Recaps

Fu Qian used his tranquilizer technique to ease Pei Yanqing’s lingering distress from a strange dream, then returned to the bookstore to assess Wen Li’s work. He and Wen Li waited for visitors connected to the King of Prison Break incident in Shangjing.

• Fu Qian tapped Pei Yanqing on the head with the tranquilizer, and she felt relaxed and free of her anxiety and fatigue.
• Fu Qian claimed he had caused Pei Yanqing’s dream with his evil methods, but the others laughed and dismissed his explanation.
• Fu Qian hosted lunch for the group, then returned home and used the mark on his wrist to travel back to the bookstore.
• Wen Li explained that she had deliberately kept the bookstore quiet so potential visitors would not be disturbed.
• Fu Qian praised Wen Li’s efforts and told her to prepare for the guests who might arrive at any moment.

Fu Qian waited at the bookstore for Selena, while Wen Li tried to identify the expected guest. Selena arrived after the shop’s customers fled from a sudden unnatural darkness, and the chapter ended as Fu Qian asked what she wanted to discuss.

• Wen Li asked Fu Qian whether a guest was really coming, and he told her to let the visitor enter on her own.
• A strange darkness spread through the bookstore, prompting the customers to leave until only Fu Qian and Wen Li remained.
• Selena entered the bookstore, and Wen Li recognized the demigod vampire.
• Fu Qian joked about studying management, while Selena resisted his conversation and sat down.
• Fu Qian asked Selena what she had come to discuss, leaving her oddly disappointed that their exchange had gone so smoothly.

Selena visited Fu Qian to discuss a strange dream that led Taylor to uncover a conspiracy and discover an emblem tied to an ancient Higher Being called the King of Prison Break. Fu Qian remained composed until Selena showed him Taylor’s drawing, which made the Bookstore Owner grow serious.

• Fu Qian welcomed Selena and made casual conversation while Wen Li prepared tea.
• Selena told Fu Qian that Taylor had reported a strange dream and a conspiracy he had discovered.
• Selena explained that Taylor’s dream had revealed an emblem representing the Calamity Power of an ancient Higher Being called the King of Prison Break.
• Selena said she worried the dream might indicate that an unknown power was seeping into the world, though Taylor had been given an item to prevent further dreams.
• Selena formed Taylor’s crude drawing of the emblem from her flesh, and the Bookstore Owner immediately grew serious.

Selena asked Fu Qian about the emblem Taylor had seen in a dream, and Fu Qian identified it as resembling the mark of an entity like the Death Master. He warned that the Greedy Worms might seek out Selena’s family again, while secretly realizing the emblem’s bestowal had been transmitted through their call.

• Selena showed Fu Qian the emblem and explained that Taylor had seen Great Fortune Ming King, played by Jiang En, in a dream.
• Fu Qian recognized the emblem from the Greedy Worms and said it belonged to an entity resembling the Death Master, not the King of Prison Break.
• Fu Qian explained that the Greedy Worms had been connected to the case involving Grantham and said there was no major conspiracy threatening Shangjing.
• Selena agreed to keep her conversation with Fu Qian secret and asked how she could track down the Greedy Worms.
• Fu Qian suggested that the Greedy Worms might contact Selena’s people through the emblem, while privately noticing that its bestowal had been transmitted through their call.

Fu Qian maneuvered Selena and the Greedy Worms toward a fragile alliance by giving each side a reason to seek the emblem’s divine pioneer. After Selena left, he asked Wen Li to create an ecstatic emotional ripple so he could strengthen the blessing she had helped him transmit.

• Fu Qian arranged for the Greedy Worms to see a filtered vision that would inspire them to seek the divine pioneer, while Selena would become their guide and source of pressure.
• Selena thanked Fu Qian for his information and promised to alert him if she learned anything about the Greedy Worms, adding that she would avoid killing them if they came to her.
• After Selena left, Fu Qian and Wen Li discussed why she had sought him out, concluding that the emblem’s origins mattered more to her than the body-snatching incident.
• Fu Qian told Wen Li that the escaped people would return to Selena because of their faith, then asked her to direct an ecstatic emotional ripple toward him.

Fu Qian used Wen Li’s emotional power to affect the Greedy Worms, then discussed her prospects and possible alliance with the Gullard Family. After spending the night recovering, he entered the Warehouse and received a new containment assignment.

• Fu Qian had Wen Li send emotional ripples through him to the Greedy Worms, including Lady Tooth Choker, and judged the effect strong enough to trouble even Selena if she were caught off guard.
• Wen Li told Fu Qian that her father had advised her to focus on advancement and be cautious about business.
• Wen Li asked whether she should consider the Gullard Family’s offer to cooperate, and Fu Qian encouraged her to pursue it as a signal of cooperation in Shangjing.
• Fu Qian said he would remain in Shangjing and offered Wen Li more volunteer work the next day.
• The next morning, Fu Qian entered the Warehouse and received the assignment to recontain 2-020, “Licking.”

Fu Qian entered a containment scene in Los, where he had been assigned to work as a medium and receive a special visitor. He recognized his assigned name, Gorimshaw, and face from a recent nightmare as someone hesitated outside his apartment door.

• Fu Qian selected his skills and items before entering Containment Scene 2-020.
• The mission briefing described Los as a city full of mediums and said he would receive a special visitor.
• Fu Qian found himself in a plain apartment dressed like an ordinary office worker, with no obvious occult tools.
• Fu Qian picked up a business card bearing the name Gorimshaw and recognized it from his nightmare as a cannibalistic painter.
• Fu Qian saw a hand hesitate outside his security door, repeatedly lifting and lowering without knocking.

Fu Qian met Claire, a wealthy woman seeking advice, and gained her confidence with his businesslike approach. She revealed that her husband secretly licked her while asleep, along with their cat and everything in the fish tank.

• Fu Qian opened the door to Claire after she hesitated outside for some time.
• Claire questioned whether Fu Qian expected her to pay, and he challenged her assumptions about how an occult consultation should work.
• Claire decided that she needed a professional and told Fu Qian her husband was the reason for her visit.
• Claire explained that her husband got up at night and licked her body with his eyes closed.
• Claire added that her husband also licked their cat and everything in the fish tank.

Claire asked Fu Qian to investigate her husband Rick after finding him licking cats and other living things while apparently asleep. Fu Qian learned Rick’s behavior had grown more extreme and possessive, then received a mission to eliminate the source of the Noxious Plague without becoming contaminated.

• Claire told Fu Qian she had repeatedly found Rick licking living things in their home at night.
• Fu Qian assured Claire he believed her and asked whether she had brought one of Rick’s personal belongings.
• Claire handed Fu Qian Rick’s wristwatch, but he said it would not help and asked her to describe Rick’s behavior.
• Claire said Rick had shown an interest in licking things since their marriage, but for three nights he had acted more intensely and possessively.
• Claire identified her husband as Rick, and Fu Qian received a mission to eliminate the source of the Noxious Plague without being contaminated.

Fu Qian investigated Claire’s suspicions that her husband, Rick, was affected by an occult contamination. When Fu Qian used Clear Dream to question her, Claire showed unusual awareness of the dream and revealed that Rick kept a forbidden private room at home.

• Fu Qian received a prompt to find the source of a sin plague spreading through Los and kill it without being contaminated.
• Claire told Fu Qian that Rick’s sudden, excessive affection for others seemed unnatural, but the Night Watchers had not noticed anything amiss.
• Fu Qian decided to use Clear Dream to investigate Claire rather than immediately visit Rick, and Claire sensed the change as she entered the dream.
• Fu Qian questioned Claire about Rick’s unusual behavior, and she revealed that he kept a private room at home that he never cleaned and forbade her from entering.

Fu Qian revealed the contamination clinging to Lady Claire and began drawing it from her body. The living marks flowed into his hand, while the mysterious room and the meaning of the Sin Plague remained unresolved.

• Fu Qian learned from Lady Claire that Mr. Rick had retired from being a doctor before she met him.
• Fu Qian told Claire that her condition was linked to Rick and made her see black and red marks covering her body.
• Fu Qian explained that the marks were living embodiments of filth passed from Rick to Claire.
• Fu Qian told Claire to drop Rick's wristwatch, then began removing the contamination from her skin.
• A dense mass of black and red marks rose from Claire and flowed into Fu Qian's palm.

Fu Qian removed the pollution from Claire and gave her a bottle meant to cure Rick, then revealed he knew Rick’s surname. He concealed that he had checked Claire’s belongings in the real world as he continued his suspicious investigation.

• Fu Qian drew the insects from Claire’s skin and restored her face, and Claire thanked him.
• Fu Qian showed Claire the grotesque pollution on his hand, purified it in a jar, and offered her a bottle for Rick.
• Fu Qian told Claire to make Rick drink the bottle, explaining that Rick’s pollution drove him to spread it to others.
• Claire questioned how Fu Qian knew Rick’s surname, and Fu Qian hid that he had checked her belongings while she slept in the real world.

Claire realized that Master Gorimshaw had been using tricks to deceive her and suspected he wanted her to poison Mr. Rick with the blue liquid. She kept her discovery secret and pretended to remain interested in his potion before preparing to leave.

• Master Gorimshaw swapped the metal jar while Claire was in the restroom, and she watched him through the peephole.
• Claire concluded that Gorimshaw was a con artist and feared the blue liquid would poison Mr. Rick.
• Claire returned to the living room and refused Gorimshaw's offer of a drink while acting as though she would follow his advice.
• Claire asked to see the bugs in the jar, and Gorimshaw opened it to show her the clear liquid.

After Claire left, Fu Qian concluded that her unusual resistance to his dream might be connected to the Evil Plague and decided to wait for the authorities rather than risk further testing. Two police officers arrived to question him, and Fu Qian admitted that he had deceived Claire.

• Fu Qian realized that the jar and box had been dream constructs, while Claire had resisted his dream in a way that suggested her existence had been altered by a powerful force.
• Fu Qian considered the risks of investigating Claire further and hoped local law enforcement would arrive.
• Two police officers came to Fu Qian's home after Claire contacted them, and he confirmed his identity as Gorimshaw.
• The older officer asked why Fu Qian had no industry association registration and questioned him about Claire's report.
• Fu Qian admitted that he had deceived Claire.

Fu Qian explained to Tommy and Norwell why he had deceived Claire: he wanted her to bring medicine to her husband, Mr. Wesley, whose strange behavior suggested he needed treatment. After allowing Norwell to search him, Fu Qian revealed that the bugs Claire saw were caused by Supernatural Power, not an illusion.

• Norwell reacted with surprise when Fu Qian cooperated, while Tommy introduced himself and questioned Fu Qian about deceiving Claire.
• Fu Qian said he had made Claire believe she was covered in bugs so she would accept treatment, but his real target was Mr. Wesley.
• Fu Qian explained that Mr. Wesley had been behaving strangely and described his late-night licking, which caught both officers' attention.
• Fu Qian said Claire had given the bottle to the officers because she lacked the nerve to take it to her husband, and admitted that his medicine might only help Mr. Wesley die more cleanly.
• Fu Qian let Norwell search him, then showed Tommy a black-and-red vortex and revealed that Claire's experience had been caused by Supernatural Power.

Fu Qian revealed his supernatural power to Tommy and Norwell, then agreed to stay under house arrest while they investigated. After leaving, Tommy realized Fu Qian was likely a genuine supernatural being and decided to alert the Night Watchers and investigate Claire’s husband, while Fu Qian listened in and welcomed their approach.

• Fu Qian demonstrated supernatural power, prompting Norwell to draw his weapon and Tommy to question Fu Qian’s motives.
• Tommy allowed Fu Qian to remain in the room under house arrest and ordered him to stop working until further notice.
• After leaving, Tommy told Norwell that Fu Qian was likely a supernatural being and that Claire’s family might be in danger.
• Tommy and Norwell decided to contact the Night Watchers and investigate Claire’s husband for anything suspicious.
• Fu Qian listened to their conversation and concluded that his plan was progressing smoothly.

Fu Qian waited for the Night Watchers to investigate Rick Wesley and was soon confronted by Winona, who asked why Rick had disappeared. Fu Qian said Rick had sensed danger, leaving Winona stunned by his blunt answer.

• Fu Qian decided not to confront Rick directly and planned to use the Night Watchers to monitor him.
• A Night Watcher arrived at Fu Qian’s home and demanded to know where Rick was.
• Fu Qian identified the visitor as a Night Watcher and persuaded her to sit and speak with him.
• The woman introduced herself as Winona and told Fu Qian that Rick Wesley had disappeared from home.
• Fu Qian answered that Rick had sensed danger.

Fu Qian faced questions from Night Watchers Winona and Leilan after Winona attacked him and Leilan intervened. He learned that Leilan had not been the Wesleys’ Night Watcher friend and realized Winona was the one Claire had meant.

• Winona attacked Fu Qian with her revolver after he admitted he was a supernatural being, but Leilan stopped her with a knife.
• Leilan explained that he had investigated Fu Qian after noticing irregularities in the source of his clients, including Claire Wesley.
• Fu Qian claimed a strange force had guided Claire to him, while Winona and Leilan questioned whether his actions were connected to Wesley’s disappearance.
• Leilan confirmed that Claire had taken back ordinary water but warned that it could still have served as a signal or warning to her husband.
• Fu Qian asked whether Leilan had been the Wesleys’ friend in the Night Watchers, learned he had not known them before that day, and asked Winona if she was the friend.

Fu Qian tested how the Night Watchers reacted to his claim that Rick Wesley was not ordinary, then confirmed that Winona resisted Clear Dream and might be vulnerable to Rick’s contamination. After escaping their attack, he planned to investigate the Wesley home; meanwhile, he suddenly reappeared to attack Winona.

• Fu Qian told Winona and Leilan that Rick Wesley had been discovered as more than an ordinary person, and demonstrated that they could not reliably sense a Transcendent.
• Winona resisted Clear Dream, warned Leilan, and opened fire at Fu Qian.
• Leilan recovered and attacked the places where Fu Qian might be hiding, but his blades and emerald-green projectiles hit nothing.
• Fu Qian observed that Winona's resistance to Clear Dream supported his suspicion that Rick could contaminate people through face-to-face contact.
• Fu Qian considered checking the room Rick had forbidden others to enter, while Winona and Leilan searched for him.
• A crystalline frost spear shot from a corner toward Winona as Fu Qian suddenly appeared.

Fu Qian attacked Winona and Leilan, then listened as the Night Watchers decided to search for Mr. Rick and investigate Wesley. After they left, Fu Qian went to the Wesley residence, keeping track of Winona through the Thread of Concern.

• Fu Qian ambushed Winona, but she dodged the ice spear before an unseen force pulled her into its path and struck her.
• Leilan guarded Winona, and the two Night Watchers agreed to leave rather than keep fighting an attacker whose methods they could not understand.
• Leilan and Winona decided to find Mr. Rick and gather people to search for Gorimshaw, suspecting Wesley had a connection to the supernatural.
• Fu Qian overheard the Night Watchers discuss using Mr. Rick as bait and question whether Wesley was truly ordinary.
• Fu Qian went to the Wesley residence, using the Thread of Concern attached to Winona to monitor the Night Watchers.

Fu Qian entered Claire’s home and persuaded her to lead him to the forbidden room where her missing husband, Mr. Rick, might be. The two reached the door to the underground study, which no one had searched yet.

• Fu Qian used Blood Conquest to enter the Otherworldly Passage and found Claire alone, drinking wine.
• Fu Qian reassured Claire, asked her to keep her voice down, and proposed searching the room no one was allowed to enter.
• Claire said the police officers had already left and confirmed that no one had searched the forbidden room.
• Fu Qian asked Claire to finish her wine so she would look less suspicious, then had her lead him through the Wesley home.
• Claire led Fu Qian underground to the door beside a large picture frame, identifying it as the entrance to Mr. Rick’s study.

Fu Qian opened the locked room in Rick’s house and found a wall of clean, empty boxes that appeared to be hospital supplies. He suggested Rick had taken human organs and that something had licked the boxes clean, leaving Claire horrified and asking her to recall Rick’s unusual behavior.

• Fu Qian used a hairpin to open the locked room, and Claire followed him inside and turned on the light.
• Claire and Fu Qian found a stack of identical, translucent boxes in the otherwise empty room.
• Fu Qian inferred that Rick had taken the boxes from the hospital where he had worked as a surgeon.
• Fu Qian suggested that the boxes had once held body parts and had been licked clean, reminding Claire of her disturbing dreams.
• Claire vomited, and Fu Qian asked her to think of anything unusual Rick had done or said.

Fu Qian questioned Claire in Mr. Rick’s secret chamber and learned that Rick had described people afflicted by strange illnesses as parts of himself. After Fu Qian vanished, Winona found Claire, who explained why she had brought him to the chamber and revealed what she knew about it.

• Claire recalled that Mr. Rick had called hideous illnesses flowers blooming in the flesh and said their sufferers were parts of himself.
• Fu Qian suspected Rick’s contamination had drawn his victims into a shared being and concluded that the victims on the Ross side might be numerous.
• Fu Qian thanked Claire, told her she could speak freely to the people coming to help, and plunged the chamber into darkness before escaping.
• Winona rushed into the room and found Claire alone; Claire said the mysterious con man had appeared and vanished without explanation.
• Claire told Winona that the room was Mr. Rick’s secret chamber and recounted how she had been invited to explore it.

Winona investigated Claire’s encounter with Mr. Rick, unaware that Fu Qian remained hidden and had drawn her into an illusion. After realizing the conversation and lit room had only existed in a dream, Winona feared the disappearance case involved a demigod beyond her and Leilan’s control.

• Claire told Winona that Mr. Rick had expected her to come and said she did not need to hide their conversation.
• Winona promised to arrange protection for Claire and vowed that Mr. Rick would pay for his actions.
• Fu Qian listened from the darkness and revealed that he had used Blood Conquest to trap Winona in a dream.
• Winona realized the lights and conversation had been an illusion after Claire said the room had stayed dark since Winona arrived.
• Winona suspected a demigod was behind the case and feared she and Leilan could not handle it.

Fu Qian manipulated Winona into seeking stronger help from the Night Watchers while he pursued Mr. Rick’s trail to the hospital where he had worked. There, he used Clear Dream on a composed, golden-haired man walking ahead of him.

• Fu Qian decided Winona should stay with Claire and ask more powerful Night Watchers for help because her contamination might alert Mr. Rick.
• Winona left the darkened room, promised Claire she would stay as her guard, and said someone stronger would handle Mr. Rick.
• Fu Qian anticipated that the Night Watchers and the Association of Charlatans would search for Gorimshaw, giving him a chance to steer their actions.
• Fu Qian went to the old hospital where Mr. Rick had worked and sensed several transcendent presences inside.
• Fu Qian activated Clear Dream on a golden-haired, blue-eyed man walking ahead of him, causing the man to briefly lose focus.