Chapter Summaries

Fu Qian and the Witch learned that the passage led to the outside and the Sea of Mind, but clearing it could collapse the dream. Fu Qian asked Gentleman on the Beam whether he truly wanted to find the sea, and the remnant’s expression changed for the first time.

• Gentleman on the Beam said most people believed a calamity lay outside and opposed opening the passage to the Sea of Mind.
• Gentleman on the Beam explained that the insects attacked intruders by instinct, then spat acidic liquid that drew them away from the passage.
• The insects revealed piles of stone steles blocking the passage, which the inhabitants had gathered to keep out the Red Sand.
• The Witch warned Fu Qian that removing the steles or forcing their way outside could make the dream collapse, and said she could sense nothing beyond it.
• Fu Qian said the Witch’s warning made him want to find the sea even more and asked Gentleman on the Beam whether he wanted to find it too.

Fu Qian pressured Gentleman on the Beam to give him a useful reason not to open the passage, while the unstable nightmare threatened to collapse. Gentleman on the Beam finally claimed there was no sea and demonstrated it by smashing his head into the dome.

• Fu Qian told Gentleman on the Beam he would open the passage in one minute unless he offered a convincing reason not to.
• Gentleman on the Beam accused Fu Qian of threatening him and argued that opening the passage would get them nowhere.
• Fu Qian tossed down a chain link from the Tablet-Bearing King and continued his countdown, discouraging Gentleman on the Beam from calling for help.
• Gentleman on the Beam's face changed, and he declared that there had never been a sea.
• Gentleman on the Beam crawled to the dome's center and smashed his head into it, causing cracks to spread and blood to gush out.

Fu Qian and the Witch examined the blood Gentleman on the Beam used to show them the danger beyond the dome, identifying it as a powerful force tied to the nightmare’s foundation and their accumulated blood loss. When Fu Qian challenged him to strengthen the illusion, Gentleman on the Beam threw his own eyes into the blood, causing eyes to spread across its surface.

• Fu Qian shielded the Witch from the blood and found that it could slow his blood and weigh down his body despite his Second Order strength.
• Gentleman on the Beam revealed that he feared the blood outside and had manipulated the Tablet-Bearing Kings into reinforcing the gravestone blockade.
• Fu Qian pointed out that the Tablet-Bearing Kings had carried gravestones while climbing toward the dome, and Gentleman on the Beam explained that they had tried to clear the passage before he persuaded them to block it.
• The Witch assessed the blood as an illusion connected to their blood loss and possibly the nightmare’s core foundation, while warning that its power was difficult to judge.
• Fu Qian told Gentleman on the Beam to make the illusion stronger, so Gentleman dug out an eyeball and tossed it into the blood, where more eyes soon appeared.

Fu Qian and Witch identified the nightmare’s power as an instinctively malicious force balanced against the blood loss afflicting them. They considered destroying it to create a brief chance for Witch to stabilize the nightmare, and Fu Qian continued attacking the disaster eye as Witch explained the need for a precise strike.

• Fu Qian gathered the falling eyeballs and asked Witch to explain the power behind the blood, which she described as the living core of the nightmare with no clear consciousness.
• Fu Qian connected Witch’s explanation to the ruins’ boundary and concluded that breaking through it could make the nightmare collapse.
• Fu Qian proposed killing the power’s core while Witch temporarily stabilized the nightmare, and Gentleman on the Beam protested in horror.
• Gentleman on the Beam vomited the bugs that had earlier appeared, and Fu Qian burned them with golden flames.
• Witch confirmed that the plan was theoretically viable but said the core’s blurry boundaries made it difficult to target precisely.
• Fu Qian listened to Witch’s warning and continued detonating the disaster eye overhead.

Fu Qian used Madness Fire to destroy the charging Calamity eye while the Witch froze Gentlemen on the Beam and the surrounding bugs. They left the ruins and reached a red beach beside what appeared to be a dried-up seabed, raising questions about the nightmare’s connection to the Sea of Mind.

• Fu Qian identified the Calamity eye’s charging attack as a curse and replicated the Madness Fire effect to strike it.
• The Witch took control of the scene, freezing Gentlemen on the Beam and the bugs as Fu Qian’s attack incinerated the Calamity eye.
• The Witch cleared a path through the stone tablets and explained that the tombstones and their carriers were alike, differing only in their stage.
• Fu Qian and the Witch exited the ruins without collapsing the dream and found a red beach beside what seemed to be a dried-up seabed.

Fu Qian and the Witch explored a dead, ocean-like landscape beyond the ruins and concluded that the nightmare might be formed from the remains of the Sea of Mind. They discovered an armored figure whose blood had become the red sand, but found its armor empty, leaving them to wonder what had happened to the rest of its body.

• Fu Qian and the Witch observed that the red sand seemed to shield the ruins from the devastation and considered whether the landscape was the dead Sea of Mind.
• The Witch led Fu Qian to a rock shelf, where they found a huge armored figure kneeling with a greatsword lodged in its neck.
• Fu Qian and the Witch concluded that the figure's blood had likely transformed into the red sand and that the nightmare might be a manifestation of the Sea of Mind's remains.
• The Witch lifted the armor and revealed that it was completely empty inside.
• Fu Qian and the Witch exchanged a glance and identified the figure's apparent condition as blood loss.

Fu Qian and the Witch concluded that the bloodied ruins were the remains of a Promotion Ritual performed in the Sea of Mind, and wondered why a Higher Being had needed it. Though they found no trace of the Witch’s mother or the Dark Moon, the Witch used the sword to freeze the unstable dream and preserve it.

• Fu Qian and the Witch reasoned that the blood, Red Sand, and ruins belonged to a ritual whose performer had transformed and left the Sea of Mind.
• Fu Qian proposed that the nightmare was the remains of a Promotion Ritual, and the Witch agreed.
• Fu Qian considered the Sea of Mind’s mysterious significance to Higher Beings and its connections to other places.
• The Witch found no special connection to the discarded sword, then used its power to freeze the Red Sand, armor, and ruins.
• Fu Qian accepted the Witch’s decision to preserve the remnant, though they had not found traces of her mother or the Dark Moon.

Fu Qian and the Witch used the stone tablets in the Red Sand to travel between places in Lairding, and Fu Qian chose to return to the West District Church. Back in the painted Lairding, he prepared to take the Witch out for tea while planning to explore the Nightmare Corridor further.

• The Witch explained that the stone tablets could connect places throughout Lairding, then identified the mental hospital and the Fallen Stars' underground base.
• Fu Qian considered whether the Sea of Mind could form passages between concepts and help explain the ritual involving the armor.
• Fu Qian chose to return to the West District Church rather than explore more of Lairding, saying he wanted to rest and catch up with old friends.
• The Witch and Fu Qian returned to the top floor of the West District Church in the painted Lairding, where the Witch asked where they would have tea.
• The author noted that only one chapter would be posted on the first day of the month because of unavoidable plans.

Fu Qian and the Witch prepared to go out for tea, discussing how the Witch concealed her appearance from ordinary people. They reached the western district church, where the Witch had preserved the vampires’ overlapping gathering place and asked Fu Qian what he thought of it.

• The Witch said she had drunk all the coffee at Loretta’s bookstore, and Fu Qian suggested they try black tea instead.
• The Witch explained that she had redefined what counted as the Dark Moon so she could go outside wearing a hat, while concealing people’s perceptions of her face.
• Fu Qian said he would keep his own face and recalled working at the bookstore under the identity of Anke, which pleased the Witch.
• Fu Qian and the Witch followed his remembered route to the western district church and entered its lively overlapping domain.
• The Witch asked Fu Qian what he thought of the preserved vampire gathering place, and he said it was not bad.

Fu Qian and the Witch visited Mrs. Harper to ask about a letter with no return address, but their conversation turned into a tea party as Mrs. Harper reminisced about a former tenant. The chapter ended with Fu Qian asking whether the young man's fondness for sweets had a particular reason.

• Fu Qian and the Witch walked through Lairding's western district and saw the Dark Moon Cult thriving under the new order.
• Fu Qian led the Witch to Mrs. Harper's house and asked about the letter with no return address that she had passed on.
• Mrs. Harper invited Fu Qian and the Witch inside and served them her black tea.
• The Witch praised the tea, prompting Mrs. Harper to relax and reminisce about her youth and the former tenant.
• Mrs. Harper said the former tenant liked sweet foods, and Fu Qian asked whether he had a particular reason.

Fu Qian and the Witch visited Mrs. Harper to thank her for delivering a letter and learned that she still believed the returned Anke was human. After sharing her view and offering comfort, they were abruptly sent into a new containment scene for 1-008.

• Mrs. Harper told the Witch that Anke had grown quieter and more polite after returning, but she still considered him a person.
• Fu Qian and the Witch discussed Mrs. Harper’s complicated feelings about the Seventh Divine Son and the Dark Moon.
• Fu Qian explained that the letter had passed through his hands and that the Apostle had told them Mrs. Harper delivered it.
• The Witch agreed that the Apostle seemed human, and Mrs. Harper thanked them for sharing her view and invited them to visit again.
• A containment-breach warning appeared, and Fu Qian and the Witch were assigned to recontain Door, Code 1-008.

Fu Qian was forcibly assigned a new Warehouse task and woke up in a hospital-like room with blood flowing back into his hand. He found a woman beside him who appeared to be a nurse, while the task’s promised partner remained unidentified.

• Fu Qian waited for the Warehouse administrator, but the Warehouse forcibly assigned him a task and allowed him to bring only the King of Prison Break skill.
• The task described Fu Qian arriving at a place in search of peace and being accompanied by an old, inexperienced partner.
• Fu Qian regained his senses beneath an IV bottle and saw blood flowing back into his hand.
• A woman beside Fu Qian lifted her head and spoke, and he turned to look at her, wondering whether she was a nurse.

Fu Qian woke in an unfamiliar room with a woman dressed as a nurse, and both of them struggled to understand why they were there. The woman remembered giving him an injection for his hangover, while Fu Qian remained unsure what awaited him at eight.

• Fu Qian examined the woman beside him, and she screamed when she woke and realized what she was wearing.
• Fu Qian inspected the sparse room and told the woman that her overcoat was on the clothes rack.
• The woman put on the coat and wondered if she had drunk too much, while Fu Qian noted that he was hungover and had an ordinary body.
• Fu Qian suspected someone other than the Warehouse had restricted his abilities and considered the situation's strange opening unlikely to be coincidence.
• The woman removed Fu Qian's empty IV bag, remembered that she had come to give him a hangover injection, and said he had mentioned needing to do something at eight.

Fu Qian woke late in a strange situation with Tina and learned that his partner, the veteran officer Hack, had arrived to take him to their appointment. As Tina left, Fu Qian reminded her that she was still wearing her nurse’s hat, while Hack showed little concern about her outfit.

• Fu Qian admitted he could not remember why Tina was dressed as she was or what he was supposed to do, and questioned her about the previous night.
• Tina tried to leave, but a car horn outside interrupted her exchange with Fu Qian.
• Tina greeted Hack, and Fu Qian recognized him as his police partner who had come to find him after he missed their appointment.
• Fu Qian picked up a heavy pistol and told Hack he would be ready shortly, then asked Tina to remove the IV needle from his hand.
• Fu Qian pointed out Tina’s nurse’s hat, and Hack remarked that it did not matter whether she wore her uniform.

Fu Qian joined Hake to investigate two missing young people and received a task to find the White Key before the Old Hunter. At a breakfast place, they learned that Rachel had skipped her shift.

• Fu Qian left in civilian clothes and drove Hake to help search for two missing young people.
• Fu Qian received the task to find the White Key before the Old Hunter.
• Hake said the missing boy was supposedly fourteen and directed Fu Qian to park at a breakfast place.
• Fu Qian and Hake ordered their usual breakfast, and Jane told Hake that Rachel had skipped work.

Fu Qian and Mr. Hack shared breakfast while discussing the missing teenagers and deciding to visit Rachel and her husband. Fu Qian noticed that his milk seemed to have been prepared for someone else, then asked Jane what flowers Rachel liked, making her smile freeze.

• Fu Qian observed the quiet, declining neighborhood as Mr. Hack watched the view during breakfast.
• Mr. Hack concluded that the missing boy and girl had never been in the area, because Maggie told him whenever unfamiliar people appeared.
• Mr. Hack said he wanted to check on Rachel and her husband, explaining that Rachel often skipped work but that something about the situation felt wrong.
• Fu Qian noticed his milk had been prepared in advance and seemed intended for someone other than him.
• Fu Qian asked Jane what kind of flowers Rachel liked, and Jane's smile froze.

Fu Qian deliberately provoked Jane to investigate her fear, then watched the restaurant transform into a ghostly realm. Jane returned cracked and shrouded in freezing mist, while Hake vanished, and asked Fu Qian if he could see her.

• Fu Qian asked Hake what color flowers Tina liked, then refused Jane when she asked whether he wanted to know her favorite color.
• Jane quietly accepted Fu Qian's answer and left for the kitchen, where Fu Qian reasoned that her fear might be connected to Tina or the person meant to drink the milk.
• Jane smashed something in the kitchen, and the restaurant's curtains closed as Hake disappeared from his seat.
• Fu Qian saw his drink freeze and Jane return covered in cracks and icy mist, then she asked him if he could see it.

Fu Qian realized that the breakfast shop had shifted into a dangerous, supernatural layer of reality where Jane could wield powerful abilities, while the King of Prison Break's power still did nothing. As Jane revealed the darkness and destruction outside, Fu Qian set a handgun on the table and calmly insisted that the milk was not cold enough.

• Fu Qian concluded that he might have fallen into an Inner World and that Jane's supernatural power had left him trapped in the shop.
• Fu Qian complained that the milk was wrong and accused Jane of serving him a previous customer's drink.
• Jane crushed the glass into ice and argued that it was too dark outside for there to have been an earlier customer.
• Jane opened the curtains from across the long table, revealing a ruined window and tangible darkness outside.
• Fu Qian took out a handgun, set it on the table, and held the lump of ice while repeating that it was not cold enough.

Fu Qian intimidated Jane into answering questions about the milk and Hake, uncovering that Hake had visited the diner before Fu Qian arrived and asked about a missing young couple. Jane’s account deepened Fu Qian’s suspicions about his partner, though the circumstances remained unclear.

• Fu Qian used his pistol to force Jane to admit she had made a mistake with his drink and offer him another cup.
• Fu Qian refused Jane’s offer and demanded to know who had ordered his milk ahead of time.
• Jane said Hake was the only likely customer, and that he had arrived before her and left without drinking his milk.
• Fu Qian asked what Hake had discussed with Jane, and she recalled that he had asked whether a young couple of strangers had been there.
• Jane told Fu Qian the couple had not visited the diner.

Fu Qian considered whether Hake was the Old Hunter or a supernatural competitor in disguise, then confronted Jane as she struggled to accept that Mr. Hack had vanished. He offered her a coin-toss game with death as the stakes, but told her to guess instead of flipping the coin.

• Fu Qian considered whether Hake was the Old Hunter, or a competitor using supernatural abilities to disguise himself.
• Jane stared at Hake's abandoned food and trembled as she realized Mr. Hack had left but was somehow still present in her thoughts.
• Jane turned her ghostly face toward Fu Qian and released a deadly pressure that made breathing painful.
• Fu Qian picked up the gun, implied that he had killed Mr. Hack, and offered Jane a chance to die with him by winning a coin toss.
• Jane asked what would happen if she lost and whether she could forfeit, while Fu Qian described the quiet, ordinary day she longed for.
• Fu Qian told Jane to guess heads or tails because his frozen left hand could not flip the coin.