Arc 11The Burning of Poplar Blossom Town

Qi Si and the Players uncovered how ghosts, scarecrows, and the tiger demon shaped Poplar Blossom Town, while factions and shifting identities forced them into a plan to survive. Tang Yu killed the tiger demon as Qi Si burned the town and exposed Meng Fang’s role, but Qi Si and Qiu Xin were left separated from Lin Chen after the fire went out.

  • Qi Si and Lin Chen investigated the corpse pit and the lodging house, finding clues about the town’s planned destruction and learning that Luo Haihua and Luo Jianhua survived as spirits.
  • Qi Si followed the funeral procession and discovered that the townspeople were scarecrows inhabited by ghosts, while the bamboo grove trapped Lin Chen and Tang Yu among scarecrows.
  • Qi Si and the others learned that fire revealed Xiyi and that, at midnight, ghosts moved between scarecrow bodies as the townspeople became invisible straw tigers.
  • Qi Si led the Players to the Mountain God, where Lin Chen became a Tiger’s Thrall, leaving Tang Yu as the only human and the target of the group’s plan to create a wraith.
  • Tang Yu accepted the risk of dying in the bamboo grove, while Qi Si prepared to burn the town and learned more about Meng Fang’s connection to the Instance.
  • Qi Si and Qiu Xin set Poplar Blossom Town ablaze as Tang Yu led Lin Chen through the grove and killed the tiger demon, completing the main quest.
  • Meng Fang recounted how a deity had used contracts, wraiths, and altered memories to control the town, while Qi Si accused him of sacrificing its people.
  • Qi Si and Qiu Xin found straw fakes in place of Luo Haihua and her husband, discovered a false account implicating Tang Yu, and lost contact with Lin Chen when the fire and Qi Si’s candle went out.
Chapters 252–276 Vol. 3 Read

Ch. 252Tiger's Servant Ghost (4): All Said They Were Harmed by Tigers

Qi Si and Lin Chen examined the vast corpse pit and questioned how the tiger, the townspeople, and the dead were connected. During the night, they discussed the Players’ factions and found a hidden scrap of paper, while Luo Haihua and Luo Jianhua faced strange noises and a spreading fire in their room.

  • Qi Si and Lin Chen saw that the pit behind the building contained countless corpses and found no clear evidence that a tiger had eaten them.
  • Lin Chen recalled that the townspeople had urged them to ask Master Meng what the Mountain God thought, and Qi Si told him to sleep until morning.
  • Luo Haihua and Luo Jianhua barricaded their window, heard a Ghost Hand and other frightening sounds outside, then watched their lantern ignite the bedsheets.
  • Lin Chen woke and asked whether Chang Ghost Players were doomed, and Qi Si said their faction might have ways to resist and that the townspeople were their common enemy.
  • Lin Chen found a yellowed scrap beneath the bedside table, but Qi Si could not illuminate it well enough to read, so they left it for morning.
  • The night watchman announced the second watch and warned everyone to shut their doors and windows against men and ghosts.

Ch. 253Tiger's Minion Ghost (5): Watching Demon Ghosts by Lamplight

Qi Si and Lin Chen discussed the lanterns’ strange dimness and the dangers of seeing ghosts too clearly, while Qiu Xin prepared to leave her room and fulfill her Tiger Ghost requirement. Qiu Xin found a corpse peering through the window, and Qi Si ended the night by threatening to help Lin Chen fall asleep.

  • Qi Si and Lin Chen read the Netherworld Record and wondered whether the town’s lanterns dimmed to avoid offending ghosts or revealing them.
  • Qiu Xin discovered that her identity as a Tiger Ghost required her to kill someone each day, and she planned to sneak out and kill a townsfolk.
  • Qiu Xin used Calming Incense to keep Tang Yu asleep, then approached the window to leave the room.
  • Qiu Xin found blood seeping through a hole in the window and saw a half-corpse hanging upside down outside, staring into the room.
  • Qi Si explained that dim lanterns could keep people from recognizing ghosts, then pulled an awl from his bracelet and offered to help Lin Chen sleep.

Ch. 254Tiger-Servant Ghost (6): Neither Sound Nor Light

Qiu Xin and Tang Yu faced tiger-servant ghosts attacking their room while Qi Si tested the green lantern against the ghosts in his room and used his Pocket Watch of Fate to reverse time. Qiu Xin left the residence to kill the night watchman before midnight, then heard his corpse’s gong announce that all was well.

  • Qiu Xin steadied Tang Yu’s lantern as a tiger-servant ghost clawed through their window, and Tang Yu prepared his Ink Soul Scroll and saber.
  • Qi Si opened his window with a green-flamed candle, drew the hanging ghosts away, and found Lin Chen dead after they vanished.
  • Qi Si used the Pocket Watch of Fate to rewind one minute, restoring Lin Chen and undoing the deaths and damage.
  • Qiu Xin went into town and killed the night watchman to satisfy her identity effect before midnight.
  • The dead night watchman’s gong struck three times and announced, “Third watch at midnight. All is well!”

Ch. 255Chang Ghost (VII): Karmic Fire Arose Last Night

Qi Si and Lin Chen reviewed the Chang Ghosts’ nighttime attacks and found a letter hinting at Poplar Blossom Town’s wartime history. Tang Yu and Qiu Xin separately woke after the night’s events, leaving the Players divided and the town’s history and inhabitants’ nature uncertain.

  • Qi Si told Lin Chen that corpse-pit ghosts attacked after the second watch, the lantern attracted them, and the third-watch call ended the phenomena and put Players to sleep.
  • Qi Si and Lin Chen read a damaged military letter describing a retreat and a plan to defend the town, then found the locked door still barred against their exit.
  • Tang Yu recalled Qiu Xin leaving through the window and his escape into the [Ink Soul Scroll], then wondered why the scroll worked in this Instance and found a record about a wandering soul.
  • Qiu Xin woke in an alley after killing her target and concluded that she had to contend with human townsfolk and other Players, since she could no longer return to them.

Ch. 256Tiger's Ghost (VIII): No Sign of the Ruined State Treasury

Qi Si and Lin Chen investigated the lodging house and questioned its old landlady, learning that she could not see the corpse pile outside. Qi Si found evidence that Luo Haihua and Luo Jianhua had vanished during a fire, while the landlady accused Tang Yu of possibly becoming a tiger ghost and ordered him locked up for another day.

  • Qi Si and Lin Chen searched their room, then questioned the old landlady about the missing old man and the noise outside; she claimed she saw only the bamboo grove and mountains, not the corpse pile.
  • Qi Si entered Luo Haihua and Luo Jianhua's room and found it empty, with furniture blocking the window and two broken lanterns on the floor.
  • Qi Si discovered a letter describing plans to burn Poplar Blossom Town rather than let invaders seize its supplies, and sensed a vision of Luo Haihua and Luo Jianhua caught in a fire.
  • Qi Si told Lin Chen that a lantern fire might have caused the pair's disappearance, but reasoned that their deaths together on the first night did not fit the Instance's usual rules.
  • The old landlady told Tang Yu that his missing companion had likely left through the window and that he might now be a tiger ghost, then ordered him to be locked up again; Qi Si recognized him as the candidate for the tiger ghost.

Ch. 257Tiger Ghost (9): Where Are Old Friends Now

Tang Yu, Qi Si, and Lin Chen deduced that the Players were spirits and that Qiu Xin was a tiger ghost, then went to meet Master Meng. They discovered that the scholar might have changed identities overnight, and a lantern led them to a message from Luo Haihua saying she and Old Luo were still in the Instance.

  • Tang Yu concluded that Qiu Xin was a tiger ghost who had killed the lodging's former manager, and the Players received notice that the side quest to find the tiger ghosts was complete.
  • Tang Yu reasoned that the Players' souls had left their bodies, while Qi Si warned that their bodies might be in danger in the bamboo grove and urged them to complete the main quest.
  • The scholar brought the Players strange Qingming rice balls and invited them to meet Master Meng, but Tang Yu led the others upstairs to prepare and speak privately.
  • Qi Si and Lin Chen noticed that the scholar's appearance differed from the one they had met yesterday, and the three planned to compare townspeople's clothes and faces for changes.
  • Tang Yu picked up Luo Haihua's empty paper lantern, which pointed toward the bedside table, where the Players found a message from Luo Haihua saying she and Old Luo were still in the Instance.

Ch. 258Tiger's Servant Ghost (10): Together in This Rambling Chapter

Qi Si and the Players discovered that Luo Haihua and her husband had become invisible, unheard spirits who could communicate by writing, and they questioned them to learn more about the Instance. After leaving questions for them to answer, Qi Si, Lin Chen, and Tang Yu followed the scholar to visit Master Meng, wary that spirits or townspeople might be spying on them.

  • Qi Si, Lin Chen, and Tang Yu read Luo Haihua and her husband's message and realized the pair had survived as spirits who could write on paper.
  • Qi Si asked the spirits whether they could hear or see the Players, and their answers showed they could do neither.
  • Qi Si left questions about the spirits' past Instances, the previous night's events, and the world they saw, then departed with Lin Chen and Tang Yu.
  • Tang Yu and Qi Si discussed whether spirits or NPCs could be spying on them and how to protect their exchanged information.
  • The scholar met the Players at the lodging entrance and led them toward Master Meng's house.

Ch. 259White Hair Turned to Ruins

Lin Chen, Qi Si, and Tang Yu learned that Poplar Blossom Town’s rules required one person to die each day for the Mountain God, then followed a strange funeral procession carrying the residence manager’s corpse. The chapter ended with the Players following the paper figures out of town, while the corpse’s death raised questions about how the rules applied.

  • Lin Chen observed that townspeople’s clothing and apparent social identities were systematically mismatched, and Qi Si argued that their identities were exchanged without regard for fairness.
  • The scholar told Tang Yu that the Mountain God ate one person each day and that the townspeople chose a night watchman who would die in exchange for the town’s safety.
  • Qi Si asked the scholar how old Master Meng and the old lady of the Meng Family were, causing the scholar to lose control before he abruptly returned to normal.
  • Four paper figures riding paper donkeys arrived to carry away Uncle Li, the Players’ former residence manager, whom Qiu Xin had killed before midnight.
  • Qi Si, Lin Chen, and Tang Yu followed the paper figures as they carried Uncle Li’s corpse down the street.

Ch. 260Wraith Servant Ghost (12): Carelessly, with Nowhere to Bury Them

Qi Si, Lin Chen, and Tang Yu followed a funeral procession through Poplar Blossom Town and discovered that the town’s eastern streets mirrored its western half. They split up to investigate the residence and the route beyond town, leaving Qi Si with a startling discovery upstairs while Tang Yu and Lin Chen watched the old man’s corpse buried upright in a bamboo grove.

  • Qi Si and Tang Yu discussed the dangers of following the funeral procession, and Tang Yu said he had been expelled from Nine Provinces after injuring a teammate.
  • Lin Chen recognized the residence among the buildings east of town, and Tang Yu proposed that the town’s two halves were mirror images.
  • Qi Si sent Tang Yu and Lin Chen through a hidden door to follow the paper figures while he went upstairs to search the residence.
  • Qi Si opened a locked room and found Luo Haihua and Luo Jianhua asleep beside papers describing other Players trapped in the past.
  • Tang Yu and Lin Chen followed the paper figures to a bamboo grove, where they planted the old man’s corpse upright in the earth.

Ch. 261Deep Forest Traps the Traveler

Qi Si discovered that he and the other Players occupied different layers of Poplar Blossom Town, then learned that Lin Chen and Tang Yu were trapped in a bamboo grove filled with scarecrows. As the scarecrows closed in, Qi Si reached them and revealed a stone-marked path leading toward his red-clad figure.

  • Qi Si read Luo Haihua’s account of the fire and found that Luo Haihua and Luo Jianhua were asleep, intangible, and unable to hear him.
  • Qi Si wrote questions for Luo Haihua and Luo Jianhua, then told Lin Chen and Tang Yu to wait in the bamboo grove while he came to them.
  • Lin Chen and Tang Yu found that the old man’s corpse had become a scarecrow and that scarecrows surrounded them, blocking every way out.
  • Qi Si warned Lin Chen not to use [Umbrella Filled with Pain], while Tang Yu urged him to use his items and tried to cut through the bamboo.
  • Lin Chen summoned a patient with [Psychiatrist's Casebook], but the phantom fled after mistaking the scarecrows for ghosts.
  • Qi Si’s voice reached Lin Chen, and a path of white stones appeared through the grove toward Qi Si’s figure in red.

Ch. 262Tiger's Ghost (14): Red Robe Bathes in Dawn Light

Qi Si explained how staying ten zhang from the funeral procession’s illusion let him anchor Lin Chen and Tang Yu to reality, then persuaded Tang Yu to test whether the scarecrows resembled the NPC he had killed. The test suggested that townspeople’s ghosts possessed scarecrow bodies, and Qi Si ended by inviting them upstairs at the lodging house after revealing he had seen Teacher Luo and Tang Yu’s letter.

  • Qi Si appeared outside the bamboo forest’s illusion and explained that a ten-zhang distance and the team-forming item let Lin Chen see the real path.
  • Qi Si repeatedly threatened to move beyond the safe distance until Tang Yu agreed to slash a scarecrow as part of an experiment.
  • Tang Yu cut down several scarecrows and concluded that the old man he had killed was made of straw, suggesting townspeople’s ghosts possessed scarecrow bodies.
  • Lin Chen, Tang Yu, and Qi Si discussed how ghosts gained identities by possessing different scarecrows and considered whether the townspeople and Master Meng were tiger’s accomplices.
  • Tang Yu asked what Qi Si had found upstairs at the lodging house, and Qi Si revealed he had seen Teacher Luo and Tang Yu’s letter before suggesting they go upstairs.

Ch. 263Meeting Again, Suspecting a Ghost

Tang Yu, Lin Chen, and Qi Si investigated clues about Poplar Blossom Town and questioned whether the writings in Luo Haihua’s room came from another timeline or were fabricated by the Instance. Meanwhile, Qiu Xin learned that the townspeople believed Master Meng and the Mountain God protected them, but a child died after recognizing her as a ghost.

  • Tang Yu connected the military letters and travelogue to the town’s destruction, while Lin Chen suspected Master Meng was General Meng, who had burned the town.
  • Tang Yu rejected the theory that parallel timelines explained the writing, and Qi Si suggested the Instance could imitate the players and fabricate the people they met.
  • The players found two empty rooms without lanterns, and Qi Si pointed out that the four lanterns they had could let four people escape if two more people died.
  • The scholar arrived and led Tang Yu, Lin Chen, and Qi Si to meet Master Meng, warning them that Master Meng would never harm the townspeople.
  • Qiu Xin questioned a child about Master Meng, tiger ghosts, and the townspeople’s supposed immortality, then realized the child’s shadow showed he was a tiger ghost.
  • After Qiu Xin told the child he was a ghost, he recognized her as one and fell dead, apparently scared to death.

Ch. 264Tiger's Accomplice Ghost (16): Pouring Out One's Heart Before the Mirror

The Players discovered that a vast mirror divided Poplar Blossom Town and revealed the burned townsfolk as Xiyi, whose appearance nearly overwhelmed Qi Si until his Scarlet High Priest card shielded him. After the mirror dimmed, Meng Fang appeared and introduced himself, leaving the Players face-to-face with the master of the residence.

  • Qi Si and Lin Chen determined that the wall between the residences was a mirror, and its surface revealed the town burning as soldiers set fire to its buildings.
  • The mirror's reflected sunlight scorched Lin Chen and Tang Yu, while Qi Si used the Umbrella Filled with Pain to shield them.
  • Qi Si saw the faces of the dead townsfolk in the mirror and learned they were Xiyi, but the Scarlet High Priest card blocked his view and ended the dangerous effect.
  • Qi Si explained that Xiyi were not trapped in the mirror but were normally invisible to the Players, and he claimed he had learned about them in the Netherworld Record.
  • Meng Fang emerged in a cyan official robe, apologized for keeping the Players waiting, and introduced himself.

Ch. 265A Leaf Obscures My Vision

Qi Si entered Poplar Blossom Town as a Chang Gui, killed a player, and took over the dead man’s Daoist identity. After Master Meng directed the Players to kill the tiger demon, Qi Si questioned the town’s suspicious story and watched the scholar appear as a seemingly human night watchman, leaving him with guesses about the Instance’s rules as midnight approached.

  • Qi Si killed a player dressed as a Daoist, took his belongings, and learned from a letter that Master Meng had invited him to deal with the Chang Gui.
  • Qi Si introduced himself to Qiu Xin as Lin Wen, a Daoist, then joined Tang Yu and Lin Chen in meeting Master Meng.
  • Master Meng explained that the tiger demon had broken its pact with the town and updated the human Players’ quest to kill it.
  • Qi Si questioned Meng Fang about Li Yi and the town’s corpses, then suspected that Old Madam Meng might be bait because no one had let Lin Chen see her.
  • Tang Yu and Qi Si reasoned that the tiger demon ate the townspeople’s ghosts, then saw the familiar scholar pass by with a human shadow and cloudy eyes.
  • Qi Si told the others to return before midnight and said he had formed guesses about the Instance, wondering whether the scholar would be tonight’s victim.

Ch. 266Tiger Ghost (18): The World's Bitterness Is Hard to Resolve

Qi Si, Lin Chen, and Tang Yu discovered that the townspeople were scarecrows that could return to life by possessing replacements, while the Players’ perceptions concealed their true forms. The three began considering how fire could be used to kill the scarecrow townspeople and avoid confronting the tiger demon directly.

  • Qi Si reassured Lin Chen and Tang Yu that Qiu Xin could take shelter safely, but warned that they might need her help to investigate the world setting.
  • A little old woman led the Players back to the residence, where Tang Yu killed her and she reappeared unharmed from a wooden cabin.
  • Qi Si and Lin Chen found replacement scarecrows beneath the little old woman’s bed, and they watched her corpse reveal itself as straw after the illusion faded.
  • Tang Yu questioned Meng Fang’s demand that the Players kill the tiger demon, while Qi Si proposed that protecting the townspeople might be the real task.
  • Qi Si pointed out that the townspeople were scarecrows, and Tang Yu realized they feared fire, which was forbidden in town.

Ch. 267Tiger Ghosts (19): A Horde of Ghosts Rivaled the Living

Qi Si proposed investigating the townspeople’s midnight identity exchange before deciding whether to burn Poplar Blossom Town, and planned to use the Ink Soul Scroll, Umbrella Filled with Pain, and Pocket Watch of Fate to observe the town safely. The chapter ended with Qi Si, Tang Yu, and Lin Chen reading Luo Haihua’s account of Xiyi, where dead townspeople and Players lived on without physical bodies.

  • Qi Si explained that burning Poplar Blossom Town might offer a way to clear the Instance, but warned that the townspeople’s nature, Meng Fang’s motives, and the fire’s effects remained uncertain.
  • Qi Si decided the group would still meet the tiger demon the next day and planned to investigate the suspected midnight identity exchange that night.
  • Tang Yu lent Qi Si the Ink Soul Scroll, and Lin Chen supplied the Umbrella Filled with Pain so a summoned shadow ghost could carry Qi Si over the town while he observed from the scroll’s space and rewound time if needed.
  • Qi Si took responsibility for the nighttime plan, and the three Players went upstairs to read the messages Luo Haihua and her husband had left.
  • Luo Haihua’s notes described entering Xiyi after a fire in her room, finding a mirrored Poplar Blossom Town, and meeting dead townspeople and deceased Players who retained their memories.

Ch. 268Tiger's Ghost (20): Not Knowing Where Death Goes

Qi Si used fire to reveal Xiyi, exchanged clues with Tang Yu and Lin Chen, and prepared to explore Poplar Blossom Town at night after Luo Haihua sent him a Photographic Negative. Meanwhile, Qiu Xin connected the Instance’s ghost hierarchy to mirrors and waited for midnight as the night watchman announced the second watch.

  • Qi Si burned a bedsheet and used the flames to reveal many Xiyi, while Lin Chen explained how fire could expose the other space.
  • Tang Yu recorded the Players’ discoveries for Luo Haihua, and Qi Si theorized that the ruined west of town was real while the prosperous east was a haven for the dead.
  • Qi Si decided he would explore at night without using the Pocket Watch of Fate, and Luo Haihua sent him the Photographic Negative.
  • Qiu Xin recalled killing a child, described her worsening mental condition, and reasoned that mirrors contained Xiyi and that a tiger’s ghost would fear them.
  • The night watchman called out that it was the second watch and warned the townspeople to guard against men and ghosts.

Ch. 269Tiger's Ghost (21): A Single Thought Governs Rise and Fall

Qiu Xin killed the night watchman, but Qi Si stopped her and persuaded her to cooperate, revealing that townspeople were ghosts inhabiting scarecrows. Qi Si then tested the village’s rules and used his items to leave the town, leaving the fate of the human-shaped scarecrow’s owner unresolved.

  • Qiu Xin killed the night watchman, but Qi Si trapped her with his Cursed Pendulum and asked her to cooperate.
  • Qiu Xin agreed to a world-guaranteed contract, and Qi Si revealed that most townspeople were ghosts possessing scarecrows.
  • Qiu Xin tested Qi Si’s claim by killing the grieving old woman, while Qi Si observed the ghost scatter from its scarecrow.
  • Qi Si and Qiu Xin found a scholar who had become the night watchman, and Qi Si proposed testing whether he would survive without being killed according to The Rules.
  • Qi Si killed a middle-aged couple, activated the Ink Soul Scroll and Umbrella Filled with Pain, and stepped through a golden-lit door as the third watch sounded.

Ch. 270The Tiger's Servant Ghost (22): Non-Action Is Also Impermanent

Qi Si uncovered how Poplar Blossom Town’s tiger-shaped scarecrows exchanged ghosts at midnight and shared his findings with Tang Yu and Lin Chen. As the group prepared to confront the tiger demon, a new scholar named Li Yi arrived with wine and offered to lead them to its lair.

  • Qi Si discovered that townspeople became invisible straw tigers at midnight, while ghosts moved between the scarecrows and the corpse pile in the east; he also found that the townspeople could hear the watch gong despite not seeing him.
  • Qi Si opened Tang Yu and Lin Chen’s locked room and showed them photographs revealing the scarecrows’ tiger shapes and the nightly movement of ghosts between them.
  • Lin Chen concluded that possession changed randomly at midnight, while Qi Si explained that an illusion concealed the town’s ruins and kept its inhabitants from seeing parts of their world.
  • Lin Chen speculated that the Instance’s illusions and divided inhabitants reflected ideas from the Tao Te Ching, though he could not reconcile them with other clues.
  • Li Yi arrived with wine from Master Meng and offered to lead the Players to the tiger demon’s lair; Qi Si then saw Qiu Xin approaching the residence.

Ch. 271Tiger's Minion Ghost (23): The Distant Roads East and West

Qiu Xin shared what she had learned about the factions and the Instance, while Qi Si questioned the scholar’s account of the town’s deaths and led the Players to the bamboo grove. The group followed Qiu Xin toward the tiger demon’s lair, where a giant tiger’s head appeared through the mist.

  • Qiu Xin explained that Players in her faction were zhans, that people could become Xiyi, and that mirrors could expose tiger’s minion ghosts to fear.
  • Qi Si argued that the scholar and other guides were disposable NPCs, and the group found the previous scholar dead before funeral bearers carried away his body.
  • Qi Si speculated that the Instance’s hidden authority used Players to kill marked townspeople and wondered what would happen if they killed the tiger demon.
  • The scholar led the Players through a hidden door and across corpse-strewn ground to the bamboo grove, where he refused to go farther.
  • Qiu Xin guided the Players deeper into the grove, past hanging corpses and scattered bones, as the tiger’s roar and approaching footsteps sounded.
  • A huge tiger’s head emerged from the mist as the Players prepared their life-saving items.

Ch. 272Tiger's Servant Ghost (24): Walking Alone Upon Blades

Lin Chen was transformed into a Tiger's Thrall after Qi Si used the Soul Contract to keep him before the Mountain God, then learned Qi Si had planned the conversion to save the Players. As Qi Si continued the plan, Tang Yu became the only human left among them.

  • The Mountain God approached, and Qi Si's Soul Contract prevented Lin Chen from fleeing while Tang Yu and the other Players ran.
  • Lin Chen was bitten, but the Eerie Game changed his faction to Tiger's Thrall and updated his mission to eliminate all humans among the Players.
  • Qi Si explained that he had arranged Lin Chen's conversion so the Players could all become Tiger's Thralls and survive, and admitted he had relied on the Pocket Watch of Fate to protect Lin Chen.
  • Lin Chen struggled with Qi Si's deception but followed him out of the bamboo grove.
  • Qi Si and Qiu Xin captured Tang Yu, and Qi Si revealed that Tang Yu was the only human remaining.

Ch. 273Tiger's Ghosts (25): A Lonely Road to Root Out Evil

Qi Si identified that a wraith could kill the tiger demon and persuaded Tang Yu to risk dying so he could become one. After revealing that Teacher Luo and the others had concealed their Changgui status, Qi Si left Lin Chen facing his own complicity in Tang Yu’s sacrifice.

  • Qi Si used Lin Chen’s [Top Student's Note] and [Pilgrim's Blessing] to learn that all ghosts feared wraiths, then concluded that a ghost who died could become one and kill the tiger demon.
  • Qi Si pressured Tang Yu to enter the bamboo forest and die in hopes of becoming a wraith; Tang Yu agreed to take the risk after learning his quest required him to kill the tiger demon.
  • Qi Si and the others questioned Luo Haihua and her husband, learning that four people had the quest to kill the tiger demon and that they had made no discoveries in the other space.
  • Tang Yu explained that his death would leave Lin Chen alive and satisfy the competing faction quests, then left with Qiu Xin while Lin Chen and Qi Si remained behind.
  • Lin Chen accused Qi Si of arranging Tang Yu’s sacrifice to keep him alive, and Qi Si challenged him to admit that he wanted to survive and had accepted the plan.
  • Qi Si learned from Teacher Luo that her faction was Changgui and explained that Teacher Luo and another person had become shades before dying and turning into Xiyi.

Ch. 274Tiger's Minion Ghost (26): White Bones Cover Pine Ridge

Lin Chen learned that Tang Yu had chosen to sacrifice himself willingly, while Qi Si decided to burn Poplar Blossom Town and test whether destroying the Instance map could close it permanently. The town’s ghosts followed the green lantern into the spreading inferno as Qi Si and Qiu Xin set the blaze.

  • Tang Yu told Lin Chen he did not blame him for the sacrifice plan and secretly warned him to beware of Lin Wen, seek Fu Jue, and hold on to his initiative.
  • Qi Si told Qiu Xin he planned to burn Poplar Blossom Town, and she inferred that he had already used the Pocket Watch of Fate.
  • Qi Si learned through his connection with Lin Chen that Fu Jue knew secrets about the Identity Card and considered whether to contact him.
  • Tang Yu revealed his true ghostly form, left the residence, and asked Lin Chen to ensure the dead were revived if anyone cleared the final Instance.
  • Qi Si drew the ghosts toward a green lantern and threw it onto a house, while Qiu Xin spread wine to feed the flames.
  • The townspeople followed the fire through Poplar Blossom Town, and the blaze consumed the town beneath the night sky.

Ch. 275Tiger's Ghost (27): His Glorious Name Still Endures

Tang Yu defeated the tiger demon while Qi Si exposed Meng Fang’s role in Poplar Blossom Town’s deaths. Meng Fang recounted how a mysterious being revived him through a contract, leaving his motives and fate under judgment.

  • Tang Yu led Lin Chen through the bamboo grove, defeated the tiger demon, and completed the main quest; its corpse was revealed as a straw effigy.
  • Qi Si confronted Meng Fang amid the burning town and explained how Meng Fang used the Players to eliminate townspeople while disguising their deaths as attacks by tiger’s ghosts.
  • Meng Fang defended his actions as service to the sovereign and the people, then recalled ordering Poplar Blossom Town burned and dying by suicide as enemy forces approached.
  • After his death, Meng Fang wandered among the unjustly dead and met a mysterious man who offered to grant his wish and attached his soul to a straw doll.
  • Meng Fang accepted a contract that restored his body and erased his memories of death, while the mysterious being predicted that his ideals would decay into sin.

Ch. 276Tiger's Thrall (28): Restore Peace to the World

Meng Fang’s history revealed how the deity’s contracts trapped Poplar Blossom Town in cycles of altered memories and sacrifice, while Qi Si challenged Meng Fang’s claim that he had acted for the townspeople’s sake. After the karmic fire died and the Instance ended, Qi Si investigated the eastern residence and contacted Lin Chen.

  • Meng Fang recalled making repeated deals with the deity, who used wraiths, outsiders, and altered memories to keep Poplar Blossom Town under control.
  • The deity promised Meng Fang freedom if he killed the tiger demon, and Meng Fang invited outsiders until he heard that the demon had been eliminated.
  • After setting the karmic fire, Qi Si accused Meng Fang of sacrificing townspeople and denying them the right to choose; the Main Quest then registered as completed.
  • Qi Si and Qiu Xin found the bodies of Luo Haihua and her husband were straw fakes, and Qi Si found a fabricated account in Luo Haihua’s handwriting implicating Tang Yu.
  • The karmic fire and Qi Si’s candle went out, and Qi Si used the red Soul Leaf to tell Lin Chen where he was.
Arc 11 of 19