Chapter Summaries

Chen Ling transformed into a red-clad opera figure and killed Qian Fan and the remaining Enforcers before collapsing, and Chu Muyun revealed that the Red King had invited him to join the Dusk Society. Elsewhere, Han Meng escaped Eight of Clubs and confronted a Dusk Society boy, accusing the organization of destroying an entire Human Domain.

• Chen Ling changed into a gun barrel, then into a female opera role resembling Chen Yan, and attacked Qian Fan and the Enforcers.
• Chen Ling killed Qian Fan and the two fleeing Enforcers, then returned to his original appearance and fell unconscious.
• Chu Muyun showed the shadowy man an envelope bearing a red [JOKER] card and said the Red King was behind the invitation to Chen Ling.
• Han Meng broke out of Eight of Clubs and aimed his gun at a boy from the Dusk Society, who invited him to join.
• Han Meng cited the Human Convention's order to kill Dusk Society members and accused the boy's organization of exterminating an entire Human Domain.

Han Meng found that the Dusk Society had slaughtered everyone at the Ice Spring Street celebration, while Chen Ling woke in the Theater and gained the skill [Mystic Eye]. The Theater then announced that he had completed the production and earned a designated draw as a new story began.

• Han Meng shot the boy, who faded into a portrait before vanishing, and then found twenty-two victims and nine silver coins at the residence.
• Chen Ling woke on the Theater stage and saw that his Audience Expectation had fallen from 77% to 27% after his connection was lost.
• Chen Ling used his unlocked bonus draw and received Chu Muyun's [Mystic Eye] skill from the Medicine God Path's [Blood Slaughter] path.
• Chen Ling read that he had completed the production, reached a highest Audience Expectation of 78%, and earned a designated draw.
• New lines of text appeared across the table, beginning with “Who... am I?” as a thunderstorm scene started.

Chen Ling reviewed the script of his recent experiences in the Theater, then woke and confronted Chu Muyun about his knowledge of Chen Yan and Chen Ling’s Fusionist identity. Chu Muyun revealed that he belonged to the secretive Dusk Society and tried to recruit Chen Ling, who remained wary.

• Chen Ling read a script that recorded his experiences, discovered it showed only scenes he had witnessed, and placed it on the Theater’s bookshelf as “Heartless.”
• After the intermission ended, Chen Ling woke in a room with Chu Muyun and held a blade to his throat, demanding to know why he had pretended that Chen Yan was real.
• Chu Muyun said he knew about Chen Ling’s fusion with a World-Ending Calamity and asked how Chen Ling had remained rational.
• Chu Muyun revealed that his miracle-doctor identity was fabricated and that he worked for the Dusk Society, a secret organization infiltrating the Human Domains.
• Chu Muyun offered Chen Ling high pay and help with the God Path, but Chen Ling refused to join before hearing more about the Society’s ideals.

Chen Ling declined Chu Muyun’s offer to join his organization and returned to Frost Street, where Han Meng confronted him about his connection to Chu Muyun and his dead brother. Chen Ling admitted that he could still see Chen Yan and accused Han Meng of failing to protect ordinary people.

• Chen Ling accepted a silver cube from Chu Muyun but said he needed time to consider the offer, then left Xiaofang Grocery Store and headed for Frost Street.
• Wu Youdong thanked Chen Ling for Chu Muyun’s miraculous treatment, saying his injuries had healed and he had grown taller.
• Chen Ling noticed signs that someone had entered his house and found Han Meng inside investigating.
• Han Meng questioned Chen Ling about Chu Muyun, Chen Yan’s death, and the extra bowl in the house.
• Chen Ling admitted that he saw Chen Yan as alive and accused Han Meng of failing to stop the killings on Ice Spring Street, leaving Han Meng silent and looking away.

After Han Meng left, Chen Ling mourned A-Yan at the Mass Grave and discovered that Chu Muyun’s silver square was a USB drive that transported him to his original world. He saw that a crimson meteor had just passed Earth and caused widespread destruction, leaving his return amid a disaster.

• Han Meng told Chen Ling he had passed the Martial Trial, could report to Enforcer headquarters, and had earned entry to the Martial Way Ancient Treasury before leaving.
• Chen Ling visited A-Yan’s grave, shared a cake with him, and worried about the World-Ending Calamity and whether to join the Enforcers.
• Chen Ling found the USB drive Chu Muyun had given him and inserted it into the snow, whereupon dark green code appeared and he fainted.
• Chen Ling woke in a modern restroom, recognized the mall around him, and realized he had returned to his original world.
• A giant screen reported that a crimson meteor had grazed Earth and triggered earthquakes and building collapses that had killed more than two thousand people.

Chen Ling returned to his former world in a vision that showed his family mourning his death, but he was pulled back to Mass Grave before he could reach his mother. Carrying the USB drive, he went to Xiaofang Grocery Store to demand answers from Chu Muyun about the Dusk Society.

• Chen Ling saw news about the Crimson Meteor and discovered that his [Slaughter Waltz] abilities had returned with him.
• Chen Ling reached his family’s apartment and saw his relatives mourning him while his mother held his photograph.
• Chen Ling tried to return to the ninth floor, but the elevator plunged as a notice said his time limit had expired and interrupted his reading.
• Chen Ling woke in Mass Grave, took the USB drive, and ran down the mountain.
• At Xiaofang Grocery Store, Chen Ling confronted Chu Muyun and demanded a proper talk about the USB drive.

Chu Muyun explained to Chen Ling how the Great Cataclysm began with humanity’s technological regression and self-destruction before the Ash Realm invaded. He then revealed that the Dusk Society sought to reverse the era and restart the world.

• Chu Muyun told Chen Ling that the USB drive showed the world before the Great Cataclysm, revealing that Chen Ling had traveled through time rather than between worlds.
• Chu Muyun explained that, 379 years earlier, a Crimson Meteor triggered the collapse of human technology and nations waged war to protect their power and resources.
• Chu Muyun recounted how the Ash Realm invaded the devastated world, survivors formed nine bases, and those bases eventually became the nine Domains.
• Chen Ling realized that his parents and nearly everyone he had known might have died in the Great Cataclysm, though he could do nothing about it.
• Chu Muyun said the Dusk Society gathered people who had despaired of the era and declared their purpose was to reverse the era and restart the world.

Chen Ling learned that the Dusk Society planned to restart the world using a recreated save file, and he joined the organization as [Red Heart 6]. Chu Muyun warned him about his unusual God Path and gave him a mission from the Red King before leaving for Aurora City.

• Chu Muyun explained that the Dusk Society had recreated a two-hour period from the era when the Red Star descended and hoped to use it to restart the world.
• Chen Ling chose to join the Dusk Society to try to return to his former life and protect his family and friends.
• Chen Ling chose the identity [Red Heart 6], and Chu Muyun explained the society’s loose rules and the save file’s limits.
• Chen Ling demonstrated his ability to transform into Chu Muyun and named his God Path skill [Formless].
• Chu Muyun warned Chen Ling that advancing his twisted God Path could cause brief mental confusion, then gave him a mission personally assigned by the Red King.

After deciding to grow stronger and find a way home, Chen Ling accepted the Dusk Society’s mission to steal a Martial Way Dao Foundation Fragment from the Martial Way Ancient Treasury. A disturbing dream revealed that advancing along his Twisted God Path required a deadly performance, and he wondered whether the Ancient Treasury mission could fulfill it.

• Chen Ling resolved to become stronger and considered joining the Law Enforcers while hiding his Dusk Society identity.
• Chen Ling read the Red King’s instructions to infiltrate the Martial Way Ancient Treasury and steal a Martial Way Dao Foundation Fragment, then burned the letter.
• Chen Ling dreamed that a blood-red God Path led toward home and that its next step required a performance involving at least fifty people with no survivors.
• Chen Ling woke and wrote down the condition, suspecting it was the price or requirement for advancing along his Twisted God Path.
• Chen Ling wrote “Martial Way Ancient Treasury” beneath the condition with a question mark as the Grand Theater’s audience shadows seemed to laugh.

Chen Ling took his oath as an Enforcer and learned that Han Meng had purged the Third District’s rebellious Enforcers, leaving the organization in turmoil. On his first patrol of Frost Street, Chen Ling bought peaches from an old woman and warned her that the infant on her cart had a fever, then found residents watching to see who would now control the street.

• Chen Ling received his Enforcer uniform and ID, took the oath, and was assigned to patrol Frost Street.
• Chen Ling overheard Enforcers say Han Meng had killed Ma Zhong, two other Law Enforcers, and more than fifty Enforcers tied to them, leaving only Han Meng and Xi Renjie as Law Enforcers in the Third District.
• Chen Ling bought two pounds of peaches from an old woman and used his Secret Eye to warn her that the infant on her cart had a fever.
• Chen Ling arrived on Frost Street and asked Boss Li why residents were watching him, and Boss Li explained that they wanted to see who would have the final say on the street.