Definition
A spectral presence in Li Huowang’s mind, often associated with a Mahjong tile. She offers cynical, often unhelpful commentary on his situation, but her observations carry a grain of bitter truth.
Hong Zhong
A spectral presence in Li Huowang’s mind, often associated with a Mahjong tile. She offers cynical, often unhelpful commentary on his situation, but her observations carry a grain of bitter truth.
Story context
Brace yourselves, folks. This chapter is a masterclass in emotional whiplash. We start in Li Huowang’s head—a triumphant, inspiring fantasy where he rallies his broken little family and promises to build a sect from scratch. It’s the dream of every underdog story. But then the rain comes, and the fantasy dissolves like paper skin in a storm. We cut to reality: a hollow, exhausted Li Huowang standing alone in the mud, having stood vigil for an entire day. The Bai family is gone. He knows what happened. And now, he has to face the only person he has left: Bai Lingmiao. Get ready for a chapter that doesn’t hit you with a sword—it hits you with a choice.
Why it matters
This chapter is a gut-punch because it’s not about monsters or magic—it’s about a choice. Li Huowang knows the Bai family is dead. Bai Lingmiao doesn’t. He has the power to break her or to preserve a fiction. Hong Zhong, for all his vile trickery, makes a terrifyingly logical argument. The horror here isn’t supernatural; it’s moral. It’s watching a man have to decide whether to become the kind of person who lies to the person he loves to save her from pain. This is the quiet kind of horror that stays with you long after the chapter ends.
Quick facts
Source novel
Dao Gui Yi Xian
First appearance
The Choice
Chapter references
6
Type hints
Li Huowang, Bai Lingmiao, Ox-Heart Village
Guide tags
emotional, psychological horror, moral dilemma
Appears in chapters
Jump back into the novel from the exact chapter references used to build this glossary page.
Chapter 310
The Choice
Li Huowang returns to Ox-Heart Village alone. A fantasy of building a sect shatters in the rain. Now he must choose between truth and the lie that will spare Bai Lingmiao.
Chapter 343
Huanhuan
Li Huowang’s parasitic Black Tai Sui tries to escape on its own. In his hallucination, a moment of kindness leads to a brutal—and possibly mistaken—act of violence.
Chapter 425
The Heart-Element in the Shrine
Li Huowang returns to the capital carrying his own headless corpse, but what awaits him at the Supervisory Heavenly Office—a severed head, an incense shrine, and a revelation that flips everything he knew about the Zuowandao.
Chapter 443
The Past That Was
A desperate plan to revive Zhuge Yuan leads Li Huowang to a shattering discovery about his own identity as Hong Zhong, forcing him to question if his modern life was ever real.
Chapter 444
The Red Center Gambit
Li Huowang uncovers a real cultivation manual hidden in the false memories of Hong Zhong. But is it a gift from Doumu, or the final piece of her trap? A chilling night of Qingming folk horror.
Chapter 566
Trap Within a Trap
The trap is sprung! Li Huowang discovers Zhuge Yuan masterminded the entire scheme to save Great Qi, shattering their sacred bond of brotherhood.
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