Chapter Summaries

Lu Bai faced a juvenile Abomination that resisted his usual techniques, then used Bursting Qi to amplify a full-force Palm Lightning strike. The blast wounded the creature and stopped its charge, but Lu Bai fled with Captain Mao and Observer Chen as the fight remained unresolved.

• Captain Mao warned that the creature was an Abomination, and Lu Bai led the group away from it.
• Minister Zhang ordered the public to evacuate after the Action Department saw that Lu Bai had no clear solution.
• Lu Bai's Palm Lightning scorched the Abomination but did not stop it, and Construction Worker fled as it charged at Lu Bai.
• Lu Bai read Construction Worker's Bursting Qi ability and activated it alongside Flash Time to strengthen himself.
• Lu Bai's amplified Palm Lightning blasted a crater into the Abomination and halted it, after which he told Captain Mao and Observer Chen to run.

Lu Bai, Captain Mao, and Observer Chen escaped Keshan University of Arts as the military launched a missile barrage against the juvenile Abomination. The bombardment leveled the area, but Captain Mao feared the creature might survive, leaving the city’s fate uncertain.

• Lu Bai led Captain Mao and Observer Chen toward the campus gates while the livestream viewers watched and the Action Department continued preparing an evacuation.
• Minister Zhang ordered the evacuation preparations to continue and mobilized air support after reviewing Lu Bai’s attacks on the Abomination.
• Armed helicopters flew toward the Abomination, and an Action Department operative picked up Lu Bai, Captain Mao, and Observer Chen.
• Lu Bai considered how to find deathmatch participants and acquire abilities that could counter powerful supernatural entities.
• The military began a missile bombardment that destroyed the buildings around the Abomination, but Captain Mao warned that the creature might have survived and that the city might need to be abandoned.

During the citywide evacuation, Lu Bai used the crowds to identify deathmatchers and take their Gold abilities without attacking them. Two deathmatchers realized their abilities had vanished and suspected Lu Bai, then went to question another deathmatcher.

• Observer Chen continued filming Lu Bai after receiving orders from his superiors.
• Three hours later, Lu Bai watched the crowded city evacuation from atop an armored vehicle and searched for deathmatchers.
• Lu Bai spotted dozens of deathmatchers, memorized their identities, and selected abilities from them, replacing his temporary slots with Bursting Qi, Alpha Strike, and Let's Get Married.
• A girl with a bow hair clip discovered that her ability had disappeared, and Yappy confirmed that his Portable Armory no longer worked.
• Yappy and the girl suspected Innocent Smile had taken their abilities and went to question a nearby deathmatcher called Swift Minion.

Lu Bai watched the deathmatchers discover that their abilities had been stripped away, then searched for more abilities as the evacuation continued. When grenades struck a crowded street, he appeared in midair and sent the second grenade exploding above the civilians.

• The Yuppie and the girl with a bow-shaped hair clip confirmed with Swift Minion that deathmatchers had lost their abilities.
• The Yuppie suspected Lu Bai was responsible, while Lu Bai remained unconcerned and continued reading abilities.
• Authorities continued evacuating citizens from the area around Keshan University of Arts.
• A grenade exploded on a crowded street, triggering panic and a surge in casualties.
• Captain Mao shouted for everyone to get down as another grenade flew toward the crowd.
• Lu Bai appeared in midair and sent the grenade shooting upward, where it exploded above the civilians.

After a grenade attack confirmed that Lu Bai’s ability had sealed the deathmatchers’ powers, Sequence 06 Plague Doctor arrived and began sickening everyone nearby. Lu Bai stayed calm and asked Captain Mao to prepare a ritual altar, then began casting a spell to confront it.

• Lu Bai threw a grenade away from the crowd and returned to the armored vehicle, while Swift Minion and the others realized their abilities had been sealed.
• Crows’ calls silenced the street, and Plague Doctor approached the stalled convoy from the road out of the city.
• Captain Mao identified Plague Doctor as Sequence 06 as its presence caused nearby people to turn green and begin to rot.
• Lu Bai calmly agreed to try to handle Plague Doctor and asked Captain Mao to set up ritual objects from a suitcase.
• Lu Bai formed a spell sign and began chanting as Captain Mao prepared the altar.

Lu Bai used Maoshan Daoism to attack the Plague Doctor, but his first talisman barely affected the strange being. He prepared a second, stronger talisman with his own blood and commanded it to strike as the crowd watched.

• The infected crowd stayed near Lu Bai, believing they had already contracted the plague, while others fled from the Plague Doctor.
• Captain Mao assembled an altar as Lu Bai chanted and created a golden talisman.
• Lu Bai sent the talisman down on the Plague Doctor, but it burst apart after briefly resisting, and the Plague Doctor said it had only made him a little uncomfortable.
• Lu Bai prepared another talisman, added a drop of his blood, and commanded it to strike the Plague Doctor.

Lu Bai used Lightning Law and [Bursting Qi] to obliterate the Plague Doctor and save the city, but the effort left him exhausted and unconscious. Captain Mao and Minister Zhang urgently mobilized medical help as the crowd panicked over Lu Bai’s condition.

• Lu Bai intensified his Lightning Law with [Bursting Qi] and a thunder incantation, destroying the Plague Doctor without a trace.
• Civilians cheered Lu Bai, while the Dead Fighters were stunned by the power he had displayed.
• Lu Bai collapsed from the strain, and Captain Mao called for the medical team.
• The crowd rushed to help Lu Bai and demanded that he be taken to the best hospital.
• Minister Zhang ordered medical experts and a helicopter sent to Keshan, and instructed Mao Siyu to secure the scene.

After Lu Bai collapsed, Deathmatchers tried to exploit his unconsciousness, but an armored vehicle attacked the cordon around him. Lu Bai later woke in a military district hospital, where Minister Zhang and other Action Department officials welcomed him and urged him to recover.

• Captain Mao carried the unconscious Lu Bai into an armored vehicle and called Action Department personnel to secure the area.
• The Yuppie, Swift Minion, and a girl with a bow-shaped hair clip discussed attacking Lu Bai, but the Action Department set up a cordon around him.
• An armored vehicle charged into the cordon, ran over civilians, and opened fire on the Action Department personnel.
• The Yuppie called on Swift Minion to act as the attack unfolded.
• Lu Bai woke in a military district hospital, and Minister Zhang reassured him that the best doctors were treating him.
• Lu Bai said he felt fine and sat up, while Minister Zhang urged him to remain in the hospital for checks.

After recovering from his injuries, Lu Bai visited the captured Deathmatch Arena contestants and claimed their supernatural yin energy made them a threat. He killed them all and then warned that other residents might still carry the energy, promising to find them too.

• Lu Bai left the hospital bed and asked Minister Zhang to take him to see the captured Deathmatch Arena contestants.
• Lu Bai watched the orderly evacuation at the Keshan Shelter before arriving at the criminal ward with Action Department officials.
• Lu Bai told Minister Zhang that the contestants carried supernatural yin energy and said it was too late to remove it.
• Lu Bai took Captain Mao's service pistol and killed every captured contestant, gaining 16 points and reaching rank 1/138.
• Lu Bai warned Minister Zhang that more residents might carry the yin energy and said he would find them one by one.

Lu Bai returned to the tent area after being authorized to inspect it, and the civilians celebrated when they heard he had awakened. Zhou Lei and Feng Qian decided to seek Lu Bai’s protection, but he mistook their offer of allegiance for a request to become his disciples.

• Minister Zhang assigned Captain Mao Siyu to accompany Lu Bai as he inspected the tent area.
• The civilians worried about Lu Bai’s condition until a broadcast announced that he had awakened in good health.
• Zhou Lei urged Feng Qian to act before Lu Bai found and killed the hidden deathmatchers, and Feng Qian decided to join him instead.
• Zhou Lei and Feng Qian went to offer Lu Bai their allegiance, but Lu Bai asked if they wanted to become his disciples.

Lu Bai accepted the fighters who pledged themselves to him as disciples and led twenty-seven of them back to his residence. After delivering a long speech, he named Feng Qian his first disciple and turned his attention to the others.

• Feng Qian and Zhou Lei pledged themselves to Lu Bai, and Lu Bai accepted the fighters who followed him as disciples.
• Lu Bai led the growing group through the tent area while recognizing that some fighters might be Replicants or former attackers.
• After wandering until evening, Lu Bai brought twenty-seven fighters to his residence in the military district's family housing compound.
• Lu Bai gave the fighters a lengthy speech about learning from him and working together against the strange things.
• Feng Qian praised Lu Bai's speech, and Lu Bai named him his first disciple before addressing the rest.

Lu Bai recruited the deathmatch contestants into his residential compound and asked Feng Qian and Zhou Lei to watch for Replicants. Late that night, a masked intruder broke into his room and approached his bed with a pointed tool.

• Lu Bai asked Feng Qian and Zhou Lei to identify possible Replicants among the contestants, and Feng Qian agreed to keep watch.
• Liu Guoqiang toasted Lu Bai and praised him for saving the contestants from certain death.
• Lu Bai declined the Action Department's offer of accommodations, and Feng Qian arranged for the contestants to sleep together in a dormitory.
• After 4 a.m., Lu Bai heard someone quietly pick his room's lock and push open the door.
• A masked man in a black raincoat entered carrying a pointed metal tool and moved silently toward Lu Bai's bed.

Lu Bai stopped Liu Guoqiang from killing him and captured three deathmatch fighters whose bodies twisted uncontrollably. Captain Mao identified the suspected cause as Sequence 43, Twist and Turn, an entity appearing somewhere it was not expected to be.

• Lu Bai discovered Liu Guoqiang beside his bed, grotesquely twisted and armed with a sharpened iron rod.
• Lu Bai evaded Liu Guoqiang's attack and beat him down with a wooden bedside table; a scream from the next room revealed more attackers.
• At dawn, Zhou Lei, Feng Qian, and the other deathmatch fighters examined Liu Guoqiang and two other captives tied to trees, all still twisting their limbs.
• Captain Mao arrived with the Action Department and identified the suspected entity as Sequence 43, Twist and Turn.
• Captain Mao explained that Twist and Turn caused those who saw it to twist uncontrollably and said it was not supposed to appear outside rural areas.

Lu Bai and Captain Mao dealt with three deathmatchers infected by Twist and Turn, while the Action Department searched the Keshan Containment Center for the hidden anomaly. The search found no clues, and just as Lu Bai began making more Yellow Talismans, something unexpected happened.

• Captain Mao explained that Twist and Turn spread through imitation and raised his pistol to kill the three infected deathmatchers.
• Lu Bai took the pistol from Captain Mao and shot all three deathmatchers, gaining three points.
• Lu Bai and Captain Mao found no connection between the victims or clues to where they had encountered Twist and Turn.
• Minister Zhang ordered the emergency transportation plan activated because Siren Head's appearance on the Sake Highway threatened food supplies, and asked about Lu Bai's search.
• Captain Mao reported that searches of the victims' rooms had found nothing, and Lu Bai admitted he had no idea where Twist and Turn was hiding.
• Lu Bai began preparing more Yellow Talismans, but something unexpected happened as he reached for the cinnabar and ink.

Lu Bai resisted Twist and Turn’s compulsion to look at it and learned that it spoke on behalf of a group of supernatural beings seeking to share the world with him. When he rejected its offer and it tried to disappear, he trapped it with talismans and a Big Dipper stepping technique, but it warned him to look outside.

• Lu Bai found a white, human-shaped form emerging from his yellow cloth bag and identified it as Twist and Turn.
• Lu Bai resisted Twist and Turn’s urge to make him look by turning away, biting his tongue, and reciting the Cleansing Heart Incantation.
• Twist and Turn spoke to Lu Bai and said that “we” recognized his abilities and would let him share the world with them.
• Lu Bai refused the offer, and Twist and Turn began to fade while warning that he would regret rejecting its goodwill.
• Lu Bai used three Yellow Talismans and the Big Dipper stepping technique to restore Twist and Turn’s solid form and keep it trapped.
• Twist and Turn threatened Lu Bai and told him to go outside and see for himself.

As residents settled into Keshanshi City’s shelter, anomalies appeared among the tents and attacked civilians. The chapter ended with a shelter staff member recognizing the Slender Ghost outside the entrance.

• Sister Yuhan and her friends discussed Lu Bai and his offer to take students before a sinister voice interrupted them.
• The girls found a pale, disheveled anomaly in their tent and froze as it slowly raised its head.
• Zheng Long approached a sobbing woman outside his tent, but she revealed a monstrous mouth and swallowed his head.
• A staff member heard the scream, spotted a black figure on the road, and identified it as the Slender Ghost.

Multiple anomalies appeared at the containment center, throwing the Action Department into chaos as Minister Zhang organized evacuations and the response. Lu Bai encountered the Terrifying Scarecrow in his study, and Captain Mao called for his help just as it raised an arm to attack.

• A bespectacled staff member tried to evacuate the crowd as the Slender Ghost rapidly closed the distance to him.
• Minister Zhang restored order in the Temporary command center, directed Team Leader Lin to continue evacuating the public, and organized the response to the anomalies.
• The director of the Lu Bai Service and Research Guarantee Bureau told Minister Zhang that he had sent someone to inform Master Lu.
• Lu Bai reinforced the Yellow Talisman restraints on Twist and Turn, then saw the Terrifying Scarecrow standing in his study.
• The Terrifying Scarecrow asked whether Twist and Turn had offered to recruit Lu Bai, and Lu Bai confirmed that he had refused.
• Captain Mao called urgently through the study door for Master Lu's help as the Terrifying Scarecrow raised its branch-like arm.

Lu Bai confronted the terrifying scarecrow as the containment center descended into chaos, then learned that the anomalies had planned to feed the city’s people to the Abomination. Karasu Tengu joined the fight as a second remedial measure, and Lu Bai countered its relentless attacks before preparing another Yellow Talisman.

• Captain Mao entered Lu Bai’s study, saw the terrifying scarecrow, and asked how he could help.
• Lu Bai evaded the scarecrow’s strike with [Flash Time] and [Bursting Qi], pulling Captain Mao clear of the doorway.
• Karasu Tengu appeared above the house and told Lu Bai that the anomalies had planned to make the people nourishment for the Abomination.
• Lu Bai realized the Plague Doctor had been the anomalies’ first remedial measure, and the terrifying scarecrow revealed that killing Crow's Mouth had allowed their feast to proceed.
• Karasu Tengu attacked Lu Bai at high speed, but Lu Bai used [Alpha Strike] to evade and strike back.
• Lu Bai reappeared and began reciting an incantation over a Yellow Talisman.

Lu Bai used a Maoshan array to suppress and destroy Karasu Tengu, the terrifying scarecrow, and Twist and Turn, then realized the containment center was still in chaos. Feng Qian and Zhou Lei were forced to turn back after discovering anomalies clinging to them, while Lu Bai and Captain Mao headed toward the Temporary command center.

• Lu Bai completed the Send Ghosts to the Underworld array and used [Bursting Qi] to overpower the three anomalies in the courtyard.
• Captain Mao asked if the danger had passed, but Lu Bai pointed out that the containment center still needed to be dealt with.
• Feng Qian and Zhou Lei fled the containment center, then discovered an anomaly clinging to each of them and decided to return.
• The deathmatcher count on the system interface dropped as anomalies spread through the containment center.
• Captain Mao suggested that he and Lu Bai go to the Temporary command center.

As anomalies overwhelmed the containment center, Minister Zhang urged Lu Bai to evacuate, but Lu Bai chose to stay and fight. He selected the Spirit Bomb from the newly opened second-round Ability Pool, just as two soldiers arrived with strange black markings spreading across their faces.

• Minister Zhang's secretary reported that the containment center's organization had collapsed and the ground evacuation routes were sealed by the Ghost Behind You.
• Captain Mao and Lu Bai entered the conference room, and Minister Zhang greeted Lu Bai as their last hope.
• Minister Zhang asked Lu Bai to evacuate, but Lu Bai said Maoshan Daoism was capable of more and asked where the danger was greatest.
• Lu Bai saw the second-round Ability Pool open and chose the Spirit Bomb.
• Two soldiers burst into the conference room with black markings spreading across their faces, and the director of the Lu Bai Service and Research Guarantee Bureau drew his sidearm and warned everyone to get back.