Chapter Summaries

While waiting for Kafka to appear at the Rain-Listening Pavilion, Chu Mu used his Doppelganger to survey the crisis across Exalting Sanctum and found the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus’ uprising had caused severe damage. He left his followers recruiting in the streets under the Xianzhou authorities’ watch, then encountered one of them near the Earth-Balance Commission.

• Chu Mu waited at the Rain-Listening Pavilion, but Kafka did not appear, so he took control of his Doppelganger and explored Exalting Sanctum.
• Chu Mu learned that wounded people were being treated at Exalting Sanctum Plaza, mara-struck cases were increasing, and several Xianzhou commissions had suffered attacks from the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
• Chu Mu reasoned that the Disciples’ hidden Chief was exploiting the Stellaron disaster and that the Xianzhou authorities were focused on protecting civilians and holding the residential districts.
• Chu Mu found Exalting Sanctum Branch followers still completing recruitment tasks, which his Doppelganger had left in place after discussing their situation with Fu Xuan.
• A follower approached the Doppelganger and explained that the quiet night market and Earth-Balance Commission officials at the plaza had made recruitment difficult.

Chu Mu’s Doppelganger investigated the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and discovered that their new recruit, Gray Peony, was being made to copy scriptures as part of her initiation. He led her away from the group and revealed that he recognized her as the Trailblazer.

• Chu Mu’s Doppelganger rebuked a frightened disciple for fearing the Earth-Balance Commission and learned that the branch had recruited someone.
• The disciple explained that the new recruit was copying scriptures, prompting Chu Mu to suspect the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had found a loophole in his rules.
• Chu Mu’s Doppelganger entered the courtyard and met Gray Peony, a gray-haired, golden-eyed girl curious about his green-lit bandages.
• Chu Mu’s Doppelganger ordered Gray Peony to follow him, then asked whether she was enjoying her time on the Xianzhou.
• Gray Peony froze when Chu Mu’s Doppelganger addressed her as the Trailblazer.

Stelle reunited with Chu Mu, whom she recognized beneath his bandages, and mistook his leadership of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus for a mission from Yaoshi. Their conversation revealed that Kafka had summoned the Astral Express to the Luofu and that Stelle had already encountered her by arresting her.

• Stelle guessed the bandaged Doppelganger was Sampo before recognizing him as Chu Mu, who asked her to keep his identity secret.
• Stelle speculated that Yaoshi had made Chu Mu a regional leader of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, but Chu Mu insisted he had acted independently and planned to send the group to the Prison of Deep Seclusion.
• Chu Mu worried that the Xianzhou's conflict with the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus would deepen its hatred of Yaoshi.
• Stelle told Chu Mu that Kafka had contacted the Astral Express and asked them to come to the Luofu.
• Chu Mu learned that Stelle had seen Kafka when the Astral Express arrested her.

Chu Mu realized Kafka had allowed herself to be arrested to help Stelle earn the Xianzhou’s trust and obtain answers about her past. After learning Kafka was being held at the Divination Commission, Chu Mu suspected Blade might help her escape and went to investigate whether Sampo was staying nearby.

• Chu Mu concluded that Kafka had deliberately let the Astral Express Crew arrest her as part of a script that would improve Stelle’s reputation.
• Stelle admitted Kafka had promised to give her answers, and Chu Mu accepted that she had chosen to take part because she wanted to understand her past.
• Stelle told Chu Mu that Kafka was at the Divination Commission, where officials planned to interrogate her using the Matrix of Prescience once the crisis there was resolved.
• Chu Mu suspected Blade might help Kafka escape and decided he would visit the Divination Commission during the interrogation.
• Stelle described finding a fake neutron radiation bomb and a note from Sampo in a treasure chest, leading Chu Mu to suspect the traveling merchant in the neighboring suite was Sampo.

Chu Mu investigated the Snow-Listening Pavilion after suspecting Sampo had stayed there, but learned the guest had already checked out after flooding the suite with melted snow. The innkeeper described the damage and the guest’s false identity, leaving Chu Mu to consider how to help recover the inn’s losses.

• Chu Mu found a cleaning lady at the Snow-Listening Pavilion and learned its guest had checked out that morning after running the snow machine for days.
• The innkeeper explained that the melted snow had ruined the suite’s historic paintings and calligraphy, causing an estimated five million Strale in damage.
• Chu Mu offered to help the innkeeper recover compensation, while cautioning him against making an unfair demand.
• The innkeeper said the blue-haired traveler had registered as Bosang from Jarilo-VI, a planet that had perished centuries earlier, and concluded that the traveler was a liar.

Chu Mu's Doppelganger offered Stelle a commission to capture Sampo, who had come to the Xianzhou, and promised her a large reward. Stelle doubted Chu Mu's inflated payment claims but accepted the revised three-million-Credit offer before learning the job's target.

• Chu Mu's Doppelganger confirmed to Stelle that Sampo was on the Xianzhou.
• The Doppelganger offered Stelle three hundred million Credits for a commission and another two billion if she completed an additional objective.
• Chu Mu said Stelle could keep the debt she collected from Sampo and suggested she use part of it to help Belobog.
• Stelle refused the offer, doubting she could collect money from Sampo and suspecting Chu Mu had invented the enormous reward.
• The Doppelganger changed the commission to three million Credits and revealed that Stelle was being hired to capture Sampo.

Chu Mu persuaded Stelle to take a bounty commission to catch Sampo, then learned from her that she had already met Tingyun and heard how the Astral Express crew reached the Xianzhou Luofu. Stelle recounted the crew’s encounter with Kafka at Return Starport, leaving Chu Mu with unexpected news about Tingyun’s arrival.

• Chu Mu explained the Xiaomiao Inn’s losses and persuaded Stelle to help catch Sampo for a bounty, while telling her not to name the three-million figure.
• Stelle told Chu Mu that she, March, and Welt were the only Astral Express crew members on the mission, and that Dan Heng had stayed aboard the train.
• Stelle described how the crew entered Cloudford, fought monsters, and met Tingyun, who guided them to Central Starskiff Haven.
• Chu Mu reacted with surprise when Stelle revealed that the Foxian guide was Tingyun, whom he had been trying to find.
• Stelle said Tingyun brought the crew to meet Yukong and Jing Yuan, who asked them to capture Kafka to clear the Express’s name.
• Stelle recounted tracking Kafka to Return Starport with a Diting and said Kafka seemed to surrender to Fu Xuan because she had stopped taking the confrontation seriously.

Stelle met Chu Mu in Exalting Sanctum and received a promotion within the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, along with the Great Medicine formula to give the Earth-Balance Commission. Back at the Rain-Listening Pavilion, Chu Mu told Fu Xuan he had hooked a big fish, and she urgently asked how he knew.

• Stelle explained how she had ended up in Exalting Sanctum and told Chu Mu she planned to return to the Earth-Balance Commission.
• Chu Mu declared Stelle a High-Ranking Disciple of Sanctus Medicus and gave her secret intelligence, including the Great Medicine formula.
• Stelle returned to the Earth-Balance Commission, then messaged Tingyun to ask whether she knew Chu Mu; Tingyun privately repeated his name.
• Qingque reported that Bailu had helped restore order among the wounded soldiers and suppress their mara-struck symptoms.
• Chu Mu asked Qingque to tell Fu Xuan he had hooked a big fish, and Fu Xuan called back to ask how he knew.

Chu Mu persuaded Fu Xuan to let him observe the Stellaron Hunter interrogation, then wondered whether Kafka and Sampo were behind the schemes unfolding on the Xianzhou. Meanwhile, Qingque delivered leftover food to Bailu’s companions, and Stelle told Chu Mu that the Alchemy Commission’s Chief Alchemist had agreed to examine the prescription he provided.

• Chu Mu convinced Fu Xuan to consider arranging a time for him to watch the Stellaron Hunter interrogation, and Kafka briefly greeted him before Fu Xuan ended the call.
• Chu Mu suspected that Kafka or Sampo might be connected to the deaths and schemes on the Xianzhou, and resolved to beat Sampo if he caught him.
• Qingque took the leftover dishes to the square, where Bailu shared them with hungry Medical Officers.
• Stelle messaged Chu Mu about getting a free meal after helping Bailu subdue a mara-struck soldier, and offered him some of her remaining meat.
• Stelle told Chu Mu that she had submitted his intelligence and that the Alchemy Commission’s Chief Alchemist had agreed to examine the prescription.

Chu Mu warned Stelle that Chief Alchemist Dan Shu might be a high-ranking member of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, based on her history with an Artificial Eye operation and his suspicions about the organization. Stelle struggled to believe him and decided to confront Dan Shu herself.

• Stelle praised Dan Shu's kindness and described how she had overcome blindness to become the Alchemy Commission's Chief Alchemist.
• Chu Mu recalled meeting Dan Shu and suspected she was a senior member of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
• Chu Mu explained that regaining sight only to lose it again could deepen a person's regret and fuel dangerous desires.
• Chu Mu admitted he had no concrete proof but urged Stelle to ask the Earth-Balance Commission to investigate Dan Shu.
• Stelle weighed her trust in Chu Mu against her positive impression of Dan Shu, then told Chu Mu she would confront Dan Shu face-to-face.

Stelle confronted Dan Shu at Ruomu Pavilion about her ties to the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, and Dan Shu defended their beliefs and condemned the Reignbow Arbiter. Dan Shu revealed that her efforts had been driven not only by her blindness but also by the disappearance of the woman who had guided her, leaving Stelle asking who she was.

• Stelle confronted Dan Shu with what she had learned and accused her of deceiving her about being a Disciple of Sanctus Medicus.
• Dan Shu argued that the Xianzhou and the Disciples differed only in their perspectives on the blessing of abundance and the use of bodies.
• Dan Shu claimed the Reignbow Arbiter had led the Xianzhou astray and caused its people enduring suffering, drawing Stelle's rebuke.
• Dan Shu explained that the loss of a woman who had held her hand and guided her through darkness had caused her deepest torment.
• Stelle asked Dan Shu who the missing woman was.

Dan Shu recounted how her closest friend supported her through blindness and how that friend died when Reignbow’s arrow struck a field hospital during the war. Stelle understood Dan Shu’s grief but rejected her actions, leaving them unable to reconcile.

• Dan Shu described her childhood friendship and how her friend helped her through Artificial Eye surgery and its aftermath.
• Dan Shu explained that her friend died when Reignbow’s arrow devastated the field hospital during the Third War against the Denizens of Abundance.
• Dan Shu blamed Reignbow for her friend’s death and declared that she wanted to overthrow his control over the Xianzhou.
• Stelle understood Dan Shu’s grief but said she could not become her friend because she did not believe Dan Shu’s actions were right.
• Dan Shu fell silent, wondering whether they would have to fight.

Stelle let Dan Shu leave but accepted the medicine box for possible testing, only for Chu Mu to confront Dan Shu in an alley and uncover her plan to use Stelle. The chapter ended with Chu Mu ready to protect Stelle after Dan Shu admitted she would exploit her for revenge.

• Stelle let Dan Shu go and questioned her about the Cloud-Feasting Dew-Receiving Pill, which Dan Shu left behind before departing.
• Dan Shu headed for the dock, but Chu Mu's doppelganger confronted her in an alley and accused her of persisting with her scheme.
• Dan Shu recognized Chu Mu's doppelganger as a judge from the Ten-Lords Commission and admitted she was the chief of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
• Chu Mu accused Dan Shu of concealing the pill's cost and intending to make Stelle a long-life species so she could use her power.
• Dan Shu admitted she would seize any power available to take revenge, crossing Chu Mu's bottom line of protecting Stelle.

Chu Mu's doppelganger captured Dan Shu by exposing her to the red sun and handed her over to the Ten-Lords Commission. The chapter ended with Hanya taking custody of Dan Shu and explaining that her sister, Xueyi, was away on a mission.

• Chu Mu condemned Dan Shu for pursuing revenge in the name of Yaoshi, and Dan Shu insisted she had no choice.
• Dan Shu transformed into her celestial body and fought Chu Mu's doppelganger, but he restrained her and took her through a rift between planes.
• Fu Xuan, Welt, March 7th, and others sensed the disturbance in the sky, while the Silver-Haired General remarked that new variables were appearing.
• Chu Mu's doppelganger returned with Dan Shu unconscious after exposing her to the red sun, then contacted the Ten-Lords Commission.
• Hanya took custody of Dan Shu and told Chu Mu's doppelganger that she was Xueyi's younger sister and Xueyi was away on a mission.

After handing Dan Shu to Judge Hanya, Chu Mu deduced that an Emanator-level outsider had helped the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and revealed his own power to draw that enemy out. At Ruomu Pavilion, Stelle fretted over Dan Shu’s medicine box until Chu Mu’s Doppelganger ate its pill.

• Chu Mu concluded that Dan Shu had received powerful outside support and deliberately displayed his Emanator-level strength to enter the conflict and protect his companions.
• Stelle cautiously examined the medicine box at Ruomu Pavilion and tried to ask Dan Heng whether it could be a bomb, but her message failed to send.
• Chu Mu’s Doppelganger picked up the box and told Stelle there was no bomb inside.
• Stelle wondered whether Dan Shu had truly given her medicine to strengthen her body, and the Doppelganger opened the box and ate the pill himself.

After Dan Shu’s capture, Chu Mu considered the questions of memory and identity before deciding to accompany Stelle. Stelle and the Doppelganger met Welt and March 7th, who had come looking for the source of a huge sun and recognized Chu Mu’s connection to the Red Sun.

• Stelle complained that the Doppelganger had taken her medicine, and he repaid her by acknowledging her help.
• With the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus no longer needing him as their regional leader, Chu Mu reflected on Hanya’s work, Xueyi’s return, and Fuli’s power over memories.
• Chu Mu told Stelle he would accompany her, and they argued about whether she attracted bad luck.
• Welt and March 7th arrived after seeing a huge sun, and Stelle introduced them to the Doppelganger.
• March 7th explained that thinking of the sun had led her to the Red Sun and then Chu Mu, and Stelle praised her quick reasoning.

Chu Mu’s Doppelganger joined the Astral Express crew under the name Green Pheobe, and the group encountered Tingyun while exploring the Exalting Sanctum. Tingyun invited them on a stroll, unaware that Chu Mu remembered their past together and knew she had forgotten it.

• Chu Mu agreed to accompany Welt, Stelle, and March 7th while keeping his Green Pheobe disguise in place.
• The group explored the Exalting Sanctum while waiting for Fu Xuan to contact them about Kafka’s interrogation.
• Tingyun approached the group and guessed that Green Pheobe was Chu Mu, but Welt and Stelle quickly corrected her.
• Tingyun introduced herself as a Sky-Faring Commission employee and invited Green Pheobe and the Astral Express crew on a nighttime stroll.
• Chu Mu realized Tingyun had recovered her memories but forgotten their time together, and he chose not to tell her about it.

Chu Mu reflected on his past with Tingyun and accepted her invitation to host an evening out, while the Astral Express Crew mistook him for a newly arrived, wealthy man. As the group picked out snacks, Stelle suspected Tingyun was attracted to Chu Mu's Doppelganger and revealed she had found March 7th's hidden shoujo manga.

• Chu Mu accepted Tingyun's request to go out and decided to cover the evening's expenses.
• Stelle assured March 7th and Welt that Chu Mu was rich, and Chu Mu's Doppelganger agreed that nobody needed to hold back.
• Tingyun asked Chu Mu's Doppelganger about his work and discussed her own restlessness and desire for freedom.
• Chu Mu's Doppelganger redirected the conversation toward the Astral Express Crew, though Tingyun kept glancing at him.
• Stelle told March 7th she suspected Tingyun and the Doppelganger had a connection, then admitted she had found March's hidden shoujo manga.

Stelle speculated that Tingyun had a past connection with Chu Mu and planned to ask Kafka about it on the Xianzhou Luofu. After a modest shopping trip, Chu Mu noticed Tingyun acting unusually detached and wondered what was bothering her.

• Stelle reassured March 7th while imagining a romantic rivalry involving Chu Mu, then decided Kafka might know the truth about his past.
• Stelle and March 7th haggled over souvenirs, and March bought inexpensive gifts for Himeko, Pom-Pom, and Dan Heng.
• Stelle spent only eighty Strale during the shopping trip, leaving Chu Mu surprised by how little the group had cost him.
• Chu Mu noticed Tingyun stayed quiet and distant while the group shopped, despite being a merchant familiar with the Xianzhou.
• Chu Mu wondered whether Tingyun was in a bad mood or had another reason for her unusual behavior.

Tingyun picked out a fox mask and surprised Chu Mu by giving it to him, leaving Stelle and March 7th impressed by her social finesse. After the group finished shopping, Stelle received a new assignment from the Earth-Balance Commission: investigate the Stellaron crisis.

• Tingyun asked Chu Mu's Doppelganger if she could pick out a gift, then bought an expensive, one-of-a-kind fox mask.
• Tingyun gave the mask to Chu Mu's Doppelganger and urged him to put it on, while Stelle and March 7th admired her clever approach.
• Stelle noticed that Chu Mu remained unusually quiet after receiving Tingyun's gift.
• After the shopping trip, the Earth-Balance Commission assigned Stelle to investigate the cause of the Stellaron crisis.
• March 7th eagerly embraced the investigation and declared that her detective novels would help her solve the case.