Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun realizes the death fog can permanently destroy the Man in the Flesh’s body and prevent his revival. He throws the brute’s corpse into the fog, where it is consumed.
• Xuan Yan is stunned that the problem she has struggled with can be solved so simply. Xia Lun mocks her, then reassures her that she should focus on her strengths while he handles the planning.
• To hide their escape and destroy evidence, Xia Lun organizes a cover-up: Xuan Yan changes into a cultist’s clothes, wears a mask, and leaves her bloodied robe and misleading footprints to the west.
• Xia Lun plants gunpowder in the darkroom and rigs dynamite to a dead tree as a booby trap. They set fires in separate parts of the temple, then escape by the eastern trail.
• The temple becomes a massive blaze. Manhunter arrives too late to catch them. Although a cultist points him toward the false western trail, Manhunter suspects someone clever is helping Xuan Yan and investigates the temple himself.
• Manhunter discovers Xia Lun’s explosive device. As its fuse burns out, the chapter ends on the brink of an explosion.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun proves resourceful and ruthlessly practical, using the death fog, disguises, arson, and a trap to frustrate pursuit. He privately recognizes that he manipulates Xuan Yan by insulting her and then offering comfort, but sees it as useful and feels little guilt.
• Xuan Yan moves from fear and confusion to trust and admiration. Though she doubts her intelligence, she follows Xia Lun’s instructions and takes initiative when praised.
• Manhunter emerges as a perceptive pursuer: unlike his subordinate, he questions the obvious trail and correctly infers that Xuan Yan has an intelligent ally. His investigation puts him in danger.

Significant themes

• Ingenuity over force: Xia Lun survives through observation and planning rather than simply fighting.
• Trust and manipulation: Xuan Yan relies on Xia Lun, while he consciously shapes her confidence through a mix of ridicule and reassurance.
• Misdirection and evidence: Disguises, false tracks, and fire become tools for controlling what enemies can learn.
• Escalating danger: The escape appears successful, but Manhunter’s suspicion and the armed trap leave the outcome uncertain.

Plot and key events

• Manhunter investigates the strange cylinder Xia Lun left at the temple. His meddling triggers a mining-explosive trap, killing him and many Mind Fasting Sect followers.
• Manhunter revives fifteen minutes later to find the blast has helped ignite a vast wildfire. Master Fleshbound appears beside him, shielding them from the flames and from nearby followers’ notice.
• Master Fleshbound reveals that hunting Xuan Yan was merely busywork: she considers Xuan Yan firmly under her control. She orders Manhunter to kill “Master Danyang,” identifying him as Xia Lun, a dream intruder who has never taken a Yin Longevity Pill and who killed Snake Face and the squad leader. She directs Manhunter east, back toward Sorrow Hill City, and promises reinforcements.
• Meanwhile, Xia Lun and Xuan Yan flee west. Xia Lun argues that the fire should spread further, claiming that destroying the city’s corrupt environment will avenge and save its victims. Xuan Yan accepts his dubious reasoning and agrees to help him set more fires.
• Xia Lun’s explosives kill nearly twenty pursuers, earning him memory points and advancing his Mass Murderer specialty.
• Xuan Yan shares her theory that Sorrow Hill City is trapped in an endless, layered nightmare created by Master Fleshbound, with Yin Longevity Pills binding people to repeated events. Her déjà vu suggests she has lived through the same betrayals and deaths many times. She believes killing Master Fleshbound may allow them to awaken.
• Xuan Yan admits she has taken a Yin Longevity Pill, which explains why she is controlled and why she cannot resist the secret art. Xia Lun, who has not taken one, may be able to resist it. Her explanation triggers a system notice: “Hidden Worldview discovered!”

Character developments and interactions

• Manhunter is shown as reckless and fearful of Master Fleshbound, yet eager for her favor and the longevity pills she provides. Her secret art makes him voice his private thoughts aloud, leaving him exposed and obedient.
• Master Fleshbound reveals her contempt for Manhunter and her manipulative control over him. Though she toys with him, she gives him a serious new target: Xia Lun.
• Xia Lun remains calculating and ruthless, using explosives and arson to destabilize the sect’s control. He manipulates Xuan Yan with moral-sounding arguments, but her account of the nightmare unsettles him and raises doubts about the world itself.
• Xuan Yan is initially hesitant about the wildfire, then easily persuaded by Xia Lun. More importantly, she shows unexpected insight: her remembered repetitions lead her to articulate the chapter’s hidden explanation for the setting. Her trust in Xia Lun and hope of waking motivate her to fight Master Fleshbound.

Significant themes

• Control and resistance: Master Fleshbound dominates the city through secret arts and pills; Xia Lun’s freedom from the pills may make him a threat.
• Cycles, memory, and reality: Repeated events and déjà vu suggest that apparent life may be an endless dream, blurring the line between waking and dreaming.
• Chaos as liberation—and harm: Xia Lun treats destruction as a path to breaking an oppressive order, while the spreading fire also threatens widespread casualties.
• Manipulation and unlikely insight: Xia Lun persuades Xuan Yan through faulty logic, yet she becomes the one to reveal the deeper truth.

Key plot points and events

• After Xuan Yan’s deductions reveal that their situation is a series of nested nightmares created by the “Man in the Flesh,” Xia Lun’s system confirms the hidden worldview and awards him 1,000 memory points.
• The discovery grants Xia Lun the perk “Unveil the Veil,” which raises his perception from 17 to 19 but permanently worsens his mental state. He realizes the unusually large reward signals that the Man in the Flesh is exceptionally dangerous.
• As they descend the mountain toward Sorrow Hill City, Xia Lun asks Xuan Yan how the Man in the Flesh’s illusions work. Xuan Yan explains that the creature is weak in direct combat but wields powerful illusion magic, especially against people who have taken Yin Longevity Pills.
• Xuan Yan believes the pills contain the Man in the Flesh’s brain matter, allowing her illusions to bypass bodily defenses and attack the mind directly. The creature can also survive losing brain matter.
• Xia Lun concludes that defeating her will require strategy rather than brute force. He proposes using Xuan Yan’s Eyeball Coin, which can test whether statements are true, to investigate possible weaknesses.
• Xuan Yan warns that using the coin damages the user’s souls and spirits and can cause severe mental harm. Despite her concern that Xia Lun is too clever to withstand it, he insists on taking responsibility and receives the coin.
• The chapter ends as Xia Lun inspects it and sees its item name—Daoist Huang’s Eyeball—and its unique grade.

Character development and interactions

• Xia Lun shifts from shock to focused analysis. He trusts Xuan Yan’s seemingly implausible deductions, recognizes the danger behind his reward, and applies his tactical thinking to devise a way to investigate the enemy.
• Xuan Yan remains self-deprecating and convinced that others doubt her, but she shares what she knows and thanks Xia Lun. Though she initially prepares to risk using the coin herself, she yields it to him after he asserts his role as the planner.
• Their partnership deepens: Xia Lun validates Xuan Yan’s instincts, while she provides crucial information and ultimately entrusts him with a dangerous artifact. Their exchanges also highlight the contrast between his analytical confidence and her odd, rambling explanations.

Significant themes

• Knowledge has a cost: uncovering hidden truths improves Xia Lun’s perception but permanently damages his mental state.
• Strategy over strength: the Man in the Flesh is physically vulnerable yet terrifying because of her supernatural abilities, making information and ingenuity essential.
• Risk and reward: Xia Lun recognizes that powerful gains—such as the memory points and the coin’s potential—are warnings as well as opportunities.
• Wisdom and foolishness: Xuan Yan’s belief that foolishness protects people from supernatural strain challenges ordinary assumptions about intelligence and resilience.

Key plot points and events

• The chapter introduces Daoist Huang’s Eyeball, a sinister “Uniqueness” item containing the divination power of Xuan Yan’s vanished master. It can answer specific yes-or-no questions accurately, but its use damages the user’s mental and physical health.
• Xia Lun suspects Xuan Yan might be connected to Man in the Flesh, but Xuan Yan dismisses the idea, proudly pointing to her formal ordination as proof that she is a legitimate Daoist.
• Xia Lun uses the coin to test his theory about ending the Nightmare. The first answer confirms that killing Man in the Flesh will end it. He then learns that purely physical attacks cannot kill her, and that Yin Bo Mist cannot kill her either.
• Xia Lun’s fourth use exceeds the coin’s safe limit and causes an intracranial hemorrhage. His Transcendent Regeneration heals him, though the recovery triggers intense hunger; Nutrient Paste restores him.
• A further divination confirms that Man in the Flesh’s objective is connected to the way she can be killed. Xia Lun links this to the Yin Longevity Pill’s designation as ritual material and infers that her plan involves a ritual.
• As he begins testing whether stopping that ritual is the only way to defeat her, the Mind Fasting Sect’s pursuers arrive, drawn by the coin’s ringing.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains methodical and composed, using each divination to test a theory and narrow down possibilities. He is willing to risk the coin’s dangers, but his regeneration and preparation—including carrying Nutrient Paste—help him survive the physical cost.
• Xuan Yan is alarmed by Xia Lun’s repeated use of the coin and believes he will go mad after a second use. Her panic and regret reveal how strongly she fears losing him, while Xia Lun’s calm explanations reassure her.
• Their exchange highlights their differing approaches: Xuan Yan reacts emotionally and tries to stop the danger; Xia Lun relies on structured deduction and treats the divination as a tool.

Significant themes

• Knowledge has a cost: the coin provides perfect answers, but extracting them can damage mind and body.
• Reason amid supernatural horror: Xia Lun counters disturbing visions by focusing on his deductions, showing how disciplined thinking can function as a survival tool.
• Ritual and hidden purpose: the clues suggest Man in the Flesh’s objective and the ritual behind it are central to defeating her.
• Preparation and adaptation: Xia Lun’s prior experience with regeneration’s hunger leads him to bring supplies, turning a near-fatal weakness into a manageable cost.

Chapter Summary: “Stealth”

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun uses Daoist Huang’s Eyeball to divine how to kill the Man in the Flesh. The result is partially correct: stopping the Man in the Flesh’s Ritual can kill him, but it is not the only method.
• The extra divination severely drains Xia Lun’s Life Force, leaving his hands withered. He recovers after swallowing nutrient food, then returns the Eyeball Coin to Xuan Yan rather than keeping it for himself.
• With the Mind Fasting Sect’s pursuers closing in, Xia Lun decides that he and Xuan Yan should avoid combat and sneak toward Sorrow Hill City. He reasons that the hunters’ noisy search is meant to provoke them into revealing themselves, and that the encirclement is weakest on the southern route.
• They silently eliminate three Mind Fasting Sect cultists blocking their path. Xia Lun kills one, while Xuan Yan kills two; the system awards Xia Lun Memory Points for her kills as well. Xia Lun’s Stealth specialization also improves.
• At Stream Elder Bridge, they find no guards, but discover numerous plague victims and Skinned Corpses hanging beneath it. Xuan Yan explains that a medicine called Red Reishi, once distributed as a cure by Bai the Landlord, saved some people but caused others to become mushroom hosts after death.
• Crossing the bridge, Xia Lun studies Xuan Yan’s carefully coordinated footwork and realizes it may be connected to Stealth. He also learns that Bai the Landlord rose to power during the plague, becoming Lord Bai, and had once clashed with the Man in the Flesh over alleged fake medicine.
• Their route toward the city is blocked by another group of enemies in open ground, where hiding or slipping past is impossible. Xia Lun proposes retreating and then disguising themselves as Mind Fasting Sect believers arriving from the city, so they can blend into the pursuing group.

Character development and interactions

• Xia Lun shows sharp deductive reasoning by interpreting the Eyeball Coin’s “partially correct” verdict. Despite his physical distress, he stays composed, plans around the danger, and chooses stealth over a needless fight. His refusal to deceive Xuan Yan over the artifact establishes his personal code.
• Xuan Yan remains alert and capable in combat, backing Xia Lun’s plan and killing two cultists efficiently. She trusts him with the Eyeball Coin and later guides him across the bridge, unintentionally helping him improve his Stealth.
• The pair’s cooperation deepens: Xuan Yan watches over Xia Lun, shares her knowledge of the plague and city, and follows his tactical lead. Xia Lun, in turn, learns from her movements and respects her trust.

Significant themes

• Knowledge at a cost: Divination reveals a crucial weakness but damages Xia Lun’s body.
• Stealth and restraint: Survival depends on avoiding a battle against overwhelming numbers, not simply overpowering opponents.
• Trust and integrity: Xia Lun considers taking the artifact but rejects deception, reinforcing the importance of mutual trust.
• Disaster exploited for power: The Red Reishi epidemic and Lord Bai’s rise suggest that apparent cures and public calamities can conceal exploitation.
• Corruption and transformation: The plague’s victims become fungal growths and undead, blurring the boundary between healing, death, and monstrous change.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun and Xuan Yan approach Stream Elder Bridge, now guarded by Mind Fasting Sect cultists and Skinned Corpses.
• Xia Lun poses as a scout from Sorrow Hill City carrying news for Manhunter. He combines selective truths with lies, then bribes the checkpoint leader with Yin Longevity Pills.
• The leader accepts the story and sends them across the bridge with a guide, saying Manhunter is near the mountain road. Xia Lun’s deception appears to have worked.
• As they cross, Xuan Yan suddenly draws her sword and warns that the Man in the Flesh is on the far side and has spotted them. Xia Lun is caught off guard by her alertness—and by the apparent threat.

Character developments

• Xia Lun shows confidence in improvisation and social manipulation, using bribery and the cultists’ own assumptions to pass the checkpoint. He doubts Xuan Yan’s ability to maintain the disguise.
• Xuan Yan initially appears awkward and obedient, but at the critical moment becomes sharply vigilant and decisive, contradicting Xia Lun’s low opinion of her.

Significant themes

• Deception and partial truths: Xia Lun’s fabricated identity succeeds because he arranges true details into a misleading story.
• Trust and escalation: One guard’s acceptance makes the lie easier to pass along.
• Appearance versus reality: Xuan Yan’s seeming foolishness hides her capacity to recognize danger.
• Uneasy safety: The torchlit bridge offers a brief sense of reassurance amid grotesque violence and looming danger.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun instructs Xuan Yan to stay silent and follow his lead; she agrees, though he doubts her.
• He persuades and bribes the checkpoint leader, who shifts from suspicion to cooperation and assigns them an escort.
• Xuan Yan abruptly takes control of the moment by warning Xia Lun about the Man in the Flesh, ending the apparent success of his plan on a cliffhanger.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun spots a veiled woman resembling the Man in the Flesh—the same figure he encountered in the temple’s Darkroom—and shoots her before she can attack Xuan Yan.
• The target falls into the ravine, revealing itself as a corpse inhabited by a Red Reishi Avatar, not the Man in the Flesh. Xia Lun gains 10 Memory Points and suspects the avatar can appear near groups of corpses.
• Xuan Yan warns that the Mind Fasting Sect Cultists are attacking. The group’s apparent friendliness gives way to open hostility.
• Xuan Yan and Xia Lun kill the Cultists and the Skinned Corpses at Stream Elder Bridge. One Cultist is caught by corpses beneath the bridge; Xia Lun shoots him to end his suffering. The battle is over in fewer than ten breaths.

Character developments

• Xia Lun acts quickly and decisively, shooting the apparent Man in the Flesh and fighting with impressive precision. His heightened senses, gun skill, and short-sword technique make him a formidable combatant. He also shows compassion by killing the trapped Cultist rather than leaving him to be eaten.
• Xuan Yan proves far more capable in combat than Xia Lun expected. Her sweeping sword strike decapitates a ring of Skinned Corpses, suggesting her swordsmanship has reached Mastery.

Significant themes

• Deception and uncertainty: The apparent Man in the Flesh is only an avatar, and her connection to nearby corpses raises new questions about how she appears.
• Violence and survival: Betrayal turns a tense encounter into a sudden, brutal fight in which hesitation means death.
• Competence revealed under pressure: Both protagonists demonstrate abilities beyond what their companions—or Xia Lun himself—seemed to expect.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun reacts protectively when the apparent Man in the Flesh points her umbrella at Xuan Yan, shooting before she can act.
• Xuan Yan’s warning shifts their focus from the strange apparition to the immediate threat of the Cultists.
• The two fight in tandem, though each handles enemies largely independently. Afterward, Xia Lun uses dry humor to remark that their attempt at stealth has ended in slaughter.

Key plot points and events

• After killing several Mind Fasting Sect cultists and Skinned Corpses, Xia Lun and Xuan Yan realize a huge horde is closing in. Xuan Yan warns that the Man in the Flesh’s real body remains alive and has likely alerted the other pursuers.
• Unable to fight the horde directly, Xia Lun decides to destroy Stream Elder Bridge to delay it. He places a gunpowder barrel and mining explosive at a weak point beneath the stone arch, then detonates them with a revolver shot.
• The explosion collapses the bridge, killing or scattering many enemies and cutting off the main pursuit. Xia Lun gains 680 Memory Points from the slaughter, bringing his Scenario total to 3,575.
• As they set off toward Sorrow Hill City, a high-ranking cultist with a massive crossbow catches up by crossing the ravine. Xuan Yan deflects a bolt aimed at her, and Xia Lun shoots the attacker dead. The cultist’s lack of a death fog suggests he will eventually revive, as high-rank heretics can do.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun stays calm under pressure, using his knowledge of structures and explosives rather than attempting a futile direct fight. He is thrilled by the destruction and the Memory Points it yields, but deliberately reins in his growing bloodlust.
• Xuan Yan trusts Xia Lun enough to obey his order to flee, despite being deeply anxious about leaving him behind. She mistakes the explosion for a Daoist technique such as palm thunder; Xia Lun explains that it was ordinary explosives. She also demonstrates formidable sword skill by cutting the crossbow bolt in half.
• Their partnership is marked by contrasting reactions: Xuan Yan is earnest and worried, while Xia Lun is practical, composed, and blunt—he says they should “kill them all” when she asks about enemies ahead.

Significant themes

• Ingenuity over strength: Xia Lun survives by exploiting the bridge’s structural weakness and turning the environment into a weapon.
• Power and its cost: The explosion offers tactical advantage and rewards, but the slaughter stirs Xia Lun’s violent impulses.
• Trust amid danger: Xuan Yan follows Xia Lun’s plan even when she does not understand it, while both respond quickly to protect each other.
• Persistent threat: Destroying the bridge buys time, not safety; powerful enemies can cross obstacles and return from death.

Key events

• A revived, bloodied horde of Skinned Corpses charges Xia Lun and Xuan Yan through the burning area around Stream Elder Bridge. Xuan Yan urges them to flee, explaining that fire can kill the creatures but their lack of pain lets them keep moving while they burn.
• Xia Lun sees that the flames are earning him memory points by killing the Corpses. Rather than retreat, he becomes excited and deliberately spreads the fire with fire-starters, igniting dry grass and trees.
• Despite Xuan Yan’s warnings that they could be trapped or burned, Xia Lun insists he has accounted for the wind and treats the arson as a way to break the multilayered dream.
• The spreading blaze unlocks part of Xia Lun’s Arsonist specialty. Its supernatural fires spread rapidly, resist extinguishing, harm spiritual beings, and gradually improve his constitution.
• The fire eventually kills the Skinned Corpses and cuts Xia Lun and Xuan Yan off from the Mind Fasting Sect pursuers. It also joins with the blaze at the Old Taoist Temple, leaving the sect’s forces surrounded by fire.
• The Manhunter becomes trapped in a loop: he repeatedly resurrects inside the flames, burns to death, and returns again. Unable to move his resurrection point out of range before the fire spreads, he exhausts his revivals. The chapter ends as he awakens somewhere safer, still overwhelmed by the pain of burning.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun shifts from initial unease to exhilaration when he realizes the fire is killing enemies and rewarding him with memory points. He reveals a reckless, increasingly supernatural affinity for arson, while framing his actions as a calculated strategy.
• Xuan Yan is practical and alarmed: she explains the Skinned Corpses’ resilience, pulls Xia Lun away from danger, and repeatedly warns him about the smoke and spreading flames. Xia Lun dismisses her concerns with jokes and confident reassurance.
• The Manhunter is revealed as a determined pursuer, but his resurrection ability becomes a liability in the fire. His repeated deaths and dwindling revivals culminate in apparent defeat.
• Xia Lun and Xuan Yan’s interaction contrasts her caution with his audacity; his decision to create an even larger fire turns a retreat into a dangerous offensive.

Significant themes

• Power through destruction: Xia Lun turns a hazardous fire into a weapon, a source of memory points, and a means of escape.
• Recklessness versus control: Xia Lun claims to have planned for the wind and danger, but the fire’s expansion threatens everyone nearby.
• Immortality’s limits: The Manhunter’s resurrection cannot save him when each return places him back in an environment that kills him again.
• Fire as transformation and liberation: The Arsonist specialty presents flames as both purification and rebellion against an oppressive, lifeless order.

Key plot points

• Manhunter regains consciousness at the Mind Fasting Sect’s headquarters after Master Fleshbound uses a Secret Art to revive him.
• He recalls Master Danyang’s escalating destruction: Danyang started a powerful fire near Stream Elder Bridge and has been setting further fires to spread it.
• Master Fleshbound concludes the attack is aimed at her. She believes Danyang is exploiting the chaos to steal her destined opportunity—the Yin Longevity Pills.
• While the fire drew away the teams pursuing Danyang and Xuan Yan, the pair likely entered Sorrow Hill City. Manhunter fears they could reach the real-world Seven Hills City once the ritual ends.
• Fleshbound says she has offered a bounty of 1,500 Yin Longevity Pills and mobilized the city to hunt Danyang. She also claims the ritual cannot be easily stopped: it should succeed within twenty-four double-hours, after which she will grant the participants eternal happiness in their dreams.

Character developments and interactions

• Manhunter awakens shaken but determined to stop Danyang. He honestly reports what he witnessed and challenges Fleshbound’s confidence, worrying about the danger to the city and the ritual.
• Master Fleshbound is unexpectedly calm rather than punitive. She reveals her interpretation of Danyang’s motives and the scale of her response, though Manhunter suspects her reassurance masks uncertainty.
• Master Danyang is reframed from an apparently senseless madman into a human opponent using arson and disorder strategically against Fleshbound. His alliance with Xuan Yan, a formidable fighter, makes him more dangerous.
• The exchange shows a wary relationship between Manhunter and Fleshbound: he supplies information and questions her plans, while she explains the crisis and asserts control.

Significant themes

• Chaos as strategy: Danyang’s destruction is not random; disorder can weaken an opponent’s advantages.
• Appearance versus motive: Manhunter sees madness, while Fleshbound interprets the fires as calculated action.
• Control and uncertainty: Fleshbound promises success and mobilizes the city, but Danyang’s infiltration leaves the outcome uncertain.
• Dreams and promised happiness: The ritual’s approaching completion raises the question of what “perfect” eternal happiness within a dream is worth.

Chapter Summary: “Flesh Tantra”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Manhunter learns from Man in the Flesh that the Nuo Ring Hour ritual is nearly complete, filling him with religious devotion and emotional excitement. He believes the Mind Fasting Sect’s promise of “eternal happiness” is genuine.
• Manhunter reflects on his past as a Prefectural Office official who once investigated Man in the Flesh. He came to suspect that her human appearance is an illusion and that her true nature is an unusual spirit existing within human consciousness.
• Man in the Flesh gives Manhunter a scarlet eyeball, explaining that its true function is to activate the dream poison in Yin Longevity Pills. Anyone who looks into it for long enough will have their consciousness expelled and their body transformed into a Skinned Corpse.
• She orders Manhunter to make Xuan Yan look into the eyeball for three seconds, insisting that this objective is more important than simply killing Xuan Yan and Master Danyang.
• After Manhunter leaves, Man in the Flesh reveals her calculating and secretive nature. Her apparent body dissolves, and her consciousness returns to the dreamlike realm dominated by the Nuo-Mask Plague.
• She reviews her Mind Fasting Dream-Boundary Scripture, which explains her plan to achieve ascension and create a true golden core:
  • Cultivate the “true” through the false realm of dreams.
  • Combine internal and external alchemy.
  • Use human bodies as furnaces.
  • Purify the dream poison in Yin Longevity Pills by exploiting the Nuo-Mask Plague.
  • Turn every person in every dream layer into a Skinned Corpse so that no impurity remains.
• Man in the Flesh admits that her entire plan depends on success in the current dream layer. Although killing Master Danyang would be ideal, Manhunter is her backup plan.
• She takes both an astrology book and the forbidden Evil Flesh Codex, Flesh Tantra, preparing to continue her scheme.
• In the city, the Mind Fasting Sect publicly offers Yin Longevity Pills as rewards for killing or reporting Xuan Yan and Master Danyang. Desperate citizens rush to obtain the pills.
• An elderly man eats the pills from the ground and soon suffers a horrific transformation: his head explodes, scarlet mushrooms grow from his body, and he becomes a Mushroom Man. Other citizens begin suffering similar attacks.
• Meanwhile, Xuan Yan and Xia Lun infiltrate Sorrow Hill City after using fires to distract and disperse the Mind Fasting Sect’s forces. They debate whether to start more fires but decide that gathering information about the ritual is more important.
• Xuan Yan remembers that Lord Bai, a figure within the city, is secretly resisting Man in the Flesh. Before they can act on this information, the mushroom outbreak begins, and the Mind Fasting Sect declares that the city is under attack.

Character Developments

• Manhunter is shown to be a sincere believer rather than merely an opportunist. His loyalty to Man in the Flesh is reinforced by his belief that she can bring universal happiness. However, his eagerness also makes him vulnerable to manipulation.
• Man in the Flesh emerges as an ambitious, ruthless strategist. She hides the true nature of her plan even from Manhunter, treats him as expendable insurance, and is willing to sacrifice the entire population of the dream realm for ascension.
• Her apparent compassion and religious language contrast sharply with her willingness to use people as alchemical ingredients and transform them into corpses.
• Xuan Yan and Xia Lun function as covert infiltrators. Xuan Yan is impulsive and enthusiastic about using fire, while Xia Lun is more cautious and focused on intelligence-gathering.
• Xuan Yan’s memory begins to return, allowing him to recall Lord Bai’s resistance to the Mind Fasting Sect.

Significant Themes

• Faith and manipulation: The Mind Fasting Sect attracts followers through promises of eternal happiness, while its leaders conceal horrific intentions.
• Dream versus reality: Man in the Flesh’s existence and methods blur the boundary between subjective dreams and objective reality.
• Sacrifice and ascension: Her path to immortality requires turning human beings into fuel, vessels, and corpses, presenting enlightenment as a grotesque process of mass exploitation.
• Risk and reversal: Man in the Flesh invokes the Daoist principle that “reversal is the movement of the Dao,” accepting increasingly dangerous gambles to complete her plan.
• Body horror and corruption: Yin Longevity Pills, Skinned Corpses, Mushroom Men, and the Flesh Tantra all emphasize the transformation and violation of the human body.
• Mass hysteria: The promise of pills causes starving citizens to attack one another, showing how desperation can turn ordinary people into instruments of violence.

Character Interactions

• Manhunter pledges himself to Man in the Flesh and accepts her command to deceive Xuan Yan.
• Man in the Flesh deliberately withholds the full purpose of the eyeball from Manhunter, maintaining control over him.
• Xuan Yan and Xia Lun cooperate during their infiltration, with Xia Lun restraining Xuan Yan’s destructive impulses.
• The Mind Fasting Sect manipulates the city’s commoners by distributing pills and offering bounties.
• Xuan Yan identifies Lord Bai as a potential ally just as the pill-induced mushroom outbreak plunges the city into chaos.

Key events

• Red mushrooms erupt from civilians’ heads beneath the Drum Tower, transforming them into Fungus Zombies. The zombies initially move as if summoned, then fight the Mind Fasting Sect after a preacher attacks one.
• Xuan Yan remembers that they can contact Lord Bai through a mushroom linked to the Inner-Seeing Network, though she knows little else about it.
• When a Mushroom Man tears off a preacher’s mask, the crowd discovers the cultists’ bodies are made of Yin Longevity Pills. Pill-addicted civilians turn on the preachers, while Mushroom Men set fires and chant “Long live Danyang,” apparently framing Xia Lun.
• Xia Lun and Xuan Yan flee across rooftops. In the streets, Xia Lun kills rioters who threaten them but lets others pass; they find the rioters feeding on corpses.
• A patrol of Mind Fasting Sect cultists approaches, moving and speaking in eerie unison. Xia Lun identifies himself as Danyang and accuses “Bai” of using his title to start the fires. He then shoots the nearby rioters before they can report him.
• The lead cultist removes his mask, revealing a face crowded with mushrooms. He offers cooperation and information about the Man in the Flesh’s Ritual. He says the Man in the Flesh has disrupted his effort to gather Inner-Seers and develop the Inner Eye by sending Slaves after Xia Lun and Xuan Yan.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains pragmatic and alert, protecting himself and Xuan Yan amid the violence. He suspects the mushrooms share awareness through a network and seizes the chance to confront whoever is behind the fires.
• Xuan Yan recovers her memories enough to explain how to reach Lord Bai, but her knowledge remains fragmentary. She follows Xia Lun through the escape and prepares to fight when the patrol appears.
• The masked cultist’s offer reveals that the Mushroom Men have their own agenda and may oppose the Man in the Flesh, despite the chaos they are causing.
• Xia Lun’s direct accusation of “Bai” shocks Xuan Yan, who is unsure why he addresses the cultists that way.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and false blame: The Fungus Zombies use Xia Lun’s title to implicate him in the fires.
• Addiction and bodily horror: The revelation that cultists are made of Yin Longevity Pills turns the crowd’s dependence into grotesque violence.
• Shared consciousness and hidden networks: The mushrooms’ synchronized behavior suggests a collective awareness—the possible Inner-Seeing Network.
• Unstable alliances: The cultist proposes cooperation against the Man in the Flesh, but his motives and trustworthiness remain uncertain.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun demands information about Man in the Flesh’s Ritual from Lord Bai’s mushroom-parasitized followers. They explain that the public story—that the Ritual will disperse the Death Fog—is false.
• The Red Reishi is not a medicine but a powerful Fungus Lord. The “Skinned Corpse plague” is Dream Poison in the Yin Longevity Pill, which draws people’s souls into a dream. Joining the Inner-Seeing Network can protect a person’s soul, though it transforms them into a Mushroom Zombie.
• Lord Bai’s followers know Man in the Flesh has prepared a second Ritual at a place called the Nexus, but not its exact location or purpose. They propose using Xia Lun as bait: provoke Man in the Flesh into using her Secret Art, then track her true location and attack.
• The followers reveal that they have already manipulated Xia Lun into staying long enough for Man in the Flesh to locate him. A giant, axe-wielding pursuer arrives, but the Mushroom Zombies kill him.
• Xia Lun agrees to cooperate on the condition that Lord Bai provide him with a hundred Nuo-Mask Plague followers to kill. A huge palanquin carried by Mushroom Zombies approaches, apparently bearing Lord Bai’s true body. The followers soon deliver prisoners, and Xia Lun kills them, unlocking the Mass Murderer Specialty and raising his Memory Points to 5,000.
• As Xuan Yan watches Xia Lun’s slaughter with unease, Lord Bai’s followers disparage Man in the Flesh and imply the city’s lives should belong to them. Before the situation can develop further, a crossbow bolt destroys a Mushroom Zombie’s head. A cloaked Manhunter bursts in and raises a chaotic crimson eyeball toward Xuan Yan, shouting allegiance to Master Fleshbound.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains focused on the Ritual and quickly adapts after realizing Lord Bai’s followers have tricked him into serving as bait. Rather than dwell on the betrayal, he negotiates for a reward and embraces the violence it enables.
• Xuan Yan questions the revelation that they are outside the Real World, then supports Lord Bai’s plan on the grounds that time is running short. But she becomes disturbed by Xia Lun’s killing and withdraws into the shadows.
• Lord Bai’s followers present themselves as allies and truth-tellers, but their scheme shows they are calculating and willing to manipulate Xia Lun. Their views on who deserves to control the city’s people also create tension with Xuan Yan.
• Man in the Flesh remains unseen, but the followers’ plan depends on provoking her into revealing her location. Her forces—or those acting for her—continue to threaten the group.

Significant themes

• Truth and deception: The city’s accepted account of the Ritual is a mask, while even apparent allies conceal their motives.
• Dream, identity, and survival: The Dream Poison threatens to consume individual souls; joining the fungal collective offers protection at the cost of transformation.
• Power and exploitation: Both factions appear willing to use ordinary people as resources, while Xia Lun’s demand for prisoners and his killing reflect the same brutal calculus.
• Trust and uneasy alliances: Cooperation is driven less by loyalty than by shared enemies and competing interests.

Plot and key events

• The Manhunter’s attempt to use a bloody eyeball fails. The Fungus Zombies claim the Man in the Flesh has abandoned him and then turn on everyone, revealing their own plan to make them “Inner-Seers.”
• Xia Lun shoots the Fungus Zombies and Manhunter, but Lord Bai’s Mushroom Knights charge. The Manhunter’s eyeball activates after his death, sending a beam into the sky and opening the Red Moon’s immense, square-pupiled eye.
• The Red Moon fixes on Xuan Yan, breaking her mask and infecting her with its gaze. Xia Lun pulls her away and escapes through the burning city.
• The Red Moon destroys Lord Bai’s Mushroom army; the soldiers dissolve into Yin Longevity Pills. Xia Lun and Xuan Yan head for the Little Cave Ward, where the sky is hidden and its gaze may not reach them.
• A vast mass of Skinned Corpses blocks their way. As Xuan Yan’s mind deteriorates, she unleashes powerful sword techniques, blasting a route through the dead and leading them down into the ward.
• Once sheltered, Xuan Yan tells Xia Lun that she is nearing madness and may become a Skinned Corpse, but insists there is still hope: they must stop the Man in the Flesh’s Ritual. She reveals that, through the Sympathetic Law, she has learned the location of its true body.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun stays practical under pressure: he shoots decisively, protects Xuan Yan from the Red Moon’s gaze, and keeps moving toward shelter. He is troubled by her sacrifice but respects her resolve.
• Xuan Yan shifts from a disoriented victim of the Red Moon’s influence to the pair’s fierce protector, using her sword at great cost to herself. Despite her fading consciousness, she briefly regains clarity to entrust Xia Lun with the mission.
• Their bond is evident in Xia Lun’s efforts to save her and Xuan Yan’s choice to clear the way for him. She also tries to reassure him, despite the severity of her condition.
• The Manhunter’s failed devotion and Lord Bai’s betrayal expose how unreliable the factions’ loyalties are; Xia Lun and Xuan Yan are left dependent on each other.

Significant themes

• Madness and sacrifice: Survival and resistance demand a steep mental and physical price, especially from Xuan Yan.
• Betrayal and false faith: The Manhunter’s devotion is unanswered, while the Fungus Zombies turn on their supposed allies.
• Humanity amid horror: Even as the city’s people become part of a monstrous mass, Xia Lun and Xuan Yan retain purpose and care for one another.
• A fragile hope: The Red Moon’s destructive power seems overwhelming, but Xuan Yan’s discovery gives them a concrete goal: stop the Ritual.

Key plot points and events

• Xuan Yan explains that the Man in the Flesh’s true body is hidden in the Nexus beneath the mountain. To reach it, Xia Lun must find the ruined Prefectural Office, enter Mirror Pool, and follow an underwater passage into the mountain.
• Since the passage is too long to swim without help, Xuan Yan offers blood containing the remains of an Underwater Breathing Potion. Xia Lun drinks it despite worrying that her Yin Longevity Pill might affect him.
• Xuan Yan gives him Daoist Huang’s Eyeball Coin and places an Invisibility Talisman on him, which she claims will last four hours. She also insists he take her sword and give it to “me,” though her deteriorating thoughts make the meaning unclear.
• As Xia Lun retrieves the sword, Xuan Yan transforms into a Skinned Corpse. Rather than attacking, she curls up in distress. He binds her, returns her sword to its scabbard, promises to save her, and leaves.
• Xia Lun reviews his limited supplies and concludes that the blood-red eye in the sky can transform people who took Yin Longevity Pills. Because the Nexus is likely guarded by many Mind Fasting Sect cultists, he plans to rely on stealth, disguise, and explosives rather than direct combat.
• The Invisibility Talisman works: Skinned Corpses, civilians, and even the eye overhead fail to notice him. He reaches the flooded Prefectural Office, locates Mirror Pool and its northern channel, and dives in to begin the underwater journey.

Character developments

• Xia Lun becomes more resolved and self-reliant after leaving Xuan Yan behind. He feels grief and helplessness, but turns those feelings into determination to reach the Nexus and save her.
• He also recognizes his combat limitations and grows more eager to improve, though he puts that ambition aside to focus on the immediate mission.
• Xuan Yan briefly displays unusual clarity and knowledge, then rapidly loses her sanity and transforms. Her final actions—helping Xia Lun, giving him the coin, and asking him to deliver her sword—show that she remains concerned with the mission and may retain fragments of another memory or identity.

Character interactions

• Xuan Yan guides Xia Lun and sacrifices her own blood to help him survive the underwater passage.
• Xia Lun accepts her help but worries about the risks, then treats her gently after her transformation, binding rather than harming her.
• Their farewell is emotionally restrained: Xia Lun cannot offer false comfort, but promises to save her before leaving.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and loyalty: Xuan Yan endangers herself to help Xia Lun continue, while he commits to rescuing her.
• Madness and fractured identity: Xuan Yan’s coherence, confusion, and cryptic use of “me” suggest her identity and memories are coming apart.
• Survival through planning: Xia Lun’s careful inventory and reliance on stealth, disguise, and explosives contrast with the dangers of direct combat.
• Isolation and resolve: As the city collapses around him, Xia Lun accepts that he must proceed alone.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun swims through a narrow underwater passage, relying on Xuan Yan’s blood to breathe. He enters a cramped, one-way pipe and reaches a sealed granite door guarded by an intricate three-lock mechanism.
• Using watered-down Heightened Focus, he sees the locks’ underlying pattern and cuts through its axis, breaking them. The discovery reveals the hidden location Dream Nexus, earning him 300 Memory Points.
• A vengeful ghost lunges from behind the door. Xia Lun stabs and drags it into the passage, then destroys it, earning 500 Memory Points. He receives partial information about the Vengeful Ghost Exorcist perk, which suppresses spiritual entities and gradually improves Perception.
• Xia Lun enters a vast, maze-like cavern and spots a candlelit boat carrying Mind Fasting Sect cultists. Still invisible, he climbs aboard unnoticed.
• The cultists’ leader is revealed to be Little Green, now wearing a solid-green Nuo Mask and carrying a Judge’s Brush. Little Green warns the others that losing the candles in the Nexus could leave them trapped forever.

Character developments

• Xia Lun faces his anxiety in the dark, confined passage and turns fear into anger when attacked. His growing confidence and combat ability are evident in his swift destruction of the ghost.
• His Heightened Focus proves useful beyond combat, allowing him to perceive and solve an elaborate mechanism.
• Little Green appears to have gained authority and confidence since Xia Lun last saw him, suggesting a significant change in status or circumstances.

Significant themes

• Fear transformed into action: Xia Lun’s dread and frustration become aggression and resolve.
• Perception and insight: Focus lets Xia Lun recognize hidden structure where brute force fails.
• The supernatural and the tangible: Xia Lun treats a ghost as something that can be physically fought and defeated.
• Danger and entrapment: The one-way pipe and candle-dependent maze make the Nexus feel like a place where a single mistake could be fatal.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun uses Xuan Yan’s blood to survive underwater and benefits from the abilities he has acquired.
• He confronts and exorcises the Prefect of Sorrow Hill City, gaining both Memory Points and progress toward a new perk.
• He secretly boards the cultists’ boat, where he overhears Little Green directing the group and warning them about the dangers of the Nexus.

Key events

• Xia Lun, still concealed by Xuan Yan’s Invisibility Talisman, rides with Mind Fasting Sect members through a cavern. When dangerous Fallen Mist distorts their surroundings, the group lights candles and safely passes through.
• The cultists discuss their repeated dream cycles and the Man in the Flesh, who is preparing a ritual across multiple dream layers. They believe the Nexus connects the dreams to reality, making death there permanent.
• Little Green reveals that he remembers the cycles and has been organizing resistance. The group kills a fellow cultist whose loyalty is uncertain, then disposes of his body.
• Little Green explains that the Man in the Flesh’s true body remains hidden in the Nexus, while her projections operate in the dream layers. He believes an outsider called Master Danyang may know a way through the Yin Bo Mist—and may still be in the first dream layer.
• At the Mind Fasting Sect’s headquarters, an inspector notices the boat has one more passenger than the register lists. Little Green realizes the “extra” person is Xia Lun, recognizes his weapon, and covers for him, bribing the inspector with Yin Longevity Pills.
• In private, Xia Lun tells the group that they are inside a dream and that stopping the Man in the Flesh’s ritual may break it. Little Green proposes infiltrating the Book Cave, where senior disciples study and may learn about the ritual.

Character developments and interactions

• Little Green emerges as a seasoned, strategic resistance leader, quite unlike the ordinary cultist Xia Lun first saw. He recognizes Xia Lun as Master Danyang and risks exposure to protect him, hoping he can lead them out.
• Xia Lun remains hidden and observant, piecing together the dream system while concealing his identity. Though he presents himself as a potential guide, he is especially intrigued by the dangerous books in the Book Cave, which may benefit him.
• The old Prefect is revealed to have been infiltrating the Mind Fasting Sect and, in another phase of his nightmare, to have behaved like a vicious ghost. He is wary but joins the resistance.
• The burly rower acts decisively in killing the suspected traitor; the scholar urges restraint about supernatural talk. Once Little Green signals that Xia Lun is an ally, the group silently accepts him.

Significant themes

• Dreams, identity, and memory: Repeated dream cycles blur reality and consciousness, while some characters retain memories and others become lost in nightmares.
• Trust and secrecy: The resistance depends on identifying allies, concealing plans, and making dangerous judgments about loyalty.
• Power through knowledge: The ritual’s secrets—and the possible means of escape—are hidden in restricted texts, making the Book Cave a crucial next destination.
• Survival and sacrifice: Death in the Nexus is permanent, and the group is willing to kill or bribe to preserve its mission.

Summary: “The Final Preparations”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xia Lun, Little Green, and their companions travel through the Mind Fasting Sect’s underground Nexus toward the Book Cave. The area is heavily populated with Heretics, but everyone is occupied with preparations for the final Ritual.
• Little Green explains that the Book Cave contains the Evil Flesh Codex and that they would normally need Rahu’s authorization and Yin Longevity Pills to enter.
• Xia Lun spots Manhunter guarding the Book Cave. Manhunter briefly notices him, but appears drunk and does not recognize or expose him, allowing the group to proceed.
• Near the Council Cave, Little Green meets Rahu, a powerful, giant-like Heretic. Rahu orders him to report immediately to the Ritual construction site, revealing that only twelve hours remain before the Ritual and that its final preparations must be completed within nine hours.
• Through the open Council Cave door, Xia Lun observes Man in the Flesh’s true body presiding over numerous High-Rank Heretics and assigning tasks.
• Xia Lun realizes that killing Man in the Flesh’s true body inside the Nexus may prevent her from reviving. He begins planning a surprise attack, but understands that he must first draw away or obstruct the many Heretics guarding the area.
• At the Ritual construction site, Xia Lun sees a vast sunken area containing nearly a thousand Heretics and a massive structure resembling a Klein bottle. He considers collapsing the narrow passage above the site with Mining Explosives.
• The group then discovers the Supply Room, a relatively lightly guarded but strategically vital location connected to lifts transporting workers and materials.
• Seeing the construction site, supply area, and narrow passageways, Xia Lun forms the beginnings of a full plan involving explosions, sabotage, and an assault on Man in the Flesh.

Character Developments

• Xia Lun remains composed and observant despite being in enemy territory. His encounter with Manhunter demonstrates his ability to conceal fear and maintain his cover under pressure.
• He shifts from passively gathering information to actively planning a major offensive. His tactical thinking identifies the Nexus as the ideal place to kill Man in the Flesh permanently.
• Little Green proves useful as a guide and intermediary. He initially believes they should search the Book Cave for information, but then suggests that destroying the Ritual site may be enough to collapse the dream.
• Little Green also displays familiarity and rapport with Rahu, joking with him about Yin Longevity Pills and revealing that he has enough standing within the Sect to interact naturally with its leaders.
• Rahu is shown as an influential and physically imposing administrator who is focused on completing the Ritual preparations. His conversation reveals both the urgency of the work and the Sect’s promise of unlimited Yin Longevity Pills after the Ritual.
• Man in the Flesh is established as the central authority overseeing the final preparations and personally directing the High-Rank Heretics.

Significant Themes

• Preparation versus improvisation: The Sect is engaged in a massive, organized effort to complete the Ritual, while Xia Lun gradually assembles a counterplan from his observations.
• Deception and infiltration: Xia Lun and his companions move through enemy territory disguised among the Sect’s followers, relying on confidence and carefully controlled behavior to avoid detection.
• Weakness within strength: Although the Nexus is crowded with nearly a thousand Heretics, its narrow passages and dependence on key facilities create opportunities for sabotage.
• The importance of true bodies and permanence: Xia Lun recognizes that destroying Man in the Flesh’s physical body at the Nexus may prevent her supernatural revival.
• Time pressure: The twelve-hour countdown gives the chapter urgency and forces Xia Lun to act before the final Ritual can begin.

Character Interactions

• Xia Lun silently confronts Manhunter through eye contact, successfully maintaining his disguise when Manhunter dismisses the encounter as insignificant.
• Little Green and Rahu interact like familiar colleagues, combining formal obedience with lighthearted teasing. Their exchange also reveals Rahu’s confidence in the impending Ritual.
• Xia Lun observes Man in the Flesh directing the High-Rank Heretics, giving him valuable information about the Sect’s hierarchy and leadership.
• Little Green consults Xia Lun about whether to gather information or sabotage the Ritual, reinforcing Xia Lun’s role as the group’s strategist.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun completes preparations for a two-pronged plan to sabotage the Ritual: destroy the site with explosives and assassinate the Man in the Flesh. He also intends to use the chaos to loot the Book Cave.
• He plants the final Mining Explosive beside a weakened section of the Council Cave’s structure, then waits among the crowd.
• A drunken Cultist tells him about the “Arsonist” terrorizing the First Dream Layer—unaware that Xia Lun is the very killer being discussed.
• Little Green signals that the Supply Room operation is underway. His group has disabled the nearby lift and started a fire, drawing most of the crowd away from the Council Cave.
• After waiting for the corridor to clear, Xia Lun enters the meeting hall. He activates Heightened Focus, aims his Hammer at the Man in the Flesh, and fires.

Character developments

• Xia Lun remains controlled and deliberate despite his rising adrenaline, carefully timing his attack rather than rushing in.
• Little Green proves to be an active and coordinated partner, carrying out the diversion that creates Xia Lun’s opening.
• The drunken Cultist is boastful and well-meaning, but unknowingly reveals that the Cultists are organizing against Xia Lun.

Significant themes

• Deception and hidden identity: Xia Lun moves unnoticed among the Cultists, while they discuss him as a distant threat.
• Planning and improvisation: The operation combines explosives, fire, assassination, and looting, relying on coordinated actions and a carefully chosen moment.
• Tension and timing: Xia Lun waits for the diversion to pull people away before making his move, and Heightened Focus turns the attack into a suspended instant.

Character interactions

• The drunken Cultist tries to befriend and warn Xia Lun, encouraging him to avoid the suspected danger.
• Xia Lun gives the man a brief warning to flee, then ignores his advice and enters the Council Cave.
• Little Green communicates silently with Xia Lun, signaling that the diversion is ready.
• The High-Rank Heretics turn toward Xia Lun as he enters, but he attacks before they can respond.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun kills the Man in the Flesh with a headshot, then guns down nearly twenty high-ranking Mind Fasting Sect heretics who charge from the meeting hall.
• When more armed cultists enter, he plunges the hall into darkness, uses his heightened perception to fight by muzzle flash, and kills the reinforcements at close range with his gun and blade.
• To ensure the Man in the Flesh is dead, he shoots her repeatedly. Black flames consume her remains, and the system confirms she was a supernatural monster and vengeful ghost, awarding him 2,000 memory points.
• Xia Lun collects two books. Detailed Guide to Star-Guiding and Moon-Drawing can lead people through the Yin Bo Mist and back to reality, but he suspects it may be suspiciously easy to obtain. The Flesh Tantra teaches the secret art Life Drain, which can restore bodily and spiritual damage at a severe cost to his mental health.
• Although the grimoire’s visions and whispers briefly overwhelm him, Xia Lun breaks free, gains Life Drain, and sees a possible way to counter his soul-affecting curse. He resolves to seek more codices in the Book Cave, hoping to strengthen himself before confronting the Foresight Club.
• He seals the Council Cave and ignites a fuse connected to explosives. A planned blast collapses the passage toward the storeroom and ritual grounds, trapping pursuing cultists behind the rubble. Xia Lun then heads for the Book Cave.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun demonstrates ruthless efficiency, remaining composed while fighting overwhelming numbers. His heightened perception lets him aim with extraordinary precision and adapt to darkness.
• He is cautious as well as aggressive: he double-checks the Man in the Flesh’s death, questions the apparently convenient stage-clearing item, and builds contingencies into his escape plan.
• His discovery of Life Drain brings him genuine hope, since it may repair damage to his soul and help resolve his curse—though using it risks severe mental strain.
• The brief encounter with the drunkard ends when Xia Lun emerges from the massacre; the frightened man drops his flask and flees. Cultists then pursue Xia Lun, but his explosives prevent them from reaching him quickly.

Significant themes

• Preparation and strategy: Xia Lun’s layered traps and timed explosives turn a dangerous retreat into a controlled escape.
• Power and its costs: Life Drain offers potent healing but threatens the user’s mental health; forbidden knowledge is valuable and dangerous.
• Vengeance and violence: Xia Lun’s merciless killing of the sect’s high-ranking followers reflects the scale of their atrocities and his determination to stop them.
• Uncertainty beneath apparent rewards: The seemingly convenient guidebook prompts Xia Lun to question whether events follow predictable “game” logic.