Recaps

Fu Qian finished his portrait session with Tan Ying, then discovered that Xu Meng had come to confront him over his son. Xu Meng chose to pursue both the truth about his son and his plan against Fu Qian, revealing that Fu Qian's choice had been a dream.

• Tan Ying chose to draw a simple portrait of Fu Qian, then asked why he had stayed at the school; Fu Qian said it was close to home.
• Fu Qian concluded that Young Master Qin and Tan Ying had been the victims of the earlier incident, while Pei Yanqing was unharmed, possibly because of the first batch of Law Remnants.
• Xu Meng approached Fu Qian on the street, apologized for his earlier rudeness, and had two people flank him while his photographer prepared to take nude photos.
• Fu Qian told Xu Meng that special circumstances had caused what happened to his son and offered him a choice between learning the truth and carrying out his plan.
• Xu Meng chose “all of the above,” and Fu Qian realized he had been dreaming because no rule had limited him to one option.

Fu Qian caused Xu Meng to strip and run through the streets, then learned that Xu Meng might never recover from the mental blow. After a quiet evening at home, Fu Qian was pulled into the Warehouse at midnight and sent to Containment Scene 1-039: Unseen Hill.

• Fu Qian made Xu Meng strip in public, and the bodyguards chased him through the streets before catching him.
• Qin Mingze called Fu Qian about Xu Meng's streaking and warned that Xu Meng might seek revenge once he recovered.
• Fu Qian revealed that he had caused Xu Meng's urge to streak and believed Xu Meng's mental state might keep him from recovering.
• Fu Qian cooked dinner, watched television, and waited without activating his mark.
• At midnight, Fu Qian was forcibly pulled into the Warehouse and assigned to Containment Scene 1-039: Unseen Hill.

Fu Qian entered an unrestricted level-one containment scene in a bizarre city, where a rooftop terrorist tried to crush him with falling billboards and then leaped from a building. After the man walked away, Fu Qian noticed a demigod watching him from the street corner.

• Fu Qian selected all his skills and convenient equipment before the containment scene loaded.
• Fu Qian found himself in a luxurious carriage and survived when a terrorist dropped a billboard onto its rear half.
• The terrorist dropped a second billboard, then jumped from a rooftop and survived his impact with the ground.
• Fu Qian apologized for spoiling the terrorist’s landing, and the man walked away after recovering from his injuries.
• Fu Qian checked on the coachman and examined the strange carriage before spotting an emotionless watcher he recognized as a demigod.

Fu Qian was cornered by two demigods who seemed to be outsiders hunting him, but he used a bluff to make them hesitate. As a carriage arrived carrying a scarlet-eyed divine envoy, the confrontation remained unresolved.

• Fu Qian noticed a trench-coated demigod watching him, then found a baby-faced Lady approaching from the other direction as the coachman and horses fell asleep.
• Fu Qian pretended to complain about falling debris, but the Lady played along without abandoning her attempt to kill him.
• Fu Qian spotted orange-yellow marks on the Lady's cloak and received a mission prompt to extinguish a flame.
• Fu Qian called the demigods outsiders, making the Lady pause, then dodged the trench-coated demigod's surprise attack.
• The Lady confirmed that killing Fu Qian mattered, and a carriage carrying a scarlet-eyed divine envoy arrived behind her.

Fu Qian encountered a Night Watcher hunting party led by Stos and Aiko, who attacked him after he revealed he knew they were outsiders. He escaped to Unseen Hill and realized they had come to find help for Logan, while the party continued its search.

• Fu Qian introduced himself to Stos and Aiko as Andir and asked why the Night Watchers had come.
• Stos and Aiko trapped Fu Qian as the divine envoy in their carriage attacked him with a molten whip, but Fu Qian escaped using Blood Conquest.
• The middle-aged divine envoy said the group had learned from Fu Qian and urged them to continue exploring because Logan needed help.
• Fu Qian identified Logan as a Night Watcher council member recovering from his collapse and suspected the man in the carriage controlled the wooden, unmarked hunter.
• Fu Qian considered the strength of the attack and the high cost of using Blood Conquest before reappearing on Unseen Hill.

Fu Qian used a skill from Red Moon to secretly mark the trench-coat man and explored the city, where chaotic violence blended into everyday life. He chose a quiet restaurant as the site of a disruption meant to expose the Hunting Squad, and watched Catherine slap a customer as he waited for his order.

• Fu Qian sensed that Thread of Concern had connected him to the half-demigod in the trench coat after he slipped the skill onto the man.
• Fu Qian walked through the strange city and observed how its monsters, violence, and ordinary routines seemed to fit together smoothly.
• Fu Qian decided to provoke a major disturbance so the city would recognize the outsiders as organized killers and force the Hunting Squad out of hiding.
• Fu Qian entered a quiet restaurant, ordered every dish that could be prepared in five minutes or less, and waited while watching the diners.
• Catherine slapped a balding customer so hard that one of his false teeth flew out.

Fu Qian watched Catherine transform into a monster and kill several people, then destroyed her with a single armored punch. He waited for the Mirror Knight, a demigod, to arrive, and the chapter ended with Fu Qian catching the knight’s concealed blade as their tense questioning began.

• Catherine slapped a customer who groped her, then transformed and swallowed his head when he threatened her with a weapon.
• Catherine’s monstrous form attacked the restaurant guests, and Fu Qian dodged its claw and shattered it with a punch.
• Fu Qian revealed that he had come to the restaurant because he believed Catherine’s unstable power could provide the gear he sought.
• After waiting amid the wreckage, Fu Qian met the Mirror Knight, who demanded his name and reason for being there.
• Fu Qian said he had been guided by the flames, then caught a transparent blade the Mirror Knight had sent down from the chandelier.

Fu Qian exposed Green Ballard’s ambush in the shop and revealed himself as an outsider watching the events unfold. When the Broken Claw Queen attacked him from above, Fu Qian stopped her strike and severed part of her claw, leaving her confronting him and Ballard.

• Fu Qian stopped Ballard’s hidden blade and mocked him for believing his act had fooled anyone.
• Ballard revealed his face, introduced himself as Green Ballard, and asked Fu Qian why he was there.
• Fu Qian said he was an outsider watching the show, then caught the Broken Claw Queen’s talon as she attacked from above.
• The Broken Claw Queen split her talon to attack Fu Qian again, but he countered until she severed the damaged limb to escape.
• The Broken Claw Queen descended and complained about her injury, then accused Ballard of failing to help her; Ballard said he had kept her from getting herself killed.

Ballard demanded that Fu Qian accompany him to the base to answer for disrupting order, and forced Akasha to come along because she had let Catherine escape. As Ballard prepared his Greed Heart Chariot, Fu Qian flirted with Akasha and casually ordered Ballard to fetch the car, leaving the moment awkward.

• Ballard warned Akasha that fighting Fu Qian would likely get her killed and insisted Fu Qian come with him to maintain order.
• Akasha challenged Ballard’s claim to uphold order, arguing that he had also delayed intervening and that the prison’s rules were meaningless.
• Fu Qian asked Ballard about other outsiders, then cryptically suggested Ballard would soon learn something without using divination.
• Ballard ordered Akasha to come to the base as punishment for her mistake and threatened to disperse her blood bags if she refused.
• Akasha linked arms with Fu Qian and agreed to ride in Ballard’s Greed Heart Chariot, while Fu Qian told Ballard to fetch the car.

Fu Qian ambushed Ballard and Akasha after using a banknote to distract them, then escaped when Greed Heart Warhorse intervened. Ballard regenerated and realized Fu Qian had deliberately targeted them, but he fell silent after hearing something.

• Ballard invited Fu Qian to ride in his flashy carriage, and Fu Qian handed him a banknote.
• When Ballard reached for the note, Fu Qian vanished and crushed Ballard’s head through his mirror defenses.
• Akasha tried to restrain Fu Qian, but Greed Heart Warhorse charged in and Fu Qian escaped, leaving a bloodstained banknote behind.
• Ballard regenerated his head using the mirror shards on Greed Heart Warhorse and told Akasha he believed Fu Qian had targeted them deliberately.
• Ballard and Akasha discussed warning others about Fu Qian, but Ballard stopped speaking and looked strangely at Akasha.

Fu Qian’s actions convinced Ballard that another group of outsiders had killed two demigods, prompting him and Akasha to head for the base. Fu Qian followed Akasha’s trail and encountered the dejected clown in a carriage, wondering what had changed him.

• Ballard told Akasha that Joan and the Lord had lost contact and concluded that another group of outsiders had likely killed them.
• Ballard and Akasha left for the base in the Greed Heart Chariot as Fu Qian watched from nearby.
• Fu Qian reflected that Aiko and the Hunting Squad had apparently killed two demigods, and wondered whether the dead could be reborn.
• Fu Qian used Thread of Concern to track Akasha, then rode in a carriage through the increasingly active city.
• Fu Qian recognized the clown in his carriage and wondered why the destructive man seemed so disillusioned.

Fu Qian used his disguise to steer Clown toward Aiko and the others, who had objected to his convertible carriage. Clown recognized Fu Qian’s connection to the carriage, but the two were still heading toward the outsiders.

• Clown criticized Fu Qian for wearing a mask, and Fu Qian challenged him to test whether removing and replacing his face made him a coward or a hero.
• Clown peeled off his facial skin with a dagger, then put it back on and said the experience felt great.
• Fu Qian pointed Clown toward the place where Aiko and the others had been, and Clown asked him to drive the carriage after the driver was gone.
• As they rode, Fu Qian and Clown discussed outsiders, and Fu Qian said he had a grudge against the group because they had taken issue with his convertible carriage.
• Clown realized Fu Qian had been the person in the carriage and asked why he hated carriages.

Fu Qian questioned the Clown about fire and learned that the prison held only ashes, with death followed by rebirth. After dropping the Clown at a bar, Fu Qian watched him cause a bloody disturbance until a Lady intervened.

• The Clown told Fu Qian he hated carriages because they represented a predetermined, tedious world, then explained that fire did not exist in the prison, only eternal ashes.
• The Clown said that everyone who died would be reborn, including outsiders, who would no longer be outsiders afterward.
• Fu Qian dropped the Clown near a street where two demigods had died, and the Clown was disappointed to hear Ballard had survived.
• The Clown entered a crowded bar and pulled a woman back after she recoiled from his Human Skin Mask, then pressed his own face onto hers.
• A Lady took the woman from the Clown, removed the skin mask, and returned it while telling him to wash it more thoroughly.

Fu Qian found Aiko and Stos disguised in a bar, where they were waiting for him after suspecting his Thread of Concern had been detected. He concealed his identity by posing as another masked stranger while Aiko interrogated the Clown, whose mask had been inspired by Fu Qian.

• Fu Qian recognized Aiko and Stos hiding in the bar near where the Thread of Concern had snapped.
• Aiko invited the Clown to sit and questioned him about his mask and the friend who inspired it.
• Fu Qian stayed disguised in plain sight, expecting Aiko and the others to mistake him for an ordinary masked man.
• Aiko threatened to turn the Clown's whole body into a conscious, immortal mask.
• The Clown asked Aiko if she meant to wear him on her face.

Fu Qian watched the clown provoke Aiko and withstand Stos's Madness Fire, while Aiko and Stos discussed his possible connection to Andir. Xiumeng arrived and learned that their target had not appeared, but he questioned whether they could be sure.

• The clown taunted Aiko, drank the blood offered to him, and said he wanted to leave before the tavern became dull.
• Stos revealed golden flames in his eyes and used Madness Fire on the clown, who trembled but welcomed the experience.
• Aiko and Stos wondered whether Andir had sent the clown or whether he had been drawn by the fire, and decided to wait for Xiumeng.
• Xiumeng entered with the demigod brother and assured Stos that Logan was safe.
• Aiko told Xiumeng that the clown had been close to their target and seemed to be seeking fire, and Xiumeng asked whether they were sure the target had not come.

Xiumeng and Aiko laid a trap for Fu Qian, hoping to confirm whether he was the outsider they sought. Fu Qian revealed himself willingly, joined them for a drink, and admitted that he had told the city about the outsider.

• Xiumeng questioned Aiko about a man who had mentioned fire, then crushed a glowing shard to activate a mark across the bar.
• Xiumeng told the hidden Fu Qian that the mark would let him pinpoint Fu Qian if he revealed himself, and invited him to drink.
• Fu Qian removed his mask and sat beside Xiumeng, surprising Aiko with how well he had concealed himself.
• Fu Qian explained that he had left a mark as an invitation and had come because he wanted to answer their questions.
• Xiumeng asked whether the city was waiting for an outsider, and Fu Qian confirmed it and said he had told them.

Fu Qian explained why he had exposed the Hunting Squad’s presence and proposed joining them as a temporary ally while he searched for fire. Xiumeng agreed to consider the arrangement, and Fu Qian learned that the flame came from traces left by the deaths of Divine creatures.

• Fu Qian revealed that he was an outsider seeking a special kind of fire, and explained that he had alerted potential targets after the Hunting Squad attacked him.
• Fu Qian proposed that he and the Hunting Squad become temporary allies, offering to help them confront the danger in exchange for learning about fire.
• Aiko questioned Fu Qian’s claims, and he showed the group a severed claw gifted to him by a Lady named Akasha.
• Xiumeng agreed that an alliance might be worth considering, but said the squad would not share its spoils with Fu Qian.
• Xiumeng explained that fire was formed from traces left by the deaths of Divine creatures, giving Fu Qian a lead in his search.

Fu Qian accepted a toast with Xiumeng and the Hunting Squad, but they used the apparent partnership to spring a coordinated trap on him. As Stos’s curse began burning Fu Qian away, he pulled another version of himself from his swollen arm and had it swallow his remaining body.

• Fu Qian confirmed that Xiumeng had hunted demigods, and the group raised a toast to their supposed partnership.
• Xiumeng revealed that the trap could transfer the clown’s frenzied mental state to Fu Qian and amplify it, while Aiko restricted Fu Qian’s movement.
• Stos shattered a talisman and sent a blazing point of light toward Fu Qian, whose mark guided the attack despite his attempt to escape with Blood Conquest.
• The attack began burning Fu Qian’s hand and arm, and tearing off the arm did not stop the destruction from spreading.
• Fu Qian pulled another version of himself from his swollen left arm, and a mouth in its chest swallowed his burning remains.

Fu Qian survived the cursed flame by devouring part of its power, then disguised himself as the Mirror Knight and returned to the Hunting Squad under the name Andir. He learned that they sought the flame to treat the chaotic Logan, but the group remained wary of him.

• Fu Qian devoured cursed flesh and gained enough resistance to keep the flame from destroying his body immediately.
• Fu Qian ended Blood Conquest, reshaped his skin into dark, mirror-bright armor resembling Ballard, and faced the startled Hunting Squad.
• Aiko tried to attack Fu Qian, but a half-god intervened on Xiumeng's behalf.
• Xiumeng accused Fu Qian of being a local half-god, and Fu Qian claimed he might have become one after arriving as an outsider.
• Fu Qian said he had intended to cooperate with the group and admitted he was searching for the flame because he felt it could help him end his journey.
• Xiumeng explained that the group wanted the flame to treat Logan, whose mind and body had fallen into extreme chaos.

Fu Qian confronted Andir and the Hunting Squad, using the danger of nearby demigods to prevent them from attacking. After they left, he burned the Clown and Akasha's severed claw to draw attention, while the Clown confirmed that the Prophet might know about the special flame.

• Fu Qian told Andir that he had found a death-born power that could dispel chaos and decay, then refused to reveal more about it.
• Fu Qian warned the Hunting Squad that demigods might surround the bar and revealed that Logan was outside in the carriage, making Stos and Andir hesitate to fight.
• Andir learned that the carriage was reacting to someone’s arrival and led the Hunting Squad out of the bar.
• Fu Qian asked the Clown about the special flame, and the Clown said he had never heard of it but thought the Prophet might know.
• Fu Qian set the Clown ablaze and placed Akasha’s severed claw in the flames to create a supernatural disturbance and attract nearby demigods.

Fu Qian used the fragrance from Akasha’s severed limb to distract the bar before Crystal arrived and froze the room. He claimed that a God Envoy had swapped his will with Andir’s, and Crystal decided he should be taken to the Prophet for judgment.

• Fu Qian’s burning severed limb released a seductive fragrance that threw the bar into chaos, while a cloud of mist from outside chilled the room and subdued the guests.
• Crystal, an Ice Wolf demigod, entered and ordered everyone out; Ballard and Akasha arrived and found Fu Qian beside the remains.
• Fu Qian called himself the Clown, Andir, and told Ballard that two God Envoys had disrupted their operation and escaped.
• Akasha questioned why Fu Qian held her severed limb, and he claimed the body that burned was the Clown’s while Andir’s will had occupied it.
• Crystal confirmed that the bar’s occupants bore strange, high-ranking marks and urged Ballard to take Fu Qian to the Prophet, despite Ballard wanting to kill him.

Fu Qian claimed that a special flame inside him might offer the demigods a way out of Unseen Hill, and the prophet ordered Ballard to take him along. As Fu Qian rode away in the Greed Heart Chariot, he sensed the many powerful figures watching from the darkness.

• Ballard questioned Fu Qian about how he had become him, and Fu Qian revealed his heat-shimmering face and claimed an outsider had given him a special flame.
• Fu Qian suggested the flame could help the demigods escape their prison, prompting Ballard to challenge him and Fu Qian to taunt him about his own imprisonment.
• Ballard announced that the prophet wanted them to take Fu Qian back, and Crystal left after the surrounding air grew hot again.
• Fu Qian teased Akasha with her severed claw, and Ballard urged him to leave; Akasha let him go without asking for the claw back.
• Fu Qian rode with Ballard in the Greed Heart Chariot, sensed its protective barrier, and noticed numerous powerful figures watching from the darkness.

Fu Qian met the prophet Yuan Fang in room 802 and learned that everyone in this sealed world was trapped with no way to escape. Yuan Fang asked Fu Qian to help wipe out the outsiders, leaving Fu Qian facing an uncertain mission.

• Ballard brought Fu Qian to an ordinary apartment building and sent him alone to room 802 to meet the prophet.
• Fu Qian entered the dark apartment and met the casually dressed, potbellied prophet, who introduced himself as Yuan Fang.
• Yuan Fang called Fu Qian the Clown and explained that he had observed him through Ballard and the others.
• Fu Qian described the place as chaotic but governed by rules, and Yuan Fang said everyone trapped there was only dust with no real hope of escape.
• Yuan Fang revealed that he could not observe Fu Qian's fate and asked him to help wipe out the outsiders.

Yuan Fang explained that the people in this immortal place gradually lost themselves and asked Fu Qian to prevent the worst outcome. He revealed that a quiet lake contained fire and urged Fu Qian to awaken it and draw a hunting party there.

• Fu Qian questioned Yuan Fang about the demigods’ earlier actions, and Yuan Fang said he was only their adviser and could glimpse an uncertain future.
• Yuan Fang explained that the place itself was immortal, but its inhabitants continually lost memories and identity, especially when they died.
• Yuan Fang asked Fu Qian to help prolong the inhabitants’ existence and suggested Fu Qian could save their world.
• Yuan Fang showed Fu Qian a lake and revealed that it held annihilation, which he also called fire.
• Yuan Fang asked Fu Qian to awaken the fire and lure the hunting party to the lake.

Fu Qian learned Yuan Fang planned to use the lake’s flames and their saintly source against the Hunting Squad, then traveled to the lake with Akasha and Crystal. Akasha explained how demigods were reborn and why the flames and drifting escape routes had failed to free them, leaving Fu Qian increasingly suspicious of Yuan Fang’s true motives as they reached the shadowed lake.

• Yuan Fang explained that the Hunting Squad would become enemies of the annihilating saint whose flames they sought, and said he could locate other demigods more efficiently than the squad could.
• Fu Qian found Akasha and Crystal waiting under orders from Ballard to keep watch over him, then set off with them for the lake.
• Fu Qian asked Akasha about dying and rebirth, and she described how Crystal’s friend had become a demigod after spider eggs hatched inside her.
• Akasha told Fu Qian that the lake’s flames could not free them and that attempts to escape through drifting unusual areas had failed.
• Fu Qian questioned whether Yuan Fang’s plan would worsen the danger by drawing more investigators and making the divine envoys more determined to gather flames.
• Akasha announced that they had reached the lake, where the area ahead lay in shadow.