Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yunxi, Luo Bin, and Wei Dong entered the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds, where the welcoming master Qin Ju appeared to be the only person around. As Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin investigated, they found that Qin Ju was impersonating multiple people and studying among corpses and severed heads, leaving them facing the possibility that he was a dangerous madman.

• Zhang Yunxi, Luo Bin, and Wei Dong entered the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds and met Qin Ju, who claimed to be its master and said Jiu Mo had foretold their arrival.
• Qin Ju led them to guest rooms, then returned and called himself Qin Shan, prompting Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin to suspect something was wrong.
• Zhang Yunxi told Wei Dong to stay put and took Luo Bin to investigate the grounds, where they found rooms filled with preserved dried corpses.
• Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin overheard Qin Ju reprimanding a student in a side hall and saw him acting out both roles while handling a severed human head among many others.

Zhang Yunxi deduced that the ruined compound was only an outer gateway to the real Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds, and that the missing visitors had entered Heavenly Mechanism Mountain but never returned. He urged Luo Bin and Wei Dong to stay calm and accept their host’s meal as they waited to learn more.

• Luo Bin considered that the compound’s dead residents might be past visitors, but Zhang Yunxi stopped him from attacking and led him back to their lodgings.
• Luo Bin noticed that the compound’s mountain layout and feng shui did not fit the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds.
• Qin Ju, calling himself Qin Fang, invited Luo Bin, Zhang Yunxi, and Wei Dong to a meal and said visitors had entered Heavenly Mechanism Mountain but never come out.
• Qin Ju became vacant and walked away after Zhang Yunxi asked about the missing visitors.
• Zhang Yunxi explained that Qin Ju was a madman acting out a fixation, said he had never killed anyone, and urged Wei Dong to eat and behave like a proper guest.

Luo Bin discovered that the hide map concealed a second map leading from the outer compound to Heavenly Mechanism Mountain, while Zhang Yunxi concluded that Qin Ju’s madness had obscured the true route. The chapter ended with Zhang Yunxi recognizing that Luo Bin’s map might reveal the way into the real Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds.

• Luo Bin examined the hide map and peeled it open, revealing an inner map that marked their location as Heavenly Gate and charted a route toward Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds.
• Qin Ju invited Zhang Yunxi and the others to help restore Heavenly Mechanism Mountain’s feng shui in exchange for access to its legacy.
• Zhang Yunxi theorized that Qin Ju had mistaken the outer compound for the real grounds and that previous visitors had followed his misleading directions.
• Luo Bin handed Zhang Yunxi the complete map and told him they had found the correct route.
• Zhang Yunxi unfolded the map, then abruptly stopped speaking as he noticed a detail in one corner.

Luo Bin realized Qin Jiumo’s map concealed a dangerous test and that the Outer Field was not the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds. He and Zhang Yunxi prepared to leave with Qin Ju the next morning, while Wei Dong secretly returned to the grounds and encountered the Moon-Star Official.

• Luo Bin explained to Zhang Yunxi that the map’s hidden route tested and eliminated those who pursued the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds carelessly.
• Zhang Yunxi returned the map to Luo Bin, then went to speak with Qin Ju while Luo Bin urged Wei Dong to leave for his own safety.
• Wei Dong left the Taoist grounds, and Luo Bin watched him descend the steps before returning to study the map.
• Zhang Yunxi returned with a different map and said Qin Ju had agreed to see them off at dawn; he and Luo Bin planned to seek Qin Jiumo’s true disciples and tell them what had happened to Qin Jiumo.
• Wei Dong secretly returned and followed the wall outside the Taoist grounds, where the Moon-Star Official questioned his motives.

Luo Bin followed a mysterious figure to a hidden chamber after suspecting Qin Ju was spying on him. He and Zhang Yunxi forced their way inside and found tables covered with human heads.

• Luo Bin woke at three in the morning and saw desiccated corpses standing in the clearing outside.
• Luo Bin used Rewind to spot a figure concealed behind a corpse, then followed it to a brightly lit hall.
• Luo Bin saw what appeared to be Qin Ju point him toward the hall, but Rewind showed no one had been there.
• Luo Bin watched Qin Ju emerge from a concealed door in the hall and leave, then tried to open the door from outside.
• Zhang Yunxi found Luo Bin and urged him to leave, but Luo Bin forced the stone door open and Zhang Yunxi followed him inside.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi found several long tables densely covered with human heads.

Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi discovered that the heads in a secret chamber had been taken from people who died unnatural deaths, and escaped by following the hidden path on Qin Jiumo’s map. As they left, Wei Dong set the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds ablaze after finding his son’s head, while Qin Ju raced back too late to stop the fire.

• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi found dozens of heads in a secret chamber and suspected Qin Ju had sent earlier travelers to their deaths.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi fled the grounds by descending the Heavenly Gate and took the concealed trail toward the larger mountain.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi realized Qin Ju had hidden the real trail beneath weeds and marked a false route with gravel.
• Qin Ju noticed smoke rising from the Taoist Grounds and sprinted back toward them.
• Wei Dong set the grounds on fire after finding his son’s head, then fled down the mountain before Qin Ju returned.

Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi continued toward the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds, where they encountered venomous snakes that seemed invisible to Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin. Shangguan Xingyue followed them, discovered a giant spider, and screamed when more spider legs emerged from her cuff.

• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi saw flames rising from Low Mountain, then continued along the map's route through the mist.
• Zhang Yunxi explained that the correct path was likely safe and the danger lay in straying from it.
• Luo Bin killed a snake beside the path and then decapitated another near Zhang Yunxi's neck.
• Zhang Yunxi saw snakes hanging from the canopy and urged Luo Bin to flee, though Luo Bin saw no danger overhead.
• Shangguan Xingyue followed their route, killed a giant spider, and found spiderwebs and a cocoon on her hand.
• Spider legs emerged from Shangguan Xingyue's cuff, and she screamed.

Shangguan Xingyue fled a swarm of spiders while Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi escaped the pursuing snakes and reached the Heart-Peering Grounds for shelter from a violent storm. Inside, Luo Bin saw the clay statue smile and later heard people breathing in the apparently empty hall, leaving both men facing an unseen presence.

• Shangguan Xingyue shook a spider from her sleeve and left the path to evade the crawling swarm.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi continued through the misty mountain, spotted snakes in the canopy, and searched for a place to rest.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi found the Heart-Peering Grounds and took shelter from torrential rain in a hall with a strange clay statue.
• Luo Bin saw the statue smile during a flash of lightning, but Zhang Yunxi dismissed it as a trick of his tension.
• A gust extinguished the candles, and Luo Bin heard people breathing before his flashlight revealed only Zhang Yunxi.

Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi were trapped in a terrifying vision of Moss Eaters and figures hiding inside the Mountain God Statue, while both appeared to be under attack. Luo Bin used Rewind to realize the danger was an hallucination and tried to knock Zhang Yunxi unconscious to save him.

• Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin searched the hall after hearing someone breathe, then saw shadowy figures outside the doors.
• Luo Bin found a hollow space beneath the Mountain God Statue, while Zhang Yunxi watched three approaching figures that revealed themselves as Moss Eaters.
• Luo Bin appeared trapped by a steel wire and hands reaching from the statue as Moss Eaters attacked Zhang Yunxi, leaving both men near death.
• Luo Bin repeatedly used Rewind and discovered that the wire, hidden doorway, and attackers were not real, then realized Zhang Yunxi was still caught in the hallucination.
• Luo Bin rushed toward Zhang Yunxi, who saw Luo Bin as a malformed creature wielding a knife, and Luo Bin struck at the back of his neck to knock him unconscious.

Luo Bin realized the dangers in the Heart-Peering Grounds were illusions created by fear, but Zhang Yunxi remained trapped in a terrifying hallucination. After knocking Zhang Yunxi unconscious again, Luo Bin faced a strange figure entering the Main Hall and insisted it was fake.

• Luo Bin concluded that the presence behind him and the apparent strangling were hallucinations, then carried Zhang Yunxi farther into the Main Hall and gave him water.
• By using Rewind to study Zhang Yunxi's reactions, Luo Bin suspected the snakes they had encountered were illusions too, though he confirmed that the rain was real.
• Zhang Yunxi remained awake but immobilized by his hallucinations while Luo Bin waited through the heavy rain.
• When Luo Bin tried to wake Zhang Yunxi by pressing above his upper lip, Zhang Yunxi screamed at an imagined figure, so Luo Bin knocked him unconscious again.
• A drenched, short figure resembling the clay statue entered the Main Hall, and Luo Bin tried to convince himself that it was another illusion.

Luo Bin carried the unconscious Zhang Yunxi through the Heart-Peering Grounds, where their fears created convincing horrors and the path looped back on itself. After waking Zhang Yunxi and explaining the illusion, Luo Bin gave him a Flower Affection fruit, and Zhang Yunxi’s newfound energy let him begin examining the feng shui just as a terrible scream sounded.

• Luo Bin avoided the short man’s approach, carried Zhang Yunxi through several halls, and later saw the short man and two other strange figures following him.
• Luo Bin used Rewind to realize he had returned to the place where he had slashed at what he thought was a snake, and he backed away from the apparent loop.
• Luo Bin woke Zhang Yunxi by pressing the groove above his lip and explained that the Heart-Peering Grounds turned their fears into illusions.
• Zhang Yunxi recognized that their different fears had shaped what each of them saw and concluded that escaping required finding the formation’s anchor points.
• Luo Bin offered Zhang Yunxi three Flower Affection fruits and argued that accepting one could be treated as payment that obligated him to save the people trapped in Mountain Cabinet.
• Zhang Yunxi swallowed a Flower Affection fruit, regained his strength, and approached the suspected formation point as Luo Bin heard an agonized scream.

Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin discovered that Shangguan Xingyue was trapped in the Heart-Peering Grounds, where venomous spiders appeared to attack her. After Luo Bin revealed his past and his fears for his family, Zhang Yunxi urged him not to rescue her, and they walked away as Shangguan Xingyue faced death.

• Zhang Yunxi realized Shangguan Xingyue was following them and trapped in the Feng Shui formation, while she called out to Luo Bin for help.
• Zhang Yunxi recognized Shangguan Xingyue, and Luo Bin worried that she might be connected to Hu Jin’s disappearance or have discovered his father’s identity.
• Luo Bin told Zhang Yunxi about his death, soul summoning, his biological father, and his fears for his loved ones.
• Zhang Yunxi advised Luo Bin to leave Shangguan Xingyue behind and argued that he needed to kill her to face Yuan Yinxin.
• Luo Bin followed Zhang Yunxi away, and Shangguan Xingyue cursed him as an enormous venomous spider bit into her head and drained her vitality.

Shangguan Xingyue survived the mountain’s soul-threatening illusion, only to be wounded by a real attacker and forced to kill him. Meanwhile, Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin returned to the hall and faced knife-wielding figures that appeared to be another manifestation of the mountain’s danger.

• Shangguan Xingyue woke unharmed and realized the spider attack had been an illusion that preyed on her fears and threatened her soul.
• Shangguan Xingyue let an ugly short man stab her, then realized he was real and used her words to disable and kill him.
• Wounded and weakened, Shangguan Xingyue suffered severe pain in her head after killing the attacker.
• Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin returned to the hall near dawn after Zhang Yunxi failed to find a problem with the feng shui elsewhere.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi saw knife-wielding figures by the hall entrance, and Zhang Yunxi walked toward the one aiming at him.

Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi were attacked by real assailants hidden among the Heart-Peering Grounds’ illusions, and Zhang Yunxi was badly wounded. After treating him, they escaped the Main Hall and continued toward the exit, while Luo Bin used Rewind to investigate where their route had begun looping.

• A sunken-faced man stabbed Zhang Yunxi, and Luo Bin realized the attacker was real when he used Rewind.
• A pale-faced man approached while the sunken-faced attacker escaped, forcing Luo Bin to stay and protect the wounded Zhang Yunxi.
• Luo Bin stopped Zhang Yunxi’s bleeding with medicinal powder from Feng Yi, then searched the Main Hall and discovered that the apparent hidden door was an illusion.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi left the Main Hall and continued through the other halls toward the way out of the Heart-Peering Grounds.
• Zhang Yunxi asked when their path had begun retracing itself, and Luo Bin used Rewind to determine how far they had traveled.

Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi escaped the Heart-Peering Grounds by breaking a pebble-and-grass talisman path, but Zhang Yunxi collapsed from exhaustion as they continued toward the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds. From above, Luo Bin saw that the entire Heart-Peering Grounds formed a vast talisman layout and wondered what had transformed its people.

• Luo Bin identified a possible way out by breaking the talisman patterns hidden in the path and nearby grass, and Zhang Yunxi confirmed the danger came from straying off the correct route.
• Luo Bin pried up a pebble to reveal a stone slab, then cut the ground and grass talismans while Zhang Yunxi led them forward.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi escaped the Heart-Peering Grounds and saw the deformed-faced man and the white-faced man emerge from a hall, while the Moon-Star Official remained missing.
• Zhang Yunxi collapsed, and Luo Bin fed him medicine before carrying him onward.
• Luo Bin looked back at the Heart-Peering Grounds and recognized that its houses and paths formed a vast heart-shaped talisman layout.

Luo Bin kept Zhang Yunxi alive on the mountain, and Zhang Yunxi explained that Emotion Flower Fruits could link people through their emotions and help Shangguan Xingyue track them. After recovering, they reached the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds, where the entrance appeared to be shrouded in death.

• Luo Bin stopped on the mountain road and treated Zhang Yunxi, giving him Emotion Flower Fruits to strengthen his will and help him survive.
• After three days, Zhang Yunxi regained consciousness and explained that eating Emotion Flower Fruits could let someone sense others who had eaten them, which was how Shangguan Xingyue had followed Luo Bin.
• Luo Bin suspected the fruits were a means of control that could place people in shackles, and put the remaining fruits away.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi continued toward the summit, avoiding the houses and Taoist grounds along the road.
• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi reached the entrance to the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds, where white silk and spirit money made the place seem to be dying.

Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi reached the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds and found it filled with deformed corpses, but discovered one apparently normal survivor. He revealed that he was the grounds’ last successor and began to explain what had happened there.

• Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi searched the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds and found mourning decorations and dozens of deformed corpses, with no sign of anyone alive.
• Luo Bin despaired that the grounds could not help them, while Zhang Yunxi promised to seek aid elsewhere as they started back down the mountain.
• Luo Bin smelled tea, and he and Zhang Yunxi found a pot boiling in the great hall.
• A normal-looking man emerged from the shadows and told them he was the only successor left in the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds.
• Zhang Yunxi asked what had happened, and the man agreed to explain, saying he did not have much longer to live.

Qin Tianqing explained how the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds incurred Heaven’s retribution and fell into decline. Luo Bin challenged him to resist rather than accept death, leaving Qin Tianqing’s response unknown.

• Qin Tianqing told Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi that a former diviner’s actions outside Heavenly Mechanism Mountain had brought disaster upon the grounds.
• Qin Tianqing explained that disciples had died or defected as the grounds’ fortune dwindled, while Qin Jiumo had left to search for a way to save them.
• Luo Bin wondered why the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds suffered retribution for good deeds while wicked people escaped punishment.
• Qin Tianqing admitted that he had given up struggling against Heaven and believed he could not escape his destined death.
• Luo Bin urged Qin Tianqing to resist and try to save the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds’ legacy.

Zhang Yunxi persuaded Qin Tianqing to leave Heavenly Mechanism Mountain and help rebuild the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds at Cabinet Mountain. Qin Tianqing packed his belongings, and the three prepared to descend the mountain.

• Qin Tianqing rejected Luo Bin’s appeal, believing the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist Grounds could not escape heaven’s punishment.
• Zhang Yunxi urged Qin Tianqing to rebuild the order elsewhere and revealed that Qin Jiumo had reached Cabinet Mountain.
• Luo Bin showed Qin Tianqing the remaining lamp oil connected to Qin Jiumo, and Zhang Yunxi explained their plans and challenged Qin Tianqing to join them.
• Qin Tianqing took the flask and left the Main Hall to pack his belongings.
• Qin Tianqing returned with a bundle and agreed to leave the mountain with Zhang Yunxi and Luo Bin.

Luo Bin, Zhang Yunxi, and Qin Tianqing took a detour down Heavenly Mechanism Mountain to avoid the traitors and leave Shangguan Xingyue trapped. Near the foot of the mountain, they encountered a poisonous miasma and learned Shangguan Xingyue remained far away.

• Luo Bin chose a detour down the mountain rather than risk taking Shangguan Xingyue out of the Heart-Peering Grounds.
• Qin Tianqing told Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi that Qin Ju was his martial uncle and had likely killed people in the Outer Field.
• Qin Tianqing reacted coldly when Zhang Yunxi mentioned Four-Rules Mountain and vowed to reclaim an object from it.
• After three days of travel, Luo Bin and Zhang Yunxi noticed that their route was abnormal, but Qin Tianqing urged them to continue.
• Qin Tianqing identified the returning gray-green haze as poisonous miasma and said they had to leave by another side of the mountain.
• Zhang Yunxi said Shangguan Xingyue was still far away and likely trapped by the traitors.