Chapter Summaries

Li Qi learned about the pollution spreading through Ao City and the dangers it posed, then witnessed another Day of Darkness plunge Huaguo into chaos. As supplies became scarce, he prepared his Safe House with Sun Xiaoqing and activated a puppet resembling himself.

• Sun Xiaoqing warned Li Qi that the Ruins Association’s Spirit Linker could detect mental control and explained that Zhao Chenghu was likely from Bureau 057.
• Sun Xiaoqing described the C-Tier Pollution Running Water, which caused infected people to lose water from their bodies until they died, and listed the three known types of pollution.
• A new Day of Darkness began as Li Qi considered whether pollution could cause the apocalypse, and it lasted four hours, intensifying public panic and unrest.
• Li Qi had Sun Xiaoqing help move supplies into his Safe House because revealing his stockpile could make them targets.
• Li Qi inserted a battery into a newly assembled puppet resembling himself, and it sat up before Sun Xiaoqing.

Li Qi completed a mechanical doll that could host his consciousness and learned that Zhang Fengyun’s killer had fled to Missouri, so he sent the doll with Sun Xiaoqing to the American Federation. After Sun Xiaoqing arrived amid worsening global chaos, two members of the Ancient Ruins Society confronted her on Goddess Star’s orders.

• Li Qi transferred his consciousness into the Substitute Doll and demonstrated how he could control it remotely.
• Sun Xiaoqing told Li Qi that the truck driver who killed Zhang Fengyun had fled to a small town in Missouri, and Li Qi decided to pursue him using the doll.
• As another Day of Darkness brought tighter travel restrictions, Sun Xiaoqing took a sea ferry and smuggled the doll in a suitcase to the American Federation.
• After Sun Xiaoqing got off the ferry, Iron Fist Hank and Dancer Yali stopped her and demanded that she accompany them under orders from Twelve Stars Goddess Star.

Sun Xiaoqing was confronted by Iron Fist and Dancer, who tried to take her away on Goddess Star’s orders, but she used Li Qi’s puppet to drive them off. Iron Fist and Dancer reported her Strange Item to their superior, leaving its origin and abilities unknown.

• Sun Xiaoqing realized Goddess Star’s faction was targeting her amid the Ancient Ruins Society’s power struggle and refused to go quietly with Iron Fist and Dancer.
• Sun Xiaoqing opened her suitcase, revealing Li Qi’s puppet, whose gaze frightened Iron Fist and Dancer into abandoning their attempt to take her away.
• Sun Xiaoqing celebrated the pair’s retreat, but Li Qi woke and scolded her for using him to bluff them and leaving the suitcase open in public.
• Iron Fist and Dancer told a brown-haired white man that King of a Thousand possessed an unrecorded Strange Item, and he wondered where she had obtained it.

Li Qi learned that Sun Xiaoqing was a low-tier Ancient Ruins Society member who had fallen out of favor and faced threats from Iron Fist and Dancer. Seeking protection and a new path, Sun Xiaoqing offered to recruit members and obtain a Strange Item for Li Qi, who ended the chapter by offering her a Spiritual Seed-infused Sugar Ball.

• The white young man agreed that Sun Xiaoqing might possess a Strange Item and ordered Iron Fist and Dancer to identify it before seeking Lady Goddess's help to seize it.
• Li Qi watched riots and looting from his hotel room while Sun Xiaoqing explained that she knew only the Missouri town where Su Youmin was hiding.
• Sun Xiaoqing told Li Qi that Iron Fist and Dancer were mid-tier code members and explained how the Ancient Ruins Society ranked its members.
• Sun Xiaoqing asked Li Qi to protect her in exchange for her help winning over Ancient Ruins Society members, and she said she could confirm three recruits.
• Li Qi accepted Sun Xiaoqing's offer and tossed her a Spiritual Seed-infused Sugar Ball, telling her to eat it and become his.

Li Qi planted a Spiritual Seed in Sun Xiaoqing, then took her to confront Iron Fist and Dancer before they could threaten them again. He killed Iron Fist at their hotel, while Dancer remained inside.

• Li Qi devoured the mental thread connected to Sun Xiaoqing and made her one of his own people.
• Sun Xiaoqing agreed to recruit companions from the Ancient Ruins Society, but Li Qi insisted they first deal with Iron Fist and Dancer.
• Li Qi and Sun Xiaoqing went to the hotel where Iron Fist and Dancer were staying, and Sun Xiaoqing described Dancer's Invisible Hands.
• Li Qi entered the hotel and used Mental Suggestion to learn which room the pair occupied.
• Iron Fist recognized Li Qi through the peephole, but Li Qi hypnotized him and pierced his brain with an iron pick.

Li Qi killed Iron Fist and the Dancer, then told Sun Xiaoqing to retrieve the Dancer’s Strange Item. At the Ancient Ruins Society’s headquarters, Goddess Star Brigina Wilson decided to expose Sun Xiaoqing to Zhao Hong and secretly offered a list of Society members in the American Federation in exchange for an A-Class Strange Item.

• Li Qi used a Mental Attack to kill Iron Fist and make the Dancer lose control of her Invisible Hands, causing her to fall to her death.
• Li Qi called Sun Xiaoqing and told her to obtain the Dancer’s Strange Item, believing the Society would hesitate to pursue Sun Xiaoqing after losing two members.
• Goddess Star Brigina Wilson learned that Iron Fist and the Dancer were dead and rejected a direct attack on Sun Xiaoqing because the Society was preparing for the apocalypse.
• Brigina ordered a subordinate to reveal Sun Xiaoqing’s situation to Zhao Hong, an agent under Dead Star.
• Brigina offered an anonymous caller the list of the Ancient Ruins Society’s codename members in the American Federation in exchange for the Gate of Life, an A-Class Strange Item.

Zhao Hong learned that Sun Xiaoqing had moved in with Meng An and arranged for contacts to protect the boy, while revealing his complicated identity as a spy. On the road to Missouri, Li Qi and Sun Xiaoqing discovered their destination had vanished from the map, turned back, and encountered an unexpected fork in the road.

• Zhao Hong ordered his secretary to contact Sun Xiaoqing and make her leave Meng An, then used the Mother-Child Connected Heart Mirror to ask his contacts to watch over Meng An.
• Zhao Hong revealed that he was a triple agent whose code name was Agent.
• Li Qi and Sun Xiaoqing traveled toward Missouri after taking Dancer's strange item, enjoying a peaceful journey.
• Sun Xiaoqing discovered that their destination town had disappeared from the navigation map, and Li Qi suspected contamination had affected it.
• Li Qi told Sun Xiaoqing to turn back, but a fork in the road appeared that they had not passed on their way there.

Li Qi and Sun Xiaoqing were trapped by contamination that repeatedly led them to a strange town. They accepted the Town Mayor’s offer to stay at his residence as night approached.

• Li Qi and Sun Xiaoqing encountered the same fork in the road twice and suspected they had been affected by contamination similar to a Ghost Wall.
• Li Qi had Sun Xiaoqing flip a coin to choose their route, and they drove down the right-hand road into the forest.
• They reached an old-fashioned town where residents watched them with numb, unsettling expressions.
• After driving away, Sun Xiaoqing and Li Qi found themselves back at the town, and Li Qi decided they should stop.
• The Town Mayor and an Asian youth told them they were trapped within the town’s boundaries and needed to find shelter before nightfall.
• Sun Xiaoqing agreed to stay at the Town Mayor’s residence, where newcomers could lodge.

Sun Xiaoqing and Li Qi arrived at a mansion in the town, where Lisa and Jeff warned them not to leave after sunset because those who went outside could never return. As Sun Xiaoqing began investigating the town, Li Qi suspected it was isolated from the outside world and chose to stay in the room to conserve his puppet’s power.

• Vincent brought Sun Xiaoqing and Li Qi to the mansion and introduced them to Jeff, who warned them never to go outside after sunset.
• Lisa explained that anyone who left the house at night could never return, then showed Sun Xiaoqing and Li Qi to their room.
• Sun Xiaoqing questioned why apparently healthy people lived in a place she thought was affected by pollution, and Li Qi suggested it might be something else.
• Li Qi suspected the town’s danger was tied to darkness and told Sun Xiaoqing to gather information at dinner while he stayed in the room to conserve his battery.
• Li Qi reasoned that the town might be in an isolated space and wondered how its other residents had arrived.

Sun Xiaoqing investigated the mansion’s residents while Li Qi noticed signs that the town was abnormal. Knight Errant entered the town searching for Sun Xiaoqing and learned from Lin Hui that she was staying at the mansion.

• Sun Xiaoqing met the mansion’s new residents at dinner and learned that Lisa hoped Li Qi would meet Kate.
• Li Qi found that neither his phone nor Sun Xiaoqing’s satellite phone had a signal, noticed the full moon was out on an unexpected date, and thought he saw another Sun Xiaoqing and another version of himself.
• Knight Errant lost Sun Xiaoqing’s signal at a fork in the forest, chose the left road, and drove into the town.
• Knight Errant entered a bar and asked the Bartender about Sun Xiaoqing.
• Lin Hui identified Sun Xiaoqing as Madam Sun, said she was staying at the mansion, and offered to take Knight Errant there.

Li Qi learned that Springwood Town trapped newcomers in a loop and that everyone had entered by taking the right fork, while his intuition warned him that the town and its residents were abnormal. At the mansion, Knight Errant confronted Sun Xiaoqing for bringing Meng An to the American Federation as the prophesied apocalypse approached.

• Sun Xiaoqing told Li Qi that Springwood Town had vanished during the Day of Darkness and that people who went out at night never returned.
• Li Qi learned that newcomers arrived only after others disappeared, and that everyone had reached the town by taking the right fork in the road.
• Sun Xiaoqing explained that Lisa, Vincent, and Lin Hui were the first arrivals and had become the town's administrators; Lin Hui carried a gun.
• Li Qi questioned whether the residents were truly human and decided to sleep, still troubled by his intuition and the figures he had seen outside.
• Knight Errant found Sun Xiaoqing at the mansion with Meng An and angrily questioned why she had brought Teacher Zhang's grandson to the American Federation before the apocalypse.

Knight Errant tried to take Meng An away from Sun Xiaoqing, but the frightened child refused to trust him. The next morning, Li Qi learned more about the town’s dangers and its safe houses, then followed Kate into the manor’s basement.

• Knight Errant offered to take Meng An away, but Meng An hid behind Sun Xiaoqing and said he did not believe him.
• Knight Errant told Sun Xiaoqing to leave with him at dawn, but she warned that people who went outside during the day disappeared.
• Li Qi listened as Vincent explained that the roads led back to town, people who drove through the night vanished, and a fairy tale claimed locked houses were safe.
• Li Qi considered exploring the town after dark, but Kate invited him to see an interesting place instead.
• Kate led Li Qi into the manor’s basement through a hidden-looking door, and he followed her down the spiral staircase.

Li Qi followed Kate through a deep underground passage and discovered another Kate and another version of himself running toward them. In town, Knight Errant warned Sun Xiaoqing to stay away from Li Qi and revealed that he had risked entering the strange pollution to try to save her.

• Kate led Li Qi through the basement passage, saying she had come there to meet a friend and was not afraid because of that friend.
• After Kate told Li Qi to listen, he heard approaching footsteps and saw another Kate running toward them with a boy who looked like him.
• Vincent brought Sun Xiaoqing to meet Knight Errant, who told her that Agent had warned her to stay away from Teacher Zhang's grandson.
• Sun Xiaoqing asked whether Knight Errant could help her escape the town, but he said he had found no way to deal with its strange pollution.
• Knight Errant explained that he had come to save Sun Xiaoqing because he did not want to lose another of Teacher Zhang's students.

Knight Errant planned to search for a way out of the trapped town while Sun Xiaoqing concealed Li Qi’s identity and his oddity. Li Qi realized the town was itself an oddity and entered a dangerous overlapping space, where he encountered Zhang Yang, his first love from nearly two hundred years ago.

• Knight Errant decided to explore outside at night, and Sun Xiaoqing nearly revealed that her supposed oddity was Meng An.
• Li Qi questioned whether Zhang Fengyun’s death in a traffic accident was really accidental and asked Sun Xiaoqing if she had found the murderer.
• Li Qi told Sun Xiaoqing that the town was not contamination, then left the lodge to investigate despite the daytime danger.
• Li Qi recognized that the town was a colossal oddity and planned to search for its user while exchanging information with Another Self.
• Li Qi crossed the town’s boundary and found himself in an amusement park, where Zhang Yang appeared and called him over.

Li Qi revisited memories of people he had loved and cared about across his past lives while moving through a dreamlike place. After Zhang Yang, Bai Shuangshuang, and Berry disappeared, Carol confronted him about leaving his parents and friends in the Mist World.

• Zhang Yang pulled Li Qi onto a Ferris wheel, where he remembered their past relationship and told her he would never forget her before she faded away.
• Bai Shuangshuang appeared with tickets to a gambling competition, and Li Qi spent time eating hot pot with her before seeing her off.
• Berry Webber embraced Li Qi and held him until Tonalie dragged her away to handle official business.
• Carol appeared and angrily asked Li Qi why he had left Chris and the others without spending more time with his reunited parents.

Li Qi resisted a Sweet Dream built from memories of his loved ones, then entered the town’s nighttime nightmare and found himself back in his old office-worker life. He realized his deepest fear was losing his hard-earned power and being trapped in an ordinary, directionless world, but he could not yet use his abilities to escape.

• Li Qi met memories of his parents, friends, and descendants in the Surface Dream, then rejected the past and watched the phantoms disappear.
• A woman’s voice asked whether Li Qi wanted to live with the people he cared about, and Li Qi thanked her before the white space faded and returned him to the town.
• Li Qi explored the town by day, then left through his bedroom window at night despite Sun Xiaoqing’s concern.
• Darkness swallowed Li Qi after he left the town, but he remained unafraid until it revealed a familiar city street and his former coworker Ma Chen.
• Li Qi recognized the company from his life before crossing worlds and realized he feared losing his extraordinary power, but he was unable to use his abilities against the nightmare.

Li Qi adapted to the Nightmare until its controller tried to frighten him with a ghost, giving him a chance to strike back and memorize her aura. After returning to Mystery Town, he learned that Cole had been found dead in the forest during the day, threatening the town’s belief that daytime was safe.

• Li Qi spent years living an ordinary office routine in the Nightmare until he accepted its dullness and felt his mind’s flaw begin to mend.
• When a female ghost crawled from his television, Li Qi erased it, shouted for the controller to emerge, and tore away a fragment of her white dress before she escaped.
• Li Qi absorbed the fragment’s spiritual consciousness and memorized its aura, resolving to find the mastermind hidden among the town’s survivors.
• The next day, Cole was found dead in the forest outside Mystery Town, and Vincent, Lin Hui, and Lisa treated the daytime killing as a serious threat.
• Jamie told Vincent that he and his classmates had discovered Cole’s body while exploring, and he insisted he had not killed him.

After Cole was found dead in the woods, Vincent tried to calm the frightened townspeople while seeking the creature responsible. Ann identified it as the water monster from a novel, and Vincent decided to investigate the lake despite warnings that bullets could not pierce its hide.

• Vincent examined Cole's corpse, covered it, and told the townspeople to stay in their rooms while he searched for the cause of death.
• The townspeople panicked over Cole's death, but Vincent insisted that the rooms were safe and urged them to remain calm.
• Vincent caught Ann searching Cole's pockets, and she identified a water monster from a novel as the likely killer.
• Lin Hui recognized the book, The Monster of Snow Mountain Lake, and described its enormous, picky-eating creature.
• Li Qi explained that Cole had told him about the monster the day before, and Lin Hui questioned how a fictional creature could appear in their strange town.
• Vincent recalled a lake in the forest and decided to confront the monster, while Lin Hui warned that its hide could stop bullets.

Knight Errant learned that headquarters wanted him to find the town’s powerful anomalous item, then left the mansion with Lisa to investigate Cole’s murder. He later offered to take Meng An away, but Lisa held him at gunpoint before he could leave with the boy.

• Knight Errant told Sun Xiaoqing that he had contacted headquarters through the Barrier-Free Phone and received orders to find the anomalous item trapping the town.
• Lisa asked Knight Errant to help Vincent investigate the water monster suspected of killing Cole, and left Sun Xiaoqing in charge of the mansion.
• Sun Xiaoqing realized Meng An might be with Vincent and worried that Knight Errant would discover she had brought him to the mansion.
• Knight Errant offered to take Meng An out of town, and Meng An deduced that he had contacted the outside world.
• Knight Errant questioned whether Meng An had been pretending to fear him, then invited him to leave; Lisa pressed a gun to Knight Errant’s head and ordered him not to move.

Lisa held Knight Errant and Sun Xiaoqing at gunpoint and used Li Qi as a hostage while demanding a way out of town. At Small Forest Lake, Li Qi lured out the water monster with his blood, and the group finally saw the enormous creature emerge.

• Lisa ordered Knight Errant and Sun Xiaoqing to surrender their weapons and called Li Qi to her side as a hostage.
• Vincent and Lin Hui found a giant fish scale and drag marks by Small Forest Lake, confirming the water monster had been there.
• Li Qi read that fresh, tender blood could lure out the nocturnal monster and offered to serve as bait after helping plan a restraint trap.
• Vincent and Lin Hui built the trap, then rushed ahead without waiting for Lisa when they realized time was passing unusually fast.
• Li Qi cut his palm and spread his blood over the trap, causing the lake to bubble and the enormous Snow Mountain Lake Monster to leap ashore.