Chapter Summaries

Su Zijun returned from the Club frustrated by Luo Qiu’s claim that he could open Penglai, then went to investigate the remains of Xiangliu’s creature. At a tofu shop, Zhang Kun harassed San’er and grabbed her daughter, Xiao Zhi, until a foreign stranger appeared at the entrance.

• Su Zijun accused Luo Qiu of bluffing about being able to open Penglai, while Luo Qiu declined to respond and cooked with You Ye.
• Su Zijun told Long Xiruo about Luo Qiu’s claim and used the rotting flesh as an excuse to seek Xiangliu and question him about his accomplice.
• San’er tried to sell tofu and close her shop, but Zhang Kun grabbed her hand and pressured her to follow him.
• Zhang Kun entered the shop, insulted San’er, and picked up Xiao Zhi despite San’er’s protests.
• A foreign man appeared at the shop entrance and asked whether San’er was still selling.

San'er encountered Mark again, and he moved into her home after offering rent, while Su Zijun interrogated Xiang Liu about a mysterious inscription and left him under a curse. At Feiyun Entertainment, Li Zifeng proposed promoting a promising newcomer to President Cheng.

• Zhang Kun left San'er's shop after paying for the tofu, and Mark flicked a coin that caused Zhang Kun to fall into dog shit.
• San'er thanked Mark for saving her, and Mark showed her his ID and offered rent to stay until his memories returned.
• Su Zijun questioned Xiang Liu about a line from a stone inscription, but he refused to reveal where it was and the chains protecting him stopped her attack.
• Su Zijun cast a Bloodthirst Curse on Xiang Liu and returned to the surface.
• Li Zifeng met President Cheng and proposed putting serious effort into promoting a promising newcomer.

Cheng Yiran auditioned for Feiyun Entertainment and stunned its staff with a fiery performance of “War.” He left without signing, intending to consider the company’s offer while enjoying his newfound confidence.

• Cheng Yun and Feiyun Entertainment’s staff doubted Cheng Yiran’s ordinary image and unimpressive demo before his live audition.
• Cheng Yiran played and sang “War,” overwhelming the listeners with the energy of his performance.
• Cheng Yun and the veteran staff praised Cheng Yiran’s talent, and Cheng Yun asked for a copy of the recording.
• Li Zifeng invited Cheng Yiran to discuss a contract, but Cheng Yiran said he would consider the terms and left.
• Cheng Yiran walked through the city, pleased with how confidently he had faced the company, and raised his hand toward the sky.

The Tarot-named leaders discussed missing members and the attacks on their peripheral organizations, deciding to send Nero's successor to investigate a strange city. Meanwhile, Hong Guan learned Cheng Yiran had debuted as a New Star, and Jin Ziyao reassured him that she believed in his dreams; Hong Guan was left weighing those dreams against his family.

• The Fool reported that Cook and Xiangliu were missing, and the Tarot leaders suspected Xiangliu had broken their agreement.
• The High Priestess identified Avenger as likely Jessica, who appeared to have acquired an electrical ability, and the group approved sending the Judgement Group after her.
• The Tarot leaders decided Nero's successor would investigate Cook and Xiangliu's disappearance and the strange sinkhole and blooming flowers in the city.
• Manager Dai told Hong Guan that Cheng Yiran had returned to the nightclub and electrified the crowd with his performance.
• Hong Guan found Cheng Yiran's band token in the alley, then went to visit his pregnant wife instead of looking for him.
• Jin Ziyao showed Hong Guan a magazine article announcing Cheng Yiran's New Star debut and reassured Hong Guan that she valued him and believed he would shine someday.

Cheng Yiran trained at Feiyun Entertainment while his former bandmate Hong Guan visited and auditioned for Li Zifeng. Hong Guan left without seeing Cheng Yiran and accepted that his rock-and-roll dream was over.

• Hong Guan visited Cheng Yiran’s former rental home and learned he had moved out after paying his overdue rent.
• Cheng Yiran underwent a makeover and continued etiquette, diction, and singing lessons at Feiyun Entertainment.
• Li Zifeng met Hong Guan, heard that he had come to see Cheng Yiran, and invited him to sing in the recording studio.
• Hong Guan sang for Li Zifeng and the sound engineer, who judged his ability to be only average.
• Hong Guan left without meeting Cheng Yiran, then raised his hand in a rock-and-roll salute as he ended his lifelong dream of music.

Cheng Yiran received a valuable guitar from Li Zifeng and struggled to decide whether Hong Guan had sought him out for help or simply to check on him. As Cheng Yiran left for a dinner with Feiyun Entertainment’s executives, Hong Guan continued earning money by singing on the street, where a stranger praised his performance and left him a large tip.

• Li Zifeng offered Cheng Yiran a discontinued Zemaitis guitar, and Cheng Yiran accepted it after initially refusing.
• Li Zifeng told Cheng Yiran that Hong Guan had auditioned for him and suggested finding Hong Guan work at a television station instead of helping him debut as a singer.
• Cheng Yiran called Hong Guan, who explained that he had visited because he was worried and had taken a job at an auto repair shop while his wife prepared to give birth.
• Cheng Yiran agreed to let Li Zifeng arrange work for Hong Guan and left for dinner with Director Cheng and Feiyun Entertainment’s big boss.
• Hong Guan sang on a busy street to earn extra money, and a young man gave him a hundred-yuan note and praised his performance.
• Luo Qiu listened to “The Legend” and suggested that he and You Ye go out for a stroll the following day.

At K&C, Cheng Yiran performed for Zhong Luochen and captivated the club’s customers with his guitar and singing. Zhong Luochen recognized that Cheng Yiran’s performance had an unusual effect and left him with a warning to conceal himself better.

• Cheng Yun brought Cheng Yiran and Li Zifeng to K&C to meet Zhong Luochen, who asked Cheng Yiran to demonstrate his talent.
• Cheng Yiran performed “Hotel California,” and the guitar and song captivated the customers while Zhong Luochen remained unaffected.
• After Cheng Yiran sang a second song at the customers’ request, Zhong Luochen suspected that he might have found a path to That Place.
• Cheng Yiran sang four songs before Li Zifeng introduced him as a talent Feiyun Entertainment would promote.
• Zhong Luochen told Cheng Yun to cultivate Cheng Yiran, then warned Cheng Yiran to conceal himself better as he left.

Hong Guan was offered a television station job and money through Li Zifeng, who said Yiran wanted him to keep quiet about their shared criminal past, but Hong Guan refused both offers. He returned to his repair shop and later sang at his stall, where the familiar young man and girl did not stop to listen or leave him a tip.

• Hong Guan received an offer to work at the television station after Li Zifeng arranged an interview with Mr. Yi.
• Li Zifeng told Hong Guan that Yiran had requested the job and a 100,000-yuan check, while asking him to avoid contacting Yiran and conceal their old criminal records.
• Hong Guan refused the television station job and check, then told Hong Zhongshun he would stay at the repair shop.
• Hong Zhongshun urged Hong Guan to go to the hospital and keep Jin Ziyao company.
• Hong Guan sang at his stall and noticed that the familiar young man and girl had passed through without stopping or leaving a tip.

Black Soul Number Nine waited in Ciping, guided by an unexplained instinct, while San'er’s quiet life continued with Mark staying at her tofu shop. Cheng Yiran learned that Hong Guan had revealed their past to Li Zifeng and felt betrayed by his former friend.

• Black Soul Number Nine reached the marked location in Ciping but received no further instructions, so he waited near an old residence after the name of the place surfaced in his mind.
• San'er watched Mark help with the tofu molds and wondered whether he was connected to the clothes she had given him and Zhang Kun’s recent injury.
• Li Zifeng told Cheng Yiran that his prime-time debut had been scheduled and that Hong Guan had declined a television job.
• Li Zifeng revealed that Hong Guan had told him Cheng Yiran and Hong Guan had spent several months in a detention center after doing wrong while drifting around Beijing.
• Cheng Yiran grew angry and felt betrayed because Hong Guan had broken their promise not to reveal their past.

Li Zifeng persuaded Cheng Yiran to cut ties with Hong Guan and leave the matter to the company, then arranged for a woman to seduce him. At the club, Luo Qiu and You Ye discussed Li Zifeng’s manipulation and shared a taste of a new cocktail.

• Li Zifeng told Cheng Yiran that Hong Guan wanted to debut and might expose their past, then urged him to have no further contact with Hong Guan.
• Li Zifeng promised to handle Hong Guan and warned Cheng Yiran to focus on his upcoming debut, and Cheng Yiran agreed to leave everything to him.
• Li Zifeng arranged for a glamorous woman to enter Cheng Yiran’s lounge, where she sat on his lap and aroused him.
• Luo Qiu watched the final moments of a scene on a light screen and asked You Ye whether Li Zifeng was an emissary of the club.
• You Ye explained that Li Zifeng was sowing discord to gain Cheng Yiran’s trust, and Luo Qiu shared the new cocktail with her.

Hong Guan refused Li Zifeng’s offer and signed a confidentiality agreement after learning Cheng Yiran wanted to cut off contact. Li Zifeng then revealed that Hong Guan had made a different demand of Cheng Yiran, and offered to cover the two million yuan payment.

• Hong Guan found Jin Ziyao moved to a private room and learned from Li Zifeng that Cheng Yiran had arranged it while asking to end contact.
• Li Zifeng offered Hong Guan money, a television station position, and help with Jin Ziyao’s expenses in exchange for signing a confidentiality agreement.
• Hong Guan signed the agreement but rejected the money and job, called the hospital fees a loan, and declared that he and Cheng Yiran would be strangers.
• Cheng Yiran angrily confronted Li Zifeng after learning Hong Guan had demanded two million yuan and threatened to expose Cheng Yiran’s criminal record.
• Li Zifeng promised to find the money for Cheng Yiran and said their shared interests made them brothers.

Cheng Yiran accepted Li Zifeng’s profit-driven support and vowed to win over audiences, while Taiyinzi reacted to Li’s secret surveillance. At the hospital, Zhang Li Lanfang warned Zhang Qingrui about Zhong Luochen and urged her to consider a political alliance, but Zhang Qingrui chose freedom.

• Cheng Yiran agreed that his success and Li Zifeng’s investment were tied together, and promised to conquer everyone at his first performance.
• After Li Zifeng left, Cheng Yiran slept with a stranger while Li watched through his phone and called them idiots.
• Taiyinzi realized Li Zifeng’s actions threatened his standing as a Black Soul Envoy and decided he had to do something.
• Zhang Qingrui visited her hospitalized grandmother, Zhang Li Lanfang, and discussed the new company she was running with Zhong Luochen.
• Zhang Li Lanfang warned that Zhong Luochen’s growing abilities could spark a Zhong Family succession struggle and pressed Zhang Qingrui to consider him, but Zhang Qingrui said she still wanted freedom.

Hong Guan continued working while waiting for his child, as Cheng Yiran prepared for his music-program debut under a packed promotional schedule. A strange white-haired woman watched the program preview, vanished from a passerby’s photograph, and arrived at You Ye’s club.

• Hong Guan visited Jin Ziyao in the hospital and kept his distance from Li Zifeng, while he continued singing at his stall and wondered why his young listener had stopped coming.
• Cheng Yiran recorded a scripted interview about his love of music and his discovery by Feiyun Entertainment.
• Li Zifeng arranged a written interview for Cheng Yiran, who realized his busy debut preparations had kept him from playing guitar for two days.
• A white-haired woman chewing bubblegum watched the program preview in the square, and a passerby’s photograph captured only a blurry shadow before she disappeared.
• You Ye met the white-haired woman outside the club, and the woman asked to go inside.

Nero visited Luo Qiu’s shop seeking information about Kukulkan, paying with a human soul. After Luo Qiu revealed Kukulkan’s location, Nero threatened the shop with the sealed Yanmo, but Luo Qiu identified her as Cui Yun’er and stopped the weapon’s disturbance.

• Nero entered Luo Qiu’s shop and asked whether it sold everything, then said she wanted to know what had frightened the old members of Michael’s Club.
• Nero said she represented only herself and offered souls from nine monsters and a human she had killed as payment for information about Kukulkan.
• Luo Qiu accepted the human soul and told Nero that Kukulkan was alive in a tofu shop in a small town downstream from the river near the city.
• Nero doubted the information and pressed the tube containing Yanmo against the floor, causing the sealed object to tremble and hiss.
• Luo Qiu identified the weapon as Yanmo and Nero as Cui Yun’er, then warned her that the shop was only a place of business; the weapon immediately fell silent.

Nero left Luo Qiu’s shop after arranging to preserve her collected souls, while the Rat Demon family mourned Shu You’s absence. At midnight, a grotesque creature crawled toward their basement, driven by its hunger for the little rat monsters, but its own limbs stopped it.

• Nero accepted the soul pouch Luo Qiu prepared and said she would visit his shop again.
• Nero felt afraid of Luo Qiu’s power, then followed Enma’s apparent interest in food toward a direction in the city.
• Shu Xiaoshu cleaned the house and went outside after hearing a sound, hoping Shu You had returned.
• Cheese brought Shu Xiaoshu back inside and told her he had seen nothing outside.
• At midnight, a grotesque creature crawled toward the Rat Demon family’s basement, but limbs within its body forced it to stop.

A shapeshifting creature hunted a vagrant in an alley, but Nero attacked it and nearly destroyed it before it escaped through a drain. The next morning, Ren Ziling reported the vagrant’s murder to Luo Qiu, who remained more interested in her talking with bread in her mouth.

• The creature struggled to control its mismatched body, then found and devoured a vagrant in an alley.
• Nero arrived with Enma, split the creature apart, and searched for its core.
• Nero realized the creature had not reached its third stage and prepared to let Enma consume it.
• The creature fired a stinger at Nero, liquefied itself, and escaped into a drainage channel.
• The next morning, Ren Ziling told Luo Qiu that a headless vagrant had been found murdered, and Luo Qiu calmly continued cooking breakfast.

Officer Ma investigated a brutal headless corpse while Ren Ziling had already taken charge of the scene, and Old Qin found an unusual trail leading toward an underground sewer. Su Zijun intensified Xiangliu’s curse, then announced she would leave to settle old debts as Brother Xiaosheng danced at the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

• Ma Houde arrived at the murder scene and discovered Ren Ziling had already given orders, photographed the scene, and sent Lin Feng to buy food.
• Ma Houde told Ren Ziling to leave the crime scene, and she obediently departed after taking pictures.
• Old Qin examined the headless, dismembered victim and found varied bite marks alongside fatal wounds to the neck and waist.
• An evidence technician found mucus-like material leading to an Underground Sewer drain, and Old Qin ordered it checked and sampled.
• Su Zijun visited Xiangliu and strengthened his curse with black blood, making his pain surge tenfold.
• Su Zijun told Long Xiruo she was leaving to settle old debts, then Brother Xiaosheng performed a pole dance at the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

A weakened mass of rotten flesh escaped through the sewers after its hardened shell broke. Meanwhile, Shu Cheese stole food to support his family, but a huge Rat Demon caught him and began torturing him.

• The wounded creature hardened in a sewer, then burst free as something entirely new and crawled away.
• Shu Cheese skipped school and entered a supermarket warehouse to steal meat for his pregnant mother, Shu Xiaoshu.
• A huge Rat Demon caught Cheese in its territory and revealed it had been watching him steal food.
• Cheese appealed to Long Xiruo and tried to bite the Rat Demon, but the creature slammed him down and began twisting his arm.

A strange insect-like creature rescued Cheese from a giant Rat Demon, then returned Cheese’s stolen food before vanishing. Later, Boss Luo and You Ye felt a tremor at the supermarket and discussed a new species connected to Nero’s actions and the possibility of electronic intelligence becoming life.

• The insect-like creature appeared in the Underground Sewer, severed the giant Rat Demon’s limbs, crushed him, and devoured his corpse.
• The creature returned Cheese’s stolen food, then vanished, and Cheese fled the sewer in terror.
• Boss Luo and You Ye shopped at the supermarket, where Luo stopped a falling can during a tremor and the two disappeared from a little girl’s view.
• Boss Luo and You Ye discussed an onion that Nero had apparently left alive, identifying it as a new species rather than a demon.
• Boss Luo recalled that the club had once sold biological genetic Fusion Technology and wondered whether electronic intelligence could evolve into life; You Ye said she had not given it the necessary algorithm.
• Boss Luo invited You Ye to dinner at his house on Saturday, and she agreed.

Cheese lied to Shu Xiaoshu about how he had obtained food, then met the strange creature that had once rescued him and named it Iron Whistle. Meanwhile, Section Chief Qin examined strange mucus from a crime scene and began an overnight autopsy to learn more.

• Cheese told Shu Xiaoshu that his father’s former colleagues had given him money to buy food, hiding the truth about his scavenging and injured arm.
• After feeding his family, Cheese sat outside and mourned Shu You, then repeatedly blew the Iron Whistle Shu You had given him.
• The strange creature appeared and used its tail to catch Cheese when he slipped from a concrete pipe.
• Cheese noticed the creature reacting to the whistle and named it Iron Whistle.
• Section Chief Qin studied strange mucus under a microscope, changed into fresh White Gloves, and prepared to perform an autopsy.