Chapter Summaries

After returning from the cleanup mission, Lu Xin feared his family had vanished, then found them waiting at home. Meanwhile, the Kid’s negative influence appeared to have disappeared as she wondered how she and Lu Xin could be together.

• Lu Xin flew back to Qinggang and asked the pilot to take him to Satellite City No. 2, telling the Kid they would have to part after work.
• A young policewoman gave Lu Xin instant noodles, and he rode a pink electric scooter home through the city.
• Lu Xin entered the dark, seemingly abandoned Room 401 and collapsed in despair, but Sister appeared and his family welcomed him home.
• Professor Chen and the other officials repeatedly checked that the Kid was safe before leaving her to rest.
• The Kid removed her contact lenses and asked how she and Lu Xin could be together, while a support team member realized the Kid’s negative influence seemed to have disappeared.

After returning to Satellite City No. 2, Lu Xin enjoyed a peaceful breakfast with his family and called Chen Jing to ask about work and the mission. With his next assignment delayed and money tied up, he decided to head to his other job, which he had been on unpaid leave from.

• Lu Xin woke late, shared breakfast with his family, and felt content with their noisy household.
• Lu Xin called Chen Jing, who said the danger in Happy Town had been eliminated and told him to rest and write a work report.
• Chen Jing reported that Kid's negative influence had weakened after the mission and asked Lu Xin to describe Kid's experience in his report.
• Lu Xin considered visiting Teacher Lu or asking Han Bing about a house, but decided against both because he lacked money and they were busy.
• Lu Xin remembered his other job, checked his gun, and rode away on the young policewoman's pink electric scooter.

Lu Xin returned to his company job after visiting Central City, and the Director welcomed him with unusual enthusiasm. Vice President Xiao Yuan then arrived and awkwardly tried to invite him to dinner.

• Lu Xin rode his pink electric scooter to the office and found his coworkers stunned to see him back.
• The Director eagerly welcomed Lu Xin, confirmed his position was waiting for him, and asked him to stay at work that day.
• Lu Xin formally returned to work, spent the morning waiting for assignments, and copied Tetris onto his computer.
• Vice President Xiao Yuan hurried into Lu Xin's office and awkwardly invited him to dinner.

Lu Xin accepted Vice President Xiao’s dinner invitation and learned more about the Xiao family’s aftermath after the Central City incident. The meal ended with Vice President Xiao nervously asking whether Lu Xin had ever seen someone possessed by the devil.

• Vice President Xiao invited Lu Xin to dinner to thank him, and Lu Xin agreed to meet after work.
• Lu Xin and Vice President Xiao waited until half past seven to leave the company, while Director Liu stayed late to impress the vice president.
• Vice President Xiao took Lu Xin to an expensive Western restaurant in Satellite City No. 2 and ordered the chef’s recommendations and wine.
• Vice President Xiao told Lu Xin that Lu Weiwei had not returned after being taken away, while Xiao Yuan had stopped having nightmares and Old President Xiao had withdrawn from work.
• Vice President Xiao asked whether Lu Xin’s department handled supernatural matters and finally asked if he had ever seen someone possessed by the devil.

Vice President Xiao told Lu Xin how his friend Gao had abruptly become violent, powerful, and obsessed with another man's girlfriend, leading him to suspect Gao was possessed by a devil. Lu Xin agreed to investigate, then sensed that Gao had arrived and saw him standing in the restaurant shadows.

• Lu Xin reassured Vice President Xiao that he should report unusual incidents, explaining that a recent cleanup mission had killed at least a hundred colleagues.
• Vice President Xiao described how Gao suddenly attacked Li, pursued Li's girlfriend, and threatened and injured the people who tried to stop him.
• Vice President Xiao said Gao had grown unusually strong and feared Buddhist statues and crosses, prompting his friends to conclude that he was possessed by a devil.
• Lu Xin dismissed the idea that ghosts existed, joked about the devil's lack of loyalty, and agreed to go look at Gao.
• Lu Xin sensed Gao behind Vice President Xiao, who turned and saw a tall figure standing silently in the dark restaurant.

Lu Xin watched Gao Yan confront Vice President Xiao over his violent behavior and suspected betrayal, finding no clear sign of Mental Pollution until he noticed countless insects moving through Gao Yan’s blood-red eyes. The chapter ended as Lu Xin became excited at the prospect of taking responsibility for Gao Yan.

• Gao Yan arrived at the restaurant and revealed that he had overheard Vice President Xiao criticizing him.
• Gao Yan defended stealing Li Ping’s girlfriend and stabbing Li Ping, while Vice President Xiao challenged his behavior.
• Lu Xin listened and judged that Gao Yan’s clear reasoning gave him no basis to identify Mental Pollution.
• Gao Yan smashed a wine bottle, threatened Vice President Xiao, and advanced on him as Vice President Xiao hid behind Lu Xin.
• Lu Xin noticed insects swimming through Gao Yan’s blood-red eyes and realized Gao Yan had been contaminated.

Lu Xin subdued the contaminated Gao Yan with his revolver and had Sister stop the bleeding so he could investigate the source of the contamination. After police arrived, Lu Xin showed his identification, and the officers turned their guns on Gao Yan’s bodyguards while Lu Xin told Vice President Xiao to open the car door.

• Lu Xin recognized that Gao Yan was deeply contaminated and tried to calm him, but Gao Yan charged at Vice President Xiao with a wine bottle.
• Lu Xin shot Gao Yan in both legs, pinned his wrist, and held a gun to his forehead until Gao Yan stopped resisting.
• Lu Xin fired toward the restaurant entrance to send the bodyguards and staff back inside, then examined Gao Yan and found his eyes had turned pale.
• Lu Xin called Sister down to close Gao Yan’s wounds with her power and told Vice President Xiao they needed to investigate Gao Yan’s home.
• Lu Xin carried Gao Yan outside, showed his identification to the responding officers, and watched them aim at the bodyguards before telling Vice President Xiao to open the police car door.

Lu Xin learned that Gao Yan’s severe contamination was unlikely to be cured and went to investigate whether it had affected others. Han Bing warned him that Gao Yan’s father was investigating Lu Xin, and arranged support while keeping the operation quiet.

• Lu Xin told Vice President Xiao that Gao Yan’s severe contamination was unlikely to be cured, leaving Xiao distressed by how much Gao Yan had changed.
• Han Bing called Lu Xin, recorded the details of Gao Yan’s contamination, and confirmed Lu Xin planned to check Gao Yan’s home and the girl he had kidnapped.
• Han Bing revealed that Gao Chang of Changxing Group had begun investigating Lu Xin shortly after Gao Yan was injured.
• Lu Xin asked the department not to alert Gao Chang, so Han Bing planned to mislead him and arranged for support to arrive within twenty minutes.
• Han Bing complained that she had been working overtime and wished she could take a vacation, eat ice cream, and watch an old movie.

Lu Xin brought the injured Gao Yan to the Gao family villa to investigate an abnormal incident and find a girl Gao Yan had abused. Gao Chang threatened Lu Xin with a gun, prompting the Guard Department to storm the villa, while Lu Xin objected that they should have stayed outside to contain the pollution.

• Vice President Xiao drove Lu Xin and the unconscious Gao Yan to Gao Yan's villa and agreed to protect himself.
• Gao Chang confronted Lu Xin with armed bodyguards, accused him of injuring Gao Yan, and ordered them to take his son away.
• Vice President Xiao tried to explain that they had come to help Gao Yan, but Gao Chang refused to listen.
• Lu Xin said he was investigating an abnormal incident and asked to meet the girl Gao Yan had abused.
• Gao Chang pointed a gun at Lu Xin, and a sniper shot Gao Chang's hand before the Guard Department's riot-control brigade stormed the villa.
• Lu Xin told Wu Xiu that the brigade should secure the perimeter and prevent pollution from spreading, leaving them both confused by the other's approach.

Lu Xin searched Gao Yan’s villa after the armed police secured the courtyard and discovered a basement filled with religious objects and evidence of abuse. He found faint, fading mental radiation and an open ventilation duct, suggesting the girl and the Pollution Source had already left.

• Lu Xin ordered the armed police to watch the courtyard, avoid contact with anything unusual, and alert him to changes before he searched the villa alone.
• Lu Xin and Sister searched the villa and found no one or detectable mental radiation on its first three floors.
• Sister discovered a hidden basement, and Lu Xin entered it through a concealed door behind a floor-to-ceiling mirror.
• Lu Xin found Buddha statues, other religious objects, and a wired chair surrounded by items that suggested Gao Yan had abused the girl there.
• Lu Xin detected faint, fading mental radiation near the chair and found an uncovered ventilation duct, then hurried out of the villa with Sister.

Lu Xin found the escaped Ping Ping in the courtyard and tried to determine whether Gao Yan had contaminated her. After he draped his coat over her, he noticed red insects writhing in the eyes of everyone around him, including the armed police and Vice President Xiao.

• Wu Xiu kept the armed police on alert while Vice President Xiao explained that he had brought Lu Xin to investigate Gao Yan and identified the injured man as his friend.
• Ping Ping crawled out through a concealed opening in the eastern wall and pleaded with the police to save her from the man who had tortured her.
• Wu Xiu ordered everyone not to touch Ping Ping, and the group kept their distance until Lu Xin emerged from the villa.
• Lu Xin examined Ping Ping as a possible target of Gao Yan's contamination, then draped his coat over her when he saw her shivering.
• Lu Xin pulled the coat away after noticing that red insects were writhing in the eyes of the people watching him.

Lu Xin recognized that the pitiful girl was the Pollution Source, whose influence spread through sympathy and made the armed police turn against him. He faced down the crowd without attacking, and his calm question left the girl frightened.

• Lu Xin stopped an armed police officer from shooting Gao Yan and realized that the girl's apparent vulnerability was contaminating the people around her.
• Lu Xin concluded that sympathy for the girl was the trigger and asked the officers to secure the courtyard while he took her for treatment.
• The girl claimed she was afraid of Lu Xin and wanted the others to protect her, turning the armed police and Vice President Xiao against him.
• Lu Xin held back as the officers aimed their guns at him, avoiding a confrontation that could get them hurt.
• Lu Xin calmly asked the girl why she kept trying to anger him, and her smug expression gave way to fear.

Lu Xin faced the girl’s contaminated protectors without provoking them, while Mom approached the Pollution Source and called her a little sister. Mom trapped the girl, and Sister caught and tormented her in the tree, leaving the girl’s former protectors horrified and unable to help.

• The armed officers aimed their guns at Lu Xin as the girl pleaded for protection, but he stayed calm and Sister took his hand.
• Mom emerged and walked through the crowd toward the girl, then revealed herself by drawing scissors and addressing her as her little sister.
• The girl’s body twisted as insects moved beneath her skin, and she tried to flee into a tree, but Mom surrounded her with shadows.
• Mom told Lu Xin to let Sister go, and Sister shot up the tree and grabbed the girl among the branches.
• Sister entangled the girl and twisted her body until she begged for help, while the contaminated officers and Vice President Xiao watched in terror.

Lu Xin watched Mom cure the contaminated people by cutting the insects from their eyes, then learned that the incident had been caused by an evil-thought female spawn connected to Mom’s close sister. Mom said the sister may have come to Qinggang because she sensed something extraordinary was about to happen.

• Mom restrained the girl and snipped at her eyes, stopping the contamination and freeing everyone affected.
• The contaminated people woke in confusion and remorse, while a hospitalized patient elsewhere also began crying after apparently understanding something.
• Lu Xin told Wu Xiu to control the courtyard, arrange medical care and punishment where needed, and leave the girl for him to handle.
• Mom explained that the insects were traces of her close sister’s presence and that the spawn could not create further contamination without permission.
• Mom suggested that her sister might have come to Qinggang to watch the extraordinary events she sensed were approaching.

Lu Xin reported that the Eyeworm Pollution Event had been cleared, while warning Han Bing that its source was a secondary branch of a dangerous, unidentified Pollution Source. Their conversation revealed Qinggang’s strain from handling multiple crises and growing political distrust, and the chapter ended with department officials considering whether to tell Lu Xin about the “Heavenly Kingdom” plan.

• Lu Xin told Han Bing that the contaminated people had been treated, but the Pollution Source they removed was only a secondary source linked to a more dangerous one.
• Lu Xin expressed concern that the Guard Department reinforcements had been contaminated despite their caution, and Han Bing agreed to include his concerns in her report.
• Han Bing explained that Qinggang was overwhelmed by preparations to accept Sea Nation residents, the Happy Town incident, and other Satellite Cities’ Pollution Events.
• Han Bing described mounting friction between the Special Purity Department and the General Administrative Hall, while Lu Xin worried about Qinggang’s stability.
• The Soldier Affairs Office director listened to a recording of Lu Xin and Han Bing, then suggested informing Mr. Su and Professor Bai that it might be time to share Qinggang’s “Heavenly Kingdom” plan with Lu Xin.

After returning to work, Lu Xin learned that Vice President Xiao was recovering from the pollution incident and was swamped with company projects. Vice President Xiao brought him gifts from Gao Yan, including a watch worth at least two hundred thousand, and Lu Xin reconsidered refusing them.

• Director Liu asked Lu Xin where Vice President Xiao had gone, and Lu Xin said he was likely in a hospital.
• Lu Xin asked Director Liu for work, so Director Liu secretly assigned him the company's most profitable projects.
• Lu Xin worked day and night on several projects while writing the Special Purity Department's report.
• Vice President Xiao returned from isolation, gave employees local specialties, and brought gifts into Lu Xin's office.
• Vice President Xiao told Lu Xin that Gao Yan and the others were grateful and had sent gifts, then showed him a watch worth at least two hundred thousand.
• Lu Xin's hand trembled as he looked at the watch and reconsidered refusing the gifts.

Vice President Xiao delivered a two-hundred-thousand-yuan watch from Gao Yan and described how contamination had driven Gao Yan to abuse Ping Ping while believing he was acting on her wishes. Lu Xin called Han Bing for advice and discovered she had come to visit him in person to look at houses.

• Vice President Xiao urged Lu Xin to accept Gao Yan's watch and recounted Gao Yan's disturbing behavior toward Ping Ping during the contamination.
• Lu Xin decided to ask about the incident and stepped into the corridor to call Han Bing.
• Han Bing told Lu Xin the incident had been handled and offered to take care of his mission remuneration.
• Han Bing appeared on the iron staircase, revealed she was on holiday, and said she had come to take Lu Xin to look at houses.

Han Bing visited Lu Xin at his workplace to help him look at houses, and he introduced her to his colleagues and Vice President Xiao. When Han Bing learned that Lu Xin had received gifts from people he had helped, she suggested temporarily accepting them to reassure the recovered patients, then returning them later.

• Han Bing surprised Lu Xin at his apartment building and explained that she had come to help him choose a house.
• Lu Xin brought Han Bing into his office, where his coworkers watched them and Vice President Xiao greeted her nervously.
• Vice President Xiao left them alone after hinting that Lu Xin could use the company's entertainment allowance to host Han Bing.
• Han Bing asked about the packages in Lu Xin's office, and he explained that people he had helped had sent them gifts.
• Han Bing said the department's rules prohibited accepting gifts from polluted people but suggested temporarily accepting these gifts to reassure the recovered patients and returning them later.

Lu Xin and Han Bing viewed three villas in Satellite City No. 2, and Lu Xin chose the Baidao property because he imagined it as a home where the children and staff could live and play. The chapter left him picturing the children enjoying the yard and saying they would like it.

• Lu Xin finished reviewing his projects, then took Han Bing to view houses on a borrowed pink electric scooter.
• Han Bing explained three villa options and recommended the Baidao property, saying it would soon benefit from development.
• Lu Xin and Han Bing viewed all three properties while the agent followed them between locations.
• Lu Xin chose the Baidao villa because its rooms and yard could accommodate dormitories, a game room, play equipment, and a vegetable garden.
• Lu Xin imagined Sister, Little Nineteen, Little Eighteen, the other children, the substitute teachers, and the Old Director in the yard, then said children would like the property.

Lu Xin and Han Bing chose a house, then spent the evening eating ice cream, snacks, and watching a movie together. At the hotel, Han Bing asked why Lu Xin helped Qinggang, and he said he liked the life they were building before she thanked him and went inside.

• Han Bing supported Lu Xin's choice of house, and Lu Xin arranged the purchase and repairs with the realtor.
• Lu Xin thanked Han Bing for helping him and learned that she would return to work the next afternoon and had booked a hotel.
• Lu Xin treated Han Bing to dinner, ice cream, snacks, and a screening of Roman Holiday at Wanzhong Mall.
• Lu Xin drove Han Bing to her hotel late at night, avoiding a group of street thugs on the way.
• Han Bing asked Lu Xin why he helped Qinggang, and Lu Xin said he liked the life he was living and liked seeing people's lives improve.
• Han Bing thanked Lu Xin, handed him the snacks, and entered the hotel.