Chapter Summaries

Fu Qian accepted Wen Li’s ordinary gun and recognized that she had chosen it to help her escape notice and flee if necessary. He transformed one bullet with the King of Prison Break’s calamity and gave it to Wen Li, leaving her with a new hidden weapon and questions about his connection to the deity.

• Wen Li handed Fu Qian a palm-sized gun loaded with ordinary ammunition and explained that she had chosen it to suit the operation.
• Fu Qian praised Wen Li’s cautious strategy and discussed how the unremarkable weapon could make pursuers hesitate.
• Wen Li said her aim was pretty good and noted that the bullets might not penetrate a Transcendent’s enhanced body.
• Fu Qian carved the King of Prison Break’s insignia into a bullet, added his blood, and infused it with the deity’s calamity.
• Fu Qian told Wen Li how to use the bullet, and she thanked him and carefully put it away.
• Fu Qian denied being the King of Prison Break but said he knew Him very well.

Fu Qian told Wen Li that he had reached the Second Order and gave her a Calamity bullet, then resumed work at the bookstore. After returning through the Warehouse to a familiar place, he found no sign that the Dream of the Gods had affected it and wondered whether the Corridor belonged essentially to the Bookstore World.

• Fu Qian confirmed to Wen Li that he had reached the Second Order, and she promised to keep his secret.
• Fu Qian gave Wen Li a Calamity bullet and assured her that it would leave no trace and that others could take the blame if it was discovered.
• Wen Li volunteered to help at Fu Qian's bookstore while he recovered and continued his field research.
• Fu Qian returned to the Warehouse, noticed that its work schedule seemed to have advanced, and activated the mark on his wrist.
• Fu Qian arrived in a familiar place, found Young Master Qin and the others seemingly unaffected by the Dream of the Gods, and wondered whether the Corridor was part of the Bookstore World.

Fu Qian used Clear Dream to examine Pei Yanqing for lingering effects from Yarakir’s divine dream. He left her awake from a vivid dream about hunting a spider, with no evidence of an actual threat.

• Fu Qian reviewed the possible connection between the Nightmare Corridor and the Bookstore World and decided to check his acquaintances for hidden risks.
• Fu Qian chose Pei Yanqing for a closer examination because she seemed unusually receptive to information about herself.
• Fu Qian drew the sleeping Pei Yanqing into a dream and found her alone in her dorm room, where she believed a spider had scared everyone away.
• Pei Yanqing searched the room for the spider, then feared it might be inside her and checked her arm for signs of an incision.
• Pei Yanqing woke in her dorm, realized she had dreamed, and nervously stroked her arm.

Fu Qian confirmed that Pei Yanqing showed no signs of foreign influence after investigating her frightening dream, and Tan Ying brought her to seek his advice. Qin Mingze joined them, and Fu Qian proposed meeting near Xiao Yu so they could consult together in person.

• Fu Qian ended Pei Yanqing’s dream after confirming she had no signs of mental issues or a foreign consciousness.
• Pei Yanqing called Tan Ying after leaving the dormitory, and Tan Ying later brought her to Fu Qian for advice about the dream.
• Fu Qian questioned how Tan Ying knew he was home, and she explained that Qin Mingze had inferred his return.
• Qin Mingze arrived and suggested they eat together, prompting Fu Qian to propose meeting near Xiao Yu for an in-person group consultation.

Fu Qian examined Pei Yanqing after she described an unsettling dream that left her anxious to find something. He used the Calming Heart and Benevolent Bell in an unexpected way, and Pei Yanqing said she felt completely calm afterward.

• Wu Qingyu arrived to find Fu Qian and Young Master Qin waiting, and Fu Qian offered him brief safety advice.
• Pei Yanqing told the group that her dream about bugs had left her with an unusual anxious urge to find something.
• Tan Ying explained that she had brought Pei Yanqing to Fu Qian because she considered him a professional in women's psychology.
• Fu Qian produced the Calming Heart and Benevolent Bell and asked Pei Yanqing to move closer.
• Fu Qian struck Pei Yanqing's forehead with the bell, then showed its broken interior, and Pei Yanqing said she felt completely calm.

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.