Chapter Summaries

Shadow worried that Lu Xiao’s restored lucidity and altered memories could lead to disaster, but the Omniscient Mirror warned him not to interfere with Lu Xiao’s destined course. Shadow decided to abandon Shuns’s script and introduce himself and Bai Suoyi honestly as Lu Xiao’s former teammates.

• Bai Suoyi celebrated his recovery while Shadow realized they were being carried toward the Dark Prison’s depths and could not follow Shuns’s script.
• Shadow worried that Lu Xiao’s new memories might conflict with his original memories and drive him insane if they returned.
• Shadow approached the Omniscient Mirror, which told him Lu Xiao’s course was set and that Shadow had already paid for an answer with the rotten flesh carved from Lu Xiao’s body.
• Bai Suoyi introduced Shadow to Lu Xiao as his captain, then silently warned him that Lu Xiao had already met Dart and the script could no longer continue as planned.
• Shadow introduced himself as Liu Guang, codename Shadow, and told Lu Xiao that he and Bai Suoyi had once been his teammates.

Shadow told Lu Xiao that the Dark Prison was his home, and he and Bai Suoyi decided to stay beside him rather than interfere with his course. Shadow then brought Lu Xiao toward the Depths to meet the Source of Pollution, where they arrived above a foul-smelling island enclosed by a wall of flesh and blood.

• Shadow introduced himself to Lu Xiao, who had lost his memories, and told him his name and that the Dark Prison was his home.
• Bai Suoyi questioned Shadow's decision to abandon the script, but Shadow explained that Lu Xiao seemed to be correcting its course himself and that the Omniscient Mirror had advised them not to interfere.
• Shadow and Bai Suoyi agreed to stay with Lu Xiao as a team, and Shadow promised that Lu Xiao would be part of his memories from then on.
• Shadow planned to take Lu Xiao to the Depths to complete a deal with the Source of Pollution before bringing him to another world.
• The whale-like fish carried them above an island surrounded by a towering, lightning-lit wall of flesh and blood.

Lu Xiao, Shadow, Bai Suoyi, and Chainsaw Man descended to the Depths to search for Lu Xiao’s master, while the Prison Doctor refused to follow. At the Flesh High Wall, living sand covered Lu Xiao, who enjoyed the sensation as Chainsaw Man built a sandcastle around him.

• The Prison Doctor warned the group that the Flesh High Wall marked the Depths, but Lu Xiao said they had to go down to find his master.
• Lu Xiao and Chainsaw Man jumped from the giant fish-like creature, and Shadow and Bai Suoyi followed; the Prison Doctor stayed behind, afraid of encountering a lunatic.
• The group examined the hundred-meter wall of writhing flesh as a bubble burst and released grayish-white mist inside it.
• Living sand-like creatures crawled over Shadow and the others, but Lu Xiao enjoyed them gnawing at his rotting flesh.
• Chainsaw Man piled the living sand around Lu Xiao and formed a sandcastle over a meter tall, leaving Lu Xiao’s head exposed.

Lu Xiao and the others encountered the mad Zhang Chu, who claimed to have become an immortal and carried them toward his flesh-made grotto-heaven. Zhang Chu recognized Lu Xiao as someone who had obtained an opportunity he left in the mortal world, then peeled the skin from Lu Xiao’s face.

• Lu Xiao regenerated after Chainsaw Man used sand to remove a patch of rotting flesh, while Shadow urged the group to find the master of the Source of Pollution.
• A blood-red, flesh-like bolt appeared, and Zhang Chu emerged holding two shriveled heads and demanding to know whether he looked like an immortal.
• Lu Xiao asked what an immortal was, and Zhang Chu declared that he had achieved enlightenment and made the two heads float beside his own.
• Zhang Chu restrained everyone with masses of flesh and carried them through the air toward a towering wall, calling the flesh platform his immortal power.
• Zhang Chu recognized Lu Xiao as someone who had obtained an opportunity he had left in the mortal world, then peeled off Lu Xiao’s facial skin, which became black liquid in his palm.

Zhang Chu gave Mask to Lu Xiao, then maimed Chainsaw Man when he attacked and entered a cave. Shadow fought off a bout of madness and followed the others inside, where they found Zhang Chu carefully removing a bulletproof vest that might have belonged to Taoist.

• Zhang Chu gave Mask to Lu Xiao, saying he would reclaim it once Lu Xiao became an immortal.
• Chainsaw Man attacked Zhang Chu, who blasted away his right shoulder with a blood-red lightning strike and spared his life.
• Lu Xiao reattached Chainsaw Man's arm and warned him not to provoke Zhang Chu again.
• Murmurs drove Shadow toward madness, but Bai Suoyi struck him back to his senses and he chewed off his own hand to recover.
• Shadow, Bai Suoyi, Lu Xiao, and Chainsaw Man followed Zhang Chu through the cave and found him folding away his bulletproof vest.
• Shadow and Bai Suoyi suspected the vest was the one Taoist's son had delivered to him.

Shadow questioned Zhang Chu about his deceased fellow Daoist and learned that the cultivator had been extraordinarily talented but died before becoming immortal. Shadow suspected the person had served as the Prison Plan’s original operative and, like Lu Xiao, had their existence erased.

• Shadow worried that damage to Zhang Chu’s body armor might destroy his last shred of humanity, but Zhang Chu explained that it was a magical treasure given to him by a fellow Daoist.
• Lu Xiao asked what a fellow Daoist was, and Zhang Chu said it meant a like-minded friend who cultivated the Dao alongside him.
• Shadow and Bai Suoyi realized Zhang Chu had met someone in the Depths, though Bai Suoyi said the Taoist was the Prison Plan’s only known operative.
• Shadow carefully asked Zhang Chu how he had met his fellow Daoist, easing Zhang Chu’s brief wariness by framing the question as curiosity about a cultivation tale.
• Zhang Chu described his fellow Daoist as an unparalleled prodigy who nearly became immortal within three hundred years but died at the final step.
• Shadow suspected the fellow Daoist had been the Prison Plan’s original operative and that their traces of existence had been erased, while Zhang Chu mourned the many gifted cultivators who had fallen on the road to immortality.

Zhang Chu ate the two shriveled heads he had treasured, and his emaciated body regained its vitality. Shadow and Bai Suoyi recognized the heads as Creators and knew that eating one came with a price; Zhang Chu then saw a road to immortality open before him.

• Zhang Chu said he would understand what an immortal was after holding a feast and offered Lu Xiao, Shadow, and Bai Suoyi the dragon head and phoenix head.
• Lu Xiao and the others refused to eat, so Zhang Chu devoured both shriveled heads himself.
• Zhang Chu's body filled out and his appearance returned to health, leaving Lu Xiao regretful that he had not eaten.
• Shadow and Bai Suoyi recognized the heads as incomplete Creators made by Doctor Li and knew that eating a Creator meant inheriting its authority at a price.
• Zhang Chu heard celestial music, saw a road to immortality, and announced that he was leaving to become an immortal.

Zhang Chu began climbing an apparent Immortal Path, while the flesh he vomited up trapped Lu Xiao and the others inside the cave. As Zhang Chu reached the top, Lu Xiao saw the staircase’s endpoint, and Zhang Chu found himself before the Southern Heavenly Gate.

• Zhang Chu froze after taking his first step, then vomited up flesh that spread through the cave and pinned Lu Xiao, Shadow, Bai Suoyi, and Chainsaw Man in place.
• Shadow prepared to tear out his heart to activate his abilities, but Bai Suoyi stopped him and urged him to wait.
• Lu Xiao saw a staircase made of flesh beneath Zhang Chu, with hands that wrapped around his legs as he climbed toward the cave ceiling.
• Zhang Chu vomited up another mass of flesh, which struck and destroyed the upper half of the cave; Lu Xiao then saw someone waving at the top of the staircase.
• Zhang Chu ignored the celestial maidens who clung to him and reached a magnificent gate labeled Southern Heavenly Gate.

Shadow explained that the staircase was a ritual meant to make Zhang Chu inherit the Creator’s authority, while the Creator planned to consume him first. With Zhang Chu unable to see the trap, Shadow gave Lu Xiao his heart so Lu Xiao could use the Eye of Truth to stop the Creator.

• Lu Xiao told Shadow that he alone could see the staircase covered in blood and pale arms, and Shadow identified the Creator waiting at its end as a contingency planning to possess Zhang Chu.
• Shadow explained that inheriting the Creator’s authority would bind Zhang Chu to the island, and that the staircase appeared to be a ritual the Creator wanted to interrupt by eating him.
• Bai Suoyi suggested that Lu Xiao use his Eye of Truth to suppress the Creator’s ability, though Lu Xiao did not know how to activate it.
• Shadow removed his own heart and urged Lu Xiao to eat it so he could experience a deity’s power and try to use the Eye of Truth.
• Lu Xiao accepted Shadow’s heart after Bai Suoyi confirmed it, while Bai Suoyi thought he should begin the Deification Ritual.

Lu Xiao helped Zhang Chu see through the Creator’s illusion, and Zhang Chu destroyed the stairway and devoured the Creator. After thanking Lu Xiao and Shadow, Zhang Chu recognized Shadow as the one who had crawled out through the dog hole and remarked that he had dared to return.

• Lu Xiao ate the heart and fixed his gaze on the Creator, allowing Zhang Chu to see through the illusion.
• Zhang Chu recognized that the Red-Lacquered Gate was the Creator’s open mouth and realized pale hands had been keeping him from walking into it.
• Zhang Chu unleashed his Thunder Magic, destroyed the stairway, and struck down the Creator.
• Zhang Chu walked across his tentacles and ate the Creator.
• Zhang Chu thanked Lu Xiao, then recognized Shadow as the one who had crawled out through the dog hole.

Zhang Chu reunited with the group, punished Shadow over a supposed dog hole, and burned the rot on Lu Xiao’s neck while claiming to recognize him. He then spoke to an unseen Daoist Friend at the flesh wall, leaving Lu Xiao to ask who this fellow was.

• Zhang Chu held Shadow by the collar and spanked him for allegedly digging a dog hole, while Shadow asked where the hole was.
• Zhang Chu carried the group to the flesh wall and pointed out a depression that Shadow suspected had been dug by someone escaping the prison.
• Zhang Chu struggled to remember who Lu Xiao was, then struck the rot on Lu Xiao’s neck with red lightning as repayment for helping him.
• Zhang Chu spoke to his Daoist Friend at the wall, saying the Path to Immortality had been a conspiracy and that he had eaten the would-be Creator.
• Shadow pieced together how the Creator had tried to use Zhang Chu’s ascension ritual, then hesitated to question him after remembering the beating.
• Lu Xiao asked Zhang Chu who his Daoist Friend was.

Shadow tried to learn why Zhang Chu had been waiting, but Zhang Chu could not remember what he was supposed to do after Lu Xiao arrived. When Lu Xiao introduced himself, Zhang Chu recognized his name and reacted with shock.

• Shadow pretended to be Zhang Chu's old fellow Daoist, but Zhang Chu recognized him as the boy who had dug through the dog hole and said he could not reveal what he knew.
• Zhang Chu explained that a fellow Daoist had told him to wait for Lu Xiao, then admitted he had forgotten what came next.
• Lu Xiao and Shadow tried to prompt Zhang Chu with a passphrase, but Lu Xiao misunderstood Shadow's instruction and told Zhang Chu to introduce himself first.
• Zhang Chu introduced himself, and Lu Xiao politely gave his own name as Lu Xiao, Xiao as in Grin.
• Zhang Chu widened his eyes and stammered in surprise when he realized Lu Xiao had arrived.

Lu Xiao’s name triggered Zhang Chu’s fragmented memories, and Zhang Chu revealed that the Prison had fallen as the Flesh High Wall collapsed and its imprisoned creatures escaped. Bai Suoyi explained how long-term memory wear and tear had erased Zhang Chu’s recollections, and Shadow sent a warning to Gambler.

• Zhang Chu panicked after learning Lu Xiao’s name and said a fellow cultivator had warned him that Lu Xiao’s arrival meant the Prison had fallen.
• The Flesh High Wall collapsed into pus, the mist dissipated, and deformed creatures surged away across the ocean and through the sky.
• Shadow pressed Zhang Chu for more information, but Zhang Chu could not remember what the fellow cultivator had told him.
• Bai Suoyi explained that Zhang Chu’s memories had been lost through severe wear and tear caused by his endless pain and repetitive surroundings.
• Shadow formed a magic circle from his blood and told Gambler that the Prison had fallen.

Shadow told Gambler that the Prison inside the Dark Prison had fallen, forcing Gambler to accelerate his plans and order the Pope to reclaim the Church and retrieve the remaining Holy Relics. After Zhang Chu gave Lu Xiao a bloody eyeball left by a fellow Daoist, Shadow identified it as the second Eye of Truth.

• Shadow reported the Prison’s fall to Gambler, who ordered him to return to the Present World and told the Pope to retake control of the Church and retrieve the remaining Holy Relics.
• The Pope agreed to act while Gambler said he would deal with the Clone.
• The Pope’s Clone prayed to his master, received abundant divinity, and vowed revenge on Gambler and War.
• Zhang Chu remembered that a fellow Daoist had left something for Lu Xiao and retrieved a bloody eyeball from a mass of flesh and blood.
• Lu Xiao accepted the eyeball, and Shadow identified it as the second Eye of Truth.

Lu Xiao received a second Eye of Truth and, following Shadow’s instructions, tried to implant it himself. The eyeball went into his socket backward, leaving Shadow to point out his mistake.

• Bai Suoyi recognized the eyeball as another Eye of Truth, while Shadow wondered whether Zhang Chu’s Daoist Friend had given one to Doctor Li.
• Bai Suoyi told Lu Xiao to transplant the eyeball, and Shadow instructed him to replace his right eye with it.
• Lu Xiao gouged out his right eye and pressed the new eyeball into the socket.
• Lu Xiao asked Shadow why he could not see, and Shadow told him he had put the eye in backward.

Lu Xiao adjusted his replacement eye while Shadow and Bai Suoyi prepared to leave the fallen Prison and return to the Present World. Zhang Chu agreed to go with them after Lu Xiao invited him sincerely, and he reclaimed his transformed mask before they departed.

• Lu Xiao corrected the position of his eyeball, and Bai Suoyi helped him focus until Shadow no longer appeared to have two heads.
• Shadow said Prison had fallen and urged everyone to return to the Present World, but he decided not to pressure Zhang Chu into joining them.
• Lu Xiao invited Zhang Chu to come with him, and Zhang Chu agreed without asking where they were going.
• Bai Suoyi asked about Zhang Chu's supposed magical treasure, and Zhang Chu said it was only a battered bulletproof vest.
• Lu Xiao tore off his facial skin and gave it to Zhang Chu, who watched it transform into a black mask and put it on.

Bai Suoyi became convinced that Shadow, Lu Xiao, and Zhang Chu had gone mad, and Shadow’s attempt to calm him failed. Bai Suoyi transformed into a monstrous beastlike form and warned the others to stay away.

• The Source of Pollution recognized Zhang Chu as its master and explained its earlier silence by saying it had become emo.
• Bai Suoyi imagined Shadow tearing off his own head, then saw the others become grotesque and heard voices tormenting him.
• Shadow stabbed Bai Suoyi with a bloodstained blade to drive away the voices and calm him.
• Bai Suoyi woke, attacked Shadow, and insisted that Shadow and Lu Xiao had gone mad.
• Bai Suoyi severed his own arm to escape Shadow, retreated, and transformed into a beastlike creature with a second head emerging from his chest.
• Shadow mourned Bai Suoyi’s madness, while Lu Xiao asked what was wrong with him.

Shadow and Lu Xiao pursued Bai Suoyi across the island while Zhang Chu went to retrieve the mirror, but he found the Prison Doctor and recognized him as Liu Guang. Zhang Chu bound Liu Guang and carried him off, delighted by their reunion.

• Bai Suoyi fled, and Shadow stopped Zhang Chu from attacking him before directing Zhang Chu to retrieve the mirror from the fish-shaped creature.
• Shadow, Lu Xiao, and Chainsaw Man followed Bai Suoyi deeper into the island after the mist cleared.
• Zhang Chu caught up with the fish-shaped creature and took the mirror from its back after the Prison Doctor pointed it out.
• Zhang Chu bound the Prison Doctor with flesh and blood and left him restrained on the fish-shaped creature.
• The Prison Doctor tried to escape by using his Surgical Knife, but an electric current shocked him when it touched Zhang Chu's restraints.
• Zhang Chu returned, recognized the Prison Doctor as Liu Guang, and lifted him into the air with the flesh and blood.

Shadow, Lu Xiao, and Chainsaw Man confronted Bai Suoyi as his body became increasingly bestial, and Shadow devised a plan to restrain him. After Lu Xiao tore off several of Bai Suoyi’s limbs and Shadow helped free him, they kept watch over Bai Suoyi, whose grotesque transformation continued.

• Shadow gave Lu Xiao a severed finger to mask his scent and instructed him to attack Bai Suoyi when his hostility weakened.
• Shadow calmed Bai Suoyi, allowing Lu Xiao to sneak behind him, strike his beastlike head, and tear off an arm and a leg.
• Bai Suoyi coiled his snakelike neck around Lu Xiao and tried to swallow his head, but Lu Xiao snapped another leg and Shadow pulled Bai Suoyi’s face apart to free him.
• Lu Xiao tied Bai Suoyi’s neck into a bow, and Shadow warned him to keep watching so Bai Suoyi’s limbs would not recover.
• Lu Xiao saw Bai Suoyi’s bizarre, animal-featured head pressed beside Shadow as Bai Suoyi flicked his forked tongue.

Shadow used Instigation to calm Bai Suoyi and put him to sleep, despite the toll his ability took on his own humanity. Lu Xiao saw Shadow’s exhaustion and cried without understanding why, while the Source of Pollution revealed that their conversations loosened the shackles on Lu Xiao.

• Shadow told Bai Suoyi he could help them return to normal and urged him to trust him.
• Shadow bribed Bai Suoyi with an eyeball and used Instigation to calm him, leaving him asleep.
• Shadow reflected on how overusing his ability was draining his humanity as Lu Xiao praised him and became tearful.
• The Source of Pollution told Lu Xiao he was crying and asked whether he understood Shadow’s condition.
• Lu Xiao acknowledged his tears, noticed the Source of Pollution’s conversations made his shackles loosen, and recalled calling Shadow the scheming Shadow.