Chapter Summaries

Xiao Qinghe defended his master from Zhao Guangyi, and Xie Jun intervened before Zhao could kill him. After humiliating Zhao and driving him away, Xie Jun gave Xiao Qinghe a peach blossom and left him wondering whether their scene resembled something from his past with his junior brother.

• Xiao Qinghe headbutted Zhao Guangyi for insulting his master, and Zhao raised his sword to kill him.
• Xie Jun attacked Zhao Guangyi with peach blossom petals, shaving his head and tearing his robes until he fled in humiliation.
• Xiao Qinghe asked Xie Jun why she had helped him, and she said she disliked Zhao Guangyi.
• Xiao Qinghe called Xie Jun pretty, then fell from the Peach Blossom Tree while trying to pick blossoms and made her laugh.
• Xie Jun showered Xiao Qinghe with blossoms and placed one in his hair, prompting him to wonder if the scene echoed an encounter with his junior brother and an octopus monster.

Xiao Qinghe brought peach blossom wine to Bai Yuqing’s residence, where he encountered Ouyang Susu fleeing and discovered the Human-Faced Ghost King had disguised himself as him. Bai Yuqing and Xiao Qinghe recognized the danger, and Xiao Qinghe attacked the impostor.

• Xie Jun teased Xiao Qinghe about his peach blossoms and criticized the peach wine he brewed.
• Xiao Qinghe took the wine to Bai Yuqing’s residence, where Ouyang Susu rushed out wounded and begged him to escape with her.
• Ouyang Susu used Xiao Qinghe as a shield against a sword strike, but the wine jar took the blow as Bai Yuqing emerged and accused Xiao Qinghe of being a demon.
• Xiao Qinghe realized another person had taken his appearance and identified him as the Human-Faced Ghost King.
• Bai Yuqing called the impostor to him while silently signaling Xiao Qinghe, and Xiao Qinghe kicked the Human-Faced Ghost King.

Bai Yuqing and Xiao Qinghe exposed the Human-Faced Ghost King’s disguise and fought him, but Xiao Qinghe took a demonic blade meant for his master. The Ghost King escaped after Bai Yuqing repelled his attack, and Bai Yuqing stayed behind to help his wounded disciple as the Demon-Slaying Sect mobilized.

• Xiao Qinghe lured the Human-Faced Ghost King into Bai Yuqing’s ambush, and Bai Yuqing stabbed and exposed the disguised demon.
• The Ghost King realized Bai Yuqing cared about Xiao Qinghe and redirected a demonic blade toward Bai Yuqing, but Xiao Qinghe tackled his master and took the blow.
• Bai Yuqing protected Xiao Qinghe from the Ghost King’s demonic gale with a powerful sword strike, forcing the wounded demon to flee.
• Xiao Qinghe urged Bai Yuqing to alert the sect, and Bai Yuqing sent up a signal that prompted the Demon-Slaying Sect to lock down and search for the Ghost King.
• Bai Yuqing chose to help Xiao Qinghe instead of pursuing the Ghost King, while Xiao Qinghe joked that he could not die and Bai Yuqing wondered if he was having another episode.

Bai Yuqing carried the injured Xiao Qinghe to bed and applied ointment, while Xiao Qinghe misread his concern as tenderness and struggled to endure the pain. The chapter ended with Xiao Qinghe biting Bai Yuqing’s arm after the pain intensified, leaving him unsure whether his master had meant for it to happen.

• Bai Yuqing carried Xiao Qinghe to bed after he was too hurt to stand, then accidentally pinched his reddened ear.
• Bai Yuqing fetched jade ointment and turned away when Xiao Qinghe recalled that masters should not apply medicine to their disciples, but Xiao Qinghe quickly apologized and asked for help.
• Bai Yuqing began applying ointment while sect disciples outside the door mistook the scene for an intimate encounter and left them alone.
• Xiao Qinghe complained that the Human-Faced Ghost King had ruined the peach blossom wine he had brewed for Bai Yuqing, who accepted Xiao Qinghe’s claim that he liked it.
• When Xiao Qinghe cried out in pain and bit his lip, Bai Yuqing told him not to hurt himself and offered his arm instead.
• Bai Yuqing pressed harder on Xiao Qinghe’s wound, and Xiao Qinghe bit down on his arm, wondering if his master had done it on purpose.

After Bai Yuqing tended Xiao Qinghe’s severe injuries, the two grew increasingly intimate as Xiao Qinghe became mortified by his reactions to the treatment. The chapter ended with Xiao Qinghe pinning Bai Yuqing down and squishing his face before Bai Yuqing quietly called him his disciple.

• Bai Yuqing comforted Xiao Qinghe and realized how badly he had been injured in the great hall.
• Bai Yuqing laid Xiao Qinghe on the bed and applied his own jade ointment to his wounds.
• Xiao Qinghe grew flustered as Bai Yuqing’s touch made him react, then hid inside a quilt when Bai Yuqing noticed.
• Bai Yuqing laughed at Xiao Qinghe, who pounced on him and squished his face.
• Bai Yuqing let Xiao Qinghe vent before quietly addressing him as his disciple.

Bai Yuqing protected his injured disciple Xiao Qinghe when Ouyang Chong and other disciples stumbled upon them in bed and misunderstood the situation. After sending the onlookers away, Bai Yuqing insisted Xiao Qinghe stay beside him until his wounds healed, leaving Xiao Qinghe anxious about sharing a bed with his master.

• Ouyang Chong entered Bai Yuqing's room and found Xiao Qinghe hidden beneath the quilt in Bai Yuqing's bed.
• Xiao Qinghe emerged from the quilt in front of Ouyang Chong and the disciples, who saw his bruises and misread what had happened.
• Bai Yuqing declared that Xiao Qinghe was his disciple and threatened anyone who harmed him, including Ouyang Susu.
• Ouyang Chong accused Xiao Qinghe of bewitching Bai Yuqing and pointed his sword at him, but Bai Yuqing gathered Xiao Qinghe into his arms and ordered the visitors to leave.
• Bai Yuqing lay beside Xiao Qinghe and told him to stay until his wounds healed, while Xiao Qinghe worried about sharing the bed with his master.

While Ouyang Susu caused a scene looking for Master Yu Qing, Xie Jun unexpectedly grew furious at her and defended Xiao Qinghe’s belongings. Xiao Qinghe woke in Master Yu Qing’s bed with his master’s arm around his waist as the commotion reached them.

• A young woman worried about Xiao Qinghe, then left his cabin after punching and rumpling his quilt and hiding the damage with a peony.
• Ouyang Susu tried to enter Thirteenth Peak, insisting she needed to protect Master Yu Qing, and dismissed concerns about Xiao Qinghe’s injuries.
• Ouyang Susu clung to Xie Jun and pleaded for forgiveness, but Xie Jun flung her away.
• Ouyang Susu rushed into Xiao Qinghe’s cabin, tossed aside the peony, and rummaged through his things until Xie Jun seized her and ordered her to stop.
• Xiao Qinghe woke to the commotion and realized he was lying in Master Yu Qing’s bed with his master’s arm around his waist.

Xiao Qinghe agreed to go down the mountain with Ouyang Susu for Qixi, believing the outing was a deadly turning point that could help him free himself and Bai Yuqing from the dream. As Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun competed to escort him, the four set off together in Xie Jun’s lavish carriage, leaving Ouyang Susu behind.

• Bai Yuqing blocked Ouyang Susu from entering Xiao Qinghe’s room, then let her approach when Xiao Qinghe came outside; Ouyang Susu threw herself into his injured arms.
• Xie Jun pulled Ouyang Susu away and confronted Bai Yuqing over Xiao Qinghe, while Ouyang Susu invited Xiao Qinghe to celebrate Qixi with her.
• Xiao Qinghe realized Xie Jun had entered the dream and promised to get her out, then accepted Bai Yuqing’s offer to accompany him down the mountain.
• Xiao Qinghe struggled to fly on a sword, so Xie Jun brought a carriage and carried him inside while Bai Yuqing followed.
• Ouyang Susu asked to join them, but Xie Jun rebuffed her and Bai Yuqing entered the carriage, leaving Ouyang Susu behind.

Xiao Qinghe was trapped between Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun as they fought over their closeness to him, until he escaped the carriage and came face-to-face with a familiar, faceless figure. The chapter ended with the figure threatening to peel off his skin.

• Bai Yuqing drew Xiao Qinghe close to protect his unhealed wounds, and Xie Jun angrily demanded that he let him go.
• Xie Jun and Bai Yuqing argued over their relationship with Xiao Qinghe, with Xie Jun claiming a special connection through his Peach Blossom Wine.
• The carriage jolted, and both Xie Jun and Bai Yuqing grabbed Xiao Qinghe, leaving him awkwardly caught between them.
• Ouyang Susu lifted the carriage curtain and found the three men tangled together, prompting onlookers to tease them.
• Xiao Qinghe broke free and fled the carriage, then nearly collided with a familiar faceless figure that threatened to peel off his skin.

Xiao Qinghe attended the Qixi Festival with Bai Yuqing, Xie Jun, and Ouyang Susu, while a face-changing stranger briefly frightened him. The group prepared Kongming Lanterns, leaving Ouyang Susu hoping Xiao Qinghe had written her name on one.

• Xiao Qinghe recoiled from a stranger whose horrifying face vanished, and Bai Yuqing offered to take him back if he felt unwell.
• Ouyang Susu asked Xiao Qinghe to buy her hairpins, while Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun competed to place their hairpins in his hair and broke both.
• Xiao Qinghe suggested lighting Kongming Lanterns, and Ouyang Susu wrote Bai Yuqing, herself, and Xie Jun together with hearts on hers.
• Bai Yuqing wrote a blessing for his beloved disciple Qinghe, while Xie Jun wrote Xiao Qinghe a message wishing him a hundred years of paying with his life.
• Ouyang Susu asked whether one of Xiao Qinghe's three lanterns was for her as Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun watched his lanterns.

Xiao Qinghe defended Bai Yuqing from insults at an inn, then fought off attackers with Xie Jun’s help while the two companions competed to feed him. As rumors of a powerful demon’s attack on the Green Mountain Sword Sect spread, the group remained tense and jealous around Xiao Qinghe.

• Xiao Qinghe left Ouyang Susu behind when he hurried into the inn with Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun, and Ouyang Susu followed despite feeling slighted.
• Cultivators at the inn discussed the slaughter of twenty-three Green Mountain Sword Sect disciples and blamed the Demon Clan and the Demon-Slaying Sect.
• Xiao Qinghe threatened a cultivator who insulted Bai Yuqing, and Bai Yuqing burned the man’s tongue with a thrown cup.
• The man’s companions attacked Xiao Qinghe from behind, but Xie Jun guided his sword and helped him strip them down to their underpants.
• Ouyang Susu questioned Xie Jun’s closeness with Xiao Qinghe, while Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun competed to put food in Xiao Qinghe’s bowl.
• Xiao Qinghe suggested the Green Mountain Sword Sect had been attacked by a powerful demon with accomplices, then tried to ease tensions by serving food to Xie Jun and Bai Yuqing.

On the night Xiao Qinghe feared he would die, Bai Yuqing, Xie Jun, and Ouyang Susu crowded into his room, turning his attempt to stay close to his master into a tense and chaotic sleeping arrangement. The chapter ended when lightning suddenly lit the room as bright as day.

• Xiao Qinghe feared that he would die that night and told Bai Yuqing not to blame himself if he could not escape his fate.
• Bai Yuqing comforted Xiao Qinghe and decided to sleep in his room because rain was leaking into his own.
• Xie Jun arrived, jealous that Bai Yuqing was sharing Xiao Qinghe's room, and insisted on staying too.
• Ouyang Susu asked to sleep with Xiao Qinghe, but Xie Jun knocked her unconscious and dropped her onto the floor bedding.
• Xie Jun climbed into bed beside Xiao Qinghe, and she and Bai Yuqing competed over the quilt while she nuzzled him.
• The room suddenly lit up as bright as day.

Xiao Qinghe and Xie Jun faced a swarm of Human-Faced Ghosts before the Ghost King appeared, forcing Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun to launch a counterattack. Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun left Xiao Qinghe behind a protective barrier, while Ouyang Susu woke and confronted him.

• Human-Faced Ghosts killed cultivators and swarmed into the room, but Bai Yuqing cut down the first group with Wind-Piercing.
• More ghosts surrounded the room, and Xie Jun unleashed her demonic power to blast them away.
• The Ghost King arrived and commanded thousands of Human-Faced Ghosts to attack the city.
• Bai Yuqing protected Xiao Qinghe with a silver barrier, then promised to return safely after dealing with the ghosts.
• Xiao Qinghe hugged Bai Yuqing, who kissed his forehead, while Xie Jun kissed Xiao Qinghe's cheek before joining Bai Yuqing in battle.
• Ouyang Susu woke and accused Xiao Qinghe of going behind her back with Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun.

Human-Faced Ghosts overwhelmed Xiao Qinghe and Ouyang Susu after the inn’s barrier broke, and the Human-Faced Ghost King stabbed Xiao Qinghe through the heart. As Bai Yuqing held his dying disciple, Xiao Qinghe said goodbye and hoped to see his master and junior brother in the real world after they woke.

• A blast shook the inn, broke the barrier, and sent Human-Faced Ghosts swarming toward Xiao Qinghe and Ouyang Susu.
• Ouyang Susu was wounded by a Human-Faced Ghost and feared that the poison would ruin her face.
• The Human-Faced Ghost King disguised as Bai Yuqing confronted Xiao Qinghe and stabbed him through the heart with a blade of sinister mist.
• Bai Yuqing and another figure rushed to Xiao Qinghe as the Sword Rain Formation struck down the ghosts, and Bai Yuqing held Xiao Qinghe while trying to preserve his life.
• Xiao Qinghe told Bai Yuqing not to grieve, said he would see him and his junior brother in the real world, and lost consciousness.

Xiao Qinghe discovered that he had died and returned as a ghost, unable to reach his grieving master or stop Xie Jun from trying to preserve his body. He remained unseen as Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun clung to the hope that he might still return.

• Xiao Qinghe reappeared as a ghost after the system warned him that the main storyline had developed a major bug.
• Xiao Qinghe learned that he had been dead for three days and watched Xie Jun enter his cabin carrying peonies.
• Bai Yuqing used his cultivation to keep Xiao Qinghe's corpse from decaying while speaking to him as if he were asleep.
• Xie Jun placed the Ghost King Spirit Pill in Xiao Qinghe's chest wound and used her blood to heal it, but his heart did not beat again.
• Xiao Qinghe realized that Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun were protecting his body despite knowing it might be beyond saving.

As Xiao Qinghe remained dead, Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun drove Ouyang Susu away and then entered the thousand-year ice pool with his body, agreeing to compete for him when they awoke. Their actions froze the Thirteenth Peak into an isolated Ice Peak, while the system detected a major storyline collapse and forcibly ejected Xiao Qinghe.

• Ouyang Susu visited Xiao Qinghe with peach blossoms, but Bai Yuqing ordered her to leave and Xie Jun wounded her when she insulted Xiao Qinghe.
• Ouyang Susu fled after her scars were exposed, while Xiao Qinghe wondered why the female lead's halo had disappeared.
• Xie Jun remembered her past with Xiao Qinghe and challenged Bai Yuqing for keeping him waiting.
• Bai Yuqing carried Xiao Qinghe into the Back Mountain Ice Pool, and Xie Jun joined them as they agreed to three ground rules for winning him over after they awoke.
• Bai Yuqing and Xie Jun leaped into the ice pool with Xiao Qinghe, and their power froze the Thirteenth Peak into an inaccessible Ice Peak.
• The system detected a character logic error and forcibly ejected Xiao Qinghe from the collapsing storyline.

After a game error ejected Xiao Qinghe from the virtual story, Xie Jun woke in the real world as a consciousness able to inhabit inanimate objects. She discovered Xiao Qinghe asleep nearby and faced the awkward question of whether to attach herself to his underwear.

• Readers discussed how Xiao Qinghe, the game developer and tester, had entered the game as the eldest disciple and how someone may have entered as his master or junior disciple.
• A system error halted the game and forcibly ejected its host as the story approached the characters' planned awakening.
• Xie Jun's consciousness was pulled away instead of returning to her body, and she woke in an unfamiliar room beside Xiao Qinghe.
• Xie Jun discovered she could attach herself to inanimate objects and moved from a dog alarm clock to the quilt covering Xiao Qinghe.
• Xie Jun realized Xiao Qinghe wore only boxer shorts and wondered whether she could attach herself to them and whether she should.

Xie Jun reunited with Xiao Qinghe after the system forcibly ejected him from the dream, but he did not realize at first that she had returned as a living blanket. As his memories came back, he discovered that he had developed the system that trapped him in the story and that an unknown presence had escaped into reality with him.

• Xie Jun wrapped herself around the sleeping Xiao Qinghe and recognized him as her senior brother.
• The system forcibly ejected Xiao Qinghe, warned of a major plot bug, and reported that something unpredictable might affect reality.
• Xiao Qinghe woke in his familiar room, mistook the moving blanket for a nightmare, and realized he had returned to reality.
• Xiao Qinghe read Mo Yan's messages about the stalled plot and an unidentified presence that had escaped the system.
• Xiao Qinghe remembered developing the game system and testing it as the doomed character Xiao Qinghe for a promised payment.

After being ejected from the frozen game system, Xiao Qinghe read the readers’ comments and tried to debug the crash. He opened his door to Phantom Technology’s financial backer, Bai Yuqing, whose appearance and voice resembled his in-system master, just as a fruit knife rose behind him.

• Xiao Qinghe saw that the system had frozen on a scene of him with Bai Yuqing, Xie Jun, and a man in green, while the comments section continued working.
• Mo Yan announced an upcoming CG film and cosplay event, and Xiao Qinghe muted a reader who called him dumb and flirty.
• Xie Jun realized Xiao Qinghe had created her and asked him not to abandon her, while he failed to hear her and began debugging the system.
• Xiao Qinghe’s computer crashed, and Mo Yan called to say the boss was coming to discuss the system bug and its future.
• Xiao Qinghe opened the door and recognized that the visiting Mr. Bai resembled his master, while a fruit knife floated up behind him.

Bai Yuqing visited Xiao Qinghe, who mistook his concern about a mysteriously moving fruit knife for an excuse to get close. After Bai Yuqing revealed his name matched the game character, a chopstick attacked him in the kitchen, and he recognized the unseen culprit as a member of the Demon Clan.

• Bai Yuqing shielded Xiao Qinghe from a fruit knife that appeared to move on its own, then pretended to have stomach pain so Xiao Qinghe would invite him inside.
• Bai Yuqing asked whether other men had been in Xiao Qinghe's home, and Xiao Qinghe poured him warm water.
• Bai Yuqing revealed his name matched the character in Xiao Qinghe's game and said he had acquired the game's adaptation rights after reading the original novel.
• Bai Yuqing tried to cook noodles for Xiao Qinghe, who fled to the bedroom after becoming flustered by his appearance.
• A chopstick shot at Bai Yuqing in the kitchen, and he dodged it with a cucumber while accusing an unseen member of the Demon Clan of attacking him.