Chapter Summaries

Key plot points

• Xu Feng and Shen Jicheng commit themselves to a shared cause. Though younger and less experienced, Xu takes the lead; Shen agrees to use his greater worldly knowledge and asks to be taken home so he can recover.
• They return to the shrine with the bodies from the earlier encounter. Xu finds Da Wa keeping watch in the dark despite his night blindness, partly because he is reluctant to spend money on a candle. Xu reassures him that his safety matters more than the cost and instructs him how to seek the Longflow River God’s protection if the others are away.
• Xu places the Five Thunder Token before the altar, hoping the Earth God Shrine’s power can help him use it. Shen reveals a practical alternative: for up to 150 taels, he can arrange for a divine intermediary to grant Xu authority to wield it. Shen will handle this after arranging the mourning cries and Xu’s substitution in the beheading affair.
• That night, Xu performs Corpse Stitching on the bodies, using reconstruction techniques because they are too hard for his needle to pierce. Over the following days, he buries them near the failed Corpse-Liberation Immortal.
• Xu asks the Longflow River God to divine the outcome of his attempt at Great Stitching Calamity. The incense omen repeatedly shifts among good fortune and several degrees of misfortune, leaving him unable to determine what the changing variable is.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Feng shows growing confidence as a leader, looking after Shen and Da Wa, and weighing practical ways to advance his plans. He trusts Shen enough to accept his help without demanding an explanation.
• Shen Jicheng recovers enough to resume helping Xu. His remark that he is an “old fox” underscores his experience, and Xu’s talk of humanity flourishing rekindles his ambition.
• Da Wa remains dutiful and cautious, but his reluctance to use supplies reveals how little authority he feels he has. Xu’s kindness and clear instructions begin to establish trust between them.
• Xu’s growing bond with Shen rests on their shared cause, while his care for Da Wa reflects the responsibilities he is assuming at the shrine.

Significant themes

• Shared purpose across differences: Xu and Shen unite despite their differences in age, experience, and status.
• Leadership as care: Xu’s authority is expressed through practical protection and respect for those under his care.
• Resourcefulness and social access: Shen offers a grounded route to supernatural power, showing that influence and connections can accomplish what elite status cannot.
• Uncertainty and fate: The shifting divination resists easy interpretation, leaving Xu’s most ambitious undertaking suspended between promise and danger.

Plot points and events

• Da Wa offers incense at the Earth God Shrine and sees the smoke briefly form a dragon and a snake. Xu Feng stops him from pointing at the omen and sends him back to his chores.
• The sight gives Xu Feng a new understanding of an earlier incense omen: the dragon-and-snake image likely signals that fortune and misfortune will shift as some connected force transforms. He links it to a mysterious presence near the shrine during past deaths and possibly to Joyful Lord’s body.
• Xu Feng worries that Yunjia Mountain outside the game may be a Blessed Land concealing an Ancient People’s Tomb and layers of undying corpses. He sets the concern aside for now to focus on the Stitching Calamity.
• He judges that the damaged Giant Alligator may be manageable with the Lesser Calamity-Stitching Art, while Song Chuming’s strange condition may require the Greater Art. To prepare, Xu Feng plans to temper his blade, use the Five-Thunder Token to restrain the Robe of a Hundred Virtues, and perform the ritual the following night.
• Master prepares the ritual grounds with boundary lanterns, markings, and a protective talisman. Xu Feng persuades him that they should share both the credit and the danger.
• The necessary funeral supplies and musicians are assembled. If the ritual succeeds, Joyful Lord will receive a proper funeral, with every rite observed.
• News spreads through Shen Jicheng’s help. Third Master Wang hears of Xu Feng’s new role and resents his apparent good fortune and the merit he stands to gain.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Feng is perceptive and increasingly willing to shoulder dangerous work, but he is also troubled by the mysteries surrounding Yunjia Mountain. He treats Master as a partner, arguing that they should face the risks together rather than divide credit.
• Da Wa remains obedient and teachable; he accepts Xu Feng’s warning about pointing at divine or strange beings, even without fully understanding it.
• Master is initially wary of Xu Feng’s talk of shared credit, but accepts his reasoning and helps prepare the ritual. He also takes care to train Da Wa by keeping him close while dealing with others.
• Third Master Wang reveals his envy and hostility, interpreting Xu Feng’s success as undeserved and predicting that excessive merit will bring disaster.

Significant themes

• Omens and uncertainty: The incense smoke offers a clue, but its meaning remains tied to dangerous, unresolved mysteries.
• Duty in the face of danger: Xu Feng prioritizes the immediate ritual while bracing for threats beyond it.
• Shared responsibility and trust: Xu Feng frames the Stitching Calamity as a joint undertaking, with shared risks and rewards.
• Merit, status, and resentment: Xu Feng’s rising standing attracts gossip and envy, especially from those who believe his fortune is undeserved.

Key plot points and events

• As dusk approaches, Xu Feng and his master prepare for the corpse-stitching ritual. A corpse—Doctor Qi’s younger brother—arrives from an eerie, silent corpse bearer.
• Xu Feng examines the badly decayed body, performs the prescribed rites to acknowledge the dead, and carefully stitches and reshapes it as a vessel for the Stitching Calamity.
• He inserts five organs according to the Five Elements, replacing the kidney with a mirror marked with the Joyful Lord’s name and birth date, hoping to target that spirit.
• Xu Feng begins the dangerous Stitching Calamity. The ritual’s resistance unexpectedly weakens, but the corpse starts to reanimate. Xu Feng restrains it with the Baleful Blade and Robe of a Hundred Virtues, while his master loudly recites a sacrificial text addressed to the corpse and the Joyful Lord.
• As hostile water ghosts gather outside, thunder and wind from the Five-Thunder Command Arrow drive them back into the Yellow River. The Longflow River God appears to have intervened, but the ritual’s outcome remains unresolved.

Character developments

• Xu Feng shows confidence, discipline, and growing mastery. He anticipates dangers, follows ritual rules carefully, and handles both the stitching and the corpse’s attempted reanimation at once.
• The master supports Xu Feng while respecting his responsibility for the procedure. Though anxious, he performs the invocation and keeps it audible when Xu Feng demands it.
• The corpse bearer remains silent and unsettling, reinforcing the story’s ominous atmosphere.

Significant themes

• Ritual and responsibility: Xu Feng follows every prescribed rite, both to honor the dead and to protect himself from spiritual blame.
• Skill versus supernatural danger: Craftsmanship and specialized tools let Xu Feng confront forces that might otherwise overwhelm him.
• Power, virtue, and protection: The chapter links spiritual authority and protection to ritual objects and divine intervention.
• Death and the treatment of the dead: Even a corpse used in a dangerous working is treated with formal respect.

Character interactions

• Xu Feng and his master work as a coordinated team: Xu Feng performs the craft while his master prepares offerings and recites the invocation.
• Xu Feng addresses the deceased through formal prayers and offerings before using the body, seeking to prevent offense.
• Xu Feng and the reanimating corpse engage in a struggle of control, while the master’s words help keep the ritual moving.
• The Longflow River God’s intervention protects the ritual participants from the gathering water ghosts.

Key plot points and events

• During a violent storm, Xu Feng and his master complete a dangerous corpse-stitching ritual. Despite thunder and “demonic wind”—conditions that should risk reanimating the corpse—Xu Feng uses the Greater Calamity-Stitching Art to guide ominous energy into it and drive the resulting ghostly qi away.
• With his master’s help, Xu Feng uses incense, a Bamboo Grove technique, and Silver Needles to regulate the corpse’s qi and seal its senses. After its final breath leaves, he inspects the body and confirms the ritual has produced a stable, ordinary-looking corpse.
• Xu Feng considers the operation a success, but feels it falls short of the Greater Calamity-Stitching Art he hoped to discover. Studying the Meridian Chart Summary, he realizes its needle-and-acupoint techniques may be only a small application of a broader art rooted in geomancy—perhaps one capable of reshaping the land.
• Afterward, Xu Feng gives thanks at a mound and discovers that the storm has sharply reduced his Yin God’s Favor, apparently as payment for the thunder. He suspects a powerful being from the Yellow River caused the earlier ominous signs, possibly to oppose his plans for a Longflow River God temple.
• Shen Jicheng arrives with news about the Charity Cemetery and Charity Nunnery, and offers to arrange Xu Feng’s Thunder-Summoning Method for fifty taels.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Feng proves inventive and composed under pressure, adapting the ritual as the corpse changes. His successful first attempt gives him practical insight, but also intensifies his ambition: he now sees corpse-stitching as a possible doorway to a much greater geomantic art.
• Xu Feng’s master supports him throughout, reciting the funeral address and helping direct the qi, insert the needles, and complete the procedure. Exhausted afterward, he seems to think Xu Feng is expecting too much from a first success.
• The two work closely as partners, with Xu Feng issuing precise instructions and his master responding without hesitation.
• Shen Jicheng remains Xu Feng’s trusted investigator and contact, bringing useful information and a favorable price for the Thunder-Summoning Method.

Significant themes

• Ambition beyond success: Xu Feng is dissatisfied even after accomplishing a difficult feat, driven to uncover the technique’s deeper potential.
• Theory and practice: The ritual transforms Xu Feng’s understanding of the Meridian Chart, revealing that hands-on work can expose meanings hidden in a text.
• The cost of power: Xu Feng’s divine favor is diminished, suggesting that extraordinary interventions carry a price.
• Competing forces and territory: The Yellow River entity’s interference may reflect a conflict over spiritual influence and the planned temple.

Plot points and events

• Xu Feng agrees to oversee Luoyin’s Charity Nunneries and Charity Cemetery, seeing the work as a way to gain Yin Virtue and keep local troubles under control. He continues pondering the Greater Calamity-Stitching Art, suspecting he has yet to understand its essence.
• Shen Jicheng plans to establish a precedent allowing Xu Feng to assist with executions. His chronicle presents the arrangement as Executioner Liu Sheng inviting Xu Feng because he needs help, protecting Xu Feng’s reputation and concealing his private techniques.
• At Joyful Lord’s funeral, Xu Feng monitors the corpse, which decays unusually slowly, and reinforces its coffin with incense aura. Since it cannot be buried on private land, it must eventually go to the neglected Charity Cemetery.
• Xu Feng clears the cemetery of monsters, gathers and buries the scattered remains, restores graves, and plants scholar trees. He also pacifies Lost-Trace Forest. Shen Jicheng’s account recasts these deeds as quiet, selfless acts of heroism.
• The Longflow River God’s expanded shrine is completed. In December, the authorities capture the Li Brothers and execute many criminals; Xu Feng assists Liu Sheng and destroys supernatural threats during the executions.
• After four months of intense activity, Xu Feng leaves with Da Wa for the Three Matron Temple, carrying his blade. Before setting out, he asks Da Wa to recite On Corpses from memory.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Feng is increasingly recognized as a capable public figure, though he remains focused on Yin Virtue and his unresolved study of the Greater Calamity-Stitching Art. His unease about death surfaces before the journey, despite his earlier confidence.
• Shen Jicheng acts as strategist and chronicler: he steers Xu Feng into public duties, protects his standing, and explains that Xu Feng’s art is connected to Mr. Zhou and the wider tradition of Ritual Masters.
• Xu Feng and Shen Jicheng share practical, wry exchanges, while their conversation about Old Owl reveals Xu Feng’s growing belief that the older man may once have reached beyond Luoyin’s limited world.
• Master encourages Xu Feng before he leaves and agrees to look after the temple and the children. Xu Feng, in turn, entrusts them to him and travels with Da Wa, turning the journey into an opportunity to teach the boy.

Significant themes

• Public reputation versus private motive: Shen Jicheng’s chronicle turns Xu Feng’s actions into an idealized record of chivalry, while Xu Feng himself often acts for Yin Virtue or practical ends.
• Ritual, death, and responsibility: Funerals, executions, burial, and the treatment of corpses recur as both social duties and supernatural hazards.
• The power of precedent and storytelling: Establishing rules for future executions—and shaping how events are recorded—can alter both institutions and reputations.
• Ambition and limits: Xu Feng wonders whether a modest art might operate on a vast scale, but also reflects on how difficult it is to move beyond one’s familiar world.
• Care for the neglected: Restoring the cemetery and forest shows how public service can protect both the living and the dead.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Feng takes Da Wa through a snowy winter journey to the Three Matron Temple. Along the way, the Luoyin Chronicle presents a flattering, distorted account of Xu Feng’s character and his supposedly virtuous influence over his bloodthirsty blade.
• The narrative later reveals what happened at the temple: Xu Feng and Priest Li confronted a forbidden practitioner who had spread through the underground Earth Vein like a spider. Li fought with powerful thunder arts, while Xu Feng survived the collapsing palace and carried the exhausted priest back. Afterward, Li died; Xu Feng stitched his body and buried him in the Charity Cemetery. The supernatural “Elixir of Immortality” was really a fungus that produced a mindless, corpse-like copy.
• The Longflow River God’s statue is moved to the Earth God Shrine, which becomes a busy temple. Xu Feng gains a limited method for summoning Earth Altar Thunder, useful for suppressing evil.
• Xu Feng recounts the temple events to Shen Jicheng, who records them in his chronicle—reshaping or embellishing details to suit his tales. Over time, Shen grows old, stays close to Xu Feng, and devotes himself to writing.
• Years of unrest follow. Xu Feng warns villagers to prepare for conflict and later leads them into the mountains after the river god’s warning, saving many lives. He also helps government troops by stitching the dead and suppressing their ghosts.
• Shen Jicheng dies after entrusting Xu Feng with his book and asking to be buried in the Charity Cemetery. Ten years later, Xu Feng’s master, Zhao Er, is dying. In private, he reveals that he has long suspected Xu Feng is a Star Spirit sent to confront the Yellow River calamity—possibly the Undying Corpse. Xu Feng promises to finish that task and reunite with him.

Character developments

• Xu Feng grows from a capable young man into a mature leader and teacher, protecting Luoyin through war and preserving the corpse-stitching tradition. Beneath his strength, he grieves each loss and dreads the deaths of those he loves. His supernatural identity and unresolved mission remain central.
• Da Wa grows into a dependable adult and apprentice, capable of managing affairs and surviving dangerous times, though his abilities remain modest.
• Shen Jicheng finds purpose and companionship in recording Xu Feng’s deeds. His book becomes his life’s defining accomplishment; he dies content that Xu Feng valued and will keep it.
• Zhao Er faces death with affection and acceptance. His final revelation shows his long-standing understanding of Xu Feng’s hidden identity and deepens their bond as master and disciple.
• Priest Li is remembered as a virtuous protector whose final act in the Earth Vein earns him a possible passage to immortality.

Significant themes

• Death, grief, and loyalty: Xu Feng repeatedly cares for the dead and mourns those close to him, while honoring their wishes through burial and remembrance.
• Legacy and storytelling: Shen’s chronicle preserves events but transforms them through admiration and embellishment, raising questions about how history is made.
• Virtue and corruption: The text contrasts service and self-sacrifice with the fangshi’s monstrous, self-serving pursuit of immortality.
• Duty amid turmoil: Xu Feng’s work—protecting villagers, suppressing spirits, and preserving his craft—continues as social order breaks down.
• Mortality and reunion: Characters accept that life ends, yet the possibility of meeting again offers comfort.

Character interactions

• Xu Feng alternates between teasing and teaching Da Wa, eventually relying on him to care for others.
• Shen treats Xu Feng as both subject and companion, recording his stories while openly admiring him; Xu Feng patiently recounts events and accepts Shen’s book.
• Xu Feng and Priest Li share a final battle against the underground practitioner, followed by Xu Feng’s intimate act of stitching and burying Li.
• Xu Feng’s farewell with Shen is quiet and affectionate, marked by trust and a promise to honor his wishes.
• Xu Feng’s final conversation with Zhao Er turns their relationship into an explicit exchange of faith: the master recognizes his disciple’s destiny, and Xu Feng promises they will meet again.

Plot points and events

• Master dies after telling Xu Feng that the calamity he stitched is a “Sensing God,” capable of revealing the ties of cause and effect. His final words about the Yellow River are unclear. Xu Feng keeps vigil until dawn, then gives him an elaborate funeral.
• At the funeral, Uncle Liu reflects on age and death, asks Xu Feng to dispose of his Soul Bottles when his time comes, and gives him the Liu family’s secret method for raising a Ghost-Eating Servant. He hopes Xu Feng can help his sons—or their children—survive the worsening times. Xu Feng promises to sink the Soul Bottles in the Yellow River and acknowledges his bond with the family.
• After mourning ends, Xu Feng brings incense from ruined Dayuan Town to the Longflow River God Temple. The following decades bring war, plague, and supernatural threats. Xu Feng’s work as a Corpse Sewer continues, and his methods and influence grow.
• Once peace returns, Xu Feng helps rebuild local shrines and temples. He watches the old generation pass and a new one settle into life, reflecting on how fortunate he is to have endured another season.
• Using the Yin Virtue he has accumulated over sixty years, Xu Feng summons lightning to destroy the Yellow River Demon Corpse. He learns that it arose when disaster and altered Earth Qi transformed a dead foreman beneath the old Qian family grounds. The strike also ends Xu Feng’s life.
• After dying peacefully, Xu Feng awakens as a free-roaming spirit. From above, he sees the people mourning him and discovers that Fisherfolk Village’s people and dead are undergoing a dangerous form of “dragon” transformation. He also glimpses a great snake and spreading miasma in Two-Deity Mountain, but recognizes these threats are no longer his concern. A strange transition then carries him into the next stage of his journey.

Character developments

• Xu Feng grows from a dutiful apprentice into a powerful, respected protector whose decades of practical service and accumulated Yin Virtue let him confront the Demon Corpse. He ends his life at peace, having built a legacy of care and survival.
• Uncle Liu appears as a frail old man confronting his mortality. His gift to Xu Feng expresses trust and gratitude, as well as his hope that the next generation might survive.
• Master dies with his characteristic knowledge of the uncanny, leaving Xu Feng a cryptic final warning.
• Da Wa and the others become Xu Feng’s devoted disciples and descendants; their grief at his death shows how deeply he shaped their lives.

Significant themes

• Mortality and continuity: Funerals, aging, and seasonal change frame a story in which generations pass while communities endure.
• Service and moral consequence: Xu Feng’s accumulated virtue comes from repeatedly helping the living and honoring the dead; it ultimately gives him the strength to defeat a major supernatural threat.
• Human-made and natural calamity: The Demon Corpse results from both disaster and human upheaval, while war and social disorder prove as dangerous as ghosts.
• Legacy and letting go: Xu Feng protects others throughout his life, but after death he sees new dangers without claiming responsibility for them.

Character interactions

• Xu Feng tenderly attends Master’s final moments and keeps watch after his death.
• Uncle Liu speaks frankly with Xu Feng about death, entrusts him with a family technique, and asks him to remember the family beyond times of crisis. Xu Feng responds with affection and reassures him.
• Xu Feng’s disciples and their families honor him in death, with Da Wa grieving especially intensely.
• As a spirit, Xu Feng watches the living from a distance, recognizing both their mourning and the dangers ahead, but accepts that his role is over.

Plot points

• As the Corpse Sewer world ends, Xu Feng witnesses Zhao San’s funeral and a final account of Zhao San’s life. Zhao San declares himself content: he protected people, guided the living and dead, fulfilled his duties to elders and disciples, and has no shame before Heaven or Earth.
• Zhao San’s spirit merges with Xu Feng, and the game confirms that Xu Feng helped make Zhao San’s life complete. His accumulated Yin Virtue is converted into new privileges, and Zhao San’s gift gives Xu Feng Innate Transverse Bone, Dragon-Vigorous Tiger Strength, and Corpse-Sealing Soul-Settling. The world then closes.
• Xu Feng returns to his own body, now young and exceptionally vigorous. His strength and senses have improved, and he can use the Breathing Method that previously eluded him. His game skills and collected items—including the Yellow Emperor Appeal Coin and several treasured tools—have carried over.
• Xu Feng discovers that completing the world unlocked Cartridge Mailing and Game Level. His Fame has risen from Unknown to Somewhat Known, indicating that gods have heard of him through his Yin Virtue and will treat him more favorably. He learns that Fame can affect the game, while reaching the peak Game Level will let him transcend mortality and become an Immortal.

Character developments

• Xu Feng returns with the knowledge, skills, possessions, and gifts gained through Zhao San’s life. He is thrilled by his restored youth and newfound physical power, and begins thinking strategically about how Fame and Game Level can help him progress.
• Zhao San receives a peaceful, affirmed ending. His final words show pride in a life devoted to protecting others and fulfilling his responsibilities; his spirit departs only after expressing relief and gratitude.

Significant themes

• A life’s worth lies in its service and responsibilities: Zhao San defines a successful life through protecting people, caring for elders, and raising disciples.
• Legacy and transformation: Zhao San’s life and abilities become part of Xu Feng’s continuing journey.
• Effort carries forward: Xu Feng’s hard-won skills and items survive the world’s closure, turning past experience into lasting power.
• The path to transcendence: Yin Virtue earns divine recognition, while the newly revealed Game Level offers a longer-term route toward immortality.

Character interactions

• Xu Feng watches Zhao San’s funeral and hears Zhao San recount his life directly to him, though Xu Feng humorously recognizes that Zhao San’s account echoes his own experiences.
• Zhao San bows to an unseen presence before turning into mist and merging with Xu Feng, completing their connection and passing on his gifts.

Plot and events

• Xu Feng realizes that the game’s Yin Virtue translates into reputation, while Game Level reflects cultivation. Together, they form a path toward immortality. His level has advanced to Initial Glimpse of the Way, though the game will not explain what “way” he has glimpsed or how to progress except by playing.
• He learns that his next game cartridge will arrive in fifteen days and that the console is withholding further features.
• Xu Feng prepares to confront the disturbance near Yunjia Mountain. After briefly mourning his old life, he leaves with Chen Ye, carrying his ritual equipment in hiking packs and a suitcase.
• Xu Feng tells Chen Ye that the local legend of Song Chuming slaying the Giant Alligator may describe Earth Qi that took an alligator-like form. He plans to stop the immediate danger that night and investigate the legend later. He asks Chen Ye to bring his drone so they can visit the supposed site of the beheading.

Character developments

• Xu Feng feels physically vigorous and mentally sharp after his recent transformation. His calm, confident bearing has changed noticeably, and he is certain he can resolve the crisis.
• Chen Ye senses that Xu Feng has become markedly different, almost mountain-like in his steadiness, but remains loyal and eager to help.

Character interactions

• Chen Ye notices Xu Feng’s unusual robe and blade; the blade seems almost alive, though not hostile.
• During the drive, Xu Feng explains his theory about the Earth Qi and the Giant Alligator. Chen Ye listens, asks whether the crisis will subside, and volunteers his drone and help.

Significant themes

• Cultivation and immortality: The game’s systems appear to connect moral conduct, reputation, and spiritual advancement.
• Transformation and uncertainty: Xu Feng’s changed body and presence raise questions about what kind of Immortal he might become.
• Myth and natural forces: Local legend may preserve a distorted account of Earth Qi and the land’s Earth Vein.
• Practical preparation and trust: Xu Feng’s outdoor expertise and Chen Ye’s willingness to assist turn speculation into a plan.

Plot points and events

• Xu Feng and Chen Ye rush toward the North Gold Mine Road disaster, where the Giant Alligator’s return has triggered a chaotic rescue response. Xu Feng suspects officials were unprepared because they assumed Song Chuming’s long-ago slaying of the creature had ended the danger.
• With roads closed, Xu Feng chooses the sparsely populated Third Mine Residential Compound as a place to act. He directs Chen Ye to block an alley and warn away anyone who approaches, while making clear that Chen Ye should flee if Xu Feng gives the signal.
• On the way, Xu Feng remembers the Luoyin Chronicle, Old Mr. Shen’s life’s work, which he carries in memory. He decides to share it freely online so it can reach more readers, with publication or small printed copies as later options.
• At the alley’s dead end, Xu Feng prepares a ritual: he hangs an Earth Uncle Protective Talisman, burns incense and paper, scatters Earth Uncle’s incense ash around himself, and offers three times through Inviting Divine Protection. Earth Uncle accepts every offering and grants him six hours of protection from uncanny or inauspicious entities no stronger than the deity.
• Xu Feng then draws the Meteoritic Iron Treasure Blade. Its transformed leather scabbard and Blood Veins suggest it is developing into a more advanced kind of divine weapon.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Feng remains composed and methodical under pressure. He analyzes the crisis, chooses a low-visibility location, gives Chen Ye clear safety instructions, and relies on both ritual protection and his weapon. His plan to publish the Luoyin Chronicle also shows his commitment to preserving and sharing knowledge.
• Chen Ye is excited but cautious. He trusts Xu Feng’s judgment, follows his instructions without argument, and stays at the alley entrance to keep others away. Xu Feng’s strength and calm impress him.
• Their partnership is built on complementary roles: Xu Feng handles the supernatural preparations, while Chen Ye manages the vehicle and watches the entrance. Xu Feng prioritizes Chen Ye’s safety, telling him to keep his head and escape if necessary.

Significant themes

• Preparedness versus complacency: The authorities’ disorganized response contrasts with Xu Feng’s careful planning; the past defeat of the Giant Alligator may have encouraged false confidence.
• Trust and responsibility: Xu Feng accepts the danger of intervening while giving Chen Ye practical instructions to protect himself.
• Tradition and modernity: Ancient ritual methods and divine protection coexist with cars, phones, online forums, maps, and surveillance systems.
• Preserving knowledge: Xu Feng’s plan to make the Luoyin Chronicle freely available reflects the value of transmitting hard-won learning to others.

Key plot points

• Xu Feng unveils the Knife, now transformed by its history of violence and its acquisition of Army Breaker. Its blood-red veins have formed a Sacred Embryo Star Pattern, and it may eventually awaken into a supernatural weapon.
• He uses ritual gestures, incense, prayer paper, and an improvised Earthweight Talisman to steady the blade and make it capable of resisting the Baleful Aura.
• Xu Feng then spreads the Robe of a Hundred Virtues and begins stitching Earth Qi into it, drawing immense power into the narrow alley. The Knife splits the violent force that surges toward him while he continues his work.
• At the nearby disaster site, officials learn that a collapse exposed a possible underground chamber or tunnel. Many victims remain missing, conditions below are dangerous, and rescue efforts are hampered by repeated collapses.
• A violent gust carrying grit and black-smoke-like Earth Qi erupts from the collapse. Xu Feng orders Chen Ye to drive away from the alley; Chen obeys. Xu Feng keeps stitching, beginning a new design whose form remains unclear—though the chapter’s title hints at a giant alligator.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Feng demonstrates confidence in his hard-won knowledge, combining ritual practice, blade-forging experience, and an unconventional technique for shaping Earth Qi. He is determined to capture and use the force rather than flee from it.
• Chen Ye is frightened by the blade and the strange sounds, but also intrigued and tempted to approach. He ultimately trusts Xu Feng’s warning and gets the car to safety.
• The rescue officials and chief show urgency and resolve: they coordinate protective equipment and resources, while the lead official promises to remain on-site and support the rescue.
• Xu Feng’s interactions with the Knife and the Earth Qi are almost adversarial: he invokes spiritual protection, braces the blade as a defense, and forcibly stitches the captured power into the robe.

Significant themes

• Power gained through experience: Xu Feng’s practical knowledge and physical strength let him achieve what once required another practitioner’s help.
• The uncanny and the cost of violence: The Knife’s supernatural transformation reflects the bloodshed it has witnessed.
• Human courage and responsibility: Chen faces his fear by following Xu Feng’s instructions, while the officials remain committed to rescuing victims.
• Control versus danger: Xu Feng tries to harness forces that are powerful and unpredictable, even as the collapse and Baleful Aura threaten everyone nearby.

Plot points and events

• Xu Feng finishes stitching the Giant Alligator’s aura into the Robe of a Hundred Virtues. Earth Uncle takes roughly half the Earth Qi, so the robe gains only a small increase in defense, while Earth Uncle’s incense offering grows noticeably.
• Xu Feng suspects the alligator’s aura alone did not cause the major collapse. The creature’s head was severed elsewhere, in the older district’s dangerous collapse zone; Xu Feng plans to investigate that site and uncover what Daoist Song Chuming was doing.
• After completing the ritual, Xu Feng clears its traces and leaves with Chen Ye. He believes he has dealt with the immediate supernatural danger, but stresses that the underlying cause remains and must be addressed the next day.
• On the drive, Xu Feng considers Earth Uncle’s lack of a spiritual “reservoir” and recalls how powerful the Longflow River God Temple became through widespread worship and offerings. He sees that history as a model for developing Earth Uncle’s shrine.
• Xu Feng asks about local dog and bird markets because he intends to raise more Ghost-Eating Servants, whose abilities depend partly on the animals they inhabit.

Character development

• Xu Feng remains calm and practical, treating the alley’s supernatural clash as minor. His past experience building a powerful temple informs his plans for Earth Uncle, and he is already thinking ahead about investigating the collapse and raising new servants.
• Chen Ye is impressed by Xu Feng’s skill and trusts him, though he worries about the people affected and whether the disaster will recur. He agrees to accompany Xu Feng on the next day’s outing.

Themes

• Treating symptoms versus causes: Xu Feng can contain the immediate Earth Qi threat, but the source of the collapse remains unresolved.
• Faith and accumulated power: Earth Uncle’s strength may grow through offerings and worship, as the Longflow River God once did.
• Experience and perspective: What seems miraculous to Chen Ye is routine to Xu Feng, who has spent decades dealing with such matters.
• Preparation and adaptation: Xu Feng plans future investigations and chooses animal hosts carefully to develop his Ghost-Eating Servants.

Character interactions

• Xu Feng shares the Earth Qi with Earth Uncle, then offers incense and speaks respectfully to him.
• Xu Feng protects Chen Ye from the dangerous wind and reassures him that rescue work is now up to the professionals.
• Chen Ye asks about the victims and future danger; Xu Feng answers candidly, then encourages him to treat the next day as an adventure.
• During the drive, Xu Feng asks Chen Ye to interpret the embroidery on his robe, but Chen Ye cannot identify it.

Key events

• Xu Feng reflects on how to improve the Ghost-Eating Servant method. Fierce animals might make powerful servants, but training and controlling them would be dangerous. He decides to start with slender hounds and consider larger animals later.
• Xu and Chen Ye reach Chen’s apartment. Xu installs the Earth Uncle Protective Talisman in the place of honor, offers incense, and chooses to sleep in the living room.
• Unable to sleep, Xu reads and meditates through the night. He plans to return to his mountain job, which is also an important base, but privately worries whether he can bring the Youdu Lord and Ren Bo with him.
• In Wanquan County, Master Zhu sees news coverage of the North Gold Mine Road collapse and rescue. Though authorities describe the previous night’s severe weather as an obstacle, the report confirms that everyone was rescued by about five in the morning, with heavy casualties.
• Zhu calls Master Liang, arguing that the collapse supports his theory that Earth Qi is faltering and the yin side is becoming unstable. He predicts that the dead may soon return to life.
• Liang rejects Zhu’s conclusions as overinterpretation, warns him not to spread them publicly, and invites him to tea instead. Zhu then checks an online forum, trades insults with critics, and receives a message from someone interested in his theories. Suspicious that the sender wants to identify him, Zhu asks directly and waits for a reply.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Feng is practical and cautious: despite imagining stronger animal servants, he recognizes that a wild beast could be as dangerous as a ghost. His stamina and discipline have grown, but he remains measured, studying and meditating rather than pushing himself recklessly.
• Chen Ye accommodates Xu without question, though he silently notices Xu’s makeshift incense stand. He appears increasingly impressed by Xu’s seemingly inexhaustible energy.
• Master Zhu is convinced that recent events confirm his ominous predictions. In person he is refined and methodical, but online he becomes combative; his suspicion of the private message shows how guarded he is.
• Master Liang is blunt, loud, and skeptical. He challenges Zhu’s pattern-making and tries to keep him from spreading alarming claims, though he does so with familiar concern.

Significant themes

• Tradition adapted to circumstance: Xu weighs how an old spirit-rearing method might work with animals unfamiliar to its original author.
• Power versus control: Greater strength is useless if the creature cannot be safely managed.
• Faith and uncertainty: Xu’s private concern about his supernatural allies contrasts with Zhu’s confident predictions and Liang’s insistence on ordinary explanations.
• Evidence and interpretation: The same disaster becomes proof of supernatural imbalance to Zhu and a case of overreading coincidence to Liang.

Key plot points and events

• After a sleepless night, Xu Feng drives Chen Ye back to the mountain. On the way, he contacts a forum user who knows about Song Chuming’s stele; the user agrees to talk through a voice-chat app.
• Xu Feng reviews the mountain’s dangers. The Ancient People’s Tomb seems comparatively tolerant of him, while Dragon-Locking Temple rejects him, Heavenly Gate raises frightening possibilities, and the Desolate Village Archway Tower openly threatens him.
• Xu Feng explains that the hallucinations he experienced came from a Sympathetic Sense Spirit attached to his Wine Gourd. His research links those visions to the Desolate Village Archway Tower.
• At the Ancient People’s Tomb, Xu Feng has Chen Ye wait at the main path with an emergency whistle and explores only as far as the edge of the overgrown ground. He uses a drone to inspect the site rather than risk entering the tall grass.
• The aerial view reveals the tomb’s horseshoe-like formation. After a long wait, Xu Feng notices a breeze moving in an unnatural direction. The tomb responds with a huge smiling face formed from the grass and wind. Xu Feng immediately leaves and sends Chen Ye safely down the mountain.

Character developments

• Xu Feng remains cautious and methodical, setting limits on what he will investigate and using the drone to avoid unnecessary danger. The tomb’s response, however, leaves him badly shaken—even his usual mental discipline cannot steady him.
• Chen Ye is cooperative and dependable. He follows Xu Feng’s instructions and descends when asked, unaware of the terrifying discovery Xu Feng has made.

Character interactions

• Xu Feng carefully reassures the wary forum user and offers several ways to communicate, eventually gaining access to voice chat.
• He gives Chen Ye clear safety instructions and watches until he is safely off the mountain.
• The Ancient People’s Tomb appears to acknowledge Xu Feng’s inspection, communicating through a refreshing breeze and a smiling pattern in the landscape.

Significant themes

• Caution in the face of the unknown: Xu Feng recognizes that curiosity does not justify risking his life, especially in the snake-filled grass.
• Places as conscious, supernatural entities: The mountain’s landmarks have distinct attitudes toward Xu Feng, and the tomb seems aware of his actions.
• Knowledge brings danger: Xu Feng’s investigation reveals that the tomb is not merely a ruin or formation, but something much larger and more ominous—an enormous grave.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Feng decides to prioritize the Giant Alligator and postpone investigating the lingering Earth Qi until he has raised a Ghost-Eating Servant. His broader strategy is to survive, advance his Game Level, and return later to resolve the threats he has left behind.
• He plans to tackle the Giant Alligator that night in Shishui’s abandoned mining district. Defeating it will not fully resolve the danger: Xu Feng still needs to learn what happened when Song Chuming beheaded it, and the Great King Temple remains a separate threat.
• Xu Feng asks Chen Ye to gather specialized supplies and warns him that the coming days may be exhausting and dangerous. Chen Ye freely commits to helping. Xu Feng promises him a ghost-eating puppy for protection; Chen Ye declines payment for the supplies, understanding that the puppy is far more valuable.
• After work, Chen Ye arrives with a rented pickup loaded with everything Xu Feng requested. Xu Feng checks the supplies carefully, then they drive around the city toward the abandoned collapse zone.
• At the site, Xu Feng uses Chen Ye’s drone and his Precious Mirror to survey the area. The collapsed district appears as a mass of black stone, but the suspected Earth Qi does not attack the drone.
• The drone reveals a sword inside a collapsed mine tunnel—and something beside it. Xu Feng senses wind rising beneath his feet and looks upward, suggesting an unexpected threat is imminent.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Feng is methodical and increasingly willing to bend rules. He is confident in his long-term plan but recognizes that tonight he must handle both the ritual preparations and the main confrontation without Daoist Chu’s help. He asks Chen Ye to act as his protector and “anchor.”
• Chen Ye proves reliable, resourceful, and committed. He gathers the equipment, drives Xu Feng to the site, and assists with the drone survey. His willingness is strengthened by his firsthand fear of the supernatural disaster in Shishui.
• Their relationship shifts toward a working partnership: Xu Feng is candid about the risks and offers Chen Ye meaningful protection, while Chen Ye insists on contributing rather than treating the promised puppy as a simple payment.

Significant themes

• Preparation versus uncertainty: Xu Feng plans carefully, but knows no plan can account for everything; he relies on experience and his Eight Characters as a fallback.
• Growth and delayed consequences: His strategy is to endure, become stronger through the game, and deal with unresolved dangers later.
• Trust and mutual obligation: Xu Feng gives Chen Ye an informed choice and offers protection; Chen Ye commits voluntarily and contributes his own resources.
• Tradition and modern tools: Ritual practice and supernatural artifacts are combined with vehicles, maps, headlamps, and drones to investigate the danger.

Key plot points

• At night in the old district of Shishui, Xu Feng spots a vast, ominous “man-eating vital essence” above the town and a miners’ temple revealed by the drone. He orders Chen Ye to retreat in the truck, explaining that the phenomenon may be a sign of corrupted Earth Qi left by the slain Giant Alligator.
• Xu Feng sets up a ritual site away from the danger, planting talisman-bearing flags to stabilize the surrounding forces and mixing chicken blood with cinnabar and an anticoagulant. He suspects Grandpa Heaven may have long ago divided the Giant Alligator’s Earth Qi, and wonders whether the miners’ temple is connected to him. He also believes Earth Uncle intends to claim whatever is at the temple, making Xu’s own intervention unlikely to succeed.
• Meanwhile, at Wanquan County’s funeral home, corpses in several halls begin twisting and changing. Master Zhu and the other Yin-Yang Practitioners struggle to manage the crisis and calm the frightened families; Zhu remains convinced it may signal a disaster affecting more than a hundred thousand people, though Master Liang doubts that conclusion.
• A message from Xu Feng about the miners’ temple prompts Master Zhu to warn him urgently: it is an evil temple devoted to the Great King God. Zhu explains that the Great King God is related to Song Chuming but is not the same as him. Xu asks whether the god is transforming from the Giant Alligator’s shape into a human one.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Feng is confident and practical, using modern tools—the truck and drone—alongside ritual knowledge. He keeps Chen Ye moving and working despite Chen’s confusion, offering only a partial explanation of the danger.
• Chen Ye recognizes that something is wrong but does not understand Xu’s terminology or methods. He follows Xu’s instructions and asks questions, highlighting the gap between them.
• Master Zhu is increasingly alarmed: the changing corpses seem to confirm his fears, and the miners’ temple gives him fresh cause for urgency. He tries to protect Xu by warning him to stay away.
• Master Liang helps hold the funeral home together but remains unconvinced by Zhu’s prediction of a mass disaster, creating tension between practical crisis response and Zhu’s broader fears.

Significant themes

• Tradition and technology: Trucks, drones, and apps now support rituals and folklore investigations, reshaping how old practices are carried out.
• Local belief and hidden history: The miners’ temple appears tied to customs known only to people familiar with the local mining district, suggesting that regional traditions conceal important dangers.
• Uncertainty and competing interpretations: Characters debate whether ominous phenomena are natural, spiritual, or signs of a larger catastrophe—and whether the temple’s deity is connected to the Giant Alligator or Song Chuming.
• Fear spreading through communities: The changing corpses turn private grief into collective panic, while the practitioners struggle to contain both the supernatural threat and the living crowd’s dread.

Key plot points and events

• Master Zhu realizes Xu Feng may have entered a dangerous mine. He warns him that the tunnel was buried after a collapse, that Song Chuming is likely a ghost, and that the Great King God’s statue may consume people. When Xu Feng does not answer, Zhu rushes to borrow a car and head after him.
• Xu Feng eventually sends a message saying he will not go farther—but the message was delayed. He has already entered the mine, where his phone has no signal.
• Inside, Xu Feng finds a grotesque statue made from a headless Giant Alligator and a figure crawling from it. Yellow-talismaned chains and ritual traces suggest it has been worshipped and restrained, though some chains have broken.
• Xu Feng concludes the statue is not a legitimate deity but a dangerous corpse-like entity, possibly formed from Earth Qi. He decides to “sew it up” by knocking it down and laying it flat so its qi can disperse.
• Using a Ritual Sword empowered by a talisman, Xu Feng charges the statue. The impact stirs it, and his incense divination shifts from a minor to a major ominous sign.
• Outside, Chen Ye stands ready at a ritual setup linked to Xu Feng through incense, fire, and a mysterious connection at Chen Ye’s finger. He feeds paper into a Fire Basin, waiting for Xu Feng’s signal to beat a Ritual Drum at exactly the right moment.

Character developments and interactions

• Master Zhu moves from alarm to decisive action, showing that he believes Xu Feng is in grave danger and may know more about the supernatural events than he initially lets on. Xu Feng’s observations also make Zhu suspect he belongs to a group connected with past events.
• Xu Feng is confident and improvisational, relying on his experience as a Corpse Sewer. Though he lacks his usual helpers and feels their absence, he proceeds alone and adapts by using a sword to draw the necessary talisman.
• Chen Ye remains outside as Xu Feng’s support, taking his assigned role seriously and preparing to respond instantly to the signal.
• Song Chuming, though absent, is suspected by both Zhu and Xu Feng of being a ghost or Demon Cultivator who used the Giant Alligator and the mine’s Earth Qi to create or nurture the entity.
• Zhu tries to warn Xu Feng by phone; Xu Feng’s delayed reply does not prevent him from entering the mine. Xu Feng and Chen Ye are connected through the ritual, with Chen Ye poised to assist at the crucial moment.

Significant themes

• Warnings versus action: Zhu’s warnings arrive too late, while Xu Feng trusts his own judgment and expertise.
• Improvisation and isolation: Xu Feng must work without his usual companions, adapting familiar methods to unfamiliar circumstances.
• The boundary between sacred and monstrous: The “Great King God” is worshipped like a deity but appears profoundly evil, raising doubts about what deserves reverence.
• Ritual cooperation across distance: Xu Feng and Chen Ye’s linked actions show how ritual practice can unite people even when they are physically separated.

• Chen Ye is left behind to guard himself. Xu Feng establishes a small protective enclosure using inscribed tiles, yarn, incense, and flags. He tells Chen Ye to remain inside as long as the tiles stay upright, explaining that the ritual makes the space equivalent to the Earth Uncle temple. Chen Ye follows the instructions, keeps watch, and prepares to use the drum and drone if needed, though he doubts the improvised-looking setup. He trusts Xu Feng’s experience.
• Xu Feng confronts the Great King God. Inside the pit, Xu Feng repeatedly rams the statue, weakening its footing and breaking its chains. The blows expose decaying flesh and organs. Disgusted by what he initially believes is human Organ Enshrinement, he strikes the statue’s chest with Palm Thunder, erasing some of its strange markings and causing the flesh beneath them to rot.
• The statue’s true nature is revealed. Xu Feng realizes the statue may itself be made of flesh and blood, with the apparent “enshrined” organs possibly its own. Though the discovery horrifies and astonishes him, he sets aside speculation and adapts: the creature can be damaged where its markings are removed.
• Xu Feng suppresses the creature and begins a ritual. He knocks the statue to the ground, where a face starts forming in its exposed flesh. Xu Feng throws Earth Uncle’s incense ash over it, temporarily restraining it, then lights incense and prays for Earth Uncle’s aid. He begins using ritual gestures to push the vital energy out of the creature’s chest.
• Master Zhu arrives as dawn approaches. Having driven through the night at reckless speed, he reaches the site fearing that even a brief delay could lead to disaster.
  Character developments and interactions: Xu Feng combines physical force, thunder techniques, and ritual knowledge, but the creature’s unusual nature forces him to revise his assumptions in the middle of the fight. His anger at the apparent misuse of human organs becomes a determination to destroy the thing. Chen Ye remains cautious and obedient, relying on Xu Feng despite his doubts. Xu Feng’s solitary fight also leaves him wishing he had companions to share his discovery with, while Master Zhu’s urgent arrival sets up his involvement in the crisis. Major themes include faith and ritual as sources of protection, the limits of knowledge when confronting the supernatural, and the horror of bodies and sacred forms being grotesquely corrupted.

Plot points and events

• Master Zhu drives to the edge of the Collapse Zone, then walks into the abandoned town after finding a pickup with ritual equipment in its bed.
• He discovers an unattended altar with a burning Fire Basin. Its unfamiliar symbols and improvised spirit tablet remind him of a mysterious incident from his youth involving strange tablets and Secret Puppets.
• Master Zhu’s recollection of that incident was dismissed as a delusion, though later evidence seemed to support it. Seeing the new altar, he suspects the people connected to that past event have returned—and wonders if they went into the enormous pit.
• In the mine, Xu Feng has Chen Ye help illuminate the work area and prepare materials. Xu Feng stitches the grotesque human-alligator corpse, rebuilds its Five Viscera, and treats it with Corpse-Liberation Chang Decoction.
• Xu Feng explains that the ritual drum’s earlier blows could not destroy the creature. But now that it has become a corpse, his Corpse-Sealing Soul-Settling ability gives him a decisive advantage. He declares himself its “natural counter.”

Character developments and interactions

• Master Zhu shifts from fear and hesitation to investigating the altar. His memories, professional knowledge, and uncertainty about his own past make him increasingly convinced that an old mystery is resurfacing.
• Xu Feng demonstrates confidence and technical mastery, combining practical corpse-handling methods with supernatural abilities. He calmly directs Chen Ye through the work.
• Chen Ye is frightened and disgusted by the creature, but remains steady and obedient, assisting Xu Feng without challenging his instructions.

Significant themes

• Suppressed memory and disputed reality: Master Zhu questions whether his childhood experience was illness or a genuine event.
• Hidden identity and continuity: Though the altar looks unlike those from his memories, Master Zhu senses that it is connected to them beneath the surface.
• Knowledge as power: Xu Feng’s expertise and specialized abilities turn a dangerous supernatural creature into something he can control.
• Fear balanced by duty: Both Master Zhu and Chen Ye are uneasy, yet continue acting despite the danger.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Feng confirms that the Great King God’s body is marked with a form of Ghost Script—not merely writing used by ghosts, but Netherworld-linked characters or runes. Its presence in the living world suggests that Yin and Yang have been disrupted, though Xu Feng says the scale of the coming danger is still unclear.
• Using the Corpse-Liberation Chang Decoction, Xu Feng erases the corpse’s strange patterns and stitches its head back on. The Great King God loses his unnatural vitality and becomes an ordinary, decaying corpse.
• Xu Feng considers the Great King God’s breath and the Earth Qi he stored in his stomach. He suspects the Giant Alligator was itself Earth Qi or a Dragon Vein, and wonders whether Song Chuming failed to fully deal with the Earth Qi after breaking it apart.
• Xu Feng asks Chen Ye to crow like a rooster at sunrise as part of a ritual. He promises Chen Ye Yin Virtue for helping, explaining its possible benefits in this life, the afterlife, and even extraordinary forms of protection.
• At the appointed time, Chen Ye performs the crowing. Xu Feng prepares to take the corpse back to the Small Courtyard, where he will complete the work of setting its Qi in order. Chen Ye goes ahead to check the area with a drone, but soon gets into an unexpected confrontation with Master Zhu.

Character developments

• Xu Feng shows both expertise and composure: he treats the corpse’s transformation as a technical problem, while continuing to investigate the larger mystery of the Earth Qi. His teasing, supernatural claims about Yin Virtue also reveal how casually he discusses matters that deeply unsettle Chen Ye.
• Chen Ye remains unsure of the occult explanations, but his trust in Xu Feng is growing. He follows instructions, performs the ritual, and begins to wonder whether Yin Virtue might explain stories of people being mysteriously rescued.

Significant themes

• Disorder between worlds: Ghost Script appearing among the living signals a dangerous inversion of the natural order.
• Unresolved consequences: The discussion of Song Chuming suggests that disrupting Earth Qi may leave behind risks that persist long after the original act.
• Faith and uncertainty: Chen Ye’s skepticism gives way to tentative belief because of what he has witnessed and his confidence in Xu Feng.
• Ritual and practical action: Supernatural work depends on concrete tasks—stitching the corpse, timing a ritual to sunrise, and checking the surroundings.

Character interactions

• Xu Feng explains Ghost Script and the Earth Qi mystery while Chen Ye asks questions and tries to follow along.
• Their conversation about Yin Virtue becomes playful but unsettling: Xu Feng jokes about legendary escapes, then insists that such wonders may be possible.
• Chen Ye’s willing cooperation contrasts with his lingering doubt.
• The chapter ends with Chen Ye facing Master Zhu outside, setting up a new conflict.