Chapter Summaries

After the Blood Demon House incident, Xia Shou learned more about Su Weiyu’s ability and was escorted by the Containment Bureau for investigation. Su Weiyu joined him in the transport and was deeply moved when he offered her a hamburger.

• Xia Shou observed that Su Weiyu’s ability blocked information about her so completely that others could not perceive her, and she asked whether he lived at the Containment Bureau.
• The backup convoy arrived, and Doctor Bear reattached the wounded Execution Squad members’ arms while the doctor questioned their captain.
• Zhang Zhengde ordered the investigation team to search the Blood Demon House for Edward as its anomalous properties dissipated.
• A custody team member marked Xia Shou’s hand, explained his escort conditions, and invited him into a transport prepared with a meal and living quarters.
• Su Weiyu boarded the transport with Xia Shou, who offered her a hamburger; she accepted it and murmured that he was the first.

The directors reviewed the Blood Demon House incident and its unexplained outcome, including the missing Edward and the strange events surrounding Xia Shou. They concluded that a powerful Anti-Meme had likely affected the witnesses, but Shangguan Yan kept quiet about her reasons for sending Xia Shou.

• Lin Yanxue reported that the Blood Demon House had returned to normal, but Edward was missing while his Life Lamp remained lit.
• Shang Liang and the colonel judged that the mission team could not normally have resolved the anomaly, while Shangguan Yan declined to explain why she sent Xia Shou.
• Lin Yanxue revealed that 678 had stopped attacking Xia Shou and that the Execution Squad’s severed hands seemed entirely normal to the squad and footage viewers.
• Shang Liang realized the incident involved an Anti-Meme more powerful than Mo Yun Xi, and Lin Yanxue added that the Tamer had given Xia Shou a relic instead of eating him.

The Containment Bureau concluded that the Anti-Meme entity Transparent Man had killed the Blood Demon and protected Xia Shou, then assigned Xia Shou to investigate the lingering insomnia anomaly. After returning to his dorm, Xia Shou entered another strange underwater dream, this time in shallow water.

• Lin Yanxue told Shang Liang and the colonel about Transparent Man and the unresolved connection between the Blood Demon House and a surge in insomnia.
• The Bureau assigned Xia Shou to the follow-up mission because Transparent Man seemed to protect him and might communicate with Anomalous Entity 678.
• Shang Liang and the colonel left the meeting, and Su Weiyu later recounted its conclusions to Xia Shou.
• Xia Shou wondered where Edward had gone, then was released from detention and returned to his dorm with Su Weiyu.
• Xia Shou fell asleep and found himself in an underwater dream among coral and fish, with a measuring rod marked thirty meters.

After waking from a vivid dream of a bleeding mermaid, Xia Shou went to work at the Containment Bureau and planned to search its files for information about the Death Record Notebook. Su Weiyu brought him lunch, and he asked whether she could browse online without leaving a trace.

• Xia Shou woke from a dream of a mermaid, checked that his sinking rate remained above a thousand meters, and found the Death Record Notebook’s writing still illegible.
• Alice helped Xia Shou dress, and he went to the Investigation Department Two office, where Shangguan Yan had placed his desk in her private office.
• Xia Shou opened the Sealed Anomaly Search program to look for information about the notebook but worried that his search might leave a record.
• Su Weiyu found Xia Shou at work and brought him an extravagant lunch, hoping to win him over.
• Xia Shou told Su Weiyu that he needed to hunt anomalies to stay alive, then asked whether she could search online without anyone detecting her browsing history.

Xia Shou used Su Weiyu’s Transparent Man ability to search the Containment Bureau’s records for the Death Record Notebook and the Root Sea. After learning that the notebook could serve the soul inside it and that deep divers faced dangerous effects, he prepared to visit Central Hospital with Su Weiyu.

• Xia Shou asked Su Weiyu to search the Containment Bureau’s files, relying on her ability to make investigators overlook the records.
• Su Weiyu found the Death Record Notebook file, which described its S-class value, its ability to house a personality, and a past holder manipulated by the New Ripper.
• Xia Shou read that the notebook selected people with an aptitude for diving into the Root Sea and could not be destroyed.
• Su Weiyu searched for the Root Sea, and Xia Shou learned that deep divers could share ocean dreams but risked Abyssal Diving Syndrome and dangerous changes to their anomalous abilities.
• Xia Shou checked his schedule and told Su Weiyu that he planned to visit Central Hospital to meet Wang Long.
• Su Weiyu agreed to accompany Xia Shou to the hospital.

Xia Shou examined Liu Guangyao, whose nightmares featured the Blood Demon and whose right arm had rotted while remaining connected to his circulation. Liu Guangyao began drawing the person who hunted him in his dreams, leaving Xia Shou waiting to see whom he would depict.

• Liu Guangyao woke screaming from a dream of a black-clad man and a maid carving meat from the Blood Demon.
• Xia Shou entered Liu Guangyao's hospital ward and noticed the faint smell of decay.
• Liu Guangyao unwrapped his right arm, revealing blue-black skin, while Wang Long explained that its nerves and cells were dead even though blood still circulated through it.
• Xia Shou examined Liu Guangyao's drawings and recognized the Blood Demon, wondering why the anomaly continued after he had killed and eaten it.
• Liu Guangyao described a recurring dream in which an unknown intruder tied him down, cut off his right hand, and eventually killed him.
• Liu Guangyao began drawing the intruder and asked Xia Shou whether they had met before.

Xia Shou questioned Liu Guangyao about his dreams, learning that Edward had protected him from dream-killers and may have tried to send a message. As the group recognized Edward in Liu Guangyao’s drawing, the hospital room began to deteriorate around them.

• Liu Guangyao described a dream in which someone wearing black clothes and a pirate-style hat ate the blood god, making Xia Shou worry about the shadow’s true nature.
• Liu Guangyao explained that he had seen the blood god in a distorted dream-space and panicked that he was still dreaming, but Wang Long convinced him he was awake.
• Liu Guangyao drew a foreigner in a straw-like outfit made of blue-green gemstones, and Su Weiyu identified him as Edward, the Investigator who entered the Blood Demon House.
• Liu Guangyao recalled that Edward had protected him from killers in his dreams and might have asked him to pass on a message.
• A piece of plaster fell onto Liu Guangyao’s bed, and Xia Shou noticed that the hospital room had suddenly become cracked and worn.

A hospital ward was pulled into a closed domain, trapping Xia Shou, Su Weiyu, Wang Long, and the others in a warped space. As the hospital descended into chaos, Alice spotted a yellow-faced patient climbing through a corridor window.

• The daylight vanished beyond the ward window, then returned to reveal another hospital ward outside.
• Liu Guangyao panicked, threatened Xia Shou with a fruit knife, and was disarmed by Su Weiyu before Xia Shou returned the knife to him.
• Su Weiyu explained that the group had entered a closed domain, which Xia Shou identified as a dangerous hunting ground.
• The ward aged rapidly, and Wang Long learned that the hospital's wardens had been caring for benign earthbound spirits that should not have caused the domain.
• Xia Shou opened the ward door and saw patients and visitors panicking or exploring the strange surroundings.
• Alice took the Little Mirror from Xia Shou's pocket, revealing a yellow-faced patient climbing through a window at the end of the corridor.

Xia Shou and Su Weiyu confronted a Yellow-Skinned Patient whose touch spread a deadly illness, while learning the hospital’s power failure had caused many deaths. A call from another ward revealed that killing one of the patients could trigger a worse infection, leaving the danger unresolved.

• The Yellow-Skinned Patient infected a burly man by touching him, and the man passed the illness to an elderly patient before recovering.
• Xia Shou warned everyone to retreat into the wards and lock their doors, then found that Alice’s ability could not affect the patient.
• Wang Long joined Xia Shou and Su Weiyu, and they discussed restraining or containing the patient rather than killing him.
• Wang Long explained that the domain had delayed the backup power and that the hospital had only twenty-four hours of emergency electricity remaining.
• A caller told Wang Long that another Yellow-Skinned Patient had appeared elsewhere and that someone had already killed one; Wang Long hung up pale-faced.

Xia Shou and Wang Long learned that anomalous patients spread diseases that could worsen and transfer to others when a carrier died, while the Yellow-Skinned Patient grew faster and more dangerous. The chapter ended as it charged at Xia Shou, who pushed Su Weiyu away and raised his hand to meet it.

• Wang Long told Xia Shou that killing a disease-carrying patient had transferred and amplified the illness, eventually causing the carrier to cough up his lungs and die.
• Xia Shou learned that the disease could reappear in recovered people even after a carrier died, making the outbreak difficult to stop.
• Su Weiyu noticed that the Yellow-Skinned Patient had started moving faster and trying to open ward doors, and it began coughing with signs of serious lung disease.
• Xia Shou told Wang Long to warn the other wardens not to kill anomalous patients, but the patient grew to normal walking speed and headed toward him.
• Wang Long's colleague warned him that patients arriving from another space were anomalous and urged him to kill them, just as the Yellow-Skinned Patient began running at Xia Shou.
• Xia Shou pushed Su Weiyu away and raised his hand as the patient reached him.

Xia Shou used [Blood Rampage] to cripple the anomalous patient, then refused to transfer his infection to an ICU patient and instead prepared to replace his diseased organs with help from Alice. As the ICU was stormed, Xia Shou began an improvised surgery in the corridor, hoping his blood-powered regeneration would work.

• Xia Shou activated [Blood Rampage] and ruptured the anomalous patient's limbs, leaving him unable to move quickly.
• Wang Long urged Xia Shou to go to the ICU and transfer his disease, but Xia Shou refused and asked for matching blood so he could replace his liver, lungs, and kidneys.
• Xia Shou told Wang Long that his ability could regenerate organs and ordered him to guide the surgery while he supplied the blood.
• Wang Long learned that people had stormed the ICU and suspected that many patients there might already be dead.
• Xia Shou summoned Alice's translucent hands to hold him and wield scalpels, then asked Wang Long where to make the first incision.

Xia Shou removed his anomalously altered organs and regenerated them, curing the symptoms caused by the Anomalous Entity. As he explained his theory to Wang Long, a doctor carrying a chainsaw appeared behind them.

• Xia Shou used Alice and the nurses' fields of vision to guide an operation removing his diseased liver while controlling his blood loss with Blood Rampage.
• Xia Shou activated Heal Wounds with Blood to regenerate his liver, and Wang Long saw his yellowed skin return to normal.
• Xia Shou and Alice removed his diseased lungs, liver, and kidneys, after which Xia Shou felt much better and lost a deep-dive level.
• Xia Shou explained that the Anomalous Entity transformed organs through contact and that removing those organs could stop its effects.
• A doctor carrying a chainsaw appeared behind Xia Shou and Wang Long and asked whether Director Wang had done it.

Wang Long and Xia Shou confronted Liu Dong, who had become a murderous doctor driven by a ticking clock to kill one more person. Before crumbling into fragments, Liu Dong revealed that the exit was on the other side and warned them not to become doctors.

• Liu Dong accused Wang Long of overshadowing him and resented Wang Long for giving gifts to their advisor on his behalf.
• Su Weiyu tripped Liu Dong and stabbed his knees, while Xia Shou seized his chainsaw.
• Liu Dong begged Wang Long to help him kill one more person before the clock on his palm ran out, then tried to attack him with a hidden scalpel.
• When the clock reached twelve, Liu Dong regained his senses and apologized to Wang Long.
• Liu Dong told Wang Long the exit was on the other side and warned him not to become a doctor before his body broke into fragments.
• Xia Shou urged Wang Long to leave so Liu Dong's final effort would not be wasted.

Xia Shou led Wang Long and Liu Guangyao into the other side of the closed domain, where ritual patterns and a ghostly guide suggested a connection to the Blood Demon. They reached a hospital garden and found a guarded, fortress-like building at its center.

• Xia Shou told Wang Long to warn the other wardens and hide the hospital survivors, then chose Wang Long and Liu Guangyao to accompany him into the other side.
• Xia Shou devoured the dead anomalous patient and acquired the incomplete skill [Shared Misery].
• Wang Long returned with Liu Guangyao, and the group crossed through the window into a strange corridor covered in ritual-like patterns.
• Liu Guangyao recognized the patterns vaguely, strengthening Xia Shou's suspicion that the domain was connected to the Blood Demon.
• A misty little girl appeared and guided the group through the building and outside into a hospital garden.
• Xia Shou and the others saw a fortress-like octagonal building guarded by armed doctors in white coats.

Su Weiyu entered the guarded fortress and discovered a library and documents left by the person who built the hospital. She found records about Idrisu and began reading them aloud to Xia Shou, who stayed outside with her.

• Su Weiyu tested her ability by throwing a stone at a doctor, then walked past the patrolling doctors unseen.
• Su Weiyu forced open the fortress door and searched its library, finding books about magic and rituals written in unfamiliar scripts.
• Su Weiyu found a mummified corpse and a notebook in English on the second floor.
• Su Weiyu read that the writer had built the hospital to perform a ritual invoking Idrisu and hoped to save his sick daughter, Enya.
• Su Weiyu carried the English documents outside and began reading them aloud to Xia Shou.

Su Weiyu translated the sanatorium director’s notes, revealing how he summoned Idrisu and used human beings as treatment materials to halt Enya’s supernatural illness. Xia Shou suspected Enya was the ghost girl who had guided them, while the notes hinted that a dangerous organization had noticed the director.

• Su Weiyu explained that occultists kept diaries to ease evil gods’ memetic influence and their urge to spread forbidden knowledge.
• Wang Long reported that the 2000 private sanatorium treated elderly American dignitaries and tycoons using human organs as raw materials.
• Xia Shou suspected the director used ritual surgery to transfer patients’ ailments to others and wondered whether he had prepared an escape from the closed domain.
• Su Weiyu read that Idrisu could only halt Enya’s supernatural disease by using a constant supply of healthy recipients.
• The director’s notes said he had sourced homeless people and undocumented immigrants, and feared a dangerous organization was watching him.

Su Weiyu and Xia Shou searched the archive for a way out of the sanatorium and found the director’s diary describing how he turned it into a Closed Domain. The diary suggested they had to stop Idrisu’s treatments to escape, but a voice then offered Xia Shou a cure for Abyssal Diving Syndrome.

• Su Weiyu and Xia Shou realized the archive contained too many diaries to search without help.
• The ghost girl guided Xia Shou and Su Weiyu to a diary revealing that a stranger had taught the director how to create a Closed Domain to evade the Containment Bureau.
• Su Weiyu read the director’s account of building the domain and making its patients raw material for Idrisu’s treatments.
• Wang Long concluded that they would have to stop Idrisu from treating patients to leave the sanatorium.
• A voice in Xia Shou’s mind offered to cure his Abyssal Diving Syndrome.

An entity called Idrisu tempted Xia Shou and his companions with cures for their supernatural afflictions in exchange for becoming doctors. Xia Shou resisted after a child's voice broke through the entity's influence, then warned the others not to accept and asked Su Weiyu to refuse.

• Idrisu offered to cure Xia Shou's Abyssal Diving Syndrome and Su Weiyu's transparency syndrome if they became its assistants.
• Xia Shou warned Wang Long, Su Weiyu, and Liu Guangyao not to become doctors, but Liu Guangyao was tempted by the promise of a cure.
• Idrisu gave Xia Shou rules for leaving the sanatorium and living in the mortal world, revealing that doctors could connect real-world hospitals to the Closed Domain.
• Xia Shou's thoughts were blocked as he tried to recall The Monkey's Paw, but a child's voice urged him to refuse, clearing his mind.
• Xia Shou rejected Idrisu's offer, threatened to kill anyone who accepted, and asked Su Weiyu if she would refuse too.

Xia Shou and his companions followed the ghost girl through the building, where Liu Guangyao recalled hearing invisible footsteps in his dreams. After an unseen attacker killed Liu Guangyao, Xia Shou and Su Weiyu defeated it and found a key, but Xia Shou and Wang Long suddenly went blind.

• Su Weiyu refused Idrisu’s offer, and Wang Long persuaded Liu Guangyao not to accept it.
• The ghost girl guided Xia Shou, Su Weiyu, Wang Long, and Liu Guangyao safely into a building where Liu Guangyao recalled a dark room and strange footsteps.
• Xia Shou noticed a door with five keyholes and guessed that five doctors held the keys, but an invisible attacker cut Liu Guangyao’s throat before he could finish explaining what he knew about the top floor.
• Xia Shou used Blood Rampage to control Liu Guangyao’s bleeding, but the attacker killed Liu Guangyao with a wound to his temple.
• Xia Shou spread Liu Guangyao’s blood across the floor to reveal the invisible attacker’s footprints, and Su Weiyu struck it down with [Boy Cutter].
• The attacker dissolved into black ash and dropped a key, but Xia Shou and Wang Long suddenly lost their sight.

After the Eye Doctor’s death left everyone blind, Xia Shou used the key to see and planned how he and Su Weiyu would face the remaining doctors. They reached the second-floor door and prepared to enter with Xia Shou carrying Su Weiyu on his back to fool the suspected silent Ear Doctor.

• Xia Shou discovered that whoever held the key could see, while Su Weiyu and Wang Long were blind without it.
• Xia Shou carved information about the invisible Eye Doctor into the floor, then explained his theories about the remaining doctors and his plan for surviving the Heart Doctor.
• Xia Shou and Su Weiyu went to the second-floor door, where Xia Shou proposed carrying her so the suspected Ear Doctor would hear only one set of footsteps.
• Su Weiyu climbed onto Xia Shou’s back after moving the Boy Cutter so it would not dig into him.