Chapter Summaries

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.

Wu Youren secured explosives, a vehicle, and other supplies from Jin Garden and prepared an ambush in the wasteland to draw out Saina. After he exposed his location and attracted barbarians seeking Weird items, Daiqisi, Ranxue, Kenpa, and Bingma arrived to help drive them off.

• Wu Youren asked Hao Wei and Li Hu for explosives and a vehicle, and both agreed to supply him.
• A New Army armored personnel carrier delivered explosives, and Jin Garden later sent additional supplies while Hao Wei’s intelligence network investigated Saina.
• Wu Youren spent several days preparing, confirmed that reaching the mountains by road was impractical, and set up near their foothills before exposing his location.
• Scops Owl drew three waves of Weird Qi to Wu Youren, but no Weird items appeared, and nearby barbarians came to claim the area as their hunting ground.
• Wu Youren fired warning shots and launched grenades at approaching barbarians, then threatened them with land mines when they gathered tools to clear the snow.
• Daiqisi, Ranxue, Kenpa, and Bingma arrived and drove the barbarians away by asserting Red Pine’s authority.

Wu Youren prepared a network of dugouts to draw in Weird Qi while the four instructors joined him and debated whether to intervene against Saina. When Jeff reported that Saina's force was approaching, Wu Youren told the instructors to leave, and Daiqisi arranged to wait five kilometers northeast.

• Wu Youren warned the instructors that he needed to guard against people as well as Weirds, and the group identified Saina as a possible threat after Wu Youren named Li Hu of the New Army as his source.
• Wu Youren showed the instructors his dugouts and explained that killing enough Weirds could draw Weird Qi to him; the group fought several waves over the following nights and gained only one resentment qi crystal.
• Kenpa and Ranxue privately suspected Wu Youren could influence whether Weird Qi appeared, but they had no evidence to support the idea.
• Jeff told Wu Youren that Saina's group had set out, including a great knight, twelve knights, and other personnel, and reported that Saina was at peak knight level.
• Wu Youren urged the four instructors to leave before nightfall, and Daiqisi said they would camp five kilometers northeast and wait for him.

Wu Youren considered ways to attack Saina’s convoy after the Taowan prince refused to approach the mountain, but learned that the archer Jiuyou Feng had arrived to hunt him. He retreated toward the ridge and prepared traps as Jiuyou Feng searched the area and realized he had moved uphill.

• The Red Pine instructors relocated after deciding that staying near Wu Youren could make them appear to take sides, and they learned that Hong Yan doubted Saina would approach the mountain.
• Saina confirmed his position near the isolation point and decided to camp there, while Wu Youren lamented that his plans for a surprise attack had fallen apart.
• Wu Youren and Scops Owl rejected several possible attacks because the isolation point was heavily guarded, then learned that Jiuyou Feng was approaching from sixty kilometers away.
• Chen Quanxu identified Jiuyou Feng as a former enemy who had hunted his avatars, and Wu Youren took Little Ha toward the ridge to protect it from her.
• Jiuyou Feng swept the area with cold winds, found that Wu Youren had retreated uphill, and decided he was annoyingly alert.

Jiuyou Feng ambushed Wu Youren, but Chen Quanxu and the Scops Owl warned him, allowing Wu Youren to surprise and defeat her. As they struggled to erase the battlefield, a Weird Qi disturbance in the mountains drew the ridge troops' attention and threw the area into chaos.

• Jiuyou Feng tracked Wu Youren to the ridge and hid below the mountain, planning to wait for him to descend and snipe him.
• The Scops Owl confirmed Jiuyou Feng's ambush and warned Wu Youren, who prepared to strike her with Chen Quanxu's help.
• Wu Youren attacked Jiuyou Feng, cut through her foot bow and curved saber, and defeated her after Chen Quanxu's hallucination disrupted her escape.
• Wu Youren and Chen Quanxu began removing Jiuyou Feng's body and weapons, while the Scops Owl went to deal with the arrow she had fired.
• The ridge troops noticed a Weird Qi disturbance deep in the mountains and became too alarmed to focus on border-crossers.

Wu Youren and Chen Quanxu searched the dead attacker, found a Marching Stone, and destroyed the remaining evidence before returning to camp. As Prince Saina wondered where Jiuyou Feng had gone, Manna and Luo Xi arrived and confronted him over Taowan’s presence on Red Pine territory.

• Wu Youren met Scops Owl in a hidden cave, where they found two Resentment Qi Crystals, a Marching Stone, and gold coins among the attacker’s belongings.
• Wu Youren and Scops Owl burned the sensitive evidence and returned to camp as dawn broke.
• Red Pine’s instructors arrived to support Wu Youren, while Saina learned that the boy was still alive and Jiuyou Feng remained missing.
• Manna and Luo Xi returned from Tianjing, and Luo Xi slapped a Taowan Knight, setting off a clash between Taowan’s Knights and Liang martial artists.
• Manna demanded to know why Saina had come to Red Pine, and warned him not to cause trouble there.