Chapter Summaries

Zhou Mingrui celebrated New Year’s Eve with his parents, Sharron, Fors, and Adwina, navigating his father’s awkward questions and the guests’ unfamiliarity with the festivities. The dinner ended with his family misunderstanding Sharron’s reference to Melissa while the women waited eagerly for his reaction to their cooking.

• Father Zhou asked Zhou Mingrui whether the Demonesses in his book had real-life counterparts, and Zhou Mingrui awkwardly explained that Trissy was a woman who was already married.
• Zhou Mingrui joined his family and guests for a New Year’s Eve dinner featuring both traditional Chinese dishes and food from the other women’s world.
• The group watched the Spring Festival Gala, and Adwina grew fascinated by the television before Zhou Mingrui reminded her to pay attention to the occasion.
• Mother Zhou toasted the new year and urged Zhou Mingrui to try the unfamiliar dishes, so he tasted seafood rice, mushrooms, lamb, sausage, and Dixie Pie.
• Sharron said she had learned the lamb dish from Melissa, prompting Father Zhou to suspect that Zhou Mingrui had a close relationship with her.
• Zhou Mingrui avoided correcting his father’s misunderstanding and used his Clown ability to act like an enthusiastic gourmet for Fors and Adwina.

Zhou Mingrui hosted Adwina, Fors, and Sharron for New Year's Eve dinner, while his father urged him to choose among the three women pursuing him. The evening ended with Zhou Mingrui and Fors recognizing Ammon in a missing-child public-service announcement.

• Zhou Mingrui covered for Adwina when she nearly mentioned foreign place names, and Mother Zhou chatted with her about teaching while everyone enjoyed the dinner and Spring Festival Gala.
• Father Zhou asked Zhou Mingrui where the women were from, then advised him to decide which one he liked and not string them along.
• Zhou Mingrui admitted he could not choose among the three women, and Father Zhou told him to think it through without becoming a Sea King.
• Zhou Mingrui returned to the living room and spat out his water when a public-service announcement showed a childlike Ammon in a missing-person notice.
• Fors recognized Ammon on the television and saw the notice asking people to help him go home.

Huang Tao prepared for his wedding while Kang Sining explained that androids were posing as his family and guests. Feng Xue, Audrey, Bernadette, Sophia, and Lily headed to the wedding and ran into Zhou Mingrui, who confronted Feng Xue about a childhood photo; the chapter ended with a note about Zhou Mingrui’s appetite for danger.

• Huang Tao asked Kang Sining where his relatives and guests came from, and she explained that some were androids built with advanced technology.
• Kang Sining assured Huang Tao that the androids were stable, though a malfunction might make one briefly dizzy or seem distracted.
• Feng Xue guided Audrey, Bernadette, Sophia, and Lily through the city as they discussed Huang Tao’s wedding and bickered over his attention.
• Feng Xue and Zhou Mingrui met outside a restaurant, showed each other their wedding invitations, and Zhou Mingrui asked Feng Xue about a childhood photo.
• Feng Xue began to explain himself, and the narration described Zhou Mingrui’s tendency to seek thrills and approach danger.

Feng Xue told Zhou Mingrui that the True Creator had sent Ammon to live as a human on Earth, while the women entered Huang Tao’s wedding banquet. The chapter left Huang Tao staring in shock at a foreign guest as his parents realized he recognized her.

• Zhou Mingrui panicked when Feng Xue revealed that Ammon was on Earth, and Feng Xue explained that the True Creator was helping Ammon learn humanity by having him live as an ordinary child.
• Feng Xue told Zhou Mingrui that Ammon’s main body had been reduced to a six- or seven-year-old and had run away from an orphanage, while the other avatars had no memories.
• Bernadette, Fors, Sharron, Adwina, and Lily entered Huang Tao’s wedding banquet after Bernadette made an invitation.
• Fors wondered about the wedding customs and Chinese characters, and Bernadette explained that the decorations offered blessings rather than mystical power.
• Father Huang and Mother Huang noticed the five guests and then saw Huang Tao stare at one of them in surprise and panic.

Huang Tao’s wedding was interrupted by the arrival of Bernadette and the other women, leaving him scrambling to explain their presence to his parents. After Zhou Mingrui and Feng Xue arrived, Bernadette revealed that she had read Huang Tao’s diaries and asked whether stockings and short skirts were customs of his hometown.

• Father Huang and Mother Huang noticed Huang Tao’s shock as five women arrived, and Huang Tao told his father that more guests were still missing.
• Audrey smoothly introduced herself to Huang Tao’s parents while Sharron, Adwina, and Fors watched the gathering for their own reasons.
• Zhou Mingrui and Feng Xue entered, and Father Huang recognized Feng Xue as the author of Lord of the Mysteries.
• Huang Tao asked Bernadette why she had come, and she said she had read all of his diaries.
• Bernadette explained that she had used a Xinhua Dictionary and a pinyin chart to read Chinese, then asked whether stockings and short skirts were hometown customs, prompting three people to deny it.

After being stripped of his Beyonder abilities and sent to ancient Earth as a child, Ammon chafed at life in a good orphanage and suspected his father had placed him there to teach him humanity. He reframed his situation as a game, began fitting in with the other children, and disappeared on the eve of the New Year.

• Ammon attended the orphanage’s lunch and resented the staff treating him like a small child.
• Ammon recalled his defeat at Origin Castle and realized he had been left powerless in ancient Earth, where ordinary people lived.
• Ammon tried to plan an escape but reconsidered his circumstances as a challenge set by his father.
• Ammon began joining the other children’s activities and classes, appearing to settle into the orphanage.
• Ammon disappeared while the orphanage prepared for the New Year.

Ammon escaped the orphanage and tried to steal food money, but gang members mistook him for a young pickpocket and recruited him after he handed over the phones he had stolen. The chapter explained that his child’s body was causing him to experience emotions, though this humanity did not belong to his soul.

• Ammon escaped the orphanage and wandered the streets, hungry and without money.
• He searched passersby for cash but found only phones he could not unlock.
• Gang members seized Ammon, mistaking him for a pickpocket working for a rival gang.
• Ammon pretended to be an abandoned thief and offered the phones in exchange for food.
• The gang members accepted Ammon and took him along to sell the phones and get a meal.
• The narration explained that Ammon’s human body was influencing his emotions, while the True Creator had placed him in it and sent him to old Earth.

Police investigated the brutal deaths of two thieves whom Ammon had killed after they offended him, while Ammon struggled to get by without identification or access to electronic payments. He entered a supermarket hoping to buy concealer to hide his birthmark, but became lost among the unfamiliar products and languages.

• Police found two thieves tortured and killed, and learned they had recently brought home a child who was now missing.
• The detective ordered officers to search for the child through surveillance, witness sketches, and missing-child reports.
• Ammon bought meat buns with cash and realized that having no ID Card made everyday transactions difficult.
• Ammon decided to hide his conspicuous birthmark with concealer and went to a supermarket he had visited with the thieves.
• Ammon wandered through the cosmetics section, unable to identify the concealer or ask a clerk for help.

Ammon tried to leave the city but was kidnapped by human traffickers and woke bound and blindfolded. After hearing their plans to sell or mutilate him, he claimed he had escaped from an orphanage and begged them not to send him to Delia.

• Ammon noticed that his concealer had failed to hide his dark circles and began following his plan to escape the city.
• A captor covered Ammon’s mouth with a wet wipe, and Ammon woke bound, blindfolded, and gagged.
• Ammon assessed his restraints and listened carefully, realizing that a guard was nearby.
• A woman joined the man guarding Ammon, and Ammon overheard that they had picked up three children to sell.
• The woman worried about Ammon’s birthmark, and the man suggested selling him to a remote village or sending him to Delia to be mutilated for begging.
• Ammon forced the gag from his mouth and shouted that nobody would look for him because he had escaped an orphanage, begging them not to send him to Delia.

After being kidnapped, Ammon freed his hands and feet enough to prepare an escape, but found himself trapped in an isolated room with other unconscious children and few useful tools. As he considered his predicament, he began reflecting on what he could learn from the Lord of Mysteries and was forced to confront fear and helplessness without his former power.

• The traffickers gagged Ammon, threatened him, and left him bound in a room with three unconscious children.
• Ammon watched the traffickers leave, then used the Marauder's techniques to free his hands and adjust his bindings so he could undo them later.
• Ammon discovered his knife, candy, and money were gone, but recovered a bent wire hidden in his clothes.
• Ammon examined the bare room and suspected it was an isolated storeroom or small barn, making escape and reaching safety difficult.
• Ammon reflected on how the Lord of Mysteries had survived through cleverness rather than overwhelming power and began considering what he could learn from him.
• The True Creator's plan forced Ammon to experience human fear, sorrow, anger, and worry by stripping away his power and security.

Ammon, trapped in a child’s body and bound in a warehouse with other kidnapped children, gambled on a plan to escape detection and then pretended to remain helpless. After waking from a brief sleep, he realized one of the other captives was awake and unusually quiet.

• Ammon calmed himself by thinking about how mortals might act and decided to use his experience with pranks and frightening people to improvise.
• Ammon used the shabby warehouse’s contents to complete his setup, then returned to his bound position before anyone noticed.
• When the kidnapped girl woke and began whimpering, Ammon let her make noise rather than risk silencing her, then fell asleep through meditation.
• Ammon woke and identified an unusually steady breathing pattern, concluding that another captive was already awake.

Sister Qiong and A Liang discussed whether a murder investigation would make it dangerous to leave the city with their kidnapped children, and decided to wait several days before departing. A Liang went to feed the children in the warehouse, where Ammon secretly endured the food and watched as A Liang became uneasy.

• Sister Qiong warned A Liang that the murder case and the police deployment might make the roads out of the city dangerous, so they agreed to follow their original plan and wait for the post-holiday crowds.
• Sister Qiong told A Liang to feed the children carefully and reapply their tape, and A Liang headed to the warehouse with water and compressed biscuits.
• A Liang checked the warehouse and the four children, then removed one child's tape and threatened them into staying quiet.
• A Liang gave the children biscuits, and Ammon forced himself to eat despite finding the food revolting.
• A Liang sat by the warehouse door and suddenly frowned.

Ammon hid among the kidnapped children in a warehouse and relied on A Liang’s vague sense that something was wrong to draw him away. A Liang returned with Sister Qiong to investigate, leaving Ammon’s next move uncertain as they entered the warehouse.

• A Liang sensed something unfamiliar in the warehouse, checked the children and the room, then taped the children’s mouths shut and left with a kettle.
• Ammon stayed hidden among the children, relieved that his first step had worked and carefully pretending to whimper like them.
• A Liang told Sister Qiong that the warehouse felt as if someone had been there, despite finding no evidence of intrusion.
• Sister Qiong armed herself with a club and went with A Liang to the warehouse, where they listened to the children before entering.

Ammon's subtle rearrangements wore down Sister Qiong and A Liang, but he was caught off guard when they prepared to transport the children. He was drugged and packed into a suitcase, leaving him to endure the setback and resolve to keep going.

• Ammon used tiny changes to objects to intensify Sister Qiong and A Liang's unease until they locked the children in separate places.
• Ammon mapped the surroundings and planned to escape during the night, but Sister Qiong entered before he could leave.
• Sister Qiong drugged Ammon with a damp handkerchief and carried him to the back courtyard.
• Sister Qiong and A Liang packed Ammon and two other children into suitcases and drove away.
• Ammon regretted not escaping sooner, then reminded himself that he could endure the setback.

Ammon was transported in a car trunk by Sister Qiong and A Liang, who used a child sleeping among the luggage to avoid police suspicion. The car reached a residential house, and Ammon prepared to use hidden wire to escape.

• Ammon suppressed his urge to call for help as Sister Qiong and A Liang drove through heavy traffic and passed police officers.
• Ammon reflected on his fear and indecision while the car slowly left the traffic jam.
• After the drug wore off, Ammon heard children whimpering, while Sister Qiong and A Liang checked on their captives and continued driving.
• Sister Qiong directed A Liang off the highway and through several turns to a residential house.
• Ammon felt the car jolt to a stop and resolved to escape using the wire hidden in his bound hands.

Ammon and three other children were taken to a prepared hideout, where A Liang threatened them with collective punishment. After one girl untied their ropes, she tried to reassure the others that the traffickers would not cripple them, leaving Ammon suspicious of her explanation.

• A Liang brought Ammon and three other children to a room prepared as a hideout and threatened to cripple all of them if anyone caused trouble.
• Ammon studied the room and the traffickers, deciding not to attempt his previous escape trick in case the hideout had surveillance cameras.
• A girl with unbound hands and feet untied the other children's ropes, and Ammon let her free him despite worrying that the traffickers might punish them.
• Ammon's question made the children fear collective punishment, and two of them blamed the girl for untying their ropes.
• The girl claimed the traffickers would not cripple them because damaged goods were worth less, and Ammon privately doubted her story.

Ammon and three other children remained captive in a traffickers’ room, where hunger and fear wore down their resolve. After enduring the humiliation of using an uncovered chamber pot under the other children’s gaze, Ammon shed the first tear of his thousands of years of divine life.

• A Liang brought compressed biscuits and water to the children, while Ammon watched the food and calculated how to build up strength for an escape.
• Sister Qiong questioned A Liang about the children, and after he spoke carelessly about selling them the next day, she slapped him for tempting fate.
• Ammon used the foul-smelling chamber pot in front of the other children, then returned to his corner and cried.

Ammon stayed under the traffickers’ watch until a buyer rejected him, leaving him alone in the room. He seized the chance to escape, but chose to hunt down the people outside rather than risk fleeing while hungry and unfamiliar with the area.

• Ammon suppressed the urge to call on the Lord of Mysteries and his father, then pretended to sleep through the night.
• Sister Qiong and A Liang checked the surveillance footage, found the children still asleep, and contacted the buyer.
• The buyer’s men examined all four children, and the buyer refused to take Ammon because of his dark circles.
• After Sister Qiong and A Liang took the other children downstairs, Ammon picked the lock with a piece of wire and slipped into the corridor.
• Ammon decided not to head for the exit and instead planned to kill the traffickers and their associates first.

Ammon escaped from the traffickers’ villa, leaving Sister Qiong and A Liang dead or dying behind him. Days later, police found the gruesome scene but no sign of the child.

• Sister Qiong ordered A Liang to feed Ammon and prepare to leave that night before the holiday travel rush ended.
• A Liang found Ammon missing from his locked room, and Sister Qiong discovered on the surveillance footage that he had opened the lock.
• Sister Qiong sent A Liang to search the house while she watched outside, but Ammon attacked him when he returned downstairs.
• Three days later, police officers arrived at the villa after cracking a human trafficking case and forced their way inside.
• An officer reported finding two bodies, believed to be the traffickers, but no trace of Ammon.

Police investigators identified seven-year-old Ammon as the likely killer of two traffickers, while Ammon settled into an empty home and planned how to make money and leave the country. The chapter leaves him searching for an unoccupied house with a computer.

• A forensic examiner described how the two traffickers had been paralyzed and left to die, but the officers concluded that Ammon was responsible.
• The older officer linked Ammon to an earlier killing of two thieves and said the child needed to be found and guided.
• Ammon moved into an unoccupied home after killing the traffickers and used skills learned from thieves to sell stolen goods.
• Ammon bought clothes, food, and a secondhand smartphone, then considered using online scams to earn travel money.
• Ammon left to look for an empty house with a computer so he could create social media accounts without showing his face.