Chapter Summaries

Lu Ban disguised himself as a doctor and explored the hospital, where he encountered signs of an unseen presence following him. On the third floor, he spotted the missing construction team leader Liu Qingjiang entering a room.

• Lu Ban wore the dead doctor's lab coat and mask, then left the obstetrics and gynecology room, which was absent from the hospital records and floor plan.
• Lu Ban passed a nurse writing “Beware behind you” in blood at the nurses’ station and continued upstairs without finding anything behind him.
• On the stairs, Lu Ban saw a baby-like hand pull his trouser leg and found toddler-sized footprints following him, though he could not see their owner.
• The footprints appeared on Lu Ban’s clothes as he reached the third floor.
• Lu Ban recognized the decayed worker carrying a shovel as the missing Liu Qingjiang and watched him enter a room before deciding to investigate.

Lu Ban investigated the room where Liu Qingjiang had disappeared and found corpses buried beneath its floor, along with a notebook describing workers sacrificed as Living Piles during the hospital’s construction. The chapter ended with Liu Qingjiang standing in the doorway behind Lu Ban, shovel in hand.

• Lu Ban entered the fifth-floor room and watched Liu Qingjiang dig into the floor before carrying away a bag of rubble.
• Lu Ban inspected the hole and found dismembered corpses, including workers who had died in construction accidents.
• The red notebook revealed that workers had been allowed to sink into concrete as Living Piles to complete the hospital’s foundations and load-bearing beams.
• The notebook’s writing grew erratic as its author confessed to letting a worker die and wondered whether the dead smiled from inside the hospital pillars.
• Lu Ban looked up from the notebook and saw Liu Qingjiang standing in the doorway with a shovel.

Lu Ban investigated the hospital’s otherworldly space and tried to understand the rituals and obsessions behind its monsters. The hospital director, Zhao Gongping, appeared in the elevator, recognized Lu Ban, and attacked him.

• Liu Qingjiang dug up the workers’ remains without noticing Lu Ban, who theorized that the hospital’s living stakes were part of a ritual and that the missing people had become monsters tied to their obsessions.
• Lu Ban suspected the hospital’s obstetrics department and its construction were connected to a deeper secret, and concluded he needed to uncover it to escape.
• Lu Ban found a blind, decayed nurse at the nurses’ station and noticed that crawling baby-like footprints stopped at the stairwell.
• The elevator arrived on the second floor, then traveled to the third and opened to reveal Zhao Gongping, the hospital director.
• Zhao Gongping passed Lu Ban, then turned his head toward him, repeated “Dead,” and swung a surgical Hammer at him.

Lu Ban discovered that Dean Zhao Gongping could reappear after being smashed apart, then reached the hospital’s eerily clean fifth floor. Lying on a bed in Room 502 made the notebook reveal an account of a doctor’s successful attempt to bring the dead back and his connection to Corea.

• Lu Ban stunned Dean Zhao Gongping with Speech Bullets and smashed his head, discovering that the gray liquid inside him was cement.
• Dean Zhao Gongping’s body turned into cement, but another version of the dean emerged from the elevator, so Lu Ban restrained him with more Speech Bullets.
• Lu Ban rode the elevator to the fifth floor, where he found a strangely clean, empty intensive care ward and saw an old man vanish from Room 502.
• Lu Ban lay on the bed in Room 502, causing the notebook to reveal a doctor’s account of succeeding at bringing the dead back to life.
• The doctor recalled meeting Corea, who later approached him with an offer to join a project establishing a high-end hospital in his home country.

Lu Ban read Zhao Gongping’s account of the hospital’s ritual, which had apparently summoned something that made the dead move again. He found the ritual room and discovered a vast, living creature inside a transparent container as a song sounded beside him.

• Zhao Gongping’s account described how Corea recruited wealthy sponsors and taught him a ritual that could supposedly resurrect the dead.
• Zhao Gongping wrote that the hospital’s construction and operations involved sacrifices and that the ritual had once revived a patient.
• Lu Ban concluded that the ritual may have let entities control corpses, and suspected its influence caused people to disappear after the hospital closed.
• Lu Ban decided he needed to resolve the hospital’s danger before morning and headed toward the room where he believed the ritual had taken place.
• Lu Ban entered the room at the end of the corridor and saw a gray, gelatinous creature covered in countless eyes and mouths inside a container.
• A song suddenly sounded beside Lu Ban’s ear as he stared at the creature.

Lu Ban realized that the hospital itself was the body of the monster summoned by Zhao Gongping and Corea, and that Du Danping’s fading song had been suppressing it. As the monster began to awaken and the hospital trembled, Lu Ban resolved to destroy it, while a newborn’s cry rang out in the real world.

• Lu Ban deduced that the creature in the container controlled corpses and that its secretions had been used to build the hospital.
• Lu Ban realized the hospital was the monster’s true body and that its missing people had become nourishment for it.
• Lu Ban identified Corea as the likely culprit behind the ritual that summoned the monster.
• Lu Ban concluded that Du Danping’s melody had suppressed the monster, but the song was weakening and the hospital’s demolition had provoked its awakening.
• Lu Ban decided she had to destroy the monster as the hospital began to tremble and a newborn’s cry sounded in the real world.

Lu Ban tried to stop the monster in Nanhua Private Renji Hospital, but his attacks drove it into a more destructive frenzy. He discovered that the elevator mirror suppressed the creatures and seemed to connect two worlds, leaving him inside the elevator with the little girl beside him.

• Lu Ban fired five Speech Bullets loaded with the Great Being's whispers, but the monster multiplied more violently and began shaking Jiangcheng.
• Lu Ban rejected the weapons he considered too dangerous and blew his suona, drawing an otherworldly presence's attention and further disrupting the monster.
• Lu Ban ran through the changing hospital and realized the elevator had remained unchanged and that the monster avoided it.
• Lu Ban entered the elevator, recognized that its mirror suppressed the creatures and connected two worlds, and understood that the little girl beside him was involved.

Lu Ban learned from a notebook that the hospital’s only child had been born to a dying mother, while Zhao Gongping replaced the baby with a monster during the birth. The girl survived inside the monster, and after hearing Du Danping’s melody, Lu Ban ordered Li Zijian to demolish the hospital with explosives.

• Lu Ban questioned the girl and read a mother’s notebook describing her pregnancy and the hospital’s lack of an obstetrics department.
• The notebook revealed that Zhao Gongping delivered the baby, which emerged as a grotesque monster while the mother’s body was consumed.
• Lu Ban realized the girl had survived inside the monster and told her she was a real baby.
• The girl hummed Du Danping’s melody, and Lu Ban heard the words, “Good Luck wishes you good luck, good luck brings happiness and love.”
• Li Zijian called Lu Ban about an earthquake at the hospital, and Lu Ban ordered him to set off the demolition explosives.

Lu Ban ordered Li Zijian to demolish Nanhua Private Renji Hospital, destroying the corrupted building and ending the earthquake. Lu Ban survived inside the elevator, and the system confirmed that he had completed the task and would receive settlement.

• Lu Ban told Li Zijian to have the demolition crew blow up the hospital, and Li Zijian assured the crew they could demolish without worrying about the neighboring mall.
• The demolition leader triggered the explosives, collapsing the hospital and damaging the empty mall as the earthquake stopped.
• The demolition crew found the elevator intact amid the ruins and heard someone knocking from inside.
• Lu Ban pulled himself out of the overturned elevator, and Li Zijian learned that he had survived the collapse.
• Lu Ban said he would recover once the sun rose while plants inside him tried to heal his injuries, and the system confirmed that he had completed the task.

After completing the hospital mission, Lu Ban reflected on the monster and the child’s bond, then returned home to recover. He discovered a second strange mist had joined the first before a neighbor’s complaint brought He Youwu to call him.

• Lu Ban completed the hospital task with 97% exploration and received 13,200 Silence Points and the item Crying.
• Lu Ban suspected Corea was a Chosen of the Gods and reasoned that killing the child had severed the monster’s foundation in this world.
• Lu Ban returned home exhausted, kept a shard of the elevator mirror, and recovered in sunlight, water, and sleep.
• Lu Ban woke to find black and gray mists curled up on his chest, but they vanished whenever he tried to catch them.
• He Youwu called Lu Ban after a neighbor complained that he had opened his curtains and done sit-ups naked on his bed.

After surviving the hospital adventure, Lu Ban investigated the identity of the mother involved in Dean Zhao Gongping’s ritual and discovered that the spirits in his house were still fighting. The system then assigned him a film-making task, and he began looking for festivals where he could win an award.

• Lu Ban read news about the earthquake and demolition at Nanhua Private Renji Hospital, then asked He Youwu to investigate women who had gone missing or died during childbirth around the hospital’s construction.
• Lu Ban returned home and found two clumps of mist fighting in his living room, so he planned to buy furniture and a television to keep the spirits occupied.
• The system gave Lu Ban a career development task to make a film, earn ten million at the box office, and win an award at a mainstream film festival within four months.
• Lu Ban considered the short deadline and limited number of year-end festivals, then decided to look for film festivals he could enter.

Lu Ban chose the Yannan University Student Film Festival as his next target and began shaping his exploration footage into a complete ninety-minute film. As he worked, Li Zijian told him reporters wanted to interview him, and Lu Ban agreed to meet them.

• Lu Ban selected the Yannan University Student Film Festival, whose submission deadline was at the end of October, as a suitable competition for his film.
• Lu Ban reviewed the festival entries and began planning a ninety-minute film from his extensive exploration footage, including records of the workers' disappearances.
• Li Zijian called Lu Ban to check on his health and told him reporters wanted to interview him about his popular online film.
• Lu Ban agreed to the interview and added a contact email to his video account for reporters and potential sponsors.
• By the weekend, Lu Ban had only begun the preliminary editing when the reporters arrived.

Lu Ban invited Movie Report reporter Wang Qing to his home for an interview and discussed his horror films and upcoming project. Wang Qing saw strange camera focus boxes around invisible figures, while Lu Ban revealed that his next film was already in production and offered to show him a finished segment.

• Lu Ban welcomed Wang Qing into his home, explaining that one roommate could only exist in mirrors and that Air Friend occupied part of the sofa.
• Wang Qing's camera briefly showed three focus boxes around invisible figures beside Lu Ban.
• Lu Ban told Wang Qing that horror had chosen him and that he starred in his own films because others might not endure the filming process.
• Lu Ban said his films recorded what he saw and heard, and that audiences should cherish life.
• Lu Ban revealed that his next film, inspired by Nanhua Private Renji Hospital, was in production for the Yannan University Student Film Festival and offered to show Wang Qing a completed segment.

Lu Ban showed Wang Qing a horror-film clip set in a hospital, leaving him shaken by its immersive scares. After Wang Qing looked too long at the bathroom mirror, a supernatural figure appeared in it, and Lu Ban explained that his shy friend in the mirror disliked being stared at.

• Lu Ban showed Wang Qing a confidential clip of a nurse encountering the apparently dead patient from Room 502 in an empty hospital ward.
• Wang Qing praised Lu Ban's film and went to the bathroom to calm down.
• Wang Qing saw his reflection smile without copying him, then saw a figure behind him and Lu Ban staring from the mirror.
• Wang Qing found a woman's long hair beside his ear and panicked, gripping the bathroom doorknob as he called for help.
• Lu Ban told Wang Qing to release the doorknob, then explained that his shy friend in the mirror felt embarrassed when stared at.

Lu Ban saw Movie Report praise her upcoming horror film and planned to target the Yannan University Student Film Festival’s Best Special Effects Award. After finishing work on the film’s story, she received an unexpected message from Wang Chuan asking to stay at her place.

• Movie Report published an interview praising footage from Lu Ban’s upcoming film, prompting debate among film fans and industry professionals about her work and web films.
• Lu Ban decided to focus on winning the festival’s Best Special Effects Award, believing her film’s elaborate supernatural scenes gave her an advantage.
• Feng Yu congratulated Lu Ban on appearing in Movie Report and said they might meet in Yannan while their respective crews attended the festival.
• Lu Ban completed the stories for her film’s dossier, structuring them around an investigation into a hospital slated for demolition.
• Wang Chuan told Lu Ban that his building’s sewer had burst and asked to stay at her place for two nights.

Qin Tiantian came to stay at Lu Ban’s renovated home and settled in to play games and livestream. Lu Ban showed her the first half of his new mystery film, and its opening narration quickly made her uneasy.

• Qin Tiantian arrived at Lu Ban’s home in shark-themed homewear and admired the renovated rooms and furnishings.
• Lu Ban warned Qin Tiantian that his supernatural friends were still around and told her not to stare into the mirror for too long.
• Qin Tiantian played games and livestreamed in the living room while Lu Ban continued working.
• Qin Tiantian discovered that Lu Ban was preparing a film for next month’s Yannan University Student Film Festival, and he offered to show her the first half.
• Qin Tiantian watched the film’s opening, in which Lu Ban received cassette tapes and played a recording about planning for demolition and relocation, and she grew uneasy.

Qin Tiantian watched Lu Ban’s tape about a demolished hospital, where workers and nurses encountered a mysterious room at the end of the fifth-floor corridor. The chapter ended with Qin Tiantian realizing that the nurse guiding the camera had no reflection and walked on tiptoe.

• Qin Tiantian watched a reenactment of the hospital demolition, where a ghostly girl appeared and a nurse’s ghost caused the first site manager to crash his car.
• A second site manager found human-shaped remains inside hollow concrete pillars, then watched workers die or disappear before walking toward the lit room at the end of the fifth-floor corridor.
• Qin Tiantian saw the second site manager enter the room, after which the tape ended and Lu Ban’s investigation suggested that the manager had disappeared.
• Lu Ban watched a nurse’s confession about seeing an old man from intensive care wave to her from the room at the end of the corridor.
• Qin Tiantian watched a night-shift nurse’s recording and noticed that her young companion had no reflection in the elevator mirror and walked on tiptoe.

Qin Tiantian watched Lu Ban’s horror film and became immersed in its eerie hospital recordings, only to discover that the video had ended. Afterward, she encountered a black-mist creature in Lu Ban’s room and demanded to know what came next.

• Qin Tiantian watched the shadowless nurse enter the room at the end of the fifth-floor corridor, then heard two more strange recordings about doctors and nurses.
• The film ended after the fifth recording, and Qin Tiantian asked what came next.
• Qin Tiantian touched a furry-feeling mass of black mist in Lu Ban’s room and fled to the living room, where Lu Ban said the creatures were their family’s new friends.
• Lu Ban asked whether Qin Tiantian had finished the film, and she complained that it had no more content.
• Lu Ban said he was working on it and went back to create a new folder.

Lu Ban and Qin Tiantian shared dinner after she returned from buying takeaway, then settled into their usual evening routines. Before bed, Lu Ban watched a video from the storm-struck cruise ship and noticed what appeared to be buildings on the newly formed island.

• Lu Ban discovered Qin Tiantian was missing from the living room, then saw crowds gathered downstairs before she returned with takeaway and water chestnut cake.
• Lu Ban and Qin Tiantian watched the news, which reported on Jiangcheng developments, the serial murder suspect's arrest, and the cruise ship Star Cluster's return after a volcanic eruption formed an island.
• Qin Tiantian told Lu Ban she had once worked in Jiangcheng, lost her job, and later became a virtual streamer.
• Lu Ban covered the sleeping Qin Tiantian with a blanket and reminded Air Friend and the Lu Ban in the mirror to watch over her.
• Lu Ban watched a passenger's video of the island emerging in the stormy sea and wondered whether it had buildings.

Lu Ban watched a video of a strange island in the Pacific and decided he might seek it out for inspiration. Meanwhile, Captain Johnson worried that severe storms and the island’s ominous reputation endangered the Starlight and its passengers; Lu Ban woke to find the mist resting on Qin Tiantian.

• Lu Ban studied the island’s strange, tower-like structures in a video and compared them to the eerie tower in Drywater Town.
• Lu Ban decided that exploring the Pacific island might help him learn about the world and find inspiration.
• Captain Johnson reviewed the storm conditions near Pohnpei Island and worried that the Starlight could neither safely continue nor afford to wait much longer.
• Captain Johnson recalled the island’s sailor legend and isolated crew members who had begun showing signs of mental distress.
• Lu Ban woke feeling refreshed, found that the mist had vanished from him, and saw it resting on the sleeping Qin Tiantian.