Chapter Summaries

Key plot points

• Tang Yue worries that the “big fellow” may be connected to the epidemic in Hangzhou. She suspects her uncle may have asked her to take it away both to save it from execution and to remove a possible source of infection.
• Mo Xie identifies the concern beneath her uncertainty: if the creature is spreading the disease, handing it to Zhu Meng might protect the town, but could also lead to a large death toll.
• Tang Yue ultimately trusts her belief that the creature is innocent, and Mo Xie reassures her that he trusts both her judgment and the creature.
• Protective-suited personnel suddenly seal every exit from Bai Town, confining its residents. Mo Xie recognizes the lockdown as part of a plan and leaves to investigate, intending to draw someone into a trap.
• Tang Yue stays behind to shower. Alone, she recalls how close she and Mo Xie came to intimacy a year earlier and decides she may have to make the first move once their current troubles are resolved.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Yue moves from anxious doubt to a firm decision, encouraged by Mo Xie’s confidence in her. Their affectionate closeness reassures her, while her private reflections reveal both romantic longing and frustration that Mo Xie has not advanced their relationship.
• Mo Xie is tender and teasing with Tang Yue, but also calm and strategic. He avoids giving her a direct answer, helping her reach her own conclusion, then turns his attention to the town’s lockdown and his larger plan.
• Their interaction blends emotional support, playful flirtation, and mutual trust. Tang Yue misunderstands Mo Xie’s suggestion that she shower as a sexual invitation; he clarifies that he wants them to rest, and leaves to investigate.

Significant themes

• Trust amid uncertainty: Tang Yue must choose whether to trust the creature despite the possible public-health risk.
• Responsibility and danger: The epidemic raises the stakes of protecting one individual versus safeguarding an entire town.
• Intimacy and patience: The couple’s affection is clear, but their expectations about taking the next step differ.
• Strategy and suspense: The town’s sudden quarantine signals that Mo Xie’s plan is unfolding and sets up an approaching confrontation.

Key plot points and events

• Mo Xie explores plague-stricken Bai Town and confirms that authorities have sealed it behind a guarded detection barrier.
• Expecting Zhu Meng’s subordinates to track them after they registered at the hotel, Mo Xie deliberately stays there to draw the pursuers’ attention.
• He buys Tang Yue pajamas and sneakers, then brings back food for them both.
• After returning to the hotel, Mo Xie spots people searching nearby and tells Tang Yue about the lockdown.
• He reveals his plan: use a Magic Tool invented by Chenxi to slip through the barrier while their pursuers believe they are still at the hotel. It can evade most mages at Advanced Level or below, though lingering near them could expose them.
• Reassured, Tang Yue embraces and kisses Mo Xie; the two share a playful, affectionate moment.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie shows foresight and confidence, using the hotel registration to lure pursuers into watching the wrong place. He also looks after Tang Yue by bringing her clothes, comfortable shoes, and a meal.
• Tang Yue shifts from enjoying their time together to worrying that the lockdown has trapped them. Once Mo Xie explains his escape plan, she relaxes and praises him.
• Their relationship is warm and flirtatious: Mo Xie dries Tang Yue’s hair, they eat together, and their teasing ends in affectionate play.

Significant themes

• Cunning and preparation: Mo Xie turns the authorities’ surveillance and the town’s barrier into part of his strategy.
• Care amid danger: Small acts of comfort and intimacy provide relief from the plague crisis.
• Trust and partnership: Tang Yue relies on Mo Xie’s plan, and their affectionate exchange reinforces their closeness.

Key events

• After dinner, Mo Xie gives Tang Yue fresh pajamas and comfortable sneakers, explaining that they’ll spare her from wearing a hotel bathrobe and high heels.
• Tang Yue is touched by his thoughtfulness and hugs him, thanking him. Mo Xie playfully suggests she can repay him later, then goes to shower.
• Tang Yue changes into the pajamas and settles into bed. When Mo Xie returns in a loosely tied bathrobe, she is visibly captivated by his appearance.
• He teases her by claiming she is drooling. Though embarrassed when she realizes it is a joke, she openly admires him and invites him into bed.
• After drying his hair, Mo Xie joins her. Tang Yue cuddles against him and explores his abs while he continues looking at his phone, hoping her hand does not wander any farther.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie shows affection through practical gifts and gentle attention to Tang Yue’s comfort. He balances this care with playful teasing and relaxed confidence.
• Tang Yue is deeply moved by Mo Xie’s attentiveness and openly expresses her affection and attraction. Her embarrassment quickly gives way to playful boldness.
• Their interaction shifts from domestic tenderness—gifts, a hug, and getting ready for bed—to flirtation and physical intimacy.

Significant themes

• Care expressed through small gestures: Mo Xie’s pajamas and sneakers make Tang Yue feel cherished.
• Mutual attraction and playful intimacy: Teasing, admiration, and touch reinforce the couple’s closeness.
• Comfort and tenderness: The scene presents romance through everyday attentiveness as well as physical desire.

• Key events: Tang Yue and Mo Xie reminisce about his bicycle and agree to return to Bo City, where he’ll introduce her to his family. Their talk turns to his other girlfriends: Tang Yue jokes about how many more he’ll pursue, then admits she mainly needs reassurance that she still has a place in his heart. Mo Xie promises he’ll keep her important to him. She then notices his affectionate messages with Ye Xinxia and playfully demands a kiss of her own. Later, they read news about the spreading epidemic. Worried about the Totem Black Snake, Tang Yue agrees with Mo Xie’s plan to sleep and leave Bai Town early the next morning, when Zhu Meng’s men may be less alert.
• Character developments: Tang Yue shifts between teasing, jealousy, and sincere vulnerability. Though she says she has accepted Mo Xie’s multiple relationships, her sadness shows that the arrangement still weighs on her. Mo Xie recognizes this and resolves to prove his commitment through his actions, not just words. He also takes a protective, practical role in planning their escape.
• Character interactions: Their intimacy is warm and playful, but their affection is edged with tension over Mo Xie’s other girlfriends. Tang Yue’s teasing about Ye Xinxia leads to a kiss, while Mo Xie comforts her about the epidemic and reassures her of his devotion.
• Themes: The chapter explores love and insecurity within a shared relationship, the gap between acceptance and genuine comfort, and care expressed through reassurance and protection. The epidemic adds an undercurrent of danger and concern.

Key plot points and events

• In plague-stricken Bai Town, Palace Guards watch the hotel where Mo Xie and Tang Yue are staying, intending to arrest them. A quarantine barrier has trapped them inside, but their captain suspects they may be planning something and orders his men to stay alert. Trainee Judgment Officers are expected to arrive around 2:30 a.m.
• In Hangzhou, the plague spreads explosively: more than a hundred people fall ill in one night, hospitals become overwhelmed, and conventional healing magic and disease remedies prove useless—or even harmful.
• Doctors determine that the disease can progress from infection to fatal deterioration in just seven days. Three early patients die, their bodies badly corroded after their blue-green blisters burst.
• Councilor Zhu Meng confronts Chief Judge Tang Zhong, asking whether the deaths still leave room to believe the plague is being used to frame his god. Tang Zhong cannot answer.

Character developments and interactions

• The Palace Guard captain remains cautious despite his subordinates’ confidence, emphasizing that Zhu Meng’s mission must not fail. His unease about Mo Xie and Tang Yue suggests he suspects their apparent vulnerability is misleading.
• Councilor Zhu Meng is furious and distressed, insisting he would never sacrifice lives to fabricate evidence. He presses Tang Zhong to confront the consequences of defending his god.
• Tang Zhong appears deeply troubled by the victims’ deaths. His silence marks a shift from certainty—or at least argument—toward doubt.
• Mr. Lu, an experienced Healing mage, acknowledges that even his expertise cannot explain or control the unprecedented disease.

Significant themes

• Fear and uncertainty: The outbreak empties streets, overwhelms hospitals, and leaves even experts without answers.
• Limits of knowledge and power: Healing magic and established remedies fail, while the plague advances faster than medicine can respond.
• Faith, evidence, and responsibility: Zhu Meng challenges Tang Zhong to reconcile belief in his god’s innocence with the growing human cost.
• Suspicion and hidden motives: The guards’ watch over Mo Xie and Tang Yue hints that the arrests may not unfold as expected.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Zhong realizes the Plague Disease may be connected to the Totem Black Snake: victims show the same symptoms as two people the snake allegedly killed. With 1,324 people infected, revealing this link could turn the public against the snake.
• Zhu Meng demands that Tang Zhong reveal the snake’s location so it can be killed under the Threat Elimination Strategy. Tang Zhong refuses, arguing that the snake has protected Hangzhou for generations and that its shedding fluids might provide antibodies to fight the disease.
• Zhu Meng leaves, threatening Tang Zhong. Tang Zhong remains willing to be arrested rather than expose the snake.
• In Bai Town the next morning, Mo Xie wakes beside Tang Yue. He carefully frees himself from her sleepy embrace, gets dressed, and tells her they must prepare to leave. Tang Yue promptly gets up.

Character developments

• Tang Zhong shows unwavering loyalty to the Totem Black Snake and to the city’s inherited history. Though he accepts that the snake is a suspect, he hopes to investigate and find a way to save both it and the infected people.
• Zhu Meng is determined to prioritize public safety through decisive elimination of the suspected threat. He distrusts the idea that the snake could simply be driven away or controlled.
• Mo Xie and Tang Yue are shown in a more intimate, playful domestic moment. Mo Xie is restrained and considerate; Tang Yue is affectionate and sleepy, but quickly becomes cooperative when it is time to leave.

Significant themes

• Tradition versus immediate public safety: Tang Zhong’s faith in the snake’s historic role clashes with Zhu Meng’s insistence on eliminating risks.
• Collective fear and public pressure: If the suspected cause of the outbreak becomes known, frightened citizens may demand the snake’s destruction regardless of the evidence.
• Loyalty and sacrifice: Tang Zhong is prepared to accept punishment to protect the snake, while the chapter leaves open whether that loyalty is justified.
• Uncertainty in crisis: The snake is a powerful suspect, but Tang Zhong argues that investigation and a possible cure should come before irreversible action.

Character interactions

• Tang Zhong and Zhu Meng confront each other over whether to preserve or kill the Totem Black Snake. Neither yields, and their exchange ends with Zhu Meng storming out.
• Mo Xie gently disentangles himself from Tang Yue while she sleeps, then wakes her and directs her to get ready to leave.

Plot points and events

• Mo Xie and Tang Yue leave the hotel without alerting the Court Guards, using a new Concealment Magic Tool developed by Chenxi. They slip out through a window and pass the town’s Barrier unseen.
• After summoning Xiao Qing, they travel to White Mountain. Tang Yue releases the Totem Black Snake from its Totem Bead, and the enormous snake carries them to a cave high on the mountain.
• Once the snake is safely at the cave, Tang Yue collects a sample of its blood. She hopes it will reveal whether the snake caused the spreading Plague and help produce a cure.
• The Totem Black Snake appears to communicate an idea to Mo Xie, who acknowledges it, hinting at a future plan connected to the snake’s increasingly brief shedding period.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie demonstrates resourcefulness by using Chenxi’s untested concealment device to evade the guards. He reassures Tang Yue that he will clear the snake’s name.
• Tang Yue is nervous while crossing the guarded Barrier, but remains focused on protecting the Totem Black Snake and investigating the Plague. Her distress when it wounds itself shows her affection for it.
• Mo Xie and Tang Yue show growing intimacy: they travel pressed together inside the device’s small concealed space, and later embrace as Tang Yue tells him she trusts him.
• Tang Yue and the Totem Black Snake share a close bond. She speaks to it gently, ensures it rests, and worries over its self-inflicted wounds; it responds as though it understands her.
• Mo Xie and the Totem Black Snake exchange a meaningful look, suggesting mutual understanding and cooperation.

Significant themes

• Trust and loyalty: Tang Yue trusts Mo Xie to protect the snake, while the snake appears willing to help them.
• Compassion and responsibility: Tang Yue’s concern for the snake accompanies her determination to investigate the Plague.
• Mystery and foreshadowing: The cause of the illness remains uncertain, and the snake’s blood sample—and the hinted plan—set up further investigation.

Summary

• Zhu Meng’s pursuit of Tang Yue: At his villa, Councilor Zhu Meng furiously berates his subordinates for failing to track the Totem Black Snake. Captain Wu Pingjing explains that Tang Yue—a relatively overlooked Advanced Mage—was entrusted with the snake, and that Mo Xie is accompanying her. Zhu initially bristles at Mo Xie’s involvement, mindful of his ties to the Southern Military District, but decides to press ahead with the arrest.
• Luo Mian’s secret alliance: Councilor Luo Mian arrives and reveals that, despite publicly defending the Totem Clan at a recent meeting, he supports Zhu Meng’s operation to eliminate the perceived threat to Hangzhou. He says he knew Tang Yue would take the snake, but Chief Judge Tang Zhong kept him occupied, preventing him from warning Zhu’s forces. His admission makes clear that the councilors’ public disagreements conceal political maneuvering.
• How Tang Yue escaped: Luo explains that the molting Totem Black Snake loses strength but gains greatly heightened senses, allowing it to detect Advanced Mages and Commander-level beings from far away. Tang Yue likely used this ability to evade Zhu’s experienced guards. Luo says Zhu’s forces sent trainee Judgment Officers after her because the snake could detect stronger pursuers.
• The chase takes another turn: Wu receives a call from Bai Town and assumes Tang Yue and Mo Xie have been caught. Instead, the report says they have disappeared, leaving Zhu and his men shocked and the pursuit unresolved.

Character developments and interactions

Zhu’s anger gives way briefly to caution when he hears Mo Xie’s name, but his determination to proceed wins out. Wu is unsettled by the revelation that Luo, despite his apparent opposition to Zhu, is part of the operation. Luo presents himself as a composed mentor while disclosing both his covert role and the existence of a traitor within the Totem Clan. The three men’s exchanges expose the gap between their public positions and private alliances.

Significant themes

The chapter emphasizes political deception and hidden loyalties, the limits of force against specialized abilities, and how underestimated people can disrupt carefully laid plans. The final disappearance underscores the uncertainty surrounding the pursuit.

Plot points and events

• Liu Yilin and his older brother, Liu Zhongming, keep watch over sealed-off Bai Town. Liu Zhongming relies on his Sharp Feather Sparrow to monitor the town and urges his exhausted younger brother to rest.
• Liu Yilin is troubled by the Judgment Hall’s wanted list: one target is Mo Xie, brother of the woman he loves, Ye Xinxia. He worries that Mo Xie’s arrest would devastate her and feels torn between personal loyalty and his first assignment as a Probationary Judge.
• Dongfang Ming arrives dramatically by flying in on burning azure wings. He tells Liu Zhongming that their captain has called them to discuss a plan.
• Dongfang Ming privately resolves to test Mo Xie. He resents how much Dongfang Wan’er has spoken about Mo Xie and wants to judge whether Mo Xie deserves her affection.
• Meanwhile, Imperial Guards searching for Mo Xie and Tang Yue realize they have been tricked. The pair’s hotel room is empty, despite the guards’ belief that they were still there. The mission leader concludes they have escaped and decides to report the failure.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Yilin shows compassion and loyalty: although he wants to advance in the Judgment Hall, his main concern is how the mission could hurt Ye Xinxia. Liu Zhongming recognizes his exhaustion and tries to protect him from overworking.
• Liu Zhongming is practical and caring, trusting his Demon Beast’s surveillance while looking out for his younger brother.
• Dongfang Ming is proud, competitive, and protective of his sister. His irritation at being overshadowed by Mo Xie motivates him to seek a personal assessment.
• The Imperial Guard leader shifts from suspicion to resignation after discovering the empty room; his team’s confidence collapses with the failed search.

Significant themes

• Duty versus personal attachment: Liu Yilin’s official responsibilities conflict with his concern for someone connected to the woman he loves.
• Jealousy and family loyalty: Dongfang Ming’s admiration for his sister turns into resentment and a desire to test the man she values.
• Deception and uncertainty: The guards’ failed surveillance reveals that Mo Xie and Tang Yue have outmaneuvered the authorities, leaving the mission’s targets and whereabouts unknown.

Plot points and events

• Hangzhou’s Plague Disease crisis has become catastrophic. Patients suffer painful sores and dehydration, while Healing Element experts have no cure. The first wave may die within four days, and later waves are spreading rapidly.
• The experts believe the giant snake that appeared downtown may be the disease’s source. Councilor Zhu Meng urges Chief Judge Tang Zhong to act, but Tang hesitates because he knows the Totem Black Snake is Hangzhou’s guardian deity.
• Mo Xie and Tang Yue return after being pursued. Tang Yue gives Zhu Meng a bottle of the snake’s blood, hoping it can help researchers develop antibodies.
• Zhu Meng orders the pair detained. Mo Xie initially resists with Spatial Pressure, but eases off when Tang Yue asks him to calm down. He argues that bringing back the blood should count in their favor.
• A military messenger arrives with urgent news: the fortress needs immediate assistance for an assault. Zhu Meng turns to organizing a response, leaving the new crisis unexplained.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Zhong is torn between his duty to protect the city and his loyalty to the Totem Black Snake. Mo Xie’s earlier question—whether he would still defend the snake if it caused the plague—deepens his doubt.
• Zhu Meng is furious at Mo Xie and Tang Yue, but his anger is driven by desperation to stop the outbreak. He accepts the snake’s blood for testing, yet remains unwilling to forgive them.
• Tang Yue is shaken by the disease’s rapid spread and tries to cooperate by offering the blood. She also intervenes when Mo Xie confronts Zhu Meng.
• Mo Xie remains defiant and composed under accusation. He uses force to prevent the guards from taking him, then withdraws it at Tang Yue’s request and insists their contribution deserves consideration.

Significant themes

• Duty versus loyalty: Tang Zhong must weigh protecting the guardian deity against saving Hangzhou.
• Fear, helplessness, and urgency: The experts and officials face a worsening epidemic with almost no time to find a cure.
• Accountability and cooperation: Mo Xie and Tang Yue are treated as possible culprits, yet their contribution—the snake’s blood—may be essential to fighting the disease.
• Compounding crises: Just as Hangzhou’s outbreak demands attention, the urgent call for a fortress assault creates another threat.

Key plot points and events

• A massive, starving flock of White Demon Eagles leaves West Ridge and flies toward Hangzhou, threatening the city while it is already struggling with a plague.
• At West Fortress, Military Mages prepare to intercept the flock using their trained Sky Eagles. The mounts refuse to take off.
• A beast trainer explains that the Sky Eagles fear the White Demon Eagles because they share eagle ancestry. He warns that a Commander-level Four-Clawed Demon Eagle could make the aerial force collapse.
• The Sky Eagles become increasingly agitated, their eyes turning red as they buck their riders and answer the approaching flock’s calls.
• The trainer reveals the cause: a Monarch-level eagle’s presence can drive the Sky Eagles to turn against their handlers. To prevent that, he urges the soldiers to kill them.
• The young Military Commander reluctantly orders the Sky Eagles slaughtered. As the fortress fills with blood and feathers, a gray figure slips away into the forest.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Zhong and Zhu Meng recognize the scale of the danger: the eagle attack could compound Hangzhou’s existing plague crisis.
• The young Military Commander shifts from eager confidence to horror and anguish, ultimately choosing to sacrifice the Sky Eagles to protect the fortress.
• The beast trainer moves from explaining the mounts’ fear to urgently warning the officers of the Monarch-level threat. His pleas meet initial hesitation, then prompt the commander’s order.
• The officers struggle with the brutal decision, while the Sky Eagles’ rebellion transforms the trained human-animal relationship into a tragic conflict.

Significant themes

• Nature’s power over training: Even disciplined animals remain subject to instinct, kinship, and the dominance of a stronger creature.
• Crisis compounding crisis: The attack arrives when Hangzhou is already vulnerable to plague.
• Sacrifice and moral cost: The defenders kill their own mounts to prevent a greater disaster, with the Sky Eagles’ suffering underscoring the price of survival.
• Hidden danger: The departing gray figure suggests that the assault—or its consequences—may involve more than the visible flock.

Key plot points and events

• Hangzhou faces two escalating crises: a plague and a major assault by the White Demon Eagle Legion. The Eagles’ Sky Eagle System has become dangerous, forcing the military to destroy them.
• Mr. Lu explains that medicine made from the Totem Black Snake’s blood can provide resistance to the plague but cannot cure it. A true antidote may require the snake’s bile or further help from the creature.
• Zhu Meng urges Tang Yue to retrieve the bile from White Mountain. Desperate to save Hangzhou, he bows and promises the Totem Black Snake will not be killed if it helps them find a cure.
• Before Tang Yue can agree, Mo Xie intervenes. He warns that someone could exploit the emergency to attack the snake, casting doubt on whether it would truly be safe.
• Zhu Meng halts the guards who were about to seize Mo Xie and asks what he proposes. Mo Xie promises to uncover the truth and end the plague within three days.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhu Meng shifts from furious condemnation of Tang Zhong to a humbling plea to Tang Yue, revealing his desperation. Mo Xie’s challenge makes him wary and unsettled.
• Tang Zhong accepts that the crisis requires compromise and reluctantly nods for Tang Yue to help, but Mo Xie’s warning makes him reconsider the situation.
• Tang Yue is initially prepared to cooperate after her uncle’s approval and Zhu Meng’s sincere appeal. She is startled by Mo Xie’s interruption and becomes cautious.
• Mo Xie shows confidence under Zhu Meng’s overwhelming magical pressure and openly challenges the council’s plan, suggesting the crisis may conceal malicious intent.
• Leng Qing tries to protect Mo Xie from provoking Zhu Meng, but remains with him as he takes a stand.
• Luo Mian privately fears Mo Xie has detected his involvement in a plot against the Totem Black Snake and decides the young man may need to be eliminated.

Significant themes

• Urgency versus caution: The plague demands immediate action, but haste could put the Totem Black Snake—and Hangzhou’s chance of finding the truth—at risk.
• Power, trust, and accountability: Zhu Meng’s authority is challenged, and his promise is scrutinized amid suspicions of betrayal.
• Sacrifice and protection: Tang Yue must weigh the city’s needs against protecting the snake, while Mo Xie argues that saving lives should not mean handing an innocent creature to hidden enemies.
• Hidden motives: Luo Mian’s secret hostility suggests the public crisis may be entangled with a covert scheme.

Plot points

• Mo Xie challenges Councilor Zhu Meng’s certainty that the Totem Black Snake caused Hangzhou’s plague. He argues that Zhu may be rushing toward killing it because the crisis leaves few apparent options, even though its bile might not cure the plague.
• Mo Xie urges Zhu to wait three days while he investigates. He also warns that killing the snake could deprive Hangzhou of a powerful ally against the White Demon Eagles.
• When Zhu doubts Mo Xie’s credibility, Mo Xie stakes his own life on uncovering the truth and solving the plague.
• Zhu refuses to accept the wager, unwilling to risk the life of someone important to the nation’s future.
• Mo Xie reveals a force of his own: three Super Level and thirty Advanced Mages, all capable of aerial combat. They kneel and address him as “Pavilion Master,” identifying them as members of his Evil Heaven Pavilion. Mo Xie offers them as additional stakes and renews his challenge to Zhu.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie shows confidence and resolve, using both reason and a personal wager to persuade Zhu. His hidden authority and resources surprise the assembled officials.
• Zhu Meng remains forceful but is shaken by Mo Xie’s argument. He privately recognizes the danger of destroying the Totem Black Snake before knowing whether its bile works, and he is impressed—though wary—by Mo Xie’s commitment.
• Tang Zhong, Leng Qing, and Tang Yue react with alarm when Mo Xie risks his life. Leng Qing and Tang Yue try to stop him, but their shock turns to pride when his followers reveal his influence.
• The confrontation shifts from a debate about the snake to a high-stakes negotiation over whether Zhu will trust Mo Xie’s investigation.

Significant themes

• Doubt and responsible judgment: The chapter questions acting on an unproven assumption during a crisis.
• Sacrifice and trust: Mo Xie offers his life to make Zhu believe in his promise.
• Power and hidden capability: Mo Xie’s pavilion and elite mages reveal that he has grown beyond the young man others once protected.
• The value of preserving hope: The Totem Black Snake may be essential both to finding a cure and defending Hangzhou.

Plot points and events

• As Mo Xie offers to expose the cause of the plague and stop it, Councilor Zhu Meng hesitates over the dangerous wager.
• Luo Mian, fearing that Mo Xie’s investigation will reveal his wrongdoing, tries to dismiss the wager and interrupt the discussion. Tang Zhong challenges him, and Mo Xie bluntly tells him to stop interfering. Zhu Meng finally silences Luo Mian.
• Zhu Meng accepts Mo Xie’s proposal but replaces the life-stakes with a personal favor: if Mo Xie solves the plague, Zhu Meng will owe him one favor without conditions. Mo Xie has three days, before the next infected group is expected to die.
• Qin Zhan arrives with Mo Fan and Leng Lingling. The officials are delighted to learn that the renowned Super Level mage known as the Cold Hunter King will help defend Hangzhou against the White Demon Eagles.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie stays calm and assertive despite the officials’ scrutiny, turning his offer into a useful agreement for his organization’s future. He dismisses Luo Mian’s attempts to derail the discussion.
• Zhu Meng chooses action over caution, accepting the three-day deadline and promising his support if Mo Xie succeeds.
• Luo Mian reveals his fear and hostility through increasingly desperate objections, while Tang Zhong openly opposes him and exposes the tension between the former allies.
• Qin Zhan warmly supports Mo Xie and reassures the officials that he will help protect the city. Leng Lingling explains that she invited her father to assist.

Significant themes

• Power and accountability: Luo Mian’s authority cannot shield him from investigation if Mo Xie uncovers the truth.
• Trust under pressure: Zhu Meng risks relying on Mo Xie despite the urgent threat and limited time.
• Alliances and influence: Mo Xie secures a valuable political favor, while Qin Zhan’s arrival strengthens the city’s defenses and Mo Xie’s support network.

Key plot points and events

• After the meeting, Councilor Luo Mian rushes off, privately uneasy that Mo Xie may uncover the truth about the plague. Zhu Meng leaves after realizing Qin Zhan’s protection makes it difficult to target Mo Xie.
• Leng Lingling clings to Mo Xie and insists on staying with him, worried after their dangerous training in Ruined City. He agrees to keep her close.
• Tang Yue questions whether Mo Xie can truly solve the plague mystery within three days. He reassures her that he has a plan and embraces her, easing her fears despite her embarrassment at their public intimacy.
• Mo Xie asks Tang Zhong for authority to investigate. Tang Zhong promises full support, and Leng Qing offers clues she has gathered.
• Mo Xie embraces Leng Qing as well. She is flustered but clearly welcomes the affection, then hurries away to return to work.
• Tang Yue teases Mo Xie about flirting with Leng Qing. He leaves with Leng Lingling and calls Mo Fan along to begin the investigation.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie shows confidence in his ability to solve the plague case and relies on warmth and flirtation to reassure the women around him. He also secures the authority and support needed for his investigation.
• Leng Lingling reveals her anxiety about being separated from Mo Xie and insists on accompanying him.
• Tang Yue remains worried about the danger and the deadline, but Mo Xie’s reassurance comforts her. She later playfully teases him.
• Leng Qing offers practical help while discovering—and trying to suppress—her jealousy and attraction to Mo Xie. His embrace leaves her visibly affected.
• Mo Fan watches his brother’s affectionate exchanges with surprise and jokes to himself that he may have gained two more sisters-in-law.
• Tang Zhong and Qin Zhan approve of Mo Xie’s romantic attentions, each privately pleased at the prospect of him becoming a son-in-law or nephew-in-law.

Significant themes

• Trust and support: Mo Xie’s allies give him the authority, information, and personal encouragement needed to pursue the plague investigation.
• Affection amid danger: Family-like closeness and romantic tension offer comfort as the characters face a serious crisis.
• Jealousy and desire: Leng Qing’s unexpected feelings complicate her attempt to view Mo Xie as a brother, while the others tease and observe the growing entanglements.

Plot points and events

• Leng Lingling tells Mo Xie that her sister previously asked her to investigate a government shipment of blood serum. The serum is vital for injured hunters and soldiers, but someone may have substituted inferior material during production.
• Mo Xie suspects corruption within the Magic Association or government, while Leng Lingling connects the serum investigation to the restrictions imposed after the plague began in Bai Town.
• The trio enters Bai Town’s Military Compound using Tang Zhong’s authorization and finds workers moving supplies from a warehouse.
• Military Commander Ming Kuo confronts the warehouse guards, accusing them of withholding serum needed at the front. Despite the guards’ objections that the supplies are under the Magic Association and Judgment Hall’s authority, he orders his troops to seize them.
• The guards report the seizure to Deputy Chief Judge Wang Yi, worried that the situation has disrupted his orders.

Character developments and interactions

• Leng Lingling shows both youthful jealousy and investigative competence. She shares her earlier work on the serum shipment and remains focused on solving the plague mystery.
• Mo Xie gently teases Leng Lingling but takes her concerns seriously, recognizing that the serum issue may involve institutional corruption.
• Ming Kuo acts decisively and angrily, prioritizing the soldiers fighting on the front lines over bureaucratic procedure.
• The warehouse staff are defensive and anxious; the sharp-featured military doctor tries to delay Ming Kuo by appealing to official authority, but fails.

Significant themes

• Corruption and public safety: The possibility of adulterated medicine suggests that influential institutions may be endangering ordinary people.
• Duty versus bureaucracy: Ming Kuo believes urgent military needs outweigh formal ownership and procedure.
• Scarcity and wartime sacrifice: Blood serum is essential to those fighting Demon Beasts, making its apparent stockpiling especially provocative.
• Investigation and hidden evidence: The serum depot and its guarded contents may reveal how the plague and the supply restrictions are connected.

Key plot points and events

• Mo Xie and Leng Lingling discover that a shipment of blood serum is suspicious: despite fierce fighting and urgent need, it has been left in a warehouse instead of sent to the front.
• Mo Xie approaches Military Commander Ming Kuo and exchanges his own high-quality serum for the questionable batch, explaining that he needs samples for his investigation. He refuses payment, wanting to protect the soldiers and help Hangzhou.
• Ming Kuo agrees to assist Mo Xie further after Mo Xie quietly makes another request.
• Mo Xie gives Leng Lingling a crate to analyze, then sets off with her and Mo Fan for the West Fortress.
• At the fortress, Deputy Chief Judge Wang Yi and his group find that the Military has already distributed most of the serum to wounded soldiers. Alarmed, they leave to inform Councilor Luo Mian. Three figures appear in the warehouse immediately afterward.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie acts decisively and generously, using his own resources to prevent soldiers from receiving potentially dangerous medicine. His cooperation with Ming Kuo shows his growing influence and commitment to the investigation.
• Ming Kuo shifts from anger and suspicion to trust and respect once he recognizes Mo Xie’s orders and understands the stakes. He pledges his support.
• Leng Lingling is cheerful and playful, but also demonstrates practical expertise by taking responsibility for testing the serum.
• Mo Fan follows Mo Xie’s lead and asks about their next move.
• Wang Yi’s group grows anxious when they learn the serum has already reached the wounded, suggesting they fear the consequences and want to alert Luo Mian.

Significant themes

• Duty and sacrifice: Mo Xie gives valuable supplies without compensation to protect the city’s soldiers.
• Institutional corruption or negligence: The questionable serum’s distribution raises the possibility that someone has endangered the Military.
• Urgency and consequences: The fortress battle leaves many wounded, making the serum investigation immediately consequential.
• Trust and cooperation: Ming Kuo’s willingness to help shows how shared commitment can bridge suspicion.

Key plot points and events

• Mo Xie, Mo Fan, and Leng Lingling overhear men discussing the suspicious blood serum. Mo Xie reveals that the crates are the original inferior batch, while Military Commander Ming Kuo has already arranged for high-quality serum to be used.
• The group suspects Councilor Luo Mian, but the serum alone is not enough to prove he caused Hangzhou’s plague. Leng Lingling reveals she secretly planted a listening device, which may help uncover more evidence. They set off to investigate another lead.
• At West Fortress, tens of thousands of White Demon Eagles launch a devastating assault. The defenders—including Court Guards and powerful mages—manage to break the attack and force a retreat, but the eagles regroup nearby, threatening another strike.
• At a strategic meeting, Mr. Lu reports that the Totem Black Snake’s venom is unrelated to the plague. This clears the creature of suspicion but leaves the investigation without a clear lead or cure.

Character developments and interactions

• Leng Lingling demonstrates her skill as an investigator by planting a listening device unnoticed. Mo Fan is impressed, and Mo Xie praises her affectionately.
• Mo Xie remains focused on exposing Luo Mian and recognizes that the councilor’s allies may have their own conflicting motives.
• Zhu Meng accepts that the Totem Black Snake was wrongly blamed. His relief is mixed with guilt and renewed fear for Hangzhou; he hopes Mo Fan can still help.
• Tang Zhong is relieved that suspicion has been lifted from the Totem Black Snake.
• Luo Mian reacts with growing panic and anger. With the serum affair and the venom evidence both threatening him, he considers burying the truth before the plague reaches West Fortress.

Significant themes

• Truth versus concealment: The investigation gradually undermines the accusations against the Totem Black Snake and tightens scrutiny of Luo Mian.
• Courage and sacrifice: The mages hold the fortress line despite facing overwhelming numbers, protecting civilians who cannot defend themselves.
• Uncertainty and fragile hope: The eagle threat remains, and the plague’s cause is still unknown, leaving Hangzhou dependent on a last possible lead.

Key plot points and events

• At West Fortress, teenager Wang Xiaojun complains about being assigned to clean blood from the roads. He insists the spreading illness is not a true plague: he once developed similar sores after encountering Poison Rat Monsters, but Eagle Red Grass cured him.
• Officer Mo Xie recognizes the potential importance of Xiaojun’s claim and brings him to Mo Fan and Leng Lingling, who are watching the White Demon Eagles mass across West Ridge.
• Xiaojun explains that his Gray Eagle brought him Eagle Red Grass, which grows abundantly on West Ridge. He says the grass cured his sores and seemed to protect him from later encounters with the rats.
• Leng Lingling connects Xiaojun’s account to her tests: Blood Potions appear to cause the illness. She proposes capturing and dissecting a Poison Rat Monster to see whether its blood poison matches the disease.
• With West Ridge overrun by White Demon Eagles, collecting the grass is too dangerous. The group instead decides to follow Xiaojun into nearby woods to catch a rat monster. Mo Fan summons his Swift Star Wolf, and Xiaojun leads the way.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Xiaojun shifts from resentful cleaner to eager contributor, offering a firsthand clue and volunteering to help investigate.
• Mo Xie spots the value in Xiaojun’s experience and encourages him by promising military credit if the lead proves useful.
• Leng Lingling turns the anecdote into a testable theory and rebukes Mo Fan for overlooking the practical option.
• Mo Fan begins in a somber mood over the looming eagle threat but becomes energized once Lingling proposes a way to investigate.
• Mo Xie and Leng Lingling share a warm sibling-like exchange, while the group works together to validate Xiaojun’s claim.

Significant themes

• Practical knowledge and scientific inquiry: Xiaojun’s personal experience may help solve a crisis that formal investigation has not yet explained.
• Cooperation and initiative: A young worker’s observation gives the group a concrete path toward understanding the disease.
• Threat and urgency: The White Demon Eagles block access to the suspected cure’s source, while the epidemic endangers Hangzhou.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Following Wang Xiaojun’s directions, Mo Fan, Mo Xie, and Leng Lingling find and capture several Plague Claw Rats in the forest. Leng Lingling discovers that every rat contains what appears to be exotic blood.
• She realizes the substance is actually diseased blood that closely resembles exotic blood. Mo Fan connects this to the outbreak: someone passed off rat blood as genuine material and used it to make illicit healing serums.
• The contaminated serums likely activated the disease in people who took them, allowing it to mutate and spread through Hangzhou. The outbreak was therefore caused by human corruption, not the Totem Black Snake.
• Leng Lingling shares the discovery with her sister, Leng Qing, whose investigation points from the serum operation’s supervisor—the wife of Deputy Chief Judge Wang Yi—to Councilor Luo Mian. Luo allegedly used the Black Snake as a scapegoat and supported its execution to conceal his role.
• The group still needs Eagle Red Grass. Wang Xiaojun offers to ride his gray eagle into West Ridge and gather it, despite the danger posed by the White Demon Eagle nests. Leng Lingling warns him that the mission could cost him his life; he accepts for Hangzhou’s sake.
• Mo Xie asks Mo Fan to accompany Xiaojun, saying he will feel better if Mo Fan is there, then hints that he has something to give him.

Character developments

• Leng Lingling demonstrates her expertise and decisiveness, identifying the rats’ unusual blood and tracing its connection to the outbreak. Her anger at Luo Mian’s apparent betrayal is clear.
• Mo Fan quickly grasps the implications of Lingling’s findings and gains respect for Xiaojun’s courage.
• Wang Xiaojun moves from being a source of local knowledge to taking personal responsibility for the city’s safety, knowingly volunteering for a perilous mission.
• Mo Xie remains unusually quiet and watchful. His concern for Mo Fan shows through in his request that he accompany Xiaojun, while the chapter leaves his final offer unexplained.

Significant themes

• Corruption and accountability: The plague is traced to people abusing public institutions and endangering civilians for their own ends.
• Truth versus scapegoating: The Totem Black Snake was blamed for a disaster apparently caused by a political conspiracy.
• Courage and civic duty: Xiaojun’s willingness to risk his life contrasts with the self-serving conduct of those implicated in the serum scheme.
• Trust and loyalty: Mo Xie’s concern for Mo Fan and Mo Fan’s growing respect for Xiaojun shape the group’s response to the danger ahead.

Character interactions

• Leng Lingling directs Mo Fan’s rat-catching and explains her discovery to him and Xiaojun; Mo Fan completes her reasoning about the contaminated serums.
• Leng Lingling informs Leng Qing, whose parallel investigation strengthens the case against Luo Mian.
• Leng Lingling challenges Xiaojun’s decision to enter West Ridge, but he insists on going.
• Mo Fan supports Xiaojun’s resolve, while Mo Xie asks Mo Fan to accompany him and hints at a further conversation.