Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Tree Herder”

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun and White Line escape the Black Desert into the lush, dreamlike Serpent Passage. Its abundant vegetation repels the Withered Dead, while the sandstorm remains confined outside.
• Xia Lun realizes the Undead are actually staying back because they fear him. Their fear activates his new Aura of Fear perk, raises his Charisma from 16 to 17, and contributes to his Life Force through his existing fear-based abilities.
• Xia Lun keeps the tower shield as “startup capital,” intending to earn Perth Coins in the Golden City. He and White Line plan to gather Memory Points, purchase powerful retained items, and improve their Masteries.
• The silent dancer buries Putala, the iron-masked man whose body she has been dragging. White Line offers help and later reflects on the hope that someone would care for her body if she died, but Xia Lun redirects her to check her Identity Badge.
• White Line discovers she can choose a new role and selects Sun Priest, gaining strengths in listening, history, knowledge, and physical ability in sunlight. Xia Lun plans to adapt his own role to the Scenario, possibly as a Merchant.
• A camel-led stranger appears along the Verdant Road. He identifies himself as a Tree Herder and says travelers there are protected by the Deer of Abundance. Xia Lun invents a story based on Putala’s scouting party and presents his Identity Badge to establish a plausible identity.
• The old man sees through the deception and recognizes Xia Lun’s group as people summoned from another world. He explains that they were likely brought as offerings by Philos Arne and its minions. Although they cannot expect to return home, the Verdant Road offers temporary safety.
• The old man warns that having no “proper role,” or changing one, is a capital crime in the Golden City.

Character developments

• Xia Lun gains Aura of Fear and learns that intimidation can produce supernatural benefits. He remains resourceful and pragmatic, quickly fabricating a cover story and probing the old man for a way home.
• White Line becomes a Sun Priest, taking on a role that suits her knowledge-based abilities. Her brief comment about death reveals concern for how she might be remembered, though Xia Lun is focused on survival and planning.
• The dancer remains silent but communicates clearly through gestures. Her determination to bury Putala suggests deep attachment to him.
• The Tree Herder comes across as cautious but compassionate: he offers food and reassurance, while openly warning the travelers about the Golden City’s strict rules.

Significant themes

• Fear as power: Xia Lun’s capacity to terrify others becomes both a defensive advantage and a source of growth.
• Identity and survival: The group must choose and perform socially acceptable roles, with identity treated as a matter of life and death.
• Compassion amid danger: The dancer’s burial of Putala and the Tree Herder’s gift of food offer moments of care in a hostile world.
• Displacement and uncertainty: The travelers learn they were summoned from another world, with no known way back.
• Pragmatism versus emotion: Xia Lun prioritizes planning and adaptation, while White Line and the dancer show more openly personal concern and grief.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun explains the vegetation’s protective effect to White Line, then later realizes the Undead fear him rather than the trees.
• White Line offers to help the dancer bury Putala and gives her a shovel; the dancer declines but continues the burial.
• Xia Lun advises White Line to choose the Sun Priest role and steers her attention toward their practical needs.
• Xia Lun negotiates with the Tree Herder by presenting a false scouting-party story and an Identity Badge. The old man responds with food, then bluntly reveals he knows they are outsiders and explains the danger of living without a proper role.

Key plot points

• The old Tree Herder explains that changing someone’s duty without permission is a capital crime, and being born without a fixed duty is also punishable by death. He urges Xia Lun, White Line, and the mute dancer to join the Tree Herders, presenting the work as honorable and well supplied.
• The dancer formally asks to join. She then uses gestures to request that the Tree Herder fix Xia Lun and White Line’s duties too, as repayment for saving her. He agrees, saying he would have helped them regardless.
• Xia Lun warns White Line that the dancer may be connected to the Sand Leeches that infected the scout team. He reasons that their presence among Red Serpents is suspicious and says they should stay alert rather than accuse her without proof.
• On the journey, the Tree Herder describes the Tree Herders’ mission: planting trees to hold back the Withered Dead and preserve the Green Wall. He explains the dangers of the Black Sandstorms and warns the newcomers to conceal that they are otherworlders and avoid blasphemous speech.
• The old man reveals that the Tree Herders lack funds and recruits, while Xia Lun questions him about earning Perth Coins and the Duty Fixation Ritual. The ritual assigns duties based on past experience; participants receive a limited set of choices and must select one.
• The group reaches Green Tree Fortress, where they learn a Black Sandstorm may strike in three days, potentially carrying Withered Dead. The Tree Herder orders preparations for the ritual, and the chapter ends as the group is asked who will go first.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains cautious and analytical: he questions the Tree Herder’s recruitment pitch, investigates the dancer’s possible involvement in the poisoning, and prioritizes survival and practical goals over joining a cause.
• White Line is more trusting and openly grateful. He thanks the dancer for her advocacy and asks the Tree Herder about his faith and the ritual, while taking Xia Lun’s suspicions seriously.
• The dancer shows loyalty and compassion by trying to secure duty fixation for her companions. At the same time, Xia Lun’s suspicions cast doubt on her apparent innocence.
• The old Tree Herder acts as both recruiter and guide. He offers food, shelter, and help with duty fixation, but candidly describes the Tree Herders’ hardships and the danger facing their mission.
• The young apprentice reports the approaching storm and prepares the ritual; his interest in the newcomers, especially the dancer, prompts a rebuke from the Tree Herder.

Significant themes

• Duty, status, and coercion: A person’s assigned duty shapes their life, and changing it is tightly controlled by powerful authorities.
• Faith and social order: Worship, ritual, and speech are regulated, with blasphemy carrying severe consequences.
• Suspicion and trust: The dancer’s kindness contrasts with Xia Lun’s unresolved doubts about her.
• Collective survival versus personal ambition: Tree Herders defend civilization, yet their work is underfunded and overlooked compared with more lucrative pursuits.
• Choice shaped by the past: The Duty Fixation Ritual offers options according to a person’s experiences, making the upcoming decision consequential.

Key events

• Xia Lun and White Line arrive at a ritual that can fix or change occupations. Old Scarface oversees it, while the impatient Laun prepares the ritual.
• The bandaged chief interrupts to inspect their identity cards. He accepts Xia Lun as a Tracker and learns that White Line is a Sun Priest—an esteemed role that makes the soldiers treat her with sudden respect.
• The chief calls White Line a “fool” and says she was sent into the Black Desert to die. The old man quickly softens the insult, and White Line’s anger shows through her otherwise composed manner.
• White Line completes the ritual first, choosing “Stupid Sun Priest” from the occupations revealed by her experiences. Her occupation is fixed again.
• Xia Lun takes his turn. His ritual produces an extraordinary range of occupations, culminating in “Undisputed Savior,” whose brilliant appearance shocks everyone in the room.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun stays observant and cautious, questioning what he is told and noticing that “Otherworldly Visitor” is absent from the occupation choices. His ritual reveals a startling, apparently unique potential.
• White Line volunteers to go first and chooses her occupation decisively, but the chief’s insult provokes a flash of anger. Her Sun Priest status sharply changes how Laun and the soldiers regard her.
• Old Scarface acts as a protective intermediary, covering for the newcomers’ origins and tactfully defusing the chief’s insult.
• The chief is harsh and authoritative but attentive to status. He shows approval of Xia Lun’s Free Citizen background and surprise at White Line’s rank, then becomes captivated by Xia Lun’s ritual.
• Laun, initially dismissive, becomes deferential toward White Line once he sees her standing.

Significant themes

• Social hierarchy and status: Occupations determine a person’s place and treatment; White Line’s rank immediately changes the room’s attitude toward her.
• Identity and concealed origins: The newcomers’ unfamiliarity and lack of fixed occupations risk exposing them, while Old Scarface protects their secret.
• Fate versus choice: The ritual reveals possible occupations shaped by past experience, but each person must choose one.
• Foreshadowing and exceptional destiny: Xia Lun’s dazzling “Undisputed Savior” result suggests a role far beyond an ordinary occupation and leaves the chapter on a note of astonishment.

Key plot points

• During the Calling Fixation Ritual, Xia Lun chooses the seemingly absurd Self-Made Merchant Calling. His choice and its brilliant golden display stun everyone present.
• The Great Leader quickly interprets the choice as a plan to work discreetly and treats Xia Lun as a potential savior. Xia Lun confirms the need for secrecy, then offers to help the Tree Herders earn Perth Coins.
• The group postpones the ritual until the next day. The Great Leader orders a lavish dinner and warns the soldiers not to reveal what they witnessed.
• At dinner, Xia Lun learns that the Scarface Elder is a High Mentor of the Tree Herders. The Dancer has already left with the burly youth.
• Xia Lun gains 1,100 Memory Points from the Tree Herder Leader’s respect and the soldiers’ adoration.
• The Great Leader gives Xia Lun a Wooden Spinning Horse, which preserves the benefits of a previous Calling after switching to another. Xia Lun can now retain the Tracker’s Mastery-tier Wilderness Survival while using the Merchant Calling.
• The Merchant Calling also grants the temporary specialty Power of Perth Coin: the more Perth Coins Xia Lun holds, the stronger his bonuses become, with further benefits available as he upgrades the Calling.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun uses his unusual Calling to impress and influence the Tree Herders, while keeping his plans private. He also identifies the Dancer and Elder as figures with hidden depths.
• The Great Leader shifts from confidence to nervous deference, assuming Xia Lun’s choice has a grand purpose and offering the organization’s money—despite the soldiers’ visible displeasure.
• The Tree Herder Elder bluntly reveals the organization’s financial shortage and appears unusually eager about Xia Lun’s choice.
• The Dancer reacts to the ritual with alarm and keeps her thoughts to herself; she later leaves with the burly youth.
• White Line remains close to Xia Lun, while the soldiers respond to him with enough admiration to earn him Memory Points.

Significant themes

• Appearances and hidden motives: A merchant’s Calling seems incongruous with saving the world, but Xia Lun turns it into a source of influence and power.
• Wealth as power: Perth Coins are not just currency; they directly strengthen Xia Lun in this scenario.
• Identity and continuity: The Wooden Spinning Horse lets Xia Lun preserve abilities across Callings, complicating the idea that a person must have only one role.
• Authority and loyalty: The Great Leader’s deference contrasts with the soldiers’ discomfort at his willingness to surrender the organization’s funds.

Plot points and events

• In the oppressive heat, Xia Lun meets with White Line, the Tree Shepherds’ Great Leader, and the Scarface Elder. They discuss the organization’s crisis: fewer than 300 members remain, too few to maintain the Green Wall.
• The leaders trace the decline to past political interference, the loss of Fountain Fortress and surrounding settlements, and the Golden City’s growing prosperity and inequality. Xia Lun argues that concentrated wealth could be used to fund recruitment and resistance.
• Xia Lun asks about wealthy families, the market for City of the Dead relics, lending rates, and Sun Priests who collect relics—questions that hint he is considering a financial plan.
• The Great Leader names two interested High Sun Priests. One, Derino, seeks a legendary antler ornament said to freeze a person’s age. White Line recognizes that it might prevent the fatal effect of her curse. The other is Putara, whom Xia Lun recognizes as the deceased Iron Mask.
• A soldier bursts in with news that Tall Guy has been found dead, hollowed out by worms. He adds that a woman is missing, then collapses and vomits as Sand Leeches emerge from his nostrils.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun listens to the Tree Shepherds’ problems but thinks pragmatically about wealth, labor, and the relic market. His questions suggest a plan, though he does not reveal it.
• White Line, exhausted by the heat, becomes alert when she hears of the age-freezing relic, which could offer a way to escape her curse’s “little death.”
• The Great Leader reveals his past as an exiled Sun Priest who once sought the highest position. He now views the Tree Shepherds’ work as more meaningful than he once did.
• The Scarface Elder blames greed and political infighting for the organization’s decline, while Xia Lun challenges his view that prosperity itself is harmful.
• The conversation shifts abruptly from political and economic problems to a new, immediate threat when the soldier’s report reveals another apparent Sand Leech attack.

Significant themes

• Greed, inequality, and survival: The Tree Shepherds struggle to recruit as wealth accumulates among a small elite; the characters disagree over whether commerce is a resource or a danger.
• Political failure and divided priorities: Power struggles among Sun Priests distract from the threats posed by Black Sandstorms and the Undead.
• Hope amid catastrophe: The rumored relic may offer White Line a chance to survive her curse, even as the final scene signals danger closing in again.
• The cost of dwindling humanity: The organization’s shrinking numbers and the deaths at the fortress underscore how fragile survival has become.

Key plot points and events

• Sand Leeches erupt from a white-robed soldier, while another priest, Tall One, has already died from the parasites.
• Xia Lun shoots a leech that leaps at White Line; she uses a spray to kill the others and save the soldier.
• The soldier explains that Tall One opened dancer Ossis’s pack and found what he believed was the Deer of Abundance’s head. Ossis bit Tall One, took the pack, and fled. The soldier was bitten while trying to help.
• The scar-faced old man accuses Xia Lun’s group of involvement and breaks down over the death of his apprentice, Narga Da. The chief dismisses the loss as worthwhile for the greater cause, deepening the argument between them.
• White Line returns with Narga Da alive, though Ossis escaped. Narga Da confirms that the deer’s head showed signs matching the old legend of the Deer of Abundance.
• Xia Lun explains that Ossis traveled with Putara, a priest he met in Evil Serpent City. Putara and the scout team died from curses—not, as claimed, from an attack by the Withered Dead. The chief suspects a conspiracy, but Xia Lun says Putara was cursed by Philos Arne for breaking a taboo. The chief is stunned that a god may have acted directly.

Character developments and interactions

• White Line demonstrates quick thinking and unusual healing ability, saving both the infected soldier and Narga Da. She admits she could not catch Ossis.
• Xia Lun stays composed amid the accusations, clarifies his group’s connection to Ossis and Putara, and rejects the chief’s conspiracy theory.
• The scar-faced old man shifts from controlled authority to grief and anger over Narga Da, insisting that individual lives matter.
• The chief prioritizes the larger struggle over one death, clashes with the old man, and readily jumps to political explanations before being confronted with the possibility of divine intervention.
• Narga Da returns from near death and offers testimony that strengthens the case that the pack contained the sacred deer’s head.
• The infected soldier’s account exposes Tall One’s misconduct toward Ossis, complicating the group’s judgment of her flight.

Significant themes

• Individual lives versus political cause: The old man rejects the chief’s willingness to treat deaths as acceptable costs.
• Faith, evidence, and uncertainty: The deer’s head may be sacred, and reports of a curse challenge what the characters believe about their gods.
• Responsibility and taboo: Tall One’s actions precede the catastrophe, while Putara’s death is attributed to a forbidden act.
• Appearance versus truth: The group’s initial explanations—contagion, a curse, and political conspiracy—prove incomplete or mistaken.

Key events

• In a meeting at Green Tree Fortress, Xia Lun considers why the Great Leader seems uncertain about the gods. He suspects the world’s Secret Art Scholars are divided into rival factions, and wonders whether the Deer of Abundance died in one of their conflicts.
• The group discusses Ossis, the Dancer and attendant to High Sun Priest Putala. Scarface Elder warns that her secrets make her dangerous and recommends leaving her alone.
• Xia Lun reveals a map taken from a dead Scout Team. The Great Leader recognizes its marked destination as the likely site of the Obsidian Obelisk and the First Empire’s ruined capital.
• The Burly Youth urges an immediate march to destroy the Obelisk, which ancient texts say could end the Black Sandstorms and the Withered Dead. Scarface Elder cautions that the mission is dangerous, especially after Putala’s death by Divine Punishment.
• Xia Lun argues that the Tree Herders are not yet strong enough for such an undertaking and proposes first confirming the site and preparing an expedition.
• Seeing an opportunity to secure funds—and potentially profit from the First Empire’s wealth—Xia Lun offers to raise money from the Golden City’s rich through a scheme rather than violence. The Great Leader approves and orders Green Tree Fortress’s Perth Coins given to him as backing.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun uses the discussion to reason about divine factions and the Obelisk, while quietly weighing the financial opportunity. He presents his plan as serving the Tree Herders’ mission, though personal profit also motivates him.
• The Great Leader shifts from surprise and uncertainty to renewed resolve. Despite the risks and possible divine opposition, he commits to the Great Expedition and trusts Xia Lun’s proposal.
• Scarface Elder remains the cautious voice, advising against rushing into danger and warning that the Golden City is too powerful to confront directly.
• The Burly Youth represents the more impulsive, idealistic position, advocating an immediate attack on the Obelisk.
• Ossis remains absent but is discussed as a troubling figure whose connection to Putala and the Deer of Abundance raises unanswered questions.

Significant themes

• Power and belief: The gods may not be a unified force, and divine authority may conceal rivalries.
• Idealism versus pragmatism: The Tree Herders’ mission is noble, but success requires preparation, money, and strategy.
• Moral ambiguity: Xia Lun frames his fundraising plan as justice for the poor, while also recognizing the chance for personal enrichment.
• Hope and risk: The Obelisk offers a possible way to save the world, but pursuing it may provoke powerful opposition.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun and his companions cross Scales Bridge toward the Golden City, bringing a large treasure haul intended to fund his plan. He confirms that they have already earned 7,236 Perth Coins—well above the scenario’s minimum—and checks his newly upgraded “Self-Made Merchant” badge, which now grants stronger benefits and the Debt Shield boon.
• Their guide explains that he will bring Xia Lun to meet High Sun Priest Derino, a leading candidate to become Supreme Sun Priest, though the meeting may take time.
• On the road into the city, they hear a public warrant for the dancer Ossis. Xia Lun recognizes her portrait, but their guide warns that she is dangerous and entangled in the slave uprising. The party avoids giving information.
• Soldiers clear a path for the Tree Shepherds and even donate a coin to support their defense of the Green Wall, revealing the organization’s respected status.
• Inside the Golden City, the travelers find a cool, prosperous district whose buildings—called the Floating Forest—use trees and water channels to shade the streets.
• They pass a slave square, where refugees and enslaved people glare at Xia Lun’s party. Their guide explains that the spreading Black Desert drives people into the city, where many impoverished arrivals become debt slaves.
• The chapter ends with a slave being whipped and a furious old man in a grand hall protesting a price of ten Perth Coins per person, setting up a conflict around the city’s slave trade.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains focused on expanding his wealth and executing his plan. His badge’s upgrade strengthens his confidence, and he begins to see how the Tree Shepherds’ influence might help him. His recognition of Ossis puts him in a position where his plans may intersect with the uprising.
• The old guide is practical and cautious: he stresses the risks of Ossis’s case, explains the city’s customs, and leads the party toward the temple district. His pride in the Tree Shepherds’ work is clear.
• White Line repeatedly asks about lunch, bringing comic relief amid the heat and tension. She also reacts uneasily to the hostile attention at the slave square.
• The group relies on the guide’s knowledge and avoids provoking the authorities over Ossis’s warrant. Their passage through the city highlights the respect afforded to the Tree Shepherds.

Significant themes

• Debt and power: Wealth can buy influence and protection, while the poor risk being trapped in debt slavery. Xia Lun’s Debt Shield and his ambition to profit from the city’s economy foreshadow this tension.
• Slavery and social injustice: The slave square, the refugees’ desperation, and the public whipping reveal the cruelty underpinning the Golden City’s apparent prosperity.
• Faith and political authority: Sun Priest ranks bring both religious power and political competition; the authorities use threats of punishment and promises of resurrection to control the public.
• Appearance versus reality: The city’s lush, cool streets contrast with the suffering visible at its slave market.

Plot points and events

• Fusate, Derino’s chief slave, bargains with an information broker for intelligence about Ossis, the dancer and spy planted near Iron Mask Putara. The broker demands higher payment and threatens to expose Derino’s role in funding Putara’s hunt for the Deer of Abundance. Fusate agrees to pay eight Perth Coins per information item and offers a large reward for Ossis’s location, then has the broker abruptly expelled.
• Fusate learns that a Tree Herder leader has recommended a Merchant to Derino. Seeing a chance to gain influence over the Tree Herders’ land, he prepares a business meeting and dinner, while Derino’s personal guard notes that securing a visiting Sun Priest’s support is the priority.
• Xia Lun and White Line arrive at Derino’s estate with a scar-faced guide. When slave women kneel to serve as steps from the camels, Xia Lun and White Line refuse to walk on them, earning the guide’s quiet approval.
• At dinner, Xia Lun proposes that Derino finance an expedition to the City of the Dead, claiming the venture will repay the investment with substantial profit within eight sunsets. He says his group has found the First Empire’s treasury and other safe cities along a Verdant Road, though his account mixes truth with fabrication.
• Derino hesitates, citing political instability and the cost of maintaining his health. White Line places a pill on the table, prompting Xia Lun to hint that their discoveries include ancient life-extension techniques.

Character developments and interactions

• Fusate is calculating and ambitious. He uses threats and bribery to extract intelligence, while seeing the Merchant’s arrival as a way to advance Derino’s wealth and his own prospects.
• Derino presents himself as a devout and gracious host, but his priorities are political power, money, and prolonging his life. He carefully probes Xia Lun’s claims before committing.
• Xia Lun remains composed and persuasive, tailoring a partly deceptive pitch to Derino’s interests.
• White Line is alert to the cruelty of the local customs and avoids participating in them. At dinner, she supports Xia Lun’s negotiation by offering the pill at the right moment.
• The broker is intimidated by Fusate’s display of power, while Derino’s guard acts as a restrained messenger and adviser.

Significant themes

• Power and exploitation: Slaves are treated as property, while even their assigned roles shape how they must live and be treated.
• Corruption and political ambition: Information, money, and religious authority are tools in struggles for advancement.
• Moral resistance: Xia Lun and White Line’s refusal to step on the kneeling slaves contrasts with the estate’s normalized cruelty.
• Deception and bargaining: Both the information deal and Xia Lun’s investment pitch show characters using selective truths, threats, and promises to pursue their goals.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun meets with the shrewd Sun Priest Derino to persuade him to invest in an expedition to the dangerous Obsidian Obelisk and the City of the Dead.
• He presents “Borrowed Youth” as a product of recovered ancient technology, then demonstrates another supposed technology by chilling the campfire and food without using a Ritual.
• Xia Lun candidly warns that the expedition may fail and that ancient technology has side effects. He then uses Aura of Fear, making a pool of blood seem to teem with eyes and forcing Derino’s guard into terrifying visions. The guard suffers permanent mental damage, earning Xia Lun 1,200 Memory Points.
• With Derino rattled, Xia Lun implies that White Line’s modifications left her foolish. White Line plays along, helping keep Derino off balance.
• Xia Lun offers Derino five percent of any Perth Coins he brings in. Derino volunteers 50,000 coins and asks for a larger commission. Xia Lun claims to see through his scheme to borrow cheaply and profit from the interest, then persuades him the extra commission will protect him regardless of the outcome.
• After the feast, Derino privately tells his chief slave that he does not fully believe Xia Lun but considers him useful. He reveals a Ritual identified Xia Lun and White Line as “Otherworldly Visitors.” He intends to follow them to locate the fugitive traitor Ossis and ultimately obtain the Deer Head of the Deer of Abundance.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun demonstrates strategic restraint: he avoids pressing his pitch too eagerly, then deliberately combines honesty, supernatural intimidation, and confident nonsense to manipulate Derino. His friendly manner conceals a calculated con.
• White Line initially doubts Xia Lun’s approach, but trusts their rapport and acts as his accomplice when cued. She enjoys the trick once Derino falls for it.
• Derino shifts from cautious, suspicious negotiator to visibly frightened and confused, agreeing to invest despite his reservations. His private conversation shows that he remains calculating and has his own agenda.
• The guard reacts to Xia Lun’s display with overwhelming terror, though Derino’s order briefly breaks the visions. His experience reveals the potency of Xia Lun’s ability.
• The dialogue between Xia Lun and Derino is outwardly cordial but driven by competing motives: Xia Lun wants an investor, while Derino sees the visitors as a means to pursue Ossis and the Deer Head.

Significant themes

• Fear as leverage: Terror overwhelms reason and makes even capable people easier to manipulate.
• Deception and performance: Xia Lun’s warnings, demonstrations, and banter are all part of a carefully managed bluff; White Line helps sell it.
• Greed and risk: Derino’s desire for profit draws him toward a dangerous venture, even while he remains wary.
• Hidden agendas: The apparent deal masks deeper intentions on both sides, and Derino’s revelation reframes the negotiation as a potential pursuit.

Key events

• Xia Lun, Scarface Elder, and White Line return from High Sun Priest Derino’s residence with four carriages of Perth Coins after persuading him to pay 50,000. Xia Lun suspects Derino has a further motive and plans to use his payment as an endorsement to recruit more supporters.
• Their plan shifts between a fundraising scheme and a genuine expedition: they intend to recruit Guides and Warriors, buy supplies, and explore the Obsidian Obelisk, whose riches may exceed those of the Golden City. Xia Lun also wants to investigate the First Empire.
• At the Pure White Wall, guards warn them about unrest among the Unassigned and offer an escort. During the journey, Scarface Elder tells the group the history of the First Empire, the Conqueror’s bargain with Golden Sand Midnight, the Obsidian Obelisk’s creation, and the founding of successive kingdoms and the Tree Herders.
• White Line secretly relays startling intelligence: Derino has a ritual that identifies Otherworlders. The Dancer is his spy, the third Player in the Scenario, and an Otherworldly Visitor driven by a desire to reproduce. She is a Sand Leech, likely responsible for the scout team’s deaths and for controlling Putala, the Iron Mask.
• The patrol encounters a masked man claiming to be an Unassigned defector. His stilted, disturbing account urges the guards to arrest and execute people hiding nearby, leaving the group facing a possible ambush or manipulation.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun demonstrates persuasive skill as well as strategic caution. He sees Derino’s payment as both useful capital and a possible attempt to influence the group, and he listens to the old legends for clues relevant to the Scenario.
• Scarface Elder grows more hopeful and impassioned. He reveals that the Tree Herders’ deeper purpose is not merely to defend the Green Wall but to bring down the Obsidian Obelisk and halt the desert’s spread. He believes Xia Lun could make that goal possible.
• White Line acts as an investigator, monitoring Derino and passing on vital intelligence. Xia Lun’s success with Derino also changes her view of his methods: she recognizes the value of conversation and investigation alongside force.
• The temple guards initially treat the group protectively, then listen to Scarface Elder’s story; their casual exchange about the sea contrasts with the chapter’s larger, ominous revelations.
• The closing encounter introduces a suspicious masked informant whose claims and behavior may put the guards and the group in danger.

Significant themes

• Deception and genuine purpose: A scheme to raise money may become a real enterprise, and Xia Lun deliberately blurs the line between fraud and opportunity.
• Knowledge as power: Investigation, surveillance, myths, and scattered clues all help uncover the hidden players and threats.
• Endless flight and resistance: The legend’s kingdoms repeatedly flee destruction, while the Tree Herders’ mission represents a shift from defense toward confronting the source of the danger.
• Trust and hidden identities: Derino’s detection ritual, the Dancer’s infiltration, and the masked man’s uncertain motives make appearances and loyalties unreliable.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun and his companions encounter a strange masked man who claims Unassigned rebels are hiding in an alley. The Temple Guards activate protective rituals and enter, while White Line uses Psychological Invisibility to climb onto a nearby roof and scout.
• The informer suddenly transforms: worms burst from his body and attack a guard. Xia Lun destroys the parasites with black flames and sword strikes. White Line reports that the Sand Leeches are concentrated on the guards’ side of the alley.
• Xia Lun stamps out a surviving leech. The scene then shifts to a dungeon, where the Unassigned’s leader, former gladiator Herman the Ruthless, confronts Dancer Ossis.
• Herman admits he betrayed Ossis under pressure from the Sun Priests and pleads for his life, warning that the slave revolt will fail without him. Ossis reveals that a Sand Leech has replaced her tongue. It speaks in her voice, and Herman is overwhelmed by parasites.
• Ossis muses about escaping her enslaved fate by becoming a Scholar, and about remaining in the current Scenario rather than returning to her dangerous home world. By the end, Herman has been devoured, while Ossis has apparently taken on a new, male form and declares, “I’ll become a Scholar.”

Character developments

• Xia Lun remains controlled and decisive under pressure, swiftly killing the parasite-infested informer and eliminating a surviving leech.
• White Line demonstrates stealth and agility, taking a rooftop position to observe the alley.
• Herman is exposed as a fearful, compromised revolutionary leader: he betrayed Ossis to survive, then tries to justify himself by appealing to the cause.
• Ossis emerges as a calculating and transformed figure. Her apparent silence masks the parasite within her, and she pursues personal freedom and Scholar status even as she destroys Herman.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun signals White Line to scout while he stays with the Temple Guards.
• The Guards’ attempt to restrain the informer triggers his grotesque transformation and attack; Xia Lun intervenes to save them.
• Herman alternates between pleading, blaming the Sun Priests, and threatening Ossis with the consequences of killing him. Ossis does not engage with his excuses and instead acts through the Sand Leech.
• The lion’s eyes frame the confrontation, reflecting the handsome Unassigned leader and later Ossis as her transformation unfolds.

Significant themes

• Bodily horror and loss of identity: Sand Leeches infest and reshape bodies, making people appear to be something other than themselves.
• Freedom versus survival: Herman sacrifices his principles to stay alive, while Ossis seeks escape from a life defined by shackles.
• Power and coercion: The Sun Priests’ authority is portrayed as nearly impossible to resist, complicating blame for Herman’s betrayal.
• Dangerous ambition and escape: Ossis sees becoming a Scholar—and remaining in this world—as a path out of a perilous reality, though her transformation suggests that freedom may come at a monstrous cost.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun and White Line begin seeking investors in Golden City, focusing on only three prospects. Xia Lun wants influential people who either need something from Derino or can spread word of a successful first payout.
• Xia Lun explains that they can use Derino’s authority without making a direct, easily disproved lie: investors are encouraged to draw their own conclusions about Derino’s involvement.
• Their first target is the owner of the Golden Arena. On the way in, Xia Lun learns through his unusual Wilderness Survival ability that the arena is a major landmark with a concealed history.
• They witness the arena’s brutal entertainment: a female gladiator is killed before a cheering crowd. In the owner’s private box, Xia Lun watches another match prepare to begin.
• The arena owner wants to introduce man-eating vines but is blocked by the Sun Priest responsible for protecting the Luxuriant Road. He is also interested in the Tree Herders’ expedition to the Obsidian Obelisk and asks how much investment is needed.
• Xia Lun offers a possible 50-percent return in eight days, but the owner calls the promise implausible and demands a straightforward price. Xia Lun uses his new rank-three Merchant ability, Appraisal, to estimate the arena’s value before answering.
• A blood-covered gladiator enters the room. Xia Lun recognizes him as the fighter who killed the woman, and notices that the man reacts nervously to him.

Character developments

• Xia Lun demonstrates strategic restraint and confidence as a broker, choosing prospects carefully and tailoring his pitch to their interests. His new Appraisal ability gives him a way to estimate the arena’s value, though its results are imprecise and costly.
• White Line supports Xia Lun’s plan and shows that she understands its persuasive strategy, comparing it to suggestion in interrogation.
• The arena owner is revealed as a wealthy, blunt negotiator who enjoys violent spectacles, seeks permission to bring in dangerous attractions, and has ambitions tied to the Black Desert.
• The gladiator appears confident in the arena but becomes visibly tense when he sees Xia Lun, hinting at an unexplained connection or fear.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun teaches White Line how to build credibility and select investors, while she questions and clarifies his methods.
• Xia Lun approaches the arena owner under Derino’s introduction. The owner tests Xia Lun’s fighting ability, offers insight into his business interests, then rejects the investment pitch’s unusually high return and presses for a direct valuation.
• Xia Lun and the owner’s conversation is interrupted by the gladiator, whose immediate reaction draws Xia Lun’s attention.

Significant themes

• Persuasion and credibility: Xia Lun relies on implication, reputation, and carefully chosen first investors rather than making claims that can be easily exposed.
• Wealth and power: The chapter links investment prospects to influence, political access, and control over valuable ventures.
• Violence as entertainment: The arena’s spectators celebrate death and wager on combat, presenting brutality as ordinary public amusement.
• Hidden knowledge and uncertainty: Xia Lun’s special abilities provide useful information, but both his architectural insight and his Appraisal have limits or concealed complications.

Summary: “Insect Eggs”

Key plot points and events

• In the Golden Arena, Xia Lun watches a one-armed gladiator fight two lions while questioning the arena’s owner about the former legendary gladiator, Herman.
• Herman cannot speak, supposedly because a lion injured his throat. Xia Lun notices that he resembles a black-whistle referee from an earlier dream and suspects something is wrong.
• Xia Lun asks how much Herman is worth and learns that Herman is free, so any deal would have to be made directly with him. Xia Lun is interested because he believes Herman has the Deer Head, which contains the antlers needed to counter White Line’s age-shrinking curse.
• Xia Lun’s Wilderness Survival specialization reveals that Herman is deeply infected with Sand Leeches—and that the parasites have replaced parts of his nervous system and can control him.
• Xia Lun attacks. Herman’s tongue proves to be a giant Sand Leech, and more leeches emerge from his wounds. White Line restrains him while Xia Lun burns the parasites with Black Flame.
• Xia Lun demands the Deer Head. Herman refuses, calling it his treasure, and tries to bite Xia Lun. Xia Lun kills him with Black Flame, but Tracking Focus finds no trail, suggesting Ossis can evade tracking and is likely still alive.
• Meanwhile, the one-armed gladiator escapes the lions by turning one against the other, riding it toward the passage, then leaping to safety in the stands.
• Xia Lun detects Sand Leech eggs in the arena owner’s wine just as the owner is about to drink it, and warns him.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun trusts his instincts over the arena owner’s reassuring explanation. Once he identifies Herman as parasitized, he acts decisively and violently, prioritizing his pursuit of the Deer Head and Ossis.
• Herman is revealed not to be merely a silent ex-champion but a host controlled by Sand Leeches. He refuses to surrender the Deer Head, even under threat.
• White Line assists Xia Lun by restraining Herman with fine threads, showing her effectiveness as a partner in combat.
• The arena owner shifts from friendly negotiation to fear as Xia Lun attacks Herman; his own wine is revealed to be contaminated.
• The one-armed gladiator displays impressive resourcefulness and daring under pressure, escaping a seemingly fatal fight with the lions.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Herman’s apparent injury and retirement conceal a parasitic infection and loss of bodily control.
• Trust, suspicion, and survival: Xia Lun’s instincts and specialized abilities help him see through a plausible cover story.
• Control and bodily violation: Sand Leeches invade hosts, replace their nervous systems, and turn people into breeding grounds.
• Pragmatism and moral ambiguity: Xia Lun’s pursuit of his goals leads him to use lethal force without hesitation, while the arena treats dangerous spectacle as entertainment.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun saves the Golden Arena’s owner from a Sand Leech infection by destroying an infected egg before the owner can drink the contaminated wine. The creature’s host, Herman, has already been reduced to smoldering remains.
• The owner reveals a hidden cache of 200,000 Perth Coins and offers it to Xia Lun in gratitude. Xia Lun refuses to treat the money as payment for their separate business arrangement, though the owner plans to have the coins delivered to Xia Lun’s base.
• Using information revealed by his Mastery-level Wilderness Survival, Xia Lun explains that Sand Leech infection progresses through appetite changes, blisters and bloodshot eyes, then mental deterioration and ulceration, and finally the destruction of the host’s body. Clean water kills most Sand Leeches; boiling water kills their eggs.
• White Line says Sand Leech outbreaks have occurred in remote desert regions of the Grand Alliance.
• Xia Lun investigates the Echoes connected to Ossis. He finds three separate routes—toward the Temple District, the desert, and an unknown destination—but a dark force conceals the connections. A Secret Art Scholar then appears to be searching for him; Xia Lun’s Knowledge 2: Present obscures his traces and prevents the search from locking onto him.
• Suspecting that Philos Arne’s true body is in the Temple District, Xia Lun resolves to identify him before Arne finds him. He also wonders whether Ossis’s Deer Head links Ossis, the Deer of Abundance, and Arne.

Character developments and interactions

• The arena owner moves from shock and fear to gratitude and decisive action: he dismisses his negligent guards, then reveals his family’s protected fortune. His offer reflects how much he values the life Xia Lun saved.
• Xia Lun is practical and principled, refusing the coins as a business payment while accepting the owner’s gratitude as a separate matter. His access to survival knowledge also proves strategically useful.
• White Line remains calm during the infection discussion and confirms that Sand Leech outbreaks are known, though uncommon.
• Xia Lun’s confidence rises after he realizes the Scholar’s search has been disrupted, but he remains wary of Arne and the danger of being discovered.

Significant themes

• Gratitude and obligation: The owner insists on repaying a life-saving favor, while Xia Lun distinguishes a gift from a business deal.
• Knowledge as power: Xia Lun uses detailed knowledge of Sand Leeches to identify infection signs and countermeasures, and uses his understanding of Echoes to assess the larger threat.
• Hidden threats and uncertainty: The parasite outbreak, concealed Echo connections, and unknown relationship between Ossis, the Deer of Abundance, and Philos Arne all point to dangers that remain only partly understood.
• Survival versus exposure: Xia Lun gains an advantage through Knowledge 2: Present, but must still find Arne before the Scholar can locate him.

Key plot points and events

• In the Shrine Hall, a blind High Sun Priest teaches his apprentice, a girl whose father manages the Verdant Road, how to mummify a Supreme Sun Priest. He removes the corpse’s brain, heart, and other organs, placing them beneath statues according to their symbolic roles, then preserves and wraps the body.
• The girl questions how Golden Sand Midnight can protect the city while also being blamed for the Withered Dead. Her teacher explains that the god honors its principles—even when those principles require carrying out a conqueror’s wish to sacrifice the living.
• After the girl leaves, the mummy awakens as a female-voiced being with Red Serpents emerging from its eyes. It and the blind priest are two aspects of one entity, divided by “Replacement Mass.” They discuss a newly emerged Secret Art Scholar who has contacted the Deer of Abundance, and decide to hunt him for his Knowledge. They plan to search low-ranked newcomers and create outside pressure to force him to reveal himself.
• The entity orders the blind priest’s “debtor” at the Obsidian Obelisk to act. At the obelisk, the eternal conqueror receives orders from Golden Sand Midnight to attack the Green Wall and destroy the Golden City. Though the conqueror believes the order violates the contract and established principles, it obeys. The mountain-sized obelisk then tears free of the ground.

Character developments and interactions

• The blind High Sun Priest is gentle and patient with his apprentice, but he is also one half of a divided, calculating being. He initially favors cooperation with the Secret Art Scholar, then yields to the other half’s argument for hunting him.
• The apprentice is curious and eager but inexperienced. Her innocent questions reveal the tension between the city’s religious ideals and the harmful consequences of divine “principle.”
• The awakened mummy / other half is impatient and pragmatic, pushing for violence and manipulation. Its disagreement with the priest shows how their separation has sharpened their conflicting outlooks.
• The eternal conqueror is weary of the recurring curse and troubled by the contradiction between its contract and the order it must obey, yet it marches toward the Green Wall.
• The teacher and apprentice share a warm mentor-student relationship; the priest and awakened mummy argue over whether to trust or eliminate the Scholar; the mummy’s side directs the conqueror’s forces toward the city.

Significant themes

• Principle versus morality: Golden Sand Midnight and the conqueror follow rules even when those rules lead to destruction.
• Cycles of greed and ruin: The awakened mummy argues that the pursuit of eternal life repeatedly brings about the city’s fall.
• Division and identity: The two voices’ fear of permanently splitting reflects the danger of separation in both language and selfhood.
• Knowledge, power, and control: The Scholar’s Knowledge makes him a target, while the identity-card system and deliberate crisis are used to track and expose him.
• Death and rebirth: Mummification, reincarnation, and the Deer of Abundance’s new host connect the ritual to the larger cycle of destruction.

Plot points and events

• After a brief, dangerous clash in the realm of Echoes, Xia Lun realizes an unknown Secret Art Scholar is hunting him. Neither can readily locate the other, so Xia Lun decides to stay calm, defend himself, and continue his fundraising plan.
• The Golden Arena owner gives Xia Lun 200,000 Perth Coins under a signed gift agreement. Signing it advances Xia Lun’s Merchant identity to rank four, granting Weight of Money: a forcefully thrown coin gains weight based on his total wealth.
• Xia Lun also receives the legendary achievement Genius Trader, which lets him retain his Merchant traits even if he later changes identities. His stated ambition is to put the entire Golden City in debt.
• The arena owner mistakes Xia Lun’s afternoon visit to the administrator of Verdant Road as a plan to honor their agreement about the Man-Eating Vine. Xia Lun lets the misunderstanding stand and leaves with White Line.
• On the road, White Line senses that something is wrong. Xia Lun tells her that an enemy on the level of an Astral Spirit has targeted him. When he asks whether she has an item that can detect Knowledge, she unexpectedly produces an item.

Character development and interactions

• Xia Lun responds to the hidden enemy with strategic restraint rather than panic. He accepts the arena owner’s money, gains powerful new advantages, and decides to trust White Line with the danger he faces.
• White Line demonstrates how well she knows Xia Lun after more than ten years as his teammate. Though initially confused by his explanation of Knowledge, she immediately pledges to fight beside him.
• The Golden Arena owner shifts from suspicion to respect, apologizes for doubting Xia Lun, and becomes increasingly cautious after the arena’s frightening ordeal.

Significant themes

• Trust and loyalty: Xia Lun’s decision to confide in White Line is met with her unwavering support.
• Strategy under uncertainty: Both Xia Lun and his unseen enemy know the other is present but lack enough information to strike safely.
• Wealth as power: Xia Lun’s rapidly growing fortune becomes a literal weapon and an expanding source of influence.
• Appearances and misunderstanding: The arena owner interprets Xia Lun’s plans differently from how Xia Lun intends them, while Xia Lun chooses not to correct him.

Key plot points and events

• White Line reveals a Fracture Point Pocket Watch, a Paradox Item that can detect recent contact with “Divinity”: it stops near such a person and runs backward when touched by something possessing Divinity.
• Xia Lun tests it. It stops when White Line opens it, then runs backward when he grips it, confirming that his Knowledge—awakened after absorbing the Astral Spirit’s heart—counts as Divinity. The watch may help identify the unknown Secret Art Scholar.
• The pair travel to the Sun Priest’s estate on the outskirts of the Golden City. Finding the gate locked and the grounds apparently abandoned, Xia Lun decides not to enter, suspecting something is wrong and prioritizing his search.
• A company of riders arrives, led by a young Sun Priest. Xia Lun presents himself as a Tree Herder visiting her father and uses his connection to the high-ranking Priest Derino to press her for an explanation.
• The young woman apologizes and gives Xia Lun an emerald worth five Perth Coins. As they prepare to leave, White Line notices the pocket watch has stopped again: someone among the riders has recently encountered the Secret Art Scholar.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun confirms his Knowledge is equivalent to Divinity and shows himself to be cautious and calculating. He avoids investigating the empty estate, then uses authority and polite pressure to manage the young Sun Priest.
• White Line demonstrates her experience and practical skills, including picking the estate’s Ritual-protected lock and restoring it afterward. She admits she barely understood the relevant lore, then helps detect the riders’ connection to the Scholar.
• The young Sun Priest initially treats Xia Lun as a possible servant, then becomes respectful and apologetic once she realizes who he represents. A dark-skinned rider tries to steer the visitors away from the estate’s current trouble.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and Divinity: Xia Lun’s test establishes a concrete link between his awakened Knowledge and Divinity.
• Caution amid uncertainty: The abandoned estate and the riders’ evasiveness suggest danger, but Xia Lun avoids being drawn into it.
• Status and influence: Xia Lun uses rank and social cues to gain cooperation, while the young Priest’s deference reflects the importance of hierarchy.
• Clues and investigation: The watch turns an uncertain search for the Secret Art Scholar into a potentially trackable lead.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun needs to stay with the riders so he can identify who encountered the Secret Art Scholar. He uses the horses’ agitation as a pretext to recommend White Line’s help.
• White Line tears a bar from the iron gate, impressing the riders and clearing space around her. Xia Lun’s signal lets her use the pocket watch to check the group; it continues ticking, narrowing the possible suspect to the young woman, the dark-skinned guard, or the bucktoothed guard.
• Inside the deserted manor, Xia Lun studies footprints and questions the guards. He learns they have been confined to the Snake Fang Gate while the young woman works. Her scent reveals that she is a Priest who makes mummies, suggesting the Secret Art Scholar may share that occupation.
• The young woman speaks proudly of her father, who oversees the Verdant Road beneath the Golden City. Xia Lun’s memories of Renee soften his attitude toward her.
• At the manor, fresh blood leads the group inside. White Line smashes through the door and joins the search. Behind a tapestry, they discover a hidden room filled with flayed corpses and blood. The young woman’s father hangs dead inside, beneath the message: “Wicked slaveholder, justice has descended.”

Character development and interactions

• Xia Lun demonstrates strategic thinking, observation, and composure, using social cues, the pocket watch, footprints, and scent to advance his investigation. His sympathy for the young woman grows when he sees her devotion to her father.
• White Line shows formidable strength and quiet loyalty. Though she initially dislikes the young woman, her compassion leads her to break down the door and help search for the father.
• The young woman shifts from confident and dismissive of the Unassigned to urgently determined to find her father. Her pride and affection for him reveal a warmer, vulnerable side.
• The guards are unsettled by signs of violence and fear an attack by the Unassigned, while the young woman tries to rally them. Xia Lun’s calm observations steady the group.

Significant themes

• Justice and oppression: The message at the murder scene frames the killing as vengeance against a slaveholder, raising questions about rebellion and the meaning of justice.
• Loyalty and compassion: The young woman’s love for her father moves Xia Lun and White Line beyond their initial suspicions or dislike.
• Investigation amid uncertainty: Xia Lun pieces together clues while concealing his true motives; the pocket watch and his sensory skills turn small details into leads.
• Appearances and danger: A quiet, empty manor hides a gruesome scene, and apparent threats—like the shape beneath the tapestry—prove misleading before the true horror is revealed.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun and White Line discover a grisly scene in the family manor: the young woman’s father and other victims have been flayed and killed.
• A Withered Dead attacks the young woman. Xia Lun disarms and defeats it, recognizing it as a former Slave marked with a shackle brand. It declares allegiance to the Unassigned, a rebel group opposing the system that binds Slaves.
• Before Xia Lun can question it further, the young woman kills it, explaining that it murdered her father.
• A guard finds a note from the father telling his daughter not to seek revenge and to live well. Grief-stricken, she weeps, then refuses Xia Lun’s offer to invest in a profitable route connected to the Obsidian Obelisk.
• Xia Lun suspects the young woman poisoned her father, based on the smell of bitter almonds. He and White Line return covertly to observe her.
• Later, the young woman meets Fusate, Chief Slave to Sun Priest Derino. He confirms that Derino used the Unassigned to kill her father in exchange for her protecting a smuggling passage beneath Wengyu Road.
• The young woman reveals that she had poisoned Fusate, resents the moral debt her father tried to leave her, and wants a new mentor once Derino rises in power. As she hums and cries alone, an unseen man speaks beside her, startling her.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun displays exceptional swordsmanship and keen investigative instincts. Though he appears composed, he admits he nearly killed the young woman after suspecting her of poisoning her father.
• White Line is shaken by Xia Lun’s accusation and struggles to reconcile it with the young woman’s visible grief.
• The young woman first appears devastated and devoted to her father, but the later conversation reveals her ambition, resentment, and involvement in the events surrounding his death. Her emotions remain complicated: she crushes his final note yet cries while singing a childhood song.
• Fusate reports the political bargain behind the murder, while the young woman treats him dismissively and asserts her independence.
• The guards move from fear and hesitation to helping recover and bury the victims; they also react with awe to Xia Lun’s fighting ability.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: The young woman’s public grief conceals a more calculating side, while the apparent rebel attack is part of a larger political arrangement.
• Debt and obligation: The father’s loving final message, the young woman’s resentment of moral indebtedness, and the bargain between Derino and the young woman all frame relationships as obligations.
• Power and oppression: The conflict between Slave owners and the Unassigned reflects resistance to imposed bonds and the exploitation of Slaves.
• Grief, revenge, and betrayal: The young woman’s loss is entangled with suspicion that she helped bring about her father’s death, leaving her motives unresolved.