Chapter Summaries

Wither arrived in a highly developed otherworld for an Ascension Difficulty mission and found the system’s objectives: locate Jiangcheng Cinema, watch a movie, and survive. Seeing its seemingly untainted, thriving civilization stirred his urge to spread contamination, and he reached the cinema to buy a ticket for “Nine Streams.”

• Wither arrived in the otherworld and reflected on how its colorful, thriving civilization contrasted with declining Fog City.
• He recalled that his despair over Fog City had led him to embrace contamination and destruction, and considered what dangers an Ascension Difficulty mission might hold.
• Wither read the system’s objectives to find Jiangcheng Cinema, watch a movie, and survive, and decided not to act recklessly.
• As he walked through the city, Wither wondered how its advanced information exchange had not caused contamination to spread, while feeling the urge to ruin the place.
• Wither reached Jiangcheng Cinema, saw people dressed as figures from otherworlds, and asked the ticket attendant for a ticket to “Nine Streams.”

Withered attended a screening of Nine Streams, mistaking the apparently ordinary movie theater and its audience for a world of deeply corrupted monsters. After the film’s imagery of pollution and an indescribable entity damaged his sanity, he struggled to endure the screening as it reached a Taoist temple.

• Withered chose the crowded screening of Nine Streams and entered the theater, wary of a possible attack.
• Withered saw multicolored mist in the movie and concluded that the seemingly normal audience were disguised monsters already corrupted by pollution.
• Withered watched He Chong reveal a mass of writhing insects, losing five points of sanity and struggling to keep from fleeing.
• Withered looked away from the screen to avoid further pollution, but the movie’s shifting light drew his gaze back.
• Withered saw a stone statue appear inside the Taoist temple, and his soul began to boil.

Withered struggled to complete his mission of watching a film despite suffering severe pain and sanity loss from witnessing Fang Geng, an Old One’s servant. Just as the film neared its end, a woman startled him into seeing another horrifying scene, and the movie shifted to a temple.

• Withered recognized the statue as Fang Geng, Lord of the Mountains, and lost five sanity when he witnessed it.
• Withered endured the film’s painful effects, blocked his senses, and drew strength from Fog City’s ancestral warriors as he continued his mission.
• A woman tapped Withered and spoke to him, causing his senses to return as worms formed from Fang Geng’s statue appeared on screen.
• Withered lost another five sanity, restrained his urge to attack the woman, and watched as the film shifted to a temple.

Wither was destroyed by the contamination of the sealed Old One shown in the movie, then revived outside the Jiangcheng cinema and fled into the sewers. Trapped in the Otherworld because he could not finish his mission, he followed a strange force and emerged through a bathroom floor drain.

• Wither recognized the temple in the movie as the source of contamination, but the audience watched it without fear.
• The temple’s image overwhelmed Wither with forbidden knowledge, and his body vanished into smoke.
• Wither revived outside the Jiangcheng cinema, sealed away his memories, and escaped from the passing humans into a sewer.
• Wither realized that watching the rest of the movie could kill him, while refusing to watch it left him stranded in the Otherworld.
• A peculiar scent drew Wither through the sewer and up through a floor drain into a bathroom.

Withered explored a human home in search of contamination that could restore his strength, ignoring unsettling signs in the bathroom and living room. He found a mysterious bedroom and discovered a pair of Hound's eyes beneath the bed.

• Withered noticed that his reflection in the bathroom mirror moved half a beat behind him.
• Withered saw wet hair retract into the shower drain but chose to keep exploring for contamination.
• Withered searched the living room and kitchen, then ate a soft, sweet, greasy, cold food from the refrigerator.
• Withered entered a mysterious bedroom and saw an eye among the wardrobe clothes before realizing it was an illusion.
• Withered found a clown doll beneath the bed, then saw a pair of Hound's eyes light up in the darkness.

Lu Ban checked the reviews for "Nine Streams" and noticed that the first Profound Lord remained mysteriously obscured in the film. While cleaning at home, he found a dried grayish-white mass under his bed and suspected Laika had pooped there.

• Lu Ban browsed polarized reviews of "Nine Streams," including praise for its characters surviving and speculation about the first Profound Lord.
• Lu Ban watched his footage again and noted that the first Profound Lord's appearance had always been hazy.
• Lu Ban cooked lunch and began cleaning, finding sticky, dried grayish-white mucus beneath his bed.
• Lu Ban asked Laika whether it had pooped under the bed, but Laika looked innocent and confused.

Tang Yu struggled to work as fans and reporters crowded her hospital after recognizing her from Lu Ban’s film. Lu Ban drew the crowd away, then saw that he had completed his Career Development Task and received 80000 Silence Points.

• Tang Yu told Lu Ban that a crowd inspired by his film was disrupting her work, so he went to the hospital.
• Tang Yu turned away a visitor who flirted with her by ordering him to get a CT scan.
• Lu Ban arrived and heard Tang Yu explain that fans and reporters believed she was the supernatural successor of the Corpse Sealer.
• Lu Ban removed his disguise and led the crowd away from the hospital, leaving Tang Yu with her genuine patients.
• Lu Ban suddenly reappeared in Tang Yu’s consultation room and said that a person always needed secrets.
• Lu Ban saw the system announce that he had completed his Career Development Task and gained 80000 Silence Points.

Lu Ban completed his career task and examined a mission in the Ruined City that could lead him to Daoist He Ming’s Pale Knuckle. He also read a second mission description about the birth of a natural-born saint before the chapter ended.

• Lu Ban reflected on how his career tasks had shifted from showing videos to getting others to imitate them.
• Lu Ban examined Daoist He Ming’s Pale Knuckle and reasoned that consuming the remains could grant power through dangerous contamination.
• Lu Ban speculated that Daoist He Ming’s knowledge came from Xuan Jun’s scripture and that he might have originated in another world.
• After returning home, Lu Ban saw the Soul Summoning Night mission set in the Ruined City and considered its differences from the Ruined City he knew.
• Lu Ban read the Holy Song mission description about a natural-born saint and saw its final question: “What exactly—what exactly did I give birth to?”

Lu Ban examined a clock linked to the Wasteland and considered the dangers of searching for the Snow Wind in Harmony Island’s Ashen Sea, but chose to prepare for a trip to the Ruined City instead. He browsed the Silence Department Store for powerful supplies and considered buying a ring containing the soul of a polluted mage.

• Lu Ban reflected on the Wasteland’s history and the mysteries of Saints, then studied a damp wooden clock with sluggish, branch-like hands.
• Lu Ban read the Snow Wind’s story and decided not to pursue it in the Ashen Sea, choosing to seek refined essence materials in the Ruined City first.
• Lu Ban checked his shop earnings and found he had accumulated a million Silence Points for replenishing his supplies.
• Lu Ban examined the Dream Jellyfish, a Mutation-grade item said to cleanse pollution, but noted that its claims might conceal greater pollution.
• Lu Ban considered buying the Interesting Soul ring to gain access to a polluted mage’s knowledge and magic, then looked at Dancer’s Smile.

Lu Ban exchanged for Dancer's Smile, a veil that marked threats and charmed even monsters, hoping it would help him in the Ruined City. Testing it triggered a severe mutation and voices from the veil, leading him to conclude that it was made from Zi Tang's corpse.

• Lu Ban chose Dancer's Smile because he was preparing for a mission in the Ruined City and hoped the veil might reveal useful knowledge.
• Lu Ban put on the veil and saw colors that indicated danger, while it marked Laika as extremely dangerous.
• Laika tried to lick Lu Ban under the veil's charm, demonstrating that the effect could influence even a Hound.
• Lu Ban heard voices and felt his body begin to mutate, so he melted himself to remove the changes.
• Lu Ban concluded that mutation-quality items came from Chosen of the Gods who died after failing their missions and that Dancer's Smile was Zi Tang's corpse.

Lu Ban entered the Transcendence-level cooperative mission Soul Summoning Night in the Ruined City after inviting a companion and preparing for the journey. He arrived in a gloomy, decaying hall, where a familiar voice greeted him.

• Lu Ban studied Zi Tang's veil and inferred that item levels reflected degrees of contamination, then turned the Ruined City clock to midnight and triggered Soul Summoning Night.
• Lu Ban read the mission instructions, sent an invitation to a Chosen of the Gods, and prepared to enter the foreign realm.
• Lu Ban read an online discussion about the Nine Streams and considered how changing public beliefs could affect encounters with contamination.
• Three days later, Lu Ban learned that the mission had two traveling companions, prepared a crowbar, and entered the Silent Land.
• Lu Ban arrived in a decaying hall in the Ruined City, where a familiar voice said he was there.

Lu Ban and Xiya were brought to a decaying mansion, where they met the people gathered over the deceased’s inheritance and awaited the ceremony’s remaining guests. The supposed detective from the Trist Detective Agency arrived, but Lu Ban and Xiya recognized that he was not Trist.

• Lu Ban found Xiya, who explained that she had been delayed fighting a demonic god’s favored servant while investigating cultists.
• A butler led Lu Ban and Xiya through the mansion and explained that its late master had collected paintings depicting Gudu’s works.
• The butler introduced Rum, Lily, Gaud, and Emma, who had gathered over the deceased’s inheritance.
• The butler said Master Byron and a detective from the Trist Detective Agency were still expected to arrive.
• The butler returned with someone he introduced as the great detective from the Trist Detective Agency, and Lu Ban and Xiya recognized that the newcomer was not Trist.

Stone arrived at Rainstorm Villa to investigate the inheritance Mr. Browning had left behind, which was believed to be connected to Daoist He Ming. After lunch, Stone told Lu Ban and Xiya that Trist had died ten years earlier and that Stone had inherited his detective agency and learned about The Silent Land.

• Stone introduced himself as the detective commissioned by Mr. Browning and explained that he had come to investigate the mansion's legacy.
• Stone revealed that Rainstorm Villa had once belonged to Daoist He Ming and suggested Mr. Browning had bought it to find He Ming's true inheritance.
• Stone asked the old butler about Master Byron, who was expected to arrive before the Soul Summoning Night, six days away.
• The guests ate lunch, and Xiya eagerly devoured the feast while Stone observed the Browning family.
• Stone told Lu Ban and Xiya that Trist had died ten years ago, after which Stone became a Chosen of the Gods and inherited Trist's Detective Agency.

Stone told Lu Ban that ten years had passed since Trist disappeared and delivered Trist’s final message. Lu Ban realized Trist had become Xuan Jun and sacrificed himself to seal an Old One, while the group’s investigation of Rainstorm Villa remained unfinished.

• Lu Ban considered how time passed differently in the Ruined City and the Night Country, and Stone explained that Trist had regarded fellow Chosen as his only true companions.
• Stone told Lu Ban that Trist had asked him to deliver the message, “The Dead salute those who march to their deaths.”
• Lu Ban connected the message to his encounter with the skeleton and realized Trist was Xuan Jun, who had sacrificed himself to reinforce a seal and pass his knowledge onward.
• Lu Ban traced a closed loop between Xuan Jun’s scripture, the Nine Chapters of Crane Song Secret Scripture, and his arrival in the Ruined City.
• Stone urged Lu Ban and Xiya to investigate Rainstorm Villa, saying Daoist He Ming might still be alive there.

Stone explained how Daoist He Ming survived sublimation by separating his soul from his contaminated body, and described the He Ming Sect’s soul-summoning ritual. He left Lu Ban, Xiya, and Trist with the claim that Daoist He Ming himself had once returned to life through a similar method.

• Xiya questioned whether Daoist He Ming was still alive, and Stone explained that he had ascended but left his contaminated remains behind while his soul survived.
• Stone said wealthy buyers consumed fragments of He Ming’s remains for power and youth, only to succumb to madness.
• Stone explained that He Ming had kept his soul hidden in the Ruined City while waiting to reclaim his body after its contamination was digested.
• Xiya asked about Soul Summoning Night, and Stone described the He Ming Sect’s ritual to return a dead person’s soul to an intact or fresher body.
• Lu Ban asked whether the ritual worked, and Stone said he knew of no successful cases before adding that He Ming himself had reportedly returned to life this way.

Lu Ban, Stone, and Xiya discussed Daoist He Ming’s resurrection ritual and how his history connected to Xuan Jun and Trist. Xiya explained that Trist might still be alive in another realm, and proposed finding him before he traveled to Lu Ban’s world.

• Stone recounted how Daoist He Ming gained fame by resurrecting a wealthy merchant with a summoned creature.
• Lu Ban explained that the resurrection involved a Mud Monster and shared what he had learned about Trist’s knowledge of summoning and sealing monsters.
• Xiya argued that events across realms formed closed loops in which established outcomes would happen even if one Chosen of the Gods failed.
• Xiya concluded that Trist’s death remained uncertain until Lu Ban observed it, and suggested finding him in another realm and persuading him not to travel to Lu Ban’s world.

Lu Ban, Xiya, and Stone discussed whether they could save the missing Trist by changing events through the Otherworld, then focused on the danger surrounding Daoist He Ming and Rainstorm Villa. Stone revealed that Browning had mysteriously regained his youth, leaving the group to consider whether Daoist He Ming’s legacy involved immortality.

• Xiya said the Otherworld might let them reach Trist in the past, and Lu Ban speculated that Du Danping could have staged his death and that finding Daoist He Ming might break Trist’s fate loop.
• Lu Ban set aside speculation about Trist, while Stone identified Master Byron as a likely bearer of Daoist He Ming’s will or relics.
• Xiya pointed out that the mission’s requirement to survive Soul Summoning Night suggested a greater danger than one of Daoist He Ming’s disciples.
• Stone explained that Browning had investigated Rainstorm Villa’s rumored legacy of immortality and showed Lu Ban and Xiya a recent photograph in which Browning looked much younger than his age.

Stone, Xiya, and Lu Ban theorized that Daoist He Ming had hidden a Soul Artifact in Rainstorm Villa that could restore his will and intensify the pollution. As they planned to search the mansion and investigate Browning’s family, a terrified scream erupted outside.

• Stone explained that Browning had grown younger since moving into Rainstorm Villa and suspected he had encountered supernatural pollution.
• Lu Ban proposed that Daoist He Ming had hidden part of his soul in a Soul Artifact, and Xiya deduced that Byron might use it to strengthen Daoist He Ming’s remains.
• Lu Ban suggested killing Byron and taking the remains, but Stone refused to act on speculation, saying he had repented of his past killings.
• Lu Ban urged them to search Rainstorm Villa and investigate Browning’s family, while Stone prepared to look into Browning’s activities.
• A terrified scream came from outside, and Lu Ban rushed out of the dining room.

Lily was nearly strangled by an unseen force while facing her reflection, but Lu Ban arrived in time to save her. Stone warned the household that a curse might be at work and urged everyone to stay together.

• Lily worried that Browning’s children would reject or harm her after his death, and she hoped Stone would protect her.
• Lily saw her reflection smile and choke her, then screamed for help as the force lifted her off the ground.
• Lu Ban broke into the room, found Lily alive but badly injured, and saw no monster with True Sight.
• Mrs. Emma and Rum arrived, and Stone said Lily had nearly killed herself under a curse or spell.
• Stone warned everyone that Daoist He Ming might have cursed the mansion and told them not to go anywhere alone.

Lu Ban and Stone investigated Lily’s possession and searched the rooms for Daoist He Ming’s relics while discussing Browning’s death and Gaud’s suspicious refusal. They questioned Emma about Gaud, his possible grudge against her father, and whether he knew Byron.

• Stone warned Rum and Emma that Daoist He Ming’s curse could endanger everyone and inspected their rooms, finding no clues.
• Stone explained that Browning’s youthful appearance had concealed his age and failing organs, and Lu Ban wondered why the inheritance mission had begun at that moment.
• Stone and Lu Ban considered whether Gaud was hiding Byron or pursuing a share of Browning’s wealth, while Lu Ban argued that an obvious suspect was often a smokescreen in detective novels.
• Stone and Lu Ban went with Emma to a private room, where Lu Ban asked whether Gaud held a grudge against her father or knew Byron.