Trap-and-Smash

Story context

Buckle up, fellow cultivators—because this chapter pulls the rug out so hard you’ll feel your own worldview crack. “Red Center” is a masterclass in rug-pull escalation: after chapters of political maneuvering and courtly tension, Li Huowang suddenly reveals himself as a Zuowandao—specifically, its highest-ranked “Four Joys” member, Red Center. The scene vaults from desperate escape, to cold-blooded assassination, to grotesque body horror, to triumphant laughter as his face literally reshapes itself into the Chinese character 中. It’s a tonal detonation that recontextualizes everything you thought you knew about his recent behavior, his motives, and the very nature of the conflict.

Why it matters

This is one of those chapters you’ll want to reread immediately after finishing, just to catch all the clues you missed. Li Huowang’s “absent-mindedness,” his sudden reluctance to engage with the political plot, his oddly eager question about whether Zhuge Yuan needed help—all of it reads differently now. The author plays fair: the behavior isn’t out of character; it’s just that the *character* is wrong. For first-time readers, the whiplash is the point—you’re meant to feel as stunned and betrayed as Zhuge Yuan does. For returning readers, savor how smoothly the Red Center impersonated Li Huowang’s voice, his paranoia, his dry concern. The Zuowandao’s power isn’t just violence; it’s performance.

Quick facts

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Source novel

Dao Gui Yi Xian