Chapter Summaries

Su Wu and Jiang Yingying encountered a gray fog that trapped the road and brought forth a Gui connected to Su Wu’s work group. They faced the approaching one-legged colleague as their candles rapidly burned down.

• Su Wu and Jiang Yingying left the car and crossed a wreck of vehicles, where Su Wu recognized a crashed Route 602 bus like the one in the morning news.
• They found gray fog surrounding the road in both directions, and Su Wu suspected the Guis from his Boyu Work Group were involved.
• Su Wu gave Jiang Yingying a candle and led her into the fog, warning her to stay close and reassuring her that it was like a game.
• A cold gust burned away a third of their candles, and a mutilated one-legged Gui emerged from the mist and asked why Su Wu and Tu Shu had not gone to work.
• The Gui stepped toward them as the gray fog rolled forward.

Su Wu and Jiang Yingying were overwhelmed by multiplying fiends in the simulation, and Su Wu died after fighting back. He brought several temporary talents and a car key into reality, then combined two talents with Pain Transfer to create the Strongman spellmark.

• Su Wu used candles and the Imperial Bell to hold off Wang Zhiyou, Xin Qiaoge, and the fiends emerging from the fog.
• As the fiends multiplied and resisted the candlelight and bell, Jiang Yingying offered to lure them away so Su Wu could escape with Emergency Rations.
• Su Wu fought the fiends with his fists and feet, gained temporary talents, and was swallowed by the crowd.
• After the simulation ended, Su Wu earned origin jade and selected Art of Speaking, Street Fighting, Blood-Draining Berserker, and a Chevrolet Cruze car key to bring into reality.
• Su Wu agreed to combine Street Fighting and Blood-Draining Berserker with Pain Transfer, creating the Strongman spellmark.

After obtaining the Strongman curse mark, Su Wu reviewed how to escape the Trapped Corpses blocking his route and decided he needed a way to rapidly destroy them. He tested the mark by eating a whole roast lamb and discovered that food began restoring his strength and improving his body.

• Su Wu put the Chevrolet Cruze key from the simulation into his backpack and reviewed the Trapped Corpses, concluding that he needed tools to smash them quickly because vehicles could not pass through the supernatural roadblock.
• Su Wu considered chainsaws, blades, gasoline, and a large truck, then grew angry at his dead colleagues Xin Qiaoge and Wang Zhiyou for making trouble for him.
• Su Wu ordered the restaurant to serve his meal despite his friends not arriving and ate an entire leg of lamb in less than three minutes without feeling full.
• Su Wu ate a Lamb Fat Flatbread, and a warm current circulated through his body as his muscles regained elasticity and his strength returned.

Su Wu confirmed that the Shadow Fiend had begun awakening in Peaceful Garden and moved his supplies into the Little Temple through the simulator. After preparing to stay indoors and leave at the right time, he began a simulation of the Gang Cave owner's past life.

• Su Wu saw three bodies removed from Building 3 and recalled that the Shadow Fiend would soon spread its killings across Peaceful Garden.
• Su Wu helped an older mover steady a refrigerator, revealing the strength he had gained from the Strongman Spellmark.
• Su Wu stored supplies in a rented storage room, then used the simulator to transfer them into the Little Temple at the cost of dying once.
• Su Wu decided to avoid going outside and leave Peaceful Garden for the Little Temple at the right moment.
• Su Wu started simulating the Gang Cave owner's past life and declined to spend 20 Origin Jade to experience it firsthand.

Su Wu entered Zhuo Jie's past life and fled toward a temple after Zhuo Jie's father warned him that Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin was coming. He escaped the pursuing apparition for the moment, but encountered a mysterious figure beside a stream.

• Su Wu woke in Zhuo Jie's body and learned from Zhuo Jie's father that a temple northwest would shelter him if he delivered a letter there.
• Zhuo Jie's father urged Su Wu to flee before Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin caught up, then transformed as snow-white arms wrapped around his body and beckoned to Su Wu.
• Su Wu ran northwestern by the stars, but realized the voice calling him was not catching up and slowed down to conserve his strength.
• After walking through a dark grove for about an hour, Su Wu reached a stream and saw a figure in an emerald-lit robe standing with their back to him.

Su Wu encountered Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin in the woods and was nearly swallowed before a strange black dog drove her away. He traveled northwest to the temple Zhuo Jie's father had described and entered one of its dark rooms.

• Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin caught Su Wu in the woods, immobilized him with pale hands, and tried to force her head into his mouth.
• A large iron-black dog wearing colored cloth strips and silver bells appeared and drove Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin away.
• The black dog vanished after hearing whimpers from the woods, and Su Wu hurried northwest to find the ritual master.
• After traveling through the night and day until his food and water ran out, Su Wu reached the temple.
• Su Wu entered the temple and lifted the felt curtain over the first doorway on his left.

Su Wu sought refuge from Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin at a temple, but the long-faced monk tried to kill him to make a Binding Fate Artifact. After the simulation ended, Su Wu discovered he could inherit Zhuo Jie's powerful mind-root reserve for 1,000 origin jade.

• Su Wu gave the long-faced monk his father's letter and asked for refuge from Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin.
• The monk questioned Su Wu about escaping the fiend and said his Fate Pattern was suited to making a Binding Fate Artifact.
• When the monk demanded that Su Wu sacrifice himself, Su Wu tried to flee, but hair from the curtains and carpet trapped and killed him.
• The simulation awarded Su Wu 15 origin jade, bringing his balance to 698.
• Su Wu learned that Zhuo Jie's mind-root reserve had manifested as the enormous dog that repelled Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin, and he considered buying it and learning the Meditation Method.

Su Wu entered the temple in Zhuo Jie’s past-life simulation and sought shelter from a monk, hoping to learn how to deal with Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin. The monk revealed himself as a fiend and declared that fiends could not be killed before attacking Su Wu.

• Su Wu spent 500 Origin Jade to begin another simulation of Zhuo Jie’s past life.
• Su Wu escaped Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin with help from a pack of enormous dogs, then continued toward the temple.
• Su Wu entered the temple’s right-hand room and gave a bald old monk his father’s letter.
• The monk claimed that fiends could not be killed, then split open and emerged as a desiccated corpse.
• The fiend immobilized Su Wu, laid him on the floor, stripped him, and began cutting his body with a brush.

After dying during the creation of the Human-Skin Withered Ghost Painting, Su Wu sold its crafting method and bought the available Mind-Root Reserves, then began another simulation to meet Zhuo Jie's third monk. The monk recognized him as Zhuo Sang's son and warned that visiting the other meditation rooms first would have killed him.

• Su Wu died as the old monk finished making the Human-Skin Withered Ghost Painting, and the simulator offered him two Mind-Root Reserves and the painting.
• Su Wu sold the painting's crafting method for 3,000 Origin Jade and bought both Mind-Root Reserves, sensing a fleeting current and possible danger warning in his mind.
• Su Wu saw that his chance of successfully harboring the Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand had risen to 93.6%, and wondered whether to take it before finding the Meditation Method.
• Su Wu reached the third monk's temple and handed him Zhuo Sang's letter after the monk recognized him as Zhuo Sang's son.
• The thin monk said Su Wu's Spirit Cache Fate let him seek good fortune and avoid danger, then warned that visiting the other meditation rooms first would have killed him.

Su Wu learned from the thin monk Guangfa that horrors could be bound through a method taught in the Secret Treasury Domain, so he accepted Guangfa as his master and received the Dharma name Tianhai. Guangfa then transformed into a black tiger and bit him, infusing him with a temporary tiger demon curse mark.

• Guangfa explained that the other two monks housed horrors nearing awakening and wanted to use Zhuo Jie’s fate configuration to delay them, which would require his death.
• Guangfa revealed that he and the other monks had bound horrors within themselves, and that becoming a disciple was required to learn the binding method.
• Su Wu realized he was in the Secret Treasury Domain, knelt before Guangfa, and accepted the Dharma name Tianhai.
• After naming Su Wu his disciple, Guangfa transformed into a black tiger and bit his neck.
• Guangfa’s infusion gave Su Wu a temporary D-class tiger demon curse mark that let him briefly transform into a tiger but left him weakened afterward.

Su Wu received an incomplete tiger demon curse mark from Guangfa, who used Su Wu’s blood to make a Fragrant Blood Offering and led him out of the Little Temple. When the horrors possessing Guangfa’s senior brothers attacked, the offering drew them back into the temple, allowing Su Wu and Guangfa to escape.

• Guangfa infused Su Wu with an incomplete tiger demon curse mark that granted temporary physical strength but left him weakened afterward.
• Guangfa explained that Su Wu’s blood could be used to make a Fragrant Blood Offering to distract the horrors inside his senior brothers, then prepared the offering in a bone bowl.
• Guangfa led Su Wu out of the Little Temple, despite Su Wu’s doubts that they could escape safely.
• After they left, the long-faced monk and a desiccated corpse attacked them, while Guangfa held Su Wu’s hand and refused to let him flee.
• The Fragrant Blood Offering glowed green, and the horrors seized control of the two monks and dragged them back into the temple.

Su Wu learned how ghost containment formed the basis of cultivation and followed Guangfa back toward the No-Thought Venerable Power Temple. When Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin caught up, Su Wu used a Corpse Incense Offering to ensnare her, and Guangfa led him onward.

• Guangfa revealed that the temple’s two elders had arranged for him to guard the Little Temple and said he intended to return to discover whom they had chosen as the reincarnated Buddha Child.
• Guangfa explained Fate Reading, Precept Reception, and Binding Practice, including the danger of containing a Vicious Ghost.
• Guangfa told Su Wu that spellmarks came from supernatural power and that his Tiger God Spellmark drew its power from the ghost inside him.
• As Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin approached, Guangfa gave Su Wu a Corpse Incense Offering and told him to throw it when she came close.
• Su Wu hurled the offering at Narrow-Sleeved Guanyin, and luminous arms sprouted from it and wrapped around her.
• Guangfa walked into the darkness and told Su Wu to follow him.

Su Wu reached the No-Thought Venerable Power Temple with Guangfa, then exited the simulation from the temple’s safe house. Back in reality, he sold the knowledge he had gained and reviewed the offerings and fiend classifications available in the simulator.

• Guangfa led Su Wu up to the No-Thought Venerable Power Temple and assured him the elders would not stop him again.
• Su Wu discovered that the temple was a safe house and exited the simulation.
• The simulator awarded Su Wu origin jade and offered payment for the knowledge he had gathered.
• Su Wu sold his knowledge of the Fragrant Blood Offering, the Corpse Incense Offering, Binding Practice, and fiend classifications for 3,700 origin jade.
• Su Wu examined the simulator’s purchasable items and learned how offerings affected fiends in different categories.

Su Wu decided to incorporate the Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand, hoping the No-Thought Venerable Power Temple’s teachings could help him control its costs. He survived the incorporation, but the Ghost Hand threatened to reawaken within one to three years and could attract the Shadow Fiend when used.

• Su Wu rejected buying the incomplete tiger demon curse mark and considered the No-Thought Venerable Power Temple’s methods for controlling and binding supernatural entities.
• Su Wu used the simulator to purchase a Mind-Root Reserve and the Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand.
• The Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand seized Su Wu in the darkness, and he endured intense pain while refusing to lose consciousness.
• Su Wu successfully incorporated the Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand, raising his compatibility with it to 26.7%.
• The simulator warned that using the Ghost Hand consumed vitality and could draw the Shadow Fiend, and that the entity would reawaken within one to three years unless restrained.

Su Wu tested his increased control over the Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand and entered a future simulation with the hand and Imperial Bell to investigate the Trapped Corpse. He encountered Jiang Yingying and used his upgraded Art of Speaking talent to persuade her to get into his car.

• Su Wu found that his compatibility with the Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand had risen by 10.2 percent, letting him extend and retract it and perform simple movements without losing vitality.
• Su Wu ate to strengthen his physique, examined the damaged Gang Cave, and began a future-life simulation with the Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand and Imperial Bell.
• Su Wu left his phone in the Little Temple and drove away to test whether the Trapped Corpse could still track him without it.
• Su Wu stopped Jiang Yingying at 10:51 and told her to get into his car; she obeyed because his Art of Speaking talent had been upgraded to green quality.

Su Wu drove Jiang Yingying through a city devastated by the red lanterns and explained how they killed, while Emergency Can protected them. After Su Wu captured a lantern with his Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand, Jiang Yingying saw his inhuman hand but stayed with him as he pulled a black candle from the lantern.

• Su Wu took Jiang Yingying and Emergency Can in his car and said he would get her out of the city.
• Su Wu explained that the red lanterns killed people and that Emergency Can could ward them off.
• Su Wu and Jiang Yingying left the car to help two heads trapped inside another vehicle.
• The heads thanked Su Wu before turning into red lanterns, and Emergency Can's ability shielded him from their influence.
• Su Wu's Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand caught a lantern, and Jiang Yingying hesitated but stayed beside him.
• Su Wu reassured Jiang Yingying and tore open the lantern to retrieve the black candle inside.

Su Wu discovered that the Black Candle, when lit with the Little Temple’s orange flame, permanently strengthened living creatures within its light. As he drove with Jiang Yingying, a fiend tracked him through her phone, and notifications began sounding from phones in nearby cars.

• Su Wu tested the Black Candle’s orange flame and found that it permanently improved his and Jiang Yingying’s physical condition, as well as Emergency Can’s.
• Su Wu put away the Black Candle, kept the temple flame burning, and drove with Jiang Yingying toward unfamiliar territory.
• Jiang Yingying’s phone opened an account named Biscuit-Eating Young Master, and Su Wu recognized it as his own account being tracked by a fiend.
• Su Wu warned Jiang Yingying to discard the phone, and she threw it out of the car.
• As the car passed through a commercial street, notification sounds began coming from phones in nearby vehicles containing headless corpses.

Su Wu and Jiang Yingying crossed the wreckage blocking their way and entered the gray mist, where Trapped Corpses pursued them through the streets. As their candles ran out and the Imperial Bell failed to stop the horde, a black arm grew from beneath Su Wu’s right armpit.

• Su Wu realized the Trapped Corpse entity tracked him through phones, while gray mist cut off the road behind him and forced him and Jiang Yingying onward.
• Su Wu lit his candles and told Jiang Yingying to place them along the street as they walked through the mist.
• Wang Zhiyou appeared and demanded to know why Su Wu had not come to work, but Su Wu rang the Imperial Bell and urged Jiang Yingying to keep moving.
• Trapped Corpses emerged from the mist and pursued them, burning through the candles and closing in as Jiang Yingying feared they would die.
• Su Wu rang the Imperial Bell again, but the corpses reassembled and advanced, while a pitch-black arm grew beneath his right armpit.

After Su Wu died in the simulation, he combined Talent Upgrade Talismans and upgraded Koi Blessing to purple. He examined the Corpse Buddha Ghost-Bone Python Form and Fiend Candle as possible rewards, weighing their dangers against his need to survive.

• The Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand awakened into a skeletal python after Su Wu's simulated body was consumed, ending the simulation with a B rating and rewards.
• Su Wu combined three green talismans into a blue talisman, then combined three blue talismans into a purple one.
• Su Wu used the purple talisman to upgrade Koi Blessing, making every seventh treasure-hunting purchase guarantee a relatively high-quality mysterious item.
• Su Wu considered redeeming the Corpse Buddha Ghost-Bone Python Form, but saw that fusing with it would kill him and that it cost 50,000 Origin Jade.
• Su Wu examined the Fiend Candle and worried that carrying it unlit would attract fiends, while lighting it required anomalous flames.

Su Wu discovered that ordinary training with the ghost hand could improve his compatibility and began knitting to develop it. Meanwhile, Lin Guangyuan used a blood-red contract to consume Huang Zhicheng and rejuvenate himself, leaving him 500 people away from freedom.

• Su Wu decided he needed at least 70% compatibility with the ghost hand before using its power to sweep away the Trapped Corpses without dying.
• Su Wu saw that his ghost-hand compatibility had risen to 26.8% after practicing with a pen, then began knitting to improve it further.
• Lin Guangyuan offered Huang Zhicheng an Equity Incentive Agreement, and Huang Zhicheng signed it.
• The contract took effect, dragging Huang Zhicheng into a river of blood and leaving his clothes behind.
• Lin Guangyuan absorbed the blood-red current from the folder, regained his youth, and said he needed 500 more people to be free.