Recaps

Feng Ling and the Hunters arrived in Black Mountain Town and saw the severe effects of Gene Pollution before settling into a temporary base. After finding confusion on the Hunter Forum about Pollution Spread, Feng Ling explained how a Labyrinth Administrator’s death caused a Maze to merge with the real world and how killing its Master could stop only some of the pollution.

• Feng Ling saw patients with mutated limbs and frost-like moss in the Medical Area, and Huangfu Miaomiao said her healing injections could not treat genetic mutations.
• Feng Ling secured permission to pitch a tent on the school playground for her Cat Spider and Cat Owl, then helped move supplies there.
• Hunters discussed the patients and suppressed reports on the forum while Feng Ling noticed that they knew little about Mazes and Xenomorphs.
• Feng Ling asked Li Qing for the coordinates of places where Labyrinth Administrators had died, and he agreed to convert them into human map coordinates.
• Feng Ling posted that an Administrator’s death caused Maze Pollution Spread and that killing the Labyrinth Master could not erase pollution that had already crossed the Maze’s perimeter.

Feng Ling shared information about the lingering pollution and avoided calls to lead the Hunter Alliance, while Huangfu Miaomiao worried that Feng Ling might turn against her. At a separate camp, Su Yuqing remained unable to contact Ye Zheng and Xu Yiming asked him to arrange a proper introduction to Feng Ling before they entered the Maze.

• Li Qing explained that pollution could take years or decades to disappear and that living Labyrinth Masters could worsen its spread by expanding their territory.
• Feng Ling published her update, ignored readers urging her to lead the Hunter Alliance, and gave Huangfu Miaomiao and Li Qing skull masks.
• Huangfu Miaomiao felt anxious about the hunters and feared Feng Ling might someday hate her, but Feng Ling offered her a matching mask.
• Su Yuqing reviewed Ye Zheng's cryptic messages and remained unable to reach her, so he had come with a healthy clone to confirm her safety.
• Xu Yiming showed Su Yuqing Feng Ling's Forum post and asked him to introduce them properly so they might team up with her inside the Maze.

Su Yuqing recruited Feng Ling to join Xu Yiming’s team for the operation, and General Yan briefed the Hunters on their mission to clear the remaining Contaminants in the Maze. The assembly ended with a Hunter asking whether they would operate without a Leader.

• Su Yuqing contacted Xu Yiming to help search for Ye Zheng, and Xu Yiming agreed to work with Feng Ling after learning she understood the Maze.
• Su Yuqing asked Feng Ling to cooperate with their team, and she agreed without making demands.
• The second batch of Hunters arrived in Black Mountain Town and gathered for a briefing by General Yan.
• General Yan explained that the Maze’s remaining Areas A, B, and C still held active Contaminants and ordered the Hunters to eliminate them.
• A Hunter asked General Yan whether the teams would operate freely or have a Leader.

Feng Ling and the other Hunters entered the contaminated Maze to search Zone A and fight its mutated creatures. The chapter ended as Feng Ling, Huangfu Miaomiao, and Li Qing stood motionless while the others battled a pack of Ice-Horned Wolves.

• General Yan refused to provide Protective Suits for the Hunters, gave them supplies and Micro Cameras, and advised them to split between Zones A, B, and C.
• Feng Ling joined Su Yuqing’s group and chose to enter Zone A with him.
• More than eighty Hunters approached the Containment Net, encountered dead animals and Contaminants, and gradually split into smaller groups.
• Feng Ling entered the Maze with Huangfu Miaomiao, Li Qing, and Su Yuqing, followed by Xu Yiming and the other Hunters.
• The Hunters fought a pack of Ice-Horned Wolves, while Feng Ling, Huangfu Miaomiao, and Li Qing stood still and watched.

After the Hunters rested at a campsite left by the Investigation Team, Feng Ling agreed to use Li Qing’s divination to find the direction with the most Contaminants. As the group prepared to set out, she quietly asked Li Qing whether that thing still existed in the heavily damaged Maze.

• The Hunters found a campsite, recognized signs that the Investigation Team had rested there, and stopped to warm themselves by a bonfire.
• Xu Yiming asked Su Yuqing why Feng Ling had not fought, and Su Yuqing explained that her ability was inconvenient to use in her Cold-Resistant Suit.
• Several female Hunters petted Feng Ling’s Cat Spider and asked about her Card Ability; Feng Ling explained that she cultivated new species and fed them fresh meat.
• Feng Ling asked Li Qing to divine the direction with the most Contaminants, and the Hunters agreed to rest ten more minutes before heading out.
• Feng Ling quietly asked Li Qing whether that thing still existed in the badly damaged Maze.

Feng Ling searched for an Idol to remove her useless Jellyfish Card and warned the Hunters about a Xenomorph that could plant eyes on others. The group encountered Snow Butterflies, then discovered a tree covered in hidden Contaminants as a branch attacked Cat Owl.

• Feng Ling explained that her Jellyfish Card had lost its ability to turn her transparent, and Li Qing agreed to help her find an Idol.
• Feng Ling showed the Hunters a specimen eye and asked them to report any Xenomorphs with similar eyes growing on their bodies.
• Feng Ling led the group through a silent forest while Cat Owl scouted ahead, but they found no signs of animals or Contaminants.
• The Hunters spotted and killed more than a hundred Snow Butterflies after Huangfu Miaomiao identified them as low-danger Contaminants.
• Cat Owl screeched, and Huangfu Miaomiao warned that the larch overhead was covered in Contaminants; a branch then stabbed toward Cat Owl.

Feng Ling and the Hunters encountered aggressive Night Spirits camouflaged as branches in the trees and decided to lure them down rather than climb into their attack range. Feng Ling tied a dead wolf beneath a tree as bait, promising to handle the creatures once they descended.

• The Cat Owl attacked a branch-like Night Spirit, which revealed its long body before leaping into a tree and disappearing among the branches.
• Huangfu Miaomiao identified the creature as a Night Spirit, and Su Yuqing explained how its hooked legs helped it climb.
• Feng Ling and the Hunters rejected setting a fire or climbing the trees as too dangerous, and Feng Ling proposed drawing the Night Spirits down with food.
• Feng Ling speculated that the Night Spirits had multiplied after the Labyrinth Master's death disrupted the Maze's food chain.
• Xu Yiming returned with dead wolves, and Feng Ling tied one beneath a tree as bait while the Hunters watched and waited.

Feng Ling discovered that the Night Spirits were attracted to blood and used a Grenade to destroy those gathered around a wolf carcass. As the Hunters prepared more traps and Huangfu Miaomiao joined in, Feng Ling grew bored and asked Li Qing to help her understand the Hive Card.

• Feng Ling cut open a wolf carcass, drawing the Night Spirits out of the trees with its blood.
• Feng Ling threw a Grenade at the gathered Night Spirits and blasted many of them apart.
• The Hunters split into groups to set more traps, and Feng Ling allowed Huangfu Miaomiao to help while warning her to be careful.
• Feng Ling burned the severed Night Spirits by a fire and asked Li Qing about the Maze Boss and local legends.
• Feng Ling turned the conversation to her Hive Card, startling Li Qing by asking him to help figure it out.

Feng Ling explained to Li Qing why she would not follow the Hive’s growth path toward endless reproduction, and they decided to focus on strengthening her weaknesses instead. Li Qing continued searching for Mazes without Administrators, while Huangfu Miaomiao returned to ask permission to hunt more Contaminants.

• Feng Ling told Li Qing that the Hive’s drive to nurture and multiply could eventually consume her and threaten humanity, so she wanted to adjust her growth direction.
• Li Qing proposed that Feng Ling compensate for weaknesses the Hive could not improve, such as her movement speed, by nurturing specialized Contaminants.
• Feng Ling agreed to shift from relying on quantity to improving quality, and Li Qing promised to search the Card library for suitable Cards.
• Li Qing said he had found forty-one Mazes without Administrators and had sorted through about half of them.
• Huangfu Miaomiao returned after blowing up nearby Contaminants and asked Feng Ling to let her hunt more; Feng Ling agreed and remarked that Little Skeleton disliked Li Qing.

Feng Ling and the Hunters found a dead Star Society Xenomorph, and Xiao Hai used his Card to see Ye Zheng kill it. Unable to contact Ye Zheng, Su Yuqing set out with a group to search Zones B and C while most Hunters stayed in Zone A to hunt Contaminants.

• Feng Ling identified a corpse's embedded eye as belonging to a Star Society Xenomorph and removed it.
• Xiao Hai used his Card on the corpse and saw Ye Zheng stab the Xenomorph from its perspective.
• Su Yuqing called Ye Zheng, learned she was outside Zone A and Zone D, and narrowed her location to Zones B or C.
• Xu Yiming proposed splitting up, with some Hunters staying in Zone A and others searching for Ye Zheng.
• Feng Ling, Su Yuqing, Xu Yiming, Xiao Hai, and several Hunters chose to search Zones B and C while most Hunters remained behind.

Feng Ling led the Hunters through District D toward Zone B and learned more about Ye Zheng’s history as one of the country’s first Inspectors. After Li Qing confirmed that Contaminants could never recover, Feng Ling suspected the authorities were concealing that Ye Zheng had become one.

• The Hunters split up, with one group continuing to clear Zone A while the others followed Xu Yiming toward Zone B.
• Feng Ling called a fifteen-minute rest when Su Yuqing and Huangfu Miaomiao fell behind, then had Huangfu Miaomiao inject Su Yuqing for his cold.
• Feng Ling checked Su Yuqing’s messages with Ye Zheng and saw that Ye Zheng’s recent messages were incoherent.
• Li Qing explained that Slavic Mythology described a creature called a Night Spirit, giving the Hunters clues about possible Maze Monsters.
• Feng Ling asked Li Qing whether a Contaminant could recover, and he said it could not.
• Feng Ling concluded that Ye Zheng’s public image could not allow her to be known as a Contaminant, only as dead.

Feng Ling suspected Ye Zheng had become a Contaminant after finding her cryptic message, “Squirrel,” and feared the truth was being hidden from the Hunters. Li Qing explained how incompatible Cards could shatter inside a Contaminant, but suggested Ye Zheng might only have lost her sanity from high Corruption Value, leaving Feng Ling considering a secret attempt to save her.

• Feng Ling told Li Qing she suspected Ye Zheng had become a Contaminant after discovering Ye Zheng’s incomplete messages and the word “Squirrel.”
• Feng Ling reasoned that the Hunters might have been recruited to eliminate Ye Zheng and chose not to tell Su Yuqing because she could not confirm her theory.
• Li Qing explained with mud balls that incompatible Cards shattered inside a Contaminant, while intact Cards could still be drawn out.
• Li Qing suggested Feng Ling’s previous Contaminant had collected its many Cards from Players it killed after its Squirrel Card remained intact.
• Li Qing said Ye Zheng might still be saved if high Corruption Value, rather than transformation into a Contaminant, had caused her to lose her sanity, and Feng Ling considered finding an Idol without the Hunters noticing.

Feng Ling’s team reached the outskirts of Zone B and discovered Hunters frozen inside the Ice Cones, including the remains of Gu Xizhe. As Feng Ling and Xu Yiming urged the team to reconsider entering the dangerous Maze, Li Qing suggested he knew what creature had done this.

• Feng Ling and Li Qing returned to the team, which traveled through District D and reached the blizzard-filled boundary of Zone B.
• Xu Yiming argued that Su Yuqing should stay outside the Maze because he was in poor condition, but Su Yuqing insisted on continuing the search for Ye Zheng.
• A Hunter broke open an Ice Cone and found a dead Hunter inside, while another Ice Cone contained an emptied skin shell.
• Xu Yiming identified the remains as Gu Xizhe by the engraving on his watch, and the discovery left the Hunters shaken.
• Feng Ling and Xu Yiming urged the Hunters to decide whether to enter Zone B, and Li Qing said he might know what creature had caused the deaths.

Li Qing identified the Maze’s monsters as Snow Women, and Feng Ling led a small group of Hunters into the storm to search for Ye Zheng. As night fell, Huangfu Miaomiao spotted a Safe Zone, and Li Qing indicated it would still work inside the breached Maze.

• Li Qing explained that the Maze likely contained Snow Women who froze and preserved their victims, and warned the group that there might be several.
• Su Yuqing entered the Maze with Xu Yiming, and Feng Ling followed with Li Qing and her companions.
• Three Hunters—Liang Jiaqin, Wu Wei, and Wen Xiuyan—joined Feng Ling’s group, while Zhu Yu stayed behind.
• The group struggled through the snowstorm as darkness approached, and Feng Ling urged them to find shelter for the night.
• Huangfu Miaomiao pointed out a Safe Zone, and Li Qing nodded when Feng Ling silently asked whether it would still work.

Feng Ling led the group to a strange cabin on chicken legs, where frightened voices revealed that people were inside. The group prepared to enter, while Xu Yiming struggled to understand Feng Ling's unusual companions and authority.

• Feng Ling led the team up the hillside after spotting a cabin, and Su Yuqing told Xu Yiming that the little girl with Feng Ling was a Xenomorph and the man beside her was a Labyrinth Administrator.
• The group found dozens of snowmen clustered around the cabin, which stood on two chicken legs, but Feng Ling decided they had to take shelter there before nightfall.
• Feng Ling had Cat Owl lower the rope ladder, climbed up, and found the cabin door shut and its windows obscured by frost.
• Feng Ling knocked on the window, and several people inside screamed for help and begged not to be killed.

Feng Ling and the Hunters found four backpackers sheltering in a Safe Zone cabin and explained that they were trapped in the Maze. As the group prepared to share information with other Hunters, Su Yuqing warned that they might have been mistaken about using the signal source to find Ye Zheng.

• Feng Ling told the people inside the cabin that she and her companions were Hunters, and the four backpackers asked to be rescued.
• Xu Yiming explained the Maze to the backpackers, who described how they had wandered into the area and escaped a monster by finding the cabin.
• The backpackers learned that the Snow Woman still threatened their escape, while Feng Ling wondered how the cabin stayed warm and Su Yuqing failed to reach Ye Zheng by phone.
• Su Yuqing said Zone C was the only unexplored area and admitted that the signal source might have been a faulty clue.
• Wen Xiuyan proposed messaging the Hunters in ranking order, and the backpackers were surprised that the Hunters had phones.

Su Yuqing learned that the backpackers had found a damaged phone matching the Hunter phone and seen a signal flare, suggesting an Investigation Team member had gone missing. The next morning, Su Yuqing’s fever worsened, so Feng Ling left Xu Yiming to care for him while she led the other Hunters to scout toward the phone’s location and find a safe route out.

• The backpackers told Su Yuqing they had found a damaged phone and later seen a red signal flare, which Su Yuqing and Feng Ling linked to a missing Inspector seeking rescue or searching for teammates.
• Su Yuqing said Ye Zheng wore a ring matching his own, and Feng Ling told the group to rest before splitting up to search for Ye Zheng and contact General Yan.
• Feng Ling dreamed chaotically and woke before five in the morning as sunlight reached the cabin.
• Xu Yiming found Su Yuqing unconscious with a worsening fever, and Huangfu Miaomiao gave him an injection while Xu Yiming stayed behind to care for him.
• Feng Ling asked a backpacker to point out where the phone had been found, then led the other Hunters out to scout a safe route through the Maze.

Feng Ling found a Blue Pill near Ye Zheng’s damaged phone and reconstructed how Ye Zheng may have tried to resist her corruption and search for the Idol. As the group left to rescue the others and continue looking for Ye Zheng, they encountered the corpses of Snow Woman-like Contaminants near the boundary between District D and Zone B.

• Feng Ling and the others searched the snow around the damaged phone but found no traces of a fight.
• Feng Ling discovered a Blue Pill and deduced that Ye Zheng may have broken her phone herself after sending “Squirrel” as a final warning, then left to search for the Idol.
• Feng Ling pocketed the pill and promised Wen Xiuyan they would keep searching for Ye Zheng after rescuing the four people.
• After dawn, the group crossed melting snow and reached a dense field of Ice Cones near the District D and Zone B boundary.
• Liang Jiaqin spotted a corpse that Feng Ling identified as a Contaminant resembling a Snow Woman, and Wu Wei found another nearby.

Feng Ling tracked a killer through the snow and confronted Ye Zheng, who had become a deformed, poisonous Lord-Level Boss. After Ye Zheng attacked her and resisted her Mental Pressure, Feng Ling decided she had to kill her.

• Feng Ling examined the mutilated Snow Women and deduced that a many-legged Contaminant with a small mouth had killed them.
• Feng Ling followed the blood trail toward a forest, but snowfall erased the tracks before she reached it.
• A deformed, unnamed Lord-Level Boss emerged from the forest, and Huangfu Miaomiao identified it as a Lord-Level Boss.
• Feng Ling held her ground as the creature attacked, and she warned Li Qing, Huangfu Miaomiao, and the Hunters to flee from its poisonous Scale Powder.
• Feng Ling unleashed her Mental Pressure, but after she rose and moved to kill the creature, it broke free and tried to intimidate her.
• Feng Ling swung her Bone Blade at the creature's head.

Feng Ling fought the monster through its hallucination-inducing Scale Powder and tore off its wings, but it transformed into a Lord Level Boss with a powerful second form. Li Qing identified its Seraph skill and warned Feng Ling to defeat it before it could recharge.

• The monster used Scale Powder to confuse Feng Ling and pinned her down, but Feng Ling struck it with her tentacles while Wen Xiuyan and the others tried to help.
• Feng Ling and her Fangs and Claws battered the monster, then tore off its wings as it retreated and bled heavily.
• Feng Ling sensed a surge of Mental Pressure, threw Wen Xiuyan and the others out of danger, and ordered everyone to run.
• The wounded monster erupted in platinum-white flames, healed its injuries, doubled in size, and grew six arms.
• Li Qing told Feng Ling that the monster's Seraph skill needed at least a quarter of an hour to recharge and urged her to finish it quickly.

Feng Ling transformed into a giant half-human, half-snake form and overwhelmed Seraph, but the wounded Contaminant escaped into the forest. Feng Ling, Li Qing, and Huangfu Miaomiao followed it to a clearing, where they discovered an Idol.

• Feng Ling ordered Wen Xiuyan, Liang Jiaqin, and Wu Wei to leave and get Protective Suits while she fought Seraph.
• Feng Ling transformed into a giant Half-Man Half-Snake and gained the upper hand, tearing off two of Seraph's arms.
• Seraph abandoned its enlarged Second Form and fled into the forest, leaving several legs caught in Feng Ling's coils.
• Feng Ling pursued Seraph with Li Qing and Huangfu Miaomiao, struggling to move her huge body through the dense trees.
• Feng Ling, Li Qing, and Huangfu Miaomiao emerged into a clearing and found an Idol on a Stone Table.

Feng Ling found the Contaminant, a suffering monster whose Seraph Card was fighting against its other Cards, and restrained her at the idol so Li Qing could inspect her deck. Li Qing discovered evidence that Ye Zheng’s Cards had been deliberately chosen to corrupt her, but the chapter ended before he selected a Card to remove.

• Feng Ling and Li Qing found an idol in the woods and discussed whether the Contaminant could still be saved by deleting a Card.
• Feng Ling tracked down the Contaminant and fought her as moth wings grew from her back and flames scorched her body.
• Feng Ling restrained the Contaminant and pressed her against the idol so Li Qing could inspect her Cards.
• Li Qing read the nine Cards in the Contaminant’s deck and found that the Cards after Seraph leaned toward darkness and carried high Corruption Values.
• Li Qing realized that the Supervision Bureau had deliberately selected the later Cards to corrupt Ye Zheng.

Li Qing and Feng Ling lowered Ye Zheng’s Corruption Value by drawing away the Black Goat, but it remained dangerously high. Feng Ling began to wonder whether Ye Zheng might survive if humans tolerated Card Corruption better than Xenomorphs.

• Li Qing selected the Undead Spider and Black Goat for Ye Zheng’s Card Draw, and the system removed the Black Goat, reducing her Corruption Value to 48%.
• Li Qing explained that Ye Zheng needed at least two more Card Draws to get below 30%, and they had to find another Idol before her remaining Cards fused into her body.
• Li Qing urged Feng Ling to kill Ye Zheng rather than risk keeping a highly corrupted Contaminant near humanity, but Feng Ling hesitated as she noticed the human ring mark on Ye Zheng’s hand.
• Huangfu Miaomiao suggested spraying perfume, but Li Qing said it could not stop Ye Zheng’s internal Gene Pollution.
• Feng Ling recalled that humans might tolerate higher Card Corruption Values than Xenomorphs and concluded that Ye Zheng might not have to die.

Feng Ling freed Ye Zheng and tested whether she had retained her human sanity, then discovered Ye Zheng could still remember her own name. Ye Zheng received an injection, but her hatred of Xenomorphs remained intense as Feng Ling and Li Qing realized she was still deeply corrupted.

• Feng Ling released Ye Zheng and fought her until she pinned the weakened Contaminant with a Spike.
• Ye Zheng told Feng Ling that she wanted to kill Contaminants, and Feng Ling returned to her human form to question her.
• Feng Ling asked Ye Zheng her name, and Ye Zheng correctly answered that she was Ye Zheng.
• Feng Ling called Huangfu Miaomiao over to inject Ye Zheng, but Ye Zheng grabbed her wrist and demanded to know why a Hunter was with Xenomorphs.
• Ye Zheng struggled to attack Huangfu Miaomiao, and Li Qing explained that her 48% Corruption Value left her only occasionally lucid.

Feng Ling tried to get the unstable Ye Zheng out of the blizzard zone without exposing her monstrous mutations. Ye Zheng woke and cooperated as Feng Ling cut away her conspicuous limbs, and the chapter ended with Huangfu Miaomiao bringing Feng Ling a ringing phone.

• Feng Ling planned to return to the cabin, reach District D, contact Pei Xianjue, and bring Bao Changzhi to control Ye Zheng's emotions before taking her to Qingjiang City.
• Feng Ling and Huangfu Miaomiao wrapped Ye Zheng in blankets, but could not conceal her mutated limbs.
• Ye Zheng woke and agreed to cooperate so she could survive and seek revenge on the Xenomorphs who had attacked her.
• Feng Ling cut off Ye Zheng's mutated limbs and had Huangfu Miaomiao bandage her wounds.
• Ye Zheng insisted she would recognize the Xenomorphs even if they turned to ash, and Huangfu Miaomiao handed Feng Ling a phone call.