Chapter Summaries

Mei Yiqiu, gravely ill in the hospital, asked Mei Ziqing to let him die peacefully without intubation. Their reunion ended with him accusing her of having deceived him for more than ten years.

• A doctor brought interns to examine Mei Yiqiu, whose condition was weak but stable.
• Mei Yiqiu asked the doctor not to intubate him and tried to pass on a cryptic message about destruction and rebirth.
• Mei Ziqing arrived, and Mei Yiqiu asked for fish before she sent the nurse away.
• Mei Ziqing held Mei Yiqiu's hand and promised not to let him suffer or deceive him.
• Mei Yiqiu smiled and told Mei Ziqing she had deceived him for more than ten years.

Mei Ziqing explained that she came to Wuzhong to pursue her father’s dream of creating a paradise through the dream network, and urged Mei Yiqiu to give her the Key to the Dreamscape. Mei Yiqiu refused, and Mei Ziqing began guessing who he had entrusted it to.

• Mei Ziqing confessed that she loved Mei Yiqiu and explained that the woman he loved had been connected to the Awakeners' Alliance.
• Mei Yiqiu asked why Mei Ziqing came to Wuzhong, and she said she was seeking the Holy Land to fulfill her father’s dream of freeing humanity from the world’s rules.
• Mei Ziqing argued that the Space Box made it possible to build a paradise by unifying people’s dreams, while Mei Yiqiu insisted such a world could not exist.
• Mei Ziqing revealed that she knew the Key to the Dreamscape could control the dream network and asked Mei Yiqiu to hand it over.
• After Mei Yiqiu refused, Mei Ziqing wondered whether he had entrusted the Key to Qingmu, Yao Jingjing, or Bi Shenghua.

Mei Ziqing questioned the dying Mei Yiqiu about the Dream Guide’s gods and her plan to connect the worlds, while he warned her about losing control. After she realized who might hold the Key to the Dreamscape, Mei Yiqiu died with the Space Box sunglasses on his face.

• Mei Yiqiu warned Mei Ziqing that connected dream worlds could become uncontrollable, and explained that Kronos represented rules while the other gods represented spirit and information.
• Mei Ziqing speculated that the internet could provide the information for her plan and that the place the Parasites came from might be the source of spirit.
• Mei Yiqiu asked about an earthquake in Santa Fe City, Argentina, then asked Mei Ziqing to put the Space Box on him before he died.
• Mei Ziqing asked for the Key to the Dreamscape, but Mei Yiqiu stayed silent and stared at the ceiling.
• Mei Ziqing realized who Mei Yiqiu might have given the key to, and Mei Yiqiu began coughing blood.
• Mei Ziqing placed the sunglasses on Mei Yiqiu, and the heart monitor flatlined.

Yu Jianguo waited anxiously for news about the gravely ill Professor Mei and remembered how the professor had helped him regain his will to live. A nurse delivered a cryptic message that Yu Jianguo recognized as being meant for him, and he secretly called Yao Jingjing for help.

• Yu Jianguo recalled how Mei Yiqiu had told him that Zhao Pengcheng was well and had helped him find purpose in life.
• Yu Jianguo worried about Mei Yiqiu's grave illness after seeing him in the hospital surrounded by visitors.
• A young nurse arrived at the laboratory and told Yu Jianguo, "Whatever happens to me, keep going. Destruction is salvation. Death is rebirth."
• Yu Jianguo recognized the nurse from the hospital and realized she had brought him a message connected to Mei Yiqiu.
• Yu Jianguo told the smart gatepost to keep the conversation confidential, then called Yao Jingjing from outside the laboratory's network coverage.

After Mei Yiqiu died, Mei Ziqing prepared his body and kept vigil before learning that Yu Jianguo had also died by suicide. She and Bian Ziyuan discovered Yu had taken the professor’s Space Box and given it to Yao Jingjing, who had flown to Cairo.

• Mei Ziqing washed and dressed Mei Yiqiu’s body, wrote his obituary, and stayed beside him through the night.
• At Mei Laboratory, Mei Ziqing found Bian Ziyuan grieving and learned Yu Jianguo had died after mixing sleeping pills with alcohol.
• Mei Ziqing suspected Yu had killed himself to protect the Key to the Dreamscape entrusted to him and discovered the professor’s Space Box was missing.
• Bian Ziyuan recalled that Yu had met Yao Jingjing while shopping and given her the Space Box.
• Mei Ziqing learned Yao Jingjing had flown to Cairo the previous night.

Mei Ziqing and Bian Ziyuan investigated where the professor’s hidden object might be, suspecting it was connected to the Holy Lands and the Key to the Dreamscape. They left Old Yu’s body behind and considered whether Bi Shenghua might be holding the object.

• Mei Ziqing learned from Saladin that Yao Jingjing and Hou Biao had gone to Cairo, and suspected they were seeking a Holy Land.
• Mei Ziqing chose to remain for the professor’s funeral while telling Bian Ziyuan to finish fusing with Kronos and monitor Yao Jingjing and Hou Biao.
• Mei Ziqing told Bian Ziyuan to call the police after daybreak about Old Yu’s death, then wondered whether Old Yu had been a smokescreen.
• Bian Ziyuan argued that the professor’s object was probably passed from Old Yu to Yao Jingjing, but Mei Ziqing questioned why it had not been given to Qingmu instead.
• Mei Ziqing suspected Bi Shenghua might have the object because Qingmu trusted her, and decided to test her.

Mei Ziqing visited the Mulberry Garden and discovered that it contained the Holy Land she had sought in Wuzhong. After finding a key beside the management office, she heard someone ask whether she had come to see them.

• The Mulberry Garden's success boosted Hu Xing's standing and spurred development in the surrounding Mulberry Grove District, though few visitors paid its high admission prices.
• Mei Ziqing toured the garden and read that its ancient Red Silkworm Mulberry was far older than its trunk suggested, then murmured the name Qingmu.
• At a lake, Mei Ziqing noticed the Red Silkworm Mulberry facing a thriving willow and sensed an unusual field of mental power throughout the garden.
• Mei Ziqing recognized the field as the Holy Land from her father's notes and wondered whether it was connected to Qingmu's disappearance and return.
• Mei Ziqing found a key hidden beneath a flowerpot by the management office's rear door, and someone behind her asked, "Are you here to see me?"

Mei Ziqing met Bi Shenghua at Mulberry Garden and tried to learn whether she was an Awakened and what she knew about the Key to the Dreamscape. She bluffed that Mei Yiqiu had left Bi a message, and Bi asked what the professor had said.

• Mei Ziqing recognized Bi Shenghua and considered whether she might be a powerful Awakened guarding the Key to the Dreamscape.
• Mei Ziqing softened Bi Shenghua’s displeasure by introducing herself as Mei Yiqiu’s assistant and saying she had come to see Qingmu.
• Mei Ziqing told Bi Shenghua that Mei Yiqiu had died and pretended he had left a message for her.
• Bi Shenghua recalled Mei Yiqiu’s secret visit and the vague task he had entrusted to her, which she had told only Qingmu about.
• Mei Ziqing claimed Mei Yiqiu had told Bi to keep what he gave her safe, and Bi asked what the professor had said.

Bi Shenghua showed Mei Ziqing Professor Mei Yiqiu’s garden plans, and they discovered a will hidden among the drawings. The will left most of Mei Yiqiu’s assets to Xia Chujue, with Bi Shenghua managing them until she came of age, leaving both women puzzled about the professor’s intentions.

• Bi Shenghua took Mei Ziqing to Qingmu’s former studio and showed her the garden plans Professor Mei had entrusted to her.
• Mei Ziqing recognized the plans as depictions of the Mulberry Garden and questioned why Bi Shenghua had not attended Professor Mei’s funeral.
• Mei Ziqing found two pages of Mei Yiqiu’s will tucked inside the plans, naming Xia Chujue as the main heir and Bi Shenghua as the manager of her inheritance until she came of age.
• Bi Shenghua was shocked because she had examined the plans many times and had never seen the will inside them.
• Mei Ziqing connected Xia Chujue’s inheritance to the Xia family, Situ Xingzhi, and the Space Box project, and wondered why the assets had not been entrusted to Xia Chujue’s guardians.

Mei Ziqing explored Bi Shenghua’s memories to learn whether she knew the whereabouts of the Key to the Dreamscape, but discovered only how Mei Yiqiu had entrusted her with his will. As Mei Ziqing left Mulberry Garden, a giant crow with glowing red eyes emerged from the Red Silkworm Mulberry tree.

• Mei Ziqing reasoned that Xia Chujue or Xia Wenyuan might have the Key to the Dreamscape and questioned Bi Shenghua about Mei Yiqiu’s visit.
• Bi Shenghua’s dream replayed Mei Yiqiu’s visit on the night of the typhoon, when he gave her drawings of Mulberry Garden and asked her to manage his estate through his will.
• Mei Ziqing watched the memory, then left after concluding that Bi Shenghua did not have the Key to the Dreamscape.
• Bi Shenghua awoke outside and recovered the memory of the will, while Mei Ziqing returned the key she had taken from beneath the flowerpot.
• Mei Ziqing noticed the Red Silkworm Mulberry was covered in leaves despite the winter cold, and a huge black bird with glowing red eyes flew from its branches.

Enluke and the Indian guide’s family fell under the control of the black-cloaked Itjenetjer Ay, who intended to eat the child before the lunar eclipse. Qingmu emerged from the kitchen with Boss Coal and confronted Ay, who recognized him and spoke of everyone returning to Gaia’s embrace.

• Enluke saw cloaked strangers enter the village, including a barefoot man in a trench coat with something moving on his head.
• Enluke found Ay and his followers inside the guide’s house, and Ay compelled Enluke and the Indian woman to obey him.
• Ay sent the woman to prepare the child as food, but a crow’s voice interrupted him from the kitchen.
• Qingmu came out of the kitchen with Boss Coal, while the Indian woman lay unconscious and the child watched nearby.
• Ay recognized Qingmu and explained that he was following them before the lunar eclipse, and Qingmu identified Ay as the usurper who had broken the Itza People’s curse and snapped Tutankhamun’s divine staff.

Qingmu confronted Itjenetjer Ay over Selina, but Itjenetjer left to pursue Gaia’s descent as nine black-clad followers surrounded Qingmu. Qingmu recognized their shared dream realm as resembling the mental power of both Ancient Egyptian priests and the Itza People in Ramla.

• Crow showed Enluke tofu and stinky tofu, and Enluke vomited while Itjenetjer Ay reacted with disgust.
• Itjenetjer Ay recognized Crow’s connection to Qingmu’s former title, then decided to leave and resume his pursuit before the lunar eclipse.
• Qingmu revealed that he had come to avenge Selina by killing Itjenetjer Ay.
• Itjenetjer Ay said Qingmu could not kill him and ordered nine black-clad followers to surround Qingmu before departing.
• Qingmu identified the followers’ combined mental power as a group dream realm with roots shared by Ancient Egyptian priests and the Itza People in Ramla.

Huang Liang discovered that he could walk across an invisible path beyond the cliff while Hong Kui could not. After Hong Kui explained that love allowed someone to walk the Heavenly Road and reach the key to the Holy Land, Huang Liang saw his loved ones reflected in the distant ice, and the road became visible beneath him.

• Huang Liang felt solid ground beyond the cliff, and Hong Kui tested the empty space but found nothing.
• With Hong Kui holding a rope tied around him, Huang Liang walked into the air without falling.
• Hong Kui called the invisible path the Heavenly Road and explained that he had brought Huang Liang to reach a key needed to enter the Holy Land.
• Hong Kui said that only someone whose deep love aligned with the road could walk on it, and Huang Liang saw the faces of his family, friends, and patients in the ice.
• Huang Liang saw his sister, Old Yu, and Martha among the faces, and a Heavenly Road of ice appeared beneath him, leading to the inverted iceberg.

Huang Liang and Hong Kui merged their dreams so Hong Kui could cross the Heavenly Road with him. They stepped from the dream into Mount Denali’s icy landscape and vanished from the guide’s sight.

• Hong Kui explained that he and Huang Liang needed to create an identical shared dream so the Heavenly Road would recognize him as part of Huang Liang.
• Huang Liang chose Old Wolf’s room at Wolf Manor as the setting, and his dream recreated Martha tending to Old Wolf.
• Hong Kui entered Huang Liang’s dream, and the two men adjusted their minds until their dreams merged and the room stabilized.
• Huang Liang connected the shared dream to reality by opening a door onto Mount Denali, then stepped onto the Heavenly Road with Hong Kui following on a rope.
• The Native American guide watched Huang Liang and Hong Kui step into thin air and disappear, then resolved to tell his family what he had seen.

Huang Liang and Hong Kui reached the iceberg at the end of the Heavenly Road, where Hong Kui claimed the Soul of Ice. After the iceberg world collapsed, they found themselves on a frozen plain near the North Magnetic Pole, but Huang Liang spotted nine suns in the sky.

• Huang Liang watched Hong Kui touch the iceberg, which began melting and released a deadly cold.
• Huang Liang tried to help Hong Kui bear the iceberg’s force, but the ice hurled him away and the world collapsed.
• Huang Liang found himself on a glacier beside an unconscious Hong Kui, who held a smooth, mirror-like icicle.
• Hong Kui awakened and named the icicle the Soul of Ice, explaining that it was the key to opening the Holy Land.
• Hong Kui used a compass and suspected they had passed through a passage connecting Alaska and Queen Elizabeth Island, near the North Magnetic Pole.
• Huang Liang looked up and saw nine suns, questioning whether they were still on Earth.

Huang Liang learned that Howard and Itjenetjer Ay had used him to expose Selina, but he refused to rejoin the organization. As Itjenetjer Ay overwhelmed him with Mental Power, Hong Kui urged him to use the Soul of Ice, and Huang Liang began drawing on its hidden power, though Itjenetjer Ay still reached for it.

• Itjenetjer Ay and Howard confronted Huang Liang and demanded the Soul of Ice.
• Howard revealed that the organization had suspected Selina and that Mr. Ronald’s plan had used Huang Liang to verify their suspicions.
• Huang Liang returned the Soul of Ice to Hong Kui and said he wanted to be free, while Hong Kui reaffirmed his trust in him.
• Itjenetjer Ay attacked Huang Liang with overwhelming Mental Power, and Hong Kui told him to use the Soul of Ice to protect them.
• Huang Liang connected to the power within the Soul of Ice and resisted Itjenetjer Ay, who approached and reached for the artifact.

Huang Liang and Hong Kui were nearly overcome by Itjenetjer, until Horemheb intervened and confronted him over their ancient rivalry. Their argument revealed the truth behind the pharaohs’ power struggles, while Huang Liang and Hong Kui prepared to seize an opening.

• Itjenetjer’s mental pressure left Huang Liang and Hong Kui unable to fight, but Horemheb arrived and blocked Itjenetjer from taking the Soul of Ice.
• Itjenetjer recognized Horemheb and accused him of stealing his throne and ruining his plan to bring Gaia back to earth.
• Horemheb accused Itjenetjer of manipulating Akhenaten, controlling Tutankhaten, killing Tutankhamun, and usurping the throne.
• Itjenetjer realized Horemheb had helped Tutankhamun learn the truth, while Horemheb explained that Akhenaten had named him successor as Guardian before his death.
• Huang Liang struggled to comprehend the revelation that the two men came from ancient Egypt, while he and Hong Kui prepared to attack if an opening appeared.

Huang Liang attacked Howard while Itjenetjer and Horemheb battled in a vast dreamscape of sand, but Itjenetjer gained the upper hand and buried Horemheb. Horemheb emerged in a new form and lunged at Itjenetjer, leaving their fight unresolved.

• Itjenetjer and Horemheb clashed with opposing sandstorms, while Huang Liang and the others struggled under the immense mental pressure.
• Huang Liang decided to eliminate Howard and attacked him with repeated slashes of red blade energy.
• Howard dodged Huang Liang’s first strike and conjured a shield to block his following attacks.
• Itjenetjer hid in the black sandstorm and unleashed a piercing shriek that left Horemheb reeling.
• Itjenetjer’s sandstorm buried Horemheb, but Horemheb emerged as a lion-bodied, human-headed beast and leaped at Itjenetjer.

Huang Liang fought Howard while Hong Kui and Horemheb struggled against their opponents, until Howard and the man in black unexpectedly redirected their attacks toward Horemheb. Huang Liang struck down Howard, but Itjenetjer swept away the transformed Hong Kui and seized the Soul of Ice, leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain.

• Huang Liang held off Howard while Hong Kui struggled against the man in black and Horemheb battled Itjenetjer, who transformed into a giant scorpion.
• Hong Kui lost the Soul of Ice’s protection, then transformed into a giant white wolf and resumed fighting the man in black.
• Huang Liang spotted an opening in Howard’s defense and committed to a full-power strike, leaving himself undefended.
• Howard and the man in black redirected their attacks toward Horemheb, allowing Huang Liang to cleave through Howard’s back and shatter his mental world.
• Itjenetjer struck the white wolf with its tail, seized the Soul of Ice, and Horemheb smashed the man in black into the sand.
• The dust settled, revealing the endless ice field and nine suns once more.

Huang Liang watched Horemheb and Itjenetjer clash with the Soul of Fire and Soul of Ice, while Hong Kui lay barely conscious. When Horemheb began to falter, Huang Liang attacked Itjenetjer but was repelled, drawing Itjenetjer’s attention to him.

• Huang Liang found Hong Kui alive but extremely weak and used CPR and his mind to protect Hong Kui’s remaining consciousness.
• Itjenetjer revealed that he was a Child of Gaia and wielded the Soul of Ice, while Horemheb challenged his claim to freedom.
• Horemheb produced half of the Soul of Fire and resisted Itjenetjer’s stronger ice attack, but began to struggle in the frozen landscape.
• Huang Liang told Hong Kui to stay awake, then gathered his mental energy into his red scalpel and slashed at Itjenetjer.
• Itjenetjer deflected Huang Liang’s attack and sent him flying; Huang Liang recovered beside Hong Kui, and Itjenetjer turned his icy gaze toward him.