Chapter Summaries

Fu Qian learned that Nepheli had used the reflections beneath the lighthouse to see herself more clearly and had intended to set herself alight, not burn the Domain of the Dead. Nepheli disappeared before Fu Qian could learn more, and he returned to find only glittering bones where the ancient remains had been.

• Fu Qian concluded that Nepheli had been shaken by seeing an apocalyptic version of herself and had joined the evil organization to understand what she had seen.
• Nepheli said she had discovered the place long ago with Rom's help, but had lost the Madness Fire kindling she needed to use it.
• Fu Qian questioned Nepheli's claim that she wanted to light a fire, and she clarified that she had only intended to set herself alight.
• Nepheli explained that the place acted like a mirror and could reveal a clearer view of oneself through an intense display.
• Nepheli noticed that the storm had not stopped when the allotted time ended, then vanished with the light around her.
• Fu Qian returned to the lighthouse entrance and saw that the ancient remains had become a few glittering human bones.

Fu Qian examined Nepheli’s remains and concluded that her use of Madness Fire had stirred the Wise Dead and set off events around Moore, though Solondir’s operation had begun earlier. He investigated the possible link between the Wise Dead and Inverted Lake, then discovered something unusual in the lighthouse’s core.

• Fu Qian inferred that the remains were likely Nepheli’s and reconstructed how her Madness Fire had stirred the Wise Dead and triggered the activity around Moore.
• Fu Qian realized Solondir had begun his operation before Nepheli asked for the fire, making Solondir the original driving force behind the events.
• Fu Qian examined Nepheli’s remains but found no message or knowledge she had left behind.
• Fu Qian considered whether a research facility in the Sea of Ashes was connected to Inverted Lake and to the Wise Dead in Moore.
• Fu Qian inspected the lighthouse’s core, noticed its carefully recreated lens, and released golden radiance from his body.

Fu Qian used the lighthouse lens to uncover a strange perspective on Moore and saw Selena being restrained by Wise Dead while Solondir confronted her. He disrupted Solondir’s control, freed Selena from her bond to the place, and discovered an Artificial Eye inside the lens; after fitting it, he returned to the real Moore as the storm vanished.

• Fu Qian looked through the lighthouse lens from a different angle and saw Moore from above, along with Solondir confronting Selena and Wise Dead’s bond restraining her.
• Fu Qian detonated the Eye of Calamity against Solondir, weakening the Siren demigod and ending the storm’s pause over Moore.
• Fu Qian targeted Selena’s bond with the Eye of Calamity, and Wise Dead rapidly dissolved the connection.
• Fu Qian crushed the lens, removed a transparent, angular Artificial Eye embedded inside it, and fitted the eye into his left socket.
• The storm vanished, and Fu Qian realized he had returned to the real Moore.

Fu Qian brought the artificial eye out of the Realm of the Dead and theorized that the lighthouse had guided researchers back from Inverted Lake, not toward it. After returning to Moore, he headed for the slaughterhouse, where he found Lord Solondir waiting beside Siren.

• Fu Qian brought the artificial eye out of the Realm of the Dead and reasoned that its lens core might help find vanished Inverted Lake.
• Fu Qian returned to Moore’s lighthouse and confirmed that its real-world version was only a model, without a lens or light source.
• Fu Qian leaped down from the lighthouse and went to buy pomegranate juice from the old woman.
• Fu Qian looked toward the slaughterhouse and saw the furious Lord Solondir standing beside it, with Siren as the earlier witness.

Fu Qian gathered Laurie, Tooth Choker, and the others at Selena’s residence after the storm, while Lord Solondir watched from a distance. Laurie recognized the hidden Greedy Worms’ location, confirming a connection Fu Qian wanted to investigate.

• Lord Solondir spotted Fu Qian at the lighthouse but held back, wary of facing another demigod.
• Fu Qian drank pomegranate juice, then called Tooth Choker over and asked whether she had brought money.
• Fu Qian met Laurie and the others and led them to Selena’s lodging, brushing off Laurie’s warning that they were being followed.
• Laurie explained that they had come to honor their agreement with An Jing and ask Fu Qian before acting.
• Laurie recognized the residence from information the Greedy Worms had gathered, and Fu Qian used his reaction to confirm their connection to the Rebirth Club.

Fu Qian guided Laurie and the Greedy Worms to use the Rebirth Club’s name to ease Lord Solondir’s suspicions and redirect their search for Selena, whom he presented as the Ancient Angel. Laurie accepted Fu Qian’s plan to pose as club members, but the group still had not found Ji Yin when Fu Qian urged them to leave.

• Fu Qian told Laurie and the Greedy Worms that Selena was connected to the Rebirth Club and referred to her as the Ancient Angel.
• Laurie admitted that the Greedy Worms were searching for Selena and asked how they could contact the club.
• Fu Qian advised the Greedy Worms to pretend to be club members so the Rebirth Club would find them.
• Laurie accepted Fu Qian’s advice and agreed to leave, but a Tooth Choker adept pointed out that they had not found Ji Yin.
• Laurie admitted that they had made arrangements regarding Ji Yin, and Fu Qian warned the group not to stay much longer.

Fu Qian deduced that Ji Yin had deliberately left Maul, helping the Greedy Worms hide their operation and gain an advantage. He then warned Laurie that An Jing’s people had been placed in the office to die and disrupt Solondir’s investigation, so Laurie and the others prepared to leave.

• Fu Qian ruled out the obvious explanations for Ji Yin’s disappearance and concluded that Ji Yin had left Maul on purpose.
• Fu Qian reasoned that Ji Yin’s absence concealed the Greedy Worms’ operation and gave them room to maneuver against Selena and Solondir.
• Laurie and the others were shocked to learn Ji Yin had already left, and Laurie asked Fu Qian whether they should do anything about the office.
• Fu Qian said the office belonged to An Jing and explained that the people there had been placed to die, potentially disrupting Solondir’s investigation.
• Laurie understood that An Jing’s people would also have become victims of the plan and thanked Fu Qian before leading the others away.

Fu Qian left Moore after explaining the Rebirth Club’s role to Solondir and deducing how Siren and An Jing planned to manipulate the Wise Dead storm. As he sailed away, the storm was quieting and Solondir’s chance to advance seemed nearly over.

• Solondir chose not to confront the Rebirth Club after learning that its members had already helped eliminate several threats.
• Fu Qian left Solondir’s office and headed for the docks, having stopped by to build the Club’s reputation.
• Fu Qian reasoned that An Jing’s plan involved having its people die during the storm to disrupt the balance between the living and the dead.
• Fu Qian deduced that Solondir was provoking An Jing into taking responsibility if his risky advancement endangered ordinary people.
• Fu Qian sailed out of Moore and saw Solondir standing in the darkness by the docks as the Wise Dead grew quiet.

Fu Qian discovered the Inverted Lake and found an intact research facility that appeared connected to the Forbidden Zone where Su Gao had nearly lost her will. Inside, he encountered a familiar-looking man beside a giant Twelve-faced Hourglass, and a voice addressed him as his Sanity Value fell.

• Fu Qian left Moore aboard Ji Yin’s surveillance ship and ate dinner while the vessel sailed away.
• Fu Qian found a clear pool in the ash sea whose reflection revealed buildings, then watched the stars and structures turn until a research facility stood before him.
• Fu Qian recognized the turning reflections as resembling the Forbidden Zone where he had once helped Su Gao avoid becoming a puppet.
• Fu Qian opened the facility’s heavy door and met a young-looking, gold-browed man who seemed to recognize him.
• Fu Qian saw a giant Twelve-faced Hourglass behind the man, and a voice sounded as his Sanity Value decreased by one.

Fu Qian entered the underground armory, where an attendant explained that he had to choose a weapon and hunt the shadows haunting the lake. The chapter left him inspecting the weapons and eyeing an ornate short gun.

• Fu Qian arrived late and lost Sanity Value while speaking with the attendant.
• The attendant led Fu Qian through the temple-like building to a heavily secured room underground.
• Fu Qian found shelves of specially made weapons and learned he could choose only one.
• The attendant explained that unseen entities cast shadows around the lake and that Fu Qian had to patrol and kill them with a calibrated weapon.
• Fu Qian examined the weapons and focused on a short gun covered in decorative scrollwork.

Fu Qian chose a scarce double-barreled gun for his week-long duty and discovered that a hidden presence had been steadily draining his Sanity Value. He attacked the watcher as it fled, and a winged creature rose from the destruction.

• Fu Qian selected the heavy gun, which held only four rounds, and the receptionist warned him to save its bullets and stay cautious around the shadows.
• The receptionist explained that Fu Qian had to patrol for a week and check with researchers before entering occupied spaces.
• After another Sanity Value notification, Fu Qian fired toward the door, kicked it apart, and rushed outside.
• Fu Qian realized a hidden entity had been targeting him with a Sanity Value curse and marked it with a Calamity Eye as it fled through a wall.
• Fu Qian transformed his left hand into a head and blasted the fleeing target with silver-white Electric Arc, causing a huge winged creature to rise from the destruction.

Fu Qian attacked the Fallen Angel with Three Faces, and its rare Blood Face transformed nearby ordinary objects into supernatural, corrupting things. He realized the blood could have devastating effects on the target, but its spread also made him seem like a propagator of chaos and madness.

• Fu Qian unleashed Three Faces’ Fire Electricity Blood attack, but the Fallen Angel dodged most of the blast.
• Fu Qian activated Three Faces again, and its rare Blood Face released a fan-shaped spray of crimson blood that failed to reach the Fallen Angel.
• The golden-browed receptionist emerged from the storeroom and questioned Fu Qian amid the destruction.
• Fu Qian showed the receptionist a lamp stand whose silver pattern appeared to move, then pulled it away when the startled man reached for it.
• Fu Qian discovered that the blood had caused nearby ordinary materials to develop Calamity eyes and become supernatural and corrupted.

The narrator used Three Faces and Finger Guess to unleash supernatural chaos in a research facility, then suspected that his experience was an unstable episode of Etched Wisdom. He believed the Fallen Angel had returned because his destruction threatened the surrounding illusion, and greeted the figure as it appeared before him.

• The narrator activated Finger Guess, whose Scarlet Storm aura intensified the damage spreading through the research facility.
• He warned the receptionist to take cover, and the receptionist retreated into a storage room.
• The narrator fired at the returning winged figure, but his projectile vaporized before reaching it.
• He considered signs that his current experience might be Etched Wisdom, including the deserted facility and his earlier encounter with divine flesh.
• The narrator explained that he had been using destruction to pressure the runaway angel into returning, then greeted the figure before him.

Fu Qian realized the Fallen Angel had returned because it remained in the Etched Wisdom state, then watched it alter the Scarlet Storm and impose a prison-like law on him. The chapter left him wondering whether the creature wielded the authority of a true law.

• Fu Qian inferred that his opponent was still in the Etched Wisdom state and recognized that his risky strategy had persuaded it to return.
• The Fallen Angel condemned Fu Qian's sins as unforgivable and appeared in a grotesque, deformed form.
• Fu Qian suspected his Finger Guess aura had affected the creature, just as the Scarlet Storm changed from scarlet to golden orange.
• Fu Qian found that he could no longer interact with objects and realized the new law had imprisoned him without killing him.
• Fu Qian questioned whether the Fallen Angel possessed a special authority comparable to his own false law and its core of true law.

Fu Qian observed the Chief Judge, a law-associated Higher Being, as it tore corruption from its wings inside the research facility. He suspected it was connected to the Angel God Path and the Angel Lord, while the spreading rot threatened to consume the facility.

• Fu Qian asked the Chief Judge if he could appeal its verdict, but it ignored him and kept him pinned in place.
• The Chief Judge tore flesh-like rot from its wings while the surrounding facility cracked, decayed, and filled with signs of madness.
• Fu Qian moved around behind the Chief Judge and noticed the skeletal wings revealed beneath the corruption.
• Fu Qian connected the Chief Judge's self-purification and Sanity Value-removing power to the angel beings he had encountered, including the Angel Lord.
• The corruption stripped from the Chief Judge's wings spread rapidly through the research facility.

Fu Qian tested how his abilities interacted with the Chief Judge’s law-based punishment and deduced that the surrounding world was changing to keep conflicting laws in harmony. The Chief Judge escalated his sentence with holy fire, accelerating the collapse of Etched Wisdom, and Fu Qian prepared to act with a bell.

• Fu Qian dismissed Finger Guess and tried to understand how the Chief Judge’s Unforgivable Sin punishment tracked him.
• Fu Qian activated several abilities at once and found that they coexisted with his sentence without weakening it.
• Fu Qian deduced that the laws remained consistent because the surrounding space changed to reconcile their effects.
• The Chief Judge sentenced Fu Qian to Overwhelming—Great Sin, and holy fire began burning him and rapidly depleting his health.
• The holy fire accelerated the collapse of Etched Wisdom, and Fu Qian raised a gleaming bell.

Fu Qian used Eternal Clarity of Thought to interrupt the Chief Judge’s condemnation, then attacked her with Three Faces as Etched Wisdom collapsed. The Chief Judge and the research institution vanished, leaving Fu Qian in a classical building after time reset to the moment he had opened the door.

• Fu Qian rang Eternal Clarity of Thought and saw the halos dim as the Chief Judge’s sentence was interrupted.
• Fu Qian reasoned that the bell had banished all supernatural forces briefly, breaking the balance between his halos and the Chief Judge’s condemnation.
• The Chief Judge attacked with a broken sword, and Fu Qian used Three Faces to strike her with lightning, blood, and fire.
• The Chief Judge failed to bring down her sword and disappeared with Etched Wisdom and the ancient research institution.
• Fu Qian checked Tyrant's Mechanical Fist and found that time had returned to the moment he opened the door, though he remained inside a classical building.

After Etched Wisdom, Fu Qian suspected he had moved into another fallacy, where his injuries and Sanity Value remained depleted and the Burial Scroll's cooldown had not advanced. He continued posing as a cleaner in the ancient research institute, and the intercom directed him through the left door after he reported finding something extraordinary.

• Fu Qian reasoned that he might be caught in a chain of fallacies, with his condition carrying over between them.
• Fu Qian reached two doors and answered a voice from a wall intercom that he wanted to go somewhere he was allowed to go.
• The intercom told Fu Qian to go to the lake outside, and he inferred that the institute was still operational and recruiting cleaners.
• Fu Qian claimed he had dealt with something extraordinary and argued that the institute needed a thorough search.
• The intercom asked why the researchers had not noticed anything, and Fu Qian replied that he had dealt with it while checking his gun.
• The intercom directed Fu Qian to take the door on the left.

Fu Qian followed a walkie-talkie’s directions through the research institution and met a researcher who asked him to retrieve lost notes from the Backrooms. The researcher could not remember how he had lost them, echoing a similar request Fu Qian had encountered before, and Fu Qian asked how to enter the Backrooms.

• Fu Qian chose the left-hand route and followed the increasingly elaborate corridor through the institution.
• Fu Qian reached a room overlooking an endless expanse of water and spoke with someone behind its closed door.
• The researcher explained that cleaners were selected from the organization’s peripheral members and said he was investigating the beginning of the universe and the end of the supernatural.
• The researcher asked Fu Qian to enter the Backrooms and retrieve his lost notes.
• The researcher said he could not remember how he had lost the notes, and Fu Qian accepted the assignment and asked how to get there.

Fu Qian entered a chained-off chamber beneath the lake, where he found a vast arena-like room centered on a Twelve-faced Hourglass. He discovered a strange, apparently living figure staring at the hourglass and struck it with a handbell when it ignored him and began twisting unnaturally.

• Fu Qian followed the researchers’ directions to the largest room and found its entrance wrapped in chains.
• Fu Qian entered a vast, tiered chamber and recognized the Twelve-faced Hourglass at its lowest point.
• Fu Qian found a figure sitting near the hourglass, staring at it with bulging eyes and making strange sounds.
• Fu Qian tapped the wall and asked the figure about a lost notebook, but it failed to respond and began twisting unnaturally.
• Fu Qian struck the figure on the head with a handbell and told it to calm down.