white lie

Story context

Get ready for a gut-punch, fellow travelers. Li Huowang just couldn’t swallow that “kind lie” pill, could he? This chapter is the brutal, tear-soaked aftermath of the Niuxin Village massacre. Having just confessed to his pursuers that he, in his own insanity, burned Bai Lingmiao’s entire clan to death, he now has to face the woman he loves with the truth. There are no monsters here, no rituals, no Wandering Lords—just two broken people in a quiet room, the sound of rain, and the shattering of a fragile dream. It’s a devastating masterclass in how the novel’s real horror isn’t just cosmic terror, but the human cost of a mind that can’t tell fire from comfort.

Why it matters

This is a chapter you feel in your bones, not one you analyze. The novel has spent hundreds of chapters building the tender bond between Li Huowang and Bai Lingmiao—a rare oasis of warmth in a desert of blood and madness. Watching that bond shatter is the true cost of Li Huowang’s incurable condition. The horror here isn't a tentacle or a flesh Buddha; it’s the look on Bai Lingmiao’s face when the man she trusted reveals himself as the murderer of her entire family. Pay close attention to Li Huowang’s final, bitter monologue as he leaves. He doesn’t frame himself as a tragic hero. He frames himself as a “unknown madman” who has become a “madman with unfathomable abilities.” It’s a chilling self-diagnosis and a perfect capstone to his character arc—from passive survivor to active monster.

Quick facts

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Source novel

Dao Gui Yi Xian