Chapter Summaries

Li Wufang, Wang Mou, Cheng Shi, and Qin Xin were caught in the aftermath of Wu Cun’s battle, and Qin Xin stopped her annihilation storm with a mysterious mirror. Wu Cun disappeared, and Wang Mou recognized Qin Xin’s mirror as the Dreamless Mirror.

• Li Wufang fired Arrows of Punishment at Wu Cun while Cheng Shi and the others arrived at the ruined block.
• Wang Mou sent mechanical mice into the smoke, then fled when Wu Cun unleashed an annihilation storm.
• Qin Xin blocked Cheng Shi from retreating and drew a mirror that absorbed the annihilation storm.
• The storm vanished along with Wu Cun, leaving void rifts across the battlefield.
• Wang Mou returned and identified Qin Xin’s mirror as the Dreamless Mirror, asking if he was Still Like in a Dream.

Qin Xin revealed that he was Still Like in a Dream and used the Dreamless Mirror to restore the Door of Falling after an Annihilation disaster. He explained that the town and the people recovered from the dream were real, leaving the group to confront the mirror’s power over Memory and existence.

• Wang Mou identified Qin Xin as Still Like in a Dream and explained the history and abilities of the Dreamless Mirror, a Memory artifact that could overlay dreams on reality.
• Qin Xin confirmed he had prepared a contingency, though he credited the investigator with delaying the Ember Annihilator long enough for his plan to work.
• Qin Xin withdrew the Dreamless Mirror, and the gray-white ruins and vanished people returned as reality regained its colors.
• Cheng Shi asked whether Yadelik’s corpse was fake, and Qin Xin explained that the Dreamless Mirror had restored real people and places erased by the disaster.
• Qin Xin explained that the Door of Falling’s Memory had already existed and that the mirror could turn it into a dream, temporarily distort reality, and restore what had been annihilated.

Cheng Shi and the others uncovered that Wu Cun had sought their help in using annihilation to understand a Seed of Annihilation, which could reveal the power of new life. As Li Wufang and Wang Mou prepared to track her, Qin Xin told Cheng Shi that the Wang Mou he knew had died by suicide, leaving Cheng Shi suspicious of the Doctor’s identity and Qin Xin’s uncertain memory.

• Li Wufang sensed that the lingering annihilation power near Wu Cun’s disappearance was nurturing something, and Cheng Shi and Wang Mou identified it as new life.
• Wang Mou explained that annihilation seemed to await the creation of a new world and concluded that Wu Cun wanted Li Wufang to annihilate her after she found a Seed of Annihilation.
• Qin Xin described the Seed of Annihilation as a blueprint for reconstructing the world and said Wu Cun was likely trying to understand her Lord of Grace through new life.
• Qin Xin recorded the scene with Memory’s power, while Li Wufang set a tracking trap and Wang Mou prepared to use his Doctor Assassin abilities.
• Cheng Shi asked Qin Xin why Wang Mou had concealed his profession, and Qin Xin said he had known a similar Erudite Scholar named Wang Weijin who died by suicide.
• Cheng Shi wondered why a follower of Memory could be unsure of his recollection and grew more suspicious of the people around him.

Cheng Shi and the others questioned Aromani about her connection to Yadelik, only to learn she belonged to the Brotherhood of Extreme Desire, a group devoted to Filth and Decay. Aromani began recounting events under pressure, but her flirtation with Cheng Shi left the gathering increasingly awkward.

• Cheng Shi and the others returned to the inn to discuss the trials and question the unconscious Aromani about Yadelik.
• Wang Mou woke Aromani, who mistook her abduction for a paid visit and demanded that the players cover the room fee.
• Cheng Shi asked Aromani what had happened between her and Yadelik, and she warned them not to oppose the Brotherhood of Extreme Desire.
• Li Wufang explained that the Brotherhood consisted of Filth and Decay's devotees and protected people involved in sexual services.
• Cheng Shi threatened Aromani with a scalpel to persuade her to give a detailed account, but her flirtatious response made his smile stiffen.

Cheng Shi and the others questioned Aromani about the incident involving Yadelik and learned that Xilolin had fabricated the story to extort the mining district. After Cheng Shi revived Yadelik, his strange behavior convinced the group that he might be connected to the trial’s temporal anomaly, leaving them eager to investigate him.

• Cheng Shi intimidated Aromani into recounting how Yadelik had acted out a fantasy of marrying her before punching the ground beside her, and she revealed that Xilolin had arranged the rumor to pressure her brother Alad.
• Cheng Shi knocked Aromani unconscious, and Qin Xin judged that she had been telling the truth.
• Cheng Shi used the Lush Antler Crown and a Healing Art to revive Yadelik.
• Yadelik rushed to protect Aromani and called her his wife, prompting the group to suspect he was the trial figure named Cencha and had been caught in a temporal anomaly.
• The four men stared at Yadelik until he grew frightened and asked what they wanted to do to him.

Cheng Shi and the others interrogated Yadelik and Aromani, discovering that one of them had been replaced across time, though they could not yet tell which. After deciding to investigate their pasts, the group split up, while Cheng Shi reassured Li Wufang that Destiny was guiding them; a familiar voice then addressed Cheng Shi from behind.

• Cheng Shi threatened Yadelik and questioned him about his relationship with Aromani, learning that they were engaged rather than married.
• Yadelik and Aromani accused each other of inventing their shared plans, and Yadelik chose his own life over his fiancée when Wang Mou posed a deadly hypothetical.
• Aromani tried to recruit Yadelik into the Brotherhood of Extreme Desire, while the others recognized that one of the pair was the temporal Cencha.
• Cheng Shi and Qin Xin concluded that either Yadelik or Aromani had been replaced and decided to investigate their pasts to identify the anomaly.
• Li Wufang asked whether An the Chosen had left the trial, and Cheng Shi argued that their discovery was guidance from Destiny.
• A familiar, cool voice praised Cheng Shi's understanding of Him from behind.

An Mingyu returned from death and used a Dice of Destiny to affirm the players’ decision, while the team split up to investigate. After Li Wufang and Wang Mou left, Cheng Shi knocked Aromani unconscious and asked An Mingyu what she had seen in the Origin.

• An Mingyu emerged from a bone door, and Cheng Shi restrained his curiosity about what she had seen before her death.
• An Mingyu rolled a twelve with the Dice of Destiny and said the players had made the right decision.
• Wang Mou corrected Li Wufang about who had found Yadelik and Aromani, then revealed his name and profession.
• Cheng Shi proposed pairing Qin Xin with himself and An Mingyu, while Li Wufang and Wang Mou investigated separately.
• Wang Mou took Yadelik toward the mine to investigate before looking for Alade, and Li Wufang followed him.
• After Li Wufang and Wang Mou left, Cheng Shi knocked Aromani unconscious and asked An Mingyu what she had seen.

An Mingyu revealed that her divination had shown nothing of the mysterious Source-Primordial, while Cheng Shi questioned her about her brief encounter with Death and resurrection. The conversation ended with An Mingyu naming the gods she had previously greeted.

• An Mingyu told Qin Xin she could not share what she had learned until she understood the danger to the Fire Keeper.
• After Qin Xin left with the unconscious Aromani, An Mingyu told Cheng Shi that her divination had shown neither the Source-Primordial nor even darkness.
• Cheng Shi teased An Mingyu and asked her to describe what happened when she greeted Death.
• An Mingyu explained that Death seemed to reject her but ultimately chose to resurrect her, and Cheng Shi learned that she had only been briefly seen in Fishbone Hall.
• An Mingyu told Cheng Shi that she had previously greeted War, Folly, Time, and Deception, the Twin Gods of Lord of Grace in Nothingness.

Cheng Shi questioned the Blind Man and Qin Xin about their audiences with Folly, then learned War had summoned the Blind Man early in the Faith Game. He left wondering whether War’s apparent interest in death and Destiny meant the god had truly gone out.

• Cheng Shi asked the Blind Man about Folly, and she brought Qin Xin back to describe his audience with Him.
• Qin Xin said Folly had asked whether his foolish act would have an answer, then dismissed him from the void before he could reply.
• Cheng Shi suspected Folly might know about the Fire Keepers but changed the subject rather than press Qin Xin about whom he had consulted afterward.
• The Blind Man recalled that War summoned her at the end of the Faith Game’s first month and sighed after finding no answer in her on an ash-covered battlefield.
• Cheng Shi compared her audience to Squinty Old Zhang’s and wondered what War was observing and whether He had truly gone out.

Death confronted Deception over An Mingyu’s corpse, whose death had entangled Death’s power with Origin. Deception accused Death of refusing to release An Mingyu because it feared losing control over death to Origin, leaving Death silent.

• Death recognized that An Mingyu’s skeleton carried Origin’s power and that Destiny was buffering the clash with its own authority.
• Death summoned Deception, accused it of contaminating An Mingyu with divine power, and threatened it with a scythe.
• Deception evaded Death’s attacks, noting that the Covenant would revive it if Death killed it.
• Deception explained that Death could have withdrawn its power and let An Mingyu pass toward Origin, but instead had kept the corpse entangled.
• Deception accused Death of fearing that a death touched by its power would escape its control, and Death fell silent.

Deception persuaded Death to grant a new faith to the Prophet of Destiny, intending to combine Destiny and Death to study the Primordial's power. Death sent the Primordial power in An Mingyu to Fishbone Hall and returned the revived Blind Man to reality, while Deception secretly survived Death's flames and prepared to act.

• Deception asked Death to grant the Prophet of Destiny a new faith so she would no longer suffer under Destiny's scrutiny.
• Deception admitted he wanted to fuse Destiny and Death to extract and study the Primordial's power, despite Death warning that it could corrupt or kill him.
• Death agreed to approve the faith fusion and transferred the conflict between the divine powers inside An Mingyu to Fishbone Hall.
• Deception vanished from Death's sight, and Death returned the revived Blind Man to reality before departing with Fishbone Hall.
• Deception reappeared after Death left, restored his scorched eyes, and said he was ready to get to work.

Cheng Shi, Qin Xin, and the Blind Man went to the shantytown to seek Xilolin and learn more about Aromani. They found the locals difficult to approach, and Qin Xin’s attempt to impress one woman ended with him lifting her into the shack’s thatched roof.

• Cheng Shi led Qin Xin and the Blind Man toward the shantytown after the Blind Man’s divination suggested they would find a clue there.
• The three entered the shantytown and saw its run-down buildings and residents openly indulging in desire.
• The Blind Man said her vision was obscured by desire and asked which of the men would approach someone for information about Xilolin.
• The Blind Man went to greet a woman in a shack, who mistook the group for smugglers and offered to waive their fee if Qin Xin was wild enough.
• Qin Xin grabbed the woman by the collar, lifted her into the air, and asked whether that was wild enough.

Cheng Shi and Qin Xin discovered that the shack girl was Xilolin, the leader of the Brotherhood of Extreme Desire, and Qin Xin subdued her so Cheng Shi could question her. Qin Xin also revealed the sacrifice behind the Fire Keepers’ sound-suppressing tool, while the group prepared to learn more from Xilolin.

• Xilolin revealed her identity after Cheng Shi recognized her, and she tried to seduce Qin Xin while urging the group to abandon the surface and embrace desire.
• Qin Xin suddenly attacked Xilolin, smashed her through the shack floor, and tore off her arm.
• The Blind Man explained that the Fire Keepers combined compassion with force, and Qin Xin asked Cheng Shi to heal Xilolin so they could question her.
• Cheng Shi healed the unconscious Xilolin and learned that the sound-suppressing object was a silent believer’s jawbone.
• Qin Xin explained that the first Fire Keeper he recruited had transformed himself into a silent tool to help protect others, and that those he sheltered were carrying on his final wish.

Cheng Shi and his companions interrogated Xilolin about Aromani, but her answers revealed no suspicious behavior. The Blind Man used a die to confirm that the other “Cencha” was somewhere in the shantytown, then the group began to split up before an abrupt disturbance interrupted them.

• Xilolin offered information in exchange for her life, and Cheng Shi frightened her by threatening to sew her severed arm back on.
• Cheng Shi questioned Xilolin about Aromani, and she explained that beatings were ordinary in the shantytown and regarded as glory by the Brotherhood of Extreme Desire.
• Qin Xin brought Aromani in, and the group reviewed both women's histories without finding any major inconsistencies.
• The Blind Man rolled a seventeen-sided die and declared that the other “Cencha” was in the shantytown.
• The Blind Man proposed that she and Qin Xin search elsewhere while Cheng Shi watched Xilolin, but a sudden noise and impact cut off their conversation.

Cheng Shi searched the outskirts of the shanty district and found two men who were working instead of indulging in the district’s usual activities. They mistook him for Mr. Morabik and eagerly asked when he would serve his regulars, leaving Cheng Shi unsure whether to play along.

• Cheng Shi left the central shanty district after warning the Blind Man and Qin Xin to be careful when the hour struck.
• Cheng Shi explored the district’s outskirts and found that the Brotherhood of Extreme Desire had turned its watchtowers into places of indulgence rather than surveillance.
• Cheng Shi considered retrieving Yadelik from prison if he found no useful clues elsewhere.
• Cheng Shi entered an unusually quiet earthen hut and was mistaken by two burly men for Mr. Morabik, whom they had been waiting for to serve their regulars.

Cheng Shi posed as Morabik’s contact while negotiating with two men from the Brotherhood of Extreme Desire, learning that their deal involved an Abyssal Crystal and extracting divinity. The men identified Morabik’s people as believers of Folly, leaving Cheng Shi alarmed that Folly’s influence had emerged earlier than expected.

• Cheng Shi pretended to be Morabik’s subordinate to avoid revealing himself to the two men waiting for a deal.
• The men said Xilolin expected Morabik to deliver the goods and that the Brotherhood would soon provide an Abyssal Crystal as payment.
• Cheng Shi learned that Xilolin and Arad were at odds, and the men asked whether Morabik’s people could extract divinity from the crystal.
• Cheng Shi claimed they had the expertise but lacked control of the mine, satisfying the men’s questions about why they would trade.
• One man explained that Morabik’s people were believers of Folly, shocking Cheng Shi and making him wonder whether Folly’s influence had already reached the world.

Cheng Shi discovered that Folly’s followers were trading in extracted divinity and left to involve the other Fire Keepers. Qin Xin and An Mingyu found Morabik and Allen Doyle, suspected followers of Folly, and closed in on them.

• Cheng Shi left knockout powder and tracking traps near the two men before rushing to find Qin Xin and the Blind Man.
• Qin Xin carried Xilolin through the shantytown and overheard Morabik and Allen Doyle discussing their plan and their experimental apparatus.
• Qin Xin hid Xilolin in an empty shack and followed the voices, where he encountered An Mingyu approaching the same spot.
• Morabik and Allen Doyle discussed meeting Xilolin and finding an Abyssal Crystal while planning an escape route and warning each other to conceal their apparatus.
• Qin Xin and An Mingyu silently surrounded the unaware men, and a slender sword tip stabbed into the dirt between Morabik and Allen Doyle.

Qin Xin and the Blind Man captured Morabik and Allen Doyle, who claimed to be followers of Folly and revealed their plan to refine divinity from the Abyssal Crystal to attract their god’s attention. Their strange beliefs and experiment left Qin Xin wondering whether they were really scholars from the Tower of Reason.

• Qin Xin knocked Morabik and Allen Doyle down as they tried to flee, and the Blind Man recognized Folly’s aura on them.
• Morabik and Allen Doyle eagerly argued over which of them should explain their purpose, revealing that Morabik mainly wanted to survive while Allen wanted to preach.
• Qin Xin chose Allen Doyle to speak, and Allen explained that they followed Folly and planned to refine distorted divinity from the Abyssal Crystal to earn an audience with their god.
• Allen described a grand plan to attract Folly’s gaze and rise to godhood, leaving Qin Xin and the Blind Man doubtful that their motives matched Folly’s.
• Qin Xin asked whether they were scholars from the Tower of Reason, and Allen Doyle denied it before asking how Qin Xin had guessed.

The Blind Man exposed the Fire Keepers’ ancestors as exiles from the Tower of Reason who had stolen essential experimental equipment, leaving Morabik questioning whether she had been sent to deal with them. Cheng Shi arrived, offered help, and began courting the Fire Keepers so they would assist him in extracting divinity from an Abyssal Crystal.

• The Blind Man deduced that the Fire Keepers’ ancestors had been sentenced to the Sunken Abyss after a failed experiment and had smuggled a crucial tool from the Tower of Reason.
• Morabik asked whether the Blind Man had been sent by the Tower of Reason to deal with the Fire Keepers.
• Cheng Shi arrived and declared that he had come to help the Fire Keepers, startling everyone except Qin Xin.
• Cheng Shi recounted his visit to the contact point, helped Morabik up, and claimed that he and his companions had long wished to join Folly’s faith.
• Cheng Shi ingratiated himself with the Fire Keepers because he wanted them to help extract divinity from the Abyssal Crystal.

Morabik and Allen Doyle's arrival revealed that Cheng Shi's expected meeting might involve a temporal anomaly, but the Blind Man's divination suggested Xilolin was the more likely connection. Cheng Shi and Qin Xin raced to retrieve her, and Qin Xin returned first with Xilolin's corpse.

• Morabik told Cheng Shi that he and Allen Doyle had only just arrived and had never met Xilolin, making Cheng Shi suspect a temporal anomaly.
• Cheng Shi fixated on Morabik's greeting and took offense at being called someone who had yet to be enlightened.
• The Blind Man divined that Morabik and Allen Doyle were probably not connected to time and suggested Xilolin might be the anomaly.
• Cheng Shi and Qin Xin left separately to retrieve Xilolin, while the Blind Man stopped Morabik and Allen Doyle from slipping away.
• Qin Xin returned first and dropped Xilolin's corpse before declaring that he had won the race.