Recaps

Lin Yu and Li Nian suspected the caravan's sealed cargo was attracting the mountain demons, but they decided to keep following it toward Willow Town. As the demons continued tracking them, Old Zheng detected their leader approaching, and Lin Yu warned the caravan that another attack was imminent.

• Lin Yu reasoned that the caravan's unusual cargo might be drawing the mountain demons, since neither Li Nian nor Fei Dao seemed to be attracting them.
• Li Nian suggested stealing the cargo to identify it, but Lin Yu warned it could be dangerous and said they should proceed cautiously.
• Lin Yu observed that the mountain demons were still following the caravan despite fearing Li Nian, and suspected the cargo was the cause.
• Old Zheng warned Lin Yu that a powerful mountain demon leader was approaching from the rear right, about a minute and twenty seconds away.
• Lin Yu learned the leader was a much stronger, smarter baboon and shouted to warn everyone of another attack.

Lin Yu and the escorts faced a renewed assault led by a giant mountain demon, and Lin Yu enlisted Fei Dao and Li Nian to help bring it down. Fei Dao briefly immobilized the leader, giving Lin Yu a chance to fire three arrows as the battle continued.

• Lin Yu warned Yue Zhenqiao that a mountain demon leader was approaching, and Yue ordered the escorts into a defensive formation.
• The giant mountain demon hurled a boulder and led more than a hundred demons in a charge against the convoy.
• Lin Yu asked Fei Dao to restrain the leader briefly and asked for a bow; Li Nian handed him one and agreed to help.
• Fei Dao used his [Penalty Card] to freeze the mountain demon leader for a moment.
• Lin Yu drew the bow and shot three arrows at the immobilized leader.

Lin Yu used ink and the [Shady Corner] to ambush and defeat the Mountain Demon Leader after Fei Dao briefly immobilized it. He then announced that he would try to tame the still-living demon with a [Collar], while Yue Zhenqiao and the escort guards prepared to cover him.

• Lin Yu used the [Water Prayer Necklace] to coat arrows with ink and create a cloud of darkness around the Mountain Demon Leader.
• Lin Yu emerged from the shadows and struck the Mountain Demon Leader four times with a torch, knocking it down and sending the other mountain demons fleeing.
• The escort guards praised Li Nian and Lin Yu, while Yue Zhenqiao recognized that the pair were far more powerful than ordinary Willow Town escort guards.
• Lin Yu stopped Yue Zhenqiao from celebrating, climbed onto the dazed Mountain Demon Leader, and prepared to use a [Collar] to tame it.
• Lin Yu told Yue Zhenqiao that he planned to tame the demon and asked the escort guards to cover him.

Lin Yu subdued the Mountain Demon Leader with the [Collar] and questioned it about its attack on the escort convoy. Its answer revealed that something inside the carriages had lured the demons, and Lin Yu confronted Yue Zhenqiao after realizing he did not know what the cargo was.

• Lin Yu placed the [Collar] around the Mountain Demon Leader’s neck, gained the escort guards’ belief, and used the collar to make the demon submit.
• Lin Yu learned through his veterinarian ability that the demon was named Lu Jika, renamed it Three Suns, and asked why it had attacked the convoy.
• Three Suns explained that something inside the carriages had a powerful allure for demons, and Old Zheng told Lin Yu that demons could sense it through Qi Mechanism perception.
• Lin Yu suspected the carriage’s protections had deliberately left it vulnerable to detection by demons and asked Yue Zhenqiao what the convoy was carrying.
• Yue Zhenqiao appeared uncertain about the cargo, and Lin Yu challenged him for not knowing what he was escorting.

Lin Yu and Li Nian reasoned that a living creature inside the sealed carriage had attracted the demons, but Yue Zhenqiao refused to open it because of the escort agency’s rules. Lin Yu staged an accident to make the Mountain Demon Leader tear into the carriage, leaving its contents still unrevealed.

• Yue Zhenqiao identified the employer as a wealthy merchant from Xian Town, while Lin Yu questioned why the demons had only been attracted to the shipment at Fu Yuan Mountain.
• Three Suns said it had sensed the tempting contents from the start, and Li Nian confirmed that living creatures were inside the carriage.
• Lin Yu persuaded Yue Zhenqiao that damage caused by an accident would not violate the escort rules, then secretly provoked Three Suns into breaking free.
• The Mountain Demon Leader overturned the cart and tore open a narrow gap in its sealed door, but Yue Zhenqiao attacked it before the contents were revealed.

Lin Yu staged Three Suns’s apparent rampage so Li Nian could inspect the overturned escort carriage. The carriage contained a chained human left arm, which Lin Yu and Li Nian believed was alive.

• Lin Yu calmed Three Suns with a staged display while the carriage door broke off, exposing its contents.
• Li Nian persuaded Yue Zhenqiao and the escorts to let her inspect the overturned carriage.
• Lin Yu had Three Suns carry him to the carriage, and Yue Zhenqiao chose to pretend he did not suspect a staged rampage.
• Lin Yu and Li Nian found a human left arm bound with chains inside the carriage.

Lin Yu and Li Nian inspected a carriage and found a living, soulless partial human body wrapped in talismans, which strongly attracted Three Suns. Lin Yu left the mystery unresolved and urged the group to find shelter from the worsening heat in Fire Hell.

• Lin Yu and Li Nian discovered a talisman-covered partial body inside the overturned carriage and found no sign of a soul, spirit, or thought within it.
• Three Suns reacted restlessly to the partial body, while the draft beast and nearby guards showed no response to its aura.
• Lin Yu concluded that the other two carriages were probably decoys and chose not to investigate them yet.
• Lin Yu noticed the rising heat and pointed out that Fei Dao was nearing heatstroke.
• Lin Yu urged Headman Yue and the group to find shade and rest before the heat worsened.

As the caravan struggled through Fire Hell’s punishing heat, Yue Zhenqiao changed their route to seek shelter at Chen Family Fortress before noon. Lin Yu suspected the fortress held some danger when the guards hesitated at the plan.

• The heat wore down the caravan guards, Fei Dao, Lin Yu, and Old Zheng, while Li Nian and Three Suns remained relatively comfortable.
• Li Nian noticed Yue Zhenqiao hesitating over his map and inferred that he was considering a different place to rest.
• After leaving Fu Yuan Mountain, Yue Zhenqiao chose the fork toward Chen Family Fortress instead of continuing to Five Springs Village.
• The Deputy Caravan Leader persuaded the guards that Chen Family Fortress was the safer option before noon, and they followed Yue Zhenqiao toward it.
• Lin Yu noticed the guards’ hesitation and suspected that something was strange about Chen Family Fortress.

Lin Yu and the Jinfu Escort Agency team reached the apparently abandoned Chen Family Fortress to escape the midday heat. Though Lin Yu detected no life, Old Zheng sensed faint traces underground, and the gate opened to reveal a welcoming old man whom Li Nian identified as a Dead Thing.

• As the team crossed Double Saw Mountain, several injured escorts fainted in the heat while Fei Dao remained barely alive.
• Yue Zhenqiao led the group to the dilapidated Chen Family Fortress, which Lin Yu found seemed long abandoned.
• Lin Yu scanned the fortress and detected no signs of life, but Old Zheng sensed several faint sources of Mental Power hidden underground.
• Yue Zhenqiao asked the fortress for shelter, and Lin Yu realized his hesitation suggested he knew something was strange about the place.
• An old man opened the gate and warmly welcomed the team inside, and Li Nian quietly told Lin Yu that he was a Dead Thing.

Lin Yu and the Jinfu Escort Agency caravan entered Chen Family Fortress, where Lin Yu discovered that its seemingly lively villagers were actually dead Empty Shells. After the caravan settled in, Yue Zhenqiao revealed that Chen Family Fortress was notorious for people disappearing and getting into trouble.

• Lin Yu sent Three Suns to hide in Double Saw Mountain while he entered Chen Family Fortress with the caravan.
• Chen Yongde led the caravan to an underground plaza and then to the guest lodging, where the escorts rested in the shade of old cooling talismans.
• Lin Yu sensed that Chen Yongde and the villagers appeared alive but were actually dead Empty Shells, unlike the living ruined body carried by the Jinfu Escort Agency.
• Yue Zhenqiao said the caravan was lucky to have arrived safely, then explained that Chen Family Fortress had one of the region's highest rates of people disappearing or getting into trouble.

Yue Zhenqiao explained Chen Family Fortress’s history of mysterious caravan disappearances, but Lin Yu realized their group’s headcount was wrong. After correcting Yue Zhenqiao’s mistaken count, they discovered that two escorts were missing.

• Yue Zhenqiao told Lin Yu and Li Nian that caravans had suffered unexplained disappearances at Chen Family Fortress for more than ten years.
• Li Nian and Fei Dao agreed that sheltering inside the fortress was safer than facing Fire Hell’s midday heat outside.
• Lin Yu counted the people in the fortress and found twenty-nine, including himself and the others who had joined Yue Zhenqiao’s group later.
• Yue Zhenqiao counted the people and mistakenly believed an extra person had infiltrated the group.
• Lin Yu pointed out that Yue Zhenqiao had included three later arrivals in his count, revealing that two of the original escorts were missing.
• Yue Zhenqiao realized his mind had been affected and ordered the escorts to identify the two missing men.

Lin Yu investigated how two Jinfu Escort Agency escorts vanished from memory and concluded that the disappearances might be tied to Chen Family Fortress’s longstanding anomalies. Yue Zhenqiao organized a search, while Lin Yu proposed reconstructing the missing escorts’ identities from memories and personal belongings.

• Lin Yu considered whether an unknown force had altered the escorts’ memories, and Old Zheng ruled out another Player as the culprit because Chen Family Fortress’s anomalies had existed for a long time.
• The escorts argued about whether to leave Chen Family Fortress or continue searching for their missing companions.
• Yue Zhenqiao stopped the argument and said they would search until nightfall, then leave and provide for the missing escorts’ families if they found no clues.
• Yue Zhenqiao ordered capable escorts to retrace their route after noon and asked Lin Yu and Li Nian for advice.
• Lin Yu suggested that the escorts examine their belongings and reconstruct their recent actions to identify gaps and infer the missing companions’ duties, strengths, and personalities.

Lin Yu advised Yue Zhenqiao to track further disappearances among the escort guards and watch for patterns, while Li Nian took precautions to keep Fei Dao from vanishing unnoticed. The stone house door opened at noon, leaving everyone on guard as an unknown presence approached.

• Yue Zhenqiao and the escort guards identified the two missing men as bow-skilled guards who had likely been Wu San's apprentices, but he could not recall them clearly.
• Lin Yu told Yue Zhenqiao to record the missing count and wait for more disappearances so they could identify a pattern.
• Lin Yu memorized the guards' appearances and asked Old Zheng to alert her immediately if anyone else disappeared.
• Li Nian tied Fei Dao to herself with a rope and watched the stone house, while Lin Yu reassured him that they would help if he was targeted.
• The stone door opened at noon, and Fei Dao and Yue Zhenqiao braced themselves for whoever was outside.

Three players from the Mutual Aid Society arrived at Chen Family Fortress and identified Lin Yu, Li Nian, and Fei Dao as the people they had come to find. Li Nian introduced herself as the Phantom Thief A Nian from the Freedom Alliance, then stole Deadshot’s pistol and Little Fire Dragon’s shield to prove her identity while insisting she meant no harm.

• Lin Yu and the others prepared for a possible confrontation when three players entered the stone house, but Lin Yu suspected they might want to negotiate.
• The newcomers introduced themselves as Little Fire Dragon, Squirtle, and Deadshot of the Mutual Aid Society, and said they were looking for Lin Yu, Li Nian, and Fei Dao.
• Fei Dao joked about the team’s missing Pokémon-themed member, and Li Nian said she had heard of the Mutual Aid Society’s Pokémon Trio.
• Li Nian identified herself as Phantom Thief A Nian of the Freedom Alliance, prompting Little Fire Dragon and Deadshot to ready their weapons.
• Li Nian revealed that she had taken Deadshot’s pistol and Little Fire Dragon’s shield, then said she would return them and meant no harm.

Li Nian, Lin Yu, and Fei Dao negotiated with Little Fire Dragon, Deadshot, and Squirtle after revealing their identities. Both groups learned their clearance condition was to reach Willow Town, but Lin Yu noticed something troubling and asked them to repeat what they had said.

• Li Nian demonstrated her theft ability, convincing Little Fire Dragon and Deadshot to negotiate rather than fight.
• Lin Yu identified himself as Clonazepam, an Executive Commissioner of the Psychology Society, while Fei Dao said he was a Tier 2 Judge who had hired an escort.
• Li Nian and Lin Yu assured Fei Dao they would honor the escort commission and asked the other group to share its clearance condition.
• Little Fire Dragon said her group also had to reach Willow Town, and Fei Dao concluded the Instance was likely a Survival type rather than a Confrontation Instance.
• Lin Yu interrupted Fei Dao's optimism and asked one of the other group to repeat what they had said.

Lin Yu and the other players confirmed that their clearance condition was to reach Willow Town and concluded the instance might hide dangers beyond player conflict. After comparing their strange encounters and routes to Chen Family Fortress, Lin Yu wondered why Little Fire Dragon’s team had arrived later despite starting about as far away as he had.

• Lin Yu used the [One-sentence Lie Detector] to verify Little Fire Dragon’s statement, and Deadshot used a Heart-Devouring Bat Demon to confirm Lin Yu was telling the truth.
• The players established that they were not in a [Confrontation Instance], and Lin Yu warned that a six-player, Tier 2-level challenge could mean greater dangers within the instance.
• Li Nian described the escort convoy’s abnormal demon attacks, strange cargo, living dead at Chen Family Fortress, and the disappearance of two escorts.
• Little Fire Dragon explained that his team had found a fragmentary map in a Taoist temple and followed its route to Chen Family Fortress, while Deadshot added that the map had no direct route to Willow Town.
• Lin Yu examined the map and realized Little Fire Dragon’s team had started about as far from Chen Family Fortress as he had, leaving him puzzled about why they arrived later.

Lin Yu and Li Nian compared their routes with the map and asked Little Fire Dragon, Squirtle, and Deadshot why they had arrived at Chen Family Fortress so late. The trio explained that they had repeatedly gotten lost and wandered into a dangerous demon’s territory, and the chapter ended with Old Zheng reporting two more missing caravan escorts.

• Lin Yu noticed that his route through Fu Yuan Mountain had been far more dangerous and delayed than the trio’s route from the Taoist temple.
• Li Nian questioned why the trio had reached Chen Family Fortress at noon despite knowing the dangers of the Fire Hell.
• Little Fire Dragon, Squirtle, and Deadshot admitted they had faced repeated demon harassment and struggled to read the map because they lacked practical navigation skills.
• Little Fire Dragon revealed that the trio had wandered into a territory marked with three skulls and a giant serpent, where they discovered their location.
• Old Zheng warned Lin Yu that two more caravan escorts had gone missing.

Lin Yu investigated the disappearance of two more escort guards and concluded that the monster was targeting healthy people with few social connections while altering others’ cognition. The group began monitoring guards who seemed most vulnerable, though Lin Yu remained puzzled by why Players remembered the missing people.

• Old Zheng told Lin Yu that two more escort guards had vanished, leaving bloodstains where they had stood, while the nearby guards remembered nothing about them.
• Lin Yu confirmed that the guards’ minds had not been tampered with, and Li Nian examined the traces left on the ground before returning the Players’ stolen Items.
• Lin Yu reasoned that the monster was first taking healthy, taciturn guards with few connections and that its power involved cognitive modification.
• Lin Yu wondered why Players remembered the vanished guards while the escort guards did not, and he could not explain the difference.
• Yue Zhenqiao gathered the guards who were new, socially isolated, or from other towns so everyone could watch them closely.

Lin Yu concluded that a deliberate mastermind was causing the escort guards to disappear and predicted that the pattern would soon change. When a signal arrow announced trouble at the carriage, Yue Zhenqiao and Lin Yu went to investigate, while Li Nian stayed behind and gave Lin Yu her transparent Soft Clothing.

• Yue Zhenqiao arranged the escort guards in groups and told them to watch one another, but Lin Yu doubted that attention could prevent the disappearances.
• Lin Yu reasoned that an intelligent mastermind was selecting isolated guards and predicted a more chaotic disappearance within half an hour.
• A signal arrow sounded, and Yue Zhenqiao identified it as Old Liu's signal from the carriage.
• Yue Zhenqiao prepared to go with Wu San, and Lin Yu offered to accompany them despite Wu Qi's warning about the midday heat.
• Lin Yu told Li Nian to remain behind and watch the group and employer, so Li Nian gave Lin Yu her transparent Soft Clothing.

Lin Yu left the stone house with Yue Zhenqiao and Wu San to investigate an arrow signal, enduring Fire Hell’s deadly midday heat with Li Nian’s Soft Clothing and an Ice Heart Talisman. He realized that three people, including the Deputy Caravan Leader, had been assigned to guard the wagons, not just Liu Chengyang.

• Li Nian lent Lin Yu her Soft Clothing before he left with Yue Zhenqiao and Wu San.
• The three stepped into the scorching sunlight of Fire Hell, and Yue Zhenqiao gave them Ice Heart Talismans to withstand the heat.
• Yue Zhenqiao and Wu San said Liu Chengyang was steady and would only fire an arrow signal in a serious emergency.
• Lin Yu urged Old Zheng to investigate after Old Zheng sensed a powerful existence watching them.
• Lin Yu questioned why Yue Zhenqiao was sure Liu Chengyang had fired the signal and pointed out that three people, including the Deputy Caravan Leader, had been assigned to guard the wagons.

Lin Yu investigated Liu Chengyang’s alarming signal and explained that a powerful entity had erased two guards and altered memories. The chapter ended with Yue Zhenqiao confirming the carts were untouched despite the two people vanishing.

• Lin Yu found Liu Chengyang guarding the cart cave and asked what had happened.
• Liu Chengyang described suddenly feeling terrified and realized it was strange that Yue Zhenqiao had assigned him to guard the carts alone.
• Lin Yu told Liu Chengyang that two companions, including the deputy caravan leader, had been erased from their memories and might have been abducted.
• Liu Chengyang suspected Lin Yu might be a demon and drew his saber, but Lin Yu disarmed him with the Fear Torch and persuaded him to wait for Yue Zhenqiao to verify her claims.
• Yue Zhenqiao and Wu San finished checking the carts and livestock, and Yue Zhenqiao noted that nothing had been stolen despite two people going missing.

Lin Yu concluded that the disappearances were not driven by demons’ hunger for flesh and decided to investigate a survivor hidden in Chen Family Fortress. After convincing Yue Zhenqiao to bring the escort leaders along, she examined the cave where two people had vanished and found traces of their final moments.

• Lin Yu rejected Yue Zhenqiao’s theory that a demon was targeting living people for their blood and flesh, noting that the living cargo would have been more tempting.
• Old Zheng told Lin Yu that he had found a powerful but weakened survivor hiding underground in Chen Family Fortress, and Lin Yu decided to seek him out.
• Lin Yu persuaded Yue Zhenqiao to leave the escort carts and bring Liu Chengyang and Wu San, warning that the escort team could be lost if they split up.
• Lin Yu examined the rock where Liu Chengyang had felt uneasy and found traces suggesting three people had sat there before two disappeared.
• Lin Yu inferred that Liu Chengyang had been overcome by fear after the disappearances and had fired the signal arrow without understanding what had frightened him.

Lin Yu concluded that the disappearances were caused by a method other than direct mental manipulation, then led the escorts to investigate someone she had sensed. When Chen Yongde confronted them outside a stone fortress, Lin Yu knocked him unconscious, hoping the hidden mastermind would reveal itself.

• Lin Yu and Old Zheng reasoned that the mastermind likely used an indirect method to erase the escorts’ memories, such as a technique from the Prison Mountain Realm.
• Lin Yu led Yue Zhenqiao, Wu San, and Liu Chengyang out of the cave toward the person she had sensed.
• Chen Yongde appeared behind them in the blazing sun, sweating heavily but showing no sign of strain, and warned them to stay indoors.
• Chen Yongde accused the group of trying to steal from his nephew’s house, but Lin Yu struck him with the [Fear Torch] and knocked him down.
• Lin Yu told the escorts she hoped the mastermind would react, and said they should attack the villagers if that was what it wanted them to avoid.

Lin Yu and the escorts discovered a hidden passage beneath the stone bed in the abandoned house. Lin Yu jumped down to scout it, only to find himself in boiling water.

• Lin Yu kicked open the barred door and entered the stone house with Yue Zhenqiao, Wu San, and Liu Chengyang.
• Lin Yu found signs of a ventilated space beneath the stone bed and asked the escorts to help locate its mechanism.
• Hannah found a lever hidden behind the cabinet, and Lin Yu pulled it to open the secret room entrance.
• Yue Zhenqiao prepared rope and talismans to scout the passage, but Lin Yu lit the Fear Torch and jumped down alone.
• Lin Yu called up that there was water below, then cursed when he realized it was boiling.

Lin Yu crossed a boiling underground pool and found an injured martial artist hiding in a cavern. Chen Yuanye explained how he had investigated the disappearances around Chen Family Fortress, leaving Lin Yu to learn that the inquiry had ended in disaster.

• Lin Yu used the Water Prayer Necklace to cross the boiling pool and followed a powerful, faint presence through the cavern.
• Lin Yu found a battered, spear-wielding man leaning against the cavern wall.
• Chen Yuanye introduced himself as a martial artist from Ming Zhen Martial Arts School and Chen Family Fortress.
• Chen Yuanye recounted discovering unexplained disappearances at Chen Family Fortress and pursuing the investigation despite Deqing Temple's dismissal of the rumors.
• Lin Yu recognized from Chen Yuanye's battered state that his investigation had failed badly.