Chapter Summaries

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.

Xu Xi and the tall, thin man uncovered evidence that Gao Zhuang had poisoned the villagers, then were ambushed outside the clinic by a dried corpse. Xu Xi appeared to die after it bit his neck, but he found himself standing behind the door again, as if the attack had reset.

• Awang told Xu Xi and the tall, thin man that the police had blamed the fire at his house on old wiring, while villagers accused his father of killing his mother.
• Xu Xi grew suspicious that Village Chief Zhu had concealed the truth about the fire, and the two searched Gao Zhuang's house, finding funeral supplies.
• The pair searched the clinic and found expired chloride medication and records showing Gao Zhuang had mixed cyanide medication into his prescriptions.
• As Xu Xi opened the clinic door, a dried corpse attacked and bit his neck, while the tall, thin man stabbed it with a syringe.
• Xu Xi touched his neck and realized he was standing behind the door again after being drained of blood.

Xu Xi and the tall, thin man foiled a dried-corpse ambush at the clinic and learned that the baseball-cap player and the man in the suit had conspired against them and the girl in the long dress. The girl revealed she had killed the man in the suit, while the baseball-cap player remained at large.

• Xu Xi suspected someone was waiting outside the clinic, so he and the tall, thin man planned to draw out the attacker through the front and back doors.
• Xu Xi shut the front door as a bag of blood struck it, then escaped through the back while the dried corpse attacked the entrance.
• The tall, thin man reported that the baseball-cap player had thrown the blood and fled when pursued.
• The girl in the long dress told Xu Xi and the tall, thin man that the man in the suit had tried to stab her while the baseball-cap player lured a corpse toward them.
• The girl in the long dress revealed that she had killed the man in the suit.

Xu Xi and his companions planned to persuade Village Chief Zhu to call the police about Gao Zhuang, but a dried corpse attacked them and a fire broke out. After the corpses killed Xu Xi and he reloaded, he ran toward the fire and told the others to follow him.

• Xu Xi, the woman in the long dress, and the tall, thin man concluded that Gao Zhuang and the shaman had worked together to deceive the villagers and planned to ask Village Chief Zhu to call the police.
• A dried corpse ambushed Xu Xi, but the woman in the long dress struck it with a brick and the tall, thin man injected it with a syringe.
• A fire broke out in the village, and another dried corpse bit Xu Xi to death as he and the others headed toward the blaze.
• Xu Xi reloaded to the moment before the ambush and ran toward the fire, telling the woman in the long dress and the tall, thin man to follow him.

Xu Xi and his teammates caught Gao Zhuang trying to set fire to the village and exposed the dangers surrounding the Mountain God. After Village Chief Zhu led the villagers to smash the temple, the supernatural beings vanished and the players cleared the instance.

• Xu Xi and his teammates stopped Gao Zhuang from setting fire to several farmhouses and found him carrying out the arson attempt.
• The Tall, Thin Man fetched Village Chief Zhu while the Young Woman in a Long Dress subdued two mummified corpses with her brick and the Tall, Thin Man put them to sleep with syringes.
• The three players told Village Chief Zhu what had happened, and the Young Woman in a Long Dress urged him to call the police.
• After the police arrested Gao Zhuang, Xu Xi suggested smashing the Mountain God Temple, and Village Chief Zhu agreed to gather the villagers.
• Village Chief Zhu led the villagers to smash the temple and its statue; the Old Man Who Knocks on Doors and the two mummified corpses vanished, and the players cleared the instance.

Xu Xi and his teammates read a newspaper that summarized the village deaths before returning to Player Space. Xu Xi reflected on the uncovered and hidden truths behind the poisoning, fires, and planned sacrifice, then considered what he had learned from his teammates’ deception.

• Xu Xi, the Young Woman in a Long Dress, and the Tall, Thin Man remained in the fading village and read a newspaper report about the deaths and the barefoot doctor Gao’s poisoning scheme.
• The three returned to Player Space, where Xu Xi questioned the newspaper’s account and reasoned that the Shamaness and Gao Zhuang had concealed the poisoning and attempted a human sacrifice.
• Xu Xi suspected Gao Zhuang had set the final fire to pressure Village Chief Zhu into allowing the sacrifice, but that the blaze had spread beyond control.
• Xu Xi thought about Awang’s contradictory words, then reflected on how the Young Man in a Duckbill Cap and the Man in a Suit had used the village’s livestock-blood routine to set someone up.