Chapter Summaries

Plot points

• A Tracker captain examines the bloody scene where Renee escaped. He recognizes that the shallow hoofprints leading north are a decoy, but deliberately orders his team to follow them, sending the others away from Renee’s real route.
• In private, he explains to his nephew that the person who killed Sir Balle so easily must be far stronger than their group. Rather than risk confronting Renee’s protector, he intends to sacrifice his fellow Trackers and use their deaths to improve his own chances of completing the Fourfold Pilgrimage.
• The nephew refuses to accept this betrayal and warns that the group should stand together. The captain kills him, claiming it is to spare him further suffering.
• Elsewhere, a wounded Veilwalker assassin heads to report that an attempt to capture Guiweite failed catastrophically. Guiweite used a Red Crystal Necklace to unleash overwhelming fire, and many attackers may have died.
• The assassin reaches the Black Duke, believing him humanity’s hope against the Evil Spirits. But the Duke is himself monstrous: when sunlight burns him, tentacles seize the assassin, and the Duke consumes him.
• The Black Duke concludes that Renee has another exceptionally powerful protector, beyond Guiweite. Though the failed attack has damaged his standing in the Annihilation Cult, he plans to regroup and appoint the morally flexible Tracker captain as his new Intelligence Chief.

Character developments and interactions

• The Tracker captain reveals himself as calculating and ruthless. He manipulates his team, conceals his knowledge of the danger, and kills his nephew to protect his ambitions.
• The nephew shows sound judgment and compassion, but his belief in cooperation brings him into direct conflict with his uncle.
• The hooded assassin remains devoted to the Duke until witnessing the Duke’s true nature; his final attempt to fight back fails.
• The Black Duke is exposed as an Evil Spirit-like creature, yet remains strategic and politically ambitious. He assesses the defeat calmly and adapts rather than surrendering.
• The chapter juxtaposes the captain’s betrayal of his team with the Duke’s betrayal of humanity’s trust, presenting both as threats hidden behind claims of necessity or protection.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and self-preservation: Characters exploit or sacrifice allies to advance their own survival and power.
• Trust and appearances: The assassin mistakes the Duke for humanity’s savior, while the Tracker captain disguises deliberate betrayal as a tactical choice.
• Power and hierarchy: The captain treats people as stepping-stones toward a higher Pilgrimage rank.
• The corruption of hope: In an apocalyptic world, the figure expected to save humanity is revealed to be a monster, leaving loyalty and moral certainty increasingly fragile.

Plot and key events

• Xia Lun and Renee escape far enough from Dusk Snow Prison to believe they have shaken the Black Duke’s pursuit. In the prison’s bright zone, they find edible Darren Fruit and a grotesquely mutated fish.
• Renee’s holy power purifies the fish, revealing that she can restore mutated plants and animals as well as repel Evil Spirits and heal people. She explains that she gained these abilities after completing her Pilgrimage, which cost her her voice.
• Renee also purifies a mutated squirrel. Though Xia Lun nearly kills it, the healed squirrel returns a chestnut to Renee and a diamond to Xia Lun—apparently payment for sparing it. Xia Lun suspects purification may make creatures smarter.
• After about ten hours of travel, they leave the bright zone and enter worsening darkness. Xia Lun realizes that “Hope Meat,” mentioned by an enemy, means human flesh, and Renee understands the grim implication.
• Finding the nearby town overrun by undead and dangerous Evil Spirits, Xia Lun abandons the idea of sheltering there. He uses his wilderness knowledge to locate a safe cave on a hill. They settle in for the night, needing to plan their route to Serene Valley, which they must reach within five days.

Character development and interactions

• Renee reveals the healing and purifying side of her powers, along with her affection for squirrels and her grief over someone named Guiweite, who loved them. Her kindness prompts her to stop Xia Lun from killing the squirrel.
• Xia Lun remains cautious and practical, prioritizing safety and travel, but his curiosity about Renee’s abilities and the squirrel’s response shows growing openness. He accepts the squirrel’s diamond with dry humor.
• Their tentative bond strengthens through shared food and the squirrel encounter. Renee is trusting and chatty; Xia Lun is more guarded, even limiting their conversation because Text Sense has a daily character limit.
• Renee’s final question—whether Xia Lun’s mind is immune to the darkness—raises concern about his resistance to its effects.

Significant themes

• Hope amid corruption: Renee’s holy light can reverse mutations and restore life, even in a devastated world.
• Kindness and reciprocity: Sparing and healing the squirrel leads to unexpected gratitude.
• Apocalyptic desperation: The revelation that people may eat human flesh underscores the severity of the world’s food crisis.
• Survival and trust: Xia Lun’s caution and Renee’s compassion complement each other as their partnership slowly deepens.

Key events

• In a sheltered cave, Xia Lun builds a fire, and Renee steadies its flames with Blood Wax. They prepare fish soup, berries, rations, and coffee while resting after their flight.
• Xia Lun answers Renee’s question: he is not afraid the darkness will erode his reason. Renee says she can create light and help restore his reason if needed.
• After the immediate danger passes, Renee breaks down in grief over Guiweite’s death. Xia Lun gives her space to cry, then encourages her to eat and regain her strength.
• Studying their map, Xia Lun realizes that reaching Serene Valley will take at least three days on foot, while Dunwodlin Tower is nearly five months away. He decides to seek other survivors and obtain horses and supplies.
• His plans remain to complete Renee’s Pilgrimage, wait in case Guiweite returns, and find a cure for his Soul Curse through the King’s help.
• Renee eventually eats eagerly and asks for coffee and a story. Xia Lun refuses the coffee but agrees to tell a tale; she falls asleep before he finishes. He then goes to the cave entrance to meditate and rest.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun stays practical and composed, tending the fire, food, and travel plans while quietly recognizing Renee’s distress. His blunt attempt to interrupt her crying works, though he senses her fear of being abandoned.
• Renee, who had seemed strong and optimistic during the escape, reveals how deeply Guiweite’s death affects her once she feels safe. She tries to compose herself and turns Xia Lun’s own bargaining tactic back on him when requesting a story.
• Their relationship shows a growing, if awkward, trust: Renee offers to protect his reason, while Xia Lun looks after her without offering much overt comfort.

Significant themes

• Grief and resilience: Renee’s sorrow surfaces after the danger recedes, but food, rest, and companionship help her recover.
• Survival and long-term planning: Xia Lun balances immediate needs with the difficult journey ahead.
• Trust amid uncertainty: Renee’s offer to help Xia Lun and his care for her suggest mutual dependence, even as both remain guarded.

Key plot points and events

• On the third day of their Pilgrimage, Xia Lun and Renee search the dark woods for people and horses. Renee finds the abandoned King’s Road by recognizing its powdered cobblestone.
• Fresh hoofprints show that someone has recently traveled the road. Xia Lun and Renee follow it toward White Cliff Monastery, the Highest Point of Serene Valley and the first goal of Xia Lun’s Pilgrimage.
• They pass a statue of the Black Duke, a former ruler of the region who completed the Fourfold Pilgrimage. Renee explains that no one is known to have completed a fifth stage.
• At a crossroads, Xia Lun spots signs that the road to Longeryasi City was deliberately blocked, likely to funnel travelers onto the Monastery road for an ambush. He chooses to continue that way, hoping to find a horse and fresh food.
• Renee blesses Xia Lun’s weapons and strengthens his physical, mental, and curse resistance. Soon they encounter a seemingly injured woman, whom Xia Lun recognizes as bait for crossbowmen hiding nearby. He draws his revolver and prepares to attack.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains wary and pragmatic, relying on his perception and experience to assess danger. He seeks practical supplies but is willing to confront a likely ambush.
• Renee is eager to help and proves useful through her knowledge of the roads and her protective blessing. Xia Lun repeatedly tells her to stay safe and avoid revealing herself by glowing; she agrees, though she initially misunderstands his reason.
• The pair’s familiarity grows: Xia Lun has learned Renee’s nonverbal expressions, while Renee offers advice and watches his back.

Significant themes

• Caution and deception: Familiar ambush tactics exploit compassion, and apparent signs of danger may conceal a trap.
• Faith and power: Pilgrimages, the Black Duke’s history, and Renee’s Consecration reveal the religious structures and extraordinary abilities shaping this world.
• Survival and trust: Xia Lun and Renee must balance cooperation with vigilance as they travel through a hostile landscape.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun uses Heightened Focus to expose an apparent victim as a trap. He shoots her and three crossbowmen before they can attack, leaving one bandit alive but wounded.
• A mass of black, flesh-like sludge emerges from the ruined house, devours the surviving bandit, and animates the building. Xia Lun dodges its attacks, uses Gun Parry to stagger it, then cuts through the sludge’s weak point. The house collapses, and the sludge dies.
• Xia Lun and Renee discover a ledger revealing that the bandits were cannibals who abducted and ate people. One member—a former nun—became the sludge creature after consuming large quantities of “Hope Meat.”
• The ledger says the bandit leader ate twenty people and survived a fight with five knights, though he was badly wounded and is recovering at the Monastery. Since the Monastery lies on Xia Lun’s required route to the Highest Point of Serene Valley, he decides he must face the leader.
• The pair search the warehouse for a horse, only to find its skeleton and a grisly butcher’s room. As Xia Lun’s anger rises, they hear someone swallowing and liquid dripping deeper inside.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun’s heightened perception and combat skills are on display: he identifies weak points, dispatches several enemies quickly, and figures out how to defeat the animated house. He remains controlled under pressure, but the discovery of the eaten horse makes his resolve against the leader personal.
• Renee is startled by Xia Lun’s weapon and fighting ability, then proves useful with her Consecration, whose Light Shield protects him during the battle. Her curiosity drives her to inspect the sludge and read its ledger, though Xia Lun is repelled by her close examination.
• The two work together with growing trust: Xia Lun directs Renee to safety, and she supports him from a distance. They disagree about whether the cannibals should be considered human or Evil Spirits, particularly because the creatures do not fear light.

Significant themes

• Dehumanization and monstrosity: The cannibals’ atrocities blur the line between human and monster, while the former nun’s transformation makes that boundary especially disturbing.
• Survival and moral horror: The violence is not merely a fight for survival; the warehouse reveals the systematic slaughter of people for food.
• Resolve in the face of danger: Xia Lun recognizes the leader’s formidable strength but continues toward the Monastery because his pilgrimage requires it.
• Trust and complementary strengths: Xia Lun’s combat skill and Renee’s protective power and investigative curiosity help them survive and uncover the bandits’ history.

Key plot points

• Renee and Xia Lun enter a warehouse and find the grotesque bandit leader—a powerful troll—feeding on human remains.
• Xia Lun disguises himself as someone sent by the Mother Superior and uses meat packed with explosives to approach the troll. The troll reveals that eating people with special powers can grant those powers, including lie detection and tracking.
• Just as Xia Lun prepares to detonate the explosives, a warning voice exposes the troll’s decoy as an illusion. The real troll attacks while invisible, controlling metal objects inside the warehouse.
• Renee’s Consecration protects Xia Lun from a lethal iron spear. He escapes the warehouse and defeats the troll with precise swordplay, apparently killing it.
• The troll unexpectedly revives and attacks Renee. She blocks its first strike, redirects it into a bandit trap, and buys Xia Lun time to destroy the force holding its body together. The troll is finally burned to ash.
• Xia Lun gains 1,500 Memory Points, and his sword, Night Plume, gains its Blood Drink effect: it cannot break or wear down, and becomes sharper and heavier after killing powerful enemies.

Character development

• Renee struggles with fear and a desire to prove herself. She wisely follows Xia Lun’s lead at first, then uses his lessons and her own Consecration to protect herself and help finish the fight.
• Xia Lun shows tactical cunning, composure, and formidable swordsmanship. His confidence is tested when the troll revives, and he recognizes how close Renee came to dying.
• The troll presents itself as a survivor of oppression, claiming that cannibalism was forced upon its people, but its monstrous appetite and violence make it a terrifying enemy.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun shields Renee from the troll’s intimidating presence and instructs her to stay back.
• He deceives the troll while probing its abilities; the troll invites him to eat and attempts to draw him into its worldview.
• Renee supports Xia Lun with Consecration, then independently applies his tactical advice during the troll’s surprise attack.
• Xia Lun checks that Renee is unharmed after the final fight, underscoring his concern for her.

Significant themes

• Fear, courage, and responsibility: Renee’s bravery means acting sensibly despite fear, not recklessly seeking danger.
• Predation and moral corruption: The troll justifies eating people as survival and revenge, while its stolen powers and grotesque transformation suggest the cost of that violence.
• Learning through observation: Renee studies Xia Lun’s tactics and applies them under pressure.
• The danger of underestimating an enemy: The troll’s apparent death proves temporary, making vigilance essential.

Key events

• Xia Lun reflects that Night Plume’s stacking effect has finally activated and could compensate for his limited attack power as he fights more enemies.
• Renee asks to join the fighting and help keep watch. Though wary of her nonhuman nature, Xia Lun agrees, believing he can protect himself and intending to observe her while pretending to sleep.
• They return to the warehouse and find Buster, a scout hanging from a hook and close to death. Renee heals him with remarkable magic, reversing both his severe injuries and the corruption in his skin.
• Buster explains that he and his fellow scouts worked for Baron Bird, who is leading refugees toward Longeryasi City. His companions were killed by the monster; the refugees have horses and a wizard who grows food, and may reach the area in about three days.
• Xia Lun trades High-Energy Nutrient Paste for information. Buster says he must return to his mother, so Renee gives him extra rations. He leaves safely.
• Xia Lun and Renee travel through the ruined monastery to the summit of Serene Valley, where Xia Lun prepares to begin the first step of the Endash Quiet Speaker Pilgrimage and wait for Guiweite.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun accepts Renee as a partner despite his suspicions, balancing practical need with caution. He praises her tactical skill and lets her demonstrate her healing ability, while remaining focused on gathering information and securing supplies.
• Renee proves capable in combat, vigilance, and powerful healing. Her enthusiasm at being trusted contrasts with Xia Lun’s guardedness. She also shows compassion by giving Buster food without being asked.
• Buster is fatalistic, repeatedly attributing events to fate, and initially reluctant to share details. Yet he shows devotion to his mother by saving his food for her. His repeated fatalism irritates Xia Lun, while Renee is visibly offended when Buster mistakes her for mute and describes a mute girl’s death.

Significant themes

• Trust and vigilance: Xia Lun relies on Renee while consciously monitoring the danger she may pose.
• Compassion amid horror: Renee’s healing and generosity offer relief in a brutal, corrupted world.
• Fate versus agency: Buster accepts suffering as inevitable, while Xia Lun’s actions—rescuing him, questioning him, and pursuing his own mission—suggest a more active response to danger.
• Survival and resourcefulness: Information, food, possible horses, and the coming refugee group may prove as crucial as combat.

Key events

• Using the Tombdeep Eye and Symptom Reading on the lantern, Xia Lun sees a vision of Saint Tombdeep leading an army against a Blue-Green Dragon. Tombdeep identifies himself and asks Xia Lun to avenge him by killing a traitor.
• The lantern breaks, releasing Final Ash. Xia Lun gains initial control, but senses that the embers contain a will of their own. He deliberately lets them enter his body and, using the Ash’s “echo,” destroys Tombdeep’s lingering will.
• Xia Lun completes several stages of the Endash Quiet Speaker Pilgrimage, fully mastering Final Ash and gaining Embrace of the Final Ash, which lets him mark enemies and later detonate the accumulated damage. He also earns 2,000 Memory Points.
• He learns the pilgrimage’s final task is to reclaim a stolen Final Ash Seed from a forgotten fourth Saint. This reveals a link between the pilgrimage and Xia Lun’s Light Annihilation State Specialty—and raises the possibility that a Fivefold Pilgrimage reaches Master-level power.
• Though badly wounded by the Ash’s freezing backlash, Xia Lun rapidly regenerates. Renee then points out a concealed chamber beneath the platform’s stonework, which Xia Lun prepares to investigate.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun’s caution proves essential: he recognizes that the seemingly easy, rewarding pilgrimage is a trap that could have allowed Tombdeep to return through his body. His resolve to control the Ash—even at great physical risk—shows his confidence and willingness to gamble on his strength.
• His superhuman resilience is striking but unsettling; his grotesque self-healing makes him wonder whether he is becoming less human.
• Renee reacts with alarm when Xia Lun is injured and tries to help. After he heals himself, she is visibly horrified, but she steadies herself and draws his attention to the hidden chamber.

Significant themes

• Power and hidden costs: The pilgrimage’s apparent rewards conceal a lethal threat.
• Will and control: Xia Lun must overcome the Ash’s independent will to claim its power.
• Humanity and transformation: His increasingly inhuman body and healing provoke unease even in Xia Lun.
• Escalating ambition: The Fivefold Pilgrimage suggests a level of power far beyond ordinary advancement, with a dangerous unfinished objective still ahead.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun experiments with the Black Flame, also called Final Ash. A direct blast quickly vanishes without effect, but coating a conjured short sword works: one swing melts through nearly a meter of stone.
• The opening reveals a concealed storeroom stocked with food and wine. Inside, Xia Lun and Renee find the mummified body of a high-ranking priest, likely White Cliff Monastery’s abbot, who hanged himself after hiding there during the apocalypse.
• Xia Lun burns the corpse to ash. He and Renee decide the secure room, with its view of the mountain path, is a good place to wait for Guiweite.
• They make a campfire and eat bread with mushroom soup, avoiding the dried meat after finding the body. Xia Lun sleeps and wakes refreshed.
• Renee has kept watch and set up alarm devices. Once rested, Xia Lun’s Text Sense has recovered, allowing him to speak with her again. He begins asking about the Forgotten Fourth Saint, whose discovery is necessary for his pilgrimage and its rewards.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun learns to use Final Ash more effectively by channeling it through a weapon, and is pleased by his increased reach and destructive power.
• Renee initially laughs at his failed attempt, then reacts with alarm and awe when his sword strike succeeds. She helps clean the room, lights the campfire, and proves reliable and resourceful on watch.
• Xia Lun and Renee cooperate comfortably, sharing the work and food. Their trust is evident: Xia Lun sleeps without fearing betrayal, while Renee remains vigilant.

Significant themes

• Adaptation and learning: Xia Lun adjusts his technique after failure; Renee likewise improves her practical skills.
• Survival and mental strain: The hidden supplies could not protect the abbot from psychological collapse, contrasting his sheltered death with the desperate hunger outside.
• Comfort and trust amid danger: Ordinary routines—cooking, resting, and keeping watch—offer stability in a threatening world.

Plot points and events

• Renee recounts the legend of the Three Saints, who helped humanity defeat the Flint Dragons but later fought among themselves and died. Their lingering power became the lights that Pilgrims seek to rekindle.
• Xia Lun asks about a Forgotten Fourth Saint. Renee has never heard of one and suspects Xia Lun’s question may stem from mental erosion, but Xia Lun wonders whether the four-Pilgrimage limit hints that four Saints once existed.
• Renee agrees to investigate, recalling a book by Bishop Eso. She also asks Xia Lun to tell her another story; he recounts his encounter with the monster Abyssal Hand.
• Over the next two and a half days, Xia Lun rests and searches for useful abilities to redeem with his plentiful Memory Points, but finds none. He does discover that he can attach Final Ash to bullets, improving his ranged attacks and letting him mark enemies for increased damage.
• Guiweite fails to arrive by the deadline. Renee concludes she is likely dead and mourns her, then turns to the Pilgrimage ahead.
• Renee and Xia Lun plan to travel to Longeryasi City to rekindle another Saint’s light. The route is blocked at the Crossroads, so Xia Lun proposes waiting for refugees and using their help to clear the obstruction. They gather supplies for the journey and trade.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains skeptical and analytical, treating the legend as a possible clue to the Forgotten Saint’s identity. His insight about the four-Pilgrimage limit prompts Renee to reconsider her assumptions and investigate.
• Renee shifts between earnest religious enthusiasm, concern for Xia Lun’s mental state, curiosity about his stories, and grief over Guiweite. Despite her loss, she regains composure and focuses on the mission.
• Xia Lun takes the lead in planning their route and preparations. Renee follows his advice, though she jokes about her disguise; he teasingly tells her that her mask makes her look like a highway robber.

Significant themes

• Faith and uncertainty: The Saints’ history is accepted as doctrine, but the possible Fourth Saint challenges what the characters believe they know.
• Memory and mental strain: Pilgrimages grant power but threaten the mind, while the apparent erasure of a Saint raises questions about what history can lose.
• Grief and perseverance: Renee mourns Guiweite but continues the Pilgrimage.
• Practical cooperation: The pair combine Renee’s knowledge and Xia Lun’s strategic thinking to prepare for the dangerous journey.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun and Renee intercept a large refugee procession, intending to provoke a confrontation and use it to gain access to Baron Bird.
• The militia, led by Pockface, tries to extort their supplies. Xia Lun first draws the refugees’ attention to the food and water, then overwhelms Pockface with a single blow and intimidates the crowd into silence.
• A scrawny militiaman warns Xia Lun that Baron Bird’s guards are coming. When mounted troopers arrive, one of them—Buster, whom Xia Lun previously rescued—recognizes him and orders everyone to lower their weapons.
• Buster arranges rations and promises to take Xia Lun’s message to the baron. The “food” and water prove to be foul moss and yellowish liquid, underscoring how desperate the procession has become.
• In his carriage, Baron Bird discusses the worsening shortage with Mamma Sally. He admits privately to Buster that he has no solution, though he believes a leader must project confidence.
• Bird contacts the Black Duke, who offers supplies from the White Cliff Monastery and orders Bird to cooperate with a new Intelligence Chief seeking Princess Renee—and to kill her if an opportunity arises. Bird privately intends to avoid the mission and considers eliminating the Intelligence Chief instead.
• Buster announces that Xia Lun has arrived to meet Bird.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun demonstrates both calculated social manipulation and overwhelming physical force. His friendly manner shifts instantly into intimidation, and he argues that scarcity makes force more effective than ordinary negotiation.
• Renee follows the plan but feels uneasy as the starving refugees surge toward them. Seeing Xia Lun’s approach succeed challenges her reservations about his tactics.
• Buster repays Xia Lun’s earlier rescue by protecting him from the guards. Though deferential around the baron, he shows compassion by warning Xia Lun and concern for the starving refugees. Bird reveals that Buster is his unacknowledged illegitimate son and encourages him to spend time with his mother.
• Baron Bird maintains a reassuring public image despite having no practical answer to the food crisis. He shows confidence and tenderness toward Buster, but also quietly manipulates those around him with his Fate Weaver power. His caution about Renee leads him to resist the Black Duke’s order.
• Pockface embodies the militia’s cruelty: he threatens to seize the newcomers’ supplies and violently silences a fellow militiaman who questions the practice. A refugee then tries to blame Xia Lun, revealing how quickly fear turns into resentment and accusation.

Significant themes

• Scarcity and moral collapse: Hunger drives both the militia’s extortion and the refugees’ desperate response to food.
• Power and communication: Xia Lun’s display of violence restores order more effectively than polite appeals, while Bird uses authority and confidence to sustain morale.
• Fate versus agency: Bird speaks of fate to reassure others, yet also uses supernatural influence; privately, he recognizes the gap between comforting beliefs and deliberate choices.
• Hidden loyalties and family: Buster serves Bird without knowing their connection, while Bird’s concern for his last surviving child complicates his detached noble persona.
• Survival amid political danger: The food shortage, the Black Duke’s orders, and the search for Renee link the refugees’ immediate hardship to a larger conspiracy.

Key plot points and events

• Baron Bird sees Xia Lun and his masked, gray-blue-haired apprentice, and suspects she may be Princess Renee. He decides not to investigate or confront them, judging that either possibility would make conflict more dangerous than letting them pass.
• Xia Lun meets Bird to negotiate. He offers food, water, and Blood Wax in exchange for Bird’s people clearing a cave-in. He also asks to stay with the group during the work and borrow a horse, explaining that the supplies are buried in a nearby Monastery.
• Bird hints that he could seize the supplies, but Xia Lun answers with a thinly veiled threat. Their exchange of “cold jokes” leaves Bird unsettled, and he quickly agrees to Xia Lun’s terms.
• After Xia Lun leaves, Bird reveals that he tried and failed to influence Xia Lun with his Fate Weaver ability, which plants ideas in a person’s subconscious. What he sensed in Xia Lun’s mind—a profound stillness mixed with frenzy—convinces him Xia Lun may be an Evil Spirit.
• Xia Lun, meanwhile, knows Bird attempted to manipulate him. Rather than take offense, he wonders whether Bird’s ability resembles the Cognitive Filter in reality, and questions whether Bird’s real-world personality change was truly caused by possession—or whether Bird had belonged to the Foresight Club all along.

Character developments and interactions

• Bird is cautious and calculating. He avoids a potentially fatal confrontation over the possible identity of Xia Lun’s apprentice, then tries to control Xia Lun mentally. His failure reveals both the limits of his power and his growing fear of Xia Lun.
• Xia Lun remains outwardly polite and businesslike, but his jokes and quiet threat establish that he is dangerous. He also displays curiosity about the connections between the chapter’s supernatural abilities and reality.
• Xia Lun and Bird negotiate on polite terms, while testing each other beneath the surface. Bird’s apparent hospitality contrasts with his attempt at mental manipulation; Xia Lun recognizes it but keeps the deal intact.
• The apprentice is present but does not speak. Her hair prompts Bird’s suspicion that she may be Princess Renee.

Significant themes

• Deception and uncertainty: Bird hides his suspicions, while Xia Lun conceals how much he knows; even Bird’s identity and past affiliations are left uncertain.
• Power and control: Their negotiation is shaped by threats, leverage, and Bird’s failed attempt to influence Xia Lun’s fate.
• The uncanny nature of the mind: Xia Lun’s strange mental landscape blurs the line between human, monster, and supernatural force.
• Reality and the supernatural: Xia Lun’s reflections suggest that abilities and events in the scenario may have counterparts—or explanations—in reality.

Key plot points

• Xia Lun suspects Baron Bird has a hidden connection to the Annihilation Cult and may turn against him. Since Bird is needed to organize the refugees and clear the collapse, Xia Lun decides to prepare a fallback plan: win enough refugees over with food and healing to keep the work going if Bird betrays him.
• Xia Lun and Renee help move supplies from the Storage Room to camp. Xia Lun receives a white warhorse, names her Delis, and learns that the horse is unlikely to survive long in the apocalypse.
• Renee’s touch initially terrifies Delis, but the mare gradually calms—and Xia Lun notices that her life force grows stronger while Renee pets her. He suspects Renee’s presence may have a healing effect that could also explain the rise in his own life force.
• Xia Lun and Renee survey the worksite and living area. The refugees are starving and digging too slowly to clear the collapse in time; those who work receive extra moss, suggesting food could be an effective incentive.
• In the camp, a sick little girl coughs up blood. Most bystanders avoid her, and one man takes the chance to rummage through her tent. Renee approaches and gently strokes the girl’s forehead.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains cautious about Bird but begins to see Renee as both an ally and a source of practical help. He treats her more warmly, explains his organizing strategy, and gives the stablehand moss in exchange for caring for Delis.
• Renee shows empathy toward Delis and the dying child. She observes the refugees thoughtfully and learns from Xia Lun’s approach to leadership. She senses his new warmth but is afraid to ask about it in case it disappears.
• Delis is named by Xia Lun and appears to accept Renee after an initial reaction of extreme fear.
• The refugees are desperate, fearful, and divided between those still trying to help one another and those focused on survival.

Significant themes

• Trust and uncertainty: Xia Lun must plan for Bird’s possible betrayal while cautiously building trust with Renee.
• Survival and leadership: Food, healing, and organized labor may offer a way to rally people in a harsh, collapsing world.
• The boundary between human and inhuman: Renee appears gentle and helpful, yet animals react to her as a predator—underscoring the mystery of what she is.
• Compassion amid desperation: Renee’s care for the horse and child contrasts with the refugees’ fear, exhaustion, and self-preservation.

Key plot points and events

• Renee uses holy light to heal a girl who is coughing blood and convulsing. The refugees react with a brief sense of wonder, but their fear and suspicion quickly return.
• Xia Lun sees the healing as an opportunity to organize the crowd. Using his Heightened Focus and Information Panel, he identifies Morod and learns details about his past.
• Xia Lun presents himself as a messenger of the Tombdeep Saint. He names Morod’s buried guilt: years earlier, Morod kept an alchemical explosive disguised as a sapphire, which killed his wife and daughter.
• By showing Morod the wooden horse his daughter gave him and pressing him to confront his grief, Xia Lun breaks through his defenses. Morod collapses, confessing his guilt.
• Xia Lun continues addressing the refugees, drawing out their pain and offering reassurance. In roughly ten minutes, he wins the trust of more than a dozen people, who accept him as the Saint’s priest and Renee as the Saint’s representative.
• He puts Morod and the strong refugee Huai’en in charge of distributing food, turning the gathering into the beginnings of an organized group. Just as the effort gains momentum, Morod warns that the militia and the baron’s guards are approaching.

Character developments

• Xia Lun reveals an unexpectedly persuasive, calculating side. He combines information, performance, and emotional insight to build authority and organize people.
• Renee shows compassion by healing the girl, but is startled by Xia Lun’s religious act and effectiveness. She begins studying his methods and briefly wonders whether she might truly be the Saint’s representative.
• Morod shifts from wary skepticism to an anguished confrontation with his past, then becomes a trusted organizer.
• The girl recovers and expresses gratitude to Renee, helping give the crowd a focus for its brief hope.

Character interactions

• Renee’s healing draws the crowd’s attention, while Xia Lun turns the moment into a public appeal.
• Xia Lun confronts Morod with knowledge of his past and uses the wooden horse to bring his grief to the surface.
• Xia Lun addresses the refugees as a collective, then gives Morod and Huai’en practical responsibilities.
• Renee watches Xia Lun with growing confusion and curiosity; meanwhile, the refugees’ belief in the pair strengthens—until the warning of approaching authorities unsettles them.

Significant themes

• Faith as comfort and influence: Xia Lun uses religious language to give frightened refugees meaning and direction.
• Grief, guilt, and survival: Morod’s confession shows how personal loss can remain buried, while the crowd’s shared hardships make them receptive to hope.
• Performance and persuasion: The chapter emphasizes that authority comes not just from words, but from tone, gesture, timing, and the ability to read people.
• Hope amid danger: Renee’s healing and Xia Lun’s new organization offer a fragile possibility of solidarity, threatened by the approaching guards.

Plot points and events

• The refugees prepare to defend Xia Lun as mounted guards and militiamen approach. Renee is astonished by how quickly the previously fearful, apathetic crowd has become willing to protect him.
• The riders turn out not to be a threat: they are searching for Lia, the sick girl Xia Lun helped save. Her brother, Buster, reunites with her and thanks Xia Lun.
• Xia Lun uses the moment to reinforce his influence, attributing Lia’s recovery to the Tombdeep Saint and urging the refugees to “stand on their own feet” by helping one another—including clearing the collapsed road.
• Renee realizes Xia Lun’s preacher persona is a practical disguise, but his words also inspire her to imagine becoming the leader she wishes existed. At that thought, the Blood Wax flame steadies and turns brighter and whiter.
• Bird, observing through the thoughts he planted in others, concludes Xia Lun is probably an Evil Spirit rather than Renee’s protector. He analyzes Xia Lun’s ability to turn despair into faith and considers using the technique himself.
• The Black Duke tells Bird that a new Intelligence Chief, forcibly made a Half-Evil Spirit, will arrive within two days. Bird worries this man will relentlessly pursue Renee, then considers setting Xia Lun against him.
• Inspired by Xia Lun, the refugees make rapid progress clearing the road. Over the following days, Xia Lun’s growing influence brings him far more Memory Points than expected. He discovers that resolving—or permanently causing—psychological trauma can unlock extra memories.
• Xia Lun spends his gains on practical crafting and production specializations, including fishing, carpentry, blacksmithing, farming, tailoring, sleight of hand, and herbalism. He also discovers the powerful Erudition perk, though its 25,000-point cost puts it beyond his current means.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun proves effective at leading through speech rather than Pilgrimage powers, turning religious performance into practical cooperation. He benefits unexpectedly from the refugees’ skills and experiences.
• Renee moves from bewilderment at the crowd’s transformation to questioning why she must wait for a heroic leader instead of becoming one herself. The Blood Wax’s response suggests this realization has significance.
• The refugees shift from fear and passivity to solidarity, first protecting Xia Lun and then volunteering to clear the road.
• Buster and Lia reunite joyfully; Buster’s gratitude strengthens Xia Lun’s standing.
• Bird remains calculating and pragmatic. He misjudges Xia Lun’s intentions, but recognizes his persuasive method and plans around the incoming Half-Evil Spirit.
• The Black Duke’s new Intelligence Chief has not yet arrived, but his forced transformation threatens to make him dangerously unstable and uncompromising.

Significant themes

• Despair transformed into faith: Belief can function as relief from hopelessness, giving people hope and purpose.
• Leadership and agency: Xia Lun’s influence helps the refugees act together, while Renee begins considering whether she herself can lead.
• Appearance versus reality: Xia Lun’s holy persona is a deliberate strategy, and the apparent military threat proves to be a rescue search.
• Unexpected value in human experience: The refugees’ learned skills become a new resource for Xia Lun, while their psychological experiences generate further Memory Points.

Summary

• Xia Lun’s goals: Xia Lun is determined to obtain the 25,000-point [Erudition] perk, which he expects to make learning advanced abilities easier and improve his chances of reaching Master Level. He sees that strength as essential for surviving the dangerous Real World, where powerful beings may know he is immune to the Cognitive Filter. He currently has about 9,000 Memory Points and sets three side objectives: help Renee complete her Pilgrimage and remove his Soul Curse, find the forgotten fourth Saint and complete the Endash Quiet Speaker’s Pilgrimage, and save enough points for [Erudition]. The main Scenario objective is reaching Dunwodlin Tower.
• Renee’s contributions: While Xia Lun acts as a Priest and rallies the refugees, Renee uses her intelligence and unusual light to help Mamma Sally improve moss and mushroom cultivation, easing the food shortage. She also treats injuries and damage caused by exposure to darkness, earning the militia’s respect—and bringing Xia Lun 500 Memory Points because she admires him.
• The refugees’ transformation: With Xia Lun and Renee’s help, the refugees clear the collapsed passage in five days. Xia Lun’s religious encouragement helps turn their fear and apathy into cooperation and hope. They celebrate with scarce food, flowers, music, and a bonfire, briefly finding warmth and joy amid the apocalypse. Xia Lun feels proud of what he has accomplished and, seeing Renee’s happiness, begins to reflect on his own feelings.
• Xia Lun explains his methods: Renee asks how Xia Lun inspired the refugees. He describes despair and numbness as psychological defenses that help people endure unbearable reality. Faith, stories, and even lies can serve as “glue,” giving people a framework and something to believe in. He admits he used the refugees’ wounds and faith to guide them, arguing that deception depends on the storyteller’s intent and the audience’s willingness to believe. Renee grasps the technique quickly, but Xia Lun warns that hope built on stories cannot permanently shield people from reality.
• Mamma Sally’s story: Before serving soup, Mamma Sally tells the refugees about Guiweite of Dordrey, a leader she says she knew personally. During an earlier war, Guiweite rallied displaced, unblessed people into a militia. Though initially defeated by the Holy Crusaders, they persisted, improved their tactics and swordsmanship, and eventually helped the King’s army win. Sally uses the tale to urge the refugees not to give up and to believe they can reach Longeryasi City. Her story is received enthusiastically, while Xia Lun wonders how she could have known the seemingly young Guiweite.
• Baron Bird’s scheme: Xia Lun suspects that Bird has intentionally allowed them to organize the refugees and wonders what the baron wants. Watching the celebration from his carriage, Bird praises Xia Lun and Renee’s abilities and plans to use Xia Lun as a counterweight to the Duke’s Intelligence Chief. Since the refugees finished digging sooner than expected, Bird decides to move on before the Chief arrives, hoping to prolong the journey and eventually watch the two “Evil Spirits” fight.

Character developments and themes

Xia Lun is both a pragmatic manipulator and a genuine source of hope; the refugees’ joy prompts him to question his own motives and feelings. Renee grows more confident and demonstrates exceptional intelligence, compassion, and curiosity, while also challenging Xia Lun’s cynical view of faith. The chapter explores hope as both comfort and tool, the tension between deception and beneficial leadership, and the way collective effort can turn vulnerable people into a resilient community.

Key plot points and events

• After the roadblock is cleared, Xia Lun stays with the refugees for three more days, preaching Tombdeep’s faith and gaining 800 Memory Points.
• He appoints Morod and Huai’en as new Tombdeep Proxies, then prepares to leave with Renee and his horse, Delis, for the Pilgrimage Site in Longeryasi City.
• Baron Bird’s attendant calls him back: a scout reports an undead force blocking the road ahead. Xia Lun agrees to hear the details, despite his arrangement with the baron being over.
• Bird, Mamma Sally, and the surviving scout explain that Tombdeep Crusaders have returned as wraiths. Sally believes they are Bound Spirits tied to a Guilt Candle shaped like a shriveled hand; destroying it might disperse them, while possessing it could grant control of the undead.
• As Bird and Sally argue over the danger and possible solutions, Xia Lun realizes his Exorcism Powder could protect him, Renee, and Delis from the wraiths. He considers seizing the candle but rejects the risk and limited usefulness.
• Renee points out that wraiths cannot cross running water. Xia Lun uses the map to propose a western detour for the refugees, then makes clear he still intends to leave them.

Character development and interactions

• Xia Lun remains practical and self-interested, prioritizing his Pilgrimage and personal safety. Still, he shows some concern for the refugees by offering them a viable route around the undead.
• Renee demonstrates growing attentiveness and useful judgment: she questions Bird’s motives and identifies the wraiths’ weakness. Xia Lun explains that gathering information helps preserve one’s initiative, and she accepts his reasoning.
• Bird and Mamma Sally clash over the nature of the crusaders and how to deal with them. Bird doubts Sally’s plans but has no better answer.
• The scout provides the key clue about the leader’s hand-shaped candleholder, though he is shaken by the loss of much of his party.
• Xia Lun’s departure is emotionally difficult for the refugees, but his authority is strong enough that no one tries to stop him.

Significant themes

• Information and agency: Xia Lun argues that even unreliable information can help someone make decisions; refusing to learn can surrender control to others.
• Pragmatism over ambition: He declines the dangerous chance to command the undead, judging that the reward would not help him beyond the current world.
• Leadership and responsibility: Though Xia Lun’s ties to the refugees are partly opportunistic, he establishes successors and offers them a way to survive.
• Faith and deception: Xia Lun continues preaching as a fake priest after absorbing Tombdeep’s lingering will, using religious authority to influence the refugees.

Summary

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun studies Baron Bird’s more accurate map, memorizes it, and gives Bird a route that should avoid the Tombdeep Crusaders—though it is longer. Bird, impressed by Xia Lun’s apparent selflessness, begins to doubt his suspicions, but Xia Lun leaves before the Duke’s new Intelligence Chief can arrive.
• Xia Lun and Renee set out with the refugees. Despite having advised Bird to take the safer detour, Xia Lun reveals that they themselves will head directly toward the Undead Holy Crusaders to complete their pilgrimage. Renee has obtained moss-fungal spores to help them manage food.
• The refugees bid them farewell warmly, and one elderly man kneels to pray to Xia Lun. Xia Lun reflects that their present safety is temporary and that many will likely die once they leave the area cleared by a powerful Troll.
• Black-clad riders bearing the Black Duke’s Hound Crest charge through the refugee column, whipping people for amusement. They kill the old man in the red cap under their horses’ hooves, then demand that Bird be brought to them.
• The riders torment Lia, the old man’s niece, and threaten to kill her. Her brother tries to protect her but is whipped down. Buster attacks, but his axe barely affects one rider.
• Xia Lun intervenes with lethal speed, killing two riders and badly wounding their leader. The leader reveals his monstrous nature, transforming into an Evil Spirit and claiming he cannot feel pain. A larger group of riders begins advancing.
• Xia Lun fires his Repeating Firearm, unleashing the special skill Embrace of the Final Ash.

Character developments

• Xia Lun maintains a calm, helpful façade around the refugees, but the violence awakens his cold, bloodthirsty nature. He acts decisively to protect Lia and her brother, while also recognizing that the attackers are likely bait sent to provoke Bird.
• Renee remains loyal and composed under pressure. She accepts Xia Lun’s risky plan and warns him not to act recklessly when she senses the riders are dangerous.
• Bird begins to reconsider his distrust of Xia Lun, mistaking his helpfulness for genuine selflessness. His secret importance to the Black Duke becomes more apparent when the riders demand him.
• Lia and her brother are confronted with the brutality of the riders. Her brother overcomes his fear long enough to defend her, while Lia’s helpless prayer gives way to desperate self-defense.
• The Black-clad riders are revealed not as ordinary pursuers but as sadistic, possibly expendable agents; their leader is an Evil Spirit.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Xia Lun’s priestly, compassionate manner hides a dangerous and ruthless nature; Bird’s judgment of him begins to shift.
• Humanity amid apocalypse: The refugees’ gratitude and prayers create genuine warmth, but Xia Lun knows their survival is precarious.
• Power and dehumanization: The riders treat refugees as prey and invoke class contempt to justify their cruelty.
• Faith and protection: Lia’s prayer offers little immediate comfort, while Xia Lun’s violent intervention provides practical rescue.
• Manipulation and conflict: The riders’ apparent attack may be a deliberate provocation tied to Bird and conflict among Cultists.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun gives Bird practical guidance while concealing his own intentions; Bird privately reevaluates him.
• Renee and Xia Lun coordinate their departure, then discuss the danger as the riders approach.
• The riders terrorize the refugees, especially Lia and her brother, while the surrounding militia mostly cower.
• Buster attempts to help Lia, but Xia Lun ultimately takes over the fight, confronting the transformed leader as reinforcements close in.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun battles a powerful Black-Clad Rider, using Black Flame to freeze and badly wound it. When it tries to attack the injured Lia, it flees from him—but the rallied militiamen block its escape.
• Baron Bird arrives and pins the creature with his cane. A newly appointed Intelligence Chief and his elite Black-Clad Riders also appear; one of them disarms Buster with a crossbow bolt.
• The pinned Evil Spirit seems hopeful when the riders approach, but Xia Lun triggers the delayed damage from the Embrace of the Final Ash and destroys it. He gains Memory Points, and Final Ash permanently grows stronger.
• Xia Lun considers attacking the elite riders for their rewards but holds back, wary of their strength and uncertain whether Bird might turn on him.
• Bird initially confronts the riders for attacking civilians. The Intelligence Chief reveals that the refugees are intended as sacrifices to summon an Evil Spirit capable of overpowering Renee. Bird uses his Fate Weaver ability, Obey!, to erase the refugees’ doubts.
• Bird and the Intelligence Chief argue over the route to Longeryasi City. Bird favors a river detour to protect the refugees; the Chief insists they take the dangerous direct route, claiming Renee is near the city.
• Bird proposes finding the Tombdeep Crusaders’ leader and taking its Guilt Candle to disperse the Wraiths. He and the Chief each demand that the other’s forces share the danger.
• Xia Lun volunteers to join the mission, intending to exploit the conflict and use the Crusaders to eliminate the cultists.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun demonstrates the increased power of Black Flame and Final Ash, while remaining calculating: he suppresses his greed for rewards until he can better assess the risks. He also continues to defend civilians and seeks an opportunity to turn the factions against one another.
• Renee admires Xia Lun’s courage and wonders why she cannot be someone who inspires others. She is anxious as the armed factions face off.
• Bird protects Buster and appears to challenge the riders, but his manipulation of the refugees and his willingness to treat them as sacrifices complicate his benevolent image.
• The Intelligence Chief is ruthless and politically shrewd. He sacrifices subordinates to test Bird, exposes the refugees’ intended fate, and pressures Bird into a dangerous route—apparently pursuing his own advantage.
• The militiamen, encouraged by Xia Lun, overcome their fear and stand against the Evil Spirit. Buster bravely confronts it, while Lia remains vulnerable after the attack.

Significant themes

• Conflicting agendas: Bird, the Intelligence Chief, and Xia Lun all pursue different goals beneath outward cooperation.
• Manipulation and truth: Bird suppresses the refugees’ doubts rather than answering them, while the Chief weaponizes the truth for political leverage.
• Heroism and self-interest: Xia Lun acts heroically, yet also calculates rewards and tactical gains; Renee reflects on the uneasy overlap between kindness and ulterior motives.
• Power and sacrifice: The cult’s mission treats ordinary people as expendable, while supernatural abilities turn combat and loyalty into strategic assets.

Plot points and events

• Bird rejects the Intelligence Chief’s proposal to use refugees as cannon fodder, insisting that the trained guards and the Intelligence Chief’s men form the core of the charge, with the militia held in reserve. Bird argues that speed and coordination—not expendable bodies—are essential.
• As the refugees travel, Bird becomes more visible among them. Renee and Xia Lun try to conceal their unusual abilities, though the crowd shows little interest in them. The Black-Clad Riders remain disturbing, continually eating and apparently using human remains in their food.
• Xia Lun gives Renee Exorcism Powder to help her escape wraiths and a vial of his blood to use if he is in danger. His healing closes the cut almost immediately. Renee promises to protect the vial and quietly prays for his safe return.
• Two days later, the group prepares to attack a force of wraiths called the Tombdeep Crusaders. Their plan is to exploit the undead’s predictable patrols, charge across the river—which wraiths cannot cross—and strike at their giant commander. The commander’s chest bears a Guilt Candle; extinguishing it will destroy the surrounding wraiths.
• Bird orders Buster, one of his guards, to stay back and lead the militia reserves. The Intelligence Chief mocks Bird for protecting him and argues that a leader should be willing to sacrifice people. Bird responds by viciously insulting the Chief, apparently trying to provoke him.

Character developments and interactions

• Bird proves to be both a capable commander and a forceful defender of the refugees. Though his concern may partly stem from his duties in the Annihilation Cult, he rejects reckless sacrifice and inspires his guards. His deliberate humiliation of the Intelligence Chief suggests he is willing to use provocation strategically.
• The Intelligence Chief is exposed as ruthless toward the vulnerable and increasingly resentful of Bird. Bird’s contempt strikes at the Chief’s insecurity about his status, and his body begins to distort as his anger rises.
• Xia Lun remains alert to hidden motives and evaluates Bird’s tactics approvingly. He prepares for the coming battle with practical safeguards for Renee, while anticipating rewards from killing the undead.
• Renee admires Bird’s words about the strong protecting the weak, but also recognizes that the tactical situation matters more than simply adding bodies to the fight. Her concern for Xia Lun shows her growing emotional attachment.
• Buster volunteers to risk his life but obeys Bird’s order to withdraw from the charge.

Significant themes

• Leadership and responsibility: Strength is presented as a duty to protect the vulnerable, not merely the power to sacrifice them.
• Strategy over brute numbers: Effective planning, timing, and understanding the enemy matter more than using people as cannon fodder.
• Trust and care amid danger: Xia Lun and Renee prepare for each other’s survival even as an approaching battle tests their bond.
• Ambition and cruelty: The Intelligence Chief’s treatment of subordinates contrasts sharply with Bird’s protective leadership, while Bird’s harsh words reveal how personal conflict can threaten cooperation.