Chapter Summaries

Jiang Qiao recognized Liu Ping in the Historical Tributary and learned from Liu Yuanyuan that Liu Ping had once killed more than thirty Awakened who returned to Blue Star. The chapter left Jiang Qiao and Liu Yuanyuan standing before Liu Ping as he warily asked what they wanted.

• Jiang Qiao recognized Liu Ping from traces he had seen in An City and the Supernatural Space connected to Yue City, and wondered how Liu Ping had survived across eras.
• Jiang Qiao asked Liu Yuanyuan whether she knew Liu Ping, and she said they were not relatives but had a grudge.
• Liu Yuanyuan explained that Liu Ping had killed more than thirty Awakened who had returned to Blue Star, including a close friend of her father, without any known motive.
• Liu Yuanyuan suspected Liu Ping had questioned the returnees about dangerous places they had encountered before killing them to silence them.
• Jiang Qiao and Liu Yuanyuan approached Liu Ping, who warily asked whether something was wrong.

Liu Yuanyuan, Jiang Qiao, and Don arrived in Xinshan City and encountered the powerful Awakened Liu Ping, who refused to guide them. They explored the bustling city and began looking for its dangerous areas.

• Liu Ping sensed that Liu Yuanyuan and Don were Awakened, but refused Liu Yuanyuan’s request to guide them and left the bus station.
• Liu Yuanyuan analyzed the safe bus routes and Liu Ping’s confidence as signs that Xinshan City was powerful and its surrounding dangers had been cleared.
• Jiang Qiao, Liu Yuanyuan, and Don left the station and saw the city’s crowded streets, ordinary residents, and roadside vendors.
• Don remarked that living in a city like Xinshan City would be pleasant, while Liu Yuanyuan bought candied hawthorn.
• Jiang Qiao said they would look for the city’s dangerous areas.

Jiang Qiao, Liu Yuanyuan, and Don explored Canghai County to learn about the city before approaching its administrators. They followed a faint supernatural aura to an abandoned building and reached its locked seventh floor.

• Jiang Qiao explained that the city was vast and cut off from the outside by a supernatural barrier, while Liu Yuanyuan suspected its administrators included a Half-God.
• The three walked through the old district and learned that outsiders needed registered long-distance bus travel to enter or leave the city.
• Liu Yuanyuan said she could not read or understand most local speech, while Jiang Qiao learned that some cities had adopted a new language about fifty years earlier.
• Jiang Qiao detected a faint aura in an abandoned blue-brick building that Liu Yuanyuan and Don could not sense.
• The three entered the building, climbed to the seventh floor, and Don pulled open the iron-locked gate.

Jiang Qiao, Liu Yuanyuan, and Don discovered a powerful vicious ghost sealed inside a cracked mirror on the seventh floor of an abandoned building. Don suspected the ghost had been left as bait to lure someone who would knowingly walk into a trap.

• Jiang Qiao led Liu Yuanyuan and Don into an apartment, where they sensed an eerie presence inside a wardrobe.
• Jiang Qiao opened the wardrobe and revealed a cracked mirror that sealed a vicious ghost, visible only in its reflection.
• Jiang Qiao demonstrated that trying to damage or move the mirror pulled someone into it, and the ghost killed a rat after invading its body.
• Jiang Qiao and Liu Yuanyuan noted that the nearby residents seemed unaware of the danger, despite the ghost's presence in their neighborhood.
• Don reasoned that the powerful ghost and its sealing items might have been left as bait to lure a particular person or being.

Jiang Qiao and Liu Yuanyuan inspected an abandoned building and identified a trapped mirror as its only anomaly. Outside, they overheard elderly women arguing over whether Gui Fen’s grandson’s unusual sense of smell meant he might become an Awakened, while Jiang Qiao reflected on the city’s fragile order before turning back to his search for hidden secrets.

• Liu Yuanyuan explained that the mirror could pull weaker people into the Mirror World and might have a tracker or other traps, so Jiang Qiao and the others left it untouched.
• Jiang Qiao heard elderly women complain about a school cafeteria’s foul smell and gossip about a restaurant that had secretly served human flesh.
• Wang Ma suggested that Gui Fen’s grandson might become an Awakened because he could smell what others could not.
• The other women insisted Gui Fen’s grandson was probably ordinary, and their argument ended with them parting on bad terms.
• Don was shocked that ordinary people dared to disparage Awakened, while Jiang Qiao considered the city’s fragile order and focused on uncovering its secrets.

Jiang Qiao, Don, and Liu Yuanyuan investigated a restaurant suspected of serving human flesh, then traced a supernatural stench at a school to corpse oil in the cafeteria’s cooking oil. They learned the oil came from Shiwei and left to investigate the supplier, while Liu Yuanyuan warned that the oil also carried a curse.

• Jiang Qiao and his companions found the suspected human-meat restaurant closed and empty, then went to Auntie Gui Fen’s grandson’s school.
• Jiang Qiao, Don, and Liu Yuanyuan smelled decay near the cafeteria, which Liu Yuanyuan said could be detected with Supernatural Perception.
• The three entered the kitchen and found that the finished meals carried the stench of corpse oil coming from drums of cooking oil.
• Jiang Qiao questioned a cafeteria employee, who said the oil came from Shiwei, whose owner was the vice principal’s brother-in-law.
• Liu Yuanyuan said the oil seemed cursed, and the three left the school with Shiwei’s address to investigate.

Jiang Qiao, Don, and Liu Yuanyuan discovered that the Shiwei factory used cursed corpses to produce corpse oil and found its Vicious Ghost source beneath the office building. As factory guards tried to contaminate captured investigators, the prisoners vanished and the guards were found dead.

• Jiang Qiao used his enhanced vision to see that many factory workers were cursed corpses and traced the curse to viscous yellow liquid dripping from a Vicious Ghost into a copper basin.
• Jiang Qiao discovered a chained Stone Statue and saw guards bring five injured investigators into the basement to turn them into corpse workers.
• Jiang Qiao told Don and Liu Yuanyuan what he had found, and Don suspected the factory was connected to an evil cult.
• A guard tried to force one prisoner’s face into the cursed liquid, but everyone in the basement briefly lost their sight.
• The five prisoners disappeared, and the suited leader discovered that all his subordinates in the basement were dead.

Jiang Qiao questioned five reporters he had rescued and learned they had been investigating a processing plant that secretly spread curses. Liu Qiang suspected their magazine’s Vice President and officials in Congcheng District were involved, and Wang Wei wanted to report them to the Procuratorate.

• Jiang Qiao asked the five prisoners why they had been captured and introduced himself as their rescuer.
• Liu Qiang explained that the reporters had traced sanitation complaints at No. 3 Middle School to the Shiwei processing plant, where they were kidnapped and nearly turned into living corpses.
• Jiang Qiao questioned why ordinary reporters had pursued the case and noted their unusual lack of fear.
• Liu Qiang said the investigation had exposed cultists spreading curses, after which their director disappeared and the Vice President told them to hide.
• Liu Qiang suspected the Vice President and some Congcheng District administrators were involved, and Wang Wei said she would report them to the Procuratorate.

Jiang Qiao learned that a hidden cult had been operating in the city and may have connections to local administrators and a newspaper office. After Liu Qiang explained the cult’s history and methods, Wang Wei revealed its name: the Green Lotus Sect.

• Jiang Qiao suspected that the sealed Vicious Ghost was bait intended to lure powerful cultists.
• Liu Qiang described how the cult had spread through the city, caused bloody incidents, and secretly abducted people across multiple cities.
• Liu Qiang said the cult had been banned for more than thirty years but continued to operate, and he suspected Congcheng District’s administrators and the newspaper office were connected to it.
• Jiang Qiao pressed Liu Qiang to name the cult, and Wang Wei revealed that it was the Green Lotus Sect.

Jiang Qiao learned that the Green Lotus Sect had abducted people and questioned Liu Qiang about the group’s plans and the Red Moon. As Liu Qiang and his companions tried to leave, a wealthy man arrived with armed guards, and Don incapacitated the guards with a single command.

• Jiang Qiao recognized the Green Lotus Sect as a mysterious faction with ties to his homeland and asked Liu Qiang whether he knew about the Red Moon.
• Liu Qiang said he and his companions planned to report the cult to the Inspection Society, but Jiang Qiao refused to help them further.
• A wealthy middle-aged man entered the private room with more than a dozen guards and told the group to stay.
• Don ordered the intruders to get out, and his voice left the guards collapsed and screaming while their leader remained standing in fear.
• Don asked the leader how he had found them.

Jiang Qiao and his companions learned how a chain of reports and coincidences led the authorities and a local BOSS to identify and ambush them. After they explained what happened, the BOSS proposed that they talk openly and clear up the misunderstanding.

• Liu Ping reported Jiang Qiao and his companions, and surveillance footage of them emerging from a wall prompted a citywide search for the unknown Awakened.
• The teahouse staff reported the disguised group to the owner, who passed the information to her brother-in-law, a BOSS searching for the people who had teleported into the district.
• The BOSS concluded that the teahouse guests were Jiang Qiao's group and the five reporters they had rescued, then secretly sent subordinates to capture them.
• Jiang Qiao realized that Liu Ping's report and the teahouse connections had caused the search to converge on them.
• The BOSS told Jiang Qiao and the others that they should speak openly and resolve the situation as a possible misunderstanding.

Jiang Qiao heard the portly man’s account of the processing plant and the reporters, then asked Liu Qiang whether it was true. Liu Qiang rejected the story and accused Supervisor He of being a fanatic follower of the evil god.

• The portly man offered help and claimed the food factory’s owner had secretly reported the evil-god curse to Supervisor He, who planned to infiltrate the cult and destroy it.
• The man said the reporters were spies from other cities and that their disappearance had caused the confrontation.
• Jiang Qiao noticed the reporters did not deny being spies, then asked Liu Qiang whether the man’s explanation was true.
• Liu Qiang called the story fabricated and said his investigation showed that Supervisor He had long maintained secret contact with the cult.
• Liu Qiang accused Supervisor He of being a fanatic follower of the evil god.

Jiang Qiao questioned a captured Fifth Tier official about a sealed Vicious Ghost and the forces behind it, learning that the evil spirit worshiped as the God of Death had been used as bait. He also discovered the Return Journey Research Institute’s branches included Xian’an, a city tied to the City God he had encountered before.

• Jiang Qiao asked the middle-aged man about the mirror in the old district, and the man said the Judgement Society had sealed a high-ranking God of Death believer inside it as bait.
• The middle-aged man explained that evil-spirit believers had spread from small cities into major cities, but no powerful rescuers had appeared during the two months since the sealing.
• Jiang Qiao asked about the Return Journey Research Institute, and the man described it as a leading human institution devoted to studying supernatural phenomena.
• The man said the Institute had branches in Xian’an, Luoyin, and Yinjia, with its headquarters in Sunnan.
• Jiang Qiao recognized Xian’an as the City of Death beneath Fishbone Temple and connected it to the City God he had met in the desert oasis.

Jiang Qiao questioned a middle-aged man about Feng Qiu and xian, uncovering fragments of ancient history that raised more questions about the timeline and the Nether Sea. When the man knew nothing about the Red Moon, a woman's voice suddenly asked why Jiang Qiao was inquiring about it.

• Jiang Qiao asked the middle-aged man about Feng Qiu and learned that it was an ancient forbidden zone, once humanity's first city on Sea Star, destroyed in a war against evil gods.
• Jiang Qiao realized Feng Qiu's ancient destruction did not match what he knew about the Fate Dice's history and questioned the timeline.
• The middle-aged man said the Return Journey Research Institute had studied Feng Qiu, and that records claimed multiple deities had fought in the war.
• The middle-aged man described xian as rare evil beings from a hollow expanse deep within the Nether Sea, prompting Jiang Qiao to wonder whether they were connected to trapped half-gods.
• Jiang Qiao asked about the Red Moon, but the middle-aged man did not recognize it before a woman's voice asked why Jiang Qiao was inquiring about it.

Jiang Qiao met a powerful woman who embodied the moon in Yang City and revealed that he and his companions had come from the future through a tributary of the River of History. She reacted by attacking, and the chapter ended with the people around them dead and a wave of Fierce Sha Energy bearing down on Jiang Qiao and his companions.

• A moonlit woman appeared before Jiang Qiao and questioned why he had come to Yang City and asked about the Red Moon.
• The woman noticed Liu Yuanyuan’s unusual aura, while Jiang Qiao realized that the city’s top experts knew about the Red Moon.
• The woman pressed Jiang Qiao to explain his origins, and he told her that they had come from the future through a tributary of the River of History.
• The woman accepted his explanation but said she wanted to see whether she could change future history.
• The woman’s figures killed Liu Qiang, the five reporters, and the middle-aged man before unleashing Fierce Sha Energy at Jiang Qiao, Liu Yuanyuan, and Don.

Jiang Qiao shielded Liu Yuanyuan and Don from the woman's deadly green moonlight and fought back with Thunder Art. Recognizing his Daoist techniques, the woman claimed a distant kinship and invited the three to discuss cooperation elsewhere.

• The woman unleashed green moonlight that killed the middle-aged man and several reporters and threatened to overwhelm Liu Yuanyuan and Don.
• Jiang Qiao blocked the moonlight with black lightning and sent a thunder dragon toward the woman, but she made it vanish before it reached her.
• The woman questioned Jiang Qiao about his Thunder Art and concluded that he might be connected to the Daoist sect.
• Jiang Qiao acknowledged a connection to the Daoist sect and demonstrated a talisman, prompting the woman to claim her ancestors had been Daoist disciples.
• The woman invited Jiang Qiao, Liu Yuanyuan, and Don to move elsewhere and discuss cooperation, and Jiang Qiao noticed the resemblance to another recent offer.

Jiang Qiao rejected the woman’s one-sided demand for cooperation and suspected she wanted to use him as a pawn in a dangerous operation. After she restored the room and softened her approach, he insisted she explain the plan before he considered cooperating.

• Jiang Qiao challenged the woman’s offer, arguing that she wanted him to work for her without explaining what cooperation meant.
• As he considered the Daoist sect’s history and its possible role in humanity’s survival after the Red Moon’s collapse, Jiang Qiao suspected the woman needed a successor as expendable help for a dangerous operation.
• The woman claimed the task would bring great benefits and little risk, then withdrew her supernatural power and invited Jiang Qiao and his companions elsewhere to discuss it.
• Jiang Qiao refused to change locations or accept her hospitality, saying he did not trust her and wanted to hear the details first.
• The woman teased Jiang Qiao for seeming to value rules and morality, while privately doubting that idealists could prevent another collapse.

A woman asked Jiang Qiao to lend her his Thunder Art to guard a formation while she tried to kill an elusive target, offering information and a reward if he helped. Jiang Qiao declined to answer immediately, and after she left, he decided to spend the next three days exploring Yang City with Liu Yuanyuan.

• The woman explained that she wanted Jiang Qiao's Thunder Art to protect a formation while she dealt with someone who was skilled at escaping.
• She promised to share information Jiang Qiao wanted and give him an item if they succeeded, while warning that destroying the formation would cause him backlash.
• Jiang Qiao asked for time to consider, and the woman gave him three days before vanishing from the room.
• Jiang Qiao doubted the woman's vague promises and suggested that he and Liu Yuanyuan explore Yang City while they waited.

Jiang Qiao, Liu Yuanyuan, and Don entered the mountains outside the city, where Jiang Qiao explained why they could not escape. He revealed that the city lay within a hidden tributary of the River of History and chose to explore further.

• Jiang Qiao, Liu Yuanyuan, and Don left the urban district and climbed into the mountains near Canghai County.
• Jiang Qiao told Liu Yuanyuan that he would not cooperate with the Daoist sect and explained that the city's administrators and the Green Lotus Sect made hiding or escaping difficult.
• Jiang Qiao pointed out that powerful curses concealed in the mountain shadows monitored anyone who entered and could lead travelers into a Ghost Wall.
• Jiang Qiao struck toward the barrier at the edge of the mountains, but a mysterious force absorbed and erased his lightning.
• Jiang Qiao explained that the city was inside a hidden tributary of the River of History and said they should explore rather than rush to leave.

An Awakened man led four ordinary people through a dangerous mountain forest to the Mountain God Temple, where they hoped to gain the ability to become Awakened. After warning them about the temple’s mental interference, he prepared them for an overnight stay and told them that gaining power required taking risks.

• The burly Awakened man reassured his four nervous companions that shadows kept evil spirits away and led them deeper into the mountains.
• He warned them not to answer anyone who called their names, gave them red armbands, lit a bowl of black grease, and scattered spirit money along the trail.
• The group reached a dilapidated Mountain God Temple, and the burly man said its god still protected the area and told them to offer incense.
• The four companions learned they might have to spend the night at the temple, and the burly man told them that gaining wealth and status required taking risks.