Chapter Summaries

Lin Qiye and Nightfall fought the demon horde in a last stand as he named An Qingyu the squad’s next captain. The arrival of powerful Four-winged Demons, Seraph corpses, and Fallen Angel corpses turned the battle against them, and Shen Qingzhu was badly wounded.

• Lin Qiye told An Qingyu that Nightfall could continue with new members and appointed him its captain.
• Lin Qiye, Jiang Er, An Qingyu, and Shen Qingzhu charged into the demon horde alongside the high-ranking orderlies.
• Jiang Er possessed demons to make them attack their own kind, while An Qingyu and Shen Qingzhu used their abilities to kill and evade the attackers.
• A Four-winged Demon struck Hong Yan and several orderlies before Lin Qiye wounded it with Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.
• Dozens of Four-winged Demons and six-winged Seraph and Fallen Angel corpses appeared above the battlefield.
• Two Four-winged Demons knocked Shen Qingzhu out of the sky and left him severely wounded beside the Blood Pool.

Lin Qiye protected Shen Qingzhu from the Four-winged Demons and confronted him about Nightfall’s responsibility to fight together. Shen Qingzhu regained his resolve to rejoin the battle, then noticed the Black Crystal floating in the Blood Pool.

• Shen Qingzhu fought off the Four-winged Demons until Lin Qiye arrived and took several wounds protecting him.
• Shen Qingzhu demanded the chance to die fighting, but Lin Qiye said that as captain he would not let his teammates die before him.
• Lin Qiye kicked Shen Qingzhu clear of two angels’ attack and battled them, telling him how essential he was to Nightfall.
• Shen Qingzhu got back to his feet, gripped his blade, and spotted the Black Crystal bobbing in the Blood Pool.

Shen Qingzhu faced the temptation of Hell’s Origin while Lin Qiye, An Qingyu, and Jiang Er were in mortal danger. He chose to seize the Black Crystal, accepting the risk that its power would destroy his body or mind, in hopes of saving his brothers.

• Jiang Er distracted the Four-winged Demons, but a Six-winged Seraph trapped her in a pillar of light while An Qingyu was wounded and buried beneath wraith demons.
• Shen Qingzhu saw Jiang Er and An Qingyu in danger as Lin Qiye struggled against the Four-winged Demons near the Blood Pool.
• Hell’s Origin tempted Shen Qingzhu with power and the promise of saving his companions, drawing him toward the Black Crystal.
• Lin Qiye warned Shen Qingzhu that the Origin’s corruption could overwhelm his body and turn him into a second Lucifer.
• Shen Qingzhu resolved to save his brothers despite the cost and grasped the Black Crystal.

Shen Qingzhu fused with the Black Crystal and struggled against the Hell Origin’s corruption while Lin Qiye and the others fought to survive. Shen Qingzhu seized enough control of hell to send Lin Qiye, Jiang Er, and An Qingyu away, choosing to remain behind.

• Shen Qingzhu touched the Black Crystal, and the Hell Origin consumed his body as he refused to let go.
• Shen Qingzhu’s body exploded, but Baili Pangpang’s Black Jade Pendant revived him; after another rebirth, black wings emerged from his back.
• The Hell Origin’s corrupting voice tried to make Shen Qingzhu its servant, but Lin Qiye warned him not to surrender his mind.
• Shen Qingzhu fought for control of hell and warped the space around Lin Qiye, Jiang Er, and An Qingyu to send them away.
• Shen Qingzhu refused to leave before mastering the Hell Origin and told Lin Qiye to check on his family as he snapped his fingers.

After Lin Qiye, An Qingyu, and Jiang Er vanished, Shen Qingzhu fought the Hell Origin’s influence and insisted he would remain himself. In the Heavenly Court, Baili Pangpang worried about Shen Qingzhu’s inner demons while Primordial Celestial Venerable warned that the Heavenly Court would need Lingbao Tianzun.

• Lin Qiye, An Qingyu, and Jiang Er disappeared, leaving Shen Qingzhu alone in the Blood Pool as his body exploded and reformed.
• Shen Qingzhu shouted at the Hell Origin, rejecting its power and shortcuts and declaring that he would remain himself.
• Baili Pangpang brought Cao Yuan medicine and reassured him that Lin Qiye and the others were with Michael, while Cao Yuan worried about their return.
• Primordial Celestial Venerable met Baili Pangpang and learned that he had been checking Shen Qingzhu’s fate because he feared his inner demons would be exploited.
• Primordial Celestial Venerable told Baili Pangpang to seek him out if needed and warned that the Heavenly Court could not be without Lingbao Tianzun.

Lin Qiye and his companions were expelled from the fused divine kingdom and set out to find their way back to Great Xia. Meanwhile, Si Xiaonan reached Jinian aboard the Shang Xie cruise ship, delivered the pills connected to Loki’s plan, and arranged further help before returning to him injured.

• Lin Qiye, An Qingyu, and Jiang Er found themselves in unfamiliar waters after Heaven and Hell expelled them, and Lin Qiye used Zhanbai to guide them through the fog.
• Jinian learned that an injured girl from Great Xia had come aboard the Shang Xie cruise ship and discovered that the visitor was Si Xiaonan.
• Si Xiaonan told Jinian about the events on the Pamir Plateau and gave her the real Eternal Pill and the poison-filled Immortal Pill.
• Si Xiaonan asked Jinian to help carry out her plan, and Jinian agreed to prepare what she needed in three days.
• Si Xiaonan told Jinian that Leng Xuan had been imprisoned in Great Xia, and Jinian promised to personally bring him out.
• Si Xiaonan refused treatment so Loki would not suspect her, then leapt from the ship into the sea.

Lin Qiye and his companions encountered Jinian aboard her cruise ship while trying to return to Great Xia, and Jinian offered to contact Commander Ye Fan. When Lin Qiye told her Ye Fan had died, Jinian retreated to her room and used her walkie-talkie, where Zuo Qing answered.

• Jinian prepared to work in the Block Room, but a knight interrupted to report that three people had emerged from the mist.
• Jinian and Lin Qiye recognized each other aboard the Shang Xie Association cruise ship, and Lin introduced her to An Qingyu and Jiang Er.
• Lin Qiye and his companions told Jinian about their escape from the Lovecraftian Divine Kingdom and their urgent need to return to Great Xia.
• Jinian explained that Cool Bro could not leave Hell while merging with the Hell Origin, then offered to contact Great Xia using her custom walkie-talkie.
• Lin Qiye told Jinian that Ye Fan had died more than two years earlier, and Jinian withdrew to her room in shock.
• Jinian used the walkie-talkie and heard Zuo Qing answer.

Jinian arranged for Lin Qiye, An Qingyu, and Jiang Er to return to Great Xia aboard her ship while she handled urgent business. Unable to sleep, Lin Qiye entered the Psychiatric Hospital of the Gods to watch Monkey King and Gilgamesh fight, and noticed Gilgamesh seemed to be struggling more than before.

• Jinian told Lin Qiye, An Qingyu, and Jiang Er that the cruise ship was heading back to Great Xia and that Commander Zuo had already begun dealing with the Lovecraftian Divine Kingdom.
• The Knight explained that Jinian preferred building weapons, vehicles, and engineering projects over academic research, and led Lin Qiye and the others to their rooms.
• Lin Qiye worried about Shen Qingzhu's painful fusion with the Hell Origin and the dangers he faced in the divine kingdom.
• Lin Qiye entered the Psychiatric Hospital of the Gods and found the orderlies betting on Monkey King and Gilgamesh's daily fight.
• Bragi played the harp to signal the fighters, and Lin Qiye watched Gilgamesh struggle against Monkey King.

Lin Qiye watched Monkey King defeat Gilgamesh again, then learned that Gilgamesh was struggling with chaotic memories that blurred his thoughts. Unable to identify their cause, Lin Qiye left to investigate further.

• Monkey King defeated Gilgamesh in another sparring match, while Lin Qiye noted their treatment progress had reached 90% and 42%, respectively.
• Lin Qiye went to check on Gilgamesh after Li Yifei worried that repeated losses might cause trouble.
• Gilgamesh insisted he was not ill, but admitted that he knew the hospital was not Uruk and could not make sense of his memories.
• Gilgamesh told Lin Qiye that chaotic memories kept flooding his mind and that battle briefly helped him regain clarity.
• Lin Qiye suspected an external cause behind Gilgamesh's condition and left Ward Five to investigate.

Lin Qiye and An Qingyu learned more about Jinian’s extraordinary Pixel Block ship as it crossed the misty sea. After its cannons killed two attacking Mysteries, An Qingyu asked to collect their corpses.

• Lin Qiye woke at dawn and met An Qingyu, who described how Jinian’s Pixel Blocks made up nearly the entire ship and its equipment.
• Lin Qiye detected two sea-dwelling Mysteries, one Klein and one Boundless, approaching the ship, and warned a Shang Xie Association member.
• The ship’s alarms sounded, and its crew calmly returned inside as the attackers drew near.
• The deck opened to reveal three Pixel Cannons, which fired into the mist and killed both Mysteries with a single shot each.
• After the crew confirmed the kills and began maintaining the cannons, An Qingyu asked a Shang Xie Association member if he could collect the Mystery corpses.

After An Qingyu spent three days dissecting two Mystery corpses and repairing the ship’s damaged equipment, Jinian tried to recruit him for the Shang Xie Association. The cruise ship entered Great Xia, but its arrival was interrupted by more than a dozen gray fighter jets diving toward it.

• An Qingyu dissected two Mystery corpses on deck for three days and secretly repaired a damaged power cylinder, improving its performance.
• Jinian emerged from the Block Room, learned of An Qingyu’s work, and invited him to join the Shang Xie Association, but An Qingyu chose to remain with Nightfall.
• Jinian offered An Qingyu access to the association’s supply of Mystery corpses, and he eagerly accepted an invitation to visit Utopia.
• Lin Qiye and the Shang Xie Association members crossed Great Xia’s border and entered the Wall of Miracles, where they saw clear skies and open sea.
• The ship’s alarm sounded, and more than a dozen gray fighter jets approached and dove toward the Pixel Cruise Ship.

Lin Qiye and the Shang Xie Association returned to Great Xia through Shanhai Pass and traveled to the capital. There, Lin Qiye reunited with Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan, who learned that Shen Qingzhu was missing in Hell Origin, while Jinian said she needed to go somewhere first.

• Lin Qiye identified the approaching Great Xia fighter jets as friendlies and marked the sky with the Nightfall Squad insignia, prompting the planes to guide the Pixel Cruise Ship toward Shanhai Pass.
• Lu Wuwei met Lin Qiye and the others at Shanhai Pass, where they left the conspicuous ship and boarded a plane Zuo Qing had prepared for their return to the capital.
• Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan met Lin Qiye at the airport and asked where Shen Qingzhu was.
• Lin Qiye told Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan what had happened to Shen Qingzhu, and Baili Pangpang privately reflected that his premonition had been right and the Source Dao Jade might protect him for now.
• Lin Qiye said his group would report to headquarters, while Jinian said she needed to go somewhere first.

Lin Qiye learned that the search for the Lovecraftian Divine Kingdom and Shen Qingzhu had failed, then discussed finding Zhou Ping with Zuo Qing. At the cemetery, Lin Qiye met Jinian mourning Ye Fan and asked whether she knew Zhou Ping.

• Zuo Qing told Lin Qiye that the Heavenly Court and Lu Wuwei had been unable to locate the Lovecraftian Divine Kingdom or Shen Qingzhu.
• Lin Qiye told Zuo Qing about the clues to Zhou Ping and suggested asking the Shang Xie Association for information.
• Zuo Qing explained that Jinian had returned to mourn Ye Fan, who had once saved and mentored her before she left Great Xia.
• Zuo Qing asked Lin Qiye to coordinate with the Shang Xie Association and bring Zhou Ping back, and Lin Qiye asked for Shen Qingzhu's home address.
• Jinian mourned Ye Fan at the Night Watchmen Cemetery, where Lin Qiye joined her and asked if she knew Zhou Ping; she paused at the question.

Lin Qiye learned that Zhou Ping had gone to help Nyx in Olympus and arranged to seek more information with Jinian. While he and his companions prepared to visit Shen Qingzhu’s family in Linjiang City, Jinian arrived at Abstinence Hall to free Leng Xuan.

• Jinian told Lin Qiye that Zhou Ping had visited Utopia and gone to Olympus to help Nyx, whose faction was now struggling against the Zeus Faction.
• Lin Qiye arranged to meet Jinian in Shangjing in three days and told his companions they would first visit Shen Qingzhu’s hometown, Linjiang City.
• After his companions left the Night Watchmen Headquarters, Lin Qiye withdrew a year’s salary and deposited it into a card.
• Jinian arrived at Abstinence Hall, where Dr. Li led her to the cafeteria to find Leng Xuan.
• Jinian told Leng Xuan that she had come to get him out.

Lin Qiye and his companions traveled to Linjiang City to visit Shen Qingzhu’s recorded residence, despite Baili Pangpang sensing unusually heavy yin energy. They found that the address was Hanshan Orphanage, where an old man recognized Shen Qingzhu’s name and let them inside.

• Baili Pangpang arranged a Lincoln through the Baili Family’s local branch and remarked that Linjiang City felt unusually heavy with yin energy.
• Lin Qiye and the others went to the address in Shen Qingzhu’s file, only to learn the residents had mostly left because the area was slated for demolition.
• Lin Qiye confirmed with the Night Watchmen archives that Shen Qingzhu had been an orphan and that the orphanage was his listed residence.
• A little girl mistook Cao Yuan and the others for hooligans, and an old man confronted them at the gate with an iron rod.
• Lin Qiye explained that they were Shen Qingzhu’s comrades, and the old man softened before letting them enter Hanshan Orphanage.

Lin Qiye and his companions visited Hanshan Orphanage, where Director Liu told them Shen Qingzhu had once lived there and that the orphanage was being harassed over a real estate project. As Director Liu went out to buy dinner, Baili Pangpang called Lin Qiye outside, while Cao Yuan stayed behind and met the gaze of the quiet boy in the corner.

• Director Liu welcomed Lin Qiye and his companions to Hanshan Orphanage and spoke about Shen Qingzhu, who had been found by the riverside twenty years earlier.
• Director Liu explained that the Li Group wanted the orphanage’s land and had sent thugs to cause trouble, while the children praised Shen Qingzhu for protecting them.
• Lin Qiye understood that Director Liu was withholding something, and Baili Pangpang left to make a phone call.
• Director Liu went out to buy vegetables as rain began, leaving Lin Qiye, Cao Yuan, and An Qingyu with the children.
• Baili Pangpang called Lin Qiye over from outside, while the children fled from Cao Yuan and An Qingyu went to comfort them.
• Cao Yuan remained in the room and met the gaze of the boy who had stayed in the corner.

At the orphanage, Cao Yuan and An Qingyu discovered that Wu Quan had drawn a black umbrella sheltering Shen Qingzhu’s name on the children’s dream wall. Lin Qiye learned that acquiring the Li Group’s land could take a year, then noticed that Old Man Liu had returned from shopping injured.

• Cao Yuan spoke with fifteen-year-old Wu Quan, who asked whether Shen Qingzhu was really on a secret mission.
• An Qingyu showed Cao Yuan the children’s career dream wall, where Wu Quan had drawn a black umbrella over Shen Qingzhu’s name.
• Baili Pangpang told Lin Qiye that taking over the Li Group could require a year, while negotiations over the orphanage’s riverside land were unlikely to succeed quickly.
• Old Man Liu returned soaked and muddy with groceries, welcomed the children, and offered Lin Qiye and the others beds for the night.
• Lin Qiye noticed that Old Man Liu was injured.

Lin Qiye used Black Pupil to learn that Old Man Liu had been beaten while protecting Hanshan Orphanage from a group of thugs. He tracked the men to a drinking spot and began interrogating them by force.

• Lin Qiye noticed Old Man Liu was injured and used Black Pupil to review what had happened on the nearby road.
• Lin Qiye saw the thugs attack Old Man Liu after he ran to divert them from Hanshan Orphanage.
• Lin Qiye followed the thugs to a rain-soaked shed where they discussed the Li family’s payment and plans to drive the orphanage out.
• Lin Qiye confronted the five men, severed the Scarred Man’s arm and another thug’s foot, and ordered them to answer his questions.

Lin Qiye and the others shared dinner at Hanshan Orphanage, where the children recalled Shen Qingzhu and Wu Quan saving them from a fire. After learning that Li Group was behind the attacks on Director Liu but had acted within the law, Lin Qiye sent his companions to bed and secretly slipped out into the rainy night.

• Lin Qiye joined the orphanage residents for dinner and told the children about Shen Qingzhu's undercover operation against the Believers.
• Old Man Liu and the children recounted how Shen Qingzhu and Wu Quan had rescued them from a fire four years earlier, while Wu Quan remained withdrawn.
• After dinner, Lin Qiye told his companions that Li Group had hired the thugs who attacked Director Liu, but its legal permits and reasonable relocation compensation made ordinary legal action ineffective.
• Lin Qiye said he would find a way to handle Li Group and told the others they would leave for the capital in the morning.
• After the others left, Lin Qiye waited until night and vanished into the darkness outside.

Lin Qiye infiltrated Li Group’s estate and abducted its chairman, Li Jianbai, to confront him over the threats against Hanshan Orphanage. He left Li Jianbai trapped in a dark wine cellar, where the terrified chairman demanded to know who he was.

• Old Man Liu told Wu Quan that the orphanage would move because Li Group’s threats were escalating, but Wu Quan insisted they stay.
• Lin Qiye decided to act alone to protect Hanshan Orphanage, put on the Monkey King Mask, and flew into Li Group’s estate.
• At Li Jianbai’s cocktail party, Lin Qiye located the chairman and dragged him through a spatial rift.
• Lin Qiye threw Li Jianbai into an underground wine cellar, where Li Jianbai asked who had taken him.