Chapter Summaries

Qi Si bought items, managed his followers’ points, and recruited a hundred people infected by the Insomnia Pathogen before leaving the Eerie Game. Back in reality, he discovered that becoming a ghost had drained the world of its colors and emotions, then arranged to meet Lin Chen at the Ruins of Sunset.

• Qi Si bought the Self-Harmer's Paper Knife, gloves, and candy, and set rules to deduct 30% of Liu Yuhan and Dong Zixi's points before distributing the rest.
• Qi Si examined the Insomnia Pathogen's spread, selected a hundred highly compatible infected people, and brought them into the Eerie Game.
• Qi Si exited the game and realized that his ghostly state had made the colors and emotions of reality fade away.
• Qi Si returned Lin Chen's missed call, reassured him, and invited him to meet at the Ruins of Sunset the next afternoon.
• Lin Chen told his roommate that Qi Si was a friend who had helped him greatly and saved his life.

After Sun Dekuan’s death, his warning about Qi Si’s contract skill and pendulum spread across the Eerie Game forum, forcing Qi Si to consider hiding his signature abilities. Liu Yuhan pieced together evidence linking Si Qi to Qi Si and his past allies, but as she contemplated how to protect herself, a voice told her that her deductions were not enough.

• Lu Zimo told Huang Xiaofei that Cheng An had killed him, and she took him for a final walk before their deaths.
• Sun Dekuan posted a warning identifying Cheng An’s contract skill, red pendulum, and accomplice Lin Chen before he died.
• Players debated whether Sun Dekuan’s callout was genuine, while Qi Si watched the discussion and decided to rely less on Soul Contract and Cursed Pendulum.
• Liu Yuhan connected Cheng An to Si Qi and traced Si Qi’s past links to Qi Si, Chang Xu, and Lin Chen across several Instances.
• Liu Yuhan considered leaking information from the Church of the Scales to escape Si Qi’s control, but a voice behind her said her work was still not enough.

Qi Si guided Lin Chen through registering the guild Unnamed and explained why Lin had to lead it despite the dangers posed by veteran guilds. The chapter ended with Unnamed established around Frog Hospital, with Lin Crow as guild leader and Si Qi as vice guild leader.

• Qi Si and Lin Chen registered a guild in a deserted area, each contributing five thousand points.
• Qi Si explained that Lin Chen needed to become guild leader and prepare to face pressure from established guilds and dangers targeting his Identity Card.
• Lin Chen named the guild Unnamed, chose Lin Crow as his alias, and listed Si Qi as vice guild leader.
• Qi Si designated Frog Hospital as the guild base after revealing he had gained control of it.
• Qi Si warned Lin Chen against recruiting strangers, and Lin Chen drew a slanted-cross emblem for the guild.
• The system announced that Lin Crow had registered Unnamed, and the guild appeared on the power rankings with Si Qi as vice president.

Qi Si established the Unnamed Guild as a front and invoked an oracle urging White Crow to compete for the final crown of the Ruins of Sunset. White Crow received the warning, weighed her options, and called her followers to holy war.

• Lin Chen and Qi Si established the Unnamed Guild and chose a wilderness plot as its supposed base.
• Qi Si considered the guild’s potential role in the coming conflict, then found that his name and Frog Hospital record had vanished from the leaderboards.
• Qi Si touched White Crow’s Soul Leaf and delivered an oracle about the Gate, the Tower, and competing for the final crown.
• White Crow took control of Red of Truth’s remnants in the Gulan Autonomous Region and acquired a bronze longsword she suspected was connected to the Eerie Game.
• After hearing Qi Si’s oracle, White Crow recognized it as a warning from the god behind her Identity Card and declared that her followers would reclaim the crown through holy war.

Fu Jue met with Listen Wind vice president Yu to discuss the Gate opening in Jiang City and their cooperation against the pact. Fu Jue revealed that he had abandoned his former plan of salvation and intended to draw “him” into the game, leaving his own death as part of the wager.

• Fu Jue told President Yu that the Gate would open in Jiang City and asked how much support Listen Wind could provide.
• Fu Jue explained that Nine Provinces and Listen Wind needed to reunite and gather their remaining cards before the Rules reset the world.
• Fu Jue described his wager against the pact and said he believed humanity should determine its own fate rather than rely on gods.
• President Yu recalled Fu Jue’s former idealism and challenged the public’s faith in him as a savior.
• Fu Jue said the path of salvation had failed, that four million people would be sacrificed in ignorance, and that he hoped his death would be worthwhile.
• President Yu agreed to help draw “him” into the game and contain the Gate’s influence in Jiang City, while Fu Jue declined to intervene in forum criticism.

Qi Si established the Unnamed Guild, sent an ambiguous oracle to the Church of the Scales, and managed its new points system before returning to the real world exhausted. After waking from a disturbing dream about Jin Yusheng, he reflected on who had arranged his entry into the Eerie Game and began reconsidering how he maintained relationships, ending by sending oranges to Jin Yusheng.

• Players on the forum debated the Unnamed Guild and speculated that its vice president, Si Qi, was extraordinary and that the guild might be connected to the Church of the Scales.
• Lin Chen reached Level 2 by posting summaries of useful forum information, then saw the growing discussion about the guild and Si Qi.
• Qi Si sent White Crow a muddled oracle, checked the guild’s point system, restocked its shelves, and exited the Game Space to sleep.
• Qi Si repeatedly lost Go to Jin Yusheng in a dream, then smashed Jin Yusheng with the board and woke after sixteen hours of sleep.
• Qi Si visited the breakfast shop, considered who had orchestrated his entry into the game, and listened as the proprietress spoke about her friend’s death and her son.
• Qi Si read Lin Chen’s messages about the forum and an invitation to dinner, then ordered oranges to be delivered to Jin Yusheng.

After failing to regain his lost perception by killing a man, Qi Si prepared to enter a new Instance with Lin Chen, who concealed his identity and refused to livestream. Qi Si joined the same Instance and found Lin Chen waiting to load in.

• On April 14, Qi Si killed a gambling addict behind Ruidanshen Casino, but his perception remained unchanged, and he noticed the breakfast shop owner's son leaving the casino.
• On April 15, Qi Si created a frog-covered corpse specimen, tested his inability to heal himself in reality, and told Lin Chen to queue for an Instance with him the next day.
• Lin Chen learned more about Qi Si and Chang Xu's past Instances, tried unsuccessfully to contact Qi Si, then bought a [Camera Filter] and entered the Game Space without livestreaming.
• Qi Si checked on the people in his temple, saw that Lin Chen was matching for an Instance, and entered the same Instance.

Lin Chen entered the team survival Instance The Chāng Ghost alone, found Qi Si and the other Players outside Poplar Blossom Town, and learned that their quests involved curing Old Madam Meng, killing the mountain god, or escaping town. The group crossed the archway and found the town bustling in what appeared to be daylight, despite the night outside.

• Lin Chen inspected his physician identity and quest, encountered smiling scarecrows and a mutilated corpse, and heard the Instance's warning about tiger-bite victims becoming chāng ghosts.
• Qi Si contacted Lin Chen through their ring and guided him along a hidden path to the town entrance, where Lin Chen met the other Players.
• Tang Yu, Luo Haihua, Luo Jianhua, and Qiu Xin introduced their identities and quests, while Qi Si presented himself as the Taoist priest Lin Wen hired to treat Old Madam Meng.
• The Players decided to enter Poplar Blossom Town rather than search for an exit in the dark.
• Lin Chen, Qi Si, Tang Yu, Luo Haihua, and Luo Jianhua crossed the archway and discovered a lively town that seemed to be experiencing daytime.

The Players entered Poplar Blossom Town, where the townspeople suspected them of being tiger ghosts and required outsiders to stay two to a room. Qi Si warned that the townspeople might be tiger ghosts who believed themselves human, and Tang Yu killed the lodging-house keeper so the Players could take separate rooms.

• The Players read a notice describing the tiger, the chang ghosts, and the dangers facing Poplar Blossom Town, while Qi Si noticed the townspeople had tiger-shaped shadows and the Players had none.
• A scholar confirmed that Tang Yu, Lin Chen, and Qi Si had been invited by Master Meng, then ordered all outsiders to stay two to a room under the town’s rules.
• The system refreshed the mandatory quest to find the tiger ghosts among the Players, and the scholar warned that anyone who refused the lodging house would be vulnerable after midnight.
• Qi Si consulted the Netherworld Record and explained that the townspeople might be tiger ghosts who believed they were human and would not attack unless the Players exposed them.
• When the lodging-house keeper arrived to lead them, Tang Yu killed him and took his keys, deciding that the Players would stay one to a room.

The Players reached the lodging houses, where an old man they had killed reappeared and forced them to follow the rule of two people per room. Qi Si and Lin Chen discovered a pit filled with corpses behind their room, including the old men Tang Yu had killed.

• Qi Si told Lin Chen that he and Chang Xu were pieces in the Gods' Gamble but had joined forces against the gods' efforts to make them fight.
• Tang Yu opened a lodging house door and encountered an old man identical to the one he had killed; after Tang Yu killed him again, another unharmed copy appeared at the neighboring building.
• Qi Si proposed that Players with the same main quest share rooms, and the group divided into three pairs before following the old man upstairs.
• Qi Si and Lin Chen discussed who might be a tiger ghost, and Qi Si said neither of them could trust the other until morning.
• Qi Si shone his lantern through holes in the window, revealing a pit piled with human corpses and the two old men Tang Yu had killed.

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.

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.

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!”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.