Chapter Summaries

Qingmu dreamed of a vast desert where a giant hourglass was consuming the sand and the memories it represented. An old man sent him east to seek power from a Divine Tree and a black Divine Bird, but Qingmu awoke with most of his memories lost.

• Qingmu stood with an old man before a colossal hourglass in a boundless desert.
• The old man explained that the hourglass was consuming everything, including people’s memories, and would leave them ignorant infants.
• As music and sand overwhelmed the desert, the old man urged Qingmu to go east to a Divine Tree and obtain power to rectify inverted time and retrieve what was lost.
• Qingmu awoke to his phone’s ringtone, found an ID naming him Qingmu, and realized his memories were chaotic.

Qingmu witnessed a yellow-haired thief snatch a young mother's bag and endanger her daughter, Meimei, then chased him into an alley. He trapped the thief in a nightmarish flood of black sewage, leaving the thief to sink into darkness.

• Qingmu met Meimei and her mother on the street and learned that Meimei had been knocked down when a thief stole her mother's bag.
• Qingmu examined Meimei's knee and promised to retrieve the stolen bag before vanishing after the thief.
• Qingmu confronted the yellow-haired thief in a garbage-filled alley and reproached him for pushing Meimei into the street.
• Qingmu's words and the surrounding trash turned the alley into a dark, nightmarish place as black liquid flooded around the thief.
• The thief struggled against the rising sewage and sank into darkness while a crow flew away.

Qingmu met Captain Shi Dazhuang and learned about a human-organ trafficking case involving a surgeon who refused to confess. After hearing that the victims’ organs included one man’s brain, Qingmu questioned why it had been taken.

• Hu Xing brought Qingmu to meet Shi Dazhuang after he arrived at the police station on Professor Mei’s recommendation.
• Shi Dazhuang and Hu Xing explained that three men had been found with organs removed, including two victims drugged after meeting people online.
• Shi Dazhuang identified the suspect as Zhao Pengcheng, a surgeon who had not confessed, and said police needed to uncover the buyers and trafficking chain.
• Hu Xing described how a wealthy businessman in a vegetative state had his kidneys, liver, and brain removed before his family discovered the crime.
• Qingmu asked Hu Xing why the culprit had taken the businessman’s brain.

Qingmu used the cold and the sound of his slippers to make Zhao Pengcheng fall asleep during questioning, then planted an ice pop against his lower back to trigger a vivid scene. Zhao woke in the imagined aftermath of a kidney removal and feared he was dying, while Qingmu told him he had only lost a kidney.

• Qingmu asked Shi Dazhuang to dim the interrogation room, lower the air conditioning, and bring ice pops.
• Qingmu paced around Zhao Pengcheng until he fell asleep, while Hu Xing watched his rapidly moving eyes on the surveillance feed.
• Qingmu tucked a wrapped ice pop against Zhao's lower back, waking him with the cold.
• Zhao imagined himself naked in a bathtub full of ice, discovered a long stitched incision, and believed someone had taken his kidney.
• A strange man entered the bathroom as a crow called outside, and Qingmu told Zhao he would not die because he had only lost a kidney.

During Qingmu’s questioning, Zhao Pengcheng confessed that he had sold seven or eight kidneys and explained how his sister died after a promised donor backed out. He began describing how Old Yu spotted that former donor at their hospital, leaving the story at the start of the events that led to the present case.

• Qingmu asked Zhao Pengcheng where his kidney had gone, and Zhao confessed that he had sold it through Old Yu, naming Yu Jianguo as the hospital security worker who arranged the deals.
• Zhao recounted how he had planned to give his kidney to his sister, who suffered chronic kidney failure, but their family found another donor so he could attend medical university.
• Zhao returned home years later and learned that the donor had taken Old Yu’s deposit, backed out of the transplant deal, and been arrested in a police raid, while Zhao’s sister had died without receiving a kidney.
• Zhao described how he blamed himself for not donating his kidney, later helped Old Yu get a hospital security job, and continued to remember his sister and father with him.
• Zhao said Old Yu had spotted the former donor at the hospital about two years earlier, wearing a gold chain and receiving treatment.

Zhao Pengcheng confessed to secretly removing kidneys from men he considered deserving, aided by Old Yu, before his interrogation turned into a surreal vision that ended when a phone rang. Shi Dazhuang learned that the autopsy report and an eyewitness lead concerning the body on Garbage Street were ready.

• Zhao Pengcheng recounted how he and Old Yu lured a promiscuous man to the hospital, removed both his kidneys, and sold them, donating the money to the Kidney Love Public Welfare Fund.
• Zhao Pengcheng said he and Old Yu repeated the scheme, but admitted the last two victims did not deserve to die and that he had wanted to warn people to cherish their kidneys.
• During the interrogation, Zhao Pengcheng struggled and claimed he had removed the brain of a patient in a vegetative state as a surreal bathroom vision unfolded around him.
• A phone ringtone shattered the vision, and Zhao Pengcheng woke in the interrogation chair as Shi Dazhuang answered a call from Hu Xing.
• Hu Xing told Shi Dazhuang that the autopsy report for the male body on Garbage Street was ready and that police had found an eyewitness.

After Qingmu helped the police learn how the organ-trafficking case was committed, Shi Dazhuang investigated a separate death that seemed to be an asthma attack. The forensic evidence linked it to a suspicious death at a scrap yard, leaving Shi Dazhuang concerned that both cases might involve murder.

• Hu Xing reported that the deceased had died from suffocation during an asthma attack, and an eyewitness said he had snatched a woman's bag shortly before his death.
• Shi Dazhuang thanked Qingmu for helping the interrogation and ordered Yu Jianguo taken into custody, while Hu Xing agreed to take Qingmu home.
• Qingmu passed the shopkeeper in the station corridor, and she briefly froze before recovering with no memory of what had happened.
• Chen Jianzhong told Shi Dazhuang that the deceased's rapid death, posture, and signs of struggle were suspicious despite the medical cause of death being asthma.
• Chen Jianzhong compared the death to a similar case at a scrap yard, and Shi Dazhuang wondered what the deceased had seen before dying.

Qingmu and Hu Xing drove toward home after helping the police, and Qingmu showed her that he could enter and shape dreams. Hu Xing realized the sudden storm had unfolded in a dream lasting only seconds, but she still could not tell whether she was awake.

• Qingmu declined to question Zhao Pengcheng further, then told Hu Xing that his ability was dream interpretation rather than hypnosis.
• Hu Xing refused to stop so Qingmu could smoke, and an apparently sudden downpour engulfed the car.
• Qingmu got out into the rain, but Hu Xing discovered the sky was clear when she stepped outside.
• Hu Xing returned to the car and found Qingmu beside her while she was still driving with her seat belt fastened.
• Hu Xing stopped outside the Wuzhong Grand Hotel and realized the storm had been a dream lasting only seconds.
• Hu Xing asked whether she was awake, unsure if the dream had truly ended.

Hu Xing drove Qingmu to Liuying Lane, where she discovered he lived above a bar and ran a studio offering dream interpretation and other services. They met the bar’s landlady, Bi Shenghua, whose striking appearance and tomboyish manner left Hu Xing intrigued.

• Hu Xing gave Qingmu a carton of Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes and an S.T. Dupont lighter to replace his discarded matches, and he accepted the lighter but kept his own cigarettes.
• Hu Xing drove Qingmu through Liuying Lane to the building where he lived and followed him inside.
• Hu Xing noticed the signs for Ruhua Bar and Qingmu’s Divine Crow Studio, and laughed at the studio’s advertised services.
• Bi Shenghua opened the door, scolded Qingmu for bringing a police officer, and insisted that her name was Bi Shenghua, not Ruhua.
• Hu Xing introduced herself as Qingmu’s friend and wondered whether he would be handsome if he dressed himself up.

Qingmu returned to Divine Crow Studio with Hu Xing and met Ma Fuqing, who asked him to interpret a recurring nightmare. The chapter ended with Ma Fuqing revealing that the headless woman in his dreams chased him and threatened to kill him.

• Qingmu and Hu Xing went upstairs to meet Ma Fuqing, who had come seeking Qingmu's help.
• Qingmu fed Boss Coal braised pork hock, and the talking crow thanked Bi Shenghua before teasing her from the stairwell.
• Hu Xing laughed at Boss Coal's antics while Qingmu invited Ma Fuqing to explain his problem.
• Ma Fuqing described recurring dreams of a woman chasing him, his family's recent illnesses, and his fear that they were haunted.
• Ma Fuqing revealed that the woman in his dreams had no head.

Qingmu used a dream to frighten Ma Fuqing, who fled after leaving a red envelope. After Hu Xing questioned Qingmu about dreams, he asked her to check for unsolved cases involving a headless woman with a mole on her left breast.

• Qingmu lit a cigarette, and Ma Fuqing dreamed of a headless woman demanding her head back.
• Boss Coal’s call woke Ma Fuqing, who hurried out of the bar and left a red envelope.
• Hu Xing asked Qingmu whether he could control dreams and who the headless woman was, but Qingmu said he had only observed Ma Fuqing’s dream.
• Hu Xing declined Qingmu’s dinner invitation and left the bar, annoyed that he had sat down to eat instead of walking her to the door.
• Qingmu called after Hu Xing and asked her to check case files for unsolved cases involving a headless woman with a mole on her left breast.

Qingmu went out with Boss Coal, whose ability to talk drew a crowd and attracted a woman offering cash to buy him. Qingmu refused her offer and headed back to Ruhua Bar with the crow.

• Qingmu gave Ma Fuqing’s red envelope to Bi Shenghua, who kept the money for his meals and refused to accept his expensive lighter as rent.
• At Ruhua Bar, Qingmu heard a college student singing and declined Bi Shenghua’s request to perform with Boss Coal.
• Boss Coal ignored Qingmu’s outstretched arm, perched on his head, and charmed nearby girls by speaking for snacks.
• A woman claimed Boss Coal was a valuable plateau raven and offered Qingmu twenty thousand, then thirty thousand, to buy him.
• Qingmu ignored the woman’s offer, quieted Boss Coal, and walked back toward Ruhua Bar.

Qingmu worked a busy shift at Ruhua Bar while a sorrowful singer performed, then discovered a mysterious woman waiting for him in a dark corner. She drew close and questioned his attempt to pass as a server, leaving Qingmu wary of what she wanted.

• Qingmu returned to Ruhua Bar and helped serve customers while Boss Coal ate fruit at the counter.
• A young woman sang mournful songs as Qingmu listened and overheard customers gossiping about him and Bi Shenghua.
• Rain drove customers inside and away, and Bi Shenghua decided to close the bar.
• Qingmu noticed a customer still sitting in a dark corner and went over at her request.
• The woman told Qingmu that he could not conceal his scent, invited him to sit, and leaned close enough to unsettle him.

Qingmu resisted a mysterious woman’s Fragrant Hypnosis, and she recognized him as an exceptional Awakened before leaving in the rain. After a thunderclap broke Mo Yu’s sleepwalking spell, she regained awareness, asked where she was, and fainted.

• Qingmu recognized the woman’s attempt to enchant him and demanded that she settle her 150 bill.
• The woman praised Qingmu as a Great Dream Mentor, showed him a familiar hourglass-like symbol, and asked whether he had caused Mo Yu’s sleepwalking performance.
• Bi Shenghua interrupted them, broke two glasses, and ordered Qingmu to clean up while the woman left, promising to return because they were in each other’s dreams.
• Mo Yu insisted she had to reach her school before midnight, but Xiao Qi stopped her from rushing into the heavy rain.
• After thunder struck, Mo Yu woke from her sleepwalking, asked where she was, and fainted when Qingmu told her she had just finished singing.

Mo Yu stood before the mirror in Qingmu’s studio and recounted how Situ had taught her that mirrors could create an accumulating reflection of a person’s biological waves. She ended her story with the night a dark shape appeared behind her in a bathroom mirror just before it shattered.

• Qingmu brought the awakened Mo Yu to a dusty mirror as midnight approached, while Bi Shenghua and Xiao Qi watched.
• Mo Yu recalled how she met Situ, whose scientific explanations made her believe mirrors could be magical.
• Situ explained that reflections between a mirror and a person’s eyes could accumulate biological waves into something like a soul, and warned the girls not to let a midnight mirror break.
• Mo Yu and the other girls became curious about mirrors, and shattering glass and screams began to be heard in their dormitory at night.
• Mo Yu recalled looking into a bathroom mirror late one night, seeing a dark shape behind her, and watching the mirror shatter as she began to turn around.

Mo Yu recounted how Li Qian used two mirrors in an attempt to retrieve her soul, and how she saw thirteen versions of her face, including one she believed was her face after death. Qingmu explained that Mo Yu had been hypnotized and had sleepwalked for the past seven days, including going to sing at Ruhua Bar.

• Mo Yu said Li Qian comforted her after she screamed during a mirror-related nightmare.
• Li Qian brought Mo Yu to her apartment and used two hinged mirrors in an attempt to retrieve her soul.
• As Li Qian turned the mirrors, Mo Yu saw numerous versions of herself and became unable to move or speak.
• Mo Yu saw a thirteenth face that she believed showed what she would look like after death.
• Qingmu said Mo Yu had been controlled by hypnosis and had sleepwalked without awareness for seven days.

Qingmu broke the mirror that had shown Mo Yu the face of her corpse, then investigated a headless female corpse case in Lu County with Hu Xing. He left Mo Yu in Bi Shenghua and Xiao Qi’s care while the mystery of her seven days of sleepwalking remained unresolved.

• Qingmu warned Bi Shenghua and Xiao Qi that Mo Yu’s sleepwalking might be caused by mind control linked to the thirteenth face she saw, and they agreed to help her.
• Qingmu shattered the mirror, causing Mo Yu to collapse, and told Xiao Qi to keep her home and avoid answering calls while she recovered.
• After Bi Shenghua and Xiao Qi took Mo Yu away, Qingmu drew an hourglass-like symbol and sent a photograph of it to Professor Mei Yiqiu at Three Wu University.
• The next morning, Hu Xing called Qingmu about a headless female corpse in Lu County and offered to drive him there.
• Bi Shenghua told Qingmu to come home early as he left with Hu Xing, and he joked with her about his appearance and personal hygiene during the drive.

Qingmu and Hu Xing traveled to Lu County to investigate Yang Baoguo, who had been convicted of a headless woman's murder despite denying it and despite gaps in the evidence. On the way, Qingmu explained how he used hypnosis and dream stimuli to question Zhao Pengcheng, while Hu Xing wondered what favor he had meant to ask her.

• Hu Xing told Qingmu that Yang Baoguo had been arrested through a DNA match but had refused to confess, and that the victim remained unidentified.
• Qingmu questioned whether Yang Baoguo had been wrongly accused or was concealing a larger case, and Hu Xing hoped his methods could help identify the victim.
• Hu Xing reported that Yu Jianguo's arrest had led police to several other suspects in the organ-trafficking case.
• Hu Xing reconstructed Qingmu's interrogation of Zhao Pengcheng and asked how he had induced the dream.
• Qingmu explained that he used hypnosis, cold conditions, and an ice pop to shape Zhao Pengcheng's dream and speak with his subconscious.

Hu Xing and Qingmu questioned Yang Baoguo, whom Lu County police had convicted of murder based on DNA evidence, and Qingmu concluded he was not the killer after examining his dream. They headed to the crime scene to investigate further, while Qingmu explained that Yang Baoguo’s dream differed from Ma Fuqing’s account of the victim.

• Deputy Captain Gao told Hu Xing and Qingmu that DNA evidence made Yang Baoguo’s conviction conclusive and took them to the detention center.
• Hu Xing saw Yang Baoguo and initially believed he was a murderer, but Qingmu studied him and said he was not the killer.
• Qingmu asked Deputy Captain Gao to take them to the crime scene, and Hu Xing followed the county police there.
• Qingmu told Hu Xing that Yang Baoguo’s dream showed a different woman from the one Ma Fuqing had dreamed about, with a head and no mole on her left breast.
• Qingmu explained that Yang Baoguo’s drug-damaged mind had led him to imagine himself committing murder, and Hu Xing asked whether Qingmu had ever killed anyone.

Qingmu explained to Hu Xing how memories shaped dreams, then redirected their investigation from the quarry to Ma Fuqing’s home. They found Ma Fuqing there after his mother initially turned them away.

• Qingmu explained that people could not dream of things beyond their knowledge and that dream figures were assembled from memories.
• At the abandoned quarry where the victim had been found, Qingmu dismissed the possibility of finding clues and sent Deputy Captain Gao away.
• Qingmu asked Hu Xing to navigate to Ma Fuqing’s home, and they drove to Majia Creek in Tong County.
• Qingmu and Hu Xing reached Ma Fuqing’s house, but his mother shut the door after they asked for him.
• Ma Fuqing opened the door when Hu Xing and Qingmu rang again.