Chapter Summaries

Wu Youren turned a group’s challenge into a proposed contest hunting the Weird Race in Suotu Town, then learned he would resume supplying vegetables to the dining hall. The Knight investigating him confirmed that he had traveled to Suotu with a Knight, while Shali pressed for classified details about his combat experience.

• A martial artist challenged Wu Youren to a one-on-one fight on Shali’s behalf, but Wu Youren asked to choose the contest himself.
• Wu Youren proposed that they compete by hunting the Weird Race in Suotu Town, and the Knight agreed to select an experienced opponent.
• Cynthia asked why Wu Youren had not mentioned the Life and Death Knot, and he kept quiet about being a hostage.
• The administrator advised Wu Youren to avoid the group and told him to resume supplying vegetables to the dining hall in two days.
• The Knight told Shali that Wu Youren had encountered the Weird Race and traveled to Suotu with a Knight, but said the details of his fight were classified.

Shali abandoned the wager against Wu Youren but sent her men to demand protection money from him instead. Cynthia challenged their demand, and the chapter ended with the male martial artist dismissing Wu Youren’s backing as merely the Life and Death Knot.

• After learning that instructors had once considered Wu Youren as a guide, the Knight told Shali what he had found and suggested she arrange a wager through someone else.
• Wu Youren asked Cynthia to bring jars and pots, and they worked together preparing vegetables for pickling.
• The male martial artist arrived with five Knight Apprentices, canceled the wager, and demanded five silver dollars in monthly protection money from Wu Youren.
• Cynthia objected that the demand was excessive and said the Mirage Sea Alliance protected Wu Youren, but the male martial artist said the alliance had confirmed he was not covered.
• The male martial artist explained that Shali had dropped the wager to avoid appearing to bully Jin, then scoffed that Wu Youren’s other backing was only the Life and Death Knot.

Wu Youren faced a protection-money demand from Shali's people and contacted the Life and Death Knot, but it gave him no answer before their deadline. After he prepared traps for their expected attack, Cynthia appeared at his dwelling that night, accompanied by someone who threatened him over the oil.

• A martial artist from Shali's group demanded protection money from Wu Youren and gave him three days to pay.
• Wu Youren called a burly man from the Life and Death Knot to ask whether he could fight back if attacked, and the man said he would investigate.
• When the deadline passed without a response, Wu Youren told Shali's group he had paid the Life and Death Knot, but they said they would collect from him anyway.
• The administrator warned Wu Youren to stay inside, and Wu Youren thanked him before preparing for an attack.
• At night, Wu Youren sprayed oil at approaching intruders, Cynthia called out that it was her, and another voice warned him that setting a fire would be courting death.

Wu Youren accepted Instructor Ke Li’s offer to join a mission investigating Weird Race activity, while learning Ke Li would only intervene in his conflict with Shali in limited ways. As Ke Li warned Cynthia to keep the Mirage Sea Alliance out of Wu Youren’s troubles, Shali’s followers arrived to attack him.

• Wu Youren apologized to Ke Li for nearly attacking him and explained that he had set a fire while defending himself from a group of students.
• Ke Li offered Wu Youren a place on a nonmandatory mission to investigate Weird Race activity, and Wu Youren agreed to leave in two days.
• Ke Li explained that he could witness a one-on-one challenge but could not openly interfere in student conflicts, and Wu Youren accepted his limited help.
• Ke Li warned Cynthia that the Mirage Sea Alliance should stay out of Wu Youren’s troubles, though Cynthia remained eager to confront Shali.
• Shali’s seven Knight Apprentices approached to attack Wu Youren, and Ke Li demanded to know what they were doing before one claimed they had come to settle a grudge.

Instructor Ke Li stopped Oliwen and his companions from attacking Wu Youren, then forced Oliwen to accept a mission to fight the Weird Race. Two days later, Ke Li led Wu Youren, Oliwen, and his student Qigeli out of the academy, where he asked Wu Youren how he had sensed the Monkey Tiger.

• Ke Li knocked down three members of Oliwen’s group and drove the others away after they confronted Wu Youren.
• Wu Youren identified Oliwen as the man who had challenged him to fight the Weird Race, and Ke Li issued Oliwen a compulsory mission.
• Cynthia collected Oliwen’s wristwatch, while Shali told him to let the incident go after learning Ke Li had intervened.
• Two days later, Ke Li set out with Wu Youren, Oliwen, and Qigeli, who had been assigned to supervise Oliwen.
• On the road, Ke Li asked Wu Youren how he had sensed the Monkey Tiger, and Wu Youren said the Weird-Repelling Jue had reacted strangely.

Wu Youren traveled with Instructor Ke Li and the others on a reconnaissance assignment, while Ke Li lent him a pistol and explained that the Life and Death Knot had commissioned the outing. When they reached the mountains, a nearby team called for help after being surrounded by the Weird Race, and Ke Li offered only to wait for them at the roadside hill.

• Ke Li examined Wu Youren's jade Weird-Repelling Jue, questioned his combat abilities, and lamented that he was not from Liang.
• Ke Li changed their destination to Suotu and lent Wu Youren a pistol and Weird-Breaking Projectiles.
• Ke Li revealed that the Life and Death Knot had commissioned the outing, leaving Oliwen to realize the trip was punishment for his actions.
• The group drove into the mountains, spread out near a ridge, and heard gunshots and roars in the distance.
• Ke Li fired a signal flare and received a call from Wu Yan'er, whose team reported being surrounded by the Weird Race with four wounded.

Ke Li’s team rescued a group of Knights and Knight Apprentices fleeing the Weird Race, then retreated toward the road with the wounded aboard their vehicle. As they escaped, a wounded Knight explained that his team had been ambushed during a compulsory reconnaissance mission and lost their way in the mountains.

• Ke Li refused to send help immediately, but let the stranded group wait half an hour before they reached his position while fighting the formless Weird Race.
• Ke Li ordered everyone to ready Weird-Breaking Projectiles, and Wu Youren showed he could sense hidden enemies by hitting them even when no gray mist was visible.
• The rescued group reached Ke Li, but he threatened a Knight who ignored his orders and insisted that only the wounded could ride in the vehicle.
• Ke Li, Wu Youren, and Oliwen ran alongside the vehicle as the team retreated down the mountain, pursued by a large mass of gray mist.
• A wounded Knight told Wu Yan'er that his team had been forced deep into the mountains during reconnaissance, lost contact with its convoy, and become trapped after encountering the Weird Race.

Ke Li led the exhausted group out of the mountains after rescuing several instructors, while Oliwen fell behind and was shot with a Weird-Breaking Projectile after appearing to catch up. Ke Li refused to stop the mission, but after Lao Liu hinted that Wu Youren might be unusual, the two men drew their weapons and aimed at people resting beneath the trees.

• Ke Li and the others fled through the mountains while fighting the Weird Race, and Oliwen's diarrhea left him unable to keep pace.
• Ke Li threw Oliwen's backpack to him and abandoned him when he could no longer run or board the vehicle.
• A Knight shot Oliwen with a Weird-Breaking Projectile after he appeared behind the group, and Ke Li agreed to handle the report.
• The group escaped the mountains and rested, but Ke Li insisted on contacting the Martial Academy and continuing toward Suotu.
• Lao Liu suggested Wu Youren had something unusual about him, then he and Ke Li drew their weapons and aimed at people beneath the trees.

Ke Li, Lao Liu, and Wu Youren uncovered hidden Weirds among the survivors, but one escaped despite their attacks. After an investigation and quarantine, the martial academy released the three and asked them to join future Weird-hunting operations, prompting Ke Li to object to the lack of freedom.

• Wu Youren shot the wounded instructor, and Ke Li and Wu Yan'er attacked when the man revealed himself as a Weird before vanishing and leaving behind an iron item.
• Wu Youren warned that the Weird might not be dead, and Lao Liu began testing the survivors with Weird-Repelling Jues.
• A badly wounded Knight Apprentice attacked Lao Liu, revealing another Weird that escaped as a wisp of gray mist while Ke Li's shots missed.
• A martial academy patrol arrived, and investigators detained Ke Li, Lao Liu, Wu Youren, and Qigeli for questioning and quarantine.
• After four days, the martial academy released Ke Li, Lao Liu, and Wu Youren and urged them to join future operations in teams of at least five Knights.
• Ke Li recognized the proposed operations as compulsory missions and challenged the restrictions on operating alone.

Ke Li prepared to return to Red Pine with the Weird object while Wu Youren warned that its original owner might still be alive and that they could remain in danger. Their plans were interrupted when injured Knights arrived with Feng Qianjun, who revealed that He Wenhao was gone.

• Ke Li refused Red Pine's request, then decided to go back and trade the iron fragment while leaving Wu Youren with Qigeli.
• Wu Youren warned Ke Li that the Weird object's original owner might be alive and that selling it might not end the danger.
• Ke Li offered to trade the iron fragment for Wu Youren's Weird-Repelling Jue, but Wu Youren refused because it was the last thing he had from his homeland.
• Qigeli questioned Wu Youren about withholding information as Ke Li drove away, and Wu Youren said he had no right to trouble an instructor who had not taken him as a disciple.
• Two Knights arrived seeking help and brought in the injured Feng Qianjun, who confronted Wu Youren for not helping him.
• Feng Qianjun told Wu Youren that He Wenhao was gone.

Wu Youren and Ke Li’s group left the quarantine zone to investigate the mountains, but a major change in Suotu Town brought them a ten-day assignment to guard a mountain pass. The chapter ended as a bloodied merchant group’s weird-hunting team arrived seeking Weird-Dispelling Powder, prompting Ke Li to ask what had happened near Suotu.

• Wu Youren dismissed He Wenhao’s death outwardly, but felt newly urgent about his own safety and concealed his unease from Qigeli.
• Ke Li took Wu Youren, Qigeli, and Cynthia into the mountains to watch for a half-dead weird, and they camped near the summit.
• A convoy returning from Suotu passed below, and a Great Knight ordered Ke Li to guard the mountain exit; Ke Li soon received a ten-day Martial Academy assignment to watch the pass.
• Ke Li and the others dug out caves near the summit, then saw convoys traveling in and out of the mountains.
• A bloodied Knight and Knight Apprentice from a merchant group’s weird-hunting team asked Ke Li for Weird-Dispelling Powder and food; Ke Li refused the powder and asked what changes had occurred around Suotu Town.

Wu Youren and Ke Li discovered that a Weird creature had followed the caravan, then encountered a group of Azure Qiu emerging from the mountainside. Ke Li fought the charging creatures with limited armor-piercing ammunition and his broadsword.

• Ke Li returned after Wu Youren fired at a suspected pursuer, and together they detected and shot a Weird Race member that had followed Ke Li.
• Wu Youren spotted rocks moving downhill, and Ke Li identified the creature beneath them as an Azure Qiu.
• Ke Li ordered the group to use armor-piercing rounds and attack as the first Azure Qiu emerged from the rocks.
• More than a dozen Azure Qiu burst from the ground and charged, forcing Ke Li to switch from his rifle to his broadsword.
• Ke Li cut into the Azure Qiu with Battle Qi while Cynthia and Qigeli fought alongside him and Wu Youren watched their surroundings.

Ke Li, Cynthia, Qigeli, and Wu Youren fought and killed more than a dozen Azure Qiu, including two that had undergone Weird Transformation. After the battle, Ke Li proposed withholding their discovery from the Martial Academy until they searched again, and Wu Youren took the night watch while thinking over the unexpected gains.

• Ke Li ordered an orderly retreat, and Wu Youren detonated traps that blasted several charging Azure Qiu.
• Two Azure Qiu accelerated unnaturally, revealing that they had undergone Weird Transformation, and the group fought them while Wu Youren fetched Ke Li's spare saber.
• Wu Youren's saber work drew an Azure Qiu's attention and eased the pressure on Qigeli as they killed it; Ke Li and the others then wore down and killed the second transformed creature.
• Wu Youren examined the carcasses and found two Azure Qiu largely unaffected by Weird Qi, while Ke Li said he would report the team's contributions but asked them to keep the discovery quiet until they searched again.
• Ke Li assigned Wu Youren night watch, and Wu Youren kept guard outside the cave, reflecting on the night's gains and an unexpected surprise.

Wu Youren guarded the mountain pass while Ke Li left with Qigeli to help a military logistics convoy near Suotu Town. That night, Wu Youren discovered a hidden cavity containing a strange cold object, and touching it with his Weird-Repelling Jue sent an intense chill through his body.

• Wu Youren and Cynthia cleared rocks from the road while Ke Li and Qigeli searched for weird objects.
• A mixed military and Martial Academy convoy passed through, and Ke Li declined to join its forward camp.
• Ke Li agreed to guide a military Logistics Department team and took Qigeli with him, leaving Wu Youren and Cynthia to guard the pass.
• Wu Youren dug into the passage where the Azure Qiu had appeared and uncovered a hollow in the mountain.
• Wu Youren found a round, icy protrusion on a rock, broke his dagger trying to chip it free, and pressed his Weird-Repelling Jue against it.
• The Weird-Repelling Jue heated up as an extraordinary cold surged through Wu Youren's body.

Wu Youren absorbed the hidden treasure while using the Weird-Repelling Jue, interrupting his imminent breakthrough to Knight and gathering qi instead. He left the cave with the jade jue changed and concealed what had happened from Cynthia, who sensed that something was different about him.

• Wu Youren felt experience points surge through him and feared an unwanted breakthrough to Knight would expose him to Ke Li and Liang.
• Wu Youren focused on his dantian, gathered qi, and escaped his rigid state as the treasure vanished from the boulder and the Weird-Repelling Jue grew clearer and smoother.
• Wu Youren took the broken dagger tip and left the cave, confirming that he had interrupted his breakthrough and remained a Knight Apprentice.
• Cynthia confronted Wu Youren outside the cave, and he claimed he had searched for a Weird object but found nothing.
• Wu Youren removed and shook out his gear to dispel Cynthia’s suspicions, then asked her to carry his backpack back to the lodgings.
• Cynthia agreed to help and suggested they fill in the hole at daylight, while Wu Youren hinted that his situation was worse than she thought.

Wu Youren resisted Cynthia’s advances while investigating the strange effects of the qi he had gathered and keeping watch at the mission site. After learning that unknown vehicles had passed through and that the Intelligence Agency had asked about their instructor, he received a mysterious warning to beware of Cynthia.

• Cynthia told Wu Youren she wanted to remain in Liang and offered to help him stay, but he refused her advances and urged her to focus on their mission.
• Wu Youren tried circulating the gathered qi, noticed it made his body react dangerously, and decided to save it while pondering its connection to Azure Qiu’s Weird Transformation.
• After waking from an unusually refreshing sleep, Wu Youren learned from Cynthia that three unidentified vehicles had escaped during the night.
• Cynthia revealed that the Intelligence Agency had asked which Red Pine instructor was leading the team, and she had said Ke Li was investigating the Weird situation.
• Wu Youren checked the mechanisms and received an anonymous message warning him to beware of Cynthia.

Wu Youren and Cynthia held their Martial Academy observation post as martial artists fled a mass appearance of the Weird Race, while they waited for Instructor Ke Li to return. When a bloodied Knight demanded their food and medicine, Cynthia answered with gunfire.

• Wu Youren deleted a suspicious message from someone claiming to watch him and focused on the gains from his earlier activities.
• Wu Youren and Cynthia saw vehicles and then martial artists fleeing the mountains as reports spread of masses of the Weird Race.
• Cynthia chose to wait for the instructor, and she and Wu Youren stayed at the observation post while more people fled past.
• Cynthia summoned Naimuer to the hill, gave him food and injury medicine, and refused to lend him Weird-Repelling Jue or Weird-Dispelling Powder.
• A bloodied Knight charged onto the hill and demanded their supplies, so Cynthia and Wu Youren drew their guns and Cynthia fired three shots.

Cynthia, Wu Youren, and Naimuer fought a Knight who attacked them, using traps and an explosive to knock him down before Naimuer shot him. The group remained uncertain whether the Knight had been affected by Weird Qi, while other martial artists noticed the commotion and began asking what was happening up the mountain.

• Cynthia and Naimuer fought back as the Knight attacked, and Cynthia lured him into a lime-powder trap and an enormous net.
• Cynthia took a small explosive from Wu Youren and detonated it near the Knight, whose blast-driven fall left him motionless.
• After their wristwatches received questions from other martial artists, Cynthia ordered Naimuer to test the Knight with gunfire.
• Naimuer shot the Knight twice in the head, killing him, and Cynthia agreed to share responsibility for the act.
• Wu Youren said he had stayed back to guard against the Knight leaking Weird Qi, while Cynthia and Naimuer discussed why the Knight had not sought help from Red Pine.

After Wu Youren, Cynthia, and Naimuer discovered three Weird Qi Crystals on the dead Knight, they divided the spoils, with Wu Youren taking the Knight’s cold weapons. They waited through the night for help, and at dawn Red Pine contacted Cynthia to ask whether anyone from the academy was still patrolling the mountain pass.

• Naimuer found one large and two small Weird Qi Crystals on the Knight’s corpse, and Cynthia offered Wu Youren the first choice.
• Wu Youren declined the crystals and asked for the Knight’s weapons instead, explaining that he needed money and wanted to improve his ability to defend himself.
• Cynthia gave Wu Youren both cold weapons, while she and Naimuer kept the crystals and planned to decide later what to do with them.
• Cynthia and Wu Youren tried contacting Instructor Ke Li, but he did not respond, so the three stayed put and waited through the night.
• At dawn, another Red Pine instructor contacted Cynthia and explained that Ke Li had been kept by the military during the Weird Race outbreak, then asked whether academy members were still patrolling the mountain pass.

Cynthia, Naimuer, and Wu Youren remained at their mountain patrol post as martial artists fled and contact with the front grew scarce. When a bloodied Knight named Aslan called for help, the three watched from their isolated position, leaving the choice of whether to intervene unresolved.

• Cynthia argued with the Martial Academy about withdrawing, but accepted its offer of increased rewards and learned that their post was being kept as a fallback position.
• The three debated whether to invite other people to their camp, then waited for Instructor Ke Li as the mountain road grew steadily quieter.
• As the situation became more ominous, Cynthia considered retreating, but Wu Youren said he felt no need to leave yet, and Cynthia chose to stay with him.
• The Martial Academy reported that fighting continued ahead but offered no reliable updates or help for their withdrawal, prompting Naimuer to accuse it of keeping them uninformed.
• A bloodied Knight named Aslan called over the radio for help, and Cynthia asked Naimuer and Wu Youren whether they would rescue him.