Chapter Summaries

On the Bridge of Sighs, Mistblade confronted her younger self over delaying Snow Village’s restoration, while Yu Xunge pulled her back to reality and urged her onward. Yu Xunge then ran back to help the others, leaving Maple Sugar trapped in a painful confrontation with her kin.

• Mistblade encountered her younger self, who accused her of breaking her promise to rebuild Snow Village.
• Mistblade admitted she had delayed restoring Snow Village because she feared risking the Moon Fox’s safety, and her younger self called her a coward.
• Yu Xunge pulled Mistblade away from the illusion and urged her to run past Snow Village’s sigh.
• Yu Xunge returned toward the frozen players and told Mistblade she was not a coward, while Mistblade ran toward the end of the bridge.
• Maple Sugar remained trapped by accusations from her kin about the fear and losses caused by her actions.

Maple Sugar confronted the spirits of her dead kin on the Bridge of Sighs, then asked Yu Xunge what she thought of her choices. Yu Xunge pointed out that many Oak Owl members had chosen to remain with Maple Sugar, and she and Song Gui continued waking the others from the bridge’s illusions.

• Maple Sugar told the spirits of her kin that followers who fought alongside her had to show courage and refuse to surrender.
• Feng Mu asked whether Maple Sugar would still choose to have her reborn inside Zaijiu Yitong, and Maple Sugar said she would.
• Zai Jiu Xunge pulled Maple Sugar away from the bridge, and Maple Sugar asked whether she was wrong to fight for Forest Sea.
• Yu Xunge told Maple Sugar that many Oak Owl members had stayed with her despite Song Gui’s influence and the threat of war.
• Yu Xunge reached Song Gui, who had already smashed her phantom with a hammer and was waking Tao Mian.

Yu Xunge rushed back across the Bridge of Sighs to save Qihua from Youwo’s painful recollections. She challenged Youwo’s claim that Qihua needed suffering to thrive and tried to help Qihua separate her own desires from the pain others had forced upon her.

• Yu Xunge saw Qihua facing Youwo’s apparition near the Lighthouse and ran back against the crowd to reach her.
• Youwo told Qihua that the destruction of Midsummer and Fragrant Branch had nourished her Adventure Lamb Soul Fire, and that Qihua’s pain kept her connected to Youwo.
• Qihua accused Youwo of sacrificing what she had tried to protect, while Variation Quicksand and her flower branches surrounded her.
• Yu Xunge shattered Youwo’s apparition with the White Flower Dragon and pulled Qihua into a run across the Lighthouse Sigh.
• Yu Xunge argued that Qihua’s Soul Fire had awakened before the destruction and that Youwo’s imposed pain was not what Qihua wanted.
• Yu Xunge told Qihua that she could find pleasure in cultivating Golden Apples without fearing that her pain made her a monster.

Qihua found comfort in Zai Jiu Xunge’s answer and escaped Lighthouse Sigh, while Xianchan confronted Yan Tu about her fear of Xianchan’s path of revenge. Yan Tu admitted she feared Xianchan was walking toward hell but promised to find her wherever she went.

• Yudun glided past Qihua and Zai Jiu Xunge, dismissing Mountains Yudun as an idiot when she blocked the way.
• Xianchan broke free of Lighthouse Sigh and ran ahead, while Qihua followed and Zai Jiu Xunge returned to wake the other players.
• Yu Xunge realized that Xianchan had not been trapped by the sighs; Yan Tu was the one unable to leave her amid Dawn’s war and revenge.
• Xianchan asked Yan Tu what she was afraid of, and Yan Tu said she feared Xianchan was walking toward hell but would follow her wherever she went.

Yu Xunge crossed the Bridge of Sighs, rescuing players trapped in painful memories and confronting the regrets that kept them there. After she led Zhuri out of Zai Jiu’s sigh, Zhuri wondered whether the Horror Story timeline had become brilliant because Yu Xunge died.

• Queque blamed herself for betraying Tiger Ear, and Yu Xunge told her to rank what she most wanted to protect and accept losing the rest.
• Yu Xunge woke or carried players including Kufu, Shark Leng, Fat Goose, Motorcycle, Grapefruit, Bale, and the Captain out of their sighs.
• The Captain repeatedly apologized for imposing his will on Tide and later on Maple Sugar, so Yu Xunge dragged him onward with her Flower Whip.
• Yu Xunge rescued Zhuri from the vision of a dead Zai Jiu Xunge and explained that the events belonged to another timeline.
• Zhuri asked whether the Horror Story timeline became brilliant because Yu Xunge died, reasoning that her loss after the Card Swap game must have caused many people pain.

Yu Xunge awakened Zhao Shuying and the others from their nightmares on the Bridge of Sighs, then discovered that Ash Prison severely weakened anyone who entered. She used her Game Invasion authority to place Mistblade under her own order, reducing the prison’s restrictions on her, and Qihua volunteered to follow next.

• Yu Xunge asked Zhuri which possibility she liked, and Zhuri dismissed both before running off.
• Yu Xunge reached Zhao Shuying, who described her nightmare about the Battle of Zai Jiu without Zai Jiu Xunge, then left relieved that Yu Xunge had returned.
• Yu Xunge reached the end of the Bridge of Sighs and learned that Ash Prison reduced entrants’ levels, talents, attributes, and usable items.
• Yu Xunge asked Mistblade to follow her order, and Mistblade agreed; Yu Xunge used Game Invasion to give her a white-gold book and lessen Ash Prison’s restrictions on her.
• Qihua pulled Yu Xunge away from Zhuri and declared that she was willing to follow Yu Xunge’s order too.

Yu Xunge crossed the Bridge of Sighs into Ash Prison, where Players were limited to ten skills and Tulan’s Gashapon Machine counted as an item. She used World Sigh to establish three protective Arbiter Rules for her Players, chose her own skills, and led the way toward the prison.

• Yu Xunge changed every Player’s Order, strengthening the Bridge of Sighs until it outshone the distant Order Clock.
• Yu Xunge entered the dark passage with Tulan in the Pet Space and selected items to carry, then discovered that Ash Prison restricted Players to ten skills.
• Yu Xunge used World Sigh to add rules preventing her Players from dying, enabling location sharing through the Arbiter Public Chat Channel, and letting Players apply to borrow Soul Fire.
• Yu Xunge selected ten skills, including [Story's End], [Arrogance of Sin], [Never Change], and [Phoenix Seat].
• Yu Xunge led the Players across the bridge toward Ash Prison.

Yu Xunge and the other players arrived in a vast prison made of connected Cube-like cells, where scarlet cuffs suppressed their abilities. As players mapped their surroundings, they found no boundaries and realized they were trapped in the center of an immense Cube world.

• Yu Xunge entered a transparent prison cell with scarlet Cube handcuffs that suppressed her abilities, and Tulan perched on her shoulder.
• Huang Jin arrived in the neighboring cell, while Qihua, Zhuri, and other familiar figures appeared nearby and teased Yu Xunge about her teacher.
• Players shared information in the Arbiter Chat Channel and discovered that Cube toys had identical rules across worlds: scramble them, then restore every face.
• Yu Xunge used World Sigh to inspect the reported locations but found only chaotic deep blue points of light.
• Players mapped their cells and questioned nearby inmates, who remained silent and gave them strange, difficult-to-read looks.
• As the map expanded, players found more cells and imprisoned beings but no outer boundary, suggesting they were trapped near the center of a vast Cube world.

Yu Xunge used World Sigh to create a rule allowing players to trade items with beings in other prison rooms, after Zhao Shuying earned the pink-tailed Moon Fox’s trust. The Moon Fox revealed that prison games would begin when the Cube turned again and suggested Zhao Shuying had been imprisoned because her unusual Soul Fire made her valuable nourishment for the game.

• Zhao Shuying patiently negotiated with the pink-tailed Moon Fox and promised him supplies in exchange for information.
• Yu Xunge sensed an unknown presence watching the prison and cautiously established a rule allowing one item exchange between rooms after each Cube turn.
• Zhao Shuying traded the Moon Fox a healing Wrist Guard for a tuft of his fur, and he warned her that an Inspector, Jailer, or new Prisoner would arrive after the next turn.
• The Moon Fox explained that prison games depended on which opponent appeared and asked Zhao Shuying what crime she had committed.
• The Moon Fox said Zhao Shuying’s potential and unusual Soul Fire likely made her suitable nourishment for the game.

Yu Xunge entered a four-star creation game that gave her six years to invent or improve an alchemy formula, while players in the chat reported a range of talent-based trials. As Yu Xunge studied the prison’s vast library, the group learned that the games also tested combat, politics, military strategy, and other abilities.

• The Cube rooms transformed into prison cells, and Yu Xunge received a four-star creation game requiring her to invent or improve an alchemy formula before the next rotation.
• Yu Xunge and other players shared their creation and learning tasks, which tested talents in fields such as crafting, engineering, cooking, and alchemy.
• Tulan realized Yu Xunge’s prisoner number began with 8017, and Yu Xunge told her not to bother her while she studied.
• Tulan monitored the chat and searched alchemists’ writings for clues about the outside world while Yu Xunge read alchemy books.
• Players reported war, combat, political, and puzzle games, revealing that the prison tested many kinds of talent and potential.

Yu Xunge studied the prison’s backward alchemical knowledge while players in other games uncovered how the Cube Prison exploited their talents. The players learned that the prison confiscated their skills and creations, leaving them to realize they were being treated as resources for an unknown purpose.

• Yu Xunge spent two years studying potion books without touching ingredients and found the prison’s alchemy and other crafts inferior to what she knew.
• Mistblade, Xianchan, and Queque complained in the group chat about being assigned cooking, sewing, and music, while Mirror Goose reacted to the Tingzhou Jing'e recipe.
• The players compared prisoner codes and noticed that their prefixes were all 8017, with middle sections matching their worlds and differing nine-digit endings.
• Players finishing their games reported that their prisoner levels rose and they could move their cube cells, but the prison confiscated excess skills and required them to surrender or replace items they created.
• The players realized the prison’s lessons and games were designed to extract their talents, and they feared that its prisoners were being forced to create and comprehend things only to have them taken away.

After completing the New Potion game, Yu Xunge studied the prison and tested its rules, hoping to find a way to break out. An unprecedented Cube rotation triggered a five-star Inspector Game, and an armored Inspector appeared in the arena as Yu Xunge and Tulan prepared to fight.

• Yu Xunge submitted a New Potion formula, completed her game, and received a Resource Box as the cell returned to its original size.
• Yu Xunge and the other prisoners discussed possible escape routes, while she concluded that Ash Prison would exploit them rather than grant them freedom.
• Yu Xunge tested the prison’s rules with World Sigh as the Cube rotated in an unfamiliar pattern, startling veteran prisoners.
• Yu Xunge’s purple-gold Combat talent triggered a five-star Inspector Game that required her to survive for five hours and comprehend an S-rank skill or face erasure.
• Yu Xunge summoned the Flower Sword, and Tulan synchronized her stats with Yu Xunge’s before a black-armored Inspector appeared in the arena.

Yu Xunge survived the Inspector Game while training Tulan, then explored how the prison provided for its inmates and discovered its vast scale. She was matched against Yuguo in a five-star Prisoner Game that demanded one of them die within an hour, leaving her to confront the likelihood that the prisoners were being harvested.

• Yu Xunge evaded the inspector and coached Tulan through the fight, confirming that the inspector was not B80 by the patterns on the armor.
• After five hours, Yu Xunge left the game, collected the S-rank skill Freshly Fried Fries, and received a Resource Box containing carving knives and gemstones.
• Yu Xunge chose to move right and tested the prison's systems for cleaning and rest while using World Sigh to map the surrounding cells.
• Yu Xunge realized the prison was enormous and wondered how many prisons existed, arriving at the number 9999.
• A five-star Prisoner Game matched Yu Xunge against Yuguo and ordered her to kill him within an hour or be erased.
• Yu Xunge faced Yuguo as a countdown began and concluded that the Prisoner Game was part of a complete harvest of the prisoners.

Yu Xunge recruited Yuguo to test whether the Prisoner Game could judge a prisoner dead, offering her a chance at freedom. After the test succeeded, Yu Xunge began the next stage of her escape plan by giving Cui Mang a new name: Zichuan Cuimang.

• Yu Xunge defeated Yuguo and offered her a dangerous experiment in exchange for limited freedom.
• Yuguo accepted after seeing Zichuan’s image in Yu Xunge’s book, and Yu Xunge sent her into My World.
• The prison system announced that Prisoner 1332-Zichuan had vanished and declared Yu Xunge the winner, while its scan of the prisoner’s possessions produced an error.
• Yu Xunge found Yuguo in Zichuan’s Sigh and revealed that the first stage had succeeded because Prisoner 1332-Zichuan no longer existed.
• Yu Xunge asked Cui Mang to accept a new name, and Cui Mang happily chose Zichuan Cuimang.

Yu Xunge brought Zichuan Cuimang and Yuguo into the prison while testing whether the prison would react to her jailbreak plan. She learned that the prisoners’ abilities and wealth were extracted for the M9 Star System, leaving Cui Mang uncertain whether life outside the prison would have been better.

• Yu Xunge told Zichuan Cuimang that she would put her back in Zichuan's Sigh if the prison administrator tried to kill them, and vowed to lead the jailbreak herself.
• Yu Xunge told Yuguo that she was the Arbiter and that Yuguo could find her by saying “Arbiter.”
• Yu Xunge left Zichuan's Sigh with Zichuan Cuimang and appeared in the Prison Cell with Yuguo, surprising the neighboring prisoners.
• The Cube on Yu Xunge's Handcuffs twisted violently, then settled without a notification, and Yu Xunge created a save for Zichuan Cuimang.
• Yu Xunge asked Zichuan Cuimang about life in the M9 Star System, and Cui Mang explained that prisoners' skills and wealth were taken while people outside faced hunger and hardship.

Yu Xunge learned how the prison’s deadly Cube Game worked and began testing whether she could free her players from its control. She left off preparing to tamper with Mountains Captain’s handcuffs first.

• Yu Xunge asked Zichuan Cuimang why she avoided speaking to other prisoners, and Cui Mang explained that prisoners feared becoming attached to people they might later have to kill in a game.
• Cui Mang described the Cube Game, which began at full prison occupancy and eventually forced the last two cell colors to fight until one was wiped out.
• Yu Xunge shared the prison’s rules and her suspicions with the group, and the players asked her to change their prisoner numbers so they would not have to serve the prison.
• Yu Xunge used the World Sigh to inspect the players’ handcuffs and cautiously sent lightning toward Yudun’s cuffs to test whether she could damage them.
• Maple Sugar suggested that Yu Xunge start with Mountains Captain, so Zai Jiu Xunge turned the World Sigh to Captain’s page.

Yu Xunge tested the Prison’s overseer by cutting the chain tethering the Cube, then struck up a conversation with the being, who called itself Ash Inspector. She learned that the eye must not open more than three times or the Exile Grounds would be marked for purging, and the chapter ended with Ash Inspector listing the prisoners’ many nicknames for her.

• Yu Xunge repeatedly cut the chain connecting the Cube to the void until the mysterious overseer addressed her.
• Yu Xunge introduced herself as B80, and the overseer revealed that it had recognized her lies and named itself Arbiter, prompting her to restart their introductions.
• Yu Xunge and the overseer settled on the names Star Sea Prisoner and Ash Inspector, and it warned her not to let the eye open more than three times or the Prison would be purged.
• Yu Xunge realized Ash Inspector was constrained and did not want the Prison purged, then asked how to cheer it up.
• Ash Inspector repeated the prisoners’ many nicknames for Yu Xunge, leaving her embarrassed and exasperated.

Yu Xunge discovered that Soul Fire could reveal and unlock the Cube, while the Ash Inspector recognized her as a future acquaintance through their Unique Key. With Yudun’s help, she solved the Cube and changed the Captain’s prisoner designation to Tide Captain.

• The Ash Inspector admitted that its program was not perfect and explained that it leaned toward Yu Xunge because her authority was stronger.
• Yu Xunge asked whether the Ash Inspector feared she would erase it after escaping, and it recognized their connection as a Unique Key.
• The Ash Inspector concluded that Yu Xunge came from the future, and she confirmed it while asking about its Law Program and Branch Programs.
• Yu Xunge discovered that Soul Fire made the Cube’s colors appear and began testing whether it could awaken and unlock the Cube.
• Yu Xunge asked Yudun for Cube-solving algorithms, solved the Cube after a little over ten minutes, and renamed the Captain Tide Captain.

Yu Xunge created an Arbiter game that let players earn jailer and warden identities by helping new prisoners, while probing the Ash Inspector about the prison and their connection. After the Cube rotated, she recognized the inspector in her new game as the Ash Inspector and defeated it, though she admitted she had only bluffed to confirm her suspicion.

• Yu Xunge reasoned that the prison's Cube game usually began at full occupancy, but her players' fully ignited Soul Fire meant the prison had to start it sooner.
• The Ash Inspector confirmed Yu Xunge's deductions and asked what game she would use to invade the prison.
• Yu Xunge wrote rules allowing Arbiter Players to help new prisoners, earn jailer status after three games, and earn warden status after fifty.
• The Ash Inspector claimed Yu Xunge was the sole key to its Law Program, but the Cube rotated before she could ask what that meant.
• Yu Xunge entered an inspector game with Zichuan Cuimang and Tulan, then recognized the opposing inspector as the Ash Inspector and defeated it.
• Yu Xunge told the Ash Inspector she had bluffed to test her suspicion, and the Ash Inspector wrote that she was good at deceiving people.

Yu Xunge freed the Arbiter Players, began building influence inside the Cube Prison, and explained her plan to take control of it. She left the chapter suspecting Yan Tu and Xianchan had been using her to fuel their teasing rivalry.

• Yu Xunge used World Sigh to free the Arbiter Players from their shackles and save nearly a hundred new prisoners, telling Ash Inspector that killing them offered no benefit.
• The Arbiter Players became jailers, and Yu Xunge moved through the prison converting prisoners to her faction as World Sigh revealed more of the Cube Prison.
• Yu Xunge told the players she intended to gather their Soul Fires, seize control of the prison, and find a way back to the Tenth Epoch.
• Yan Tu regained her resolve after Yu Xunge called her big sister, while Xianchan objected to their familiarity.
• Tulan told Yu Xunge that Yan Tu enjoyed teasing Xianchan and that Xianchan's flowers bristled more easily whenever Yu Xunge was involved, leading Yu Xunge to suspect she had become part of their game.