Chapter Summaries

After An Xi defeated the fused Red-White Clash, Chu Sheng and the convoy examined the supernatural materials and agreed on how to divide them. Zhu Qing then offered Chu Sheng his share as payment.

• Chu Sheng asked Captain Hui about Old Man Li’s Sequence cost, then drove the Netherbone Car to the crater where An Xi had defeated the Red-White Clash.
• Zhu Qing retrieved four supernatural materials from the crater, but Geng Metal Power clung painfully to him until An Xi absorbed it.
• Old Man Li said An Xi’s ability might offset Sequence costs and suggested it could restore A Xin’s ears.
• Captain Hui proposed giving A Xin half a share per Anomaly encounter, and everyone agreed she would receive materials in a future encounter.
• Captain Hui gave An Xi first pick and left Chu Sheng and Zhu Qing to settle their shares, while he would take what remained.
• Zhu Qing offered Chu Sheng his own share as payment, staring at him intensely.

Chu Sheng and the convoy traveled through the Anomaly Realm without further encounters, but Captain Hui sensed danger just before they reached the exit and ordered everyone to stop. The bus passengers gathered around to ask what was happening.

• Zhu Qing told Chu Sheng he would return the next day to fuse his pufferfish skin, and Chu Sheng warned him the result was uncertain.
• An Xi took the red bridal veil, Chu Sheng claimed the two skeletal hands, and Captain Hui took the mourning robe.
• Chu Sheng explained that he planned to use a bow and fight from the rear while the convoy drove along the quiet dirt road.
• Captain Hui worried that the Anomaly Realm was unnaturally peaceful, but Chu Sheng urged him to keep driving.
• As the exit came into view, Captain Hui shouted for Chu Sheng to stop, and the convoy pulled over.
• A dozen people got off the buses, and a crew-cut man asked Captain Hui whether they needed to prepare anything.

Captain Hui revealed that the Anomalies had become intelligent and were waiting to follow the survivors’ life energy out of the Anomaly Realm. A Xin used Old Man Li’s dandelion to create a life-energy-suppressing barrier, while Gu Hao returned to the buses and found Liu Ruyan still focused on Jiang Yancheng.

• Captain Hui told Zhu Qing, An Xi, and the others that Anomalies had followed life-energy traces out of the realm and that many more were waiting to pursue the survivors.
• Old Man Li gave A Xin his last cultivated dandelion, which restored her mental energy.
• A Xin used the dandelion to create a barrier that suppressed life energy and could protect the group for up to fifteen hours.
• Gu Hao returned to the buses and told the other survivors what he had learned.
• Gu Hao reassured Liu Ruyan that he would protect her, but Liu Ruyan ignored him and looked warmly at Jiang Yancheng.

Chu Sheng reflected on his bond with Butcher, then revised the Iron Hoop Contract and discovered Butcher could manifest as a driver. He left Butcher at the wheel of the Netherbone Car to practice while he worked on his bow.

• Liu Ruyan convinced Gu Hao to give his last compressed biscuit to Jiang Yancheng, who secretly smirked at Gu Hao.
• After A Xin concealed their living auras, Chu Sheng's group settled in for the night inside the Anomaly Realm.
• Chu Sheng considered how Butcher had grown alongside him and realized they could sense each other's emotions.
• Chu Sheng rewrote the unsigned Iron Hoop Contract so it no longer required him to find someone to do his bidding.
• Butcher manifested in the passenger seat, and Chu Sheng moved to the back to teach it how to drive the Netherbone Car.

Chu Sheng tested the Red-and-White Bone Bow, whose powerful arrows carried terrible costs for anyone but him, and nearly hit Zhu Qing by mistake. He later joined the convoy for hot pot and brought a modified Contract to A Xin, intending to create a friendship agreement among the Sequence Adepts.

• Chu Sheng taught Butcher to drive the Netherbone Car, then used the fascia, hand bones, and Hunter's Bow to create the Red-and-White Bone Bow.
• Chu Sheng tested an arrow, which landed near Zhu Qing instead of the withered tree he had aimed at, and he examined the bow's abilities and costs.
• An Xi invited Chu Sheng to share hot pot and warned him not to shoot arrows while she fought Anomalies.
• Chu Sheng took his modified Contract and shiitake mushrooms to join A Xin, An Xi, and Zhu Qing, explaining that he wanted the Sequence Adepts to sign a friendship agreement.
• Zhu Qing complained that Chu Sheng's arrow had nearly killed him, and Chu Sheng apologized before showing him the Contract.

Chu Sheng had the convoy’s Sequence Adepts sign the Iron Hoop Contract, establishing mutual protection and voluntary trade. As the convoy ate together, other survivors regretted leaving the Train, while Gu Hao watched Jiang Yancheng eat his food and accept water from Gu Hao’s wife.

• An Xi, A Xin, Zhu Qing, Captain Hui, and Old Man Li signed Chu Sheng’s contract, which prohibited harming one another and forced transactions.
• Chu Sheng and the others ate hot pot together, sharing liquor and cigarettes.
• Cheng Xue told Wu Meng she had left the Train to search for her grandparents, and Wu Meng reflected on her own bond with Wu Jie.
• Wu Jie admired Zhou Dun’s Tang Dao and wished to awaken a Sequence so he could protect Wu Meng.
• Survivors near the boundary regretted leaving the Train and doubted that the convoy’s Sequence Adepts would protect them.
• Gu Hao watched Jiang Yancheng eat his compressed biscuits while Gu Hao’s wife gave Jiang Yancheng water.

An Xi and the convoy stopped to eat at the boundary between the Anomaly Realm and reality, unaware that Anomalies were slowly following their trail of vitality. Captain Hui sensed something behind them, while An Xi reaffirmed her belief that a City of Dawn existed somewhere.

• Anomalies followed the convoy's lingering vitality along the dirt road, but pressure and repulsion slowed them near the edge of the Anomaly Realm.
• A zombie, a giant rat, and the Winged Snake Woman struggled forward as more Anomalies gathered around the road and tried to cross.
• Captain Hui calculated something and looked back, while Zhu Qing drunkenly slapped his shoulder and was then struck by An Xi.
• Chu Sheng explained that An Xi's slap did not violate the group's contract because she had not intended serious harm or incapacitated Zhu Qing.
• An Xi tested Geng Metal Power's ability to intensify pain and resolved to keep pursuing the hope of a City of Dawn.

Captain Hui divined that Anomalies were approaching the group, so he planned for them to leave early and keep A Xin’s life-force concealment in reserve. As everyone prepared to rest, Butcher took over the night watch to protect Chu Sheng.

• An Xi explained that the White Tiger Sequence had revealed a message about finding the City of Dawn, then asked Captain Hui about his divination.
• Captain Hui said Anomalies were following their route but could not yet reach them, and the group agreed to leave at six the next morning while saving A Xin’s ability as a fallback.
• A Xin renewed her life-force concealment and fell asleep, while An Xi inspected three supernatural materials and found no good use for them.
• Captain Hui asked Cheng Xue to notify everyone of the departure time, then studied his Tortoise Shell and considered offering mourning clothes to Chu Sheng as payment.
• Chu Sheng went to bed, and Butcher stayed on watch in the Netherbone Car, determined to protect its master.

Chu Sheng fused Zhu Qing’s Combat Suit with pufferfish skin, then created an Eight Trigrams tortoise shell for Captain Hui. The shell was complete, but its abilities remained unknown.

• Chu Sheng praised the Butcher after waking from a restful night in the Netherbone Car.
• Zhu Qing asked Chu Sheng to fuse his Combat Suit with pufferfish skin, creating an Expandable Combat Suit that could inflate with water.
• Zhu Qing happily took the suit because it would let him stay clothed when transforming into a Giant.
• Captain Hui gave Chu Sheng a tortoise shell containing three One-Yuan Coins and asked him to use it as the base for a Sacrificial Item.
• Captain Hui retrieved an Eight Trigrams Pendant and asked Chu Sheng to fuse it into the shell as well.
• Chu Sheng created a tortoise shell bearing an Eight Trigrams pattern, and Captain Hui asked to see its abilities.

Chu Sheng gave Liu Fang the Sacrificial Item saber he had promised her, and she used it to cut off the arm of a man who tried to take it. The convoy treated the violence as routine, while Jiang Yancheng, Liu Ruyan, and Gu Hao watched in alarm.

• Captain Hui examined the Eight Trigrams Six Lines and celebrated that it was complete, while Chu Sheng realized an item's value depended on its user as well as its ranking.
• Chu Sheng gave Liu Fang the saber he had fused for her, and she learned that it could hurt Anomalies.
• Brother Guang and Sister Li pressured Liu Fang to show them the saber, but she refused and the two other survivors objected.
• Brother Guang reached for the saber, so Liu Fang swung it and severed his arm.
• Chu Sheng and the Sequence Adepts dismissed the fight as ordinary convoy violence, while Jiang Yancheng, Liu Ruyan, and Gu Hao watched uneasily.

Liu Fang killed the bald man and his accomplice before Chu Sheng's convoy left the Anomaly Realm. Winged Snake Woman devoured the corpses and took a new head, while Chu Sheng's group emerged safely and learned that a village ahead was free of Anomalies.

• Liu Fang killed the bald man and the woman who had backed him up, then thanked Brother Zhang and Brother Wang for defending her.
• Chu Sheng's convoy departed before A Xin's barrier wore off, leaving no life energy behind at its resting place.
• Winged Snake Woman licked up the spilled blood, devoured the woman's corpse, and replaced her own head with the dead woman's head.
• Chu Sheng's convoy reached the normal world, and he stopped without leaving the Netherbone Car until A Xin assured him her ability concealed their life energy.
• A Xin said a village lay ahead with no Anomalies inside and that the nearest Anomaly, apart from the ones behind them, was forty kilometers away.

Captain Hui and the others prepared to face the Anomaly pursuing them while Chu Sheng arranged for his companions to wait inside the Netherbone Car. The pursuing Anomaly burst out of the Anomaly Realm as Cheng Xue recognized the surrounding village as her hometown.

• Captain Hui proposed waiting at the Anomaly Realm's safe road to kill the pursuing Anomaly before exploring the village, and the others agreed.
• Chu Sheng sent the Butcher to drive the Netherbone Car and climbed onto its roof with his bow while Captain Hui, A Xin, and Old Man Li got inside.
• Chu Sheng watched the survivors and saw Jiang Yancheng, Liu Ruyan, and Gu Hao exchange dramatic promises to protect each other.
• Cheng Xue recognized the village as her hometown, and Wu Meng tried to comfort her by suggesting her grandparents might have left with another convoy.
• A snake-bodied Anomaly with wings, one foot, and three human heads rushed out of the Anomaly Realm.

Chu Sheng’s group subdued the Winged Snake Woman and had the Butcher dissect it for materials. The Butcher’s unnerving enthusiasm unsettled the others, but they dismissed their brief sympathy for the anomaly.

• Zhu Qing enlarged himself with water from a bottle while An Xi attacked the Winged Snake Woman with her spear.
• Zhu Qing grabbed the Winged Snake Woman by its tail and slammed it down for An Xi to pin with her Black Jade Bone Spear.
• Chu Sheng told the Butcher to join them, and the Butcher cut off the anomaly’s tongue and began dismembering it.
• An Xi questioned the Butcher’s dissection skills, but Chu Sheng said they were normal for a butcher.
• The Butcher carved up the pinned Winged Snake Woman as Zhu Qing and the others watched, then dismissed their fleeting sympathy for it.

After the Winged Snake Woman was defeated, Chu Sheng and the others anticipated harvesting supernatural materials while Zhou Dun explained why survivors should seek information from them. Cheng Xue found her grandmother’s severed head and, resolved to honor her grandparents’ wishes, walked toward the Anomaly Realm to find a place to bury it.

• Chu Sheng, An Xi, Zhu Qing, and Captain Hui watched the still-living Winged Snake Woman’s remains and looked forward to collecting supernatural materials.
• Zhou Dun, Wu Meng, and the others approached Chu Sheng’s group, and Zhou Dun explained that talking to people in good moods could yield useful information.
• Cheng Xue spotted her grandmother’s severed head by the roadside, cradled it, and grieved while Wu Meng comforted her.
• Cheng Xue vowed to survive and give her grandparents a proper burial, then headed toward the Anomaly Realm despite Wu Meng’s alarm.
• Captain Hui heard Cheng Xue’s explanation and remarked that his assistant would not throw her life away after all.

After the Winged Snake Woman vanished, Captain Hui led the convoy in dividing the supernatural materials left behind. With the threat behind them dealt with, he turned the group’s attention to the nearby village.

• The Butcher dismembered the Winged Snake Woman until she vanished, leaving seven supernatural materials behind.
• Captain Hui proposed sharing the materials among Chu Sheng, Zhu Qing, An Xi, A Xin, and himself, while Old Man Li declined a share.
• Captain Hui counted the mouthparts, wings, and heart as two shares each, dividing the seven materials into ten shares.
• Chu Sheng chose the mouthparts, Zhu Qing took the snake tail and scale, An Xi chose the wings, A Xin took the two chunks of flesh, and Captain Hui kept the heart.
• Captain Hui turned toward the nearby village after the convoy dealt with the threat behind them.

After the convoy reached an abandoned village, Chu Sheng fused a supernatural mouth into the Netherbone Car and discovered it had become a Devouring Ram. An Xi brought him a pair of wings to fuse, and Chu Sheng began suggesting how she might use them.

• Captain Hui announced that survivors could gather supplies in the village, while Jiang Yancheng, Liu Ruyan, and Gu Hao discussed whether to go.
• Chu Sheng heard Gu Hao agree to seek food for Liu Ruyan and Jiang Yancheng, then drove the Netherbone Car away from them.
• Chu Sheng fused the supernatural mouth into the car, creating a Devouring Ram that could devour Anomalies and digest their supernatural materials.
• Chu Sheng drew the Butcher Knife and saw the ram tremble; its usage cost now forbade bringing the knife inside the vehicle.
• An Xi gave Chu Sheng her wings to fuse and listed her red bridal veil, dog tooth, and dog paw as her other possible materials.
• Chu Sheng warned that a single material might produce an incomplete ability, then offered An Xi a suggestion.

Chu Sheng fused An Xi’s wings into a Sacrificial Item that let her hover, and the experience helped her complete her Sequence. As the convoy prepared to meet another convoy heading toward the Anomaly Realm, Chu Sheng wondered whether his own Sequence was complete and learned that avoiding the encounter would mean traveling south.

• Chu Sheng fused An Xi’s wings with the word “fly,” creating Snake Wings that let her hover and emit a deafening hum, though they could not truly make her fly.
• An Xi realized that wings mattered to her Sequence, and her Geng Metal Power transformed them as a White Tiger manifestation appeared; she declared her Sequence complete and thanked Chu Sheng.
• Chu Sheng wondered whether Sequences were incomplete by nature, but he had never sensed anything missing from his own Sequence.
• Cheng Xue called the convoy to gather supplies, and Captain Hui explained that the nearby village had no Anomalies because the Anomaly Realm suppressed them.
• Captain Hui told Chu Sheng that another convoy would arrive the next day and worried that contact might bring trouble, while Chu Sheng suggested they deal with whatever happened rather than head south.

An Xi, Zhu Qing, and the survivors searched a village for supplies, with Cheng Xue leading Zhou Dun and the Wu siblings to her eldest aunt’s well-stocked shed. As Chu Sheng prepared for trouble, a hostile convoy more than a hundred kilometers away learned about his group’s food and abilities and considered attacking them.

• An Xi and Zhu Qing searched separate houses while Cheng Xue guided Zhou Dun, Wu Meng, and Wu Jie through her village.
• Cheng Xue led the group to her eldest aunt’s shed, where they found sacks of rice and salt, cured meat, and fuel briquettes, then loaded the supplies onto a handcart.
• An Xi found little in the houses, while Zhu Qing gathered vegetables from an abandoned field.
• Chu Sheng inspected the Netherbone Car, then failed to hit a tree with any of his ten arrows.
• A shifty-looking man told his burly boss that their convoy would soon meet Chu Sheng’s group and described its winged Sequence user, food stores, and attractive members.
• The burly boss showed interest in attacking, while the shifty-looking man complained that the boss had killed their former guide.

Skinny Monkey’s group planned to ambush Chu Sheng’s convoy after mistaking Chu Sheng for a weak, foolish man. Meanwhile, the convoy gathered food in the village, and Captain Hui asked the group to decide whether to wait for the greedy convoy they would meet tomorrow or move on.

• Skinny Monkey described three prophetic scenes and devised a plan for his group to deceive and attack Chu Sheng’s convoy, steal its supplies, and capture An Xi.
• Captain Hui told Chu Sheng that Cheng Xue’s rice and salt counted as team supplies, while Zhu Qing returned with vegetables and learned that the village had little other food.
• An Xi returned with two sacks of cured meat, and Captain Hui revealed that his prophecy showed they would encounter a greedy convoy the next day.
• Chu Sheng weighed waiting in the village to gain home-field advantage against moving on and meeting the convoy unexpectedly, and Captain Hui asked everyone for their opinions.

The convoy prepared to ambush an approaching group, with Captain Hui choosing Zhu Qing to set it up because Chu Sheng and An Xi were likely to be detected. The next day, the other convoy arrived, and Captain Hui warned everyone to get ready.

• Chu Sheng, Zhu Qing, An Xi, and Old Man Li agreed to prepare an ambush and leave if it had not succeeded by two the next afternoon.
• Captain Hui calculated that Zhu Qing had the best chance of remaining undetected and assigned him to hide in the village.
• Old Man Li reasoned that the approaching convoy likely had someone with a spying ability, while Chu Sheng and An Xi divided the scavenged supplies and Chu Sheng secretly took two packets of salt.
• The next morning, A Xin concealed the convoy with her ability while Zhu Qing hid on a rooftop and Chu Sheng practiced archery with Captain Hui and An Xi.
• Captain Hui spotted the approaching convoy, and Chu Sheng fired the agreed signal as a Pickup Truck and more than fifty survivors on Shared Bicycles came into view.
• An Xi prepared her spear, Captain Hui went to the front of the convoy, and everyone readied themselves to meet the newcomers.