Chapter Summaries

Yang Yong discovered that the village’s array patterns were cracking and that people’s memories of Great-Grandmother Huang Shan were being obscured, so he prepared to leave with Long Ya. As their truck reached the village entrance, an alarm sounded and countless creatures emerged from the gray mist to surround the village.

• Yang Yong questioned Zhao Hu about when Great-Grandmother Huang Shan had last maintained the array patterns, but Zhao Hu could not remember clearly.
• Yang Yong told Long Ya to pack quietly, then used the Red-Clothed Female Ghost to see that cracks were spreading through the village’s protective array.
• Yang Yong arranged a public trip to the trading post as a cover for leaving, while Long Ya loaded supplies and corn onto the demon-tier pickup truck.
• Yang Yong drove toward Cockscomb Mountain with Liu San, growing uneasy when no one stopped them at the village entrance.
• As the truck neared the fence, the wind shrieked an enemy warning, and Yang Yong saw creatures crawling in from every direction toward the village.

Yang Yong escaped the village as Water Ghosts and gray mist engulfed it, then watched from a nearby rise and decided not to intervene. He headed east with Long Ya and Liu San, suspecting the attack had been timed to coincide with his departure, and kept Liu San with them for now.

• Yang Yong charged the Demoness Pickup Truck through the Water Ghosts surrounding the village while Long Ya and Liu San held on.
• Yang Yong saw Great-Grandmother Huang Shan watching from the adobe hall as the gray mist and Water Ghosts overwhelmed the village.
• Yang Yong directed the truck east to a rise overlooking the village, where he and Long Ya watched the attack without helping Zhao Hu and the others.
• Yang Yong told Long Ya that he was searching for the Paradise Service Area and planned to return after daybreak if anyone had survived.
• Yang Yong suspected Great-Grandmother Huang Shan had let him leave because the Water Ghosts' harvest coincided too conveniently with his departure.
• Yang Yong decided to keep Liu San with them rather than leave him in the gray mist.

Yang Yong encountered the white-furred Yellow Immortal Hermit Xu Bai, who asked him to save Huang Santainai and offered a talisman method in exchange. After the Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace swallowed the offered light, Yang Yong agreed to help only on one condition, which he had not yet revealed.

• Yang Yong, Long Ya, and Liu San came across a phantom white weasel on the saline-alkali road, and it introduced itself as Hermit Xu Bai.
• Hermit Xu Bai asked Yang Yong to save Huang Santainai and offered him a talisman method as a token of sincerity.
• The Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace swallowed the talisman light before Yang Yong agreed, and Yang Yong refused to consider the offer binding.
• The furnace released a faint aura that terrified Hermit Xu Bai, who explained that her master had warned her to befriend anyone who wielded a furnace.
• Hermit Xu Bai named the array patterns the Nine-Palace Earth Vein Essence-Locking Array and said her master had been an old friend of the furnace’s former wielder.
• Yang Yong agreed to save Huang Santainai, but said he had one condition.

Yang Yong agreed to return to the village after two days in exchange for the complete array patterns and whatever remained in Black Water Marsh, then spent the night preparing at an abandoned house. As the Gray Mist’s creatures moved toward the village, he sent his three Eerie out to gather intelligence before the planned trip to Cockscomb Mountain.

• Yang Yong negotiated with the white-furred Yellow Immortal, demanding the original array-pattern method and the contents of Black Water Marsh, and set a two-day deadline before returning to the village.
• Yang Yong told Long Ya to watch Liu San and threatened to break his legs if he ran, then drove east and stopped at an abandoned brick house.
• Liu San cleared the house while Long Ya and Yang Yong settled in for the night, and Yang Yong checked that the furnace was still processing the yellow light it had swallowed.
• Yang Yong and Long Ya smelled water and saw Gray Mist approaching from the north; Yang Yong realized the Eerie were passing toward the village and said they would leave for Cockscomb Mountain at daybreak.
• Yang Yong summoned the Red-Clothed Female Ghost, the White-Clothed Love Letter Ghost, and the Little Girl Eerie, ordering them to scout the village, Black Water Marsh, and the nearby area.

Yang Yong sent the ghosts to investigate while he planned to attack the water ghosts’ lair during their absence. After the White-Clothed Love Letter Ghost showed him the village surrounded and three children missing, Yang Yong continued toward Black Water Marsh to carry out the plan.

• Yang Yong explained the Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao plan to Long Ya and waited for the ghosts to report what remained at Black Water Marsh.
• Yang Yong, Long Ya, and Liu San ate plain boiled potatoes and settled in for the night.
• The White-Clothed Love Letter Ghost returned with a letter showing water ghosts encircling the village while Zhao Hu stood watch and only six of the nine children remained.
• Yang Yong told Long Ya what he had seen, confirmed that he would proceed with the plan, and had Ya Ji drive south around the village with the headlights off.

Yang Yong investigated Black Water Marsh and found a dangerous white membrane over its center and a buried stone slab whose patterns differed from the scroll White Hair had given him. He concluded the scroll was a key meant to open something beneath the marsh, then sent Long Ya and Liu San to Cockscomb Mountain while he stayed behind to investigate.

• Yang Yong left the quarry alone and used the Red-Clothed Female Ghost to scout Black Water Marsh, where he found dense traces beneath the water and a white membrane that severed anything touching it.
• Yang Yong sent Yezi underground and found a patterned stone slab five feet below the marsh; its straight-line patterns differed from the scroll's Array Patterns.
• Yang Yong and Long Ya examined the scroll and concluded that its inward-curving patterns would release a lock rather than reinforce it, making it a key to something beneath Black Water Marsh.
• Yang Yong told Long Ya to take Liu San to Cockscomb Mountain and wait for White Hair, while he remained to investigate the marsh and planned to arrive a day later.

Yang Yong uncovered a stone slab and chained object at Black Water Marsh, concluding that White-Hair’s scroll was a key and wondering what the buried objects opened. After White-Hair failed to appear at Cockscomb Mountain and the Gray Mist stopped moving, Yang Yong and his companions fled toward the quarry in the Demoness Pickup Truck, while he suspected that whatever arrived might not be White-Hair himself.

• Yang Yong dug up part of a stone slab and an iron chain at Black Water Marsh, then buried them again after deciding White-Hair’s scroll was a key.
• Yang Yong returned to Cockscomb Mountain, where Long Ya and Liu San waited with the Demoness Pickup Truck, but White-Haired Yellow Immortal did not arrive.
• Yang Yong told Long Ya that if White-Haired Yellow Immortal still had not come by night, they would return to Black Water Marsh to dig up the slab and find the door.
• Long Ya sensed something was wrong as the Gray Mist thickened and stopped moving, so Yang Yong ordered everyone into the truck.
• The Demoness Pickup Truck drove itself through the mist toward the quarry, and Yang Yong told Long Ya that White-Hair would come, though it might not be him.

Yang Yong and his companions escaped a fog-bound road after Long Ya wounded a stalking creature, then he explained that Whitefur had lured him to Black Water Marsh to free something sealed beneath it. The chapter ended with Long Ya asking when Yang Yong had realized Whitefur needed his Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace.

• Long Ya noticed the Demoness Pickup Truck was passing the same rock repeatedly, and Yang Yong spotted a long-haired figure moving through the fog.
• Yang Yong directed Long Ya to fire at the creature, and her shot wounded it and caused the fog to disperse.
• Yang Yong had Yezi spread her Eerie Domain around the truck at the quarry, easing the sense that they were being watched.
• Yang Yong told Long Ya that Whitefur had come to get him to release the being imprisoned beneath Black Water Marsh, not to ask him to save Huang Santainai.
• Yang Yong explained that the scroll, chains, and stone slab would open the seal, and that Whitefur needed his Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace to burn through it.
• Long Ya asked when Yang Yong had figured out why Whitefur had singled him out.

Yang Yong sent Long Ya and Liu San away from the Quarry before confronting Hermit Xu Bai, who revealed that he had helped Yang Yong gather the three keys so an ancient, hungry thing could be released. Yang Yong destroyed Xu Bai’s puppet but knew the true Hermit Xu Bai was still hidden, and he noticed that the Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring had changed.

• Yang Yong told Long Ya to leave with Liu San and Yezi, and the Demoness Pickup Truck drove them east from the Quarry.
• Yang Yong called out Hermit Xu Bai, who emerged and admitted that the thing beneath the chains and stone slab had sent him to gather the three keys.
• Hermit Xu Bai said the ancient thing had been calling to him for over a thousand years and would eat when it was released.
• Yang Yong attacked Hermit Xu Bai with flying daggers and the Four Yang God-Sealing Banner, destroying the Little Yellow Immortal body he had used as a puppet.
• Yang Yong absorbed the remaining Little Yellow Immortal with the Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring and noticed that the ring had changed.

Yang Yong released the Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable from beneath Black Water Marsh after the White Bone Ring awakened and urged him to find something to eat. The beast emerged, but its attempt to restore its strength by inhaling spiritual energy yielded only Gray Mist, leaving it confused and agitated.

• The White Bone Ring spoke to Yang Yong and said something beneath Black Water Marsh smelled good and that it wanted to eat it.
• Yang Yong rode the Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace into Black Water Marsh and used the White Bone Ring to break the iron chain sealing the stone slab.
• A Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable burst from beneath the slab, and Yang Yong collected the broken slab pieces before confronting it.
• The Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable inhaled the air and Gray Mist over the marsh, searching for spiritual energy but finding none.

Yang Yong pursued the Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable through the Black Water Marsh with the Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring, but the beast began absorbing Blood Moon Energy and recovering. The chapter ended as it sank beneath the water to escape his attack.

• Yang Yong used the Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring to destroy the remaining Eerie in the Black Water Marsh and absorb their blood mist.
• The Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable fled, but the Bone Rings chased it and tore open its back.
• The beast fired blood lightning at Yang Yong, and the Evil Eye between his brows swallowed the bolt before closing.
• The illusory Bone Ring caught the Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable, severed one hind leg, and absorbed it.
• The Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable absorbed Blood Moon Energy, began recovering, and sank underwater as Yang Yong attacked with both Bone Rings.

Yang Yong killed the Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable at Black Water Marsh and suspected it had been a gatekeeper rather than the entity behind the doors. After the Blood Moon brightened and the mist cleared, he reached the village and found Blood-Armored Turtle Eerie blocking the road.

• Yang Yong drove the Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable from the water with furnace fire, pinned it with the Four Yang God-Sealing Banner, and killed it with the Heavenly Dragon Slash.
• Yang Yong found a bone fragment marked with dragon and toad patterns and concluded the creature was dragonkin.
• Yang Yong wondered whether the Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable had been another gatekeeper, then headed toward the Quarry while the sensation of being watched followed him.
• The gray mist dispersed and the Blood Moon brightened, drawing living, dead, and half-dead creatures to turn toward Black Water Marsh; Long Ya looked back from the Demoness Pickup Truck and called softly to her master.
• Yang Yong used the Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace to appear outside the village and found Blood-Armored Turtle Eerie lined across the road.

Yang Yong entered the village to investigate the well after learning that a false Huang Santainai had devoured the villagers and retreated inside. The Red-Clothed Female Ghost searched the well and found a stone gate with a Taiji Bagua carved into it, but returned with the symbol branded on her face.

• Yang Yong used the Second Ring of the Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring to swallow more than twenty Turtle Wraiths, but the ring remained nearly unchanged.
• Huang San told Yang Yong that a tentacled creature posing as Great-Grandma had eaten the returning villagers and then gone into the well.
• Yang Yong summoned the Red-Clothed Female Ghost and the White-Clothed Love Letter Ghost and ordered them to search the village for survivors.
• The two female ghosts returned after finding no survivors, and Yang Yong learned through the Red-Clothed Female Ghost that she had entered the well and found a submerged stone gate carved with a Taiji Bagua.

Yang Yong sent Huang San into the well to investigate a sealed stone door and used his Heavenly Dragon Slash blades to break through its Bagua barrier. A hole opened in the door, and Yang Yong ordered Huang San to go inside.

• Yang Yong recognized the Bagua Seal on the well door and sent Huang San down to inspect what lay beneath it.
• Yang Yong fitted Huang San with Flying Bear Wings and a black-bead chain that let him watch through a screen.
• Huang San found a submerged stone door marked with a Taiji Bagua and discovered its barrier repelled anything that approached.
• Yang Yong drilled through the barrier and broke a fist-sized hole in the center of the door.
• Yang Yong told Huang San to go inside.

Yang Yong learned that an impostor had taken Huang Santainai’s body and was heading into the ancient tomb to release her sealed master. After securing a booklet and learning the impostor’s weakness, Yang Yong descended the well and found a spectral figure beside a pool.

• Huang Santainai told Yang Yong that an impostor had taken her body and was seeking the Talisman Secret Art and the power sealed deep in the tomb.
• Yang Yong demanded a deposit, and Huang Santainai directed Huang San to retrieve a booklet hidden behind the Stone Gate.
• Huang Santainai warned Yang Yong that the impostor mimicked appearances and voices, and that a wound in the center of its chest was its weak point.
• Huang Santainai revealed that the impostor intended to release her master, a Taoist sealed in the tomb after suppressing the monster beneath Black Water Marsh.
• Yang Yong sent Huang San to wait above and tell Long Ya to head east if he did not return within two hours.
• Yang Yong entered the well and descended into a stone chamber, where he saw a spectral figure standing beside a pool.

Yang Yong entered the chamber where the Daoist master was imprisoned and learned that the fake had grown from the master's severed shadow. The master began explaining how he created it, while the fake remained entwined with him and the Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring damaged the seals.

• Huang Santainai told Yang Yong that her lineage had sealed Eerie in the passage walls and warned him that the fake lied in familiar voices.
• Huang Santainai warned that her master might be mentally unclear, then faded into the wall inscriptions as Yang Yong entered the chamber with three female ghosts.
• Yang Yong saw the chained Daoist and the fake's tentacles, including one bearing Huang Santainai's face, and the Daoist called the cracked Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring a key.
• Yang Yong refused to approach the Daoist and demanded to know his relationship with the fake.
• The Daoist said he had cut off his own shadow and fed it to the creature, giving it his memories, feelings, and Daoist cultivation before it learned to devour and disguise itself.

Yang Yong entered the ancient tomb’s stone chamber and discovered that Hermit Xu Bai was Huang Pi, who planned to use him to gather aura and unleash the Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable. Huang Pi and Huang Santainai confronted each other over his betrayal and pursuit of power, leaving Yang Yong caught between them.

• Yang Yong recognized that the chain lock matched the patterns on the scroll and stone slab, then used the chain fragments from his White Bone Ring as a key and stepped into the chamber.
• The Daoist’s disguise broke apart as white light filled the chamber, and Huang Pi said he needed to borrow Yang Yong’s hands to collect traces of aura.
• Yang Yong realized Huang Pi and the shadow had planned to use him to open the Black Water Marsh seal and bring the Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable into the tomb.
• Huang Pi revealed himself to Huang Santainai and accused her of denying the Huang Family its chance to gain power by guarding the seals.
• Huang Santainai warned that the Dragon-Headed Toad Venerable would destroy the world, while Huang Pi defended his pact with the shadow as a path to the great Dao.

Yang Yong realized the ancient tomb concealed a Demon-Locking Tower filled with weakened eerie entities, while Huang Santainai and Huang Pi struggled for control of its restrictions. Seeing a chance to seize the entities before they recovered, Yang Yong prepared to act as a tentacled monster noticed him.

• Huang Pi declared that he would seize the tomb's power and rule the chaotic world, dismissing Huang Santainai's warning that he was being used.
• Yang Yong recognized that layers of seal-script concealed a Demon-Locking Tower and watched Huang Santainai and Huang Pi battle over its restrictions.
• Huang Pi used the Daoist's body to claim greater authority over the tomb's restrictions, while Huang Santainai questioned how he had gained control of Master's body.
• Yang Yong recalled how Huang Santainai and Hermit Xu Bai's schemes had led to the ancient tomb, then realized its sealed eerie entities were weakened and could be captured.
• Yang Yong decided to take advantage of the windfall as the tentacled monster noticed him and extended two tentacles toward Huang Pi.

Yang Yong captured the tentacled Eerie with the White Bone Ring, prompting Huang Pi to send him into the first level of the Demon-Locking Tower. There, Yang Yong began absorbing Fire Spiritual Energy as a horde of Molten Flame Prison Puppets attacked.

• Yang Yong's White Bone Ring drained and captured the tentacled monster, which Huang Santainai identified as her master's shadow transformed into an Eerie.
• Huang Pi abandoned his fight with Huang Santainai and used a hand seal to transport Yang Yong away.
• Yang Yong found himself in the fiery first level of the Demon-Locking Tower, where the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace began absorbing Fire Spiritual Energy.
• Molten Flame Prison Puppets emerged from the magma pools and charged Yang Yong, spitting streams of molten fire.
• Yang Yong used the Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace to push back their fire, donned his Nine Nether Bone Armor, and struck out with his right fist.

Yang Yong defeated Huang Pi, sealed his Soul in the Four Yang God-Sealing Banner, and was unexpectedly carried away by the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace. Meanwhile, Cao Xianming and the others continued searching for him in the Wasteland, where Mang Dabiao suggested that Yang Yong attracted Eerie dangers.

• Yang Yong destroyed the remaining Molten Flame Prison Puppets and interrupted Huang Pi's attempt to drive him from the space.
• Yang Yong shattered the Daoist's body, captured Huang Pi's Soul in the Four Yang God-Sealing Banner, and heard Huang Santainai say Huang Pi deserved it for devouring his clansmen's souls.
• Yang Yong and Huang Santainai realized they had forgotten how to leave, so Yang Yong sat down to eat and drink.
• The Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace appeared, carried Yang Yong into a collision, and sent him falling through warped space.
• Beside a Wasteland bonfire, Cao Xianming complained that Yang Yong kept disappearing, while Mang Dabiao argued that Yang Yong attracted Eerie dangers.
• Cao Xianming wondered whether it was really necessary to find Yang Yong and bring him back.