aviansoph archive
TGCF chapter summaries
Incomplete thus far but perhaps still useful!
VOLUME 1
Prologue
brief summary of the shangyuan festival parade, the encounter with the ghost on the bridge, the ascension, the war and downfall of xianle and xie lian's banishment, second ascension and banishment, and long period of being forgotten, followed by third ascension
chapter 1
xl arrives in heaven and learns of the damage he caused, joins the communication array and re-meets mu qing and feng xin, is given a mission by ling wen from jun wu, makes it to the city by mt yujun, is joined by nan feng and fu yao, and xl begins to tell them the story of the ghost groom
chapter 2
story of the ghost groom continues, the three find a nan yang temple to stay the night and encounter xiao-ying with a torn skirt and help her, we get the ju yang backstory for feng xin, and they see an attempted wedding procession for luring out the ghost groom
chapter 3
they interact with the people of the procession and xiao-ying, they discuss possibilities of what's going on, xie lian dresses up as a bride and they head out to the mountain, xie lian hears a child's voice who nobody else hears, they're attacked by wolves, they're attacked by binu, xl meets hua cheng, xl enters the temple of ming guang and sees the bride corpses and hears the ghost groom, the crowd of people join the search
chapter 4
talking over the situation, the crowd tries to take the bride corpses away, the dead officers left by the green ghost are found, the boy with the bandaged face is introduced, they get the story of xuan ji and pei ming from ling wen, they capture xuan ji and xiao-ying dies, pei jr shows up, we get a different side of the story of xuan ji, the bandaged boy removes his bandages
chapter 5
the bandaged boy has human face disease and xl freaks out and the boy runs away, there's various talk about what all happened and information about the calamities is introduced
chapter 6
xl finds himself out of place in heaven and goes to start a shrine to himself, meets hc in an ox cart on the way back to the shrine after collecting things he needs in town, the cart crosses paths with ghosts because of it being zhongyuan festival, xl invites hc to stay at his shrine for the night and hc paints a portrait of the god, the villagers come to the shrine to praise him, several attempts to reveal hc's identity
chapter 7
a messenger comes from banyue pass to request help and is revealed as an empty shell, xl tries and fails to get more info from heaven, nan fang and fu yao return to help, we get a bit of the banyue history
chapter 8
they go to a city by the desert and travel towards banyue, more attempts to reveal hc, first sight of beefleaf, sandstorm, sheltered in a cave, reading the stele about the dead general, find other people in the cave, scorpion snakes appear and one person is bit, xl is bit, the guide takes them to banyue for the cure, the merchants show up too instead of waiting, they find the cure and the mud face in the field of the herb
chapter 9
the mud face attacks, the soldiers of banyue show up, they're taken to the sinners pit, hc goes into the pit first even though xl volunteered, xl goes into the pit, discussion with kemo, the state preceptor joins them, we get more banyue history about xl's time there
chapter 10
general pei jr is revealed, the story is told, sqx and hx show up, they go back to the shrine, hc's identity is revealed
chapter 11
talk over the first meeting with hc, talk with banyue guoshi in a pot, more talk about the four calamities, hc leaves but gives xl a ring
VOLUME 2
chapter 12
xl goes to the palace of divine might, we meet lang qianqiu (tai hua), the gathering should be about pei jr but is actually about xl's association with hc, pei jr admits his actions and is exiled, xl and jw talk privately, jw asks xl to investigate a distress signal in ghost city, he meets sqx in male form
chapter 13
sqx backstory drop, a bit of ling wen backstory, meet ghosts to follow them into ghost city, they get separated, xl finds Gambler's Den
chapter 14
seeing hc again, the gambler who wants all his competition dead, sqx reappears, lqq interrupts the bet, xl gambles against hc for lqq, xl sees hc's true form, sqx & xl & lqq leave the Gambler's Den and talk plans
chapter 15
the bandaged boy is seen and xl chases him, waning moon officer takes xl to paradise manor to see hc, hc sends someone to find the boy, wound care on the boy's face, white clothed calamity is brought up, hc briefly leaves and xl follows waning moon officer and sees him take a secret path using dice, hc comes back and shows him the armory
chapter 16
xl introduced to eming, they discuss swords, the boy joins them for a meal and is named lang ying, sqx appears disguised as one of the female attendants, xl gets hc to give him some luck, sqx and xl try to follow the waning moon officer's route and have various adventures on their path, they find "ming yi"
chapter 17
they save hx from his imprisonment, end up back at the armory where hc is, sqx starts a windstorm so they can escape, lqq joins them but xl stops them fighting, xl sets the armory on fire, sqx & lqq & xl & hx escape and paradise manor burns down, they go to the palace of divine might and request assistance with the wounded ones (xl & hx), lqq accuses xl of being the state preceptor who murdered everyone at the Golden banquet in yong'an
chapter 18
backstory of gilded banquet told, lqq explains why he recognizes xl, xl admits it was him and requests banishment
chapter 19
Xie Lian repeats his desire to be banished due to his actions at the Golden Banquet in Yong'an, though Shi Qingxuan attempts to defend XL against the charges. Jun Wu denies the banishment and says he'll personally question XL. XL is restricted to his palace, and dreams of the time when he was State Preceptor (or Guoshi) in Yong'an, and shifu to Lang Qianqiu. XL explains why he won't teach LQQ a technique, then we see the end of the Gilded Banquet. After XL wakes, Mu Qing and Feng Xin both come to his palace, and MQ & FX argue and fight. Darkness and silver butterflies are outside the front doors of the palace when XL goes for help.
chapter 20
A very short chapter! The butterflies at the doorway come in and attack FX & MQ but leave XL alone. XL is pulled through the doorway by Hua Cheng, to somewhere that is no longer in the Heavenly Court. The gods are too scared of HC to try to save XL. Meanwhile, XL and HC both apologize for their recent actions when they last parted.
chapter 21
Feng Xin and Mu Qing use dice to try to get to where Xie Lian is, to rescue him, but end up in various uncomfortable or dangerous locations instead. Lang Qianqiu manages to get the right location and confronts XL with his old sword Fangxin. XL and LQQ duel, and XL wins bloodlessly with a trick. LQQ asks for an explanation of what had happened in Yong'an but doesn't get a useful answer. Hua Cheng turns LQQ into a doll and leads XL and LQQ to the Green Ghost Qi Rong's lair, where they see him grandstanding and complaining and preparing to eat a bunch of humans. Hua Cheng confronts QR under the name of Prince An Le and beats him up.
chapter 22
Hua Cheng assaults Qi Rong until he's willing to talk about the Gilded Banquet Massacre, and Qi Rong tells Lang Qianqiu about the Xianle rebels being the ones to blame, including Prince An Le. Xie Lian refutes this and insists it was nobody but himself. Through conversation the full truth comes out. Lang Qianqiu kills the clone body of Qi Rong that's been here for the encounter, vows revenge, and leaves. Hua Cheng and Xie Lian talk over what happened, neither of them happy.
chapter 23
xie lian smashes the kneeling statue of himself, xie lian and hua cheng free the human captives that qi rong had gathered, and xie lian and hua cheng talk about what it means to know someone and like them. feng xin and shi qingxuan finally find the two of them. after some further chatter, and a brief blood rain specifically to target feng xin, hua cheng returns to ghost city.
chapter 24
xie lian returns with shi qingxuan and feng xin to the Heavenly Court, but the charges against xie lian are dropped by lang qianqiu. xie lian has a brief talk with jun wu. since he can't go to his heavenly palace, xie lian goes down to earth and visits the royal mausoleum of xianle to pay respects to his parents. however, qi rong is waiting for him there and confronts him.
chapter 25
A description of the Shangyuan Festival in xianle in the era when xie lian was the highly regarded crown prince. The procession is nearly late to start because Xie Lian can't be found, but he makes a dramatic late entrance. the parade is magnificent and Xie Lian performs well, but it's interrupted by a child falling from the city walls, and xie lian leaves his appointed role to catch the child, disrupting the ritual. He manages to end things gracefully but is told off by the state preceptor for his errors.
chapter 26
guoshi confronts the xianle trio about what happened in the ceremony, and mu qing explains how he did pass the message on about the change of plans. the trio return to xie lian's palace and have some conversation about his dirtied outfit and about martial arts, then one of his coral pearl earrings is discovered to be missing. mu qing gets offended at an implication that he may have stolen it, and xie lian tells feng xin about how he first met mu qing after something else precious had gone missing. the trio visit the royal family and discover how reckless qi rong is with his carriage, and his behaviour to "punish" the child who interrupted the ceremony. xie lian saves the child and feng xin injures qi rong in the efforts to stop him. the king and queen are upset about what happened, for a variety of reasons.
chapter 27
The Xianle trio leave the palace with the injured child in tow, heading back to Mt Taicaing, but are interrupted by a crowd of common people praising Xie Lian for his actions in saving the child. When they get to the mountain, the State Preceptor explains what must be done to make up for the ceremony's interruption but Xie Lian refuses both options, and wonders if it's actually right to worship the gods in the way they do. A collection of evil spirits escape their imprisonment and swarm around the child in xie lian's palace, burning it to the ground but without anyone being hurt. The State Preceptor insists that the child has an evil fortune and cannot be helped, and then tells Xie Lian that he can leave the mountain to travel and gain experience. After his travels, Xie Lian ascends.
VOLUME 3
chapter 28
chapter summary: We are introduced to the many temples to the crown prince. At the main temple, Xie Lian is watching the activity in secret along with Feng Xin and Mu Qing. Qi Rong appears but shows himself to be as unpleasant as always. A young man from another city in Xianle comes looking for the royal palace as he wants to ask the king for help in dealing with the effects of a drought.
chapter 29
summary: Qi Rong has Lang Ying beaten for stealing, and orders him to be taken to be imprisoned. Xie Lian cannot directly show himself so he interrupts by pushing his divine statue over. He takes the opportunity to speak with Lang Ying and learns his child died as they were trying to escape the drought. Xie Lian gives him a red coral pearl and tells his deputies to go to Yong'an to investigate, while he goes to talk to the state preceptor.
chapter 30
chapter summary: Xie Lian confronts the State Preceptor about the drought and they argue about whether it's appropriate to act to help. Xie Lian visits the Yong'an region and considers the limits of what is possible to do.
chapter 31
chapter summary: Xie Lian listens to his parents talk about the Yong'an drought and about himself. He doesn't know what to say so he leaves and wanders the capital while thinking. A group of passers-by give him an umbrella in a rainstorm. In a small Crown Prince shrine, a boy who might be the child from the parade is bullied and mistreated, and asks the Crown Prince what to live for. Xie Lian says to make him the meaning of the boy's life.