Recaps

Bai Shuang killed Ma Rui with a swarm of black bugs after he defied her, forcing the rest of the team to obey her. After escaping the alerted residents, she began explaining why rescuing the deity might cause trouble.

• Ma Rui rejected Bai Shuang's authority, while the other four team members agreed to follow her orders.
• When Ma Rui ignored her three-second warning, Bai Shuang inflicted unbearable itching and pain on him until he died, his body riddled with holes and black bugs.
• Bai Shuang led the four survivors onto a rooftop to avoid the local residents, then waited until they had dispersed.
• An Qian asked whether completing the mission and releasing the deity could cause trouble, and Bai Shuang said she knew the reason and would reveal the secret.

Bai Shuang revealed that humans could bind freed Netherworld gods with contracts, and said she intended to become a contractor by completing the Instance. After she led the others to find the boss and destroy the last formation core, Shen Hao took the mother bug from Ma Rui’s corpse and prepared to act, certain Bai Shuang would fail.

• Bai Shuang told the group that humans could make contracts with freed gods, forcing them to obey, and warned that gods who willingly accepted rescue were especially dangerous.
• Bai Shuang said the Alliance Guild already had at least five contractors and admitted she wanted to become one through this Instance.
• Bai Shuang threatened the others, who agreed to cooperate, then led them to seek the Instance boss and destroy the last formation core.
• Shen Hao overheard the conversation and concluded that Bai Shuang could not become a contractor.
• Shen Hao found Ma Rui’s corpse, collected the dormant mother bug into his inventory, and prepared to act.

Bai Shuang led the group to the Instance Boss's residence, planning to kill him and obtain his blood to break the final Formation Eye. After finding the dining room empty, she rushed upstairs and found someone sitting in the Boss's bedroom.

• Bai Shuang guided the group through the city and explained that killing the Boss and obtaining his blood was necessary to break the final Formation Eye.
• Bai Shuang assigned An Qian to keep watch with hydrogen balloons and took three men toward the Boss's villa.
• Yang Hua unlocked the villa door with his mental power, and the group entered to find the dining room empty.
• Bai Shuang realized the Boss was likely upstairs and led the group to the bedroom.
• Bai Shuang found someone sitting with his back to her and believed she had reached the Instance Boss.

Bai Shuang sealed the Boss’s home with an indestructible barrier, but the group found Ma Rui’s corpse instead of the Boss. After they burned the corpse and left, Chen Zhi suddenly suffered a terrible itch, making Bai Shuang realize an unknown force was targeting them.

• Bai Shuang raised a three-hour barrier and ordered the group to attack, but Li Qu recognized the corpse as Ma Rui rather than the Instance Boss.
• Bai Shuang ordered a search of the area, but the group found no sign of the Boss and she rejected Li Qu’s suggestion to wait until morning.
• Chen Zhi noticed Ma Rui’s corpse move as bugs crawled from its body, and the corpse lunged at the group.
• Bai Shuang used her mental strength to slam Ma Rui’s corpse to the ground, then had the group burn it before leading them away.
• Chen Zhi collapsed with unbearable itching, and Bai Shuang realized that she had not caused his condition and that a powerful force was targeting them.

Bai Shuang tried to convince the others she had not caused Chen Zhi’s suffering, but the bugs inside him changed and killed him despite her efforts. As residents approached, she suspected Ma Rui was alive and controlling events, then led the survivors to hide.

• The others distrusted Bai Shuang after Chen Zhi began screaming, and Bai Shuang tried to ease his itching by killing the bugs inside him.
• Bai Shuang calmed Chen Zhi and blamed his symptoms on a bug from Ma Rui’s corpse, briefly reducing the others’ suspicion.
• Chen Zhi’s pain intensified as the bugs devoured him, and Yang Hua killed him with steel needles to end his suffering.
• Bai Shuang realized the bugs were stronger than the ones she controlled and suspected someone was manipulating events in the Instance, possibly Ma Rui.
• Bai Shuang warned the others that residents were coming and persuaded them to hide with her.

Bai Shuang tried to convince Yang Hua, Li Qu, and the other man that Ma Rui had faked his death and was behind the killings, but they only pretended to believe her. When Ma Rui appeared outside their hiding place, his body released a swarm of deadly bugs, leaving Bai Shuang and the others facing an attack they did not know how to stop.

• Bai Shuang insisted that Ma Rui had survived and was responsible for the deaths, but the three men pretended to believe her because they feared her.
• Bai Shuang regretted killing Ma Rui, realizing she had intimidated her teammates and left herself at a disadvantage.
• Li Qu spotted a figure outside the house, and Bai Shuang identified him as Ma Rui.
• Bai Shuang shattered the window with her mental power, revealing Ma Rui's pale body covered in black holes.
• Tiny black bugs flew out of Ma Rui's body and swarmed toward Bai Shuang and the three men, while Bai Shuang admitted they were stronger than her own bugs.

Bai Shuang and Yang Hua burned the evolved bugs, but a huge crowd of residents soon surrounded them, suggesting the Instance’s boss had gained intelligence and was controlling the city. As the residents stormed their room, Bai Shuang’s plan transported her and the others through a rift to a new place.

• Bai Shuang and Yang Hua gathered the bugs with mental power, and Bai Shuang burned them with fire.
• Ma Rui jumped from the window after losing his bugs, but hundreds of thousands of residents appeared outside and surrounded the group.
• Bai Shuang suspected the Instance’s boss was directing the residents and decided to use the chaos to reach the fourth formation eye and pursue the contract.
• The residents charged into the room, forcing An Qian, Li Qu, and Yang Hua to retreat beside Bai Shuang.
• A white flash opened a rift that pulled Bai Shuang and the others in, and they appeared in a new place.

Bai Shuang brought An Qian, Li Qu, and Yang Hua to the fourth Formation Eye and used borrowed divine power to destroy its statue. Though the blast injured her and left the others battered, the Formation Eye was broken, bringing Bai Shuang close to completing her mission and becoming a contractor.

• Bai Shuang teleported the group to the fourth Formation Eye, where Yang Hua recognized the statue described in the guide.
• Bai Shuang told An Qian, Li Qu, and Yang Hua to retreat, then summoned a storm of borrowed power.
• A giant hand formed from the storm and struck the statue, triggering a powerful explosion that flattened the nearby area.
• The blast cracked the statue and destroyed the Formation Eye, while the borrowed power vanished.
• Bai Shuang crouched with blood at her mouth but celebrated her success, believing only one final step remained before she became a contractor.

Bai Shuang destroyed the final Formation Eye, causing the city to collapse and releasing a god’s power from beneath it. She persuaded Yang Hua, Li Qu, and An Qian to follow her into the hole so they could complete the mission, but a giant eye appeared in the darkened sky before they could descend.

• Bai Shuang used borrowed spiritual power to shatter the statue and told Yang Hua, Li Qu, and An Qian that she had become a contractor.
• The destroyed Formation Eye triggered violent changes across the city, and Bai Shuang led the group toward the hole where the imprisoned god lay.
• Bai Shuang warned the others that the god’s growing power would kill them if they did not clear the Instance, and Yang Hua, Li Qu, and An Qian agreed to descend.
• Bai Shuang offered to jump into the hole first, but the sky turned dark red and a giant eye appeared above the group.

Bai Shuang and the others found the underground prison and tried to contract with the figure inside its cage, believing him to be the imprisoned deity. The contract failed, and the figure revealed an evil smile, leaving Bai Shuang to wonder who he really was.

• Bai Shuang led Li Qu and the other two down the staircase to a massive stone door, which opened when she showed the Lord of the Netherworld's talisman.
• The four entered the underground prison and found a human-looking figure inside a huge iron cage.
• Bai Shuang offered to free the figure in exchange for a contract, and he readily agreed.
• Bai Shuang used the black card to form the contract, but it burned to ashes without establishing any bond.
• The figure turned toward them with an evil smile, and Bai Shuang realized he was not the deity and wondered why he was imprisoned there.

Bai Shuang and the others found an unknown man in the cage where they expected to meet the imprisoned god. After the Lord of the Netherworld’s talisman failed to affect him, Bai Shuang concluded he was the Instance’s boss and led the group in an attempt to kill him.

• Bai Shuang found the man inside the cage and wondered whether he had killed the god imprisoned there.
• The man opened the Lord of the Netherworld’s cage and stepped out, frightening Bai Shuang and the others.
• Bai Shuang activated the Lord of the Netherworld’s talisman, but its power had no effect on the approaching man.
• Bai Shuang decided the man was the Instance’s boss and reasoned the talisman could not hurt him because he was a believer of the Lord of the Netherworld.
• Bai Shuang persuaded Yang Hua, An Qian, and the fourth member of their group that the boss was not strong enough to have killed the god.
• Bai Shuang and the others spread out and surrounded the boss, hoping to kill him and preserve their chance of becoming the contractor.

Bai Shuang, An Qian, Yang Hua, and Li Qu confronted the Instance BOSS, but his power overwhelmed them and he trapped Li Qu in the cage. The BOSS tortured Li Qu to death with evolved insects, then set out to pursue the others within the Demon's domain.

• Bai Shuang formed a barrier around the Instance BOSS, but the group's attacks could not reach him.
• The BOSS appeared behind Li Qu, struck him into the cage, and trapped him inside.
• An Qian fled, followed by Yang Hua and Bai Shuang, while Li Qu prepared to use the Lord of the Netherworld's talisman.
• The BOSS entered the cage as Li Qu was overcome by an unbearable itch, then stopped him from killing himself.
• Insects burrowed through Li Qu's body and killed him, while the BOSS's insects evolved to withstand fire.
• The BOSS went after the fleeing group, knowing they could not escape the Demon's domain.

Bai Shuang, Yang Hua, and An Qian fled the Instance boss, but encountered Li Qu covered in evolved bugs that could consume fire and mental barriers. An Qian was caught, and Bai Shuang and Yang Hua found the boss blocking their escape, leaving their survival uncertain.

• Bai Shuang led Yang Hua and An Qian to the surface and warned them not to look at the mysterious eye in the sky.
• Yang Hua reasoned that the eye's power did not belong to the deity they were meant to release, since their mission was still incomplete.
• Li Qu appeared ahead of them, and swarms of bugs crawled out of his body and attacked.
• Bai Shuang and Yang Hua trapped the bugs and tried to burn them, but the evolved bugs devoured the flames and began eating through their mental barrier.
• Bai Shuang and Yang Hua fled, but the bugs caught An Qian and burrowed into her body.
• Bai Shuang and Yang Hua ran into the Instance boss, who blocked their path.

Cornered by the Instance boss, Bai Shuang sacrificed Yang Hua as a vessel for a god’s power and escaped using ancient jade. She left the transformed Yang Hua to hold off the boss while she sought to become a contractor.

• Bai Shuang and Yang Hua retreated from the Instance boss after An Qian’s screams stopped, realizing she was dead and they were trapped.
• Bai Shuang revealed the black mark on her palm and restrained Yang Hua, explaining that she would use his body to survive.
• Bai Shuang unleashed the mark’s power, killing Yang Hua as a god’s power descended into his body and transformed him into a towering, deformed creature.
• Bai Shuang used a cracked piece of ancient jade to teleport away, leaving Yang Hua to hold off the Instance boss.

Bai Shuang freed an ancient deity and forced it into a contract, becoming a Contractor. When she tried to leave the Instance, the boss’s domain pulled her back, leaving her ready to test her new power on the boss.

• Bai Shuang escaped the Instance boss’s domain and descended into the real underground prison, where she found the deity bound by the Lord of the Netherworld’s chains.
• Bai Shuang used the talisman to remove the deity’s restraints, then invoked the Supreme Will to force a one-sided contract with it.
• The deity’s shadows entered Bai Shuang’s body, changing her shadow as the price of becoming a Contractor.
• Bai Shuang chose to leave the Instance, but the boss’s domain pulled her back and left her trapped until the teleportation point opened the next day.
• Bai Shuang decided to use her new power to take revenge on the Instance boss.

After becoming a contractor, Bai Shuang returned to face the Instance boss, confident that a deity’s power would let her survive. But when the god within her became terrified of the boss’s eye, her confidence collapsed, leaving her to confront a threat that could frighten even a deity.

• Bai Shuang found Yang Hua’s giant corpse and realized its terrified expression suggested the Instance boss had frightened the deity controlling it.
• Bai Shuang worried that she could not fully wield her contracted deity’s power and lowered her goal from defeating the boss to surviving.
• Bai Shuang sensed the boss approaching and summoned the deity, transforming her shadow into a mass of powerful tentacles.
• When the eye in the sky appeared to blink, the deity’s shadow lost its imposing presence, and Bai Shuang realized the god within her was afraid.

Bai Shuang fought the Instance's BOSS by unleashing the shadow god’s power, but the BOSS repeatedly returned after her attacks and cut through her darkness with a blood-red blade. She tried to break his domain by attacking the eye in the sky, but ghostly green flames suddenly surrounded her.

• Bai Shuang ordered the shadow to kill the BOSS, and its tentacles restrained him until he stopped moving.
• The BOSS reappeared behind Bai Shuang, and she used the shadows to pin him down and tear him apart, but he returned unharmed again.
• Bai Shuang realized that the BOSS controlled the domain and unleashed enough shadow to engulf the world and erode it.
• The BOSS used a blood-red short blade to cut through the darkness and restore the domain, making the shadow god even more afraid.
• Bai Shuang called on the shadow’s power again and sent the surrounding shadows toward the eye in the sky, but ghostly green flames caught the shadows around her.

Bai Shuang’s deity was overwhelmed and extracted by the man controlling the Demon’s Domain, leaving her powerless and seemingly spared. After the Domain vanished and the man left, bugs Bai Shuang had raised began eating into her body, revealing that he had already doomed her.

• Bai Shuang’s shadow burned until it severed and sacrificed part of itself to survive the flames.
• Bai Shuang and the deity joined forces to escape, but the Demon’s Domain kept bringing her back to the man.
• The man pulled the deity’s shadow from Bai Shuang, and the deity’s consciousness faded under the Demon’s power.
• Bai Shuang collapsed as the man left without killing her, and the eye in the sky disappeared with the Domain.
• Bai Shuang stood up and began clawing at her skin when the bugs she had raised started causing unbearable pain.

Shen Hao collected Fear Points from Bai Shuang and the dead deity before leaving the Instance. Bai Shuang returned to life at level 5, then told Bai Zheng that the deity had died, leaving her father furious and disappointed.

• Bai Shuang died from the pain in the Instance, giving Shen Hao 2,000 Fear Points, while the deity's death brought him 20,000.
• Shen Hao completed the Instance missions and chose to leave.
• Bai Shuang resurrected in reality and learned that she had lost 90% of her experience points, dropping from level 25 to level 5.
• Bai Zheng welcomed Bai Shuang back and assumed she had become a contractor.
• Bai Shuang told Bai Zheng that she had died in the Instance and that the deity had been killed by the Instance boss.
• Bai Zheng accused Bai Shuang of wasting his sacrifices, and she regretted coming back to life.

After returning from an Instance, Shen Hao reviewed his new ability and spent Fear Points upgrading Possession, Immortal Body, the Bone-Eroding Insects, and Xiaobai. He realized Xiaobai's Doll Core might let her fuse with the shadow of a being that had called itself a god, and considered trying it.

• Shen Hao gained Devotion, which protected him from the Lord of the Netherworld's resentment and curse.
• Shen Hao raised Possession and Immortal Body to level 10, greatly strengthening both abilities.
• Shen Hao reviewed how his level 5 Bone-Eroding Insects could multiply, torment hosts, and evolve to resist ways of killing them.
• Shen Hao spent 20,000 Fear Points to raise Xiaobai to level 10, giving her stronger attributes and the new Doll Core ability.
• Shen Hao considered having Xiaobai fuse with the godlike shadow that remained in his Demon Domain.

Shen Hao used the Demon Domain to let Xiaobai absorb and fuse with the shadow of a transcendent existence. Xiaobai gained the Shadow Controller ability, and Shen Hao discovered that she could use shadows to shake objects and buildings.

• Shen Hao expanded the Demon Domain around the city and saw the full size of the shadow that had once been bound to a contractor.
• Shen Hao gathered the shadow and placed it against Xiaobai's exposed core, which absorbed and fused with it.
• The system told Shen Hao that Xiaobai had gained the Shadow Controller ability, and her core returned to her body.
• Shen Hao ordered Xiaobai to test her new ability, and she made the shadows in the room move, shaking the objects and the entire building.
• Shen Hao stopped Xiaobai before the building could collapse and concluded that her shadow control made her a powerful helper.

After Xiaobai grew stronger, Shen Hao read the Horror Game’s major update and concluded that the game’s creator and the Lord of the Netherworld were enemies, making his Demon class an unintended force opposing the players. The new Contractor system promised players the power to command supernatural beings, including gods.

• Shen Hao returned Xiaobai to his inventory and saw that her fusion with the shadow had raised her constitution to 750, though he had only 105,000 Fear Points left.
• Five days later, Shen Hao read the Horror Game’s update, which allowed players to form teams for S-rank and higher Instances and gave players bonuses when Instance difficulty suddenly changed.
• The update required players to enter an Instance every seven days and temporarily increased rewards for completing missions; Shen Hao welcomed the more frequent matchmaking but suspected he would receive no rewards.
• Shen Hao reasoned that the game’s creator and the Lord of the Netherworld were enemies, that his Demon class was tied to the Lord, and that players survived his attacks because the creator resurrected them after Instances.
• The update introduced more opportunities for players to qualify as Contractors, letting them contract with and command supernatural beings, even gods.

The game’s update revealed the benefits of becoming a Contractor and increased the odds of new players being selected. Shen Hao was matched with the SS-rank Instance Home of Evil Ghosts, where he planned to hunt the players using his intelligence and powers.

• The Alliance Guild revealed that Contractors could command supernatural beings and merge with them to gain long life and supernatural power.
• The game announced that the chance of being selected as a player would gradually increase to one in a thousand.
• Shen Hao suspected the game’s creator was accelerating its plans, then welcomed the chance to enter a new Instance.
• Shen Hao was matched with the SS-rank Home of Evil Ghosts and noted that the Alliance Guild had likely hidden guides to reserve clearing opportunities for its members.
• Shen Hao learned that players had to kill the guards and free the evil ghosts, while he expected to become a guard tasked with killing the players.
• Shen Hao resolved that none of the players would escape, regardless of whether they tried to survive or clear the Instance.

Shen Hao entered the Home of Evil Ghosts as its warden and discovered his new ghostly body, abilities, and missions. When ten players arrived in two teams, he armed himself with the warden’s soul-binding chain and went out to hunt them.

• Shen Hao entered the Home of Evil Ghosts and became its warden, an Instance boss tasked with guarding the prison.
• Shen Hao checked his new stats and abilities, finding that his spirit had risen to 700 and that he could control the guards and bind souls with chains.
• Shen Hao received missions to kill all humans who entered and destroy the Home of Evil Ghosts so the jailers could rest in peace.
• The system announced that his prey had entered, and Shen Hao saw two teams totaling ten players on the street.
• Shen Hao picked up the warden’s chain, wrapped it around himself, and left his room to greet the players.

Xu Chao’s team discussed the appearance of a second team in the same SS-rank Instance and worried that the game update might make it more dangerous. After Li Xingyu admitted he had been studying the Netherworld’s culture, He Ru asked what he had learned about its connection to their world.

• Xu Chao, He Ru, Tang Yun, Wei Changping, and Li Xingyu learned that another team had entered the Instance and would complete the mission with them.
• Xu Chao hoped the two teams might share rewards, while Tang Yun said rewards were allocated by team and Wei Changping warned that the Instance might change and become harder.
• Xu Chao dismissed his teammates’ fears, but Wei Changping and He Ru cautioned that the SS-rank Instance could be dangerous if it changed.
• Tang Yun caught Li Xingyu peering through the gate of residence number one, and Xu Chao and Wei Changping warned him not to endanger the team.
• Li Xingyu apologized and explained that he studied the Netherworld’s culture and history because its language, writing, and architecture resembled their own.
• He Ru asked whether Li Xingyu had figured out the connection between the Netherworld and their world.