Chapter Summaries

Mo Guangyuan watched a horror movie whose unsettling camera work and story about a novel that mirrored reality drew him in. Although his supervisor twice urged him to go home, Mo Guangyuan kept watching, unable to stop before finding out what happened next.

• Mo Guangyuan mistook shadows and a printed pair of eyes for something watching him before focusing on the movie.
• The film introduced Gudu's horror novels and a detective and his two powered-up friends, who stopped an armed attack at a teahouse.
• The detectives found that the manuscript of Mouth of the Madman described the events they were experiencing, and they began exploring Gudu's eerie house.
• Mo Guangyuan's supervisor reminded him to leave on time, but Mo Guangyuan resumed the movie and kept watching after the supervisor left again.

Mo Guangyuan watched Mouth of the Madman at work and saw its characters face a grotesque creature that emerged from a painting. The film’s horrors seemed to spill into his office, where he saw a child disappear from and return to a painting; after resuming the movie, he looked up and found a human face in the painting.

• Mo Guangyuan watched Xiya destroy whatever was upstairs, then saw the group find a tentacled, dog-bodied monster whose corpse exploded into worms.
• The protagonist found the novel Dog in the Painting, which showed the monster emerging from a painting and devouring its owner.
• Mo Guangyuan paused the movie after the scenes frightened him, then noticed that a child had vanished from a painting in his supervisor’s office.
• Mo Guangyuan found a child hiding behind a desk and called over a woman who took him away; afterward, the child and woman appeared in the painting.
• Mo Guangyuan resumed watching and saw the characters’ actions recorded in the manuscript, then looked at the painting and saw a human face.

Mo Guangyuan watched the protagonists reach North Cold Town, where a strange novel seemed to record their actions and unsettling creatures surrounded them. After the girl helped them escape a swarm of spiders, Mo Guangyuan spotted spiders dangling from the ceiling above him.

• Grandpa Qin told Mo Guangyuan to balance work and rest, then waited for him to finish the movie before locking up.
• Mo Guangyuan watched the protagonists hit a strange white creature with their car and flee from more creatures in a high-speed chase.
• The travelers encountered emotionless suited people with twisted heads, then arrived in North Cold Town and found a manuscript recording their movements.
• Lu Ban followed the suited people into a church, where a priest recited a work by Gudu, and the travelers later ate at an inn.
• Mo Guangyuan saw countless colorful spiders descend from the inn ceiling as the girl fought through them to help the protagonists escape.
• Mo Guangyuan glanced up and saw spiders slowly dangling from the ceiling above him.

After watching Mouth of the Madman, Mo Guangyuan became overwhelmed by despair before recovering and submitting his review, which approved the film for adults only. The next day, he learned Grandpa Qin had died before Mo Guangyuan thought he had spoken to him on his way home, leaving him wondering who he had seen.

• Mo Guangyuan watched Mouth of the Madman and was deeply shaken by its story of a world controlled by an Old One.
• Mo Guangyuan went home in a daze, ignored his wife's questions, and spent the night dwelling on the meaninglessness of life before waking up refreshed.
• Mo Guangyuan reviewed Mouth of the Madman and decided it should be restricted to viewers aged eighteen and above.
• Mo Guangyuan learned that all three reviewers had approved the film, leaving it to the leaders for confirmation.
• Mo Guangyuan's coworker told him Grandpa Qin had died the previous afternoon, and Mo Guangyuan realized he had seen and spoken to someone he thought was Grandpa Qin that night.

Lu Ban arranged a May Day release for Mouth of the Madman after it passed review, then released a third trailer that revealed more of the film’s premise. Zheng Li watched it and was shocked to learn the movie would arrive in less than half a month.

• Lu Ban told Mei Juan that Mouth of the Madman had passed review and asked her to arrange a theatrical release.
• Mei Juan agreed to pursue the May Day slot and marveled that Lu Ban had completed the film so quickly.
• After several days of arrangements, Lu Ban finalized May 1 as the release date and released the third trailer.
• Zheng Li watched the trailer, which showed a search for a missing novelist whose novel seemed to become real.
• Zheng Li saw the May 1 release date and was surprised that the film would arrive in less than half a month.

Lu Ban attended the premiere of Ye Cheng’s horror film, No. 9 Huangmei Street, and Ye Cheng’s ghost scenes earned widespread praise despite the film’s poor reception. Inspired by the demand for horror-film talent, Lu Ban went to Jiangcheng City Mental Hospital to gather material for a production-training handbook, while reporters prepared to follow him there.

• Lu Ban attended the premiere of No. 9 Huangmei Street and redirected reporters’ questions to the film’s creators.
• Lu Ban watched the film and was unimpressed by its plot and production, but praised Ye Cheng’s performance in scenes with ghosts.
• No. 9 Huangmei Street received mostly negative reviews, while viewers singled out Ye Cheng’s acting for praise.
• Ye Cheng told Lu Ban that film companies wanted him to lead horror movies, and Lu Ban encouraged him to specialize in the genre.
• Lu Ban visited Jiangcheng City Mental Hospital to gather material for a handbook to train horror-film talent.
• Reporters learned where Lu Ban had gone and prepared to interview him at the mental hospital.

Entertainment reporter Jiang Weicai infiltrated Jiangcheng City Mental Hospital as a patient to get news about Lu Ban. Lu Ban arrived to research the patients and proposed joining them undercover, leaving Doctor Hao to send nurse Little Tao to watch over him.

• Jiang Weicai arranged a medical certificate and admitted himself to Jiangcheng City Mental Hospital to wait for Lu Ban.
• Lu Ban met Doctor Hao, who explained that the hospital had arranged several mildly ill patients to assist with his research.
• Lu Ban argued that formal consultations would make patients guarded and proposed pretending to be a patient so he could live among them.
• Doctor Hao worried Lu Ban might aggravate the patients' conditions and instructed nurse Little Tao to take him to the recreation room and keep watch over him.
• Little Tao approached Lu Ban and offered to show him around the wards.

Lu Ban explored the psychiatric hospital’s recreation room and met patients whose unusual behavior came with unexpected backstories. After one woman mistook him for her son, he left her with the nurse, who stared at him in shock.

• Tao Tao gave Lu Ban patient clothes and a wristband, then brought him to the recreation room to meet the patients.
• A young man told Lu Ban he had checked himself into the hospital to escape work and family pressure, then later claimed he was an alien from Bellatrix.
• A middle-aged woman explained that the young man had been a struggling online novelist whose success made him doubt reality.
• The woman said she was being treated for insomnia and anxiety, then grabbed Lu Ban’s hand when he tried to leave.
• The woman told Lu Ban to treat Tao Tao well and called him her son, and Lu Ban saw her off as Tao Tao stared at him in shock.

Lu Ban visited increasingly severe wards at a psychiatric hospital and found a patient who shared his beliefs about evil gods beyond the world. The two eagerly discussed cosmic threats while Nurse Tao wondered which of them was the real mental patient.

• Lu Ban asked Nurse Tao to show him patients with more serious symptoms and entered a lively recreation room.
• A cheerful patient told Lu Ban he had murdered his unfaithful wife and her lover, and Nurse Tao explained that he suffered from Frigga's Delusion Syndrome.
• Nurse Tao took Lu Ban to the severe ward and warned him not to provoke a patient with powerful delusions.
• The patient claimed evil gods beyond the world sought humanity's destruction, and Lu Ban enthusiastically agreed.
• Lu Ban and the patient exchanged ideas about evil gods while Nurse Tao watched in bafflement.

Lu Ban met a cruise-ship survivor whose drawing revealed a city she believed was close by, then encountered a patient who recognized him and asked about his films. Lu Ban became suspicious of the patient and asked Nurse Tao to arrange a meeting in the interview room.

• Lu Ban visited a woman who had survived the Starry Skies disaster and agreed to play You Draw, I Guess with her.
• The woman drew a twisted city and became hysterical, insisting it was nearby, before orderlies sedated her.
• Lu Ban ate in the hospital cafeteria, where a patient recognized him from his movie and asked about his next film.
• After the patient tried to follow him, Lu Ban asked Nurse Tao to arrange a meeting with him in the interview room.

Jiang Weicai, a reporter posing as a psychiatric patient to investigate Lu Ban, was subjected to Lu Ban’s bizarre picture test. Lu Ban convinced the hospital staff that Jiang Weicai was dangerously ill, and Jiang was taken away despite insisting he was only pretending.

• Jiang Weicai tried to question Lu Ban at lunch, but Lu Ban brushed him off and later summoned him to a consultation room.
• Lu Ban showed Jiang pictures of a cat and a mahjong hand, and Jiang deliberately gave absurd answers to avoid revealing his identity.
• Lu Ban told Doctor Hao and a nurse that Jiang’s normal behavior was a disguise for severe delusions and schizophrenia.
• Doctor Hao called the orderlies, who restrained Jiang and attempted to sedate him as he protested that he was a reporter with forged admission documents.
• Lu Ban dismissed Jiang’s explanation as further evidence of dangerous illness, and Doctor Hao was left speechless.

After studying patients at Jiangcheng City Mental Hospital, Lu Ban recorded ideas for creating horror through incomprehensible behavior. At the midnight premiere of Mouth of the Madman, student Bai Qiquan watched the film and left devastated by its overwhelming sense of existential dread.

• Lu Ban reflected on how mental patients’ unusual ways of thinking could inspire frightening, incomprehensible horror figures and wrote down his observations at home.
• Three days later, Mouth of the Madman approached fifty million yuan in presales ahead of its May Day release.
• Bai Qiquan and his girlfriend, Pang Zhen, attended the film’s midnight premiere, where Bai Qiquan expected familiar horror-movie tricks.
• After the film ended, Bai Qiquan felt that life was meaningless and began to cry, concluding that Lu Ban was terrifying.

Lu Ban’s “Mouth of the Madman” shocked audiences by blurring the boundary between fiction and reality, while its box office rapidly climbed. After the film earned one billion yuan, Lu Ban accepted an invitation to discuss his creative process on a Xiangnan TV Station interview program.

• Filmmakers and viewers debated whether “Mouth of the Madman” had broken the Fourth Wall and whether they themselves might be fictional characters.
• Bai Qiquan woke from nightmares about the film, mistook his suited roommate for a frightening figure, and spent the day pondering the end of the universe and the nature of reality.
• Bai Qiquan’s worries faded while he played games with his dormmates, though he stayed up all night again.
• “Mouth of the Madman” set a domestic first-day horror-film box-office record and continued earning more over the following days.
• After the film’s box office passed one billion yuan, a Xiangnan TV Station program producer invited Lu Ban to an interview, and he accepted.

Lu Ban appeared on Jiang Xia’s talk show, “Weekend Appointment,” and answered questions about his films and creative process. He ended the interview by telling Jiang Xia that a dead baby was crawling on her shoulder, making her feel a weight there.

• Lu Ban arrived at Xiangnan TV Station and learned that Jiang Xia sometimes asked unplanned questions during interviews.
• Lu Ban told Jiang Xia that his films expressed love and hope, arguing that viewers could overcome the fear they created.
• Lu Ban described his creative process as based on personal experience and said he had no trouble finding inspiration or saving ideas for later.
• Lu Ban said his characters died because they really had died and promised to make a story where no one died next time.
• Lu Ban explained that he made horror films because he believed horrors truly existed, then told Jiang Xia that a dead baby was crawling on her shoulder.
• Jiang Xia suddenly felt a weight sink onto her shoulder.

Jiang Xia felt a strange presence during her interview with Lu Ban, who quietly relieved her of it, and the edited show later drew attention online. After completing his career task for Mouth of the Madman, Lu Ban considered whether the Silent Land could let him revisit the past and chose to inspect three new tasks.

• Lu Ban told Jiang Xia that a lingering presence had attached itself to her and warned it could become dangerous, then rubbed her shoulder until the burden disappeared.
• Lu Ban told Jiang Xia to have the encounter cut from the recording, and they continued their conversation under the confused gaze of the audience.
• The edited Weekend Appointment aired, and viewers praised Lu Ban while speculating about a haunting at the recording site.
• Lu Ban received 10,000 Silence Points after completing his career development task with perfect results.
• Lu Ban wondered whether returning to a familiar place could let him revisit past events and possibly save Feng Yu or learn the truth about Du Danping.
• Lu Ban opened the task selection interface and found three tasks available to choose from.

Lu Ban reviewed three mission choices and decided to enter Night Country to face the Demon Tide. Before setting out, he used Madman's Knowledge, but its visions revealed nothing about Night Country.

• Lu Ban considered missions involving the Demon Tide in Night Country, a strange town in Ruined City, and an archon election in the wasteland.
• Lu Ban chose the Night Country mission, hoping to fight the Demon Tide leader and make contact with its gods.
• Lu Ban spent fifty Silence Points to draw Madman's Knowledge and heard whispers describing strange events in a corrupted land.
• Lu Ban felt less affected by the knowledge than before, but learned nothing about Night Country and decided to try drawing again the next day.
• A message appeared on Lu Ban's phone.

Lu Ban accepted Qin Tiantian’s invitation to eat hotpot and invited Feng Yu to join them. The three shared a meal and Feng Yu and Qin Tiantian became friends, while Lu Ban prepared for his upcoming mission by drawing Madman's Knowledge.

• Qin Tiantian invited Lu Ban to eat hotpot, and Feng Yu separately asked to meet him when she returned to Jiangcheng.
• Lu Ban suggested that Feng Yu join him and Qin Tiantian, and both women agreed to the three-person meal.
• At the restaurant, Qin Tiantian and Feng Yu bonded over stories about Lu Ban and promised to look after him.
• After the meal, Feng Yu and Qin Tiantian added each other on WeChat and made a group called "One Family in Jiangcheng."
• Lu Ban saw Feng Yu off, took Qin Tiantian home, and drew Madman's Knowledge the next morning.

Lu Ban learned more about the Night Country’s Demon Tides and considered how to prepare for the monsters. After comparing several dangerous Polluted items in the Silence Department Store, he bought the reusable Minor Disaster Generator.

• Lu Ban crushed a crystalline canine skull and heard memories describing the Red Moon, the Demon Tides, and the Black Forest.
• Lu Ban concluded that the approaching Demon Tide might be Frost and considered how poorly equipped the Black Tower’s people were to resist it.
• Lu Ban weighed buying modern weapons but decided that carrying and supplying them would be impractical.
• Lu Ban examined the Abyssal Maw and Cat Poisoning in the Silence Department Store, noting their power and risks.
• Lu Ban bought the Minor Disaster Generator for its ability to create reusable natural disasters.

Lu Ban entered the Night Country on Aberration difficulty, carrying supplies and a Minor Disaster Generator that could summon natural disasters but placed him at their center. He arrived in the Black Forest during the approaching Demon Tide and faced a six-legged monster as his mission began.

• Lu Ban learned that the Minor Disaster Generator could produce several natural disasters, but he had to endure them himself and the radio needed disaster exposure to recharge.
• Lu Ban bought canned food and wilderness clothing, messaged Feng Yu and the others, and selected Aberration difficulty for the Black Forest mission.
• Lu Ban entered the Night Country, where the time ratio was 1.5:1, and came to lying in the snow beside a cloaked person holding a crossbow.
• Lu Ban spotted a six-legged, red-eyed wolfhound creature lunging at him as the mission appeared: survive until the end of the Demon Tide.

Lu Ban joined a Ranger patrol in the Black Forest and learned how its disciplined formation protected the group from monsters. The patrol reached Black Pine Town, where they planned to rest.

• Lu Ban and the crossbowmen held off the monsters while the mages struck them down, and the Rangers finished the cleanup.
• Lu Ban learned that he was with a patrol unit of the Rangers, a force under the Black Tower guarding the Black Forest from Black Fortress.
• Birmingham explained the patrol’s roles and promised to look after Lu Ban, who called him big brother.
• The patrol traveled through the freezing, gloomy forest and arrived at Black Pine Town.