Chapter Summaries

The author wished readers a happy Lunar New Year, explained that the book had been briefly taken down after a report about its S-named Foundation setting, and described how the story grew beyond its original purpose. As the second volume neared its climax, the author said they might reduce updates to polish its ending.

• The author announced a day off to celebrate Lunar New Year's Eve with readers and thanked readers and the editor for supporting the book.
• The author explained that the book was taken down on February 6 after a report triggered a safety review over its S-designated Foundation setting, but the editor helped them contact the site in time to appeal.
• The author said Lord of the Mysteries had inspired their interest in Cthulhu themes and that they began the book without an outline after their first xianxia novel failed.
• The author explained that the book was initially meant to introduce the world of a new novel, but it gained unexpected popularity and its early narrative became scattered.
• After Niclade's fall, the author revisited the outline and foreshadowing and developed the world in the second volume.
• The author said the second volume was nearing its end and that they might post only one or two chapters during the holiday while polishing its climax.

After Gluttony died, Bai Suoyi left Lucilla behind and contemplated Shadow’s plan for him to gather the Sin traits and attain godhood. Meanwhile, Lu Xiao, Driver, and Ding Dan found a strangely well-kept Taoist temple in the Mount Kunlun Range, where Driver questioned whether such a temple had ever existed.

• Lucilla swallowed the Stomach and shrank, while Bai Suoyi realized Shadow intended for him to gather the Sin traits and bypass the Deification Ritual.
• Bai Suoyi left the Villa, and Lucilla remained beside Gluttony as fire spread across the distant night sky.
• Driver piloted the Transforming Vehicle across Mount Kunlun until the group found a clean temple complex and landed in its square.
• Ding Dan noticed the stone paving looked recently cleaned, while Lu Xiao found warm incense ash in a bronze cauldron.
• Lu Xiao proposed entering the complex to speak with its inhabitants, but Driver warned that he had never heard of a Taoist temple on Mount Kunlun.

Lu Xiao, Driver, and Ding Dan were welcomed to a Taoist temple by an attendant named Zhang Chu, matching the name of the corpse Lu Xiao had brought to bury. Ding Dan proposed that the temple’s master might have reused a deceased disciple’s Taoist name, and asked Driver whether he had retained human habits such as burning incense.

• A young attendant named Zhang Chu opened the gate and welcomed Lu Xiao, Driver, and Ding Dan on his master’s behalf.
• Lu Xiao told Driver and Ding Dan that he had come to bury his friend, whose name was also Zhang Chu.
• Ding Dan and Driver questioned whether the matching names were a coincidence, while Lu Xiao insisted they were not.
• Ding Dan suggested the temple’s master could have given a new disciple the same Taoist name as a former one, and pointed to signs of human habits at the temple.
• Ding Dan asked Driver whether, as a rational Weird Life, he still had human habits such as burning incense, and Driver asked if that was what he meant.

Lu Xiao, Ding Dan, and Driver followed a young Taoist boy into the Kunlun Taoist Temple, preparing for a possible fight with its mysterious master. Their guide revealed that he was a mechanical puppet, and Ding Dan suspected the boy had lied about being mindless.

• Ding Dan gave Lu Xiao a dagger and warned him to use it if anything seemed wrong, while Lu Xiao kept his Corrupted Revolver ready.
• The young Taoist boy led Lu Xiao, Ding Dan, and Driver into the temple, and Lu Xiao unnerved him by first aiming a revolver at his back and then pressing a dagger there.
• Driver found his badge and hung it around his neck while Ding Dan guessed that Lu Xiao had been gauging how to stab an opponent in the kidney.
• Lu Xiao questioned the guide about his master and teased him about having an unsteady Dao heart, then forcibly turned the boy's twisted head back around.
• The young Taoist boy said he was a mechanical puppet casually refined by his master, and Ding Dan concluded that the boy's independent thoughts meant he was lying about being mindless.

Ding Dan tried to use the Green Mailbox while the young Taoist boy led the group onward, but Lu Xiao began acting as though he was being controlled. The chapter ended with Positivity triggering a transformation in the boy after Ding Dan struck him instead of Driver.

• Ding Dan asked Driver to retrieve the Green Mailbox and tried to use it with the Transforming Vehicle, but neither knew whether it would work.
• Lu Xiao heard clockwork inside his own body and turned to find the young Taoist boy whispering that it would soon be the group’s turn at Kunlun Taoist Temple.
• Ding Dan noticed that Lu Xiao and the boy were walking in sync, and Lu Xiao began speaking and moving like someone else.
• After a clockwork sound, Lu Xiao briefly returned to normal and urged Ding Dan to keep going, then Positivity pierced Ding Dan’s heart.
• Ding Dan pulled out Positivity and stabbed the figure beside him, but the young Taoist boy had replaced Driver and began swelling as clockwork roared inside him.

Lu Xiao and Driver turned the Little Daoist Boy’s attack back on him, and Lu Xiao stopped Driver from pulling the winding key out of Ding Dan. A stitched Daoist nun appeared and introduced herself as Dan Qingrong, leaving Lu Xiao facing her with his revolver raised.

• The Little Daoist Boy struck Ding Dan and turned the winding key in his abdomen once, saying that three turns would make him a complete puppet.
• Lu Xiao pulled an identical key from his own abdomen, while Driver stabbed the Little Daoist Boy in the back with Confusion.
• The Little Daoist Boy disintegrated into wooden parts, and Lu Xiao picked up the metal key that fell among them.
• Lu Xiao warned Driver not to pull the key from Ding Dan’s abdomen, then pointed out that Driver’s own abdomen was bloody and exposed.
• A stitched Daoist nun approached, said Ding Dan looked strikingly familiar, and stopped when Lu Xiao aimed the Corrupted Revolver at her.
• The Daoist nun said her name was Dan Qingrong.

Lu Xiao, Driver, and Ding Dan encountered Dan Qingrong, who attacked Lu Xiao and punished Driver with a Clockwork. Ding Dan concluded that something in the temple’s bronze ding had enabled the young Taoist acolyte to use Clockwork on him, and Dan Qingrong revealed that he should call her Grandma.

• Lu Xiao guessed that Dan Qingrong was Ding Dan’s mother and called her his sister-in-law, prompting her to attack him with a Wooden Sword.
• Ding Dan stepped aside, allowing Dan Qingrong to wound Lu Xiao and cut open the bundle on his back, spilling chunks of flesh.
• Dan Qingrong’s face cracked apart to reveal mechanical gears, and Driver’s careless gossip earned him a Clockwork turn that made his belly swell.
• Ding Dan reasoned that something in the Three-Legged Bronze Ding, which Lu Xiao and Driver had touched but he had not, had let the young Taoist acolyte use Clockwork on him.
• Ding Dan asked Dan Qingrong to explain, and she told him he should call her Grandma.

Dan Qingrong told Ding Dan and the others how the Procreation Trait had contaminated her, leading to the deaths of everyone at Kunlun Taoist Temple and to Ding Dan’s birth. After revealing that Ding Dan was her son, she began reassembling the chunks of flesh while Ding Dan drew Lu Xiao and Driver aside, saying he had mostly figured out what happened.

• Dan Qingrong pieced her face back together and asked Lu Xiao whether he had brought all that remained of the man.
• Lu Xiao explained what had happened, and Dan Qingrong thanked him before telling Ding Dan she would explain their past.
• Dan Qingrong recounted how she had taught Zhang Chu at Kunlun Taoist Temple, become contaminated, and caused a scandal that led Zhang Chu to leave the temple.
• Dan Qingrong said the temple elders and then the other disciples died during rituals meant to cure her, leaving her alone.
• Dan Qingrong revealed that the Procreation Trait had made her obsess over having children, and that she gave birth to Ding Dan, his father.
• Dan Qingrong began reassembling the flesh as Ding Dan led Lu Xiao and Driver into the shadows and said he had mostly figured out the story.

Ding Dan, Lu Xiao, and Driver questioned Dan Qingrong’s account of her past and suspected that the Taoists’ ritual had been a pretext for exploiting her Trait of 'Procreation'. They chose not to pursue the truth through the Omniscient Mirror, leaving Dan Qingrong quietly piecing together Zhang Chu’s remains.

• Ding Dan warned Lu Xiao and Driver not to reveal their suspicions to Dan Qingrong, then pointed out inconsistencies in her story and the effects he felt around her.
• Lu Xiao told Ding Dan that Mr. Shadow had identified him as Zhang Chu’s descendant, while Ding Dan said he was not necessarily descended from the Taoist.
• Ding Dan and Driver reasoned that Dan Qingrong’s influence might have led the Taoists to exploit her under the pretext of a ritual, after which they died because of her.
• Lu Xiao connected the suspicion to Dan Qingrong’s refusal to let Zhang Chu see his son and reflected on the tragedy surrounding them all.
• Ding Dan said they could seek the truth through the Omniscient Mirror but chose to leave the past buried, while the three watched Dan Qingrong piece together Zhang Chu’s remains.

Dan Qingrong rebuilt a body for her lost companion, and Lu Xiao used the Source of Pollution to restore Zhang Chu to it by sacrificing the memories he carried. Zhang Chu woke up alive but confused, while Lu Xiao lost some of his restraint and accepted Dan Qingrong’s thanks.

• Dan Qingrong assembled a human-shaped body from flesh and used incense and a metal clockwork mechanism to bring it to life, though it lacked its former occupant’s memories.
• Lu Xiao offered to restore some of the body’s memories, and the Source of Pollution said it carried memories belonging to its master.
• Lu Xiao placed the black mask on the body, and its slime transformed into skin as Zhang Chu woke up and searched his stomach for something he thought was missing.
• Dan Qingrong thanked Lu Xiao, while Ding Dan judged that Lu Xiao remained rational despite struggling to suppress his returning madness.
• Lu Xiao accepted Dan Qingrong’s thanks and said she was too kind.

Lu Xiao helped Zhang Chu recover an eyeball and gave him the other half of the Life Trait, keeping him from going mad. Zhang Chu left with Lu Xiao, while Dan Qingrong watched him go, unable to make him remember her.

• Lu Xiao gouged out both eyes to help Zhang Chu identify the right one, and Zhang Chu recognized Lu Xiao and gave him the eyeball meant for him.
• Ding Dan explained that Lu Xiao's actions had kept Zhang Chu from breaking down over the vanished Prison and his lost memories.
• Dan Qingrong explained that the two halves of the Clockwork formed the Life Trait, warned that using it twice would cause pollution, and gave Zhang Chu her half.
• Zhang Chu failed to recognize Dan Qingrong, declined her invitation to practice Daoist arts, and prepared to leave with Lu Xiao.
• Dan Qingrong watched Lu Xiao and Zhang Chu depart, listened to the voices around her, and recalled that Zhang Chu had once told her it was better to forget each other than cling to each other in hardship.

Shadow joined Driver, Zhang Chu, Ding Dan, and Lu Xiao in the Transforming Vehicle, revealing that humanity had completed the Spark Plan and moved to a new world while Zhang Chu guarded Prison. Shadow then explained that Dan Qingrong’s procreation trait could cause pregnancy through her glare, prompting Ding Dan to recall Zhang Chu’s and Driver’s swollen abdomens.

• Driver brought the Transforming Vehicle to the Gate, where Shadow boarded and Zhang Chu recognized him as Liu Guang.
• Lu Xiao noticed the smell of human blood on Shadow, and Zhang Chu broke down, saying Prison had fallen and he could not face Chief Bai.
• Shadow told Zhang Chu that Chief Bai was dead and that humanity had completed the Spark Plan and moved to another world.
• Shadow said Dan Qingrong hated him and warned Ding Dan that traits could not be understood through ordinary assumptions about reproduction.
• Shadow revealed that whoever Dan Qingrong glared at could get pregnant, and Ding Dan remembered Zhang Chu and Driver developing swollen abdomens.

After returning to the Present World, Ding Dan and the others found a bloody riot sparked by the exposure of the C03 Containment Facility. The Highest Office planned to exploit public outrage against Huaxia’s Prison Warden, while Warden and Shadow watched; Lu Xiao approached a crying boy to learn what had happened.

• Shadow brought the group back to the Present World, left them at a riot scene, and asked them to try to stop the crowd.
• Ding Dan realized they had been away for less than two days, while Lu Xiao and Driver got out to investigate and Ding Dan and Zhang Chu stayed in the vehicle.
• Protesters demanded the truth about the C03 Containment Facility’s exposure and clashed with soldiers from Military Headquarters.
• Members of the Highest Office toasted their plan to use public anger against Huaxia’s Prison Warden to restore their standing and gain control of C04.
• Warden and Shadow watched the Highest Office members from across the street, and Shadow said the scheme would lessen his guilt.
• Lu Xiao approached a sobbing boy on the curb and asked him what had happened.

A sniper shot Lu Xiao with a powerful round, but he survived and pulled the bullet from his head as Ding Dan began to break down under the crowd’s abuse. Shadow and Warden discussed the deliberate pressure on Ding Dan, with Shadow admitting he had gone mad long ago.

• A little boy accused Lu Xiao of killing his father and bit his arm, while the crowd condemned Lu Xiao.
• An Anti-Materiel Sniper Rifle shot Lu Xiao, and Ding Dan rushed out of the car as Driver checked him.
• The crowd called Ding Dan a monster, and their abuse caused him to tremble and cover his ears as Driver tried to shield him.
• Lu Xiao stood up, removed the bullet from his temple, and went to comfort Ding Dan.
• The crowd insulted Ding Dan and the soldiers, while Warden questioned Shadow about pushing the situation too far.
• Shadow said there was little time left and admitted that he had gone mad long ago.

Ding Dan received a letter from Feis and chose to embrace his identity as a demon, opening the gate to Hell. Feis King and a host of hideous monsters emerged as the stunned crowd watched.

• Shadow summoned a Green Mailbox, and Ding Dan received a letter from Feis and his subjects.
• Ding Dan told Lu Xiao he no longer wanted to be human, then transformed and prepared to open the gate to Hell.
• Shadow warned Ding Dan that opening the gate would release devils and endanger ordinary people.
• Ding Dan sought support from the others, and Lu Xiao congratulated him on becoming a true devil.
• Ding Dan pushed open the gate, unleashing a terrifying wind and freezing the crowd with fear.
• Feis King emerged, knelt before Ding Dan, and was followed by deformed monsters forced to their knees by pale arms.

Ding Dan began his deification ritual by unleashing hell creatures on a crowd while Shadow broadcast the massacre worldwide. As violence spread and the authorities’ role came under suspicion, Ding Dan opened his eyes to a mysterious stairway and stepped toward it.

• Ding Dan ordered Feis and the monsters to spread fear, while warning them not to attack the soldiers in camouflage uniforms.
• Ding Dan asked Shadow to broadcast the scene worldwide, and Shadow revealed that the live feed had already begun.
• Antie watched the broadcast, praised Shadow’s boldness, and ordered the gods plan wrapped up and the Eden Project commenced.
• Bai Suoyi crushed his phone as Lucilla attacked him, and he reflected on Shadow’s advice about using righteous and evil methods for different people.
• Soldiers attacked the hell creatures, but the monsters spared them and continued slaughtering the crowd; Shadow told Driver the purge would make it easier to reveal the Dark Prison’s secret.
• Ding Dan became calm, saw an endless stairway, and stepped onto its first step as fear and despair pressed in on him.

Ding Dan resisted the temptation to abandon his humanity and completed his Deification Ritual, then learned that Shadow had engineered the crisis to force his resolve. Ding Dan promised to act once on humanity’s behalf, while Driver chose to remain with Shadow.

• Ding Dan climbed the stairway while a tempting voice urged him to abandon his feelings and humanity.
• Ding Dan refused to order the soldiers killed, rejected the stairway’s temptation, and reached its end as the scenery shattered and new steps appeared.
• Shadow and Ding Dan both ordered the Hell Creatures and soldiers to retreat, ending their confrontation.
• Ding Dan deduced that Shadow had arranged the events to help him attain godhood and offered to do one thing for him in return.
• Ding Dan vowed to act once on humanity’s behalf, and Driver chose to stay beside Shadow.

Ding Dan left with the Green Mailbox after the Hell Creatures were dragged back to Hell, while Shadow and Driver discussed why Shadow had exposed the truth. Lu Xiao and Zhang Chu found Warden in a building with a sniper rifle, and Warden claimed he could see evil clearly despite his failing eyesight.

• Ding Dan dismissed Feis, then carried away the Green Mailbox as the Hell gate dragged the remaining Hell Creatures back.
• Driver asked Shadow whether Ding Dan would have stayed if Shadow had not called for retreat, and Shadow explained he had wanted them to part without resentment.
• Driver told Shadow he had chosen to stay, and the two joked about hating each other by the book if Shadow ever schemed against him.
• Lu Xiao and Zhang Chu traced the sniper shot to a deserted building and found Warden behind a shattered glass partition beside a sniper rifle.
• Lu Xiao asked Warden whether he had shot him, and Warden pointed toward a building across the way and said he could see evil clearly.

Lu Xiao followed the Warden’s warning and confronted several Highest Office members in a nearby building, asking what evil they had done. They trembled before him, and an elderly man claimed the red liquid on the table was wine.

• The Warden pointed out people preparing to leave a nearby building, and Lu Xiao spotted them through the window.
• Lu Xiao smashed through the floor-to-ceiling glass, leaped across the gap, and climbed the opposite building’s exterior.
• The men inside recognized Lu Xiao from his outdated containment file and grew frightened when he entered.
• Lu Xiao said he wanted to learn what the men had done, then noticed a glass of vivid red liquid on the table.
• An elderly Highest Office member insisted the liquid was red wine and pointed to the partly filled bottle.

Shadow confronted Adams and the Highest Office over their plan to expose the Prison Wardens and manipulate public opinion, then revealed their conversation was being broadcast worldwide. The timer he started ran out just as he announced the live broadcast.

• Shadow identified the wine as human blood, but Lu Xiao tasted it and said it was red wine.
• Shadow named Adams and used his influence to make Adams admit he was a member of the Warden Supreme Office.
• Shadow introduced himself as War, the Saints’ Ninth Seat, and challenged Adams’s claim that the Prison Wardens served humanity.
• Shadow accused the Highest Office of leaking satellite footage from C03 Containment Facility to provoke public unrest and strengthen its own position.
• Shadow said the conversation was being broadcast live worldwide as his five-minute timer reached zero.