Chapter Summaries

Luo Ziwei told Gu Baishui that Li Xu had secretly returned to Luoyang to visit her sick brother and was killed by Li Shiyi. The story then shifted to Tang Kingdom Calendar year 356, when upheavals spread across the continent and the Grand Progenitor vanished in the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range.

• Luo Ziwei explained that her mother had stayed unmarried, helped flood refugees, and died after a long illness, leaving a letter about living happily.
• An old merchant told Gu Baishui that the general was Li Shiyi and that his younger sister, Li Xu, had died young.
• Gu Baishui asked Luo Ziwei what had happened to Li Shiyi and Li Xu, and she confessed that she missed A-Xu and believed she had been murdered.
• Luo Ziwei said Li Xu had secretly left Weiyang Palace to visit Li Shiyi when he fell ill and had died after meeting him at their family estate.
• Luo Ziwei identified Li Shiyi as the person who killed his younger sister with his own hands.
• In Tang Kingdom Calendar year 356, the Grand Progenitor entered the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range and never returned, amid widespread turmoil across the continent.

Gu Baishui reached Luoyang with the old merchant and the Little Beggar, where a ragged beggar handed him a bone and warned him to flee. The chapter left Gu Baishui outside the city, facing an unexplained threat.

• A-Xu spent three years cultivating under Grand Secretary Du while Li Shiyi remained in Luoyang after his parents returned to Chang'an.
• After visiting the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range to bid farewell to Great Ancestor, Li Shiyi returned ill and grew quiet as elderly residents and servants died.
• The old merchant, Gu Baishui, and the Little Beggar arrived at Luoyang's gates during the season of drifting willow catkins.
• A ragged old beggar approached Gu Baishui and rejected the half-dry steamed bun he offered.
• The old beggar gave Gu Baishui a gnawed bone and told him not to enter Luoyang, but to run as far as he could.

Gu Baishui was left outside Luoyang City after the curfew prevented him from entering, while Luo Ziwei went inside. At sunset, he spotted the Old Holy Lord of the Shaking Light Holy Land and Ji Changsheng arriving with an unfamiliar young man.

• The Old Beggar tried to cut in line at Luoyang City, was thrown out by the guards, and obediently joined the queue; Gu Baishui kept the old man's broken bone.
• Gu Baishui asked Luo Ziwei how she knew Li Shiyi, and she said she had met him outside Luoyang City.
• At the city gate, Gu Baishui gave the guard the fake name Li Gousheng'er and claimed to be a poet from the Western Regions, but the curfew barred him from entering without a travel permit and a local guarantor.
• Luo Ziwei entered the city with the caravan while Gu Baishui stayed outside, planning to sneak in the next morning and waiting beneath the willow tree.
• As the gates were about to close, Gu Baishui saw the Old Holy Lord of the Shaking Light Holy Land, Ji Changsheng, and an unfamiliar young man arrive together.

Gu Baishui sneaked into Luoyang City and listened to a storyteller recount Li Shiyi’s past. The storyteller explained that Li Shiyi had chosen an ordinary life in Luoyang, and Gu Baishui finished his account by mentioning Li Shiyi’s younger sister.

• Gu Baishui struggled through Luoyang City’s wall with the Earth Traversal Technique and entered the city after nightfall.
• Gu Baishui joined the crowd outside a tavern and listened as the storyteller described Li Shiyi’s ties to the Grand Progenitor and his later inscription on the Weiyang Stele.
• Gu Baishui asked what kind of person Li Shiyi had been, and the storyteller called him genuinely kind.
• The storyteller explained that Li Shiyi had chosen Luoyang and made himself small as a grain of dust to honor a promise to an old farmer.
• Gu Baishui finished the storyteller’s unfinished thought by saying Li Shiyi still had a sweet and sensible younger sister.

Gu Baishui questioned a storyteller about Li Shiyi, Li Xu, and the Ye family, hoping to understand the siblings’ past and the Little Beggar’s connection to them. He learned that the Ye Clan’s residence was abandoned and was warned that trouble was approaching Luoyang.

• The storyteller told Gu Baishui that Li Xu had been forgotten because she died young, and confirmed that Li Shiyi had left Luoyang for Chang'an while ill.
• Gu Baishui asked whether Li Shiyi became a Human Race Great Emperor, and the storyteller said it was possible but that no one knew where Li Shiyi had gone.
• Gu Baishui asked about a scholar surnamed Ye, and the storyteller explained that the scholar had married into the Ye Clan and tutored Li Shiyi and Li Xu.
• The storyteller told Gu Baishui that the Ye Clan’s old residence in western Luoyang had been abandoned, then warned him not to visit because outsiders had arrived and Willow Catkins heralded trouble.

Gu Baishui discovered that the Bronze Mirror could survey the world beyond the Great Emperor's Forbidden Zone, then overheard two powerful Saints discussing the gathering in Luoyang City. The chapter ended with the Old Holy Lord asking which Great Emperor Li Shiyi had been.

• Gu Baishui tested the Bronze Mirror in the tavern and saw everything within a hundred li of Luoyang City.
• Gu Baishui realized the Bronze Mirror could let him spy across the continent and wondered whether it had helped his Master prove the Dao.
• Gu Baishui's Divine Sense entered a room and recognized the Old Holy Lord of the Shaking Light Holy Land and the current head of the Ji Clan.
• The two men discussed the Saints secretly gathered in Luoyang City and said the events there could change the continent's balance of power.
• The Old Holy Lord asked the head of the Ji Clan which Great Emperor Li Shiyi had been.

Ji Changsheng and the Yaoguang Old Holy Lord discussed whether Li Shiyi was the Decaying Great Emperor and whether her tomb lay beneath Luoyang City. As Saints gathered to seek the tomb and its legacy, Gu Baishui realized he was trapped among powerful rivals whose intentions toward him remained unknown.

• Ji Changsheng told the Yaoguang Old Holy Lord that he had learned of the Decaying Great Emperor from the Great Emperor's Forbidden Zone and suspected Li Shiyi had become that Emperor.
• Ji Changsheng explained that he had sent Xu'er into the Forbidden Zone to uncover its secrets, and described its mysterious Third Mister as someone Xu'er called a good person.
• Ji Changsheng said he believed Li Shiyi's tomb was buried in Luoyang City and revealed that he had brought Lu Ziyou to help enter it and claim her legacy.
• Gu Baishui's Divine Sense found Han Feicheng in a tavern, secretly admiring an album of female cultivators despite his reputation as a righteous gentleman.
• Gu Baishui discovered that many old and newly risen Saints had gathered in Luoyang City, and feared he had become tempting prey among them.

Gu Baishui’s Divine Sense searched the abandoned Ye Clan residence while Lu Ziyou explored it, talking to an unseen companion about Li Shiyi and the old mysteries of Luoyang. Gu Baishui discovered that the companion was another Red-Haired Monster.

• Gu Baishui wondered whether Li Shiyi had been the Decaying Great Emperor and who Ji Clan Head had meant would die in Luoyang City.
• Gu Baishui sent his Divine Sense to the abandoned Ye Clan residence, searching its empty courtyards for the Little Beggar.
• Lu Ziyou entered the residence with a dark yellow Compass and asked his invisible companion, Mingque, whether Li Shiyi had been his predecessor.
• Lu Ziyou recounted Li Shiyi’s brutal reputation and the history of the Ye Clan’s broken ties with the Li Household.
• Lu Ziyou searched the Ancestral Hall and discussed the unanswered questions surrounding Li Shiyi and Li Xu.
• Gu Baishui’s Divine Sense saw that the invisible presence Lu Ziyou addressed was another Red-Haired Monster.

Lu Ziyou searched the Ye Clan’s Ancestral Hall with Mingque and found a memorial tablet for Li Nianyu, while Gu Baishui’s hidden Divine Sense was shattered after he glimpsed an ancient Red-Haired Monster accompanying the Little Beggar. Gu Baishui awoke in a study drained by his Bronze Mirror, which had run out of power.

• Lu Ziyou wondered whether Li Shiyi had been a Transmigrator with a Red-Haired Monster companion, and Mingque nodded.
• Lu Ziyou speculated about the Transmigrators and their histories as he searched the Ancestral Hall.
• A gust uncovered a tablet memorializing Li Nianyu, and Lu Ziyou picked it up.
• Gu Baishui’s hidden Divine Sense reacted violently as the Little Beggar arrived with an ancient Red-Haired Monster behind her.
• Gu Baishui’s Divine Sense began to disintegrate, and the ancient Red-Haired Monster’s appearance caused him unbearable pain.
• Gu Baishui awoke drained of strength and found his Bronze Mirror covered in patina, apparently out of power.

Gu Baishui recovered enough to piece together Li Shiyi’s past from what he had seen through the Bronze Mirror. His account traced Li Shiyi’s peaceful childhood and ended with the Red-Haired Monkey revealing the mystery surrounding A-Xu.

• Gu Baishui, weakened by using the Bronze Mirror, recalled Li Nianyu’s spirit tablet in the Ye Clan ancestral hall and the Red-Haired Monster beside the little beggar.
• Gu Baishui wrote down the clues and reconstructed Li Shiyi’s history, beginning with the retired general who moved his family from Chang'an to Luoyang.
• Li Shiyi gave up pursuing cultivation after speaking with his father and spent his youth living quietly alongside his younger sister, Li Xu.
• Li Xu was taken to Weiyang Palace and became a celebrated genius, while Li Shiyi stayed in Luoyang and grew close to the Ye Clan’s daughter.
• After returning from the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range, Li Shiyi fell ill and saw a Red-Haired Monkey that no one else could perceive.
• The Red-Haired Monkey told Li Shiyi about Transmigrators, prompting him to question whether an unfamiliar soul had taken over A-Xu’s body.

On Ghost Festival night, Gu Baishui slipped out of the tavern and became lost in the rain and fog while heading toward an old residence. He found himself trapped between two groups of eerie Paper Figures approaching from opposite ends of the street.

• Gu Baishui questioned whether Li Shiyi’s tomb was in Luoyang and learned from the storyteller that the city would be under strict curfew for Ghost Festival.
• Gu Baishui promised the storyteller he would stay inside, then climbed over the tavern wall after nightfall.
• Despite his depleted Spiritual Power and Divine Sense, Gu Baishui set out for the old residence in western Luoyang, deciding to pursue the little beggar’s unfinished story.
• Gu Baishui lost his way in the rain and fog as Ghost Festival drew near.
• A silent group of white Paper Figures appeared ahead of Gu Baishui, and he heard the same eerie ringing behind him.

During Luoyang’s Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, Gu Baishui was swept away by the procession and found himself outside the Ye Clan’s residence, where he encountered Lu Ziyou. Lu Ziyou revealed his connection to the Yin-Yang Holy Land and considered killing Gu Baishui as they waited for the manor to open at midnight.

• Gu Baishui stood between the black and white paper processions, shut his eyes as they passed through him, and heard voices speaking about traveling from Xunyang to Luoyang.
• After the ghosts carried Gu Baishui away, he opened his eyes outside the Ye Clan’s residence and found Lu Ziyou waiting there.
• Lu Ziyou told Gu Baishui that the manor would open at midnight on the Ghost Festival and warned him that outsiders would not defeat him in Luoyang.
• Gu Baishui asked whether Lu Ziyou belonged to the Yin-Yang Holy Land, and Lu Ziyou removed his mask and admitted he was a candidate for Holy Son.
• Lu Ziyou thought about obtaining the Great Emperor inheritance inside the manor and considered killing Gu Baishui.

Gu Baishui faced Lu Ziyou outside the old courtyard while low on spiritual power, but an old beggar interrupted them and offered to trade for what lay inside. After learning the beggar believed Gu Baishui was destined to obtain Li Shiyi’s inheritance, Gu Baishui proposed improving the odds by making Lu Ziyou the only one to enter.

• Gu Baishui questioned whether he could defeat Lu Ziyou, who threatened him with a sword and demanded he leave or die.
• An old beggar appeared and told Gu Baishui he had followed him because he believed they were fated to meet.
• The old beggar explained that he could sense treasures a person might obtain and wanted what was inside the courtyard, believing it could extend his life and help him find a disciple.
• Gu Baishui realized the beggar had mistaken him for the courtyard’s destined inheritor and said he preferred probability to fate.
• Gu Baishui suggested that only one person needed to enter the courtyard and looked to Lu Ziyou to raise the odds.

At the entrance to Old Ye Residence, the old beggar threatened Lu Ziyou before Ji Changsheng intervened and proposed that they let Lu Ziyou and Gu Baishui compete for the opportunity inside. Ji Changsheng offered a Dragon Blood Longevity Fruit to the old beggar if Lu Ziyou won, leaving the two Saints waiting outside.

• Gu Baishui repeated Lu Ziyou's threat and told him to leave or die at the old beggar's hands.
• The old beggar pinned Lu Ziyou with Saint pressure and prepared to kill him, but Ji Changsheng appeared and stopped him.
• The old beggar and Ji Changsheng discussed why they had come to Old Ye Residence and the danger of entering during Ghost Festival.
• Ji Changsheng proposed that he and the old beggar wait outside while Lu Ziyou and Gu Baishui pursued the opportunity inside.
• Ji Changsheng offered the old beggar one of the Ji Clan's Dragon Blood Longevity Fruits if Lu Ziyou won.

Ji Changsheng persuaded the old beggar to let Lu Ziyou enter the Old Ye Residence, while Gu Baishui also chose to go inside. The residence sealed both youths’ cultivation and presented them with two paths and an exam overseen by Ox-Head and Horse-Face.

• Ji Changsheng offered the old beggar a Fruit of Immortality and explained that Lu Ziyou resembled Li Shiyi, earning the old beggar’s agreement to let him try the Old Ye Residence.
• Gu Baishui and Lu Ziyou entered the residence at the Hour of the Rat, and its gates closed behind them.
• The residence drained both Saints’ spiritual power and sealed their Divine Sense, leaving them powerless as they faced a black-brick path and a white-brick path.
• Ox-Head and Horse-Face emerged from the main hall and told the youths to choose separate paths and take an exam.
• Ox-Head explained that the white path led to a Literary Dao exam and that the other path led to a Science exam, leaving Lu Ziyou baffled.

Lu Ziyou and Gu Baishui faced separate tests in the courtyard: Lu Ziyou was given advanced science problems, while Gu Baishui was asked to finish a famous lyric attributed to A-Xu. Gu Baishui completed it and claimed he was a poet, leaving Horse-Face questioning whether he already knew the work.

• Ox-Head mocked Lu Ziyou for choosing the black stone path, and Lu Ziyou entered the hall despite his anger.
• Horse-Face urged Gu Baishui to take the Literary Dao test, and Gu Baishui sat at the white table.
• Gu Baishui read an account of A-Xu winning a Jiangnan literary banquet with Su Shi’s lyric, then learned she had only copied it and was a science student.
• Lu Ziyou recognized the science questions on his exam and erupted in frustration, but Ox-Head restrained him from flipping the table.
• Gu Baishui completed the lyric’s final lines and told Horse-Face, “I’m a poet.”

Gu Baishui passed the first test and entered a room with White Impermanence, where he received a written account of how the narrator met A-Xu and Li Shiyi. The account ended with A-Xu asking what someone should do if they woke from a nap as a different person.

• Gu Baishui handed in his test paper, and Horse-Face confirmed his answers were correct.
• Lu Ziyou suspected Gu Baishui was a Transmigrator, but Ox-Head stopped him from staring and urged him to focus on his test.
• Horse-Face led Gu Baishui to another courtyard, where White Impermanence took him into a room.
• Gu Baishui read an account describing how the narrator became friends with A-Xu, Li Shiyi’s younger sister.
• A-Xu asked the narrator what someone should do if they woke from a nap as a different person.

Li Shiyi recalled discussing possession and the nature of a soul with A-Xu, while a remembered conversation revealed why he stayed in Luoyang to celebrate her birthday. In the present, Gu Baishui followed White Impermanence toward the third courtyard and asked whether White Impermanence had been one of six corpses at the Abandoned Temple.

• Li Shiyi remembered fearing that a cultivator might take over an innocent person's body and inherit their relationships.
• Li Shiyi told A-Xu that a mature soul might have entered a baby before it developed awareness, or that a person might have lived a lifetime in a dream before birth; A-Xu smiled at his explanation.
• Li Shiyi recalled that his grandfather had invited his father to explore the world beyond the starry sky and later invited Li Shiyi to travel with him.
• Li Shiyi declined the invitation in memory, saying he needed to care for his parents and celebrate A-Xu's birthday each year.
• Gu Baishui gave White Impermanence a sheet of rice paper, then followed him toward the third courtyard and asked if they had met at the Abandoned Temple, where six corpses had lain.

Gu Baishui followed White Impermanence through Old Ye Residence and discovered that the storyteller he had met outside Luoyang City was the Red-Robed Judge. The Judge revealed that the household was searching for a true Transmigrator, then asked Gu Baishui whether he was one.

• White Impermanence told Gu Baishui that he and Ox-Head and Horse-Face were among the corpses driven to Old Ye Residence.
• White Impermanence brought Gu Baishui to a room where the Red-Robed Judge was waiting.
• Gu Baishui recognized the Judge as the storyteller he had met outside Luoyang City and admitted he had broken his promise not to go out.
• The Judge explained that the sixth corpse was their Master, a Quasi-Emperor who was outside the city and would arrive later.
• The Judge said Miss had prepared the questions to help them find a true Transmigrator, then asked Gu Baishui if he was one.

Gu Baishui denied being a Transmigrator while Lu Ziyou realized Old Ye Residence’s tests were searching for one. At the final trial, the Red-Robed Judge revealed that Miss wanted her death rehearsed and proposed a deadly wager between the two youths, ending by asking if they had played Dou Dizhu.

• Gu Baishui told the Red-Robed Judge that he was an ordinary mountain-raised person and said his Second Senior Brother could be confronted without involving him.
• Lu Ziyou passed through tests in several subjects and concluded that Old Ye Residence was testing for Transmigrators as part of Li Shiyi’s inheritance.
• Gu Baishui and Lu Ziyou met in the final room, where the Red-Robed Judge warned them that outsiders who entered the residence would die.
• The Red-Robed Judge said Miss wanted the household to rehearse her journey after death and that he intended to send one of the youths with her.
• The Red-Robed Judge opened the Book of Life and Death, offered their lifespans as the wager, and asked whether they knew how to play Dou Dizhu.