Chapter Summaries

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.

Lin Yu found Chen Yuanye hiding beneath a pool in Chen Family Fortress and forced him to confront his shame over abandoning his family and hometown. After claiming to be his junior sister from Ming Zhen Martial Arts School, she learned that he had sensed a powerful presence in the escort caravan and revealed it was a remnant body.

• Chen Yuanye explained that three Six-Guans demons had ambushed him, then his relatives had attacked him after he defeated the demons and rescued several of them.
• Lin Yu said Chen Family Fortress’s villagers seemed like puppets and condemned Chen Yuanye for hiding instead of continuing to fight for his family.
• Lin Yu claimed she was Chen Yuanye’s junior sister, sent by their school to find him, and said Senior Uncle Bai Shiying had believed he was dead.
• Chen Yuanye asked whether the powerful expert traveling with Lin Yu was her master or one of their junior uncles.
• Lin Yu realized Chen Yuanye meant the remnant body being carried by the escort caravan, and he reacted in alarm that it seemed like a living martial artist.

Lin Yu learned from Chen Yuanye that the mutilated corpse was likely the left arm and chest of Blade Demon Xie Chong. Chen Yuanye recounted Xie Chong’s rise, slaughter of martial artists, and final battle with the Guest in the Mountains, which ended with Xie Chong’s body shattered into five pieces.

• Lin Yu questioned Chen Yuanye about the seemingly living mutilated corpse, and Chen Yuanye identified it as a possible remnant of an unparalleled expert.
• Chen Yuanye suggested the remains belonged to Xie Chong, the Blade Demon who had died two years earlier.
• Chen Yuanye told Lin Yu how Xie Chong slaughtered Xuanjiang Martial Arts School, defeated numerous martial artists, and survived an ambush that crippled his right hand.
• Chen Yuanye recounted how Xie Chong later defeated nine experts at the ruins of Xuanjiang Martial Arts School, killing seven and severely injuring two.
• Chen Yuanye said the Guest in the Mountains challenged Xie Chong to a six-shichen battle, after which Xie Chong’s corpse was found shattered into five pieces.

Lin Yu learned that Xie Chong’s corpse could draw both demons and martial artists, and proposed using it to lure out whatever was threatening Chen Family Fortress. She helped Chen Yuanye leave the underground cavern, where he reunited with Yue Zhenqiao, but their dangerous situation remained unresolved.

• Chen Yuanye told Lin Yu that rumors claimed Xie Chong’s corpse held a secret that could help martial artists reach the Grandmaster realm, while Lin Yu dismissed the idea of relying on it.
• Chen Yuanye revealed that he could use only half his ability because a mysterious poison spread through his Meridians whenever he exerted himself, but he resolved to defend Chen Family Fortress.
• Lin Yu proposed using Xie Chong’s corpse as bait to draw out the hidden threat, since both humans and demons would be drawn to it.
• Chen Yuanye crossed the water and leapt out of the cavern despite the pain caused by his poison, then confronted Yue Zhenqiao’s men.
• Lin Yu introduced Chen Yuanye and Yue Zhenqiao to each other and urged them to stop exchanging pleasantries because they were in danger.

Lin Yu returned to the stone house with Yue Zhenqiao and found that most of the people had vanished after Qiao Shaowen lured guards outside. He convinced Yue Zhenqiao to use the escort carriage and Blade Demon Xie Chong’s remains as bait, then summoned rain to cool the way out as they prepared to leave Chen Family Fortress.

• Lin Yu, Yue Zhenqiao, Chen Yuanye, and three escort guards returned to the stone house and found only twelve people left inside.
• Li Nian explained that Qiao Shaowen had returned claiming a demon had captured someone, then led several guards outside despite the blazing heat.
• Lin Yu concluded that the hidden mastermind was intelligent and proposed leaving Chen Family Fortress with the escort carriage, using Blade Demon Xie Chong’s remains as bait to draw it out.
• Yue Zhenqiao agreed to Lin Yu’s plan, and Lin Yu revealed he could summon clouds and rain to ease the heat.
• Lin Yu activated the Rain Prayer ability, bringing down rain that cooled the area as the group prepared to depart.

Lin Yu used Mountain Demon Leader Three Suns to pull the escort cart carrying Xie Chong’s remains out of the damaged livestock shed. At the village road, Chen Yuanye found the villagers moving unnaturally and asked Lin Yu to run them over.

• Lin Yu summoned Three Suns to replace the missing livestock and had it pull the cart carrying Xie Chong’s remains.
• Chen Yuanye guided the cart toward the fastest route out of Chen Family Fortress as Three Suns sped through the rain.
• Villagers emerged and blocked the road, moving stiffly in unison while speaking as if nothing were wrong.
• Chen Yuanye recognized the villagers as people from his hometown and asked Lin Yu to run them over.

Lin Yu and Chen Yuanye fought their way out of Chen Family Fortress with Three Suns, leaving the puppet-like villagers behind. They headed for an abandoned Taoist temple on Double Saw Mountain, where Lin Yu noticed lush vegetation unlike the surrounding landscape.

• Lin Yu ordered Three Suns to help Chen Yuanye break through the controlled villagers, and the two forced open the fortress gate and escaped with twelve people.
• Chen Yuanye admitted that attacking his own villagers and elders was a first for him, then chose an abandoned Taoist temple as their next stop.
• As the carriage crossed Double Saw Mountain, Lin Yu noticed that no demons or wild beasts appeared, and suspected the abnormality extended beyond Chen Family Fortress.
• Chen Yuanye guided the group to the temple, where Lin Yu saw a broad patch of lush green vegetation around the abandoned building.

Lin Yu’s group discovered a Daoist temple in Fire Hell that matched one the Players had entered earlier, despite the Map placing it far away. After concluding that the same temple had somehow moved, Lin Yu examined the Map’s demon marker and asked Chen Yuanye to interpret its three skulls.

• The group approached a Daoist temple surrounded by lush plants and found its grounds cool and sheltered from Fire Hell’s heat.
• Little Fire Dragon told Lin Yu that the temple matched the one the Players had entered near Double Saw Mountain, though the Map marked that temple elsewhere.
• Lin Yu led everyone inside, where Deadshot confirmed the temple’s furnishings matched and a skeleton in a Daoist robe lay in the rear courtyard.
• Lin Yu reasoned that the temple was the same one and wondered why it had moved, then asked Chen Yuanye about the demon marked on the Map.
• Chen Yuanye explained that old Daoist maps used skulls to indicate a demon’s strength, but he could not identify what three skulls meant.

Lin Yu questioned Deadshot, Little Fire Dragon, and Squirtle about the demon they encountered, then theorized that the hidden mastermind could alter people’s pasts and turn them into puppets. He paralyzed the three with Li Nian’s help and concluded that they might be playing a different Instance from his Escort Mission.

• Lin Yu pressed Deadshot, Little Fire Dragon, and Squirtle to explain how a demon disguised as a human had lured them toward a cave before disappearing.
• Deadshot confirmed the demon vanished like the missing escort guards, and Lin Yu proposed that disappearance, memory loss, and puppet control were stages of one ability.
• Lin Yu suggested the mastermind could retrieve earlier states of things it controlled, meaning the escort guards and Chen Yuanye might already be affected through changes to their pasts.
• Li Nian paralyzed Deadshot, Little Fire Dragon, and Squirtle at Lin Yu’s command, and Lin Yu asked them to identify their Instance objective.
• Lin Yu revealed that his Instance was called Escort Mission and concluded that the three might be playing a different Instance.

Lin Yu realized that three players had been trapped in the time-warped Instance for weeks and were now puppets, then explained that Willow Town and the surrounding region might be under the mastermind’s control. He used the belief stored in the [Tower Scam] to activate precognition and began searching for the mastermind’s true form beneath Double Saw Mountain.

• Lin Yu concluded that the three players had died in the Fire Hell of Prison Mountain and had been deceived about how much time had passed.
• Lin Yu told Li Nian that the players knew her as a Tier 2 Player but knew nothing of the recent incident in Haicheng, suggesting they had been trapped for around three weeks.
• Lin Yu warned Fei Dao and Li Nian that the mastermind’s influence might reach Willow Town and possibly extend across the entire Fire Hell.
• Lin Yu proposed using the escort carriage and investigating the Demon Blade remnant body, while Li Nian suspected he had a riskier plan.
• Lin Yu claimed the Diviner had prepared methods for him to glimpse the mastermind, then used stored belief and the [Tooth of Prophecy] to activate precognition.
• Lin Yu asked Old Zheng to knock him unconscious if anything went wrong and let his consciousness descend beneath Double Saw Mountain.

Lin Yu used his transcendent perspective to discover a gigantic spider demon beneath Double Saw Mountain, where it had made abandoned Willow Town its lair. After his spying awakened the demon, he and Li Nian fled the temple as its webs searched for them.

• Lin Yu explored the underground cavern and identified the ruined settlement as Willow Town.
• Lin Yu found a mountain-sized spider demon crouched above the town, and its many crimson eyes sensed his gaze.
• Old Zheng interrupted Lin Yu's vision before the demon could devour his will, and Lin Yu told Li Nian and Fei Dao what he had seen.
• Lin Yu realized the spider demon was directly beneath them and that the escorts and Players had disappeared, leaving searching webs in the temple.
• Old Zheng warned Lin Yu that the demon had found him, and Lin Yu ordered Li Nian and Fei Dao to run.

Lin Yu, Li Nian, and Fei Dao fled Double Saw Mountain as spiders and Spider Silk swarmed around them. Lin Yu retrieved Blade Demon Xie Chong’s mutilated body and caught up with the others, while Li Nian revealed that her protective mermaid statue had belonged to Hunter Kres.

• Lin Yu, Li Nian, and Fei Dao ran from the temple as Spider Silk surged and giant spiders emerged from the ground.
• Lin Yu sent Three Suns to carry Fei Dao with Li Nian, then diverted to retrieve Blade Demon Xie Chong’s mutilated body from the carriage.
• Lin Yu used [Shady Corner] to move through the shadows and catch up with Li Nian and Fei Dao, who were protected by Li Nian’s singing mermaid statue.
• Li Nian accelerated through the spider swarm, and Lin Yu said carrying Xie Chong’s body seemed to make the monsters more frenzied.
• Li Nian revealed that the mermaid statue had belonged to Hunter Kres, and Lin Yu guessed that Kres had come to Jiang City.