Recaps

Hela and Ye Yiqing defeated Qin Gucheng, took his five bells, and fled when Chief Instructor Li Hu arrived. The chapter then shifted to Ye Ciqing and Keke struggling against two High Rank instructors, with Keke unable to control her twisted iron block.

• Hela attacked Qin Gucheng with her bone whips and tentacles while Ye Yiqing pressed him with sword strikes.
• Qin Gucheng broke free of Hela’s bone-whip attack, but Hela grabbed and pinned him while Ye Yiqing stopped his blades and seized them.
• Hela removed all five bells from Qin Gucheng, but Li Hu arrived before she could decide how to divide them.
• Ye Yiqing struck at Li Hu with sword qi, then grabbed Hela and fled with her and Qin Gucheng’s blades.
• Qin Gucheng admitted he doubted his ability to teach, and Li Hu urged him to regain confidence.
• Ye Ciqing and Keke fought two High Rank instructors; Keke’s iron block was twisted beyond her control, and Ye Ciqing hurled a bone spear at an instructor.

Ye Yiqing arrived during the fight between Ye Ciqing, Yan Wusheng, and the two instructors, and intervened with a powerful sword strike. The battle was left unresolved as the instructors’ stone defenses stopped his attack, but Ye Yiqing and the others had disappeared.

• Instructor Hongwei argued with Ye Ciqing and Yan Wusheng while Zhang Kai helped him recover.
• Ye Ciqing and Yan Wusheng struggled against Zhang Kai and Instructor Hongwei’s attacks, unable to reach them or find a way to end the fight.
• Hela arrived, frightening Keke into fainting, and Ye Yiqing examined Keke before asking Hela to hold her.
• Ye Ciqing called for help when Ye Yiqing approached, and Ye Yiqing said he had obtained a bell and had come to assist him.
• Ye Yiqing unleashed a powerful sword qi attack, forcing Zhang Kai to raise layers of stone walls to protect the instructors.
• The instructors’ defenses stopped the sword qi, but Ye Yiqing and the others were gone when they looked up.

Keke woke on a rooftop after the fight and met Ye Yiqing and Ye Ciqing, while Hela explained her tentacle ability. Ye Yiqing divided the bells among the group and thanked Hela, but Hela reacted briefly when she heard the name Han Xiaoxiao.

• Keke woke in Hela's arms, backed away in fear, and apologized after Ye Yiqing checked that she was unharmed.
• Ye Ciqing complained that he had fought alone while Keke was unconscious and that Scarface had refused a bell and walked away.
• Hela showed Keke how her hand became tentacles, and Keke asked her to change it back.
• Keke introduced herself and her [Three-Dimensional Metal Body] ability, while Ye Ciqing and Hela introduced themselves and their abilities.
• Ye Yiqing gave bells to Hela, Keke, and Ye Ciqing, then offered Hela another and thanked her for helping them.
• Ye Yiqing asked about the rescued girl, and Hela trembled when Ye Ciqing said her name was Han Xiaoxiao.

Li Hu dismissed the recruits after criticizing their uneven abilities and poor teamwork. At the cafeteria, Hela, Keke, Ye Ciqing, and Ye Yiqing discovered their meal was a frozen potato and roasted flour, and struggled to eat it.

• Li Hu praised the outstanding recruits, including Ye Yiqing, then scolded the group for their lack of teamwork and the wide gap between their strengths.
• After Li Hu dismissed them for lunch, Ye Ciqing raced toward the cafeteria, and Hela carried the exhausted Keke there on her shoulder.
• Hela and Keke found a frozen potato and roasted flour on their tray, and Hela remembered Xing Lan had warned her that the first meal would be difficult.
• Ye Yiqing and Ye Ciqing ate their potatoes, Hela followed, and Keke hurt her teeth trying to bite hers before eating the roasted flour instead.

Yan Wusheng caused a scene over the cafeteria food, but Ye Yiqing and Ye Ciqing confronted him before Instructor Li Hu broke up the dispute. After ordering Yan Wusheng to run twenty laps, Li Hu confiscated Ye Yiqing’s katana for the duration of training camp.

• Yan Wusheng complained about the food and tried to overturn a table, so Ye Yiqing stopped him and Ye Ciqing joined the argument.
• Yan Wusheng threatened to fight the brothers, but Instructor Li Hu arrived and separated them.
• Ye Yiqing explained what had happened, and Li Hu defended the food before ordering Yan Wusheng to run twenty laps.
• Li Hu noticed Ye Yiqing’s katana, inspected it, and confiscated it until training camp ended.
• Ye Ciqing laughed at Ye Yiqing for losing his sword, while the group returned to eating.

Han Xiaoxiao asked Ye Yiqing to teach her his saber technique, but he harshly rejected her because of her disability before agreeing to think about it. As the group left, Hela bluntly told Ye Yiqing she would not be his girlfriend.

• Keke accidentally sprayed flour onto Ye Ciqing, who teased her about liking him.
• Han Xiaoxiao approached Ye Yiqing and asked him to teach her his saber technique, promising to do anything he asked.
• Ye Yiqing told Han Xiaoxiao that a disabled person like her could not learn the saber or belong in the training camp, and urged her to leave.
• Han Xiaoxiao grabbed Ye Yiqing's clothes and pleaded again, so he said he would think about it before leaving.
• Keke encouraged Han Xiaoxiao as Hela led her away from the dining area.
• Ye Yiqing explained that he was trying to protect Han Xiaoxiao, then Hela rejected him before he could finish speaking.

Hela and the other recruits began their first day of formal training at the camp, where they were assigned grueling physical drills. After running twenty laps, Keke was exhausted while Hela remained unfazed, and the recruits enjoyed a better lunch than the day before.

• Keke tied Hela's uniform cuffs before they went downstairs to assembly.
• Li Hu introduced himself as chief instructor and explained the recruits' daily schedule, with Hongwei handling physical training.
• Hongwei ordered everyone to run twenty laps in fifty minutes, threatening ten extra laps for anyone who missed the limit.
• Hela led the run while Keke fell behind, and Ye Ciqing worried about facing Hongwei after previously insulting him.
• At lunch, Hela carried the exhausted Keke into the cafeteria, where Ye Ciqing and Ye Yiqing joined them for a meal of rice, vegetables, and meat.

Ye Yiqing and the others began cold-weapons training under Qin Gucheng, but Keke’s staged fainting left Ye Yiqing leading the recruits. At the infirmary, Keke learned Qin Gucheng was preparing an IV and finally opened her eyes.

• Ye Yiqing gave Hela the fatty pork from his tray while Han Xiaoxiao offered him lean meat, and Ye Ciqing teased them.
• Qin Gucheng introduced himself as the recruits’ cold-weapons and close-combat instructor, then taught them about straight sabers.
• Keke fell after accidentally dozing off and continued pretending to be unconscious as Qin Gucheng carried her to the infirmary.
• Qin Gucheng left Ye Yiqing in charge of teaching basic saber swings to the recruits.
• The medical worker found Keke was fine, but Qin Gucheng prepared an IV, prompting Keke to open her eyes.

Keke apologized internally after bringing up Qin Gucheng’s painful memories, then spent months training alongside Hela. One night, instructors secretly carried the recruits away for special training, and after a five-hour drive, Hela still did not know where they were headed.

• Keke refused Qin Gucheng’s attempts to give her an IV and asked about the person he had wronged, prompting him to leave in sorrow.
• Keke felt guilty for lying to Qin Gucheng and mentioning his painful memories, then went to sleep.
• After months of training, Keke asked Hela to help her undress, and the two went to bed.
• Hela noticed instructors secretly enter the dormitory and carry Keke away, then let them take her too after they covered her eyes with a mask.
• The instructors carried Hela and the other recruits in a vehicle for nearly five hours before it stopped.

Hela was abandoned in a remote forest for special training and set out to find the other recruits. She found the frightened Keke, who felt safer with Hela but could not stand because her legs had gone numb.

• An instructor carried Hela into the wilderness, left her with a tracking bracelet and four candies, and told her to wait before moving.
• Hela removed her blindfold, realized she had no instructions, and began searching the forest for the scattered recruits.
• Hela followed a familiar human scent through the forest and heard Keke crying.
• Keke mistook Hela for a threat, then recognized her and clung to her in relief.
• Hela told Keke the instructors had brought them there for special training, but neither knew what to do next.
• Keke tried to stand and hug Hela but fell back onto the grass because her legs were numb.

Hela and Keke found a river and met Han Xiaoxiao, who questioned Hela about her symbiosis with [HeLa Cell]. After Hela admitted she had lost all memories from before the symbiosis, Han Xiaoxiao fell silent, and the three continued searching for others as a powerful creature approached.

• Hela led Keke to a river, where Keke drank and they encountered Han Xiaoxiao.
• Keke explained that they were undergoing the instructor's special training and that they were searching for the other recruits.
• Han Xiaoxiao asked Hela whether she remembered forming a symbiosis with [HeLa Cell], and Hela said she had lost her memories from before it happened.
• Han Xiaoxiao asked whether Hela had [HeLa Cell]'s memories, and Hela said she did not; Han Xiaoxiao then set off with Hela and Keke.
• Hela sensed a powerful creature approaching, one whose vitality was stronger than the [Puppet Worm]'s.

Ye Yiqing joined Hela, Keke, and Han Xiaoxiao as they fought off a Variant that emerged from the mist, but Han Xiaoxiao fainted after seeing Hela’s bone whip. Ye Yiqing suspected the sight had brought back memories of Han Xiaoxiao’s family being killed by Variants.

• Thick fog surrounded Hela, Keke, and Han Xiaoxiao, and a Variant appeared with Ye Yiqing caught in its mouth.
• Ye Yiqing damaged the Variant with his broken bone blade, but it attacked the group until Hela struck it with her bone whip, forcing it to flee into the smoke.
• Han Xiaoxiao stared at Hela’s bone whip, cried out about her big brother, and fainted; Hela caught her.
• Ye Yiqing helped Keke and Hela carry Han Xiaoxiao beneath a tree, then listened as Keke explained their special training.
• Ye Yiqing suggested that Han Xiaoxiao’s family had likely been killed by Variants and that seeing the Variant had revived memories of the tragedy.

Han Xiaoxiao woke after fainting and explained that Hela reminded her of the HeLa Cell, who had killed her brother and maimed her. She began recounting the happy life she had shared with her brother and his squad before tragedy struck.

• While the others slept, Hela recalled maiming Han Xiaoxiao and felt guilt, so she stabbed herself in the abdomen to make the feeling stop.
• Han Xiaoxiao woke, and Ye Yiqing explained that she had fainted after a Variant attacked them and Hela intervened.
• Han Xiaoxiao told Ye Yiqing and Keke that Hela reminded her of the HeLa Cell, who had killed her only family member and cut off her right arm and lower left leg.
• Han Xiaoxiao revealed that her brother Han Xuan had raised her and served as a Night Star in Squad 105 in City C, Shan'an.
• Han Xiaoxiao recalled that Han Xuan and his squad had taken her on a picnic, which had been peaceful until evening.

Han Xiaoxiao recounted how [HeLa Cell] killed her brother and left her consumed by hatred, while Ye Yiqing shared how he had reunited with his younger brother. As night approached, the group decided to camp without food, and Hela began sawing at her own forearm with Ye Yiqing’s bone knife.

• Han Xiaoxiao described how [HeLa Cell] killed her brother and how Night Star later told her the Variant was dead.
• Han Xiaoxiao told Keke and Ye Yiqing that she would not blame Hela for her hatred of [HeLa Cell], though she still wanted every Variant dead.
• Ye Yiqing recounted finding his younger brother after waking alone and splitting up to search for new information.
• The group agreed to stay where they were for the night because it was getting late, despite having no food.
• Hela borrowed Ye Yiqing’s bone knife and began sawing at her forearm, prompting Keke to knock her down and try to stop her.

Hela severed and reattached her hand, causing her bracelet to signal that she was in danger until Instructor Hongwei confirmed she was safe. After Ye Yiqing left to find food, Hela bit off her thumb to test whether it could regenerate independently.

• Hela offered her severed forearm to Keke, Ye Yiqing, and Han Xiaoxiao, then reattached it when they refused to eat it.
• Ye Yiqing built a campfire, and Hela and Han Xiaoxiao helped Keke settle beside it.
• Instructor Hongwei arrived, discovered Hela was unharmed, and learned that her bracelet had lit up after she severed her hand.
• Instructor Hongwei confirmed over his walkie-talkie that the recruits were safe, warned Hela not to cut off her hand again, and refused to explain the training.
• Ye Yiqing deduced that Hela's bracelet monitored vital signs, then left to look for food while the others stayed by the fire.
• After Keke asked whether Hela's severed body parts could regenerate on their own, Hela bit off her right thumb to test it.

Hela demonstrated that she could create and control a separate living body from her flesh, leading Han Xiaoxiao and Keke to realize she might survive even if her main body died. After Ye Yiqing returned with a rabbit, the group shared a meal, and Keke watched Ye Yiqing and Han Xiaoxiao together while fretting over a love triangle.

• Hela transformed her severed thumb into an insect, which grew after eating candy and then changed into a small black snake.
• Han Xiaoxiao and Keke learned that Hela could control the creature, share its vision, and potentially create another Hela that could survive independently.
• Ye Yiqing returned with a rabbit, dressed it, roasted it, and shared the meat among the four.
• Han Xiaoxiao gave her rabbit leg to Ye Yiqing so he would have the strength to protect them, and he accepted it.
• Keke watched Ye Yiqing and Han Xiaoxiao sitting together, then worried to herself about a love triangle.

Ye Ciqing saw through a flower demon’s illusions and was lured into trouble by the demon and her double. Ye Yiqing sensed his little brother was in danger and set out to help with Hela, Han Xiaoxiao, and Keke.

• Ye Ciqing impaled an illusion of Yan Wusheng and kicked it away, revealing it was a vine.
• Ye Ciqing attacked an illusion of Ye Yiqing, traced its roots to a flower demon, and confronted her.
• The flower demon and her identical double surrounded Ye Ciqing and used their fragrance to daze him.
• Ye Yiqing woke from his sleep, sensed Ye Ciqing was in trouble, and prepared to go to him.
• Hela, Han Xiaoxiao, and Keke joined Ye Yiqing as he led them through the woods to help Ye Ciqing.

Ye Yiqing rescued Ye Ciqing from a flower Variant that had bewitched him, but the creature’s roots escaped and its true body remained uncertain. The flower demon later joined forces with an injured giant wolf and planned to attack the strongest member of the group, while suspecting Hela was a Variant.

• Ye Yiqing cut Ye Ciqing free from the vines and discovered that the flower-bud Variant’s roots escaped into the soil before its severed bud withered.
• Ye Ciqing woke, learned that he had appeared to enjoy being wrapped in vines, and fled in embarrassment.
• Ye Yiqing asked Keke, Han Xiaoxiao, and Hela to keep the incident secret, then discussed the flower Variant’s possible connection to Hela’s regenerative ability.
• Ye Yiqing led the group away to find a safer place to rest, while the flower demon met an injured giant wolf in the woods.
• The flower demon and the giant wolf agreed to join forces and target the strongest person in the group first, and the flower demon identified Hela as a Variant and declared her hatred of traitors.

Han Xiaoxiao dreamed that her dead brother Han Xuan returned and urged her to flee the Night Stars with him. Ye Yiqing woke to Hela making an intimate advance, while Keke found herself reunited with her loving parents and ate breakfast with them.

• Han Xiaoxiao saw Han Xuan, wept in his arms, and agreed to run away with him because the Night Stars were too dangerous.
• Han Xuan took Han Xiaoxiao by the hand, and they ran off together.
• Ye Yiqing woke to find Hela lying on top of him and declaring that she liked him.
• Keke woke in her childhood home, where her father spoke gently to her and told her that her mother was cooking.
• Keke saw her parents preparing breakfast, thanked them tearfully, and ate with them.

Hela resisted the flower demon girl's pollen illusion and destroyed her hidden flower bud, while Ye Yiqing recovered and went after Han Xiaoxiao. At the cliff, Ye Yiqing confronted the giant wolf Variant impersonating Han Xiaoxiao’s brother, but Han Xiaoxiao remained convinced the figure was real.

• The flower demon girl tried to bewitch Hela with pollen, but Hela located and shattered the flower bud, absorbing its energy.
• Ye Yiqing recovered from the illusion and learned that Han Xiaoxiao had run off, so he left Hela to watch Keke and went after her.
• At the mountaintop cliff, Han Xuan urged Han Xiaoxiao to leave with him, then tried to attack her when she hesitated.
• Ye Yiqing arrived and struck at Han Xuan, but Han Xiaoxiao stepped between them and stopped his blade.
• Ye Yiqing told Han Xiaoxiao that Han Xuan was the smoke Variant, but she refused to believe him, and Han Xuan charged at Ye Yiqing.

Ye Yiqing fought the giant wolf with his broken blade while Han Xiaoxiao struggled to accept that the brother she saw was an illusion. After Han Xiaoxiao recognized the truth, the illusion shattered, but Ye Yiqing was badly wounded and nearing his limit as the wolf taunted him.

• Ye Yiqing wounded the giant wolf and used its injuries to make it wary, then lost his chance to attack when Han Xiaoxiao blocked him.
• The giant wolf bit Ye Yiqing's left arm, and Ye Yiqing told Han Xiaoxiao that her brother Han Xuan had died saving her from [HeLa Cell].
• Han Xiaoxiao remembered Han Xuan's death, accepted that the brother before her was an illusion, and watched the scene shatter to reveal the giant wolf.
• Ye Yiqing continued fighting the wolf, but his injuries, broken blade, and lack of oxygen left him close to collapse.
• The giant wolf mocked the wounded Ye Yiqing as he gasped for breath and touched his bloodstained eyepatch.

Ye Yiqing and Han Xiaoxiao killed the giant wolf, though Han Xiaoxiao lost consciousness and both were thrown by its final blast. Elsewhere, Ye Ciqing joined Wang Canxin’s group to hunt the Mirror Dream Flower and arrived at their camp, where Yan Wusheng greeted him with a jab.

• Han Xiaoxiao stopped Ye Yiqing from attacking the giant wolf, then stabbed its eye with his broken saber and gave him an opening to strike its neck.
• The giant wolf unleashed a blast of fog, but Ye Yiqing carried Han Xiaoxiao out of its path; after it died, he hacked off its head and collapsed beside it.
• Ye Ciqing sensed that Ye Yiqing was safe, then agreed to help Wang Canxin and twenty-five others eliminate the illusion-creating Mirror Dream Flower.
• Ye Ciqing reached Wang Canxin’s camp with him and made a dramatic entrance before Yan Wusheng criticized him from a corner.

Keke relived a happy family memory while trapped in an illusion, and Hela helped her awaken. Meanwhile, Wang Canxin and Ye Ciqing fled a group of delirious recruits before Wang Canxin’s trap caught them in a net.

• Keke received an admission letter to Shangjing No. 1 Key High School and celebrated with her parents by folding paper cranes.
• Hela shook Keke and tried to make her realize the scene was fake, but Keke asked to spend more time with her family.
• Keke acknowledged that the scene was fake, then came around and thanked Hela as a tear rolled down her cheek.
• Ye Ciqing and Wang Canxin ran from the delirious recruits, and Ye Ciqing gave Wang Canxin a throwing knife.
• Wang Canxin cut a rope beside a tree, triggering a vine net that caught the pursuing recruits.

Wang Canxin explained how the [Mirror Dream Flower] used its buds as clones and revealed that he had secretly tracked its true body with [Divine Detective]. As the flower-demon escaped into an illusion, Wang Canxin and Ye Ciqing exposed and attacked it, while Yan Wusheng separately blasted another Mirror Dream Flower.

• Wang Canxin left the recruits trapped in the net and led Ye Ciqing to a disguised [Mirror Dream Flower], but Ye Ciqing attacked and destroyed the flower-demon before Wang Canxin could stop him.
• Wang Canxin explained that the buds were clones and that only the true blooming flower could be destroyed, then revealed he had used [Divine Detective] to locate it.
• The flower-demon revealed that it had more than one true body, while Wang Canxin hinted that he had been keeping it talking for a reason.
• Yan Wusheng blasted a hidden [Mirror Dream Flower] and its surroundings, then wondered why the flower had not withered immediately.
• The flower-demon vanished and changed the scene into an illusion, but Wang Canxin pinned it with a bone knife and Ye Ciqing trapped it in a skeletal hand before striking at its roots and stems.

After Ye Yiqing defeated the giant wolf, Hela knocked him unconscious and ate the corpse while he slept. When he woke, she claimed ants had eaten the wolf, then helped carry Han Xiaoxiao back to Keke.

• Hela confirmed Han Xiaoxiao was alive, then struck Ye Yiqing and knocked him unconscious.
• Hela ate the giant wolf’s eyes and tongue, and later became covered in blood.
• Ye Yiqing woke beside Hela and noticed she had grown taller, while Hela said she had fallen into blood.
• Ye Yiqing found the wolf’s corpse missing, and Hela told him ants had eaten it.
• Hela carried Han Xiaoxiao as Ye Yiqing led them back to Keke, who ran over to greet them.