Chapter Summaries

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.

After Lu Xin's father unleashed a terrifying nightmare in Black Marsh City, fear and deaths shattered the Black Grass trade and sparked a popular revolt. The event was recorded as the unknown Terror Demon King pollution, while Lu Xin and his team rested at their hotel and planned to try local food.

• Han Bing asked Lu Xin whether the officials affected by the nightmare would recover and whether the fear would spread, and Lu Xin assured him they would recover without pollution spreading.
• Lu Xin, Han Bing, and the others left the Administrative Hall and returned to their hotel as Black Marsh City's residents struggled to understand the nightmare.
• Over the next two days, people connected to Black Grass died or were killed amid the fear, while residents turned against the trade, burned plantations and factories, and left Black Marsh City's leaders isolated.
• An investigation report labeled the new event the Terror Demon King, with unknown pollution level, method, and threat, and recommended that people not court death.
• Lu Xin suggested that his team go out to sample Black Marsh City's food and bring local specialties back for their colleagues.

As Black Marsh City recovered from the Daytime Nightmare, Han Bing concluded that Lu Xin had become stronger without losing control. Over a lively meal with Master Qun’s group, Lu Xin accepted his decision about the city and sent a message to the people waiting to persuade him.

• Han Bing observed Black Marsh City’s calm recovery and reasoned that Lu Xin had empowered conceptual rules rather than lost control.
• Lu Xin and his companions ate with Master Qun and his men, while Gecko’s insistence on ordering their strange local specialties led everyone to spit out the stinky tofu.
• Gecko argued with Master Qun’s subordinate, who urged him not to let Red Snake down and accused him of refusing to accept her having two husbands.
• Lu Xin enjoyed the Saltwater Beer and the city’s returning vitality, deciding he did not regret what he had done.
• Lu Xin asked the being in the shadows to tell Miss Sun and the others not to approach him, because he did not want them to persuade him otherwise.

After leaving Father to watch over Black Marsh City, Lu Xin accepted that the abyss and reality would react to his presence and decided he would face them on his own terms. He reflected on his improving mental state and encouraged Silver Hair to pursue a new dream selling Black Marsh City’s local food and beer.

• Father persuaded the people gathered at the street entrance to leave, and Lu Xin was pleased with how he handled them.
• Mom warned Lu Xin that his actions had drawn attention from both the abyss and reality, and Lu Xin said they should be the ones to worry about whether they were ready.
• Mom affirmed that their family would not let others bully or betray them, then left to make arrangements.
• Lu Xin considered how Father’s presence could help Black Marsh City and its ownerless abyssal rift, then sat with Silver Hair and offered him food and beer.
• Silver Hair mourned his ruined career, and Lu Xin encouraged him to promote Black Marsh City’s stinky tofu noodles and Saltwater Beer.
• Silver Hair regained his resolve and vowed to promote the local food around the world.

Lu Xin reflected on Master Qun’s loss, compensated Ye Xue for her damaged guitar, and helped her find a moment of peace in Black Marsh City. As the group discussed restoring order, Xia Chong arrived and announced that she had been promoted.

• Han Bing explained that Red Snake would gradually prepare Master Qun for her departure because the deaths of his family could not be undone.
• Lu Xin realized he had overlooked Ye Xue’s damaged guitar, bought her a new one, and asked her to sing for the group.
• Han Bing promised to help arrange a home for Ye Xue and her brother once Black Marsh City’s order was restored.
• Xia Chong appeared with a chilling burst of pressure, then revealed that she had been promoted when Gecko greeted her.

Xia Chong met Lu Xin in Black Marsh City and asked how Qinggang had resolved its Special Pollution Event. Concluding that his methods might relate to her assignment, she revealed that her team was investigating soul-trading incidents that were creating a real hell.

• Xia Chong met Lu Xin and Han Bing, and said she needed help with a mission her team had encountered trouble with.
• Xia Chong sent away the armored Negative Zero Unit, a new weapon supplied by the Research Institute, so they could prepare for the mission.
• Lu Xin agreed to help before learning the mission details, prompting Han Bing to chide him.
• Lu Xin explained how his team had traced Black Marsh City's insomnia to Black Grass and dealt with the pollution source.
• Xia Chong connected Lu Xin's account to her mission and said her team was investigating soul trading used to create a real hell.