Recaps

Fu Qian intercepted Delanlai, who had brought the young mermaid ashore in a vine basket, and demanded that he hand her over. Delanlai tried to free the mermaid and escape, but Fu Qian stopped him and pulled her from the water, leaving her in his custody.

• Merfolk gathered near the ship, soothed by Vivian's song, while Delanlai landed elsewhere with the young mermaid bound in a vine basket.
• Fu Qian confronted Delanlai and asked him to hand over the mermaid so he could leave.
• Delanlai freed the mermaid, hurled her toward the sea, and tried to flee while vines wrapped around Fu Qian.
• Fu Qian struck Delanlai down, but the mermaid hesitated when Delanlai urged her to run.
• Fu Qian used an invisible force to pull the mermaid from the water and said she had to stay.

Fu Qian released the little mermaid and sent it singing through the shattered waters, hoping to draw a response from a hidden force and reveal an opportunity for the mermaid race. He kept Delanlai alive and took him to find supplies for his wound.

• Delanlai offered to help Fu Qian, explaining that his ability to become half-marine let him move among the fishmen.
• Delanlai explained that he had brought the little mermaid to the island after following the singing and seeking shelter.
• Fu Qian ordered the little mermaid to swim away through the shattered waters and keep singing, threatening Delanlai's life if it stopped or stayed in one place.
• The little mermaid plunged into the sea and began singing as Fu Qian watched the Thread of Concern shift.
• Fu Qian told Delanlai he hoped the mermaid's journey would reveal a true opportunity for its kind, then led him to find something to dress his wound.

Fu Qian returned Delanlai to the poaching vessel, killed a merfolk who attacked him, and learned that Lan En and the others had gone to investigate the song affecting the merfolk. He decided to take Rachel and Delanlai to hear the song themselves.

• Fu Qian carried Delanlai to the poaching vessel and told Rachel to treat his wounds.
• Fu Qian killed a merfolk who attacked him, then inspected his glove and sensed an aura like Lady Vivian’s.
• Rachel and Delanlai discussed the song’s effect on the merfolk and learned that Lan En and the others had gone to the island.
• Delanlai noticed changes in Lan En and the others that he attributed to the Sea of Ashes.
• Fu Qian announced that he and the others would leave to listen to the song, and Delanlai agreed to go.

Fu Qian used the little mermaid’s song to track the Thread of Concern to a dim, murky fragment of sea, while Delanlai and Rachel argued about the merfolk and the Night Watchers. After the thread led him away from the boat, Fu Qian entered the strange place to seek its master.

• Rachel asked whether the mermaid they had caught earlier was the one they were following, and Delanlai confirmed it.
• Rachel challenged Delanlai’s plan to kill people and questioned why he would not gather evidence for the Night Watchers; Delanlai argued that the fishfolk’s aggression had been exaggerated.
• Fu Qian learned from Delanlai that the fishfolk were less vicious than the creatures they had encountered, then noticed the Thread of Concern leap in a new direction when the mermaid stopped singing.
• Fu Qian let the boat fall behind, waited for the Thread of Concern to nearly stop moving, and vanished from Delanlai and Rachel’s sight.
• Fu Qian followed the thread to a dim, murky fragment of sea, dispelled Blood Conquest, and stepped inside to ask whether the master was home.

Fu Qian found a hidden island of tangled flesh where a merfolk woman lay fused to the mass, and realized she could not communicate with him normally. He destroyed the precious item Vivian had entrusted to him, releasing a flash of color as he tried to discover how to reach her.

• Fu Qian followed a strange sensation through the water and opened a concealed entrance beneath the Sea of Ashes.
• Fu Qian entered the hidden space and found a fleshy island covered in glowing coral-like growths and the bodies of sea creatures.
• Fu Qian found the exhausted little mermaid and a merfolk woman whose lower body merged with the island.
• Fu Qian noticed that the woman’s eyes, ears, and mouth were sealed, and reasoned that her ability to guide him depended on his species rather than her song.
• Fu Qian removed his glove and destroyed the precious item Vivian had entrusted to him, releasing a flash of color.

Fu Qian found Ninianni, the mermaid who had secretly freed fish from the farm, and pretended to be sent by Vivian to earn her trust. Ninianni explained that a voice imitating Vivian had appeared after her sister left, but she knew it was false because Vivian would never sing so badly.

• Fu Qian let the colorful mass cover him and heard Ninianni mistake him for Vivian.
• Fu Qian revealed he was not Vivian but claimed she had sent him, and Ninianni eventually agreed to answer his questions.
• Ninianni said her name and admitted she could no longer move, asking Fu Qian not to tell Vivian.
• Ninianni told Fu Qian that a voice imitating Vivian had appeared not long after Vivian left, and that she had never answered it.
• Ninianni said the voice could not fool her because Vivian would never sing like that, confirming Fu Qian's suspicion that its singing was terrible.

Fu Qian questioned Ninianni about the Sea of Ashes and grew more convinced that the entity posing as Vivian intended to transfer its curse to him. Ninianni explained how she and Vivian discovered a route out of the fragmented seas and why she had stopped guiding creatures along it.

• Fu Qian suspected the frog that had made a deal with him was an entity that had eaten Vivian and planned to pass its affliction to him.
• Ninianni told Fu Qian that she and Vivian had lived in the Sea of Ashes since they came into being and would vanish if they left it.
• Ninianni explained that creatures could escape by passing through fragmented seas in a particular order.
• Ninianni said her curse made the traces of everything that died gather on her, and Vivian first tried to protect her by carving out a place and killing approaching creatures.
• Ninianni explained that Vivian later tried to prevent violence, but the creatures became too numerous, so the sisters investigated when some began disappearing.
• Ninianni said Vivian had been pleased to discover the route out and believed it could solve her problem, but the buildup of creatures eventually left Ninianni in her current state.

Ninianni told Fu Qian how she had transformed outsiders into fishfolk while searching for Vivian, then realized Fu Qian had not come at her sister’s request. As Fu Qian pressed her for information about joining two beings in the Sea of Ashes, his sanity fell and he activated False God Incarnation.

• Ninianni recalled that Vivian had brought her a lost mermaid to test her discovery, leading to the creation of the fishfolk.
• Ninianni offered to help the awakened mermaid leave with Fu Qian and warned that the fishfolk were dangerous.
• The mermaid’s actions revealed to Ninianni that Fu Qian had manipulated her, and she asked him how Vivian was doing.
• Fu Qian said Vivian was not doing well and threatened that she might soon return to Ninianni in a disturbing form.
• Ninianni explained that creatures appearing in the Sea of Ashes were mutated parts of herself, not truly joined beings.
• Fu Qian’s sanity dropped by ten, and he immediately activated False God Incarnation.

Fu Qian used False God Incarnation to uncover that a hidden force had erased memories of the changes his arrival brought to the Sea of Ashes. After asking Ninianni whether she wanted freedom or to keep waiting for Vivian, he used Return Edict to transform her, and the watcher’s influence seemed to have relented.

• Fu Qian used False God Incarnation to recover the thought that Ninianni had sensed an anomaly around him but forgotten it.
• Fu Qian realized that his ability to fuse separate beings had changed the Sea of Ashes and that a hidden godlike watcher had erased awareness of the change.
• Fu Qian asked Ninianni whether she would choose freedom from her curse or keep waiting for Vivian, and she chose to continue waiting.
• Fu Qian used Return Edict on Ninianni, causing the island to convulse and replacing her lower body with a set of Salong’s pointed tongues.
• Ninianni awoke delighted with her transformed body, while Fu Qian retained his recovered thought after False God Incarnation ended.

Fu Qian returned to Vivian’s island after following a mysterious call across the sea, where Vivian confronted him over his actions. He revealed that he had destroyed the glove and that the remnants of Vivian’s pure self—and those of Edral, Ji Feng, Stella, and Liliana—had died with it.

• Fu Qian followed a whale-like call across the sea after his flashy outfit expired and he could no longer hear Ninianni.
• Fu Qian reached Vivian’s floating island, where the fish-people were restless and two men from Delanlai’s group watched from their ship.
• Vivian confronted Fu Qian by the lake, while Lan En and his group stood dazed around the cave entrance.
• Lan En tried to explain that his group had drifted there by accident, but Vivian crushed them together and ignored his plea to spare them.
• Fu Qian told Vivian that he had destroyed the glove, causing the pure self she had kept inside it to die along with Edral, Ji Feng, Stella, and Liliana.

Fu Qian confronted Vivian about her identity and deduced that she was Goto Hi, a fugitive trapped in the Sea of Ashes. Goto Hi admitted they were alike and explained that a hidden Work Log from Stella had led the Night Watchers to discover her.

• Fu Qian tested Vivian by naming Goto Hi and revealed that he had destroyed the glove, ruling out their original plan.
• Fu Qian explained that Vivian’s calm reaction to his wound, her confidence about escaping, and her inability to maintain a human form showed that she was trapped and being targeted by a powerful force.
• Vivian admitted that she was Goto Hi, the fugitive from the Night Watchers, and said she had only heard of Stella.
• Goto Hi told Fu Qian that she found a hidden Work Log signed by Stella, describing her third mission and her recent advancement to demigod.
• Goto Hi said she searched for more logs and was caught by the Night Watchers after drawing their attention.

Fu Qian and Goto Hi compared the revelations that had led them to the Sea of Ashes and learned that both had been drawn there by a godlike being. Goto Hi explained how she had consumed Vivian and become fused with her, while Fu Qian suspected Rainbow of Yao Bian had arranged their traps.

• Fu Qian questioned Goto Hi about her search for Stella's diary and learned the Night Watchers had pursued her after she investigated it.
• Fu Qian described a revelation that connected him to the Sea of Ashes, and Goto Hi said she had received a similar vision there.
• Goto Hi revealed that the vision led her to Vivian, whom she consumed in pursuit of ascension, merging their existences.
• Goto Hi admitted she had planned to transfer her fused existence to Fu Qian, but Fu Qian refused to blame her and said they had been led there by a god.
• Fu Qian suspected Rainbow of Yao Bian had arranged the revelation and warned Goto Hi that the being behind it was a god.

Fu Qian confronted Goto Hi about her identity and motives, then deduced that her true face was hidden on her back. As Goto Hi revealed that Inspiration was a rare reward, Vivian attacked Fu Qian with her tongue.

• Fu Qian dismissed Goto Hi’s attempt to bargain and accused her of wanting his help without offering any in return.
• Fu Qian pointed out that Lan En was still alive but pretending to be dazed, undermining Goto Hi’s attempt to make their conversation seem peaceful.
• Fu Qian provoked Goto Hi until the face on Vivian’s back turned toward him, revealing a hole in its forehead and speaking in a voice unlike Vivian’s.
• Fu Qian explained that he had deduced the hidden face from Goto Hi’s habit of turning her back and from the sense of something building after she gave her true name.
• Goto Hi recalled that Inspiration had once appeared as a rare reward and that Stella’s journal described it as a medal for completing a grueling task.
• Vivian’s tongue suddenly bound Fu Qian, and she laughed that it was harder to deal with than a tail.

Fu Qian fought Goto Hi as she tried to bind and fuse him with a slick barrier of flesh. He turned the struggle into a battle of attrition, tore through her tongue with his wounds and tendrils, and lashed a fleeing eyeball from the air.

• Goto Hi enveloped Fu Qian in a tough, slick barrier that tangled his senses and began trying to fuse them.
• Fu Qian activated Glorious Tyrant and resisted as Goto Hi twisted the barrier into an attempt to exploit their disordered bodies.
• Fu Qian used his wounds to cut through Goto Hi’s tongue and the barrier, while she expanded the cocoon and filled it with thorns to intensify their battle of attrition.
• Fu Qian unleashed Tendril Barrage Devastator, tearing through Goto Hi’s flesh and sending a bizarre eyeball fleeing.
• Fu Qian struck the escaping eyeball out of the air with his Thorn Whip.

Fu Qian defeated Goto Hi and used Clear Dream to separate her from Vivian so they could fight over control. After the dream shattered, he threw the cracked eyeball into the water and prepared to follow the route code from Ninianni as a mermaid's song approached.

• Fu Qian killed Goto Hi's frog body, and Goto Hi killed Lan En with her tail before dying.
• Vivian spoke through the eyeball and asked Fu Qian to take her off the island; he agreed after persuading her to come along.
• Fu Qian activated Clear Dream, manifesting Goto Hi and exposing her deception after she had impersonated Vivian.
• Fu Qian separated Goto Hi and Vivian within the dream and told them to settle their conflict themselves.
• The dream shattered, and Fu Qian threw the cracked eyeball into the water before recalling Ninianni's route code as a mermaid's song approached.

After escaping the dream realm, Fu Qian crossed the Sea of Ashes toward the whale-like call, hijacked a monstrous predator for a ride, and reached the source of the strange connection. Inside a seemingly ordinary whale, he found a rotating crystalline sphere resembling a sun, which might be the thing born from the false god.

• Fu Qian crossed the dream's final boundary and emerged into the Sea of Ashes, where a strange predator immediately attacked him.
• Fu Qian climbed onto the predator, pierced its body with his tentacles, and forced it to carry him toward the whale's cry.
• After the predator-turned-vehicle vanished, Fu Qian swam toward a whale that approached him and let it swallow him.
• Fu Qian discovered the whale was hollow inside and followed its sinewy structures to a slowly rotating crystalline sphere.

Fu Qian returned from the Sea of Ashes with the Crystalline Sun and found that the Warehouse had excused him from work, while a Higher Being’s influence had left him facing a dangerous choice between two opportunities. He left the Warehouse and met Chief Yuan at the bookstore, ready to go with her.

• Fu Qian caught the Crystalline Sun as the whale’s light faded, and the gentle creature dissolved into ash.
• Fu Qian entered the Warehouse, where a prompt told him his work was complete and he could leave, leading him to suspect the Crystalline Sun or his actions had affected it.
• Fu Qian realized a Higher Being was watching him and that one of the two opportunities before him was a divine forgery; he chose not to consume the Crystalline Sun yet.
• Fu Qian clocked out of the Warehouse and returned to the bookstore, where he showered, changed clothes, and ate breakfast.
• Chief Yuan arrived at the bookstore, and Fu Qian left with her.

Fu Qian traveled with Yuan Shan to meet someone at the Night Watchers’ Hidden Sanctuary, learning that the destination was a gambling city called Night Holy Capital. The journey ended with Yuan Shan welcoming him there, while the reason for the meeting and what awaited him remained unknown.

• Fu Qian sold an insomniac customer a difficult mathematics book, then left the bookstore with Yuan Shan.
• Yuan Shan took Fu Qian aboard a luxurious aircraft and said they were traveling to meet someone who would decide what happened next.
• Yuan Shan admitted she could not rule out the possibility that the meeting would end with Fu Qian being killed, but promised to do her best to prevent it.
• Yuan Shan told Fu Qian that the Gulad affair had been settled, Gan Zuoxun had support as the new city administrator, and Miss Wen had risen to prominence in Shangjing.
• As they neared their destination, Yuan Shan revealed that the Hidden Sanctuary was a gambling city and welcomed Fu Qian to Night Holy Capital.

Yuan Shan took Fu Qian through Night Holy Capital to find her retired teacher, a former Night Watcher, while explaining the city’s unusual role within the organization. They headed to a church after failing to find him at a luxury hotel, and Yuan Shan revealed his name: Henry Campbell.

• Yuan Shan brought Fu Qian to Night Holy Capital and said she hoped to show him her comfortable home there if they had the chance.
• Yuan Shan explained that her retired teacher had no communication device, so she and Fu Qian searched likely places, beginning with a luxury hotel and casino.
• Fu Qian asked whether Transcendents could gamble, and Yuan Shan explained that they were restricted to certain games that attracted people willing to test their luck against them.
• Yuan Shan told Fu Qian that the Night Watchers maintained a secret headquarters in the city because the organization was not perfectly united and some members wanted a change of scenery.
• Yuan Shan led Fu Qian toward the city’s many churches and finally revealed that her teacher was named Henry Campbell.

Yuan Shan brought Fu Qian to a church in the Night Holy Capital to meet her teacher, retired Second Order Night Watcher Henry Campbell. Henry led them to a private room and thanked Fu Qian for helping the Night Watchers, especially with Logan’s situation.

• Yuan Shan explained that the city’s religious district was lively and harmonious despite its gambling culture.
• Yuan Shan worried that her teacher might be diverting other people’s prayers and blessings to himself.
• Yuan Shan found Henry Campbell praying in a church and led Fu Qian inside to meet him.
• Henry led Fu Qian and Yuan Shan into a private room, where he thanked Fu Qian for helping the Night Watchers and dealing with Logan’s situation.

Fu Qian spoke with Henry about Logan’s recovery, his bookstore, and the Night Watchers hidden underground. He exposed the city’s amusement-park-like design as a system for observing and collecting data on its human inhabitants, leaving Henry to decide whether to take him downstairs.

• Fu Qian learned from Henry that Logan’s mind had recovered well, though his overall condition remained strange.
• Henry questioned Fu Qian about his bookstore and driving before asking where the Night Watchers were.
• Fu Qian explained that he could not sense anyone underground but had detected a carefully designed screening structure.
• Henry tested Fu Qian’s view of the city, and Fu Qian described its observation room and the humans as a world-class sample for collection.
• Henry admitted Fu Qian had uncovered the covert design and asked whether he feared being invited downstairs; Fu Qian calmly challenged him to do it.

Fu Qian revealed that he had encountered Rainbow of Yao Bian, provoking Henry to unleash a powerful darkness that distorted the room. He produced a mysterious lantern and explained that it had put the name in his mind, then said he had refused the entity’s offer and sought information from Yuan Shan.

• Fu Qian told Henry he would investigate the city’s churches and try his luck, then admitted he had some contact with Rainbow of Yao Bian.
• Henry reacted to Fu Qian’s revelation by engulfing the room in oppressive darkness, while Yuan Shan kept calm and contained the contamination around herself.
• Fu Qian produced an old lantern, shocking Henry, and claimed he had found it in the Warehouse.
• Fu Qian explained that the lantern could project an ancient god and that Rainbow of Yao Bian’s name had appeared in his mind when he obtained it.
• Fu Qian told Henry he had refused the entity because he did not understand what it wanted, then asked Yuan Shan for information about the threat.

Fu Qian convinced Henry that the lantern could reveal images of ancient gods, then asked about Rainbow of Yao Bian. Henry agreed to explain if Fu Qian helped him find a rat named Midas.

• Yuan Shan scolded Fu Qian for using the lantern to summon a dangerous image, while Henry questioned whether the image truly came from an ancient god.
• Fu Qian said he had seen Annalise through the Gullard Family's Ancient Recollection, and Henry recognized the item and accepted his explanation.
• Fu Qian asked Henry what Rainbow of Yao Bian was, and Henry offered to answer in exchange for help finding a rat.
• Henry named the rat Midas, leaving Fu Qian bemused.

Fu Qian accepted Henry’s request to find the ordinary man known as the Rat, whom Henry accused of stealing and sharing his luck. After leaving Henry’s room with Yuan Shan, Fu Qian considered how to track him down, while Yuan Shan suggested asking the police for help.

• Henry explained that the Rat had stolen his good fortune and asked Fu Qian to find him.
• Fu Qian agreed to the search, and Henry assigned Yuan Shan to accompany him.
• Yuan Shan told Fu Qian that the term he had asked about was an absolute taboo, with information about it tightly controlled by the Night Watchers.
• Fu Qian suggested asking the Night Watchers to locate the Rat, then admitted he was joking.
• Yuan Shan proposed asking the police to help find the ordinary man, but Fu Qian doubted the Rat was ordinary.

Fu Qian accompanied Yuan Shan to a bar where she hoped to ask around about the unusually lucky Mr. Midas. There, Yuan Shan reunited with her old friend Moxi, who confirmed she had heard of him.

• Fu Qian agreed with Yuan Shan that they should investigate through her personal contacts rather than involve the authorities.
• Yuan Shan told Fu Qian that the base's core lay beneath a cluster of religious buildings and that she lived farther away from the church.
• Yuan Shan led Fu Qian through a shopping district to an out-of-the-way bar where she knew people.
• Yuan Shan introduced Fu Qian, also called Fang Xun, to her old friend Moxi, who served them their usual drinks.
• Fu Qian asked Moxi whether she had heard of Mr. Midas, and she said she had.