Chapter Summaries

Key events

• Chen Miao and Kyoko Kuroda confirm the rules and dangers of two Polluted Objects: a hat and a set of clothes can swap a wearer with a clothed, upright Scarecrow within one kilometer. The person swapped into the Scarecrow’s position cannot wake without help.
• Wearing the hat and clothes together causes a gradual, ultimately irreversible transformation into a scarecrow. Changes can still be reversed if the items are removed within twelve hours; after twenty-four hours, the wearer cannot be saved.
• Yoshioka Yusuke offers Kyoko an exchange for Talismans, but refuses her request to trade the objects for a chance to become an Onmyoji. Kyoko decides to keep them and buys two Body-Protection Charms. Chen Miao leaves for his aunt’s café.
• Later, Ide Shuichi reports Kyoko’s visit and Chen Miao’s presence to a mysterious contact through a Paper Cutout. He suggests approaching both of them to learn more.
• A week later, Kyoko tells the Folklore Club that she met a genuine Onmyoji, Mr. Murakami, who offered to initiate her and assess the club, choosing two members to study alongside her.
• Koizumi Shinichi eagerly seeks one of the places. Kyoko proposes that the club nominate two people instead of holding an assessment. Miyuki Yamazaki speaks first, and the others agree to give Koizumi a place. One position remains.
• Kyoko then explains that the assessment will involve resolving an urban legend—one they can be certain is real.

Character developments and interactions

• Kyoko’s wish to become an Onmyoji is rejected at Seimei Shrine, but she remains determined and later finds a different route through Mr. Murakami.
• Koizumi’s ambition becomes clear when he immediately asks whether he can secure a place without competing. He then appeals to the club, which ultimately supports him.
• Ide Shuichi acts as an informant, discreetly collecting intelligence on Kyoko and Chen Miao and recommending that his organization approach them.
• Yoshioka cautions Kyoko about the Polluted Objects’ risks, while Kyoko and Chen handle the exchange together before going their separate ways.

Significant themes

• Power and danger: Supernatural tools offer useful abilities but carry severe, potentially irreversible costs.
• Ambition and access: Kyoko’s pursuit of Onmyoji training continues despite institutional rejection, while Ide seeks insider intelligence by working toward membership at Seimei Shrine.
• Trust and solidarity: The club’s decision to grant Koizumi a place shows its members’ willingness to support one another, even as a second opportunity remains contested.

Key plot points and events

• During a briefing for an overnight assessment arranged by Mr. Murakami, Sato Shunsuke quits the Folklore Club. Kyoko Kuroda accepts his decision and explains that the assessment will involve an entity from an urban legend.
• The students may work together, but Murakami will choose someone based on their performance. The assessment begins at 1 a.m.; Kyoko distributes one Body-Protection Charm and one Sealing Talisman to each participant and stresses that no one should take unnecessary risks.
• Miyuki Yamazaki joins the assessment, confident that Chen Miao (“San Shui”) can protect her. Kyoko considers the likely candidates and believes the final place will probably go to San Shui or Takumi Suzuki.
• Chen visits his aunt Cai Yin’s café, then waits in the wine cellar to speak with Zhang Huan about Murakami’s unexpected arrival. Zhang is unavailable, so Chen decides to wait until he has new information.
• At midnight, Koizumi Shinichi drives Chen and the other four participants to the village where the assessment will take place. Kyoko tells them to learn the terrain and return to the entrance if things become dangerous. The group heads into the village an hour before the entity is expected to appear.

Character developments and interactions

• Sato makes his withdrawal explicit, revealing his growing disengagement from club activities. Kyoko responds with understanding rather than pressure.
• Kyoko acts as a cautious leader: she explains the rules, provides protective tools, and prioritizes the students’ safety, while still supporting their chance to prove themselves.
• Miyuki remains playful and self-assured, relying on her trust in Chen.
• Chen is curious about Murakami’s sudden appearance but respects Zhang’s more urgent commitments and chooses patience.
• Koizumi reassures Kyoko about the group’s preparation, though she remains worried as the students enter the village.

Significant themes

• Choice and personal limits: Sato is allowed to leave, and participants are reminded that they need not risk their lives.
• Preparation and mutual support: Familiarity with the terrain, teamwork, and talismans are presented as essential safeguards.
• Trust amid uncertainty: The group proceeds despite not knowing exactly what awaits them, relying on their experience and one another.

Plot points and events

• Upon entering Guili Village, the five students split into two teams. Koji Hosokawa proposed the division, and Takumi Suzuki and Oshima Masao joined him, leaving Chen Miao with Miyuki Yamazaki.
• Takumi is secretly helping secure the Onmyoji assessment spot for himself and prevent Chen from getting it. Oshima joins out of loyalty to Takumi and pressure from Sato Shunsuke, though he feels guilty about abandoning Chen.
• Chen accepts the split calmly, saying Masao can make his own choices. Miyuki is angry on his behalf, but they set off to explore the village.
• Takumi’s team searches near crossroads, where the ghost story is more likely to appear. Takumi gives instructions to watch their protective charms and keep one another in sight.
• Koji’s charm first feels slightly warm. Takumi dismisses it as Koji’s body heat. Soon afterward, the charm turns scorching, bursts into flame, and reveals a black shadow. The creature knocks Koji down, clamps its huge mouth over his face, and drags him into an alley. Takumi and Oshima continue ahead, apparently unaware.

Character developments and interactions

• Takumi is ambitious and calculating, organizing the search while using his teammates to improve his chances in the assessment.
• Oshima chooses Takumi’s side despite his friendship with Chen, torn between guilt and loyalty to his older friendship with Takumi and Shunsuke.
• Koji supports Takumi’s plan, apparently hoping to get closer to Miyuki, but is left isolated when the attack begins.
• Chen remains composed and does not resent Masao’s decision; Miyuki openly objects to the others’ behavior and questions Chen’s easygoing response.
• Takumi dismisses Koji’s warning about the charm, leaving Koji alone and vulnerable when the supernatural threat strikes.

Significant themes

• Friendship and loyalty: Oshima’s choice exposes the tension between long-standing bonds and newer friendships.
• Ambition and betrayal: The assessment turns classmates into rivals, prompting secret alliances.
• Misjudgment and danger: Takumi’s confidence leads him to discount a warning, while the ghost story proves far more immediate and deadly than the group expects.

Key plot points and events

• Takumi Suzuki’s Sealing Talisman grows hot, then bursts into flames as Oshima Masao approaches. The men conclude that an unseen threat is nearby, but they cannot spot it.
• After several tense minutes, they decide to move together and find Miyuki Yamazaki and the others.
• They encounter Chen Miao and Miyuki. As the group gathers, Miyuki’s and Chen’s talismans also ignite, suggesting the danger is close.
• Chen ignores the formation the others are trying to make. He enters the circle, strikes Koji Hosokawa with a talisman, takes Takumi’s talisman, and strikes Koji again.
• Koji collapses and transforms into a large dog. The group realizes the threat was not lurking nearby: it had been beside them all along, disguised as Koji.

Character developments and interactions

• Takumi begins confident but becomes visibly anxious, gaining a new appreciation for the pressure Kyoko Kuroda carries as the group’s trusted leader. He tries to protect the others and organize their response.
• Oshima remains alert and follows Takumi’s lead, though he, too, is shaken by the revelation.
• Miyuki instinctively seeks safety in numbers and moves toward the group when her talisman heats up. She is horrified by Koji’s transformation.
• Chen Miao acts decisively, recognizing or uncovering the hidden danger when the others cannot. His abrupt actions initially confuse and alarm the group, but expose the truth.
• Koji, whom the others believe to be their companion, is revealed to have been the disguised creature all along.

Significant themes

• Deception and misperception: The danger is not an unseen presence in the alleys but someone already among the group.
• False security in numbers: The characters assume gathering together will protect them, while the threat is inside their formation.
• Fear and leadership: Takumi’s experience shows the emotional burden of being responsible for others in a supernatural crisis.
• The limits of trust: The revelation forces the group to question how well they can recognize companions—or threats.

Key plot points and events

• The group discovers that the stray dog impersonating Koji Hosokawa is immobilized after Chen Miao applies Oshima’s activated sealing talisman. Chen explains that Koji’s shadow seemed wrong, though he actually knew about the dog through his supernatural abilities and uses the shadow explanation to hide them.
• The group finds the real Koji unconscious nearby. They bring him back to Kyoko Kuroda, where Onmyoji Murakami Shinji arrives. Murakami uses a talisman to draw Koji’s soul from the dog and reunite it with his body, saying he will recover.
• Murakami praises Chen’s composure and invites him to study alongside Kyoko, filling the Folklore Club’s final Onmyoji-training spot. Takumi is briefly disappointed but accepts the outcome.
• The next day, Chen accompanies Kyoko to Murakami’s home for his first lesson. Using Qi Observation and the Mystic Mirror, he detects a feng shui barrier marked with the pentagram of the Mountain Physiognomy Organization. He recognizes the group and suspects that a danger similar to the Xiong family patriarch’s ordeal may now be aimed at him.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains calm and resourceful in front of the group, while concealing the full extent of his abilities. He also becomes wary of Murakami after confirming the old man released the dog.
• Miyuki Yamazaki, Oshima Masao, and Takumi Suzuki are shaken by the supernatural incident and rely on Chen’s judgment. Miyuki is impressed by how he solved the mystery; Takumi’s ambition to secure the training place gives way to caution after seeing the dog’s transformation.
• Kyoko Kuroda worries about the group’s safety, then introduces Murakami and brings Chen to his lesson.
• Murakami Shinji demonstrates formidable spiritual skill and welcomes Chen into training, though Chen privately suspects he may be connected to something more dangerous.

Significant themes

• Hidden knowledge and deception: Chen presents a plausible explanation while keeping his true methods secret.
• Composure under pressure: His clear-headedness earns the group’s trust and Murakami’s approval.
• Uneasy mentorship and concealed threats: Chen’s new opportunity for study is shadowed by the discovery of the Mountain Physiognomy Organization’s mark.
• The boundary between body and spirit: Koji’s rescue underscores the story’s supernatural stakes and the possibility of spiritual separation.

• Plot: Murakami Shinji gives Kyoko Kuroda, Koizumi Shinichi, and Chen Miao an introductory lesson on Onmyoji, explaining that practitioners specialize in different paths. He outlines three options: shikigami work, talismans, and feng shui. Feng shui is the hardest and requires natural aptitude, so Kyoko suggests testing all three before they choose. Murakami leads them through a first test, designed to disrupt their sense of direction. Kyoko and Koizumi both become disoriented and repeatedly point the wrong way. The chapter ends just as Chen is about to take the test, weighing whether to reveal his own aptitude.
• Character developments: Chen listens seriously and learns how Island Nation Onmyoji relate to Great Xia’s yin-cultivation traditions, while recognizing their distinctive innovations. Kyoko shows initiative and a cooperative outlook, proposing that the three choose different specialties so they can complement one another. Koizumi is nervous and uncertain, but agrees to her plan. Both Kyoko and Koizumi fail to navigate the feng shui field.
• Character interactions: Murakami teaches and guides the group, then lets them decide how to proceed. Kyoko consults Koizumi and Chen and frames their training as a shared effort. Koizumi hopes Chen will do better than he did, while also feeling conflicted about Chen outperforming him.
• Themes: The chapter emphasizes specialization, teamwork, and matching one’s path to one’s abilities. It also contrasts adaptation with raw strength: Island Nation’s systems, especially ninja techniques, have evolved to suit their practitioners’ strengths, even if they are not as powerful as Great Xia’s.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao suspects Murakami Shinji is connected to the Mountain Physiognomy Organization, which may be grooming him to take feng shui techniques back to Great Xia and establish a formation there.
• Rather than behave like an ordinary trainee, Chen decides to present himself as a genius and see what the organization might offer him.
• In Murakami’s disorienting feng shui barrier, Chen uses his Qi Observation State to read the flow of energy. By turning with—or against—the rotating qi, he repeatedly identifies directions correctly, even as Murakami changes the formation’s rotation.
• Murakami tests Chen’s reaction and finds no trace of yin energy in his aperture points. He is impressed but keeps his conclusions to himself.
• At a café, the trainees are asked to explain why a partitioned corner sits unused. Chen identifies several interacting causes: trapped cold air, concentrated sunlight reflected from a curved building outside, and odors collecting because of the café’s ceiling design.

Character developments

• Chen Miao deliberately adopts the role of a gifted trainee. His observations show that he can interpret feng shui patterns and environmental influences with exceptional precision.
• Murakami Shinji grows increasingly serious during the first test, then openly pleased by Chen’s performance. He appears to see Chen as an unusually promising prospect.
• Kyoko Kuroda and Koizumi Shinichi are left bewildered by how much Chen notices, especially after Murakami had explained that practitioners have different strengths.

Character interactions

• Murakami tests Chen through a changing formation and watches closely to determine whether Chen is guessing or genuinely reading its energy.
• Chen gives Murakami a modest explanation for his movements, saying he turned because following the surrounding motion made him feel more comfortable.
• Kyoko and Koizumi offer their own interpretations of the café corner before Chen gives a much more detailed explanation, prompting their surprise.

Significant themes

• Hidden ability and self-presentation: Chen chooses to reveal enough talent to influence how others treat him, while concealing the full extent of what he knows.
• Observation and interpretation: Both tests reward reading subtle patterns—energy flows in the formation and physical conditions in the café.
• Manipulation and opportunity: Chen recognizes that the Mountain Physiognomy Organization may be using trainees for its own ends, but aims to turn that arrangement to his advantage.

Key plot points and events

• Uemura Shinji has Kyoko Kuroda, Koizumi Shinichi, and Chen Miao test how people experience different environments. In a café, Chen explains that an unpleasant, unused corner may be intentional: it draws attention to the café’s other seating areas and improves the overall atmosphere.
• They repeat the observation exercise at a library, a park, and other locations. Chen consistently notices details his companions miss.
• In the Situation Intuition Test, the group first judges buildings from photographs. Chen performs worst, correctly assessing only three of ten sets, while Kyoko gets six and Koizumi seven.
• Uemura then takes them to inspect six buildings in person. Chen identifies and ranks them exactly as Uemura does, getting all six right. Uemura concludes that Chen lacks some book-based feng shui knowledge but has exceptional sensitivity to real environments.
• Because it is late, Uemura postpones the remaining aptitude tests until the next day. Kyoko and Koizumi tell him they will pursue other paths; he plans to test them for talisman and shikigami aptitude.
• After they leave, Uemura privately wonders whether Chen should be sent back to Great Xia. Chen may be able to sense field qi—and could uncover flaws in a feng shui formation supplied by Uemura’s organization. Uemura decides to wait until after the next day’s tests before contacting the organization.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao demonstrates that his strength lies in directly perceiving environments, not judging them from photographs. His nuanced café analysis impresses Uemura and makes his aptitude look exceptional.
• Kyoko Kuroda and Koizumi Shinichi move from curiosity and unease to admiration and discouragement as Chen repeatedly outperforms them. Recognizing his greater potential as a Feng Shui Master, they choose to pursue other specialties.
• Uemura Shinji grows increasingly impressed by Chen. His private concern reveals that he is weighing Chen’s talent against the organization’s interests.

Significant themes

• Talent depends on the test: Chen struggles with judgments based on photographs but excels when he can experience places firsthand.
• Flaws can serve a larger purpose: The café’s bad corner may benefit the whole space rather than being a mistake.
• Exceptional ability brings consequences: Chen’s promise could shape his future—and make him a potential threat to the organization overseeing his path.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao tries again to reach Zhang Huan through his uncle, Gao Yue, but receives no reply. He decides to wait and continues organizing what Murakami Shinji taught him.
• The next morning, Chen Miao visits Murakami Shinji, who is teaching Kyoko Kuroda and Koizumi Shinichi. Shinji tells Chen Miao that Kyoko has chosen the talisman path and Shinichi the shikigami path; Chen Miao, he believes, might also have suited shikigami if not for his feng shui talent.
• Shinji drives Chen Miao to an abandoned mountain shrine to test his ability to perceive earth energy, sense an aura, and resonate with a location.
• Chen Miao quietly investigates the shrine using his abilities. Through Qi Observation and his Mystic Mirror, he identifies forty-nine qi nodes enclosed by the shrine’s stone walls, with their energy flowing underground.
• From above, he recognizes that the surrounding ridges and shrine form a lotus shape. He concludes that the site is a Lotus-Blooming Earth Vein, a formation associated with calm and meditative cultivation, and suspects an underground river lies beneath it.
• Before reporting back, Chen Miao considers how to present what he has learned as if discovered through ordinary talent rather than specialized training.

Character developments

• Chen Miao shows strong initiative, caution, and analytical skill. Though he already knows geomantic methods, he carefully avoids revealing his unusual abilities and adapts his findings to the test’s constraints.
• Murakami Shinji grows hopeful about Chen Miao’s potential, wondering whether he may possess several kinds of aptitude. He also values Chen Miao’s obedience and composure.
• Kyoko and Shinichi are briefly characterized through their chosen disciplines: talismans and shikigami, respectively.

Significant themes

• Hidden knowledge and concealment: Chen Miao must disguise the true source of his insights.
• Talent versus training: The tests are meant to reveal innate aptitude, while Chen Miao’s knowledge gives him an unseen advantage.
• Perception and interpretation: The chapter emphasizes reading subtle energy flows and recognizing the larger pattern they form.
• Teacher–student expectations: Shinji’s hopes for Chen Miao contrast with how much Chen Miao keeps to himself.

Character interactions

• Chen Miao’s attempt to contact Zhang Huan through Gao Yue goes unanswered, leaving his current “side quest” unresolved.
• Shinji and Chen Miao share a brief conversation about the other students’ paths and Chen Miao’s potential; their reserved personalities keep the exchange short.
• At the shrine, Shinji gives Chen Miao room to work while observing him with growing anticipation. Chen Miao follows the instructions but privately relies on abilities Shinji does not know he has.

Key plot points and events

• Murakami Shinji tests Chen Miao’s Feng Shui abilities. Chen senses damp energy rising from beneath Kifune Shrine and spreading outward, and feels more comfortable inside, but cannot trace earth veins or perceive the shrine’s past.
• Shinji concludes that Chen has a rare talent for sensing energy fields, even though he lacks talent for earth-vein sensing and empathy. He tells Chen he is suited to becoming a Feng Shui Master and says he will consider how to teach him.
• That night, Shinji secretly travels through Kifune Shrine’s hidden route into a mountain complex, where he reports Chen’s results to Honda Taichi, a senior member of the Mountain Physiognomy Organization.
• Honda and Shinji decide Chen should be recruited rather than returned to Great Xia as a pawn. Shinji proposes using the organization’s methods to make Chen forget his identity and serve as a reserve member. Honda approves and orders Shinji to bring Chen to him the following night.
• Though Shinji privately wishes he could keep Chen as his own disciple, his status as an Outer Member leaves him little control. He reflects that he may have to choose either Kyoko Kuroda or Koizumi Shinichi as his successor.
• The next evening, Shinji takes Chen on a long walk, eventually bringing him to Kifune Shrine’s Inner Shrine. Chen realizes the shrine is connected to the Mountain Physiognomy Organization and is about to enter it.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao learns that his energy-field sensitivity is unusually valuable, though he remains unaware of the organization’s plan to erase or alter his identity.
• Murakami Shinji is impressed by Chen’s potential and appears to value him as a possible successor, but he prioritizes the organization’s wishes when speaking to Honda. His regret over lacking authority—and over choosing between his existing students—reveals a conflict between personal mentorship and organizational duty.
• Honda Taichi calmly directs the decision, endorsing Chen’s recruitment and treating his talent as an asset for the organization.
• Shinji’s respectful report contrasts with his private disappointment: he and Honda make the decision about Chen without Chen’s knowledge.

Significant themes

• Talent as a tool of power: Chen’s rare ability makes him valuable to an organization that intends to control him.
• Loyalty versus personal bonds: Shinji’s wish to teach Chen conflicts with his subordinate role and duty to the organization.
• Hidden worlds and concealed identity: The shrine’s secret passage reveals a covert organization operating beneath ordinary appearances, while Chen is poised to lose control over his own identity.
• Unequal agency: Chen is the subject of decisions made by Shinji and Honda, with no say in his recruitment.

Key plot points and events

• Earth Observer Star Zhang Huan and Earth Shadow Star Yu Hui have spent a week secretly infiltrating a Mountain Physiognomy Organization base. By sealing rooms and questioning members in their dreams, they have gathered information, especially about the organization’s far-flung peripheral network.
• They have not yet uncovered the Mountain-River Collapse Plan. The base’s senior members are difficult to investigate because they remain behind protected doors and are rarely alone.
• Zhang plans to wait three more days for a chance to question a senior figure, then leave with Yu Hui and report their findings. If needed, he may enlist Chen Miao and Xia Lin to help force their way in.
• Unbeknownst to Zhang, Chen Miao has entered the same base with Murakami Shinji. He detects multiple feng shui barriers and hidden ninjas along the heavily guarded passage.
• Chen Miao meets Lord Honda Taichi in a protected chamber. Honda asks whether he is ready to join the organization. Chen agrees, and Honda explains that the initiation begins with receiving the organization’s mark: a blood-red chrysanthemum that appears under yin energy.

Character developments

• Zhang Huan is methodical and cautious, balancing the urgency of finding the plan against the danger of probing the base’s leaders. He also briefly wonders how Chen Miao is doing, unaware of Chen’s dangerous progress.
• Yu Hui remains Zhang’s capable partner, using her sealing ability to conceal their dream interrogations and helping them evade detection.
• Chen Miao shows confidence and restraint. Despite discovering the base’s defenses, he keeps his expression composed and refuses Murakami’s demand that he kneel.
• Murakami Shinji acts as Chen’s guide and enforcer, insisting on obedience and expecting the organization to reshape its recruits.
• Honda Taichi appears courteous and accommodating, but his welcome comes with a formal process of indoctrination.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and surveillance: Both infiltrators and the organization rely on concealment, barriers, and hidden observers.
• Caution versus commitment: Zhang prefers to wait for a safe opportunity, while Chen accepts entry into a dangerous organization to pursue his goal.
• Control and loss of identity: Murakami believes members lose much of their own will unless they rise to the top, foreshadowing the cost of joining.
• Parallel investigations: Zhang and Chen are unknowingly operating inside the same base, setting up a potential collision between their plans.

Character interactions

• Zhang and Yu Hui coordinate their covert investigation and discuss how to approach the base’s leaders.
• Murakami instructs Chen to obey Honda and kneel; Chen resists, but Honda smooths over the disagreement by excusing his unfamiliarity with the custom.
• Honda dismisses Murakami before revealing the organization’s first initiation step to Chen.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao recognizes the blood-red chrysanthemum as the Nine Chrysanthemum School’s control mark, despite being recruited by its offshoot, the Mountain Physiognomy Organization.
• Honda Taichi brands Chen’s forearm. Chen’s enhanced body initially resists the mark, so he redirects his vital blood to let it take hold without revealing his resistance.
• Honda uses a talisman and feng shui barriers to weaken Chen’s awareness and interrogate him. Chen answers under the alias “Chen San Shui,” claiming he came to the Island Nation to study.
• Honda implants instructions compelling Chen to obey him and the organization. Chen pretends to be fully affected and repeats the imposed oath.
• Honda welcomes him as an outer member, orders him to keep his membership secret, and promises to teach him feng shui and cultivation. Chen leaves with Murakami.
• Alone, Honda plans to train Chen for the Mountain-River Collapse Plan, which may eventually send him to Great Xia to activate a formation. He intends to show Chen a formation at the Kyoto base and help him open his aperture.

Character developments

• Chen Miao remains cautious and resourceful: he conceals his resistance to both the mark and interrogation while gathering information and preserving his cover.
• Honda Taichi sees Chen as unusually talented and decides to invest in his training, while secretly viewing him as a future agent for the organization’s plan.

Significant themes

• Deception and hidden agendas: Chen feigns submission, while Honda disguises coercive recruitment as mentorship.
• Control versus resistance: The organization uses marks, talismans, and feng shui barriers to dominate members, but Chen’s strength and composure let him retain his freedom.
• Manipulation through opportunity: Honda frames his plans as guidance and advancement, though they serve a dangerous larger scheme.

Character interactions

• Honda tests Chen, brands him, and compels him to swear loyalty; Chen carefully plays the obedient recruit.
• Honda’s approval and Chen’s respectful replies establish a teacher–student relationship on the surface, while both conceal their true intentions.

Key plot points and events

• Murakami Shinji shows Chen Miao how to enter the Mountain Physiognomy Organization’s base by activating the Nine Chrysanthemums mark and tells him about several exits.
• After they part, Murakami treats Chen with greater deference, leading Chen to suspect that his assumed identity—Honda Taichi’s disciple—carries significant status.
• At home, Chen secretly reports to Gao Yue that he has infiltrated the organization. He shares the base’s location at Kifune Shrine, its dangerous entrance, three known exits, and the concealed barriers in Honda Taichi’s chamber. He also warns that Murakami may have deliberately approached him because he is from Great Xia.
• Chen tests the mark and discovers that his Five Hells Immortal Body can counteract its controlling effects. Using Yin Control, he detects three distinct kinds of yin energy in it: one belonging to Honda Taichi and two he does not recognize. He suspects one may lead him to the person who marked Honda, and considers using Murakami’s mark to track organization members.
• The Administration replies: Chen must remain undercover, stay safe, take no action for now, and await contact from Earth Observer Star. He wonders where Zhang Huan, the apparent lead operative, is.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen proves effective as an undercover agent: he gathers access details, reports cautiously, and experiments with the mark without exposing himself.
• Murakami’s shift from friendly senior to deferential subordinate suggests Chen’s cover identity has elevated his standing.
• Gao Yue initially reacts with disbelief to Chen’s claim that he has joined the organization, but quickly follows protocol and prepares the intelligence report. He privately wonders whether Chen is actually the mission’s main operative.
• Chen and Gao maintain a discreet public pretense of sharing a drink before discussing intelligence in the basement.

Significant themes

• Infiltration and deception: Chen’s success depends on maintaining his cover and reading others’ motives.
• Intelligence and restraint: Valuable discoveries do not mean he can act freely; the Administration orders him to wait.
• Power with hidden risks: The mark may control its bearer, but Chen’s abilities let him resist it—and potentially turn it into a tool for tracking others.
• Uncertainty and trust: Chen suspects Murakami’s introduction was intentional, while the unidentified energies and missing Zhang Huan leave the wider mission unclear.

Key plot points

• Zhang Huan and Yu Hui spend hours hiding near a stone chamber in the Mountain Physiognomy Organization’s grotto, waiting for Honda Taichi to leave so they can abduct and question him.
• Yu Hui spots someone entering the chamber who appears to be Chen Miao in disguise. When Honda Taichi later emerges with two men, Zhang Huan confirms Chen Miao’s identity from the necklace cord he once gave him.
• Confused by Chen Miao’s apparent connection to Honda, Zhang Huan and Yu Hui decide to follow the group.
• Meanwhile, Chen Miao notices faint spatial fluctuations trailing them, mistakenly guessing they may come from a protector assigned to Honda.
• Honda leads Chen Miao and Murakami Shinji into the Mountain Aspect Formation, a powerful Feng Shui barrier linked to the Mountain Physiognomy Organization’s wider network. Chen detects its pressure immediately, impressing Honda, who offers to show him the formation’s center.
• As the group proceeds, Honda briefly reacts as if he has noticed something behind them. A shadow slips from the cave and disappears into a nearby tree’s shade.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Huan shifts from patient surveillance to urgent curiosity when he recognizes Chen Miao. He chooses to follow rather than seize the chance to capture Honda immediately.
• Yu Hui demonstrates both reliable judgment and confidence in her ability to identify Chen Miao, even while he is disguised.
• Chen Miao shows keen sensitivity to qi fields by detecting the Mountain Aspect Formation. He remains focused on Honda’s importance and the unusual spatial presence following them.
• Honda Taichi is impressed by Chen Miao’s talent and appears to notice the group following him, though he conceals his reaction.
• Chen Miao and Honda develop a closer professional rapport: Honda praises Chen’s perception and promises to show him the formation’s power.

Significant themes

• Concealment and surveillance: Shadow abilities, disguise, and the unseen pursuit make it unclear who is watching whom.
• Hidden connections and uncertainty: Zhang Huan’s discovery that Chen Miao is with Honda raises questions about Chen’s activities and loyalties.
• Power and expertise: Chen’s perception earns Honda’s respect, while the Mountain Aspect Formation reveals the organization’s formidable reach.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao senses that a flat stone platform is saturated with hidden yin energy. Honda Taichi marks him with the Nine Chrysanthemums seal and brings him, along with Murakami Shinji, onto the platform.
• Honda activates the Mountain Aspect Barrier, expanding an illusory mountain over the hollow and using descending peaks to expose and pin two intruders.
• The intruders reveal themselves as Zhang Huan and his companion, the Hounds of Great Xia. Their blood-colored armor and vital-blood power break through the illusory peaks.
• Honda sacrifices blood to activate the platform’s Blood Rune Rings and summons a massive inverted mountain to crush the Hounds.
• Chen Miao pretends to panic to prompt a response from Zhang Huan. Zhang Huan signals that it is time to act.
• A Flame Giant Ape appears, holding Murakami. Its connection to Chen Miao’s Nine Chrysanthemums mark shocks Honda, who is struck from the platform and dissolves into mist. Mist then spreads through the hollow.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains cautious and observant, studying the formation and judging whether the Hounds need help. He disguises a signal as fear, coordinating with Zhang Huan without alerting Honda.
• Honda Taichi shifts from boasting teacher to embattled fighter, revealing the formation’s full power and resorting to blood sacrifice when his first attacks fail. The ape’s connection to Chen Miao leaves him stunned.
• Zhang Huan and his companion demonstrate formidable strength, breaking free of Honda’s layered mountain attacks and preparing to counterattack.
• Murakami Shinji is kept on the platform despite his offer to leave and becomes a hostage-like figure in the giant ape’s grasp, complicating the confrontation.

Significant themes

• Hidden power and appearances: The ordinary-looking stone conceals immense yin energy, while Chen Miao’s apparent fear masks deliberate strategy.
• Escalation and counterforce: Honda’s increasingly powerful techniques are met by the Hounds’ blood-powered resistance and the sudden appearance of the giant ape.
• Loyalty, deception, and coordination: Chen Miao and Zhang Huan communicate indirectly, while Honda misreads Chen Miao’s performance as genuine fear.

Key plot points and events

• After Honda Taiichi loses control of the blood-red mountain, Chen Miao stays on the Stone Platform, where Honda cannot wield the formation as effectively.
• Chen Miao takes a Soul-Calming Pill, allowing him to use his nethermist domain without his soul becoming unstable. When Honda vanishes from the mist, Chen prepares to leave—but a trace of Honda’s distinctive yin energy reveals his hiding place.
• Honda tries to kill Chen through the Nine Chrysanthemums curse mark. The attack instead ignites Honda’s soul, disabling his control of the formation. Chen captures him with his ice prison.
• Zhang Huan and Yu Hui arrive. Rather than interrogate Honda in the cavern, the group leaves using Yu Hui’s ability: she draws them into a compact, pitch-black space and moves through the shadows outside it, avoiding the stronghold’s barriers and guards.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shows caution as well as strength: he holds the platform rather than risk the mountain attack, relies on the pill to safely use his domain, and exploits the curse mark’s backlash to subdue Honda. He also becomes intrigued by Yu Hui’s powers and how they work.
• Honda Taiichi goes from commanding the formation to being trapped by his own curse-mark attack. His desperation to punish Chen leaves him vulnerable.
• Yu Hui reveals an impressive shadow-based ability that creates or accesses a small dark space, enables rapid covert travel, and helps her locate Chen inside the mist. Her skill proves especially useful in the enemy stronghold.
• Zhang Huan and Yu Hui approach Chen cautiously, still protected by vital blood armor. Zhang asks about Honda, and the group agrees that escape should come before interrogation.

Significant themes

• Power and counterplay: Honda’s formidable formation and curse mark are overcome through Chen’s preparation, restraint, and knowledge of their weaknesses.
• Abilities as systems to understand: Chen studies the limits and mechanics of Yu Hui’s shadow power, comparing it with the Mirror Realm and distinctive yin energy.
• Cooperation and survival: Though Chen secures the victory, the group depends on Yu Hui’s ability to escape safely from hostile territory.

Key plot points and events

• After escaping the Mountain Physiognomy Organization’s base, Chen Miao reunites with Zhang Huan and Yu Hui at Zhang’s rented house near Kifune Shrine. Zhang explains that he had been unable to contact Chen because he was inside the base.
• Chen recounts how he infiltrated the organization. Zhang offers to ask the bureau to remove Chen’s Nine Chrysanthemums mark, but Chen gives no firm answer.
• Chen can no longer maintain his technique on Honda Taichi, so he withdraws the Ice Prison mark and lets Zhang take over. Yu Hui leaves to contact Xia Lin and the others.
• Zhang explains that the special abilities of the Heavenly Spirit and Earthly Fiend members come from their titles, not directly from cultivation; the ability disappears when the title is lost. Chen suspects these abilities may be linked to objects like Polluted Objects, though he has no proof.
• Zhang asks about Chen’s powerful fiery ape form. Chen says he only possesses its cultivation method and cannot explain its origin.
• Xia Lin and Gu Zhong return with Yu Hui. Xia Lin’s investigation has been difficult, so the group interrogates Honda using Zhang and Xia Lin’s abilities.
• Honda reveals part of the Mountain-River Collapse Plan. Even the limited information exposes how catastrophic it could be for Great Xia.
• Zhang decides the team must return to the organization’s base and capture other core members for questioning. Chen is tasked with relaying the information through Gao Yue and activating the emergency communication channel, enabling real-time contact.

Character developments

• Chen Miao remains cautious about accepting help with his mark and keeps the origin of his fiery ape technique unclear. His knowledge and experience make him a key source of intelligence.
• Zhang Huan shows respect for Chen’s risks and acts decisively once the plan’s threat becomes clear. His interest in Chen’s technique suggests he sees its potential value.
• Yu Hui, Xia Lin, and Gu Zhong continue supporting the investigation through their abilities and fieldwork.

Significant themes

• Duty and sacrifice: Chen and the others risk themselves to uncover the organization’s plans.
• Power and its origins: The chapter raises questions about title-granted abilities, cultivation, and possible supernatural objects.
• Escalating danger and urgency: The Mountain-River Collapse Plan threatens mass casualties, forcing the team to abandon cautious investigation for rapid action.

Character interactions

• Zhang and Chen exchange information and clarify their recent activities; Zhang offers practical help, while Chen remains reserved.
• Chen questions Zhang about Yu Hui’s shadow-walking ability, prompting an explanation of how title-based abilities work.
• Zhang and Xia Lin combine their abilities to interrogate Honda, and his revelations shift the group’s focus toward an immediate return to the base.

Plot points and events

• An undercover operative in the Island Nation requests an emergency channel, citing the Mountain-River Collapse Plan. Great Xia’s Information Liaison Department rapidly decrypts the report and alerts senior officials.
• An urgent Headquarters meeting is convened, attended by key department directors and representatives of the Heavenly Spirit and Earthly Fiend groups, signaling the gravity of the threat.
• The report reveals that the Island Nation’s Mountain Physiognomy Organization has spent over a century secretly planting feng shui formations across Great Xia.
• In three years, the organization plans to activate interconnected formations. Undersea mountain ranges would trigger coastal formations, which would set off formations inland—causing catastrophic earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other disasters.
• The plan also includes a supernatural resurgence: yin energy would flood Great Xia, creating a vast ghost domain. The formations would trap the ghosts inside, turning the country into a realm for supernatural practitioners and a nightmare for ordinary people.

Character developments

• Jiang Tao recognizes the mission’s importance, oversees the decryption, and ensures the intelligence is checked by multiple officers before escalating it.
• Tan Xuan is initially nervous about the meeting’s implications, especially because the Heavenly Sword Star and senior leaders are present. He then reframes the crisis as a chance to prove himself and advance.
• Dan Yang, responsible for affairs beyond Great Xia’s borders, takes charge of presenting the intelligence to the assembled officials.

Significant themes

• Hidden threats and long-term infiltration: A century-long plot has been built through seemingly ordinary actions and unnoticed formations.
• Catastrophe on an immense scale: The plan combines environmental destruction with a supernatural invasion.
• Duty amid uncertainty: Officials must verify intelligence quickly and coordinate across departments.
• Ambition in a crisis: Tan Xuan sees both danger and opportunity in the emergency.

Character interactions

• Jiang Tao coordinates with liaison officers and other department leaders to decode and escalate the message.
• Tan Xuan discusses the meeting’s likely consequences with Mu Feng, who warns that containment and public-opinion work may soon intensify.
• The arrival of the Heavenly Sword Star, the Earthly Chief Star, and Dan Yang heightens the room’s tension and signals the threat’s national importance.

Key plot points and events

• The Administration’s leadership meets after learning that the Island Nation’s Mountain Physiognomy Organization intends to carry out its Mountain-River Collapse Plan, a Feng Shui operation that could threaten Great Xia.
• Dan Yang is given authority to direct the response. The meeting expects a forceful campaign: his earlier foreign operations relied on killing, and the hardliners welcome his appointment.
• The Administration assesses available forces: 26 deployable Heavenly Spirit Stars, 34 Earthly Fiend Stars, and a large contingent of Feng Shui Masters and support personnel.
• Dan Yang orders a sweeping operation under the title “The plan to annihilate Mountain Aspect.” Teams are to monitor the organization’s known branches across the Island Nation, while other forces dismantle Feng Shui formations in coastal cities. Investigators will detain anyone who resists.
• The Geomancy Department is also ordered to identify formations throughout Great Xia. The meeting ends with unanimous compliance.
• In Kyoto Prefecture, Zhang Huan and two companions emerge from the Mountain Aspect stronghold, linking the meeting’s plans to the ongoing mission there.

Character developments and interactions

• Dan Yang takes command and demonstrates a decisive, uncompromising approach, assigning personnel and resources across multiple fronts.
• Jiao Zhengqing, an elderly Healing Department veteran, angrily regrets that the Administration did not destroy Snowcap Mountain during an earlier operation. His remarks recall the sacrifices of the past and the enemy’s threat.
• Wang Yu, the Heavenly Sword Star, reports that all but ten Heavenly Spirit Stars can deploy. Jiao notices that Wang does not count injured members as unavailable, sensing a glimpse of the fierce figure he once knew.
• Ma Yu, head of the Geomancy Department, accepts responsibility for his department’s failure to detect the enemy plan sooner. Under pressure from colleagues, he offers all available Feng Shui specialists, equipment, and support.
• Tan Xuan does not challenge Dan Yang’s authority, believing the organization deserves punishment and that opposing the director’s decision would be pointless.

Significant themes

• Retribution and moral anger: The meeting is fueled by resentment over past events and the perceived danger posed by the Mountain Physiognomy Organization.
• Institutional accountability: Ma Yu’s department faces blame for failing to detect the plan, prompting him to commit its full resources to the response.
• Collective mobilization: The Administration marshals specialists, investigators, and elite fighters for coordinated action.
• Escalation and collateral impact: Dan Yang orders the destruction of all Feng Shui formations in designated cities, regardless of who created them or whose interests are harmed, signaling that security takes priority over restraint.

Key plot points

• Zhang Huan reports that the Mountain Physiognomy Organization’s feng shui experts know little about coastal formations, but reveal a nursing home inside Kiyotaki Tunnel.
• The nursing home is run by Nine Chrysanthemum School loyalists. The School remains active despite the Nine Chrysanthemums’ split into the Mountain Physiognomy Organization and the Hundred Ghosts Seat.
• Chen Miao suspects the Nine Chrysanthemum School controls the mark shared by members of the splinter groups. His observations of the marks’ distinctive yin energy suggest they have a central “core,” possibly within the School. Zhang Huan agrees this possibility should be reported for further analysis.
• Headquarters sends a major force: feng shui experts, twenty Earthly Fiend Stars, and ten Heavenly Spirit Stars. Their mission is the Mountain Aspect Annihilation Plan, led by Deputy Director Dan Yang, to destroy the Mountain Physiognomy Organization’s presence in the Island Nation.
• Zhang Huan offers Chen Miao the option to leave before the more dangerous phase. Chen Miao refuses, eager to gain yin virtue, legacies, and strength. Zhang Huan’s smile makes Chen Miao suspect the offer was a setup.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao connects the marks’ yin-energy patterns to a possible hidden hierarchy and remains determined to take part in the coming operation.
• Zhang Huan carefully reports uncertain intelligence, then announces Headquarters’ overwhelming commitment. His final reaction hints that he expected Chen Miao to refuse withdrawal.
• Xia Lin and the others initially worry that a large reinforcement force would make retreat difficult, but become excited when they learn the mission is an all-out offensive.
• Zhang Huan and Chen Miao discuss the School’s possible control over the splinter organizations; Zhang Huan later gives Chen Miao a choice about continuing.

Significant themes

• Hidden control and institutional legacy: The supposedly divided organizations may still be connected through the Nine Chrysanthemum School and its marks.
• Escalation and commitment: The mission shifts from covert investigation to a large-scale campaign, raising both the stakes and the danger.
• Ambition versus safety: Chen Miao chooses advancement and opportunity over a safer withdrawal.