Recaps

Wu Youren escaped after killing a barbarian Great Knight, recovered his supplies, and settled into a new hiding place while Scops Owl departed to investigate the Blood Curse. At the battlefield, the New Army, military, and Red Pine investigators confirmed that a Great Knight had likely died, and Ranxue arranged to check Wu Youren’s location.

• Wu Youren hurried away after killing the barbarian Great Knight, gathered the remaining explosives, burned the bodies, and killed another barbarian Knight Apprentice along the way.
• Wu Youren built a new shelter, ignored a message offering assistance, and decided to keep the battered Great Knight-grade curved saber he had recovered.
• Scops Owl told Wu Youren that the flawless crystal was contaminated and that testing was still needed to see whether it could offset the Blood Curse’s resentment; he then departed for at least half a month.
• The New Army, military, and Red Pine investigators examined the battlefield, where the New Army said a barbarian Great Knight had likely died and the military withdrew.
• Ranxue requested Wu Youren’s latest location, and a New Army Knight agreed to accompany him while keeping his distance.

Wu Youren dealt with questions about his victory over the barbarians, then continued developing his winter camp while officials investigated the battle and Jin Garden belatedly asked where he was. After Scops Owl returned, Wu Youren learned that both the Flawless Crystal and Blood Curse had worked, though Scops Owl had not controlled them well.

• Ranxue and Luo Xi questioned Wu Youren about defeating the Knights, and he refused to explain what poison he had used.
• Ranxue warned Luo Xi to treat Wu Youren carefully, while Wu Youren concluded that his probing had helped secure room to survive.
• Talis visited on behalf of the Office of Protocol, warned Wu Youren to avoid the barbarians, and asked why he had not returned to see the seventeenth prince.
• A Knight Apprentice reported that he could not sense the Great Knight's Blood Curse seed, and Talis suspected another power had interfered.
• Liu Jingming told Wu Youren that Jin Garden was asking where he was, and Wu Youren wondered at Jin's delayed response.
• After the third snowfall, Scops Owl returned and told Wu Youren that the Flawless Crystal and Blood Curse had worked, though he had not controlled them properly.

Wu Youren received anomalous-object samples from Chen Quanxu and discovered that a jade-white bean could be absorbed as gentle energy. After the bean’s energy visibly affected Little Ha, Wu Youren decided he needed to share his cultivation aura more deliberately.

• Chen Quanxu showed Wu Youren the diminished Resentment Qi Crystal after experimenting with resentment qi and the Blood Curse, and they discussed obtaining Marching Stones and investigating the Storage Eagle.
• A ferret courier delivered Chen Quanxu’s pouch of anomalous-object samples, which Wu Youren opened the next morning.
• Wu Youren recognized a tiny jade-white bean as an anomalous object he had encountered in the Azure Qiu’s underground den and asked Chen Quanxu whether he had more.
• Wu Youren absorbed the bean and sensed that its energy was gentle and readily absorbed, while Chen Quanxu observed that it made Little Ha drowsy before the snow harrier quickly recovered.
• After confirming the bean’s energy had strongly affected Little Ha, Wu Youren resolved to share his cultivation aura with him more deliberately.

Wu Youren confronted Kelvin, a puppeteer from the Far West, after Kelvin arrived to negotiate a deal. Their standoff ended with Kelvin offering information and help in exchange for a price, but Wu Youren had not agreed to trade.

• After another half month alone in the wilderness, Wu Youren recognized Kelvin when he arrived and refused to hear his offer.
• Kelvin threatened Wu Youren, but withdrew when Wu Youren said he was recording and would report him to the New Army.
• Wu Youren confronted Kelvin when he reappeared and used the threat of reporting him to force the conversation toward a trade.
• Kelvin offered information about who had leaked details of Wu Youren, then raised his offer to five Resentment Qi Crystals and help killing the informant.
• Wu Youren refused to bargain and asked who had leaked the information, while Kelvin insisted on knowing whether Wu Youren accepted first.

Wu Youren used Kelvin to settle the score with Sister Hua, who was killed after Kelvin brought her to him, though Kelvin left an unpaid debt behind. Later, Wu Youren and Scops Owl discussed Kelvin’s possible interest in Little Ha, and Wu Youren proposed killing him themselves.

• Wu Youren agreed to let Kelvin act in exchange for five crystals and a target’s head, while insisting Kelvin leave his existing debt alone.
• Kelvin returned with three crystals, two heads, and Sister Hua alive, but Wu Youren demanded four more crystals and refused to intervene in Kelvin’s decision about her fate.
• Kelvin took Sister Hua outside and killed her after Wu Youren told him not to kill her in the camp.
• Two days later, Scops Owl returned, and Wu Youren said he was happier that Sister Hua was dead than he would have been with his debt repaid.
• Wu Youren guessed Kelvin might have wanted to trade for Little Ha and, after discussing the danger with Scops Owl, suggested that they kill Kelvin together.

Wu Youren absorbed an emerald night pearl and discovered that it could gently nourish his body and help repair hidden injuries while waves of experience points arrived. Little Ha seemed close to a change, and Scops Owl offered another treasure before asking whether they should fight another wave of Corpse Weirds.

• Chen Quanxu promised to investigate his enemy and find more treasures from the Southern Park Weird Domain, then sent Wu Youren an emerald pearl that proved to be a major supplement.
• Wu Youren absorbed the pearl after dark and found that he could regulate its energy to nourish his body, though successive waves of experience points required days of absorption.
• Wu Youren used the pearl to repair his hidden injuries, and he found Little Ha asleep afterward, possibly nearing a change.
• Chen Quanxu presented a buried stalagmite, but Wu Youren could not sense its energy and wondered whether Kelvin might have something suitable.
• Chen Quanxu said he had already made arrangements for Kelvin, then asked Wu Youren whether they should fight another wave of Corpse Weirds.

Wu Youren confronted Liu Jingming and two Jin Garden guards who had come to find him, then learned from Chief Guard Hao Wei that a hostage and a personal attendant had been infected by Parasitic Weirds. Hao Wei wanted him to contact Chen Quanxu for help, but Wu Youren said he could not contact him.

• Wu Youren buried the leather bag, then heard from Scops Owl about political changes in Taowan and a hostage's clash with the New Army.
• Liu Jingming arrived with two Jin Garden guards to locate Wu Youren, and Wu Youren cut one guard's armor after the man startled and cursed at him.
• Wu Youren questioned the guards' status and learned Liu Jingming had come at Jin Garden's request to report his location.
• Chief Guard Hao Wei visited Wu Youren that night and asked whether he could contact Chen Quanxu.
• Hao Wei explained that a Martial Academy hostage and one of the seventeenth prince's personal attendants had been infected by Parasitic Weirds, prompting Jin Garden to investigate Liang.
• Hao Wei asked whether Wu Youren could deal with the Weirds, and Wu Youren said he had only heard of them.

Wu Youren learned that the Parasitic Weird inside a hostage could threaten the northern border and heard Chief Guard Hao Wei warn him about Saina, a Taowan prince aligned with Liang’s crown prince. He declined to rely on Hao Wei’s intelligence network, then discussed Saina’s possible intentions with Chen Quanxu and decided to stay vigilant.

• Hao Wei explained that Lei Lixing’s death could destabilize Jin’s northern border because his father, the Earl Who Pacifies the North, guarded the frontier.
• Hao Wei warned Wu Youren that Saina, a Taowan hostage who had clashed with the New Army, might target him, and pressed him to use the wristwatch he had provided.
• Wu Youren agreed to consider returning to Red Pine for the watch but said he wanted to avoid dragging Jin Garden into further turmoil.
• Hao Wei left, and Scops Owl later told Wu Youren that Saina might not come after him directly but could hire someone to act.
• Wu Youren and Chen Quanxu discussed Saina, concluding that he valued his life and might act opportunistically through others.

Wu Youren learned that a Parasitic Weird had appeared and arranged for Liu Jingming to bring supplies to Red Pine while warning him in person. The delivery party arrived with supplies, and Kenpa reacted with alarm when Wu Youren revealed the danger.

• Wu Youren and Chen Quanxu discussed how to handle Saina and the plan to deal with Kelvin, while Wu Youren suggested framing someone after the killing.
• In Tianjing, Princess Ailin directed her allies to stir tensions between Liang and Jin by steering events toward Red Pine.
• Wu Youren confirmed the Parasitic Weird's appearance with Ranxue and learned from Chen Quanxu how infestations could spread and devastate entire towns.
• Wu Youren asked Liu Jingming to bring supplies to Red Pine, and Liu Jingming borrowed money and a vehicle with help from Manna and Daiqisi.
• Liu Jingming, Manna, Daiqisi, Kenpa, and the male archer arrived with more than two thousand jin of supplies, and Wu Youren warned them about the Parasitic Weird.
• Kenpa asked where the Parasitic Weird was after Wu Youren disclosed its appearance.

Wu Youren and his companions learned that Parasitic Weird had spread from Suotu to Haicheng Martial Academy and Jin Garden, raising fears of a deliberate attack. As Wu Youren prepared to investigate and protect himself, Manna and the Bellflower Mountain group arrived with an official request to help the City Guard Bureau, and he asked whether they were searching for Parasitic Weird.

• Manna and the others discussed how dangerous Parasitic Weird could be, while the male archer revealed that someone at Haicheng Martial Academy and a personal attendant in Jin Garden had been infected.
• Wu Youren warned Liu Jingming to prepare supplies, then wondered whether Liang's Hall of Extraordinary Masters had released the Parasitic Weird; he and Chen Quanxu considered borrowing some for their own purposes.
• Wu Youren decided to organize his supplies and head into the mountains after two days, postponing a discussion about Kelvin until he returned.
• Manna and seven members of the Bellflower Mountain group arrived with a City Guard Bureau request for help with a potential Weird threat in Tianjing.
• Wu Youren asked whether the group had come to search for Parasitic Weird.

Wu Youren and the others patrolled Tianjing for signs of the Parasitic Weird while keeping their independence and avoiding a military blockade. Little Ha eventually detected a faint trace of Weird Qi, and the Red Pine Knights moved to surround the area.

• Wu Youren and the group reached Red Pine's capital office and agreed to patrol independently with support from Keluoge's female Knight.
• The ten spent three days gathering intelligence on Tianjing's streets without finding anything.
• Manna, Luo Xi, and the male archer fled a military blockade after Wu Youren warned that Weird Qi lay ahead, while the female Knight stopped the soldiers from pursuing them.
• Wu Youren and the others kept their distance from the military after learning that it had invited Ability Users to help investigate.
• Little Ha sensed a faint trace of Weird Qi, and Daiqisi distracted the female Knight while Red Pine's seven Knights spread out to seal off the area.

The Red Pine Knights joined Keluoge’s city guards in a raid after explosives and a suspected Parasitic Weird were detected, then continued searching Tianjing with Wu Youren’s guidance. The chapter ended as Wu Youren identified a courtyard and Keluoge arrived with two Knights to investigate.

• Daiqisi and the female Knight called Keluoge in after sensing possible suspects nearby, and he summoned extra city guards to raid the area.
• The raid triggered an explosion, and the city guards pursued escaping suspects while Chen Quanxu secretly told Wu Youren that a Parasitic Weird had likely escaped the military’s sealed-off zone.
• Manna and the Red Pine Knights stayed in Tianjing rather than return to Red Pine, and they resumed their nightly street sweep after resting.
• Wu Youren stopped at a courtyard and told Ranxue and Kenpa to prepare everyone for danger, while Manna asked the female Knight to summon Keluoge’s elites.
• Keluoge arrived with two Knights and asked Manna what was happening.

Keluoge arrested eleven people after a possible Parasitic Weird was detected among them, while Wu Youren and Daiqisi left rather than join the City Guard Bureau’s interrogation. On their way back to Red Pine, they sensed Weird Qi and Daiqisi knocked down a hunched old man pushing a breakfast cart.

• Manna warned Keluoge that a Parasitic Weird might be involved, and Keluoge led the arrest of the eleven residents, whose eldest son carried a faint trace of Weird Qi.
• Keluoge invited Ranxue and the others to observe the interrogation at the City Guard Bureau, but Wu Youren declined and Daiqisi went with him.
• Wu Youren and Daiqisi discussed his interest in studying Parasitic Weirds and joked about what Daiqisi would reward him with if he caught one.
• Near Red Pine, Little Ha alerted Wu Youren to Weird Qi ahead, and he and Daiqisi prepared to investigate.
• Daiqisi used Wu Youren’s ironwood Weird-Repelling Jue, then struck down a hunched old man pushing a breakfast cart; Wu Youren sensed no other nearby presence.

Daiqisi and Wu Youren brought a faintly contaminated man back to Red Pine, but a Knight tried to report the capture as his own. Keluoge and Ranxue arrived to defend Red Pine’s credit, while Daiqisi passed the claim to Ranxue and Kenpa; the dispute escalated when another man arrived accusing them of stealing his credit.

• Daiqisi and Wu Youren captured a weathered man, bound him, and brought him to Red Pine’s office, where Daiqisi detected faint Weird Qi.
• Daiqisi confronted a Knight who tried to report the captive to the authorities and accused him of stealing her credit.
• Wu Youren summoned Ranxue and Keluoge, who arrived with City Guard support and challenged the Knight’s claim.
• Daiqisi denied that she had caught the man and asked whether Ranxue or Kenpa had made the capture; Kenpa accepted the credit on Red Pine’s behalf.
• A burly man arrived asking for Pomao, then accused Keluoge of stealing his credit, and Keluoge insisted the capture was a joint operation with Hong Yan.

Daiqisi and the Red Pine Knights confronted Keluoge over outsiders taking credit for their work and the risks of solving more cases. Keluoge agreed to find them supplies and consider letting them study captured Parasitic Weirds, while the group prepared to continue their investigations.

• Keluoge argued with a burly Great Knight who tried to take credit for the Parasitic Weird case, and Daiqisi left with Wu Youren for Red Pine.
• Keluoge tried to stop Daiqisi from leaving, then fought with the burly man after he let the vehicle pass.
• Keluoge caught up with Daiqisi and explained that the man was the Marquis Who Pursues the North's son-in-law.
• At the City Guard Bureau's main camp, Daiqisi and the Red Pine Knights told Keluoge they feared powerful people would keep stealing credit as their reputation grew.
• Keluoge offered the Knights a private courtyard and transportation, and agreed to seek more supplies for them.
• Daiqisi asked whether the Knights could study one or two Parasitic Weirds they captured in the future.

Daiqisi’s group secured permission to study Parasitic Weirds while refusing to work under the City Guard Bureau’s orders, and Hong Yan worried that Wu Youren’s ideas were helping fuel a wider political crisis. After another suspected infection was brought to their courtyard, Manna warned Keluoge that his frequent visits were attracting attention.

• Daiqisi clarified that she wanted to study Parasitic Weirds, and Keluoge agreed to allow it in exchange for shared intelligence.
• Kenpa negotiated that Red Pine’s group would share only the information they chose, while Manna explained that they would not accept orders.
• Keluoge learned that another person at the main camp showed signs of infection and contacted Hong Yan, who warned Manna not to let Daiqisi act recklessly.
• Hong Yan reflected that Wu Youren had been called the “Source of Calamity” as political turmoil and deaths among Great Knights continued to mount.
• After the General Bureau took over the Parasitic Weird cases, Keluoge visited the courtyard repeatedly, and Manna warned him that his visits could attract attention.
• On the third night, the group brought another suspected Parasitic Weird victim to the courtyard, where Daiqisi studied him for a day.

Wu Youren’s polished ironwood Weird-Repelling Jue proved unusually effective against infected hosts, leading Red Pine and Keluoge to investigate how it was made. Their tests revealed that the method could indicate infestation severity but yielded no breakthrough, and Manna urged Wu Youren to try again as he cared for Little Ha.

• Wu Youren’s Weird-Repelling Jue provoked a strong reaction from an infected host, while the male archer’s caused little reaction and suffered more wear.
• Wu Youren explained that he handled and polished his Weird-Repelling Jue while keeping Battle Qi around his skin, and Daiqisi sold a polished one to Keluoge for testing.
• Keluoge tested the Weird-Repelling Jue, learned about the polishing method, and asked who had made it, but Red Pine concealed Wu Youren’s role.
• Red Pine abducted another infected host, and after a day of tests, the group found that their methods could only determine the severity of infestation.
• Manna asked Wu Youren to try testing again while he teased Little Ha with a field mouse.

Wu Youren tested whether his internal energy could drive Parasitic Weirds out of infected hosts, while Red Pine secretly continued its experiments despite challenges from Liang Academy and the City Guard General Bureau. After half a month and the loss of nine death-row prisoners, Bingma successfully transferred a Parasitic Weird into the last prisoner.

• Wu Youren found that his internal energy provoked strong reactions from an infected Knight Apprentice, and the field mouse said sustained treatment might eventually expel the Parasitic Weird.
• Manna asked Keluoge for ten death-row prisoners and permission to capture more infected people for testing, and he agreed to support the work.
• After a Liang Academy patrol noticed Red Pine capturing an infected person nearby, Hong Yan told the group to stop, then let Keluoge take responsibility for continuing their efforts.
• A Great Knight from the City Guard General Bureau demanded that Red Pine hand over infected captives, but Keluoge argued that the bureau needed to protect itself and pressed for more supplies.
• Three days later, Bingma transferred a Parasitic Weird from an infected person into the last death-row prisoner, though her eyes turned blood-red again.

Keluoge’s team confirmed that a Parasitic Weird could be transferred, but they could not reproduce Bingma’s success and kept the discovery quiet while continuing experiments. After Kenpa achieved a second transfer, Manna and Luo Xi found two infected people at the Yongning Chamber of Commerce, where they stayed to investigate further.

• Bingma’s transfer succeeded, but the recipient died after two days and the original host died five days after the Parasitic Weird was expelled.
• Keluoge wanted to report the breakthrough, but Daiqisi and Wu Youren warned that an unreproducible result could be dismissed as a fraud, so the team kept it private and focused on replication.
• The team found five more infected people and two Fallen System cases, but no further transfer succeeded until Wu Youren stopped combing the streets and Kenpa transferred a Parasitic Weird on the eighth day after it began snowing.
• Keluoge reported that Kenpa’s original host died after half a day, and he later sent Manna and Luo Xi to investigate a suspected Parasitic Weird at the Yongning Chamber of Commerce.
• Manna and Luo Xi identified two infected people, including a senior member of the chamber of commerce, and the General Bureau demanded their transfer while the chamber asked them to stay and observe.

Wu Youren returned to the wilderness after the Parasitic Weird tests ended, where he prepared to work with Chen Quanxu against Kelvin. As strange messages reached him and he stopped checking his device, Daiqisi arrived by motorcycle and jumped off before reaching his camp.

• Kenpa warned Wu Youren that Luo Xi seemed to be developing ulterior motives, and Wu Youren kept the instructor under watch.
• Wu Youren and Daiqisi swept the streets separately for over ten days and found two more infected before the tests ended because the City Guard Bureau had run out of suitable prisoners.
• Wu Youren returned to Red Pine with Manna, Ranxue, and the archers, then left the group in the Rust Zone and rebuilt his wilderness camp.
• Chen Quanxu revealed that he had gained control of three infected with Wu Youren's help, and Scops Owl confirmed Kelvin's true body was near Bellflower Mountain.
• Wu Youren received strange messages, including recruitment offers from Jin and the Crown Prince's Household, then went three days without switching on his device.
• Daiqisi rode a motorcycle to find Wu Youren, but jumped off before leaving the main road near his camp.

Wu Youren and Chen Quanxu trapped Kelvin in his underground dugout, collapsing and petrifying its exits while Chen Quanxu’s hallucinations obscured the attack. Kelvin desperately tried to surrender and hack his way out, while Wu Youren waited nearby to strike if he escaped.

• Daiqisi encountered Jeff and four white-cloaked knights, refused to cooperate with Jeff or stay, and rode away.
• Jeff searched for Wu Youren with his men until midnight but failed to find him.
• Kelvin hid in a dugout near a supply point and considered luring another group of barbarians toward Wu Youren to capture Little Ha.
• Wu Youren and Chen Quanxu attacked Kelvin’s dugout, collapsing its three passages and disrupting his connection to his puppets.
• Kelvin shouted that he surrendered, then hacked at the earth overhead when the passages began turning to stone.
• Wu Youren continued casting spells beside the dugout while Chen Quanxu induced hallucinations and held Little Ha under control.

Wu Youren, Scops Owl, and a fire cultivator trapped Kelvin underground and killed him, then Wu fled to the Rust Zone while overwhelmed by the experience points he gained. The next morning, Chen Quanxu warned Wu that Little Ha seemed to be acting strangely.

• Wu Youren and Scops Owl kept Kelvin underground while a fire cultivator poured scorching magma into his den, killing him.
• Wu fled Bellflower Mountain by motorcycle and reached the Rust Zone before dawn, still unable to stop circulating his internal breath.
• Wu checked dozens of accumulated messages, briefly replied to Commander Jeff, and then switched off his wristwatch again.
• Wu stayed in a different camp and reflected on the danger of getting too comfortable after Kelvin was trapped in his den.
• Chen Quanxu alerted Wu that something seemed wrong with Little Ha.

Wu Youren watched Little Ha produce a second strange deposit, which Scops Owl collected, then discussed the danger and value of using it to lure Weirds. Daiqisi visited him to discuss infected people and her plans to research Parasitic Weirds, revealing that she came from the Cold Lands Silk Tribe and wanted revenge for her tribe’s destruction.

• Wu Youren moved camp with Little Ha and waited until the little snow harrier produced a second orange-seed-shaped deposit, which Scops Owl sealed in a treated pouch.
• Wu Youren postponed using the deposit to lure more Corpse Weirds until he had recovered, then returned to camp to refine his experience points.
• Daiqisi arrived and told Wu Youren that Jeff had come looking for him, then asked whether he had secretly sheltered anyone infected.
• Daiqisi offered Wu Youren access to an infected person in exchange for his research findings, but he refused and questioned her motives for infecting people.
• Daiqisi explained that research on Parasitic Weirds was dangerous and that she wanted to harm people outside Jin, then revealed that the destruction of her Cold Lands Silk Tribe fueled her hatred.

Wu Youren refused to help Daiqisi torture an infected person but offered limited support if she chose to confront Kelvin, learning more about the Silk Tribe’s destruction and its feud with the Far West. After Li Hu warned that Saina planned to attack Jin in spring, Wu Youren and Chen Quanxu realized the threat could draw Liang into war and considered what to do.

• Wu Youren refused Daiqisi’s request to use an infected person against her enemies, but offered limited support if she decided to deal with Kelvin.
• Daiqisi revealed that the Silk Tribe had been massacred and feared its memory would die with her generation; she then left after teasing Wu Youren.
• Chen Quanxu explained the Silk Tribe’s history with the Far West and warned Wu Youren that people from the Far West could not be trusted.
• Wu Youren learned from Li Hu that Saina was preparing to deal with him and asked Commander Jeff whether the New Army had arranged it.
• Commander Jeff told Wu Youren that Taowan would send troops south to attack Jin after spring began, with Saina leading them.
• Wu Youren and Chen Quanxu concluded that Taowan’s move could pull Liang into a war, and Scops Owl suggested Wu Youren hide until Saina headed south.

Wu Youren planned to strike Saina before the spring invasion and sought weapons support from Jin Garden and the New Army. Hao Wei agreed to provide Weird-Exterminating Grenades, while Wu Youren kept him from joining his meeting with Jeff.

• Wu Youren and Chen Quanxu discussed Saina, and Wu Youren decided to attack despite being unable to move his real body.
• Wu Youren relocated to the quarantine checkpoint and contacted Hao Wei to request weapons.
• Wu Youren told Hao Wei that Saina planned to kill him and that Jeff had warned him Saina would lead troops south in spring.
• Wu Youren explained that he wanted to deal Saina a heavy blow and accepted Hao Wei's offer of Weird-Exterminating Grenades.
• Wu Youren said he would approach the New Army for explosives but refused Hao Wei's request to attend his meeting with Jeff.