Chapter Summaries

Feng Ling gave Pei Xianjue and Baozi Human-faced Crows, then explained why they needed to keep the birds secret and asked Pei Xianjue to watch for the Xenomorph Starlight. Their meal was interrupted when Pei Xianjue received an emergency alert about a suspected Contaminant on Phoenix Parasol Street.

• Feng Ling gave Pei Xianjue and Baozi Human-faced Crows and showed them how the birds could merge and split apart.
• Pei Xianjue asked to photograph the birds and post them online, but Feng Ling refused to protect their surveillance and warning abilities from enemy discovery.
• Feng Ling told Pei Xianjue she was searching for the Xenomorph Starlight and hoped Pei Xianjue might encounter it through her security work.
• Pei Xianjue received an emergency alert about a suspected Contaminant on Phoenix Parasol Street and hurried to respond, postponing the meal.

Feng Ling learned that online rumors were targeting Pei Xianjue and impulsively registered on a social media app to post a photo showing they were still friends. Pei Xianjue found the post after work and reposted it, drawing a flood of attention to Feng Ling’s new account.

• Pei Xianjue left dinner with Baozi to respond to a mission, while Feng Ling and Huangfu Miaomiao stayed behind and continued eating.
• Feng Ling saw online comments accusing Pei Xianjue of falling out with her and realized the rumors had been weighing on Pei Xianjue.
• Feng Ling registered on a social media app under the accidental nickname “I won't register I never knew so many people had the same name as me, Feng Ling” and posted a photo of Pei Xianjue’s empty seat to deny the rumors.
• After finishing her mission and report, Pei Xianjue saw Feng Ling’s post, followed her account, and reposted it with a playful reply.
• Pei Xianjue’s millions of followers drove up the post’s views, and curious netizens began asking Feng Ling whether she was really Feng Ling.

Feng Ling dealt with Zhou Diao’s insistence that she follow him back, then told Ye Zheng she planned to search for Starlight. She came up with a plan to lure the Star Society into attacking her by appearing gravely injured.

• Feng Ling’s new account gained follows from Inspectors, Hunters, and the Supervisor General Bureau, while commenters began treating her as a powerful figure.
• Zhou Diao called Feng Ling and later harassed her at Central Tower until she let him use her phone to follow himself back and manage some of her follows.
• Feng Ling went to find Ye Zheng and told her she would take the Daoist priest to locate Starlight, then send Third Child to scout it.
• Ye Zheng warned Feng Ling that Starlight might target her, prompting Feng Ling to consider making herself appear near death to tempt the Star Society into attacking.

Feng Ling asked Ye Zheng to devise explanations for how she could be injured despite her regenerative abilities and spotless return from the Maze. Meanwhile, two reporters sneaked toward Feng Ling’s residence, where Human-faced Crows frightened them into crashing their car, and a huge shadow descended on them.

• Feng Ling challenged Ye Zheng to propose plausible explanations for her injuries, then left Ye Zheng to work on the problem.
• Sang Jie and her young colleague drove past a construction barrier to investigate whether Feng Ling lived near the Qingjiang Financial Center Building.
• Human-faced Crows landed on the reporters’ car and crowded its windshield while chattering.
• Sang Jie lost control of the car, which crashed into a sheet-metal wall and left the reporters dazed.
• The reporters got out of the wreck and saw a huge black shadow diving toward them.

Sang Yin and her colleague woke after Cat Owl’s mental pressure and a car accident, then met Feng Ling and asked her for an interview. Feng Ling saved Sang Yin’s contact information, but Sang Yin fainted again when Feng Ling let her photograph a monster.

• Sang Yin regained consciousness and explained to Zhou Diao and Feng Ling that she was a reporter who had come with her colleague Douzi to take photos.
• Feng Ling agreed to have Su Yuqing collect the reporters and offered to contact Sang Yin if she needed anything.
• Sang Yin peppered Feng Ling with questions about her Maze challenge, her plans, and her feelings about becoming famous.
• Feng Ling agreed to let Sang Yin take one photo, then a dragon-and-python-like monster appeared and Sang Yin fainted.
• The author clarified that Feng Ling’s pets were publicly known, but she had kept Human-faced Crow’s connection to Pei Xianjue secret from Xenomorphs.

After locating Starlight in Jingnan City, Feng Ling returned to Central Tower and learned about Xu Yiming’s plans to apply as an Inspector. Xu Yiming revealed that Jingnan City was known for an unresolved serial murder and dismemberment case, leaving Feng Ling concerned the case might relate to Xenomorphs.

• Sang Yin woke up, wrote three articles about Feng Ling, and posted them online.
• Feng Ling used the divination results to determine that Starlight was likely in Jingnan City, then read Sang Yin’s articles and admired her writing skills.
• Feng Ling met Xu Yiming and Su Yuqing at Central Tower, where Xu Yiming said he planned to end his contract and apply to become an Inspector.
• Xu Yiming explained that Jingnan City had a serial murder and dismemberment case that remained unresolved.
• Feng Ling asked whether the case involved Xenomorphs, and Xu Yiming wondered why she was so concerned.

Feng Ling planned to travel to Jingnan City without alerting Starlight, and recruited reporter Sang Yin to publicize a cover story about the trip. Sang Yin agreed in exchange for an exclusive interview, while Feng Ling and Ye Zheng's plan to lure Starlight remained in preparation.

• Feng Ling asked Ye Zheng to assess Sang Yin's article and explained that she needed a public reason to go to Jingnan City without making Starlight flee.
• Feng Ling and Ye Zheng held a tactical meeting and decided to raise the stakes of their plan to lure Starlight out.
• Feng Ling called Sang Yin and invited her to Central Tower alone to discuss a possible interview.
• Feng Ling asked Sang Yin to make her Jingnan City trip widely known while concealing its true purpose, suggesting the city's past Corpse Dismemberment Case as a cover.
• Sang Yin agreed to help and asked Feng Ling for an exclusive interview in return.

Feng Ling agreed to let Sang Yin build online attention around her trip to Jingnan City, hoping to reach Starlight’s location. Sang Yin’s campaign turned the unsolved Corpse Dismemberment Case into a public appeal for Feng Ling’s help, and Feng Ling ended the chapter trending online.

• Feng Ling agreed to give Sang Yin an exclusive interview after returning from Jingnan City and urged her to publish an article quickly.
• Feng Ling searched for news about her trip the next morning, but found nothing and later called Sang Yin to ask what had happened.
• Sang Yin explained that she had posted stories about Jingnan City and recruited victims’ relatives to ask Feng Ling for help online.
• Feng Ling saw pleas for help about the Corpse Dismemberment Case appear beneath her social media post and worried that Sang Yin was making her look responsible for solving it.
• A video of an elderly victim’s relative appeared in Feng Ling’s feed, and that night Feng Ling became a trending topic under a headline about her recent situation.

Feng Ling endured a public backlash over her refusal to investigate the Corpse Dismemberment Case until Sang Yin told her when she could leave for Jingnan City. Feng Ling and Huangfu Miaomiao set off first to investigate, while the rest of their group planned to follow a day later.

• Sang Yin published an article criticizing the Hunter community, and it fueled online outrage alongside news of Feng Ling dining with her girlfriend.
• Pei Xianjue offered to help manage the backlash, but Feng Ling declined and asked Sang Yin when she could go to Jingnan City.
• Sang Yin told Feng Ling to post a message the next morning, and Feng Ling agreed before promising to keep her word when she returned.
• Feng Ling posted that she was going to Jingnan, then arranged separate travel plans for herself and Huangfu Miaomiao and the rest of the group.
• Before leaving, Feng Ling warned the silk cocooned Cat Spider and instructed Ye Zheng to stop the Truck before handling any emergency.
• Su Yuqing told Feng Ling that Bai Lu's sister Bai Shuang had died a month earlier, and that two twin Inspectors had recently joined the Jingnan Branch.

Starlight and Gray Squirrel discussed their plans in Jingnan City and the growing obstacles posed by the Supervision Bureau as Feng Ling arrived. Their hired bodyguard Fang Ye revealed his personal connection to Feng Ling and left to meet her at the airport, while Starlight noted that He Su was now alone.

• Gray Squirrel told Starlight that Feng Ling was coming to Jingnan City, and Starlight warned him to use their cover identities and names.
• Starlight explained that White Hair was arranging to smuggle wanted Players out through Guangshan City while they waited for their target to let down their guard.
• Gray Squirrel urged Starlight to kill Feng Ling, but Starlight said their main obstacle was the biological safety supervision system and stopped the conversation when someone approached.
• Fang Ye asked Starlight for time off to see Feng Ling arrive, explaining that they had once survived an Underground Cave together.
• Starlight approved Fang Ye's request, and after Fang Ye left, he told Gray Squirrel that He Su was alone now.

Feng Ling arrived in Jingnan City and went with He Xing Luo to the Supervision Bureau, where she learned she had been handed an unsolved case to investigate. She met He Xing Luo’s identical twin sister, He Yue Ning, at the bureau.

• Feng Ling arrived at a crowded airport, where He Xing Luo picked her up and warned that fans had likely surrounded her hotel.
• Feng Ling asked He Xing Luo to help find a standalone building for her arriving Contaminants and offered to do work for the Supervision Bureau.
• He Xing Luo told Feng Ling that the bureau had received the Corpse Dismemberment Case files and explained the dispute over whether the suspected murderer was a Xenomorph.
• He Xing Luo said many people suspected the murderer was a Xenomorph because the killings stopped after Bai Shuang killed one, and she warned Feng Ling not to bring up Bai Shuang to Captain Bai.
• Feng Ling arrived at the Supervision Bureau and met He Xing Luo’s twin sister, He Yue Ning.

Feng Ling arrived at the Jingnan Branch, met Captain Bai Lu, and arranged a future sparring session with the Twins. She then began investigating the Corpse Dismemberment Case, but learned that the Xenomorph killed during the earlier operation had left no Cards behind.

• He Yue Ning and He Xing Luo showed Feng Ling how their earrings distinguished them and led her to her room.
• Feng Ling left Huangfu Miaomiao in the room and followed the Twins to Bai Lu's office.
• Bai Lu invited Feng Ling to hold a seminar, and He Yue Ning proposed sparring with her.
• Feng Ling suggested that the Twins fight her Contaminants before sparring with her, after she finished investigating the Corpse Dismemberment Case.
• Feng Ling asked Bai Lu about Cards seized during the operation, and Bai Lu said there had been none.

Feng Ling received the Corpse Dismemberment Case materials and authorization to review footage so she could investigate as Jingnan City's search consultant. As she left with He Yue Ning and He Xing Luo, she learned the bureau’s cold atmosphere stemmed from the recent death of Bai Lu’s younger sister and the strain on its Special Forces.

• Bai Lu gave Feng Ling the case materials and an authorization code to access footage of the operation in which her younger sister killed the Xenomorph.
• Bai Lu appointed Feng Ling as Jingnan City's search consultant, explaining that the public wanted an independent account of the case.
• He Yue Ning hinted that Bai Lu's Card affected her temperament, and Feng Ling joked that she loved spreading gossip, alarming He Yue Ning.
• Feng Ling and the twins encountered Fan Ze, who reported that Group B's patrol had ended and Group A was stationed downtown.
• He Yue Ning and He Xing Luo explained that Bai Lu's sister had died in the line of duty and that the loss had weighed heavily on the Special Forces.

Feng Ling toured possible homes in Jingnan City and joined He Yue Ning and He Xing Luo on a night patrol to learn the city’s roads. After returning to the Supervision Bureau, she began reading the Corpse Dismemberment Case file and noticed the bodies in the crime scene photos had been cleaned suspiciously thoroughly.

• He Yue Ning and He Xing Luo took Feng Ling and Huangfu Miaomiao to view Maple Leaf Lake and a factory complex, and Feng Ling chose the villa district at Maple Leaf Lake.
• Feng Ling, the Twins, and Huangfu Miaomiao toured the commercial street, buying snacks as vendors packed up ahead of curfew.
• Feng Ling joined the Surveillance Team’s patrol, watched the streets to memorize the routes, and returned to the Supervision Bureau around midnight without encountering an incident.
• Feng Ling stayed awake to read the Corpse Dismemberment Case file and noticed that the bodies in the photos showed almost no blood or gore.

Feng Ling reviewed the Corpse Dismemberment Case and found that all identified suspects had died, leaving the killer’s identity and motive unclear. After Fan Ze claimed he was heading to the Medical Area, Feng Ling sent Huangfu Miaomiao to follow him, and she discovered he had gone to the seventh floor instead.

• Feng Ling read the case files and learned that thirty-two victims had been killed and dismembered, while every identified suspect had also died.
• Feng Ling and Huangfu Miaomiao wondered why the killer targeted strong young men, but they could not determine the motive.
• Feng Ling heard Fan Ze walking through the hallway after two in the morning and questioned him when he said he was going to the Medical Area.
• Feng Ling woke Huangfu Miaomiao and told her to follow Fan Ze without being seen.
• Huangfu Miaomiao saw that Fan Ze’s elevator stopped on the seventh floor, not the ninth-floor Medical Area, and climbed the building to investigate.

Huangfu Miaomiao reported that Fan Ze appeared to be dating Bai Lu, while Feng Ling admitted the investigation was beyond their abilities. The next day, Feng Ling prepared a temporary base at Maple Leaf Lake and welcomed Xu Yiming, Cao Hongyi, Ye Zheng, and the others, then revealed she had found three Inspectors.

• Huangfu Miaomiao watched Bai Lu bandage Fan Ze’s finger and concluded that they were dating.
• Feng Ling questioned Huangfu Miaomiao about borrowing Li Qing’s phone, then agreed to buy her a replacement tablet.
• Feng Ling told Huangfu Miaomiao that the case was beyond the syllabus.
• Feng Ling shopped for supplies and set up a camp at Maple Leaf Lake while Xu Yiming and Cao Hongyi drove there with the others.
• Xu Yiming, Ye Zheng, Li Qing, the Cat Owl, the Human-faced Crows, and the cocooned Cat Spider arrived at the lake.
• Feng Ling told Ye Zheng she had found Bai Lu, He Yue Ning, and He Xing Luo, and Ye Zheng reacted with surprise at Bai Lu’s name.

Feng Ling discussed Bai Lu and Bai Shuang’s Cards and the public’s response to Inspector deaths with Ye Zheng, then planned to capture Starlight in an abandoned Tunnel. That evening, Feng Ling joined He Yue Ning and He Xing Luo after they received a Xenomorph alert on Jinxi Road.

• Xu Yiming and Cao Hongyi went to buy ingredients, and Feng Ling learned that Ye Zheng had taught Bai Lu and Bai Shuang to fight together.
• Feng Ling told Ye Zheng that Bai Shuang had died in action, and Ye Zheng explained why Inspector deaths were rarely publicized.
• Feng Ling said she had found an abandoned Tunnel in Jingnan City where she planned to catch Starlight, and Ye Zheng advised her to watch the Xenomorph without alerting it.
• After a barbecue by the lake, Xu Yiming and Cao Hongyi flew back to Qingjiang City while Feng Ling prepared to patrol with He Yue Ning and He Xing Luo.
• He Xing Luo told Feng Ling that they were heading to Jinxi Road after someone reported seeing a Xenomorph, and Feng Ling drove over to investigate.

Feng Ling watched He Xing Luo and He Yue Ning respond to a report about a suspected Xenomorph, then followed as the Crimson Ghost Centipede revealed itself and fled. The sisters brought it down with their Bone Chains and Cyan Flame, but Feng Ling reminded them that they had not yet extracted its Card.

• Feng Ling arrived at the residential complex, where He Xing Luo and He Yue Ning were confronting a man accused by his girlfriend of being a Xenomorph.
• He Xing Luo and He Yue Ning ordered the man to undergo an evaluation while Fan Ze and the Special Forces secured the area.
• The man transformed into a Crimson Ghost Centipede and escaped over a wall as Fan Ze’s team pursued it.
• He Xing Luo and He Yue Ning chased the Centipede into a neighboring complex, pierced it with Bone Chains, and burned it with Cyan Flame.
• He Yue Ning finished the Centipede with a Bone Spike, and Feng Ling pointed out that they still needed to extract its Card.

He Xing Luo and He Yue Ning killed a Centipede Xenomorph, and the Cleaning Team removed its corpse while the Inspectors resumed patrol. After residents’ photos spread online, Gray Squirrel spotted Feng Ling in one and argued with Starlight about how her ties to the Supervision Bureau were complicating their plan to obtain the Puppeteer.

• He Xing Luo warned He Yue Ning not to relax before extracting the Card, while Fan Ze’s team secured the scene.
• Feng Ling watched He Yue Ning pass through an iron wall and learned about the twins’ Black Wuchang, White Wuchang, and Ghost Fire Cards.
• The Cleaning Team wrapped and removed the Centipede’s corpse for incineration, and He Xing Luo assigned someone to take a witness back for questioning.
• Nearby residents photographed the corpse, and the images spread across online platforms.
• Gray Squirrel showed Starlight a photo of Feng Ling at the scene and complained that her connection to the Inspectors hindered their plan to obtain the Puppeteer.
• Starlight said Feng Ling would eventually leave Jingnan City, while Gray Squirrel threatened to bring White Hair into the matter.

Starlight found Fang Ye hiding in his study and helped him avoid the group gathered outside, then revealed he planned to use Fang Ye’s admiration for Feng Ling to make him witness her downfall. He left Fang Ye as his audience for the coming effort to destroy Feng Ling.

• After Gray Squirrel left, Starlight called Fang Ye out from behind the curtains and Fang Ye attacked him with his poisoned fin.
• Starlight warned Fang Ye to look out the window, where a group led by a young girl had arrived with Gray Squirrel.
• Starlight treated his wound and told Fang Ye to shut and lock the study door, keeping him inside as the visitors moved away.
• Starlight questioned Fang Ye about hiding in the study and recognized that Fang Ye admired Feng Ling.
• Starlight told Fang Ye he would spare him so he could watch Feng Ling be destroyed, then named him his audience.