Recaps

Xu An confessed his feelings to Ye Shunguang, then learned that workers were organizing a protest against Hui Crystal Meike over its covered-up production accident. As the group headed to join them, Xu An and Belle also discussed secretly bringing Ye Shunguang down from the mountain for a change of scenery.

• Xu An told Ye Shunguang that he liked her, and she hurried back to her room, later recording the confession in her diary.
• Xu An returned to Yunkui Summit, where Ju Fufu reported that Dr. Lor had publicized the investigation and workers were planning a protest.
• Xu An, Belle, and the others visited the gathered workers, where Eric and Paro thanked Xu An for finding evidence of contaminated medicine and prepared to seek compensation from Damian.
• Belle agreed to inform Dr. Lor about the protest, while Eric and Paro arranged a safer way to contact one another.
• Xu An asked Belle what Ye Shunguang might enjoy, and they considered secretly bringing her down from the mountain despite their master's orders.

Xu An and Belle visited Dr. Lor, who had prepared evidence against Hui Crystal Meike, then returned to the shop and met Wise and Damian. Damian disputed Lor’s account and accused him of questionable medical treatment, leaving the group unsure whom to trust.

• Dr. Lor told Xu An and Belle that faulty corruption-suppressing medication had caused Ether Corruption among workers and that Hui Crystal Meike had refused compensation; he had printed evidence to support protests.
• Xu An and Belle left the clinic, discussed making Ye Shunguang a handmade hairpin, and returned to the shop, where Belle happily greeted Wise.
• Xu An messaged Ye Shunguang, who had finally fallen asleep after staying awake worrying about him, then spotted Damian and let him into the courtyard.
• Damian apologized for failing to support Mount Yunkui’s investigation and said he was handling compensation, but Belle challenged his claims about the workers’ treatment.
• Xu An asked Damian about threatening Dr. Lor, and Damian admitted it while claiming Lor lacked a medical license and that his Worry-Free Water might be suspect.
• Damian accused Dr. Lor of persuading workers to abandon TOPS medication for Worry-Free Water and said he had been investigating the doctor’s motives, shocking Belle and Fufu.

Belle, Xu An, and their companions investigated Damian’s accusations against Doctor Lor and the effects of Worry-Free Water. Their findings supported Damian’s account and raised suspicions that the medicine caused hallucinations or contained Corruption.

• Damian left Belle and the others documents about corruption incidents and compensation claims, and they agreed to investigate Doctor Lor and the people who received treatment.
• Xu An encountered Billy and heard gossip before meeting Belle and Komano Masato, who said Paro had gone into the Hollow with his wife for Doctor Lor’s anti-corruption treatment.
• Komano Masato told Belle that a friend traced the photo of their teacher to a recent Corruption surge in Lemnian Hollow, though its production area remained unknown.
• Wise verified that Damian had filed for compensation and that the claim was still being assessed through the mayor’s special channel.
• Fufu reported that workers who drank Worry-Free Water felt drowsy and dreamed of warm memories, leading Yixuan to ask whether the medicine contained Corruption.

Yixuan’s group uncovered Doctor Lor’s Worry-Free Water as a Corruption-tainted fraud and went into the Hollow to find Paro and the workers he had treated. They found Paro turning into an Ethereal after his Corruption flared, and Xu An vanished in anger as Paro charged deeper into the Hollow.

• Yixuan explained that Worry-Free Water contained Corruption, and the group concluded Doctor Lor had used it to deceive patients and discredit Hui Crystal Meike’s medicine.
• After learning Paro and several workers had gone to see Doctor Lor, the group followed Wise’s signals into the Hollow and cleared Corruption and Ethereals from their path.
• The group found Paro in severe pain; he said he and his wife had come for treatment and pleaded with them to save her, pointing toward where she was being held.
• Yixuan tried to regulate Paro’s Ether while Xu An eased his pain, but Paro lost consciousness as a core began forming on his body.
• Paro rose and charged deeper into the Hollow, transforming into an Ethereal; Xu An vanished in anger while Fufu mourned what had happened.

Xu An and Yixuan’s group discovered that Worry-Free Water had not cured the workers’ corruption sickness and that Lor and the Order were behind a planned ritual. They rescued the workers with corruption-suppressant medication and returned to Yunkui Summit, where Wise recognized the Order’s role.

• Xu An found the workers delirious and suffering from severe corruption sickness, then used spells to stabilize them while asking about Lor’s ritual.
• Yixuan and the others arrived, and Wise and Belle set out to locate corruption-suppressant medication as Xu An went after Lor.
• Lor turned nearby workers into Ethereals and tried to flee, but Xu An defeated the Ethereals and captured him.
• Xu An fought off the Order members surrounding Lor, and Lor died after invoking the First Lord.
• Wise and Belle’s group obtained and administered corruption-suppressant medication, and the party brought the workers back to Yunkui Summit.
• Wise concluded that the Order had been pulling the strings behind the events.

After learning that Lor had used Worry-Free Water as part of a sacrificial ritual for the Order, Xu An and the others tried to warn workers and find evidence. Their investigation left them with a USB drive, plans to involve Damian, and questions about Yixuan’s troubled state.

• Ye Shiyuan sent Pan Yinhu to warn the workers while Wise, Ju Fufu, and Belle searched Lor’s consulting room for clues.
• Xu An told Komano Masato that Paro and other workers had become Ethereals, and Masato agreed to care for Lila and notify others.
• Lila overheard that her parents were gone and broke down in Komano Masato’s arms, while Xu An left them to grieve.
• Ju Fufu and Belle found a USB drive in Lor’s consulting room, and Wise offered to investigate its contents.
• Ye Shiyuan and Pan Yinhu reported that many workers distrusted their warning, so the group discussed contacting Damian to spread the truth about the Order.
• Ju Fufu realized Yixuan was missing, and Ye Shiyuan told Belle that Yixuan had asked to see her alone.

Yixuan told Belle and Xu An how Corruption had shown her memories of the failed mission at Hollow Zero, where Yijiang and Mount Yunkui’s other twelfth-generation disciples died. Their discussion was interrupted by a neighborhood-wide outbreak of corruption symptoms, and Yixuan organized a plan to contain the leaking Ether.

• Yixuan asked Belle about her experience with Corruption, and Belle described warm memories of their teacher alongside a strange presence in the Hollow.
• Belle recalled seeing Yixuan speak with a badly injured person, and Yixuan confirmed the images were fragments of her memories.
• Yixuan explained that Mount Yunkui’s twelfth-generation disciples had nearly all died during a failed mission at Hollow Zero, after which TOPS took control of Waifei Peninsula; the injured person in Belle’s vision had been Yijiang.
• A sudden outbreak caused people nearby to suffer worsening corruption symptoms, and Yixuan treated several while Xu An, Belle, and Ju Fufu warned that the Ether was spreading.
• Yixuan gave everyone talisman marks and sent them to establish Ether Resonance Marks so she could contain the Ether and relieve the patients’ symptoms.

Yixuan led a dangerous formation that drew corruption from the patients, leaving her weakened and troubled by memories of Mount Yunkui’s past losses. Xu An and Belle helped her rest, while Belle was asked to lead the others as they continued investigating the Order.

• Yixuan directed everyone to activate the formation, which lifted the corruption-sickness patients and drew their corruption into a massive energy ball.
• Xu An tried to share the burden, but Yixuan kicked him away and then scattered the corruption with golden light, saving everyone on the street.
• Yixuan nearly collapsed from the technique’s side effects, and Xu An supported her and took her back to her room.
• Yixuan told Xu An that the technique had brought back memories of the Hollow’s expansion, the deaths of her senior brothers and sisters, and her older sister Yijiang.
• Xu An asked everyone to follow Belle’s lead while Yixuan rested, and Ye Shiyuan connected Yixuan’s memories to the nightmares she had been experiencing near the Lemnian Hollow.
• Belle tried to cheer Yixuan by joking about electronic fortune-telling and fake visitor reviews, and Yixuan thanked her before sending her back to rest.

Xu An and the others learned that The Order had engineered the Ether Corruption outbreak and was using the Mutual Aid Association to lure people into a protest and sacrifice. They arranged free medicine distribution at Yunkui Summit while Wise uncovered evidence linking Doctor Lor to the outbreak and abnormal Hollow observation points.

• Xu An helped Yixuan regulate the Ether in her body, then Belle teased him the next morning as he left Yixuan's room.
• Ju Fufu brought Eric to the group, and Eric revealed that the Mutual Aid Association was organizing a protest in the Hollow despite his inability to control its members.
• Xu An suspected Eric's subordinates had betrayed him, while Ye Shiyuan agreed that Eric had likely been a puppet for Lor's people.
• Damian called to report that medicine supply points in the Hollow had been vandalized and asked the group to oversee free corruption-suppressant distribution near Yunkui Summit.
• Wise compared USB records with the outbreak data and found that early Worry-Free Water users developed symptoms, while Doctor Lor had deliberately contaminated medicine and marked faulty observation points where Corruption showed anomalies.

Xu An and his companions set out to raid the Order’s suspected base while Belle struggled with her feelings for him. Belle admitted she liked Xu An, but he said his heart belonged to their senior sister Xiaoguang and wondered why Belle had tried to introduce him to Astra Yao instead of herself.

• Xu An and Wise identified a likely Order hideout, and Belle assigned Ye Shiyuan to guard Yunkui Summit while the others went to investigate.
• Xu An blackmailed Belle into asking Ye Shiyuan about Xiaoguang’s preferences and personal details.
• Xu An, Belle, Ju Fufu, and Pan Yinhu entered the Hollow and advanced toward the suspected base under Wise’s remote guidance, fighting the Ethereals along the way.
• Belle suggested introducing Xu An to Astra Yao, but Xu An said he already liked someone and agreed only that making friends was fine.
• Belle asked if Xu An liked their little senior sister, admitted she liked him, and heard him say his heart belonged to someone else.
• Xu An asked Belle why she had tried to introduce him to Astra Yao instead of introducing herself.

Xu An and the others destroyed an Order gathering site, but learned that the ritual preparations were continuing elsewhere. They returned to the temple and found that Yixuan had awakened, leaving Xu An to report on the situation and check her recovery.

• Xu An captured and questioned an Order member at a supply site, but learned he was only a minor follower who knew nothing about the mastermind.
• A devoted follower threw himself into the Corruption while Ju Fufu tried to stop him, and the Order’s leader, Lord Overseer Meral, ordered the ritual preparations to begin elsewhere.
• Xu An, Ju Fufu, and Belle concluded that the Order had other bases and discussed evacuating the Hollow’s crowds before the ritual could endanger them.
• The group returned to the temple, where Wise told them Yixuan had awakened and her condition had stabilized.
• Xu An went to update Yixuan and check her recovery after Ju Fufu asked him to be gentle.

Yixuan told Belle how her sister Yijiang died after overusing the Qingming Sword to save people, and resolved to stop the Order while honoring her sister’s sacrifice. She led a group into Lemnian Hollow, where Wise was trying to evacuate workers from the protest rally amid signs of an Order plot.

• Yixuan explained that the Qingming Sword’s side effects killed her master and consumed Yijiang’s memories before her sister died during the fall of the Old Capital.
• After recalling the people Yijiang had saved, Yixuan told Belle to gather everyone at Yunkui Summit’s entrance so they could end the Order’s plans.
• Eric reported that workers had entered Lemnian Hollow for a protest rally and that rumors had undermined his credibility.
• Yixuan said Mount Yunkui would confront the Order but ordered the disciples to withdraw if the battle turned against them, while Ye Shiyuan stayed behind to protect Wise and the city.
• Yixuan and the others entered Lemnian Hollow, where Wise told Belle that some workers still refused to leave and that nearby Corruption condensates suggested the Order was hiding something.

Xu An and the others cleared corruption and fought the Order’s forces while searching for captives and evidence of a ritual. They followed a lead to an anomalous area, where Xu An accidentally triggered a corruption puddle and Yixuan struck him for his carelessness.

• Xu An rescued a worker who said the Order had imprisoned his friends in a nearby basement and was preparing a ritual.
• Xu An, Ju Fufu, and Pan Yinhu fought a Praise Chanter whose staff kept summoning Ethereals, and Xu An killed him to make them disappear.
• Belle cleared corruption, lowered a control lever, and detected anomalous energy nearby while the group searched for clues and the remaining captives.
• The group followed the lead toward the basement and found an area filled with corruption condensates but no Order members.
• Xu An scraped a corruption puddle with his shoe, causing it to explode over him, and Yixuan thumped him on the head.

Yixuan and the others uncovered evidence that the Order was experimenting with Corruption and found a hidden mass of it at the gathering site. After Wise began evacuating the attendees, they used an access card to descend into the Order's underground laboratory, where an eerie red haze and strange noises greeted them.

• Yixuan and the others fought their way past high-ranking Ethereals and killed an Order member who attacked them from an elevator.
• Belle found experiment records showing that the Order was turning living animals into Corruption, while Xu An wondered whether refugees were being used as test subjects.
• The group discovered a large purple-black sphere of Corruption, and Belle sent Wise a photo so he could reveal the Order's plans to the gathering attendees.
• Wise reported that the attendees had agreed to evacuate, and Belle found an access card among the records.
• Belle used the card to open the elevator, and the group descended into a red-hazed underground laboratory where Ju Fufu and Pan Yinhu heard something nearby.

Yixuan and the others reached the clock tower plaza and confronted Meral, the Order’s bishop, as she began transforming through the Corruption ritual. Their first attacks failed to break through her defenses, but Xu An’s flying sword nearly exhausted her Corruption shield.

• Ju Fufu mistook Xu An’s touch for an attack and clawed at him before the group continued through the basement.
• Belle found a strange vial containing a substance like Corruption, and Yixuan suspected it was connected to the abnormal Corruption in the area.
• Xu An led the group up the spiral staircase and cleared wandering Ethereals as they followed the rising Corruption toward the clock tower plaza.
• Yixuan told Belle to stay safe while the group approached the plaza, where Meral stood among floating spheres of Corruption.
• Meral began her ritual and transformed, then declared that the group dared defy the will of the First Lord.
• Yixuan, Ju Fufu, Pan Yinhu, and Xu An attacked Meral, and Xu An’s flying sword struck her Corruption shield until its red glow grew faint.

Yixuan and her disciples fought Meral, whose renewed Corruption attack forced Yixuan to confront memories of her sister. Yixuan awakened her power and defeated Meral, but after the group returned to Yunkui Summit, Eric reported that The Order had begun a strange ritual.

• Yixuan and her companions shattered Meral's Corruption shield and drove her back, but Meral restored it and launched a powerful attack.
• Xu An used his system to increase his spirit and shield the group while Yixuan froze as a memory of her sister surfaced.
• Yixuan remembered her sister's promise, recovered, and transformed the Corruption into golden light before awakening her power as Mount Yunkui's thirteenth-generation sect master.
• Yixuan and her companions attacked Meral, and Xu An disrupted her long enough for Yixuan to knock her down and defeat her.
• Yixuan's group led the trapped adults out of the Hollow and returned to Yunkui Summit, where Eric reported that The Order had been preparing a strange ritual.

After Mount Yunkui stopped the Order’s crisis on the Waifei Peninsula, the rescued workers thanked the group, and Hui Crystal Meike promised to improve conditions for its employees. Yixuan warned that the Order’s remaining facilities and a strange object still needed investigation, leaving the group with unfinished leads.

• Eric and the Waifei Peninsula workers thanked Mount Yunkui, while Xu An promoted the temple’s businesses and Fufu struggled to calm the crowd.
• Yixuan pretended to be sick so the group could send the workers away and return to Yunkui Summit to rest.
• Yixuan warned that the Order’s presence and remaining research facilities meant Mount Yunkui still had to investigate the aftermath.
• Damian thanked Mount Yunkui and said he would use the crisis to negotiate for more resources for Bright Porcelain and better benefits for employees.
• Yixuan told Belle to hand the strange object from the Order’s hideout to the mayor’s office, while Fufu noted that Belle’s teacher and the photograph’s source remained missing.

Xu An visited Ye Shunguang on Mount Yunkui and agreed to take her out so she could experience life beyond the mountain and record it in her diary. He stepped outside to ask Belle for ideas about where a guy and a girl could go together.

• Xu An arranged to visit Ye Shunguang, then slept late and hurried up Mount Yunkui with food for her.
• Xu An told Ye Shunguang about the fight with The Order while she listened and praised him and Master.
• Xu An helped Ye Shunguang tidy her room and declined to open her diary, which she said preserved their memories.
• Ye Shunguang asked Xu An to show her the kinds of places and activities he enjoyed, and he agreed to plan their outing.
• Xu An messaged Belle for suggestions about places for a guy and a girl to have fun together, prompting Belle to worry about what he was up to.

Xu An took Ye Shunguang from Mount Yunkui to Lumina Square so she could experience the lively world below the mountain. They explored the streets together, and Xu An went to buy them drinks while Ye Shunguang waited.

• Xu An messaged Belle about taking Ye Shunguang down the mountain, and Belle insisted on coming along.
• Ye Shunguang changed into a pink dress, and Xu An praised her before taking her hand and flying with her on his sword.
• Ye Shunguang held Xu An tightly during the flight, then dozed off against him before they arrived at Lumina Square.
• Ye Shunguang examined a pharmacy and the Public Security Bureau, then crossed the road with Xu An to explore the neighborhood.
• Ye Shunguang and Xu An talked about basking in the sun together and sharing secrets, and Xu An went to a milk tea shop to buy drinks.

Xu An, Ye Shunguang, and Belle visited Orchid’s flower shop and chose flower arrangements for their companions and each other. After they left, Ye Shunguang told Xu An that being with him gave her unfamiliar feelings and that she felt as if they had known each other for ages.

• Xu An brought strawberry and mango milk tea to Ye Shunguang, and they walked together to Orchid’s flower shop.
• Belle appeared and insisted on joining them, and Ye Shunguang and Belle each hugged one of Xu An’s arms as they entered the shop.
• Ye Shunguang suggested that the three choose flower arrangements as gifts for their companions, and she described the flowers each person liked.
• Ye Shunguang and Belle each prepared an arrangement for Xu An, while Xu An chose flowers he liked and asked Orchid to make two identical arrangements.
• After they left the shop, Ye Shunguang whispered to Xu An that it was her first time arranging flowers with someone else and that she felt as if they had known each other for ages.
• Ye Shunguang told Xu An that being with him brought her unfamiliar feelings, which she felt were like the fragrance of flowers.

Xu An spent the day with Ye Shunguang and Belle, then told Ye Shunguang he liked her before arranging to take her to Sixth Street the next day. After a tense dinner at the temple, Xu An arrived at Ye Shunguang’s residence the next morning, but she was nowhere to be seen.

• Xu An and Ye Shunguang said goodbye, and Xu An whispered that he liked her, making her blush and hurry away.
• Belle asked Xu An to buy her two cups of milk tea, and they returned to the temple with drinks for the others.
• At dinner, Belle revealed that Xu An and Ye Shunguang had held hands and planned to visit Sixth Street together the next day, alarming Ye Shiyuan and Wise.
• Yixuan agreed that Xu An and Belle could take Ye Shunguang out, while Xu An fled dinner under everyone’s stares.
• Xu An arrived at Ye Shunguang’s residence early the next morning, but she was gone, leaving the flower pot by her bed.

Xu An found Ye Shunguang’s diary and learned she had written about his confession before joining Belle on Sixth Street. He met her there and spent the day taking photos and playing games, while Ye Shiyuan watched them from nearby with Wise; the outing continued when Ye Shunguang spotted newspapers and magazines.

• Xu An read Ye Shunguang’s diary, which described their flower arranging and her reaction to his confession, then messaged her.
• Ye Shunguang told Xu An she was already on Sixth Street with Belle, and Xu An flew there to meet her.
• Ye Shunguang asked Xu An to take a photo with her, while Ye Shiyuan watched them with Wise and worried about their closeness.
• Wise persuaded Ye Shiyuan to leave the street and go to his video store to watch films.
• Xu An and Ye Shunguang visited the convenience store and arcade, where Ye Shunguang beat him at several games.
• Ye Shunguang noticed the newspapers and magazines as she and Xu An left the arcade.

Xu An, Ye Shunguang, and Belle played with Howl and Inky at the newsstand, then followed Howl’s clues to find two stools. Ye Shunguang kept one as a shared prize, and the chapter ended with her asking Xu An about the shop he used to own.

• Ye Shunguang chatted with Howl, and she, Xu An, and Belle scratched cards that all revealed the lowest prize.
• Howl gave them a note and photographs asking them to find two hidden stools, and Ye Shunguang recognized the first location from her brother’s memories.
• Xu An and Ye Shunguang found a stool at the repair shop, and Xu An petted her head after she told him he could, as long as he warned her next time.
• Belle found the other stool, and Xu An took Belle’s and Ye Shunguang’s hands as they returned to Howl with both stools.
• Howl gave the remaining stool to Ye Shunguang, who invited Xu An and Belle to visit her room and sit with her.
• Ye Shunguang noticed the sign bearing the characters for “Peace” and asked Xu An if it belonged to his former shop.

Xu An welcomed Belle and Ye Shunguang to his shop and cooked them lunch, while Belle and Ye Shunguang grew closer and teased each other. After the meal, Xu An led them out for a stroll.

• Xu An took Belle and Ye Shunguang upstairs to rest while he went shopping for groceries.
• Xu An cooked lunch as Belle told Ye Shunguang about his cooking and Fairy revealed how much Belle had spent on food.
• Belle traded Ye Shunguang’s ticklish waist as gossip for an extra meal, and Xu An eagerly agreed.
• Xu An, Belle, and Ye Shunguang ate until they were full, while Wise and Ye Shiyuan ate instant noodles at the video store.
• Xu An led Belle and Ye Shunguang out for a walk after they cleared the table.

Xu An and Ye Shunguang went to Lumina Square to watch a movie together, growing closer as they held hands and shared the experience. The film’s puppy was rescued from an Ethereal, and the two reflected on how each life and story mattered.

• Xu An teased Ye Shunguang after Inky rejected him for having no food, and she joined Belle in catching him and ruffling his hair.
• After Belle left to help Wise, Xu An suggested that he and Ye Shunguang go to Lumina Square, and she chose a movie about a puppy.
• Xu An bought cola and popcorn, then watched Wandering Footprints with Ye Shunguang, who nervously held his hand in the theater.
• When an Ethereal threatened the puppy, Ye Shunguang worried until a Hollow Investigator arrived to rescue it.
• Xu An and Ye Shunguang discussed how every story and the people in their lives had unique value before turning their attention back to the movie.