Arc 17The Ba Snake Hunt
Zhang Xuezhou left Kunlun under orders to investigate Emperor Jing and reached Shu, where Dong Zhongshu suspected the emperor in Chang’an was an impostor. He joined Dong Zhongshu and Wen Weng’s hunt for a Ba Snake, which survived the battle and fled into the Jian River as Zhu Shiyin resolved to forge his own fate.
- Zhang Xuezhou healed Ren Wuyang’s cut, helped restore Zhang Weimeng’s memories, and later shared the Mental Strengthening Chapter with the Golden Crow Emperor, who learned that Zhang was godson to the Golden Toad Dharma King.
- The Golden Toad Dharma King revealed that Zhu Jiuyin had ordered Zhang to investigate Emperor Jing in Chang’an, so the sovereign let Zhang leave Kunlun and told him to claim Golden Crow had detained Feiyu for a hundred years.
- Feiyu carried Zhang toward Chang’an but was struck by lightning, while Zhang used the Lightning Avoidance Instruction to open 17,967 acupoints before landing near a city.
- Zhang met Dong Zhongshu at Wen Weng’s academy in Bashu, where Dong questioned him about Emperor Jing’s battle with the Exalted One and suspected the emperor in Chang’an was an impostor.
- Wen Weng told Dong Zhongshu about a Ba Snake threatening the Great Peace Weir, and Dong agreed to hunt it for its gallbladder while warning Zhang that Chang’an could be dangerous.
- Dong Zhongshu, Wen Weng, Zhang Shu, and Zhao Liang attacked the Ba Snake, but it blinded Wen Weng and Dong Zhongshu and swallowed Wen Weng’s horse before the two men escaped.
- Zhang watched the Ba Snake recover and flee, then it spotted him and swallowed his abandoned horse, and Zhu Shiyin’s eye began regenerating, and he entered the Jian River determined to take control of his fate.