Chapter Summaries

Tang Qi and Eva watched the students begin their supernatural assignments, including Tate’s group defeating a man-eater and Lily confronting a haunted Teddy Bear. Shirley’s team uncovered the missing writer’s hidden room and froze the woman guarding him as she charged them.

• Tate, Luca, and Charlotte worked together to kill a man-eater in a Downtown District alley and rescued a runaway girl.
• Lily found the supernatural Teddy Bear at the McFarlane home and argued with it while suppressing its telekinetic attacks.
• Noah, Peggy, and the Hannahs waited for the final subway train while Shirley’s group reached the missing writer’s room first.
• Bella summoned a scouting ghost, which revealed a secret room hidden in the writer’s bookshelf.
• An enormous woman with meat cleavers burst through the illusion and charged Shirley’s team, but Shirley froze the room with a blizzard.

Tang Qi and Eva watched the students’ supernatural tasks nearing completion while Noah, Peggy, and the Hannahs investigated the Mysterious Subway. Hannah’s illusion sent a group of antique-train enthusiasts away, but one man suddenly confronted them, leaving the subway investigation unresolved.

• Shirley froze the Ferocious Spirit and shattered the Little Black Room, freeing the Struggling Writer and his typewriter.
• The Blind Old Man fought four students, while Nydia, Kevin, Carol, and Andrew watched the True Love Role-Playing Club flee with its victims and its repentant princess-dressed anomaly.
• Tang Qi and Eva monitored the students’ missions and grew concerned that the Mysterious Subway case could be more dangerous than its Level Three rating suggested.
• Eight antique-train enthusiasts waited for the MH-R9, but the train departed without letting them aboard after Noah arranged for Hannah to conceal the team and create an illusion.
• As the enthusiasts began to leave, the bespectacled curly-haired man stepped in front of them and stared at the hidden students with bloodshot eyes.

Noah, Hannah, and Peggy boarded the Curio train MH-R9 to investigate its disappearances and stop it from claiming more victims. After Jim revealed the train’s past and warned that it would attack at the terminal, Peggy halted its attempt to throw them into the tunnel, but the carriage filled with the dead passengers as Ferocious Spirits, and Noah ordered the group to fight.

• Jim shattered Hannah’s illusion and drove seven antique subway enthusiasts toward MH-R9, while Peggy identified the train as a Curio.
• Noah hypnotized Jim briefly as Peggy kicked the enthusiasts away and Hannah controlled them, burned their tickets, and led them off; Noah then handed Jim three tickets so the group could board.
• Once aboard, Jim transformed into a mutilated corpse and explained that MH-R9 had killed fourteen workers during its trial run and turned later victims into accomplices.
• Jim warned Noah, Hannah, and Peggy to destroy the train before it reached the terminal, then disappeared as the train hurled them toward a dark tunnel.
• Peggy’s Ethereal Blue Radiance stopped the train’s force, but the carriage filled with the dead passengers as Ferocious Spirits, and Noah ordered Hannah and Peggy to charge.

Tang Qi watched his students destroy the predatory MH-R9 train, then left Eva in charge of the school and flew to Blue Deer City. He headed for Ayr Ralph’s family home at Deer Mountain to learn more about the origins of Ralph Witchcraft.

• The Hannahs and Peggy unleashed their full power to dismantle the MH-R9 while Noah guided its evil spirits toward their deaths.
• Tang Qi praised the students’ successful mission test, left Eva in charge of the school, and departed through a Magic Portal.
• Tang Qi boarded the Queen Serrana, where Eric Hartman piloted him toward Blue Deer City.
• Tang Qi considered whether Ayr Ralph’s family should learn Ralph Witchcraft, then decided to seek clues to the school’s origins in Ayr’s memories.
• Tang Qi transformed into mist and followed the Blue Deer River toward the old villa at the foot of Deer Mountain.

Tang Qi followed a busload of people seeking refuge from supernatural threats to the Ralph family’s villa, where Ayr and Talia had opened a shelter. When a machete-wielding evil spirit attacked, the villa’s defenses drove it off, though Tang Qi noticed Ayr’s witch bloodline was fading.

• Tang Qi boarded a bus carrying people marked by ghosts, demons, and witchcraft, then recognized its destination as the House of Ralph.
• Tang Qi discovered that Ayr Ralph’s witch bloodline was rapidly fading and wondered whether his children had the same condition.
• A Blonde Young Man’s mark summoned a skeletal evil spirit, which appeared and threatened the passengers.
• Ayr led the passengers toward the villa, and its crimson flames burned the spirit until it cut away part of its body and fled.
• Tang Qi identified the villa as a Curio whose embedded witchcraft spells, including the Flame Curse, made it a safe shelter.

Tang Qi took shelter in House of Ralph and secretly questioned Ayr about his father, Ralph, but learned little about Ralph’s life. Ayr then revealed that his sister Lia was arriving with a son who seemed to have something wrong with him, and Tang Qi suspected the boy’s birth was draining the witch talents of the Ralph family.

• The passengers entered House of Ralph after its witchcraft drove off an evil spirit, and Ayr charged them exorbitant rent for shelter.
• Tang Qi noticed that Sarah and Mike’s witch talents were fading and secretly used an illusion to question Ayr about Ralph.
• Ayr knew little about his father’s life, but revealed that Lia had divorced her husband and was coming to the villa with her son.
• Tang Qi learned that Lia had been close to Ralph’s mother and hoped she could tell him more about Ralph’s life.
• Ayr left to pick up Lia and her son, while Tang Qi rode along unnoticed and recalled a bloodline-witch case in which one child’s growing talent diminished the rest of his family’s.

At Blue Deer City Airport, Tang Qi discovered that Lia’s son was a Witch Descendant whose growing bloodline talent drained his family’s talents, and that the passengers aboard the Silent Crow were marked as Death God’s prey. Tang Qi challenged the Death God’s power to protect them, but the Death God’s Agent warned him not to interfere.

• Ayr waited with Tang Qi at the airport for his sister Lia and her son, who were arriving after Lia’s divorce.
• The Silent Crow caught fire during its descent but stabilized and made a forced landing, allowing its passengers to escape.
• Lia’s son looked toward Tang Qi, whose vision identified him as a Witch Descendant with a bloodline that was strengthening at the expense of his family’s talents.
• Tang Qi saw that the passengers, including Lia, were marked as Death God’s prey and sensed a distorted shadow behind the boy.
• Tang Qi unleashed Furnace Magic Power against the gray light transforming people into corpses, but the Death God’s Agent told him not to interfere with its task.

At Blue Deer City Airport, Tang Qi confronted a Death God's Agent who was harvesting the passengers, while Austin's witchcraft talent awakened in a desperate attempt to protect his mother. Tang Qi negotiated a bargain to save Lia by offering Austin's future life, and asked for a contract witnessed by the Death God.

• Tang Qi's Furnace Magic Power clashed with the Death God's Agent's radiance, awakening Austin, Lia, and Ayr.
• Austin conjured a Mechanical Giant to challenge the Agent, but the Agent subdued him and showed visions of the passengers' fated deaths, including Lia's.
• Tang Qi offered to let Austin and himself leave the Agent's work undisturbed if the Agent removed Lia's Death God's Mark.
• The Agent said Lia could be saved if Austin traded his life, which the Agent would claim when Austin turned twenty.
• Tang Qi agreed to the deal in principle and asked whether they needed a contract witnessed by the Death God.

Tang Qi arranged a contract between Death God's Agent and Austin, who wanted to save Lia from the Death God's Curse. He secretly used a hidden page of Whispers of the Death God to make the agent accept a deal with no reward, then held the page back as the agent tried to claim it.

• Tang Qi wrote a Death God's Page contract requiring the agent to give the Silent Crow's passengers dignified deaths and remove Lia's curse in exchange for Austin's remaining lifespan at age twenty.
• The agent examined and signed the contract, then released Austin so he could sign it too.
• As Austin made the final stroke, the agent sensed a trap and attacked Tang Qi, but Tang Qi blocked him with Furnace Magic Power and calmed him with Crimson.
• The contract's second clause changed, leaving the agent obligated to remove Lia's curse while removing his promised payment.
• A hidden Torn Page of Whispers of the Death God peeled away from the contract and flew to Tang Qi, revealing how he had deceived the agent.
• The agent demanded the Torn Page as compensation, while Tang Qi withheld it and answered with a cunning smile.

Tang Qi negotiated with Death God's Agent Ulkar to save Lia and secure his friendship, trading the Torn Page of Whispers of the Death God for a selection of Curios. After Ulkar lifted Lia's curse and departed, Tang Qi turned to Austin, indicating that they needed to talk.

• Tang Qi explained the value of Whispers of the Death God and persuaded Ulkar to make a soul-witnessed fair transaction that included removing Lia's curse and granting Tang Qi Ulkar's friendship.
• Ulkar offered his Curios as Tang Qi examined and selected nearly half of them, then Tang Qi agreed to take one more item in exchange for the Torn Page.
• Tang Qi chose the Mysterious Ship Lamp, and Ulkar accepted the Torn Page, removed the curse from Lia, and left after exchanging barbed farewells with Tang Qi.
• The frozen world returned to normal, and Ayr, Lia, and Austin looked to Tang Qi as he said they needed to talk and focused on Austin.

Tang Qi revealed the dangers of the Mystic Side to Ayr’s family and helped them test their fading witchcraft talents, discovering that Austin had inherited extraordinary power. After arranging for Austin to join Witch School and House of Ralph to become a partner institution, Tang Qi set out for Deborah Town, guided by Ralph’s notes about a goddess he had seen in his dreams.

• Tang Qi showed Ayr’s family visions of the horrors of the Mystic Side and explained that their bloodline talents had declined, though he offered to teach them witchcraft.
• Ayr, Sarah, and Mike cast only brief flames, while Austin unleashed a powerful burst of fire that revealed his exceptional talent.
• Tang Qi warned Lia that Austin’s growing Magic Power could attract dangerous creatures, and Austin volunteered to learn how to protect his family.
• Ayr’s family chose to remain in Blue Deer City and operate House of Ralph, which Tang Qi agreed to support as a Witch School partner institution.
• Lia agreed to let Austin attend Witch School after Tang Qi’s next adventure, and Tang Qi departed for Deborah Town, recalling Ralph’s account of a goddess in his dreams.

Tang Qi traveled to Berkshire City to investigate a turning point in Ralph’s life and applied to care for Old Woman Charlotte at Mist Castle. He found the castle shrouded in a deathly mist, and Charlotte revealed her decayed, terrifying form before asking whether she had been beautiful.

• Tang Qi arrived at 42 Sephora Street and learned that Old Woman Charlotte was hiring a caretaker who might inherit her estate.
• Tang Qi used a Scarlet spell to make the gathered applicants abandon the job, then applied to Charlotte himself.
• Alfred drove Tang Qi to Mist Castle on barren Berkshire Mountain and warned him that the caretaker job was dangerous.
• Tang Qi dismissed Alfred and entered the castle, where piano music led him to Charlotte playing in a side hall.
• Charlotte’s appearance and the hall transformed into a scene of decay, and she asked Tang Qi whether she had been beautiful.

Tang Qi discovered that Charlotte’s obsession with Ralph had turned Mist Castle into a haven for anomalies. He showed Charlotte an illusion of Ralph, then entered the Strange Painting and burned away its corruption.

• Charlotte recognized Ralph’s message and demanded that Tang Qi take her to him, causing the castle’s anomalies to stir.
• Tang Qi recalled how Charlotte and Ralph had fallen in love before entering a painting that led to Deborah Town.
• Tang Qi used an illusion to let Charlotte see Ralph as she remembered him while his Golden Flame burned her body.
• Tang Qi found the Strange Painting, where Charlotte’s twisted image trapped Ralph, and charged through the anomalies guarding it.
• Tang Qi entered the painting as his Golden Flame consumed the frame, the painting, and the corruption within.

Five survivors reached Matchstick Street after Maisie sacrificed herself to save them, only to face its dangerous inhabitants at midnight. When their English teacher Martha began burning after agreeing to buy a matchstick, Tang Qi appeared and attacked the match-selling girl, drawing a wax-figure army toward them.

• Maisie led the five survivors to Matchstick Street, then held off Big Pig, Little Pig, and Tiny Pig and was killed while the others escaped.
• A roast duck shop owner offered to trade one person for each duck, but the midnight bell sent the shopkeepers fleeing as darkness and hostile shadows engulfed the street.
• A little girl offered matchsticks, and Martha's attempt to buy one caused her to burn like a human-shaped candle.
• Tang Qi appeared and fired Dragon's Roar at the match-selling girl, but his attack failed to produce Information Fragments and provoked an approaching army of Wax Figures.

Tang Qi discovered how to temporarily kill the Vengeful Spirit by using a flame borrowed from Martha to ignite the matches embedded in her body. After rescuing the survivors from Matchstick Street, he identified an exit and asked them to lead him to the Three Pig Fiends’ territory before they returned to their campsite.

• Tang Qi burned the attacking Wax Figures to ashes and learned that they served the Vengeful Spirit and were controlled by her source.
• Tang Qi borrowed a flame from Martha and used it to ignite the matches stuck in the Vengeful Spirit, causing her to vanish with the apparition of her grandmother.
• Martha collapsed unconscious after lending her flame, but she survived with some damage to her soul and vitality.
• The survivors told Tang Qi that their graduation tour group had entered the fairy-tale world through an old oil painting and had fled to Matchstick Street after the Three Pig Fiends attacked them.
• A doorway appeared after Matchstick Street vanished, and Tang Qi confirmed it was an exit before asking the survivors to take him to the Three Pig Fiends’ territory.

Tang Qi rescued a young woman from a Cannibal Monster in a new fairy-tale node and learned that the two nearby territories offered almost no hope of survival. After destroying the monster, he confronted another as it emerged from a house.

• Tang Qi burned the Pig Territory, sent the five survivors back to the Real World with sealed memories, and continued through the ruined Matchstick Street.
• Tang Qi reached two residential areas on Black Giant Mountain and recognized the human remains hanging around the larger area as evidence of cannibalism.
• A Giant caught a young woman thrown over the slope and carried her toward a pool, but Tang Qi cut off its arm and extracted information from its mind.
• Tang Qi learned that the two nodes were nearly hopeless for ordinary humans, then used Judgment to destroy the Giant.
• Tang Qi woke the young woman, whose screams drew another Cannibal Monster out of a wooden house, and confronted it with his Sun Furnace eyes.

Tang Qi destroyed the Cannibal Monster family and uncovered that their elderly leaders were the reclusive couple Ralph had described. He then went with Rebecca to confront Bluebeard, whose house held the captive dance troupe, and cast Crimson as soon as they met.

• Tang Qi used Rebecca to lure out the Cannibal Monsters, then drew their elderly leaders and the rest of the family into Crimson.
• Tang Qi extracted information from the elderly monsters and recognized them as the couple from Ralph’s account.
• Tang Qi burned the Cannibal Monsters and their cabins while an Illusion Incantation concealed the commotion from their neighbor.
• Bluebeard’s captive women recalled how they had entered the strange world and how he had thrown Rebecca to the Cannibal Monsters.
• Tang Qi arrived at Bluebeard’s house with Rebecca and cast Crimson on him when their eyes met.

Tang Qi defeated Bluebeard, rescued Rebecca and the Rose Dance Troupe, and pieced together clues about the mountain’s deadly fairy-tale world. He then encountered the Red-Capped Girl, who revealed that Ralph Witchcraft was her father, leaving Tang Qi shocked by the connection.

• Tang Qi burned Bluebeard to death, causing his house to vanish and opening a portal from the ruins.
• Rebecca reunited with the Rose Dance Troupe, explained how they had entered the world, and Tang Qi sent them back to report to the police.
• Tang Qi combined the fragmented memories of the Cannibal Monster and Bluebeard, learning that a mysterious source created the anomalies and that Deborah Town stood at the mountain’s summit.
• A pack of Wild Wolves fled past Tang Qi as the Red-Capped Girl pursued them, and Tang Qi learned she was a powerful anomaly who hunted fallen creatures.
• The Red-Capped Girl aimed her hunting gun at Tang Qi and identified him as an inheritor of the man she hated, then called Ralph Witchcraft her father.

Tang Qi followed Red-Capped Girl toward the Rabbit Hole, where a Rat Servant judged entrants seeking access to Wonderland. After one applicant died from a bottle of red ink, another gained entry by praising Alice, leaving Tang Qi to watch and learn the rules.

• Tang Qi convinced Red-Capped Girl to guide him by revealing Diana's sacred power and offering to help stop Wonderland's fall.
• Red-Capped Girl led Tang Qi to a Rabbit Hole, where he joined a line of people and allowed its contamination to regularize his body.
• A Rat Servant appeared and asked the first applicant, Anthony, to choose between two bottles of ink.
• Anthony drank the red ink and turned into plaster, then shattered; Red-Capped Girl signaled Tang Qi to keep watching.
• Sandra praised Alice and received a bottle of black ink, which she drank to gain approval to enter Wonderland.

Tang Qi and the Red-Capped Girl crossed the Rabbit Hole after the girl forced the Rat Servant to give them Shrinking Potions. They arrived in a bloodstained corridor where a mummified rat mocked them and spoke of fate.

• Sandra drank the Shrinking Potion and entered the Rabbit Hole, while the Rat Servant forced the remaining adventurers to dance for Alice's amusement.
• Playing Card Soldiers killed those who stopped dancing, and the adventurers who seized potions shrank and entered the Rabbit Hole.
• Tang Qi tried to rescue one of the dancers but learned that the contestants were Fallen Living Corpses bound to Wonderland and driven by greed and madness.
• The Red-Capped Girl killed the Playing Card Soldiers and forced the Rat Servant to give her and Tang Qi two Shrinking Potions.
• Tang Qi and the Red-Capped Girl entered the Rabbit Hole and found the adventurers in a bloodstained corridor lined with grotesque paintings, doors, and corpses.
• A mummified rat trapped beneath a giant Mouse Trap mocked them and said that pleasing Lord Alice was their fate.