Chapter Summaries

Hu Jin investigated Li Tang’s poisoning and initially suspected the Way of Mixture, but tests of the leftover food and wine found no poison. After questioning Li Tang’s companion, Hu Jin tested the water she had washed her face in and discovered it was poisoned, leaving Meng Zongqiu and Wu Mingfu stunned.

• Hu Jin examined Li Tang’s body and found poison in his mouth, throat, esophagus, and stomach, but could not identify the specific poison.
• Hu Jin proposed that poison formed by mixing separate substances in the chiefs’ dishes, but testing the combined leftovers and wine found no poison.
• Hu Jin returned to Li Tang’s room and learned from the woman that Li Tang had eaten cold tofu, kissed her, and then died beside the dressing table.
• Hu Jin had the woman wash her face and tested the basin water, revealing that it was poisoned.

Hu Jin accused Li Tang’s woman of poisoning him with rouge, and Meng Zongqiu killed her before restoring Old Man He and Duan Rong to the stronghold. With Li Tang dead, Meng Zongqiu reassigned the granary to Wu Mingfu temporarily and warned him against drinking; Duan Rong learned that Hu Jin knew medicine and poison but no martial arts.

• Hu Jin explained that the woman had poisoned Li Tang by mixing Poison Powder into her rouge, and Wu Mingfu and Meng Zongqiu accepted his accusation.
• The woman recalled Duan Rong visiting the Dressing Table with a food-box lid, but Meng Zongqiu forced rouge into her mouth and killed her before she could explain.
• Meng Zongqiu released Duan Rong, Old Man He, and Li Tang’s two Guards, assigned the Guards to Xia Kun, and ordered Li Tang’s Ancestral Hall built.
• On the way back to the kitchen, Duan Rong learned from Old Man He that Hu Jin was skilled in medicine and poison but did not know Martial Arts.
• Wu Mingfu displayed the woman’s corpse at the stronghold gate, then met Meng Zongqiu, who gave him the granary keys and told him to train Xia Kun to take over.
• Meng Zongqiu warned Wu Mingfu to drink less, so Wu Mingfu abandoned his plan to drown his sorrows in drink.

Duan Rong used the dinner delivery as cover to assassinate Physician Hu, hoping to seize an opportunity to escape the danger of the Mountain Stronghold. He killed Hu Jin with a sharpened iron nail and avoided arousing the courtyard guard’s suspicion.

• Old Man He left the Small Kitchen with dinner for the First Chief and Second Chief, while Duan Rong pretended to go to the latrine and asked Guo Tian for a sharpened iron nail.
• Guo Tian passed Duan Rong the concealed nail, and Jiang Hanyan watched them, suspecting Duan Rong had been involved in Li Tang’s poisoning.
• Duan Rong hid the nail beneath the lion’s head in Physician Hu’s food box and carried dinner to Hu Jin’s courtyard.
• When Hu Jin tested the other dishes with silver needles, Duan Rong attacked and fatally stabbed him in the throat and heart.
• Duan Rong told the courtyard guard that he had broken a plate, then checked Hu Jin’s body as it lay motionless in a pool of blood.

Duan Rong killed Physician Hu and the guard, stole Hu Jin’s medicines and concealed crossbow, and hid them in the Small Kitchen. As he considered his next targets, he decided that Wu Mingfu could now be killed with his new poisons, but Meng Zongqiu remained difficult to reach.

• Duan Rong searched Hu Jin’s corpse, took an antidote pill, and discovered a poisoned forearm crossbow and Hu Jin’s medicine box full of drugs.
• Duan Rong lured the guard into the room, knocked him unconscious with mixed powders, and killed him with Hu Jin’s bloodstained nail.
• Duan Rong identified Green Ghost Shadow and selected seven bottles from the medicine box, then staged the two deaths to look like a mutual killing.
• Duan Rong hid the poisons and crossbow mechanism in a jar of salted duck eggs in the Small Kitchen and returned to the shared sleeping shed.
• Duan Rong considered how to use the poisons against Wu Mingfu and Meng Zongqiu, while Jiang Hanyan tried unsuccessfully to learn what he had been doing.

Duan Rong devised a plan to isolate and kill Meng Zongqiu, then used Wu Mingfu’s late-night meal as an opportunity to poison him with Green Ghost Shadow. Wu Mingfu ate and drank as the poisoned lamp began producing pale green smoke, while Duan Rong left the courtyard.

• Unable to find a way to poison Meng Zongqiu directly, Duan Rong planned to cut off his allies and use poisoned crossbow bolts to help the children kill him.
• Wu Mingfu’s guard summoned Old Man He to prepare food, and Duan Rong pretended to wake before secretly taking Green Ghost Shadow from the kitchen.
• Duan Rong carried Wu Mingfu’s meal to his room and sprinkled the poison into the oil lamp while serving the dishes.
• Wu Mingfu tested the food, then ate and drank without noticing the faint green smoke rising from the lamp as Duan Rong departed.

Duan Rong put a poisoning plan into motion, killing Wu Mingfu and having Guo Tian poison the bandits’ breakfast while he incapacitated Old Man He and delivered food to Meng Zongqiu. As the bandits gathered to eat, Duan Rong waited for the main kitchen to finish serving, poised to continue his plan.

• Duan Rong hid a bottle of poison in the Small Kitchen and told Guo Tian to put it in the morning porridge and warn the others not to eat it.
• Wu Mingfu succumbed to Green Ghost Shadow in his room and died without raising an alarm.
• Guo Tian poured the poison into the bandits’ porridge, discarded the bottle, and warned Jiang Hanyan not to drink it.
• Duan Rong knocked Old Man He unconscious with a sleeping drug, hid him, and carried breakfast to Meng Zongqiu’s bunker, claiming Old Man He had twisted his ankle.
• Duan Rong watched the bandits collect their poisoned porridge and waited for the main kitchen to finish serving.

Duan Rong poisoned the Mountain Stronghold by combining Poison Powder with smoke-borne fibers, killing Li Gang and the bandits while protecting Guo Tian and the others with antidote pills. He led them to gather more corn stalks and revealed a final trap for Meng Zongqiu, leaving the group to decide whether to flee or kill the First Chief.

• Duan Rong burned poisoned corn stalks in the Small Kitchen, and the falling fibers combined with the drugged porridge to poison Li Gang and the children.
• Duan Rong gave Guo Tian, Jiang Hanyan, Du Wan, and Lu Chu antidote pills and told them to cover their faces.
• Duan Rong used the wind direction to guide the group through the Mountain Stronghold, then had them burn poisoned corn stalks in a secluded alley.
• Duan Rong told the group that Wu Mingfu was dead and that they could take the key to the armory from him.
• Duan Rong explained his final trap for Meng Zongqiu and asked the group whether to flee the stronghold or stay and kill him.

Duan Rong and the children committed to killing Meng Zongqiu, then used poison to wipe out the Mountain Stronghold and lure him toward the kitchen. The chapter ended with Duan Rong springing a concealed-weapon attack on Meng Zongqiu at the cost of severely shattering the bones in his right hand.

• Jiang Hanyan urged the group not to abandon their chance at Meng Zongqiu, and everyone chose to stay and follow Duan Rong’s plan.
• Duan Rong, Guo Tian, and Lu Chu retrieved Wu Mingfu’s corpse, and Du Wan found two large keys on him.
• Meng Zongqiu left his fortress and discovered the stronghold was silent, its people dead from poison, and black flakes drifting through the air.
• Meng Zongqiu blamed Hu Jin, but found Hu Jin and his guard dead before discovering the poisoned children, Li Gang, He Chong, and Duan Rong in the kitchen courtyard.
• Duan Rong, who had feigned death beside He Chong, attacked Meng Zongqiu with two poisoned silver needles and shattered the bones in his right hand.

Duan Rong and the children killed Meng Zongqiu in the God and Demon Illusion, allowing Jiang Hanyan to fulfill her vengeance there and end the illusion. Back at the God and Demon Ruins, Jiang Hanyan realized the vision was false but kept the clue of Meng Zongqiu’s birthmark, which could help her find and kill him for real.

• Duan Rong poisoned Meng Zongqiu’s eyes with silver needles, and seven children rose from the corpses to fire a volley of poisoned crossbow bolts at him.
• Jiang Hanyan shot Meng Zongqiu in the chest, killing him after he had been blinded and wounded by the poison.
• Jiang Hanyan cut off the heads of Meng Zongqiu, Wu Mingfu, and Li Tang and hung them from a tree to avenge her parents.
• Jiang Hanyan’s vengeance fulfilled, the God and Demon Illusion shattered, and everyone returned to the pool in the God and Demon Ruins.
• Jiang Hanyan recognized the birthmark beside Meng Zongqiu’s right eye as a clue and resolved to find and kill him in the lands of Jiuzhou.

Duan Rong’s group survived the first God and Demon Illusion without losing anyone and continued toward the Central Altar, hoping to receive its blessing. After they discovered their next water source was poisoned, a Corpse Fiend emerged from the pool and turned toward them.

• Duan Rong confirmed he had not received a God and Demon Imprint, while the others thanked him for saving them in the illusion.
• Jiang Hanyan thanked Duan Rong for dispelling her obsession and showing her Meng Zongqiu’s true face, then promised to help him in the future.
• Duan Rong’s group traveled toward the Central Altar, gathering divine herbs and preparing to reach it after several more days.
• Xu Hui tested a large pool and discovered its water was deadly poison, so Guo Tian led the group onward toward another water source.
• After the group left, a Corpse Fiend surfaced from the poisoned pool and faced the direction they had gone.

Duan Rong’s group was attacked by a flying Corpse Fiend, which killed Yang Sui with poisonous gas before Guo Tian and Duan Rong drove it away through a coordinated counterattack. Guo Tian was injured in the fight, and the group continued to fear the Corpse Fiend might return.

• Yang Sui noticed a foul stench, and the group saw a Corpse Fiend hanging above him before it poisoned him to death.
• Duan Rong and the others identified the Corpse Fiend, and Guo Tian blocked its first dive with his Wide Blade Greatsword while Duan Rong discovered its true body was in its abdomen and waist.
• As the Corpse Fiend circled overhead, Duan Rong asked Guo Tian to hold it back so he could strike with his Divine Soul Thorn.
• Guo Tian pinned the diving Corpse Fiend with his greatsword, allowing Duan Rong to hit its abdomen with three Divine Soul Thorns and drive it off into the night.
• Duan Rong treated Guo Tian’s injured arm with Phosphorus Crystal Flying Needles and told him not to use it, while the group worried the Corpse Fiend might return.

After Yang Sui died, Duan Rong reasoned that the Ghost Bride and Ghost Infant were one evil spirit, leaving the group with a clearer understanding of the ruins. The survivors reached a lake edged with Red Arrow Flowers near the Central Altar.

• Guo Tian explained that the Corpse Fiend had retreated to heal in the poisonous Yellow Springs Fiend Water, so Xu Hui led the group away without burying Yang Sui.
• After surviving another night, the group questioned why they had encountered three evil spirits, and Duan Rong said the Ghost Bride and Ghost Infant were one.
• Duan Rong explained that the Ghost Infant was the Ghost Bride's unborn child, and that the Ghost Bride had tracked it through the aura it left on Jiang Hanyan.
• The group continued toward the Central Altar, and the Corpse Fiend did not pursue them.
• Duan Rong recognized the fragrance of Red Arrow Flowers, and the group reached a lakeshore covered in crimson blooms.

Duan Rong and the others reached the Central Altar and performed the ritual to receive the God and Demon Murmur. A roar and gentle murmur descended upon them, while Ancient Runes began flowing across the Pristine Glass Body in Duan Rong's Luminous Consciousness Sea.

• Duan Rong stored three Red Arrow Flowers in the Black Jade Box as the group rested beside the lake.
• Guo Tian led the group across the sacrificial plaza, and they reached the Central Altar before nightfall and rested beneath it.
• Duan Rong and the others climbed the altar and found a gigantic Golden Coffin bound with black chains in a pit at its center.
• The seven travelers lit incense burners, formed hand seals, and offered their vital blood to the Golden Coffin.
• The Golden Coffin shook and roared, bringing the group a sense of sanctity and a gentle murmur as Ancient Runes appeared across Duan Rong's Pristine Glass Body.

Duan Rong remained in the God and Demon Murmur’s state of luminous clarity for over an hour, during which his Intent Cloud Mass absorbed countless Ancient Runes and condensed into a Five-Colored Ruyi Pearl. After the Golden Coffin fell and ended the blessing, the group descended from the altar and planned a safer return route through the ruins.

• Guo Tian and the others awakened from luminous clarity and saw a mountain-like God-Demon Phantom above the Golden Coffin nod toward Duan Rong, who remained meditating.
• Duan Rong’s Intent Cloud Mass absorbed Ancient Runes and transformed into a five-colored pearl between the Pristine Glass Body’s brows while he stayed immersed in the realm for nearly an hour.
• Duan Rong awoke under the God-Demon Phantom’s gaze, but a roar from inside the Golden Coffin shattered the phantom and drew its mist back into the coffin, which crashed into the pit.
• Duan Rong and the others left the altar and returned to the plaza, where Du Wan asked how long Duan Rong had stayed in the blessing and he said he did not know why he had remained longer.
• Guo Tian proposed detouring around the Corpse Fiend and Yellow Springs Fiend Water, while Jiang Hanyan asked whether they could avoid the Ghost Infant; Guo Tian explained they had to return near the ruins’ entrance before the passage reopened on the twentieth day.
• The group agreed to Guo Tian’s route plan and set off to begin the detour.

The God and Demon Heavenly Sound sent the group into Duan Rong’s obsession, recreating his former workplace on Blue Star, where they encountered a zombie. Duan Rong explained how to kill it, then showed Du Wan the scene outside, leaving the group to face a greater danger.

• A second God and Demon Illusion began, and Duan Rong’s obsession transported the group to his old office on Blue Star.
• Su Xinjue discovered she was dressed in unfamiliar office clothes, while the others struggled to understand their surroundings.
• Du Wan and Lu Chu mistook Luo Zhiwen, now a zombie, for a Corpse Fiend, but Duan Rong kicked it down and pinned it beneath a filing cabinet.
• Duan Rong fetched a Fire Axe, explained that zombies were poisoned humans, and killed Luo Zhiwen by chopping off its head.
• Du Wan dismissed the slow zombie as weak, so Duan Rong opened the curtains and told him to look outside.

Duan Rong revealed that the city outside was overrun with zombies and explained that his obsession in the God and Demon Illusion was to survive. The group planned to gather weapons, food, and a map before attempting to leave the city for the countryside.

• Duan Rong pulled back the curtains and showed Du Wan and the others the strange modern city and the zombies filling its streets.
• Duan Rong told the group that nearly all humans in this world had become undead and said his obsession was to survive.
• Duan Rong explained that his deepest desire was to live long, but the God and Demon Will had reduced it to the core goal of survival.
• Duan Rong said they should leave the city and start farming in the countryside, though the traffic and zombie hordes made escape difficult.
• Duan Rong told the group to find suitable weapons, gather food and water, and locate a map of S City.

Duan Rong led the group through the office building to gather equipment and prepare for fighting zombies. They left the storage room in sportswear with backpacks, flashlights, and two sharp weapons, better equipped to face the danger ahead.

• Duan Rong warned the group to avoid zombie bites and led them through the office, while Du Wan briefly tried to take a fruit knife as a weapon.
• Duan Rong ordered Su Xinjue to remove her noisy high heels, then sent Guo Tian and Du Wan to force open Director Xue’s office.
• Duan Rong searched the office and found a labeled ring of keys, which he used to unlock the storage room.
• Duan Rong entered the dark storage room, found flashlights, and showed the group how to use them.
• Duan Rong had everyone change into sportswear and take backpacks, then collected supplies and found a sharp three-fold Entrenching Tool.
• Duan Rong gave the Fire Axe to Guo Tian and kept the Entrenching Tool, leaving the group better equipped to fight zombies.

Duan Rong’s group searched Qin Yuan’s office for the Dragon Spring Sword and fought several corpse-transformed threats inside. Jiang Hanyan demonstrated her swordsmanship and received the sword, leaving the group better armed against the zombies.

• Duan Rong entered Qin Yuan’s office, killed the corpse-transformed Qin Yuan, and recognized a second zombie as Yang Xue before Guo Tian killed her.
• A corpse-transformed wildcat sprang at Guo Tian, and Duan Rong saved him by cutting the creature down as Guo Tian trusted his warning and ducked.
• Duan Rong thanked Guo Tian for trusting him and warned everyone that a zombie bite meant certain death.
• Duan Rong retrieved the Dragon Spring Sword and asked whether anyone could wield it, so Jiang Hanyan stepped forward and demonstrated her swordsmanship.
• Duan Rong gave Jiang Hanyan the sword, praised her skill, and advised her to conserve her strength when fighting zombies.

Duan Rong confirmed that S City matched his memories, gathered food with the group, and taught them about unfamiliar snacks while they prepared to arm themselves. At the company entrance, he watched a security guard zombie detect them through a glass door and inferred that zombies sensed the infrared radiation of living people.

• Duan Rong found a map of S City and confirmed its locations matched his memories, then took Qin Yuan's car keys while deciding the group needed more weapons before venturing outside.
• Duan Rong led the group to the finance department, where he and Guo Tian checked the room before everyone searched for food.
• Su Xinjue, Du Wan, and Jiang Hanyan mistook foaming cola for poison until Duan Rong drank it and explained what it was.
• Duan Rong introduced the group to snacks from this world, distributed their supplies, and led them to search other floors for food and weapons.
• A security guard zombie lunged at the group through the glass entrance door, and Duan Rong concluded that zombies could distinguish living people by their infrared radiation.

Duan Rong led the group through the office building, where Jiang Hanyan killed zombies and Duan Rong acquired lockpicking skills and supplies. After returning to his former company, he cooked Qin Yuan's Silver Dragon fish, and the meal brought back memories of his home on Blue Star; the group then settled in for the night as Duan Rong prepared to plan their journey to the outskirts.

• Duan Rong opened the access doors with his fingerprint, and Jiang Hanyan killed the zombie blocking them before the group climbed toward the fifteenth floor.
• Jiang Hanyan cut down zombies in the stairwell and on the fifteenth floor, while Duan Rong collected the locksmith's tools and absorbed their lockpicking skills.
• Duan Rong led the group back to his former company on the eighth floor, where they divided weapons and ate the food they had scavenged.
• Duan Rong killed Qin Yuan's Silver Dragon fish and grilled it over a fire, and eating it with cola made him cry as he remembered being born and raised on Blue Star.
• The group arranged places to sleep for the night, and Duan Rong asked Guo Tian and Xu Hui to share a room so he could plan their journey to the outskirts alone.