Chapter Summaries

Lin Baici and his companions reached the casino aboard the Ghost Ship after Li Yintong drove the line-cutting Indians away and Gu Qingqiu obtained a warning about the slot machines. They entered the casino with their chips and began surveying the games, still unsure how to win enough to leave.

• Lin Baici confronted the Indians who had cut in line, and Li Yintong defeated them before the high-caste leader left for the back of the queue.
• The white people who had also cut in line withdrew, and the crowd waited in order; a bunny girl rewarded Lin Baici and Li Yintong with one chip each for restoring order.
• Gu Qingqiu tipped a bunny girl, who warned her not to play slot machines except for machine eleven, for at most three rounds after midnight.
• Lin Baici and his companions received their chips and took an elevator to the casino, where they surveyed the games while Li Yintong explained their rules.
• A bunny girl approached Lin Baici and his companions as they continued looking around without placing any bets.

Lin Baici entered a Ghost Ship game pod and chose a random game, earning a five-star challenge called Cage City. The game began with him transported alone into a dark, rain-soaked alley.

• A bunny girl urged the visitors to gamble, and several lost chips at the slot machines while another visitor hit a jackpot.
• The group learned they had to earn a hundred chips within seven days or die, and Lin Baici gave their remaining chips to Hua Yueyu before entering a game pod.
• Lin Baici chose a random game and was assigned Cage City, a five-star challenge that would award thirty tokens, plus ten extra tokens for being among the first ten to choose randomly.
• Lin Baici arrived in a dim alley during heavy rain and ran toward a faint light as Cage City began.

Lin Baici sheltered from the rain in Hong Kong Island and learned from an engineer that they were trapped in the Rule Pollution game Cage City. When gangsters robbed the newsstand owner, Lin Baici defeated them and took their money, then refused the owner's demand to return part of it.

• Lin Baici took shelter at a newsstand, where he met a bespectacled engineer who recognized him and asked to team up.
• Lin Baici told the engineer they had to earn a hundred chips to leave Cage City and warned that breaking the law could lead to prison and a game over.
• Four members of the Three Blades Society arrived and took the newsstand owner's cash while threatening him.
• Lin Baici challenged the gangsters, defeated the red-haired youth with a Butterfly Knife, and forced the others to return their stolen money.
• The tattooed youth handed Lin Baici a thick stack of cash before leaving with his companions, and Lin Baici refused to give the newsstand owner any of it.

Lin Baici followed a suspicious man through the rainy streets, then escorted Sister Qing home after realizing the man had followed her. He caught a raincoat-wearing pursuer, but discovered the man was only Sister Qing’s fan, leaving the Rainy Night Butcher at large; Sister Qing invited Lin Baici upstairs for tea.

• Lin Baici read a 1970 newspaper reporting that the Rainy Night Butcher had killed nine victims and decided to look for clues.
• Lin Baici spotted a raincoat-wearing person disposing of a dead cat and tracked the person’s scent after they escaped through a restaurant.
• Lin Baici followed the scent to Sister Qing, who had noticed someone following her and entered a massage parlor for safety.
• Sister Qing hired Lin Baici to escort her home, and Lin Baici used Master Performer to answer her questions convincingly.
• Lin Baici chased down another raincoat-wearing man who had followed Sister Qing, but the man turned out to be her fan seeking an autograph.
• Sister Qing paid Lin Baici and invited him upstairs for tea, while Liao Hongming reacted in surprise.

Lin Baici stayed with Sister Qing as her bodyguard and accompanied her to a film set, where he impressed Director Wang with his physical skills and landed a stunt-double role. He left the chapter established as a standout performer on the set, ready to continue filming action scenes.

• Sister Qing invited Lin Baici home, hired him as her bodyguard, and let him stay the night; Liao Hongming was left behind.
• Sister Qing brought Lin Baici to her film set, where he befriended the crew and watched her work.
• After the male lead's stunt double broke his leg, Sister Qing recommended Lin Baici to Director Wang despite his lack of martial-arts training.
• Lin Baici demonstrated a precise spinning kick and convinced Director Wang to let him try the rooftop stunt.
• Lin Baici performed the rooftop chase and jump with impressive speed and flair, so Director Wang hired him as the stunt double.

Lin Baici took a villain role to help clear Cage City, where the God of Gluttony required him to become a household name within a year. His performance impressed Director Wu, but after filming, armed thugs attacked the set and targeted him.

• Director Wang offered Lin Baici a villain role, and Lin Baici accepted after the God of Gluttony explained that becoming famous could help him clear Cage City within a year.
• Director Wu cast Lin Baici as a gang enforcer, then revised the script to keep his character alive after Lin Baici's convincing performance impressed him.
• Lin Baici filmed a new scene that showcased his intimidating look, while Sister Qing visited the set with lunch.
• Young men armed with cleavers stormed the studio, and Sister Qing tried to pull Lin Baici to safety.
• Three thugs charged at Lin Baici and swung their cleavers at his left hand.

Lin Baici fought off gangsters who attacked Director Wu’s film set, earning a promise to star in Wu’s next movie. Afterward, Lin Baici and Sister Qing grew closer, and the chapter left them heading to dinner together in the rain.

• Sister Qing tried to pull Lin Baici away from three gangsters, but Lin Baici disarmed them and cut them down without killing them.
• The gang leader and his men attacked Lin Baici, who defeated them until Director Wu ordered the gangsters to retreat.
• Director Wu promised Lin Baici the lead role in his next movie, and Sister Qing scolded Lin Baici on their way home.
• Sister Qing asked Lin Baici to rehearse a romantic farewell scene with her, and they kissed and spent the night together.
• Sister Qing struggled through filming the next day, then met Lin Baici and took him to Kung Fu Fresh for dinner as rain began to fall.

Lin Baici defeated a New Righteous Courage gang sent to take revenge, then met his schoolmate Gu Qingqiu, who had become a police inspector. The chapter ended with Gu Qingqiu ordering the gangsters arrested and sitting down to eat with Lin Baici and Sister Qing.

• Sister Qing urged Lin Baici to flee when New Righteous Courage gang members surrounded them at Kung Fu Fresh, but Lin Baici calmly challenged the gang to leave.
• Lin Baici broke the attackers’ wrists and severed their hands, caught the gang leader’s bullets, and killed him with a punch when he raised his gun again.
• Lin Baici stayed at the restaurant with Sister Qing as police arrived, and the square-faced officer ordered him to surrender.
• Gu Qingqiu arrived in uniform, ordered the gangsters taken in for questioning, and demanded that New Righteous Courage’s boss identify the body.
• Gu Qingqiu embraced Lin Baici and revealed they were schoolmates, then sat down to eat with him and Sister Qing.

Lin Baici and Gu Qingqiu joined forces to seize power in Hong Kong Island’s polluted underworld and police force. After Gu Qingqiu killed the New Righteous Courage boss and his trusted men, she moved to recruit the gang’s remaining members.

• Gu Qingqiu explained how she had used her family connections and a plan for the Gu family to become an inspector in Cage City.
• Lin Baici told Gu Qingqiu about the Rainy Night Butcher and proposed building power by taking over New Righteous Courage’s territory, and they agreed to divide control between the police and the underworld.
• The New Righteous Courage boss arrived with armed men, and Gu Qingqiu shot several of his men after they threatened her and Lin Baici.
• When the boss refused to hand over territory, Gu Qingqiu shot him in the legs and then killed him, declaring that she had been giving him an order rather than negotiating.
• Gu Qingqiu prepared to recruit the gang members who remained, while a police officer brought two cases and placed them before the men.

Lin Baici recruited New Righteous Courage underlings with Gu Qingqiu’s help, then joined her in planning how to kill a god. The next day, he led his new men to seize territory and charged into a major confrontation with New Righteous Courage on Yide Avenue.

• Gu Qingqiu offered New Righteous Courage underlings money and protection if they joined Lin Baici, and several accepted.
• Lin Baici shot the holdouts who hesitated or resisted, forcing the surviving underlings to pledge loyalty before he left with Gu Qingqiu.
• At Gu Qingqiu’s apartment, she and Lin Baici secretly discussed whether gods existed and how they might kill one, then spent the night planning.
• The next morning, Lin Baici met a large group of recruits at Kung Fu Fresh and led them in taking territory from New Righteous Courage.
• New Righteous Courage gathered nearly a thousand men and blocked Lin Baici’s crew on Yide Avenue, where Lin Baici charged forward with his Watermelon Knife.

Lin Baici captured the Rainy Night Butcher and completed Cage City's special mission, earning the choice to return to the cruise ship or remain in the game. He chose to stay and help Gu Qingqiu, hoping to speed up her promotion.

• Lin Baici built New Righteous Courage into a powerful gang and took Sister Qing out for dinner on a rainy night.
• Lin Baici confronted the Rainy Night Butcher, stopped his axe attack, and defeated him with his combat abilities.
• Sister Qing and the newsstand owner identified the captured man as the Rainy Night Butcher, and the police arrested him.
• The police confirmed the killer's identity and closed the case, prompting Lin Baici to hear that he had completed Cage City's special mission.
• Lin Baici declined Gu Qingqiu's offer to join the police and chose to remain in Cage City to help her advance faster.

Lin Baici left Sister Qing after spending one last night with her, then continued expanding his gang’s territory across Hong Kong. His confrontation with Hongxing’s Crown Prince was interrupted when police and soldiers surrounded them and a sniper shot one of the Crown Prince’s men.

• Lin Baici declined Director Wang’s acting offer, spent the night with Sister Qing, and left her at the set the next morning as his gang arrived to greet him as their boss.
• Lin Baici’s men defeated attackers at a street stall, and he continued taking over businesses while keeping his gang from harassing ordinary residents.
• Lin Baici confronted the Crown Prince of Hongxing and demanded control of Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok, and Yau Ma Tei.
• Police and soldiers sealed off the street, a sniper killed one of the Crown Prince’s trusted men, and a uniformed white police officer greeted Lin Baici.

Lin Baici forced Hoffman to withdraw from a confrontation, took control of Hongxing, and helped Gu Qingqiu improve public order on Hong Kong Island. At the Hollywood Casino, he recognized the mysterious God of Gamblers and gave Liao Hongming a chance by ordering him to kill the gambler.

• Hoffman backed down from fighting Lin Baici, wary of the god aboard the Ghost Ship, and withdrew his police forces.
• The Crown Prince joined Lin Baici, and five days later he had persuaded Hongxing's other bosses to submit to New Righteous Courage.
• Lin Baici and Gu Qingqiu cleared old cases and improved public order, making Gu a celebrated figure on Hong Kong Island.
• At the Hollywood Casino, Lin Baici found Liao Hongming being beaten over his gambling debts and canceled what he owed.
• Lin Baici identified the young man winning at 21 Points as the mysterious God of Gamblers, then ordered Liao Hongming to kill him.

Lin Baici led Liao Hongming in an attempt to kill God of Gamblers, then shot him himself and completed Cage City’s hidden mission. Back on the Ghost Ship, the survivors regrouped, and Hoffman threatened Lin Baici before the group headed to the dining hall.

• Lin Baici had Liao Hongming trained with a gun and brought him to confront God of Gamblers at the casino.
• Liao Hongming fired and hit the Crown Prince instead, so Lin Baici shot God of Gamblers and completed the hidden mission.
• Gu Qingqiu received the completion announcement during a meeting, killed the governor, and returned to the Ghost Ship, where she collected 40 chips.
• Lin Baici and his companions reunited after 56 hours; Liao Hongming thanked Lin Baici and offered him five tokens, which Lin Baici refused.
• Hoffman confronted the group and threatened Lin Baici, while Gu Qingqiu alerted the Divine Majesty that Hoffman wanted to ruin the game.
• The group reached the dining hall, where Gu Qingqiu advised them to avoid its food and suggested gambling later.

Lin Baici and his companions entered the Claypot Rice pollution game, where he used a looping recording to find Xia Hongyao and then searched for the game’s trigger. After following an Old Woman who loved cooking claypot rice for her grandson through backstreets, Lin Baici insisted they were on the right track, though the reason was not yet revealed.

• Gu Qingqiu tried the casino games and concluded that gambling would cost them their chips, so the group decided to cleanse the Rule Pollution through games instead.
• Lin Baici told the group to select Claypot Rice, hoping to clear several easy games and draw out the Ghost Ship’s god.
• In the game, Lin Baici recorded a message calling for Gu Qingqiu and played it on a loop through record shops until he found Xia Hongyao.
• Lin Baici and Xia Hongyao searched restaurants and then Niu Shui Street Night Market for the game’s quest trigger.
• After an Old Woman was struck by a reversing seafood truck, Lin Baici asked about her grandson’s love of claypot rice, and he and Xia Hongyao followed her home.
• When Xia Hongyao worried they had followed a false lead, Lin Baici confidently said they were on the right track.

Lin Baici and Xia Hongyao followed a mysterious old woman to her apartment, where they reunited with Gu Qingqiu and met other God Hunters trapped in the woman’s home. As the old woman served claypot rice, Hoffman arrived, silenced a man, and seized his seat at the table.

• Lin Baici and Xia Hongyao stopped following the old woman, encountered her again, and accepted her invitation to come home for claypot rice.
• The old woman led them to her apartment, where Xia Hongyao found Gu Qingqiu, Liao Hongming, Salman Khan, and several other people waiting.
• Liao Hongming and the middle-aged man told Lin Baici that the old woman could teleport and had killed someone who tried to leave.
• Cowgirl flirted with Lin Baici and claimed she knew the Great Shaman, while Xia Hongyao challenged her advances.
• Lin Baici searched the old woman’s bedroom and found a family portrait as Gu Qingqiu suspected that the pollution involved the old woman’s grandson.
• The old woman returned with new guests, including Hoffman, and served claypot rice; Hoffman threw the middle-aged man from his seat and silenced him.

Lin Baici and the others faced the Old Woman’s deadly demand to eat her crying claypot rice, then followed her to search for her missing grandson, Xiao Tang. After the Old Woman threatened to kill them if they failed to find him within three days, the group split up, and Liao Hongming was left alone with a one-day deadline.

• The Old Woman forced the guests to eat claypot rice, beat the younger mistress to death when she refused, and made Uncle Zheng eat.
• Lin Baici asked about the Old Woman’s grandson, prompting her to search the amusement park for Xiao Tang while Xia Hongyao and the others followed.
• The Old Woman returned home, showed the group family photo albums, and threatened to turn them into claypot rice if they did not find her grandson within three days.
• The middle-aged man took Liao Hongming to hide at a convenience store, but the Old Woman found and stabbed him to death.
• The Old Woman gave Liao Hongming one day to find Xiao Tang and left; Liao Hongming then attacked the clerk and stole food, hoping Lin Baici would find the child.

Lin Baici and Gu Qingqiu investigated the Old Woman’s grandson, Xiao Tang, who had disappeared twenty-seven years earlier. After tracking down a former school guard and the retired detective who handled the case, they obtained the case files and headed to the wet market, with Hoffman following them.

• Hoffman entered the Old Woman’s apartment to take photos, while Gu Qingqiu questioned a neighbor and learned that the grandson had gone missing more than twenty years earlier.
• Lin Baici used the neighbors’ shoes and matching anti-slip mats to deduce which residents had known the Old Woman’s family, then the group went to Kwun Tong Primary School.
• Gu Qingqiu paid the school guard for former guards’ details, and the group questioned Cao Yingrong, who said Xiao Tang had disappeared at a Kwun Tong market after school.
• The group visited retired detective Cai Yonghao, who recalled the case and agreed to obtain the files; the next day, Hoffman tried to seize them before Gu Qingqiu stopped him.
• Lin Baici photographed the case files, and after reading them, Gu Qingqiu led the group to the wet market while Hoffman followed.

Gu Qingqiu investigated the wet-market stalls and identified the seafood shop owner as connected to the missing child’s disappearance. After abducting him, she exposed his guilt and suggested he had been manipulated into believing the child was dead; the owner confessed to finding a frozen child in his truck and throwing the body into the sea.

• Gu Qingqiu questioned longtime wet-market stall owners and singled out the seafood shop owner after noticing his suspicious reactions.
• Gu Qingqiu ordered the group to seize the seafood shop owner as he closed his shop and take him to an unfinished building.
• Gu Qingqiu confronted the owner with clues that he had reacted fearfully to the missing-child case and accused him of killing the child.
• Gu Qingqiu suggested the owner had been used and that the child might still be alive, prompting him to recount finding a frozen child in his refrigerated truck.
• The owner confessed that he panicked, threw the child into the sea, and failed to find him when he tried to retrieve him.

Gu Qingqiu and Lin Baici solved the Claypot Rice puzzle by uncovering that the missing boy’s mother had staged his disappearance and taken him away. Back aboard the Ghost Ship, the group entered The Cabin in the Woods, where Liao Hongming, Cowgirl, and Jiang Ge arrived in a small town but could not find Lin Baici.

• Gu Qingqiu questioned the seafood dealer about the night he dumped a body, and Lin Baici reasoned that the boy’s mother had arranged the incident to take her son away.
• Lin Baici pointed out clues in the photographs that suggested the boy’s stepmother had mistreated him, while Gu Qingqiu confirmed the child had bruises in several pictures.
• Gu Qingqiu told the Old Woman that her grandson was living with his mother, completing the Claypot Rice puzzle and triggering the group’s return to the Ghost Ship.
• The group chose The Cabin in the Woods as their next game, and Jin Yingzhen stayed behind to watch for developments aboard the ship.
• Liao Hongming, Cowgirl, and Jiang Ge arrived in a wintery town but could not find Lin Baici, leaving Jiang Ge worried that he had been sent to the opposite end of town.