Definition
A daily dawn practice in Daoist and Buddhist temples where adherents chant scriptures and perform devotions. In this novel, seeing Renxiao mimic the ritual is a chilling echo of Qingfeng Temple’s hollow cultivation.
Morning
A daily dawn practice in Daoist and Buddhist temples where adherents chant scriptures and perform devotions. In this novel, seeing Renxiao mimic the ritual is a chilling echo of Qingfeng Temple’s hollow cultivation.
Story context
This chapter isn’t about a big fight with a flashy boss—it’s Li Huowang having a raw, uncomfortable reckoning with the squatters in his own head. Hongzhong pokes the hornet’s nest with that “tiger and cheng-ghost” analogy, and Li Huowang nearly takes himself out in a fit of nihilistic rage before his own parasite literally pulls him back from the edge. Then, just when he thinks he’s got a handle on things, he stumbles onto something far more unsettling: a group of Renxiao—those twisted, blind creatures born from miserable old age—sitting in morning devotion like they’re a proper Daoist sect. The familiar horror of Qingfeng Temple comes rushing back, and he has to choose between his need for violent catharsis and a more urgent mission: saving the children.
Why it matters
This chapter is a masterclass in psychological escalation. Pay close attention to the way Li Huowang’s self-destructive impulse is triggered—not by a monster, but by a simple insult from a being he suspects isn’t even real. His reaction feels *too* extreme, and that’s the point. The author is showing you how frayed his mental wiring has become. The fact that his own Black Tai Sui (a parasite) has to physically restrain him from killing himself is both darkly comic and deeply tragic.
Quick facts
Source novel
Dao Gui Yi Xian
First appearance
The Renxiao's Morning Lesson
Chapter references
1
Type hints
Renxiao, cheng ghost, Li Huowang
Guide tags
Body Horror, Folk Horror, Psychological Horror
Appears in chapters
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Related terms
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