Definition
- **Peng Zhi (彭质):** This chapter throws a heavy lore-bomb. Peng Zhi is one of the legendary *Three Corpses (San Shi)*, a core concept in Daoist internal alchemy. These are three malevolent, parasitic "corpse-demons" that reside in the human body (head, chest, belly), constantly working to shorten one's life and drag the soul toward death and desire. In classic Daoist cultivation, "cutting off the Three Corpses" is a prerequisite for true immortality. Li Huowang's first test-statement, “I am Peng Zhi,” is terrifying because it reframes his ailment: he isn't just a Heart-Element being hunted; a part of him might *be* the very demon of delusion and paranoia that cultivators seek to destroy. - **Layered Logic of Deception:** The chapter’s entire structure is a trap of epistemology. Li Huowang writes four statements, explicitly labeling three as false and one with a question mark. The reader is forced to play the same game as Li Huowang, wondering which parts of the Zuowandao dialogue were the lie inside a lie. This mimics the real-world psychological phenomenon of "source monitoring errors"—the brain's inability to correctly identify the origin of a memory, a core theme of the novel. - **"Checking Faces":** This is a visceral, horrifying bit of folk-logic. In the Dao-Twisted World, the Zuowandao are known for their masks, their shifting faces, their lies. Li Huowang’s "test" to see how many faces a person has is not a physical examination but a supernatural interrogation born of trauma. The reader is left to imagine the brutality required to get such an answer. It shows Li Huowang adopting the world’s cruel, empirical methods.