Chapter Summaries

Yang Yong traded three strange leaves for grain, forged them into Shadow Escape Talismans, and exchanged the talismans for the convoy's Void Crystal. As the furnace spent two days forging the crystal, Cao Xianming calculated that the convoy would need to unite its strength to escape the encirclement.

• A young woman traded Yang Yong three ghostly green leaves for one and a half jin of mixed grains after his furnace reacted strongly to them.
• Yang Yong forged the leaves into three single-use Shadow Escape Talismans that could relocate their user up to three hundred meters through shadow.
• Cao Xianming learned the talismans' life-saving effect and agreed to exchange them for the Void Crystal, persuading Wang Ying and Zheng Xiaofeng to give up their shares.
• Xiao Ma delivered the Void Crystal, and Yang Yong sent it into the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace to be forged.
• Cao Xianming spent two days analyzing the Eerie, the Red Moon, and escape routes, concluding that the convoy had to combine its strength to break out.

Cao Xianming revealed that the Old Taoist had deliberately led the convoys to the mountain and directed them to break out north at dusk, when the Red Moon rose. The Survival Convoy set out under Wang Ying, while the Yangcheng No. 2 Middle School Convoy chose to stay behind.

• Cao Xianming told the gathered Transcendents that Eerie surrounded them and that their best chance was to break out north at dusk.
• Cao Xianming explained that the Old Taoist had secretly steered them to the mountain, no matter which route they had taken.
• Shang Kai challenged Cao Xianming's plan to escape at night, but the Survival Convoy trusted his decision and began preparing.
• As the Red Moon rose, Cao Xianming ordered the Survival Convoy to move out, with Wang Ying leading the vehicles down the mountain.
• The Yangcheng No. 2 Middle School Convoy decided not to break out alongside the Survival Convoy.

Shang Kai, Zhang Bihuang, Zhang Wenyuan, and Xiao Yuxia abandoned Cao Xianming’s route and were attacked after turning east, while the Survival Convoy traveled safely north. They escaped a cleaver-wielding Eerie and pushed on toward the convoy, only to encounter a Human-Faced Centipede Eerie.

• Shang Kai persuaded the other three to leave the convoy at the foot of the mountain and break out on their own, while Wang Ying’s vehicle fought its way downhill without calling for help.
• The four turned east and were ambushed by a cleaver-wielding Eerie, which severed three of Shang Kai’s fingers and later burst their rear tire.
• Xiao Yuxia used her Mechanic Sequence ability to keep the damaged vehicle moving and repair its tire, while Zhang Bihuang’s holy light drove the Eerie into the forest.
• The group turned north to catch up with the Survival Convoy, but Zhang Wenyuan’s arrows and Shang Kai’s flames failed to stop a Human-Faced Centipede Eerie.
• Xiao Yuxia seized an opening when the centipede dodged Shang Kai’s flames and forced the vehicle past it.

During the night breakout, Cao Xianming’s Survival Convoy traveled safely while Shang Kai’s group drew the Eerie away as bait. At dawn, Yang Yong’s convoy kept moving, and the battered Yangcheng No. 2 Middle School Convoy finally caught up.

• Zhang Wenyuan, Shang Kai, Zhang Bihuang, and Xiao Yuxia fought through swarms of Head Ghosts and other Eerie, suffering severe wounds as they tried to escape.
• Yang Yong realized Cao Xianming had likely anticipated Shang Kai’s defection and used the Yangcheng No. 2 Middle School Convoy to draw the Eerie away from the Survival Convoy.
• Yang Yong’s farm truck took the lead, and he sent the Red-Clothed Female Ghost and White-Clothed Love Letter Ghost to consume scattered souls for the Two-Yang God-Sealing Banner, which ranked 2,799th.
• Mang Dabiao and Hu Xian’er took turns driving, with Hu Xian’er steering in a newly made golden fox body, while Cao Xianming gave no order to stop and rest.
• At daylight, the wounded Yangcheng No. 2 Middle School Convoy caught up with the Survival Convoy, with Shang Kai in the worst condition.

After the convoy escaped the Eerie, Cao Xianming kept driving for three days, leaving the exhausted and hungry passengers increasingly restless. Four ordinary people broke away to cook, ignoring his warning, as Cao Xianming noticed a new red variable appear on his Data Model.

• Shang Kai and his companions caught up with the Survival Convoy, and the Eerie stopped appearing once they took their place at its rear.
• Zhang Wenyuan saw Cao Xianming tapping and swiping at empty air, while Yang Yong recalled his ghosts and the convoy continued driving without stopping.
• After three days without food, hunger and exhaustion stirred complaints among the passengers, while four ordinary people survived on supplies they had secretly scavenged.
• The four ordinary people decided to leave the convoy and cook rice despite Cao Xianming's loudspeaker warning not to fall behind.
• Cao Xianming saw a red variable appear on his Data Model as the four men stopped by the road and began cooking, convinced they were safe.

After leaving the convoy to cook rice, Boss, Second, Third, and Fourth were attacked by several Eeries and killed. Cao Xianming watched their lights vanish on the Data Model and continued tapping at it.

• The men cooked rice and were confronted by a cat-faced old woman who demanded a bowl.
• A monstrous creature bit off Fourth's head, while ghostly hands dragged Second into the shadows.
• The cat-faced old woman pinned Boss, and Third abandoned him and escaped in the SUV.
• A weasel appeared in the SUV, asked Third whether it looked human or like a god, and killed him after he crashed.
• Cao Xianming saw the men's lights go dark on the Data Model and resumed tapping at it.

Cao Xianming led the Survival Convoy away from the Taoist temple ruins and found a small supermarket where the group could gather supplies. When Eerie shadow hands attacked during the raid, the others escaped, but Zheng Xiaofeng was left trapped.

• Cao Xianming ordered the convoy to flee at full speed because he believed something evil was awakening beneath the Taoist temple ruins.
• Cao Xianming found a small supermarket ahead and sent Yang Yong, Wang Ying, Zheng Xiaofeng, Zhang Wenyuan, and Zhang Bihuang to gather supplies during a ten-minute stop.
• The five Transcendents rushed into the supermarket and hurriedly filled their bags with food and drinks.
• Yang Yong spotted a black shadow hand creeping toward Zheng Xiaofeng and attacked it with the Heavenly Dragon Slash, drawing blood from the shadow.
• Yang Yong, Wang Ying, Zhang Wenyuan, and Zhang Bihuang escaped through a hole in the wall, but dozens of ghostly hands bound Zheng Xiaofeng and pinned him in place.

Cao Xianming gathered the Transcendents to witness a dragon fighting its way through heavenly lightning, while Yang Yong realized the Old Taoist’s departure had cost him the Yellow Talisman’s power. As the Survival Convoy rested near a mountain, four pillars of light rose around the dragon and formed a vast net overhead.

• Cao Xianming led the Transcendents to a peak and showed them a dragon charging through the lightning.
• Yang Yong recognized the dragon’s location as the place where the Old Taoist had ridden his Taoist Temple out of the world and suspected a dragon had been sealed beneath it.
• Wang Ying, Zheng Xiaofeng, Zhang Wenyuan, Zhang Bihuang, and Yang Yong escaped the Shopping Mall’s ghostly hands and rejoined the Survival Convoy.
• Cao Xianming ordered the convoy to flee, then had Yang Yong and Mang Dabiao distribute some supplies under rules requiring repayment later.
• Yang Yong realized the Old Taoist had used the Yellow Talisman’s power to leave the world and regretted losing his chance to use it himself.
• As the dragon grew stronger in the thunder and neared the heavens, four pillars of light rose from the cardinal directions and joined into an enormous net.

After witnessing a dragon fight its way free and flee, Cao Xianming led the Survival Convoy to a city warehouse to gather supplies. He assured everyone that only six Eerie remained in the city, but Yang Yong recognized that meant each was likely exceptionally dangerous.

• A dragon emerged from the black mist battered, then fled after losing a battle against the net of light.
• Cao Xianming warned the group away from the dragon's fallen scales and blood, explaining that powerful Eerie and mutated creatures had turned the area into a killing ground.
• The Survival Convoy returned to camp, rested for a day, and set out the next morning to gather supplies at a large warehouse.
• Cao Xianming planted flags at an intersection near the warehouse, prompting Yang Yong and the others to fear the mission was dangerous.
• Cao Xianming said the city had no more than six Eerie, and Yang Yong argued that the remaining ones must be powerful enough to have devoured all the weaker Eerie.

Cao Xianming warned Yang Yong that Wang Ying’s presence could greatly reduce the odds of an Eerie attack, though he suspected she might have a connection to one of the city’s powerful Eerie. The convoy’s supply team quietly raided a warehouse and found abundant food, but a sound interrupted their haul.

• Cao Xianming told Yang Yong to keep Wang Ying from acting recklessly because her presence reduced the calculated chance of an Eerie attack from ninety percent to ten percent.
• Yang Yong wondered whether Wang Ying’s search for her younger brother was connected to the Eerie, then joined the convoy as it traveled to the warehouse.
• Wang Ying broke the warehouse lock, and Yang Yong, Zheng Xiaofeng, Mang Dabiao, and the others began collecting rice and other supplies.
• Yang Yong and Wang Ying found a still-running freezer room stocked with frozen pigs and boxes of chicken, prompting everyone to haul the meat out in silence.
• As the group gathered supplies, a series of meows suddenly sounded.

Yang Yong saw that the meowing in the warehouse came from blood-eyed eerie cats and stopped Wang Ying from following the sound of her missing brother. When a voice that Wang Ying recognized as Che’s threatened an old hag, she fought to break free, leaving Yang Yong struggling to keep her from rushing into the trap.

• Thousands of eerie cats filled the warehouse, visible only through the Red-Clothed Female Ghost’s eyes, while Yang Yong and the others hid.
• Yang Yong grabbed Wang Ying as the meowing began luring her out, explaining that an Eerie was exploiting her memories of Little Tangerine.
• A soft voice calling Wang Ying “Big sis” pushed her close to losing control, and Yang Yong held her and covered her ears.
• A chilling voice threatened an old hag, and Wang Ying recognized it as Che’s voice and insisted her younger brother was outside.
• Yang Yong told Wang Ying the voice was an Eerie’s trap, but she roared and struggled to break free.

Yang Yong subdued Wang Ying and restrained the Black Gold Bone Blade while two powerful Eerie battled outside the warehouse. After one Eerie fled, a young man entered, and Yang Yong recognized him as Wang Ying’s younger brother, Wang Che.

• Yang Yong knocked Wang Ying unconscious, then used the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace’s aura to stop the Black Gold Bone Blade from attacking him.
• Yang Yong reassured the frightened people hiding in the warehouse and listened as two Eerie argued outside.
• A feline Eerie unleashed countless cat shadows, but the other Eerie defeated it and drove it away.
• Yang Yong sensed that the victorious male-voiced Eerie remained outside, watching the warehouse in silence.
• A young man entered the warehouse, and Yang Yong recognized his resemblance to Wang Ying and identified him as her younger brother, Wang Che.

Wang Che revealed how he had become half-human and half-Eerie, then left after asking Yang Yong to protect Wang Ying and keep his condition secret. Yang Yong evacuated everyone from the warehouse as several powerful Eerie emerged in the city, leaving Wang Che to hold them back.

• Wang Che told Yang Yong how he had fallen into bad company, later reformed under Wang Ying's care, and lost his orange cat Little Tangerine during the apocalypse.
• After Little Tangerine died, Wang Che entered symbiosis with an Eerie to survive and became a half-human, half-Eerie being.
• Wang Che asked Yang Yong to protect Wang Ying and not tell her what he had become, then left the warehouse in tears.
• Yang Yong ordered everyone to abandon the supplies and evacuate before the other Eerie could attack.
• Yang Yong and the survivors hurried to the farm vehicle as several powerful auras erupted from the city, and Yang Yong ordered Mang Dabiao to drive away at full speed.

Cao Xianming’s convoy escaped the county town, and Yang Yong tried to explain why he had knocked Wang Ying unconscious without revealing Wang Che’s condition. By evening, the convoy stopped at a fertilizer shop to rest and began dividing its supplies.

• Cao Xianming ordered the convoy to withdraw from the county town, and everyone escaped to a remote township.
• Yang Yong feared Wang Ying’s reaction when she woke, but she confronted him with the Black Gold Bone Blade.
• Yang Yong told Wang Ying, “I like you,” then blamed Cao Xianming for ordering him to knock her out; Wang Ying put away her blade and fell silent.
• Cao Xianming chose Huang Wei Fertilizer and Pesticide Store as a safe place for the convoy to spend the night.
• Xiao Ma assigned sleeping floors, and after the convoy ate, its members prepared to divide the supplies.

After the convoy divided the recovered supplies, Yang Yong opened his second aperture and sparred with Zheng Xiaofeng. That night, moving paper figures stole supplies, and the convoy realized they were not Eerie before sensing that another Transcendent might be watching them.

• Cao Xianming divided the recovered supplies, setting aside a portion for the Yangcheng No. 2 Middle School Convoy and for the convoy’s shared needs.
• Yang Yong discovered he had opened his second aperture, then used his flying daggers to break Zheng Xiaofeng’s iron armor during a sparring session.
• Zheng Xiaofeng spotted paper figures stealing supplies beneath two floating lanterns and woke the Camp.
• Yang Yong destroyed the paper figures and lanterns, but Mang Dabiao and Cao Xianming confirmed that they gave off no Eerie presence.
• Cao Xianming ordered everyone on guard, and the Transcendents suspected that another Transcendent controlling the paper figures was watching from the darkness.

The Transcendents tracked the paper creatures to a remote house and found the legless Ou Lenzhang, who identified himself as a Paper Craftsman and began explaining his past. He stopped at the moment his convoy met the disaster that cost him his legs, while secretly showing a glint of cunning.

• Cao Xianming calculated that the person behind the paper creatures was likely hiding near the distant house, and Yang Yong led the Transcendents there.
• Paper carrier pigeons poured from the house, and Yang Yong's Heavenly Dragon Slash cut them down as the group surrounded the building.
• Wang Ying broke down the door, and Ou Lenzhang crawled out, revealing that both his legs were missing.
• Ou Lenzhang surrendered and told Wang Ying that he was a Paper Craftsman whose animated paper creations had helped his convoy survive the apocalypse.
• Ou Lenzhang paused while recalling the encounter that cost him his legs, and a glint of cunning appeared in his eyes.

Ou Lunzhang recounted how an eerie mansion trapped his village, drained the lifespan of those who ate its endlessly replenishing food, and unleashed scythe-wielding Eerie that slaughtered the survivors. After interrogating him about the mansion, Cao Xianming ordered him killed.

• Ou Lunzhang described how his convoy entered a mansion full of food, became trapped, and watched its supplies replenish each day.
• The villagers who ate the mansion's food aged rapidly and died, while Ou Lunzhang survived because he had eaten very little.
• Scythe-wielding Eerie appeared and slaughtered the convoy, but Ou Lunzhang escaped after losing a leg.
• Ou Lunzhang told Cao Xianming and the convoy about the mansion and his escape.
• Cao Xianming questioned Ou Lunzhang about the mansion and its Eerie, then ordered, "Kill him!"

After Ou Lenzhang escaped, the convoy realized his tragic story had unnaturally stirred their sympathy and suspicion that he was luring survivors toward an Ancient House. Cao Xianming’s attempt to locate him was interrupted by a terrifying being, forcing the convoy to flee, and they arranged for Hu Xian'er to bring Cao Xianming Healing Pills.

• Wang Ying attacked after Cao Xianming shouted to kill Ou Lenzhang, but paper ropes pulled the old man underground and he vanished.
• Cao Xianming warned that Ou Lenzhang had inspired an unnatural urge to help him and visit the Ancient House, and Yang Yong suspected he was bait or had bargained with an Eerie.
• Cao Xianming tried to calculate Ou Lenzhang’s location, but an indescribable being interrupted him and left him gravely injured.
• Yang Yong ordered the convoy to gather its supplies and flee, while Cao Xianming remained too hurt to determine a safe route.
• Yang Yong learned Hu Xian'er had Healing Pills, and Cao Xianming arranged for her to bring them to his vehicle.

Yang Yong cultivated while the convoy rested, reflecting on the mysteries surrounding Old Cao and the Void Crystal. The next morning, six survivors arrived with a warning that a Paper Army had destroyed their convoy, leaving Cao Xianming uneasy as they begged to join.

• Yang Yong volunteered for watch duty, cultivated under the Blood Moon, and wondered what had been planted inside Old Cao and when the furnace would form a Void Crystal.
• After a night of cultivation, Yang Yong felt his third Aperture nearing a breakthrough and noted that Mang Dabiao was growing stronger despite failing to open it for him.
• The convoy rushed to investigate a shout and found six ragged survivors emerging from the woods.
• The survivors told Cao Xianming that a Paper Army had slaughtered their Transcendents after a Paper Craftsman Sequence member tried to lure their convoy toward a Secret Realm.
• The six survivors begged to join the convoy, while Cao Xianming and the others absorbed the grim account in silence.

Cao Xianming discovered that the convoy was surrounded by thousands of paper figures concealing Eerie, and the convoy fought to break through. After Zhang Wenyuan and Shang Kai exposed one Eerie inside a burning paper shell, Wang Ying and Yang Yong destroyed it, revealing the enemy’s weakness.

• Lao Zhang accepted six newcomers into the convoy on the condition that they gather supplies or work for food.
• Cao Xianming concluded that the Paper Craftsman Sequence was hunting survivor convoys and ordered an immediate retreat.
• Cao Xianming calculated that every escape route had zero chance of avoiding an attack, and Yang Yong saw thousands of paper figures surrounding the convoy.
• Wang Ying led an attempted eastward breakout, while Yang Yong attacked the paper figures with throwing knives.
• Zhang Wenyuan and Shang Kai set a paper figure on fire, revealing an Eerie inside its shell.
• Wang Ying cut down the exposed Eerie, and Yang Yong’s Two-Yang God-Sealing Banner absorbed its black mist.