There’s an ancient Chinese poetry battle going down between the fisherman and woodman, where both men try to prove they’ve got the better life through lyrics.
Which life would you prefer?
Things go from bad to worse for the Dragon King of Jing River in this chapter as what begins as an attempt to stop his subjects from falling prey to a fortune teller-guided fisherman ends with his majesty’s execution!
Here’s one depiction of the Dragon King and the Emperor Tang Taizhong:
And here are generals Jingde and Shubao, who are assigned to guard the emperor from the vengeful spirit of the Dragon King and the commotions he causes every night.
Eventually, the emperor has the generals’ images painted and their portraits placed on either side of the front door. When the hauntings start occurring at the back gate, he has Wei Zhang guard it:
Sadly, while the hauntings stop, the emperor’s condition worsens, and we end the chapter with the emperor descending into the depths of the underworld, like Dante into the inferno. To find out what he sees there and if he can make it back, we’ll just have to…
Journey on!