Chapter Summaries

At Lu Ban’s Cannes premiere, he described his film as a warm, healing story, while the audience wondered what he meant by healing. During a later screening, Bai Qiquan was moved by the romance until an unseen nighttime scene began, leaving him frightened by what the protagonist found beyond a locked attic door.

• Lu Ban attended his film’s Cannes premiere and told an interviewer that he hoped his story would heal audiences.
• Bai Qiquan watched a later screening with his girlfriend, Pang Zhen, and they followed the film’s romance as it moved the audience to tears.
• Bai Qiquan noticed that the nighttime scene after the ceremony had not appeared in the version he had seen before.
• The protagonist entered the main hall, found the former Head Mikos’ ash urns and an empty courtyard, then approached the locked attic.
• Bai Qiquan felt a chill as the protagonist reached the attic, and the scene ended just as he saw what was inside.

After watching Lu Ban’s film, Bai Qiquan and Pang Zhen were devastated by Amber’s death but came to see the movie’s despair as a powerful, healing experience. They left the theater understanding why earlier viewers had kept the ending secret, and chose not to spoil it for the people waiting outside.

• Bai Qiquan watched Amber’s death in the theater, suffered a nosebleed and stomach cramps, and saw Pang Zhen frozen by the scene.
• After the film ended, Bai Qiquan reflected on Amber’s fate and concluded that the world itself was to blame for her suffering.
• Bai Qiquan left the screening hall and realized that earlier viewers had praised the film and withheld the ending so others could experience it without spoilers.
• Bai Qiquan smiled at the waiting audience, and Pang Zhen understood his decision and gave them a healing smile too.

After Spring No War left Cannes audiences both devastated and uplifted, its praise and backlash spread across review sites. As the film festival reached its final night, reporters anticipated Lu Ban’s arrival with the actress who played Amber.

• Bai Qiquan helped audiences enter screenings of Spring No War and saw them leave wearing the same healing smile as other Cannes residents.
• Newspaper coverage praised the film, while viewers who objected to its tragic ending posted angry reviews online.
• Other viewers defended Spring No War as a healing film and argued that it had made Cannes kinder and more positive.
• The debate intensified as more people watched the film, and the Cannes Film Festival reached its final day.
• Reporters gathered for the awards ceremony, expecting Lu Ban to attend with the actress who played Amber.

At Cannes, Lu Ban walked the red carpet as if escorting Amber, though no one could see anyone beside him. The baffled viewers and reporters were left debating whether she was invisible, absent, or part of a performance.

• Viewers speculated about the identities and acting skills of Lu Ban's secretive actors, and many predicted that Amber's actress would win Best Actress at Cannes.
• Lu Ban arrived at the Cannes red carpet, where reporters waited to see the actress who played Amber.
• Lu Ban opened the car door and walked down the carpet as if escorting an unseen woman, stunning reporters and livestream viewers.
• Viewers argued over whether Amber was invisible, absent, or part of performance art, while some claimed they had seen her.
• Pang Zhen asked Bai Qiquan about Amber, and he said he trusted that Director Lu had his reasons.

At the Cannes awards ceremony, Lu Ban accepted the Best Screenplay award for Spring No War and explained that he could not save Amber, leaving the audience to interpret his words as grief over a character he had created. Amber then won Best Actress, but the spotlight revealed that the seat beside Lu Ban was empty.

• The ceremony drew attention to the empty seat beside Lu Ban, which many believed was reserved for Amber.
• Lu Ban accepted Best Screenplay for Spring No War and said he had tried to change the story but could not save Amber or undo what had happened.
• The guests interpreted Lu Ban's remarks as a creator's grief over a character's death, while livestream viewers struggled to understand him.
• Lu Ban was announced as the winner of Best Director and Best Actor, prompting speculation that he might sweep the major awards.
• The presenter announced Amber as the Best Actress winner, and the spotlight fell on the empty seat beside Lu Ban.

At the Cannes ceremony, Lu Ban treated Amber’s absence as though she were present, and the audience embraced the gesture as her acceptance speech. Spring No War won the Palme d'Or, and Lu Ban ended the chapter with a speech about humanity changing to avoid destruction.

• Lu Ban encouraged the empty seat beside him as a spotlight tracked an unseen presence to the stage.
• The Cannes Best Actress set Amber’s trophy beneath the spotlight, and Lu Ban led applause as the audience imagined Amber’s acceptance speech.
• Bai Qiquan explained Amber’s absence as art transcending its actress, while Pang Zhen wondered if she was losing her mind when she too sensed someone standing there.
• The presenter announced Spring No War as the Best Film, and Lu Ban accepted the Palme d'Or.
• Lu Ban said his films aimed to bring warmth, growth, and healing, and urged humanity to change before civilization was destroyed.

The Golden Bear jury accepted Spring No War into competition despite its Palme d’Or win, and the film swept the Berlin awards. As international acclaim and controversy grew, Lu Ban defended his work in an interview and revealed that Amber was present.

• The Golden Bear jury debated whether to admit Spring No War after its Cannes victory, then accepted it to avoid being outshone by the other festivals.
• In July, Spring No War won the Golden Bear for Best Film, the Silver Bear for Best Director, and several other major awards.
• Critics in North America and Britain praised the film’s anti-despair message and its emotional effect on audiences, while the Yomiuri Shimbun denounced its portrayal of Harmony Island.
• Spring No War topped the island nation’s box office despite the negative publicity.
• Lu Ban told Wang Qing that the film’s setting was necessary to its story and that viewers could interpret its ending in different ways.
• When asked about Amber’s absence from public appearances, Lu Ban said she was there.

Lu Ban’s Spring No War reached audiences across the country through charity screenings, leaving viewers shaken but newly hopeful. After watching it, police officer He Youwu sought psychiatric help, only to discover that the doctor who greeted him was a patient who shared the film’s mysterious smile.

• Doctor Hao arranged a charity screening of Spring No War for patients at Jiangcheng City Mental Hospital, where Bi Jia helped seat everyone.
• After the movie, Doctor Hao broke down over Amber’s final scene, and the patients comforted the hospital staff.
• Spring No War prompted inmates to confess or work harder at reform, while thousands of people surrendered to police.
• Chen Danshen recommended the movie to his exhausted colleague He Youwu, who watched it after his shift.
• He Youwu went to the mental hospital for help and realized the young doctor was a patient, then smiled in understanding.

Lu Ban completed his film career task after Spring No War won an unprecedented Grand Slam, then considered his next task and the dangers of contaminated items. He rejected the wasteland option and chose the mage tower task, leaving the start of his next adventure imminent.

• Spring No War won every award available to it, and Lu Ban completed his Career Development Task with 60,000 Silence Points.
• Lu Ban calculated that he needed about 40,000 more Silence Points to unlock the next store stage and worried his combat strength might not be enough for Ruined City.
• Lu Ban reflected on contamination in Silence Department Store items and wondered what Xiya's innate item was.
• Lu Ban's trophies transformed into choices for his next task: Doomsday Wildflower, Tonight Above the Tower, and a third unknown trophy.
• Lu Ban dismissed the wasteland task and eagerly chose Tonight Above the Tower, which sent him to investigate a mage tower abandoned for thirty years.

Lu Ban selected the Ruined City mission, hoping to find the Crane's Song Ascension Chronicle, and used Madman's Knowledge to uncover clues about the doctor's murder and the Crane's Song School. He invited a companion, and the mission began once two companions had joined.

• Lu Ban chose the Glass Flower trophy for its Ruined City mission and exchanged for ten draws of Madman's Knowledge to learn about it.
• Lu Ban heard that Dr. House had been killed, the Crane's Song School had survived its destruction by blending into society, and the slums were dangerous at night.
• Lu Ban realized the mission was cooperative and sent an invitation, hoping Xiya or Trist would join him.
• Lu Ban noticed Amber moving objects on his table and told her to stop, then received a message that a companion had joined.
• The system announced that two companions had met the mission's start conditions, and Lu Ban picked up the trophy to select the mission.

Lu Ban entered Ruined City’s investigation mission and found himself trapped in a coffin inside a crematorium. After blasting his way out, he was mistaken for the missing corpse, and Trist arrived as the funeral home accused him of stealing it.

• Lu Ban accepted the Aberration mission to find Dr. House’s murderer and survive until the event ended, then entered The Silent Land with two companions.
• Lu Ban awoke trapped in a coffin as it heated inside a wood-fired crematorium.
• Lu Ban used Last Words to blast through the coffin and fell into the cremation chamber among the deceased man’s family and funeral-home staff.
• Lu Ban denied stealing the corpse and struggled to understand why the mission’s people did not seem to accept him as one of their own.
• A funeral-home employee brought Trist into the room and identified Lu Ban as the person who had stolen the corpse.

Lu Ban reunited with Trist and Xiya after an awkward escape from the funeral home, where they planned to investigate Dr. House’s corpse. Trist explained the murder case and his commission from Madam Martina, while Lu Ban raised the possibility of two other victims in the serial killings.

• Lu Ban greeted Trist at the funeral home, escaped when Trist ordered the employees to arrest him, and met Trist afterward at a nearby teahouse.
• Lu Ban and Trist waited for Xiya, who arrived in heavy armor and explained that the funeral home’s disorder had delayed their request.
• Lu Ban learned that Xiya had arrived the previous night and that he might have spent the same time sleeping inside a coffin.
• Trist told Lu Ban and Xiya that they would inspect Dr. House’s corpse that afternoon and explained that House was a well-regarded doctor found dead in his clinic two days earlier.
• Lu Ban mentioned a murdered gang member and call girl, and Trist said he might ask the police chief about similar cases.
• Trist revealed that Madam Martina of the Catania Family had hired him to investigate one of House’s medical records, possibly concerning her lover.

Lu Ban, Trist, and Xiya examined Dr. House’s corpse at the Ruined Capital Funeral Home and found that his organs had been turned into a glass flower. They discussed possible leads before the funeral home staff mentioned a woman who had recently appeared in Black Street.

• A funeral home staff member explained why the morgue handled bodies from Black Street and led Lu Ban, Trist, and Xiya to Dr. House’s corpse.
• The staff member revealed that police suspected murder, and he uncovered Dr. House’s body, whose organs and bones had been transformed into a glass flower.
• Lu Ban used True Sight to identify Dr. House’s last meal and noted that it seemed too expensive for his usual circumstances.
• Trist reviewed Dr. House’s movements and said his last known visitor was a supplier, while Xiya suggested looking for other victims.
• The funeral home staff member asked whether they had heard about a woman who had recently appeared in Black Street.

Lu Ban, Xiya, and Trist investigated the death of Dr. House, whose body was found covered in Glass Flowers, and considered whether an urban legend concealed the truth. They left the funeral home to inspect Dr. House’s clinic, where the story left them examining the cordoned-off place where he had died.

• Trist explained the urban legend about a woman whose victims were found dead in the sewers, while Xiya told a tale about the Night King.
• Lu Ban noticed perfume on Dr. House’s body and learned that the doctor’s only known patients that afternoon were a bartender and a factory worker.
• Lu Ban spotted unusual color between the corpse’s organs, and Trist suggested it might be dye brought in by the factory worker.
• Xiya wondered whether Dr. House had enemies, and Trist said the well-liked doctor might have had hidden conflicts or offended someone dangerous.
• Lu Ban, Xiya, and Trist decided to inspect Dr. House’s clinic and question a supplier, then went to the clinic and found the room where his body had been discovered cordoned off.

Lu Ban, Trist, and Xiya investigated Dr. House’s clinic and uncovered records linking Madam Martina to a series of deaths. Behind a hidden trapdoor, they found a woman covered in Glass Flowers.

• Xiya and Trist examined Dr. House’s clinic and discussed whether he had been killed there or elsewhere.
• Trist explained the Catania Family’s growing influence and found medical records filed under Matilda, another name for Martina.
• Trist discovered that three people connected to the records were already dead and realized Martina was only one link in a larger chain.
• Lu Ban found a concealed trapdoor behind a cabinet in the basement after noticing a morgue-like perfume.
• Lu Ban, Trist, and Xiya opened the hidden room and found a woman lying on a hospital bed with Glass Flowers blooming across her body.

Lu Ban, Trist, and Xiya investigated a secret hospital room and found a courtesan's corpse bearing a Glass Flower, leaving them unsure how she and Dr. House had died. A sudden oppressive presence vanished when a police officer entered, and Lu Ban surrendered to him.

• Lu Ban examined the medicines and bloodied bed in Dr. House's secret room while Trist and Xiya inspected the woman's body.
• Trist identified the woman as a courtesan, and Lu Ban found little food in her stomach; the three considered whether a supernatural illness had caused both deaths.
• Lu Ban reasoned that the Glass Flowers were not contagious, and Xiya found a stale box of biscuits as Trist began investigating paint marks on the corpses.
• A slow sound and sudden oppressive darkness filled the room, prompting Trist to reach for his revolver.
• A police officer entered, the oppressive presence vanished, and Lu Ban raised his hands and surrendered.

While searching Dr. House’s living quarters, Lu Ban and Trist discussed stories about Daoist He Ming and considered whether Dr. House had been the killer’s real target. Lu Ban proposed that the prostitute’s death might have been incidental, leaving the killer’s motive unresolved.

• As they waited for police reinforcements and forensic doctors, Lu Ban, Trist, and Xiya searched Dr. House’s unusually spotless living quarters.
• Trist told Lu Ban that Madam Charlotte had performed an opera called “Crane's Song Chronicle,” but he had never heard of “Crane's Song Ascension Chronicle” or Rainstorm Villa.
• Xiya pressed Trist about Madam Charlotte, and he changed the subject to the investigation.
• Trist suggested that the room’s lack of signs of ordinary use meant Dr. House might not have slept there, or someone had cleaned it deliberately.
• Xiya questioned whether Dr. House’s death fit a killer’s motive, and Trist raised the possibility of a Pleasure Killer.
• Lu Ban theorized that Dr. House was the intended victim and the prostitute may have been killed accidentally, with the body’s placement meant to signal the killer’s target.

After leaving Dr. House’s clinic, Trist, Lu Ban, and Xiya discussed a presence that only Trist had sensed and planned the next steps in their investigation. As they returned to Trist’s agency, they talked about Prohibition and the harsh lives of Ruined City’s workers, and Trist went to borrow blankets for his guests.

• Trist told Lu Ban and Xiya that he had sensed someone watching him in Dr. House’s underground chamber, though neither of them had sensed anything.
• The three discussed investigating Dr. House’s supplier, his two patients, and the victims’ relatives, while Trist planned to give Madam Martina the medical records.
• Lu Ban, Xiya, and Trist walked through Gray Alley and discussed how Prohibition was enforced among the poor while wealthy people still had access to alcohol.
• Trist explained that factory workers faced dangerous conditions and had few alternatives to poverty in Ruined City.
• The three arrived at Trist’s Detective Agency, where an orange cat fled from Lu Ban, and Trist went downstairs to borrow blankets.

Trist dreamed of a poor girl sharing bread with him and promising they would work at a factory together, then woke feeling the memory was not his own. After Lu Ban and Xiya suspected the dream connected Trist to the murderer, the group considered how it might help their investigation.

• Trist dreamed he was sick in a dark alley, where a girl shared bread with him and promised they would stay together.
• Trist woke to find Big Orange Cat sleeping on his chest and wondered whether contaminated knowledge had entered his mind.
• In the morning, Trist told Lu Ban and Xiya about the dream, and Lu Ban said it seemed like a memory had been put into his head.
• Lu Ban and Xiya suggested the murderer might be targeting Trist or had formed a connection with him.
• Lu Ban inspected Trist's forehead for a lightning-shaped scar, leaving Trist confused.

Trist questioned Dr. House's supplier, Joe, about the doctor's recent dealings and then delivered a file to Madam Martina's men in exchange for a charity banquet invitation. At the instrument shop, a young man confronted Trist and offered him a business proposal.

• Trist questioned Joe, who denied supplying the prohibited medicine and said Dr. House had recently ordered more lung medicine and sometimes treated factory workers for free.
• Trist judged Joe unlikely to have killed Dr. House and left to visit Madam Martina while Lu Ban and Xiya waited at a restaurant.
• Trist delivered a file to Madam Martina's men at an instrument shop and received an invitation to a charity banquet.
• Trist returned to the shop and found its owner detained by two enforcers as a young man played the violin.
• The young man stopped playing, recognized Trist as a great detective, and offered him a business proposal.