Mo Dao Zu Shi Writer Reference: Novel Chapter Summaries

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/20928887.

Rating: Not Rated

Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: Gen
Fandom: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Additional Tags: Fanwork Research & Reference Guides
Language: English
Collections: Mo Dao Zu Shi Writer Reference, Guides to MDZS Adaptations for
Fanworks/Writers
Stats: Published: 2019-10-07 Words: 2693

Mo Dao Zu Shi Writer Reference: Novel Chapter Summaries

by threerings

Summary

A breakdown of all the chapters in the Mo Dao Zu Shi/ Grandmaster of Demonic

Cultivation novel, with what happens when. To help in referring back to specific scenes,
because who can remember with every version happening in a different order.

So back…a while ago I made a post about things MDZS fandom really needs. And from that post
someone made a fantastic Guide to Chinese/pinyin terms. And now I have my own contribution, a
list of every chapter of the Mo Dao Zu Shi/Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation novel along with
summaries of what happens when.

Because I know as a writer I often want to look at a particular scene in canon to refresh my memory
or check something, but it’s nearly impossible to remember what happens when due to the different
chronologies in each version of the story.

So I spent the last couple weeks listening to the audio drama and skimming the novel and making
notes. Hopefully they are useful and understandable to more than just myself, but you can
definitely see my prejudices. Like entire chapters where it’s basically just “people talk…plot”
versus deep detail on Wangxian scenes. Anyway, here it is, I hope it helps.

1: Prologue – Short description of WWX’s death and 13 years after.

2: Reincarnation – WWX comes back in MXY’s body
3: Aggression Part 1 – WWX meets Lan disciples, Madame Mo, checks out some flags
4: Aggression Part 2 – Mo ZiYuan dies, so do some other people
5: Aggression Part 3 – WWX figures it out, raises some corpses, LWJ arrives, WWX steals a
donkey
6: Arrogance Part 1 – WWX arrives at Dafan mountain, hears about people who lost their souls
7: Arrogance Part 2 – Meets Jin Ling, Jiang Cheng, and then Lan Sect arrives
8: Arrogance Part 3 – Backstory of everyone, WWX sees ghost and learns about goddess temple
9: Arrogance Part 4 – Goddess temple, statue comes to life, WWX summons Wen Ning
10: Arrogance Part 5 – WWX plays flute for Wen Ning, LWJ grabs him, Jiang Cheng uses
zidian, LWJ claims WWX

11: Refinement Part 1 – Cloud Recesses entry, meet LXC, see LWJ in spring
12: Refinement Part 2 – Running from spring, joining LWJ in bed, frozen on top of him
13: Refinement Part 3- FLASHBACK – coming to Gusu as student, sneaking over the wall and
caught by LWJ, class with LQR
14: Refinement part 4 – Thrown out of class, JC and NHS talking, caught cheating and has to
copy
15: Refinement part 5- WWX and LWJ in library—porn book destroyed
16: Refinement part 6 – Caiyi Town, water ghoul hunting
17: Refinement part 7 – More ghouls, waterborne abyss, loquat girl
18: Refinement part 8 – Drunk WWX woken by LWJ for punishment, cold spring scene, rabbit
gift, fight with JZX, return to Yunmeng- END FLASHBACK
19: Contentment part 1 – First morning after, talking to juniors, arm suppression
20: Contentment part 2 – LWJ and WWX travel, meet Jin Ling and Fairy, hear about Man-eating
Castle
21: Contentment part 3 – Xinglu Ridge, find Fairy, get to Castle/Tomb
22: Contentment part 4: - Find saber coffins, Inquiry, find Jin Ling in wall
23: Malice part 1 – Split up, JL and WWX convo, Jiang Cheng captures WWX
24: Malice part 2 – WWX and JC convo, Jin Ling frees WWX, info about childhood
25: Malice part 3 – LWJ back, carries him, meet with NHS
26: Malice part 4 – NHS explains about saber tomb
27: Malice part 5 – Play rest together to calm arm, return and get legs from tomb
28: Dew part 1 – LWJ and WWX talk, teasing, go to wine shop for rumors about Chang Clan
29: Dew part 2 – More about Chang Clan and Xue Yang, XXC, etc
30: Dew part 3 – Moreabout XY and LLJ sect, cemetery with teleporting gravedigger, find torso,
LWJ gets drunk, WWX calls WN and removes nails
31: Dew part 4 – Drunk LWJ, jealous of WN, cleans LWJ face, asks questions, “Mine”
32: Dew part 5 – Morning after teasing, kids playing Sunshot
33: Grasses part 1 – Yi City arrival, meet up with juniors
34: Grasses part 2 – Corpses attack, juniors poisoned, LWJ fights gravedigger, enter house
35: Grasses part 3 – WWX making congee, discover old lady is living corpse, see A-Qing
36: Grasses part 4 – Looking out window, bringing “XXC” inside
37: Grasses part 5 – Song Lan attacks, inquiry, Xue Yang revealed, convo
38: Grasses part 6 – LWJ arrives, fights XY, WWX leaves with juniors, begins EMPATHY on
A-Qing
39: Grasses part 7 – A-Q meets XXC, finds XY injured, until she sees XXC kill villager
40: Grasses part 8 – Stories from XXC and XY, meeting Song Lan, killed by XY, A-Q tells XXC
41: Grasses part 9 – Confrontation XXC and XY, XXC kills self, A-Qing runs, is found by
XY, EMPATHY ends.
42: Grasses part 10 – WWX and LWJ confront XY, fight, gravedigger teleports away, revive
Song Lan and talk with him, begin traveling
43: Allure part 1- Drunk LWJ #2! Wen Ning visits, convo, LWJ wakes, ties hands with ribbon,
shows Juniors
44: Allure part 2 – Go upstairs, WWX bites LWJ, play chase for bites/kisses, Kiss, LWJ knocks
himself out
45: Allure part 3 – Morning after, WWX talks to Jin Ling, garden of damsel of annual blossoms,
ask juniors about ribbon, FLASHBACK to archery contest, pulling the ribbon
46: Guile part 1 – headless body put together, LXC arrives, identify body, talk about JGY
47: Guile part 2 – Discussion Conference Koi Tower – WWX teaches JL fighting, Paperman
spying, Qin Su confronting JGY, secret room, NMJ’s head
48: Guile part 3 – EMPATHY begins – NMJ meets Meng Yao, then sends him to Jin sect,
catches him murdering, is captured by Wen Ruohan
49: Guile part 4- Scene in palace, MY kills WR, escape, meet LXC, victory banquet with
everyone, LXC teaching JGY guqin, NMJ and NHS argue, Xue Yang argument, burning NHS’s
things
50: Guile part 5 – NMJ qi deviation, END EMPATHY – escape JGY back to body, LWJ and
WWX confront JGY, Qin Su dies, WWX revealed, runs, stabbed by JY
51: Courage part 1 – FLASHBACK – Lotus Pier family, sent to Qishan, Wen Chao takes
swords, sent to cave
52: Courage part 2 – WWX and LWJ and MianMian, find cave, stand up for MianMian, take
Wen chao hostage
53: Courage part 3 – Beast attacks, Wens flee, everyone swims out, LWJ and WWX stuck behind
and injured.
54: Courage part 4 – Treating wounds, stripping, biting ;P
55: Courage part 5 – Talk Xuanwu, talk about Cloud Recesses, Make Plan, Kill Xuanwu, WWX
fever, SONG
56: Poisons part 1- WWX wakes in Lotus Pier, family scene, WWX and JC scene
57: Poisons part 2- WLJ arrives, WWX whipped, Madame Yu slaps WLJ
58: Poisons part 3 – Wen Zhuliu arrives, fight, WWX and JC put on boat, go back, see Wen Ning
59: Poisons part 4 - Overhear WC and WLJ, WWX and JC fight, JC returns, Wen Ning helps
rescue, FLASHBACK to meeting Wen Ning
60: Poisons part 5 – Supervision office, meet Wen Qing, JC wakes, put back to sleep, WWX tells
JC about plan to get golden core back, Wen Chao captures WWX, throws into Burial Mound
61: Evil part 1 – WLJ and WC fear WWX, Sunshot progress, JC and LWJ find destroyed
supervision office, find WZL and WC, WWX arrives
62: Evil part 2 – WWX torments WZL and WC, LWJ and JC reunion, LWJ and WWX argue,
first “Come back to Gusu”, LWJ leaves
63: Tenderness part 1 – FLASHBACK ENDS -WWX calls to LZ in his sleep “I’ll go with you”,
wakes after being stabbed by JL, talk with LXC about song, find evil score
64: Tenderness part 2 – LWJ, WWX, LXC work out how song works, LXC tells WWX about
their mother, LWJ arrives with alcohol
65: Tenderness part 3 – WWX finds flower bookmark, JGY arrives and they spy on conversation,
LWJ and WWX leave for Burial Mound, scene with rabbits,
66: Tenderness part 4 – WWX rides donkey, thinks about his childhood, learns LWJ wrote song,
stop at house and hear wife call husband “Er-gege”, lying on each other in hay
67: Tenderness part 5 – Wen Ning scares off couple, find corpses and bury, talk about Yiling and
fantasizes about living together after retirement, arrive at Burial Mound
68: Tenderness part 6 – WWX and Wen Ning remember and mourn, corpses chase them up the
hill, find juniors tied up and arguing, free them, argue, JC arrives with group of cultivators who
want to kill WWX.
69: Departure part 1 – FLASHBACK – Phoenix Mountain Hunt – Flower throwing, WWX
shooting blindfolded, Blindfolded kiss in the tree, WWX finds LWJ punching tree, come across
JZX and JYL, memories of their falling out during Sunshot, WWX confronts JZX, Big Argument
70: Departure part 2 – Argument continues, LXC and JGY arrive, more arguing,
71: Departure part 3 – Yunmeng, LWJ meets WWX and ghost girls, WWX and JC talk about
responsibilities, JYL and WWX “three years old”, memories of when WWX arrived at Jiang Sect,
WWX runs into Wen Qing
72: Recklessness part 1 – LWJ tells LXC he wants to take someone back to Gusu, banquet
interrupted by WWX to demand Wen Ning, argue with everyone, go to Qiongqi Path, raise Wen
Ning, kill inspectors, leave with Wen remnants
73: Recklessness part 2 – JC meets with sect leaders about WWX, MianMian leaves Jin sect, JC
goes to Burial Mound, talks with WWC, fight duel
74: Distance part 1 – WWX at Burial Mound, LWJ in Yiling meets Wen Yuan, get food, learns
JYL getting married, get Talisman warning, rides Bichen with LWJ
75: Distance part 2 – WWX calms Wen Ning, takes LWJ to his cave, pretends to faint to avoid
Wen Qing, LWJ leaves, WWX goes back with WY has dinner with Wens, drinks, meets JC and
JYL in Yiling to see wedding dress
76: Nightfall part one – WWX buys gift while listening to gossip, he and WN travel to Lanling,
ambush by Jin XiZun, JiZiXuan arrives and is killed, WWX loses it, wakes up in cave, gets mad at
WN, cries
77: Nightfall part 2 – WQ paralyzes WWX and she and WN say goodbye to turn themselves in,
WWX is freed and goes to Koi Tower, sees JYL, runs, overhears gossip and scares people, heads
to Nightless City
78: Nightfall part 3 – LWJ finds scared people, chases WWX, Conference of sects, WWX argues
with them, is attacked and he calls corpses, LWJ arrives, WWX hears JYL, talks to her and JC,
JYL killed, uses tiger seal
79: Loyalty part 1 – FLASHBACK ENDS – Argument with cultivators in Burial Mounds
continues, fight corpses, spiritual powers gone, retreat behind array, talk about cause, Su She
silenced
80: Loyalty part 2 – Uncover SS’s plot, SS pulls sword and is exposed
81: Loyalty part 3 – SS destroys array and teleports out, fight corpses, then second wave comes,
WWX paints attraction talisman on himself, tells everyone else to escape
82: Loyalty part 4 – Corpses advance, everyone escapes, Jrs return, bloody corpses rise and fight,
WN recognizes, corpses fall to dust, Fang MengChen still angry, WWX tells him off, everyone
leaves
83: Loyalty part 5 – Group goes to Lotus Pier, WWX invites self along, everyone takes boats,
WN gets on LSZ’s boat, they talk, Jin Ling interrupts, fights with LSZ, WWX and LWJ hear
84: Loyalty part 6 – JL starts crying, JC arrives, WWX is accused, infighting, WWX collapses,
LWJ carries him inside cabin, juniors get awkward and leave, LWJ holds WWX who grabs his
ribbon, arrive at Lotus Pier, LSZ and WN talk
85: Loyalty part 7 - Arrive Lotus Pier, JC meets with women, Women tell story about JGS’s
death
86: Loyalty part 8 – Madam Qin’s maid tells her story about JGY, cultivators discuss it, WWX
and LWJ go eat and explore, WWX climbs tree
87: Loyalty part 9 – WWX jumps from tree and is caught, visit ancestral hall, kneel, confronted
by JC
88: Loyalty part 10 – JC accuses WWX and LWJ of being couple, they fight, WWX collapses,
WN interferes and reveals golden core
89: Loyalty part 11 – WN explains about core, LWJ and WN carry WWX to boat, talk about A-
Yuan and WWX’s core removal
90: Longing part 1 - WWX and LWJ in boat talking, WWX thinking about his feelings, steal
lotus seeds
91: Longing part 2 – eat lotus, arrive Yunping City, visit Temple, go to inn, memories of WWX
sneaking into LWJ’s bed and trying to strip him, settling into room.
92: Longing part 3 – WWX naps, hears gossip about JC, gets LWJ drunk, touches his face and
stares, then LWJ bites him
93: Longing part 4 – LWJ stabs floor, gives WWX his money, drags him outside, steals chickens,
jujubes
94: Longing part 5 – LWJ takes gifts back, then carves name in wall, dog makes WWX jump into
his arms, return, WWX draws bath, naked LWJ, LWJ bath
95: Longing part 6 – WWX bathing LWJ, traces whip scars, etc, ahem, you guys know, aka SEX,
“Thank you”, LWJ pushes away
96: Longing part 7 – aftermath of drunken sex, WWX and LWJ misunderstandings, inn owner
discovers water, move to two separate rooms
97: Longing part 8 – WWX leaves inn, finds graffiti and WN, they talk, go “looking for trouble”
98: Hatred part 1 – Guanyin Temple, see JGY and LXC inside, send WN to get LWJ, Fairy and
JL arrive, JL and WWX caught
99: Hatred part 2 – JGY threatens, everyone talks, LXC is most concerned about the state of his
Wangxian ship, JGY and LXC are shocked by WWX’s obliviousness, tell WWX what LWJ did,
about scars, and tells him off. WWX tries to run back to LWJ, LWJ arrives, JGY gets wire around
his neck
100: Hatred part 3 – LWJ seals his power, WWX confesses and escapes to LWJ, everyone goes
inside the Temple, Wangxian confession, Su She arrives with NHS, SS rants, LWJ smiles, JC
arrives
101: Hatred part 4 – JC enter, WWX and LWJ hug, JC fights, JGY talks distracting JC about
WWX, distracts and stabs him
102: Hatred part 5 – JC and JL talk to WWX and LWJ, talk about golden core, argue, LWJ
shoves JC, JC rants, cries.
103: Hatred part 6 – JC apologizes, WWX says to leave it in the past, NHS wakes, coffin is dug
up, JGY poisoned, WWX talks about mastermind
104: Hatred part 7 – SS exposed for curse, JGY says WWX destined to die young, JC rages at
him, JGY blames JC, WWX accuses of NMJ’s murder, corpses attack, LXC and LWJ attack
105: Hatred part 8 – WWX does empathy on ghoul, sees 14 yr Meng Yao and his mom, JGY
admits to starting the fire and burning the brothel, JGY and LXC talk
106: Hatred part 9 – JGY reveals threatening letter, claims he had no choice etc, explains his
actions, attacks Jin Ling with string, Wen Ning breaks door in with NMJ, LWJ cuts off JGY arm.
107 Concealment part 1 – JGY bleeds, WN explains, NMJ smashes stuff, JC and JL feel bad for
WN, WWX whistles NMJ to the coffin, NHS is stabbed, SS slices at NMJ
108: Concealment part 2 – SS dies, JC gives WWX his flute, NMJ sealed in coffin, NHS gets
JGY stabbed, and JGY accuses him, leads LXC to coffin, then pushes him away, NMJ kills him
109: Concealment part 3 – LWJ seals tomb with statue, LXC questions NHS, WWX accuses
NHS, explains how it happened
110: Concealment part 4 - Questions, Jiang and Lan sects arrive with juniors, LSZ looks at
chenqing, JL cries, WWX and LWJ sneak out, JC revelation about getting caught
111: Wangxian part 1 – LWJ and WWX with lil apple, LSZ catches up, reveals identity, group
hug, WN and LSZ leave together, WWX and LWJ talk (thank you and sorry), kiss, memory of
phoenix mountain, tells LWJ it was his first kiss, sex in the grass, explanation of burn scar, more
sex
112: Wangxian part 2 – 3 months later, WWX and LWJ role-playing while night-hunting, WWX
tries to get LWJ to call him Gege, ties up with forehead ribbon, interrupted by MianMian and
child, talk to MianMian and her husband, LWJ is jealous, WWX teases about his money pouch,
LWJ says they are married
113: Wangxian part 3 – WWX and LWJ stop at inn, overhear rumors about JGY, news that LXC
is in seclusion, leave on Lil Apple, WWX talks about his mom, talk about name for song, The End

This was originally posted on Tumblr, where it can be shared, etc.

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!