Recaps

Xu Xi and the High-Ponytail Woman discovered the innkeeper’s organ-trafficking records and used them to contact the National Anomalous Management Bureau. A rescue team arrived, killed the Evolved Body, and cleared the instance, leaving two survivors and four victims.

• Xu Xi and the High-Ponytail Woman searched the cellar and found the innkeeper’s notebook, which implicated him in organ trafficking and mentioned the Bureau of Extraordinary Management.
• Xu Xi used powder from a jar to distract the Evolved Body while the High-Ponytail Woman kept it occupied, and he retrieved the phone from the Refined Man.
• The High-Ponytail Woman called the Bureau, which located them and promised that a rescue team would arrive in about two hours.
• A protective-suited rescue team arrived and shot the Evolved Body, then reported two survivors and four victims as the players cleared the dungeon.

After Xu Xi cleared the instance, Ji Yang replayed the events for his rapidly growing audience and explained how Xu Xi had recognized clues and manipulated the other players. Ji Yang’s commentary suggested Xu Xi had planned against the Burly Man and Refined Man, while viewers debated how much he had known.

• Xu Xi cleared the instance, and Ji Yang noticed that his livestream audience had surged to a million viewers.
• Ji Yang replayed the Room 106 incident and explained that Xu Xi had suspected someone in the shadows could control the White Humanoid.
• Ji Yang said the Burly Man’s refusal to let Xu Xi back into Room 103 made him an enemy, and viewers speculated that Xu Xi had schemed against him.
• Ji Yang explained that Xu Xi threatened the Refined Man and Burly Man into entering Room 101, lowering their guard while concealing his continued killing intent toward them.
• Viewers suspected Xu Xi had also played a part in the Refined Man’s death and noted a common link among the three dead players.

Ji Yang explained how Xu Xi manipulated the dungeon’s threats and players to expose Fake Yang Wu, survive the traps, and kill Fake Yang Wu and the Refined Man. The viewers concluded that Fake Yang Wu had made a simple dungeon far harder, while Xu Xi had outmaneuvered his schemes.

• Ji Yang explained that Xu Xi refused to enter the underground passage because he wanted to assess the danger and provoke the Burly Man into staying aboveground.
• Ji Yang pointed out the Burly Man’s fresh wrist cut and explained that Xu Xi let the injury serve as a test of Fake Yang Wu’s ability to cause mutations.
• Ji Yang said Xu Xi concealed what he had learned and let the Refined Man keep probing Fake Yang Wu, who used powder to direct the White Humanoids and lure the players into the cellar.
• Fake Yang Wu revealed his identity in the cellar to stall for the White Humanoids and mutated Burly Man to evolve, but Xu Xi killed Fake Yang Wu and schemed the Refined Man to death.
• Ji Yang explained that Fake Yang Wu’s three traps had made an otherwise simple dungeon far more difficult, and the viewers praised Xu Xi’s cunning.

Ji Yang learned that the ill-fated show "Shining Players" planned to livestream Xu Xi and decided to oppose the production team. After returning to the golden staircase, Xu Xi reviewed the dungeon, worried that he was becoming accustomed to dying, then accepted the risk and considered what had made the dungeon difficult.

• Ji Yang ended his livestream after hearing that "Shining Players" planned to feature Xu Xi, and he went to the show's official account to steer public opinion against the production team.
• Xu Xi returned to the golden staircase and assessed his progress, his teammates, and the three deaths among the five dungeon participants.
• Xu Xi realized that he was pleased to have died only four times and worried that his fear of death was fading.
• Xu Xi accepted that he might die if he could not survive and reviewed how the young man's traps had complicated the dungeon.
• Xu Xi checked that his wedding candy and spirit money were still in his pocket and considered the limits of items that required manual use.

Xu Xi entered another instance and found himself on a dirt road with five other players. Meanwhile, the Shining Players broadcast began livestreaming him despite viewers’ fury over the show’s suspected bad luck, and Ji Yang watched with dread for the player he saw as a seed of hope.

• Xu Xi chose to enter another instance rather than wait in the Player Space, and appeared on a dirt road with five other players.
• Song Yan hosted Shining Players as viewers flooded the broadcast with abuse and begged the production team not to livestream Xu Xi.
• Song Yan introduced psychology expert Cao Hongbo and mystery writer Ge Ying, then announced Xu Xi’s record-setting first-instance speedrun and the new livestream.
• Viewers spotted Cheng Xu among the players and debated whether his presence alongside Xu Xi meant the group would succeed or fall victim to the show’s jinx.
• Ji Yang watched the broadcast at home and worried that the show might endanger the hope he had discovered in Xu Xi.

Xu Xi and five other players arrived in Ninghe Village, where Village Chief Zhu explained that more than sixty villagers had died in three years after a fire killed Awang’s mother and several elderly residents. He left the players with the village’s belief that Awang’s mother had returned as a vengeful ghost to punish those who had gossiped about her family.

• The suited man accepted Village Chief Zhu’s welcome on behalf of the six players and led the group toward Ninghe Village.
• Village Chief Zhu said Awang’s father had died at a construction site, leaving Awang and his mother to struggle with poverty and village gossip.
• Zhu recounted how a fire three years earlier killed Awang’s mother and several elderly villagers while Awang was away picking wild vegetables.
• Zhu said more than sixty villagers had died in three years, despite the police finding nothing unusual.
• Zhu explained that villagers blamed Awang’s mother’s supposed affair and believed her ghost was taking revenge on those who had insulted her family.

Village Chief Zhu brought six players to his village to deal with A-Wang's mother within three days, while asking them to pose as his wife's relatives. At dinner, the players grew suspicious of the village and its food, and the young man in the black hoodie suddenly reached for his chopsticks.

• Village Chief Zhu asked the players to resolve the problem within three days and conceal their identities from the villagers.
• At the village entrance, Village Chief Zhu introduced the players as relatives of his wife, and Xu Xi suspected the villagers were hiding something.
• Village Chief Zhu brought the players to his home, where they met his grandson and wife.
• The man in the suit invited Village Chief Zhu and his grandson to eat, but Village Chief Zhu refused, leaving the players wary of the meal.
• While everyone hesitated over the food, the young man in the black hoodie reached out with his chopsticks.

Xu Xi and the other players ate at Village Chief Zhu’s home, discussed the village’s secrets, and planned to investigate before dark. After they split up to gather clues, the livestream experts praised the man in the suit’s leadership and said Xu Xi’s choice to test the food showed psychological insight.

• Xu Xi ate first to test whether the food was poisoned, and the other players followed after seeing nothing happen.
• Village Chief Zhu offered the players three neighboring houses and warned that the families of the mysteriously dead villagers had also died, so the players agreed to stay separately.
• The players discussed whether Village Chief Zhu was hiding information and agreed to question villagers, meet outside Awang’s house, and return to their lodgings before dark.
• The six players asked Village Chief Zhu for Awang’s address, then each chose a direction and dispersed to investigate.
• On the livestream, Cao Hongbo said the man in the suit had good social skills and leadership, and that Xu Xi’s decision to test the food suggested he understood psychology.

Cao Hongbo and Ge Ying analyzed Xu Xi’s composure and the village’s likely connection to human nature while the players explored. Xu Xi joined the chatty young man in a baseball cap, and they discovered an unusually ripe patch of wheat as villagers gathered nearby.

• Cao Hongbo said the village chief’s reactions seemed genuine and praised Xu Xi’s calmness and confidence.
• Ge Ying suggested the village’s tragedies might be tied to human flaws and remarked that Xu Xi remained as silent as ever.
• A young man in a baseball cap caught up with Xu Xi and proposed that they explore together.
• Xu Xi and the young man found a patch of ripe wheat standing out among the green fields.
• The young man headed toward nearby villagers to ask about the wheat, and Xu Xi followed him.

Xu Xi and the other players investigated a strange ripe wheat field and gathered clues about a series of unexplained deaths in Ninghe Village. They regrouped near Awang’s house, where the evidence raised new questions about the latest three deaths and Awang’s mother.

• Xu Xi and the young man in the baseball cap questioned villagers, who warned them to stay inside for three days, avoid going out at night, and ignore knocking.
• Xu Xi found dark soil with a strong bloody smell in the ripe wheat field, and the young man guessed it had been watered with human blood.
• The players gathered near Awang’s house, and the man in the suit reported that three villagers had died half a month earlier and that older women blamed Awang’s mother.
• The tall, thin man said the latest grave was from two months ago and that sixty-three gravestones listed the cause of death as unknown.
• The players questioned why the three recent deaths had no graves and why villagers still suspected Awang’s mother, while the girl in the long dress began sharing what she and the curly-haired woman had learned.

Xu Xi and the others pieced together clues about the villagers’ planned sacrifice but found no clear explanation. After Awang shut the group out of his house, Xu Xi examined the evidence in his room and wondered whether the bloody wheat field and the deaths half a month earlier were connected.

• The group discussed the villagers’ food stockpiles, the bloody wheat field, three unusual deaths, and the possibility of an upcoming sacrifice.
• The six visitors went to Awang’s house, but Awang opened the gate only a crack before slamming it shut on them.
• The group returned to their assigned lodgings and split into pairs, with Xu Xi sharing a house with the young man in the baseball cap.
• Xu Xi considered whether blood had been used to grow the wheat and whether the field’s owner was one of the villagers who died half a month earlier.
• Xu Xi wondered if Village Chief Zhu had delayed a sacrifice and whether the offering was meant for Awang’s mother, but he still lacked enough clues.

Xu Xi woke to a villager pounding on the players’ door and opened it to investigate, despite the baseball-capped player’s warning. The villager slowly rose after falling, while Xu Xi realized he had frightened his companion by acting without warning.

• Xu Xi fell asleep in the village house, but woke when intermittent knocking drew nearer.
• Xu Xi recognized an ordinary-looking villager outside and watched it pound harder on their door than on the neighboring houses.
• The baseball-capped player wondered whether something about the house or the players had attracted the villager.
• Xu Xi opened the door as the villager rammed it, causing the villager to fall before it slowly stood back up.
• The baseball-capped player hid in a room, and Xu Xi realized he had failed to consider how his sudden actions would affect his companion.

Xu Xi encountered an old villager who repeatedly asked whether he had any gold, then left after Xu Xi firmly said no. The survivors discussed why the old man had visited, and the next morning the man in the suit noted that the villagers likely knew who the strange visitor was.

• An old villager asked Xu Xi several times whether he had any gold, turned sinister when Xu Xi first said no, then moved on after Xu Xi repeated his answer.
• The young man in the baseball cap admitted he had hidden during the encounter and suggested the smell from the wheat field had drawn the old man to their door.
• The young man in the baseball cap asked whether Xu Xi had a life-saving item, apologized when Xu Xi challenged him, and left.
• Viewers debated why the old man had targeted the pair, while Song Yan, Cao Hongbo, and Ge Ying wondered whether the production team's influence was involved.
• At breakfast, the man in the suit and the other survivors compared stories about the nighttime knocking, and the man in the suit suggested the villagers knew the old man and his nightly visits.

The players investigated the village’s strange wheat field and the old man who had knocked on their door, learning that he had died after swallowing gold. Xu Xi suspected the old man had singled him out, but he could not tell why.

• Xu Xi and the young man in the baseball cap found that the wheat field’s soil had grown wetter and brighter, with a stronger smell of blood.
• The man in the suit learned that one of the villagers who died half a month earlier had swallowed gold after finding some in a field.
• The players concluded that the dead man was now knocking on doors to ask for gold and that villagers had grown used to him.
• Xu Xi and the young man in the baseball cap reported that someone had watered the wheat field during the night, though they saw no one doing it.
• Xu Xi recalled that the old man had seemed focused on him after he answered the door and wondered what the man wanted from him.

The players investigated why Village Chief Zhu opposed the mountain god’s upcoming ritual and organized the unanswered questions about Awang’s mother’s death and the village’s strange events. When they sought Village Chief Zhu for more information, his grandson asked them to save Awang.

• The woman in the long dress explained that the villagers worshipped a mountain god and that a shamaness would lead a ritual in two days.
• The players suspected Village Chief Zhu wanted them to stop Awang’s mother before the ritual and considered why he opposed it.
• The man in the suit listed key questions about Awang’s mother’s death, the recent deaths, the blood-watered wheat field, and the ritual.
• The players decided to ask Village Chief Zhu for help, and they sent his grandson to fetch him.
• Village Chief Zhu’s grandson asked whether they were the masters hired to deal with Aunt Mei Chan, then pleaded with them to save Awang.

Zhu Yu told the players that Awang was to be sacrificed at the ceremony in two days and begged them to protect him and Auntie Mei Chan. Xu Xi’s questions about whether anyone had seen Auntie Mei Chan made the group suspect that her ghost might not exist at all.

• The woman in the long dress questioned Zhu Yu, who revealed that Granny Shaman planned to offer Awang to the Mountain God as a sacrifice.
• Zhu Yu said Granny Shaman blamed Awang for bringing disaster and claimed the offering would get rid of Auntie Mei Chan, but he insisted Auntie Mei Chan was kind and had harmed no one.
• The players reassured Zhu Yu that they would investigate and help Awang, then learned where Granny Shaman lived and where the Mountain God Temple stood.
• Xu Xi asked whether Zhu Yu or his grandfather had seen Auntie Mei Chan in the past three years, and Zhu Yu said neither had.
• The man in the suit and the woman in the long dress realized Awang’s mother might never have appeared as a ghost, since she had not acted to protect her son from the planned sacrifice.

The group suspected that Awang’s mother was being blamed as a scapegoat and decided to investigate the Shamaness and the Mountain God. At the Mountain God Temple, a woman recognized one of them as someone favored by Lord Mountain God.

• The Young Woman in a Long Dress questioned whether Awang’s mother had truly caused the villagers’ deaths, and the group considered the Shamaness and Mountain God as possible culprits.
• The Man in a Suit suggested they investigate the Shamaness or the Mountain God Temple, and the group chose the temple.
• The six climbed the mountain and reached the Mountain God Temple, where they hesitated before entering.
• A middle-aged woman opened the temple door and challenged them, so the Man in a Suit claimed they were relatives of Aunt Cui Fen visiting to pay respects.
• The middle-aged woman looked at one of them and said that Lord Mountain God had favored them and that they had finally come.

Xu Xi and the other players entered the Mountain God Temple, where a voice tried to recruit them with promises of extraordinary abilities and eternal life. After returning to Village Chief Zhu’s house, they learned that the Mountain God had helped suppress Awang’s mother, but she had recently grown stronger.

• The shaman let Xu Xi and the other five players enter the temple, saying Xu Xi was favored by the Mountain God.
• While offering incense, Xu Xi rejected a voice that promised extraordinary abilities and an undying life in exchange for becoming a believer.
• The players discussed whether the Mountain God’s wishes had caused the strange deaths and abnormal wheat field, and considered confronting the shaman.
• At Village Chief Zhu’s house, Village Chief Zhu said the impeller at the well was broken and asked whether they had trouble with Awang’s mother.
• Village Chief Zhu explained that over forty people had died in Ninghe Village in the first year, but deaths fell after the shaman contacted the Mountain God in the second year.
• Village Chief Zhu said three villagers had died strangely half a month earlier, and the shaman believed Awang’s mother had grown stronger and the Mountain God could barely suppress her.

The players learned that villagers who wished to Awang’s mother for wealth or a harvest died in strange ways, strengthening their suspicion that the shaman and Mountain God were behind the village’s horrors. At dinner, Xu Xi was poisoned, recovered with a Pure-White Wedding Candy, and found himself back at the moment he had first picked up his chopsticks.

• Village Chief Zhu explained that Old Man Liu wished for wealth and died after swallowing gold, while a couple who wished for a good harvest were found drained of blood in their wheat field.
• The players concluded that the three villagers had made wishes to the Mountain God and decided the shaman was the key to stopping the ritual.
• Xu Xi began coughing blood after eating at Village Chief Zhu’s house, and Village Chief Zhu claimed Awang’s mother had cursed him.
• The tall, thin man gave Xu Xi a Flower-Paper Wedding Candy, which had no effect, then a Pure-White Wedding Candy, which cured him and revealed that the food was poisoned.
• Xu Xi wiped the blood from his mouth and looked toward the food, then his vision cleared and he found himself just after picking up his chopsticks.

Xu Xi warned the players that the meal was poisoned, and Village Chief Zhu proved it by feeding the rice to a chicken, which died. The players traced the likely poison source to water from another well, while the production team speculated that Xu Xi suspected the water was connected to the deaths of more than sixty Ninghe villagers.

• Xu Xi stopped the players from eating, declaring that the food was poisoned.
• Village Chief Zhu rushed to warn Wu Cuifen and Zhu Yu, who had not yet eaten, and the players questioned whether his family was responsible.
• Village Chief Zhu fed the rice to a chicken, which convulsed and died, confirming that the food was poisoned.
• The girl in the long dress suspected the water was contaminated, and Village Chief Zhu revealed that he had fetched water from another family's well after his pump impeller broke.
• The baseball-cap player asked which family's well Village Chief Zhu had used.
• Song Yan, Cao Hongbo, and Ge Ying discussed how Xu Xi detected the poison, and Ge Ying suggested he suspected the villagers' deaths were linked to poisoned water.

Ge Ying argued that Xu Xi had likely suspected the village water was poisoned from the start, unlike the other players who focused on supernatural explanations. The group tested a dead villager’s well and confirmed its water was poisonous, then considered whether other wells were affected.

• Ge Ying explained to Cao Hongbo that Xu Xi’s unusual confidence in testing the food suggested he had recognized the possibility of poisoning early.
• The livestream viewers debated Xu Xi’s reasoning as the six players followed Village Chief Zhu to an empty house where an old man had died.
• Village Chief Zhu tested the well water on a chicken, which convulsed and died, confirming that the well was poisoned.
• The woman in the long dress raised the possibility that other wells were poisoned, and the man in the suit stopped Village Chief Zhu from alerting the villagers.
• The man in the suit proposed checking the wells at homes where villagers had died during the past three years.

The players discovered that poisoned well water may have caused the villagers’ deaths, while the man in the suit argued that the Shamaness could be behind both the poisonings and the Mountain God worship. Xu Xi became convinced the God Hunt game was targeting him and considered using his rollbacks more freely.

• Village Chief Zhu brought chickens, and the players confirmed that wells belonging to two more deceased villagers had been poisoned.
• The man in the suit warned that the Shamaness might have poisoned villagers to stage a curse and strengthen belief in the Mountain God, so the group planned to question her.
• The tall, thin man told Xu Xi that the Mountain God’s favor might make apparitions pay extra attention to him, and Xu Xi thanked him.
• Village Chief Zhu grieved over the poisonings, and the man in the suit urged him to keep the discovery secret while the players returned to their lodgings.
• Xu Xi suspected the God Hunt game was targeting him with bad luck to exhaust his rollbacks, and decided there was little reason to ration them.

The players took their poisoned companion to Gao Zhuang, who claimed she was cursed and could not save her, and she died at the clinic. After leaving her body with Village Chief Zhu to arrange a burial, the surviving players suspected Gao Zhuang was steering them toward the shaman.

• Xu Xi recognized that the curly-haired woman was suffering from poison when she collapsed on the way to Village Chief Zhu's house.
• Village Chief Zhu took the group to Gao Zhuang's clinic, where Gao Zhuang said the woman had been cursed by Auntie Mei Chan and suggested consulting the shaman.
• The curly-haired woman grabbed Gao Zhuang's arm and died before he could treat her.
• The man in the suit asked Village Chief Zhu to arrange a local burial for their companion, and Village Chief Zhu agreed.
• After Village Chief Zhu left, the man in the suit said Gao Zhuang was suspicious, and the girl in the long dress noted that he kept directing them to the shaman.

After the curly-haired woman died, the players debated whether she had poisoned herself or paid the price for a wish to the Mountain God. They grew suspicious of the shamaness and doctor Gao Zhuang, and planned to search the shamaness’s home and the clinic that night.

• The woman in the long dress said the curly-haired woman had showered before she died, while the man in the suit questioned whether she had ingested poison.
• The young man in the baseball cap suggested the curly-haired woman might have died after making a wish at the Mountain God Temple, and the players considered the possibility.
• The man in the suit urged the group to focus on the shamaness and Gao Zhuang, while Xu Xi wondered whether Gao Zhuang had supplied or administered poison.
• Village Chief Zhu brought villagers to bury the curly-haired woman, then shared Gao Zhuang’s routine and gave the players a spare clinic key.
• A villager delivered the shamaness’s message that the players were cursed and should meet her at the Mountain God Temple that night.
• The man in the suit proposed splitting into two teams to search the shamaness’s home and Gao Zhuang’s clinic.

Xu Xi and the tall, thin man followed Awang to his mother’s grave and showed him quiet kindness by placing flowers there. Awang thanked them, while viewers discussed the players’ painful backgrounds.

• Xu Xi and the tall, thin man set out to investigate Gao Zhuang’s home, then decided to follow Awang toward his mother’s grave.
• Awang replaced the faded flowers at his mother’s crude grave and stared at it in silence.
• The tall, thin man placed dandelions by the grave, and Xu Xi added two flowers of his own.
• Awang thanked the two men for their gesture.
• Viewers discussed Cheng Xu’s difficult childhood and learned that Xu Xi had grown up in an orphanage.