangren to Moxian Tower.
• Wu Shuangren admitted he had come to stand up for Hou Huai, and Wei Laohei mocked him before the two drew their weapons.
• Wu Shuangren repeatedly thwarted Wei Laohei's attempts to draw his saber and wounded his thigh with a planned counterattack.
• Wei Laohei warned that Hong Fan would retaliate and threatened Wu Shuangren's family, but Wu Shuangren continued attacking.
• Wu Shuangren broke Wei Laohei's wrist, sent his saber flying, pinned him at swordpoint, and kicked his left knee.

Wu Shuangren crippled and killed Wei Laohei, then arrived at a banquet honoring his appointment as Bo County militia commander with Wei’s bloody head in a bundle. He publicly challenged Hong Fan’s authority and defended his appointment by pointing to the four county officials who had chosen him.

• Wu Shuangren broke Wei Laohei’s legs and arms, tore off his ear, and beheaded him.
• Hong Fan arrived at Moxian Tower for the banquet and asked why Wu Shuangren had not come with him.
• Zhang Li brought Liao Yu alarming news from the constables’ office, and Liao Yu quietly informed Wu Dongrong.
• Wu Shuangren arrived late with blood on his clothes and a blood-dripping bundle, then announced his thanks to the banquet guests.
• Hong Fan demanded to know where Wei Laohei was, and Wu Shuangren began recounting the assault at Butcher Zhang’s home.
• Wu Shuangren challenged Hong Fan and said the four Bo County officials had chosen him as commander.

Wu Shuangren killed Wei Laohei and then defeated Luo You when he resisted arrest, leaving Hong Fan without his two experts or control of the situation. He then questioned Hong Fan about the Mo Family Village massacre.

• Wu Shuangren revealed Wei Laohei’s severed head and said he had executed him after arresting him for attacking a constable.
• Luo You mourned Wei Laohei, admitted he had gone to Butcher Zhang’s home, and attacked Wu Shuangren when he was told to surrender.
• Xu Jing refused Hong Fan’s demand to stop Wu Shuangren, while constables surrounded Moxian Tower and kept Hong Fan’s attendants outside.
• Wu Shuangren killed Luo You in their fight, leaving Hong Fan without either of his two experts.
• Wu Shuangren asked Hong Fan whether he knew of his subordinates’ crimes and whether he was involved in the massacre at Mo Family Village.

Wu Shuangren used evidence and public pressure to persuade He Zhixu to authorize Hong Fan’s arrest for the Mo Family Village massacre. Afterward, he explained to Liao Yu that he had carefully planned the day’s confrontations, while Wu Dongrong urged him not to act so impulsively again.

• Wu Shuangren confronted Hong Fan and called on He Zhixu to investigate his alleged role in the Mo Family Village massacre.
• Wu Shuangren appealed to the officials and gentry gathered at Moxian Tower, winning their support and rekindling the Mo Family leaders’ resolve.
• He Zhixu authorized Wu Shuangren to take Hong Fan into custody, and Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong escorted the prisoner from Moxian Tower.
• Wu Dongrong locked Hong Fan in prison, where Hong Fan protested and threatened that his uncle, Chief Steward Hong of Mist Hidden Temple, would retaliate.
• Wu Shuangren told Liao Yu that he had planned the day’s actions and prepared backup strategies, then Wu Dongrong warned him not to be so impulsive in the future.

Wu Shuangren resolved to kill Hong Fan and use the act to force the Mo Family into an alliance, accepting that this would risk retaliation from the Mist Hidden Temple. He returned to the clinic, told Hou Ping'an and Jiang Rong that the attackers had been punished, and offered them compensation from the authorities.

• Wu Shuangren told Wu Dongrong and Liao Yu that he would send Hong Fan to the Mo Family to kill, forcing the family to join their side.
• Wu Shuangren argued that the Mist Hidden Temple would not dare openly attack within the city and said he could handle even its strongest expert.
• Wu Dongrong told Liao Yu that Wu Shuangren had acted mainly because of Hou Huai and his loyalty to others, though he worried Wu Shuangren might become like Hou Huai.
• Wu Shuangren noticed that the green color in his Match for One Person Trait had grown after defeating powerful opponents and anticipated fighting more experts.
• At the clinic, Wu Shuangren learned Hou Huai had not woken up, then told Hou Ping'an and Jiang Rong that the attackers had been caught and punished.
• Wu Shuangren offered Jiang Rong money, explaining that the authorities owed compensation because Hou Huai had been injured in the line of duty.

Wu Shuangren gave Jiang Rong silver for Hou Huai’s family, then secured the Mo Family’s agreement to join forces against Mist Hidden Temple. He confiscated Hong Fan’s property, but the haul was too small to fund the militia for long.

• Wu Shuangren gave Jiang Rong silver taken from Wei Laohei’s corpse and let her treat it as a loan for Ping'an.
• Wu Shuangren asked Mo Zhenglin and Mo Zhengxing how they would deal with Hong Fan, and Mo Zhenglin agreed that the Mo Family would join forces with him against Mist Hidden Temple.
• Wu Shuangren met Wu Dongrong, Liao Yu, and the constables outside the Mo residence, then announced they would confiscate a household’s property.
• Liao Yu led the constables in raiding Hong Fan’s residence and seized its valuables, servants, and maids without resistance.
• Wu Shuangren asked Liao Yu to share part of the seized property with four officials and the Mo Family, then calculated that the remaining funds could not sustain the militia for long.

Wu Shuangren and the others interrogated Hong Fan about Mist Hidden Temple before Mo Zhenglin killed him. They covered up his death, discovered his hidden fortune, and Wu Shuangren proposed dividing it among the officials, the Mo Family, and himself.

• Wu Dongrong, Wu Shuangren, Liao Yu, and the Mo brothers questioned Hong Fan, who revealed that Mist Hidden Temple had secretly assembled two hundred cavalrymen and targeted Bo County to secure a foothold near West River Market.
• Hong Fan named Master Ciwen, Master Kongzheng, and an unnamed elder as Mist Hidden Temple’s first-rate experts, then answered further questions about the temple’s plans.
• As the group prepared to kill him, Hong Fan revealed that Chief Steward Hong was his father; Mo Zhenglin struck him dead despite Mo Zhengxing’s hesitation.
• Wu Dongrong said he would report Hong Fan’s death as a suicide and revealed fifteen exchange notes found on him, worth one hundred and fifty strings of cash.
• Wu Shuangren proposed splitting the money from Hong Fan’s residence and the exchange notes three ways among the four officials, the Mo Family, and himself.

After the Mo Family yielded its share of the money and offered supplies, Wu Shuangren began organizing the militia while deepening his martial training. Liao Yu urged him to take the martial examination, but Wu Shuangren rejected the idea because he wanted to build power of his own as the dynasty approached chaos.

• Mo Zhenglin gave Wu Shuangren the Mo Family's share of the money and offered clothes and spears to support the militia, and Mo Zhengxing agreed.
• Wu Shuangren impressed Xu Nanzhi with how quickly he learned the Cloud Tide Returning Wave Steps, and he reassured her that she had not held him back.
• Wu Shuangren asked Liao Yu to find a place in the county seat for militia training, then discovered he could lift a two-hundred-jin stone lock seventeen times.
• Wu Shuangren sparred with Liao Yu and discussed the differences between military martial arts and jianghu techniques, as well as the prospects offered by the martial examination.
• Liao Yu advised Wu Shuangren to take the martial examination, but Wu Shuangren said he preferred to establish power of his own rather than risk his life serving someone else.

Wu Shuangren prepared a training ground and began drilling his newly assembled militia, combining recruits with twenty Mo Family veterans. He struggled to teach them basic formation and left them standing at attention under the midday sun as Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong watched.

• Liao Yu arranged for Wu Shuangren to buy three residences in the south of the city and covered the extra cost of paying with jiaozi.
• Wu Shuangren joined the residences into a training ground and sparred with Bai Jinhuan and other Mo Family guards to improve his martial skills.
• Wu Shuangren gathered sixty-eight recruits and twenty Mo Family veterans, then ordered them to form four rows and disciplined them with a wooden stick.
• Wu Shuangren discovered many militiamen could not distinguish left from right, so he tied cloth strips around their right arms until they formed neat ranks.
• Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong watched Wu Shuangren keep the militia standing in formation, while he struck those who moved or wiped away sweat.

Wu Shuangren enforced strict discipline in the Bo County militia and recruited Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong as instructors. After several days of training, he tested [Match for One Person] against three veterans and found it gave him no extra power against weaker opponents.

• Wu Shuangren threw a militiaman out for refusing to train, and Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong arrived with constables to support him.
• Wu Shuangren explained that the drills taught obedience and asked Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong to serve as militia instructors.
• Over the next few days, Wu Shuangren drilled the militia in formation, standing at attention, and synchronized goose-stepping while Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong questioned his methods.
• Wu Shuangren had three veterans attack him with padded spears and found that [Match for One Person] only sharpened his focus, reactions, and control against weaker opponents.
• Wu Shuangren defeated the three veterans in turn, confirmed the Trait did not change, and then had them charge together in a row.

Wu Shuangren trained to fight multiple opponents while considering the limits of [Match for One Person] and his need to build a faction. Meanwhile, Hong Zhanming ordered a night attack in Bo County and sent men to kidnap Xu Nanzhi, leaving the town under threat from a cavalry force outside its walls.

• Wu Shuangren discovered that [Match for One Person] required him to focus on enemies one at a time, then considered how the Trait limited him on a chaotic battlefield.
• Wu Shuangren trained with five veterans while Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong taught him and the militia how to fight in coordinated groups.
• Hong Zhanming learned that his men had reached Bo County and ordered Luo You's captured family killed.
• More than a hundred riders approached Bo County at night, drawing the defenders to the walls as two intruders slipped into town.
• The intruders reached Xu Nanzhi's clinic to kidnap her and use her as leverage against Wu Shuangren.

Xu Nanzhi defeated two swordsmen sent by the Mist Hidden Temple to abduct her while Hou Huai woke, and Wu Shuangren’s group arrived to find her safe. Wu Shuangren stayed with Hou Huai, who asked whether he regretted falling out with Hong Fan.

• Hou Huai woke as Xu Nanzhi treated him, and Xu Nanzhi warned Jiang Rong to stay inside before confronting two intruders in the courtyard.
• The swordsmen attacked Xu Nanzhi, but she disarmed one and struck the other down.
• Wu Shuangren, Wu Dongrong, and Liao Yu rushed to Xu Nanzhi’s clinic and found her unharmed with the two men bound.
• Wu Dongrong and Liao Yu took the swordsmen to the county yamen, while Wu Shuangren stayed with Hou Huai.
• Hou Huai learned that Wu Shuangren had killed Wei Laohei and Luo You and captured Hong Fan, then asked whether Wu Shuangren regretted falling out with Hong Fan.

Wu Shuangren led a counterattack against the Mist Hidden Temple cavalry outside Bo County after learning their plan and numbers. The ambush scattered the riders, and Wu Shuangren fought their leader, leaving the clash unresolved.

• Wu Shuangren learned that Mist Hidden Temple men had tried to kidnap Xu Nanzhi and proposed striking back.
• Wu Dongrong, Liao Yu, Xu Jing, and the Mo Family supported the counterattack after learning that only about a hundred enemy riders were outside the city.
• Wu Dongrong used a ruse to split the cavalry, and Xu Jing’s archers ambushed them on a steep hillside.
• Wu Shuangren charged down the slope and attacked the leader of the disordered riders.
• Wu Shuangren knocked the leader from his horse and used a sudden saber feint to leave his chest exposed.

Wu Shuangren helped repel a cavalry attack on the hillside, then joined Xu Jing in preparing the militia to withstand a renewed assault. The riders charged the southeastern slope, and the chapter ended with the defenders forming a makeshift barricade bristling with spears.

• Wu Shuangren killed the enemy leader and a charging rider, while the remaining cavalry retreated down the slope.
• Wu Dongrong stopped Wu Shuangren from pursuing, and Xu Jing, Mo Zhenglin, and Mo Zhengxing led guards in killing fallen riders.
• Xu Jing ordered the militia to shelter beneath boards as the surviving riders shot arrows uphill, which the boards blocked.
• More than fifty riders returned, regrouped with the survivors, and decided to attack the hill again.
• The cavalry charged the southeastern slope, where horse pits disrupted the leading riders, while Xu Jing directed the archers against them.
• Wu Shuangren ordered the veterans to build a rough board barricade and drove frightened recruits to take up spears behind it.

Wu Shuangren and the Bo County militia used a hillside defense to repel the Mist Hidden Temple’s cavalry and win their first victory with few casualties. After the fighters returned to the county seat with captured weapons, armor, and horses, county magistrate He Zhixu was awakened by the alarm gong.

• The lead cavalry riders halted at the crest when they saw the militia’s spear barricades, and the archers’ fire forced the attackers into retreat.
• Wu Shuangren, Wu Dongrong, Liao Yu, and Bai Jinhuan pursued the fleeing riders, while Wu Shuangren killed seven men and Bai Jinhuan cut down more.
• Wu Dongrong warned Wu Shuangren not to underestimate cavalry, and the militia celebrated its first victory since being reestablished.
• The militia counted thirty-four dead enemy riders, captured their armor and weapons, and recovered fifteen unharmed warhorses.
• Xu Jing ordered the bodies burned and the militia returned to the county seat; He Zhixu woke when the gong sounded on the city wall.

After leading the militia to victory against the mounted bandits, Wu Shuangren strengthened his Internal Skill and rewarded the fighters while planning their next training. At Mist Hidden Temple, Hong Zhanming faced pressure from the Warrior Monk Hall over control of the weakened cavalry, while Abbot Ciwen underwent an oil ritual.

• He Zhixu learned that Xu Jing and Wu Shuangren had returned victorious, and he reluctantly accepted the news after condemning their expedition.
• Wu Shuangren realized the battle had changed his state of mind, and his Internal Skill advanced another level that night.
• Wu Shuangren tried to persuade Xu Nanzhi to spar, then gave each of the fifty militiamen who fought in the battle one hundred wen.
• Liao Yu told Wu Shuangren that Xu Jing had taken ten warhorses and that the Mo Family had declined a share of the spoils; Wu Shuangren decided to learn riding from Wu Dongrong.
• Hong Zhanming ordered a man to watch the Warrior Monk Hall after learning it wanted control of the cavalry unit.
• Master Ciwen sat beneath a golden Buddha statue as a monk poured golden oil over his body.

Ciwen reached the First Rank and warned Hong Zhanming to set aside Bo County and strengthen ties with West River Market. In Bo County, Wu Shuangren trained the militia and tested his Crouching Tiger technique against Liao Yu’s mounted spear charge.

• Ciwen endured the warrior monks’ iron-staff blows and revealed that he had mastered his divine skill and entered the First Rank.
• Hong Zhanming confessed that he had caused dozens of deaths, and Ciwen spared him while directing him to focus on West River Market instead of Bo County.
• Wu Shuangren drilled the Bo County militiamen in ranks and spear formations with help from Wu Dongrong and Liao Yu.
• Wu Shuangren faced Liao Yu’s mounted charge and struck the spear shaft at its weak point, deflecting it past his shoulder.

Wu Shuangren trained with Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong, rebuilt the militia, and searched for a way to earn money so he could strengthen his forces against the Mist Hidden Temple. When the Mo Family’s illicit salt supply was cut off, he proposed holding boxing matches in Xi Province and making money through wagers.

• Wu Shuangren faced mounted charges from Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong, broke his wooden saber against Wu Dongrong’s attack, and then practiced riding with him.
• Wu Shuangren recruited enough men to bring the militia to a hundred and set long-, mid-, and short-term goals centered on defeating the Mist Hidden Temple and finding new income.
• Wu Shuangren asked Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong about places where martial contests were popular, then decided to explore holding matches in Xi Province.
• Mo Zhengxing told Mo Zhenglin that salt merchants in Yun Province had stopped supplying the Mo Family, and they suspected the Mist Hidden Temple had driven up prices.
• Wu Shuangren met Mo Zhenglin and Mo Zhengxing and proposed staging several public boxing matches each day in Xi Province, with income from spectators and betting.

Wu Shuangren convinced the Mo Family to build a boxing business at West River Market, arguing it could help them grow strong enough to challenge the Mist Hidden Temple. Mo Zhengxing established a boxing hall, recruited eight fighters, and launched a publicity campaign, leaving the matches poised to begin.

• Wu Shuangren explained his boxing-match business plan to Mo Zhengxing and Mo Zhenglin, including betting, fighter pay, protective gear, and scoring rules.
• Mo Zhengxing agreed that West River Market was a suitable location, and Mo Zhenglin approved the plan as an opportunity to strengthen the Mo Family while the Mist Hidden Temple held back.
• Ten days after the ambush on the Mist Hidden Temple cavalry, Mo Zhengxing traveled from Bo County to West River Market with guards and helpers to find a venue.
• Mo Zhengxing bought an old theater for 212 taels of silver and had it renovated into a boxing hall with a ring, spectator seating, and private viewing boxes.
• Mo Zhengxing recruited eight fighters and advertised nightly matches with pay for every fighter and a bonus for winners, distributing flyers that emphasized free admission.

Mo Zhengxing opened the West River Market Boxing Hall, where Wu Shuangren’s rules and promotions drew growing crowds to watch and bet on matches. By the seventh day, betting had made the fights even more popular, and Mo Zhengxing ended the night by promising another four matches the next day.

• Mo Zhengxing opened the Boxing Hall, where Bai Jinhuan explained the rules and refereed the first match between Zhou Hu and Wang Tong.
• Wang Tong knocked Zhou Hu down repeatedly and won the opening match, earning extra pay as spectators cheered and martial artists considered joining the hall.
• Mo Zhengxing signed three more fighters as crowds grew over the following days, eventually filling the hall and its private rooms.
• On the seventh day, Mo Zhengxing opened betting tables, and wagers intensified the crowd’s excitement during the four matches.
• After spectators demanded a fifth match, Mo Zhengxing said the hall would hold only four matches each night and urged them to return early the next day.

Mo Zhengxing’s boxing courtyard began earning admission and private-room fees, while Wu Shuangren trained the militia to face cavalry charges and trust their comrades. The West River Gang’s Chen Xiao challenged the boxing courtyard to a barehanded fight, and Mo Zhengxing asked what would happen if his side won or lost.

• Mo Zhengxing calculated that the boxing courtyard had lost money that night but expected its growing popularity to make it profitable, then sent a letter to Wu Shuangren.
• Wu Shuangren, Wu Dongrong, and Liao Yu trained the militiamen to stand firm against a cavalry charge, then Wu Shuangren taught them to fall backward and trust their comrades to catch them.
• A Mo Family guard arrived at the training camp with a letter for Wu Shuangren.
• On the eleventh night after opening, Mo Zhengxing charged two wen for admission and raised private-room prices to thirty wen, while the boxing courtyard filled with customers.
• Chen Xiao of the West River Gang condemned the padded-glove bouts and demanded that the boxing courtyard send a fighter to face his barehanded man; Mo Zhengxing accepted and asked what the terms would be if either side won.

Bai Jinhuan defeated Yu Cheng in an unarmed wagered fight, winning the boxing house the right to continue operating while suffering a serious shoulder injury. As Mo Zhengxing anticipated further challenges from the West River Gang, Zhang Yan of the Zhang Clan arrived at the boxing house to pay a visit.

• Chen Xiao forced Mo Zhengxing to accept a wagered unarmed match between Bai Jinhuan and Yu Cheng, with the boxing house’s future at stake.
• Bai Jinhuan endured Yu Cheng’s attacks and, using the stage ropes to counter, struck him hard enough to send him off the stage.
• Chen Xiao paid the wager and left, while Mo Zhengxing announced that the boxing house’s fights would continue.
• Bai Jinhuan told Mo Zhengxing that his shoulder tendons and bones were injured and that he would need at least a month to recover.
• Mo Zhengxing expected the West River Gang to demand more matches and hoped Wu Shuangren would arrive soon.
• Zhang Yan of the Zhang Clan of West River County arrived with two martial artists and asked to be announced.

Zhang Yan tried to make Mo Zhengxing surrender ninety percent of the boxing arena’s profits in exchange for the Zhang Clan’s protection, but Mo Zhengxing refused. Wu Shuangren arrived with fifty disciplined militiamen and money from the Mo Family, and prepared to face the West River Gang’s next challenge.

• Zhang Yan offered the Zhang Clan’s protection in exchange for ninety percent of the boxing arena’s profits, but Mo Zhengxing rejected the deal.
• Li Ming decided that the West River Gang would first win back its lost face and then take the boxing arena by force.
• Wu Shuangren led fifty militiamen into West River Market in precise formation, drawing wary attention from the locals.
• Mo Zhengxing welcomed Wu Shuangren to the boxing arena, where Wu Shuangren proposed buying nearby courtyards and expanding the venue.
• Wu Shuangren gave Mo Zhengxing four hundred taels of silver from the Mo Family and said he had recruited another hundred militiamen.
• After hearing that the West River Gang might attack again that night, Wu Shuangren said he would take any one-on-one fight.