Chapter Summaries

Emma described how her father changed after buying the manor, which Gaud had introduced to him, and accused Gaud of leading him into strange pursuits. As Lu Ban asked about Lady Lily and inheritance rights, Emma grew increasingly uncomfortable with his blunt questions.

• Stone asked Emma about her relationship with her father, and she described him as predictable until he bought the manor and began collecting strange things and keeping a mistress.
• Emma recalled that Gaud had introduced the manor to her father and suspected he had also introduced Lady Lily.
• Stone asked Emma about Gaud, and she explained his underworld past and his connection to her father’s business.
• Lu Ban suggested Emma’s father had used Gaud to handle illicit work, prompting Emma to give him an awkward, polite smile.
• Lu Ban asked what Emma thought of Lady Lily and whether her possible child could inherit, and Emma tightened her grip on her fan.

Stone and Lu Ban decided to question Gaud directly about Rainstorm Villa and Daoist He Ming, but found him dead in his locked room. The mystery shifted to Gaud’s murder, with his killer and the missing organs unknown.

• Stone reviewed Emma’s testimony and concluded that Gaud had a motive to reclaim Rainstorm Villa after Browning’s death.
• Lu Ban persuaded Stone to question Gaud directly instead of continuing with indirect investigations.
• Stone and Lu Ban went to Gaud’s room during the storm and found the door locked from inside.
• Lu Ban transformed into flesh-like sludge, slipped beneath the door, and entered the room.
• Lu Ban discovered Gaud’s body on the bed, his abdomen torn open and his internal organs missing.

Lu Ban and Stone investigated Gaud’s locked-room murder and found a handwritten copy of He Ming’s Brush Talk among his belongings. The book suggested Gaud knew more about Daoist He Ming than he had let on, but the killer’s identity remained unknown.

• Lu Ban noticed blood on the locked door and opened it as Stone arrived to find Gaud dead with his abdomen hollowed out.
• Lu Ban and Stone examined the room and concluded that Gaud had likely been killed before his body was mutilated, with no clear signs of theft.
• Lu Ban searched Gaud’s luggage and found Shadows of Terror and a handwritten copy of He Ming’s Brush Talk.
• Lu Ban read the altered, low-pollution book, which mostly contained exaggerated fan accounts of Daoist He Ming’s daily life.
• Lu Ban realized Gaud might have known more about Daoist He Ming and Master Byron than Browning’s children did, but he could not identify who had killed Gaud.

After Gaud was found murdered in his locked room, Stone tried to secure the scene and contact the police, but Rum objected and a landslide cut off Rainstorm Villa from the outside. The group remained trapped in the storm, and Emma burst into the dining room in panic.

• Stone found that Gaud had been killed after dinner, with all his internal organs missing, and ordered the servants to secure the room and report the murder.
• Rum stopped the butler from calling the police, fearing they would discover the villa's connection to Daoist He Ming and seize it.
• Stone discovered the telephone line was cut just as a landslide blocked the only road down the mountain and the power went out.
• Stone told everyone he had arranged for Sheriff Holler to send help if he missed their scheduled call, then restrained Rum and had Gaud's room and nearby guest rooms sealed off.
• Stone, Lu Ban, Xiya, and Rum returned to dinner, where Xiya and Lu Ban ate despite the murder and blackout.
• Emma rushed into the dining room, crying that she wanted to leave.

With the storm cutting Rainstorm Villa off from the outside world, Emma and Rum reacted to Gaud’s death while Stone warned that the killer might still be inside. Stone reassured them that the police would arrive in the morning, then admitted to Lu Ban that he had lied.

• Emma rushed into the dining room, demanded to leave, and learned from Stone that a mudslide had blocked the road and cut off communications.
• Stone told Emma that Sheriff Holler would come in the morning if he missed their check-ins, calming her fears about being trapped.
• Rum struggled with fear after seeing Gaud’s corpse and heard whispers urging him to seize the inheritance and eliminate his rivals.
• Stone said Gaud had been seeking Daoist He Ming’s inheritance and suggested the murderer might still be in the villa; Emma and Rum later left the dining room.
• After Emma and Rum retired for the night, Lu Ban asked whether the police could reach the villa in the storm, and Stone admitted he had lied about their arrival.

At Rainstorm Villa, Stone and Lu Ban deduced that the murderer might be killing people to uncover Daoist He Ming's legacy, but realized their unusually smooth reasoning and heightened emotions could be supernatural effects. Lu Ban suggested asking Lily, leaving the group poised to investigate her.

• Stone explained that the police would not reach Rainstorm Villa before Soul Summoning Night ended and suggested the murderer might act quickly to find Daoist He Ming's legacy.
• Lu Ban proposed that killing people could be part of the process of revealing the legacy, perhaps through sacrifices.
• Stone noticed that their deductions had come too easily and that Xiya and he were unusually confident and willing to provoke the murderer.
• Lu Ban and Stone concluded that supernatural forces might be amplifying everyone's emotions and thoughts, and Stone questioned whether their latest theory was another trap.
• Lu Ban suggested asking Lily about the possibility.

During a violent storm, Stone, Lu Ban, and Xiya found Lily terrified in her room and questioned her about Mr. Browning. Lily described his habits and behavior, then revealed that he had slept alone on the night he died.

• Lily cowered in fear during the storm as sinister whispers warned her that the Browning family would kill her.
• Xiya burst through Lily's door, and Lu Ban and Stone explained they wanted to ask about Mr. Browning.
• Stone calmed Lily, who recalled that Browning had been gentlemanly with her as a maid and enjoyed sweets and tea.
• Lily said Browning was rough and sometimes violent in bed, and Lu Ban noticed Stone handling a magnifying glass in his pocket.
• Lily recalled that Browning had chosen to sleep alone the night before the servants found him dead.

Stone was tormented by whispers and memories in a nightmare, then woke as he was about to shoot himself. Lu Ban had stopped the bullet and asked whether Stone had been having a nightmare.

• Xiya questioned Lily about Browning’s final night, and Lily said Browning had insisted on sleeping alone.
• Stone, Lu Ban, and Xiya concluded that Lily’s fear was heightened and moved her to another room.
• Stone went to bed with his revolver beneath his pillow and heard whispers urging him to kill the others and claim the manor’s secrets.
• Stone dreamed of his past with Lisi, the Godfather, and Trist before sensing danger and waking.
• Stone fired at Lu Ban, who stopped the bullet and prevented Stone from shooting himself.

Emma suffered a nightmare in which Lu Ban transformed into the Abyssal Maw and devoured her, then woke to voices convincing her that others were plotting to steal her inheritance. She armed herself and confronted a maid outside her room, where a gunshot rang out at Rainstorm Villa.

• Emma dreamed of selecting Lu Ban at a banquet before he became the Abyssal Maw and attacked her.
• Emma awoke in terror and remembered Lu Ban’s strange comments about wine being stomped by feet.
• Voices urged Emma to believe her inheritance was in danger and to kill those conspiring against her.
• Emma took a revolver and found a maid standing guard outside her room.
• Voices convinced the maid that Emma meant to kill her, and the maid stepped in front of Emma as Emma accused her of coveting her property.
• A gunshot rang out inside Rainstorm Villa.

Stone, Xiya, and Lu Ban realized that Daoist He Ming’s relic was distorting their thoughts and making people hear murderous whispers. After Xiya stopped Emma from killing a maid, they secured Rainstorm Villa’s servants and resolved to find the relic before the influence drove everyone to kill one another.

• Stone and Xiya compared their hallucinations and realized the whispers had urged them to kill their companions.
• Xiya heard gunshots, found Emma had shot a maid, and knocked Emma unconscious before healing the maid.
• Lu Ban, Stone, and Xiya searched the villa and ensured the servants were not in chaos by dawn.
• Lu Ban concluded Daoist He Ming’s relic was manipulating people to fuel a soul-summoning ritual, and the group decided to find it quickly.

Stone questioned Mr. Browning’s old butler about his employer and the inheritance, then showed Lu Ban a contaminated magnifying glass that forced people to answer questions. After using it, Lu Ban heard thoughts and discovered an unseen presence in the room.

• The old butler praised Mr. Browning’s treatment of his servants and said he knew nothing about hidden rooms, suspicious behavior, or the inheritance.
• Stone explained that the magnifying glass forced answers but made its holder hear nearby thoughts and strange mutterings.
• Lu Ban read the relic’s description and heard a cacophony of voices while holding Seeker’s Soul.
• Lu Ban returned the magnifying glass to Stone and said someone else was in the room, unnoticed by everyone.

Lu Ban used the magnifying glass to hear that an unknown person in the manor had killed Gaud and might be preparing a ritual to summon Daoist He Ming’s will and the Mud Monster. Stone revealed his tracking ability and offered a possible way to find the monster if they could confirm its involvement.

• Lu Ban explained that the magnifying glass could hear nearby thoughts and said an unknown person in the manor had killed Gaud.
• Xiya suspected the killer was trying to summon Daoist He Ming’s will, and Lu Ban explained how the ritual could summon the Mud Monster.
• Lu Ban told Stone and Xiya that the Mud Monster could absorb and imitate the wills of those it devoured, possibly including Daoist He Ming.
• Xiya failed to locate the Mud Monster with her Detection Spell, so Stone revealed his innate ability to track a target after touching something connected to it.
• Stone said he had an idea for finding the Mud Monster if they could confirm it was responsible.

Stone, Lu Ban, and Xiya tracked Gaud’s missing organs to Rainstorm Villa’s underground wine cellar while searching for the Mud Monster. They found a man hidden inside an oak barrel, who identified himself as Byron and begged them not to kill him.

• Stone proposed tracking Gaud’s missing organs because the Mud Monster might have swallowed them.
• Stone examined Gaud’s corpse and used his notebook to locate the organs in the underground wine cellar.
• Stone obtained the cellar key from the old butler, and the three searched among the oak barrels.
• Stone identified one barrel as suspicious, and Xiya destroyed it with Mistra’s Void Burst Technique.
• A thin man fell out of the barrel, surrendered, and introduced himself as Byron.

Lu Ban, Stone, and Xiya found Byron trapped in a wine barrel and questioned him about Gaud and the Soul Summoning Night. Byron claimed he was innocent, but Stone confirmed Gaud’s internal organs were inside Byron, leaving the group to decide whether to kill him or question him further.

• Stone confronted Byron at gunpoint, and Byron said he had been hired to perform the Soul Summoning Night ritual for Gaud.
• Byron explained that he had inherited a few simple spells from Daoist He Ming and said Gaud had left before him.
• Lu Ban told Byron that Gaud was dead and falsely accused him of killing and eating Gaud while suffering from a split personality.
• Byron retched at the accusation, and Stone confirmed that Gaud’s internal organs were inside him, though Byron’s words revealed no lie.
• Xiya proposed killing Byron or keeping him alive for answers, and Byron pleaded with the group to believe his innocence.

Stone questioned Byron about his dealings with Gaud and had Lu Ban examine him, finding no trace that Byron had eaten Gaud’s organs. The storm still blocked the only road to Rainstorm Villa, and Stone told Rum that Gaud and Byron had plotted to take Browning’s inheritance, which might include Daoist He Ming’s inheritance.

• Byron told Stone that Gaud had recruited him to fake spirit messages and help buy Browning’s villa cheaply.
• Lu Ban examined Byron by entering his body and found no evidence that he had eaten Gaud’s organs, though he left a clone inside to monitor him.
• Stone locked Byron in a room, and the old butler said no one else had entered the estate or visited the wine cellar.
• Rum arrived intending to punish Byron, then changed his mind when he learned Byron was a con artist who had plotted with Gaud to seize the villa.
• Stone told Rum that Daoist He Ming’s inheritance was in the villa and that Gaud might have learned how to obtain it.

Byron revealed that the paintings in Rainstorm Villa suppressed an entity and that moving them could release its power, leading Lu Ban to realize the mansion’s seal might fail on the ninth day. He concluded that the group needed to find and reinforce the seal’s nodes, then asked Stone where Browning’s body was.

• Byron explained that Gaud had planned to move the paintings and use the resulting supernatural incidents to drive the Browning family from the mansion.
• Lu Ban connected Byron’s explanation to Gudu’s tainted works and considered that the suppressed entity might be an Old One different from the one Gudu had served.
• Lu Ban reasoned that the paintings’ weakening seal had caused the hallucinations and that the seal could fail on the ninth day after Browning’s death.
• Lu Ban concluded that the group needed to find and reinforce the seal’s nodes, which might be Daoist He Ming’s legacy or Soul Artifact.
• Lu Ban asked Stone where Browning’s body was.

Lu Ban and Xiya overcame the supernatural confusion that had made everyone forget Browning’s body and searched the mourning hall. They opened his coffin and found it empty.

• Stone realized supernatural cognitive tampering had caused them to overlook Browning’s corpse, and Xiya asked the old butler where it was.
• The old butler remembered Browning’s body was in the main hall, and Xiya led Lu Ban there while Stone stayed behind to watch Byron.
• Lu Ban and Xiya found the mourning hall’s candles still burning and its offerings still fresh, despite no one having tended them.
• Xiya and Lu Ban ate the sacrificial chicken, then examined Browning’s coffin.
• Lu Ban and Xiya lifted the coffin lid and found no corpse inside.

Lu Ban and Xiya discovered that Browning's coffin was empty and realized Browning had been alive in Rainstorm Villa. Browning appeared in the hall, revealed that he was Daoist He Ming, and described his past clash with a jealous god that walked upon the earth.

• Lu Ban and the old butler found Browning's coffin completely empty, and Lu Ban realized Browning might have been alive and moving around the villa.
• Browning suddenly appeared in the hall and asked how Lu Ban's group had uncovered the villa's secrets and found Byron.
• Lu Ban asked about the existences suppressed by Gudu's paintings, and Browning explained that he was hiding from powerful beings that walked upon the earth.
• Browning said he had once fought a god with countless eyes, lost, and survived by using reincarnation techniques.
• When Xiya asked who he was, Browning said they could call him Daoist He Ming.

Stone deduced that Byron and Gaud were two identities of the same Mud Monster, which had consumed Byron and used his consciousness to conceal itself. As Stone explained his theory, Byron’s expression turned vacant and he began making bubbling sounds.

• Stone realized that Gaud’s innards pointed to Byron because the two were parts of the Mud Monster.
• Stone explained to Byron that contradictions between trustworthy testimony and evidence could expose what had gone wrong.
• Stone inferred that Byron had arrived at Rainstorm Villa long ago, been locked in a wine barrel, and ceased to be human after the Mud Monster consumed him.
• Stone concluded that after Gaud suffered a fatal injury, the Mud Monster activated Byron’s consciousness and hid within Gaud’s subconscious.
• Byron’s face shifted from fear and confusion to numbness, and he began making bubbling sounds.

Lu Ban and Xiya listened as Browning explained that Daoist He Ming had sought immortality by transforming himself into a concept rather than relying on a physical body. Browning then offered to make a deal with them.

• Lu Ban confirmed that Browning was Daoist He Ming, while Browning explained that ascension meant abandoning the material body.
• Browning cut off and swallowed his finger, then regrew it; Xiya knocked out the old butler when the contamination overwhelmed him.
• Lu Ban asked how an ordinary person could become a god, and Browning described gods as concepts given will.
• Browning explained that ascension meant becoming a concept, and Xiya realized that he existed through the concept of Daoist He Ming.
• Browning praised Xiya’s understanding and asked Lu Ban and his companions whether they wanted to make a deal.