Chapter Summaries

Bo Shuo, Sang Yu, and 007 followed Bai Ziheng and Xiao Qi into the Village Chief’s house while discussing God’s Chosen candidates and Xi Guici’s unknown identity. Inside, Bo Shuo traced the familiar scent of the Red String to a dusty wooden board.

• Sang Yu spotted Bai Ziheng and Xiao Qi hiding near the Village Chief’s house and warned Bo Shuo about their ranks and abilities.
• 007 explained that God’s Chosen candidates gained power from the Deities they served, and warned Bo Shuo that he could not become one while at odds with them.
• Sang Yu said she and Bai Ziheng were the only God’s Chosen candidates she knew of in the exam, and that Xi Guici seemed unusually powerful and dangerous.
• Bai Ziheng and Xiao Qi picked the lock and entered the Village Chief’s house, and Bo Shuo and Sang Yu followed them inside.
• Bo Shuo recognized the fishy-sweet scent of the Red String in the house and followed it to a dusty wooden board that 007 pointed out.

Bo Shuo and Sang Yu searched the Village Chief’s house for clues about the sacrifices, but the Village Chief returned and transformed into a B-rank Ghost. A noise exposed their hiding places, forcing them to flee as the Village Chief pursued Bo Shuo.

• Bo Shuo found evidence of human sacrifices, including the remains of baby girls, while Bai Ziheng and Xiao Qi searched upstairs.
• Bo Shuo spotted the Village Chief returning, and he and Sang Yu raced upstairs to hide as Bai Ziheng and Xiao Qi arrived.
• The Village Chief burst into the house and transformed into a huge, black-furred beast.
• A glass marble exploded, revealing Bo Shuo and Sang Yu’s hiding place and drawing the Village Chief toward them.
• Bo Shuo ran through the cramped room to evade the Village Chief while Sang Yu used her speed and Talent Skill to avoid being caught.

Bo Shuo learned that the White Faction was hunting down Black Faction candidates, then raced to the Shaman’s home to find the prayer needed for the sacrifice. He and Sang Yu entered the hut and found the Shaman’s corpse, but the prayer’s location remained unknown.

• Bai Ziheng and Xiao Qi tried to escape the enraged Village Chief, but the gate shut and Sang Yu told them Mr. Bo wished them to enjoy themselves.
• Bo Shuo watched Zhang Hu’s final video and realized the White Faction had regrouped to hunt isolated Black Faction candidates.
• Several Black Faction candidates died, leaving five Black Faction members and ten White Faction members.
• The Proctoring System announced the Shaman’s death as a triggering node and revealed that the priest’s prayer was hidden somewhere in the Shaman’s home.
• Bo Shuo and Sang Yu reached the Shaman’s hut and found the Shaman’s corpse among the crude furnishings and crawling red worms.

Bo Shuo’s coordinates were exposed after he obtained the Prayer Paper, drawing the White Faction examinees toward him. He hid with Sang Yu and ordered her to move the villagers’ Blood Altars, while Xu Ji Mo organized the examinees to attack when the coordinates appeared again.

• The Proctoring System exposed Bo Shuo’s coordinates for thirty seconds and started a ten-minute countdown.
• A rescued examinee identified Bo Shuo as the Prayer Paper holder, but Xu Ji Mo revealed that he had contracted the Ghost Groom and took charge of the White Faction group.
• Bo Shuo hid with Sang Yu in an abandoned Small House and decided to use the villagers to disrupt the coming attack.
• Bo Shuo told Sang Yu to infiltrate villagers’ homes and bring their Blood Altars to the Small House.
• When Bo Shuo’s coordinates appeared again, Xu Ji Mo sent three teams forward from different directions.

Bo Shuo lured the berserk villagers to the abandoned house and confronted Xu Ji Mo after refusing his offer to join Flowing Light. The villagers began breaking in as Xu Ji Mo attacked Bo Shuo, leaving the examinees trapped in a fight against both threats.

• Xu Ji Mo demanded that Bo Shuo hand over the sacrificial manuscript in exchange for a recommendation to Flowing Light, but Bo Shuo insulted him.
• A siren sounded as villagers discovered their missing Blood Altars and followed the traces Bo Shuo had left to the abandoned house.
• The system warned that all NPC villager factions had entered berserk mode, and the villagers began breaking through the house's walls.
• Bo Shuo told Xu Ji Mo that only his group would die there and cut Xu Ji Mo's neck with a scalpel.
• Xu Ji Mo summoned his ghost weapon, a long sword, and attacked Bo Shuo as the villagers surged into the house.

Bo Shuo used illusions to expose Xu Ji Mo’s contracted Ghosts and fled from them, but his Emotion Points were running low and Xu Ji Mo cornered him. Just as the Ghosts closed in, Sang Yu arrived with the deranged Village Chief and a horde of villagers pursuing her.

• Xu Ji Mo discovered that Bo Shuo had filled the area with straw-and-stone illusions, then summoned his contracted Ghosts to find and attack the real Bo Shuo.
• Bo Shuo fled from the Head-splitting Woman, One-eyed Butcher, and Ghost Groom while his Emotion Points rapidly dwindled.
• Bo Shuo stopped at a fork in the road, making Xu Ji Mo suspicious even as the contracted Ghosts continued toward him.
• A group of villagers led by the deranged Village Chief appeared, chasing Sang Yu toward Bo Shuo.
• Bo Shuo saw Sang Yu arrive and considered using the Ghost Bride's Wooden Comb.

Bo Shuo and Sang Yu realized the villagers were hiding women to sacrifice, and Bo Shuo decided to leave the Ghost Domain early. When the coordinates were exposed, the White Faction discovered that Bo Shuo was right beside them.

• The Ghost Bride ignored Sang Yu, became more humanlike, and thanked Bo Shuo for freeing her from the Ghost Groom.
• The Proctoring System detected Bo Shuo's use of the Ghost Domain and ordered examinees to return to Snow Mountain Village within five minutes.
• Sang Yu explained that the shortened sacrifice would still work and that they needed to rescue the intended victims to stop the ritual.
• Bo Shuo learned that Sang Yu had seen no women among the villagers and decided they would leave the Ghost Domain before the countdown ended.
• Xu Ji Mo cursed Bo Shuo after losing a contracted ghost and suffering injuries during the White Faction's clash.
• The White Faction saw Bo Shuo's coordinate overlap with their own and realized he was nearby.

Bo Shuo persuaded the White Faction candidates to trade with him by arguing that neither faction’s task required them to take sides. After securing their agreement, he was confronted by Xu Ji Mo, who followed him to the Village Chief’s house and questioned his motives.

• Bo Shuo offered the White Faction a trade on the condition that they accept his plan.
• Bo Shuo claimed the factions’ tasks did not truly conflict and that the candidates could complete them without joining either side.
• Bo Shuo secretly relied on the White Faction not knowing that the sacrifice could proceed without the Prayer Paper, though at reduced strength.
• Xu Ji Mo confronted Bo Shuo and asked why he was pretending to be a good person and involving himself in the conflict.
• Xu Ji Mo followed Bo Shuo toward the Village Chief’s house, leaving Bo Shuo afraid he might attack him.

Bo Shuo and Xu Ji Mo found villagers killed with a scalpel resembling Bo Shuo’s, leading Bo Shuo to suspect Xi Guici. At the Village Chief’s courtyard, Bo Shuo concealed himself and pulled Sang Yu away from a group of bloodied, seemingly controlled villagers.

• Bo Shuo and Xu Ji Mo noticed their journey to the Village Chief’s house had become suspiciously easy, and Bo Shuo received Sang Yu’s message asking for help.
• They found several dead villagers and saw that one had been killed with a scalpel matching Bo Shuo’s, so Bo Shuo identified Xi Guici as the likely culprit.
• Xu Ji Mo explained that Xi Guici was a lone newcomer blacklisted by the major guilds, while Bo Shuo showed little interest in his warning.
• Bo Shuo used Emotion Points to create a Concealment Cloak when synchronized figures approached the Village Chief’s courtyard, and Xu Ji Mo hid with a Ghost Talent Skill.
• Bo Shuo recognized Sang Yu among the bloodied villagers being manipulated like puppets and grabbed her shoulder to keep her from following them.

Sang Yu, Bo Shuo, and their companion discovered the village’s underground chamber, where they found the sacrificed girls and clues to a planned escape. As they investigated a hidden carving, something stirred in the darkness, and Bo Shuo realized the unlit eastern corner was covered in damp black hair.

• Sang Yu, Bo Shuo, and their companion descended into the basement and found dozens of girls tied with red strings, several of whom had died from the cold.
• Sang Yu gave recovery potions to the girls who were still alive and covered them with a warm blanket.
• Bo Shuo found a concealed carving and recognized its marks as escape routes drawn by the abducted villagers.
• A rustling sound approached, and Bo Shuo noticed that the eastern corner had no visible candlelight.
• Bo Shuo pointed 007 toward the corner and discovered that the apparent patch of shadow was made of damp, sticky black hair.

Bo Shuo woke as Xiao Hu among women held captive in a village and learned that Huang Youzhu expected an escape attempt that night. After finding Sang Yu and Xu Ji Mo among the captives, he was sent to the Village Chief’s basement, where a terrifying version of Huang Youzhu appeared.

• Bo Shuo woke in a rice field and realized he was playing Xiao Hu, a captive girl watched by villagers.
• Huang Youzhu reminded Bo Shuo of their planned escape that night and pointed out a building marked with an arrow.
• Bo Shuo spotted Sang Yu and Xu Ji Mo among the women returning from labor, confirming they were trapped in the same escape exam.
• The villagers sent Bo Shuo and the other women to the Village Chief’s basement, where the people who had entered with him disappeared.
• A menacing Huang Youzhu appeared in the basement, and a sinister presence pressed against Bo Shuo from behind.

Bo Shuo reunited with Sang Yu and Xu Ji Mo in a strange, springlike space beyond the Scarlet Door, then killed them both. He left their reasons for appearing there unexplained as he stood over the bodies.

• Bo Shuo escaped the Ghost Face Horde through the Scarlet Door and found Sang Yu and Xu Ji Mo waiting in a safe-looking space.
• Sang Yu and Xu Ji Mo explained that they had explored the space and found three paths, with only the right-hand path untested.
• Bo Shuo told them to go ahead, then stabbed Xu Ji Mo in the heart as he started forward.
• Sang Yu asked Bo Shuo why he had killed Xu Ji Mo, and he said Xu Ji Mo had been disobedient.
• Bo Shuo stabbed Sang Yu in the heart as she agreed that anyone who defied him deserved to die.

Bo Shuo defeated a fake Sang Yu whose mental attacks could not affect him, then encountered the real Xu Ji Mo and Sang Yu. The chapter left Xu Ji Mo and Sang Yu frozen as they entered the blood-soaked room and saw Bo Shuo standing over the dismembered corpse.

• Bo Shuo recognized the attackers as NPC fakes and stabbed fake Sang Yu repeatedly, then chopped apart its limbs.
• Fake Sang Yu asked why it could not invade Bo Shuo’s mind, and 007 explained that the World Consciousness protected him.
• The defeated fake Sang Yu stopped moving as Xu Ji Mo and Sang Yu opened the door and entered.
• Two minutes earlier, Xu Ji Mo and Sang Yu ran into each other while fleeing the Chase Battle and hid together behind a scarlet door.
• Xu Ji Mo and Sang Yu entered a blood-soaked area and saw Bo Shuo holding a bloodied scalpel over a dismembered corpse.

Bo Shuo led Sang Yu and Xu Ji Mo through the collapsing region inside the monster, but they became trapped between the advancing Meat Threads and the Ghost Face Group. He ordered them to drop their hostility and blend into the Ghost Face Group, leaving their fate uncertain.

• Bo Shuo spotted markings that could anchor the shattered space and ordered Sang Yu and Xu Ji Mo to run along them.
• The region tore apart, revealing flesh walls and corrosive Meat Threads spreading across the ground.
• Bo Shuo, Sang Yu, and Xu Ji Mo encountered the Ghost Face Group ahead while the Meat Threads closed in behind them.
• Sang Yu and Xu Ji Mo prepared to fight their way through, but Bo Shuo ordered them to lower their weapons and blend into the Ghost Face Group.

Bo Shuo, Sang Yu, and Xu Ji Mo ran with the Ghost Face Group and realized the assessment required them to role-play as the fleeing women. Bo Shuo concluded that the women’s escape plan had failed and that they had died in the isolated village.

• Bo Shuo ordered the three of them to run alongside the Ghost Face Group as the village changed around them and the Ghost Faces regained human appearances.
• Sang Yu recognized the Ghost Faces as the women who had worked in the fields, while Xu Ji Mo inferred that the assessment’s role-playing escape scenario required the examinees to flee with the women.
• Sang Yu understood that the examinees had to identify the Ghost Faces’ role and join their escape, despite having been hunted by them.
• Xu Ji Mo and Sang Yu gained Emotion Points, and 007 told Bo Shuo they were still two hundred thousand points short of B-rank.
• Bo Shuo decided the women’s carefully planned escape had failed and that they had died in the village, where their resentment remained suppressed.

Bo Shuo and Sang Yu found Chen Feng Xia in a hidden cave and uncovered that she had betrayed the fleeing group by changing the escape markers. Chen Feng Xia insisted she had acted only to survive and blamed Bo Shuo for the group’s escape.

• Bo Shuo realized the real Xiao Hu had been missing from the trial and found a half-red, half-green marker on 007’s map.
• Bo Shuo recognized the woman tied to a tree as Chen Feng Xia, whom everyone knew as Xiao Hu.
• Bo Shuo accused Chen Feng Xia of changing the escape markers and helping the villagers trap the fleeing group.
• Chen Feng Xia broke down, claiming she had been forced to betray the group because she wanted to live.
• Chen Feng Xia glared at Bo Shuo and demanded to know why he had survived and called out to her.

Xu Ji Mo and Bo Shuo deduced that the villagers controlled the space and pressed Chen Feng Xia for a way out. Xu Ji Mo threatened her daughter, leaving Chen Feng Xia demanding to know why the villagers had broken their promise.

• Xu Ji Mo concluded that the villagers controlled the space, and Chen Feng Xia explained that killing her would not free them.
• Bo Shuo accused Chen Feng Xia of knowing another way out, while Sang Yu restrained her and demanded that she reveal it.
• Chen Feng Xia insisted she had not killed the villagers, and Xu Ji Mo described a malnourished girl with a purplish-blue birthmark.
• Chen Feng Xia recognized the girl as her daughter and struggled to learn what had happened to her.
• Xu Ji Mo threatened that Chen Feng Xia's daughter could die unless she told them how to leave, and Chen Feng Xia protested that the villagers had promised to spare her daughter.

Bo Shuo stripped away the illusion and revealed a vast black eye in the sky, which noticed him and nearly overwhelmed him. His system’s automatic defense kept him alive, but the other two were left close to death as the unknown being continued to awaken.

• Bo Shuo used Emotion Points to strip away the illusion, revealing a gigantic black hole that unleashed a violent gravitational force.
• Bo Shuo sensed an unknown presence watching him and received one million Emotion Points when it noticed him.
• The black eye drew Bo Shuo’s gaze and began mutating his body as his rationality vanished.
• 007 warned Bo Shuo not to look at the eye, while his system activated automatic defense and drained his Emotion Points.
• Bo Shuo’s defenses reached equilibrium and his condition stabilized, but the other two suffered dangerous mutations.

Bo Shuo met the Silver Haired God, whose beauty and presence threatened to overwhelm him. The Deity told Bo Shuo He wanted to eat him, and Bo Shuo answered with wary mockery rather than submission.

• Bo Shuo approached the Deity while fearing that losing His interest would leave him to die from mutation.
• The Deity invited Bo Shuo to sit across from Him at the table.
• The Silver Haired God asked Bo Shuo whether He could eat him.
• Bo Shuo hid his fear and mocked the idea that a supreme Deity would consume someone as insignificant as him.

Bo Shuo pretended he had waited tens of thousands of years for the amnesiac Silver Haired God and claimed they were partners to keep the dangerous being at bay. The Silver Haired God detected Bo Shuo’s malice and rejected the lie.

• Bo Shuo realized the Silver Haired God’s hunger and threat, then decided to exploit His lack of knowledge about humans.
• Bo Shuo asked whether the Silver Haired God remembered him, and the God admitted He had lost all His memories.
• Bo Shuo claimed he had waited tens of thousands of years for the God to awaken.
• When the God asked about their relationship, Bo Shuo searched for an intimate term and settled on “partners.”
• Bo Shuo told the God they were partners, but the God sensed no love from him and called him a liar.