Recaps

Poison took a silent arrow meant for Cheng Shi and tried to make him save her, but he saw through her ploy and kept his distance. Jiang Chi intervened to stop the chameleon and joined Da Yi and Cheng Shi in seeking Poison’s secret, while Poison accused Cheng Shi of becoming hard-hearted.

• Poison blocked the silent arrow aimed at Cheng Shi, and it pierced her shoulders and spine, pinning her down.
• Poison tried to provoke Cheng Shi into rescuing her, but he pretended to panic and jumped away instead.
• Jiang Chi used the sundial needle to stop the chameleon from attacking Poison and said he wanted to hear her secret.
• Jiang Chi introduced himself as a possible opponent and warned the chameleon against attacking again.
• Cheng Shi recognized Jiang Chi as a Pointer Knight and thought he had joined their effort to learn about the Gift of Scars.
• Poison ignored Jiang Chi and told Cheng Shi that he had changed and become hard-hearted.

Poison interrupted the battle between Da Yi and Gongyang Jiao, then escaped with Cheng Shi in a cloud of mist. They ended up in an unfamiliar attic, where Poison lay motionless and Cheng Shi wondered if she was dead.

• Poison recovered enough to pull the arrow from her shoulder and join Da Yi and Gongyang Jiao's fight.
• Poison returned to Cheng Shi, collapsed against him, and asked whether she had changed since they last met.
• Gongyang Jiao charged Cheng Shi and Poison, so Poison threw a dagger that released white mist and helped them escape.
• Cheng Shi found himself in a dim attic with Poison lying motionless in front of him.

Cheng Shi tried to leave Poison but stayed to heal her after she revealed that the Gift of Scars was somewhere in the trial. He stopped once her injuries began to recover and demanded the Gift’s location in exchange for more healing, while Poison asked for special services.

• Cheng Shi attempted to escape, but someone grabbed his ankle through the floor and dragged him back beside Poison.
• Poison admitted she was badly injured and said the Gift of Scars was in the trial, prompting Cheng Shi to reconsider leaving.
• Cheng Shi used several healing techniques on Poison, but the Silent Hunter’s arrow had left severe damage that healed only slowly.
• Cheng Shi stopped healing Poison and offered to continue until she recovered if she told him where the Gift of Scars was.
• Poison asked whether Cheng Shi would provide special services along with the extra healing.

Cheng Shi used a fake pleasure service to lure Poison into a Thunder Punishment attack, then exposed Jiang Chi and Da Yi hiding below. The four regrouped warily, each weighing temporary alliances as the trial’s tangled power struggle continued.

• Cheng Shi offered Poison a choice of services, and she chose pleasure on the condition that she could try it before paying.
• Cheng Shi attacked Poison with Thunder Punishment, but she dodged the strike and accused him of trying to kill her.
• Cheng Shi revealed that Da Yi and Jiang Chi had been hiding beneath the attic, and he inferred that Jiang Chi had been helping Poison.
• Da Yi admitted that Jiang Chi had brought him there, while Jiang Chi praised Cheng Shi’s offensive power and Cheng Shi claimed his thunder artifact was a one-use item.
• Cheng Shi, Poison, Da Yi, and Jiang Chi eyed one another warily and considered how to form alliances amid the trial’s shifting factions.

Poison explained how Rosna, the Nation of Decay, destroyed itself through a faith built around self-harm and futile offerings to its god. She revealed that she had studied the nation while searching for the Gift of Scars, and the group demanded that she tell them where it was.

• Cheng Shi asked about the unfamiliar residence, and Poison identified it as Rosna, the Tragic Nation from the Era of Depravity.
• Poison described how Rosna’s people harmed themselves to seek purification, while their god gave no answer and the nation dwindled toward extinction.
• Poison showed Cheng Shi, Da Yi, and Jiang Chi the unconscious residents’ carefully arranged scars and criticized the motives behind Rosna’s faith.
• Jiang Chi connected Rosna’s decline to the rise of Decay, and Poison explained that the nation had offered its vitality until nearly all its people were dead.
• Poison revealed that she had pieced together Rosna’s history while searching for the lost Gift of Scars, and the others demanded its whereabouts.

Cheng Shi tried to secure his place in the temporary team by feigning camaraderie with Poison, then tricked her into giving him her down jacket. Poison accepted the joke and put on Cheng Shi’s jacket, leaving their playful exchange unresolved as the group prepared to face the cold.

• Cheng Shi decided he needed ties with everyone in the team so they would not exclude him while he waited for a chance to take the Gift of Scars.
• Cheng Shi teased Poison about being honest with each other, and she played along while Jiang Chi and Da Yi watched.
• Cheng Shi removed his jacket and urged Poison to take off her down jacket, then picked it up and put it on instead of continuing the game.
• Cheng Shi joked that he had conned the jacket because he had not brought enough warm clothes, stunning Da Yi and Jiang Chi.
• Poison laughed, put on Cheng Shi’s jacket, and suggested they could share his down jacket if the cold became worse.

Poison explained how a pattern on a dead mummy’s blessed skin led her to believe the Gift of Scars was in Rosna, and she proposed using Jiang Chi’s control over time to reach the scene she had seen. Cheng Shi secretly warned Poison not to trust Jiang Chi, though his warning was fabricated to sow discord.

• Da Yi pressed Poison to reveal what she knew, and she confirmed that the Gift of Scars was in the trial.
• Poison recounted helping Mr. Horn’s former lover die and finding a pattern on the mummy’s blessed skin that depicted Rosna and the Gift of Scars.
• Poison said the pattern showed the same plaza they had just visited, and Jiang Chi considered her suggestion to change time so the scene would match.
• Poison discovered a broken pocket watch in Cheng Shi’s jacket and realized he had used it to signal that Jiang Chi might not be trustworthy.
• Cheng Shi had planted the watch to manipulate Poison and sow suspicion between her and Jiang Chi.

Cheng Shi, Jiang Chi, Da Yi, and Poison discussed the Gift of Scars, but Poison revealed Gongyang Jiao had stolen and swallowed the bandage puzzle that showed its location. The group accepted that Poison could not recover the image for now, while Cheng Shi suspected Da Yi and Hu Wei wanted the dagger for someone else and noticed Poison drawing Da Yi into her emotional game.

• Jiang Chi proposed adding the search for the Gift of Scars to his agreement with Poison, and Da Yi urged her to reveal the puzzle so they could find and kill Gongyang Jiao.
• Poison admitted Gongyang Jiao had taken the bandage puzzle and swallowed it, leaving its image only in her memory and his stomach.
• Cheng Shi offered to search Poison's memories, but when she accepted, he admitted he was joking and asked whether anyone had a memory-related item.
• Da Yi said he would trust Poison this once, and Poison assured him, "I Never Lie."
• Cheng Shi wondered whether Da Yi and Hu Wei sought the Gift of Scars for someone else, then noticed Poison had started drawing Da Yi into her influence.

Poison discovered that the group had arrived in the Rosna Empire’s hundredth year, suggesting they might be witnessing its fall in the domain of Memory rather than Time. Da Yi led the group to investigate the Imperial Court, where they sensed something was wrong; someone or something had watched them from the snow.

• Poison hypnotized a little girl, who identified the era as Rosna New Calendar Year 100 and the city as the imperial capital, Kannaal.
• Poison concluded that the Rosna Empire might be falling in the present and that the scroll’s scene was more likely from the past than the future.
• Da Yi threatened Poison over the Gift of Scars and ordered everyone to investigate the Imperial Court, while Jiang Chi accepted the plan and Cheng Shi followed.
• Poison teased Cheng Shi as they crossed the snowstorm, then led the group to the Rosna Imperial Court.
• Da Yi and Poison sensed unusually little life and activity inside the Imperial Court, and Da Yi asked Cheng Shi to provide healing as the group entered.
• After the four disappeared into the snowstorm, a pile of snow at a street corner shook loose before the wind covered it again.

Cheng Shi and the others found the Rosna Imperial Court deserted and rescued its sole surviving old man. After learning that the Emperor, ministers, and nobles had fled Kannaal City, Cheng Shi convinced the old man that they were saviors and began asking what had happened to Rosna.

• Da Yi determined that the palaces were empty and scouted ahead through the snow.
• Da Yi returned with a frozen old man, whom Cheng Shi revived with Healing Art.
• The old man refused to answer questions and tried to kill himself, but Da Yi stopped him and Cheng Shi healed him again.
• Under questioning, the old man said the Emperor, ministers, and nobles had fled, abandoning the empire and the people of Kannaal City.
• Cheng Shi told the old man that the group were saviors, then asked him to describe Rosna's suffering.

The players learned that the Rosna Royal Family had fled the capital, leaving its people exposed to the World Destroyers, and realized the vision Poison saw depicted a future event. They suspected historian Galen might be the black-clad figure who would gather the people, but Poison noted that his clothes lacked the figure’s hood.

• Galen told the players that the emperor and his court had escaped through a teleportation array as World Destroyers threatened Rosna.
• The players connected the World Destroyers to Annihilation and learned that Galen had been left behind to destroy the array.
• Cheng Shi questioned Galen about a past gathering at the imperial plaza, and Galen explained that Rosna Conscription Plaza had only been built recently.
• Poison drew the plaza from her vision, confirming that the pictured gathering had not happened yet and would occur in the near future.
• Cheng Shi suspected Galen was the vision’s black-clad figure, but Poison pointed out that the figure wore a hood and Galen did not.

Cheng Shi and the others learned that the First Prince once owned a legendary dagger, but Da Yi discovered it was likely gone and rushed to search for the prince. Cheng Shi suspected Da Yi and Hu Wei might be acting on secret guidance from Chaos, leaving him wondering whether he had crossed paths with allies from another company.

• Cheng Shi asked Old Galen about imperial symbols and famous daggers, and Galen recalled that the First Prince had once owned a blade that could cut iron.
• Old Galen revealed that the First Prince had been expelled from the palace and that guards had probably removed his collection and contraband.
• Poison examined Old Galen's extensive scars, but Da Yi pulled him away and demanded the First Prince's whereabouts.
• Galen pointed out the First Prince's palace, and Da Yi left the others to search for him.
• Cheng Shi wondered whether War or Chaos had supplied Da Yi and Hu Wei with information, and considered whether a board-member token could convince Da Yi that they were connected.

Cheng Shi, Poison, and Jiang Chi were caught in a fight with a Hunter, who shot Cheng Shi and disappeared with him. Poison and Jiang Chi realized Cheng Shi had been captured, while Poison warned that he was far tougher than Jiang Chi expected.

• Cheng Shi suspected Poison had influenced Da Yi, but Poison teased him and moved with him toward the hidden Hunter.
• Poison revealed her Assassin's suit as Cheng Shi exposed the chameleon with scalpels, and Jiang Chi attacked him with his Hour Hand sword.
• The chameleon struck Jiang Chi with a bow, then shot Cheng Shi with a silence arrow and captured him after Jiang Chi became trapped in silence.
• The chameleon wounded Jiang Chi and tracked Cheng Shi's blood, but Poison returned to find Cheng Shi gone.
• Jiang Chi told Poison that Cheng Shi had been captured and explained he had chosen not to protect him, while Poison cautioned that Cheng Shi was very tough.

Cheng Shi escaped the ambush and realized the hunters and his teammates had all helped leave him exposed. He used his Dice to separate the hunters and waited for Gongyang Jiao, preparing to fight him alone.

• Cheng Shi pulled out the arrow, teleported away using Dice he had planted along his route, and concluded the ambush had targeted him.
• Cheng Shi reasoned that Da Yi, Jiang Chi, and Poison had each helped create the opportunity for the attack, though he had never trusted his teammates.
• Gongyang Jiao pursued Cheng Shi with Chameleon, but Chameleon lost track of him as Cheng Shi blinked between distant locations.
• Chameleon split off to surround Cheng Shi, while Cheng Shi used his teleporting path to separate the hunters and lure one of them to him.
• Cheng Shi stopped when Gongyang Jiao appeared, put on invisible gloves, scattered Dice in the snow, and prepared to fight.

Cheng Shi fought Gongyang Jiao in a brutal duel, using the fear his opponent generated to charge the Amusement Ring and kill him with Thunder Punishments. Chameleon arrived too late and fled, while Cheng Shi opened a bone-covered door from Gongyang Jiao’s corpse.

• Cheng Shi endured Gongyang Jiao’s fearful shriek and attacks to charge the Amusement Ring with fear.
• Cheng Shi and Gongyang Jiao fought fiercely across the snowy alley, with Cheng Shi’s recovery gradually giving him the advantage.
• Cheng Shi detonated two Thunder Punishments inside Gongyang Jiao’s chest and killed him.
• Chameleon arrived, saw Gongyang Jiao’s charred corpse, and fled as Cheng Shi chose not to pursue him.
• Cheng Shi used a key from beneath his tongue on Gongyang Jiao’s corpse, causing its bones to form a terrifying door.

Cheng Shi opened the Gate of Desire Despiser and entered the abyss of desire, while Da Yi, Poison, and Jiang Chi dealt with the aftermath of Gongyang Jiao’s death. Cheng Shi arrived at Dolgo D's Evil Infant Tribunal and called for Afros to open the door.

• Cheng Shi opened the gate without making the usual sacrifices and vanished from the Rosna Imperial Court.
• Poison, Jiang Chi, and Galen heard thunder from the Imperial Court, and Da Yi returned without finding the missing daggers.
• Da Yi learned that Cheng Shi was missing and hid his knowledge that Cheng Shi had killed Gongyang Jiao.
• Da Yi took Galen and led Jiang Chi and Poison toward the lightning, claiming they were going to save Cheng Shi.
• Cheng Shi reached Dolgo D's Evil Infant Tribunal and pounded on the door, calling for Afros.

Cheng Shi encountered Time at Afros’s home and watched Lips of Foolish Play exchange cryptic words with the god. After Time departed, Lips of Foolish Play tricked Cheng Shi into telling Afros that it was his father.

• Cheng Shi arrived at Afros’s home and was stunned to find Time inside.
• Time greeted Afros, but Afros kept his eyes closed, so Lips of Foolish Play answered instead.
• Time asked whether Lips of Foolish Play had found something, and it replied that it had, though it still had not found him.
• Time said that time would prove everything, then left without explaining why it had come.
• Afros transformed into a woman and pressed Cheng Shi for an explanation, while Lips of Foolish Play made Cheng Shi blurt out that it was his father.

Cheng Shi pretended to be Deception's Envoy, Foolish Play, to mislead Afros and further his plan to uncover the truth about Lips of Foolish Play and Tongue of Lies. Afros accepted the claim, and Cheng Shi ended by declaring Deception superior to Filth and Decay.

• Afros sensed Cheng Shi's resistance to Filth and Decay and guessed that he was connected to the Great One on the Bone Throne.
• Cheng Shi admitted that he had another identity, and Afros tested him with a surge of Filth and Decay before guessing he was Destiny's Envoy.
• Cheng Shi rejected Afros's guess and claimed to be Deception's Envoy, Foolish Play, explaining that Destiny and Deception were Twin Gods of the same path.
• Afros said Hu Xuan had returned and that her attitude had led him to suspect Cheng Shi's identity.
• Cheng Shi told Afros he had been deceived and offered a vague explanation about Nothingness, which Afros solemnly accepted.
• Cheng Shi declared that Filth and Decay was fit only to be deceived before Deception.

Cheng Shi convinced Afros that Time had dismantled his Mask and asked to use the entrance to the Evil Infant Tribunal. When Afros asked whether Cheng Shi had been deceiving him, Cheng Shi admitted it and claimed the lies were an expression of his sincerity toward Filth and Decay, provoking Afros’s strange reaction.

• Afros questioned Cheng Shi about his conversation with Time, and Cheng Shi blamed the Tongue of Lies for the prank and described it as a fragment of his dismantled Mask.
• Cheng Shi agreed with Afros’s guess that Time had dismantled his Mask, and Afros was delighted to think they shared a grievance against Time.
• Cheng Shi asked Afros to tell him about any Mask fragments he found and to let him use the entrance to the Evil Infant Tribunal.
• Afros confronted Cheng Shi about the lies he sensed, and Cheng Shi openly admitted he had been deceiving him.
• Cheng Shi said he had lied to approach Filth and Decay sincerely, and Afros’s clothes fell to the ground as Cheng Shi became terrified.

Cheng Shi questioned Afros about Hu Xuan taking Zhen Yi to find Lucia, then deduced how Ages and Eras related to the gods’ descents. Afros confirmed his reasoning and suspected that Cheng Shi was actually the Fool's Play Envoy rather than an Othergod of Nothingness.

• Cheng Shi learned from Afros that Hu Xuan had taken Zhen Yi to search for Lucia, a Birth Envoy born during the Civilization Era who became an Envoy in the Era of Chaos.
• Afros confirmed Cheng Shi's deduction that each Age contained its own sequence of Eras, and that some Paths had not descended in earlier Ages.
• Cheng Shi reasoned that the Existence Era allowed Afros to become both a Birth Envoy and a Filth and Decay Envoy through new deductions enabled by time.
• Afros praised Cheng Shi's deduction, then accused him of being the Fool's Play Envoy, leaving Cheng Shi stunned and sweating.

Cheng Shi revealed to Afros that he was Foolish Play, an emissary of Deception rebuilding his shattered Mask through a bet, and learned that Decay’s transformation was connected to Primordial. As he prepared to leave, Afros sensed a remnant soul of Filth and Decay in Cheng Shi’s ring, and Cheng Shi realized Gongyang Jiao had secretly survived there.

• Cheng Shi told Afros that his Mask had shattered after a bet with Time and that he was rebuilding it as a player under a new bet with Deception.
• Afros warned Cheng Shi not to approach Decay and said Decay’s later compassion and changes were connected to Primordial.
• Cheng Shi thanked Afros and prepared to leave the Tribunal, but Afros noticed a scent of Filth and Decay on the Ring of Bone Servant Lele'er.
• Afros identified a remnant soul of a believer of Filth and Decay in the ring, and Cheng Shi realized Gongyang Jiao had used his death to hide there.
• Cheng Shi lied that he had brought the soul as a potential subordinate, then watched Afros depart and asked the ring whether Gongyang Jiao had enjoyed listening.

Cheng Shi returned to the Rosna Imperial Court and focused on the remnant soul in his ring, while Da Yi, Poison, and Jiang Chi searched for the First Prince and the dagger. Poison and Jiang Chi questioned each other’s loyalties, leaving their partnership uncertain.

• Cheng Shi examined the blood and footprints at the scene, suspected his teammates had returned, and decided to deal with the remnant soul on his ring.
• Da Yi, Poison, and Jiang Chi left the Imperial Court with Old Galen and began searching for the First Prince, who might know where the dagger was.
• Old Galen explained that the First Prince had been expelled for advocating armed resistance against the World Destroyers, and the players continued their search through the blizzard.
• Jiang Chi questioned Poison about her connection to Cheng Shi, and Poison admitted she had left him a message in Gongyang Jiao’s blood.
• Jiang Chi warned Poison that Cheng Shi might not help her and asked whether they would continue cooperating.
• Poison challenged Jiang Chi about his dealings with Da Yi and asked whether he had also made an agreement with another Assassin.

Poison, Da Yi, and Jiang Chi deduced that the First Prince was hiding near the square, but Chameleon ambushed them at the residence with Cheng Shi secretly supporting him. The chapter ended with the three players realizing the Fate Weaver and Chameleon had joined forces.

• Poison exposed Jiang Chi's agreement with Da Yi and used her knowledge of his preferences to keep him open to cooperating with her.
• After searching several locations, Poison asked about the First Prince's identifying features and learned that royal Purifying Sin scars were arranged neatly.
• Da Yi recognized that the First Prince was likely near the square and led Poison and Jiang Chi back to the residence.
• Da Yi gave Old Galen a potion, confirmed his answers, then knocked him unconscious before approaching the residence.
• Chameleon ambushed Da Yi, Poison, and Jiang Chi with silent arrows, and they realized Cheng Shi was secretly supporting him by mending Destiny.

Cheng Shi revealed himself as the mastermind behind the ambush and used Gongyang Jiao to attack Jiang Chi before directing the hunters to pursue Poison. Da Yi distrusted Jiang Chi and entered the First Prince’s hiding place, leaving Jiang Chi alone as the conflict shifted against him.

• Cheng Shi appeared and split Da Yi, Poison, and Jiang Chi with smoke bombs and surgical knives, while Gongyang Jiao burst from the smoke to attack Jiang Chi.
• Jiang Chi froze Gongyang Jiao with his time power, escaped, and then released him; Gongyang Jiao turned to pursue Poison instead.
• Cheng Shi, the Chameleon, and Gongyang Jiao targeted Poison, and Cheng Shi told Da Yi that the First Prince was inside.
• Jiang Chi warned Da Yi that the building might be trapped, but Da Yi accused him of abandoning Poison and questioned their alliance.
• Da Yi entered the First Prince’s hiding place, while Jiang Chi stayed behind and worried that his position was worsening.

Poison tried to escape the Hunters but stopped beneath the city wall and ambushed Gongyang Jiao with Dance With Me. Cheng Shi captured her after the attack failed, and Poison ended the chapter teasing him about the scalpel at her heart.

• Poison realized the ambush was aimed at her and fled from Gongyang Jiao, Cheng Shi, and the Silent Hunter before deciding to fight back.
• Poison struck Gongyang Jiao three times with Dance With Me, stirring his desires and leaving him badly wounded.
• The Silent Hunter fired arrows that forced Poison to retreat, while Cheng Shi healed Gongyang Jiao and closed off her escape.
• Poison ran into Cheng Shi, who had returned to his Priest identity, and he bound her with a bloodstained shackle.
• Poison stopped resisting and told Cheng Shi that his short scalpel probably could not reach her heart.