Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Good Fortune Born’s Poisonous Scheme”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After the Night Guard squad returns from an outing, more than half are wounded and two members are missing, suggesting a dangerous encounter. Everyone avoids Good Fortune Born, except the Commandant, who remains near him.
• Weird Mother announces that Sunshine Boy must receive a Life-Preservation Needle to open his ears. She claims this will allow him to hear danger sooner and protect him.
• Despite Sunshine Boy’s attempt to avoid the procedure, Weird Mother pierces both of his ears. The process is painful, but the needle infuses him with pale yellow Eerie power.
• Good Fortune Born proposes that Sunshine Boy’s eyes should also be opened, presenting this as an additional protective measure. His true intention is to blind Sunshine Boy or permanently prevent him from developing a Spirit Eye.
• Book-Listener exposes the danger, warning that opening the eyes before the Spirit Eye fully develops could destroy Sunshine Boy’s potential.
• Weird Mother nevertheless follows Good Fortune Born’s suggestion and pierces Sunshine Boy’s eyes. Sunshine Boy experiences severe pain as the Eerie power enters his body.
• Instead of blinding him, the Eerie power is absorbed by the rudimentary Dragon Appears within Sunshine Boy’s half-formed Spirit Eye. The power transforms the Golden Dragon into a more powerful Yellow Dragon, later nicknamed the “Weird Dragon.”
• Sunshine Boy gains the ability to perceive Weird Mother’s vague humanoid form behind the black curtain—something even the Heaven’s Mandate Instrument could not detect.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy demonstrates endurance, caution, and growing strategic awareness. He recognizes Good Fortune Born’s plan and realizes that his partially developed Spirit Eye has unexpectedly protected him.
• His Spirit Eye and Dragon Appears advance dramatically, evolving through the absorption of Eerie power. This gives him a new ability to perceive Eerie beings.
• Good Fortune Born is revealed as actively malicious and highly calculating. His plan is designed to appear protective while crippling Sunshine Boy’s future strength.
• Weird Mother remains affectionate and apparently protective toward Sunshine Boy, but her willingness to carry out the eye-opening procedure shows that her maternal concern is dangerous and easily manipulated.
• Book-Listener proves loyal and perceptive by warning Weird Mother about the consequences of the procedure.
• Foodie and the other Night Guards show strong anger toward Good Fortune Born, while the Commandant grows suspicious enough to distance himself from him.

Significant Themes

• Protection versus harm: Acts presented as care—opening Sunshine Boy’s ears and eyes—are actually painful and potentially destructive.
• Hidden schemes and manipulation: Good Fortune Born weaponizes Weird Mother’s desire to keep Sunshine Boy close, disguising an attack as a recommendation for his safety.
• Unexpected growth through danger: The procedure that should have crippled Sunshine Boy instead strengthens him, turning Eerie power into an opportunity for advancement.
• Maternal affection and control: Weird Mother’s tenderness is inseparable from her possessiveness. Her wish to keep Sunshine Boy at her side makes her vulnerable to Good Fortune Born’s manipulation.
• Perception and forbidden knowledge: Sunshine Boy’s new vision allows him to observe an otherwise undetectable Eerie existence, giving him insight unavailable even to powerful instruments.

Character Interactions

• Sunshine Boy carefully negotiates with Weird Mother, trying to avoid the procedures while maintaining the image of an obedient child.
• Weird Mother treats him tenderly but ignores the danger to his development, believing she is protecting him.
• Good Fortune Born openly challenges the others by proposing that Sunshine Boy’s eyes be opened, provoking fury from Book-Listener, Foodie, and the Night Guards.
• Book-Listener directly counters Good Fortune Born’s recommendation and explains the threat to Sunshine Boy’s Spirit Eye.
• The Commandant silently observes Good Fortune Born’s actions and becomes more wary of him.
• After surviving the procedure, Sunshine Boy gains the ability to see Weird Mother’s hidden form, potentially changing the balance of power between them.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter explains that Eerie things are not physical objects but manifestations of invisible principles and strange laws. Only Grand Fate Arts Masters and powerful Fortune treasures can truly destroy them. The Great Principle-Slaying Sword is identified as the strongest known weapon against them.
• Sunshine Boy’s eyes are healed by Weird Mother after the Life-Preservation Needle is exhausted and destroyed. His restored eyes appear even brighter, suggesting that the healing may have given him a new or enhanced ability.
• Weird Mother and Xiang Nanny treat Sunshine Boy as a newborn entitled to receive “lucky money.” The Night Guards and Commandant surrender coins and valuables, but Sunshine Boy deliberately chooses only copper coins.
• When he reaches Good Fortune Born, Sunshine Boy demands all three stalks of mugwort around Good Fortune Born’s waist. Xiang Nanny forcibly takes them and gives them to the baby.
• Sunshine Boy then gives one stalk of mugwort to Xiang Nanny, earning her gratitude and strengthening her favorable attitude toward him.
• He proposes that Good Fortune Born become the messenger who will carry a red letter announcing Weird Mother’s birth to Grandmother. Xiang Nanny accepts the suggestion, placing Good Fortune Born in obvious danger.
• In desperation, Good Fortune Born uses the rare Snake-Dove Arrow, a powerful artifact, aiming it at Book-Listener. The arrow unexpectedly veers into another young Night Guard.
• The wounded Night Guard is tormented by snake-like forms beneath his skin and begs Good Fortune Born for mercy, explaining that his family depends on him.
• Xiang Nanny then selects the injured Night Guard, lifting him into the air and silencing him. The chapter ends with the implication that he has been chosen as a sacrifice or victim in the next stage of the ritual.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy displays intelligence, malice, and growing control over the situation. Though outwardly an innocent baby, he manipulates the adults around him, strips Good Fortune Born of his protective mugwort, and deliberately sends him toward a dangerous mission.
• Weird Mother remains affectionate toward Sunshine Boy but reveals her terrifying power. She heals him effortlessly, destroys the Life-Preservation Needle, and insists that Grandmother be informed of his birth.
• Xiang Nanny becomes increasingly devoted to Sunshine Boy. After receiving his gifted mugwort, she eagerly obeys his suggestion and carries out his will without hesitation.
• Good Fortune Born shifts from fearful resistance to desperation. After being cornered by Sunshine Boy and Xiang Nanny, he uses his hidden Snake-Dove Arrow, showing that he possesses dangerous resources despite his apparent helplessness.
• The Night Guards are increasingly powerless and frightened. Their earlier relief at being asked for only coins collapses when one of them becomes the unintended target of Good Fortune Born’s attack.
• Book-Listener remains enigmatic. His reaction to the Snake-Dove Arrow suggests he may have anticipated the attack or possessed some hidden protection.

Significant Themes

• The contrast between innocence and terror: Sunshine Boy’s babyish appearance and request for lucky money conceal his calculating and dangerous nature.
• Powerlessness before supernatural forces: The Night Guards cannot resist Weird Mother, Xiang Nanny, or the strange rules governing the ritual.
• Sacrifice and survival: Characters repeatedly protect themselves by redirecting danger toward others, as seen in Good Fortune Born’s attack and Xiang Nanny’s selection of the wounded guard.
• Corruption of ordinary customs: Familiar practices such as giving a newborn lucky money and announcing a birth become sinister rituals involving possession, coercion, and sacrifice.
• The limits of physical reality: The explanation of Eerie things emphasizes that the true threats operate through invisible laws rather than ordinary matter, making them difficult to understand or destroy.

Character Interactions

• Sunshine Boy and Weird Mother share an affectionate but unsettling mother-child relationship, with Weird Mother indulging him and treating his actions as blessings.
• Sunshine Boy manipulates Xiang Nanny by rewarding her with mugwort, encouraging her loyalty, and directing her to choose Good Fortune Born as the messenger.
• The conflict between Sunshine Boy and Good Fortune Born intensifies: Sunshine Boy takes Good Fortune Born’s protective items and engineers a situation that forces him into action.
• Good Fortune Born’s attack on Book-Listener instead harms another Night Guard, creating panic and exposing the vulnerability of the entire group.
• The wounded Night Guard’s pleas to Good Fortune Born highlight the human cost of the group’s struggle, but Xiang Nanny ignores them and claims him as her chosen victim.

Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xiang Nanny transforms the Good-News Messenger into a grotesque ceremonial figure. After his body turns blood-red, she cuts open his legs, feet, ears, nose, and mouth while chanting that he must travel to inform Grandmother of the mistress’s qilin child.
• She decapitates him, places a red fortune envelope inside his chest, reattaches his head, and sends him away as a puppet-like messenger. He disappears after crossing the threshold, leaving behind two crystalline tears that deeply affect the eleven Night Guards.
• The Weird Mother comforts Sunshine Boy behind the curtain, treating him like her child and promising him red eggs the next morning. The Night Guards leave, while Good Fortune Born privately regrets underestimating Sunshine Boy’s power and willingness to risk himself.
• A black carriage pulled by undead Bone Horses leaves the capital and flies north. At the same time, Zhou Chunfeng departs through the northern gate, summons a large wooden eagle, and travels north in its small cabin.
• The next morning, Sunshine Boy has grown to about two feet tall and appears dressed like a cheerful child in a tiger-head cap, red padded clothes, and tiger-head boots. The Giant White Hands continue protecting him.
• The Weird Mother orders the Night Guards to receive red eggs. Sunshine Boy gives Wang Laoshi a sprig of mugwort and manipulates the selection process so that Good Fortune Born is initially asked to distribute the eggs.
• Good Fortune Born destroys a divination mirror to avoid taking the basket. The task passes to the elderly Egg-Dividing Man, who mechanically distributes the eggs while the Night Guards suffer the consequences of the earlier coercion and curse Good Fortune Born.
• Each time the Egg-Dividing Man hands out an egg, his body shrinks. After giving out ten eggs, he becomes tiny, peels the final egg while singing a nursery rhyme, and collapses into ash-gray powder. A sprig of mugwort falls onto his remains.

Character Developments

• Good Fortune Born shifts from arrogant confidence to anxiety and regret. He realizes he badly misjudged Sunshine Boy and is increasingly burdened by guilt, fear, and the hostility of the other Night Guards.
• Sunshine Boy demonstrates greater intelligence, power, and deliberate manipulation. Though he appears innocent and childlike, he engineers Good Fortune Born’s involvement and seems to understand the danger surrounding the Night Guards.
• The Weird Mother continues to treat Sunshine Boy as her son, combining maternal tenderness with terrifying supernatural authority.
• Xiang Nanny is shown as both ritualistic and brutally efficient, able to transform and control supernatural beings through chants and physical mutilation.
• The Good-News Messenger loses his identity and autonomy, becoming a grotesque puppet whose tears suggest lingering suffering or emotion.
• The Egg-Dividing Man is revealed as a sacrificial figure. His calm obedience and final nursery rhyme make his destruction especially tragic and disturbing.
• Zhou Chunfeng is introduced as a powerful, distinguished figure traveling north by supernatural means, suggesting that another major development is underway.

Significant Themes

• The corruption of festive and familial rituals: Red envelopes, celebratory announcements, tiger clothing, red eggs, and nursery rhymes are transformed into instruments of horror.
• Loss of identity and agency: The Good-News Messenger becomes a puppet, while the Egg-Dividing Man is physically consumed by the task he performs.
• The danger of underestimation: Good Fortune Born’s arrogance blinds him to Sunshine Boy’s true abilities and leads to his isolation and growing peril.
• Innocence masking violence: Sunshine Boy looks like an adorable child, yet his surroundings involve mutilation, coercion, death, and supernatural manipulation.
• Sacrifice and exploitation: The weaker Night Guards and the Egg-Dividing Man are forced to bear the consequences of others’ actions.
• The uncanny blending of tenderness and terror: The Weird Mother’s lullaby-like care and Sunshine Boy’s childish behavior coexist with grotesque supernatural violence.

Character Interactions

• Xiang Nanny controls and remakes the Good-News Messenger, speaking to him as a ritual object rather than a person.
• The Good-News Messenger’s tears emotionally disturb Good Fortune Born and the Night Guards, creating a moment of shared horror.
• The Weird Mother comforts Sunshine Boy while the Giant White Hands cradle and guard him.
• Sunshine Boy uses kindness toward Wang Laoshi—offering him mugwort—to influence the handling of the eggs.
• Wang Laoshi and the Night Guards become unwilling participants in Sunshine Boy’s scheme, while Good Fortune Born attempts to evade responsibility.
• The Egg-Dividing Man silently confronts Good Fortune Born through his tearful gaze, then distributes the eggs to the others despite his evident suffering.
• The Night Guards’ fear and resentment increasingly center on Good Fortune Born, whose earlier decision has placed everyone in danger.

Chapter Summary: “Good Fortune Born Ran Afoul of a Great Taboo”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Night Guards peel ten pig-blood-red eggs, unknowingly slicing their hands in the process. Their blood—or some supernatural equivalent—causes the eggs to turn red.
• Wang Laoshi presents the eggs as “Red Fortune Eggs” for Sunshine Boy, claiming they can grant eternal life. Sunshine Boy eats all ten, while selflessly giving the egg peeled by Good Fortune Born to Weird Mother.
• The eggs transform into grayish-yellow energy inside Sunshine Boy. Part of it is absorbed by his Spirit-Eyed Weird Dragon, while another portion changes a Bait Fate Star in his Fate Mansion from transparent to grayish-yellow. The strange giant above his Fate Mansion and the chain connecting them also grow stronger.
• The Night Guards appear increasingly sick and exhausted, with pale or bruised faces and dark circles beneath their eyes.
• Weird Mother orders Wang Laoshi to arrange chickens, sheep, and cattle for sacrifice. Sunshine Boy repeatedly recommends Good Fortune Born for each dangerous task, forcing the others to use supernatural methods to fake their deaths or escape selection.
• Several Night Guards are ultimately chosen instead. Before going, they give their belongings to Book-Listener for their families and hand their mugwort to Sunshine Boy, hoping he will help the remaining guards escape.
• Sunshine Boy trades two stalks of mugwort to Wang Laoshi in exchange for assigning Good Fortune Born to catch the cattle. Good Fortune Born becomes furious, accusing Sunshine Boy of deliberately targeting him.
• Good Fortune Born uses a black pointed hat and his powerful Fate Mold in an attempt to protect himself. However, Weird Mother suddenly declares him hateful and appears to focus her attention on him.
• This triggers the chapter’s major crisis: Good Fortune Born has violated a “great taboo.” The Survival Path enters Extinction, and even Good Fortune Born shows terror as he realizes Weird Mother is now targeting him.
• Sunshine Boy and Book-Listener are left confused about what caused Weird Mother’s sudden fury.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy: Becomes increasingly calculating and ruthless. He appears compassionate by giving the best egg to Weird Mother and promising to care for the Night Guards’ families, but he also deliberately manipulates events to sacrifice Good Fortune Born. His cultivation or supernatural power grows as he absorbs the eggs’ energy.
• Good Fortune Born: Initially tries to evade dangerous assignments through disguises, suicide-like tricks, and supernatural artifacts. His confidence collapses when Weird Mother targets him, revealing that even his powerful Fate Mold cannot protect him from the taboo.
• Weird Mother: Shows genuine emotional attachment to Sunshine Boy, calling him her “good eldest son” and crying over his filial gesture. However, her mood changes violently when she senses Good Fortune Born, suggesting a deep and unexplained hatred.
• Book-Listener: Acts as a responsible and compassionate figure, accepting the Night Guards’ money and promising to deliver it to their families. He serves as one of the few moral supports within the group.
• The Night Guards: Their desperation and loyalty become clear. Several willingly face death, entrusting their possessions and hopes to Book-Listener and Sunshine Boy.
• Wang Laoshi: Continues carrying out Weird Mother’s orders but can be influenced through offerings of mugwort. His hesitation when asked to replace Good Fortune Born suggests he recognizes the danger involved.

Significant Themes

• Sacrifice and exploitation: The red eggs are created through the Night Guards’ injuries, while the sacrificial animals and selected guards are treated as resources for a supernatural ritual.
• Survival versus loyalty: The guards struggle to save themselves, yet many still sacrifice their possessions and futures for their comrades and families.
• Manipulation disguised as kindness: Sunshine Boy’s filial behavior and promises of protection coexist with deliberate schemes that endanger Good Fortune Born.
• Fate and supernatural powerlessness: Good Fortune Born’s strong Fate Mold cannot shield him from Weird Mother’s attention, emphasizing that power has limits within the rules of the forbidden realm.
• Taboo and unknown rules: The chapter stresses that violating supernatural taboos can instantly transform a survivable situation into extinction, even when the characters do not understand what rule was broken.
• Family and false affection: Weird Mother’s love for Sunshine Boy appears powerful but terrifyingly unstable, while Sunshine Boy exploits that affection to influence events.

Important Character Interactions

• Sunshine Boy gives Weird Mother the egg peeled by Good Fortune Born, earning her affection while indirectly humiliating Good Fortune Born.
• Sunshine Boy repeatedly nominates Good Fortune Born for dangerous work, provoking hostility between them.
• The Night Guards attack Good Fortune Born when he tries to avoid selection, exposing both their fear and resentment.
• Dying guards entrust Book-Listener with money for their families and give Sunshine Boy their mugwort, placing their hopes in the two men.
• Sunshine Boy bargains with Wang Laoshi to redirect the cattle-catching duty to Good Fortune Born.
• Good Fortune Born confronts Sunshine Boy, accusing him of plotting against the group, but Weird Mother interrupts and turns her hostility toward him.
• The chapter ends with Sunshine Boy and Book-Listener sharing a confused glance as Good Fortune Born faces the consequences of an unexplained taboo.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sunshine Boy manipulates the divination process by giving Wang Laoshi extra mugwort stalks, trying to redirect the dangerous task of catching cattle onto Good Fortune Born.
• Wang Laoshi repeatedly selects Good Fortune Born. Each selection damages the Yin-Yang Fish-Dragon Jade Pendant, Good Fortune Born’s final life-saving treasure.
• Terrified that the pendant will shatter, Good Fortune Born admits fault, promises not to target Sunshine Boy again, and offers payment—including part of a Fate Sect inheritance—for a Life-Replacement Wooden Child.
• At Heaven’s Mandate Mountain, a mysterious white-haired elder senses that the Yin-Yang Dragon Fish has cracked. He suspects Ye Han’s Fate Mold has become unstable and threatens to use the Great Principle-Slaying Sword against him, possibly because Weird Mother has gained another opportunity.
• Back in the Fifth Lady Temple, Wang Laoshi departs with three Night Guards. Sunshine Boy, now physically resembling a seven- or eight-year-old child, asks Weird Mother for permission to leave the temple courtyard.
• Sunshine Boy meets Book-Listener and Foodie in the East Courtyard. They discuss his severe Eerie affliction and begin planning to obtain Fate Materials for a Life-Replacement Wooden Child.
• Book-Listener theorizes that Weird Mother truly regards Sunshine Boy as Eerie rather than human; therefore, she may not consider his body being mutilated a serious problem, since Eerie naturally lack fixed bodies.
• Sunshine Boy summons Good Fortune Born. Good Fortune Born apologizes and asks to purchase a Life-Replacement Wooden Child, claiming he needs protection from Weird Mother.
• Sunshine Boy questions his payment. Good Fortune Born first offers pills, then reluctantly reveals that he possesses an incomplete inheritance connected to the Great Principle-Slaying Sword.
• To prove the claim, Good Fortune Born begins reciting its teachings, including methods for slaying life, fate, fortune, principles, and disrupting nations and time. He stops dramatically, clearly proud of the revelation.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy becomes increasingly calculating and strategic. Though he wants to save others, he also deliberately uses Good Fortune Born’s fear and endangered condition to restrain his hostility.
• Good Fortune Born is reduced from arrogant aggressor to frightened negotiator. The destruction of his treasures and Weird Mother’s attention force him to apologize, bargain, and reveal a potentially valuable secret.
• Weird Mother remains physically confined after childbirth, but her influence and threat continue to dominate the characters. Her perception of Sunshine Boy as Eerie creates a major danger.
• Book-Listener and Foodie act as loyal companions and helpers, offering analysis and volunteering to gather materials for Sunshine Boy.
• The white-haired elder emerges as a powerful outside force, apparently monitoring Fate changes and preparing to intervene with the Great Principle-Slaying Sword.

Significant Themes

• Survival and sacrifice: Characters must decide how much of their power, treasures, and principles they are willing to sacrifice to stay alive.
• Manipulation and moral ambiguity: Sunshine Boy claims he wants to save as many people as possible, yet he uses divination and Good Fortune Born’s fear to serve his own purposes.
• Fate versus agency: The chapter centers on Fate Arts, Fate Mold, divination, life replacement, and the possibility of literally cutting or disrupting fate.
• Fear as a source of power: Good Fortune Born’s terror—not physical strength—forces him to surrender, apologize, and disclose his inheritance.
• Identity and the nature of Eerie: Whether Sunshine Boy is treated as human or Eerie determines whether bodily destruction is considered meaningful or harmless.
• Hypocrisy and self-justification: Good Fortune Born’s claim that “the great road faces heaven” contrasts sharply with his earlier attempt to harm Sunshine Boy, prompting Sunshine Boy’s mocking view of his moral reasoning.

Character Interactions

• Sunshine Boy and Good Fortune Born: Their hostile relationship shifts into a tense negotiation. Good Fortune Born apologizes and seeks protection, while Sunshine Boy remains skeptical and exploits his desperation.
• Sunshine Boy and Wang Laoshi: Sunshine Boy directs Wang Laoshi’s selection through the mugwort stalks, attempting to make him choose Good Fortune Born for the dangerous cattle-catching task.
• Sunshine Boy, Book-Listener, and Foodie: The three cooperate as friends and allies, discussing Weird Mother’s mindset and planning to acquire materials for Sunshine Boy’s replacement body.
• Sunshine Boy and Weird Mother: Their exchange is outwardly gentle but deeply threatening. She permits him to leave the temple while warning him not to enter the building or associate with Good Fortune Born.
• The elder and the wider Fate conflict: The white-haired elder’s calculations suggest that the struggle in the temple is connected to a larger conflict involving Ye Han, Weird Mother, Heaven’s Mandate Sect, and the power to alter fate itself.

Chapter Summary: Great Inheritance Great Principle-Slaying Sword

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sunshine Boy studies the refining method for the Great Principle-Slaying Sword, recognizing that it contains profound Fate Arts comparable to the Life-Hunting Art. Because it is a secret inheritance of the Heaven’s Mandate Sect, revealing it could bring deadly consequences.
• Good Fortune Born agrees to share the inheritance, hoping the sword will help him survive the impending crisis. He explains that his extraordinary Fate Mold has allowed him to acquire treasures from mysterious experts, street stalls, gifts, and abandoned cave abodes—often without realizing their true value.
• Good Fortune Born reveals that he possesses one hundred grains of Spirit Metal, enough to begin refining the sword. Sunshine Boy realizes that Good Fortune Born’s immense fortune makes him dangerously careless with priceless treasures and Fate Stars.
• The two negotiate an agreement:
  • Good Fortune Born must give Sunshine Boy a Fate Star.
  • He must provide the sword’s refining method and materials.
  • He must reveal all the Weird-resolution methods he knows.
  • He must not retaliate if Sunshine Boy accidentally harms him in the future, provided the injury is not intended to kill him or endanger his life.
• Good Fortune Born refuses to swear to Eerie because a mysterious old man warned him against it, so he swears to the Heavenly Dao and his own Fate Mansion instead. Sunshine Boy also swears an oath, though he secretly substitutes a bait Fate Star.
• Good Fortune Born explains two methods for resolving the

Weird Mother

1. Weird-Contaminated Weird-Resolution Method: Sever the fate connection to the Weird Mother after she devours the Eerie Infant, causing her to lose sight of the practitioner and go berserk. The practitioner must then flee, though deep Eerie contamination may make this impossible.
2. Uncontaminated Weird-Resolution Method: Avoid major exposure to Eerie Qi and use a treasure to escape after the Five Birth Mothers Grand Rite concludes. This is safer, but Good Fortune Born’s treasures have largely been destroyed by Sunshine Boy.

• Good Fortune Born gives Sunshine Boy one day to learn the Great Principle-Slaying Sword before the final Grand Rite of Longevity Mother.
• Sunshine Boy attempts to borrow Good Fortune Born’s Fate Arts notebook for further information on the Weird Mother, but Good Fortune Born evasively claims he did not bring it.
• Sunshine Boy enters Good Fortune Born’s Fate Mansion and evaluates his four Fate Stars:

Hidden Dragon in the Poison Pool

Tempered Through Ten Thousand Trials

Sun and Moon Ascendant

Sunlit Golden Mountain

• He considers Sun and Moon Ascendant the strongest, but recognizes it as Good Fortune Born’s foundation and therefore difficult to seize. He views Sunlit Golden Mountain as the safest practical target because it can independently weaken or resolve disasters.
• Using a Fortune Fish, Sunshine Boy creates a Fortune-Movement Bridge to accelerate his attempt to steal a Fate Star. He discovers that Good Fortune Born is protected by a vast, powerful stellar configuration comparable to the royal family’s Grand Momentum Configuration.
• Sunshine Boy casts his Fate Fishing Rod at Sun and Moon Ascendant, but an invisible protective force knocks the hook away. He concludes that Good Fortune Born’s protection is extraordinarily strong and that ordinary Life Buying may not be enough.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy continues to display cunning, opportunism, and distrust. He accepts the sword inheritance but manipulates the oath system by using a substitute Fate Star, preserving his hidden intentions. He also plans to monitor Good Fortune Born in the future and intercept anyone who tries to sell him valuable lives or Fate Stars.
• Good Fortune Born is revealed to be both extraordinarily fortunate and dangerously naïve about the value of his possessions. Though he has lost many treasures, he remains resourceful and decisive enough to bargain for survival. His refusal to violate the mysterious old man’s warning shows that he fears and respects that figure deeply.
• Their partnership remains unstable. They cooperate because both need the other, but each continues concealing information and preparing against possible betrayal.

Significant Themes

• Fortune and ignorance: Good Fortune Born’s Fate Mold brings him incredible luck, yet his lack of understanding causes him to squander treasures and place himself in danger.
• Trust and manipulation: The alliance is built entirely on conditional oaths, hidden motives, and carefully worded promises rather than genuine trust.
• The value of Fate: Fate Stars, Fate Artifacts, and Fate Materials are treated as resources that can be traded, stolen, or weaponized, emphasizing the chapter’s view of destiny as both power and currency.
• Survival through compromise: Both characters must surrender something valuable—knowledge, materials, or future freedom—to gain a chance of surviving the Weird Mother and the coming Grand Rite.
• Hidden powers and protection: Good Fortune Born’s unknown stellar backing and the mysterious old man suggest that larger forces are influencing events beyond the characters’ understanding.

Character Interactions

• Sunshine Boy repeatedly pressures and outmaneuvers Good Fortune Born during their negotiations, using threats, sarcasm, and legalistic oaths to secure better terms.
• Good Fortune Born resists Sunshine Boy’s attempts to force him into swearing to Eerie, but eventually agrees to swear to the Heavenly Dao.
• Their conversation about the Weird-resolution methods reveals both cooperation and resentment: Good Fortune Born blames Sunshine Boy for destroying his escape treasures, while Sunshine Boy recognizes that Good Fortune Born intended to make him learn the sword regardless.
• Despite agreeing to work together, Good Fortune Born withholds his notebook, and Sunshine Boy immediately attempts to seize one of his Fate Stars—demonstrating that their alliance is founded on mutual necessity rather than trust.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sunshine Boy attempts to fish the powerful Fate Mold Sunlit Golden Mountain from Good Fortune Born. An invisible barrier prevents the hook from reaching him directly, confirming that Good Fortune Born’s Fate Mold is extremely strong, though he is willing to trade it away to obtain a Life-Replacement Wooden Child.
• Sunshine Boy consumes Fortune and uses the Fortune Measuring Ruler and Fate-Setting Scale to analyze the relationship between his Fate Mold and Good Fortune Born’s. The deduction reveals the legendary Seven Great Clashes: their Fate Molds are natural enemies, constantly suppressing, draining, and struggling against one another. Their conflict could eventually escalate into a fatal “Ten Absolute Clashes.”
• After studying the Fate Mold further, Sunshine Boy successfully fishes out Sunlit Golden Mountain, though its arrival causes Good Fortune Born’s Fate Mansion to tremble violently and appear to collapse. The Fate Spirit Heavenly Calamity is reduced to an insubstantial, motionless phantom.
• Sunshine Boy evaluates which of his own Fate Stars to sacrifice. He replaces Tiny Scales Hiding in the Grass with Sunlit Golden Mountain, reasoning that the new earth-aligned Fate Star will suppress the former water-aligned Fate and strengthen his wood-aligned Fate Stars.
• Sunlit Golden Mountain greatly improves Sunshine Boy’s Fate Mansion. Golden light washes away the foul snow caused by Weird Mother’s influence, weakens the oppressive chain of Weird Mother’s Fate Mold, and causes the wooden mansion to grow.
• Sunshine Boy attempts to fish Good Fortune Born’s Fate Ground as well, but fails because the Life-Replacement Wooden Child exchange does not include the land itself.
• The two complete their bargain. Sunshine Boy forges and gives Good Fortune Born a superior Life-Replacement Wooden Child, then receives the materials and forging method for the Great Principle-Slaying Sword.
• After setting up a protective formation and studying Zhou Chunfeng’s foundational Dao text, Sunshine Boy forges the Great Principle-Slaying Sword. The difficult process leaves him exhausted, but the finished Fate Artifact becomes the most prominent object in his Fate Mansion alongside the Fate Fishing Rod.
• The sword has a black blade patterned with glowing golden branches and a star-filled hilt. Sunshine Boy successfully summons it and demonstrates that it can fly through the air like a sword.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy demonstrates increasingly advanced mastery of Fate fishing, deduction, Fate Mold compatibility, and artifact forging. He remains calculating, carefully choosing which Fate Star to replace and preserving the Fate Mold he needs to survive Weird Mother.
• His acquisition of Sunlit Golden Mountain significantly strengthens his Fate Mansion and gives him his first truly supreme-grade Fate Star.
• He also expands his combat capabilities by forging the Great Principle-Slaying Sword, adding a powerful offensive Fate Artifact to his collection.
• Good Fortune Born becomes more cautious and suspicious of Sunshine Boy. Although he recognizes that he profited by trading his life for the Fate Star and Life-Replacement Wooden Child, he repeatedly feels that he has somehow been disadvantaged and wonders whether Sunshine Boy is backed by a mysterious expert.
• The relationship between the two is revealed to be inherently antagonistic at the Fate level, even though they cooperate through practical bargains.

Significant Themes

• Fate as conflict and destiny: The Seven Great Clashes show that the two protagonists’ destinies are fundamentally opposed. Their conflict is not merely personal but embedded in their Fate Molds.
• Power through sacrifice and exchange: Sunshine Boy must give up one Fate Mold to gain another, carefully balancing mutual restraint among the Five Elements.
• Strategic survival: Sunshine Boy prioritizes Fate Stars that help him resist Weird Mother, showing that survival depends on long-term planning rather than raw strength.
• Transformation through power: Sunlit Golden Mountain not only strengthens Sunshine Boy but physically transforms his Fate Mansion, symbolizing the way great Fate can reshape its bearer.
• Trust and suspicion: The exchange between Sunshine Boy and Good Fortune Born is formally fair, yet Good Fortune Born’s unease reflects the difficulty of trusting someone whose abilities and hidden resources remain mysterious.
• Creation and mastery: Forging the Great Principle-Slaying Sword marks Sunshine Boy’s transition from acquiring Fate power to actively creating and wielding his own decisive weapon.

Character Interactions

• Sunshine Boy and Good Fortune Born negotiate the exchange of Sunlit Golden Mountain for Good Fortune Born’s life-saving artifact. Their conversation mixes practical logic, suspicion, and verbal sparring.
• Good Fortune Born doubts whether the Life-Replacement Wooden Child is genuine, while Sunshine Boy mocks his caution and assures him that its quality is exceptional.
• Sunshine Boy collaborates with Book-Listener and Foodie, obtaining Fate Materials and assigning them to guard the East Courtyard.
• Zhou Chunfeng’s donated Dao text indirectly supports Sunshine Boy’s preparation for forging the Great Principle-Slaying Sword.
• Weird Mother remains an unseen but influential force: her Fate Mold continues to oppress Sunshine Boy’s Fate Mansion, while Sunlit Golden Mountain begins to counteract that influence.

Chapter Summary: “A Fine Performance Reveals the Demon-Devils”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sunshine Boy leaves the Fate Mansion after analyzing the Weird Mother Fate Mold and the chain of light in the sky.
• He spends two Fate Molds to create Life-Replacement Wooden Children, keeping one for himself and giving the other to Book-Listener. Only six Bait Fate Molds remain.
• He prepares several protective and life-substitution methods:
  • Restores his magical power through the Spirit Platform.
  • Refines the Iron Armor Paper Person into a life-dividing substitute using the incomplete Life-Division Technique.
  • Uses Good Fortune Born’s blood, hair, and fingernail to create Life-Linking Liquid, which he applies to a Spirit-Awakening Talisman.
• Sunshine Boy, Book-Listener, and Foodie arrive at the Fifth Lady Temple for the final stages of the Five Birth Mothers Grand Rite. Only eight white lanterns remain lit on the White Building.
• He notices five memorial tablets and five offerings, including an empty central platter. The pig’s head has a familiar mole and still bears mugwort, which Sunshine Boy removes, suggesting a connection to an earlier victim or ritual.
• Sunshine Boy warns the other Night Guards to prepare for the following day, the final and most important day of the ritual.
• Wang Laoshi and Xiang Nanny require the Night Guards to watch a village dance drama in silence. They are seated outside the temple while Sunshine Boy is placed on a chair behind them.
• The play first depicts ordinary, prosperous village life. It then shifts to the arrival of the Demon-Devils, whose presence brings disease, death, and suffering.
• A white-robed, pointed-hat Demon-Devil appears and brutally kills villagers, consuming symbolic objects from their bodies. It eventually tears a red-clothed girl doll from the body of a pregnant woman dressed as a bride.
• Five people carrying blank memorial tablets enter, followed by patchwork-robed figures performing a strange ritual. The dead villagers rise and resume their former routines, though the bride remains isolated, rocking a buckwheat-husk pillow as if mourning a lost child.
• After the play ends, Wang Laoshi, Xiang Nanny, and the villagers are revealed to be shedding blood-red tears. The Night Guards return to their quarters, while Xiang Nanny carries Sunshine Boy back to the Black House.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy becomes increasingly cautious and strategic. He prepares multiple substitutes and talismans, clearly anticipating fatal dangers during the ritual’s final day.
• His removal of the mugwort from the pig’s head shows his growing awareness of hidden ritual connections and possible symbolic clues.
• Book-Listener and Foodie remain closely aligned with Sunshine Boy, accompanying him and participating in the Night Guards’ preparations.
• Wang Laoshi and Xiang Nanny appear outwardly welcoming and authoritative, but their later blood tears reveal their deep supernatural corruption or possession.
• The villagers are portrayed as both ordinary people and ritual participants. Their laughter, grief, repeated motions, and blood tears suggest that their identities and lives may be controlled by the village’s supernatural forces.
• The pregnant bride becomes the play’s most tragic figure, losing the child represented by the red-clothed doll and continuing to mourn it after everyone else returns to normal.

Significant Themes

• The hidden horror beneath normality: The cheerful depiction of village life gradually exposes disease, violence, death, and supernatural oppression.
• Cycles and forced repetition: After the ritual, the villagers resume their daily routines as though nothing happened, suggesting that the village is trapped in a repeating cycle.
• Death, sacrifice, and rebirth: The memorial tablets, offerings, dolls, and ritual resurrection connect childbirth imagery with death and replacement.
• Performance as revelation: Although the dance drama is presented as entertainment, it functions as a coded explanation of the village’s history and the Demon-Devils’ influence.
• False prosperity and collective denial: The villagers laugh at the idyllic opening, but their later suffering reveals that the apparent happiness is fragile or manufactured.
• Silence and observation: The Night Guards are forbidden to speak, forcing them to watch passively while the performance exposes truths they might otherwise miss.

Important Character Interactions

• Sunshine Boy gives Book-Listener a Life-Replacement Wooden Child, demonstrating trust and cooperation between them.
• He addresses the Night Guards collectively, urging them to prepare for the decisive final day.
• Wang Laoshi and Xiang Nanny impose the rules of the performance and physically place Sunshine Boy in his seat, emphasizing their control over the group.
• The villagers and temple attendants initially behave warmly and joyfully, but their synchronized grief and blood tears reveal their shared supernatural condition.
• The Demon-Devil’s attacks on the butcher and pregnant bride demonstrate its power over the villagers and establish the brutal relationship between the village and the invading entities.

Chapter Summary: “Planting a Great Tree Behind Fifth Lady Temple”

Key Plot Points and Events

• At dawn, the villagers of Fangyuan Village emerge with bloody tears streaming from their eyes. They perform their daily rituals—cleaning, posting Fortune Characters, and kneeling before Fifth Lady Temple—while the village remains unnaturally silent.
• Wang Laoshi leads the Night Guards to retrieve Sunshine Boy for an important village custom: planting a great tree, establishing a name, and later performing a choosing ritual.
• Weird Mother presents Sunshine Boy with thirty-six tree seeds. After consulting Book-Listener and Good Fortune Born, Sunshine Boy chooses the ginkgo seed, associated with longevity.
• Xiang Nanny selects a location behind Fifth Lady Temple, in the rear courtyard of the White Building. Following feng shui principles, Sunshine Boy plants the seed behind the pond.
• The seed immediately grows into a grotesque supernatural tree: its roots are red and filled with strange currents, its crown resembles a Daoist formation, a blood-red lotus blooms within its branches, and an azure fruit grows at the top bearing the face of an infant.
• Xiang Nanny declares that the tree requires a guardian. She chooses Blacksmith, whose Fortune Character begins to burn.
• Accepting that he has been selected for death, Blacksmith bids farewell to the others and sits beneath the tree. As Sunshine Boy and the Night Guards leave, the tree’s roots pierce Blacksmith’s body and drain his blood.
• Returning to the Black House, the group discovers fourteen wooden plaques bearing names, including those of villagers and Night Guards who have apparently already died or been claimed.
• Weird Mother embraces Sunshine Boy and announces the next stage of the ritual: since he now has “roots,” he must choose a formal name from the plaques.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy becomes more involved in the village’s supernatural customs. He shows caution and thoughtfulness by consulting others before choosing the seed, examining the tree’s location, and applying feng shui knowledge.
• His outward composure contrasts with the disturbing events around him. He remains silent and stiff when Weird Mother affectionately embraces him, suggesting growing discomfort and resistance.
• Blacksmith displays courage and resignation. He accepts his fate without protest, entrusting his belongings to Sunshine Boy and asking the others to tell his family that he died honorably.
• Wang Laoshi continues to behave warmly and calmly despite the horror surrounding him, including the bloody tears and Blacksmith’s impending death.
• Xiang Nanny acts as an organizer and enforcer of the ritual. Her seemingly casual choices determine Blacksmith’s fate.
• Weird Mother remains possessive and maternal toward Sunshine Boy, treating the frightening ritual as a normal stage in his growth.

Significant Themes

• Ritual, identity, and belonging: The tree represents roots, while the name represents the shadow cast by those roots. Sunshine Boy’s transformation into a recognized member of the village is being imposed through ritual.
• Life sustained through sacrifice: The miraculous tree’s growth depends on Blacksmith’s blood, revealing that prosperity, longevity, and stability in the village are built upon death.
• Loss of autonomy: Sunshine Boy is allowed to make choices, but the process is tightly controlled by the adults and supernatural forces around him. Blacksmith is selected without meaningful consent, and Sunshine Boy’s formal name is also predetermined by the available plaques.
• False domesticity and horror: The villagers and Weird Mother perform ordinary family and village customs—cleaning, choosing seeds, planting trees, naming a child—but each familiar act conceals grotesque violence.
• Mortality and inheritance: The tree, the plaques, and the naming ceremony suggest that people’s lives and identities are being recorded, consumed, or passed into a larger supernatural order.

Character Interactions

• Wang Laoshi explains the meaning of planting the tree to the Night Guards while maintaining his usual friendly demeanor, despite visibly shedding bloody tears.
• Sunshine Boy consults Book-Listener and Good Fortune Born before choosing the ginkgo seed, showing that he still relies on the group for guidance.
• Xiang Nanny directs Sunshine Boy throughout the planting ritual, chooses the location, and later selects Blacksmith as the tree’s guardian.
• Blacksmith gives Sunshine Boy his mugwort and offers him a final warning to survive, creating a poignant bond between the doomed guard and the child.
• The Night Guards silently witness Blacksmith’s sacrifice and return with Sunshine Boy, their shared horror emphasized by their refusal to speak.
• Weird Mother treats Sunshine Boy as her beloved son, physically embracing him and preparing to assign him a formal name, while Sunshine Boy responds with visible emotional resistance.

Chapter Summary: “Sunshine Boy Finally Chose His Eerie Name”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sunshine Boy struggles for hours to choose a name, realizing that the naming ceremony will likely strengthen or alter his Eerie nature and influence his future.
• Weird Mother comforts him and offers to let Longevity Mother choose for him if he cannot decide, but Sunshine Boy insists on choosing for himself.
• A mysterious change occurs among the divine tablets: the character for “Longevity” disappears and is replaced by “Rebirth,” transforming Longevity Mother into Rebirth Mother.
• Sunshine Boy asks Weird Mother to allow the six Night Guards inside because they are standing barefoot in the cold. Once admitted, the guards prepare themselves, suggesting that a dangerous or decisive moment is approaching.
• Using a knife, Sunshine Boy scrapes the name “Blacksmith” from a wooden plaque and secretly carves a new name onto it. After applying a Spirit-Awakening Talisman, he reveals the name Ye Han.
• Weird Mother accepts the name, declaring that Sunshine Boy will henceforth be called Ye Han.
• The new name has a powerful effect on Good Fortune Born. He experiences hostility, familiarity, grief, and a sense of losing something essential. His appearance also seems to blur, and he perceives Ye Han as resembling a long-lost twin.
• The name plaque is hung on the tree, and preparations begin for the treasure-grasping ceremony. A table is filled with symbolic objects such as books, writing tools, weapons, jewelry, and seals.
• As Ye Han considers which object to choose, funeral music plays outside. Villagers gather at the entrance in a terrifying, corpse-like state, with black eyes, bloody tears, and distorted bodies.
• A huge rattle drum appears behind the black curtain, intensifying the ominous atmosphere. After the drum stops, Ye Han begins examining the objects and asks whether he may choose any of them. Weird Mother assures him that he may.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy/Ye Han: Demonstrates patience, independence, and hidden purpose. Rather than accepting a conventional name, he deliberately erases “Blacksmith” and chooses a mysterious name of his own. His actions suggest that he understands more about his identity and fate than the others realize.
• Good Fortune Born: Suffers the greatest psychological impact from the new name. His reaction reveals a deep, possibly forgotten connection to Ye Han, combining resentment, affection, recognition, and loss. His physical changes—white hair and falling strands—indicate that the naming has affected him at a profound supernatural level.
• Weird Mother: Remains unnervingly calm and affectionate throughout the ritual. She allows Sunshine Boy considerable freedom, even when he performs unexpected or potentially dangerous actions.
• The Night Guards: Initially confused by Sunshine Boy’s choices, they become cautious and prepare their weapons, implying that they anticipate an imminent threat.
• Xiang Nanny and Wang Laoshi: Continue to perform the ceremonial duties obediently, treating Ye Han’s naming as legitimate and significant.

Significant Themes

• Identity and self-determination: Sunshine Boy rejects the assigned identity of “Blacksmith” and creates a new name, asserting control over who he is.
• Names as supernatural power: The naming ceremony is not merely symbolic; Ye Han’s chosen name alters reality, affects Good Fortune Born, and appears tied to forgotten histories or identities.
• Rebirth and transformation: The change from “Longevity” to “Rebirth,” along with Sunshine Boy’s renaming, suggests cycles of death, renewal, and the emergence of a new self.
• Memory and loss: Good Fortune Born’s confused recognition of Ye Han hints at suppressed memories and a relationship severed by supernatural forces.
• Ceremony beneath terror: Traditional rituals such as naming and treasure-grasping are surrounded by funeral music, grotesque villagers, and eerie phenomena, merging family customs with death and horror.
• Hidden danger: The guards’ preparations, the bloody locust-tree branch, and the villagers’ arrival indicate that the ceremony may conceal an approaching conflict.

Character Interactions

• Sunshine Boy and Weird Mother share a gentle but unsettling parent-child interaction. She comforts him and accepts his decisions without visible anger, while he subtly tests her authority.
• Sunshine Boy deliberately includes the six Night Guards by asking that they be allowed inside, showing consideration while possibly positioning them for what follows.
• The Night Guards silently coordinate and ready their weapons, communicating their suspicion without openly confronting anyone.
• Sunshine Boy’s renaming directly affects Good Fortune Born, exposing an inexplicable bond between them. Good Fortune Born simultaneously feels hatred and familiarity, as if Ye Han is both an enemy and a lost relative.
• Xiang Nanny and Wang Laoshi recognize and formalize Ye Han’s new identity, then guide the ceremony toward the next stage: the treasure-grasping ritual.

Chapter Summary: “Sunshine Boy, Hand It Over”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sunshine Boy asks the six remaining Night Guards to advise him on whom to choose, but none will answer. He then deliberately provokes Good Fortune Born.
• Taking advantage of Good Fortune Born’s distraction, Sunshine Boy forcibly removes the Heaven-and-Earth Ring from his finger. Contrary to expectations, the ring accepts Sunshine Boy as its new owner, triggering a massive supernatural reaction across Guangtong and Yan Prefectures.
• A vast sea of lightning and a strange sun appear in the sky, signaling the transfer’s enormous impact. Good Fortune Born is struck down while trying to reclaim the ring.
• Sunshine Boy orders Foodie to give the Divine-Pattern Flying Sword to Commandant, who takes responsibility for confronting the force behind the black curtain.
• Sunshine Boy enters his Fate Mansion and performs the Life-Division Technique. Using the Iron-Clad Talisman Man marked “Ye Han,” he reproduces Good Fortune Born’s powerful Fate Mansion and sends it crashing into Weird Mother’s Fate Mold.
• With the help of the Great Principle-Slaying Sword, three of the four chains binding the Fate Molds are severed. The resulting explosion severely injures Sunshine Boy and Good Fortune Born and causes the black curtain and Weird Mother’s presence to shake violently.
• Weird Mother loses her gentle façade and angrily commands Xiang Nanny and Wang Laoshi to kill the intruders.
• The two servants mechanically attack broken locust-tree branches while Weird Mother repeatedly calls for her missing son, Ye Han, and plays her rattle drum.
• Despite everyone’s efforts, Sunshine Boy’s body begins walking toward the danger against his will, suggesting that Weird Mother’s influence remains active.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy demonstrates increasing boldness and ruthlessness. He manipulates Good Fortune Born into lowering his guard, steals the Heaven-and-Earth Ring, and risks exhausting his magical power to attack Weird Mother’s Fate Mold.
• Good Fortune Born shifts from irritation and confidence to terror when the ring is taken. He attempts to recover it but is immediately incapacitated, revealing how deeply his fate is tied to the artifact.
• Commandant fulfills his promise to protect Sunshine Boy and takes the Divine-Pattern Flying Sword into battle, acting decisively against Weird Mother’s power.
• Book-Listener and Foodie remain loyal and protective, catching Sunshine Boy after he collapses and helping carry out his plan.
• Weird Mother is revealed to be far more dangerous and unstable than her kindly voice suggests. Her composure breaks after the attack, exposing rage, possessiveness, and obsession with her son Ye Han.
• Xiang Nanny and Wang Laoshi appear to lose their own wills, moving like puppets under Weird Mother’s control.

Significant Themes

• The danger and cost of fate manipulation: Sunshine Boy’s technique requires immense sacrifice, nearly draining him to death, while the clash of Fate Mansions causes widespread supernatural destruction.
• Ownership and destiny: The Heaven-and-Earth Ring’s transfer suggests that fate can be forcibly rewritten, though doing so produces catastrophic consequences.
• Control versus free will: Weird Mother controls Xiang Nanny, Wang Laoshi, and apparently Sunshine Boy’s body, emphasizing the terrifying loss of personal agency.
• Hidden identities and emotional distortion: Weird Mother’s supposed kindness is exposed as a mask covering rage and grief, especially concerning Ye Han.
• Sacrifice and trust: Sunshine Boy relies on Commandant and the Night Guards to defend him while he performs the dangerous attack, strengthening the group’s sense of cooperation.

Character Interactions

• Sunshine Boy repeatedly pressures the silent Night Guards, especially Good Fortune Born, before exploiting his distraction.
• Good Fortune Born’s attempt to reclaim the ring directly clashes with Sunshine Boy’s larger plan and ends with Commandant catching his unconscious body.
• Sunshine Boy orders Foodie and Commandant to act in coordination, showing his reliance on the group despite his reckless methods.
• Commandant confronts the black curtain while the Night Guards defend Sunshine Boy.
• Sunshine Boy’s Fate Mansion and Good Fortune Born’s replicated Fate Mansion combine in an assault on Weird Mother, with the Great Principle-Slaying Sword completing the attack.
• Weird Mother turns on Xiang Nanny and Wang Laoshi, ordering them to kill the group, while their mechanical obedience contrasts with Sunshine Boy’s desperate struggle to retain control of himself.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sunshine Boy reveals that his fate blood is connected to Weird Mother, convincing her that he is truly her son. He explains that Good Fortune Born has been manipulating his Fate Mold and controlling his body.
• Weird Mother reaches through the black curtain with six giant white arms. Sunshine Boy warns the Night Guards that, once an Eerie manifests in the world, its physical form can be wounded, though they must not enter the curtain.
• Commandant and the Night Guards attack Weird Mother’s arms. Commandant severs all six, but they regenerate, and the corrosive gray-yellow fluid from the wounds damages the ground.
• The fight worsens Commandant’s Eerie affliction: his Blood Lotus expands, his Wooden Talisman Figure loses a leg, and his mugwort protection withers.
• The Night Guards coordinate their attacks, using Thunder Talismans to char and weaken the arms before cutting them apart. The lightning significantly slows regeneration. Sunshine Boy secretly supplies them with more talismans while pretending that Good Fortune Born is preventing him from doing so.
• Within the Fate Mansion, Sunshine Boy observes Weird Mother’s Fate Mold breaking into chunks and being drawn back together. Good Fortune Born’s golden fortune power separates and dissolves the pieces.
• Sunshine Boy uses the Fate Hunting Formula and three Fate Artifacts—the Fate Fishing Rod, Fortune Measuring Ruler, and Fate-Setting Scale—to tear apart, smash, and pulverize Weird Mother’s Fate Mold. The fragments gradually disappear under Good Fortune Born’s golden light.
• While continuing to resist Good Fortune Born’s control, Sunshine Boy studies Dinggu True Adept’s notes. He learns that the Great Principle-Slaying Sword cannot truly destroy an Eerie’s root in the Eerie World; it only severs the Eerie’s manifestation in the mortal world.
• The notes reveal another possible solution: identify the worldly object connected to the Eerie and sever that connection. Dinggu suspected this was the proper way to resolve Weird Mother’s Eerie. Sunshine Boy realizes he may finally have found the key.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy remains trapped between his own will and Good Fortune Born’s control. Despite being forced to speak and act against his wishes, he cleverly protects his allies, distributes Thunder Talismans, manipulates the Fate Artifacts, and searches for a way to defeat the Eerie.
• Weird Mother becomes increasingly desperate and emotional. Her grief over losing her “son” turns into rage, but she shows no physical pain when her arms are severed. Her inability to stop regenerating demonstrates both her power and her fixation on reclaiming Sunshine Boy.
• Commandant takes leadership of the Night Guards and acts decisively despite the worsening Eerie affliction inside him. He recognizes the danger of Weird Mother’s blood and organizes a coordinated assault.
• Book-Listener displays resourcefulness by using the Thunder Talismans with iron darts and quickly distributing them to the others. His tactical idea becomes essential to slowing Weird Mother’s regeneration.
• Good Fortune Born remains unconscious physically but continues exerting influence through Sunshine Boy’s Fate Mold and golden fortune power. His control both obstructs Sunshine Boy and helps break apart Weird Mother’s Fate Mold.
• Dinggu True Adept, though absent, becomes an important source of knowledge through his incomplete notes. His forgotten experience provides Sunshine Boy with the crucial clue for resolving the Eerie.

Significant Themes

• Identity and control: Sunshine Boy’s struggle against Good Fortune Born reflects the conflict between personal will and imposed fate.
• Motherhood and possession: Weird Mother’s love is inseparable from obsession and violence; her desire to reclaim her son drives the entire confrontation.
• The limits of destruction: The chapter distinguishes between killing an Eerie’s manifestation and destroying its true existence, emphasizing that supernatural threats often require severing their source rather than overpowering them.
• Cooperation under crisis: The Night Guards combine their abilities, weapons, and talismans to survive an enemy whose strength lies in relentless regeneration.
• Knowledge as power: Dinggu’s notes and Sunshine Boy’s ability to search them become as important as physical combat. Understanding the rules of the Eerie offers the first genuine path to victory.
• Fate versus agency: Fate Mold, fortune, and supernatural connections shape the battle, but Sunshine Boy continues searching for ways to act independently within those constraints.

Character Interactions

• Sunshine Boy reassures Weird Mother that he is her son while secretly warning Commandant and directing the battle against her.
• Commandant leads the Night Guards and assigns them specific targets, while Book-Listener supports the group by developing an effective Thunder Talisman strategy.
• Weird Mother pleads with Sunshine Boy to help her and asks whether Good Fortune Born can be killed, but Sunshine Boy claims he cannot act against him without dying.
• Good Fortune Born’s control forces Sunshine Boy to appear disloyal, creating tension between his words and his true intentions.
• Sunshine Boy’s Fate Artifacts interact with Good Fortune Born’s golden power, collectively dismantling Weird Mother’s Fate Mold and moving the group closer to resolving the Eerie.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Night Guards continue attacking Weird Mother with Thunder Talismans while she struggles to resist the power of Good Fortune Born’s Fate Mansion.
• Sunshine Boy forms a contract with the unconscious Good Fortune Born, then realizes Weird Mother’s fat-like fragments are obstructing and damaging Good Fortune Born’s Fate Mansion.
• To attack Weird Mother through the connection between fate and blood, Sunshine Boy drains a large amount of Good Fortune Born’s blood into talisman cups. He carefully mixes his own blood into five of them.
• Pretending to warn Weird Mother that Good Fortune Born is controlling him, Sunshine Boy secretly performs the Life-Burning Art, sacrificing blood and origin to summon powerful Fate Stars against her:
  1. Sun and Moon Ascendant strikes Weird Mother.
  2. Tempered Through Ten Thousand Trials bombards her with golden hammers.
  3. Hidden Dragon in the Poison Pool crashes into her with a colossal venomous flood dragon.
• These attacks injure Weird Mother but fail to defeat her. Sunshine Boy then summons Heavenly Calamity, whose gray divine light shatters the black curtain separating Weird Mother from the mortal world.
• Weird Mother is forced fully into the mortal realm. She is revealed as a horrifying bridal figure with six arms, infant-filled phoenix coronet, a concealed face, and a grotesque rattle drum.
• The assault also damages the entities within Sunshine Boy’s Fate Mansion: the Iron-Clad Talisman Man is cracked, while the giant fat-like shadow shrinks and becomes similarly fractured.
• Weird Mother repeatedly calls Sunshine Boy “her child” and begs him to return with her. The Night Guards sever her arms with Thunder Talismans, but replacement arms grow from the stumps, one immediately reaching for the rattle drum.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy demonstrates extreme ruthlessness and tactical intelligence. He sacrifices Good Fortune Born’s blood and uses deception to exploit the connection between Good Fortune Born, himself, and Weird Mother.
• He also shows significant determination and willingness to risk his life, repeatedly using powerful Fate Arts despite their heavy cost in origin.
• Good Fortune Born remains unconscious and largely helpless, but his blood and Fate Mansion become crucial tools in Sunshine Boy’s attack.
• Weird Mother is weakened and physically damaged, yet remains extraordinarily resilient. Her true monstrous form and apparent maternal attachment to Sunshine Boy are revealed.
• The Night Guards become increasingly horrified by Sunshine Boy’s methods, fearing him almost as much as Weird Mother, though they continue supporting the attack.
• The entities within Sunshine Boy’s Fate Mansion suffer visible damage, suggesting that his assault is also endangering his own internal power structure.

Significant Themes

• Sacrifice and exploitation: Victory depends on using blood, life force, and even another person’s body as expendable resources.
• Deception and manipulation: Sunshine Boy deceives Weird Mother while using her assumptions about his relationship to Good Fortune Born against her.
• Distorted motherhood: Weird Mother’s desperate affection contrasts sharply with her grotesque, destructive nature, blurring the line between love and horror.
• Fate and interconnectedness: Blood, contracts, Fate Mansions, and Fate Arts establish that characters can harm one another through spiritual and fateful connections.
• The boundary between worlds: Heavenly Calamity breaks the barrier separating Weird Mother from the mortal world, turning a contained supernatural threat into a direct physical presence.

Character Interactions

• Sunshine Boy links himself to Good Fortune Born through a blood-related contract and uses Good Fortune Born’s blood to launch attacks.
• He publicly warns Weird Mother about Good Fortune Born’s supposed control, manipulating her attention while secretly attacking her.
• Weird Mother treats Sunshine Boy as her child and pleads for him to leave with her, while Sunshine Boy remains focused on destroying or restraining her.
• The Night Guards cooperate in attacking Weird Mother but are visibly disturbed by Sunshine Boy’s cruelty and methods.
• After her arms are destroyed, Weird Mother regenerates them, emphasizing the escalating struggle between her persistence and the combined attacks of Sunshine Boy and the Night Guards.

Chapter Summary: “Bidding Farewell to the Weird Mother at Barren Mountain Old Village”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Weird Mother uses her rattle drum to hypnotically summon Sunshine Boy, forcing him to move toward her despite the Night Guards’ attempts to restrain him.
• To stop himself, Sunshine Boy has Foodie drag the unconscious Good Fortune Born close enough for him to grab. This interrupts the Weird Mother’s control, though she curses Good Fortune Born and causes him to spit blood.
• The Weird Mother vomits corrosive grayish-yellow mist and reveals a brocade pillow wrapped like a baby inside her swollen belly. Sunshine Boy realizes the pillow is likely the source of her power and calls for the Commandant’s help.
• The Commandant attacks with the Divine-Pattern Flying Sword and the last Thunder Talismans. A massive thunder strike destroys the house and severely damages the Weird Mother, but she survives and repeatedly beats the Commandant with her rattle drum.
• The Weird Mother’s severed arms continue reaching toward Sunshine Boy. In response, he unleashes the Great Principle-Slaying Sword, sacrificing nearly all the Fortune Fish in his Fate Pool.
• The sword cuts through the Weird Mother’s defenses and strikes the brocade pillow. The pillow transforms in Sunshine Boy’s vision into an innocent baby girl without any Eerie Qi.
• The baby girl helps guide the sword to sever a grayish-yellow thread attached to her belly. This breaks the connection sustaining the Weird Mother.
• The Weird Mother begins collapsing into mist. She cradles the baby, hums a tender lullaby, and finally disintegrates. The infants embedded in her black phoenix crown also shatter and vanish.
• The blood-red lotus on Book-Listener’s belly fades, indicating that the danger or curse connected to the Weird Mother has ended. Xiang Nanny and Wang Laoshi escape through the doorway.
• Sunshine Boy discovers that Ye Han’s Fate Mansion remains connected to him by a thin chain. Rather than destroying the remaining fate entirely, he uses his Fate Fishing Rod to capture it and turns it into a new grayish-yellow Fate Star, preserving the Weird Mother’s fate as a usable resource.
• The Weird Mother’s remaining consciousness confronts Sunshine Boy one final time and asks him to call her “Mother.” Recognizing that refusing may doom him to the Eerie World, he complies.
• Satisfied, the Weird Mother disappears completely. The supernatural phenomena end, the Sun Hanging over the Thunder Sea fades, and moonlight returns over the ruined village.

Character Developments

• Sunshine Boy demonstrates increasing resourcefulness and courage. He uses Good Fortune Born to break the Weird Mother’s control, recognizes the brocade pillow as important, and risks his remaining Fortune Fish to attack her source of power.
• His reaction to the baby girl reveals compassion and moral hesitation: although he initially prepares to destroy the pillow, he stops when he sees that it contains an innocent child.
• Sunshine Boy also shows growing mastery over fate. He captures the remnant of the Weird Mother’s fate instead of simply severing it, turning a dangerous Eerie force into a new Fate Star.
• The Commandant acts decisively to protect Sunshine Boy and the others, expending the last Thunder Talisman and confronting the Weird Mother directly. His attack causes major destruction but is not enough to defeat her.
• Good Fortune Born remains unconscious but becomes crucial to interrupting the Weird Mother’s summoning power.
• The Weird Mother shifts from a terrifying monster to a tragic maternal figure. Her final actions—cradling the baby, humming, and asking Sunshine Boy to call her “Mother”—suggest that grief, attachment, and loss motivate her violence.
• The baby girl is revealed not as an Eerie creature but as an innocent presence trapped within the Weird Mother’s power. Her severing of the grayish-yellow thread helps bring about the Mother’s end.
• Xiang Nanny and Wang Laoshi survive and flee once the Weird Mother’s power collapses.

Significant Themes

• Maternal love corrupted by grief: The Weird Mother’s monstrous behavior stems from her desperate desire not to lose her child. Her repeated plea for her “son” contrasts with the tenderness she shows the baby girl.
• Appearance versus reality: The horrifying brocade pillow initially appears to be an object of evil, but it contains an innocent child. The Weird Mother herself is both a deadly Eerie entity and a grieving mother.
• Mercy and moral choice: Sunshine Boy’s hesitation before striking the baby demonstrates that defeating evil does not always mean destroying everything connected to it.
• The nature of fate: Fate is portrayed as something that can be severed, transferred, captured, and transformed. Sunshine Boy’s creation of a new Fate Star suggests that even an Eerie being’s destiny can be incorporated into the larger order of fate.
• Farewell and release: The Weird Mother’s destruction is framed less as a simple defeat than as a final release from attachment. Her last request and disappearance give the confrontation an emotional, almost funeral-like quality.
• Survival through compromise: Sunshine Boy calls the Weird Mother “Mother” not because he accepts her identity, but because he understands that survival sometimes requires yielding to an enemy’s emotional demand.

Character Interactions

• Sunshine Boy and Foodie cooperate when Foodie drags Good Fortune Born close enough for Sunshine Boy to use him as an anchor.
• Sunshine Boy appeals to the Commandant, who responds by launching the decisive thunder attack against the Weird Mother.
• The Commandant and Weird Mother engage in a violent battle, with the Commandant using swordsmanship and thunder while she fights with her many arms and rattle drum.
• Sunshine Boy confronts the baby girl through the Great Principle-Slaying Sword. Instead of attacking him, she assists him in severing the thread binding her to the Weird Mother.
• The Weird Mother and baby girl share a final tender moment as the Mother cradles and hums to her before fading away.
• The Weird Mother’s final exchange with Sunshine Boy forces him to acknowledge her as “Mother,” completing the emotional farewell and allowing her spirit to depart.
  The chapter ends with the supernatural threat gone and the old village reduced to ruins, while Li Qingxian sits quietly amid the grass beneath the returning moonlight.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter introduces two contrasting versions of Li Qingxian's past: one with low EQ (emotional intelligence) and the other with high EQ.
• Low-EQ Li Qingxian: Neglected studies, failed to memorize classics, couldn't pursue Literary Cultivation, and struggled with poetry and lyrics. However, he had some cleverness and could occasionally revise battle poems.
• High-EQ Li Qingxian: Diligently studied poetry and lyrics, understanding their meaning but forgetting their form.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian's character is presented in two distinct versions, highlighting the impact of EQ on one's approach to learning and life.
• The low-EQ version represents a lack of discipline and focus, while the high-EQ version shows dedication and understanding.

Significant Themes

• The importance of EQ in learning and personal growth.
• The struggle between natural talent and diligent study.
• The distinction between understanding and memorization in learning.

Character Interactions

• Although this chapter is primarily introspective, the two versions of Li Qingxian interact through his internal monologue, contrasting his past and present selves.

Chapter Summary: “Yu Ping Calms His Fright in the Desolate Village”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingxian and the others awaken after surviving an encounter with an Eerie phenomenon. Their memories are fragmented, and they can recall only vague images of the terrifying experience.
• The group finds itself in a desolate graveyard near the former Fangyuan Village. The White Building, Black House, Fifth Lady Temple, and ginkgo tree have disappeared, leaving only the ancient locust tree and countless burial mounds.
• Commandant Wu Jingtian has been completely corroded by the grayish-yellow mist, while Ye Han lies unconscious with part of his hair burned or corroded away. The fate of the others from the original group remains unclear.
• Li Qingxian retrieves the rattle-drum and Divine-Pattern Flying Sword left behind by the Weird Mother and stores them in his Heaven-and-Earth Ring.
• Zhou Hen arrives after being trapped by the Eerie phenomenon for four days. He is physically exhausted but immediately focuses on eating and practical matters. At Li Qingxian’s suggestion, the Heaven-and-Earth Ring is disguised as a black dragon bracelet.
• Zhou Hen explains that Lord Zhou searched for them and contacted Song Yunjing, the county assistant of Beichen City. However, Song Yunjing is currently defending Beichen City against a major Demon Race assault, so Lord Zhou has gone there to help.
• The group is ordered to return immediately to the Divine Capital and avoid Beichen City. Zhou Hen signals the Black Lantern Bureau for extraction with a flare shaped like the “Night” command token.
• The chapter ends with Zhou Hen asking the survivors to describe what they encountered.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian remains calm and observant despite the terrifying ordeal. He carefully conceals information about the Eerie encounter, recognizing that the Black Lantern Bureau may use Lie-Calling Insects to uncover the truth. He also demonstrates increasing caution by disguising his Heaven-and-Earth Ring.
• Ye Han has survived but is unconscious and visibly damaged. The narration reveals that his unusual Fate Mold triggered an extraordinary anomaly involving the thunder sea and the setting sun, helping him survive and laying the groundwork for his future rise.
• Zhou Hen appears battered and nearly exhausted, having spent four days trapped by the Eerie phenomenon. Nevertheless, he remains dependable, resourceful, and focused on protecting the group. His immediate concern with food also provides comic relief.
• Yu Ping regains his composure by eating the less desirable parts of the roast chicken, joking that “eating some ass” calms his nerves. His fear is expressed through humor and appetite rather than panic.
• Han Anbo takes command of the group’s immediate safety, organizing a search of the surroundings and warning Li Qingxian about the political and investigative dangers of speaking too freely.
• Deng He and Zeng Youqian recover from their dazed states but retain almost no clear memory of the incident, emphasizing the destructive effect of the Eerie force.
• Song Yunjing is presented as an exceptionally capable and principled scholar who endured repeated demotions without losing or even increasing his Literary Cultivation.

Significant Themes

• The lingering danger of the supernatural: Although the Eerie phenomenon has vanished, its effects remain evident in the altered landscape, lost memories, deaths, and injuries.
• Memory and unreliable experience: The survivors know they endured a nightmare but cannot reconstruct it, suggesting that the Eerie attacks not only the body but also perception and recollection.
• Secrecy and political danger: The survivors must decide what to reveal to the Black Lantern Bureau. Knowledge of supernatural events can be as dangerous politically as the events themselves.
• Duty amid crisis: While the group struggles to survive, Beichen City faces a Demon Race siege. Personal rescue and national defense unfold simultaneously.
• Humor as emotional survival: Yu Ping’s absurd method of calming himself and Zhou Hen’s relentless eating lighten an otherwise grim chapter, showing how ordinary behavior helps the characters cope with terror.
• Fate and destiny: Ye Han’s survival is connected to an extraordinary disturbance in Fate Observation, suggesting that the ordeal is part of his larger destined rise.

Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian and Han Anbo privately discuss how to handle questioning by the Black Lantern Bureau, revealing mutual trust and shared caution.
• Li Qingxian provides Zhou Hen with food, while Zhou Hen asks him to disguise the Heaven-and-Earth Ring to avoid attracting attention.
• Yu Ping begs Zhou Hen for the chicken’s leftovers, and their exchange creates the chapter’s main comic moment.
• Han Anbo criticizes Yu Ping’s appetite, but Yu Ping calmly explains that eating helps him control his fear.
• Zhou Hen updates the group on Lord Zhou, Song Yunjing, the siege of Beichen City, and the order to return to the Divine Capital.
• Li Qingxian recognizes Song Yunjing through his connection to his deceased father and Song Yunjing’s son, Song Baige, adding a personal dimension to the wider military crisis.

Chapter Summary: “Counsel in the Room”

Plot Points and Events

• Han Anbo, Deng He, Yu Ping, and Zhou Hen recover from the eerie incident in Eerie Village, though their memories are fragmented. They recall worshipping an Empress, fighting Weird Mother, and being saved by Li Qingxian, who used Wooden Talisman Figures.
• Li Qingxian discovers that the Yellow Springs Mark has reappeared on his left arm, despite initially believing the marks had vanished. He privately jokes that he now has “one more” mark.
• The Black Lantern Bureau arrives in a Bone Carriage under Guo Xiang, a Principal Fifth Rank Deputy Director and Fate Arts Master. The Bureau operates independently from the Night Guard and has been ordered to investigate the incident.
• Guo Xiang examines the unconscious Ye Han and determines that he has lost significant blood and suffered severe depletion of his Fate Mold, though his condition is not immediately life-threatening. He carries Ye Han into the carriage using magic.
• Guo Xiang warns the survivors that the investigation will be recorded by a Sound Bowl and monitored by Lie-Calling Insects. He orders them to cooperate and cautions them to be truthful.
• Wang Buwu, a young Eighth Rank official and acquaintance of Ye Han, is assigned to question the survivors. He recognizes Li Qingxian’s Heaven-and-Earth Bracelet, suggesting he knows something about Li’s hidden circumstances.
• The group enters the black-lantern carriage and finds themselves in a vast, magically constructed residence that mirrors the desolate village outside. They are separated into rooms for individual questioning.
• While waiting, Li Qingxian studies the Heaven-and-Earth Bracelet and discovers that it contains a massive storage space filled with wealth, valuables, supplies, and an additional hundred pellets of Spirit Metal—more than Ye Han had admitted giving him.
• Ye Han awakens in a neighboring room. Li Qingxian seals the room with a Soundproofing Talisman and confronts him privately, threatening to expose Ye Han’s role in killing more than a dozen Night Guard brothers.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian: Becomes stronger after resolving the eerie incident, advancing to Ninth Rank and gaining improved spiritual power and perception. He grows more cautious and calculating as the official investigation begins. His possession of the Heaven-and-Earth Bracelet and knowledge of its contents give him leverage over others.
• Ye Han: Is revealed to be in a vulnerable position. His Fate Mold has been severely depleted, and his past actions—particularly the killing of numerous Night Guard members—could lead to public disgrace or punishment. His reaction to Li’s bracelet indicates recognition and possible fear.
• Guo Xiang: Establishes himself as a powerful, competent, and authoritative investigator. His calm examination of Ye Han and command over the Black Lantern Bureau demonstrate both expertise and institutional power.
• Wang Buwu: Appears friendly and concerned for Ye Han, but his reaction to Li’s bracelet suggests hidden knowledge or suspicion. His connection to Duke Rong’s Estate adds political significance to his role.
• Zhou Hen: Remains composed and cooperative, while subtly signaling to Li that he should be cautious during the investigation.
• Han Anbo: Quietly supports Li, using meaningful glances to draw attention to Wang Buwu’s recognition of the bracelet.

Significant Themes

• Truth, secrecy, and political power: The official investigation creates pressure for the survivors to reveal what happened, while Li considers how to evade magical lie detection without directly lying.
• Institutional authority: The Black Lantern Bureau’s imperial mandate and investigative tools show how the government controls supernatural incidents and polices even its own Night Guard.
• Hidden identities and concealed crimes: The chapter emphasizes that appearances are deceptive. Li’s bracelet, Ye Han’s undisclosed actions, and Wang Buwu’s knowledge all hint at deeper secrets.
• Power gained through danger: Li’s advancement to Ninth Rank and discovery of the bracelet’s immense resources show how surviving the eerie incident has increased both his abilities and his material influence.
• Strategic communication: Rather than relying on force, Li prepares to use ambiguity, leverage, and threats to protect himself and control the unfolding investigation.

Character Interactions

• Guo Xiang formally questions the survivors’ readiness to cooperate and examines Ye Han’s condition.
• Zhou Hen reassures Guo Xiang that the Night Guard will speak honestly, while glancing at Li to remind him of the danger.
• Wang Buwu and Li exchange a guarded introduction. Wang recognizes Li’s Heaven-and-Earth Bracelet, creating immediate tension between them.
• Han Anbo silently warns Li that Wang Buwu has identified the bracelet.
• Li privately awakens and confronts Ye Han, using the threat of exposing his killings to force him into a confidential conversation.

Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ye Han awakens after the Eerie Village incident and realizes that Li Qingxian has taken the Heaven-and-Earth Ring. Li explains that the oath Ye Han made only forbade him from retaliating if Li did not directly harm him, allowing Li to exploit the agreement.
• Ye Han discovers that Li also drew blood from him while he was unconscious, supposedly to help resolve the Eerie. Suspicious that Li has further secrets or supernatural backing, Ye Han reluctantly agrees that they should part ways.
• Ye Han tries to reclaim a page of golden scripture and negotiate for one item from the ring’s treasure map, but Li refuses, accusing him of crossing the line. Their friendship becomes strained, and Ye Han privately vows to become more cautious, calculating, and ruthless.
• After returning to his room, Li learns from Zhou Hen that Tang Enxuan—the disgraced former Heir of Prince Yuan and current Supporting State General—was responsible for the attack against him. Li realizes that Tang’s loss of status and succession rights may have motivated the assault.
• Wang Buwu arrives with two Daoist priests to investigate the Eerie incident. Using a Sound Bowl and a Lie-Calling Insect, they record and verify Li’s testimony.
• Li gives a detailed account of the Eerie Village’s events, including the disappearance of the Cowherd and Water-Bearer, the strange village activities, the encounter with the Weird Mother, the transformation into Eerie Infants, and the final use of Fate Arts and Ye Han’s Fate Mold to drive the Weird Mother away.
• The investigators praise Li’s account as exceptionally valuable. His information may help Black Lantern Bureau members survive future encounters with the Weird Mother or similar Eeries, and they promise to seek official credit for him.
• Wang Buwu questions Li about his decisions, including why he became an Eerie Infant and why he drew so much blood from Ye Han. The chapter ends as Li prepares to answer.

Character Developments

• Ye Han: Awakens to the fact that Li has outmaneuvered him and taken the Heaven-and-Earth Ring. His trust collapses, replaced by resentment, caution, and a determination to hide his abilities until he has overwhelming certainty of success. He recognizes that good fortune is insufficient without intelligence and ruthlessness.
• Li Qingxian: Demonstrates strategic manipulation, careful oath-based reasoning, and emotional composure. He protects his secrets while presenting himself to the investigators as cooperative and objective. His account shows both his knowledge of Fate Arts and his willingness to exploit others when necessary.
• Tang Enxuan: Is identified as Li’s enemy. Once Prince Yuan’s heir, he lost his succession rights after repeated crimes and impeachment, suggesting a motive rooted in humiliation, revenge, or fear of further consequences.
• Wang Buwu and the Daoist priests: Treat Li’s testimony as highly credible and important. Their respect for his contribution grows, while their questioning indicates that they suspect he is withholding information.

Significant Themes

• Caution and strategic concealment: The title is reflected in Ye Han’s resolve to remain hidden and Li’s careful choice of what to reveal.
• Trust, betrayal, and shifting alliances: Ye Han and Li once cooperated, but Li’s manipulation of the oath and seizure of the ring transforms their relationship into one of wary hostility.
• The value and danger of information: Li’s detailed testimony could save many lives, yet he deliberately omits sensitive details to protect himself.
• Merit versus morality: Li’s actions may be manipulative, but his role in resolving the Eerie and preserving useful knowledge earns him institutional praise.
• Power, status, and revenge: Tang Enxuan’s fall from heir to disgraced official establishes a political motive for attacking Li.
• Survival under extraordinary circumstances: The characters’ questionable choices during the Eerie are presented as understandable responses to extreme danger, complicating judgments of guilt and innocence.

Character Interactions

• Ye Han and Li Qingxian: Their confrontation centers on the Heaven-and-Earth Ring, the golden scripture, and the treasure map. Li maintains a calm, almost friendly tone while firmly denying Ye Han’s demands, exposing the collapse of their former trust.
• Li Qingxian and Zhou Hen: Zhou secretly informs Li of Tang Enxuan’s involvement, giving Li a clearer understanding of who targeted him.
• Li Qingxian and Wang Buwu: Wang conducts a careful interrogation, while Li answers selectively and diplomatically. Li avoids accusing the other survivors and emphasizes that everyone contributed to resolving the Eerie.
• Li Qingxian and the Daoist investigators: The priests verify his words and acknowledge the extraordinary value of his account, though their questions suggest that they suspect he has concealed important details.

Chapter Summary: “One Who Spouted Nonsense and Stirred Up Trouble”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Black Lantern Bureau investigates the events in Eerie Village by interrogating Li Qingxian and the surviving Night Guards.
• Li Qingxian gives a restrained account, explaining that the Weird Mother was far more powerful than expected and that he was forced into certain actions. He refuses to directly criticize Ye Han, citing their shared history as Night Guard brothers.
• He also avoids explaining how he obtained Ye Han’s Heaven-and-Earth Ring, telling the investigators to ask Ye Han themselves.
• After hearing Li Qingxian’s testimony, the investigators replay his memories for Han Anbo, Yu Ping, Zeng Youqian, and Deng He. The four recover additional memories, all of which reveal resentment toward Ye Han.
• Ye Han is then questioned. He portrays Li Qingxian as selfish, vicious, and unnecessarily ruthless, while minimizing or obscuring his own actions.
• The Lie-Calling Insect explodes when Ye Han claims that Wu Commandant disliked Li Qingxian, indicating that Ye Han’s statement is false or seriously misleading.
• When asked about the Heaven-and-Earth Ring, Ye Han claims the Weird Mother took it and that he does not know how it reached Li Qingxian. His evasive behavior further damages his credibility.
• The investigators conclude that Ye Han concealed the method for dispelling the Eerie, allowing Night Guard members to die, and then attempted to shift blame onto Li Qingxian.
• A Daoist reveals that Ye Han previously joined forces with the Heir of Prince Yuan and nearly caused Li Qingxian’s death. This causes Wang Buwu to recognize the seriousness of Ye Han’s betrayal.
• The survivors return to the Night Guard Yamen and collapse into exhausted sleep. The Black Lantern Bureau sends its report to senior officials.
• Song Yanxue reads the report and reacts with anger and a cold laugh, suggesting that the revelations will have major consequences.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian: Appears loyal, controlled, and unwilling to betray his fellow Night Guards despite his grievances. His reluctance to condemn Ye Han strengthens the impression that he values brotherhood and restraint.
• Ye Han: Is exposed as evasive, self-serving, and possibly treacherous. His accusations against Li Qingxian contrast sharply with his inability to give a coherent account of events. His false statement about Wu Commandant causes the Lie-Calling Insect to die.
• Wang Buwu: Begins the interrogation as an impartial investigator but gradually becomes suspicious of Ye Han. The revelation of Ye Han’s alliance with Prince Yuan’s heir deeply angers him, though he maintains outward composure.
• The two Daoists: Initially focus on gathering evidence, but their sympathy shifts strongly toward Li Qingxian. They become openly disgusted with Ye Han and warn Wang Buwu to be cautious.
• Han Anbo, Yu Ping, Zeng Youqian, and Deng He: Their recovered memories reinforce their collective hatred of Ye Han, suggesting that his betrayal affected the entire group.
• Song Yanxue: Her furious reaction shows that she considers the report highly significant and may be preparing to act against Ye Han or his allies.

Significant Themes

• Truth versus manipulation: The chapter contrasts Li Qingxian’s careful, factual testimony with Ye Han’s rambling accusations and evasions.
• The persistence of memory and resentment: Even after the Night Guards lose much of their memory, their hatred of Ye Han remains, implying that his betrayal was deeply traumatic.
• Loyalty and betrayal: Li Qingxian protects the reputation of his comrades, while Ye Han appears to sacrifice others to preserve himself.
• Justice and institutional responsibility: The Black Lantern Bureau must determine the truth not merely for personal judgment, but to protect the Night Guard and dispel future Eerie threats.
• The danger of false narratives: Ye Han attempts to portray Li Qingxian as ruthless, but the evidence reveals that Ye Han may have deliberately withheld lifesaving knowledge.
• Consequences of political alliances: Ye Han’s connection to Prince Yuan’s heir links his personal betrayal to broader political conflicts.

Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian and Wang Buwu: Their exchange is formal but layered with suspicion. Li Qingxian refuses to directly accuse Ye Han, while Wang Buwu probes him about the Heaven-and-Earth Ring.
• Wang Buwu and Ye Han: Their friendship is tested during the interrogation. Ye Han initially appeals to their past bond, but his inconsistent testimony causes Wang Buwu to doubt him.
• Ye Han and the Lie-Calling Insect: The insect’s explosion directly exposes Ye Han’s claim about Wu Commandant as false or deceptive.
• The Daoists and Wang Buwu: The Daoists openly criticize Ye Han and urge Wang Buwu to protect himself. Wang Buwu listens silently, increasingly convinced that Ye Han betrayed the group.
• The Night Guards and Ye Han: The surviving members’ shared resentment reveals a collective rupture in their former brotherhood.
• Song Yanxue and the report: Though she does not meet the others in the chapter, her reaction indicates that the investigation’s findings will provoke a powerful response within the Night Guard hierarchy.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Yanxue realizes that Ye Han used the Heavenly Fire True Intent and manipulated events to gain her attention and lure her away. Rather than execute him, she decides to restrict his growth by transferring him to the Demon-Hunting Office’s capital branch and forbidding him from leaving without permission.
• Her plan is immediately undermined when Ye Han secretly attends a banquet on a pleasure boat hosted by Tang Enxuan, heir of Prince Yuan, alongside Wei Yong.
• Tang Enxuan confronts Ye Han over his failure to cripple Li Qingxian and the deaths of two of Tang’s Eighth Rank subordinates. Ye Han blames Li Qingxian’s superior Fate Arts in Eerie Village and admits that Li is extremely difficult to defeat.
• The group discusses a newly developed strong liquor called Ancient Well Ice, produced by a distillery jointly owned by several government offices and Li Qingxian. Wei Yong explains that it can be mass-produced cheaply and may generate enormous profits.
• Tang Enxuan considers seizing the distillery’s shares, especially because Zhou Chunfeng—the principal protector of Li Qingxian—is away in Beichen City. However, Tang fears Zhou’s retaliation, recalling his reputation as the ruthless demon-slayer known as Blood Begonia.
• Ye Han tempts Tang Enxuan further by promising him the contents of the Heaven-and-Earth Ring if Tang can recover it from Li Qingxian. The ring is an ancient treasure valuable enough to help Tang regain his position as heir.
• When Tang asks Ye Han and Wei Yong to devise a plan against Li Qingxian, both men feign helplessness and avoid taking direct responsibility. Tang therefore postpones action while ordering the banquet to continue.

2. Character Developments

• Song Yanxue becomes more calculating and politically strategic. She recognizes Ye Han’s ambition and chooses containment over immediate punishment, while also placing greater confidence in Li Qingxian as a capable future subordinate.
• Ye Han demonstrates increasing cunning. Though he presents himself as defeated and helpless, he deliberately guides Tang Enxuan toward targeting Li Qingxian, using the Heaven-and-Earth Ring as bait while avoiding direct responsibility.
• Tang Enxuan is revealed as ambitious, proud, and opportunistic. He is interested in both the liquor enterprise and the treasure ring because either could increase his wealth and help restore his status as Prince Yuan’s heir. However, he remains cautious about provoking Zhou Chunfeng.
• Wei Yong acts as an informed political and financial adviser. He recognizes the liquor’s enormous commercial potential but is unwilling to personally confront Li Qingxian. He also notices Ye Han’s growing sophistication and ability to manipulate others indirectly.
• Li Qingxian, though absent from the chapter, gains greater stature. His successful handling of Eerie cases, mastery of Fate Arts, business interests, and ability to defeat Ye Han make him appear increasingly dangerous to his enemies.
• Zhou Chunfeng is also absent, but his reputation dominates the discussion. His history of grief, military service, and brutal vengeance makes even Tang Enxuan hesitate to attack Li openly.

3. Significant Themes

• Political containment and power struggles: Song Yanxue seeks to restrain Ye Han, while Tang Enxuan plots to exploit Li Qingxian’s vulnerability during Zhou Chunfeng’s absence.
• Indirect manipulation: Ye Han and Wei Yong avoid acting openly, instead steering Tang Enxuan toward confrontation while protecting themselves from the consequences.
• Wealth as power: Ancient treasures, government-backed businesses, and mass-produced liquor are treated as tools for political advancement and social influence.
• Reputation and deterrence: Zhou Chunfeng’s past actions continue to influence current decisions, showing how fear and reputation can be as powerful as physical presence.
• Rising talent and suppression: Li Qingxian’s rapid rise alarms established figures, who begin seeking ways to limit him before he becomes too powerful.
• Caution versus ambition: Tang Enxuan desires immediate gains but recognizes the dangers of moving against Li without sufficient preparation.

4. Character Interactions

• Song Yanxue and Ye Han: Song sees through Ye Han’s schemes and attempts to confine him administratively, but Ye Han ignores the order and continues pursuing his own alliances.
• Tang Enxuan and Ye Han: Tang reprimands Ye Han for failure, while Ye Han responds submissively and subtly redirects Tang’s anger toward Li Qingxian.
• Tang Enxuan and Wei Yong: Tang relies on Wei’s investigation into the liquor business and presses him for a strategy, but Wei avoids committing himself.
• Ye Han and Wei Yong: Both recognize the danger posed by Li Qingxian and cooperate through guarded, indirect maneuvering. Wei particularly notices Ye Han’s transformation into a more calculating schemer.
• Tang Enxuan and Zhou Chunfeng: Though Zhou is not present, his past and reputation shape Tang’s fear of acting too aggressively.
• Tang Enxuan and Li Qingxian: Their conflict remains indirect, centered on seizing the liquor enterprise, recovering the Heaven-and-Earth Ring, and exploiting Li’s temporary lack of protection.