Chief

A high-ranking official overseeing celestial and supernatural matters for the imperial court; his role is to “monitor the heavens” and manage threats that cross between the political and cosmic realms.

Definition

Story context

Hold onto your meridians, fellow daoists, because Volume 3 wraps up with a bang—or rather, with the chilling, triumphant laughter of a man losing his mind on purpose. Li Huowang makes a terrifyingly bold play: he decides to become a Siming, an Arbiter of Fate, by sheer force of belief. He gambles everything on the idea that his future, more powerful self will come back to save him *right now*. It's a gamble that breaks reality, confuses gods, and lands him smack in the middle of a therapy session with Dr. Yi Donglai. The lines between the two worlds blur more than ever, leaving us with a cured (?) Li Huowang, a vanished Zhuge Yuan, and a mother's tearful joy that feels just a little too good to be true. Get ready for a finale that’s part cosmic horror, part psychiatric breakthrough, and entirely mind-bending.

Why it matters

This is a masterclass in weird fiction's central trick: making the solution feel as terrifying as the problem. Li Huowang "cures" himself not by destroying his hallucinatory world, but by leaning so hard into its logic that he forces it to rewrite its own rules. The "Winning by Losing" strategy is in full effect. He accepts his future as a Siming of Bewilderment, which sounds like a nightmare, but he frames it as a victory.