Chapter Summaries

Fu Qian visited Lita in the hospital with Veil and found that her missing right hand and aura showed no signs of a new mutation. After leaving the sisters to talk, he sensed something in the hospital that made his demigod aura silently disappear.

• Veil led Fu Qian to Lita's hospital room, where Lita shrieked at the sight of him and threatened to call someone to remove them.
• Veil explained that Fu Qian had come to visit, and Lita eventually withdrew her hand from the call button.
• Fu Qian saw that Lita's right hand was missing and found no sign that she had undergone a new mutation.
• Fu Qian released his demigod aura, causing Veil to shield Lita, but Lita told the nurse that nothing was wrong.
• Fu Qian left the sisters alone and sensed that his aura had silently dissipated at a spot somewhere in the hospital.

Fu Qian investigated an anomaly in a hospital ward by impersonating a doctor and examining Sir Gusman, but found no sign of anything unusual. He returned to Veil and learned that Lita had promised not to report them.

• Fu Qian used Law Remnants to get past a security guard and reached the luxury ward.
• Fu Qian incapacitated Dr. Dre, took his white coat, and disguised himself as him using the name on the medical record, Gusman.
• Fu Qian spoke with Sir Gusman, who said he had recovered and offered Fu Qian his business card.
• Fu Qian briefly released demigod spiritual energy around Gusman but found no anomaly and left the ward.
• Veil told Fu Qian that Lita had promised not to report them, then recognized Sir Gusman as a respected local figure.

Fu Qian visited Bernard’s bookstore, where Bernard warned him not to wander around Bailuoke at night, then went to Sir Gusman’s estate to keep watch. Under the crescent moon, Gusman’s presence vanished and an unsensed void appeared in his place.

• Veil asked Fu Qian where he was going, and he said he planned to read at Bernard’s bookstore.
• Fu Qian found Bernard’s bookstore open, but Bernard chased away the customers and told Fu Qian the store was closed.
• Fu Qian thanked Bernard for advising him to visit the hospital and said he had met Sir Gusman, then admitted his attempt to get himself killed had failed.
• Fu Qian stayed to read while Bernard drank and fell asleep, then Bernard warned him not to wander around Bailuoke at night.
• Fu Qian went to Sir Gusman’s estate and watched him rest throughout the afternoon.
• At night, Sir Gusman’s presence vanished, and an unsensed void appeared where he had been.

Fu Qian followed Gusman to a late-night banquet and discovered that the elderly guests behaved like actors, unaware of his presence or disruptions. He noticed a woman on the balcony speaking to someone who seemed to be absent.

• Fu Qian tracked Gusman from the hospital to an upper-class residence where a small banquet was underway.
• Fu Qian disguised himself as Old Man Lu Ming and entered the banquet, but none of the guests noticed him.
• Fu Qian emptied a wineglass before Dean Collins picked it up; Collins drank from it without reacting and continued his conversation with Gusman.
• Fu Qian concluded that the guests were performing in an abnormal, coordinated state and spotted a woman on the balcony talking to someone he could not see.

Fu Qian tested how the banquet guests’ strange performance affected people and discovered that it could weaken supernatural beings and make them vulnerable to ordinary attacks. He suspected this explained Herom’s death, but still had no clue where Herom’s body was.

• Fu Qian approached Madam Grace while she spoke to the invisible Knight, then forced a wineglass into her hand.
• Madam Grace screamed and broke free, prompting the guests to notice Fu Qian and resume their performance with him cast as an assassin.
• Dean Collins accused Fu Qian of trying to poison the guests and shot him with a crossbow.
• Fu Qian deliberately let the bolt pierce his palm and found that his wound healed unusually slowly.
• Fu Qian suspected the guests’ strange protection had enabled ordinary people to kill Herom, then asked where Herom’s body was, but Collins ignored him and continued his scripted accusation.

Fu Qian escaped the banquet after the guests identified him as an assassin, then visited Old Knight to investigate the man’s connection to Herom’s death. He discovered Knight had supernatural traces and shifted between lucidity and an obsessive role, while the gun in his hand might be the weapon from Fu Qian’s mission.

• Fu Qian leaped from the balcony and escaped as Collins vowed the guests would track him down.
• Fu Qian changed back to his original appearance and went by taxi to Old Knight’s estate.
• Fu Qian entered Knight’s dark room and found the old man aiming a brass revolver at him.
• Fu Qian noticed frost spreading around Knight and observed him switching between a coherent state and a scripted role.
• Fu Qian smelled gunpowder near Knight’s revolver and wondered if it was the gun that slays demigods.

Fu Qian discovered that Herom’s remains had fused with Knight and received a mission to eliminate the demigod’s lingering traces. He left Knight alive to investigate the corruption and returned to Veil’s home, where he ate the meal she had prepared.

• Fu Qian noticed supernatural frost around Knight and saw the old man’s liquor freeze before Knight flew into a rage and accused him of killing Sean.
• When Knight slipped into his other state, Fu Qian removed his hat and found a distorted human face clinging to his scalp; a mission update told him to eliminate Herom’s remaining traces.
• Fu Qian concluded that Herom’s remains had fused with Knight and decided not to kill him, fearing it could unleash worse corruption and attract the Night Watchers.
• Fu Qian let Knight’s hat fall back into place and quietly left, planning to investigate the corruption and the actors’ reactions to the assassin.
• Near midnight, Fu Qian returned to Veil’s home, realized he had not eaten all day, and began eating the food she had left out.

Fu Qian met Veil’s aunt Grace, who appeared completely different from the hollow woman he had seen at the banquet. He tested whether Grace remembered her other state by mentioning Knight, but her answer left the connection between her two states uncertain.

• Fu Qian reassured Veil that he was fine despite the wound in his hand, and she worried about how dangerous he might be.
• The next morning, Fu Qian found that his wound had healed and welcomed Grace and Daisy into the house.
• Grace teased Veil about her sleepless night, while Veil explained that she had visited Lita and that Lita did not mind her staying.
• Veil introduced Fu Qian to Grace, and he said Knight had mentioned Grace encouraging him to drink.
• Fu Qian said he had considered visiting Knight, and Grace told him Knight had spent the previous night drinking with them and would not have been home.

Fu Qian investigated how Bailuoke’s residents became part of the strange script, then returned to Bernard’s bookstore to learn what the bookseller knew. Sheriff Harry arrived just as Bernard asked whether Fu Qian had wandered around the previous night.

• Fu Qian confirmed that Grace’s memories of Knight followed the script and learned that Gusman had only recently begun attending parties, after leaving the hospital.
• Grace invited Fu Qian and Veil to lunch, and Fu Qian accepted before Veil could respond.
• Fu Qian left Grace’s home to check whether anything prevented him from leaving and returned to Bernard’s bookstore.
• Bernard reluctantly served Fu Qian coffee, and Fu Qian considered his warnings about the town’s elite and wandering at night.
• Sheriff Harry approached the bookstore, and Bernard urgently asked Fu Qian whether he had wandered around the previous night.

Fu Qian was taken to the police station so Dean Collins could identify him as a suspect in the attempted poisoning, but Collins cleared him. After following Fu Qian outside, Collins shot him and revealed that he had recognized Fu Qian’s disguise, only for Fu Qian to appear unharmed beside him.

• Sheriff Harry showed Fu Qian and Bernard a portrait of Lu Ming and ordered Fu Qian to accompany him to the police station for identification.
• Dean Collins examined Fu Qian at the station and said he was not the man in the portrait.
• Collins followed Fu Qian outside, apologized, and offered to recommend places in Bailuoke.
• Collins shot Fu Qian and explained that the fake portrait and his behavior were meant to make Fu Qian lower his guard.
• Fu Qian appeared beside Collins unharmed, and Collins claimed he had known Fu Qian was only pretending to be dead.

Fu Qian escaped Collins’s shifting scripts and went with Veil to visit Grace, where he recognized a human skull bone in her art collection and suspected she had undergone unusual surgery. The chapter left Fu Qian pondering the bald spots he had seen in Grace’s home.

• Fu Qian revealed Collins’s final role as someone trying to cheer up Old Knight, then left to prepare for his visit to Grace’s home.
• Veil took Fu Qian to Grace’s luncheon and explained that Grace was her distant cousin who had helped her and Lita.
• Grace showed Fu Qian and Veil her lavish art collection, where Fu Qian spotted a recently removed human skull bone in a glass cabinet.
• Fu Qian joked that the bone felt special because it was sturdier than the others, making Grace laugh.
• Grace told Fu Qian that an overly sturdy barrier could protect someone while also blinding them, and he recalled the bald spots he had seen in her home.

Fu Qian questioned Grace about the skull procedures and Collins’s influence while sharing lunch with her and Veil. Grace praised Collins’s teachings about humility and being seen, and the chapter ended with her recalling that Knight had barely spoken the previous night.

• Fu Qian suspected that Grace and the other banquet guests had undergone skull procedures, and he identified Collins as the group’s central figure.
• Grace asked how Fu Qian and Veil had met, and Fu Qian said they had met through a fight.
• Grace praised Veil and Collins, while Fu Qian learned that Collins had helped Grace recover from her former despair.
• Grace told Fu Qian that people should not overestimate themselves and said that freeing the brain allowed someone to behold their True Self.
• Fu Qian mentioned visiting Knight, and Grace recalled that Knight had barely spoken the previous night.

Fu Qian investigated the See Me Sect’s effect on Old Knight and discovered that Herom’s remains were fused to his head, disrupting the state that protected him. He forced the face away, leaving Old Knight awake as the supernatural remnant began to dissolve.

• After lunch with Grace, Fu Qian said goodbye to Veil, who planned to visit Lita at the hospital, and headed to Knight Manor.
• Fu Qian found Old Knight still seated by the window and saw that frost and the effects of Herom’s remains had worsened.
• Fu Qian concluded that Herom’s face was blocking the opening in Knight’s skull and disrupting his protective See Me state.
• Fu Qian struck Knight twice with Tyrant’s Fist, making Herom’s face curl up and slither off Knight’s head.
• The face began melting in the icy mist, and Old Knight gasped, pushed himself upright, and looked over at Fu Qian.

Fu Qian visited Old Knight, who had recovered after Fu Qian purified him, and learned that Knight had killed Herom while avenging his son Sean. The chapter ended with a severed hand still clutching a revolver dropping behind Knight.

• Fu Qian found Old Knight restored to warmth and told him that Herom, a dangerous fugitive, had infiltrated Bailuoke.
• Knight recalled that Herom had offered to reveal Sean’s killer in exchange for the secret of Brain Dance, then showed Fu Qian Sean’s music box.
• Knight said he had recognized Herom as Sean’s killer and shot him while pretending to cooperate.
• Knight told Fu Qian he could finally hold a funeral for Sean, and a cocked revolver held by a severed hand dropped behind him.

Fu Qian discovered that Knight’s body had collapsed under the opposing forces within it, then investigated whether Brain Dance contamination remained after Knight’s death. He arrived at Collins’s banquet disguised as Knight and announced a funeral for Sean.

• Knight tried to shoot Fu Qian, but his body crumbled before he could harm him.
• Fu Qian found a transparent shard among Knight’s remains, and his mission updated to removing Brain Dance contamination.
• Fu Qian exposed his brain to the night sky, but the mysterious being showed no interest in him.
• Fu Qian transformed his face to look like Knight and went to Collins’s banquet.
• Fu Qian found Grace speaking to the air, gave her a glass of wine, and announced that he would hold a funeral for Sean.

Fu Qian left the banquet after planting doubt about the supposed Knight, then told Veil he would leave the next day. At Sean’s crowded funeral, Fu Qian used Knight’s identity to expose the attendees to information meant to make them believe Knight was dead.

• Collins accused Fu Qian of impersonating Knight, but Fu Qian hinted that the person beside Grace was an impostor and invited everyone to Sean’s funeral before walking out unharmed.
• Veil told Fu Qian that her sister was recovering and wanted to stay with Aunt Grace, and Fu Qian said he would leave early the next morning.
• Fu Qian held Sean’s funeral as Knight in a packed cemetery, where he spotted Collins and other See Me Sect members, Veil, and Bernard.
• Fu Qian placed flowers at Sean’s gravestone, reflecting that even in the illusion, Sean’s father had not forgotten to avenge him.

Fu Qian staged Old Knight’s suicide to convince Bailuoke that Knight was dead and purge the corruption. He waited for the mission to register success, then received confirmation that containment was complete.

• Fu Qian told the mourners that he had killed Sean’s murderer, then announced he would join Sean and shot himself in front of the crowd.
• Collins examined Old Knight’s body, found a transparent shard, and concluded that he was dead.
• That night, Fu Qian emerged from the grave and explained that the staged suicide and the shard were meant to convince people that Old Knight was dead.
• Fu Qian wandered through Bailuoke, considered the dangers and the See Me Sect, and stopped at Bernard’s bookstore.
• An hour before midnight, Fu Qian received confirmation that the mission was complete and No. 3-0111 had been successfully contained.

After completing the Bailuoke mission, Fu Qian received the Lie trait and chose not to fuse with it yet. Back at the bookstore, he met Yuan Shan’s secretary, who told him the chief urgently needed his help.

• Fu Qian reviewed the mission recap and concluded that Sean might have exposed himself to danger while searching for a way to save his father.
• Fu Qian examined the Lie trait, which would permanently fix his demigod form as the Pale Prophet, but decided to keep it for later.
• Fu Qian received permission to enter the warehouse at any time as long as he worked four days per week.
• Fu Qian used the Messenger mask to return to the bookstore and saw Yuan Shan’s secretary waiting outside with a letter.
• Fu Qian opened the door, and the secretary said Yuan Shan needed his help with something important and urged him to leave with her.

Fu Qian accepted Yuan Shan’s assignment to investigate Ariel, a wealthy newcomer connected to Deng Feizhou, and went with Xiao Mingyue to Ariel’s manor. Ariel greeted them, and Fu Qian introduced himself as “Expert Fang” before their discussion began.

• Xiao Mingyue brought Fu Qian to Yuan Shan, who showed him Ariel’s profile and asked him to investigate.
• Fu Qian realized Yuan Shan was testing him and accepted the assignment, seeing it as a chance to investigate the Native Council’s connection to Ariel.
• Xiao Mingyue drove Fu Qian to Ariel’s heavily guarded manor and used her Night Watchers ID to gain them entry.
• Ariel greeted Xiao Mingyue and asked who Fu Qian was, and Fu Qian introduced himself as “Expert Fang.”
• Ariel invited Fu Qian and Xiao Mingyue to sit and asked what they wanted to discuss.

Fu Qian interrogated Ariel and concluded that the powerful businessman was likely connected to the Native Council and was searching for Deng Feizhou’s killer. After leaving Ariel’s office, Fu Qian and Xiao Mingyue argued over his reckless methods as they headed to report to Yuan Shan.

• Fu Qian used his aura to interrogate Ariel about why he came to Shangjing, his connection to Deng Feizhou, and what he knew about Deng Feizhou’s disappearance.
• Ariel said he had moved his business to Shangjing after setbacks in the Federation, had once helped Deng Feizhou, and had heard Deng Feizhou might be dead.
• Fu Qian suspected Ariel was a powerful Native Council member who was trying to identify Deng Feizhou’s killer, and he reasoned that his forceful questioning had helped conceal his own suspicions.
• Xiao Mingyue ended the interview and left with Fu Qian, while Ariel remained behind, dazed.
• Xiao Mingyue said she would report the incident to the chief, and Fu Qian said he also wanted to speak with Yuan Shan.
• Xiao Mingyue criticized Fu Qian for being reckless and ignorant of investigations, and Fu Qian retorted that she knew little about powerful experts.