Recaps

Lu Xin reached Satellite City No. 7 with Gao Ting’s convoy, contacted the Central City Liaison Officer, and learned that White Tower Town had been destroyed before investigators could collect evidence. The next morning, the convoy resumed its delivery, and Lu Xin decided to go along.

• Gao Ting’s convoy entered Satellite City No. 7 after handing over its firearms, and the group checked into a motor hotel.
• Lu Xin called the Central City Liaison Officer, who said he would handle Lu Xin’s affairs and warned that White Tower Town had been destroyed by a wildfire.
• Lu Xin asked Sun Gouzi to keep watch overnight, while Sister remained nearby on the ceiling.
• Lu Xin woke the next morning to find the drivers eating breakfast and preparing to deliver the goods.
• Lu Xin accepted breakfast from Little Zhou and said he would join the convoy for the delivery.

Lu Xin accompanied Gao Ting's convoy to an Earth Construction Group warehouse and learned more about the company while suspecting it might be connected to the lunatics from White Tower Town. After Gao Ting was summoned by Zhao Hui, Lu Xin followed her, learned of Zhao's abusive behavior, and went to report him to General Manager Wang.

• Lu Xin rode with Gao Ting to the warehouse and asked whether Earth Construction Group might have betrayed the convoy.
• The convoy began unloading its cargo while warehouse staff joked with Gao Ting and arranged the delivery.
• Zhao Hui arrived, summoned Gao Ting to the office, and she handed the cargo manifest to Old Zhou before following him.
• Lu Xin followed Gao Ting into the office building, where Sister told him Zhao Hui had insulted and threatened her.
• Lu Xin told Sister he had a more fun way to deal with Zhao Hui, then went to General Manager Wang's office to report that someone under him was soliciting bribes.

Lu Xin confronted General Manager Wang over Quality Inspection Supervisor Zhao Hui’s alleged bribery and abuse of fleet leader Gao Ting, then forced Wang to witness Zhao’s behavior. After Zhao fled the warehouse, Wang promised the company would deal with the matter.

• Lu Xin formally reported Zhao Hui to General Manager Wang and insisted on showing him evidence.
• Lu Xin used his ability to make Wang follow him to Zhao Hui’s office, where Zhao stumbled into Gao Ting as people gathered to watch.
• Lu Xin identified himself as Lu Xin from Qinggang and said he had reported Zhao for violating the law and discipline.
• Zhao Hui threatened Lu Xin and Gao Ting, then shoved through the crowd and drove away from the warehouse.
• Little Zhou chased after Zhao with an iron cargo hook, while Lu Xin told the veteran drivers and warehouse staff what Zhao had done.
• Lu Xin asked Wang to address the incident, and Wang agreed that the company would deal with Zhao.

After exposing Zhao Hui’s role in the convoy’s danger, Lu Xin and Gao Ting suspected the cargo might be involved and kept samples for examination. Zhao Hui received new orders from Black Table, while the drivers returned to the inn—where Old Li suddenly vanished from a latrine.

• Gao Ting told Lu Xin that Zhao Hui had seemed to hide something, and they considered whether the cargo had drawn the convoy to White Tower Town.
• Gao Ting produced ore samples she had saved, and Lu Xin revealed that he had secretly taken a piece as well.
• Zhao Hui reported his suspicions to a Black Table contact, learned that Hell Squad would handle the aftermath, and agreed to prepare for another task.
• Gao Ting ordered the veteran drivers to stay at the inn, while some of them began discussing how to get guns.
• Lu Xin found that his expected contact had not arrived, then heard that Old Li had disappeared from the inn’s latrine.
• Lu Xin and the drivers searched the empty latrine, where no trace of Old Li could be found.

Lu Xin and Gao Ting investigated a series of inexplicable disappearances among the convoy, but their searches found no trace of the missing drivers. After Liang Dawai vanished in front of Meng Tuzi, Lu Xin concluded that they needed to keep everyone together to prevent further losses.

• Little Zhou confirmed that Old Li had not climbed over the restroom wall, and Gao Ting ordered the convoy counted.
• The count revealed that four people were missing, including Old Li, Bai Zhua, Chen Laodong, and Tian Niu Zi, who had left to wash his hair.
• Gao Ting sent drivers in groups to check the inn, surveillance footage, and Tian Niu Zi's destination, but they found no missing people and learned that Tian Niu Zi had not returned.
• Meng Tuzi reported that Liang Dawai had disappeared right beside him, while Lu Xin and Sister detected no unusual presence at the spot.
• Lu Xin urged Gao Ting to gather everyone together and focus on preventing anyone else from disappearing.

Lu Xin tried to protect Gao Ting’s convoy after several people vanished at the inn, but the disappearances continued even while everyone was together. The chapter ended with three more drivers missing and no explanation for how it had happened.

• Gao Ting moved the convoy’s drivers into a shared dormitory and called the Guard Department after Lu Xin advised her to seek help, but no one arrived.
• As night fell, Lu Xin told the drivers to stay inside, tie themselves together with ropes, and scatter dirt to look for footprints.
• Lu Xin returned to his room to think, but his phone had no signal and neither Sister nor Shadow had noticed anything useful.
• Little Zhou rushed to tell Lu Xin that three more people had disappeared from the dormitory despite the ropes and dirt.
• Gao Ting said the group had counted thirty people earlier but found only twenty-seven, and no one knew when the three had vanished.

Lu Xin investigated the sudden disappearances aboard the carriage and deduced that the monster took people whenever nobody was watching them. As the group tried to guard one another, another disappearance left the threat unresolved.

• Lu Xin questioned Gao Ting and the veteran drivers after people vanished from the sleeping quarters without anyone noticing.
• Lu Xin suspected an unseen Mental Monster and reasoned that it could take people when they were not being watched.
• Gao Ting understood Lu Xin's deduction and ordered everyone to sit facing one another and keep their eyes fixed on someone.
• Lu Xin considered the limits of their watch plan while the passengers stared at one another and waited.
• A loud crash sounded outside, and Lu Xin saw that the room had suddenly become emptier.

Lu Xin analyzed the monster that was abducting convoy members and concluded it could take only people who went unnoticed and had a physical body. He set himself at the doorway and challenged it to try to escape, while the monster's growing power and Lu Xin's anger raised the stakes.

• Lu Xin discovered that Gao Ting and several other convoy members had disappeared, and the remaining drivers panicked.
• Sun Gouzi and Little Zhou stopped the drivers from rushing outside and urged them to trust Lu Xin; Little Zhou blamed himself for his uncle Old Zhou's disappearance.
• Sun Gouzi counted eight missing people, and Lu Xin recognized that the disappearances were increasing in a pattern similar to Qin Ran's Mental Pollution.
• Lu Xin reconsidered how the monster operated and suspected it could abduct only people who were not being watched, while also needing to move through the physical room.
• Lu Xin told the group they no longer needed to watch one another, then wrote down his deductions and concluded the monster was afraid of him.
• Lu Xin sat by the doorway with a cigarette and threatened to punish the monster if it tried to leave the room.

The author reflected on Crimson Moon’s strong March rankings and subscription sales, discussed reader criticism of an overlong convoy section, and described plans to adjust their writing process. Old Ghost thanked readers and looked ahead to April with renewed confidence.

• Old Ghost reported that Crimson Moon ranked third in March monthly votes, entered the quarterly top ten, and maintained second place in paid subscriptions.
• Old Ghost acknowledged negative feedback about the convoy section and concluded that repeated revisions had made it too long.
• Old Ghost explained that designing logical explanations for bizarre incidents was the most difficult part of writing Crimson Moon.
• Old Ghost planned to focus on providing information and establishing characters, while limiting repeated revisions over minor details.
• Old Ghost thanked readers for their support, promised to work harder, and toasted them while expressing confidence about April.

Lu Xin guarded the bunkroom while Sister searched for the hidden monster, then confronted an impostor posing as the innkeeper. The disguised figure revealed himself as a tall man with a single enormous eye, and Lu Xin unexpectedly called him cute.

• Lu Xin kept watch at the bunkroom door while Sister searched for the invisible monster and the others waited without anyone disappearing.
• The innkeeper arrived, and Lu Xin suspected something was wrong when she did not react as the real innkeeper would have.
• Lu Xin's shadow attacked the innkeeper, but she dodged with help from a hidden figure following behind her.
• Lu Xin stopped his shadow before it struck the innkeeper and exposed the tall, thin man who had been controlling her.
• The one-eyed man suggested they talk, and Lu Xin studied him before saying he was quite cute.

Lu Xin confronted a one-eyed man who tried to recruit him, then fought to protect the landlady as the man exploited his reluctance to hurt her. A monster that made people forget it emerged from the bunkroom, and Lu Xin discovered that the convoy members, including Old Zhou, had been made to follow it in a trance.

• The one-eyed man asked Lu Xin to return stolen information or join his organization, but Lu Xin demanded the convoy's release and their surrender.
• The man fired at Lu Xin, who dodged and sent his shadow after him; the man used the landlady to force Lu Xin's shadow to protect her.
• Lu Xin's shadow caught a bullet, while a creature in the bunkroom began twisting and cracking its bones.
• The red, tentacled monster wrapped around Lu Xin and made him feel as though the world had forgotten him.
• Lu Xin recovered and saw the monster, which vanished whenever attention shifted, leading Old Li, Tian Niu Zi, Old Zhou, and the other convoy members in a mindless line.

Lu Xin uncovered how the tentacled monster stayed unnoticed and had Sister restrain it, then confronted the one-eyed man in the suit. He deduced that the man could read minds, but the man escaped the shadow and revealed Lu Xin had guessed wrong.

• The one-eyed man in the suit tried to shoot Lu Xin, but Sister helped Lu Xin twist his head and dodge the bullet.
• Lu Xin explained that the tentacled monster made people instinctively overlook it, while Sister’s grip let him see it; he stopped her from breaking the monster leader’s neck.
• Lu Xin sent his shadow after the one-eyed man, who dodged and fired special bullets with uncanny precision.
• Lu Xin reasoned that the man could predict his moves and guessed his ability was mind-reading.
• The shadow caught the man, but he vanished and said Lu Xin had guessed his ability wrong.

Lu Xin uncovered that the suited man’s ability progressed from observation to influence and control, allowing him to read and manipulate his opponents. Though the man nearly controlled Lu Xin, his influence loosened Father’s restraints, and Father seized the chance to tear through the courtyard and attack him.

• The suited man repeatedly appeared and shot at Lu Xin, while Lu Xin searched the courtyard for clues to his real location.
• Lu Xin found footprints and numerous bloodshot eyes, then realized the man’s ability was based on observation rather than mind-reading.
• The suited man used the watching eyes to influence Lu Xin and make him believe he should stop resisting and return the stolen things.
• Lu Xin resisted by saying he would discuss it with his family, then let Father take control of the courtyard.
• Father’s shadow destroyed the eyes and caught the suited man, tearing away his flesh as the man screamed.
• Lu Xin pieced together that the suited man’s power advanced from observing opponents to influencing and controlling them.

Lu Xin and Father fought the monsters at the roadside motel, but a hidden creature called Ying helped the man in the suit escape. The survivors later reported the failed mission at a hidden villa, where they revealed that Ying had been too afraid to act sooner.

• Father wrapped the man in the suit in shadows and began tearing him apart, but a loud baby-like cry shook Lu Xin and disrupted the attack.
• The man in the suit regenerated, broke free of Father's shadows, and fled into the darkness with Ying.
• Lu Xin reassured Father that he would try to understand him and protect their family, then noticed that one monster remained nearby.
• At a hidden villa, the man in the suit reported that Mizang might have been contaminated and that Ying had helped him escape.
• The man in the suit explained that Ying had been afraid neither of them would return if it acted.

Lu Xin tried to make the tentacled monster release the convoy by exploiting its fear of being abandoned, while a mysterious man identified Lu Xin and ordered his second plan to begin. The chapter ended with a scarred girl arriving to prepare for the plan.

• Lu Xin found all thirty-seven convoy members linked to the tentacled monster, with an unidentified man standing at its front.
• Lu Xin considered ways to separate the monster from the convoy, then tried to persuade it by reminding it that its companions had abandoned it.
• In the darkness, Xinmo showed the man an image of Lu Xin, and the man asked about his age and abilities.
• The man ordered Xinmo to notify Zhao Hui and begin the second plan, then called for a girl to come in.
• A scarred girl entered, and the man told her she could get ready.

Lu Xin and the convoy survived Mizang’s attack, and Lu Xin entrusted the evidence of the forbidden experiments to Li Gang while asking Mizang to guard it. The police arrived and accused Gao Ting and the others of stealing Earth Group information, with Zhao Hui and General Manager Wang watching from behind the officers.

• Lu Xin confirmed that Mizang had abandoned its mission, and Li Gang explained the coded clue he had left about the tentacled monster.
• Lu Xin handed Li Gang the experimental documents, samples, witnesses, and Mizang as evidence, then persuaded Mizang to help guard them until Qinggang support arrived.
• Police officers stormed the motel after Lu Xin called them and ordered everyone to surrender.
• A balding officer accused Gao Ting and the convoy of stealing Earth Group confidential information and said they would all be taken in for questioning.
• Lu Xin spotted Zhao Hui and General Manager Wang behind the officers.

Li Gang tried to use his Qinggang credentials to stop Satellite City No. 7 police from arresting the convoy, but Zhao Hui overruled him and confronted Gao Ting. Zhao Hui revealed that he had arranged the convoy’s massacre because he intended to take over Gao Ting’s body, and he threatened to kill everyone if she refused to go with him.

• The police arrived to arrest the convoy for allegedly stealing Earth Group’s confidential materials, and Li Gang identified himself as a Qinggang liaison officer to demand the arrest be suspended.
• The old officer refused Li Gang’s request and ordered the police to cuff everyone, prompting Gao Ting to challenge Zhao Hui.
• Zhao Hui had Gao Ting brought to him, and he admitted that he had targeted her body for himself and was connected to the deaths of her convoy members.
• Gao Ting realized Zhao Hui’s experiments had been modifying her body so he could attach himself to it.
• Zhao Hui demanded that Gao Ting go with him and threatened to have the convoy and Lu Xin killed if she resisted.

Lu Xin realized Zhao Hui intended to take Gao Ting’s body in the most literal sense, and Gao Ting agreed to go with him to protect the convoy. When Lu Xin exposed the futility of reporting General Manager Wang, he attacked Zhao Hui instead, leaving the guards and drivers stunned as he kept shooting.

• Lu Xin understood that Gao Ting’s bodily abnormalities explained her ability to fight the brain-shaped monster, and that Zhao Hui wanted to obtain her body literally.
• Gao Ting told the drivers to return home and said she would go with Zhao Hui voluntarily, while asking Lu Xin with a pleading glance to look after them.
• Lu Xin reported General Manager Wang’s mistreatment of Gao Ting and challenged him over why the earlier report had not led to consequences.
• General Manager Wang dismissed the accusation as false, and Zhao Hui cursed Lu Xin for trying to humiliate him.
• Lu Xin said reporting Zhao Hui was useless, then rushed through the guards’ gunfire and shot Zhao Hui repeatedly.

Lu Xin shot Zhao Hui repeatedly but claimed he had avoided killing him, then surrendered after General Manager Wang admitted the report against the convoy was false. The police agreed to detain Lu Xin temporarily while Li Gang arranged to take custody of him, and Lu Xin left in a police car as the convoy watched.

• Lu Xin emptied two magazines into Zhao Hui, then told the officers that Zhao Hui was still alive and that he had avoided his vital organs.
• Lu Xin accused General Manager Wang of shielding Zhao Hui and framing the convoy, prompting Wang to confess that the accusation was false and Zhao Hui wanted to take a woman away.
• Lu Xin surrendered and argued that the officers no longer had grounds to arrest the convoy, while Li Gang invoked Lu Xin's status as a Qinggang Ability User.
• The old officer arranged temporary detention for Lu Xin at Shuiqing Road Detention Center in Satellite City No. 7, and Li Gang demanded safeguards and records.
• Lu Xin reassured Little Zhou, reminded him to calculate the commission payment, and climbed into the police car.

Lu Xin was taken to the police station after shooting Zhao Hui, and he calmly turned himself in while talking to his unseen family, whose violent intentions frightened the officers. He was placed alone in a detention cell to await questioning, where his unease mingled with excitement about shooting Zhao Hui.

• Lu Xin spoke to his shadow and unseen Father and Sister in the police car, persuading them not to attack the officers.
• Lu Xin told the officers that Father wanted to overturn the car and kill Zhao Hui, General Manager Wang, and the old captain, while Sister had her own gruesome plans.
• The old officer brought Lu Xin to the detention center and ordered that he be held alone while someone came to question him.
• Lu Xin asked for dinner and cigarettes, then settled into the cell and worried about the consequences of shooting Zhao Hui.
• Lu Xin remembered firing two magazines into Zhao Hui and smiled with excitement.

After Lu Xin was detained, officers tried to distance themselves from Zhao Hui’s case while Zhao Hui’s father prepared to retaliate against the ability user. Lu Xin beat a taunting inmate, then reflected on whether he could trust his father more as rain fell outside the detention center.

• The old officer ordered his subordinates to withdraw from the case and claim they had acted according to the law.
• Zhao Hui’s father learned that an ability user had injured his son and ordered a gun and four magazines so he could confront Lu Xin.
• A thug mocked Lu Xin and threw a shoe at him, so Lu Xin slipped through the bars and beat him while the other inmates watched in fear.
• The young guard returned with Lu Xin’s meal and cigarettes, found him in the neighboring room, and let him return to his cell after confirming the thug was alive.
• After dinner, Lu Xin considered how much he trusted his father and wondered whether they might eventually reconcile.

Dr. Zhao’s convoy was ambushed by a stitched little girl and other horrifying creatures, leaving his security detail dead or transformed. A man in a suit then approached Dr. Zhao and invited him to join the Black Table.

• Dr. Zhao traveled with his secretary and armed guards toward the Second Detention Center as calls urged him not to rush to Qinggang.
• A stitched little girl stopped the convoy, survived being run over, and killed the armed personnel with strands of flesh.
• The secretary tried to escape, but a baby's cry trapped the vehicles as the dead guards transformed into Flesh Monsters and killed him.
• Dr. Zhao remained in his vehicle and loaded a magazine into his gun while the attack subsided.
• A man in a suit entered the vehicle, apologized for his method of meeting Dr. Zhao, and formally invited him to join the Black Table.

Chen Xun forced Zhao Shiming to leave with him, while the fleshly entities they left behind began spreading through Central City and reached Lu Xin’s detention center. Lu Xin fought off the monsters, then returned to his cell as the city’s cleanup personnel mobilized.

• Chen Xun revealed that Zhao Shiming’s son had helped him steal research materials and convinced Zhao Shiming to leave with him.
• Zhao Shiming identified Chen Xun as the person connected to the escaped laboratory and agreed to go with him, refusing to let Chen Xun treat his son.
• Chen Xun left the writhing flesh masses behind, and their baby-like cries began affecting people across Central City.
• Sister sensed something familiar, and Lu Xin smelled blood and heard cries coming from outside the detention center.
• Lu Xin escaped his cell, used alcohol and a curtain to burn a monster, and protected the guards from other creatures.
• After citywide alarms sounded, Lu Xin returned to the cell block and resumed his detention.

After a mutated lunatic attacked the detention center, Lu Xin reassured the guards and detainees, then worried about the consequences of shooting Zhao Hui. Chen Jing arrived to take him out of custody so he could help handle an emergency pollution incident in Central City.

• Lu Xin explained that the creature outside was a mutated lunatic and calmed the people sheltering in the cell.
• Lu Xin told the guards he had shot Zhao Hui, then learned he could face a severe sentence if Zhao Hui's influential family intervened.
• At dawn, Chen Jing arrived with Qinggang officials and called Lu Xin out of the cell.
• Chen Jing announced that Lu Xin's actions against Zhao Hui had helped expose a suspected leak and that his punishment would be offset by his merits or a fine.
• Chen Jing said the Qinggang Office had applied to take Lu Xin out temporarily to assist with an emergency pollution incident, and revealed that his fine had already been paid.

Lu Xin was released from detention and joined Chen Jing, Gecko, and Xia Chong aboard a helicopter as they investigated the Flesh Monster pollution events and a secret experimental base. Xia Chong identified the Black Table as a suspected organization behind the incidents and explained its research into controlling and enhancing the Mindless; the mission was headed toward White Tower Town.

• Chen Jing retrieved Lu Xin from the detention center and brought him by helicopter to meet Gecko and Xia Chong, who had helped secure his release.
• Xia Chong reported that three Flesh Monster pollution events had struck Satellite City No. 7, while an attack on a disguised chemical-plant experimental base left seven people dead and Zhao Shiming missing.
• Xia Chong said the immediate mission was to investigate a secret base in White Tower Town and its research on second-stage Madmen.
• Xia Chong linked the suspected experiments to the banned Black Table organization, which she believed was studying ways to control and enhance the Mindless.
• Xia Chong explained that the Mindless had extraordinary physical abilities, and Chen Jing told Lu Xin that they were among the earliest mutated beings after the Crimson Moon incident.