Chapter Summaries

Zhou Man learned that He Xiaoyun was alive and accidentally revealed her crimes to Xu Mingji, who recoiled from her. Xu Zhihan gave Zhou Man a choice to confess to the Special Investigation Bureau or face He Guilan, then warned that Xu Chengyuan was next; Xu Chengyuan returned as Xu Mingji told him He Xiaoyun was alive.

• Zhou Man received a photo of He Xiaoyun alive at the Special Investigation Bureau, and Xu Mingji recognized her.
• Zhou Man called Zhou Qiliang and admitted He Guilan's death and He Xiaoyun's imprisonment while Xu Mingji listened.
• Xu Zhihan confronted Zhou Man on the television and demanded that she confess, warning that He Guilan would visit her if she refused.
• Xu Zhihan listed Zhou Man's crimes and told her Xu Chengyuan was next before ending the call.
• Xu Chengyuan came home, and Xu Mingji told him He Xiaoyun was still alive.

Xu Chengyuan realized Xu Zhihan had uncovered Zhou Man’s past crimes and tried to contain the damage while the Special Investigation Bureau pursued Zhou Qiliang. The Bureau arrested Zhou Qiliang with new evidence, leaving Xu Zhihan eager to examine a memory card despite Lu Wenchuan’s concern for his health.

• Xu Chengyuan learned Xu Zhihan had exposed Zhou Man’s call and ordered her to stay silent while he summoned a lawyer and sought Zhou Qiliang.
• Xu Chengyuan told Zhou Man that the Gu Family could no longer protect her, and Xu Mingji feared his father would abandon him.
• At the Special Investigation Bureau, Lu Wenchuan told Xu Zhihan they needed Zhou Man to reveal more before they could arrest her.
• A team member reported that Zhou Qiliang had been stopped at the airport with a fake passport and a memory card containing Lin Wan’s medication records and surveillance footage related to Xu An.
• Xu Zhihan ordered the team to bring the memory card, and Lu Wenchuan agreed on the condition that Xu Zhihan watch it only once.

Zhou Qiliang was arrested while trying to flee and confessed to his and Zhou Man’s roles in He Guilan’s death, He Xiaoyun’s confinement, and the harm done to Lin Wan and Xu An. After learning Xu Chengyuan knew what had happened to Xu An, Xu Zhihan asked Lu Wenchuan to show Zhou Man the interview transcript, hinting that he would confront her that night.

• Seventh Team arrested Zhou Qiliang at the airport with a fake passport, and Lu Wenchuan questioned him about the memory card and He Xiaoyun.
• Zhou Qiliang confessed that Zhou Man ordered He Guilan taken to the Xu Family Old Residence, where she fell into a well and was left to die; he later sent He Xiaoyun to the Sanatorium.
• Zhou Qiliang said Zhou Man arranged for Lin Wan’s medication to be switched and identified a masked man who arranged Xu An’s removal to the basement as a member of the Old Gods Society.
• Zhou Qiliang confirmed Xu Chengyuan knew about Xu An being used as a vessel, and Lu Wenchuan sent him away to face prison as well as serve as a witness.
• Xu Zhihan watched the memory-card videos and read Zhou Qiliang’s confession, then told Lu Wenchuan to show Zhou Man the transcript that night.

Zhou Man confessed to her crimes and implicated Xu Chengyuan before the Special Investigation Bureau took her into custody. He Guilan’s spirit departed after learning He Xiaoyun was safe, while Xu Zhihan and Lu Wenchuan agreed that Xu Chengyuan would be dealt with next.

• Zhou Man read Zhou Qiliang’s questioning record, then accused Xu Chengyuan of knowing about and benefiting from the crimes.
• He Guilan’s spirit appeared, and Zhou Man confessed to letting her die, sending He Xiaoyun away, changing Lin Wan’s medication, and allowing Xu An to be taken into the basement.
• The Special Investigation Bureau took Zhou Man away, while Xu Mingji heard the truth and Xu Chengyuan told him to forget what he had heard.
• He Guilan learned that He Xiaoyun was protected and would have a good life, then bowed to Xu Zhihan and faded away.
• Xu Zhihan learned that Zhou Man had been taken into custody and told Lu Wenchuan that Xu Chengyuan would be next.

After Zhou Man was arrested, Xu Chengyuan told Xu Mingji to distance himself from her crimes and avoid provoking Xu Zhihan. Alone with the public backlash, Xu Mingji received an offer to help him harm Xu Zhihan and asked what to do.

• Xu Chengyuan told Xu Mingji that Zhou Man’s crimes had nothing to do with him and warned him not to provoke Xu Zhihan.
• Xu Mingji read the online criticism of himself and cried alone, with no one coming to comfort him.
• An unknown sender messaged Xu Mingji, asking whether he wanted to make Xu Zhihan pay.
• The sender sent Xu Mingji a photo of the unconscious Xu Zhihan and said a small action could stop him from waking up.
• Xu Mingji asked the sender what he should do.

Xu Mingji met a masked figure from the Old Gods Society, who gave him a talisman to place near Xu Zhihan and promised to help save Zhou Man. He left the studio frightened, with a message warning him not to let the unseen presence go hungry.

• Xu Mingji went to an abandoned photography studio after receiving an address from an unknown number.
• A masked figure confronted Xu Mingji with his hatred of Xu Zhihan and offered him a talisman to put near Xu Zhihan’s pillow or medicine.
• The figure showed Xu Mingji a photograph of Zhou Man in an interrogation room and promised help if he cooperated.
• Xu Mingji took the talisman after the figure said Xu Zhihan would return to the Xu household and that something was already waiting for him.
• Xu Mingji received a warning not to let it go hungry, then saw a small handprint appear on the studio mirror.

Xu Zhihan returned to the Xu Family to retrieve Lin Wan’s key and uncovered Xu Mingji’s attempt to use a talisman against him. After extracting a clue about the Old Gods Society, Xu Zhihan headed for the Abandoned Photo Studio with Lu Wenchuan.

• Xu Zhihan returned to the Xu Family with Lu Wenchuan and found Xu Mingji hiding a talisman and a shadow linked to the Old Gods Society.
• Xu Zhihan opened the safe with Lin Wan’s birthday and took the old key, while Xu Mingji attached the talisman to his wrist.
• The talisman recoiled from Xu Zhihan and bound itself to Xu Mingji, whose shadow began trying to consume him.
• Xu Mingji revealed that a stranger had sent him to the Abandoned Photo Studio, and Xu Zhihan interrogated the shadow until it mentioned a mirror and a door there.
• Xu Zhihan sealed part of the shadow and ordered Lu Wenchuan to send Xu Mingji to the Special Investigation Bureau, then set out for the Photo Studio with Lu Wenchuan.

Xu Zhihan and Lu Wenchuan investigated an Old Gods Society remnant at a photo studio, where a mirror awakened a mysterious connection to Xu Zhihan’s past. After the masked figure warned that Lin Wan had wanted to take more than one person away, Xu Zhihan set out for the Xu Family Old Residence to search for answers, and Lu Wenchuan followed.

• Lu Wenchuan drove Xu Zhihan to West City Old Street after the Seventh Team took the unconscious Xu Mingji away.
• Xu Zhihan and Lu Wenchuan found traces of Xu Mingji and black energy inside the Photo Studio, along with a mirror showing a dark corridor.
• The mirror’s presence affected Xu Zhihan, and Lu Wenchuan caught his wrist and stopped him from approaching it.
• A masked figure called Xu Zhihan a god, said the Divine Throne awaited him, and warned that the Xu Family was only the first gate and Lin Wan had wanted to take someone else away.
• Xu Zhihan shattered the mirror, then decided to search the Xu Family Old Residence for answers, and Lu Wenchuan went with him.

After the Old Gods Society’s mirror gate showed Xu Zhihan the Divine Throne, he and Lu Wenchuan learned the gate’s residue pointed to the Xu Family Old Residence. Xu Zhihan insisted on going there to learn what Lin Wan wanted, but agreed to wait for Song Zhixia to stabilize him and for Lu Wenchuan to accompany him.

• The Seventh Team found the photo studio’s mirror shattered, and Xu Zhihan told Lu Wenchuan that he had seen the Divine Throne in it.
• Xu Zhihan and Lu Wenchuan discussed the masked person’s titles for them and Lu Wenchuan’s teacher, who had left him the warning, “When the door opens, don't look back.”
• A team member reported that the mirror-gate residue pointed to the Xu Family Old Residence and that Xu Mingji had awakened, asking to see Xu Zhihan.
• Xu Zhihan refused to meet Xu Mingji and prepared to go to the old residence, but Lu Wenchuan persuaded him to wait for Song Zhixia and accept Lu’s company.
• Lu Wenchuan called Song Zhixia, who began scolding him before he could finish giving her the address.

Xu Zhihan and Lu Wenchuan searched the Xu Family Old Residence and found Lin Wan’s letter, which warned that the Xu Family planned to use Xu Zhihan to nurture a gate and urged him not to fear his capacity for compassion. The letter and a map led them to a marked place beneath the residence called Door Bone, where something began knocking.

• Song Zhixia tested Xu Zhihan, found his mental state unstable after he saw the Divine Throne, and made him take medicine before allowing him to visit the old residence with Lu Wenchuan.
• Xu Zhihan and Lu Wenchuan entered the abandoned residence and found a concealed box beneath the study floorboard.
• Xu Zhihan opened Lin Wan’s letter, which revealed the Xu Family’s plan to use him as a vessel for a gate and warned him about mirrors and the Divine Throne.
• Xu Zhihan remembered fragments of his past as Lin Wan’s words about gods being softhearted clashed with the command that gods should not be.
• Xu Zhihan found a map marking Door Bone beneath the residence, and he and Lu Wenchuan heard something knocking below before deciding to investigate.

Xu Zhihan and Lu Wenchuan discovered that the Xu family had used Xu Zhihan’s bone to nourish a hidden door beneath the old mansion. The Door Bone awakened memories of Xu Zhihan’s divine past, and Lu Wenchuan used his blood to open the door.

• Xu Zhihan and Lu Wenchuan followed the map to a dead tree in the backyard and uncovered a stairway beneath it.
• They descended through a passage marked with old talismans and smelled the medicine the Xu family had used on Xu Zhihan.
• At the passage’s end, Xu Zhihan recognized the bone fragment embedded in a black door as his own bone, and voices urged him to return to the Divine Throne.
• Lu Wenchuan steadied Xu Zhihan when the voices stirred visions and revealed that the Xu family had used his bone to nourish the door.
• Xu Zhihan said the Gatekeeper’s blood could open the door, and Lu Wenchuan cut his palm and pressed it against the door.

Lu Wenchuan’s blood opened the door, and Xu Zhihan used the Door Bone to confront the black shadows behind it. After removing the bone shard and forcing the creatures to kneel, Xu Zhihan realized it was a fragment of divinity.

• Lu Wenchuan opened a crack in the door with his blood and fought off the black shadows reaching through it.
• Xu Zhihan touched the Door Bone and saw memories of Lin Wan, Xu Chengyuan, and Xu An being pushed through the door.
• Xu Zhihan pulled golden light from the Door Bone, and the black mist attacked Lu Wenchuan through his wounds and Fate Line.
• Xu Zhihan drove the black mist away from Lu Wenchuan and removed the white bone shard from the door.
• Xu Zhihan made the black shadows kneel, and the cracking door began to collapse as the shard merged into his palm.
• Xu Zhihan recovered fragments of a memory and told Lu Wenchuan that the shard was a divinity fragment.

Xu Zhihan and Lu Wenchuan escaped the collapsing old house after Xu Zhihan recovered the first divinity fragment and defeated a shadow from the black door. As they returned for a checkup, Xu Zhihan resolved to investigate Xu Chengyuan, who knew about the Door Bone.

• Xu Zhihan used golden light to repel the masked shadow, while Lu Wenchuan attacked it with Thunderfire and helped seal the collapsing doorway.
• The shadow claimed Xu Zhihan belonged beyond the door and warned that Lu Wenchuan would die, but Xu Zhihan pinned it with golden light and Lu Wenchuan shattered it.
• Lu Wenchuan carried the weakened Xu Zhihan out as the tunnel collapsed, burying the black door beneath the fallen dead tree.
• Xu Zhihan found that the first divinity fragment had partly merged with him and recalled that he had shattered his own divine spark.
• Song Zhixia arrived with the Seventh Team and ordered Xu Zhihan and Lu Wenchuan to return for medical checks.
• Xu Zhihan saw Lin Wan at the old house, then told Lu Wenchuan to investigate Xu Chengyuan because he knew about the Door Bone.

After Xu Zhihan recovered a fragment of divinity, Song Zhixia warned that his frail body might not withstand more fragments, so Lu Wenchuan learned they needed to find a vessel to suppress them. Xu Zhihan then heard Lin Wan warn them not to let Xu Chengyuan open the second door.

• Song Zhixia examined Xu Zhihan and determined that the divinity fragment was destabilizing his body and could cause mental collapse.
• Song Zhixia treated Xu Zhihan while Lu Wenchuan stayed by his bedside and offered him a mint.
• Song Zhixia told Lu Wenchuan that Xu Zhihan needed his health and soul flame restored and a vessel to suppress future divinity fragments.
• Xu Zhihan's palm mark flashed, and Lin Wan's voice warned them not to look back.
• Xu Zhihan murmured that Lin Wan had told him not to let Xu Chengyuan open the second door.

Xu Zhihan learned that Xu Chengyuan helped build underground gate chambers beneath both Xu family homes and heard Xu Mingji’s account of a red door bearing their names. The second gate might require Xu Zhihan’s life, and Xu Chengyuan appeared to be one of its openers.

• Lu Wenchuan showed Xu Zhihan records linking Xu Chengyuan and Zhou Qiliang to the old residence’s underground gate chamber and later modifications beneath the family villa.
• Xu Zhihan refused to meet Xu Mingji until he heard that Xu Mingji remembered a red door from childhood.
• Xu Mingji said he saw Xu Chengyuan and Zhou Man standing before a red, thread-covered door beneath the villa, and later found a hidden passage behind the wine cellar wall.
• Xu Mingji revealed that the names Xu Zhihan and Xu Chengyuan were written on the door, with Xu Zhihan’s name in the middle and Xu Chengyuan’s at the bottom.
• Xu Zhihan realized the second gate might use his life and that Xu Chengyuan was likely one of its openers.

The Special Investigation Bureau found a second, more dangerous door beneath the Xu Residence, with Xu Zhihan, Xu Chengyuan, and Lu Wenchuan tied to it. As Xu Chengyuan vanished and called to Xu Zhihan from inside the door, Xu Zhihan tore apart the line reaching for him through the screen.

• The Seventh Team confirmed a sealed passage and door beneath the Xu Residence, whose anomaly readings were three times higher than those at the old residence.
• Lu Wenchuan refused to let the weakened Xu Zhihan join the mission and led the First Team to scout the door while Xu Zhihan watched remotely.
• The team found Xu Zhihan's and Xu Chengyuan's names on the red door, along with a broken fate line connected to Lu Wenchuan.
• A team member reported that Xu Chengyuan had disappeared from the Xu Group Building's underground parking garage, and his voice then came from inside the door.
• A black-and-red line shot through the screen toward Xu Zhihan, who caught it and tore it apart as he confronted Xu Chengyuan.