Recaps

Lu Xin and his team set out to find the Mental Monster behind Black Marsh City's mass frenzy, using the crowds' instinctive pull toward their Pollution Source to track it. As the Jeep raced beyond the city gates, Han Bing recognized Lu Xin's growing decisiveness as a leader.

• Lu Xin reunited with Gecko, Han Bing, Red Snake, and Master Qun, then left Master Qun behind after Red Snake warned him to lock himself indoors for three days.
• Han Bing explained that the escaped being might be using the Ghost Building and the city's stolen sleep to recover its strength, and Lu Xin proposed catching and interrogating it.
• Han Bing said the frenzy's victims would instinctively gather near the Pollution Source, allowing the team to narrow down the Mental Monster's location.
• Lu Xin thanked Han Bing for her work, and Gecko drove the team after the feverish crowds as they poured through Black Marsh City's gates and toward the Main City.
• Watching Lu Xin quietly direct the pursuit, Han Bing understood that he had become more decisive and developed stronger opinions of his own.

Lu Xin and his team found the Mental Monster amid a frenzied carnival that had engulfed Black Marsh City. The monster threatened to use the crowd and its ability to escape, but Lu Xin refused to give it a chance to repent.

• Lu Xin and his team entered a building overlooking the plaza and saw the vast crowd performing violent acts as a powerful mental force gathered above them.
• Han Bing realized the carnival had revealed the Mental Monster's location, while Lu Xin worried that stopping it might mean killing everyone in the crowd.
• A broken telephone rang, and Lu Xin answered the Mental Monster, which asked him to leave and warned that it could escape and threaten the people around him.
• The crowd below fell silent and stared at Lu Xin's team as the Mental Monster repeated its threat and gave Lu Xin one last chance to leave.
• Lu Xin told the Mental Monster that it had been right about one thing: he would not give it a chance to repent.

As Black Marsh City's polluted crowd attacked, Lu Xin considered how to expose the hidden Pollution Source and concluded that he could let someone experience becoming a Mental Lord. He spotted Mizang approaching on a bicycle and ordered Gecko to bring it upstairs.

• The crowd in Black Marsh City surged toward the building after a voice on the phone told Lu Xin's team to leave.
• Han Bing explained that only Mental Lord-level power could locate the Pollution Source hidden among the city's residents.
• Lu Xin said he could not become a Mental Lord in the usual way, then proposed letting someone experience becoming one.
• Lu Xin considered using his family members and companions to force the Pollution Source out, but decided none of them were suitable.
• Lu Xin noticed Mizang riding a bicycle toward the building, and Han Bing and Red Snake realized they had forgotten about it.
• Lu Xin told Gecko to bring Mizang upstairs.

Lu Xin used his authority to awaken Mizang’s power and send it to hide everyone it could sense. As the city’s crowds began vanishing, the hidden presence moving among them realized Black Marsh City was turning into a ghost town.

• Gecko retrieved Mizang from the bicycle and brought it back to Lu Xin while Red Snake diverted the frenzied crowd by making them believe she was their wife.
• Lu Xin asked Mizang if it wanted to experience becoming a Mental Lord, then reached out after Mom silently encouraged him.
• Lu Xin placed his hand on Mizang’s head, and a vast mental presence filled Mizang’s mind as he told it to hide everyone it could sense.
• A gigantic tentacle burst from the watched window and sent ripples of mental power across Black Marsh City.
• A hidden presence checked its escape route but discovered that people throughout the city were disappearing in groups.

Lu Xin emptied Black Marsh City to find the person he was seeking, then walked alone into the square and faced the forces gathering there. After destroying the attacking Mental Monsters, he was surrounded by collar-wearing people who had awakened and charged at him.

• Lu Xin used Mizang to make nearly everyone in Black Marsh City disappear from view, leaving only a few people in the square and officials in the General Administrative Hall.
• Lu Xin told Gecko, Han Bing, Red Snake, and the others to stay behind, while Sister and Mom watched him leave alone.
• A swarm of powerful Mental Monsters descended on Lu Xin in the square, and he froze them with a mental force field before tearing them apart.
• Gecko and Han Bing watched Lu Xin destroy the swarm, while Han Bing's mental detector displayed only chaotic lines.
• The collar-wearing people around the square awakened, dropped to all fours, and charged at Lu Xin as he spread his arms to greet them.

Lu Xin fought the Black Marsh City ability users, whose coordinated attacks briefly restrained him before he overwhelmed them with his mental force. He walked deeper into the square, calling for the hidden enemy to show itself.

• Lu Xin realized the collared Black Marsh City ability users were controlled through Black Grass, then a visual distortion let one of them reach him and attack his mind.
• Lu Xin released a mental impact that killed the attacker and two people behind him, but two Spider-type ability users wrapped around him while another revealed a vehicle with rotary machine guns.
• Lu Xin snapped the two attackers apart, tore up the stone pavement to shield himself from the gunfire, and moved behind the machine guns.
• Lu Xin used an invisible force to compress the gun crew and redirect the rotary guns toward the charging ability users, whose illusions and movements he weakened until the guns cut them down.
• Lu Xin walked through the square's scattered remains and called out to the hidden enemy, taunting it to stop hiding.

The author announced that the Crimson Moon character cards and an interactive side story would go live at midnight. The post ended by thanking the contributors and teasing readers about drawing Queen’s card.

• The author said Old Ghost and the illustrators had spent more than two months making the Crimson Moon cards.
• The author named the characters featured in the cards, including Lu Xin, Chen Jing, Xia Chong, Gecko, Han Bing, and Queen.
• The author said Queen’s card was so beautiful that Qidian artists had cried when they saw it.
• The author announced that Old Ghost had written an interactive side story and that the cards and story would go live at midnight.
• The author invited whoever drew Queen first to report back and thanked the proofreader and other contributors.

Lu Xin confronted the officials trapped in Black Marsh City's plaza, shot the Director-General, and revealed a giant marsh monster that had emerged from the abyss. The monster attacked Lu Xin and dragged him into its marsh, leaving him bound and sinking.

• Lu Xin searched the surviving officials for the monster and heard Director-General Lu Dawang demand rescue and offer him money.
• Lu Xin pointed guns at Lu Dawang and another official, then shot Lu Dawang after declaring that money could insult him but they could not.
• A vast darkness spread across the plaza as a giant python-like monster emerged through the ground and buildings, forming a face on the Administrative Hall.
• The monster spoke to Lu Xin and transformed the plaza into a marsh filled with long, branch-like arms.
• The monster's arms seized Lu Xin and began dragging him into the marsh, leaving him wondering whether his time had been stolen.

Lu Xin realized the Nightmare Serpent was using sleep to make time seem to skip, trapping him in a swamp of withered arms. He broke through the attack by unleashing a vast mental ocean and returning the city’s sleep to its people, leaving the Nightmare Serpent panicked as Lu Xin declared that it knew nothing about divine power.

• Lu Xin recognized that the Nightmare Serpent’s attacks seemed to skip ahead because it was repeatedly making him fall asleep.
• Gecko and the others watched Lu Xin being dragged into the swamp, while Sister wanted to help and Mom and Father explained that Lu Xin was refusing their aid.
• Lu Xin bit his lip to stay awake, then unleashed immense mental power that swallowed the Nightmare Serpent’s sleep attack.
• Lu Xin walked out of the swamp and returned the stolen sleep to Black Marsh City, diluting the drowsiness across the residents.
• The Nightmare Serpent panicked at Lu Xin’s power, and Lu Xin said it knew nothing about divine power.

Lu Xin overpowered the Nightmare Serpent, but the hidden scarecrow trapped him in an illusion and began to parasitize him. As the straw wrapped around him, Lu Xin’s humanity was stripped away, leaving his divinity to surface.

• Lu Xin charged through the Nightmare Serpent’s swamp and crushing waves of stone, then constricted the serpent with Telekinesis and shattered its eye-lights.
• The scarecrow appeared in the Administrative Building after Lu Xin destroyed the Nightmare Serpent’s false eyes, and its gaze trapped him in an illusion.
• Lu Xin recognized the scarecrow as the abyss creature that had controlled the forbidden-zone creatures and stolen the Nightmare Serpent’s abilities.
• The scarecrow used its parasitic ability to wrap Lu Xin in straw and turn him into a new scarecrow.
• Mom warned Father and Sister that Lu Xin had deliberately stripped away his humanity and unleashed the divinity he had long suppressed.
• As the straw reached Lu Xin’s neck, he watched it with pure black eyes and said that it could no longer escape.

Lu Xin battled the scarecrow as it tried to escape, while Han Bing and Gecko realized its attacks were harming civilians hidden by Mizang. Han Bing warned Lu Xin to consider casualties, but he said he knew and did not care before the scarecrow unleashed another attack.

• The scarecrow unleashed fireflies and straw attacks against Lu Xin, but he extinguished the fireflies, endured the strikes, and set the straw ablaze with his blood.
• The Nightmare Serpent attacked Lu Xin with stones and arms, while his mental force sent the stones flying and revealed blood where invisible civilians had been struck.
• Han Bing and Gecko realized Mizang had hidden civilians only on the mental level, and Han Bing decided to warn Lu Xin despite his dangerous state.
• The scarecrow bound the Nightmare Serpent into a giant form and tore apart Mizang's domain, making the hidden civilians visible again.
• Han Bing's warning reached Lu Xin only briefly, and he replied that he understood but did not care before the scarecrow launched a massive surge of mental force at him.

Lu Xin endured the Scarecrow’s full mental shockwave, then manifested a ruined palace and bound the Scarecrow beneath a guillotine. As the blade was about to fall, Ye Xue appeared and stopped it, addressing Lu Xin as Number Nine.

• The Scarecrow unleashed a devastating mental shockwave using the Nightmare Serpent’s power, but Lu Xin remained unharmed.
• Lu Xin’s vision transformed the plaza into a ruined palace, where he bound the Scarecrow beneath a guillotine and made it kneel.
• Gecko and the others saw the guillotine and the affected people posed as if awaiting execution.
• The family discussed Lu Xin’s awakening, and Mom said only awakening his humanity could stop divinity from returning completely; she also suspected a third person was behind the events.
• The Scarecrow accused someone of helping it escape the abyss and telling it about Lu Xin, but Lu Xin focused on the execution.
• Ye Xue entered the plaza, stopped the guillotine with her mental power, and asked Lu Xin whether he remembered her as Number Nine.

Ye Xue revealed that she was Seven, the girl who had betrayed Lu Xin and the other children at the orphanage, and taunted him about the consequences. Lu Xin attacked her in fury, but she vanished and spoke through a fallen man, reminding him that she was Ghost-type.

• Ye Xue approached Lu Xin and reminded him of their childhood at the orphanage, stirring his memories and anger.
• Ye Xue revealed that she was Seven, who had informed on the children when they planned to escape the orphanage.
• Lu Xin asked whether Seven had regretted betraying them, and she said she regretted not accounting for him and not framing another girl instead.
• Seven mocked Lu Xin about the girl who had been his friend, driving him to charge at her and swing a furious punch.
• Seven vanished before Lu Xin's punch landed, then spoke through a man lying nearby and reminded Lu Xin that she was Ghost-type.

Lu Xin resisted Number Seven’s attempt to make him slaughter civilians, and Han Bing risked herself to give him a chance to stop the Ghost-type. Lu Xin regained control of himself and called for his family’s help, while Mom realized the Abyssal Creature’s influence had triggered an unusually rapid awakening and return to humanity.

• Number Seven taunted Lu Xin and threatened the people in the square, pushing him toward killing them to expose her hiding place.
• Number Seven possessed Han Bing and tried to make her shoot herself, but Han Bing’s concealed equipment disrupted the possession and let her call to Lu Xin.
• Lu Xin reached Han Bing, learned she had trapped Number Seven inside herself to protect the civilians, and told her not to risk her life that way again.
• After Number Seven returned to Ye Xue, Lu Xin calmly confronted her and asked his family for help.
• Sister rushed toward Lu Xin as Mom explained that hatred had helped restore his humanity after an unusually swift awakening of divinity.

Lu Xin and his family cornered Seven in Black Marsh City and captured the scarecrow. Father then turned its execution into a terrifying vision that reached everyone affected by Black Grass, leaving the city and connected mental entities shaken and bowing toward reality.

• Lu Xin used Sister’s power to control people in the square and form a human spiderweb that pursued Seven after she abandoned Ye Xue.
• Seven tried to possess the scarecrow, but Sister’s darkness blocked her, and the skinless puppy bit her as she fled to the bronze statue.
• Father emerged from the darkness, seized the scarecrow, and hung it on the execution platform before spreading darkness across the square and city.
• When Father beheaded the scarecrow, the city’s sleeping residents awoke and Mizang’s concealment collapsed, revealing everyone in Black Marsh City.
• People affected by Black Grass saw themselves being executed, and the terrifying image spread through connected mental entities, which trembled and bowed toward reality.

After Lu Xin executed the scarecrow and ended the Special Pollution Event in Black Marsh City, he returned to City No. 3 with his team. There, he opened Old Director’s report card, which showed several completed trials and left others ungraded.

• Lu Xin learned from Seven that he had completed the Trial of Cognition, and Ye Xue gave him the report card Old Director had sent.
• Seven escaped as Black Marsh City’s residents awoke and discovered the destruction and injuries left by the frenzy.
• Lu Xin confirmed the Special Pollution Event was over and followed Han Bing’s plan to leave Black Marsh City for City No. 3.
• At the hotel, Han Bing organized the team’s next steps while Lu Xin stayed behind to rest and consider the incident.
• Lu Xin opened the report card and read his grades: A in the Life, Pain, and Desire Trials, a question mark for Cognition, and blank entries for Strength, Heart, and God.

Lu Xin learned that the Old Director’s report card recorded trials he had already passed, including the Trial of Cognition, while leaving three future trials unexplained. After asking Mom to protect Han Bing from Seven, Lu Xin broke down alone, and Mom reflected that the Trial of Cognition had forced him to confront whether humanity or divinity had polluted the other.

• Mom explained that Lu Xin had passed the Trials of Life, Pain, Desire, and Cognition, and the family inferred what past events each trial represented.
• Lu Xin dismissed the Old Director’s remaining trials as meaningless speculation and said he would ask him about them once they found him.
• Lu Xin asked Mom to watch over Han Bing because Seven might still be in the city and already hated her; Mom agreed and took Father and Sister away.
• Alone in the hotel room, Lu Xin recalled the dead orphanage children, the frightened people in the square, and the Old Director, then wept and wondered, “Why me?”
• On a skyscraper, Mom told Father and Sister that the Trial of Cognition had been an especially painful interrogation of whether humanity had polluted divinity or divinity had polluted humanity.

Lu Xin recognized that the feelings and impulses he had called divinity were his own, and he angrily rejected the Old Director’s apparent control over his life. Meanwhile, a scarred woman leading a motorcycle gang withdrew from a possible clash with the Negative Zero Unit and realized the Old Director was using her to test Lu Xin.

• Lu Xin recalled how his perceptions changed from indifference to pain after the orphanage’s betrayal and how his family and later work shaped his life.
• Lu Xin concluded that there had never been any divinity, only himself, and raged at the Old Director for trying to control his life.
• Beside the marshes northwest of Black Marsh City, Big Sister learned her group had obtained something from Ghostfire Marshland and that the Negative Zero Unit was approaching.
• Big Sister ordered her riders to withdraw rather than fight, then accused the Old Director of favoring and using Lu Xin.
• Big Sister blamed her tears and emotional turmoil on a strange dog and declared that the Old Director could not calculate Lu Xin’s humanity.

After resting and sorting through his emotions, Lu Xin left the hotel to rejoin Han Bing and the others, who had gone to help restore order in Black Marsh City. Silver Hair delivered Han Bing’s instructions and took Lu Xin toward City No. 2, where the group was gathering.

• Han Bing, Red Snake, Gecko, and Master Qun ate instant noodles while helping restore order, leaving a prepared bowl for Lu Xin.
• A little thing arrived after they had left, found the Stinky Tofu instant noodles, and ate them while crying.
• Lu Xin spent a day alone, felt clearer after processing his emotions, and left his room to look for Han Bing and the others.
• Silver Hair told Lu Xin that Master Qun had taken his men to beat troublemakers and that he had been assigned to wait and protect Lu Xin.
• Silver Hair gave Lu Xin Han Bing’s instructions to shower, eat properly, and meet the group at the Administrative Hall in City No. 2.
• Silver Hair threw Lu Xin’s trash onto the hotel steps, angering the receptionist, and hurriedly dragged Lu Xin away in a red metal tricycle.

Lu Xin accompanied Silver Hair to a meeting where Master Qun vowed to dismantle Black Marsh City's black grass trade and exposed the officials and Sun family who had enabled it. Miss Sun used a mental ability to make Lu Xin and Silver Hair try to kill Master Qun, but Lu Xin stopped Silver Hair's shot and warned Master Qun about her.

• Lu Xin and Silver Hair reached the Satellite City No. 2 Administrative Hall after Miss Sun let them pass the checkpoint.
• Master Qun challenged the officials, declared he would uproot the black grass trade, and produced account books implicating them and the Sun family.
• Miss Sun questioned how many people would oppose Master Qun and tapped her teapot, triggering a murderous impulse in Lu Xin and Silver Hair.
• Silver Hair drew a subordinate's pistol and fired at Master Qun, but Lu Xin raised his wrist and sent the bullet into the ceiling.
• Lu Xin disarmed Silver Hair, told Master Qun that Miss Sun wanted him dead, and said he supported Master Qun's decision.

Lu Xin stopped an attempt on Master Qun’s life and exposed Miss Sun as the one who had controlled Silver Hair, while Sister’s intervention left several people injured. After Lu Xin took Silver Hair aside, Han Bing explained that Master Qun’s campaign against Black Marsh City’s businesses was connected to a tragedy involving his family.

• Silver Hair attempted to shoot Master Qun, but Lu Xin caught him and explained that Miss Sun had controlled him.
• Miss Sun denied responsibility, but Lu Xin’s gaze triggered Sister’s attack on the people threatening him and caused Miss Sun’s eyes to bleed.
• Lu Xin told Master Qun to continue the meeting, then escorted Silver Hair out while Gecko stayed behind to maintain order.
• Lu Xin asked Han Bing whether Qinggang had arranged Master Qun’s rise, and she denied it, explaining that his political position was too weak.
• Han Bing said Master Qun was acting for his family, who had suffered something terrible during the previous pollution incident.

Han Bing and Red Snake explained that Master Qun’s family had died from Black Grass pollution, leaving him driven by a false belief that he still had family to protect. After hearing how deeply Black Grass was woven into Black Marsh City, Lu Xin decided he still wanted to intervene and began questioning whether the Mental Lord should only be used to eliminate pollution.

• Han Bing told Lu Xin that Master Qun’s family had been severely polluted by Black Grass and that his first wife had attacked him after losing her sanity.
• Han Bing explained that Master Qun had hidden high-purity Black Grass products at home, where his family had consumed them during the worst of the pollution.
• Red Snake said her influence was keeping Master Qun from collapsing, while he pursued a futile campaign against Black Grass to protect the family he believed he still had.
• Han Bing warned that Black Marsh City’s own interests and will would defeat attempts to change it, and said the team should wait for Qinggang’s decision before leaving.
• Silver Hair cried over losing his business, prompting Lu Xin to realize that the city’s pollution had helped fuel Silver Hair’s hatred of Master Qun.
• Lu Xin said he still wanted to make moderate changes to Black Marsh City and asked whether the Mental Lord should only be used to eliminate pollution.

After Lu Xin left the meeting room, Miss Sun and Black Marsh City’s factions recognized him as a dangerous ability user and debated how to respond to Master Qun’s campaign against the Black Grass trade. Lu Xin learned that other factions were preparing to challenge him and decided to return to the conference room.

• The meeting’s attendees recovered from Lu Xin’s departure, while Master Qun wondered at his daughter’s frighteningly powerful boyfriend and Gecko complained about being blamed.
• Miss Sun received treatment for her burns and called her uncle, warning him not to investigate Lu Xin and explaining that Master Qun intended to eradicate Black Marsh City’s Black Grass trade.
• Black Marsh City’s councilors contacted outside factions, which agreed that Qinggang might take a share of the city’s interests but must not be allowed to destroy it.
• Han Bing told Lu Xin that several factions had come to Black Marsh City and would oppose a complete cleanup of its contamination.
• After Sister eavesdropped on the factions’ calls, Lu Xin decided to return to the conference room and face those planning to have a go at him.

Lu Xin rejected the Black Marsh City officials’ attempt to make him answer for Master Qun’s actions, then offered the city’s shadowy entity a chance to enforce its laws through the residents’ mental worlds. As mysterious figures converged on the Administrative Hall, the entity accepted Lu Xin’s offer with excited laughter.

• Lu Xin introduced himself and Gecko as Qinggang support-team leaders, alarming Black Marsh City’s officials, and told them to pay the usual remuneration.
• A Black Marsh City official challenged whether Master Qun’s plans represented Qinggang, but Lu Xin asked whether black-grass trade was illegal and whether lawbreakers should be punished.
• Lu Xin told Master Qun that he could not personally interfere in Black Marsh City’s affairs, then left the conference room.
• Mysterious figures from across Black Marsh City headed toward the Administrative Hall, wondering whether Lu Xin had backed down.
• Lu Xin offered the shadow beneath his feet freedom to punish residents through their mental worlds, and it asked whether he was giving it the entire city.

Lu Xin unleashed a terrifying mental force across Black Marsh City, forcing people involved with Black Grass and those planning to challenge Qinggang to confront their deepest fears. He returned to Han Bing and Red Snake, who saw Silver Hair suffering severe contamination, and calmly claimed he had done nothing.

• Black Marsh City residents and underworld figures resumed their activities after the special pollution was cleared, while several factions prepared to act against Qinggang.
• Lu Xin's warning about Black Grass spread through the city, making users and dealers experience overwhelming fear and visions tailored to their worst fears.
• Lu Xin's mental force frightened people across Black Marsh City, drove some outsiders to retreat, and caused hidden figures to apologize or disappear.
• The short-skirted girl and the bespectacled man reacted to the city's sudden terror, with the man admiring Lu Xin's audacity.
• Lu Xin returned to Han Bing and Red Snake, who saw Silver Hair trembling and muttering in terror, and told them he had done nothing.