Recaps

Xu Chen was drawn into investigations of the Taihao outbreak and unusual damage to ancient remains, leading officials to suspect an unknown force was erasing traces of civilization. As he helped Song Tian confront his father’s rapidly worsening leukemia, Xu Chen noticed severe abnormalities in his father’s bones that might point to another connection.

• Xu Chen joined a medical team investigating the Taihao outbreak and discovered that the disease was linked to a highly infectious Aspergillus flavus fungus.
• Xu Chen realized that the fungus might have been artificially cultivated, and researchers suspected a nonhuman intelligence had released it as a deterrent.
• After Dean Yang sent him the name Taihao, Xu Chen enlisted archaeology students and helped uncover the Sleeping Palace Stele at the supposed Taihao Mausoleum.
• Xu Chen told officials that he had known the mausoleum’s location from the start and said he had been born knowing about Taihao.
• Xu Chen urged Elder Ge to investigate Special Corrosion on cultural relics, and Elder Ge linked its pattern to possible efforts to erase traces of humanity.
• Xu Chen learned that Song Tian’s father had rapidly worsening chronic myeloid leukemia and sent his medical records to Ouyang Xing.
• At the hospital, Xu Chen examined Father Song’s records and found a concealed scan showing severe abnormal bone growth in his femurs.

Xu Chen connected the spread of illnesses and fungal mutations to a possible common cause while investigating the force that had killed Old Ge and Academician Tang. The government prepared a response as Xu Chen shared his theory with Academician Qi.

• Xu Chen encountered the entity’s influence after Old Ge died, and Yang Tianyou’s jade jue let him speak and test the forbidden name with Captain Chu.
• Captain Chu and his Think Tank investigated the entity’s effects, while Yang Tianyou warned that invoking Taihao for protection carried a price.
• Xu Chen reviewed rising illnesses and fungal outbreaks, then found that oncology, rare immune diseases, and neonatal deformities were increasing unusually.
• Xu Chen learned that the mutant Aspergillus flavus grew rapidly and drew nutrients from living mammals, though researchers did not know why it was so active.
• Xu Chen proposed to Ouyang Xing that a common substance might be activating both the fungus and patients’ cells, then explained his conjecture to Academician Qi.
• Firefighters and investigators found Academician Tang dead in his laboratory, where strange writing and circles covered scattered papers.
• Officials voted to retaliate after learning that a drug developed by Academician Qi’s team could contain the mutant fungus, and they concluded that He had killed Old Ge and Tang to silence them.