Chapter Summaries

After learning that Heavenly Dao Distortion threatened the world, Xu Ye encountered a Mirror Spirit in his new apartment and discovered that his tentacle could drain its energy. The spirit fled, leaving Xu Ye stronger and eager to test his ability on other anomalies.

• He Li sent a report about Xu Ye to someone other than Meng Chengfei, then drove off after insulting a young man who approached her.
• Xu Ye entered the apartment in a distorted area and inspected the Shadow Horn, his furnished room, and the rabbit provided for his mental health.
• A Mirror Spirit emerged from the bathroom mirror and strangled Xu Ye while Alice's [Soul-Seizing] failed to affect it.
• Xu Ye used his tentacle to seize the Mirror Spirit and drain its energy until it fled, strengthening his tentacle in the process.
• Alice complained that Xu Ye was stealing the protagonist's role, while Xu Ye grinned at the prospect of using his talent on more anomalies.

Xu Ye learned that the Eternal Holy Book was connected to Li Kang and the Missing Person Notice, while his search for answers revealed that history had been rewritten. Elsewhere, Meng Chengfei killed a Bronze Noble who had ordered an ambush on Xu Ye and hinted at crimes committed ten years earlier.

• Xu Ye ordered Alice to find the Mirror Spirit, then absorbed its energy until his heart warned him that overuse could kill him.
• Xu Ye and Alice ate the rabbit, and Alice revealed that the real Li Kang had assaulted a woman while demanding to know where the Eternal Holy Book was.
• Xu Ye suspected Li Kang had faked his death to operate in secret, but his clearance blocked him from finding information about the Eternal Holy Book.
• Xu Ye searched for records from a hundred years earlier and discovered that the history of the world had been rewritten to blame a nuclear war on infighting within the Federation.
• Meng Chengfei confronted a Bronze Noble who had arranged an ambush on Xu Ye and accused him of knowing about crimes from ten years earlier.
• Meng Chengfei killed the Bronze Noble and left carrying a blood-red painting.

Xu Ye returned to school and witnessed Zhang Xuliang bullying Wang Yong, a refugee student, while Alice sensed pollution somewhere in the school building. The chapter ended with Xu Ye reflecting on how weak morality and restraint seemed in this world.

• Xu Ye arrived at school late, and Qin Yingying recorded his tardiness after he joked that he had helped the Patrol Team catch criminals.
• Alice emerged from Xu Ye's mind and said she smelled pollution somewhere in the classroom building, but she could not pinpoint it.
• Zhang Xuliang beat Wang Yong for failing to complete his summer homework and mocked him about his poverty and mother.
• Xu Ye helped Wang Yong up, but Wang Yong retreated to his seat as Zhang Xuliang continued humiliating him in front of the silent class.
• Wang Yong shouted for Zhang Xuliang to stop, but Zhang spat on him and left with his followers.

In City No. 1 High School’s underground garage, Zhang Xuliang’s friend Qian Bing was skinned by a supernatural woman, and Zhang Xuliang was hunted by her. The woman found him hiding behind a car and revealed her monstrous form.

• Zhang Xuliang left Qian Bing in the garage to meet a woman from the refugee district while he went to the bathroom.
• The woman entered Qian Bing’s car, took scissors from her bag, and skinned him alive.
• Zhang Xuliang returned and found Qian Bing’s flayed corpse, then saw Qian Bing’s skin walking in red high heels.
• Zhang Xuliang hid behind a car and called the Night Spirit City Patrol Team for help.
• The voice on the phone changed into the woman’s eerie voice, and Zhang Xuliang saw her clinging to the ceiling with six limbs.

Xu Ye tried to provoke Wang Yong into revealing whether he was the Aberrant predicted to threaten the school, but the heart simulation instead warned that Xu Ye would fall for his liaison, Li Yunyao, and miss the coming disaster. After Li Yunyao sent him to investigate missing student Zhang Xuliang, Xu Ye saw Wang Yong’s mother arrive and order him to apologize to Zhang.

• Xu Ye mocked Wang Yong’s hopes and crush on Qin, then learned Wang Yong still believed bad people would eventually be punished.
• Xu Ye’s heart simulation predicted that he would fall for Li Yunyao, miss his chance to pursue the Aberrant, and fail to prevent the school’s destruction three days later.
• Li Yunyao called Xu Ye and told him Zhang Xuliang had reported a ghost before his phone signal disappeared in the school’s underground parking garage.
• Xu Ye put on his earpiece and prepared to investigate while Li Yunyao contacted the school for surveillance footage.
• Wang Yong’s mother arrived at the classroom and ordered him to take fruit and apologize to Zhang Xuliang, despite Wang Yong saying Zhang had hit him first.

Xu Ye investigated the bloodied bodies of Zhang Xuliang and Qian Bing and learned that a woman suspected of skinning men was last seen near the Harmony Club. He found her that evening and tried to provoke her, but the chapter ended with her confused by his demand that she pay him.

• Xu Ye found blood and two corpses in the underground garage, which Li Yunyao identified as likely belonging to Zhang Xuliang and Qian Bing.
• Li Yunyao told Xu Ye that the suspected Aberrant was a forty-year-old woman who worked as a seamstress and was last seen near the Harmony Club.
• Xu Ye used his knowledge of future events to locate the woman in red high heels outside the Harmony Club that evening.
• Xu Ye spotted what looked like a human face inside her handbag and provoked her by asking how much she charged.
• The woman named a price, but Xu Ye demanded that she pay him, insulting her when she questioned him.

Xu Ye lured a woman into an alley with relentless jokes and discovered she was a spider-like Aberrant who skinned people. He fought back and shot her, but her spider silk plunged the scene into darkness.

• Xu Ye followed the woman into an alley, joking about his past and pretending to be a gigolo while she led him toward her home.
• Xu Ye used a Screaming Chicken and kept provoking the woman as he checked her energy readings; Li Yunyao advised immediate elimination.
• The woman transformed into a spider-like Aberrant and attacked Xu Ye with scissors hidden in her tongue.
• Xu Ye dodged her attack, restrained her with a black tentacle, slammed her to the ground, and shot her abdomen.
• The wounded woman fired spider silk toward the streetlight and Xu Ye, plunging everything into darkness.

Xu Ye killed a spider-like Aberrant after hearing how her family had fallen apart, believing he had ended the incident. His heart began to writhe, and he realized the woman had not been the pollution source after a later catastrophe destroyed his school.

• Xu Ye hid in the dark while Alice located the Aberrant, who recounted her son’s suicide and blamed men for her family’s suffering.
• The woman revealed that she had killed her husband and daughter and had fused their faces into her body.
• The woman tried to escape by pulling herself upward on spider silk, but Xu Ye caught her with a tentacle and shot her dead.
• Xu Ye thought he had completed the mission with no widespread casualties, but his heart began to writhe.
• Three days later, Heavenly Dao distortion struck Xu Ye’s school and destroyed it, revealing that the woman had not been the pollution source.

After Xu Ye recounted the incident involving Lin Aiqiao, Li Yunyao explained how Pollution Sources, radiation, and Heavenly Dao Distortion threatened humanity. The debrief ended with Li Yunyao warning Xu Ye not to get involved with the Eternal Holy Book.

• Li Yunyao gave Xu Ye food and made him recount the incident involving Lin Aiqiao while she prepared the report.
• Xu Ye asked how investigators knew whether a Pollution Incident had ended, and Li Yunyao said Lin Aiqiao’s case remained unresolved and required follow-up investigation.
• Li Yunyao told Xu Ye that the old Aberrant from FKC-067 had escaped Night Spirit City and explained that radiation could kill Aberrants, though some survived in forbidden zones.
• Li Yunyao described Heavenly Dao Distortion, the forbidden zones on Planet Earth, and how Taboo Objects could slow their expansion.
• Xu Ye asked about the Eternal Holy Book, and Li Yunyao questioned how he had learned of it before warning him not to get involved.

Meng Chengfei explained the Eternal Church’s history and Li Yunyao’s past to Xu Ye, who revealed that Li Kang had faked his death and learned Doctor Chen had resurfaced. The next morning, at school, Qin Yingying watched Sun Tao tear at his scalp before he jumped out of a window.

• Meng Chengfei told Xu Ye that the Eternal Holy Book was the Eternal Church’s membership roster and explained how the church’s past attack had devastated the Ninth Team.
• Meng Chengfei explained why he had stopped Li Yunyao from taking an Awakening Potion and said he used Demon Eye to help her sleep.
• Xu Ye told Meng Chengfei that Li Kang had faked his death, and Meng Chengfei promised to pursue the lead and request an E-Rank Taboo Object for Xu Ye.
• Meng Chengfei told Xu Ye that Doctor Chen had resurfaced and warned him to stay alert about the unknown truth behind pollution and Awakened.
• Qin Yingying found Sun Tao working on a math problem at school, and he tore at his scalp before jumping out the window.

Xu Ye and He Li brought Lu Mingwang to First High School to investigate a possible pollution incident after a student jumped from a building. Xu Ye found something wrong in Class One, while Lu Mingwang screamed from Class Seven.

• Xu Ye woke from a vision of Night Spirit City being destroyed, and Alice reassured him that it showed only one possible future.
• He Li told Xu Ye that a student had jumped from a building at First High School and brought Lu Mingwang along to investigate.
• Lu Mingwang explained that an injured Awakened had forced him to inherit a Sequence Talent, and He Li said his Second Personality was timid.
• The team drove to First High School, where Li Yunyao ordered Xu Ye and Lu Mingwang to inspect their classes for pollution.
• Xu Ye sneaked onto campus, entered Class One, and sensed something was wrong as Lu Mingwang screamed over the earpiece.

Xu Ye discovered that students with poor grades were behaving abnormally and obsessing over their studies, while He Li found a spider-web-covered dean’s office full of eggs. As a bloody head dropped from the ceiling toward He Li, the cause of the school’s contamination remained unclear.

• Xu Ye returned to class and learned that Sun Tao’s death had been concealed and Qin Yingying had been sedated.
• Xu Ye noticed that struggling students were studying with unnatural intensity and reported the abnormality to Li Yunyao and Lu Mingwang.
• Xu Ye sent He Li to investigate the dean’s office after recalling that white material had been found there.
• He Li discovered spider silk and eggs covering the dean’s office, and a student emerged from one egg and left to study.
• A severed head dropped from the ceiling and bared its bloody mouth at He Li.

He Li killed a weak, infectious Aberrant at the school while Xu Ye and Li Yunyao investigated a spreading study-obsessed contamination among the students. They identified Wang Yong as the pollution source and recommended eliminating him immediately.

• He Li killed an Aberrant that infected students by wrapping them in Spider Silk and reported its method of contamination.
• Zhao Qianqian urged the class to study, causing many students to become feverishly absorbed in their books.
• Xu Ye and Li Yunyao concluded that the contamination spread through Spider Silk and through emotional appeals to struggling students.
• Li Yunyao connected Lin Aiqiao and Wu Xiuxiu and identified Wu Xiuxiu’s son, Wang Yong, as the likely pollution source.
• Li Yunyao explained that Wang Yong had contaminated Lin Aiqiao, used her to kill Zhang Xuliang and Qian Bing, and was now infecting the school; she recommended eliminating him immediately.

Xu Ye and the others assembled the contaminated students and used Lu Mingwang’s Bard talent to calm most of them while they identified the Aberrants. When He Li moved to kill Wang Yong, Xu Ye sensed danger and stopped her, just as Wang Yong revealed his distorted face.

• Li Yunyao arranged to evacuate unaffected people and explained that the Pollution Source had about 100 units of energy and could be screened at close range.
• Xu Ye and the others found about a hundred contaminated students, including Wang Yong, whose strange behavior had escaped Xu Ye’s test.
• Lu Mingwang used his Sequence Talent, 9-234 [Bard], to chant a poem that calmed most of the contaminated students and made them fall asleep.
• The chubby boy and Zhao Qianqian transformed into spider-like Aberrants, and He Li shot and killed them with her curved blades.
• He Li moved to strike Wang Yong, but Xu Ye sensed something was wrong and stopped her with a tentacle as Wang Yong looked up with grotesquely distorted features.

Xu Ye realized Wang Yong was protecting his mother, Wu Xiuxiu, who was the real Pollution Source. After Wu Xiuxiu mutated into a spider-like Aberrant and attacked Wang Yong, Xu Ye blocked her venom and prepared to strike, leaving Wang Yong pleading for another way.

• Xu Ye stopped He Li from killing Wang Yong and revealed that Wang Yong’s mother, Wu Xiuxiu, was the Pollution Source.
• Wang Yong begged Xu Ye to spare his mother and promised to take her away from Night Spirit City.
• Wu Xiuxiu emerged from the restroom with an Eight-Legged Black-and-White Ghost-Eyed Spider replacing her face.
• Wang Yong recalled his mother’s sacrifices and pleaded with her, briefly awakening a trace of humanity in her.
• Wu Xiuxiu fired a venomous dart at Wang Yong, and Xu Ye blocked it before raising his blade to attack her.

Xu Ye fought a powerful spider-type Aberrant at the school while Alice helped him evade its attacks. He Li destroyed the Aberrant with an E-Rank rocket launcher, but Alice returned from the blast and warned Xu Ye that they had a big problem.

• He Li kept Lu Mingwang away from the fight and said Xu Ye was the Ninth Team's successor.
• Xu Ye attacked the spider-type Aberrant, resisted its sorrow-inducing power, and used Alice's possession to dodge its strikes.
• The Aberrant hardened its body and fired a spider-silk arrow that drove Xu Ye back toward a basketball hoop.
• Li Yunyao warned that the Aberrant's energy was rising and the nearby Heavenly Dao was distorting, so He Li launched a rocket at it.
• He Li's rocket created a huge crater and shattered the school's windows, while Xu Ye realized how powerful her Taboo Object was.
• Alice used [Soul-Seizing], returned from the blast, and told Xu Ye they had a big problem.

Xu Ye saw Wu Xiuxiu’s memories and learned that Qin Yingying had recruited her into the Eternal Church ten years earlier. As Wang Yong mourned his mother, Xu Ye warned He Li that the mastermind behind the Pollution Incident was still at large.

• Alice shared Wu Xiuxiu’s memories with Xu Ye, showing her poverty, despair, and failed attempt to obtain compensation from Zhang Xuliang.
• A girl offered Wu Xiuxiu power in exchange for loyalty, and Wu Xiuxiu recognized her as Qin Yingying of the Eternal Church.
• Xu Ye realized the Pollution Incident had been caused by the Eternal Church and wondered whether the group was connected to Night Spirit City’s predicted destruction.
• Wang Yong cradled Wu Xiuxiu’s ruined body and silently mourned her.
• He Li praised Xu Ye’s performance, but Xu Ye reminded her that they still had not dealt with the mastermind.

Xu Ye confronted Qin Yingying in the empty school infirmary and discovered she was the Eternal Church’s Three of Spades. She killed herself before he could question her further, and Alice could not find her soul.

• After Dawn Blade personnel cleared the school, Xu Ye confronted Qin Yingying and accused her of causing Sun Tao’s death.
• Qin Yingying dodged Xu Ye’s three shots and revealed that her Sequence Talent, 9-030 [Presence], could conceal or intensify her presence.
• Xu Ye explained how he had grown suspicious of Qin Yingying and identified her as a likely member of the Eternal Church.
• Qin Yingying said the Eternal Church members did not know one another’s identities and identified the Ace of Spades as their bishop.
• Qin Yingying revealed her Three of Spades card and slit her throat before Xu Ye could arrest her.
• Xu Ye called on Alice to use [Soul-Seizing], but she could not find Qin Yingying’s soul.

After Xu Ye emerged from the infirmary, He Li and Lu Mingwang competed to win his favor, while Xu Ye wondered about the fate of Wang Yong and how authorities erased memories. On a nearby rooftop, Ye Qingnuo tried to get close to Meng Chengfei, but he disappeared, leaving her to reflect on his decade of avoidance.

• Xu Ye left the infirmary after completing the mission, and He Li teased him before Lu Mingwang sat him down and massaged his legs.
• He Li offered Xu Ye money and herself, while Xu Ye saw a bizarre vision of a future in which she betrayed him and Lu Mingwang comforted him.
• Xu Ye watched He Li and Lu Mingwang banter, then asked how authorities would erase Wang Yong's memories and wondered whether the fire in his own past had been fabricated too.
• On a nearby rooftop, Ye Qingnuo and Meng Chengfei discussed the Eternal Church, Xu Ye, and finding the Eternal Holy Book.
• Ye Qingnuo tried to persuade Meng Chengfei to settle down, but he vanished when Xiao Chu interrupted with news about FKC-067; she lamented that he had been running away for ten years.

Wang Yong learned that his memories had been altered when a bishop of the Eternal Church offered to restore them in a dream beneath the Crimson Moon. In a separate diary entry, Xu Ye described his training, new abilities, and life in Sky City, then noted that a young man had been following and watching him.

• Wang Yong mourned at his parents’ graves and struggled with the pain of missing memories.
• A bishop of the Eternal Church appeared to Wang Yong in a dream and offered to restore his erased memories.
• Wang Yong recovered the truth that his memories had been altered and resolved to learn what the bishop wanted him to do.
• Xu Ye recorded that the Ninth Team had been undergoing intensive training and that he had grown a second tentacle by absorbing the Mirror Spirit’s energy.
• Xu Ye noted that [Soul-Seizing] had gained a Soul Ray attack usable once every seven days.
• Xu Ye wrote that a young man had watched him repeatedly for a week and that he needed to figure out what to do.