Chapter Summaries

At The Tarot Club and afterward, Xu Yue warned Klein about the Spectator pathway and discussed Klein’s suspicious fate, while Klein sought help investigating the influence behind it. Ince Zangwill used 0-08 to keep steering events away from the red-chimney house as his plan neared completion.

• Xu Yue warned Audrey that powerful Spectators could learn what was said or even thought, then Klein explained the Acting Method’s digestion time.
• Klein invited Xu Yue and Old Neil to a feast, where Xu Yue served medicinal cuisine and advised Klein to exercise to aid digestion.
• Klein invited Xu Yue to visit an instructor, but Xu Yue declined because he did not want to interfere with Klein’s meeting with Azik.
• Klein told Xu Yue that his dreams suggested his fate was being manipulated and his divinations were blocked, and Xu Yue cautioned that naming a suspected culprit could expose Klein to it.
• Klein left to find a detective who could help locate the red-chimney house, while Ince Zangwill recorded that 0-08’s plans had repeatedly been disrupted but continued toward his goal.

Klein pursued a suspected Aurora Society member, found a letter addressed to Mr. Z, and reported the danger to Dunn, while Xu Yue joined the investigation. At the Tarot Club, Klein collected another shipping fee and gave the members a warning; meanwhile, Lanclus encountered the mysterious man again as he prepared to leave Tingen.

• Klein chased down a fleeing borrower, killed him with a Demon-hunting bullet, and found a letter addressed to Mr. Z.
• Klein reported the incident to Dunn, who suspected the Aurora Society was planning an attack on Tingen; Xu Yue offered to help track suspicious people.
• Klein obtained the Clown potion formula through spirit channeling and later told Azik about his progress, prompting Azik to share his amnesia troubles.
• At the Tarot Club, Xu Yue gave Klein diary pages about the Forsaken Land, and Klein warned the members not to recite his name without permission.
• Klein collected another 60 gold pounds in shipping fees from the Tarot Club and reflected on the ease of making money.
• Lanclus prepared to leave Tingen after deciding to seek the Church of the Evernight's help, but saw the mysterious man waiting in the darkness again.

Xu Yue tracked down Lanclus, shot him, extracted the True Creator-tainted divinity, and advanced to Shepherd before killing him and consuming his Beyonder characteristic. He waited for the Night Watchers, who surrounded him warily as Klein arrived and saw his ominous aura.

• Xu Yue mocked Lanclus for his reckless schemes, and Lanclus identified Xu Yue's appearance as an Independent Action.
• Lanclus tried to boast about his plans, but Xu Yue shot both his legs and began spirit-channeling him.
• Xu Yue used Lanclus's soul to obtain Marauder Pathway potion knowledge and view the True Creator's Fallen Pathway, then extracted and swallowed the sliver of divinity.
• Xu Yue shot Lanclus in the head, waited for his Beyonder characteristic to condense, and swallowed it to balance the aura of degeneration.
• Xu Yue stayed at the scene for the police, and Dunn's Night Watcher squad surrounded him while Klein saw his dangerous aura.

Xu Yue convinced the Tingen Night Watchers to take him to St. Selena’s Church, where a ritual dispelled the curse that had contaminated him. Afterward, he explained how he had tracked down a suspected Aurora Society member and defended his ability to perform spirit channeling, while Ince Zangwill angrily destroyed a page he had written.

• Leonard questioned Pallez Zoroaster about Xu Yue’s strange aura, and Pallez concluded that the True Creator had contaminated him.
• Xu Yue surrendered and asked to spend his contributions on a purification ritual, so Dunn led the Night Watchers to St. Selena’s Church.
• Old Neil presided over the ritual, and the Goddess of the Night responded by dispelling Xu Yue’s ominous aura.
• Dunn asked Xu Yue what had happened, and Xu Yue said he had tracked a suspected Aurora Society member and been cursed while attempting spirit channeling.
• Xu Yue argued that Hunters could learn rituals, leaving Leonard and the other Night Watchers bewildered.
• Ince Zangwill tore up the page he had just written and shredded it in frustration.

After a meal hosted by Xu Yue, the Night Watchers investigated an explosion at a collapsed house and discovered traces of a demigod-level spirit world creature. Pallez Zoroaster suspected the incident was connected to the Sealed Artifact 0-08 and warned that greater trouble might be coming.

• Xu Yue treated the Night Watcher squad and clerical staff to a feast, and the old man inside Leonard praised his cooking as an extraordinary skill.
• A tremendous explosion sounded across Tingen City, so Dunn led Xu Yue and the others to investigate.
• Klein recognized the collapsed red-chimneyed house as the location he had divined, while Pallez Zoroaster detected the aura of a demigod-level spirit world creature that had already left.
• Klein performed a ritual and sensed a chaotic, powerful, evil force lingering at the scene, prompting Dunn to suspect a dangerous supernatural plot.
• Pallez Zoroaster warned Leonard that the recent coincidences might point to 0-08 and a larger conspiracy involving the Aurora Society.

After Ince Zangwill recovered enough to resume manipulating events, Klein advanced to Sequence 8 and the Night Watchers began investigating a series of accidental deaths. Their suspicions turned toward a Witch, while Xu Yue warned that Ince’s arrangements could draw more danger than he intended.

• Ince Zangwill hid on Tingen’s outskirts, recovering from his encounter with a spirit world creature while using 0-08 to cover up the incident and delay his plans.
• Over the next month, Klein completed his Seer digestion, shared the Acting Method, and advanced to Sequence 8 after taking the Clown potion.
• The Acting Method helped stabilize Dunn, forcing Ince to revise his plans and arrange new incidents involving the Witch Triss.
• The Night Watchers investigated the growing number of accidental deaths, and Xu Yue suggested that a Sequence from the Instigator Pathway was responsible.
• Dunn accepted the possibility that a Witch was behind the deaths, while Xu Yue cautioned that Ince’s attempt to draw Triss in could backfire.

Klein learned from Xu Yue that the Witch pathway transformed its members into women, then investigated a supernatural incident that revealed dangerous power within a Sealed Artifact. After seeking to trade for the artifact, he answered a prayer from Silver City and brought Derrick Berg into his first contact with The Tarot Club.

• Xu Yue told Klein that members of the Witch pathway became women at Sequence 7, and Klein later divined that Triss had boarded a train.
• Klein investigated a wraith incident in Rameld Town, where he discovered that Sealed Artifact 3-0782 contained a drop of blood connected to the Eternal Blazing Sun.
• Klein learned Sun Sequence formulas and how to make Sunflame Charms, then considered asking Xu Yue to trade for the mutated Sun Sacred Emblem.
• Klein returned above the Gray Fog to divine his plan but heard a prayer from a crimson star whose speaker used an ancient language.
• Klein pulled Little Sun, Derrick Berg of Silver City, into The Tarot Club after Derrick had killed someone dear to him and prayed to the gods.

Klein brought Sun into the Tarot Club, where Xu Yue explained Sun’s origins in the Forsaken Land and the members exchanged information and resources. Alger then asked Audrey, Xu Yue, and The Fool’s blessed to help locate the pirate Zilingus in Backlund.

• Klein verified that Derrick had not told Silver City’s Council of Six about the Tarot Club, then introduced him as Sun at the gathering.
• Sun offered to provide the main ingredient for the Mind Reader formula, and Xu Yue arranged paid exchanges to explain Sun’s background and the Forsaken Land to the others.
• Audrey shared information about Mr. A and his gathering, while Alger added details about the Aurora Society and its divine envoys.
• Alger asked Audrey to find Zilingus, who had secretly entered Backlund, and warned her not to confront the dangerous pirate.
• Alger asked Xu Yue and The Fool’s blessed to assist with Zilingus; Xu Yue agreed to consider it, and Klein said his blessed could help if he was in Backlund.

At the Tarot Club, Alger explained Zilingus’s living Sealed Artifact, Crawling Hunger, and Audrey began investigating the pirate with help from Fors and Hugh. Klein also told Xu Yue about the mutated Sun Sacred Emblem, and they found a way to weaken its side effect by repeatedly extracting charms.

• Alger told the Tarot Club that Crawling Hunger demanded a living person’s soul and flesh every other day and appeared to grant Zilingus a Shepherd’s abilities.
• Little Sun explained how Shepherds could collect and use the abilities of the souls they shepherded, and the Tarot Club’s transaction concluded.
• Klein persuaded Xu Yue to hear about the mutated Sun Sacred Emblem, then obtained permission to acquire the Grade 3 artifact.
• Xu Yue and Klein extracted eight Sunflame Charms from the emblem, temporarily suppressing its side effect, and Xu Yue gave three charms to Klein.
• Audrey hired Fors Wall and Hugh Dillcha to investigate Zilingus, and they obtained clues from the detective Aisinger.

Klein enlisted Xu Yue to investigate councilman Maynard’s death in Tingen, delaying Xu Yue’s planned trip to Backlund. After meeting Madam Sharon, they suspected her overwhelming charm came from being a Witch, and Klein decided to report her to the captain for investigation.

• Klein pulled Xu Yue into the investigation of councilman Maynard’s death and postponed his trip to Backlund until the case was resolved.
• Klein and Xu Yue visited Madam Sharon, whose beauty and charm immediately captivated Xu Yue.
• Xu Yue flirted with Madam Sharon while Klein questioned her, then Klein dragged him away when the interview ended.
• Xu Yue warned Klein that something was wrong with Madam Sharon, and Klein recognized that her allure had affected him too.
• Xu Yue suggested Madam Sharon might be a Witch, so Klein agreed to report her to the captain and have her investigated.

Xu Yue, Dunn, Klein, and Leonard confronted Madam Sharon after discovering she was a Beyonder, but the operation went awry when the Primordial Witch corrupted Dunn. The team subdued Sharon, and Xu Yue ended the chapter with a Witch figurine.

• Dunn decided the Night Watchers would test Madam Sharon without waiting for reinforcements, while Ince Zangwill revised his plan around the unexpected intervention.
• Xu Yue used a Sealed Artifact to help the team approach Sharon, then entered her courtyard and drew her onto the balcony.
• Dunn entered Sharon's dream, but the Primordial Witch's attention corrupted him and disrupted the plan to control Sharon.
• Klein, Leonard, and Xu Yue entered the room and restrained Sharon's Spirit Body threads without attacking her directly.
• Sharon became motionless, and Xu Yue declared the operation finished after obtaining a Witch figurine.

After helping complete the operation against Madam Sharon, Xu Yue left Tingen by train for Backlund, while Klein stayed behind. On the journey, Xu Yue recognized the frail Abraham family member Lawrence Nord and realized he was traveling to seek relatives.

• Leonard asked Pales Zoroaster how Xu Yue had gained such power, and Pales explained that Xu Yue’s Sealed Artifact, puppets, and combat skills made him dangerous despite being Sequence 9.
• Klein gave Xu Yue an approval note for his trip to Backlund and reminded him to return early and make up his missed classes.
• Xu Yue boarded a first-class Steam Train with Madam Sharon, whose appearance drew attention from the other passengers.
• Xu Yue sensed a Beyonder aboard and identified the frail elderly man as Lawrence Nord, an Abraham family member traveling to Backlund.
• Xu Yue reflected on how Mr. Door’s corrupted whispers had devastated the Abraham family and driven its members into hiding.

Xu Yue intercepted Lawrence Nord in Backlund and placed the elderly Beyonder under regular supervision, delaying his chance to meet Fors. Meanwhile, Fors and Hugh escaped a trap after finding their informant dead, but Fors’s use of a travel bead worsened her Full Moon Whisper.

• Xu Yue deliberately triggered Lawrence Nord’s spiritual intuition and followed him through Backlund until Lawrence entered an alley to confront his pursuers.
• Xu Yue showed Lawrence Dunn’s authorization slip and required him to report regularly so his condition could be monitored.
• Lawrence gave Xu Yue the hotel where he planned to stay and learned that he should report to Xu Yue’s rented residence at 41 Brumm Street.
• Fors and Hugh found that their informant had been killed after investigating a clue about their target.
• Fors used a bead’s travel ability to escape the trap with Hugh, making her Full Moon Whisper more severe.

Zilingus escaped Fors and Hugh’s investigation and prepared to assassinate Duke Negan for the Twilight Hermit Society. Meanwhile, Xu Yue acquired a Provoker-like mystical item from Eye of Wisdom and traded intelligence about Zilingus, leaving Aisinger considering whether to report him.

• Zilingus realized Fors was a Traveler, abandoned the failed trap, and hurried to prepare for his mission to assassinate Duke Negan.
• Xu Yue attended Eye of Wisdom’s gathering seeking a Hunter pathway Sequence 8 characteristic or potion formula, but accepted a Provoker-like mystical item instead.
• After the gathering, Xu Yue traded Eye of Wisdom information about Pirate General Zilingus in exchange for the item.
• Xu Yue revealed that Zilingus had infiltrated Backlund on a mysterious organization’s mission, with a reward that could help him become a demigod.
• Aisinger learned of Zilingus’s potential path to a high Sequence and weighed whether to report the matter.

Fors and Hugh reported Zilingus’s whereabouts to the police and moved to Brumm Street, where they became Xu Yue’s neighbors. At Duke Negan’s ball, Audrey recognized the disguised Zilingus and alerted her father, who quietly arranged protection as Zilingus appeared to target the duke.

• Fors and Hugh gave Audrey their report about Zilingus and decided to move to Brumm Street in the East District.
• Xu Yue recognized Fors and helped her and Hugh settle in, while suspecting Adam was testing him through those around him.
• Xu Yue left to attend Duke Negan’s ball, where Zilingus had disguised himself as Baron Gramil to approach his target.
• Audrey recognized that Baron Gramil was Zilingus, prayed to Mr. Fool, and warned her father without revealing her Spectator abilities.
• Count Hall privately alerted Duke Negan, and the duke’s guards were secretly replaced as they prepared to notify the Storm Church.

Klein coordinated warnings about Zilingus with Audrey, Alger, and Azik while Zilingus attempted to assassinate Duke Negan and escaped the prepared ambush. Xu Yue intercepted and killed Zilingus by the lake before God Singer arrived, and Azik appeared to investigate the corpse for clues to his lost identity.

• Klein sent Audrey’s warning to Xu Yue and Alger, then used Azik’s token to inform Azik about Zilingus and describe Xu Yue.
• Alger reported the warning to a Storm Church archbishop, who flew with him to intervene against Zilingus.
• Zilingus attacked Duke Negan at the banquet, but the prepared defenders exposed his identity and forced him to flee.
• Xu Yue confronted Zilingus by the lake and used shadow control, Sharon’s threads, and a clown doll’s ability to restrain him before shooting him dead.
• God Singer approached the lake as Azik emerged from the spirit world and examined Zilingus’s corpse for memories and clues about his identity.

Azik rescued Xu Yue from the scene of Zilingus’s death, returned his spoils, and left Backlund through the spirit world. Alger and Audrey separately suspected that The Tarot Club had arranged Zilingus’s death, while the angel’s appearance left Alger convinced that Mr. Fool had an angel under his command.

• Azik took Crawling Hunger and the Wind Consort Beyonder characteristic from Zilingus’s corpse, then used the spirit world to carry Xu Yue outside Backlund.
• Azik returned the sealed Crawling Hunger and the Wind Consort Beyonder characteristic to Xu Yue, who revealed his Sunflame Charms as the trump card he had been hiding.
• Alger saw Azik leave with Xu Yue, and God Singer identified the departing figure as an Angel of Death pathway Beyonder.
• Alger reasoned that a Tarot Club member or one of Mr. Fool’s subordinates had killed Zilingus and concluded that Mr. Fool had an angel under his command.
• Count Hall told Audrey that Zilingus had been killed by an unknown person or organization, and Audrey proudly suspected The Tarot Club was responsible.

After Zilingus’s death, Klein learned from Azik that Xu Yue was a Sequence 5 Shepherd, while several Tarot Club members took leave from the next gathering. At Blackthorn Security Company, Klein sensed a deadly danger in Mei Gao Ou Si’s unborn child and suspected that an Aurora Society plot to bring an evil god into the city was underway.

• Audrey received a share of the rewards for Zilingus’s death, which Count Hall’s arrangements would mostly turn into income-generating assets.
• Azik told Klein that Xu Yue was a Sequence 5 Shepherd and warned him about the mental instability and fanaticism associated with the pathway.
• Audrey, Alger, and Xu Yue each requested leave from the next Tarot Club gathering, so Klein canceled it and informed Little Sun.
• Roshan told Klein that Mei Gao Ou Si had come to Blackthorn Security Company, and Klein froze when his spiritual intuition warned him not to look at her.
• Klein connected the danger surrounding Mei Gao Ou Si’s unborn child to the Aurora Society and the threat of an evil god’s descent into Tingen.

Ince Zangwill’s plan to use the Evil God’s offspring against Tingen’s defenders collapsed when Klein struck with three Sunflame Charms, but Ince then killed Klein and escaped with the Holy Ash. Xu Yue secretly treated the dying Dunn before disappearing, while the Storm Church Beyonders arrived to find the devastated scene.

• Ince Zangwill focused on Leonard as Dunn prepared the Holy Ash and the Night Watchers sought help, while Pallez reluctantly agreed to fight the Evil God’s offspring.
• Klein hurled three Sunflame Charms at Mei Gao Ou Si, purifying the offspring and causing Ince to suffer 0-08’s backlash.
• Ince Zangwill charged the exhausted defenders and smashed Klein’s head with his cane before a summoned spirit world creature attacked the Blackthorn Security Company.
• Pallez diverted the creature’s strike, but Ince stole the Holy Ash from Dunn and escaped as Dunn and Leonard collapsed.
• Xu Yue emerged, gave Dunn medicine and a cleansed Beyonder characteristic, then vanished into the shadows as the Storm Church Beyonders arrived.

Leonard grieved Klein and Dunn’s deaths, decided to join the Red Gloves, and attended their funeral. Klein revived and left to avenge Dunn, while Dunn unexpectedly crawled out of his grave as well.

• Leonard visited Benson and Melissa with the Night Watchers’ compensation and resolved to join the Red Gloves to avenge Klein and Dunn.
• Xu Yue cooked a farewell dinner, and the Night Watchers and other Church Beyonders attended Klein and Dunn’s funeral.
• Azik left white flowers at Klein’s grave, sensed something unusual beneath it, and departed to hunt Ince Zangwill.
• Klein revived through the Miracle Invoker’s resurrection trait, saw Dunn’s grave, and left to investigate above the Gray Fog and avenge him.
• Xu Yue emerged from the cemetery shadows, and Dunn crawled out of his grave, confused and covered in dirt.