Chapter Summaries

Lin Yu, Li Nian, and Fei Dao joined Yue Zhenqiao’s escort caravan as it crossed Fire Hell during the hottest season. The caravan reached Fu Yuan Mountain, where signal whistles sounded from all directions.

• Fei Dao worried that his damaged Items left him too weak, but Li Nian reassured him that she and Zhu Ming would protect him.
• Yue Zhenqiao explained Fire Hell’s rising temperatures and led the caravan toward a village where they could rest before noon.
• The escorts kept Lin Yu, Li Nian, and Fei Dao under watch while Yue Zhenqiao and his deputy discussed their suspicions and the importance of the shipment.
• The caravan traveled through the crimson mountain valleys and reached Fu Yuan Mountain, where Yue Zhenqiao warned everyone about monsters and bandits.
• A sharp whistle rang out, followed by answering whistles from all directions.

Lin Yu discovered that the mountain spirits were feigning retreat and preparing an ambush, then watched them attack the convoy from both sides of the gorge. As the escort guards fought to hold the formation, Fei Dao urged Li Nian to help.

• Fei Dao heard the mountain spirits’ whistles, and an escort guard explained that they were warning one another about the convoy.
• Yue Zhenqiao ordered three guards to fire signal arrows, whose explosions silenced the mountain spirits’ whistles.
• Lin Yu used his Mental Power and realized the mountain spirits were hiding nearby and targeting the convoy.
• The mountain spirits descended from the gorge walls and attacked from both sides, while Yue Zhenqiao ordered the guards to defend the formation.
• Li Nian asked Fei Dao whether they should help, and Fei Dao urged him to act before the demons killed the escort guards.

Li Nian used a newly expanded Thief technique to kill mountain apes while fighting on a cliff, astonishing Yue Zhenqiao, Fei Dao, and Lin Yu. Old Zheng explained that the ability had a startup that an alert opponent could notice and counter.

• Li Nian jumped onto the cliff among the mountain apes and used her technique to tear out the hearts of five attackers.
• Yue Zhenqiao saw Li Nian kill the apes and realized she could handle the right flank, so he returned to the group and ordered Wu Qi to cover her.
• Li Nian drew more mountain apes toward her and killed them as they followed her across the cliff.
• Fei Dao recognized Li Nian's combat strength and decided that spending three thousand points had been worthwhile.
• Lin Yu noticed Li Nian could now use her technique on living creatures, and Old Zheng explained how to perceive and counter its startup.

Li Nian’s ability drove the mountain demons into a fearful standoff, allowing Yue Zhenqiao’s escort caravan to move through the valley. Lin Yu learned that the carts held precious Items and discovered that Li Nian’s new Gray Domain Item, the [Limit Breaking Jade], had strengthened her ability.

• Li Nian killed more than thirty mountain demons and frightened the rest into stopping their attack.
• Yue Zhenqiao ordered the escort guards to ride through while the demons remained still, and resolved to befriend Lin Yu and his companions.
• Lin Yu asked why the injured guards were not placed in the carts, and Old Zheng explained that the carts carried Items that mattered more than the escorts’ lives.
• Li Nian returned with thirty-five mountain demon hearts and explained that they could be used to make pills.
• Li Nian showed Lin Yu the [Limit Breaking Jade], a Gray Domain Item that strengthened an ability or Item by reducing or canceling its restrictions.

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.