Chapter Summaries

Xu Xi explored his room in the Shen Family’s gloomy mansion and tested which phone functions worked inside the instance. When a servant brought suspicious purple mourning clothes, Xu Xi used his status as the Third young master to demand a normal set and then followed the servant to the front hall.

• Xu Xi found that his phone’s camera and call function worked, though the call he tried did not connect.
• Xu Xi searched the room and inspected a bronze mirror, but found nothing unusual.
• A servant brought Xu Xi purple mourning clothes and told him to change before joining the others for the ancestral rites.
• Xu Xi questioned the clothes’ color and ordered the servant to fetch mourning clothes in a normal color.
• The servant returned with white hemp clothes, which Xu Xi put on before following him to the front hall.

Xu Xi and the other six players regrouped in white mourning clothes after each endured a strange test, then followed the steward to Shen Ancestral Hall. The steward recited seven funeral rules, leaving Xu Xi wary of the dangers and mysteries in the Shen residence.

• Yu Hao told Xing Ge and Lin Zuo that he had heard a commotion in Hang Ze's room.
• Hang Ze stumbled out wearing torn mourning clothes and said a servant had threatened him with a cleaver over the death of his brother.
• Shi Weiwei and Tang Shutong joined Xu Xi and the others, bringing all seven players together.
• The steward led the players through a narrow passage to Shen Ancestral Hall.
• The steward recited seven rules governing incense, mourning clothes, nighttime movement, the genealogy, Seventh Concubine, the sealed well, and the seven-day funeral.
• Xu Xi considered the rules and concluded that the instance looked complicated.

The players performed the Shen Family’s first incense rite, and Xu Xi heard a child’s faint giggle near the paper effigies. The butler assigned Xing Ge the first night of vigil and warned everyone to stay inside their rooms after the hour of the rat.

• The butler led the players into the ancestral hall and instructed them to offer three incense sticks without letting the incense or ashes fall or the burning stop.
• Xing Ge, Shi Weiwei, Lin Zuo, Tang Shutong, Xu Xi, and Yu Hao completed the incense rite without incident, though Xu Xi heard a faint child’s giggle near the paper effigies.
• Hang Ze’s incense sticks stood crookedly and shed a little ash, but he hurriedly kowtowed and the most unstable stick steadied.
• The butler announced that the first day’s rites were over and told Xing Ge to remain behind for the first night of vigil.
• The butler told the others to return to their rooms and not step outside after the hour of the rat, explaining that servants would leave chamber pots in their rooms.

The players discussed contradictions in the Shen Residence’s rules, their uncertain identities, and the strange laughter heard during the incense offering. As night fell, they agreed to prioritize surviving the first night, while Xu Xi warned that the seven-day limit might not be the true countdown and went to investigate the rear garden.

• Yu Hao, Shi Weiwei, Hang Ze, and the others discussed how the rules split them up and questioned whether all the players were truly members of the Shen family.
• Tang Shutong questioned whether Shen identity depended on a surname or bloodline, while Lin Zuo remarked that the incense burner was full and the coffin was cold.
• Xu Xi asked whether anyone had heard a sound during the incense offering, and Hang Ze said he had heard shrill laughter like children; the others had not.
• Yu Hao and Shi Weiwei urged the group to focus on surviving the first night and identifying which rules were absolute, while Shi Weiwei planned to listen for the laughter during her vigil.
• Xu Xi warned that the seven-day limit might not be the real countdown, then headed to the rear garden to test the taboos and investigate the abnormalities.

Xing Ge began keeping vigil in the ancestral hall under a set of strange rules, while Xu Xi explored the Shen Residence and tried to investigate the sealed well and Seventh Concubine. The chapter left Xing Ge facing signs of movement among the paper effigies and Xu Xi deciding to return to the ancestral hall.

• The steward gave Xing Ge rules for keeping vigil, warning him to maintain the incense and lamps, ignore strange sights and sounds, and remain in the ancestral hall until the hour of Mao.
• Xing Ge heard a drop fall from inside the coffin and noticed a paper effigy appear to move.
• Xu Xi found the sealed old well, removed its talisman paper and stone cover, and looked inside, but the darkness began to cloud his consciousness.
• Xu Xi abandoned the well and headed for the rear courtyard to seek Seventh Concubine, but a maid wearing a white flower blocked the entrance.
• Xu Xi gave up on entering the rear courtyard and decided to return to the ancestral hall.

Ji Yang analyzed the funeral rules and Xu Xi’s attempt to reach Seventh Concubine, while Xu Xi returned toward the ancestral hall to investigate. The residence blocked every route, leaving Xu Xi unable to reach it.

• Ji Yang streamed from a car and explained that the instance’s contradictory funeral rules centered on Master Shen’s death and made Seventh Concubine a key NPC.
• Ji Yang inferred that Xu Xi had expected the maid to block the rear courtyard and was probing for the conditions needed to reach Seventh Concubine.
• Ji Yang predicted that Xu Xi was heading to the ancestral hall and noticed that the paper figure in Xing Ge’s view had changed positions.
• Xu Xi left the rear courtyard and found that the familiar route to the ancestral hall ended at a bare wall.
• Xu Xi tried several corridors but concluded that the residence itself was preventing him from reaching the ancestral hall.

Xu Xi defied his cautious approach by probing the ancient well and questioning the steward, but the instance’s rules blocked his progress with repeated rollbacks. He returned to his room with a clue that the Shen Family owed a debt connected to the well and Master Shen’s death, planning to investigate again after the hour of the rat began.

• After finding the ancestral hall inaccessible, Xu Xi went to the ancient well and used his phone to photograph black mist churning above it.
• Xu Xi visited the steward and learned that the thing in the well was the Shen Family’s debt, which Master Shen had tried to repay.
• When Xu Xi asked the steward what debt the family owed, the steward warned him not to ask, and Xu Xi died and rolled back.
• Xu Xi tested the rear courtyard’s boundary and the steward’s limits, then returned to the east wing after further attempts triggered rollbacks.
• Xu Xi concluded that the Shen Family’s debt was a clue and planned to go out after the hour of the rat began.

Xu Xi left his room and found himself in a crowded funeral scene, where he examined Master Shen’s body and spotted a broken writing brush in his palm. Hang Ze’s arrival triggered a supernatural attack, and after Hang Ze was dragged into the coffin, Xu Xi found himself back in his room as the funeral sounds began again.

• Xu Xi opened his door and entered a brightly lit courtyard where servants prepared for Master Shen’s funeral.
• Xu Xi reached the ancestral hall and saw Master Shen’s corpse in the open coffin, with a broken writing brush in his left palm.
• Xu Xi noticed a mourning woman he suspected was the seventh concubine, but Hang Ze stumbled into the hall and greeted him.
• The flames dimmed, the incense burner exploded, and the assembled figures fixed their malicious gazes on Xu Xi and Hang Ze.
• An unseen force dragged Hang Ze into the coffin and slammed its lid shut as the crowd blocked Xu Xi’s escape.
• Xu Xi found himself back in his room while the same funeral preparations sounded outside his door.

Xu Xi stayed in his room after midnight, repeatedly finding himself back by the dressing table whenever he tried to sleep. He suspected the bronze mirror was responsible, threw it outside, and went back to bed as other players faced attacks from their mirrors.

• Ji Yang wondered whether Xu Xi had already worked out that staying in his room was safer than going outside.
• Xu Xi decided to sleep, but after lying down he found himself back beside the dressing table and suspected he had died in his sleep.
• Xu Xi grabbed the bronze mirror, threw it outside, then returned to bed and closed his eyes.
• The viewers saw that Shi Weiwei and Tang Shutong were attacked by figures in their mirrors, while Yu Hao and Lin Zuo encountered strange mirror reflections.
• The viewers urged each other to watch Hang Ze's livestream as he struggled to survive in the mourning hall.

Xu Xi joined the other players for breakfast and they compared what they had learned about the Shen Residence’s dangers. As the group planned their investigations, Xu Xi warned Lin Zuo that touching the well in the Back Garden meant death.

• Xu Xi woke, followed the Young Servant to breakfast, and told Yu Hao he had thrown his room’s bronze mirror outside before going to sleep.
• Xing Ge described the vigil rules, including ignoring sounds from inside the coffin and not turning around if the Paper Figures moved.
• The players discussed their plans: Shi Weiwei and Tang Shutong would visit Seventh Concubine, Xing Ge would search the Ancestral Hall, and Lin Zuo would go to the Back Garden.
• Xu Xi warned Lin Zuo that touching the Back Garden well would be fatal.

Xu Xi sent his teammates to investigate several locations while he chose to seek out the People Wearing White Flowers, then secretly photographed them as they left. A screenshot revealed that Tang Shutong’s hand had turned greenish-gray, and Ji Yang suspected she had violated a rule connected to the mirror.

• Lin Zuo agreed to investigate the kitchen, Yu Hao chose the study, and the group assigned other locations for investigation.
• Xu Xi decided to look for the People Wearing White Flowers and arranged to meet the others by the Hanging Flower Gate before offering incense.
• As the players left the hall, Xu Xi secretly took a photograph of them with his phone, though the image was not saved for him to review.
• Ji Yang enlarged a livestream screenshot and spotted a greenish-gray tint on Tang Shutong’s exposed left hand.
• Ji Yang suggested that Tang Shutong had violated a taboo connected to the mirror, perhaps by fighting back during an attack.

Xu Xi and the other players compared clues about the Shen Family’s mysterious debt, Seventh Concubine’s request to erase her son Shen Jiayang from the family register, and the missing register. As the steward arrived to summon them for incense, the group still had no clear answers.

• Xu Xi wandered around the Shen Residence and found no one wearing a white flower.
• Yu Hao reported finding letters that linked a past Shen Family crisis and a debt to the well, while Lin Zuo described burned papers and a hidden kitchen door.
• Shi Weiwei and Tang Shutong said Seventh Concubine had asked them to cross her son Shen Jiayang’s name out of the family register and had revealed that Master Shen liked purple.
• Xing Ge said he had searched for the family register everywhere except the coffin.
• Xu Xi told Yu Hao that he had made no progress as the steward arrived to lead them to offer incense.

After the ancestral incense offering, Xu Xi found the bronze mirror back in his room and decided to explore the Shen Residence at midnight despite Rollback’s warning. He died after encountering a distorted figure in a dark, foul-smelling corridor, then returned to the candlelit moment before his death, still determined not to spend every night sleeping.

• The steward led the six players through the incense offering and told Shi Weiwei that she would keep vigil that night.
• The players agreed to wait and see what happened to Shi Weiwei and whether the missing Hang Ze would be found.
• Xu Xi found the bronze mirror back on his dressing table and threw it outside again.
• Xu Xi waited until midnight, opened his door, and entered the dark corridor despite Rollback’s warning.
• Xu Xi heard overlapping murmurs, found the floor slick with a dark liquid, and saw a small distorted figure approaching with a wet trail behind it.
• Xu Xi regained consciousness by the candle after dying, unable to remember how he had died but recalling a suffocating sensation.

After repeatedly dying to a watery shadow while exploring at night, Xu Xi heard a dog bark and discovered that the Shen Residence had shifted into a quiet, dawn-like state. He met a maid and Xueke, a dog mourning the late Sixth Young Master, and agreed to follow it toward the well.

• Xu Xi repeatedly left his room after Rollbacks and died whenever he encountered the watery shadow, then prepared to go back to bed.
• A dog barked, prompting Xu Xi to leave his room and find the residence transformed by gray dawn light.
• Xu Xi followed the barking and found a maid chasing a yellow dog named Xueke, who had belonged to the late Sixth Young Master.
• The maid explained that Xueke went to the well daily after the Sixth Young Master died and kept trying to lead people there.
• Xu Xi agreed to follow the maid and Xueke.

Xu Xi questioned a maid about the Sixth Young Master's death and learned that Seventh Concubine believed crossing his name out of the family register could bring him back. After Xu Xi opened the sealed well, Xueke jumped in and surfaced with a booklet, and Xu Xi returned to the dark side room as a crash sounded from the ancestral hall.

• Xu Xi learned that Master Shen had sealed the well after the Sixth Young Master's drowning and that Seventh Concubine had been grieving in seclusion.
• The maid explained that Seventh Concubine wanted to use Master Shen's precious brush to cross the Sixth Young Master's name out of the family register, believing this could return him to life.
• Xu Xi recalled seeing Master Shen clutching a broken brush stained with dark red ink in his coffin, then asked the maid about the family register and the Shen Family's debts.
• Xueke barked at the sealed well and tore at its talismans, so Xu Xi removed the talismans and lifted the bluestone slab.
• Xueke jumped into the well and surfaced with a soaked booklet in his mouth, while Xu Xi was suddenly transported to the side room.
• A deafening crash erupted from the direction of the ancestral hall as darkness pressed in around Xu Xi.

Xu Xi took Shi Weiwei’s place as the person keeping watch on the second night, leaving the others wondering why he had volunteered. As Ji Yang watched the livestream discussion of Xu Xi, the chapter ended with Xu Xi realizing his Rollback point had landed at this moment.

• The butler announced that Shi Weiwei would keep watch, but Xu Xi interrupted and volunteered to take her place.
• Yu Hao, Xing Ge, Shi Weiwei, and Lin Zuo wondered why Xu Xi had taken on the risk, while Yu Hao reflected on how veteran players learned to cooperate without relying on one another.
• Livestream viewers discussed Xu Xi’s personality and past actions as Ji Yang recalled how his view of Xu Xi had shifted from curiosity to certainty.
• Xu Xi realized that his Rollback point this time was at this moment.

After dying during a late-night disturbance, Xu Xi used Rollback to return to the rooster hour and took the Eldest Young Miss's place keeping vigil in the ancestral hall. He discovered the hall's objects were suppressed by the lanterns, endured a strange hunger and nausea after eating a pastry, and was still waiting there when someone knocked at the door.

• Xu Xi returned to the incense offering during the rooster hour and volunteered to keep vigil in the ancestral hall instead of the woman in the qipao.
• After the steward left, Xu Xi tried and failed to open the central coffin, then waited for the disturbance that had caused his death.
• Xu Xi photographed the hall and saw that its incense smoke, paper figures, coffin, memorial tablets, and offerings were all constrained by the lanterns' flames.
• A sudden supernatural hunger drove Xu Xi to eat the pastries, but nausea followed, and a photo revealed a blurry bluish shadow coiled around his stomach.
• Xu Xi chose not to use his cleansing or status-sealing items, accepting the discomfort as nonfatal, and heard a knock as the hour of the boar approached.

While keeping vigil in the Ancestral Hall, Xu Xi rejected suspicious soup and discovered that a shadow was following him, then survived its attack and continued toward the kitchen. The chapter ended with him searching the kitchen by phone light, still unsure why Rollback had not returned him to the incense offering.

• A maid wearing a white flower brought Xu Xi soup on Seventh Concubine’s orders, but he photographed it and saw that it looked thick and murky in the image.
• Xu Xi realized that the rules could warn him without guaranteeing his safety, then picked up the offerings and set off for the kitchen.
• Xu Xi spotted a shadow following him through the phone screen, and a face filled the camera view as something invaded his consciousness.
• A wet rope tightened around Xu Xi’s neck, but he crouched and waited until the shadow passed through him and vanished.
• Xu Xi reached the kitchen, set down the offerings, and searched the room using his phone screen for light.

Xu Xi discovered a back path to the courtyard and secretly saw Seventh Concubine with the second white-flower maid. He waited for the expected blast at the Ancestral Hall, where the memorial tablets exploded and a man climbed out of a pit.

• Xu Xi burned the offerings in the kitchen firebox and followed a narrow path to the backyard.
• Xu Xi spotted Seventh Concubine mending a garment while the second white-flower maid spoke with her, and Xueke's barking nearly exposed him.
• Xu Xi returned to the Ancestral Hall, replaced the offerings, and waited for the blast.
• The ground shook, and the rows of memorial tablets exploded instead of the coffin.
• A dust-covered man in tattered mourning clothes climbed out of a pit and met Xu Xi's bewildered gaze.

Xu Xi learned that Hang Ze believed players could escape by crossing their own names out of the Clan Genealogy, but Master Shen’s corpse awakened before they could try. After dying and rolling back, Xu Xi realized the corpse’s return had created a new danger and wondered how to survive without access to the brush.

• Hang Ze told Xu Xi that players could leave the funeral by crossing their own names out of the Clan Genealogy and showed him a brush that could do it.
• Master Shen’s corpse burst out of its coffin and fixed its gaze on Hang Ze after he had destroyed the memorial tablets.
• Xu Xi faced the gathered Paper Figures while Hang Ze proposed they run, then saw Hang Ze holding Master Shen’s broken brush before he died and rolled back.
• Xu Xi concluded that the awakened corpse had changed the instance and that staying in his room or investigating could both lead to death.
• Xu Xi realized he had no way to obtain the brush or confirm whether the players were Shen Family members, and searched for another path to survive.