Chapter Summaries

The Peace Convoy merged into the Survival Convoy after Qi Peiliang approached Cao Xianming, and its members eagerly joined the others for a meal. As they helped prepare Ghost Hand Mushrooms, they learned that Yang Yong could forge Bone Daggers and other Curios, leaving them curious about how to obtain one.

• Qi Peiliang asked Liu Hong whether they should join the Survival Convoy, then went to speak with Cao Xianming when Liu Hong stayed focused on the food.
• Cao Xianming arranged for the Peace Convoy to merge into the Survival Convoy, and Lao Zhang announced that its members would receive one full meal before earning their own supplies.
• Liu Hong ate his fill and displayed a surge of power that made Yang Yong think he might soon reach Sequence Two.
• After the convoy finished its food, Lao Zhang assigned ordinary members to slice Ghost Hand Mushrooms thinly so they could be cooked safely.
• Skinny Monkey asked Lao Zhang how to get a Bone Dagger, and Lao Zhang explained that Yang Yong could forge Curios for those who provided materials and paid the fee.

The Survival Convoy welcomed new members and processed its huge haul of Ghost Hand Mushrooms, but an accident showed the mushrooms remained dangerous when exposed to blood. During the night watch, Yang Yong and Zheng Xiaofeng spotted a silent vehicle approaching through the darkness.

• Lao Zhang introduced the newcomers to Hu Xian'er and Mang Dabiao, explained that Bone Daggers could be rented on credit, and led them to Yang Yong, who gave each survivor a dagger.
• A survivor cut his finger while slicing a Ghost Hand Mushroom, causing it to attack and strangle him until another survivor cut it apart with a Bone Dagger.
• Lao Zhang warned everyone that blood activated the Ghost Hand Mushrooms, and the convoy carefully harvested and processed them throughout the day.
• Cao Xianming and Qi Peiliang decided the convoy would stay at the abandoned service area for another day, and the Transcendents took turns keeping watch overnight.
• While Yang Yong cultivated on the roof with Zheng Xiaofeng, Zheng spotted a dark vehicle approaching, and Yang Yong realized it was moving without headlights or sound.

A silent Route 14 Bus that the group had encountered the previous night followed them to the service area, moving with its tires perfectly still. Yang Yong found no Eerie or supernatural presence aboard and called Mang Dabiao over to inspect it.

• Zheng Xiaofeng woke the group after spotting a vehicle approaching without lights or sound.
• Qi Peiliang sensed neither an Eerie nor any living presence in the vehicle, which turned out to be the Route 14 Bus from the previous night.
• Yang Yong questioned Cao Xianming, who said he had not predicted the bus would follow them and suggested it might not be an Eerie.
• Yang Yong sent the three female ghosts from the Three-Yang God-Sealing Banner to search the bus, but they found nothing.
• Yang Yong called Mang Dabiao over and pointed out the bus for him to examine.

The group discovered that the self-driving Route 14 bus carried the faint scent of a beautiful woman, while Cao Xianming’s Data Model warned that it was extremely dangerous. Yang Yong refined it into ordinary scrap iron, but the eerie woman in the mirrors remained nearby and silently promised they would meet again.

• Mang Dabiao inspected the Route 14 bus and reported that it carried only the faint scent of a beautiful woman.
• Hu Xian'er could not identify anything about the bus, leaving the group uncertain about what to do with it.
• Cao Xianming’s Data Model showed abnormally high danger readings, so he told Yang Yong to refine the bus.
• Yang Yong shrank the bus with Mang Dabiao’s formations and refined it in the Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace, producing only a lump of scrap iron.
• A woman in reflective clothing appeared in the rearview mirror of a van and silently mouthed, “We will meet again.”

Yang Yong and the Survival Convoy set aside the strange bus incident and focused on processing Ghost Hand Mushroom. Cao Xianming confirmed the dried mushroom was edible, then explained that only its unique core could keep it growing, leaving the convoy with a renewable food source that could not be propagated.

• After the woman vanished into the mirror, Yang Yong stored the strange lump of iron, and the convoy returned to its watch and rest routines.
• Yang Yong found nothing unusual in the vehicles’ mirrors, and the night passed without incident.
• The convoy spent the day slicing and boiling Ghost Hand Mushroom, then brought out the first batch of dried slices that evening.
• Cao Xianming ate a slice and said the crunchy Ghost Hand Mushroom tasted like yam; the others tried it and confirmed it was edible.
• When Qi Peiliang asked how Ghost Hand Mushroom reproduced, Cao Xianming explained that only the half containing its unique core could continue growing, and the Sky Base had failed to propagate it.

The Survival Convoy welcomed its new members with a filling meal of Ghost Hand Mushrooms, then chose Tuanjie Village as its next supply destination. After a woman in reflective clothing appeared in every vehicle’s rearview mirror overnight, the convoy prepared to leave, and Yang Yong recognized Li Bixiang when she brought him breakfast.

• Qi Peiliang explained that Ghost Hand Mushrooms could become valuable trade goods if the convoy learned to cultivate them, and the former Peace Convoy members ate their fill.
• Cao Xianming asked Qi Peiliang to choose among three supply locations, and Qi selected Tuanjie Village despite its longer travel time.
• Cao Xianming checked Tuanjie Village’s coordinates with the Data Model and decided the convoy would set out there the next morning.
• A woman wearing reflective clothing appeared in the rearview mirrors of every vehicle in the parked convoy overnight.
• The convoy prepared to depart in the morning, and Yang Yong recognized Li Bixiang when she brought him breakfast.

Yang Yong and the convoy set out for Tuanjie Village, but the trip was interrupted when the van lost its brakes and steering. Zheng Xiaofeng stopped it, and Cao Xianming concluded that an unknown spirit-like presence—not a mechanical failure or an Eerie—was responsible.

• The convoy departed for Tuanjie Village, with Qi Peiliang explaining the destination over the radio.
• Skinny Monkey reported that the van's brakes and steering had failed, and it began swerving toward the other vehicles.
• Zheng Xiaofeng caught up to the van and lifted it into the air, after which its brakes and steering returned to normal.
• Skinny Monkey described the van's sudden problems, while Qi Peiliang sensed no Eerie presence and suggested the occupants move to the bus.
• Cao Xianming said his Data Model showed a zero percent chance of an Eerie and proposed that a stranger spirit-like being had caused the incident.

The convoy discovered that an unknown entity was drawn to their Curio-powered vehicles and could mainly affect their instruments. They switched the remaining vehicles to Blood Moon energy and continued toward Tuanjie Village, while the entity began fruitlessly triggering warning lights across the convoy.

• Black hair burst from Hu Xian'er's Soul-Binding Fan and filled the bus as it searched for an unseen eerie presence, while Xiao Xuan's Buddha-Light Jewel had no effect.
• Zheng Xiaofeng reported that his off-road vehicle's warning lights were flashing, and Cao Xianming warned that the entity might target the vehicles at the front.
• Cao Xianming concluded that the entity was more interested in vehicles than people and had followed the convoy because its vehicles ran on Curios.
• Yang Yong sent Xiao Xuan to Qi Peiliang's off-road vehicle and Mang Dabiao to Liu Hong's van so they could switch both vehicles to Blood Moon energy.
• As the convoy continued toward Tuanjie Village, the entity moved from vehicle to vehicle and set off warning lights throughout the convoy.

The convoy encountered a female ghost that could imitate voices and attack people through reflective surfaces, and Cao Xianming warned everyone not to look at mirrors or cameras. The ghost then made some drivers see a cliff where the highway was clear, throwing the convoy into chaos.

• Xiao Xuan’s voice warned that a bridge had collapsed, but the intact bridge revealed that the ghost was trying to mislead the convoy into taking a detour.
• Mang Dabiao spotted a female ghost in his rearview mirror, described her appearance, and pulled her partly out when she tried to drag his snake head into the mirror.
• Mang Dabiao reported that the ghost could attack anyone who looked at her, so Cao Xianming told the convoy not to look at mirrors, windows, or dashcams.
• The ghost vanished, then spoke through every vehicle’s speakers and claimed a cliff lay ahead.
• Yang Yong saw the road was clear, but Wang Qian and Old Zhao perceived a cliff, and the drivers began braking, accelerating, and swerving out of formation.

Yang Yong and the convoy survived an obsession aggregate’s attempts to mislead them, and Cao Xianming identified the entity as a human obsession made manifest by the Blood Moon. The convoy continued onward, knowing the threat existed only through reflections and attacks on perception.

• Zheng Xiaofeng dragged Wang Ying’s off-road vehicle away from the road’s edge after its driver saw a false cliff.
• A resentful sigh reached everyone’s minds, and Cao Xianming explained that the entity interfered with perception rather than directly causing physical harm.
• Yang Yong ordered the convoy to distrust sights and sounds unless at least two people confirmed them, while Mang Dabiao’s defiance helped restore morale.
• The convoy resumed its journey, and the next fifteen minutes passed without another strange incident.
• Cao Xianming concluded that the entity was an obsession aggregate: a human fixation on cars transformed by Blood Moon energy into an information-state being visible only in reflections.

Cao Xianming realized that the figure haunting the convoy was an aggregate of at least seventeen to twenty car-related obsessions, formed from people who died in vehicle accidents. The aggregate was drawn to the Blood Moon-powered vehicles, and the chapter left the convoy without a plan as Cao Xianming continued calculating.

• Yang Yong asked why the figure targeted cars, and Cao Xianming explained that its words were fragments of memories from before its victims died.
• Mang Dabiao reported that the face in his rearview mirror kept changing between people and emotions, as though many lives were taking turns within one shell.
• Cao Xianming recalculated his data and concluded that at least seventeen to twenty obsessions had fused together, all belonging to people who died in car accidents.
• Mang Dabiao described the changing faces as scenes switching between channels, and Cao Xianming identified the entity as a "car spirit," an obsession aggregate with no core or self-awareness.
• Cao Xianming warned that the aggregate might dissipate or become a newborn Eerie if one obsession consumed the others, but he admitted he had no records or immediate solution.

Yang Yong tested whether the Red-Clothed Female Ghost could travel between mirrors, while the convoy continued toward Tuanjie Village with Mang Dabiao watching an Obsession Aggregate in a rearview mirror. When Qi Peiliang sensed an Eerie eighty kilometers ahead, Wang Ying ordered the convoy to charge straight through.

• Yang Yong sent the Red-Clothed Female Ghost into a rearview mirror and found only an endless white space with no connection to other mirrors.
• Yang Yong reported his findings to Cao Xianming, while Mang Dabiao kept the figure in the rearview mirror under watch.
• Qi Peiliang sensed one Eerie presence eighty kilometers ahead and asked whether the convoy should detour or confront it.
• Cao Xianming calmed the convoy, estimating that rain lay ahead and that Eerie still avoided sunlight.
• Wang Ying ordered the convoy to charge straight through.

Wang Ying attacked the approaching Eerie with the Black Gold Ancient Saber, slicing apart its dark-cloud covering and scorching it with sunlight. The wounded Eerie fled before she could finish it, and the convoy erupted in relief and cheers.

• Cao Xianming proposed that the convoy approach the Eerie and let Wang Ying test whether she could defeat it.
• Qi Peiliang spotted an unnatural bank of dark clouds rushing toward the convoy, and Wang Ying climbed onto the vehicle roof to confront it.
• Wang Ying's first slash split the clouds and exposed the Eerie to sunlight, making it scream, but the clouds quickly re-formed.
• Wang Ying unleashed more than a dozen slashes, tearing the cloud bank into fragments and forcing the Eerie to cry out in pain.
• Wang Ying prepared a final strike, but the Eerie abruptly turned and fled, prompting the convoy to cheer.

After Wang Ying drove off the Eerie, Qi Peiliang accepted the Survival Convoy’s strength and felt more secure among its members. The convoy reached the Old Shanghai Suburban Farm to investigate it as a possible campsite, and Yang Yong spotted a pond that might still hold fish.

• Wang Ying returned to her vehicle after slashing the dark clouds and driving the Eerie away.
• Qi Peiliang sensed the Eerie retreating, then exchanged a smile with Liu Hong and felt reassured about joining the Survival Convoy.
• Cao Xianming led the convoy toward a likely safe zone, and Qi Peiliang confirmed there was no Eerie presence at the Old Shanghai Suburban Farm.
• Cao Xianming sent Skinny Monkey and Xiao Xuan to search the farm while the convoy members inspected its stripped rooms and intact wood-fired stoves.
• Yang Yong looked out toward the pond and overgrown vegetable beds, wondering whether any fish remained.

Cao Xianming told Yang Yong that his Sequence Two ability should be bestowing spirits on the Curios he refined, though he warned that probing the Sequence’s secrets risked provoking a terrifying presence. He then drew the group’s attention to the Obsession Aggregate in the van’s rearview mirror.

• Yang Yong watched Xiao Xuan and Skinny Monkey return from patrol while Cao Xianming continued calculating the Obsession Aggregate.
• Cao Xianming called Yang Yong over and announced that his Sequence Two ability should be bestowing spirits on the Curios he refined.
• Yang Yong demanded to know what else Cao Xianming had calculated, but Cao Xianming warned that his Data Analyst Sequence risked provoking a terrifying presence.
• Yang Yong recalled the Yellow Talisman and the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace, then accepted that some hidden secrets might offer protection if left unknown.
• Cao Xianming tapped the van’s rearview mirror, where the Obsession Aggregate silently changed its face and wept.

Cao Xianming proposed turning the Obsession Aggregate into an Eerie so Yang Yong could subdue it and gain a Car Spirit. He explained that Yang Yong first needed to forge a Curio Mirror to give one obsession an advantage and make it the aggregate’s new core.

• Cao Xianming explained that the Obsession Aggregate could either become an Eerie when one obsession dominated or be resolved until it dissipated.
• Cao Xianming urged the group to help it become an Eerie, and Yang Yong revealed the Three-Yang God-Sealing Banner and summoned three Eeries he had subdued.
• Cao Xianming said he had calculated ten possible methods, then recommended extracting one obsession and helping it devour the others to create a new Eerie.
• Yang Yong brought out the Ten-Thousand-Forging Primordial Furnace and asked Cao Xianming how to proceed.
• Cao Xianming told Yang Yong to forge a Curio Mirror, which would become the obsession’s vessel and give it the advantage needed to devour the others.

Yang Yong forged a bronze mirror and used it to draw an obsession out of the van’s side mirror. When the blue-clothed woman tried to escape, his three Eerie subdued her and turned her into a small bronze-mirror doll.

• Cao Xianming told Yang Yong to forge a mirror sturdy enough to survive being reforged.
• Yang Yong used a scale from an unknown Eerie to make a Semi-Curio bronze mirror.
• Yang Yong pressed the bronze mirror over the van’s side mirror, where countless ghostly hands struggled to enter it.
• The side mirror shattered, and a blue-clothed woman emerged from the bronze mirror’s light and tried to flee.
• The Red-Clothed Female Ghost, the Love Letter Ghost, and the Little Girl Eerie stopped the woman; the Little Girl Eerie’s slap turned her into a small bronze-mirror doll.
• Qi Peiliang and Liu Hong watched in stunned disbelief as Yang Yong’s Eerie subdued the woman.

Yang Yong realized the Ten-Thousand-Forging Primordial Furnace needed a vehicle as the vessel for refining the bronze mirror Doll, so he risked sacrificing his pickup truck. The furnace transformed it into the Deep-Blue Enchantress, a powerful curio with an autonomous car spirit, and Yang Yong discovered he was immune to its costs.

• Yang Yong placed the bronze mirror Doll in the Ten-Thousand-Forging Primordial Furnace, which stripped away ten hidden obsessions before beginning to forge it.
• After the furnace continued clanging for hours, Cao Xianming identified the missing ingredient as the vessel.
• Yang Yong deduced that the obsession aggregate's connection to vehicles meant he needed to use a vehicle, and chose his heavily upgraded pickup truck despite the risk.
• Mang Dabiao inscribed a formation on the pickup and shrank it, and Yang Yong cast it into the furnace.
• The furnace produced the Deep-Blue Enchantress, a curio with an autonomous car spirit and dangerous costs that did not affect Yang Yong.

Yang Yong tested the blue pickup he had reforged and found that its new woman-shaped spirit could operate the vehicle but could not speak. A persistent angler then hooked an enormous, eerie black carp in the farm pond, leaving the crowd stunned by its size and spider-like legs.

• Yang Yong climbed into his blue pickup and saw a silent, expressionless woman in the windshield, whom he suspected had lost her memories.
• Yang Yong tested the woman’s control over the pickup’s driving and functions, then decided to ask Cao Xianming to divine the vehicle’s phasing ability later.
• A middle-aged angler hooked something in the pond and struggled to keep his fishing line from snapping.
• The crowd gathered as an immense dark shape rose from the pond, and Yang Yong watched from his pickup.
• The angler hauled up a gigantic black carp with eight lizard-like legs, astonishing everyone.

Yang Yong disposed of the dead Eight-Tentacled Carp and continued toward Tuanjie Village, where the Deep-Blue Enchantress warned him of an anomaly on the road. After the convoy stopped and the others found nothing, Yang Yong investigated beneath an elevated roadway and saw something that stunned him.

• Yang Yong confirmed that the Eight-Tentacled Carp was long dead, then absorbed its remains into the Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace.
• As everyone left the pond, a dark shadow climbed onto the middle-aged man who had caught the creature and disappeared while his fishing line retracted into his palm.
• The convoy set off for Tuanjie Village the next morning, and Yang Yong considered the Deep-Blue Enchantress’s limited ability to make the vehicle intangible.
• The Deep-Blue Enchantress warned of an anomaly ahead, so Yang Yong ordered the convoy to stop.
• Cao Xianming calculated that the anomaly was about a hundred meters ahead, but Qi Peiliang and a scout found nothing there.
• Yang Yong flew ahead to investigate and dived beneath the elevated roadway, where he saw something that left him dumbfounded.