Recaps

Tang Qi escorted the painter to his home while the man tried to bargain, then learned the painter believed Tang Qi’s manuscript was promising but needed illustrations and a reputable recommendation. The painter offered to help Tang Qi get the book published.

• Tang Qi brought the bound painter into a carriage and refused his offers of money and brothel companionship.
• The painter noticed Tang Qi’s manuscript, The Twilight Forest Guide, and praised its humor and writing.
• The painter complained about Mary Sue’s bestselling novel, The Ghost Bride of Dragon Gold City, and said Tang Qi’s manuscript deserved publication.
• The painter suggested illustrations and a famous recommendation could help Tang Qi’s manuscript find a publisher, then offered himself as a connection.

Tang Qi hired the indebted painter Merlin to illustrate his city guide and arranged for Merlin to evade the Red Scarf Gang when he returned home. The gang chased a frizzy-haired man through the alleys, only for their target to vanish at a crossroads.

• Merlin explained that he had spent the 3,000-gold deposit for Ms. Sophia’s portrait and borrowed money to repay Carlo after he could not paint it.
• Merlin offered to find Tang Qi a publisher and illustrate his guide, and Tang Qi accepted the illustration work after seeing a sample of his line art.
• Tang Qi refused to protect Merlin directly but told him to get out of the carriage as instructed, then let the carriage leave Merlin at home.
• The Red Scarf Gang surrounded the house, but the frizzy-haired man dodged them and sprinted away at surprising speed.
• The gang boss followed the chase into an alley and found that his men had lost the target at a crossroads.

Tang Qi escaped the Red Scarf Gang using a real spore Clone and negotiated with Merlin over illustrating The Guide in exchange for a share of its sales. Merlin promised to find a publisher, but the publishing house rejected the book, leaving Tang Qi to tease him about eating the manuscript.

• Tang Qi explained how his spore Clone fooled the Red Scarf Gang and restrained Merlin in the carriage to keep him from escaping.
• Merlin proposed a long-term partnership, and after bargaining with Tang Qi, he asked for ten percent of sales in exchange for illustrating future books.
• Tang Qi postponed settling the exact terms and told Merlin to use his connections to find a reliable publisher.
• Merlin promised to secure a publisher and distribution for The Guide, but the publishing house rejected the book.
• Tang Qi held the manuscript up to Merlin and asked whether he would eat it himself or be fed.

Tang Qi and Merlin failed to find a Dragon Gold City publisher or restaurant willing to overlook Merlin’s blacklist, so Tang Qi suggested seeking publishers elsewhere. Meanwhile, Gravel hid from Tang Qi at a restaurant with Wendy Silver Shield, who recognized the person he was describing as a former teammate of the one who left the forest with her.

• Merlin learned that Lame Pigeon had refused to publish their book because Star Plum Tycoon had paid him to suppress anything about the Twilight Forest.
• Lame Pigeon revealed that Merlin was blacklisted for unpaid debts and warned he would not risk angering a noble; Tang Qi dragged Merlin away before he could argue further.
• Tang Qi proposed sending the book to publishers outside Dragon Gold City and suggested they eat, but Merlin’s chosen restaurant turned them away because he was blacklisted.
• Anbi smelled beer near the restaurant, and Tang Qi guessed Gravel was hiding from them before leading her away.
• Gravel emerged from beneath a table and told Wendy Silver Shield that he had hidden from someone annoying; Wendy realized he meant the former teammate of the person who had left the forest with her.

Wendy tried to keep her adventuring party quiet at an upscale restaurant, where Rumi’s nonstop questions about elves finally got him knocked unconscious. She then asked Gravel about Tang Qi Weinberg’s account of crossing the Twilight Forest and learned the title of his forthcoming book.

• Rumi loudly questioned Gravel about elves and their cuisine until Wendy apologized to the restaurant owner with a platinum coin.
• Wendy urged Gravel and Rumi to mind their manners, but Gravel complained about the meal while Rumi continued asking about Shalti.
• Miss Xingchen tried to silence Rumi with a Suggestion Spell, but Gravel knocked him face-first into his plate when the spell failed.
• Wendy thanked the sleeping Miss Xingchen and told Gravel that she wanted experienced adventurers to help her grow.
• Wendy asked Gravel about Tang Qi Weinberg’s Twilight Forest story, and Gravel recalled the book’s title, Tang Qi’s Twilight Forest Guide.
• Wendy decided to look for the book and asked Gravel not to reveal the story’s details.

Lame Pigeon found a way to revive Harbor Pigeon's publishing prospects when Wendy agreed to guarantee and promote Tang Qi's unpublished guide. As Wendy and her companions headed to the Golden Oak to find Tang Qi, Mel Barry arrived there intending to confront him.

• Lame Pigeon lamented Harbor Pigeon's declining fortunes and recalled rejecting Tang Qi's Twilight Forest Guide because of pressure from the Star Plum Tycoon.
• Wendy asked Lame Pigeon about the guide, which Tang Qi had told her to look forward to, and learned that Harbor Pigeon had refused to publish it.
• Lame Pigeon persuaded Wendy to act as the book's guarantor and promote it, giving him confidence to approach Tang Qi about a contract.
• Gravel offered to lead Wendy and her companions to the Golden Oak, where Tang Qi was staying.
• Mel Barry arrived at the Golden Oak, pleased that he believed he had cut off Tang Qi's publishing options and eager to confront him.

Lord Mel went to the Golden Oak intending to make Tang Qi beg for mercy, but discovered farmers planting star plums and ordered his mercenaries to destroy their field. As a mercenary prepared to strike Old David, Melard intervened.

• Lord Mel recalled whipping Melard for opposing his plan to block Tang Qi's books, then decided to visit the Golden Oak and demand that Tang Qi change his book's protagonist.
• Lord Mel and Melard arrived at the closed tavern, where Holtz recognized Lord Mel and sent for guards and the owner.
• Lord Mel spotted the star plum field, had his mercenaries break through the fence, and ordered them to destroy the crops and confiscate the seeds.
• Old David and the farmers stood up to Lord Mel, and Old David raised his iron rake to protect the field despite fearing the mercenaries' swords.
• A mercenary raised his sword to strike Old David, but Melard charged into the field and knocked the mercenary away.

Mel tried to seize the farmers’ star plum seeds by force, but the City Guard and Catherine stopped him by enforcing Dragon Gold City’s laws. After learning Catherine had secured a ten-year land lease, Mel paid compensation and looked to use Tang Qi’s publishing channel as leverage, just as a carriage from the Silver Shield family arrived.

• Mel ordered his mercenaries to restrain Melard and continue attacking the orchard, but Hogg’s call brought City Guards who halted them.
• Catherine showed the guards proof that the farmers paid Dragon Gold City residency taxes, so Mel could not claim authority over them or prove the star plum seeds were his.
• Mel threatened to take Catherine’s land when her lease expired, but she revealed it would not need renewal for ten years.
• Catherine cited the city’s laws and demanded compensation from Mel for threatening her employees and damaging property; Mel paid with coins and jewelry.
• Mel decided he could use Tang Qi’s publishing channel to pressure Catherine and the farmers, then recognized the arriving carriage as belonging to the Silver Shield family.

Tang Qi rejected Mel’s offer and agreed to pursue self-publishing The Guide with Melard and Lame Pigeon, while preparing for the Dragon Hoard dungeon. In the cellar, Anbi sensed that someone was still there, and Tang Qi’s Alertness triggered.

• Tang Qi turned down Mel’s offer to buy the star plum land and seeds, then sharply rebuked him until Mel collapsed unconscious.
• Melard proposed funding a self-published edition of The Guide and using his family’s promotional channels, and Tang Qi agreed to proceed with Lame Pigeon and Catherine handling the contract.
• Tang Qi met Wendy’s adventuring party, gave her the manuscript, and learned that Gravel planned to enter the Dragon Hoard dungeon with them.
• Tang Qi went to the cellar to charge the Spore Replicator and planned to train Yiwu for the dungeon expedition.
• Anbi smelled an unfamiliar presence in the cellar and warned Tang Qi that someone had not left, triggering his Alertness.

Tang Qi and Anbi fought Night Wind, a Drow Elf assassin who attacked them from the shadows. Night Wind escaped with Traceless Powder, but Tang Qi cast a sleep spell across the cellar stairs to block his only exit.

• Tang Qi used Guardian Sword Dance to deflect six magical throwing knives, then used Silver Tongue to trace Night Wind’s attacks and expose him with light.
• Tang Qi wounded Night Wind, who revealed himself as a Drow Elf and attacked again with two knives.
• Anbi tackled Night Wind, bit his wrist, and clawed his chest, revealing herself as Beastkin and inflicting a curse.
• Night Wind tried to escape, but Tang Qi nearly pinned his cloak with his blade before Night Wind used Traceless Powder to vanish.
• Tang Qi used his last spell slot to cast a sleep spell on the cellar stairs, covering Night Wind’s only way out with flowers.

Tang Qi protected Anbi and Yiwu from a vanished intruder, then decided they needed to hide and postpone Yiwu’s training. In the Dragon Political Hall, Leon learned Night Wind had attacked Tang Qi and discussed the True Dragon, Stella’s deception, and his own plans, while a shadowy figure concluded that Night Wind was no longer needed and Tang Qi might be useful.

• Tang Qi found that the intruder had escaped, checked that Anbi and Yiwu were safe, and decided to hide them and suspend Yiwu’s Dragon Breath training.
• Leon healed Night Wind’s wounds and questioned him about his month of watching Tang Qi and the dragon.
• Night Wind told Leon that Stella Starlight had used Suggestion Spell on the Red Scarf Gang members to test Tang Qi and conceal the dragon’s hatching.
• Leon blamed Night Wind’s rash attack for ruining his chance to negotiate with Tang Qi and insisted that force was a last resort in Dragon Gold City.
• Night Wind left to rest, while Leon dreamed of pledging loyalty to Eve Edel and killing her; an unseen speaker then said Night Wind was no longer needed and Tang Qi could still be useful.

After an assassin threatened him, Tang Qi decided to investigate the Red Scarf Gang in Deepwell and prepared to leave after dawn. Before setting out, he learned the assassin’s cloak could let him breathe underwater and discovered Kuru had learned Fog Spell and Illusionary Manuscript.

• Tang Qi woke from a nightmare and told Catherine he would enter the dungeon to investigate who had sent the assassin, planning to return by the Double Moon Feast.
• Catherine used her copying ability to create a second Catherine, and the two kept Tang Qi occupied until morning.
• Tang Qi identified the assassin’s cloak as an uncommon Manta Ray Cloak that granted faster swimming and underwater breathing.
• Dawn returned to the group after telling Jasmine the truth about the mercenary’s death and secretly helping her during the month he stayed away.
• Tang Qi learned that Kuru had acquired Fog Spell and Illusionary Manuscript, then questioned why it had chosen a spell for forging documents.

Tang Qi prepared to enter the Deepwell dungeon with Kuru and Dawn, while Anbi stayed behind to protect Yiwu. After reaching Dragon Gold City's Deep Well District, Tang Qi hired a Tiefling guide and began the Adventurer's Guild registration process.

• Tang Qi learned that Kuru had deciphered and mastered two illusion spells, then praised Kuru and Dawn before assigning Dawn to the Deepwell expedition.
• Tang Qi packed supplies and potions, while Anbi asked to join him; he left her behind to protect Yiwu.
• Tang Qi and his party traveled through Dragon Gold City's districts toward Deep Well, where he observed the adventurer trade and the dungeon's lawless surroundings.
• Tang Qi negotiated with a Tiefling guide and agreed to pay five gold coins for help registering at the Adventurer's Guild.

Hope guided Tang Qi and his companions through the Adventurer’s Guild, where Tang Qi registered their party and chose the name [A Group of Adventurers]. The name stunned the guild as people recognized it as the group rumored to have crossed the Twilight Forest and defeated a fourth-circle necromancer.

• Hope explained the guild’s facilities and led Tang Qi through the lobby, describing its quest boards, Octagon cage, Deepwell entrance, and Trading Corridor.
• Tang Qi registered his party at the counter and considered several names while Dawn and Kuru argued for names that included them.
• A Minotaur named Bovine learned that his quest had been canceled because the employer had died, then heard adventurers discuss the group that had survived the Twilight Forest and defeated a fourth-circle necromancer.
• Tang Qi named the party [A Group of Adventurers], and Hope recognized the reference as the guild fell silent and turned its attention to him.

Tang Qi registered his party with the Adventurer's Guild, hired Hope to guide them into Deepwell, and accepted a quest to collect intact Giant Snail shells. After buying a large supply of salt, Tang Qi and his companions entered the Dungeon, where he prepared to record material for his guidebook.

• Tang Qi learned that Guild membership cost 10 gold per person each month and declined Hope's offer to find them a quest until she proposed guiding them for a share of the earnings.
• Tang Qi chose the Giant Snail shell-collection quest and negotiated Hope's fee at 70 gold, payable after the quest was finished.
• Tang Qi and Hope accepted the quest and signed a contract, then Tang Qi had Hope buy all the salt at a nearby stall for 30 gold.
• Hope led Tang Qi to the Deep Well Elevator and explained the Dragon Rider Corps guarded the Dungeon entrances.
• Hope paid the three gold entrance fee, and Tang Qi entered Deepwell with his journal ready to gather material for his guide.

Tang Qi and his companions fought four giant spiders in the Deepwell dungeon, with Dawn, Kuru, and Hope helping defeat them. After Hope treated her wound, Tang Qi revealed he was a bard and the group prepared to collect the loot and continue onward.

• Tang Qi spotted four giant spiders weaving a web and ordered Dawn to smash a bottle of Blazing Fire Glue, burning through the silk.
• Tang Qi distracted the spiders with [Verbal Abuse] while Kuru slowed them with [Frozen Ray] and Dawn killed or incapacitated three.
• The last spider ambushed Hope, but she survived its bite and killed it with her bloodline ability, [Infernal Rebuke].
• Hope asked Tang Qi about his insults and music, and he explained that he was a bard who had left the Poet Academy.
• Tang Qi said he hoped to make his name remembered and told the group to gather the loot before setting off again.

Tang Qi’s party fought Dragonblood Goblins on the Second Floor while he recorded material for his dungeon guide, then reached the waterfall and camped before the Third Floor. Hope agreed to continue with them, but Dawn sensed that someone else was watching their camp.

• Kuru kept the Giant Spider’s fangs after Tang Qi told him he could have them, while Tang Qi explained that he was writing a beginner’s guide to the dungeon.
• Hope warned that the deeper floors held stronger dangers and that the Red Scarf Gang might ambush adventurers, but Tang Qi’s party was attacked by Dragonblood Goblins around a tunnel bend.
• Dawn fought through the Goblins, while Tang Qi recorded their traits and searched their finely made weapons for loot.
• Tang Qi’s party reached a waterfall pool at the boundary between the Second and Third Floors and camped nearby with other adventurers.
• Hope agreed to travel with Tang Qi to the Third Floor and went to ask nearby adventurers for Antidote, while Dawn warned Tang Qi that someone unseen was watching them.

Tang Qi used his Resting Melody to soothe the unconscious fairy Little Rascal and befriended the forest rangers. After learning they were searching the dungeon for a flail snail’s footprints, he eagerly asked them to mark the Giant Snail habitats they had found.

• Hope returned to camp without buying Antidote, and Little Beard approached Tang Qi to ask for help with his unconscious companion.
• Tang Qi learned that Little Beard’s party had escaped the Third Floor with help from the Silver Medal, and that a hag’s psychic attack had left Little Rascal unconscious.
• Tang Qi played Resting Melody for nearly half an hour, easing Little Rascal’s mental trauma and restoring the party’s energy.
• Little Beard introduced his companions and thanked Tang Qi with gold and an Ebony Forest cookbook, while Tang Qi shared his name and introduced Dawn, Kuru, and Hope.
• Little Beard explained that the forest rangers had come to find a flail snail’s footprints, and Tang Qi asked him to mark the Giant Snail habitats they had discovered.

Tang Qi shared a meal and a map with Little Beard’s party before setting out with Hope, Dawn, and Kuru to explore the Third Floor swamp. After they crossed the wetland, Withered Vine Monsters ambushed them, and Hope discovered that her dagger was missing.

• Tang Qi ate swamp dishes with Little Beard’s party, shared Star Plum Wine, and received Little Baldy’s map of the Third Floor.
• Tang Qi learned that Little Beard’s group planned to head toward the Fourth Floor, then chose to continue exploring with Hope, Dawn, and Kuru.
• Little Rascal realized he had stolen Hope’s dagger, which was tied with a red scarf, but Tang Qi’s group left before he could return it.
• Tang Qi’s group crossed the suspension bridge and entered the Third Floor wetland, following the river toward the swamp.
• Withered Vine Monsters disguised as water grass attacked Kuru and Hope, but Tang Qi and Dawn burned or destroyed them and freed their companions.
• Hope said she trusted Tang Qi’s group, then noticed that the dagger from her boot was missing.

Tang Qi’s party entered a changing swamp cave to collect Giant Snail shells, where he killed most of the snails with salt before discovering that three survivors were actually Green hags. The chapter ended with Tang Qi asking Dawn to face the hags, and Dawn warning that fighting them alone would be suicide.

• Tang Qi and Dawn continued through the swamp, with Dawn carrying Kuru while Tang Qi used a clone to scout ahead and tied the party together with hemp rope.
• The party found a cave where their map showed wetlands, and Kuru’s wands detected illusion magic throughout it despite the cave seeming real.
• Tang Qi’s clone found seven Giant Snails in the cave, and Tang Qi spread salt around them before waking them so they crawled across it and died.
• Three Giant Snails remained unharmed, revealed themselves as Green hags, and attacked Tang Qi’s clone, which dispersed into spores.
• Tang Qi asked Dawn to handle the three hags, and Dawn replied that fighting them alone would be more like marching to her death.

Tang Qi and his companions fought a Green Hag Gathering after the hags exposed their disguise and blasted Dawn with three Lightning Bolts. Dawn fell unable to fight, and after Tang Qi identified the badly wounded Anna, she vanished; another hag paralyzed him.

• Tang Qi recognized the three old women as Green Hags, and Dawn charged as the hags and Kuru began casting.
• The hags combined three Lightning Bolts against Dawn, who survived by striking them with [Supreme Holy Slash] but collapsed, unable to fight.
• Tang Qi taunted the hags while Hope and Yiwu attacked; Yiwu tore through Kana's disguise, and Tang Qi used the hags' reactions to identify Anna as the one already wounded.
• Tang Qi struck Anna with [Combat Skill · Snake Fang], revealing her recent injuries, but Anna turned invisible and escaped his blade.
• Another hag cast a spell on Tang Qi, leaving him paralyzed.

Tang Qi and his companions defeated the three hags after Kuru stole and crushed the Hag’s Eye, freeing Tang Qi from the stasis spell. As the exhausted team prepared to recover, Little Beard warned Tang Qi that their guide belonged to the Red Scarf Gang and was conspiring with the camp’s third adventuring party.

• Hope broke free of her stasis and blocked Tracy’s attack on Tang Qi, while Kuru used fog to help them evade the hag.
• Kuru stole Kana’s Hag’s Eye with his invisible Mage Hand and crushed it, inflicting psychic agony on all three hags and breaking their concentration.
• Tang Qi killed Anna and Tracy, then killed Kana after she revealed that a flail snail was on the fifth floor.
• Tang Qi healed Yiwu and Dawn, and told Dawn that the party had survived because they worked as a team.
• Little Beard sent a bat with a warning that Tang Qi’s guide was a Red Scarf Gang member working with the camp’s third adventuring party.

Tang Qi exposed Hope as an informant for the Red Scarf Gang and learned how the gang screened and robbed adventurers in Deepwell. He forced Hope to help him signal the gang after the party rested, while he tended to Dawn and prepared to investigate the gang.

• Hope admitted that she worked as an unofficial guide and supplied the Red Scarf Gang with information about potential targets.
• Hope explained that the gang had planned to rob Tang Qi's party on the suspension bridge, using a signal flare once they were exhausted.
• Tang Qi showed Hope portraits of the gang members, but she could not identify them because they concealed their faces and recognized one another by marked daggers.
• Tang Qi ordered Hope to follow through with the signal after the party rested, then moved the group out of the swamp and tied her up at their campsite.
• Tang Qi treated Dawn's injuries, learned she had used spores to keep the swamp's mushroom network from invading her body, and decided to investigate the Red Scarf Gang first.

Tang Qi and his companions were ambushed by the Red Scarf Gang on a suspension bridge, but Dawn killed their sorcerer and drove off the attackers. When the gang escaped by gliding into the Abyss, Tang Qi decided to pursue them with Kuru’s Feather Fall spell.

• Tang Qi and Dawn met the Red Scarf Gang on the bridge after Hope activated the signal flare, but the gang’s sorcerer trapped Tang Qi with Human Stasis Spell.
• Tang Qi used Silver Tongue on himself to help Dawn evade the spell, and she charged past the gang’s fighters and killed the sorcerer with Supreme Holy Slash.
• Tang Qi freed himself and defended against the gang members while Dawn fought Black Panther and his accomplices, revealing that she had no head beneath her helmet.
• Black Panther ordered a retreat, and the gang vanished into smoke before Hope spotted them gliding down into the Abyss with membranes hidden beneath their robes.
• Tang Qi ordered Kuru to cast Feather Fall and declared that they would jump after the gang.

Tang Qi and his companions pursued the Red Scarf Gang down a seemingly bottomless gorge, discovering the abyss was an illusion concealing a river and a cave. Dawn reached the cave first and defeated the gang members there, leaving one alive for questioning.

• Tang Qi stripped the dead sorcerer Nolan of his flying squirrel suit and belongings, then sent Dawn ahead in the suit while the party descended under Feather Fall.
• Tang Qi, Hope, and Kuru fell into the underground rapids, where Yiwu helped keep the panicking Kuru above water, and Tang Qi realized the abyss was an illusion.
• Dawn spotted a hidden cave landing and glided into it, where Black Panther and the injured Red Scarf Gang members prepared to attack her.
• Tang Qi anchored himself in the river, and Kuru used Earth Shaping to make footholds so the party could climb toward the cave.
• Tang Qi and the others reached the cave and found Dawn sitting atop the defeated gang, with one unconscious Ocelot People survivor left alive.