Recaps

Tang Qi befriended the sorrowful dungeon mushrooms, clashed with Lord Mel, and helped Catherine establish the Golden Oak. After Tang Qi killed the Red Scarf Gang members who threatened the tavern, he set out to publish his guide and became entangled in a painter’s debt dispute.

• Tang Qi calmed the corpse-controlling mushrooms with music, learned they were separated from their elders, and began teaching them to express happiness.
• Wendy recognized the Necromancer’s spellbook, while Tang Qi treated Dawn for parasitic mushrooms and Catherine caught him hiding her in his room.
• Tang Qi rejected Lord Mel’s offer to promote his book, defeated Mel’s mercenaries, and received an IOU for wine and a bracelet for the tavern damage.
• Catherine secured fertile soil and Black Snake’s fortune for a Star Plum orchard, while Gravel told Tang Qi about the dangers of the Great Desert expedition.
• Tang Qi hired Jasmine to advertise the Golden Oak and read reports about dungeon mushrooms, Beastfolk, and ancient ruins, while Gravel joined Wendy’s adventuring team.
• When the Worm harassed Catherine and the Red Scarf Gang threatened the tavern, Tang Qi killed the gang members and used the City Guard’s arrival to protect the Golden Oak.
• Tang Qi received new rewards, then took Anbi to seek a publisher and show her the city as her beastkin symptoms worsened.
• Tang Qi learned that a painter was trapped in Dragon Gold City by a Red Scarf Gang debt, put him to sleep and bound him, then wondered what to do with him.

Tang Qi secured a path to publish The Twilight Forest Guide and entered Deepwell to research a dungeon guide, where his party fought hags and uncovered Hope’s ties to the Red Scarf Gang. The group pursued the gang into a hidden cave and found Dawn had defeated them, leaving one survivor alive.

• Tang Qi enlisted Merlin to illustrate The Guide, but publishers rejected it after Star Plum Tycoon pressured Lame Pigeon to suppress books about the Twilight Forest.
• Wendy Silver Shield agreed to guarantee and promote The Guide, while Mel tried to seize Catherine’s star plum field and Tang Qi later accepted Melard’s plan to fund a self-published edition.
• Night Wind attacked Tang Qi in the Golden Oak cellar, but Tang Qi and Anbi drove him off, and Leon learned that Stella Starlight had used the Red Scarf Gang to test Tang Qi.
• Tang Qi gathered a party with Dawn, Kuru, and Hope and entered Deepwell to research his dungeon guide, fighting giant spiders and Dragonblood Goblins on the way.
• Tang Qi’s group helped Little Rascal recover from a hag’s psychic attack, then crossed into the Third Floor wetlands and defeated concealed Green Hags in an illusory cave.
• Little Beard warned Tang Qi that Hope was working with the Red Scarf Gang, so Tang Qi used her signal flare to confront the gang on a suspension bridge.
• After Dawn killed the gang’s sorcerer, the Red Scarf Gang fled into the Abyss, and Tang Qi led his party after them.
• Tang Qi’s party crossed the illusory abyss and climbed to a hidden cave, where they found Dawn atop the defeated gang and one Ocelot People survivor still alive.

Tang Qi escaped the Deep Well Dungeon with Hope, uncovered the truth behind Dragon Gold City, and returned to confront new threats. He learned Yiwu was Eve Edel reborn and that Leon Lionheart had been targeting him.

• Tang Qi traced the Red Scarf Gang’s influence to Yiwu, then followed Black Panther into the gang’s fortress and escaped its ambush with Hope.
• Hope led Tang Qi deeper underground toward the Dragon Hoard, where he fought Wendy Silver Shield’s party and revealed that Yiwu had opened a path to the Underground Sea.
• Tang Qi and Hope escaped with the hoard, split its treasures, and discovered that the Saint’s Sword Sheath was Hope’s prize before she vanished under her real name, Hope Valentina.
• After returning to the Golden Oak, Tang Qi learned that Kuru and Gravel were missing, while Geya saw Bruto arrested for defying the Poet Academy’s censorship.
• Tang Qi gained new Journal abilities and attacked Shivana Liehhou when she arrived at the tavern, but the guard captain intervened and warned him to leave Dragon Gold City.
• Tang Qi treated Jasmine’s wounds and helped deliver the beastified Bode to the guards, then warned Dawn that someone could corrupt the orphanage’s other children.
• Tang Qi entered Stella’s dream and learned that Yiwu was Eve Edel reborn, Stella wanted him to protect the Princess with the Sword of Dawn, and Leon had been targeting him for half a month.

Tang Qi rescued Anbi and the imprisoned Beastkin, escaped Dragon Gold City, and helped Shivana confront Babaya’s rule. Afterward, the group began to part ways as Tang Qi set out toward where his story began.

• Tang Qi entered Deepwell, found his companions, and led survivors through the spore-filled dungeon toward the Tower of Sunrise.
• Tang Qi emerged with Wendy and the surviving adventurers, then negotiated with Leon and appeared to surrender Yiwu under a contract.
• Tang Qi used Kuru’s illusion to trick Leon, rescued Anbi and Shivana from prison, and led the prisoners in a breakout.
• With help from the city’s adventurers, Tang Qi escaped Dragon Gold City and Stella teleported the group to the Twilight Forest.
• Under the twin moons, Tang Qi helped Anbi endure her transformation and reassured her that she mattered to others.
• Shivana returned to her tribe and challenged Babaya’s leadership, but Tang Qi and his companions joined the fight and defeated Babaya and Slug.
• Geya helped Bruto escape with directions to find Tang Qi, and Bruto learned from Tang Qi’s Journal that Tang Qi had returned to where the story began.
• Tang Qi and Gravel parted after visiting Gawain Monte Carlo’s grave, and Catherine freed the bird Tang Qi had sent her as Tang Qi wrote “freedom” in his Journal.